#OH MNA THERE was something else

[bleachposting]

wowowow just watched ring so good so so good who woulda thought i would have enjoyed so much something about old horrors this one even felt kinda hitchcock-esque which i love but yes v good v nice but everytime i saw the well i was like HAPPY

[mvrkieboo]

Old Bloodhounds

P22 | you shut up

You and Mark got off at your bus stop. Mark honestly didn't mean to but he had accidentally snooped on what you were doing on your phone and saw you tweeting agonising over being mistaken as his girlfriend. It was nobody's fault, it was just how those aunties and uncles operated, and both of you were wearing matching cardigans, but somehow he felt a little offended disheartened that you were agonising over it.

As you walked to New Axis, Mark watched as you kick off rocks with your head down, looking deep in thought.

"You know, you didn't have to give out disclaimers that we weren't dating." You spoke out suddenly, and Mark rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, I wouldn't even bother giving those disclaimers if you hadn't tweeted how you were going crazy on being mistaken as my girlfriend." Mark scoffed and walked past you, even having the gall to bump your shoulder but only because he knew you wouldn't take it personally.

"HEY! I tweeted that on my private account. You—" you let out a breathless laugh, out of pure disbelief, "—just 'cause you're a good head taller than me now, Mark, it doesn't give you the right to snoop over my shoulder. Jeez, did being shorter than me back then gave you a complex or something?"

He stopped walking and whipped his head around to look at you, "We were the same height back then, you little shit."

You pulled a face and raised your arms, "Okay, Mark. If that's what you want to believe—go ahead."

He rolled his eyes again, "Oh, shut up."

"You shut up." You huffed out.

There you both walked into New Axis, and you then realised you weren't fighting before, but you were bickering. Just like the old times. Mark even referenced to a time when you both had been close before during your bickering. However, when you realised Mark wasn't ahead of you anymore, you turned your head around to see where he went.

When you finally see him, you noticed that he was frozen behind you, one hand holding his phone out, eyes wide and fixated on something that was way past you. So you followed his line and vision to see what he was looking at so intently.

You froze like he did too, when you saw it was Yuno standing near the lobby's elevator, seething at the sight of you both—you assumed he had seen Mark and you enter the lobby together. You glanced down at your cardigan and looked back at Mark, feeling the same kind of horror taking grip of your heart that also had Mark still pinned in his spot.

You were wearing matching cardigans.

Before you realised it, Yuno had already stood between you and Mark, looking back and forth between you.

"I can explain—" You uttered out, but Yuno was quick to shut you down. He snapped his head to look at you, pointing a finger at your face.

"I don't want to hear one from you, I want to hear it from him. Minhyung, are you going behind my back?"

You clamped your mouth shut, feeling an indescribable kind of sting hit your chest with the way he addressed you, but you knew this was fully him and not the stoic bullshit he's been fronting on you since he moved in. You were a little glad he's at least displaying some kind of emotion in front of you, even if it was anger out of all other emotions.

"No, Jae. We're—we're working together for the MNA Week. She's a part of the Business Fac Committee and she's my partner for the Entrepreneurship Bureau. The cardigans is purely a coincidence." Mark gulped, seeing everyone else in the lobby weirded out with the tense atmosphere.

"Doesn't change the fact you didn't tell me about this sooner." Yuno stepped closer to Mark, and the younger man nodded in admission and defeat.

"It slipped my mind, dude. Honest. When I first mentioned this bureau stuff to you, I didn't bother mentioning she had been my partner because—" Mark stammered a bit, eyes meeting yours past Yuno's shoulder for a split second before looking back at his longtime friend, "—because I never wanted to have anything to do with her after it's done. I should've told you this after I set you up to move in with her though, that's on me."

Yuno sighed and rubbed his eyes, shoulders slumping and Mark took that as a cue that he could also relax now. Yuno gripped on both of his shoulders after he stepped back a bit, not smiling, but he wasn't stoic like before so it was all good for now.

"Let's go to that bar now, dude. I feel like there's a lot we need to catch up on." Yuno cracked out a smile that was barely there as he let out a breathless laugh, finding his anger and fear from before ridiculous and unfounded.

Yuno turned Mark around so they could walk out of the lobby together while you were left standing there, still frozen, and feeling like there were two pairs of feet walking all over your heart. You had snapped out of it when your phone suddenly rang. Seeing that it was Geonwoo, you picked it up right away as you took reign of your emotions again.

"Head down to the parking lot immediately. Lim Goyoung's loansharks finally left their property, and we're relocating them straight away."

You ran to the elevator.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Hey, Gowoon!" You spoke cheerfully, squatting down to his height.

"I've missed you, big sis Y/N." He spoke with a dejected voice, moving to hug you.

You accepted the embrace straight away, and quickly turned it into carrying the 6-year-old in your arms as you stood up. You watched as his mother and your older brother figures flit across the bedroom of Lim Goyoung's house, packing her valuables and essentials into two big luggages.

"I don't want to move away, big sis. I'll miss my friends." Gowoon spoke in the crook of your neck, and you could feel his tears wetting your skin.

You pulled him away so you could wipe his tears away.

"You'll make new friends at your new home, buddy. You're so handsome and nice, so I'm sure all the kids at your new home would love to befriend you." You reassured him, moving your hand to stroke his hair after you had wiped away his tears.

Once they were done with the packing, you quickly moved and got into the truck as a unit. You had already assisted Goyoung in wiping away her digital footprint and data while she was busy packing, so the loansharks couldn't track her through the internet or social media.

As you got into the truck, sitting at the back with Goyoung and her son, one pair of eyes in the alley closely focused on you—only you.

Cha Yoonsu stepped out of the shadows, cursing your name because the truck didn't have any plate number displayed. Geonwoo and Woojin weren't dumb, they'd put it back once they're sure nobody's following them before a road camera could catch them.

But Yoonsu swore he'd track you down despite this minor setback. At least he now knew you were currently residing in Seoul.

prev | masterlist | next

A/N : so basically y/n's main gig under geonwoo and woojin is to assist them helping victims of loanshark scams 😔🫶🏻 im sorry if that had been obvious before this reveal

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

• taglist • [CLOSED]

@spiderm444rk @morkiee @xiuriii @solvrse @neozon3nha @herebyaccident0 @injunnie-lemon @mystverse @dearmonamour @v-6893 @sehunniepot @bee-the-loser @nessaassen02 @luluvhs @sunghoonsgfreal @docilismo @neocrashed @soobinbunnie5 @cigarettesafterjae @dudekiss3r @kittydollzz @urlocalbeaner5 @polarisjisung @conwunder @wonupuppy @jae-n0 @413ktz @kimsaerom @meowtella @aerivrs @swanyvess @morkleesgirl @sthwaaberry @leemoonna @grassbutneo @spicyryujin @koizekomi @sunflowerhae @markeroolee

[knavestrolls]

Deep Lore- Closed RP

For @windy-trickster! It's not necessarily that she meant to drop something like that and then disappear. That's what Althea tells herself as she stares down at the blinking cursor on her grubtop. Her messages on discourse are open- there's been messages for her of course. Asking her what happened. Waiting for her to explain, like she said she would. The most she'd given him was just a simple message saying she'd gotten home. Things had just gotten so busy from there, that was all!

Except she knew better than to fool herself like that. Sighing, Althea slammed her face into the keyboard- accidentally sending a message of utter nonsense. Panicked as she heard the notification alert go off, she whipped back to sitting up. Oh, her back would regret that- it already ached from the action and she'd likely face more consequences for it soon.

Her heart settled as it was simply a message from the.. well, she hesitated to truly call them friends but what else did you call your ex-kidnappers who check in on you and connect you with specialized mutant healthcare? Althea didn't even check it, instead forcing herself to start typing. It was time to face the music, even if it meant losing everything again. Plus, if she didn't respond to him soon he'd probably think she had some sort of accident or something just as stupid, the soft hearted fool.

[mT]: mna- ahjahj3ibdbahsbdcjnak----- andsnak9 [mT]: -gnor3 that [mT]: do you hav3 som3 t-m3?

[w0nderhoyman]

i cant explain how i came to this idea but HEAR ME OUT GUYS

shikanoko but witht the bob mod squad + shuttle mna (if he isnt already counted in bob mod squad)

ron is nokotan. literally no one else notices that something is off about him (the fact that he's a folder) BUT

little man is the only one who notices that and it like "wtf." moment he sees ron

bob just doesn't like ron but stays friends because the Deer Folder Club (and is also the owner of the whole simulation but you get to know about that later)

shuttle man. oh boy. no he's not anko that's supa fuckin weird. but all he wants is badminton court (never seen one in ages (at least in the city he's in)) and rlly wants to be a good friend of ron

the deer in question is just a bunch of files/notes/papers that move around everywhere and yea ron can communicate with them like how nokotan communicates with the deer

shikanokonokonokokoshitantan

JUST HEAR ME OUT I THINK I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING

i might. draw this and manga it up. idk

[writing-on-the-wahl]

Writing Snippet #4

Look Alike

Part 2 here Part 3 here

Civilian walked briskly down the street, seething.

That arrogant cheating cow!

She ripped the ring off her left hand and briefly considered hurling it in the gutter, but then she thought better of it and instead dropped it into the backpack she’d slung over one shoulder.

At least she’d found out before the wedding.

She cast a quick glance behind her. Fiancé, well, EX-fiancé, had been furious when she’d confronted him outside his class. Something about the look in his eyes made her nervous, and she quickened her step thinking about it, looking back again to make sure he hadn’t followed her.

“Ooof I’m so sorry!!” Civilian stammered as she pushed off the very broad chest of the man she’d just slammed into. The street wasn’t very busy, so she hadn’t been paying attention to the sidewalk in front of her.

She backed up a step and opened her mouth to apologize again when the look in his eyes registered. It mirrored the look she’d seen in Ex’s eyes. She took another step back.

“Look I’m really sorry. I wasn’t looking where I was going and—”

“Where are you going?” Civilian whipped her head to the side as the speaker, another broad shouldered man, emerged from around the corner of a van pulled against the curb. Warning bells were pealing in her mind. It would not be a good idea to tell them her roommate was out of town and she was headed home to an empty apartment to eat a gallon of rocky road ice cream and cry herself to sleep watching rom-coms on the couch.

“I’m actually running late to meet up with a friend.”

She took a step to the side, but the first man mirrored the movement.

“I’m afraid not,” he rumbled in a deep voice. “There’s someone else waiting to see you.”

Panic pounded in her head, and she glanced around, but the block was now all but deserted. When the second man darted forward, she shrieked and yanked her phone from her pocket. She made it to 9-1- before her phone went flying into the side of the van and an arm clamped down on her wrist.

This was not happening.

She aimed a blow at the man holding her wrist, but the first man caught her other arm. She opened her mouth to scream but several well-aimed blows to her torso had her bent over, gasping for air as the men hauled her towards the van, where a third man swung open the back.

No no no.

She kicked out, but something heavy collided with her left knee and she went limp from the pain. She cried out as she was thrown roughly into the back of the van and her injured knee slammed into the floor. A strip of cloth was shoved in her mouth and tied tightly around her head, muffling her screams. She felt a sharp pain on the side of her head, and the world went black.

Civilian awoke in the dark, pain throbbing sharply in her knee and head. She tried to push herself into a sitting position with her bound hands, but her whole body ached, and she collapsed back to the cold stone floor.

Muffled voices called out. “She’s awake! Get the boss.”

What was happening?

Bright light suddenly flooded the room, and Civilian squeezed her eyes shut. The door squeaked open, and footsteps sounded around her. Two pairs of rough hands pulled her up into a sitting position, and she cracked open her eyes, only to find a face inches from hers. She jerked back, but the hands held her steady. A mocking smile came to the handsome face, “So now you’re scared, little thief.”

“I’m not a thief!” Civilian said. But it came out as “Mna afth.” The man shook his head, “I’m afraid I don’t understand. Oh well.” Cold fingers brushed the hair back from her face. “I just wanted to finally see your face before I leave you here to rot.” Civilian flinched as his fingers trailed down her cheek. “You’re much prettier than I imagined you would be behind that mask of yours.”

He rose, and his henchmen let go of her shoulders. She fell in a heap on the floor. The tension on the gag suddenly released, but before she could pull the fabric from her lips, the man spoke.

“Enjoy the darkness, Thief. You won’t be seeing the sun for a very long time.”

The door slammed shut.

And then the world went black.

—————————————————————

Civilian lay in darkness for days. Or at least she thought it was days. It could have been weeks, months, and she wouldn’t have known.

Her leg throbbed every time she adjusted her position, so just she laid still and let her mind drift.

Loud voices shattered the silence, and Civilian struggled to emerge into conscious thought. The door slammed open, and she let out a small cry as light suddenly blazed from above. A sharp order, and the light winked out as a dimmer light began to glow out in the hall. Civilian cracked open her eyes to see two figures towering over her.

“You can see, Villain!” The larger one said, gesturing down at her. “It’s an honest mistake.”

The taller, more slender man—Villain—crouched down in front of her. She could feel the anger radiating off him. His fingers gently turned her head so she looked up at him from her position on the floor.

“What is your name?”

“Civilian.” Her voice was cracked and hoarse.

“Does the name ‘Thief’ mean anything to you?”

Civilian shook her head weakly.

He regarded her for a long moment, then asked, “Do you know who I am?”

“Should I?”

Villain muttered something under his breath and then slid an arm behind her back and another other under her knees. As his arm pressed against her injured knee, she gasped and the world went black again.

Civilian woke sitting on something soft. Her head felt clearer than it had since she’d been taken. Her pain was gone.

Voices swirled around her. “Three separate sources confirmed Thief was in Europe yesterday.”

“Rumors spread by Hero Agency no doubt.” A different voice rasped.

“No, at least two of the sources were villains.” the first voice argued.

“Quiet.” The voices cut off at once.

Civilian opened her eyes. She was leaning back on a couch in what looked like a reception area. Villain was seated on a chair pulled right in front of her, and her foot was propped up on his leg. He was currently in the process of wrapping an ice pack around her knee. She stiffened at his proximity, and he glanced up.

“Ah.”

Civilian shifted so she was sitting up straighter, and noticed the IV trailing from her arm. Which was probably the reason the world seemed all warm and fuzzy.

Villain finished securing the ice against her knee but left her leg propped up on his. His voice was slow and cautious. “I’m just going to ask you a few questions, ok?” She nodded.

“Your full name is Civillian?”

“Yes.”

“What’s your birthday?”

“March 26, 1996.”

“Social security number?” Civilian hesitated. Was this some sort of elaborate identity theft?

She told him anyways. Her major, what university she attended, where she worked. She answered it all. When he asked for information on her family though, she stopped, images of her parents being shoved into a van piercing through the golden bubble around her.

“Must not have prepared that far in her cover identity,” the large henchman muttered from where he stood behind Villain.

Villain twisted in his chair to look back at him. Civilian couldn’t see whatever communication passed between them, but Henchman blanched and quickly left the room. Villain turned back towards her.

“No harm will come to your family.”

For some reason, Civilian believed him.

Parents names, birthdays- she couldn’t remember their exact birth years, but he didn’t seem to mind-home address, where she grew up, the name of her elementary school. He stopped after asking her which English electives she took her senior year of high school.

“Who were you running from when my men found you?”

Civilian pressed her lips together, her forgotten anger surging to the surface. Her lying cheater of a fiancé was none of their business.

Villain met her glare with a small smile. “Ok then.” He kept his eyes on her but addressed the remaining henchman, who had been typing furiously on a laptop as she answered their questions. “Well?”

Henchman looked up and nodded. “It checks out.”

Villain looked at her like there was something he wanted to say. But he didn’t speak. Instead he stood, shifting her leg so it rested on the chair.

Then he leaned forward and before she realized what he was doing, he’d inserted a syringe into the IV port and the world was going black. Again.

She woke up in a hospital bed at St. Mary’s General.

Next

[twiceblackvelvet]

Soulmates?

requested! 

Early rises and strolls to work for the opening shift are far more pleasant than imaginable. The sun rising slowly over the horizon whilst the pathways are clear of other people and hardly any cars noisily taking up road space. It’s calming, beautiful, in fact, to see the change in hues in the sky from a deep orange to a lighter yellow once it’s high enough above everything else. A camera roll full of pictures taken with the beams blazing down could never possibly do it justice, but it does help take off some of the chills during the winter months just looking at them.

It’s quite an easy job, truth be told, the only complication that ever presents itself is through difficult customers and they are few and far between thankfully. Doing the rounds to turn on all of the appliances and the fridge lights is a welcomed routine compared to the never-ending cleaning that comes with a closing shift. It should be a world record how long it takes to hoover the floors, mop them, and then try not to mess up all of that hard work by creating a shoe path through the wet flooring.

For the last six months, Mina has been working at the convenience store, and taking on every single shift her schedule will allow whilst still trying to continue her studies. Serving customers isn’t the be-all and end-all but she is grateful to have been offered the position with no experience in hospitality whatsoever. The owners had recently had to let go of one of their original employees after he was caught taking money from the register thus she was hired before even sitting the interview out of desperation to replace him.

Whilst there are a few customers who are tough to deal with, there are also the locals who are always full of small snippets about their lives, or, will simply offer a courteous smile if their own day is not going as planned. Her favorite, however, is watching all the young and in love couples enter the store together, there’s something about watching their small yet romantic gestures toward one another, and whilst the green-eyed monster known as jealousy would rear its head for anyone else, Mina merely longs to feel what they are one day with her true love.

A soulmate is a difficult thing to explain to anyone which is why it is taught and told from such a young age. The idea that there is one single individual wandering this Earth who is meant to be just as in love with you as you are them, and no one else seems unreasonable or forceful at best. Every relationship in life is significant and can work if each of you put in the work to make sure that it lasts. Just look at how often people will get attached to celebrity relationships, only for them to break up a few years down the line and people are convinced love isn’t real. In fact, there are many people during her life who have told her it was a crazy idea to hold out for ‘the one’.

However, Mina has always been a hopeless romantic and never been able to grasp the concept of dating multiple people when there is a very clear sign on her right hand linking her to the one she’s meant to be with. The one who will offer her a tingling feeling in the pit of her stomach whenever they exchange so much as a glance. The one who she’ll meet for the first time and something inside of her will click, telling her that they are the one for her. The one who will offer her endless reassurance whenever things in life get difficult. She’s always wanted it all, and more. But, they’ve yet to enter her life and whisk her off her feet.

Her mother would often share tales about meeting her father when they were younger, both of them too scared to reveal their markings, both of which being on their legs in the shape of a tiny rocket, to confirm what they had believed to be true, that they are soulmates. But, one day her father invited her mother to a break from an intense study session by going into his pool. They had both completely forgotten about having not shown their markings but as it turned out, they were the exact same. It was always Mina’s favorite bedtime story to hear about how her parents fell in love with each other, their own firm belief in soulmates only furthering her desire to find her own.

There were plenty of people during her early years that Mina thought were going to be the one, and rather than following entirely in her parents’ footsteps, she’d find any excuse to look at people’s right hand, such as holding their hand as she grabbed a skipping rope from them, or even going as far as gifting the girl next door an orange every single day on the bus to school until one day she took it with her right one. All of which failed miserably but she never gave up hope that one day it would simply happen without her having to think too much about it.

A small four-leaf clover resting directly in the palm of her right hand. It’s beautiful, and Mina often finds herself tracing it back and forth whenever she’s bored. Her father had explained to her that it must mean her life with her soulmate will be full of luck, but finding them alone will require a lot of luck, Mina isn’t so sure she’ll be gifted any more beyond that.

Today is no different from every other morning shift, no one bothers to enter for at least the first hour which means restocks and ordering anything that appears to be running low. The higher shelves she has to grab the old wooden ladders from the storeroom in the back, which, she’s convinced are going to one day give way and break causing her to crash through the display behind her. However, the manager, Mr. Kim,  no matter how many times she asks him to get some new ladders simply states that he’s going to soon. When soon is exactly, Mina has no idea but she doubts it will be soon.

“Is anyone working?” A high-pitched voice calls out close to the counter. From her spot on the bottom rung of the ladders, Mina can only just say make out some brown hair.

The bell for the door to signal a customer had entered has clearly not done its job as Mina quickly rushes around to see who it is that’s waiting for her. Fortunately, it isn’t one of the angry customers who no doubt would have put in a complaint about her for not being at the counter, but instead, it’s Sana who works in the coffee shop just up the street and often calls in for a morning visit when they’re both on earlies. Mina thinks Sana has a sixth sense about this because they’ve never formally exchanged schedules with one another nor do they know each other beyond each other’s respective workplaces.

Sana’s own soul mark is directly under her left eye, a small golden star with sparks flying off of it. Mina adores it and finds that it makes Sana’s already beautiful eyes even more charming to look at.

“Ah, there you are Mina. Here, I brought you your usual. If the morning is kicking my ass, I know it is for you too.” Sana says as she hands over Mina’s usual order of an americano. Her eyes look tired and Mina can tell she isn’t fully present as of yet. “What were you doing? Do you know the bell is broken?”

“Restocks,” She quickly takes a sip of the piping hot drink, Sana subconsciously doing the same but regretting it when it burns her tongue a little. “Thank you for this. It was warm out on my walk-in but those clouds look threatening.” The pair of them look out the window to see the sky now lacking the sun-flamed sky that Mina adores and replaced by dark, overcast clouds. “No, I didn’t know the bell was broken until now, it seems everything is falling apart in here.”

“Did you get your new ladders yet?”

“Nope.” Mina pauses to look back toward where they’re just standing in the middle of an aisle and gives herself a mental reminder to move them once Sana leaves. “I’m thinking about just fetching my own in from home, we’re never going to get them and now, the bell probably won’t be fixed for the foreseeable.”

Sana’s eyes follow Mina’s toward the aisles and then drift up toward the bell above the door. She places her cup down onto the counter and taps Mina’s hand to get her attention back on herself.

“Don’t bring your own. I might know someone who can bring you some and fix the doorbell, you’ll still be here at 1 PM, right?”

“Yeah, I finish at 3, but you know he’ll never agree to pay for any repairs Sana, and especially not ones he hasn’t personally authorized”

“Don’t worry about it Mina, she owes me a favor anyway. Just take it as yet another act of kindness from your favorite and prettiest barista.” Sana chortles, fluttering her eyelashes.

“Oh, Jeongyeon is going to get some new ladders for me? I didn’t realize that’s what you meant.” Mina jokes knowing just how to make Sana a little jealous.

“Very funny, you know I meant myself, not her… Though now you’ve said it, you’re right, it could have meant her.” There’s a quick flash of Sana’s eyes unfocusing and drifting off likely to thoughts of her co-worker who she’s been dating for around a year. They aren’t soulmates but Jeongyeon isn’t a believer and Sana thinks she has too much love to give for one person. However, Mina has often caught Jeongyeon tenderly stroking Sana’s soul mark whenever they believe no one is around.

“Who is it?” Mina queries upon realizing Sana never said who it was that would be her savior.

“Hm? Oh… right. Don’t worry about it, just a friend of mine who can repair it for you.” Sana quickly looks up toward the clock on the back wall and picks her cup up from the counter before shifting toward the door, bell once again not working when she opens it.  “Okay, I gotta go but 1 PM, be here not hiding in an aisle, or next time I might just snitch to Mr. Kim. Bye!” She shouts heading out before Mna can say goodbye in return.

It’s a fairly easy day, the weather does indeed end up turning sour as a downpour quickly starts not long after Sana had left and doesn’t ease up even for a second. There are only a handful of customers who enter and the majority of them are simply trying to escape the rain, which Mina is supposed to ask whether they’re going to purchase anything or not but she doesn’t have the heart to force them out into the cold, thus there was at one point just a collective of people stood by the door hoping for a dry spell that never arrives. They do all fortunately shuffle off one by one, all of which running to their cars or the next building for shelter.

By the time 1 PM rolls around, Mina had completely forgotten about her conversation with Sana. The ongoing entertainment of watching people force their jackets up over their heads whilst trying not to walk into streetlights had provided enough of a distraction for her. So, when someone with their coat up over their head holding a pair of ladders enters the shop, Mina simply believes they’re a customer.

The coat comes down to rest around her shoulders and reveals a face that is small yet striking. Eyes dark and wide, nose bright red from the cold, and the rest of her skin an olive color. She’s tall, quite tall in fact as she stands above the very ladders she’s holding around her left arm. A toolkit rests in her right hand, it’s small but looks heavy, however, if it is, the girl doesn’t let on as she carries it easily. Her frame hidden by the huge coat slumped around her but Mina finds her breathtaking and can’t quite remove her eyes from her face.

“Um… hello?” The girl waves a hand in front of Mina’s face dragging her out of the hypnosis she’s sure this girl had just put her under. “Are you Mina?” Yet again, Mina drifts off elsewhere upon hearing her name exit this girl’s mouth so softly.

“Y-Yes... I am… Mina. Yes. Sorry. I’m Mina.” She stutters, quickly trying to make even a slight bit of sense.

“Yeah, I got it the first time. Sana told me you need some ladders and your doorbell is broke?” The girl poses as a question but quickly gets to work looking at the doorbell which isn’t far away from her head but Mina would struggle to get anywhere close to reaching it. “Those are yours, by the way.” She points toward the ladders. They’re brand new, metal. Far sturdier than the wooden ones.

“Thank you, um…” Mina hesitates, realizing she hadn’t asked for the girl’s name as of yet, nor did Sana tell her who she was.

“Tzuyu.” She states flatly, never bothering to look back toward Mina whose eyes are piercing through the back of Tzuyu’s head never moving.

It doesn’t take her long to fix the doorbell. The batteries inside had managed to corrode and damaged some of the inner-wirings but luckily, Tzuyu had some spare on hand in her toolbox and got it back to signaling the door opening and closing in no time. Mina has no idea what Tzuyu has just technically done as she’s never been the most gifted when it comes to repairs, however, watching her weave the wiring together and connect all of the pieces back together certainly looked impressive.

There’s an awkward silence for a second as Tzuyu steps away from the door to finally look at Mina once again, neither of them knowing how to finish off this unpaid transaction of services.

“Um… Thank you,” Mina starts, but is unsure how to continue, just knows that she wants to continue talking. “So, Sana said you’re doing this as a favor to her?” Mina tries to ask, Tzuyu, however, moves to retrieve her toolkit from the ground.

“Yes. She’s a good friend.” Tzuyu says coldly, turning toward the door to leave but then swiftly back to the counter. “It was… It was nice to meet you, Mina.” Her voice more upbeat this time, yet forced as she outstretches her right hand in front of Mina.

Without hesitating, Mina grasps her hand in her own in a handshake. However, her skin immediately feels an electric shock the second their palms connect with one another, and Mina is stunned into just standing there frozen. Tzuyu is the first to pull her hand away which startles Mina back to reality realizing she wasn’t alone in feeling it. But, before she’s given the opportunity to talk to the girl in front of her the small four-leaf clover resting in the center of Tzuyu’s palm quietens any words that were close to escaping leaving them stuck in her throat.

Tzuyu catches sight of Mina’s same soul mark and immediately rushes out of the door and away from her without a word.

A big part of Mina is telling her not to be stupid, telling her not to risk her job by chasing after her and potentially being seen as a weird stalker. However, the other side that desperately wants to figure out if this moment is the one she’s been searching for, the one she’s been seeking since the very first time she was even told about soulmates. With the consequences for her actions at the very back of her head, she dashes out of the door following Tzuyu and runs to catch up with her, stopping outside of the coffee shop where Sana works as she grabs onto Tzuyu’s arm to stop her, the same shock feeling coursing across her skin as she does so.

“You have it too and you feel it. Tell me… that you feel that.” Mina huffs out, breath struggling to catch up to her.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Tzuyu blurts out hurriedly upon noticing some eyes starting to watch on, her own eyes refusing to look at Mina. “Let me go.”

“No, I know you feel it. I saw you pull away just before… and you have the same mark like me. You know what this means, right?”

The silence between them returns as both Sana and Jeongyeon exit the coffee shop together to watch the interaction between the two girls unfold, a few people stop in the middle of the street to eavesdrop in, one of them even pulling out their phone to record it. Jeongyeon moves to ask them to put their phone away and they reluctantly comply.

“Is everything okay, Mina?” Sana asks.

“Yes, Sana, everything is fine.” Tzuyu answers for her. “Go back inside.”

The two girls shuffle back into the coffee shop, however, they remain by the door just in case whatever is happening between Mina and Tzuyu goes further downhill than it clearly already is even if neither of them will say why.

“Please, just say something… I know you have it too.”

“Look, Mina… I don’t know what kind of fantasy world you’ve created for yourself inside your head that you so clearly live in… but just because you have the same tiny little mark as someone doesn’t mean anything. Yes, everyday people rely on such a silly little thing to determine their entire lives, and good for them if that’s what they want. But it isn’t for me. You’re not for me.” Tzuyu’s voice cold and without any emotion whatsoever, and yet Mina can feel every single emotion inside herself all at once fighting for dominance over which one will retort back to her.

“But…” Mina barely whispers, unable to form a full sentence.

“But nothing, we just met.. You can’t really believe that we’re now supposed to spend the rest of our lives together because of that one single moment.” Tzuyu pauses, waiting to see if Mina will answer before continuing when she doesn’t. “Plus… I already… I already have a girlfriend.”

For the first time in her life, doubt about who she is supposed to spend her life with has managed to creep up and break down all of the previous standards for love Mina had put. Her hand uncurls itself from around Tzuyu’s arm and she sinks down to the floor because she’s right. All this time, Mina thought that having a soulmate or one set person who you’re supposed to always be with was how life is supposed to be, giving it far too much control and power over her to the point where she has likely pushed away plenty of others who would have no doubt made her happy, made her fall in love, and made her look forward to her future.

Instead, she’s given all of the power and control to someone she hadn’t even met yet. Now that she has, she realizes her mistake because Tzuyu could never be the one for her, even if the mark is there. They are not compatible whatsoever, not at this moment. Perhaps, during different times in their lives, they could be perfect for one another, and perhaps they could live out all of the things Mina has dreamed about. But Tzuyu is taken, and Mina is too much of a fantasist.

Mina can feel Sana and Jeongyeon slowly raise her up off the ground, however, her entire focus is on Tzuyu’s retreating figure walking away from her down the street. She can hear them talking to her and asking what has happened but her throat is unable to produce sound. Everything feels so cold and as if she’s surrounded by emptiness.

Perhaps, there is no such thing as soulmates after all. Perhaps, there never will be.

[nahimjustfeelingit-writes]

Imagine:

Erik helping his Wakandan girlfriend speak English because she only speaks Xhosa.

Kamadía

Her name means moon in African.

Kamadía owned a boutique in Wakanda and she was also the Palace designer as well. She was born and raised in Wakanda. Erik first met Kamadía when she was measuring him for his Royal Wakandan garments. He couldn’t keep his eyes off of her. Rich chocolate skin that shines like gold, dreadlocks in her hair, pretty light brown eyes.

Kamadía was the woman that Erik couldn’t stop thinking about. He needed her. Kamadía would greet him in the palace halls with a bow of her head since he was royalty and when he saw her around the Wakandan city he would say hello to her, reminding her that she didn’t need to do all of that with him. He wanted her to be herself around him because Erik wanted to know more about her. It took him a minute at first to get used to only speaking Xhosa with Kamadía because she didn’t speak English at all.

“Molo, Kamadía,” he would give her a soft smile, biting his lip slightly. She would blush, her pretty, melodic voice like music to his ears when she would respond.

“Molo, nkosana N’Jadaka.”

She was always very shy to speak to him about anything, but Erik wanted to break her out of her shell. He would try his best to get away from the Wakandan palace to see her at her shop. At first, she wasn’t used to this but after about a month she expected him there almost every afternoon. She would smile brightly at the sight of him, blush so beautiful across her chocolate skin.

“Erik!” She started calling him that after he told her about his life back in America.

“Hey intombazana entle,” Erik loves the way she smelled, he would hold her close in his lap within her boutique, listening to her talk and admiring her beauty. His hand would stroke her back, and after a while, his dick would jump against her ass. The first time it happened she was startled, lifting from his lap with an embarrassing blush. After that Erik felt Iike he overstepped but the next day he came to see her and apologize she settles in his lap again like it never happened, giving him this look that let him know she was okay with it.

One evening Erik was growing impatient with the back and forth flirting and teasing, he needed a step further with Kamadía. She lived in a simple Villa next to her boutique with a balcony that gave you a view of the palace and the excitement of Wakanda. She was seated there, a book in her lap and dreads draping her shoulders. Her shiny brown legs were propped up showing Erik a little more skin than he was used to seeing with her. He looked up at her with a smirk, hands in his jeans and Tribal shirt unbuttoned, exposing his scars and russet-colored skin.

“Ndingakujoyina?”

His raspy voice brought a smile to her beautiful face before she could even put her book down. She braced the balcony edge on her elbows, leaning over seductively with a flip of her dreads from her eyes. Kamadía twirled a single strand of her dreadlocks, biting her lip.

She gives him a sassy look with a raised brow, “kuyaxhomekeka, Erik, yintoni na kum?”

Oh? She was giving him an attitude? There wasn’t anything this woman couldn’t do to trap Erik even more.

“Ndifuna ukuba ngaphaya kwabahlobo bakho, Kamadía.”

She looked down at her hands, confidence somewhat wavering. He wanted her. He was tired of playing this game. Clearly, Kamadía wanted him too. She nervously looked at him, confusion in her light brown eyes.

“Mna?” She points to her chest, shocked that he wanted her and all of her. He was a prince and she was just a designer.

“Nonke.” He says with a shrug of his shoulders. Erik tilts his head up at her, “akusekho midlalo.”

Kamadía blushes, looking down on him like Juliet did Romeo.

“Uze alpha undibonise ukuba undifuna kangakanani.”

Erik could show her alright. The moment he made his way into her villa Kamadía ran into his arms. They kissed passionately, his hands touching all the places he wanted so badly to touch. She melted in his arms, allowing him to show her what she’d been missing. He told her he would remind her of how her body should feel and that no other man would compare to what he had in store for her. She was just as much addicted as he was.

After some time together, Erik thought long and hard about bringing Kamadía to California with him while he looked over the Wakandan Outreach Center in Oakland. They talked about it and Kamadía agreed with no questions asked. She would go anywhere Erik would go. Through her excitement, she was worried about the language barriers. Kamadía expresses this to Erik. She wanted to learn his culture just like he learned hers. From there, the lessons began.

Erik felt like he was back at MIT as a graduate student teaching courses to undergraduates. He ordered English books and used internet resources to help Kamadía learn the English language.

“Yitsho into?” she asked Erik after a lesson.

“Yes, anything.” Erik spoke to her in English. She understood that, nodding her head nervously.

“What if I...” she started talking with her hands, having difficulty sounding it out, “What if I say something-something....incor-“ she laughs,

“Inzima Kakhulu,” she smacked her forehead.

“Breathe, Kamadía.” Erik took her hands, helping her breath and calm down.

“What if I say something incorrectly?” It rolled off her tongue naturally. She was proud of herself.

“Well,” Erik pauses to see if she understood, “Then, that’s alright. You are learning, Kamadía, and learning takes...time.”

She looked at him with her doe eyes, nodding her head slowly.

“Plus, you got me.”

“Takes...time.” She sounded so beautiful. Erik smiles down at her before kissing her lips.

“Everything takes time.” He explains.

“It’s very hard for me.”

She says it’s hard but she speaks fluently in most things. Erik only taught her for about a month. Maybe it was the Wakandan in her that helped her learn so quickly.

“You know, it took me a minute to learn Xhosa.” Erik pulls Kamadía into his lap.

“It took you a month, it took me six months.”

Kamadía looked at him with disbelief.

“Hayi! Erik!”

“I’m serious!” He laughs, wrapping his arms around her.

“You,” she places her hands over his, stroking them, “very intelligent.”

Kamadia brings his left hand to her lips, kissing it, “Utishala wam endimthandayo.”

“I can teach you something else?” He whispers in her ear. Kamadía giggles, looking over her shoulder at him.

“What?” She spoke softly. His hands leave hers, rubbing up her sides and covering her breasts. Kamadía gasps, head falling back against his shoulder.

“Say...touch me, Erik.”

“...Touch me...Erik.” Her heart skipped when he stroked her nipples and her pussy through her clothes.

“Fuck me, Erik.”

Kamadía moans, skin heated.

“F-fuck me...Erik.”

She sounded so damn sexy. He grunts within her ear, taking his hands to spread her thighs.

“Tell me you love me.”

Her beautiful smile was like the sun even though her name means moon.

“I love you.”

“See? Was that so hard?” He teases.

“No, very-easy.”

“Exactly, Baby girl. No need to worry about it. You will fit in just as much there as you do here.”

“Ndithembise.”

Erik kisses her temple, “I promise.”

Translations:

“Hey intombazana entle,” (Hey beautiful girl)

  “Ndifuna ukuba ngaphaya kwabahlobo bakho, Kamadía.” (I want to be more than friends with you, Kamadia)

“Ndingakujoyina?” (Can I join you?)

 “kuyaxhomekeka, Erik, yintoni na kum?” (it depends, Erik, whats in it for me?)

“Mna?” (Me?)

“Nonke.” (All of you)

“akusekho midlalo.” (No more games)

 “Uze alpha undibonise ukuba undifuna kangakanani.” (then come here and show me how much you want me)

 “Yitsho into?” (Say something? )

“Inzima Kakhulu,” (very hard)

“Hayi! Erik!” (No! Erik!)

  “Utishala wam endimthandayo.” (My favorite teacher)

“Ndithembise.” (promise me)