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hwaslayer · 2 days ago

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wildfire (cs) | thirteen.

—spotify playlist | series masterlist

—summary: assistant professor in bioengineering, incredibly attractive, lonely and divorced; that’s how most people describe san. but despite the events that have happened in his life, san has a lot going for himself. he’s a successful, sought out professor due to his brilliant contributions to science at just an early age of 32. he worked hard to get where he was now; head deep into his research, his publications, building his lab and creating a name for himself. everything was good and smooth sailing— until it wasn’t. because when he meets you, a bioengineering grad student interested in rotating in his lab, he finds himself ready to risk all the blood, sweat and tears he put in throughout the years just to keep you close— his need for you spiraling out of control like a wildfire.

—pairing: asst. professor!choi san x grad student!f. reader

—genre: (18+ - minors dni) strangers to lovers, grad school au | fluff, angst, smut

—word count: 7k

—chapter content/warnings: cussing, we catch a lil moment with belle 🙄, crying .. lots of crying, just lots of hurt and heartache, more misunderstandings, we see a bit of parents from both sides - esp san's dynamic with his father, flashback scene with smut: oral (f. receiving), 🤠, praises, lots of sweet kisses and tender moments, some nipple play, soft and slow smut!!

—a/n: fic announcement soon!

If the texts yesterday afternoon weren't nerve-wracking enough, it was the downtime in between the texts and seeing San that had you ready to curl up in a ball out of anxiety; fetal position, rocking back and forth as an attempt to rid the feeling. San hadn't texted much after deciding the two of you should talk the following day, and you never questioned why he couldn't just see you the same night he had told you he needed to talk.

you: 😞 you didn't even look my way when you walked back into the office and i haven't heard from you all day.

you: i hate how all my papers and presentations are due this week. plus ppl have been weird, idk. i just wanna cuddle 😭

san: i'm sorry. it's just been a day.

you: that's never stopped you before... ☹️ what's wrong, san?

san: we should talk, baby.

you: oh.. okay. so let's talk tonight? i just need to finish up a few things, and i'm halfway done on most of my papers and presentations. i think they can wait a bit.

san: no, you should finish up. i've got a ton of things to catch up on so tonight won't work. can we do this tomorrow? i'll come pick you up once we're both done in the lab.

you: are you sure?

san: mhm. i'm sorry again, it really just has been kinda all over the place today.

you: it's fine, san. as long as you can promise me we're okay?

san: we will be. i'll talk to you tomorrow, okay? try to take breaks and rest well.

You accepted it, even if it felt excruciating and painfully long.

These things never turn out well, and you knew your case wasn't gonna be an exception. You were afraid for it, you were nervous and you were wondering what San might do to try and lessen the blow of whatever was coming.

He wouldn't hurt you, right?

He meant it when he said you two would be okay, right?

Even if he tried to be as reassuring, everything about it felt off and cryptic. None of it felt like sunshine and rainbows, none of it felt like the San you felt in love with. None of it felt like the giddy excitement, the comfort, the safety you had come to know and love.

You hated automatically assuming the worse, but nothing was preventing you from doing so— not even San.

Today was actually pretty uneventful, nonetheless. Despite the wait and silence from San, you felt like you managed to get by in one piece. It still felt like everyone was looking at you; like they had all known your deepest, darkest secrets. Like they had been following your every move, especially while you were with San. It still felt awful, but you had learned how to push aside because people could talk and assume— but they would never know the true story.

And who knows? Even if you tried to explain yourself, they wouldn't get it.

You didn't really owe that explanation to anyone, you think.

The only other weird part about your day was when you had tried to help Belle earlier since you had some downtime and she brushed you off completely. She had been avoiding you, and it was pretty obvious she was letting the talk get to her head. She didn't maintain eye contact with you, she didn't acknowledge you, and she didn't talk to you the way that she used to.

—FLASHBACK

You walk into the lab, passing by a few of your labmates with a tiny, toothless smile etched on your lips. There was no Sunwoo around, but there was Belle; yet, she still hadn't turned to acknowledge your presence. You had gotten through your to-do list for Sunwoo's project, leaving you with extra time to spare today. You hadn't been able to dedicate a lot of your support to Belle lately due to all those technical issues you needed to troubleshoot for your project with Sunwoo, and you figured this would be a good time to make up for it.

Unless she had other plans.

"Hey Belle!" You come to her desk, pulling the courage from deep down within you to approach her first. She looks up at you, a brow cocked up before returning her attention to her laptop. "I have some time to help—"

"No thanks, I'm good." She doesn't look at you. "Just so you know, I don't really need extra help anymore. I've got everything figured out already."

"Oh, okay." You step away from her desk, fiddling with your fingers while you stand there looking dumb. "Are you sure?" She pauses her typing before finally looking back up at you with her brows knit tightly together.

"I just said it, didn't I?"

"I-I'm sorry, I just wanted to make sure since I had the time and I haven't been able to help you out as much cause of Sunwoo's project."

"Why don't you go and use your extra time with Professor Choi since you've been doing that anyway?" She gives you a look that settles in the pit of your stomach. You don't say anything to her, even as she shuts her laptop close and stands— brushing past you to get to one of the behavior rooms. You feel a bit hurt, and your other labmates aren't even paying attention to the whole thing; or, maybe they are, and they just don't wanna say anything to dig deeper into the wound.

So, you turn on your heel with your head down, returning to your desk to continue your data analysis in silence.

—END

You try to tell yourself that it doesn't really matter— that you didn't need anyone's reassurance or validation. It hurt despite not being super close to Belle, but you knew she thought of you in a different light now and that wasn't really fair. You could see how it'd look problematic on the surface, but you thought she knew you better than that.

Guess it's also your fault for assuming.

When it's time for San to pick you up at your usual pick-up spot, you grab your keys and head out— still not having changed out of your outfit for the day. You try to take slow steps to not seem too eager, but you can't help it when you see San parked in his usual spot. This time though, he isn't watching for you in the rear view mirror.

"Hey." You swing the door open and slide in. San gives you a small smile, followed by a:

"Hey." He watches as you dip forward to kiss him on the lips like you always do, and he surprisingly takes it. You were getting ready for the rejection or some kind of pull back; but, to San's own knowledge, he did it because he knew it'd be the last time he could savor it.

"You okay? Were you able to finish everything you needed to?"

"Uh, yeah. Think so." He says with a subtle chuckle before driving off.

"Are we going to your house?"

"Thought we could sit at the view and talk, if that's okay with you?" You slowly nod, keeping your eyes trained on San as he drives.

"Okay. You're scaring me, Sannie." He shakes his head.

"Please don't be."

"Then why couldn't we just talk about this like normal at your place?"

"Y/N, you trust me, right?" He quickly looks at you as he comes across a red light. You silently nod, just in time for him to drive off and continue onto the destination. "Okay, so trust me." He's still being so cryptic and distant that you don't even know how to respond. You quietly sit back in your chair and watch the surroundings pass you by, trying to settle the queasiness you feel building in your stomach.

These things never go well, and your case doesn't seem to be a one-off.

San continues to remain silent as he drives the rest of the way to the view, the music softly filling in as background noise that's enough to distract you. When he pulls into the small empty side lot and parks his car, he lets out a sigh and sits back.

"How was your day today?" He asks softly, still avoiding contact with you.

"It was okay, I guess. Better than yesterday."

"That's good."

"San." You adjust your position so you're looking directly at him, body facing him. "What is it that you wanted to talk about?"

"I don't know where to start."

"You have to start somewhere." He sighs again. "You know, whatever it is, you can tell me. We can figure this out together." You raise your hand to cup his cheek, almost somewhat of a gesture to force him to look at you. And for a minute, you feel him relax under your touch. You can tell he wants to turn and kiss the palm of your hand like he usually does, but he doesn't. "Sannie—"

"We should stop this." Your mouth slightly drops even though you don't know what to say. Your eyes widen, your touch turns cold. You retreat your hand while you let the response sink, San still keeping his gaze out of the window because he truly can't dare to look at you right now.

He'll fold.

He'll forget all about this and risk everything for the both of you.

He shouldn't.

"W-what?"

"We need to stop this, Y/N." He finally looks at you and his gaze feels like an icebox. Everything feels so cold and distant, even if it's supposed to be a front; it's working, and it's fucking you up completely.

"All of a sudden? I-I thought we were fine, what happened? What did I do wrong?" He shakes his head.

"Nothing. It's not anything you did, I'm just trying to be realistic here."

"Realistic? I thought you didn't care about the outside noise?"

"We're only prolonging the inevitable, don't you get it? Everything is going to come crashing down on us whether we like it or not. No matter how hard I try to stop it, this is what it'll eventually come to." You don't really understand where he's coming from or what he's getting at, but it's too late— you feel the tears steadily streaming down your cheeks.

Then, you're sobbing into your hands and you feel pathetic. But San feels terrible, he hates this. He doesn't wanna do this but he's conflicted between right and wrong, between being selfish and letting you go. "San, why?"

"Y/N, please hear me out on this, okay?" He's barely able to answer.

"Why? You ask him again. You cry in his passenger's seat, wiping it away with your sweater sleeves. "You said I could trust you, a-and that you wouldn't hurt me because you didn't care about anyone else."

"I need you to understand that I'm doing this because I care about you."

"But, I love you." San shakes his head as tears streak his own cheeks.

"We're being too selfish." He looks at you. "I am. I'm being too selfish and I don't need this to ruin things for you more. I need to put you first—"

"Why do you get to decide what that looks like for me, San?" He doesn't respond. "So, you don't want this?" He lets out a shaky sigh. "Us?"

"That's far from how I feel and you know it."

"Why can't you just say it back? Why can't we just let this be? I don't care—" You tug on his arm and he grips your hand before shaking his head.

"Because this is already hard as it is. Y/N, listen to me." He pleads, cupping your cheeks. He finally looks deep into your eyes, his thumb gently caressing the surface. The life in his eyes are gone. The glow, the stars. Now, his eyes are dull. They're holding back. They don't show you anything. "We should stop. We need to. Namjoon and the dean are discussing your future at the school, and I need you to keep going in this program. I need you to keep going forward even if that means I can't be right there with you every step of the way. You deserve to be here and you deserve to finish this until the very end. You've worked so hard to get here, and I refuse to let them lose out on you simply because of me."

"This makes no sense to me. Why do we have to do this? We can just be more careful and plan better. We can just—"

"I'm trying to protect you."

"Protect me? From Namjoon and the dean? Or are you trying to protect yourself?"

"I don't give a damn about me, Y/N!" He's a little angrier with this response but you know it isn't directed towards you. It's towards Namjoon. The dean. Yunho and Iseul. This whole fucked up situation. "I'm always gonna put you first. It's always been about you and it'll always be about you." You cry a bit harder at his answer, unsure of what to make of this entire thing. You don't know if San really means this or if he is just trying to protect you. You don't know what to do, you don't know if you should keep trusting him the same way.

You don't know if you can, and that's probably because you're blinded by all the overwhelming emotions you're feeling right now.

The both of you sit in this thick silence, your cries now filling the space while San tries to muster up the last bit of his energy to try and make you feel better— to get you to understand this better.

It's not that he wants to, he has to.

"I don't—" He swallows thickly. "I don't wanna do this but I have to. You have to understand." He says at a whisper, more tears streaming down his red-stained cheeks. "You have to understand, baby. Please." He begs. "I don't want them to do anything to you and I don't wanna jeopardize your future. Just listen to me. We have to do this." He leans forward to cup your cheeks and wipe your tears away with his thumb.

"No, we don't." You almost whine, but all San can do is shake his head and sit back in his seat.

"I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you, but I have to do what's best for you." His voice shakes. "I really am so sorry, sweetheart." He answers lowly, wiping his remaining tears before retreating back into his shell and showing off his cold demeanor for the remainder of his time with you. "I should get you back."

"I should've never trusted you. I should've known this was all too good to be true. You didn't care." You cry, repeating all this nonsense to try and get him to hurt the same way as you somehow. Because he'll never understand. Everything had led up to this and you were still unprepared for this. Even though you knew you'd be here at some point, nothing would have ever prepared you for the way your heart drops to your stomach; the way you feel nothing but thunder and rain.

Blue and grey.

He does, though.

In fact, he's probably hurting the most because he had to pull the trigger and let you go.

He hates it. He fucking hates it.

He's trying to drown out the rest until he gets you back to your building because he can't take it. He can't take hearing you cry anymore, he can't take hearing you say these awful things because you're angry at the moment. He hopes that you'll see where he's coming from eventually because all he's ever wanted to do was protect you and keep you safe.

All he's ever done was care about you, and you only.

All he's ever felt was love for you, and you only. You showed him what love was like again and he'll never take that for granted.

This was him showing you love. He needed to put you first.

"I care about you more than anything. I'm trying to do what's best—"

"Without involving me? Deciding for me? Yeah." You wipe away at your cheeks once more before unbuckling your seatbelt. "Whatever San, save it." You tell him before swinging the door open and stepping out. "You were just trying to protect me. I get it."

"Baby, don't be like that. Please don't make this harder than it already is. I would never intentionally hurt you. You know this." He tries to reach for your hand, but you move it away.

"You don't get to call me that anymore." You roll your eyes. "Anyway, goodluck, San." Is all you say before slamming his door shut and storming off. You begin to cry to yourself again, feeling sorry for yourself and stupid. You know deep down that San was only trying to do the right thing and that he was trying to protect you. But, right now, you're angry, you're sad, you're upset. You feel empty and betrayed and you just need to feel this out in order to let it pass.

This too shall pass.

When you head upstairs, you quickly pack up a few things, along with your laptop and other school-related necessities before locking up and heading to your car. You feel a migraine coming on, which definitely means you should take it easy and stay behind; but, all you can think about is getting to your mom and being away from school for a few days.

Nothing's better than a mother's love and comfort, even though you aren't entirely sure how she's gonna react to this, how she'll feel about San.

In the end, you don't hate him.

You can't.

You could never.

—FLASHBACK

"That was a good girl's date, wasn't it? We got massages, our nails done. Now we're eating a banana split under this nice weather." Your mom chuckles. "You need to come home more often."

"I know, I know." You scoop up a good helping of the banana split, internally conflicted on when is a good time to let your mom know about what's been going on. She would probably be surprised and scared for you, but your mom had a good way of choosing her words. She had a good way of being there for you but making her concerns known without pointing fingers or putting any blame on your actions.

"How has school been? Your friends?"

"They've been good. We've all been busy with our labs."

"Jiung's been good? You think you guys are all gonna stay in the labs you're currently rotating in?"

"He's good, yeah. And I think so, they all seem to be enjoying it."

"How about you?" You poke at the banana before scooping another helping. Your mom can already tell there's something else on your mind, but she's gonna let you take the floor and open up about it when you're ready.

Which is now.

You just don't know if she's ready.

"Uh, yeah. It's been good!" You give her a small smile. "I'm still deciding on my route, but it's been good." Pause. "There's actually something else I've been meaning to tell you."

"Okay, try me!" She chuckles. "What is it?"

"I've been seeing someone."

"Oh?" She laughs. "Well, isn't that great?! I mean, you never needed a man, okay. But, as long as they make you happy and add value to your life. I just want you happy." She laughs. "Who is he, where did you meet? Tell me everything!" You sigh and take a deep breath before starting.

"We met at school. In the lab. Because.. he's my rotation professor." You give her a look, afraid of what she'll say. She stops mid-bite and almost chokes, setting her spoon down before looking at you with knitted brows.

"Your.. what?! Y/N—"

"Mom, please. Just hear me out before you start assuming and saying things. He didn't abuse his power, I didn't throw myself on him, okay? It just happened." You immediately say and look at her with puppy eyes. "We just happened. We grew feelings for each other and just clicked really well. We've been keeping things lowkey."

"But, Y/N. Honey, I say this sincerely. What if people find out? Not that I want them to, but they will." You shrug.

"I don't know, we'll figure it out."

"H-how old is he?"

"32."

"Oh, okay. He's young."

"And handsome." You rest your chin on the palm of your hand and smile. "His name is San. Choi San. He's pretty popular in the bioengineering and neuroscience world."

"That's good." Your mom is slightly shutting down and you know it's because her thoughts are traveling at 100mph and she doesn't know what to think or do.

Or say.

"Mom, I'm sorry. I know you're worried but I'll be fine, okay? I promise. It'll all be fine." You add to break the silence and reach for her hand.

"I just don't want him to hurt you and then you lose everything you've worked so hard for over him."

"I just don't know where this is gonna take us. Things feel too overwhelming. Like.. I just don't want any talk getting into his head about us."

"It could really ruin things for the both of you, Y/N. Please be smart about your actions. Don't throw everything away because of him. That's all I ask. Just by the looks of it, I know he makes you happy and you're riding cloud nine, but you need to remember who comes first— yourself."

"I know. I hear you. I don't mean to cause any unnecessary worry or anything."

"No, you're not. Lovey, I'm your mom, I'm always gonna worry regardless. But, I trust you enough to make the right decisions and to take care of yourself. I know you'll be smart and I know you won't be completely reckless. I'm not gonna lie, this— this isn't a 'conventional' relationship and I'm not sure how I feel about it yet." She sighs and looks at you with a hint of concern in her eyes. "I'm trying hard to see this from your side, not from my side, and I think it'll take me time to get used to. In the end, I just don't want you to get hurt. I don't want people to think bad about you, and I don't want you to lose everything you've worked so hard for."

"I know, but it's all okay. I promise." You promise her, but you don't even know if you believe the promise yourself. "You can trust him." She doesn't say much, and you can tell she's trying her hardest to swallow her true emotions.

"Just becareful."

—END

San picks up the phone to call Namjoon, hands slightly trembling. He's still sitting in his car, still sitting in the same spot because it's his turn to cry and let out all his feelings. He hits the steering wheel before running a hand through his hair, second-guessing all his decisions.

Why did it have to come down to all of this? Did he really have to? How long before he folds and comes back to you?

Before he says fuck this all together and chases after you?

He keeps trying to remind himself that he needs to protect you and let this blow over. He keeps trying to remind himself that it'll all be worth it and you both will find your way back to each other again.

In time.

"San."

"It's over with." Is all he is able to say before Namjoon lets out a small sigh on the other end.

"I'm sorry, San. Look, just give this time—" Quite frankly, he doesn't wanna hear it anymore. Not today, not tomorrow, not for awhile.

"It's fine." He cute him off. "You don't have to say it. Just please make sure nothing happens to her."

"You got my word. I'll figure this out. Don't worry." San ends the call before he's digging his head into his hands and cries.

And cries.

Because now his days are going to blend back to the black and white filter he used to have on. He'll never experience that warmth, those colors, without you around.

He'll never witness where the sea meets the sky, when the sun sinks below the horizon. When dawn meets dusk.

His days will be monotone and dull, lifeless and cold. Gloomy. Days he had prayed to get past and never return to.

But, he's here again.

And somehow, this pain feels worse this time around than the first time.

—FLASHBACK

San sighs when he pulls up to his parents' house, aggressively shifting the gear to park before taking a moment to himself. He wasn't happy when his father left him a voicemail, scolding him for the rumors going around about him dating his student. He was quick to call him names and demand him to make things right before his name could be tainted in the industry. San isn't gonna lie, he's always looked up to his father. Things changed when San started making a name for himself in the academic industry, creating some kind of competitive tension between the two. Well, San never felt that way. His dad strongly did though, for whatever reason.

He never understood it. It's whatever.

What San wasn't having was the fact that his father kept calling you a little girl who only wanted to use him to work her way in and up.

He slams the door to his car, adjusting his hat and his jacket before tapping the code into the keypad on the front door.

"San, is that you?" He hears his mom's sweet voice call out to him. He smiles softly when she comes into view in the hallway, opening her arms for a hug. "Please don't mind your father, you know how he is. He's just concerned." She gives the back of his neck a reassuring massage.

"Mm, yeah. I can feel the concern especially when he starts calling me out my name."

"San." His mom gives him a look before his dad looks up from the paper he's reading on the couch, forehead crinkling when he sees his son walk in.

"Why are you here?"

"Hi to you, too." San says while his mom steps in the middle.

"Honey." She turns to his father.

"So, what was up with that voicemail?"

"Why don't you tell us what's been going on with you and your so-called girlfriend? Do you even care about yourself or what this could do to your career? You're so careless—"

"So what if I'm careless! You don't even know her so you don't have a right to do that!"

"Are you actually that stupid, San? Do you know how damaging this could be for you, for us?"

"What does this have to do with you?!" San's voice raises.

"It has everything to do with us! Everyone thinks you either forced that girl into a relationship or she threw herself on you and you stupidly took the bait!"

"Even if I said it wasn't like that, you wouldn't listen anyway!"

"Are you serious about her?"

"What makes you think I'm not? We're two grown adults who are capable of making our own decisions and knew the consequences from the very beginning."

"And you think she'll stay? Someone that young and who is just getting started with her life, basically. You think she'll stay and be there for you when times get rough?"

"Absolutely." His dad scoffs.

"Is that so? Wishful thinking. You couldn't even keep Iseul and now you're downgrading to a st—"

"Hey!" San's mom cuts off his father's statement. "That is enough from you. Don't finish that sentence."

"You have no idea what Iseul put me through!" San's tone is louder to match his father's energy. "I found somebody who genuinely and truly cares about me and who I am. That isn't enough for you? Just because she's a student, but a grown adult at that?! You can't even be happy for a second? You still find a way to be on Iseul's side even though she cheated with my bestfriend!"

"Maybe it's time you realized you pushed Iseul away. That was your own doing. And this girl? Don't come to me and make me tell you 'I told you so' when she leaves after she's gotten everything she needs from you." San's dad is fuming in front of him. "How could you be so sure things will be smooth sailing with her, hm? What makes you think this can work?"

"This is fucking bullshit, I'm not explaining myself to you. If you don't wanna be happy for me and support me, then so be it."

—END

San thinks maybe his dad was right; maybe this wasn't meant to be, and was just supposed to be another fleeting moment, another lesson.

Even though deep down, he knows it's far from it.

As he sits in his home office, he scrolls through old pictures of you and him together— you, pictures you've sent him. He feels the rush of sadness hit him like bricks, his chest almost physically hurting from the ache. He has this sudden urge to text you and call you, tell you how much he misses you.

But, he stops himself.

What if you stopped caring? What if you were so mad at him that you hated him?

He couldn't bear with it.

If only he knew how much you cried and yearned for him every night, if only he knew how much your head hurt while you laid on your mom's lap while she ran her hands through your hair— gently cooing you and shushing you to help you get some sleep.

If only he knew.

"Mom, I'm sorry." You cry and cry, laying your head on her lap as you let everything out. "You were right, I messed everything up. This was all so stupid. I'm so stupid."

"Don't say that." She shushes you and tries to coo you. "Don't ever say that again." She looks at you. "What happened?" You gather the strength to tell her everything that's been going on. How deep your relationship went with San and how well he took care of you. How you weren't always the most careful but the only reason why things blew up was because of Hae-jin, Iseul and Yunho. How Iseul and Yunho just keep trying to get in between, how Jiung even went to Professor Kim about all of this.

How San broke this off claiming he wanted to protect you and put you first.

How utterly sad and betrayed you feel.

"I'm just so tired of feeling this way. I hate how alone I feel. I hate how much I miss him. I hate how this unfolded the way it did."

"I'm so sorry, honey. You need to let things be for now, okay? I know that's not what you wanna hear, but you need to. Especially for school and yourself."

"Why does anyone care? Why does it matter?"

"People have nothing better to do, and I'm sorry it had to be those two and Jiung."

"I'm so tired, mom. When will this pass? What did I do wrong? Why did he leave so quickly?"

"Lovey. You did nothing wrong. It wasn't you at all, and it wasn't San either. The circumstances are just tough. You didn't know it would play out this way and I'm sure he has his reasons."

"What if he's just using that as an excuse? What if he really doesn't want this anymore?"

"If he really cared about you, why would he lie, Y/N? I'm sure he was doing his best to protect you both, especially you. I know it hurts right now, hun. But, maybe this is for the best." You don't wanna hear it even though your mom might be right.

Maybe this is for the best. Maybe this was just telling you this could never work between you two.

No matter how hard you both tried.

San's urge to text or call doesn't lessen as the next few days go by, especially when he notices he hasn't seen any trace of you. He'll usually see you walking towards the biology building for Yunho's class or making your way to the dining hall with the girls.

If San hadn't overheard Sunwoo telling his lab mates that you were sick, he would've gone crazy.

It still doesn't help that you're feeling unwell and he can't do anything about it.

"Sunwoo." San pokes his head out of his door, causing Sunwoo to lift his head from his laptop and shift his attention towards him. "Can you meet really quickly?"

"Yeah, sure thing. Be right over!"

"Thanks." San heads back to his desk and lets out a breath, waiting for Sunwoo to come. It takes him less than 5 minutes to finally make his way into the office, rubbing his hands down his jeans. "Hey." San looks up at him. "Thanks for coming in on short notice."

"No prob! What's up, Professor Choi?"

"I wanted to talk to you really quickly because I wanted you to hear it from me directly. Starting next week, we'll be losing Y/N's support. She'll be heading to Professor Kim's lab."

"O-oh. Okay. Damn." Sunwoo ticks his head to the side. "Professor Kim with the steal." San chuckles a bit.

"Yeah." San can't even hide his sadness when he looks down at the papers beneath his hands that Sunwoo catches on and he feels bad. He still doesn't know the details and he never will, but if it's one thing he can gather right now, it's the fact that the room feels cold and empty.

It's the fact that San literally has to force himself to smile and deliver this news like all is okay and no big deal— when in fact, it fucking is.

Sunwoo feels so bad.

"So, I know she's out sick right now, but will I still get to see her before she goes? I wanna talk to her to wrap things up, too."

"When she returns, we'll make sure she has time to close loose ends with you and gather her things."

"Hm." Sunwoo nods slowly. "Okay."

"I'm sorry this came up so suddenly, but I had to make a few changes around here. We all thought she'd be a better fit with Professor Kim."

"I see. She's super smart and incredibly great at what she does, I know she'll do well in whatever she does and wherever she goes." San nods.

"Yeah, she will." He sighs. "There's another rotation student that I might bring in next quarter that might be a good fit to work with you, too. His name is Baehyuk."

"Cool. Down to meet whenever the time is right."

"Thanks, Sunwoo."

"No, thank you for always giving me some help and pushing me forward." San gives him a small smile. "Everything will work out."

"Yeah." Is all he could say in response. Because he hopes it will.

Right now, it seems like a far reach.

All San wants to do is love you, rather than hiding just how deeply in love he was with you.

—FLASHBACK

"Here, baby." He turns to hand you a plate with a smile on his face. "Think you can help me dry the last of these dishes and put 'em up?"

"Course, chef." He chuckles, watching as you tip-toe with nothing but his shirt on to reach over and place the dry dishes into the proper cabinet. You follow suit with the last three dishes, setting the towel aside while San wipes away the water droplets around the sink. "We did it, babe! All clean."

"Sure did." He laughs, caging you in against the counter to kiss you sweetly. "Thank you, baby."

"You're welcome." You giggle. "Thank you for making dinner."

"As long as you enjoyed." You nod.

"What do you wanna do for the rest of the evening?"

"Mm, we can watch a movie and fall asleep here on the couch without any worry."

"That's fun." You smile.

"Or, we can do other things that I have in mind." He brushes the hair away from your face while you wrap your arms around his neck.

"Ooh." You reply in a sing-song tone. "Care to indulge?"

"Absolutely." He says just as he swiftly carries you and wraps your legs around him. You squeal as he walks over to the couch and gently plops you down onto the soft cushions, wasting no time to attach his lips to every inch of skin he can. He slowly hovers over you, hands roaming up your shirt and tugging material along with it as he continues to move upward— exposing your cute pink panties from beneath. He sinks to his knees and pries your legs open after fixing your position to the edge of the couch. "Let me make you feel good, love."

"Yes please, Sannie. Please." You beg, watching as San slides down your panties and tosses them aside. His hands caress your thighs, giving them a good squeeze while laying open-mouth kisses along the surface. You continue to watch him, biting on your lip when he hovers over where you need him at most. He licks a stripe up your folds, causing your head to cock back against the cushion. He begins to gently kiss and suck at your heat— a satisfying, breathy moan leaving your lips as you let San relish being in between your thighs. He laps away at your clit, tonguing down your pussy as if he had been deprived of you for years.

You love/hate how good he is at this. "Babe—" You moan loudly, hips now working on their own terms against his mouth. He subtly nods as he continues to suck and lap away at your heat, tongue keeping you wet and filthy; just the way he likes it. "God, right there—" You whine, hips rolling upward and grinding against his mouth, his tongue.

You used to be so shy.

Now, you're not afraid to tell him what you want and he fucking loves it. "Oh—San— gonna—" Your statement comes out broken as you continue to work against his mouth, orgasm crashing down like a harsh wave against the shore. You grip his hair, body twitching as San continues to latch on and groan against your pussy; incredibly hard while watching the way your body surrenders all. "Fuck." You whisper, still twitching due to the aftershocks from your first orgasm of the night.

"That's my girl." He's back to kissing your thighs, hands gently rubbing up and down your leg as a way to soothe you.

"Need you." You tug him by the shirt to plant a messy kiss against his lips— shirt soon to be discarded on the floor, along with his sweats.

Now you're on his lap, slowly riding his cock just the way he likes it— the couch's throw blanket resting against the small of your back and draped along San's lap.

It's his favorite position after all.

"Mm— just like that, baby." He whispers against your lips as you continue to ride him slowly on the couch. "Just like that." He repeats. "You're my good girl, right? Just mine?" He asks lowly and you nod, letting out a sweet moan as he pinches your nipple and watches your head tilt back in pleasure. "Oh, fuck— just like that." His head rests back against the couch, feeling your walls brush against him and drag against his rock hard cock. "All mine."

"Mm'fuck, Sannie." You keep your head back, intense pleasure bubbling at the pit of your stomach. You take him slowly, deeply; his cock hitting all the right spots every time you do a 'lil tug and pull— hips carefully rolling against him.

"So fucking sexy." He groans. "God, you're everything." His lips drag against your skin, tongue swirling around your perky nipples as your hands tug on the ends of his soft, black hair. "Everything to me." He whispers as if your skin could hold all of the universe's secrets. The blanket is barely keeping up with your movements. San's hand comes up along the base of your neck, bringing you back down to envelope your lips with his.

The kiss is full of hunger.

The kiss is slow and steady.

The kiss is messy.

You break the kiss first, body slowly crumbling in his grip when you feel your high approaching quick. You moan loudly, breath ragged as you pant; hips slightly picking up the pace to push yourself further and further until you reach the edge.

"Oh—" San matches your moans. "That's it, sweetheart. Cum for me." He praises you, voice deep— tone sending vibrations all the way down to your core. "Give it to me. Wanna feel you cum all over this dick, angel." Hearing San talk the way he's talking is enough to make your coil snap. He continues to coo you as you come undone on his lap; stuttering in your movements and trembling in his grip. He places his hands on your hips, fingers digging deep into the flesh while he fucks up into you— reaching his high shortly after you with a loud groan and hiss. "Fuck, that was so good, baby." You giggle, forehead against his while his hands gently caress and your back. You leave a tender kiss against his plump lips, and he chases with a few repeated kisses before bringing you down with him on the couch. The both of you lay underneath the throw blanket, now properly covering most of your bodies while San holds you from behind. He has his propped up by an arm while you both watch the show on TV, but San finds his thoughts wandering elsewhere at some point. He begins to look around the house and notices how different it feels since you've been around.

Good different.

A space that used to he so grey, so lifeless; now has remnants of you everywhere.

Your polaroids.

Pictures of you and San in frames.

Your little stuffed animal keychains and rings thrown onto the kitchen island, or the room. Or even his desk in the office.

Your little post-it notes. Your favorite chips and snacks littered around the pantry.

You were there everywhere he turned, and he finds it's one of his biggest blessings.

Especially when you lay here on the couch with him, completely not minding the idea San proposed of just falling asleep on the couch together while sorting through movies.

You agreed so quickly and so happily.

No matter how big or small, most ideas just seemed silly in his last relationship.

But, now he has you— someone who is happy to just be with him and spend time with him. No matter how big or small the idea, the plans.

San loves you.

And he'll never take it for granted.

—END

—read 13.5 here

—taglist: @asjkdk @interweab @woojirang @svintsandghosts @cheolliehugs @persphonesorchid @mxnsxngie @jycas @cowboydk @vcutparis @chngbnwf @struggling101 @sanhwalvr @angelqueendom @barbielibra @brown88 @choisansplushie @yunhoswrldddd @hyukssunflower @vickykazuya @lucid-galaxys-world @jaytheatiny @pommelex @thechaotictheoryy @vixensss @santineez @nopension @domfikeluva @in-somnias-world @my-atiny-kookie-rkive @mountiiny @naoristerling @onmymymyway @thecutiepieme @wyrated

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ghoularaki · 2 days ago

Note

Hii can I be with Zayne at the honeymoon suite? 🤭

NOW ENTERING HEART'S DESIRE MOTEL

cw: bondage, doggy style, praise, slight breath play, soft dom! zayne

Clad in only babydoll negligee, you were laying on the heart-shaped bed on your tummy. Your feet lazily kicked back and forth as you scrolled on your phone. From behind you, you heard Zayne enter. The bed dipped as he joined you on the bed.

Softly he parted your legs and sat betwixt them. Massaging up your calves, you sagged into the bed, dropping your phone. He continued his path up your thighs. His large hands gripped and pulled the fat. His thumbs dragged up your inner thighs until he reached your core.

Cupping your bottom, he pulled it apart to get a better look at both holes. Your cunt winked in anticipation. Zayne leaned over you to kiss your shoulder. At the small declaration of love, he hitched your hips so you were properly arched.

“Stay like that for me, princess.”

Nodding your head, you didn’t move besides shift your knees to be in a better position. Leather whistling through the air rung throughout the room. Zayne slipped his belt out from the loops. Gathering your arms, he placed them at the small of your back. Repositioning yourself, you let your chest bare your weight.

He wrapped your wrists with his belt and pulled. Slipping two fingers between the bind, he made sure you were left enough room and your circulation wasn’t being cut off. Your body shifted backwards from the pull.

Pleased with your binds, Zayne unbuttoned and unzipped his pants. Tugging them down with his underwear, he let his cock slap against his stomach. Despite being exposed, he didn’t go straight to fucking you.

Going back to gripping your thighs, he used his thumbs to pull apart your lips. Your clit twitched as he leaned down to blow air against it. You tugged your restraints, hating how he teased you.

His thumbs went closer to your hole, plunged it and pulled. A confused moan left you as he pried you apart, but you were still so empty. Your cunt clenched around the air, begging to properly be filled.

“Zayne?” You questioned with a keen.

“Just making sure you’re stretched enough.”

You believed him, but he could have just stuck his fingers in. This way made you feel like you were being examined. Heated overtook your face at the thought. Images of Zayne doing pussy inspections while in his work uniform rushed through your head. You hunched your shoulders, liking the fantasy a lot more than you cared to admit.

Zayne quickly pulled you away as he released one side of you. Bringing his cock to your still spread cunt, he tapped it against your clit. Dragging it up to your hole, he pushed in. You moaned at the intrusion. Grabbing both your hips, Zayne pulled you onto his cock. You were unable to do anything besides take it.

Moans filled the room as he instantly started a steady pace. He didn’t give you anytime to adjust as he bucked into you. Your fingers clenched from the pleasure.

Zayne wrapped a hand around your throat. He didn’t put any pressure just present enough to ground you. He thumbed the side, feeling the vibrations of your throat. Using it as leverage, he dragged you upwards. Your head met just below shoulder.

At the new angle your vision went white of a second. He hit right against your g-spot. Tilting your head, you saw Zayne staring down at were you both met. He stilled had his glasses on. They were slipping down the bridge of his nose and becoming foggy with each thrust. He tilted his head backwards to get them back up, but it did little to help.

“W-why don’t- ah! you take them off?” You questioned through hiccuped moans.

Zayne’s drifted to your eyes, “I- fuck- want to see you.”

If your face could get any hotter it would. Shy, you turned your gaze away. But he was quick to turn you back and make you watch. At your embarrassed face, Zayne pistoned in you harder.

More whines slipped out as your fingers fanned out only to brush against his hard stomach. The hand on your hip drifted down to fiddle with your neglected clit. Swirling wet patterns in the bud, he squeezed the sides of your throat ever so slightly.

Your brain turned fuzzy. Nothing else mattered as he worked you up and up until you crashed down. Crying out, your cunt fluttered against him as you came. He didn’t stop for a moment as he forced himself over the edge as well.

Dropping you down on the bed, he crowded you. His arms bracketed your head as he drilled his cock in you. Foregoing any precise pace, he lost his rhythm as he came. Rolling his hips, he made sure every bit coated inside you.

Zayne didn’t leave you or move as he kissed your shoulders. “So good for me. Such a good little girl.”

You whined at the praise, but welcomed it. Zayne knew exactly how to break you down.

#zayne x reader #zayne x you #zayne x mc #zayne smut #lads zayne #lads smut #love and deepspace zayne #zayne love and deepspace

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orchidyoonkook · 3 days ago

Text

Diving back into your glory with the second response! Kiki you once again absolutely spoil me. I had the biggest damn smile and the giggles reading through this <3

okay so the first thing that caught my eye was the warning yoon why????? a whole jk and ady warning i can't i don't think i can make it through them fucking 😩😩😩

I'm a big believer in not shying away from writing things that may make people uncomfortable. Especially if I find it to be crucial for the plot, like it is here. It's a very important back and forth, metnal conversation, sen reactions and visual scene and it. is. important!! THEREFORE! you get a warning that it is going to happen to prep yourself! I know folks dont really side pairings a lot of the time when the sex is included with them, but in this case I needed it to show an important contrast so I kept it in.

also! Because I can. :)

(this is also why i will fight to the death for all my horror, yandere, boundary pushing writers. Just because their work makes YOU (general use) uncomfortable or upset, doesnt make them wrong for writing it)

like oc and nel i can handle but jk and ady ugh nooooooo our boy our prince not her please anyone else i can take but not her (i just realized the hate train towards ady is strong damn my loyalty to oc ain't cracking) so i am just going to power through that part and take the angst that comes with it (which I welcome)

I hope you were able to see why it was needed!! (let me know if you wanna!) and I appreciate your dedication so much. I know it's tough when it's obvious to you as the reader why something probably shouldnt happen and ngl that makes it wayyyyyyyy more fun to write.

i did notice that subtle hint at of using someone and the fantasies uhmmmmm ok that must be the upside...

noooooooooooooooooo comment 😈

I honestly wonder why oc isn't mentioning her friendship with jk I honestly love it it's giving me little tingles,

She went over her reasoning in chapter three!! ☺ but that was a while ago so I cant blame you there. In a terribly summary she essentially wants to stay out of the public eye, keep the prince happy because she does emjoy his company, and not cause any drama with friends and family.

That being said! I love it too

i don't think i mentioned it but uhm this slow burn is everything its freaking burning and i think oc is definitely feeling it now that jk is with someone, the little encounter at the cafe and the texting they are just adorable and fluffy my face hurts from the smiles...

This is one of my favourite parts of the story. The banter, the subtle jabs, the build up upon build up, the realising of things and denying them, just all of it. Slow burns are my bread and butter, i can devour them always, and apparently I can somewhat write them too. Which is pretty cool

I just love how they have these opinions about each other's partners like the red flags they each see but they are all about each other's happiness, oc held back with ady but oooh jk isn't 😂 you go boy you tell her gosh i love his character in that scene....

This is another contrast!! It's intentional!! I love that you noticed because I try to be subtle about it. They both have their issues and deal with it in their own ways. OC very much deals with it in a small town girl way, whereas the freaking prince is, shockingly (not) very confrontational. I love that theyre opposites in this way.

oc and nel's scene had me pausing cause i literally went why the heck is she thinking about jk at a time like this and then she said it too it was epic oh oc you give me the giggles😂

AHA i LOVE this. I also love the fact their yours and her lines of thinking lined up. That's actually really nice feedback in a way because it means I was able to write OC in a way that actually mimics real life thought patterns when in certain situations and thats REALLY COOL to hear as the writer from the reader.

Also! Happy to make you giggle! Humor is another thing I struggle with writing wise, so I'm glad I can make you crack a smile now and then with mine.

wait what she didn't finish?!?!??!?!?! THIS IS MY ACTUAL REACTION IT'S LIKE OC IS IN MY HEAD ANSWERING ALL MY QUESTIONS OC BABYGIRL NO DIDN'T YOU LITERALLY GIVE YURI ADVICE ABOUT HER DATE AND NOW THIS 😩😩😩

The best advice often comes from those who have experience with things one way or another.

Ex: I never dated in highschool and yet I was the person ALLLLLLL of my friends came too for their relationship advice.

So, my darling OC was just looking out for her bestie in that regard imo, as someone who has trouble in that aspect of her life.

and we jump straight into jk's horror I can't help it this back to back is amazing, not me shouting no through out his entire scene why jk why, here's oc is having trouble and ady on her fourth whyyyyyyyy he better have oc on his mind

YOU DID SEE HOW THE BACK TO BACK WAS IMPORTANT!!!! YAYAYAYAYAY!!

oh I'm so happy, literally this was the "let me know if you wanna" from earlier. This is what I was hoping for!!

JK is allowed to make bad decisions every now and then unfortunately as no one is perfect and no one has perfect coping mechanisms the first time they encounter new problems. He's human, and therefore is prone to making poor human mistakes.

as for the orgasm ratio....noooo comment :)

i love how jungkook says nels name in full i can literally picture the disgust and the face he would pull (cue oc eye roll) italics and all..

AHA I love this. This is probably my fave part im sorry becaue I wrote this in intentionally as sort of a joke that turns into a habit and it's just.....so him. And i adore it because its SO. PETTY. and I live for it.

i am writing this as i read so everything scene/sentence i go to write something on my notepad so i hope it all makes sense

it does!!

and let's just say when he shut her up the scene was better to read

As the writer, I'm cackling. As a reader, FACTS.

ugh jungkook likes oc he likes her fuck can they get together already i am dying here this chapter was perfect (even if ady was in it) like the build up and their thoughts both being on each other oh that tension is building i love the progression between them and the next chapter is gone be golden ahhhhhh lemme run over

Literally the only response I can think to give is just a bunch of these guys: 😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈 and then a giant THANKYOU!

yoon you beautiful genius you have my heart this fic is everything and it's getting more and more captivating as it goes along i can't wait to see what more you do in this series seriously yoon with every update i go back and re-read everything again and I am in awe every single time and your talent, like this should be printed like i want a physical copy when it's done you are brilliant and such a star for coming up with this ily yoon i hope you know that 🥹🖤

SOBBING IN THE CLUB KIKI. THERES A SPOTLIGHT ON ME, IM IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CROWD OF DANCING PEOPLE AND IM SOBBING.

And funfact! I can actually bind this when I'm done with it as I am slowly gathering all the materials I need in order to do so. So maybe one day it will have a physcial copy (or two)!

Once again I feel nothing but warmth and love and light and kindness from your beautiful words. As much as I enjoy writing, it's words like yours and lovely folks like you that make me want to keep writing.

Thankyou. Truly, truly.

Xo, Yoon.

To What We Were Before, And All The Things After | JJK | Ch. 6 | M

Title: Eastern Arrivals and Unwanted Doubt

Pairing: Prince!College Student!JK x Fine Arts Major!(F)!Reader

Series Rating//Genre: (M) | College AU, Mild Royalty AU, Smut, Angst, Fluff, S2F2L, Indiffernce to lovers, sloooowwww ass burn

Summary: Nel's here for the week and you couldn't be more excited!! Jungkook's another story though...

Warnings: M, fluff, smut, swearing, drinking, pining, angsstt, slight boundary pushing (not sexual), unwanted/ unneeded overprotectiveness, jealousy, lying, [reader eats bacon and eggs but it's not specified what kind or where it's from, just bacon and eggs, so whether that means veggie, vegan or normal is up to you], intentional pissing off of Nel, a little spat between major characters, sex as a plot device.

Mature warnings under the cut.

Word Count: 6,945

Release Date: April 20, 2:00PM

A/N 1: 6 months later and we have chapter 6! slow updates, but they will be written and they will be posted. I have no plans to abandon this, I just, very unfortunately, have a bit of an outernet life now. So not a lot of free time to be creative which I hate. But it's here!!

Series: Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four | Chapter Five

Mature Warnings: Consensual sex x 2, both reader with Nel and JK with Ady -> sorry not sorry cuz it's plot sex. We got us some: kissing, protected sex (as we should), missionary, fingering, oral (f. rec), tiny bit of groping (consenual), multiple orgasms, loud sex, like annoyingly, sex as a terrible coping mechanism (imo), fantasizing.

Bouncing lightly from foot to foot, you’re buzzing after finally receiving the text you were waiting on a few minutes ago.

Nelly <3 [10:10pm]: Landed. See you soon 😘

He’s almost here. He’s almost here!

Just a few more seconds until—

The gates slide open. A flood of people in a mixture of sweats and business casual wear with luggage of all sizes and neck pillows walk through. You hold up the sign above your head with both hands, a smile that could outshine the sun plastered on your face, and search.

Where is he? Where is he, where is he, where is he, you think as you scour the bodies filing out of the automatic doors. You can’t see him. He’s none of the nameless faces that pass you by as they find their family, friends or rides.

Is this even the right group of people? What if his luggage got lost and he won’t be out with this group. What if he got taken aside for some reason, and now he’s being held in some dusty room being asked a bunch of stupid questions he doesn’t know how to answer? What if he’s fig—

But then there’s a gap in the crowd, and the boy you’ve spent the last half decade of your life with comes into perfect, crystalline view. His lips pulled taught, teeth beautifully bared as he sets his sights on your sign high in the air, then down to you.

And you're running.

You’re running and dodging and swerving until you’re jumping into Nels arms as he abandons his suitcase in favour of keeping you both up right. He buries his face into your neck, holding you so tightly you think he’ll never let go. And that’s just fine with you as you hold on just as tight, taking in a big breath of him too.

He smells like airplane and coastal breeze and most importantly, home.

Nel smells like home.

A muffled, “Ohhhhhhh, I missed you,” greets your ears, and you melt into him even more if that's even possible.

“I missed you too,” you say, pulling back and kissing him. You don’t really care if there’s an audience or not right now. Not when Nel’s here, and he’s in your arms, and he’s yours for a whole 9 days and life is as it should be once again.

He releases his hold slightly, but your arms don’t leave his shoulders. The sign still clutched, now crushed and crinkled, in one hand.

“Car?” he asks, a kiss to your nose.

“This way,” you lead, releasing your hold.

Luckily, his suitcase is small, so he forgoes rolling it, instead gripping the handle at the top and carrying it in one hand. Your own reaching for his other and not letting go. He’s going to have to peel you off him if he wants space right now.

Nel’s wearing his usual fall attire; a dark green school sweater that has ‘ECAD’ written over the chest in a large, academic looking mustard yellow font, regular old blue jeans, and dark brown lace up boots. His short, dirty blond hair's covered by a hat you’d gotten him as a highschool graduation present, and his ocean blue eyes remain as gorgeous as they were the day you met.

Passing through doors to the outside and back to lot J, you hop in the car as he puts his bag in the trunk.

“How have you been? What’s new? What’s not? Tell me everything,” he asks as he climbs in and sits beside you, hand finding yours again.

Never gone for too long. You relish in the comfort and happiness that alone brings you.

He’s finally here. You finally have him back.

“I’m great. Yuri’s still Yuri, classes are only a little more challenging this year, but I’m still at the top of them,” Nel slips in a ‘not surprised’ and you smile brighter as you continue. “They’re already telling us to start brainstorming ideas for our thesis show next year,” you have no idea what you’re going to do, but you’re working on it. “Campus is the same, dorms are the same, the cafe’s the same. Though, they have the egg tarts I like in more, which is awesome for my taste buds and terrible for my bank account.”

Vivian stayed true to her word, and now they had the tarts in every week.

“I can only imagine,” Nel jokes.

“Uhhmm, what else…” a thought pops up, and you guess you can tell him. It doesn’t reveal anything the whole world doesn’t already know. “The prince is dating Adaline Dupree.”

His eyebrows raise, remembering, “Oh yeah, that’s right, the prince goes to your school now.”

“Yep.”

“Have you met him?”

Is he seriously not completely shocked at the prince dating Adaline? You only bitched about her to him all the time.

“Uhhh… yep, once or twice, I guess.”

You hate it. You hate lying, especially to Nel. You hate it so much, but it’s for the greater good. It’s to keep the peace. But that doesn’t stop the burning feeling in your chest nor the roil in your belly.

“The day he arrived Yuri dragged me down to see him speak. She made us sit front row because Yuri,” Nel nods, knowing exactly what you mean. “He had everyone assemble to hear why he was at school and tell us not to treat him like a prince. He wants to be able to study without his title getting in the way.”

You hit your blinker, making a one handed left turn.

“Makes sense. Is he nice at least?” Nel doesn’t sound at all suspicious, and why should he? You’ve never given him reason to not believe you at your word before. Never lied to him before.

Fuck you hate this so much. It was so much easier when he was 5000 miles away. But now that he's right beside you? This week may end up being more difficult than you thought.

“He was very princely. Tried to kiss my hand like he did like every other girl there, but I made it a handshake instead. Figured if he wants to be treated like everyone else, I would liste—Oh!” you laugh before you can even get the words out.

“What?” he asks, intrigued but confused.

You can barely speak coherently. “You should have seen Yuri’s face when I called him Jungkook and not Prince or Your Highness...her eyes nearly fell out of her head,” tears are starting to form from laughing so hard. “It was great.”

“He didn’t mind?” Nel asks and you shake your head. Yuri’s face that day will forever be seared into your brain for whenever you need a pick-me-up.

“No, he was grateful actually. I was the first person that had addressed him like that, the way he’d asked to be.” Stopping at a red light, you're finally regaining yourself.

“Well,” he squeezes your hand, “you always were good at first impressions,” and looks at you so softly you can’t help but smile into the kiss you give him.

He remembers that school art fair just as fondly as you do.

Nel pulls away first with a thought. “Is Yuri with us this time?”

Yuri hadn’t been able to go home last year, her parents too busy on a work trip, so she stayed back and kicked it with you two, but also gave you your space when needed.

Lots and lots of space.

“Nope! Parents welcomed her with open arms this afternoon, I’m sure. They’re all on some tropical island down south. She’s bringing me an ocean bottle though, so I’m excited for that. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to add a new one.”

Everytime you travelled somewhere with a beach you got a glass bottle and filled it with half sand, half water, added in some shells or rocks and labelled it. Instead of towels, keychains, or magnets, you did ocean bottles. They lined a shelf in your room back home.

You probably have at least fifteen of them by now. Your mum likes to travel and make sure you experience the world around you, not just your little corner of it.

“Oh that’s great babe! I know how much you love those.”

“Yeah, it is.” You lean your head on his shoulder, basking in his presence for as long as the light remains red.

He’s here. He’s yours.

You only have to do this for a couple more years and then you’ll be together all the time. God you can’t wait. But you are nothing if not disciplined.

And it’s going to be so worth it in the end.

The rest of the ride to your dorm goes by quickly.

Some more red lights, some more kisses. You point out the same things you always do on the way back, and Nel acts like it’s the first time he’s seen them, just like he always does.

His hand never leaves yours over the center console.

Soon enough, you find yourselves flopping down on your bed. Bags, jackets and shoes, scattered. Nel pulls you into him, his head on your pillow, yours lying on his chest. True peace settling in for the first time in months.

“I can't wait until we’re done school and I have more than four and a half months with you a year,” he sighs. “It’s not enough. I want more. Need more.”

“Me too. But good things come to those who wait.”

“Yeah…I’m just really sick of waiting.”

“Me too,” you repeat in a yawn.

Nel’s breathing slowly evens out as you lie there, content to be in your arms again. And you look up to see his eyes closed, warm exhales brushing over your face from his nose.

You can’t blame him for being so tired. He’d had an early morning exam before flying out, even brought his suitcase to it so he could leave the second he was done. Then, the flight alone was ten hours, plus travel times to and from the airports was about an hour each way, and the wait time before boarding was another two.

Shit, he’s probably been awake for around eighteen hours straight at this point because he’s also the type that can’t sleep on planes no matter what he tries.

Oh, Nel...Of course he’s exhausted.

Giving him a squeeze before getting up, you take off his socks and jeans carefully, then tuck him into bed as much as you can. You’d try the sweater, but it involved too many working parts and you didn’t want to wake him, so you figure it’s best to have the window open tonight instead.

Grabbing your phone, you tiptoe to the bathroom and do your night time routine. It’s not an overly complicated one, just brushing your teeth, washing your face and a simple 3 step skincare routine of cleanser, toner and moisturizer. Short and sweet, but it does the job.

Halfway through brushing, you do your friend due diligence and send Yuri a ‘back safe’ text, just like she’d sent you her own ‘here safe’ when she’d landed.

You spit and rinse, moving onto washing your face and applying cleanser.

Teeth clean and face moisturized, you sneak into your room again. Nel's still out cold.

You sneak out of habit—your mom wakes at the sound of a pin dropping. But absolutely nothing could wake Nel now outside of his mother’s voice and his morning alarm. It’s a talent of his you’ve always been jealous of.

Removing today's clothes and tossing them in your overflowing hamper—reminder to self: do laundry—you slide on your pjs and climb into bed beside him, plugging in your phone and setting it down.

A thought pops into your head and you pick it back up, shooting a quick text before you can think twice.

You [11:26pm]: home safe

It pings not seconds later.

PJK [11:26pm]: Thanks Picasso PJK [11:27pm]: glad ur home safe

Your heart beats a little louder at the nickname, and you chalk it up to the excitement still in you at having Nel here and being tired.

But you sleep better that night than you have in a long time.

A short, repetitive, rhythmic vibration.

Picasso [11:26pm]: home safe

Jungkook is still standing in the same corner by the wall, Adaline somewhere in the crowd in front of him dancing with her friends. She asked him to join her, but he declined. He doesn’t need to see himself more than half drunk and dancing on the cover of tomorrow’s news cycles. Not to mention his security team would shut the party down the second a camera flashed.

His guards are carefully stationed throughout the house, all dressed down in casual wear, a few with empty cups in their hands. One is watching some sort of beer pong like game in the corner, another is mingling with some guys over in the kitchen. Three he can’t immediately see. And he knows his head guard is outside in a black car ready to get him out at a moment's notice.

Nobody can tell they aren’t here for the party, not unless they’re sober enough to notice watchful eyes continually making their way over the crowd as the night goes on.

Your text woke him from the stillness he’s adapted from standing so long, trying hard not to draw attention to himself.

You were home safe. Home safe from the airport. Home safe from picking up Cornelius.

Your boyfriend.

Cornelius, your boyfriend.

He doesn’t acknowledge his teeth grinding.

You were home from picking up your beau but even then, you’d texted him to let him know you were back on campus safely. To let him know you were okay.

It’s the first thing that makes him smile all night.

So he sends back, a bit to quickly:

Me [11:26pm]: Thanks Picasso Me [11:26pm]: glad ur home safe

Because it means something to him that you deem him close enough to send a ‘home safe’ text too.

That you want him to know you’re back.

Want him to know you’re safe.

Whether you know it or not, your safety means a lot to Jungkook, so that little two word text makes his heart lurch.

He needs to leave.

He needs to get out of this fucking house and back to his dorm. He came, he drank, he observed, he fulfilled his boyfriend duty.

That’s enough for him.

He shoots Adaline a text that says he isn’t feeling well and gets out as fast as he possibly can, dodging bodies left and right and doing his best to hide his face.

Once he’s out, security team in tow, the cooling midnight air does him some good.

“Someone make sure she gets back to her dorm safe,” he says in their general direction, brain too muddled to be polite in this exact moment, but it’s nothing they haven’t seen before.

This is going to be such a long week.

He can’t wait till it’s over. Till he doesn’t have to share anymore.

He was never very good at it anyway.

The smell of bacon wakes you.

And toast, and…

Eggs?

You think, at least. Since when do you have bacon? Or eggs? Toast is a given, it’s part of your life’s blood.

Opening your eyes, you blindly reach for your phone, successfully unplugging it and bringing it to your face.

The screen is too bright but you suffer through it, squinting.

9:27am.

9:27?

You slept for ten hours!?

You can’t remember the last time you slept more than 6 consecutively, aside from recovery nights, and even then it was fitful.

Nel comes in with two plates, his full with a very Eastern breakfast of pancakes, scrambled eggs and bacon. Yours with two pieces of toast, lots of bacon, a bit of eggs and some fruit. Where did he—?

He smiles at your confusion, “You have a cafeteria that sells breakfast food, you know.”

You know that.

“I know that.”

“Do you? Because the look on your face says otherwise.”

You flop back down and pull the pillow over your head, mumbling incoherent nonsense. You rarely used the dorm cafeteria for breakfast. Much preferring the greenhouse cafe or simple toast and juice that you can make in your dorm.

He chuckles. “Two breakfasts for me then, okay, if you insist,” Nel moves to leave but you screech, uncovering your face.

“Noo! I want it. Please, sweet nutrition,” he hands the plate over when you sit up, arms out stretched, and you dig in.

After a piece of bacon, you ask, “How long have you been up?”

Nel’s sitting with his legs crossed at the end of your bed, munching away, “Long enough to get changed, grab my wallet, get food and come back.”

The bacon is really good. You’ve never been so glad he knew you so well as you grab another piece from the dwindling pile.

“You slept well then, too? That’s good, I’m glad. You needed the rest.”

“Having you around always makes it easier to fall asleep,” he nudges your knee with his elbow.

Even after five years he can still make you blush.

“I know the feeling.”

You two fall into step, starting your weeks in advance prepared plans, the rest of your day passing quickly.

Too quickly.

And so does the next day, and the next, and the next.

All of your activities are going great. The zoo, picnics, study dates, restaurant dates, historical, artistic and architectural museum tours. Even a swim at the school’s indoor pool, and there’s plenty more to come.

Things slip back into being easy, just as they always have been with Nel, ever since that first day back in tenth grade.

He knows you like the back of his hand and predicts your moves before you make them, just like you do for him.

You know his favourite foods, and where he prefers to park when driving—always avoiding open curbs—you know his dream travel destinations, and who his favourite musicians are. You know his favourite pencils to design with and his favourite pencils to shade with, that he always put on his right sock first, then right shoe, then left sock and left shoe. You know that his drink order is an iced coffee with two cream and two sugar, that he prefers loose shirts over fitted ones, and that his favourite colour is orange.

It’s a pretty orange too, not just any orange. You wonder if it’s anything like Jungkook's–

Wait.

You search your memory for the information, going through favourite foods, drinks, music—all discussed previously, because you know their answers. But colour?

Nothing.

How have you never asked what Jungkook’s favourite colour is?

Isn’t that usually one of the first things people ask when they’re trying to get to know one another? Funny. Guess you’ll have to inquire the next time you see him.

Anyways, just like you know everything there is to know about Nel, he knows everything about you too, including your routines.

Which is why at twelve noon every day, he starts getting ready to go to the greenhouse for your afternoon study session.

Including today.

Your week’s already half over and you hate it. Time always moves far to fast when all you want it to do is slow the fuck down.

You only have five days left. Five days.

You’re lucky the greenhouse cafe is open during break, some places on campus are required to stay open for the students who can’t make it home, but greenhouse chooses to.

As you and Nel turn the corner you see a familiar figure sitting in his old spot at the back of the patio. The same hat, mask and hoodie, now paired with a leather jacket on top due to the weather starting to cool down.

You can tell Jungkook wasn’t expecting to see you by the way he stiffens before those all too familiar brown eyes of his meet your own. Which is fair, your schedule shifts a bit when you’re on break, he isn’t used to you being here at twelve on Wednesdays.

But as quickly as he sees you, his gaze is back on his laptop, like he never saw you in the first place.

Like you asked him to do.

And a sharp pain stings inside your chest.

When you and Nel get to your table, he sits in the seat opposite to where you always do, leaving where Jungkook usually sits beside you, empty.

A part of you is grateful for that, though you can’t figure out why and table that self discussion for a later date.

Setting down your things, you ask Nel if he wants coffee. He answers yes, like always, and after a quick visit with Viv, you're pulling out your chair and setting down your cups. Your back faces Jungkook. It’s a small mercy you can’t see him. Maybe you can forget he’s here and actually focus on your work.

But it’s also exactly because of your position, that you can’t see as Jungkook subtly watches you over the rim of his laptop while you and Nel talk quietly and study.

Nel can though.

It feels weird to ignore him. To pretend you don’t know one another when for the better part of the last seven weeks all you’ve done is talk, hang out, study or a mixture of the three, every day.

When having him sit behind you and not beside you feels so wrong and so foreign.

But this is your own doing, you caused this. So you need to suck it up and get used to it.

This is exactly what you asked for all those weeks ago. The perfect solution to your problem.

No one can know.

Not Nel.

Not anyone.

But fuck, if it didn’t absolutely suck in practice.

Setting some of your books out around you and on the table Jungkook usually uses, you dig into your business homework. Having a major and a minor are great for job prospects, on paper, and in practice after you’ve completed them.

But getting them? It takes years of hard work and dedication with no distractions.

None.

You spend almost every free moment you have doing homework or practicing, trying to get ahead, trying to stay on top.

…Trying to beat Adaline.

But you just use that as fuel for your drive to be better. To be the best.

Competition is healthy. Especially when you’re winning against the rich brat who’s used to getting what she wants.

Not that you're petty.

Ehh…You are. But only a little bit. At least you can admit it.

Nel gets to work as well, the sunlight from his spot is great for drawing. He’s working on a rough version of his thesis project that’s due at the end of the year. He has to have multiple completed renderings as well as a scale model, and he’s been brainstorming since last year about what he wants to do.

Currently, he’s drawing up an airport, trying to design so that it’s not confusing and complicated for first time users.

However, his occasional swearing and muttering to himself makes you think he’s having a tough time with it.

You try not to laugh, but a small giggle slips out.

“What,” Nel asks, a little distracted.

“Nothing.”

“No really, what’s up? I could use a laugh right now,” he insists, eyes on you at first. But then something behind you steals their attention every few seconds.

Someone.

“You just…you still make funny sounds when you're frustrated with a drawing. It’s endearing.” You reach to place your hand on his knee, trying to gain back his full attention.

Ignore him, Nel. Please ignore him.

“Yeah...” he exhales. “I guess airports are out,” his hand covers yours quickly and you hear a faint chair screech from behind you. Nel doesn’t miss it as he says. “But I do have a much bigger appreciation and understanding for all those who came before me,” pupils now unmoving from their target behind you.

Fine.

You’ll acknowledge it.

“Is everything okay? You keep looking at something? Is there an animal or…” You know what he’s looking at, but go so far as to turn anyway, playing up the ‘confused girlfriend’ role. But Nel squeezes your hand, stopping you.

He leans in, placing a fake mask of serene on and lowers his voice. “That guy keeps looking at us, moreso you. And he looks pissed off.”

Fuck, think of something.

Anything. Anythi—Oh!

You lean in too, so close your noses almost touch. “He’s probably just upset we’re talking. The greenhouse cafe is usually a quiet place to work,” good enough, you think. That’s believable, right?. “It’ll be fine. Let’s just ignore him and get back to work.”

You place a quick kiss on his lips but Nel isn’t letting up on his unnecessary vigilance. But then again, he doesn’t know that Jungkook is the opposite of a threat to you. So you reassure him, in your own way.

“Babe, seriously. If you’re going to be all protective or whatever, don’t. I come here everyday when you're not here and I’m still alive and unharmed. Go get a sandwich or a refill to get your head off of it and say hi to Viv. She’s still here, and I’m betting she remembers you. You’re kinda hard to forget.”

You can tell Nel’s about to reject the idea when you insist. “I’ll be fine, Nel. Promise. Three years and not a scratch on me.”

He sighs through his nose, but relents.

Placing his drawing pad on the table, he gets up, but not before placing another kiss to your forehead and mumbling, “Scream ‘cumquat’ if you’re in danger and I’ll come running, okay?”

You laugh outright at that. “Will do.”

You watch him as he goes, and the second he’s inside, you’re racing for your phone, typing at an astounding speed.

You [1:45pm]: Didn’t your royal upbringing teach you not to stare so blatantly!??? Nel caught you

You hear a quiet ping from behind you followed by a small exhale that sounds more like a disguised chuckle.

PJK [1:45pm]: Yes.

You [1:45pm]: So you intentionally got caught?

PJK [1:45pm]: Maybe

You [1:45pm]: Shithead

PJK [1:46pm]: Rude

You [1:46pm]: You deserve it

PJK [1:46pm]: I know. I’m just making sure he’s treating you right. PJK [1:47pm]: and trying to see if he acts differently when he knows he’s being watched. He’s very protective you know

Jungkook saw the second Nel noticed he was watching you.

His posture changed from easy going to on alert. His hand went so quickly to yours on his knee and his public displays of affection increased significantly.

It was pathetic, really. It went above a normal amount of protection. Nel was claiming his ‘property’, making sure Jungkook knew not to touch.

And the nasty look Nel gave him as he entered the cafe—gratefully still unrecognizable in his disguise—was another silent way to say back off, stay away, and don’t try anything or you’ll regret it.

It was a red flag in Jungkook's mind. A small one, but it’s still there because his efforts are completely unneeded. After five years together, Nel should know that you can handle yourself.

Hell, Jungkook knows that and it’s only been two months.

You [1:47pm]: yes I know he is, and I already told you he treats me well because he always. Does. Not just in public or under watchful eyes You [1:48pm]: and since when does my boyfriend of half a decade need your ~princely~ seal approval?

He ignores the small jab. You only ever brought up his title when you were mocking or upset with him. And he knows that in this case it's the latter.

PJK [1:48pm]: Since now PJK [1:49pm]: And it’s not that I don’t trust you at your word, but I usually like to decide for myself

That has you reeling.

Where does he get the audacity to think he has any say in or about your relationship? Your very solidly built, five years strong, healthy, happy relationship?

Because he’s the Prince? You’re pretty sure you established on day one that you didn’t and still don’t give a fuck about his birthright.

If he thinks he gets an opinion on any of this he’s got another thing coming the second he asks you anything about Adaline again.

You’re in the middle of typing out a paragraph explaining all of this when another text comes in.

PJK [1:49pm]: Because I’ve seen far too many women in love who are blind to certain things PJK [1:50pm]: And far too many hurt in the end because of it.

You pause. Fingers frozen mid swipe.

Blind to what?

How many women did he know that were in love but missing something about their partner? Surely there couldn't be that many. Right?

But this was Jungkook you were talking to, he’s lived numerous lifetimes already. That fancy birthright of his you don’t care about having given him far too many life experiences to have at his age. And they’re only going to increase from here.

So instead of hitting send and cursing him out quite spectacularly, you stop and think for a moment.

What did he see that they didn’t?

That you might… not?

You’re a decent judge of character if your record tracks. And it does.

So your curiosity gets the better of you as you delete your rage paragraph and settle for a simple two word question instead.

You [1:50pm]: Like what?

You can see that he’s typing out a response but the bell on the cafe door rings and you put your phone down. It buzzes with his response a few seconds after.

You’ll check it later.

Nel takes his seat again, and you notice he has his sandwich, but also that he’s moved his chair and starts sketching from the new position giving him a direct eye line with Jungkook.

You internally scoff at that.

Nel has always been protective. But he was raised that way and you don’t mind too much. You don’t expect him to change his core values for you, just like he never expects you to change yours for him, even when a couple of his are just the slightest bit overbearing.

But that’s part of a relationship. Give and take and compromise. No one person is going to be perfect for another. It’s healthy to have differences.

That being said, Nel doesn’t change positions for the rest of the hour. Even as Jungkook packs up and leaves, Nel eyeballs him until he’s out of sight.

That night while Nel is brushing his teeth and you're lying in bed, you check the text from Jungkook.

PJK [1:51pm]: Like if they’re getting treated the way they should be or if they’re settling for the best they think they can get or for the first guy that showed interest. The one who hasn’t grown up even though time has passed. The one who’s holding her back by not setting her free

You stare at your phone. At the text. At his words.

And dismiss it.

You aren’t one of those women.

You know yourself.

You know what you deserve and how you should be treated. You didn’t settle, you just happened to find your love at a young age. That’s something special and rare and should be protected. And Nel has most certainly grown up as time passed.

Jungkook is being ridiculous for absolutely no reason. Surely he’ll have seen that today. Seen how Nel loves you, treats you how you deserve to be treated, holds you up. Supports you.

You’re confident he’ll be eating his words soon enough.

Finished brushing, Nel comes back to the bedroom and snuggles up behind you and you put down your phone.

He cuddles you for a minute before placing a kiss at your neck. Then another. And another before he’s mouthing up your neck, and sliding a hand up your thigh and to your waist. It pauses on your stomach with teasing caresses, before dipping lower and lower, beneath the fabric of your sleep shorts, and under the elastic of your underwear.

A small moan sounds in your throat at the touch. His fingers meeting your folds and the sensitive bundle of nerves at their apex.

You wanted this.

Need it.

He’s grown, you think; as a finger slips in you and you gasp at the stretch, legs opening wider for him. A second finger plunges in and you can feel yourself getting wetter and wetter with every thrust. Just like you can feel a bulge forming behind you.

You know what you deserve; as he uses them to scissor you open, making sure you’re ready. You roll over, now on your back with Nel over you as he pulls your shorts and underwear down to get better access, your own hands removing your shirt.

You’re not settling; as Nel moves down, tongue making a couple swipes at your entrance and you hiss in pleasure before he’s reaching over, grabbing a condom from the nightstand drawer and sliding it on, length hard and dripping at the sight of you bared before him.

Nel wasn’t the first guy who’d shown interest, just the first you’d said yes to; and he slides in. Both of you moaning at the snug fit.

“Fuck...” he says and you nod, agreeing, before pulling him down into a deep kiss.

He eases into a slow, steady rhythm that has you breathy and his abs tensing.

But it’s not enough. You need more. You need to erase these past two months without him, and take enough to last for the next two. It’s never enough, but you try.

“Faster baby,” you beg, “Please…faster.”

Nel isn’t holding you back. Jungkook doesn’t know what the fuck he’s talking about.

Nel picks up the pace and you start moaning, louder like you know he likes. Likes to hear he’s doing a good job. He’s grabbing your breast and sucking in a nipple, tongue swirling and you're bringing your hips to meet his with every thrust.

It feels good. It always feels good with Nel.

He was your first everything. First kiss, first intimate touch, first love.

Only love.

And he makes you feel good with that love. That touch. His kiss.

He makes you feel safe, inside and out.

Jungkook can go eat grass. He doesn’t know your relationship. Doesn’t know the first thing about it.

“There, right there!” you whine as Nel hits your sweet spot once and you arch. He tries again but misses, continuing faster, his peak coming quickly.

Jungkook can never understand what you two have. What you two have built in these five years. The understanding and security that comes with it.

He’s being an unrightfully opinionated ass on something he knows nothing about and—

Fuck! Why are you thinking about Jungkook? You’re having sex with Nel. You shouldn’t be thinking about anything or anyone other than that.

Than him.

So why can’t you get what Jungkook said out of your fucking head?

“Ahhh… oh fuck. I’m cumming.” Nel’s hips stutter, his face contorting in pleasure as he releases, filling the condom.

You kiss him passionately to rid yourself of your princely plagued thoughts, the ones filling you with unwanted and unnecessary doubt. You want them gone, gone, gone. Nothing but Nel in their place.

And you slip an, “I love you,” in between kisses for good measure.

Jungkook could never understand.

Nel kisses you back just as hard, dramatically slowing his thrusts, drawing out his high for as long as possible.

“I love you too.”

Jungkook doesn’t know anything.

Nel groans into your lips when it becomes too much and pulls out.

Removing and tying off the condom, Nel goes to the washroom to throw it out and starts the shower he knows you’ll be joining him for when you're done.

A routine you’re all too familiar with.

One you created.

He knows you need a few minutes to get yourself off.

You’ve never been able to cum from sex with a partner. No matter how hard you tried. No matter what you did.

Most would think Nel wasn’t a good lover or wasn’t trying enough, but it was through years of constantly trying anything and everything that you learned you just…couldn’t.

No amount of fingering or oral or penetration from your partner could make you orgasm.

So Nel knows to wait for you in the shower as you finish yourself off, your own fingers making quick work of it, because you always could for some reason.

It isn’t your ideal situation, and it isn’t anyone’s fault. But it works. You both get the intimacy you crave and you accepted a long time ago that you were just one of the unlucky few.

Screams fill Jungkook’s ears as a hand finds his hair and nails rake against his scalp.

Adaline isn’t a quiet receiver.

“Ohmygod!” She shouts for the twentieth time. “Yes! There…so goo-oohhhh,” the last syllable turning into a loud moan.

He’s holding her downwith a forearm by her pelvis, mouth full as he brings out her third orgasm of the night, juices flooding his tongue.

He’s working out earlier frustrations and proving a point to himself in this fucked up version of self therapy.

He shouldn’t be.

But he does.

Has to.

Seeing you today with Cornelius spurred feelings within him that he didn’t know he had. Sure, there were bits and pieces of something stirring he refused to name, but today?

They were in a whole different ballpark. Different than anything else he’s ever felt before, brewing inside him, bubbling up to the surface even though he’s been trying his best to pop them and shove them down.

Anger?

Feelings he doesn’t want to have.

Jealousy?

Does have.

Wanting you to look at him the way you look at Nel?

Can’t have.

Not for…

He admits he provoked Nel because he could. Dick move, but it was because Jungkook knew just by looking at him that giving you any form of attention would piss him off. He seemed the type.

Overly possessive, overprotective.

Overbearingly so.

Suffocatingly so.

Because Nel knows how lucky he is. That you chose him. That you still choose him.

He knows he has to keep others away.

Knows he isn’t good enough for you, holds you back. But keeps you anyway.

The selfish prick.

So Jungkook eyed you up and down, leisurely, and for as long as he wanted. Purely out of the need to prove to himself he was right about his little assessment of your boyfriend. At least that’s what he told himself.

Was it childish and unnecessary?

Yes.

But he was right. And that felt good.

He could see in your posture and your hushed words you didn’t want Nel’s protection, didn’t need it, and that Nel ignored that wish of yours. Did what he wanted to instead of respecting your ability to make decisions for yourself. Bulldozed your opinions.

It pissed Jungkook off.

He’d left a little while after sending you that text to read, but you never did. At least not since the last time he checked. And so he’d made plans with Adaline the second he was out of your earshot. Calling her up and setting a time for what’s currently taking up his primary focus.

Because even though it was Adaline underneath him, for the very first time, that’s not who he imagined it was.

Not who he just dragged a fourth orgasm out of with his fingers because he could.

Because he would. He would be so much better. Give so much more. If only…

Fuck.

Jungkook stands and drags his cock over Adaline’s entrance, whacking it against her clit a couple times before running the tip through her folds and pushing in. He hisses at the feeling. At who he was sinking into in his head, splayed out in front of him. Skin glistening with sweat mixed with arousal. Mouth open, slack jawed in pleasure.

Adaline moans loudly and it dissolves his visual.

His tattooed hand moves to hold her hands above her head, the other silences her mouth.

“Quiet now,” he whispers, low and deep. A bead of sweat dripping off his brow, hair sticking to his neck and temple.

He intends it to be sexy for her, but in reality, he’s just sick of hearing her. It’s ruining his mental image. Not that she’ll ever know that though.

To Adaline, this session is all about her and making her feel good.

But constant screams and loud, pornographic moans aren’t appealing to him in the slightest. They're taking him out of the mood. Making him soft.

Once or twice when it’s genuine? Sure. But the constant assault she loves to give his eardrums? Not even a little bit.

He sets a fast, rough pace, and Adaline’s eyes roll back in pleasure, screams finally subsiding in white hot bliss, replaced by bitten lips and smothered whimpers.

He is going to prove this point to himself over and over again. All night if he has to.

And he has to.

To get whatever it is he’s feeling for you out of his system.

To keep his sanity.

To forget.

And while it’s Adaline’s name is on his lips when he cums.

It’s not the name he repeats in his head like a prayer.

Chapter Seven: Hard Goodbyes and Favourite Colours

A/N 2: Thanks for waiting for this chapter. I'll try my best to have 7 out as soon as I can get it. I promise.

A/N 3: As always, Thank you for reading, loves. Xoxo - Yoon <3

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#NUMBER TWO DONE!#even though i just responded with a bunch of them #i have no words #people like you keep the fic community alive i hope you know thta #there would be no community without you #i adore you #reviews #TWWWBAATTA reviews #Eastern Arrivals and Unwanted Doubt #moonchild1 #KIKI<3 #as always if there are typos no there isnt

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gdinthehouseee · 2 days ago

Text

Gentle: CHOI SEUNG-HYUN x READER

summary: you come home after a long day of work and seung-hyun takes care of you

word count: 1432

tags: fluff; extremely self-indulgent (you work as a film production assistant) kinda basic but i wrote this half-asleep

ao3 link

Another day at work meant another night of crashing as soon as the front door to your home shut behind you for the night—not after discarding your stuffy, professional clothes as soon as possible, of course. Today had been particularly difficult.

Being a production assistant meant the director felt entitled to bark orders at you left and right, the assistant directors acting all high and mighty, not to mention the producers with their ‘holier-than-thou’ attitudes. Your body weighed down by hours of standing, lifting, running back and forth under the harsh glare of the lighting rig; your muscles throb with a dull ache, your head foggy from the endless problem-solving and last-minute changes thrown your way. It was too much. All you want is to collapse—to let go of the tension gripping your shoulders, to shut your eyes and forget how long today dragged on.

The moment you step through the door, you feel like you’ll get your wish—to collapse. Every muscle in your body protests as you force yourself to toe off your shoes, your movements sluggish and drained. Before you can take another step, a warm hand catches your wrist.

“Hey.” Seung-hyun’s voice is soft but firm, his brows knitting together as he studies your face. “You look exhausted.”

You manage a small nod, but words feel like too much effort. Instead, you just let out a quiet sigh, your shoulders sagging. He doesn’t push for a response. Instead, he gently tugs you forward, wrapping his arms around you without hesitation. His hold is steady, grounding—one arm around your waist, the other smoothing up and down your back in slow, soothing strokes.

It breaks him a little to see you like this—to watch the way you barely manage to nod, too drained to even form words. He has always admired your dedication, your ability to push through anything, but right now, all he can see is how much it’s costing you. The dark circles under your eyes, the slump of your shoulders, the way you just melt into his arms as if you don’t have the strength to hold yourself up anymore. It isn’t fair. You work so hard, give so much, and yet, no one seems to notice how much it takes from you. But he notices. And he hates that he can’t take that exhaustion away, that all he can do is hold you and hope you’ll let him ease even a little of the weight pressing down on you.

“You’re overworking yourself again, aren’t you?” He murmurs, his voice low, laced with quiet concern. “You need to slow down, aein.”

You nod again against his chest, unable to argue—not because you don’t agree, but because you’re too tired to say anything at all. He exhales, his grip tightening just a little as if trying to absorb the weight you’re carrying.

“Alright,” he whispers, pressing a lingering kiss to the top of your head. “No more talking, no more thinking. Just let me take care of you tonight.”

And for the first time all day, you let yourself lean into the comfort he offers, too exhausted to do anything else.

He doesn’t say anything as he leads you into the bathroom, but his hand stays firm around yours, his thumb brushing soothing circles against your skin. The sound of rushing water fills the space as he leans over the tub, adjusting the temperature with practiced ease. Steam curls into the air, carrying the faint scent of lavender—calming, warm, inviting.

“You don’t have to do this,” you murmur, trying not to get emotional about how gentle he’s being with you.

He glances at you over his shoulder, his expression soft but unwavering. “I know,” he says simply. “But I want to.”

Once the bath is full, he turns back to you, his fingers moving to the hem of your shirt. He undresses you with a tenderness that makes your chest ache—not rushed, not expectant, just careful, making sure you move as little as possible. When you finally sink into the water, a long sigh slips from your lips, the warmth wrapping around your aching muscles like a promise. Then, he kneels beside the tub, rolling up his sleeves before reaching for the washcloth. He runs it over your skin with slow, deliberate strokes, tracing over your shoulders, your arms, down to your hands, his touch reverent. Every movement is delicate, as if he’s afraid of pressing too hard, of adding even the smallest bit of strain to your already exhausted body.

He reaches for the shampoo and tilts your head back slightly, his fingers threading through your hair with delicate attention. As he massages your scalp, working the lather in slow, rhythmic circles, warmth seeps into your bones, lulling you into a haze of exhaustion and comfort. His touch is so gentle, so methodical, that your eyelids grow heavy before you even realize it. Your breathing slows, your body sinking deeper into the water, and just as you start to drift off—

“Are you seriously falling asleep right now?”

Your eyes flutter open, and you blink up at him, still dazed. “…No.”

Seung-hyun smirks, clearly unconvinced. “Mhm, sure. That cute little head tilt? The way you just sighed? You were definitely about to pass out on me.” His fingers keep massaging slow circles against your scalp, his voice filled with quiet amusement. “Am I that relaxing?”

You groan, embarrassed, and attempt to sit up, but he gently presses you back into place. “Stay still,” he chides, still grinning. “I’m almost done.”

The moment you step out of the tub, he’s already waiting with a soft, oversized towel, wrapping it around you before you can even shiver. His hands move with quiet care, gently patting away the droplets clinging to your skin. He doesn’t rush, doesn’t push—just takes his time, making sure you’re warm and comfortable.

“You’re like a sleepy kitten,” he murmurs with a small smile, watching as you sway slightly in exhaustion. “Barely standing on your own.”

You hum in response, too tired to argue, and he chuckles, wrapping an arm around you to steady you. “Alright, let’s get you dressed before you collapse on me.”

He then leads you to the bedroom, where a set of warm pajamas is already laid out on the bed—your softest pair, the one you always reach for when you need comfort. He helps you into them with the same quiet attentiveness, guiding your arms through the sleeves, pulling the fabric over your shoulders, making sure you don’t have to lift a finger.

Once you’re dressed, he sits you down on the edge of the bed, positioning himself behind you as he grabs a towel and starts drying your hair. His fingers comb through the damp strands with gentle precision, his touch slow and methodical. Every now and then, he ruffles your hair playfully, just to hear you mumble a sleepy protest.

“You’re going to fall asleep on me again, aren’t you?” He teases, amusement lacing his voice.

“No,” you grumble, but your body betrays you, leaning into his touch, eyelids fluttering.

“Let’s get you comfy, then.”

Without another word, he lifts you effortlessly, carrying you over to the bed. He settles you beneath the blankets before climbing in beside you, pulling you against his chest as he reaches for the remote.

“Movie night,” he announces, keeping his voice low, soothing.

“I’m not sure I even wanna think about movies right now,” you partially joked.

“With the way you keep almost falling asleep, I bet you’ll barely last ten minutes.” He returned with a soft laugh.

You try to huff in protest, but as the warmth of his embrace surrounds you and the soft glow of the screen flickers in the dimly lit room, you know he’s right. Honestly? Who could really blame you for falling asleep in your sweetheart-of-a-boyfriend’s arms after he’s taken such attentive care of you? He spent the entire night making sure you felt nothing but comfort, from the way he washed your hair to the way he dressed you in your coziest pajamas, to the way he’s holding you now—safe, cherished, adored. His fingers absentmindedly trace gentle patterns along your back, his heartbeat a steady rhythm beneath your ear. The exhaustion that once weighed you down now feels lighter, replaced by something softer, something sweeter. And as your lashes flutter shut, you swear you hear him murmur something against your temple—something tender, something that makes your heart melt even as sleep finally pulls you under.

taglist: @thanosscrossmain @maskedcrawford @mirahyun @riddlerloveb0t @onyxmango @sherrayyyyy @seunghyunwifey

#choi seunghyun #choi seunghyun x reader #bigbang #bigbang x reader #t.o.p x reader #t.o.p bigbang #t.o.p #fluff #ao3 link #ao3 writer #ao3 #kpop #kpop x reader

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rizzmura · 2 days ago

Text

under your skin; the first impression

enemy!niki x fem!reader

warnings: strong language, mild sexual tension, suggestive themes, enemies-to-lovers dynamic, light teasing/flirting, angst, heated banter, emotionally charged moments

w.c.: 2.5k

chapter one synopsis: niki walks into your life like he owns the place. he’s cocky, self-assured, and somehow always knows how to push your buttons. what starts as harmless teasing soon escalates into a rivalry that neither of you can escape. but there’s a thin line between hate and something else you’re trying hard not to acknowledge.

you had heard about him before you met him. everyone had something to say about nishimura niki, and none of it was particularly glowing to you. he was the kind of guy that had a reputation for being difficult, cocky, and loud. he had this charm, a swagger about him that you couldn’t ignore. his confidence radiated from every word, every action. and if you were being honest, it annoyed you. everyone had their limits, and niki seemed determined to find yours.

before he even stepped into the lecture hall, you had already made up your mind: you were going to keep your distance. college wasn’t supposed to be about dealing with someone like him. it was supposed to be a place to focus on your future, to get your degree, and leave. you weren’t here for any distractions.

but of course, niki didn’t seem to understand the concept of “quiet.”

he burst into the lecture hall like a hurricane, his loud voice announcing his entrance before his body even fully filled the doorway. he was talking to a friend, animated and expressive, as usual. his presence immediately drew attention, and you could feel the collective sigh of the room when he took the seat right next to you, without even a glance in your direction.

you tried to ignore him, but it was impossible. everything about him was distracting. his too-loud laugh, his exaggerated gestures, the way his energy seemed to fill every inch of space in the room. you could almost feel the way his presence pushed against your own, like an electric current you couldn’t escape.

niki seemed to have no concept of personal space. or maybe he just didn’t care.

“hey,” he said casually, looking at the papers in front of you. “you look like you’re actually paying attention. i should’ve sat next to you.”

you shot him a quick, disinterested glance, silently wishing he’d just leave you alone. “great,” you replied flatly, focusing your gaze on your notes, trying to ignore the way his eyes followed you as if he was trying to figure out who you were, like it was some kind of game to him.

he wasn’t deterred. of course, he wasn’t. “you know, i heard this lecture is a waste of time. i only came because the syllabus said there’s a quiz later this week.”

you couldn’t stop yourself from rolling your eyes. “how convenient for you,” you muttered, still not looking at him, but you could already feel a little tickle of irritation creeping up your spine.

niki grinned, completely unfazed by your flat response. “i take it you’re not a fan of this place, huh? you’re a bit too serious for college.” his tone was playful, but there was an edge to it, a hint that maybe he wasn’t entirely joking. or maybe he was, and you were just reading too much into it.

you glanced at him, your annoyance rising. “i’m here for the degree. not here to entertain you.”

he raised an eyebrow, clearly intrigued by your sharp response. “oh, come on, you’re no fun. you gotta lighten up sometimes, y’know? college is all about enjoying the ride.”

you frowned, irritation bubbling beneath the surface. “well, maybe i like my ride with fewer distractions. ever think about that?”

his smile only widened, clearly enjoying this little back-and-forth. “you know, i like a challenge.”

you didn’t know why, but you felt your temper rising. maybe it was the fact that he seemed so effortlessly charming. maybe it was the fact that he didn’t seem to care at all about your attempts to ignore him. either way, you couldn’t stop the sharp edge in your voice when you snapped back.

“well, good for you,” you gritted out. “i don’t need your advice.”

niki’s eyes lit up as if he’d won some small victory. “oh, come on,” he said with a mock pout. “i’m just trying to be helpful.”

“keep your ‘helpfulness’ to yourself,” you snapped, doing your best to ignore the rapid beat of your heart. “i don’t need your advice.”

but he was relentless, and you could feel his presence grow closer. he leaned in slightly, his voice dropping low as though it were a secret only meant for you.

“wow. that’s intense. i didn’t realize you hated me so much.”

“i don’t hate you,” you gritted out, your tone tight with restrained frustration. “i just wish you would leave me alone.”

niki leaned forward, his eyes glinting with amusement. “if i left you alone, how would i have any fun?”

you stared at him, incredulous. “seriously? you think this is fun?”

he shrugged, his carefree attitude only serving to irritate you further. “maybe for me. definitely for you.”

you clenched your jaw, already regretting the decision to sit next to him. this wasn’t the first time you’d encountered someone like him—people who thought they could talk circles around you just to get under your skin—but niki seemed to have a particular talent for it. and what bothered you the most was that, despite how much you hated it, you couldn’t stop thinking about him.

as the lecture droned on, niki kept up his quiet commentary. at first, it was just casual comments—little jokes that no one but you could hear, the occasional nudge of his elbow against yours. you tried to stay focused, but every time your mind started to wander, niki was there, right next to you, almost like he was baiting you into conversation. it was as though he knew exactly how to push your buttons. how to make you uncomfortable.

you weren’t sure how to handle him. on one hand, you resented the way he seemed to have this easy, effortless charm that made people laugh and draw attention. on the other hand, there was something strangely magnetic about him. something that made you feel like you wanted to get to know him. despite yourself, you couldn’t seem to shake the pull. it frustrated you, made you angry, and left you feeling confused.

by the time the lecture was over, you were beyond frustrated. you had never been more relieved to hear the bell ring. gathering your things in a hurry, you stood up, ready to get out of the room and away from niki. he didn’t even seem to notice the way you were practically rushing to leave.

but as you turned to walk out of the lecture hall, you felt a sudden tap on your shoulder. you spun around, fully prepared to tell him off again, to let him know that you weren’t interested in whatever game he was playing.

“hey,” niki said with a grin, standing in front of you with an annoying cockiness that made your blood boil. “don’t be mad, okay? i was just messing with you. no need to look so pissed.”

you tried to push past him, but he stepped in your way. “seriously, you’re not even going to talk to me after what i said? i thought we were bonding.”

you stared at him, incredulous. “bonding? no, we were arguing. and i don’t plan on bonding with you anytime soon.”

niki just laughed, a sound that only grated on your nerves further. “that’s a shame. i think we could make a pretty good team if you didn’t hate me so much.”

you just shook your head and walked away, trying to ignore the sudden flicker of something in your chest. it wasn’t attraction, you told yourself. it was just... irritation. the guy was infuriating, but you couldn’t deny that you couldn’t stop thinking about him.

you sat alone in the cafeteria, poking at your food with a fork, lost in thought. niki's words echoed in your mind, his smirk haunting your every thought. you hated how easily he got under your skin. you hated even more that you couldn't seem to shake the way he made you feel.

as you sat there, lost in your frustration, niki appeared once again. he slid into the seat across from you, his presence immediately overwhelming. you looked up, ready to snap at him, but the words died in your throat when you saw the look in his eyes. this time, his expression was different, still cocky but with an edge of curiosity.

"so, what's your deal?" he asked, leaning forward with genuine interest.

you blinked, caught off guard by the sudden change in his demeanor. "my deal?"

"yeah," he said, tilting his head slightly. "you seem like you've got it all figured out. what's your story?"

you hesitated, unsure of how much to reveal. "i'm just here to study. get my degree and move on."

niki raised an eyebrow, clearly not satisfied with your answer. "come on, there's gotta be more to it than that."

you sighed, feeling the weight of his gaze. "fine. i'm here to get my degree and hopefully land a good job. that's it. nothing more, nothing less."

he nodded, seeming to consider your words. "fair enough. but you know, college isn't just about the degree. it's about the experiences, the people you meet, the things you learn outside of the classroom."

you couldn't help but roll your eyes at his clichéd response. "thanks for the lecture, but i've heard it all before."

he smirked, clearly enjoying your sarcasm. "just thought i'd give you my two cents."

you shook your head, a small smile tugging at your lips despite yourself. "you're something else, niki."

he leaned back, crossing his arms with a satisfied grin. "oh, by the way, i'm having a party at my place tonight. you should come."

you blinked, caught off guard by the sudden invitation. "a party?"

"yeah," he said, nonchalantly. "it's going to be fun. a good way to take a break from all the studying."

you hesitated, your mind racing. the last thing you wanted was to spend more time with niki, especially in a social setting where he would undoubtedly be the center of attention. but something in his gaze made it hard to refuse. "i don't know…"

"come on," he urged, leaning forward again. "it'll be fun. besides, you need to lighten up, remember?"

you couldn't help but roll your eyes at his persistence. "i'll think about it."

"that's all i ask," he said with a wink, standing up from the table. "party starts at eight. don't be late."

with that, he turned and walked away, leaving you sitting there, your thoughts a whirlwind of confusion and frustration. why had you even considered going to his party? you had no reason to. yet, a small part of you was curious. what was it about niki that made it so hard to stay away?

as the day went on, you found it increasingly difficult to focus on your studies. niki's invitation lingered in your mind, a constant distraction. you couldn't deny that there was a part of you that wanted to go, to see what he was like outside of the lecture hall. but another part of you was wary, hesitant to let your guard down around him.

by the time the evening rolled around, you still hadn't made up your mind. you stood in front of your mirror, staring at your reflection, trying to decide what to do. finally, with a frustrated sigh, you grabbed your jacket and headed out the door. maybe it was a mistake, but there was only one way to find out.

when you arrived at niki's house, you could hear the music thumping from the street. the party was already in full swing, people milling about in the front yard, laughing and talking. you took a deep breath, steeling yourself, and walked up to the door.

niki was there to greet you, a wide grin spreading across his face when he saw you. "you made it!"

you nodded, feeling a bit out of place. "yeah, i did."

"come on in," he said, gesturing for you to follow him. "let me introduce you to some people."

you followed him into the house, the noise and energy of the party washing over you. niki led you through the crowd, introducing you to his friends, making sure you felt included. despite your initial reservations, you found yourself relaxing, enjoying the atmosphere.

as the night went on, you noticed that you were the center of attention for many of the guys at the party. they approached you, striking up conversations, complimenting you, and vying for your attention. you couldn't help but feel a bit flattered, even as you tried to keep your focus on the casual conversations.

niki, meanwhile, seemed to be watching you from a distance. though he continued to laugh and joke with his friends, you couldn't help but notice the way his eyes flickered in your direction, observing every interaction you had with the other guys. his expression remained unchanged, but there was an intensity in his gaze that you couldn't quite decipher.

at one point, you found yourself talking to a guy named taeyong. he was charming and funny, and you enjoyed his company. you laughed at one of his jokes, and he took the opportunity to move a little closer, his hand lightly brushing against your arm. out of the corner of your eye, you saw niki stiffen, his jaw clenching ever so slightly.

you glanced over at niki, catching his eye. for a brief moment, you thought you saw a flicker of something—jealousy, perhaps? but just as quickly, it was gone, replaced by his usual cocky smile. he raised an eyebrow, as if to say, "enjoying yourself?"

you turned your attention back to taeyong, but you couldn't shake the feeling that niki's eyes were still on you. as the night went on, you noticed other guys approaching you, each one trying to win your attention. niki continued to watch from a distance, his presence a constant reminder that he was never far away.

eventually, you excused yourself from the group and stepped outside for some fresh air. the cool breeze was a welcome relief from the heat and noise of the party. you leaned against the porch railing, taking a moment to collect your thoughts.

"you seem to be quite the hit tonight," a familiar voice said, breaking the silence. you turned to see niki standing there, his eyes fixed on you.

you shrugged, trying to play it cool. "just making new friends."

"looks like you made a lot of them," he said, his tone casual but with an undercurrent of something more.

you couldn't help but smile at his comment. "jealous?"

niki laughed, a genuine sound that made your heart skip a beat. "me? jealous? please."

"good," you said, meeting his gaze. "because there's no reason to be."

he stepped closer, the distance between you shrinking. "maybe not. but it's hard not to notice when every guy in the room wants to talk to you."

"maybe they're just being friendly," you replied, trying to keep your voice steady.

"maybe," he said, his eyes locked onto yours. "but i can't help but think it's more than that."

the air between you was charged with tension, the unspoken words hanging in the balance. you wanted to say something, anything, to break the silence, but the intensity of his gaze left you speechless.

after a moment, niki reached out, gently brushing a strand of hair from your face. the simple touch sent a shiver down your spine, and you couldn't help but lean into his hand, craving more of the contact.

"i'm glad you came tonight," he said softly, his voice barely above a whisper.

"me too," you replied, your voice just as quiet.

as you stood there, lost in the moment, you couldn't help but wonder what the future held for you and niki. he was still as infuriating as ever, but there was something about him that made it impossible to stay away. you didn't know what would happen next, but one thing was certain: your life had just gotten a whole lot more complicated.

the weeks after the party felt like a strange blur. there was a shift in the way you saw niki, but it wasn’t one you had the luxury of making sense of. every encounter with him only made it more complicated. you hated how much he occupied your thoughts, how he made you feel things you weren't prepared to feel. but the tension between you was undeniable, a pressure that lingered like a storm waiting to burst.

it wasn’t long before you saw him again, this time outside of class. you were walking across campus, lost in your own world, when you saw him—niki, leaning against a tree, arms crossed, looking entirely too comfortable in a way that made your blood boil. you didn’t want to deal with him, not today, not after everything that had happened at the party. the memory of his smirk, his casual disregard for your boundaries, had lingered longer than you cared to admit.

but niki was impossible to ignore. he spotted you immediately, and his trademark grin spread across his face.

“hey, there you are,” he called out, voice loud enough to make a few passersby glance in your direction. he pushed off the tree and walked toward you, his confident swagger somehow grating on your nerves.

you stopped in your tracks, your heart beating a little faster, a mix of irritation and something else you weren’t ready to acknowledge. “what do you want, niki?”

“just wanted to talk,” he said with a casual shrug, but there was something in his eyes—a glint of mischief, maybe even challenge. “you know, we didn’t get to finish our conversation last time.”

your stomach dropped, remembering how that last conversation had gone. the anger, the frustration, the way you’d tried so hard to ignore him because of what you were feeling. it hadn't worked. it still didn’t.

“there’s nothing left to say,” you snapped, taking a step back, trying to keep your distance.

he stopped in front of you, not backing down. “really? feels like there’s plenty to say.” his voice was still playful, but there was an edge to it now, like he was daring you to say something. to do something.

you clenched your fists at your sides, the urge to snap at him overwhelming. “you think this is all some kind of joke, don’t you?”

niki’s expression shifted slightly, his grin faltering for just a second. “i don’t think it’s a joke. but you sure act like you think i’m some kind of joke.”

the words stung more than they should have. you opened your mouth to respond, but before you could, he continued.

“you think i’m just some cocky guy who doesn't take anything seriously,” he said, voice low now, more intense than before. “maybe you're right. but you’re not exactly making this easy, are you?”

your chest tightened, and a sharp retort slipped from your lips before you could stop it. “maybe i wouldn’t be so ‘difficult’ if you’d just stop messing with me. if you’d just leave me alone for once.”

niki’s eyes flickered, just for a moment, with something—hurt? disappointment? you weren’t sure, but it made your breath catch in your throat. you couldn’t afford to feel bad for him. not now. not after everything.

he took a step closer, narrowing the space between you. “you think i enjoy this? the back-and-forth? the constant tension between us?” his voice was quieter now, almost hushed. “you think i want this?”

“i don’t know what you want, niki,” you retorted, your voice cracking with the rawness of the frustration you’d been holding in for weeks. “you don’t make any sense. one minute you’re annoying the hell out of me, and the next, you’re acting like you actually care. it’s impossible to figure you out!”

his face hardened, his eyes darkening. “and maybe it’s impossible for you to admit that you care too.”

the words hit you like a slap, leaving you breathless. you wanted to argue, to say something that would push him away, but the truth lingered in the space between you. you did care, in some twisted way, and that terrified you.

“i don’t care about you,” you snapped, more forcefully than you intended. “i don’t want you in my life. all you do is make everything harder.”

niki’s jaw clenched, his expression tightening. “is that what you really think of me?” he took another step forward, invading your space, the air between you crackling with tension. “that i’m just a problem for you? that i’m just some guy you can push away whenever it suits you?”

you opened your mouth to respond, but the words got stuck in your throat. he was too close. his presence was overwhelming, suffocating even. and there was something in his eyes, something that made you question everything you thought you knew about him.

“i don’t know what you want from me,” you finally said, your voice shaking with the effort to keep it steady. “you don’t make any sense, niki. you think this is some game, but it’s not.”

“fine?” niki laughed, but it wasn’t a happy sound. it was bitter, frustrated. “you think i’m the one treating you like shit? you think i’m the one making this miserable?”

you stepped back, your mind reeling from the realization that maybe, just maybe, he felt the same way you did—caught in this endless cycle of misunderstanding, of playing games neither of you were willing to admit.

“i don’t know what you want from me,” you repeated, feeling your emotions slip out of control. “i just want to be left alone.”

there was a long, painful silence. then niki’s voice broke through the tension, rough and raw. “i want you to stop pretending like you don’t care. i want you to stop pretending that i’m the problem when you’re just as much a part of this mess as i am.”

his words were like a punch to the gut, and you couldn’t stop the way your chest tightened, your heart racing as everything you’d been trying to suppress came bubbling to the surface.

“i don’t need you, niki,” you choked out, every word feeling like it was ripping itself from you. “i don’t need this. i don’t need you messing with my life, making everything harder than it needs to be.”

“you think i’m the one messing with your life?” his voice rose, a mixture of anger and hurt in his words. “you think i’m the one making this hard? i’m not the one pushing you away every time you start feeling something.”

your eyes burned, the anger and hurt so strong that it made you dizzy. “i’m pushing you away because you don’t respect me. you don’t respect my boundaries, niki. you think this is some game, but it’s not.”

the words were out before you could stop them. and as they hung in the air, something in niki seemed to snap. his eyes darkened, his mouth tightening into a thin line.

“i’m not some game to you?” his voice was barely above a whisper, but it was filled with a fury you hadn’t expected. “well, i’m not some toy for you to just push around either.”

the fight had exploded, raw and brutal, and neither of you could stop it. the emotions were too strong, too tangled, and now you were both caught in a moment where there was no turning back.

《》

tag list (if your name is crossed that means i cant find your blog)

@ramenoil @strawberrynull @si3rren @rikidaze @yangjungwonnie @hehabi @ijustreallylike2read

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itzy-bitsy-spidey · 2 days ago

Text

Wash my hair

(Sanji x fem! reader)

Notes: I´m a sucker for interactions such as washing each others hair. Happy valentine day!!!

Cw: None.

The life at sea was great, the wind on your face, freedom on your hands,there was nothing about it that could be regretted. Unless, of course, we were talking hair.

Long hair, short hair, curly or straight. It didn't even matter because the truth was, if you had any hair the ocean air was sure to destroy it.

Or at the very least tangle it and get it super puffy.

Usually you were the one to work through every tangle and undo every knot, but lately you had been feeling rather sick and didn't quite have the strength for doing it yourself. So of course you relied on your crew to help you. Problem was, that everybody seemed to be busy ( or simply plain unfit for the task).

Nami had locked herself on the room earlier that day and had only come out for dinner, so it was safe to say that she could not be bothered. Zoro... Well, he wasn't really all that friendly when it came to making things for others and he seemed rather rough, Luffy was absolutely out of the question (refer to the ending of the earlier paragraph) and poor Usopp was the one to get you the water and warm it up for you, so you would feel guilty to ask him for anything else.

So that left you down to only one more option, probably the most dreaded one as well.

Sanji.

The walk to the kitchen felt as if a train had ran over you from how heavy your body felt, but nonetheless you managed to get to the damned place and sit on one of the stools.

He didn´t even notice you at first, he seemed to be awfully focused on what he was currently doing, he actually seemed rather... peaceful.

His shoulders were not tense as they usually were when he was bickering back and forth with Zoro, and his expression was flat if not for the tiniest of smiles on his lips. It was refreshing not seeing him in his usual swooning-over-every-woman style.

You almost hated the fact that you were going to interrupt him. But it was Sanji, for all you knew as long as you weren´t Zoro (or Luffy trying to steal food) he wouldn´t have any problem.

"Sanji" Sure, it was not the most intricate of sentences, but as soon as his name came out of your lips and he turned around to look at you your words got caught in your throat.

"Well hello there sweetheart, what can I do for you?" He asked, and the tone of his vice held a tired tint to it, not from you, but from the day most likely.

"I need..." Either the words refused to come out or you refused to ask him for his help "I need your help".

"Really!? My help!? Oh, what can I assist you on my beautiful lady?" And there he was once again.

It was nice while it lasted.

"I need you to help me..." you narrowed your eyes at him "With washing my hair".

Unexpectedly nothing happened. For a solid half minute the kitchen was completely silent. And then a thin, almost non visible trail of blood started dripping from his nose, and you rolled your eyes, ready for his gushing about his feelings for women and bla,bla,bla.

Surprisingly though Sanji actually managed to compose himself, and after wipping off the trail of blood he eagerly nodded his head.

"Look Sanji, I... I just want you to help me detangle my hair, I don´t have the strenght to do it myself and you are the only other person avaible on the ship" You explained tiredly as you laid your head over your arms on the counter.

"I´m tired and kind of ill and I need you to agree to do this ONLY if you can promise to not make any comments, or act weird, or anything"

"Well of course my beautiful..."

"That includes calling me beautiful lady, or darling, or sweetheart, or mon amour or pretty much anything except my name" you shushed him by placing your finger on his lips "As a matter of fact I have a bad headache, so if you could just not talk at all, that would be grand".

And so finally, you were able to enter the bathtub (Sanji waiting outside the bathroom of course). The warm water surrounded you, almost a little bit too hot, but just perfect to sting slightly at your skin and relax all your muscles.

You had left on a bikini, that nami had gifted you when you first met and you didn´t have any more clothes than the ones you had had on yourself. You wished you could have been wearing nothing, but with the cook it was better not to risk it.

Once you were relaxed on the tub you called Sanji to let him know that he could enter. You didn´t turn around to see him, but you heard the door opening and closing and you felt when he approached you.

You also heard the sound of bottles touching the ground, but you didn´t bother trying to see what they were. Sanji kneeled on the floor behind you, and for some time all you heard was his and your breathing and the water ripples when you shifted in your place.

Then he grabbed a little cup and used it to pour the warm water over your scalp, and finally, his hands touched your scalp. Oh how you melted, Sanji was a lot of things, both good and bad, but dammit was he good with his hands.

You could completely understand him using only his legs for fighting if what he had to protect was those hands. The way his long fingers glided through your hair, careful not to tug on a strand was simply gorgeous; and then he grabbed one of the bottles he had brought and opened it, the smell of roses filling the room as he poured some of the oil on your hair and started working on the knots.

You swore you could fall asleep to Sanji washing your hair, it was so peaceful even if it was always the same four steps: pour water, pour oil, detangle and massage. Something about having the crew´s cook so close, yet him being so calm, was just... beautiful. The quiet type of beautiful that happens when a lone flower blooms in a winter.

It could have been hours for all you knew, but the bliss that you felt from the treatment Sanji was giving you made it feel as though time didn´t exist anymore.

Eventually it all had to end, sadly, and so from one moment to the other his hands left your head.

"Are you done?" You asked, and all you received was a nod from him.

"Thank you Sanji" another nod in response.

"Is there any reason you aren´t talking to me?" You finally asked.

"You told not to talk at all" He answered back, his voice raspy and low.

"Oh" you had totally forgotten about that.

He didn´t seem mad tough, actually he was smiling kindly at you and seemed strangely relaxed. You didn´t know if it was the sickness or the general ambient that led you to asking the question, but you did it anyway.

"Would you stay while I finish?" you didn´t feel like being alone.

Wordlessly he sat on the ground right next to you and smiled again, a warmer smile this time.

Sometimes sea air wasn´t all that bad after all.

#one piece #one piece x reader #sanji fluff #vinsmoke sanji x you #vinsmoke sanji x reader #vinsmoke sanji #sanji x reader #black leg sanji #sanji #one piece fluff

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brookediamonds · 3 days ago

Text

your love is my drug | Axel Kovačević x Fem! Reader

Summary: After a rough day at school and it being that time of the month, you head to the empty dojo to release some stress. Luckily your boyfriend is there to brighten your day.

based off this post

Word Count: 737 Warnings: none, cute fluff!

pic cred: me and my laptop lol

You let out frustrating breaths as you laid harsh strike combos into the punching bag sending it flying all around you.

Today ran through your head, keeping a heated tension coursing through you.

"Kiah!" You yelled finishing your routine off with a roundhouse.

"Damn," you hear from behind you. Axel steps around the white bag, placing a hand on it to keep it steady. "Glad I'm not the punching bag."

You huffed blowing a stray of hair away from your face, before punching the bag again.

"Bad day," you mutter, your eyes never leaving the bag in front of you.

"I see that," Axel acknowledges coming up to hold the bag for you. "What happened?"

Taking a step back to catch your breath, you rest your hands on your hips, recaping your day to him.

"I got a C-minus on that history essay from last week, because I procrastinated," you begin to count your fingers. "Spilled half of my very hot coffee on my jacket this morning."

Axel grimaces at your mentions knowing you hated getting anything under an 'A' in school and remembers your jacket is a light shade of grey.

"And to top it off, I got my lovely visit from mother nature today," you vaguely gesture to the lower bottom of your body. "So there's that."

Your boyfriend frowns letting go of the bag to walk over to you. Unable to stop the tight feeling in your chest, tears sprung up to your eyes as your hormones got the best of you.

"I'm sorry, my love," Axel reaches out for you, gently pulling you into his warm embrace. You fell into him, arms wrapping around his backside as you laid the side of your face on his chest.

Axel strokes your back softly, letting you shed a few tears from the day you've had, gently pecking the top of your head.

Pulling back slightly in his arms, you tilt your head up to meet his concerned gaze.

"Thanks," you whisper with a small sniffle. He reaches up, cupping the side of your face, his thumb wiping away at your stray tears.

Axel smiled tenderly, his hand lingering on your cheek for a moment before his expression shifted. You furrowed your eyebrows as he takes a step back from you.

"Alright,” he announced, cracking his knuckles dramatically. “There’s only one way to fix this."

"What are you?—" You begin to ask as Axel grabbed his phone, tapping at the screen a few times before setting it down on the sparring deck next to you.

The song 'Your Love is My Drug' by Kesha blared from his device, Axel bringing his arms up to move oddly, his body swaying in an uncoordinated yet oddly determined manner

"Axel....what the hell are you doing?" You can't help the snort that fell from your lips.

He stops mid hip-thrust stopping to look at you with a huge grin. "Cheering you up by dancing the bad day away!"

"You look like you're having a stroke," you giggled watching as he continued to dance ridiculously around you.

Your laughs filled the air, Axel smiling in satisfaction as he spins around one last time.

"There she is," he cooes, stepping forward to pull you back into his arms.

You sighed, but this time, it wasn’t out of frustration. Leaning into him, you let your arms wrap around his neck as his warmth surrounded you once more.

"Feel at least a little better?" He asks looking down at you with his adoring gaze, lazily swaying you both back and forth.

You nodded with a small grin on your face. "Definitely"

Axel gives you a soft peck on your lips, squeezing your hips lightly.

"How about some donuts and a movie at my place?" Your boyfriend suggests sweetly. "You left your heating pad there from last time."

It's like the sun came out when the proposition left his mouth, your gathering your school bag and phone from the ground immediately.

"I'm ready," you grinned up at the tall blue eyed boy, taking his hand that he held out for you.

As you and Axel walked hand in hand to your cars, a comfortable silence settling between you, the sky painted in hues of orange and pink, he suddenly glanced at you with a smirk.

"You know," he mused, squeezing your fingers, "if you're ever feeling down, my dance services are always available. I do take requests."

You chuckled, shaking your head at his silliness. "Good to know, baby."

-------------------------------------------------------------------

@obsidian-fury

(A/n: Sorry it's short, I'm trying to put this one out fast and want to come up with something cute for valentines day, and then need to start working on the continuation of 'who's the cute boy.' Y'all, I'm sick, I'm un-well, did part 3 seem kind of rushed? Still processing everything that happened. ALSO TANNER AND MARY?? I used to love watching Mary's youtube videos and thought they were so cute, I love that they're together!!)

#axel kovacevic x reader #cobra kai #axel cobra kai #axel kovacevic imagines #axel kovacevic #axel x reader #miguel diaz #sam larusso #samandtory #sammiguel #robby keene #eli moskowitz #cobra kai fanfiction

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skzhua · 3 days ago

Text

episode 3.

MASTERLIST

pairing: XO, Kitty's Min Ho x Female Reader

genre: Fluff, angst, exes-to-lovers, slow burn, coming-of-age.

word count: 5.3k (not proofread yet!)

warnings: cussing, jealousy, heist (aka don't do that kids).

summary: despite you and min ho growing closer once again, he still sends you mixed signals about what he wants. and you don't know how long you can handle this back and forth. especially when you know you'll be spending seollal with him... and stella.

note: Bold - Korean, Italic - Over the phone

(let me know by filling the form in my bio if you want to be added to the taglist!)

As soon as you saw Stella, you pushed Min Ho away from you. She was beyond mad, she was hurt. Before you could say anything, she shook her head in disappointment and left as she disappeared into the school building. You looked at Min Ho, who was avoiding your eyes.

"You didn't tell her you weren't interested, did you?"

With a sigh, he shook his head no. "I didn't get to speak to her, let's say."

"A text, Min Ho, no?" you said in disbelief.

"The one I was really trying to text was not responding."

"Yeah, and you should have taken it as a sign maybe."

His Adam's apple bopped. "Then why did you kiss me?"

You pointed at him. "You're the one who kissed me."

"What? Why would I want to kiss you?"

It felt like a knife went through your heart. You were baffled that, only seconds ago, you were letting yourself fall in love with him again. Although he was noticeably frustrated with you, it wasn't hard to see he regretted what he said right after the words left his mouth.

"Sorry, it just-"

"Whatever, Min Ho..."

Crossing your arms, you held them close to your body. To this, he took his jacket off and wrapped it around you. Your face still showed anger but you did nothing to stop him.

"I'll talk to Stella," he assured.

"Yeah, and I will too. I'll say this was in the spur of the moment."

He scoffed. "So, it meant nothing?"

Your shoulders dropped. "What do you want me to say?"

His mouth opened to say something but nothing came out. Visibly, he was as confused as you were. And while you didn't hate it, you were afraid you only hurt yourself.

"Sure," he finally spoke. "It was in the spur of the moment."

The corner of your mouth lifted the slightest, a sign of gratitude. "Thanks. We're good?"

"We're good."

You shared a hug that you could describe as the most awkward physical interaction you'd had in life, and you went your separate ways, not forgetting to give back his jacket beforehand. By then, hunger had died down and the softness of your mattress was all you could think of. You dreaded the discussion you'd have to share with Stella, but you couldn't just stop yourself from going home.

When you walked in, she was on her laptop and sat on the couch. At the sound of you entering the place, she glared at you before focusing on the screen again. You slowly approached her.

"Hey, can we talk?"

She frowned. "About how you promised nothing was going on with Min Ho before giving me his number, only to kiss him right in front of me?"

Ouch. As much as you hated hearing that, you couldn't deny that she was pretty spot on.

"It's not what it looks like-"

She suddenly shut the laptop before looking at you right in the eyes. "Did you do it to humiliate me or something?"

"What? Of course not!"

"Then explain to me what is going on," she breathed out, her voice softening.

You allowed yourself to take a seat next to her. "Min Ho and I, we have a complicated relationship. I am trying my best to become his friend again, no feelings involved. What you saw earlier was nothing but a moment of weakness where we both fell back into old feelings. I swear, it was nothing."

She cocked her head to the side. "It seemed pretty passionate to me."

"I promise, it meant nothing. Have him all you want, I won't overstep again."

Even if you were more trying to convince yourself than her, she ended up accepting your explanation, thanking you for being honest with her. But were you?

You hurried to join Dae and Kitty as soon as you saw them in the crowd. Q had been showering the whole gang with messages about how the track meet was important to him, meaning he wanted everyone to be there for him. Your only surprise was to not see his face among the team, who was already settled for the track to start. Out of breath, you joined your two friends who seemed as lost as you were.

"This is crazy. Where is Q?" Dae spoke what everyone was thinking.

"I have no idea, but that is the guy he was all over last night at the club," Kitty pointed to one of the track members.

Dae scoffed. "Q ditched me for Jin? But he's Q's rival, and he's a big jerk."

"Yeah, well, looks like Q might have gotten played," you sighed before turning to take a look around in hopes to spot Q.

That when you saw Min Ho and Stella, seated in a very cozy manner on the bleachers. While Stella waved at you kindly, Min Ho stared at the floor, visibly ashamed you 'caught' him hanging out with the person he was supposedly not interested in — also considering he kissed you the day prior. You were not going to let it affect you. Like you had both established, it meant nothing.

Alex coming out to announce start of the race was enough to make you forget about that weird feeling in your stomach. "Runners, please take your marks for the 100-meter dash qualifying. The winner will represent KISS-"

"We have to do something!" Kitty exclaimed.

You nodded. "I have an idea."

Before either could question you, you ran to the track. You purposefully dropped your bracelet, one that belonged to your mother, and began to act distressed as you looked around the ground. You didn't hesitate to let out grunts of frustration and comments on your foolishness for losing your jewelry.

The crowd began to chatter amongst themselves, wondering why you were interrupting the race. Kitty and Dae were trying to tell you with hand movements to stop, but you couldn't let Alex start the run when Q wasn't here.

"Y/N, get off the track!" Alex called out.

Out of panic — well mostly because you ran out of ideas — you dropped on the ground, faking to have fainted. Frankly, the ground was quite comfortable as you closed your eyes, only feeling the wind grazing against your skin... and fingers?

"Y/N!" Min Ho yelled, worried. "Y/N, you all right?"

As he rubbed your shoulder, shaking it slightly to see if you were fine, you opened an eye to glare at him. "I'm trying to cause a diversion, dummy!"

His shoulders relaxed, but he couldn't help but roll his eyes. He held his hand out for you to grab, and by hearing Q finally arriving, you took it. Helping you up, he could only chuckle.

"What?"

"That's the last thing I'd have expected you to do. I mean, since when do you like being the center of attention."

It was your turn to roll your eyes. "I don't. But I care about Q, who should be both our focus right now."

You didn't let him reply as you joined your friends — and Stella, to cheer on Q. As soon as the race started, your eyes were fixated on him. He started out great, being the first up. However, it didn't take long for Jin to surpass him.

"Come on, Q," you muttered to yourself.

"Let's go!" Kitty encouraged.

Unfortunately, the cheers you heard were all for Jin who made it first. You still all clapped, although you were visibly disappointed.

"Have I been mean to Juliana?"

You groaned, throwing your book at the end of your bed. All you wanted was one morning without Kitty complaining about ruining Yuri and Juliana living together by letting it slip out in front of Principal Lee. So far, so good since you were the one to take Yuri's bed in their room. That worked out for you since you wanted to avoid Stella. Yeah, because Min Ho clearly did not turn her down and they continued to be 'a thing'.

"What did you do, now?"

"Nothing!" she almost yelled, making you jump. "She was eating her cereal, then I tried to confide to her about Praveena, but she just left. She said she had stuff to do but I think she's making up excuses. Did I say something?"

"Beside the fact you were the cause for Yuri to move out?"

She deadpanned at you. "Yes, beside that."

You shrugged. "She might actually have something to do."

She whined. "You're not helping."

"Forget about them," you said, getting off your bed and grabbing your school bag. "We have to get to the assembly anyway."

Min Ho: Y/N?

"Uh..." you stopped on your tracks.

"Everything alright?" Kitry questioned, trying to catch a glimpse of your phone screen.

"Yeah, you go ahead. I'll join you at the assembly."

She seemed unsure but nodded nonetheless before leaving you alone. You looked in her room to see if Stella was still home, and when you noticed no signs of her, you dialed Min Ho's number.

He picked up right away. "I thought you'd ignore me!"

"What do you want?" you cut right to the chase.

"I was just grabbing coffee before class. Since we don't live in the same dorm anymore, I just wanted to know if you wanted one."

You scoffed. "What about your girlfriend? What is she going to say when she learns you're getting your ex coffee?"

"Hey, we're still friends, no? And Stella's not my girlfriend."

You hesitated. But, coffee is coffee after all. "Alright. You know how I like it?"

"How can I forget?"

You could hear the smile from his voice and, ultimately, it made you smile too. "I'll join you in a bit, then?"

"Just hurry before it gets cold."

And so, you took off, not forgetting to grab your umbrella in the process since it was raining lightly. It took you less than five minutes from your dorm to the coffee trailer. Min Ho, in all of his glory, stood patiently next to it with two cups in hands and his hair slightly damped since he put his umbrella away until you arrived. He was rocking his body back and forth, visibly waiting.

"You could have gotten me a large," you commented, grabbing his attention.

He chuckled. "For you, m'lady," he held the coffee to you.

You grabbed it, glad to see it was still warm. "Thanks."

He opened his umbrella again and you walked side by side towards the school building. Taking a sip, you were more than happy to get warmed up. Plus, it was just how you liked it.

"The ones you make are still better," you pointed out.

"I know," he cocked an eyebrow. "I hate to say this but it is different without you at the dorms."

"Don't get all nostalgic, it doesn't suit you."

He sipped his coffee before shrugging. "It's a fact, though. I have nobody to bicker with."

Your eyes grew, offended, and just when you were about to give him a slight slap on the arm, you were quickly interrupted by his father.

"So, how's my favourite student doing?" Mr. Moon asked, only for Min Ho to react disgusted.

"A bit early for blatant nepotism, dad."

"I was talking to your girlfriend, the shark," he pointed towards you and you body stiffened.

"Sorry about that... again. And we're not-"

He cut you off. "It's okay, I loved it," he complimented before turning to his son. "So, have you decided about the cabin for the long weekend?" Noticing Min Ho only seemed confused, he continued. "Just you and me, one-on-one on the slopes? You used to love when I took you skiing as a kid."

"That was Joon Ho. Not me. Anyways, Stella and I have plans this weekend."

"Oh I thought-" Mr. Moon started, glancing at you for a second. "Nevermind. Well, it would be a shame to let this house go to waste, again," he said before leaving the two of you be.

"Y/N-" Min Ho started, obviously wanting to explain the Stella thing.

But you ignored it. "Your dad's not doing a Seollal get-together with the whole family?"

He sighed, upset by your avoidance but he still answered. "All my siblings are spending the holidays with their moms. Joon Ho is on tour, meaning I'm his last resort."

"I mean, he is still putting in the effort of asking you. Who knows, maybe it's a chance for you to-"

"Torture myself?" he interrupted you. "Forget it. We have an assembly to go to before class."

The assembly in itself was not so interesting, as per usual. Stella joined Min Ho, to begin with, which did not please you much. Especially seeing her hold Min Ho's arm the way you used to. Otherwise, Alex was trying his best to catch the students' interest, which was pretty sad to watch. Madison was being the Korean obsessed girl that she is. And Mr. Moon had to steal the show. He announced a student talent showcase at the end of the semester where the winner would receive a cash prize. At the mention of it, you immediately looked at Dae.

And by the end of the assembly, your friends seemed to have the same thought as they encouraged Dae to sign up for it, while Kitty and Stella followed behind the four of you, having a conversation of their own.

"You have to enter the contest," Q said excitedly. "You have the voice of an angel."

Dae nodded. "My family could use the money. But singing is just, like, my hobby."

"I got you, bro. I'll coach you. Manager-performer dream team, baby," Min Ho offered. "And, I won't even take commission."

Dae chuckled, remaining doubtful. "But do you think I could actually win?"

"Yeah," you and Q affirmed.

That visibly encouraged him. "Okay, then. Let's do it."

Arriving at the dance studio, you came to fetch Dae after he texted you. Apparently, Min Ho and Eunice were making his first rehearsal hell and knowing you, he hoped you could get him out of it. As you walked in, you were less than surprised to see Stella tagging along as she observed Dae dancing messily. You chuckled to yourself, leaning on the door frame to not disturb them. You wanted to see Dae suffer a bit, it was kind of funny.

"This isn't going to work," he let out, discouraged.

Eunice scoffed. "It is not my fault that you can't handle a little constructive criticism."

Stella sighed. "Okay, why don't you tell them your brilliant idea?" she asked Min Ho, not forgetting to touch his arm in the process.

You swallowed whatever feeling you were having as Min Ho spoke. "Well, I thought of the cherry on top for your performance. When the song ends, you spin around, bend her back, and lay one on her."

Dae frowned. "What do you mean, 'lay one on her'?"

"What I mean is..."

You wanted a show, you got a show. Spinning Stella around, Min Ho swiftly held her before bending her back, just like he had described. And he laid one on her. Their lips met briefly but the small gesture was enough to make your eyes water. What hurt even more was Stella's satisfied grin, like she had won something. Maybe she did.

"My boy's right."

You jumped at the voice while Mr. Moon walked in the room past you. Finally, Min Ho spotted you. You couldn't tell what his face was saying, but it was nothing good. It was a mix of shame, fear, guilt... And to be honest, you couldn't care less about how he was feeling.

"Your instinct is so spot on, son," he continued and Min Ho nodded, thankful. "All right, I won't distract you. I just wanted to say Baek Jong Won said he'll be happy to cook a dinner at the cabin this weekend. I know how much you love his ramyun."

"The famous chef?" Stella asked, stars in her eyes almost.

"Yeah, he's just a family friend. Think about it." He turned around to leave and smiled at you in acknowledgement as he went past you again. "Miss Park, always a pleasure."

"Your dad's really trying," Stella said, but was ignored.

"Where were we?" Min Ho went back to Eunice and Dae.

"I was just about to leave," Dae said, looking at you. "Sorry, I can't do this."

He joined you while the others called for him. Min Ho frowned, looking back and forth at the both of you but you just took Dae's wrist and rushed to get him out of there — get you both out of there. Deciding you both deserved food for each of your problems, you went to the convenience store to get some instant noodles together. You insisted that it was on you, and even if Dae tried to pay for himself, he ended up letting you take care of it.

Finally seated, you both slurped in silence, enjoying the flavours rather than speak about your issues. That was something the both of you needed terribly. But you couldn't avoid it for too long.

"I think I won't do the talent showcase," Dae stated.

You moved your eyes from your food to him. "One bad rehearsal does not mean you have to give up."

"Did you see me there, Y/N? I was a mess."

You shook your head. "You were definitely out of your comfort zone, but you weren't a mess. You had three people working with you, that's something. They know you've got what it takes."

He sighed. "I don't know... Ah, and sorry about Min Ho. I didn't know they would kiss in front of you or..."

You smiled. "Thank you for worrying, but I'm fine. You know just like me that it's hard, but you have to accept it won't be the same anymore."

He nodded in agreement. "You and me are pretty much on the same boat, yeah."

"Besides, I'm just glad he at least found someone nice and not some random fangirl."

You both shared some laughter. It felt amazing to spend time with him like this. You reminded yourself once more that he was a true friend you could rely on.

The moment was short as you phone began to ring. Both of you looked at the contact. Speaking of your exes, Kitty was the one calling you.

"What's up?" you answered.

"You know how quiet and subtle you are?"

You raised an eyebrow, unsure as to what she was saying. "I guess."

"I'm planning a small heist with Praveena, but we need help..." she said, trying to not sound too crazy.

"Kitty!"

"I need my mom's time capsule and the only way I can get it is by stealing it."

You shut your eyes, discouraged. "How did you come up with that idea?"

"It was Praveena's, actually. Please, Y/N, I really could use some help."

You breathed out. "You can sneak in without me."

"You know how to walk in a room without being noticed. I could use you as a guide!"

"Ugh... Fine, I'll come."

"Oh my God, you're an angel."

"I am aware," you chuckled.

"I do need one last favor from you, though. Please?"

You paused. "What is it?"

Dressed in dark clothes, you followed Kitty to the archives to join Praveena. For a date, this was... something for sure. You spotted the girl soon enough and she waved at you all.

"Oh, great. You brought the mouse and the muscle."

"I'm the muscle?" Min Ho asked and you lightly kicked his side with your elbow.

"Don't get too excited. Like I said, we just need someone tall enough to reach the high stuff," you snorted. "And Dae and Q were busy, so..."

"Hmm, are you sure it's not because you wanted to see me tonight?"

You glared at him. "After having to disinfect my eyes after you and missy's kiss, no thanks."

"Okay," Praveena stopped your bicker. "Huddle up, here's the plan."

You all formed a circle, huddled up, and it was hard to ignore Min Ho's hand placed around your waist. Of fucking course he was still sending you mixed signals while clearly being happy with Stella.

Praveena went on explaining the plan. You immediately got into action and she walked in, acting as a distraction. She exchanged with the old lady at the front desk before signaling for you three to get in. You discreetly crouched down and you rushed in, making as little noise as possible. Kitty and Min Ho followed your lead and you finally got in. You allowed yourself to stand up and turn on your flashlights.

"Why are we going through all this?" Min Ho complained.

"Because I have a whole other side of my family that my mom came here to find. So if this time capsule has a clue on how I can track them down, I have to have it," Kitty whisper-yelled.

"How touching," he said with no emotion whatsoever, causing you to bump the side of his body again. "Hey, will you stop?"

"Show a bit of empathy, here," you rolled your eyes.

"Well, personally, I'd love to erase the existence of half of my family."

Kitty let out a chuckle before going on about looking through the files. Meanwhile, you and Min Ho looked around aimlessly as you keep discussing.

"Correct me if I'm wrong but did your dad fund an entire arts program to spend time with you?"

"That's his move. Big, shallow gesture to make up for not being there. Like inviting me to a ski cabin for Seollal."

"I mean, do you want to fix things with him? I remember you telling me you do miss him," you pointed out, recalling one of your dates.

"I guess so," he admitted. "But... one-on-one time with him is always stressful. It'd be different if there were a bunch of family members around, like there's supposed to be on Seollal. Or even just very annoying and unpleasant people like yourself. As a buffer."

You hummed, faking a smile. "How kind of you," you said before joining Kitty, starting to get annoyed yourself.

He followed you and placed a hand on your shoulder to stop you. "What if we did that?"

You scoffed. "Use me as your buffer?"

"Well, you and the guys. And might as well ask Covey."

Kitty turned to you at the mention of her name. "Oh! I mean, it'd be more fun than hanging out here for the holiday."

You, for once, agreed. "Yeah, I guess. And we'll have your back if your dad's being difficult."

"Still looking out for me, how sweet," he joked.

"Like you said, I'm still your friend."

He was about to say something but noise coming from the front door made you all hide behind shelves.

"Professor Lee, I can assure you I know aisle 12!" Praveena yelled for you to hear.

"Wait, this is aisle 12!" Kitty whispered making you all change you hiding spot. While Kitty took the left, you and Min Ho too the right.

"Why are you shouting?" Mr. Lee asked Praveena. "I am perfectly capable of hearing you as well. I'm not as old as you think."

"I don't think you're old!"

You tried to peek but Min Ho grabbed you a which inevitably brought you back down. "Are you trying to get us caught?"

"I was just-"

He immediately placed his hand over your mouth to hush you. Meanwhile, his eyes glimmered with the little light there was. You began to breathe heavily and you thought he was doing so too. You did feel his hand getting sweaty and a blush a appeared on both of your faces.

"Y/N, about earlier-"

You stopped him, removing his hand from your face. "I'm happy for you."

He frowned. "No, I'm not-"

"I am, really. Stella seems to care about you."

"Don't fake being happy when I'm hurting you."

Kitty joining you lot made you push him away from you as you both stood on your feet. You hadn't even noticed Praveena and Lee were gone by then.

"Praveena just saved our asses. I mean, it's only our second date," she smiled but you and Minho exchanged a look.

"Date?" you scoffed.

"Kitty, she's sweet-talking an old lady whilst you're third-wheeling who used to be the hottest couple in school."

You buried your face in your hands, getting reminded of his cocky ass. "He just meant that it's not much of a date."

"Why don't you bring her skiing?"

Kitty shrugged. "That's kind of a big step." You and Min Ho sighed but Kitty's eyes then lit up. "Oh my God, I think that's it."

Following whete she was pointing at, you finally located the time capsule. Min Ho was quick to get to work, grabbing it for Kitty. Once you've acquired it, you lost no time in getting the hell out of there to join Praveena who was patiently waiting outside. Kitty ran to her for a hug.

"I cannot believe that actually worked. Oh, I wish I had a way to thank you."

"Oh, please," she brushed it off.

Again, you and Min Ho exchanged a look, knowing damn well that you were thinking the exact same thing. And of course, you hated that you still had this type of dynamic.

"Praveena, do you ski?" he asked.

"No, but I snowboard."

Kitty jumped in. "Any chance you want to come with us this weekend to Min Ho's dad's ski cabin?"

"You're inviting me to the Kris Jenner of Korea's vacation home? Hell yeah I wanna come."

"Cool," Kitty giggled. "I can't wait!"

They both began to walk away. As you were about to do the same, Min Ho stopped you by grabbing your hand. You immediately broke away from his hold.

"What?"

He cocked his head to the side. "Don't make this face with me."

"What do you want?"

Seeing you were going to keep the attitude, he spoke. "I know you wanted to cause a diversion the other day, but you forgot your bracelet on the ground."

He took it out of his pocket, presenting it to you. It was still as pretty as shiny as it always has been, maybe even more.

"Min Ho," you breathed out, taking it from him.

"I got it cleaned and I wanted to give it to you when we got coffee. But my dad kind of ruined the moment, so..."

You held it to your chest. "Whatever, I'm just glad I have it back. I forgot that's when I removed it. Thank you."

He nodded. "My pleasure."

He started to walk away, but you were the one to stop him now. "I... My aunt gave me a letter from my father. I haven't opened it yet and I thought we could open it together? I mean, it would definitely help me to read it and maybe it could help you with everything going on with your dad."

He couldn't keep his smile to himself. "I would love to."

The Seollal festival was something everyone had been looking forward to, but especially Juliana. Being the one who she shared her room with now, you listened to her nervousness about exposing her art more than enough. So when it finally came, you were ecstatic to not have to hear about it. And you were also happy for her, obviously.

"Thanks for helping me with setting up the booth."

"No worries," you smiled. "I do want to get food before it runs out..."

She laughed. "Go! Anyway, Yuri should be here any minute."

You ran to get any food you could lay your hands on. It went from Korean delicacies to traditional sweets. And man those sweets were good. From afar, you caught a glimpse of Dae. He seemed to have seen you at the same time since he was already signing for you to come join him. You made your way through the crowd and finally reached him. When you spotted Bora, his little sister, you saw she was eating the same one you had just gotten for yourself.

"Bora, look! We like the same things."

Her eyes grew. "Dae keeps saying it's too sugary, but I think he has bad taste."

You crouched to whisper in her ear. "Between you and me, I think you're right."

She laughed and Dae could only sigh. "Bora, that's your last sweet," he warned and she nodded.

As you sat down, you finally noticed the happy couple who was sat just next to Bora. While you gave Stella a warm smile, you bluntly ignored Min Ho. When you were alone, you were more than happy to be friendly. In front of his new girlfriend, however, it was better to not interact to avoid any argument — that included between you and him, them, or you and her. She was your roommate, you had to have her back somehow.

"Since when do you like children?" he asked.

"You don't know everything about me. That, or you don't pay attention when I talk."

You stared at him with mischievous eyes and he quickly caught on you were simply teasing him. Two could play this game.

"Try me."

Stella put her hand on his arm. "Min Ho," she said in a warning tone.

"What? I like a challenge."

You raised an eyebrow. "Rain check on that, your girlfriend's right. Save your knowledge for trivia night at your dad's cabin."

She seemed to agree with you. "That sounds fun, we should do that instead."

He huffed. "Fine, but we'll see who knows the other better."

The rest of the event went on smoothly surprisingly. Min Ho and you did bicker a lot but Stella joined in instead of being bothered about it. In fact, she and you kind of bonded over some quirks you could not stand about Min Ho. In a way, it felt bittersweet to know she was now the one to enjoy Min Ho's chivalry. On another part, bonding with Stella allowed you to see this as a new chapter. Yes, maybe there will always be a weird tension between Min Ho and you, but you knew you could go past it.

And now, it was time for ski.

"Have you packed?" Stella asked after knocking at your door.

"I just need a few more things and I'll join you."

"I'll be waiting at the cars outside."

You exchanged a smile and you continued to pack. Min Ho did mention there would be a hot tub. And Q did encourage you to buy that one swimsuit when you went shopping. That can never hurt, right? The only thing missing now was the letter. And for the life of you, you could not find it. You were convinced you left it in the bottom drawer of your desk but it was like it vanished into thin air. To say you were frustrated would be an understatement. You were on full panic mode. This was one of the last things your dad left before dying, and your aunt entrusted you with it. How could you lose it?

Seeing that time was passing, you concluded you'd have to look for it when you'd be back. Maybe ask Kitty or Min Ho to help you. Closing your suitcase, you grabbed your coat and headed out.

Only... when you opened the door... you were at loss for words. Not even that, you completely froze at the sight in front of you.

"Covey, cars are here. Let's go!" Min Ho yelled out as he bursted in your dorm.

When his eyes landed on Kitty and Yuri kissing, his reaction was identical to yours. Joining him, you were then noticed by the pair who showed nothing but shame.

#xo kitty x reader #xo kitty minho #xo kitty min ho x reader #xo kitty min ho #xo kitty #xo kitty season 2 #xo kitty season 2 fanfic #moon min ho #moon min ho x reader #min ho x reader #min ho moon #sang heon lee x reader #sang heon lee

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slimeyslimeyballsack · 2 days ago

Note

🤒🩺 BOTH!!

🤒 The Lunar Eclipse and Flu Season Working in Tandem against Theo Raeken - its a sick fic

Liam looked down at Theo's arm before turning back to his face. “I am not cuddling you.”

Theo pouted, lower lip sticking out comically. It would almost be cute if there wasn't snot running down his face. Gross. He was not going to cuddle him; he'd already stooped low enough to rub his hands all over his grimy chest. His gross sick lungs were right behind there. Liam was not doing it. It was unsanitary, it was gross, and he was not getting sick. He hated being sick, he hated every part of it: the full body aches, the way your nose got raw from blowing it, and it was boring. Yet Theo wasn't letting go of him anytime soon. So, he was at an impasse. He could just sit here on the edge of Theo's bed, truly only being held up by Theo's arm at this point. He could force Theo to let go of him, he was stronger than him on a regular day, it wouldn't be that hard to pry his arm off. He didn't do either of those things.

“Did you know you're so cute when you're grumpy. Mr. Grumpy thinks he's grumpy but he's actually just cute,” Theo rattled.

Liam couldn't help but smile at his nonsense. He was kind of sweet like this. Gross, still. Definitely still gross. But a sweet gross, like an ugly dog.

Liam grumbled under his breath. “Fine, but you have to let go of me so I can move.”

🩺Doctors and Their Influence on Young Boys: A Case Study

“You haven't said you love me in seventeen hours. The longest you've gone before is twelve hours. You were sleeping for eleven of those.”

Liam pinched his lips between his teeth, holding back a grin. Why was he smiling? Oh God, this was all just an elaborate ploy to get back at him. He was doing what Theo did to them. He should've known better. He should've-

“Sweetheart, get out of your head,” Liam cupped his cheek, stroking his cheekbone. He couldn't help but lean into it. “I love you.”

Theo immediately relaxed. It had been fifteen seconds since Liam told him he loved him. Liam slowly leaned in, giving Theo ample time to move away. He didn't, Liam's lips pressing against his own. He went over what he knew. He could smell Liam's chemosignals. They smelled like love. Liam's heart didn't stutter. Liam was a bad liar. He kissed Liam back, Liam's gentleness conflicting with his desperation.

Liam pulled back, grinning at him, “I love you. I am so in love with you. I have never been crazier about anyone in my life. I'm so in love with you. Love love love love, that's the only thing on my brain. ‘I love Theo. My, do I love Theo. Theo Theo Theo.’”

Liam cut himself off, grinning hugely at Theo's unimpressed glare. Or, that's what it was supposed to be. He could feel the smile creeping onto his face and the softness in his eyes. Liam was swiping his thumb back and forth across his lips, creating a tingling that was making it very hard for him to find a response.

“Did I mention, I love you?” he said, voice softer this time, eyes hooded.

Make Me Write

#lol the entire sick fic is going to end up here #otter writes #ask otter #fruchtfliege

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emsdevs · 3 days ago

Text

No Strings? pt 2

a/n: surprise!! i took a break from the celly prompts (i have sooo many more to go through i promise I'm still working on them) to work on part 2 of No Strings?! i had wayyy too much fun with this one! hope you guys enjoy!

ps: keep an eye out for our guy eliis!

masterlist | NFL Masterlists | Justin Herbert Masterlist | No Strings?

It had been two weeks since you saw Justin in that cafe, and slowly but surely, you’d been getting better. It took a while, but you finally realized you were worth more than getting pushed aside. You realized Justin had been lying the whole time. His career wasn’t what was keeping the two of you from being together officially. It was the fact that he didn’t actually feel anything for you because if he did, you’d be the girl tabloids are currently writing about. Every online gossip page you’ve seen over the past week has been about nothing but the girl who has “locked down” the Chargers’ star quarterback. After getting over the initial nausea that it caused, you decided you shouldn’t sit around waiting for someone who obviously didn’t care about you, so you got dressed up and went out for the first time in a long time.

While at a bar you used to frequent, you met a guy named Ellis. He was nice enough, and he spent the night buying you drinks, which you loved. However, when the night came to an end, you couldn’t let yourself go home with him. You just weren’t in the right place for that, and as much as you hate to admit it, you weren’t over Justin. Tonight, though, you were ready to move on, to give yourself another shot at finding someone you could love, love openly.

You decided to go out again, putting on your favorite dress. You put on some makeup and curled your hair, and after blasting some music and taking a couple of shots to hype you up, you were with your girls headed for a fun night out. Soon enough, your group had completely let loose, and you were on the prowl for someone you’d let take you home. After looking for what feels like forever, you call it quits and let one of your girls drag you out to the dancefloor. It’s while you’re there that he finds you.

You feel a gentle hand on your waist, so you turn to meet one of the most attractive guys you might have ever seen. He’s giving you an easy smile, and in that second, any thought you might have had about Justin flew from your mind.

“Hey, pretty lady. You alone tonight?” he asks in a silly voice that somehow makes you want to laugh and swoon simultaneously.

“Yes! She’s completely free!” your friend chimes in for you.

“Mind if I steal her from you then?” his attention is directed toward her now, and you begin to think you want it to always be on you.

“Go right ahead!” she gives him a cheery smile before turning her attention to you, “We won’t wait up! But please keep us updated!”

“Promise!” you assure her before she walks off to find the rest of your group and most likely tell them about your suitor.

“I was gonna ask you if you wanted to dance some more, but I’m thinking it might be a better idea to find some place quieter?” he makes the statement sound like a question, leaving the ball in your court.

“I’m down for that,” you’re pretty sure you’d be down for almost anything he wanted to do right now.

“Perfect! C’mon, I know this great little diner down the street,” he grabs your hand pulling you outside with him. Once you’re right outside the doors of the bar, he comes to an abrupt stop, “I’m so sorry. Where are my manners? I’m Trevor,” that easy smile is back and brighter than ever.

After sharing your name with him, he begins guiding you toward the diner. The two of you shared nice conversation on the way, getting the typical small talk out of the way then. When you get to the diner, Trevor orders a side of fries for you both to share, and you each get a milkshake. The two of you talk back and forth for a while, just chatting about recent events in both of your lives. That leads to Trevor asking what brought you to the bar tonight after telling you he needed a break from the stress his work brings him.

“Oh, god,” you sigh, leaning back in your seat and throwing your head back a little, “You probably don’t wanna know.” You laugh a little, playing off your nervousness.

“C’mon, I won’t judge. You getting over an ex or something?” he sends an easy smile your way.

“Yeah, actually. I am.”

“Oh. Well, please, share with the class.”

“You sure you wanna hear it?”

“Yep. I’m all ears,” his eyes meet yours as he pops a fry in his mouth.

“Well,” you lean toward him, ready to share your sob story. “So basically, I went on a few dates with this guy, and when we were about to hook up for the first time, he told me he couldn’t be in a relationship because of his job. So I was a little delusional and agreed to no strings attached, but eventually, I caught feelings for him.”

“Oooh,” Trevor grimaces.

“Just wait. There’s more,” your tone says everything he needs to know, so he gestures for you to continue. “So I end up telling him, right? Of course, he tells me we can’t see each other anymore, so I leave his house literally sobbing. And to beat it all, just a few months later, I saw him out on a date at a coffee shop we used to regular. Obviously, that sent me reeling, and now all I see online is the girl that ‘tamed’ him,” you finish your story with a roll of your eyes.

“Hold up. I have a few questions,” Trevor raises his hands a little and closes his eyes.

“Shoot.”

“Okay, so you’re seeing his girlfriend in the headlines? I might be overstepping, so you definitely don’t have to answer, but who is this guy?”

“Justin Herbert,” you’re grimacing once again.

“The Chargers’ quarterback?” he’s whisper-shouting in your face.

“Trevor!” you match his tone.

“Sorry. Sorry. I just didn’t peg him as that kinda guy, ya know?”

“Oh, trust me. I know.”

“Okay, yeah. Good point. Okay, so next question. He really lied to you about not being able to have a girlfriend just to hard launch one a few months later?” “It’s insane, right? Like he literally told me that it would be better that way anyway because he just wouldn’t have the time to fully commit. Turns out, he just didn’t wanna commit to me.”

“Well, he’s an idiot. I mean, I’ve known you for like an hour, and I’m ready to commit right now.”

“Smooth, Trevor,” you roll your eyes again.

“I’m being so serious, right now. Go on a date with me. I’ll treat you the way you deserve to be treated,” he lays his hand out on the table, giving you a physical offer as well.

You look at him for a moment, deciding how much you trust him. After finding nothing but earnestness in his eyes, you move your hand to lay in his before he wraps it up. “Okay. I’m holding you to that, Trev.”

“Ooh, nicknames already? You’re moving fast. Am I that irresistible?” that beautiful bright smile is back, and you’re thinking you want to see it every day from now on.

You and Trevor had been going out for about two months now, and you’d officially been his girlfriend for just over a month. Everything had been going so wonderfully, and you can’t believe how lucky you are to have found him. Tonight, he decided to come hang out at your place after practice. You two had ordered some takeout and put on a movie while you ate. Your food was all gone, and you and Trevor had been cuddled up on the couch for a while now, content to keep the movies playing while you enjoyed each other’s company.

Both of you jumped a little when you heard a knock on the door, neither of you expecting it. After sharing a confused look with Trevor, you get up and make your way to the door. When you pull it open, you freeze. The last person you expected to see on the other side was Justin Herbert.

“Justin?” his name falls from your mouth quickly, like it’s not supposed to be there. Really, it’s not anymore.

“I really need to talk with you,” his eyes are pleading, but it won’t work on you. Not now.

“Now is seriously not a good time,” you pull the door closer to you, trying to get your point across.

“Please. I just- I messed up,” he steps closer, but you hold your ground.

“Justin, no. You had your chance, okay?”

“Please, baby, you have to hear me out, okay?” tears are brimming his eyes now.

“No. No. You don’t get to do that. I’m happy now, Justin. Go back home.”

“No, please! I messed up letting you go. I thought I wasn’t ready to commit and that I wouldn’t have time, but when you left I felt this hole in my heart. It won’t go away, no matter what I do. I got a girlfriend to convince myself I was fine, but she’s not you. Please, baby, just give me one more chance,” he’s begging at this point, but you can’t find it in yourself to care.

Just as you’re about to tell Justin to leave again, you feel a hand on your waist and hear Trevor’s voice behind you, “Who’s this, babe?” He presses a kiss to the top of your head when he finishes his sentence, and if you had to bet, he probably looked at Justin while he did it. He knows exactly who Justin is. He could just tell he wasn’t gonna leave anytime soon and figured he’d come to help you out a little. He’d never minded being a little messy sometimes. “Hey, man I’m the boyfriend, Trevor,” he’s shooting Justin a wicked grin, not caring at all about whatever Justin might be feeling after how he made you feel.

“Boyfriend?” Justin is only looking at you now.

“What? You can move on, but I can’t?” your words have a bite to them.

“I just told you I never moved on?” his statement is formed like a question.

“Well, I did, and the only reason that was able to happen is because you let me go. I’m sorry you regret that, but actions have consequences, Justin. If you wanted me so badly, you should’ve kept me around when you had a chance.”

“But-”

“No, man,” Trevor pushes the door open a little more and steps around you. He begins to usher Justin away from your doorstep, “She’s said her peace. She’s moved on. It’s time you do too. Okay, bud? Scurry on back to whatever model you were using to distract yourself from my girl, alright?”

When he deems Justin is far enough away, he turns back around to head back to you. He urges you inside before slamming and locking the door, being sure Justin knew he wasn’t welcome.

“C’mon, baby. Let’s go make out in front of the window, so he knows what he’s missing,” he has that same bright grin on his face, and suddenly, any negative feelings you had are gone. You laugh with your head tipped back as he drags you along, content to go along with whatever antic he thinks up.

a/n: guess i should fix the banner huh? sorry to any justin girlies! i just made him too much of a jerk in pt 1 :( reader deserved better! so um crossover episode i guess! banner fixed below

taglist: @heartsforjh @irishmanwhore @heartforherbert @jusaints @one-sweet-gubler @dancerbailey3 @fofiquierellorar @devilinpradaheels @macklin-celbrini-71 @puckmedude @pickedapuck @alexxavicry

join the taglist

#em's writing #justin herbert #justin herbert x reader #jh10 #los angeles chargers #la chargers #nfl #nfl x reader #trevor zegras #trevor zegras x reader #tz11 #anaheim ducks #ducks hockey #nhl #nhl x reader #ellis lore

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ghostgirl-22 · 2 days ago

Note

Not necessarily sexual, but what if Art takes care of Patrick for once?

Patrick is upset over something cruel his father told him and wakes Art up with his sniffling. Patrick never cries so Art is immediately alarmed and tries to get him to open up. Patrick tries to mask his feelings at first, but eventually breaks down and cries into Art’s chest. They fall asleep with Patrick being the little spoon for once, wrapped in Art’s arms.

I chopped this up a lot but I think I got to the core of your ask nonnie <3 Idk why in my head I could see Patrick just being the whacky charming youngest and favorite of his parents. Forgive my typos… happy Valentine’s Day maybe I’m gonna write a valentines fic tomorrow when Valentine’s Day is over. Anyway love y’all.

TW: period typical homophobia, use of a slur, internalized homophobia, otherwise SFW.

——

Patrick does this thing where he acts like nothing gets to him. Like nothing can hurt him. For a while Art was envious because he believed the act. Now he knows better. He sees it now… the way Patrick will smile even more when his eyes are sad. The way he’ll shrug and then fidget, fingertips tapping a fragile rhythm like the physical act of it can divert the pain away. The way he goes quiet.

Still he never saw Patrick cry before this summer. It’s their last summer break before senior year. They’ve been spending at least a few weeks together every summer since they were 12, going back and forth between each other's houses. Patrick’s summer house in Connecticut, Art’s family home in Massachusetts. It was easy. Patrick had the bigger house of course, the bigger bedroom, all the latest game systems, a tennis court. So many places on his family's estate to hang out and explore.

Patrick’s family is a little more complex than Arts though.

It’s no secret Patrick doesn’t get along with his older brother, Levi. Art actually doesn’t like him either. He’s ten years older then them and he’s everything that Patrick isn’t, more smarmy than charming, flashy and pretentious, lording his daddy’s money around and reminding Patrick that it’s his birth right. He’s a lawyer now and already works for their dad’s company. But all it takes is five minutes talking to their tennis loving dad to understand why Levi hates Patrick.

“Tennis is such a beautiful game. I played for years but never came close to what you and Patrick can do on that court.” Patrick’s dad says wistfully. He would often stand courtside to watch them play in the summers.

Levi is no athlete. He doesn’t even like sports and there’s Patrick, the apple of their fathers eye because he can hit a ball with a racket.

If Levi were less of an asshole, Art might actually relate to him. But he’s a total dick. He loves to make it known that Patrick was a ’mistake’. “Mom and dad were perfectly happy with the three of us,” he says of himself and Patrick’s older sisters one Friday night in July.

That clearly bothered Patrick at one point but he’s used to it now. “Yeah and imagine how boring that would’ve been. One lame ass son.” Patrick mutters and Art grins. They’re eating ice cream in the oversized kitchen while Levi lingers at the wine cooler, pouring himself a glass. He watches as Patrick takes some of Art’s ice cream, his gaze cool.

“I’d be careful if I were you Art, you know he’s a fag right?”

Art raises his eyebrows.

“Shut the fuck up,” Patrick snaps.

“Oh, he doesn’t know?” Levi’s eyes light up, gleefully. “Sarah caught him last weekend kissing the pool boy, the help of all people, moaning like a freak.”

“I said shut up,” Patrick says, his voice cold. Art has never seen his cheeks turn so red before.

Levi lets out a cruel little giggle. “Wait till dad finds out you're the fruity one. I’d sleep with one eye open if I were you, Art. You never know, you seem like his type. He might try something.”

“I’ll fucking kill you if you say another word, fucking asshole,” Patrick shouts.

“Don’t worry little brother, I’m sure they love butt boys in pro tennis,” Levi smirks, self satisfied in Art’s direction and takes his glass of wine back to the office where he’s been working.

Art is tongue tied, barely able to make his brain connect to his mouth. He’s feeling all kinds of things, not even sure what half of the things he’s feeling even mean but he knows he’s furious on Patrick’s behalf. He glances at Patrick and that’s all it takes for Art to know what Levi said was true. He’s still red faced, fists clenched, staring angrily at the bowl of ice cream like it was the one who said those horrible things to him. And then he gets up and leaves the kitchen abruptly.

“Wait Patrick,” Art says but he doesn’t stop. Art sighs and gets up following him to the bedroom. He’s several paces behind and when he gets inside Patrick has fallen to the bedroom floor, actually sobbing. Head in his hands. Art can’t believe his eyes. In all the years he’s known him, he’s never seen more than the slight sparkle when his eyes well up tears. If he didn’t before, he really fucking hates Levi now.

He gets down on his knees next to Patrick.

“Art can you go, I need to be alone,” he mutters, chest heaving.

“No,” Art says, he’s not sure how to do this but he wants to be there for Patrick. “He’s a fucking loser. Do you want me to beat his dweeby ass?”

Patrick sniffles a laugh and shakes his head.

“He’s just pissed because…” Art rubs Patrick’s shoulder, a gentle pattern. “Fuck him okay I mean…” He doesn’t know what to say… or why he keeps thinking about the pool boy, Armando, tall, athletic, brown eyes, and long dark blonde hair. He looks and sounds like a surfer, but not from California but whatever beach they have in Spain. Art can’t get him out of his head for some reason.

“It’s true,” Patrick mutters after a while looking up at him. “I think I… I do like boys.”

Art presses his lips together, nodding. “That’s um— that’s okay, man. Uh… remember um… Calvin from the team… Calvin said he uh he kissed a guy before.” He takes a breath. He has to do better than this, but he’s starting to fixate on the color of Patrick’s eyes. He never realized how colorful they were. Now that they’re wet it’s like they sparkle.

”I dont… I would never do anything to you… like… like what my brother was saying okay?” Patrick sniffles.

Art swallows. God now he’s fixating on Patrick’s lips. God damn it. He needs to be fucking normal. Patrick is his best friend for crying out loud. Art wraps his arms around Patrick and closes his eyes. “Fuck him, man. He’s a homophobic asshole. If you’re gay then—”

”I’m not gay…” Patrick says softly. Art can practically feel his voice vibrating in his ear. There’s a strange familiar feeling at the base of his stomach, his instinct is to pull away but he holds on.

“You’re not?” He doesn’t mean to sound relieved, fuck.

“I’m bisexual,” Patrick murmurs. He pulls out of the hug and gets to his feet, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his palms. “I’m just…” he laughs. “I’m a fucking mess. He’s hot and the way he was looking at me in the pool. I brought him to my room and well we just started exploring… I should’ve known we wouldn’t get any privacy here. Sarah just barged into my room and she can’t keep her fucking mouth shut. My dad is… well… I don’t fucking care.” He flops down onto his bed and takes a deep breath.

Art crawls over on his knees. “Does he know?”

“Not yet,” Patrick says, “but he’ll know as soon as he gets back from his business trip. Levi will make sure of that.”

“Well,” Art crawls onto the bed and lies down next to him. “Not if we kill him first.”

Patrick looks at him and then laughs. Art grins, happy to make him smile. He feels warm all of a sudden.

Patrick sighs. “You want to play Mario kart?”

“Yeah.”

They lay down for an hour, only really chatting about the game. Patrick starts to get sleepy, it’s clear he’s still upset. He puts his controller down. Art turns off the game and settles next to him in the dark. His mind has been racing the whole time. Patrick’s never cried in front of him before so it feels like something has shifted.

“My dad isn’t gonna look at me the same,” he laughs but there’s a bitterness in it.

“You don’t… you don’t know that.” Art says gently.

“You think it’s weird, don’t you?” he rolls over to face Art.

“No,” Art says quickly. His parents had always taught him to be accepting of people’s differences. They always supported gay rights. But there was this part of Art that knew that their tolerance was only meant for other people. Unlike Patrick he was the only boy, he was expected to be traditional.

“You’re a bad liar,” Patrick sighs.

“I mean I think I’m just trying to process it. I had no idea and now it’s just…” Art takes a deep breath.

“You really had no idea?”

“Well it’s not like you told me, and you…we always talk about girls.”

Patrick gazes at him. “Fair enough.”

“What’s it like?” The question just spills out of him, he can’t stop himself.

”Hm?”

Now it’s his turn to feel his skin heat up. Why is he so fixated on the stupid kiss? “Sorry it’s not important…never mind. I guess I just figured it’d be different then… uh never mind.”

”It’s a little different but the same in all the ways that matter,” Patrick says. He’s sniffling again. Art licks his lips and scoots closer to him. Patrick looks down, following the movement.

“I could uh… I could show you.”

Art thinks he’s joking and smiles, Patrick holds his gaze a little longer and Art swallows, something all too familiar suddenly thrumming through his body. But it makes no fucking sense. He can’t really be turned on by this. “You’re um… you’re serious?”

Patrick laughs, “God,” he says, shaking his head.

“What?” Art says.

“Nothing, I’m a fucking mess. Can you…hold me until I fall asleep?” It’s Patrick using Art’s own words. Spoken a number of times when they were kids and he’d asked Patrick to do it in his grandmother's place when he was having trouble adjusting to boarding school.

Patrick never told anyone about it, never even made fun of him which was surprising, considering he ribs Art about almost everything. Art isn’t sure what he’s feeling but he nods, “of course,” and lets Patrick settle into his arms. They lie in bed, Art keeping Patrick safe from the world for just a little bit. Inseparable, like two colors bleeding into each other, until they both fall asleep.

#patrick zweig #art donaldson #challengers fic

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hy6erion · 11 hours ago

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Can you write something about taking care of Omar Marmoush's curls? Like he isn't happy with it and his girl is buying everything to make him pop

𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐥𝐬 & 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐞 - 𝐎𝐦𝐚𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐡 𝐱 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

✰⍣..𝐎𝐦𝐚𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐱 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭- 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡, 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞.

You sat cross-legged on the couch, scrolling through your phone while Omar paced back and forth in front of you, running his fingers through his hair in frustration. His dark curls were slightly frizzy, flattened in some areas, and puffed up in others. It wasn’t that they looked bad—he never looked bad—but you could tell he wasn’t happy with them.

“I swear, my hair just hates me,” he muttered, dropping onto the couch beside you. “Some days it looks alright, and then others… this.” He gestured vaguely at his head.

You tilted your head, reaching out to run your fingers through the strands. “It’s not that bad, baby.”

He huffed. “It’s bad. I look like a damn broccoli.”

You giggled, but when you saw the way he slumped back, rubbing his face tiredly, your amusement softened into something more affectionate. He’d been complaining about his hair for weeks now, always fussing with it before games, after showers, every time he passed a mirror.

“Okay,” you said, locking your phone and setting it aside. “Enough complaining. I’m fixing this.”

His brows pulled together. “Fixing?”

You stood up and stretched. “Yes. Clearly, whatever you’re doing isn’t working. So I’m stepping in.”

He gave you a skeptical look. “You know how to take care of curls?”

“No,” you admitted, “but I’ve been doing research.”

His lips twitched. “Research?”

“Yes, Omar,” you said, rolling your eyes. “I’ve been reading about curl types, porosity, hydration, protein-moisture balance—all of it.” You gestured toward the hallway. “And I may or may not have bought a few things.”

He groaned. “How much?”

You bit your lip. “…A reasonable amount.”

“Which means you went crazy.”

You grinned. “Just trust me, okay? I promise I’ll make your curls pop.”

He exhaled through his nose, shaking his head in mock exasperation. “Fine. Go ahead, hair doctor.”

You clapped your hands together. “Great! First, we’re washing your hair properly.”

He leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees. “You say that like I don’t already wash it properly.”

“You don’t.” You patted his cheek. “Come on, to the bathroom.”

—

Ten minutes later, Omar sat on a stool in the bathroom, his hair soaked and his legs spread lazily apart. You stood behind him, rolling up your sleeves as you grabbed the sulfate-free shampoo you’d bought.

“Okay, head down,” you instructed.

He leaned over the sink, and you worked the shampoo into his scalp, using your fingertips to massage in slow, firm circles. He let out a deep sigh, muscles loosening under your touch.

“Damn,” he murmured. “That actually feels good.”

“See?” You smiled, continuing the massage. “Your scalp needs love too.”

Once you rinsed out the shampoo, you moved on to conditioner, coating his curls generously. You grabbed the wide-tooth comb and began detangling from the ends up.

“Ow.” He flinched.

“Don’t be dramatic,” you teased, raking your fingers through his hair after the comb. “You just need patience.”

He made a face but didn’t protest further, letting you work through the tangles. Once his curls were detangled and soaking in the conditioner, you let it sit while you explained your plan.

“So, I bought a curl cream, leave-in conditioner, and an oil to seal in moisture. Oh, and a microfiber towel because regular towels make your hair frizzy.”

He glanced up at you with a smirk. “You’re really taking this seriously.”

“Of course I am. I want my man to have healthy curls.”

He reached up, curling his wet fingers around your wrist and pulling you down slightly so your faces were closer. “You’re cute when you get all serious about me.”

Your cheeks warmed, but you kept your composure. “I’m always serious about you.”

He grinned. “I know.”

You rolled your eyes playfully before rinsing out the conditioner. Once his hair was damp but not dripping, you raked your fingers through his curls with the leave-in conditioner and curl cream, scrunching them gently. You noticed the way his curls were already forming better, the frizz reducing as the product absorbed.

Finally, you took the oil, rubbing it between your palms before applying it to the ends of his curls. Once everything was set, you handed him the microfiber towel.

“No rubbing,” you warned. “Just scrunch gently.”

He did as you said, then sat up, looking at his reflection in the mirror. He touched his curls experimentally, his fingers trailing through them before looking at you.

“Damn. This actually looks good.”

You smirked. “Told you. Just wait until it air-dries fully.”

He turned on the stool, gripping your waist and pulling you between his legs. “Thank you”

You wrapped your arms around his shoulders. “Always.”

He kissed your stomach through your shirt before leaning back with a grin. “So, do I have to do all this every time now?”

You laughed. “Yes, unless you want me doing it for you forever.”

His hands slid down to your hips. “That doesn’t sound so bad.”

You shook your head, smiling. “Omar, you’re impossible.”

“But you love me.”

You kissed the top of his head. “I do.”

And as his curls dried into perfect, defined coils, he decided that maybe—just maybe—this whole hair care thing wasn’t so bad after all.

#✰⍣ 𝐡𝐲𝟔𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐧 #football x reader #football scenarios #football fic #football fanfic #football #omar marmoush #omar x reader #omar marmoush x reader #x reader #man city marmoush #marmoush x reader

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farfromstrange · 1 day ago

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Hey!

Happy advanced birthday! Hope you get to go to more comic cons and meet charlie again uwu

Btw love your fics! They're very immersive and well written ♡

Can I get a bouquet of peonies with some daisies ?

I was thinking something along the lines of matt and reader being frenemies in college, having a sassy back nd forth relationship?

Perhaps the reader at one point goes like "Aren't you blind?" And he's leans in with a soft purr "Well love is blind"

And she pushes him off laughing?

Idk. I need a spontaneous vibe in the fic.

You can choose the ending •♡•

Thank you strange! And again, happy advanced birthday to one of the best fic creator! 💗

Aww, thank you so much! I'm also wishing for myself that he'll come back to my country sometime soon, so thank you for helping me manifest it. And thank you so much for your request! I apologize for taking so long. I wasn't happy with my first draft, so I rewrote everything. I hope it captures the vibe you wanted me to go with. I'm actually quite happy with this. I hope you feel the same way! I got a little carried away, so this is now almost 900 words instead of the short fic I intended it to be. Oopsie.

Friends, Enemies, or More?

Event Masterlist | Matt Murdock Masterlist

Pairing: College!Matt Murdock x Reader

Request: A bouquet of… peonies and daisies.

Warnings: Fluff, college era, kind of frenemies to lovers, snarky remarks, Matt being a smug asshole

WC: 878

You poke your head into the study booth between the State and Federal law literature and just as suspected, there he sits with his fingers buried in the textbook for his third-year class.

“You’re in my spot, nerd,” you say.

Matt tilts his head in the direction of your voice. His shoulders shrug as he retorts, “I didn’t see your name on it.”

“Ha Ha, very funny.”

“Really, I didn’t.” As if to underline his point, he adjusts the black glasses on his nose.

With a roll of your eyes, you slide in next to him. “I hate you.”

He chuckles, “No, you don’t.”

“Keep telling yourself that.”

Or maybe you should keep telling yourself that. He’s annoying, and sometimes you want to shove your foot up his ass, but you don’t hate him. When you have a question, he’s available, day and night, and he helps you study when you feel like you’re going to fail. He’s a good person.

You don’t like that he’s better than you, of course, but one look at him, and your stomach is in knots for an entirely different reason. The butterflies hammer against the doors to their cage to the point you wake up nauseous. It’s so annoying you want to kill him sometimes. But hate? No, you could never hate him, and that makes you pretend you can’t stand him even more.

“You’re quiet,” he observes.

You scoff, shaking your head as you open your textbook. “I’m trying to study,” you say. “You know, the thing people do before an exam.”

“I know what studying is. I was making an observation.”

“You’re not worth the effort it takes to keep up a conversation.”

“There she is.”

You bite back a smile. “Shut up.”

Unlike you though, he doesn’t hide the satisfied smirk forming on his lips. He’s quite proud of it, too.

Minutes turn into hours, both of you silently working through each question on your mock exam. You work until the sun has long set over New York, and the librarian announces through the speakers of the library that it will be closing soon.

With a sigh, you close your textbook. The man beside you shifts, too.

“Walk you home?” Matt asks.

You turn to him, eyebrows raised, and you sound almost irritated when you retort, “Why would you do that?”

He chuckles awkwardly. “Well, it’s late, and from what I’ve heard campus can get pretty dark. I just thought you might want someone to, you know, keep you company.”

Never, not once, in the time you’ve known each other did he offer to walk you home. You’ve been to each other’s dorms to study, sure, but he never really expressed concern for your safety before. It surprises and confuses you, to say the least—to the point your heart is threatening to beat out of your chest again.

Matt tilts his head as if to ask, ‘So?’

God knows it feels as though he can see right through you with nothing but his senses. It’s not possible, you keep telling yourself, but whenever he sits there, unmoving, your reflection dancing in his black, squared glasses, you can’t help but feel naked.

You decide to play it off with a snicker. “What, you mean I need someone to protect me?” you ask.

“It wouldn’t hurt.”

You laugh again at the absurdity of it all, tossing your textbook into your bag. “Aren’t you blind?”

He leans closer and purrs, “Well, love is blind.” Without missing a beat, that smug smirk still plastered on his face.

You stare at him. Did he just… your brain takes a moment to catch up with his words. A laugh bubbles up in the back of your throat.

“You think this is gonna work on me?” You shove him. “Yeah, Murdock, not gonna happen.”

Trying to keep some of your dignity, you get up. Perhaps that way he won’t catch the blood pooling in your head.

“Thank you for the offer, but I’m good,” you say. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Just as you’re about to turn away, his hand wraps around your wrist. You’re met with that smirk again. It’s as though you ate your own heart. The butterflies are rioting, and his hand—his godforsaken hand with those thick fingers and veins spreading over the back of it like he was painted by Picasso—makes your skin tingle.

You’re not supposed to feel this way. But oh, you’re far beyond enemies now. You’re far beyond being friends.

Matt pulls you back down to his level. The surprise at his strength gets lost in translation for he doesn’t hesitate to grab the back of your head, roughly so, and he brings his lips to yours—a soft, plump heaven of breath mints and coffee.

He kisses you like a man starved. Lips moving, teeth clashing, and your tongues dancing for dominance. Though just as suddenly as he’s kissed you, his lips fall from yours again.

“Now can I walk you home?” he asks.

You exhale shakily. “Only if you promise to buy me dinner,” you say.

And it comes as naturally as breathing to him to promise you exactly that. He may not be able to give you much, but he sure as hell is going to try.

#matt murdock #matt murdock x reader #matt murdock x you #matt murdock fluff #college!matt murdock #daredevil #lizzi's birthday bouquets 2025!#charlie cox

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ilguna · 3 days ago

Text

☼ plinth legacy pt2 (Coriolanus Snow) ☼

summary; in the weeks leading up to your wedding, Coriolanus hasn’t been himself. ma is chalking it up to nerves, but you know a guilty conscious when you see one.

warnings; swearing, betrayal, death mention, grief, still an arranged marriage.

wc; 3.4k

part one

“(Y/n), my dear,” Ma begins, brushing imaginary dust from her long burgundy skirt. “Would you like to start your plan from the beginning?”

You watch her gingerly take a seat in the lounge chair next to Pa, neatly folding her hands in her lap, waiting for you to begin. Your eyes flicker around the room, going from face to face to see the expressions of those who are watching you.

Your family is calm, patient and eager to hear what you have planned for the wedding. Most of them are curious on what the next Plinth wedding will look like, especially since it’s taking place in the Capitol, with a boy from a different background than your own.

His family is a little more unnerving. Grandma’am—as Coriolanus calls her—has been complaining since she stepped foot inside of your home. Whether it be the temperature of the house, the way it’s furnished or what she’s been served by the avoxes.

This was expected from her, Coriolanus warned you she would be cranky leaving the penthouse. And you remember from your brief counter last year that she wasn’t the most pleasant person to be around. You would’ve rather spent time with that Dr. Gaul Coriolanus has told you so much about.

As for Tigris, she’s been pretty absent. You’ve tried your best extending invitations to her with every appointment you’ve made. She’s responded to a few of the letters, but she doesn’t come to most of the venues. From what you’ve noticed, she usually feels more comfortable tagging along if Coriolanus isn’t involved.

It may be because she feels like she’s overstepping.

Coriolanus has been distant, too. You thought he’d had more of an opinion during the planning process of the wedding, but he’s more than happy to go along with what you want. Which is out of the ordinary for him.

Your eyes fall to the book in front of you, fingers carefully pulling up the brightly colored cover. As you go to flip it open, your eyes snap to Coriolanus, who's sitting on your right. You hope he’s been paying enough attention these past couple of months, because Pa’s going to have a lot of questions that he’ll be expecting Coriolanus to answer.

You swallow dryly, skipping past the first couple of blank pages at the beginning. You hate giving presentations at the Academy, and this is no different. In fact, it’s worse because Pa is the one analyzing every decision you’ve made thus far.

“Well, starting with a date, we were thinking late spring.” You murmur, playing with your nails. “The flowers will be in bloom, making it the perfect time to create specialty bouquets for table arrangements and bridesmaids. It’ll be the perfect opportunity for an outdoor wedding.”

“What if it rains?” Pa asks, raising his eyebrows.

“I’d like to have the wedding in a greenhouse.” You tell him.

“Where?” Grandma’am asks, “Certainly not in the Snow penthouse. I won’t have you ruining my roses.”

Coriolanus shakes his head. “No, we’re planning to have it at the botanical garden in the heart of the Capitol. We weren’t sure if that idea would work out at first, but I made a trip to talk to the floral coordinator early yesterday, and she said that they don’t normally hold weddings but they’d make an exception.”

A smile fights its way to your lips. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I wanted it to be a surprise.” Coriolanus says, reaching over to hold your hand.

He squeezes your fingers, when you look at Pa, he gives you an approving nod, telling you to continue. “I was thinking May, Coriolanus suggested as early as April but I would like it to be warm out.” You flip to the next page in the book. “When it comes to invitation cards, we’ve gone back and forth on what they should look like.”

You pull out the most recent example card that the vendor gave you to show Pa. You flip it around, holding it out to allow everyone to see.

The truth is that you can’t decide what the cards should look like. You’ve changed the color of the square of paper about a dozen times now. You wanted to try white, but it seemed too pristine and made the black lettering bolden. You tried a gentle pink, trying to call for springtime colors, but it seemed to feminine.

So far, all you’ve seemed to like is the yellowy-beige color, which was suggested by Coriolanus, thankfully. He was watching you drive yourself crazy trying to decide something so simple, which is why you shouldn’t be given the entire workload, but it’s too late to change that now.

There’s a black stamp on the invitation of a rose with a stem and thorns, a move you made because you were hoping it would make Grandma’am happy. The look on her face right now is hopeful, she doesn’t seem to have any prominent emotion from what you can see.

It has yours and Coriolanus’s full names in a nice cursive that reminds you of Ma’s handwriting, and below it is the boring details of when the wedding will be taking place. There’s a large gap on the paper where you’re supposed to fill in where the venue will be, which you will fill out fully later tonight, after you’ve received the feedback from your guests.

“This looks nice.” Ma carefully plucks the card from your hand, holding it out in front of her to get a better look. “Are you planning on writing the invitations yourself or having them printed?”

You hesitate, “Well, as much as I’d like to handwrite these, I don’t have the time.” You start, shaking your head a little. “Coriolanus is at University, so he’s focusing on his studies right now. So I’ve already taken a lot of the responsibility of planning on my plate. And with how many people are on the guest list…”

“Oh, I could write them for you.” Ma waves her hand, the relief goes through your body instantly.

“Thank you.”

“What will the thank you notes look like?” Ma asks.

“I haven’t gotten there yet.” You tell her, “I’m working from start to beginning, so I’ll be there soon.”

“We should meet together next week to figure it out.” Ma nods, “I’m going to keep this.” She places the card on a side table, and then returns her attention back to you.

“The next part we have figured out is the attire.” You tell them, flipping the page in the book to show the concept drawings you had for Tigris regarding the bridesmaids outfits.

And, of course, your wedding dress.

This is the part where Tigris really came to life to help you. As soon as you mentioned getting her opinion on what you’d drawn up, she started to make a plan to come and see you the same day.

When you sat down with the bridesmaids, all you told them was to give you an idea on what style they like, and you’d figure out a way to put it into a concept. The only rule you had was that it needed to be a long dress, but it wouldn’t fall below their ankles.

When Tigris saw that you’d done most of the work for her, she perked up. She liked the fact that you wanted to go for simple dresses with pastel colors, something that would compliment the dress you had in mind. And even though you weren’t planning on asking Tigris to make the dresses, she told you she’d get them started immediately.

You stopped her, trying to tell her she didn’t have to, and you weren’t trying to make her do that. You had a seamstress in mind, you’d done a lot of research and window shopping downtown, trying to find one that you liked. But Tigris told you that she wanted to do this for you. And while she was at it, she’d make her own dress.

She ruined your plan a little, because you wanted to ask her to be your Maid of Honor at a dinner you were planning. You had no choice but to ask her then, you didn’t want her to start on a dress she wouldn’t be wearing. You know her, she’d make something better for herself for such a title.

She accepted, of course.

“Tigris has done most of the work when it comes to putting the dresses together.” You tell them. “I don’t have pictures, just concepts of the bridesmaid dresses. As for the tuxes for the groomsmen, I’ve scheduled an appointment for them to get fitted downtown. Coriolanus will be leading that.”

He nods. “It’s two weeks from now, sir. I would like for you to come if you had the time.”

Pa looks at the calendar on the wall for a moment. “I’ll have to look in on what I have planned that day.” He turns his attention to Tigris. “How long will it take for you to complete the dresses?”

“I should be done by March.” Tigris tells him with a smile. “If I had more time, I would do the tuxedo’s, but I’m starting at a boutique later that month. It’ll consume most of my time.”

“I see.”

You give Pa a moment to think before you keep going. “The only part I haven’t planned out fully is the actual wedding. We were waiting on a venue to respond to us.”

“She was also hoping for the botanical garden.” Coriolanus says. “Since it’s confirmed now, I’m sure we’ll be able to tour where we’ll be set up and choose tables, chairs and arrangements soon.”

Pa stares at your book, “Well, it appears as though you’ve figured most of it out.”

“We’re still working on catering and the flavor of the cake.” You tell him.

“Which we will have an answer for soon.” Coriolanus chimes in.

At this, Pa gets to his feet, watching Coryo. He slowly rises as well, the grip on your hand loosening until he has to let go altogether. Pa extends a hand for Coriolanus to shake, and the two of them hold on for a long moment.

“If either of you need anything, you’ll contact me immediately.”

“We will.” Coriolanus tells him.

Pa lets go, “I’ll arrange a car to take your grandmother and cousin home.”

“Thank you.” Tigris says. “You really don’t have to.”

“It would be impolite not to.” Ma tells her. “Can I ask you a few questions about the dresses you’re making?”

“Of course.” Tigris gets up from where she’s sitting to follow Ma off to the side. Tigris originally offered to make her a dress as well, but Ma is set in her ways. You warned Ma that if she changed her mind then she needed to let Tigris know as soon as possible so she could prepare to arrange her timeline.

Grandma’am doesn’t move from where she sits, so Pa goes to talk to her. She’s in charge of the Snow household, despite the fact that her memory is going. He does it out of respect for Coriolanus, because he knows how much she means to him. Mostly because you’ve warned Pa.

Speaking of Coryo, he stands beside you for a second or two, before slightly bending down to speak to you. “I’m going to grab myself a drink in the kitchen, would you like anything?”

“I’ll just come with you.” You tell him, rising to your feet.

You let him lead the way, following him quietly. He knows he can help himself to what’s in your parent’s fridge, but he still waits for you to open the doors and hand him a soda. You don’t grab anything for yourself, you basically had a whole pot of tea to yourself earlier because Ma and Grandma’am were too engrossed in conversation. And Tigris doesn’t like tea, she just took a cup to be polite.

“I think that went well.” Coriolanus murmurs, popping the can open.

You hum, crossing your arms over your chest. “Pa seemed happy. I wish you would’ve told me about the garden, we could’ve stopped by again this afternoon so we could take a look around.”

“They closed early today.” He makes a face. “I thought about it—I even asked, but she said that we would have to come back on Monday.”

Three days away.

“It shouldn’t set us back too bad.” Coriolanus says, as if he’s reading your mind.

You shrug, you have months until the wedding. The only factor you have to be worried about is receiving the furniture in time. Since the Hunger Games aired, the districts have been tense and rebellious, unwilling to fall in line. You can’t blame them, of course. If you were still in Two, you’d be giving the Capitol hell.

Except, you’re on the other end now, and Pa won’t stand for the wedding being delayed any further than spring. You were going to see how long you could push it back for, hoping that he’d change his mind and let you make the decision on your own, but he’s got bigger plans.

Pa said that if you’re not married by the summer, then he’d figure something else out for you, and you wouldn’t have an input on it. So, you folded and chose the spring. You’d much rather be married to Coriolanus, and not some nobody you’ll meet for the first time when he lifts your veil.

“I’m not worried about it setting us back. We have plenty of time, I made sure of it.” You tell him.

Coriolanus’s eyebrows twitch, confused. “You made sure of it?”

“Well, I did it for my own sake, because an arranged marriage so soon after my brother’s funeral is a little sickening. And you seem to be on the fence about the idea, too.”

He shakes his head. “I’m sure that I want to marry you, (Y/n).”

A rush of heat spreads through your stomach, you ignore it. “Are you sure? You haven’t been acting like yourself recently, at all. Normally, you’re more… dominant when it comes to making decisions, and yet you haven’t had a single opinion on what I’ve done so far with the wedding—our wedding.”

“That’s because I’m happy with what you want.” Coriolanus says. “If I had an opinion, the wedding would be too traditional and boring for your taste.” He reaches to move a hair out of your face.

“You’re not entirely telling the truth.” You tilt your head to the side. “You haven’t been the same since you came back from District Twelve. I saw it in your face but I thought I was wrong.” You stare at each other for a long second, and then you begin to speak softly. “I know how hard Sejanus’s death was, but it seems to be affecting you the most.”

Coriolanus shakes his head again, looking off to the side.

“Is it because he would’ve been your best man?” You ask, reaching for him.

“It’s not that.” Coriolanus says, a little too harshly.

You open your mouth, and then close it, hand dropping back to your side. You watch his face, the way the anger slowly dissipates. When he sighs, he reaches for his blonde curls, pushing them away from his forehead. “I’m sorry.”

You cross your arms over your chest. “I see.”

“See what?” Coriolanus asks.

“You’re guilty of something.”

He pales slightly, “What would I have to be guilty about?”

“You aren’t the same person as you were before.” You squint at him, beginning to problem solve out loud. “I’d say it would have something to do with Lucy Gray, but that doesn’t seem right. It has to be Sejanus.”

Coriolanus shakes his head. “I haven’t changed.”

“It’s strange you were discharged so soon and honorably.” You pause, watching as he begins to resemble a blank sheet of paper. “How my driver had to drop you off at Dr. Gaul’s lab under special instruction.”

“(Y/n), we should not have this conversation here.”

“No, you’re going to tell me what you’ve done, or I’m going to tell Pa to call off the arrangement.” You threaten. “Grandma’am can kiss her penthouse apartment goodbye.”

Coriolanus stares at you in shock, his eyes flicker to the doorway behind you, checking to make sure no one is there. He lowers his voice, “You have to understand, District Twelve was not as simple as it sounds. Sejanus and I found that out after the first few times we went to the Hob. It’s a warehouse in the Seam—the poor part of Twelve.”

“Okay…?”

“Sejanus got himself wrapped up in rebels. We got caught in a situation regarding Lucy Gray and the people she knows, and a couple people ended up dead.” Coriolanus hesitates. “A couple days later, Sejanus and I were caging jabberjays and I accidentally recorded him talking about a rebel plan. He wanted to break a prisoner out of Capitol custody and live in the woods between the districts.”

“It wasn’t an accident.” You say. “You did it on purpose, didn’t you?”

“I was about to be moved to officer training in District Two.” Coriolanus tells you. “I didn’t want to be wrapped into what he was doing. I sent the bird to the Capitol knowing that Dr. Gaul would play the recording attached to it and hear what Sejanus said.”

You can feel yourself grow distant, soul leaving body.

Coriolanus did this. He killed your brother. He’s the reason why you’ll never be able to see him again. Your brother, the only person in this world that knew you from the inside out, that could make you smile on the worst day. The only person that knows what it was like to grow up in a district.

All because Coriolanus didn’t want to discourage his behavior.

You suck in a breath of air, hands balling into fists at your sides, contemplating giving him a black eye.

“He was a traitor.”

“He was your friend.” You tell him, body feeling as if you’ve set it aflame. “He was my brother. Did you ever consider talking him down instead? Remind him he had a family back home?”

“I tried, (Y/n). He was on the right track for a little. He thought that he’d be able to keep his head down to get through training so he could become a Peacekeeper, but he couldn’t let it go.”

“I’ve cried to you about his death.” Your face twists. “I grieved with you. Or at least, I thought I did.”

“You did.” Coriolanus reaches to grab you.

You slap his hands away, holding a finger up. “Do not touch me.”

“He was a brother to me.”

“Clearly not if you got him killed.” Tears well up in your eyes. “Did you even sprinkle the bread on his body?”

Coriolanus shakes his head, eyes falling to the ground.

You begin to breathe heavily, holding back the urge to wrap your hands around his neck to strangle him. You know you have to think of the consequences. If you were to kill him now, you’d be sent away, yourself. Unless Dr. Gaul intervenes and kills you for getting rid of her best student.

You can’t believe he’s studying under her.

“Is everything okay in here?” Ma’s voice comes through behind you.

Coriolanus’s eyes snap up, watching your face, seeing the murderous rage. You press your lips together, taking in a deep breath as you turn around to look at Ma, a tear rolling down your cheek.

Her face drops. “What’s wrong, honey?”

“(Y/n).” Coriolanus whispers under his breath. “Please.”

You force a smile to your face. “Coriolanus just told me he’s giving me his mother’s ring.” You lie. “Isn’t that great?”

Ma places her hands over her mouth in disbelief, eyes lighting up. “Oh!”

When you turn to look back at him, he seems relieved, but his body is still tense, as if he’s waiting for the other shoe to drop. He’s right to be expectant, because you mouth, “You owe me for the rest of your life.”

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