#I know I'm being dramatic and it's probably better for me in the long run to be here in Germany

[will-ruadh]

I should've fucking stayed in Prague

[stillfruit]

i love not knowing if i'll ever be healthy again i love all of the time i've used to move my body become nothing i love spending my adulthood wasting away year after year for various reasons baby!

[iamespecter]

TADC OCs: "The Die Quartet"!

"Oh but Ziku, who are these very handsome die?"

Well I'm glad nobody asked, because that would ruin the joke!

The Die Quartet are OCs of mine that I created for TADC, and for what purpose? Well, they're the minds behind show's music!

Hidden just behind a corner or two, or four, These obliviously mischievous and enthusiastic quartet play whatever music they can, one that certainly matches the current "mood" of what the cast is going through. Meet Cuba, Dodeca, Tetra, and Octa, The Amazing Musical Performers, for The Amazing Digital Circus!

LORE AND BOUNDARIES UNDERNEATH THE CUT!

When the Circus was initially created, it was feeling too barren for a place that's meant to be "lively". And so, Caine went and copy-pasted himself four times, while replacing the heads with some die props he found on the floor, retexturing and adjusting their bodies, to fit their new roles.

A little bit of a code rewrite to make them able of producing any sounds all on their own to be musically intertwined, and the quartet was basically ready to go: but there's only one problem.

Caine completely forgot to remove the admin privileges from their code.

So once the four spawned, they immediately began floating around, dancing and creating the main theme for the circus, and did it all perfectly. So Caine decided that as long as they don't interfere with anything major in the circus and did their job as the musical minds behind the show/game's soundtracks, he doesn't really care about fixing this error and would rather let these four run rampant to create more songs.

Ever since then, the Die Quartet has been messing with every circus members, most of the time playing obnoxious music that fits the "current mood". You'll even see their canes dance to the tempo they've set, like some backup dancers.

Think of it like: You now have x4 Caines with dice heads, flying and snooping around, so that they can "improve the mood" with their music! Ain't that swell??

(But really, all they do is just annoy the Circus members just like Caine does, for the better or the worse. Probably the latter.)

Fun facts about the Die Quartet!

Even though they've all been created at the same time and share the features of a die, they do not consider themselves as "brothers", and only see one another as colleagues instead.

Their names are related to the type of their die: Tetra (yellow), Dodeca (purple), Cuba (red), and Octa (green).

Despite being reused assets of Caine himself, they have distinct personalities that separate them from each other: Tetra is more joyful and playful, Dodeca is a more dramatic/theatric and over the top, Cuba is the natural lead and more stern than anybody, and Octa is the more closed off of the gang but willing to provide his best.

Yet, they all still lack awareness of personal space and boundaries just like Caine, and WILL be intrusive towards anyone they set their sights on, with the intent of predicting their mood and setting the current situation perfectly in musical form. (ex. if a character is sneaking, all four will follow "cautiously" behind while one imitates/pulls out a tiny piano playing to the theme of "tip-toeing". You know, like a cartoon gag.)

Although they can perfectly imitate ANY sound or instrument imaginable, They'll still pull out a "physical" instrument if the gag calls for it.

BOUNDARIES!

You can pretty much draw fanart of them! In fact I would REALLY love to see it and I encourage it! Really, just don't claim them as your own, or steal their designs.

NSFW of them is accepted, but please keep in mind that I have an SFW blog. Which means THERE ARE MINORS. Show them to me privately instead, I'd still love to see it <3

While NSFW is accepted (privately), please make it a morally decent one, because I don't really wanna see some disgusting stuff. This pretty much includes: non-con, scat, etc.

Aside from that though, I hope you all enjoyed these four! I really love how they turned out, and would love to draw them more. I was initially hesitant on showing my TADC OCs because I don't think people would like 'em, but fuck it.

My boys, they deserve to be seen even if just by a few people on the internet.

[xxgoblin-dumplingxx]

Freebie :) for whatever is in your head :D

Please Enjoy one almost smut.

Logan walked into the apartment and frowned slightly, it was quiet and that was weird. He didn't expect you to be at his beck and call exactly, but... he'd gotten used to having you home when he got there. And when you weren't it felt wrong.

Still.

You were young. And you had friends. And a day job you didn't need. One you kept to fill your time while he was away on missions. That he understood. You were too smart to just lay around and look pretty all day long with your tits out. Even if you could and he enjoyed the odd day when you did, sending him racy pictures to rile him up.

So he did what he did BEFORE he had you to do it. Got his own drink and lit his own cigar, grumbling to himself about it. For a moment he debated calling you, seeing where you were. Checking on you. But he dismissed the idea.

It was still early. And it was the middle of the week. Maybe you did go out for a while, getting your nails done or something. He shrugged to himself and tutted. "Girls," he grumbled, without any real heat.

He'd been alive a long time. And you weren't his first sugar baby. Sure- some of them liked to run around, but you weren't that type. Too sweet. You told him if you were going out with work friends always who and where; and he knew because early on he checked. More out of curiosity than anything. You stayed with your girl group and came home giggly and more drunk than he liked but... you were young. This was probably just shopping or something.

The sound of bags rustling and footsteps made him cock his head as he exhaled a cloud of smoke and he glanced at the clock, turning the stereo down just slightly. "Princess?" he called

"You're home!" you yelp, dropping bags with a metallic thud, "Shit, Carla and I went to yoga and then I went to find a new pan for-"

Logan hauled himself out of his chair with a smirk and crossed the floor to you, "I figured you were just out doin' whatever it is pretty girls do when they got a free afternoon and some extra money, bub." He kissed you hello and stroked your back affectionately.

"Sorry, Lo, I know you like it when I'm home when you get here." You scritch lightly at the back of his neck and bite your lip nervously. Hoping he's not annoyed.

He closed his eyes slightly and dropped his head when you scratch at his neck and rumbled wordlessly before whistling softly, "New nails too? You had a busy day."

"And I got a pedicure. And a present for you."

"For me?" He looked at you and quirked an eyebrow, pulling you closer, "What kind of present, Princess? Pans are nice but-"

"That's for me to know and you to find out later," you hum, standing on your toes and tugging at him slightly to make him bend down so you can kiss his cheek. "But first, I need to get a shower. Ugh I've been running all day and between that and Yoga I am gross."

"Princess," Logan said warningly as you start to pull away. "You know what happens when you tease me."

"Shower first, then dinner, then present," you pout. "I'm stinky and hungry. I'm not teasing. I'm building dramatic tension."

He folded his arms across his chest and smirked at you. He could see the mischief in your eyes despite your protest and weighed his options. He could let you have this. Let you win this one and play this one little game with him- it WAS cute. And you weren't being a brat YET. You wanted his attention. That's what the nails and the 'present' were for. Making him feel special- you probably planned to be wearing it when he came home and now you had to pivot.

"Been waitn' for you all day," he mused. "I better let you get a shower and something in your belly now because once I get started you're not gettin' away from me until I decide we're done. Understood?"

And when your eyes light up and you nod, trying not to smile- still trying to pout for him, he smirks. That's his girl. He could let you win this one. Let you fuss over him, even if he didn't mind when you smelled like sweat and salt. He could take you right there if you wanted. But, if you wanted to play your little game and be admired a little first, he wasn't going to complain.

_____________

Dinner was agony. Even if you didn't tease him. You fussed over him, making sure he got enough to eat and making sure he had a drink and a cigar. Kisses and rubbing his neck and shoulders- Christ it felt good.

Like it did every time you did it for him. Idealized domesticity, he knew. But- you did it because you liked doing it for him. And he loved you doing it. But finally, when you started clearing plates, he stopped you, "I was promised a present," he rumbled, pulling you down for a kiss that he knew would make your knees go weak.

"I'm not teasing I just-"

"I know," he soothed, stroking your side. He did know. This was just for him. A little bit of extra fussing. Extra attention. Making him feel good. "Being so sweet to me today, Princess," he praised. "Being a good girl. Gonna keep being good for me, huh?"

The praise hits where he wants. You need it today. And when you swallow hard, nodding mutely he pats your hip, "Go on, bub. Go wrap it all up for me and make it pretty."

And when you scamper off, he takes a drag of his cigar and grins; exhaling a cloud of smoke before going to start the dishes. Anything to give you some time and ignore the ache in his groin.

By the time he has the last spoon in the dishwasher, he can hear the rapid beat of your heart in the doorway. And the scent of arousal hits his nose and it's all he can do not to whip around with a growl and force himself to move slowly.

It would be a shame to ruin all your hard work.

But hell if he doesn't want to throw you on the bed and tear that flimsy little confection to bits as he fucks you full of his come until you can't think. "I didn't think it was my birthday," he mused. "Or an anniversary. What's the occasion, Princess?" He stepped closer. Stalking forward hungrily.

"I-I thought you'd like it," you murmur.

"You were right," he hummed. Pink. Sheer. Pushing your breasts forward and somehow leaving nothing and everything and everything to the imagination. Straps falling from your shoulders. You even put on makeup and heels. "Christ... You got horny just putting this on for me, didn't you?"

You bite your lip and look up at him, "A little."

"Such a sweet little thing," he purred, pulling you towards him as he dropped into his chair. "So sweet to me."

"You've been busy. And stressed so-"

"So my princess wanted to make it all better huh?" he hummed, stroking the ruffled on your backside and giving you a loving pat. "Wanted to make me forget all about it?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I think I forgot," he said grinning, "And I think it's time for bed."

[signedkoko]

Howdy!

Makes perfect sense about the requests, thank you for letting me know!

There was really one idea that I've been thinking about but it's kinda angsty and cliche so I understand if it's not the most interesting prompt

--

It's for poly Stolas and Blitzø x reader (but if you don't write poly relationships they can be separate)- finding their s/o crying? Usually their (s/o) tries to be self-sufficient and while they're in touch with their emotions, feel uncomfortable being vulnerable about it.

--

I understand if you choose not to write it for any reason, though. Take care 💛💛

-🐻

Stolas X Reader X Blitzo [Comfort]

In which the two stumble upon you crying, and do their best to comfort you.

Of the two, you are likely to be the most down to earth, go with the flow person

It works best that way with two large personalities, they give you all the love and attention you could need

And ultimately, you are very good at working through your own problems more personally, since a lot of them don't concern your lovers

The both of them have a lot of more pressing matters that require a lot of support, though Blitzo is far more begrudging about his issues

It was just that, recently, everyone has been so busy, and you found yourself falling below the line of being 'okay enough'

Except Blitzo had so many clients with IMP recently, and it was that time of year where Stolas has to participate in all kinds of royal ceremonies required of his lineage

So you were mostly home alone, seeing them at the end of the day and, if lucky, during breakfast

It's not to say they were neglecting you or one another, but there was a mutual understanding that the three of you had very demanding lives- or at least, they did

Everything was just becoming a bit much, and you found yourself spending most your day shut in

One evening, Stolas came home a tad earlier than expected

He knew you'd be home, and after a long day he wanted nothing more than to tell you about it and see your face again

He was very troubled when he heard crying coming from your shared room

Probably runs in, blowing the door open and dramatically lifting you up into his arms

" Oh my is everything alright my dear!? "

Like a mask had been switched, you hid your tears and stopped crying, shaking your head

Even if you try to tell him you were just a bit sad, he will not have it, it is extremely rare to see you crying, and knowing you'd been home alone all day he worried you hadn't taken care of yourself

He lets you back into the bed and hushes you, rubbing circles into your back and using his magic to bring the phone to him

" Blitzo, when will you be home? "

" Kind of in the middle of something, Stolas, can it wait? "

" I'm afraid not, you see, our partner- "

" I'll be there in 5. "

Literally there in less, his van is squealing into the driveway and you can hear him running through the halls, and when he enters he is on the phone, likely yelling at Moxie to take care of everything

Both are on you in moments, Blitzo is inspecting you for any injuries and Stolas is soothing you with scratches and comforting gestures

While Stolas will try to coax you into being more open with them, Blitzo is far more direct

Because, fuck! He's worried! And if you don't tell him what's wrong, how can he fix it? How can he make it all better?

As hard as it may be to get things out, they won't leave until they can figure something out for you

Author's Note - I always like s/o with Stolas and Blitz because I imagine reader can be sort fo a mother figure to both Octavia and Loona! Anyhow, thank you for requesting, and please enjoy 🖤

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - The Stand-in Stands Up (all puns intended)

Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

June 2024 Week 1

Ongoing Series - Thai

My Stand-In (Fri iQIYI) ep 7 of 12 eps - I do enjoy that the other Joe’s past is now coming back to haunt the present. For our Joe, the hits just keep on coming. Meanwhile, I know my heartstrings are being intentionally tugged, but I did feel sorry for Ming in this episode (at the last). And I think Up is doing a great job with this frankly difficult role if he can make me feel anything approaching sympathy for Ming. Ming's breakdown was excellent. Very dramatic.

Wandee Goodday (Sat YT) ep 6 of 12 - These two are entirely boyfriends who just don’t happen to be dating. It’s Schrödinger’s relationship. It's crazy that these two are already sleeping together and I still can’t wait for them to kiss. Very nicely done. Good tension point. This was a really cute episode but nothing much happened.

In other news, the sound effects REALLY bother me in this show. It might have been in the running as a 10/10, except for those fucking sound effects.

We Are (Weds iQIYI) ep 10 of 16 - I like how the majority of this show is just basically struggling with first love. It’s strangely sweet and innocent as a result. Frankly, right now, I need that - it’s comforting. It’s not exciting, but I can’t deny that thi is the highlight of the middle of my week.

Peem to Phum = use your words. Phum = SMOOCH. 

Bet you all heard this one coming: NO SINGING. 

Note: Satang (Toey) is a fantastic actor. I love the way he changes the physicality of his body for his roles. In this part, he’s kind of loose-limbed and floppy. He doesn't look younger but the way he inhabits his body does.

My Love Mix-Up Th (Fri YT) ep 1 of 12 - GeminiForth (AKA G4) are back and glory-be they showed up on YouTube. Still I’m worried it won’t stay there after the Cherry Magic debacle. So I stayed up late that night to gank it. 

Back to the show.

One of the things I’ve always loved about this IP, is how genuine and decent and earnest all of the kids are. They’re all trying so hard not to hurt each other's feelings. It’s all just a terrible case of miscommunication. G4 are perfect casting for these roles. That said, I have the same challenges with this version as I did with the JBL - it’s a bit frenetic and can be clownishly too MUCH for me. 

Meanwhile, the he feeds strays trope has popped up again. 

Love Sea (Sun iQIYI) ep 1 of 10 - Trash watch here. MAME warning! I found it rather lacklustre and inoffensive but still managed to invent dildo smores.

Knock Knock Boys (Thurs Gaga) eps 3 of 12 - Honestly? I’m kind of enjoying watching the friendships develop between the housemates. Of course I know they’re probably gonna all end up sleeping together, but right now the communal easy-going companionship and teasing is the most fun. Other than that, this is an unremarkable Thai BL pulp with better than normal acting and consistency (for a pulp).

Only Boo! (Sun YT) ep 9 of 12 - Moo is the clinginess boyfriend in the entire universe. The thing I think I love best about this couple, and the show, is what great communicators they are. That said they are not great actors. I don’t mean to be rude, and I don’t expect great acting from my Thai BL, but it’s a little rough going sometimes with this pair.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

At 25:00 in Akasaka AKA 25 Ji Akasaka de (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 8 of 10 - It’s taken me a long time, but I finally realized what I dislike about this show. It’s the pacing. Or rather, the lack of it. And I’m not saying that the pacing is necessarily off, in fact this is a typical JBL thing. But for some reason, in this show, I find it particularly annoying.

Blossom Campus (Korea Thurs Gaga & iQIYI) ep 5-6fin - Honestly, this was a perfectly fine little friends to lovers BL, with better than average kissing from Korea. But for some reason it never really hit for me. The very end was extremely odd. A bit of a disappointment for a longer piece from Strongberry. I think they tried to be too classically BL and that is just not their strength-berry. Strongberry is better when they explore something a little edgy, or a little outside the box. 7/10

It's airing but...

The Last Time (Fri YT?) - Convoluted story of loss and possible reincarnation or something. Can't find it.

OMG Vampire (Thai Sun ???) 10 eps - also I can't find it. Comments from last week suggest this is not my thing anyway, but Lee Long Shi very much IS my thing, so... maybe I'll put it on hold for a bit and y'all can let me know.

In case you missed it

The Time of Fever AKA Unintentional Love Story 2 (Korea movie) trailer released to Korean theaters 5/25. HoTae & DongHee, side couple from Unintentional Love Story are back! Same actors, same character names. I love them. I NEED TO SEE THIS. How?

You Made My Day (Thai YT) - mini series staring the I Will Knock You couple Tar & Bom, started but I couldn't find it. I also didn't try very hard. Apparently it's cute but basically a 10 min advert.

KWill To Reunite With Seo In Guk, Ahn Jae Hyun in Comeback! For those who don't know the MV for his song Please Don't is a heavy hitting shock tactic BL adjacent piece featuring major Korean actors. (The closest we are likely to ever get.) Look it was a BIG DEAL at the time. Kinda like Kpop's Broke Back Mountain moment. More here:

I don't often report on the Kpop scene but this is very interesting.

Next Week Looks Like This:

Upcoming BLs for 2024 are listed here. This list is not kept updated, so please leave a comment if you know something new or RP with additions.

June Releases

6/14 Let's Eat Together Aki and Haru 2 AKA Aki wa Haru to Gohan wo Tabetai 2 Haime! (Japan movie Gaga?) - Continues the (frankly) lackadaisical story from part 1.

6/15 Sunset Vibes AKA SunsetXVibes (Thailand Sat iQIYI) 12 eps - Star Hunter + MosBank on iQIYI for 12 weeks? If nothing else it's gonna be a wild and sexy ride. A one night stand but "uh-oh he’s my boss," adapted from a web series. I’m game. Maybe it’ll have a better story than Big Dragon? Maybe it will have a plot? We can but hope.

6/26 The Rebound (Thai Weds VIU?) - MeenPing are back in their 3rd BL together, a basketball based romance (Meen was a national basketball player, so yay for that). I like this pair better than most (I still do miss Meen with Est but Est has a fantastic looking new BL coming from GMMTV so yeah...) Anyway I'm up for a sports romance starring a man who, yah know, actually played that sport so... I'm game (pun intended).

(Speaking of, why can't Est be a merman? This... I ask you?.)

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

Flipping stellar side couple Wandee, thank you.

Love the mains too of course.

This is that funny little unnamed (muli-named) BL/GL something from Korea that's happening on YouTube right now. It's cute! I guess it's falling under the moniker Fake Buddies.

(Last week)

Streaming services are listed by how I (usually) watch, which is with a USA based IP, and often offset by a day because time zones are a pain.

The tag BLigade: @doorajar @solitaryandwandering @my-rose-tinted-glasses @babymbbatinygirl @babymbbatinygirl @isisanna-blog @mmastertheone @pickletrip @aliceisathome @urikawa-miyuki @tokillamonger @sunflower-positiiivity

@rocketturtle4 @blglplus @anythinggoesintheshire @everlightly @renafire @mestizashinrin @bl-bam-beyond @small-dark-and-delicious @saezurumurmurs

Sigh, Tumblr in it's infinite wisdom doesn't like too many tags.

There's these tricks, remember.

[gomapda]

sidewalks we crossed [side B: him.] (pt. 2)

this is broken into parts because tumblr has a limit of 1000 blocks.

side A found here! | side B (part 1) found here!

author's note:

part two of side b!

the final installment.

it's been a long journey to get here, and any messages or words i read in the tags of the reblogs were a source of comfort for me during these times. i'm glad that my words resonated with even just one of you.

and of course, thank you for being here.

✧⋆°｡☾☼꙳ ੭ * ‧ ⨯ . ⁺ ✦ ‧ ⨯ ς(>‿<.). ⁺ ✦ * . ˚ ⨯ ੭ * ‧☼☽⋆｡°✧

pairing: lee jihoon/woozi (seventeen) x f!reader

genre: romance, fluff

summary: an accidental like, an off-chance comment, a purposeful message. you were in an unrequited love with your childhood best friend and decided to run away from him and your feelings and years later you find yourself in the same city with the same feelings when he stalks your instagram.

rating: 13+

length: 30k (bro WHAT LOL)

tags: idol!jihoon, childhood friend!reader, unrequited love (but not really), reconnection through instagram, this is just different scenes pieced together (including a ton of flashbacks), reader’s nicknames are all bug-themed, reader has depression and it manifests as suicidal ideation sometimes, this is basically real life (aka seventeen exists and debuted 150526), but the years are a little bit off for the trainee period, jihoon left busan later and trained for shorter for the sake of my story hehe, cursing, pining, mamamoo + ateez are the besties of reader, member x member pairings, jihoon and reader are both dumbasses, reader is extremely book smart but has one brain cell when it comes to romantic feelings, jihoon writes music like he’s been divorced 12x, word genius lee jihoon, idk how doctoral degrees work, i only got my masters and it was a non-thesis track lol, also idk how trainee auditions work either, miss communication is a lady we all know too well, super cute soft shit too tho tbh, no beta we die like men, i spent 5 hours trying to format this for tumblr and i’m still unsure

inspired by “drivers license” by olivia rodrigo and “what kind of future?” by woozi

inspo spotify playlist found here!

──────────────────

“Noona, I need help.”

Immediately, the older girl closed the book she was reading, a young adult romance novel and turned her attention to him. “You never ask for my help. What’s going on?”

“I… I like Y/N.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Yes.”

Jihoon balked. “What? Does everyone know this already?”

“Y/N doesn’t.”

He groaned loudly.

“Are you finally wanting to tell her?”

“I mean, yeah. I—I just don’t know what to do.”

“Well, I got just the thing for you, Jihoonie.”

Jihoon spent his time trying to come up with some elaborate and dramatic confession (per the advice of his noona). They sat in cafes, picking out different foods that the two of them knew you’d enjoy, scoping out different restaurants, going to the library and her handing him too many romance novels.

After a few weeks, “Noona, you sure this is going to work?”

“Nope.”

“What?! Then why am I doing this?”

“I was just curious to see how much you were willing to do for her. She deserves nothing less than the best, you know,” the girl grinned, now revealing her mischievous side, one that he has never seen before. “Jihoon, you really think that she’s going to want anything that’s a grand gesture?”

“Well. No, but I thought you would know her—”

“Jihoonie, there’s no one that knows her better than you, I think. You probably know her and see her for how she really is. More than she can see herself. All you have to do is just tell her the truth. That’s it.”

“…this was a waste of time.”

She hummed. “Hm, nothing came up for you?”

“What do you mean?”

He could see that she was fidgeting with her fingers. She let out a nervous laugh as she said, “I actually wanted to see whether you still liked me. Whether spending time with me was going to change your mind. Not that I wanted it to! But I didn’t want you to be wishy-washy. She needs stability. She’s already chaotic on her own.”

“You knew I liked you?”

“Just a tiny bit.”

He let out a dry laugh. “Would you have given me a chance?”

“Would you have tried?”

The two of them sat there for a moment, mulling over the weight of the words said between them. But they both knew that there was someone else in their lives who mattered more, who they truly yearned for. If Jihoon and his noona ever pursued something, it would’ve just been them trying to find comfort in each other because they couldn’t have who they wished for. They would’ve tried to shape each other to fit the missing puzzle piece, losing the essence of themselves.

Jihoon and his noona were only mere reflections of who they actually wanted, the illusion created because of how much time was spent together. And that image would’ve faded fast.

“No, I don’t think I would have.”

“I’m glad you didn’t.”

“Good luck with him.”

“Yeah… good luck with her. It’ll work out.”

──────────────────

Plenty of people could say that his noona was childish, that she should have picked another route to go down. That it all could’ve been left unsaid. But Jihoon was grateful for her choice to do what she did. Because you didn’t deserve that “what if?”. Neither did he. You both needed to be sure.

And he felt it, walking into the restaurant.

He immediately recognized you, even with your head down. He was so used to seeing you from afar that this was a sight that was unfortunately so familiar to him. He walked forward in hopes of closing the distance between the two of you.

“Jihoon! Hey!” Your cousin said, frantically.

Jihoon held back his laughter, the sight of his hyung flustered a rare occurrence. “Hey, hyung.”

“Oh my goodness, it’s our Jihoonie! Hi!”

He could see that her eyes were screaming: save us. Jihoon wondered if he’d be able to. “Hi, noona.”

Ah, there you went.

Your eyes finally met his.

God, so beautiful.

“Hey, firefly.”

“Holy fuck.”

Jihoon was startled. Since when did you curse? And the fuck word too? But it must be a new development considering the other two were making a huge commotion over it. But even in the midst of chastising, you didn’t break eye contact.

“It’s been a while.”

You blinked. “Um. Yes.”

He couldn’t help but smile. This was happening.

His brilliant and warm and fiery sun.

The reason behind why his own light exists.

His guide, his inspiration, his hope.

His firefly.

Close enough to reach out and catch.

But not quite yet.

“So, are you all done eating?”

“No, not even close! Only ordered one pajeon, but feel free to order anything that you want! Oppa will be covering,” his noona responded as she motioned for him to take the seat next to you. He did and immediately felt you tense up beside him. Jihoon mentally cursed at himself. He should’ve asked.

He decided to lean back in his chair to try to mimic the body language he hoped from you: relaxed. “Hyung’s the best.”

“One day, I’ll make you spend that idol money of yours.”

“Alright, it’s a deal.”

You must have recovered from your shock, since you piped up with a, “Wait. Shouldn’t you be careful about eating out? What if someone sees you here? Couldn’t something happen?”

Aw, you were worried for him. “This is a restaurant that’s frequented by SEVENTEEN. This specific table is so far removed in the corner that it’d be hard to get a good look at my face, especially since my back’s to them.”

You looked around and scanned the area, probably noticing the boisterous environment of hweshiks overpowering the casual dining you were partaking in. “Hm. Okay…”

“You worried about me?”

“No, I’m worried I’m going to end up in Dispatch with message requests from sasaeng fans.”

Jihoon felt the color drain from his face. “If you’re uncomfortable with me being here—”

You immediately shook your head. “That was a joke, I guess it was too serious of a reality for it to seem like one. Jihoon, thanks, really. But I’m scary good at ignoring people. Uh… I’m… I’m glad that you’re here. Seriously.” You paused for a moment, probably noticing the tension that he was too aware of. “Because we’re with two weakass eaters so it’s up to us to finish the job. Will you join me on our noble mission?”

He snorted out a ‘yes’ and the table laughed. Your cousin brought up a time where you were crying because you hated wasting food but the dish was too spicy but you were too stubborn to stop eating. You quickly reminded him that he was the one who tapped out first and left a 9-year-old to solve the issue (“Wouldn’t have been a problem for me if you didn’t create one, oppa!”). The four of you spent more time catching up than thinking about what to order until you were all brought back into the reality that you were at a restaurant and ordered nothing but a pajeon and drinks.

The older two let you and Jihoon decide, as you were both pickier eaters than they were. Once the food arrived, you fell into a rhythm of years’ practice. You pushed your portion of fish and beef onto his plate and he pushed his portion of bean sprouts and japchae onto yours. You both split the pork belly serving evenly between the two of you.

His arm would (accidentally) brush against yours but none of the tension remained from earlier. You didn’t retract, you didn’t run away. In fact, you poked his arm for his attention midway in the conversation and he never thought such a small thing could evoke such happiness.

──────────────────

Physical touch was never something that Jihoon craved. In fact, in most cases, he felt negatively towards it. So, the experience of being touch-starved was not something he knew anything about.

That is, until you were gone for two weeks at an academic competition.

Why the hell was an academic competition half a month? And during summer break? What did they expect middle schoolers to do? Solve world hunger with pi? (The number, not the food.)

You were spending your school vacation for the sake of more school.

What a stupid concept.

And you were on the same team as Baek Yunho, the star player of the baseball team and chemistry league. Jihoon saw the way that Yunho would try to come up to you after a game, but you only ever made a beeline towards Jihoon.

He didn’t realize just how much the two of you gravitated towards each other. Between class periods, he’d pinch your nose or flick your forehead or you would attempt to bring him to his knees by pushing your own into the back of his and fail miserably and he would roundhouse kick you in response. If the two of you had the time, you would go over to his house and dig your toes into his ribcage when he totally owned you during a game of Super Smash Bros. And during the summer, usually, you would be sprawled over him, back to back, as he would watch anime or play games on his phone and you would read your summer reading list.

But normal people wouldn’t consider that physical touch.

And yet here he was, genuinely touch-starved, because you were in Daegu with a whole seven days left.

He grumbled under his breath. Another day has gone by without seeing Baek Yunho during practice which meant another day that you were gone. Something that occupied his mind, as he opened the door to his bedroom, swinging his baseball bag onto his bed.

And he heard a loud, “ow!”

He saw you rubbing your knee on his bed, with a pout on your face. “What the hell are you doing here?”

That’s one way to say he missed you.

“I came back from my competition today to apparently get assaulted by my best friend.”

“I thought it was two weeks long.”

“The whole thing is, but I opted out of the award ceremony. Plus, I only competed in the writing and foreign language portion because that’s all they needed me for, which all happened in the first week.”

Jihoon’s mind didn’t catch up with his body as he reached for you. You yelped and threw a pillow at him, “Ew. No, you just got back from practice and you’re sweaty!”

“Firefly, you’re missing out on a rare opportunity.”

You paused for a moment, possibly recalling all the times he’s rejected a hug from you and realizing this indeed was very rare. “Can you at least wipe off your sweat?”

“Nope, not at all,” Jihoon snickered.

It was now a competition to see who would be the faster one, you rushing for the door or his arms. And of course, the athlete that he is, Jihoon won.

“You smell like the sun! Stop!”

He decidedly rubbed his neck into the shoulder of your shirt and you did your best to wiggle away, but failed. Your look of disdain was met with Jihoon’s satisfied one. “Lee Jihoon, you’re the worst.”

“I’m glad my punching bag is back.”

You pushed his hair back only to immediately retract. “Ugh! How does so much sweat just come out of you?”

“Does it matter when I have a towel right here?”

You pinched his ear as he pushed his sweaty forehead against the other shoulder of your shirt. You burst into a fit of giggles when he found your ticklish spot in the middle of your thigh, but soon enough, your ankle found purchase around his and pushed him onto the ground as you clambered away and into his closet, probably to find a shirt to change into.

He was left there on his bedroom floor, listening to your ramblings about his sweat, almost deliriously happy.

He was satisfied, no longer a starving man.

──────────────────

After the food was finished (thanks to the two of you), the four of you walked out of the restaurant, the couple saying they were so full they wanted to walk it off on the way to their hotel. They offered for the two of you to join them but you declined, saying the hotel was in the opposite direction of your home.

Your cousin felt uneasy leaving you to walk home on your own. But you pointed at Jihoon with your thumb and said, “Jihoonie can walk me home, if you’re so worried. But even if he can’t, I’ve lived here long enough. This isn’t anything new.”

As if your cousin completely ignored the latter half of what you said, he glanced at Jihoon who gave a quick nod. “I’ll walk her home. Don’t worry. Then I’ll take a taxi back myself.”

After much long-winded convincing, the two headed off to the hotel while you and him were left walking down the street, his own face masked up and covered with a baseball hat in case of anything.

“You know, you don’t have to walk me home.”

“I’d like to, if that’s alright with you.”

He noticed you adjusting the hem of your shirt. “Okay. It’s a little bit of a walk from here. Maybe 30 to 40 minutes or so.”

“That’s 30 to 40 minutes I’d like to spend with you.”

“…yeah. I’d like that too.”

This felt almost surreal. You by his side.

But also so natural, almost inevitable.

As if this was all just waiting to happen.

After a moment’s pause, you asked him what he was doing for the coming months, if there were any plans.

“There’s a concert that Bumzu’s holding in Busan, and he’s asking some SEVENTEEN members to perform, so I’ll be doing a solo piece for that one.”

“Oh, SIMPLE?”

You immediately made a face as if you got caught admitting something embarrassing and Jihoon grinned. “Ah, you know my solo song?”

“Hm. Maybe…” You trailed off, looking everywhere but at him.

Cute.

“It might’ve possibly made it as my top song of the year in 2016.”

Agh, even cuter. “I’ll tell Yoon Jeonghan that he’s not actually your bias and you’re actually a Woozidan.”

“You can call me a Woozidan, you’d just be exceedingly and astronomically incorrect, like always. Unlike me, who is right, quite literally 100% of the time.”

Jihoon laughed. “Hey, I’ll have you know I’m one of the brains in SEVENTEEN, alright?”

“That’s because you were forged in the fire that was your friendship with me. Of having to deal with my illogical thinking.”

“Ain’t that the damn truth.”

The mood between the two of you was solid and Jihoon felt his resolve flare up within him, gathering the courage to ask, “If I invited you to Bumzu’s concert, would you go?”

“Oh. The one in Busan?”

“Yes.”

“Uh. When is it? I’m supposed to start work in three weeks.”

He wondered how big of a Carat you were because he knew that most would jump at the opportunity, but he felt oddly reassured that you weren’t a fan who would shirk on your responsibilities. “It’s in two weeks. You can… uh, bring Hyejin?”

You blinked up at him. “You know her?”

“She, uh, is always on your Instagram.”

“That’s very sweet of you and she’s gonna freak out that you know her, but she’s actually going to be in Jeonju that entire week with Wheein-unnie because they’re visiting their family. And then none of my other friends know about me knowing you. But. You know what? What kind of Carat would I be if I turned down this offer?”

Great minds think alike. “So… I’ll see you there?”

“Yeah. Yeah, you will. I’ll sing the chorus of SIMPLE so loud I’ll overpower even your vocals.”

“You know, I never said I was singing SIMPLE.”

“Oh, what? What are you singing then?”

Jihoon grinned. “Guess you’ll have to come and find out.”

You let out a low whistle. “Wow, what an idol. Using your charm to convince me to use up my time and money.”

“You think I’m charming?”

“Enough that my wallet is in constant danger.”

“You know, I can always give you free things.”

“It’s okay. Buying your albums and merchandise and concert tickets have been the only way I can support you. And, well, I did promise I would be your number one fan.”

“‘S alright. That’s all in the past.”

Jihoon noticed you flinching at those words. Your voice was barely above a whisper, “…Is it really all in the past? It’s not that simple, is it, Jihoonie?”

He remained silent.

So did you.

You both walked, the evening stroll accompanied only by the artificial lights of the city, the sun having long since gone to rest and the light of the moon nowhere to be found.

You reached the doorstep of your apartment and you turned back to face him. “I think… We probably have a lot to talk about. But maybe the timing is off right now. I know I need to sort myself out, if that’s okay? I’m trying to do this thing where I think before I talk instead of just diving in and regretting something, you know?”

Jihoon nodded. He was all too familiar with that.

“But I just want to let you know that I still want to be a part of your life. And we can navigate how that will look like when we’re both not caught up in living our lives. Is… is that okay?”

He wanted to cry. “More than that.”

You smiled. “I’ll see you at the concert, Jihoonie.”

“I’ll see you, firefly.”

──────────────────

After that night, he was thrown back into his and SEVENTEEN’s work. Outside of Bumzu’s concert, they were working on their next album, aiming to release it in just two months, the theme centered around a youthful infatuation blossoming into a mature love.

He wondered what you would think of it.

One night, he was in his studio with Soonyoung again who looked over Jihoon’s latest solo for Bumzu’s concert.

“Jihoon, this is the saddest shit I’ve ever read.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“Are you sure that this is what you’re wanting to perform? That this is what you want her to hear? In front of hundreds of people?”

“It’s… the most honest I can be. Yeah, it could scare her off. But I don’t think we can keep moving forward without addressing what happened between us. But I didn’t make this song to make her feel bad. I made it so I could let go of the pain I associate with the old her to be able to make space for the new her, you know what I mean?”

Soonyoung spared no expression. “Whatever you think is best, Hoon.”

“I’m just going to take a leap of faith,” Jihoon sighed. There really was no predicting exactly how things would turn out. You were different, he was different. There were too many unknown variables with the situation. “Hopefully she’ll be there to catch me.”

“Mm.”

“What’s up?”

“I’m thinking about how you’re going to be singing a ballad, pouring your true and genuine feelings, and I’ll be performing Hurricane in a tiger print shirt.”

Jihoon paused for a moment. “Duality of SEVENTEEN.”

──────────────────

You must have also been busy, as the only notification he got from you was on the day of the concert. It was a selfie of you at a gas station in the wee hours of the morning, no doubt filling your tank before your 4 and a half hour car ride, with a message saying, “i’m on my way to you! fueled by overpriced gas and cheap snacks!”

You were on your way. To him.

There was an electricity that was coursing through him that went beyond just nerves before a show. No, there was so much more riding on this, and as much as he wants to believe and trust that everything would work out in some way or another, there is the deep part of him that yearns for it to work out for the best. The most ideal cut.

He pressed his hands against his chest, as he tried to mimic compression.

But there was just too much bursting out of him to truly contain.

“Jihoon-ah, you alright?”

He must have looked like a crazed man to Jeonghan because the latter had an incredulous look on his face as soon as they made eye contact. “Do I not seem alright?”

“No.”

“Hyung.”

Jeonghan let out a low chuckle and moved behind him to squeeze the shoulders of the stressed man. “It’s okay to hope, you know.”

“It feels like hope is the reason I can’t breathe right now. If it weren’t for hope, I wouldn’t care this much. If it weren’t for hope, I wouldn’t be in this position.”

“You’re right. You wouldn’t be. Without hope, you wouldn’t be in SEVENTEEN. You wouldn't have become an idol, be our unit’s leader, become a producer, written songs, or even had the chance to reconcile with her. All of what you are would’ve been impossible without hope”

Jihoon bit his lip. “I feel like I’m going crazy, hyung. I keep going back and forth between whether it’s worth it. I haven’t felt anxiety like this in years. I know that lo–love–” Jihoon realized he never said that word so directly about her. He always found more poetic ways to dance around the word. “–can be a lot of work. But this? It makes me think that it’s not meant to be. When I see her and when I’m with her, it feels so right. But when she’s not in front of me, I feel like the best thing to do is to just run away.”

“Yeah, but you ran away last time, right?”

“And I wouldn’t be in SEVENTEEN if I hadn’t.”

“But you’ve still pined after her for all these years.”

“Maybe that’s just me being stubborn.”

“Yeah, and? What about it?”

“What happens if I’m pining after her because I regret hurting someone I cared about, my best friend. What if I don’t actually love her–”

Jihoon’s voice caught in his throat.

Jeonghan answered in a low whisper, and Jihoon is sure that if he turned around, he would see pity in his older member’s eyes. “Jihoon–”

“No, I know,” he quickly cut him off, sighing. “Ridiculous notion. Hyung, I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing. I don’t understand myself at all. Just yesterday, I was talking a big game about how I needed to trust her and take a leap of faith and now it feels like I’m going back on it.”

“So, you don’t trust her?”

“That’s… not it.”

“Then what is it, Jihoon?”

“I… I can’t…”

“It’s just you and me here.”

Lee Jihoon and Yoon Jeonghan.

The very two people who were in that room together when that fateful encounter on social media occurred.

Yoon Jeonghan, the island of SEVENTEEN.

“What if she doesn’t love me back?”

Jeonghan felt Jihoon’s shoulders tremble underneath his grip. The older began to rub gentle circles and stood there in silence as the younger buried his face in his hands. “...She could.”

“What if she doesn’t?”

“What if she does?”

“That’s not–”

“–How it works? Why are your worries more likely than your hope? Are they more logical? More based in reality? Listen, they’re all just thoughts driven by feelings. They both have an equal chance of happening, and yet you are convinced your worries are true. And maybe that’s your fault. Your fault because you keep suppressing your hope in fear of pain and rejection. So that later down the line, you can tell yourself that you knew it anyway. But guess what? This isn’t a game where you’re trying to come out of this as the least hurt.”

Jihoon felt lucky that Jeonghan couldn’t see his face.

“Just think of it as finally being able to let out the entire truth that you’ve been hiding for years, the truth that has been found in your lyrics, but is now finally going to reach the person you’ve hoped for so long that it would. She’ll be right there, listening to you. You’ve wanted it for so long. Don’t try to convince yourself all of a sudden that it’s not.”

“...Yeah.”

“Plus, they already have the line-up and backing vocals set up, so. It’s not like you can change it now. Go put your in-ear in. We’ll be in the audience. All of us.”

“Thanks, hyung.”

“...I’m not sure if it means anything, but you’re a good man, Lee Jihoon. I’m proud of you.”

Jeonghan patted the younger’s shoulder before exiting the small space, leaving Jihoon to his own thoughts. Ones that no longer swirled over the possibility of pain or even the potential of reciprocation. Instead, he thought about his members. The ones he’s told he’s loved, both in teasing ways and genuine utterances.

And then he thought of you.

He’d like you to hear the same from him.

At least once.

(And hopefully more.)

──────────────────

Busan’s driving laws were nothing like the rest of Korea. 

Luckily growing up in Busan, you were aware of the way that the drivers swerved in and out of lanes, making illegal (?) turns any chance they got. The flow of traffic in Busan is so aggressively different from Seoul, that it felt as though you had to flip a switch to reorient yourself into the version of you that learned how to first drive in Busan.

Not long after the person you were driving to see had stormed out of your home.

You sighed.

You weren’t sure what to expect at the concert.

It felt almost embarrassing how much you daydreamed over him potentially singing a song to you. The reality is dangerously close to overlapping with the delusion that you found yourself trying to literally shake away the thoughts.

But how could you not be a little hopeful?

The love of your life invited you to a concert, with him singing a solo song.

Maybe he’d confess–

The honk of the car behind you pulled you out of your thoughts. You groaned loudly, slapping your forehead. “Get it together, Y/N!”

Jihoon had told you to enter the concert hall through a certain entrance, and that you wouldn’t need to wait amongst the lines. He recommended waiting until everyone else was seated, so you would still have 20 minutes to kill before entering the venue.

You drove, mentally fighting yourself every kilometer of the way, until you finally reached the venue. You showed the badge that Jihoon had given you and was directed towards the back lot where staff parked. You cut the engine and sat there, attempting to calm yourself down.

You immediately get a request for FaceTime on your phone.

You answer it.

“Bumblebee!”

“Unnie, I can feel myself eroding away.”

Hyejin rolled her eyes. “You’ll be fine.”

You heard Wheein’s voice in the background. “Is that Y/N?”

Hyejin answered, “Yeah. Wanna say something?”

Wheein popped into frame. You gave a weak wave. “Are you gonna confess today?”

“What? No. That wasn’t in the plan.”

“Okay? Then change the plan,” Wheein said, as though it was the most obvious thing.

“I just want to be friends.”

“Forever?” Wheein asked.

“For now,” Hyejin supplied.

You rolled your eyes. “Listen. All I know is that I want to be in his life, and whatever that looks like is still to be determined, alright?”

“But what do you want in the long run?”

“You know I can’t plan for the long-term. Let’s just take things day by day, alright?”

“Okay, but what if he confesses today?” Wheein asked.

“He won’t.”

“What if he does?”

“I–”

Hyejin tapped Wheein’s thigh off-camera. “She’ll handle it if it comes up. No matter what happens, we’ll be here to pick up your call, okay? Whether it be to sort out your feelings or to just fangirl about the concert. We’ll be here to listen to whatever you’re willing to share. There’s not much to do here in Jeonju anyway, so. Just hit us up.”

“Go eat Jeonju bibimbap.”

“We did,” they answered in unison.

You let out a short laugh. “Alright. Well. Regardless of everything, time will continue to pass. I’m going to just bask in the fact that I was invited by a member of my favorite idol group to watch his performance.”

“And that’s already cool as hell,” Wheein nodded.

The three of you chatted about their plans for the week while you did your best to focus on the conversation while still paying attention to the time left until the concert. Not long after, you bid them farewell to once again sit in silence in your car, pressing your hands against your chest.

It was time.

──────────────────

Bumzu’s concert started off as nothing less than spectacular.

You always admired his musical prowess, knowing that he was the one who helped Jihoon form his own identity as a producer and songwriter. Bumzu was a titan in his own right, his lyricism and musicality rivaling plenty of others in the field.

Although his talent is impeccable, the venue itself was small. His transition from performing towards writing and producing had a hand in influencing the number of tickets sold. You also realized belatedly that the concert wasn’t advertised to include the SEVENTEEN members that you were promised.

Regardless, it felt like such an intimate space, you were thankful for it.

You were in the upper gallery, away from the rest of the concert attendees. There wasn’t anyone else nearby you, and you assumed that would stay the case.

That is, until you heard someone sit right next to you.

You glanced over, not wanting to be overt in noticing them (although, Korean culture lends itself to staring at others outside of Seoul and Busan), and you felt your breath hitch.

“Y/N. It’s nice to meet you.”

“I–yeah.”

“I recorded a video for you for your graduation,” the most beautifully ethereal man on this side of existence said. “Do you remember?”

“I–yeah.”

He flashed a brilliant grin. “Yoon Jeonghan.”

“I–yeah.”

“Congratulations on graduating.”

“I–” This time, his voice overlapped yours. “Yeah.”

You flushed. “Sorry. I’m just– I’m kind of taken aback.”

“I heard I was your favorite member, your bias.”

“Mm. That’s true.”

“Why is that the case?”

You paused for a moment, the vocals of Bumzu drowning out the sounds of your conversation. “They say that your bias is the one who’s most similar to you. And your bias wrecker is the one that you’d most likely want to date or be romantically involved with.”

“Oh, so, we’re similar?”

“In the way that we love others, I think? From what other members have said about you, the way that you love is both wide and deep. You love others in a way where you can be a home for them during times of hardship,” you said, sheepishly. It felt almost strange to claim you were as loving as you were, but. You knew yourself. You knew your heart. Even the bad parts. “Also, we both would cheat at games.”

“It’s the only way to play.”

“Winning is too easy otherwise,” you added.

“Exactly,” he chuckled. “Well. That makes me feel better.”

“That I cheat at games?”

“No. That you love in the same way that I do. Because if you love Jihoonie as much as I love him, I think I have absolutely nothing to worry about.”

“I do.”

Jeonghan raised an eyebrow at you. “I’m sorry?”

“I do love him,” you said, unhesitantly. Perhaps it wasn’t the wisest decision to tell one of Jihoon’s closest confidants this information. But, it wasn’t a secret. It wasn’t ever meant to be a secret. It was simply a fact. “There’s no way that I wouldn’t.”

“You… You haven’t doubted your feelings?”

This time you raised an eyebrow at him. “Why would I? He’s easy to love.”

Jeonghan laughed. “You’re so right, Y/N. So. Is he your bias wrecker?”

“You mean the one that I want to date?”

“The very same.”

You saw the mischief in his eyes, and you felt yours bubble up inside. “I wonder.”

He rolled his eyes. “I’m surprised you cheat at games, you don’t seem like a great liar.”

“Who said I was trying to?” You flashed him a toothy grin.

“It’s rather strange to see just how different the two of you are. And also, how human you seem. The way that he talks about you, you’d think otherwise.”

“Unfortunately, being human is all I know,” you said, trying to shove down the feeling of butterflies in your stomach at the mention of Jihoon speaking of you to his precious brothers.

Bumzu was now giving a ment, but you were still so focused on the man next to you.

He crossed his legs and looked out at the stage. He pursed his lips. “Y/N. He’s a bit of a handful sometimes, you know.”

“I’ve got two hands.”

He smirked at that. “Right. That you do. And if you and I really are similar, then. Well. I hope you really listen to what he has to say to you, even if it can be hard to hear. I hope you try to understand him even when he doesn’t make sense. And, of course, I hope you enjoy the rest of your life loving him.”

You felt some tears well up in your eyes. “I’ll try my best.”

Jeonghan looked at you softly and patted your knee. “That’s all I ask.”

He stood up and you gave a slight bow. He smiled and said, “Enjoy the show.”

Bumzu’s voice rang out: “And now, a special guest: WOOZI from SEVENTEEN.”

Your eyes snapped back towards the stage, barely noticing the figure of your bias move back out into the shadows of the concert hall. You were transfixed by the man walking out on stage, his pale skin glowing underneath the stage lights, his black collared shirt hanging loosely on his frame. The cheers could not distract you from the way he gripped and ungripped the microphone in his hand as he sat down on the stool.

He lifted the microphone to his lips and began speaking.

“Hello, everyone. I am SEVENTEEN’s WOOZI.”

His eyes were darting around, but only looking downwards, barely looking at the crowd. “Today, I’m going to sing a song that I’ve only ever sang once. Um. And that was by myself, in my studio. Not even the other members have heard it.”

The crowd were wowed at the prospect of hearing an entirely new song from a genius producer. Seeing the spotlight shine on him, you realize how bare he looked without his other members surrounding him. His vulnerability was amplified by the closer proximity of the space.

You knew he was the kind of person that would lessen the amount of lines he had solely to allow others to shine more. He wasn’t like the sun, the blazing fire that consumed the day. No, he was so much more like the moon, the one that would reflect others’ light, but in such a way that was never accosting.

Even on the stage in front of you, he glowed so ethereally, you wondered if he was always the fae that you believed lived near the winding tree at Old Man Park’s home. He was the guiding light in the midst of night, always present, but in a less overt way than its celestial partner.

The sun was stunning in its own right, life-giving, even, but the moon provided comfort to those who tread in the darkness.

And you’ve seen the way he has done just that.

Not just for you, but for millions around the world.

“This is, uh. A very personal song,” you couldn’t help but notice the way that his grip around his microphone tightened. “I’m not sure if many of you out there have been unsure about what the future holds. But, this song… captures that, I think. This is ‘What Kind of Future’.”

Your reaction to grab your phone to record was immediately cut off by the piano playing.

This… melody?

Your throat tightened. It sounded so similar to the lullaby he would sing–

As if nothing happened I told myself that it was all a dream. When I closed my eyes and opened them again, I wanted to wake up with a relief.

The melody was so familiar, but because of that, you could focus solely on the lyrics he sang. 

Was this song… about you?

No, your mind supplied. Don’t be delusional.

But what if it was?

Your heart began to pound loudly in your ears, and you had to take deep breaths so as to not miss anything that he had to say.

Our past that didn't line up If I could go back in time Rather than roughly, but warmly Would I be able to let you go?

Your eyes widened.

You thought back to that moment in your house.

Could it be–?

When we weren't over As I held onto whatever was left You let go of me as I refused Although I don't wanna see you, I miss you Although I hate you, I miss you I don't understand myself so well

You immediately recall the desperation on his face and the hurt in his voice that you couldn’t see until it was too late. It was shrouded by his anger and your desire to look away. To run away. Because, to a teen on the cusp of adulthood, that was easier than being honest.

This waiting It's not easy to endure If I forget that someday As if nothing is wrong Our future will be empty and It's not that I want to forget you

You never wanted to forget him. 

You couldn’t.

He surrounded you at every turn.

The best parts of you were things that you learned from him.

He softened your rough edges, quieted the inner criticisms, pacified the burning flames.

The idea of him never being a part of your life again was one that you could not fathom, even with all of your imagination. Because there was no way for the current you to exist without him. Not in a way that deemed him necessary, but in a way that his friendship, his love, for you shaped you into becoming someone you, yourself, learned to love as well.

Your future might have been filled with joy and happiness.

His, just as likely to.

But yours and his, as he said, our future, would be empty.

We were happy about us You, who isn't me anymore Although I don't wanna see you, I miss you Although I hate you, I miss you I don't understand myself so well

You tried to quell your tears as much as you could, in fear of missing even another moment with him. Because you realize now that the feelings you had were not one-sided. Of course, they couldn’t have been. The way that the two of you stuck by each other through thick and thin.

Why were you so adamant that it couldn’t be true?

What kind of future is coming before us? Even if the Heavens don't give us an answer I'm too stupid until the end So I don't know the answer

The love you had for each other was so simple.

It was so direct, so straight-forward.

But the two of you made it complicated.

Why?

You also didn’t have an answer.

The both of you, burdened by the decisions of the past, anxious about the potential of the future.

As his vocals rang out, as he cried out, the tears finally streamed down your warm cheeks. You buried your face into your hands, listening to his voice, but unable to withstand the sight of him holding his microphone with such gentle, yet firm, hands. The same ones that trembled at his side that fateful day. Your breath staggered as you wept for the past versions of you.

The ones who struggled and constantly questioned whether you were loved by the person you longed for. The ones who somehow convinced themselves that you weren’t, rather than trusting in the obvious truth that you always had been.

And still are.

As the song concluded with his smooth vocals, the crowd erupted into cheers. You raised your head and found him looking longingly up in your direction, and if you weren’t mistaken, at you. 

But how could he? 

The stage lights were so bright, you were sure it was impossible to see beyond the stage.

But with the way his gaze softened as your bottom lip trembled.

Maybe, just maybe.

As soon as the crowd settled down to a reasonable level, he began speaking again. “Thank you all for attending tonight. Bumzu-hyung is an artist that I admire a lot, so I feel really honored that I was able to share my music here. This song is… both personal and special. And I hope that, maybe, someone out there can understand what I was trying to convey.

“Carats, thank you always for your support. Remember to stay healthy; I’m always wishing for your happiness. We hope that you continue to love and support SEVENTEEN. I’m always humbled by Carat’s love for us, and I really wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you.”

He began to fiddle with the microphone in his hands. 

“Did you know that…” He trailed off for a moment before he glanced up in your direction. Your breath hitched. “...If you dream of fireflies, they’re supposed to represent guidance and inspiration? Because they’re kind of like a beacon of light in the dark. And according to some, they’re also meant to represent taking a chance at an opportunity that’s right in front of you. And I, uh. I’ve been dreaming of fireflies for a long time. So, I think… that means that it’s time to try and take that chance. I’m not sure what it’ll look like, but…”

He shut his eyes for a moment, tilting his head backwards, looking as though he was allowing the weight of his words to really sink into him. He brought the microphone back up to his lips.

“Thank you again. I hope our future together is one of happiness.”

He gave a slight bow to the audience who cheered loudly for him. He, once again, looked up in your direction. You weren’t sure whether he could see your expression, so instead you lifted your phone screen at its highest brightness, open to the phone dial screen.

If he gave any semblance of acknowledgement, it was imperceptible.

Bumzu was welcomed back to the stage and squeezed Jihoon’s shoulder before the latter excused himself off of the stage.

Almost possessed, you followed suit, leaving the upper gallery to rush towards the restroom, out of earshot and view of anyone else.

Not even a minute later, your phone starts vibrating.

You answer immediately. “That was fast.”

“We’ve wasted enough time, don’t you think?”

“Are you… running? You sound like you’re out of breath.”

“Meet me outside. Staff parking lot.”

“I–”

“Security cleared it out.”

“Jihoon, I’m not fit like you! I’m not a runner.”

“I’m not asking you to be. I’ll wait for you as long as you need.”

Your heart swelled. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“I’ll see you soon, firefly.”

The sound of his smile filled your senses as the call ended.

Despite your complaints earlier, your feet were carrying you at a pace you haven’t attempted since your required physical education class. Your eyes were darting around, searching, searching, searching. The adrenaline rushing through your body was enough to keep up your strides. You were rushing forward, and then–

You saw him.

He pushed his hair back, his chest rising up and down, attempting to catch his breath. He was definitely winded from the running. But there was no rest for the weary as your eyes locked. You found yourself barreling forward, not even really thinking of anything other than: him.

And his arms caught you with ease as you slammed yourself into his chest. He spun you around to lessen the impact, but tightened his grip on you. “Firefly–”

“Jihoonie.”

You held each other for a while.

Long enough for both of your breathing to even, for your heart rates to synchronize.

As though making up for lost time.

He adjusted his face just slightly away from the crook of your neck to speak. “Let’s go.”

“Where?”

“Anywhere you want.”

“Yeah, well. I’m the driver, so no shit.”

Jihoon laughed and squeezed you closer to him. You let out a grunt. “You call the shots, firefly.”

You disentangled yourself from him and pulled out your car keys from your person. “Alright, get in, my passenger prince. Let’s take a trip down memory lane, hm?”

──────────────────

“Hi! My name is Y/N. Here’s a seashell!”

The young boy’s expression contorted into one of confusion. You were completely unaffected. He looked around at the empty playground, save for a few pigeons here and there, before pointing to himself. “Are you talking to me?”

You knew for a fact that he was someone that the CU convenience store auntie would call a ‘cutie’. You’d agree! “I’d like to!”

“I’m… I’m Lee Jihoon.”

“Okay, Jihoon! Can we be friends?”

“S-Sure.”

“Awesome!” You clapped your hands together. “I don’t really know what friends do together, but let’s go on the swings! You can sit first and I’ll push you. I’m very strong.”

“No, it’s okay! I can push you—”

“You don’t think I’m strong enough?”

“No, no. That’s not what I said—”

“Get on the swing, Lee Jihoon!”

“O-Okay.”

──────────────────

“Do you remember when I pushed you on the swing so hard that you lurched forward and got a nosebleed from falling onto your face?”

“That was the first day we met, firefly.”

“Well, I wanted to know if you remembered.”

“To the point that it haunts me.”

“You were so small and cute back then. So shy.”

You half expected that the two of you were going to drive in silence, just basking in each other’s presence. But, remaining true to the dynamic you two always had, there was still so much to talk about. You told him about the drive down from Seoul and how Busan really needed to up its driving laws to match the rest of the country. He told you about how Soonyoung just finished performing “Hurricane” on stage and Jeonghan sent him the video.

You told him about how Jeonghan actually approached you.

“Aha.”

You couldn’t turn to see his expression, so you asked, “Why? Is that a bad thing?”

“He, uh. Might’ve witnessed me have a bit of a mental breakdown backstage, so.”

You took his nervous laughter as a sign to not push further. “Honestly, me on any given Tuesday.”

“What, your grad program?”

“Oh, man, I gotta tell you.”

And so the two of you exchanged both stories and banter until you finally saw the shoreline coming into view. Just a couple of moments later, you parked your car along the sidewalk at the edge of the beach. This was a more local area, far away from tourist spots.

“Ah, this place.”

“Lotta memories here,” you said. You shot him a big smile as you turned off the engine. “Let’s go make a new one.”

The two of you exited your car and threw your socks and shoes into the trunk of your car, just like you did with his parents’ car, when you were children.

As you both walked towards the edge of the water, you were very aware of the silence that had fallen onto the two of you.

There was an instinct in you that told you to remain quiet.

“You know,” Jihoon broke the silence. You smiled to yourself. “I’ve always admired how you were able to be so honest about your feelings, without worrying about what other people think.”

“That’s the nice way of saying that I don’t think before I speak.”

He laughed and you relished in it. “Maybe.”

You skipped forward a bit more, letting your toes dig into the now cooled sand, the sun long set. You had your back turned to him as you waited for him to continue speaking.

“I was always someone who kept to himself. Who never really shared my heart with anyone.”

You hummed as you turned to face him directly. “You did in your own way, I think. You just needed people who knew how to read between the lines.”

“I was never honest about the hard stuff though.”

“What do you mean?”

“I constantly asked myself if I was worthy enough to love you.”

You opened your mouth to retort, but he continued.

“You loved me in such loud ways. You honestly left no room for doubt, and yet my brain managed to squeeze in some anyway. But… you know what I eventually realized?”

“What?”

“I realized that if I were to give myself to anyone, to be safe with anyone in the world, it would be okay if it was you. You’ve always been honest. Your sadness. Your joy. I know I can trust it. Maybe that’s naive considering how long we’ve spent apart. But you’ve never been anything but honest. So this is me trying to do the same. Y/N, my light, my firefly, I love you.”

In his eyes you saw him searching for something, anything. He might’ve not been able to interpret the expression on your face, but there was no need to. You pulled the collar of your shirt down to reveal the ink forever etched into your skin, placed over your heart.

Art that was drawn on a paper towel a decade ago.

You knew even in the dim light of the street lamps high above you, he could see it.

His jaw dropped. “Wait. That’s—”

“I broke one promise in my life. Just one. And I told myself I would never do it again. No matter how stupid the promises were, no matter how mundane, no matter how old they were. I would never break another promise. Because breaking that one promise ended up breaking me. The promise that I’d always be by your side.”

“What are you—?”

“Because it’s you, it’s always been you. Ever since I gave you that stupid seashell from this very beach,” you gestured at your surroundings. “And it was stupid because you could easily get your own, but you kept it. Like it was a precious treasure.”

The rampant beating in your chest matched the rhythm of your words.

“I don’t know what the future holds, Jihoon. I have no idea and I’m terrified. I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know anything. Years at Yale, years at Seoul National, years spent in higher academia only taught me that I know so little. But you, oh, you were the worst reminder. I don’t get how you can make me feel so empty and filled at the same time. I don’t understand how you can make me feel at home with just a smile. I don’t know how you have such a hold on me. You’re just this strange enigma that I can’t seem to place, a riddle with no way to solve. But God, I so badly want to try. You’re a question I want to spend the rest of my life trying to answer. Because it’s you.”

He bit his lip and you wondered if you overwhelmed him.

“I’ve spent years, you know,” his voice barely above a whisper.

“Doing what?”

“Hoping that you would hear me. That my words would reach you,” he breathed out. His eyes softened as he recalled, “‘If a second life that’s different from now is to come to me, will I be by your side? Will you be by my side? I imagine things like this. Even if they’re words I mentioned as a joke. Will you believe me? Even if it’s a funny imagination. On a sudden day when I’m left alone, I’ll take my steps towards you again.’”

He stepped forward, hands reaching for yours, and you immediately took them, as soon as he was an arm’s length away. Physically, this wasn’t the closest he’s ever been, but it was the closest you’ve ever felt.

“‘You did this once before. Only by looking in your eyes I can tell. Whatever may happen, I want to know this emotion. When walking by my side, I don’t even want to let go of your hands. That flattering feeling is because of you, everything is so good.’”

He took another step forward, his voice dropped to barely above a whisper, hoping you could hear his words above his heart hammering in his chest.

“‘What can I do? Without you, my heart stops and it’s always cold. What can we do? Without me, you’ll struggle just as much, so what can we do?’” He paused, before recalling later lyrics. “‘I don’t wanna let you go like this. I don’t want to be scared with a broken heart. I’m the place you can come to. You’re the place I can go to.”

Tears formed in your eyes, but he brushed them away easily, now cupping your face within his hands, the tips of your noses brushing against each other, and you could have sworn he felt the fluttering of your eyelashes against him, dampened slightly by your watery eyes.

“‘I couldn’t express my feelings because I was too young. I wanted to be your tomorrow, so I lived today. Ever since the first day I saw you. In my heart, it’s always been you. These typical words, I’m only saying them now, but I hope these typical words will reach you.’”

You looked at him, your entire being filled and your senses flooded.

With him.

It was only him, him, him.

How could you not have realized?

His words, his feelings were so clear.

He had the kind of love for you that brings forth a melody.

His gentle voice drew you away from your own thoughts, “Thank you, firefly. For choosing me.”

“Always, Jihoonie. Always.”

He leaned in to close the distance.

You met him halfway.

──────────────────

Your hands were intertwined with his as you swung them lightly, back and forth, ebbing and flowing, like the waves almost reaching your feet on the coastline of the local beach where you would laze away during your adolescence and find adventure during your childhood.

The two of you fell into a comfortable rhythm, the sounds of the ocean and lull of the town around you, just basking in what felt like the stars finally aligning.

Jihoon squeezed your hand for a moment. “You know, I thought you left because you realized that I had feelings for you and didn’t want anything to do with me.”

“I’m sorry, what?” You stopped in your tracks and turned to face him, still not letting go of his hand, the sea breeze weaving itself between his and your hair.

He raised an eyebrow. “I thought I was pretty obvious. Hyung and noona thought the same. They figured it out pretty early on.”

“Um.”

He blinked. “You had no idea?”

“I—I thought you were in love with noona—”

“Hey, I might’ve thought she was pretty, but you were the one that turned that into something it wasn’t.”

“What! What about the times we went to try and find out whether the mini golf place was fun enough for a date idea? Or whether the food stand near the beach was romantic enough?”

“Please tell me you’re hearing yourself.”

“I’m—”

“Jesus, firefly. Are you serious? Did I end up ever taking her there? Did I even try? All of those places, all of those times, those were meant for you. You were the one who kept bringing up noona and what she would like while I was trying to figure out whether it would’ve been weird to reach out and hold your hand.” His grip tightened on yours.

You flushed at that. “Okay, but like—you spent so much time with noona before I left.”

“Because she was trying to help me plan something to get it through your thick skull just how in love I was because obviously none of the other things I did was enough.”

“I—you—she’s better than me.”

“I just confessed that I was in love with you, and you’re focusing on her right now?”

You blabbered out incoherent sounds and he merely laughed in your face at your reaction.

(Or maybe at himself.)

“Dozens of songs of writing my feelings for you into the lyrics, and you still didn’t get it. So. I’ll try and say it as clearly as possible. I love you, Y/N. What can I do to get you to notice me? Because I’ll do it, firefly. I swear I will.”

You bit your lip.

“I got my driver’s license.”

He wasn’t expecting that. “Uh… recently?”

“No. A month after you left, a month before I did. I got my driver’s license and I so badly wanted to call you to tell you. Because we talked about late night diner specials and how uncrowded the park was at six in the morning and you said I’d be your chauffeur forever.”

“Yeah, why should I have to learn?”

“Jihoon.”

“I’m doing alright without one, thanks.”

You rolled your eyes, but continued, “I drove around the neighborhood several times, passing by the mailboxes we used to Sharpie, the stop signs we tried to run up and slap, the sidewalks we crossed after hagwon, the sewer where we were convinced a clown lived.”

“That was a you thing, don’t drag me into it.”

“And I realized that none of it mattered if you weren’t in the passenger seat.”

“So, what are you saying? That I’m just good company?”

You eyed him and knew he was teasing, but there was a hint of insecurity underneath it. Because he said those words you had yet to acknowledge, let alone, respond to. The corner of your lips upturned. “Yeah, that’s it. And if it’s alright with you, I’d like to be in said company for at least one lifetime. I love you, Lee Jihoon.”

“You’re missing the ‘too,’ since I said it first.”

“You’re annoying.”

“It’s been one of the only ways to get you to look at me, firefly.”

“Mm. I’m always looking.”

“Respectfully?”

“Most times. Have you seen the ‘Good to Me’ choreo?”

He bumped your shoulder as you burst into a fit of giggles, choosing to let go of his hand to wrap your arms around his waist as he pretended to stomp off. He stuck his tongue out at you, calling you a pervert, and you said, “Hey, you’re the one that’s in love with me, alright?”

He swept you up into his arms and rather than carrying you princess-style or even in a piggy-back ride, he threw you over his shoulder and you yelped loudly. 

“Jihoon!”

“Y/N!”

“Let me go!”

“Nope. Never again.”

You made a gagging noise. Who is this shameless kid?

“I’ll put you down though, my shoulder hurts.”

You smacked it once you were on your own two feet and ran as much as you could with the weight of your feet sinking into the wet sand with each step. He quickly closed the distance between the two of you and tackled you to the ground. You fell back, with his hand behind your head, ensuring no damage to your person. You giggled up at him.

The edge of the waves were mere centimeters from you, but seeing him against the endless night sky, with glittering stars, him, your moon, you could not bring yourself to care.

You had so many questions you wanted to ask him, about his life as an idol, about his pursuits and his struggles and his hopes and his dreams. You were so excited to fall in love with him again. You hoped that he would be just as excited to love the person that you’ve become, the one that is so wholly you, but has been transformed by him.

Leaving things left unsaid was a burden the two of you beared for far too many years, believing that you deserved the painful yearning of each other, to make up for the choices made as teenagers.

You breathed in the salt of the sea, as you thought about how, years ago, you were in the same city, letting this very person walk away from you. Shame washed over you, as it has for years, like the waves that were ebbing and flowing right beside you, and tears began to form in your eyes. It was almost embarrassing, how easily you let him slip away. He deserved so much.

“I’m a lot,” you choked out.

He smiled softly as he cupped your face gently, not moving to brush away tears that were threatening to fall. He simply held you, wordlessly accepting all that you were.

“Never too much, and always enough, firefly.”

You wanted to thank whatever higher power was out there.

Whatever one compelled Jihoon to search your Instagram page and accidentally like a post from years ago, a notification that could have been swiped away accidentally in the middle of the night by a bleary-eyed and half-awake you.

Because what kind of future would’ve come otherwise?

Would you have reconnected in some other way, more purposeful and intentional?

Or would you have convinced yourselves that living apart was something that was inevitable and it was better to have simply let the past be the past?

Or would you have yearned for each other in ways that even the potential of running into each other would lead to an eruption of nerves?

You breathed in slowly as you wrapped your arms around his middle, breathing him in, letting his heartbeat drown out even the sound of the crashing ocean beside you.

It didn’t really matter.

This future will be one that you build.

Together.

[끝.]

[smilingangel582]

Heyooo, it's been a while, and I've been going on a wind breaker fic streak for a while. Alsooo this is another lee!sakura with another special lee! Surprise... though I'm not sure if it will work, lol

Ohhh, and a bit of SuoSaku shipping! I love those two, btw...and the imaginary girl I put can like a y/n reader... hehehe, up to u.

Warning spoilers after episode 11

Not a scary guy... see?

Kiryu gives Sakura an unimpressed tilted smile as he insists the girl next to him, who looks like she's in middle school, "Ne, sorry if he's being a little dramatic but I can assure you Sakura-chan is a nice guy..."

The girl looks frightened regardless. She's one of the girls Kiryu, Suo, and Sakura encountered being bullied by another turf. Saving her, thankfully.

Her blue eyes glisten as she stares at the black and white-haired boy. Somewhat enthralled by how he beaten the 10 guys swiftly without the help of his two friends. They had run to Kotoha's restaurant - but probably because Sakura gets hungry after every fight.

However, when Sakura started getting angry at another guy named Sugishita... He's even scarier.

She felt a sudden surge of fear snatch within her gut. But luckily for her the long haired guy is gone since Kotoha had to send him away with her menacing glare and Sakura settled sitting down rocking his foot with irritation, he slammed a hand on the desk as well.

"Damn that guy! I'll stuff him tomorrow at school for sure!"

The girl squeaked, now hiding behind Suo.

The comforting Kiryu pats her head sweetly. "There there... you are safe"

Suo sighs, but with a fond smile, he decides to approach Sakura from the side, "Sakura-kun, you shouldn't be this aggressive..."

"I-I'm not!" Sakura snaps so loudly that the girl whimpers again. of course... he couldn't help but look somewhat guilty for that.

Kotoha groaned now drying the plates as she decided to get her omelette rice started for him, "Geez, Sakura chill... honestly, if you're being this angry, then you can forget your omurice"

Sakura snaps, now hands slamming on the table again, leaning close and daring, "Huuh? Why? Can't I be angry?"

Kotoha stares, not intimidated in the slightest as she knows him well enough now. She reaches to flick his forehead, "Because you're scaring my customers," then she adds with a poke to his side, smiling a little as he was rubbing the stinging flick she gave him. "And you're so uptight!"

He stiffened at that backing away with a little uneasy growl, sitting down. The younger girl noticed, Kotoha proudly understands, Suo hummed curiously, and Kiryu tilted his head, "Oya? Sakura-chan, it's rare for you to back down..."

Flustered Sakura looked sideway, his ears red, falling back on his chair like a good puppy, "I-I I just felt like it o-ok?"

Suo who's been the closest to Sakura, literally, started to raise his hand to reach something towards Sakura and even though Suo didn't attempt anything, Sakura stumbled back, fists clenched defensively, glaring, as he turns fully, "Bastard what the hell...!?"

Suo lets a laugh. Letting his hand fall down, "Ah, sorry, I was just trying to take a small spec of dust from your shoulder... did you get scared of something else?"

Sakura merely looked at his shoulder. However, with a swift movement, Suo tases his side, making Sakura jolt to the wide with a yelp, "Hey!"

Kotoha laughs, "Now thats more like it... rather than you putting tantrums"

Sakura blushed, "Quiet! You better stop teasing me -geh! Ahaha, c-cut it ohohout!" As he was in the middle of snapping at Kotoha. Suo aimed another efficient poke to his side.

Suo grinned slowly, stepping forward with his hands ready to 'attack', "Don't be so shy... It's just a harmless little tickle... see?" He aimed another poke towards his stomach, making Sakura stumble backwards. Lucky for Kotoha, her shop is at closing hours. Otherwise, she might have to kick them all out for disturbing.

"Shy my ass! Stop that..." he used his arms to cover his middle, now hunched a little defensively. Suo loomed to the side, hoping to sneak another firm prod, and Sakura used his elbows to cover his ribs on the side Suo attempted to target.

"Wow... Sakura-kun, are you that scared?" He teased, now using feints to catch him off guard.

"N-not scared jerk! I-I just..." he flinched when Suo pretended to tickle his right side, but only for him to get tricked again.

Kiryu giggles, "Kyuun! Sakura-chan is cute! See he's not so scary, now is he, Hina-chan?" He turns to the girl who smiled a little, awkwardly enjoying this little game they are playing.

Perhaps not all delinquents are bad....

"Uh oh... Wahait!"

Surprised, it wasn't Sakura's voice. This time it was a light and calm voice of Suo who's suddenly being pinned down by a flustered Sakura. He growled, looking like a little angry cat, "Ha? How do ya like that! Can't take what ya dish!"

"Ahahahaha, hehey."

Suo didn't seem embarassed but rather he had a sweet laugh that Kiryu really liked. But he still think Sakura's angry laughter is way amusing than that.

Suo chuckles even more, now his cheeks a rare colour of pink, which somewhat did male sakura look softly at him "Sahahakuhura-kuhuhun..."

"What? Y-you started it -ah! Haha, wait, WAIT!"

Suo swiftly parries Sakura by using his hands to block his sides and then using his palms to push him down his back but grabbing Sakura's leg, and started digging into his knees and upper thighs, which are normally sensitive spots.

This bastard lied to him! The moment Sakura's fingers stopped a moment from his ribs, Suo takes that chance very swiftly.

"AH! SHihit! Wahaha not theHEHEREHE!!"

Kiryu pouted, "Aww and just when we get to see Suo-chan laughing like a silly goose"

Suo gives a short laugh, "Kiryi-kun thats mean... oh well Sakura almost got me and you have my respect there... but..." he stopped the attack on his knees and makes his way to intensify his attack on his upperbody.

"Y-yohohohou sneheheheak! Ahaha, matte!" He panicked, attempting to grab his wrists, now legs kicking uselessly.

Suo flips their positions, smiling proudly when he straddled him from the back this time. "Ah ah ah~ Sakura-kun... you can't get away with that little stunt... always remember in a tickle fight, don't yield when you're being tickled back... and you were very inexperienced, so it was easy for me to break free."

Sakura curled to the side now, sinking to the floor. He can't get him back now, "Ihihihihi nehehehever tihihihickled ahahahany one behehehefohohore haha! Shit stop ihihit!"

He grabbed Suo's wrist successfully, hoping to switch the tables, but a little opening allowed Suo to sneak his capable hand under his armpit. Surprised, it was so bad that his limbs suddenly became jelly.

"EEEH!"

Bingo. Suo thinks fondly, now teasingly testing the sensitivity there, "What was that Sakura kun?"

Kotoha stops her work momentarily to look up in amusement but giggles teasingly, "Uh oh, someone's weak spot has been exploited... that was a bad move, Sakura..."

Sakura couldn't even respond due to his preoccupied state, to think tickling is this unbearable when the right spot is targeted. His giggles turned to laughter, and his laughter turned to cackles that he felt so humiliated.

Suo grins, "Ah that's another fact... always look for the opponents weakspots... once u know... u can break them easily like this..." he began to drill his fingers deeper into his armpit.

Sakura squealed, and that bewildered Kiryu, who's been taking a video on his phone this whole time. He turned to Hinase with a chuckle, "Oh wow... he's that ticklish there?"

The girl now feels awkward watching strong delinquents have a tickle fight but somewhat likes the sound of Sakura's laugh since he's not that scary... especially the giggles that keep flooding through his lips.

Sakura'a face is red, now he slams his hand on the floor, showing truce as his elbows try to protect his armpits, "ahaha, fine, fine! FINE HAHAHA ENOUGH!"

Suo stops now, getting off Sakura yet remains kneeled down, pushing the strands of his hair to the side when Sakura rolled on his back, panting. Somewhat entranced... such a curious case

This makes Sakura blush and slowly shrug. The hand away as he gets up, sitting in front of where Kotoha is as she displays her special omelette rice. "Jeez, you will pahay ack!" he feels a simple poke from Kotoha who giggles, now she blows her finger as if it's a gun, "Now we know how to cool a scary guy like you... its adorable really"

Sakura wheezes in anger, bjt protectively covers his weak spots while glaring at Suo and Kotoha, "D-damn you! Dont call me cute!"

Suo grins, a finger aiming for a poke to his side which Sakura instantly caught his hands. Eyes narrowed, somewhat suspicious "Do not!"

"Ahh" he gives a little pout, a rare side of Suo, "But if you let me poke you here and there whenever I feel like I'll tell you my weak spot as well..." he winks.

Sakura's face heats up, curious and also embarassed, he looks away, now letting his hands go since he decides to eat the omelette rice, "h-ha? I don't need to know! I will find it myself someday!"

Suo grinned, elbow on the counter as he leaned on his palm, staring lovingly at him, "Hmm hmm, good boy," he pats his head in the process, making Sakura raise his spoon, as of he's gonna hit him with that. His face totally red.

Watching their antics, nobody, not even Kotoha, noticed Kiryu taking Hinase out from the cafe. She bowed to him politely, her face bright and back to her healthy colour, "Thank you! Kiryu-san... I can walk back on my own"

Kiryu smiles lightly, "That's fine... It's late, so I'll walk you. " he offered her his hand now.

She blushed in bliss, lucky to have met the first year high schoolers from bofurin. Taking his hand shyly they walk now.

She is indeed glad to have met them.

Especially Sakura... at the same time, they are human who like to mess around and have fun...

She giggles a little at the memory of Sakura's blushing face, "cute..." then blushes as well on the memory she just got of repeated Sakura blushes. she walks through the pavement, silently now, hiding her small snicker.

Kiryu asked, "What's so funny?"

"Ah... sorry, Sakura-san's face is quite adora -ahem interesting when he's shy"

Kiryu laughs, "very very! You won't believe how much of a tsundere he is. Tough and rough on the outside but a sweet kind softie on the inside..."

She agrees and now mentions, "Also about him and Suo"

Kiryu grins knowingly, placing a finger on his lips, "That is another story... but neither of them know what the story even is... hehe"

Another interesting story she would like to know... their bond seems unbreakable.

"Can't wait..." she smiles.

Meanwhile, at the cafe.

"Kotoha-saaan! Nirei is back!" The blond grins as he enters the cafe, looking spiffy as ever. Suo grins his hands still attempting to get Sakura once he finished his omelette rice.

Sakura's red face is still the same, and Nirei asks, "Eh? Sakura-san why your face red again?"

"Shut up! Y-you guys are so annoying!" He's still holding on to Suo's wrists cautious and careful not to let him poke him.

Kotoha chuckles, "Hai hai, Suo, you can stop teasing him before he becomes a tomato plant for Ume"

Suo casually let's his hands slip away but Sakura stares at him like a suspicious cat, "Grr... you will pay! Just you wait I will!"

Suo shrugs, "Oh scary much... until I poke you here..." he gives him a poke to the side but not touching as he's already stopped. Sakura squeaks attempts to grab his hand which quickly left.

Nirei Frown in confusion, "ehhh tell me? Why is Sakura embarassed and what do u mean poking him?"

Nirei's questions will be the death of Sakura. That top secret notebook is every bit of a menace as Suo's mysterious eye patch.

[ieatkeyboard]

How I think the Obey Me brothers would react to you being sick

Characters: Lucifer, Mammon, Leviathan, Satan, Asmodeus, Beelzebub, Belphegor Your S/O finds out you're sick! Here's how I think they'd react. SFW! Warnings: Physical illness, throwing up, panic, crying, use of Y/N. Let me know if I missed anything! LUCIFER: - He comes home after a meeting with the student council to Mammon screaming. Asmo, Beel and Levi are crying, Satan and Belphie are dramatically flipping through the pages of a book in a panic and you are nowhere to be seen. -"What in the Devildom is going on?" The eldest booms. "Y/N WAS THROWING UP AND CRYING AND HAS A FEVER. WHAT IF THEY DIE!" Mammon yelled. -Thankfully, thanks to dating you for so long, Lucifer understood humans enough to understand you weren't dying. He went up to your room only to see an empty bed. -When he found you, your spirits were lifted. Listening to the brothers lose their minds over a flu was funny but there was no way you could sleep with all the ruckus. He set a cold, damp cloth on your forehead, made you soup and made sure to keep a bowl on standby (You thankfully didn't need it). -You were fine by the next day but your beloved suggested you stay home the following day just to make sure and of course a "suggestion" from Lucifer meant an order when it came to your health.

MAMMON - Mammon was awoken at 4 AM to you getting urgently and running out of his room. He followed and to his surprise you were huddled by the toilet, clenching your hair to the nape of your neck as you gagged and coughed up your previous dinner. - He remembered a movie you two were watching, a cheesy romance you picked out, and how the main character's boyfriend held her hair back. - He took the hair out of your grasp and rubbed your back, panic clear in his voice as he tried to comfort you. -"It's alright, Treasure. T-The great Mammon is here!" -If it were anyone else, you would've slapped them for "comforting" you like this but it was your boyfriend who didn't know any better -He ran to Lucifer's office and begged for help (The only time Lucifer didn't punish him for barging in) - Probably said something along the lines of "HELP. Y/N JUST PUKED UP THEIR GUTS." - Poor baby- LEVIATHAN: - You were trying snacks till you went ghostly pale and ran for the bathroom. He was so convinced he poisoned you T-T - He ran after you and started apologising profusely - "I'M SO SORRY, BABE. I DIDN'T KNOW THEY MADE HUMAN'S SICK. I'M SO SO SO SORRY." - You were in fact not sick thanks to the snacks but he made sure to do whatever you said to make up for it - Soup? On it. A bath? Absolutely. Water? Anything for you. -When you got better, he made sure to be extra careful with what he let you try from his monthly snack box. - He got over the fear it was a snack that caused it when you explained for the tenth time you were sick since that morning SATAN: - You were in the human world, reading books together. He watched as you ran to the nearest bathroom. - You were gone for a good 10 minutes before he called you. - "Hey, Princess/Prince/Royal. Is everything alright?" - You explained that you were sick and needed to head back to your apartment and of course he came to get you from the bathroom. - You linked your arm in his as you walked carefully with you to the nearest convenience store, getting you a couple water bottles and soup before going back home. - You joked that the human realm was no longer your home as you had gotten sick the day after you arrived and he chuckled. - He changed you into a pair of shorts and a muscle shirt to keep you cool and made you soup. - He handled that pretty well ASMODEUS: - One moment you were watching a movie, the next you're running out of the room - Of course he's worried! You mean more to him than the 3 realms combined. - You texted him, telling him you weren't feeling good and that you were sorry for running out without saying anything - He immediately went to make sure you were okay. He picked you up, off the tile floor and brought you to his bathroom, where he ran you a bath and surprisingly sat outside of it this time. - He gently washed your hair and wrapped you up in a soft pink towel, letting you sit at his vanity as he brushed your hair and kissed your head and shoulders. - "I'll take good care of you, My Love. Don't worry" - And that he did. He ordered you food and asked Solomon to get you something to help from the human realm. - He spent every second with you, massaging you, feeding you, making sure you were okay. BEELZEBUB: - You were at a Hell's Kitchen and he was obviously worried when you ran out the door to the nearest trash can (There weren't any bathrooms close enough in the building) - He put everything into take out boxes, payed and walked timidly towards you - "Sugar? Is everything okay?" - He thankfully didn't see what happened but at least a couple bystanders did, which made your embarrassment even worse. - "I'm really sorry, Honey. I don't feel good." - He carries you home and makes sure to keep you hydrated and regulates your temperature - He asked Satan for help - He loves you so much

BELPHEGOR: - You were in class, doing spell work when you ran out, much to the teachers displease - You texted Belphie and explained the situation. - He walked out when the teacher left to get more beakers - He got your stuff out of your locker and waited outside the bathrooms for you, walking out with you - Lucifer lectured him later for walking out instead of explaining things to the teachers and the youngest couldn't have cared less - Asked Beel to help take care of you which he happily agreed to

[sageryuri]

BANDAID, NISHIMURA RIKI.

pairing nishimura riki + afab!reader.

genre fluff, minor angst.

summary when it reaches the warmth of summer in australia, you and your friends go through the effort of making it as fun as possible before going back to your normal lives. it doesn’t feel so enjoyable when your friendship with riki becomes more confusing than before he left.

word count 10.4k (unedited).

warnings cursing, reader may seem a little irritating on her judgements of riki but i think her feelings are valid, alcohol, slightly intense kiss scene. no idols represented in this writing are not based on their real self.

an finally here!! my favourite fanfic genre tbh…

Australia's strong heat beats down onto your skin, but it's been so long that you're simply used to the feeling. You had always hated the cold, the feeling of having heaps on clothing on your body to keep you warm only leaving you angered and overstimulated.

Sunghoon complains behind you to Jay, he rummages around his bag and pulls out a pair of sunglasses. Since he had only moved to Australia recently after only visiting every few months for a week or so, he wasn't as used to the beating sun as the rest of his friends were.

You smile at Sunoo as he comes jogging to the rest of you, the last person to arrive onto the beach. Heeseung lets out a loud 'woop!' knowing he promised he wouldn't go into the ocean until everyone had arrived, he greets Sunoo before he along with Jake run across the hot sand to the water.

"They're so dramatic. It's only one PM, they have all day to go in there. I don't see why they enjoy it so much, I feel like I end up drinking most of the water." Sunoo states, taking a seat next to you on your lilac blanket — you always opted for a blanket rather than a towel, it was comfortable and you would use your towel if you decided to swim.

"That's kind of disgusting, Sun. I don't know, I guess it's relaxing when the waves aren't hitting. Look at Hoon, that man is dying, he probably needs to go in the water." You and Sunoo turn to look at Sunghoon, who has spread himself to take over his shared towel with Jungwon, who has already fallen asleep and has 10% of the surface area.

"Can we stop bullying me! It's not my fault I've only lived here for two weeks, give me time and soon enough I'll be as tanned as Jay and I'll handle the heat better than any of you." Sunghoon lifts himself, almost hitting Jungwon in the face but narrowly missing him. He goes to lay back down afterwards, but gets angry for a second time,  "You know what, at least I'm not like Riki! He was- oh, oh- I'm sorry. Forgot I wasn't supposed to bring him up."

Oh, Riki.

"You're allowed to bring him up, he's still our friend. I just- I guess I'm just more sensitive about him than the rest of you were." Unconsciously, your arm goes to grab onto your necklace in discomfort at the mention of his name.

As a child, the size of the nursery could be compared to a sky-scraper in your eyes. Your tiny hands grabbed harshly onto your mother's blouse as her and your father take you towards the gate, "You'll be okay, baby. They're going to take care of you while daddy and I are working, they'll teach you lots of new things and you'll make lots of new friends!"

You let out a small whine as you are pulled forward slightly by your mother, and she takes you to a younger woman with chocolate brown eyes and dark curly hair.

"Hello! You must be YN, it's really nice to meet you. My name is Grace and I'll be taking care of you while you're here. Now, I know you're new here, and I have a friend for you who is new here too!" Behind the woman you noticed the boy that was trying his best to hide away from you, but after being mentioned he stepped out slightly, “This is Riki, he just started today too.”

When he offers you a small smile and wave, your friendship began to bloom.

The memory of your first meeting slowly dissipated, and your mind was back to the present, on the beach with all of your friends. Sunoo and Sunghoon appear to have been unaware of you spacing out as they argued with one another. Jungwon is still fast asleep and the other three boys have found themselves pushing each other around in the ocean.

Riki always felt like a missing piece of a puzzle.

You find yourself nestling into your blanket to sunbathe a little before the rowdier boys would come back and irritate you. When you close your eyes, Sunoo always begins to speak so that you don't fall asleep since it was so difficult to wake you up afterwards.

"Don't you have a shift later at Emma's Diner? You want me to pick you up so you aren't walking home by yourself?" You peel your eyes open to look at him, sunglasses now perched on his nose. You groan at the mention of the shift you would have to go to later.

You loved your job, being favoured amongst customers and having a lenient boss. It doesn't change that you would rather be on the beach with your friends rather than have them be irritating in a booth while you busied yourself making their meals and milkshakes.

"Yeah, I'm working the closing shift. So, please do come and pick me up. I know it's only a ten minute walk but it's so scary walking at twelve PM. Especially since they haven't fixed the broken street lights yet." Living in a small town meant that everyone knew each other, so it was unlikely anything would ever truly happen while you were out late. It didn't make you feel entirely safe though.

"Of course, I'll come a little earlier so you can make me one of those amazing mint chocolate milkshakes. Ugh, it feels like it's been so long since I've had one of those." Sunoo lets out a satisfied sound as he thinks about the diner milkshakes. At some point, you wondered if he was only friends with you for your milkshake-making skills (a joke, you had hoped).

"You had one two days ago!" You let out a loud laugh which causes Jungwon to stir in his sleep, not waking up but turning on his side — you put a spare towel over his so that he doesn't burn. You turn back to Sunoo who has diverted his attention to the boys in the ocean, who are carrying Jake by his arms and legs to throw him in.

"Yeah, but you weren't working two days ago. Don't tell anyone, but you make the best milkshakes out of everyone." Funnily enough, everyone already knew that you made the best milkshakes in town. You suppose that's why you still have the same job from when you were fourteen years old.

"I guess we're all lucky that I got that job."  You continue to smile, thinking of all the fond memories you had made just in the small space of the diner.

"Well, you had more of a chance than anyone."

The longer you waited for the call back from the diner, the longer Riki would groan as he watched you take big strides around your bedroom — a place not made to take big strides in.

There weren't many career opportunities going around for people your age, but ever since your father fell ill and was unable to work, you wanted to provide some help for your family. The act of attempting to actually get a job had turned out to be harder than you anticipated, already being rejected from other places due to a late application and lack of spaces.

"Can you stand still? Or you know, take a breather? I think you're taking this a lot more seriously than it actually is. You don't even have to get a job, I mean, you're still in school. I haven't even thought about getting a job yet." There was not a moment in Riki's life where he seemed to feel an ounce of worry. Even now while you trampled over heaps of clothing on the floor of your room, he scrolls through Twitter on his phone.

"You, my friend, don't have a sick father who can barely move from the bedroom- and I know you're going to try and bring up the fact he's getting sick pay, but it's basically nothing. I just want to help out and- oh my god my phone is ringing." You're interrupted by the sound of you phone, the caller ID being displayed as 'Emma (my maybe future boss)' and you end up prancing around your room even more intensely.

Riki wants to pick up the phone for you as he's so sure you got the job and he doesn't want you to risk losing it.

"Pick it up! What are you waiting for stupid?" Riki is very quick to grab your phone and force it into your shaking hands, so you take in a deep breath and answer the phone before the call would disconnect.

"Hello! Yes, that's me. Of course, yes. Oh- oh! Thank you so much! Yeah, yeah I can absolutely make it tomorrow. Bye!" Your voice becomes higher pitched when you answer, Riki smiles as he acknowledges the habit that he had picked up on a few years ago whenever you were on a phone call; and he couldn't miss the smile which had appeared on your face when you ended the call, "I got the fucking job!"

"-Is she dead? I'm starting to think she might be dead. Jay, will you please begin preparing for her funeral? I would like for it to be dramatic and elegant and everyone must wear suits and gowns." You feel yourself coming back into your consciousness from the sound of Heeseung's obnoxious voice, so you open your eyes and look through your sunglasses to see him with his left hand on his chest.

"Oh my god, shut the fuck up. She's probably just ignoring you because of how annoying you are!" Sunoo hits Heeseung's shoulder, grimacing at him before giving you a loving smile.

"Sorry... I got a little caught up in my daydreams." You rub your eyes lightly and allow yourself to adjust to the sun again through your sunglasses. It had become a little dimmer outside, but still too bright to walk around sunglasses-free.

"Daydreams? You've been lay there without a word for over half an hour. I'm fairly sure you fell asleep, thank you for covering me with the towel by the way." Jungwon is up and awake now, and your eyebrows shape to show shock on your face as you wonder what on earth you had dreamt about.

Surely you wouldn't have dreamt of just Riki for that long? You were sure you had been awake this whole time.

"Fuck, really? I should probably head home before I have to go to my shift. I'll see you all tomorrow I imagine?" You reply, pulling out your phone to check the time. It had now reached 3PM (somehow), which meant you had about two hours to prepare yourself to work.

It was always busiest when you began working, so the first two hours always drove you insane.

"Of course, see you around!" They all say goodbye, some giving hugs and some opting for waves, though Jake had almost popped a lung when he cuddled you so tightly against his chest.

You arrive home, still living with your mother and father in their little apartment which gives you a perfect view of the ocean. When the streetlights came on, you liked to look from yout window and watch the waves move with elegance.

It had been a few years since your father recovered from his illness and had gotten back into working, he had stated that it was fine if you had wanted to leave the diner and relax for a little while. The diner had become a large aspect of your life and leaving it would leave something missing — you had already lost something when Riki left for Japan, the diner being somewhat of a reminder of him.

"Oh, good afternoon! Are you going to work soon?" Your mother is pondering around the living room with cleaning products while your father is sat staring at the television. You find it strange that's she's cleaning since it's Saturday, and that was usually her resting day.

"Why are you cleaning? You never clean on a Saturday, the living room wasn't even a mess this morning." You respond, ignoring her question, since she did know the answer to it. Jumping on the sofa next to your father, he lets out an 'oof' as you practically land on his leg that had been perched up onto the sofa.

He generally spoke to you when you got home, yet he was being strangely quiet. You were sure they were both hiding something.

"I wish you weren't so observant sometimes, you should be like your father." She rolls her eyes with a smile, but her eyes reveal that she's nervous about something. It makes your stomach churn with anxiety as you wonder if you had done anything wrong recently.

You go through every moment in the last week in your mind.

"I'm actually quite observant, I just don't say anything about what I notice. It's all stored up here." He doesn't take his eyes from the screen when he knocks at his own head, watching a show he's likely watched on repeat since the 90s, you were sure he'd seen this episode over five times now.

"Okay... Do you have something to tell me? You're both being weird which means you're trying to hide something from me, and it's causing heavy worry to run through my body." You reply, your mother sighs and sits across from you on the smaller chair, "Has someone died? This feels... serious."

"No, no. No one's dead. We do have something to tell you, and we only found out after you left. I was just a little worried to tell you about who came knocking on our door this morning." She sounds almost excited, a soft smile replaces the one she had previously held, "Riki's mother came this morning. He's back- for good that is. She said he wants to see you and everyone else."

Half of you feels morbid, you're angry. The other half fills with excitement and wonder as to why he had come back after so many years.

After deciding not to question them on the situation so much considering you were hardly processing it yourself, you nodded your head in shock before walking into your room and closing the door slowly. You leave an ominous message to Sunoo, asking him to bring Sunghoon along with him later and to come a little earlier.

"What? You're joking! How long has he been back for? And why didn't he say anything to any of us?" Sunoo drops the fry back onto his plate, his jaw dropped as you reveal that Riki is back in town.

The three of you were in one of the booths in the diner, you had locked up and moved the 'open' side onto the 'closed' side, even though it was unlikely there would be any other customers at this time. As you had thought, the two of them also had no idea that Riki was back.

"Well, it's not like we really stayed in contact with after a couple of months. It's been three years." Sunghoon retorts, he continues to eat the food you had made him. He had always been so sure that Riki wouldn't stay in Japan forever, therefore having a weaker reaction compared to Sunoo.

"I still don't get it, I mean- he moved away for a reason and now he's back, and his mum is knocking on my front door and he isn't." You're now irritated, but under that irritation you're counting down the minutes until your old best friend would be standing in front of you — and he would be different from all those years ago.

"He'll be nervous. The town hasn't changed but I'm sure we have and so has he. Give him some time." Sunghoon continues to eat and you allow yourself to take in his words.

You didn't want to be mad at Riki, you didn't want to see him for the first time again in years and not know what to do with yourself. Sunghoon was right, you were sure of it, but you also couldn’t help the way that you felt.

As your mother always stated, you had been as observant as she had been with the body language and habits of others, knowing if someone was acting out of the ordinary compared to their usual act.

On this day, Riki had left you feeling confused when he hadn't complained about you stumbling around his room.

To other people, this may not have been unusual; but Riki had always told you to sit down and stop walking around his room because it made him feel anxious. He always felt like you were nervous about something and that you were about to drop a bomb on him, thought it was just because you found it difficult to stay still.

"Are you okay? You haven't really said anything in awhile- and you haven't told me to sit down either." You jump onto the bed next to him, the bed creaking as you landed and bounced up and down.

"Sorry, I'm just feeling a little sick I think." You pout at his words, knowing that he's lying to you. He looks just as he does usually and he hasn't done anything that would insinuate that he had been ill.

"You look perfectly fine to me, plus you wouldn't invite me over if you felt sick. You can talk to me, we tell each other everything don't we?" You comfort him, he furrows his eyebrows and throws his face into his hands with a rough groan, and you can feel your heart beat faster at his clear distress.

Finally, Riki turns to look at you and his bottom lip is pulled between his teeth as his eyes begin to brim with tears. You reach forward to brush them away, he finds solace in your warmth and leans into the touch as your hands hold his face softly.

"I'm moving to Japan next week- my parents bought some land there and are planning on building up their business. They found a really good school for me to attend to finish my studies, and they want me to go to college and university there." Riki sighs, he looks at you with sad eyes, "I don't know if I'll ever be coming back. At least not for a long while."

"Oh... Riki why didn't you tell me earlier? When did you find this out?" You finally pull your hand away, though you feel a mix of negative emotions building up inside of your body as you listen to your best friend, "You should have told me."

"It's been a few months. I'm sorry, I just didn't want to worry you or anything." Riki seems to become quieter and quieter as he speaks, and his fingers wrap around yours while they tremble.

"Well, you can visit can't you?" You had made an attempt to make light of the situation, "You can tell everyone all about Japan- we don't leave Australia very often. It would be nice to know."

"I'm not sure." In his response, his voice becomes even more timid somehow. You know that you're upset at him for not telling you, you know you're angry that your best friend may be leaving you forever — but hearing his voice sound so broken left you wanting to hold him for the next week you had left with him.

The atmosphere of the room weakens and you barely share anymore words with each other.

When you had gone to visit him a few days later, he was already gone.

"I know he'll be nervous. I'm just angry that he never gave me a real goodbye. Then he talked to you guys a lot more than he talked to me. I just thought that he was my best friend, but it really felt like he didn't see me that way." You start to

stab at your meal with a pout, thinking about all of those years spent together just to be thrown like grains of sand.

Sunghoon and Sunoo look at each other, but you're too busy poking your food to notice.

"You ever thought he might have had a crush on you?" Sunoo mutters and you look at him with a raised eyebrow.

"No, I never got that impression from him- but he never really talked about relationships or anything to me so I wouldn't know how he acts around someone he has feelings for." You lean onto your hand, looking up as you think, "Even then, why would he ignore me if he liked me? Surely he would be doing the opposite."

"You were his best friend and I intend to believe that you still are. If anything, he was probably scared because of it. Going to Japan would have helped him get over you. That's if he did have feelings for you." Sunghoon is nonchalant, as he usually would be in situations such as this.

In times like this, Sunoo and Sunghoon would always be your go-to for advice and comfort because they would always help to reassure you that it isn't the end of the world — and if it felt like it really was, they were always your biggest supporters no matter the situation.

"As interesting as your theory is, I'm not sure." You stare at one of the old, blinking lights of the diner, as if it were an idea attempting to spring to the front of your mind, "I just want to see him again. I need to understand why he never explained why he wouldn't talk to me."

"He'll come around, he has to. Don't worry." Sunghoon reaches over and rubs your head soothingly with a soft smile, Sunoo giving a much larger one which comforts you just as much. You finish up your meals, after heading home you lay in your bed for another hour thinking about Riki.

You feel relieved when you wake up in the morning knowing that you have the whole day to yourself; no work, no chores, nothing at all. Waking up at ten AM instead of six feels great, just as great as it feels knowing the night is free for you too.

The group chat between you and your friends is blowing up, you blink your eyes to get used to the bright light of your phone screen. Everyone appears to be active, thought you're too tired to take in every single message, just getting the gist everyone wanted to go to the arcade today.

After a few minutes of being awake, your mother wanders into your room holding a hamper basket of clean clothing, beginning to fold it in the corner of your room, "Rise and shine, honey. You got any plans today?"

"Arcade I think. I'm not sure when, but probably around the same time I usually leave. I want to lounge around a bit first though, I love my spare days when I'm not working." You roll over to lie onto your stomach and she lets out a scoff, though you know she's only joking with you.

She knows you work hard.

"You'll have fun. Try not to let Jake spend all of his money this time please, his mother sounded absolutely gob-smacked when he told her how much he'd spent in that place." She chuckles under her breath and you smile at the thought. Mrs. Sim loathed spending money, but Jake seemed to find it to be his favourite hobby.

"I'm not in control how how Jake likes to spend his money, he's addicted to the arcade. I don't think he'd listen to me of all people." Your eyes are still closed as you bask in your last few moments of peace before you would have to go through your simple routine, you can feel the heat radiating through your window onto your back when your mother opens the curtains.

"Who knows. I know it might seem a little too soon for you, maybe you should see if Riki would like to come along." Even just by saying his name, your heart beats faster and you feel as if you had broken out into a sweat. He shouldn't be making you feel so anxious.

"He hasn't spoken to me yet." You know this doesn't surprise her.

"I know. I know he hasn't. And I know it isn't fair that he came back out of nowhere and you're finding it difficult to adjust to it." She sits down next to you, stroking your hair lightly on the back of your head, "He is too. It'll all be fine once you finally see each other again, just like when you were younger."

"Thank you." Finally, you turn around to sit up and give her hug before she would leave the room to carry on her endeavours — you would go ahead and make a ham and cheese toastie and get ready for the day ahead of you.

The arcade is just as packed as it tends to be, children racing each other around and occasionally apologising to teenagers and adults they bumped into and continuing their adventure with their friends.

It's sweet knowing that this was what you used to do when you were a child.

"You're such a fucking cheat! You can't throw shit at me to block my view, then start hitting the puck! Heeseung, I'm never playing this game with you ever again. In fact, don't talk to me ever again." Jungwon throws the jacket harshly back towards Heeseung, who is laughing loudly with Sunghoon after he wins the game for the third time.

"I don't see any rules that tell me that I'm not allowed to throw jackets at people whenever I desire. Hate the game not the player." Heeseung and Sunghoon high five each other and Jungwon rolls his eyes, Jay comes over and gives him a soft slap on the shoulder for reassurance that at least one person in the room has his back.

"No- no- I'm hating the player very hard at this moment in time. Sunghoon stop laughing, he'll do the exact same thing to you." Jungwon's voice raises louder, two children are giggling at him from behind the claw machine and it's unclear if that had calmed him down or frustrated him even more.

You begin to ignore the argument, looking around for Jake who should have been here twenty minutes ago. If anyone was ever late, it wouldn't bother you so much, though you had a strange feeling in the pit of your stomach that was starting to make you feel nauseous.

"I don't mean to interrupt your squabbling but where's Jake? He'd be here by now, you think he's okay?" The rest of them shrug at your worry, knowing that it was unlikely Jake was doing nothing but being fashionable late — something was beginning to really bother you, but you couldn't work out what it was.

"Jake has arrived! And, I'm showing up with a big surprise." Jake's voice booms through the arcade and everyone greets him before they notice the larger figure standing behind him.

He's gotten taller- taller than Heeseung now. His body is more toned and defined and he's grown into his features. His hair is styled rather than flopping over his forehead like you had remembered.

Riki coming back would be a lot harder to accept than you had truly anticipated, and you knew it would be difficult.

The boys crowd around him, picking him and throwing him around in happiness, ecstatic laughs ringing through out the building. You're stuck in place, watching his face contort through emotions.

You smile.

When the others are done parading around Riki, almost all of their eyes turn to look at you, apart from Jake and Sunghoon who were ready to put all of his cash into the punching machine. When Riki finally makes eye contact with you, both of your worlds appear to stop.

It's as if you had both been dropped into an empty box. His face changes expression, practically monotone, but you can tell that he isn't disappointed to see you. Slowly, he examines you from head to toe; you've grown up too.

"Hi." It appears to be the only words that can slip past his lips, and as you had expected, his voice had deepened to. This was still the same Riki you had known ever since you were a child, all the resentment you had held towards him faded away from your memory immediately.

You aren't particularly thinking in the moment, before you realise it your hands are around Riki's back and tears are streaming down your face, you feel the vaguely familiar hands of your best friend enveloping your body.

"Fuck, I really really missed you Riki." Your voice is undeniably shaky, the grasp you had on the back of his shirt tightens as you let out tiny sobs. Tenderly, Riki brings his hand to land on-top of your head and moves back and forth, "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too... I'm sorry for ever leaving you behind." He murmurs into your ear so that you're the only one who hears his words, knowing that the only person he truly wants to know this is you.

The two of you remember where you both are, standing in an arcade surrounded by your friends and heaps of children. It felt embarrassing, but anyone else would react the same way after so long. You feel him pull away from you, shivering at the loss of warmth that had been radiating from his body against yours.

"Welcome back, dude! We've got so much to show you- we have a fair and everything now! I can't believe you're back now..." Jay's arms hold onto the younger boys once again as he gives you one last look, being pulled away to watch Jake and Sunghoon argue after their punching machine adventures.

When the day comes to an end, you notice that talking to Riki doesn't feel the same anymore. At least you had felt so, the others were chatting with him as if he had never left. There were longing stares and banter, but something felt uncomfortable between the two of you, which you couldn't explain.

Heeseung offers to drive you home when he sees you rubbing your arm in the corner.

"You gonna tell me what's wrong with you?"  The car ride had been practically silent up until this point, apart from the quiet music coming from Heeseung's radio, "You were moping in the corner for the last half an hour, that's not like you."

"I think I'm just a little lost right now, confused I guess." You answer, leaning your head against the window while you watch the houses passing by. Heeseung lets out a low chuckle, though not to make fun of you, just to show he understands how you're feeling from his own experiences.

"Is it because of Riki?" Heeseung had always been direct, you think it helps when trying to get people to talk about their feelings and give them advice. You sigh for maybe the twentieth time in the last two hours and let out how you feel to your close friend.

"I knew he was back, before today. His mum came to our house and talked to my family. I've been feeling nervous the last few days. Seeing him today made me feel better, but even after he hugged me it didn't feel like he missed me all that much." Your lips quiver slightly as you speak, just as your voice wavers, but you don't want to cry in front of Heeseung.

"He's probably just as scared as you are." It almost feels like people have been talking about your problems, everyone giving you the same answer you already had.

"Yeah, that's what everyone's been telling me, Hee. I know it won't go back to how it was straight away, but I would have liked if he'd talked to me more after our big, loving reunion." Hearing the same thing on repeat — Sunghoon, Sunoo, your mother and now Heeseung— only bothered you more.

"Do you want me to talk to him for you? I don't mind giving him a slap around the back of his head." He snickers, you turn your head away from the window to smile at him to show you appreciate his help.

Despite your feelings, you don't think Riki deserves a slap around the back of his head.

"It's okay, thank you. It'll be better if I talk to him myself." Though you value the help your friends and family try to provide for you in unfortunate times like this, it would be more effective to deal with it yourself. No one was better at explaining your feelings and morals than yourself.

Heeseung parks up in front of your house, the sun slowly beginning to hide behind the walls of your coral-coloured home. You bite your lip and give him one last meaningful smile, which he always returns.

"No worries- you know I'm always here when you need me." He responds, you leave his car and say goodbye before he drives off down the road back to his own apartment.

The diner is slow today. It's the same customers (as expected, it's a small town), except everyone seems unrealistically grumpy and a woman said you had put too much coffee in her coffee which was completely baffling.

You leaned on your palm on the counter, happy Emma wasn't in today so she wouldn't tell you to sit up because it drove away customers — it didn't, you doubted they cared that you were bored on the job as long as you actually did your job.

However, the universe would never allow you to have a boring, uneventful day; because the man who had been on your mind for years wanders through the doors of your safe place.

"Hey, sorry I don't mean to intrude. Sunghoon said this is where you worked." His deep voice rings through your ears and racks your brain, he looks almost too perfect to be real and you wouldn't be surprised if you were making this all up in your head.

"Yeah, it is." You try to quickly think of something to say before it manages to get awkward, "What brings you here? I make a pretty mean milkshake."

"Yeah, I remember pretty well." He grins at you, all too familiar to when he was younger and you had been practicing making the milkshakes for your new job.

Using a blender was not something that you had the pleasure of taking part in often. In fact, you were petrified that you were about to break your mother's very precious blender to practice making milkshakes.

"Did you press it in right? I'm not sure you pressed it in fully. It's gonna spew everywhere." Niki is sat on your kitchen counter and has given zero effort to try and help you use the blender — 'i'm not the one working' he says.

"You're annoying me! Yes, it's in right!" You angrily whisper-shout to Riki, trying your best not to wake up your sleeping father in his bedroom. Confused, you examine the blender, "Or at least I think it is..."

"I'm scared. I don't want to be covered is strawberry juice, milk and ice cream." Riki groans, a vibrant habit of his, though still not making any efforts to move if this were to go terribly wrong.

"Have some faith in me please." You whine, pouring the rest of the milk into the blender cup. After reassuring yourself you had done it successfully, you shut your eyes and clicked the button.

There is no feeling of cold liquid splatting onto your body, which feels like a positive sign. Cautiously, you opened your eyes at the sound of silence when it had finished, which Riki appears to have done too.

"Oh. You did it." The shocked sound residing in Riki's voice almost bothers you, he has no belief in your skills (he's your biggest supporter, he's just avoidant with his affection).

The milkshake looks perfect. It's a deep pink colour due to the grenadine you had decided to pour into it, in courtesy of the milkshakes your mother would provide for you that you were sure you had become addicted to since the day you took your first sip.

"Of course I did it." After pulling off the lid from the blender, you pour the liquid into the milkshake glass, passing it off to Riki to get another person's opinion, "Try it."

Riki is hesitant to take the glass from your hands, pulling his hand back and forth dramatically. You pout sadly at him with furrowed eyebrows, then he only laughs loudly before holding the glass in his hands and smelling the contents of it.

"This better not be disgusting..." You clasp your hands together in anticipation when Riki finally takes a sip through the straw, taking your bottom lip between your teeth when he pulls away and smacks his lips, "Oh- Oh wow."

That day, you found out that your hidden talent was making the most delicious milkshakes in town.

"You Okay? You're spacing out a little." Riki waves his hands in front of your face to get your attention back on his current self and away from his old self. Your face heats up in embarrassment and you focus your eyes back onto his face.

"Oh, sorry, I've been doing that a lot lately... So, want a milkshake?" You repeat your question, due to both being unsure as to what you could say and the need to relive apart of your past with Riki. Unsurprisingly, Riki had always been your favourite person to make milkshakes for, even after he had left.

"When do you get off work?" Riki asks, leaning himself onto the counter. You feel your heart drop, wondering if it was finally time for the both of you to spend time alone together as two grown adults.

"Uh... In about twenty minutes. What's up?" You're trying your best to keep eye contact with him, but his intense gaze makes it difficult, he has very pretty eyes and they're making you strangely anxious.

"I was wondering if you wanted to catch up, it's been a long while. Plus, I think I owe you an explanation." You both swallow a lump in your throat at the same time and Riki's hand gets closer to yours on the desk, "And I would love a milkshake by the way."

"Yeah, I think I could do with a catch up. You can wait in one of the booth's if you want." A small smile appears on your face which makes him grin at you also. He nods his head, taking a seat at the booth closest to where you were working.

With the feeling of his eyes on your for almost the whole twenty minutes, time moved slowly and you became much more cautious about your movements.

He takes you to the park that is a ten minute walk from the diner, the walk filled with small talk conversation and reminiscing of your past relationship as children and teenagers. Finally being able to speak with Riki is nice.

"How have you been?" You watch two children on the park push each other on the swing instead of sharing eye contact with Riki, though finally getting used to having him back in your presence again, "God, it still feels weird having you back. I'm glad you're staying."

"I've been pretty good, surviving. It was fun in Japan, but I always wanted to come back." He smiles but you don't notice, considering you have been avoiding looking at him ever since he had sat in that booth in the diner, "I wanted to apologise for how I was with you when we were at the arcade. I didn't mean to ignore you like that, but you know, you're different to the boys. You were- still are, my best friend. I'll admit that I felt a little awkward after so long, but I shouldn't have avoided you like that."

"I understand, I'll admit I knew you were back before we saw you at the arcade. I was kind of freaked out because it's been so long and I was really nervous, so I could have reached out to you beforehand but I just really couldn't bring myself to. So, I'm sorry for that too." Your palms become a little clammy and you begin to unconsciously twiddle your thumbs while spilling your feelings out,"Did Heeseung speak to you or anything?"

"You don't have to apologise for anything, I really think this is all on me. I really missed you." You decide that this was time to look at him. The light of the sun shines on him so perfectly, you feel as if you could get lost looking at him.

You finally had your best friend back.

"I really missed you too, I wish we could go back to how it was before you moved to Japan." Somehow, you still feel like you can be completely honest with the boy, the one you had dissipated away from so long ago. In your minds, you both knew that something between you was different and would never go back.

"How about we start over?" Riki suggests and you furrow your eyebrows in confusion.

"What do you mean?" The wind gets a little harsher with your words, forcing your hair to flow into your face — Riki reaches forward to move it away, then pushing his out in front of you chest as if he was waiting for a handshake.

"I'm Nishimura Riki, it's nice to meet you." He smiles brightly, like the way the sun had been shining into his deep brown eyes. Laughing, you take his hand into yours and shake it, introducing yourself to him as if this was your first meeting.

Riki feels a shiver down his spine as your smaller, warmer hands slip into his.

A smile had been plastered on your face ever since the previous day. Your mother had been adamant on you telling her what had got you so jumpy and ecstatic, but you would just say it was nothing and go skipping back to your room.

It has been repeating in your mind every moment, you could barely stay on your phone or read a book without closing your eyes and replaying the whole moment in your head that had your grin growing larger.

"Honey, Sunoo is here!" Your mother shouts from downstairs, her voice drags you out of your daydreams and you sit up from your bed. Sunoo comes bursting into your room, jumping onto your bed with a smile almost as huge as yours had been.

He looks at you expectingly, to which you give him a strange look.

"Well, go on then!" He pushed your shoulder and you only continue to look at him with the same baffled facial expression, nudging him back with your hand in return.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Sunoo's jaw drops at your response and you can only let out a loud laugh at this shocked expression — how could you have any idea what he was talking about when he gave you no information to stem from?

"You were with Riki yesterday! Tell me about it." He grabs your television remote and turns the TV off, interrupting your show that had been playing on and off since you had woken up. You scoff, taking the remote from him and placing it onto your rocky sidetable.

"How did you even know about that?" You laugh, turning your body to face him, crossing your legs on your bed. Looking up at the ceiling, you wonder what to tell Sunoo. All day, you've been daydreaming about it, but speaking it aloud didn't feel as exciting as your brain had been making if out to be.

"Because you're my best friend... I was with Sunghoon when Riki asked where you worked. I just assumed he was wanting to hang out with you. So, quick, tell me everything that happened." Sunoo's eyes are set on your face, he doesn't take a second to look away.

In your mind, you think about the conversation that you and Riki had. Sure, you told Sunoo everything. Other people's business was also your business when it came to gossiping with him; but the redevelopment of your relationship seemed a whole lot more personal, and you were going to be a hypocrite.

"We just apologised to each other, then he asked if we wanted to start over. It was quite nice actually." You shrug, wanting to keep the peaceful moment you had between you and Riki. Unsurprisingly, the boy sitting in front of you pulls a face of disgust at your response.

"Wow, you aren't even going to tell me all the details." His eyes roll, which you had expected from him — you know he understands thought, since he smirks at you when he thinks you aren't paying attention to him.

"I'm tired! I'll tell you another time. It isn't as exciting as you're anticipating it to be." You lie back onto your bed and Sunoo joins you on the left side closest to the window which brought in a cold breeze; he doesn't believe you'll ever tell him what happened that day, "Is that all you came here for?"

"Actually, I have something to tell you. Since Riki is finally back and Jay's parents are out of town, we're going to host a surprise welcoming party for Riki. Do not mention it to him! I've already had to calm Jake down about five times." Your pink-haired friends claps his hands in excitement.

It would be nice to have everyone around to join and have a good time to welcome Riki back. Half the town likely had no idea Riki was home and they would have missed him too, so a house party would be the perfect opportunity for the community to come back together.

"Well, I'm not Jake! I'm very good at keep secret. My lips are sealed." You pull your fingers across your lips to imitate a zip, turning your head when an idea pops into your head, "Do you want to watch Gone Girl?"

"Of course I want to watch Gone girl."

This would be the first time you and Riki were hanging out after deciding to 'start over'. When you were younger, you all would go to the summer fair in January to welcome the New Year.

"Get- get the fuck off! What is it with you and fucking jumping people? There's kids here! What if you knocked one over?" Jay tries his best to push Riki from his back, his angry furrowed brows making you giggle.

"I think that would be kind of funny." Sunghoon says under his breath, though it's loud enough for you and Jungwon to hear, which results in you both pulling a strange face in his direction.

"You're awful, man." Jungwon shakes his had at Sunghoon, but the way he's trying to hide his laugh contradicts his disappointment. Jay joins the three of you walking after he finally gets Riki off his back, now going over to bother Jake who lets out upset whines.

"I'm joking. Sorry for admitting kids falling over is a funny concept." Sunghoon's honest never fails to prevail in conversation, you've seen him laugh at children falling over with tears dripping down his face.

"You do realise admitting it's funny insinuates you aren't joking?" Jungwon raises his left eyebrow at Sunghoon, who shrugs and moves on to go and talk to Heeseung instead, who was more inclined to agree with his take.

Riki moves on next to you and drags you over to the punching machine which was enveloped by prizes of different prizes, all won through punch strength.

"Want me to win you a prize?" He asks and you miss the fact he was being completely serious, so you chuckle at him. You turn to look at the others who have taken to the water gun game and are loudly screaming as they shove each other away from their stations.

"What, on the punching machine? You can try but I'm not sure your muscles are big enough to even get that pack of candy." Feeling bold, your hand goes to wrap around his bicep through his jacket. A light blush litters over your face when he disproves your point without uttering a single syllable.

"Oh yeah? Maybe you should have more faith in me, I've been a gym rat for the last few years." He takes hold of one of his jacket sleeves and removes the jacket from his shoulders to reveal the vest he had been wearing underneath.

Yeah, he'd absolutely proved you wrong.

Riki pays the guy the price for the machine, then punches it as hard as he possible can. Unexpectedly, Riki pretty much matches the high score which directs his eyes to the ginormous teddy bear that he could afford free of charge.

Just for you.

For the first time in years, you remember that feeling you had been pushing back all those years ago.

This was the first time you had ever experienced a fake friendship with someone, a few weeks before Riki would be telling you that he was leaving.

Yuna was always a good friend of yours, she was slightly older than you, but she never treated you like you weren't as mature as she had been. She wasn't necessarily excluded from your friend group, but she had her own friends and really only hung out with you rather than your friends.

"It's honestly so weird. All of her friends are boys, don't you all think that's a little strange?" Yuna's voice is heard by you from around the corner and you decide to hide behind the brick wall and listen in before you say hello.

"I mean- not really? She's friends with you and I think she's really lovely. I don't think it's all that weird, Yu. You shouldn't talk about her like that." Her friend Chaeryeong replies, seemingly concerned with her friend's comment.

Weirdly, you have a strong feeling you know exactly who she is talking about.

"I think she's just a little, I don't want to sound mean but, desperate? I mean come on, there's seven of them. She must think at least one of them is going to have a crush on her. Easy." Her voice is filled with venom and you hear a few giggles come out of others that were around her.

Not wanting to hear what anyone else had to say, you find yourself hiding away in one of the isolated blocks in the school. Tears stream down your face and you shake as you question what you could have possibly done wrong for her to judge you so awfully.

If you had known she was simply jealous, maybe you would have felt less insecure. A squeak comes from the rusty door and you rapidly try to wipe away your tears before whoever walks in would see you in such a weak state.

"What are you doing in here? Why are your eyes so red?" Riki's face drops when he sees you, his dark hair falls in front of his eyes and bounces as he jogs over to lean down next to you.

Your first fall-out is Riki's first time seeing you so distraught, it tugs at his heart and he isn't sure how to deal with it. Sure, he's seen you mad and upset, but he's never seen you cry. If he realises anything while looking at you, it's that he never wants to see you cry again.

"It's- it's nothing. I don't want you to worry yourself." More tears fall down your soft cheeks and Riki moves his hand forward to wipe them off your face. He doesn't think someone like you should be crying like this and selfishly he doesn't think he deserves to see his best friend crying either.

"Of course I'm worrying. Are you okay?" He watches as you pull your knees up to your chest and you lean into your own touch.

"Do you think it's weird that I'm only friends with boys?" The way your eyes had become so wide when you looked at him broke him, you were taking all of him in, waiting for an honest answer. Riki couldn't believe that you were questioning your friendships over something so small.

"What? No. What kind of question is that? Did someone say something?" A crease appears between his eyebrows as they furrow, so lost in why this had become an issue for you. He can't help but to pick at the pout of your lips with the tips of his fingers to make you put it away.

When you don't reply, Riki doesn't speak either. He holds you in his arms like his life depended on it. That was the first moment you knew you felt differently to Riki than your other friends, that you wouldn't mind spending your life in his arms.

When you come back to the present, Riki is holding out this teddy bear to you with the most beautiful smile you have ever seen. You’re taking him again, you’re thinking about what it’s like go be in his arms forever.

It truly is your fault this time. You're the one taking everything back to square one and you've never seen Park Sunghoon so irritated with you before. He forgets ever having a soft spot for you when he looks at you with the angriest expression.

You hated to admit it, but after coming to the conclusion that you had romantic feelings for Riki, you had been avoiding him for the last three days. It wasn't your best decision in life though you had no idea what to do.

So, you turned to your straight-forward friend Sunghoon.

"You're an idiot, genuinely. What the hell is wrong with you? You're going to put him through hell, didn't you want to become friends with him again? What happened to starting over?" His feet take him around your living room aggressively and you sit staring at the ceiling, feeling too nervous to look him in the eyes.

"Instead of calling me names, can you help me out here? I don't know what to do, what if he doesn't feel the same and I mess it all up again?" Your hands fall onto your face with a loud slapping noise.

Finally, you look up at Sunghoon and his face tells you everything you needed to know. If you carried on ignoring Riki's existence, he wouldn't be your friend or a romantic interest. Either one is better than none.

"Look, I love you, you're amazing- but this is the stupidest thing you've ever done. The party is tonight and he's probably too busy wondering why you're suddenly paying more attention to Jungwon's ice cream rather than him." Once again, the man is correct.

After Riki had got you the teddy bear (which you were cuddling in your arms in that exact moment) you had become a blushing mess and could barely bring yourself to look him in the eyes. It wasn't hard for Sunghoon and Sunoo to catch onto, Sunghoon nudging your arm when you had started questioning Jungwon about unnecessary things while Riki was right next to you.

You were so, so scared. What better way to avoid your feelings by avoiding the one that had caused them to blossom?

"You are getting this sorted tonight. I don't care how it ends, you're both getting closure on whatever this is because I can't stand this weird tension going on between you both and I don't know how long it will be until you both crack." Sunghoon’s words simultaneously break your heart and make it beat 10x faster.

You had no idea Riki was sat in his room staring at his phone wondering what he had done wrong this time.

Jay's house is filled to the brim with party decorations, alcohol and people. You wonder how his parents would even allow this, then you question wether they even know about it. Honestly, you're sure you don't know some of the people here and you have no idea where they've spawned from.

You haven't seen Riki yet.

Sunghoon's words had been playing in your mind since he had spoke. In fact, you had been looking for Riki the whole time so you could sort it as soon as possible, tell him the truth, allowing him to enjoy the rest of the night even if his possible rejection could ruin yours.

You've downed a few drinks to release your nerves, soon finding the boys and a few others playing beer pong. They all don't seem too drunk,

on their feet successfully, until your eyes land on Riki who is stumbling all over the place.

Deep breath. You walk over to him.

"Riks, I'm sorry- talk to me." You pull him into a more isolated corner to avoid people listening into your conversation, though Riki pushes you away lightly and glares at you.

"Fuck off." He slurs and you step back in shock which causes you to bump into the wall. It's not like you had ever seen the boy drunk, for all you know something else could have bothered him, "I said- I think I'm gonna throw up.”

He turns around and makes his way upstairs and you follow closely behind him both to finish the conversation and take care of him. He leaves the door unlocked, so you walk in and see him leaned up against a porcelain bathtub.

Jay's parents liked their cute, but strange, antiques.

"Riki, please stand up. I need to get you home, you're too drunk." You're trying your hardest to pull the boy up out of the bathroom, but he only falls back down onto the side of the tub. You resort to giving up, sitting on the floor in front of him.

"You know I came back for you right? I- fuck I'm actually gonna be sick." He stands up, mostly stumbling, then sits down in front of the toilet instead with his back pressed against the wall. Turning around to face him, you've barely processed what he had said.

His eyes are beginning to fill with tears, he brings his arms up to rub them away.

"What do you mean you came back for me?" When you lean forward to rub the tears from his eyes, which he surprisingly allows you to do, you almost get deja vu.

"I could have stayed in Japan, I had everything I needed there." Like he had sobered up, he no longer needs to throw up anymore and theres no slurring in his tone, "But I didn't have what I wanted- you. I don't think you understand how much I think about you, every single day you were there in my head. It was torture knowing I couldn't have you and that's why I stopped talking to you. I put myself through so fucking much just because I fell in love with you and couldn't do anything about it."

"You can't do this to me."

"What? You've been ignoring me for the last three days and I can't tell you that I love you? I had to get it off my chest." He scoffs, going to stand when you try to drag him back down, "You know what-"

"I'm in love with you too. I was scared. That's why I was ignoring you. I thought pushing you away would stop it, but it just made me feel worse."

You let it all out.

Riki hesitates, but soon moves forward so that his face is only inches from yours. He looks at you in the eyes, both filled with love, desire and fear. The amount of alcohol you had both consumed only reduced the anxiety slightly, but it doesn't stop him from leaning forward to close the gap.

it's merely a small peck for a second and you both pull away from each other. The separation doesn't last long when Riki pulls you to stand up with him, his hand reaching for the back of your neck to connect your lips again.

Your back is pressed against the bathroom door, hands wrapping around the back of his neck and his falling to grip onto your hips. When you close your eyes, the mixture of alcohol and Riki makes you dizzy and your legs shake, though his hold manages to keep you standing up-right.

"I'm sorry for telling you to fuck off. I didn't mean it." He mumbles against your lips, pecking them one last time before pulling away from you. Though it doesn't make the warmth he gave you part from your body.

"It's okay. I think I deserved it."

The next morning, you wake up in his arms — where you had always wanted to be. This turned out to be one of your favourite things to wake up to.

"I can't believe I moved all the way to Japan when I could have just been in your arms the whole time." Riki's hand rakes through your hair softly, stopping every so often to move the hairs out of your face.

"You're so cheesy. Why were you never this cheesy usually?" You both laugh, you’ve been messing with the necklace he had been wearing for a few minutes, trying to fixate on something other than the nerves that had been building.

"I wasn't dating you back then. I'm not going to show the world that I have a weakness." He says, manoeuvring his body to face you, he was blushing just as much as you were.

"And suddenly you want to?" You smile, he smiles back happily.

He doesn’t respond, continuing to soothe his hand through your hair. For once, the two of you don’t need to communicate with words, something you both seemed to struggled with your whole life.

Like a scraped knee, you had always placed a bandaid over it instead of tending to it properly like you should — when you finally decide to, it heals a lot faster.

[happyhauntt]

young gods | marauders.

writing masterlist | askbox

summary: the gryffindors have a little tradition on the first night back at hogwarts.

word count: 1.2k.

warnings: pre-established relationships, tooth-aching fluff, a brief mention of war.

notes: a wee excerpt from an old marauders fic i wrote years ago. i reread it recently and this section made me cry so i tidied it up and i'm posting it here as a little ficlet. enjoy!!

     Now, as Dorcas and Marlene slip into the common room, they find their friends in the corner, keeping warm by the fire. Lily and Alice are curled up together on an armchair built for one person, their legs tangled in long, fluffy dressing gowns.

Mary sits on the sofa next to them, legs stretched across Remus and Peter, the latter of which looking as though he has no idea what to do. James and Sirius are sitting cross-legged on a tartan blanket that covers the floor, and the latter looks up and grins as they enter.

     "McKinnon's brought snacks!" he cheers with as much enthusiasm as he can muster, clapping his hands as they approach. Dorcas pushes Mary's leg out of the way and squeezes into the gap between Remus and Peter, before letting Mary return her legs to their former position.

     "Dinner was less than an hour ago, Sirius," Marlene says with a roll of her eyes. She drops the food in the middle of the blanket, so all of them can reach it. Alice is quick to snatch up a handful of droobles. Marlene's tone takes on a falsely disapproving note, and she narrows her eyes mockingly. "You can't be hungry already."

     "McKinnon," he replies, a mischievous twinkle in his eye, "there is a profound difference between food hungry and snacks hungry. You ought to learn it, for your life will be much better once you have."

     Marlene quirks an eyebrow. Her hand is halfway to reaching for a chocolate frog. "Is this the same sort of wisdom as when you told me that getting a leather jacket would change my life?"

     Sirius only smirks. He shares a cursory glance with James, who thinks Marlene's jacket has almost become an extension of her sunshine-scary personality. "I was right though, wasn't I?"

     Marlene thinks of that bright yellow jacket, sitting in her suitcase, waiting to be unpacked. She thinks of wearing it when she got onto the train earlier in the day, and how she'd been almost sad to take it off when she had to change into her uniform, and how careful she'd been in stowing it away in her suitcase.

     She allows Sirius a begrudging roll of her eyes. Both of them possess egos far larger than they ought to be, and she will not let him gloat. She'll probably smack him, otherwise.

     The evening moves on. Dorcas suggests that they pass around a box of Bertie Bott's, and Marlene knows it's a mistake when she reaches into the box with her eyes closed and picks out a speckled yellow-and-white bean between her fingers. The taste of rotten egg lingers for a while, no matter how many cauldron cakes she consumes.

     And she consumes many, many cauldron cakes.

     It doesn't take long for the tales of summertime exploits to begin being told with great detail and exaggeration. At some point, the conversation is steered by Lily ( rather expertly, her friend would say, although Marlene would argue that it was by no means subtle ) into the direction of muggle music. It doesn't take long for them to burst into a poor-but-hilarious rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody. Dorcas joins in at the first verse, dramatically crying Mama, just killed a man! Remus, much to their surprise, does a fantastic Galileo, Galileo, which makes James and Sirius howl with laughter even though they don't know what the hell is going on.

     It's over too quickly. It grows dark outside, and the fire is dimming, and they're all a little bit sleepy now. There are crumbs all over the tartan blanket, and Marlene's head is resting in Sirius' lap, his fingers running through her tangled blonde curls.

     Lily has fallen asleep on top of Alice, ginger hair splayed out across the older girl's face, while Alice tries not to choke on hair. James is watching them, a dopey grin across his face. It's the kind that only appears when Lily isn't looking because he knows it annoys her now (even though it doesn't, really, but Lily won't tell him that because she's only just stopped wanting to smack him.)

     Peter's snoring away on the sofa. Remus is asleep, too, his head resting on Dorcas' shoulder, and Marlene thinks it's the most peaceful he's looked in a while. She doesn't know why she thinks that, but she does wonder about the scars that cover his body and how he gets so ill sometimes. He's her friend too, and she worries. She worries about all her friends.

     Dorcas is awake, and she's got a soft smile on her face. Mary's still lying across the top of the three of them, except she's asleep now, too, and about to roll right off the edge. Dorcas looks like she'll let her.

     Marlene takes a deep breath. She's not too good at talking about her feelings, but something about this moment feels right. She looks at the lot of them, half-asleep. When she thinks of the word home, this is what comes to mind  ━  her friends, her best friends in the whole world, peaceful and happy together.

     Part of her knows it won't last, but she tries to push that thought away. The war won't catch them, not as long as they are students at Hogwarts, and it's over a year before they have to deal with the danger in the world, isn't it?

     The war can wait. The world can wait. Right now, here, this is everything she needs. Her brothers can leave her behind if they want; if they love her, they'll come back, in the end. In this moment, she can't fix it. She can't save anyone.

     But this is home.

     "I promise I'm not drunk or sleep-talking," she murmurs, letting her eyes fall closed for a moment. She feels Sirius' hand fall still, hovering with expectation. "But I love you guys. All of you. You know that?"

     Lily makes a snuffling noise, as if she's heard Marlene's words, but she stays asleep. James chuckles quietly to himself. Dorcas looks like she might leap across the room and attack Marlene with a hug.

     Sirius looks down at her. His eyes are like steel in the dying firelight.

     "You need to chill or I'll tickle you, because nobody needed to hear that." He says it jokingly, because he did need to hear that. It is a symptom of growing up in a loveless home, he thinks, and he knows Marlene feels it too. One must be told, regularly, that they are loved and wanted.

     James tells him, every day. James, who is more of a brother to him than Regulus is, really.

     Carefully, she rises from Sirius' lap, rolling onto her knees. And then she says, "You'll have to catch me before you can tickle me, Black."

     She grins, suddenly filled with mischief and glee, moving quicker than lightning across the room, and the night ends with him chasing her around the common room.

     In that moment, with hair flying and her friends laughing and the thunder clapping outside, she thinks they are all infinite. They are all invincible. They are young gods with the world at their feet, the ones who will never die, and time stops moving.

      And then Sirius catches her.

      And the moment's over.

[ichinoue]

I just finished watching bleach, and I'm not much of a shipper, as in I didn't care for the ships. But ichihime just didn't make sense to me, I have no problem with renruki but ichihime just didn't do it. So like I'm genuinely curious as to how they stuck out for people like you who absolutely adore it, I've also seen alot of hate towards it so once again I'm curious. Is there any reason that you personally always loved the ship? Be it their chemistry? Or interactions?I don't know I just want to see the appeal

Well, for starters, if you've only watched the anime, I think that can definitely taint your perception of IH because the animators butchered it so much compared to how it actually is in the manga, especially in the early arcs. I made a post on the very first IH moment in the anime vs. the manga here although it's pretty old so the links I used as references are probably broken now. But I definitely recommend reading the manga to get a true sense of what their dynamic is like!

Honestly it's hard to sum up why I love this ship so much without pulling out a bunch of manga pages and turning this into a full blown essay of things I've already said a million times before (but I'll attach a bunch of links to some of those posts below lol).

But I just love the sweetness of IchiHime. The mutual respect. The selfless care and consideration they have for each other. How dorky they are together. The way they make each other better, and stronger. The way Orihime can pull so many passionate, emotional reactions out of Ichigo--the way he softens around her, the blind rage when his enemies use her to taunt him, the way he flies off the handle in a panic when he thinks she's in danger, the depression he fell into when she was gone, the relief he feels when he realizes she's okay. The puppy dog eyes he gives her. The way everyone else kicks him in the head or punches him to lift his spirits, but Orihime--she only has to use gentle words. The vow to protect, the rising up from the dead to keep that vow. Not even death could keep them apart. Orihime wanting to love Ichigo in every lifetime she lives, she would choose him every single time. And yet she never expected him to love her back--he just did. All on his own. He was pining for her, they were pining for each other. It was mutual long before they even knew it.

And I think Kubo did so well writing for the IchiHime relationship. It's got cute, heartfelt moments, angsty teenager moments, silly, comedic relief moments, and dramatic, life-or-death moments. You can see their development from one arc to the next, see the clear-cut changes and growth in their dynamic from beginning to end. They never stopped changing, and growing closer over time. Which created a nice, long slow-burn for me to sink my teeth into over the course of Bleach's 15 year run.

Anyway, here's some links of posts that explain different aspects that I love about this pairing:

I have an extremely long masterpost about IchiHime here, which mostly goes into detail about why I think it was obvious for canon, but it covers almost every single IH moment in detail and my love for the pairing and reasons for shipping it are pretty much woven into the fabric of this post lol.

The chemistry of IchiHime.

My top 3 favorite IchiHime moments.

Masterpost of moments where Ichigo and Orihime protect each other.

IchiHime implications of the lust arc.

Ichigo being teased about Orihime.

Ichigo's vow to protect Orihime.

Ichigo and Orihime's growing feelings for each other.

Orihime consistently being singled out to target Ichigo's heart.

Orihime loving Ichigo's kindness.

Ichigo being receptive to Orihime's feelings.

And these are some posts made by other people that I like:

A post about Ichigo's feelings for Orihime.

This one is an image post that basically combines almost every single IchiHime moment from the first to last chapter, as a visual reference.

A response my friend gave when asked the reasons that they ship IchiHime that I wholeheartedly agree with.

And another list of reasons.

I also just really love this post.

[shootingcookielover]

Negaduck literally not realizing that Gos is important to DW, cause he doesnt care for his own gos, until seeing the care DW has for Gos during a fight (idk maybe he saves her or smth) and then, he does an Evil Plot™. He goes to the Negaverse, grabs his own gos and convinces her to manipulate Drake Mallard into liking her and allienating og Gosalyn (she's just happy to do what her father wants; this is the most attention he's paid her in... A long time!) And while Negalynn does that - being the perfect little girl, not breaking things, going to bed on time, being all the things Gosalynn isn't and very much pulling herself into the center of attention (I'm just a poor little girl from the negaverse! My own father never cared for me! He kicked me out of the house and abandoned me in this new reality!) - Negaduck starts manipulating Gosalynn.

He starts talking to her, mentioning that Negalynn is a terrible little girl with a knack for manipulation and that Drake, poor, poor Drake seems to have fallen for the same tactics Negaduck once fell to... Before becoming wise to the manipulations and kicking Negalynn to the curb. Gos doesnt trust him at first, obviously, but when he doesn't attack and has the same opinion as her on Negalynn - well.

She tries to convince her father that Negalynn is lying to him, manipulating him and Negalynn plays up the cutesy, "I'm just an innocent little baby" card and Drake thinks Gosalynn is just jealous of her. She, in her frustrations, probably ends up mentioning Negaduck and Drake probably ends up grounding her for accusing Negalynn with terrible evidence and the help of a villain? Really, Gos, you should know better than to believe anything that guy says.

Gosalynn sneaks out of the house, of course, and ends up running into Negaduck again. Who keeps manipulating her, like "Of course I believe you! I'd help you get rid of your little parasite but alas, Darkwing would never believe me. I'd hoped he'd believe you, since you are his only, or, well, second, daughter, but it seems I was wrong."

I want there to be a dramatic thing where Gos ends up teaming with Negaduck and becoming a bit of a villain bc of this :D

I want Gosalynn actually enjoying living with Negaduck at first bc he doesn't mind - actually encourages - her more violent/destructive tendencies, but gradually coming to realize that living with Negaduck isnt all it's cracked up to be. Maybe they go on a heist and Negaduck abandons her at some point, maybe he forgets to feed her occasionally, maybe she falls asleep during a heist and gets yelled at by Negaduck, all bc she didn't have a strict bedtime and didn't sleep.

I want her to realize why Drake sets these boundaries for her; how much he actually cares. I want her to viscerally miss him but thinking she can't go back bc he probably prefers little Negalynn who does what she's told and doesn't break anything (an insecurity fed by Negaduck, of course).

Also, Negalynn keeping up this plan bc she's finally realized how much better Drake treats her in comparison to Negaduck and she doesn't want to lose him as a caring father figure by revealing that she was working with Negaduck the whole time

Just a scene where Negalynn goes to talk to Negaduck, maybe expecting praise for her good work, and him absolutely dismissing her like he always does and her just, fully realizing the visceral difference between ND and DW

I want ANGST and DRAMA

[firestorm09890]

FUCK what I said about the majority of significant changes to dialogue in Re:CoM being to adjust Axel's characterization, the most egregious change is actually this

(GBA CoM)

(Re:CoM)

if I had to guess, the reason for this change was because in GBA CoM, The Superior was a spooky, unknown being at the head of this Organization we had very little knowledge on, and for Vexen, the guy who runs his mouth constantly about how much better he is than the others, to be terrified of him, he must be some pretty scary dude. But then after kh2 we know him, it's Xemnas, he's very dramatic, he likes to talk to the moon, and the effect of your mind filling in the gaps about what "The Superior" must be like is gone. So it wasn't really necessary anymore, right?

(rest under cut because it's long)

Except... the way they changed it is so weird. In the GBA version, what's happening is pretty clear:

Marluxia tells Vexen that his project is a failure

Vexen demonstrates that he does not give a shit about Marluxia's opinion

he does care very much about The Superior's opinion, though, and Marluxia uses this to blackmail him into eliminating Sora- an action which is nonsensical, as the entire point of what they're doing needs Sora alive, making it clear to everyone in the room that he is deliberately sending Vexen to die

and then after that, when Vexen shows up to fight Sora, he goes "if you want to fight me for real you've gotta do it in the memories from the other side of your heart lol bye" and Sora goes "huh? other side?" and then it cuts to a scene on the top floor:

and then this gets more into subtext but here, Vexen has realized he's totally fucked and his only hope is to mess directly with Marluxia's plans (well, they were the Organization's plans, but it's pretty obvious by now Marluxia's abusing his power for his own purposes) by giving Sora more information than he should know. This does get the traitor gang worried enough to send Axel to go kill him (as opposed to just letting Sora take care of him, which was presumably the original plan)- he very specifically cuts Vexen off to keep him from saying too much (this is retained between the original and the remake)

Anyway, what happens in Re:CoM sort of follows the same order of events, but everything is changed slightly in a way that just makes things more confusing.

Marluxia tells Vexen his project is a failure and Vexen demonstrates that he doesn't give a shit about Marluxia's opinion, as before

Marluxia threatens Vexen with a weapon, rather than threatening to tell the Superior

this, notably, does not seem to faze Vexen very much. he continues to run his mouth while having the scythe pointed at him.

Xemnas is still leveraged- Marluxia points out it was the Superior who entrusted him with the castle

...even though reasonably Vexen would already be aware of this, and has still demonstrated that he has zero respect for Marluxia despite it

the lines about betraying the Organization being a capital crime are retained, probably because it's super relevant later, but then that line of thinking is abandoned in favor of Marluxia and Larxene just taunting Vexen instead

The part where Marluxia says "do it. you won't" could be seen as a sort of threat... if not for Axel's line: "You give a challenge like that to Vexen and he'll seriously want to eliminate Sora." It frames it all as though Vexen went to fight Sora out of some sort of pride.

And look, Vexen may have a temper and a superiority complex, but he's not stupid. They're obviously baiting him. Plus, what happened to him seeing himself as above the others and countering things he doesn't like with "well actually I'm higher ranked than you and also you're an idiot"? Is he that insecure in his fighting capabilities? I could deal with characterization changes doing him dirty if it didn't also make no sense in the context of the plot.

So now we have Vexen going to try to kill Sora, something that really makes no sense to do, out of pride. What was the purpose of sending Sora to Twilight Town? Also pride, over the fact that he managed to get that information? Giving the writing the benefit of the doubt, I could say that these nonsensical actions can be explained as evidence that Nobodies can have hearts and people with hearts do strange and rash things, but that just feels like a reach, which is bad because what they had in GBA CoM worked perfectly fine and made sense without any reaching for the "idk emotions make you do strange things" explanation.

It continues. After Vexen gives Sora the Twilight Town card in Re:CoM and Sora wonders about what the "other side" means, this is that version of the conversation the top floor members have:

...what? "If Sora disappears, that would mess up the Organization's plans"? what are you worried about? the only reason Sora would disappear is if Vexen killed him. there's no way they think Vexen being in Twilight Town would give him an advantage, right? they know he's a pathetic fighter. "Vexen has clearly committed a treasonous act against the Organization" HOW? HOW IS IT CLEAR? they don't express any worry about Sora learning too much, up until Axel says "I came to stop you from talking too much" when killing Vexen- and that being there makes it seem like they were worried about Sora learning to much, but if that's the case, why would they replace the perfectly serviceable lines in the above scene? it's just... baffling that they would want to lean into the narrative that Vexen going to kill Sora (which he'd been goaded into doing) is the problem here, because it just makes so little sense compared to what it was originally.

once again giving them the benefit of the doubt: Marluxia's real plan was to take over the Organization, and he saw an easy way to pick off one of the members, so he took it. the motive for stopping Vexen doesn't actually matter.

buuuuut it's the same as with Vexen earlier. Marluxia may be too self-absorbed and power-hungry to notice Axel is scheming against him, but he, too, is an intelligent man. he's plotted for a while, getting into Xemnas's good graces in order to be put in charge of the Castle. this is incredibly sloppy for him. I guess it could be said that getting so close to his goal would make him sloppy, but again, if they'd just left things the way they were in GBA CoM, I wouldn't even have to be saying this

in conclusion: GBA Chain of Memories' intra-Organization strife subplot is so tightly woven with calculated moves on all sides that Re:CoM changing certain things without taking into consideration the consequences makes certain parts of the plot fall flat and become far more confusing than in the original story

[the-gateway-to-madness]

@thesadpuffin

Behold, your very own high school radio station kids to play around with or ignore as you please. If this school does not have its own radio station, please assume they found a way to make their own, because these imbeciles absolutely would.

Shisi concepts:

17

Favorite color: seafoam green

Favorite drink: Sprite

Favorite food: any fresh bread, but especially sourdough

Would be from Kakariko

ASMR girl energy

Very quiet and calm

The one in charge

Aroace or just casually disinterested in drama, idk/idc which (both probably)

DJs Mon-Wed-Fri after school

The only neurotypical

She weightlifts. I didn't think of this until after drawing her, so she looks slimmer than she should, but it fits her so I'm adding it.

Torenn concepts:

16

Favorite color: teal

Favorite drink: Fanta lemon

Favorite food: Fish, shrimp, and crab (he doesn't like lobster)

Would be from Lurelin

Works and repairs all the tech involved

✨️autism✨️

A little nervous, follows the rules well enough to keep their station from being shut down by the school

Long n skinny with no muscle so his clothes are all baggy to be long enough

Flawless deadpan

DJs Tues-Thurs after school

Kyta concepts:

16

Favorite color: Purple

Favorite drink: fruit punch

Favorite food: chicken cordon bleu

Would be from Hateno

Knows a wide range of music

DJs on weekends because she's the only one willing to, and also runs the music for things like sporting events (she likes to play dramatic music when Revali goes out on the field, because she thinks it's funny when he gets mad)

✨️adhd and autism✨️

Has a running joke with herself about how many hair ties she can carry on her person

Refuses to wear the skirt

Ships Zelink. Torenn and Shisi don't get it

Gremlin energy- talks on live radio like she's making tumblr posts, her only concession to the rules is not swearing (she thinks it's funnier to use stuff like "fiddlesticks" and "horsefeathers" on air and watch Shisi and Torenn cringe, anyway)

"and today on friendships that just seem really nice: that one sporty dude whose hair is better than mine- Lonk, I think, right? And Zeeta! ... Link and Zelda, apparently. Torenn is making faces at me- oh there he goes again. Uh. Link and Zelda, if you're listening- which I bet a dollar y'ain't- sorry about the lonk and zeeta thing."

She sings, and also sews! If she ever managed to meet Link and Zelda she'd make them matching flannel frog plushes with each others' eye and hair colors included in the color schemes.

Further concepts:

Torenn and Kyta are childhood friends

To this day they say they faked papers and parental permission and got married at 14 as a joke. Everyone is still stunned they pulled it off

They did not. They both refuse to let anyone find out it's a hoax though.

They are really dating! A year so far and going strong.

Shisi is the only one who knows the truth about the whole shebang. She finds it pretty dang amusing, for the sole reason that Kyta and Torenn do too.

Shisi and Kyta share a love of sewing. Shisi taught Kyta to quilt and use a sewing machine and Kyta taught her to make plushes. After hearing the rumors about Zelda they would probably get her favorite colors from Impa and make her a nice quilt with fleece backing to cheer her up.

Shisi plays guitar, harp, and ocarina (>:])

Torenn can draw really well

They call their listeners their study buddies and go out of their way to occasionally throw in ridiculous songs for people to get up and stretch and dance to

Alright my bad night last night has caught up im out of ideas

i did make a playlist for these idiots' radio station tho

[moralesmilesanhour]

lil' baby crush

summary: gwen pays miles a visit and gets him to go to one(1) college party. wc: ~1400 a/n: this isn't canon-compliant in that gwen is gay and miles is bisexual here. he's like the 'damn nobody want u fr' 'im sayin like!' image. enjoy!

Miles sighed and sunk down into his chair, the blue light from his laptop illuminating his face. He was currently the only one occupying the shared dorm room, working on an essay that wasn’t due until next month while his roommate was out doing…whatever he was doing. 

Partying, probably.

Despite what he’d often told his parents to explain his sudden disappearances, Miles didn’t really do parties. 

He’d had a taste of them in the form of school dances at Brooklyn Middle: you get there, maybe talk to your friends a little, then stand around trying to figure out how, when, and for how long to dance while the same ten songs rattle your eardrums. 

If he wanted to blast his ears with music for several hours straight, he figured that’s what his trusty bass-boosted headphones at home were for. No complex social ballet required. Even better, he could choose the playlist. 

But it sure made for some boring-ass Friday nights.

Miles got up and rolled his shoulders, fully prepared to go lie in bed for another hour, when he caught a familiar golden light flash across his window. He grinned to himself, wondering which member of what Hobie had affectionately called ‘the Spider-band’ had swung by for a visit.

Tap, tap, tap.

Gwen’s white mask appeared in the frame. She waved as Miles padded over to the window and pushed it open wide enough for her to climb through. Just as her muddy converses were about to touch the floor, he raised an eyebrow.

“Gwanda, you know better.”

“Right, forgot about that,” Gwen laughed, kicking them off. “Old habits, y’know?”

Miles shook his head and grinned.

“So, how’s the thing with MJ going?”

Gwen removed her mask, revealing shoulder-length blonde hair. It fell in choppy layers, and she had replaced the soft pink dye at the tips with a fiery orange.

"Well, it's…going."

Miles crossed his arms.

"Gwen…You did talk to her, right?"

"Y-yeah! I spoke to her," Gwen gnawed at her bottom lip before mumbling, "Once. On the subway."

"Absolutely tragic," he exclaimed dramatically as he fell back on his bed. "My best friend has absolutely no game!"

"Oh, you're one to talk! You think I forgot about 'the shoulder touch'?"

Miles sat straight up.

"I thought we agreed to never speak of that again."

"Just saying," Gwen hopped off of the window sill and sat at Miles' desk. "Enough about me, though. How's campus life? You get wasted at any parties yet?"

Miles shrugged.

"I got invited to one nearby that's supposed to be tonight, but I stayed back. No club meetings this week, either, so…"

Her eyes widened.

"So you're just sitting here?"

"I'm being productive," he corrected, pointing to his laptop. "See? I'm half-way done with that essay, I could probably turn it in a week early."

"Miles."

"What? I'm chilling, Gwen, seriously! Just me and my, uh…" Miles glanced at his bookshelf. "...crossword puzzles."

Gwen stood resolutely, already having made a decision in her head.

"Pick an outfit, we're going to that party."

"Whoah, whoah, wait, hold on–"

Miles hopped to his feet as she threw open his closet and began rummaging through it. 

"Since when do you wear sweater vests?"

She held up several hangers with sweater vests of various colors.

"I wanted to look distinguished…?"

"Nerd," she snorted. "Oh, this bomber jacket looks sick! Feel like going out with it?"

Miles laughed, "Something tells me I don't have much of a choice."

"Correct," Gwen smirked, tossing the jacket at him. "I’m gonna have to borrow one of these hoodies."

-

After a twenty-minute walk (Miles didn’t want to risk swinging), the two stopped in front of a run-down apartment building. Loud music and spinning lights from mini disco balls spilled out of the windows.

"This is it," Miles breathed. "If my first party sucks or gets raided by the cops, I'm never speaking to you again."

"Never know until you try," Gwen replied. "Shall we?"

The place was already packed. There was a lively beer pong game happening in the kitchen, while a pack of students were strung along the walls in the living room puffing clouds of marijuana smoke into the air. The group in the middle of the room, of course, was dancing. Or something that closely resembled dancing.

Miles glanced across the room, scanning the sea of swaying bodies when he noticed one lounging on the couch.

The figure was staring down into a red solo cup, a full head of blonde, ear-length dreads obscuring half of his face until he looked up. 

In a devastating miscalculation, Miles let himself stare a little longer until he realized that their eyes had met. He froze, as if the stranger’s dark eyes kept him in place.

Gwen followed his line of vision. She’d seen that look on Miles’ face before: once when they first met at Visions, and again when Hobie had invited them to a concert and she’d caught Miles ogling the bassist. 

She grinned and clapped him on the shoulder. 

"I'll be by the speakers. Go get 'em, tiger."

Despite his sneakers feeling like they were made of concrete, he took a step forward, then another, keeping his eyes on his target all the while. 

The other boy tilted his head in amusement. 

"Um," Miles began, "I-Is this spot taken?"

"Well, I'm sitting in it, so…"

Real smooth, Miles.

"No! I mean, like, next to you–"

The boy’s eyes became crescent moons as he burst into laughter.

"Relax, I know what you meant. Spot's free," he gestured towards the empty area on the couch to his right.

"O-oh, cool. Thanks," Miles laughed awkwardly. The couch sank beneath him when he sat down.

How the fuck do you flirt with dudes?

He could barely fumble his way through flirting with women, riding almost entirely on them finding his utter lack of game endearing. Now here he was, glancing back and forth between the stranger and a wall.

"Yo, you want a drink?" The boy asked, snapping Miles out of his thoughts. "You look like you need one."

He was probably right.

"Sure, I don't mind."

He rose to his feet, revealing more of his outfit: an oversized black tee layered over a white shirt, with a red kilt draped over a pair of dark wash jeans. A real Jaden Smith type, it seemed. But maybe Miles was into that. 

It wasn't long before he returned with a second solo cup, which he pushed into Miles' hand. 

"So," he asked with a grunt as he sat, "Why you not dancin'?"

Miles snorted, and shook his head.

"I don't dance. Was never too good at it."

"Ah, but is the point of dancing to be good at it?"

"Don't get philosophical with me now, I'm a STEM major," Miles grinned, then took a sip of whatever was in his cup. 

He tried his best to hide his disdain for the brown liquid, but the grimace on his face made it evident. "I didn't catch your name, by the way."

"Call me TJ."

"That's a cute name–I mean, a nice name," Miles winced at himself. "A very…normal name."

TJ laughed, revealing a gap-toothed smile that made Miles' chest swell. "Thanks. Yours?"

"Miles. Miles Morales."

"I think your name's cuter. Bonus points for alliteration."

Miles felt heat rushing up to his ears and cheeks. He hadn't had enough to drink for him to blame it on that. 

"So, why aren't you dancing?" He asked, changing the subject.

TJ shrugged. 

"I prefer to people-watch."

"Oh, so when you do it, it's 'people-watching'," Miles made air quotes with his fingers. "I see how you move."

"And yet here you are, talking to me anyway. No idea why you chose me to sit next to, by the way. It's hella empty seats."

Miles bit his lip. 

"I…didn't come over here just to find a seat, actually." 

TJ raised a bleached eyebrow. 

"So what did you come here for? Clearly not to get high, your pupils look normal."

Miles took a deep breath, his heartbeat louder in his ears than the music.

"You, um…You're…"

Holy shit, just say something!

"Do you like boys? I'm not asking for a friend."

Oh my god. Not like that.

TJ blinked, then a smirk began to spread across his face as he came to a realization. 

"Why, yes. Yes I do. You wanna get outta here? I know a place with actual food."

Miles let out a breathy laugh.

"You have no idea how relieved I am to hear that."

"I think I have some idea. You're sweating."

Before he could respond, Miles felt his phone vibrate in his jacket. It was Gwen.

-gwanda: finally!!

-gwanda: if u don’t get his number im gonna be so mad at u. be back by midnight!!

He rolled his eyes.

-miles: ok mom

Miles shut off his phone and rose to his feet, as TJ had already done. He took a deep breath.

“Shall we?”