#If you plan to get your hair dyed at a salon then YES it's a chore in the sense that you'll be sinking some money

[sergle]

girl help i have dishwater coloured hair, ive heard that colouring your hair is a Chore to maintain that true am i stuck with dishwater hair ?

It depends what color you dye your hair!! I haven't had any trouble w maintaining a red or orange color, but blue/purple/black seem like they can be something of a Strug to keep up. some things fade more Nicely than others. anything is doable though if you really WANT a certain color, and hair only grows about half an inch per month, so keeping up with roots isn't such a big issue.

[cloudlessly-light]

Promt! Hotch loving his wife Emily’s grey hair and saying so when they are having sex. (Rough sex or sensual you decide)🤭🥰🥰 love your works🫶

A/N: Hi anon! Thank you so much, I hope this is what you had in mind!

Title: Years in the making Summary: Aaron loves Emily’s grey hair, and has no problem showing it. Word Count: 3.1k Rating: Explicit Warnings: Smut, oral, dirty talk, fluff

When he gets the call that he’s out from witness protection he is quick to talk to Jack, wanting nothing more than to move back to DC. He’s happy that Jack feels the same, the thirteen-year-old more than happy to go back to his old life.

Aaron calls Emily the first night back. They had spoken briefly when she told him about Scratch and he said that he didn’t want to come back to the team and he didn’t, but he had missed his life, his friends. It’s a conversation over faster than he would have liked. He hadn’t seen her since New York, had barely spoken to her before he had to go into witness protection. He missed her. So he calls her, in the midst of moving boxes in his new house that he bought only weeks ago.

“Emily Prentiss.” Her voice sounds detached, professional in a way he wasn’t used to and he realizes that she probably didn’t have his new number.

“Hey, it’s, uhm it’s Aaron… Hotchner.” He adds like she didn’t know, like her face didn’t split into a wide grin at the sound of his voice alone.

“Hotch,” She says his name and in the midst of the chaos following Spencer going to prison, Scratch and Steven Walker dying, she suddenly feels a bit of peace. “how are you?”

“I’m good.” He says as he sits on a couch still so new it’s almost uncomfortable. “I’m back.”

Emily stops mid-step in her office, almost not believing what she just heard.

“You’re back? For how long?”

“For good.”

So they decide to get a coffee, to catch up. She tells him about the horrible year they’ve had, he tells her about witness protection and Jack and his plans to go back to work as a prosecutor. It’s easy and fun and they fall back into the friendship they used to have.

It’s one more coffee, then dinners when she’s back from cases and then one night he kisses her. And it’s another puzzle piece fitting into place. It’s something he had wanted for years, turns out she did as well but the timing had always been off. It wasn’t anymore, the timing was perfect.

It’s less than a year and he proposes, her stuff already moved into the house. It’s fast but he knows that it’s right and when she says yes with a shaky smile and eyes glimmering from tears she refuses to let fall he knows that this will be forever.

“You’re finally getting her.” Dave says as he stands beside him and fixes his tie.

“Years in the making.” He smiles and then the music starts and Emily walks down the isle with Jack beside her, the boy almost as tall as her now.

When they say I do, the team claps and cheers, Emily pretends that she doesn’t see the tears of joy in his eyes or hear the way Penelope yells at them to kiss again!

Two years in and it’s the first time he notices it, the black hair dye on their bathroom sink. He never gave it much thought even though he had specks of grey in his hair. Emily’s dark locks never seeming to lose its color or shine.

“I usually dye it in the salon, but it’s been too much going on so I haven’t had the time.” She shrugs as she reaches for the packet and he sees how miserable she looks. She had been exhausted lately, the work never-ending and time never enough. It seemed silly to spend an evening dying her hair when she clearly had no energy to.

“Don’t,” He says and she stops to look at him with a raised eyebrow. “don’t dye it. Leave it.”

“You want me to go gray?”

“I don’t want you to dye your hair for me, or for anybody else.” He grabs the box from her and puts it on the sink. “Unless you want to, but you have said that keeping it up is hard.”

“I’ll look old.” She bites her bottom lip, not surprised that he noticed her hesitation about dying it. She was tired of it, had already been doing it for years.

“You’ll look beautiful.” He kisses her forehead and then her lips. “That’s just the patriarchy talking.”

She laughs at that and shakes her head because everything he’s learned about the patriarchy he’s learned from her.

“Okay, I won’t dye it.” She agrees and throws the box into the trash. And she doesn’t look back.

What Aaron hadn’t expected though, was how he would go absolutely insane over Emily’s silver-grey hair. She had always been beautiful, had always been sexy and known exactly how to use it. But as her darker locks were cut off and her grey hair grew out, there was a subtle confidence about her. And Aaron loved it.

“Fuck you’re so sexy.” He groaned against the back of her ear as he pressed up behind her in the kitchen.

“Baby, there’s people here.” She tried as her she put her hands on the counter to keep from falling over it. The breathlessness in her voice and smile on her lips couldn’t be mistaken though.

“I don’t care, my wife is too hot for her own damn good.” He pushed some hair out of the way to plant hot, open-mouthed kisses over the back of her neck and shoulder. “They’re all outside anyways, and I haven’t gotten a moment alone with you since you got home.” He pushed his hips against the curve of her ass, made sure that she felt his hard cock through his jeans and her dress.

“Aaron,” She gasped as he pressed harder against her, could feel her own panties dampen from arousal as he continued to kiss along the skin exposed to him. He had been right, she had gotten home late from a case last night, been at the office all day and the team had all come over for Jack’s birthday that same night. She cast a glance toward the patio and backyard where she heard Penelope laugh and Matt’s kids playing soccer with Jack, Michael and Henry. “someone could see.”

“Let them.” He grinned when she turned in his arms, a smirk on her lips as her arms wrapped around his neck and pulled him into a proper kiss.

“Oh, sorry!” JJ came into the kitchen just as Aaron’s hands landed on her hips and pulled her against him. “I’ll just leave these.” She gestured to the plates in her hand as Aaron and Emily broke apart. She grinned at Emily’s flushed cheeks and the way Aaron tried to look annoyed but his glare didn’t have the same effect as it used to.

“No, you’re fine. We we’re just…” Emily untangled herself from his arms and smoothed out her dress.

“Just preparing for when all of us leave.” JJ finished for her with a wink. “It’s okay, I know the feeling.” As if he had sensed it, Will walked into the kitchen and put his arm around her waist.

“We should get going, Michel is getting tired.” He said and JJ nodded as she leaned into him.

It didn’t take long for everybody to take their leave, all of them tired from the week and kids having activities to be driven to in the morning.

“Happy birthday again, kiddo.” Emily hugged Jack, the 17-year old now towering over her as he hugged her.

“Thanks Em.” He smiled at her before going over to his dad. “Good night dad.”

“Good night, and happy birthday.” Aaron hugged him as well before they watched the teenager climb the stairs.

“Can’t believe that he’s 17. Feels like he was born yesterday.” Aaron mumbles against her temple as she leans into his side. “I also can’t believe he doesn’t think we don’t know about the party Jennie is throwing him tomorrow.”

Emily chuckles as her hand strokes over the back of his neck.

“She’s his first girlfriend, and he’s 17 honey. He’s got a good head on his shoulder, it’ll be okay.” She promises but ignores her own wave of anxiety, remembering what she did when she was 17. Jack was nothing like her though, he was mature for his age, life having thrown too much at him already, he was calm and collected, cared more about soccer and his grades than much else.

“But what if…”

“It’ll be fine.” She cuts whatever he’s about to say next with a kiss. “And if it’s not, we’ll deal with it then.” She kisses him again, lingers against him a little longer and moves her hand from his shoulder to his chest. “Now, I seem to remember someone wanting to fuck me in the kitchen while our friends were around, so how about we go upstairs.” She winks when his frown turns into a smile, his hands tightening on her hips.

“How did I get so lucky marrying such a brilliant woman?”

She laughs as he chases her up the stairs, his hands never leaving her body as they make their way through the house without making too much noise. Once they get to their bedroom Aaron closes the door quickly. When he turns Emily is unzipping her dress, the material landing around her feet and leaving her in dark blue underwear and he feels himself gaping at her, still not quite believing that she’s with him.

“You’re staring.” She smiles at him, used to him looking at her like she was the light of his life but never taking it for granted.

“You’re so beautiful, how can I not?” He walks towards her and pulls her into a kiss, his tongue quickly licking at the seam of her lips to deepen it. His fingers move through her hair and tugs gently and she moans against his lips. “I’m so happy you stopped dying your hair.” He whispers not for the first time and she nods into another kiss.

“Me too.” She pulls on his shirt, breaks apart from his lips only to help him tug it over his head. She kisses along his stubbled jaw, down his neck and shoulder, moves down his chest until she kneels in front of him. She looks up at him as she unbuttons his pants and drags them down his legs.

“Honey…” He starts but is cut off by her tongue along his shaft and whatever he was going to say die in his throat. He looks down at her with hooded eyes as her wet tongue moves from his base to his tip slowly, until finally she takes the head of him in her mouth with a low moan.

Emily smiles as his fingers find their way into her hair and she sucks him a little deeper as her hand jerks the rest of him. She twists her wrist and circles her tongue around him and his knees buckle as his hand tightens in her hair.

“Fuck, come here.” He pulls her up only to claim her lips again, his hands moving around her to unclasp her bra and then pulls her panties down her legs. “I need you.” He grunts as he pushes her onto the bed.

“What are you waiting for?” She suppresses a sound of surprise when he grabs her ancle and pulls her to the edge of the bed. Her legs fall apart for him to stand between, she toys lazily with one of her nipples as she leans on her elbow to be able to watch him watch her.

His eyes move from her face, down her body as he pushes the tip of his shaft through her folds and watches as they part for him, her wetness glistening in the low light of their bedroom. She lets out soft moan each time he nudges her clit and when her head falls back and eyes close he leans over her to lick and kiss over her neck as he slides inside of her.

Emily whimpers at the sudden stretch, the familiar press of him inside of her making her eyes roll back. She savors that first moment with him until he places one knee on the bed next to her while the other remains on the floor. His arms wrap around her thighs and pulls her against him, forcing him deeper inside of her and she moans.

Aaron gives her another moment before pulling back, only to thrust inside of her hard and watches with dark eyes as her body jolts with the movement. He does it again, finds a pace that has Emily muffling her moans of pleasure by biting down on her bottom lip. He watches as her hair fall around her head against the bed, groans as he once again is taken back just how gorgeous she is. Without warning he pulls out of her and lifts her higher on the bed.

Emily doesn’t miss a beat and rolls around onto her stomach. She smiles at him over her shoulder as he straddles her thighs and pushes inside of her again. She grasps the covers in her hands as his hips rolls slowly against her, hitting her deep.

“Baby,” He breathes against her shoulder, his hand wrapping in her hair and tugging her head back. “you’re soaked, you’re so tight, fuck.” He bites down on her neck as she clenches around him.

Emily mewls into the bed, tries to push her hips against his but finds that she can’t and she gasps as she’s forced to feel him drag her pleasure through her body, the pressure building steadily but almost painfully slow. Her hand grips his hair as he breathes against her ear, his soft grunts of pleasure only making her more desperate.

“I want to come, please Aaron, I need to come.” She feels her body tremble between him and the bed. He kisses her neck, his hand grasps her other hand and intertwines their fingers, his chest press against her back and his cock moves with sure thrusts inside of her, he’s everywhere and she can’t focus on anything but him.

“Who’s stopping you?” He teases and her grip on his hair tightens as her hips buckle and he snickers. “Needy thing.” Aaron still takes pity on her and gets his hand under her straining body to rub at her clit as he fucks into her a little harder.

The pleasure is suddenly overbearing, her orgasm ripping through her so fast that she forgets to breathe as he whispers encouraging words in her ear. She’s pretty sure she’ll pull his hair out from her grip as she shakes through her pleasure but he doesn’t stop so she doesn’t let go.

“That’s it, so good.” Aaron mumbles through the pleasure of her spasming center around him. “Come for me baby, let me feel it. You feel so good.” He continues to whisper against her ear until she calms, her body heaving for breath under his. He falls to the side and pulls her with him until he’s spooning her against him.

“Kiss me.” She pants through a smile, face turned towards his and he does gladly. She feels him start to move as his arm wrap around her torso, keeping her close. She breaks apart from him when the need for air becomes too much and he’s quick to plant soft kisses over her neck, his breathing rough against her ear. She rests her leg over his hip, giving more room to move and she smiles at the way he growls against her shoulder.

“So beautiful, all mine, fucking mine.” He groans as he picks up his pace in chase of his own release. His hand finds her chest while the other travel down her body to toy with her clit again, wanting her to come again. “Stay still, take it.” He mumbles before she has time to squirm and Emily whimpers. He knew her body better than his own, had taken hours to learn exactly what got her going and what she could take.

She could feel her body react immediately to the authority tone in his voice, her spine tingling as the roughness of it washed over her. His fingers move fast over her clit, circling it with precise movements as he fucks into harder and harder and she knows he was tethering the edge. She clenches around him and is rewarded by his deep groan so she does it again.

“Em baby,” He warns as she tightens around him, he knew she was trying to get him to finish before she did and he refused to let that happen. “you’re going to come for me again.” He tweaks her nipple and pinches her clit and she fists the comforter as her body jerks against him.

“Holy shit!” She whispers, the air caught in her throat as he forces the pleasure through her, makes it build, hot and blinding and she hears his satisfied hum.

“Good girl, come for me.” He licks over her racing pulse and stops pinching her clit only to rub it faster and it’s only a few moments later until Emily is tensing in his arms. He muffles his groan of her spasming center around him by biting down on her shoulder, leaving a mark in his wake that he knows she’ll secretly love in the morning. She’s still shaking against him when his own orgasm rushes through him, his release hard enough to make his body buckle into hers.

Emily feels his release inside of her, hot and rough and she revels in the feeling of it, her body buzzing with bliss. She waits until he softens before turning around, her head finding it’s place on his chest and leg over his as she releases a sigh of content.

“You okay?” He asks, lips pressed against the top of her head and she smiles into his chest.

“My body feels like led and air at the same time, don’t know how you managed that.” She turns her face up to face him and he’s smiling down at her. “Are you okay?”

“I’m more than okay, I’m with you.”

“Oh shut up, you’re cheesy.” She laughs but he’s looking at her like she’s the only woman in the world again and it makes her stop. “I’m so in love with you.” She says instead and his hand around her waist tightens automatically.

“I love you too.” He kisses her forehead, then nose and lastly mouth. “Join me in the shower?” He gets up and drags her with him when she makes a grumbling noise.

“Ugh, fine. But then then we are sleeping, I’m exhausted and we’re on call for a drunk Jack tomorrow night.”

“Oh God don’t remind me.”

[cyberwonu]

Pink Dye

pairing: non-idol! Bang Chan x gn! reader

word count: 687

genre: fluff

notes / warnings: mentions of chemical burns from hair bleach but thats it

You were bored.

Chan was also bored.

You both couldn’t sleep, it was nearing 3am and you were getting restless just laying in bed trying to fall asleep. It was clear that you simply were not going to get any restful sleep. As much as you loved being cuddled up next to Chan it was also clear you were both bored out of your minds and wanted to do something with your time.

You abruptly get up and look at Chan, who was giving you a very puzzled look. “I’m going to do something” you announced. “And what exactly would that be?”... You didn’t think that far. Chan giggles realizing you have no plan. “You look like a sim got their action canceled and now has no idea what to do” he giggles at you still just standing in front of him. 

After explaining that you’re bored and restless and need to be occupied or you were going to explode. Chan stands up and agrees to join you in a late night adventure of sorts. You aimlessly wander around your home just thinking of things until you remember you have left over bleach and dye from the last time you impulsively dyed your hair. You knew you would need it again, and there's no better time to use it then right now. You spring up and shuffle to the bathroom, sliding on the hardwood floors. 

You grab all the supplies from various cabinets and drawers in the bathroom, grabbing some bright pink dye and placing it on the counter. Chan shows up in the doorway, analyzing the situation. “Really? Dye?” How dare he question your decisions. “Yes, dye. It will cure me” you state. You both think the lack of sleep is making you a little delirious but it's entertaining nonetheless. “Welcome to my salon! I take no accountability for whatever happens on either of our scalps.” you say while throwing some gloves at Chan. 

Now it's almost 4 am and you’ve both washed out the bleach, took some silly pictures, ranted about how you were “too good for toner” and now your slapping pink hair dye on each other's head laughing about how absurd the situation is. “It's going to be so patchy” Chan whines looking in the mirror examining the questionable job you’ve both done. “Look, I never said you would get a good dye job in my 3am salon… but I do remember specifically saying I take no responsibility for anything that happens in here, so who’s fault is it really” you tease while putting on a timer.

After some snacks and a few rounds of Mario Kart your timer goes off and you both return to the bathroom to wash out the dye, and hope your hair is intact and not horrible. At this point it's past 4am and you’re finally starting to get tired. Chan carefully dries your hair, picking up on the fact the lack of sleep is catching up to you. Once finished you both look in the mirror and are greatly surprised by the results. Chan lets out a breath of relief “It’s actually much better than I thought it would turn out”. You whine about him doubting your skills and how he should trust you more. He can tell you’re getting quite tired with the way yawns interrupt you more and more frequently. He feels himself yawn more as well knowing it was time for the both of you to head to bed now. 

You lay in bed happy with your late night shenanigans. You eventually fall asleep being very happy you both don’t have to be up early tomorrow. Less happy about the fact you can feel the slight chemical burns under your nails, the chalky feeling remaining on your hands and knowing the pink dye has stained your face, hands and basically everything in the bathroom. But that’s tomorrow's issue. For now you just appreciate that you can finally get the sleep you need and a loving Chan to support you through all the stupid things you do, including dying your hair at unreasonable times. 

[st4rshiptr00per]

been reading the year of intelligent tigers and yes it is just as good as i expected. but more importantly i fucking love how kate orman writes like, intimacy. between this and vampire science and the little chunk of the left handed hummingbird ive read like…. yeah this is action adventure shit and everythings an emergency but theres lots of downtime for people to slow down feel the full weight of whats happening to them (being taken hostage, hiding out and making plans, etc) and when that happens you get these scenes where everyone is like, huddled together in some little room, or theyre holding each other while theyre still alive to do so. the people the doctor n co. get put in these situations with warm up to them so quickly, as you would do when you might all be killed at any moment.

i think frequently of the scene in vampire science where the doctor and harris sneak off together to have a talk about their deal and they slide from being friendly and amicable to it sounding like theyre not going to be able to come away from this situation without a lot of people dying, and the whole time theyre just dicking around in some empty hair salon theyve just broken into while harris washes the doctors hair. like the “oh noooo were inseparably linked now so were FORCED to come to an agreement” is a trope that you see around every now and then, but i feel like you dont often see it getting taken to this extreme of like, accepting the situation and embracing the intimacy, taking it from mental to physical in a way that is That close while also being not (overtly) sexual/romantic, going from light to serious to light again in the way that you only really can with somebody youre on a level with. DO YOU GET ME. do you get me. i felt crazy reading that scene.

i knew going in to intelligent tigers that the doctor and Karl were written to be, like, pretty obviously in a relationship and the scenes with the two of them at the beginning still like…. shocked me with just how romantic they were. like the bit with the two of them walking out into the hills at night and getting drunk laying on the grass together. that shit was so beautiful to me that shit was REAL vast swathes of romance literature do not have anything with an ounce as much soul as the first 50 pages of this fucking doctor who book. thank you kate orman i love you kate orman.

[baekluvie]

obsession | chapter 4

pairing: reader x baekhyun

words: 10k+

genre: yandere au | this is heavily inspired by the show 'you'

tag list: @mayboy @vishary15 @greasywall @loversmantra @cityexos @kavvs

warnings for this chapter: mention of murder, murder, mental illness(s), mention of death(s), manipulation, mature language, violence, obsessiveness, aggression, suicide.

do not read if: you are triggered by any of the warnings i listed prior. this fic will contain this theme throughout the chapters. if you are not comfortable with that; please skip this post. please remember this is a work of fiction.

viewer discretion is advised

playlist for this chapter:

love taste - baekhyun pov

knee caps - baekhyun pov

creep - baekhyun pov

pacify her - y/n pov

(a/n) im so happy with how this turned out. and i hope you guys do too. sorry for the long wait. also yes- there is only one pov for this chapter. it won't stay like this. like always replies are open. please send me messages, requests, your thoughts! always appreciated! reblog and like as it really helps me out. enjoy this chapter!

Baekhyun’s POV

hey don’t worry about texting back fast i just had a question-

No.

how are you? did you sleep well? you didn’t throw up right?-

No.

i love you so much, i want to be buried in your skin. i think about you all the time and i can’t stop.

Baekhyun sighs as he retracts his last text to you. This was hard. Putting a whole act on just so he could be with you. He wished that you would just fall in love with him just as easily as he did with you. He rises from his desk, lumbering his phone in his hand as he makes his way to his bathroom.

As he flicked on the lights, he intensely peered at himself in the mirror. He was growing some stubble on his chin, frowning, he brushed his hand over it. He hated facial hair, especially on him. He had a youthful, pretty face, there wasn’t any need to grow it. His features were perfect, clear pale skin with a rosy hue to his full lips. He liked his moles too; they were like pretty little stars sprinkled here and there. He removes his hand from his chin, admiring himself some more.

His black hair was flat, it didn’t have much volume. As he bundles a fragment of it with his hand, he attempts to floof it up, add some texture to it. The mirror version of him frowned, obviously not satisfied with the results. He looked down at his phone, an idea popping into his head. He searched up hair salons nearby, not noticing that he was biting on his fingernail. His finger pauses over one location, it had good reviews, they specialized in coloring. Hm. Baekhyun never thought about dying his hair, he preferred his dark locks, thought it made him look more natural. He debates over it for a moment.

Baekhyun doesn’t like unwanted touching, that’s why he enjoys cutting his hair himself. People didn’t deserve to be close to him like that; his body was a temple after all. Anyone but you were not allowed to enter it. But this could be a good change, maybe you would like it. And if he was going to plan a date with you, he wanted to make sure that his looks were up to the best of standards.

Change.

That annoying word that was embedded in his thoughts for the past couple of days. He didn’t think he was capable of it, in fact he didn’t think that there was anything needing to change in the first place. Sure, he’s a bloodthirsty murderer who kills people whenever he pleases, but hey, who doesn’t get a little angry sometimes? He snaps out of his train of thought when his phone buzzes lightly in his hand.

this is baekhyun, right? it’s y/n.

It’s you. Baekhyun nearly fumbles his phone in his grasp, a sudden sweat washing over him. He sinks down to sit on his bathroom floor, his back laying against the wall as he reads over the text you sent him over and over. You texted him first; that was a good sign. He’d take it.

this is he. i’m surprised you texted me first. i’m supposed to do that >:(

He waits, his body shaking with excitement. Somehow you made him feel like a little kid again, Y/N. Every moment he spent with you, whether it was virtually or physically, he will always become the happiest person in the world. He eyes the dots dancing on his screen, imagining you’re just as nervous and excited as he is right now.

haha, i beat you to it. get used to having a woman take charge >:)

Oh, Baekhyun will definitely get used to that. He tries to ignore the growing tent in his sweats, licking over his lips as he quickly texts you back.

i don’t mind that. i’ve been thinking about what we should do for our date.

A second passes, you respond.

i was just thinking about that too. :) what did you have planned, mr.perfume boy?

In all honesty, Baekhyun has racked through his brain thinking of the perfect date all morning, his indecisiveness getting in the way of picking someplace to go to. His immediate thought was a nice dinner, maybe they’d take a stroll in the park after. But no, you’d get cold. The second choice was the amusement park. The colorful lights, the innocent atmosphere could cheer you up. But Baekhyun hates roller coasters, and doesn't like touching railings or handlebars. They’re disgusting and don’t ever get cleaned. Until finally…he got it.

i want you to come over. i’ll cook us dinner and we can buy a movie of your choosing.

He knew you; you liked simplicity and not going over the top. Although your choices of decor were…brash, right now you didn’t need to be wooed by an extravagant, fancy dinner. You also didn’t need to be around people too, and maybe Baekhyun just didn’t want men staring at you. You would like this, you would appreciate him for thinking about you in such a dire time.

that actually sounds…perfect. when are we doing this???

Well obviously today, Y/N. He couldn’t stand being away from you, especially this long, especially after being around you, feeling your lips on his. You feel the same way too, don’t lie to yourself. You liked him, Y/N. You like his teasing, the sweet smiles and staring. You savored it, you loved the feeling of being taken care of. This was all part of the manipulation. He smirked as his fingers dashed on his screen.

tonight, duh. i’ll pick you up around 8. i’ll have a surprise for you. :)

So he decided to schedule the appointment. Who knows? Maybe it won’t be such a bad experience letting someone take care of him for once. He waits as the phone rings, thumping his foot on his bathroom floor.

“Hello, this is Yoo Salon. How can I help you?”

He fidgets a bit. “I uh- I wanted to schedule a hair appointment. I’d like to dye my hair?”

“Of course. Do you have someone you’d prefer?”

He snorts. “I’ve never been there before. This is my first time going to a salon in years.”

“Sure. So it doesn’t matter who I get you in with?”

“Not at all. I just need it done before 8 o’clock.”

“Well… we’ll see. Can I ask what color you’d like done?”

Baekhyun ponders on it for a moment. He snaps his fingers, his lips pushed together in a pout.

“I want something different. Ah, something that will make me stand out.”

“Platinum is quite popular these days, sir.”

Hm. “Platinum it is then.”

-

He shouldn’t have done this. No, he really shouldn’t have. Do you know why, Y/N? Because this bitch won’t stop flirting with him, and although she is somewhat decent, Baekhyun has no intention of playing it up for her. You are the only one that matters, and this bitch with pink hair isn’t getting the point at all.

She finishes putting the toil in his hair, and Baekhyun scrolls mindlessly on his phone. Really all he does is look through the same conversation you had earlier, he thought his hairdresser would get the idea that he’s a taken man. But yet, she proves him wrong once again.

She stands behind him, smirking at him in the mirror that’s placed in front of him.

“You know, so many girls are going to think you’re cute with this color.”

He raises his eyebrows, laying his phone in his lap.

“Yeah? Well I’m not interested in girls.”

“Oh? Men?”

He sighs exasperatedly.

“I’m interested in women.”

She pouts, and Baekhyun is disgusted. Her foundation is two shades too dark, and she chose to wear a bright pink lipstick; matching the dreadful dried out hair of hers.

“Oh come on,” She places a hand on his chest, “You don’t want a different taste?”

He bats her hand away, he almost, almost, wants to strangle her right now. But he takes a deep breath and smiles.

“I’m taken. Now can you make yourself useful and do my hair?”

She blinks, a stunned expression pops up.

“Y-yes. Well at this rate, your hair lifted well. Give it 5 minutes and I’ll come back to finish up.”

He opens his phone up again, not saying a word. He could see her in the corner of his eye, her stumbling hands searching through her tools. She was nervous. She should be.

“Can I ask what you do for work, sir?”

She asks softly this time, not in the loud and obnoxious tone she had previously.

“I work in the fragrance business. Why?” He tilts his head, his eyes piercing through her.

She blushes. “You look like someone famous.”

If there is anything that Baekhyun loves more than you, it’s attention. So he changes his mood a bit, a mischievous smile etching onto his features. He taps his phone case with his nail.

“Do I now? Have you heard of Prive?”

The hairdresser drops the brush she’s holding, her hand immediately covering her mouth.

“O- Oh my god. You’re Byun Baekhyun. I love your perfume line!”

He winces.

“Don’t call me by my family name. Baekhyun is fine.”

He waves her off, but he thrives off of compliments and being recognized. It made him feel superior, powerful. If he were to get everyone’s salary here, and see what they make in total after a year; they still wouldn't be anywhere close to what he makes in a week alone. It’s something he prides himself in; the luxurious clothing, colognes and perfumes, the lifestyle. He was fucking rich. He couldn’t wait to spoil you and buy you anything that you wanted. That’s the dream for him. To live a happy, wealthy life with you; see you smile at jewelry he buys and trips he’ll plan. He smiles to himself as he thinks about it, the woman becoming shy all of a sudden.

“I’m sorry Ba- Baekhyun. Please excuse me for a moment.”

He gives her a questiongly look, but instead goes back to rummage through some Youtube videos. It wasn’t even a couple minutes into the game review he was watching until he noticed the pink haired woman was making it completely obvious she was gossiping to her co-workers. He frowned.

Like Baekhyun stated before, he loved the overwhelming adoration and swooning over him, but when it came to people eye fucking him and oogling him; when he already fucking told her he was taken, well. It would make any person mad. The thoughts of her neck being snapped and watching her take a last breath resonated in his head, his fingers started to twitch ever so slightly over his phone. So he raises his finger at her, curving it inward, motioning for her to come over. She immediately widens her eyes, scurrying off from her friends who were all smiling at him.

She places her hands on the back of his chair, her hazel eyes darting from his phone to his hair.

“Yes?”

He chuckles, covering his mouth with his hand. He rolls his eyes, licking his lips as he looks at her.

“Can I ask you something… what’s your name?”

She gulps.

“Eunbi.”

“Eunbi, that’s a pretty name. Is my hair ready yet?”

Eunbi peeks through the foil, and Baekhyun can catch a glimpse of the new shade of white.

“Actually…yes. Let me rinse this out and I can touch anything else up.”

He shakes his head, turning his body to face her. Her cheeks began to turn a nice shade of red.

“I have another question for you Eunbi.”

Eunbi nervously smiles.

“Y-yes?”

“Do you mind giving me your card? I’d like to have you as my hairdresser again.”

“Me? Really? I- of course! That’s not a problem!”

The radiating happiness emitting from her deflected straight off of Baekhyun, the fake smile he plastered on his face just shining through his disgust. He tips his head down as he takes the card from her, purposely letting his fingers linger on hers, catching onto the shyness that’s painted in her eyes. She’s so dumb, and so very careless. He couldn’t wait to kill her. He places the card in the front pocket of his black coat.

It didn’t take too much longer for her to finish, her carefully washing his hair and the occasional lip bite in his direction. He had to say…even though she was a stupid cunt, she did a pretty great job. There were still parts that were darker, but the overall job was executed perfectly. He checks himself out for a moment when she takes off his apron, dusting it out behind the chair.

He stands up, letting a small cough out. “Ah, thank you so much, Eunbi.”

Eunbi bows, a small giggle slipping past her lips.

“Thank you for allowing me to do your hair, Baekhyn. Please- call me.”

She winks, and Baekhyun resists the urge to throw up. Instead he gives her a tight knitted smile and a nod. As he walks away to get to the front desk and pay, he’s stopped by a hand on his shoulder. He snaps his head to the side in frustration, the anger rising in him. He swiftly turns around, giving her a sweet smirk.

“Yes?”

Eunbi fidgets with her fingers. “I- I think you’re really handsome. Please give me a chance.”

He blinks in confusion. Then, he scoffs as he looks off to the side.

“Would you do something for me?”

“A-anything.”

He places his hand under her chin, moving his head forward opposite of her ear as he whispers,

“Be a good girl and don’t be so needy.”

He pushes her face to the side harshly, his teeth grinding together. She doesn’t say anything else, just peering at him with tear filled eyes. He rolls his own, trying to cover up the sarcastic laugh that’s crawling up his throat. It wasn’t like Baekhyun wasn’t used to women flirting with him, trying to sleep with him. But when he’s a taken man, he doesn’t want to entertain anybody’s fantasies and hopes that he’ll give them a chance. He was repulsed when his friends or acquaintances would ever so easily sleep with any woman that flung themselves onto them. Baekhyun was a gentleman after all; he believed in having one person and that was it.  Perverted thoughts, looking at porn, speaking to other people when you were with someone was cheating. Call him old fashioned but that was the way he liked it.

Baekhyun finished up paying for the appointment, the receptionist smiling brightly at him before he gave his thanks. He gave Eunbi one last glance as she was sweeping up her area; he just wanted to remember how stupid she looked right now. Because soon, she would be dead, suffocated and betrayed by the blood that pumped life into her. He chuckles as he pushes the glass doors in front him, exiting the building.

He grunts as he enters his car, pulling out his phone from his front pocket. The business card he received from the woman slightly poked out, and he pushed it back into place. He checked the progress on the meal that he purchased for the both of you from the restaurant he took Mina to not too long ago. Because yes, he promised he’d cook, but he didn’t trust himself enough to make it himself. He wanted everything to be perfect, because that’s all you deserve. Plus, he didn’t mind spending a grand on this; it would be worth it. It wouldn’t hurt if you thought he was an amazing cook, better than Kyungsoo.

Ding!

He eyes flash to a notification on the top of his screen;

Jihyo, you placed an order for takeout! Estimated time of arrival: 9:00.

Oh yeah, he forgot about that. He managed to tap into her phone easily. The problem he was facing however, was that it was 7:30. And he made plans to pick you up around 8. So you could probably understand how this was slowly turning into a troublesome scenario for Baekhyun. He bit his lip as he threw his head back against his headrest, looking at the gray interior of his car.

“I can just say…” He drums his finger on the dashboard, “I forgot something.”

He wanted to kill her as soon as possible, and it doesn’t help that it had to happen tonight. The longer the bitch was alive, the more pain it caused you, Y/N. You wouldn’t say it, but Baekhyun knew that’s how it was. He wouldn’t be able to live, no, he would rather die if the person who cheated with his significant other was living their life happily and without a care in the world. That’s why you had him, Y/N. He would deal with it, he would do the thing you wouldn’t do.

He’s going to kill her and savor the image of her last, dying breath.

-

Baekhyun had finished setting up the dinner plates and placing the expensive food in their designated places. He poured wine into two glasses, red, because he preferred the dark and sweet flavor. It also reminded him of the satisfying and beautiful shade of blood. He was…nervous. Driving to your home was extremely difficult for some reason, his heart beating against his rib cage and the shallow breaths he pushed out from his tightening throat. He’s never felt like this before, Y/N. Only you could make him react like this, make him feel normal about first date jitters.

Sure, he’s had to play it up for you, manipulate you, pretend he wasn’t a bloodthirsty killer. But Y/N, you made him feel like a human being. He wasn’t just someone who kills because of important reasons, not someone who would die for you, not someone who was obsessed with you. You looked past those things, even if you didn’t know about it. You saw him as an innocent, caring, nurturing man. Maybe his mother was right, he was changing. Just maybe, he wasn’t a monster.

Monsters don’t kill out of love, after all.

He shakily grabs the bouquet of roses he bought for you from out of the passenger seat, looking at himself in the rearview mirror. He decided to keep on the black coat, a black button up with white polka-dots splashed on it, and simple black slacks. His platinum hair was combed back, some strands falling on his forehead. He looked good. He gives himself a small, ‘fighting’, and exits out of his vehicle.

He wondered what you were wearing as he walked up the steps to your nimble apartment, would you go all out for him? Just like he did for you? Of course you would, you were in love with him after all, why wouldn’t you try and impress him? He pauses before he knocks on your door, afraid of what will eventually transpire between the two of you. Would you end up not sharing the same emotions he had for you? There was no reason why you wouldn’t; after all you ended up kissing him. Even if you were drunk, that still meant something. It had to.

So he finally knocks. He takes a step back, looking down at his outfit. He almost didn’t want to look you in the eyes, too afraid if you didn’t like any of this. The flowers, the new hair. As he tries to regain his breath, you swing open the door. And wow, Y/N. You…you are beautiful.

You had on a white satin dress that stopped before your knees. It almost looked like a shade of luminescent pearl, the way it had a subtle glow to it. You accompanied the dress with white stiletto pumps, nothing too fancy, it had a short heel. Your hair was slightly curled, falling effortlessly past your shoulders. And then your face. Light makeup, you didn’t need it anyways, but Baekhyun knew that you wanted to feel prettier. Just as he’s about to say something, he stops.

Your lips. He knew that shade. The…brand.

Chanel Red Lipstick.

“Baekhyun?”

He dizzily snaps out of it, trying to take his attention off of the abomination that stained your lips.

Baekhyun smiles at you, raising the bouquet forward. You let out a small chirp, your eyes aglow.

“You look…amazing. I- wow. You really had to outdo me, huh?”

You laughed as you gripped the flowers close to your chest, your cheeks beginning to burn pink.

“I can look good when I put in the effort. It was hard but…I was excited to see you. But look at you,” You reach forward to touch his hair, and Baekhyun takes the chance to inhale your scent, “Your hair is different.”

His eyes glimmer with curiosity.

“Yeah. Do you like it?”

You purse your lips, your eyebrows furrowing together as you drop your hand.

“No, I hate it.”

He doesn’t know what to do other than gape. But then you hit him playfully on his arm, laughing.

“Of course I like it. I think you look really…handsome.”

The last word comes out strained, and he can see that you’re thinking of something else, maybe, someone else. He takes this moment to erase those thoughts by reaching his hand out to you, bowing his head to the ground and letting a light hearted laugh out.

“Will you accompany me to my house?”

He feels your soft skin touch his, the familiar and intoxicating sensation that burns through his entire body. This is it. This date, this was going to be the story that he would tell his children about. He can picture it already, two bubbly, beautiful kids sitting next to him and you, their curiosity of how their parents met; the heart of the conversation. He’d bring you closer to his side, slightly tickling you to hear the melody-like sound that is your laughter, and he’d look adoringly at what the two of you made, together, and talk to them about your first date. How he swooned you with his amazing cooking skills, how nervous he was before he knocked on your door, how entranced he was when he saw you like this for the first time.

“Of course, Baekhyun. I wouldn’t want to be with anyone else.”

He smiles at you as he raises his head, ushering you to come outside with him.

“You won’t need anyone else when you have me.”

“Is that a threat or something?” You say sheepishly as you lock the door behind you.

He squishes his lips together to form a pout.

“It’s a promise.”

You falter for a second as you adjust your dress, the flowers cradled into the nook of your arm.

“You…you can’t break a promise, okay? You promise?”

Baekhyun simply looks at you, his demeanor changing into something more serious. He places both of his hands on each of your arms gently, lightly pushing into your glass-like skin.

“You won’t ever have to worry about me breaking a promise,” He takes a step down the stairs, “I’ll prove it to you tonight. I’m nothing like what you’ve experienced, Y/N. Trust me.”

You look like you’re debating in your head, your eyes never leaving his. He stands there waiting, and for a second he’s afraid you’re going to run back inside, too scared for this, for him. But then you quickly shake your head, brushing your hair back behind your ear. You nod cutely, linking your arm with his. He hides the sharp breath he had concealed for a moment and leads you down the staircase. He opens the side door for you, his eyes never tearing away from the enchanting view that was you.

It was nice having you with him, Y/N. He can’t remember the last time he enjoyed a conversation like this, a conversation that wasn’t filled with bickering and artificial compliments. You had a way with words, the way it flowed smoothly. He imagined your voice like honey, soft and sweet, dripping slowly but gracefully. It was almost poetic, the tone you displayed with each word. He stopped at a red light and out of habit looked in the mirror, making sure nothing was out of place. You snicker, and he turns his head to you.

“What?” He asks shyly.

You look down at your shoes, a toothy grin pops out.

“It’s just that you’re really cute. Checking yourself out and stuff. Kyungsoo- um, I mean…he never cared about his looks when he was around me. I didn’t think you would be so attentive about it. You know you’re effortlessly attractive right? Don’t be so nervous around me. I wouldn’t care if you showed up in battered clothes.”

Baekhyun’s heart skips a beat.

“You’re too sweet. You’re making my heart flutter. I’m supposed to be doing that to you.”

He shakes his head and grins, pressing on the gas as the light turns green. He hears you hum quietly, and during that, he steals a side eye glance at you. He’s been trying to ignore it this entire time, but… the lipstick. He doesn’t want to ask you, doesn’t want to hear that he was right. That it’s the Chanel lipstick that he forced Mina to never wear around him, to scrub it off with those chemical infused makeup wipes. You pulled it off, so much more than that whore ever did. But in the back of his head he can’t shake the unnerving thought that it’s okay. It’s not okay. So why was he trying to convince himself that it is?

As they finally reach his apartment, you give him a small grin, but your eyes say something else.

He leads as you follow behind him, not saying a word. He becomes worried, was his place not what you had expected, Y/N? It was hidden away, in a remote area. He chose it mostly because he liked being isolated from people, and didn't want to bother with neighbors if things ever got out of hand with previous lovers. He reaches in his pocket to fish out his keys, but he has to know what’s on your mind. You were standing there quietly, your bubbly and charming self that was in the car had seemed to disappear.

“Are you okay? Did I do something wrong?” He stands in front of you, letting the keys dangle against his leg.

You look around him, your attention gravitating to the garden of flowers that’s proudly displayed before the entrance. Again, you look around, your eyes dancing to the staircase that leads to the second story of his apartment. You look back at him, your mouth dropping every second.

“This…this isn’t an apartment. You live in a fucking mansion, Baekhyun.”

He turns around to look at his home. Sure, it was bigger than most apartments. But that’s what the tenant said it was. It was a two story building, a staircase outside that went to his office workspace, the garage underneath held two parking spaces, for his other two vehicles. He didn’t have any people that lived within the building, it was all for him. But to Baekhyun, this was small. It was a simple, normal apartment. He never thought of it as luxurious in any way, mostly because he’s owned mansions in the past. He decided to move here because it was quaint. It didn’t draw a lot of attention. It also didn’t have any other houses or apartments near it, he requested a location that was away from most civilization.

“This? No way. You should have seen my other homes. This is nothing.”

You stutter, your heels clacking on the cement nervously.

“You- I guess I underestimated how much money you have. You’re like in the middle of nowhere.”

He shrugs as he flashes you a smile, pushing his key into the lock.

“I don’t like to talk about it. I’m a very humble person.”

You snort as you follow him inside of his place.

“You’re not going to kill me or something right? Taking me out where there’s no one around.”

He freezes in his steps, and then swerves his body to face you.

“The truth is I’m a murderer.”

Silence.

He breaks it by chuckling, your facial features twitching between a smile and a frown.

“A joke. Come on, where’s your sense of humor?”

You laugh awkwardly.

“R-right. You had me there for a second. Totally believed you.”

He could hear the relief in your voice. He pushes away the nerves that were bundling in his chest after noticing it, and instead grabs your hand to lead you to his living room. Baekhyun really outdone himself here. He lit small tealight candles and placed them on the glass table that was in the middle of the spacious room, the plates sat around them. The glasses were perfectly set, and the lights were dimmed. He doesn’t miss the small gasp from you, his ego starting to inflate. This was what you needed, Y/N. You needed him to remind you of your worth, and he swears that he’ll always be doing these types of things for you from now on. Seeing the expression on your face was enough to drive him crazy, leave him wanting to know how you would react to the expensive gifts and trips he would do for you. He wanted you to love him. He loved you. He loved you. He loved you. He loved you. He loved you-

“Do you like it?” Baekhyun silences his thoughts.

You stare at him, your lip trembling. You place the bouquet on the black couch, then you make your way to him, a slight hurry in your steps. You wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him in close. He could replay this moment forever, Y/N. Your perfume ringing in his nostrils, the way your hands fit perfectly around the round of his neck, the undenying love that you had seeping out of you for him. You were falling; so quickly, and he wasn’t prepared for you to do it so easily, so beautifully. You would be like him, obsessed.

“I love it.” You sniffle into his left shoulder. He feels your throat bob up and down against him, trying not to cry. He simply rests his head on your shoulder, closing his eyes as he takes you in. He wraps his arms around your waist, tightening his grip on you.

“You deserve this.” He whispers against her neck.

She pulls back, and he watches as the foundation melts away from the tears trailing down your cheek. He brushes his thumb to stop the upcoming tears from falling, smiling at you. You laugh softly, your hand stopping on the front of his chest pocket. Suddenly, you pause, and Baekhyun looks down, confused.

“What’s this?” The paper that was still in his pocket was peeking out, and he chuckled as he pulls it out to show you.

“It’s kind of a funny story. My hairdresser was so adamant on giving me her number so I just took it out of pity. It’s just her business card, but I was going to throw it away.” He lies.

Something flashes in your eyes, and Baekhyun, for the first time, doesn’t know what it was. You drop your hands from him, a look of hurt splashing amongst your features. He falters.

“You’re not just using me right? Because it took alot for me to do this a-and-”

He comforts you by shushing you, throwing the card on the ground and cupping your cheeks.

“I would never- do that to you. You’re important to me, Y/N. Don’t ever- say that.”

The tears that once displayed a sign of happiness were shadowed by tears of sadness. You purse your lips, your gaze searching for something else, someplace other than him. He can’t have that. You can only look at him, you don’t have to be afraid of him hurting you, Y/N. Your eyes belonged to him, they were reserved only for him. He snaps you out of it by shaking you lightly in his grasp. You hiccup, your eyes filled with confusion.

“Do you understand me? I’m not like him. I will never be like him. You have me, only me.”

“I…I’m scared Baekhyun.”

He pauses, letting his hands release from you. You stare at him numbly. He sighs.

“Scared of what?”

“I’m scared of losing you. I know that we just met but,” You run a hand through your hair as you step off to the side, your voice reaching a higher frequency, “you’re the only person that’s been there for me; that understands me. I don’t want to scare you off or anything but why…why am I so attached to you? I don’t know why. Am I crazy? Do you think I’m crazy?”

You were shouting now, looking at him with a crazed expression, and Baekhyun…he loved it. Because this, this, Y/N, this is what he’s been feeling and knowing for a while now. It was refreshing to see it in someone else rather than himself, and it was so fucking lovely. He loved seeing you strung out like this, coming to terms with the infatuation that he knew you had for him. The worry and fear of not wanting to be without him, the creeping and haunting obsession that is love, that terrorized you, the obsession that he created in you. Sweet and unsuspecting manipulation that played to you like a symphony, that he orchestrated with his charm and innocent facade. So he doesn’t want to calm you down right now, the mess that you are. But he knows that he has to in order for you to become accustomed to your newfound feelings.

He rushes over to you, shaking his head and smiling. You look at him exasperated, short breaths that are coming out too quickly, the signs of a panic attack. He holds your hands in his his, and you look down at the intertwined flesh, your cries starting to slow down.

Baekhyun attempts to hide the growing excitement in his voice when he speaks.

“You’re not crazy. I understand you. It’s okay. I will never abandon you, Y/N. You’re so much stronger for admitting this to me. I’m not scared of this, of what we have. It’s fucking real. It’s more real than you’ll ever know. So when I tell you to trust me, I want you to trust me. Can you be good and believe that, Y/N?”

Your words come out as a whisper.

“I trust you.”

He tightens his lips together as he grazes his finger on your lip, smudging the red down your lip.

“Do you want to be with me?”

You look up at him with big eyes, your features softening.

“I- I do. But I want to take things slow.”

He nods.

“We can take it slow. We’ll go at your own pace.”

You shy away from him now, a flush of embarrassment spreading over your face.

“I-I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me-”

He moves his hand swiftly to your waist and pushes you against the wall. You let out a small yelp, not expecting the sudden closeness between you and him. He looks at your hair, combing a strand that stuck to your wet eyelashes. He focuses back on you, his heart beating fast.

“Don’t apologize for that. I needed to hear that. I was so lost until I met you.”

You suck in a breath, your eyes flickering from his eyes to his lips.

“I feel like I’ve been lost too.”

He flattens his hand that was formed as a fist against the wall, licking his lips.

“You’re going to be mine, do you know that?”

“Am I?”

“We don’t deserve to be alone. We deserve this; me and you. We’re deserving of the chance for happiness. Don’t you see? We’ve only been thinking of each other and the connection we share. We’re good for each other. Don’t you agree?” He mutters out desperately.

“I guess so. I just don’t want to be by myself anymore.”

“So say it.” He hisses out.

“Say what?” You mumble.

“Say you’ll be mine.”

You take a moment before you tremble out the words he’s craved.

“I’m…yours.”

A guttural hum crawls from out his throat, pleasing the thirst that he’s been wanting to quench.

“That’s my girl.”

He doesn’t miss how you enjoy hearing that, a small grunt slips past your pretty lips. He wants to kiss you right now, to tear your white dress off your body and explore every single part of you.

As he inches towards you hesitantly, watching as you move your body closer to his, he could smell the light fragrance of mint. He squeezes your hip, nudging his nose with yours, closing his eyes.

“Baekhyun…”

“Don’t…say anything.” He murmurs against your lip.

“Please- don’t hurt me. Don’t be like him.”

He opens his eyes, meeting your lovestruck brown ones, there’s a hint of curiosity, worry.

“I will never hurt you.”

You suddenly push your lips on his, your eyes closed tightly shut. Baekhyun’s eyes are still glued onto you, surprised by your neediness. He smiles into the kiss, silently laughing to himself when you don’t move against his pink lips. He raises his hand to grip the back of your neck, holding you in place as he deepens the intimate moment. You moan quietly as he licks your bottom lip, tugging on it gently, right before he sweeps his tongue into your mouth. Your tongues fought for dominance, the heat radiating off of your bodies making the mood of the room that was once romantic into something hungry; the sweet and undenying desire for one another.

You tug on the bottom of his shirt, releasing it from where it was tucked into his slacks. He grabs your hand, pinning it against the white wall. He pulls back from you, a string of saliva dripping off his lip, you whimper from the loss, putting your knee gently in between his legs, rubbing him. And fuck, Y/N, he would have taken you right there and made love to you, soothing your fiery deprivation of him, but his phone buzzed, halting the interaction.

You looked up at him like you were in trance, your hand placed on his chest. He clicked his tongue as he released your hand from the wall, reaching to his pocket.

Jihyo your food was delivered! Enjoy.

“Fuck.” He scolded himself, how did time pass so quickly?

You curiously try and peek at his screen, but he abruptly pulls it back, earning him an angry look.

“What is it? Why can’t I see it?” You protested.

Just go with what you were going to say, Baekhyun.

Baekhyun stammered, “I- I forgot something. I forgot I ordered some desert.”

You squint at him. Instead of him cornering you, it felt like he was the smaller person now.

“Yeah? Are you lying?”

He scoffs, “Of course not. Just give me 20 minutes and I’ll be back. You can look around, start eating. It won’t take too long. I promise I’ll be back before you even notice.”

You move past him without saying a word, plopping yourself on the couch. You reach towards the wine glass and swirl the crimson liquid around, a deadpan face being given.

“Why can’t I come with you then?”

He shifts his weight, uniting his hands together while trying to fight the nervousness he’s exhibiting inside. “Because I want it to be a surprise.”

“So? I want to come with you. Let me come.”

“No.”

You put down the glass, leaning back into the couch cushion. Baekhyun continues to stare. He hoped you would say something else; the silence becoming too loud. Why did you have to be so adamant on this Y/N? Did you really want to come with him so you can watch your boyfriend’s secret affair be stabbed to death? You weren’t thinking about anything else but him, which was nice. Baekhyun would be thrilled about it if he was going anywhere else, but not this. Right now, he wasn’t happy about your neediness to be with him, he just wanted you to stay put.

He crouches down, putting his head in his hands.

“Can you please…just stay here?” He whines out.

You sigh.

“Fine.”

He looks up excitedly, rushing over to you and planting a kiss on your cheek. You’re still mad, he can tell, but he doesn’t miss how the corner of your lips were fighting off a smile. He rubs the top of your head before he pulls the keys out of his pocket.

“Don’t miss me too much, okay?” He smirks at you as he walks away.

“Yeah yeah. This better be some good dessert, Baekhyun.”

“I promise.”

He gently closes the door behind him, the sweet front he put on for you vanishes; the only thing that’s on his mind now is Jihyo. He resists the urge to moan as he pictures her dead body on the floor, the blood seeping from underneath her, the way she’d scream for someone to help her. There wouldn’t be anyone to save her, not from Baekhyun. He’d do it quickly, he already written the suicide letter as well, it was in the glove box along with the new knife he bought, specifically for her.

He sings a tune that’s been stuck in his head as he drives, smiling to himself.

You were something else, Y/N. A beautiful, loving and driven woman who knew what she wanted. Baekhyun already knew that you had fallen for him; it was just a different experience altogether to hear your rambling in person. To hear how much you needed him, the way that something clicked inside of you after spending one night with him. He didn’t know just how powerful he was, being able to get inside your head like that. Death works in miraculous ways.

It only took killing your boyfriend to make you realize what you really are.

You were just like him.

He checks the time as he finally reaches his destination, 9:30. He parks his car a street down from the apartments, grabbing a black hoodie he stashed in the back seat. He looks at himself in the mirror as he stuffs the knife and letter in the hoodie’s pocket, examining his looks. He would never get over this; the high before the kill. A rush of adrenaline pumping in his veins, the delicious feeling of taking one’s life. If he had to do this for the rest of his life, he wouldn’t complain. So he finally exits the car, keeping his head down to avoid any looks from anyone outside.

He grips the black handle of the knife that’s hidden away in the pocket, revelishing the very touch of it. Baekhyun already knew where she lived, of course he did, he’s not sloppy. He walks into the apartment building, his eyes washing over the bright and grand decor of the open area. She was rich after all. She worked for her father’s business, the well known CEO of Samsang, an electronic company. He doesn’t once raise his eyes as he approaches the receptionist desk, which earned him a confused stare from the woman standing behind it.

“May I help you with something, sir?”

He looked off towards the elevators to the left, he just had to get past this first.

“I’m just meeting a friend. Is there a problem?”

The woman sighs as she ducks her head down to try and look at him. He shys away, covering his mouth with his hand.

“I just have to write your name down. It’s just for records.”

Really?

“Uh, it’s Oh Sehun.”

She types away on the desktop computer, the clicks and clacks ringing out in the silence.

“And who are you meeting with?”

He looks up this time, giving her a hard stare.

“Why does that matter?”

She had short black hair that stopped before her shoulders, a navy blue uniform on display. She just rolls her eyes, bringing her hands to fold into one another.

“Many residents that live here are famous. I need to make sure you’re not a paparazzi or a fan.”

“She’s no one important.” He lashes out.

She pauses, giving him a puzzled look. He watches as she reaches towards the phone, sirens begin to go off in his head. He reaches over the desk, grabbing her arm. She looks back at him shocked, but he quickly removes the hood, flashing her a smile. That did something.

“I’m sorry. I’m meeting with my friend Jihyo. She just went through the loss of her boyfriend and sent me an alarming text so I’m just checking in on her. This shouldn’t be a problem right…Nayeon?” He looks at her name tag placed neatly on her shirt.

She blushes as he removes his hand from her.

“A-ah yes. Jihyo. I heard about that too. Poor thing,” She bats her eyelashes at him, “That’s so nice you’re checking on her. She hasn’t seen anyone since it happened. You two must be close.”

He chuckles, how far from the truth that was.

“Super close. She’s been stuck in my head for a while.”

The receptionist giggles at that, fidgeting with a pen she picked up.

“She’s lucky someone like you is thinking about her.”

Baekhyun is just too good at this shit. He nods at her before he starts to walk away.

“I’ll be going now. Can’t imagine the state she’s in. Thank you Nayeon.”

“N-No problem. Please stop by whenever you’d like Sehun.”

He almost trips, forgetting the fake alias he gave her. He waves at her sweetly before he presses the button to enter the elevator. Nayeon was still staring at him until the doors closed, and Baekhyun finally let out a sigh of relief. He rubs his eyes harshly, then slapped himself in the face. He needed to focus. It takes him out of it when stupid distractions get in the way of his job. He listens to the small bell-like noise as he stops on the floor he memorized.

This was it. He was going to do this for you, Y/N. Watch the stupid bitch die and come back to you, you who were waiting for him at home. That had a nice ring to it. He couldn’t wait for the phone calls and texts that you would send him before he came home from work, the cuteness and neediness of wanting to see him. Nothing could get in the way of him pursuing you.

He walks towards the door that had 56A engraved into the frame, a gold-ish hue bouncing off of it. He covers his face once more with his hood, reaching his hand into the pocket to make sure he still had everything prepared. He licks his chapped lips as he knocks lightly, then puts his ear on the cold wood to listen for any footsteps.

He draws back from it once he hears a loud obnoxious moan emitting from the other side. He watches as the door knob rattles a couple of times, and finally, it swings open, revealing a depressing sight. The woman didn’t have any makeup on, dark circles decorated underneath her dark brown eyes. She had blemishes scattered over her pale skin, her long black hair tied into a bun. Her sweats were stained with food remnants, crumbs lingering here and there, her shirt filled with wrinkles.

She gives him a frown.

“I already got my food.”

He smiles.

“We forgot something.”

Jihyo elicits another groan, turning around to look inside her apartment.

“I got everything. By the way, the food is terrible. I couldn’t even eat a bite-”

He pushes her limp body back from where she came from, inviting himself in as she scrambles. He slams the door shut behind him, taking off his hood and smirking down at her. He brings out the knife from his pocket, watching how it gleamed in the dark living room. Jihyo raises her hands in front of her face, her voice wavering as she cries out.

“Who are you!?”

Baekhyun scoffs as he gets down at her level, pressing the weapon’s tip to her head.

“You don’t need to know. You have some fucking nerve, thinking you could get away with what you did.”

“What I did? What are you-” She freezes, her eyes widening as she takes him in, “I-I know who you are. You’re the fucking guy that was at Y/N’s apartment. What the fuck are you doing?!”

That put a damper on things. He presses the knife into her head slowly, covering her mouth to mute any screams. Tears run down her dreadful face, her lips trembling in Baekhyun’s palm.

“Jihyo…don’t you know you’re a whore? A sick, disgusting cunt. The world doesn’t need you.”

Just as he’s about to push the blade straight through her puny skull, she bites down on his hand, making Baekhyun drop the knife and hold his hand in pain. Jihyo stands up, but before she does, she grabs his prized possession and points it at him. He tilts his head at her, a smile erupting on his face. This would be fun.

“Get the fuck away from me. I’ll fucking kill you.” She spits out angrily. She doesn’t move from her spot as Baekhyun stands up, massaging his hand from the bite she had given him.

“You’re going to kill me? Okay, I’ll give you a chance,” He raises a finger at her, motioning her to come at him, “If I win, I get to ring your neck and stab that little heart of yours.”

What he didn’t expect was for Jihyo to throw the knife behind her, then run at him at full force, landing a hearty kick to his stomach. He doubles over and stumbles into the cream colored couch. Before he could even react, the small woman grabs a lamp that sat on a little nook beside him, breaking it on his head. He groans in pain, his vision stained red as blood dripped from his eyebrow. What the fuck.

“What the fuck are you? A fucking rabid dog?” Baekhyun raises his hands to defend himself.

Jihyo stands a couple feet away from him now, her hands balled into fists.

“Six years in Taekwondo. Still think you can kill me?”

He can’t stop the giggle he lets out.

“I did martial arts too. Hapkido. Didn’t think I’d ever have to use it until now.”

Jihyo snarls at him, repeating the speedy encounter she landed on his unsuspecting self a moment ago, but this time, he was prepared. He ducked down, rolling himself underneath her, watching as her foot collided with the broken glass. She yelps in pain, but Baekhyun was one step ahead of her. He leaps towards her legs, huddling them together as he throws her onto the ground. Her head bangs on the wooden floor and he quickly crawls up her body and pins her. Jihyo however knees him in between his legs, Baekhyun gritting his teeth together as he slaps her across the face.

She pushes him off, crawling towards her kitchen. He limps after her, his eyes spotting a picture frame that sat on her tv stand. He hurriedly picks it up and throws it at her back, watching as her tiny body contorts in the sudden attack. Baekhyun smiles to himself as he jumps, his weight crushing her. He spins her body around to face him, the left side of her forehead swelling up, her teeth stained with blood. Jihyo tries to kick him again but he just reaches down to stop her movement.

“I think…” He takes a deep breath, wiping the blood from out of his eyes, “I win.”

Jihyo looks frightened for the first time, her mouth hanging open in defeat.

“N-No. I don’t want to die!”

He laughs loudly, throwing his head back.

“You’re so fucking delusional. Did you actually think you’d fucking kill me? I never lose-”

Oh.

Oh.

Her shaky hand holds the forgotten knife that she threw earlier, holding it to his throat.

“Move, and I stab you.” She threatens him precariously.

He brings his hands in the air, not ripping his eyes away from the sharp blade. He removes himself from her body, standing up. She follows suit, keeping the knife in its place.

“I’m going to…call the police. If you make one fucking move on me, I’ll do it.”

Baekhyun nods slowly, walking with her as she makes her way over to the couch. He watches as she dips down to grab her cell phone, her eyes never leaving him. Jihyo looks down at her phone to input her password, and Baekhyun thinks this is it. He actually…lost. He was done for.

He would never be able to see you again, you would know what he did, be disgusted with him.

A lone tear falls from his eye. He pleads.

“Please. Don’t do this.”

The woman looks at him and laughs, blood spitting from her mouth.

“Just a moment ago you were trying to kill me. Are you delusional?”

All of a sudden, a knock makes itself known in the apartment. Both of them look at the door in surprise, Jihyo still holding the phone in her hand, the call still not made.

“Go to the door.”

She presses the knife into his throat a little more, Baekhyun wincing as the flesh breaks. He nimbly walks over to the awaiting person on the other side of the door, Jihyo behind him.

He doesn’t want to answer it. So when he doesn’t do anything once he stands in front of the frame, Jihyo grabs a handful of his hair and yanks his head back. She hisses out,

“Open. The. Door.”

Baekhyun didn’t know what he expected, really. Maybe it was Nayeon, checking in on the situation. She seemed worried about the tenant living here, and obviously made it known that she was attracted to him. He wouldn’t mind seeing one person that liked him before he went to prison anyways. But what he didn’t, honestly, expect was…

You.

You stood there, your eyes wide as you took in the scene in front of you. Baekhyun lets out an audible gasp, his heart breaking in two. This couldn’t be happening. Why the fuck was this happening? How did you get here? When did you get here? Why…why are you here, Y/N?

“What the hell is going on here?” You press anxiously. You don’t move, keeping your eyes on him.

He tries to speak but his voice betrays him.

“I’ll tell you what’s going on, this fucking guy just tried to kill me.”

Jihyo rages out, digging the knife into his throat more. Baekhyun’s pretty sure he’s going to pass out. You look at him, worried, but then you direct your attention behind him, to Jihyo. There was something in the air before it happened, he couldn’t describe what it was. The look of pure hatred floods your face, and before he could register anything else, he’s being flung to the side, Jihyo letting out a screech.

You shut the door behind you, your back to the both of them. Baekhyun covers the wound on his neck, trying to stop the bleeding. You slowly turn around, your white satin dress flowing gracefully as you did so.

“Baekhyun. Tell me what’s going on.”

He stares in disbelief on the ground, watching as you don’t tear your gaze away from Jihyo, who is still holding the knife in her hand. Her eyes bug out, a quick breath exhaled from her.

“I- I…I wasn’t trying to kill her, Y/N. You have to believe me.” Funny how in a pretty obvious situation of what’s going on, he still chooses to lie. But he’s willing to still paint himself as innocent to you, anything than what he actually was.

Jihyo throws her arms in the air, waving the knife around as she gasps loudly.

“Oh come on. He came here and told me he was going to kill me. What happened to believing the victim?”

Baekhyun stutters out, “I’m the victim here. You wouldn’t stop texting me. I came over to stop your persistence of being with me. You attacked me when I told you no.”

You look at him this time, shocked.

“She was texting you?”

Jihyo shakes her head, “I don’t even know him. I wouldn’t do that.”

You laugh this time, looking at her.

“You wouldn’t try and take someone away from me? Isn’t that your whole shtick? Let’s see…you willingly got with my boyfriend, knowing that he was already in a relationship. And I’m supposed to believe you? Jihyo, let’s get one thing straight,” You walked towards her, Jihyo cowering, “I’m the victim here. You will never be the victim.”

She lets her guard down as you spit the last word out, and you snatch the weapon from her hand. Jihyo looks at you stunned, abruptly getting to her knees and bowing her head.

“P-please. I never meant to hurt you. He said he loved me!”

Baekhyun watches in amusement with a sly smirk. He adjusted himself on the ground, leaning on the couch. He didn’t know you had this in you, Y/N. This raw power that only he thought he had concealed. But here you were, knife in hand, showing the whore who was in control here. You weren’t real, no, you were everything that he dreamed about having. You were a monster, just like him. His mother was right.

He saw her in you.

But instead of a terrifying and gruesome beast only made in nightmares, he saw something beautiful.

You’re just like an angel.

So he sits and watches more as you bring your foot to stomp on her head, Jihyo letting a gurgled out scream as her nose collided to the floor. He could hear the snap from where he was, and he laughed at her pain. You crouch, bringing the knife to her chest. You speak so sweetly to her, the words sounding so light and airy rolling of your tongue.

“He didn’t love you. He didn’t love anyone. You don’t get to stand here and tell me that my boyfriend loved you. Who do you think you are? Who the actual fuck, do you think you are telling me you weren’t trying to make a pass on Baekhyun? For the first time since Kyungsoo’s death, I’m happy. And here you are, again, trying to take my happiness away from me. This time, I’m ready. I’m fucking ready to stop you. I deserve to be fucking happy. Fuck you.”

You raise the knife in the air, bringing it towards Jihyo’s chest. But before her demise, you freeze, inches away from the kill. Baekhyun gapes, confused. He crawls over to you, looking at your eyes shake in fear. He smiles at Jihyo, who is just as confused as he was. He places a hand on your back, to which you jump a little, staring at him with teary eyes.

“I’m not a… murderer, Baekhyun.”

He puts his knee on the fallen woman’s throat, a hitched gasp escaping her lips. He gawks at you, trying to camouflage the overwhelming love he felt for you right now.

“Of course you’re not a murderer, Y/N. This poor woman killed herself.”

Your words stumble over each other, as if your mind is trying to understand what you meant.

“What do you mean?”

He gives you a twinkling beam as he rests his hand over yours on the hilt of the knife.

“I mean…Jihyo here was suicidal after Kyungsoo’s death. She couldn’t get over it. The only way to deal with the pain was by killing herself. Do you understand?”

Your once puzzled expression is wiped away with realization. You mimic him quietly, looking down at the assaulted woman whose eyes race between you and him.

“She couldn’t get over it.”

He nods, bringing the knife back up in the air with you.

“Right. She killed herself.”

Like a trance, you repeat it.

“She killed herself.”

He raises his eyebrow as you push his hand off of the weapon, violently pushing the knife into Jihyo’s chest. She arches her back, blood gushing out of her mouth. He stares in amazement as you swiftly pull it out, a smile appearing on your face. Just as he’s about to say something, you surprise him by stabbing the lifeless body once more. Then another. And another. Until finally you plow it deep into her neck, her blood splattering onto your white material.

Baekhyun was stunned. Not only did you initiate the killing yourself, you fucking liked it. It was written on your face. You enjoyed killing Jihyo, the worthless pile of shit that had this coming.

He didn’t think he could be more in love with you; but you proved him wrong, Y/N.

You drop the knife, taking deep breaths as you turn to face him.

“I just killed her-”

He crashes his lips on yours, grabbing your waist to pull you into his embrace. You comply, twisting your hands in his hair, slightly tugging on it. He chuckles darkly into your mouth, to which you pull back and giggle nervously.

“I got paranoid so I followed you here. I’m sorry, I just- I don’t know. I thought you were going to see the hairdresser. I-I thought she lived here and you were coming to meet her-”

Baekhyun shakes his head. “It’s okay.”

You let out a sigh. “It’s okay? It’s okay that I did this, right?”

“It was meant to happen.”

“I think I like you too much, Baekhyun.” You stutter brokenly.

He looks at you adoringly, and nothing was more breathtaking than the view he had of you right now. Blood has covered the side of your cheek, your dress, your hands. Your lips were shaking slightly, and someone might assume that you were in a traumatic state, but the look in your eyes showed complete control. He knew there was something different about you. From the start.  You finally admitted the love you had for him by saving his life. You killed for him.

“That’s my girl.”

ch 1, ch 2, ch 3, ch 4, ch 5

[sanzu-sanzu-sanzu]

i’ve been thinking,, since bonten!ran, rin, and koko all have dyed hair (maybe even mikey unless the white is from stress), do they all go to a salon every month to get a touch up, or do they all just makes plans to get together on a day every month and touch it up themselves? (and if we were to tie it into your fic, perhaps reader helps them dye it?) sorry for this crackhead ask, i’m just having random thoughts in the middle of the night.

ANON HELLO I APOLOGIZE FOR THE SUPER LATE RESPONSE lol this has been in my ask for so long so i’m so sorry ahaha, but ok, i think they usually go their separate ways when redying/styling their hair. at one point, they all would go to the same salon that was recommended by rindou and ran. there’s this one stylist who’d done countless jobs on the haitanis’ hair for years and eventually just became bonten’s like go-to stylist. if they all happened to be there it’s mostly coincidence if not simple convenience (insert the spiderman meme) and when more than one executive had to spend a long time there the entire place was obligated to close. sometime later tho the salon got caught in the middle of a local crossfire (not c/o the executives of course bec they’re more careful than that, it was some other bonten members) and had to relocate :-( which proved to be too far / too impractical for manjiro + some of them to go to tho so..goodbye stylist. because of it, some of them simply had to learn to do retouch and stuff themselves cus..if somebody else does it and they fuck up they could end up with a dead body, right? especially ran rindou and koko (oh, koko is one meticulously styled man he’d strangle anyone who does so much as muss up his hair). surprisingly, sanzu’s pink hair doesn’t stress him out as much as you might expect—like, if he somehow ends up with a slightly brighter pink he might grumble for a bit, hypothetically speaking, but he wouldn’t right away kill the stylist you know—he does care but he’d get used to it WHICH IS what irks the others cus he’s never had a bad hair job, which is simply unfair. just like manjiro…nobody knows how but somehow his hair’s always been perfectly done. and Reader, because she’s stopped dying her hair after high school. she’s had, back then, dyed her hair pink and purple and blue and green i swear every color known to man, and blonde too styled like rogue’s hair, and whatever hair fuck-ups she’d had only the og toman guys have witnessed (yes, even sanzu, and manjiro had at one point remarked how his consistent shade of pink had been the same shade that she had had for like, four months all those years ago. on second thought, maybe sanzu would be pissed if his hair ends up with the wrong shade of pink…)

SO, back to their stylist going away and them learning how to do their own hair. so naturally, there was a time when half the bonten executives had funny looking, badly teased hair, even koko unfortunately so it was a funny, hellish time for all the wrong reasons. which was where Reader came in. it was the second time of the day that koko had “””accidentally””” snapped at her for very petty reasons and she—not exactly the model of patience as others would be made to believe—right there and then stood up, she’s like, Okay, that’s it, we’re fixing that horrible ash blonde, come on. and that’s how she ended up going to koko’s house that afternoon and koko subdued and grumpy at his toilet at the mercy of Reader’s surprisingly adept hands (which was when he remembered, Oh yeah she had neon green tips back in the day..).

long story short, the haitanis ended up roping her to get theirs fixed too when koko came in the next day with his normal, beautifull silver tresses back, smug as a rock. so that strange bonten phase was over. about a year later, ran and rindou had tried coaxing Reader again to help them with their touch-ups, which she eventually agreed to after some under the table dealings that yielded to her getting free lunch for 2 weeks (one for each haitani). it happened that koko had requested her help too and she was like, you know what, let’s just all get together one saturday afternoon and do it all in one place. the saturday afternoon actually became a thursday 2AM because their schedules are just fucked up like that. and so it goes.

sanzu had been so blessed (but also, maybe, cursed) to not have a bad case of hair retouch as to ever warrant Reader’s help in that regard.. oh, but she had, this one time, done a double take at his hair after a hair re-dye and then smiled, which caught him off-guard.. “i’ve always liked this shade of pink.” she simply said before waking off. sanzu had no reason letting anybody know and so it just became his little secret. maybe Reader’s, too, if she remembers. (she does).

—

thank you for sending this, anon! i hope u enjoyed :)

[jungw8ns]

ENHYPEN PICKING YOU UP FROM A DAY OUT WITH YOUR FRIENDS

PAIRING: bf!enhypen x gn!reader. GENRE: established relationship, fluff, crack. WORD COUNT: 200 - 400 words for each member (you can tell i got WAY too carried away with this)

HEESEUNG:

you were at a cafe with your friends from highschool, catching up and talking about various stuff when you guys realized it was getting quite late

you texted heeseung to come and pick you up and all he replied was a small "okayy"

he would be so excited picking you up cause he's been dying to get introduced as your 😩 boyfriend 😩

bestie was rushing to get ready and ended up arriving really quick, but was he going to admit that he was practically speeding on his way there?? no 😜

he was acting like he was near the area when he came up to your table

but i don't think your friends noticed how much of a liar he was cause they were too shocked to know that this beauty was your boyfriend

"hey gorgeous did i arrive too early? i was in the area when you texted so i just decided to come right away"

he kissed your forehead and sat on the seat next to you.

YOUR FRIENDS WERE GIGGLING BYE 🤸‍♀️🤸‍♀️🤸‍♀️

after a few minutes of interrogation, the two of you finally bid your goodbyes

to say you were relieved was an understatement

your friends were throwing compliments left and right and it did not help heeseung's unbearable ego at all 🙄 /j

"you weren't really in the area a while ago right 🤨 ??"

"ahaha... what ever do you mean babe yes i was 😀"

JAY:

literally dashed to his closet right after he saw your message

he was going ALL OUT, well not that much but damn he looked like he was about to go on the runway.

you on the other hand was at the park doing a little picnic date with your friends, even though it was a kinda cold out it was nothing you couldn't manage

while waiting for him to arrive, you were eating the slices of cake you guys bought as the conversation shifted to you and your friends' love lives

when they finally got to yours you got way too excited telling them about jay and how he was the perfect s/o

and wouldn't you know it, he arrived right at that moment 😈

he didn't mean to eavesdrop but the way you were so giddy talking about him made his heart skip a few beats

"aww you're the perfect one for me too babe"

your face was beet red omg 😳😳

he introduced himself and even helped you and your friends organize the stuff you had

when you stood up from the blanket that was when he noticed how your clothes were not appropriate for the weather

he frowned, taking off his jacket putting it on you (yk like those kdrama scenes)

"honey, i told you to wear something warm :(("

your friends watched it all unfold and couldn't help but find you two adorable

once everything was set jay asked your friends if they wanted a ride (he's not real i swear 😭😭)

however, your friends refused and with that the two of you walked to his car hand in hand in the pocket of his jacket

JAKE:

suprisingly calm about it 😌

lmao who am i kidding he's not calm at all, HE'S PACING AROUND THE ROOM LIKE A MADMAN.

"am i supposed to do some small talk?? or just take you away immediately???"

"should i make a script? but that would make it a bit unnatural tho-"

yea...

he ended up typing a script on his notes app🚶‍♀️🚶‍♀️

mf was planning the whole scene in his head, he'd drive a car and stop right infront of you and your friends, lower his shades and cooly open the door for you.

"yup yup that's the plan 😋👌"

homeboy was delusional PLS, he didn't even have a license OR a car 🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️

he was really nervous heading onto the salon you and your friends were but it all washed away as soon as he saw your new blonde hair (you can also change it to whatever you want your hair to be!)

"babe is that really you? your new hair suits you so much!"

he kept gushing about your hair and how good it looked on you that he forgot about your company

once he came back to reality he softly smiled and introduced himself.

he really didn't have to get that nervous about it cause here he was now, naturally conversing with you and your friends

your friends really liked him and was so happy you found someone like him that they even joked around

"y/n we better be your bridesmaids when the two of you get married 🤭🤭"

the second your friend said that jake could feel his heart explode, HIS EARS WERE SO RED 😭😭

thank god you guys were about to depart cause i don't think jake would've handled it if you guys kept the conversation going

would be so clingy right after (god he's so cute 😩)

SUNGHOON:

he was blushing when you texted him about it.

"oh my god i get to pick my s/o up °///°"

"OH NO WHAT DO I DO 😵"

eventually got his act together after jay SOFTLY shook his shoulder

he arrived way before the movie you and your friends were watching had finished so he waited outside and even bought some snacks for you incase you didn't have any in the theater

somehow ended up in the arcade next door and was trying his very best to get atleast one plushie from the crane machine

literally refused to leave until he got one 😭😭 (and that my friends is what true love is)

however, once he finally did get one, all he had left was a few pennies and countless amounts of unread text messages from you

THE WAY HE LITERALLY SPRINTED HIS WAY TO THE THEATER 🕴️

she's 😩 a 💦 runner 🏃‍♀️💨 she's 🤖 a trackstar 🤸‍♀️💯

"Y/N I'M SORRY I'M LATE"

he stopped infront of you and handed over the stuffie he won before crouching down to catch his breath

"baby it's totally fine, although i was starting to get really worried when you didn't reply, don't worry you weren't that late"

you patted his head and kissed his cheek before turning to your friends whos mouths were agape

you had to promise them you'd explain everything on the phone cause sunghoon was about to pass out from exhaustion any minute now

SUNOO:

he was buying his skin care stuff at the mall you were in when you texted him.

he was smiling so hard (pls he's so cute 😭)

he skipped his way to where you said you were and when he saw your figure walking towards the department store with your friends he surprised you by giving you a backhug ❤️❤️

you were taken aback at first because someone just back hugged you all of a sudden, but when you saw who it was you couldn't stop blushing

"hi babe! i was at the 2nd floor when you texted me so i came looking for you :]]"

you were too distracted by him to realize your friends were standing there like 🤭

you finally introduced him to your friends and they were questioning the two of you while heading to the clothing section.

they ADORED sunoo

he ended up joining in on your little shopping spree and helped you guys choose the clothes to buy

when he noticed you were in the dressing room trying out a few of the pieces he picked for you he quickly went on the run to this one jewelry store you passed by and prayed to god that by the time he came back you were still distracted with your fits

thankfully the odds were in his favor and arrived right before you were finished 😩😩🙏🙏🙏🙏

a few minutes later he was now walking you home after a tiring day

clutching on the blue box that contained the small sunflower necklace he bought, he stopped you right before you entered your dorm building

he gave you a peck on the nose and handed you the box

"open it once you're in your room okay? love you princess <33"

JUNGWON:

you were at a noraebang with your friends celebrating your last day of the school year THANK GOD

to say it was chaotic would be a complete understatement cause y'all were GOING AT IT

anyways, right after the last beat of bss's just do it dropped your throat was hoarse and you were DRAINED 🤖🤖

so you hand over the mic to your friends before you blacked out on the sofas, the shouts of your besties reciting mark's verse on jopping slowly fading out as you went to dreamland 😴😴😴

unbeknownst to you, your phone started ringing real loud

while your friends were rushing to find the noisy device, you on the other hand were unfazed by the whole fiasco, sleeping soundly with your head on your arms

finally having your phone in their hands they all let out shocked gasps.

'my chocoball <3 is calling you'

having no time to ask you for permission, they accept the call.

"BABE YOU FINALLY PICKED UP I WAS GETTING SO WORRIED, anyways, i'm on my way to the dorms and i was going to ask if you wanted me to pick you up?"

THEIR JAWS FELL TO THE FLOOR THE SECOND THEY FIGURED OUT WHO THE GUY WAS 😲😲

your so called "chocoball" WAS JUNGWON

girlll, you had loads of explaining to do but for now they had to tell him that you were basically sprawled on the seats of the noraebang

and so they did, jungwon's sigh could be heard through the call before he thanked your friends and started to go to the place you were currently sleeping at

by the time he arrived, your friends were in the middle of waking you up as he politely greeted them and woke you up on his own by kissing you on the forehead 😍😍💯💯

SIKE TF 👻👻 IF YOUR FRIENDS FAILED TO WAKE YOUR ASS UP WHAT MAKES YOU THINK A KISS ON THE FOREHEAD WOULD DO THE JOB

bestie, he deadass poured iced water on your face 🚶‍♀️🚶‍♀️

but he apologized about it right after you got to the dorms by clinging on to you until you accepted his so called "sincere apology" while you ignored him

you'd be lying if you said you didn't enjoy it so, win-win situation ig

don't worry tho, you could never resist him for long so he got his fair share of cuddles in the end ❤️__❤️

NI-KI:

you actually have no clue how you managed to get him to pick you up

a minute ago he was like: "huh?? did you say something y/n?"

and then after you sent him the pic of you and your friends eating bunggeopang he sat straight up from his bed and spammed you, "sayy y/n if i do come and get you, will you buy me a few bunggeopangs?? 😊😊"

he was just joking around tho he wasn't really in it for the bunggeopang but it was a good bonus i guess 🤷‍♀️.

he doesn't really say it but he has been dying to do boyfriend stuff for you

being the youngest one in the group, he was constantly getting babied, although he does like it, he also wants to do big boy stuff like his hyungs

"this is my time to shine 😎🙏"

he wanted to pick out an outfit by himself but when jake passed by his room and saw his fit 😬😬

jake ended up helping him and after his little makeover was over he looked REALLY GOOD (not saying he wasn't before but yk 😔😔)

so now he was standing by the food stalls of the amusement park looking for you whilst getting distracted by the smell of freshly fried corn dogs every now and then

thank god he was taller than average cause he would have never spotted you trying to shoot a few balloons on the shooting game but failing anyways

you were about to give up with five pellets left in your toy gun when he grabbed it from you and popped one every shot

he was giving you that really cocky grin and you wanted nothing but to wipe it off his face but you didn't cause a part of you was glad he had came

you friends however were really confused on who the giant kid was until you introduced him

"so um, this is riki, my bestie 😍✊"

"y/n 😐😐"

"kidding kidding, this bean pole' my boyfriend! the best boyfie ever 🥰😬🥰"

he couldn't stop giggling when you said it, shrugging of the fact that you said it sarcastically

after a few small talks about your relationship the two of you separated from your friends to buy bunggeopang as you pat his head from time to time for being so adorable ~*\(≧◠◡◠≦)/*~

NOTE – this took me way too long to finish cause i had a writing slump halfway thru but i hope you guys enjoyed reading this ❤️❤️

[rachaelswrites]

Father Daughter Day

Jake Gyllenhaal x Daughter!reader

Word Count: 963

Requested By: @maximeevansblog

The reader( me) is the daughter of jake Gyllenhall, and her dad has a free Day, and they have a daddy daugther Day, and they go to luch, and the reader May finally dye her hair from her dad, and going somwhere for dinner Just thet of them . And when her dad drives to the compound , the reader is fast alseep and her dad has carry her to bed, and, Middle of the night the reader has a nightmare and her dad checks on her, and she cry, and her dad come lay beside her and they fall asleep, with a lott of fluff thanks and if its ready you tag me right Hithanks

A/N: I hope you like it!

On the rare occasion your dad had the day off, he always insisted on spending the day with you. Even if you had school, he’d let you skip so you could hang out with him. Most times he always surprised you and you didn’t know until that morning. 

Today, your alarm clock went off at it’s normal time and you dragged yourself out of bed before getting dressed and ready for the day. When you made it downstairs, you were expecting a note from your dad on the fridge, telling you what time he’d be home but instead, you saw your dad at the counter, attempting to make breakfast. 

“Dad?” you asked, “What are you doing?”

“I’m making pancakes. You want one?” he asked, not looking away from what he was doing. 

“Sure. As long as you don't burn them,” you sat down at the kitchen island and watched as he continued making the pancakes, “Do you have the day off?”

“Yup!” he said, pouring the batter onto a pan, “And before you ask, I already have a whole day planned out.”

“Can’t wait!”

~~~~~

After eating breakfast, your dad put on all your favorite movies, having a movie morning instead of a movie night. While most of your movie choices weren’t ones Jake would choose to watch (all being sappy romance movies and rom coms) he liked to spend time with you anyway but being the best daughter you are, you let him watch one or two of his favorites. 

~~~~~

After a few movies, the two of you got hungry and he took you out to your favorite restaurant for lunch. The waitress seated you and handed you the menu and you looked it over, even though you always ordered the same thing. 

“So,” your dad said after you both had ordered. 

“So what?” you asked. 

“You know how you’ve always wanted to do this thing.”

“Dad, there’s a lot of things I want to do. Be more specific,” you said. 

“You’ve been begging me to get your hair dyed, remember?”

You nodded, a smile slowly forming on your face. You were hoping this was going in the direction you wanted it to, “Are you going to let me dye my hair today?”

Jake just smiled at you and nodded, “But you have to let me do it. Otherwise you have to wait a week. The salon can’t get you in until then.”

“Deal,” you said. You reached across the table to hug him. 

Once you finished your food and paid, you rushed out of the restaurant and back home. It was a short walk back and even shorter since you practically sprinted all the way there, Jake didn’t even try to keep up with you. 

~~~~~

Jake had gotten everything set up in the bathroom while you changed into older clothes that could get messy. When you came into the bathroom, Jake had draped a towel over your shoulders before standing you in front of the mirror, “You ready?” he asked, opening the box of hair dye. 

“Yes, just hurry up please,” you said, bouncing on your toes. This was something you’ve wanted to do for so long and you were so happy you could finally do it. 

~~~~~

Within an hour, your hair was coated in pink hair dye and the bathroom counter was covered in pink splotches. Jake had tried his best to not get the dye all over your face and neck but he didn’t do so well. 

After letting it sit for a while, it was time to rinse it out. You sat on the edge of the tub while your dad waited for the water to warm up a little, “Try not to spray me please,” you said. 

Just as you said that, Jake, moved the shower head in your direction, just barely missing you, “Sorry,” he said, a smile on his face. You rolled your eyes at his antics but let him wash out the dye. 

Finally, your hair was washed out and dried and now pink, just like you wanted. 

~~~~~

To end the day, Jake took you out to another restaurant for dinner. The two of you spent most of the time catching up on what was happening with your school and stuff and his work. He had been filming recently and only just got back. He had other work things he had to do as well so he wasn’t home as much as he wanted to. 

“Are you leaving again soon dad?” you asked him once dessert came. 

“Probably not for a while but I still have some work things to do,” he said. 

You nodded, “Okay.”

Jake raised his eyebrow at you, “Why are you asking?”

You shrugged, “I just miss you when you’re gone a lot. I like it when you’re home.”

“I miss you too Y/n,” he said, “I’ll try and be home as much as I can now okay?”

“Okay,” you said as you smiled back at him. 

~~~~~

The drive home from the restaurant wasn’t super long but still long enough for your tiredness to catch up to you and you fell asleep. Jake didn’t realize it until you got home and he parked the car. You didn’t stir when he opened up the car door so he went around to your side and opened the door. He shook you gently to try and wake you up but you didn’t even budge. 

He sighed before unbuckling your seat belt and gently lifting you out of the car. He carefully carried you inside the house and up to your room. He set you down on your bed before tucking you under the covers. 

“Goodnight Y/n,” he said as he kissed the top of your head, “I love you.”

“Love you too dad.”

Taglist

@ssebstann @peachyprincessss @emmy-writes-sometimes @dudele @prentisswrites @laura-naruto-fan1998 @multifamdomfan12 @aquariuslavenderhoney  @vxidsti1es @waxingmoonwrites @benbarnesbussy  @hallecarey1 @freds-slut

[bbangsoonie]

find me in your memory

member: sangyeon genre: angst word count: 10,200 synopsis: when you return to korea in hopes of recovering your lost memories, one of your new housemates seems oddly familiar. warning(s): inaccurate depiction of amnesia

Prologue:

You had locked yourself in a bathroom stall to run away from everyone’s obvious trying-not-to-stare glances. Your hand clenched around your phone as you stared at the top trending news article. Your father had officially announced his plans to advance his political career and alongside his name were the names of the rest of your family. Your mother, a renown actress. Your brother, a retired swimmer and a rising musician. And you, a rookie model who already walked in various fashion shows.

You were annoyed that your father chose today of all days to release the news. Today was White Day, meaning that boys were throwing you sweets left and right. You hated the extra attention and hated that you had to maintain elegance through it all. It was already bad enough that tonight was some fancy party your father arranged for the purpose of publicity and networking. You would be hiding under a mask all day and night now.

You sighed at the sound of the bell ringing to notify the students that lunch time was over. You dragged yourself out of the bathroom and braced yourself before you returned to your classroom.

People had already whispered about you in the hallways but your classroom erupted into full blown gossip. You heard guys discussing the news and girls expressing their jealousy.

“I guess the princess might actually become a princess now.” one girl said rather loudly. “Look at her. Pretending not to hear all of us. She must think we’re too lowly to even converse with.”

Her friend’s eyes widened at her bold outburst and tried to shush her.

“What? I’m not saying anything that isn’t true.” the girl freed herself from her friend’s grasp and blatantly stood in front of your desk. “Tell me, Y/n, am I wrong?”

You looked up to meet her eyes with a neutral expression. You wanted nothing more than to grab the opportunity to pick a fight with her. But you knew you would face repercussions with your parents so all you could do was force a small smile.

Before the girl could say something more, your homeroom teacher entered the room. Everyone quickly dispersed and found their seats.

“Y/n? Your father’s secretary is here to pick you up. You’ll be leaving school early today.” he said.

The statement prompted more hushed whispers as your classmates speculated the reason why you were being pulled out of class. Without a word, you grabbed your backpack and left. The secretary led you out of the building and into a black car.

You pulled out your phone and earbuds to accompany you for the ride. Closing your eyes, you rested your head on the window and increased the volume of your music. Your brother had sent you the guide for the song he was working on and asked for your opinion. You had grumpily agreed, slightly irked that he only contacted you for things like this.

You hated Younghoon for leaving you alone in this family. He was your father’s pride and joy when he was a national athlete. Granted, he was miserable his whole life pursuing swimming when all he wanted to do was sing. But still, you never expected him to suddenly retire and switch careers without confronting your parents. He simply packed up and left. Without a warning or explanation, he just moved out. By himself. Without you.

Now, all the burden of maintaining the family’s image was on you. You had been pushed into the modeling industry so your father could have a pretty face to marry off later on. However, with Younghoon leaving the sports scene, your father was furious that your entire family were all entertainers without higher aspirations. It was too late for you to learn a sport so now you were to get accepted into Seoul University’s business school. Your father insisted on having at least one socially respectable child.

Your brother spent the last couple of years cutting contact with the family. He refused to attend events or partake in promotional photoshoots. The only time you could ever see him was when he came to take the annual family portrait. That was the only duty he would now fulfill as the eldest son of the Kim family.

You hated him but you also couldn’t despise him. If your affection for him were to turn sour, you’d truly be alone in this world. Yet you were still upset every time your calls went to his voicemail and he replied with a text hours later to apologize. You knew he was busy making up for lost time but it still hurt that he was able to enjoy his freedom while you remained suffocated.

“Miss, we’ve arrived.” the secretary spoke.

You opened your eyes and saw that the car pulled up in front of a beauty salon. You sighed, realizing you would have to get your hair and makeup done. So you went, sitting in front of a mirror for hours as people hovered around you to make you presentable for the reporters that would welcome you with endless camera flashes. By the time they finished, you were given a white silky dress to wear. It was as if your parents wanted to send you off to get married right away.

Keeping your complaints to yourself, you got dressed and were rushed to the party. Your parents were already inside, meaning you had to face the cameras alone. Reporters shouted questions at you; the topics ranged from your outfit to your father’s political plans to your brother’s absence. Ignoring them all, you put on your capitalistic smile and posed. You then bid them goodbye and entered the venue.

It was packed with politicians and businessmen. You walked around, looking for the protagonist of this event. Your father had organized tonight under the guise of celebrating your mother’s upcoming film but the true celebration was the release of today’s news. He was here to garner support for his political campaign and he sure had a flamboyant way of doing it.

“My daughter!” you heard your mother’s voice call out.

You turned around and saw your mother beckoning you over. You put on another smile as you approached your parents. Your father pulled you in for a light hug and introduced you to the man in front of him.

“Y/n, this is Assemblyman Lee. We’ve grown quite close this past year. Assemblyman Lee, this is the daughter I’ve been bragging to you about. She’s even prettier in person, right?” he let out a hearty laugh.

You respectfully bowed and personally introduced yourself to the assemblyman.

“Yes, she is very beautiful indeed.” Assemblyman Lee agreed, joining his laughter. He then presented the tall male next to him. “This is my son, Juyeon. I believe he is the same age as you, Y/n.”

“He plays basketball and even modeled for Seoul Fashion Week.” your father mentioned. “Perhaps you’ve seen or heard of him before?”

“I think we may have passed by each other once or twice that day.” you smiled. To be honest, it was your first time meeting him.

“Assemblyman Lee and I get along like family and we were talking about becoming an actual family once you graduate college.” your father beamed.

Those words made your stomach drop. You knew you’d never get to choose your own partner but now that it was actually happening, you froze. Reality suddenly hit you like a truck. You were never going to have control over anything in your life. You were nothing but a pawn in your father’s journey to the Blue House.

You looked over at Juyeon who looked just as uncomfortable as you. This was the man who you were probably going to spend the rest of your life with and you had no idea what he was like. For all you knew, he could end up hating your guts. You felt panic taking over and excused yourself for an urgent visit to the bathroom.

Your vision was blurred as you quickly exited the ballroom and desperately searched for a private room. All you could think about was your brother.

Younghoon.

Younghoon.

Younghoon.

You needed him. His name was the only thing your brain could think of. You needed him to tell you that everything would be okay. That he would come save you. You knew it would be a lie but you needed to hear it anyway.

Once you found an unlocked storage room, your knees buckled and you fell to the floor. With trembling hands, you dialed your brother’s number and waited for him to pick up. You called him five times but only heard the line ring. Fighting back tears, you cursed him in your head.

You spent the next half hour trying to calm yourself down. Squatting down, you rocked back and forth with your hands covering your ears to block out the noise outside. Your hyperventilation was slowing and you weren’t struck by the fear of dying anymore. By the time you settled down, you felt numb.

With a solemn expression, you stepped out of the storage room. Avoiding the crowd, you wandered around until you found a back exit. Before you opened the door, however, you realized how much you’d stand out in your current attire. You called for the secretary and asked for one of your spare school uniforms. You changed into the blouse and skirt but left out the tie and jacket. Not having sneakers to change into, you kept your heels on.

You insisted that he return to the party and not follow you. You promised you’d be home by evening and shooed him away.

Now that you were finally free, you didn’t know where to go. School was already dismissed but the sun had yet to set. Without any plans, you just started walking. As you kept walking, you found yourself in front of your school.

You laughed in disbelief. Apparently this was the only place other than home that you knew. Finding yourself pathetic, you continued to walk up the path to the building.

The soccer team was still on the field practicing. You sat on a bench, watching them run and kick the ball around. You didn’t know a thing about the sport but found it oddly soothing to mindlessly stare.

After a while, you got tired of it and got up. You let your feet decide where to go next and ended up on the rooftop. The sky was now a golden color. You didn’t remember when you last saw such a view.

At that moment, your phone rang. It was Younghoon finally returning your missed calls. You stared at the screen, debating whether to pick up or not. By his second call, you decided to answer.

“Y/n! Is something wrong? Are you okay?” he asked as soon as you clicked “accept”.

You honestly didn’t know how to reply to his question. Looking back, you wondered if you had ever been “okay” in your life. Was this living or was this just enduring?

“I’m so sorry I missed your calls. I was at the recording studio.” he apologized. “What happened?”

“Nothing.” you lied. “I just missed you. A lot.”

You heard him let out a sigh of relief. Then his guilty voice.

“I miss you too.” he paused. “Listen, I’m extremely sorry for leaving you to deal with Father. I just… I couldn’t handle it anymore. I felt like I was gonna go insane. I could put up with everything but his demand to quit music. That was the last straw. It was the only bit of freedom I ever enjoyed and I couldn’t have that taken away from me as well.”

“But what about my freedom?” you wanted to ask.

“I know I’m a terrible brother. And an even worse son.” he admitted.

Not wanting him to feel sorry, you muttered a soft “whatever”.

“Once I finish recording this song, I promise I’ll do whatever it takes to sneak you out for a sibling date.” he said.

This was the seventh time he made this promise. Either he was always too busy or you could never escape the tight schedule set for you. But like the six other times before, you pretended to believe it.

The call ended soon after and you were left alone in silence. The tranquility on the roof contrasted the storm inside your head. You had spent your entire life striving to achieve your parents’ impossible standards. You were never enough. Never smart enough. Never pretty enough. Never social enough.

Everyone at school saw you as little miss perfect. It brought you both unwanted attention and hatred. People saw you as unapproachable and snobby. Some even expressed their disgust at how fake you seemed. At the same time, there were those who wanted to use you and your connections. There was always someone who wanted something from you.

You felt trapped.

The edge of the roof seemed to call and entice you. As if in a trance, you walked over to the wall and climbed on top of it. You sat on the ledge and took in a deep breath. You stared at the sight in front of you. Most of the soccer team had left school grounds by now. You only heard scattered voices here and there. It was probably the remaining students hollering at each other across the field.

The rest of the world seemed so peaceful. It felt like you were the only one unable to escape chaos. You swung your legs, enjoying the evening breeze. You didn’t want to ever leave this spot.

Your phone vibrated, notifying you of a new message.

“You’ll be meeting Juyeon this weekend. I expect it to go better than tonight.” it read.

Your grip on the device tightened. Without giving you a break, another message from your father arrived.

“Also, your exam scores came out. Your ranking dropped to fourth place. We’ll talk at home.”

You wanted to scream. You wanted to pull your hair out and cry. Instead, you stood up and glared at the phone in your hand. Your hand was now trembling because of how tightly you were holding it.

By now, emotions were beyond you. Feeling pity for yourself was nothing but a waste of time. It didn’t fix things and it surely didn’t make you feel any better. You were just tired of it all.

Allowing yourself one last angry outburst, you threw your phone down. You didn’t watch it fall from the roof and hit the ground. It instantly broke on contact. Unbeknownst to you, the fall startled a male student passing by.

“What the heck?” Sangyeon exclaimed out loud. He had stuck around after school to watch Sunwoo’s soccer practice. They were about to head out for dinner when he remembered that he left his wallet in his locker. He had sent his friend ahead first as he ran back inside to grab it.

He took a closer look at what almost hit his head and was puzzled to see a phone. Looking for the lunatic who nearly killed him, he lifted his head to see where it came from. After his eyes adjusted to the sunlight, he gasped when he saw you standing on the ledge of the rooftop. Getting a bad feeling, he found himself running up the steps. The whole time, “please don’t die” raced through his head.

By the time he made it up to the roof, he was sweaty and out of breath. He wanted to collapse in exhaustion but his eyes widened as you began to inch towards the edge. His body reacted before his mind and he ran to pull you off.

The sudden grip on your wrist spun you around and you fell in what felt like slow motion. You landed on the boy’s chest that was breathing hard. You could hear his heart pump like crazy and his eyes were still closed in fright.

Realizing what just happened, you quickly got off him and dusted yourself off.

“What was that for?” you asked in a hostile tone.

Finally catching his breath, he opened his eyes and jumped up. His eyes almost bulged when he recognized your face.

“Are you crazy?” he yelled, pretending not to know who you were.

“You’re the crazy one butting into other people’s business.” you frowned.

For someone who was about to jump off a building, you looked eerily calm. Sangyeon searched for any signs of distress in your eyes but could only spot annoyance. Still, his gut told him that something was wrong. The empty look on your face scared him.

“Well while we’re in the middle of crazy anyway, why don’t you tell me what pushed you this far?” he bravely inquired. “Bottling everything inside alone will only make things worse. It’s better to just spill everything to a complete stranger you won’t ever see again.”

It was out of character for him to be so nosy but he strangely felt a strong desire to help you. As for you, you normally would have walked away from this situation minutes ago. Yet you still stood in front of this odd boy who demanded to be your impromptu diary.

He intrigued you. He was knocking at the stone wall you put up years ago. He seemed so bright and innocent. It bothered you.

Despite your irritation, something about his eyes made yours water. The way his eyes softened as he looked at you made you feel vulnerable. It seemed as if he could read you like an open book. It brought a wave of emotions you had suppressed for so long.

He stepped closer and offered you a comforting pat on the shoulder. The second his hand made contact, your tears finally escaped and ran down your face. You hadn’t felt the warmth of another human since you last saw your brother. The sudden consolation broke you. Then, like the domino effect, your sobs turned into bawling as your facade crumbled at last.

Sangyeon was shocked to say the least. He never would have thought the Y/n would be crying in his arms. In fact, he never expected to ever cross paths with you. He had only ever heard of you through other students’ gossip. They painted you out to be cold-hearted but the sight in front of him said otherwise.

Hesitantly, he pulled you in for a hug. Recalling how his mom used to comfort him, he tried to soothe you by slowly patting your back. The two of you stayed like that until your cries eventually faded out. Embarrassment belatedly hit you and awkward silence hung in the air. You felt like you owed him an explanation but you couldn’t even pinpoint the exact reason for your actions.

“Thank you.” you muttered softly while sniffling.

Sangyeon smiled in response and rummaged through his pocket to find something. He pulled out a lollipop and handed it to you.

“Even being sad takes energy. You should recharge your blood sugar.” he said as he placed it in your own pocket when you didn’t move to accept it. “Let it all out from time to time. It’s not healthy to always keep negativity inside you.”

You dwelled on his words for a moment. No one had ever told you that before. Everyone was always telling you to tolerate things. You weren’t allowed to disagree with your parents. You had to accept and deal with Younghoon’s departure without expressing how upset you were. You were expected to quietly receive criticism and never retaliate. You figured it was only a matter of time before the pressure eventually set off the bomb inside you. Like today.

Up until now, you thought the only solution for the explosion would be to just end it all. It never occurred to you that you could begin to disobey everything you were taught.

“Thank you.” you repeated. With that, you got up to leave.

“W-Wait!” he called out, causing you to pause. “Where are you going?”

“To eat dinner. You said it takes energy to be sad, right?” you smiled.

Sangyeon didn’t expect to see you again the next day. Cramming last minute for a test, he opted to skip lunch and study at the library instead. After he settled down, he looked up to see across the table. He had to fight the urge to gape.

Feeling someone’s gaze on you, you lifted your head to see the boy in front of you. Recognizing his face, you quickly shut your book closed and got up to leave. He was left flabbergasted at your blatant avoidance of him.

Meanwhile, you were cursing in your head. You chastised yourself for not realizing that he also went to your school. Stupidly, you hadn’t made the connection the day before on the rooftop. Of course he was only there at that hour because he was a student there. Now you were extremely humiliated. And afraid that rumors would spread.

“Hey, wait up!” he called out as he chased after you, earning him a stern glare from the librarian. You didn’t listen and only quickened your pace.

Unfortunately for you, his long legs easily caught up with you. He gently grabbed your wrist to stop you from running away. You scowled when you realized he wouldn’t just ignore you.

“Why are you pretending that you don’t know me?” he asked, crossing his arms.

“I don’t know who you are,” you deadpanned. Your words rendered him speechless and after a few seconds of silence, you turned around to leave.

“Well, my name is Sangyeon,” he persisted, pointing at his name tag.

He spent the next couple of weeks following you around. At first, you found him annoying. He reminded you of your lowest point in life. But slowly, he wormed his way into your heart and established a place for himself there.

He would greet you each morning with a cheeky smile and a carton of banana milk. To be honest, you didn’t even like banana milk. Yet, you found yourself looking forward to it every day.

Eventually, you two formed an unbreakable bond. He was your only friend and all your free time was spent with him. Every time you felt suffocated by your parents, you reached out to Sangyeon for comfort. You never disclosed anything to him but his presence alone cheered you up. He made you focus on him and forget about everything else. You should’ve known that it was inevitable for you to fall for him.

He was that upperclassman that all the younger female students fawned over. You hated to admit it but you were also among the many who thought he was charming. You felt a pang of jealousy whenever you saw other girls swoon over him as he passed by.

Gradually, your personality began to shift into becoming more lively. You were grateful to have him show you the little things in life. You grew to like yourself and the world a little more.

Present:

You stared at the house in front of you. Twelve years ago, you left this house and town to attend school in Seoul. Seven years ago, you left Korea to move to California. Now, you were back as an adult. It felt strange.

Feeling the winter breeze chill your bones, you shuddered at the cold temperature and hurried inside. You were surprised at how neat the place was; you assumed that someone had been sent to save you from the hassle of cleaning.

Trudging up the stairs, you struggled with your large suitcase. You found your old childhood bedroom and roughly unpacked. Having only less than twelve hours until your new housemates moved in, you felt rushed to get the house ready to meet them. You decided to just wash up and sleep tonight and wake up early in the morning to go grocery shopping.

So you slipped into unconsciousness and spent a relatively quiet night. It wasn’t until morning that you were awoken by a dream. It was the same dream that haunted you for the past seven years. Ever since the accident, the same recurring scene appeared to you in your sleep. To be honest, the exact events were fuzzy but it always left you with the same nostalgic and longing feelings. It bothered you how uneasy it made you feel.

You groaned, noting that your alarm clock hadn’t even rung yet. With a loud sigh, you got up and got dressed. With over a decade between your last visit and the present, you relied on the GPS to navigate your way around the unfamiliar neighborhood.

As you walked around the quiet streets, you took the time to enjoy the scenery. You came back to this town to escape the city life but appreciated that it wasn’t entirely in the middle of nowhere.

Luckily, there was a supermarket nearby. There, you picked out a bunch of ingredients you figured would be used often. You didn’t cook much but wanted to change that.

The trip took longer than expected and you picked up your speed to make it back home before your housemates arrived. You let out a breath of relief when you returned and saw that no one was stuck outside waiting. Humming to a song you didn’t remember the title of, your steps were light as you put away the groceries. When you finished, you took a proper look at the house and were displeased at how bare it was. You made a mental note to buy decorations later to fill your new place with signs of human habitation.

At that moment, the bell rang. Suddenly feeling a bit nervous, you ran to the door. When you opened it, you were greeted by four males who seemed surprised at your appearance.

“Hello! Are you the tenants moving in today?” you asked.

“Yes, I believe we spoke with your… brother? On the phone,” one answered.

“It was probably my father’s secretary that you’ve been in contact with,” you said as you opened the door wider to let them inside. “Please, come in.”

They followed you into the house and dragged their luggage behind them. Once they were all inside, you extended your hand towards them.

“My name is Y/n and I will be the one living here with you all,” you introduced.

“My name is Jacob! I hope we get along well,” the one who first spoke grinned as he shook your hand.

You went down the line, greeting and shaking hands with Changmin and Jaehyun. By the time you got to the last person, however, your hand was left hanging. He stared at you with an expression you couldn’t decipher.

“I’m Sangyeon. Lee Sangyeon,” he finally said, taking your hand.

“Nice to meet you, Sangyeon,” you smiled.

You offered them a tour of the house and showed them their respective rooms. While they unpacked, you offered to order food. It was approaching noon and you still hadn’t eaten breakfast. They declined at first but gave in when you insisted on treating them.

By the time the food was delivered, the five of you gathered in the kitchen. You were pouring water for everyone and Jacob began to take out the bowls.

“Jajangmyun is fitting for today, right?” you commented on the Korean tradition of eating Chinese food on moving days.

After everyone was seated, you gestured for them to dig in and began eating. You let out a sigh of happiness at the taste you had missed in the United States. Korean food there just wasn’t the same as Korean food back at home.

“So, Y/n, how did you end up in this town?” Sangyeon asked. Something about his eyes felt intimate yet you still couldn’t pinpoint the reason why.

“I actually just arrived in Korea last night,” you chuckled. “I’ve been living abroad for a while.”

“Abroad? Really?” Jacob perked. “I used to live overseas as well! Toronto, to be exact.”

“I stayed in California for the most part,” you clarified.

“Oh really? California? Los Angeles?” Changmin asked in English. You giggled at his slight accent, finding it cute.

“Yes, I lived in L.A. for 7 years,” you said in English, laughing when Jaehyun’s eyes widened at your pronunciation.

While the four of you chatted, Sangyeon stayed quiet. He watched as Jaehyun asked you about life in America and Changmin told you about the time he visited New York City. He felt a twinge of jealousy when Jacob conversed with you in English.

“It’s definitely Y/n. It has to be. She looks exactly like her and has the same name. But why is she acting like she doesn’t know me? There’s no way she doesn’t remember me,” Sangyeon thought.

The next morning, you woke up early again due to jet lag. Throwing a robe over your pajamas, you headed downstairs to start making breakfast. You rummaged through the fridge, pondering on what to cook. Lost in your thoughts, you didn’t notice someone else enter the kitchen.

“Good morning,” he said, startling you.

With a slight jump, you turned around to see Sangyeon. Embarrassed, you cleared your throat and exchanged greetings with him. He spotted the gleam of a necklace hidden under your robe and furrowed his brows.

“That’s the necklace I got her. It’s Y/n for sure,” he thought.

Again, you felt his piercing gaze on you. Still unable to understand why he kept staring at you, you awkwardly turned back around. Sangyeon walked towards the kettle to make himself a cup of tea, still conscious of your presence. With that, he went back up to his room, leaving you alone once again.

Eyeing the bag of sliced bread, you decided to just settle for toast. After the simple meal, you went back to your room to get ready. It was the weekend and you planned on shopping for little trinkets to furnish the house with.

When you came back, you found your new cohabitants watching TV in the living room. You politely refused their help with the bags, setting them down on the table. You pulled out a few small photo frames and held them out to show them.

“Aren’t these adorable?” you beamed. “I was thinking of decorating the place with photos. You know, to add some warmth and humanity. Feel free to take a couple and add your own pictures.”

You placed a handful of the frames in front of them, encouraging them to take some. After excusing yourself for a second, you quickly ran up to your room to grab the printed photos on your desk. When you rejoined the group in the living room, you began to insert them into the picture frames.

“Is this from your high school entrance day?” Jaehyun asked, holding a photograph up.

“Yup,” you nodded. “To be honest, though, I don’t really remember much from high school.”

Changmin, finding a photo of you in front of the Hollywood sign, asked if it was taken during your college years.

“Ah, yes that’s when I first began my life in America. I was both anxious and eager to leave Korea behind,” you said, unaware of Sangyeon's wince at your words.

“Oh… Would it be okay for me to ask why?” Jacob asked.

“Of course. It’s all in the past,” you laughed. “I had some bad memories in Seoul and left abruptly at the end of my last year of high school. That was when I moved to L.A. to start anew.”

Sangyeon recalled the day you disappeared. He had texted you, asking to meet at the playground. After finding out about a misunderstanding you had, he wanted to resolve it as soon as possible. He waited there for hours but you never showed. You missed school for a week before your teacher suddenly announced that you would not be returning.

And that was the end of his friendship with you. You left without a warning or farewell. Now, you stood in front of him again. After seven years, he was reunited with you as an adult. He was both excited and confused. When he first saw you at the door, he wanted to blurt your name out and catch up on all the missed time. But when you introduced yourself to him as if it was your first meeting, he found himself doing the same.

At every encounter, you acted as if he was a stranger. At first, he thought you forgot about him and it hurt. But now, he supposed that you just wanted to forget about him. When you mentioned that you had bad memories of Seoul and that you were glad to start fresh in Los Angeles, he realized that he was nothing but a painful past to you.

So he put on a poker face and went along with your little act. For a month, he kept his distance from you and made sure to stay within the strict boundaries of a landlord and a tenant. While his friends grew close to you, he remained reserved.

“Why are you so cold to Y/n?” Changmin once asked him. Sangyeon never answered the question and continued to keep his facade up.

Meanwhile, you were clueless as to why Sangyeon was so standoffish. You had asked his friends, who were a lot more pleasant, if he was normally inhospitable to new people. At their unnatural attempts to change the subject, you figured it was just you that he disliked.

Still, Sangyeon couldn’t hide his innate desire to take care of you in his own ways. Every time your favorite snack ran low in the pantry, he would stack up on it next time he went to the mart. Knowing you hated the cold, he would make sure to keep the house temperature high—even when Jaehyun went to lower it, complaining that he was hot. When you fell asleep on the couch, he would cover you with the blanket you kicked to the floor.

The boy in front of you was extremely close as he reached behind your shoulders to put the necklace on for you. You held your breath and felt your heart race.

“There,” he grinned proudly. “How pretty.”

“Me or the necklace?” you asked, half joking and half serious. He shrugged, prompting you to playfully punch his arm.

“Now you’re forever indebted to me, Y/n. That’s a one of a kind necklace you can’t find anywhere else. Be honored I made it for you,” he declared. You rolled your eyes at his arrogance but still smiled nonetheless.

“Since I gave you this, you can’t ever forget me, okay?” he made you promise.

Your eyes opened, waking you up from your dream. Finding it odd how vivid it was, you frowned and sat up. You wondered if it was a part of your missing memory.

The view outside your window revealed a white wonderland, reminding you that the weather forecast predicted a snowstorm today. You groaned, remembering that today was also the day that you would be alone with Sangyeon. Jacob was on a business trip whereas Changmin and Jaehyun went to their hometowns to visit their parents.

“The snow just has to lock us inside this house today of all days,” you mumbled as you snuggled back into your blanket.

You closed your eyes, wanting to sleep a little more. After half an hour of trying to fall back asleep, you gave up with an exasperated sigh. You changed into a sweatshirt and went downstairs to make yourself some hot chocolate.

To your surprise, Sangyeon was already in the kitchen with a cup of hot chocolate. You both froze, not knowing how to interact without at least one of the other three guys.

“Here, you can have this one. I’ll make myself another one,” he finally spoke, handing you the cup topped with marshmallows.

You muttered a word of thanks as you wrapped your hands around the warm drink. Looking at the window, you saw that the snow was piling up a lot already. In an attempt to break through the walls Sangyeon had built around you, you mustered up the courage to ask if he wanted to watch a movie together. Taken aback, he nodded before he even fully processed your question.

That’s how the two of you ended up on the coach with a randomly chosen film playing on the TV screen. The movie was better than you thought it’d be. The subtle love line brought a comedic relief in such an action-packed plot. You enjoyed it until the main character ended up with amnesia; it made you uncomfortable as it reminded you of your own accident. Noticing that you weren’t focusing on the movie anymore, Sangyeon paused it and asked if you wanted to stop watching.

Not wanting to ruin the mood, you shook your head. He stared at you for a bit before turning it off. Although you were relieved, you felt bad because he seemed to be enjoying the film.

Trying to make up for it, you offered to make lunch. At his reluctance, you insisted since you both had to eat and delivery would take a long time. He followed you into the kitchen, watching as you surfed the internet for recipes.

You managed to keep the conversation flowing as you cooked. You asked about his job and he asked about your experience as a college student in another country. You were happy that he was finally opening up to you. By the end of the meal, you felt comfortable enough to share a little more about yourself.

“To be honest, I was very hesitant about coming back to Korea. When I left seven years ago, I left behind a lot,” you began.

“Yeah, you left me behind,” Sangyeon wanted to say. Instead, he kept his thoughts to himself.

“I mentioned before that I don’t remember much of my high school years. The only memories I have of back then are whatever my parents told me. Which isn’t much. They were always too busy to know what went on in my life,” you stated.

Trying to piece the information together, he carefully asked what you meant by that.

“I got into a car accident seven years ago,” you sheepishly revealed, making his eyes widen. “Apparently I was in a coma for about a week. When I woke up, I was told that I was suffering from amnesia. I was hospitalized for another few weeks to recover and then sent to California to be with my cousin, Eric. There, I went through physical therapy and attended university. I was hoping to leave behind my trauma in Korea.”

“O-Oh, I didn’t know you went through all that,” he stammered, embarrassed.

“I feel like there’s a part of my life that I’m missing and I hate it,” you confessed. “I get these dreams sometimes and I think it might be my missing memories but I’m not too sure.”

The two of you fell into silence. Sangyeon despised himself for not knowing what happened. He had been too busy pitying himself to stop and think from your perspective. He didn’t deserve to have you remember him. He figured it was best that you forgot him. There was no point in disclosing everything now anyway.

After that day, you thought you had gotten closer to Sangyeon. Contrary to your expectations, however, you grew even more distant. At first, you thought you were overthinking. But as the week went on, it became obvious that he was indeed avoiding you.

Eventually, Jacob confronted him about it. He trapped his best friend and demanded an explanation.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Sangyeon lied with a straight face. Sighing, Jacob let it go. He knew that he couldn’t force anything out of him.

Despite Sangyeon’s efforts to keep away from you, he still continued to quietly do little things for you. Luckily for him, you didn’t notice. You didn’t think twice about the pot of coffee that was always prepared every morning or your shoes that were neatly put away after you left them scattered at the entrance.

You didn’t know why you felt so disappointed. You didn’t realize that you had grown attached to him as time passed by. Something about him felt familiar and comfortable. Yet, at the same time, he felt like a challenge. He was aloof but occasionally had moments that showed his soft side. He intrigued you.

“Y/n, you can’t keep associating yourself with that boy. Imagine how shocked we were when we heard those rumors about you two dating! You know your father has plans for you and Juyeon,” your mother chided.

“It’s the 21st century! I am not getting into an arranged marriage. Especially not just for the sake of father’s political ambitions,” you yelled.

A slap was delivered to your face. The sound was loud and you felt your cheek throb in pain. Bewildered, you glared at the woman in front of you. Deeming your action as disrespectful, your mother slapped you once again.

“You don’t even deserve to be called a mother,” you spat.

With that, you stormed out of the house. The boy your mother demanded you to stay away from wasn’t even your boyfriend. You had hoped that he would be one day but that hope dissipated when you saw another girl in his arms earlier that day. Tears blinded your vision as you fumbled for your phone. You called Eric, praying that he would pick up despite the time difference. To your relief, he did and his voice caused you to sob.

“Y/n? Y/n, what’s wrong?” Eric asked, concerned.

You barely managed to tell him what was going on in between your cries. He tried to calm you down but it was futile. You weren’t listening. You were too busy running away. Too busy to notice the car that was speeding towards you.

You woke up gasping for air. Your heart was beating fast as you checked your surroundings. Once you realized that you were in your room and not on the streets, you relaxed.

“Was that just a dream? Or a flashback?” you murmured. You brushed it off, blaming your return to Korea for these weird dreams.

Eric was landing in Korea today and you were thrilled. You missed him greatly and couldn’t wait to see him again. You glanced at the clock to check the time. You had to leave soon to greet him at the airport. Quickly getting dressed, you hummed in excitement.

On your way down, you heard the doorbell ring. You cocked your head, wondering if one of the guys had invited a guest. You shouted out that you’d get the door and ran to open it.

“Surprise!” Eric yelled, holding a bouquet of flowers.

It took you a moment to process the scene in front of you. You blinked a few times before you squealed and jumped into his arms. He laughed, dropping the flowers to hold onto you. The noise brought your housemates downstairs with curiosity. You quickly introduced everyone to each other and pulled your cousin inside once they finished exchanging greetings.

“I thought your plane was landing in an hour!” you exclaimed.

“I told you the wrong time so I could come surprise you instead,” he winked.

You didn’t notice Eric staring Sangyeon down but Sangyeon definitely did. He tried to ignore it, assuming that your cousin just wasn’t happy with the fact that you were living with four males.

You spent the rest of the day catching up with Eric and exploring your neighborhood together. You showed him your favorite cafe and feasted on the waffles there. He filled you in on how his parents—your aunt and uncle—were doing. They drilled him to make sure he told you how much they missed you, making you giggle. As proof of his completed mission, he took a selfie with you to send to them.

“I miss them too,” you pouted. “I better video call them soon. It’s hard trying to match the time zone and their work schedule.”

“Or,” he dragged out the word expectantly. “You could just move back to L.A.”

“Eric, you know why I came back. And what it took for me to do so.”

“I know, I know. But I honestly don’t know how I feel about you trying to retrieve your memory. Maybe some things are better left forgotten?”

“For the past seven years, something in the corner of my brain has been irking me. I know I’m forgetting something important. I feel it.”

He sighed and put his hands up as a sign of defeat.

“Just remember that if you don’t find what you’re looking for or if you aren’t happy with what you find, you can always go back to join me in L.A.” he said softly.

It was a hard secret to keep from you for almost a decade. In exchange for calling off your arranged marriage, your parents made him promise to never tell you about what happened the day of the accident. You moving to Los Angeles was the solution your parents came up with to keep you away from that past.

Seeing Sangyeon at your house gave him a bad feeling. He didn’t know what he told you and was scared that it was only a matter of time before your memories returned after seeing him so often.

Before Eric left for Seoul, he pulled Sangyeon aside to give him a warning.

“I don’t know why you’re lingering around my cousin but I know who you are,” Eric glared. “I obviously don’t know the whole story of what happened back when you two were in high school but I don’t quite like you. If you’re simply here for a place to live, keep it that way. Don’t put anything in Y/n’s head. She doesn’t need to remember what you did to her.”

“What I did to her?” Sangyeon repeated, confused. “But I didn’t- wait, are you talking about-”

“You know what I’m talking about,” Eric interrupted. “You led her on and then hugged another girl right in front of her.”

“The girl she saw me with wasn’t my girlfriend. She suddenly came up to me and confessed. That hug was initiated by her and was one sided. I found out about that misunderstanding and was trying to clear it up the day she disappeared.”

“Does it matter anymore after all these years?” Eric sighed. “Listen, you have no idea what Y/n went through back then and what was sacrificed to let her live the way she wanted to.”

“If there’s something you want to tell me, don’t beat around the bush,” Sangyeon frowned. Eric let out an exasperated sigh, conflicted. He wasn’t sure if it was his place to reveal details to him but he felt that it was necessary.

“That day. Y/n’s parents found out about how you two had a thing. There were rumors going around and it reached their ears. I don’t know if Y/n ever told you but they already had a guy in mind for her. Some stupid politics shit. Obviously, she said that was ridiculous but what power does a teenager have over their parents? She was fighting so hard for you but it was all in vain. You broke her heart.”

Sangyeon’s face crumbled at his words. You had never told him about the struggles you had in your home but he should have caught on from the day he first met you.

“That accident took away her memory. For better or for worse. She forgot all about the guy her parents pushed her towards and she forgot about the pain you caused her. And to be quite frank, I want it to stay that way. She came back to Korea to recover her memories but she deserves peace and happiness. She doesn’t need any more dramatic twists in her life. If you still truly care for her, you would agree,” your cousin said before he left.

A figure stood in front of you. You couldn’t see the face but there was a sense of familiarity. It was the same boy from your previous dreams.

“How could you not remember me, Y/n?” he asked.

You wanted to hold his hand and try to recall who he was. You wanted to hug him and tell him that you didn’t intentionally forget him. But your body would not move according to your will.

You awoke to a pounding head and sore throat. Feeling your nose run, you reached out for a tissue. You moaned in pain, realizing you had a bodyache as well. You couldn’t bear to get up and pulled the blanket closer to your body to keep warm. Closing your eyes, you allowed yourself to fall back asleep.

Downstairs, the guys were eating lunch together. Jaehyun looked at his watch and verbally noted that you still hadn’t woken up.

“Do you think we should wake her up to eat?” Changmin asked, to which Jacob shook his head, saying that they should leave you to rest.

“I wonder if she’s sick? I heard her coughing in the middle of the night when I got up to go to the bathroom,” Jaehyun said.

On the outside, Sangyeon pretended not to care. On the inside, however, he was extremely worried. You always got sick at least twice each winter. After quickly finishing his meal, he grabbed his coat and headed out to the pharmacy. He asked for any and every medicine to help with colds and kept the bag in his pocket when he came back.

He stopped in front of your door with his hand hovering mid-knock. He decided against knocking and left the bag of medicines hanging on your handle.

When evening came around, Jacob went up to your room with a bowl of porridge. Seeing the bag still on the door, he knocked and entered with it.

“So you are sick,” he commented when he saw your disheveled image.

“Jacob, you are an angel,” you gasped at the sight of the food.

“Actually, the medicine isn’t from me. I think that might have been Jaehyun. It was left on your door handle,” he said as he set the tray down on your desk.

You thanked him for the porridge and made a mental note to thank Jaehyun later. Too tired to do anything else, you took the medicine and fell into another deep sleep.

The next day, you felt better enough to get out of bed. Wrapping a blanket around your shoulders, you trudged downstairs. You saw Jaehyun in the kitchen pouring himself a cup of coffee and said good morning.

“Oh! I didn’t get the chance to tell you yesterday but thanks for the medicine,” you smiled.

“Huh? What medicine?” he tilted his head in confusion.

“You weren’t the one who left medicine for me outside my door?” you blinked. He shook his head and you assumed that it had been Changmin.

However, when you asked Changmin about it, he was clueless as well. It left you with only one other possibility and your heart skipped a beat at the thought. Wanting to express your gratitude, you went out and bought ingredients to make him some kimbap. You spent the rest of the morning working hard in the kitchen, persevering through multiple mistakes.

You groaned the third time the kimbap popped while you tried to roll it. You considered giving up for a brief moment but shook your head. With a determined sigh, you pulled out another sheet of dried seaweed and began your fourth attempt.

Finally, you managed to decently succeed. You grinned in triumph at your slightly deformed roll. After cleaning up the mess you made, you looked out the window to see Sangyeon reading in the yard with a beanie on and a scarf wrapped around his neck. Hoping to keep him warm, you poured a cup of hot coffee and walked towards him with the food nicely plated.

“Hey Sangyeon,” you said as you held out the plate. “I made you some kimbap for you to munch on as you read.”

“No thanks,” he said coldly. You blinked, not expecting such an answer.

“O-Oh… do you not like kimbap?” you awkwardly laughed. “Here, have some coffee then.”

“It’s okay. You don’t need to mind me,” he closed his book and stood up to leave. You frowned at his rudeness, ticked off.

“You could at least take the coffee if you don’t want the food,” you said, making him pause. “Or at the very least politely decline considering the effort I put in.”

“I never asked you to put in any effort towards me.”

You scoffed and put the cup and plate down to fold your arms. His harsh words were so different from his kind actions. It constantly felt like he was trying so hard to push you out and you didn’t understand why.

“Then what’s with the medicine you left for me yesterday?” you confronted him. He froze, not knowing how he got caught. He then noticed that you came outside with no outerwear, making him sigh. Trying to avoid an argument, he silently took his scarf off and put it on you before turning around to leave.

“What the hell, Lee Sangyeon?” you blurted. You placed yourself in front of him to stop him from leaving.

“What is with you? Literally one day you’re taking care of me behind my back and the next you’re avoiding me like the plague. Is this your tsundere concept or what?” you huffed.

You waited for him to say something back but he kept his lips pursed. Exasperated, you ripped the scarf off and stormed back inside.

Sangyeon cursed at himself in his mind. He could’ve handled that a lot better. Sighing, he bent down to pick up the scarf thrown on the ground. At a closer glance, he saw your necklace buried in the fabric. He held it up and stared at the jewelry in his palm. With a conflicted expression, his grip tightened around it, enclosing it in his fist.

You decided that you were over Sangyeon once and for all. You didn’t care how tired he came home looking every night or if was eating properly. You officially gave up on getting closer to him. If he wanted to push you away with his stupid tsundere ways, then that was his problem and not yours.

Grumbling, you climbed into bed to comfort yourself by watching Netflix. You very much rather preferred having your mind occupied with fictional characters than your own issues.

By the time evening rolled around, you grabbed your clothes and headed to the bathroom to shower. Your hands reached up to your neck to take your necklace off but were met with bare skin. Your eyes widened as you looked in the mirror, realizing that the necklace was gone.

You didn’t remember when or where you got it but you always had a feeling that it was important to you. You felt anxious without it.

You rushed to the kitchen to find it. Changmin was staring at you, perplexed, as you crawled across the floor to check every nook and cranny.

“Are you looking for something?” he asked.

“My necklace,” you tensed. “I can’t find it anywhere. Have you seen it here?”

He shook his head as he apologized, saying he hadn’t. Fretting, you checked the living room hoping it was hidden somewhere on the couch. When it still didn’t turn up, you ran outside to check the yard.

At that moment, Jacob and Sangyeon came down and saw Changmin looking out the window. Curious to see what he was watching, they followed his gaze to see you examining the grass.

“What’s Y/n doing?” Jacob asked.

“I think she lost her necklace,” Changmin answered as he took another bite of his apple. “It must be really important to her. She’s been searching for a while now.”

“I hope she finds it soon. It’s cold out at night,” Jacob said with a concerned look on his face.

Sangyeon stiffened, feeling the necklace in his pocket. He brushed it off, thinking you would give up soon. After pouring himself a cup of tea, he returned to his room. The sky rumbled, warning of incoming rain.

“I’m sure she’ll come back in now,” he mumbled.

Half an hour passed as Sangyeon continued reading his book. It was now pouring outside and the raindrops tapped violently against the windows. He reached out for his tea, only to notice be met with an empty cup. He placed the book down and went to the kitchen for a refill.

He was shocked to see you still in the yard, crouched down with a flashlight. Anger bubbled up inside him and he found himself grabbing an umbrella and joining you outside. Holding your wrist, he lifted you up to face him. The rain ceaselessly attacked the umbrella over your heads and his heart broke at the sight of you. You were drenched and your hair stuck to the sides of your face.

“Let go of me. I need to find something,” you freed yourself from his grasp and went back to shifting through the grass.

“It’s late and it’s raining. You can look for it later,” he said as he pulled you back up.

“No, I have to find it now,” you insisted.

“Y/n, you’re sick!” he exploded. “What’s more important than your health right now?”

“My necklace!” you yelled back. “I can’t remember who gave it to me but I know it was a gift. I can’t lose it. I just know that it’s from someone important. It’s the missing memory I came back to Korea to find!”

His chest clenched as your tears blended in with the rain. He never thought that the necklace would mean so much to you. Hesitantly, he pulled it out from his pocket and handed it to you.

“I’m the one who gave it to you, Y/n,” he sighed, closing his eyes. “Seven years ago, I was the one who made this necklace and gave it to you. This isn’t what I meant when I said that you were indebted to me.”

Puzzled, you stared at the chain hanging from your clasp. You were beyond confused. If you had known Sangyeon, why did he never act like it? Then, the pieces started to come together and his behavior started to make sense. Those eyes that seemed to recognize you from day one. The endless supply of the snacks you never expressed your love for in front of the guys. The dreams that you suddenly understood now.

“You knew who I was the entire time… and you didn’t say anything?” your voice cracked. “You knew I was out here looking for the necklace that you had and you still didn’t say anything?”

“I-”

“Forget it,” you cut him off. You shoved the umbrella away from you and slowly walked towards the house.

“Now you’re forever indebted to me, Y/n. That’s a one of a kind necklace you can’t find anywhere else. Be honored I made it for you.”

You winced at the sudden flashback.

“Y/n, you can’t keep associating yourself with that boy.”

You shook your head as if the memories would shake out of your mind.

“You don’t even deserve to be called a mother.”

You stumbled, causing you to flinch. Sangyeon ran to hold onto you and caught you just in time before your knees went weak. You felt your lungs tighten as the world spun around you and his voice became muffled. Then, everything went black.

“We gave her a fever reducer so her temperature should be coming down soon,” the doctor said as he looked through your patient chart. “She can be discharged once she wakes up and finishes the IV treatment. As long as she rests well at home, she’ll be okay.”

Sangyeon profusely thanked the doctor before he felt to continue his rounds. Sitting down next to you, he sighed. This wasn’t what he intended at all. All he ever wanted was for you to be happy. Back then and even now, his priority had always been you. Even if it meant giving up his own desires. Even if it meant giving you up.

It was taking longer than expected for you to awaken. Sangyeon began to worry but the nurses assured him that there was no problem. He restlessly paced around your bed, praying that you were okay.

When you finally came to, it took you a moment to register your surroundings. In what felt like a long sleep, all of your lost memories came flooding back. Still overwhelmed by the sudden anamnesis, you grasped for the only thing that brought you a sense of familiarity and comfort—Sangyeon’s hand.

“Don’t leave me,” you croaked.

“I won’t. I promise I won’t let you go again,” he whispered, holding your hand tighter.

[youreobsessedwithtoomanyfandoms]

Happy Birthday (Romanogers!Daughter)

Word Count:1421

Warnings: kinda bad writing, sorry

Requested by @maximeevansblog : “ This is my the reader ( me) is the daughter of Steve Rogers , and its her birtday and natasha { mom) takes the reader to hair salon and they come back and steve has a suprise party for her setteld and the hole avengers is there and have a cake and sings happy birtday to her , and lots of presents and a lott of fluff thanks ���

I hope you like it!

Main Masterlist

MCU Masterlist

Y/N snapped her eyes open as she heard the annoying alarm of her phone. She rolled over and had to press her phone like, 50 times just for it to shut off. She slowly sat up and yawned. Not yet registering what the day happened to be. She slipped out of her bed and lazily dragged her feet to the kitchen. She lazily waved to her parents. That was when she stopped and looked at them. Both of them were sitting at the island, eating. Rarely were they both home in the morning. Actually, usually they both were gone. Then she began to think on what today was. “Oh shit!”

She heard both of them laugh and her mom, Natasha, speak, “Finally realized what today was?”

She turned to look at her parents, “Yes. How could I forget my own birthday?”

Steve shrugged, “We’ve collectively agreed not to ask questions when it comes to you.”

Y/N tilted her head in agreement, “I mean, yeah, makes sense.”

“Well, as it is your birthday. You get to choose what to do. Sadly he has to go to the Tower today, but you have me.”

Y/N smiled at her mother, “Well, I do need a haircut. And maybe I could dye it.”

Her mother just shrugged, “I leave the planning to you birthday girl.”

“Oh gods I hate planning.”

“Then just the basis of what you want to do.”

“I can do that!”

--------

Y/N walked down the street with her mom. The two wearing similar outfits (On accident of course) the main difference was her moms green army like jacket and her blue leather jacket. They stopped and walked into the small apartment building and buzzed into the floor they needed. They walked into the, now unlocked, gate. It was only the second floor so they walked up the stairs. 

Natasha knocked on the door and soon a women, who was probably a little older than her, with bright pink hair opened the door. “Natasha! We were so happy to receive your call! Come in! Come in!” The two girls walked in and the pink haired girl closed the door behind them. “Y/N, you’re with Izzy and Natasha, you’re with me!”

Y/N walked over to the younger girl who looked like a mixture of Kat Von D and Dita Von Teese. “Hey Izzy.”

“Hey Y/N. So, what’re we doing today?” Y/N sat in the chair and shrugged as Izzy placed the cape over her front. “You don’t know?”

“Well, I was wanting the dead ends done and maybe it dyed.”

“Do you know what color?”

“Not really. Was wanting you to choose.”

“Ooh! I love that!”

Liz, the pink haired girl, turned to Y/N, “Your mom tells me it’s your birthday.” Y/N nodded, “Well then, you get to pick the music for today. Go find a few CD’s and start playing one.” Y/N looked up at Izzy and the ladder nodded for her to go. She slipped out of the chair and grabbed a few CD’s she recognized that her mother had played.

--------

As the two girls got their hair done, Steve was at the Tower with the Avengers,  Everyone attempting to get everything ready for the teens birthday. Wanda and Sam were in the kitchen making the cake. Tony and Rhodey were putting her gifts up. And everyone else--Steve, Thor, Clint, Bucky, Peter, and Bruce were putting up the decorations. 

“Weird to think we’ve been doing this for 16 years.”

Steve laughed at Tony, “It’s weird for you? It’s weird for me since she’s my kid.”

“Yeah, but we watched her grow up too.”

“That you did.”

--------

Y/N smiled a she looked at her hair. It was black with blonde tips. It was quite similar to her mothers red with blonde tips. She laid her head on her moms shoulder and looked at her, “Were we trying for people to only be able to tell the difference between us if they look at our hair?”

Natasha laughed, “I guess we were.” She quickly paid and they walked out. She grabbed Y/N’s hand and they ran across the street. “Let’s go to the house real quick and let me grab a few things before we head over to the tower.”

“Okay.” She had no idea they were going to the Tower. She assumed they were doing what they’ve done since she was a kid. Spend her birthday doing whatever--usually going out to eat at night, and then spending the next day at the Tower. But then again, it was her 16th birthday, she knew her own family too well to think they weren’t going to do something big. They always talked about how they wanted to throw her a huge party for her 16th.

--------

Y/N moved her legs off of her seat and unbuckled. However, her movements were halted at her mothers voice, “No, don’t get out, wait here.”

Y/N scrunched her face in confusion but stayed in the car. She stayed unbuckled but brought her legs up and sat her head on top. She never understood her family. But she never questioned them. She also let out a scream when the door opened. And out of instinct she kicked her dad in the chest.

“Well that hurt.”

“You opened the door and scared me! What did you expect? Both you and mom taught me to kick someone who scares me.”

“Yeah, yeah. I know.”

“Why did mom have me stay?”

“Because, we need you to close your eyes and we’ll go upstairs.”

She rolled her eyes and got out of the car before she closed them. Screaming again when she felt someone else besides her dad lightly grab her. She calmed when she heard her mom laugh. They silently walked inside and to the elevator, she nearly fell when the elevator moved to go up. She nearly fell again when the elevator stopped. 

She heard a door open and her parents move from her side, “Okay, on the count of three open your eyes.” She let out a sigh of relief when her mother spoke, she was tired of keeping her eyes screwed shut.

“3...2...1--”

She opened her eyes as everyone screamed, “Happy Birthday!”

She smiled largely and raised a hand to her mouth in happiness. She knew it was going to be the Avengers and her parents, but she thought it would be like years before. Years before there was really no party, just a small get together. But this? This was different. This was more like an Avenger like party. Lights put up all around. Her friends and family smiling at her.

“Oh dear, have we paralyzed her with shocked?”

“N-no, it’s just...I’ve never had a birthday party like this before.”

“It’s your 16th, we had to do something.”

“Well you surely have!” She laughed lightly, “Well, let’s get this party started.”

--------

Y/N sat in front of the cake. Her parents behind her and everyone else gathered around the table. Her dad sat the lighter to the side and the lights dimmed down as everyone began singing. “Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Y/N, Happy Birthday to you.” She leaned in and blew the candles out. She smiled and leaned back lightly. Happy to be celebrating with her friends and family.

--------

“--Alright, alright, who’s this from?” She picked up a small bag, no name was to be found on it.

“It’s from your dad and I.”

“What do you mean? You already got me something.” She motioned over to where their previous gift was now sitting.

“Well yes, but open the bag and look inside.”

She did as she was instructed and looked in. All that was there was a small paper. She took it out and read it, recognizing it as her mothers handwriting.

Моя дорогая дочь (My dear daughter), your dad and I love you a great deal and decided that you deserved this. Head down to the garage of the Tower to see it.

Y/N looked at her parents. The look of surprise unable to be kept hidden. “Well?”

She leapt from her chair and ran to the garage. She skipped the elevator and ran down the stairs. It was as if she only went down 4 flights when it was more like 50. Everyone else took the elevator and so they all got there at the same time. And when she saw it she immediately turned back and jumped into her parents arms. 

No birthday could pass how this one has gone.

[zeppelin-and-unicorns]

It's ILI! If it isn't hard for you to write it... "Can I buy you a coffee?" Kelso to Brooke!

For context: Eric, Kelso, Fez, and Hyde were sitting in a smokeless circle. It's Kelso's first visit since the New Year over 6 months before, he's holding Betsy in his arms and he looks miserable.

"Can you believe that?!" Kelso said indignantly "Just when I was about to ask her to try again, I see her going out for lunch with this doctor guy! That is so unfair!"

"Kelso, you dumped Brooke to be with my sister" Hyde said, annoyed "I don't think you get a saying on her dating life anymore"

"But... I love her, and I really want to be with her" Kelso replied "I never felt this way about a chick before, man. Not with Angie, not with Laurie, not even with Jackie. It's like... she makes me forget about all the awful things in the world, and I want to be around her all the time"

"Yep, he's in love alright" Eric said

"Yeah, you’re screwed” Hyde said

“Do you think I should fight for her?” Kelso asked, his hands absentmindedly stroking Betsy’s hair 

"Kelso, I love you, but if I hear you talking about Brooke again, I am going to leave" Fez said seriously

"Well, I'm sorry Fez, but you never had your heart broken before, so I'm gonna keep on talking!"

Fez glared at him "I see. So you think Fez never had his heart broken before? Well, Fez was dumped by Jackie after dating her for two, glorious days. Then Fez saw Nina at the salon, and she was getting ready for her wedding day. And then, Fez saw Rhonda at the Hub, looking glorious. Fez asked her out, and she said no. Fez’s heart was broken so many times, that it’s barely a heart anymore! It’s just dust in between Fez’s lungs!”

Eric, Hyde, and Kelso stared at him like he went nuts.

"Fez, man, if you want to make people feel bad for you, then you have to quit with this third person crap" Hyde said after a few minutes of silence "It makes me wanna punch you in the face"

“You...” Fez said, glaring at Hyde “This is all your fault! I’m leaving, good day!”

“But Fez...” Kelso said, wondering what caused his outburst. But before he could ask, Fez walked out of the basement, slamming the door on his way out.

“What the hell was that? He didn’t even say ‘I said good day’ like he normally does. He only does that when he’s extra pissed”

“Fez thinks Jackie broke up with him because of Hyde” Eric said

“Which makes no sense, because Jackie made pretty fucking clear that we’re ‘just friends’ now” Hyde muttered dejectedly

“Wait, since when are you and Jackie friends?” Kelso asked, looking confused “When I left, she hated your guts!”

“Hyde apologized to her for being the world’s biggest jackass and asked her for another chance,” Eric explained “She said no, because y’know, Jackie’s smart, and...”

“You’re supposed to be on my side!” Hyde hissed at him, punching his arm

“Dude, you married a stripper!” Eric said, rubbing his now sore arm

“And I’m paying for it, Forman! I already apologize to Jackie every damn day, I’m not going to apologize to you too!”

“Wait, you and Jackie are actually friends?” Kelso asked curiously, and Hyde nodded "Aw man, I feel so left out! I haven’t seen you guys for like, 6 months! Did I miss a lot? What else happened when I was gone?"

“Well...” Eric started, clearing his throat “Jackie rejected Hyde’s multiple attempts to get her back and she’s now making him pay for all the crappy things he did by letting him be around her, without actually being with her; Donna and I are currently trying to learn how to do our own laundry so we won’t have to come here every weekend; a new candy shop opened right next to the salon, but Fez got kicked out of there after hitting on the owner’s wife; my mom’s trying to force my dad to go jogging with her, and Jackie got a few modeling gigs so she’s been unbearable to be around”

“That’s it?” Kelso asked, looking at both os his friends, who nodded at him “I haven’t seen you guys in six months, and that’s all you got?! Wow, I really am the glue that holds this group together”

“Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, Kelso” Hyde said, rolling his eyes

“Well...” Kelso started, but Eric interrupted him

"Good talk guys, now I'll go see if Donna's up for some nookie time" Eric said with a small smile

"But we... We're in a circle!" Kelso argued

"Kelso, it's not a real circle if we can't... you know. Use the thing that makes the circle fun!"

“Nuh-uh! We’re still sitting on a circle, and you haven’t told me what to do about my whole thing with Brooke!”

“Yeah...” Eric said, standing up and moving to grab his coat on top of the record player “Good luck with that, pal”

Kelso stared increduosly at the door Eric just slammed closed. How dare him abandon his oldest friend during one of the hardest times of his life for sex?!

"You know what? You're a good friend, Hyde" Kelso said "Thanks for not abandoning me while I'm going through a crisis, now...”

"Actually..." Hyde said, tapping his thighs as he stood up from his chair "I'm off to meet Jackie. See ya, Kelso. Betsy"

Hyde ruffled the toddler’s hair before walking towards the basement door, and Betsy giggled, clapping her little hands.

“Ackie!” She said, and Hyde smiled at her.

"Wait, you're meeting with Jackie?!" Kelso asked "But you said she just wanted to be your friend!"

"I don’t know man, I think she’s opening up to me," Hyde said, grinning from ear to ear, "I’m just waiting for the right moment to ask her out again, and something tells me that’s going to be soon”

“But Hyde...” Kelso said, but Hyde left before he could finish his sentence.

Kelso sighed and looked at the toddler sitting on his lap, she was laughing, and he had a feeling that maybe, she was laughing at his misfortune.

“Dada, burn!” Betsy said

Yup, she was definitely laughing at him.

**

Kelso adjusted the baby carrier on his chest, trying to make sure Betsy wouldn’t fall off. When he was sure his girl was safe, he walked up the stairs of Point Place’s library.

Brooke asked him to drive both her and Betsy to Point Place earlier today, claiming she wanted to meet with a few of her old girlfriends, and Kelso said yes right away. He’s been dying to spend more time with her, and the commute from Chicago to Point Place was three hours long.

She said that after she finished brunch with her friends, she’d be at the library, and that’s where Kelso hoped she was right now.

After a long talk with Mrs. Forman (since his friends couldn’t care less about his problem), he decided he’s just going to confess his feelings to Brooke. At this point, he didn’t care if she was dating this doctor guy, he just needs her to know because he feels like he’s going to burst every time he’s near her.

He found her sitting in the more isolated corner of the library, reading a thick book.

He took a deep breath, but before he could say anything, Betsy announced their presence.

“Mama!” The toddler said, squirming as she tried to escape the baby carrier.

Brooke immediately looked up and smiled, making Kelso weak on his knees, She has a beautiful smile.

“Hey baby!” She said, putting her book down and unclasping the baby carrier, taking the toddler in her arms and kissing the top of her head “How was your day with your dad?”

“Dada sad” Betsy said, and Kelso’s eyes widened in shock.

“Why’s your dad sad, Betsy?”

“He wuvs mama” The toddler answered as she played with the collar of her mother’s coat. Brooke’s eyes immediately met with his, and he felt like he was about to have a heart attack.

“What?” Brooke said

“Dada wuvs mama” Betsy repeated, and Kelso licked his extremely dry lips, trying to think of something to say.

“Michael, what is she talking about?” Brooke asked, and Kelso sighed. This is not how he was planning on telling her.

“Uhh... Nothing?”

“Michael...”

“Fine! She may have overheard my conversation with the guys, where I told them... I told them I loved you and I that was sad because you’re dating that doctor”

Brooke’s mouth hang open in shock “What?!”

“I’m sorry, okay?” Kelso said “No, actually, I’m not sorry, Brooke. It’s how I feel and you should know”

Brooke took a deep breath “What makes you think I’m dating Christopher, Michael?”

“I saw you two talking, and hanging out, and...”

“He’s my friend, and he’s gay, you moron!” Brooke said “In fact, he has a crush on Fez since he came to visit the last time”

“He has a crush on Fez?” Kelso laughed “Oh, burn!”

“Michael!”

“Okay, okay, sorry!” Kelso said “I really thought you two were going out, I mean, you went out for lunch, and...”

“Two friends can have lunch together” Brooke argued, sending a pointed look at Kelso, and dammit, she looks pissed. Kelso just hoped she was pissed about him making assumptions, not about him loving her.

"So, since you’re not actually seeing anyone... Can I buy you a coffee?" Kelso asked, smiling softly at her. She kept glaring at him for a few seconds, before smiling back.

“Well...” Brooke said, bouncing the toddler in her arms “I just had brunch with the girls, so... Maybe some ice cream?”

Kelso’s smile widened.

“Awesome!” He yelled enthusiascally, and some people shushed him in response. 

Brooke laughed and took his hand “Let’s go”

[dsmpdaily]

“I tried to raise my shield, but I accidentally sheared the ground, or whatever you call this mechanic. All I know is that I clearly did not take my ADHD medicine this morning, because I immediately become distracted and forget about the duel for about ten seconds, but then I remember "Oh, right, $100,000" and go in for the kill.” — Technoblade

Have a good day? Go back and watch any Vod’s? I haven't yet because I ended up needing to redo some of my hair dye. So far it hasn't shown any improvement but I guess I can do with a rose gold shade until I dye it something else in 2-8 weeks when I get bored of it. Eat anything good today? Drink your water? Sleep last night? Do anything to destress before or after MCC? I know those streams get very chaotic and stressful. Any plans coming up? :3

“Regret for wasted time is more wasted time.” -Mason Cooley

“If you’re always trying to be normal you will never know how amazing you can be.” -Maya Angelou

"They say I'm built different, and I am built different in the fact that I have no moral backbone."-Ranboo

ah techno quote from the mr beast thing yes when he said that it really struck something in me

i had a good day! didn't watch any vods but as we know i watched mcc so. oh hair dye thats funky, from the sounds of it you dye it yourself? i cant imagine how one would do that, i got my hair dyed a long time ago at a salon, and it wasnt even all of my hair but it itched like hell.. i could never handle doing it on my own

didn't eat much today but what i had was good, i drank water, and i slept last night! and i will sleep again tonight.

yeah mcc is chaotic as always, the adrenaline starts kicking in even when you aren't actually participating in the tournament yourself haha. i played a mobile game while watching mcc to kind of spread my focus so i wouldnt get too stressed. i started a drawing after it ended and its actually turning out nicely, im so bad at clean lineart but the lines are pretty okay. i feel like it always comes back to art whenever i answer your asks shdhsh tho i suppose this is an art account.

no plans coming up soon, although i suppose my birthday is coming in less than a month? kind of exciting but also just normal. i hope your day was good!

[rkived]

━ CHASING PAVEMENTS 02 | JJK

↳ PAIRING: dad!jk/married!jk/bff!jk x reader (ft. taehyung) 

↳ GENRE/TAGS: f2l, angst, unrequited feelings au, cheating au, future smut 

↳ WARNINGS: (for this chapter)  time jumps  (but it’s not so bad this time aha) mentions of a troubled marriage, mentions of postpartum depression, mentions of alcohol consumption, cheating!!! (obviously don’t do that y’all), a kinda hot makeout session

↳ WORD COUNT: 8.5k

↳ EXCERPT: ‘‘Jungkook shouldn’t be thinking about you, especially on the day of his fourth wedding anniversary to the woman he chose as his wife.’’ 

↳ A/N: hello!! first of all thanks so much for the love on pt 1 of cp like T_T anyway cp was supposed to be two pts only but as i wrote this chapter i realized that if i ended it on just two parts it would’ve been rushed sooo there’s a part 3 in the works! as always, feedback is much appreciated thx!! <3

01 | 02 | 03

Taehyung finally found a dog-sitter for his dog, Yeontan, or Tannie, like you had begun calling him, after being introduced to him via FaceTime. 

He’s been wanting to stay the night over at your place for a while now. Things would get a little heated between you two every time he dropped you off after a night out. But just as you were about to pull him inside your apartment, he’d apologize and explain that he couldn’t stay because his dog was waiting for him at home.

A teacup Pomeranian cockblocked you for a whole month. 

But tonight’s finally the night, Taehyung and you have just finished a bottle of wine together and the Netflix movie you had both started watching had been paused so you two could focus on kissing each other properly, no background voices to interrupt. 

Taehyung is sweet, but not when he kisses. It’s fast and desperate. As if every time he places his lips on you it’ll be his last. They’re still enjoyable, though. He already knows what places to kiss to make you weak at the knees, he pays extra attention to them. 

His hair is a nice length and it’s soft, making your fingers curl into his locks easier. He likes the little tugs you’d give him absent-mindedly, always provoking small groans to come out of his mouth, which in exchange make you moan because his voice seems to get deeper when he gets in the mood.

Your phone’s been vibrating for a few seconds, but you ignore it, not wanting anything or anyone to ruin this for you and him. Eventually, your phone stops and you’re thankful.

Taehyung is midway into kissing and niping over your collarbone’s skin when you hear the doorbell ring. Maybe it’s because you’re both way in the heat of the moment to realize, but it’s not until it’s rang a few more times that you mutter a curse and your date sighs at the interruption.

“I swear to━! If it’s the landlord I’m sending him straight to hell.” you mumble exasperated and Taehyung chuckles, finding your irritation cute. His lips still feel electric, like you're still on them and he’s dying to have you back under him.

You huff and peek into your door’s peep-hole, already preparing to curse out the person on the other side. But you find yourself surprised at the fisheye lens sight of Jungkook with Sunhi in his arms.

It’s not Friday, what is he doing here?, you wonder. Immediately figuring out something’s wrong, Jungkook never comes to your place on days that are not Sunhi’s babysitting days. He hadn’t let you know about any change of plans either.

You open the door without any second thought and find him tickling Sunhi’s belly as she giggles at the action. You eye him and he smiles at your sight, but his face immediately changes once he notices your appearance.

You’re not looking ugly, actually, you’re beautiful. Your makeup is done and he can tell you probably went to the salon to get your hair blown out. But it’s the way your nude pink lipstick is slightly smudged and your hair's a little messy. There are wet patches on your neck and red spots around your collarbones. 

“Jungkook?” You speak once you notice he hasn’t explained the reason for his surprise visit, standing there like he had just seen a ghost “Did something happen?” 

Yes, something is happening inside of him, but that’s not what you’re asking. Sunhi’s gentle touch on his cheek makes him land back in reality and he has to slightly shake his head “I—uh, called you a few times” is what he comes up with. 

Taehyung notices you’re taking a little more time on the door and your voice isn’t raised, which means that it’s not the landlord who you’re dealing with. He stands up and makes his way through the hallway, leaning on the wall as he notices a tall figure looking at you with surprising eyes. There’s a little girl with him and Taehyung immediately realizes this is your friend, the one whose daughter you look out for. 

“Sorry, I was a little busy” you reply, but Jungkook’s eyes raise to look somewhere that’s not you and he notices the lingering figure of Kim Taehyung. 

Of course, this is his doing. Who else would have access to make you look like this? Little busy means you were in the process of sleeping with him 

“But is there something wrong?” you ask again, your attention placed on the little girl in his arms that remains silent, waiting for the right moment so she can show her true colors. 

“Uh—I think it’s best we go” Jungkook clears his throat, nodding his head over at Taehyung who is still waiting and watching what’s happening. You turn around and notice him, who in exchange gives you a reassuring smile. “Oh!” you’re reminded of what was going on no longer than a few minutes ago “Jungkook, is everything okay?” you ask once again.

He nods and forces a smile out of him “Just thought we could give a surprise visit to Auntie Y/N, right pumpkin?” Jungkook says looking over at the girl in his arms and his daughter nods, but her face is glued to his neck. She’s feeling shy and it’s rare for her to be that way. “Really, Y/N, it’s fine,” he reassures you, closer this time and you force yourself to nod “sorry for interrupting”. 

You can’t even give Sunhi a kiss goodbye or a pat on her back because Jungkook turns around and goes back to where he came from. 

Closing the door with a sigh, Taehyung comes up and embraces you in his arms, chin resting over your head. “Everything alright?” he asks and you hum, not sure of what just happened. “This is such a mood killer, I’m sorry.” you mumble and he smiles sweetly “Not at all,” he answers and you’re thankful for his comprehension “was that Sunhi?” he wonders, at this point slightly familiar with the sight of the little girl due to all the videos you send to him whenever you’re babysitting. You nod and he hums, swaying you from side to side slowly. 

“Want to finish watching the movie?” Taehyung offers and you twist your face, you no longer remember what the plot is about nor do you have the will to. “Want a massage and some kisses?” his tone is playful and you giggle at his proposal, nodding your head quickly and taking him to your bedroom.

It’s Jungkook’s and Jiwoo’s four year wedding anniversary and it’s also their seven-year dating mark. Jungkook really thought he was being romantic by proposing on the same date as their dating anniversary.

He’s spending it with Sunhi at a fast-food restaurant that’s practically soulless besides him and her, the kitchen staff too; who are probably upset they got clients at this hour.

Jungkook didn’t think he was going to spend the night this way. Well, he figured he was going to spend this day by himself, his daughter to keep him company. Out of the four years of marriage, they’ve only celebrated it once, a few months before Sunhi’s birth. It wasn’t extremely fancy, but it was nice. He still remembers because it feels like one of the most, if not the only, memorable times of their marriage. Before things went south.

He woke up that morning to a reminder on his phone that today was his wedding anniversary. It’s shitty to admit, but if it weren’t for that notification he probably would’ve forgotten. But at least Jungkook set a reminder, because once he went into the kitchen to wish Jiwoo a congratulations for another year together—

“Oh, that’s today?” She asks in surprise, quickly finishing her breakfast smoothie so she can rush off to work. 

Jungkook doesn’t feel bad, they’re in the same position in the end. They don’t care about this anymore, but pretend they do. It wasn’t always like this. He still wonders what went wrong. At first, he blamed himself for most of the issues surrounding their relationship. Every argument that happened, he’d apologize even if he wasn’t in the wrong. If Jiwoo was in a bad mood, he figured it was something he had done that made his wife angry enough to curse him out. 

Dealing with Jiwoo’s behavior didn’t really bother him for the most part. He had dated her for three years prior to proposing, he knew what he was getting himself into. Marriage wasn’t as different. Things took a turn after she got pregnant with Sunhi. 

They had discussed it, the having kids thing. Sunhi did come a little earlier than expected, but they wanted her nonetheless. Pregnancy wasn’t easy for either of them. Jiwoo went through the biggest mood swings and worst morning sickness ever and Jungkook was on the receiving end of the stick. But he didn’t care, because he knew Jiwoo had it worse. Things would get better once their daughter arrived, he hoped.

And they did. For a few months, that is. 

Jiwoo did her mom duties the first months of Sunhi’s life and then she was back to work. There was nothing wrong with that, Jungkook knew his wife was making sacrifices in between balancing her new mom life and the one she had before. She had just gone through nine months of pain, it was okay if Jiwoo wanted to go back to her normal life. 

The problem was that Jiwoo’s normal life didn’t involve Sunhi. It’s not like she didn’t show her signs of affection, but Jungkook always felt like they came out forced. As if Jiwoo was aware that she was a mom and she had to live up to the name. A chore, even. 

And then on one of those cold nights, when their daughter was fast asleep, they were arguing with the lowest voices possible. Jungkook just wanted to understand what was happening, why wasn’t Jiwoo acting like he thought a mom should.

“I just—I don’t feel a connection towards her!” 

That was the beginning of the next few years of their marriage. 

It didn’t matter how many times Jungkook tried to explain to her that she most likely had postpartum depression—after much research online about patterns of behavior that his wife had displayed—, if anything it only made things worse. One time he even suggested looking for professional help and hell broke loose, as in, Jiwoo slept at her parents’ place for a few days without further announcement. 

He begged her to come back. If she swore nothing was wrong, then so it was. And Jungkook had made the silly mistake back then to prefer having Jiwoo in Sunhi’s life, cold and distant, than not having her at all. He thought that if she wasn’t present, then someday his daughter would resent him for pushing her mother away. In reality, Jiwoo was physically there, but neither of them could feel her. 

But a few months back, it was Jiwoo who had suggested the idea of having a day of their own. Without Sunhi, obviously. She wanted to go back to those college dating days where it was just them and no one else. Jungkook wasn’t too fond of the idea at first, not wanting to leave his daughter out of it, but Jiwoo whined and said—

“Let’s have Y/N look after her! She’s like, obsessed with the girl.” She, as in you. “It’ll only be one day a week—c’mon baby, for us”.

Except Jungkook wasn’t doing things for them anymore, hadn’t been in a long time. Every decision he took revolved around Sunhi. That’s what set them apart so much. Jiwoo acted like she wasn’t a mom, like there wasn’t supposed to be a three-year-old under her care. It was “Jiwoo first” and then maybe Sunhi and him. 

But back then, he was willing to give it a try. For Sunhi. 

It’s been six months since then. Fridays are still their days, but Jungkook doesn’t want to share that with her anymore.

Jungkook thought that those “alone times” Jiwoo had offered were meant for them to talk and discuss their problems, figure out their issues and fix them. But instead, all they do is continue arguing about something and then make-up with sex. And then it’s back to normal. He’s come to the conclusion that she does it on purpose just to get what she wants. 

Sunhi loves Fridays because it’s “Auntie Y/N playtime” days and Jungkook loves dropping her off because you are just as equally excited to see her. There’s not much exchanged between each of you during those times. Maybe a quick “hey, how are you?” or a nod of your heads in acknowledgement of each other. 

He doesn’t want to go back home when he drops Sunhi off. He wishes he could stay with you both. Spend some time with his daughter and his best friend and see what genuine love is supposed to feel like. He hates the drive back to his place because he has to mentally prepare himself to deal with Jiwoo for a couple of hours. 

The silver lining out of those dreadful Fridays is getting to see you. At least for a few minutes. Jungkook is able to see you smile and laugh with his daughter. He gets to feel the love you give her and he’s thankful you’re still there. Maybe not for him, but for her. 

Jungkook shouldn’t be thinking about you, especially on the fourth year wedding anniversary to the woman he chose as his wife. 

But he’s in this fast-food restaurant late at night with Sunhi, who’s munching on some fries as she does a little happy dance. Jiwoo had announced to him after the whole “Congratulations on four years” that she had planned a road trip with her friends, totally forgetting about the date, she was leaving at noon. He is glad, but it stings having to spend this day alone, even if there’s no feelings there anymore.

Which is why he thought about the marvelous idea —at the time— to drop by your place with Sunhi as a surprise. You don’t know what date is today, never bothering to ask about the details of his relationship. Jungkook figured that the only person who could actually give him genuine love today could’ve been you. 

But of course you’re still going out with Kim Taehyung. Of course you’re letting him stay at your place. Of course your skin is getting kissed inch by inch because of him and of course you're having him over during Jungkook’s wedding anniversary.

It feels like the universe is mocking him in a way. 

Sunhi reaches out with her ketchup covered fingers, handing her dad a nugget with a smile. Jungkook politely accepts it, bowing to her, making the little girl giggle. 

“Daddy,” Sunhi speaks and Jungkook nods, allowing her to continue “who was that mister with Auntie Y/N?” she asks and he hums, not really wanting to speak about him with his daughter, but he’s never opposed to Sunhi’s curiosity. Jungkook clears his throat and puts his hands together, his daughter looking at him with expectancy “That mister is a friend of Auntie Y/N’s”. 

Jungkook wonders if Kim Taehyung is still considered your friend. It’s been a little while since you had been on your first date with him, but you never mentioned anything more to Jungkook. He knew he had fucked up that night he texted you after the date. So if he’s your boyfriend now, Jungkook is not aware. 

“Oh!” Sunhi says, her eyes light up and Jungkook knows what she’s about to say “I want to meet Auntie Y/N’s friend!” His daughter’s innocence is cute and he wishes she could stay this way forever.

All in all, Jungkook is thankful to Jiwoo. 

She doesn’t provide him with love anymore and she doesn’t care about how he feels or what he thinks either. But at least she gave him Sunhi, the sweetest girl ever and he’s lucky that out of all the mess that is his relationship with his wife, Sunhi turned out the total opposite.

“Mmm, I don’t know, pumpkin.” Jungkook hums before taking a bite of his burger. “Why not, daddy?” she questions and he knows she’s being serious, Sunhi could ‘why?’ you to death sometimes. “I don’t think Auntie Y/N is going to introduce us to him soon” 

Jungkook knows that he’s speaking to a three-year-old and he knows Sunhi better than anyone, so saying that is not going to turn out well for him. 

“Why not, daddy?” She asks again, there’s a furrow in her brows and she’s crossing her arms. “Pumpkin, how about I buy you an ice-cream and—“ “Please, tell me!” she demands and he sighs, knowing he set himself up for this. 

Before Jungkook can open his mouth to make up a story, Sunhi’s eyes open in surprise and she holds her hands out “Wait! Daddy!” she speaks and Jungkook stops and waits for her to continue “Is he the husband Auntie Y/N is going to have a baby with?”

God damnit, Jiwoo.

“I—uh,” Jungkook is rendered speechless, but Sunhi is smiling with delight at the idea of that hypothetical baby her mother had settled on her weeks ago. “Yes, daddy?” she flashes him a toothy grin and he slumps his shoulders, what point did it have now? 

“Yeah, pumpkin, that’s him.” he forces a smile and Sunhi jumps in her seat with excitement.

He doesn’t like lying to his daughter. It might be a little white lie in the end, but Jungkook hates it. It won’t matter in a while, Sunhi will probably end up forgetting it. But the probability of that white lie coming true feels awfully plausible to him. 

I’m being dramatic, Jungkook thinks. He knows it’s just the events of the night that are influencing his judgement. 

It’s okay if you’re dating Kim Taehyung, he shouldn’t be thinking about that anyway because you’re his friend and he’s married, four years since the event and seven since he decided you were never going to be his. 

Sunhi’s happy and she holds onto him tightly once they both leave the fast-food establishment. She smiles at him with sleepy eyes and thanks her dad for the food. 

Jungkook knows that he’s being dramatic.

He does receive genuine love and it comes in the form of his three-year-old daughter, whose sticky fingers are making a mess of the Dumbo plush toy he had washed earlier that week.

Jungkook is grateful nonetheless.

“Okay, okay, tell me everything!” Minji’s voice is filled with excitement early in the morning and you’re afraid she’ll somehow manage to wake Taehyung up, even if you’re talking through a phone outside your bedroom.

“Is he big? Or is he girthy? Oh! Is he both? Oh my God, he’s both right?” 

You sigh at your friend’s rapid questioning, not even being able to answer because she continues speaking “Is he like, dominant? He totally looks like a dom” At this point, you’re sure she’s talking to herself rather than you, so you wait for her to stop.

“What are you waiting for, then? Spill!” 

You roll your eyes, luckily she can’t see you “That’s what I was trying to do.” you mumble and Minji mutters a quick sorry “We actually didn’t—uh, do it” you confess in a low voice, afraid that you may wake up the subject of your conversation, who still lays in your bed sleeping.

“WHAT?!” 

You’re glad Minji isn’t physically here, her reaction alone would’ve been enough to wake the whole apartment building “But, you told me he got a dog-sitter and all that just so he could spend the night and blow your brains out!” You actually hadn’t said it like that, but the context was correct. “What happened? Oh my God, don’t tell me you backed out” Minji’s tone is slightly angry, you can feel she’s about to curse you out if that was the case.

“No! Ugh, can you let me finish?” You complain and she’s apologizing again, explaining that these sorts of situations get her a little overexcited “Well, we were in the process of getting to it, but—“ 

You think to yourself if it’s a good decision to tell Minji what happened, knowing exactly what her reaction was going to be. 

“Uh-huh? Go on.”

Fuck it.

“Jungkook dropped by.” you quickly spill out and Minji’s groan is powerful, you know she’s genuinely upset “Unannounced, which is super weird of him to do too! So, I asked him if there was something wrong and he just looked at me, like, shocked or something and said that he just wanted to give me a surprise visit with Sunhi,”

“And then he saw Taehyung and apologized for interrupting and left,” you mutter, the scene repeating itself in your brain “I couldn’t even say bye to her.”

There’s silence and you wonder why Minji hasn’t said anything yet, knowing she probably wants hell to break loose on Jungkook. “So, that’s why me and Tae didn’t do anything, it was too...awkward? He still stayed the night, though.”

After the whole ordeal, you knew the night was ruined. In part it was because of you. You could’ve jumped back to where you both left off, but your head was filled with what had just happened with your friend and were no longer able to concentrate on Taehyung’s kisses. You had to give it to him, though, because he stuck around even if his plans for the night had been interrupted.

And sleeping with Taehyung still felt intimate, even if there was nothing sexual going on. He held onto you tightly before you could close your eyes and drift to sleep, being surprised by how comfortable he felt doing that.  “I have to sleep hugging something,” he explained and you nodded, understanding “plus, I like the way you smell” he added, burying his head in the crook of your neck, sniffing the expensive perfume you had sprayed earlier while you prepared for his arrival. Chuckling, your fingers found themselves brushing his hair until he fell asleep. 

“So, are you gonna say something?” you ask her, noticing the silence coming from her behalf, unusual from Minji. 

She sighs and you can feel she’s conflicted about what to tell you “Why is he like that?” she asked instead and you let out a breathless chuckle, wondering the same thing “The timing is so weird, as well. Like, he never stops by unless it’s to drop Sunhi off and the day he decides he’ll visit you for the fun of it, you’re having Taehyung over?” Minji’s suspicion sounds plausible, but you know it was just a coincidence.

You hadn’t mentioned to him anything about Taehyung, not after what happened that one time during texts. Jungkook was your friend, but you should’ve kept that from him. He was a married man and a father, he had other priorities in his life and the last thing he wanted was to know who and what you were involved with. 

“He knows he’s losing you.” Minji speaks and you’re surprised by her statement, not understanding fully what she meant “You’ve always been there for him, always. It’s been that way since college,” You don’t know if Minji is reprimanding you by the way her tone comes off “And now you’re not only there for him, but for his daughter too. I’m sure he’s used to you somehow being loyal to him, so now that you have another guy in your life—“

“No, Minji, look—“ 

“No, I’m right, Y/N” Minji interrupts you doing the same to her. 

But you know she’s not right. Have you been loyal to Jungkook? Yes, but just like you’ve been loyal to Minji too, because she’s your friend and you’ll do that for anyone you love as well. You’ve dated guys before, back in college and after too. This isn’t any different from that. 

“I don’t know who he’s trying to fool, but his marriage’s an argument away from ending up in divorce. You know it.” Minji continues and you let out a sigh, not wanting to think about that. You don’t like his relationship with Jiwoo, but you’d never wish that for him “I’m not gonna make crazy assumptions, in the end, I don’t like the guy and whatever I say will be against him” Minji’s humor makes you chuckle even through the heavy topic “but I just—I don’t know, I don’t want him to ruin what you have going on with Taehyung just because you’re concerned over what’s going on with him.” 

You eventually hang up on her, explaining that you have a few things to do around the apartment. Like cleaning up the glasses of wine and cheese table you and Taehyung had drank and eaten last night. 

Minji’s words do resonate with you. 

She has a point, you think.

Maybe Jungkook doesn’t share much of his life with you, but you’ll always be there for him. You’ll be there for him even if you have no clue what’s going on. You’ll be there when he needs help with Sunhi, because you love her just as much. You’ll be there when he decides to open up more about his marriage to Jiwoo and you’ll pretend you support the relationship even if you don’t. 

You just want him to be happy. 

Jungkook is doing the bimonthly grocery shopping, Sunhi’s sitting on the cart’s baby seat as she plays with her plush toy. He’s picking between what fabric softener to take this time, the Downy he loves is sold out.

His phone vibrates in his pocket and he figures that it’s Jiwoo with a last minute request. He’s surprised to see it’s you, who he hasn’t talked to since that eventful night he dropped by last week.

He knows why you’re texting and he’s already figuring out what to say.

[6:47 PM] Y/N: hey it’s friday

[6:47 PM] Y/N: u didn’t text me anything abt dropping sunhi off today sooo...

[6:47 PM] Y/N: guess i’m wondering if i’ll see her tonight? 

Jungkook figured that you’ll be busier now, so he wants to limit Sunhi’s days. Much to Jiwoo’s distaste of not having all Fridays with him alone, but he explained that you now had a boyfriend and needed those Friday nights back.

He was just being petty, but that was most likely the case. Friday is a perfect day. It’s the end of the work week for most, coming home to rest and spend time with your loved ones. Jungkook knows you haven’t had a Friday night to yourself for the last six months, except that one you shared with Kim Taehyung and you were pretty excited then.

[6:48 PM] Jeon Jungkook: hey y/n! yeah don’t stress, we’ll have sunhi for tonight :)

[6:48 PM] Jeon Jungkook: maybe even some more fridays from now on 

Sunhi wasn’t particularly fond of the idea either, but all Jungkook had to do was bring that ━dumb━  white lie up again. The “Auntie Y/N is giving you a cousin to play with” lie. 

That lie he hated spewing out, but it was the only one that seemed to calm her down. 

[6:49 PM] Y/N: what??? 

[6:49 PM] Y/N: i mean….i guess i’m glad that u guys are gonna have her but idk ??? i’ve gotten used to fridays with her 

Jungkook smiled slightly at your text, not expecting any different reaction from you. He knows you love his daughter so much that even the thought of not having her for a day bothers you.

[6:50 PM] Jeon Jungkook: aww it’s alright

[6:50 PM] Jeon Jungkook: invite over that guy you had last time, u deserve it 

The messages have already left and been read by the time he regrets doing it, which is straight after he sends them. He knows it’s the jealousy that’s speaking, he wishes he was genuinely saying that because you actually do deserve it. 

[6:51 PM] Y/N: oh 

[6:52 PM] Y/N: then please drop sunhi off tonight

Jungkook furrows his brows and begins typing to reiterate what he had previously said, but your quick reply makes him stop.

[6:51 PM] Y/N: and before u leave, stay for a few minutes

[6:51 PM] Y/N: we need to talk 

Jungkook sighs and runs his hand through his hair. Sunhi stares at her father and wonders why he’s taking so long picking one of those “good smelling liquids” he loves to wash her clothes with.

He turns to look at her with a small smile “Sunhi, wanna go to Auntie Y/N’s?” Jungkook doesn’t need a vocal answer, because a quick nod of her head with a big grin is enough to know what she wants. 

Jiwoo was probably going to be pissed that he decided to take a detour, but he thinks the text he sent her about stopping by to buy Sunhi an ice-cream will save him some time. 

He wonders what it is that you want to talk about. Now that he thinks about it, you’ve never told him that before, which inevitably makes him nervous. He does not like confrontation and arguing with someone that’s not his wife makes him anxious. Especially if it’s you.

You greet them with a smile on your face and Jungkook’s nerves calm down at the sight of you. Sunhi shares her sentiment and her arms immediately begin begging for you to take her, which you do and Jungkook feels like he could burst with joy. He wishes this is what he could come home to. 

You turned around, already heading inside with Sunhi in your arms while she begins excitedly talking about something. Jungkook lets himself in, seeing that you hadn’t closed the door to let him know he’s allowed to leave. He tries to forget the events of last week and how Kim Taehyung had been leaning on the same walls he’s now passing by. Sitting on the couch awkwardly, knowing this is where he had most likely been kissing you on before Jungkook interrupted. 

‘‘Sunhi, do you mind waiting in my room for a little? I want to talk to your daddy.’’ you ask the little girl, interrupting her rambling and she nods rapidly. Jungkook is amazed at how you always manage to convince his daughter, you’re not even persuasive enough ‘‘I’ll play Chip & Potato on my laptop for you, alright?’’ you offer and she smiles, bouncing her way into your room without even sparing a glance to her dad. 

You take some time setting everything up in your room to keep Sunhi safe and distracted while Jungkook is sighing every single minute that passes by, his leg bouncing up and down, unsure of what it is that you want to talk about. A lot of possible announcements go through his head and most of them are bad. 

Jungkook doesn’t even realize you’re back until you clear your throat, announcing your return and noticing his eyes are gone staring into the well; a frequent habit of his whenever he’s deep in thought. He looks up at you, whose arms are crossed as you give a look Jungkook can’t quite figure out. 

‘‘What’s up with you?’’ you ask, but Jungkook doesn’t know if it’s a rhetorical or genuine question, before he’s able to stutter an answer, you continue ‘‘I need to know, because I don’t understand what’s going on right now.’’ He can’t tell if you’re angry, but he can feel the frustration in your tone.

He wishes he could answer that question, because he barely knows what’s going on with him. ‘‘There’s nothing going on’’ he lies and you scoff, obviously not amused by his shallow answer ‘‘Why would you think that?’’ Jungkook wonders, but he’s pretending not to know.

‘‘Are you kidding me?’’ you are mad, but Jungkook’s impressed by how you’re able to remain calm and collected ‘‘First, you decide to act indifferent when I tell you about my date and then you show up at my apartment, unannounced, and when I ask what’s wrong you just up and leave─’’

‘‘Y/N, that’s not─’’ 

‘‘No, I’m not done. Please, let me finish.’’ Jungkook is not used to arguing this way, but he respects your request and lets you continue, muttering a sorry before you speak again ‘‘And now, you’re limiting my days with Sunhi because you want me to take the day off because ‘I deserve it’ and, coincidentally, mention Taehyung?’’ You’re laying it all out on the table and when you put it that way, Jungkook is able to see how shitty the whole situation looks like. 

‘‘So, I’m asking you again, what’s up with you?’’ 

Jungkook remains silent, his eyes are staring at the ground like a scolded child. Is this how Sunhi feels like? He wishes he had an excuse to give you, but he doesn’t. In fact, the only answer he’ll be capable of giving you is one he knows you’ll probably not like. 

You sigh deeply and sit down next to him, a space between you two and Jungkook still somehow feels comforted by your action. He knows you’re angry and yet you want to be close to him. Jungkook isn’t sure why you still try, even though he’s done about anything to push you away. 

‘‘I just─I’m trying my best to be a good friend to you, but then you go and do things like this and━’’ you stop and Jungkook finally looks at you and waits for you to continue ‘‘I don’t know, I just need some clarity, for once. I need you to be honest with me.’’ 

‘‘I don’t like Kim Taehyung.’’

Jungkook’s lying, sort of. 

There’s a partial truth to his statement, but it’s not really the reason as to why he’s been acting this way. 

This is what you want to hear, he thinks. 

There’s a surprised look on your face, expecting anything else besides that. You’re not even able to reply because he’s continuing, at this point there was no turning back so he might as well take the opportunity. 

‘‘Yeah, I don’t like that dude. In fact, I don’t want you to date him.’’ Jungkook says, shrugging his shoulders and you furrow your brows, shocked at your friend’s bold revelation. ‘‘It’s selfish, yeah, but it’s how I feel.’’ 

Jungkook is standing up from where he’s sitting, not being able to see you looking at him that way. This is usually how arguments with Jiwoo end up, with him leaving to get some air or alcohol, too tired to keep going back and forth. 

‘‘Yeah, this is not it.’’ you let out a breathless chuckle, following behind him ‘‘You’re just an asshole and Minji’s right, you’ve always been this way’’ Jungkook is used to the insult, but at the mention of your best friend ─who hates him─ he stops and turns around ‘‘Did she finally manage to make you turn your back on me?’’ 

You laugh and he’s taken aback ‘‘You’re unbelievable! You think you have the right to treat me how you please and then tell me you don’t want me to date whoever I want?’’ Jungkook knows you’re right, but right now he wishes you weren’t. 

‘‘You’re married, Jungkook. You chose to date and marry Jiwoo, who I’ve never liked, but I never told you that because you’re my friend and I will always support you even if I don’t like the decisions you take. So don’t say I’m turning my back on you, because I’ve never had and never will.’’ 

He just wants to blurt it out. He wants to tell you it’s not because he doesn’t like Kim Taehyung in particular. It could be anyone else and he still wouldn’t like them, but he’s angry and he doesn’t want you to see the person he becomes when he’s arguing with Jiwoo.

‘‘I’m sorry,’’ he mutters and you want to tell him no, that he’s not allowed to apologize, but you know there’s something more and as much as you’d like for him just to let you in deeper, all you’re able to do is shake your head in disappointment and sigh ‘‘I’ll pick up Sunhi later’’. 

Jungkook doesn’t let you say anything else, quickly leaving your place so he can run away from the confrontation, at least for a few hours before he has to face you again and pretend this never happened. 

Contrary to your belief, Jungkook is still wearing the same clothes he came with hours ago. It’s almost midnight now and you had spent the last few hours wondering where he could’ve been. You don’t think he must’ve gone back home, there’s a faint smell of alcohol lingering on him.

‘‘She’s asleep’’ you announce, stepping aside to let his tall figure come in, but he stands there looking at you with the eyes you’ve grown accustomed to. He’s apologizing, but he’s not saying anything. ‘‘Come in, please’’ you silently ask.

He’s surprised to see a glass of wine on your coffee table and he wonders if the argument had also made you decide to drink as well. He wasn’t tipsy, but he at least felt calm enough to forget he was ever angry in the first place. 

‘‘I don’t wanna go home’’ he silently confesses and you give him a confused look ‘‘Please, can-can we talk this through?’’ Jungkook’s asking, but it feels like he’s pleading. You’ve never seen him like this and you wonder if it’s the effects of the alcohol in his system. ‘‘I-I don’t wanna fuck this up, please.’’

His bottom lip is stuck out trembling and you quickly take his hands and guide him to the sofa you were both sitting on before the argument broke out. It’s the small sign of affection that makes Jungkook sigh peacefully. The way your thumbs rub his hands soothingly, not wanting him to break down. 

‘‘I don’t━’’ Jungkook hesitates at first, but you encourage him to continue ‘‘I don’t wanna go back to her.’’ You know right away he’s talking about Jiwoo.

You’re slightly surprised, only because he’s told you there’s been issues, but you believed they were working them out. But by the look on his face, you know they’ve probably reached a point beyond repair. 

It’s ironic how you’re always wishing for Jungkook to open up to you, but when he does you never seem to know what to say. All you’re able to offer him is a hug and the one you give him right now makes him feel small. It’s comforting and your smell is enough to make him close his eyes in peacefulness. 

He’d love to stay here forever. 

‘‘I don’t wanna fight with you ever again’’ he mumbles, voice muffled because his face is buried on your neck as your arms surround his broad back. You let out a breathless chuckle and nod, sharing his sentiment. 

‘‘Why didn’t you tell me?’’ he asks, raising his head slightly to look at you and you wonder what he’s talking about. Jungkook notices the furrow in your brows ‘‘Why didn’t you tell me you didn’t like her?’’. 

Oh, that. 

It was a heat of the moment revelation, one you had intended to never say out loud.

You shrug your shoulders, not really thinking it was that big of a deal now ‘‘Does it matter? You were head over heels for her, I don’t think my opinion would’ve changed that.’’ you chuckle, remembering how excited Jungkook had been when he told you he managed to bag a date with the pretty girl in one of his classes ‘‘You still are.’’ you add and he quickly shakes his head no, his hair tickling your neck and you try so hard not to giggle at the sensation. 

Jungkook’s hand comes to cup your cheek, making you look at him and the proximity makes you become aware of how close you two actually are right now. He looks determined, but you don’t really know what he’s thinking, at least you don’t expect the confession he’s about to make. 

‘‘’M not,’’ he begins, looking you straight in the eyes and the surprise makes you back away a little, but he’s quickly pulling you closer again ‘‘haven’t been in a long time, actually.’’ You know Jungkook’s being honest because this feels like what he's been wanting to tell you for some time, but had never mustered up the courage to say out loud.

And it is, because Jungkook’s been thinking about it a lot. Finally saying it feels different, like a huge weight has been lifted from his shoulders. He feels lighter now, he’s placed all those burdens somewhere far away right now. 

‘‘’M tired of pretending. I only do it for Sunhi’’ he sighs out, his soju infused breath grazes over your face and you're forced to look down, his eyes making you feel nervous, but he wasn’t going to let you hide just like that. He tilts your chin up to make you look at him again and you let out a shaky breath ‘‘I wanna stay here,’’ he mumbles ‘‘with you.’’

Your lips part slightly at his confession and you know there’s definitely something more than friendly in it. Jungkook’s hand drops from your face and he’s taking your hand in his, intertwining your fingers with his own.

 You’re unsure of what’s going on, a part of you is screaming to stop whatever Jungkook’s doing, not used to the unknown territory. 

But the other part is silently enjoying it, liking the way he looks at you like you’re special and the way your hand seems to fit perfectly into his. 

‘‘Would you like that?’’ his question is merely a whisper and you gulp. 

You’re trying to reason with yourself, because this is your best friend, the one you’ve known for eight years. The one who, maybe years ago, before Jiwoo came into the picture, you might’ve crushed on once. But that was so long ago that you had even forgotten about it. 

It’s Jungkook, it’s almost impossible not to catch feelings for him at one point or another. But he never saw you that way, at least he never let you know he did. Once he and Jiwoo became a thing, you knew he hadn’t. It didn’t matter, though. Because he was happy and you’d find someone that made you feel that way too.

But he’s here now, confessing that he no longer loves the woman he chose as his girlfriend and wife all those years ago. He’s not happy. Instead, all he wants is to stay here with you. To be happy with you. 

You don’t even realize you’re nodding, until you feel him squeeze your hand and give you a warm smile. 

‘‘Can━Can I kiss you?’’ he asks timidly and your eyebrows shoot up at his words, the corners of his mouth raise up at your reaction. There’s a lot of things running through your mind right now, all the reasons as to why you shouldn’t be in this position right now. 

But you still manage to muster up a shaky ‘‘please’’ and it’s with that word that Jungkook grabs your face with his hands and gently kisses you. There’s slight shock on you at first, not kissing back right away. But it’s the way Jungkook’s lips softly brush against yours, delicately, that make you reciprocate. 

If this feels like uncharted territory to you, it feels like a different universe for him. For the past seven years, he’s kissed the same lips. Slowly losing the feeling of enjoyment of kissing, always feeling like it’s an obligation. But this feels different, better even. He might go as far to say this is perfect. 

You forget about the real world for a moment while Jungkook’s kissing you. 

In the real world, Jungkook is a married man and a father. 

In the real world, you’re involved with another man, one whose company you enjoy. 

But the real world doesn’t matter right now, you’re too focused on the sheer electricity of Jungkook’s kisses to think clearly. 

Jungkook’s hands travel from your face to your neck, his fingers tracing the skin lovingly, he doesn’t know it’s also your sensitive spot and so, when you shudder, he smirks into the kiss and his lips leave yours, placing kisses along your jaw until he stops at the place you seem to love the most. A shaky breath comes out of you, fingers coming to lace themselves with his hair, enjoying the way he kisses tenderly into your neck, biting the skin, but not harsh, afraid that it might make you realize and regret what’s happening.

You tug at his hair gently and he emits a low groan at the action ‘‘Sunhi’s s-sleeping’’ you whisper, warning him about his daughter who wasn’t that far from where you both were. Jungkook is still focused on you, he’s trailing down to your collarbones and all he can think about is how he had seen you last week, another guy doing the same thing he’s doing now. 

‘‘Tell me to stop, then’’ he mumbles before he’s biting into the skin over your collarbones, wanting to leave a mark. Maybe next time you see Kim Taehyung he’ll see them and wonder how you got them because he hadn’t made those last time. You don’t ask him to, instead you let out a small moan at the way it stings when he nips at your skin. Jungkook chuckles, pleased that you’re enjoying this as much as he is. 

He’s back on your lips in a flash, but the kiss is different this time. It’s sensual, feeling a little more familiarized with the waters he’s currently navigating across. He traps your lower lip between his teeth and you’re trying so hard not to make any noise, aware that Sunhi could wake up at any given minute because of the noises in the living room.

Jungkook’s hands are lingering over your chest, your t-shirt ridden low, exposing your cleavage to him and he’s teasing you already, his index finger lightly tracing the curve of your breasts as he continues his lips’ ministrations. The sensation brings goosebumps to your body and your hands are clasped together around his neck, bringing him even closer as physically possible.. 

His hands make their way down your figure and land on your waist, gripping the skin and your hips involuntarily rise up, begging for more. He takes this opportunity to place his palms on your ass, squeezing the soft skin and sighing into your mouth, the feeling’s too good, so good that he feels like he’s hallucinating this whole thing. 

You feel dizzy, like the whole room’s spinning except for you and him. You don’t want his hands to ever leave your body and you wish you could just kiss him forever, not knowing how badly you had been wanting this. 

‘‘Auntie Y/N? Daddy?’’

As if you had been broken from a spell, you push Jungkook away from you and notice Sunhi lazily rubbing at her eyes, clutching the Dumbo plush toy in her arm. Jungkook manages to land safely on the edge of the couch and you quickly head over to Sunhi, kneeling to match her height and ask her what’s wrong, hoping she hadn’t seen anything from her position.

‘‘Nuffin,’’ she replies with a yawn ‘‘tired, cuddle me.’’ she asks, grabbing your hand and tugging at it to take you to your room. You gave a quick glance to her father, who was looking dumbfounded on your couch, breathing as he had just ran a marathon, there’s a pillow covering his lap and you figure out what he’s trying to hide.

You stop the little girl and she’s looking at you with sleep written all over her face ‘‘Baby, you’re daddy’s here, you have to go home now’’ you explain and she frowns, crossing her arms and stomping her foot on the ground ‘‘No! I wanna stay here with you’’. 

Like father, like daughter. 

You know the right thing to do is tell her once again that she has to leave, but you knew that meant you’d have to deal with a crying Sunhi, you usually wouldn’t bother, but right now your mind couldn’t handle it. You sighed and hummed, trying to think of a fast solution. 

‘‘Okay, wait for me in my bed, I’ll be there soon’’. 

Sunhi smiles and nods, quickly going back to your room. You suppose she hadn’t seen anything from a few minutes ago and you breathe out a sigh of relief. Once again you’re alone with Jungkook and he’s clearing his throat as if to grab your attention. You turn around and he’s looking at you with those big doe eyes of his, the ones where he’s looking for answers to life’s questions.

‘‘I─uh, I’ll put her back to sleep so you can take her home’’ you explain, but before Jungkook can say anything you quickly continue ‘‘I guess you should call Jiwoo to let her know you’ll be late.’’ 

You’re gone by the time Jungkook’s able to process your words. They serve him as a cold reminder of the reality of what had just happened. He had just kissed you and you kissed him back. Things had quickly escalated and he wondered whether you would’ve stopped them if Sunhi hadn’t woken up. 

Jiwoo doesn’t care if he’s late. That text he had sent her about stopping for ice-cream with Sunhi had been seen and left unanswered hours ago. Maybe that’s why he doesn’t feel guilty about what he did. If anything, he’d do it again, but he’s not sure if you’d say the same. 

Time passes and it’s almost 1 AM now and Jungkook hears no noise coming from your room, let alone you coming out with his asleep daughter so he’s able to go home. He quietly enters your room to find Sunhi and you asleep, the little girl snuggled up to your chest and you with your chin propped over her head, arm splayed over her small body. Jungkook’s surprised to see that the plush toy Sunhi can’t seem to be able to sleep without is left ignored on her other side, back turned to it. 

He can’t help but smile at the sight. It feels like he’s on dreamland, this is something he had always wished to see, but had never been able to. Once Sunhi grew old enough to sleep on her own bed, Jiwoo hadn’t allowed her to sleep on their bed again. 

It’s silly to keep comparing between you two, he knew you’d always do things right. 

Jungkook finds it complicated to take Sunhi home now, seeing how you two had trapped each other. It’s almost as if it was done intentionally. Jungkook chuckles and shakes his head slightly, getting closer to the two to properly place the blanket you were both sharing. He tucks a piece of hair that had fallen over your face and with the back of his finger, he graces Sunhi’s cheek lovingly. 

He turns the light off and heads back to the living room, making himself comfortable on your couch as he prepares to spend a few more hours at your place. His eyelids start getting heavy and he finds himself sleepy in no time.

Jungkook hopes he’s not dreaming already, imagining everything that just happened, because when he wakes up, it’ll be back to his normal life. 

At least right now, for a few hours, he’ll be able to feel the comfort of your home and reminisce on the events of merely an hour ago and hope they are enough to last him a lifetime. 

[nomimits7]

Strangers | Drabble

Title: Strangers

Warnings: Cursing… I think that’s it.

Genre: Post breakup au

Pairings: BTS OT7 x reader

Summary: When your drunk boyfriend left you because you refused to give him your body, you decide to make a drastic change in your life, starting with your hair. What you didn’t expect was to end up getting kidnapped out of your best friend’s salon.

A/N: I actually started this when I dyed my hair green (Yes that’s me in the banner) and @laylee79 and @cosmostae​  kind of inspired me to turn this into a quick dabble. Sorry for the in activity... Let me know what you think! 

So, you’re telling me that he actually left you because you didn’t want to sleep with him when he was drunk? What a fucking idiot” Sammy said as she continued applying the hair dye. After your breakup with your boyfriend of two years you decided to change some things. Your hair just being one of them.

Sammy was a very kind person. She even opened her salon after hours just so that you could strip your old, naïve self. To be fair the colors you chose for your hair was far from normal, emerald green and blue with dark brown roots. You were young and quite frankly you never did something outside of your comfort zone.

“Sadly yes. And the worst part was that he even when as far as to kick me out of the house” You replied as you sipped on your wine.

“Hang on. Wasn’t that your house? Like I remember you bought it a few months before you even met him. That’s one step to far” Sammy said, admiring the color combo your hair now sported. It might sound weird as hell, but it looks absolutely stunning.

“Don’t worry, he lost the house a month ago because he couldn’t afford the rent. The land lord even contacted me and asked if I want to move back in after the idiot left. I refused though. That would be like excepting charity. Besides, the house is way to big for little old me and my apartment is closer to my job now” You answered making eye contact through the mirror.

“Good, no one wants scraps anyway… Oh shit!” Sammy said as she looked up to the clock hanging above the big mirror. Her expression one of concern and horror.

“Uh… Y/N? I have to ask you a favor” Sammy hesitated before she continued.

“There are very important guests coming in about five minutes. They have a few body guards and so, but don’t be alarmed you won’t be in danger. Just, when they do come, try not to make eye contact with any of them and please don’t say anything. It’s just a quick cut of hair and then they’ll be gone” Sammy said as she smiled weakly.

Before you could even process her words, the door flies open and in walks two men all dressed in suites. They stop next to the door and keep it open for some or other reason. Before long seven other men enter the salon and immediately make eye contact with you. Their eyes grow cold as they stare bore holes into yours. As if on cue Sammy starts speaking.

“I am so sorry sir, I mixed up the dates and accidently booked another customer in the same time that is solely dedicated you. I will make up for it. Please do take a seat so long while I just go clean my hands” Sammy said before she bolted to the back room to presumably wash her hands.

“Green hair? Now that was certainly something I did not see coming. I told you that she would mess up sooner or later” one of the seven spoke to the others as he continued to take in your appearance. You have already resorted to looking at you lap. But his comment did not go unheard.

“It’s a well-known rumor that a woman changes her hair for one of two reasons. Either to look younger or because someone broke her heart. Seeing as you are certainly younger than any of us, I assume it’s the later. Tell me, what lead you to this step? Did someone play with your feelings? Or am I wrong and your just some low life slut looking for more attention with such feature?” One with a dimpled smirk said as his gaze grew colder with every word.

Something way at the back of your head told you not to engage any further in this conversation, but no one accused you of being something you most definitely are not. You might be naïve and young, but a slut you were not. You would even have let that comment slide if he didn’t add the attention seeking part. Head snapping up as your eyes made direct contact with the last one to speak, you spoke even before you, yourself knew what you were saying.

“Excuse me for trying to get rid of my old self that would have crawled into a fucking corner every time someone raised their voice at her. And for your information, it was in fact because my idiot of a lazy ex wanted to fuck while he was intoxicated and by refusing his advances, he kicked me out of MY house. So, I apologize for saying no because I have experienced how the fuck he gets when he is drunk. So much so I was in the hospital for a week. Its men like you that make me sick to the stomach. I am so sorry that one of my friends decided to open up her salon for me because I hate being in the same room as strangers. But by all means do continue to judge me with your eyes. See if I give a fuck about it" You said as you stood from your chair and made your way over to one of the sinks at the far corner of the room.

“I take back my words. THAT was the last thing I expected” the one who spoke first said. A small smirk forming as his eyes never left your figure. You have yet to look up again, but that would certainly not cause after that small outburst tears threatened to escape and crying in front of these men was a big no no. Just when one of the others took a step in your direction Sammy came back from whatever adventure she embarked on.

“Sam, even if I was mad for seeing someone else here when we had a clear agreement. I suddenly took great interest in who she is” The dimpled one said as he took a seat in front of the mirror.

“She certainly has a personality to her” Another one piped up as he took a seat on one of the couches. The rest of the members nodded in agreement as Sammy visibly paled at the new information.

After finishing up their hair cuts Sammy made her way over to you, washing your hair in complete silence as the seven men all made themselves comfortable. They had no plans to leave any time soon, you were just to intriguing to them. Sammy gave them a brief overview of who you were, its not like she had much of a choice seeing as she had a deal with them.

After your wash, you made your way over to your previous seat, giving the seven a perfect view of your assets. Sammy silently followed and began to dry your hair. The fact that the arrogant seven where still there made your insides knot. There was something about them that screamed danger, yet you felt like a moth drawn to a flame. Once you were finished, you stood from your chair and made your way over to the counter to pay.

“We feel like we owe you an apology. Why don’t we walk you to your car?” One with plump lips and very broad shoulders said.

“That won’t be necessary, besides I take the train. Thank you, Sammy, it looks absolutely stunning. I’ll text you later” you said as you briefly pecked her cheek and made your way to the door, only to be stopped by a hand on your arm.

“We’ll drive you. The trains are way to dangerous for a single woman to be on. I won’t take no for an answer Y/N” one with a heart smile said as all seven made their way to a black van.

“Wait, how do you know my name? who are you?” You said, fear making its way into your voice.

“No need to worry about that love. All you need to know is that we’re people that always gets what they want. And we want you. Now sleep tight flower, we’ll see you in a few” one resembling a cat said as he stuck a needle into your neck. The last thing you see before the world turns black is Sammy crying and seven smiling faces.

[atths--twice]

Chapter Five

December 1923

It took nearly a month to secure the preparations needed to leave Cairo and begin the journey down the Nile.

If he had not seen much of Dana before, he now saw her nearly every day.

She brought books from work, shared information she had been gathering for years, showed him maps she had copied and shared where she believed the temple of Kha’ari was located and why.

“There are big areas devoted to the more well known gods and goddesses: Luxor, Karnak… but I don’t think it’s near them. I just feel as though it’s near the Kharga Oasis,” she told him, as he walked her home after dinner at the hotel.

“The names are similar,” Fox agreed.

“True, but it’s more than similar names.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think… and, I know how it will sound, but I think that the other temples were erected in places where it may have been hard to be happy at times, but…” She paused and shook her head with a heavy sigh. “I think it’s harder to be sad in a beautiful place. To feel the weight of your heart breaking, while the day is beautiful and others around you are happy. I think a temple near an oasis, near that beauty, for a goddess of pain and suffering… that would be the perfect location. Showing that there is that beauty in the world, even when we believe it’s not possible.”

Fox stared at her, thinking of the people who may have come to the temple, leaving their offerings of thankfulness, finally able to see the beauty in the day around them, their hearts beginning to repair. He smiled and nodded, believing she had to be right, her deductions far too reasonable.

“I think that makes perfect sense,” he said softly and she smiled.

_______________________

The Lady of the Nile, was a large beautiful ship in which Fox had procured two rooms to carry them to their destination. When they had arrived that morning, Dana had stopped and stared at it and then at him.

“Our journey will take three weeks. We may as well spend it in comfort,” he had said and while she had seemed hesitant, she entered the ship with him.

The ship was even more beautiful once they were being led to their rooms. The rich colors, tapestries, and details all added to the grandeur of it. Dana kept looking all over and shaking her head, telling him how beautiful she found it.

Her room was first and when they stepped inside, she gasped. The room held a small bed, wardrobe, nightstand, oil and globe lamps. There was a sitting area with a small sofa, a table in front of it, and a sink with a chest below it.

Shelves with brackets were above the bed and along the walls to hold objects and keep them from falling. A round window, above a small bookshelf which held a decent amount of books, opened to look out onto the water. Sheer curtains hung around the bed and a large rug covered the floor.

“This room is nicer than my flat,” Dana said softly to him as she looked around, her trunk set down by the porter.

Fox smiled at her before excusing himself and continuing onto his own room. It was similar to hers, though the colors were a bit darker and instead of the small sofa, it had two comfortable looking chairs.

He unpacked his trunk, hanging up his clothes and looking around with a grin and a nod. It was all really happening.

He walked around the room, touching the books in the bookcase, the oil lamps, the curtains around the bed. With another nod, he left the room and walked to the dining room, requesting a table for dinner on the deck at sunset.

When he left, he walked back to Dana‘s room and knocked on her door. She answered, though she did not open the door fully, staying slightly hidden behind it.

“I’ve made reservations for dinner,” he said. “But I was wondering if you would like to take a tour of the ship with me.”

“Oh… yes, I would like that very much. Can I meet you in a few minutes?”

“Of course,” he agreed with a nod. “Fifteen minutes? In the main lobby?”

“Yes,” she agreed, smiling and nodding as she closed the door.

He left and walked to the bar, looking at the alcohol displayed and ordered two glasses of champagne. As it arrived, so did Dana, in a dress he had never seen before, and his heart stopped before it began to beat rapidly. Her hair was up and she looked beautiful, though slightly nervous.

“You look beautiful,” he said as she reached him.

“Thank you,” she answered with a blush on her cheeks. “My mother sent me this dress, just in case I had an occasion to wear it. I’ve had it for nearly two years and never worn it before tonight. I feel a bit unlike myself, but thought it was the right time to make use of it.”

“Indeed,” he said with a smile, the dark blue of the dress making her eyes bluer, if it were possible. “Here.” He handed her one of the glasses, clinking it with his own.

“Cheers,” she said quietly and he nodded as they took a sip. Extending his arm, she accepted it, as they turned from the bar and made their way up the stairs.

They walked around the ship, discovering the luxuries it afforded: a dining room smoking lounge for the men, a library, a salon with chairs and sofas filling the room, the gleaming windows letting in the late afternoon sun.

The deck of the ship was even better with the view of the sunset, the water, and the other small boats sailing beside them, their masts filled by the breeze.

He glanced at Dana, the loose strands of hair blowing across her face, and he smiled. Her eyes were shining and her lips curling up as she waved to him sailing past them. Under any other circumstance, he would have seen the romance of the situation. Truth be told, he was hard pressed not to see it, as the setting sun created a romantic atmosphere all its own, but he pushed those feelings aside.

“This is a beautiful ship. Far more than I was expecting,” she said and took a last drink of her champagne, the glass now empty.

“What were you expecting?” he asked, taking her glass and then draining his own.

“I… I don’t really know,” she said, leaning her arms on the railing and twirling a strand of hair, at the base of her neck, around her fingers. “I’ve… It's been a long time since I’ve been around such luxuries. My income at the museum is not large and what money I am sent from my mother, it’s not much either, and not always absolute.” He frowned and she smiled slightly. “My father didn’t want me to leave and threatened there would be no financial help from him if I did.”

“That’s…” He paused, not knowing what to say, and not wanting to insult a man he did not know.

“Not exactly the kindest, no, but it’s been cleared up. Letters and distance work wonders, you know.” She smiled at him and he frowned again. “He was worried about me on my own, and didn't want me so far from home.” She bit her bottom lip and looked away with a sigh, the wind blowing her hair across her face.

“But you know what I think?” she asked as she turned to look at him again. “Although he never says, his own letters generally short, and only a postscript added to my mother’s, I think the money is from him, but he won’t admit it. Stubbornness and not wanting to appear too soft, he will continue the charade.” Fox laughed softly and she smiled.

“My mother similarly did not want me to leave. But… after the pain and uncertainty the war caused her, I can understand.”

“Were you… shot? Your leg…” She glanced down and back up at him. “Please don’t feel you have to discuss it if you don’t-”

“No,” he interrupted, not wanting her to feel she had imposed upon him. “I wasn’t shot in my leg. I was stabbed and it became infected before I could get proper medical health. I had to spend some time in hospital correcting the mistake. I didn’t think I would go back to the front line after that, but they cleared me to return. My mothers letters were filled with her worry and anger over that decision.”

“I can understand how she feels,” Dana said quietly, her eyes downcast, fingers stroking her locket.

He felt the conversation was becoming too morose and so he suggested they continue walking and heading to dinner. She agreed and they moved on, him carrying the glasses and giving them to a server who had passed by.

Dinner was delicious, their conversation easy, but he could not help but feel something was different. She smiled and laughed, but the happiness did not quite reach her eyes.

After the meal was finished, she politely excused herself to return to her room, claiming she was tired and could do with an early night.

“Of course,” he responded with a nod, and she walked away.

Not wanting to be held within the walls of his own room just yet, he strolled around the ship again. On his second trip, he stopped at the library where he spent some time perusing the titles. Taking a book back to his room, he was determined to read as much as possible before falling asleep.

__________________

The days they spent together were different from the seemingly endless ones of planning and discussions. Then they worked tirelessly, walking to and from the library, the hotel, and her flat.

Now, they had time to relax, sleep later, lounge about if they so chose, which they did as it was a very welcome change.

They ate every meal together, learning more about one another.

She had grown up in Maryland and was the youngest of three siblings; her youngest brother dying in infancy.

Her brother, Bill, had fought in the war, coming home wounded in one eye. He handled it well, saying he could live his life with one eye as well as two. His fiancée, Adelaide, had not cared, thankful he had returned to her alive, and his children, of which he had two rambunctious boys, thought of him as a pirate.

Her sister, Melissa, was married to a very kind and quiet man, Joshua, who doted on her every need. They had three children and last she had heard, would soon be adding another.

“They are all the sweetest children, my sister's children more so, always sending me drawings and little notes. I love them all, miss them of course, but…” A hand at her throat drew his attention, but no story was forthcoming and he was left wondering about the mystery of the locket.

He told her of his life, a sometimes lonesome one without a sibling, wishing he had a playmate, but happy with his parents. His mother especially was loving and attentive and he had never lacked for anything.

“But it’s not made you as some,” Dana said and he frowned in confusion. “I mean that some people become demanding and rude, carrying their wealth as though it puts them above others. You don’t do that. You have wealth, as was obvious when I first met you, but you don’t flaunt it. It’s a part of you, but not something you think or worry about.”

“That may be the kindest way to tell someone they are a rich snob that I’ve ever heard,” he teased and she laughed, looking out at the water as they sat at a table, enjoying a drink.  

Other than the discussion the first day on the ship, the war was a topic they avoided and also how she had come to be in Egypt. It hung between them, something he would not have minded discussing, but one which she obviously did not, so their conversation mostly revolved around the journey and their destination.

The ship made many stops, allowing for touring the temples. For Fox, they saw nearly enough to make it all worthwhile, even without discovering anything on their own, but knew it was not the same for Dana. Her commentary of the day as they returned to the ship and had dinner, her eyes shining, he knew she was thinking of the excitement of their own hopeful discoveries.

Luxor, Karnak and Hathor, each place was more impressive than the last. The sheer magnitude of them was daunting enough, but the details in the artwork kept him standing in one place and sketching for longer than anticipated, only stopping when Dana joined him after touring places he had missed, his attention focused on sights before him.

There were people offering their expertise as a guide, but they declined them. Dana shared everything she knew, which was quite a bit, explaining what they saw with a passion the other guides lacked. He loved listening to her speak on subjects of which she knew, her tone animated and her hands moving quickly, pointing them out with a smile, his interest piquing with every word.

They went to the Valley of the Kings, where a large crowd waited to see the tomb of King Tutankhamun. Fox felt nervous as they made their way to the front of the queue, terrified he would react the same way he had at the pyramids. It would be twice as horrifying if it were to happen in front of Dana.

As the next couple walked forward, he took a deep breath. Thinking of the fact that it had been a while since he’d had any type of an attack of panic, he felt his heart start to race.

“Fox? Are you ready?” Dana asked, breaking into his thoughts and gesturing toward the tomb.

He took a deep breath and felt the panic begin to rise, when suddenly she touched his forearm and stared into his eyes. As she did, he felt a calm wash  over him, his breathing returning to normal.

“Yes,” he said, letting out his breath and swallowing down his worries. “Yes, I’m ready.” She smiled and took a step forward and he followed; down the steps and into the tomb.

_______________________

December 25, 1923

Off the ship and now staying at a hotel in Luxor, Fox dressed for dinner, tying his tie before he put on his jacket and walked out of the room.

Tomorrow would begin their day of preparation. They would be meeting with the men who would be joining them on their expedition. Food would be acquired, tools, clothes, tents, and any other items they would need.

Fox was excited, but also nervous, hoping they would truly find what they imagined was somewhere out in the middle of the desert. Tonight though, he and Dana were having dinner and celebrating the holiday.

Nearly a month on a ship, he was glad to be in a place which sat on solid ground. The ship had been large and comfortable, the river calm, but he still preferred to be on dry land.

Down the stairs, he stood waiting in the main lounge area for Dana. She did not keep him waiting long and when he saw her coming down the stairs, he drew in a deep breath.

Wearing the same dark blue dress as she had their first night on the ship. Her hair was up, though in a slightly different style, and his let out his breath when she reached him. He smiled, unable to take his eyes off of her.

“You’ve managed to make that dress even more beautiful the second time. You quite literally took my breath away.” He smiled again and she looked down, her cheeks pink, before raising her eyes to his and smiling.

“Thank you. You look very nice too,” she said and he nodded as he extended his arm to her. She took it and they walked into the dining room.

The room was large, with a dance floor in the middle, and tables around the edges, covered with white tablecloths. Candles lit around the room and sitting on the tables, gave it an inviting feeling.

“It’s beautiful in here,” Dana said, the orchestra in the corner beginning to play softly as they sat down.

“It is,” Fox agreed, looking around and smiling. “I think what I like best though, is that we aren’t on a moving ship. This room, being stationary, makes me very happy.” Dana laughed, picking up the menu from beside her plate.

Their food orders were given and as the waiter left them, he looked at the orchestra, his foot tapping the floor beneath the tablecloth. Turning his head, he looked back at Dana who smiled at him.

“I want to thank you, Dana,” he said quietly and she seemed surprised at his words. He drew a breath, about to speak, when the waiter arrived with a bottle of wine, filling their glasses. “A toast. To the journey on which we are about to embark, all we have seen, and to one another.” She raised her glass and tapped it to his, her eyes shining.

God, she’s beautiful, he thought, the dress and style of her hair accentuating her beauty.

When they had eaten, and the dishes cleared away, they rose to leave. Her eyes followed the dancing couples as they glided past, smiling and laughing.

“Would you like to dance?” he asked and she shook her head, clasping her hands in front of her. “A walk around the grounds of the hotel perhaps?” She smiled in agreement and they began to walk.

“Fox,” she said softly, her eyes on his. “I have thoroughly enjoyed the last few weeks. I’ve lived here for over three years and I have not had the opportunity to travel as we have done. I knew it was there, but the cost was beyond my means. Here I was in a place I had wanted to visit most of my life and I was stuck in one place.” She smiled at him, reaching for his arm and slipping her hand into the crook of it. “I never imagined I would be here, on the brink of doing what I set out to accomplish.” She stopped walking and held tight to his arm, forcing him to also stop. Staring at him, she smiled again.

“Thank you, Fox.”

“It has been my pleasure,” he whispered with a slight nod. “I have enjoyed the past few weeks as well. Immensely.” Placing his other hand over hers, he squeezed gently.

“And now I must express my appreciation. Thank you,” he said quietly and she shook her head. “No. I do thank you. If it was not you who answered my first letter, I would not have been as intrigued to come here. To not only see all that we have, but to meet and thank the person behind the pen. I’m so glad it was you. Thank you, Miss Scully.”

She blinked her eyes rapidly, though he could see the tears shining in them. He squeezed her hand again, let go and took a handkerchief from his pocket, handing it to her as they began to resume walking.

The music from the dining room could be heard through the open windows as they walked past and he stopped. Turning his face to her, he raised his eyebrows, asking silently if she would like to dance. She nodded and he took back his handkerchief, placing it into his pocket.

Holding out a hand, she took it and he pulled her close, waiting to feel the rhythm of the music.

“I’m not always good with the quicker steps, but I’ll try my best,” he confessed and she smiled.

“I’m not a great dancer myself. Please don’t feel worried,” she whispered. He smiled with a nod, his leg the furthest thing from his mind as he held her in his arms and they twirled, her laughter ringing through the air.

They stumbled only a couple of times, both apologizing and then laughing harder, but they kept dancing until the music stopped, with applause following.

Catching their breath, he looked at her and without thinking if it was the right thing to do, he leaned forward and kissed her softly, surprising both of them. He began to pull back, his apology already forming in his mind, when her grip tightened and she kissed him.

As quickly as it began, it stopped. She pushed away from him, her eyes wide.

“I… I’m sorry,” she breathed, a hand going to the locket at her throat. “I…” She shook her head and stepped back, walking away quickly.

“Dana… Please don’t leave,” he called after her, but she kept walking and he did not chase after her, knowing it was not what she wanted nor what he should do.

The music began to play again, happy and festive, the diners applauding, laughter  echoing through the windows. He felt no such joy, only worry and confusion. Less than a minute ago he had been happy, and now he stood alone, the memory of her kiss still lingering on his lips.

[rosethornewrites]

Fic: The Rebellion of Adrien Agreste ch. 1-2

Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth, Juleka Couffaine/Rose Lavillant, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Luka Couffaine, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Kagami Tsurugi, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Luka Couffaine, Lila Rossi/karma, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth/aneurism, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Kagami Tsurugi, Plagg & Tikki

Characters: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth, Lila Rossi, Jagged Stone, Plagg, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Luka Couffaine, Penny Rolling, Anarka Couffaine, Rose Lavillant, Juleka Couffaine, Kagami Tsurugi, Alya Césaire, Chloé Bourgeois, Wayhem, Nadja Chamack, Nathalie Sancoeur, Sabine Cheng, Tom Dupain, Tikki, Fang, Principal Damocles, Caline Bustier, Ms. Mendeleiev, original minor character, Alec Cataldi, Lila Rossi's Mother, Sabrina Raincomprix, Roger Raincomprix, Mylène Haprèle, Le Gorille | Adrien Agreste's Bodyguard, Nino Lahiffe, Nooroo

Tags: Lila Rossi salt, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Teenage Rebellion, Swearing, Bad Parent Gabriel Agreste, Crack Treated Seriously, Lila Rossi's Lies Are Exposed, Cuddling & Snuggling, Luka Couffaine Needs a Hug, Paparazzi, Parentification, Marinette Dupain-Cheng Needs a Hug, Gabriel Agreste Needs an Aneurism, Uncle Jagged Stone, we're all queer here, the spirit of punk is sometimes just being allowed to be yourself, Kagami Finds Her Groove, punk rock fashion, Savage Kagami, Marinette protection squad, Good Parent Sabine Cheng, Good Parent Tom Dupain, Protective Kagami Tsurugi, Protective Luka Couffaine, Bisexual Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Pansexual Luka Couffaine, Sharing a Bed, Pet Names, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Themes, Instagram, Bullying, Social Media, Anxiety, Makeover, Hugs, will cure your acne, Face Punching, Bad Ass Juleka Couffaine, Rumors, Protective Juleka Couffaine, Protective Adrien Agreste, Lawyers, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Holding Hands, accountability, mental health, Jagged Stone's well-paid pet shark, How to Make the Evening News, Sexy eyeliner for days, one fish two fish Lila is a screwed fish, How to have fun and piss Gabriel off, Fuckery, sweet litigious karma, Alya sugar, lawyer shark doo doo doo doo doo doo, Schadenfreude, Bad Ass Alya Césaire, Gaslighting, abuse denormalization, Jagged likes his lawyers like he likes his pets: toothy af, Blood in the Water, Everything you didn’t know you wanted and some things you did, Gabriel Agreste is shark bait, Denial, Consequences, Principal Damocles salt, caline bustier salt, the impotence of Gabriel Agreste, snarky Nooroo, lies and the lying liars who tell them, Lila's brain is a narcissistic hellscape, Lila’s mind is built like an Escher piece, Alec Cataldi salt, Adrien Sugar, wholesome salt, Fu Salt, Kwami Shenanigans, Nooroo is a little shit

Summary: Gabriel decides that Adrien entering a romantic relationship is a good move for the brand. He chooses Lila Rossi as the other half. Adrien nopes tf out.

Notes: I was gonna have it be a slow acceleration, but Adrien was all “Go big or go home.” Also trying to find motivation to write more of this fic.

AO3 link

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“No,” Adrien growled. “Absolutely not!”

Lila made a show of crying, not that anyone in the room believed her tears were real.

Gabriel frowned at him from his desk. “This will be good for the brand—”

“Fuck the brand!”

“Adrien! This is unbecoming. You will be seen to be dating Ms. Rossi. That is final.”

Adrien’s fists were so tight he was sure he had crescents eating into his palms. “Like hell it is! I will not date that—” he gestured at Lila “—lying cow. Not after how she’s hurt my friends.”

Said girl gasped, outraged, and Adrien was glad to see she actually looked truly upset.

His father stood, but kept his voice emotionless, calm, self-assured that he would capitulate. “Cease this ridiculous teenage rebellion.”

He saw red, but oddly it calmed him. “Father, you have not seen teenage rebellion,” he said, his voice almost terrifyingly calm. “But I would be happy to teach you what it looks like if you try to force me to do this.”

Gabriel’s eyes narrowed behind his glasses. Adrien could see him considering that, but then discarding it. “It will be in the papers tomorrow. If you misbehave, you’ll no longer be permitted to go to school.”

Adrien snorted. He knew more ways to escape this house than his father could possibly anticipate—some he’d made himself, even. “Good luck, Gabe. You’re going to need it.”

He spun on his heel before his father could respond and slammed the door behind him. With the enhanced strength he had as the Black Cat Miraculous chosen, the wood cracked audibly.

As he made his way back to his room, he realized the opportunity his father had just placed in his lap. As the face of the brand, Adrien had more power than Gabriel seemed to realize. It was time to stretch those muscles.

He had planning to do.

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His father had spectacularly good timing for pulling this kind of stunt—for Adrien, anyway. He’d heard from a couple of friends of his that a certain rock star was in town. And if anyone was up for promoting teenage rebellion, Adrien had no doubt it would be Jagged Stone.

It was child’s play to sneak out of the house. He didn’t even have to transform to do it. From there it was just making his way to the Grand Paris Hotel. The staff assumed he was there to see Chloé, so getting in was no problem. Jagged Stone always rented the same suite, so that wasn’t an issue, either.

The hard part, he knew, would come after he knocked on the door.

Jagged opened the door, and then peered at him suspiciously.

“Um, M. Stone, I don’t know if you remember me but—”

The rock star suddenly broke into a wide grin. “Oh, you’re Marinette’s model friend, right?”

Adrien blinked. Maybe this wouldn’t be so hard. His rock idol knew him?

Sadly, he had no time to fanboy.

“Yes, Adrien. I was wondering if I could trouble you for some help?”

And so that was how Adrien Agreste wound up sitting in Jagged Stone’s suite, petting Fang, and telling him about the woe that was the obsession his father had with Lila Rossi, Liar Extraordinaire.

“She said I had a what?”

“A kitten. And she got Marinette expelled and is just being really awful to her.”

Jagged opened a cell phone. “Penny, I need you. Yes, I know I sent you for macrons, but this is really important. Bring my niece with.”

When he was finished, he turned to Adrien again. “We’ll get that taken care of.”

“That’s not all, M. Stone.”

He pressed forward, telling his idol of the relationship he was being forced into and his promise to show Gabriel Agreste just what he could do if he really rebelled.

When he was done, Jagged’s face was gleeful in an almost terrifying way.

“Oh, please tell me I get to help with this?” At Adrien’s nod the man whooped in excitement. “Brilliant. Once my niece gets here, we’ll plan properly. She’s a planner, that one. Smart as a whip.”

Adrien blinked. “Your niece?”

“Marinette, of course! Honorary niece.”

His jaw dropped. Marinette had always had the upper hand on Lila, could call in Jagged at any moment to destroy her, and had held back. He never should’ve stopped her.

“My father can’t know she helped. He’s got so much power in the fashion industry, and I don’t want to hurt her career.”

Jagged waved away his concerns. “Mate, listen. From what I understand you’re the face of that company. You have the power, not him. Get you in some Marinette originals, and he can’t undo the fame that’ll bring her.”

Adrien hadn’t considered that. “I just don’t want her hurt.”

He heard the door open, and then a soft, “Adrien?”

It meant he had to explain the situation all over again, letting Jagged Stone assure her that he was going to pop the liar’s kitten whopper as soon as possible.

“I can stop by your school with Fang, yeah? They can’t keep me from saying hi to my favorite niece.”

Marinette bit her lip. “That would be helpful, but for Adrien…”

Adrien smiled. “I want you to design me a new look. Something we can do here and now—maybe with the discrete help of some of the hotel staff, since they have that nice spa and such. Hair dye, new clothes. Maybe some fake piercings. Oooh, a fake tattoo?”

Jagged glanced at Penny, who looked uncertain about this. “Don’t be a party pooper, Penny.”

“His father might sue you,” she pointed out.

“Like I care. I have money.” He grinned. “And for what? Giving his kid a makeover?”

“French law—”

“Nope, don’t care. It’s happening. Get his sizes and go to my favorite stores. Adrien, what color scheme?”

Adrien blinked. He hadn’t thought that far. He glanced at Marinette. “Um, do you think Chat Noir would mind if I used his colors? I think of him when I think teenage rebellion.”

That was more because being Chat Noir had up to this point been his way of rebelling, but she didn’t need to know that.

To his surprise, Marinette grinned, the smile wide enough to match Jagged’s. “Oh, I like that idea. Chains and spikes? Fake lip ring and septum?”

“Absolutely!”

Jagged made a shooing motion at Penny, who rolled her eyes and headed toward the door, before joining in. “Now how about this idea: black and neon green hair, done to look like a skunk’s stripes!”

Adrien was surprised to find himself laughing honestly at the idea. He’d been so angry less than an hour ago, but this was truly fun. “This makes me think of those J-Rock bands, how they used to dress up.”

Jagged’s phone let out a guitar riff and he glanced at it. “Oh, right. Penny needs your measurements. Shoe size, too. Definitely some stomping boots, I think.”

He handed over his unlocked phone for Adrien to text.

“I’ll call the salon, yeah?”

Adrien nodded, texting the information, then froze. “Wait, Chloé might tell my father.”

That got a laugh. “Nah. They’re discrete. They bring everything up here for me—I won’t be around people if I’m getting my hair dyed.”

While Jagged made the call, Adrien finished the text. When he looked up, Marinette was watching him. She turned pink when she realized he’d caught her.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” she asked after a moment.

He sighed, slumping back on the sofa and resting his hand on Fang’s head again. “No, but I don’t have any better ones. That stupid news claiming I’m with Lila’s going to hit tomorrow. And I’m so done with this, with him treating me like I’m property.”

Marinette looked worried, and he tried to muster up a smile. From her expression, he didn’t manage it.

“Maybe…” she started, then trailed off.

“Maybe?”

She didn’t look at him. “Maybe you should look into laws involving child labor and parental responsibility. You… you might be able to get emancipated.”

That startled him—something he hadn’t even thought of before. He hadn’t even been aware it was an option.

When Marinette did look at him, her eyes were stormy. “He’s so… cruel to you. Maybe there’s legal recourse.”

“I’ll think about it,” he murmured. That seemed like such a drastic measure. “I don’t know if I want to go that far.”

She nodded, and he excused himself to go to the bathroom.

Plagg shot out of his pocket the moment the door was closed. “I’m so proud of you kid. This is gonna be great!”

“Thanks, Plagg.”

The kwami grabbed the proffered wedge of camembert.

“And think about what Pigtails said. Your dad’s a real piece of work, and you deserve better.”

“I will.”

Adrien could feel the idea turning over in his mind, as though gathering strength. When he left the bathroom, Jagged met him excitedly.

“I have just the idea! A temporary face tattoo!”