#I’m still doing the professional stuff basically

[clover-the-awesomest]

Hey, buddy. We sure haven’t chatted in a while. Whatcha been up too?

Comic.

[hana-bobo-finch]

jørgan clan my beloved. you guys are so messed up

[steddieas-shegoes]

for @thefreakandthehair (and @vecnuthy and @wormdebut while we’re at it) because sometimes you help a baseball player through French class so they can stay on the team and then they end up on the Savannah bananas and you decide to put the fictional men into situations about it *shrugs*

Eddie was going to have to transfer out of this class. This was one of his easiest classes and it was filled with every jock on campus attempting to fill their foreign language requirement with French.

And they were all failing. And annoying. And obnoxious.

And a few of them were also hot.

But Eddie wasn’t gonna focus on that!

He was gonna finish today’s assignment and then head straight to the advising office to find another class that worked with his work schedule.

“Hey,” the guy next to him whispered as the teacher droned on about conjugating verbs. “Do you have any idea what the fuck the homework was?”

Eddie turned to glare at the person, but his face dropped when he noticed who it was.

The campus celebrity: Steve Harrington.

Couldn’t quite make it on the college baseball team, but managed to make the sort-of professional, but mostly joke team Hawkins Hooligans.

Eddie didn’t like sports, never had. He could appreciate that it took skill and whatnot, but he didn’t care much to watch it or make celebrities of people who were just really good at one very specific thing usually involving some kind of ball. But he could appreciate a joke. And this team had jokes.

Steve was actually apparently good enough to play pro, had even been scouted by the MLB his senior year of high school. One week before his professional tryout, he tore a muscle in his shoulder, had to sit for three months and had to do physical therapy for another three, and voila! No pro ball for him. No college either since he missed spring training.

But he still had skill, and he still had a father with a lot of pull in the business, even if it wasn’t quite enough to get him on the Yankees or whatever.

So he was biding his time on the Hooligans until next year when he could try out for the college team again, maybe increase his chances of a real pro career.

Eddie definitely hadn’t watched videos of him during their first few games of the season where they faced the Indy Idols and the Chicago Charades.

He definitely hadn’t gotten a weird flutter in his stomach when Steve had been the one to lip sync to Hot For Teacher while pretending his bat was a guitar.

He definitely didn’t have a crush on Steve.

“Uh. Dude?” Steve asked him again, shaking him out of his thoughts.

“Yeah. It was the study guide for the first quiz. Not due until next class though,” he whispered back.

“Oh. Thanks.”

Eddie turned his attention back to the professor, not really needing to pay attention since he already knew quite a bit of French.

A tap on his shoulder made him yelp, and the entire room turned to him. He waved apologetically before turning to Steve with a murderous look.

“What?” He hissed out.

“Do you understand this?”

“Yes and you probably would too if you stopped talking to me.”

Eddie was ignoring the voice in his head screaming at him to let Steve keep talking to him for as long as he wanted.

“I don’t think that’s it,” Steve huffed before sitting back in his seat and folding his arms across his chest. He mumbled something else that sounded like ‘I’m just stupid’ but Eddie couldn’t be 100% sure.

“A lot of this stuff is just English spelled a little differently.” Eddie sighed. “You could almost definitely figure it out if you took some notes.”

“Yeah, probably.”

Eddie’s brows scrunched together as he glanced at Steve’s red face.

Hm. There was definitely something to unpack here.

“You can borrow mine if you want,” Eddie offered as he watched the professor switch slides on the presentation. “I don’t really need them until the final.”

“Oh!” Steve sounded genuinely surprised by his offer, like he hadn’t been basically asking for help only a moment ago. “You don’t have to do that. I mean, it wouldn’t do much good for me anyway.”

“What do you mean?” Steve had Eddie’s full attention now.

“I’m. I-“ Steve sighed. “I’m dyslexic, man. Reading’s hard for me.”

Well, fuck. Eddie felt like an asshole now.

“Oh.” Eddie looked down at his scribbled notes, cringing at the thought of someone else trying to read them, let alone someone who already struggled with reading from a printed page. “Yeah, my handwriting is shit so it’d probably be useless to you. Shit, it’s almost useless to me.”

Steve snorted, immediately covering his mouth to avoid any more noise from escaping. Eddie could see he was still smiling though. His eyes were very expressive.

“Don’t you have accommodations?” Eddie asked him.

“Nah, my dad doesn’t believe it’s a problem.” Steve rolled his eyes. “Said I just need to focus more and it’ll ‘work itself out.’”

“He sounds like he’s a lot of fun at parties.”

Steve snorted again. “Yeah, a blast.”

“So you aren’t a natural at French?”

Steve shook his head. “I’m barely a natural at English.”

“I could help you?” Eddie was an idiot. An idiot with a crush on someone who would never be interested in anything he had to offer except tutoring.

“Help me? You’d help me?” Steve seemed eager, maybe a little desperate.

Eddie kinda liked that.

“I mean, yeah. If you’re actually willing to put in the work and not expect me to just do the work for you.”

Steve smiled. God, that was a nice smile. Eddie was absolutely fucked.

“I work well with a reward system,” he smirked. “If you’re willing.”

Eddie’s eyes widened momentarily as the realization sunk in that he’d just been flirted with.

By Steve Harrington.

“Oh, I can definitely work with that.”

Steve nodded once, grinned at Eddie as he picked up his pen and ripped off a small piece of his unused notebook paper. He scribbled something down and folded it once before handing it to Eddie.

“Let me know when I need to show up, Eds.”

Eddie unfolded the paper and nearly dropped it.

Stevie H. 555-555-0086 My dorm at 7? No clothes required

When Eddie looked back up, Steve was facing the front, seemingly paying attention to the lecture.

Eddie quickly pulled his phone from his pocket and put Steve’s contact info in. He could wait until after class to send him a text. He could.

Instead, he typed out something quick to hold them both over until later.

Studying naked is my favorite thing 😉

Steve’s knee nudged against his in response.

Maybe Eddie wouldn’t take that trip to advising after all.

And if he was featured on the next TikTok for the Hawkins Hooligans, with Steve fake serenading him in the stands, nobody had to know he didn’t really like sports.

He liked Steve, though. Even when Steve actually managed to play real competitive baseball. Even when Steve managed to get a spot on the Cubs.

Especially when Steve proposed to him during a game in maybe the worst recorded French of all time.

[spectersgf]

— driver's seat storm chasing 𓏲 ࣪₊♡𓂃

pairing: tyler owens × reader 

summary: he was about to take off again, chase another storm, leave you worrying for hours upon hours. the least he could do was give you a parting gift.

warnings: SMUT! kinda angsty a little, cute yeehaw banter, cowgirlisms, hair pull, ass smack, titty suck. all the good stuff.

wordcount: 3.2k

a/n: watched twisters literally two days ago, had this thought, here we are. not proofread at all (as always, soz) but filled with passion (and horny)

(if you want to be tagged in future fics or if you have any requests, let me know! for my other fics, here's my masterlist!)

"oh, you're such a prick, tyler owens!"

you were shouting at your best friend, which was a regular occurrence due to his dangerous passion. tyler was a professional 'tornado wrangler' which was his idiotic way of saying he chased tornadoes for the sake of content creation. you knew it went much deeper than that for him; this was his passion and he was smart and knew so much about storms, but that doesn't mean he wasn't stupid and reckless.

he had just come back from a particularly dangerous storm, one that left you more worried for his safety than ever before. you cried seeing him come back to town and fretted over his injuries and bruises, begging him to stop and not go again.

according to what he just told you, your begging was pointless.

he was about to take off again, chase another storm, put himself back in harm's way. leave you worrying for hours upon hours, shaking until he'd return.

"do i mean nothing to you? does my begging and pleading mean nothing?" your voice was strained but you didn't lower your volume, desperate for him to see your anguish.

"you know that's not the case, darlin', but storm chasing is my life. you know that better than anyone." his tone was much steadier than yours, and his comments were entirely reasonable. you knew how much of his time he dedicated to his passion, but that didn't stop your frustration.

"don't play that fucking card with me, ty. it's not even been 48 hours since i thought you'd died, and now you're up and leaving again!" your anger had subsided and your tone had softened, now showing vulnerability and hurt. your shoulders sagged and you turned away from him, tears that you didn't want him to see stinging your eyes.

"y/n..." his voice trailed off, unsure if he was supposed to move to comfort you or give you space.

“you don’t understand what it does to me to see you walk out that door, ty. every single time i’m stuck asking myself if today’s the day i lose my best friend. and i know you’re careful and you know your stuff and you’re basically a pro but sometimes i can’t even bring myself to watch the streams and the videos because i’m so scared.” you rambled your confession, back still turned away from him but you’d started pacing. when you finished speaking, you turned to face him, eyes pleading. “i’m not asking you to stop. i’d never ask you to quit your passion. i just wish you’d understand from my perspective.”

"i'm sorry," he started, but you knew where his apology was headed. "but i have to do this. this is my life, and i'm helping people by doing this."

your tear-filled gaze met his as he spoke, and the look of sincerity on his face made you cave, as usual. "fine, go. it's not like i could've stopped you."

you watched him pick up his hat and place it easily on his head as he turned to walk away. he opened the door but turned before heading out. "you know i love you, y/n," he said quietly, sounding almost defeated.

his words struck you but before you could say anything, he was out the door. for a couple of minutes you stood in place, stunned at his proclamation. when you finally snapped out of your shock, you walked out the door, following behind him as he walked to his truck.

it had started to rain and the water caused his shirt to stick to him like a second skin, but you didn't allow yourself any time to ogle his physique. you reached out and grabbed his arm, feeling his cold skin against your warm touch. you pulled his arm, forcing him to turn and face you as you seethed.

"love me how?" you asked, obviously distressed. the rain was making your hair to stick to your face but you didn't care; all you cared about was the man in front of you. your best friend. "love me how, tyler?"

"y/n..." for the second time today his voice trailed off after saying your name like that and it infuriated you. your face burned from embarrassment and before you had fully processed your reaction, you slapped him.

when he turned his head back to look at you again, his eyes were swimming with hurt. you loved his eyes. you hated seeing them like this. but all you could focus on was your own hurt. after years of being his best friend but craving more, and years of casual touches and flirting and cuddling and rumours in your small town, this is what it had come to. a halfway confession.

"fuck you," you spit before turning away to walk back inside.

this time, it was tyler who reached out to grab you. his big hand encased your bicep and forced you to face him again. before you could say anything, he spun you around so that you were pinned against the door of his truck.

"what the fuck is your probl–" your words were abruptly cut off when he leaned down and pressed his lips to yours. you stood still in shock for a few seconds before melting into him, one hand on the junction between his neck and shoulder, the other hand on his bicep. meanwhile, he had one hand on your waist and the other held your face, fingers splaying across your cheek and neck. you kissed him back with passion and vigour, easily letting his tongue explore your mouth for the first time.

your hands snakes upwards, pulling his hat off his head and slipping it onto yours while your free hand fisted his hair, threading your fingers through his locks. his hand trailed from your waist to your ass as he pulled away from your kiss for a second.

"you sure you wanna wear my hat, darlin'?" he panted, raising one cocky eyebrow as his eyes searched yours.

"wear the hat, ride the cowboy, right?" you asked, smirking confidently. he immediately matched your facial expression, smirking in return, but his eyes twinkled with joy and amusement.

tyler was much taller than you and evidently he was starting to see your height difference as an issue, since he brought his other hand down to your ass and lifted you, urging your legs around his waist and bringing you face to face. he kissed you again, just a quick kiss, before asking, "so, cowgirl. where are we doing this?"

"if i'm the cowgirl, are you my wild stallion?" you teased playfully, smiling as you looked at him affectionately. after seeing the fiery look in his eyes, you were unable to resist, and you pulled his mouth to yours once again, this kiss more intense than the last. you messily pulled his bottom lip into your mouth and sucked on it, followed by a gentle bite, before pulling away and desperately kissing down his neck. "i want you in your truck. driver's seat," you murmured against his skin.

before tyler was able to haul you into his truck, you detached yourself from him. once your feet were safely back on the ground, you eagerly grabbed the hem of his soaked t-shirt and peeled it off his tanned torso, shamelessly admiring his body as you did. you dragged your nails across his toned abdomen and brought your mouth to his chest, sucking and biting at his skin. you could barely register his groan, only able to focus on his body and being able to maintain skin-to-skin contact with him.

tyler pulled you away from him by gently tugging on your hair and you looked at him quizzically. "ty, what the hell?"

"enough teasing, cowgirl. time to ride the stallion," he told you, causing you both to erupt in a fit of giggles.

"never say that again, tyler," you replied, leaning up to peck him quickly.

he picked you up briefly and immediately put you down in a spot away from the driver's side door and swiftly got comfortable in his van, away from the cold rain. while he did so, you made quick work of unbuttoning your flannel shirt, leaving you in just a lacy, sheer bra and jeans. and his hat. once he was seated, tyler gave you a thorough once-over, letting out a low whistle as he did.

"somebody call for a ride?" his playful tone was supplemented by his signature cheeky smile, but you rolled your eyes at his comment.

"god, you're so fuckin' corny."

you boosted yourself into the truck, situating yourself easily on his lap. you shuffled around to get comfortable on tyler's lap and were rewarded with a strained groan. this time it was you giving him a cheeky smile followed by a quick roll of your hips over his. he placed his hands firmly on your waist, fingers dipping into your jeans and stopping your movements.

"keep that up and this'll be over before it started, sweetheart," he told you, voice strained and you could tell it was from arousal. you watched his mouth as he spoke and, unable to resist him, you leaned in and kissed him again. your almost bare chest was pressed against his and your hands roamed his skin, picking up water droplets as they went. the feel of his toned muscle under your hands caused you to moan into his mouth, turning tyler on even more.

his hands wound into your hair, all the way up to the root, and he tugged lightly. you whimpered and dragged your hips over his, and when tyler pulled away from your kiss you unconsciously followed his movement. tyler clicked his tongue in condescending disapproval but smirked at your reaction to him.

“needy for me, baby?” he asked mockingly, one hand on your hips to halt your movement again, the other still tangled in your hair.. you nodded your response, not trusting yourself to speak in your current state. “words, sweetheart. what do you need?”

you whined but when you realised he wasn’t going to do anything until you spelled it out for him, you let out an exasperated huff. “need you to fuck me.”

tyler laughed affectionately at your desperation. “there you go, sweetheart. that’s what i like to hear.” you preened from his praise, craving to receive it again. with the hand that was on your hips, he undid the button of your jeans and pulled the zipper down with a quiet hiss. instead of pulling down the restrictive fabric like you expected, he slipped his hand into your barely-existent underwear and stroked with a featherlike touch. 

“this all for me?” he asked as he dragged a finger through your arousal; you were soaked and his teasing tone was only making it worse. you dropped your head onto his shoulder and tried to slyly jerk your hips forward, though you were unable to. “patience, baby. i’ve chased this storm so long, now let me enjoy it.”

his words jolted you caused a moan to fall from your mouth. your skin was feverish despite the biting cold and you were becoming increasingly desperate. “next time, please, tyler. i need you inside me, please,” you begged, mouth against his tan skin. 

he didn’t say anything in response, only chuckled quietly to himself as he removed his hand from your underwear. he brought his hand up to your mouth and you looked him in the eye as you took one finger, the one that had been touching you, into your mouth and sucked. you bobbed your head back and forth for just a few seconds and hummed quietly around the digit in your mouth before releasing it and pulling tyler’s mouth to yours in a heated kiss, urging him to taste you from your own mouth. 

“god, if we weren’t in my truck right now i’d have my mouth on your sweet cunt,” he grumbled.

“don’t care, need your cock inside me.” without breaking your kiss, you pushed your jeans down over your hips but only to your knees. “i’m ready, you know i’m ready, what are we waiting for?” you asked frantically. you started to paw at his stupid belt but his hands covered yours, stopping you from getting to what you were craving.

“are you sure? we can’t go back after this and you know it.” his eyes were swimming with concern as he spoke, searching yours for any indication of your feelings. 

you moved one hand to his face, placing it on his cheek and stroking his cheekbone delicately with your thumb. “i want this. i have for a longass time. i’ve felt it for so long, and now i’m finally chasing it. are you chasing it with me?” your words were entirely sincere and this was obvious to tyler, especially when you looked in his eyes and deep into his soul.

“using my own words against me?” he teased, breaking the tension in a charming way that only he could pull off. “i’m with you.” his words were equally sincere, though you could sense the double meaning. you weren’t distressed by it; his way of telling you how he was feeling made your heart swell and added to your already dripping arousal.

you resumed your work on removing his belt, followed by unbuttoning his jeans and pulling the zipper. tyler could only watch cockily as you did so, both hands behind his head, muscles flexing, as he admired your naked beauty. jeans pulled down, only a sheer bra covering your breasts, and his hat on your head.

“go on, baby. take me out; it’s all yours.”

his words empowered you and you happily obliged, appreciating his quiet hiss as you made contact with his skin once again. you tunnel visioned on his thick cock in your hand, swiping your thumb over the tip and pumping it once, twice, three times. tyler watched your every moment and facial expression, and he could see you practically salivating, bringing a wide and cocky smirk to his face. “another time,” he murmured despite his better opinion of letting you take him in your mouth the way you so obviously craved. you simply nodded in agreement, seemingly in a trance as you eyed the way your smaller hand wrapped around his girth. 

the feeling of his hands on your hips gently urging you forwards and upwards snapped you out of your dreamlike state but you didn’t resist his manhandling; instead, you welcomed the way he took control of the situation. took control of you. 

before proceeding further he looked you in the eyes again, showing that same sincerity and vulnerability, silently asking ‘are you sure you’re sure?’. you smiled at the gesture, appreciative of his concern, and nodded. your eyes sparkled with excitement as you brought your bottom lip between your teeth and reached behind you to guide tyler’s hard cock into your wetness. the pair of you moaned in tandem as you sunk down on him, fitting together perfectly. 

“c’mere, cowgirl,” he murmured, voice heavy with arousal. you shifted forward with him inside you, pulling a groan from deep within his chest as he pulled you in for another kiss. the combination of his searing kiss and the way he filled you up was electrifying. your entire body moved on its own accord, as if you had come alive for the first time; your mouth worked against his and you circled your hips against his and you were consumed entirely by him. 

one of his hands pawed at your ass while the other worked on removing your bra. when he did finally get your bra unhooked, it was practically ripped off your body and thrown to the backseat. tyler’s lips reluctantly left yours but they immediately attached to your right breast, with his hand squeezing the left. he sucked a harsh mark into the flesh before his mouth circled your peaked nipple, sucking eagerly before rolling it gently between his teeth. 

“you have no idea how desperate i’ve been to get my mouth on your pretty tits, sweetheart,” he mumbled against you. his words caused your hips to stutter against his as you rode him, hitting your sweet spot and forcing a high pitched moan from you. 

“i need you to do it, ty,” you whimpered, hungry for him to take control again.

“such a good girl, telling me what you need.” his praise made you glow and you unconsciously clenched your muscles around him.

his grip on your ass tightened slightly before he slapped it, deliciously stinging your skin. you moaned and jerked forward again and your head immediately fell backwards, eyes rolling back. 

“god, y/n, you’re a walking turn on,” he moaned, hips starting to buck as he fucked into you. “you have no fuckin’ idea what you do to me. the number of times i’ve wanted to do this with you right here, audience be damned. the way i crave the taste of your sweet cunt on my tongue. having to stop myself from smacking your ass or squeezing your tits whenever you’re in those tiny bikinis or scraps of fabric that you call pyjamas. and now you’re mine and we can do all of it.”

you moaned and whimpered pathetically throughout tyler’s speech, the words that you were longing to hear from him finally being voiced while he fucked you. 

“i’m close,” you mumbled, bringing your hand to your mouth to muffle your noises. “need you to fill me up.”

his eyes squeezed shut due to your muffled words and he pulled your hand away from your mouth. “i’ll give you whatever you need, baby, but i need to hear you when i do,” he told you, linking your fingers together and resting your joined hands on his glistening chest. “cum for me, sweet girl. cum on my cock, let me feel you.”

his words tipped you over the edge and your muscles spasmed around him as you reached your climax, moaning his name as you did. tyler followed suit, filling you upon your request. 

“fuck, y/n,” he groaned, pulling your chest to his and kissing you again, sweetly this time despite your expectations.

the pair of you were a panting, sweaty mess when you both finished, but you didn’t break any of your attachments. he didn’t pull out of you, and he didn’t let you loosen your embrace.

“i guess you could say i wrangled your tornado, hm?” 

“you did not say that to me while i have your dick and cum inside me right now, tyler owens.”

“c’mon, darlin’, you obviously like my lines,” he teased, smiling sweet and sincere.

“more than just your lines. i like you,” you confessed, voice quiet and shy out of fear of rejection.

“yeah? you got a li’l crush on me?” his playful and teasing tone made you smile. dissipating any worries you had. this was the boy you were falling for. 

“just a little one. really, i’m just here for your truck.” the banter between the two of you was light and easy, something that you both always appreciated about each other. you clicked. 

“yeah, cowgirl, i know how you feel about my truck.”

you giggled at his response and kissed the bare, warm skin on his shoulder.

“you’re the most beautiful storm i’ve chased, y/n.” he looked into your eyes as he spoke, voice quiet as if speaking too loud would disrupt the moment.

“that’s funny. because you’re the sun coming up after the storm.”

WHEW! first tyler fic done bbz<333 more to come, requests are open HERE! if you want to be tagged in future fics lmk, please tell me what you think, even if you think i should never write again ok thank u bye ily bye

taglist: @ronsbadidea

[cozymochi]

nyoka is always very professional in the way he interacts with people, he's the perfect model of what the scion of an important family looks like in my mind! do you think he would have been this solemn even if he wasn't the wadjet heir, or is his personality influenced by his background? would he disapprove of the way kalim conducts himself, as someone in a similar position? also, does he take pride in the idea of becoming the next head of his family, or are thoughts like those too juvenile for him?

(Thank u ❤️. Sorry for the incoming wall of text under the read-more cut.)

Do you think he would have been this solemn even if he wasn't the Wadjet heir, or is his personality influenced by his background?

ERMMMM… little of column A, little of column B. I think likely would still be relatively the same. He’s a cobra beastman. I’m going to go on a meta tangent really quick but bear with me— 🦁🍩🐺

From what I can tell, TWST in general tends to give the Beastmen characters shared traits with their (IRL) animal counterparts. As a treat.

There’s course in-universe rational explanations and factors, but as a rule of thumb if the IRL animal has a behavioral characteristic or some kind of common cultural depiction, or stereotype— beastmen in TWST will share them in some regard.

Ex. Male Lions sleep a lot, so Leona sleeps a lot.

Hyenas are scavengers, so Ruggie is a scavenger.

Wolves are the subject in the “lone wolf” term, so Jack embodies that trope.

^Extremely simplistic pitches and I am doing a disservice to the layers involved, but the point is being made.

And all three of those above IRL animals have hierarchal social systems within their own groups. So it gets deeper.

Ex. IRL Wolves are actually more strict about their pack hierarchy, so Jack is more strict about how he perceives the one in Savanaclaw;

Clear leader, clear second-in-command, etc. etc. and he has already imposed a role on himself beneath those tiers with very little desire to impose, even if everyone else sees it as more “survival of the fittest—” which! For lion Leona and hyena Ruggie, makes more sense because their animal counterpart hierarchies do operate like that. (And Savanaclaw in general, but, y’know. Specifics.)

That whole pattern of using whatever the IRL traits the source animals have for informing characterization is still present for Nyoka. At least, that what I wanted to try following.

…In a meta sense, anyway. All of the above is just meta stuff with only occasional references in-text.

So with all that squared away—

Egyotian cobras, or at the very basic level, cobras are an entirely different ballpark than the above predators.

Cobras are completely solitary. Unlike all the social animals above, they want nothing to do with other creatures and will try to avoid confrontation. They aren’t mean exactly, but will warn you if they feel threatened. They’re considered “shy” and just want to be left alone. These things are completely different from the social mammals above who, despite everything, absolutely thrive in groups.

It becomes a matter of bringing those characteristics back in.

Having Nyoka be more of an “academic” type within a more sport-oriented dorm was just one way of immediate differentiation. (That and just me wanting to diversify the pool of the dorm students a little bit since we don’t see that treatment much for Savanaclaw. Mobs are usually portrayed as antagonistic bruisers and as diverse as NRC is I would like to believe there are a few more outliers beyond the core cast.)

And, for consideration, cobras also can’t make facial expressions. So having Nyoka mostly be stoic or subdued in how he presents himself seemed like a decent callback to that.

(He has his eccentricities… as a treat)

Stoicness can be viewed as dignified and ideal behavior. Nobody likes a complainer who doesn’t do as they’re told. Nyoka just does what he’s told without complaint or fuss. It’s a means of avoiding confrontation. Nyoka has a pattern of that regardless of the situations severity, if at all.

So, even if he wasn’t a scion to a noble family with an image to uphold or what have you, he likely would still be rather closed-off.

He doesn’t follow the “pack” in Savanaclaw exactly, it’s not really in his personality to do so. He’s not a contrarian by any means (mind, cobras might be solitary but it is survival of the fittest out there + hey, he’s a Leona glazer with the best of them /hj), but it’s just not in him to engage with others or make a scene. He was brought up to be prudent for the most part and very wary of his surroundings.

He just wants to be left alone and go with the motions. Within his dorm especially his behavior is more on the “stay out of the way/defensive” side.

He’s a “reptile” surrounded by a bunch of rambunctious mammals who always get into beef with each other. He is not into being eaten, so to speak.

If he’s caught alone, he’s a little more biting in how he speaks. (Pun entirely intended.)

I do not think his personal affairs would shift his behavior too considerably with all of the above in mind. Meta or otherwise.

And that’s not even addressing the animated counterparts. Woof.

Would he disapprove of the way kalim conducts himself, as someone in a similar position?

He finds Kalim’s manners and decorum less-than something to be desired. Unless he were in a position where giving his opinion can occur and is permitted, he will otherwise keep that to himself.

(Granted, to be fair, he thinks nearly everyone’s manners are bad in some capacity. If his first peeve is being bothered, his second one is bad manners.)

Besides, their families do business together. He is likely going to communicate with this person in the foreseeable future, so being compatible to the public is more of a priority than personal peeves.

Does he take pride in the idea of becoming the next head of his family, or are thoughts like those too juvenile for him?

It’s less of a “pride” thing, and more of a duty thing. He’s going to be the next head not matter what, so he should treat it with dignity. He has no intense personal feelings towards it since it’s something he has to do. At least, not outwardly so.

His answer will never change if asked about it and won’t hint at any personal feelings.

But he is under quite a deal of pressure, but he would never let those cracks show on the surface.

Imagine being in a position where you are and will be the face of your entire clam of people- whom— btw are already very misunderstood and full of pre-conceived assumptions by outsiders, and whatever you do or say will reflect on how everybody else is potentially perceived——

And all that coming off the heels of some event years prior that did quite a bit of interpersonal damage that wasn’t even your fault, but you do often wonder how different things would be if it didn’t happen and it wasn’t you who had to carry all of this. What would you even be doing?

So that’s there! As a treat.

He will remain obstinate on being seen as composed, compatible and dignified at all times. It’s not his place to insert personal feelings.

[tiny-pun]

The many faces of abuse

So I’ve been thinking about how in stories villains and hero’s usually deal quite differently with their traumatising childhood. The villain usually shows their trauma by outwardly being angry such as blowing sth up/punching someone in the face, conspiring harm ion others etc. and the hero does so by being inwardly angry, with self deprecation, self harm and detrimental insecurity. And they (have to) constantly apologise for it, aka they’re VERY aware of their abuse.

And I kept thinking about how a) villainising one way over the other is mean and certainly not encouraging people to get the help they definitely need and b) how in real life … a lot of people do neither.

Instead…people just don’t look at it. Deny it, ignore it or simply …normalise it. Don’t even recognise it as abuse. Especially when “It’s not like they HIT me. They were just a bit mean sometimes. Or made fun of stuff I cared about. And denied me some basic needs like food and my own opinion. And our relationship felt more like a business transaction, yeah. But they didn’t ’abuse me” That physical abuse is often STILL seen as the only kind of abuse “that counts as abuse”.

So what if we flip that around? That the hero is so oblivious to all the ways abuse can be expressed, that they completely ignore it in someone else. To the point were they risk a civilians life? That they accidentally and unaware of it become a bystander.

Villian: WHY did you not tell me that the child is being treated like that ?!? Are you insane? This was vital information!

Hero,tired: What are you even talking about? What do you mean ‘treated like this’ ?

Villian: “What do I mean?” Uhmm I don’t know, Maybe the fact that the child is BEING ABUSED?!? The choleric, accusing way one parent talked and the cold, ignorant way the other did ?

Hero, confused: Yeah, I know what they did. But how is that abuse ? It’s mean but it’s not ‘abuse’.

Villian: Are you kidding me right now ? Seriously. …And people call me a terrible person. I know that you on your high horse of your royal family’s stables might not care about other children but even you should know that THAT. WAS NOT. OKAY ??

Hero: I didn’t say it was nice they way they… talked. But that’s just what parents do. Yell at you for every smallest imperfection, punish you with no food or showers, lock you in your room for a couple days. Like… that’s just a parent.

Villian, finally realising : Hero… I’m genuinely so sorry. But that is not being “just a parent”. It is NOT normal. And it’s certainly not okay. Hero. This is abuse.

Hero: No it’s -…it’s … it’s just …

Villain: It’s just one way abuse can look like. But it is abuse.

Disclaimer I’m no expert. This isn’t a be all end all definition of what abuse looks like. In fact My point is just that abuse can look so different from person to person. and can be so normalised that you might not even recognise it as such. If you do have concerns please look for professional advice.

[scarybabe]

you've been working with a personal trainer, yeah? i'm in the semi-weird position of both loving large bodies and wanting to be a hardcore fitness professional. is there anything your trainer does to make you feel comfortable in, like, gym spaces and stuff? any modifications or other programming that you've found beneficial as someone who's not necessarily trying to like... slim down as much as possible?

Hell yeah! There’s a lot of things my trainer has done right.

In my consultation with her I was around 250 lbs and I explained that I didn’t want to lose weight or restrict at all, because of my history of that being unhealthy for my brain and she was fully supportive. I explained my history with weight gain to her as objectively as possible and she was the opposite of judgemental - she said she thought it was really cool that I achieved my goal of 300 pounds despite the adversity of getting there instead of making assumptions (and yes I did explain the kink part of it) 🤭

As I started weight training more intensely I did lose more weight, which was frustrating because I had to get my wedding dress altered twice 😭

instead of congratulating me for my weight loss (I was really stressed in the month leading up to the wedding, it was a lot of planning and coordinating and money being spent) she had a very harm reduction mindset, she worked with me on what I could do to slow down the loss and building better habits in my day that could help me meet my nutrition goals easier.

At first I was not very mobile honestly, she had me send her videos of my lifting form and worked with me closely to make sure I wasn’t putting myself at risk for injury and assigned me mobility stretches to do before every weightlifting session (I still do them)!

She created a safe space for me to be honest if something the assigned me was beyond my skill level and never made me feel bad for not being able to complete or do an exercise. It was hard at first not gonna lie! Just the mobility stretches alone used to wipe me out 🤣 I’ve come so far, it’s crazy to think about.

As I got more mobile, she scaled up the difficulty of my mobility stretches and exercises. She’s also increased my nutrition goals a lot since I started training and my appetite is so much better than it was when I first started (I could write a book on how your body has to adapt to transitioning out of hardcore feedism but I’ll save that for another post) 💕

We have weekly check ins where I submit a form that covers all my basic functioning and tell her how my week went, strengths and weaknesses and she replies with a 7-10 min long video addressing everything and explaining any adjustments she’s making to my program, and advising me on whatever I ask her about. She’s also available all week in the coaching app if I need recommendations for pre-rave stretches (for example) or nutrition tips, or help with my form. We have a weekly group call on zoom where myself + her other clients discuss whatever topic she’s covering and share our wins and losses (last week it was “bite size habits”) ☺️ she also has ADHD and is very neurodivergent friendly in her coaching style.

Cost for the program averages out to I think $7-$9 a day? It’s not super cheap but she’s been invaluable to me in terms of staying on track to maintain my weight and gain muscle. If I feel depressed or stressed I can’t eat, and knowing she’s going to be checking to make sure I’m hitting my macros every day is good motivation to just power through on days I’m not feeling up to it. Accountability helps a lot. ❤️

[adonis-koo]

sweet nothing • 8

| in which you run into an old costumer |

↳ Description: being a guest at the Jeon Estate after a mishap of being kidnapped and dragged into your brothers affairs isn’t all that bad. Truth be told it brings you a lot closer to the mobster and owner of the estate Jeon Jungkook himself.

His two rules are simple, don’t cause trouble and don’t give him a hard time. Somehow you manage to constantly do both in the most endearing way despite being pregnant and waddling around most of the time.

Pairing: Jungkook/reader, ???/reader

↳ Genre: slice of life AU, mafia!AU, pregnancy, there’s like…a little bit of a plot but not a lot, future smut? maybe? it's very domestic!

Word count: 3k

Previous | Next

Note: just know that the only reason these updates take so long is because I keep writing plot based chapters and I really just wanna post fluff based chapters 😭

“Thank you for taking me out!” You grinned as you took a large sip of your hot chocolate, it was still definitely not cold enough for it yet but you didn’t care.

Something about hitting your third trimester had you wanting to nest like crazy, it had you going around the estate cleaning and getting guards to help move furniture around.

You really had no right to be doing it but nobody told you otherwise.

Jungkook had come back midday, surprisingly early, he had paused in the entry hall of his home locking eyes with the pregnant menace that had abruptly put herself at the forefront of his life once again.

It was then he realized you definitely needed to get out of the estate.

“If it keeps you from not moving all my stuff around,” He shrugged, leaning back in his seat, eyes flickering from his phone to you.

You frowned, “I’m sorry, I don’t even know what possessed me.” You sighed, “Well I do, they say third trimester can make you start nesting.”

“Nesting?”

You glared are the way he snorted as if not believing you, “It’s a fact, you can look it up.”

“The fuck is that even supposed to be? What are you, a bird?”

“It means you just get the innate urge to just…” you puffed your cheeks, ignoring that look he was giving you, “Clean and decorate and just…I don’t know I can’t describe it! Just wish I had my own place to do that with and prepare for the baby.”

Jungkook sighed, his eyes went from looking at you to dropping down to your stomach, it was round when you had first come to the estate, but it was evident six weeks had passed, “Then maybe it’s time we talk about a nursery.”

You paused, getting ready to take another drink from your cup but it never meets to your lips.

Jungkook sighed, “I know you don’t wanna talk about it, but finding your brother has quite literally lead me to dead ends I didn’t even think would exist. You’re almost thirty weeks pregnant, that’s less than three months.”

“Okay yeah I can do basic math, but it’s already been almost two months. Surely it won’t take another two months to find him,” You pressed your lips together nervously.

“Would it be so terrible if you gave birth in the estate? It’ll probably be a better experience than the hospital.” Jungkook commented, picking up his coffee as he took a sip.

It wasn’t that you were against giving birth in the estate, professional staff in the comforts of a bed? That was a luxury every woman could only dream of having, it was more the aftermath of it.

The idea of still living at the estate post pregnancy…it was a dangerous thought, it was too close to the life you had once wanted with Jungkook.

You just weren’t sure how to articulate that too him.

Jungkook finally raised a brow at you, noticing your lack of reply.

“I just…don’t want to get too comfortable at the estate.” You finally spoke carefully, “I don't think that's good for anybody involved.”

“I understand but I also don’t like being unprepared- in any aspect concerning me or my estate, and that includes you whether you want it or not.” Jungkook replied, “Just because a nursery is there doesn’t mean it’ll ever be used, it’ll just be there so first of all, you stop moving all my shit and you have a place to do your bird stuff-“

“Nesting.” You glared, lips quirking into a pout as your hands wrapped around your stomach.

Jungkook’s lips curved a little, “Bird stuff. And second, if it does turn out that your stay is extended, it’ll be ready.”

You still weren’t completely sold on the idea, if anything you felt like it would just feed into the delusion even further.

“Why hello there mama.” Another voice suddenly cut in, grabbing a chair from the empty table next to you both and plopping it on the side of your table.

Jungkook immediately straightened up, eyes glaring daggers that could definitely kill, “What the fuck are you doing here?”

“Yoongi!”

The man brushed his black hair from his eyes a quirky smirk on his face as he shrugged, “Uh I’m just stopping in to say hello to my favorite barista who got put on bed rest early.”

A smile twisted on your lips, you were familiar with his face, he had been a regular for almost two years, the realization however quickly hit that Jungkook was very acquainted with this man.

You felt flabbergasted for a moment, you couldn’t believe you never made the connection that the regular customer Yoongi was also Underboss business partner Yoongi.

“It’s nice to see you again Yoongi! I can't believe I didn’t recognize you as Jungkook’s partner…” You sheepishly smiled.

Jungkook clearly didn’t share the same sentiment, his nostrils flared and he looked ready to maul his partner.

“Nah probably for the best you didn’t realize. You as well, you look only a thousand times prettier, have that pregnancy glow about you.” Yoongi threw your a wink.

Jungkook wasn’t sure what made him more violent, the fact that you both were already well acquainted or Yoongi so casually flirting with you.

It was part of his personality but it still didn’t make any attention he or any other male gave you, any easier for Jungkook to witness.

“If you aren’t here for business, get the fuck away from our table.” Jungkook gritted his teeth, as if it took every fiber of his being to not right hook.

Yoongi didn’t seem phased, “Oh I was just in the area, been coming to Serendipity for a long while now, and then I suddenly see my favorite barista who’s been gone for two months, of course I have have to say hello.”

“Okay well you said hello, now go the fuck away.”

“Jungkook!” You said sternly, “Don’t be so stubborn, Yoongi can sit with us for a few minutes at least.”

His eyes were a raging fire as they burned into you, his chest puffing but he said no more as Yoongi observed you both, a smirk on his face as he leaned back in his chair.

“How are you enjoying the estate Y/n?”

You smiled tenderly, “The company makes it honestly, I don’t know what I’d do without Jungkook and Yeonjun.”

“Yeonjun?” Jungkook looked like he sucked on a sour lemon as he spat the name out.

“I still want my apartment back but I’ve made the most of the it. What about you? Why haven’t you come to visit if you knew where I was?” You asked, curious as to what the man had been up too.

Yoongi’s gaze flickered to Jungkook, “Well…let’s just say I was asked to not drop by unless it was absolutely necessary.”

“And it isn’t.” Jungkook gritted.

“Okay well first of all this doesn’t count cause we’re not at the estate, second of all you’re not the only one who has relations to Y/n, I mean have you ever had this woman’s chai? Or her baked cinnamon rolls? Talented hands right there.” Yoongi stretched out in his seat, that playful nature about him.

“Oh don’t flatter me.” You shooed his praise.

“No you deserve all the praise in the world, in fact you deserve-“

“We’re going.” Jungkook stood up from his seat, sick of this if he had to hear one more word come out of his stupid partners mouth.

“Jungkook!” You complained, but nevertheless took his hand when he offered it, “Please visit Yoongi, you’re conversation is always welcomed.”

Yoongi only smiled, sunk into his seat as he watched the tall broody figure practically drag you away, it made him laugh in amusement.

Yoongi by no means kept an eye on you the last two years for his own benefit, but he supposed somethings would always remain thankless.

He had accomplished what he wanted though, evidently no matter how much Jungkook talked- and he talked a lot, it was clear he had grown possessive over you in the last few months.

Yoongi shook his head in amusement, watching the viper leave the parking lot through the window, he was happy to see that old spark in his partner return.

“What was that about!” You complained, immediately dialing the heat down to sixty in the car.

“You shouldn’t be talking to him,” Jungkook grumbled, hands gripping the steer wheel as if he was trying to strangle it, “If you care about your baby’s safety you’ll make an active effort to not talk to him.”

“Hes been one of my regulars for like two years,” you complained, “How was I supposed to know he was your partner? I never even officially met him! What makes him anymore dangerous then you? Hm?”

Jungkook deflated, obviously not having a good reason, “The difference is I’m protecting you.”

“Oh so you’re saying he wouldn’t?”

“The point,” Jungkook gritted his teeth in annoyance, “Is don’t talk to him.”

You frowned as you twisted to fully look at Jungkook, was he…jealous?

“Are you mad that I’m paying attention to someone else?” You asked upfront, you could only be discreet about so many things.

“I’m not mad”.

“No you’re definitely mad.” You replied pointedly.

“I’m annoyed that my business partner is talking to me outside of business.” Jungkook replied.

“But he was talking to me, not you.” You crossed your arms.

“He was doing that on purpose.” Jungkook huffed.

It was silent for a long moment as you folded your hands into your lap.

Of course you didn’t have to point it out, but truthfully it felt too ridiculous to not? “Are you jealous?”

“No.”

There was another pause.

“Why would I be jealous?”

“You tell me,” you replied, a pout on your lips, “You always do this when someone talks to me, men specifically.”

“Do you actually want an honest answer?” Jungkook looked even more annoyed, even so much as throwing you a frosty glance before his eyes returned to the road.

You blinked before a troubled frown slowly curved on your lips, you could think of several ways he’d be honest and none of them you’d be able to fully believe.

“What I want,” you took a breath, “Is to be able to have a conversation without you looking like you’re shooting daggers out of your eyes.”

“I wasn’t shooting daggers out of my eyes.”

You puffed your cheeks, “Well you claim you don’t do a lot of things, that you do in fact, do.”

“How about we just stop talking.” Jungkook replied.

You pouted but spoke no more as you yawned.

“Do you wanna go home?”

You nodded with a small groan, “Yeah, I need to take a nap,” you nodded with another yawn.

Jungkook only nodded in return, eyes occasionally glancing at you, attempting to sleep in the car, when did his life start revolving around you this much?

[revelboo]

Rambles/thoughts/clarifications

Because I probably do need to do this now rather than later~

Hi, I’m Revel. A speculative fiction writer, or fantasy and sci-fi with romance elements, basically, I write smut with plot, usually fated mates. I also love Transformers and I’m a grown woman- Beast Wars was on TV when I was a kid. I have an AO3 also under RevelBoo that is empty for now and these spaces are completely separate, and will remain that way, from the professional writing I do under my pen name and social media.

Requests aren’t technically open- if you ask me something and it sounds interesting or I want to write the character, I will, but this was mostly a space to write for fun to take a break from serious projects and to keep writer’s block at bay, and because I miss the fandom. I write various transformers x human readers, because I’m an absolute sucker for the size difference. I do fall back on some old Transformers fanfic tenants from my FFN days, i.e. mass displacement- cause hey, you wanna climb that mountain at least make it doable, and some of my Transformers terminology comes from that space, too. Yes, my FFN still exists, no, it’s not under RevelBoo and, likewise, no, I’m not giving out that username. I only leave those old fics up so I can go look at them and just cringe when I feel unhappy about my current writing. Seriously, if you write, keep the old stuff to embarrass yourself with down the road/ boost your confidence later.

Any snippets that are NSFW will have warnings, but bear in mind I’m only flagging risqué snippets, not blood or trauma, so read at your own risk. But yeah, if you’re under age- probably don’t need to hang out here. Never know what you might encounter.

That said, I’m most familiar with G1/IDW, TF Prime, and TF One. I’ve seen bits of Earthspark mostly because of Megatron and the lovely, toe-curling brogue of Rory McCann. I haven’t watched Armada, yet. I have watched TFA, but it’s been… since it aired on TV originally. I’ve seen bits of RID and Cyberverse.

[tiramisuucakeee]

A VERY BAD REP, AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN ★

( 420! reader x playboy! heeseung )

IN WHICH : at an exclusive private school in the city, where rich kids thought they ruled the place, heeseung finds out the girl who cheated off of him on an exam and could probably get him expelled, has an even worse reputation than him, and she doesn’t seem to care about what he thinks or says.

WARNINGS: drugs, sexual content. +18.

BTW: tried my best to represent my king fanon suna rintaro in y/n. i haven’t smoked in so long….. it’s been 30 years (2 weeks)….. i’m starting to forget the feeling (girl got sober) ….. ok so basically i dramatized everything cause it’s a fanfic okay, don’t think i take all the stuff i wrote pls and ew i wil never ever write smth like this again, i’m a fluff writer TT

WC: i aint counting allat

read more !

they say opposites attract, even in love, and for him, it’s always been true. he’s into quiet, delicate girls, the type who never speak up and just go with the flow. but no matter how sweet they are, heeseung drops them without a second thought, like they’re nothing more than a momentary distraction after getting what he wants from them. so how did he end up in a situation where it was him doing the chasing? he never really thought he'd have to, ever.

it was almost funny, laughable even. he, of all people, accused of copying on an exam? and now facing the possibility of being expelled if he didn’t find a way to make it right? it was the kind of mess he never imagined getting into.

yes, he was a player and toyed with girls’ feelings for his own benefit, but that was it, he would never dare to stain his behavior record and affect his reputation with the school. he knew his family would kill him if he did, they were the type to always put on a face for others and everyone thought they were this perfect little rich family of three, that went on the most expensive trips and could buy anyone and anything.

he could still remember the teacher’s harsh words blaming him for this. ‘miss y/n has an impeccable record of approved grades in my subject, while you, mister heeseung, barely scrape by. and in this exam, it’s your first grade above a 90. you both share the same exact answers, the same solutions. that leaves me to think you copied off her. i suggest you stop denying it and accept the punishment of suspension. if not, i’ll have no choice but to speak to the principal about expelling you from this school. and your father won’t be able to save you from this one again with donations.’

heeseung slammed his locker shut with a fury, the sound echoing down the empty hallway as the final bell rang. his mind raced, thoughts spiraling. what was he going to tell his family if he actually got expelled? his family reputation couldn’t fix this. the idea was unthinkable, impossible. he wasn’t about to let something he didn’t do ruin everything. he wouldn’t accept it. not without a fight.

he’d stolen the cheat sheet, that much was true. but copying off another student? he would never do that. he had his pride, after all. the problem was, he had no idea how you’d ended up with that paper. how did you get your hands on it? and why the hell had you not even thought about changing one single answer to be slick? his mind was racing, but he wasn’t about to let anyone think he was that stupid.

heeseung had never even bothered to look your way since you got to the school a year and a half ago in your leather jacket and sunglasses. your parents knew each other but you weren’t the type of person he’d ever hang out with. he did know about a guy having a fling with you, and honestly, it almost drove him insane. word has gotten out you had almost driven him to the point of seeking professional help to be sane. but that wasn’t even the worst thing said about you. even with your father’s reputation and money, you weren’t safe from being on people’s mouths as the daughter he never wanted.

what made everything even more difficult was that he had no idea how to make you admit it was you. he didn’t have your number, didn’t know anything about your schedule except for the one class you both shared. confronting you in person seemed like a disaster waiting to happen. he couldn’t risk you turning the whole thing around, making him look like the bad guy while you played the victim. it would be just his luck.

he had never felt so completely taken advantage of. it was always him who used people, who knew how to manipulate them into giving him exactly what he wanted. yet here he was, losing his mind over a girl he’d never even spoken to. it was ridiculous, and it pissed him off.

as the next day rolled around, he was still consumed by it. before the first period, he stood by the stone lion statue on the entrance of school, leaning against the wall next to jake and sunghoon, waiting for karina and wonyoung, as they mindlessly talked about a new prada backpack sunghoon bought yesterday. but heeseung’s mind kept drifting back to the mess with you, he tried to push it aside, focusing on the usual routine. still, the more he tried to forget, the more it nagged at him.

just as he was about to ask jake about you, since he always seemed to know everything about everyone, he stopped himself. no way was he going to ask his friend for help and look uncapable of solving things. he needed to figure this out on his own. instead, he turned his thoughts to how he could find you before the shared calculus class at the end of the day. he had to get to the bottom of this, and fast.

"heeseung!" a cheery voice called out, pulling him from his thoughts. he looked up to see karina dragging wonyoung along, both of them heading toward him, their little red-bottom heels clicking against the pavement. karina flashed him a big, playful smile and waved enthusiastically, her energy cutting through the tension that had been building all morning.

“damn it, it’s too early in the morning for this,” heeseung muttered, rolling his eyes as they approached. jake, who had been watching the whole scene with a smirk, nudged him in the ribs. “that girlfriend of yours, man,” he teased. heeseung just shot him a glare, clearly not amused.

the two girls made their way toward them, but just as they were about to reach the group, a loud, roaring engine cut through the morning air. before anyone could react, a sleek motorcycle zoomed in, blocking their path. the rider revved the engine once more, making it clear they weren’t going anywhere until they dealt with them.

"woah, what’s goin on?" sunghoon asked, clearly impressed by the person who had the guts to stop karina and wonyoung in their tracks. he wasn’t the only one taken aback. everyone was staring as the motorcycle came to a halt. little did they know, the rider was someone heeseung had been obsessing over all morning, someone who could probably ruin both karina and wonyoung’s face with just one single punch. the tension in the air shifted instantly, and heeseung felt his heart race, but not for his girlfriend’s safety, instead, for the person who rolled around.

the motorcycle she was riding was imposing, big, dark, and matte, with electric blue accents. the kind of bike that screamed power and danger. it looked like something straight out of a movie, designed to intimidate, just like its rider. there was a certain energy about her, something that made everyone around tense up instinctively. she didn’t need to say a word to command attention. her presence alone was enough to make even the most confident shrink back.

but they still stepped closer, followed by a crowd of other students who knew exactly who was under the helmet. everyone was eager to see what would happen next.

you pulled off the black helmet, letting your hair tumble out as the cold morning air hit your face, sharpening the already obvious irritation in your expression. there was an undeniable edge to your aura, something fierce and untouchable, like you thrived on chaos and didn’t care who knew it. the way you stood, calm but dangerous, with an almost predatory confidence, made it clear you weren’t here to play nice. karina glanced around, clearly uncomfortable in the middle of a confrontation she’d rather avoid, but she couldn’t deny what she had just done, not going unnoticed by you.

not letting her get the first word, you swung off your motorcycle, your movements sharp and deliberate. "you bitch, are you insane?" you shot at her, pointing a finger directly in her face. the students around you quickly scrambled, eager to capture what might turn into a full-blown fight. for the students watching, it was like something straight out of a teen movie. the popular ‘it girl’ of the school facing off against the infamous ‘bad girl’. a label you despised even more than the people who threw it around. the rich kids were convinced you were a bad person just because you got high 8 out of the 7 days of the week, dressed in black and liked to waste your money getting inked.

"what are you talking about?!" karina stammered, stumbling back as she grabbed wonyoung’s hand, who seemed ready to shrink behind her in panic. they both looked like dolls, dressed in couture clothing and expensive hair accessories.

you scoffed, the memory of what happened earlier still fresh. "don't play dumb with me," you shot back, eyes narrowing. "you're the one who threw food on the road to school from your little convertible. god, are you even intelligent enough to drive?!” karina’s face flushed with embarrassment, not thinking you would actually confront her like this, and for a moment, she looked like she might deny it. but instead, she opened her mouth. "well, i guess i should have thrown it at you then, instead of the road, since you always like to be dirty, don’t you?” she laughed, looking down at your worn out shoes, which were sluthered with mud.

"dirty?" you cut her off with a bitter laugh. "you want to talk about dirty?" your voice dripped with sarcasm. "i’m not the one with half of the school’s dicks down my throat, while embarrassing myself chasing a guy who, the only thing he likes about me is fucking, because it’s the only time i will stop being annoying, how ‘bout that?”

“well, it’s a shame that you don’t have a face pretty enough to even attract a normal guy’s attention. i have seen you hanging around with those shaggy and dirty stoner animals from your old school you call men, having sex in the middle of an alley, all high and out of their minds, huh,” she insisted, pointing at you up and down.

“you’re so full of shit karina, and it’s sad. as if you’d ever find someone that actually likes you, to listen to you talk for more than ten minutes.” you threw her a pitiful look. the students around you shifted uncomfortably, some of them glancing at each other as the tension in the air grew thicker. wonyoung, still holding onto karina’s hand, looked like she was about to step in, but karina pulled her back. “i don’t care what you think, i’m rich, i’ve got tons of friends and i’m pretty, and you have always been jealous of me, just what is your problem?”

you stepped closer, your gaze never leaving hers. “like i care about your dad’s money wash karina, don’t get too carried away, it takes more than money to make someone feel less than you,” you smirked, looking at her up and down. you stepped dangerously closer quickly, making her stumble back once again and shriek, gripping onto wonyoung’s arm even stronger.

“but it will pay your facial reconstruction bill if you keep fucking with me, got it?” you said quietly, but with a force that made the words hit harder than anything else. before she could snap back, wonyoung pulled at her sleeve, whispering something in her ear. karina hesitated, then exhaled a long breath. she wasn’t stupid, karina has seen what ‘kinds of people’ you hang out with, and how bad the other person gets out of a fight with you, she was always quick to insult you, but never to continue fully.

"okay, fine. you want to clean your little tricycle?" karina said, trying to act nonchalant, taking out a huge bill from her purse. "here, i don’t care, just go back to where you came from." you took the bill karina handed out harshly, splitting it in right in the middle, making her gasp, and look at the money falling on the ground, feeling totally humiliated.

not saying anything else, you turned back and mounted the motorcycle again, revving it in a way for the students around to step back, and open way for you to continue your morning, not daring to get in your way. you sped off, the roar of your bike fading into the distance of the parking lot. the boys lingered for a moment before finally making their way over to karina and wonyoung, concern written all over their faces. "you girls alright?" sunghoon asked, glancing at both of them.

karina shot him a frustrated look, her arms still crossed defensively. "yeah, whatever. i'm fine," she muttered, though her voice was tight. wonyoung stayed quiet, looking more shaken than usual, as if still processing the encounter.

the boys exchanged a few more words of reassurance, but heeseung barely heard them. his mind was miles away, consumed by the memory of you. your sharp words, your defiant stance, the way you’d made it clear you weren’t to be messed with. he couldn’t shake the image of you. he couldn’t let it go. not now. heeseung was used to being in control, used to getting what he wanted without a second thought. but you, you were different. there was something about you that made him want to find out more, something about the way you handled the whole situation that had him itching to confront you, face-to-face, but he knew he couldn’t, not unless he wanted to hear karina yell at him nonstop in a fit of jealousy.

"you good, man?" jake's voice broke through his thoughts, and heeseung looked up, blinking. "yeah," he said, trying to shake off the feeling. but deep down, he knew he wasn’t really fine.

as the day went on and classes shifted, lunch break came to an end, and before long, it was time for the dreaded calculus class. you sauntered to your seat at the back of the classroom, right by the window, and dropped into the chair. with a bored sigh, you pulled out your phone, scrolling through it without a care, eyes barely glancing up. it was weird seeing you stick around this long on a school day. usually, you’d slip out early or roll in late, and no one ever said a word. you never had too many absences, always acing every exam. and for that reason, the teachers didn’t question it, because you had this way of making it look effortless, like the rules didn’t even apply to you.

as the class dragged on, something landed softly on your desk, just a small note. you glanced over and saw the girl next to you, the one with the big round glasses, her eyes wide with nervous energy. the second you looked her way, she flinched, shrinking back into her seat. she quickly pointed to the guy sitting next to her, her face practically pleading for you to read whatever nonsense he’d scribbled.

you gave him a weird look, your brow raised in silent confusion, before you slowly unfolded the note, your fingers moving deliberately as if you had all the time in the world. it read, ‘what do you think you’re doing? why did you copy off of me on the exam?’

you snorted at the message, and instantly, the memory hit you. it was the first time you’d let yourself go, forgetting about grades, staying way too long at some random house drugging yourself with something new, until blackout, two days away from home in your ride. you hadn’t made it back in time to study, so you did what you had to do. you texted a contact at school to get you the test. lucky for you, he knew someone in your class who had managed to steal the cheat sheet, and just like that, you had it in your hands.

‘none of your business’ you wrote back, your fingers moving quickly as you folded the note and slid it over to the girl. she hesitated for a second, then took it from you, passing it to him discreetly like it was some kind of underground deal.

a few moments later, the note came back to you. you unfolded it, and your eyes scanned the words. ‘you have to admit you cheated off of me, i’m risking expulsion.’ as if you actually gave a damn about his risk. you shot him a cold glance, then made a subtle motion with your hand, signaling for him to follow you out of the classroom, while you carried your belongings, not planning on returning.

after a few seconds, he finally slipped out of the classroom, meeting you in the empty hallway. "hey, so i really need you to admit you cheated off of me, i could get suspended, even expelled, and i'm not willing to take that kind of punishment for you," he started, his voice full of desperation. but you didn’t let him finish. you raised a hand, cutting him off, and his words trailed off as he stood there, waiting for you to say something.

"i’m sorry, who even are you?" you asked, shaking your head, genuinely confused. "i’m still trying to figure out why you think i’d ever admit to cheating on a test for you." your voice was casual, like the whole situation didn’t even faze you.

"because you did," he said, his tone dripping with self-righteousness. "it’s the right thing to do. you need to get suspended for cheating off of me." he smirked, as if he was the one holding all the power now. "and if you don’t, i’ll just tell them i caught you fucking someone in the bathroom for the test answers or something. you wouldn’t want that, would you?" that made you laugh.

"okay, listen, mr. whoever-you-are," you said, raising an eyebrow, "i’m not doing shit for you. after all, it’s my word against yours, which i’m guessing doesn’t mean much, considering you're the one getting blamed for cheating." you leaned in, a smirk playing at your lips. "and as for the fucking thing? i’ve been caught plenty before. the worst they’ll do is throw me in detention. so go ahead, do as you please." you poked his shoulder, the gesture almost mocking. he stood there for a second, his smile fading as he processed what you'd said. you could tell he wasn't used to being called out like that, or having the cards reversed, but then he leaned in, his voice lowering, like he was trying to pull some kind of play.

"you know," he said, his tone smooth, "a pretty girl like you... you don't really want to be known as the one who got away with cheating. people would start talking, saying you’re not enough for a school like this, wouldn't they?" he stepped closer, his eyes scanning you like he was sizing you up, "but hey, i get it. you don't want to get caught up in more drama. maybe i can help with that... if you just admit it was you."

this couldn’t be happening, you just wondered how in the world did this guy not know of your reputation, he was embarrassing himself so much at the moment. no boys in school got near you for that exact same reason, and here he was, thinking he could word his way into manipulating you, as if you didn’t know how to play your own game. you were known for being this maniatic crazy bitch with a motorcycle, who hang out with ‘lowlifes’, knew how to fight and that was only useful to get drugs from, also probably slept around with teachers because they didn’t think you’re smart enough to study. you’ve been told so many things, that what he said didn’t even bother you.

you rolled your eyes, clearly unimpressed. "oh, so now you're trying to play the good guy card?" you laughed dryly, leaning against the lockers. "nice try, but i'm not some stupid girl you can sweet-talk into doing something."

he chuckled, clearly not giving up. "come on, baby," he said, his voice turning smooth and almost coaxing, "we both know you like the thrill of a little risk. how about we make a nice deal, you admit it was you, and maybe we... hang out sometime. you know, just us. could be fun."

you raised an eyebrow, rolling your eyes again. "wow, really? you are so considerate of me, but no, i don’t want your reduce reuse recycled dick, i'm not interested."

he stepped closer again, trying to intimidate you, but you weren't moved. you just pushed him back with a lazy finger, eyes never leaving his. "you clearly don’t know what you’re doing, or even how to talk to me," you said, voice dripping with mockery. "i'm not impressed. i’ve seen your type a hundred times. and it's honestly fucking pathetic."

he frowned, his jaw tightening, but you didn't care. you weren't here for his tantrums. "seriously, you think this is gonna work on me?" you continued, your voice low and sharp. "you're the one who's gonna look stupid if you keep pushing this. i'm not gonna admit. and if you keep threatening me, we can always settle this another way, i’m sure you know how to fight with those big boy muscles right?" you squeezed his arm, making heeseung shudder, almost feeling a tingle.

you turned to leave, tossing him a final glance over your shoulder. "good luck, though," you added, your voice flat. "i'm sure your suspension month will be really fun." you tossed over your shoulder, voice dripping with sarcasm. "but don't worry, you probably already have a few girls your way to help you feel validated and accompanied."

heeseung just stood there, watching you leave and soon disappear onto another hallway, probably escaping classes. but that did not worry him, we couldn’t let himself worry over a girl like you. you would clearly never fall for his words. guys like heeseung, we’re almost like easy prey for you. too weak and easy, thinking they dominated the whole world, fucking around with girls, throwing massive parties and golfing every sunday with their dad. when in reality they probably didn’t know how to unclog a toilet.

they pissed you off so much, he pissed you off, and now your day was ruined. so almost two hours later, you found yourself on a complete different town to the south, entering an worn out house, kicking the door open. the house brought back many memories, too many. from when you lived here, and not back with your father, in a place you didn’t belong.

"who's here?" a slurred voice called from the kitchen, barely cutting through the thumping music. the place reeked of stale smoke and something sharper, like bleach or chemicals. dim, flickering lights barely illuminated the clutter, casting long shadows over cracked furniture and empty beer cans. scattered on the floor were people, sprawled in various stages of oblivion, some twitching, others motionless, all trapped in their own haze. the walls, stained and peeling, seemed to pulse with the low vibrations of the bass, as if the house itself was barely holding it all together. the house which was previously your mother’s, was now just a usual abandoned place that your friends utilized to hang out in.

"damn, this place is a mess. why didn't you wait for me?" you muttered, stepping into the kitchen. your friends were slouched around a grimy breakfast table, barely looking up as one of them finished snorting white lines off the edge. the counter was littered with crumpled pink blunt wrappers.

"yo! gigi, stop the music!" yeonjun shouted, sniffling as he shot up from his seat, stumbling a bit before he lurched forward to hug you. he almost tripped over his own mismatched-socks covered feet, but when he finally reached you, he inhaled deeply, as if your scent, clean and free of any substances, was a breath of fresh air in the chaos of the room. his grip tightened for a moment, his eyes flickering with a mix of relief.

"i’m not your bitch," giselle muttered, rolling her red-ish eyes as she leaned over to turn down the blaring music. her long acrylic nails clicked sharply against the plastic radio, the sound cutting through the tension in the room. she barely looked at yeonjun as she did it, her expression more annoyed than anything else.

you laughed at her comment, shaking your head, and then moved to hug her, pushing yeonjun off you in the process. he stumbled back, slightly irritated but too dazed to really react, while giselle’s stiff posture softened just a little as you wrapped your arms around her. her eyes flickered with something close to annoyance, but there was a hint of a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips. you pulled away from giselle, giving her a teasing look. "so, what's the plan for tonight?" you asked, shifting your attention to the other strangers in the room, as they lazily got back to their own little worlds. yeonjun was still rubbing his nose, barely paying attention, while giselle just shrugged, taking a drag from her cigarette before flicking it into an ashtray.

“we’re hitting that party in the hill later,” she said, her voice flat but laced with anticipation. "gonna get crossfaded, maybe do a little more. jay’s been asking about you non-stop, by the way." she giggled. you raised an eyebrow at that, crossing your arms. "jay?" you repeated, a little surprised. you didn't think he’d be the type to obsess over anything, let alone you. "what does he want with me?"

she leaned back in her chair, a mischievous glint in her eye. "he’s obsessed you and your dumb tattoos. that night you two spent together? yeah, he can’t stop talking about it.” she paused, letting the words hang in the air like a secret. “guess he’s got a thing for you.”

you snorted, leaning against the counter, trying not to let it bother you too much. it was funny, people you’ve slept with always seemed to fixate on your exterior. but jay? he was a different story. you didn’t really care about whatever weird little crush he might have, though. he was now from a different crowd, and would never cross that line to be with you.

“he does know i changed schools right?” you said. your new school was a whole different world, elite, private, a playground for the wealthy and connected. kids with silver spoons, flashy cars, and tailored suits. a lot of them were insufferable, like karina, but you didn’t mind. it was easy to stand out, to be yourself in a place where most people just followed the rules. since your mother disappeared and your dad took you back, you’ve been placed in a world you don’t belong, and clearly don’t mind not belonging.

they had their porsche, you had your r7. they had private security, and you had your little hello kitty knife. but here, with giselle and the others? it was different. a lot more laid-back, the students knew how to have fun without all the airs and graces of your new world. they were down to earth, fun, and honest, none of the pretentious bullshit that came with being surrounded by rich kids. they had their flaws, sure, but you loved hanging out with them. it was like coming back home after a long trip to a hotel casino, where everyone was more concerned with status than actually living.

giselle noticed the shift in your mood and grinned, as if reading your thoughts. "i know, i know," she said, her voice softened, almost sympathetic. "but, hey, you're still cool with us. we don’t care about your new rich kid school. we’re just down for a good time."

"yeah, alright. i’m down. just don’t expect me to get too crazy, my dad’s expecting me before five am, he knows how shit goes here,” you let out a quiet sigh, glancing over at yeonjun who was now half-focused on his phone, tapping away furiously with his thumb. "so, i’m guessing you’ve already got the stuff lined up for tonight?" you asked, a smirk tugging at your lips.

he looked up at you, still slightly dazed, and nodded. "yeah, i texted my guy next door. he’s got everything we need. should be ready by the time we leave."

“don’t worry, i’ll go,” you didn’t need to ask twice. despite your better judgment, you were already used to this kind of thing. you pushed off the counter, giving giselle a nod. "i’ll be back in a minute, you both stop inhaling shit and try to sober up, i’m not a babysitter," you said casually, already walking toward the door.

"take your time, don't get too caught tho," she called after you, voice almost playful, but with that edge of concern. the door slammed shut behind you, and you stepped out into the cold evening air. it wasn’t far, the dealer’s place was literally next door, tucked behind a run-down convenience store that no one seemed to go into.

the door to the small house was already cracked open when you arrived. you knocked lightly, stepping back to make sure no one would spot you. a moment later, a guy with messy hair and a hoodie poked his head out, his eyes scanning you quickly before he motioned for you to come in. "yo, what’s up?" he greeted, his tone laid-back but sharp, like he had done this a thousand times before

“yeonjun sent me," you said, slipping inside. you didn’t need to say much, his face lit up as soon as you mentioned the name. yeonjun was a regular here, always popping in for one thing or another. the guy didn’t ask too many questions, which was fine by you. "right, right," he said, disappearing into a cluttered room at the back. you heard the rustle of plastic, the clink of glass. he returned with some small bags of pills in his hand, sliding them across the counter. "this should be good for the night. tell yeonjun he owes me. i threw a little present in there for you, pretty."

you nodded with a smile, taking the bag, your fingers brushing against the cool plastic. it was always the same, but you still hated the feeling of this whole transaction, sketchy, rushed. "thanks," you muttered, seeing a little extra, and slipping the bags into your jacket pocket before heading back toward the door.

"catch you later," he called after you, and you didn’t bother to respond.

as you headed back toward the house, the night started to feel more like a blur of its own, the sun setting into a canvas of dark and light colors.

when you pushed the door open again, giselle was already eyeing you, her arms crossed and a smirk playing on her lips. "got it?" she asked, and you gave a quick nod. "yeah, we’re good to go," you said, tossing the bags onto the table where yeonjun had plopped back down. he gave you a lazy thumbs up.

the party was exactly what you’d expect from a house like this, small, run-down, but buzzing with an energy that could only come from a group of teenagers living for the night. the kind of place where people got high, drunk, and fucked without any care in the world. the walls were covered in posters and graffiti, the floors littered with empty bottles and crumpled cans. music thudded through cheap speakers, competing with the chaotic chatter and the occasional shout of someone daring someone else to do something ridiculous or threatening to start a fight.

when you, yeonjun, and giselle arrived, the front door was wide open. keeho was standing there, practically bouncing with excitement, already tipsy from whatever he’d been drinking. his hair was an absolute mess, eyes slanted and tired-looking, and he had lipstick stains all over his neck, but his grin was infectious as he waved you over.

“yo, rich girl! you made it!” he exclaimed, his voice a little slurred, and he pulled you all in for a quick, sloppy hug. "was starting to think you forgot about me, we gotta get you three started!" without missing a beat, keeho grabbed a half-empty bottle of cheap vodka from the floor and shoved it into your hands, urging you to take a swing. his laugh was loud and carefree, and it felt like you were already swept into the madness. you hesitated for a second, but then shrugged and tipped the bottle back. the burn of the alcohol hit the back of your throat, sharp and bitter, but it didn’t matter.

giselle grinned and knocked back her own drink, wiping her mouth as she handed the bottle to yeonjun, who eagerly took a swig, his eyes already glazed over. keeho’s grin only widened, as if he had orchestrated some kind of victory. “hell yeah, let’s go!”

you all pushed past him into the house, the noise of the party almost overwhelming at first. in the main room, there were already people sprawled on couches, a couple of them making out in the corner, while others lounged around in various states of intoxication. the air was thick with the scent of weed and sex. “okay, so, knowing you yeonjun, hotboxing only in the basement bathroom, i don’t want to repeat what happened last month in my room,” keeho turned to your group with a serious face all of a sudden. yeonjun rolled his eyes and started arguing, and giselle joined in, making you leave the scene relentlessly.

as you wandered further into the house, you spotted jay almost immediately. he was leaning against the wall, a drink in his hand, his eyes scanning the room until they landed on you. the second he saw you, his entire demeanor changed, his gaze locked onto you with a sharp intensity, like you were the only person in the room. you couldn’t help but notice it. there was something almost obsessive in the way he watched you, his lips curling into a small but knowing smile. you weren’t sure if he was just drunk or if it was something more, but you knew he wasn’t just here for a good time. he was here for you.

“hey,” jay said as you approached, his voice low and a little too eager, like he was trying to hide just how much he wanted to pull you into his orbit. “glad you showed up. i wasn’t sure if you would.”

you raised an eyebrow and took the drink from him, taking a sip, already sensing the weird energy from him. "you act like i'm some kind of mystery," you said, your tone light, but there was a hint of warning in your voice.

jay just laughed, though it sounded a little nervous. he shifted, trying to get closer, but you didn’t exactly encourage it. "no, no. i mean, i was hoping you’d show up," he said, clearly not even noticing how desperate he sounded. "i don’t know. i just... i couldn’t stop thinking about you." his words hung there in the air for a moment, too heavy for what was supposed to be a casual conversation. you glanced away, trying to shake the awkwardness of it. he was just supposed to be a random hook up, and now he was obsessed.

"yeah, i’m too sober for this, i need a minute," you cut him off, shrugging his hand away, your tone sharper than you intended. the last thing you wanted right now was another round of jay following you around again. you managed to slip into the bathroom, the noise of the party muffled behind you. the moment the door clicked shut, you let out a sigh of relief, leaning back against the door for a second, trying to shake off the weight of jay’s attention.

reaching into your pocket, you pulled out your phone, hoping for a distraction. you had been waiting on a text from your motorcycle repair center all night, hoping they'd finally gotten back to you about the part you needed. just as you started scrolling through your messages, trying to ignore the distant thumping of bass and the muffled laughter from outside, you heard the bathroom door creak open behind you. before you could even turn around, you felt a hard bump against your shoulder, someone colliding with you unexpectedly.

"hey!" the voice was sharp, and the tone was ready to unleash a curse. but then, the voice shifted, a more amused, almost playful note creeping in. "wait, hold up, you're cute."

you blinked, turning to face the girl who had crashed into you. she was standing there, eyes still wide with what could’ve been irritation, but her lips were curled into a smirk now. she looked like she was about to say something more, but the words faltered when she took another quick look at you. she was a couple of inches shorter than you, her dark hair pulled into a messy ponytail, with eyeliner that looked like it had been hastily done, smudging a little at the edges. she wore a worn-out band tee, black jeans, and had that 'i don’t care' attitude.

you raised an eyebrow, still holding your phone, but not making any immediate movement. "thanks," you said dryly, not sure if she was being sarcastic or genuine. “ryujin,” she continued, “and you are?”

“y/n, y/n l/n,” you introduced yourself, almost sounding too righteous.

“you good y/n?” she asked, her voice almost too soft, the kind of softness that could break you without a word. “fuck no, i lost my friends and i need to get high right now,” you laughed, running your hand through your hair.

“oh really?” before you could respond, ryujin was already in front of you, close enough that you could smell the alcohol on her breath, feel the heat radiating off her body. “i can help with that,” she whispered, and there was something about the way she said it that made your pulse spike. she was clearly offering something more than simple. she was offering you something you hadn’t tried before.

she reached into her pocket, pulling out something small, a needle. you froze, your chest tightening, but the pull was still there. you weren’t thinking. you were just so desperate, it would happen again, you would take something from a random hot person. the needle gleamed in her hand, sharp and cold under the dim lighting. you didn’t need to ask what it was, she didn’t need to explain. you could already feel it, the ache of wanting something to take you somewhere else, to make this noise in your head stop. you were sick of it.

her eyes flicked to yours, dark and knowing, like she could see straight through you. "you sure?" she asked, but there was no question in her voice. it was more like a dare. your breath hitched, your heartbeat louder than the music. you looked at her, and for a split second, everything felt still. her eyes held you captive, like she was waiting for you to decide whether to break or not. and then, without saying anything, you nodded.

she didn’t hesitate. one swift motion, and the needle was at your arm. the sting was sharp, more real than anything you’d felt. the rush of it hit you instantly. a sudden heat spread through your veins, like fire lacing under your skin. the world around you blurred, the noise fading into the background. you felt something.

it was almost too much to handle, too quick. your body jolted with the rush of it, the sense of floating, of being untethered from everything. and then, before you could even catch your breath, ryujin was kissing you. it was hard, messy, raw. her lips were insistent, pulling you deeper into the chaos, as if she was swallowing every ounce of your pain. it wasn’t gentle, it was desperate. like she wanted to take everything from you and leave you empty, but at the same time, filled.

you kissed her back, caught in the haze, your body responding before your mind could catch up. the high was creeping in fast, too fast, but it felt good. it felt like everything was finally softening, the noise, the pressure, the expectations, all of it was dissolving with every second that passed.

when she finally pulled back, you were breathless. the world was spinning, but in a way that felt almost right, like you weren’t out of control, but floating in some kind of blissful wreckage. “that’s better,” she whispered, her voice low, smoky, and satisfied. “kissing makes you not feel how much this bitch hurts,” she laughed “or so i’ve been told.”

you just stared at her, too buzzed to say anything, but feeling a kind of calm you hadn’t known in what felt like forever. the pain was gone now, swallowed by the buzz, the heat, and the way she looked at you. like you were both on the edge, and neither of you cared whether you fell off. the rush from the needle still pulsed through your veins as you stepped out of the bathroom, feeling a bit unmoored, like your body was drifting through space. the party felt louder, the music a distant thump in your chest. everything was hazy, like you were floating, and the crowd around you seemed to blur, their faces indistinct. you were just moving.

without thinking, you found yourself at the center of the living room, where bodies pressed against each other, the air thick with sweat and smoke. you let the beat pull you in, letting go of the last vestiges of control. you didn’t care anymore, about anything, anyone. you just moved, your body responding to the rhythm like it had a life of its own, and for the first time tonight, you felt alive.

you danced with strangers, faces you didn’t recognize, their hands on your hips or shoulders, the energy bouncing between you all like an electric current. their movements were reckless, free, and somehow, it felt like you belonged here, in the middle of this mess. the high made everything feel vivid. intense. like every touch, every glance was magnified.

a guy leaned in close, his breath warm on your neck. you didn’t pull away, letting him get close enough to whisper in your ear. you could barely understand what he was saying, but his hands were on your waist, tugging you closer. you let him, lost in the sensation of being wanted, of not caring what anyone thought. your body was moving like it was made for this chaos. you didn’t think. you just felt.

the music shifted, the bass pumping harder, and for a moment, everything became a blur of neon lights and sweaty bodies, spinning like a dizzying cyclone. you let yourself get swept up in it, lost in the noise and the movement, until you couldn’t keep up anymore. the energy in your legs started to fade, your body heavy and tired. you were buzzing too much to care, but eventually, your feet were no longer dancing, just shuffling you toward the edge of the room.

you stumbled to a couch, sinking into the cushions with a long, relieved sigh. the room around you seemed to shift, the music muffled now, everything distant, like you were underwater. you tried to keep your eyes open, but the pull of exhaustion was too strong. you just couldn’t fight it.

your head sank into the back of the couch, and in a matter of seconds, you were out, completely, utterly gone. the noise of the party continued around you, but you were far away now, floating in the quiet of your mind, somewhere where nothing could touch you. the high, the spinning, the chaos, it all faded to a distant hum. you were weightless, drifting in nothingness, as everything slipped away.

you woke up the next morning to the harsh sound of someone shouting, the words barely making sense at first. “everyone get up and get the hell out!” keeho’s voice rang through the room, piercing the fog of sleep that still clung to you. blinking, you squinted at the blinding light creeping through the window, the ache in your head reminding you of just how much but so little had happened the night before. and you tried to suppress the feeling of vomiting.

you barely had time to process everything when keeho appeared at the door, his eyes wide in sudden panic when he saw you sitting there, a disheveled mess on the couch. “wait... you’re here? yeon and gigi were crazy looking for you last night,” he stammered, clearly flustered. you could tell he hadn’t noticed you before, hadn’t realized you’d passed out here.

“yeah, i think someone gave me dope, ‘m not sure,” you muttered, trying to shake the sleepiness from your mind. “could use some clothes though. i didn’t exactly plan on crashing here and i gotta get my ass to school or my father will actually kill me.”

keeho nodded quickly, his face flushing in embarrassment as he glanced around the room like he didn’t know where to look. “yeah, yeah, no problem. i’ve got some stuff, just go to my room. there’s a drawer with girl clothes from... you know. just grab whatever.” he gestured to the hallway.

you stood up, a little unsteady on your feet, and made your way toward his room. it wasn’t far, but the house felt like a maze now, the remnants of last night’s chaos still hanging in the air. the stale scent of alcohol and smoke clung to everything, and you could hear people stirring, mumbling groggily as they shuffled about, trying to piece together the aftermath of whatever they did.

keeho’s room was a mess too, clothes and half-empty bottles scattered across the floor, papers crumpled on his desk. you spotted the drawer he mentioned and pulled it open. inside, there were a mix of clothes, some definitely not your style.

you pulled out a small crop top, the fabric soft against your skin as you slipped it on. the shirt hugged you in just the right way, but the way it exposed a sliver of your tattoos on your side gave you an odd sense of power. something about the ink on your skin made you feel more present, more you, even in the haze of everything that had gone wrong in the last month, not listening to your brain. you quickly grabbed a pair of athletic shorts from the drawer, the fabric light and comfortable, though they were a bit tight on your hips. it didn’t matter. you weren’t here to impress anyone.

you didn’t know what you were expecting to feel in that moment, but it certainly wasn’t this. it was a weird mix of exhaustion and emptiness, and so thirsty. but at least you weren’t in yesterday’s clothes. stepping out of the room, you took a deep breath, preparing to face the aftermath.

keeho was still in the living room, shouting at people to get out, his tone half-annoyed, half-caring, like he was trying to maintain some level of order in the madness. he saw you and gave you an awkward wave. “yo, you good?” he asked, trying to act casual.

“yeah, just tired,” you mumbled, rubbing your eyes. “where’s the exit?”

keeho pointed to the door and went back to yelling at whoever was still sprawled on the couch. you weren’t in the mood for much interaction. just get out. get back to the north. you walked toward the door, weaving through the mess of bodies and vomit. the cool morning air hit you as soon as you stepped outside, the bright sun already making the world feel like it had reset itself. everything was sharp, clear. the chaos of the night felt distant now, as if you were waking up from a bad dream.

you tried not to think about it as you walked away from the house, the reality of last night still buzzing in your head. you pulled out your phone and called an uber, the cool screen a brief distraction from the foggy mess of your mind. as you waited for it to arrive, you kept thinking about the night. about the haze, the people, the weird feeling of everything slipping through your fingers. you needed to forget it, or at least stop accepting drugs from friendly girls in bathrooms, you had to stick to smoking-only, or your body would end up on the cover of a newspaper with a bad name. you slid into the back of the car when it arrived, the familiar hum of the engine lulling you into a kind of dull trance as you made your way back to the city.

the ride was quiet, a smooth hum of traffic and soft music in the background. it didn’t take long to get back to the luxurious academy, but as you stepped out of the car and walked through the heavily guarded gates, you could feel the eyes on you. people were already filing into the backyard tables for lunch, and you were late, again.

you didn’t care, though. you didn’t care about anything right now. the school was a blur of clean clothes and sharp faces, everyone looking polished and perfect, the exact opposite of how you felt and looked. you ignored the stares, walking past a couple of your classmates who were giving you the side-eye, their whispers barely audible over the din of voices. but you could feel the weight of it. the judgment. the fact that you weren’t exactly like everyone else here, and they knew it.

you made your way to the lunch hall, where your only acquaintance was already sitting, glancing up as you walked in. chaeryeong’s eyes flickered between you and the time. you slid into the seat across from her, barely noticing the food she'd saved for you. you didn’t have the energy for the usual small talk or the smiley faces she always wore.

“are you okay, y/n?” chaeryeong asked softly. you still couldn’t figure out why she stuck around. maybe it was because you’d protected her in some way, kept her safe from karina and her ridiculous mean girl act. chaeryeong was too kind, too good-hearted. she didn’t deserve any of that. you nodded without thinking, just going through the motions. you took a bite of the sandwich, but the food was tasteless, like everything else was. somewhere deep down, you knew you had to get your shit together, but for now, it was easier to keep pretending that everything was fine.

the real reason why you started being even more reckless than before was simple. you missed her. and you hated yourself for it, for missing your mother, the one who abandoned you a year and a half algo. a part of you wanted to believe this was all a plan for you to move in with your rich father and get yourself a place in society, but deep down you knew she found another family with one of the hundreds of men she slept with every night to be able to pay rent. not like you were actually hurt, though. everything you did, every choice you made, was for her. you liked to think she was in a better place now, not living off of selling herself. in your mind, you had to be your best version, just for her. not for that father you have, which was the first one to actually leave, after hearing the news of your mother being pregnant with you. but karma got him, and now he was stuck with you.

he just lets you be, lets you invite your friends over and make a mess. after all, he has maids to clean up after you. but you weren’t about to be that much of a burden, which is why you pushed yourself to excel academically. your mother always said, ‘every single person is a nobody, no matter how rich or poor. the only thing that makes us different is our drive to be better for ourselves.’

you stand up abruptly, pushing your chair back with a little too much force. "i'm going for a smoke," you mutter, barely looking at chaeryeong. before she can say anything and tell you how drugs are ruining you, you’re already heading out of the cafeteria, your steps quick and determined. you make your way to your locker, your fingers fumbling slightly as you pull out a couple of blunts, the familiar smell of them grounding you.

sliding past the neat hallways, you cut through the back of the school, where the gym equipment is stored, away from the eyes of teachers and nosy students. it’s quiet here, the air thick with the scent of rubber and old wood. you light up without hesitation, the first drag hitting your lungs like a small relief. for a moment, it's just you, the world outside fading into the background. you then take a slow hit, the smoke filling your lungs again, and for a second, it feels like everything slows down. you exhale, watching the thin trail of smoke twist and curl in the air before disappearing. the taste is bitter, but it doesn’t matter. it’s the quiet and that’s important right now.

until it wasn’t. from the corner of your eye, you catch movement, footsteps crunching against the gravel. you look up, and there he is, the guy from yesterday. the same cocky grin, the same aura of someone who’s too used to getting what they want. he was dressed in a faux-fur jacket.

“what the hell…” you watched him get closer, his nose slightly scrunching at the smoke coming out your mouth.

"looks like we started on the wrong track," he says, leaning against the chain-link fence with that insufferable smirk still on his face. "name’s heeseung," he adds, like you should be impressed.

you blink, connecting the dots in your head. heeseung. the rich kid. the usual playboy. and then, it clicks, he’s with karina. the thought hits you like a cold splash of water. of course. he’s here because of her. to bribe you, maybe, or to mess with you, make you look bad in front of everyone. you exhale, the smoke swirling between you as you size him up. "what d’ya want?" you ask, your voice flat, not bothering to hide the growing annoyance.

he wrinkles his nose, taking in the air like he’s just stepped into a dumpster. "really smells like shit here, and you look even worse," he says with a disgusted chuckle, glancing around like he’s considering whether or not to leave. you can’t help but laugh, the sound rough but genuine. ‘he really is a piece of work,’ you think, watching his discomfort. without missing a beat, you take another hit, leaning back against the wall as you blow out the smoke. "maybe it's just you," you say with a smirk, your voice teasing but cold.

heeseung raises an eyebrow, clearly not expecting that response, but you can see the hint of a smile pulling at the corner of his mouth. he’s not as untouchable as he thinks. heeseung’s eyes flicker down to your exposed arms and stomach, the tattoos that snake along your skin, and you catch the shift in his expression. he’s staring, but it’s not the way he was a second ago, this is different. "did those hurt?" he asks, his tone almost tentative, like he’s unsure if he should even ask. you raise an eyebrow, glancing at him like he’s just asked the dumbest question in the world.

you stare at him for a long second, then pull in a slow breath. "what do you think?" you say, deadpanning. "of course they did." he blinks, suddenly awkward, rubbing the back of his neck. "right. uh..." he trails off, his gaze flicking around like he’s trying to find something else to say.

"are you cold?" he asks finally, his eyes narrowing slightly at your lack of layers. you’re barely dressed for fall, your shirt thin and your shorts almost too small for the weather. the chill in the air seems to be getting to him more than it’s getting to you. you snort, the sharp edge of your laugh cutting through the tension. "worry about yourself," you mutter, pulling another drag. it’s not like you were cold, it’s more that you weren’t going to admit it to him.

he watches you for a moment, brow furrowed, clearly not buying it. his eyes flicker between your face and the way you’re standing. "yeah, okay," he says, though it sounds more like he's humoring you than agreeing. heeseung takes a step closer, his hands slipping into the pockets of his hoodie as he looks at you with a mix of concern and reluctance. "you know, if you really aren’t fine, i could always-“ he cuts himself off, glancing away for a second, as though considering something before shaking his head. "never mind. it’s not that cold anyway, right?"

“stop trying to make small talk, hedeun-“

“it’s heeseung,” he interrupted, visibly bothered at you getting his name wrong.

“it’s whatever, just tell me what you want, i don’t like spending much time with people like you,” you sighed. “what are you really here for?”

“i heard you sell,” heeseung started, making you let out a loud laugh. “if all you wanted was to smoke, you could’ve just asked me to share, i’m not a monster,” you extended your blunt towards him, but he declined. “i also heard about your mother, and about your old school, and everything about it,” he swallowed, nervously fiddling with his hands, contradicting with his harsh exterior. you raised an eyebrow, the edge of a smirk pulling at the corner of your mouth as you listen to him, the words rolling off his tongue with a strange mix of nervousness and something else, like he’s trying to explain himself but doesn’t really know how. it’s not exactly what you expected, but it’s almost worse.

"is that so?" you reply, voice flat but laced with a quiet venom. you cross your arms over your chest, leaning back slightly as if the conversation doesn’t deserve your full attention. "so, you did all this… research on me, huh? i bet everyone had a lot of nice things to say." it was a weird situation, when you changed schools, all the girls were all over you, excited for a new girl, but as soon as they saw who you were, they escaped, not wanting anything to do with you besides get some smoke and pills.

you couldn’t blame them, you didn’t want to hang out with them either. but karina stayed, until you made the ‘mistake’ of dating the guy she liked at that moment, and since then, she made the promise to destroy your life, if only she could even try.

he seems to falter under your gaze, his eyes dropping to the ground for a moment. "i just... i wanted to understand. i wasn’t trying to judge you or anything. i just..." he rubs his hands together, clearly uncomfortable. "i guess i just thought it’d make sense to know who you are before, well, before we talked again."

you can feel the sharpness in the air, his attempt at an apology or explanation almost laughable. you don’t need his pity. “so, you went and found out about me. what now?”

he looks up at you, a bit of guilt coloring his expression, but it’s hard to tell whether he’s more upset about the fact that you’re not impressed, or that his research didn’t give him the right answers. "i just-" he stops, rubbing the back of his neck again, looking more like a kid who’d gotten caught in a lie than a guy trying to make amends, secretly trying to manipulate you. "i didn’t mean to come off like that. i just... i don’t know how to read you."

your eyes narrow, sizing him up. "well, you can start by not making this about me. whatever you think you found out, that’s your problem." you tilt your head, voice going a little colder. "you’re not the first to assume shit about me. and everything i told everyone on this place about me, is barely the surface, so you can do with that what you want. but i’m not here for your guilt trip."

for a moment, it looks like he might say something else, but he just bites his lip instead, clearly unsure how to break through the wall you’ve just put up. and you’re fine with that. heeseung had no idea why you were being so hard. why he couldn’t get to you like he could with other girls. for some strange reason, he seemed drawn to you, almost as if you were here to save him from the horrible destiny that it is to be with karina. but you didn’t seem the slightest interested in him. and he hated that. he hated the fact that he felt like you were unconsciously pulling him in, but he couldn’t do the same to you.

only, that he could. and he was doing it. you could see it in his eyes, the sparkle for the unknown, you were almost an escapatory for him. from his rich kid, player, facade or maybe his own true personality. you felt the extreme change in demeanor he had since talking to you yesterday, after realizing you weren’t like the girls from his school. he seemed way more open today, and way more relaxed. but you weren’t about to be his little side distraction in his perfect, cushioned life. you weren’t just some novelty.

"good conversation, heeseung," you muttered, clicking your tongue as you stubbed out the blunt against the cement wall you were leaning on, then started to walk away. before you could get too far, you heard him call after you. "hey, wait up!"

you turned back to find a faint desperation in his eyes. "sunghoon's throwing a little something tonight, and i know you don’t usually hang with people like us, but you should come. we might need some of that stuff you’ve got." he gestured to the blunt in your hand. it was almost endearing, how he treated something so simple like it was a secret, like it was taboo. the gap between you two seemed clearer than ever.

“i’ll make sure to get you something good, i hope you can handle it,” you gave him a small smile. heeseung watched you walk away, the weight of your words hanging in the air between you. he was used to girls like karina, who flattered him, who followed him, who played by the rules of his world. but you? you were something else. something he couldn’t quite figure out. he didn’t know why, but something about you made him feel off-balance.

‘you’re not an escapade. you’re not just some distraction,’ he thought to himself, eyes narrowing in confusion. you’re different. something about you. you could ground him. he didn’t know what it was. it wasn’t just the exterior, the rough edges, or the way you didn’t give a shit about his family name or his money. it wasn’t just the way you made him feel like he wasn’t the center of the universe for once. it was everything. the way you looked at him, like he was nothing special, like he was just another guy in a long line of guys who thought they could buy their way into your life.

“but i’m not like them,” he whispered, his jaw tightening, for some reason, he felt as if your opinion about him mattered, as if it would validate him and differentiate him from everyone. his fingers itched as he replayed the way you shut him down, how you were so effortlessly cold, so indifferent to everything he usually took for granted. it drove him insane, but in a way that made him want more.

heeseung's thoughts were interrupted as he heard footsteps approaching. he turned, and there she was, karina, dressed in her usual sleek, effortless luxury. she was all polished skin, perfectly pressed clothes, and a kind of beauty that seemed more crafted than natural. every strand of her hair was in place, her makeup impeccable. she was the kind of girl who seemed born to be admired, the kind who could walk into a room and instantly own it with just a smile. "there you are, baby," she said, her voice smooth and warm, but with an edge of impatience. "i've been looking for you everywhere." her eyes flicked over him, a slight frown pulling at the corners of her lips, probably because she found him standing alone. she wasn't used to seeing him like that. the usual crowd of hangers-on was missing.

heeseung barely acknowledged her greeting, his mind still half on you, half on the uneasy tension you left behind. "yeah, here i am," he replied, his voice distant, distracted. karina raised an eyebrow, noticing his disinterest. “what's up with you? you look like you're a million miles away.” her tone was soft, but there was an undercurrent of concern, or maybe just curiosity. he wasn’t acting like himself, and karina was used to having his full attention.

heeseung felt the instant need to go back to his facade, and gave her a smirk. “i’m just thinking,�� he shook his head. karina’s eyes narrowed slightly. "thinking about what?" she asked, as if she wanted to understand what had him in this strange mood he changed all of a sudden. he hesitated, looking off into the distance, towards the empty tennis courts. he didn’t want to bring you up, but something in him pushed him to. "actually," he started slowly, "i’ve been wondering... why do you hate that one girl, y/n, so much?"

karina’s eyes flickered briefly, a subtle shift in her expression that heeseung didn't miss. for a moment, he saw something, just a flash, of discomfort in her gaze, he had been around enough girls to start to notice things like this. it was fleeting, but it was enough to make him pause. she straightened, regaining her composure almost immediately, but he could tell. ‘she’s jealous,’ he realized. not just of you, but of the fact that he was talking to her about you. about you, and not her.

karina stiffened, but only for a second. the smile on her face didn’t falter. ‘it’s fine,’ she thought, ‘don’t overreact. he’s just talking about her because she’s interesting. he’s not actually...’ she couldn’t quite finish the thought. she didn’t want to risk making a scene, not when she was so close to keeping things exactly the way they were. she needed him. she couldn’t let you take him away from her. so she would do her best to portray you as someone horrible.

"i don’t hate her," she replied after a beat, her voice a little too controlled. "i just don’t get her."

heeseung raised an eyebrow, unimpressed by her attempt to deflect. "you’re not fooling me," he said, his tone soft but insistent. "you don’t like her. why?"

karina let out a quiet sigh, her gaze shifting down, away from his eyes. she was debating whether or not to say what was really on her mind. finally, she spoke, her voice low. "she just… waltzes into any group, any situation, with that awful motorcycle and a hand full of drugs, and everyone loves her. no effort. she doesn’t have to try. and i hate that."

heeseung frowned, confused. "what do you mean? i don’t get it."

karina’s eyes flickered with something darker now, the frustration seeping through her composed exterior. "i mean, i work for everything. i work for people’s approval, for their attention, for their affection. i have to try, i have to be the right kind of person, say the right things, look the right way. and then she shows up, all… whatever she is, and everyone just falls over themselves for that druggie. no trying. she doesn’t care about any of it, and still, she gets everything." her voice grew harder, colder, as if she was speaking from experience. "it’s like she doesn’t even have to try, and that’s what pisses me off."

heeseung couldn’t help but study her face, watching the jealousy simmer in her eyes. it was subtle, almost masked by her cool demeanor, but he could see it now, clear as day. karina was used to being the one people admired, the one people worked to impress. and you, someone who didn’t play by any of the rules, someone who didn't care, had that same magnetic pull, without any of the effort. and it bothered her more than she wanted to admit.

karina stiffened, her lips curling slightly. "that’s exactly the problem," she snapped. "she doesn’t belong here, and she thinks that just because her father finally acknowledged her, and suddenly she’s super rich, she can act however she pleases. but it’s not like that."

the thought made him uneasy, but he didn’t show it. instead, he shrugged, his gaze drifting back to where you had disappeared. "i don’t think it’s the money," he muttered, almost to himself. "i think she just is. and maybe that’s what makes her different."

karina didn’t respond. she simply stepped closer, closing the distance between them, but he could feel the slight shift in the air, the way her usual easy confidence had faltered, just a little. "whatever you say," karina finally said, forcing a smile back onto her face. "but just remember, she’s just a low life addict, that’s all she is, and will ever be. you don’t want to get too close to someone like that."

heeseung didn’t meet her eyes. instead, his gaze lingered on the spot where you had walked away, and the words from earlier replayed in his head, the ones that had stuck with him the most, ‘i hope you can handle it.’

later that night, heeseung found himself at sunghoon’s house, though his mind was somewhere else entirely. the mansion was alive with the thumping pulse of bass-heavy music, laughter, and the clink of bottles being passed around. it was the kind of party sunghoon always threw, lavish, high-energy, packed with people who were either too drunk to remember their names or too wealthy to care about anything else. people were dancing in the living room, some on the massive leather couches, others sprawled across the marble floors, playing some ridiculous drinking game. it was a familiar scene, people letting loose, showing off, and pretending to forget the rules for a few hours.

but none of that mattered to heeseung right now. he was standing off to the side, leaning against a wall, a drink in his hand but barely touching it. his mind kept drifting back to you, the way you’d walked off earlier, the way karina’s words had lingered in his head. there was something about you that gnawed at him, and he couldn’t shake the feeling that tonight would be the night that would reveal something important.

he didn’t even know if you’d show up tonight, but he couldn’t stop thinking about it. would you? would you show up, walk through the door with that effortless confidence, and completely flip the energy of the room without even trying? it wasn’t even about impressing people. it was the way you didn’t need to try. you just were. and it was like you could walk into any situation and make everyone else’s chaos feel like it was secondary to you.

he tried to shake it off, pulling his phone out of his pocket to check for something. nothing. his friends were blowing up the group chat, but none of it caught his attention. it was a flurry of photos, plans to leave with a girl, someone complaining about the music being too vulgar, but nothing about you, because you weren’t part of his life. maybe that’s why he kept looking around the room, scanning the crowd, hoping, wishing that you would suddenly appear, even though he knew he was being ridiculous. you probably wouldn’t even care about coming to a place like this. too many people trying to impress each other. too much pretending.

he threw back the rest of his drink on one of sunghoon’s exotic plants, setting the glass down on the nearest table, feeling his mind drift further from the party. he leaned against the wall again, the chatter and music blurring into the background, but his focus remained fixed on the front door. he kept wondering if you'd walk through it.

across the room, jake appeared, grinning wide, holding up two shot glasses. “heeseung! come on, man, stop moping in the corner and have some fun.” he raised his eyebrows, urging him over. heeseung waved him off, still distracted. “i’m good. just got a lot on my mind.”

“yeah? don’t let it ruin the vibe, dude. you’re at a party, not a therapy session.” jake clapped him on the shoulder and turned away to rejoin the crowd. heeseung’s eyes flicked over to the front door again, and he felt that familiar twist in his stomach. ‘she’s not coming,’ he thought, but the doubt lingered. the weird hope that maybe, just maybe, she would show up. ‘she doesn’t belong here, and she doesn’t want to belong here,’ he told himself. this world’s not your scene. but that thought only seemed to make him want to see you even more.

for a moment, he wondered why he cared so much. why was he fixated on whether you’d show up or not? it didn’t make sense. he barely knew you, and yet everything about you felt like a puzzle he had to solve. and now, standing in the middle of this extravagant, noisy party, he felt that pull again, the one that made him question everything, including himself.

he glanced at the door again, half-expecting to see you walk through, but nothing. just the same crowd of people, laughing and drinking, playing their games. maybe you didn’t care about these kinds of parties. maybe you didn’t care about any of this at all.

heeseung pushed through the sliding glass door that led to the backyard, escaping the chaos of the party. the cool night air hit him like a splash of water, and he took a deep breath, trying to clear his head.

the backyard was quieter, but his mind was still buzzing. he was leaning against the brick wall near the pool when he spotted karina on the other side of the yard. she was laughing, leaning into some guy with slicked-back hair, a smile too perfect to be genuine. the guy was clearly into her, his hand resting a little too comfortably on her waist, but karina didn’t seem to care. she was toying with him, teasing him, her eyes glancing over at heeseung for only a second, as if she was trying to make him jealous, but he wasn’t bothered.

heeseung didn’t care. not tonight. the sight of karina flirting with someone else didn’t stir anything in him. he didn’t even feel a spark of jealousy of that guy not being him. it was strange, but in the back of his mind, he kept thinking about you, about how you didn’t fit into this world at all, and yet, you seemed to have more of an impact on him than anyone else in the room.

he was about to turn back to search for jake, when the sound of raised voices cut through the air. it wasn’t just loud, it was intense.

he turned, his curiosity piqued, and followed the noise toward the front of the house. he didn’t know what was going on, but something told him it wasn’t good. as he rounded the corner, he saw the commotion, a guard-like guy, probably hired by sunghoon, was blocking the front door, holding his hand out like a wall. and there, standing just a few feet away from him, were you, fuming, your hands raised in defiance, and your expression unreadable but full of fire.

heeseung’s heart skipped a beat. he couldn’t believe it. you were actually arguing with the guy, not giving a damn about the way he stood there like he owned the door.

“i can’t let you in. you’re not on the list mr. park provided,” the guy was saying, his voice deep and dismissive, clearly not taking you seriously. you, however, didn’t care about his rules or his attitude. "i don’t care if i’m on that fuck-ass list or not, let me in," you snapped, leaning in so close your face almost brushed against his. "move out of my way before i make you."

heeseung watched, a little impressed, a little surprised at how you held your ground. you weren’t backing down for anything, no one was going to push you around. the guy was trying to reason with you, but you weren’t having it. before things could escalate, heeseung walked up, cutting through the tension with his calm presence. the guy looked at him with confusion, but heeseung ignored him, instead turning to you.

“hey,” he said, his voice cool but loud enough for you to hear over the noise. “it’s fine. let her in.”

you stopped, glancing up at him with a look of surprise in your eyes, like you hadn’t expected him to step in. but then your face softened slightly, and he gave a quick, almost imperceptible nod, signaling to the guard that it was okay.

"i said it’s fine," heeseung continued, keeping his gaze on the guy who was still hesitating. "she’s here with me."

the guard’s eyes flicked between you two, clearly unsure, but he finally backed off. “whatever,” he muttered, stepping aside. “but you’re on thin ice, lady.”

you didn’t even acknowledge the guy’s words. you turned without a second glance, and motioned for your friend to follow your lead. “gigi, let’s go,” you said, the confidence in your voice as clear as day.

heeseung blinked, surprised by the sudden appearance of the girl who had been standing quietly behind you the entire time, playing with her nails. you both were dressed in tiny dresses that revealed too much, clearly ready to go somewhere else after this. giselle wasn’t as loud or bold as you, but there was something in the way she carried herself with her salmon colored pin-straight hair and long nails, that suggested she was just as comfortable in her own skin. she followed you without hesitation, taking slow steps toward the door.

the two of you walked together like you didn’t even notice the opulence of the house, the flashy people, or the music blaring from inside. you seemed completely indifferent to the party scene, to all of it, and heeseung couldn’t help but admire it and wonder how had he not noticed you before. while everyone else was caught up in the noise, the drinking, the pretension, you and giselle were just there. not needing anything from this world. not caring about any of it. you only seemed to care about yourselves, about the quiet between you, and maybe that was the most fascinating thing about you.

heeseung was about to say something, but you didn’t even look back at him. instead, you pushed your way through the crowd with your friend, making your way to the kitchen without a second thought. he followed, but kept his distance, not wanting to intrude.

you weren’t here for the party. you were here for you, and he couldn’t help but wonder how long he could keep watching from the sidelines before he, too, would be drawn into whatever world you existed in.

“alright,” you sighed, taking a few small plastic bags from your bra, and a cigarette box. you weren’t any kind of professional underground dealer, but you were still cautious, if not, word would get to your father and it would be a mess.

“i got you, ice, it’s the powder by the way, i got molly, those pills with happy faces on them, and weed… oh, and we pre-rolled them for you, they’re kind of fat, i’m really nice like that,” you smiled at heeseung, seeing him stare at you.

“you good?” you asked, “i didn’t bring anything else, i don’t think you’d even know how to take it,” you stepped back, crossing your arms.

“oh, yeah, yeah, that’s good,” he shook his head, snapping out of his trance. “can i scan-pay you?” heeseung asked, realizing, of course, he didn’t have any cash on him.

“yeah, it’s alright,” you said, pulling out your phone and typing in an amount before switching to a qr code for him to scan. for a moment, you considered scamming him, but decided against it. it would’ve been easy, he didn’t even ask about the prices.

once the payment went through, you flashed a quick, satisfied smile back to giselle. you could already feel happier knowing you would get out of this mansion. as you began to turn away, heeseung’s gaze shifted, his eyes landing on someone across the room. “hold on,” he muttered, scanning the crowd. he spotted jungwon nearby, leaning casually against the wall, chatting with a few people. heeseung grabbed the bags from the counter and stepped over to him.

“hey,” heeseung called, catching jungwon’s attention. “take this to sunghoon, yeah?” he passed the items over, his tone nonchalant. jungwon raised an eyebrow, looking at the bags before meeting heeseung’s eyes. “man, the things you get yourself into for a girl.”

heeseung shrugged, offering a half-smile. “it’s for me. just get it to him. he’ll know what to do.”

jungwon gave him a nod, slipping the bags into his jacket pocket. “got it.”

heeseung’s eyes followed you and giselle as you made your way toward the door, his steps quickening as he caught up with you just before you reached the curb.

“hey, where are you two headed?” he asked, voice casual but with a hint of concern. you looked at him, a little surprised to see him following. “we’re going to the south,” you said, glancing at giselle. “there’s a car race. about half an hour away, and since i had to come all the way up here for you, we’re hoping to make it to the after party.”

heeseung nodded, his gaze lingering on you. “i’ll drive you,” he said, his tone suddenly firm. “we wouldn’t want you, both of you, getting into any trouble out here.”

you raised an eyebrow, skeptical, but too high to argue. you glanced at giselle, who was lighting another blunt, and let out a sigh. "fine," you said, already feeling the weight of the night catching up with you. "i’m not in the mood to call a cab and waste money." giselle shot you a look that was part judgment, part annoyance, but she kept quiet. you could feel her disapproval, but you were beyond caring at this point.

heeseung led the way, and you followed without a word. when you reached the driveway, your eyes widened slightly at the car parked there. heeseung’s car was a sleek, black sports car, the kind that turned heads without even trying. it was polished to perfection, the curves of the body glinting in the dim light of the streetlamp. it was the kind of car that screamed wealth, effortlessly.

“is this yours?” you asked, though you already knew the answer. it was the first time something he had impressed you. heeseung smirked as he opened the passenger door for you. “yeah. pretty sure it’s faster than any cab you’d get out here.”

you shook your head, sliding into the leather seat. giselle climbed in at the back, sitting with her arms crossed, clearly not impressed. she still had that cold, distant air about her when it came to heeseung and his “scrooge mcduck” world.

heeseung didn’t seem bothered. he slid into the driver’s seat, started the engine, and the low purr of the car’s power seemed to cut through the tension in the air. as he pulled out of the driveway, the smooth hum of the car filled the silence between you all.

it was an uncomfortable ride, but at least it was fast, and you weren’t wasting money on a cab. you stared out the window, the city lights blurring by, while giselle stared ahead, looking as unimpressed with heeseung and his world as ever. heeseung, on the other hand, kept his eyes on the road, his expression unreadable. the drive was smooth, fast. but even as he focused on the road, his mind kept drifting back to you.

he glanced over at you, your face illuminated by the streetlights, your expression unreadable. and for a brief second, he realized that he didn’t want this ride to end. he didn’t want to stop being close to you, even if just for a moment.

as you got closer to the south side, the vibe of the neighborhood started to change. heeseung could feel it in the air. the buildings were older, the streets narrower, the houses less pristine than the ones he was used to. the gleaming luxury of his own world felt miles away. his fingers tightened on the steering wheel as he took in the unfamiliar surroundings, a slight unease creeping in.

you glanced over at him, sensing the shift in his energy. “you okay?” you asked, eyes narrowing slightly as you noticed him tense up and grip the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white. heeseung didn’t respond at first. he just kept driving, his gaze flicking between the rearview mirror and the unfamiliar streets. it was clear he wasn’t used to this. “yeah,” he said, his voice cool but there was something off about it. “just... not exactly my usual neighborhood.”

you gave him a knowing look, the faintest smirk tugging at the corner of your lips. “don’t worry,” you said, your voice light but with an edge of seriousness. “i’ll protect you, whatever happens pretty boy.”

heeseung shot you a glance, eyes flicking over to meet yours, before rolling his eyes. “i don’t need protection, thanks,” he muttered, but there was an almost imperceptible tension in his jaw that gave him away.

you could tell he was uncomfortable, and it wasn’t just the drive. his world and this one were different in every way, and he was out of his element, but you didn’t say anything. it was clear enough without needing to spell it out. heeseung took a turn down an alleyway, the pavement rough and uneven. he parked the car next to a few other vehicles, feeling the weight of the decision. the streetlights here weren’t as bright, and there was a certain stillness in the air that felt too quiet for comfort. his mind flashed briefly to the idea of getting robbed, but he pushed the thought away, shaking his head.

“don’t take it personally,” you said, reading his discomfort easily. you and giselle climbed out of the car, both of you moving with purpose. “come on,” you said, glancing back at him. “the after party’s just down the street.”

heeseung hesitated, but finally stepped out of the car. the low hum of the engine idled in the background, the sound of the city slowly creeping in around him. he walked behind you and giselle, trying not to seem too out of place as you led the way out the alley.

the party was just around the corner, and the closer you got, the louder the music became. from a distance, it looked like any other chaotic house party, but heeseung could sense the difference. the people were rougher, the energy sharper. it felt like a different world, one he had no real experience in. you shot him a glance over your shoulder as you reached the front door. “you’re fine,” you said, almost as if you were trying to reassure him, though you both knew there was no guarantee of that. you gave him a small smirk before pushing open the door.

heeseung paused at the threshold, looking around. this was a place where he didn’t belong, a world where people didn’t care about money or status. it was raw, unpredictable, and everything in him wanted to retreat, but something kept him standing there. you had pulled him into this world, whether he liked it or not. heeseung followed you and giselle into the backyard, where the atmosphere felt more relaxed, but still lively. the yard was filled with groups of people gathered around, casually chatting and laughing. the air was thicker here, filled with the mix of cigarette smoke and the low hum of music coming from the house.

heeseung couldn’t help but feel out of place as his gaze landed on two guys, who were lounging on a bench, laughing with a couple of girls. their casual demeanor was in sharp contrast to the tightly wound posture he’d been carrying since arriving. they noticed him immediately, their eyes flicking to him, then back to you and giselle. noting he was one of ‘yours.’

“girls, you bailed on us tonight,” keeho pouted.

“we told you we were going to sell at one of y/n new classmates party. your little suicide car race isn’t that important,” giselle rolled her eyes kicking keeho’s shin with her heel, making him hiss.

yeonjun raised an eyebrow and smirked at heeseung, who was still tense, and looked like a mannequin from a golf store. “yo, man, you look like you’re about to shit yourself already. what’s with the stiff face?” he asked, clearly amused by heeseung’s discomfort. keeho chuckled, looking at him with a knowing smile.

“you’re here with her, though,” keeho added, tilting his head in your direction. “so, you’re alright, huh? wasn’t expecting to see you here, rich kid.”

you laughed at his comment, taking giselle’s blunt and taking a drag out of it.

heeseung wasn’t sure how to respond. he wasn’t sure why he felt so out of place. it wasn’t like he had anything against the people here. still, he couldn’t shake the tension in his shoulders. “yeah, just not... used to this,” he muttered, glancing around at the unfamiliar scene.

you caught his eye, noticing the tension that still hadn’t fully left him. with a small grin, you spoke up, your tone light but firm. “don’t sweat it. i said i’d protect you didn’t i? you’re fine. just enjoy the night.”

yeonjun laughed and leaned back, gesturing to the people around him. “we’re bro’s, right? just have a good time. you’re with us now,” he said, his smile more welcoming than teasing.

you and heeseung exchanged a quick look, something unspoken passing between you before you broke the silence with a small smile. “want a drink?” you asked, your tone casual but with an undercurrent of something more, like you were offering him a way to settle in, just a little. heeseung hesitated, glancing around at the people milling about, some laughing, some lost in their own world. he still wasn’t quite comfortable, still felt like an outsider, but the offer was simple enough. he nodded slowly. “yeah. sure.”

you led the way over to a small table where drinks were being passed around, beer cans, a few bottles of cheap liquor, and what looked like a mix of makeshift cocktails. the scene felt different than the polished, curated parties he was used to. you grabbed a bottle of something brown and poured it into a plastic cup, handing it to him. “you’re unlucky, i don’t have any fancy cocktails,” you said with a half-smirk, leaning back slightly as he took the drink.

“thanks,” he muttered, eyeing the cup with a little wariness before taking a careful sip. it was strong. way stronger than he expected, and he quickly forced himself to swallow, trying not to show that it burned. heeseung took another drink, feeling the warmth spread through his chest as the alcohol hit him. the tension in his body started to loosen, but his mind kept swirling around the question that had been nagging him ever since you first crossed his path.

“why are you staying with me?” he asked, his voice quieter than usual, a little more curious as you two settled down on two plastic chairs. “why not go back to your friends? seems like you’d rather be with them.” he watched you for a second as you absentmindedly looked around. for a moment, you didn’t answer, but then you met his gaze, your eyes soft and a little more open than usual, like you were letting him see something deeper.

“because i knew you wouldn’t feel comfortable by yourself,” you said casually, but there was something in your tone, something almost kind, that caught him off guard. you shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal, but he could tell it was, at least to you. heeseung blinked, surprised. he hadn’t expected that kind of answer. it wasn’t what he’d imagined, especially with how standoffish you'd seemed earlier. you weren’t trying to be here out of obligation, or to entertain some rich kid from the party.

and then, as the silence stretched on for a second, he noticed something in your manner. something that shifted, just a little. your body language had relaxed, your words were slower, more open. heeseung's gaze narrowed, and he took a longer look at you. “wait a minute,” he said, voice a little more cautious. “you’re high, aren’t you?” he laughed.

“yeah, i’ve been for the last ten minutes,” you admitted with a small laugh, your words softening at the edges. “it’s just the same thing i gave you, though. don’t get all worried on me.”

“so you’re... this you?” he asked, motioning vaguely to the two of you, to the situation, to everything happening around you. “not the one back at the school?”

you shrugged again, but this time it was more relaxed. “yeah, i guess so,” you said, eyes flickering away for a second, like you were deciding whether to share more or pull back. but then, you met his gaze again, almost like you were daring him to say something about it. “i thought i’ve always been me, but now that you mention it. i guess i kind of act with some sort of resentment to you guys,”

he took another drink, then looked at you, his voice softer this time. “why’s that?”

“hard feeling,” you said simply. “family things, but it’s all handled.” you lied, not wanting to open up to him completely yet. there was definitely a change in him, and you noticed it. and in his eyes you could see the slight desperation and need. it was his new demeanour that made him different. you couldn't explain, because words couldn't even clarify what was starting to lure you in.

“heeseung, seriously, i’m opening up to you, and you keep looking at me like you want to fuck,” you said out of nowhere. he instantly tensed up and looked away.

“i’m sorry, i didn’t realize,” he said. it was obvious he didn’t want you to think of him as a player anymore, he was actually trying to please you now. you let out a soft, teasing laugh, leaning back in your chair, knowing exactly what you were doing. you decided to play into his usual game just enough to give him a bit of satisfaction. "do you?"

heeseung immediately turned toward you, eyes widening in surprise as he caught the playful glint in yours. he knew exactly what you were hinting at, but he still tried to keep his cool, pretending to be unfazed. "huh?"

"do you… want to fuck?" you asked casually, watching him with a challenge in your eyes.

his breath caught for a split second, but he quickly composed himself. he opened his mouth, unsure of how to answer, and hesitated. "i… don’t know," he muttered, trying to play it safe, though his voice betrayed a slight crack of uncertainty. you couldn’t help but laugh softly, your head tilting back as you let out a short snort. you met his eyes again, smirking. "what do you mean you don’t know? is it really that hard to say what you want?"

heeseung shifted uncomfortably, clearly trying to play it cool, but the nervousness was obvious. and it was so very clear that he wanted it. he ran a hand through his hair, his gaze flickering away for a moment. "what even is your point y/n?"

you shrugged nonchalantly, your tone lighter now. "nothing, just asking."

after that night, things were different. heeseung wasn't the same. he wasn't playing games anymore, not the way he used to. it wasn’t like he’d suddenly become someone else, but around you, he changed. that distance he always kept, it started to shrink.

you could feel it in the way he acted, the way he’d look at you sometimes when you were talking in class or lunch with your friend, like he was listening for real and not just pretending. he was less guarded, more real with you.

you started meeting up behind the gym often. no one ever really saw you, and that’s how you both liked it. the air was always a little warmer there, the kind of quiet where you could actually talk. you’d smoke, and he’d sit with you, talking about everything and nothing at all. and even when the conversation would die down, there was this comfortable silence between you two. the kind that felt easy, like you didn’t have to fill every gap with words.

one day, he even just showed up at your door, standing there with his dad, holding a gift basket. you froze when you opened the door. heeseung, here, with his dad, visiting your dad. it was almost laughable. you never thought you’d see the day, but there he was, a little nervous, but still trying to act cool.

"uh, hey," he said, like it wasn’t the most awkward thing ever. "my dad was going to visit your dad... said something about business visits or whatever, so i came with him."

you blinked, still processing, then stepped aside to let them in. after that, you both started to realize how much closer you’d gotten. things weren’t just about secret meetings anymore. they were about knowing each other, understanding each other in a way you didn’t before.

heeseung wasn’t a player anymore, not around you. he wasn’t hiding behind any walls or pretending to be something he wasn’t. it was like he was finally letting himself be seen, and you liked that. a lot.

even with all the changes, even with how much closer you two had become, there was still that one thing hanging between you. heeseung was still with karina. it wasn’t like you didn’t notice it. the way they would still walk around school together, the way she’d smile at him when he passed by. there were no obvious signs of trouble, no cracks in their relationship that you could see.

even though heeseung would drop little hints, those quiet, uncertain words when the two of you were alone ‘i’m thinking about breaking up with her…’ it never seemed to go anywhere. he would say it with a kind of vulnerability, like he was testing the waters, like he was hoping you’d say something that would push him in one direction or the other.

you couldn’t help but feel frustrated. there was this constant tug-of-war between what he said to you in private and what he did when the world was watching. it felt like he was trying to keep one foot in both worlds, but you couldn’t help feeling like you were left waiting in the middle, unsure if you were just a momentary distraction or something more. you told yourself you shouldn’t read too much into it. that he was confused, that maybe it wasn’t the right time, or maybe he didn’t have the courage to make the change. but every time he’d tell you he wanted to leave her, you’d see the conflict in his eyes, that quiet desperation to be understood, to be seen. still, he never followed through. he never made the choice.

you stayed friendly, maybe out of habit, maybe because you weren’t quite ready to let go of the connection you’d built. you let him tag along when you hung out with your friends down south at the house. a spot that was more a sanctuary than anything else, away from the world, away from expectations.

heeseung still had that rich boy aura about him, the one that made him stick out in a crowd of worn-out jeans and streetwise attitudes. but your friends didn’t mind. they were good with him being there, even if they teased him a little. mocking his clean-cut appearance, joking about how his designer clothes didn’t exactly fit the vibe. they liked him well enough, though. it was obvious he wasn’t as comfortable with them as he was in his own circles, but he did try. and they did notice how close you’d gotten to him.

“look at mr. fancy pants over here,” yeonjun would joke, nudging him as he sipped on whatever drink was put in front of him. “you sure you’re not lost, rich boy? this isn’t exactly sushi bar territory.”

he’d smile, a little awkwardly, trying to laugh it off, but there was always a flicker of discomfort behind his eyes. he wasn’t like them, not really. they knew it, and he knew it, but it didn’t matter as much when he was there, surrounded by your friends, just being with you.

you’d catch moments, though. quiet ones when he was staring off into the distance, or when his laugh felt a little too forced. you knew it was because he was still stuck. still torn between two worlds, two lives. and you were tired of being in the middle of it. though, what ou didn’t know, that for him it was much more than that. he was stuck between two girls of different worlds. karina and you.

karina wasn’t someone he actually liked, he was just with her for his reputation and his family. but still, he was with her. and you, you were absolutely everything to him. you were the trouble that came along with bad decisions and the reward that came after them.

it all came crashing down one night when you and your friends were hanging out at the house, like you’d done countless times before. the air was thick with smoke, the sounds of laughter and music filling the dim-lit space as everyone just tried to forget for a few hours. it was supposed to be like any other night, a break from everything that weighed you down. but then, out of nowhere, the door slammed open.

sirens wailed in the distance, but it was already too late. the police stormed in, uniformed and angry, their boots pounding against the cracked floors, their voices demanding silence. they didn’t give anyone a chance to react before they were ripping through everything. throwing aside old records, scattering things off shelves, knocking over bottles.

"this is a raid," one of the officers barked, his voice cutting through the chaos. "everything’s getting confiscated."

your heart sank as they swept through the room, destroying everything. things you had no idea they’d even care about. all the memories, the things that had made this place feel like home, were being taken apart right in front of you. your childhood, your sanctuary, was crumbling.

you stood frozen for a second, not sure what to do, but your instinct kicked in. no way in hell. this wasn’t right. you couldn’t let them destroy it all. you rushed forward, intent on stopping them, shouting at the officers to stop, to leave, to just go away.

"who the hell do you think you guys are?! this is my house! you can’t do this!" you screamed, your hands shaking with adrenaline as you tried to push past one of the officers to get to the old furniture, the things that meant something to you. everything in this house had a story, a memory. and they were tearing it down, trying to find something.

but before you could get too far, a hand grabbed your arm, pulling you back. it was heeseung, his grip firm but gentle as he yanked you away from the officers.

“stop,” he muttered urgently, his voice tense. "you’re not gonna win this. they’ll arrest you, they’ll make it worse." even if he was slightly scared, and terrified of getting himself arrested and the word getting to his father, he had to take care of you. he just wondered how they found out about this place, a drug raid was almost impossible, you were within the legal bounds.

you were almost angry at heeseung for not letting you go. in that moment, as the officers trashed everything that meant something to you, the anger bubbled up inside. how could he stand there, calm and collected, trying to hold you back, when everything you cared about was being destroyed? it felt like betrayal, even though you knew deep down it wasn’t his fault. he wasn’t the one doing this.

you tried to pull away from him, your heart racing, your mind spinning. "let me go, heeseung!" you snapped, your voice sharp and furious. " i can’t just stand here and watch them do this! they’re destroying everything!"

but he held you tighter, his grip unyielding. “i’m not letting you make things worse. not like this,” he said, his voice tight but calm, like he knew exactly what you needed, even if you didn’t want to hear it.

you yanked your arm again, almost reckless with frustration. your pulse was pounding in your ears. “why? why are you stopping me? i can’t just let them-” you broke off, your voice cracking. you didn’t want to admit how scared you were, how helpless you felt. in that moment, you realized, there wasn’t anybody there for you. the house of your mother was being searched, and she wasn’t here. and you knew you’re father wouldn’t care.

his eyes softened, and for a moment, you thought he might let go. but instead, he pulled you closer, his voice dropping to something gentler, but firm. “because if you go after them now, you’re just giving them more reason to hurt you. to make it worse. this isn’t the time.”

you hated that he was right. you absolutely hated it.

it wasn’t just about the stuff. it wasn’t just about the house. it was the fact that it all felt like a reminder of how much you didn’t have control over. the way things kept slipping through your fingers, no matter how hard you tried to hold on. you looked up at him, your chest rising and falling in sharp breaths. “they can’t just take everything,” you muttered, the anger still hot in your throat. “this was my life. my memories. this house is all i am.”

heeseung didn’t say anything right away. he just looked at you. like he really understood. he got it, even if you weren’t sure you could let him. finally, he exhaled slowly. "i know. but this isn’t the way to fix it."

you stood there, your body still tense, but slowly, you started to feel the reality of the situation hit you. he wasn’t letting you be reckless because he didn’t care. he was trying to protect you from making a bigger mistake, from getting hurt. from losing more. with a heavy sigh, you slumped against him, the fight draining from your body. you weren’t sure if you were more angry at the situation or at yourself for feeling so helpless. but in that moment, as the chaos continued around you, all you could do was lean into him. just a little, because you knew you couldn’t do this alone.

after the chaos of the raid, everything seemed to move in slow motion. the police had confiscated everything they wanted that seemed suspicious, leaving nothing but a wrecked space behind. they’d taken their time, ensuring that no one was left with any trace of what used to be there. when it was over, the officers had turned their attention to you, with blaming guns in hand.

you hadn’t even realized they were going to search you until they were doing it, their hands cold and impersonal as they patrolled your pockets, your bag, your shoes. your heart hammered in your chest, and you were still shaking from the adrenaline, from everything that had just happened. everything felt surreal, like you were watching it happen to someone else. but the reality of it hit hard when they finally let you out of the interrogation room, their eyes on you like you were some kind of suspect.

you stood outside the police station, the weight of everything pressing down on you. the air felt colder now, the harshness of the situation settling in. you were free to go, but the damage had been done. you felt exposed, like a part of you had been torn away that you couldn’t get back. but you couldn’t stay there anymore. the night had stretched on, and you just needed to leave.

as you stood there, trying to process the mess that had been made of your life, you heard someone approaching from behind. you didn’t need to turn around to know who it was. his footsteps, the way he moved, the tension in his gait, it was heeseung.

he walked up to you, his face serious, eyes darker than usual. "are you okay?" he asked, though you could tell he wasn’t asking just out of concern. he was searching for something else, something deeper. you didn’t answer right away. you couldn’t. instead, you just gave a tight nod, your throat too tight to speak. but then he said something that made your stomach drop.

“it was karina,” he said.

you blinked, confused. “what do you mean?”

heeseung exhaled sharply, shaking his head slightly, like he couldn’t believe it. "she’s the one who called the cops. i know it. she slipped up when i talked to her a couple of minutes ago, she somehow knew i was here.”

a cold feeling swept over you as everything clicked into place. karina. karina had followed him all the way to the house, had gotten the cops involved. it made sense, but the realization didn’t make it hurt any less.

“she did this?” you asked quietly, your voice hollow. you didn’t need to say much more. it was all there. you didn’t actually believe it was possible for someone to be such a horrible human being. heeseung didn’t respond immediately. his jaw clenched, and you could see how much it was bothering him. how much it hurt him to admit it, but he couldn’t deny it.

"yeah," he muttered, his voice low. "i didn’t want to believe it at first, but... it’s clear now." he looked at you, his expression almost guilty, like he was carrying something heavy. "i never wanted you to be caught up in that. i never thought she’d go this far. i broke up with her, she kept bothering me about being here."

you turned away, looking out into the night, the cool air stinging your face. "so what now?" you asked, the words coming out flat, tired. heeseung stepped closer, his voice more earnest now, as if he wanted to say something, to fix things. "i don’t know," he admitted quietly. "i never wanted it to be like this. i don’t want to lose you... but i don’t know how to fix this either. i don’t want to hurt you."

you glanced at him, feeling the weight of the moment. part of you wanted to scream, to say everything that was building up inside, but another part of you just felt... defeated. because the truth was, even now, with everything that had happened, you still didn’t have an answer. and maybe that was the problem. you could feel it. the tension that had been there for so long. the feelings that you couldn’t fully express, that he couldn’t seem to acknowledge. and here you were, caught in the middle of it all.

“you’ve already hurt me, heeseung,” you whispered, your voice barely audible. “but i guess... i guess i’ve been letting you. because i still don’t know how to walk away.”

heeseung’s expression faltered. "i never wanted you to feel that way."

you shook your head. “you don’t get it, do you? it’s not about what you want anymore. it’s about what’s already happened.”

he didn’t have a response. all he could do was stand there, looking at you like he wanted to fix things, but knowing he couldn’t. because when it came down to it, the choice had never been yours. and it sure as hell wasn’t his to make anymore.

for the next few days, you avoided heeseung like the plague. and he couldn’t get close to you. everytime he tried, something got in the way, his friends, responsibilities. and you were fine with that. you just had to accept that everything that happened with him was just a slip up, and you’d soon be in your usual bad girl exterior, ignoring him one again.

but it wasn’t that easy. not with karina still out to make your life impossible. she was still angry at you for whatever reason. angry enough to confront you again.

“how are you doing, y/n?” karina pulled out a chair in your empty lunch table, sitting down neatly on it.

“what the fuck do you want?” you spat, annoyed by her presence. you could already feel the stares of students and teachers, as they were informed of what happened.

“geez, calm down, we wouldn’t want you to get a violence complaint and get sent back to the police station, wouldn’t we?”

that was all she needed to say, the single words that came out of her mouth. and she was face down on the ground. you pressed your knee on her back, keeping her grounded, as your hand made her face keep contact with the dirty floor. “you keep fucking messing with me karina, i told you i wouldn’t let it go.”

from a table not to far away, heeseung sat with his friends, watching the scene intently, and for once, heeseung felt himself worrying about a girl. not karina, but you. for once he felt the need to protect you, even if you were already capable on your own.

a small drop of blood from her perfect skin was enough to make you land yourself in the principal’s office. after the fight in the cafeteria, everything changed. you were suspended for your actions, the consequences of that impulsive moment catching up with you. karina had pushed you too far, it was messy. it was ugly. and now, it was your reality.

you spent the next week alone, mostly, apart from that day your father made you attend rehab, because for some reason the school requested it, there you met some nice people. the suspension meant missing school, being grounded and missing your friends down south who kept spamming your phone, and also being forced to face the aftermath of everything. it was a strange kind of isolation. you hadn’t expected to feel so disconnected. the chaos of the fight, the anger you’d been holding back for so long. it all felt like it had burned itself out in that one violent moment. and now, there was just the quiet, with nothing left to do but think.

one afternoon, as you sat on your huge balcony, smoking a cigarette, since your father confiscated everything else, you tried to let the smoke clear your head. you watched the world outside, the fancy cars in traffic passing below, people going about their business, and it felt almost surreal. like everything that had happened. the raid, the fight, was part of some other version of your life. but you couldn’t forget. you couldn’t ignore the tension in your chest. the weight of everything you’d lost. even if you didn’t want to admit it, even if you didn’t want to feel it, you still missed him. you missed the parts of him that were real. the ones that made you feel like maybe, just maybe, things could be different. but now, with everything laid bare, you realized it was never going to be the way you wanted.

you sighed and flicked the cigarette to the ground, watching it burn out as you leaned back against the railing. it was quiet here, just you and the world. it gave you space to breathe, to think. but still, your mind kept returning to heeseung. to the way he’d looked at you in the hallways before everything went south. to the way he used to make you feel seen. and even though you were angry at him, you still couldn’t shake the thought ‘maybe i miss him more than i should.’

you were lost in thought when the doorbell rang, snapping you out of your haze. no one ever came to your house except your dad, so the sound was unexpected. you walked to the top of the stairs to see who it was, but when you saw the butler let heeseung inside, your stomach dropped. what the hell was he doing here? after everything, after you cut him off. he still showed up. frustration hit you immediately, and you turned to leave, heading quickly to your room. but heeseung wasn’t giving up that easily. you heard his footsteps behind you as he called your name. "hey, wait!"

you didn’t stop. you just pushed harder to get to your door, slamming it behind you and locking it. but you knew he was still out there, still following you.

“please, can we talk?” he said softly through the door. you stood there, fists clenched, torn between wanting to scream and wanting to know why he couldn’t just leave you alone.

you hesitated for a moment, but you couldn’t bring yourself to leave him standing there. you unlocked the door and let him in, and he stepped inside, his gaze immediately scanning your room. it was quiet, almost sterile. nothing like the space you had shown him at your old place. there were no personal touches, no signs of the messy, chaotic you he’d seen before. it felt different. distant.

heeseung looked around, his eyes softening with something like regret, but before he could say anything, you snapped.

“you have no right to come back into my life like this, like you own the place!” you shouted, your voice shaking with anger. “after everything, after you- ugh! you can’t just show up here, acting like it’s nothing!”

he took a step back, clearly taken off guard by the intensity of your words. but you didn’t care. the frustration, the hurt. it all spilled out in a rush. “you didn’t fight for shit, heeseung! you never did. you just kept going back to karina and that made her destroy my life! so don’t come here now, thinking everything’s fine!”

his face tightened, but he didn’t speak. he just stood there, looking at you, trying to find the right words. but you couldn’t let him speak. not yet.

“you don’t get to do this,” you spat, your chest heaving. “you don’t get to just fix it after everything you’ve done.”

heeseung didn't say anything. he just stepped forward and pulled you into a kiss-fast, intense. you froze, feeling all the anger and frustration you'd built up dissolve in that moment. it wasn't gentle, it wasn't soft. it was his apology, his regret, all packed into one. you tried to push him away to keep talking, but he didn't let you. instead, his hand gripped your wrist, pushing you against the wall, and it made everything inside you twist. when he pulled back, his breath was heavy, eyes searching yours.

“i will cuss you out heeseung, for everything, maybe not just now,” you breathed out, making a small grin appear on his face.

his hands gently traced the contours of your figure as his gaze remained focused on you. he was tender, careful, his lips leaving soft, lingering touches, wanting you to remember only the feel of his kiss. "i've missed you so fucking much, you don’t even know…" he murmured, his thumb grazing your jaw. "me too," you replied softly, pressing your lips against his again.

his hands quickly went to the hem of your shirt, his experienced fingers peeling it shirt off your warm body, a small sigh leaving his lips as they trailed against your neck, leaving open mouthed kisses along it. your breathing got heavier as he sucked hard occasionally, very clearly trying to leave marks.

“fuck, slow down, i’m not going anywhere,” you let out a small breathy gasp, feeling his sharp teeth numbing on your skin, then his soft lips pressing against the spot, almost delicately. you moaned lightly as heeseung slid his knee between your thighs, feeling him smirk against your sensitive skin. “yeah, i know.”

heeseung then moved you both to the edge of your bed, gently letting you rest on your back, your head landing softly against the pillows, still very much aware of how much you needed his mouth back on your body.

he resumed to trailing kisses down your chest, through every single line of dark ink on your body, until he reached the hem of your shorts, looking up at you with those dark doe eyes, that drowned in need. “just relax, can you do that for me?” heeseung slowly started to take off your bottoms, as you sighed out “uh-huh.” he pulled them down your legs, throwing them away from your sight.

“just like that,” he slipped his hand through your white laced underwear causing you to shudder. as his soft fingertips brushed against your cunt. your chest immediately tensed feeling his index and middle finger rub down your clit, your wetness coating his fingers.

heeseung captured your lips into a hungry kiss, distracting you for a small second as he pushed two fingers deep inside of you, reaching up. but soon enough, he had you gasping for air against his mouth, as he moved them quicker, his thumb pressing against your clit, sending a warm feeling through your body.

your hand gripped the soft silk sheets, the other on his shoulder, feeling him so deep inside. your hips buckled unconsciously, wanting to get even closer to him. “fuck,” you whispered, dryly moaning, getting the overwhelming sense of cumming start building up.

heeseung kissed the corner of your mouth one time, before going down on you, his hot tongue leaving a wet trail against your skin, and then he replaced his thumb, sucking on your swollen clit, while his fingers still worked their way into you. his eyes observed how you reacted, almost as if hunting you down. it all felt too much, many sensations at the same time, they had you struggling with your words in between moans, as the knot inside your stomach tightened but quickly gave up, “fuck, ‘seung- mhmm, i’m gonna-“ you whimpered, feeling your legs start shaking, making heeseung go impossibly harder on you.

he fingered and sucked you until you came down your high, making sure to lick his fingers clean, not wanting to get your bed dirty, even if it would in a few seconds. you could feel him getting more hard, as he pressed his hips down against your plush thigh to get a bit of friction. a smirk spread across your mouth because you knew you were the reason why.

“come on, let me see your face, pretty girl,” he grabbed you with his other hand, turning your hot face towards him, almost grinning in victory when seeing your half lidded pinkish eyes, as if you were drunk from arousal and his touch. he bored into your face, as if looking at a piece of art, “you’re goddamn beautiful,” he uttered.

“yeah, i know,” you told him, making him laugh, while using your hands to unbutton his pants, starting to slide them off. heeseung noticed this, looking down at your actions then back up at you with a smirk, “and you’re telling me to slow down,” he said with a devilish tone, helping you take off his clothes, ever so slowly, torturing you with the time.

you threw him a warning look, as he propped up, still on top of you, and took off his shirt as well, letting you see his slightly tanned skin, clear of any love bites that soon would coat him. heeseung hovered over your body, watching intently how he deeply buried himself inside of you. he wouldn’t let you do any of the work, it was going to be him.

you felt him pulsate inside of you, your walls stretching out for him due to his size. it was almost painful to feel too full at once. heeseung was trying not to go crazy over how warm and tight your were, suppressing the need to fuck you with everything he had here and now, before starting to move slowly. he went as deep as he could, and once you got used to the feeling of his dick inside you, heeseung started thrusting in roughly, enough to send spams through your heat, to your body.

“fuck, you’re so good for me,” heeseung groaned, and he took advantage of your position under him to make particularly strong thursts, tightening his grip on your waist, his expression full with desire for more, to get lost in you. and your face didn’t make it better, you looked so needy and high from him at the same time, it made him want to fuck you endlessly, and lose control.

his hips kept slamming with yours mercilessly, and you felt yourself aching, wanting to cum once again, letting out a loud inevitable moan. heeseung was pressed by your walls, as he approached his edge soon, taking the moment to pound into you quickly, almost making himself a whining mess.

you whimpered into his mouth due to the overstimulation he caused you with his thrusts, a knot ran through your legs and you didn't know how much longer you could resist, you felt unbelievably full from him. your warm breath made him lose even more concentration, as he mindlessly came inside of you, coating your insides, still throbbing and moving slowly into you.

when he finally stopped and cleaned you up carefully, heeseung dropped next to you, turning to watch your profile. he raised his fist, getting your attention, and you gave him an odd look before joining your own first with him in the middle in a fistbump, even if you felt like you were about to give away into sleepiness. “atleast that’s better than making stuff awkward,” you sighed, looking up at the ceiling, only dressed in your shirt and a new pair of underwear, feeling a small tug in your throat from being dry.

“hey, we need to get up, i was planning on taking you out,” heeseung said, poking your arm playfully. he couldn’t be serious, wanting you to leave the comfort of your bed after not being able to feel how to walk.

turning your body to your side, you looked out of the glass panel that was your window, noticing the sky get darker “you’re crazy, i’m not doing that right now, let me be,” the words left your mouth tiredly, groaning as you adjusted your position.

heeseung shook his head, hearing a small breath from you, telling him you were in already dream-land, way too far for him to get ahold of you. and he was sure it would always be like that, that he would be the one chasing you, and he didn’t mind, because after all the bad decisions, he was knew he could handle it, the bad reputation and everything that came in between.

BTW: this is saur embarrassing, if it doesn’t get atleast one note, i will delete my whole account istg. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 also, not proofread. i’m not reading all that stuff again. ew.

EXTRA:

masterlist.

[msklassickilla]

Tryna Do solo sikoa | a short fic

Summary: As an overnight cashier at CVS, the reader forms an unexpected connection with Solo through their late-night run-ins. Their playful flirtation evolves into deeper conversations about dreams and vulnerabilities, leaving both questioning the tension between them and where it might lead.

Pairing: Solo Sikoa x Black Reader

AN: Just a short fic but kind of long ass hell for one post featuring Solo. I don't think I've ever done a strictly reader fic so this was a challenge- a fun one though. Basically, instead of working on important shit, I do shit like this instead. So, I hope you enjoy what I created from my slacking off LOL

Warnings: None.

Disclaimer: This work of art is fictional in nature including the original characters created by me. I do not own any of the existing characters or lyrics from songs referenced in this story. All rights belong to their respective owners with the exception of my original characters. This work is purely for entertainment purposes and is not intended to cause harm.

Night 1 ⋆⭒˚.⋆

You were the late-night cashier at the 24-hour CVS store. It was usually an easy gig. Not too many customers came in after 10 p.m. The time on your Apple Watch read 11:45 a.m. when the door chimed, signaling the arrival of a new customer. You didn’t pay him much attention at first, flipping through the pages of the magazine in your hands.

But then you heard it—his voice. “Aye, where y’all bandages at? Y’all done moved stuff around up in here?”

You thought to yourself, I know that voice from somewhere.

You looked up from your magazine to find a man in a black Nike sweatsuit standing in the aisle, his brown eyes locking onto yours. Something about him felt familiar, but you couldn’t quite place where you’d seen him before.

“Yea, the bandages are in aisle 22, on the left-hand side,” you replied, returning your attention to the magazine.

“Cool. If I can’t find them, I’m gon’ holla at you. Be listenin’ instead of not working,” he teased, a smirk playing on his lips.

You rolled your eyes, feeling the stir of recognition. You tried to place him, running through possible names in your head.

“Aye, I can’t find them!” The man called out.

Sighing, you grabbed your keys, looking directly into the camera so your manager, James, knew to keep an eye out. You headed toward the aisle, already knowing this guy was on the wrong one.

There he was, standing in aisle 20, surrounded by medicine. You shot him a pointed look. “Boy, I said aisle 22, not 20. Add, not subtract.” The sass in your voice was unmistakable.

He smirked again. “You not professional at all. Where your manager at? I need to make a complaint before I leave.”

You scrunched your face. “Not you a whole caramel Ken. It’s too late for this nonsense. Let’s move to 22, shall we?”

He raised his hands in mock surrender. “Lead the way, but I still need to speak to the manager, little girl.”

You led him to aisle 22 and pointed at the bandages. “See? It wasn’t that hard if you followed directions the first time.”

He sucked his teeth and began browsing the bandages. You lingered for a moment, letting your gaze drift over his face. He was cute, in a boyish kind of way.

“You gon’ help me pick these bandages or what?” He asked, his brown eyes locking with yours, a challenge in his gaze.

You waved him off. “That ain’t in my job description, homeboy. See you at the front.”

��Call your manager while you’re up there,” he called after you, a grin tugging at his lips.

You ignored him, already knowing James wasn’t going to tell you how to do your job. You’d been there longer than him, after all.

Back at the front counter, you flipped through your magazine, but it didn’t stay visible long. The man—familiar yet unknown still—came up and plopped his items down, right on top of it.

You looked up, shooting him a withering glance. “You so damn rude. You see all this counter space, and you put it right here?” You motioned to the magazine.

He returned your look, unbothered. “Hell yea. But you rude as hell so I'm giving what I'm getting. And no, I didn’t see all that counter space, but I saw that magazine you ain’t supposed to be looking at while you working.”

You sighed heavily, resisting the urge to roll your eyes. “You can’t use the self-checkout?”

“Nah. It seem like you need some work to do,” he said, a playful gleam in his eyes.

He was definitely getting under your skin now, but in a way you didn’t quite mind. “You just like my cousin. Want everybody to be on your time. The world don't revolve around you or his ass."

He said the magic words, and you leaned in closer, your interest piqued. “Hol' up. Don’t I know you?”

Solo lifted an eyebrow, a slight grin pulling at the corners of his lips. “Shit. I don’t know. Do you?”

You narrowed your eyes, turning your head slightly. Then it clicked. “Oh, I know who the hell you are. Solo. No wonder you in here causing chaos and confusion.”

Solo’s eyes widened, and a grin spread across his face. “Damn, you got a good memory. You got me, little girl.”

You crossed your arms and smirked. “Yeah, I knew your voice sounded familiar when you came in here being loud. I can’t believe you up in here actin’ a fool.”

He chuckled, a cocky smirk on display. “I see you got jokes. What you know about me, though?”

You rolled your eyes but couldn’t help but smile. “You’re Solo, right? From the wrestling thing. You’ve got that whole ‘tough guy’ thing going on. Looked like you could use a little humility though.” You gave him a once-over, your eyes lingering for just a second longer than you meant to.

He chuckled, clearly enjoying your response. “And what about you? You workin’ late-night shifts, but you clearly got more going on. You ain’t like these other people I usually see in these type places.” His eyes scanned your form, then met yours again. “You different.”

You raised an eyebrow. “I’m just here trying to get my check like everyone else.” You leaned against the counter, your magazine now forgotten. “But if you’re gonna stand here trying to flirt with me, you better know how to keep up.”

“Flirting? Nah, I’m just trying to see what’s good with you,” he said, giving you a playful wink. “I don’t get distracted easily, but you got me curious.”

The words hung in the air for a moment, the playful tension between you two apparent. You caught his gaze again, and for the first time, you felt something shift—something deeper than just annoyance at the interruption.

But you quickly shook it off. “Well, you’re gonna need to do more than that if you wanna get my attention, Solo.”

Solo leaned in a little closer, lowering his voice just enough for you to catch the sincerity beneath his teasing. “I’m just tryin’ to get to know you, that’s all.”

You narrowed your eyes, not sure if you believed him, but something about the way he said it made your heart skip a beat. “You’re a little forward for a man I just met.”

He held his hands up. “Alright, alright. I’m just sayin’, you’re a woman whose confident in herself, and that’s rare.”

You didn’t know how to respond to that, so you grabbed the items off the counter and began ringing them up. “Your total’s $6.98.”

Solo swiped his credit card, the chip beeping as it processed. “I’ll see you around, little girl,” he said with a smirk.

You tossed his bandages along with his receipt in the bag without a second glance. “Yeah, we’ll see about that, little boy.”

He grinned one last time before grabbing his bag and heading for the door. “Don’t be missin’ me too much.”

You shook your head as he walked out, the echo of his voice still lingering in your mind. "I don't know if I’ll ever miss you," you muttered to yourself, but deep down, you weren’t so sure anymore.

Night 2 ⋆⭒˚.⋆

It had been a quiet night, which wasn’t exactly a bad thing. You and your coworker Jordan were working together, but the store was pretty empty. The clock read 1:00 a.m., and you were in the snack aisle, restocking chips and candy, while Jordan took care of the cleaning supplies on the other side of the store. It was the kind of shift where you could drift into autopilot—nothing exciting, just getting through the hours until your break.

You glanced around, the aisles stretching out in front of you. The soft hum of the refrigerator section was the only sound besides the occasional shuffle of Jordan’s movements as he worked. You didn’t mind it. Sometimes, it was nice to have a break from the usual chaos of the store.

But that peace didn’t last long. The door chimes rang out, cutting through the stillness, and you didn’t look up right away. It was a common sound at this hour, another person popping in to grab something late.

And then you heard it. That familiar voice that made you roll your eyes even before you saw him.

“Damn, y’all keep moving stuff around up in here?” The voice was unmistakable, even before you saw him.

You didn’t even have to look to know who it was. You shook your head, trying to hide your grin. Solo. It had been a few nights since the night you two made acquaintances.

You continued stocking the shelf for a moment, trying to act like you didn’t already know he was there. You could feel his presence in the air as he got closer, and you couldn’t help but wonder why he seemed to always show up when you were working. Still, you couldn’t deny it—there was something about him that made the late-night shifts a little less boring.

Finally, you turned around, locking eyes with him as he came into view. He was wearing a gray Nike sweatsuit this time, looking relaxed but still somehow stylish in the way only Solo could manage. His brown eyes were already fixed on you, and that signature smirk of his was right where it belonged.

“Ran out of bandages that fast?” you called out, trying to keep the tone light, even though your heart did a little flip when you saw him.

Solo’s grin only widened as he strolled up to you, his hands shoved in his pockets. “Nah, I don’t need bandages this time. I came for something else.” He glanced around the aisle, his eyes scanning the shelves. “They changed everything around in here, though. I can’t find what I need.”

You raised an eyebrow, folding your arms over your chest. “Yeah, they decided to rearrange everything instead of only some things. Good luck finding what you looking for.”

Solo sighed dramatically, making a show of looking around. “Man, I thought I was just coming in for some snacks, but now I feel like I need a treasure map to find anything. I need some Gatorade and maybe a snack or two. You think you could help me find ‘em?”

You shot him a sideways glance. “You need my help now? Look, I’ll show you, but you better not be trying to make this my problem every time you come up in here.”

“Why not? It ain’t like you got shit to do, not that you would do it anyway,” Solo teased, clearly enjoying this more than he let on.

With a shrug, you grabbed your cart and started toward the drink aisle. “Fine, sir.  I’ll show you, but I’m not responsible for your inability to find stuff.”

Solo followed behind you, a grin tugging at the corners of his lips. “Nah, I’m just trying to find the quickest route to get my late-night fix. You know how it is.”

You walked down the aisle, pointing out the rows of drinks. “There’s your Gatorade. And as for snacks, you might want to head to aisle 15. They put all the chips over there now.”

He let out a low whistle as he glanced over the new layout. “Man, they really outdid themselves with this little setup.” He stopped by the Gatorade section and picked up three bottles, tossing them into his basket. “I wasn’t expecting a whole adventure to get something to drink, but I’m not complaining. At least I’m getting my steps in tonight.”

You rolled your eyes but couldn’t help the smile that threatened to expose your enjoyment of his antics. “You know, you could use the self-checkout this time. Make this quicker for both of us.”

Solo shot you a playful look. “Nah, I like getting the full experience. Besides, it’s more fun to have you around. You something different. Not what I was expecting to find up in here.”

You glanced at him, wondering what he meant by that. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

He chuckled, grabbing a bag of chips off the shelf. “I don’t know. Just saying you... different. You don’t act like you just here to get by. You just got that vibe.”

You raised an eyebrow. “You real good at assuming things about people.”

He shrugged, casually tossing the chips into his basket. “Maybe. But I’m usually right.” He gave you a knowing look. “You got bigger things in mind than working a late shift at CVS, right?”

You took a second, trying to figure out how to respond. “I’m just here to do my job. I’m not trying to change the world or anything.” You shot him a playful look. “You just here for snacks or you got a deeper mission tonight?”

Solo smiled, his expression softening just a little. “I’m here for whatever keeps me interested, and right now, it’s you. You make this trip a lot more entertaining.”

You couldn’t hide your amusement at his persistence. “Alright, alright. Let’s get you checked out before you try to flatter me into giving you this treatment all the time.”

With a final smile, he followed you to the counter. You rang up his Gatorade and chips, keeping things casual.

Solo swiped his credit card smoothly, and you handed him his bag, making sure to take your time. “Your total’s $19.89.”

“Thank you, lit- I mean miss lady,” he said, his voice low but teasing as he grabbed the bag and his change.

You shot him a look as you finished up. “Yeah, sure. I’ll be here, same time tomorrow. You know, just workin’ my shift while you’re out there living your best life.”

He chuckled, his gaze lingering on you just a moment longer than necessary. “I don’t mind. I like knowing where to find you.”

With a final wink, he turned toward the door, the soft chime ringing as he stepped out into the night.

You couldn’t help but watch him leave, that familiar flutter returning to your chest.

Jordan had finished his aisle and was heading toward the back when he noticed you standing by the counter, still staring after Solo. “You okay?”

You blinked, quickly snapping out of your thoughts. “Yeah. Just another customer.”

Jordan gave you a knowing look but didn’t press. “Sure. If you say so.”

You didn’t respond. Instead, you grabbed the next item from the cart and focused on your work, trying to shake the lingering feeling of Solo’s presence. But as the night wore on, you couldn’t shake the feeling that this was only just beginning- of something.

Night 3 ⋆⭒˚.⋆

It was just past 2 a.m. on another quiet night on the job. You were alone behind the register while your manager, James, was on his smoke break. He was always on a smoke break, but you didn’t mind because he left you alone to do your own thing. The store was mostly empty, aside from a few late-night stragglers who came in sporadically, so you had plenty of time to catch up on the little things that always got pushed to the back burner during busier shifts. You slipped your earphones in, cranking up the volume to block out the silence of the store and get into the rhythm of your work.

The song that came on was "Whatcha Need" by SWV. It was one of those tracks you couldn’t help but move to, no matter how much you tried to focus on the task at hand. You let your body flow with the beat, absentmindedly dancing as you stocked the last of the items around the registers. You had your eyes on the shelves, humming along, not noticing the person who had entered the store.

Solo.

You didn’t hear him approach, too lost in the music and your own groove. But when he saw you, he couldn’t help but stop and watch for a moment, clearly amused by what he was seeing. There was something about the way you moved—effortless, carefree—that caught his attention.

He wasn’t sure how long he’d been standing there, but when you spun to place an item on the shelf, he took the opportunity to sneak up behind you. Without a word, he reached forward and pulled one of your earphones out.

You jumped slightly, caught off guard by the sudden contact. But when you saw who it was, you immediately relaxed. Solo stood there, an amused grin on his face as he looked you up and down.

“I see you. You working with something, something,” he said, his voice low. “I didn’t know I was walkin’ into Club CVS though. Y’all must only do this on Wet Wednesdays.”

You rolled your eyes but laughed. “I wasn’t expecting company, so I figured I might as well enjoy myself. What, you jealous?”

Solo raised an eyebrow, taking a slow step closer. “Jealous? Nah, I’m just admiring the view.” He glanced down at the earphone in his hand. “You got good taste in music though.”

You shrugged, pulling the other earphone out of your ear. “You know, SWV never gets old. Gets you right every time. Good for late nights, know what I mean?”

He nodded, still grinning. “I hear that. But you don’t mind me cutting in on your music, do you?” He gestured between the two of you, clearly more focused on you than anything else in the store.

You leaned against the counter, looking at him with a mixture of curiosity and wariness. “Well, I guess I’ll make an exception for you. You don’t usually stop in for a chat.”

Solo tilted his head, his expression softening just slightly. “Maybe I like the vibe here. It’s different, you know? I don’t usually get to see people just bein’ themselves like this. No pressure, no show.”

You raised an eyebrow. “Is that what this is to you? Just a show?”

He laughed, shaking his head. “Nah, not at all. Just real talk. You seem like you know who you are, and I respect that.” He took a step closer to you, the lively energy between you two shifting into something a little deeper.

You paused for a moment, considering his words. Then you let out a sigh. “I mean, yeah. I guess I do know who I am. Or at least, I’m working on it.”

Solo crossed his arms, his gaze softening. “What’s that supposed to mean? You know what you want?”

You looked down for a second, gathering your thoughts. “Well, yeah. I mean, I’ve got big dreams. I want to be a stylist one day. Maybe work with celebrities, you know? I’ve always had a passion for fashion, and I want to turn that into something real. But...” You trailed off, unsure whether you wanted to say more. “Sometimes it feels like it’s just a dream, you know? Like... like I’m stuck here and it’s never gonna happen.”

Solo’s expression shifted, his eyes narrowing thoughtfully. He took a slow breath before speaking. “I get that. I’ve been where you are.” He paused, the words seeming to weigh on him for a moment. “I’m in wrestling, right? And I’ve had my fair share of people telling me it’s a dream—telling me it’s too much or too risky. And a lot of times, I felt like I was never gonna make it. But... here I am.”

He gave a small, almost imperceptible shrug, but the sincerity in his voice was evident. “It’s not easy. People can’t see the work that goes into it. They see the glitz and the glam, but not the struggle. But the thing is, if you want something bad enough, you’ll make it happen. You just have to trust that it’s all part of the journey.”

You watched him closely, feeling like his words struck a chord deep inside. You didn’t say anything at first, just letting the silence settle around you. The sound of the store was quiet, just the hum of the lights and the faint noise of the parking lot outside.

Solo finally broke the silence. “I don’t know about you, but I think you’ve got the drive to make it. You’re here doing your thing, not letting anyone tell you what you can or can’t do.”

You couldn’t help but smile, a little bit surprised by his honesty. “I appreciate that,” you said softly. “Really. It’s... good to hear that from someone who actually gets it.”

He gave you a small, encouraging smile. “I got you. And hey, I’ll be around. I don’t think you’ll be stuck here forever.” His voice softened, like he meant it. “You’ll get there.”

You nodded, feeling something shift between you two. “Thanks, Solo. I needed that.”

He didn’t respond right away, just gave a small nod of understanding. The moment lingered before he finally spoke up again.

“Well, I don’t need you to help me find something tonight, so I’ll let you get back to work.” He turned to walk toward the door, but before he stepped outside, he glanced back at you one last time. “But don’t forget what I said. I’ll see you around.”

You watched him leave, the weight of his words lingering in the air long after he was gone. It wasn’t just another random interaction. This one felt different—like it left a mark, an impression on you that wasn’t going to fade anytime soon.

Night 4 ⋆⭒˚.⋆

It was 3 a.m., and the store was completely empty. The silence was almost soothing, a rare reprieve from the usual hustle of early morning customers after a night of partying. You were behind the register, your mind wandering as you absentmindedly flipped through your sketchbook, the pencil gliding over the pages. You weren't working on anything in particular—just letting your hand move freely, creating something that wasn’t bound by the rules of the store or your job. The quiet was a welcome escape. It gave you room to breathe, to imagine, to create.

James, your manager, was outside taking his smoke break, leaving you to hold down the fort alone. The few customers that came in barely spent any time browsing, so you were left to manage the store by yourself, using the time to get lost in the pages of your sketchbook. The soft flick of the pencil on the page was the only sound in the store, and it brought a sense of calm, a peaceful rhythm that you relished in the middle of your shift.

The door chimed suddenly, cutting through the silence, but you didn’t look up at first. Another late-night shopper, you thought, distracted by your drawing. But then, you heard the familiar sound of footsteps that were too confident to belong to just anyone.

You looked up, half-expecting the usual customer. But when you saw him, you stopped mid-stroke. Him.

Tonight, he was dressed differently—gone was his usual sweatsuit. Instead, he wore a black leather jacket, over a baby blue Ralph Lauren Polo shirt, and creased denim jeans that matched his style outside the ring perfectly. There was a noticeable shift in the way he carried himself tonight. His movements were slower, almost as if the weight of the night had caught up with him. You immediately recognized the unsteady rhythm of someone who’d been drinking.

You didn’t immediately react, unsure of how to handle this new version of him. But when he met your gaze, a grin spread across his face, and there was a softness in his eyes that made you pause.

“Well, well, well... something told me I’d find yo’ pretty ass here,” he said, his voice a little rough, but there was still that all in jest tone to it.

You took your pencil from the paper and set your sketchbook down, giving him a half-smile. “Of course. However, you should be home sleeping off whatever it is that's got you leaning like that.”

Solo chuckled, his smile widening as he moved closer to the counter. He didn’t seem to mind his slightly swaying gait as he leaned casually against the register, his eyes not leaving yours. “Yeah, well... I wasn’t planning on coming in here, but now that I’m here, I could use some company,” he said, the all in jest tone still present but layered with something deeper. “Seems like you’re the only one still up.”

You folded your arms, leaning against the counter yourself, studying him carefully. The usual cocky Solo was still there, but there was an undeniable vulnerability to him tonight. His voice had softened, his eyes lacked the usual confidence they carried, and something about his posture made him seem more... human.

“You’re not making much sense tonight, are you?” you laughed, trying to keep the mood light, but a part of you was intrigued by this more laid-back, open version of him.

He smiled sheepishly, running a hand through his hair. His posture had become a bit more slouched, and his eyes dropped for a moment, as though lost in thought before returning to meet yours. “I might’ve had a little too much fun tonight,” he admitted, sounding a little embarrassed. “But that’s why I’m here. To get some air. And... to talk.”

You tilted your head slightly, studying him with a little more curiosity. “It’s pretty late for a chat, don’t you think?”

Solo took a step closer, and this time there was no joking in his eyes. His expression was sincere, almost vulnerable in a way that made your pulse quicken. “Actually, I think you’re exactly the person I want to talk to,” he said, his voice a little quieter, almost hesitant. “You’ve always had this way about you. Like you don’t have to be anything for anyone. You just... do your thing.”

You were caught off guard by the sincerity of his words. This wasn’t the same impish, cocky Solo you’d seen before. There was a weight to his voice, a softness to his gaze that made him seem... more real, more approachable.

He tilted his head slightly, his eyes searching yours with an intensity you hadn’t seen from him before. “How about we get out of here for a bit? Let me take you somewhere. Just the two of us. No distractions. I could really use someone to talk to.”

You hesitated, glancing around the empty store. You hadn’t planned on stepping away, but the weight of the shift had been heavy, and his presence, though unexpected, felt oddly comforting. You’d never seen him like this, and you were intrigued. After a beat, you nodded. “Alright. I’m going to take my lunch. Let me just tell my manager James,” you said, motioning toward the door.

Solo nodded, a faint smile returning to his face. “I’ll wait here.”

You walked to the back, finding James standing by the door, his cigarette dangling lazily between his fingers. “Hey, I’m taking my lunch. I’m just going to sit in my car for a bit,” you said, not bothering to explain too much.

James barely glanced up; his attention fixed on his phone. “Go ahead. You deserve it.”

You nodded and returned to the front, where Solo was waiting. He was standing by the door, but as soon as you appeared, he straightened up and smiled at you. The usual cocky swagger was still there, but there was something more... vulnerable in the way he stood.

You stepped outside into the cool night air. The city was quiet around you, just the distant hum of traffic and the occasional sound of someone walking by. The weight of the night felt different now, heavier in a way that made your heart race. Solo followed you toward your car, his slow but deliberate steps matching yours.

Once inside, you started the engine, letting the car warm up before glancing at him. Solo slid into the passenger seat beside you, his presence filling the space. He was still close, but now there was no need for words. You could feel the shift between the two of you—the playful banter was gone, replaced by something with depth, more personal.

“Thanks for this,” Solo said softly, his voice unexpectedly sincere. “I know you probably didn’t plan on company, but I just... felt like talking to you.”

You glanced over at him, noticing the way his gaze softened, the vulnerability in his eyes a sharp contrast to the confident man who had walked into the store earlier that week. “Yeah, well, I’m here,” you said, the words heavier than you expected. “So, what’s on your mind?”

Solo leaned back in his seat, exhaling a long breath as he stared out the window. “I don’t know... It’s just sometimes it all gets to be too much. You know? The wrestling thing, the people. Everyone’s got their opinions, but nobody sees the real me. They don’t get it.”

You nodded slowly, understanding more than he realized. “I get that. It’s like people see you for what they want, not for who you really are.”

Solo turned toward you, his eyes soft and searching, as if he was trying to figure out what you were thinking. “Yeah. It’s like I’m just a character to them. But... you? You’re real. You don’t play games. That’s why I like talking to you.”

Your breath caught in your chest as you met his gaze. The words were heavy, more meaningful than anything you’d shared with him before. His closeness felt different tonight—tangible, almost magnetic.

“You’ve got dreams, too, right?” Solo said, leaning in slightly, his voice dropping to a whisper. “Bigger than this job. You’re not stuck here. I can see it.”

You swallowed, unsure of how to respond. His words hit a little too close to home, the weight of your own ambitions heavier in this moment. “I do have dreams,” you said softly, voice barely above a whisper. “I told you before that I wanted to be a stylist, work with people who have style, make a name for myself. But sometimes... it feels like I’m just stuck. Like it’s never going to happen.”

Solo’s gaze softened, his hand moving slowly toward your thigh. His touch was deliberate but gentle, warmth radiating through the fabric of your black jeans. The moment his hand made contact, you froze, feeling a jolt of electricity shoot through your body. The tension between you was thick now, the space between you shrinking with each passing second.

“I get that feeling too,” he said quietly, his voice low. “It’s hard to believe in yourself when everyone’s telling you what you can’t do. But I know you can. You got what it take.”

You were lost in his gaze, the words hanging heavy in the air. But then, he shifted just slightly, leaning in a little closer. His hand rested on your thigh, a weight that made your heart race and your thoughts scatter.

“What you tryna do?” you whispered, the question escaping before you could think twice.

Solo’s gaze didn’t waver, his voice full of intent. “You.”

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - Lesbians WIN & I'm excited about a Thai BL again!

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

April 2024 Wk 4

Ongoing Series - Thai

My Stand-In (Thai Fri iQIYI) ep 1 of 12 eps - Adaptation of Chinese novel Professional Body Double by Shui Qiang Cheng. Stars Up (Lovely Writer) and Poom (Bake Me Please) directed by the same team as KP (not a recommendation IMHO - my biggest criticism of KP was the clashing directing styles). The MDL description made it sound complicated af but actually it's not so bad. In fact it's GOOD.

Stuntman Joe dies on the job and wakes up in the body of another Joe who has an entirely different life. But our Joe just gets his new body right back into his old existence, full of friends, enemies, and one troublesome ex. Poom is absolutely killing it in the lead. Mek is perfectly cast as the Actor du Jerk. I’m not sold on Up’s bratty brokenhearted rich kid... yet. The show though, I like it. I like a one (two) night stand starting things off and I like a lot of morally gray characters. Fun fun!

Deep Night (Thurs iQiyi) ep 8fin - The lesbian moms are the cutest thing in the world and my favorite thing this week. Bar none.

Summation:

It's about a host club and all the gay boys in it and some stuff that's not important because... PEOPLE OF EARTH WE HAVE A HONEST REP OF POLY IN A BL. Stand up and raise your hands in prayer to the Thai BL gods because sure as shit no one else was ever going to give this to us. For that alone this show gets 8/10 from me. Bonus Lesbian moms and great kisses.

Two Worlds (Thurs iQIYI) ep 7 of 10 - Say what you want about MaxNat all these years that they've been paired makes them great onscreen boyfriends. And you know me, I'm a total sucker for linguistic negotiation. Makes my heart go all mushy. That said, now that the leads are together, I’m really uninterested in all the drama around the ex-boyfriend/triangle. I'm glad this is only 10 eps.

1000 Years Old (Thurs iQIYI) ep 11 of 12 - They gave me the tiniest teaser for the kinky vampire BL that I have wanted my whole life. And now I'm just fucking annoyed with the rest of the show. 

We Are (Weds iQIYI) ep 3-4 of 16 - Q & Toey are the only interesting thing going on. I actually didn’t like this pair in My School President, but I’m enjoying them here. The others are all fine but these two have my heart. I have questions like: did Phum ever get his shopping bags back? And why is Phum driving a different colored car half way through the ep?

Only Boo! (Sun YouTube) ep 3 of 12 - The quality is good (it’s GMMTV) but the acting is... not. Still I loved that Moo just made the confession for both of them. Very in character. Does this plot remind anyone else of Footloose? Just me? Side couple was cute but now a bit too stalker for me. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Unknown (Taiwan Tues YouTube & Viki) ep 10 of 12 - It’s fantastic. Such a great show. We are so lucky. This is basically Taiwan’s The Eights Sense. I didn’t know they had it in them, but I’m really glad that they did.

Living With Him AKA Kare no Iru Seikatsu (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 3 of 10 - As JBL’s go this is way more my speed (than Alaska). It’s just so sweet and awkward but charming about it. The confession was so earnest. 

Blue Boys (Korea YouTube) 2 of ? No MDL link - It’s very sexy this one. Not sure what Korea thinks it's doing, but I’m not mad about it. 

Gray Shelter (Korea Thurs iQIYI) ep 5fin - summation: About a slacker nursing a crush on the (brief) older stepbrother who abandoned him. Upon finding him again he moves in with him, upends the mans lost suffering life. A dark gritty piece with confusing subs making it too chewy to really grok. It's trying to do too much for its length. The tension is real and the acting is good, it's just everything else stymied clean execution of the core concept. Frankly I spent this show expecting (and wanting them) to just fall into bed together - in a kind of desperate fight sex. It didn’t happen, and I’m disappointed by the non-ending we got. (Whether it’s going to have more in the series or not.) 7/10 I'm open to changing the rank if a part two fixes this one's flaws.

Boys Be Brave AKA Roommates (Korea Thurs Viki) ep 1-2 of 8 - Oh dear. Terrible hair. Jock nerd pairing. OCD baby cakes. Cohabitation trope. Killer side couple. Def unhinged. 

At 25:00 in Alaska AKA 25 Ji Akasaka de (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 2 of 10 - I’m still genuinely not sure about this one. It’s just a little too awkward for me in the wrong way. I expect all Japanese BL to have a certain aura of awkwardness so I don’t know what it is about this one turnign me off. I do enjoy that we’re getting both stories, the one between the actors, and a little bit of the roles that they’re playing on screen but... yeah

Love is like a Cat (Korea Mon Viki) eps 7-8 of 12 - The leads finally had a moment but there is negative chemistry. Why am I watching this? 

It's airing but...

Lady Boy Friends (Thai WeTV grey) 16 eps - reminds me a bit too much of Diary of Tootsies only high school. Not my thing. DNF unless it turns a corner and is truly amazing.

Memory in the Letter (Thai WeTV) - 6 eps, when it's done, tell me if I should bother?

In case you missed it

Kiseki Chapter 2 (Sun iQIYI) 6 eps - finished its run but I won't be finishing it. Stays dropped.

GMMTV announced the second half of their 2024 line up. I got excited and picked my favorites, details + trailers here. Basically my ranking is:

The Heart Killers

ThamePo

Revamp

Sweet Tooth

Perfect 10 Liners

The Ex-Morning

Ossan’s Love Thailand

Next Week Looks Like This:

What happened?

Knock-Knock Boys (Thai WeTV) - 4 college friends conspire to help their friend lose his virginity. Familiar faces like Seng (yes, Billy's previous pairing) and Best, news here. But will it actually air this month?

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

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENT

I have adopted him. He is MINE. I love him, your honor. (The Stand In)

I love them SO MUCH. (Deep Night)

(Last week)

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

The tag BLigade: @doorajar @solitaryandwandering @my-rose-tinted-glasses @babymbbatinygirl @babymbbatinygirl @isisanna-blog @mmastertheone @pickletrip @aliceisathome @urikawa-miyuki @tokillamonger @rocketturtle4 @blglplus @anythinggoesintheshire @everlightly @renafire

If ya wanna be tagged each week leave a comment and I will add you to the template. Easy peesy.

[morimemichael]

What do you think about a story where captain Curly falls for kind intern nurse?

One day, when Anya is on her break, the captain comes up with some dumb excuse, just to have an opportunity to spend some alone time with the intern? While examining him, he accidentally slips a corny line like: "You are always so sweet and gentle. I bet you would be an amazing mom"

The ending is up to you. I have read your fabulous works to know that you don't disappoint ☺️💕

Agh, I love it! This is the perfect shot for some fluff!! 😊😊 Reader here is in their mid late twenties!!!

Curly x F!Reader

Warnings: None! Just fluff! Curly being Curly! Reader is so cuteee aaa, lots of fluff!! Use of Curly’s first name!! No use of y/n! It’s a reader insert so it’s gonna be something like kid, kiddo, new girl, newbie.

An internship in the Tulpar is the first job you ever got. You’re just fresh out from collage, and you’re a very eager nurse! You knew you weren’t gonna get paid much, but credits are credits, right? This time is was a long delivery trip, 385 days if you were correct. It was helluva time to spend in space, but you saw this as the perfect chance to cultivate your knowledge learnt firstly on Collage.

Tons of book read. A few people you healed. Noting serious tho. Cuts, burn injuries, stuff like that. Nothing to serious luckily. Sooner than later you learned that Anya was going to be your mentor on the ship. And a pretty good one too. Most of your time you’ll use it reading her medical books and notes from when she was still trying to pass medical school.

She’s told you that she failed Medical School eight times. “Eight times too much…” she would say, nonetheless you would try to encourage her to finish it. “Eight times not enough! C’mon Anya, you’re clever as hell! You’ll pass Medical School eventually,” You would smile and palm her shoulders.

Your relationship and interactions with the rest of the crew were okay, you guess. Daisuke was the youngest one, so more often than not you would treat him like a younger brother. One you always wanted, but because of different reasons you parents couldn’t give you one. You never complained though. Swansea had a grumpy exterior, but once you got to know him a little bit better you discovered, he had plenty of life experiences to share.

On the other hand, Jimmy…well, what could you say? You knew Anya didn’t like him very much. But still, out of courtesy you would treat him right. He was indifferent to you, good morning hello’s and casual night’s every time you were going to bed. Like said before, he was indifferent, but you still couldn’t wrap your mind around the guy. Something would just not set right with you.

And last, but not least. The captain of the crew, the responsable for the whole crew. Curly. A guy, at least 6’0 feet tall, who, at first sight, could seem harsh. But that couldn’t be more far from reality. Yes, he has a big physique, but so is his gentle self. It didn’t took you long to notice he had a good heart, he was a good person. Maybe…maybe a little bit too much, you thought to yourself. You liked him, sure. It was all in a professional manner though.

Hell, who are you kidding? The man was utterly your type, as much of an stereotype he might be. You didn’t care. One thing was sure, you were not gonna act upon it, unless he makes the first move. It’s the only way, you thought.

Today was no different from all the other days you already spent inside the ship. You stare at the ceiling, sitting on a chair in the medical room, Anya spoke.

“I’m gonna take some time off, you mind staying here kid?” She explained, stretching herself.

“No problemo, go get some rest Anya…” You smiled back at her.

Your eyes are on her as she leaves the room, letting you alone in the medical room. Half an hour has passed and you started reading one of Anya’s already mention books. It was sooner than later, that reading about the basics of Anatomy class didn’t cause you any excitement.

Your mind start wandering over the most insignificant things. When was the last time you took a bath? Who won the last time you played with Daisuke? Have you promised Curly to lift weight with him? You think you did. In fact, Captain Curly, crossed your mind several times. You tried to push those thoughts away. Not cause they were dirty, but because you thought is was inappropriate. You were 27, in fact you just turned 27, and he was around his mid thirties, or so you thought. The age gap didn’t bother you, but the idea of dating your captain, a superior was heavy. Your thoughts were interrupted by a sudden and noisy knock on the door.

“Come in!” You said.

The door slides to the side, revealing none other than Curly himself.

“Curly! Uhm-I mean, Captain…” You embarrassed yourself. What was wrong with you? You didn’t know.

The tall blonde walks forward, a gentle smile displayed in his face, his blue eyes shining big as always. You make little steps till he reaches you.

“Hey…” His cheek blushed a light shade of pink, if it wasn’t for the small distance he was from you, you would’ve missed it.

“Hey yourself, Captain.” You smile kindly at the blonde man. “Everything on check?” You added.

“Yeah-I mean, that’s why I’m here…” He says, you raise and eyebrow.

“Oh?…” You tilt you head concerned.

“Yeah…I’m very tense, and my left wrist hurts.” He explains.

“Okay Captain, let me check you, yeah?”

“Sure.” He sits down near you, waiting to be examined.

You walk gently towards him, taking his hand on yours. You twist his hand to see his mobility and to potentially find something wrong. You started to suspect he was here, not with the intentions of being examined. Cause if he was in pain you would’ve noticed. Looking at him not really believing he’s injured.

Noticing this, Curly groans in pain, pretending, just so you wouldn’t kick him out. Cause, deep inside him…he would do anything just to spend time with you. Anything. Really. He was hoping you wouldn’t notice how stupid he acts sometimes when he’s around you. Hearing him grunt, you decided that you could give him one pill of paracetamol and ice. You stand up for a brief second, turning around you reached for the bottle of pills, taking only one in your hand and giving it to him.

“Hold on,” You spoke, reaching for a bottle of water. “Here, drink.”

“Thanks kid…”

“You’re welcome, Captain. Oh! I almost forgot…ice!” You smiled kindly, putting a solid piece of ice in his ‘supposedly’ hurt wrist.

“Hss!” Grant hissed, it’s too cold.

“Uh…too cold?” You asked. He just nodded. “Oh…here…” You said once more, rubbing gently the area. Your fingers brushed against his hand and his heart skipped a bit.

He didn’t exactly knew when it why, all ke knew is that he feel for you, hard. He would look at you whenever you were looking away or distracted, admiring you hair, your body, you face. Everything. He actually did want to ask you out several times, all in which he found no words for it. Biting his tongue and cursing himself mentally, he would promise himself ‘next time I’ll do it’.

Then, all of a sudden he spoke, didnt even realize what he said.

“You’re always so sweet and gentle. I bet you would be an amazing mom.”

Oh. That was sweet

Wait-what? Did he say?

Oh my! I think he did!

You thought to yourself, but didn’t say anything. You just looked at him shocked at what he said. He noticed and immediately apologized.

“Im sorry Kiddo, I didn’t mean to be rude or anything.”

You didn’t answer again, instead, smiling back at him, you crashed you lips into his, pecking them quickly. You could tell he was surprised, but lean into the kiss. When you pulled apart, gasping for air, he kissed your cheeks and your neck tenderly, then smiled at you.

“This…” You start, kissing his lips again.

“Stays…” Another kiss.

“Right here.” You kissed him one more time, a little bit longer now. Your mouthed patting with a string of saliva between them. You smile, and he simply nods and ruffle your hair.

“Stays right here, newbie.”

HI THEREEE!! Where are my MW fans!!

Im sorry this took me several days 😭 I hope you enjoyed it tho! 😊 see ya around!

[kidicaruslover911]

blue eye samurai actors AU headcanons ft reader

tw: none except for the mention of M*k*o, not proofread, pitiful attempt at being humorous at 1 in the morning

a/n: i snuck a few references in here onto the bes cast, see if you can find them!! let’s just pretend you got akemi’s role. plus i did this on a whim please do not crucify me if i got certain details things wrong about the acting domain😔🙏 I MISS MY WIFE OH MY GAWWWD anyway, ENJOY!

Interviewer: Who are you?

Taigen: “Man, I be that pretty motherfucker man…”

Interviewer: “Taigen?”

Taigen *smug ass smile while nodding in agreement*: “Yessir”

Interviewer: “Tokunobu?”

Taigen*nods again*: “Yessir”

Madame Kaji *was probably told some bizarre joke by Fowler a second ago and let’s out the loudest laugh ever while covering her mouth*: “OH GOD- *keeps on laughing* I am uhm.. I’m Madame Kaji!”

Ringo: “Who are you-” *cackles like a witch*

Interviewer: “You’re Ringo?”

Ringo *stops abruptly*: “yeah, I’m Ringo yeah”

Interviewer: Who are you?

You: “My name is Beyoncé- Nah I’m just playing. It’s Y/N, I act and I sing and I Love reading fanfiction and I do stuff and stuff!”

Interviewer: And who are you?

Mizu: “I’m…Mizu…*awkward silence* the vengeful and badass samurai, yeah that’s me.”

Interviewer turns the mic towards a certain redhead.

Fowler: “Uhm Ed…I’m Ed today.”

- Originally you had simply accompanied a friend who absolutely wanted the role of ‘Akemi’ to an audition

- You had a vague idea of what the plot of the series was and either way it wasn’t like you were that much interested in acting

- But from your looks, mannerisms and personality as soon as you had walked in the directors almost immediately insisted on having you play the script (with no experience might i add) out to them and decided you'd make a perfect princess

- Yeah very odd but just like that you ended up getting casted for an upcoming Netflix series‼️

- You didn't waste a second to tell your girlfriend about this series and how they were still looking for the mc

- They were looking for an androgynous wasian female, at least least 5’7ft (170cm) tall, a good voice range, somewhat athletic and some sort of basic knowledge in martial arts.

- No prior acting skills needed, which was quite a gamble tbh

- Because of the amount of people that wanted the role, a face to face audition was not possible

- And what do you know?

-You absolutely suggested her as the mc, it was literally her

-Same name too I mean seriously-

- Girly did NOT want to send in that audition tape, you practically had to beg her to do it, because you just knew she’d rock

-She was happy for you but the whole revenge thing simply didn't ring anything within her

- Kind of felt as if you were putting way too much faith in her

- Took you weeks of convincing and even when she did send in the audition video it was on the last day like 30 minutes before the deadline😭

- Did the audition with zero intentions of getting casted, literally just read the script with her attitude and ran with it

- Expected everything but a positive feedback and it was only when she found out that the directors loved it that she sort of decided to take this acting stuff seriously.

- And since you were going to be there as well, she guessed that it wouldn't be all that much of a drag

- The two of you started journaling but from the pov of your character, researching about Edo Japan and you’d read each others thoughts from time to time and try to explain your understanding of your characters feelings to one another

- Both of you had too loose some weight and locked into the gym like never before

- It’s not like any of you were professional actors either way so,

- Mizu was very open to criticism and eager to learn

-and she learned fast too

-also pretty easy to be around.

- Kept looking for ways to better her acting and Fowler sort of became her mentor in that domain

-She quickly surpassed his expectations ngl

- That was genuine fear btw he later joked about how he almost pissed his pants at her performance

- Says he can’t wait to see her in more shows and different genres!

-Although Mizu wanted to take a well deserved break after BES

- At some point your girlfriend decided to rent a one room apartment and go into solitary confinement to fully concentrate on her role as Mizu, the self loathing samurai

- Method acting!

- Swordfather and Fowler were long friends before the BES

- You and Ringo literally became cousins the second you met on set, the two of you had a signature greeting and everything 🤎

- The directors were NOT playing when it came to the minuscule details such as the accuracy of either your walk or how you bowed, how you held your head, how you ate-

- Months and months of training, especially for both you and Mizu, five days a week, 3-4 hours fighting choreography hammered into her skull and it showed

- Which resulted in her being able to do a good 70% of her stunts

- Dislocated her left shoulder and almost broke her rib in this scene

- It freaked the shit out of you and they had to stop filming for a few days. Mizu had to spend a full week reassuring you that she was still alive and breathing and doing well

-The stunt in question didn't make it any easier to believe

- Claimed it was ‘just a funny bone’💀

- Months and months of training and practicing japanese edo period courtesy for you, five days a week, 3-5 hours of walking like a princess, dancing, talking, studying renga, Ikebana and many more Japanese arts from that period of time, getting used to them heavy robes on you, THE HAIR AND PINS

- You could NOT lay down with these traditional hairstyles, you’d have professionals do it once a week and they’d expect you to keep it for that full week

- Your head felt heavy af

- You had to sleep on a takamakura (small elevated wooden pillow) to not mess up your hair which helped immerse yourself even more into your role

- They had literal specialists of the period to show you how it goes, kimono’s that hadn’t seen the light of day in centuries where whipped out to be replicated for your measurements specifically

- It was a lot

- But it all paid off in the end!

- Your girlfriend would forget to tune back her voice even after filming, you never bothered to mention it though

-Her low voice stayed even weeks after the shooting of the series but you didn’t mind it at all🙏

-It was like hearing her morning voice 24/7 lmaooo

- In this scene Mizu accidentaly struck the training sword way to high up in between that man’s legs and crushed his nuts real bad.

- Spent the entire week apologizing and looking after the guy for the rest of the filming

- Ringo sort of got adopted by you and Mizu on set and kept having mini panic attacks whenever Mizu executed her stunts 😭

- She had the two of you in a chokehold.

- The scene where Ringo unintentionally asks Mizu how two girls in a brothel could work was genuine and not scripted and both you and Mizu had fight for your lives to stay in character

-After filming the scene where Mizu lets the guards take you away the whole set jokingly kept calling it your character's 'breakup scene'

- Swordfather is Ringo’s real life dad!!

- Mizu’s a natural at improvising comebacks, mainly because she couldn't get a hang of quite a few lines but that didn't stop people from being baffled by her quickness.

- Like, she just makes stuff up and it works

- "…it's trash", “Should I’ve been counting?” and "I like your hair" were one of the many lines that were not scripted but they still kept it in.

- Mizu's reaction in the scene where she sees you in that carriage for the very first time in the series was very much real

- like she was NOT prepared.

- jaws on the floor and everything, that afternoon the directors had made sure she hadn't caught as much as a glimpse of you in the robes and makeup on set to get the most authentic reaction possible and it WORKED.

- The script only said "stares curiously" but her longing ass made it 100 times better HAHHAHAA

- no but really she was admiring the view and Fowler claimed that it almost looked like she was about to chase that carriage

-genuinely could not take her eyes off of you in general but with you role as the princess it became 50 times worse

-could not stop complimenting you and if it weren't for her character she would've gotten all the more touchier

- Even if Taigen was supposed to be your lover you couldn’t even remotely stand him as a character but formed a good friendship with him on set

-He was actually getting engaged irl!!

- You could NOT keep a straight face after saying the fish line “I’d marry you even if you were the son of a poor fish” with Taigen and kept on bursting out laughing, you didn’t know why you found it so funny

- The sex scene with him was…something 💀🙏🙏

- He kept asking you and Mizu if he had both yalls approval

-Very mindful

- The directors couldn't really bring in a double for this...

- It’s not like y’all were fucking for real and there wasn’t much passion between you and him either way

- And you weren’t truly naked either to so it was just very bland and you didn’t really know what to think of it

- The scene that followed had to be shot a good 15 times because of how awkward the whole situation was…you could NOT keep a straight face, they ended up making the scene shorter than it was supposed to be

-The fact that you had to act as a seductress of men the more the story went on was super strange to you at first but you sort of got over it (you never really liked it tbh)

- Mizu accidentally kept hitting Taigen too hard during the chopstick fight😭

- Which was also his fault because in the beginning she actually tried to avoid hurting him seriously but Taigen really just screamed

- "COME AT ME FOR FUCKS SAKE. I want to kill you, BE ANGRY, BE COCKY. Show me what you can do, show me that you’re better than me!!”

- It made her act more intensely

- Accidentally knocked Taigen out for real with the broken blade

- Taigen jokingly kept apologizing to you when they shot that scene where he beats the crap out of Mizu after the chopstick fight because he knows how little you like the character he plays

- Fowler kept making gay bed chem jokes with Heiji and bro was a victim💀🙏

Ringo is probably taking a video of the scenery's set from the Edo castle until the camera falls onto a casually eating and conversating Heiji and Fowler

They're just standing there with coffee and a bagel. It's break time.

But the moment the smartphone's lens captures the duo, this huge redhead smirks and grasps yet another chance to embarrass his poor colleague.

Fowler with an arm swung around Heiji: "Me and Heiji cuddle and watch Smack DVD" :333

You can hear Ringo holding back a snort behind the phone before almost immediately wheezing at the thought. The camera shakes slightly from it.

Heiji (this was probably this man's last straw) *deadpans and stares into the cameraman's soul*: "| don't cuddle-*

You *peeking in from the corner of the screen*: "He be licking this guy's hair like 'UGHHH😝’

You lean into Heiji's personal space with the demonstration while humoring Fowler and simultaneously having him crack the loudest cackle ever.

Heiji shaking his head at you *he's about to end it all*: "I don't- I don't do that. That's not true-"

You stop him midway of his excuses in a 'and i'm going to hold your hand when I say this' type of way:

"I know you don't do that-"

Fowler plops up between the two of you with a grinch smile, a hand on both of your shoulders and he really looks like he's trying to rizz up the camera man😭:

“I do that.”

Ringo, Fowler’s and your own laugh could be heard throughout the entire set and Heiji could only pinch his brows in visible defeat, the video ends there.

- Fowler was probably one of the the nicest men you’d ever met, very supportive and kind and even if you had zero scenes with him, you still hung around him a lot

- great life coach!

- Biggest fan of older Disney movies and Tom and Jerry, and I mean like the 1940s - 1980s cartoons

- Made you feel super safe at first but when you saw him in his element he did scare the shit out of you sometimes

- A proud you x mizu shipper too

- Has tons of pictures of the two of you sleeping in on each others shoulders on set, goofing around, videos of you reciting your lines to each other...

- His favorite is by far the one after the thousand claw army scene was shot, where you have an arm around her shoulder, leaning into her face while staring at the camera and flashing a peace sign next to her cheek. You were also pressing a kiss on it. There is a trail of fake blood trailing across your face and Mizu’s clothing seems ruined with filth

- Your girlfriend has her own arm snuck around your waist, her other hand is holding her naginata/sword, face painted in fake blood as well while rolling her eyes with a soft smile.

- Y’all managed to look silly while barely surviving a hundred men’s attack😭🙏

- He printed it out and signed it ‘disaster lesbians <3”

- Fowler affectionately calls the two of you ‘Boney and Clyde’ 💀🤎

-Mizu wearing Taigen's scarf lowkey made you jealous even if you had to admit that it suited her so well

- You were highkey fangirling when you first got to meet Madame Kaji's actress face to face like...Mulan's VA fr??? The legend?

- Also just look at the woman, absolutely stunning.

- She thought that you were the cutest and you two couldn't wait to get your scenes together

- This lady helped you boost your confidence in your acting

- Madame Kaji was quite literally everyone's mom/idol on set

- literally such a diva but still very humble

- Chainsmoker but surprisingly doesn't smell, or at least not in an unpleasant way

- She makes the best tiramisu

- Kept soft parenting everyone

-Ringo and Kaji had already known each other irl and they were ALWAYS on smoking breaks together although he doesn't smoke

- Both him and Fowler deeply respect her and her work

- These two (Kaji and Fowler) were gossip and wine aunts trust.

-Ringo once ate Oreos on set but in the way where you separate the two biscuits and nibble on the filling first and then you eat the rest.

-That's when you realized he really was your brother from another mother

-Heiji kept saying that this is sacrilege‼️

- The scene where you drugged Mizu's cup and she's playing stupid while trashtalking Taigen was a challenge for you, they had to redo 7 takes because you kept forgetting that you were supposed to hate her and she was your target to kill it was ridiculous 😭

*Mizu almost drinks the sake*

“Hot”

“Where I’m from that’s how the men prefer it.” *you clear your throat*

*Long awkward silence where Mizu has to hold back a smile*

“And I’d also prefer not to be so nuts to that damn line I cannot remember it- And stop looking at me like that” 💀

Your line was “Kyoto”🙏🙏

CUT!!!

-You absolutely wanted to lunge at her but for all the wrong reasons..

- And Mizu's smug ass was not helping, she genuinely couldn't stop laughing and teasing you after the final take.

- You also had no idea Mizu was supposed to straddle you-

- Another thing that wasn’t scripted.

- On your script it only said that she'd pin you to the ground which was already a lot to handle in the first place,

- but you were really good at staying in character and since you were genuinely struggling and putting up such a fight against her, Mizu just decided to full on straddle you, yup

- And when she leaned down,

QUIET ON SET!

ROLL SOUND!

ROLL CAMERA!

bes scene #254 take 1

ACTION!!

*you almost die when you feel her hips press down on you*

- "You think I don't remember you? Princess Akemi of the Tokunobu clan. You drugged my cup"

-"I wish it was poison"

- That's when Fowler whisper screams "ok now KISS!!!" off camera and the entire set had to hold it in, like there was so much tension between the two of you even the directors had to let out a little laugh.

-They had to cut it out

"A fucking brat." 'Mizu your line was 'I see why he likes you. You're just like Taigen when we were children. Pathetic'

- They still kept her own version.

- It definitely made you feel some type of way.

- Mizu could not stop crying for like a solid 30 minutes after shooting the scene where she kills Kinuyo, somehow it felt way too personal

- You had to hold her that entire night too

- Almost threw up when she had to make it look like an accident even though she knew that everyone was doing well

- There were also moments where people just couldn’t speak with her beforehand or else she would break character, for example the scene where M*k*o betrays her...she asked to be left alone for a good 30 minutes before filming it, that's how committed she ended up being to her role

-The chest bindings...(!!!)

-Her performance made you so proud- like you knew she would be amazing but it also had you very worried about her mental state

- Definitely sought therapy after shooting the series, her character had forced her to go into deep dark places in order to act out the female rage parts the best she could and it showed

- In this scene your very first reaction was the realest ever

bes scene #401 take 1

ACTION!

“Rabbit liver in a velouté of what now?” 😭😭😭

CUT!!

- You knew about this beforehand of course but still

- One of the interesting things was the period accurate food and how much they tried to stay true to the recipes.

- Like reading about it and then seeing and smelling it irl are two different things

- Instead of horse semen they did end up using egg white

- The rabbit liver was rabbit liver tho

- First bite almost made you choke by instinct but you swallowed it anyway

- Ouhhhh they were trying you which made you even better at forcing you to stay in character, because that’s exactly what the princess is going through. She can't afford to mess up

- The scent was everything but appealing but lucky you they replaced what was supposed to be pig blood with very dark grape juice, not that it really helped but that was one less horrible thing

- You were supposed to take one bite only, a once in a lifetime experience!

you almost died and had to reshoot 4 times because you kept gagging

another blooper-

"Many famous samurai prefer the stamen to the pistil"

-So what happened here was that miss Mizu had once again forgotten her line and instantly replied “I’m not gay.” to Madame Kaji’s advances 💀

- So Madame Kaji just played along

“You’re not?” *visibly confused, like 'huh🤨'??*

“No….I mean not like that-“ *side eyes the camera*

“A lot of lying today-” *she's now smirking*

“I have a partner of my own” *The girl already messed up the scene so it doesn't really matter what she says next*

"Then it appears that the gentleman might simply prefer the petal against... another petal" *Mizu immediately whips her head at the woman with a cocked brow (she's trying to stay in character so bad, but she's also simply speechless) who cannot contain her amusement any further and laughs brightly*

CUT!!

-Another personal headcanon I have is that Lady Itoh and Madame Kaji knew each other irl and had a short affair-

I should sleep!

If you also miss our vengeful, silly and murderous blue eyed queen then you should defintely read my fanfiction on ao3!

The Damsel of Devastation Masterlist

alright seriously now.

I should sleep.

[cyb3rthoughts]

A Slight Change of Pace Ch 3.

Synopsis- Jeff’s still sending mixed signals like crazy, one minute he’s a smug idiot. The next he’s, something completely different. Will y/n be able to keep composure and professionalism when it comes to him?

Warnings- just language, a confusing Jeff Hardy

Word count- 3.2k

What the hell just happened???? We’re still making our way back from the ring, so I try to keep cool, calm and collected.

Why did he just do that?

One minute, he’s got me thinking I have the fate of the team solely in my hands. The next we’re basically making out?? In the middle of the ring?

We make it back behind the drapes, and we’re all instantly berated with compliments. Congratulations, thrown every which way.

Vince came up, quickly, headset strapped on. “Great job out there.” He said, directly to Jeff, patting him on the back, he looked at all of us, and then walked back to whatever he was doing.

In Vince terms that meant we really really killed it, even if he didn’t direct it towards me and Lita.

We’re making our way through gorilla, Matt and Lita glued to each other's sides as usual. So I take the opportunity to grab Jeff by the forearm, dragging him away.

“Can I talk to you?” I ask

“Sure.” He chuckled, acting clueless.

We step over into a less populated area in the back. “What was that?!”

“What’re you talkin about?” He furrowed his brows, crossing his arms.

“What am I talking about? That kiss, why did you do that?”

“Why, you didn’t like it? It sure seemed like you liked it.” He was smug beyond belief, stepping a little closer.

“I- I just wasn’t expecting that!” I really hope the blush I already had on, was covering the blood rushing to my cheeks.

“Oh, well Vince called me into his office earlier and said he wanted us- our “characters” to get together.” He spoke using air quotes, his hands now landing on his hips. He said it so nonchalant like it was no big deal.

“Figured it’d be more believable if the crowd and you didn’t know it was coming.” He then took a second to look me up and down quickly. God this guy has some guts.

And fuckin really? I have to act like I’m dating him now too?

“Ugh you’re pissing me off!” I stormed off, walking further backstage to gather my thoughts. Not without, swaying my hips a little more than necessary. If he’s gonna toy with me… well two can play at that game.

“Hey sweetheart, say the word and we can practice some more!” He yelled, while I walked away, refusing to look back.

I was pacing for who knows how long,realizing I was completely lost in the back of this never ending stadium. I finally found the women’s locker room, storming inside. There were a couple of girls in there, Lita, Jacqueline, Trish, they were all just chit chatting as soon I burst in, they all stopped and stared at me.

“What?” I ask, knowing damn well why they were looking at me. There was brief silence before anyone spoke.

“That kiss was intense.” Trish said, a smile plastered across her face. Giggling a little.

“Yeah”

“Yeaaah” the others both agreed in unison.

I shake my head, not really knowing what to say, all I know is I’m craving a shower and a good night's sleep. I grab clothes and head into the bathroom area, hoping to wash away the confusion.

I’m not even mad about the kiss really I mean it was really fucking good. Even though he was sweaty, he smelled intoxicating, cologne still stuck to him. His tank top cut low on each side showing his slim muscles. The way he grabbed me was so… shit y/n stop it!! My mind keeps drifting, but he’s a dick I have to stop, thinking about him like that he’ll only hurt me.

We’re just coworkers.

I walked out of the steam filled room, I guess they took the hint that I didn’t want to talk about it. Because a few minutes later when I returned Trish and Jacqueline were gone.

Except for Lita.

I walked over starting to gather my stuff, just like every night after a show. She came up to me, leaning against the lockers.

“You good?” She asked, and she genuinely seemed to wonder.

“Yeah, I was just kind of caught off guard.” I mumbled, I rubbed my eyes, lingering makeup smearing across my cheeks.

“Wait, hold on.” She got closer, running her thumb across my cheek wiping away the eyeliner residue. “You really didn’t expect to be roped into an on screen relationship. Have you met Vince?” She asked brash but she was completely right.

I looked over at her, giving her an sarcastically annoyed look, I couldn’t help but laugh.

“But am I wrong?” She laughed along with me

“That’s how me and Matt got together.”

“I didn’t know that!” I say slinging my bag onto my shoulder, now following her out of the room.

“Mmhm, we had to fake kiss so much we didn’t want to stop in our free time. She laughed

“So who knows maybe you’ll end happily ever after. Plus it would make for killer double dates.”

I roll my eyes, laughing even harder now too. “Yeah right Jeff already hates my guts.”

“What! No he doesn’t, he just…takes a while to warm up.” She sounded shocked, but I don’t know why he’s seemed less than happy every time we’ve interacted.

“Why don’t we ditch the boys and carpool on our own to the hotel?” She asked, slinging her arm around my shoulders.

I just smile nodding my head. After the long, long, journey to the parking garage. She pulls out her flip phone texting Matt telling him that we were taking a car ourselves.

Luckily the next show was only two hours away, so the drive wasn’t too long.

She drove, which I was more than happy with. We shared more music with each other, random stories, and actually had a really fun time. Considering we were so exhausted from traveling.

Finally, we made it to the hotel, it was really nice too. Marble floors, chestnut front desk, or was it mahogany? I don’t know, the guy behind it had a suit on, so it was pretty swanky to me. We check in and then part ways, luckily only a few doors down from each other.

I immediately fall on the bed, sinking into the squishy mattress. It was about 12:45am when we arrived and I expected to fall asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

But instead, my mind wouldn’t stop racing, it felt like it was betraying my body that only wanted rest. The time passed by like molasses and every thirty minutes I thought for sure I was about to pass out.

That went on until 2:30 am when I heard a soft knock at the door. I jumped startled by the sound, obviously not expecting anything. I roll out of the bed slowly, tiptoeing to the peep hole, to look out of it

It was Jeff.

He was slung against the door, and I could barely see him at this angle. But I knew it was him.

Unhooking the dead bolt, and then unlocking the door, I open it quietly.

“Um what’s up?” I asked confused.

He seemed different already, he didn’t have any hostility visibly radiating off of him. He just looked tired.

“Can I come in?” His accent coated his tongue even more than usual.

I stare at him, groggy and tired myself, trying to contemplate if it was a good idea. Though I couldn’t get up the courage to tell him no either.

I opened the door wider, gesturing for him to walk in. After shutting it, I see him walk to the other side of the bed in the middle of the room.

He just paced around in tiny circles slowly, he had one arm folded against himself. The other fidgeted with his bottom lip.

I plop on the end of the bed, sitting cross crossed. “What’s going on? It’s really late.”

“Did I wake you?”

“No, couldn’t sleep.” I say only moments before a huge yawn escaped.

“Me either.” He responded, now standing still, facing me directly.

“Jeff, is everything ok? What are you doing here?” I ask with a slight annoyance growing in my voice.

“I’ve been a jackass to you.” He blurted out.

I furrow my brows trying to figure what he actually wants to say. The room was still dark, I had a tiny bed light on. The only other illumination came in from the window, the full moon reflecting a deep blue off of his face. I could see the gears literally turning in his head.

He huffed, sitting down next to me, the side of his leg just barely touching mine.

“If that’s all you wanted to tell me. I know.” I half laugh, speaking barely above a whisper.

His hands were clasped together, he wasn’t looking at me at first. It was a long, drawn out silence, I swear I could hear a pin drop all the way down the hall. He sat up straight, turning to face me fully once again, mattress dipping beside me.

He leaned a little closer, his shoulder now touching mine too. His face was so close to mine, our breaths mixing, reminiscent of earlier this evening. I couldn’t decide if I should just close the gap and be the one to get rid of this heavy weighing tension.

He took in a sharp breath and suddenly jumped up. “I’m gonna go.” He mumbled

Just like that he was gone, with the heavy door shutting harshly behind him.

I have felt weird the last few days. We had some house shows. I had another tag team match with Lita. One singles match the next night, in the next city.

We were headed for New York City this Monday, so we stopped at all the neighboring small towns upstate. The live events were always more fun, they weren’t taken as seriously as the televised nights. Like tonight.

But even so I had hardly interacted with Jeff, I don’t know if he was avoiding me or if it was just coincidental. I really wanted to talk with about the other night, but I have a feeling he wants me to forget about it.

Tonight’s Friday night smackdown, and we’re in Albany. It’s insanely freezing as I make my way into the arena, from the large black suv. Towing in my overfilled duffel, like clockwork.

I bump into Lillian Garcia, and we start talking for a minute while walking in together. Mostly we complained about the weather, and how ecstatic we were. Arizona was our next stop after the following week.

Eventually I tell her I’ll see her later, and head to find Lita and get ready for the night. I got stopped by a producer, giving me a complete lowdown of my match tonight.

I then get informed, mine and Jeff’s “relationship” is continuing to grow even stronger tonight. He's going to have a singles match against Edge, and I’m going to the ring with him. The rest is up to us, so we better make it count.

I don’t really think much about it. I hope things are just normal until then. Jeff’s an ass and I ignore it. That's my ideal situation at this point.

I got my makeup done, hair pin straight tonight. My gear consists of short leather shorts, and a hardy boyz shirt, per Vince’s request. I cut it up to fit a little better than just a baggy ol tshirt. Of course, Lita and I made a b line for catering after getting all cute for the evening.

I hadn’t seen Jeff at all tonight so far, which I thought was kind of weird. But I’m sure he’ll turn up eventually. Matt of course had a magnet to Lita so he showed up at our table not long after we got food and sat down. Tonight Jeff and Edge were the main event so I had a lot of time to kill.

A little tv played the ongoing match as I sat, hand holding up my head. I was trying with all my strength to fight off my heavy eyelids. “You sure look like you could use some company.”

I looked up, seeing Edge staring down at me. I hadn’t even realized, or maybe I had already forgotten, Lita and Matt had ditched me, leaving me with an empty table. He and I hadn’t really ever spoken much before, it was always just polite hellos and goodbyes.

“The more the merrier.” I gesture to the chairs next to me.

He went to take a bite of the green apple in his hand, leaving it in his mouth as he pulled the chair out to sit. Water bottle occupying his other hand.

We talked for a long time, he had turned his seat to face me directly, scooting a tiny bit closer. We ended up laughing a lot, and joking about how insane we must be, voluntarily being in this line of work. But how much joy it brought us at the same time. A million other things came up, movies, some of our favorite classic wrestling matches from the past.

My eyes hadn’t left him for a while. The conversation flowed so well I got completely lost in it. For whatever reason something caused me to look over, that’s when I see an angry Jeff, standing against the wall just boring his gaze into me.

Shit, that’s unsettling. Why's he looking at me like that? I unconsciously flip my hair over my shoulder, ignoring him, going back to the rambling Edge.

Damn it what’s he saying, I can’t even remember what we were talking about.

I take a second to glance over again quickly, and now he’s stomping over. Great.

“Cmon.” He says as he jerks his head over his shoulder. Grabbing the back of my chair, almost pulling me out of it.

“What’s up Jeff! I’m pumped about the match tonight man.” Edge said, looking up at him, completely oblivious.

“Yeah.” He responds shortly, pressing his lips together tightly. Turning attention back to me.

I look up at him too, not oblivious, just confused. He jerked his head once more, now really pulling my chair more forcefully. I roll my eyes and stand up.

“See ya in a little bit Edge!” I say tapping him on the shoulder. Jeff stared me down, until I started following behind him.

We keep walking, and walking, passing plenty of people. He wasn’t speaking a word to me or anyone else. Some try to talk to us but he just waves them off.

“Am I just supposed to keep following you around like a lost puppy or?”

He ignores me, eventually finding an empty spot, now backing me into a corner. Literally.

“What the hell are you doing?” He asked getting too close, like he has a habit of doing.

I press my hand to his chest, not pushing back, but not letting him get any closer.

“What am I doing? What are you doing pulling me into a dark corner like this?” I ask actually confused.

“I mean.. you flirting … with him like that. So obviously too.” Disgust almost seemed to come out on his tongue.

I just chuckle.

I think, is he jealous?

“Flirting?”

I was just talking to him! I thought to myself.

“He’s a jerk.” He cuts me off

“Oh and what are you?” I ask now, getting in his face, feeling the annoyance in me grow.

He swallows hard, looking at my lips, then back in my eyes, darting his gaze all of my face.

He doesn’t say anything, the silence getting louder and louder. I scoff and start to walk away, when he grabs me by the arm. Hand wrapping all the way around my forearm.

“Just stay focused tonight, yeah?” He sounded a little more calm now.

I rolled my eyes at him again, which seemed to be my new usual response. I storm off, giving him no more chances to speak.

The match is in full force. This is the first time I have ever seen Jeff wrestle, so up close. Damn it’s stressful.

He’s already jumped off the top ropes, two times, and now he and Edge were exchanging brutal blows to each others heads.

Ending the headshots, Jeff gives Edge a touch kick to the ribs. Causing him to fall down, rolling out of the ring onto the ground.

I stand at the opposite side, near the announce table, both hands resting on the apron.

Jeff sets up for a swanton bomb in the corner buckle. Edge runs out of harm's way, making his way over, wait is he coming towards me?!

Oh my god he is. He walks up, almost like he snaps out of his pain, and leans against the apron very close to me.

He had a smolder pasted on his face as he started to fawn all over me. I looked at Jeff where he was still in a crouched position on the ropes.

He looks pissed like genuinely pissed,not like he's just acting. He jumps down, back into the ring, bouncing off the ropes landing a huge drop kick to Edges head. Causing him to fall, splayed out on the floor.

Going along with our storyline, I jump up and down in the air. “Good job, Good job babe!”

Oops, that kind of just slipped out.

Jeff slides out of the ring, running up to me. He placed both hands on the side of my head, running one over my hair.

“You ok? You’re good?” At this point I know he’s playing up his concern, but I think he really was mad about that before. I nod emphatically going along with it.

He hooks his arm around my neck pulling me to his chest for a quick hug. His breath was heaving, I slid my hand up his side, for comfort.

He redirected his attention back to Edge, slamming him onto the commentators desk. I dodge out of the way when Edge returns the favor. I wince, at that one it looked like I really hurt.

They realize the ref was counting down. Barely before 10 they both somehow make it back in the ring.

More and more hits, kicks, elbows, everything you can imagine.

Finally Edge layed, sprawled out in the middle of the ring. Jeff takes his opportunity, jumping to the top ropes again. He crouched holding onto each side just as he always does. When he pauses he looks over at me, almost like he was looking for reassurance.

I give him a quick nod, and with that he leaps off flipping mid air landing right on Edges midsection. Pinning him for a 3 count.

I scream in excitement, throwing my hands up in the air. Edge rolls out, making a quick exit backstage, and I copy him rolling into the ring though.

I ran up to congratulate him, launching into Jeff’s arms. “That was fucking incredible” I say into his ear for no one else to hear. Not that a word could be heard over the thousands of fans chanting his name.

Without thinking, I crashed my lips to his, it felt electrically charged so much more than last time.

That’s starting to be fun.

He pulled back, smiling slightly as he let me go. He jumped back up to one corner of the ring, then the next boasting, throwing up his hand guns.

He went all around the ring, when he got to the last corner, he now had the biggest smile I think I’ve ever seen on his face.

I stood in the middle of the ring still just clapping, in complete awe of how he had the crowd in the palm of his hand. Before he got down, he looked back down at me, with a smile still on his face. I couldn’t help but swoon, maybe just a little bit.

He just might be the death of me.

[yolkochan]

Advanced Perspective Critique (+ tips & tricks)

Original artwork submitted by @soleilonthesun

This is a large post critiquing (also perspective tips) this artwork submitted by one of my friends, I’m not a professional art teacher but I’m willing to share my knowledge with the internet :)

I will assume that you know the basics of perspective and will be moving on more advanced stuff. If you’d like me to critique your artwork, just send me a dm or an ask.

Some basic tips to start off with.

Use a small pen size so you can be more accurate with perspective.

Use the line tool if you are allowed to, don’t freehand this.

Always draw the horizon line first before you begin a perspective drawing and draw “outside” of the actual canvas since vanishing points are usually far outside of it if you want to do a close up of a building/room. You can enlarge your drawing area in later stages after you’re done sketching.

Try to draw within this safe area (rhombus) between the vanishing points (an acute angle, about 60-70 degrees). I recommend this because if you draw outside this area there will be extreme warping to the objects that you’re drawing.

When I was trying to draw out the box of your room, I noticed that the edges of the room were outside of the vanishing points, causing this extreme type of warping — making it impossible to connect the edges of the room into a complete box. I think this may have happened due to you drawing the inner faces of the box first (which is risky) instead of the outer faces.

Drawing the outer faces first is the easiest way to draw a box in 2pp.

The first thing I noticed is how different the perspective of the floor is compared to the room so I tried finding the horizon line + vanishing points of the room (even though the perspective of the room itself is extremely warped in the first place lol). The floor will always be at the same vanishing point(s) as the room it’s in.

Tips on drawing objects inside rooms:

Objects on the floor/floating can be at different vanishing points compared to the room but they still have to be on the same horizon line. I see you attempted to do this with the bench here.

Objects attached to walls (posters, clocks, shelfs) must have their vanishing points the same as the room otherwise it will not look like it’s attached to the wall. (This also applies to hinging doors and physically hanging items attached to the ceiling like chandeliers)

One of the things I changed was the pillar since it seemed like it wasn’t touching the ceiling properly even before I adjusted the walls edges to fit the perspective. Even though the edited pillar now technically fits the perspective in the edit, the front side of the pillar being parallel to the viewer’s eyes can be off-putting since pillars aren’t normally constructed like that (they’re mainly always cuboids or cylinders) — so I also made another alternative edit.

Ellipses in perspective is particularly too complex to explain in one post but the main thing about it is that it will ALWAYS stay a perfect ellipse no matter the orientation (assuming there’s no extreme warping or curvilinear perspective) — it will never turn into an oval like this. Practicing and drawing cylinders will help you break off this habit. I reconstructed this bucket in particular to fit in with the perspective better.

This video by @drawsh and infographic explains it way better than me.

Here is also another video by @stanprokopenko that explains how to draw a cylinder easily.

Final edit

End note

Obviously I can’t change everything in this drawing but I hope I made the perspective less inconsistent for you. To get better at perspective (or well anything really), you just need to practice it more, drawing more backgrounds and objects and such — you’ll improve very quickly. I saw that you put in a lot of detail into this drawing and I was really impressed!

But since this was a perspective assignment, you may have gotten not so great grades due to the inaccuracy. When it comes to perspective, you have to be strict with yourself and try not to “guess” stuff. I recommend drawing less detailed backgrounds as practice more often. I hope this explanation and critique helps you on your art journey :) (and also better grades lol)