#I don’t like your perfect crime how you laugh when you lie!

[whenthegoldrays]

“Look What You Made Me Do” is inherently a Kang Jiwon song to me now

[disneyprincemuke]

i didn't tell you i was scared * fem!driver

perhaps carrying the burden of being the perfect eldest daughter after all these years have its disadvantages as well

pairings: fem!driver and her literal family

notes: don't even get me started on how fuckin long it took me to write this bro and also let's not talk about how bad this one is ok? thanks

(series masterlist) | (📂 2025: fall from grace)

(prev)

being back home has always brought about a sense of peace she hasn’t been able to replicate anywhere else. it’s just a different serenity when she’s back under the blankets of the bed she’d grown up in, surrounded by everything that reminded her of being young and innocent.

oh, how she misses the times when it felt like the world was in her hands. how naïve of her to think that if she worked hard, she’d get everything she wanted.

every single word of rejection slowly dug the trenches she’s managed to find herself in lately.

she’s so deep in that she doesn’t think there’s a way out.

she lies on her back, childhood stuffed animals burying her in the blanket. she bores holes in the roof of her room where her glow-in-the-dark stars stare right back at her.

she can almost hear the ghost of her 13-year-old self whining as oscar and logan prop themselves up on her bed to paste them on her ceiling, making fun of her for being too short to do it herself.

it used to be so simple.

there’s soft knock on the door followed bt the creaking of its hinges as it’s pushed open. a head pops in. “can we go to the store?”

“what?” she turns her head towards the door and furrows her eyebrows. “can’t you just take my car and go alone?”

dalton frowns, “is it such a crime to spend time with my very beautiful older sister?”

she raises an eyebrow. “you want me to pay, don’t you?”

“don’t make me sound so feral,” the young boy huffs with a roll of his eyes. “i haven’t seen you in months… come on, let’s do something together?”

“i don’t really…” she sighs as she meets her younger brother’s stare and hopeful smile. “alright, mate, just let me change out of my pyjamas.”

that’s how she finds herself at a convenience store at 2 in the morning, hands in the pockets of one of logan’s old jackets that he left in her parent’s house, slowly sauntering through aisles with a blank stare.

she’s been staring at a box of cereal for a couple of minutes, debating with herself if she should let herself indulge. but lately, it just doesn’t feel like she deserves nice things.

when dalton finds her, he’s got a basket full of snacks and drinks. he stops at the end of the aisle with a puzzled stare and tilts his head. “didn’t see anything you want?”

she smiles, “not really. and i’m supposed to be watching my diet — too much ice cream, noah said.”

which is just another blatant lie. she hasn’t touched a drop of ice cream since matt had packed his bags and left her apartment. she hasn’t even really been eating.

dalton hums, “i guess… let yourself have a cheat day, though.”

she sighs out a soft laugh and slings an arm over dalton’s shoulders. “maybe tomorrow. come on, let’s pay up before mama finds out i let you convince me to drive you out to the store in the middle of the night.”

she rests her head at the foot of her bed, nose-to-nose with kidnapper as he sleeps peacefully on one of her pillows.

“wish my life was as simple as yours,” she mutters, running her finger along the cat’s nose. “wish i could sleep all day and be adored like you, kid.”

she glances at her phone, lying peacefully on her side table next to the bed. it’s been going off with constant text messages for the past 5 minutes, most from logan and oscar asking about her parents’ anniversary party, and some from matt.

she can’t get herself to pick up the phone and answering feels like such a daunting task. she can’t find the right words to type out and send out as an acceptable response.

“hey,” the door opens and her mother’s head pops in, “busy?”

she lifts her head and smiles slightly. “what do you need me to do?”

“can you pick up the decorations from town? it’s pre-ordered, so you just gotta pick it up. then maybe could you bring home some dinner?” her mother flashes her a sheepish grin, obviously hoping that she would say yes.

“can’t you get dalton to pick it up? i’ll let him use my car if that’s what you’re worried about,” she offers with a small, unnoticeable scowl on her face. her plan for the entire day was to simply lie in her bedroom and do absolutely nothing.

her day simply isn’t complete unless she’s wallowed in self pity.

“he’s barely permitted to drive a car with an adult in the passenger seat,” her mother sighs. “come on, please? i’ll make you your favourite breakfast tomorrow.”

“really? it has to be me?”

“you’ve locked yourself in your room the 2 days you’ve been back,” her mother sighs again with the shake of her head. “i thought you came home early to help around.”

“i came back early to spend my break here. that doesn’t mean anything about helping around,” she complains, yet she’s scrambling to get herself off her bed. she knows better than to get into this sort of argument with her mother — it’s simply not going to be worth it. “but if it has to be me…”

she gets up and drops kidnapper off in dalton’s room. she changes out of her day-old pyjamas and heads to town where her mother had asked her to go.

all the while cursing under her breath about having so much to do on her supposed break. she’d only driven herself back ahead of her parents’ anniversary party to give herself a break from the fast-paced nature of london.

that and the refusal to go back to her apartment when it no longer felt like home.

but she does all that her mother asks of her anyway because her mother says so.

“you need to eat more, my love.” she watches her mother stand from her position on the dinner table and pick up a bowl of noodles. “you look like you haven’t been eating at all.”

“mama,” she tries to protest with a sigh, shaking her head as she tries to push away the bowl from her plate. “i’m not very hungry.”

her mother is insistent. she shakes her head with a soft huff, scooping out a bunch of noodles and putting it on the plate in front of her. “you need to eat more than you’re eating.”

she lets out an irritated sigh and turns to her father, sat next to her mother, for some sort of words to help her. but he just shrugs at her with an apologetic smile.

“i just want you to look like yourself again,” her mother sighs, pinching her cheek tenderly with a small smile. “you’ve had a tough year.”

she scoffs, dropping her head to toy with the noodles on her plate. of course, she uses her shit of a season to justify being an overbearing figure in her life. she would have been more tolerant of it — as she’s been her entire life — but it’s just not a good time for this behaviour right now.

“fine, whatever.”

she glances down the hallway for anyone who would catch her before she opens the door. she’s greeted by 2 beds and an empty room, but an overwhelming familiarity of friendship. a friendship that she’s strayed so far from that it barely makes sense for her to be standing in this bedroom.

on top of the dresser is a framed picture of her, oscar and logan at a karting track in the earlier days of their karting days together. she stands between the boys, oscar and logan leaning into her with their lips pressed against either side of her cheeks.

on the beds, she can see the 3 of them cuddled up together when she was 14 seeking help from the older boys with her homework.

if she thinks hard enough, she sees her 15-year-old self on oscar’s bed with the blankets pulled up to her chin with logan and oscar squeezing in the other bed in the room when she’s having trouble sleeping by herself.

in the far corner of the room, she can see herself at 16 curled up on the floor after her first boyfriend had broken up with her. and oscar walks in with a small scowl but 3 pints of ice cream for them to share while they try to distract her of the pain.

the room’s been cleaned and polished by her mother, preparing for oscar and logan’s return for their anniversary party this weekend.

she makes a sharp turn for the cabinet at the side of the room, pushing through hangers of jackets and sweaters hanging neatly, untouched for god knows how long. she sighs when a familiar red jacket comes into view.

“i told mama this is mine,” she grumbles under her breath, pulling the jacket out of the cabinet. it’s a ferrari jacket that oscar had gotten from his parents when he was younger, but since he’d outgrown it, she’d claimed it for herself.

“oh, there you are.”

she turns around, with a heavy heart and teary eyes, and comes face-to-face with her father. “hey.”

“i’ve been looking all over for you,” he sighs heavily, stepping into the room with caution. “i just wanted to check in on you after what happened during dinner. you know mama meant well.”

she grins with a slight nod. “yeah, i know.”

“and we’re just concerned for you.” he wraps an arm around her and rests his chin on top of her head. “after the year you’re having… we’re all concerned for you.”

“concerned?” she repeats under her breath, looking up at her father. “regarding what? i’m doing fine.”

“personally, i’m just concerned because you’re my princess,” he mumbles, giving her a squeeze. “and you know… i’m your father? i know if something’s wrong, but it’s okay if you don’t wanna talk about it yet.”

she lets out a heavy sigh, relaxing in his arms. she wraps her arms around him and nuzzles her face into his chest, “thanks for not making me talk about it.”

she throws her head back, trying to pull back the hand that’s clasped in dalton’s hands, yanking her towards the garage of the house.

“come on,” dalton mutters, “we’ll have so much fun! just like before!”

“dalton, i told you i didn’t feel like leaving the house today,” she whines, trying another attempt at pulling her hand back from him. “i have some things to settle with my finances and schedule… i’ve put that off for a couple days and kristen and noah need those by tonight.”

“i’m sure it can’t take that long,” dalton whines with a heavy sigh, tugging on her arm. “just a quick movie in at the theatre then a cup of ice cream?”

“dalton, come on, i said i don’t have the time for this!” she shrieks, yanking her arm back and stomping a foot on the ground. “i’ll pay for you to go with a couple of friends, but i can’t go with you. i have adult matters to handle before the week is over.”

dalton blinks at her, shocked at her sudden outburst. “i just wanted to spend time with you before you go off and not come home for months… i’m sorry.”

she opens her mouth to add to her previous statement, but seeing her younger brother with a frown on his face instantly felt like a pierce through her heart. “i– dalton,” she sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose. “i just have so much going on right now. maybe we can go a little later? i just need to finish a couple of things for my team.”

“it’s alright,” dalton sighs dejectedly, shaking his head. he walks past her to head for the stairs. “maybe next time when you’re not being a bitch anymore.”

“what the fuck,” she mutters with eyebrows furrowed, turning around with her gaze following his steps. “you did not just say that.”

“what?” dalton whirls around. “it’s true. you’ve been such a bitch since you came back. you lock yourself inside your room, you never wanna talk to me, you never wanna join me for snacks, it takes me extra effort just to convince you to come out of the house and do stuff with me… you changed, mate.”

she takes a deep breath. “of course, you don’t understand. you’re just a 16-year-old — you don’t fucking know anything.”

“i know my sister,” dalton scowls. he rolls his eyes and scoffs with a dry laugh. “sorry, i mean i used to know my eldest sister. nowadays, you just ignore my texts, never return my calls and never wanna hang out. you’re a flake, rocky.”

“and you’re just a fucking kid, why should i take anything you say seriously? what do you know about anything that’s outside of your stupid video games and secondary school?” she huffs. “and what do you know about what’s going on with me? that’s not fair.”

“i’m not talking to someone who’s not open to criticism.” he glances at her over his shoulder one more time before running up the stairs. “get a grip, mate.”

“hey, i heard you were back early.” the front door closing echoes in the house, ciara putting her backpack down next to the shoe rack.

the other girl sits on the couch, attention unwavering to the tv show she’s put on to watch. “yeah. hi.”

“i bought you dinner on my drive home from campus.” ciara skips over to the couch happily, leaning down on the back of the couch her older sister sits on. ciara turns her head to grin at her. “from the chinese restaurant. i got you some noodles and wanton.”

“oh, thank you.” she turns her head with a small grin and a soft eye, eyes stinging with every blink. “welcome home, ara.” she pulls ciara in for a short side hug and presses a kiss on her cheek. “how’s uni?”

“it was alright,” ciara shrugs. “join me for dinner?”

she hums, returning her attention to the tv screen. “maybe not; i’m still full from the lunch i had. but thank you for getting me dinner.”

“you’re home!” dalton appears at the top of the stairs with a big grin. “did you get me my fried rice?”

“of course!” ciara beams, beckoning him down towards the dining table. “help me set up the table. rocky’s still full from lunch. it’s just us, come on.”

dalton hops over to the kitchen with ciara, not sparing his eldest sister another stare. so she just turns off the tv and runs back to her bedroom.

“oh. i didn’t know it was such a sensitive topic,” her mother shrugs with a soft chuckle. “i was just curious because you said matt was going to be here for the party this weekend and suddenly he’s not.”

the girl shrugs, keeping her stare on the plate. “yeah, but i really don’t wanna talk about him right now.”

“come on, just concerned for your relationship.” she clenches her jaw, feeling a knot form in her throat as she lifts her eyes to meet her mother’s stare across the table. “did something happen?”

“no,” she lies with a small grin. “he’s just got some things to settle back in the states. he’s just busy.”

“or maybe he realised you were a bitch,” dalton mutters under his breath.

“dalton,” ciara warns through gritted teeth, hitting dalton on the shoulder very gently. “what the hell?”

“what? it’s true,” dalton mutters. “you know that more than i do.”

“that’s enough,” her father speaks up. “let’s just eat dinner, okay?”

“no, my love,” a whine comes from behind her, “you put it up wrongly.”

the girl on the top of the ladder looks over her shoulder and meets her mother’s judgemental stare and disappointed frown. “you literally told me to put it here, mama.”

“put it up higher, no– like– i’ll just do it.” her mother offers her a reassuring smile and beckons her to get down from her position.

“no, it’s so dangerous for you to be up here,” she mutters, attempting to readjust the wall decorations to her liking. “just tell me where to put it.”

“you’re,” her mother pauses, “not doing it right. just come down and let me do it.”

she huffs and drops her hands. “fine.”

she climbs down the ladder, folding her arms over her chest as she watches her mother replace her.

“see? isn’t that better.”

but she swears it’s exactly the way she’d put it up just a moment ago.

“is this what you’re going to do the entire time you’re here? just mope in your room with your cat?”

she lifts her head from her pillow and turns, resting her head again as she stares at her mother standing at the door. “is this really how you want to start the day?”

“it’s noon. the day started almost 3 hours ago.” her mother leans on the door frame of her bedroom. “you have to get up and do something. locking yourself up in here,” she pauses to look around the kiddish bedroom, “it won’t make you feel any better.”

“i just have a lot going on,” she mumbles, flipping herself to face the other side of the room. “i’ll come down in a while. i just need a couple minutes.”

“oh, my god, mama!” her voice echoes in the empty house, running down the steps with her mother following shortly behind her. “stop asking me about matt! i don’t want to talk about him right now!” she turns around at the bottom of the steps. “not with you; not with anyone!”

“i’m just trying to give him an answer, my love! he’s concerned for you. he said you haven't answered his messages all week,” her mother reprimands with her hands on her hips.

“that’s between matt and i and you have no say in this, sorry.” she raises her hands in the air to surrender before walking away. “it’s just none of your business.”

she’d just been relaxing in her room by herself when her mother came in trying to make conversation. she’d been receptive at first until she realised that she was trying to get her to talk about matt again.

which, she’s just not ready to open up about yet.

“it is if you’re acting this way! locking yourself in your room all day… fighting with dalton? don't even get me started on the way you can’t even clean up after yourself — you’re an adult now.”

“i’m an adult, yeah, so let me deal with my fucking problems however i see fit!” she laughs dryly and turns to face her mother again. “can i have some room to breathe? please? without everyone following closely behind me and staring at me like i’m pathetic?”

“we don’t think you’re pathetic!”

“i see the sorry in your eyes when you look at me! everyone seems to be looking at me that way lately!”

“my l–”

“just please leave me alone!”

so she gets in her car and drives away. she doesn’t know how long she drives for, tears in her eyes and chest heaving in sobs.

but she finds herself at the park nearby, one that she used to frequent with oscar and logan after school. she parks her car right by the roadside and forces herself onto the empty playground. she sits on the slide for hours until she feels slightly better.

she pushes the front door open with a heavy sigh. the sadness of pulling up in the driveway of her house worries her. it’s like the sadness seems to find a way to follow her everywhere.

everywhere she goes, it’s like there’s a dark cloud hanging above her head and she doesn’t know how to make it go away.

“where have you been?” ciara’s voice startles her, sending her a step back. “we’ve been worried sick for you after you left so abruptly before dinner! you weren’t even picking up your phone!”

“i just needed some time alone,” she says with a heavy sigh. she closes the door behind her and slips out of her shoes. “i was just at the playground i used to go to with logan and oscar. think i left my phone in my bedroom before i left and i went to grab dinner–”

“seriously? you’re not even sorry?” ciara screams, throwing her arms in the air. “we’ve been so worried sick for you since you walked out for no reason?”

she tilts her head. “no reason? mama has been grilling me about things i don’t want to talk about since i came back.”

“she’s concerned for you! we’re all concerned for you!”

“i didn’t ask for your concern! i’m asking you guys to leave me alone; give me some fucking room to breathe!”

“then why did you come all the way here just to lock yourself in your bedroom? if you want to be left alone, you should’ve just fucking stayed in london where you have an apartment where no one will fucking bother you!”

she huffs, hands on her hips. “fine. i’ll just go back. since it’s such a bother that i’m too sad to be here right now.” she stomps past her younger sister and up the stairs, heading right for her bedroom.

“don’t try and guilt trip me to feel sorry for you!” ciara chases after her. “it’s just not fair that you came all this way to be fighting with every single person in this household! just because blythe’s not here, doesn’t mean you’ll get away with this behaviour!”

“i’m not trying to guilt trip you,” she snarls, grabbing her bag from the ground and shoving her things, sprawled all over her room, into it. “but i’m sorry my feelings are such a burden to you guys. cause personally, i’m not having the best time.”

“if you’re not having the best time, don’t bring us down with you! it’s mama and papa’s anniversary! spend a little time not thinking of yourself for once!”

“i’ve spent my whole life not thinking of myself! you don’t know — you’re just a spoilt brat who got everything she wanted growing up! i actually had to work for the things i wanted.”

ciara scoffs, finally stepping into the room. “who gave you the right to act all high and mighty like you’re better than everyone? being the eldest kid doesn’t mean shit, genius.”

“well, what would you know about being the eldest kid? you never had to take care of anyone besides yourself; you never had to think of anyone but yourself.” she picks up kidnapper, sleeping on the foot of her bed and throws her bag over her shoulder. “just fuck off, ciara.”

“you’re not the only one with problems, you know,” ciara scoffs, folding her arms over her chest. “and what, you’re leaving? way to face your problems head-on.”

“i’m leaving because clearly i’m not wanted here,” the older girl sighs, pushing past the girl to her bedroom door. “so let me get out of your hair before my sadness becomes too contagious for your liking.”

“you’re leaving?” blythe says in shock, watching her older sister walk past her without another moment’s hesitation. “but i just got here. and isn’t the part tomorrow?”

“she’s throwing us the dramatics!” ciara announces with a loud laugh, running down the stairs to catch up with her older sister heading right for the front door. “she’s leaving because she can’t face the fact that she could be overreacting this one time!”

“overreacting?” blythe repeats, following both sisters down the stairs. “what are you guys even fighting about?”

“she left for hours with no contact!”

“i don’t even wanna stay long enough for you to paint me to be the villain,” the girl announces, pulling the front door open. “i’m leaving.”

taglist: @wcnorris @treehouse-mouse @laura-naruto-fan1998 @mindless-rock @vellicora @ironmaiden1313 @angsthology @cherry-piee @christianpulisic10 @elliegrey2803 @33-81 @darleneslane @nikfigueiredo @happy-nico @namgification @localwhoore @notawc @sadg3 @kazuha-pista-badam @mellowarcadefun @megatrilss1885 @peqch-pie @woozarts @meadhbhcavanagh @2bormaybenot @a-disturbing-self-reflection @mclarengf @xoscar03 @nomie-11 @green-thots @inejismywife @love4lando @louvrepool

[just-jordie-things]

[part three] to build a home - gojo satoru

word count: 3.6k warnings: !!manga spoilers!! swearing, jjk-verse style fighting series summary: when (y/n) (y/l/n) catches wind that the notorious sorcerer killer, toji fushiguro, has children, she makes it her personal mission to find them. the catch being she couldn't tell a soul about them- the risk of the zen'in clan learning about them was too great. keeping the secret isn't the hard part, it's lying to her friends, shoko ieiri, geto suguru, and of course gojo satoru, that she struggles with. especially when satoru has suddenly become so keen on keeping an eye on her lately.

series masterlist

[part three] : "Learning To Lie"

___

“I never thought I’d see the Gojo Satoru get soft,” Shoko’s giggling as she took a drag of her cigarette.  Her shoulders shake and her eyes close as she beams at the thought.  “It’s only a matter of time now until you dye that stupid hair too, huh?” She suggests, blowing out the smoke in her lungs.

Suguru’s head is thrown back in laughter, happily partaking in the tease-fest.

“I think black would be cooler.  Like mine” He says.

Shoko coos and hums in agreement, looking back at Gojo as if to picture a new look in her mind.

“I’m not coloring my hair, idiots,” He mutters, turning away from them and waving a dismissive hand.  “I look perfect” 

Suguru snorts at how humble his best friend was.

“So you admit you’ve grown a little soft spot for our resident (y/n)?” He asks, a muse in his tone as he shares a look with Shoko.

“We’ve always been friends.  I don’t know why you’re having a giggle parade over us hanging out.  I hang out with you guys all the time, you think I’m in love with you?” 

Shoko purses her lips, passing her cigarette to Suguru.

“Yes,” She says, decidedly.  “But I think you like (y/n) better” 

Satoru has to fight the urge to defend himself too much, because he knows if he argues with them too much, their suspicions will only be raised tenfold.

“She’s definitely better company than you two right now” He grumbles, leaning back against the wall.

He wasn’t even a smoker, but when Shoko and Suguru would head off for a cigarette break, more often than not he’d follow.  Sometimes (y/n) would be here.  And when she was, he could focus his attention on messing with her.  Otherwise when it was just these two, they ganged up against him.

Speaking of- 

“Where is (y/n) anyways?” Satoru asks.

Shoko and Suguru share another suggestive look, chuckling to themselves.  Satoru wasn’t sure when they took such entertainment in meddling with his love life, but it was starting to irritate him.  All the looks, and the giggling, it was going to drive him crazy.

“She said something about having to go to a bookstore in town,” Shoko said.  “Sounded boring” 

“Miss your little training buddy already?” Suguru asks.

“She went to town by herself?” Satoru frowned.

“Relax, she literally just needed a book,” Shoko says, taking her cigarette back from Suguru.  “I think she’s capable of a little errand” 

“I didn’t mean it like that,” He sighs.  “It’s just weird that she’d go alone.  We all had the day free” 

“Then go hang out with her if you want” Shoko suggests.

“Yeah, then we can talk about you guys” Suguru pipes up.

They’re laughing amongst themselves again, and Satoru thinks it’s not such a bad idea.  Kicking off the wall, he raises his hand in a peace sign and leaves without a word.

He can still hear their childish giggles as he walks away. ___

Breaking into the elementary school once it had closed and the staff had left for the day had been easy enough.  In fact, it was probably the easiest part of her whole investigation, which was odd since it was the first actual crime (y/n) had committed.

Not that commiting said crime fazed her too much.  She was doing this for the greater good after all.

The tricky part was finding what she was looking for.  The filing cabinets in the administrator’s office took up an entire wall, so finding two student’s information was going to take a minute.

She raised her phone’s flashlight and quickly began to read the labels on each cabinet.

Payroll.  Emergency Contacts.  Lunch Schedules.  Event Budgeting.

And then finally, Student Files.

With a grin, she quickly pulled open the first drawer with this label, and went flipping through the alphabetized files.

Just as she found where F was filed, her phone buzzed.

She nearly dropped it from the surprise, before she quickly silenced her ringtone, cursing whoever needed to call her right now.  Didn’t they know she was trying not to get caught literally breaking and entering? 

Well, no, no one did.  Maybe she should have turned her phone to silent before she broke in.

Seeing that it was Satoru calling, she knew better than to decline, so with a sigh, she answered, pressing her phone between her shoulder and her ear.

“Hey!” He greeted her happily.  “What’re you up to?”

She told Shoko she was shopping today.  So she had to stick to her story and tell him the same thing.

“I’m in town, what’s up?” She replied, keeping it short.

“Nothing.  Want company? Suguru and Shoko are being annoying and I kind of feel like avoiding them,” He tells her.  

Her heart feels warm that he wanted to spend time with her, but she bites her lip and tries to find a reason why he couldn’t come see her.

“We could grab lunch.  Or if you’ve already eaten we can get ice cream.  Either way my treat” 

(y/n) smiles to herself.

“That’s sweet, Satoru, but,” She hesitates, eyes wandering through the files in front of her.  “I already ate, and I’m still looking for that pair of headphones I saw online,” 

It’s quiet for a minute on his end, and she hopes she hasn’t hurt his feelings.

“But thank you for thinking of me.  We can hang out tomorrow, or something, if you have time” 

“Sure,” He replies, but his voice sounds off.  Almost rigid.  “Bye” 

With that, he hangs up on her.  (y/n) frowns as she pulls her phone from her ear, seeing the call end and her lock screen wallpaper light up.  She can only hope that he isn’t too upset.

She drops the thought quickly, and goes back to thumbing through the file folders.

It’s a matter of seconds before she finds what she’s looking for.  Fushiguro.

She snatches the file, her face split in a grin.  Victory!

With great haste she flipped through every page, snapping a photo of each one.  Once finished, she carefully placed everything back where she found it, slid out the window she’d so craftily unlocked when she’d broken in, closed it behind her, and left the scene.

If committing crime really was that easy, she wonders why more people don’t do it.

Maybe she’d keep that thought to herself.

As she casually slipped herself into the crowd of people, eyes glued to her phone as she studied the photos of the files she’d just stolen, she completely missed a familiar figure approaching.

“(y/n)?” 

Her eyes darted up, face paling slightly, surprised that anyone had recognized her.

And there was Haibara Yu, with that infamous cheery smile and a wave as he approached her.  He was in street clothes, and a small bag was held at his side.

“Yu!” Her voice came out a little louder than intended from her surprise.  She cleared her throat, and hoped that he didn’t find her acting strange.  “What’re you up to today?” 

“Just needed to get a gift for my sister,” He said, holding up the shopping bag in his hand.  “Her birthday is next weekend” 

“Sweet of you,” (y/n) smiled at the gesture.  “Tell her I said happy birthday” 

Yu nods, and she knows that despite having never met his sister- who probably didn’t know who she was- that he would relay the message.  He was a good guy like that, always putting people’s happiness first.  (y/n) admired that about the second year.

“So, what are you up to?” He asks.

She knows the question isn’t meant to be interrogative, that he’s genuinely curious about her day.  (y/n) bristles nonetheless.

“Just some shopping” She shrugs, trying to be as casual as she could, so as not to raise any suspicion.  

Although now that she thinks about it, and sees his kind smile as he talks to her, she thinks that she could never make him suspicious of her.  Yu was a grade younger than her, so it wasn’t often that they crossed paths.  Only in the halls of Jujutsu Tech, or if they happened to be working out at the same time.  But Yu had always made a point to talk to her, to befriend her and treat her well.  She’d found it endearing, how his kindness poured out of him, even when he was running late and Kento would be pulling him by the collar of his shirt, dragging him away, he’d always bid her goodbye with the well wish of having a good day.

Thinking about it now, (y/n) wondered if he had a little crush on her, or if he was always that pleasant with everyone.  She smiles warmly at the thought, either way. 

“Well, uh, do you want any company?” The dark haired boy asks, his hand raising to the back of his neck nervously.  “I’m all wrapped up, I don’t mind joining you, if- if you want” 

For a brief moment- so fleeting the thought left as soon as it presented itself- she wondered if Gojo had sent him.  After their strange phone call, she couldn’t help but notice Yu had asked the same question as Satoru after all.

She brushed off the paranoid idea quickly.  Yu was too kind to be sent as a spy.  Besides, she hadn’t been so shady in her excuses to Satoru to result in him sending an informer her way, she was certain.

“You’re too kind,” (y/n) flashed a dazzling smile.  “But I’m just about wrapped up myself, I was just going to get something, uh, a bit private, if you don’t mind,” She feigns bashfulness as she averts her eyes after telling him her errand.

Yu’s face drops and his ears turn a light shade of pink, and (y/n) mentally applauds herself for having succeeded in making him believe her little lie.

“Oh- oh, right, of course,” The boy stammered.  “Will you be long? I could wait for you, so you don’t have to walk back alone” 

“That’s alright, it’s my last stop,” (y/n) says, waving a dismissive hand in front of her.  “No need to worry about me” 

Yu nods, tucking his hands into his pockets as he lowers his gaze, hiding the disappointment in his features.  

“If you insist,” He says.  “I know your friends would be upset with me if I didn’t even offer,” 

You’re probably right, (y/n) thinks as she chuckles quietly.

“And I don’t need Gojo beating me up for leaving you out here alone” 

“He wouldn’t do such a thing,” (y/n) says with certainty.  “I’m not a stranger to Tokyo.  And I can handle myself just fine,” 

She begins to pass by him, patting his shoulder in a friendly manner as she does. 

“Have a safe walk back” She tells him.

“Yeah.  You too” Yu smiles, giving her a small wave as he walks off in the direction he was heading before he’d run into her.

(y/n) checks over her shoulder a few moments later, just to be sure that he was going back to the school, and he wasn’t following her.  Her eyes scan the small crowd of people wandering the sidewalks and peeking into shops.  When she doesn’t see the familiar student, her mind is at ease, and she goes back to her phone.

With the address of Megumi and Tsumiki Fushiguro’s home displayed before her, she follows her map. ___

“I saw (y/n) while I was in town” Yu mentions, picking at the box of food before him.

Kento, sat across from him at the table they shared, looked up from his own meal.  This wasn’t a casual mention.  It never was when he talked about (y/n).  It was almost getting tiring, hearing his friend go into that dreamy voice as he shares the most meaningless interaction he’d had with the third year girl.

“That so?” He replied anyway.  Might as well get it over with.

“Yeah,” Yu hummed in delight, the smile on his face was glued there.  “She was shopping” 

So interesting, Kento thinks bitterly, but he doesn’t dare say it out loud.  Yu’s crush on the older sorcerer might have been a bit far-fetched, but he was a good friend, so if he wanted to gush about her, he’d listen.

“Surprised you didn’t stay in town with her,” Kento says instead.  “Seemed like a good opportunity for one-on-one time, hm?” 

“I know.  I offered,” Yu sighs.  “But she was- uh- kinda busy” He chuckles nervously.

Kento raises a brow, silently asking what that was all about. Yu rubs the nape of his neck.

“She said she was shopping for something private” He confesses.

Kento hums, finally turning his attention back to his lunch.

“Whatever that means” 

“I didn’t ask,” Yu shrugs his shoulders.  “I didn’t want to overstep” 

It’s quiet for a minute as the pair nibble on their food.  Yu’s mind was buzzing with thoughts of the girl he’d run into, how pretty she looked in her street clothes, how kindly she spoke and smiled.  His eyes glazed over as he got lost in his thoughts.  He almost didn’t hear the footsteps of a third year approaching the table.

“Hey, you gonna pass out?”

Yu blinked until his vision of reality was restored, looking up to see Gojo Satoru leaning over the table, overly-invading both Yu’s and Kento’s personal space as he grinned at the daydreaming boy.

“He’s fine,” Kento muttered, leaning back from the table a bit to put some distance between him and the overbearing Six Eyes user.  “He’s just daydreaming about (y/n)”

Behind his sunglasses, Satoru blinks, his eyes twitching in the slightest.  But the ridiculous grin he wore didn’t falter as he continued to stare down the younger boy.

(Had Yu seen the jealous look in the eyes of Gojo Satoru himself, he probably would have pissed his pants)

“That so?” Satoru asks.  His voice was steady, almost too steady, and Yu swallows nervously, nodding his head.  “Didn’t know you had a little crush on our little hex” 

Curiously, Nanami eyes the way Gojo keeps his expression and demeanor remain perfectly rigid.  He’d barely moved a muscle, even as he spoke, he did so through that psychotic grin.  It was easy to see through this act.  He wondered if Yu thought the same.

“I- I dunno if I’d call it a- a crush,” Yu stammers.  “I was j-just telling Nanami that I’d run into her earlier” 

That made Gojo drop the false grin on his face, his brows suddenly furrowing.  Suddenly, he leaned back, out of the younger sorcerer’s personal space.

“Just now?” He asked.

Yu nodded his head in an anxious fashion, too nervous to open his mouth.  Nanami had said enough on his behalf to make the white haired sorcerer all too interested in their conversation.

“In town?” Satoru clarified.

Yu nodded again.

“Y-yeah,” He stumbled over his words.  “She was shopping” 

I know that.  Satoru’s teeth grind together to keep him from spitting out an attitude he doesn’t mean.

“Ah, Yu,” He shook his head, chuckling.

His demeanor had returned to it’s usual teasing presentation, but Yu’s anxiety remained on high alert.  This whole interaction was making his stomach churn, like he’d done something wrong and he hoped Gojo wouldn’t find out.  Although, he’s not very sure what mistake he had made.

“Couldn’t have been a gentleman and walked my girl home for me?” 

Finally, Yu’s brain caught up with where Nanami’s was.  This wasn’t anger, he realized.  This was jealousy.

That was much, much worse.

Yu feared for his life.

“I- I didn’t- she was- I wasn’t trying to-” 

“Mhm, of course,” Gojo nods, and reaches out to place a hand on the boy’s shoulder.  Yu shuts his mouth instantly, his eyes wide as saucers as he stares directly at him.  “Don’t worry, I’m just pulling your leg a little” Gojo chuckles.

Yu huffs out a nervous laugh himself, trying to catch his breath and slow down his rapidly beating heart.

Nanami continues to sit in silence, watching the whole display with the eyes of a hawk.

“Okay,” Yu breathes out once he’s calmed down a little inside.  “She just had something private to shop for, I was trying to be, ya’know, considerate” 

The twitch in Satoru’s eye was starting to get annoying.  Private? He latched onto the word.  First she tells Shoko she’s book shopping.  Then gives him some bullshit excuse about headphones.  And now Yu is here telling him a third thing that didn’t match up in his head.  His finger began to tap against Yu’s shoulder, before he pulled his hand off, shoving it into his pocket.

“Of course you were, you little gentleman,” He pulls out his teasing tone.  “But do me a favor, Haibara?” 

“Sure?”

Before he can say anything, Geto Suguru enters the room, calling Gojo’s attention.  The man turns away from Yu for a moment, holding his finger up to his friend, and then turning back to the younger sorcerer.

“Next time,” He says in a chipper tone that seemed like anything but.  “Try to do the right thing, and walk her home, yeah?”

He was sure to lower his shades so that his eyes could pierce right through Yu’s soul.

Yu chokes on air, nodding his head at an aggressive speed.

“Of course.  I will.  I’m sorry” 

Gojo claps his hand on his shoulder one more time.

“Have a good lunch, guys!” He gives the pair a friendly wave before heading back over to Suguru.

Yu’s jaw drops as he finally looks over to Nanami, fear deep in his eyes.

“Why would you tell him that?” He squeaked out.  “I thought he was going to kill me!” 

Nanami shrugged, taking a bite of his food, chewing thoughtfully.

“How was I to know he had a thing for her?” He muttered.

Suguru had only seen a little bit of Satoru’s interaction with the second years, but he’d seen enough to know something was up.

As they walked out of the dining hall, he supposed he could indulge in a little drama.

“So, what was that about?” He mused, an eager smile on his lips.  “Not like you to threaten a kid like Haibara” 

“I wasn’t threatening him” Satoru brushed off the comment, adjusting his sunglasses to sit properly on his nose.

“Could’ve fooled me” 

“You see (y/n) at all today?” Satoru changed the subject.

Suguru raised a brow, although his friend was ignoring his look.

“No” He replied. 

The white haired sorcerer let out a huff.

“That what this is about? (y/n)?”

Satoru doesn’t say anything.

“So it is,” Suguru grins.  “What is it this time? She take a liking to Haibara?” 

“He saw her in town” Gojo finally gives him something to work with, but Suguru raises his brows, surprised that his little display of dominance was over something so mundane.

“Yes, well.  Other people who have eyes will probably look at her,” Suguru remarks.

Satoru looks over at him with a dull glare behind his shades.

“Don’t you think you probably scared poor Haibara over nothing?” 

“He said she told him she was shopping.  For something private” 

This explanation does nothing to give Suguru an understanding on why his friend was acting more unhinged than usual.

“You think maybe it’s time to take a break from all these missions you’ve been accepting?” He asks, half-sarcastically.  “I think your head’s gettin’ a little messed up” 

“She told Shoko that she was shopping for a book,” Satoru ignores the comment.  “And when I called her, she told me she was shopping for headphones.  Something she saw online, I guess,” 

Suguru doesn’t say anything this time.  He still thinks Satoru might be overreacting a bit, but clearly, he was having a full on episode over this.

“And then I find Yu, who says she was shopping for something private, and that was why she didn’t want him joining her” 

His brows are furrowed in a knot as he processes all the information he’d just shared with Suguru.  It was all so strange.  (y/n) wasn’t one to lie, mostly because she wasn’t very good at it.  But her shady behavior today puzzled him greatly.

“Satoru,” Suguru stops in his tracks, turning to look at his friend directly.  “(y/n) isn’t a liar.  She sucks at it” 

“Yeah, I know-” 

“So do you think, maybe, she was out shopping for all of those things?” He suggests, like it’s some genius idea he’d just had.  “And maybe she just wanted a little alone time? Maybe she didn’t want Haibara’s company, and that’s why she sent him away?” 

“I mean, maybe, but-” 

“You’re overworking your head.  It’s not good for you,” Suguru chuckles.  “I’m surprised it hasn’t popped right off yet” 

Satoru rolls his eyes dramatically.

“I didn’t know it was a crime to be worried about a friend-” 

“You’re worried about her because you’re jealous that Yu has a massive crush on her” Suguru barks out a laugh.

“You knew that?” 

“Everyone knows that,” Suguru replies.  “But if you’re so worried, if (y/n) returned his affections, don’t you think she would’ve done something about it by now?” He suggested.  “Exactly,” He spoke again before Satoru could begrudgingly agree.  “They’re just friends.  So don’t go around scaring the under-classmen because you got a little jealous.  It’s not a good look on you” 

“Everything’s a good look on me,” Satoru cheekily clicks his tongue.  “And I’m not jealous of a second year” 

Suguru scoffs in disbelief, shaking his head as he turns to continue their walk.

The bastard was jealous of anyone who looked at (y/n) in any way.  Yu was lucky to have his life. ___

taglist: @whats-humanity-lol@malinq-ashida@mor-pheus@bekahtaylorgriggs@pookiea@megumimind​ @thealchemical @pearlstiare​ @niallerhere @96jnie @purpleguk​

message me if you want to be added to the taglist **if ur in italics tumblr wouldn't let me tag u!!**

xoxo - jordie

[just-a-fluffy-knight]

Ok now I have a T-word related fic request.

The readers superpower is invisibility and her favorite thing to do with her power is to do surprise tickle attacks on her friend loki. He doesn't mind initially but one day he finally gets her before she can attack him and he enacts his revenge. Feel free to say no. No pressure🖤💙💚💜

Putting a Stop to the Unseen

Word Count: 741

A/N: Thanks for the request!! I certainly don’t write enough for Loki and it should be a CRIME 😞 Was able to quickly finish this before a Statistics exam I have tomorrow! So I may be a bit behind on other requests for the time being but,,,, here’s some food for now I guess 😭 Hope you guys like it!! <3

“GAH-! Will you- stop doing that?!”

Loki sighed as a cheeky cackle came from… somewhere in the room before it faded out.

That was the fifth time today. And probably around the thirtieth-something time this week. Curse you and your stupid invisibility powers.

You’d been using them to pester the god ever since you discovered a rather embarrassing weakness of his.

Well… it was embarrassing to Loki, anyway. To you, it was like finding a goldmine.

Even just giving him a little poke to the side or brief tase to the ribs was enough to satisfy you. Because his reactions were always the best when caught off guard, having no way to prepare himself or attempt to hold back any silly involuntary noises.

The thing was… the god couldn’t exactly say he didn’t like it. It was hard to hold back an amused smile as you laughed as ran off after slyly attacking him. It reminded him of himself in a way. So mischievous and sneaky.

But again… he was the God of Mischief. He wasn’t going to allow a little brat to attack him and get away with it.

————————————

A cheeky snicker left your mouth as you peeked through the gap of the door to a nearby room of the Compound.

Loki was sat there, contently reading a book on Asgardian Tales.

Perfect.

Activating your powers, you vanished from sight. You snuck through the gap in the door, creeping towards the god as carefully as possible in hopes to not give yourself away.

One close enough, you spread your arms out, and…

“Gotcha!” You declared, lunging towards him. However, no form was wrapped around your arms. As you landed on the couch, you looked up in confusion, only for the god to shimmer away in a flash of green light.

“What the-“

You popped back into visibility due to your confusion, only to feel an invisible force pull you down to lie on your back as well as both your wrists above your head, making you yelp.

“Come on, dear. You do realise you’re not the only one here with deceptive powers?” A purring voice came from behind the couch and the god peered over it, an impish smirk on his face.

“Okay, wahait, wait-!” You were already giggling nervously as the god circled the couch. “I wahas just messing arohound!”

Loki chuckled darkly, sitting on your waist to ensure escape was impossible.

“You say that as if that’s the only time you’ve done it.”

You briefly held your tongue. The sorcerer did have a point, you’d lost count of all those pokes you’d done.

“Buhut-“

Loki held up an interrupting hand.

“No buts. You know the God of Mischief isn’t not going to get revenge on those who dare to go against him.~”

Before you could even protest, Loki’s hands had already began mercilessly squeezing your sides.

“EEE- Lokihihi!” You squeaked, bursting into giggles. Normally the god started out softer when tickling you! This was a lot more firmer, more playful.

He really was out for revenge.

“Ah-ah-ah, I said hush, Y/N. You’ve had your fun, now it’s my turn.” Loki teased, that grin refusing to detach from his face as he moved his hands up to scribble into your armpits.

“NooOOAHAHA-! LOKI WAHAHAIT-!” A high-pitched squeal filled the room, much to Loki’s amusement and your embarrassment.

“Aww, is the little mortal finally apologising? I think it’s a bit late for that, don’t you?”

No matter how hard you tugged at your wrists, Loki’s magic held faster. He even went as far as moving one hand down to your belly, using the other to randomly alternate between both of your underarms.

“Yohohou’re the wohORST-!”

“Now that’s not very nice, Y/N. Looks like some more punishment is in order.” The god briefly paused, allowing you to catch your breath.

…For now.

“Hmm. What was it that Stark said really gets you giggling?” He brought a hand to his chin, feigning thoughtfulness before a sneer grew on his face.

“…Oh, I know.~”

Without warning, Loki leant forward to press his lips against the crook of your neck, blowing a strong raspberry whilst his fingers dug in between your ribs.

As you continued to laugh and shriek, you couldn’t bring yourself to mind. I mean, you did expect some kind of consequences.

Anyway��� you would without a doubt be getting him back. And that time, you wouldn’t reveal yourself period.

[alovesongtheywrote]

Nightmare Academia P.15 | Spencer Reid x Reader

♥ Summary: In this chapter of Nightmare Academia, a prank has unforeseen consequences. [Prof!Spencer Reid x GN-Prof!Reader]

♥ Warnings: ghosts. also, maeve, a little bit

♥ A/N: yeah, i added a ghost subplot. why? because i wanted one

♥ Word Count: 2244

Series Masterlist

♥♥♥

You knew what prank could you pull with the weight of Reid’s expectations on your shoulders.  

It was simple really- simple and perfect.  It would be subtle, but once he noticed, oh, it would be so annoying.

Book by book, you were going to steal the entirety of Spencer’s personal library and replace it with your own.  Would it take a million years?  Yes.  But fuck, it would be so worth it to see him get grumpy about this.  You would give him exactly what he’d asked for.

Something to be mad about.

Sneaking into Spencer’s office wasn’t difficult.  You knew when he would be out, and you knew how to pick a lock.  After breaking in, all you had to do was pick a book and leave one in the space left behind.

You went for a classic- Pride and Prejudice.  You slipped the book into your bag, careful not to damage the delicate thing.  In its place, you left some random romance from your shelf.  You’d read it years ago.  There was no substance, only smut, and a paper thin plot that would drive Reid up the wall if he read it.   

Once the deed was done, you bolted from Reid’s office.  If anyone asked, you would have told them you didn’t even know where it was.  That would’ve been a lie, but whatever, you were being sneaky.  

That evening, you returned to your own office.  As you slid into your chair, the lights flickered.  The lamps, the lights above you, all of them.  Making a mental note to get that checked, you stashed Reid’s copy of Pride and Prejudice away inside your desk.  There it would stay, lying in wait until all of Reid’s collection was in your possession.    

The second the book was stored away, Reid’s face appeared in your doorway- an occurrence which grew increasingly common with each passing day.

“Reid!  Hi!  What’s up, do you need something?”

“Yeah, actually.  You haven’t seen my copy of Pride and Prejudice, have you?  I can’t find it anywhere, I thought you might know.” 

The look on his face told you he already knew.

“No, Reid- whyever would you assume that I’d know where your things are?”

“Because you steal my things.  All the time.  Constantly.”

You grimaced a little bit, “Fair point.  Well, I haven’t seen it, but I’ll let you know if I do.  Should be hard to miss, right?  You’ve probably- I don’t know.  I can’t think of a book-related insult right now.  Pretend I said something horrible.” 

He rolled his eyes at you as a smirk crossed his lips, “I thought I told you to stop going easy on me.”

“You did.  This isn’t me going easy, this is me being stupid.”

He sighed, “You’re not stupid-”

“Bold assumption.”  

Spencer paused after that.  He didn’t say a word.  He just stood there for a moment, lingering in your doorway like a ghost.  

“Y’know, if you’re going to steal my books, you should at least bother to give them a read-through.”

“Hehe, a Reid-through.  Like Reid.  Because your name is- anyway.  Good night, Reid.  Good luck finding your book.  Get the hell out of my office.”

He let out a soft laugh, “Good night, (L/N).”

“Good night.  Loser.”  

You could hear his bark of laughter echo through the hallway.  

You leaned back in your chair after he was gone.  The book seemed to hum from the desk drawer.  You thought, for a second, about taking Reid’s advice.  Of course, you didn’t.  

Why would you ever do what Reid asked of you?  Exactly.  You wouldn’t.  Just like Reid said, you would never take his words to heart.  Besides, you just assumed that he’d anticipated your wicked scheme and placed plastic bugs or some other shit inside the pages for you to find.  You would not be foiled by something as simple as a plastic bug!  Not this time!

Over the next few weeks, your crime spree continued- and you had plenty of crime to commit.  Reid had an insane amount of books on criminology, philosophy, psychology, sociology, and a handful of classic works of fiction- and you were 100% sure he had fully memorized each and every one of them.  

He even had a weird amount of your personal favourites.  Books you loved, books you had written analyses on- Pride and Prejudice wasn’t the only one.  Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room, Ginsburg’s Howl, Shelly’s Frankenstein.   Of course, you nabbed them.  You took everything you could get your terrible gremlin hands on, stashing the product of your crimes away in your office.  

With every book you stole, you filled the empty spaces left behind with books of your own.   Slowly, Spencer’s collection of books became yours, and yours became his, and he didn’t even seem to notice.

Then you found The Narrative of John Smith.

The book was lying on his desk when you found it.  It was far too easy to just grab the thing and run.  You returned to your own office at the end of the day, body electric with the joy that petty theft brings.  You placed the book in a desk drawer, planning to forget about it like you forgot the rest of his collection, but something wouldn’t let you.  Something was different this time.  The book seemed to burn in your mind, begging to be taken from its hiding place.

You took Reid’s advice.  

You opened the book.  Inside was the text you expected to find- the Narrative of John Smith.  There was nothing too special inside.  No annotations- no little notes scribbled in the margins, no phrases highlighted or words circled.  There was just one quote, on the very first page inside the cover in handwriting that didn’t belong to Reid.  

"Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone; we find it with another." 

Thomas Merton.  It was a beautiful quote- but as you ran your fingers over the inked letters, you couldn’t help but feel that you’d stumbled onto something you weren’t supposed to.  This note felt like a secret, some hidden part of Spencer that you weren’t meant to see.  

You could feel eyes on the back of your neck.  As you shut the book’s cover, a chill ran up your spine.  Goosebumps covered your arms.  You tried to shake it off.  Surely this was just a manifestation of your guilt for finding a secret of Spencer’s- the lights flickered.  

You felt a breath against the skin of your neck.

There was no one there.  You spun around searching, but your office was empty.  You were completely, entirely alone.

You nearly threw that fucking book across the goddamn room.

You didn’t, of course, but you almost did.  You weren’t sure how Spencer managed to find a haunted copy of The Narrative of John Smith- the book itself was uncommon enough- but of course, he fucking did.

Honestly, when you thought about it, it made sense.  If you were to pick one person to have a haunted book, it would be Reid.  His eyes held a million tragedies inside of them.  The man himself looked like the ghost of a Victoriran child that died of tuberculosis.  It wasn’t surprising at all, then, that the man himself would be haunted.

You did want to return the book, though.  You could complete the rest of your prank without it.  Stealing all but one of Reid’s books would still be a good prank, you were sure of it.  Even if it wasn’t, was it worth risking a haunting for the sake of a joke?  Nope.  Nah.  Not in the fucking slightest.  You scuttled back to Reid’s office as fast as you possibly could.  

The halls were empty this time of night.  Spencer’s office was in the same condition.  The door was shut, but not locked, and the lights were off.  You slid inside as quietly as you possibly could.  Your heart pounded in your chest as you moved through the dark.  Those unseen eyes were still following you.  You placed the book down on his desk.

The moment you did, the lights in Spencer’s office flickered on.  Your heart stopped in your chest- behind you, someone cleared their throat.  Without a second thought, you picked up the book and actually threw it across the room.

It landed, with a thud, against Reid’s face.

“Ow!”

“Oh shit!” you exclaimed, covering your mouth with your hands, “Holy fuck, I’m so sorry- are you okay?”

Spencer shook off the blow relatively quickly, “Yeah, I’m fine, I’m- (Y/N), what are you doing in my office?”

“I’m uh- I was…  You have a lot of interesting books.” 

Spencer raised an eyebrow, “So you were stealing my stuff, again?”

“Maybe.  Hey, just by the way, I think your book is haunted.”

Spencer just rolled his eyes and let out a sigh.  He didn’t say anything else.  Instead, he looked down, away from you, turning his attention to the book you’d thrown in his direction.  The cover had opened exposing the first page.  The Thomas Merton quote glared at you from the page, dark ink visible even from the other side of the room.  

Spencer stayed silent for a moment.  You couldn’t see his face, but you could hear his breath hitch.

He knelt down slowly, taking the book into his hands.  His fingers wrapped around the cover carefully, like the tome was a delicate, precious thing, “Where did you find this?”

His voice was low, almost ominous- Spencer almost didn’t sound like himself.  

“It was on your desk this morning.  I just grabbed it, I didn’t- I swear I didn’t plan on throwing it across the room.”

“Good,” he got up without looking at you.  His focus was on the book, on the first page, on the quote, “Don’t do that again.”

“I won’t, I promise.  I’m-”

“Don’t apologize again.  Just… don’t take this,” he walked towards you, keeping his eyes on the pages in his hands.  You backed up, pressing your body against his desk.  You gripped the edge of it tightly, nails almost biting into the wood.  

Spencer stopped just in front of you, towering over your body with every cursed inch of his height.  When he finally looked at you, when his eyes met yours, there was something uncannily close to grief in his eyes.

“I know I told you to make me mad, but- don’t do this.  You can have whatever else you want.  You can take whatever else you want.  Just… don’t take this.”

“Okay.  I’m s-”

“What did I just say about apologizing?”

“Right, right, my bad.”

He placed the book down on the desk.  He left his hand there, flat on the desk’s surface.  His arm caged you in, slightly.  You could feel your heart begin to race, and you fought a silent, internal battle to get it to stop doing that.  

“That’s a little too close to sorry for me.”

“Ah, right.  I’m… sorry, fuck.”

He shook his head,  “A PhD in English and you can’t find anything to say?”

“Leave me alone, Reid.  I’m tired and scared.”

He scoffed, turning away from you to lean against his desk, “Scared?  Of what, ghosts?”

“More or less.”  

You couldn’t see his face, but you could practically feel him rolling his eyes.

“What would a ghost want with you?  You haven’t killed anyone, right?  You aren’t someone’s unfinished business?”

“Not that I know of.”

“Then you’re perfectly safe.”  

“Oh?  And when did you become a ghost expert?”

“Probably that time I died.”

You paused, eyes widening as you processed exactly what Spencer said.  Last time it was, “I’ve been shot three times.”  This time it was, “I’ve died once.”  You were suddenly sure that this man was trying to drive you insane.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard what I said, (L/N).”

You blinked.

“Spencer?”

“Mhmm.”

“Are- are you a ghost?”

He didn’t answer you.  The two of you stood there for a minute, just listening to the buzz of the fluorescents outside.

“(L/N)?” He broke the silence.

“Yes?”

“Get the hell out of my office.”

“Right-!  That’s- I’ll go.  I’m sor- fuck.  Yeah, okay, bye.”

Reid said nothing.  He just watched you leave, not smiling until you were safely out of the room.  He reached back, then, for the book.  

It wasn’t there.

He turned to his desk, searching the top of it for the familiar cover, but he found nothing.  The book was gone.  He looked to the doorway, half-expecting you to be there with the thing clutched in your hand but the doorway was empty.  

Something hit him in the back of the head.

He stumbled forward, letting out a sharp cry.  When he turned to see what had hit him, he found what he had been looking for.  

The Narrative of John Smith.

“Reid, are you okay?” you appeared in his doorway no, but the book wasn’t in your hand.  It was on the floor, pages open to the carpet beneath it, “I heard you scream, and I-”

“I didn’t scream,” Spencer reached out, picking the book back up.

“Yeah, you did.  You made a little aaa noise.  Is everything okay?”

Spencer didn’t answer right away.  He just looked at the ink on the book’s first page.

"Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone; we find it with another." 

“Hey, (L/N)?  About those ghosts-”

♥ Tags: @icarusignite, @usuallyunlikelyfox, @maraudersforlife2005, @fictionalcomforts, @morgthemagpie, @iiheartbowie, @digitalhearts, @corpsebridenightamare, @ghostatrixx, @reiding-writing, @mywellspringoflife if you asked to be tagged and i forgot, pls let me know!! if you would like to be tagged and aren't, also let me know :D

[coquetcharms]

𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐊 & 𝐖𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐃 | 𝒷𝒻!𝒽ℯ𝓃𝓇𝓎 𝓧 𝑔𝒻!ℒℯ𝒾𝓁𝒶

It was around 4 pm and I was sitting in a booth with Jasper while Ray sat at the mini bar dressed in all black wearing black sunglasses.

Apparently, Ray thinks Henry’s lying about being sick since he hasn’t come to work in three days which was a total lie because Henry is sick.

Right now we were waiting for Henry to walk in as I continued to eat my fries. “I don’t think this is gonna go as planned” I said but he quickly shushed me as he saw Henry walk in.

“Hey” “hi Henry, uh” “what’s up “ummmm” I rolled my eyes at his lack of communication and threw a frie in my mouth.

“How-how are you feeling?” “Uh well-“ “you can tell me, we’ve been friends for sooo long” jasper cutted of Henry and laugh nervously.

“So?” “So, even if you have a secret, I’m the perfect person for you to tell” he smiled widely at him, I rolled my eyes again and leaned back more in the booth.

“Lord come help him” i mumbled

“Well uh great cuz…y’know how I’ve been calling in sick to work?” Henry leaned in a little “yea” jasper leaned in a little closer towards him.

“Well…I was faking” that made jasper gasp

Then I heard Ray slam his hand on the table “I knew it!” I chuckled and shook my head turning my attention back on the boys.

“Why’d you tell Ray you were sick?” “You swear I can totally trust you?” “Sure! I mean, I’d never betray a friend!” He smiled but quickly dropped it as he looked at his shirt that had the wire under there.

“Well…c’mere” he told jasper, he told him to come closer “I’m done being Ray’s sidekick” jasper looked at him in shock.

“B-but why?!? You don’t wanna fight crime anymore?” “No! I do but I mean dude we don’t…we dont need captain man” Henry scoffed.

“But Ray’s indestructible! You can’t just get rid of Captain man!” “Well…see, I’ve been working secretly with Dr.Minyak” “NOO! “Yea!” They both extremely said.

“We’ve been developing this weapon that can melt Captain Man” I putted my hand over my eyes and laughed a little.

“And check this out…Once Ray’s outta the picture-“ “yea?” Once again Henry told Jasper to come as close as he could get “I’m gonna take over and make you and Leila my sidekick”

I wince “no I’m okay, thank you tho!” They both side-eyed me and I put my hands up in defense “Just sayin'” I mumbled.

“Me?” “Yeah” “w-d-no! Ray’s our friend, “Henry looked at him “I….we can’t just” Henry tilted his head at him, and the way he looked wanted me to-

“Okay, I’m in!” Jasper said excitedly which made me and Henry look at each other in confusion “what- your in?” “Yes sir, whatever you need me and Leila to do, we’ll do!”

I sigh “didn’t I just say I didn’t wanna be apart of it-“That’s when Ray clapped in hands “alright Henry, how’d you know Jasper was wearing a wire?”

“Cus I’m not an idiot, plus Leila wouldn't go anywhere with Jasper by herself” I pointed at Henry “That’s true” Henry looked back at me with his pretty smile which I returned back to him.

“Raaayy? We didn’t know you always come to this restaurant” Jasper nodded his head in another direction telling him to go which….wasn't working.

“Give it up son” “I can’t believe you spied on me, and have my own girlfriend to do it!” “Yea? Well I would’ve had to do all this if you hadn’t lied about being sick for three days, plus I provided her with food”

I pointed at Henry “Also true” Henry looked back at me with a look and I pursed my lips together and looked away nodding.

“I wasn’t lying dude, I-I had a cold! And like the flu or somethin',” Henry told him “Ohhh yeah, cuz everyone with the flu loves to sit around, eatin big ol’ junkin bowls of chili! Yeah, I saw it”

“It was brown soup!” “Brown, pfft—okay” “I knew it was brown soup!” Jasper throws up his hand causing the two to look at him as I laugh at their faces.

“Look, just admit that you were never sick, apologize and we can forget this whole thing!” Ray told Henry.

“I was sick, okay? And I’m still am?” “Oh my god! You suck a faker!” Ray told Henry still not believing he was actually sick.

I sighed and told Jasper to get up and he did. I started to slide outta the booth and he sat back down.

“A faker? Why would I fake this?” And that’s when they started to argue causing everyone in the restaurant to do nothing but stare at the both of them.

They continued to argue which I really had enough of and went up to them. “Ray! Henry wasn’t sick believe it or not, I mean look at the dark circles around his eyes! Now THAT it is not normal for someone who isn’t sick”

I said and grabbed Henry’s hand which he held back, “now once Henry starts feeling better he’ll come back to work okay? Alrighty see ya later” I smiled “Bye!”

Jasper yelled and wave as we exited the restaurant, we walked in silence until Henry ask a question. “Why’d you agree to do this?” Henry asks stopping us.

“Bae! He provided me with food—you know I can’t miss that opportunity” “You only had a basket of fries?!” I shrugged “They didn’t have anything I wanted on the menu”

I turned to walk again but he grabbed my wrist pulling me back “Please don’t do anything Ray would try to tell you to do, even if he provides you with food” But-“ he gave me that same look making me sigh.

“Fine” I leaned in and hugged as he hugged me back “I’ll never do anything he asks me, no matter how much food I’d probably get”

He chuckled and pulled away having his hands on the side of my hips as I had my arms wrapped around his neck “Good because if you do that again I’ll have to zap you” he sarcastically smiled at me and I laughing causing him to actually smile.

“You don’t have to worry about zapping me cause I’ll neve to do it again” “promise?” He held his pinky up making me giggle and wrapped my pinky around his.

“Promise! Now let's go home I’m sleepy”

And with that, we made it back towards Henry’s house to change into something comfortable to wear to bed, cuddled, and slept like babies throughout the rest of the day and night til the morning.

A/N: sorry for any misspelling<3

[escapethenightcrack]

ETN Season 3 guests as Taylor Swift lyrics

JC- “Some guy said my aura’s moonstone just ‘cause he was high” -Bejewled

Roi- “Got nothing in my brain” -Shake It Off

Teala- “It’s obvious that wanting me dead has really brought you two together” -mad woman

Colleen- “I don’t like your perfect crime, how you laugh when you lie” -Look What You Made Me Do

Safiya- “Take me to the lakes where all the poets went to die” -the lakes

Rosanna- “We can plant a memory garden. Say a solemn prayer, place a poppy in my hair. There’s no morning glory it was war it wasn’t fair” -The Great War

Manny- “I hope I never lose you, hope it never ends” -Cornelia Street

Matt- “Never take advice from someone who’s falling apart” -Dear Reader

Nikita- “This is how the world works, you gotta leave before you get left” -I Did Something Bad

Joey- “and it’s fine to fake it till you make it till you do, till it’s true” Snow On the Beach

[adenei]

Look What You Made Me Do

Back at it for Era #4 for the @cruelsummer-ficfest

Ship: Romione

Song: Look What You Made Me Do (Reputation)

*When you really wanted Fearless, but got Rep instead and had to roll with it*

Read on Ao3

I don’t like your little games

Don’t like your tilted stage

The role you made me play of the fool

No, I don’t like you

I don’t like your perfect crime

How you laugh when you lie

You said the gun was mine

Isn’t cool, no, I don’t like you

The past few days are the same old, same old for Hermione. She keeps her head down, focuses on her school work, and does everything she can to avoid her former best friend and his girlfriend, who just so happens to be her dorm mate. Wash, rinse, repeat.

When they first got together, she was angry, sad, and heartbroken over the whole thing. She thought Ron was going to Slughorn’s party with her, that it was a date. Only to have her fantasy bubble rudely popped by Lavender’s bubble gum lips attacking her man.

It’s not attacking if he kissed her back.

True, but Hermione’s not convinced he did it because he wanted to. She sees the way he still looks at her when he doesn’t think anyone else is looking. Lavender’s not who he wants, she’s sure of it.

Hermione thrashes around in her bed as she recalls the conversation she had with Lavender the night before the match. She told Lav that she and Ron were going to a party together. She’d staked her claim. And Lavender had laughed with a joyous little squeal, saying how happy she was for Hermione. That Hermione deserved happiness and Ron was hers for the taking. 

Lavender played Hermione as a fool, and swooped in when she let her guard down, stealing Ron for herself. It was the perfect crime.

As much as Hermione was ready to throw in the towel and let her win, but then she comes up with a plan. It’s diabolical, maniacal even, but if she pulls it off, it just might be the perfect revenge.

But I got smarter, I got harder in the nick of time

Honey, I rose up from the dead I do it all the time

I got a list of names and yours is in red, underlined

I check it once, then I check it twice, oh

Ooh, look what you made me do

look what you made me do

look what you just made me do

look what you made me…

It’s a month later and the scene is set. The concealed note was placed on Ron’s pillow during her free period this morning, charmed to reveal itself once he retired to his bed that evening. She fills the Transfigured flask with the potion she’s been brewing secretly at the Out of Order stall in the girls’ second floor bathroom and heads to Gryffindor Tower.

She goes about the rest of her evening, pretending to wallow while she’s shut behind the curtains of her four-poster bed. Instead of spending the hours doing her homework, she meticulously paints each nail a vibrant shade of fuschia and applies the same amount of makeup Lavender does each morning. 

When Lavender finally enters the dorm for the night, Hermione waits with bated breath for her to fall asleep. The minutes tick closer to midnight, and with ten minutes to spare, Hermione silently retreats to the bathroom to steal a strand of hair from Lavender’s hairbrush.

The transformation is quick, though Hermione doubts she’ll get the taste of daisies and bubblegum out her mouth any time soon. With a deep breath, she exits the bathroom stall and checks her appearance in the mirror. If she didn’t know it was herself behind the blonde waves and heavy makeup, she’d have no idea. 

She places one last swipe of pink lip gloss over her lips and throws her cloak over her body, concealing her identity. After one last check that Lavender is indeed sleeping soundly in her bed, Hermione heads down the stairs, shedding the cloak before she emerges into the common room.

Her heart nearly beats out of her chest when she realizes her plan worked. There’s Ron, sitting on the sofa in front of the fireplace, waiting for Lav. Little does he know, it’s really her.

I don’t like your kingdom keys 

They once belonged to me 

You asked me for a place to sleep 

Locked me out and threw a feast

Ron offers a weak smile as he rubs his hands over his pajama-clad legs. Hermione’s suspicions about his eagerness—or lack thereof—for the relationship are confirmed when the smile doesn’t reach his eyes. She wonders if he only met ‘Lav’ here because he’s a good person who doesn’t like to let people down.

“Didn’t get enough earlier?” he asks with a soft, uneasy chuckle.

Hermione’s lips curl into a coy smile. “Never.”

She sashays to him, closing the distance before straddling his lap. The old Hermione would have never done this, even as someone else. But desperate times call for desperate measures.

Her hands cradle Ron’s head and her fingers comb through his soft red locks. The ginger shade clashes with the vibrant pink, but it’s okay, it won’t be for long—at least she hopes.

Despite her lack of experience, her lips automatically find his, and though it’s stickier than she’d prefer, it’s everything she ever hoped for. The kiss quickly becomes deeper, and Ron’s hands find their home on her hips. She grinds into him and feels him hardening beneath her.

It’s everything she ever dreamed of until the realization sinks in and nausea threatens to take over. He thinks she’s Lav, and apparently Lav’s body does this to him. But that only stems more anger, and she pushes forward. Until he suddenly breaks away.

Breathless, she forces her mind to focus. “W-what?”

“You’re not using—er, you—you usually use tongue.” His cheeks turn pink and his eyes crinkle in confusion.

Shit. 

She should have known. Needing to act fast, she says the first thing she thinks of. “Oh, um, I guess I wanted to try something new.”

“Why?” Ron’s gaze hardens and Hermione thinks he might be onto her.

She shrugs, trying to play it off. “Because I wanted to make sure I checked all of the boxes.”

“What boxes? Wait, does this have to do with the thing you wanted to ‘talk’ about?”

Talk about what? I didn’t specify that I wanted to talk about anything in that letter…

But it doesn’t matter. With more quick thinking, Hermione jumps at the opportunity.

“Yes, as a matter of fact it does.”

“Okay…”

Time to take back what’s rightfully mine.

“Well, you see, I just wanted one more good snog before—” Hermione cuts herself off, nibbles on her bottom lip, and gives the best sympathetic ‘Lavender’ look she can muster.

“Before what?”

“Look, I’m really sorry, Ron, but it’s not working out. Kissing you after the match was a heat of the moment thing, and you’re just not doing it for me. I just needed to make absolutely sure with one last snog.” Hermione scrambles off his lap and plays with a lock of blonde hair that’s characteristic of Lavender. “I just figured I’d do you the favor of making our break-up a bit more private than how we got together.”

She waits for him to say something, anything, but he simply stares at her with wide eyes. They remain in this stalemate for another minute before Hermione checks the clock and realizes her time is almost up. She needs to get out of there.

“So, um, I guess I’ll see you around?” She takes a few steps backward before turning to bolt up the stairs. 

As her foot hits the first step of the girls’ staircase, she hears a faint, “Er, yeah, alright, I guess.”

Ripples flow through her body as she transforms back to herself, and she can’t help but smile as she retrieves her abandoned cloak and heads to bed. 

He didn’t even fight it.

The world moves on, another day, another drama, drama

But not for me, not for me, all I think about is karma

And then the world moves on but one thing’s for sure

Maybe I got mine, but you’ll all get yours

The next morning, Hermione waits a little longer than usual to get ready before breakfast. Lavender and Parvati are already up and heading down the stairs when she emerges from the bathroom.

When she heads down for breakfast a few minutes later, she’s met with a raucous in the common room. Lavender is lighting into a thunder-struck Ron. She’s screaming and insisting she never broke up with him and if he wants to end things he should just say so, and it takes everything in Hermione to keep a straight face. 

But as she walks by the scene, she grabs the strap of her messenger bag, her still-pink nails in plain view. And when she catches Ron’s eye during the onslaught, she knows he sees it, and a little smirk escapes as she clambers through the portrait hole.

Ooh, look what you made me do

look what you made me do

look what you just made me do

look what you made me do

[persephones-journey]

Okay. It’s been 2 days since The Last Kingdom wrapped up with its movie. So, I have had time to ponder, and cry, and think, and be in denial, but I think it’s time I share what that show has done for me and how it may have changed my life.

All right, so picture this, I am scrolling on Tumblr on my desktop bored out of my mind, not writing, in fact I think at this point I hadn’t written anything in months. And then suddenly there’s this gif set.

I can’t tell you which person I follows that posted it but I do remember my first reaction: Is that Francis from Reign?

And I was right. It was a gif set of Aethelflaed and Aethelred’s wedding. I was mildly interested but kept scrolling. And then came another gif set; same wedding but this one had Finan and Aethelwold.

I did not know the characters names then but I did know that 1. Aethelwold called Finan an Irishman and I really do have a soft spot for guys with accents and 2. Finan saying ‘I’ll kill ya in your sleep’ had exactly no business being that sexy.

That gif set made me write down the name of the show ‘The Last Kingdom’ into my notebook of tv shows/crime documentaries to watch.

BUT

I did not watch it until later… You guessed it lockdown from COVID. I had so much time, so I binged the series.

And waited all through season 1 for Finan, he didn’t show and man, not going to lie, Uhtred was not making the best decisions. I almost quit the show… but I had a goal: sexy Irishman.

(I’m halfway joking about that…)

When I did reach season 2 and Finan, I found I had fallen for other characters; Ragnar, Hild, Leofric, Beocca, hell even Alfred was all right. But season 2 also brought Thyra, Sihtric, Gisela, and Osferth.

I loved the whole found family dynamic. And it helped a tiny bit that a lot of the actors were fairly good looking.

But I don’t think I actually fell in love with the show until season 3.

I know, all of you are like ‘we get it. Season 3 Finan was sexy, you have mentioned it before’ and I have. But honestly, look at him:

But it was more than just Finan looking sexy, (all my friends are like ‘you’re lying’) it was the Coccham Squad as a whole. They had grown closer and tighter. The storyline for season 3 was the perfect balance of heartbreak and triumph for me. Finan was a smartass, always saying what I was thinking. Sihtric had his spy moment and fake turn. Osferth was sweet and caring. And Uhtred, surprisingly he had grown as a character, unsurprisingly he was still making stupid decisions.

But this season is my fave for more than that. This season, it got that writing spark going again.

And as I moved onto season 4, that spark became a flame.

So I wrote like 600 pages, no chapter breaks, one doc per season of this idea I had. And I told myself that would be it. I didn’t expect the desire to write to last, and if it did I was a hardcore Supernatural girl. I had stories I needed to finish for that fandom.

Finan though, that sexy Irish bastard would not be denied.

And I found myself rewatching the series… I mean, I started at season 2 the episode where Finan shows up. ( sorry Em)

And I got another idea. And I just decided: Fuck it. And signed up to get an Ao3 account and started writing and posting.

Now, this is the part where I get a little emotional. It was through my fic that I met some of my closest friends. I got an invite to a Discord server and the rest is history.

I have laughed with these awesome peeps, cried with them, celebrated their victories, and shared in their defeats. Spent far too many hours talking about how sexy certain characters are *cough cough* Finan and Sihtric.

I found my own family, you could say.

So, yes, The Last Kingdom is over, there will be no new adventures with Uhtred and his pretty boys.

But I will still have my own adventures with the Bread team. @emilyhufflepufftlk @lauwrite1225 @morosemagick @solinarimoon @blah-blah-blah-bla @muddleofnervouswords @medievalfangirl @cibs @93xdiagonxalley @anotherwinchesterfangirl

And I have Uhtred, Finan, Sihtric, and Osferth to thank for that, along with the many other great characters who made that show so damn compelling.

So thank you to The Last Kingdom for bringing me my people.

Oh, and for dropping this incredibly sexy but so nerdy Scotsman on my radar…. But that’s another post 😉

[comparativetarot]

Ten of Swords. Art by Stephanie Pearson, from the Taylor Swift Eras Tarot Deck.

I don’t like your perfect crime how you laugh when you lie you said the gun was mine isn’t cool, no, I don’t like you

[eternalxbarbie]

look what you made me do II LUCILINE

I don’t like your perfect crime, how you laugh when you lie. You said the gun was mine, isn’t cool. No, I don’t like you. I got smarter, I got harder in the nick of time. Honey, I rose up from the dead, I do it all the time. I’ve got a list of names and yours is in red, underlined. 

Today was the day that she was finally going to tell her mother about her relationship. It was a nerve-wracking thought. Caroline wasn’t sure that Liz was going to understand or approve of her dating Klaus, much less dating both Klaus and Stefan. Her mother had always been old-fashioned, and nerves swirled in the pit of the vampire’s stomach as she made her way out of the dorm and to her car.

Lucien had been waiting for her. The pair had not seen each other since that fateful Halloween party and he knew the blonde would be a mess just at the sight of him, so he approached slowly. “Caroline,” he greeted, keeping his distance.

Fear flashed in her blue eyes immediately just at the sound of his voice and she hoped like hell that he hadn’t seen it. Dark veins danced around her eyes, fangs snapping into place as she glared at him. “We have nothing to say to each other,” she spat out, pulling her keys out to unlock her car door.

He ghosted to her side, turning her around and pushing her back against the car. One arm stayed on each side of her head and Caroline was paralyzed with fear. The idea of his fangs in her neck again spurred her on, however. It didn’t matter how much older or stronger he was in that moment. She was angrier. Caroline shoved him off of her with all her might, hissing as he stumbled backwards.

“Why the hell can’t you just leave me alone?” she growled out, rage flashing in her eyes.

“You know why!” Lucien spat back. “You know why and you could help me and yet you refuse.”

“I don’t have to explain myself to you. You assaulted me for no reason. You traumatized me for no reason. I owe you nothing.”

Lucien sighed, one hand coming up to run through his hair as he watched her try to open the door to her car yet again, only to find her hands shaking with a mix of anger and fear.

“Caroline,” he repeated, softer this time. “She won’t be waiting for you.”

Those words were enough to stop her in her tracks. She turned, achingly slowly, to face him again. “What are you talking about?” she asked, voice full of quiet rage.

“Your mother,” Lucien said simply. “She won’t be waiting for you.”

No. No, that couldn’t be true. She had just spoke to her mom only a few minutes before. Liz had been on her way to respond to a car crash just on the outside of the border and then she was going to wait at Caroline’s apartment outside of Mystic Falls so that they could go to lunch. They had just spoken.

“You’re lying,” she said slowly, taking deliberate steps towards the older man. “She’s inside the border. Even if you compelled someone to go after her, the compulsion would wear off once they were inside.”

“If they had to go inside, that would be true,” Lucien answered.

And then it clicked. The car accident. He’d planned this. This was all another part of his sick, twisted little game.

“If you do anything to my mother, I won’t hesitate to destroy you. I swear to God, Lucien, if you hurt my mother–––”

He held up a hand to stop her. “I won’t be the one that hurts her, Caroline.”

What the hell did that mean? Lucien pulled out his phone, dialing a number and grinning when the person on the other end of the line answered. “Hello, love. Yes, I have Caroline right here. She’d like to speak to you, if you have a moment.” He held the phone out to the blonde, smirking. “It’s for you.”

Caroline took his phone, staring at Lucien in horror as she put the device to her ear. “Hello?” she whispered, unprepared for who might be on the other end.

“Hi, Care. Everything okay?”

That wasn’t what she was expecting. Her stomach dropped and she could feel tears springing to her eyes. Stefan. Lucien had compelled Stefan.

“Hi, honey,” she said, trying to keep her voice calm as she spoke. Her eyes stayed on Lucien’s glaring at the older vampire as his smug smirk stayed in place. “Is...Is my mom okay?”

“Yeah, of course,” Stefan answered, confusion evident in his voice. “We’re at your apartment. Nik said that she’s not safe, so I have to stay with her for a while, but we’ll keep each other company. I’ve always liked spending time with your mom.”

Nik? There was no way that Klaus had told him to do that without informing Caroline.

“Stefan, when did you talk to Nik about that?” she asked. Lucien looked positively gleeful now and Caroline was terrified for the answer to come.

“Care, are you sure you’re okay? He literally just handed you the phone.”

Realization and horror dawned on Caroline’s face as Lucien snatched the phone from her hand. “Stefan, I don’t think our girl is feeling too well. I’m going to mend her right up and then give you a ring back. Take care of Liz for us. Kisses.”

Caroline’s hand was wrapped around the older man’s throat as soon as he ended the call. “You son of a bitch.”

It was Lucien’s turn to push her off now, sending the blonde sprawling backwards. He straightened his suit jacket as he waited for her to return to her feet. “I’m going to explain a few things to you now, darling, and you better listen close because I’m only going to do this once.”

“Stefan and I met in Chicago in the 1920′s. We,,,how should I phrase this? Rekindled our connection the night of the Halloween party. Luckily, I happened to catch him after he had been off of vervain for a few days and compelling him was easier than I could have ever imagined. At first, I just had him bring me information but when it became obvious that neither Nik nor you were going to budge on your stance regarding the sire lines, I had to take a more nuclear option. And when I heard from one of my little bird’s that the two of you threatened Casandra? Well, let’s just say that I now had the proper motivation to put my plan into action.”

Caroline remained silent, as much as she wanted to break the vampire’s neck and get to the border and rescue her mother and boyfriend. She needed to figure out exactly what he had in place so she knew how to stop it.

“So, I compelled Stefan to think that I was Niklaus. Nik and his siblings forced me to pretend to be him for over a century, so I’m just taking a page from their own playbook. I sent him to Mystic Falls, and I put in the fake call to the police station about an accident. Your mother made it to the scene, and as soon as Stefan saw her, the compulsion kicked in. The benefit of compelling someone your mother knows to kidnap her is that she’s resistant to fight back. Getting her to that handy little apartment you have on the outskirts of Mystic Falls was easy. My men are watching the building, of course, and will be quick to inform me if you or Nik go to try to stage a rescue attempt. If you do, one phone call to Stefan and my handy dandy compulsion will kick in and then it’s bye-bye Mommy.”

The blonde was coursing with rage at this point and she couldn’t stop herself from interjecting. “And what is it that you’re trying to accomplish here? What do you want from me?”

Lucien grinned. “Now, now, Caroline! I can’t spoil the game that far ahead. If I tell you what I truly want, Nik will have time to plan for it. So, in the short term, I can let you know that the way to get your mother released is simple. If you agree to come to my apartment and be spelled inside the premises by a little witchy friend of mine, I’ll let Stefan and your mother go.”

“Fine,” she said immediately. “I’ll do it. Just let them be.”

Lucien shakes his head. “No, no, no. I want you and Klaus to discuss it first. I want you to suffer, I want him to suffer, and I want to see which one of you he’ll pick to give up. Will he choose his longtime flame, Stefan Salvatore? Or you, the girl that took his world by storm? Whichever one of you he chooses to give up...well, that’s gotta hurt. I’ll give you a week or so, then you give me your decision. Until then, no funny business or Liz bites the dust. And look on the bright side! I just saved you a three hour car ride, love.”

Caroline can’t do anything but glare at him, her hands clenched into fists by her sides. How had they not seen this coming? How had she not better protected both Liz and Stefan? She had to find Klaus.

Lucien blew the blonde a kiss as he started to depart. “I look forward to your decision, love. Toodaloo!”

[dira333]

Writing Prompts

For Requests or Inspiration:

Song inspirations:

If you can’t face forever, tell me lies (Safe - Nico Santos)

Is there a moment, there in love, we ever thought we’ve got enough? (Safe - Nico Santos)

History Repeats (We Can Do Better - Matt Simons)

Blindfolded minds (Strangers - Sigrid)

Our touch is just a touch (Strangers - Sigrid)

perfect pretenders (Strangers- Sigrid)

Lonely Shadows (Strangers - Sigrid)

Begging for Trouble (Schedules - Sigrid)

The best lie (Plot Twist - Sigrid)

You’ve seen my red as blue (Dynamite - Sigrid)

You're as safe as a mountain, But know that I'm dynamite (Dynamite - Sigrid)

Dreams fight with machines (Hurts like Hell - Fleurie)

Your heart fits like a key (Hurts like Hell - Fleurie)

Careful son, you got dreamer's plans (Soldier - Fleurie) 

Technicolour Beat (Technicolour Beat - Oh Wonder)

Took my soul and wiped it clean (All I Want - Kodaline)

We go deeper than the ink beneath the skin of our tattoos (Brother - Kodaline)

make my heart feel like it's summer (The One - Kodaline)

Tired of love songs (I’m so tired - Lauv)

Midnight into morning coffee (I like me better - Lauv)

Keep our bodes tied together (Chasing Fire - Lauv)

I′m the outsider in your crowd (I don’t wanna know - Sigrid)

Rode our bikes into the sky (Hold back the river - James Bay)

Lonely water, won′t you let us wander (Hold back the river - James Bay)

in You I find my identity (You say - Lauren Daigle)

missed that face for a couple of years (Oh Hello - Nico Santos)

Whiskey Goodbyes (Hope - The Chainsmokers)

Walking the Wire (Walking the Wire - Imagine Dragons) 

I run from the things that I want the most (Maybe don’t - Maisie Peters)

sky burns red against your skin (Hurricane - Fleurie)

Lost your mind in the sound (King - Lauren Aquilina)

Water in a Whale (True North - Jillette Johnson)

Dark diamond in my eyes (Torpedo - Jillette Johnson)

Break these clocks forget about time (A.M. - One Direction)

Don′t wanna sleep 'cause we′re dreaming out loud (A.M. - One Direction)

Walking in the Wind (Walking in the Wind - One Direction)

You’re not a constant star (Fool’s Gold - One Direction)

A false star for your wide eyes (Sympathy - Kyla la Grange)

I wanna see myself painted an invisible grey (Heavy Stone - Kyla la Grange)

Taylor Swift Lyrics that always inspire me:

the street lights pointed in an arrowhead, leading us home 

I hate accidents except when we went from friends to this

‘Cause all of my enemies started out friends

I ask the traffic lights if it’ll be alright. They say “I don’t know”

I’ll paint the kitchen neon, I’ll brighten up the sky

Fighting with true love is boxing with no gloves

Lost my gloves, you give me one

Once thinking that your dad was ten feet tall

And they say little girls have big dreams

I don’t like your perfect crime. How you laugh when you lie.

I’ve got a list of names and yours in red, underlined.

How was I supposed to know that he was just as cold inside?

I brought a knife to a gunfight

All my flowers grew back as thorns

Use my best colors for your portrait

Look at how my tears ricochet

[herohikara-wol]

FFXIV Write 2k23 - Day 16

Jerk - Emperor AU (tw: non-graphic death)

Hades stared into the mirror in his recreated apartment in Amaurot. Top floor, allowing him to see over the city, but also allowing him to see the souls in the aetherial sea as they danced and decided where to go. At least- it once had. Seeing the light filter down from the ocean above was a poor substitute. “He’s our son, Hythlodeus. I have to look our son in the eyes and decide on how best to dispose of him for the crime of getting in my way. Last time I was lucky, illness overtook him so young he never had the chance to flourish. Now he’s back and he’s alive and well and bright and capable.”

His gold-clawed hands gripped the marble, threatening to scratch the perfect facade of the sink. “Only half his soul and he’s thriving, not even realizing what he’s missing. Dark hair looks good on him you know, he still has those freckles too, but his eyes are all wrong. Blue instead of my gold. The problem is that smile, it still looks like yours. That little grin that lights up his face and makes the whole room seem brighter. Our son still has your smile after all these long years and countless reincarnations.”

The shade of Hythlodeus wasn’t supposed to be able to converse with him, he was supposed to be a mindless automaton going through the motions of the days leading up to the last time they’d ever see each other. Except Hades had messed up, and gods knew he was well aware of it, but the Shade had Hythlodeus’ gentle teasing tone and knew exactly what it was. 

It knew it wasn’t the real Hyth, that this was all a stage play, but it played the part to perfection anyway. Which is why he wasn’t surprised to hear Hyth’s voice reply, “He is still our Eros at heart, yes?” His playful voice betrayed the smile he would have worn despite his featureless face. “Must you be opposed to him at all? Eros has always been reasonable, personable even. Willing to make friend out of foe no matter how unkind they were to him. He tries so hard to find a way for everyone to be happy, have you tried just talking to him?”

“He wouldn’t dare trust me. Not with what I’ve done to him already. He’s been primed to hate me, to see my plots fail.” Hades turned the idea over in his mind, trying to consider what would happen if he chose to haunt the palace to gently nudge Hero in the right direction. “Eros has always been so good at seeing through lies, to the point that he cannot lie to save himself. I would have to be honest and forthcoming with him. I cannot lie to our little Eros.”

Hythlodeus laughed like chimes on the wind from the other room, “you know how to lie to our son, Hades. Don’t even pretend, or is telling him only as much truth as he needs to hear a difficult concept for my most esteemed Emet-Selch?” Hades felt his cheeks burning a bit, his own creation mocking him, the way Hyth would yes but still. “Think back on his youth, before he knew the way of the world. We would tell him only as much truth as he needed to hear, and let him learn the rest when he needed to know.”

“He has always been trusting, I could make him a friend instead of an enemy.” He tapped his fingers on the cold marble for a moment as he mulled the idea over in his mind. “Lahabrea tried to fight him, and now Lahabrea is gone.” He walked from the bathroom to the bedside table, opening a drawer to show the memory crystals he had made, reaching quietly to take the brilliant orange one with Azem’s mark. “He’s only half his strength and so powerful already, befriending him and using him is only logical. He may never see eye to eye with me, but he can be used.” He dropped the crystal back in the drawer and nodded to the shade of Hythlodeus. “Thank you, dear. I’ll be out late tonight, don’t wait up.”

“Of course, goodbye my most esteemed Emet-Selch. Take care.”

Hades knew the palace of Garlemald too well, Hero should be alone in his chambers. He was a single young man with few marriage prospects worth his time. He wasn’t anticipating anyone besides the warrior of light to be in the room when he stepped from the portal in his borrowed body- only to have it shot right in the face by his enraged grandson.

 “Varis!” Hero couldn’t help but flail his hands a bit, trying to physically grasp the words from thin air until he finally pulled his thoughts together. “If he was going to kill me it wouldn’t be this quietly, you could have at least let him talk! What if the person he was possessing was still alive?”

“One of the clone bodies from that project I told you about went missing after the conversation you had with him earlier, remember? That’s why I was telling you about the project in the first place. It wasn’t a person, it was a mindless clone before he inhabited it.”

“Mindless is a strong word, and I’d thank you not to shoot me again.” Hades stepped out from a different room this time, frowning at the body on the floor and the blood on the carpet before snapping his fingers and vanishing the whole mess. “Honestly, I’d think you’d be more grateful for what I’ve done for you.”

Regula had already put himself between Hero and the late Emperor, but Varis simply pointed his gun at the old man as if to shoot again. “You have done nothing for me except ruin my life at every turn. I owe you no thanks for the bare minimum you did for me as my grandsire.”

“I gave you a puppet to rule the Empire through, clearly, if he needs you here at this hour keeping an eye on him like an overprotective nursemaid.” Damnit this wasn’t to plan at all, he was supposed to be charming Hero into letting his guard down, not bickering with the grandson of his last performance.

“Varis and Regula were helping me go over my plans for revitalizing Ala Mhigo and helping the people regain trust in the Empire. It’s not a perfect plan, but I figured starting with re-opening their industries, helping find work that isn’t just enlisting in the military, starting trade routes across the empire to make sure everyone has access to goods they need to thrive-” Hero paused for a moment and waved the Ascian over. “See I realized why you shuttered all the quarries and the saltery in Ala Mhigo, because it left the people too poor to afford to buy food without enlisting in the military. Which caused anger, strife, and resentment. A man who can’t find work is more likely to move to desperate measures to feed his family. You took away comforts like entertainment and religion. Made a society where if you didn’t die in war you died broken and hungry. It was all on purpose, right?”

“Well, yes.” Already thrown off balance, Hades didn’t hear an ounce of judgment in Hero’s voice. Only curiosity.

“Well it was a dick move, but it’s something I can fix. Something I can change. Something I will change, whether you like it or not. I’ve already lifted the ban on funeral rites and we’re working on an Alliance with Ishgard so Garlemald can see that Religion isn’t the cause of primals. Desperation is. Suffering is. If people aren’t at their breaking point, they won’t ask the gods for help, they’ll ask their neighbors. They’ll ask their community, and you stole their community from them, so I’m trying to give it back. My people aren’t going to be outsiders in their own homes, not anymore.”

Hades swallowed for a moment, reading over the proposals reminded him again of his son. So he scoffed, “if I had known you were an idealist to this degree, I’d have never named you my heir.”

“So you can make mistakes, that’s a good start.” It was so easy to talk to him, to fall for that smile. Hero was carefully picking apart decades of scheming and Hades couldn’t find it in him to do anything more than be a bit rude about it. “By the way the wineglass you broke was one of your old crystal ones, apparently it was a gift from your late wife? So that’s on you.”

He’d been in this room ten minutes and his plan had both gone sideways and already started working in the worst way. No plan ever survives first contact with the enemy, but he should have known better than to bother having a plan at all when Azem was involved. “Perhaps I left a bit too hastily. I suppose if you’re going to undo all my hard work I should at least hang around to watch you fail.”

“Will you get in my way?”

“No.” Varis still had a gun trained on him, and desperately seemed to want an excuse to pull the trigger. Only by Hero’s patience was his hand stayed for the moment. “I’ve decided you’re more valuable as an ally than an enemy. You already killed Lahabrea, and he was one of the most powerful of us despite his madness. You like fixing things, don’t you? I figured if I told you the truth of the world, maybe we could come to an understanding.”

Hero cocked his head for a moment, as if weighing every word that came out of his mouth carefully. “No lies. Varis, it’s fine, do you think you can suffer the burden of his presence for a little bit? For me?”

“I refuse to be near him unarmed, and I refuse to allow him near you without someone to keep an eye on him for sabotage attempts.”

“I promise not to sabotage his attempts to repair the bridges I burnt as Emperor, Varis, you have my word. I swear it on your father.”

Varis finally put his gun back in the holster, but even Hades heard the man mumble “prick” under his breath. That was fine with him, only Hero had to like him in order for his plan to succeed.

The only one who mattered in this room was his Eros.

[music-in-my-veins14]

I don't like your little games Don't like your tilted stage The role you made me play Of the fool, no, I don't like you I don't like your perfect crime How you laugh when you lie You said the gun was mine Isn't cool, no, I don't like you (Oh!)

[wildernessuntothemselves]

A bad feeling about the place? What the fuck does that mean? It’s just a beach, what could possibly go wrong there?

Waiting for bro to pull the "My girlfriend died there" card here again like he did with the baby thing 😭

Still, you hesitate. You didn’t think that anything could go wrong by being friends with Taehyun either and that Beomgyu was being overly jealous and paranoid but here you are. Maybe if you go there you'll fucking drown or something crazy like that.

No girl he's afraid he's going to drown.. in something else..past memories

But you really wanted to visit that place. Maybe you should go when he's at work…

Yes yes yees yesss please go 😁

God, you hate hearing that false word fall out of his mouth. You're pretty sure Beomgyu has never been sorry for anything in his life.

Beomgyu is like a cat with more than nine lives, and I can assure you he has never felt sorry for anything he did. 

As I'm seeing OC roast him so badly in moments like these, I feel like there's some hope she won't be very tolerant of him once she finds out the truth, but I guess we'll see once I finish reading this chapter. I love the chapter so far 😭each detail is so perfect. Thank you for this, Mort ❤

"Gods?” You laugh. That’s new. “I'm your only god, baby.”

“Yeah… only you.”

THIS.

I really think that he does not even see the gods as what they are. He doesn't even care about their judgment as long as he has her. Like, it kind of feels like he only sees her as his god.

“No!” It feels strange defending something that a possibly fictional, possibly real version of you may have done because she's not you!--or is she? You didn’t leave him but you did. You don’t have to answer for her crimes but you feel compelled to try to anyway. “I thought I was saving you.”

But that just makes him angry, his fury so deep it couldn’t possibly have just been born today. It feels ancient, the edge of it sharpening over centuries. “Don't lie. That's not why you left.”

both of them are right but hate how none of them try to understand each other

“And the right choice is you?” You ask and he scoffs, looking affronted by the mere idea of there being a question about it. “It clearly isn't him. After all he's done to you. He imprisoned you. He raped you… He killed you.”

Very valid points were made here. As much as I want them to be together, I just can't see it happening logically. Maybe he can't either, that's why he says this in the fight next.

To your surprise, it is not Beomgyu but Taehyun who speaks up, his voice so uncharacteristically weak coming out of his almost crushed windpipe. “Let him kill me. Maybe then I'll be rid of you.”

The coldness in his voice freezes the air in your lungs, forming jagged icicles that tear you apart from the inside. 

“You've made a fool of me too many times before. I will not live out another life as a fool. Free me of you.”

This is the closest happy ending we could've gotten, so I'll just take it. 

This fight scene was so well constructed, I can really see the effort put into it.

I guess he finally made up his mind now; it's so fitting for his character. I love this.

He rolls his eyes, standing up and pulling you flush against his body. “He’ll live. Might take some time to recover, or better yet he’ll be dumber for it, but he’ll live just like you wanted. Now forget about him and just focus on me.” He grabs your chin and turns your gaze away from the unconscious Taehyun and towards his own face. “You have to hold up your end of the bargain now princess or you'll pay with his life.” 

That was so cruel, Gyu.

But I feel like he'll live, he has to. What else can an avoidant do?

It will take some time, but I hope he gets well from everything. ' This avoidant life is so lonely, man.

-👺

ohhh he should have. but he can't use the same cards too much

well if i continue after this ending she'd be visiting the old palace and if i do the tyun ending then she'd be going to the castle

unfortunately he gets her anyway. once again it's taehyun's life on the line that does her in.

gyu definitely does not give a shit about anything except oc. he hates the gods for separating her from him and he would literally kill them and bring the world to its knees if it meant he could keep her

yeah like oc did always consciously or unconsciously choose gyu but she also was very pressured into it even if tyun doesn't want to admit it

he won't move on from this unfortunately. he'll bring hell down on them for it.

[monamipencil]

op, you genius.

when i tell you this story had a chokehold on me??? this was way too fucking good. the plot, their chemistry, their fucking characters, the ending, THE PLOT TWISTS. everything was so damn good and well crafted?

morally grey characters and unreliable narrators will always have my heart.

the fucking plot. this was perfect from the start to finish. this had me on the edge of my seat at all times. i didn't even suspect the possibility of this ending. you didn't just make her fool the characters but me too??? that's talent. my jaw dropped multiple times while reading this. man, this was such a good read. i got another story to gush about to my friends.

mingyu. i always had an eye out for him. it was so easy to pin it all on him, yk? and i did not fucking see him using her. the chemistry just seemed so genuine that i didnt even suspect. he's so witty and intelligent. i rly loved his char. and he's hot?? ughh. i folded when i read he was wearing a red suit. but shit, he worked so well as a red herring.

oc. man, oc was a wild ride. istg, i felt so much sympathy for her and actually understood her. but i never guessed she would've kill him. what a twist. she was such an enigma too. i love cut throat female leads. her sarcasm, and her no-filter, no bs personality >>> loved her with everything. and i said, i support women's and i support women's wrongs too. like, kill him girl!!

the pairing. hater girl x lover boy (who has a murderous streak.) ngl, the hate game was so hot too. their bickering and undeniable chemistry was hot. and when they started understanding and accepting each other ?? ughh. the fluff was so good. dont even get me started on the smut, dammit. even when it came down to him (initially) trying to pin everything down on her, i just wanted them to talk shit out (she's way too nice and patient, i personally would've poisoned him 🥰) but she was the murderer all along?!?!? yes, i've lost it. and when it just took one glance for them to pounce on the investigator??? ugh the last line was the nail on the coffin. who doesn't love good ol' murderous love stories.

as a crime fanatic and a romanticist, this was everything i've ever wanted. tysm for writing this and sharing this with us!! you're such a genius op, i will look forward to your future writings <3

mingyu laughs when you punch his shoulder, his hand comfortable on your lower back. you don’t swat it away, utterly contradicting your previous words, but you can’t find it in yourself to care that much.

ughhh, the contrast to the last time. they rly grew on each other. i love them so much

you notice a clear difference in his tone, his breathing, his eyes dropping down to your lips — oh, he’s fucking turned on. he knows you want him as badly as he wants you. you both know it.

this scene got me so hot and bothered. their chemistry???

but he does know one thing — he worships the ground you walk on.

asdfghjkl, *squeals and dies*

but you should know by now that all good things come to an end — one way or another.

what? not the foreboding plss. not after that vulnerable scene 😭😭

 i can only think of one person who fits the criteria — his daughter.”

*cues seokmin's betrayed expression from the mafia game*

“it’s not a lie, because i’m in love with you!” he raises his voice in desperation, “i don’t care if you shoot me right here, right now. it won’t change how i feel about you.”

why am i siding for them to get ack together like i wont rip his head off irl?

he could cry the moment you do meet his eyes. it’s like he sees a different version of himself staring back at him. “because you did the right thing. i would’ve done the same. well, except for your little affair with me.”

i've lost it ig. i'm siding with a murderer. but her father was diabolical. and "it’s like he sees a different version of himself staring back at him." 😭😭 nothing more vulnerable than seeing yourself in someone else.

his hand cups your jaw. you can feel his breath on your bare skin, his gaze on your body, shamelessly checking you out before he meets your eyes again. “what we had was real. you make everyone else in my life seem like… nothing.”

lola losing her sanity pt. 3. im just a girl, guys 🎀

“no. because you want me.” fucking hell, he’s pretty sure his sex drive has never been this high before. “so have me, baby. please — i’m all yours.” he rasps, pressing a kiss so chaste to your lips, they barely touch. his hands burn on your skin.

desperate men who'd go to hell and back for you and worship the ground you walk on >>>

“oh, so what?” you shrug, finding the accusation bothersome at best.

WHAT?! IT WAS HER? my jaw is hung open. why tf did i not see that coming. wtf

“what, will you kill me too?” he asks, and when both you and mingyu deadpan a stare at him, he knows the answer.

the plot twists after plot twists?!?! i support women's rights. i also support women's wrongs. kill him girl.

“i guess so.” locking the front door to ensure no one can enter, you cross your arms. “so. are we burning, burying or dumping him in a lake?”

oc is the ultimate girl boss. i love her

after all, love can exist even in the murderous heart.

this is the perfect way to end this story. and ??!?!?! damn, this was a wild ride and i loved it so much.

LIAR, LIAR!

PAIRING — kim mingyu x fem!reader

❝ AND THE DANCE FLOOR IS FILLING UP WITH BLOOD, BUT OH LORD, YOU’VE NEVER BEEN SO IN LOVE! ❞

WORD COUNT — 13.5k

SYNOPSIS — in a dramatic turn of events, a rich businessman is found dead in his lavish estate, and the authorities believe it was no accident. as the detectives dig deeper, they ultimately end up with two key suspects: you, the businessman’s very own daughter, and your sworn enemy, kim mingyu. as the time progresses, tensions rise and secrets spill — and the truth has the power to either bring you closer together or tear you apart.

TAGS — murder mystery, rich rivals to partners in crime to lovers, whole lotta plot, explicit sexual content, somewhat graphic depictions of death, everyone and everything is dysfunctional™, mentions of suicide, unrealistic circumstances, moral compass is nowhere to be found, angst, medium long hair!gyu bc self-indulgence, tsundere-ish reader again guys sorry i love her so bad, mentions of parental neglect, this ended up so long help

♪ verydeadly - wolves (kanye west cover),, low - dancing and blood,, vessel - red sex,, florence + the machine - mermaids,, zayn - bordersz,, mikky ekko - who are you, really?,, q - alone,, danna paola - tenemos que hablar,, blue foundation - eyes on fire (4 ave version),, summer camp - i want you

NOTE — one of my favorite episodes of going seventeen remains bad clue 2020, i loved mingyu’s role in it and i could totally see him portraying darker/morally grey characters and rock tf out of it so. i wrote this solely based on that idea. the music recs above are also really nice to get into the vibe! enjoyyyy :D

[ ONE ] ✧˚ · .⋆ ★ [ TWO ]

viii. I LOVE YOU LIKE A DRUG

november has a harsh cold to it that goes right through the skin of your cheeks. with your long black coat and matching gloves, you walk through the city, heading towards your lawyer’s office.

it’s been a few days since you last saw or talked to mingyu. you’ve been thinking about the kiss constantly, unable to stop it from clouding your mind. it’s hard to believe you hated his guts for years and completely changed your opinion on him within months — he took you by surprise on that. which you’re not sure how you feel about.

it’s as if his handprints were etched into your skin. you can still remember exactly how it felt, where they were. more importantly, perhaps, you know what your mind keeps leading to when the memory runs through your head.

that you want nothing more than for him to put his hands on you again. you want him so much that you have to clench your fists and tell yourself to get it together.

the universe must like to mess with you, as you receive a text from him at that exact moment. stopping in your tracks on the street, you’re just about to read it when you feel a hand on your shoulder.

once you’ve looked up from your phone, you see the devil himself standing there with a meek little smile on his face, which has you scoffing when he greets you. “hi.”

his dark hair is slicked back as he sports a thick winter jacket, jeans and black shoes. god, he’s handsome. why is he so annoying?

instead of responding to his greeting, you just speak your mind. “what’re you doing here?”

“chan mentioned you had an appointment in the neighborhood, so here i am. i wanted to see you.”

“why?”

“what, am i not allowed to visit my partner in crime?”

you purse your lips. “i thought we both agreed on discretion regarding our relationship.”

“and what kind of relationship is that?”

“an understanding.” your response comes out colder than anticipated, but you stick with it. “look, gyu, what we did… we probably shouldn’t do it again.”

he seems surprised. and a little disappointed, which he hides very quickly, but not quick enough.

so he pouts at you, doing his best not to dwell on it. “okay. any particular reason?”

you inhale sharply, trying to give him the best possible excuse you can come up with. “we agreed to keep it professional, didn’t we?”

“we did.” he nods, speaking in a way as if he were focusing on something else. “is that all there is to it? or do you have another reason?”

his gaze is playful, which makes you smile as you look down at your feet for a moment. “i’m sure you can fill the blanks.”

“interesting choice of words.”

“god, you’re such a perv.”

mingyu laughs when you punch his shoulder, his hand comfortable on your lower back. you don’t swat it away, utterly contradicting your previous words, but you can’t find it in yourself to care that much.

two days later, you’re over at his apartment, continuing your research where you left off last week, and you’re not sure if you’re imagining things, but it feels like there is a palpable tension in the air. soft rain taps against the windows while you’re looking at some security footage his friend seungkwan sent over about an hour ago.

with the two of you sitting beside eachother as you’re looking at the screen of your laptop, you find it difficult to focus on the footage, because you feel electrified by his mere presence. it’s ridiculous. he accidentally brushes your knee with your hand, and you feel a rush going through your body. a candle is lit on the table — his tan skin looks beyond beautiful, his brown eyes piercing through yours like never before.

you want him.

you. want. him. and no one else.

it’s driving you nuts, and as if he can read your mind, he begins to talk about it.

“i haven’t been able to stop thinking about our kiss.”

while the footage keeps playing in the background, you bite your lip, sucking in a breath. “gyu.” you say his name in a near scolding manner.

“do you like me?” he suddenly turns his head to face you, which feels borderline intrusive. like he’s able to see everything that’s going on in your head and heart.

it steals your breath, making your voice sound somewhat strained as a result, and you can’t even bring yourself to lie about it any longer. “i might.”

“i like you. a lot.” he says, and when you think he’s getting closer to you, you stand up from your seat, doing whatever you need to do to get it back together. you don’t want him to know how you really feel, so you clench your fists in your place, your back facing him.

“what does it matter? we’re nothing more than partners. that’s all there is to it.”

as you shake your head to yourself, he gets up as well, moving to stand behind you. “is that why you kissed me?”

“it was just the heat of the moment.”

“you’re a good liar — but not that good.” mingyu shamelessly eyes your body up and down, and when you look over your shoulder, he meets your gaze with something that appears to resemble pride, in a way.

arrogance, perhaps.

for whatever reason, that ticks something off in you. “you want me to be honest? fine. i don’t want to like you, mingyu. i didn’t want to enjoy that kiss. i’ve spent years hating you to the bone, and changing that opinion on you feels like betraying myself.”

he blinks at your sudden and blunt confession, but it’s honest and clear to him.

then he nods in understanding.

“just… hypothetically, if i said i wanted to kiss you again, what would you do?”

you notice a clear difference in his tone, his breathing, his eyes dropping down to your lips — oh, he’s fucking turned on. he knows you want him as badly as he wants you. you both know it.

“i’d tell you it was a one-time thing.”

he gets closer to you, eyelids hanging low and the hint of that damn smirk tugging at his mouth. “how about one more? for good measure. just to get our rocks off.”

the proposition is almost laughable, yet you selfishly find yourself agreeing. “just once?”

“just once.” the palm of his hand cups your jaw, and you know you’re done for when you lean in first, causing him to smile triumphantly right before his lips lock with yours.

this is what you’ve both been yearning for the past week. now that you have it, it feels like drugs, almost — addicting.

you kiss him with vigor, and his tongue slips into your mouth, leaving you aching for more. it’s when his hand pulls you closer by your waist that you force yourself to back away from him, both you and him gasping for air.

“gyu, we were supposed to—”

“keep things professional, i know,” he breathes out, his forehead resting against yours as if he has to make the biggest decision of his life, “but i don’t want to anymore.”

his hands are still on your waist, trailing down to the flesh of your upper legs, and he squeezes it, feeling sick at the idea of someone touching you there that’s not him.

“need you so bad. please — let me touch you.”

looking at his desperate form for a moment, you internally decide to go for whatever your body wants — and that’s to have him tonight.

so you roll your eyes, pulling him to you by his black t-shirt, your hands on the back of his neck before he can comprehend it. he hoists you up by the back of your thighs, taking you to his spacious bedroom.

your back touches the soft bed within seconds. his hands continue to glide up and down your body, and he subtly puts his one hand underneath the hem of your shirt, fingers touching your warm skin, and you almost forget to breathe.

mingyu feels your fingers pulling at the waistband of his jeans, and he relishes in how eager you are. he kisses your neck and moves lower painfully slowly, causing you to writhe underneath him, because you need him now.

it’s certainly a first for you to have such a need and desperation to fuck someone. and for him, of all people. if you had known about this in the morning, you wouldn’t have believed it.

but then again, the tension has been brewing between you two for years, reaching its highest point over the last couple weeks.

maybe he was onto something when he suggested for you to fuck him back in the strip club.

his lips are touching your bare stomach, and you show a hint of dominance by undoing the buttons of your pants and shoving down your panties, putting your hand on his head to guide it between your legs.

and he just lets you.

he takes your pants and underwear from your ankles and discards the pieces on the floor, hands on the back of your thighs once more as he pushes them to lean over his shoulders.

the first few seconds are spent basking in his excitement. his heart races when he looks you in the eye, and he grins to himself before diving in.

for some reason, he feels this primal urge to prove himself to you, to make you feel good like no one ever has before.

whatever the hell it is that made him have such a massive change of heart, he doesn’t know.

but he does know one thing — he worships the ground you walk on.

so to hear you gasp and whine for him when he eats you out only spurs him on to keep going, to make it dirtier and messier and keep having you moan his name.

mingyu encourages you to pull on his hair, and with each strand being pulled, he grows harder in his pants. he moans at the pain, humming against your pussy while his tongue is buried inside you.

you’re grinding against his face and he hums again, loving the feeling. “rub it in my face, baby, ‘s so good—” he babbles as his cock is rock-hard and throbbing against the fabric of his jeans, and he rubs his hard-on against the matress to get any kind of friction.

over the course of the years, even while hating him, you wondered if he was good in bed.

you didn’t think your question was going to be answered by first-hand experience.

he’s not only sickeningly good at providing pleasure — he seems to get off on it, too. your fingers clamp on his long strands of hair, thighs around his head, almost suffocating him, and even when you hit your first climax, he just keeps going. his tongue moves as if you’re not completely crumbling before him.

with a sudden sensitivity hitting you, you have to pull his face from your pussy, and he looks at you with lust-blown eyes and your wetness smeared over his lips and chin.

yeah, you fucking like him. jesus.

the little fang-shaped teeth he has show themselves when he grins at the mess he’s made of you. “want me to go again?”

“would you?”

“i’d keep going for hours if that’s what you want.”

pressing your lips together, you inhale deeply, ‘cause he looks like he means it, too. “well, as great as that sounds, i want you in me. now.”

he would’ve had a damn field trip eating you out again, but he certainly won’t complain, because he’s about to bust in his pants from just looking at you. his eyes return to your figure when you take your shirt off, dick twitching when you unclasp your lacy bra and show your completely bare body to him.

“are you just gonna keep staring?” you ask teasingly, and he needs a few seconds to get his brain running again, chuckling at your words before he removes his own clothes, pushing you back to lay you down.

“can’t help that i like what i see.”

you’re about to give him a witty retort in return when you feel the tip of his cock at the entrance of your hole, pushing forward just the slightest bit, and your lashes flutter at the sensation. he bites his lower lip at the feeling, a sudden intensity hitting the both of you.

then he pushes himself inside, inch by inch, achingly slowly. your brows scrunch together and you throw your head back, manicured nails digging into his bedsheets.

“hah—gyu—” you mumble, tension setting into your shoulderblades as he stretches you open, and you’re so tight that he feels just as suffocated as you do.

“fuck, you’re fucking tight.” he huffs out, utterly savoring your wetness wrapping around him. “can i keep going?”

at hearing the question, a breathy laugh escapes you. “how fucking big are you to have to ask that?”

“well, ‘m only halfway in right now, baby.”

fucking hell. the look on your face is borderline horrified, because jesus, you’re gonna need to adjust to him.

he lowers his chest to hover above yours, and your hands immediately move to his back, nails aching to dig into his skin. he’s only focused on your face now, and he pushes himself in all the way, watching your face contort in pain and pleasure.

your body stiffens for a second before it relaxes, and he has to hold down the urge to start moving. “that’s it. took me all the way in,” he mutters, and you nod to yourself, accidentally clamping down on him, at which he groans.

the first movements are small, slow — gentle. you release long, dragged-out moans that are the single hottest thing he’s ever heard. but he needs more, needs to get rid of the little voice in his head to fuck you hard and stupid.

he pulls out almost entirely before slamming back in, and the erotic whine you let out is just too good to his ears.

so he does it again, again, again. he fucks you to the point a different part of him takes over, ruthlessly seeking the pleasure and pain that gets him off like nothing else. he likes it fast, hard, and deep, and by the looks of it, you do too.

you’re clinging onto him with every thrust, every kiss, every moan, and he loves it.

mingyu moans, eyebrows knitted together as he’s hypnotized by the feeling of himself sheathed all the way inside you. “take it — take my fucking cock.”

“mhm. a little harder — please?” you beg, and if he wasn’t in love with you yet, he certainly is now. how on earth do you look as gorgeous as you do whilst half fucked-out, still needing more?

naturally, he gives in to you, doing whatever you ask of him. he fucks you harder, his grip on your waist tightening with each thrust.

you come to one conclusion — you don’t think anyone’s ever fucked you this good.

his mouth latches onto your tits, sucking at your nipples, and you bring his head up to kiss him again. it’s sloppy, and his movements begin to slow a little, your wetness dripping down his cock. “god, you’re fucking perfect.”

“want more, gyu. i want you to cum in me.”

“you—” he stutters out, “you want it?”

nodding at him, you even push yourself against him, his cock sinking just a little deeper into you.

so he fucks you as hard as he can until he feels himself hitting that blissful climax, continuing to roll his hips and stuff you as full of him as possible. then he sits up with a thin layer of cold sweat on his back, and he pulls himself out as slowly as he entered you, watching drops of cum seep out of your hole.

“so much for professional.” you breathe out, after which you both chuckle, and he leans in to kiss you again, and you get on top of him, taking charge, and he shivers in anticipation.

the night becomes an increasing blur with every kiss, every touch, every thrust — it’s hard to say what time it is or how many times you’ve gone at it when you finally let yourself sink into a deep sleep.

when you wake up beside him in the morning, you watch his sleeping form, your heart flutters.

it’s bizarre how he’s made you feel a kind of love you didn’t even know existed before. a feeling of great complexity and intensity that’s settled deep into your gut whenever he’s near.

as if he’s become a part of you that you can’t let go.

checking your phone, you know it’s time to get up, since you’ve got an important agenda today. yet when you try to silently slip away from his bed, you feel a warm hand on yours.

“don’t go.” he pleads, his voice lower and raspier than usual from sleeping. there’s a certain desperation in his now open eyes, and it affects you.

“i have to. appointments i can’t cancel, you know what that’s like—”

but he’s not talking about your day.

“i’m afraid of people leaving me,” he suddenly admits with a shaky tone, “and i like what we have. i like you. i guess i’m scared that… this was just a one-time thing, ‘cause it wasn’t for me. i don’t want to go back to what we were before all of this.”

processing his words, you nod, touching his cheek, reassuring him. “it wasn’t a one-time thing for me, either. you have me, i promise.”

“okay.” he gently smiles at you, his fingers caressing yours, and you lean in to press a kiss onto his lips, which he immediately reciprocates.

you give him a quick goodbye after putting your clothes on, and he’s left smiling to himself in bed while you walk out of his apartment with the same expression.

but you should know by now that all good things come to an end — one way or another.

ix. WHO ARE YOU, REALLY?

the two weeks since your first time sleeping together have been nothing but excitingly ignorant bliss. in between his meetings and family commitments and your meetings regarding your father’s business relations, you’ve been meeting eachother in the middle at every opportunity, the investigation of your father’s death fading into the background bit by bit, getting lowered on your list of priorities.

none of your friends are aware of your relationship – since it’s a secret, and neither of you have really labelled it yet – as far as you know, anyway.

being with him is comfortable to you, and surprisingly enough, he’s the first person who’s made you feel like you could breathe properly after the chaos that your father’s death caused.

“do you really have to go out at this hour?”

“yeah, unfortunately.” he presses a kiss to your lips before pulling his shirt on while you’re still naked on his bed. “i’ll be back as soon as i can, but you don’t have to wait for me, okay? it’s probably gonna take a while.”

with a sigh, you nod, pouting a little. “okay. i’ll probably go take a shower and head home after.”

he kisses the top of your head this time, and it all feels awfully domestic.

but it’s a good feeling.

mingyu takes in the sight of your bare face and body covered in nothing but his sheets, and he feels like things were meant to be like this. like you two were always indirectly tied together, and now this is your reality.

“you’re allowed to stay as long as you want. i’ll call you later, baby, yeah?” he hums against your lips, and you nod, wanting nothing more than to pull his shirt off and drag him back into bed with you.

“mhm. you should go, or you’ll be late.”

he chuckles, his mouth grazing the top of your hand before he exits the room, slinging his bag over his shoulder and leaving you alone in his apartment.

after taking a short nap, you decide to get up and take a quick shower.

this might be the first time you’re completely on your own in his place — so you feel like checking out what he’s got lying around here.

it’s not because you don’t trust him, truly. you just like to snoop around a little, out of curiosity.

you peek into his drawers, his closet, his personal things, except for what he’s got kept under lock and key.

what intrigues you are the clear scratches on the floor by the cupboard. everything in his apartment is perfectly clean and clearly well taken care of, so this makes you raise a brow.

you figure the scratches were made by moving the cupboard to the side, so you do the same thing, trying to see if there’s a particular reason for it.

it’s hard to contain a scoff once you lay your eyes on what is apparently hiding behind it.

a safe hidden behind a cupboard. seriously? did he take inspiration from your father’s office or something? this is starting to get a bit weird.

the safe seems to require a code with six digits to be unlocked, and since the system and mechanics seem on the older side, you doubt it would send off any signals if someone tried out a wrong code.

biting your lip, you give in to your curiosity, and try out a few codes.

a popular choice for codes are always birthdays, often loved ones, and since mingyu is a complete softie in that regard, you figure it might be worth trying out.

you remember his father’s birthday from the tombstone at the graveyard where your father was buried as well. his mother celebrated her birthday last week, so that’s easy.

unfortunately, neither of the codes work.

fuck, what was his sister’s birthday again? you don’t remember. then an idea pops up in your head – she probably made a birthday post on social media at some point. you search the username and scan her profile, and within a minute, you’ve found it.

with your phone in hand, eyes going from the screen to the rotating dials, you enter the code, and the sound of a clicking lock causes your heartbeat to quicken.

it worked.

throwing your phone onto the bed, you open the safe, several items catching your eye.

there’s quite some things in there considering it’s such a small space. some stacks of money, a few vials with clear liquids in them, a gun, a passport with his photo but a different name – what the fuck is this? his backup plan to start a new life in case he needs it? that’s close to paranoid, especially for a guy who seemingly has no enemies.

behind the piles of dollar bills, you find a few old-fashioned cassette recorders stacked up, each of them numbered from one to ten.

as your curiosity gets the better of you once more, you take the recorders out of the safe and put them on the floor, where you sit down to listen to whatever’s on them.

you click the button at the back of the device, noise beginning to crack through the small speaker.

“i know recording myself confessing to something as grave as this could be my downfall, but… it’s something i need to get off my chest. i need to.” your hear him inhale sharply. “i’m setting a plan in motion that will lead to someone’s death. it’s not something i’m proud of, but he’s threatening my family. i don’t know what else to do.”

your eyes widen as you listen to the rest of the tape. he’s talking about killing your father, using a poison to take him out. once it’s finished, you look for the second tape with shaky fingers.

“getting it done shouldn’t be hard. the real issue is having an alibi, and if necessary, i need someone to put the blame on. the death of someone as important as him will draw attention, so should they assume he didn’t die of natural causes, they’re gonna want to convict someone. i can only think of one person who fits the criteria — his daughter.”

it’s like the confirmation you’ve been waiting for. this is what he’s been hiding all this time. of course he didn’t want to help you without an ulterior motive.

your heart breaks the moment he says it. just how much of a fool have you been?

“we’ve always hated eachother. looking back, i’m not sure how it started, but it did. she’s the only one who could have a solid motive. i don’t want to frame her, or anyone for that matter, but if the police decide it’s not an accident, i’ll have no other choice. maybe her lawyer can find a way around it.”

tape three.

“the plan is to pretend i have a lead on the killer when i’m actually planting fake evidence to make her seem like the culprit. i talked to her in the graveyard today, but she completely lashed out at me. it’s hard to tell who she hates more — me, her father, or herself. though i didn't know her hatred for me ran this deep, nor that she was this lonely. i kind of feel for her.”

tape four.

“she just agreed to be my date to the gala next week, though she's certainly not thrilled about it. understandably so, i guess. she's quite intimidating when she’s mad. maybe i should take notes, seeing how she always stands so firmly on business.”

tape five.

“i didn’t think she’d go as far as to go through my room. she’s more determined than i gave her credit for. god, i could barely keep it together when she said whoever killed her father did her a favor. it’s maybe the only good thing about this whole mess. i wanted to scream, tell her that it was me who did her that favor.”

tape six.

“leave it to her to interrupt a stripper’s lap dance and take me with her instead. the man taking money out of her father’s account was hired by me — i needed to subtly prove to her that it couldn’t have been me, ‘cause i was at the other side of the city when it happened. i was curious to see if she’d take the bait, and she did. she mentioned something about wanting someone who would let her be… uninhibited. it scared and surprised me; mostly because i want the exact same.”

tape seven.

“we broke into her father’s office together. it was… thrilling. exciting. she keeps surprising me with how daring she is. somewhere underneath that hard surface hides someone who’s aching for adventure, i think. maybe we’re more similar than i thought. and she’s so clever, i just—i like her. like, platonically, of course. we work well together. i should probably be more careful, try not to get too close. who knows what that might lead to.”

tape eight.

“i kissed her. i fucking kissed her. well, she kissed me first, but… i kept it going. not just a little peck, no, a full-on makeout session. it was… the type of kiss they talk about in the romance novels. i’ve never felt that big of a need to kiss someone before. and she’s so gorgeous, too. i wonder if she’s thinking about it as much as i am right now.”

tape nine.

“wonwoo says i have feelings for her, in a way. i… i feel like there’s no going back if i acknowledge it. but there's something about her, it's like... i'm not sure. like she and i are on the same wavelength. we’re so different yet so similar.”

tape ten.

“the police are tightening their grip. they wanna name the culprit, and fast. i’ve thought of turning myself in, but i’ll ruin the family name if i do that. my mom and sister will be cast out if that happens. and then there’s… her. god, she’s become so special to me. i can’t go through with it — i can’t. the idea of losing her makes me feel suffocated. fuck, i don’t know what to do.”

and just like that, you close your eyes for a moment.

everything falls into place.

putting the final tape to the side, your cheeks are wet from the tears that have been silently rolling down your cheeks ever since you hit the first play button.

he doesn’t really like you — of course he doesn’t. he’s just using you for his own gain, to cover up his crime.

it’s then that the heavy sobs come out. you utterly fall apart, feeling weak and manipulated and alone.

terrifyingly alone, more than ever before.

but you force yourself to stop crying by telling yourself that you won’t allow him to use you anymore. you need to be steps ahead of him now that he’s not aware of you knowing this information, so you wipe your tears away and play all the tapes again, but this time with your phone making recordings of each one of them.

overcome by your emotions, you feel ready to throw up.

whatever you’re about to do, it’ll probably come back to bite you in the ass later, but you don’t care. not anymore. everything’s already gone to hell anyways.

when mingyu arrives at his apartment a few hours later, it’s empty. he frowns when noticing that your clothes and things you had lying around are all gone, but shrugs it off, believing you probably had a good reason for taking them back home.

but when he calls you the next day, you don’t pick up. you don’t answer any of his texts. your staff by the gate tells him that no visitors are allowed into the driveway, meaning he can’t even get to your front door anymore.

something’s happened. he just doesn’t know what.

long after he’s had his dinner, the rain comes pouring down from the dark clouds in the sky, thunder rumbling in the distance as you make your way to the front door of mingyu’s apartment.

he instantly notices something is very wrong once he lays eyes on you. you look like you’ve just gone through hell and back.

you let yourself in before he can say anything, so he closes the door behind you, confusion painted across his face. “i’ve been calling you — what’s going on? did something happen?”

oh, the question immediately pisses you off even more than you already are. this is about to be fun. “well, you’d know.” you grumble.

“know what?”

“that you killed my fucking father.”

the words strike like lightning. you finding out about the truth certainly wasn’t part of the plan, and since you seem so convinced, he doesn’t have much faith in trying to convince you of his innocence.

when his surprised expression fades, you finally see the truth written all over his face. his jaw is clenched tight, lips pressed together into a thin line, and he suddenly looks very guilty. “how… how did you find out?”

“the tapes. who the fuck records their own confession to murder? were you trying to get me to find out?” you rhetorically ask, eyes blazing fire.

mingyu huffs to himself. he knew he shouldn’t have kept those tapes — fuck.

“look, i—” he swallows, attempting to mend the situation, but you don’t let him speak.

“no. you’re going to tell me exactly what you did and why you did it. you owe me that much.”

he flinches, closing his eyes for a moment, lowering his head, his way of showing he accepts his defeat. “your dad… i always thought he wanted me around because he liked me, but after all those years, that turned out to be a lie. i found out he was blackmailing my mom with evidence of my father’s wrongdoings before his passing — fraud, embezzlement, all of that. we’re talking millions of dollars here. the damage it would’ve done to my family if that ever came out… it’s something i had to prevent. hell, i wouldn’t be surprised if he was the one behind my dad’s car accident. so i did what i thought was necessary.”

you can only scoff. “of course. how noble of you.”

“i’m sorry.” he tells you, but it’s a lie. your father was a despicable man, loved by no one. not really, anyway.

“if you’re going to lie to me, at least do it well.” you scold him, turning away from him for a moment, looking at the rain outside through the large windows of his apartment. “how did you kill him? i wanna hear you say it.”

“can’t we talk about—”

interrupting him, you turn around, the pistol from his safe in your hand, and it’s pointed at him. he anxiously awaits your next move.

“don’t make me ask again. i don’t particularly feel like repeating myself.”

he shudders at the view of the gun pointed at him, but does what you tell him to. “i poisoned him. he had no idea, didn’t suspect me at all. i told him to go home, so he’d die there.”

“where i would be, too. perfect plan, huh?”

“the plan was to make it look like a death from natural causes. the poison would be out of his system by the time the authorities were to perform the autopsy on his body — but then they found him dangling from the ceiling instead. that wasn’t my doing, so i figured the poison got to him to the point he wanted a quicker way out. you were there, with a reasonable motive. i panicked and made a choice.”

inhaling sharply, your eye twitches. “you chose to frame me.”

“i was going to.”

“oh, give me a break. don’t start acting like you care about me, now.”

“except i do. it was different in the beginning — but then i just—i didn’t remember why i hated you. i couldn’t even fathom a possible reason to. i started liking being around you, and you felt it too. i know you did, you said it yourself.” he pleads, getting closer to you, not giving a damn that the barrel of the gun is touching his chest at this point.

a tear escapes your eye, but your anger is still there. “you know what the thing is, mingyu? i don’t even care that you killed him. hell, if you had come to me after our interrogations and confessed that it was you, i would’ve thanked you. what i care about is that you took advantage of me when i was vulnerable, and that you made me feel like i mattered to you when you were all just doing it for your own gain.”

it’s like you’ve ripped his heart out of his chest. he wishes he could make you understand that you’ve made him feel more alive than anyone he’s ever met, that you’ve grown to mean so much to him in a ridiculously short span of time. that he’d go to hell and back to protect you now.

“you matter to me. more than anyone else.”

all you can do is let out a sarcastic fit of laughter; you don’t trust a single word that comes out of his mouth. “i need you to tell me something. did you sleep with me because you actually wanted to or because you felt like you had to in order to manipulate me to get closer to you?”

he seems appalled at what you’re implying. “of course i wanted to. all i ended up wanting was you—”

“don’t you fucking lie to me!” you burst out angrily, at which he flinches, but his frustration brings him to confess his true feelings.

“it’s not a lie, because i’m in love with you!” he raises his voice in desperation, “i don’t care if you shoot me right here, right now. it won’t change how i feel about you.”

your heart shatters even more, because he sounds so genuine, yet it doesn’t make you feel the way it should.

the words should probably bring some kind of twisted comfort, but they feel like a gut punch instead. you grab your chest to stop yourself from hyperventilating. “at least i was right at the beginning. the golden boy is a fucking murderer. you’ve played your part well, i gotta admit.”

he watches you breathily laugh and cry at him, and all he can do is stare back at you with teary eyes and a guilty face.

“please don’t say that.”

“why? does it hurt, hearing the truth?”

“i swear to you—”

you shut him up by pushing him backwards with the pistol against his chest. “you know, when you bothered me after the funeral, when i had my breakdown, i wanted nothing more than to cave in your skull with a rock. looking back, i should’ve just done it. would’ve spared me this whole mess.”

surprisingly enough, you simply put the pistol back in your jacket pocket, but mingyu is just as if not more afraid of you. your gaze is the harshest, coldest, meanest he’s ever seen it. all you do is look at him and he crumbles.

and yet he still wants you. he knows you hate him to the bone, you detest every part of him, and he still. wants. you.

and he intends to show you that, because he’s willing to throw every last shred of pride and dignity he has let out the window if it means you’ll show him you want him even the smallest bit. “i’ll prove it to you. if you ask me to turn myself in, i’ll turn myself in. i’ll do it, for you.”

god, he seems so genuine in it, too.

your breaths are ragged, and you feel like you need to get literally anywhere else, out of the suffocation that is this room with him in it. you barely even noticed he’d taken a hold of your hand until now.

“i can’t do this. just—just let me leave.”

he does.

the moment the door slams shut behind you, he has to grab the nearest object to hold himself up, leaving him wondering what the hell just happened.

x. WHEN IS A MONSTER NOT A MONSTER?

the following days are spent anxiously pacing in his apartment. what is he supposed to do? what should he say to you? what should he tell the press, that he’s innocent? guilty? what should he tell his family? that he killed a man to protect them and their reputation? would they even look him in the eye if he confessed?

he waits and waits and waits for his arrest to come, for the police to barge into his home and take him away to a cold, dark prison cell — yet the day never comes.

personally, he wonders if you’re waiting it out to make you feel as shitty as you’ve probably been feeling since the day you discovered his true colors.

nearly a week after the fight between you, he decides he can’t take it anymore. he needs to see you.

you doubt you’ve ever felt as miserable as you’ve felt these past days. it’s like you’re torn between hating mingyu for taking advantage of you and hating yourself for being stupid enough to fall for it. to fall for him.

because no matter how much you want to deny it, you did.

something you desperately needed was a distraction, which is why you ended up accepting wonwoo’s invitation to the event his father is hosting tonight at his estate just outside the city. with your little black dress on and hair perfectly styled, you down a glass of champagne next to wonwoo, who looks a bit concerned. “everything okay?”

the noise of chatter and soft music in the background only overwhelms you more. “yeah. i just… haven’t had alcohol in a while.” you mutter a bullshit excuse, not really caring whether you sound believable or not.

“i get it if you don’t feel like being here right now, with everything that happened recently. i can take you home if you want.”

“and miss out on your father’s celebration?”

“there will always be another one.” wonwoo shrugs, looking at you like nothing else in the room matters. he has a little smile playing on his lips that’s far too gentle — you almost feel undeserving of a gaze that loving.

but you don’t hold eye contact with him for long, because the source of all your current problems suddenly walks into the room — and he looks good. criminally good.

the red suit with its low neckline draws even more attention to him than usual, along with several expensive pieces of jewelry adorning his wrists and fingers.

“he’s here? that’s strange. he said he wasn’t coming.” wonwoo mumbles, and you do your best to keep your composure and hide the sudden anxiety that blooms in your chest.

“shame. the party was just getting good.” you scoff to yourself, replacing your empty champagne glass with a full one.

it’s then that mingyu’s eyes find yours, and even while politely saying hello to the elders greeting him, he keeps sneaking a peek your way, as if to try to get away from the people surrounding him to get to you.

oh, fuck no. you’re not in the mood to talk to him right now.

“i’m just gonna go and use the restroom, okay? i’ll be right back.” you say to wonwoo, hoping to find yourself a spot in the shadows where you can properly get some air.

you hardly catch his response as your legs are already moving on their own, as far away from the man in red as possible.

passing through a quiet hallway, you find yourself finally alone at the bottom of a staircase, and with no one else around, you sit down on the first few steps, a sigh escaping your mouth.

“did my appearance surprise you?”

as you recognize his voice, your blood runs cold.

looking behind you, he’s standing at the top of the stairs, his hands in his pockets. he appears surprisingly relaxed, even if his fingers slightly tremble against the fabric of his trousers.

“you have some nerve showing up here.”

mingyu purses his lips. “why don’t you come up a couple steps?”

when you finally meet his gaze, his heart skips a beat. your brows are knitted together. “why would i do that?”

“because we’d be on the same level. equals.”

“is that what you want?”

“i think you already know the answer to that.”

biting your lip to yourself, you get up on your feet, heels clicking on the creaking wood with each step. once at his level, you look at him with hostility – he only shows intrigue.

“why haven’t you given me up yet? it’s been a week.”

“i have my reasons.” you shrug, the anger remaining in your features. “what? scared i’ll ruin your reputation?”

his tone suddenly changes into something more desperate, emotional. “i just want to know what you’re gonna do. if you wanna turn me over to the police, fine. but do something, please—”

“you’re not in a position to be making demands.”

“i’m not demanding, i’m asking.”

“go fuck yourself, mingyu.” you snap at him, looking around you before lowering your voice. “what did you think was going to happen when you came here tonight? that i would just let you in on everything? the last thing i owe you is an explanation.”

as the tension continues to rise between you, the argument causes you to step closer to eachother.

his chest heaves out of frustration, because you make a more than valid point, but he still has his own interests at heart. “i know that.”

“so then why show up tonight? don’t bullshit me, i know you’re not here for wonwoo.”

“are you? what are you doing here?”

“what the hell is your problem?” scoffing at him, you intend to push him by his chest, but he grabs your wrists instead.

“you are my problem.” he breathes out angrily as if he were confessing his sins, his hands remaining on your skin. “everything fell apart because of you.”

“if you’re actually trying to pin this on me, i’ll hit you in your fucking jaw until it bleeds.”

he only pulls you closer. “and i’d let you. do you still not get it?”

his grip on your wrists falters, and he softly rubs over your skin with his finger, and you hate your body for reacting to it.

christ, you think to yourself, has he been standing this close to you this whole time?

the smell of his perfume plagues your senses, and a feeling you can’t quite place washes over you when you catch him looking at your lips, and you realize his one hand is slowly gliding past your waist.

are you really going to let yourself fall into his trap again?

“everything okay?”

the words aren’t uttered by you nor mingyu — wonwoo peers up at you from your former spot at the bottom of the stairs.

of course he’s been sensing that there was something going on between you the moment you showed up at the strip club, but this clearly confuses him, since you’re still supposed to hate one another.

fuck. how much of the conversation did he hear?

mingyu hesitantly releases his hands from your body, and you take a step backwards, both of you focusing on wonwoo. “yeah, i’m fine.”

as if to make the situation even worse, the fucking inspector that’s leading the investigation appears behind wonwoo, curiously looking at his two main suspects standing side by side.

the situation feels suffocating. wonwoo points at the older man, “he was looking for you. that’s why i came to see if you were here — i didn’t know you were, um — occupied.”

“i’m not occupied.” with the way you completely disregard mingyu’s existence, it’s almost as if he weren’t even here. you make your way down the steps, smoothening over the fabric of your dress and taking a deep breath to get a hold of yourself again.

the inspector glances at mingyu one last time before asking you if he can talk to you privately, which you agree to.

mere minutes later, you’re standing in a secluded room, far away from the rest of the crowd, arms crossed over your chest, a dim light flickering on the ceiling above you.

“i wanted to talk about the investigation.”

“talking to me off-record again? this isn’t a good look on you.” you sneer at the man, who puts up his hands before his chest.

“i know. but it’s for a good reason.” he defends himself, at which you frown. “i have a proposition for you.”

“which is?”

“i need your help catching the person who killed your father.”

pursing your lips together, you let out a bitter chuckle. “like i would know anything—”

“you were just speaking to him, actually.”

the weight of his words makes your eyes widen. this is the first time he’s expressing who he believes is the culprit, after all these weeks.

your breath hitches in your throat. “you think mingyu is guilty.”

the inspector nods at the conclusion you’ve drawn. “he’s smart, i’ll give him that. but not invincible.”

“what will you do? do you have evidence against him?”

“i have enough that makes me sure that it was him, but not enough to defeat him in court. he’s rich and uses that to his advantage.” he explains, sounding almost hopeful. “so that’s where you come in.”

“me?”

“what i need is evidence that even he can’t work around, no matter how many people in the system he chooses to bribe. you told me the nature of your relationship was sexual — i don’t need to know if that’s true or not. but i’ve noticed he seems fond of you these days. you can use that to get him caught. we can’t let him get away with it.”

his voice rings through your ears, sounding like a convincing whisper. biting down on your tongue, you clench your fists, the predicament you currently find yourself in making you wish the ground would just swallow you whole.

you subtly glance down at your phone for a moment.

the evidence is right there, on the phone in your hand. you’ve recorded all the tapes with your phone — the confession, murder weapon — it’s all the evidence needed. you could give it right now and everything would be over.

yet not a single word comes out of your mouth.

the inspector sighs, offering you a final sentiment. “be careful with him. people can be deceiving.”

and with that, he exits the room, leaving you alone with the voice in your head.

your next moves are crucial. you know what you’re about to do is risky, but it’ll be worth it. it has to be worth it.

once you’ve left the inside of the estate through the backdoor, the event continues for the evening while you ponder over the choice you’re about to make in the backseat of the cab.

shrugging off your coat as you enter your home, you still in your movements when your eyes find the stairs — the spot where the police had to cut down your father’s cold, dead body.

with your gaze remaining on the former crime scene, you press on mingyu’s number to call it.

he picks up faster than lightning, but you don’t allow him to speak.

“meet me in the city tomorrow. 10:30, outside your mother’s firm. don’t be late.”

you hang up right after.

fuck, you should really sell this place. the fact that your father’s wandered around here is more than enough reason.

that he died here as well isn’t great either, but that’s really a minor detail.

with your arms crossed, you scoff, a half-smile that’s almost smug sitting on your face. “if only your death had welcomed us sooner.”

the next morning, you lean your head against the wall of the building you’re meeting at, a cold wind blowing through your hair as you’re sunken deeply into thought.

it’s comfortably quiet, honestly. you’re fond of this type of weather, the white, grey-ish sky, the breeze in the air, some rain on occasion.

you glance at the watch on your wrist — why the fuck is mingyu still not here? what possible reason could he have to be late when this is what he was practically begging for?

just as you’re about to grab your phone from your pocket to call him, someone pulls you by your arm and drags you into the alley beside the building.

“what the fuck!?” you huff out, and then you finally get a good look at the person who grabbed you.

of course it’s him.

“i’m sorry.” mingyu breathes out, his usually neatly styled hair now messy, several strands hanging loose in front of his forehead, the stress visible in his features.

to be together like this feels messy yet weirdly intimate. a few strands of your hair are caught between your lips, and you feel his breath on your face, his hands on your body, even your hands find their way back to him.

as if it’s natural.

“what the hell are you thinking?!” you hiss at him, pushing his hands off you, backing yourself as far up against the wall as possible.

“someone was following me, i was — i thought you’d lured me here to turn me in.”

“you—” is all you can push out of your throat before a sigh leaves you. of course he’d think that. god, what a mess.

burying your face in your hands, it feels like you’re both on the verge of a complete breakdown. both lost, not sure where to go, not sure what’ll happen next.

you thought you’d found a sense of direction in eachother, but that fell apart like a house of cards hit by the wind.

naturally, it begins to rain right when you’re talking to him outside. sighing to yourself, you gesture for him to come with you to your car in the half-empty parking lot, which he wordlessly agrees with.

it’s pouring by the time you’re both seated, the heavy rain rolling down the glass windows of the car.

it’s completely silent between you as you sit beside one another, staring dead ahead at the street.

your voice is hoarse when you tell him your verdict on the matter.

“we’re gonna cover it up.”

mingyu turns his head to look at you in disbelief, but you don’t move a muscle. “… what?”

“i believe i’ve told you i don’t like to repeat myself.”

“no one in their right mind would do that. no one would help me cover it up.” he exhales, eyes moving rapidly as he tries to process what you’re proposing to him.

“no one in their right mind would commit murder, either, but that certainly didn’t stop you.”

well, you have a point there.

“just tell me one thing,” mingyu asks, hoping you’ll look at him, “why? why do this for me?”

he could cry the moment you do meet his eyes. it’s like he sees a different version of himself staring back at him. “because you did the right thing. i would’ve done the same. well, except for your little affair with me.”

with his heart beating against his chest, he gently touches your hand. “everything i told you was true. it may not have been real in the beginning, and i’m sorry for pretending back then, but it’s real now. i swear that to you.”

you bite your lip. “give me one good reason why i should believe you.”

mingyu can taste his tears at this point. he needs you to believe him, he needs you — and that is terrifying but addictive. “the tapes. you can have them if you want.”

“i don’t need them. they hold no value to me.” you already made copies of them anyway.

“then what can i give you to prove myself?”

“nothing.” you immediately cut him off, eyes blazing fire, but even mingyu can see you do share that sadness that he does, mourning the loss of your connection. “from now on, we avoid contact over the phone as much as possible. you’ll destroy the tapes, the poison — get rid of all of it. we’ll work together until we’ve covered it up, and after that, it’ll be like whatever we had never existed. we’ll be nothing more than strangers to one another.”

“how on earth would we go back to strangers after what we did?”

“by never talking to eachother again.” you respond, swallowing the rising lump in your throat, fingers twitching from feeling suffocated. “get out. you can come over to my place tomorrow, and we’ll… figure out how to handle everything.”

mingyu looks at you, and he knows you won’t let him in again, certainly not now. so he nods.

he thinks of what to say, yet nothing comes out.

so he leaves you in your car without saying another word, walking away with nothing but his mistakes on his mind.

xi. I HATE YOU LIKE MY OWN REFLECTION

“so, what do we do now?”

“our best shot is to try to frame someone else, then take them out of prison after the conviction and pay ‘em good money for it.”

mingyu cocks a brow at your choice. “so you wanna go and do the exact same thing i wanted to do?”

you can’t help but glare at him. “yes, just without the manipulation. don’t think for a second i’ve forgiven you, or that i will in the nearby future, because i can assure you that won’t happen.”

well, so much for trying to get into your good graces again. “noted. so, how do we, um… find a suitable victim? someone who won’t rat us out.”

“my contact in the police force has sent me a list of all the other suspects. we pick someone, threaten to kill them if they don’t cooperate. easy.”

mingyu finds your lack of filter both intriguing and scary, like a switch was flipped and you’re suddenly ready to undertake even more violent measures than him. but then again, he was hiding quite some things too. “okay.”

it’s two days later when you’re holding a now former member of the housekeeping hostage in your spacious private parking garage.

“you can’t make me do this! this is insane!” he cries out, and you roll your eyes, holding the gun in your hand as easily as you’d carry a bottle of water.

you simply shrug. “it’s not impossible.”

“i’ll lose everything!”

“probably. but you’ll also gain a lot of money, enough to get you a comfortable life elsewhere in the world.”

“no, no, i’m not doing this. you can’t make me!”

mingyu looks to you for permission, you grant it with a nod, and he takes your gun to hit the guy in the face with it. you sink down to bend your knees, lowering to your victim’s level.

“i don’t think you get it. either you agree to do this, or you’re not making it out of these walls alive. trust me, if i have to shoot you, i will.” you sternly tell him, attitude changing from casual to threatening.

your partner in crime, who’s still holding the gun, is beyond impressed. he briefly thinks it over —has this part of you always been hiding underneath the surface?

“or maybe it’s your family i should start with? i’ll pick it apart, one by one.” you suggest, feigning innocence in your voice.

it’s then that the man is finally forced to accept your offer, after which you smile triumphantly and tell him he can go home like nothing happened. mingyu watches the change in your behavior, leaving him wondering how the hell you’re the same person he’s come to know over the past months.

but it hardly changes his now deeply-rooted affection for you.

a few days later, you’ve successfully orchestrated your plan and set it in motion, with the man from housekeeping supposedly coming forward with his confession tomorrow.

it’s late at night when mingyu’s still over at your house, and he asks if he can open the bottle of vodka standing on the counter.

“sure. whatever.” you mutter, the stand-offish demeanor you used to hold up around him before getting to know him having returned.

he doesn’t like it. no, scratch that — he can’t stand it.

so he pours you both a shot. “i’ve been thinking about something.”

“well, that must’ve been exhausting for you.”

hilarious. really. he chooses to ignore your sarcasm for now. “in the car, you said i did the right thing. that you would’ve done the same.”

“and?”

“do you really not… hate me for killing him? at all?”

“no.”

“you hate me for… lying to you about it.”

“no.”

his brows knit together. “so…”

“again, don’t take this as a compliment, but i really thought you were smarter than this.”

“i’m just… confused on your stance on the whole thing. that’s all.”

taking a breath, a bitter chuckle leaves your mouth. “i hate it when people make fun of me, like — that’s the worst thing you could do to me. and you tried to get to know me, work with me, pretended to care for me, all while secretly knowing that it wasn’t genuine and you were going to put me in prison. and after i found out, it felt like you were just ridiculing me, for… i don’t know. giving in to you so easily. for being desperate to have at least one person actually care about me the way i thought you did.”

he processes your words with the heavy burden of guilt weighing on his shoulders, while you take another shot of alcohol.

well, he fucked up. miserably.

“when i created the plan to frame you, i… almost held a grudge towards you, like you did to me, for a reason i couldn’t even think of. i was going to be putting someone i hated in prison. a sacrifice i was willing to make for the people i loved. but you completely blew me away. as time progressed, i… couldn’t fathom i used to hate you, or even disliked you. even if you don’t accept my apology, i need you to know that i never… never made fun of you. and i’m sorry for hurting you in the way that i did.”

his heartfelt sentiment gets to you, and you hate it.

“even if i did accept your apology, what then? we’ll just move on with our lives as if this whole thing never happened either way.”

now that you’ve unintentionally given him a sense of hope, he downs another shot of vodka to give himself courage. “it doesn’t have to be like that.”

“what?”

“i still want you.” he breathes out, mentally saying fuck it and deciding to finally be completely honest with you.

the words seem to have caught you off-guard, after which you scoff at him once you realize what he’s saying. “you’re not serious.”

“i am,” he replies without hesitation, following you in your tracks when you stand up, “and you know what i think? you still like me, too.”

“no i don’t.”

now that you’ve turned around to him, you realize how stupid of a move it was to do so. with every step he takes forward, you go back, but there’s only so much room before you hit the wall. “you’re not being very convincing.”

“gyu—”

“i like it when you call me that.”

at a loss for words, you look behind you to find you’re nearly out of space. “i don’t like you.”

“and here i thought we were both being honest with eachother.”

god, all he does is look at you and you feel willing to let him touch you again. he made you feel so good — you liked him so much.

mingyu feels it. he sees you fighting with yourself in your head, so he figures all you need is just a little push to get you back where he had you, to be able to kiss you and hold you and call you his.

with his left hand, he tucks a strand of hair behind your ear, and within a second, he’s pushed his mouth against yours.

fuck, it’s been only two long weeks since he last kissed you, but it felt like forever. this feeling, his touch — you doubt you’d ever be able to feel that with anyone else.

but something in you is still fighting back.

you muster the will to push mingyu away, and he licks his lips from the gloss on yours. both of you panting heavily, you shake your head. “no. we’re not doing this.”

“what? something we both want?” he breathes out, chest heaving up and down.

“something we shouldn’t.”

“why not?”

“because i’d never forgive myself for giving in to the guy who was gonna frame me for murder.”

he merely shrugs, downplaying the situation for his selfish interests. “we hated each other back then. you’d have done it too, you said it yourself.”

his words are true — but it still hurts.

“you’re a liar.” you say to him, and he knows you’re only saying it for one reason — to convince yourself to not give in to what you really want.

“yeah. and so are you.”

that is what momentarily causes your brain to shut down. “what?”

his hand cups your jaw. you can feel his breath on your bare skin, his gaze on your body, shamelessly checking you out before he meets your eyes again. “what we had was real. you make everyone else in my life seem like… nothing.”

“oh, so i’m special, huh? or are you just trying to get back into my good graces so i don’t rat you out?”

his eyes keep lingering on the skin of your cheeks, your neck, exposed collarbones, and he doesn’t even look you in the eye while answering. “you can do whatever you want. i’ll still want you once i’ve gotten out of prison.”

god. he’s really that into you?

“gyu…” you mutter, almost pouting, and he holds your face, nodding as if he understands.

“i know, i know—” his breathing is unsteady as he confesses every dirty little sin on his conscience, “i like being a little selfish, y’know? even when one of my friends mentioned something about liking you, i didn’t tell you, ‘cause i wanted you.”

you’ve got a feeling who he’s talking about. “so what’d you say to him?”

“i said you had something going on with someone else, which wasn’t exactly a lie, since you were on top of me that same night.” he barely allows himself to finish the sentence before kissing you again, putting all his vigor into it, and you decide to indulge both him and yourself this once.

he pushes you up against the wall, and you shove him away again, holding onto the cupboard beside you when you both catch your breath.

“what if i like him better than you?”

“you wouldn’t.”

“why? ‘cause you’re so likeable?”

“because he’d never accept you for who you really are, and you’d find him boring,” he tells you as a possessive streak overcomes him, “just like no other girl would ever want me and i only want you.”

“so i should let you have me because no one else will. what a compelling argument.”

“no. because you want me.” fucking hell, he’s pretty sure his sex drive has never been this high before. “so have me, baby. please — i’m all yours.” he rasps, pressing a kiss so chaste to your lips, they barely touch. his hands burn on your skin.

“maybe i will.” you mumble, which elicits the smallest smirk from him.

he rubs up against you. “you make me insane.”

“pretty sure you already were.” is the last thing you say before kissing him, finally giving in to the feelings you still hold for him.

the sudden motion takes him by surprise, but he regains his composure to kiss you back within seconds. you make him feel so sickeningly good, he practically worships the ground you walk on.

mingyu is always tactile, be it with his friends, family, or in this case — you. his hands are practically glued to your body, pulling you as close to him as possible.

and normally he likes to take his time when it comes to sex. but he’s just so hot right now that he needs some kind of friction, some kind of release. so he lifts you up to take you to your bedroom, where he wastes no time to plunge his fingers into you.

“fuck—gyu—”

this is all he wants. to hear you moan his name like that and watch you writhe underneath him while his cock throbs as he rubs it against the bed.

“you look so pretty like this.” he grins, curling his fingers to watch you squirm and feel you clench around him.

jesus, his pace is high. higher than any other time he’s done this before. the pressure in your stomach builds so fast that you’re almost overwhelmed by the feeling, at which you instinctively reach down to hold his wrist, but to no avail, because he keeps going.

“say you like me back and i’ll make you cum.”

even through the pleasure he’s giving you, you manage to pull your mean attitude back up. “are you that desperate?”

not only does he seem completely unaffected by the snark in your voice — he might even like it.

“so what if i am?” he shrugs, his fingers moving in and out of you while he kisses and sucks on the skin of your neck.

when he moves onto your jaw, he suddenly hits the right spot inside you, and your eyes roll back, a dragged-out moan escaping you.

“bet that feels good, hm?” he whispers, his fangs showing when he smiles slyly, “c’mon — say it. i’ll make you feel so good, baby.”

right after the words come out of his mouth, he threatens to take his fingers out, and you grab his wrist once more, this time to keep him as close as possible.

“fine — i like you.”

like a war general who just won his greatest battle, he’s beaming at your confession. “good. put your legs over my shoulders.”

well, he certainly is determined. he’s back in his previous position in no-time, now with your legs up, and you try to not clench your thighs around his head too much as his digits piston in and out of your hole.

your orgasm hits you within what feels like a minute, and mingyu keeps going even when your legs are shaking and trembling on his shoulders.

the drag of his cock inside you is heavenly. he’s a big man, and you always need to adjust yourself to him, but fuck is it good.

you always like the slower strokes best, he’s learned. slow and deep, to make you feel every inch of him, and he can bury himself in you to the hilt every single time.

“god, you’re always so tight.” he has to suck through gritted teeth to not completely lose it, ‘cause you’re clenching down on him so much that it almost hurts.

“that’s ‘cause you don’t fuck me enough.”

“we should fix that, then.” he responds, sliding his cock in and out of the pooling wetness between your legs, and as the minutes go by, you continue to find yourself in his arms, your body plastered on his.

it’s the ringing of your phone from the nightstand that pulls you out of the erotic haze.

mingyu turns his head to the side, the dark strands of hair hanging beside his head as he’s still hovering above you.

his chest still heaves when he picks up the device to show you the caller id. “you never did tell me what he wanted to talk to you about.”

all you can do is chuckle — a sound that comes across as if you know more than he does. “he’s onto you. thinks you’re guilty. not far from the truth, is he?”

throwing your phone to the other side of the bed, he pushes himself a little deeper into you, loving the way you have to bite your lip to suppress a whimper. “and he wanted you to give him evidence, i bet.”

“he did.”

“did you?”

“since you still have the freedom to fuck me — take a wild guess.”

this time it’s him who lets out an arrogant laugh. “i knew you liked me too much.”

“i could still do it, y’know.”

“oh, i know you could.” he bites his lower lip before kissing you so vigorously again — as if you’re the air he breathes.

xii. ROUGH HEWN BY UNFORTUNATE EVENTS, AND GIVEN BREATH BY NECESSITY

with the noise of the fireplace crackling, you stand by the window of your mansion’s spacious living room, staring outside as you’re anxiously rubbing your fingers over your collarbone.

the man you and mingyu forced to act like he was guilty of murdering your father has supposedly confessed yesterday morning, and yet you’ve still heard nothing. which is strange.

extremely strange.

“they could still be interrogating him.” mingyu tries to ease both your and his own nerves, but you shake your head, your back still facing him.

“something’s wrong. if it were convincing enough, i would’ve heard something. fuck.”

he gets up from the soft couch to wrap his arms around you from behind. “we just gotta be a little more patient. the guy knows what’s at stake should he mess it up.”

letting out a sigh, you nod. “yeah, i guess you’re right.”

just when he’s pressed a kiss on the top of your head, the doorbell rings — whoever that may be.

mingyu remains in his spot by the window while you go ahead to check who’s visiting you. your breath is almost stolen completely from you once you see who it is.

“coming to visit me at this hour?”

the inspector gives you a fake smile in return. “it’s important.”

so you let him in, keeping up the nonchalance in your attitude. mingyu raises a brow at the older man walking into the room, and he crosses his arms over his chest.

“i had someone coming into the station yesterday — one of your father’s former staff. he confessed to the murder.” the inspector begins. “unfortunately for him, i said i’d already figured out who the culprit was, and so i sent him back home.”

“someone confessed and you didn’t think about telling us?” mingyu questions angrily, and you really have to force yourself not to show how impressed you are with his acting skills.

the other man in the room is less impressed. “why would i tell you something you’re already aware of? you orchestrated it.”

oh, shit.

as your eyes widen, it’s quiet for a moment.

“i really hope you have actual proof to back this accusation.” mingyu sneers, clearly hostile towards the man while you silently take a few steps back, slowly hiding yourself more in the shadows by the walls.

“traces of poison were found in the reports of the autopsy. it was disregarded at first because of the small amount, but i eventually began to consider it evidence when i discovered you recently purchased that exact formula from a dealer who’s been on our radar for a while.”

the hairs on your neck suddenly stand upright. is this it? is the person you’ve grown so attached to actually going to get arrested?

“thing is, if i were to arrest you, you’d probably be let go. i know you both have contacts in the police force as well as the justice system, i almost caught someone messing with the autopsy results — but despite that, i know the truth.” the man nods to himself. “and that is, mr. kim, that the only charge against you is attempted murder.”

mingyu seems confused. “attempted?”

“the poison didn’t kill him. you’re guilty of something, definitely, but you’re no murderer.” the inspector’s gaze suddenly shifts from your partner to you, a deep frown setting into your forehead. “the only player in this game that wasn’t making any sense to me was you.”

“me?”

“you know, in my many years in this line of work, i’ve found it a rarity to have a suspect possessing such an… inscrutible expectant stillness. the gears in your head are constantly turning, but no one’s really sure what it is that goes up in there. you’re an enigma.” he says to you, and you listen to him with a raised brow.

as you remain silent, he continues. “at the event a few weeks ago, when i spoke with you, i came to you and told you i suspected him to be the culprit — the man you’ve hated from day one. the opportunity to make him go away was practically given to you, yet you did nothing with it.”

scoffing at him in disbelief, you tilt your head. “that’s all you have against me? baseless speculation?”

“not exactly baseless. see, the autopsy report showed one more thing — he was choked before the hanging. your father was unconscious before you put that rope around his neck.”

it’s so quiet, you’re pretty sure the two men in the room are able to hear your heartbeat at this point.

mingyu turns to look at you with a puzzled expression, and you finally decide to drop the façade you’ve upheld for so long.

“oh, so what?” you shrug, finding the accusation bothersome at best.

the sudden change in demeanor catches mingyu completely off-guard. he can’t fully comprehend what’s going on here. “you—you killed him?”

you press your lips together. “whatever you used on him wasn’t enough to kill him, but it was enough to make him violent. he came home that night just—fucking losing it. stumbling over everything, his eyes were all red, and he yelled at me because he thought i was the one who poisoned him. ‘cause naturally, he’d never suspect you. my father was one to hit me on the cheek whenever he was really angry with me, but he’d never gone further than that. the poison must’ve worked him up so much that he lost rational thinking. so he began to accuse me of trying to kill him, after which he tried to choke me, but i managed to throw him off, and he passed out. and i figured it’d been enough of his torture, so… i hung him in the stairwell to make it seem like a suicide.”

the inspector nods knowingly. “you murdered him in cold blood.”

you’re quick to respond with your defense, though you don’t really care anymore. “did you not hear the part where he tried to kill me?”

mingyu looks like a kicked puppy when he processes your confession. “so you’ve been lying to me this whole time?”

the words elicit a scoff from you. “that’s real bold, coming from you.”

“but you—you agreed to help me figure out who your father’s killer was. why would you do that if you did it?”

“at first i didn’t, as you know, but you were just so fucking persistent. so i figured i could try to divert your attention from me. i was going to convince you that it was a suicide. then i hear the tapes, you admitting that you poisoned him, and everything made sense. but hey, at least i wasn’t trying to frame you.”

the jab directed at him makes him feel guilty again. “so we both did it.”

“in a way. though i’d argue it was somewhat self-defense. i mean, he came onto me, tried to kill me—”

“you made a mistake and you know it.” the inspector interrupts, making you roll your eyes as he scolds you. “you should’ve called the police. but you didn’t, you just decided to hang him instead!”

“he deserved it!” you retort, displaying the clear hatred you’ve always felt towards anyone who tried to defend the man who raised you. “i don’t care what you think. and you said it yourself — i have everyone in the justice system on my payroll, if necessary. threatening to kill a family member or two also works like a charm.”

it’s silent for a few seconds after you’ve revealed this side of your true nature, and the man just stares you in the eye before grabbing a device from his backpocket.

when he clicks on the button, you already know what it is.

he recorded the whole conversation, and you already know he can’t be bribed, so this is a real problem — because it’s the one piece of evidence needed that will destroy you both.

“you do realize how stupid it was to come here alone, right?” you ask rhetorically.

“what, will you kill me too?” he asks, and when both you and mingyu deadpan a stare at him, he knows the answer.

he’s not getting out of this room alive unless he forfeits the recording.

when you and your partner in crime exchange a glance, the inspector attempts to make a run for it, only to be tackled by mingyu once he’s reached the door.

one last sacrifice.

the sound of a blade piercing through skin makes you jump, your fingers twitching.

blood begins to trickle down his body, after which mingyu pulls out the knife and pushes it in once more, higher up in the chest this time.

“oh, jesus—fuck!” you gasp to yourself when you feel the bloodsplatters hitting your face and neck, and mingyu rips the blade from the inspector’s body, letting it fall onto the carpeted floor.

you both stare at the freshly created crime scene, and you pinch the bridge of your nose, mostly just annoyed at having another crime on your hands.

“well, that is unfortunate.” mingyu sighs, after which you press your lips together, looking up at him.

“understatement of the year. did you have to stab him that quick?”

“sweetheart, he would’ve locked us both away if i didn’t.”

“i guess so.” locking the front door to ensure no one can enter, you cross your arms. “so. are we burning, burying or dumping him in a lake?”

mingyu stares at the body on the floor before locking eyes with you, and it’s like making a silent deal — that you’re in this mess together, and only together can you come out of it, as bloody and violent that road may turn out to be.

well, at the end of the day, you suppose your father was right about one little thing.

you and kim mingyu are, indeed, good together. just not in the way he imagined.

after all, love can exist even in the murderous heart.

thanks for reading! let me know if you enjoyed it x

® SANAKIRAS — do not repost, remake or copy my work in any way whatsoever. translations are not allowed.