#Lots of good bts but we got some missing cast members

[drivebyanon]

Itty bitty teeny tiny Lou sighting (as a like on Kenny’s post)

[bugsbenefit]

Even leaving aside the rest of that ask about Karen, how are the show runners "glazing Cara" according to st twitter now lmao. I swear no one on there understands the concept of just liking the people you work with...

very good point. tbh 'glazing' really lost it's meaning. that's just the thing you say now about characters showing up in the show or marketing that you don't care about that much

but looking at how fandom treats certain characters it is kind of apparent how Karen isn't really seen as big of a deal as the show actually makes her in general. (at last in hyper invested fandom spaces. more regular viewers see her as much more of a main character) which i think causes a bit of dissonance when the show keeps promoting her. because if you think she's as unimportant of a side character as say, Dustin's mom, then you probably would think her constantly showing up on posters and bts footage is undeserved glazing

the thing is that Karen is actually kind of important. she's absolutely not a background character

you have the primary mains like Joyce, Hopper, the kids. more secondary mains that don't really have the hard hitting plot points of the show happen to them but are fleshed out and who the writers still take care writing like Steve, Robin etc. and then Karen falls in somewhere between a secondary and tertiary protagonist

she actually gets things to do each season. she has character arcs. from actually meeting and being suspicious of Brenner in s1, to her worry about Nancy in s3, the Billy situation, even s4 ends with her and Holly at the window looking out at the spores

actual side characters in the show, like Ted, the Sinclairs, Claudia Henderson, don't have any arcs to their characters. they're background decorum when their children (the actual protagonists) are home or need to talk to someone

but Karen falls much closer to actual protagonist status. which also explains why she's consistently featured in the marketing alongside the other mains

which is how the Byers and Wheelers turned into the two big families the show kind of revolves around to begin with. we know the most about them because almost all family members are protagonists in their own right. you have the kids Mike and Will, Nancy and Jonathan. and then the moms. the only difference being that Karen is kept in the dark about the UD plot and Joyce got thrown directly into it in s1 because it was her son that went missing

and the thing that people seem to get stuck on about Karen is that she's the only protag that doesn't explicitly know about the UD

which, honestly, makes her kind of interesting. especially with where they'll take that in s5, because she'll have to be confronted with what's been going on eventually. and what has been tormenting both her children for years. hell, she had such a close encounter with Billy in s3, she would have been in Heather's place that season hadn't Billy still had some semblance of control at that point. and she isn't even aware

Karen has been involved in the UD plot for seasons, there just wasn't any payoff to it yet because she doesn't know

Karen Wheeler, tight rope walker when it comes to getting as close as humanly possible to the supernatural plot without having to actually confront it

but it really boils down to, Karen is, and always has been an important character and the marketing has always reflected that

side note but what i've also seen cause a lot of the 'they're just needlessly glazing xyz' complaints is that sometimes it's just people being pissy their favourite characters aren't getting a singular spotlight on them. i've mainly seen it from solo El or Will stans (still exist in the year of the lord 2024) who don't care about the rest of the cast or plot outside of one character. so when Karen who, 'doesn't even know about the UD' gets so much s5 marketing that's hype that could have gone to someone more important in their minds. again, glazing entering the pantheon of words that lost all meaning on social media

[jmdbjk]

He wears his heart on his sleeve

...maybe he should just get it tattooed there too.

Jungkookie was very quiet and reflective during his most recent Weverse live, at least at first.

Perhaps he was manifesting his Jimin to appear in the comments because he stared at them for a while... a long while.

Earlier in the evening, with Tae, he attended the movie premiere of Dream, a soccer movie with a ragtag team storyline. A team of misfits who come together and persevere. It stars Tae's friend, Park Seojoon, Wooga squad and fellow cast member on Jinny's Kitchen.

He looked happy to be there but self-conscious at the same time. Unused to the crowds and spotlight after being out of it for a while. He didn't have anyone to hide behind. It looks like maybe he said "oh my god" when he stepped up in front of the bank of cameras (haha).

After having a supposedly fun outing, Kookie came to visit us on Weverse live and seemed to have a lot on his mind. He said he missed us and wished us good health both physically and mentally. I imagine Hobi leaving for service and Moonbin's tragedy last week are fresh cuts to our Kookie's heart. It breaks MY heart that Kookie has to experience those things. I don't know how close Kookie was to Moonbin. But I do know losing someone so suddenly can make you so scary aware of your own mortality and makes you realize instantly what should truly be important and what is irrelevant.

I am thinking his evening out had him keyed up and he came to visit with us in order to decompress and relax. He said the only ones who could create a calming environment for him right now was Army. However, the (I'm sure inane) comments he was seeing were not doing the trick. He seemed a little perturbed at them so he turned them off.

But he said sitting there knowing we were on the other side was calming and enough for him at that moment. He felt at peace knowing we are all connected. And then he let out a big sigh. Sort of a "I'm doing the best I can" sigh. Oh Kookie, I feel you.

Incidentally, the song he said he was obsessed with that evening and that he had playing in the background on repeat was I Really Want to Stay At Your House by Rosa Walton & Hallie Coggins ... some of the lyrics:

Another evening I'll be sitting reading in between your lines Because I miss you all the time...

...I'm on top of you, I don't wanna go 'Cause I really wanna stay at your house

He said he's working hard on new music but its difficult. If he says its not easy, then the final result will probably be OUTSTANDING because he struggled to make HIS version of perfect. Masterpieces are sometimes not easy to create.

He was steadily sinking, sitting in the dark, sipping his highball through a straw but after 35 minutes of solemnity and saying he needed to go to sleep, he all of a sudden came alive when he began talking about food... go figure.

He waffled back and forth about whether he should just get off his butt and make the noodles or go to sleep, but then he really got into it and explained in great detail this recipe, down to the proper color of the perilla oil to use. Though he didn't have the correct perilla oil in his pantry, he made the sauce and boiled the noodles.

The whole idea of him puttering around his kitchen trying out new ways to make noodle or rice dishes is very endearing. He does have somewhat of a head start in advanced levels of cooking though because of the times they filmed Run BTS episodes with Chef Paik. He learned important cooking procedures like "reduce" the liquid in the pan and desirable "viscosity" of the sauce.

When he's into it, HE. IS. INTO. IT. He adjusted his recipe, repeated the ratios of ingredients, explained in great detail every step.

Please. Someone just hug him. JIMIN COME GET YOUR MAN.

[fangirlingtodeath513]

Ayo this is unedited notes from Misha’s panel excuse the emojis (except for the one after Misha said “what are they gonna do, fire me?” because that one was warrented)

* Watching the finale was tough because it represented the end of a chapter of his life but he has a palpable feeling that the spn family isn’t going anywhere

* Favorite memory making a recipe w/kids and Vicki? Pasta with jam sauce 🥺 bizarre and totally disgusting 😂

* Projects in mind? Yes, worked a lot on US election which was pretty invigorating for him, plans to do more work on Georgia runoff elections. Publishing a book of poetry, close to closing a deal with a publisher for that. Couple of film projects he’s trying to get off the ground, one he wouldn’t be in or direct, other interested in directing and possibly acting.

* What do you think happened when Jack brought Cas back and what’s he doing? There was a different ending that COVID made impossible to shoot. Not supposed to talk about it but it was big crowd scenes. In the original iteration, he didn’t go to recreate Heaven, he had a different ending. Didn’t read the last two endings and watched them as they aired. Knew in the abstract what Cas and Jack’s fates were but he doesn’t really know what the answer is.

* What was West and Maison’s experience of watching Spn for the first time? They can’t watch scary things at all so they haven’t ever watched a full episode. West and Maison asked him to tell them when a scary part was coming up and Misha said “well unfortunately, I don’t really know”. Kids looked totally shellshocked at the cold open 😂 Spn may have been good for his career and the fandom but has irrevocably scarred his children

* Screencapping chat because they’re typing too fast 😂

* Will you go to Russia again? He’d love to but he’s said a lot of bad things about Putin so he might be arrested 😂

* What qualities do he and Cas share? Over time, the character melded with Misha and became softer and more sensitive and tried to do the right thing and be a good person.

* What’s the one thing you’ll take with you from playing Castiel? He thinks a lot. On a professional level, it was fascinating to play a character for so many years, (discussed recently with J2) the characters really became a part of them. Watching Dean’s death he cried, but because “that’s Cas’s friend Dean dying”. Cas will always be will him, an aspect of his being forever.

* What’s your favorite thing to bake with kiddos? Loves to bake pie, fave is strawberry rhubarb.

* He teared up watching 15x18 🥺

* Have other cast members disclosed what the original ending was supposed to be? Doesn’t want to be the one to reveal state secrets but “What are they gonna do, fire me? 😏”

* We saw a version of Heaven that was populated with all the people from their past. But they couldn’t do that due to COVID restrictions.

* Fave BTS memory from set? Don’t have one, they’ve been close friends for 12 years. They’ve had laughing fits, fights, gotten pissed off at each other, but some of his fondest memories of work are of Supernatural.

* Why did Cas’s trench coat stay intact? He can magically mend his clothing. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ When he went in, they wanted him to look like Constantine-suit was way too big, had to fold his shirt and tuck it because it was too big. He got a new suit at first which wasn’t explained, lost the tie and then brought it back, which wasn’t explained, and once season they just started him in a new wardrobe and said nothing 😂

* Stole trench coats from set, will probably wrap them around himself and cry at some point

* To get in the zone for Cas’s confession and death, he went and sat in a dark corner of the set and Rob Hayter stood guard over him so no one would bother him 🥺 and when they were ready for him on set, Rob would come over very gently and say “Misha they’re ready for you”

* How did you feel when you read 15x18? He knew that ending was coming for a long time, been talking to Berens about it, and was really happy about it. It was the ending he wanted for Cas. Felt risky and brave for the show to do and he was proud to be a part of that. Seen people complaining about bury your gays trope and he doesn’t feel that’s what happened with Cas’s ending. He’a glad Cas got to have that moment and he’s proud the show did that.

* Do you think you’ll get an SPN tattoo? Doesn’t have any, was thinking about getting some for his children. Should he get tats of Jensen and Jared’s faces? 😂 Get a tat of Cas’s face on his abdomen? 😂 Probably no tattoo re:spn for him but he totally supports anyone that does.

* The last scene he shot as Cas was the last scene of the day on Friday. He, Alex, Rich, and Jensen all had to get to Vegas for a con. They shot late into the night and finished around 1:30-very teary, Misha’s goodbye to the show- had to get a chartered flight to get there on time. One of the engines exploded and they had to circle back, plane was shaking, really scary. Texting their families, didn’t know if they were gonna crash land. It was such a strange night, super intense.

* He misses the pimpmoble.

* What non-hunter job would Cas be good at? Security guard, he never sleeps and never gets bored. Not a great teacher, architect, or artist. Handy in the kitchen, maybe a cook?

* What color are Cas’s wings? Shit, idk, I always thought they were black. Ah! They’re rainbow colored, how about that?

* When he was directing, Jared would take the canvas off his director’s chair and lay it over so it looked like a real chair and Misha fell for that probably 5 times. Jared kept messing up lines so Misha cut and went to see what was wrong and Jared pied him in the face. Jensen brought him another shirt with was nice, went for lunch and Jensen pied him in the face 🙄😂

* Real story behind the handprint in 15x18? He doesn’t remember but it was a really nice touch.

* Fave thing about panels? He and Jensen have had a lot of fun panels in Rome 👀 Brought up the resume-off 👀👀 Had pizza delivered to a panel once.

* Fave version of Castiel to play? Had fun playing Lucifer. Loved playing human!Cas, was fun to explore what it would be like. Just regular Cas was his favorite. Wouldn’t have wanted to trade regular Cas for any other iterations 🥺

[jjksblackgf]

BTS Reaction - You’re sick/injured and he’s jealous that another member takes care of you

kim seokjin

He rushed over to the hospital as soon as your friend called to give him the news. He didn’t know any details and didn’t want to wait to receive them, he just grabbed his stuff and went to your encounter.

As he ran through the halls of the hospital, he didn’t mind when people recognized him. Trying to find the room the receptionist gave to him, all he wanted to do was to see you with his own eyes.

“How much pain, on a scale of 1 to 10?” he asked you once he was in your room, with very clear pain in his voice and furrowed brows.

“Zero” you answered “My shoulder is back where it should, so I don’t feel any pain. And the doctor gave me painkillers if I feel like I need it”

He wanted to ask more questions, but was interrupted by Taehyung, as he walked in with chips and candy he probably bought at a vending machine.

“Hey hyung” Tae spoke smiling and placed the treats on your lap. “Here you go, Y/N, go wild” he added

“Thanks, Tae, that was very sweet” you thanked Taehyung with a smile, making Seokjin kinda jealous. He wanted to be the one treating you nicely right now.

“Shouldn’t you eat something more nutritious than this?” Jin asked

“But hospital food sucks, hyung, she needs to have a little fun to heal faster” Taehyung said before you could, earning a giggle from you

“But you’re not the doctor, are you?” Jin asked with a cold voice, and he regretted the minute the words slipped his mouth. “I’m sorry, Taehyung, that was unnecessary” continued.

“Tae, can you give us a moment, please?” You asked and he left the room. Jin proceeded to apologize and explain his behavior.

min yoongi

95% of the time he loves his job, even when he’s stuck at work, he knows all the hard work would pay off soon.

But now he has you, someone he could go home to. And now, being stuck at work was not as okay as it was before. Now every time he’s stuck at work he has an internal conflict.

Today was especially hard because you had a mild fever for most of the day and other flu symptoms. But he managed to get away from work to be with you, getting home not much later with some hot soup he knew you liked.

He didn’t like the sight when he got home, tho. Jimin was watching a movie with you. He doesn’t really mind you getting closer because he trusts you and trusts all the other members around you. 

What bothered him were the bowl of soup in your hands and a few packs of medicine recently bought. Jimin got to take care of you before he could, and that broke his heart a little. Not saying anything, he leaves the thing he bought for you at the dinner table and goes to take a shower.

“I’ll get going” Jimin said before you got to and you said your goodbyes.

After that you went to your bedroom and sat on the bed, waiting for Yoongi to leave the bathroom.

“Hey, baby” you said with a sweet voice. Yoongi didn’t respond, he just sat on the bed by your side

“I’ll apologise to Jimin tomorrow” he murmured to you

“Good” you said and hugged him sideways while he took a deep breath.

“I’m sorry for disrespecting you today, I don’t know why I did that-” he started to ramble but you kissed him to make him stop

“Apology accepted” you smiled “Let’s go to the living room, I want to cuddle with you while watching movies.”

jung hoseok

He didn’t have the experience, but he could imagine how breaking a leg would suck. Good thing he was able to take a few personal days to the company, so he got to take care of you the first week. 

When you were better and more adjusted to your new routine, he decided to catch up at work. He would rather take care of you, but you reassured him you were okay, and you knew he was more needed at work than at home.

You would still be able to see him everyday. Perks of living together, baby.

But you were bored at home alone and missing him a little, but you couldn’t admit that to him, he would just simply stop working to be with you. So you asked Seokjin to hang out with you, he had finished recording early and was free for the day. 

And you just had a very fun end of afternoon with Jin. He helped you a lot, he even cooked your dinner. It was instant ramen since you didn’t have much ingredients, but still. He even scratched your feet with an old pencil. And that’s when your boyfriend gets home, he would sure want to join the fun

“Hi, honey” you said with a huge grin “Oh my God, Jin, this tickles too much” You said laughing loud.

“Hi, jagiya. Good night, hyung” Hoseok said, very polite but with a very cold tone. His angry face was about to show itself and you and Seokjin knew it.

“Is that how you greet your hyung?” Jin started with a surprised expression

“What? I said goodnight!” Hoseok responds

“I was here taking care of your girlfriend, don’t you think I deserve at least a thank you?”

“Don’t you think that I wanted to be the one to take care of her?”

“You guys, stop. This is not heading towards a productive conversation” you meddled 

“Listen to your girlfriend” Jin says as he gets up to leave “We’ll talk next time we see each other”

You got to talk to Hoseok and convinced him to call Seokjin and clear things out, you two knew everything was going to be okay in the end.

kim namjoon

You went to spend his day off with him at the dorms, he said he didn’t mind your cold and you were really clingy these days. 

You two were taking a nap together and Namjoon wakes up to find that you're not with him at the bed. He doesn't think much of it until he hears your laughter and goes to check in on you and know where you’re at, finding you seated with Yoongi while he plays the piano.

‘Oh yeah? Bet’ he thinks. He knows it’s just his passive aggressiveness showing its colors, but he can’t help it. He feels like it’s his job to take care of you. ‘This is not a good color on you, Namjoon’

“Hey baby, are you having fun with Yoongi hyung?” he asks as he puts his elbows at the top of the piano.

“Oh yeah, we’re just playing random songs” you answered

“Have you taken your meds yet?”

“No, not yet, but I’m not-”

“I’ll go get them” he responded before you could finish the sentence and went running to the meds cabinet and came back in under a minute. “Here” he said, trying to catch his breath.

“I’ll take them later, baby, I don’t think I need them right now” you said with an apologetic tone.

“Sure, okay! What do you want to eat, we can order something, or I can talk to Jin hyung and see if-”

“Oh, it’s okay, we already ate” you said referring to you and Yoongi

“Oh…” He just stood there kinda staring at you both

“Are you jealous or something?” Yoongi asks, seeing Namjoon’s reaction

“Yeah” he responded with a barely audible tone. You got up from your seat and hugged him tight, leaving pecks on his face until he smiled.

“Ew” Yoongi said as he got up from the piano and went away.

park jimin

At the practice room, you and Jungkook were sitting on the couch. He had a bunch of markers, the cast of your broken arm was a blank canvas to him. He just went wild with his creativity and drew different things, making it colorful.

Jimin was not a fan of the sight, even though your attention was fully on him, he was bothered by Jungkook getting all the space on the cast. You were his girlfriend, shouldn’t he be the one to draw a lot on it? 

He didn’t understand why he was so jealous, neither understood why he wanted to practice the new choreography in front of you and describe all the times he was better than JK or when he got the moves quicker. He did it anyway.

Jungkook just laughed a little and sighed, shaking his head, deciding to leave you alone with Jimin “I'll come back to work on it when hyung is not jealous anymore, just text me when” you nodded.

You patted the sofa and he sat on your side. “So…” you started, trying to get him to talk, but he didn’t know what to say. He was part embarrassed, part angry at himself. “You don’t trust me and the members together?” you asked after a moment, trying to see his point of view

“I do, I really do” he started saying “I don't know what got to me… I'm sorry, jagiya” he went for a hug and you hugged him back as tight as you could.

“What can we do to make you feel more comfortable, then?” you asked him

“I don't know” he responded honestly

“What made you feel jealous in the first place?”

And after that an idea popped in his head. He would feel very comfortable if Jungkook wrote his name in the cast with very bold letters.

kim taehyung

Boy was so eager to get home and take care of you. He knew it was just a cold, but he just hated knowing you were in any kind of pain or discomfort.

He bought painkillers, a hot pack, coughing medicine, soup, and the whole shabang. All the thoughts running through his mind were how quick he could put you on the bed and place lots of covers on you.

But the sound of your laughter as he opened the door was as relieving as worrying. Who was here? He calmed down as he thought that maybe it was your best friend. But he was wrong.

As soon as he saw Hoseok giving you a glass of water, the “this is fine” meme was at the front of his mind.

“Hi honey,” you said as soon as you laid your eyes on him “what you got there?” you asked eyeing the shopping bags.

“I bought these things for you,” he said in a low tone “I even got you soup, but I can see you’ve already been taken care of” his smile was there but you noticed that it was sarcastic with a hint of pain.

Hoseok noticed too, “Get well soon, Y/N” he said as he stood up “I’ll see you later” he gave Tae a quick pat on the back and closed the door behind him.

You watched Taehuyng in silence as he put the bags on the coffee table in front of you. “Let’s share the soup” you spoke as he sat down by your side

“You’re the one who needs this more, my love” he said softly “Do you need anything else? I got pain meds, coughing meds…” he continued speaking, but all you wanted to do was to hug him, and so you did

“You know I love you, right?” you spoke to his ear

He smiled faintly as he hugged you back “I know you do”

jeon jungkook

You had your hand immobilized after a torsion while working out, it was nothing serious but the doctors wanted to make sure the healing would go smoothly and faster.

You thought you could use only one hand, but you were wrong. You still wanted to bake cookies for your boyfriend so it could be ready when he finished with his video game.

He was doing a lot of things for you and you wanted to thank him, and also wanted to feel useful again. But it wasn’t going as you liked so you asked for Namjoon to help.

“Really? Me?” he was surprised by your request, he says he’s not very kitchen help material.

“All you need to do is to hold things still so I can mix it up” you answered, and so the baking started.

Jungkook decided he was done with the games and wanted to hang out with you more, finding you in the kitchen stirring chocolate chips in a bowl with what looked like cookies from afar.

“Hey, what are you doing over here?” he asks

“I wanted to bake some cookies for you, I know you like them” you said after he pecked your lips. 

“Oh, jagiya, you didn’t have to” he went to help but Namjoon was standing still in his helping position “It’s okay hyung, I’m the boyfriend, I’m going to be the help from now on” he said to Namjoon in a playful tone but you understood the subtext, and so did Namjoon

“No need to get jealous, Kook”

“I’m not jealous, I’m just saying-”

“Hey, hey” you interrupted them “You two can stop the chatting and put the cookies on the baking sheet, since I can’t at the moment”

After they did as you asked, Jungkook placed the trays in the heated oven and started cleaning in silence, Namjoon helped him, keeping the awkward silence in the room. You just sat back and watched the tension build.

“I’ll see you guys later” Namjoon announced as he finished placing the bowls in the cabinets.

“Next time promise me you will interrupt me so I can help you” Jungkook said after taking the cookies out of the oven.

“Fine” you rolled your eyes “But you promise to go apologize to Namjoon”

“Promise” and with that you two interlaced your pinkies.

[skycruise]

Misha virtual panel Sunday 22 Nov, 2020

Tried to type as much as I could as he spoke. I know the whole thing will probably be up fairly soon so you can watch, but for now--

--He finished shooting in March

--Thought he had mourned the passing of the show & had processed it but finale was an emotional experience, took him out for a couple days

--Thinks the fandom isn’t going anywhere

--Favorite memory making recipe with kids and Vicky, talks about how cookbook came about, West made pasta with jam sauce for Thanksgiving

--Projects for future? Worked on political elections recently, planning to do more of that particularly Georgia in January. Publishing book of poetry. Couple of film projects but not as actor, one he’s interested in directing.

--How do you think Jack brought Cas back? There was a different ending that Covid made impossible, but not supposed to talk about it. Involved bringing back lots and lots of cast members from the past. In original ending, Cas hadn’t gone to rebuild Heaven there was a DIFFERENT CONCLUSION FOR HIM. He did not read the last 2 episodes after the changes. He thinks Cas and Jack are more “ethereal” when rebuilding Heaven. Pure speculation though, he doesn’t know. Will probably be better explored in fan fiction than what he could come up with.

--Fan from Brazil thanks him and asks a question I don’t fully understand. Misha talks about watching the finale with his kids. West and Maison asked him to tell them if a scary part comes up, but he had no idea. Evil clowns “shell shocked” and probably traumatized the kids. West wanted to watch something else to get it out of his head. Went to watch Curb Your Enthusiasm lol. Misha jokes he is doing a shitty job keeping his kids away from the horrors of the world.

--Castiel “melded” with Misha. Cas was just a soldier at first but over time we saw him unfurl so that he didn’t fit in anywhere “fish out of water” but tried to be a good person.

--What is the one thing he will take with him from playing Castiel? A lot. On a professional level, it was fascinating to play a character for so many years. Talked about it with J2, how the characters became part of them over the years. Watching Dean’s death scene, he cried but because it was Cas’s friend Dean. It was a weird thing on an emotional level because the lines were blurry between himself and Cas. He feels he will literally take the character with him. Cas is part of him. Maybe he should double down on therapy to try and untangle him lol. Has a “naive” idea the fandom won’t go away, at least right away. Feels grateful to be a part of that, the fandom community does a lot of great things. 

--Favorite thing to bake with the kids? Pies. Though he doesn’t love pie, but he does bake a lot of them and the kids like them. Favorite kind of pie? Probably strawberry rhubarb. Doesn’t bake enough cakes! Recently made fortune cookies and put little messages inside, he put lewd messages in.

--He wants to know if he’s naive thinking the fandom will be around awhile. Fan says NO he is not.

--Misha also teared up in 15x18.

--Anything more he can say about stuff that didn’t happen in finale that was supposed to? He doesn’t want to be the one to reveal, but what are they going to do, fire him? It was a version of Sam and Dean’s Heaven that was populated with all these people from their past, all of the characters that we love from over the years were there. But COVID. 

--Favorite bts memory with the boys? He doesn’t have one, they were close friends for 12 years, lots of antics. Laughing fits, fights, got pissed off at each other, fondest memories of any work he’s done were on SPN, so much laughing and mirth, he’s going to miss that.

--Why did Cas’s trenchcoat remain intact despite all his deaths? Cas never lost the ability to magically mend his clothing. It made no sense that if he got stabbed or shot, sometimes it ripped the shirt but sometimes it wouldn’t. Or it would be cleaned up by the next episode. They wanted him to look like Constantine at the beginning, costume was 3 sizes too big, finally (he doesn’t remember what season) asked for a better fitting costume. New suit first, then lost the tie but eventually put it back. One season they just got him a whole new wardrobe and never explained it. He stole some trenchcoats.

--Cas’s confession was one scene where there wasn’t much joking around, he needed to be in an emotional state. Sat on a folding chair and ruminated on his own. Stunt coordinator noticed that and just stood by, knew Misha needed his space, it was really sweet. Made sure no one bothered him. Didn’t ask him to do that, it was intuitive & Misha was appreciative. Crew was great about that during heavy scenes.

--How did he feel reading script where Cas dies? Knew it was coming, had had conversations with Bobo, was happy with it. Felt a little risky and brave, was happy to be a part of that. Happy his character could express love like that. Has seen people complain about bury your gays trope and doesn’t think that’s what was happening. Cas is in Heaven, rebuilding Heaven, and also so much good came from that declaration. Cas saved Dean which was essential to saving the world. That declaration saved the world and was of Cas’s own volition, he wasn’t forced to do that, it was his choice & that’s important. Maybe he’s naive but he didn’t think they were playing into that trope. He’s glad Castiel got to express that. He’s proud that the show did that. He’s sure it’s a conversation that will continue to be dissected.

--Will he ever get an SPN tattoo? Hasn’t thought about it, has thought about getting one related to his kids. Is that a “has-been” tattoo? Should he get Jensen and Jared’s faces? LOL. Tattoo of Cas’s face on his abdomen? Nah probably no SPN tattoo.

--3 things he does to be kind to himself? Has a tendency to be hard on himself. Sleep, run, meditate. He feels guilty he doesn’t spend enough time with his kids so he does but doing that he sometimes doesn’t take care of himself as much which makes him grumpier and not a great dad. Balancing act.

--Fave moment of finale was Dean’s death scene. Masterfully executed, well done, excellent performances from J2. Made him cry. 

--Best memory of last day on set. Everyone was being really sweet, lots of tears from crew and cast. Last scene was last thing on Friday, Him Alex, Jensen, Speight had to fly to convention next morning. Finished around 130 am, got on chartered flight, 15 minutes in flash of light and BOOM, one of the engines exploded, circled back to Vancouver and plane was shaking, really scary, during emergency landing they were texting their loved ones because they weren’t sure if they’d see them again

--Did angels get their wings back? Yeah probably. Why wouldn’t they? He misses Castiel’s car though. The Pimpmobile. Had hydraulics. Remembers car jumping up and down because JARED broke it.

--Cas would be a great security guard because he never sleeps. Would not be a great teacher or architect or artist...could be handy in a kitchen though.

--What color are Cas’s wings? Misha always thought they were black, but maybe they’re rainbow colored!

--Worst joke from J2? Jokes J2 are not good people, they got really excited leading up to him directing because they were plotting, they were going to break into his apartment and steal his furniture but Misha was tipped off by crew. Fish left under his car seat, again he was tipped off. One thing he remembers is Jared messing with his directors chair so that he would fall when he sat on it. Fell for it probably 5 times. Also Jared messing up his lines until Misha went to talk to him, which is when he got pied in the face. Everything looked blurry for like 20 minutes, Jensen brought him another shirt & apologized, then during lunchtime Jensen pied him too. 

--How did Cas feel when Jack became new god? Vindicated. Like, “we did it”. Also feels concerned that Jack is no longer Jack. But at his core Jack was still himself.

--Real story behind handprint? He doesn’t know, but it was a nice touch. Doesn’t remember how they came up with that. Great call back to very beginning. Poignant. 

--Favorite Dad joke? The one with the snail getting thrown across the yard and 2 years later asking what was that about.

--Didn’t hear this one well but what I picked up was Favorite con moments? He and Jensen have had really fun panels in Rome

--Favorite version of Castiel to play? Loved playing LuciferCas and HumanCas. Wishes there had been more HumanCas. But regular Cas was his overall favorite, wouldn’t have wanted to trade regular Cas for any other Cas.

--Miss you guys, love you, hopefully see you soon.

[stranger-who-writes-fiction]

I had a whole list of stuff I liked about Supergirl Ep. 6x07 “Fear Knot” typed out and then accidentally hit the keyboard command for ‘select all’ and THEN accidentally hit ‘b’ so.

A list! That will...be much shorter than the original! Because I’m very tired and don’t wanna type it up all over again! XD

Spoilers!

Okay, rapid fire highlights, HERE WE GO!

Space Dad was the true MVP here! Just wonderful J’onn content throughout.

The Danvers Sisters hug! I wanted exactly one thing from this episode and that was it. 

Interesting BTS info revealed about the hug: Originally, it was supposed to be the main trio (Kara, J’onn, Alex) but they trimmed it down for time so it ended up being just a Danvers Sisters moment AND, AND! Chyler’s ‘I got you,’ such a LOVELY callback to the Pilot, was ad-libbed!

Fine. Just. Make me feel feelings, show. Geez.

The Tower is a MARTIAN SPACESHIP!

Alex, re: the Tower reveal - “I love Martian technology.”

Same, Alex. Same.

 The ENTIRE* GANG OF SUPERFRIENDS got meaty character bits that build on all of the stuff introduced in earlier episodes! 

*Save for M’gann, but I appreciated they at least had a line about how she was staying behind to hold down the fort. 

Anyways, back to character stuff, in particular! We see Kelly grapple with feeling out of her depth as the lone ‘normal’ one in a group of heroes/vigilantes, introduced in...was it 6x03? AND we see the set-up for GUARDIAN, WOO!

The thing I love about the Guardian mantle, for James and as we’ll no doubt see for Kelly, is that it’s about protecting people; their weapon of choice isn’t really a weapon at all, but a shield.

:D

J’onn and Alex’s stuff more directly ties into how they’ve been handling the ‘save Kara’ mission

Obviously Alex’s fears in particular speak to the larger, ongoing stuff about how so much of Alex’s identity is wrapped up in protecting Kara, but this mini-arc of seven episodes has sort of...laser focused that? A little?

This made a lot more sense in the first draft I swear. XD

And J’onn gets to come full circle with successfully completing the mission by being both a dad AND a strategic leader.

And then poor Nia is still struggling with insecurities regarding her dreaming powers, a thread that looks like it’ll carry over into the next set of episodes.

BRAINY AND THE BALLOONS????

J’onn:

The Lena portion...occurred!

Not really gonna comment on it beyond the very good sci-fi references they packed in there. Of course, we have the Alien 3 reference (which I've opted not to include b/c it’s a pretty gross image that could be upsetting if you’re not expecting it? Also I’m sure it’s all over twitter.)

But the Kelpie also had an Abyss vibe, IMO:

J’onn’s Space Dad montage was EXCELLENT.

J’onn: “NOT TODAY SATAN”

Oh, also, the red Phantom eyes and in-synch talking in Kelly’s fear vision was very creepy.

The different pairings of various characters was cool! I really liked Brainy and Kelly chatting.

And then poor Kara! 

AT HER LOWEST!

WITHOUT HOPE!

FEELING LIKE A DANGER AND A BURDEN TO HER LOVED ONES!

Oh, that meaty character work, we LOVE. TO. SEE. IT.

And shock of all shocks, it is PAPA ZOR?!?!?! WHO SNAPS HER OUT OF IT!??!?!?!

BUT! Papa Zor-El is only able to snap Kara out of it because HE HIMSELF was snapped out of his funk by Kara!

And like. I’ve seen the complaint that this relationship has not been built up enough for us to really care but...IDK. I’m a sucker for the moment where he like, gently touches her face and delivers that hope speech and

GUH! FEEEEEELINGS!!!!

And you know what? I’m glad. That Kara’s dad is not The Worst in this particular adaptation.

I mean. He’s done some incredibly sketchy things still, but. Not quite ‘experimenting on your own child, sending her to a foreign planet WITHOUT ANY CLOTHES and brainwashing her into murdering her cousin’ levels, you know?

“That’s my family. They’re really here.”

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!

And then the hug! THE HUG! It’s so quick but it’s so good and I can’t WAIT. UNTIL AUGUST 24th! 

I also love that we got a teaser of the next episode?! That was awesome and wholly unexpected.

(OFFICE SHENANIGANS! AAHHHH LOOKS SO GOOD!)

Oh, also, Nyxly (Nixly??) lives! And catches a ride to Earth Prime, which I’m sure will go over well. XD

As always, some OVERALL THOUGHTS!

ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR DAVID! An interesting but no doubt tricky episode to direct! It came together so nicely, though, and had some genuinely neat set-ups in terms of how they used the cast and set.

(Also round of applause for Chyler’s episode last week, totally forgot to give her props in my list. FOR SHAME. For shame.)

In terms of season 6 thus far as a whole...I’ve just really liked this front half, here.

The Supergirl folks have had to work around some incredibly challenging extenuating circumstances during the final season of their show--I mean. They didn’t have their LEAD ACTRESS until several months into filming! DURING A PANDEMIC!

And while...yeah, I’ll admit I found some of the exposition in various episodes to be. Trying? And still pretty packed because they’re juggling so many characters...that they’ve managed to have such nice character bits throughout is just. GOOD. IT’S VERY GOOD. I LIKE IT A LOT.

As I mentioned above, this mini-arc of seven episodes has done such a solid job of setting up and developing internal conflicts for the characters that are exacerbated by the external conflict that is Kara’s absence. Like, everything is pretty tight! And connected! There’s such a good through-line EVEN WITH the two time travel episodes!

(And, okay, I’ll indulge in one targeted bit of ‘c’mon fandom, really?’ - I’ve already seen complaints of, ‘I thought this show was about SUPERGIRL’ re: this particular episode and like...did you miss? The whole previous episode? That was such a nice Kara showcase? And I say again: LEAD ACTRESS. WAS UNAVAILABLE. AND HAD TO PLAY CATCH-UP. ALSO, PANDEMIC.)  

(And in fact, the whole Phantom Zone plot has been a BRILLIANT bit of efficient storytelling--you not only have an in-universe reason for your lack of a lead, but also, it creates this space for the other characters to really miss Kara.

I guess the way I would describe it is like...going back to Kara’s original death in Crisis--yeah, it sucked that she died, but the entire DC Universe came together to talk about how heroic and great she was. And in a final season? Of a show called Supergirl? If you can’t have your lead on screen, the NEXT BEST THING is to have the character’s presence really felt via the OTHER characters.

With stuff like, having her inspire them! And reflecting on what she means to them, as a friend and family member!

...Again, this made more sense in the original draft? XD)

...Anyways.

My only nitpicks: I miss Will! But understand why he hasn’t been around, from a story standpoint. Also, the dialogue in some of the earliest episodes didn’t always...gel? But these last three in particular have been much improved in that regard.

IDK if I’ll keep these li’l positivity lists going throughout the remainder of the last batch of episodes--the move to Tuesday night has been tough. XD But either way, SUPER (ha, ha) excited for the back half!

[peepspersonalperspective]

Blackpink: Light Up The Sky

3/5

I’m a Blink, or at least I believe I am. I love the power in their music, in their choreography, their attitude and their fashion, all of it ...full love!

So I’m one of those people who had to watch their documentary the moment it was realeased in the middle of a working day (Kind of grateful for WFH right now)

I wanted to get to know them more. I see their variety episodes on Youtube, and it’s fun and stuff, being mostly a setup or a game or specific activity, but I also kind of want to relate and enter their real, natural world, which so far I’ve always felt shut out from. Like there’s a glass wall between us, I can feel the vibrations of their sound, I can see them lit in all their vibrance, but I can’t reach them. Now, I don’t know if it’s because of YG restrictions or what, but yeah that’s just my feeling, especially as an international fan, not locally based in South Korea, having as much exposure as a Korean resident Blink probably would. 

Anyway so I was super excited to check out their documentary, that promised unseen footage from trainee days, and childhood etc. And we got a whole bunch of it, especially in the first half. How they came to be, how they got into the whole ordeal, everything we kind of already knew, but backed up with some footage, and spelled out to us.

JENNIE: 

Jennie says she doesn’t like talking about herself, and I guess she lives up to her word. We do see some unseen footage of her schooling life in New Zealand, which was adorable. The entire time I couldn’t help but wonder how she got a pink cast on her hand, and what’s the story there? Beyond that it was pretty on the surface kind of stuff, and a little anecdote from her Pilates instructor. She did show her consternation about the restrictions on drinking, partying, and losing friends along the way, as trainees kept dropping out of the program, and a very brief moment of reflection on missing out on high school, and all the memories, regular teenagers get to make in their adoloscence. But yeah, was it really new information? 

LISA:

Things I learned about Lisa -

1. She loves vintage clothes, and loves spending on them, a constant concern for her mother who handles her finances.

2. She and Rose confided in each other whenever they felt like outsiders, almost picking up her Australian accent. She also took Jennie’s help a lot who was the only English speaking trainee when she joined.

3. She had the weirdest style and hairdo when she auditioned for YG.

4. She thinks she goes overboard in trying to cheer up her members, but they convince her that her positivity is what they really need.

JISOO:

Jisoo spoke about her family and her upbringing, and her general outlook, which was a new side to see. We also got a little insight about her fondness for writing or art, almost destined for the creative field. We also got to know how ill Jisoo was before the Coachella performance. She also spoke how blessed she was for having had a bit of normal life, school friends et. al, before entering the entertainment industry. That was quite interesting.

ROSE:

I think I enjoyed watching her the most. Her passion for music, her insecurities, her vulnerability, her perseverence, really showed. There was a much too brief a home video of her pajama show, and we also got to see her tinker with the demo for What You Waiting For by Somi. Her personality shined, and I genuinely feel a little closer to Rose, from what she was willing reveal about herself, more than any of the other girls. 

However, my favourite person in this entire documentary is producer Teddy Park, former 1TYM rapper, and just such a chiller. The way he described the girls, the way he interacted with them, their respect for him, and just the overall relationship they share was such a treat to watch! Also, he’s so darn well spoken. 

The girls talk about the future, at dinner, where the poor waiter reminds them and apologizes for not treating them better when they dined there during their traineeship. They talk about kids and getting married, meeting Halsey. And then poof, roll credits. What? That ended so quickly! I thought we were just getting started! That was disappointing, because there’s still so much to learn about the girls. Then again, perhaps that was the idea? To keep us Blinks wanting more!

I must say I was very pleased to see BTS also feature a little when they talk about the rise of K-Pop globally, and I thought to myself, how great it is to see that both groups are able to represent their country, their individual brands, support each other, without the baggage of competition or fan wars.

In closing, I’d like to say, it’s an easy watch, it reminds you why we love Blackpink music, makes you miss concerts, but my only complaint is I want more! I don’t think this documentary even scratched the surface of what the girls are about individually and/or together. Nevertheless, if you’re a new Blink or wanting to learn a little bit more about Hallyu and K-Pop, this could be a good introduction into that world.

[asagi-s-garden]

WB is the worst when it comes to DC. It's no coindence that Constantine is leaving 'Legends of Tomorrow" in the wake of the upcoming HBO Max show. And this pandemic ruined a lot of plans. As you said "BL" wasn't meant to be in the Arrowverse put when it happened they were all gung-ho for it. They had plans for Jeff to visit Central City and for Anissa and Grave to chill in Gotham. But then the pandemic and whatever BTS drama that got "BL" canned. Like *something* happened. It got an early renewal in Jan then it was cancelled in Nov. And CW didn't even bother to have proper trailers for new episodes. Don't tell me somebody on the show didn't rub the network the wrong way to result in that level of pettiness

Yeah, WB isn't just the worst with DC, but really the worst with favoritism in my personal opinion

They tried so hard to make the DC streaming service a huge success but as soon as they saw it wasn't going to be they got rid of everything like it was on fire, HBO Max is the new golden child so they're cutting their own throats in other areas to make it succeed- IE: Theaters

My poor Suicide Squad 2 ;_; no I won't say "my THE Suicide Squad" it won't roll off the tongue it was a sacrificial lamb to the damn streaming service :(

I know it's an unpopular opinion to not be all over streaming but they're really clearly cutting way more than just corners in order to feed that specific beast and try to make it compete with Disney+, that's why they're starting to draw the string on the Arrowverse :/ The same thing happened, I think, with the DC streaming service though, when they saw that the biggest success of DC was the Arrowverse, they decided to pull their dying streaming service as well as the DCEU into it to pump the Arrowverse up more, now that the Arrowverse is starting to go under- with three shows being gone, Batwoman being in questionable territory, and the two biggest successes of the year being largely disjointed from it (Superman and Stargirl), I think they're going to try to scramble it like eggs :/ They're doing the same with the DCEU to a degree though, by having loosely connected stories that do more universe hopping and tone changes (IE: Joker coming out just months before Birds Of Prey and having been preceeded by Shazam!) I think since they're seeing more promise in that approach right now for the movies, they might be trying to do the same for TV- or they're just trying to let the Arrowverse die of neglect so they can pump up HBO Max like you said

Ofcourse now that WB has been bought by Discovery, we might get some big changes to this; Discovery already said they wanted to pour seven BILLION dollars into DC properties specifically in the first year alone, and I know the rumor is that they're only going to try to gloss up DC so that they can sell the assets to the highest bidders once their "probation" period ends but like.... seven billion is a hell of alot of gloss..... and if they can start pulling in more numbers like Joker, Superman & Lois, and The Suicide Squad (wich may have not been a huge hit at the box office but wich reportedly smashed the HBO Max numbers enough that WB is circling James Gunn like a starving shark), then I have a hard time believing they'd be wanting to get rid of it, especially when, let's face it, DC is easily the most well known and most marketable asset Discovery has ever had and probably ever will have purely because of Superman alone, you can't find a person anywhere who hasn't atleast heard of Superman, regardless of how much the film properties are hit-and-miss financially, I have a hard time believing anyone would just throw that kind of name power to the wolves....

But onto Black Lightning, I actually have a pretty strong theory about that one

I'm almost certain that China Anne McClain is why the show was canned

And do not get me wrong, I don't mean that in a snippy way, but China quit Black Lightning pretty urgently- to the point that she only wanted to do limited episodes for the final season

Backing up a moment here though, let me explain why I think this was the nail-in-the-coffin

Black Lightning was very quickly becoming centered around Lightning specifically

That doesn't mean to say that it wasn't still Jefferson's story and that Anissa wasn't still important, but Jennifer was getting set up to be The Powerhouse of the show, with the bulk of the drama probably surrounding her and the thought of her potentially taking on her father's mantel

It seemed like the idea of Black Lightning retiring or atleast putting on the suit a little less was starting to become a thing, and with Jefferson firmly accepting his daughters as part of the world of Metas at that point, that would have lead to Anissa and Jennifer taking much more of the spotlight than they had in the beginning- that's a natural progression of things, and although I actually prefer Anissa's storyline (it's just more my personal cup of tea), I will readily admit that Jennifer was the one who had the ability to carry an entire season's worth of story on her shoulders.... not so much Anissa, who has her wife (so romantic subplots are pretty toned down), her powers are developed and stable (nothing quite like the learning curves Jennifer was facing), she has a stable job and a stable superhero identity- two, in fact-, so no literal schoolyard drama or issues with "Am I in my father's shadow? Is this how the world sees me and do I want them to see me this way?" much like what Jennifer was starting to experience in the end of the show either

TLDR Anissa mostly had her shit together, wich is great for her, but it doesn't lend to being able to carry the most dramatic storylines like it does with Jennifer, who's still figuring out pretty much everything

I think Jennifer was already starting to take a very large amount of the story as of the last season and even starting to steal the spotlight before that, if they were to come back for more I feel like she would have been in a place of being much more obviously groomed to take on the main charector status wile Jefferson stepped back just a little bit to be more supportive to her journey instead of the other way around

And the show could still exist very much as Jefferson's story wile that story happened to center on Jennifer

.....Buuuuuuuuuuuuut that's where the problem comes in

China said before the show was cancelled that she was going to step down from playing Lightning because she wanted to focus on her faith more and be removed from anything that wasn't "in service to God", wich is totally fine for her, but it does put Black Lightning in a bit of a difficult position because the charector they were gearing up to make their breakout star was suddenly going to either have to pull a Winn and just... be.... gone.... or have to get recast

To be entirely honest, I'm not sure why they didn't stick with the recasting instead, I thought Laura Karuki did a fantastic job as Jennifer and the "Am I Jennifer or am I JJ?" story would have been a great thing to explore for an entire season, but if I had to guess, they maybe just didn't want to mess with it?

Black Lightning had good numbers but it wasn't in the top five or anything to my recollection, not since it's premiere season anyway, and it could have been a compound decision of "We weren't going to keep this up much longer anyway so let's just take this as a sign to wrap it up", although I think that the way the recast was done could have presented a stable option for them if they had decided to give it a go for a full season, although maybe that's just my opinion and they initially made the recast so that the people behind the curtain could see if Laura would work well enough as Jennifer and when they decided that the vibe wasn't right they went on ahead and pulled the plug rather than risk getting the same um... resistance.... than Batwoman met over their recasting choices

Although I could go on for days about why that situation is different (to be clear: I do like Ryan quite alot but I don't think the Batwoman situation was nearly as seamless as Black Lightning's in terms of recasts, but that's another story for another day)

TLDR I think if China had stayed aboard they would have gone on for atleast another season or two, but there are some shows where members of an ensemble cast are so essential that their leaving is too big of a blow to stay through

It's much like when Dylan O'Brien had to bow out of Teen Wolf for a little wile, I think you'd be hard pressed to find a fan who absolutely loved season six, and even before that people were having a hard time staying with a lack of Tyler Hoechlin, with some even stepping away when Crystal Reed left, even though- at both of those points- most of the core cast was still there and at no point did the titular main ever leave, I feel like Black Lightning's situation is very similar, people were just too invested in Jennifer

[purplesurveys]

1269

Last thing you bought online? Did you like it? OMG OMG so I got Angela an Army Bomb!!!!!! for her birthday!!!! It was HELLLL looking for sealed ones that were already onhand, but fortunately I was able to find one from this really nice seller a few days ago and the shipping was quick as well. I’m just a little worried because the outbox has a little dent on it :( but it was the best onhand offer I could find so I got it before anybody could call dibs. I still hope she likes it! I got her batteries too so that she can try lighting it up as soon as she has it. :D

Could you date someone who didn’t drive (and didn’t show an interest in ever getting their license, either)?  I feel like this is such a petty thing to make a big deal about...if they knew how to commute or any other way to get to their destination, I don’t think this should be a problem. It would only be an issue to me if they refused to get a license in a very I-generally-lack-ambition kind of way.

How would you react if your artwork became famous?  I don’t have any to show off to begin with. I love appreciating art, but creating it was never a forte of mine.

Would you get your nipples pierced?  No, I don’t plan on getting any piercings. How many people know your birthday?  Outside of my family, my best friends. I think everyone else relies on Facebook to be reminded, which is fine with me.

Has anyone ever tried to ruin a relationship you were in?  No. Quite the contrary, really...I was sometimes informed about red flags taking place, which of course my stubborn ass ignored.

Have you ever watched a whole hour long infomercial?  Probably, as a kid. The channel from which I used to watch WWE aired these really long infomercials so I would watch those while waiting for like Raw or whatever show was going on after.

What is your current MySpace song?  I never hung out on Myspace. I had an account, but I was too young for it so it wasn’t long before I got bored.

What is your favorite kind of meat to put on your sandwich?  Pulled pork or fried chicken.

Which one of your exes do you feel like you have the most chemistry with?  I only have one ex.

How do you feel about people who make Facebook profiles for their pets? I find it really cute. But I personally wouldn’t put in as much effort lol.

Have you ever personally known a pair of conjoined twins?  Hmmmmmmmm I don’t think so.

What was the most disturbing thing you have ever heard your mother say? She threatened suicide in front of me and my dad in a very calm way when I was around 11, I think? Maybe 12, idk. I haven’t actually thought about that moment in an extremely long time until this question. I’ll move on now and shove the memory at the very very back of my head before I get sad.

Is there something in particular you like to look at photos of? What is it?  Aside from members of BTS (lol), interior design inspirations.

Chewy chocolate-chip cookies: like or dislike?  Ooh, love. When I bite into a cookie it hassssss to ooze chocolate, otherwise I would be underwhelmed.

If your boyfriend/girlfriend wanted to dress only in the opposite sex’s clothing, would you support that? If not, would you leave them?  Support.

Do you think your grandmother is/was beautiful?  They both are.

Which of your fields of interest are you a total expert on?  Anything that has to do with writing (except poems), I guess? I like being able to give people advice and tips when it comes to that.

When was the last time you got all dolled up?  Last July when we had a big PR media launch thingy and I couldn’t afford to look like shit on Zoom.

Do you ever name objects? (i.e. mp3 players, guitars, cars, etc.)  Never.

Do you have a criminal record?  Not criminal but it’s possibleeeee that I have some kind of record on my license from the time I got stopped by an officer in Alabang, lmao. It was a minor offense from a tiny part of the town so I don’t actually know if they filed it, but it’s possible.

Last person you took a nap with?  I don’t really nap with other people. I hate falling asleep in front of others to begin with.

Does seeing your mother cry automatically make you feel sad as well?  No.

Do you think someone likes the same person you like?  I don’t like anybody.

Do you want your life to stay the way it is right now forever?  No, I do not want to stay in a pandemic and not get to maximize my life the way it’s supposed to be enjoyed forever.

Have you ever been to craigslist.com?  I’ve never checked it out; idk if we have that here?

What about eBay?  I also dunno if they operate here so no, I’ve never bothered.

Have you ever used Nair?  Not Nair, but I’ve used Veet before.

Are you medicated?  Nope.

Do you shape/fill in your eyebrows?  I never do stuff to my eyebrows except shave them.

Have you ever stolen/borrowed clothes from an ex?  Several articles of clothing were left behind here, yeah. I never had the chance to give them back because I stupidly thought we were going to get back together eventually. By the time I moved on the timing was already off, so the clothes stayed with me untillll...just a few days ago, actually – when I finally cleaned up my room and got rid of a bunch of knickknacks that accumulated here over the years, including all her shirts and sweaters and stuff.

Could you make a statement about anything political?  The 2022 presidential election landscape looks like complete shit and I’m nearly at that point where I want to stop giving a fuck about this country’s future.

Do you think you’ve already met your soulmate?  No.

Do you get the feeling something good will happen in your life soon?  I think I’m already living in it, haha.

Do you enjoy romantic movies, even when they’re cliche?  Sure, but cliché is also hit and miss for me. I love Titanic and Love Actually, but I cannot stand movies like Me Before You and The Notebook. I guess it depends on certain executions, like the acting, screenplay, casting, etc.

Have you been to McDonald’s in the past month?  No, not inside. We did drive-thru within the last month, though.

Have you ever slept over at your best friend’s house?  Not at Andi’s, but I have at Angela’s.

How often do you go bowling?  Extremely rarely. I can’t tell you the last time I went bowling.

Last time you were in an apartment?  Like 2007 when I visited my aunt back when she still lived in one. None of my friends have their own apartments.

Have you ever seen a live seahorse?  I don’t think so.

Would you like to have your own yacht? I mean I wouldn't say no if you offered it to me for free, but I'm not exactly interested in one. < Same.

Winnie the Pooh or Tigger?  Tigger always made me laugh as a kid.

What’s the unhealthiest thing you’ve eaten today?  Luncheon meat, I think? I didn’t go overboard with the junk food today.

Has a stranger ever offered to buy you a drink?  Hm, not that I can recall.

What is something you’d be happy to receive as a gift, that doesn’t cost a lot?  A bag of the salted egg chips that I really like costs like 30 bucks, or roughly 60 US cents.

What kind of music does your significant other/crush like to listen to?  I don’t have any irl crushes, can I use a celebrity crush instead? HAHA he’s heavily into jazz and whenever he gets asked for music recos he always gives jazz artists from like the 50s and 60s.

Who did you have your first kiss with? Do you remember what colour his/her eyes were?  Gab. Dark brown.

Are there any themes from TV shows that you like to sing along to? The Big Bang Theory and Friends; and then I also liked humming to the themes of Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, and BoJack Horseman. The Phineas & Ferb theme was also a lot of fun to sing along to.

Do you eat dessert after dinner? No, I never do that. I’m usually already full after dinner, and we don’t always have sweets at home anyway.

Have you ever had too much to drink and felt embarrassed about your behavior the next day?  Sure.

When you go out drinking, what do you prefer to drink?  Cocktails. I very rarely go for hard drinks/shots, especially if I brought my own car.

What was the last animal that you saw?  Dog.

What was the last thing that you said to one of your siblings?  I just told my sister I was done using her laptop so she can have it back. My Memories of 2020 DVD turned out to be region-locked so I have to use her laptop every time I want to watch it :(

What is the most expensive thing that you’ve purchased that you paid for:  My Map of the Soul photobook cost me around 5k in total.

What is your favorite messaging program?  Messenger.

Do you eat fast food more than 5 times a week?  Wow no. Aside from being extremely unhealthy, that’s also a LOT of spending??

Have you ever almost drowned?  Yes.

Have you ever learned something shocking about someone through Facebook?  I mean I’ve had to learn about more than one family death through my Facebook feed, which sucks but is nothing I have control over. Otherwise the most shocking thing I’ve seen is probably classmates from high school having their own kids, but at this point I’m used to it already.

What’s the scariest living animal that you’ve petted?  I’m not really afraid of carrying/petting animals especially if there’s a guide or expert nearby, but the most daring one was probably the crocodile I volunteered to hold in Palawan.

Do you remember the first conversation you ever had with the person you currently have feelings for?  Not at all.

Do you dread certain days of the week? If yes, what day/s and why?  I hate Mondays for obvious reasons lol. I don’t know anyone who is actively cheery about reporting back to work.

If you eat oatmeal, do you have it plain or do you have certain toppings that you like to add to it?  I never eat oatmeal. I had that every single day for breakfast from like kindergarten to 4th grade and I vowed never to take a spoonful of it again.

What is the funniest or strangest thing you’ve ever heard somebody say in their sleep?  I dunno. I used to keep a log of the things my ex used to say in her sleep and a great deal of them were hilarious, but obviously I deleted that note a long time ago.

Choose one - Butterfinger, Milky Way, Snickers:  Butterfinger.

Do you use Mozilla Firefox? Nopes.

Who is your favorite person to hug? Angela and Laurice.

Have you ever had to have a mug shot?  Nope.

What was the last thing you carried to your room?  Kimi.

When was the last time you had a late night phone call?  WELL over a year ago.

[kerikaaria]

If I Never Met You: Chapter 37

(??? X Reader) Idol!AU, Manager!Reader

Warnings: Injuries, fighting

Genre: (PG13) Fluff, angst

WC: 2.2k

Series Masterlist

Chapter 36 | Chapter 37 | Chapter 38

A/N - I’m sorry this is a day late. I really overestimate how much time I have sometimes. And then when I did get the time today, my boyfriend just didn’t want to leave me alone to let me write this lol. But I got there eventually!

“Noona!” Jimin yelled as he ran ahead of the others toward you, slowing down just enough to not knock you over when he hugged you.

You laughed. “Hello to you, too.”

“We missed you!” he whined, squeezing you tighter.

“I missed you too, Chim,” you said as you gently pushed him off you. It wasn’t that you didn’t want his affection—you really did want as much affection as any of them were willing to give you—but too much of it in a public place like the airport was really not safe at all.

Bang had strongly suggested it would be a good idea for you to meet the boys at the airport when they returned from Malaysia and had someone from the company drive you here. After how well the articles were received, you were told it would be a great idea for fans to see a bit of your friendship with them and welcoming the group home was a prime way to do that.

Not to mention, seeing that you were indeed in a wheelchair and casts added more sympathy points, since you didn’t have enough of those apparently.

While you were genuinely happy to see them, you were a bit more nervous. You knew so many eyes were on you specifically—could almost feel each click and flash of a camera on you—and the fact that you were doing this primarily for publicity to help BTS was making you hyper aware of everything.

Yoongi was quick to catch onto the fact that your hands and eyes were shaking underneath your happy expression. “Let’s get going to the car,” he casually suggested, looking at Taehyung with a purposeful expression.

Tae quickly caught on, walking behind you to grab the handles on the back of your chair. “Thanks for coming to pick us up, noona,” he said. “We really missed you while  we were gone.”

“So I’ve been told,” you chuckled, trying your best to hold in your nerves. You were actually thankful for the help being pushed, not trusting your wobbly hands to guide you well at the moment.

Unsurprisingly, Taehyung being the one to push your chair seemed to have a direct correlation with the crowd’s volume increasing. You could see people whispering and smiling out of the corner of your eye, fans clearly enjoying watching him help you.

You did your best to not pay attention to the crowd for the rest of the walk back to the van you arrived in, one of two vehicles that everyone would take to get home. But it certainly wasn’t lost on you that it was purposely in a visible area, where fans would see the members helping you get into the vehicle.

Jin was quick to open the door, and Yoongi almost immediately climbed in, both of them silently dedicating themselves to riding back with you and Taehyung.

“I’ll help noona into the seat if you take the chair to the back,” Tae suggested.

Seokjin nodded in agreement, moving behind you to hold the chair in place while you and Taehyung easily fell into the practiced rhythm of getting you out of it. While he was supporting your weight, arms around your waist to hold you up and quickly maneuver you into the van, it was impossible not to hear the cooing noises and shutter sounds from phones and cameras from the nearby audience.

You scooched further down the bench seat quickly to allow room for Taehyung to sit as well. Once both he and Jin were in the van he closed the door, finally blocking you from the prying eyes.

You breathed out heavily, a breath you didn’t even realize you were holding, while Tae grabbed your hand, entwining his fingers with yours. Feeling his stable grip made you only now realize that you were shaking.

“You did really great, noona,” Yoongi praised from behind you.

Tae nodded. “Yeah. That was a lot of pressure for you. I’m proud of you for keeping yourself together so well.”

As the vehicle started moving, hands rested on your shoulders, gently pushing them down to relax the tension still left in them. “It was really great of you to do this, noona,” Jin said, close enough to you that you knew it was him starting to now softly massage your shoulders. “But even if you’re asked to do something like this again, I hope you refuse. You know you’re not obligated to do this.”

“Yeah, this is a lot to ask of you,” Yoongi said. “You don’t need to do this. You didn’t ask for the original article or to be in the spotlight at all.”

You nodded. “Yeah, this was… kind of stressful, I’m not going to lie.” Taehyung squeezed your hand. “I’m super happy to see you guys, don’t get me wrong. But knowing that all those people were talking about me and watching my every move was really…”

“We know,” Tae said. “You never expected nor wanted to be in the spotlight, like hyung said. Even knowing that’s what we were getting into, it took a while to get used to all the attention we had after debuting. I can only imagine how stressful it is for you.”

“And it wasn’t like we wouldn’t have gone to see you once we got home,” Jin said, releasing your now relaxed shoulders from his grip.

“Yeah, you’re right,” you said. “Although, it was nice to get out of the house for once. I’ve been a bit nervous to go out by myself.”

“Maybe we can start scheduling times for one of us to go with you outside?” Yoongi offered.

“No,” you immediately said. “You guys are still really busy, and when you’re not you need to relax. I’m not going to ask you to do that for me.”

“If we have some free time to spend with you, it doesn’t make much of a difference to us,” Seokjin said. “Besides, sometimes it’s nice to spend that time getting some fresh air.”

The four of you continued to chat, catching up on what the other had missed during the ride back.

When the van parked by the office instead of heading to your apartments, you were a bit confused.

“Aren’t we going home?” you asked the driver, another BigHit employee.

“Bang PD wanted to talk to all of you before we took you home,” he said. “Did I forget to mention? I’m sorry.”

“Oh, okay,” you said. “That’s fine. It’s been a while since I’ve been to the office so this will be kind of nice.”

While the boys climbed out of the van and retrieved your chair, the rest of the group had arrived right behind you and started exiting their car as well.

It was Jin who helped you get back into your chair this time. When Yoongi started walking behind you to push your chair, you decided to let him help you out even though usually you would have insisted on doing it on your own.

It turns out that what Bang PD wanted to talk to you all about was the fact that you were going to move again—and BTS was getting an apartment with much more space, including three bedrooms.

Thankfully.

And Bang PD still wanted you to stay nearby, of course now because having extra sets of hands nearby to help you out was really more of a necessity than a luxury. Your apartment wouldn’t be quite as big as theirs (What would you need three bedrooms for?) but it would still be an upgrade for you that you could afford just fine.

Leaving the office, everyone was so excited about being able to have more room at home, and you couldn’t have been happier for that either. They really needed it, and now the company was able to afford it with how well the group was doing. It was certainly a huge relief.

You headed out of the door first, a bit ahead of the others. When you turned around to see if they were following, they were all still standing in the lobby, chatting. But you figured you could just keep heading toward the van, since you were outside already anyway.

Halfway down the sidewalk, a few young girls approached you. You stopped your chair when they stood in front of you, blocking your path and staring at you.

“Can I help you with something?” you asked, confused. When they just stood there for a moment not answering, you continued. “Would you please move to the side so I can go?”

They split to walk by either side of your chair, and you began wheeling forward. As you were about to offer a thank you, you felt your chair being tugged backwards from someone pulling the handles.

“What are you-” you started before the chair jerked one more time, making you grip onto the armrests when your breathing and heartbeat sped up from the scare of the action.

“Please stop that,” you said, sounding breathless. You realized you were rather helpless at the moment. It wasn’t like you were walking down the street and someone grabbed your wrist, which you could work your way out of. And you most certainly couldn’t just get up and walk away.

“You’re so annoying,” one of the girls said.

“Who do you think you are to be so close to our oppas?” the other chimed in.

So that was why they were doing this. You were scared to say anything in response, lest you say something to make them angrier with you.

“You deserved to get hurt,” the first girl hissed.

Alright, that one stung.

“If you ask me, she should have gotten hurt even worse,” the second girl added before quickly jerking your chair to the side and pushing it, knocking the chair over and you with it.

You instinctively braced for the fall with your hands, feeling the sting of concrete scraping the skin of your palm. Your legs took some of the impact as well, and you bit your lip to keep from crying out at the sore pain shooting from them.

Now helplessly on the ground, the two girls began to kick you while telling you how much they hated you and throwing insults. You curled up, covering your head with your arms and trying to pull your legs toward your stomach as best as you could.

One of them was focusing her blows on your casts, causing you to hiss and whimper in pain. They were still in the process of healing and the force of the kicks was doing you no favors, on top of the pain you already felt from the fall.

A few moments later you heard a new voice nearby yell, “Run! Security’s coming!”

They instantly stopped their attack in favor of attempting to outrun the security officers, who you could feel run past you as you lay on the ground, unable to move even after no longer being hit.

“Noona!” a very familiar voice called out.

Just a moment later your upper body was gently lifted from the ground and your head rested against a strong chest.

“Noona,” Taehyung repeated, concern obvious in the shakiness of his voice. “Noona, are you okay?”

“I-I’m okay,” you said. “I think.” You winced when he shifted a bit, causing you to feel a sore spot on your side.

“I’m sorry,” he said, burying his face in your hair. “We should have been paying more attention. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not anyone’s fault,” you said. “How could any of us have known this would happen?”

Yoongi bent down in front of you, taking a look over your body to assess any injuries. “Why did they do this?” he asked.

You faltered for a moment before saying, “I-I don’t know.” The last thing you wanted was for them to feel at fault because of a couple of sasaengs.

“Well there had to be some reason,” Yoongi said. “People don’t just do something like this for no reason.”

“They didn’t say anything?” Taehyung mumbled.

You shook your head, gaze sticking to the ground.

“Tae, can you pick her up?” Jin asked. “The van’s here.”

You could feel him place a kiss on the crown of your head before pulling away, carefully maneuvering you so he could place an arm underneath your knees. You wrapped your arms around his neck to help him be able to lift you up easily.

You hissed from pain when you sat in the vehicle, feeling sore spots from where you were kicked. But you still maneuvered yourself further down the bench seat to let Taehyung sit next to you.

Yoongi climbed in as well, but Sejin told the others that they should go home so that they don’t accidentally cause a scene at the hospital. A few promises to keep them updated later, the rest of the group relented and let the four of you get on your way.

Taehyung pulled you close to him, holding you firmly but not too tight as to cause pain.

“I’m so sorry, noona,” he said. “I won’t let you out of my sight like that again. I promise.”

Series Masterlist

Chapter 36 | Chapter 37 | Chapter 38

Tags: @calling-dips-on-j-hope​ @misohime​ @netflix-batman-sleep​ @smallbaby-cat​ @leitholdwithlove​ @ramyagovindraj​ @rjsmochii​ @overtherainbow35​ @leesalts​ @whobuiltthemoon​

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[btsqualityy]

BTS Toddler Series #32: Finding Out that You’re Pregnant Again

Author’s Note: So, this is it guys! It’s been a long 7 months of exploring the lives of the members, their wives, and their kids! I’m honestly crying as I type this, but this is the last part of the Toddler Series! Thank you all so much for reading and leaving likes, comments, and reblogs! And an even bigger thank you to all of the people who have EVER sent me an ask regarding these Toddlers and different aspects of their lives! Ya’ll honestly made me a better writer and I couldn’t be anymore grateful to you guys for indulging me and my little universe! After this, I will be doing another Pregnancy Series which should be getting started in mid-October. In the meantime, I’ll be focusing on Amour Vincit Omnia, some small drabbles of the couples and of the toddlers as teenagers, and writing and releasing some imagines that I’ve had outlined for forever lol. Again, thank you all so much and I hope you all enjoy this last part!

Kim Seokjin

“You really didn’t have to come with me Jin,” you said as you looked over at him as the two of you sat in one of the examination rooms that was in your doctor’s office.

“I know but I had the day off so what’s the harm?” He shrugged. “And besides, I’ve been worried about how sick you’ve been lately.”

“I know and I have no idea what it could be,” you told him. “I haven’t thrown up this much or felt this nauseous and gross in years.” Before Jin could reply, there was a knock on the door before it opened and your doctor walked inside.

“Hi Y/N, Seokjin,” he greeted you both with a smile.

“Hi,” you smiled. 

“Hi Doc,” Jin said.

“So, I know you came in because you’ve been feeling really sick so we ran a full panel on you and you tested negative for everything,” the doctor started.

“So you don’t know why I’ve been feeling so horrible?” You wondered.

“I wasn't finished,” he chuckled. “You came back negative for everything except one thing.”

“What is it?” Jin questioned.

“Congratulations Y/N, you’re pregnant,” he announced and your eyes immediately went wide.

“I-I’m pregnant?” You gasped, feeling the tears beginning to well up in your eyes.

“Yeah, 6 weeks,” he confirmed with a nod before looking at you and Jin’s faces to gauge your reactions. “I’m assuming that this one wasn’t planned?”

“Absolutely not,” Jin laughed. 

“Well, here’s your prenatal vitamins and some pamphlets on becoming a mommy again,” your doctor said as he handed you a bottle of pills and a few brochures. After telling you and Jin goodbye, he walked out of the room to give you and Jin some privacy.

“Can you believe it Jinnie? I’m pregnant again,” you squealed, making Jin smile as he wrapped his arms around your waist.

“And we weren’t even actively trying this time,” he added with a smirk, making you roll your eyes playfully. “I love you Y/N.”

“I love you more Jin,” you smiled, giggling when he puckered his lips out and you leaned forward to kiss them.

Min Yoongi

“Y/N-ah, I wish you’d stop being so fucking stubborn and let me take you to the hospital,” Yoongi groaned.

“Yoongs, it’s just a bad case of the flu,” you shrugged, immediately leaning over and vomiting into the small bucket that was next to your side of the bed.

“Y/N, you haven’t gotten out of bed in two days,” he deadpanned. “And it’s not the flu.”

“Then what is it, oh Master of Medicine?” You questioned as your rolled your eyes.

“You’re pregnant again.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Your period’s late, isn’t it?” He said and you narrowed your eyes at him.

“That could be because I’m sick though.”

“Or because you’re pregnant.”

“Listen, just to shut you up, can you go get me a test?” You asked him and he nodded before grabbing his keys and wallet from the dresser. About 20 minutes later, he came back with a pregnancy test in hand. 

“Help me up please?” You pleaded and he nodded before wrapping his arm around your waist and helping you out of bed. He helped you into the bathroom and handed you the test before walking back out to give you some privacy. You then opened the test and used it, setting it on the counter before wiping and flushing the toilet. You then hobbled over to the door, opening it and motioning for Yoongi to come in.

“How long did it say?” He wondered.

“One minute,” you replied as you went to the sink to wash your hands.

“Would you care if you are pregnant again?” He questioned as he looked over at you.

“You know I wouldn’t Yoongs,” you chuckled. “I’d actually be happy but I just don’t want you to have the satisfaction of being right.”

“Well, looks like that isn’t an option jagi,” he grinned as he picked up the test and held it out to you. You took it into your hands and gasped when you looked at the huge plus sign that was on the face of it.

“I really am pregnant again Yoongs,” you laughed as you looked up at him. 

“We’re having another little Min,” Yoongi smiled as he walked over to you, grabbing your face in his hands and kissing you passionately. 

Kim Namjoon

“Ah, what the hell?” You whispered to yourself as you looked down at the two positive pregnancy tests in front of you. You hadn’t been feeling like yourself lately, similar to the way that you felt when you were pregnant with Mason, so you decided to take a pregnancy test just to be sure. However, you weren’t actually expecting the first test to turn up positive, and the second test only confirmed it.

“Mommy!” You heard Mason yell along with the sound of the front door opening and closing and you glanced back down at the pregnancy tests before walking out of the bathroom and down the stairs. 

“Hey jagi,” Namjoon smiled as he helped Mason take his shoes and jacket off. “Someone had a really good day at school today.”

“Oh yeah?” You hummed, smiling as Mason came running over to you.

“Yeah and look, I got a gold star!” He exclaimed as he pointed to his shirt, where a gold sticker sat. 

“Good job Myungie,” you praised, taking a second to bend down and kiss his cheek. “Why don’t you do me a favor and go play in your room for a little bit?”

“Ok,” he nodded, grabbing his backpack and heading up the stairs.

“You ok Y/N-ah?” Namjoon wondered as he walked over to you. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost or something.”

“Uh, I think so but I have to tell you something,” you said. “Come here,” you told him, grabbing his hand and turning around to lead him up the stairs. Once you reached the top, you lead him to the bathroom where the two pregnancy tests were still sitting on the counter.

“Jagi, are these?” Namjoon mumbled before picking up one in each hand, his jaw slightly dropping when he saw the positive results. 

“I’m pregnant Joon,” you confirmed. Namjoon immediately set the tests back onto the counter and walked over to you, holding your face in his hands.

“Are you ok with this?” He checked in and you smiled softly as you wrapped your hands around his wrists and laid your forehead against his chest.

“Mmhmm,” you nodded. “Scared though.”

“That’s understandable jagi. You’re gonna be great though,” he assured you and you lifted your head to look at him. “You’re such an amazing mom to Mase, our second baby is gonna be so lucky to have you.”

“And they’re gonna be lucky to have you too,” you said as you poked his side, making him smile and shake his head.

“You’ll be fine, ok?” He promised you and you nodded, choosing to just cast all your doubts aside and believe him. “I’m gonna be right here by your side the entire time.”

“I love you Joon, so much,” you whispered as you laid your forehead against his chest again.

“I love you too,” he smiled before leaning down and kissing the top of your head.

Jung Hoseok

“Y/N-ah!” Hobi called as he walked into the house, shutting the door behind him before walking off into the living room. You were sitting on the couch, laid back against the back of it with your eyes closed.

“Baby?” Hobi called as he walked over to you and you opened your eyes when you heard his voice again. 

“Hey Hobi,” you said quietly as he sat down next to you on the couch. You immediately sat up so that he could wrap his arm around your shoulders before leaning against him.

“Hey, you ok?” He wondered. 

“I’m fine.”

“Did everything go ok at the doctor’s?” He asked, knowing that today had been the day that you went to your doctor’s office to renew your birth control.

“I actually need to talk to you about that,” you said as you looked up at him. “So you know how when I go to renew my birth control, they have to give me a pregnancy test first in order to make sure that I’m not pregnant?”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“And you remember how a few weeks back, when we were about to have sex and I told you that my shot was still good? Even though I had missed my original renewal date?”

“Yeah.”

“Let’s just say I wasn’t able to get the birth control,” you summed up and Hobi’s eyes widened.

“You’re, you’re pregnant again jagi?” He whispered and you nodded. It was quiet for a few seconds before his eyes widened even more. “You said that your last shot was still in your system though.”

“Hobi, I almost never go and get my shot renewed on the day that I’m supposed to and it’s never affected it before!” You shot back. Hobi then shut his eyes and took a deep breath, not wanting to start a fight with you.

“I’m sorry Y/N-ah,” he whispered as he pulled you closer to him and kissed the side of your head. “Are you ok with it?”

“Yeah, just worried,” you admitted honestly. “Us with three kids is gonna be a lot Hobi.”

“I know but hey, we’ve been doing pretty good at containing the chaos of two,” he pointed out with a small smile. “I don’t think one more is gonna make much difference.”

“I love you, you know that?” You mumbled, grateful to have a husband who always looked at the bright side of things.

“I love you more jagi,” he said and you leaned up, pressing your lips to his gently. “We got this Y/N-ah. I promise.”

Park Jimin

You were in the kitchen, bent over the counter as you pressed your forehead to the cool marble. Your head had been killing you all day long and it had gotten so bad that you had to take a second to make sure you didn’t pass out or something.

“Mommy?” Noah called as he walked into the kitchen and you immediately straightened up, not wanting him to know that you weren’t feeling that great.

“Yes baby?” You asked and he walked up to you, setting his hands on your thighs.

“Can I have animal crackers?” He requested and you smiled with a nod. 

“Sure, why don’t you go sit up in your chair and I’ll bring them to you?” You told him and you smiled softly as you watched him do as you said. You then walked across the kitchen to one of the cabinets that hung on the wall and you opened it. When you reached up to grab the animal crackers however, you felt your vision go blurry and you swayed on your feet. The very last thing that you remembered was the feeling of your body hitting the ground before everything went completely black.

When you came to, you opened your eyes and realized that you were in a hospital bed. You looked over to your right, only to see Jimin holding your right hand with his left hand and scrolling through his phone with his right hand. 

“Jimin-ssi?” You whispered and Jimin’s head popped up to look at you. Throwing his phone down onto the bed, he scooted towards the end of his chair so that he was closer to you.

“Hey Y/N-ah,” he said quietly. “How you feeling jagi?”

“Really groggy and my head still hurts,” you replied honestly. “What happened?”

“You fainted,” Jimin explained and your eyes widened as you started to remember what had happened.

“Noah! Where’s Noah?” You demanded to know as you tried to sit up and Jimin got up out of his chair and set his hands on your shoulders, pushing you back into bed.

“Jagi, he’s fine, I promise,” Jimin swore. “When you fainted, he found your phone and called 911 and then he called me afterwards.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, he actually did an amazing job. He refused to leave your side though, even after you guys got here to the hospital. I had to bribe him with cuddles just to get him to leave with the members,” Jimin explained with a chuckle.

“My sweet baby,” you smiled softly. “Have the doctors come and talk to you yet? Do you know why I fainted?”

“Y/N,” Jimin said as he sat down on the edge of your hospital bed, grabbing both of your hands in his as he looked at you. “You’re pregnant.”

“What?” You chuckled.

“Yeah, that’s why you fainted. Your hormones were trying to balance themselves out, just like-”

“When I got pregnant with Noah,” you finished and Jimin nodded. You let a rush of air out of your mouth as you let the news soak in. “We’re having another baby Jimin-ssi.”

“Yeah we are jagi,” Jimin grinned, leaning forward and kissing you softly.

Kim Taehyung

“Why are you staring at me like that?” You laughed as your eyes met Taehyung’s in the mirror. You had been trying to get ready to go out to lunch with the other members’ wives, but you had been catching Taehyung staring at you the entire time.

“I just, you look different,” he muttered and you turned around and walked over to the bed, sitting next to him.

“Different?” You hummed.

“Yeah. Like you’re, glowing,” he said and you rolled your eyes playfully

“So you’re still on this?” You asked him with a small smile. For the last week or so, Taehyung kept making small comments about how he thought you were pregnant again. You tried not to pay him attention, but when the start date of your period came and went without any sign of Aunt Flo four days ago, you actually had started to think that he may be right.

“I can’t help it Y/N-ah,” he whined childishly, making you laugh at him. “I just know your body and I can sense a difference.”

“Aw Tae,” you cooed, moving forward and kissing his pouting lips. “Would it make you feel better if I took a pregnancy test?”

“It really would,” he nodded enthusiastically, like a little kid. 

“Where’s the pregnancy test then? I know you already have one,” you said and the small smirk on Tae’s face only confirmed it for you. Tae got out of the bed and you followed behind him as he walked into your shared bathroom. He bent down and opened the cabinet that was underneath the sink, reaching to the very back and pulling out a box with two pregnancy tests inside. 

“Ok, get out,” you said and he pouted before walking out of the bathroom and shutting the door behind him. You then used the bathroom, using both of the tests before sitting them onto the counter. Once you were completely finished, you washed your hands before opening the door.

“One minute,” you told him before he could even ask you how long it would take for the results to show up on the tests.

“I know that I probably sound crazy jagi but I’m telling you, I just know,” Tae explained and you couldn’t help but to giggle at him.

“I actually need to tell you,-” you started to say but the timer that you’d set on your phone went off, making Tae jump and rush to grab the tests from the counter.

“Holy shit,” Tae gasped and you walked over to him, leaning over to get a look at the tests and your eyes widened at the large “PREGNANT” that was on the face of both of them.

“You were right Tae,” you smiled as you looked up at him.

“Hell yeah I was!” He exclaimed, taking a second to do a little dance in front of you, and you laughed at him. You decided that you’d tell him about your period having been late another time and let him have his celebration.

“Thank you Y/N-ah,” he said once he stopped dancing, coming back over to you and setting his hands on the sides of your neck.

“For what?” 

“For giving me babies,” he told you and you smiled, setting your hands on the sides of his body.

“I didn’t make them by myself,” you pointed out with a laugh.

“But you’re doing all the heavy lifting so thank you,” he reiterated and you just responded by kissing him firmly.

Jeon Jungkook

“What the fuck are you so angry at me for?” Jungkook sighed in exasperation.

“Because you’re being an inconsiderate dickhead!” You shouted back.

“All I did was leave my clothes on the bathroom floor,” he replied.

“And you do it every fucking day! I shouldn’t have to clean up behind an adult.”

“Then leave it there and I’ll clean it when I get home!”

“Oh, as if you ever feel like cleaning when you get home,” you chuckled darkly. “We both know that I’m the one who does most of the cleaning.”

“Oh my gosh, are you mad at me for leaving the clothes on the floor or for not cleaning up around the house? Make up your fucking mind,” Jungkook snapped. 

“Fuck off Jungkook,” you seethed, stomping towards the door of your bedroom to walk out but Jungkook reached out and grabbed your wrist, stopping you. “Let go of me.”

“No, because obviously you have a problem that’s making you act like this,” he said softly. The sudden gentleness of his tone made you realize how irrational you were being and you couldn’t help the tears that began to suddenly well up in your eyes. 

“I’m sorry Kook,” you sighed and Jungkook just responded by pulling you into his chest, wrapping his arms around you and hugging you tightly. 

“No no baby, it’s ok,” he whispered into your ear, hating to see you crying. 

“I do have something that I need to tell you though,” you sniffled and Jungkook pulled back from the hug to look down at you. “I’m pregnant Kook.”

“You serious?” He wondered with wide eyes and you nodded while you reached up and wiped your face.

“Took a test while you were at the studio,” you replied.

“That’s why you bitched out at me?” He chuckled. 

“You know how my emotions are when I’m pregnant,” you shrugged lamely. 

“I should’ve known,” he muttered as he shook his head. “Are you happy?”

“It’s definitely unexpected but yeah,” you nodded. “Are you?”

“Of course Y/N-ah,” he smiled as he moved his hands from around you to set them on your cheeks. “We’re having another baby.”

“I love you Kook,” you whispered.

“I love you too Y/N-ah,” he grinned before leaning down and kissing you.

[greymattermaelstrom]

Ozlander Fan Gathering 2020  -   The Rik and Sophie Show

I attended Ozlander in Melbourne. What an incredible weekend so would like to share my Ozlander experience with you. Of course, it was during the very early days of covid-19 which I’ll address shortly. I’d never met any of the cast before, nor any group of like minded fans. Of course, you are usually lucky to know anyone who watch the TV show (not counting a partner) in your circle of friends let alone personally know a group of fans to chat with. It’s funny though, I’m not sure what I expected, but I thought people would have in depth discussions about OL characters/plots during coffee breaks or in line ups for autographs/photos. I didn’t experience that. I think it was a given that we were all deep into OL. Instead, I found we just chatted and got to know each other, ‘Where are you from?’ etc. As this was the first formal Outlander convention held in Australia, this was big news. I bought my ticket the day they were available (Nov 2019). It was a long way off but I knew the gathering would occur a short time after the first few episodes of Outlander S5 were broadcast, so when S5 started airing, my anticipation grew. Prices were steep admittedly, but a number of us felt it may be the first and last opportunity to meet a cast member, so we did what we could to get there (i.e. sell the healthiest child, blackmail the rich, etc).

Article from “The Scottish Banner” Feb 2020.

Unfortunately, 4 weeks out, Ed Speleers withdrew due to work commitments but local, David Berry, was announced as his replacement on the same day. Then 10 days out, Graham McTavish withdrew due to work commitments in Slovakia. No news of a replacement was announced (I learnt at the event that organising a visa etc with Covid-19 developing had made it nigh on impossible to organise a replacement in time). Ozlander organisers revisited the program and added extra value features to the various tiers. The gathering weekend was so close, yet seemed so far away in these uncertain times. Every day, I anticipated receiving an email stating it had been cancelled. I knew the organisers must have been pulling their hair out. Selfishly and as long as it was safe to do so, I was hoping it would still go ahead. The virus was not as advanced in Australia. Most of our relatively low number of cases were brought in by travellers (residents returning or tourists) from Europe/Asia before flying was cancelled. The Federal Government had restricted public gatherings to less than 500 at the time. Attendance was actually under 200.  FYI, below are the global covid-19 stats as of 19 April 2020, a month later. Australia’s population is 25 million.

A few days after the Ozlander event, only crowds of less than 100 were permitted by the govt. We were so, so lucky!! Of course, that reduced further as precautions were implemented over time. We have self-isolation and a lot of business closures, cancellation of sports/entertainment etc. It is dreadful, but not a total lock down in Australia. We could walk dogs and make necessary trips to the supermarket, pharmacy, doctor or special court appearances. Anyway, just wanted to address this concern. ~ Tickets sold well (premium tickets sold out). I saw fans on sm stating the date of the event clashed or it was a bit expensive so I know more wanted to come. Yes, the cost was relatively high. Return airfares for cast, accommodation, plus I assume their appearance fee was always going to be an expensive venture, especially as our AUD had been declining sharply against the USD for some time. Australia can miss out on some things because of distance and a relatively small population, but overall, I think we have done well over the years. ~ Rik (Richard) and Sophie posted IG photos from Melbourne a couple of days before the event. Yay!! They were in the country at least, enjoying the sunsets, cuddling koalas and hypnotising wallabies lol. Sophie posted a selfie from a public toilet (bathroom) - as you do. See Sam’s comment below. Toilet paper was becoming a precious commodity....🤔

So the odds looked good and finally, Ozlander arrived.🥳 Before we took our seats, a lone piper slowly walked into the throng playing Waltzing Matilda (iconic Australian bush ballad) which segued into Outlander's theme song. Goosebumps! Applause all 'round. The piper was a big fan too.

What a thrilling start to proceedings. We took our seats and Meagan Taylor (the one who dared dream the dream), welcomed everyone. The age range of fans was predominately 40-65. We were excited and expectant. Housekeeping announcements focused on coronavirus precautions of course. Wash hands, use hand sanitiser when you can't, no handshaking and no touching the cast. This last request was a little disappointing after seeing photos from other OL cons, but it was quite understandable. I think we were just over the moon Ozlander went ahead so we were more than happy to comply and consider the health and safety of others. Then Meagan had the unenviable task of informing us David Berry had unfortunately cancelled his appearance due to health reasons. Yikes! What a shame. (David released a press statement 15 March(?) outlining his difficult decision. Sydney is Australia's Covid-19 hot spot, so David being a Sydneysider, had to consider this I guess). There are IG photos of David, Rik and Sophie together in Australia, just not sure where. So of course, it surprised everyone that David wasn't attending. Refunds of his meet and great and the re-jigging of tiers was to be announced on the fly. Then there were two, Rik and Sophie (and no pressure whatsoever!)🤪. Meagan then advised that the five panels across the weekend would be all audience Q & A which got a loud cheer. On with the show! The Rik and Sophie show! 🎉 They came on stage ready for a good time. Rik opened with 'G'day'. Great start I thought and continued his half decent Australian accent. It's a hard accent to imitate as we know. Rik's was a bit exaggerated but that was part of the fun. 

‘G’day. ‘How are ya’?’

Sophie in an outfit she bought here. Same brand as Saturday’s dress that she brought with her.

Roger Mac is in da house.

I’ll admit, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I have seen Rik and Sophie in a lot of interviews, OL promos (talking to camera) and taking part on OL panels on YouTube. I can find their rapport a little strained and snarky at times. Luckily, I was very pleasantly surprised that their 2020 version was very endearing and entertaining. I think they’ve worked on this. I also think, that the spectre of Sam and Cait, through no fault of their own, does loom large at cast events. Therefore, it was great to see Rik and Sophie rise to the challenge of working the room in the absence of their cast mates. And I think they really relished this (albeit exhausting) opportunity and the small theatre made it a casual and intimate affair. They answered questions in an engaging manner and often expanded on it, citing on set examples, many I’ve never heard before, and I’ve seen a lot of OL interviews. Almost as soon as they came on stage, Rik was asked if he would play his guitar and sing for us. While flattered, I think it was too early in the piece and he said maybe he would do so during the weekend sometime. Alas, time wasn’t on our side so it didn’t eventuate. ~ Rik was asked if his hair ticks were under control (ep 501)😂. Combing his fingers through his hair, he replied in his strong Scottish brogue that most of them were gone now. Good sport. ~ He was told the OL bts photos he posts on sm (taken on set) were great and much appreciated and to keep them coming to which the audience applauded. I think he quietly enjoyed that moment. All creatives will take that, knowing their skills and hard work meant something to someone, much like our appreciation for OL and these sorts of events!

Then on to costumes, wigs and make up. It was thought that it must be nice to have your scalp/hair attended to in the makeup. ‘No, it’s not’ R&S said in unison.😂 Verra uncomfortable process apparently. The hair is flattened and held down with clips. The hairline edge of the wig is ‘glued’ to the top of your forehead and then alcohol is used to get the glue off after shooting, which dries the skin. Some hair falls out over time with this process also. We know this has happened to Sam to an extent.😬 Rik is hoping to grow his hair long enough so he doesn’t need a wig, which accounts for his current hirsute glory. ~ Sophie said they both share a make up trailer and added that Rik has a magic make up chair. Being early morning, he often goes to sleep in it and upon waking up, hey presto, it’s Roger Mac. At make up time, they do know if the other is a bit touchy, so they try not to annoy each other. Too much.😂 ~ At one stage, we were a bit shy in asking questions. Meagan said if this was in the US, there’d be a line up for the mic.😂

Ozlander Fan Gathering 2020 selfie. 

~ Sophie responded to a geeky question about wearing wireless mics secreted in their costumes or hair as well using the usual overhead boom mics you see on bts videos. She was asked about her experience with ADR which she’s not a great fan of it. The audience asked, ‘What’s ADR?’ There are a few accepted terms in the industry, Additional Dialogue Replacement is one. It’s when some dialogue needs to be re-recorded late in post production if the original dialogue audio recording at the time is less than optimal for a variety of reasons (thanks Google). Sophie gave an instance when in S4, Bree told Claire she had been raped. The stream in the background got into the dialogue mics too much in this particular outdoor location, so Sophie had to re-record her dialogue (like lip syncing) saying exactly what she said at the time, whilst watching the scene on a screen in a recording studio. It’s hard to get the context and emotion of the scene back into your voice and that’s why some actors hate doing it and plead to have the original dialogue kept as much as possible. But ADR happens more than you realise and for various reasons (see Google). It is impossible to tell when you watch the show, what scenes have had ADR done, it’s blended so well. They would record the stream/ ambient sounds separately at some point and then mix it in lower against the dialogue after ADR is done. 😅

 ~ Sophie talked about her audition process and was sat down in an exec’s office and was told OL fans are very passionate! (we are?🤔😁). They have an idea of how book Brianna should look and Sophie confirmed she wasn’t tall enough, eyes the wrong colour, etc and that yeah, as expected, she received some not so nice things on sm. But she tried not to read too much of it and pressed on with the role of Bree. Her tone wasn’t sarcastic or indignant at all, but humble. I was impressed. 

Queuing for photos with Rik or Sophie on this occasion. We weren’t allowed to touch but we all had a squirt of hand sanitiser (just to be super safe?).🤔            

There were a few photo opportunities over the weekend and a bonus or two thrown in make up for the cast that couldn’t make it. A refund was offered for people with meet and greet tickets for David. However, R & S kindly offered to do a meet and greet for David’s fans instead and they happily accepted. Legends! I don’t know where they found the energy to be constantly ’on’ with so many people over the weekend. Chocolate? Youth?  ~ As it was a small event, there weren’t any extra security staff that I could see. I think it was only the Museum staff and the security cameras which were hardly noticeable. ~ When getting my autographs, Rik and Sophie didn’t ask for my name, but when I read their personal messages, they had used my name (which they’d seen on my Ozlander lanyard. How cool is that? Very slick!). There were assorted costumes, the de rigueur wedding dress of Claire’s which added to the ambience. Of course, most of the audience were women but good to see a handful of men there, some even in kilts! Saw some Aussie Peakers in their MPC tees too. Cool. 

To settle a pronunciation question, Sophie asked the audience after lunch, ‘Is it scone (as in, phone) or scone (as in, shone)? 

An emphatic SCONE (shone) came back. Rik said “Oh, wow, a shouting(?) majority?’ 

Just to be sure, someone asked who lost, Rik pointed at Sophie. He didn’t gloat too much. Poor Sophie!

Of course, what would an OL event be without the cast having a drink or two to lubricate the tonsils (as we say).

Here are a few more tidbits. All the info I’m sharing has been gleaned from the panels and time spent with Rik and Sophie over the weekend as my tier allowed (which was a lot). ~ Yes, they had tried Vegemite (similar to marmite/promite), courtesy of David Berry. Sophie has some in Scotland. Onya Davo! (good on you David). Incidentally, Sam tried some when he was here in 2016 on Studio 10 (morning talk show - March 2016, his interview is on You Tube). It’s a thing. ~ Rik didn’t know if Sam’s whisky would be his cup of tea, but said it was ‘good actually’. ~ Rik was sometimes surprised by the particular take post production used for the show, but was more surprised by what was edited out of a scene (to add dynamics or guide the narrative a certain way which would apply to all productions everywhere). ~ The pyre scene with the Jesuit Priest at the Mohawk Village Ep 412 was hard to watch on TV. He said it was hard to watch them shoot that scene on set as it was so dangerous!😬 ~ Sophie very occasionally discussed the historical accuracy of things in a scene with directors ie. birthing stool or not in Ep 413 and 1960′s The Mashed Potato moves in S5 are different to how we know them now. She convinced the director’s on those 2 occasions. To me, it shows her passion for the show! ~ When asked about Bree meeting Jamie for the first time in S4, Sophie was asked about the eww factor but didn’t think about Jamie’s hand touching her face after he had relieved himself as he had only used a fruit juice bottle.🤣 ~ R & S were asked to respond to: ‘Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!’ And with relish they replied: ‘Oi, Oi, Oi!’. Someone did their homework. Cool. It’s a parochial call and response thing some aussies do at sporting events etc. ~ R & S often went for an early morning run. Before Sunday’s program began, Meagan asked us all to be very quiet. ‘That sound’, she said, ‘is Rik having his hair blown dry backstage.’ Laughter at Rik’s expense all round. Sophie came on with her’s still damp.

Graham McTavish ‘popped’ in from Slovakia to say hi and sorry I can’t be there. Rik and Graham had a good rapport. After some banter, the audience was now supposed to ask a question and GM rolled his eyes as he heard Rik’s voice again, this time asking him what he conditioned his beard with? ‘Well”, said GM, ‘well Richard, um, I, ahh (chuckle), I condition it with...., obviously a little bit of your love ..’. Much laughter in the theatre.

Then GM commented further, (which I missed, sadly), to even more laughter.

Who knows what would have happened had GM been at the event in person?! There is so much more I could share, but you get the idea. 

Sophie wasn’t feeling the best during the last panel just before the close of the event, but she pushed through like a trooper. Rik said she had eaten too much chocolate. A weakness of Sophie’s. I think fatigue was catching up with both of them. They did so much.

Meagan presented Rik and Sophie with an Akubra (pron. uh·koo·bruh) each (iconic Australian outback hat) as a memento of their time here at Ozlander. Rik had the Crocodile Dundee style whilst Sophie’s was more demure. In his best aussie lingo, Rik said: ‘I’m Richard Dundee and this is my partner, Skippy (Sophie).’ (Referencing Skippy the bush kangaroo ? - a much loved Australian TV show 1968-1970). 

The Scottish Banner article promised an intimate relaxed chance to get to know stars from the Outlander TV series and I’m happy to say that this is exactly what we got. Whilst it’s a shame we didn’t get to know Ed, Graham or David better, we certainly got to know Rik and Sophie better than we had ever anticipated. As a result, I see Rik and Sophie in a new light, esp in S5, where they have more scenes together. In a small way, I’ve gotten to know a little of the person that inevitably informs their TV persona (ie facial expressions, mannerisms, speaking cadence and inflections). What a memorable time I had (can you tell?). Thanks to Rik and Sophie, the gathering organisers (who got a special mention on stage at the close) and the other fans I met there. Thanks for reading this far on a rather lengthy post.😊 I know it’s my take on the weekend, but I’ve tried not to editorialise it, but present it, as accurately as I can, hence, it may be a bit dry to read.😅  I think Ozlander is a great name and I look forward to Ozlander Fan Gathering 2021.  

Ozlander graphics: Ozlander Fan Gathering (I tweaked the circle logo in the title)

Ozlander Fan Gathering 2020 selfie: Ozlander Fan Gathering

other photos: all permissions obtained    

Ozlander Fan Gathering article: The Scottish Banner February 2020

Sophie Skelton post: Instagram

global covid-19 cases stats: Wikipedia

[longinglook]

Hello !

Do you think that korea will one day produce full length BL drama, I am not necessarily talking about it airing on korean tv channel with 16 episode of 1 hour but like japanese, filipino, thai and Taiwanese drama 12-13 episodes of at least 25 minutes airing on linetv or wetv or something similar but korean. Why do you think they are only producing short drama, is it because of budget restrictions, they don’t want to make the effort or something else ?

Are you satisfied with few korean BL drama that we had and do the ones just announced looks promising to you ?

Personally, I will give an 8 for wyel, 6,5 for mr heart and a 3 for the 4 first episodes of wish you. Wyel was really good but too short and I felt we didn’t have enough contents. Mr heart was good but also too short and I feel like the love story could have been more developed. And for wish you, I consider it to be a disaster actually it wouldn’t have been that bad if we had a long drama but knowing we are halfway through and they barely interacted is worrisome. The cinematography and the actors are good which is why I gave a 3 but the writing is not there, they spend more time with insoo and the manager and sang yi and the woman than with sang yi and insoo. They had 0 romantic interaction and I am scared we are going to get queerbaited.

Hi! I don’t really know much about the kdrama industry and why korean bls so far have all been mini series, but I assume it’s much harder to find funds and sponsors compared to shows centered around straight love stories and characters. I’m sure at some point we’ll get a longer series from Korea, but I feel like it’s going to have less budget than what we’ve seen so far, maybe like a youtube webseries or similar. 

As for what we’ve got so far, I have to admit that I haven’t finished watching mr heart yet (I started it as it was airing and then I got caught up in other things and I never really got around to it) so I don’t feel like I can judge it yet. I really enjoyed wyel and I don’t really feel like it needed more episodes to develop the story just because it did such an amazing job establishing their dynamic right from the start. It could have been nice to get a special episode that shows how they’re doing as a couple after the ending, but I really liked how they chose to finish the story and it didn’t feel too rushed. 

(This is where I clarify that I love mini series and short episodes because I have a hard time focusing for more than 20 minutes at a time so they are a lot easier for me to consume, so this might be biased)

I am excited about the other korean bls that have been announced, especially color rush! It’s a very common fanfiction au but I don’t think I’ve ever seen it done in a show so I hope it’s well done!

One element that I think is interesting is how they’ve been casting actors that were/are involved in the idol world (wyel had gichan who was on produce 101, mr heart had sejin who was in produce x 101, wish you’s leads are both in kpop groups, color rush will star an ex kpop idol), I assume it’s to get more people to watch.

I am enjoying wish you so far! I honestly like that it doesn’t throw in the romance right away, but tries to show us what Sang yi’s daily life and job are and how he meets and befriends In soo. The main issue with some of these mini series is that they don’t spend enough time building the characters and they end up not having a personality. I think wish you is doing a good job so far and I am not too concerned with how it might continue. I don’t think they’re going to queerbait us, seeing how both wyel and mr heart didn’t, but the romance might only start at the end. Again this is a matter of personal preference, but as long as the story is interesting I don’t need to see affection right away. The pace is good and it’s making me enjoy the characters and it builds up expectations.

I only have one issue with wish you, and it’s the names they gave the characters. Why is Kang Insoo named like the actor? I guess they did change Sang’s name and surname a little, but it’s so weird. Is there a reason I missed? I wouldn’t mind if it wasn’t idols we’re talking about, and I know how fans can get. I remember how some people flipped out over the wyel leads having somewhat similar names to two bts members and this would definitely be an issue if Myname and Imfact had bigger fandoms

[k-llama-llama]

Mom-ing

TXT AU: 6th member

Sara x TXT

Sara has a bit of an awkward moment when she accidentally ‘moms’ BTS.

A/N: Please check out my PATREON (patreon.com/kllamallama) for exclusive posts you can’t get anywhere else, as well as lots of other cool benefits!

Requests are closed, but your feedback is still greatly appreciated!

Masterlist and other Follow Me links in bio!

“The concert was amazing!” Beomgyu exclaimed as they got ready to say goodbye to BTS.

“We’re so glad you guys enjoyed it!” Jimin smiled. “We should really get going, we have interviews later.”

“Yeah, so do we.” Soobin sighed.

“We had lunch brought in for you guys, if you want to sit and eat for a bit.” BTS’s manager told them.

“Can we all eat together?” RM asked.

“Of course.”

They all settled back down, Sara carefully reclaiming her seat next to Hueningkai. The staff brought in bags of food and set them out on the table, and Sara watched as the BTS members filled their plates.

“What are you guys waiting for?” Suga asked. “Dig in.”

Taehyun cast a glance to Sara.

She nodded. “Go ahead.”

Sumi snorted. “You have to give them permission?”

Sara flushed. “It’s a habit.”

Sumi gave her a look, but returned to her plate. She’d balanced it on top of Jungkook’s head, and the maknae seemed completely unbothered.

Sara filled her own plate, taking a small bite of her noodles. After a long moment of silence, she decided to take the initiative and break it.

“You guys are about to go on break, right?” At their nod she continued. “Any exciting plans?”

“Just kind of hanging out.” V answered. “Some of us are going on trips.”

“Noona and I are going to the beach.” Jungkook said excitedly. “Apparently we can go surfing.”

“That sounds fun!” Yeonjun exclaimed. “How long are you away before you get back to work.”

Sumi sighed. “Not long enough. But someone already started working on the next album...” She playfully elbowed RM.

He shrugged. “Less work for us when its time.”

They all finished their meals quickly and the staff hurried forward to clear away their dishes.

Sara stood quickly to help, reaching to tap Kai on the shoulder and tell him to help.

“Don’t just sit there, silly. Help clean up.” She tapped him on the shoulder.

The room went dead silent.

She looked up, following her hand and finding it on Jhope’s shoulder.

Her eyes widened and she hurriedly bowed. “I’m so sorry! I thought you were Kai. I didn’t mean-”

“It’s okay.” He laughed. “We’ll help clean up too.”

Sara was certain that her face had gone completely red, and could barely look up as she grabbed some plates and tossed them in the garbage can. With everyone still busy cleaning up, she ducked into the hall and took refuge in the stairwell.

Burying her face in her hands, she tried to collect herself. She couldn’t believe that she had just done that. She’d literally told Jhope what to do, like she was his mother. She knew it embarrassed the boys sometimes when she did it, but to do it to another person: to their seniors of all people.

She’d never live it down.

“Soo-ji?”

She looked up as Soobin sat himself next to her. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh nothing. Just that I tried to parent BTS.”

Soobin smiled. “You didn’t try to parent them. They thought it was funny.”

Sara groaned. “I’m so embarrassing.”

“You’re not.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, letting her lean in to his shoulder. “I promise. None of us are embarrassed by you.”

“I’ll stop, I promise. Urgh, I can’t believe I did that.” She flipped her hair over to hide her face.

“You don’t need to stop.” He laughed. “Seriously, Soo-ji, we love it. And we don’t care if other people see it.”

“You swear?” She looked up. “You’d tell me if I were embarrassing, right?”

“Promise.” Soobin pushed her hair out of her face. “Now, come back and say goodbye to our seniors.”

“Urgh, fine.” She stood, smoothing her hair out as they moved back through the hall. “Do they think I’m weird now?”

Soobin handed her her phone. “No, because we said you left your phone in the other dressing room and went to get it.”

Sara smiled. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

He shrugged. “Who knows. You’d probably be the leader of this group, first of all.”

Sara shook her head. “No one will ever be as good of a leader as you.”

“If you say so.” He pushed the door open and they stepped back into the room, seeing BTS assembling their things to leave.

“You’re back!” Jungkook exclaimed happily. “We thought we’d miss you.”

“Did you find your phone?” Taehyung asked.

Sara held up the item in question. “Got it.”

“We’ll see you guys later.” RM said with a smile. “You guys keep working hard, yeah?”

“Of course.” Sara gave a polite bow and a smile. “Have a nice vacation.”

“We will.” Jimin was practically beaming.

They all exchanged farewells, and then BTS was ushered on their way. 

Sumi hesitated for a moment in front of Sara, before turning to her.

She leaned in close to Sara’s ear, and Sara felt her blood run cold. She braced herself for some sort of threat, or maybe this was the moment Sumi went full vampire and just killed her.

“Don’t sweat it about the mom thing. I do it too.” Sumi whispered.

It was all Sara could do to nod. Sumi gave her a smirk and hurried after her boys.

“What did she say?” Yeonjun demanded. “Tell us!”

Sara smiled and shook her head. “Sorry boys. Girl talk.”

“Please.” Beomgyu rolled his eyes. “Like you know what girl talk is.”

“Yah! I am a girl you know.” She glared at him.

“Barely.” He gestured to her outfit. “Seeing as how those are my jeans and Kai’s shoes.”

She looked down at her clothes. “Your point?”

[silverlightqueen]

The Other Half - Part 1

badboy!Jimin x richgirl!reader ft. bts, nct 127, twice, red velvet, got7, blackpink and exo

Word Count: 10k+

Summary - In Winchester, y/n has it all. Gorgeous and glamorous. A friendship group just as gorgeous and glamorous. Fantastic grades. A handsome boyfriend with a family just as successful as hers. A doting dad and a brother just as beautiful as she is. An amazing school, and an even more amazing house. As many cars and clothes and bags and shoes, and as much makeup and money she could ever ask for. But when Winchester Academy puts on an exchange programme with Burnley Tech School, a high school in an underprivileged area, two completely different worlds collide, and y/n has her hands full, practically overflowing, dealing with her exchange partner, bad boy Jimin with a whole lot of baggage…

DISCLAIMER - I do not know some of these idols very well and so the portrayal of their personalities and behaviour are not 100% accurate. They are also dramatised and changed for the purpose of this story. Please do not consider my portrayal of these idols as my opinions on them.

Warnings - talk of weight and dieting, toxic relationship, bad language, classism, mild sExUaL ReLaTiOnS towards the end, I think that’s it lol

a/n: so here is part one ! have a lil new years gift from me lol, lmk what you think so far and hmu if you wanna be on the taglist x

au masterlist

silverlightqueen masterlist

taglist💕: @sakurauchiha2018​ @jesuislalune​ @haileykurayami​ @mayumioutloud​ @jiminsreads @rjsmochii​ @generousrunawaylove​ @ibelieveinourgalaxy @jennafromhome​ @locharnathebanana​​ @silverlightprincess​

‘y/n, what are you doing?’ Jaehyun asks as I take my seat opposite him in the dining room, father sat between us at the head of the table. ‘What do you mean?’ I ask in confusion as I start up my laptop, ready to finish my English homework. ‘Why are you in your pyjamas?’ he asks, and I raise an eyebrow. ‘I’m going to bed soon. You know I hate being tired on a Monday morning,’ I say, and Jaehyun shakes his head despairingly at me. ‘y/n, we’ve gotta be there to pick the exchange students up in, like, half an hour,’ he says, and I sigh, having completely forgotten about that. ‘Shit,’ I curse, and father looks up from his laptop with a raised eyebrow. ‘Sorry, daddy,’ I say, and he gives me a small smile before going back to his work. ‘Can’t you just pick mine up as well, Jae? I really can’t be bothered to go,’ I say, and Jaehyun shakes his head. ‘No way, y/n. That’s not a great impression, is it?’ he says, and I pout. ‘Please, Jae, I don’t wanna get changed,’ I whine, and he shakes his head. ‘Dad, tell her,’ he says, and I scowl, knowing exactly what’s going to happen. 

‘What are you two bickering about now?’ father asks. ‘y/n’s asking me to pick her exchange student up because she doesn’t want to get changed, but I said no because it’s not a great impression,’ Jaehyun says, and father looks at me. ‘Sweetheart, your brother’s right, I bet your exchange student would be hurt that you haven’t gone to pick him or her up. Go get changed, darling, and then you can leave in fifteen minutes so you’re there with plenty of time,’ father says, and I whine, getting up from my seat and stomping out of the dining room and all the way up to my room. I change out of my comfy pyjamas into a pair of blue high waisted ripped jeans and a pink cable knitted jumper, putting a black longline coat over the top and a pair of black sock boots on my feet. I put all my jewellery back on, matching Chanel set and all, and put my phone and lip-gloss into my pink Chanel clutch. When I head back downstairs, Jaehyun’s waiting beside the front door for me.

‘Come on, we’re gonna be late,’ he says, throwing me my car keys and I catch them deftly. We both shout goodbyes to father as we leave, hearing a faint goodbye back. I check the keys Jaehyun threw me, seeing that they’re the Audi ones, and I grin, surprised that he remembered which car’s my favourite. ‘Do you wanna drive next to each other, or just meet there?��� he asks as he climbs into his car, head hanging out of the door. ‘You go ahead, boy racer,’ I reply, Jaehyun winking at me as he shuts his door, racing out of the driveway mere seconds later. I climb into my Audi but before I can pull off, our valet, Changwoo, appears and I roll down the window. ‘Miss, will you or either your father or brother be using any of the other cars tonight or should I put them back into the garage?’ he asks. They’ve all been washed today, hence why they’re still out on the circle drive, shining in the setting sun. ‘I won’t, and neither will Jae. You’ll have to ask father though, he might have urgent business. You know what he’s like,’ I say, Changwoo letting out a light laugh. ‘Okay, miss. Good luck with your exchange student,’ he says, and I grin, the entire household excited about having two new temporary members of the family. ‘Thank you,’ I reply before rolling the window back up. I pull off and drive the short journey to school, getting there within ten minutes. When I pull onto the school car park and into my designated spot, the others are all already there and waiting for me, the sun having nearly set, a gentle glow cast over them all. ‘About time,’ Haechan says as I climb out of the car and I flip him off as we all begin to head to the front drive of the school where we know their school coaches will be arriving.

‘Ah, you’re all here,’ Miss Jung says when we join the other students all stood around waiting for their exchange students. This programme was only offered to our year group, so all sixty of our year group are here, no parents to be seen. That’s one thing about the lives we live; our parents are only with us if they need to be. ‘Right, students, listen up! Your exchange students have had a long drive here so they’re most likely going to be tired and hungry. Make sure you feed them and get them to bed asap and save the house tours for tomorrow. Only tell them the most urgent things they need to know, and you can fill them in completely tomorrow after school,’ Miss Jung says just as a coach pulls up. ‘That’s strange. There’s supposed to be two coaches,’ I hear her say under her breath to another of the teachers, all of them heading to the coaches to greet the students. We’re all eager to catch glimpses of the students, and we’re pleasantly surprised when the first one gets off the coach.

He’s tall, handsome and broad, dimpled with dyed grey hair. He’s dressed fashionably in comfy, casual wear, a neck pillow around his thick neck, and offers a small smile when he sees us all staring. ‘They don’t look poor,’ Taeyong says to me as we watch them come off the coach. The boys are pretty much all good-looking, and the girls are all really pretty, all of them dressed fairly fashionably. Obviously not in designer labels like we are, but I spot a couple brands here and there. Admittedly, they wear Trapstar and Billionaire Boys Club (ironic) to our Moncler and Balenciaga, and Calvin Klein and Diesel to our Balmain and Valentino. Once they’ve all emptied off the coach and gotten their luggage, there’s only about 30 of them, and our teachers speak to their teachers, the rest of us speaking with hushed voices. I inspect them all, a couple other of the boys catching my eyes. There’s a cute one with dark hair and a bunny smile, but he’s about twice my height, another handsome boy with dark hair and a heart shaped smile, slim and toned by the looks of it. A shorter boy stands with the first one I saw, wavy grey hair and a smaller frame with the cutest gummy smile.

The teachers start to read out some of the pairs, all of us listening eagerly. Jaehyun gets paired with the cute one with the bunny smile and they leave almost straight away. Taeyong gets paired with a pretty brunette, slim and long-haired with porcelain skin. I can feel the jealousy bubbling up, but it quickly subsides when he captures my lips in a quick kiss before leaving with her, blowing another kiss over his shoulder at me. Jihyo gets paired with the tall dimply guy, Dahyun gets paired with the short curly haired guy and Momo gets paired with the heart-shaped smile dark-haired guy. Johnny, Doyoung, Mina and Chaeyoung get paired with the other four of Taeyong’s partner’s friends, and those pairs have met and left whilst the rest of us are still stood around waiting. ‘Students, the other coach will be here shortly, it just got delayed,’ Miss Jung announces, the rest of us groaning. ‘They won’t be long, stop complaining,’ she mutters, coaxing laughs from our friendship group.

‘That boy Jae got paired with is cute, don’t you think?’ Nayeon says, and I roll my eyes. ‘Johnny left literally a minute ago. Down, girl,’ I say amusedly, the girl giggling at my reply. ‘Says you. We all know what you and Taeyong get up to,’ she replies, and I hit her gently on the arm. ‘Shut it, dumbass, no one knows about that except for you,’ I say, and she laughs maniacally. ‘Remember that when you’re mean to me again,’ she says warningly, and I roll my eyes at her. ‘Did you see who Tae got put with? If he doesn’t tap that, he’s stupid,’ I hear Haechan saying, and I turn with an indignant look on my face. ‘First of all, Dahyun is your girlfriend. Second of all, excuse me, I’m right here,’ I say, and he puts an arm around me with a smirk on his face. ‘Don’t be offended, babe, you’re better. He’d be even stupider if he didn’t tap you,’ he says, and I look at him incredulously. ‘Again, Dahyun is your girlfriend,’ I say, and he grins. ‘That’s neither here nor there,’ he replies as the other coach arrives.

I feel excitement bubbling up inside me as the coach pulls to a stop, knowing my partner is about to walk out of the coach door. I watch eagerly as another group of thirty leave the coach, dressed similarly, and there are a couple that catch my eye. Possibly one of the most handsome boys I’ve ever seen, dark hair swept back from his face, plump pink lips and a loud laugh that sounds distinctly like window wipers. Another boy, tall and built, manly and broad, dark wavy hair and a boxy smile. The teachers start to call out the pairs and when I hear my name, I practically sprint over to them. ‘y/n, this is your partner, Park Jimin,’ Miss Jung says, moving aside to reveal my partner to me. My breath catches in my throat at the sight of him; swept back purple hair with streaks of blue in it, plump shiny lips, dark piercing eyes, and smooth clear skin. Mile long legs, a small waist and bigger shoulders, his body slim and toned through his black slim-fit Puma sweatpants and black Fila hoodie, silver rings adorning his fingers and silver earrings hanging from his ears.

‘Hi, I’m y/n,’ I say, offering a hand to him, and he takes it after a moment, shaking it firmly. His hand is warm and soft, and the rings are cool and firm, a pleasurable contrast. Our hands fall away at the same time and Miss Jung smiles at us. ‘I’m sure you two will get on well; y/n will be a great host, Jimin,’ Miss Jung says, the boy simply nodding. ‘Well, off you go. Remember, be here on time tomorrow morning!’ she says, and we both nod. ‘Do you want a hand with your bags?’ I offer as Miss Jung and his teacher move away from us. ‘I’ve got them, thanks,’ he says, his voice… nice. Low but not low at the same time. Gravelly but light. Melodious. ‘Well, I’m parked in the car park, it’s just this way,’ I say, and we begin to walk towards the car park, Jimin wheeling his cases along behind him. ‘How was the drive?’ I ask, and he shrugs. ‘It was okay. As good as a six-hour long journey away from your home and parents can be,’ he says, and my heart goes out to him. I also feel a bit guilty, but I know it’s not my fault. ‘Well, it kinda sucks, but hopefully you’ll enjoy yourself here,’ I say, and he nods. ‘Hopefully,’ he says, and we fall into a slightly awkward silence.

When we reach the car, I unlock it and open the boot, helping him lift his bags in. I shut the boot as he climbs in the passenger side, and I get in the driver’s side. Being in such close proximity with him in an enclosed space, I can smell his scent on the air. He smells distinctly of a nice cologne and, curiously, almost of baked goods. I must be mistaking something else for that, because why would he smell of baked goods? ‘Audi, can you text Jaehyun and ask if he’s getting takeaway or getting Eunha to cook something?’ I say, the dashboard lighting up. ‘Of course, y/n,’ the car replies as I start the car and reverse out of my parking space. ‘You can talk to your car?’ Jimin says, and I nod as I pull out of the car park. ‘It stops me from having to pull over whenever I want to send a text,’ I reply, and he chuckles, just as the car beeps to signal a reply from my brother. ‘Jaehyun replied ‘Eunha made us dinner, don’t get takeout, and get back soon, the food’s getting cold.’ Would you like to reply, y/n?’ ‘No, thank you, Audi,’ I reply before clicking the play button on the steering wheel, my music quietly floating out of the speakers. ‘How the other half live, huh?’ Jimin says drily.

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ I ask neutrally, trying not to take it offensively but not sure how else I should take it. ‘It means, you have a car that you can talk to, a chef at your house, I presume, and you’re decked out in expensive designers. I’m guessing your daddy’s a rich businessman and your mummy’s a pretty housewife, and you’ve got loads of staff and loads of clothes and a rich boyfriend and everything a girl could ever ask for. Like a princess,’ he says, almost venomously, and I shrug. ‘I guess you’re right. Except for one thing,’ I say, and he chuckles. ‘What’s that then?’ he asks. ‘My mum’s not a housewife. She’s dead,’ I say, and he falls silent. ‘Sorry. That was mean of me. I shouldn’t have said all that. It’s not your fault you were born rich and I… wasn’t,’ he says after a few moments of awkward silence, almost ashamedly, and I shrug again. ‘It’s okay. Just… I wouldn’t adopt that kind of attitude at school tomorrow, not in front of the Winchester students anyway. It’d probably do you more harm than good,’ I say. ‘Thanks for the advice, princess, but I can look out for myself,’ he says, the lack of emotion in the words having me taken aback. ‘Don’t call me that,’ I say. ‘What?’ ‘Princess,’ I reply, and he doesn’t say anything. Neither of us do, the rest of the drive home, and I curse Miss Jung for putting me with this guy. How am I supposed to get along with him when he clearly already hates me, my friends, my family, and everything we stand for? This exchange programme is going to be… fun.

When we pull up to the house, I can sense he’s biting his tongue and continues to do so when Changwoo comes rushing up and carries his bags up to the house and is still continuing to do so when Changwoo takes my keys with a bow and a ‘Goodnight, miss’. ‘Welcome to your temporary home,’ I say as a couple of the staff appear. ‘Welcome back, miss. Welcome, sir,’ they chorus as they take Jimin’s bags. ‘They’ll put them in your room,’ I say as I lead him through the foyer, the boy still watching the staff go up the grand staircase, and into the kitchen. The kitchen is one of my favourite rooms in the house, all sleek marble surfaces and cool devices that make my life easier when I’m cooking. Jaehyun and his exchange partner, the bunny smile boy, are sat at the breakfast bar, eating the banquet Eunha’s laid out for us, made up of many different dishes, kimchi, japchae, samgyeopsal and bulgogi to name a few. Both boys look up when we walk in, bunny boy’s bunny smile appearing when he sees Jimin. ‘Hyung!’ he exclaims, mouth full of food, and I try my hardest not to grimace at the sight. ‘What did I do to get put in the same house as you?’ Jimin mutters as bunny boy jumps up from his seat, pulling the other boy into a hug. ‘Jaehyun, this is Jimin. Jimin, this is my twin brother, Jaehyun,’ I say, the two shaking hands. ‘Jungkook, this is y/n, my sister. y/n, this is Jungkook, or JK,’ Jaehyun says, bunny boy – Jungkook – holding out a food covered hand to me. I shake it lightly with the best smile I can muster up as Jimin takes a seat on the breakfast bar, Jungkook re-joining them.

I walk around to the other side of the island, washing my hands before I open the fridge and get out the bottle of fresh organic fruit juice that’s delivered for me every day. ‘Aren’t you eating, y/n?’ Jaehyun asks, and I shake my head, taking a sip of the juice, all three boys watching me. ‘I’m not hungry. I might just have an apple or something,’ I say, and Jaehyun shakes his head. ‘You should eat more, y/n. It’s not good for you,’ Jaehyun says, and I shake my head. ‘I eat plenty. Taeyong took me for food at 4, remember?’ I say, and my brother raises an eyebrow. ‘And what did you have?’ he asks. ‘A salad,’ I say, the boy shaking his head again. ‘Did Taeyong order that for you?’ he asks. ‘No, I ordered it myself,’ I lie, Jaehyun raising an eyebrow. ‘He’s just looking out for me,’ I say sulkily, and Jaehyun shrugs. ‘Whatever. Don’t come crying to me when you’re malnourished because all you eat is rabbit food,’ he says, and I stick my middle finger up at him, Jimin and Jungkook having watched the entire exchange with interest.

For the next ten minutes, the boys make conversation, getting to know one another as I nibble on an apple and sit on my phone, Nayeon texting me about how good looking her exchange student, Mark, is. Once they’re finished eating, I pick up all the plates and pile them into the dishwasher. ‘Do you guys wanna look around or do you wanna just save that for tomorrow and go to bed?’ I ask, Jungkook and Jimin exchanging a glance. ‘Um, I think we’ll just go to bed,’ Jimin says, the other boy nodding in agreement. Jaehyun and I walk them up to their rooms, me trailing behind the three of them. At this rate, it seems Jaehyun will end up with two exchange partners. Jaehyun stops at Jungkook’s room with him and I stop with Jimin at his room, the one opposite Jungkook’s. ‘So this is your room,’ I say, Jimin stepping in. He looks around, and I can see him trying to hide how impressed he is, just sitting at the edge of the bed as he takes everything in. ‘We start school at 9, so what time do you want waking up?’ I ask. ‘What time do you get up?’ he asks me. ‘Um, like, 6 usually,’ I say, and his eyes widen. ‘What for?’ he asks. ‘Well, I gotta shower, do hair and makeup, get changed. It takes a while,’ I say sheepishly, and he rolls his eyes. ‘I’m happy to wake up at 7.30,’ he says, and I nod, turning to the control pad set into the wall. I set an alarm for 7.30 and he watches with a mixture of interest and amazement.

‘Well, I guess I’ll see you in the morning, then. If you need anything, my room’s just next to yours, and I’ll obviously be awake from 6 onwards, so just come knock,’ I say, and he nods. ‘Thanks,’ he says before coughing awkwardly. ‘Do you need anything else?’ I ask, and he shakes his head. ‘Well, okay. Goodnight, then,’ I say, and he gives me a false close-lipped smile. I shut the door, sighing once it’s closed, and turn to see Jaehyun just retreating into his room, opposite mine and next to Jungkook’s. I head into my room, shutting the door behind me and flop down onto the bed. I was so excited about this exchange thing, and now I’m completely deflated. My exchange student hates me, and already prefers my brother. This is gonna be a hell of a long month.

‘Your love, your love, your love, I miss that,’ I sing gently as I dab colour correcting concealer beneath my eyes and on the few blemishes on my face before squirting my foundation in blobs on my cheeks, nose and forehead. My hair’s wrapped up in a towel and I have a towel wrapped around my body too, having gotten out of the shower just a little while ago. I’m still singing when I hear a quiet knock on the door. It must be Jaehyun; he usually wakes up around this time and comes bothering me for something or another. ‘Come in!’ I call out, watching in the mirror of my vanity table as the door swings open slightly, Jimin popping his purple head through. Damn. I forgot about him. ‘Sorry to, uh, disturb you, y/n,’ he says, a light blush painting his cheeks, mirrored on my own. ‘It’s fine. What’s up?’ I ask, trying to look as normal as possible with patches of green and yellow concealer on my face. ‘What do I have to wear to school? Do you guys have, like, a uniform or do you wear your own clothes?’ he asks. ‘We wear uniform, there’s one for you in the wardrobe. If there’s an issue with the sizing, Jaehyun has spares he’s never worn. You can get them from his room, next door to mine. You seem around the same size as him. Once you’re done getting ready and stuff, you can go down to the kitchen. Eunha will have breakfast ready,’ I say, and he nods. ‘Okay. Thanks,’ he says, leaving embarrassedly, and I nearly scream from mortification.

I try to put his face when he saw my face out of my mind as I finish off my makeup, dry my hair and moisturise my body. I briefly run a straightener over my locks until they’re straighter than a homophobic white man, and put on some black underwear, putting my pink silk dressing gown over the top. I slide my feet into my fluffy slippers and head down to the kitchen, just to have some breakfast before I get changed. When I walk in, Jaehyun, Jungkook and Jimin are all sat in the same seats as yesterday, plates piled high with a traditional English breakfast. ‘Morning,’ I say, picking a small piece of bacon off Jaehyun’s plate, ducking from his hand swatting out at me. ‘Morning,’ the three reply as I head over to the fridge, my eyes lighting up when I see what Eunha’s prepared for me today; a mason jar full of fruit, yoghurt and oats (she does it nearly every day, and I never get tired of it). I take it out, along with a new bottle of my juice, and sit opposite them, getting a spoon out of one of the island drawers. ‘That uniform suits you guys. You’ll fit in well,’ I say truthfully, both Jimin and Jungkook looking handsome in their checked blazers, blue shirts and black trousers. ‘Thanks,’ they reply. ‘There weren’t any issues with the sizing, right?’ I ask. ‘No, it all fits,’ Jungkook replies, Jimin nodding in agreement, and I want to hit my head off the marble island. Why is it so hard to get a conversation going with either of them? It’s not like I’m speaking a different language.

‘What’s the girl’s uniform?’ Jungkook asks, and I nearly jump for joy about him making conversation. ‘Oh, we wear skirts the same pattern as your blazers, knee high black socks, black cardigans – but no one really wears them – and blue blouses. It’s quite cute, actually,’ I say, knowing many people hate their uniforms. I mean, I guess ours is unfashionable and lowkey ugly, but with a little… customisation, us girls rock it. ‘Sounds it,’ Jungkook replies with a grin, and I smile back, Jaehyun looking between us with a raised eyebrow. ‘y/n, you might wanna hurry up. We’ve gotta leave in, like, half an hour,’ he says, and I roll my eyes. ‘I only have to get changed, I won’t be that long,’ I say. ‘Don’t you need to do your hair and makeup?’ he asks, knowing full well I’ve already done both. ‘Headass,’ I mutter, the three boys laughing. Great. Now, instead of two against one, it’s gonna be four against one.

Father walks in then, dressed in his work attire. Today’s suit is a grey check pattern I chose for him, and I must say, he looks very handsome. ‘Morning, kids,’ he says, heading to the fridge without a glance at us. ‘Morning, dad,’ Jaehyun and I chorus. ‘The exchange students are here, remember?’ I say, and father turns from the fridge to see Jimin and Jungkook sat on either side of his son. ‘Oh, welcome, boys. Sorry I didn’t have a chance to meet you last night, I was a little busy. I’m Jihwan,’ he says, holding out a hand to Jungkook. The boy takes it with a smile, introducing himself, before Jimin does the same, shaking my father’s hand with a charming smile. He didn’t smile at me like that. ‘How did you sleep, boys? Are the rooms sufficient?’ father asks. ‘They were great, thank you, sir,’ Jungkook says. ‘Oh, no, just call me Jihwan, son,’ father says before turning back to the fridge. He roots around for his breakfast when I can see it sat right in front of him. ‘There, daddy,’ I point out, and I hear Jimin cough behind me, nearly choking. I turn to see Jaehyun patting his back. ‘Do you want a drink, Jimin?’ I offer, and he shakes his head, still trying to clear his throat. ‘I’m good, thanks,’ he replies as father gets his plate out of the fridge.

‘What’s this?’ he asks, pulling a face at the plate in his hand. ‘It’s a vegetable omelette, daddy. It’s healthy,’ I say, and he looks at it disdainfully. ‘Here,’ I say, taking the plate from him. I put it into the microwave to reheat it, and put a couple slices of toast into the toaster as father takes the seat beside mine. ‘Why do I have to eat healthy?’ he complains, and I roll my eyes, taking another bite from my breakfast. ‘Because you eat unhealthy lunches nearly every day. Balance it out,’ I say. ‘I don’t eat unhealthily at lunch,’ he replies. ‘Meeting clients for lunch every day at posh restaurants probably isn’t as healthy as you think, daddy,’ I point out. ‘Yeah, y/n would know. Her and her man are practically nutritionists, you know. They watch their diets. Or rather, Tae watches y/n’s,’ Jaehyun says, and I give him a look, knowing I’m about to grilled. ‘What’s he talking about, sweetheart?’ father asks as I get his omelette out of the microwave. ‘Nothing, he’s just being silly,’ I reply as I take the toast out of the toast, spreading margarine onto it. I put the omelette on top of the toast and present it to father. ‘Thank you, sweetheart,’ he says, pressing a kiss to my temple.

‘I wouldn’t say him making you eat a salad is nothing,’ Jaehyun says, father raising an eyebrow at me. ‘He didn’t make me, I chose to,’ I reply as I pour father out some juice to go with his breakfast. ‘Sweetheart, if he’s controlling what you eat, I can speak to his parents,’ father begins, but I cut him off. ‘No! No. Daddy, it’s fine. We’re both eating healthy. He has salads too,’ I say pointedly, Jaehyun knowing Taeyong would rather die than eat a salad. ‘What did you have to eat yesterday?’ father asks, and I sigh. ‘I had one of these,’ I say, lifting up my mason jar, ‘for breakfast, I shared a stir fry with Nayeon at lunch when she came over, I had a salad with Taeyong at 4 and then an apple for dinner.’ ‘y/n, that’s one meal for me. You need to be eating more. If I don’t see a change in your diet, I’m putting you on a diet plan,’ father says, and I whine. ‘No, daddy, don’t. I’m fine. That’s more than enough food for me,’ I say, father shaking his head. ‘Don’t argue with me, y/n. Either change your diet yourself or I’ll change it for you,’ father says, and I pout, wanting to bang Jaehyun’s head against a wall. ‘Whatever. I’m going to get changed,’ I say, picking up my juice and trudging from the room. ‘You didn’t finish your breakfast!’ Jaehyun calls after me. ‘I’m not hungry!’ I call back in annoyance.

As soon as I get to my room, I throw off my dressing gown, fuming with Jaehyun for ratting me out like that. I’m eating plenty! And besides, there’s no space for women in our society who eat any more than what I eat now. If it makes father happy, I’ll start having a slice of toast with my breakfast. That won’t kill me. And then I’ll have a bigger dinner with them at home, and not eat at school. Perfect. I shrug my blouse on, buttoning it up, before pulling my socks on, tugging them up to my knees. My pleated skirt comes next, buttoned up along the side, and then I roll it up slightly, so it swishes around mid-thigh, before slipping on my school shoes, shiny black with a tiny, practically unnoticeable, heel on them, making me a couple centimetres taller. I put on all my jewellery; ring, earrings, bracelet and necklace, hairslides, all gold. I grab my black Tom Ford school bag – matching with Taeyong’s black Tom Ford backpack – and put in my phone, purse, charger, juice, on-the-go makeup bag, Chanel perfume, school books and pencil case. I head back downstairs, Jaehyun, Jungkook and Jimin all waiting at the door for me. Seeing Jimin stood up in his uniform, my heart pounds; he really is beautiful. ‘Sorry,’ I say sheepishly, embarrassed at them having to wait for me. ‘Whatever. Do you wanna go together or do you wanna take your own car?’ Jaehyun asks. ‘I’ll take my own car. Jimin, you can go with Jaehyun and Jungkook if you want?’ I offer, knowing he’d probably prefer to go with them than go with me. ‘No, it’s alright. I’ll come with you,’ he says, taking me by surprise and I nod with a smile, Jaehyun handing me my car keys. We head out the front door and spilt off to the two cars parked on the drive, Changwoo having moved them there for us.

Jimin and I climb into the Audi as Jaehyun and Jungkook get into the Mercedes, the two speeding off before I’ve even put my belt on. I put my bag in the back, Jimin doing the same, and I start up the car. ‘What do you wanna listen to?’ I ask Jimin, and he shrugs. ‘I don’t mind,’ he says. ‘No, you tell me. What kinda music do you like?’ I ask, and he thinks for a moment before answering, ‘I like RnB.’ ‘RnB’s my favourite. You’ve got good taste. Audi, play my RnB playlist,’ I say, Tory Lanez’s voice floating out of the car speakers a few moments later. ‘Do you allow eating in your car?’ he asks, and I nod, a bit confused. He reaches back into his bag and pulls out a bundle of tissues. He unwraps the tissues and I realise he’s brought an apple. He hands it to me, and I look over at him in confusion. ‘For me?’ I ask, and he nods. ‘Your brother and dad are right; by the sounds of it, you don’t eat enough. You didn’t even finish your breakfast. So have this,’ he says, and I take it with a smile, touched. ‘Thank you,’ I say.

‘It’s nothing. So, um, this Taeyong guy,’ he says, and I sigh, taking note of the grin that spreads across his face. ‘I know my dad and brother made him sound like an ass, but honestly, he’s a good guy. He’s just looking out for me. I used to struggle with my weight, and he cares about me. He doesn’t want to see me hate myself the way I used to. It might seem like he’s only doing it because he wants me to be skinny or whatever, but he’s doing it because he cares,’ I say, and he continues grinning as I take a bite of the apple. ‘I don’t know, he lowkey sounds like an ass,’ Jimin teases, and I roll my eyes. ‘Trust me, when you meet him, you’ll understand. Taeyong… he has good intentions,’ I say. ‘So what’s so great about this guy that you let him wife you?’ he asks, and I laugh to myself at his choice of words. ‘He, um… we were actually promised to each other. From childhood,’ I say, and Jimin’s mouth falls open. ‘You’re kidding? Don’t tell me that kind of stuff actually happens around here?’ he asks, and I nod. ‘My friendship group – there are twenty of us – all of our parents are friends, I guess. Associates. The ten boys and ten girls are all promised to each other. Me and Taeyong, Jaehyun and Mina, Nayeon and Johnny, Jihyo and Taeil, Tzuyu and Sicheng, Sana and Yuta, Chaeyoung and Mark, Momo and Jungwoo, Jeongyeon and Doyoung, and Dahyun and Haechan. In, like, five years’ time, we’ll most likely all be married to each other,’ I say, and Jimin shakes his head in disbelief. ‘So you don’t actually like this Taeyong guy?’ he asks. ‘No, I do. Of course I do. We fell for each other, despite being promised, I guess,’ I say, and he raises a sceptical eyebrow.

‘Well, this exchange thing will probably ruin some of these relationships, don’t you think?’ he says. ‘What do you mean?’ I ask. ‘I mean, rich kids have a reputation for being wild, you know? You don’t think a person of the opposite, or same, gender – you never know – living in their house will lead to any kind of cheating?’ he asks, and I shake my head. ‘We’ve all stayed… loyal for years, eighteen years to be precise, and you think that someone new living in our houses will change that? We go clubbing and stuff all the time, sometimes just on girls’ nights or boys’ nights, and nothing ever happens, so why would it now?’ I ask, and he shrugs, holding up his hands. ‘I don’t know. It’s just the rumours, you know?’ he says, and I shake my head. ‘You can’t always believe rumours,’ I reply, and he laughs. ‘So there weren’t any rumours about us poor kids, huh?’ he asks, and I nod. ‘Yeah, there were, but I knew better than to believe them,’ I say pointedly, and he whistles. ‘Well, I guess the kitty does have some claws. Forget I said anything, princess,’ he says, and I roll my eyes, wanting to change the topic.

‘Tell me about yourself, Jimin,’ I say. ‘What about me?’ he asks. ‘Anything. I don’t even know the first thing about you, just your name and your school,’ I say, and he laughs. ‘Well, um… my birthday’s the 13th October,’ he says. ‘You’re a Libra,’ I observe, and he rolls his eyes. ‘Don’t tell me you believe in all that star sign stuff? I’m always hearing it from Seulgi, that the reason she’s failing Spanish is because Mercury’s in repogay or something like that, and now I’ve gotta hear it from you too?’ he complains, and I supress a laugh. ‘Retrograde. Mercury’s in retrograde. But that doesn’t matter, who’s Seulgi?’ I ask, and he shakes his head. ‘She’s just a friend. She’s on this exchange too, actually,’ he says, and I nod, wondering who’s partner she is. ‘Who’s she been put with?’ I ask, and he shrugs. ‘I don’t know, we weren’t on the same coach,’ he says, and I nod. That means they can’t be that close, otherwise they’d have been texting last night and he’d know who her partner is. Not that it matters anyway.

‘Well, what else is there to know about Park Jimin?’ I ask, and he grins. ‘I’m a drug dealer,’ he says lightly, and I laugh. ‘I’m being serious, Jimin, I wanna know more about you,’ I say, and he sighs. ‘I live with my younger brother and my parents on top of the bakery they own, so the house always smells like cake and bread and cookies and stuff,’ he says. It makes sense; that’s why I could smell baked goods last night. ‘Oh, my God, that’s so cute. Imagine how amazing that must be, the house always smelling of baking. I love that smell,’ I say happily, and he lets out a gentle laugh. ‘Not when you’re trying to be a tough guy, but your clothes smell like an old lady’s with too many grandkids,’ he says, and I laugh. ‘No, baking is a manly smell. I bet you get so many girls smelling like that,’ I joke, and he chuckles. ‘Yeah, loads,’ he replies with a smile.

‘So what are your parents and brother like?’ I ask, and he shrugs. ‘My parents are really chill. They don’t really put much pressure on me to do anything, just kinda go with the flow, but I know they want me to take over the bakery when I’m older. I wouldn’t mind it, but I guess I have other dreams. And then, my brother’s like a mini me. We’re really similar, so we argue a lot, but he’s like my best friend,’ he says, his words melting my heart. ‘That’s cute. It’s nice to hear that you have a good relationship with your brother; so many people at school practically hate their siblings,’ I say. ‘Not you and your brother, though,’ he says, and I nod. ‘People are always so surprised to find out me and Jaehyun are siblings because of how well we get on. I couldn’t imagine life without him,’ I say, and he nods. ‘Even if he does snitch to your dad about you undereating,’ he says, and I laugh, nodding. ‘He means well. Knowing him, he’ll probably make a dig about it to Taeyong today,’ I say as we pull into the school car park. ‘I would if I were him,’ Jimin says, and I roll my eyes.

‘It’s not Taeyong’s fault. Please, just… don’t prejudge him. He’s a good guy,’ I say, and Jimin shrugs. ‘I don’t know why you care. It’s not like my opinion of him matters,’ he says as I pull into my parking space, Jaehyun’s Mercedes on one side of us and Taeyong’s BMW on the other. ‘I still want people to like him. You always want people to like your boyfriend or girlfriend, right?’ I say, and he shrugs again. ‘I wouldn’t know. I’ve never had one,’ he says, and my mouth drops open. ‘No way,’ I say, and he nods. ‘It’s not that weird, you know? A lot of people don’t have boyfriends or girlfriends, and never have at this age,’ he says, and I nod. ‘I know, I know. It’s just… me and all of my friends have always had a boyfriend or girlfriend. The same one, since childhood. And even though me and Taeyong aren’t actually official, I can’t imagine life without a romantic figure in it,’ I say, and he tilts his head in confusion. ‘You’re not official?’ he asks. ‘No, we’re not. Neither of us have ever actually asked the other out,’ I say. ‘I guess you never have to if you’re already practically engaged,’ he says, and I nod in agreement, finishing off the apple.

‘Let’s go. I’ll introduce you to everyone,’ I say, reaching into the back to grab my bag. He grabs his bag too, and we both get out of the car. I lock it after us and lead him towards the courtyard, making idle conversation about today’s lessons. When we reach the courtyard, everyone’s already there, and our group has doubled due to the exchange students. Taeyong spots us first and heads over. ‘Let me guess; Taeyong?’ Jimin says under his breath. ‘Bingo,’ I reply, and he chuckles as Taeyong meets us in the middle of the courtyard. ‘Hey, babe,’ he says, snaking his arms around my waist and leaning down to press a kiss to my lips. I pull away after a couple seconds, knowing it’s probably awkward for Jimin. ‘Jimin, this is Lee Taeyong. Taeyong, this is Park Jimin,’ I introduce them. Taeyong grins at the purple-haired boy, holding out his hand, and Jimin shakes it firmly. ‘Nice to meet you,’ Taeyong says, and I notice his eyes flitting up and down Jimin, inspecting him thoroughly. ‘You too, bro,’ Jimin says, the casual term that no one around here uses catching both of us off-guard, Jimin noticing instantly. ‘Oh, my bad. Do you guys not speak like that?’ he asks, and I shake my head with a smile. ‘It’s alright. I have a feeling that in a couple days, all the Winchester boys will be calling each other bro,’ I say, both of them laughing. ‘Cool hair,’ Taeyong says to Jimin who grins at him. ‘Thanks. Yours is cool, too. I wanna go grey soon,’ Jimin says, referring to Taeyong’s newly grey locks, the result of a very messy group night out. ‘Thanks. Come on, come meet the others,’ Taeyong says, taking my bag from me, ever the gentleman.

Nayeon comes rushing over before we can even join the group, pressing a kiss to my cheek as Taeyong carries on, going to sit beside Jihyo and Taeil. ‘Hey, babes,’ she says, and I kiss her cheek back. ‘Hey, Nayeon. This is Park Jimin. Jimin, this is Im Nayeon,’ I say, and they shake hands. ‘You’re really good-looking, you know that?’ Nayeon says shamelessly, and I close my eyes wearily. ‘I didn’t actually, but thanks,’ Jimin laughs it off, and Nayeon laughs with him. ‘Here, let me get Johnny,’ Nayeon says, turning and calling for the boy who strolls over straight away. ‘Hey, y/n,’ Johnny says, pulling me into a side hug. For some reason, we all have a habit of hugging and kissing when we greet each other, despite spending hours together every day. ‘Hey, Johnny. This is Park Jimin. Jimin, this is Johnny Seo,’ I say again, and predictably, they shake hands in greeting. ‘Damn, no homo, but you’re one good-looking guy,’ Johnny says, and I look up to the sky despairingly. Every introduction goes similarly; they greet me, I introduce Jimin, they shake hands with him and compliment his appearance (he even gets a compliment on his lips from Sana). And once I’ve done all the introductions, Jimin turns to grin at me. ‘I don’t think I remember any of their names, but we move,’ he says, and I frown. ‘We move?’ I repeat, confused. ‘It’s an expression for like… whatever, life goes on. We move. But, anyway, let me introduce you to the BTS lot,’ he says. ‘BTS?’ I ask, feeling incredibly unintelligent at not understanding something he’s said twice in a row. ‘Burnley Tech School,’ he says before gently wrapping his hand around my wrist and leading me over to the boy I recognise as Jihyo’s partner.

‘Hey, Joon,’ Jimin says, the taller boy turning to face us. ‘Oh, hey, Chim,’ he says, my heart melting at the endearing nickname. ‘Chim, huh?’ I tease, and he rolls his eyes. ‘Don’t, princess,’ he mocks, and I swat at him. It’s almost like we’ve known each other for years, bickering like this. ‘Joon, this is y/n. y/n, this is Kim Namjoon,’ Jimin says, and I reach a hand out. The grey-haired boy takes it and shakes it firmly with a smile, dimples denting his cheeks. ‘Nice to meet you, Kim Namjoon,’ I say, and his smile widens. ‘It’s nice to meet you too, y/n,’ he says. ‘Have you met Jaehyun? They’re twins,’ Jimin says, Namjoon nodding with a look of realisation. ‘Ah, I can kinda see the resemblance,’ he says. ‘Don’t offend me,’ I joke, and he laughs. ‘Namjoon! Come meet Jennie!’ Jihyo calls and he sighs. ‘Duty calls,’ he says, and I grin. ‘Nope, just my chaotic best friend,’ I say, and he laughs. ‘It was nice to meet you, y/n,’ he calls over his shoulder as he goes to join Jihyo and Jennie, another boy stood beside them who must be Jennie’s exchange partner.

‘Kai got put with that girl, then. It’s interesting seeing everyone else’s pairs, don’t you think?’ Jimin says, and I nod in agreement. ‘His name’s Kai?’ I ask, and Jimin nods. ‘Well, that’s his nickname anyway,’ Jimin says. ‘Well, he’s Jennie’s type to a t, so that’ll be interesting,’ I say, and Jimin raises an eyebrow. ‘Yeah, I guess it will. Namjoon liked you,’ he says, and I feel a little buzz of happiness. Nothing makes me feel better than finding out I’m liked. ‘You think?’ I ask, and he nods. ‘I know. You charmed the hell out of him,’ he says, and I laugh. ‘I can’t help. I guess I’m a natural charmer,’ I say affectedly, and he rolls his eyes. ‘Calm down, Mrs Lee,’ he says, and I roll my eyes in response as someone approaches us. ‘Jimin, hey,’ the boxy smile boy says, putting an arm around Jimin. ‘Hey, Tae,’ Jimin says, and I feel my eyes widen. I can’t imagine Taeyong liking that someone else now shares his name. ‘Tae, this is y/n. y/n, this is Kim Taehyung,’ Jimin says, the boy shaking my hand with a flirty grin. ‘Nice to meet you, y/n,’ he says, and I grin back. ‘Nicer for me, I’m sure. Who are you paired with?’ I ask him. ‘Tzuyu. She’s nice,’ he says, and I smile. ‘Yeah, Tzuyu’s lovely. Just, uh, try not to get on her bad side,’ I say, and he raises an eyebrow. ‘Is she a princess like you?’ Jimin teases, and I poke my tongue out at him.

Slowly but surely, I meet Jimin’s other friends. Min Yoongi, the short curly-haired gummy smile one, paired with Dahyun. Jung Hoseok, the heart-shaped smile boy, paired with Momo, who excitedly informs me that, ‘we’re both dancers!’ Kim Seokjin, the ridiculously good-looking boy with the plump lips, Sana’s partner. Mark Tuan, Nayeon’s partner that she was gushing about last night, and he is, indeed, very good-looking (not that the rest of them aren’t. They practically all are). Chaeyoung’s partner goes by Wendy, and she’s so pretty like the other girls; Mina’s partner, Irene, Doyoung’s partner, Yeri, and Johnny’s partner, Joy (Nayeon and Jeongyeon are not happy their boyfriends have been paired with such pretty girls - as am I, if I’m being honest - but what can we do?) Jeongyeon’s been paired with a boy called Do Kyungsoo, and I spot Doyoung sharking him from a few metres away, the sight having me stifling my laughter. Haechan’s been put with a boy called Kim Yugyeom and Sicheng’s been put with a boy called Choi Youngjae, much to Dahyun and Tzuyu’s delight. Taeil’s with a boy called  Chen, Yuta’s with a boy called Lay, Jungwoo’s with a boy called Xiumin, and Mark’s with a boy called Suho. Then there’s Kai, paired with Jennie Kim, and then Jennie’s friends’ partners; Lisa Manoban with Bambam, Kim Jisoo with Byun Baekhyun and Park Chaeyoung (or Rosie as we call her) with Jackson Wang (who is one of the most beautiful specimens I’ve seen in my life). Kim Jisoo’s boyfriend, Park Jinyoung, is paired with a boy called Im Jaebeom, or JB as he tells me to call him (Nayeon goes around and tells everyone they’re siblings because they share the same surname. Namjoon jokes that he must have dozens of siblings at this school in that case). Rosie’s boyfriend, Park Chanyeol, is paired with a boy called Oh Sehun, all of us finding his surname immensely amusing.

Whilst I’m having a conversation with Rosie, Jackson, Chanyeol, Sehun and Jimin, Taeyong appears and slides an arm around my waist. ‘You still haven’t met my partner,’ he says, leading me away from the others. ‘I’m not sure I want to,’ I reply, and he chuckles. ‘Why not?’ ‘Because I saw her yesterday, and she’s gorgeous,’ I say, and he laughs again. ‘Not a patch on you,’ he says, and I raise an eyebrow. ‘Okay, yeah, she is pretty. But I’m more attracted to you than I am to her,’ he says, knowing how I feel about being mean about people’s appearances. ‘But, even if I was attracted to her, don’t act all jealous now. You’re not jealous about all those other girls I sleep with,’ he says, and I sigh. ‘Yeah, because they’re all one-time things. I don’t mind you sleeping with her; it’s just the living in your house and meeting your parents I don’t like. Remember, even if I’m not your girlfriend, I’m the one you’re going to marry. I still feel uncomfortable about this, you know?’ I say, and he nods at me. I can tell he’s trying to hold back a smirk, and I want to kick him for being so cocky. ‘I know. Trust me, I’m not too happy about purple-haired model boy living with you, not to mention the other cute bunny kid being there too. But it is what it is,’ he says, and I feel a bit of satisfaction about him being jealous too.

‘Seulgi,’ Taeyong says as we reach her, the girl turning to face us, her hair swishing around her face glamorously. So this is the astrology girl Jimin mentioned in the car. ‘This is y/n. y/n, this is Kang Seulgi,’ Taeyong says. I decide to be the bigger person and put my friendly smile on, holding a hand out. I’m taken aback when she throws her arms around me, pulling me into a hug, and I try not to stiffen up completely, hugging her back as naturally as one can hug a stranger. Taeyong stifles a laugh at my face over her shoulder, coughing to cover up the smile when she moves away from me. ‘It’s so nice to meet you. Taeyong’s told me all about you,’ she says with a wide smile, and I feel a bit bad for thinking ill of her. ‘Has he?’ I ask, raising an eyebrow at him, and he smirks. ‘Yeah, he’s a bit… whipped over you it seems,’ she says, and both of us give her a confused face. ‘Whipped?’ I ask, and she looks a bit surprised. ‘Oh, it just means, like… damn, what’s that posh word? Um… smitten!’ she exclaims when she remembers. ‘Ohhh,’ we both chorus in understanding, Taeyong frowning. ‘I wouldn’t put it like that,’ he begins, and I roll my eyes. ‘Grow up, Lee, we all know you love me,’ I tease, Seulgi laughing. Maybe she’s not that bad after all.

‘You two are so cute together. His parents love you too, they were talking about you last night,’ she says, and I feel a bit of heat rush to my face out of satisfaction. ‘What were they saying?’ I ask, and she smiles. ‘A lot. They said you’d be a good person for me to be friends with. They said to definitely go shopping with you because you have a nice fashion sense. Oh, and they said you’re a great influence on Taeyong. They said you make sure you never let him be led… what’s the word they used?’ she thinks. ‘Astray,’ Taeyong says, and she nods. ‘That was it,’ she says, and I smile. ‘Well, I love them too. The Lee family is amazing, you’re definitely lucky to be put with them. Is your sister visiting any time soon? It’d be nice for Seulgi to meet her,’ I say, directing the last bit at Taeyong. ‘I don’t know. I’ll have to text her or something,’ he says, and I nod. ‘That’d be nice. And we’ll have to make some plans for shopping together, y/n. Your partner’s Jimin, right?’ she asks, and I nod. ‘All four of us could go together. Or we could even invite some of the others,’ she says eagerly, and I nod again, thinking it’s a bit too soon to be making plans together. They only arrived less than 24 hours ago. ‘Definitely,’ I say, just before getting dragged off by Nayeon to compare my height to Mark Tuan’s (he says he’s 5’9’’, but Nayeon insists he’s taller than that).

Once all the introductions are done, and my head is full of names and faces that I’m struggling to match up, Miss Jung appears out of nowhere. ‘Students! It’s currently 9.25. You’re all late to your lessons,’ she says, all of the Winchester students groaning, knowing that if you’re later than five minutes, you get an hour-long detention. Imagine all 100 odd of us packed into one classroom together after school. It’ll be chaos. ‘But, I’m glad you’re all getting to know each other,’ she says with a smile, and I sigh in relief. ‘Can you all make your way to your lessons promptly? With your exchange partners. Oh, and we have an assembly at 11.30,’ she says, people already beginning to talk again as we walk towards the entrance, ‘do not be late!’

‘Wait, so let me get this straight. You guys are all gonna marry each other?’ Hoseok demands, all of us nodding. ‘But… do you even all love each other?’ Namjoon asks, and we all give some very half-hearted affirmations. ‘That sounded convincing,’ Yoongi says sarcastically, a laugh rippling around the group. ‘Well, I think it’s romantic,’ Yeri says. ‘Romantic? Outdated, you mean?’ Youngjae says, Yeri shaking her head. ‘You don’t think there’s something totally adorable about them being promised to each other since they were tiny little kids? It’s like destiny or something,’ she says. ‘Destiny is not when your parents decide who you’re gonna marry in like twenty-five years’ time, Yeri,’ Taehyung says exasperatedly.

‘y/n,’ Jimin says quietly, only catching my attention, the debate around the lunch table continuing. ‘Yeah?’ I reply. ‘Aren’t you eating?’ he asks, and I shake my head. ‘I’m not really that hungry,’ I say, and he raises an eyebrow. ‘What? That apple filled you up?’ he asks, and I hold back a laugh as I nod. ‘Honestly, I’m fine. I don’t need to eat,’ I say. ‘Well, you kinda do. Just have something. What kind of snacks do you guys have here?’ Jimin asks. ‘Um, well, on a Monday, they do caviar and oysters,’ I say, and he blinks. ‘Caviar and oysters? Seriously? You guys aren’t that posh. Posh, but not that posh,’ he says. ‘I know, but we’re… rich, and rich people like eating stupid things,’ I say. ‘Yeah, but they do burgers and pizza and normal things for lunch, so why caviar and oysters as snacks?’ he asks. ‘Look around at what people are eating,’ I say, and he does so. All of the Winchester students are eating salads or fish or cheeses, and all the BTS students are eating ‘normal things’, like burgers and pizza. ‘They’ve only put this food on for us guys, right?’ he says, realising, and I nod, seeing no point in lying to him. ‘So do you guys not eat the kind of stuff we do?’ he asks, and I nod. ‘We do. Just not in public. We only eat that kind of stuff at home. Or after a night out,’ I say, and he laughs. ‘I’ve gotta go on one of these legendary nights out you guys keep talking about,’ he says, and I grin. ‘Trust me, they’re the best. You won’t remember most of it, but what you do remember will be a mixture of iconic and chaotic,’ I say, the boy chuckling. ‘I’m feeling like I might have to get super drunk to enjoy this night,’ he jokes, and I let out a laugh, putting a hand on his arm unconsciously as we laugh together. ‘It won’t be that bad. I think,’ I say, Jimin laughing. I’ve noticed that when he laughs, his eyelids practically cover his eyes, his smile breaks across his whole face and he does a full body laugh. It’s quite endearing, actually.

‘Jimin, tell Momo about the time you found that gecko in our hotel room,’ Hoseok says, barely able to get the words out because of how hard he’s laughing, and I make a mental note to ask Jimin afterwards about the time he found the gecko in the hotel room. I would listen to him telling the story now, but I make eye contact with Taeyong across the table and he does a little head movement as if to say, ‘get up’. I rise up from my seat, Taeyong doing the same, and we both walk towards the end of the table. When we meet, he grabs my arm in a subtly firm grip, not painful but not exactly comfortable either. He leads me out of the cafeteria, telling me to ignore the calls of our names from our friends. He carries on walking me down the corridor, looking through the windows into each classroom until he finds an empty one, kicking open the door and pulling me in after him.

‘I know I said earlier that ‘it is what it is’ but you don’t need to rub it in my face,’ he says, and I frown. ‘Rub it in your face? What are you talking about?’ I ask, and he lets out a harsh chuckle. His handsome and striking features are twisted slightly with annoyance, not enough for me to think he’s seriously angry. Just… riled. ‘Park motherfucking Jimin. Talking to him quietly, almost whispering, and laughing with him. Putting your hand on his arm like that,’ he says, and I look at him in confusion. ‘Tae, I was just talking to him. Nothing more,’ I say, and he lets out a humourless laugh before saying, ‘that’s not what it looked like.’ ‘Well, what did it look like?’ I demand, taking a step towards him. ‘It looked like you were flirting with him, y/n,’ he says harshly, taking a step towards me. ‘Well, I wasn’t, Taeyong,’ I reply, starting to get annoyed with him, taking another step closer. ‘It sure looked like it, though, and how am I supposed to take your word for it? Remember, babe, you only flirt with me in front of me,’ he reminds me, moving even closer.

He’s not wrong; part of our… agreement is that we can sleep with other people, but we can never show sign of any other relations with anyone else in front of each other. We both stick to it, never dancing with someone else in a club if the other can see, flirting with someone else if the other is present, telling the other about our sexcapades. I felt uncomfortable not knowing when he’d been with someone else though, so we added into the agreement that we have to let the other know when we have slept with someone. Not who with, when, where, how, why. Nothing other than that we have. Obviously, to Taeyong, I’ve just broken the agreement, and I understand why he’s so annoyed. ‘Okay, I promise you, I wasn’t flirting with him, but I’m sorry if that’s how I made it seem,’ I say, and he laughs darkly. ‘I’m not letting you off that easy, babe,’ he says, moving even closer to me and tilting my chin up so our eyes meet. He presses his lips to mine, my eyes sliding shut at the feeling, and he kisses me roughly, not holding back at all. His hands slide into my hair, pulling me even closer to him, and I melt into his body, my hands resting on either side of his sculpted face. After a couple minutes, he breaks away from me, both of us slightly breathless. He reaches out behind him, turning the lock on the door, and turns back to me with a grin, his expression almost sinister. ‘On your knees, babe,’ he says, unbuckling his belt with a dark smirk, ‘you’re gonna make it up to me.’