#I love hearing recommendations for fun halloween songs if you have them

[violetlunette]

Yuu's Ramshackle Playlist

I made a playlist for my MadYuu for self-indulgent fun. However, I quickly realized that I had so many that decided to cut them into parts. (They won't be posted right away for reasons.) This is the "Ramshackle" Playlist, which is basically just fun Halloween songs, lol. None are about his relationship with Silver as they get their own playlist. It's just mainly surface Yuu, however double stars are ones that hold little secrets to his deeper personality. Anyway, enjoy if you're the type to to actually click on the links of songs and listen.

**King of Villains- Voltaire

*Mad Scientist- (1989 TV theme)

**Weird Science- Oingo Boingo

*One Good Scare- (Phineas and Ferb)

*Spooky Scary Skeletons- Andrew Gold

*The Skeleton Dance- Voltaire

**Somebody’s Watching Me- Rockwell

*Rest in Peace-Darren Criss

*Grim Grinning Ghosts- (Disney Land)

*Chillin’ Like a Villain- (Descendants Cast)

*B-Movie- (Brave Little Toaster)

**Don’t Fear the Reaper-Blue Oyster

**No One Lives Forever- Oingo Boingo

[secriden]

This is going to be a long ask. I am here to shamelessly promote my beloved JoongDunk. I hope you are having as much fun discovering them as I did.

For JoongDunk content recommendations, I would like you to check out their two personal projects written and directed by Joong himself.

The first is the MV for the Last Twilight OST.

https://x.com/dunknatachai/status/1767516781617496348?t=mJKtoNOtqbXkskp-75IauQ&s=19

Joong loved this song so much that he just had to shoot an MV for it.

The second one is the short film POCONG.

https://x.com/dunknatachai/status/1851945210722554274?t=0J8gHh8D4oFKzvPihGmBag&s=19

They made this short film for Halloween this year.

Both of these are made entirely on JoongDunk's own initiative. Joong was the one who came with the ideas and Dunk, as he often does, wholeheartedly supported Joong and helped bring his ideas to life. I find it very endearing that they took time out of their busy schedules to make these projects for their fans. I also find it endearing that they roped in their friends and family to help make these projects. They put in a lot of effort to do their best with tbe limited time and resources they had. I hope you enjoy watching them.

;A; oh my gosh anon, thank you!?! i'm loving discovering them so so much (the timing is slightly unfortunate as this week i have to write ~6000 words on education theory and practice + work but i called in sick today so i'm pacing myself and also comforting myself with consuming joongdunk content rn ^w^;;)

[ the joongdunk MV for Last Twilight ]

oh god this is... this is breaking my heart. the utterly adorable snippets of them just being cute in disneyland?? did this start out as an elaborate excuse to go on a date and film themselves? idk but i'm not complaining.

the constant hand feeding ugh. why is food such a universal and yet visceral love language?? how is it always effective. the cheek kisses. the head pats. the dancing and twirling. the teasing each other. its all so like... that phase of the relationship where everything the other person does is magic and you are just so happy being around them and scenes they shot captured it beautifully (and setting it in Disneyland??? the automatic shorthand that brings for 'magic' and 'fairytale' and 'dreams coming true' such a great idea.)

i had to look up the lyrics and the song is so good??? "The last image I'll remember is when we were together" is such a fire lyric like it has the double meaning of the last thing i remember of you was when we were still happy together as well as the last memory that will play in my mind before i die will be of you. which is. devastating.

but then. good god the crying scenes?? wtf??? i have re-watched dunk's breakdown as he's leaning against the pillar about 7 times now. the way you can see the sobs wrecking his frame. you can *hear* the wet gasps he's taking in through his tears. what a stunning performance.

[ Halloween short film POCONG ]

ok i'll be the first to admit that i am a Wimp (yes, with a capital W, i avoid horror and anything with horror like the plague because it tends to stay with me for ages). so i'm going to watch this but like.......... in tiny (as in the screen is going to be shrunk down because its less scary that way.) xD

ok fuck that was terrifying. i'm never seeing it again. it was impressively horrifying despite it evidently not being a professional production.

the blood was surprisingly realistic?? i feel like i've seen a lot of amateur productions (at school) and the fake blood is always really obvious. the mummy was also a very scary take on it; the way you can see how tightly the fabric is tied/woven around the humanoid figure and how thick it is, like someone suffocated in it. the sound design. *shudders* the whole panic/asthma attack and then when dunk starts breaking down/sobbing especially. fucking nightmares - i'm going to go listen to the Last Twilight OST again to cleanse my ears.

also, i almost feel like both productions were, particularly, a chance for dunk to really show his range. like joong may be producing this but its also very clearly a celebration of dunk's acting talent and i love that.

i really see what you mean about it being endearing that they'll do something like this. it definitely gives us insight into what they value as creatives and its an incredible treat that they chose to share it with the fans and also support each other in it. i wonder if joong has director/producer aspirations? it'd be interesting to see where his career takes him down the line. i was looking at MDL and was kind of shocked at how many shows he was in in 2022 alone given that was like... right after covid restrictions were easing. man took every chance he got to get back into the field and that's really impressive.

[decamarks]

HAPPY BDAY JOJO!!! i wanted to ask you. I’ve been looking for more songs where the computer/game/technology is haunted . i’ve been craving more since i got into dream puzzles from ur petscop mv but my searches have been in vain. do you have any ideas.

OH DAMN that is an unexpectedly difficult question... I have very few good responses to give, actually. Hmm. I could give you many songs that have that "feeling" of haunted technology, but songs directly pertaining to this topic seem a bit niche... And Cabinet Man seems far too obvious to say.

If you're fine with more of an abstract recommendation, Trademark Ribbons of Gold by VHS Head is a very fun album. It has this very fuzzy feeling of nostalgia intertwined with choppy ecstatic IDM glitchiness and old horror movie samples. It's overall pretty "haunted" —but it's definitely a more fun kind of haunting. Like a Halloween kind. It's pretty great!

But if anyone has any more specific recommendations, I'd certainly love to hear them...

[honkytonkdyke]

Oh my I'm sorry about your fridge and puppy. I have three family dogs and two of them are scottish terrier puppies, who are obnoxiously loud, so I completely understand!

Wow I think I've actually asked you about honky tonk music before, but only briefly. I've never gotten into country music from any decade so I'm not really educated in this genre- but from what you've told me my interest has totally risen! I feel like 70s country music would be more prominent than 80s country music because when I think of the 80s I mostly think of more pop or rock genres, but I guess that's not the case!

I love hearing your fun rants, so no problem!

Today was okay, actually. I got more sleep than usual, so I didn't feel as tired during the day. I even made crêpe suzette, which is a crêpe with an orange sauce on it. Throughout the day I was listening to The Loneliest Time by Carly Rae Jepson and Rufus Wainwright on repeat, and then Middle Earth Ambience music when I was resting. I'm a big music listener, but the music depends completely on my mood. So yeah, that's it I think! Thanks for asking <333

Btw I love your new background and profile picture! I think I took a break after Halloween, so when did you change it? (Sorry for any typos)

not many people understand the small dog = big mouth LOLLL

so that’s actually a reason why 70s country is overlooked! a lot of it, at least in the ears of the people in the 70s, sounded more pop country—the word was countrypolitan—and was seen as country music dying or succumbing to pop AND rock trends of the 70s. it wasn’t until the 80s when country had its revival, with artists like randy travis, where most country listeners still thought country sounded like country. but if you go back and listen to the songs i mentioned the other day, they are undeniably country music.

if you really want to learn more about the history and the ages of country music, ken burns has an absolutely amazing documentary series called “Country Music” on PBS. it’s incredibly well made and documents country music all through the 20th century and how the genre came to flourish. i highly highly recommend it!!

oh my goodness i’ve never had crepe suzette, but it sounds really good!! i love ambience 😆 i put it on while i am studying or trying to write since i can’t listen to music with words and write at the same time. i’ll have to check out middle earth ambience.

i apologize for taking a while to get to this!! we got our new fridge in yesterday and i’m getting over my sickness! just some bad sinus drainage, i believe! i hope yesterday was wonderful for you and i hope today is even better!

[kquil]

Hello again pookie!!! 

It’s absolutely okay! I’m glad to hear you had a great Halloween! We don’t really celebrate where I live so it was mostly just going to random dungeons and haunted houses around here with some friends, it was a lot of fun! (We simply needed a reason to hangout and Halloween was our theme haha)

I’m super excited for Christmas!!! I’ve been playing carols and Christmas songs since summer vacation. The Christmas spirit is always high hehe.

Thank you so much for your kind words and reassurance! I had been putting the series on hold because I wanted to read it with a clear mind and it definitely was a good idea. I was able to enjoy it thoroughly today!!

This chapter was amazing. You left me speechless once again. I was literally going through a rollercoaster of emotions and it is very hard for me to experience fan-fictions so deeply, you truly outdone yourself!

Uni has been a blessing to me since my workload has been balanced! But it still gets hectic because there are so many things to do besides assignments and attending lectures! I remind myself that not everyone gets the opportunities I did and I must take care of myself and seek rest every week once a day no matter what. Thank you so much for your concern and reminder to take rest!

I wanted to ask some advice on creative writing. Do you have any recommendations that a beginner could use to get into creative writing? I’ve been interested since quite a while but I’m unsure on what I should look into first or how I should go about on a project. I have so many prompts, ideas and plots written down but I get confused on how to start anything. I thought it would be best to ask someone who I find inspiring (aka you) 

(˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶) .ᐟ.ᐟ

I’ve also meant to ask if you were aware of the on-going genocides in Armenia, Congo and Sudan? And the genocide on Uyghurs. There is barely any coverage on mainstream media. I personally haven’t found a lot of information on Armenia, very basic information I’d have to look more into it but I’ve been following many Congolese and Sudanese resources.

The Uyghurs often get neglected as well, they have a similar situation like Palestinians do. China annexed East Turkestan and renamed it as Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in 1949. They have been putting the native population in concentration camps.

Congo’s resources are being exploited for tech. The Congolese people face harsh treatments like rape and bombing for the sake of stealing these resources.

Sudan has been in turmoil due to their resources and for a new occupation by foreign entities that have sent militia to fabricate a “civil war” which has ruined the civilians’ lives. They are on the brink of starvation and have been constantly living in hell since April 2023. Women especially are living in a nightmare. Both the U.S and the U.A.E are involved in this.

Armenians have been facing threats from the Azerbaijan Government/Military of their eradication from what I know. This started last year around October/November. Israel has been complicit of providing weapons to Azerbaijan. I think it is one way or another complicit in other genocides I’ve mentioned as well.

This was very brief and I might have unintentionally given some false or mixed information, I apologize for that in advance but I thought it would be great to bring it to your attention. If you need some resources I’d love to share! Keep them in your thoughts and prayers 🩷

-🌸

hello, my darling! goodness, what a treat to have you in my inbox twice in a row. although you don't celebrate Halloween, it still seems like you had great fun, which is what matters most -- sounds super spooky but with great company so it sounds like a great halloween ٩(^ᗜ^ )و ´- omg! i love Christmas so i'm right there with you! i only wake up to Christmas songs now haha! ♪(๑ᴖ◡ᴖ๑)♪

and i'm glad you enjoyed the read, it's really become something quite special to me and to see it being received so well makes me so giddy and proud -- thank you for always taking the time to read my writing and enjoy it to the fullest, that's all i can ask for (ㅅ´ ˘ `)♡

awww~ you have such a good attitude when it comes to uni, you're soooo right when it comes to balancing rest and the workload. i know it'll get tough at times but seeing your outlook, i'm sure you'll pull through no matter how tough it gets (⸝⸝> ᴗ•⸝⸝) keep it up, my darling, you're doing brilliantly ( ˶˘ ³˘(⋆❛ ہ ❛⋆)!♡

omg that's so exciting! creative writing is such fun, i'm sure you'll have a fun time with it. ✧｡٩(ˊᗜˋ)و✧*｡thank you also for the high praise, always, you make me blush every time (。>\\<)♡ but i'm more than happy to help! although, i can only lend advice based on my experience so feel free to search and test out other techniques or advice online to help you along -- every writer is different

if you already have those prompts and ideas, the best advice i can give is to set aside some time, find a quiet place, put away all your distractions, set up your preferred writing medium (handwritten or typed), set down some snacks and a drink, and just begin writing. there's no better way to do creative writing than just making a start. of course, only do these for short prompts, you're only beginning after all so be gentle with yourself, and be gentle in your proofreading and self-critiquing too -- the more you write, the more you'll improve over time.

i also encourage reading books, you'll be able to pick up more vocab and writing structure things, you'll be able to see, first hand, how writers phrase things, start paragraphs, invoke emotions, describe environments, flesh out characters etc through storytelling

the way you go about your creative writing is also important to how you go about starting i.e if you want to have your own writing account like me here, create an account and start posting, the more you write and post, the more you'll grow with your readers, who will surely interact with your content and you'll see what things work and what don't -- though, there usually isn't a visible pattern lol (ᵕ—ᴗ—)

if you aren't willing to publish your writing online, that's also perfectly fine but i recommend having a dedicated notebook for your writing or make it fun and aesthetic in your own way. have a pretty notebook just for your writing or a binder that you can easily shuffle pages about or get a USB and dedicate it's entire storage to your writing and/or plans. i highly recommend going on Pinterest and searching something like 'writing aesthetic' or 'creative writing aesthetic/hobby' for visual and prompt inspiration on how to go about it -- if you find something you like or intrigues you, start it right away! don't feel like you have to buy any fancy stationary or anything though, for creative writing all you need is pen and paper or a reliable laptop and you're good, what matters is that you're giving it a go

that's all the advice i can give for now, if you want to ask me anything specific please feel free to reach out whenever and i'll try to respond as soon as i can! wishing you all the best on your creative writing endeavours, you're going to do amazing ✧(⸝⸝> ᴗ•⸝⸝)   

i have no words for the type of inhumane atrocities happening in Armenia, Congo and Sudan, it makes me sick the amount of suffering innocent people, men, women and children, are forced to go through. i, sadly, have not been well informed of these horrific circumstances but thank you so much for bringing them to my attention, my darling, you're an angel. i will keep the innocents in my prayers and hope that their corrupt perpetrators go to hell. those sources will be very helpful, thank you! there's not much i can do but know about what's happening and making sure i never forget what's happening and has happened, I'll make sure those suffering unfairly will be remembered, always x

[miramizar]

Hello! Your Secret Santa Again ❄️ Many apologies for the long silence I hope you're doing well!

Thank you for the Exo vid recommendations in your last answer! I haven't seen that many of the concert stages yet and both the ones you named were amazing!! that acoustic medley though!! But since you asked, right now my favorite stages are... maybe the 2019 Smtown in Japan Gravity and the KBS awards For Life?

You also picked the sweetest Suho moments, very fun to revisit. <3 Our leader really puts his heart into everything he does. I haven't started his drama yet either although it looked exciting! I have been watching Xiumin's ceo-dol mart, I just have the last couple episodes left. What have you been watching lately?

My favorite bbh moments... are many lol. I love the late night car ride lives he was doing for a while just singing and driving.

Favorite Kyunsoo songs... all of Empathy? I also really like Wonder off the new album.

I don't know that I have a SHINee bias, I feel like it changes every day but I adore them all. For WayV either Ten or Kun (speaking of lovable dorky leaders).

I like SuJu as well (so many good songs!!) I haven't heard any VIXX- what's your song rec? For Pentagon now is probably a rough time to get into them haha but I would recommend looking up Shine and Naughty Boy those are my favorites, or maybe Daisy or Dr. Bebe if you like a more intense concept.

I am not really a true horror fan but I really like the sort of offbeat gothic creepiness (think Addams Family or SHINee Married to the Music energy) and I like having a season to play that up. I don't have any halloween plans, but I decorated! What about you? Do you celebrate Halloween?

Re: your present, I wanted to ask if there was anything specific you might want? I mostly do digital art, but I can also do traditional drawing, moodboards, edits...I already have some ideas, but lmk if there's anything you had in mind!

Talk soon! <3

Hi!! ❣️ Oh it's definitely okay! And please accept my apologies as well - it's been rather hectic lately and I didn't have wi-fi for a bit and I caught a small cold etc. so I took way longer to answer you than I intended to... I hope that this doesn't make you feel too stressed about my gift? I'd love to receive anything really - I did pick fanart on the sign-up sheet, but I like all the options you mentioned so please feel free to do whatever you feel inspired to do! ✨

How have you been since our last talk? Hearing about you decorating during Halloween made me smile (>v<)🧡 I don't celebrate it myself, (I've been getting ready to celebrate Advent instead hahah) but I do like the aesthetic of it somewhat? And I get what you mean about the Shinee/Addams vibe! There's some humour to the creepiness, which is really nice! ✨ Still, I have to admit that I like watching/listening to darker horror movies/tales in every once in a while, especially if the stories are good (>v<;)

Oh, don't mention it! I'm just happy to hear that you liked those stages as well 💗 and you picked some great ones too! I tend to forget to look for SMTown videos and rewatch the music show stages for some reason, but now I have the perfect opportunity to do so 💫

Aahfbdf your kind words has me smiling really wide over here (>///<)💖 He really does, and I love and admire him so much for it 💕 I'd love to talk to you about Myeon's drama when we get to watch it! And I'd also love to hear what you thought about Xiu's drama - I've seen some gifsets from it and it looks fun! ✨ Sadly I haven't been able to watch anything lately, but I really want to get back into it! (>^<) I've been playing some Ni no Kuni though, maybe that counts ahah

That's a lovely answer! I also love his spontaneous lives where he's just being himself, it's so genuine somehow 💖 You also picked some great songs of Soo's, I can't help but agree with you on loving the entire "Empathy" album! 💚 I have to ask you a hard question now - what is your favourite Baek album? And favourite songs sung by him?

I understand that! They're a bunch of lovable dorks, who's not to adore? (the same goes for pretty much all the groups hahah)💕 I think it's the same with me regarding WayV though, I also gravitate towards Ten and Kun whenever I stop to think about my bias (>w<;)

ooh you're also an elf? I have to ask about the songs you think are good then ahdfbf 🎵Thank you for the Pentagon recommendations! I actually heard Shine and Dr Bebe before, I just forgot? I do like both though! And Naughty boy is so cute, while Daisy really is more intense - but definitely my style! 💗 For Vixx, I got into them thanks to Fantasy, and I still think of it as a favourite along with Shangri-La and Hyde - I like their dark concept, but at the same time some of their gentler songs are the sweetest I've ever heard, like Love letter and The rain! 💌

Thank you for answering all my questions so far, and I'm sorry again for taking so long to reply - I really enjoy reading your messages and I look forward to talking to you again soon ❣️ Take care!!

[notebookmusical]

Happy Halloween!!! I love you and your dog's costumes! They're so cute..lol I can't remember the last time I dressed up for Halloween, but I might carve a pumpkin later tonight and watch more movies. Are you doing anything fun? I watched a few movies but they were more like campy and from the 80s. I don't really do scary besides some Stephen King movies, but I might watch the Haunting of Venice which I think is on Hulu now. I was saving movies as it got closer to Halloween but I usually let it last the whole week anyway. I have seen both Happy Death Day movies and enjoyed them. One of the movies on my list is called Totally Killer, and it actually seems sort of similar to Happy Death Day actually. There's also a new Haunted Mansion movie and Hocus Pocus 2, which I haven't watched yet, so that's on my list.

The prove it part is so fun and iconic! Although at my show, I don't think she said that. Was that the version that was in the movie too? Yes for Speak Now, it was a lot more theatrical cuz it really had props and a set and it almost felt like a continued story..like she interrupted the wedding but then turned into a princess and got her happy ending. It also had some of the best costumes and really felt like she was telling you her story on stage just like a musical. I wish I could have gone to that tour..or any of her tours. I've only been to rep and eras even though I've loved her from the beginning. All of her tours seem to fit the era at the time and just get better and better!

I hope you have a good time seeing Hadestown this weekend and that your mom likes seeing it! I was honestly shocked by the new Sweeney Todd casting and your post about it was how I found out yesterday but then it was announced today I think..for Halloween! That's so exciting! I'm a little skeptical cuz Aaron always seems a little young to me for some reason but would be interested to see them in the roles. Someone on Twitter joked he was playing Antony lol. What do you think about it?

So how much of Tomorrow x3 did you read? I'm shocked it doesn't get that much better since it seems to have good reviews and has been recommended by people I follow but I honestly don't know that much about it. But even The Night Circus and Starless Sea have mixed reviews and I would rather trust your opinion so I'm sure it's good! So I started the Night Circus last night cuz that's the one I have on my shelf but hopefully I will read The Starless Sea at some point. I like it so far and think I will get used to the writing the more I read. It doesn't seem like it will be a quick read for me cuz it's pretty long so I apologize..but I'm really looking forward to it!

So I need a bit more time with the Maisie songs but they were so much better when I heard them again. Like Holy Revival..at first I was confused by the sound but the chorus and song is catchy and gets stuck in my head. Then Truth Is, I was a little bothered by the phrasing at first, and it felt unfinished to me but now I don't mind and that's definitely one of the best songs. I feel you can tell when some songs were written..like Yoko and the Last One sound so much like old Maisie to me, but Holy Revival and Guy on a Horse sound more like Rockstar and Blonde based on lyrics and sound. I can't really rank them yet but it would probably be Truth Is, The Last One, Yoko, Holy Revival, The Song and Guy on a Horse..maybe? I've mostly been playing 1989 and haven't had time to watch her lyrics videos yet though. I know Yoko was an old snippet though so I'm sure she does have more and maybe one day she will release those, but also most are just acoustic so idk.

Anyway I totally agree about not really having favorites for the 1989 vault. It's either that they're all so good or they're all the same in a way. But the one that immediately sticks out to me both sound and lyrics is Slut. That's the only one that I could remember and was stuck in my head the next day after hearing it the first time. I am so surprised more people don't love this song! I know it's not what we expected but I think it's so good..so this one is probably my one favorite from this vault. Listening to it is almost like being in a movie to me and I Can See You felt like that too. I do admit that the title doesn't really need to go with the song..it could've been called something else and I think that's why people aren't liking it as much. The others were harder to remember, but I think Now that we don't Talk is also pretty catchy. Say Don't Go is both catchy and probably has the best lyrics so that's my next favorite. Suburban Legends was actually the one I thought I liked the most on first listen and lyrically seemed the most interesting..it kinda reminded me of Cardigan or Dorothea. That's something I can personally sort of relate to so maybe that's why it stood out, and I just prefer some of the lyrics in the song...like screw me up forever lol. but it also feels pretty short and they all are. Is it Over Now has grown on me a lot, but the best part is the bridge for sure..and I love the way she sings it, and oh Lord, but I could also see myself just skipping to that part in the song in the future. I think that one is the single and one people love the most, and it could be cuz it's very 1989. But I just don't care about the lyrics that much, which might be why everyone else likes it more than me lol..and they're similar to Out of the Woods. 1989 was always one of my least favorite albums cuz she has a lot of songs about the same thing

I have never played Sudoku cuz I think it's hard! I'm pretty good at all the word games and crosswords though, and it's just become part of my routine. I count it as some learning for my day. Connections I am okay with and it does switch between easier and hard for me. I like that you play it too though, cuz I thought no one else really did. Now it's something else we can have in common! Have a good rest of your Halloween night!!!

happy happy halloween! happy november! it's funny because i didn't really do halloween as a kid (it's not a huge thing in hong kong, not the way it is here in the states) + am not super big on it as an adult as a result, but i love love love dressing up toto! any excuse i get i'll take it. he has some christmas outfits, lunar new years outfits, etc. it's very fun! i went to a halloween thing last night but also ended up hurting myself (a constant joke in my friend group is how i need to be wrapped up in bubble wrap), so i cut it short and now i'm just resting! did y'all get any trick or treaters? we didn't and i'm lowkey a bit sad about that :(

i'm not a huge horror movie fan (as i mentioned last time), but i do love my fair share of like bloody musicals (american psycho, we are the tigers, carrie, etc. — which ... a lot of are adaptations haha). i've been listening to american psycho the musical all day, actually and very much reminiscing like 2015/2016 broadway season. i think a lot about how much more commercialized broadway is now, and how a lot of the adaptations don't feel well fleshed out but rather a lot like cash grabs and sometimes things don't need to go on broadway but would be better suited off-broadway or elsewhere and i just think everything is very ... safe ... now! no one is taking risks! everything feels so ... money-oriented, which like, yes broadway/theatre is a business, but it feels so lifeless and sad sometimes to me. like so many shows are just adaptations or stunt casts and it's just ... so sad to me. ugh. ok soapbox over.

the prove it part is only in the movie! it's also on the cruel summer live single! it's very fun! i went to red tour and eras but i think if i could i would've gone to fearless or speak now out of all the tours. what about you?

i don't know how i feel about the new sweeney todd! but i also don't know how i feel about this production of sweeney in general? i'm not a huge sweeney girlie — i've never seen it live and have only seen the movie, but everyone i know has been continuously shocked by the castings in this production! i was just telling a friend how aaron is 40 now and we were both like "that can't be possible he was just playing a teenager in next to normal yesterday" 😭😭😭😭 i'm sure he'll be great, but it's just like how i felt with annaleigh when she was cast in sweeney — my brain thinks of aaron as bobby in that production of company he did years ago at barrington stage (?) in the same way that my brain still thinks of annaleigh as dot/marie in sitpwg, so i think it's just going to be hard for me to be like "new sondheim role!"

i think i got through like two chapters? and then stopped. a lot of people liked it, so maybe i'll give it another go some day! i don't even know why i couldn't get through it, just wasn't feeling it i suppose! i feel really bad because my friend sent it to me from the uk. oh well! i haven't really gotten back to reading the night circus yet either, but i'm hoping to spend more time reading it this week! i might try to read an arc tonight and then if i have time tomorrow night or friday i'll try to read more of the night circus! it is very long; please take your time! i'm double annotating it (i can explain this if you want!) so it's also going to take me a whileeee — and i'll be out of town next weekend (which i keep forgetting about) and have things i need to do before it so i probably won't be reading much this week!

and yes! i think what i really like about tgw deluxe — and 1989 vault — is that they properly feel like "Vault" tracks or "bonus tracks" or "songs that we could've put on the album but switched it out for something better/more fitting" instead, like it gives us this insight into the production of it all, the message/themes they wanted to send, etc. i've been listening to 1989 tv more since we talked, and it's definitely grown on me more but i still don't think i have a distinct opinion on favorites! i'll have to relisten suburban legends but i think i can see where you're going with cardigan/dorothea!

connections was very fun + easy for me today! i've been a sudoku girlie for many many years, so it's just been very fun! but i don't always have time to sit down and play it, which kind of sucks. connections is much less of a commitment, which works better for me! my friends and i send our results in into our group chat every day — usually i'm either the first or second, depending on if someone is up after midnight and does it before bed vs. i like doing it in the middle of the night when i wake up at like 3am haha! i feel like sometimes the more "easy" categories are harder for me than what they think are the hard ones? what about you? x

[the-teddy-bear-butch]

Hiiii Lo!

It is so okay dude! October kicked your butt now November is kicking mine c'est la vie! The inbox is a cursed place I just spent forever going through all the ones the piled up lol.

y'know what? You had the right answer on the pickles, they are really not my favourite things 😂

oh no! that sucks :( I gotta re-read so many series. I got a whole box of old books from my aunt the other year and they are everything to me.

we also love intelligent badass women in this household! I still haven't seen legally blonde but I did see scream for Halloween and it was really good!

I'm not too bad with horror though I will pick a comedy over horror any day. I've never seen ginger snaps but I looked it up (it's Canadian!) and now I gotta watch it. I'm not sure if I really have a favourite horror movie I think it's tied between scream and IT but probably scream since IT isn't really scary...

Okay so Sports Car is wonderful, I go feral every time you can hear a clip of someone talking in a song even if it's just for a second. I'm getting a couple colour/vibes from the song it's kinda tricky to describe but when it gets REALLY cold and the sky goes a very pale blue that colour and also rose pink magenta which I didn't think was an actual colour but when I looked it up it had some good pictures that matched what was thinking of! It also reminds me of dry cracked asphalt road in the summer and walking by the river on the beach in late afternoon with the sun not quite setting yet.

Infinitely Ordinary is definitely a blue you get right before the sky is pitch black when you can only half see things and it starts getting colder with nightfall and also doing stupid stuff with your friend when you were kids late at night.

I listened to the entire sick seasons and Northern Attitude is probably still my favourite lol. The View Between Villages is sage green and cream white, it's waking up in the morning to find everything covered in snow and while it's beautiful it also feels wrong with how quiet and undisturbed everything is and doesn't feel right until birds and people and other animals go and live in it.

I don't mind the long winters tbh but when it snows in the first week of November well... it sucks but I do love snow!

RIGHT??? why is it so hard to flirt or even just make friend when not behind a screen I swear.

Nice pronouns you got there! very cool of you!

If i'm the cool as fuck Canadian friend then you're the cool as fuck American friend!

Nooo! [jumps in front of bullet] tell me basic facts! I can remember the weird ones but the normal ones completely escape my mind.

I love baking even though i'm not very good at it, I have 1 very good bread recipe down pat but everything else is kinda hit or miss lol.

I do have one thing to say about the album before I hear anything you have to say about it but Pomeranian Spinster is hot pink and revenge (would totally work in Do Revenge I think)

if you do end up listening to it I wanna know your favourite song out of them!

�� надеюсь, что ноябрь будет для вас хорошим.

- Эль

(which technically translates to something about November being a good ale to you but for my intended purposes acts as a 'I hope this letter finds you in good health' lol)

Hellooooo to my favorite stranger!! <33

Oh dear! I hope in the time it took me to get back to this, November decided to give you a break and you’re able to get some rest!! I’m finally going through the inbox again, at least this time I only waited 13 days instead of a whole ass month 😅

Oh bless, I thought you were going to shame me for being a pickle hater. Solidarity! 🤝 They’re nasty and slimy

That sounds fun!! Keep me updated on what you’re reading, I’m always keeping an eye out for recommendations 👀 I think next on my list is Priory of the Orange Tree which has only sat unread in my backpack for like,, the whole semester 🤪 I’m sure I’ll be annoying about it on here when I get to it

I definitely recommend it! Truly an iconic movie 😌 I STILL need to watch Scream, but I may have potential plans for that in the future at some point, we shall see!

Oooooh please let me know what you think! Absolutely a wild ride of a movie, but Ginger Fitzgerald my beloved. Unhinged women ftw. I haven’t seen IT and I’m unsure if I’m adding it to the list or not. I am a big scaredy cat ajskdkkdkd

I’m eating this imagery all right up omfg. Sports Car has been one of my favorites since a particular mutual recommended it for a Ronance fic, so that one will be coming up eventually 😌 And SO TRUE, the whole talking portion in songs is something that will get me every time

I was going to say we don’t get snow that early, but last year we had a weird fluke where we had a really bad ice storm at the end of October and then basically nothing else. Stranger year. Now it’s still occasionally hitting 70°F in November. Gotta love Oklahoma weather’s unpredictability 😐

Thank you so much! I’m loving the pronouns very much.

Oh god I have so many, I’d be truly obnoxious. The ones that immediately come to mind are: a large portion of the riders of Rohan are women in beards because they couldn’t find enough male riders. Also, Viggo Mortensen, Aragorn, broke his toe kicking the helmet in the scene where he’s tracking Merry and Pippin to the orc camp. They kept that scene because the scream was hella convincing. He also bought two of the horses he rode in filming because he loved them. He also bought Arwen’s stunt double’s horse for her. (I adore Viggo Mortensen). Christopher Lee, Sauruman, wanted to be Gandalf. I could be so obnoxious, but most of these are “common knowledge” against die hard fans and quoting them during movies will quickly get you uninvited to movie night LMFAO. Have I mentioned I love LOTR?

Baking is fun! I’ve never tried bread, but I make kickass brownies. I prefer cooking tho, easier to experiment and play with spices (which my family did NOT do when I was a kid).

Listening immediately! (Listening to the whole album as I’m writing this actually). I gotta say, this album kind of has similar vibes to like,,, The Cranberries and The Bangles I think?? I LOVE it, in short. I’m about halfway through and Easy On Your Own? is my favorite so far. Pomeranian Spinster and Do Revenge, oh my god your MIND. After the Earthquake is also a BOP. I wanna learn these guitar riffs if I ever get a guitar

Will update if favorite song changes, ofc 🫡 But I didn’t want to leave you hanging any longer <33

Hope you are having a lovely day!!

Sorry for leaving this unanswered for so long again 💔 Should be able to respond quicker as school is coming to an end and I’m down a class 😌

- that one massive fucking nerd, Lo/Max

[ihni]

Tag 10 people you want to get to know better!

Tagged by: @memes-saved-me (thanks, this was fun!)

Relationship Status: Friends and relatives, which I am very grateful for and content with. No romantic alliances, though, which is according to my preferences.

Favourite Colour: Depends on the day or situation, but I do like the greens. It brings a bit of life to just about everything.

Favourite Food: There is a lot of good food, I can’t choose just one. But, let’s say pasta with salmon and sweet and sour cream sauce.

Song(s) Stuck in Your Head: “Du måste finnas”

Dream Trip: Iceland

Last Book You Read: Last one I finished was “The Flat Share” by Beth O’Leary (recommended by @cherrydreamer and @callieb), but I am currently in the middle of reading “take a chance with me, it will be alright” by @lazybakerart, which I have printed into a book, so that counts.

Last Book You Enjoyed Reading: ... see above.

Last Book You Hated Reading: I had a hard time with “Call me by your name”. It was all love and relationshippy, and nothing else, and thus was not relatable at all to me.

Favourite Thing to Cook/Bake: Halloween treats or gingerbread creations (basically, anything that takes a bit of effort, contains an element of Creation, and which yields a cool result)

Favourite Craft to Do on Your Free Time: I don’t know if I have a favorite; I’ll try anything that allows me to Make Stuff.

Most Niche Dislike: I have lots of dislikes, but I cannot tell you which of them is the most niche. People speaking unironically about padel (the sport) within hearing distance, perhaps?

Opinion on Circus(es): Interesting and fun to my child self, and an experience to watch the artists perform when I got older. Haven’t been to one in years, though.

Do You Have a Sense of Direction: Yes. But I won’t reveal if that sense is good or bad.

Tagging: @callieb, @cherrydreamer & @lazybakerart since I’ve already tagged you in this anyway, and also @missroserose, @bentnotbroken1fanfiction, @disdaidal, @hunnystufff, @peanut-booi, @elowmojo, @cherry-sorry (no pressure to do it, of course, it’s just for fun)

[numetaljackdog]

what i'm listening to 9/5/2022 (song notes under the cut)

spot link//yt link

trying something a little different where i put the songs in order from favorite to least favorite

Laura Les - Haunted: haunted. by laura les

Pitchshifter - Genius: this band is an unusual entry into the nu metal genre by virtue of being from the uk, where most acts hail from somewhere in the americas or asia. this is one of those songs that just *feels* good, like i'm chewing on the industrial crunch and overlapping vocals

Tallah - Shaken (not stirred): honestly this could have easily taken top spot. i genuinely cried upon hearing this for the first time from the sheer intensity. manic tallah-patented weirdness followed by an unexpected and very pretty harmonized singing section, followed by the most atrociously disgusting triple breakdown i've ever heard. cool to hear derrick doing some singing too!

Limp Bizkit - Welcome Home (Sanitarium): i know i've already posted about this one but it's just such a fun cover and i think the context is super funny, i just keep coming back to it

Ray Charles - I Got A Woman: remember last month when i included gold digger and said that i should just listen to more ray charles, since the sample was my favorite part of that song? well. i did

Limp Bizkit - No Sex: i reference this song a lot bc the title's funny but it's also genuinely kind of an interesting track. this one's about fred expressing to his partner that he feels like they rushed into the intimate part of their relationship too quickly, and now that's become the only foundation the relationship has. he wants to have a relationship, but he doesn't want to have to rely on only sex to keep it going. it's a surprisingly emotionally mature song to include on the same album as "nookie", and cements significant other as being... actually kinda really good

Louis Armstrong - What A Wonderful World: another song that gets memed a lot, but this is just such a sweet little number. in particular, the lines "i hear babies cry, i watch them grow/they'll learn much more than i'll ever know" makes me want to cry. what a beautiful sentiment, to rejoice that our children and our children's children may inherit a world better and wider and more full of love and wonder than we could ever imagine..... 💜

Supertramp - The Logical Song: one of those songs you hear a million times and never think twice about until you listen to the lyrics. i've been listening to this album on a mutual's recommendation (i wonder if you'll read this?) and it's been a fun time! planning on checking out some of the other stuff when i find the time

Godsmack - Serenity: tbh i never used to like godsmack. i don't think sully erna is a good singer, and their songs are pretty simple and hacky. i did buy this album as part of one of my thrift store hauls, though, and this closing track really struck me. like a lot of abrasive post-grunge bands, i think they're a lot better when they tone it down a little bit. this song reminds me of silently, desperately wandering through the desert

Vanilla Ice - Nightmare Disco: oh boy where to start. i'm a big vanilla ice fan (like, 70% ironically) and i never expected to like anything from his disastrous (and, to date, most recent) album W.T.F., but this one's kinda fun, it's like a dark dance pop track. there are a couple of halloween-y tracks on that record, and this is one of them. gotta love the spooky vibes! unless you're vanilla's team, apparently, as this album is not available anywhere on youtube

Almighty Cover Girlz - Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down (Almighty 12" Anthem Mix): damn could you make the name a little longer maybe?? normally i wouldn't even type all that out but they also have two other similarly named remixes of this song. this was an everynoise dot com find, and i was glad because i think alicia keys is a great performer but i've never liked this song. this mix brings it the extra mile for me

Lemon Demon - Ben Bernanke: this played on chase clown_depot's mediashare stream and i've had it in my head since. not much else to say, it's just another lemon demon song that i enjoy immensely

Bush - Comedown: not much to say here, either. another uncommon uk contender, and a far more successful one at that. not my favorite bush song, but it's the one i've had in my head. help

Pitchshifter - Microwaved: hey they're back! i was pleasantly surprised by this song taking on the sort of shitty fake plastic feeling that modern capitalist society has been permeated with. i've been revisiting the "leftist nu metal" playlist i had promised (and never delivered whoops) in a previous post and this was a good find. not as tastey sounds as genius but still worth the listen

A Perfect Circle - Counting Bodies Like Sheep To The Rhythm Of The War Drums: speaking of both left-wing nu metal and long as fuck titles... this is an anti-bush song that doesn't really land, but is a cool track independent of that nonetheless

Edison Lighthouse - Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes): one-hit wonder with a really weird story behind it. i would highly recommend the todd one hit wonderland video about this, that's how i first heard about it

Vanilla Ice - Hate: return of the ice-man. this is the type of song that got me into his music in the first place. i'm easy, really. i'll go for basically any nu metal i can find. nothing too special about this one, though, it's just catchy

SR-71 - Tomorrow: the last two songs here are placed next to each other on purpose. this was pop punk band SR-71's attempt at transforming themselves into clones of linkin park after hybrid theory started selling like hotcakes. they did a surprisingly decent job, getting the production and singing style nearly dead-on; however, they predictably didn't get very far with this maneuver

Crazy Town - Drowning: this was nu metal band crazy town's attempt at transforming themselves into clones of linkin park after hybrid theory started selling like hotcakes. being a nu metal band that already had dual vocalists and a dj, you would think they had an easier time of it than SR-71, right? nope. drowning is far less believable as a linkin park than tomorrow, which is pretty embarrassing for these guys. oh well, they can add it to their list

[clovermunson]

somehow, i’ve managed to gain 400 followers, so what better way to celebrate such a milestone than with a halloween-themed sleepover? also in this post is a small mutuals appreciation section, since i just felt like letting my lovely moots know how much i love them💕

this celebration will last from october 17th until midnight on october 31st! all you have to do is send one or more emojis into my inbox!

***CLOSED***

thank you to everyone who participated!🥰

🍬trick or treat- send this in to receive a blog compliment from me

🍂playing in the leaves- send this in for some song recommendations

🎃pumpkin patch- send this in and i’ll ship you with a character from either the harry potter universe or from the mcu (please specify fandom and gender preference!) and give a few fall activities you’d do together

💀spooky scary skeletons- a little bit of fun and games here, send this in for a cym, fmk, or kmk (please specify which one!)

👻the ghost with the most- send this in for me to recommend a few fall/halloween movies

🧙🏻‍♀️costume contest- send in which character you’d go to a halloween party with, and i’ll give you a couples costume

🔮astrology assessment- send this in along with your big three (sun, moon, and rising signs) for me to tell you the general vibe i get from you based on that

🧡happy halloween!- send this in if you just want to chat, rant, or vent

🖤spooky aesthetics- send this in for a halloween moodboard made by me for you (limited to five asks only)

tagging some lovely moots to spread the word: @cupids-crystals @velvetcloxds @onlyfreds @darthwheezely @jackys-stuff-blog @gcldensnitch @danceworshipper @melmalone @skarlettmikaelson @cursebreakerfarrier @slytherindisaster @thatravenpuffwitch

tagged below are a few moots that i’m very appreciative of, for the sake of not making this post too lengthy, i tried to not go overboard with my sentiments💕

@kc-needs-coffee kate, you are truly one of the most wonderful people i have ever had the pleasure of meeting on this godforsaken hellsite (pretty sure you were also one of my first few followers too, but i can’t remember for shit😂). every day i’m always so excited to hear about any new ideas you have or any new adventures you may have had, or even if you just jump into the chat to thirst over your celebrity crushes because it’s always so fun and i’m so glad that you’re a founding member of the wifey squad and one of my best friends💙

@nevilles-top carmi, you’re such a genuine and sweet soul that i can’t even find the words for it. another founding member of the wifey squad, and dare i say it, maybe the most powerful wifey of the wifey squad. you’ve had so many good things come your way, and i’m manifesting many more great things for you! keep your head up bby, the universe has great things in store for you, which i know that you’ll be 100% up to the challenge for and i’m so glad to call you one of my best friends💚

@lifeofkaze last but certainly not least, another wifey squad member, the lovely anni, truly the one who really holds the group together when the rest of us are going absolutely bat-shit insane. i haven’t known you for as long as i’ve known the other wifeys, but i’ve known you just long enough to know that that your ideas are always just absolutely brilliant, even if some of them are absolutely heart-wrenching (i’m sure you know what i’m talking about😂) and that you’re truly one of my best friends, and i’m so thankful to have met you💛

@cupids-crystals lydia, i’m grateful to have seen your wonderful little blog grow so quickly over the past few months, every follower you have is so deserved! even though we may not chat much, i consider you to be one of my true moots and i’m sending nothing but good vibes and happy thoughts your way in hopes that you get everything you want and deserve from life!💕

@danceworshipper zin, you chaotic little ball of somehow-always-tried-energy. you’re one of the ones who has been here since the beginning of my little blog, so you’ve quite literally seen it all happen here😂 even though i’m sure you want to smack me upside the head with a frying pan at times, you’re still one of my favorite mutuals and i’m so glad that you’ve been here since the start of my little hellhole of a blog💕

@velvetcloxds monique, one of my newer mutuals, but that doesn’t mean i don’t absolutely love seeing you on my dash! as a fellow chris evans simp, that instantly earned you bestie status with me. also, your current theme is just absolutely gorgeous! we haven’t really chatted much, but i’ve seen enough of your interactions with others to know that you’re genuinely very sweet and kind, and that you deserve all the good things from life!💕

[popculturebuffet]

House of Mouse: Halloween with Hades: Wingmickey (Commissioned by Weirdkev27)

Happy Halloween all you happy people! We’re back to the house of mouse for our second halloween visit as Mickey Tries to get Hades laid, Donald tries to be spooky, Goofy goes into space and Donald and the boys gaslight each other. All of this and more under the cut!

How To Camp:

Look at this point anyone whose read my reviews before knows I love How To Shorts. Their funny fun and the gimmick of the snooty narrator doing this thing while Goofy does his thing never gets old. And given the last one I covered was a masterpiece, I was shocked to get another almost as good. 

How To Camp plays with the fomula by having Goofy use a tape deck for the how too  narratoin, though still thankfully the same voice... and by having Aliens abduct goofy and thus goofy explore their ship while thinking it’s the wilderness. 

The shake up is a nice tweak to the formula, using the contrast of what goofy sees and the headset for comedy as you’d expect but also just being plain fun watching Goofy tumble around a space ship as aliens try to catch him, then progress to trying to do a murder on him. It’s pure fun and I highly recommend you seek it out. 

Donald’s Halloween Scare:

Another truly excellent short and one of the best from the episodes i’ve covered this year by far. 

It’s also the rare one using the triplets as so far in an entire year of doing these I have not seen them outside of the quack street boys or quacking pumpkins, probably one of the most 2000′s sentences ever uttered by man or murder doll. 

But HDL are out in devil costumes, much like the one Donald wears in both this and House of Villains, and we get a nice sequence where Mickey, Minnie and Goofy give them a scare and then a pile of candy for trick or treat. Well Mickey and Minnie do, Goofy dresses up as a bunny because he has the holiday wrong and the kids are mad he got them eggs. Dudes i’d of killed to get a hardboiled egg for halloween. Still would. Maybe dress it up like Freddy or Chucky. Realy make it jazzy. 

So the little devils end up at Donald’s house, where Donald is , shockingly, a huge dick about halloween. 

His plan of course is to dress up like a Jason and scare them, chasing them off then stealing their candy. I dunno.. he probably woudlv’e made more of an impression as the Axeman. 

I just like that song. I can’t wait to hear a full versoin next year. Might even honestly buy it just so I can listen to it sooner. 

Anyways, our heroes are scared off but soon find out Donald was conning them and get back at him the old fashioned way: by making him think his Jasonsona is wante dto murder, chasing him around and scaring him and finally making him think THEY SCARED THEM TO DEATH AND PREPARING TO BURY HIM ALIVE. 

Donald promises to get them their candy back and gets them some new candy, all is well, and Goofy accidnetlys cares them as Santa. Which i’d chuckle at but as we’ll see in a few weeks santa is no joke when he’s off his leash. 

Halloween With Hades:

So now is time for our Wraparound. It’s Halloween at the House of Mouse.. again. For the first time. This episode came before House Ghosts and I mistakingly put it first. It’s also one of three halloweens the club has overall. Because like most cartoons the characters only age if the creators WANT them to. Same goes for comic strips and comic books. And it’s a shame as I DO wish more cartoons did gradual aging, with one of the neatest thigns adventure time did being letting Finn slowly grow up. Most other cartoons either take place in too short a timespan for it to matter (Gravity Falls (Which only did so in the finale arc), Owl House, Amphibia) or flat out have a case of can’t make me don’t wanna (Gumball, Bob’s Burgers, The Simpsons). The former is fine... the latter.. not so much. I get not changing a characters age just to satsify time, that way you can tell all the stories you can. But leveling them up just a YEAR can change things in a way that allows more intresting situation.. and for shows that actually cast children it means they can keep their parts instead of being recast because your too scared to have actual change or too cheap to pitch it down.  This.. this may be a button for me. NGL. 

So anyways it’s halloween 1 at house of mouse. Donald wants to scare people and has a whole runner about that where he shouts boo at people while wearing a devil costume and instead gets scared by the villians he’s trying to scare. It’s.. funnier than it sounds as there’s plenty of good varation my faviorite being one of the sisters from hercules taking out her eye and showing it to him. 

But while most of the people are happy, Hades isn’t because he’s alone and thinks love is for suckers. Given he used love as part of an elaborate scheme to try and ruin his nephew’s life and kill every other member of his family, he might not be the best expert on the topic. This is proven when he DOES find someone who piques his intrest: Malificent. If your expecting decendants jokes.. I got nothing. I haven’t watched it and my attitude towards doing so is very much “Can’t make me don’t wanna”. Unless someone paid me for it. Guys gotta eat. 

Hades tries sleezing on her, she shoots him down, and Mickey says “well why don’t you try being nice”. Oh Mickey you poor naive bastard.. son of Igantz Mouse, you have no idea what “nice guy syndrome” is do you? 

Still Hades sees Malificent seemingly enjoy Mickey’s schitck. You can probably guess what comes next

Sadly we don’t get a fun makeover montage. We instead get Mickey introducing THE NEW HADES... which is hades in mickey’s outfit.. whic his a mostly naked hades in oversized mickey mouse gloves and a mickey hat

No.. no one needed this. I mean he has abs which.. nice but even people who WANTED sexy drawings of hades or made them did not want “half naked hades dressed up as mickey mouse’ I’d say that’s no one’s fetish but at least one person probably has it so fair play to them. But for me there’s only one sane, resonable way to deal with this

This goes about as well for hades as the burning in my eyes is going for me, and Hades gets pissed. Thankfulyl NOT at malificent herself, he’s not tha tlevel of douche, but at Mickey’s terrible advice.... which.. bud... you probably should’ve known this was a bad idea the second it involved mickey mouse asking you to strip naked. 

Hades chases him and prepares to kill him which turns out IS Malificent’s fetish and the two happily walk off together. Mickey claims credit for this. 

Halloween With Hades is an okay wraparound, and the sight of hades in that horrifyign getup IS funny enough to get some laughs but overall it’s just kinda there despite the fun of finally doing a crossover ship. With all the wacky potetial for one, it woudl’ve been nice to show some other pairings like that for funzies as a gag or something. Instead this was.. okay it just wasn’t really memorable ASIDE from crossing the mover. it was also annoying to hear James Woods for a full ep, but him slowly turning into a total ballbag is not something the series coudl’ve predicted, so it’s not the shows fault. It’s fine but the other halloween special is geninely better. 

As a whole the episode is decent. The wraparound is just eh, but the two shorts are pretty dang good so it’s still worth watching. So with that we have one last HOM scare cooking for you coming on halloween as Jafar makes a move and the house of mouse becomes a house of villians. See ya real soon and if you like these reviews please subscribe to my patreon

LINK IS RIGHT HERE

[blueskrugs]

Some People Do | Nathan MacKinnon

title from an Old Dominion song of the same name. highly recommend a listen while reading.

the only other words I have are that I cried while writing this.  

length: 6.2k words

I know that time just keeps going on And words by themselves can't right all the wrongs

No one ever claimed that dating an NHL player was easy. In fact, it was hard as hell. Dating the face of a franchise, the savior of a franchise, was hard as hell. It wasn’t that you didn’t love Nate. You loved him more than anyone else, more than you sometimes thought was possible. But sometimes you wondered if your relationship was doomed from the start, if carrying the weight of the expectations of Denver on Nate’s shoulders was too much for both of you to handle. 

Nate had proclaimed himself unromantic before, but you didn’t really need flowers and extravagant gifts. With Nate, it was always the little things. He would cook you breakfast in the mornings before you left for work and he for practice. He would sneak into your apartment when you had a long day at work and clean up. (Never laundry though. He always said he was too scared of fucking that up.) It was letting you cuddle on the couch, no questions asked, no words spoken, on days you really needed it; he always seemed to know about those days even before you did. You knew the other boys teased Nate sometimes, everything from ribbing him about being whipped to roasting him for his somewhat abysmal gift-giving skills. Nate would just blush and give them that shy little smile you loved so much. 

That’s the way things were for a long time. You were both happy, comfortable. You wondered sometimes, on the hardest nights, if you had gotten too comfortable. If you had forgotten just where you were, who you were with, and how lucky you were that Nate had ever given you the time of day in the first place. 

You missed the drama of the Avalanche’s historically bad, never-before-seen debacle of a year that had been the 2016-2017 season and came into Nate’s life when they were back on their feet, making a name for themselves in the standings again. You still saw the damage it had done to him, though, in the way he blamed himself for losses, took them a little harder than anyone else– except maybe Gabe– in the way he dialed up his intensity even stronger than ever until he was satisfied. Except he was never satisfied, probably would never be, bar winning a Cup or three. 

The Avs dug themselves out a hole. And then they hit a wall again.

It was the same old shit that always seemed to dog the team, injury after injury, games that just never seemed to go their way, no matter how hard they fought. 

October started out fine. They won more than they lost, and it looked like they could have a chance at being something this year. The end of October came with a string of losses. Mikko went down with a lower-body injury on Halloween. 

November continued a downward spiral. Nate stopped scoring, Burky broke his wrist, and they only won a handful of games the entire month. Nate started coming home late from the arena, sweaty and exhausted; you knew he was running himself ragged, literally, on the treadmill and on drills. His blue eyes were hard as stone, and the set of his jaw grew more tense with each loss the team strung together. 

Road trips were the hardest. From the start of your relationship, you and Nate made a point to FaceTime during roadies. You looked forward to those calls all day, because no matter how terrible the game had been, Nate would see you and smile. You would always do anything for him to smile. The calls continued that terrible season, and for a while, it seemed like nothing had changed. Nate’s eyes were more tired than usual, his brow permanently furrowed, but you would answer the phone, and that would all disappear for a moment when he grinned at you.

You had just gotten out of the shower when your phone started ringing with a FaceTime call. You were surprised to see that it was Nate. You hadn’t been officially dating for very long at all, and he had only left for the road trip that morning. 

“What the hell is on your head?” was the first thing out of Nate’s mouth when you answered the call. Somewhere off camera, you could hear Tyson Barrie cackling. 

Your hand flew up to your hair, which was wrapped in a towel. “It’s a towel, dumbass. And I just got out of the shower, I’m not wearing makeup or anything,” you whined. 

Nate rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to respond when Tyson leaned into frame. “Hi, Y/N!” he yelled. Nate flinched.

There was a moment of darkness and what sounded like the two wrestling on the bed for a moment, before a whispered, “Get out of here!” and a door closing. “I’m sorry about him,” Nate said, picking his phone back up. 

You just laughed. You had only met Tyson one time so far, and he seemed like fun, if not a little crazy. “Let me just-” You reached up to tug the towel off your head. 

“No, don’t! I mean, I think it’s cute,” Nate said. You froze, staring at his blurry face on your phone screen. You were pretty sure he was blushing in the shitty hotel light. “I just- I missed you, and I don’t care what you look like. I mean-wait, I don’t want you to think you need to have makeup or shit on for me to think you’re beautiful.” Yeah, he was definitely blushing now. He was also smiling a little bit, cautiously, as if he was afraid of your response.

You smiled back, settling in against the pillows on your bed, and saying, “Nate, I literally saw you this morning.” He shrugged.

“Wanted to see your face again,” he mumbled. Then, “Can I call you tomorrow after our game, too?”

He did call you the next night, and the night after that, and then roadtrip FaceTime calls became a routine.

As the season went on, you waited by the phone every night Nate was out of town, but slowly the calls became few and far between, until they stopped entirely. 

Most wouldn't forgive what I put you through But I'm here tonight, hoping some people do

Nate started watching game film obsessively, coming home and sitting up for hours. He would watch his own clips, his teammates’ clips, clips from every other team, watching for any mistake or flaw, some way to fix this. He’d always been so serious about schedules and routines, but he started coming to bed later and later. You always tried to get Nate to come to bed with you, wrapping your arms around his shoulders and murmuring a, “Babe, c’mon, it’s getting late,” but he’d shrug you off and say back, “Just a few more minutes.”

You resigned yourself to going to bed alone. Cox started laying in Nate’s spot on the bed. 

The Penguins came to town. The slump continued, for the team and for Nate. Nate got benched. It was December, and all the Crosbys and MacKinnons had come to town, too, planning to celebrate Christmas a little early while everyone could be together. 

Bednar had told Nate he wouldn’t be playing against the Pens following a morning skate. Cale told you he had broken his stick against a wall afterwards. His temper followed him home, came back with a vengeance, and you would never forget the sadness on Taylor’s face and the anger on Sarah’s when he snapped at Taylor over something stupid and let the door slam behind him for good measure. He didn’t talk to any of you for the rest of the night, and he drove to the arena alone.

The Avs won in a game that was nothing short of a Christmas miracle. Nate came home in a slightly better mood, apologized to Taylor, and started channeling his anger into his time on the ice instead. It might have had something to do with the fact that you were sure he hadn’t missed the way you flinched when he had yelled. 

The end of December saw a win streak for the Avs and a scoring streak for Nate. 

“I thought about asking for a trade,” Nate said casually one January night. It was the All-Star break, and Nate had found a cabin on a lake in California to rent for bye week. He didn’t look up at you as he said it, gazing instead up at the stars, and your heart broke.

Nate’s arm was draped around your shoulder, and it had been a comforting weight, but suddenly it felt like it would crush you. You hadn’t been in Denver for the drama of the last teammate that had requested a trade midseason, but you knew the tale, knew the bitterness that was still in that locker room. You knew how it could destroy a team. And you’d had no idea Nate was even considering it.

He kept talking. “Thought about trying to go somewhere where people didn’t care about hockey, somewhere where it didn’t matter if I had been a fluke.” His voice broke. “I just want out sometimes. Get away from all the fucking expectations, the hope that I’ll bring the Cup back to Denver, that I can be the next Sidney Crosby, just the next best thing out of Cole Harbour.” It was the first time you had ever heard Nate say Sid’s name like that, with venom and bitterness.

You were speechless, couldn’t find the words to respond to Nate. You weren’t even sure he wanted you to respond, to argue with him. So you just shrugged off his arm from your shoulders and pulled him into your chest, resting your chin on his head as you watched the stars together.

The trade deadline passed. Nate still wore an A for the Colorado Avalanche, and no one would ever know any differently. 

I know you're hurt, I know it's my fault But I've kept "I'm sorry" locked in a vault

You called Sid late one night in March. He answered quickly, because he always did when you or Nate called, even though it was after midnight in Pittsburgh.

“Sid, I don’t know what to do anymore,” you had cried, with Cox curled up next to you on the couch in the dark. Nate was asleep upstairs, gone to bed early for the first time in a long time. Cox heard your tears and shoved his face into your hand, asking for attention, letting you use him as comfort. You petted him absently as you told Sid everything. And Sid listened, even as you told him stories of the season he already knew, told to him by Nate in similar late night phone conversations, even as it ticked past 1 in the morning in Denver. Sid waited until you finished talking before responding, spewing sympathy and advice that you only half listened to, still caught up in your thoughts. 

In the best days of your relationship and in your worst, you didn’t know what you would do without Sid.

You thought back to the first summer you visited Nate in Cole Harbour. You hadn’t gone the first summer after you’d started dating, as you’d only been together a couple of months, although Nate had begged you pretty much the entire summer. The next summer, though, there was absolutely no getting out of visiting. 

You had never been to Canada before, and you had grown up spending your summers on a lake, but you were convinced nothing would ever compare to Nova Scotia. Nate had laughed at you when you ran out onto his deck, a wide smile on your face. You spun around to look up at him.

“I love it here,” you said. Nate laughed again.

“You’ve barely even been here. You haven’t seen the good stuff yet.”

“I have a house, water, and you, what else is there to see?” Nate chuckled fondly at you. 

You spent the day out on the water with Nate, Sid and the dogs. It was peaceful out there in the sun, the silence only occasionally broken by Sid’s ridiculous laugh or one of the dog’s barks. You were dozing in the sun when Nate came over to you.

“Come swimming with me for a bit.” You raised an eyebrow at him.

“I’m tanning, Nathan.” Sid laughed. Next thing you knew, you were being picked up and thrown over Nate’s shoulder. Sid laughed louder. Sometimes you really hated him and that fucking laugh. “Nate!” you shrieked. “Put me down!”

Nate simply said, “Okay,” before he was throwing you in the lake. You came up spluttering. Nate and Sid were both doubled over in laughter, and dogs were caught up in the excitement and barking. 

“Help me out,” you whined, reaching a hand out of the water. Nate took pity on you and grabbed your hand.

You pulled him headfirst down into the water. 

Sid came up to you on the dock on your last night in Cole Harbour. Nate was up at the house, getting you a blanket and more wine, and you were watching the stars.

“You’re really good for him, you know,” Sid said without preamble, settling next to you on the dock. You waited for him to continue. “I’ve known him for years, and I’ve never seen him as happy as he has been this week with you here.” You blushed. “And you should hear the way he talks about you on the phone, God, I didn’t know it was possible for anyone to get him out of his head and stop focusing on hockey, I don’t know how you do it.” He paused, gazing up at the clear sky.When he spoke again, his voice was soft. “Nate takes everything so seriously. He’s gotten pretty fucked up over bad relationships in the past. I was a little worried when I saw how fast he was falling for you, when he’d call or text me like a middle-school girl with a crush. But I don’t have to worry, because you two are so good together, like you’ve known each other forever, and will be together forever.” 

Nate chose that moment to reappear. “Talkin’ about me?” he asked, pushing Sid out of the way so he could sit next to you. 

“Only good things,” Sid smiled.

Nate draped his arm across your shoulders and the blanket over your legs. You leaned your head on his shoulder.

“I love you,” Nate whispered into your hair, brushing a kiss to the top of your head. 

Nate came downstairs not long after you hung up with Sid. He found you crying on the couch, trying to muffle your sobs into the sleeves of one of his Avalanche hoodies. He made a soft, wounded sound, and you startled. You didn’t have a chance to apologize– for waking Nate, for breaking down– before he was climbing onto the couch next to you. He pulled you into his lap wordlessly, kissing away your tears, holding you as you shook. 

He whispered sweet things to you as you calmed down, I’m sorrys and I love yous breaking the silence of the night. Cox whined, crawling his way into your lap as well. Nate’s heartbeat was steady beneath your ear, his breathing even, and you found yourself soothed by it. The two– well, three, if you counted the German Shepherd who was decidedly not a lap dog– fell asleep on the couch like that. When you woke up again, sunlight was streaming into the living room, and you were still safely wrapped up in Nate’s arms.

He looked younger, softer, in his sleep, the burden of being Nathan MacKinnon momentarily forgotten. You couldn’t help but stare, a soft smile on your face. Nate shifted under you a couple of minutes later, eyes blinking sleepily open. He grinned when he found you inches from his face, already watching him. 

“Good morning,” he whispered, stretching up to kiss you gently. “D’you want breakfast?”

You buried your face in Nate’s neck. “In a minute,” you mumbled. “Comfy.” Nate laughed, loud, and you felt it in every inch of your body that was touching his.

As you sat sipping your coffee in the kitchen later, watching Nate cook you breakfast, like he had for so long, you could almost convince yourself that everything was fine, that the stress fractures of your relationship weren’t on the verge of breaking completely. 

Some people say sorry to hear it's okay But I know it's not so you don't have to say That you understand 'cause I know you don't

In the living room where you had left your phone after last night’s phone call, you got a text. Then another. And another. Nate’s phone started ringing; his face went white, and he dropped the spatula he was using.

Confused, and starting to get worried, you set your coffee down and rushed to pick up your phone. The first thing you saw was a text from Mel, simply saying, “i’m so sorry.” Nate was still on the phone in the kitchen, speaking in an anxious hushed tone to whoever was on the other end. You ignored the handful of other texts you had received in favor of looking at your Instagram and Twitter notifications which were blowing up. You clicked on one with a shaky hand.

Your heart dropped. Your phone fell to the floor with a clatter. 

In the kitchen, Nate’s voice rose, but you couldn’t hear any of the words he was saying over the pounding of your heart in your ears. 

You sank to the floor and picked up your phone again. You had been tagged in a series of pictures, all of Nate. There was Nate with a girl in a bar, with a girl in his lap, his arm wrapped around her waist, his lips on hers. There was more than one post, too, all dated, starting all the way back in November. All nights when Nate and the Avs were on road trips. Different cities, too, but always the same girl.

Blonder than you. Prettier than you. Better than you, apparently.

There were dozens of pictures. Some were dark and kind of blurry, but all were unmistakably Nate. 

You scrolled through all of the pictures again. Cox whined next to you. Nate still hadn’t left the kitchen, but you knew he had been tagged in all of the posts too. Texts and notifications were still rolling into your phone, from friends and family and strangers. You turned your phone off.

Then Nate was crouching in front of you, brushing your tears away. You hadn’t even realized you had been crying. You scrambled away from Nate’s touch like it burned you; his hand stayed outstretched in the air.

Just ten minutes ago, you had been beginning to think that things could get better again, that you could fix the damage in Nate, in your relationship. Now, everything you had known for the last two and a half years lay shattered at your feet, spread out for the whole world to see.

“You weren’t supposed to find out like this,” Nate murmured.

A hysterical laugh forced its way out of your throat. Your hands were still shaking, but your anxiousness had just been replaced with anger. “I wasn’t supposed to find out like this, or I wasn’t supposed to find out at all?”

Nate flinched a little, and you felt a brief flash of vindication. “I didn’t mean-”

“You didn’t mean what, Nathan? Didn’t mean for me to find out, for the whole world to find out? Or you didn’t mean to say it like that? Like you were just waiting for the right time to tell me, but it never worked out?” Nate had stood up again, but he wasn’t looking at you. “God, I was sitting around like a fool all season, waiting for you to call me, but of course you never did, because you had found someone better than me. Did she get to go to games, too, when you were flying her all across the country?”

Nate was flushed with anger now too. “You don’t understand-”

You cut him off. “No, Nate, I don’t fucking understand. I thought, I don’t know, maybe the past two years actually meant something. So tell me, make me understand, because you lost me a long time ago.”

“Just shut up!” You took a step back from Nate, though he hadn’t moved. You weren’t sure Nate had ever raised his voice at you. “We were in Ottawa in the beginning of November, and we all went out to a bar because we finally got a fucking win. She started flirting, and she had no idea who we were, and it was so nice to meet someone and not have the expectation of being Nathan fucking MacKinnon. I never had to listen to her lie to me about how well I played or some shit about how the team would figure it out, that we could get better.”

“Did all the boys know?” you whispered. “Have you all just been laughing at me behind my back all season, while I’ve been blindly in love with a boy who’s been flying another girl to all of his road games?”

Nate paled and took a half-step in your direction. You backed up again, until your knees hit the couch. “No, they- they knew I was taking the season hard, I guess, so they gave me space. Gabe might’ve been getting suspicious, but I- they would never do that to you.”

“Excuse me for not believing that. I believed you would never cheat on me, either, but here we are.” You turned to leave the room. 

“If you’d just-” Nate was angry again. You spun around, your heartbreak fanning the flames of your own anger.

“If I’d just what, Nate? Stopped caring about you and hockey? Stopped supporting you? Stopped caring about us?” Your voice broke, and you blinked back the tears burning behind your eyes. You had started out yelling again, but now your voice was quiet. “I’m sorry I tried, Nathan. I’m sorry I wasn’t good enough for you.”

You turned again, started making your way towards the stairs. 

“Wait, Y/N, please.” Nate’s voice came out desperate, like he was choking back tears. You couldn’t possibly understand why; he had done this to himself. “I never actually slept with her.”

“Good for you, Nate.” You let out a humorless laugh. “I hope the PR team has fun trying to save you and your fuck-ups. The posterboy of the Colorado Avalanche showing his true colors at last.”

Nate finally let you turn and make your way upstairs. He didn’t follow as you made your way into the bedroom and packed a bag with enough clothes to last you until the next road trip. He was sitting on the couch, stiff and tense, but he jumped up when you came back down the stairs. 

“Where are you going?” he asked, starting to reach out to grab your arm, but stopping himself at the last second, grasping at the air instead. “Please, Y/N.”

“I don’t know, Nate,” you sighed. “But I can’t stay here. I’ll be back to get the rest of my stuff while you’re on your next road trip. Say hi to your other girlfriend for me.”

Nate followed you outside. Cox barked once as you climbed into your car. “But-but you live here, with us! Please, let me fix this.”

You turned to Nate one last time. “You know, you could have fixed everything else that screwed us up this season. I really thought we could’ve been fine. But this, Nate? I don’t know anymore.” 

Nate flinched as your car door slammed. You watched in your rearview mirror as you drove away. His hands were shoved in his pockets, unmoving, and then he was out of sight. 

You drove aimlessly around Denver for a while. You let yourself get lost before you found somewhere quiet to pull over. Except, the breakdown, the tears, never came. Instead, you felt numb and hollow. You had really been foolish enough to believe that you could love Nate through everything, and that he would love you back. Hadn’t Sid said it seemed like you would be together forever?

When Nate showed up at the game the next night with a fresh black eye, no one commented on it. No one commented on EJ’s freshly bruised knuckles, either.

The season ended quietly. The Avs had managed to turn the season around, stop the bleeding, but they never quite could fix the damage. You had moved out of Nate’s house after the fight. You rarely saw each other anymore, but you didn’t tell him you kept going to games until the very end. You just couldn’t keep yourself away, no matter how much it hurt to watch him down on the ice.  

Nate went home to Cole Harbour. You stayed in Denver. 

Sometimes you thought back to the beginning of your relationship with Nate. You remembered what it was like when you first met, when Nate was still shy and quiet. It had been so stupidly fucking cliche, too: in a goddamn Starbucks. 

You listened to the man next to you in line rattle off a list of coffee orders, ranging from basic to borderline ridiculous. The baristas were already beginning to look overwhelmed as the cups lined up. He had the grace to look sheepish, at least, and tucked what looked like a ten dollar bill into their tip jar. You didn’t pay him much more mind after that, stepping to the side and trying your hardest to stay out of the way of other patrons while you waited. Then your grandmother had called, asking for technology help, even though you were hundreds of miles away from home, and you had other family that literally lived five minutes away from her. You were distracted and missed that a barista had called your name. You were still caught up with your phone and didn’t realize until someone was tapping you on the shoulder and tentatively saying your name.

You looked up, surprised, and your entire field of vision was filled with one very blond, blue-eyed, broad-shouldered man. First, you made the connection to him being the one with the list of coffee orders in line next to you, and then, that the man standing in front of you, struggling to balance several coffee carriers, was Nathan MacKinnon. 

“I grabbed your coffee by mistake,” he said. “It got mixed in with all our orders, and I only just noticed it had a different name on it. I’m really sorry.”

You smiled, taking your coffee. “It’s not a big deal, don’t worry about it. I didn’t even hear them call my name.” Nate still looked apologetic. “Did you lose a bet or something?” you asked then, looking at the stack of coffee cups Nate still held. 

He grinned at you. “Something like that.”

You had left the Starbucks that day with Nate’s phone number. At the time, you had no real intent to use it; you didn’t kid yourself. Nathan MacKinnon was a former first-overall draft pick, hero of the Colorado Avalanche, and you were just some girl whose coffee he accidentally stole. 

Nate texted you first. He did that a lot in the beginning. He was always a little awkward– a life spent focused on hockey meant that he wasn’t the best at small talk– but he was sweet and could make you laugh.

When he first asked you out, you said no. You had watched his face fall, watched him bite his lip and take a step back from you. You felt a surprising rush of sadness settle in your chest as Nate’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment. You had said no because you didn’t want to be just another girl, another fling that meant nothing. Suddenly, you weren’t sure if that’s all you would be to Nate, and you were a little scared by how willing you were to see how far it could go. 

“Ask me again in a couple weeks,” you said softly. Nate startled, still looking a little bit like he wanted to run. You looked up at him fondly.

Life went on in Denver that summer without Nate. You went to work. You went home to your empty apartment. Really, it wasn’t all that different from life with Nate in Denver, at least not in the last couple of months. You texted with Sid and Sarah every once in a while, but you got complete radio silence from Nate. Tyson Barrie texted you a video of Cox and Ralph playing one day in mid-July, and you could hear Nate laughing somewhere in the background. You didn’t reply. You didn’t want to admit to how many times you watched the video, just to hear Nate’s laugh again, either. 

“You are not getting my dog a fucking-what it’s called? A puppuccino?” Nate gripped his iced black cold brew tightly in his hand and glared at you. Cox sat patiently at your feet, eyeing the cup of whipped cream in your hand and licking his lips eagerly.

“It’s just whipped cream, babe! And, look, he likes them!” 

Nate raised an eyebrow at you. You had forgotten that the trips you took to Starbucks with Cox while the boys were on road trips were secret. “Y/N.” Nate crouched down and squished Cox’s face. Cox looked unimpressed. “This is a highly trained guard dog. He does not need any fucking whipped cream.” Cox’s tongue darted out and licked Nate’s nose. It was Nate’s turn to look unimpressed.

You bent down to give Cox his puppuccino. He lapped it up excitedly, getting whipped cream all over his nose and whiskers. Nate rolled his eyes at the both of you. 

“You’re not allowed to spoil our children.” You paused, still watching Cox try and get the last of the whipped cream out of the cup. Nate had never mentioned kids before, but you sometimes watched the smile he had when he played with Linnea or Sophie, even though he was still a little terrified of holding a baby. You looked at him, but he was still watching Cox calmly.

“Are you saying that Cox isn’t already your son?” you asked, only deflecting a little, and trying very hard to not picture Nate with a tiny baby of your own. 

Nate scoffed. You both looked down at Cox, who had rolled onto his back, tongue lolling out the side of his mouth. “Besides,” he said, tugging you closer by your hips, “I think Cox will be great with kids, and there’s only one way to find out.”

You just rolled your eyes.

You always had to grit your teeth and smile when someone heard that you weren’t originally from Denver and asked, pretty much without fail, if you had moved for Nate. The answer was always that you had moved for work and had met Nate by chance. If Nate was a part of the conversation, he would chip in that he’d had to work to even get you to consider dating him. He’d always kiss you after that, on the forehead, on the cheek, and he’d look at you like he was the lucky one. And you could look into his eyes and forget for a moment that you’d been upset.

You always wondered why everyone assumed you had dropped your life, your family and friends and your hometown just to follow Nate and his hockey career. Now, you were wondering if you were ready to drop your life, your friends, and everything you loved about Denver just to get away from Nate and his hockey career. 

You didn’t hear from Nate when he returned to Denver for training camp. It hurt in a way you couldn’t articulate, a bone-deep ache, a hollowness that you had never felt before, the fear that you had both let your relationship go past the point of no return while neither of you were paying attention. You thought wildly as you laid in bed alone, if you would ever see Nate again, be able to look him in the eyes and tell him you loved him one more time.

Because you did. You still loved Nate, maybe always would, and you missed him, spent the whole summer missing him, had missed him long before he went back to Cole Harbour by himself. You were terrified that you lost the best relationship you’d ever had. You were too scared to reach out to him yourself, half-sure that he’d never even respond, and that would be all you needed to know that you had reached the end. 

You watched the boys’ Instagram stories as they went golfing everyday after practice. You watched Nate smile and laugh with Gabe and Burky, though you noticed that the smiles never quite seemed to reach his eyes. You looked at the Avs’ social medias every day for the pictures they inevitably posted of Nate. He never seemed to be smiling. You would drive down near the Pepsi Center, only to see his face plastered everywhere. Seeing Nathan MacKinnon around Denver seemed unavoidable; he was on posters and on shirts and jerseys. Seeing Nate, though? Your Nate, with the lisp and the love for dogs, who yelled at his teammates on Fortnite and loved his family more than anything? You weren’t sure you’d ever see him again. 

So whether you kiss me or you close the door Just know that I'm better than I was before

You were surprised when someone knocked on your apartment door one night after dinner, only a couple of days before the regular season began. You were even more surprised when you pulled open the door to see Nate. He startled a little when you opened the door, and you leaned against the doorjamb, allowing yourself to just look at him.

His summer tan had already started to fade. He was wearing jeans, but an old Avs T-shirt, and he was picking at the fraying hem. He was no longer as lean as he was the last time you’d seen him towards the end of the season, but he looked exhausted the same way he did in the final stretch.

It hurt to look at him for long, so you cleared your throat, tore your gaze away from the dark circles under his eyes. Nate shook himself a little, looked away from the 29 on your right shoulder. You had forgotten that you had put on an old, stolen hoodie after work. For a while, it had still smelled like him, but now it didn’t smell like anything. 

“I thought you gave everything of mine back,” was the first thing he said.

You shrugged, tugging the sleeves of Nate’s hoodie over your hands. “Couldn’t bring myself to give it up.” You looked back at Nate. He looked pained. “What’re you doing here, Nate?” The exhaustion of the last couple months, the heartbreak, the worry, showed in your voice.

“I just-I wanted to see you. Wanted to try and explain, if you wanted to listen. I know I’ll never get the words right, and you could slam the door in my face right now, and I wouldn’t blame you. And if you do, I’ll leave you alone. But if you don’t, I will spend the rest of my life apologizing, trying to show you how much I love you.”

You covered your mouth to cover the sob that rose out of your chest. Nate’s eyes snapped up to yours, those bright blue eyes that you still loved so much, and he looked panicked. “Nate, I-”

“Look, if I were you, I’d hate me. Hell, EJ socked me, and I thought Sid was gonna leave me out on the lake to die when I first flew home. If you spend the rest of your life hating me, it’s all on me. You probably wouldn’t be the only one. But, fuck, Cox misses you. I miss you.” Nate stepped closer, reached out to brush his thumb across your cheekbone. 

You let yourself revel in that touch for a moment before you took a step back, clutching your door for support. “I spent all summer wondering if we were over, Nate. Wondering what I could’ve done differently.” Nate bit his lip. He was still standing in the hallway outside your apartment. You hadn’t invited him in, and you weren’t sure you were going to at all. “I don’t know if I can do this again. If I can fall in love with you, be in love with you, and watch you go off on road trips and wonder if I can ever trust you again. I don’t know if I can do this,” you repeated. 

Nate closed his eyes, seemed to be steeling himself for something. He took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. And I know it’s not enough, will never be enough, and I’m sorry for that, too.”

You hesitated. Nate blinked once, twice, fidgeted with the hem of his T-shirt again. It would be so easy, you thought, to let him back into your life. 

You closed the door.

The last thing you saw was Nate’s face, hurt but resigned. You leaned back against your door, slid down to the floor, and let the tears that had been burning under the surface for months out.

Part Two! 

[dayseternal-blog]

If you ever finish answering all of yours awaiting asks...

45 questions for you 👀

https://myaekingheart.tumblr.com/post/650107314353897472/fic-writer-ask-game

Lolllll BADLUCKBREBIS, you are so funny.

Inspiration and Reading Asks:

1. How long ago did you start reading fanfiction? Writing fanfiction?

It looks like I started writing in 2017. I've been reflecting recently on how there are so many regularly active writers now compared to in 2017-2018. It was the tail-end of some of my fave writer's activity within fandom. Utsus was posting less and less. The Tumblr NaruHina fandom seemed to disappear, a whole community of writers left for other things (matchaball, nekomamoru, magmawrites, cherryjutsu, spyder-m, tenney-shoes, eliphya, among others). 2018 was a very quiet year, but! I avidly read katarinahime and bunnyhoodlum's works! In 2019, quirrrky restarted things with NaruHina Week!

2. How do you spend your time when it comes to fanfiction? Are you primarily a fic reader, writer, or a perfect 50/50 split of both?

Recently I’m primarily a reader!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Because there's so many writers now!!!!!!!!

3. Are there any fics that inspired you to write what you do?

Yeah, let’s list them.  “A Special Friend” by agitosgirl inspired “Nightdreams.  “Medicine” by @grimmjowkurosakidrake​ inspired “White Lilies.  “Torch Song” by @mmmbuttery inspired “About You.”  The language in “Unless the World Were to End” by @bunny-hoodlum​ inspired the language in “That was the plan.”  “In Between Drinks” by @peppercornpress inspired “In Between Drinks NH.”

4. Link your three favorite fics right now.

“Operation: Bring Home Naruto” by Dragonwannabe - Rated T, Canon-Divergent, Multi-chapter, Complete. Hinata's been assigned the mission of getting Naruto back home safely after his last dangerous assignment. But can she handle the undercover identity as his girlfriend that she’d been given without revealing her true feelings for him?

“The Mission” by Lunawraythe - Rated M, Canon-Divergent, Multi-chapter, Ongoing. It wasn't that Hinata never expected to work with Naruto, just never on a mission quite like this.

“The Loving Type” by @peppercornpresses - Rated M, Canon-Divergent, Multi-chapter, Ongoing. A few years have passed since the Fourth Shinobi War, in which...Rookie Nine steadily advances in rank. Naruto gets engaged. Hinata leaves Konoha. And Kakashi schemes for days.

5. What are your fanfic pet peeves? Do they have a huge effect on whether or not you decide to read something?

ahhh.  I do have quite a few pet peeves.  If the fic is Canon-Compliant or Canon-Divergent, I expect Naruto and Hinata to behave like Japanese people.  Say what you want, but the Naruto Universe is definitely Japanese in my book.  So that means no shoes in the house.  Nothing rattles me more than reading Hinata taking her sandals off before climbing into bed.  Like, what?  she was wearing her outdoor shoes indoors this whole time??

mmm... another pet peeve is when the writer describes Hinata in a kimono, but it sounds like an American Halloween costume, like the slutty version, instead of an actual kimono.

mmm... and the other big pet peeve I have is when it’s Hinata’s first time eating ramen because Naruto is showing her the wonders of ramen.  lol.  why.  how.  in what world would a Japanese person make it to their teenage years without ever eating ramen.

I have a bunch of other little pet peeves regarding Japanese culture in fanfics.  But in general, it doesn’t stop me from reading the fic if I'm already in the middle of it.  I’ll continue reading it and will probably recommend it to other people anyway. If I can tell based on the summary, then it's not for me, and I don't read it. If this makes anyone feel nervous about writing fanfiction, that's not my intention! I would also be happy to be a sensitivity reader if necessary.

6. How do you find new fic to read? Where do you primarily read fanfiction?

I primarily read fanfics on AO3 and ffnet.  I find new ones by constantly checking the Hyuuga Hinata/Uzumaki Naruto tag on AO3 or looking into a writer’s favorites list on ffnet.

7. Do you prefer to read short fics or long fics?

Short fics.

8. How often do you reblog/comment on fics that you like?

I reblog pretty often. I don't comment as often as I used to😕 I used to comment on every fic I liked.

9. Tag 3 fic writers you think are underrated/unknown in the fandom/fanfiction community.

Uhh?? Idk. I think recently the writing group here is pretty tight, everyone seems to know everyone.

10. What’s your favorite fandom, pairing, or character to read fic for?

Naruto fandom and NaruHina.

Fanfiction Writing Asks:

11. How do you come up with your fic titles?

I usually take it from words used in the story or from the prompt.

12. Tell the author your favorite fic title of theirs (not the fic, strictly title). Author: what’s your favorite title you’ve come up with and why?

I think...maybe "Tell Me of Forevers" or "Nightdreams." I like those because they aren't taken word-for-word directly from the story, but touch on a theme in the story.

13. Do you outline your fics? How much of a headache would someone get if they just looked at an outline of yours without reading the fic?

Yes, I outline. They wouldn't get a headache, I think. It's usually just a summary.

14. Do you have a personal word minimum that you hold yourself too? Why or why not?

Nope. I didn't know people do that.

15. Tell the author your favorite fic of theirs. What’s your (the author’s) favorite fic you’ve written?

My favorite fic continues to be "It's No Secret."

16. Do you research for your fics? If so, how deep of a rabbit hole have you gone down by accident when researching?

Yes, I do. I've done historical and folktale research for "Little Samurai." I did area/location research for "Last Chance." I did historical research for "About You." I did fairy tale research for "Catskin." I did a ton of astronomy research for "The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl." And I did lighting research for "Inspo." I go pretty deep.

17. How obsessively do you sit and stare at your fic after you’ve just posted and wait for feedback?

I don't. I usually have something else I need to do or I go to bed.

18. Do you have a WIP that you keep telling yourself you’ll eventually get back to, but deep down you know that’s probably a lie?

I actually think I can finish all of mine if I just try.

19. Do you edit your fics after you write them, or do you prefer to just hit post and run (because it’s someone else’s problem now)?

I always edit before posting to AO3. Anything I post directly on Tumblr might not be edited.

20. What’s your favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

Posting!

21. What’s your least favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

Starting a new chapter.

22. Do you take fic requests? If so, for what characters and why?

On occasion. If someone sends me a request, I'll think about writing it. Sometimes I do write and post it, sometimes I leave them in my drafts for a better day.

23. What’s your absolute favorite trope to write?

From what I already have posted, probably friends-to-lovers, secret relationship/forbidden love, or high school au. I don't think I have an intentional favorite.

24. What’s a trope that you’d like to never hear about as long as you live, let alone write?

Public humiliation / public degradation.

25. Do you listen to music as you write? If possible, link your writing playlist.

No, not usually.

26. What’s your biggest distraction when writing?

Tumblr feed, all the pictures to scroll through mindlessly.

27. Do you like to give your readers some warning of what might be coming or just slap them in the face with content at random?

lol, whatever is fine.

28. How do you deal with writing pressure (ie: pressure to update, negative comments, deadlines, etc)?

Well, pressure to update is not a big deal to me. I do this for fun, so I don't think I unnecessarily pressure myself too much. With negative comments, I don't get too many of those, and I think I do my best to avoid situations where I might get negative feedback.

29. Have you ever written for an exchange or event of some kind? Which one(s)? Did you enjoy it?

Yeah, I like the events. My favorite was NH2020, the year-long one last year. I also enjoyed the Secret Santa last year since @badluckbrebis was my giftee.

30. Post a snippet from your current WIP without context - no more than 300 words.

haha😈

Ecstasy slides through his veins, blooming over his mind, cocooning him in pleasant sensations, cum shooting out in eager twitches against hot, milking flesh.

31. Of the characters you write for, which is your favorite? Has that choice been swayed at all by your followers/readers’ reactions to certain ones?

Naruto Uzumaki, always.

32. Copy and paste your top three favorite lines/jokes/sentences you’ve ever written. What fics do they come from?

Top 3 faves in order:

That was the plan: "She shifts in his arms, and cloth and cleavage come pillowing up to his face, and he’s certain that she’s scooped from the same puffy stuff his adolescent daydreams were made of."

Tell Me of Forevers: "What he wouldn’t do to inspire every blush, every smile of hers for an eternity when such moments already only speak “forever” to him."

White Lilies: "Whether at his feet, in his eyes, ears, mind, if not reaching his heart, she never landed anywhere. (It’s okay.)"

I consider "White Lilies" to have my technically best writing, so it was kind of hard to choose just one line from that fic! But I decided that one's my favorite line from the whole story.

33. What do you like writing better: one shots or multi-chapter stuff?

One-shots.

34. How much of yourself and your life experiences do you put into your writing? What do you think your readers’ image of you is?

A lot of my life experiences are in my writing. Hmm, I think readers probably think I'm...hmm...either empathetic or really perverted?

35. How much has writing fic changed your life?

I spend a lot less time on real-life social media than before.

36. Are there any fics or fandoms you’re embarrassed to have written or been part of?

I'm kind of embarrassed of "Honeymoon at the Hot Springs" lol. It's fine.

37. Give an update on your current WIP - if you don’t have one, give a sneak peek to a title or idea that you have and would like to write.

My current WIP is that A/B/O fic I started for February Smut Month Prompts: Sweet as Candy or Love Bites. I'm going to title it "Sweet As," and it'll be about how Naruto and Hinata become Alpha/Omega mates. It's really kinky, really smutty, and totally what I would want to read.

38. What does your writing process look like? How chaotic is it on a scale of 1 (very tame) to 10 (you can’t handle this kind of chaos)?

uhh???? a 1?? I've never once thought of my writing process as chaotic. Ahh, then I think of bunnyhoodlum's multiple drafts for the same chapter, and I realize that there exist types of writing processes that I would not be able to handle...

39. What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on?

My smut.

40. How did you come up with the idea for [x fic]?

41. What’s your most popular fic (with the most notes on tumblr, most hits/kudos on ao3)?

Idk about Tumblr,,, maybe White Lilies got the most attention here. My most popular fic is Nightdreams on AO3.

42. Asker: pick three of the author’s works. Author: rank them 1 (the best) - 3 (the worst) based on whatever criteria you want - this could be something totally random that isn’t quality related (like simply ranking fics based on how many trains appear in them) - have fun!

43. Talk about a positive experience with fanfiction or the fanfiction community that you will always remember.

I will always remember how people congratulated me for finishing White Lilies😭 Also, when peppercornpresses made that FIRST art of my story, I just, I just stared at it all day.

44. Rant about something writing related.

hmmm, I don't feel like ranting about anything. I just recently ranted about my pet peeves above.

45. Fic specific questions - if you have any weird questions about specific works, here’s your shot to ask them!

I did them all! Nice questions.

[becomingbts]

Christmas always "weens"

Summary: Trained his whole life to take over Christmas and to prepare gifts for children whether human or not, Jimin embodies the Christmas spirit and could even be called Santa Claus if he really wanted to, even though he does dislike the idea of people thinking that he’s a big old man with a heavy white beard. He’s more into the charming and charismatic boyish image he has, overwhelming people with his sweet cotton candy smell wherever he goes. Yet, as sweet as he claims to be, he cannot help but endlessly tease the girl of the nightmares, who had been trained to become the Halloween spirit once she would start working at the celebration facility while he was fated to be her antagonist. A witch and a fairy... Not the best match of the year, but maybe they still have something more than just hatred going on.

Pairings: Y/N x Jimin, (hint of Yoongi x Hoseok)

~29k (lol have fun)

GENRE: Supernatural, Witch!Y/N and Fairy!Jimin, angst,fluff, romance, enemy to lover.

Warnings: language, high expectation and pressure from peer and family, mention of verbal and physical abuse, some hot kisses but nothing strong on that side.

NOTE: SO IT’S HERE LOL. It took soooo long to get it done, I’m so sorry; this was supposed to be my Christmas fanfiction loool. I can’t believe we’re already soon in April. My schedule was a disaster but this fanfiction was supposed to be only a 10k one shot so you can understand that something clearly went down haha. I really hope it was worth the wait, the start has been edited by the lovely @flurrys-creativity​ ! No smut in the end, I was too shy to do it, and I think I like the end as well. I might end up make a few drabbles about them and also maybe do a story with this AU! for every character? (Yes I’m dying to write the Yoongi and Hobi’s part, I’m not gonna lie lol)! Anyway! I hope you’ll enjoy it, please feedback is always warmly welcomed!! Love you lots.

-Dolly

It was definitely not (Y/N)'s first Christmas season since she had been working at the celebration facility, but she still couldn’t help the heavy sigh that left her mouth as she saw all the decorations hung in the cafeteria of the resort. To sum up her situation: it was way too much for her liking. Was the Christmas department trying to suffocate everyone in the complex with their ridiculous decorations? The common cafeteria had an ugly red tree with fake plastic gifts under it, golden garlands were stuck in every corner of the room and ridiculous Christmas songs could be heard from the speakers. Needless to say: her sour mood only worsened as she checked the date. 

1st December. 

Gosh, she could only hope that she would not come across the dumb face of- 

“Wednesday!” She wished she could miraculously un-hear this voice. It was just her luck, wasn’t it? He always showed up when she was wishing not to meet him. 

“Park, I swear you better stop with the name of that dumb human film because you’re not going to finish your season alive, understood?” 

Jimin grinned as he was met with (Y/N)'s frown. “Come on, grumps! Isn’t The Addams Family supposed to be something you enjoy? It’s a Halloween themed film!” He wiggled his eyebrows playfully while (Y/N) just rolled her eyes. His loud voice was bringing too much attention; she hated it. Truth be told, she had enjoyed the film. Though, being a witch, she didn’t watch a lot of human things. (Y/N) liked to stay in her comfort zone, surrounded by what she knew in the resort rather than to surround herself with humans or with human things, she was not one to be caught watching human series nor reading human books. Yet, she still did enjoy that film. 

Now, what she didn’t like was him; him, and his stupid fairy tricks, and since the film had been recommended by no other than Park Jimin, she had automatically decided that she had not liked it. 

It was a question of pride.

“Whatever you say, Park. Stop with this stupid nickname.” Jimin laughed loudly again, louder than she thought to be acceptable in a public space, thus, successfully attracting more curious eyes while other people just rolled theirs. Some younger recruits of the facility glanced at the weird scene they were beholding while older workers just sighed, already knowing what was to come. Most people at the resort exactly knew who Park Jimin and Min (F/N) were and they also knew an argument could easily rise if both were left alone together for a few minutes. Yet, some new curious eyes (probably new recruits) were still clueless about their dynamic; they would get acquainted with the two nuisances of the resort soon enough anyway. The Christmas- and Halloween vice-presidents (position also known under the name of ‘representative spirit’), respectively Jimin and (Y/N), were known to bicker all the time. Ever since they had joined the celebration venue and started working there five years ago, they had been unable to prevent themselves from throwing insults at each other. The worst thing was that they were often seen together, paths crossing in the corridors, at the cafeteria, and in basically all common areas of the facility. Their relationship was still a mystery to most people: why did they hate each other so much? No one had so much animosity toward someone else here; Jimin and (Y/N) were the only 'rivals'-if we could call them that way-who seemed to despise each other. One thing that never changed in the middle of this chaos was that every soul working and living in the resort enjoyed the celebration they embodied; from New Year to Valentine’s Day, everyone working here was peacefully enjoying their life: whether they were elves, pixies, or any other non-human being. (Y/N) loved Halloween just like Jimin loved Christmas. Both were working for their favorite celebration and wouldn’t trade their job for anything. Everyone happily worked for their celebration in their own department, preparing their festivities, making sure to deliver a beautiful time for everyone (also for humans, to a lot of the creature's dismay, but that’s another story to be told). 

And to be honest, Jimin fit the place quite nicely. He had this charm about him, always doing his best to be seen as a sweet fairy. He thus quickly became loved by his peers and basically everyone in the venue. Jimin had gotten everyone whipped for him, enchanted by him, so much that sometimes (Y/N) wondered if he wasn’t an actual witch who got everyone under a weird charm spell. Though, if not one recalled it, he could clearly remember that when he had entered the resort for the first time, he had been a shy boy, overwhelmed by all the colors of his district. It had been hard and stressful to finally get a ticket and enter the complex after the years he had spent studying for this job, but it had definitely been worth it. 

The resort was one of the most famous places in the non-human world, renowned for its uniqueness: it was indeed the only working site to run the celebrations among the non-human world. Each celebration came from this very place. From Halloween to Valentine’s, creatures were scouted and chosen to be part of those very selective teams, each entering one of the famous departments. Many schools were even built to prepare recruits for the resort, but only the final test could determine if one could finally enter the impressive facility. 

Once you were in, you did not have room for disappointment. You had been chosen; you should be able to honor the people who chose you and work with everything you had for your department. School had been long and annoying for Jimin, but once he got out with his diploma and a saved seat for the resort he had been looking forward to ever since he was young, he had felt like all those hard years had finally paid off. His dreams were coming true and he was finally able to work as a Christmas spirit. His ultimate goal had been to be chosen as a representative. It didn't seem like a big deal if you didn't know how the resort worked, but it was like being the vice president with all the fieldwork to do instead of the administration. Representatives were the inner-faces of their celebration. If the President usually handled the administrative papers and different interviews, representatives had to manage every section of their district, making sure everything was running smoothly. They had to help their co-workers when an issue arose, they presided over meetings and often managed the whole planning of the event. The rest of the paperwork (material shipment, bills, etc) was left to the President who had the final word over every decision. 

To Jimin’s amazement, he surprisingly got picked as a representative by his co-workers only 3 years after he arrived, 2 years ago, mainly working with the promotion team but mingling everywhere when help was required. He had been elated to be nominated for such a high statute so quickly. He, therefore, tried his best to help as much as he could so that he wouldn’t disappoint anyone. His top priority was to get everything ready for the celebrations so that humans and all other beings would be able to have a great time during the festivities. He worked hard to keep his representative status: it was his pride and everything he had been working for. His ego probably did not need such a boost but Jimin had never been happier and he boasted about it every time he got the opportunity. However, with his carrying personality and efficiency, no one had been able to resent him about it (except (Y/N)); people often called him ‘Angel’ and he was used by now to playfully answer that he disliked being wrongly classified; he was no angel, only a truly proud fairy. He was a very cheeky but sweet fairy, brightening everyone’s day; well everyone, but one. 

To be fair, he had mostly tried to get under (Y/N)’s skin because of a misunderstanding. He had indeed never met a witch before her and the first time they met, let’s just say that he did not make the best first impression. 

At first, he had indeed thought that she was human and he had genuinely been confused. How could a human enter the resort? Normally, humans should not be able to see places surrounded by magic like the resort was nor did they see beings like him; they had no way to interact with their world, so maybe she couldn’t see anyone? It would explain why she looked so lost. She had probably come here without seeing anything or knowing what it was. It had still surprised him that she had been able to enter. The resort should have pushed her human presence by itself, making it impossible for her to see nor to enter it. Maybe the barrier had not worked and she had been able to slide in? Jimin had wondered what she was discerning: an abandoned manor? A creepy house that she had been dared to get in? He had laughed cheekily, happy to play a little trick on a sweet looking human; he had unfolded his golden wings to create a sudden air stream to surprise her. Yet, being a little bit too excited, he had forgotten to control the strength of his wings and the air stream that had followed had been slightly (meaning: extremely) stronger than what he had first intended to, which made the flared skirt of the young girl flying in the air. For his defense, he had not meant for her skirt to fly like that, he had merely wanted to creep her out with some fresh air, enough to make her run away. 

Needless to say; both Jimin and the young girl had been extremely embarrassed, and mostly her who had shrieked in panic. She had quickly turned over and her eyes had instantly met Jimin’s confused one. First, he had been blushing hard because of the sight he had gotten greeted with, and second, he had sharply frozen, feeling like the sudden eye contact did not seem like a coincidence. She had seemed to be looking at him, which was technically impossible for a human, but something was wrong. It had been almost like she could actually see him-

“Who do you think you are, you stupid fairy!” She had yelled in the corridor, tears brimming her eyes as she had tried to control her quick breath. If he could have heard her thoughts, he would have heard a ‘don’t panic’ repeated over and over.

“Y-You can see me?” He had dumbly asked, stuttering nervously. 

She had just called him a fairy, did it mean that she knew what he was? Did it mean that she wasn't human either? But before she could even reply, Jimin had seen and recognized the president of the Halloween department entering the corridor. She had been impossible to miss as the atmosphere of the room had shifted with her only presence in an instant. The presidents of the different celebrations were renown people. They often made the covers of some magazines, interviews and other type of content that they had to make. It was often some pictures, then saying how proud they were to have been reelected… Nothing really important but their faces were everywhere, it had even been enough for Jimin to recognize any of them in an instant, and especially the creepy Halloween president. Jimin had never met a witch before but he had heard that witches were frightening and Jimin’s mother had always told him to get away as soon as he could if he ever met one. Witches were good at one thing: using fairies’ glitters for their own profit. However, the president of the Halloween department’s entrance had frozen him. She was definitely someone he’d prefer to avoid forever if he could, but being so close to her, he could only pray for his safety. One of her hands had yet fallen on the young girl's shoulder who had tensed under the contact. Jimin had gulped, noticing the way the hand of the president had not just laid on her shoulder but had rather harshly gripped her, urging her to start walking again if she didn’t want for her shoulder to be crushed in her hands. The sight alone had made Jimin shiver and he had wordlessly prayed for the old witch to ignore him. He was just a ridiculous fairy, no one worthy of her attention… Right? 

“Let’s go (Y/N). You wouldn’t want to disappoint me already, would you, dear?” 

Jimin’s face had lost its pretty glow as he had realized that he had brought big and terrifying troubles for the girl he had wanted to spook jokingly. A shudder had traveled his spine even if neither the older witch nor the young girl he had just humiliated had looked back at him. Nevertheless, the uneasy features of the girl had left him with a sour taste of guilt for what he had done. He had hoped that nothing bad would happen to her but he had not seen her for a whole month after their first encounter. 

In between he had had the time to make some friends and create a little group of his own, yet, he had never quite forgotten the strange meeting with this girl named (Y/N). He had desperately wanted to apologize but as he had not been able to see her again, it had left him considerably discouraged. 5 weeks after what had happened, he had finally gotten a glimpse of the young girl again. She had been sitting in the cafeteria and before he could lose her, he had run-up to her table and had sat quickly before she could complain. But his smile had quickly fallen as his sparkly eyes had met her dull ones. It had felt like life had been taken away from her; and before he could share his worry and apology, she had already gotten up, gawking at him with a nasty glare.

“Don’t you dare come close to me. Stay far away from me.” Her voice had been cold and for a second, Jimin had even flinched. He had never meant to get on her bad side so early but he had apparently messed up enough for her to already be his enemy. But after she had left, everyone had surrounded him to comfort him and the whole thing had not set well with him. Why were they all worried about him and not her? It had made no sense at first; but then a guy called Taehyung told him that she was the daughter of the president of the Halloween department and the original guilt he had felt only worsened. Maybe for the other workers it meant that she would always be out of trouble, that she would probably be someone to avoid if they didn’t want troubles. However, from what he had seen the day they met, he wouldn’t openly comment on their prejudice, but she was probably far from ‘out of trouble’. He couldn’t really find a way to explain that to the people who had not witnessed what he did, but what he had seen had been enough for him to understand that a lot weighed on her shoulders, daughter of the President or not. Moreover, Jimin had feared that telling people what he saw would only bother her more than he had already done, so he had decided to stay quiet about it, keeping his mouth shut about this uncanny encounter. 

Hence instead of trying to take her defense in front of people whose opinion about her seemed set, he had decided to try to confront her again, but it always ended the same way until he stopped trying to apologize and ultimately just came to annoy her, which led them to their current relationship: arguments ending with anger, frustration, and/or dramatic chuckles. Jimin would have preferred to apologize at some point, sure, but she never gave him the benefit of the doubt so he had accepted his fate and went on with their weird dynamic anyway. 

“Besides, it’s finally my month and I’m going to work so much you won’t be able to see my pretty face. How much of a shame is that?” Witnessing him batting his eyelashes, she rolled her eyes annoyed. 

“I can’t wait for you to disappear. Aren’t you too busy to pick a fight? You shouldn’t be here at such a late hour.” She snickered as he looked at the time, panic settling in his eyes. 

“I’ll be back for you soon, Wednesday, try not to swallow too much happiness in the meanwhile or you might lose your dark aura!” He laughed as he ran away, proud of his joke that only he found funny. 

She sighed again, drained of any bit of energy she had mustered before she had left her bed this morning. She already used to hate Christmas as a child, but growing up had only worsened her distaste for the celebration. Jimin being its entire embodiment, her antipathy toward him was no surprise to her. He was insufferable. 

5 years that she had been bearing with his constant disrespect and annoying ass. (Y/N) had graduated from her formation school 5 years ago, starting an active life in the celebration field as soon as she was out of "hell" as she had liked to call it. It wasn’t like she had a choice. Her whole family was famous for their Halloween celebrations, spooky gifts making, and even sordid choral. Her mom being the president of the Halloween district, her whole future had been planned before she was even born. Sometimes she wished that it was different, but then she saw the different celebrations and she found herself glad that she did not have to see a couple kissing everywhere during hers at least. 

Halloween was nice: simple and always loved by a lot of people.

Hence, it was her fifth year in the resort, the second one being a Halloween representative and this second Halloween season as a representative had been particularly hectic. She had almost been relieved once it had ended, yet it also meant that Christmas was to come as well. It was a shame for Christmas to be so, oh so close to her favorite moment of the year. Once Halloween was done, everyone suddenly started looking forward to Christmas and she snorted at the thought. What was so nice about it anyway? Gift making? You could do that for anniversaries. Dinners with the family? It was Thanks Giving’s biggest task already. The only things that were tied to Christmas, and Christmas only, were those ugly Christmas trees, and (Y/N) found herself thinking that this tradition seemed to be ironically more fitting for the Halloween spirit than the Christmas one: killing a tree to morbidly display it in a house as if it were a trophy? Quite frightening in her honest opinion. It totally could have been a Halloween tradition had Christmas not made a big deal out of it. 

So to say that she hated Jimin mostly because of their first encounter and because he was the Christmas representative would be quite correct. She didn’t feel like she owed anyone another explanation to hate him; it was quite simple actually. Moreover, she never felt like he ever tried to be nice to her. Ever since they entered the resort the same year, it was like he was spending his time finding new ways to annoy her every day. She tried her best to come up with even more irritating ideas, but she always felt short, not wanting to give up her precious time to him. He didn’t deserve for her to waste her valuable time on ridiculous things like that. Besides, Halloween preparations and meetings for the next year were already on their way. She had other things to think about with the innuendo of the president made earlier in the week still resonating in her mind. 

“Maybe our representative isn’t efficient enough. It would be wise to rethink that choice. I had voted against when we chose the new representative two years ago and last year too, anyway.” 

Her mom just knew how to hurt, didn’t she? Ever since (Y/N) had been chosen as the representative two years ago, her relationship with her mother became hell. Not that it was good before, but it wasn't that bad at least. (Y/N) honestly dreaded the next meeting, but as the current representative, it wasn’t like she had a choice. She was the one who was supposed to preside over the meetings, opening and closing them. It did nothing to help her already sour mood, but at the very least, Yoongi finally joined her for breakfast and she was almost happy to see a familiar face.

“So, you’re ready to be kicked out by the president?” He asked grinning while (Y/N) just sighed. Being part of the Halloween district as well, Yoongi knew just like her what was at stake for that meeting. 

“Please I beg you, remain quiet if it’s the only thing you have to say.” Yoongi chuckled. She made sure to whisper to avoid people from listening to her. She knew how fast gossip went here.

“Ah, I’m deeply sorry, but it does feel like the only thing you enjoy is going to be taken away from you.” He smiled quietly, knowing the truth of his words. To be honest, both knew it. They both knew that she was probably going to be replaced at the end of the next meeting, but she didn’t want to believe it for now. As long as it still had not happened, she would consider it as just being a rumor. Nothing more, nothing less. She had worked so hard, so, so hard despite what everyone said; she had no allies to get there. People from the resort thought that she had been appointed because she was the daughter of the president while the president kept on criticizing her about her work being insufficient and not good enough in front of the whole department, discrediting her as the representative. 

No one was pleased with her work. Everyone double guessed all her decisions because of her mom, even when she was supposed to be the representative for God’s sake! All of them were supposed to listen to her, but no! No, instead, everyone did whatever the fuck they wanted just because they didn’t want to trust her, and they instead went with the second propositions-always oh so much better according to her mother-which always fucked up with the rest of the schedule since everything clashed together as people were following several ideas. 

(Y/N) always had to fix everything up by herself as the good representative she was and the president always took great delight in seeing her struggling and adding a mocking comment, blaming everything on her. Once everything was done, they all celebrated with each other, never mentioning all the work (Y/N) had to fix for everyone. It was apparently easier to blame everything on her and congratulate each other than to acknowledge that she had been right from the very beginning and that they should have just followed her directions. Honestly, she had entertained the thought of quitting the representative position. But her mother was waiting for her to give up. (Y/N) knew it. She was waiting for her to break down to prove to her once again that (Y/N) would never be enough to rival her (not that she wanted to but for some reason, her mother seemed to think otherwise). 

“It’s frustrating. I still love it in a way. Even though I have it hard, and it’s definitely not the most peaceful job, I kind of love it though. But at the same time, I’m so tired to have to stand my ground every single day for people to keep on questioning my legitimacy for the job.” She sighed again, tired. She was honestly so tired. 

Thank god Yoongi knew what she meant because he had been in her shoes 10 years ago. Yet, he had always refused to be associated with the president as a family member, merely acknowledging the fact that they were indeed blood-related. It was funny how many people didn’t know that Yoongi was actually (Y/N)’s brother. Many old workers could probably remember the time when the president was on his back to work harder and not to disappoint the family. But once she had realized that he was a lost cause and would never give more than he wanted to, the expectations had shifted to the youngest one of the family in five years. Yoongi had honestly felt hopeless once he had understood why they had finally left him alone. They had not understood, had they? Their destructive way of pushing them to the top had to stop, and he thought he had made it clear that it would never work. 

No, instead, they had chosen to act as if he had never existed, (Y/N) suddenly becoming an only child, bearing all the resentment of a previous one who shall never be named. 

He had been angry. Angry at his mother, angry at the rest of the family who closed their eyes on all issues as long as it did not stain their reputations, angry at (Y/N) for telling him that it was okay, that she would do whatever their mom wanted her to so that they would finally leave him alone. It did never sit well with him. He had been slightly comforted when she had one day told him that she didn’t dislike it as much as she had thought she would, that she almost liked it, but it did not take back all the shit she endured just for him. 

It was honestly more than just for him. (Y/N) had a lot to prove to her mother, and her stubbornness wouldn’t allow her to give up. Hence, she had always assured Yoongi it was okay. She didn’t mind taking his place if it meant peace for him and a way to prove herself. 

Yet, Yoongi mainly saw the damage that he had done, and he couldn’t help but feel guilty. She had always sworn to him that it was okay, so he pretended it was. But on his side, he made sure people never crossed the line when talking about her, he always made sure to bring her favorite cake once celebrations were done, he always made sure to tell her she did a good job, to give her a short hug, silently telling her that he was here and proud of her. Honestly, he would have given up by now had he been in her position. But she never did, obstinately going against the odd and not caring about what people could say. He was so proud of her, and he would remind her as much as she would need to hear it. And she couldn’t be more grateful. Her brother was the one who helped her go on. 

“Ready?” He asked quietly, leaving the table. The meeting was supposed to start in 10 minutes, they would be early if they left right now, but he knew it would ease her nerves a little bit. Walking always brought some peace for her. 

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” 

It had been such a long day for Jimin. 

He had honestly thought for a brief moment that he couldn’t do it. He needed a break. People were constantly on his back, calling his name whenever something didn’t work, and at some point, he might as well just blow up on everyone because he needed three Jimins to handle everyone. It was starting to feel frustrating; they didn’t need to call him when they weren’t sure about tag names for packets, they could always ask someone else as well. They didn’t need to call him when they had a power cut, it was not his job and he even had a strict restriction; forbidden from going close to the generators (just like everyone did actually, only the engineers were authorized to work on that). They didn’t need to call him when there was no more paper in the printers, they knew where the paper was stocked and could get it by themselves. In a few words: Jimin was tired of being called for nothing and thus becoming late for actual emergencies. 

He managed because he always did. It was one of his numerous talents and mostly the one that got him the representative position. He always found a way to fix what was wrong but he was god damn tired. Couldn’t they think by themselves instead of leaving it all to him? There was no room for complacency. They had a tight schedule and couldn’t afford to take too much time on simple issues. He had calculated everything and made a precise plan, everyone just had to follow it. He was grateful to be trusted to the point that if someone had a problem, they’d go to him first. However, he couldn’t afford to lose so much time on issues that could have been solved without his help. 

His day was still not done even though every worker was leaving for the cafeteria. He still had some checkups to do, and if he noticed anything wrong, he would probably work on it until he was satisfied. Jimin was extremely picky when it came to Christmas. His favorite season only deserved the very best after all. He was about to head to his last destination, the gifs room, before he heard two voices in a corridor nearby. 

“It was a mess apparently.” The voice was recognizable between hundred and Jimin could already tell it was Taehyung from the candy section. He was one of the directors of their district, smoothly running the sweets even though he had been testing Jimin’s nerves recently. Nothing too serious, both were close friends after all. But still enough for Jimin to wonder what he was doing here after the thrown tantrum about chocolate lollipops earlier in the day. 

“Do you think they really kicked her out?” Ah. Jimin knew that voice too. Jungkook, from the engineering team. Had something happened in one of their rooms? Jungkook only came when something needed to be fixed and it was usually Jimin who called for him. Had Taehyung finally decided to make a decision by himself and had called accurate help for an encountered quandary? Instead of just calling Jimin? God, he could probably cry of relief if it was the case. 

“It seems like it, I mean, that’s what Joonie-hyung told me. I never thought for it to be possible but the Halloween district seems to be sterner than rumored after all.” The Halloween district? What could they be talking about? 

“It’s surprising, indeed. Wasn’t their representative the daughter of the president? I thought everyone said she got the job because her mom was the boss, but now everyone is saying that the president was the most adamant to get her out. Weird as fuck.” 

Wait, what? (Y/N) got kicked out? 

“It might be just a rumor as well. You know how anything can get blown out of proportion here.” That was true, but it did nothing to tame Jimin’s questions down. What had happened? Had (Y/N) been removed from her position? Jimin wasn’t a big fan of the Halloween celebrations per-se, but he had to admit that everything was always pretty neat and always unfolded without an itch. So what could have been blamed on her? He wasn’t in the internal team, so maybe there were things that no one except the Halloween department knew of. However, it still seemed weird. (Y/N) loved Halloween, there was no way she would have tried to intentionally fuck something up, and knowing how much of a perfectionist she was, it was also impossible for her to do a mistake or let something wrong happen. But then, what happened? 

It wasn’t like Jimin could randomly go to her and straight-up ask her what happened. She would probably tell him to fuck off. Maybe if he annoyed her enough she would let slip what happened? It would get her mad for sure, but it was the only way to know the truth here. Jimin considered asking someone that could be considered as close to her, yet she also wasn’t talking to a lot of people. He sometimes saw her eating with another boy from the Halloween section-was his name Min Yoongi?- but that was it and it was rather unlikely for the said boy to have any information he’d give freely to a Christmas spirit and especially to Jimin, (Y/N)'s nemesis. Not that it was a common rivalry or whatever, though, for some reasons, a lot of Halloween spirits seemed to hate Christmas ones and vice versa. Hence, Jimin doubted that this Yoongi boy might be willing to help. 

He had to find a way to satisfy his curiosity though.

(Y/N) had been looking for something to eat for the past few minutes, and she was still hesitating between cooking some noodles or just taking some fruits before leaving as quickly as she could.

Did she come late just to avoid everyone because Yoongi told her that they all were speaking about her being demoted from the representative position? 

Yes. That was exactly what she was doing. 

It wasn’t like she couldn’t just glare at everyone and eat in peace, she totally could. However, she did not have the motivation to do that at that moment. She was tired, disappointed, ashamed, and frustrated. So many emotions were mixed together; she almost felt like throwing up. She had been strong for so long, never told anyone how tired she really was; Yoongi probably knew even if she never told him anything. But it always felt like she was running away from something she couldn’t clearly see but could clearly feel. Yoongi had tried to smile at her back then in the middle of this suffocating room, but it only came very sorrowfully, only reminding her how lonely both of them were. 

Alone facing their mother; that was what they were. 

The simple recollection of all of these eyes on her; she could see this surreal scene over and over in her mind with all those votes to demote her, making her sick all over again. Only Yoongi had not raised his hand. 

Only Yoongi. 

She wanted to throw up again, her hand automatically flying to cover her mouth just in case. Had she fucked up that much? How was it possible that no one noticed all the work she had done? Did they just... Not want to see it? No, something had seemed weird; some people had kept their heads down as if trying to escape her eyes. (Y/N) had wondered if something had happened being her back and after some thought, she wouldn’t be that surprised if she came to hear from others that her mother had something to do with those results. By that, she wasn’t speaking about the constant verbal abuse she suffered from every single day, always putting (Y/N)’s authority as a representative into question. No, by that, she rather meant that she could distinctly imagine her mother threatening everyone's job to mess with the outcome of the votes. It was easy and she had the power after all; she could fire anyone of the department from the facility. Knowing how hard it was to get in, no one would risk their precious position for a representative they have no affinity with. (Y/N) knew that some would have probably voted for her demotion anyway, but the single voice of Yoongi not being against her demotion still raised her suspicions. Their mother had thrown him a nasty glare, and he had just smiled cheekily, happy to piss her off as much as he could. His eyes had then landed on (Y/N) but for some reason, even the usually comforting dark orbs were stressing her out more than they should have. The loneliness was heavy to bear with sometimes. 

Or maybe, and just maybe, they just hated her and had indeed voted for her demotion willingly. 

Both options were honestly possible in her opinion. (Y/N) actually wouldn’t be that shocked to realize that everyone had willingly voted her out, even without the intervention of her mother. She had noticed that people had never really liked her. She was the daughter of the president; hence, a threat. If they managed to kick her out of the representative position, it would be easier to get the job now that the competition was not blood-related. Nevertheless, she wanted to chuckle a little bit at how ridiculous it all sounded. After all, both Yoongi and her knew how wrong that was. Blood was merely a hindrance to their mother, yet she’ll keep it to herself. She never really understood why her mother always expected her to be perfect, yet, once she did something good, it felt like her mother tried everything to ruin it. It never made sense for her, but apparently, it sure did for her mother. Though a voice brought her back to reality and she was hoping to be mistaken about the owner of this voice.

“Waiting for me Wednesday?” Oh no, she was definitely not dealing with him and this stupid nickname right now. She had to find an escape, and quickly. If there was anyone who would bluntly rub her defeat in her face, it would be him. And she didn’t really have the patience to deal with him. 

“About to leave actually, ‘night Santa.” She tried her best to dish him promptly, but he blocked her way out. She clicked her tongue, annoyed, yet he barely moved. What was his problem today? Why was he here that late anyway?

“Where do you think you are running like that exactly?” She raised an eyebrow at that, incredulously looking at him. Didn’t she just tell him she was leaving? 

“To my district so that I can have my beauty sleep, now move, Park.” He smirked as she talked; it made her feel anxious. He probably already knew what had happened just like everyone else did, and considering his wicked expression, he was about to use it against her. 

“You sure? Wouldn’t that be to avoid me from knowing that I finally won over you? Christmas representative Jimin 1 - Wednesday 0.” She mentally shrank slightly at that, she knew it was coming but it still felt low from him. Their bickering had never been welcomed but most of the time, it wasn’t mean per se. Her best attack against his stupidity had always been sarcasm and irony, but she didn’t feel like she would be able to do that now, exhaustion taking over her mind for a while. She was so tired to always have to put a front to survive. It wasn’t like she had wanted to be born in this family but it seemed like it only brought her enemy (except for Yoongi). She had always stood tall and she knew that she had to try for a bit longer even though she was wishing for the comfort of her bed; she’d try her best because there was no way she’d give in so easily to him. Anyone but him. 

“Pretty sure you got mixed up, Park. Now fuck off and let me go to sleep.” She was tired and she honestly didn’t want to entertain him. It was about time for him to grow up and stop picking useless fights with her. 

“Come on Wednesday, pretty sure you were the talk of the resort tonight. Not that you haven’t been before.” Why was he trying so hard to piss her off? 

“Do I look like I care?” Her voice came harsher than she had intended to and he almost looked startled but she honestly couldn’t care any less. She wanted to hide, couldn’t he just let it go for once? 

“Come on, tell me what happened. Don’t you want to rant to someone at least?” Her eyes were surprisingly met with something that looked like honesty and kindness. It brought her walls down for a short moment. Did he mean that or was he just fucking with her again? God, why was she even thinking about it? He was probably messing around with her. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing how ashamed she felt. She still could remember that one time when she had actually trusted him. 

Spoiler: it had not ended well for her. 

“So that you can use it against me afterward like that back then when I trusted you? Thanks, I’ll pass the opportunity.” He huffed, hurt flashing in his eyes. She could have imagined it though because he was already smirking again. She wouldn’t be fooled anyway. (Y/N) exactly knew who he was and what he was capable of doing just to humiliate her. It had already happened 2 years ago, and she wouldn’t let him have the upper hand ever again. He had fooled her so easily; she had felt so stupid to have believed in him, to have believed that kindness could be something he actually knew. He had been terribly convincing that day. She had felt so off, had tried to hide it as much as she could, but he had seen right through her, coming to her ‘rescue’. She hadn’t meant for him to see, to be honest. (Y/N) had been feeling like she was about to throw up, with a terrible headache lurking in the back of her head. The loud noises had made her dizzy and she had felt like she might just faint in front of everyone. It had been a weird feeling: witches did not get sick easily. It often meant that something was wrong with their magic. But (Y/N) had never been one to fall sick or to lose control over her powers.

Hence, the constant want to throw up and dizziness had been quite unexpected, and even if she had tried to put a front for the whole day, it had probably been obvious that she hadn’t been feeling her best that day. It had indeed seemed like Jimin had caught her uneasiness quickly and he had decided to shield her from other people's unsettling glances. He had simply taken her hand, had avoided every crowded corridor, kept her behind him before finding a peaceful place for her to rest. (Y/N) had been confused and had rather reluctantly accepted for him to accompany her to the toilet, but he had wordlessly made sure she could drink some water and breath a little. It had been really, really weird. After three years of avoiding him and trying her best to never let him get under her skin every time they had talked to each other, here he was, keeping her hair up for her to throw up, rubbing a comforting hand on her back. He had stayed silent, offering her a helping hand while making sure she wouldn't get cold as he had put his warm jacket on her shoulders. She had been so thankful for his help, even sending him a small smile once they had separated.

From the corner of her eyes, she had seen him waiting for her to get into her room as if making sure she had been okay after everything. That night, she had thought that maybe, just maybe, Park Jimin was not as terrible as she had always believed him to be. Maybe there had been misunderstandings that she had not imagined. It had not been like she had given him the benefit of the doubt. Never once had she tried to see the situations from his side, so maybe, and just maybe, even if he was an annoying brat, Jimin was more than what he let her see. 

However, she had been quickly called back to reality the next day when Yoongi had looked at her and had quickly made a sign for her not to come inside the cafeteria. (Y/N) had raised an eyebrow but had complied anyway, waiting for him to join her. Turned out Jimin had told everyone what happened, making fun of her for her weakness, and had been boasting to be the one who had slipped something in her drink to make sure she wouldn’t sleep for the next few nights. Everyone had been laughing like crazy and even later during that day, she had met sardonic smiles and knowing eyes as if she had been the clown of the facility. She had felt particularly humiliated; if that had been Jimin’s goal, he had perfectly succeeded. Yoongi had asked her if she wanted for him to do something about it. Maybe he could scare that asshole enough for him to leave her alone. It had, according to him, gone slightly too far for him to close his eyes. Yoongi usually stayed out of her business, but her defeated expressions had been the last straw. She had yet declined, telling him not to do anything rash. However, she made a mental note to never trust Park Jimin ever again, and she’d stick to her words. 

“I’m hurt. You won’t tell me? I’ll thus assume that it’s also a win for me again. Must have been hard to get kicked out by mommy. I’d say it’s a solid Christmas representative Park Jimin 2 - Wednesday 0. Should we also count the fact that you have no one to rant to because everyone hates you?” His smirk was now gone, a blank expression was resting on his face but she didn’t pay attention to his facial expression anymore as anger filled her slowly. Couldn’t he let it go? Why was he so determined in being mean? 

“You don’t know when to stop do you?” She asked, growing angrier as she noticed his wicked grin. Everything was a joke to him, even when he said that he was serious, he never was. It angered her to no point. 

“Your reactions are amazing, why would I stop when it’s starting to be fun?” He chuckled but she barely heard it as her annoyance and the oppression of the whole situation made her want to throw up again. “So come on, what happened? You were a bad girl and didn’t get a present? Oh wait no, it’s a Christmas thing, you probably don’t know what the words ‘present’ and ‘kindness’ mean. But something must have happened, didn’t it?” He grinned, but his expression fell slightly as he noticed (Y/N)’s empty eyes. Had he gone too far? His own anger had been triggered but maybe he shouldn’t have reacted that way. 

“It’s not something you’d ever understand, Jimin.” He chuckled at her lack of enthusiasm. Scratch that guilt he felt in the pit of his stomach; she was despicable when she wanted to, always speaking as if she was superior or some shit, he hated that haughty tone she sometimes had. 

“Well for sure, it can’t be funny to be you: grumpy and annoying but also hated and alone. Again a win for me! Maybe I should actually ask for a trophy of something!” 

“Sure go ahead, Park. How does it feel to be the winner for the very first time since you entered the resort? Isn't it tiring to always have to try to outdo me just to feel better about your pitiful self?” That stroke a nerve, she saw in his eyes but she refused to care about it, not for someone like him. What was he expecting when he was being a jerk anyway? For her to start crying or something? She was just so tired, she wanted to sleep. He wanted to be mean? Fine, she’d do the same. If it meant he’d leave her alone, she’d do anything. 

“Fuck off (L/N). I won’t be nice and let you say whatever you want just because you’re the daughter of the Halloween department.” It seemed like his ton changed, (Y/N) felt it but again, devil may care. It wasn’t like he did have it coming. She scoffed at his ‘I won’t be nice’. He had never been nice with her, to begin with, so it wouldn’t make that much of a difference anyway. 

“Stop trying so hard to rill me up just to see my reactions and maybe I’ll be nicer. I asked you to move away, just comply and let me leave. Had you let me go, I would have been out of sight already.” Had he just moved away, she would have been gone already. Why did he have to be pestering her in her worst moment? 

“Had a bad day? Ashamed that the team kicked you out? No one is surprised, you know? Everyone hates you, it’s not like anyone would have stood up for a fool like you.” Now he was looking for what would hurt the most; she just had to try to not let it get at her. 

“You’re unable to understand my language or what? I told you to fuck off and to let me leave.” His words would have barely made her wince normally, yet at that moment she knew it was not meant jokingly and she still had in mind the votes that happened during the meeting. His words were hitting a little bit too harshly. She didn’t know what she hated the most between him meaning it or knowing that what he said was true. Probably both. 

“Yeah, I’d better do that before you start throwing a tantrum, right?” He dared to smirk and she just shoved him aside, pushing him as strongly as she could. He almost fell backward, surprised by her sudden action. She tried to hide her face as well as she could because she feared that she wouldn’t be able to trust herself to keep her tears at bay for much longer. 

“I said fuck off.” She tried her best to keep her chin up, not letting her tears fall because he did not deserve any of them. She was mostly frustrated more than angry at him in particular. Or was she? He was probably right away, so why should she be mad at him for that? Or maybe it hurt because it came from him-

She needed to sleep.

Jimin had messed up. 

He had never meant to get that hurt as he got greeted with her walls when he mentioned what happened, but he did. He got angry because he knew exactly what she meant when she told him that he wouldn’t fool her twice. He knew what she was referring to and it had felt so unfair for him who took all the blame while he had actually done nothing wrong. He had really wanted to help her that day, but then rumors came that he had been the one slipping something in her drink and he never denied them; he even did quite the opposite, yet, he never got the opportunity to come clean and to say that it wasn’t him because even his closest friends had praised him. It had felt so wrong to be praised for something he never did, and mostly for something so mean? Why had people been so happy about knowing she had been miserable all day? It had disturbed him but he never got to clear the misunderstanding; he was used to it by now but for her to use it against him? It had angered him as he could remember what had truly happened that particular day and he suddenly had crossed all lines, disrespecting and obviously hurting her. It was the first time that he saw that glint in her eyes. He had felt instant remorse after she had left, but he had not been sure if chasing after her would have helped in any way. 

He had never been able to apologize for what happened five years ago; there was little to no chance that she would ever let him apologize and it seemed like misunderstandings just kept on pilling up between the two of them. However, he wanted to apologize, now more than ever. But would he ever find a way to? Maybe he should just give up and avoid her at all costs because he kept on hurting her when they interacted. 

It had never been in his intentions to hurt her; he just had wanted to know what had truly happened rather than to rely on groundless rumors. Was he that socially awkward when it came to her? Why had he started by insulting her rather than being honest with what he had wanted? He knew that he might have never given her a reason to trust him; he loved annoying her after all, that was a fact. 

However, it was mostly always light heartened, never meant to actually trouble her; besides, she was fun to be around. She was witty, clever, and always had something to counter him. In short, he would like to be able to call her his friend, but it was probably one-sided and he wasn’t too sure about what he should do about it. So he ruminated the whole night, thinking of ways to properly apologize to her and he opted for waiting for her at the cafeteria the next morning. He even woke up early to be sure that he wouldn’t miss her. Yet, once he reached the cafeteria, Jimin was not really expecting to see her already there with Min Yoongi, eating at 4 am. He had not foreseen them both to be together and not that early either. Were they so early to be sure they would avoid everyone? The Christmas department was coming around 5 since it was their busy time of the year, was it the reason they were up so early? To avoid everyone, including the Christmas department? Jimin silently hoped she didn’t mean to especially avoid his department. 

“You’re gonna make me follow this crazy schedule for long?” He could hear their voices clearly from where he stood and even though Jimin had not meant to eavesdrop, that was exactly what he ended up doing as he hid close to the main door, making sure he would be able to run away if something came up. 

“I never said you had to come, you came on your own.” She grumbled and Jimin almost wanted to giggle at how childish she sounded. Who was that girl, and what had she done to the (Y/N) he knew? Jimin found himself curious; his curiosity overtook his silent shame for listening to their conversation. Now he had many questions and one fo them was: were they close to each other? It seemed like they knew each other well even though Jimin rarely saw any of them talking to anyone. They both weren’t the most social people of the resort. He did notice that they ate together sometimes but they usually just sat at a table and ate silently. He didn’t expect them to be actually friendly interacting with each other. 

“What kind of brother would I be if I left you alone with your miserable mindset? You’d be able to cast a weird spell on yourself to try to forget what happened, can’t have that happening.” Jimin blinked a few times, shivering slightly. He replayed the sentence in his mind, trying to make sense of what he just heard.

Brother?

Yoongi was (Y/N)’s brother?

“Still the best. I mean, I only have you anyway so you’re always going to be the best.” Yoongi laughed a bit at that, grinning cheekily. 

“Could you be a little bit more appreciative of my undying support? I’d still be your favorite whether we had more siblings or not.” He was teasing her but it looked like she wasn’t getting the joke. Or she did, but she didn’t acknowledge it as such, taking it to heart instead. 

“You know I love and appreciate you. I don’t know what I would do without you-” 

“Okay Shakespeare, we do not need a sudden love declaration. I was merely joking, not actually questioning if I’m a good brother or not because we both know damn well I’m the best and that you love me.” Yoongi seemed to be desperately trying to lift her mood by joking lightly but it didn’t seem to have much effect on her.

“I’m sorry Yoongs.” Jimin winced at the dejected tone he could hear. It felt wrong. To be honest, everything from the situation he was in felt wrong. He knew he shouldn’t be listening to a private conversation but he couldn’t help it; he had to listen. For once, it felt like he was listening to (Y/N), as in the real one, not the one hidden behind layers and layers of sarcasm. But this (Y/N) sounded so tired, so out of it. He wished he could just shake some sense into her. 

“Stop apologizing. You’re always saying sorry. Stop being sorry for existing. The president would blame everything on you if she had the opportunity. If she were to be able to blame you for wasting air, she’d do it. So stop being so apologetic, will you? You need to stand up for yourself more than that or else she’ll destroy your life. She shifted her expectations on you because she realized that she couldn’t do anything about me. And since you’re more on the tender side, you’re easier to break and she’s making sure you won’t try to defy her authority and stay pliant to her will.” She frowned at his words.

“I’m not on the ‘tender side’ or whatever that means.” Yoongi scoffed at her words and she pouted.

“You’re definitely on the tender side when you look at our family. They could be professional killers and I wouldn’t even be surprised. You, on the other side, prefer making flower crowns and decorating them. And it’s not a bad thing, actually having feelings won’t make you weaker, you know?” Yoongi had a soft smile dancing on his lips and Jimin was pretty sure it was the first time he saw the older man smiling. He had never really taken the time to properly look at Yoongi before, too intimidated to do so, but each time he had seen him, his face had been devoid of any emotion. It felt weird to see the older man so open with his words and emotions. 

“Don’t try to tell me that you’re like the rest of them and don’t have any feeling left because we both know that’s not true.” (Y/N) giggled silently and Jimin saw Yoongi’s smile deepening slightly, happy to hear her giggle even if it still was really quiet. It felt like a small victory for Yoongi to see a smile creeping on his sister’s features. 

“Yeah, yeah, I have a massive and stupid crush on that boy from this ridiculous Carnival department, I know! We already went through my emotional distress together and I’d rather not go through everything again.” Jimin smiled softly once he heard (Y/N)’s laugh. It might as well be the first time he heard her laughing. Had anyone ever witnessed them like that? Where did all the rumors about the Halloween department being boring and unable to joke around come from when Jimin was able to observe those two? Where the fuck did all of those rumors come from? 

“Very true. What was his name already? Hoseok or something?” Oh. Jimin knew that name well. He tried his best to not focus too much on their conversation to give them somewhat privacy, but the name rang a bell a little bit too loudly to him. If they were talking about the Jung Hoseok, the one that Jimin was thinking about, it was… Quite surprising knowing that Yoongi never really talked to anyone while Hoseok was quite the social butterfly. But hey! Maybe they would match well who knows! Opposites attract as we say. Besides, (Y/N) and Yoongi were both showing personalities he never thought to be possible for them to have, so nothing was unimaginable at this point. 

“Yeah, yeah, shut up now. I think I gave you enough information on me for you to ruin my peace forever.” He sounded annoyed but was nevertheless smiling softly. Jimin found it hard to believe in the annoyance that Yoongi tried to display. 

“It’s only fair. You saw me at my worst; had you wanted to make my life a living hell, you’d have material.” Jimin could hear how her voice had picked up, less slurring on her words and a bit more energetic. It sounded more like her again, more vivacious and more lively. He preferred that voice much more than the one he first heard as he came into the cafeteria. 

“True, anyway. I’ll go back to sleep, if the president says something about my absence during the meeting, just tell her you didn’t see me. I’ll deal with her later if she ever comes to complain.” Yoongi got up, getting his things before starting leaving, making Jimin panic knowing that he was hidden in front of the main door. He tried to hide further behind the door, but he feared that one of them would be able to see him. He had never been too good at hiding and even though his first thought of staying close to the main door in an emergency situation had been great, he had not realized that his escape would also be very hard to miss if he were to start running. 

“Unlikely. You have not been considered as her son ever since I was born. Pretty sure she even won’t ask about you and say that everyone is here.” Jimin’s eyes widened a bit at that. He had known that something had to be wrong within their family but he would have never guessed it went that far. Yet again, as he remembered what he had seen the day he met (Y/N), he could recollect pretty well feeling like there was more than was he was able to see. The grip of the president on (Y/N)’s shoulder had not seemed soft at all. He wouldn’t have been surprised if it had even left a bruise. 

“Hey, at least, it comes with some benefits, I can miss any meeting I want, she won’t ever say something to me. No chance to be picked as the representative as well, I’m protected against any kind of verbal or physical abuse you had to go through”, Yoongi was coming closer to the door and Jimin could hear him more clearly. Fuck. He was fucked, wasn’t he? How could he explain what he was doing here, hidden behind the door? He closed his eyes tightly hoping to not encounter this embarrassing situation. He could already feel the shame creeping. Wait- did Yoongi just imply that (Y/N) had been exposed to verbal and physical abuse by their mother?

“I only wish, sleep well!” (Y/N) seemed to leave from the other side as weird as it seemed. Jimin wondered where she was going as he barely heard her muffled voice. The Halloween district was in the opposite direction. It was weird, but he would worry about that later. He was more anxious at the idea of Min Yoongi being at maybe 30 centimeters from him. He didn’t really know how close the older man was as he was too scared to peak, scared that his cover would be blown up if he moved. Instead, he gulped silently, waiting for Yoongi to disappear as he heard some low chuckles right next to him. 

God, he couldn’t stop shaking. He closed his eyes tightly, waiting for the worst to happen. Jimin didn’t know why-especially after the trivial conversation he heard between the two siblings-but he was honestly scared shitless of Yoongi. He seemed like the kind of person who could easily ruin someone’s life. He was a powerful warlock, no one had really seen him use his powers, but his aura was enough to intimidate more than one (Jimin included). Yet, the man took off, not looking back and Jimin clearly heard his footsteps fading away. He let a shaky breath out from his mouth realizing how long he had kept it inside. He wanted to laugh at himself; he must have looked really stupid, hiding as well as he could, shitting himself.

But honestly? Nothing could have prepared him for what happened right after he started giggling in the middle of the entrance of the cafeteria. A cold breeze suddenly closed the doors in front of his nose and a dark chuckle resonated right next to him. 

“You’ll keep that to yourself, won’t you, Park?” A shudder ran through Jimin’s spine as he suddenly heard Yoongi’s voice again. His heartbeat picked up and his breathing got stuck in his throat. His eyes scanned the whole area but to no avail. Yoongi had physically already left but Jimin’s mind was a wreck. He had seen him go; he could swear he heard him leave! He had waited for him to be fully gone before getting out of his hideout; he heard him leaving, he was sure of it! 

But where was he? He just heard his voice clearly and he couldn’t have mistaken it. 

Actually, he did not want to know where the older man was. He was a warlock, he had probably his own ways. Jimin didn’t want to know; he’ll act as if nothing happened. Jimin? Here? In the cafeteria this early? No, never heard of that scenario. Though, Jimin nervously gulped as thoughts were racing in his mind. 

Had Yoongi known that he was here for the whole time?

It was probably obvious, but Jimin was still freaking out 6 hours after he heard Yoongi’s voice (he couldn’t figure out if Yoongi had already left or not, and he honestly still didn’t want to figure it out). The doors closing on him and his dark chuckles had been enough for Jimin to be freaked out for the day and probably the next few years. Not only had the whole thing terrified him, but he also was freaking out each time he thought that he could see Yoongi in the hallways. Technically impossible since Yoongi was most probably in his department and he had no reason to come to the Christmas one. If anything, from what he understood, he should be roaming somewhere in the carnival section hallways if he was not sleeping in his room. 

Not that he kept track with what Yoongi had said, but Jimin had almost spilled the beans to Hoseok when he saw him during the lunch break. Though, as Jimin had started talking, his voice got suddenly caught in his throat and he found himself physically unable to continue. Panicking as his voice wasn’t coming through, his eyes met Yoongi’s one for less than a second before the older disappeared with a sadistic smile. Jimin broke into a fit of coughing and everyone had come around, asking him if he was okay. He had to lie through his teeth, telling everyone he shouldn’t have joked around as he was drinking, chuckling as everyone laughed, but he knew that he was now monitored. 

Jimin wasn't dumb and he was now terrified of Yoongi, 100% sure that the one who had controlled his body during a fraction of seconds had been him. He couldn’t prove it, he had somehow felt his presence before meeting his eyes (that or he had imagined Yoongi’s eyes; too creeped out by the older man. He wouldn’t be too surprised if he had started seeing abnormal things everywhere, even if it was mere fragments of his imagination. He now would never be able to be sure if it was only his mind messing up with him, but maybe he would pretend he was going crazy instead of believing what he saw. It would be slightly less creepy). 

He was too proud to admit it, but he acted like a fool for the whole day; weird yells or sudden glances as if trying to see if he was followed. He brushed the weird stares and questions by telling everyone he had a rough night (which wasn’t that far from the truth, but still), and his department weirdly understood, all looking rather guilty as if thinking that they were responsible for his discomfort and fatigue. Technically, it was not that wrong, some of them had been insufferable for the past few days. However, Jimin truly had another preoccupation and he wasn’t really sure how to handle it. It almost felt like he was being haunted: and it was needless to say that he didn't enjoy it at all. 

He even thought of finding the older man and begging for him to leave him alone, but his proud persona prevented him from giving in. He would be strong and survive this hardship, just like he always did. He still had his apology for (Y/N) in the back of his head, he would find a way for that, but for now, he had to save himself from the devil. Was Yoongi a warlock? Jimin would be tempted to say that he was more of a demon than anything else but he’d keep that to himself, Yoongi might hear him after all. 

What if he could hear his thoughts too? Jimin was doomed. 

Though, Jimin honestly almost lost it when a mirror broke in front of him as he was washing his hands. Jimin had been looking at his hair when the mirror shattered right where he was looking at. He yelled before noticing that the rest of the mirror was spotless, leaving only his face distorted on the broken glass. He shuddered with horror after inspecting the mirror. He might have to take back his previous “I'm gonna be strong and courageous!” Because this was getting ridiculous. At this point, he started fearing that he might die of a heart attack if it went on for any longer. 

So Jimin surprisingly gulped down his stupid pride, sighed heavily before heading to the Halloween department. His presence should have been noticed and intercepted but he looked so angry, so determined to find the source of his troubles that no one dared to stop him as they met the furious fairy in the corridors. A rare sight to see Jimin, the happiest fairy of the resort, looking so furious. Most of the creatures of the Halloween department just made room for him to find his target and went on their day as if they had seen nothing. 

Jimin turned for a while, trusting his guts when it came to finding the older man, but a voice cut him abruptly in his thoughts. He recognized (Y/N)’s voice immediately, not even needing to see her to make sure it was her; he just knew it was her. Jimin halted his determined steps despite the mission he had set himself on. 

Maybe it was his moment to finally apologize. After all, nothing could stop him right now. Actually, that was a bit rash to say that because Yoongi could probably prevent him from finally saying sorry if he decided to show up, but Jimin would probably start yelling at him before a spell could be cast. The platinum-haired man had ruined his day enough, he didn’t need more to be done to break the last straw that kept him sane. 

Jimin came slowly, trying to keep his presence unnoticed as he heard the young woman listing some items. As he got closer, he noticed that she was in a cold room, obviously shivering because of the temperature. The place did not look like a cold room at all. If he were to be honest; it looked more like a regular storage space than anything else. Jimin finally took his time to take in his surroundings now that his anger temporarily died down; he had never ventured into the Halloween district and the place was surprisingly rather normal. He had expected black alleys, spiders, and dust everywhere, but he was met with light brown corridors, a red carpet almost covering the totality of the wooden floor with very normal lights, and a very clean space in general. Surprised, he walked further into the room, closing the door behind him as he hoped for some privacy and maybe to prevent her from bolting out in an instant as well. (Y/N)’s nose was red and he suppressed the urge to chuckle at how cute she looked. It felt like the winter-ish feeling of Christmas was embracing her and Jimin could have honestly believed that she was part of the Christmas department when she looked that endearing with her steamy glasses and trembling hands. The moment seemed surreal in Jimin’s eyes; she appeared so soft and calm, surrounded by levitating flasks as she elegantly pointed for some of them to rise in the air, and for others to take their places instead. It was something that Jimin could do too but seeing someone else do that so effortlessly still amazed him. She seemed so concentrated that Jimin didn’t dare to say anything, not wanting to creep her out and for her to let the flasks fall. The last thing he wanted was to bother her and make her do a mistake again. 

Instead, he took his time to reformulate his apology in his head, trying to think of what would be the most efficient way to say sorry. It had been years, years he had wanted to apologize, and now might be his chance. Maybe luck was finally on his side. 

However, (Y/N) suddenly turned away from the shelf she had been working on to fetch a book behind her and her eyes immediately met Jimin’s surprised ones. She almost yelled and it took all her concentration not to break the link she had created with the flasks, which were still in the air. Jimin brought his two hands in front of him as if to prove he was harmless and tried to avoid any abrupt movement.

“Hey, sorry, I didn’t mean to creep you out, I swear.” Jimin tried to smile softly, yet his gentle tone was met with a wall. And a very high one at that. Her eyes were empty and her whole features were devoid of any emotions; it caught him by surprise but he shouldn’t be. What he saw at the cafeteria was not something he was supposed to see. This harsh and empty look was one she reserved for everyone else. 

“What are you doing here?” She was obviously not bothering with small talk; she directly went to the main question without adding anything. 

“I… Came for someone else first, but then I saw you and I thought that mayb-” Jimin didn’t get to finish his sentence that (Y/N) was already cutting him abruptly.

“Did you close the door?” Jimin raised an eyebrow at the question. Was she ashamed to be seen with him? Or maybe it could bring her troubles? He wasn’t too sure but he still felt the need to ask.

“Ugh, yeah I did, why? Is that a bad thing?” Maybe he should have said he didn’t because her demeanor changed drastically after his sentence. Her already pale skin became whiter and he saw her shivers ragging through her body for a quick second. He almost got closer to her in a reflex, but her voice stopped him before he could move. 

“Park Jimin you didn’t just lock us in a cold room, did you?” His eyes grew wider- lock them?

“What do you mean lock us in? I just closed the door, I didn’t use any keys.” 

“This door has a spell system. Only I, the president, and someone else can open it and only from the outside.” Oh. 

Oh, fuck he just locked them inside. 

“Hey, I’m a talented fairy, do you really think a magic door can keep me locked up?” Jimin tried to joke around, but her blank expression stopped his nervous chuckle. He noticed that something was wrong. He couldn’t really explain it but he didn’t think that he ever saw her reacting like that. It didn’t seem like she was shivering because of the cold anymore. 

“You better get us out quickly then, Park.” (Y/N)’s voice was barely stronger than a whisper and for some reasons, it made him nod wordlessly, concentrating on his task. It took him a few seconds to focus but he quickly could see the door from outside in his mind, reaching for the spell that was outside. With a warm bright glow surrounding his body, his iris turned gold as he breathed slowly. His wings suddenly appeared without him summoning them and they wriggled slightly. He usually didn’t like for his wings to be out, he always feared to get hurt, but right now, he had another priority. His slow and deep breathing also stabilized his golden wings as he focused on steadying himself before acting. He had to be slow and delicate otherwise he could potentially make the other spell act up. Jimin didn’t know what the spell was so better safe than sorry; he didn’t want to mess up. He could feel the door move slightly as his powers started working on it. However, it also felt like removing it would be harder than he first imagined as Jimin felt it resist strongly under his slim fingers; the person who cast the spell must have been pretty determined to let no one in. He winced a bit, not sure if he could do it but he had to try. It was getting cold, even for him who could regulate the temperature of his body. He could only imagine how cold it was for (Y/N). So he breathed in and out once again and pushed his magic a bit further to collide with the enchanted door. 

However, he suddenly had to jolt away as the charm burned his finger; his glow quickly disappeared, unable to maintain the connection with the door, yet his wings caught his weight promptly as they started flapping quickly, preventing him from falling down. Jimin watched his hands with wide eyes, examining the reddened and itchy skin. It was the first time a spell physically hurt him while trying to lift it and it caught him out of guard. He didn’t expect it at all and his hands would be hurting for a while seeing how burnt they had already gotten. As his eyes turned back to their original color again, he was met with apparent confusion on (Y/N)’s features who was silently asking him what was wrong. 

“The charm is physically refusing to let me. I think I was close to removing it, but it started burning my skin so I had to break the link. I’m sorry I don’t think I can do it without getting myself too hurt to even finish the job.” He honestly felt bad to tell her that because he was indeed the one who brought them into this situation. It wasn’t like he did it on purpose, but still. 

“Fucking shit, Y-Yoonie please h-hear my voice.” Her stutter brought him back from his thoughts as he noticed that she was violently shaking. The cold was hitting him too, but he wasn’t sure if she was shaking that much because of it or because of something else. 

“What? Yoonie?” His question was quite clear even though he didn't word it fully: who was she talking about? 

“Shut the fuck up, I-I… I need to concentrate.” Jimin was left unsure, but the cold was definitely biting. He hoped that whoever she was talking about would answer her 'call’. He watched her closely, noticing her eyes tightly shut and her trembling lips. Jimin briefly wondered if he should say something but he decided against it. Had they been on friendlier terms, he might have wanted to interrupt her but he kept his thoughts to himself, worried about upsetting her more than she already seemed to be. But as the minutes passed by, the air was still motionless and nothing seemed to have happened if not for her shivers to have worsened. So maybe, he should intervene. 

“Is… everything working out?” He didn't intend to sound so perplexed, but he couldn’t really help the confusion that melted in his voice. However, before he could voice his concern further, her knees unexpectedly hit the ground while her legs gave up. She collapsed abruptly, sobs leaving her shivering form. 

Fuck, he knew he should have shut up.  

“Hey… Are you alright?” He didn't dare step much closer but he also couldn't leave her like that. Her hands fled to her ears as she curled up on herself as if trying to block any sight of reality, be it visual or auditory. Unsure of what to do, Jimin walked to her and crouched down to her level, tentatively rubbing his hand on her back as his eyes turned gold again, trying to focus on getting his hand warm enough so that she would feel it under her clothes. She didn’t move, didn’t yell at him, or didn’t fight him back; it worried him maybe more than everything he saw until now. He had caught that something had to be wrong from the start, her goosebumps had seemed slightly too strong to be caused by the cold only, but he had been unable to pinpoint the roots of the problem. “What’s wrong, (Y/N)?” Jimin tried his best to sound softer than he usually did and for a second, he felt like the little boy who entered the resort for the first time and saw this pretty ‘human’ in the corridors all over again. He temporarily forgot about their ongoing war and wondered where it went so wrong between the two of them. 

He had never hated her, contrary to what she seemed to believe. Jimin even used to have it hard to prevent himself from blushing each time her gaze caught his as he was looking at her when he thought she wasn’t looking. He had been enamored with the pretty witch that everyone warned him about. More than once had he wished for a short moment with her to apologize for every misunderstanding and for them to maybe become friends. Yet, it never happened; he even lost the motivation to try. Jimin pondered: where did the stubborn boy he used to be go for him to give up so easily? It had been uncharacteristic of him to give up like that, and he had berated himself for that. However, her constant coldness and the wall she had put between the two of them had been hard to swallow for him. Jimin was not used to be disliked that much; some people were probably not big fans of his, but no one had ever dared to make it so obvious to him because a sad or hurt fairy was never a good news; it was more like a sign of bad luck. (Y/N) never seemed to care as she made her hatred for him clear for everyone to see. The hurt of her rejection had been the hardest to accept for him, so he had stopped trying so much, wanting to avoid hearing her cutting words. 

Jimin swallowed harshly as he felt his negative emotions rising in his body. Tears were about to swell up in his eyes, and he wondered if he shouldn’t use his powers on her to put her to sleep to avoid any harsh comments or screams, especially if she panicked like that. Jimin was tired of being treated as if he was the plague itself. It felt wrong, oh so wrong, to be considered as a jerk. It would probably hurt less had it been anyone else, nonetheless, he had hoped that the charming witch would have seen above her prejudices. Yet, she never did. Jimin yet shook away the idea of putting her into a slumber; she would probably think that he did something to her without her consent and he was definitely not getting a misunderstanding again. Not anymore; he was too tired to risk anything else. However, as he ranted to himself  in his mind, he barely heard her mumbling something through her tears and the sound of her broken voice made his heart clench. It brought back his original question: what the hell was happening?

“What did you just say?” Jimin whispered gently. 

He heard a very quiet ‘get away from me’ and he giggled bitterly, yet, slightly relieved that she was still fighting him even in this situation; she was okay. Well, it didn’t look like she was, but she was good enough to try and fight him back. It made him somewhat smirk. 

“Can’t you let me help you for once? I can warm you up if you allow me to. I can regulate the temperature of my body and temporarily become your personal heater.” Jimin smiled warmly as his eyes turned golden again. He tried to hide the thick concern that was probably obvious in his iris because he wasn’t quite sure it would be well-received. It was still (Y/N) he was talking about, after all. 

“Y-You’ll make fun of me.” It was louder than he expected her to answer but he still had to keep his ears wide open to hear what she said. Nevertheless, for a brief moment, he thought that he might have preferred not to hear it as he understood that she thought he would make fun of her. Where did that though even come from? He wasn’t one to use someone’s weakness against them- 

Well. Technically, he wasn’t, but he always did stupid things when it came to (Y/N)... It didn’t hurt any less to hear it from her, though. 

“I’m not. If you had ever taken the time to hear me out and talk to me, you would have noticed a lot more than what you decided for me to be.” Jimin’s voice became quieter and quieter as he spoke. He was pretty sure that it clearly wasn’t the moment for his apologies and explanations, but he felt like she had always been judging him because of the prejudices she held against him while he honestly wanted to help. Like right now, it didn’t even cross his mind to make fun of her. 

As she confusedly raised her head a little from her knees, her wet and red eyes were met with his gentle golden orbs, and he slowly came closer to her, opened his arms slightly for her to slide in between his warm embrace, wanting to create a warm shield between them and the cold. 

Jimin stayed like that for a good minute, eyes pleading her to stop being so stubborn and to come to him. She logically had to understand that it would be the best for her, wouldn’t she? She had to be less obstinate than that, right? Jimin watched her conflicted expression as if she was trying to weigh the pros and cons. At some point (Y/N) made her choice; she gulped down her pride and tried to keep the shivers down as she snuggled closer to the fairy, warmth engulfing her trembling form. She mentally scolded herself as she knew that he would use this moment against her later on, but she temporarily needed him to fight against the cold. The fairy was glowing brightly and she could already feel the warmth that was surrounding him; she almost wanted to whine at how unfair everything was. Why did it have to be her nemesis that she ended up being locked up with? She still subconsciously leaned closer after she got a quick taste of the heat he was emanating. Jimin softly smiled, understanding that she was finally giving in as he closed his arms around her. His hand slid behind her head, fingers intertwining in some hair strands, trying to bring her freezing forehead closer to his neck so that she could feel the warmth directly from his skin. Her cold skin gently met his warm one. She let a shaky breath out without wanting to, and her arms automatically wrapped themselves around Jimin’ waist, seeking for his comfort. Jimin hugged her tighter, bringing her as close to him as he could. Once she was close enough in his opinion, he let his cheek fall on the top of her head, getting comfortable against her. It felt like the air surrounding them changed; it became stiller but also safer as if time had stopped in its tracks with only their breath to confirm that they were both still alive.  

Jimin had thought that his body would tense, yet, as he could feel her form relax against him, his muscles quickly went limp under her rather light weight. He wondered if he should try and ask the questions that had been burning his tongue, try to get an answer as to know what the hell did he just witness. Yet, he didn’t want to break the sudden tranquility that surrounded them; it might be the first time that both were in each other presence without scream at each other. It was comforting, he thought. For once, he felt like he could finally enjoy her presence without needing to be an ass about it or find a way to annoy her for it to be normal. 

Neither of them dared talking, afraid that it would just end up with yells and disappointment. On that note, they were strangely similar and very oblivious to the other’s struggles. They both didn’t want to ruin the peaceful atmosphere surrounding them, worried about the answer of the other if they dared to ask the questions running through their heads. It was funny how unaware they were about their similarities, yet here they were, stuck in the same place, unable to get out. 

“H-How are we going to make it out though?” Her quiet voice caught Jimin’s attention. He sighed gently.

“I’m not sure, to be honest. I’m a disaster when it comes to telepathy. I’m awful at it…” He had thought about it, but all his attempts had been unsuccessful ever since he started trying it out. He was not really gifted when it came to mind-focussed things. Jimin was rather skillful when it came to more physical things. She answered him quietly.

“I’m… normally pretty good at it but I can’t seem to focus enough for anything to come out. I w-wanted to call for someone I know that would be able to open the door, but it’s not working…” Jimin was surprised at that. He knew she was a powerful witch, that was no secret. He hadn’t been one to be able to witness it a lot, but she was pretty much gifted. Hence, it only strengthened his questions: what was wrong?

“Is the room enchanted as well to prevent people from using their powers?” 

“N-No, otherwise you wouldn’t have been able to use yours earlier.” True, he had forgotten about that.

“Then… Why?” He felt her tense but chose to keep quiet about it. The last thing he wanted to, was for her to feel embarrassed or something. Yet, a heavy silence fell between the two of them and Jimin wanted to slap himself for asking; it was not even like he had not just told himself that he should probably avoid asking questions so that it wouldn’t grow weird between them. That was totally what he had been thinking of for a while but he still exactly did that and what happened? It got weird and uncomfortable. 

“P-Panic attacks and spell casting don’t mix well together with me…” Jimin didn’t utter a word but instead, he started rubbing circles in her back with his hand, trying to be as comforting as he could while waiting for her to continue. Maybe for once he’d get a proper explanation. “Mother used to lock us in our rooms when we didn’t meet her expectations.” She stuttered on her words. 

He didn’t say anything, but Jimin guessed that when she said ‘we’ she meant Yoongi and her. “She cast a spell so that we couldn’t get out and made sure the lights were off so that w-we could ‘reflect on our behavior’. B-Being locked up in a room without a means to get out is-” (Y/N) couldn’t continue as she felt a lump in her throat. She tried her best to keep the tears at bay but to no avail. One silent drop fell on the ground, wordlessly accompanied by more that were already rolling on her cheeks. She started trembling slightly again but suddenly, she felt Jimin cradling her closer, just like a child, as he hummed. 

“It’s a trauma.” He ended her sentence quietly, finally understanding what had previously happened. She got a panic attack after realizing that she was blocked here. 

”I’m sorry, it’s my fault we’re locked here. I didn’t mean for us to get stuck nor for you to be  triggered. I’m really sorry, (Y/N).” His voice sounded so apologetic that it surprised her. She didn’t expect for him to care. Maybe he didn’t and he was just fooling her again. 

“It’s not like your not going to use that against me once we g-get out of here, don’t apologize when y-you don’t mean it.” Maybe it was harsher than what she intended to formulate, but she still didn’t want to be taken aback anymore. (Y/N) was done with being played by him. 

“What do you mean? Why would I use it against you?” Jimin sounded offended and she wanted to snort at that. 

“You already did that once, I can’t be fooled again, Park. I know your games, last time you ended up being the person who had slipped something in my d-drink. If you think I forgot, then you’re dully mistaken.” Her words stopped him in his reply because he knew what she was talking about. She was bringing up that story again. He knew what everyone had said and what he, himself, had explained. 

How could he explain what happened? 

A heavy silence fell between them and Jimin tried his best not to lose focus on his goal; keep (Y/N) warm. If he could at least do one thing right, he would try to do it. Besides, would she even hear him out if he tried to explain? Would it make sense after all these years to finally get the truth out? 

“It wasn’t me.” He admitted quietly. He might as well tell her the truth, whether she believed it or not.

“What did you just say?” She squinted her eyes, scoffing at his reply.  

“It wasn’t me who slipped that thing in your drink.”

“Then why did everyone say it was you? I literally heard you saying that.” She wasn’t stupid. At first, she had refused to believe it. She had seen the way Jimin had cared for her, had taken her away from the nasty glances, shielding her from everyone. It couldn’t have been him, or so she had believed until she had heard it from his mouth when she had come in the cafeteria. 

“I did tell people it was me…” He seemed conflicted, omitting something to the story and she didn’t like that. She had been the clown of the resort back then, didn’t she deserve the full explanation now?

“Then why are you saying it was not you right now? You’re not making any sense, Park.” He sighed at her angry tone. 

Fuck that, he had to tell her.

“I didn’t see who did it but I saw fairy powder in your drink. This is why I reacted quickly, I tried to help you out while noting down that it was the doing of a fairy but I didn’t know who exactly. Their print should have been easily recognizable had I been able to get your drink quickly but once I got the glass you used, it had already been washed without any smell left for me to find out who had done it. Since I had missed the opportunity, I thought I would catch them if I pretended it was me because we both know how proud fairies are. I thought they would be too proud of their prank not to manifest themselves for the ‘glory’ that came after doing their stupid prank. However, they did not and I ended up being the ‘culprit’ of it but you have to believe me when I tell you that it wasn’t me. Why would I have done something that stupid?” She fumbled a bit after his explanation because after all, it could be true. His explanations did somehow make sense and as she looked into his eyes, she was met with such a pure honesty that she had trouble looking away. Yet, Jimin took that as a sign that she didn’t believe him.

“Come on, if you want you can use a spell for me to only be able to say the truth, I promise you’ll hear the same answer.” It had not even crossed her mind to do that. She didn’t feel comfortable using her abilities on other people. She tried to never use it, at least, as much as she could. Though, it was a tempting offer. She had never thought anymore would willingly ask her to use such a spell on them. However, she wasn’t really in her best condition to execute such a spell, especially seeing that she couldn’t do something as easy as to reach Yoongi though her mind; it seemed pointless to even try. 

“It’s u-useless, I can’t use my abilities, I told you already.” Jimin could hear her panic clearly and he felt her helplessness even without trying. 

“Hey (Y/N). You’re safe, I promise you. You can loosen up and support yourself on me, I really don’t mind. I’m sure you can do it if you concentrate some more without worrying too much about where you are.” His voice was full of endearment and (Y/N) wondered why she felt so warm as his words silently reached her ears. Sometimes he was so soft it was hard to understand why he was so annoying with her and her only. 

It’s not like she had cared too much (she totally did), but she never understood why he was so nice and genuinely friendly to anyone but her. Had she done anything wrong to warrant such a reaction? Had she somehow done something to him without wanting to? Those questions had already crossed her mind before, and more than she’d like to admit. However, right at that moment, the softness that she often heard directed to other people was finally addressed to her and (Y/N) felt herself blush slightly as his eyes did not leave hers. Both of her hands were resting on his chest while his arms were still wrapped around her waist, keeping her close on his lap. He nodded quietly as if telling her to just do it and she wondered about it. 

After all, what was the worst that could happen? The spell wouldn’t work because she was too anxious to correctly cast it? That would be for sure embarrassing, but she had nothing to lose, did she? She hated using spells like that on people; it was one of her last resort. However, wouldn’t it-for once-be quite beneficial? All her questions could be answered, all her assumptions and prejudices could maybe be solved. 

Yet, she was scared. Scared that he was lying and believed that she’d never cast the spell on him. She was scared of what would leave his mouth, what if he told her he hated her? He might not have wanted to do her wrong, but he might still hate her. 

Still, his eyes seemed genuine and she always had good instinct when it came to things like that (well, except when it came to Park Jimin apparently). Thus, she’ll make an exception; her attempt of keeping any spell far away from other beings would be for a short while forgotten and she would actually seek for the truth. Jimin saw the moment her resolve changed in her gaze. As she closed her eyes slowly, the air changed again and he could actually feel her presence suddenly growing. He wondered for a second if he had ever seen her use her powers except for a few times like earlier and he realized that the occasion he had witnessed it had indeed been scarce. Jimin closed his eyes as he heard her pronounce words he couldn’t understand-maybe Latin-very quietly. He barely heard her whisper and didn’t feel much different after he opened his eyes and met her very suspicious ones.

That was it? 

“I… Did you cast the spell already?” he didn’t feel any different from he used to “I don’t feel… Anything.” 

She titled her head slightly and he couldn’t prevent himself from telling her she was cute. 

“Don’t say nonsense just for me to believe the spell worked.”

“What do you mean? You’re not sure if the spell worked? Shouldn’t you be able to tell?”

“I can if you let me verify, stop being so noisy.”

“I’m hardly noisy, I simply told you that you’re cute.” He felt embarrassed because of the babble that came out of his mouth; he couldn’t stop himself, so he tried to shut up. He didn’t want to say anything more that could embarrass him further. (Y/N)’s eyes were focussed on him, making him more nervous than needed, while she was pondering what she could ask him to make sure he was not trying to fool her. After all, asking a question was her only option, but what embarrassing question could she ask knowing he normally wouldn’t answer? What had ever happened that- 

Wait. She exactly knew what to ask. 

“During your first Christmas as a representative, you made a mistake for the final, didn’t you?” It hadn’t been that obvious to her; yet, she had seen him beat himself up after the show in the backstage once all the glitters were gone. Tears had been glistening on his cheeks and even though she had wordlessly turned around and had decided not to bother him, the scene had stuck to her, especially when a few hours later he had been boasting to her that he had been amazing and that his show couldn’t have been better. She had refrained from exposing his vulnerability back then and even if had the situation been opposite, he would have probably not refrained himself from laughing at her, she still had decided against and had shut her mouth tightly. 

“My voice cracked several times because I was sick. Everyone heard, you probably did too. It was awful. I was so worried that my position would get revoked, but instead everyone praised me for my hard work. I never felt so ashamed; what was I praised for? Being an incapable?” This made her temporarily forget what she had even intended to do with her spell. Hearing him blaming himself so much and being so harsh with himself when his voice crack had been so faint; nobody had paid any attention to it. (Y/N) had barely noticed, it had been the slight wince on his features that had made her realized that his voice had just cracked. 

“What do you mean? Yeah, your voice cracked and? It didn’t ruin the show, it wasn’t a big deal, no one seemed to notice if not you. Why are you being so harsh with yourself?” She wasn’t expecting him to call himself an incapable, was that what he truly thought about himself when he dropped the cocky smirks? 

“It disturbed everyone! I should have been perfect, everyone was counting on me, everyone was expecting me to be perfect and I let them down!” His words were spat in such a disgusting way that it froze her. Why was he being so awful with himself? 

“You didn’t. A voice crack isn’t letting people down; it was your body reminding you that you were exhausted and needed a break. We’re often too harsh with ourselves and if you watched beyond your nose, you’d be able to see that you didn’t do that terribly. You don’t seem to know when to stop when you start the celebrations.” He chuckled at that.

“Rather hypocrite coming from you who’s running everywhere all the time. You do more than anyone else in your whole department, how are you still even alive?” She scoffed lightly.

“Don’t try to direct the conversation somewhere else.” 

“I am not! I’m simply saying that you’re not one to rest either, so it’s quite rich from you to tell me that I don’t know when to take a break because you sure do not either!” They both got silenced by his last comment as he highlighted one of their common point. 

He wasn’t wrong, to be fair. They weren’t that different despite her blatant refusal to acknowledge it; they shared way more than she thought for them to be possible. Well, at least she was sure that the spell was effective. Jimin’s light giggles made her snap back into reality as his bright eyes met her dull ones. He did not comment on it-trying his best not to just babble anything to her- but he had always been wondering: why did she look so defeated all the time? It always seemed like life had been sucked out of her, as if she had given up on happiness a long time ago. He found himself wishing that he could have known her before she had lost the glimmer that he could imagine shining into her orbs. Yet before he could voice any of his interrogation, (Y/N) finally asked what she had been dying to know.

“Was it you who dropped something in my drink that day?” 

“No, it wasn’t.” a clear and brief answer that left her speechless even though he had technically already told her. 

“But then-”

“I saw fairy powder and thought that I would find the culprit by stealing their credits. I thought their prank would be something they’d be proud of, so I thought they would betray themselves like that, but they didn’t and I got ‘accused’ instead.” So he had told her the truth then? 

“B-But what about that day when you made my skirt r-”

“I didn’t mean to embarrass you. Truth to be told, I had never met a witch before you, so when I saw you in the corridors, I thought you were human. I wanted to play a little trick on you to make you freak out and leave the resort before anything could happen to you but I got distracted by your loveliness and ended up invoking too much wind. I was extremely embarrassed and really wanted to apologize, especially because it seemed like you got into troubles because of me. However, each time I came near you, you scoffed, threatening me before leaving. I never got to say sorry but I truly am. I never meant to be mean with you, it was just the only way I had to talk to you and get over my non-reciprocated crush on you.” His eyes widened in sync with hers as he realized what he let slip. 

He was doomed, wasn’t he? 

“Y-Your what?” She must have heard something wrong, didn’t she? She probably did, there was no way he just said he used to have a crush on her.

“Stop asking me questions, I can’t lie right now!” He was definitely flustered as his head shot down, unwilling to meet her eyes. She tried to get a hold of his face to bring his eyes back to hers but without success. 

“Jimin, please look at me. You’re not lying to me, are you?” 

“How do you expect me to, I literally can’t.” He mumbled quietly, still not looking at you.

“But you just said you had a crush on me, that cannot be true.” Her comment made him snap, didn’t she know how cute and attractive she was? 

“Why is it so hard for you to believe me? Haven’t you seen yourself? You always carry yourself with so much confidence, you’re always so pretty, witty, and just fucking perfect? You always work so hard, you care a lot about what people think even though you try to keep that secret. You’re tough to crack, but you’re just so lovely I wish I could protect you from any kind of harm coming at you. Why is it so hard for you to believe that you’re lovable?” He sounded almost offended by her words, yet she couldn’t comment on it as she was stunned by his straightforward rant. 

(Y/N) did not say anything, frozen in his arms while he froze as well. Realizing what he just confessed, Jimin wanted to disappear quickly; maybe the ground could swallow him or if anything could protect him against the incoming reject he was going to face, it would be nice. However instead of pushing her away and asking for her to forget about what he just said, just for once he allowed himself to hope. 

Just for once, he wanted to trust the very slight-but still present-glimmer that he could see in her eyes. He wanted to trust the fact that she still had not pushed him away, didn’t tell him to get lost and that she didn’t want to talk to him anymore. 

He wanted to give in to his feelings and just feel loved, so instead of babbling apologies and leaving the warm cocoon he had created, he bent a little bit closer to her, breath fanning over her rosy lips while he blushed furiously. She didn’t back off not did she say anything. (Y/N) didn’t move, as if stuck in a trance. Why was he suddenly saying he liked her? Everyone hated her (except Yoongi). Her own family hated her, so why would Park Jimin-out of all the people of the resort-tell her he liked her? This made no sense. 

Nevertheless, she didn’t want for him to stop. She wondered what was all of a sudden going through her head to suddenly want for him to kiss her so badly. She thought she hated him; well, maybe hate was a strong word, but she didn’t like him! 

Maybe he was somewhat innocent-or at least not ill-intentioned-for every wrong doings she had accused him of, but it still didn’t make it up for all of those years of pestering and humiliating confrontations she endured because of him! She didn’t forgive him for that! And yet, she found herself closing her eyes slowly, waiting for him to crash his lips on hers. She mentally scolded herself as she realized she was giving him the chance to make fun of her if he wanted to. He could start laughing and ask her if she really thought he would kiss her. 

But he did none of that. Jimin watched her with fascination, burning this angelic image in his brain in case he’d never get to witness it again even though he wished it wouldn’t be the last time. 

Goodness, she was just so fucking pretty. 

It felt like nothing existed anymore; the worrisome situation they were in was long forgotten as Jimin closed his eyes and molded his mouth to hers, attaching his warm lips to her cold ones. It didn’t feel like butterflies suddenly overwhelming him or some kind of explosion inside him. Instead, it felt warm, like a comfortable and safe embrace. Like Jimin finally found his home. He wasn’t one to believe in soulmate, but right at this instant, he might reconsider. He didn’t dare moving too much as he simply held her close to him, pulling her against his chest while his hands found the back of her neck and the small of her back. Almost like a snake, he surrounded her as if his life depended on it while his lips never left hers. None of them wanted to separate from each other, yet a sudden banging startled both of them. 

Realizing their sudden closeness, (Y/N) shook herself awake and pushed away Jimin as quickly as she could under his confused features (was it a flash of hurt that she could spot? No, it must have been something else). Her ragged breath made her come back to Earth as she realized what she just did. 

She just made out with Park Jimin. 

God, she wanted to be angry at him, but in reality, she was angry at herself for falling for his words once again. She couldn’t let herself fall like that, even if he never meant to hurt her, she shouldn’t be with someone like Jimin, a pretty fairy from the Christmas Department. She was assigned to the Halloween celebrations, and her family wouldn’t accept any kind of mixing happening in the middle of it. She was sure of it. 

“(Y/N)!!! Are you in there?” Yoongi’s voice resonated from outside and a relieved sigh left her lips.

“Yoongi! Please get me out, quickly!” She shouted as loud as she could muster to be after the recent event that clouded her mind. (Y/N) glanced back at Jimin who was still sitting on the ground, watching her helplessly. 

“Are you seriously going to ignore what just h-” Jimin tried to voice his despair but to no avail as she cut him right after he tried to speak to her. 

“Yoongi please hurry up!” The panic in her voice made Jimin shut up. Even though he wanted to talk, to have an explanation about what the hell just happened and why she just pushed him away like that, he felt like rejection would be the only thing that he would be met with. Was it wise to push her buttons and get something out of her knowing that it would hurt even more than to see the regret he saw flashing in her orbs as she pushed him away? 

Was kissing him such a disgrace for her? Did she feel that disgusted by him? 

The door finally got opened by a very stressed out Yoongi who left a relieved sigh slipping as he noticed his sister in the room. Fuck his cold persona, the older man grabbed her arm and hugged her close as he let an incredulous laugh leave his lips. 

“How the fuck did you get stuck in there? Can’t you be more careful?” His panic was finally setting down. He couldn’t explain how worried he got as he had suddenly felt their usual bond tighten until he couldn’t feel her presence anymore. His first thought had been frantic: (Y/N) was in danger. He was used to hearing some of her thoughts in the middle of the day when both of them were distracted. It also sometimes happened for one of them to call the other for help or just to share a joke, so when he called for her through their usual way of communication and no one answered, he had automatically panicked. After searching for her for the past 20 minutes, he thought that maybe something terrible had happened to her; yet, here she was. Breathing and alive. And even though she seemed highly shaken up, he put it on the distress she must have felt as he realized that she had ended up locked inside without any kind of light. 

A situation that she often dreaded. 

“It wasn’t me, I swear. Jimin closed the door after him and he didn’t know tha-”

Jimin? As in Park Jimin?” Yoongi finally let her go as he noticed the younger man who had by now gotten up but didn’t dare looking up at the two siblings. Yoongi eyed Jimin suspiciously, noticing his bruised lips and disheveled figure. 

“It’s fine Yoongs, he didn’t mean to, we should just go.” Yoongi wordlessly nodded as he started walking away, hands locked in hers as he pulled her away, leaving a dejected Jimin behind. 

It was fine. 

He knew it was coming anyway. That was kind of why he had never said anything before. 

It wasn’t fine.

Nothing was fine as Jimin found himself puking his guts out after less than an hour of being free from the cold room. He couldn’t move, his legs were giving up on him each time he tried getting up and the need to vomit felt stronger each time he tried to crawl out of the bathroom. 

Maybe overusing his magic and getting a spell from a powerful witch wasn’t the best mix after all. He never got such side effects after using a lot of magic so he could only guess that it had to do with the spell that had been cast on him. With a heavy sigh, he attempted for the billion time to enchant himself so that he wouldn’t feel nauseous anymore but to no avail, his enchantment seemed to have no power over his current state. 

He had to wait for it to pass but damn, he did not have the patience. Jimin tried his best to maybe call for Taehyung, or do anything really, but he was fucking stuck in the cafeteria’s bathroom without any way to get help because each time he tried to use his powers, he ended throwing up. Useless to say that he was fuming from the ground. Had it been so wrong for him to hope that (Y/N) would return his feelings that he had to get punished like that? Did she do it on purpose? Was it a trick of hers she had done to give him a payback for every mean words he said? He wasn’t innocent on that side, he knew it. However, she wasn’t either. More than once he had had to bite his tongue before saying something that would be too much after a particularly mean retort from her. 

He knew he had never been the cleverest one to maybe hint that he didn’t hate her-quite the opposite actually-but she had her wrong doings too. 

Maybe that was why the only one to be around and hearing his distressed grunts was (Y/N) and even though she had stopped herself before doing in the male bathroom, she still had decided to get inside after hearing the pain and agony the man inside seemed to go through.

“Are you okay? Are you in need of assistance?” He could recognize her voice from anywhere. 

“(Y/N)?” He sounded almost panicked at the idea of her seeing him in this condition. Though, he guessed that nothing could be worse than getting rejected the way he got. 

“Jimin?” Surprise could be heard in her voice even without seeing her and he wondered why did she seem so surprised. Not a lot of people usually went to the cafeteria this late and he was more than often one of them. Yet, her next inquiry astonished him. “Do you need help?” She barely whispered, not sure if she wanted for him to hear her but he did anyway and he snorted at that.

“Don’t pretend you care. You c-can leave, I’ll be fine.” For some reasons, his comeback angered her.

“What do you mean ‘don’t pretend to care’, of course I care! You sound like you are dying in there.” He chuckled ironically at that. 

“Yeah, I felt your care when y-you ignored me earlier.” She gasped quietly and he wondered if he was too mean when she might be his only way of getting out of there, but he wouldn’t admit it. He had already gulped down his pride way too many times for her. An uncomfortable silence sat between them while both of them did not move an inch. (Y/N) was stunned in silence while Jimin was stuck to the floor, physically unable to get up without wanting to vomit. 

Embarrassed, she honestly wanted to turn around and leave him here, but a part of herself prevented from doing so as she could still remember the agonizing sounds she heard from outside the bathroom. Hence, she breathed in and out a few times, tried to mentally encourage herself before making her way to Jimin. Her eyes met his cowered body, noticing that he was holding his stomach and also noting with her heart clenching that he had trails of dried tears that were still visible on his cheeks. 

“Fuck, what happened to you?” His head lifted as he realized that the sound of her voice was much closer than before. He had trouble to focus but he clearly discerned the worry on her features. He shamefully turned his eyes away. 

“Nothing, I’ll be fine you can-”

“You’re not fine, what the hell happened to you? Are you hurting somewhere?” She got her arms around his waist as she tried to get him to sit down but he suddenly jerked away, groaning in pain, “okay, okay, I’m sorry, I won’t touch you. What’s the matter?” Fuck, his body felt like he was dying. What the fuck was happening to him?

“I have no idea. I know I overused my powers when we were in the cold room but I usually don’t get side e-effects like that. Maybe it’s your fault, though? I wouldn’t know.” He stuttered painfully. Her fists tightened even though she didn’t even notice. 

“What the fuck? Why would it be my fault? I haven’t done anything to you.” He chuckled lightly at her.

“Other than making me looks like a fool? I remember you also cast a spell on me.” 

“My spells don’t have side effects, especially not the one I cast on you. It’s a safe one, I wouldn’t have cast it on you otherwise!” (Y/N) felt angry at him for even thinking that it might be her fault. She knew that she had maybe not reacted in the best way back in the cold room. She had freaked out okay? But never would she do something like that to him. 

“You’re s-sure?” He smiled sadly and she looked at him seriously. 

“I am. I’d never do that to you.” Her determined expression troubled him; it didn’t seem like she was lying, but if she had nothing to do with it, then what happened? He didn’t even notice that his gaze was fixed on her until she spoke again.

“Should I leave you here or are you going to let me help you now?” Jimin sighed desperately. It was not like she could do something about it, right? 

“I doubt you can do much to help, I feel like throwing up each time I move, even talking is hard to be honest…” she seemed to ponder over his predicament before asking him:

“Have you tried flying? Are your wings alright?” 

“I tried using my abilities but it doesn’t seem like anything is effective. I can’t even summon my wings, I think I’m too weak. Besides, I almost lost consciousness just by trying to summon them so…” she hummed after his sentence. 

“What if I made you fly instead, do you think you’d be okay? Technically you wouldn’t be moving that much, just… Levitating?” 

“I don’t know if i-it’s a good idea…” He hesitated, feeling rather unwell at the prospect. 

“It’s better than nothing, I can always try a spell. There are many spells against motion sickness and those kinds of things.” Jimin groaned as he felt his strength leaving his body. He slowly let his head hit the ground, exhausted of trying to keep his head high despite his pain. Catching (Y/N)’s eyes, she got closer to him, bringing her hand to his face, trying to estimate if he could simply be extremely sick. Yet, his body didn’t feel warmer than it should be, something was definitely wrong, but what?

“Okay, don’t move alright? I’m going to find a solution, don’t worry.” It made him chuckle lightly because it seemed so easy as she said it. Jimin wondered if she would really be able to do something; it wasn’t like he didn’t try himself so he didn’t want to get his hopes up for nothing. 

(Y/N) muttered something as she closed her eyes, focussing on Jimin as the latter just tried to stabilize himself so that he wouldn’t feel sick again. However, the feeling suddenly vanished, as if it had never been there to start with. Eyes widening, Jimin turned over quickly, hands flying to his stomach as he rubbed the previously painful area. What the fuck just happened? He had been stuck like that for at least an hour and (Y/N) really just shook his pain away? That easily? He was about to ask her what happened until he was met with her somber expression. 

“No wonder you couldn’t move.” Her voice had never held such a venom while speaking and it made Jimin gulp nervously. 

“What?” 

“My mother’s magic is running inside you. Those toxins are made to kill whoever encounters it. I don’t understand wh-” she cut herself short, realizing what happened. 

“Yes…?” Jimin tried to find out what she had come to realize but it seemed like he might have to push her a bit to have his answers as she wordlessly got up and muttered something again.

He was about to interject as he noticed her movements toward the exit, however he also noticed that his feet did not touch the ground anymore. He couldn’t move nor control his body. Trying out his abilities was ineffective; his wings did not want to come out.  

“Wha-”

“Don’t try using your magic, you’ll get short of it quickly. You’re simply going to deteriorate your health. I’m bringing you back to your room.” Jimin didn’t understand. How did he get into contact with the Halloween President’s magic? He never saw her more than an instant in the corridors and that was definitely not a recurrent situation. So how? And why did (Y/N) seem to know exactly what it was with a mere sickness removal spell? A lot seemed to escape his understanding and he did not like it. Something did not make sense.

“I can walk, you know?” Maybe he should try getting answers from her rather than to overthink everything.

“I’d rather you don’t. It’s going to exhaust you.” Never had she sounded so cold and distant. Maybe he even perceived a little bit of anger but he couldn’t be too sure. He never saw (Y/N) like that. 

“What is happening exactly?” The slight shudder in his voice made her realize that she still had not given any explanation.

“What is happening is that either you got contaminated because of me, or because of the spell on the door of the cold room. I really hope it’s the spell and not me.” 

“Why would it be through you?” 

“I’ve been exposed to that magic for years. It wouldn’t be surprising if I had invisible remanent particles of it on my skin or anywhere in me to be honest.” Worrisome, but he’d refrain himself from commenting for now. Jimin watched her moving as his body followed her helplessly. She walked through the corridors quickly, reaching his room in a minute thanks to his indications. She opened the door even though he protested (he didn’t really enjoy the invasion of privacy, but her glare stopped him before he could finish his objection). His body slowly reached his bed until he was fully laying on it under (Y/N)’s scrutinizing gaze. 

“So? What do we do now?” He asked unsure. 

“You don’t move and you rest.” He frowned at her answer.

“Look, I can’t just stay in bed. I’m the Christmas representative, I have a celebration to prepare, everyone is counting on me; I can’t just abandon everyone.” 

“Then go ahead, exhaust yourself. I won’t come to fetch you again.” 

“If this is still about this stupid war between us about who will do the best celebration, I think that me being bedridden is a bit too mu-”

“Oh my god, Jimin I don’t give a fuck about that! I’m being seriously concerned for your health! I’ve been given this kind of ‘treatment’ when I was a child and let me tell you that the aftermath is not pretty! So if you want, go ahead! Get up and exhaust yourself and see if I care, you won’t be able to say I didn’t tell you when you won’t be able to move for the next five months!” Her own eyes widened just like Jimin’s ones at her words; she had never admitted aloud what happened to her as she was a child. Yoongi had tried his best to protect her but it had been to no avail as the old witch had always seemed to be particularly pleased when she could hurt (Y/N). It had been something (Y/N) herself had never understood; why did their mother look so enthusiast about punishing them? She shuddered as she remembered the wickedly sweet smile on her mother’s face each time she closed that door behind her. 

“Your mom did what?” Jimin barely whispered, not able to say more out of shock. (Y/N) looked away, trying to hide the sudden embarrassment she felt. Embarrassment or shame? She didn’t know, but she was rather ashamed of the way she had been treated by her own mother; she even had troubles to share it with Yoongi. Some things were better left unsaid in her opinion. Feeling her discomfort, Jimin didn’t know what to do. Should he get her to sit and maybe spill what she had concealed from everything, or should he let it go? 

He knew he shouldn’t be noisy, but for some reasons, he felt like it wouldn’t be a good idea to ignore what she just shared with him. It sounded like something she would need to get out of her chest at some points and knowing (Y/N), she was more the type of person to keep everything bottled up inside. Maybe he was still angry at her for leaving him like that earlier but she came to him and helped him out, yeah it hurt to be left like that after pouring out your feelings, but at least she didn’t act like an ass afterward. Besides, he didn’t really have the strength to be angry anymore.

“(Y/N)... Come here for a second.” (Y/N) turned to him, watching him tap the bed, next to him. She raised an eyebrow, unsure of his intentions but wordlessly complied anyway. She didn’t really know why she listened to him, yet she did. 

Much to her surprise though, he didn’t ask her anything. He just took her hand into his, gently rubbed his thumb over her soft skin as he watched the conflicted expression painted on her features. Instead, he waited for her to say something if she felt comfortable enough to do as he kept his gentle motion around her knuckles. It got (Y/N) thinking, when was the last time her mother had held her? She couldn’t even recollect a similar event. 

“I think…,” Jimin’s ears were wide opened but he made no attempt to pressure her into finishing her sentence, “I think I don’t like my mother very much.” He hummed delicately as she tried to find her words. “And I feel bad for it because she is still my mother.” 

“Blood link doesn’t mean you aren’t entitled to your emotions, (Y/N). You don’t have to like your parents just because they are your parents.” She frowned ever so slightly but Jimin caught it nevertheless.

“But doesn’t that make me a little bit selfish?” Jimin pondered for a second.

“I don’t believe it does, but even if it did, it’s okay to be a little bit selfish and put ourselves first sometimes.” He smiled gently at her as he observed her frown melt into a rather neutral expression. 

“I don’t feel very pretty inside when I have those feelings though.” She sighed lightly.

“I still think you are.” Her eyes met his as he kept his soft smile dancing on his lips. She looked almost confused, eyes and lips round like a little fish. He chuckled slightly at her awestruck expression. He thought he had made it clear that he liked her. Had he not?

“Someone told me that we’re often too harsh with ourselves, and that if we’d look away from our nose, we’d be able to see that maybe we’re not perfect but we aren’t as terrible as we imagine ourselves to be.” (Y/N) turned her gaze away in embarrassment; he was really here using her words against herself, wasn’t he? “And maybe if you looked even slightly further, you’d notice that there are people who see you in a complete different light as you do. You should perhaps try to get away from the shadow you seem so sure to embody.” He was too intuitive sometimes, she didn’t like how well he could see through her. However, as his gaze caught hers again, she didn’t seem to want to look away. The tenderness that he held for her stopped her. 

Was he really looking at her right now? Was this adoration and fondness really turned in her direction? 

“I’m not as pretty as you make out myself to be.” He smiled gently, brushing a hair strand out of her vision. She froze at the gentle gesture. 

“I know, but I’m in love with you. How do you expect for my eyes to be objective?” She gasped lightly, tensing under his touch. Suddenly he seemed too close, or not close enough, she didn’t know. She couldn’t make up her mind when it came to him, it seemed. Why did he have to say everything in such a manner that it always made her speechless? 

“You love me?” 

“Didn’t I tell you that already?” He chuckled, eyes wrinkling. 

“You said you had a crush on me, it’s different.” Jimin hummed.

“Well maybe I wasn’t accurate enough.” She didn’t move and neither did he. Absorbed in each other’s presence, no more words were exchanged as thoughts raced in their crowded minds. 

Until Jimin broke the silence again.

“And I know that you do not hold such feelings for me, and it’s fine, I cannot force you to. But will you give me a chance?” His pleading eyes were hard to look into.

“A chance?”

“Yeah, a chance to make you fall in love with me.” She did not pull away nor did she react much to his surprise. It worried him but at the same time, she had not fled. So, it could be worse, couldn’t it? 

“B-But you're a Christmas spirit.” 

“That’s correct.” He chuckled. 

“And I’m a Halloween one.”

“Also correct,” his smile got wider watching her confusion becoming clearer and clearer on her features. 

“And you’re a fairy, while I’m a witch.” He giggled lightly.

“So? Does all of that really matter?” His smile took her aback. She didn’t expect such a light smile and relaxed shoulders while he was basically pouring his heart to her even after she ignored his first attempt. 

She had not meant to; she had mostly freaked out and didn’t know how to face her own feelings- did she have any? (Y/N) wasn’t sure, but she knew that there was something, otherwise she would have just told him that she wasn’t interested and most likely wouldn’t have kissed him back. It shouldn’t have felt that right to kiss him. 

“I… Don’t know? Doesn’t it bother you?” She asked timidly.

“Would I have just told you I loved you if it did?” She blushed slightly at his answer. Jimin chortled endearingly, almost childishly. 

“You don’t have to make up your mind right now, okay? Just, think about it, yeah?” She nodded quietly as he smiled at her gently. She was still frozen next to him, so he decided to be slightly bolder than he was usually; he leaned in slowly before pressing his lips to her cheek in a sweet peck. He didn’t linger against her skin, merely letting her feel his lips before he pulled away. It was as if a feather had caressed her cheek before vanishing into thin air. (Y/N) found herself wishing for more, yet she’d never admit it. 

Instead, she silently observed his shy smile appearing before he let her hand go as if telling her that he was done talking. She opened her mouth to speak before realizing she didn’t know what to say. So she turned around, muttering a very quiet ‘try not to work too much, I’ll find a way to make you feel better’ and left him in his room before heading to Yoongi’s one. She needed to find out what she could do to help Jimin before figuring out what the hell was going on with her heart. 

It had been maybe a week or so since (Y/N) had started working with Yoongi on a potion for Jimin. It wasn’t going too well, not too bad either, but she had hoped for the process to be quicker; especially after she saw Jimin in the corridors running at full speed and even her nasty glare had done nothing to stop him in his relentless work. He did send her a remorseful smile, almost pleading-solely with his eyes-to be forgiven but had kept on a very much too strong rhythm for his body. (Y/N) had caught him a few times red-handed, already breathless, trying to soothe the heat of his body down; yet each time she was ready to call him out and tell him to sit down or to-at least-take a moment for himself, he got back on his feet, telling everyone he was more than fine and took back his activities where he left them, much to (Y/N)'s irritation. 

“He's going to kill himself at this rhythm”, Yoongi briefly hummed, not really listening to her as they ran tests on her to verify if the particles of their mother’s magic were still remaining, “why doesn’t he want to listen to me for once?” It made Yoongi chuckle. 

“Because you’d listen if he told you in the middle of the Halloween preparations that you have to stay in bed and take it easy? I don't think you would even listen to me, so what were you expecting exactly?” He had a point even though she wouldn't admit it. Had she been in this situation, she would have probably thrown a fit and gone back to work as soon as she would have been able to. Yoongi grinned silently as he noticed that (Y/N) wasn’t replying. He knew damn well that he was right. He finalized the process of analysis and sighed gently as he felt his sister’s head popping up over his shoulder to see the results. 

“... Well?” She squinted her eyes to skim through the numbers appearing. 

“Well it’s not looking too good for you personally, you do have traces in you, but I don’t think you can infect anyone. The residue are in your blood, not on your skin, so it’s pretty unlikely for you to be contagious.” Yoongi watched her expression harden at the information. He sighed, exhausted. He had done everything during their youth to protect her; he had tried his very best. How did it come that her results were that bad? 

“So Jimin caught it through the spell on the door then. Why would mother cast so dangerous spells like that in here?” 

“It’s probably meant for a witch, and most likely for you and me. It’s already impressive he was able to get in contact with it.”(Y/N) gulped at his words. Was she trying to kill them in the end? Had they done something so terrible to warrant such harsh methods?

As she got deep into her own head, (Y/N) still noticed another folded paper next to the one where Yoongi wrote her results down. Curiosity took over the slight hesitation she felt knowing that Yoongi would probably get annoyed at her for touching his stuff without his permission. Quietly grabbing the paper after glancing at Yoongi who was tidying up his desk, (Y/N) read through the written numbers, not understanding what the red and black numbers meant. Yet for some reasons, the order of the paper seemed familiar to her and she wondered where she had seen a similar paper. And then, it hit her. 

She quickly took her own paper and compared the data. 

“Fuck, Yoongi. Are those the results for you as well? Why are your results even worse than mine?” Yoongi’s head shot up quickly before he snatched the paper from her hands, looking at her menacingly. 

“It’s nothing.” He grunted.

“It’s probably not nothing considering how quick you were to take it away from me.” She raised an eyebrow and he clicked his tongue, annoyed. 

“Drop it (Y/N).” 

“What do you mean, drop it? Have you seen those numbers? How did you even get that? Is she still-” 

The worst was already running in her mind while his eyes silently met the ground.

“Is she still-”

“No, she isn’t (Y/N). If she was, I would have fought back, you know me. I’m not afraid anymore.” His reply stunt her. As much as (Y/N) knew how strong her brother was, it never stopped impressing her how he never gave up on fighting for himself. 

“T-Then how…?” She mumbled. Yoongi didn’t answer at first, he just sat down on his chair again and tapped his finger against the desk. However after a few minutes, he finally decided to come out of his silence.

“She didn’t go soft on me when we were kids since I was trying to take it for you. Though, it seems like my plan kind of failed since your positive to the test as well. I guessed she probably spent most of her energy on me but she used the rest of her strength on you. I was naive to believe that I would have been enough to protect you.” His smile did not reach his eyes as he looked emptily at the wall. 

“I’m sorry.” It took him aback to hear his sister apologize and he frowned almost immediately.

“I refuse your apology. You have nothing to apologize for. I took this decision by myself and the sole responsible for that is that awful woman. Nothing is your fault (Y/N).” 

“But had I been stronger I would have been able to take more and it would have been easier on you!” She surprised herself at the sudden increase in the volume of her voice. 

“It would have changed nothing, now stop dwelling on this. I don’t care about those numbers, I care about you, alright? So stop bending over backwards for ‘mother’ and start taking care of yourself for me, please.” She gasped silently at his words. It wasn’t often that Yoongi was so straightforward with his feelings and hearing it aloud made her emotional. Yoongi was more the kind of person to love quietly, yet his actions always spoke way louder than he did. They were maybe quite similar on that aspect. Hence, (Y/N) stood up, took a few steps forward while Yoongi was refusing to look at her. He could probably see her feet from where he was sitting so she decided to be straightforward for once too as she hugged him tightly. 

He didn’t return the hug, only tensed against her, but (Y/N) didn’t let it faze her. She just held him tighter. 

“Thank you for always having my back. I’m sorry for not trying harder for you nevertheless but I’m grateful you’re here with me. I love you lots, Yoongs.” Maybe the last thing was a bit too much but she couldn’t even recall the last time she told him so maybe it was a good thing to get it out of her chest. Especially when she heard his next words.

“I love you too, sis.” 

“Jimin!” He heard her from miles away and he was sure she was going to yell at him for working at such a late hour but not only was it past bed-time: he was late in his schedule. The whole Christmas department was late-it was most probably his fault-and that was not looking great for now. He needed to make those extra hours because otherwise they might not make it in time. And he couldn’t afford that to happen. How could Christmas be belated? Simple answer: it couldn’t. Plenty of humans and other creatures were waiting for it; Jimin couldn’t be late when it came to Christmas.  

So while (Y/N) called his name again, seeing that he didn’t seem ready to stop any time soon, he completely ignored her, not to hurt her, but he got things to do. His mind was running everywhere while his headache was getting stronger; needless to say that he hated it but he needed to be productive. 

“Jimin, fucking shit, will you wait for me?” It made him snort quietly.

“I have work to do, (Y/N). I appreciate you looking after me, but I truly have to get this ready before tomorrow.” Jimin didn’t look up as he carried on walking. He just needed to start the engine again and it should be fine. Maybe he had just one hour left of work and he would finally be able to hit his bed. 

“Okay mister, sit first I have good news. Yoongi and I made a potion; it should remove the toxin from your body and help you heal better.” She smiled at him, holding the precious fluid in her hands. His eyes curiously met hers as he watched her light expression, a soft smile dancing on her lips. It took him a few seconds to understand what she said; his brain froze at the sight of the dazzling smile (Y/N) had on her features. Memorizing this rare and precious scene, he came back to reality as he noticed that she rose an eyebrow suspiciously. 

“So… If I take that, supposing that you aren’t actually trying to kill me,” (Y/N) hit his shoulder lightly in protest but Jimin carried on giggling to himself, “the drowsiness and pain should go away?” 

“Technically yes. I hope so.” 

“You hope so? You’re not sure?” 

“Well, the potion didn’t work on either of us but we’ve both been exposed to those toxins for too long for a mere potion made in a few hours to work. Though, since those toxins most probably come from the spell of the door, it means that you haven’t been in contact with it for long so-” Jimin cut her laughing a bit.

“Shorter version (Y/N), please.” She grinned sheepishly. 

“It should work but we have no concrete proof it will. Though we’re sure of something; it is not dangerous to take it. We made it fairy friendly as well.” Jimin smiled softly at her words. It warmed his heart to know that she made sure it wouldn’t create any side effect. It often happened to him; a lot of products (be it in alimentation or beauty creams, etc) were not adequate to the sensitivity of fairies and he often ended with an itchy skin, or a weakened glow… Jimin have had his fair share of troubles because of that. 

“Thank you.” 

“Don’t thank me yet. What if it doesn’t work?” Her eyes had widened slightly, embarrassed to admit that it had a small probability of not working. 

“It’s the thought that matter. I should probably also thank Yoongi when I get the time.” He smiled lightly, taking the potion in his hands, inspecting the pink color before opening the bottle.

“I can take it now? No side effect like I suddenly fall asleep or something like that? Because I really have a lot of work to do.” He looked at her curiously, frowning slightly as he was met with silence. 

“What?”

“Well, the best would be for you to rest for a while after taking it…” 

“It’s a piece of advice or I actually have to?” Jimin tried to stay positive nevertheless. It was fine, he’d take it once he would be done if he had to take a break before taking it. Yet, she kept on avoiding his glance and it worried him. 

“I’d say you don’t have to, it’s not dangerous, but I fear the potion will work less efficiently if you move around. It will probably get evacuated by your body quickly if you keep on working at your usual pace; so I’d say that it would be better to take it before going to bed?” She expected for him to be annoyed but he merely chuckled and got up. (Y/N) panicked a bit, wondering what he had in mind but he just went back to his machine where he had been working before she interrupted him earlier. 

“What are you doing?” She asked cautiously. 

“I’m wrapping up what I have to do before I go to bed so that I can take your potion before sleeping?” His answer sounded more like a question than an actual affirmation and she raised an eyebrow at him. 

“Jimin, the sooner, the better. You’re exhausting your body and-”

“Hey (Y/N), stop worrying, will you? I’ll take it soon, I promise. I really have to finish that though. It’s going to take me an hour, and I’ll go to sleep afterward, I swear to you. I’m exhausted anyway so I won’t pull an all-nighter, don’t worry, okay?” 

It seemed quite reasonable if she were to be honest. She was expecting to encounter a much more fighting spirit, but he was rather compromising. (Y/N) pondered for a few seconds, knowing that she should just give it up and let him work. Why was she so worried after all? He was the one to bring lock them into this damn cold room, so it had been only logical for him to try and remove the spell of the door. It had not been her fault!

So why did she feel so guilty to know that he was struggling to work and probably getting anxious with the deadlines he had to meet for his own celebrations? Did she fear for him to lose his position of representative as well if he were to be late for Christmas? 

Or maybe, she was just worried for him, after all. 

“Why are you looking at me like that?” His voice broke her train of thoughts and she wondered if she hadn’t always felt this way. Her annoyance and hatred also came from her lack of understanding. From her point of view, it had always seemed that Jimin was caring and lovely with everyone but her. What had she done to deserve the wrath of one of the nicest person of the facility? He was just so sweet to everyone; (Y/N) had persuaded herself that it was only a front he put up to hide his malice, yet she had come to the conclusion that it was not an act. Jimin was genuinely sympathetic with everyone, everyone but her. 

“Fine, you can take it later, but I’m helping you.” Her eyes were focussed on the ground, not wanting to see his expression nor to watch his refusal.

“What?” 

“If you stay here working, then I’ll help you until you’re done. I’m not leaving you like that alone.” He blinked a few times before snorting. 

“(Y/N), I work in the Christmas department.”

“I’m aware of that.” 

“If you help me, you’ll be indirectly helping for the Christmas celebrations.”

“I know that thank you, I thought through it before saying I would help.” She had not. 

“And it doesn’t bother you?” He asked incredulous. (Y/N) despised Christmas, only Halloween seemed to make her heart beat ironically. 

“Would I have just told you I’d help you if it did?” Those words quickly ring a bell to Jimin whose jaw clenched slightly. Was she just quoting him? What did she mean by that? Was she hinting at the fact that she liked him too? 

Wait, no, she never said so. She just said she’d help, not that she was madly in love with him; he needed to calm his ragging heart. Fuck, what was she doing to him? 

“Then let’s get to work quickly. I won’t go soft on you just because I love you.” His words made her snap; she wasn’t expecting him to say something this straight-forward (and to be honest, neither was he), the blush that crept on her cheeks was also unexpected but she couldn’t help it. After five years of thinking that he hated her, hearing him say that he was in love with her made her heart go crazy. 

“It’s not like I expected you to.” He smiled at her words despite his original horror he felt after the l-word left his mouth again. He definitely didn’t mean to throw it that casually; if anything, Jimin wanted for these words to have a meaning, not used to joke around. But here he was, smiling like a schoolboy because she didn’t shut him out after he said he loved her even though she still had not given him an answer. 

It was okay; he wasn’t expecting an answer soon. He didn’t want to rush her, he was just glad that she didn’t slap him for his remark though. 

“And we’re done!” 

“Thanks goodness, I can’t wrap anything anymore.” Jimin laughed at her as she threw herself against the chair back. (Y/N) yawned looking at the time, it was already past 3 am. She snorted thinking that Yoongi was probably still awake, most likely busy with a book. 

“Now, it wasn’t that bad, was it?” He teased her, subconsciously bringing his hand on her shoulder. He froze as he noticed what he was doing but if that fazed her, she didn’t show it. She just rested her head silently, puffing slightly. 

“You made it tolerable, I guess.” His eyes widened before he burst into laughter. 

“What was so funny?” She looked at him confused while he tried his best to calm down. 

“I didn’t expect you to say something to cheesy.” Realization seemed to dawn on her only once he pointed out the cheesiness of her answer. God, what was happening to her, it sounded like she was flirting with him.

“I didn’t- I wasn’t-”

“It’s fine (Y/N), don’t worry. Let’s just call it a night, we did enough.” Jimin slowly got up, loosing his balance for a second but (Y/N) got on her feet quickly to make sure he wouldn’t fall. Both of her hands laid on his shoulder, trying to hold him up while he tried to shake the wave of dizziness again. 

“Are you alright?” (Y/N) sounded genuinely distressed and Jimin felt bad for pushing forward despite lacking the energy. He probably should have gone to bed when she had instructed him to but it would be fine. He would take the potion, go to sleep, and hopefully everything would be back to normal by tomorrow. 

“I’ll be fine. I’ll go to bed and take your potion. I should get better soon.” Her frown did not disappear even after his attempt at soothing her worries down. 

“I’ll accompany you to your room.” 

“You don’t have to, I’ll be fine on my own-”

“I don’t have to but I want to and I will. I know the way now, so you don’t even try to complain.” He huffed at her but she still had a point; it would be safer as well for him. 

“Lead the way then.” He grumbled, admitting his defeat while (Y/N) linked their arms together and started walking. He wasn’t expecting for her to be this careful, glancing at him now and then, and making sure he wouldn’t lose balance. It was a weird, yet endearing change in her behavior. Jimin caught her looking at him more than once and he wanted to giggle at the scene; who would have known that he would end up like that? Watched over by the woman he loved whereas she was still getting shy each time they made an eye contact? It was surreal to him.

They still arrived safely without any problem; Jimin still felt nauseous but at least, he could walk properly without feeling like he was about to faint. (Y/N) kept a close eye on him as he kicked his shoes and got inside his room, silently asking if she was coming in or not. 

She didn’t know if it was okay for her to come, but she wanted to make sure he’d take the potion. (Y/N) knew it was unlikely, but for some reasons, she feared he’d forget and straight up go to sleep without taking the precious fluid. She was going inside to make sure he’d take the potion and that was it. 

Nothing to do about her pounding heart and rosy cheeks that she was trying so hard to hide. 

Not at all. She wasn’t flustered to be in his room, after all, she had already been here once. She shouldn’t be flustered, right? 

Then why was she so damn nervous? 

“Is there anything I should do before taking it?” (Y/N) watched him as he was sitting on his bed, watching the potion he had inside his hands. 

“Maybe prepare a glass of water, the taste isn’t the best.” She shrugged. His fingers wriggled in the air gently, glitters forming from his skin, floating in the air. She watched amazed as the thin glittery particles flew in the air, preparing a glass of water for him while he removed the cork of the bottle. While Jimin remained unbothered as ever, the glass came back full and found the end of its journey in (Y/N)’s hand. She tried to hide her bewilderment but probably failed even though Jimin said nothing. 

“Okay well then here goes nothing.” He seemed slightly nervous as he gulped down the pink liquid. His nose wrinkled after a few seconds and (Y/N) knew it meant that the taste of the potion was hitting him. He released a small disgusted gasp once he finished the bottle and (Y/N) quickly handed him the glass that he drank in a few seconds. 

“You didn’t lie when you said that the taste wasn’t the best.” He chuckled humorlessly. 

“We tried to make it sweeter, but some ingredients were just… hopeless.” She grinned a bit while he relaxed in his bed.

“You should go back to your room too, get some rest.” He yawned.

“Jimin.” Her serious expression made him flinch slightly. The night had gone so softly that her hard expression seemed out of place. Yet, he waited for her to continue without daring to utter a word. 

“I’m sorry for ignoring you right after we got out of the cold room. I freaked out, but it doesn’t mean it was okay for you, so I’m sorry. And I’m also sorry for the numerous assumptions I made about you. It wasn’t fair and I never gave you the opportunity to give your version of what happened, so I’m truly sorry.” She had almost whispered, afraid of the reaction her words could create; the last thing she wanted was to hurt him again. 

Jimin felt the previous tension melt as he released a soft sigh. Smiling quietly to himself, he hummed before speaking again. 

“I understand. I wish you would have reacted differently but I get it. I would have probably freaked out had the roles been reversed, so no hard feelings, don’t worry. Same for the assumptions, I get it to be honest. So it’s fine.” A soft smile graced his features and (Y/N) couldn’t help but think that he looked ethereal right there. His glow seemed slightly brighter than it had been as they had been working-maybe the potion was already affecting the toxins-and his gleaming eyes conveyed nothing but adoration. She couldn’t explain all the thoughts that were crowding her mind. Yet, one especially kept on urging her to move and do something. 

And do something; she did. 

Was she thinking straight? Maybe not. The only thing she was sure about, was that again, the feeling of his lips against hers felt so fucking right. 

It took Jimin a few seconds to understand what was going on, but he quickly shut his eyes as she cupped his cheeks in her hands, delicately stroking the tender skin. Her feeling of her lips felt addictive, as if she had been made to fit him, and he couldn’t help but slide one of his hands behind her neck, trying to bring her closer to him while the second one wrapped up her waist, pushing her to fall on the top of him. Both of her hands left his face to rest on each side of his head, balancing herself above him. Yet, despite the initial surprise she had felt as Jimin’s arms had brought her closer to him, they didn’t break the kiss, lips firmly sealed together as if separating themselves from each other would burn them. Jimin tried to push her hands away from the bed so that she would fall flat on him but he just ended up taking her hands in his, making sure to intertwine their fingers while his teeth gently tugged on her bottom lip. A soft moan escaped her and before she could get flustered, Jimin slipped his tongue inside her mouth, gasping quietly as he tried to focus on the kiss. He had to show her what he had to offer, how he could take care of her. Maybe it would help her to make a decision, maybe she would give him a chance if he was persuasive enough. 

And persuasion was something he excelled at. 

It took everything out of him to slowly detach his lips from hers while a thin thread of saliva still connected them before he started kissing her jaw, leaving wet marks after him. He would have probably commented about how hot the image of her bruised lips parting slightly as he kept kissing her skin further was, but he merely hummed against her skin, vibrations sending shivers to (Y/N) who was helpless against Jimin’s ministrations. Switching their positions slowly, Jimin smirked now that he was on top of her, having the upper hand of the situation. (Y/N) whined as he started sucking on her neck, making sure that he would leave a dark bruise on her soft skin and he mentally cheered, delighted to hear her moaning under him. If he had any means to record her sweet voice, he probably would have done it. 

“Jimin,” she tried to articulate slowly while he was relentlessly working on her neck, “Jimin, please stop.” Her words made him freeze instantly. His head shot up, lips abandoning her already bruised neck quickly as he watched her close, eyes searching for hers.

Did he go too far? Should he have let her kiss him and leave? Maybe he hurt her? Did he miss his hands pressing on her and hurting her or something else? What had he done?

“Are you okay? Did I hurt you? Did I-”

“Jimin calm down, I’m fine, don’t worry. It was just… getting a little bit too much for me.” (Y/N) smiled softly under him and Jimin let out a little sigh, relieved that he didn’t hurt her.

“I’m sorry, I got carried away.” He grinned apologetically. The last thing he wanted was to make her run away. He couldn’t fuck up now.

“It’s okay, I didn’t exactly push you away either so.” She chuckled nervously and Jimin couldn’t help but smile wider at her obvious edginess. She was too cute for him, she’d be his death one day. 

“Still, I should have asked you if it was fine instead of just… yeah, sorry, you have quite the hickey on your neck.” It was his turn to chuckle uneasy, yet not without feeling proud of himself for the dark bruise left on her neck. 

“I... God, Yoongi is going to ask so many questions.” Jimin giggled lightly.

“It’s quite rude to speak about another man when being in someone’s bed.” He teased, noticing that (Y/N) never told him that Yoongi was her brother. Sure, she kind of hinted at it when they were stuck in the cold room, but had he not overheard it by himself, he would have probably been confused.

“Yoongi is my brother,” she confessed quietly, “we don’t really try to hide it but it doesn’t come into conversations either so…” 

“I’m only teasing, I knew already.” He watched confusion settle in her eyes with amusement. She titled her head slightly before asking:

“You knew?” 

“Yeah, I did. I overheard you both once at the cafeteria and he called you ‘sis’ or something, I don’t fully remember, but I got the hint that day.” He wasn’t completely lying to be fair, he didn’t fully remember the conversation, but he did omit to say that he remembered some other parts of that conversation. Not that it was such a big deal, but he didn’t really want to sound like he had been listening to them. 

“Ah, I didn’t realize other people knew.”

“Don’t worry, everyone is still clueless.” She giggled lightly at his words, smile fixed on her lips, unwilling to disappear. “Eh, maybe I should go to bed.” 

“You’re already in bed.” Jimin challenged jokingly, internally prying for her to get the hint that he wanted for her to stay. 

“No I meant, my bed. Not yours, Jimin.” He could have mentally slapped himself.

She didn’t get the hint. He should have known she wouldn’t, she was always oblivious so those sorts of things. 

“Yeah, by that I meant that I’d like for you to stay, only if you want of course.” Jimin grinned watching her confused expression melt into realization. Lips slightly parted and eyebrow raised, she definitely had not made that link in her mind and her sudden comprehension was cute. Not able to help himself, Jimin quickly pecked her lips before giggling at her flustered state. (Y/N) turned her head into the pillow in an attempt at hiding herself but Jimin only laughed harder while falling next to her. 

“Ah, stop laughing at me!” 

“I’m not making fun of you don’t worry, you’re just too cute sometimes. Cute and really oblivious as well.” She pouted while he just smiled softly at her. Brushing her hair away from her face, he leaned in to press a kiss on her forehead before pushing the blankets over her body as well. She watched him without complaining, almost making herself comfortable in his bed while he mentally cheered. A small victory for him. 

“Oh wait, do you want one of my shirt to sleep? It cannot be comfortable to sleep in the clothes you wore all day.” Jimin watched her think before she silently nodded, grateful for the offer. He went to the bathroom while she got changed and maybe he shouldn’t have gone away from her so soon because now he was overthinking? What if it didn’t mean what it meant to him? What if she was merely staying there because she was tired? Jimin groaned wordlessly as he felt his heart beating a bit too fast in his chest. He needed to stop beating around the bush. It had not worked the first time, nor did it work the second and even now that he tried to hint at the fact that he wanted for her to stay, she had not gotten it. So instead of ruminating pessimistic thoughts, he was going to walk out like an adult and ask her the question. 

Easier said than done. He froze entirely once he got a glance at her wearing nothing but his shirt (and probably her underwear but spare Jimin’s mind). Trying his best not to ogle at her, he slipped under the sheets and tried to soothe his mind down before turning to her, meeting her curious eyes as she was wondering what happened while she was changing because she distinctly heard him groan in pain. Did the potion not work? Was he still in pain? It should take some time to be effective but he shouldn’t be in so much pain anymore. 

“Are you okay?” A soft whisper left her mouth and Jimin tried to find the best words he could to explain his feelings. 

“I… Physically yes. I don’t feel that dizzy anymore.” 

“I feel like a ‘but’ is coming…” He smiled nervously at her words.

“I don’t really know how to put it. Does this,” he pointed at her and then at himself, “the kiss and everything we shared, does this mean something to you? Because I think it’s clear that to me, it does. It means a lot but I don’t want to get my hopes up if it doesn’t for you.” Jimin chuckled with a hint of disappointment in his voice. He couldn’t help it, of course he’d be disappointed if it meant nothing to (Y/N). “Basically what I am asking is, does this mean that you’re giving me, us, a chance?” Jimin didn’t dare looking at her, almost hiding in his sheets. It wasn’t like he could force her to like him, but he wished she would give him a simple chance to show her his love. 

“You said that I’m oblivious, but this is quite true for you too, you know?” His head shot up as he heard her voice teasing him. She was looking at him with an amused smile on her lips, leaving him unsure of the meaning behind her words. 

“Pardon?”

“Do you really think I would sleep here if I had just let myself get carried away and didn’t want to stay with you?” 

‘Stay with you’. That sounded nice if he were to be honest. 

“We never know.” He chuckled embarrassed.

“Let me make myself clear then,” she took his hand into hers as she scouted closer to him,” I’m not 100% sure about what I feel for you. It’s always a messy rollercoaster of emotions. What I’m sure about is that there is something between you and me, and I’d like to see where this can go. I’m betting on us right now, so take your chance, please.” Pecking him on the lips, she smiled brightly at him and before she could move away, he cupped her cheek to kiss her again. 

Nothing mattered anymore to him. 

Maybe the next day he ran everywhere to prepare for Christmas, and it might have continued like that until the 25th. Maybe they didn’t get to see each other a lot because it was his busiest season of the year. And maybe they kept on bickering in the hallways and in the cafeteria. 

But it was worth it. All of it was worth seeing her teary eyes on that 25th morning when he came to her room with the gift he had prepared for her. It wasn’t anything big, he promised he’d do better the next year but she didn’t really care. She confessed that it was her first Christmas gift and hearing that, Jimin made a promise to himself to always gift her something that would make her happy. 

Because to him, nothing was more precious than gifting a little piece of happiness for Christmas. And maybe (Y/N) even admitted that Christmas wasn’t that bad after all.

(She still preferred Halloween though)

TAGLIST: @ggukkieland​, @thequeen-kat​, @meow-meowch​,  @sizzlingwastelandwolf  , @moon8child​, @ bettyschwallocksyee

[jadegrey711]

Hey there, Little Red Riding Hood

Kylo Ren x Rey

A/N: I decided to make a very late or very early Halloween treat for everyone and make another vampire Kylo Ren post. It’s pretty short and I’m not sure if I’m going to add on to it later on and make it a bit more smutty but I just love leaving my writing off on one-liners lmao. 

It’s not a continuation of my other one but one I got inspired for because of this picture from vivisketches on Instagram. If you haven’t seen her stuff yet I would highly recommend checking out her art cuz she is amazing. Most definitely part of the pantheon of Reylo goddesses who bless us with content!

Here’s the link to her Insta and the drawing she posted! 

Summary:

Kylo Ren a vampire decides to have fun this Halloween and enjoy the first full halloween moon in a few years and seduces Rey at a college party who’s dressed as little red riding hood.

If you like my stories you can check out my sideblog @jadegreywriting​ to see all of them and my masterlist without filtering through my main blog.

I own all rights to this story and do not give permission for my stories to be published, translated or reposted anywhere else. The only places I have published my stories is here on Tumblr and on my AO3 account (LadyAuthor711) 

Soundtrack 

1999- Prince 

Lil’ Red Riding Hood - Sam the Sham and the Pharohs

Magic Man - Heart 

This certainly wasn't his normal hunting grounds but it was halloween night and the moon was full and he was in the mood for some trouble. The vampire had chuckled when he’d chosen his costume and looked at himself in the mirror. He took in the sight of himself dressed in one of his old white shirts from another life, a pair of leather britches, black riding boots and to top it all off; a black cloak with a red silk lining. He chuckled to himself, truly a wolf in sheep’s clothing. This had to be the most dastardly plan he’d come up with, a true creature of the night walking amongst the humans who were playing pretend at being a monster only for a real monster to be walking amongst them tonight playing human. 

He was just walking and enjoying the night, enjoying the sounds of shrieks, screams and laughter of others enjoying the magic of the night. When he found himself at a college fraternity, they were having their own fun in the form of a halloween party, Kylo smiled to himself as he walked up the steps of the fraternity and immersed himself with the rest of the humans, officially on the hunt. 

***

Rey used to adore celebrating Halloween, obviously dressing up was her favorite part apart from gorging on candy that is. But recently with all her loads of classwork that she’s been doing and trying to finish up her bachelors’ she’s been too exhausted to even notice it was halloween. That is until her best friend and roommate Rose, ripped off her headphones and almost scared Rey half to death as she came face to face with a zombie bride. 

“Jesus!” Rey screeched as she clutched her hand to her chest.  “You scared me half to death Rose!” 

Rose just smiled and said. “Thank you! I worked really hard on this outfit and on Finn’s so I’m excited I actually got to scare someone with it!” She said excitedly. “But, where’s your costume? You’re not going as a zombie student are you?” 

“I’m not going as anything because I have to study.” 

“What! You have to go out tonight! It’s a full moon! On Halloween!” Rose said pointing outside Rey’s little window and saw the full moon blazing down at her and all the other girls and ghouls that were prowling the campus in search of candy and a good time. 

“Wow.” Rey said revertely as she stared up at that bright moon shining down on her. “How often does a full moon occur on Halloween?”

“Not very often so let’s go! Get up and out of that chair, turn off the laptop and let’s see if I have a costume for you.” 

Rey watched as Rose spirited to her closet and flung open the close doors to reveal her repertoire of costumes that she kept year round. I guess having a theater major as your roommate did come in handy sometimes. 

“Oh! What about this?” Rose asked as she pulled out a red riding hood costume, with corset and all. “It’s a classic costume, very sexy, and also helps keep out the cold later on in the night. Maybe when you have to do a walk of victory at the end of the night.” Rose chuckled. 

“It has a corset Rose!” 

“It’s not as bad as everyone always makes them out to be, they actually help with your posture and besides it’ll make your boobs look killer, take it from me.” Rose winked and just then Finn decided to come into the room in all his gory zombie groom state. 

“I know first hand that they do.” He chuckled as he fully came into the room and came up to Rose and gave her a chaste kiss so they wouldn't mess up each other’s makeup. 

Rose let out a satisfied little hum and threw the outfit at Rey. “No more fighting, we’re going to have so much fun tonight. And you need a break from studying, maybe you need to have some tall handsome stranger ring your bell to get you out of this study stupor you’ve been in all month. It’s like I’ve been living with an actual zombie!”

Rey just chuckled to herself and knew there was no fighting her bestfriend or the corset she’d just put in her lap. And instead she decided to get swept away in the magic of the night. 

**

Rey thought she wouldn’t have any fun at the halloween party that was happening at Finn’s fraternity, but all the fraternity guys seemed to be cool, played decent music and always kept her drink full. Rose had been right, this is exactly what Rey needed tonight. She needed to let loose for a night, dance and get drunk, although it looked like the handsome stranger bit wasn’t going to be happening tonight. Which she thought was a bit of a shame since she was definitely feeling herself in this corset; another thing Rose was right about and Rey would most definitely hear just how right Rose was in the morning. 

As Rey poured herself another drink, suddenly the song changed from the thumping beat of Prince’s 1999, to a slower song and definitely older song, Rey realised as she recognized the opening howl of Sam The Sham and the Pharoh’s Lil Red Riding Hood. And as she looked up from where she was pouring her next beer, her eyes locked onto a pair of dark alluring eyes from across the room. Rey felt transfixed to these dark eyes, that felt like they belonged to a predator and a part of her; a primal part confirmed her suspicions and demanded that she run as far and as fast she could. 

Rey tampered the voice in her mind and tried to calm her suddenly racing heart as she wretched her eyes away from the dark eyes that seemed to command her to him. Rey didn’t dare look back at the stranger lounging on the wall in the fear that she wouldn’t be able to look away next time. But, that awful sense of curiosity filled her, tempted her to look at the stranger again; but Rey knew what happened to that cat who let curiosity get the best of them. Rey decided after another swig of her beer that she’d take another look at him, that feeling of dread was just her imagination getting the better of her, the halloween night air filling her head with visions of dark strangers. 

However, when Rey looked back up to where the stranger was lounging on the back wall he was gone. Rey furrowed her eyebrows and looked around for the stranger but he was nowhere on the dance floor or anywhere near where he first was; maybe she had imagined him. 

Rey turned around to fill her beer again and bumped into a large chest and felt strong arms wrap around her, bracing her so she wouldn’t fall on her ass. When she looked up to thank her savior and apologize, she was struck with terror and awe as those dark eyes pierced her soul. 

“Hey there lil red riding hood.”