#I would flinch with embarrassment hearing this crap | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

poke-me-with-a-stick · 2 years ago

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Chapter 9 of 'Artificial Wingman'!

For the full story, click here!

Enjoy!

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The next day started much like the first. Robin was up earlier than him, but not by much. A pot of tea was brewing, and the teen was watching some bubbling oatmeal cautiously, spoon held like a weapon. Danny blinked at the scene before him sleepily before sitting down at the table.

He must have dozed back off, because the next time he opened his eyes was when Robin sat a bowl and mug down in front of him. Rubbing his eyes blearily, Danny let out a yawn and stretched, a chirp of thanks humming in his chest as he dug in. Both boys ate in comfortable silence, the only noise the scraping of spoons against the bottom of their bowls.

"Huh," Danny blinked down at his empty bowl. "I usually don't like oatmeal. That was really good." The boy across from him flushed and preened slightly at the praise.

"Of course it's good," he said in a slightly monotone voice. "It's Alfred's recipe." It was obvious that the teen was forcing his tone to sound normal, not that Danny noticed.

"Well, you'll definitely have to teach me to make it some time. Jazz is always saying I need to eat healthier." Danny hummed as he stood, taking both of their empty bowls and washing them in the sink.

"Who is 'Jazz'?" Robin asked. The jealousy in his tone was hidden well, though his tense shoulders would have anyone noticing it. Fortunately for the teen, Danny's back was to him.

"Oh, Jazz is my older sister. She's away at college most of the time, but she always visits me when she can. She calls every night too." Danny's core purred quietly as he thought of his sister. The purring died down when he realized that he hadn't tried to contact her at all since being kidnapped.

"Crap." Was all he could really say as he set the dishes on the drying rack and hurried to the living room, wiping his wet hands on his shirt as he went.

Robin made a confused and slightly concerned noise behind him, following closely as he began to dig through his bag. "Is everything alright?" The teen asked.

"Umm, maybe?" Danny answered uncertainly as he rummaged through his belongings. A frustrated hiss escaped him as he came up empty for what he needed. "Double crap. I left my phone back at home." He dropped his face into his palms as he groaned. "Jazz is gonna kill me." He muttered quietly.

Apparently loud enough for Robin to hear, though. The teen crou he'd beside him, looking over the scattered objects as Danny began to shove them back into his bag. "Why would she 'kill' you?" He asked.

Danny let out a nervous laugh. "Because I was supposed to be home by now? And I haven't contacted her to let her know I was staying longer?" His voice was light, but the dread that colored it was quite obvious.

Robin was silent for a minute. "I doubt she would hurt you," he said eventually. "Not if she's as good a sibling as you say she is." He placed a comforting hand on Danny's shoulder, the warmth of it tingling through his body and triggering an involuntary purr to start up. Robin flinched slightly in surprise, but didn't remove his hand.

Danny was quick to stifle the reaction, his face going red from embarrassment. "Danny…" the teen started. "You can purr?"

Danny groaned again, burying his face in his hands in an effort to hide himself. He would have turned intangible and slipped through the floor, if not for the warm hand still planted firmly on his shoulder. "If I say no, would you believe me?" He asked instead.

A small snort was all the answer he needed. Lifting his head back up, he turned towards the teen. "So, what are we doing today?" He asked, quite bluntly changing the subject.

The smirk on Robin's face made it obvious that the teen knew what he was doing. He had mercy on him though, considering Danny's question.

"I chose yesterday." He pointed out. "So… what would you like to do today?"

His question stumped Danny for a moment. Considering, it only took Danny a few moments to come up with an idea. "How about an arcade?"

Robin made a face of distaste, but nodded in agreement anyways. Danny noticed almost immediately, a sour feeling in the air that only he could feel. "What's the matter?" He asks with a frown. "If you don't want to go to the arcade, I can think of something else."

Robin just shook his head. "I assure you, my distaste has nothing to do with your suggestion." At Danny's disbelieving look, he elaborated. "I've only been to one once. It was… not the best experience I've had. A group from my class invited me, and my older brother encouraged me to go." His lip curled slightly in distaste from the memory. "The only reason that they invited me in the first place was because they believed that they could convince me to cover the day. When I said no, they proceeded to leave, and I had to call my brother to pick me up."

"That's horrible!" Danny wasn't quite sure which he felt more. Sympathy for the teen, having had his fair share of bullies, or anger, for the way they treated him? In the end, he landed on sympathy, trying to plan out where else they could go. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Robin replied simply. "I got my revenge easily enough." At Danny's curious look, he shared a secretive and slightly sadistic smile. "After the 'incident', all parties involved, besides myself, found themselves suspended, grounded, and blacklisted from quite a few prestigious colleges." Danny blinked at the teen in surprise. "A bit more tame then what I would have done in the past, but effective enough to make a statement." He added catching the shocked look on Danny's face.

Danny grinned at the teen. "Nice." Was all he could really get out, his mind wandering a bit. Finally, he came to a decision. "So, then you've never really had a full arcade experience, huh?"

Robin's eyebrow quirked, a look that screamed 'that's what you took from my story?' plastered to his face. Nonetheless, he nodded. "No, I can't say that I have." He admitted.

Danny's smile grew. "Well then, I guess we'll just have to fix that." Jumping to his feet, the teen slung his bag around his shoulder before grabbing Robin's hand and hauling him up as well. "Robin, I'm going to show you just how fun an arcade can be!" Without letting the teen respond, Danny led him out of the apartment and through three different alleyways.

Coming to a stop at the intersection, Danny tossed an almost shy look at the teen he had manhandled outside. "Uhh, which way is the arcade?" He asked.

His bashful question startled a bark of laughter from Robin, before he took the lead, pulling Danny in the complete opposite direction he had been headed.

—

Damian watched Danny as he collected two cups of coins from the teen behind the prize counter, sending a smile of thanks to the bored looking teen that slumped behind it as he made his way back. Returning to the teen's side, Danny handed him one of the cups before pointing towards the variety of different games.

"Okay," he started. "So we use these coins to play the games, right? And if we win, we get tickets." He explained. Damian already knew this, having had the same conversation with Grayson when he had been here the first time. He nodded along anyways, listening intently as though it was the first time he had heard it.

"And if we get enough tickets, we can exchange them for prizes." Danny turned him back towards the counter, the shelves behind the glass case and along the wall aligned with a variety of different trinkets. There were also a fair share of plushies, many different sizes and makes lining the upper and middle shelves. "The lower the prize is, the less tickets they cost. Things like toy rings or candy cost five to ten tickets, cars and small figurines about twenty five." He continued, pointing to the prizes as he mentioned them. "Those small stuffed animals and toys cost about fifty to seventy five tickets each. The price will keep going up until you reach the top shelf. Their biggest prize, that huge stuffed bear, costs about twenty thousand tickets."

The amount of tickets was quite large, especially for something he could buy himself just down the road, but he refrained from pointing that out. The excited light in Danny's eye was too bright to be squashed so callously. And with the way the teen eyed the plushie, like it was some sort of personal challenge, made Damian partially sure that they would end up leaving with it.

"Easy enough." Damian said, when he noticed the silence that had descended between them. Danny's smile was almost blinding, despite the lack of bright lights in the building, as well as the sunglasses that had become an almost constant fixture since he had received them.

"Alright!" Danny grabbed onto his sleeve. "What do you wanna try first?" For the next three hours they played many different games, from air hockey to packman to skee ball, and just about everything in between. They were all relatively easy to play, and seemed to be a great way of gaining tickets.

Danny was particularly good at most games, beating high scores left and right, and even beating his own scores when he replayed one that he deemed fun.

Personally, Damian didn't care much for the arcade cabinets, despite playing the ones that did catch his attention. Not all of the games were bad, though. He found himself playing more of the physically active games as time went on, games like Dance Dance and basketball.

When the two ran out of coins, they moved on to playing some of the cash only games. Majority of them were claw machines, small toys and candy in some, though most were filled with plushies. Damian didn't like them very much, only able to win a Keychain and ghost plush set after his fifth try.

Danny had more luck with the grab games, winning quite a few animal plushies with only a twenty dollar bill. When asked how he did it mainly by younger children, he would wink and tell them that it was a practiced skill, one that took him years to develop. Damian knew better though, having felt the slight chill in the air and seeing the almost imperceptible way Danny's fingers phased into the toggle. He said nothing about it, especially after being handed the first of many animal-themed toys. A particularly soft cat plush from one of the farm animal themed machines.

It was two hours past lunch when they finally headed for the counter. A new teen stood slouched over behind the casing, bright pink gum popping loudly as she examined their tickets separately. Deeming them legitimate, the girl fed them through the ticket counter before handing both boys a slip of paper.

In the ticket area, Danny had Damian soundly beat. Whereas Damian had stuck to more active games, Danny had played all manner of games. So it was no surprise when Danny had about four thousand more tickets than he did.

"What prize do you want?" The girl asked them. Looking between each other, Danny motioned for Damian to go first.

The teen nodded before looking over the different prizes that were offered. He had an impressive amount of tickets, not quite enough to get the large bear, but enough to get just about anything else. Thinking it over, Damian pointed to a decorative white box, one with a small cartoon ghost peeking around the corner. "That one will do." He told the girl.

She popped the bubblegum in her mouth rather loudly, looking at his slip of paper before nodding and handing it to him. "Anything else? You've still got, like, twenty left." Another quick glance at the cheaper prizes had him pointing out two little plastic rings, one with a gaudy green jewel and the other with a frosty, sleek jewel. She added the two rings to his bag before sliding it over to him. "Thank you for playing. Have a nice day." The girl recited in a bored voice, waving him away from the counter before turning to Danny.

Leaving Danny to his pick, Damian walked out to the lobby. Almost immediately, the sound from inside the arcade was dampened. A sigh escaped him as he leaned against the ugly red and blue wallpaper, settling in to wait.

He didn't have to wait long. A total of five minutes later, and Danny was stumbling out the door, the noise rising and falling again as it swung closed behind him. It took Damian a moment to realize it was him, though. The only visible part of him were his legs and his arms, the rest of him was blocked by the large, fluffy, black furred bear.

Danny peeked around the comically large bear, looking around the lobby before his eyes locked with Damian's. He visibly perked up before trotting over, reminding Damian of a puppy in his actions. Stopping in front of him, Danny shoved the large bear into his arms, looking satisfied and just a bit smug, a fang peeking from his grin.

Damian couldn’t help the small smile that pushed at his usually stoic expression. Rubbing one of the bear's vibrant red paws, he looked at Danny over the toy's head. "Thank you." He said simply.

Danny nodded, a proud smile on display, before grabbing Damian's hand and leading him to the exit. "I don't know about you, but I'm starving!" He bounced a little as he walked, cheerful and full of energy. Damian allowed himself to be tugged along as Danny looked around the different shops and stores that lined the sidewalk. Spotting what he was looking for, the teen picked up his pace. Damian saw what he was headed for just a few moments before they got there.

A small Mom-and-Pop style café sat tucked between a hair salon and a clothing store, two outside tables with umbrellas sitting near the entrance. Opening the door, both of the boy's were met with the smell of warm baked goods and coffee. Danny's shoulders relaxed in a way that he only saw when the teen was tucked away in the apartment. An almost dazed look overcame his face as his nose twitched, the teen smelling the air. 'Enhanced sense of smell?' Damian couldn't help but wonder as they picked a seat, a booth towards the back corner of the establishment, and sat down. A waitress walked over after a minute, a brunette that appeared to be in her twenties, and stopped by their booth with her notepad in hand. "What can I get for you gentlemen today?" She asked in a friendly tone, looking between both of them and their bags from the arcade.

"Hmm." Danny rubbed his chin. "Can I get a chef salad and a lemonade?" He asked after a moment.

She nodded and jotted the order down before looking at Damian. "And you?"

Damian glanced over the menu's vegetarian options. "A fruit salad with a lemonade as well." He decided. Another nod as she wrote quickly.

"Will that be all?" The two teens glanced at each other before nodding. "Alrighty then! We'll have that out to you in just a few minutes!" With a final smile and nod at them, she walked quickly to the counter, handing her note to someone in the kitchen before turning to clean up a table that had just been vacated.

They sat in silence as they waited for their food, Damian watching as Danny rummaged through the cheap plastic bags from the arcade. He made that purring noise again as he looked over all the stuffed animals and animal themed keychains that he had gotten Damian from the claw games. A small chuckle escaped the teen as he ran his finger over a raven-themed Keychain. At Damian's curious look, he held it between them.

Damian snorted at the words printed in white over the cartoonish avian. Birds before nerds! The raven had a pair of glasses in its talons, a smug look curving its beak. It was one of his favorites that Danny had won, and once he got back to the manor, he intended to put it on his schoolbag.

The waitress returned with their salads and lemonade, and the two teens applied themselves to their meals. "So," Danny started after a minute, both of them about half way through their food. "What do you want to do now?"

The teen chewed another mouthful thoughtfully as he considered all the options he had. Swallowing, he had an idea. "What about the local animal shelter?" He suggested.

Danny raised an eyebrow, but didn’t look like he hated the idea. "Sounds fun. I love animals!" Scooping another mouthful, he munched and swallowed before continuing. "Though, If you want to adopt a pet, I would suggest waiting until after the love potion isn't affecting you anymore."

Damian rolled his eyes. "For your information, I am fully capable of taking care of a pet. I happen to have quite a few back home." Did the bats in the bat Ave technically count as pets? Damian decided that they did, just for the argument's sake. And it's not like he's lying even if they didn't count. Titus, Alfred the cat, and Batcow all counted as well. "Though, I was thinking we could just volunteer there for the rest of the evening. I often give the shelters a hand when I'm not busy."

Danny smiled and nodded. "Alright, sounds like a plan!" He then proceeded to speed-eat, consuming his salad at such a fast pace, Damian was quite sure he could out-eat a speedster. Damian followed at a slower pace, having no desire to choke.

When they were done, Damian signaled for the bill, leaving an extra thirty as a tip to the woman.

The two of them decided to stop by the apartment before heading to the animal shelter, dropping off their stuff before leaving again. Like most of the last few days, Damian intertwined his fingers with Danny's, leading him down the paths that would help them avoid Oracle as much as possible.

The shelter was the same as it always was, a bland white and gray brick building with two glass doors. A bell rang above them when Damian pushed in, making one of the attendants behind the desk perk up. The woman, having worked there for as long as Damian had been visiting, recognized him immediately. "Welcome back. We weren't expecting you until this weekend!" She greeted him as they approached the desk. The woman glanced at Danny. "Ah? You brought a friend?" Her eyes flickered down to their hands for a second. "Well, if you're here to help out, we'd appreciate it." She told him, handing him the sign-in sheet and a pen. "Two of our volunteers called in sick today, so we could use the extra hands." She winked at him as she took the paper back, now with two new names. "You know the drill by now, yeah? Get dressed and meet me in the kennel room." With that she left, disappearing behind the employee only door.

Danny looked around curiously as Damian led him through a different set of doors, stopping at a table to grab a pair of gray work pants and a white apron. Danny took a set as well, and Damian led him to the bathroom. "You can go first." The teen said, leaning against the wall beside the door.

"Thank you." Damian nodded and headed in.

"So." He heard Danny through the door. "You volunteer here a lot?"

"Yes, I do." He answered, pulling his head through the apron's neck piece. "I usually work on Saturdays. It's one of the activities that my siblings allow me to do without constant supervision."

"Ah," the teen shuffled slightly outside as Damian quickly switched his jeans for the soft work pants. "I guess you have a lot of siblings then, huh? Or just one or two with a lot of free time."

A scoff escaped him as he readjusted the beanie. "As if Father would allow them to skimp off any physical work." A snort could be heard from the other side of the door. "No, I do have quite a few adopted siblings. I am the only blood son, though I am also the youngest. They rarely like doing anything alone, because of some misguided notion that my age makes me vulnerable."

"Ugh, tell me about it." Danny groaned. Damian pulled the door open, letting Danny slip past him and close the door again. He took the teen's spot leaning against the wall. "My sister found out about my less than human attributes, and my ghostly activities, and now she's constantly butting in." He ranted, his voice muffled by more than the door. "It's like, yeah I did something stupid that changed my life once, but I've grown since then, y'know? I love my sister with all my soul, and I appreciate the help and support she gives me. But I do not need a babysitter!" Grunting as fabric rustled, along with the thump, thump of shoes hitting the floor. "At least she's gotten a bit better at it. I'm honestly surprised she hasn't tried to track me down here yet."

"She can do that?" Damian couldn't help but ask.

"Yeah, she knows people in the 'zone who should have no trouble finding me." The door swung open, revealing a slightly disheveled teen in all his glory. 'Cute,' Damian thought, moving closer to fix the boy's hair.

Danny swatted playfully at his hands but didn't stop him straightening the wild locks of hair that fell across his face and stuck up in every direction.

Once he was satisfied, he grabbed the teen's hand and led him through the halls until they wandered into the kennels. The woman was standing there, notepad in hand, as she jotted things down. Her head shot up as they entered.

"There you two are!" She smiled at them. "I was almost afraid you got lost back there." Damian scoffed at the notion, but said nothing as the woman flipped back towards the beginning of her notepad. With a quick jerk over her wrist, the page was torn free and held out in their direction. "Here, your tasks for today." She told them. "I'll be in the front, restocking and logging. Have fun~" her voice turned almost songlike as she left them alone once again.

Danny let out a hum as he examined the list. "Alright. Looks like we're on cleaning duty first." He looked over at Damian, awaiting instruction.

Damian nodded. "Over here," he led Danny to a supply closet, handing him a broom and dustpan. Danny took them, watching as Damian pulled on a pair of gloves. The two then proceeded to work in companionable silence, tidying up the empty kennels while the dogs parked in the yard out back.

They were about halfway done when Danny asked him something. "You said you had pets at home, right?"

Damian paused where he was drying out one of the dog dishes, the two having moved to the sinks. "Yes, I did mention that." He set the bowl down and moved onto the next one. "There's Titus, my dog. Alfred, a cat that I named after our butler-"

"You have a butler?" Danny interrupted.

Damian glared at the teen half heartedly. The raven haired boy ducked his head. "Sorry." He mumbled before pulling his head back up and gesturing for the teen to continue, sending suds flying to the other side of the sink.

Shaking his head at the teens' antics, Damian answered his question. "Yes, he has been my father's butler and caretaker since he was a child. I mentioned him this morning, did I not?"

"Oh yeah!" Danny snapped his soap-covered fingers. "He's the one with the really good oatmeal recipe, right?"

Damian nodded. "Yes, that's him. Anyways, Alfred the cat was named after him, and the last pet I have is a cow." Danny opened his mouth, a confused look on his face, but decided against it and let Damian continue. "She has a black bat-shaped spot on her chest, which is how she got her name." A small smile worked its way onto his face at Danny's curious glance.

"What's her name?" He asked.

He kept himself from glancing at the teen. "Batcow, of course."

"Batcow?" The teen repeated, dubiously. Damian nodded, picking up another bowl. “Is there a hidden reason that that is so funny?” He asked.

“Considering the fact that Father is a vigilante that dresses as a bat to fight his rogues, I would say yes. There is a reason that the name is considered ‘funny’ amongst my siblings.”

The teen was quiet for a moment, absorbing the information he was just given as he scrubbed the metal dishes. Then, he groaned loudly, dropping his head again and mumbling something into his chest.

“Pardon?” Damian cast him a slightly concerned look, eyeing the awkward position his neck was in. It took a minute for him to lift his head again, his face stained red in embarrassment as he avoided eye contact.

“I can't believe that I technically kidnapped you first.” He said. Damian cocked his head to the side, considering the teen for a moment.

“How so?” He honestly didn’t know what the teen was talking about.

Danny gave him a blank look. “When we first met I dragged you into a secluded, wooded area. How is that not kidnapping?”

Damian mulled it over in his head. “I suppose that is kidnapping.” He agreed, “But why bring this up now?”

The teen turned even redder, something Damian wouldn’t have thought possible. “I- may have dragged you away because I thought your dad was some sort of villian.” He admitted quietly.

Damian blinked at the teen before a snort of laughter broke free. He managed to reign himself in quite quickly, his shoulders still shaking with suppressed chuckles. He didn’t blame the teen, how could Danny have possibly known? He wasn’t familiar with the Heros and Villains of this dimension. However, the thought of Father, Bringer of Justice and Hope, perceived as a villain almost instantly, was very humorous.

However, that brought up another question. “If you thought that Father was a villain, then what did you think of me?”

The blush on Danny’s face lessened slightly. “Well, I thought that you were a hero.” He said truthfully. “I mean, you were dressed in bright colors, and you fell from the sky. Honestly, I would have been extremely worried if you hadn’t been a hero.”

Damian found himself blushing slightly as he thought over the teen’s words. “So, you thought that Father was one of my rogues?”

“Yeah, I did.” His face had turned back to its original pallor as he finally met Damian’s eye. “I mean, you seem pretty capable. It didn’t seem like that much of a stretch, did it?” Damian didn’t answer him, his own blush growing as a pleasant warmth grew in his chest. He liked the fact that the teen didn’t doubt his abilities just because of his age. Ignoring the way his face flushed at the unintentional praise, he reached into the sink for another bowl. Only, the sink was empty, and Danny was draining his sink of its murky water.

“Done already?” The voice of the shelter’s manager made Danny jump slightly beside him. Damian didn’t react, simply turning around and nodding. She let out an impressed whistle. “That was fast. Good job, you two!” She patted Danny on the back and gave Damian a nod of approval. “Well, if you two are planning to stick around, you could help feed the new litter that was brought in this morning.”

Damian couldn’t help the hopeful glance he shot at Danny, he was just slightly surprised that the teen mirrored his expression. “We’d like to help.” He told the woman. She nodded and led the two to another room, this one filled with blankets, cat posts, and toys. There was only one box in the room, and both Damian and Danny could hear what was in it the moment they walked in. They spent the next half hour feeding the kittens, which couldn’t have been more than a few weeks old if their sizes were anything to go by.

After the kittens were fed, both boys were free to interact with the shelter’s inhabitants. It was then that Damian found another thing to love about Danny. All the animals loved him. One gentle touch had the most skittish dogs dropping into playful stances, one well-placed scratch making the most feisty cats into purring lumps of clingy fur. ‘He can’t get any more perfect.’ Damian couldn’t help but think as he watched the teen be swarmed by small, warm bodies, musical giggles and purrs echoing from him.

The sun was setting behind the smog-swamped skyline by the time they finally pulled themselves away from the shelter. As they walked, Damain turned to Danny. “Have you always been that good with animals?” He asked.

“Ah, no. Not really. I was about the same as anyone else when it came to animals, I guess?” He shrugged. “After my, uh, ‘Accident’, they just sort of, started to like me? It’s like we just sorta, click, on a spiritual level.” His face scrunches up at the mention of this ‘Accident’, but he powers on before Damian can ask. “It doesn’t work with all animals, of course. Usually just ones that are used to people. Like pets. But wild animals react to me the same way they react to anyone else. It's kinda why I got so excited about the love potion.” He was blushing again, Damian noted.

“Have you ever had a pet?” Damian asked, the teen having fallen silent.

“No.” He sighed. “I always wanted a dog when I was little, but my house was never safe for one.”

“What do you mean? How was your home too dangerous for a pet?” Damian couldn’t imagine a household that was safe for children, but unsafe for a pet.

Danny’s shoulders slumped, a tired yet bored look resting on his face. “My parents are ‘Ecto-biologists, scientists that study ghosts and what they’re made of. Though they aren’t very good scientists, most of their work is really biased. But the reason I couldn’t have a pet was less about their researching habits, and more to do with their non-existent lab safety.” He gripped his left arm tightly as he spoke. “Our house was basically ground zero for ecto-radiation. It probably doesn’t help that they built a portal to a dimension made primarily of the stuff in the basement.”

Damian knew that most people would probably be horrified, hearing this. But he grew up not too far from a glowing green pit that healed the weak, killed the healthy, and cursed any survivors with unbridled rage. Still, at least Grandfather had put guards around them, safeguards that kept just anyone from accessing the dangerous waters. Danny’s parents, in comparison, were complete idiots.

There is no way that Damian is letting the teen return to a place like that. Even if the cure does rid him of the romantic attraction he feels, there is no way he could just allow someone to go back to such a dangerous situation. His vigilante persona wouldn’t allow it.

The rest of the walk was quiet, Danny heading straight for the shower as Damian rummaged through the cabinets for a sufficient dinner. A few cans of tomato soup later, Damian found himself sitting at the table as a pot simmered behind him. He found himself staring at his phone, wanting to share the new information he had with his one confidant, but not wanting to share anything that Danny wanted to stay between them.

In the end, he sent a few pictures he had taken during the day.

___

Cass pulled her phone out of her pocket, turning away from the sight of Tim slumped over the Batcomputer’s keyboard. Replacing his death wish with decaf was Alfred’s idea, but it had been her that had been adding small doses of melatonin to his power snacks. Both together had seen the teen passed out in less than an hour, a cozy blanket draped over him as he slept.

An attachment from Damian sat in her messages, and a tap had her smiling brilliantly. All in all, there were about fifteen pictures, all of them featuring the raven haired beauty her youngest brother was absolutely enamored with. Some, he was focused on one arcade game or another. In the others, he was covered in animals, all of them staring at the boy adoringly as he pet and played with them.

She sent a string of encouraging emojis before slipping her phone back into her pocket and making her way stealthily out of the cave. With both her and Alfred, Tim was going to be out of commission for a day or two at the least, but Tim wasn’t the only one of her siblings that were focused on this case. The only question on her mind as she wandered into the kitchen, ‘How am I going to distract Dick?’

___

Red Hood frowns down at his screen, reading over the messages that Oracle had sent him. Apparently Demon Brat was missing, having disappeared after being thrown by Killer Croc during a daylight fight, only showing up on a few cams around the city before a semi-violent encounter with Nightwing that didn’t end with anyone getting stabbed.

He wasn’t necessarily concerned, he knew the demon could take care of himself, but the other bats were freaking out trying to find the kid. He told them he would keep an eye out for him, and he would. But right now he was a bit more hung up on something else.

He couldn’t seem to get the image of that red haired Goddess out of his head. He hadn’t been able to find a trace of her since that night, any possible cam she could have crossed conveniently going off-line that night, and no eye-witness reports after she had taken down his target. It was like she had just… disappeared. It left the detective in him unsettled, itching to find something, anything.

Sighing, Jason turned back to his laptop screen. Something else he needed to check out, the alarms in one of his safe houses had been disarmed, along with all of the cameras and audio devices. It was one of his more out-of-the-way safehouses, one just outside of Crime Alley. Where he was now, it would be almost four in the morning before he reached it.

Making a decision, he turned around and cut off the lights of his ‘office’. Walking out, he heads home for the night. Who or whatever is in his safehouse, it can wait for tomorrow. Right now, he needs sleep. As much sleep as he could get, plagued by his nightmares. Who knows, maybe tonight will be his lucky night.

Just as he was nearing his apartment, his com went off, Oracle patching herself through to tell him about a robbery in progress not too far from his current location. Looks like he wasn’t getting sleep tonight anyways.

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(I know there are probably speing and grammar mistakes, but it's okay because I tried my best!)

To the lovely person who made the prompt for this story, along with all the amazing people who have been following along! :

@halfblackwolfdemon @manapeer @xxwintrynightzxx @im-totally-not-an-alien-2 @blu-lilac @academicpurposes @secretdestinywerewolf @passivedecept @naluforever3 @postit-nope @spiteismymiddlename @2t-productions @plague-daisy @feet-achy @bubblecookies16 @thesapphiredragon13 @justwannabecat @magicalcollecter @adeniumdream @amuseofminds @lupagrim @readerkayden @dr-syko-pharm-4 @ladythugs @angelheartgamer @markthespot68 @kyrianclawraith @michikoy-yuki @servasvictoria02 @your-emo-nightmare @vala-dreams @scarlett-green-rose @t1dwarrior-of-earth @charlie-the-frogie @akikoyuii @mysticalcomputerdetective @roseuniverse999 @im-totally-not-an-alien @thefearfullone @weird-droplet-309 @jaytriesstuff @raventao @jacquelynwinchester @dragongoblet @tlise21 @longlivethefallen @the-archer-goddess @temple-of-jalebi @adepresseddwightsblogofjunk @plainly-colorful @the-legal-shipper @49saltpeppershakers @igotafewbadideas @tumbling-darkling @sparklygardenbouquet @sarcastic-yami @blueneko9314 @starscreamlover @liedboutmurder @do3y @roze-realm @some-mildly-happy-human @yinari-uchiha @azuera @chaoticmistake @altairsarts @kawaiikenna @heartsong18 @thetoyboxs @tricksovertreats @mnemovoid @lim4b3ans @horribly-lost-and-gay @keimiwolf @dryeraseslime @joey394

#danny phantom #dc x dp #danny phantom x dc #batman x danny phantom #batman #danny phantom x batfam #danny phantom x damian wayne #dead serious #love potion #miscommunication #anger management #Artificial Wingman #fic #my fic

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allnightstay · 2 months ago

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Day 7 - Fidget 🫶🏻

Summary: Kaguya finds herself in a predicament she absolutely CANNOT let Miyuki found out about.

Lee: Kaguya

Ler: Miyuki

A/N: I just finished Season 1 of Love is War and OMG it's so cute mixed with hilarious. I can't wait to start Season 2.

The two school officials were in their office working on their usual tasks. Shinomiya was sitting at the table sipping her coffee and sorting through paperwork while Shirogane sat next to her writing out the next school plans.

Kaguya places her coffee down on the table, and Miyuki instinctively looks over at her, noticing a piece of fluff on her collar.

Part of me wants to remove that little white fluff on her collar, but what if she thinks it's because I've been looking at her, what if she thinks I care about how beautiful she looks? What could I say? Hmm.

Miyuki thinks to himself and devises a plan that covers his wanting to help her.

"Shinomiya. You really need to start keeping a closer eye on your appearance. Wouldn't want the school counsel to look as though we're not reputable enough to represent." With that, he reaches over and grabs the fluff from her collar. Or at least tried to. Guess it's more entangled in the fabric than he assumed.

Kaguya noticably flinches at the slight touch of his fingers on her neck.

Crap! Did he notice that? I can't so much as have him know I'm extremely ticklish on my neck. "How adorable" he must think. >.< Absolutely not. Not happening!!

"Were you staring at me just know? Keen of you to notice something in such a place you'd have to completely turn your head to see. What are you even talking about?" She remarks.

"That little piece of fluff is so noticeable, how could I miss it?" He says, attempting to pull it off again, noticing how the dark haired girl scrunches in her shoulder by accident.

"Are you okay?"

Kaguya picks up her coffee, "Of course. Why would anything be wrong?"

Oh crap oh crap. He definitely noticed!

This time, the blue eyed deviant decided he would play a bit, finding a chance to point out something she'd be totally embarrassed about.

"Shinomiya? You still have something...on your..." He purposely brushes his knuckles just light enough to still make it look as though he was only trying to remove the extra tangle of cotton.

Kaguya, on the other hand, trembles and tries her hardest not to fidget, to hold in the giggle trying so hard to burst out of her mouth.

"Shinomiya are you ... ticklish?"

Her eyes widen. She looks away, putting down her coffee, blushing.

"What are you- ? Ack!" Miyuki has begun poking her side, smiling evily at her.

She brings her arms down to block each poke, failing as some get through, causing her to jolt and cover her mouth with the other hand.

"Hmmm, it would seem someone has a rather adorable side to her. I never took you as someone who'd be so sensitive." He's clearly toying with her.

"I d-don't know wh-what you're t-tahalking about, President." She struggles to keep her words straight as she's dodging each poke.

Not wanting to wait much longer, as he's dying to see her smile and hear her laugh, he grabs her sides and squeezes with no intentions of stopping.

"Ahaha!! Prehehehesident!!" Kaguya now folds over as much as she can, unable to control the fact that she's now leaning her back on him. He brings his arms from being under her to now over her, wiggling his fingers on her ribs.

Kaguya kicks and laughs, blushing at the position she's now in. Is he flirting?? Why is he tickling her?? This is completely unlike him.

Chika casually walks in, stopping in her tracks at the adorable sight she's witnessing.

"Awww you two are so cute!" She says, lovingly.

Shirogane and Shinomiya freeze.

Kaguya quickly sits up, adjusting her fit and grabs her coffee.

Miyuki, at the same time, completely turns straight forward and grabs his pen, writing as though nothing just happened.

Chika can clearly see the blushes on both their faces, "Whoops, I forgot my bag. Be right back!" Closing the door behind her.

The two now sit, dying to say something to each other but completely embarrassed to do so.

Who wins? It's a tie.

#anime tickle fic #tickle fic #augtickletober2024 #tickletober 2024 #lee!kaguya #lee!kaguya shinomiya #ler!miyuki #ler!miyuki shirogane #love is war tickle #love is war tickle fic #anime tickling

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skylarmoon71 · 6 days ago

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Lex Luthor (Smallville/X-Men) AU - Fanfiction - Chapter 5

“Mr. Luthor.”

His head turned a bit lazily, and when he saw the suit, he realized. You were off today, so he couldn't understand why you were here. He patted his hand for his phone, then looked over when he saw it between the couch cushions. You lifted your own phone and he couldn’t help but smile when you ended the call and his phone lit up before the screen turned blank.

It dawned on him that you probably heard the entire conversation with his father, then the self loathing mutters to himself and the aggressive consumption of alcohol. He didn’t even have it in him to feel embarrassed or ashamed.

“Come to babysit.”

He joked, hand reaching for the filled bottle. You crossed the floor and when you took his wrist, you paused.

“You’ve had enough.”

He just lifted a brow.

“Am I grounded?”

Your face was neutral and he pulled back with a nod.

“I get it.”

He knew pity when he saw it. That’s the only reason you could be standing here. Surely you had better ways to spend your Saturday night.

“You don’t have to be here. I’m relieving you of duty.”

“So you can go back to drinking? I think I’d prefer it if my boss didn’t get alcohol poisoning.”

He just let out a dry laugh.

“Boss.”

He hated that he wanted there to be more. He wanted you to admit that there was something there. But you wouldn’t and he didn’t deserve it. To be happy. All he could do was laugh.

“Maybe my dad is right. I’m just trying to make up for the emptiness in my life.”

His life had been one crap show after the next. If by some miracle he ended up happy, he knew he might just ruin that too.

“I respect what you do.”

Lex hadn’t expected to hear that. This time his gaze focused, and your expression changed. It wasn’t as blank as it typically is. Nor was there a glare. Your eyes looked almost soft, empathetic.

Inviting.

“I know your name carries weight and a lot of people suffered when your father closed that plant. I’ve seen some of the organizations that you have supported. Maybe you were inspired by Clark, or you’re just making up for some emptiness like you said before. Whatever the reason, you could have stopped at any time, but you’re still trying. You’re helping people, so I’ll protect you with my life.”

Lex knew at that point what you meant. He understood that your body was able to take quite a lot, but it’s obvious that death is a possibility for you. Maybe it took more than what the average person can endure, but you were still somewhat human. Vulnerable to a point. The realization made him unsettled. The thought of anything ever happening to you was terrifying.

Especially if it ended up being because of him.

He should have left well enough alone, but now that you opened the door, all he wanted to do was rush inside.

“Is it because I’m your boss, that’s why you’re so willing to die for me?”

You looked a little less sure. For just a moment your gaze wavered, like you needed a second to come up with a response that would reflect your cold exterior.

“Of course Mr. Luthor I-”

“I heard that conversation you had with Clark.”

That made you freeze in place. He saw it, the slight change in your posture. You looked ready to cover it, but he moved closer to you. For a moment you didn’t react. He knew you assumed he was just going to question further, maybe make a point, but when he started crossing into your space, your stance falters.

“Mr. Luthor, you're drunk.”

Despite how much you tried to make your voice steady, you backed up, that frown still painted on your face. Yet behind it, behind it was just a spec of emotion. Your back hit the wall and he finally stopped.

“You and I both know that isn’t true.”

At this point, drinking was nothing but a pastime for him. He wasn’t even buzzed.

You refused to meet his eyes, and he finally reached down. You flinched when you saw his hand and he paused. There was a vulnerability in your gaze. Almost like you’d never truly experienced this before.

Care, touch.

“It’s okay.”

His voice was soft, almost a whisper and when he finally touched your cheek, you looked up at him. For the first time there wasn’t a glare, or an indifference. He could see it, actual emotion behind your gaze.

He exhaled, licking his lips softly as he leaned in, pressing a kiss to your lips. Your brows knitted as he cupped your cheek, holding you for three, maybe four seconds before he pulled back a mere couple inches. Your breath came out a bit ragged and his eyes opened, watching every reaction.

You looked a bit lost. For the first time since you’d started working for him, it seemed like you didn’t have an answer. Maybe because this wasn’t some situation that required tactical expertise.

He couldn’t seem to stop himself.

Moving in again, this time his lips landed at the base of your neck and you actually released a gasp, hand gripping into his shirt. You were braced on the wall, so escape was impossible. With every brush of his lips, he could feel your soft resistance, or was that encouragement?

The sounds you released, it was hard to differentiate.

“Mr..M-Mr Luthor…”

You sounded so meek and all he can do is demand more. You’re not a soft spoken or shy person. Everything about the situation felt out of character and he wanted more.

He knew it was selfish.

He was definitely taking advantage of his position, but you weren’t pushing him away like he would have expected. You were almost holding on tighter. You had the strength to break bones. If you’d sucker punched him right now he would have gladly taken it and walked away.

But when his hand glided to your chin, titling your head softly to get better access to your skin, he was almost certain he heard you moan, or purr. Your hand clenched into the cloth on his sleeve and without a beat his lips were once again on yours.

Your lips parted in surprise and his tongue took the invitation. This time he heard the audible moan. You tasted as good as he imagined. He took a sharp inhale through his nose, this time cupping both cheeks as he pressed closer into you. The collision caused a soft thud to resound as he fought to control himself and you tried to keep up.

Each brush of his tongue urged a sound from you. He could feel your heartbeat, it was hammering, echoing against his chest. He prayed desperately that this was a reality. That he wasn’t having some kind of fever dream. One of his hands slid over your waist, against your back, up your shirt. When you arched into him, he realized it was real.

You released another desperate sound and he barely had a chance to do much more, because you gave a firm shove and he skidded back.

It was sobering.

Your breath was heavy, and he seemed to take in a quick one of his own.

You looked shaken. For just a moment there was a pleading in your eyes, almost like you were about to beg him not to leave. Not to go, not to stop. Just as he planned to speak, you broke eye contact, jaw clenched.

“It was a lapse in judgment on my part. It won’t happen again.”

Your words were cold, like a barrier. He could feel it, hear it in your tone. You were scared. If he agreed, walked away, he knew you would move forward, act as if it never occurred and continue looking out for him.

But he couldn’t do it.

“It wasn’t.”

He heard the shaky breath you tried to hide.

“Look me in the eye and tell me that you feel nothing and I will let this go.”

He saw it, the way you wavered before you schooled your features.

“I feel nothing. You are my boss, I am your employee. There is nothing else.”

Your voice lacked any emotion, and Lex nodded.

“That’s unfortunate. Especially since I’m falling in love with you.”

You couldn’t hide the shock, and this time he smiled. You took a step back and he took a hold of your wrist before you could make a break for it. He pulled you in and you stumbled, letting out one soft gasp before he was now pushing you against his desk.

His lips descended with an urgency and not even a second after you were returning the kiss. Lex smiled internally, relieved that he’d been right. Your words were merely a mask. You were just scared.

After a few heated moments he pulled back and you pressed your forehead to his chest, as if to gather yourself. He could understand the hesitance, the fear.

“I-I’m..I’m not built for love..”

It was the first confession that you had made, and all he could do was hug you.

“Neither am I. But I..I’d really like to figure it out.”

For once in his life, he didn’t want his name to be the reason that he had to lose something. He wanted this. Something about it felt right, real.

When he felt you pull him closer, he realized that maybe, there was a chance after all.

#female wolverine #smallville #trust #bodyguard #x men #love #protective #boss/employee #feelings #fluff #care

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mistertf2xreaderfluffballcake · 3 years ago

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How does the merc react to you asking for cuddles? They all are very happy.

Scout

He was reading his comic on the floor, you wanted a cuddle after a hard day of work. So you took the comic book and hugged him. Hey Babe! Give it back. You then silently asked for cuddle ''Scout may I have some cuddles?'' Then you pulled the cute card out and made the cute face. Bang! That went straight through his heart damn. Critical hit ''Aww okay. Come over here'' When you were hugging him, you gotta say his heart was beating so fast lol.

Soldier

He was reading the American history upside down (wait how) just laying on his bed. Just tired. He didn't feel like training or beating up other teammates. You too were very tired. So you went into his room. WHAT IS IT MAGGOT. It's me s/o. OH GOD, I AM SO SORRY CUPCAKE! It's fine hehe. He loved hearing you giggle. He then sited up from his bed. You then came in front of him. cupcake? I-I order you to cuddle with me. You were blushing. Bang Critical hit. OF COURSE CUPCAKE! He then pulled you onto the bed and cuddled with you. :)

Pryo

Pryo...Always gives you cuddles...so you don`t really need to ask for them honestly. They just know when you need it. :)) No words they just know. But! Pryo will ask you for cuddles! He would first make a drawing with you both cuddling and give it to you. It is a signal for you to please cuddle with him. Of course, you accept :))

Engineer

You dragged him out of his workshop. What's wrong sugar? I-I (You felt so embarrassed doing this...) I-I want some cuddles! You closed your eyes for a second when you opened it. You saw a tomato. You saw a bright red tomato man. lol. He then finally opened his mouth. ''Um...Sugar... (you then flinched a bit is he perhaps mad for me interrupting him working?) You can`t keep doing such cute things...You are going to make seriously explode due to your cuteness.'' You both were now bright red tomatoes. So the real question is, did you get your cuddle? Yes

Heavy

Yes. Of course, the big bear boy gave you a snuggle when you asked for some. You shyly asked for one and he just quietly closed the book he was reading and look at you dead in the eye and smiled. Of course. S/o can always snuggle with Heavy. Thank you heavy :). Also, he does not give a crap if people are watching. Heavy is not worried if you ask to cuddle in public, He likes to keep it private but honestly does not care. If people comment about he will just stare and then go ''So?'' lol

Demoman

Can I have cuddles demo? Of course princess/ prince/ s/o. Come over here, love. He is also another merc who does not care if others are around you. He has no problem with it. Are there like 10 people around you while you snuggle? Don't care. Is there a whole crowd around you? Don't care. Are you in a bar? Don`t care. Not gonna lie he loves it when he sees you blush when he cuddle you in public. D-Demo what is it?*blush* Hmm? I am just cuddling with ye. Oh hello, s/o friend! :)

Sniper

He will shyly accept your cuddling request. Oh! U-Um yeah sure! Don`t worry it's just daily explosions going off in his head due to your cuteness :)) He will literally melt in your arms if you pat his head while it happens. (Lord this man is now a liquid) lol

Medic

He will smugly accept your request. Oh~You want a cuddle~haha you little dove come over here! :)) Lol. He will be shy to ask you for cuddles. So, he will try to look serious when so. Like he just suddenly picks you up, places you on top of his lap, and continues just working on his paperwork like nothing happened. If you even dare to try to get off, he will place a hand on your waist and bring you closer. Nope, you ain`t going anywhere.

Spy

This smug and sneaky french fancy man fricking know it when you want a snuggle. Will he give it to you? Nope, He wants to see you ask for cuddles in front of him. Even if you give 100 signs of hey I want a cuddle he will just ignore it. (sign or signal ain`t gonna do crap) He really just wants to see you ask for them using your own words. (He honestly just wants to see you adorably/cutely ask for a cuddle) So. Yep, when you asked them he had the smuggest smile ever. ''Oh? You want some cuddles? hehe. Of course mon amour~.'' (He was so fucking happy) He then pulls you into his lap and head pats you while giving you a million compliments. ''Good job my love :)''

This was fun :). Since tomorrow is the weekend you know what that means~! It means I will write a lot. I am so bored tomorrow so yeah. More writing is coming right up! :)) I hope you enjoyed it!

#tf2 x reader #tf2 scout x reader #tf2 soldier x reader #tf2 pyro x reader #tf2 engineer x reader #tf2 heavy x reader #tf2 demoman x reader #tf2 sniper x reader #tf2 medic x reader #tf2 spy x reader

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seijorhi · 4 years ago

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Choke.

another soulmate au nobody asked for :)

Akaashi Keiji x female reader x Bokuto Koutarou

TW dub-con, implied future non-con

It wasn’t a good day to begin with.

You’re late, rushing through the busy campus hallways to make it to an exam that quite frankly you’re at least 70% sure you’re going to fail, mostly because instead of cramming last night you’d been… otherwise occupied with your boyfriend.

And you really, really just want this whole thing to just be over with already.

With your nose stuck in your textbook, frantically pouring over your notes right up until the very last second, it’s hardly a surprise that you don’t see the two of them rushing down the hallway in the opposite direction until you’re quite literally colliding with the taller of the pair – the broad shouldered one.

Your notes go flying, the last of your coffee too and for one split second, you’re pretty positive that you’re gonna end up flat on your ass with a little more than some bruised pride. But just as you’re about to hit the ground, not one but two hands reach for you, catch you, and the very second they do, you feel it:

A flash of guilt and momentary alarm, embarrassment, you think, and chagrin, each emotion hitting you like a sledgehammer, overwhelming you, one after the other in a dizzying blur that’s distinctly other, and then–

Shock.

Dawning surprise.

A rush of something warm, adoring, a happiness so bright and blinding that it makes you physically jerk backwards, almost slamming your head against the wall in the process. And two pairs of eyes – one a deep, luminous gold, the other a cool, gunmetal blue – stare at you in wide eyed wonder a split millisecond before you wrench yourself free, gasping.

The moment their grip falters, the torrent stops. You can breathe.

Blessed silence, save for the pounding of your heartbeat in your ears. Everything fades out around you – the students and lecturers alike bustling through the busy hallway, the humming drone of chatter that’s nearly deafening. Nothing exists but the three of you; caught in your little bubble.

And it’s dread, you think, that seeps through your blood as you stare at them.

They’re both handsome, albeit in their own ways. The taller of the two – the one who’d almost barrelled you over – looks like he could probably bench press you without breaking a sweat. His shirt isn’t exactly clinging to him, but you can see the hints of well defined muscles beneath, and the size of his biceps alone are enough to make your heart skip a beat and your mouth dry up a little. With rippling muscles, spiky black and silver hair, a strong jawline and those round, golden eyes, he looks like a modern day adonis.

His friend might’ve been shorter, his build leaner, but with his softer features, pretty eyes and dark hair, you think he’s perhaps the prettiest man you’ve ever laid eyes on. From the fineness of his nose to the gentle curve of his lips and his long, dark sweeping eyelashes, he reminds you of those white marble statues you’ve seen before in museums and art galleries– a beauty so divine, so perfect – so devastating – that it steals your breath a little.

And they’re both watching you, frozen entirely. Smiling in breathless delight, as if they can’t quite believe it either.

Soulmates.

You’ve spent your whole life wondering what it would be like, experiencing somebody else’s emotions. Studies have been done and countless books and articles written about the bond between soulmates; the intimacy of sharing emotions through touch, but nobody really knows why or how it happens.

And for some, it’s a subtle thing. A suggestion, a whisper against their own consciousness, easily brushed aside. Others feel it stronger.

For you, it was like drowning. Choking under the sudden, intense barrage of feelings that weren’t yours. Maybe it’s because there’s two of them – and that much at least you’re sure of. You don’t have the words to explain it, but they’d felt separate somehow, distinctive from one another – kind of like fingerprints, you suppose.

There’s no denying the bond, no denying that they’re both your soulmates, and all you can think of is that you don’t want it. Not here, not now. Not them.

The dark haired one seems to realise quicker than his friend that you’re not reacting how you’re supposed to, you’re just standing there, rigid and tense, gaping at them. And the slight smile that graced his perfect lips starts to waver, his brows drawing together when finally his friend cottons on.

He reaches for you, the beginnings of a pout taking shape on his face, and you move without even thinking, jerking out of reach with a sharp breath. His hand hangs outstretched for a beat too long, a noise like a kicked puppy leaving his lips as he realises that you’re flinching away from him; away from your soulmate. He looks heartbroken, and he’s yet to utter a single word.

You don’t give him a chance. You’re not some cold, unfeeling beast; there’s a twinge in your heart, a heaviness that’s far too close to guilt settling in your stomach, but you just can’t. And with shaking hands you bend over and hastily grab up your things, forcing yourself not to meet their confused, hurt stares when you right yourself.

“I– I’m sorry,” you murmur, and before either one of them can try to stop you, you disappear into the crowd, racing for your exam.

—

The lights are on when you make it back home, the familiar, comforting scent of home cooked food filling your apartment.

“Hey, babe,” your boyfriend calls out as you wearily drop your purse by the door and kick out of your shoes. His back’s to you, attention fixed on the simmering saucepan on the stovetop, but he glances over his shoulder as he continues, “How’d your exam go?”

And you can’t help it, you burst into tears.

Painful, heaving sobs that might’ve had you collapsing onto the floor if he hadn’t swept across the room to snatch you up into his arms. “That bad, huh?” Kuguri jokes, but the words sound hollow.

“I found them,” you mutter into his chest, and the way he stiffens, his grip tightening for just a moment has your heart breaking all over again.

Kuguri doesn’t say much as he leads you to the couch, he just lets you talk. It’s almost worse, you think, the way he doesn’t react.

Because you both knew this was coming at some point. For months you’ve tried to convince yourself that you could feel him when you were together.

You felt his love when he held you, right?

Happy when he was happy?

But you’d known, both of you, that as much as you wished it otherwise, he wasn’t your soulmate, and you weren’t his. And whether it was today or six months down the line, this was always going to happen.

“You don’t have to…” you trail off, searching his eyes desperately for anything other than the gentle resignation lingering there. “I love you.”

He smiles at that, cups your cheek in his hand and brushes away the stray tear that spills. “I know you do, but–” it’s not enough. “They’re your soulmates. Don’t you think they deserve a chance to make you happy?”

He’s gone when you wake the next morning.

—

In a university of thousands, a sprawling city campus, you honestly believe that in spite of everything, you probably won’t see them again. They don’t know your name, or what you study, you don’t live in the dorms like some of the other students; the chances of just randomly bumping into them again are slim, soulmates or no.

Of course, there are facebook groups and pages set up to reconnect lost soulmates, but you’d have to actually want to find them to try something like that.

(Part of you wonders whether they’ve tried)

The universe has a sense of humour, it seems, because when your paths cross next, it’s not at uni, it’s at the little corner store a few blocks down from your apartment.

At 2am in the morning.

And you’re staring intently at the freezer, mentally weighing up exactly what kind of ice cream you need to sate your craving when you hear the sharp intake of breath behind you.

“Holy crap, you’re here.”

It’s stupid, you think, the way your stomach flutters when you turn to find him staring in wide eyed wonder; the taller one, with the spiky hair and those impossibly wide, honey eyes.

He’s smiling, his entire face lit up like a christmas tree at the sight of you. As if you hadn’t run off without so much as an acknowledgement the last time you’d met. As if seeing you here, looking like shit – makeup free and dressed in your old favourite sweats – is the absolute best thing that could have happened.

And when your cheeks grow hot, you’re not entirely sure if it’s embarrassment over the way you look, the fact that he’s caught you buying ice cream that you fully intend to let melt just a little bit before polishing off at two in the morning, or if it’s shame over how badly you’d reacted the last time you’d seen him.

But if he notices your inner turmoil, he doesn’t show it, grinning widely as he calls back over his shoulder, “Akaashi!”

You still haven’t uttered a peep, haven’t moved. Just like last time you’re caught feeling like a kid with their hand stuck in the cookie jar as your other soulmate rounds the corner, his attention fixed on the ingredients list of the rice cracker snacks in his hands, a basket full of groceries tucked into the crook of his elbow.

“Bokuto, I was just around the corner, there’s no need to shout.”

Pretty steel blue eyes flicker up for a split second, then quickly do a double take as he realises that it’s you – his errant soulmate, standing struck dumb, here of all places. “Oh.”

Oh.

Akaashi eyes you for a moment, and you watch as his throat bobs unsteadily, but just as with Bokuto, he can’t seem to help the smile that creeps across his face. It’s softer than his friend’s, not so blinding but warm nonetheless. Genuine. There’s no animosity there, and it should put you at ease – they don’t seem to blame you, at least.

It should, but it doesn’t.

Even now, there’s a little voice in your head urging you to forget your late night cravings, turn tail and run. Nevermind that they’d likely just follow you, much less that you’d look like an absolute fucking idiot, fleeing from your soulmates who so far have done nothing wrong.

It’s not supposed to be this awkward, right? It’s not supposed to be difficult, but even when they’re smiling at you, there’s a tension that digs its claws into you and refuses to relent. Your heart thumps unevenly, like a scared little bunny caught in a trap and the wolves are circling.

If it’s normal, then your parents and every other soulmated pair you’ve ever met certainly kept it to themselves. Maybe it’s the guilt, you think. Maybe you’re just being overdramatic. They’re your soulmates, right? They probably just want to talk, to get to know you, and right now you’re the one being standoffish and rude.

It occurs to you then that you still haven’t spoken, and they’re both staring at you somewhat expectantly. You really are fucking this up, aren’t you?

“H-hi,” you manage to muster, forcing yourself to smile back. Tiny and timidly, perhaps, but it’s a smile.

It seems to work, because Bokuto positively beams at you and Akaashi sets down his basket to slide in closer, a pleased little hum escaping his throat.

Aside from the faint sound of the radio playing in the background and the cashier casually flicking through a magazine up at the register, the store is quiet. It’s just the three of you, except this time there really is no running off and disappearing into the crowd. Which is fine, you need to face them sooner or later, right?

Give them a chance?

Otherwise everything else, all that heartbreak and the lonely nights since will have been all for nothing. So you swallow tightly, take a soft, steadying breath, and press on.

“I, um… I’m sorry about last time. You know with… everything,” you finish lamely, mentally cringing at the sheer awkwardness of it. “I had an exam.”

But again, your soulmates don’t seem to take it personally, the darker haired one (Akaashi, your brain helpfully supplies) nodding slightly.

“It’s okay. You’re here now.” He has a nice voice, calming and smooth, and though the words seem to carry a different weight you find yourself nodding along with him. You can do this, you can make an effort.

This is fine.

You swallow again, tongue darting out to wet your lips, “I’m Y/N,” you introduce, clutching just a little bit tighter at the handles of your own shopping basket.

You don’t extend a hand, nor try to go in for a hug, but standing there rigidly feels wrong too. They’re strangers, yes, but they’re also not, and you don’t quite know how to act around somebody like that, somebody you’re supposedly fated for but know nothing about. All you know is that the last time they touched you, it was too much. It hurt. And even as you catch sight of the slightly disheartened expression on Bokuto’s face, you’re hesitant to put yourself through it again.

“It’s pretty,” Akaashi compliments, and there’s a faint dusting of pink on his cheeks as he says it. “Suits you.”

Your own probably aren’t much better, with the blood that rushes to your face. You drop your gaze a little, nibbling on your bottom lip, “O-oh, uh… thank you.”

When you glance back up to Bokuto, you find him staring at you again, not with the same hurt expression as before, but something akin to wonder. He seems speechless, in awe of your flustered state, and you wonder how he can bounce that quickly from emotion to emotion without giving himself whiplash. But it seems like your attention is just the thing he needs to pull himself out of it, because he closes his gaping mouth and grins again.

“Y/N,” he repeats, like he’s testing it out, rolling your name over his tongue. “You probably heard, but I’m Bokuto– you can call me Koutarou, though.”

There’s a beat of silence, and he’s quick to add, “And that’s Akaashi.”

“Keiji,” Akaashi corrects, shooting you another gentle smile.

First names. It makes sense, you suppose, but the familiarity of it all still doesn’t sit quite right with you. But now that introductions are out of the way, you don't have a clue what you’re supposed to say now - ‘so, soulmates; crazy, huh?’ doesn’t exactly feel appropriate, given the circumstances.

You’re distinctly aware that it’s the middle of the night and you’re at a convenience store and while this might not be the worst time to run into your soulmates again, it’s not far off.

Maybe that’s not a bad thing, though, because at least it kind of gives you an out. Shifting your weight from one foot to another, you clear your throat, “I hope you guys don’t think I’m being rude or anything, but it is kinda late…” you trail off, hoping they’ll pick up what you’re putting down.

And while Bokuto’s brow furrows, Akaashi at least has the decency to look a little abashed. “Yeah, no, of course. We’re just so… we’re glad we ran into you again.”

Your cheeks heat again, and to save yourself from having to meet their gazes head on, you quickly spin around, open the freezer door and grab the first pint ice cream that you see. “I just came for this,” you laugh, fighting back a wince at how hollow and fake it all sounds.

“Here,” Bokuto says, and before you can react he’s snatching it from your grip (thankfully keeping his hand from brushing against yours) and places it atop the basket in Akaashi’s arms. “Our treat.”

He beams at you, and you’re honestly too stunned to reply. You don’t really want him paying for it, but if it gets you out of this awkward encounter any quicker, you’ll swallow down your protests and let it go.

And so you trail meekly after the two of them as they head to the cashier, and when Akaashi passes you the bag you’re so careful to avoid his touch, a fact he notes with the slightest of frowns, but he doesn’t comment on it.

“It’s late,” he says instead as the three of you exit into the brisk night air. And then those gunmetal eyes are on you, studying you for a moment. You realise what he’s about to say the moment he opens his mouth again, “Can we walk you home? Or to the bus stop at least?”

Your stomach lurches at the thought of it, of two veritable strangers knowing where you live, but–

He’s not wrong, exactly. It is late, and in hindsight it was probably stupid for you to have come out at this time of the night alone in the first place, whether it was a safe neighbourhood or not. And they’re not strangers, they’re your soulmates.

You have to try.

So you nod. ‘It’s just down the road,” you murmur, but as the two of them fall into step either side of you, sharing a distinctly satisfied look between themselves, you think that it wouldn’t have mattered how far it was. They would have walked with you anywhere.

Yet their expressions of mild surprise (disappointment, maybe?) when you stop them less than five minutes later in front of your apartment block almost makes you laugh. “This is me.”

Bokuto eyes the building for just a moment before his attention returns to you. “What are you doing tomorrow?”

Lie, that little voice inside your head urges, but you force yourself to ignore it. You have to try. “Uh, not much, I guess…”

Even as you say the words, your hands tighten on your bag, twisting nervously – a sign they either don’t read or wilfully ignore as Bokuto brightens up once again.

“Awesome! Wanna swing by ours to chill for a little bit?”

Like a date, you think as your gaze flickers between the two. Yet Akaashi’s watching you just as intently, those dark eyes far more inscrutable than Bokuto’s, which doesn’t help ease the uncomfortable feeling sitting in the pit of your stomach. There’s really no reason for you to say no, no polite way for you to turn them down. They’re your soulmates, you’re supposed to want this. “Um…”

“Or we can come here, if you want? Or head into the city and do something there, maybe go see a movie or something? Whatever you’d prefer.”

“No!” the words slip from your tongue before you can stop them, the idea of the two of them in your apartment, your home just feels like… too much. “No,” you repeat again, quieter, forcing your features to soften into a hesitant smile. “Your place is good.”

That way you can leave if it all gets to be too much. It’s just a casual hang out. It’ll be fine.

Both of them seem to relax at your agreement, and you quickly take out your phone to grab Akaashi’s number – sending him a message so he has your number too.

“Perfect,” he says, his voice a purr that sends a ripple of something running down your spine. “I’ll text you the address in the morning.”

You smile at both of them, thanking them again for the ice cream and for walking back with you, even if it was only a few hundred metres. And you think you’re in the clear as you start walking up the steps, trying to balance your keys, your phone and your bags when the sound of your name being called makes you turn around.

Bokuto’s there, a step behind you, and before you can even so much as blink he’s grabbing at your hand, tugging you forward and kissing you.

Just like last time, it’s instantaneous and overwhelming. You feel it all – his giddy excitement, the stirrings of something deeper, less innocent as he cradles your body to his.

And the love.

Oh god. It’s not mere affection, not some fleeting, superficial thing. It pours over you in unrelenting waves, crushing you under the force of it – you can’t even feel his tongue moving against yours, or the way he sucks on your bottom lip, groaning quietly.

You can’t breathe, can’t think. It’s too much, too much, too strong, too sudden, you can’t BREATHE.

Your trembling hands finds his shoulders, and as your head spins, nausea churning in your gut you don’t waste a second, shoving him away from you with enough force that he actually stumbles back a little.

Though you’ll admit it’s probably more from shock than any strength you actually possess.

And you don’t dare look to Akaashi as tears fill your eyes, a heaving gasp leaving your lips. Bokuto’s eyes are wide, his mouth agape; he looks confused more than horrified as you stumble back, almost tripping over the last step.

“D-don’t touch me,” you gasp, “please.”

There’s pain in his eyes as your tears well up and spill over and you choke back another sob, but you don’t give him a chance to say anything else. Limbs trembling, you force yourself upright, clutching at the keys in your fist as you skitter towards the door.

You hear one of them, Akaashi you think, calling out your name, but you don’t pause, don’t look back – throwing open the lobby door and slamming it shut behind you.

And your heart pounds as you climb the steps two at a time, and it’s only once you're in the safety of your own apartment, with the door shut and firmly locked that you allow yourself to breathe. You realise distantly that at some point – probably on the steps outside – you dropped the ice cream they’d bought for you, but you can’t find it within yourself to care. The first time you realise was an accident, they had no way of knowing you were their soulmate, much less how you’d react when they’d touched you. But that–

That wasn’t right.

It wasn’t normal.

Those feelings, that love, you’ve never experienced anything like it, and yet it’s left you feeling filthy; tainted. Scared. It was too much; boundless and abundant, the kind of love that devours and chokes, selfishly strangling everything in its environment to thrive. Overpowering and solely directed at you. How was it supposed to do anything but terrify you. And how can he possibly believe that he loves you like that already?

Soulmates or not, you don’t know him!

This– this whole thing is wrong.

You can’t stop yourself from checking the locks on your apartment another three times before you slip under the covers of your bed, trying to will sleep to find you.

On the nightstand beside you, your phone vibrates, but you refuse to check it, knowing full well that it’s them.

It doesn’t stop.

And with every new notification your blood pressure climbs, and there’s a part of you that’s telling you you have no reason to be reacting like this – whatever happened on those steps, it’s not like they’re going to hurt you.

It was an accident, a misunderstanding.

But they’re still blowing your phone up with notifications and they know where you live and no matter what you tell yourself, you can’t seem to quell the disquiet that eats away at you.

And it’s a cruel thing to do, you know it is, but you don’t know what else to do as you finally give in, swiping your phone up and searching for his contact. The phone rings once, twice, three times and there’s a sinking feeling in your chest when you realise he’s not going to pick up–

“Hello?” Kuguri’s voice is groggy, heavy with sleep and you can almost picture him, sitting up in bed, wiping the sleep from his eyes, running a hand through his messy bed hair. “Fuck, do you know what time it is, Y/N? Why’re you calling me so late?”

There’s a pause, pregnant and heavy, and the only sound that leaves you is the soft hitch in your breath.

“Is everything okay?” he asks, quieter this time, an edge of worry in his tone.

You haven’t spoken to him in weeks, since he’d left without a word and broke your heart, but he’s the only one you want to talk to right now.

“I-I’m sorry for calling,” you begin, sniffling back your tears. “I didn’t know what else to do.”

—

When you drag yourself out of bed only a few short hours later, your body’s still crying out for a little more sleep, but you can’t afford to indulge.

Like you’d planned, you send the message first thing, ignoring the flood of unread texts above – both from Akaashi and an unknown number you can only assume is Bokuto’s.

I’m sorry about last night, just need some space.

You have nothing to be sorry for – even if it wasn’t for the frankly unsettling emotions you’d felt, Bokuto’d still kissed you without your permission. But Kuguri said it was better that way – they were less likely to freak out and panic or whatever. You hadn’t questioned it too much, it didn’t really matter what you said so long as they knew you didn’t want them anywhere near you… at least until you figured this whole thing out. And you trusted Kuguri on this.

God knows why he’d even answered your call in the first place, but you’re impossibly glad that he did. Gladder still that he hadn’t hung up on you the moment he’d realised why you were calling.

You scoff down a quick breakfast, before hopping into the shower. The scalding water’s a welcome relief, waking you up more than your coffee had and allowing you the space to think.

Kuguri’s got errands to run this morning, but he’d said you were welcome to stop by his place anytime. He’d insisted on it actually, telling you in no uncertain terms to pack an overnight bag.

‘Look, I’m probably being an overprotective asshole, alright, but I don’t want you there by yourself, so either you come here or I’m coming over there.’

And the thought that you’d need somebody there to protect you, that either one of your soulmates would do anything–

But it’s not so much about them, you think, but you. You’d been a mess when you’d called him, and despite how everything had gone down, Kuguri still cared about you – you can’t just turn those feelings off overnight – is it any wonder that you’d worried him?

Distantly, you register your phone going off a few more times as you busy yourself in washing your hair. You assume it’s Kuguri checking up on you, making sure that you’re alright – you pay it no mind, humming quietly as you reach for your conditioner.

And by the time you slip from your bathroom, wrapped in a big, fluffy towel it’s probably closer to mid-morning than you’d like. You don’t bother blow drying your hair or putting on makeup, instead heading to your room to get dressed and grab some clothes to take to Kuguri’s.

Except there’s a knocking at the door that stops you in your tracks.

You hadn’t heard the buzzer for the building’s main door go off, which meant that it was probably just your landlord stopping by, or one of your neighbours. You know the little girl who lives in the apartment next to yours likes to bake with her dad and sometimes drops off freshly made cookies and treats, so you hastily throw on enough clothes to pass as decent.

“Coming,” you sing out, racing across the room to reach the door.

Except when you throw it open, it’s not one of your neighbours standing out in your hallway, nor is it your elderly landlord.

Akaashi and Bokuto crowd the empty space; Bokuto grinning widely, Akaashi’s dark eyes fixed on yours.

“You weren’t answering your phone,” he murmurs, a faint frown tugging at his features as studies your face. “We were worried about you.”

And there’s so many things wrong with the fact that they’re here; least of all being how the hell they got into the building to begin with, but you can’t afford to think of any of that. You simply need to get them out of here without causing a fuss. Now.

They’re still your soulmates, you remind yourself as your heart rate picks up. They won’t do anything to hurt you.

“I-I told you I needed space, please go,” you mutter, clutching so tightly at the edge of the door that your knuckles turn white. “Please,” you beg again when neither of them make a move to leave.

“I told you, ‘Kaashi,” Bokuto says, his smile slipping in favour of a wounded pout, “She’s afraid of us. Her soulmates.”

And you don’t know what compels you to shake your head instead of just slamming the door in their faces, “N-no, I just–”

“She’s just skittish,” Akaashi interrupts, cutting you off mid-sentence. “Overwhelmed – this is all new to her. It’s okay, princess,” he says, addressing you this time with a teasing little smirk, “We’ll be gentle, okay? We’re going to take good care of you.”

It’s the final blow to your tentative politeness. As panic sinks its teeth into you, you skitter backwards, scrambling to shut the front door before they can get in–

Bokuto’s faster. They both are.

Stronger, too.

#yandere haikyuu #yandere bokuto x reader #yandere akaashi x reader #yandere bokuto kotaro x reader #yandere akaashi keiji x reader #yandere bokuto koutarou #yandere akaashi keiji #tw dub con #tw implied noncon #soulmate au

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bubbleteaimagines · 4 years ago

Text

Calling the Karasuno Boys an embarrassing nickname in front of their teammates

Karasuno Boys Headcanon

DIACHI SAWAMURA

You hadn’t meant to, honestly

It was late and you thought everyone had gone home by the time you and Daichi were leaving the gym

He was in charge of locking up, so when he was finished you grabbed his hand and sighed

“Pookie I can’t wait to get home and relax. Today’s been a long day~” You say, shaking your head

Daichi was going to agree, but then you both heard it and froze

A loud outburst of laughter, seemingly coming from the darkness caused you both to yelp

“Suga, Noya?” You stared at the boys in shock, your heart pounding as Suga went red from trying to hide his laughter and as Noya bent over in tears

“H-Hi guys,” Suga stuttered, looking over at a flustered Daichi with quivering lips

“What are you...what are you two still doing here?” Daichi tried for remain calm but his reddining cheeks gave him away. He prayed that they didn’t hear anything, but judging by Noya’s behavior, they did

“W-Well, we were gonna walk home with you guys since we live pretty close by but...” Noya laughed again, “It seems you two might want some alone time. Isn’t that right, Pookie?”

“Hey!” Daichi went beet red and you stared at him with wide eyes, an apologetic look on your face. “Don’t call me that- only...only Y/N can!”

“Oh yeah?” Noya took that as a challenge. Not being to hold it any longer, Suga burst out into laughter also

“I cannot...I cannot believe...!” He couldn’t even finish the sentence he was laughing so hard, and angry Daichi™️ immediately got activated

“Both of you shut up!” He yelled, fire practically blazing off of him. “Not another word or I’ll have run 100 laps!”

“Whatever you say~” Noya sang

“Pookie,” Suga finished, and then the two of them started laughing again. Daichi sighed

“I hate you,” He muttered darkly, but at this point you didn’t know if he was talking about them- or you

SUGAWARA KOUSHI

Suga was in the middle of practice and like the good partner you were, you sitting in the bleachers to cheer him

It had become a regular thing for you two after dating for almost a year and Suga loved it when you cheered him on

Typically, he always looked to you when he was having a bad day and today was that day

Suga wasn’t having a particularly good game, and his frustrations were evident on his face

Decideding to boost his morale a bit, you got up and called out, “You got this, Sugi-Bear!” for the top of your lungs when he went to serve again

You’d hoped it would boost his spirts, but all it did was cause Suga to pause, along with the rest of the boys

“Sugi...Bear?” Kageyama looked at the older boy with wide eyes, Suga horrified face matching his own

“Did Y/N just-”

“DUDE DID THEY JUST CALL YOU SUGI-BEAR? HA!” Tanaka crackled as the rest of his teammates grinned, even Coach Ukai suppressing a laugh

“No, no-!” Suga desperately tried to backtrack while you covered your mouth instantly, choking back a scream

Why did I do that? You wondered, but it was too late

Soon the whole gym was erupting in laughter, Kiyoko turning away to hide her giggles

“Dammit,” Suga put the ball down and sighed. “Daichi, can you please tell them to- Daichi?”

Suga was floored as he turned to his friend, expecting backup, only to find the captain clutching his stomach and leaning against Asahi to catch his breath

“I...Sorry Suga,” Daichi spit out in between laughs, shaking his head

“Well this is just great,” Suga groaned, burying his head in his hands. He knew now that he’d never live this down, so he figured from now on he’d practice his serves alone

KAGEYAMA TOBIO

You and Kageyama were in the middle of the courtyard eating lunch, but for some reason Kageyama didn’t look so good

“Babycakes? Do you want me to take you to the nurse?” You asked sympathetically, rubbing his back

“No, no it’s fine. Thank you though,” Kageyama nodded and leaned into your touch, relishing your cool hands

He almost looked peaceful, however it didn’t last as Hinata suddenly appeared out of nowhere, a wide grin on his face

“Did Y/N just call you...babycakes?” Hinata let a laugh, causing both you and Kageyama to stiffen. “And you didn’t...try to kill them?”

“Huh?!” Kageyama swerved around so face you thought it’d give him whiplash, glaring at Hinata with a deep blush on his face. “N-No they didn’t! That’s ridiculous! Get lost, carrot top!”

“Ha! They did! That’s why you’re blushing so hard!” Hinata howled, his outburst causing multiple people to look over at you guys

You felt a wave of embarrassment wash over you, turning down your head as you stared at Kageyama apologetically

“I’m sorry, I guess that was too loud,” You said, but he was too busy arguing with Hinata and trying to strangle him to even pay attention anymore

YAMAGUCHI TADASHI

It was late, you had just gotten back from (Y/C/N) practice and you went to the gym to find Tadashi

Usually, he’d walk you home at night and be waiting once you were finished. But today it looked like practice was running a little late for him so you knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer

“Huh? Oh it’s you,” Tsukishima didn’t mean to sound so rude, but you still flinched at his words

“Um, yeah. Is Yammie around?” You asked hesitantly, rubbing your arms. You were already thrown off a bit and didn’t really think as the nickname slipped passed your lips

“Uh...yeah he’s- wait a second. Yammie?” Your eyes widened as you realized your mistake, just as Yamaguchi came running over

“Tsukki, who is it?” He asked, before his eye settled on you and a wide smile grew on his face. “Oh hey Y/N! Practice is about to end soon, I’ll be out!”

“O-Okay,” You stuttered, avoiding eye contact with Tsukki as you stepped inside of the gym

“What’s wrong?” Yamaguchi frowned, noticing your embarrassed demeanor

“Well, don’t take this wrong way but-”

“Do you really let them call you Yammie?” Tsukishima interrupted you, causing both of you to freeze

Unfortunately, he had said it loud enough to attract the attention of everyone else and all eyes were on you guys, Tadashi becoming a stuttering and blushing mess

“What?! W-Where did you hear that? They don’t call me Yammie! That’s ridiculous, Tsukki!”

You both were horrified as laughter began to erupt throughout the gym, his teammates obviously getting a kick out of the nickname

“I’m sorry,” You turned to Yamaguchi the same time as Tsukishima did

“I didn’t mean to say it that loud,” Tsukishima said, tossing a glare towards Hinata as he laughed the loudest

“I-It’s alright. Hopefully they’ll forget about it tomorrow,” Tadashi stuttered, but spoiler alert: they didn’t

TANAKA RYUNOSUKE

You smiled as you heard the doorbell ring, indicating that your boyfriend was finally here to pick you up

Smoothing out your uniform, you took one last look in the mirror before running to the door and tearing it open

“Lovebug! You’re here early!” You exclaim, but you weren’t really complaining as you threw yourself into his arms and smiled at him

“U-Uh, yeah, yeah we are. I stopped by to walk with Noya,” He explained, embarrassment growing on his face

By the time you pulled away, the name had already registered in Noya’s mind and he burst out laughing, much to Tanaka’s annoyance

“Lovebug? You told me Y/N didn’t have any nicknames for you!” He howled, whilst holding his stomach. “Man, this is gold. Mind if I call him that too, Y/N?”

“I...” You didn’t really know what to say, but you did feel bad for Tanaka a little

“Shut up!” He growled, grabbing his friend by the collar and shaking him. “That nicknames cute, alright?! And I love it when Y/N calls me that so shut up dammit!”

“Okayy~” You had a feeling this would not be the last of hearing about this. And what do you know- all the boys seemed to be holding in laughter later that day when you entered the gym

“So, Lovebug huh?” Asahi grinned at you

“Shut up!”

ASAHI AZUMANE

The celebratory dinner was going great- all the boys seemed to be really enjoying themselves but you noticed that Asahi was going a little fast

“Bubbie? Slow down a little- you’re gonna choke,” You giggle a little, shaking your head at him

“Oh, yeah, right,” Asahi lowered his bowl and chuckled, but he wasn’t the one that ended up choking

Daichi, who was sitting right next to you guys, started choking on his barbecue

“Cap?” Asahi patted his back a little to help him out, “You alright?”

“Bubbie?” Daichi managed to speak through his coughing, causing the tips of Asahi’s ears to go completely red

“Uh...I...I can explain!” Asahi stuttered out, staring at him with wide eyes

“Explain what?” Suga poked his head in and looked back and forth between them

“N-Nothing!” All three of you squeaked out, turning your backs to him and resuming on your food. Daichi and Asahi were bright red, meanwhile you were pretending you were just grateful Daichi didn’t blab

“Well okay...” You could tell Suga was suspicious but slowly he let it go. Daichi however, grew a wide smile on his face as everything began to sink in

“That’s quite a nickname you got going for yourself,” He commented, just when you thought it had died down

“Yeah, well,” Asahi scratched the back of his face. You felt so bad- he looked like a tomato! “I’d appreciate it if we kept this between us, yeah?”

“Yeah, you got it,” Daichi grinned and nodded, causing Asahi to breathe a sigh of relief, “Bubbie.”

HINATA SHOYO

Hinata had a match and unfortunately you couldn’t make it, so he opted to FaceTime you instead right before the game was starting

“Good luck Cutiepie! I know you’ll do great!” You shouted through the screen, smiling brightly

Hinata beamed and nodded his head quickly, forgetting that he had you in speakerphone

“Thanks, babe!” He shouted, just as Kageyama walked by, his jaw dropped to the floor

“Cutepie?” He said in disbelief, and Hinata whipped around so quickly the screen became blurry for a moment

“Crap!” Panic bubbled up inside of the orange-haired boy as a sly smirk grew on Kageyama’s face. “That wasn’t for you to hear!”

“Obviously not, Cutiepie,” Kageyama grinned, barking out a laugh that caused the others to stare in disbelief

“Is he...” Tsukishima started

“...Laughing?” Noya finished, tilting his head a little

All the boys were scared, and slightly alarmed when Kageyama doubled over as Hinata yelled at him

“Shut up! It’s not funny!” Your boyfriend yelled, shaking his hands

“What’s going on here?” Coach Uaki raised an eyebrow

“He-”

“Shut up Kageyama!”

“Y/N calls Hinata their Cutiepie!” Tobio yelled out, causing Coach Uaki to sputter back a laugh

“They what now?” All the other boys turned their backs so angry Hinata couldn’t see them absolutely losing it

“You butt-wipe! You weren’t supposed to tell anybody!” Hinata yelled while you tried to surpress your giggles

“Shoyo baby It’s okay, that just means you gotta kick their asses 10x harder,” You reminded him, trying to cheer him up

But the damage was already done

Nobody was ever gonna let that go, especially not Kageyama. And even though you weren’t there for the match, Hinata told you later on how even the other team started teasing him for it

But at least they won, though

NISHINOYA YU

It wasn’t even you that outed him, it was Kiyoko lmao

She was picking up some stuff around the gym and there just so happened to be a volleyball underneath the bench he was sitting on, so she asked him to hand it to her politely

“Nishi-boo, can you please hands me that?” The minute she said it, it was like the entire gym just froze

The sound of arguing and volleyballs thumping around decreased, and suddenly all eyes were on Noya and Kiyoko as they both stuttered out excuses, clearly embarrassed

“I-I mean, Nishinoya, I didn’t-”

“She doesn’t- she didn’t mean-”

Tanaka was looking at his friend with eyes so big you’d think they were saucers. Exclaiming loudly, he yelled, “WHAT DID SHE JUST CALL YOU?”

“Nishi-boo?” Asahi frowned. “I thought only Y/N called you that.”

“YOU KNEW?!” Both Noya and Tanaka exclaimed, causing Asahi to flinch

“I am so sorry,” Kiyoko tried desperately to apologize to a dumbstruck Nishinoya, “I-It’s just- that’s the last thing I heard Y/N call you before practice today and it just slipped out. I’m really sorry!”

“N-No need,” Noya stuttered, his cheeks a dangerous shade of red, “I-It was an accident, right?”

“YOU THREE HAVE SOME EXPLAINING TO DO!” Tanaka pointed at Kiyoko, Noya and Asahi

“IM NOT EXPLAINING ANYTHING SO JUST FORGET ABOUT IT OKAY?” Noya yelled back, but it was too late

The age of him being addressed Nishi-boo had already started. And the one leading the charge?

Why that was Tanaka of course!

TSUKISHIMA KEI

It wasn’t like you meant to expose him

But when Tsukki snuck up on you one day right after he had just finished practicing, you couldn’t but exclaim, “Tsukki-Bear? What are you doing?!”

Cue you spinning around to see practically the entire Karasuno team standing there, frozen in time

“Did I...hear that correctly?” Hinata stuttered, jaw dropped

“Did they just call you...?” Kageyama asked, wide-eyed

“TSUKKI-BEAR?!” They yelled at the same time, bursting out into laughter as Tsukishima scowled

“Y/N...” He turned to you and sighed as they crackled up behind him, the older boys trying to hide their laughter

Ennoshita was the first to crack, Suga following behind as they leaned on each other for support

Even Daichi and Asahi were stunned, but at least they tried to help

“H-Hey that’s not nice to make fun of him,” Asahi stuttered, but it was blocked out by Hinata’s laughter

“I cannot believe...one of the meanest and tallest people I know is called Tsukki-Bear,” He gasped out

“Ugh. Shut up!” Tsukishima rolled his eyes, rubbing at his temples. “So what if I’m called that? It’s just a freaking nickname! You guys are immature!”

“You tell them Tsukki-Bear!” Yamaguchi yelled out, only to realize his mistake a second later, “I-I mean...”

This caused a whole new round of laughter to ring out and Tsukishima grabbed your hand roughly

“Come on. Let’s go,” He growled, dragging you off

“Tsukki! Y/N! Wait up!” Yamaguchi quickly followed

It was safe to say that Tsukki didn’t talk to the team for three days after that, but hey- At least they had something to hold over him now

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dbgdbw · 3 years ago

Text

385화

신규 던전 (4)

New Dungeon (4)

Silence fell. My conscience returned. No… Don’t come here right now…… Even though the situation was pressing, embarrassment took precedence. W, well, it wasn’t like he was someone I would see again. Let’s consider it a relief, that it allowed the atmosphere to segue into one conducive to dialoguing.

I forced my lips into a smile, though it shook slightly out of mortification.

“Hello, Sung Hyunjae-ssi. It’s nice to make your acquaintance.”

That Sung Hyunjae and I had never met. It probably only amounted to knowing of each other’s existence from a distance, if that. Pretending like nothing was wrong, I scanned his current state.

His hair color was even fainter, making it difficult to discern the actual color. Only one golden eye was open. Other than appearing some years older, there didn’t seem to be any other difference. He was the same as he was now. No, there was one more thing. The gray overcoat he had on, I remembered it being a SS-rank item. It had appeared around five years after the Dungeons were introduced, I was pretty sure.

In other words, this Sung Hyunjae was at least one year ahead of the present timeline. Since it would’ve been after he broke the contract with Diarma, he’d lost one eye, but his arm was still there. Though, since he was wearing a glove, there was a chance that it was a prosthetic. Or, it might be that he’d lost his eye from something other than the contract. It might simply have been an injury sustained during a Dungeon raid, or a wound that was still recovering.

As I quickly went through those calculations, Sung Hyunjae opened his mouth.

“I’ll be disappointed if you feign ignorance after coming this far.”

“That we don’t know each other is the truth.”

“And what about the ‘thoughtful, kind, and amicable Sung Hyunjae.’”

Holy shit, he was saying that kind of hair-raising line without flinching. Sung Hyunjae’s gaze slowly scanned over me.

“Has the past changed.”

…really disgustingly sharp. I made a face that asked what the fuck he was on about.

“Pardon?”

“You’re younger than the Han Yoojin I know. Twenty…five, maybe twenty six.”

“...five. Though I’ll be turning twenty six soon enough.”

“But you still know the me of now. You seem to be somewhat cognizant of my condition, so perhaps you’ve been returned to the past. With your memories intact.”

“Haven’t you considered the possibility that I might be lying? It should’ve all sounded like nonsense. Even crap like you being a g, ood person?”

“I can discern that much. Whether it’s a lie, or not.”

Sung Hyunjae said, as if it was a given. Ah, yes. Of course. Just roll out a red carpet, why don’t you.

“Yes. I’ve regressed. From when I was thirty. I went back five years, and went through a lot of changes.”

“Han Yoohyun must have died.”

My heart dropped. Sung Hyunjae went on apathetically.

“That he wasn’t even able to endure for ten years, is less than what I’d anticipated.”

It was a flat voice devoid of any emotion. He said that the outcome hadn’t lived up to his expectations, but those were just words, and there was no trace of regret at all. Couldn’t you feel at least a bit sorry. That, to Sung Hyunjae, Yoohyunie only amounted to one of the candidates he could leave Korea to. That he wasn’t anything more or less than that, I was suddenly struck by that strong realization.

Though he’d suffered so much.

“Fucking—all that from earlier was about your namesake, and I don’t know you at all. ‘Good,’ like hell.”

“Goodness. Should I have expressed some condolence. But, I’m afraid that Haeyeon’s Guild Leader and I weren’t quite close enough for that.”

“But you still knew each other! And you would’ve met with each other a few times too! You’re colleagues from the same industry, but saying it as if anticipating his death? You rotten son of a bitch! Even if you didn’t know each other at all, you should at least pretend to be sorry about hearing such misfortune befalling on someone so young!”

And he was way older too. If he’d had a son, he could’ve been Yoohyunie’s age! Yoohyunie was young enough to fall in that range. When a kid, had ended up like that! A single cold evaluation, was that it. Not that Yoohyunie would’ve reacted to or cared about what that guy had to say, but I was upset on his behalf.

“Saying it’s ‘below expectations’ when you yourself suddenly died too—”

“If it concerns the amount of meetings, Han Yoojin’s count is higher than Han Yoohyun’s.”

“...what?”

I was gobsmacked. Wait, hold on. I’d never met with that guy. And on top of that, he was saying that he’d met with me more often than he’d met with Yoohyunie? Even if they hadn’t had many reasons to meet, him saying that we’d met more frequently seemed to indicate that it hadn’t been a single digit number. Was there a chance that Returning had caused some problems with my memory?

“No, I don’t. I really don’t know you.”

“Since I needed to confirm some things. I went to investigate.”

“W-when……”

The young Chaos, who had been simply listening in, raised an eyebrow and asked.

“Where you’re from, do ‘good’ people typically go around stalking others like that.”

“...that guy does go around doing all sorts of things, but that kind of thing, um, well.”

That, well. He’d followed around and tormented Section Chief Song too, or, actually. He’d forced Section Chief Song into coming to find him with his own two feet. …if you asked me which was worse, I couldn’t really say.

투둑, a piece of concrete at Sung Hyunjae’s feet rolled down. After having stopped for a moment, he took another step downwards. As he came closer, the smell of blood seemed to thicken. Under the effused glow of the setting sun, the crimson stains on the hem of his coat became visible. As his movements disturbed the fabric of the coat, the details that had previously been overlooked came into view.

What looked like a person’s, finger marks. …let’s not think deeply about that right now.

“Of course, it wasn’t with this appearance. I find the label of stalker quite unfair, seeing as I’d gone to the lengths to soothe you as you wept drunkenly over how you wanted to see your dongsaeng.”

“W-who were you? When, where?!”

Who had it been! T, that meant, it had been after he’d found out about me. Since the ‘present’ Sung Hyunjae claimed ignorance, it probably would’ve been after I’d Awakened. After finding out Yoohyunie had pushed me away in order to protect me, to confirm that… So you’d even sought me out personally.

A thin smile on his face, Sung Hyunjae stepped onto the ground. 지익, fading bloodstains smeared under the soles of his shoes.

“Though this state is the result of that.”

“...what?”

“Specifically, in regards to Song Taewon, as well as Han Yoojin.”

The dim smile lit up brightly, like a waxing crescent. Song Taewon. My thoughts went into overdrive at the name. What he just said, could it be, about that time Section Chief Song perished—

탓!

With a faint sound, Sung Hyunjae moved. Instead of his chains, an unidentifiable blade was held in his hand. The young Chaos guarded my front with the greatsword, as if he’d been anticipating it. 카강! Their strengths clashed, and the silvery greatsword was pushed back marginally.

Damnit, Sung Hyunjae was different from the other SS-ranks, after all. I’d already changed Eunhae’s rank to SS-grade, but I might need to bump it up one more level. But even with the Fountain of Mana, a SSS-rank would only be sustainable for twenty four hours. It wasn’t a short period of time, but it wasn’t long either. Since we didn’t know how long we’d need to stick it out in this Dungeon.

“What will you do, Oldest(1).”

The young Chaos asked me. 까드드득, the weapons screeched as they scraped against each other. To avoid getting in the way, I retreated. If the young Chaos was unable to handle the situation, then falling back would be the correct option. We’d need to rejoin with the others before trying again, together. If we applied both the domain and attack doubling Skills to the assistance Skill, we would have a good shot at winning.

But.

“What happened back then! Sung Hyunjae-ssi!”

캉! Their swords crossed once more. Sung Hyunjae had the upper hand when it came to strength, but his weapon was the first to break. The gap in weapon performance was too great.

Broken in half, the blade spun in the air. He snatched it out of the air with the hand that was wearing the glove, and a black shadow seeped over the fragment he held. Pervading Loot(2).

Song Taewon, was already dead.

The blade fragment flew towards the young Chaos. The young Chaos kicked out with the tip of his foot to lift one of the scattered stones around him. 콰앙, it met the blade head-on with pinpoint accuracy and exploded on impact. Both stone and blade disintegrated into a fog of infinitesimal pieces, and scattered away. In that span of time, another blade had appeared in Sung Hyunjae’s hand.

What had happened to the Seeker’s Chains.

“Hey! Sung Hyunjae!”

His face devoid of any emotion, he manipulated his sword without even sparing a glance in my direction. It felt unfamiliar. On top of the missing Chains, he wasn’t using any electrical attacks either. Though his battle foresight might still have been operational, as he didn’t seem to be suffering any drawbacks from missing an eye.

The two clashed again. Would we just have to retreat. Was there a way I could catch his attention. Something like, divulging some shocking news from after Returning…… Seseung Guild’s headquarters collapsed, except it was already in pieces here. I can raise S-rank mounts, wasn’t really something shocking enough. But if I tried using a complete fabrication, he would realize it immediately.

Something that had really happened, but would still surprise Sung Hyunjae—something like that……

Ugh, this was really gonna sound crazy. It was actually nuts, but whatever. After taking in a deep breath, I shouted.

“Sung Hyunjae! You and I have a kid between us!”

Sung Hyunjae faltered. Without skipping a beat, the young Chaos aimed for the break that had appeared in his guard. Even with the battle foresight being used, his fist landed a heavy blow against Sung Hyunjae’s solar plexus, undeterred. Sung Hyunjae was pushed away, sliding backwards, and the young Chaos turned to look back at me.

“Eldest?”

It wasn’t a lie. To be specific, it was an entity that had been formed between Sung Hyunjae, Diarma, the dragon-type hybrid, and myself. This ‘information’ was still more ‘accurate’ than something that was completely made up. It was the truth, wasn’t it. Since it was already out of my hands, I went on shamelessly.

“And with Yoohyunie, my dongsaeng and I are expecting a child together too!”

I’m sorry, Yoohyun-ah. Hyung said something crazy that could affect your future independence. But these two people won’t be able to leave this Dungeon anyway, so forgive me this once!

As if he’d guessed what I was trying to do with my continued bullshit, the young Chaos’s eyebrows drew together.

“...it’s not inaccurate.”

“And I have a kid from Section Chief Song as well! Though he declined custody, so I’m raising it right now. It’s really cute!”

To Section Chief Song too, I apologize. But I didn’t lie. Nowadays, domesticated animals like cats and dogs get called ‘our kid’ a lot. Since it’s a mount that’ll become your partner, it’s basically the same as a child.

“And finally, Section Chief Song took a vacation!”

“They, don’t seem to be lies.”

Sung Hyunjae looked at me with a face filled with astonishment. Even from my perspective, it sounded like really bull bullshit that was bull-shitty-shit-shit. Actually, they were all baby monsters. It was the same as saying my daughter, my son! while raising a puppy. Of course, the part about Section Chief Song’s vacation time was one hundred percent true.

“And he’s actually here, too.”

“...I see.”

Clatter, he haphazardly tossed away the sword that had sustained extensive damage. Sung Hyunjae’s fingers lightly straightened the disarrayed collar of his coat. Had he calmed down a bit. In case he’d start up again, I hurried to ask.

“What happened, to Section Chief Song?”

“Is the ‘thoughtful, kind, and amicable Sung Hyunjae’ here as well.”

I closed my mouth before I actually answered. I had an ominous feeling about it. But it seemed that Sung Hyunjae didn’t actually need me to answer. He was only confirming his conjecture.

“Please disclose the events that happened. We won’t be able to prepare, unless we know.”

“That will be unnecessary.”

His fingers, which had climbed up from along his collar, pressed against the eye that was closed.

“Since all it requires is the cause being eliminated.”

Sung Hyunjae’s form disappeared. Teleportation. Was it an item? The young Chaos quickly came to my side and picked me up. The ‘cause’...damnit. It couldn’t be—!

“We need to go after him!”

The situation became urgent. But as soon as we emerged from the building, moving quickly became unnecessary.

Sung Hyunjae stood in the middle of an empty street. His hand was in the air, touching something that wasn’t visible. His palm pressed against an invisible barrier. The moment clarity struck me, my stomach turned.

He was the boss monster of this area.

Without displaying any surprise or anger, Sung Hyunjae simply touched the wall that was keeping him trapped. He’d probably guessed at his own state already. And that was likely why he’d cut down Seseung Guild’s people, as well as every other Hunter around.

I didn’t know what he’d been thinking, exactly. But he probably found himself unable to leave his guild, or his Hunters as-is in this state.

I climbed down from the young Chaos’s arms. I felt saddened while looking at Sung Hyunjae’s back, but I also felt angry.

“...Sung Hyunjae-ssi.”

“He decided to take his first holiday very early this time, it seems. And to end up in a Dungeon like this again, how hapless.”

“This Dungeon, it’s.”

“Back then, it was his first time off as well.”

Turning his body, Sung Hyunjae looked up towards where I stood at the top of the stairs before continuing.

“You may already know, but he perished. The gravesite is not too far from here, though he should’ve been sent off with a state ceremony instead. Considering my state, it seems I’ll be unable to escort you regardless. Have you gone there before, perhaps. Before Returning.”

“...if I’d gone somewhere like that, I would have been immensely vilified.”

“My condolences.”

I hadn’t thought I’d hear contrition from him over something like that.

“No need. It wasn’t like Sung Hyunjae-ssi had been the one condemning me.”

“I meant it with my future actions in mind as well.”

“Huh?”

Clang. A metallic sound rang out. But the golden chains weren’t visible anywhere. The young Chaos furrowed his brows. Lifting the corner of his lips, Sung Hyunjae answered.

“Since I’m unable to leave. If you’re on such good terms, then he’ll likely come to rescue you. That ‘kind Sung Hyunjae-ssi.’”

From the sky, precipitant moonlight rained down.

* * *

(1) 쳣째 = firstborn, young chaos refers to yj / yh / yerim as first / second / third respectively

(2) 약탈 (掠奪) → stw’s skill

brief 2-for-1 special before returning to regularly scheduled programming bc i got double haran in a 10-pull and ascended

+dungeon hyunjae: brb gotta kill other me to keep song taewon safe (ft. omg did stw give shj his arm when he died to replace the one he lost???)

+yoojin’s family registry status

shj: mitosis(gyeol)

hyh: planned pregnancy(seol)

stw: part-time nanny(song)

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jae-canikeepyou · 4 years ago

Text

| into you | j.jh

pair: jaehyun x fem!reader

word count: 7.7k+

summary: as the uni campus’ social butterfly, it’s a given you have a lot of friends, invited to almost all gatherings and all adore you. for the latter, jaehyun does too. he’s so into you and likes how you’re his happy place. or; jaehyun— an unsocial, often misunderstood person, finds his behaviour different with you and perhaps wants to keep you for himself, not anyone else.

genre: fluff + elite!au

a/n: i’m back after a while since i’ve been so so busy! this is not proofread again and i’m sorry if there are any grammar mistakes down there :> this is not canon with “letting go” scenario in case there’s any similarities with the characters. hehe anyway i hope you all enjoy reading! ♡ ~j.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

seated at the front row in the amphitheatre-shaped lecture hall, jaehyun frustratingly put his hood back on to hide himself from those who were staring from all around. they were definitely whispering about him, hands by their lips to conceal their voices in case he heard them. he hated this much attention, all because he chose stay of out school and classes— and claimed that it didn’t interest him.

so did coming today.

but the point was his attendance for this class was on the line and his busybody parents were sick of receiving phone calls or mails that kept filling their boxes, all for the same reason; that their son could be expelled despite handing assignments.

he rolled his eyes at the heat creeping up his ears as the whispers grew louder. he slammed the thin granite table, causing everyone to flinch at the sound and his presence. “can i have some quiet?! i can hear you guys talking crap about me!” he turned around at the pairs of eyes, soon frozen like meerkats.

they ticked him off. he couldn’t stand being in the same room with people who repeatedly questioned his existence of being here. he knew that rumours were going around, that the ‘jeong jaehyun’ in high school got into an private elite university— it could be anywhere but never expected it‘d be this campus. it was written in the judgment of their faces.

“chill man,” a guy his age swung his lollipop with legs on the desk. “some are curious why you decided to show up today since first semester’s a week away from ending, while some even wonder why you got into such prestigious and elite university.”

jaehyun’s eyed him slowly from legs to head. “who are you supposed to be?” he snorted at the stranger.

“just a guy who wants to break the distraught you’re trying to start.” he kicked his legs off the desk and stood up on his suede shoes, showing off his pearly whites.

he looked at everyone whose eyes averted from the two of them. “our town’s a small neighbourhood, so everybody knows everybody. we know exactly who you are, jeong jaehyun.”

“excuse me?” he swirled his tongue that it was evident he was pissed. “careful what you accuse me of. you and i both know it’s not going to end well-”

“they’re near they’re near!” a voice echoed the hall, cutting jaehyun’s attempt to intimidate the young man any further.

and with that signal alone, jaehyun could see and observe ladies fixing their hair and make-up, while the guys gave fistbumps to those near them. he rolled his eyes at him returning the favour to them as the guy unbuttoned his collar. “what’s wrong with you?” jaehyun was utterly weirded out. “with everyone?”

the crimson-haired guy only gave a flirty grin with raised brows. “this happens everytime.“

the door swung open with the professor rushing in. the students swifted heads, it wasn’t the first time he ever was late. he was young and good-looking, and it was hard to believe he still a bachelor. he gestured someone at the door, then the held-in giggles and mumbles were soon replaced with whispers of awe, as you walked in carefully with a tower of binder folders halfly covering your view.

clearly the guys around him have been secretly admiring; some had the confidence of taking selfies even if you were far, while others took a picture with their eyes so you were marked in their memories. ladies flocked towards the flustered professor like little chicks and surrounded him.

and that’s when the comments started coming in.

“park seojoon is so hot.” “hey remember to use ‘professor’.” “i guess genes runs in the family.” “his sister is ethereal too.” “i see her weekly and y/n’s a goddess.” “y/n! are you coming to the party tonight?”

jaehyun knew who you were through social media and common friends. and he included himself part of the people who admire you. he also remembered because he bumped into you during orientation. he wouldn’t usually care about passerby’s and strangers and although that was a brief moment and short eye contact, something about you was hard to not forget. you had people and friends under a charming spell he couldn’t describe, and that was in a good way.

you tucked a strand behind your ear and became shy afterwards as they whistled and cheered towards your gesture, making you heat up a thousand degrees higher. you should be used to this but every time it happens, you were just as flustered as your brother.

jaehyun’s legs got up on its own and was surprised at himself for making his way to help you. he picked up the fallen binder files and scattered papers while the whiskers by your eyes creased up in shyness.

he hitched a breath realising that the clumsy you was adorable too.

“thank you.” a smile then appearing at the corners of your lips caused jaehyun to freeze for a while. yuta wouldn’t miss anyone’s reaction. he slid his chair close to jaehyun’s as the he came back, nudging his chair for him to give into your beauty.

“i know a person with heart eyes when i see one. now you understand why we’re whipped for y/n. isn’t she a babe- agh.” he held the back of his head from the smack.

“don’t call me that, nakamoto.” you hissed sharply with how confident and careless he could get, especially with people you weren’t familiar with. you looked at the guy in a black sweater and let out an embarrassed sigh. “i’m sorry about my annoying best friend. yuta tends to be chatty when he feels lonely.” you winked at him.

it was jaehyun’s turn to flash short chuckle, its faint sounds perked not only your ears, but yuta’s as well. “not a problem. i know a lonely person when i see one.” jaehyun emphasised through his gaze.

“i’m not lonely! i have y/n and my men!” he whined and turned towards you. “see what you did y/n?”

“it’s good to finally see you, jeong jaehyun.” you ignored yuta and brought out a hand for a greeting.

you pursed your lips to stifle a laugh, jaehyun’s ears quickly turned from pink to red. he gulped loudly and took your hand in his, eyebrows lifting at how you knew his name.

lost for words and you both locked eyes where he forgot to let your hands go. “we take the same course together? i know your name because you’re the only one missing from the class-” you said, shaking his hands to subtly let him know it had been a minute since your hands felt his vainey flesh.

“okay young lad that’s enough time holding my sister.” seojoon separated your hands and jaehyun snapped out of his admiration, inhaling quite stressfully with how stupid he looked. “get to your class y/n.”

“alright, i’ll see you at tea hour.” you waved at the boys.

“as long as you’re treating i’ll go.” yuta hummed in a monotonous voice, fixing his laces that went untied.

“i’m not talking to you dimwit.” you flicked his forehead, leading to your satisfaction of the nut-like sound from it. “jaehyun, because you missed yesterday’s class, prof assigned me to assist you, along with the other topics you’ve yet to cover. i’ll be expecting you at the café near campus.”

before you stepped out of the hall, yuta pulled your sweater, yanking you back. “are you going to taeyong’s party tonight? you never miss an event!”

you puckered your lips, pinching his cheeks that a cute gummy smile came out from it. “you know my rules. as long as you’re driving me home, i’ll go. see you later.”

jaehyun nodded yet was still in a daze. he realised what you said when yuta pushed him. “gross. don’t act as if we’re already close.”

“hm? was i really? i think it’s normal when you’re making a move on my best friend.” he brought out his laptop and typed his password.

i wasn’t. “whatever.”

and to say that jaehyun didn’t feel butterflies flying uncontrollably in his stomach would be an understatement. they made the intestine churn in ways he couldn’t imagine, and he himself wanted to deny that what he was feeling was just from the influence of others. but wouldn’t that mean his feelings were temporary? because if it were, he should perceive you an ordinary person.

yet here he was outside, still admiring you before he entered the café. he found it was amusing of how oblivious you were of his presence— you were too immersed into this assigned task by professor, but others found it funnier when jaehyun looked stupidly in-love and cowardly the lad looked, despite having the overall aura of a stuck-up.

as the sun’s rays brightened the city and the wind’s breeze made the trees leaves dance, only then had you raise your head to see jaehyun waving at you. ten minutes early, not bad for an actual first impression. “hey,” he greeted, making you smile with his low but gentle voice. “am i late?”

you took your bag from across and asked him to sit down. “no no. you’re just in time, it’s really nice to have an early bird around.”

his dimples deepened at the compliment. “how about the project? is it too late? you think i can still catch up?” jaehyun cleared his throat.

“that depends on your dedication. based on the record professor gets, you’ve been doing your tasks and homework quite diligently. he’s just worried about your habit of not attending his lectures might lead to procrastination when second semester starts.” you gave him a slice of cheesecake to eat. “he’s still teaching us another subject.”

“it’s quite the contrary.” he dove in for the dessert. “i don’t have the will to procrastinate at all.”

“then good.” you twisted the pen in your fingers. “let’s get started?”

for that span of two hours, how he wished it could be more. who knew you would have a lot of things in common with him? that time alone was not enough to talk about vinyl and jazz singers and pretty much everything that were overlooked by people. he brought up his favourite spots in the city and how they became a safe haven to escape the reality.

to cut the explaining short, his shell slowly started to open, bits and new things were showing. if you were surprised he was a good person, jaehyun himself couldn’t believe he was able to converse with people normally. being the awkward and shy type, doing this almost seemed impossible.

was it your magic that caused him to do so?

you learnt that jaehyun was rather special and by special it meant he had gifts that you believed were way beyond human limits. he never studied in a library, rewatched lectures or written his notes. and the professor mentioned how jaehyun received good grades in most of the things he submitted.

to be very honest, you were a little jealous. from how he was sitting in front of you, he didn’t seem to be interested but was definitely listening. and you sort of gave up in continuing anyway. “i don’t understand why i’m told i need to guide you when you’ve already caught up with everything.” you let out a soft chuckle that seemed more of a question.

“i was waiting for you to stop..” jaehyun said quite blatantly and stretched his arms and you were hurt because if he didn’t want to, he could’ve said so. heck, even more so, he shouldn’t have come here and wasted time-

“..because it looked like you were forced to do this by prof.” his smile then faded seeing you mirror the same. “are you alright? you’re a little pale..”

your eyes widened. “oh uh, sorry, i assumed-” you sputtered and probably died inside with what he said. you cursed in your mind. dammit y/n.

jaehyun raised his brows, making you more flustered and panicky. you sighed and waved your ‘its-nothing’ hand. “assumed that i’m brusque and a stuck-up?”

he pierced his eyes at you and you weren’t going to lie, he scared you a bit. but that fear immediately disappeared when a gentle giggle and adorable dimples replaced it. “i get that a lot, but don’t worry. i’m different from what people think. they think i’m not friendly, a-and a loner too.”

“you’re not.” he heard you counter him, slightly slamming the fork down. “if you were, you wouldn’t be here with me. or even bothered to come.”

his heart became warm through your words, that act of kindness torn down his walls of inferiority and his perception towards people changed. “thanks.” he checked the time on his watch and twisted his wrist to show to you. “don’t you have a party to attend to?”

“lee taeyong’s?” you stood up to leave the café. “i feel like skipping it for tonight. i’m not in the mood for parties somehow.”

“because i’m a better company for you?” jaehyun teased and boy was he proud with his remark, you didn’t even deny it. “you don’t have to go if you really don’t want to. it’s better to have time for yourself sometimes.”

“you’re saying from experience?” you asked, putting pressure on your words about his claim of being alone.

“it’s more of an advice for you.” he winked.

you thought he was quite observant even though he barely socialised with others. he noticed the light in your eyes sparkling, in which he felt his chest squeeze. you twirled in your toes as you hugged your laptop. “say.. are you up for a movie marathon?”

—

including now, it’d be the fourth time you both have rewind the specific scene just for that certain song jaehyun kept singing nonstop. and although you loved his voice, having the song on replay would be a little too much and the purpose of the marathon might go in vain. it seemed jaehyun was way into it, so interrupting him would be mean of you so you sang along.

“the nostalgia still hits me ‘til this day.” jaehyun tossed a bag of chips from your kitchen island to you.

jaehyun kept saying it may sound stupid and corny coming from him, but as a child he liked the whole high school musical series; and he pretty much became one when breaking free started to play.

because you both couldn’t decide where to watch the beloved movies by everyone, the marathon ended up being at your apartment. it was subtle, yet quite obvious to you he didn’t want it to be held in his place. you thanked your psychology course for giving lessons to notice even the little things in behaviour.

“how many times do i have to keep telling you it’s okay to like it? not like anyone would tease you for it.” you giggled as you opened the bag and popped a couple of chips into your mouth.

“yeah sure, but i know you would.” he squinted his eyes for you to admit that that was your plan eventually.

“have i?” you singsonged, sipping on the large cola cup.

he pointed at the hairbrush you held and suddenly you bursted out in laughter since jaehyun was obviously— maybe a little— offended with how you mimicked him singing earlier. “okay you caught me.”

jaehyun felt his entire body heating up. still in denial about actually being into you, he took a challenge upon himself and scooted next to you. his arms slightly brushed and touched against yours. “you in for hsm 2?”

“well we are having a marathon, might as well go for camp rock later.” you shrugged and eyed him with a confirming gaze.

“uh-huh.. but i’m still a fan of the trilogy.” jaehyun stole the chips in your hands.

“now aren’t you cheeky.” you gasped at his playful behaviour, and you didn’t dislike it. perhaps you prefer this naught over yuta’s as it didn’t get into your nerves or have the urge to hit him because of the hyperness.

he sat deeper into the beanbag. “i’m comfortable in here. your house feels too homey.”

“so is it my fault that you’re in your comfort zone?” you stated, taking the bag of chips back into your arms.

“yes.” he protested with frequent waves of his palms. “you’re too kind and i might come here to visit often.”

“suit yourself.”

since he arrived here it had him wondering, why did he decide to show up today at campus when there was actually a pure human being like you? he just needed a person— just one— to knock onto his heart. yet with many people in his life trying to do the same thing, none held the correct key. and somehow,

it had to be you.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

you’ve lost count of the number of times jaehyun has been hanging at your crib since then. it became a normal routine but never have you been to his place. it was always yours and you didn’t mind that. though he did promise, you respected his decision.

you found out he could be little dorky and corny but that was the unique trait about him. like friends at kindergarten, you both were still at a get-to-know-each-other stage. so that day, he created a schedule where he would hang out with you on wednesdays and fridays, claiming that he didn’t want to be seen by others, e.g. mr. nobody with ms. golden girl.

however, since then, people close to you have been looking at you rather differently. it wasn’t because they sometimes see jaehyun following you around, they sensed a different aura from you. you could feel their piercing stares from all directions, as if you were the centerpiece of a watch. there was something a little different than usual.

and you tried to ignore this ominous feeling for now.

yuta shook his legs vigorously, in which was an unsightly act to see for someone on the soccer team. you could see him from afar with his hands by his lips, biting it as he waited for your arrival at the university’s sports ground. jaehyun jogged towards you with his bag slung diagonally across his torso. he poked your neck and as a person with severe tickle spots, that caught you off guard into a fight-me position to the doer.

“chill, it’s just me.” jaehyun had both of his hands up, whiskers appearing just by the sides of his nose.

“jaehyun!” you relaxed your limbs. “got a better way of greeting? i don’t like being surprised.” you pulled the hem of his sleeve, missing how he pursed his lips in glee when you both instantly became close, like it was overnight.

he let you grab him as you both walked towards where yuta was standing by the bleachers. “i’m sorry?” he giggled loud enough only for you to hear. “i thought i’d get a priceless reaction from you.”

you rolled your eyes that it almost hurt doing so. “be glad i have enough patience for you.”

“and i didn’t have enough patience last night!” yuta joined the conversation seeing you and jaehyun before him. “where have you been? you said you were coming to my place yesterda- why is he here?” he looked at him then at you. “with you? again?”

“ever thought that i want to have my own ‘me’ time for once?” you took off your cardigan and placed it on the bleachers. you could feel jaehyun chuckling softly when you made reference to his remark.

and boy was he proud. “you’re emphasising on that quite often nowadays.” he helped you carry your bag as you to settled down.

“that’s because i never realised how true it actually is until i say it out loud, since being in everyone’s eyes does pressure me.” you balled your fists to nudge him lightly on the arm, and for him to dramatically receive the attack did put yuta in an awkward position.

“uh hello? i’m still here!” in front of you and jaehyun, yuta snapped his fingers several times to divert attention. “what’s going on with you two? how are you both suddenly so close when you’ve just met for the first time two weeks ago?”

jaehyun swifted his head towards you, and the telepathic exchange of words between you and him had yuta clicking his tongue in disbelief. “you were right, he will react.” jaehyun’s voice prolonged while munching on a corn dog.

“told you so.” you flicked your hair and turned to yuta as you continued talking. “bestie, we’ve been seeing each other since then.”

what the hell? the way yuta’s face turn sour at your smile towards jaehyun, he could almost faint right then and there since he swore he saw mr. dimples smile subtly at you too. “and with just that i’ve been replaced-”

“no i would never replace my best friend.” you held his palms hoping he would calm down from his high emotions, but he immediately pulled his hand away from you, much to your dismay. “hey, i’m here to make amends-”

“yeah?” he clicked on a pen and wrote something on a tissue, soon grabbing your bag from the seat and fished out your wallet. “then you’re treating me my meals for a month. i have another order right now.”

now it was your turn whose face became sour. “a month?! i can’t do that- hey!”

yuta tossed your credit card up in the air and upon seeing his eyes darken— though that was all in your head—you gave in and sighed heavily. you stomped your way to the caféteria while yuta comfortably put one leg on the benches with a satisfied grin. “man she’s easy to tease.”

“is that so? then i know now who she gets it from.” jaehyun said through his chews on his food, making yuta’s ears perk up at the response.

the atmosphere lingering between the two of them invited dark clouds. both could sense the change in their moods, and they both weren’t liking it.

yuta spun and played the ball on his hands then forearms, later let out a scoff when jaehyun raised his brows. he didn’t like the vibe jaehyun was giving and so did the latter. “i do it for fun. it’s natural between us.” yuta said.

“hm? she told me she doesn’t like it when you do.” he saw you on your tiptoes as you struggled to tell the order to the person at the high-levelled counter. but another scoff came out from yuta. “you got a proble-?”

“yeah kinda.”

“i don’t think so. i can tell it really bothers you when y/n hangs out with me.” jaehyun sat up straight at yuta’s comment about him.

“i should be. because i’m her best friend and who knows what type of person you are.” he did a few tricks with his legs. “but if you really want to know then your attitude is what i have problems with.”

“i remember telling you it wouldn’t be good for you when accuse me wrongly.”

he let out a monotonous and rather mocking laugh, taking jaehyun aback but he anticipated this kind of response from him. “and what? you’ll go berserk like you did years ago? as a high school freshman? beating the innocent up or whoever comes your way?”

“look i don’t know where the hell that came from but it’s not what you or everyone else thinks.” jaehyun aggressively crumpled the hotdog wrapper in his palms.

“c’mon you don’t have to hold it all in,” yuta set his ball aside and rested his hands on his waist. jaehyun was getting uncomfortable the more he listened to him. “unleash that side-”

jaehyun rolled his tongue, nodding his head to test him. “alright, i guess i don’t have to when i have feelings for y/n. thanks for the advice.”

what the..? yuta stared at him when there wasn’t a change in his expression. jerk- “now you’re talking. you wanna fight? let’s do that-”

“tsk yuta! the bill’s too expensive!” you whined and gently put down the tray.

while yuta clicked his tongue at your sudden entry and with how quickly you came back, for a moment jaehyun wanted to hug you for being his saviour. he was so close to lose his temper towards your best friend. the relief seen in his tensed shoulders, but you interpreted it otherwise. “are you okay?” you asked while you sat down beside him.

he hummed, folding his arms and looking at the distance, clearly avoiding eye contact with yuta. “mhm, i just realised the deadline is coming up in three days.” he excused.

you managed to utter out a giggle as you finally ate, finding out how jaehyun’s ears always turned red when given attention to. “you’re stressed about it?”

“aren’t you?” jaehyun drank the remains of his soda.

“not really since i finished mine. but, if you’re worried about your progress, i can help you.” you swirled the fork in the air like a wand. jaehyun smiled to himself when yuta took his ball to throw a fit.

“i’m not worried about the project. but there’s an annoying bug i’m trying to hit so help me.” jaehyun’s dimples appeared deeply again and as the darkening ombré sunset shoned his side profile, there you witnessed how pure he actually was— and you missed out on yuta’s frown towards jaehyun.

you gulped and almost choked on your own saliva, eyes still locked in jaehyun’s. his hair caught in the wind, making it look fluffy and his entire demeanour softer than you usually see him. you hitched a breath since jaehyun seemed like he had no plans to avert his gaze too. both of you were definely mesmerised and hypnotised, and for jaehyun it was just like that time. he remembered the colour palette of your makeup while you recalled the perfume he wore.

in the recent marathons with him you’ve never been this close, physically speaking. so this close-up really debunked the impression you heard from people, especially from yuta.

however, as you were oblivious with the pressure behind jaehyun’s words and even smiled back at him, yuta flicked your temple. he was indeed a worry wart and sometimes he would like to flick you just this once for being too much of a social butterfly. he knew it was in your nature to be kind and always on the look out for others. he’s fine when you were with anyone except with this guy you befriended. not him.

he dodged your flying limbs in attempts to hit him. “oi, you’re not going to ask how i am? if i’m worried?”

the pain from the flick remained on your temple. “no? you look fine to me-” you stared at your phone. the message reminding you of the singles elite party a month from today at 8pm. “a party?”

“yeah if you attended the previous party you’d know that there’ll be another one after taeyong’s.” yuta took off his shoes in change for his casual.

“hm. i’m don’t feel like going.” you jumped off the bleachers to dust off your pants. “probably gonna be boring.”

“i’m the one who’s holding it this time!” yuta put you under a headlock in his arms. “you’re ditching your best friend?!”

you giggled and ticked his sides and followed it with a playful hug. “just kidding. i heard from momo! i’ll be there.” you brushed your hair up into a messy bun while spotting jaehyun starting to feel out of place. “oh! do you wanna come to the party, jae?”

yuta mentally facepalmed and it was given he didn’t like what you did. but your eyes were quick to see his reaction and you slapped his chest. he glared at you while his hands caressed it. why did you have to invite him? it was the whole purpose why he decided to hold a party; maybe you’d finally appreciate his hardwork, or perhaps, notice him as someone more and as not a best friend who only worries and teases you.

jaehyun nodded in response, no words needed. a smile crept your lips as if you were given chocolates on valentine’s. “cool.” you pulled him on the wrist after hearing the coach calling yuta, followed with a loud whistle. “ah yuta, we‘ll get going! see you.”

“mm yeah..” yuta hummed, seeing you both vanish in the distance. “see you..”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

your sulking self laid sideways by jaehyun’s lap, head rested on a pillow. it’s been too long since yuta avoided you, purposely ditched your hangouts, seenzoned your messages and ignored your calls. as if these weren’t obvious enough for you to know something was up. there definitely was but you couldn’t put a finger to it. so you forced jaehyun to let you stay at his place, being it your apartment was currently invaded by your brother’s friends from abroad.

but honestly it was also because you discovered jaehyun’s unit was blocks away from yours. fate was gladly on your side.

“y/n, you know i can’t work properly when you’re like this.” jaehyun sighed while he adjusted his sitting posture and lifting his laptop.

you slightly and lazily your body turned upright, seeing his dimples beginning to show themselves. “let me be.” you complained.

jaehyun put down his laptop. “i can’t. you’re in my way of cramming hours. plus, how long have you been coming here? it’s getting too frequent..” he paused when your eyes were no longer on him— rather they were on your phone, staring at the last conversation from yuta.

he couldn’t bring himself to say that he was reason why yuta acting the way he was to you. and for all honesty he would keep this matter to himself. “did i do something wrong?” you asked.

“of course not. he’s probably in his emo phase. guys have them a lot more than you think.” jaehyun typed on the keyboard for the remaining parts of the essay. “but he’ll get out of it eventually.”

“fine i’ll trust on that.” you sat up and scooted over to see his progress. you submitted your assignment hours ago. looking at jaehyun, it seemed he was struggling at some parts. were you unconsciously pressuring him? the beads of sweat began to roll down his temples and that made you giggle if it was the case. uh-huh. he was really feeling that way.

he gulped so loudly that it came out as a weird noise. he hoped you didn’t hear that. but the way you pursed your lips to hold the laughter in only had him discontinuing his report. “d-don’t do that.”

“do what?” you snicker.

jaehyun rolled his eyes and poked your forehead. “you’re too distracting.”

oh how the tables have turned. that comment flipped your head upside down, your heart in a frenzy and stomach churning. it wasn’t “so”, but “too”— that only meant he wasn’t concentrating on his work for a while.

even so, you waited for him to finish despite questionable feelings you’ve been feeling. his coffee cup already did seconds and thirds. and suddenly you remembered the happy hour the local café was promoting and there was a few minutes left until it ends for the day. you had to bring him there.

but you decided that because you wanted to be out of that suffocating air jaehyun caused.

—

the more you walked faster, the more jaehyun’s wrist reddened and hurt. but he let you be as he liked how you were comfortable with someone like him. your hair flowed with the wind, the remains of your shampoo left a sweet scent. was it lavender? and the wind blew stronger, making the scent clearer to the nose. his heart skipped beats, because it was indeed lavender. he swore in his head. scrap aside the frequent marathons and meet-ups. lavender’s all the more reason why fell for you quickly than ever.

and when the local café closed early for the day, you almost lost sight of the pedestrian signs. jaehyun pulled you in as the light emitted red. though you had your emotions get the best of you, you realised how childish you were for something so minor. you laughed in awkwardness, he did too. “i didn’t want anyone to see this side-”

warmth. that was all you thought of right there. you were in his embrace.

“..of me.” you soon mumbled in his chest, realising later of the action he just did. “jaehyun-”

“it’s okay. i don’t too.” his hand gently caressed the back of your head, treating it with care as if he held a newborn baby. “so can i keep you?”

that warmth became hotter, almost boiling that you weren’t able to breathe properly. “i’m sorry.” he said, that must’ve surprised you.” jaehyun chuckled.

surprised? of course you were. how was it natural for him to do skinship? and that smoothly? you both weren’t at that stage yet, let alone have a relationship with mutual feelings. even yuta couldn’t hug you because of how conscious you felt.

but then again, you looked up. you saw his ears. it was red, the usual reaction whenever you were with him. was it normal though? you were never aware of it up until now.

because it was so clear now.

“i’ll see you tomorrow? i have to help my mom with some things.” you lied as you scratched your neck.

jaehyun nodded and pulled away. “alright, go on ahead.”

you poked his dimples because he has been staring at you like he had questions to ask. “what is it?”

maybe he didn’t notice or maybe he did, but he was leaning closer, his head tilting to the side and eyes staring into your soul. you knew what he was about to do, you feel like letting him do so but at the same time you weren’t sure of your feelings.

just a little more and you could’ve locked lips but..

your phone vibrated.

in panic you looked at your device and eyes widened that brought jaehyun aback.

“ah yuta!” you brought your phone so close to your face, not believing your best friend’s announcement on social media, in which he then followed up with a text message.

the light in your eyes was something jaehyun liked seeing, but didn’t so as well.

“oh! he said the concept for the elites’ party is live wardrobe. all singles will go through a ballot draw. it’s for the clothes to wear for the night..” you locked your phone. “tsk i wanted to wear my favourite dress.”

“i think you’ll look great in whatever gown is chosen for you.” jaehyun pat your head while you were immersed in your phone. “now go. it’s getting late.”

“i’ll expect the same for you.” you replied.

he laughed and that didn’t want to make you leave just yet. “nah don’t. i’m just ordinary in a suit.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

funny how he was so damn wrong.

fate let him draw red, and confidently chose a suit once it was his turn to change. it was as if he knew this attire would go well with him. a suede texture with a black outline on its collar accentuated his brushed up light brown hair, while his black under-shirt contrasted with his porcelain skin. gladly it wasn’t halloween, or else you would’ve mistaken him for a vampire.

he had you feeling all sorts of things, and you didn’t know why when you were nothing more than friends.

an hour ago he was in his usual casual wear. now he was surrounded with ladies who already seemed like they were friends with him for decades. you could see jaehyun was uncomfortable but he kept his cool with folded arms as he leaned against a column. the comments from them irritated you, because at one point they were badmouthing him— and the second he showed up they flooded him with compliments of his good looks and how they named him the “model elite”.

you swirled the wine glass in your hand, the other arm hugged your waist. you rolled your eyes at the falseness these people have towards him. “can’t believe it.” your fingers curled as irritation began to cover your sight. “look at them trying to make a move on him. erlgh too close. they weren’t like that before.”

sicheng rolled his tongue, hands in pockets and walked to be in front of you. “really? you weren’t like that before too.” he pointed out.

“i agree. recently you’re stuck like glue whenever you’re with him.” yuta gestured.

“am so not?” you gasped while your eyes trailed to jaehyun, who was still had patience for the ladies surrounding him. “i just like how he’s a good friend.”

“doubt it.” sicheng poked your cheek. “you wouldn’t feel like this when you have feeli-”

not this again. “i’m grabbing a drink.” yuta suddenly cut the conversation.

“get me one too!” the younger one yelled and after he was satisfied with the gesture, he winced as you pinched his sides from the remark he said earlier. “ow! y/n! it’s true though! i know what i’m seeing!”

truthfully, nothing about sicheng’s words or actions bothered you. but if there was anything that did, it was your own heart. as of tonight, you began to question your feelings towards jaehyun. when did it start? how was it possible to like someone so quickly? “i’m telling you i don’t.” your eyes trailed to him, not realising the rush of heat creeping your cheeks.

jaehyun was approached by yuta, who was giving him a glass of beer. the ladies fled after stealing pictures of the guy and he took the drink in his hands. then they headed towards the garden of the mansion. wonder what he’s here for?

“nice party you have here. concept’s cool.” jaehyun started to break the lingering silence because he knew how awkward this was going to be with your best friend.

“yeah, never knew you’d end up in red. it’s y/n’s favourite colour.” yuta’s voice lowered. there was an impact jaehyun could describe but assuming that would be too rude of him.

“really? i didn’t know.” he hummed. aren’t you a little too happy, jaehyun told himself. he shook it off, for he doesn’t expect him and you to go any further than this.

“now you do. so can you back up for a while? take a week off or something from y/n.” yuta raised his brows.

this was the same feeling from before. he knew this feeling because he felt the exact same way. he wanted to be selfish for once. not like he hated yuta, it was just.. he always had to appear whenever he didn’t want him to. then he would mess his mood. he interrupted his joy of admiring you. jaehyun licked his lips to dampen them. “i’m sorry, who are you to tell me what to do?”

yuta grinned and leaned against the column as he mirrored jaehyun. “don’t you get it?” he asked, his tone rising. “i love y/n. you entering the picture just ruins everything.”

my hunch’s correct. he does love y/n. “if you love her you wouldn’t ignore her.”

“it’s because you’re with her! and she does the same to me! it’s like she’s found someone else-”

“you’re being dramatic.” jaehyun pushed himself off the column and turned to him. “y/n’s sad and moping around because you treated her like she’s all alone. you have no idea how much she waited for you to contact her.”

“what do you know, smartass? you’re just another guy trying to fit in when you know you couldn’t. no matter how much you tried, everyone’s afraid of you. and now you’re telling me you have feelings for y/n? please.” his lips jutted with sounds of disbelief while his body posture challenged jaehyun. “y/n’s kind to everyone she meets. it’s who she is. but to think you have hope to be with someone like her? if you ask me, all i see is a greatest mismatch.”

jaehyun usually didn’t give a damn of the comments about him. he couldn’t care less of any of those. in fact he’d hear them through one ear and out they went. but when he said anything, it irked him.

you see, that was the thing— right now, he actually listened.

he turned a blind eye on yuta’s words and let it off for the night. he was given a drink and maybe the alcohol didn’t work its way on him than it did to guy. in the end, yuta was probably spilling tea even if he didn’t intend to.

“what i feel for y/n has nothing to do with you. just like people can’t control the tides,” jaehyun lightly knocked onto yuta’s chest. “i can’t control mine.”

the footsteps echoed in yuta’s ears, he could hear them despite the noisy hall. “rghhh!” he grabbed hold of his glass and threw it towards jaehyun.

sounds of shattering glass met the ground, as well as catching everyone’s attention. then there was silence. jaehyun began to lose his patience as he turned around. his smirk challenged him. ouch. this was the fight yuta was looking for, seeing jaehyun’s heavy breaths only made him stand on his toes.

jaehyun punched him in the jaw though he knew it wasn’t worth his time. but he wanted to give him a taste of stepping beyond boundaries. yuta punched him back too. he made sure the star of the night was the other— shone the brightest and reveal his true nature. he didn’t count the number of hits he received, as long as jaehyun stayed that way.

“i told you it wouldn’t be good if you provoked me!” jaehyun growled. “you’re asking for show? i’ll give you one!”

“huh..” yuta wiped his bleeding lip. “you sure about that, beast?”

jaehyun held himself for the next punch, feeling all of the pairs of eyes on him. yours included. that was what he feared. “aw. what impression does she have on you now?” yuta’s cooing words caused jaehyun’s eyes to soften.

all bleeding and bruised, jaehyun’s injuries have matched with his suit. he clenched his fists as he frustratingly left the hall.

in your peripheral, your eyes trailed his direction and your legs followed him by heart, without realising yuta calling out your name several times. everything went blank, not thinking things straight because while everyone watched, no one understood. you glared at yuta before heading outside, a more disappointed sigh was the only response he got from you.

yuta was then nudged by sicheng. the latter could see the change in his expression. “what did i tell you?”

“you don’t have to tell me.” yuta dusted his pants.

“i’m still gonna.” sicheng rolled his eyes and poked the lad’s temple. “that’s what you call ‘stupidity’. if only you confessed to her before maybe things would be different between you guys.”

“i don’t want things to be different dude.”

“i’m gonna state the obvious, you probably already know this but.. you lost this battle.”

“crap..” yuta’s voice changed from a nervous chuckle to a soft sob. “i liked her first.”

you spotted jaehyun sitting atop a metal barrier just in front of the carpark— head down to mend his injuries and scratches. he sniffed from the cool night breeze before hopping off. “you’ll hurt your feet.” he pointed at the heels you had dangling in your hands.

his gaze softened when you pointed at his face, especially the black eye. “touché.” he chuckled, later feeling your cold hands against his throbbing flesh. “it’s no big deal-”

“i’m sorry about yuta’s behaviour.” you sighed. “don’t let it get into you. he’s an airhead when he’s drunk-”

“you sure? he seemed pretty sober when he said- ah.” he pursed his lips to speak any further. “nevermind.”

now that gotten you curious. “what did he say? spill it!” you whined, causing jaehyun mouth to curve a little in amusement.

jaehyun prolonged the silence and grabbed your shoes, leading you towards his car. once he unlocked it and opened the door, he bursted out in a loud, healthy laugh. “he said he was head over heels for you.”

you pushed him to the driver’s seat and slammed the door, rolling your eyes at the pun. “that was so lame!” you sat on the other side. “but i know that already if you thought i didn’t. i subtly turned him down ages ago. guess he didn’t take the message.”

“clearly.”

as you tended to his wounds, one question still had your curiosity at its peak. jaehyun was quiet through-out, so it was hard to bring the topic up for a while. until your eyes and his met.

“what did you tell him before he threw the glass at you?” you dabbed the cotton onto the beaten area. “it must’ve pissed him.”

he dropped his car keys and let out a nervous hum. “uh..” he didn’t know what else to say. right when he was finally about to tell you, you suddenly giggled.

“unless you told him you like me and that made him angry, but i doubt that happened.” your lips shrank to a circle, cursing at yourself for assuming too much. girl the guts you have was incomparable—

jaehyun’s large hand held yours while you continued to apply medication. the warmth, the heat and the building tension of skinship made you weak. “you’re right.”

your smile and breaths changed in an instant when he fixed himself on the seat. he smirked a little, finding how cute you were. it drove him crazy.

“i like you, for the longest time, since the orientation. i’m so into you that i couldn’t help myself be selfish and have you to myself— i- i don’t know what i’m saying.” he sighed, pushing himself away in embarrassment with arms above his face.

“t-thanks.” you fiddled with your fingers.

“i’m not asking for an answer. i just wanted to let you know.” he said. “gosh this is a bad timing for confession.”

“then is it a bad timing if i said i’m into you too?” you looked away and out in the distance. you could see his reaction on the window’s reflection. he was shocked, but an uncontrollable smile was forcing itself on the surface. it was written in the dimples.

“no,” his husky voice called you to look back. “you’re just about right.”

#jung jaehyun #jung yoonoh #nct jaehyun #jaehyun oneshot #jaehyun #jaehyun imagines #nct 127 #nct #jaehyun x reader #jaehyun nct #jaehyun scenarios #jaehyun angst #jaehyun au #jaehyun fluff #jaehyun fanfic

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dreamii-yume · 4 years ago

Note

SPICY: I have no idea how this will turn out but I trust your skills, Epel growing abso-fucking-tired of lady reader calling him cute/adorable, so he has to teach her a lesson, preferably when they're visiting his backwater hometown

Ooh, you shouldn't put this much trust on me, Darling~ (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ I'm gonna crush that trust sooner or later, watch me.

♥︎ Warnings ♥︎

Yandere | Non-Con | Non-Consensual Drug Use | Drugged Sex

♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎

Epel had tremendous power that he often overlooked, that he was too ignorant to even notice. Even though his Darling was the one who helped him realize such power, it was ironic to think that she would be the first one to fall victim against it.

♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎

"Epel, what do you think of this one? It's cute, isn't it?"

The said boy watched as you hold out your hand, a unique keychain of a mascot he wasn't too familiar with was dangling around your fingers. "Yeah, it's really cute!" He replied, smiling ever so gently, enough to lift your mood up. His eyes softened; he didn't know this mascot character as much as you do, but you seemed to be very interested in it these past few days.

"I know, right~? It was a limited edition in Mr. S’ shop the other day so, I couldn't pass up the opportunity!" You babbled on as Epel patiently listened, observing your little mannerism rather than your words at this point. Ever since he found out that you really liked this brand, especially the mascot, he had gone in and researched a few stuffs about it. Not because he was interested, but just to stay on track with the same wavelength as you. Honestly, he couldn't really bring himself to care about it, the way you cutely shake your shoulders and swing your legs back and forth when you're excited was much more interesting to see.

"Ah, that's right! Epel, hold out your hand please~" He blinked, snapping back to his little trance as you didn't even wait for his response and just gently grabbed his hand. Epel blushed a fair shade of red, he could feel his skin conducting a tingling shot of electricity as they made contact with yours. Before he knew it, you opened his palms and proceeded to place a keychain on it, one that was similar to yours.

Epel blinked, silently gulping as to not let his emotions break out. "T-This is...?" He asked, only for you to let out a laugh. This made him embarrassed, he was probably making a really stupid face just now.

"A keychain for you, silly~! An exact pair with mine! We're a match, see?" You giggled with a voice that could seriously melt Epel's heart. "Consider it as a thanks for hearing me out on my ramblings. You're really the only one I can talk to about this character!"

"M-Match..." Epel mumbled, making sure it's loud enough for the words to reach your ears. "You didn't have to really, it's fun talking with you..."

He then turned a sheepish glance towards you, his pink cheeks were a lot more evident now. "...But y-you think...We're a good match?" He said, barely in a whisper, but you heard his question loud and clear.

You didn't even hesitate. "Of course!" You beamed at him. "You're one of my best friends, after all!"

His smile never faded away from his face as he slowly looked down at the keychain on his hands...What he said before wasn't a lie, although he was filled with so much apathy about where this character came from, it was still as cute as you claimed it to be. "...I see." Epel said, looking at you, his smile was handsome and blooming ever so brightly. He clenches his fist, along with the keychain mascot inside. "Thank you. I feel the same way too."

He watched you brighten up, seemingly ready for another story to tell him about a certain episode of an anime you watched. Epel was ready to listen as always, but was suddenly interrupted by the sound of the bell ringing across the campus, calling all students to their respective classrooms. "Ah, shoot...Break time is already over. Bummer, I really wanted to talk to you more, Epel..." You sighed in disappointment, but began to wave at him, eventually. Epel could only laughed slightly, feeling just as, if not, even more disappointed that your time with him went by so fast. "But I have Crewel-sensei next class and being late would not really sit well with him..."

"Bye for now, Epel! You should go to your class too!" You said with your heels turned and ready to bolt away. Epel waved back, his well-practiced smile had done a good job keeping his emotions at bay again.

However, Epel flinched as a sound of something cracking rang out in his hand. Opening his palms revealed the keychain you gave him, a crack appeared on the acrylic layer. "Aah...Crap..." He muttered, scratching his back as he leaned on the bench in the most ungraceful way as possible. If Vil would've seen him right now, he'd be dead, but it doesn't really matter right now. He turned to the direction where you've gone and ran off to, his other hand blocking off the ray of sunshine down his eyes. "...Best friends, huh..."

It took him a moment, but he eventually began to feel it, that buildup of suppressed frustrations inside him. Epel gritted his teeth, growls rang from his throat as he painstakingly look at the keychain on his hand. "...Stupid. This is so stupid." He said, unconsciously finding himself clenching on the merchandise once more, increasing the damage. "...I'm so stupid...! Why...Why can't I just...!"

His fist grew weak, in synch with his given emotion, calming down on his sudden rage. "Why can't I just be honest...?" He asked himself the same question as he did before, as always. The question that he already knew the answer to. "I-I'm...such a coward."

♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎

Continue the Spice~?

Me : Okay, I'm not gonna rush this one— You don't want this to turn into that Cater fic from last time.

My brain : So, 9K words sinfic it is then.

Me : wait i didn't mean—

#twisted wonderland #yandere twisted wonderland #epel felmier #yandere epel felmier #pomefiore #yandere #Sinfic #Spicy Dream

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kawaiijohn · 3 years ago

Text

Rewind, Rinse, Repeat Chapter 1

For Invisobang Minibang 2021

Ao3 Link

Chapters: 3 finished, 12 total Rating: T+ Warnings: Major and Minor Character Death- all temporary, Implied Child Abuse/Neglect, Strong Language, Mild Body Horror, Mild Injury. Other warnings listed by chapter Characters: Clockwork, Danny Fenton, Pariah Dark, Levi | Leviathan (OC), Mal (OC), Observants, Mentions of other characters Ships: Lost Time, Dark Ages, CW & OC child, CW & Levi | Leviathan (OC) Genre/Tropes: Human AU, Magic AU, Found Family, Character Origin, Hurt/Comfort, Original Magic System and Lore Additional Tags: Existentialism & Existential Angst, Memory Loss & Amnesia, Corruption, Clockwork Centric, They/Them Pronouns for Clockwork, The Fenton's A+ Parenting, Obersvant Bashing

Summary

“Clockwork can I ask you something? How did you become a ghost?”

The tale surrounding the mystery of Clockwork's existence; a world where magic is common and ghosts are not. A world where one lonely, average mage tries with all their might to save what means most to them. A world where things need to be remade into something better.

Shout out to my betas @bibliophilea and @moonlights-shadow-warrior for keeping me sane, @13thdoodle for letting me use their OC, Levi, @dailudannos and @sailor-toni for providing art for later chapters, and all the folks over at @invisobang for being awesome!!!!

Chapter One below the Cut. The rest is available on my Ao3 account because tumblr linking/posting is hella broken.

Chapter 1: An Inquiry

“Hey, Clockwork? Can I ask you something?”

Clockwork looks over from the mirror they were watching intently. “You already have, Daniel,” they reply, offering the other a smirk.

“Oh, ha ha. You've never said that to me before.” The reply is filled to the brim with sarcasm, as per usual. Danny rolls his eyes, but a small smile gracing his lips betrays the fact he isn't annoyed in the least. “Seriously, though. It’s something that's been on my mind like... every day for the last two weeks!!" He raises his hands towards the sky, flopping back in the air dramatically. "But... it's kinda, y'know. Personal-” Danny trails off, slightly embarrassed.

Of course. Clockwork finds themself smiling fondly- Danny thought he’d said something he shouldn't have- an inquiry that could make his guardian upset (as if it's even possible to upset Clockwork like that). A question is a question, and this is a worrying habit of his that the Time Master is trying to help break, even if it's still somewhat endearing to them.

“I uh, I mean... it’s personal about- to you, not to me. That’s what I meant!!” Danny continued.

Clockwork stares at him, unblinking. An idea (or thousands) of what he may ask flashes through their mind’s eye. With a single, calming pulse to their Core, Clockwork pushes the involuntary slideshow of timelines aside as if they're no more than curtains. They need to focus on the window in front of them; the here and now, not the temporal drapery.

It's a habit they are trying to overcome for Daniel’s sake. To ensure their ward's growth, they need to stop peering into the near future as often- not discourage his asking of questions. After all, what is a child if not but a well of endless curiosity? Cutting Danny off is also sure to disallow the development of any trust or patience Clockwork needs to build within their young ward. They wouldn’t receive either of those things if they assume what he wanted to ask.

It's common decency to not assume, lest it ‘make an ass out of you and me’, according to Daniel.

It is going to be a tough habit to break, but by the (other) Ancients, they're trying their best. Their ward deserves the infinitesimal choices all other children have when asking things of their guardians, so even if they do glimpse to the future, they will not mention it to him. Clockwork refuses and will continue to refuse to take their ward’s agency away; to not have a choice in things is a fate worse than fading.

The boy has been quiet, stuck deep within his own thoughts even after an impressive five minutes and thirty-seven and a half seconds of silence (uncharacteristic of the boy, Clockwork notes).

Now that just won't do- he must have lost his train of thought. Clockwork gestures at the ghost boy, motioning for him to continue. It works- Danny adverting his eyes and clearing his throat, "Well, it’s just like- you know so much about me- like, how I died, the whole Ghost Zone Prince business, that entire disaster doomed timeline with Dan... I just keep thinking- no- realizing, that I barely know anything about you!!” He throws his arms up in thinly veiled frustration.

Clockwork smirks. “You had another question, did you not?” They place a hand along the edge of the closest Temporal Mirror, turning to face the mirror- still halfway facing Danny. They can see his inner debate clearly written on the boy's face- the mirror reflecting as if it were an ordinary object (for now). They turn towards it fully and watch Daniel's reaction from behind them, acting as if they aren't finding joy in their ward's hesitation. It's always adorable when he tries not to offend Clockwork. "I may be able to work with time, but that doesn't mean I wish to float here waiting for an answer all day."

Danny blinks a few times, rolling his eyes again in response. Clockwork is certain that if they weren’t secured to his skull by human musculature they’d fall out and roll away. “Well, I’m sorry for trying not to be rude and like, asking outright... but since it’s you I have to always be super direct!! Jeeze you’re frustrating sometimes!” He floats towards his mentor, crossing his arms.

Danny often forgets Clockwork isn't easily upset over trivial things such as questions. Most questions are about things they already know the answers to, anyways. And the few things that they don’t know when asked, they figure out soon after. Such is the duty of the Master of Time- to be a step ahead of everyone and everything else always. Besides, in most timelines (68.3% of them, to round up) the question Daniel wishes to ask is along the lines of ‘What was your past like?’ Another small fraction (a little under 20%) the question is ‘How did you get so strong?’ . And even in the remaining timelines, the question would be along the lines of ‘How do your time powers work?’

They are each things Clockwork expects Daniel to ask them at some point or other, as it were. There isn’t really anything Daniel can ask that could be too shockin-

“Clockwork, I was wondering… how exactly did you become a ghost?”

They... did not see that coming… in any of the timelines they’d glimpsed. Clockwork stills for only a fraction of a moment, but it’s long enough for Danny to flinch, feeling as if he’s crossed a line. They hear more than see Daniel shrinking in on himself as they look off into nothing, buried memories waking slowly in their mind.

Clockwork is brought from their introspection by a mumbled curse. “Shit! I mean... uh crap??" They just stare at Danny as they are brought back to the present. "Never mind just... sorry for asking... Oh man! Did I offend you somehow? Ancients dammit, this is what I was worried about!!” They watch him curiously, soft whirring coming from their ward's anxious core. “We can just forget about it if-” Daniel’s hands wring together nervously, shoulders tense with worry and face full of guilt.

Right- facial expressions are also important for a young ghost's emotional communication and development. Sometimes the Time Master wonders if their isolation in Long Now affected their social behavior (it did). Their face is carefully blank most times, so they set to fix it- they offer a small grin, hand coming to rest on Daniel’s shoulder. “It is more than fine, Daniel. You asked if you could ask a question- which is in fact, two questions, I should note- but I gave you consent to ask it of me.” They squeeze his shoulder to placate the worry.

“It’s about time I told you this story, as it were. I just did not foresee it being told at this very moment." Clockwork floats slowly, turning away from their Mirrors. "Come along- it’s best we sit for this. I’ll have one of your friends bring us some tea.”

Danny floats after his mentor, looking around the room the two normally use to study history of the Realms. “So, uh… is it a long story or...?”

“Oh, it is very long, indeed.” They fly through an ornate door and over to their favored 'chair'- a stack of comfortable cushions in violets and blues, both impossibly cool and warm at the same time. They recall Daniel discovering the room, eyes full of wonder and posture relaxed. Clockwork chuckles- the first time their boy had wandered in here he'd decided to take a running dive into the pile, jumping up in surprise when it was cold as ice, yet warm as fresh laundry. The expression on their ward’s face is one of their fondest memories; a happy moment amongst all the tedium of watching time.

“It may take a while to tell this tale proper. But, it is a story that ought to be told.” Daniel makes himself comfortable on his chair of choice- an unholy combination of 'borrowed' pillows and what appears to be a more modern gaming chair- complete with an obnoxiously bright green-black color scheme. Clockwork has to hide another smile as Danny wiggles himself deep into the pile. “So, Daniel- what do you know of the phrase ‘Totems of Power’?”

“I thought I was getting a story, not a pop quiz! Unfair!!” His disdain for schooling makes Clockwork laugh fondly before the boy continues. “But they’re like… hmm how do I explain this? Well, there’s the universe right? Like every timeline and every result of every timeline all at the same time kind of ties into the main universe thingy- but there's still a main timeline, and that's kinda like... Main Street, and the other possible timelines are uh... like side streets with dead ends? But there's other forces that like, aren't time and… uhhh...”

He hums, crossing his arms deep in thought. Clockwork takes the time to purr-sing-hum at one of the many blobs floating in and out of their lair; Daniel had asked them to keep some around as pets and the Time Master was happy to oblige. They were unable to deny something so beneficial to the young Prince, after all. The one deemed ‘Mr. Pants’ by one of Daniel’s friends answers their call. Clockwork buzzes to it a quiet request- ‘bring Daniel's favorite tea and mugs for two, please.’ The little thing chirrups and zips off through the walls- eager to serve the Lair’s owner and be (potentially) rewarded with pats (from Daniel).

The Time Master brings their undivided attention back toward a grumbling ghost boy, lost in thought. “Daniel if you need to ask for help I’m glad to-”

Danny snaps his fingers, coming to a realization before his mentor can finish. “I got it!! The best way to explain it is ‘The Universe needs to run smoothly, so there’s certain forces- like Time or Space- that are upheld by a powerful entity, like a person or like… the avatar of that concept? Yeah, something like that, but they ensure the aspect they represent is properly cared for so the universe doesn’t completely like, die.’” Danny nods to himself. "It's why you stepped in to stop Dan, to make sure the world didn't end like that."

“That is correct- it is my job to ensure this universe of ghosts and reality doesn't crumble prematurely. Now, do you have a recollection of any other Totems you may have encountered?”

“Well, yeah! We call them ‘Ancients’, though- so like… Pandora is the one for war and history, and Nocturn is for like… dreams? The Void or something, maybe? And then there’s old man Pariah who isn’t one, but he said there’s a Leadership Ancient somewhere, and then-” Danny pauses, blinking at Clockwork in realization. “Wait, you asked that for a reason, didn’t you?”

“That I did. Becoming the Totem, or Ancient of Time is where this story starts.” Clockwork hums, seeing Mr. Pants fly back towards the two- nearly spilling scalding tea all over the ground. “Now then. We have drinks. We are sitting comfortably. I believe it’s time I spin my tale for you.” They take a sip, closing their eyes in bliss.

They open them once more and see Daniel sitting, eyes full of stars and eager- Eager to hear, eager to fire off a question a minute. It makes a chuckle bubble up in their throat, to see their favorite person so excited to learn.

“Once upon a time, there was a human; average in most ways, a simple person living a simple life. They would get up in the morning, perform their daily tasks, and go to sleep at night. Day in, and day out- a boring, but fulfilling existence.

“However, where this story differs from what we recognize as reality, is that in this realm, humans who could control magic were the norm. Think as if it were like one of those fantasy games you and Tucker play together- mages, healers… all of those and more were commonplace when I was alive. Yes, humans can wield magic now, but it is nowhere near as frequent as they could in our tale.”

They pause, seeing that Danny was about to interrupt. “Wait wait- this realm? Like- this is a completely different reality?? And people can wield magic now??? Are you messing with me? Like… I thought it was all just-” The boy stops, his train of thought drifting off the tracks as it tends to now and then.

“Yes, first, this is a completely different realm from either the Mortal Plane or the Ghost Zone. Second, Daniel- tell me... have you not noticed the magic of those you have encountered? Blood blossoms… a reality warping gauntlet? The existence that is ‘Freakshow’ in general should be a red flag, seeing as his talents were… strangely non-ghostly in origin. Not to mention objects such as the Infi-map...”

“Man, I wish I could forget about Freakshow… who mind controls ghosts??? He was the worst!” Their young ward crossed his arms and grumbles.

“If you’re done sulking about your past misadventures and former foes, I was in the middle of telling a story, if I recall correctly. One you asked I tell you…” Clockwork simply stares, unblinking as steam wafts from their slowly cooling tea.

All is well, they knew Danny would only take approximately 4.85 seconds to snap his attention back to their story. Clockwork sips their tea, waiting.

Danny snaps out of his thoughts only a millisecond off of Clockwork's prediction. “Sorry... it’s just super weird to think that magic actually… still exists? Like ghosts are real and all but magic being a thing feels a bit far fetched, don’t ya think?” He pouts, brow furrowed.

The Master of Time finally closes their eyes, removing the hood from their head. White hair floats gracefully behind them, settling just past their shoulders. Clockwork opens their eyes again- a serious, yet warm expression directed at their ward. “Magic is simply defined as reality altering acts using both energy and the willpower of a sentient being, if that helps.” Another sip. Mr. Pants made a wonderful batch of tea, as always. They smile wider when they notice Danny’s expression- the boy has never seen them without a hood, and they know doing this will (in 99.78% of all possible timelines) convince the boy to take what they said seriously. ”Just as ghosts can be defined as ‘ectoplasm given form and consciousness’, forces beyond humanity and the physical realm can be explained with scientific terminology if you know where to look.”

“So like... what all did magic have to do with this ‘simple human’ version of you? Did you ever have the power to shoot lightning?? Could I shoot lightning if I tried? Like were you some sorta time wizard? Is that why you’re all… timey-wimey and powerful?” Danny wiggles his fingers with a look of confusion on his face.

Clockwork always finds their Core warming when their boy acts his age. He's abnormally prone to shoulder the destiny of the world on himself and often forgets he's just a kid. “You could continue asking questions one at a time, or you could allow me to tell my story. The choice is yours, Daniel.” They smirk, watching as Danny purses his lips, his steady flow of questions stopping short. The best answer. “Perfect- all is as I thought it would be.”

They close their eyes and reminisce as they continue. “Now- to answer your last question… Yes. You could say magic is how I came to be the Master of Time in both the Infinite Realms and the mortal plane, but there is much more to the story than that. Other players, situations, and pure circumstances. The universe in its infinite chances and possibilities brought myself, as well as many others to the situations they face here and now.” Clockwork pauses, taking the moment to stare straight through Danny’s soul. “Even yourself.”

The boy shudders, an appropriate response. “Wait... me? Did you… do something in the past to like… a past version of someone we know?? Can that even happen???” Danny is already enraptured by the story, eyes twinkling as his mentor opens up about themself. The boy is obviously thinking about everything that has happened, everything that could possibly have happened, and everything that Clockwork could possibly drop on him.

They feel Daniel cautiously tug on loose strands of time to see if he could possibly scope out what is about to be said, quickly failing to do much else beside give himself a small headache. “Time stuff is still really confusing, Clockwork…”

“You could say that. You could even say that trying to mess with time in the inner sanctum of Long Now is the most confusing ‘time stuff’ one could do if they were not myself.” They grin- a Temporal Mirror appearing behind them with a thought.

“What’s the mirror for?” Danny catches sight of himself and looks away, embarrassed that he’s been literally glowing with power after trying to do something so simple with his developing powers. The glow is something he’s been working on suppressing recently. After all, it would be a shame if other ghosts could see the boy powering up by aura alone.

The Master of Time smirks, bringing tea to their lips again. “I thought it would be fun to attempt braiding my hair and doing my makeup for once. It has been an awfully long time since I’ve done either.”

They stare at Danny who just bursts into laughter. “Did you just use sarcasm??? Man, I didn’t know you could lighten up, Clockwork!” The boy laughs harder, sinking deeper into his nest of pillows. After a few minutes he was finally wiping tears from his eyes. “But no. Seriously… what’s the mirror for??”

“Why, what they are always for, Daniel- seeing through time and space.” Clockwork waves their hand. The mirrors show an image of a human with dark hair and burgundy eyes. They have a large, hooked nose and medium brown skin- and Danny finds himself having a hard time guessing their gender. The human sits at a desk, paused in time with the delicate gears of a clock sprawled along the desk surface, tools in hand.

Behind Clockwork, the image changes, showing the human living through an average day- images play in small spurts, never showing the whole story. “Do you understand what’s being seen?” The young boy nods, grabbing Mr. Pants out of the air as the blob drifts between the two. Good, he will probably need the companionship, especially towards the end.

This isn’t the easiest story to tell, nor is it easy to listen to, but with a sip of their tea, Clockwork continues.

#danny phantom #invisobang #invisobang 2021 #dp #phanfic #art #my fic #RRR #dantes vibe corner

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andilovetowrite · 3 years ago

Text

Controlled Freakiness (P.P x Reader)

Peter Parker x Stark!Reader

This can be read as a continuation of Initial Shyness, or as a stand-alone.

Summary: Confessions are cute, right? Especially when you have been waiting for years to say it out loud. But what happens when the initial shyness wears off? And we all know Peter isn’t as innocent as he seems ;)

Warnings: Mention of blood and knives. Also some suggestiveness and making out. Nothing too graphic though. A couple of bad words here and there as well.

Word Count: 3.4k

Based on a request, you can find it here!

Here is my Masterlist in case you want to find more of my work :)

If someone told you that one day, you and Peter Parker would be caught making out in your bedroom, you would’ve laughed at them. But...as it turns out, they wouldn’t have been too wrong about that.

Let’s go back to about five months ago, on the rooftop of Peter’s apartment, where he had met you with a bouquet of red roses and an even redder face …

5 months ago

“Why-why would yo-is this-u” you tried to speak, with little success. You could feel your face heat up in embarrassment, so you just stared at the flowers in Peter’s hands.

“I-uh really, um like you Y/N. Like more than an a-a friend. And much more than a best friend. I know yo-you may not like me back, but I couldn’t keep it in any longer-”

You know it’s rude to interrupt someone when they are speaking. But you couldn’t hear any other word come out of his mouth because otherwise, you would’ve melted. So you did the next best thing. You kissed him. Hard.

His words got caught in his throat as his lips met yours. And for a second, you were worried you went too far, pulling back. But as soon as he felt you doing that, his hands went to your hair, pulling you flush against him, kissing you back with fervour.

You wish you could’ve stopped time. Right there. During a beautiful sunset, on the roof surrounded by rose petals, and with Peter in your arms. And in your mouth. But sadly, you needed air to breathe, so you pulled away, probably looking like a fish straight out of the water. Opening your eyes, you could see Peter’s face. His pupils were dilated, and his entire face was a pink hue. His lips were plump and red but pulled up in a lovesick smile.

You knew you had the same expression on your face. Smiling softly, you looked at Peter, and at the same time, you both said.

“I really like you.”

Anyway, so that was probably one of the highlights of your day, but possibly one of the happiest days in your dad’s life. His little apprentice/almost son kissed and confessed to his only daughter. It couldn’t have worked out better. No boy would ever be good enough for you, and no ordinary girl would be good enough for Peter. So naturally, he was thrilled to hear that you two were now a couple.

And that’s why you wished he didn’t have to be the first one to walk in on you and Peter. So that brought you to the infamous Saturday that was now known as the Satisfying Saturday...

------------------------------------------------------------------------------Friday, 8:00 pm, Avenger’s Compound

“Hey Y/N”, Peter called out, walking through the open window. His Spidey suit was cut loose in different places, and the minute he stepped in, his mask disappeared, showing his tired and bruised face.

“What the heck Pete?”, you shouted, jumping up from your bed. “What happened? How did I not get an alert?”

Peter looked down sheepishly, which then made you realise that he was still standing on the roof.

“Peter! Get down, and tell me what happened?!” You pointed down sternly, letting him jump on the floor, wincing as he hit his leg. Running to the first aid kit you kept in your room for times like these, you picked up some hydrogen peroxide and cotton pads, letting Peter sit down on your bed.

“So, tell me, Peter? What was it this time? You asked, dabbing the disinfectant on his face first. He flinched as you pressed it, hissing softly as the pad made contact with his skin. Shushing softly, you focused on cleaning his wounds, moving your thumb over them to soothe them.

“Y/N, you know, it wasn’t as bad-”

“Really Pete? You are bleeding like a fire hydrant. Why didn’t Karen update my dad or the tower? Or me?”

“Yeah um, about that, I disabled the Careless Boyfriend command”, he said, looking at you expectantly. You scratched your head, scoffing.

“It was a great device! Plus, who do you think makes the suits with Mr Stark?” Leaning back, you grabbed some antiseptic cream, putting it over his face. “So, you still have to tell me whose ass to kick when I go out on patrol..”

“Actually, it was-”

“Wait, let me guess...old lady with a ferocious cat, both of whom thought you were a creepy Comic-Con freak!” Laughing slightly at the pout on his face, you pressed the tiny spider on his chest, watching as the suit untightened, falling from his body effortlessly. Now, usually, his abs and glowing skin would distract you for a bit, but it was different this time. Dark red blood oozed out from deep cuts on his abdomen, falling on the bed around him. Your eyes widened as they roamed over his injuries.

“Peter! Wha- what did they use? A normal knife wouldn’t cut you like this!” Peter’s face scrunched up in pain as he remembered it, but seeing the look on your face, he grabbed your hand, nodding at you.

“It-it’s fine Y/N. Um, actually, they were using some suspicious-looking gadgets, so yo-you have to tell Mr Stark about it so-”

“No Pete, I mean, I’ll tell dad about this, but first I gotta get you to the infirmary. Holy crap…” you rambled, pulling his suit off.

“Baby, if you wanted my clothes off, you could have just said”, Peter said, smirking at you. Hitting his arm, you glared at him playfully.

“Watch it Parker. I could leave you here!”, you said, throwing the suit into the wash, mentally reminding yourself to make him a more durable suit. Grabbing him, you made him hobble out of your room. In the light of the tower, you can see how fagged out he was looking.

“Hey princes- what the heck happened to you Peter?!”, you dad asked, walking over to the two of you. Taking some of Peter’s weight, he called out to F.R.I.D.A.Y, asking her to call the nearest medics. “How did this happen, Pete?”

“Well, I think it wassss-”, Peter began, but slumped down after a couple of seconds, falling in your arms.

“Dad! What do I do?”

“It’s fine, he’ll be okay, lets just get him to the clinic, um- Steve! Help us out with Spiderboy here”

Carrying him, you got him to the doctors, watching as his wounds already started to patch themselves up. Metal gadgets ran over his body as your dad spoke to the head medic, his eyebrows furrowed in concern.

“What happened to him?”, you asked. It wasn’t the worst Peter had seen, but you had never seen him pass out before due to a cut.

“Um, so we are detecting some slight substances in his bloodstream, but we are working on removing it.”

“What substances?”, Tony asked, inhaling sharply.

“We aren’t sure yet, but the results should come in about a day.”, the doctor said, looking back at Peter, “As for Spiderman, he should take a couple days off.” He then looked at you. “Did Peter say anything at all about the weapons?”

You shook your head, thinking back. “Nothing much, except for that they were looking suspicious. Maybe the team can go and track back where Peter was patrolling, you know? To see if they can catch the guys who hurt him?”

Tony nodded, as he went back to the living room, probably to call all the Avengers. Trailing after him, you ran to get your suit, but was stopped halfway. “Hey, Tiny Stark, why don’t you stay with Spiderboy. To make sure he is fine?” Natasha asked, glancing at Tony as he slightly nodded his head.

“But you might need help?”

“We’ll be fine. Plus, if these are as dangerous as Peter said, then we wouldn’t want you getting injured. Best you stay here” Dejectedly saying yes, you bid them goodbye.

“Oh, and have fun with the kid. He is pretty hot, and I know you can hit that”, Nat said, winking at you.

Smiling shakily, you stepped back, watching as they left the tower, leaving only you and Peter back.

Fast forward to about 3 long hours later, Peter finally woke up, looking much better. “Y/N? What happened, where’s Mr-”

“Gone out to track down those guys, and they won’t be back till tomorrow”, you said, glancing at your comms. “Said that they were following them to the base”

Peter nodded, looking drowsy. “Can-can I please get some food?”

Smiling at him, you quickly checked if he was ready to be discharged before you got him up. A bit unsteady on his feet, Peter followed you to the living room, falling on the couch. “Whatcha want Pete? A sandwich, or some pasta?”

“Popcorn...caramel please.”

You laughed, grabbing some from the cupboard marked Movie Nights. “Really? You need protein!” Peter didn’t say anything, instead of looking at you with his famous puppy eyes as he pouted. “Fine fine! You win”

Smiling at you, he opened his arms. Hesitantly, you crawled into them, making sure not to apply pressure on his stomach. Times like these were rare. Sure, you and Peter were a couple, but PDA was little at the towers and you two were some of the shyest people when it came to displaying affection in front of people. So you relished times like these when you could just be close to Peter.

“So Peter, what movi-”

*Snore*

Amused, you peered back at him, your heart-melting when you saw Peter fast asleep, his arms wrapped around you and his head lolled back against the cushions. Shrugging to yourself, you quietly switched off the lights, getting up carefully, but almost immediately being pulled back.

“Petey, I gotta get up”, you whispered softly.

“Nuh uh, nope”, he said, his chocolate brown eyes sleepily staring at you, “stay here”

So you stayed. And it was one of the best nights of sleep you had ever had. Little did you know though, tomorrow would be one of the most interesting days of your life.

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

“Good morning Y/N Stark and Peter Parker. I just wanted to inform you that the furniture replacement dudes are on their way up. For Mr Parker’s identity to be kept secret, I would advise you to make your way to the individual rooms or the medbay.” F.R.I.D.A.Y’s automated voice floated through the air, waking you up.

Peter began stirring lightly from under you, making you sit up. His light brown curls sat on his forehead, falling into his eyes. He started mumbling words under his breath as he sat up, rubbing his eyes roughly.

“Ugh drool”, he muttered, wiping his mouth.

Leaning towards him, you brushed his hair out of his face. “Well, good morning to you too Mr Parker”

“Ms Stark, good morning”, Peter said, pulling you into his arms once more. Smiling, you hoped he wouldn’t see your face, as you push your face onto the couch. Pulling back just enough to see him, you leaned down to brush your lips against his, softly at first. Peter sighed into your mouth, and met back up with fevor, his hands tangling themselves in your hair. You could’ve stayed there, but Peter let go, his head still leaning against yours.

“As much as I would love to spend the rest of my day like this, w-we have to get up”, you said, hearing the guys come up the elevator, “like right now Peter!”

Jumping up, you both ran, laughing at F.R.I.D.A.Y as she tried to slow down the elevator without breaking it. “Oh and by the way, how did F.R.I.D.A.Y. learn to say, dudes?”

“Who do you think works with Mr Stark on Friday?”, Peter asked, referring to what you said yesterday to him. Which made you remember his wound.

“How’s your stomach?”, you asked, wanting to pull his shirt up and find out, but way too awkward to do it.

“It’s perfectly fine. Kinda bruised by the feels of it, but the cuts have gone..”, he said, walking back to your room. “When’s the team heading back?”

“Uh, I’m not sure actually, let me just-”, you said, calling Tony up. “Hey Dad, how’s the mission? Find anything yet?”

“Oh, hey sweetheart, uh, can’t talk right now”, Tony grunted as gunshots were heard from behind him, “but we’ll be home by tonight. How’s ugh, um Peter?”

“Oh yeah, Peter’s fine. We’ll probably just watch some movies or something. Do you need anything? Food, rations, help?”

“Esteemed Daughter, who are you talking to? I’m Iron Man, I don’t need any helppppp”, your dad yelled as the sound of metal was his before the line got cut. Peter looked at you with wide eyes, his face shocked.

“Will Mr Stark be okay?”

“Yeah, he will...probably. Nat will call in a bit anyway, so let’s just wait”, you said, jumping on your bed. Patting the place next to you, you watched as Peter shed his shirt, walking over to your bed in his grey sweatpants. Inhaling sharply, you pushed away any thoughts that were coming into your mind as Peter laid down, his arm going around you as he kissed your cheek.

God, you wish he would kiss you somewhere else.

Shaking your head, you asked, “So, which movie should we watch?”

“Um, how about...Hunger Games?”, he asked, slyly grinning at you. Damn him, he knew it was your favourite “nerd” movie. Nodding at him with a grin, you switched it on, falling back onto Peter as the movie started.

Sadly, you weren’t able to focus on the movie too much. Because you were too focused on your boyfriend next to you. Due to the fact that he was an Avenger like you, the timings for the two of you were cramped. With college, and patrolling, there were very different lifestyles the two of you led. As best friends you used to be inseparable but as a couple? Oh, it was a completely different story.

Whenever you two were alone, someone would always interrupt you. Whether it was May at Peter’s place or Ned at school, there was not a single minute the two of you could just hang out. So naturally, you two hadn’t gone to second base. Or even 1.5th place. But today, with the tower absolutely empty, you couldn’t say that your mind didn’t wander. And the clip of Katniss and Peeta making on the screen didn’t help either. So you said something you weren’t too happy about…

“Peter, I wanna jump your bones right now”

“Wha-uh, huh? Y-you wanna do wh-um, jump m-my bones...Uh, I don’t- uh what?!” Peter stuttered, his face bright red. But you were too far down that lane so you just nodded.

“Yeah dude�� Peter didn’t say anything again, his eyes glassing over as he stared at you. “Fine...but couldIkissyouabitmorethanusualplease?”

“Uh ye-yeah, if if you want to?”, Peter said, his face flushed pink as he stared at you, adoration in his eyes. Smiling at him with what you hoped with an “I-wanna-make-out-with-you” look, you moved next to him, your face hovering about his. Kissing him lightly at first, it grew deep as Peter grunted softly under you, capturing your lips between his teeth. Suddenly, he grabbed you, pulling you down under him. Now he was the one over you, and when your hand went to his hair, he let out the softest of sounds. But you heard it...and god did it get a reaction out of you.

Now, if you were in your right mind, you would go and put a sock in the door, or tell F.R.I.D.A.Y. to disable the elevator to your level. But you were too preoccupied with a certain someone to even bother about that. That is how this entire whole thing started.

Coming back to you and Peter making on your bed, your legs were thrown over his waist as he pulled you to him, your back hovering off the bed. Oh, the joys of having a superhero boyfriend. Anyway, just as he was about to leave your lips to trail kisses down your neck...the door opened.

You didn’t hear the door open though. What you did hear was the multitude of voices, and your dad’s one the loudest.

“WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK!”

You couldn’t blame him. It did look bad. With Peter not wearing his shirt and his back bare, it looked like he wasn’t wearing any clothes since our lower bodies were under your cover. Peter also covered you the minute he heard your dad’s voice, which further implied that you both were very very naked.

“DAD!”

“MR STARK!”

You stared at your dad, noticing now that the entire team was standing outside the door, their breaths held and eyes peering. “It-it’s not what it looks like! I promise…”

“Peter, get the hell out of my daughter”, your dad said calmly, his eyes looking everywhere else but at us.

“Dad, he isn’t i-in me. Look!”, you said, pulling the cover’s off you two to show your very covered legs.

“Fine, at least I won’t become a grandfather tonight. But why were you on my daughter Mr Parker?”

Poor Peter, he looked like he was about to faint. “Uh, Mr Stark w-we were just um, hugging? Tightly-”

“With what? Your mouths?”, Sam called out, laughing with Bucky.

“Not now Sam!” you yelled, shooting them a glare.

“Now, I don’t care what you do...but don’t you dare touch my daughter in a harmful way. Got it Parker?”

“Y-yes Mr St-Stark. I won’t, I love your daughter t-too much”

Looking at Peter, your eyes filled with love as you hugged him, kissing him softly. “Aw, I love you too Pete...even if you tried to fuck me right now!”

“WHAT?!”

“Kidding kidding. Anyway, let’s get outta here...please!”

Tony scoffed, turning around but then glanced at Peter. “Take care of your “little” problem before you come downstairs, Peter.”

“Huh? Oh…”, Peter said, hurriedly covering up himself. Giggling, you tried to go closer but were pulled back by your dad.

“Nuh-uh. He’s gonna take care of it. By. Him. Self.”

Rolling your eyes, you walked out, winking at Peter before you walked out. Catching up with the rest of the group, they all grinned at you, making you worried. “What?”, you asked, backing away slightly.

“I think we can all call this day a…”

“Satisfying Saturday!”, they all yelled out, with Natasha bumping shoulders with you and Steve shaking his head behind her.

You sighed, copying Steve. “This isn’t gonna go away, is it?”

“Nope”, Thor said, laughing loudly.

And it didn’t. But thank god they only caught you making out. The next time Peter and you were caught, it was much much worse. But that’s a story for another time.

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

Ooh, that was the longest fic I’ve ever written, but boy, was it a fun one to write. Thanks so much for reading it, and if you liked this one, you can be added to the Taglist for the Caught By Them series. My requests are also open if you have any ideas, but if not, then see you next time!

BTW: Spent about 20 min trying to figure out the type of disinfectant used to treat stab wounds. That’s 20 minutes I’ll never get back, but if I ever do get into a fight, at least I’ll know what treatment to use…

Tagging some people from my last series in case they would enjoy this one :)

@idkatee @eternalscribblesforthesoul @loudbluepancake @poisondevotion @scram1326 @t-hollanderr @305weasley @starknik22 @marvelfansworld @lou-la-lou @lomlparker @marvelfansworld @wowitsel @vanteguccir @fullcheesecakeengineer @ladykxxx08 @allegras-sunflower @ifyouknewhowmiserylovedme

186 notes · View notes

jenonctcity · 5 years ago

Text

Art Of Innocence

The Virgin Series – Huang Renjun

Part of ‘The Virgin Diaries’ Series

Virgin!Au, University!Au, Bestfriend-Lovers!Au

Genre: Fluff, Smut, Angst.

Warnings: Explicit Sex, Very brief mentions of drug and alcohol, Loss of virginity.

Word Count: 11.8k

Summary: Art and gaming. That’s all Renjun found himself doing. Of course he spent time with his friends, but he had to be dragged away from his games console or easel first. Renjun had been brought up around art, his mother being an artist and his father being a drama teacher. So it wasn’t a shock to anyone when he decided to study art at university. His quiet, shy, nerdy nature meant that he didn’t get much attention when walking around campus, which is just how he liked it. You however, had found him on your first day of university and had stuck to him like glue. He pretended as if you didn’t mean that much to him, but you and him both knew he would be lost without you. Only, you didn’t know he was a virgin. So after you found out about the pact from one of the other boys, you couldn’t wait to intercept his gaming session and quiz him on his innocence. You couldn’t help it, but you suddenly saw him in a different light, one that had your fingers tingling and stomach flipping. The same way Renjun had felt looking at you since the first day he’d met you.

---

Meeting Renjun had been noteworthy. It isn’t every day that you find yourself a best friend upon your first meeting with someone, but with Renjun it had come very naturally. It had started when you’d tripped over the tiniest stick in existence, which you still have no idea how you did that, and had fallen straight into Renjun. It was very cliché, which is the exact reason you picked him to be your new best friend. He had been more than surprised when a beautiful girl he’d never met before flew into his arms and had face planted straight into his chest. After he’d gotten over his initial shock and had straightened you up onto your feet, he’d accepted the bumble of apologies that came flying out of your mouth and was ready to move on with his life. What he didn’t expect was for you to notice the Moomin keyring on his backpack and to spark up a conversation about it that seemed like it went on forever, with you repeating yourself and him just listening. Before he knew it, the two of you had walked around campus twice and he’d found out that your name is (Y/N) and you have a tendency to ramble on about random crap. But he liked to listen to your random crap, and he could see the beautiful friendship blossoming before his eyes.

So you and Renjun soon became close. You learnt his class schedule and forced him to learn yours, so that it was easier for the two of you to spend time together. At first, you had a feeling Renjun wasn’t overly keen on being your friend, but after a little while you just realised he had an attitude where he pretended he didn’t care about anything, since he would start waiting outside of your classroom for you to finish when you hadn’t even made plans with him. With Renjun, came his best friends. Jaemin, Jeno, and Donghyuck. You got on really well with them, but you only saw them when you went over to their shared apartment to see Renjun, or if they invited you to go to the classic American style diner down the road from their apartment. You also learnt a lot about his past. He was born in China but after his father got a job in Korea, they moved over when Renjun was eleven and they’d been there ever since. When you’d heard that his mother was a freelance artist and his father was a drama teacher, it made sense to you. Renjun was studying art and had a natural talent you can only assume was passed onto him from his parents.

You couldn’t even count the amount of times on both of your hands that Renjun had drawn you little pictures of random things. He was very generous with his art and even though you’d never asked him or expected him to draw or paint you anything, he loved to surprise you with a small painting of flowers or a sketch he’d done of you based purely off of his memory of your details and features. His art was hugely impressive, his people skills on the other hand, not so much. He was quiet, and he kept to himself, only spending time with you, or the boys. The more you got to know Renjun, the more you were surprised that he even let you cling to him like you did, but you never once thought that it could be because he formed a crush on you. From the moment that Renjun had laid eyes on you when you bumped into him, he had felt his heart jump on a rocket ship and take flight. He was so smitten for you, but he didn’t want you to notice, so he hid it well and preferred to show his affection towards you in subtle ways, like paying for your lunch, walking you back to your dorm, or drawing you a silly picture of a worm. Even after a year and a half of Renjun feeling that way, you however, had never really thought of Renjun in any other way other than platonic. Of course you thought he was beautiful; he was one of the most beautiful males you’d ever laid eyes on. He had deep brown eyes that sparkled in the sunlight, a cute little nose and a smile that made you want to pinch his cheeks and coo at him. Which the one time you did, his cheeks went so red that he whined for about half an hour that he was embarrassed.

You were more than happy that the apartment the boys lived in wasn’t too far from campus, it was only a ten minute walk if you picked up the pace and you could stop off at the convenience store on the way to buy snacks. Also it meant that you didn’t have to be in the cold January air for long, which was a bonus. With your backpack now heavier from the soda and snacks you bought, you knocked on their apartment door and waited patiently, rocking backwards and forwards on your feet. The door swung open and a smiley Donghyuck appeared behind the door.

“Hey (Y/N).” He opened the door wide enough for you to step in. You smiled back and quickly took your shoes off in the entrance.

“Hey Hyuck.” You neatly arranged your shoes by the door and pulled off your backpack and winter coat, hanging it up on the coat rack before shuffling through to the living room. As per usual, Renjun was nowhere in sight, but Jeno and Jaemin were sat on the sofas with their laptops on their laps with the tv showing old episodes of SpongeBob SquarePants. They both glanced up when you entered and smiled, Jaemin looking overly smug as he looked at you.

“Well hello (Y/N).” The Jaemin spoke had your eyebrows raising in question at his tone. It sounded like he knew something you didn’t and knowing Jaemin, it sent a shiver down your spine.

“Hello Jaemin…is Renjun in his room?”

“Yep.” You quickly rushed to Renjun’s bedroom, not bothering to knock on the door because you knew he wouldn’t hear you knock anyway. Upon entering you saw Renjun in his typical position. Sat in his gaming chair at his desk, playing some random game on his desktop with his gigantic headphones covering half of his head. “Hey Renjun!” You chirped, throwing yourself on his bed. He completely ignored you, too invested in his game to even notice that you’d entered his room. His eyes were glued to the screen and his mouth was popped open in his concentration. “Renjun…Renjun!” You raised your voice until eventually he turned his head, giving you a nod and a brief greeting as he moved his attention back to his game. “Seriously?” You sighed and rolled your eyes. “I’ll be in the living room.” You grumbled and walked out of his room, leaving the door open and making your way back to the living room.

“Hey, guess what.” Jaemin turned his attention to you as you entered the room again and sat yourself down in between him and Jeno.

“What?” You laid your head back against the sofa and tilted it towards Jaemin, getting relaxed and preparing yourself for the dumb thing he was probably about to say.

“So you know how Renjun is a virgin-”

“WHAT?!” You shot up, sitting bolt upright with a look that was a mix of shock and amusement on your face. Jaemin and Jeno both flinched at your loud voice, looking shocked themselves. Donghyuck let out a snigger across the room where he was sitting on his phone. “I mean I had a feeling he was a virgin, but he never told me! He always avoided the topic of girls whenever I brought it up.”

“Oh…anyway now you know,” Jaemin scratched the back of his head awkwardly, as if he’d just let out a big secret that he shouldn’t have. “So we have this little pact going, and since you’re a female and super close to Renjun, I thought you could help him out.” He grinned widely at you, closing his laptop and shifting all of his attention to you.

“I don’t like where this is going…” You narrowed your eyes in suspicion at him, having heard stories about Jaemin’s little schemes that didn’t end up going well and have caused plenty of stories you’re sure that the boys will be telling their grandchildren one day.

“It isn’t bad, don’t worry.” Jeno leaned over and mumbled to you. You let out a small sigh of relief but still held a little bit of suspense inside of you as you watch Jaemin.

“The pact is, we all have to lose our virginities before the end of the year-”

“You’re all virgins?” You titled your head in curiosity, actually quite shocked hearing that these four handsome boys were all virgins still. It was a big surprise to you that Donghyuck was a virgin, as you knew him to have the party boy reputation, and a party where everyone is making decisions under the influence of alcohol and other non-legal substances is an easy opportunity to lose your virginity.

“Yeah, anyway,” Jaemin shook his hand to try and grab your attention back to him as you looked around at the nodding boys. “Like I said, we have to lose our virginities before the end of 2020. You know Renjun really well and we all know how much of an introverted nerd he is-”

“That’s a bit harsh.” You interrupted Jaemin yet again, causing him to narrow his eyes at you. You sunk your head into your neck slightly and giggled. “Sorry, carry on.”

“Anyway,” He out a lot of emphasis on the word, giving you a wide-eyed look that almost dared you to interrupt him one more time. “He’s going to need a bit of help. He’s the only one we’re worried about finding someone to do the dirty with. So this is where you come in!” He patted your thigh and gave you a big, closed mouth grin. “You need to help him get his dick wet.” You felt a bit sad for Renjun. It made you sad that his best friends didn’t have confidence in his ability to get some, because you knew that if Renjun really put his mind to something, he could easily pull it off. Just because Renjun hadn’t had sex yet, doesn’t mean he’s incapable of it. And no, you’d never seen him flirt with anyone, or even lay eyes on another female, or…even show interest in another female…but that doesn’t mean he will struggle to fuck someone.

“He won’t need my help! The school year started two days ago and we’re less than a month into the new year, he has loads of time, there’s no rush.” You shrugged, sticking up for him as he wasn’t there to defend his own honour.

“Yeah we’re just saying that he might need a little…push in the right direction!” Jaemin was clearly only trying to help, so you didn’t get mad at him. Instead you rolled your eyes and patted Jaemin’s thigh.

“Let me handle it.” You pushed yourself up from the sofa and went back to Renjun’s room, rolling your eyes once more when you saw him sat in the exact same position as he was when you’d left the room. Instead of letting him ignore you though, you shut the door behind you, and marched up behind him. “Oi.” You lifted his headphones off of his head despite the little whine he let out. “I heard a little rumour about you Renjunnie.” You whispered in his ear, causing him to visibly shudder. He furrowed his eyebrows and turned off his game, spinning his chair around to face you as you perched on the end of his bed.

“A rumour? About what?” He tilted his head like a curious puppy, his knee bouncing which you had noticed he did as a little habit. One of the things you found endearing about Renjun was that he had a lot of little nervous habits. One of them was he fidgeted a lot, especially when the room was quiet but there was a lot of people surrounding him. Another one of his little habits was biting his nails, which you had reprimanded him for plenty of times, often by smacking his hand away from his face and giving him a glare.

“I heard from someone that you did some dirty dirty things at the new years party.” You winked at him, wondering if he would fall for your little story. You didn’t think it would be fun just to straight up tell him you knew about the pact and his very much still intact innocence, so instead you did what any best friend would do and wind him about it.

“Who said that?!” He frowned quickly, confusion settling over his features. He was wearing an oversized hoodie with matching sweatpants, and he looked far too cute and cosy to have a frown on his face. He slouched further into his seat and spread his legs out further, his habit of manspreading to the max still just as bad as it always was.

“A little birdie told me.” You smirked, putting your elbow on your thigh and leaning your head against your hand. You were trying really hard not to laugh, but Renjun hadn’t noticed that you were just teasing him yet. “Did you fuck someone again?” You titled your head, feigning innocence as his eyes squinted and he looked even more confused than before.

“Again? What on earth are you bumbling on about?” His cheeks were starting to pink up and that’s when you knew you had him where you wanted him.

“Well you’ve fucked someone before, haven’t you? So that would mean if you did it at the party then it would have been again! You following me?” You finished talking with a little giggle, biting your bottom lip to stop yourself from bursting out into full laughter.

“I-I…no I haven’t fucked anyone before. Whoever told you that was lying a-…no one told you a rumour, did they?” He raised an eyebrow as he caught onto your lie. He really did know you too well and he could see that you were holding in laughter. “You just wanted me to admit that I’m a virgin!” He stood up quickly and you gasped, knowing exactly what he was about to do. You quickly pushed yourself up the bed to try and escape from him.

“No Renjun I’m sorry no don’t tickle meeeee!” It was too late though, before you’d even finished your sentence, he had cornered you against the headboard of his single bed and had his hands digging into your sides.

“This is what you deserve!” He laughed, not bothered at all about being a virgin, so it didn’t bother him that you tried to amuse yourself with it. If it made you smile, Renjun would do take all the embarrassment in the world.

“Stooooooop!” You squealed, trying your hardest to push him away from you. He laughed with you, eventually relenting and removing his hands from you. He slapped your knee and sat beside you.

“That’s what you get for virgin shaming me.” He sniggered, bumping his shoulder into yours and crossing his arms in his lap. You didn’t notice the way he looked at you with a slight longing in his dark eyes. He yearned for your company; he was just too shy to tell you that all he wanted was for you to be cuddled up in his arms in times like this. He was too afraid to be rejected by you, and he knew he wouldn’t be able to keep the friendship alive; his awkwardness would play too much of a part and he wouldn’t be able to act like he normally did around you.

“I think it’s cute that you’re an innocent little bean!” You wrapped your arms around his shoulders from beside him and smiled up at him. “I bet you’ll be right kinky little fucker.” You sniggered, noticing how his cheeks went a dark red as he blushed. But he laughed with you despite his mouth popping open in shock. “Spank me daddy.” He gave you a gentle shove and flopped back on his bed, trying desperately to direct his thoughts in another direction at your vulgar saying. He didn’t have a daddy kink, well not that he knew of, but hearing you say something to erotic made his stomach spark up a fire he couldn’t control. He squeezed his eyes shut, taking a deep breath and letting out a sigh.

“Gross.” Was all he mumbled, throwing his arms over his face to hide his embarrassment. You looked down at Renjun and felt a strange feeling you’d never felt when you’d looked at him before. Of course you found him attractive, but you’d never found yourself attracted to him before. So why were you suddenly having thoughts about what he would look like with shirt off as you looked down at the soft, embarrassed boy. Luckily, he had his eyes shut and his arms over his face, so he couldn’t see your eyes trailing up and down his body.

“So, Jaemin told me about the pact you have with them. Who are you planning on seducing?” He gently removed his arms and popped open an eye to look at you, not missing the way you wiggled your eyebrows at him suggestively.

“I haven’t even thought about it yet.” He shrugged, slowly pushing himself to sit up. You glanced around his room, your eyes trailing over the PlayStation and Xbox connected to his desktop monitor that you’d seen hundreds of times, before moving to the easel in the corner of his room that had an unfinished painting of what you assumed was supposed to be abstract art, as you couldn’t make out what the hell he was painting. His room was super cramped from how much he’d crammed into the small space, but it was cosy, and you’d fallen asleep squished up against him on his single bed plenty of times when he was gaming and you were bored. You loved being in his room.

“Leave it with me big boy.” You winked, patting his thigh, and ignoring the strange feeling you got in your stomach and the small amount of contact.

---

“Okay, so I know you’ve probably been anticipating this all week, but I have finally finished my list of ways that you can dip your dick into some vagina okay?” Your uncouth way of speaking had Renjun cringing and lowering his head slightly as he sat opposite you in the Chinese restaurant. Even though you said it quietly, he still went bright red at the thought of someone around hearing you and he nearly choked on his chicken. It was also the way that you had brought it up at the first moment of silence between you two since you’d sat down in the restaurant. You’d previously been talking about how you thought apple music was far superior to spotify, and then after the conversation on that topic was over, you’d swooped straight in with the kill.

“I know you won’t shut up until you tell me, so go for it.” He didn’t voice it, but he hoped that you would be subtle with whatever you had concocted in your own time. You put down your chopsticks to grab your phone out of your bag, quickly opening up your notes and clearing your throat.

“Option number one, go to a party with Donghyuck and find a lovely sober lady to take home.” You had a small nagging feeling in your stomach that was telling you he hoped you said no to all of the things on your list, and you couldn’t tell why you felt that way. He wrinkled up his nose and shook his head quickly.

“I don’t do parties; New Year’s Eve was a one off because it was the turn of the year and Jeno told me if I didn’t go then he’d throw all of my boxers off of the roof.” He said that with a serious look on his face, while you let out a quick laugh at the thought of Jeno doing that to his boxers.

“Okay…that doesn’t sound like something Jen would do though?” You titled your head in curiosity. Jaemin? Of course he would threaten to do that. Donghyuck? Also highly likely. Jeno? Nope. That doesn’t sound like something mellow, go with the flow, and responsible Jeno would do.

“He was already drunk off of wine.” Renjun shrugged, taking a sip of his water, and helping himself to the noodles between you both that you were sharing.

“Oh, wine drunk, okay that makes sense.” You nodded in understanding of Jeno’s actions now, placing your phone on the table so that you could go back to eating. You shoved some rice into your mouth and then read out the next option.

“Option number two, I can set you up with that gamer girl in my class. She’s a bit…out there! But that can be a good thing you know; she’ll probably tie you up and ride you over the rainbow.” You smiled at him as if the more you smiled at him, the more likely it would be for him to say yes. Sometimes you couldn’t help the words that tumbled out off your mouth, and after you heard them in your head after they’d been verbally spoken, you cringed. This was one of those moments. Especially when Renjun paused his chewing and gave you a look that was a mix of confusion and being grossed out. “I’ll take that as a no.” You cleared your throat and deleted option number one and two from your phone.

“How many options are there?” He moved his attention back to his food, leaning forward slightly as he shovelled more food into his mouth in an attempt to avoid commenting on your options.

“Four.”

“It took you an entire week and you only came up with four?!” His eyes flicked back to you in surprise.

“I forgot until this morning all right.” You mumbled and rolled your eyes at your own forgetfulness. “Moving on. Number three, you sign up to tinder.” The thought of Renjun signing up to tinder made you want to laugh but puke at the same time. Laugh because the poor boy had no idea how to flirt, and you could see him as the cringey boy who sent a strange pick up line or commented on something in one of the girl’s pictures. Puke because you didn’t want him to go on a date with some random girl you probably didn’t know. Again, confusion swirled around your head, because you’d never felt like that before, mainly because you’d never had any thoughts of Renjun dating since it wasn’t anything he’d ever done since you’d been his friend. Knocking that thought out of your head you cleared watched his face as he turned his nose up to option number three.

“Nope.” Shaking his head and drinking his water again, he wasn’t prepared for your fourth option.

“Fine! Final option, you make a decent amount from selling your work online, right? Hire a hooker!” He choked on his water at how nonchalantly you spoke those words, coughing and trying to catch his breath without causing other people to look over at you both. “Woah you okay buddy?” You giggled nervously and widened your eyes slightly. “Have a sip of water!” You pushed your own cup towards him and watched as his face went completely red.

“You’re insane.” He grunts out with a groggy sounding throat when his coughing fit had finished, quickly sipping at the water from your cup. “I’m not doing that.”

“Well then have fun finding someone to lose your purity too Mr I’m too good for (Y/N)’s ideas.” You folded your arms over your chest and shrugged, faking offense that he didn’t like any of your ideas. “Don’t say I didn’t try to help.”

“Your ideas sucked.” His words came out in a blunt way, which is what you should have expected since Renjun had never been shy about telling you things the way he saw them.

“Whatever, the only other option I can think of is to just fuck me and get it over with.” You pouted, sulking that he didn’t like your admittedly awful ideas. You did it again, you opened your mouth without thinking and even you were shocked at your own suggestion. Your eyes slowly widened as you thought it through in your head. You didn’t know if you even wanted to go there with Renjun, sleeping with someone is a big step for anyone, especially when they’re your best friend, but there was a small burst of butterflies setting off in your stomach at the thought of it. Renjun looked as if his brain was short circuiting, and his mouth opened and closed as he tried to form the right words to reply to you with. A strange awkward cloud settled over the table, but you couldn’t find it in yourself to take the offer back.

“No, I couldn’t.” He shook his head, gulping as he put the water back on the table, letting his eyes wonder everywhere but at you, causing him to miss the way you visibly deflated at his rejection. He didn’t want to just fuck you, no matter how much he longed to have you writhing underneath him, naked and basking in the glory of his affection. He wanted to hold your hand, give you soft, tender kisses that proved how much you had his heart. He wanted to make love to you and wake up the next morning with the certainty that you were his, and the only person who felt your love was him. So no, he couldn’t just fuck you and get it over with. You looked down at your plate, awkwardly pursing your lips as you wallowed in self pity at Renjun’s rejection. Did he not find you attractive? Did he not like you enough to do that? Did he simply not want to ruin your friendship? You didn’t know, and you were too busy feeling sorry for yourself that you didn’t bother asking.

“Okay cool.” You shrugged, sitting opposite him with a sad look on your face for the rest of the meal, even though it didn’t last long as Renjun hurried to pay the bill, despite your whining that you were going to pay. You both left and instead of going back to Renjun’s apartment like you had originally planned, you told him you were tired and promptly walked in the opposite direction to go back to your dorm on campus.

Renjun groaned as he watched you walk away, feeling bad about the way he had just shot you down without even offering you an explanation for why he didn’t want to have sex with you. But he didn’t have it in him just yet to tell you how he really felt for you, too scared that it would either scare you off, or cause you to feel awkward because you didn’t feel the same way as him. Either way, he knew he was screwed.

---

After a week of punishing Renjun for hurting your feelings, you finally decided it was time to relieve him of your absence. You weren’t so harsh as to completely ignore him, but your texts had been vague, and you had simply told him that you were busy whenever he asked you to hang out. You had a feeling that he knew you were upset, because he didn’t wait outside of your class on a Wednesday afternoon like he did every week, and you knew Renjun well enough to know it was because he was giving you your space. He knew you’d go to him when you were ready. Which is the exact reason you were stood in his doorway, staring at his side profile because as per usual, he hadn’t noticed your arrival, too engrossed in playing call of duty on his Xbox with his headset on. Jeno had let you into the apartment with a kind smile, telling you that Renjun had been whining about missing you all week. You were thankful that Jeno went behind Renjun’s back to tell you that, because it was just more confirmation for you that he did in fact like you and wasn’t just using you as someone to hang out with. You did feel silly for feeling that way, but in the moment of being hurt, you couldn’t help but let your mind drift over to the negative side of thoughts.

You approached him without warning, not noticing as his eyes flicked up to look at you in completely surprise at your sudden appearance. He quickly remembered that he was in the middle of a war and went back to looking at his screen, trying not to make it obvious that his heart was pounding so hard in his chest that he was sure it was visible. You swung one of your legs over his, putting your hands on his shoulders and struggling to sit yourself down. He let go of his controller with one hand and helped you onto his lap, his breath held from how close you were as you snuggled your head into his neck, wrapping your arms around his body and his gaming chair. He wrapped his arms around you, holding his controller behind your back and playing the game over your shoulder. This was the first time that you had wiggled your way into his hold when he was playing his games on his gaming chair, so he was beyond surprised, but elated at how warm you felt cuddled up to him. He held you tightly whilst shooting at random people’s characters on the game, completely silent instead of swearing when his own character was shot.

“You’ve been avoiding me.” He mumbled, trying to pretend like it hadn’t affected him. But your absence had his heart yearning for you even more. You just hummed in confirmation at his statement, your hot breath against his neck almost making him sweat from how nervous he was getting at having you where he wanted you. Ever since you’d stumbled into his life, he had wanted to hold you like this whilst he played his video games, loving how it gave you attention and kept you close, whilst he still got to play his games. As you clung onto Renjun, you came to a realisation that you could happily get used to this. It felt strange. You’d never had feelings like this towards him, but as he held you in his arms you came to realise that you were starting to get feelings for him. You knew that it was dangerous. Everyone always says to never fall in love with your best friend, but sometimes you don’t even realise that you’re falling down that slippery slope until you’re already in the deep end.

You heard Renjun put his controller down on the desk behind you before removing his headset, your heart starting to pound as he placed both of his hands underneath your thighs. You gripped onto him tighter as he stood up from his chair with you in his hold. You buried your face into his neck more, smiling to yourself because you assumed he was going to put you on the bed so that you could talk about things. You desperately wanted to ask him why he said he couldn’t fuck you, but at the same time you were scared that you’d hear something you didn’t want to hear, something that would put out the fire of feelings inside your stomach like a bucket of ice cold water. Maybe if things went right you could tell him that you were starting to develop feelings for him, so that the two of you could get control of this situation quickly before anyone got hurt. You also knew that if you stayed quiet about your growing feelings for Renjun and he went and fucked someone else, then you’d be gutted.

Renjun placed you on the edge of his bed and then let go of your thighs, he tried to pull away, but you had a tight grip on him. He moved his hands up and pried your arms away from around his shoulders. He smiled at you softly, reaching out a hand and ruffling your hair before sitting himself back down in his gaming chair. He put his headset back on and picked his controller back up, taking a deep breath to try and steady his heart from how quick it had been pounding when he was touching you. He gulped, fidgeting around in his chair and turning it away from you slightly so that you couldn’t see him as well.

You narrowed your eyes at him, gulping down the pang of hurt you felt at him removing you from his lap and just dumping you on his bed. Not only that, he then went back to playing his game and ignoring you. No boy that liked you in the way you liked them would do that, you thought, quickly standing up and marching out of his bedroom with a scowl on your face. You didn’t even bother to say goodbye to Jeno as you rushed past him, not wanting him to see the tears that were flooding your vision. You weren’t hurt at the realisation that he might not like you in anyway other than platonic, you were hurt that he just brushed you aside and acted as if his games meant more to him than his best friend.

As soon as you got home you muted all his contact on all of your social medias so that you wouldn’t see if he messaged you or not, and then you laid on your bed and sulked, wishing you had an Xbox so you could go on call of duty and kill his character as a way of getting back at him. It was petty, but it was an oddly satisfying way of getting back at him in your mind.

---

It had been another week. You weren’t sure why you were leaving it a week each time before you gave in and let Renjun have his chance of redemption, but it felt like a good amount of time for you to calm down about what had happened. You had cleared your head, focusing on your studying instead of dwelling on your feelings for Renjun, which had stupidly grown over the week. You cursed the first person to claim that distance makes the heart grow fonder, because now you knew first-hand that that statement was correct. You hadn’t read any of the messages you’d received off of Renjun. Not only had he texted you, but he’d sent you snapchats, facebook messaged you, and even came over to your dorm to try and get your attention. When you hadn’t answered the door, he’d slipped a piece of paper underneath your door. It was a cartoon drawing of himself with a speech bubble saying ‘I miss you, I’m sorry for whatever I did’, which annoyed you even more despite how cute it was, because he clearly couldn’t see what he’d done wrong. But you just ignored all of his efforts, wanting him to realise that he had hurt your feelings and you weren’t prepared to just let it go this time. He didn’t get to throw you aside and choose his games over you. Best friend or not, that was super rude in your eyes.

You blamed this stupid pact that the boys had. If they’d never made the pact, then you wouldn’t have been dragged into helping him lose his virginity, then you would have never realised your feelings for him, and things would be how they used to be. But still, things could have ended worse if you hadn’t realised your feelings until after he’d given his innocence away to someone else. Anyway that you looked at it, you just felt like you were stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Renjun had yet to notice you, yet again, as you stood in his doorway with a determined look in your eyes. You knew what you were about to do was stupid. Stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid. Yet you knew it would get you the answers that you need to clear your head, and hopefully it would make Renjun realise that you deserved his attention more than his stupid games consoles.

You quickly walked over to him after carefully shutting his door. He didn’t notice you until you were climbing into his lap, his body flinching from how startled he was to suddenly have someone climbing on him. He gulped, just letting you climb onto him, not needing to help you as you moved his limbs around until you were perched in his lap, staring at his face with a slightly worried look on your face. You had all of his attention, his arms tightly around you with both of his hands gripping the controller of his playstation behind your back. All he could hear was the sound of war going on through his headset, because his eyes were now on your eyes, watching them as they scanned his own face. You reached up and slipped his headset from his ears, placing them on his desk before grabbing his face in your palms. He gulped, his lips parting as he tried to find some words, but even a simple hello wouldn’t come out of his mouth. He wasn’t sure where he stood with you. The last thing he knew he was in your bad books, but here you are, sat on his lap with has face in your grip.

His eyes widened when your lips planted themselves on his own. His controller fell out of his hands and tumbled to the floor with a clatter, but he placed his hands on your hips slowly and let his eyes flutter shut. His heart was pounding as he realised that the girl he was head over heels for was kissing him. You had a tight hold on Renjun’s face so that he couldn’t feel your hands shaking, but not tight enough that he couldn’t pull away if he wanted to. Your lips moved slowly against his, and to your relief, he moved his lips in time with yours. The kiss wasn’t perfect, but after you found your rhythm with each other, your lips slotted together like puzzle pieces. You pulled away slightly, your lips now resting less than a centimetre away from his as you tried to steady your breathing. Renjun opened his eyes a slither and stared at your lips, gulping in nervousness before placing a lingering kiss to them once more. Your heart almost burst. That small kiss from Renjun had more of an impact on you than the big kiss you had planted on his lips, because he had initiated that kiss, which meant he wanted to kiss you.

“I’m sorry for whatever I did.” He whispered, his thumbs stroking against the material of your hoodie, his touch feeling warm even through the thick fabric. You sighed and pulled your head further away, opening your eyes and looking him in the eyes.

“You can’t even see what you did wrong Renjun, how can you be sorry?” You slowly let your hands trail from his face to rest lightly on his shoulders. He looked taken aback, his mouth opening and closing as he tried to think of the right words to say to you.

“Because whatever I did hurt your feelings…what did I do?” He tilted his head slightly, his eyebrows furrowing as he tried to rack his brain for the part where he went wrong. His cute expression had your heart soaring, and you were finding it really hard to be mad at him. You were feeling a bit more at ease though, as Renjun had accepted your kiss and had kissed you on his own accord, which in your head must mean that he has some kind of feelings for you.

“We were cuddling, and then you just tossed me aside on your bed and went back to your games, you even turned your back towards me…that hurt my feelings Renjun…you were more interested in your stupid games than you were about me.” You felt slightly silly saying it, especially since your bottom lip naturally pouted itself out like you were a sulking child, but you were glad you got the opportunity to express your feelings to him so that hopefully the two of you could clear the air.

You didn’t miss the way that Renjun’s face went bright red in less than ten seconds, his eyes momentarily widening before he groaned, letting his head roll back as he stared at the ceiling. You raised an eyebrow in confusion at his reaction to your words. He huffed a laugh that turned into a whine, and he raised his head up again, his fluffy brown hair flopping back on his forehead perfectly in place. His face was still burning red and his grip on your hips tightened. “I…oh fuck this is embarrassing…”

“What is?” You titled your head at him, noticing how his adams apple bobbed as he gulped in embarrassment.

“I didn’t remove you from my lap because I wanted to play the games instead of cuddle you. I put you on the bed because you were making…” He took another deep breath and then quickly exhaled and carried on. “You were making me hard, and I didn’t want you to notice. So I moved you and then turned away so you couldn’t see my crotch.” He hands slowly trailed down to your lower back, his fingers lifting up the hem of your hoodie so that his hands were pressed against the warmth of your bare skin. “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings; I just didn’t want you to know that I got hard from you sitting on my lap whilst I was playing my games. It was really hot, and I like you a lot, so I panicked and…yeah.” He cut off his own rambling to look at you which he had previously been avoiding as he was explaining his motives to you. Your mouth popped open in complete and utter shock. Of all the reasons why Renjun had done what he’d done you’d made in your head, that was not on the list.

“Y-you like me?” You stuttered out, gulping yourself to get rid of the small lump of emotion forming in your throat. He smiled timidly, nodding his head to confirm your question. “I like you too…oh my god…this is crazy but like…in a good way!” You were struggling to find words, so you simply leaned in and kissed him again, wanting to feel his soft lips on your again. He returned the kiss, basking in the feeling of finally having your warm lips slotted between his own, a fuzzy feeling that felt natural blossoming inside of his chest. The kiss confirmed to you that you did have strong feelings towards your best friend, and you were thankful that you did, because you loved everything about Renjun. Even if he was addicted to gaming and was clearly bad at expressing his feelings. You’d only known about your feelings for him for about two weeks, but they’d been there a lot longer than that, sitting at the back of your heart and waiting for the perfect time to attack you. You wondered when Renjun had come to terms with the fact he had feelings for you. But asking him meant that you’d have to pull your lips away from his, which was out of the question for you. Renjun stopped kissing you, but didn’t drag his lips away far, letting them linger against yours, brushing them with yours as if he couldn’t quite believe that they were there.

“You’ve had sex before, haven’t you?” His voice was barely audible, and you smiled against his lips, placing a very tender peck to his glistening, pouted lips. It hadn’t taken Renjun long to start getting hard, his bulge brushing against your crotch as you shuffled closer to him on his lap, a gasp caught in your throat as you answered him.

“Twice.” You whispered back, your stomach erupting in butterflies as you rocked your hips on him, confirming your suspicions that he did in fact have a hard on. Renjun gulped, his cheeks flaring up as he thought his next words over a few times.

“Wanna make it a third?” Your mouth popped open and you stared at him, completely gobsmacked. Renjun bit his bottom lip, his stomach turning as he thought that maybe he’d said the wrong thing. He thought he’d blown it with you before he even got a chance to really start it. Until you let out a laugh through your open mouth, your eyebrows still raised.

“Huang Renjun! That was so smooth! I’m so proud of you.” You leaned in, licking into his mouth and cupping his face in your hands. He held back the sigh of relief he wanted to let out, instead breathing out of his nose slowly and standing up quickly with you in his grasp, much like he had done the week before. But instead of dumping you on the bed and just going back to his games, instead he threw you down onto his bed and crawled over you, settling his body down on yours gently and bringing his lips back to yours. You were beyond shock at the surprise confidence that was suddenly rushing through Renjun. The normally shy, quiet, and reluctant boy was taking complete control of the situation despite the fact he’d never done this before. You felt pride, and you’d be sure to give him a reward for his courage later on.

You gripped at the back of his t-shirt, bunching the cotton in your hands as you trailed your hands up his back, your lips still locked with his even as you got the shirt to the back of his neck. He pulled away, sitting up on his knees to pull his shirt over his head and tossing it aside. You bit your bottom lip as you trailed your hands down his chest to his abdomen, your eyes following your hands as you admired his body. You had no idea how he managed to stay so fit considering all he did was play games, do art, and eat junk food, but he had an impressive body. You let your fingers fiddle with the buttons on his jeans as you lick your lips, moving your eyes back up his body and seeing that his eyes were locked on your face, his bottom lip stuck between his teeth.

“You’re so beautiful.” He whispered, leaning down and kissing your cheek gently. “I’ve wanted this for a long time.” You noticed his adams apple bob as he gulped, and then all of a sudden he just completely froze, his eyes still as he looked down at you.

“Renjun…?” You sat up in concern, taking his face in your palms and stroking your thumbs against his hot cheeks. “Are you alright?” You pecked his parted lips slowly, letting your lips linger as your thumbs worked small circles on his smooth skin. He cleared his throat, snapping out of his daze and nodding his head.

“Y-yeah, I’m fine I just…what if I’m no good?” His voice was small, and his hands came to rest on your hips. You smiled, holding in your giggle as you dipped your head down to kiss at his throat, swirling your tongue around the spot that you then attached your lips to.

“No ones a porn star on their first attempt, and you know that I won’t judge you anyway.” He seemed to relaxed under your touch and then his hands pushed against you, forcing you to lay back down on the bed.

“Tell me what to do.” He whispered, his cheeks a vibrant red as he stared down at you waiting for instructions. You bit your bottom lip, knowing you had him completely under your thumb, but you didn’t want to push him too far and ruin it for him.

“How about I give you some options and you pick whichever one you want to do?” He nodded quickly in agreement, a small smirk playing on his lips that were a light red from how much you’d kissed them. “Hang on.” You sat up again and pulled your sweater over your head, throwing it on the floor with Renjun’s t-shirt and trying not to smirk at how wide his eyes went when his eyes zoned in on your bra. “You can touch them.” He didn’t need anymore prompting, his hands quickly trailing from your hips to your breast, his hands cupping them and giving them a small squeeze.

“Wow…” He whispered in awe, licking his lips, and bumping his bulge against your crotch to try and get some friction to his growing cock.

“Okay so these are the options, first of all, do you want to do foreplay or just jump straight in?” You didn’t know if he could last until the actual fucking if you did foreplay, but you really hoped he said he wanted the foreplay.

“I want to do foreplay…can I eat you out…please?” You raised your eyebrows as he had clearly picked which foreplay he wanted before you even managed to give him his options.

“Since you asked so nicely.” You bit your bottom lip, watching his every move as he shuffled down the bed, laying on his stomach with his legs hanging off the end of the bed. You leaned forward and unclipped your bra, pulling it from your chest and playfully throwing it onto Renjun’s head. He paused as he laughed softly, your bra covering his vision momentarily until he threw it on the floor. His tongue ran over his lips when he saw your boobs for the first time.

“Wow.” He whispered in awe, shuffling back up the bed and hovering over your body. “Can I?” He swallowed the saliva that had pooled in his mouth from his mouth watering at the sight of your chest.

“You haven’t got to ask for anything Renjun, if you want to do something, do it.” He made eye contact with you, a small smile playing on his lips as he nodded in understanding. His tongue poked out and flicked over your left nipple, his eyes closing briefly as he swirled the wet appendage around the hard nub, covering it with a thin coat of his spit. His lips encased your nipple, sucking it until his mouth like it was going to give him something in return. Your breath left your lungs at the spark that rushed through your body, his tongue still working on your nipple even as he sucked. He reached up and pinched your right nipple gently with his hand, rolling it between his thumb and forefinger before flicking it quickly. You knew he’d seen this in porn, otherwise he wouldn’t have done it with such confidence. Even though porn wasn’t the best educational way to learn how to fuck, you thanked it in this moment, because it was really paying off. You ran your hands through his hair, gripping it tightly and pushing his head south softly, trying to hint that you want him to use his tongue where you needed it the most.

He seemed reluctant to let go of your nipple, but he did in the end, releasing it with a pop and licking down your stomach, pressing kisses along the way until he came to the waistband of your leggings. He glanced up at you with questioning eyes, you nodded as encouragement and then felt his fingers slowly peel the waistband down your legs. “Fuck.” He mumbled upon seeing your blue lace panties. He had the picture engraved forever in his brain and he knew later on he would have a good attempt at drawing what he’d seen. But the drawings would be for his eyes only, and maybe yours depending on how well they resembled you.

You didn’t want to rush him so just watched as he pulled your leggings off of your legs, pulling your socks off with them and placing a soft kiss to your left ankle. He swooped down after tenderly placing your legs over his shoulders, getting himself comfortable on the bed with his face in front of your spread legs. He leaned in, dragging his tongue from your hole to your clit over the top of your panties. His eyes flicked up at you, watching as you took in a sharp inhale of breath, your own eyes locked on him with your mouth parted. He slowly rubbed you over your panties with two of his fingers, his bottom lip tucked between his teeth as he concentrated hard, also slightly in disbelief that he was doing this to you of all people.

“Take them off.” You breathed out, feeling like the material was suffocating you in your want, your need. He wasted no time in complying to your demand, tugging them down your legs and leaving them to lay beside him on the bed. His eyes widened at how your pussy was glistening with slick, and a sense of pride washed over him because he knew that he caused it.

“Shit.” He mumbled, not thinking about his actions before diving his tongue in between your folds, lapping at you like you were a melting ice cream in the summer heat. “Oh fuck.” Your head flopped backwards onto his pillow as he messily ate you out, his tongue travelling up and down, round and round, visiting your clit before meandering back down to dip inside of your leaking hole. “Use your fingers.” Your back arched when he cautiously slid his middle finger inside of you, his hips subconsciously grinding into the bed to release some of the pressure on his hard cock.

“Like this?” He pumped it in and out of you, his tongue pushing against your sensitive clit at the same time.

“Yes! Fuck another!” You didn’t realise how loud you were being, but Renjun wasn’t about to tell you, his pride in what he was doing clouding his mind to the point where he didn’t care who heard. He slid his ring finger in beside his middle finger, sitting up on his knees and leaning down to connect his lips to yours, his tongue clashing against yours in a heated kiss as his fingers pumped in and out of you. He moved to lay beside you, your feet planted on the bed and his lips now on your neck as he worked magic with his fingers. If you weren’t so lost in the feeling his was bringing down on you, you would question whether or not he was really a virgin, because he was making you feel so good with truly little instruction. “Jun stop, I’m gonna cum if you don’t.” You grabbed his wrist, your chest rising and falling fast as you tried to catch your breath and steady the rhythm of your heart. He halted his actions and leaned in, pecking your lips quickly.

“Was it good?” He shyly asked, a small smirk tugging at the corners of his lips as he withdrew his fingers from you, examining the juices coating his fingers and palm, a small bead dribbling down his wrist. You nodded, not being able to speak properly just yet as you tried to will your orgasm back into its hiding spot. “You’re so wet.” He whispered in surprise, his eyes then going back down to your face. “Can I fuck you now?” He was beyond horny, the pressure in his crotch area almost hurting as he used his fingers to pop open the button on his jeans, sliding down the zipper and diving his wet hand inside his boxers to squeeze at his erection.

“Please…wait don’t you want me to suck you off?” You felt bad at not giving what you’d received, but Renjun sat up on his knees again, positioning himself between your legs.

“If you touch my dick I will cum, and I want to cum inside of you.” He quickly rose from the bed, turning his back from you as he went to his desk, opening up a drawer and pulling out a silver packet. He pulled his jeans and boxers down in one swift motion, his back still turned away from you so you didn’t get to see his cock yet. He rolled the condom on his length, taking a deep breath to try and compose himself as he pumped himself a few times. He then turned around, trying not to cower underneath your sultry gaze that soon fell from his face to his cock. You knew he was nervous, and he was still your best friend, so you winked at him.

“Nice cock.” You spread your legs wider as a silent invite for him.

“Thanks.” He chuckled, his face beet red and his hair looking like a bird’s nest from how your fingers had ruffled through it. He clambered onto the bed, moving so that he was hovering over you with his left hand planted on the bed next to your neck. He used his right hand to grip at his shaft. “I love you.” He whispered, leaning down and placing a kiss so sweet to your lips that you almost melted through his bed. You heart felt like it was swelling up in your chest as you wrapped your arms around his neck, keeping his lips close to yours.

“Love you too Renjunnie.” You whispered back; your words mumbled into his lips as he guided his cock inside of you slowly. He paused halfway, taking a deep breath, and then exhaling through his nose to try and compose himself. Once he was fully inside of you he leaned down and tucked head into the crook of your neck, laying gentle butterfly kisses to your skin, breathing in your scent and waiting for you both to adjust.

After a minute he gently pulled his hips back, then pushed them against you again, his cock sliding in and out of you in a steady but gradual rhythm. He groaned into your neck, feeling an unimaginable amount of pleasure buried in your warm, wet walls. He’d jerked off a lot of times throughout his years, but that felt like nothing compared to how you felt around him. His cock felt so snug inside of you, like you were made to fit him inside. You panted, closing your eyes and wrapping your legs around him, your hands moving from his neck to grip at his hair once again, tugging it softly to cope with the pleasure you felt every time his cock would push back into you.

His hips sped up, the sound of skin slapping against skin resonating around the room as you started to lose control of your vocal chords, your mouth spilling moans as you bucked your hips up into his, looking for more even if what he was giving you was more than enough. “(Y/N), fuck baby girl.” He moaned loudly, pushing up onto his arms so he was staring down at you, his eyes boring into yours as his hips moved at a different angle, hitting a new spot inside of you that had your eyes almost rolling into the back of your head. “I can’t hold on much longer.” You were happy he was admitting it so that you didn’t hold back on your own orgasm, wanting to cum around his pulsating cock inside of you. The dirty thought had your back arching, your hands moving from his body to grip at the sheets of his bed, looking for something to squeeze as the pressure you felt building up inside of you was so astronomical you felt like you were going to burst. His thrusts became sloppy as his peak came closer, sitting back on his heels more and gripping at your hips tightly.

“Renjun harder!” You squealed, your thighs quivering and toes curling as he delivered three hard thrusts that had you moaning out loudly, your orgasm crashing into you like a wave of lava consuming your body. You were actually surprised that he’d managed to make you cum before he did, considering he was the virgin and you knew it was rare for you to climax so fast. There was just something about Renjun that had your nerves on fire, your body reacting to him like nothing you’d ever felt before. He stilled completely, his fingers digging into you so hard you were certain they’d leave little sore spots where fingertip shaped bruises would arise. He stomach flexed as he came into the condom, the feeling of your walls squeezing his cock being enough to force him over the edge. He grinded his hips into you a few more times, slowly as he head fell back onto his shoulders, his hair sticking to his forehead and his mouth parted as he tried to regain his regular breathing.

“Fuuuuck.” He groaned, slowly coming back to live on your world again and looking down at you with lazy, half closed eyes. He had a dopey smile on his face that told you he was still on cloud nine, and then reluctantly he pulled out of you, flopping onto his back beside you on the small bed, your shoulders pressed firmly against his. You had recovered from your orgasm, watching him as his eyes slowly closed and struggled to reopen.

“Hey,” You whispered, rolling onto your side and leaning up on one of your arms. “We need to clean up.” You placed a gentle peck on his still parted lips. He groaned, giving his head a small shake. You rolled your eyes and sat up, letting him get away with being lazy since he’d just lost his virginity, but next time you weren’t going to let him get away with it. “Fine.” You slowly stood up, wobbling slightly on your legs and having to grip onto his bedside table for stability for a moment. You grabbed some tissues and wiped yourself off your own mess, discarding of them before grabbing more tissues and wiping Renjun clean of any mess, also removing the condom and throwing it into his waste bin. By the time you’d finished cleaning the two of you up, you noticed that Renjun was completely dead to the world, his chest moving slowly as he slept. You rolled your eyes and giggled, pulling a blanket over the top of his naked body, and kissing his forehead affectionately. You pulled on your bra and panties, throwing on the biggest t-shirt of Renjun’s that you could find in his wardrobe before leaving the room quietly, shutting the door gently to not disturb him.

You walked out into the living room, on your way to the kitchen to get yourself a drink when you came across the wide eyed, shocked, yet oddly smug faces of three boys, staring directly at you. You froze, a guilty smile on your face because you completely forgot that Renjun shared the apartment with his best friends. You also thought about how you must have looked, your hair a mess and your skin still slightly glistening from the sweat you’d accumulated from fucking Renjun.

“Hi…” You broke the silence, slowly shuffling towards the kitchen but keeping your eyes on them. It was Jaemin who spoke up first.

“You know, when I said you needed to help him get his dick wet, I didn’t mean for you to be the one who wet it…” Jeno slapped Jaemin on the shoulder for that remark, but you sniggered and bit your bottom lip, your cheeks heating up as you realised that they must have heard most, if not all of what you’d done.

“You should have been more specific Jaems.” You shrugged, walking off to the kitchen and leaving them to talk amongst themselves.

---

“What’s bothering you Renjun?” You’d been sat with him at the local diner, a bowl of nachos in between you both but Renjun had hardly touched them, instead fiddling with a napkin, and avoiding your gaze. Renjun glanced up and gave you a small smile, picking up the milkshake that you were both sharing and taking a sip of it through the straw. You’d spent the night with Renjun, sleeping on his chest on his small bed and cuddling him all night. You felt like you were living on a magical cloud and no one could bring you down. You’d also spent the morning with him, and he’d been strangely quiet, just cuddling with you on his bed and watching Netflix until your stomach rumbled and he dressed you in some of his clothes and marched you down to the diner.

“Nothing is.” He shrugged but you knew he was lying, his eyes still avoiding your own. You knew him too well though, so you knew that something was definitely playing on his mind.

“Is it because we fucked last night?” Renjun nearly choked on the nacho that he’d put in his mouth as an attempt to distract you from thinking something was wrong with him. You smirked, seeing that you’d got it right on the mark. “Do you regret it?” You gently rubbed your foot against his own as you sat opposite him in the booth.

“No!” His eyes widened as he hurried to reassure you that he didn’t regret what happened. “Babe no, I loved it, it was amazing…I just…” He trailed off, taking a deep breath, and running a hand through his hair nervously.

“What is it?” You gave him a smile of encouragement, hoping he wasn’t about to tell you that he didn’t want to do it again.

“You give me a funny feeling in my stomach.” He looked down at the milkshake glass in his hands, trailing his fingers up and down the condensation as his cheeks turned red. You felt your own cheeks start to burn at his confession, and you laughed awkwardly.

“That could just be the milkshake.” You mumbled, shoving a nacho in your mouth, and watching him intently.

“I’m being serious. You give me this feeling that I’ve never felt before and I’m fairly sure that it’s the feeling people get when they look at someone they love.” His words had your heart pounding, and suddenly you had no appetite. You knew what the feeling was, because you felt it whenever you looked at Renjun, whenever he smiled, or said something really smart that went straight over your head.

“I feel the same way.” You reached across the table and took his hand in your own, gently rubbing your thumb against the back of his hand.

“Do you…oh god this is so awkward, and I’ve never done this before but…do you want to be with me? As my girlfriend?” He looked nervous, as if you were going to shot him down like a pigeon in the sky. You broke out into a big smile and giggled in your own nervousness.

“I would love to be your girlfriend.” You squeezed his hand, trying to stop yourself from squealing from how giddy you felt in that moment. Your best friend was also your boyfriend, and from that moment you would start a new chapter in your relationship with Renjun.

Later on that evening Renjun had convinced you to let him draw you. You felt silly, and you knew for a fact you’d find it hard to stay still the whole time considering he wanted to draw your whole body. But since he asked so nicely, and had begged about sixty times in an hour, you eventually stripped off completely naked, and laid on his bed for him. You laid on your side with your head resting on his pillow, your right arm tucked under the pillow as you faced him. He was sat in his gaming chair, his glasses perched on his nose and his sketchpad in his lap. He kept poking his tongue out in concentration and would tell you off every time you moved.

“So, I know you spoke to the boys earlier on when I was in the shower,” You smiled at him, trying your hardest not to move as to not get scolded by him again. “Did they say anything about us?” Renjun looked up over his sketch pad and cleared his throat, giving you an awkward laugh and nod.

“Of course they did. First off, they congratulated me for losing my virginity first, they also said they were super shocked, which I’m not gonna lie, kind of offended about that.” He laughed, which told you he was only joking, and he hadn’t actually taken any offence to their words. “Then they said that they’re happy for me that I have finally asked you out and yeah that’s pretty much it.” You bit your bottom lip, smirking as you looked at Renjun, his eyes trained on his art and not looking at you as he worked on a certain part.

“Renjun…” You called out, parting your legs and trailing your left hand down your body, cupping your heat and rubbing your fingers over yourself slowly. He looked up and then looked back at his art, realising what he’d just seen and quickly looking back up against to take a second look.

“Holy…” He trailed off, gulping as he watched you rub yourself, your bottom lip between your teeth. “I know you’re trying to seduce me so that we can fuck but…I haven’t drawn your lower half yet and I would really love to draw you exactly as you are now. So don’t move!” His face was red, but he looked like an excited puppy. You groaned, you eyes rolling and you cursed yourself for having an artist as a boyfriend, because now he was finally in a sexual relationship, he could unlock a whole new level to his art that he’d never been able to before.

“Haung Renjun, you better fuck me so good after you’re finished drawing or I will rip it up.” Your threat left a wide grin on his face, and you knew this was going to be an incredibly fun chapter in your life.

Hello! I hope you enjoyed the first instalment of The Virgin Diaries! I didn’t proofread the smut scene so sorry if there’s any grammar or spelling errors there, maybe one day I’ll go back and proofread it but don’t hold your breath. Let me know what you think and if you’re excited for Jeno’s part (he’s next). Love you!

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