#The Two Secretaries

[secretaryx3elementsmages]

@musescfmusic

There's a quiet grumbling as she sort of...pulls herself back together after her fight with the pink...thing, pressing cybernetics back into place before a noise catches her attention, pausing before turning. But what Susie sees, makes her heart skip a beat in her chest, blue eyes widening. ...that...was her.

It took awhile but she eventually did it; she manage to escape from the hell and get back to her original dimension however her journey wasn't over.... She needed to get back to her father to show him that she was still alive...

Still alive...

Tracking her father was difficult but not impossible due to the fact the other kept moving whenever she arrived at the location until luck was once again on her side as she manage to land on the same planet as the one her father was on.

The excitement and anxiety was building up; she couldn't wait to be reunited with her father once more....

Until....

She saw her.... Her own face staring back at her. Everything came crashing down around her as a small 'oh' left her.

Did.... Father replace her?

Her expression was blank as she stared at the other for a while until she finally spoke in a quiet but small voice... It was almost as if she wasn't there.

".... Who are you...?"

[ssinboo]

Say Yes to me

summary: You've been in love with Jeon Wonwoo since forever, and due to your family relations, you had hopes you'd marry him. Your only problem? he's getting engagement to someone else.

or

During his Engagement party, your childhood best friend and love of your life, Jeon Wonwoo, asks you to run away with him.

pairing: 1960s!AU - Childhood bestfriend! Wonwoo x F!Reader

word count: 10k (45~ minute read) – My longest ever!

warnings: unrequited crushes and overall foolishness, idiots in love, best friends to lovers to not lovers to lovers again, some angst?, Wonwoo is such a nerd, making out in dingy motels, unrealistic mileage for gasoline, seokmin being the sweetest

a/n: This will most certainly be my last fic of the year! So, Happy Holidays everyone! This year has been so troublesome, but I've grown so much and written a lot more, too! I'm so, so grateful for everyone I've met and everyone that's enjoyed my stuff! See you in 2024!

Had you been questioned, there would never be a concrete answer to the question of just how long you had been in love with Jeon Wonwoo. 

You’d know him forever, and maybe you loved him all along.

Your families were business partners turned friends. And there had always been talk of marriage between the children. Of course, for convenience. The Jeon’s produced top-class racing and sports cars, while your family were in the chemical business, specialising in industry paints and finishes, it was only natural to unite the two families and profit. 

Although your wealth was vast, it was nothing compared to the Jeon’s, despite always having the chance to frequent the same environments, you often found you were on different levels altogether. 

Jeon Wonwoo was the eldest son, and he carried himself as such — with all the poise and arrogance of the heir to a global conglomerate. He liked golfing and late night swims. Always took his coffee black with no sugar, and barely had anything for breakfast, preferring a hearty lunch instead. 

His younger brother, Lee Seokmin, was the result of an affair with a secretary, though that did not mean he was loved any less, no. Seokmin lacked a single mean bone in his body, he had a pure heart and a contagious laugh.  

They were by all means what people liked to call Irish Twins, born less than a year apart. And the nature of that fact only made their differences more apparent. Complete opposites they were, and that extended to how they treated you, too. 

Every summer growing up, your family would travel to the country house and you and your sister would spend the better part of the months at the club. Oh, how you loved the country club with the fun summer activities the clear chlorinated water, having a meal under the pool umbrellas and getting funny tan lines. 

But most of all, you enjoyed Jeon Wonwoo.

His family frequented the same club and every summer, you’d be practically glued to Wonwoo, even if he didn’t dare to pay you any attention.

You were only three years apart, yet he acted as if you were an immature brat. Seokmin had always been happy to play with you and your sister, though. 

More often than not, Wonwoo would lounge by the pool with a book, never daring to go in. And you would cross your arms over tile by the sides and try your damnedest to strike a conversation with him. He would ignore your every word, or worse, poke fun at your latest obsession. 

“Wonwoo, at what time where you born?” You ask, spitting out any chlorine filled water off your mouth. 

He arches an eyebrow, looking up from his book.

“What?”

“What time were you born?” You repeat, unbothered by his acidic tone.

“Why would I know that?”

“Can’t you ask your mum?” 

He rolls his eyes, “Why do you wanna know?”

“So I can see your birth chart,” You shrug, twirling a wet strand of hair around your finger. 

“The fuck is a birth chart?”

“It’s like… It’s a way to see your personality… And I can check to see if we’re compatible.”

“That’s stupid…” He rolls his eyes, again, “You’re stupid.” 

You scoff, “You won’t play along— You’re such a bore!” You yell out and dive back in the pool, leaving behind a cackling Wonwoo. 

Those hapless summer days were spent lazing by the pool with your sister and Seokmin — without a care in the world, laughing about nothing. With the isolated water-balloon fight every now and then. 

You’d grown up before you could realise it, never truly leaving behind your childish crush on Wonwoo. Even if by the age hierarchy, you had no chance of marrying him — Your sister were to marry Wonwoo and you possibly married Seokmin. 

Though you held hope, it crumbled away with every passing minute. 

But that year, your sister had the greatest early birthday present: She’d found the man she was to marry and best of all, your daddy could never say no to his girls. 

With your sister marrying the love of her life, it meant that you would marry Wonwoo, right? It was only a matter of time and you would be sworn to each other before God, your friends, and family. And your first love would blossom. 

On your 21st birthday, your father took you to work with him for the day, though you most lazed around and answered his calls. You only expected to have lunch for your birthday and a party on the weekend.

At noon, he drove to the Jeon’s factory to deliver the new paint samples. 

The workers, most of whom had watched you, your sister and the Jeon kids grow up, greet you excitedly and some even wish you happy birthday. Your father goes straight to the floor to speak to the manager.

Unexpectedly, Mr. Jeon himself shows up.

Mr. Jeon was a handsome old man a captivating smile, he was incredibly passionate about his work and adored mechanics, but he loved his sons above all — And he had great expectations for his boys. 

He greets you with a warm hug and wishes you a happy birthday before discussing business with your father. To which you busy yourself with staring at the pieces waiting for a coat of paint.

“Hey, baby, why don’t you come with us to the patio?” Your father calls and you oblige, skipping toward the two men.

The patio is where they stored their models waiting to be shipped out to agencies or sometimes, for the higher profile clients, directly to the customer. You look at the new line to be launched next winter: sleek and modern with leather seats and wooden accents on the interior. You could never criticise the Jeon’s for their taste, they knew their stuff. 

“Come here, baby,” Your father waves his hands, “What do you think of this car?” 

You study the convertible in a bright red with a cream leather interior; a classic. 

“It’s gorgeous, daddy, when are they launching it?”

“It should be out next year, but what do you think of the colour?”

“I like it,” You nod enthusiastically.

“That’s great baby, why don’t you read up on this model?” He hands you a tiny card, common in the factory, that has the model and batch number, as well as the signature from the supervisor. But just underneath the model, you see the colour name: your name.

As you look at your father, completely astonished, he just lets out a warm laugh and opens his arms for a hug.

“You named a shade after me?!” You glue yourself to him, still in shock. 

“Happy birthday, princess.” 

“Thank you, daddy, you’re the best!” 

“That’s your dad’s present, how about you open mine, now?” Mr. Jeon interjects, waving a tiny jewelry box in the air. 

You fix your hair and take it from his hand, expecting maybe a ring, or earrings. 

But you find brand new car keys.

Mouth agape, you look at him while your father can only laugh at your surprised expression.

“Why don’t you give it a spin?” Mr. Jeon encourages, rushing you toward the convertible. 

And though your father is beside himself with worry for you driving during rush hour, he settles for sitting in the passenger’s seat and doing some good old backseat driving, even though you barely make it past 30.

You drive around the block and return to the factory before your father has an anxiety attack over your driving. 

“Thank you so much, Mr. Jeon! When did you even do this?! I had no idea!”

“Wonwoo oversaw the whole thing, he’s the one you should thank,” He laughs it off, but your heart can only skip a beat at the mention of your beloved’s name. Especially thinking he was the one to take care of such a great gift.

Wonwoo loved mechanics as much as his dad, sometimes even more. He even went to a good college for it, coming back even smarter than before — and much sassier, too. He never stopped doing manual work in the factory, guaranteeing every car made was up to the Jeon standard.

And you were very biased toward his mechanic abilities, especially when he would furrow his brow, glasses perched on the very tip of his nose; he would wipe off sweat off his forehead with his grease covered arm. 

You remember to this day the last time your father came to discuss swatches and you stopped by the shop. Watching Wonwoo work on an older model with a leaky oil tank. 

He did everything himself, changed the tank perched under the car, soldering a brand new one. He also did a once over on anything else that could become a problem in the future, any filters needing change, checking wires and gears, making sure the oil was fresh. The problem came with the lights. He had such a hard time wiggling his thick arms through the machinery to reach the right spot, and you watched very intently how his triceps flexed, deep green veins bulging under his skin.

Wonwoo had gotten so frustrated he’d shed off the top part of his coveralls, sporting a white undershirt so tight you could basically tell the shape of his sweat-clad torso. Oh, how you’d hoped he never got that bulb in place.

“Come’ere,” Wonwoo calls out without further ado. 

“Why?”

“Need your help,” He mumbles under a sigh.

You rise from the barrel you were sitting on and approach the open hood. “With what?”

“Getting this fuckin’ bulb in place,” He hands you the tiny light bulb.

“Where do I need to put it?”

“See— in between this part, need to shove you hand until you reach back here in the light, then you just screw it in.”

“What if I get stuck?” 

“You won’t, you’re so petite,” He smirks.

You scoff, “Shut up.”

Leaning over the hood, you place your left hand on the chassis to steady yourself and shove your right hand in between gears and machinery, trying to find the spot he mentioned.

“I can’t find it,” You complain.

“Keep trying.”

“I am!”

“Here, deeper—“ He reaches for you, one hand on your waist and another on your arm, forcing you toward the place.

You’re way too focused on finding the damn spot for the light, that you barely notice the proximity at all. 

“Can’t find it!”

“Right, right— My right.”

“It’s the same freakin’ right, you idiot,” You hiss.

He laughs, “Fine, our right,” you groan at his stupid joke, “It should be there, try to bring it closer to you.” 

“Found it!” You squeal with a smile, screwing the bulb in its place. 

“Atta girl,” Wonwoo smiles. 

“There!” With a relieved sigh, you finally free your grease-clad hand from the machinery, slightly cringing at the black covering your fingernails — It’d be such a bother to clean it up. 

When you finally lean back, you stumble onto Wonwoo’s firm chest. Lucky for you, he catches you, steady hold at your waist. You’re finally aware of his proximity, to which he only smiles. 

Looking down at where his warm, tauntingly large hands meet your waist, you’re suddenly filled with nothing but rage. ‘

“You got grease all over my dress!” You whine, looking at the perfectly stamped print of his hand over your brand new summer dress. 

He only laughs, “Looks better this way, trust me.”

“Ugh!” You groan, stomping toward the washing area where they kept clean rugs. 

He closes the hood with a loud thump that echoes through the shop and slides into the driver’s seat. The car comes alive with a loud hum and ta-da! The headlight works. 

You are a little proud of your work, yes. But it’s not like you’ll show it.

“Do you not anything clean in here?!” You complain, eyeing the pile of grease-covered rags thrown in a corner. That had to be a fire hazard.

“What?” Wonwoo shouts over the running engine.

You huff and stomp your way back to the car, throwing open the driver’s door. “I have a formal dinner to go to,” You state, leaning over the door.

“Okay, then go.” 

Rolling your eyes, you hold back any possible insults, “Like this?” You gesture toward your otherwise perfectly fine dress. 

He holds back a little mischievous smile, “I have some clean clothes in the office.”

Wide eyes, mouth hanging agape, you stare at him dumbfound, “I hope that’s a joke, Jeon Wonwoo.” 

He laughs, genuinely. That sweet, deep, dorky laugh of his that reverberates through his chest and plunges straight into your heart. 

“Come on, I’ll drive you home.”

As much as he did tease you, Wonwoo never made short on his promises. 

“Is he around?” You ask Mr. Jeon, trying your best to suppress any expectations.

“Oh, he had some business… But he wished you a happy birthday.”

Your smile falters before your catch it, forcing the corners of your lips into a beautiful, rehearsed smile. “Let him know I’m grateful. For the wishes and for the amazing present.”

It would soon be Wonwoo’s birthday and you had been preparing for what felt like ages. You got him a really nice set of electric work tools since he complained often about how the shop’s tools were always malfunctioning. But you did feel somewhat bad about only getting him a gift relating to work on what should be a day about him. 

So you caved in and got him a gorgeous wrist watch with classy black leather straps; on the underside you had his name inscribed with a heart. — You actually hadn’t planned for the heart, but the jeweller got confused in between so many orders and it was too close to the date to have it re-done. You hoped you could play it off in a cool manner, maybe he would laugh at your story.

The party would be held the eve of his actual birthday, and you arrived at the venue with hours to spare. Your father and sister are by the entrance, speaking to Mr. Jeon, you greet them.

“Hi, Mr. Jeon! Where should I put the gifts?”

“Oh—“ Surprised, he looks at your father, “You’ve brought gifts—“ He seems… surprised? As if it were so weird to bring presents to a birthday party. “Uh— I’m not sure, let me check with my wife where you could place those.”

You father nervously sips on his champagne, avoiding your sister’s burning looks.

“You haven’t told her,” Your sister turns to your father, “Why didn’t you tell her?”

“Tell me what?” You ask.

“Honey… This isn’t Wonwoo’s birthday party…” Your father speaks very slowly, gauging for your reaction at his every word.

Eyebrows raised, you question, “What do you mean?”

“It’s an engagement party, he’s getting engaged to Suzy,” Your sister rips the band-aid off.

And you feel the air being sucked out of your lungs at once, an agonising knot pulls at your throat and your nose stings with the threat of tears. The shopping bags fall from your hands and you fight off the urge to bawl your eyes out. 

Before you actually do cry your eyes out, you rush outside.

“Baby—“ Your father calls but you just storm off, not wanting to be near anyone. 

Engaged? Engaged!

Engaged…

Wonwoo was getting fucking engaged. 

With a bitch named Suzy who had the prettiest hair you’d ever seen and knew how to talk to investors and could speak a thousand languages. And worst of all, she was the kindest, sweetest girl ever. You couldn’t even hate her!

You weren’t even allowed that! As much as you weren’t allowed a simple heads up. How hard was it to tell you beforehand “Hey, the guy you’ve loved your entirely life is getting married to some girl and you just brought lemon pies to his engagement party, thought you’d want to know.”

Maybe you should’ve taken the pies with you, at least you’d have some comfort. 

You know what, what the fuck. Why didn’t Wonwoo tell you anything?! It had been barely a couple of days since you saw each other, why couldn’t he tell you? Were you not even worthy of that? 

Like having known each other your entire lives doesn’t make you worthy of such ”wonderful” news? How hard is it to tell someone in passing that you’re getting engaged! And now, you’re supposed to smile all night and pretend like your guts aren’t festering in rage and melancholy and your blood doesn’t run cold at the mere thought of Wonwoo walking down the aisle.

Giving it a second thought, maybe it wasn’t set in stone yet. 

It’s the modern times and even back in your parents’ days, engagements were broken off all the time! He might not marry Suzy. You might have a chance. 

Maybe you could ask— no, you could plead with your father to tell Mr. Jeon to think it all over. Wonwoo is still young, it’s not time to settle down just yet. He wanted to study abroad, he talked about the automobile industry in Europe with such amaze, and if that took a little longer, maybe Suzy would get tired of waiting?

Who were you fooling? You should’ve seen it coming.

Of course, he wouldn’t have married you, what were you thinking?!

He’s the Jeon’s precious firstborn and you’re… someone who can’t even tell apart the sizing in wrenches —  To top it all off, Suzy was notably great with mechanics. 

You really wish you had those pies with you, it would make your salty tears a little sweeter.

By the time you’re done sobbing in your car, you look a hot mess with runny make-up and swollen eyes. With a sigh, you pull out your purse and muster up any cosmetics that can save you for tonight. 

You could cry all you wanted at home, but right now, you needed to look pretty and have your pictures taken.

By the time you return, the party is to start and guests are gathering at the front, your sister immediately rushes to your side.

“Are you okay?” she whispers, soft hands reaching for yours. 

Forcing out a smile, “Of course! Who do you think I am?”

By the look on her face, you know she doesn’t trust your words not one bit, but will not pry at your emotions any further. At least not for tonight, you’re sure tomorrow she will grill you about this. But for now, you put on a bright smile and greet all the guests.

From the Jeon’s, Seokmin is the third to arrive, missing only by the birthday boy himself. But he immediately greets his parents and comes to greet your family.

“Hey!” You smile, putting aside your glass of champagne so you can hug him properly.

“How you doin’?” He asks, gorgeous smile on display. 

“I’m— Well—“

“They’ve told you then—“ 

You press your lipstick coloured lips into a thin line, “Yeah,” You nod.

“Shit.”

“Yeah,” You shrug, “I’m happy, Suzy is… a—“ Nice words. Nice words. “—wonderful girl.”

Seokmin offers you a sweet smile. “Let’s hope she can handle his tantrums,” he nudges at your arm.

“Oh, please!” You laugh.

Wonwoo was known for sometimes having a bit of a short temper, not often, by any means and maybe that’s what made them so memorable. Like the one time he couldn’t finish a puzzle during game night, so he gathered all the pieces and set the ablaze in the backyard.

“Or—“ A waiter passes by with a tray full of champagne and he so kindly grabs two glasses, offering you one. “Listen to this— He gets to the church, covered in grease from head to toe.” 

You laugh at the thought. Gods, how many times has Wonwoo decided to work on an engine while wearing his most expensive outfit? His mother nearly had a fit every time he would show up dishevelled and smelling like motor oil pretending like nothing’s wrong. 

“Please,” You sip at your drink, “I bet he’s gonna be all greased up tonight.”

Seokmin laughs wholeheartedly. He was the sort of guy to never hold back a fit of giggles no matter how inappropriate it may be, and it was certainly refreshing to know someone genuinely found your company enjoyable.

“For sure, I think her parents will freak out.” 

You nod. 

Tapping at your glass, you hesitate the following words, “Guess we’ll be the ones getting married for the family, then…”

You didn’t hate Seokmin, far from it. You loved him to bits— Not like Wonwoo, of course, you believed you would never love a man like you loved Wonwoo, ever again. 

He was funny, and such a gentleman. Not to mention, handsome, too. If you weren’t hopelessly in love with his brother, he would’ve been the perfect husband of your dreams. But he did deserve better than a wife who could never give him what he deserves. 

“Sorry about that,” Seokmin comforts you and that only makes your nose sting with the threat of more tears.

“Stooop!” You whine in a shaky voice and he’s overcome with worry.

“Hey— What’s wrong—?”

“Don’t be so sweet— I’m emotional tonight—“ You laugh at your emotional state, despite the teary-eyes.

“Are you a crybaby tonight?”

You nod, fanning your eyes in the hope of drying your tears before they can wash away your makeup.

Seokmin smiles, wrapping an arm around your shoulder and you lean against his chest, fighting the urge to cry.

It’s only when you’re certain you won’t bawl your eyes out, that you respond. “It’s not that I hate you, you know I love you, but… You deserve someone that will love you like a husband.” 

He nods, “I know— But it might not be so bad, we’re friends! We’ll have sleepovers every day, and we’ll have Italian every night, we’ll watch those silly movies you like…” Seokmin lists off all the things you would do in your very platonic marriage and it doesn’t sound so bad. 

He knew exactly how you felt, he loved you, of course he did, you were so precious in his eyes, but not like a lover. 

You pull your face away from his chest to look up at him, “Are you gonna let me choose your clothes?” 

Seokmin sighs. You hated his questionable fashion since forever and in only very rare occasions did he accept your input, any other time and he assaulted your spirit with clashing patterns and silly shoes.

“Fine—!” 

You smile brightly, properly comforted. 

Before you can tease him any further, you spot Wonwoo entering the venue. Although he is immediately swarmed with congratulatory words, his shy nature makes it so his only response is always an awkward smile. 

He immediately spots you among the crowd.

You breathe in. In that moment, despite knowing he was sworn to another, that did not stop your heart from fluttering at the sight of him, his broad shoulders and the crooked tie he clearly put on a rush.

“Congrats, bro!” Seokmin is the first one to greet him, not letting go of your shoulder but instead pulling Wonwoo into a semi-hug. 

“Seokmin…” Wonwoo eyes his brother and then you, and then his brother again.

“Congrats, Nonu,” You smile, letting go of Seokmin’s comfort to reach for a hug. 

Wonwoo smiles, letting you cling onto his neck, your citric perfume seeping into his clothes and body. 

Oh, how his warmth could never compare to another. How you craved his affection like no other. 

“Thanks— Uh, did you bring me anything?” He asks in a teasing tone.

“Ey— Nonu!” Seokmin scolds his brother. 

“How did you know I brought you something?” You giggle, pulling away from the hug. 

Wonwoo shrugs. 

You reach for his crooked tie, straightening it to the best of your abilities. “I brought it earlier, but I think your mum took it to the back room,” You explain, focused on the tie.

He, however is focused on your concentrated face, parted red lips and furrowed brows. The proximity that lets him almost feel your chest pressed against his, as if extending the hug. 

“However, you, mister, have to greet your guests!” You scold, setting his tie in place.

Seokmin joins in, once again throwing his arm around your shoulder. “That’s right, mum already gave me an earful about how late you were— And I got here on time!” 

“Yeah— Yeah— You’re right,” Wonwoo nods.

“Liquid courage?” You offer your half-drunk glass of champagne and he downs it in one go.

You and Seokmin goof around a little more and gossip about certain guests behind their backs. Dinner is served and you all sit down to eat, Seokmin insists you sit beside him, which just so happens to also be next to Wonwoo. And you thank him for indulging you one last time.

Wonwoo is mostly quiet, but you were used to him not being rather fond of public parties, especially when all of the attention is on him. On his other side, sits Suzy, the blushing bride-to-be. She tries to make conversation with Wonwoo, though most of it falls flat, he only ever gives her monosyllabic answers and rarely contributes to discussions. 

That is until Mr. and Mrs. Jeon stand up, tapping forks to their glasses to call for everyone’s attention. The room quiets down instantly. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for attending our little gathering tonight,” Mr Jeon greets the guests. “We have some wonderful news we would like to share with you all.” 

“My beautiful son, how proud I am of you,” He adds, “Every day I am  amazed at your intellect. Often, I question just where did you get those smarts!”

Everyone laughs.

“You have grown into a fine man, and I can’t take credit for any of it. You are the most mature, talented, and intelligent boy and you did it all by yourself— ”

You can watch how Wonwoo’s eyes gloss over with tears. 

“I’m growing old, you know. And every father wants the guarantee that his children will be taken care of… That’s why I’m so relieved and happy to announce that my worries will soon be gone—“ He laughs but his son’s smile falters, “I’d like to announce the engagement of my son, Wonwoo, to this beautiful young lady named Suzanne. Welcome to the family, Suzy.” 

He raises his glass and soon, the room fills with uproar. Everyone claps and you join in, smiling toward Mr. Jeon and Suzy. She stands up, thanking everyone and raising her own glass.

But Wonwoo doesn’t move. 

“Nonu?” You whisper. 

In his ears all that can be heard is muffled screams of joy and the incessant acute ringing. He closes his fists so tight that his blunt nails almost break through skin, he doesn’t look at you, but it’s so clear something is wrong.

You and Seokmin exchange glances. 

Before you can call for him again, he stands up at once, the chair falling behind him with a loud bang that silences the room in an instant. In large and rushed strides, Wonwoo leaves for the patio. 

You stand up and follow him. 

“Wonwoo!” You call out, almost tripping over your party heels. 

He stands in the yard, hand gripping at his gelled hair while the other fights with his tie, pulling at the suffocating fabric until it slides down.

The yard is decorated with a gorgeous fountain, sound of running water somewhat soothing in this moment.

“Nonu, what’s wrong?” You whisper, a hand reaching for his heaving shoulder.

“What wrong?!” He yells back, shoving your hand away, “Did you not fuckin’ hear ‘em?!” 

You step back and his gaze somewhat softens, realising he just pushed you.

“You didn’t know…” You whisper to yourself, epiphany hitting you like a punch to the gut. How could Mr. Jeon do this?! Throw this on him without any previous warning?!

“You— You knew?” His voice is shaky, laced with the sharp sting of betrayal.

“I found it out myself tonight when I got here— I— I thought you knew! I thought you agreed to it!” You argue. 

“How— How can you think I would agree to marry someone—“ His words trail off in the night breeze, never to be finished. 

“Then— What will you do?”

“I don’t know!” 

You bite at your nails, finding a concrete surface to sit on and ponder. 

“I must leave—“ He speaks out, “Run away with me—“

“What?!” you stand up.

“Let’s leave, drive somewhere— Wherever! I can’t stay a moment longer in this place.” 

Oh, what a dilemma it was.

Abandon an engagement party with the groom-to-be, leaving behind furious parents and confused guests. And part of you knew that, despite your family’s closeness and no matter how much your father claimed you were all very close like family, driving off in the middle of the night with a committed man was a blow to any respectable, single, young ladies.

What a dilemma it could’ve been if you weren’t so enamoured with this man you would beck at any given call of his.

“I’ll get my bag and tell your parents you want to stay out here for a couple of minutes,” You announce and he nods.

As you walk back into the venue, all eyes are on you.

“He’s got the wedding jitters, everyone, not to worry. Wonwoo will return after he’s had a bit of fresh air,” You announce with a smile and all guests return to their previous activities.

But Mr. Jeon immediately corners you.

“What is he thinking?!” He half-yells, half-whispers.

“He’s just nervous, it’s a big bit of news…” You lie through your teeth, “I think a little heads up would’ve helped, you know he doesn’t do well with surprises.”

The man sighs, “He wouldn’t ever agree to it. I’ve offered him countless girls to marry and he never accepts any of them.“ Mr. Jeon looks at you and then sighs. “Do me a favour, convince him to come back, will you?”

“Yes, sir,” You nod and head off into the back rooms.

Unbeknown to you, Seokmin is on your trail and he waits until you are in the back lounge, gathering your bags and jacket to close the door and corner you.

“What the hell happened?”

You jump at the sudden intrusion, “You scared me!” You whisper.

“Sorry,” He whispers back.

“He didn’t know!”

“What?!” He says in a normal tone, soon realising just how loud that was. 

“What I said, I think your dad set up a trap… He knows Wonwoo won’t go against his word.”

“Shit. What are we gonna do?”

“He wants to run away,” You announce.

Seokmin looks at you, and then at the purse hanging from your should and the jacket in your hands. 

“And you’re coming with him?”

“I can’t leave him alone, not tonight.”

“And where are you going?”

“I don’t know,” 

“And when are you coming back?”

“I don’t know.”

“You are coming back, right?”

“I have no idea, Seokmin,” You realise, but the prospect doesn’t scare you as badly.

He scratches at his head. “Leave through the kitchen, I’ll hold off my dad. Make sure to give me a call once you guys are… I don’t know— Just give a call, will you?” 

You nod, pulling him into a hug.

Doing as he instructed, you pass through the kitchen staff and rush through the backdoor, unseen by the guests. Wonwoo is sitting on a concrete bench, his head between his hands.

“Ready?” You call out.

Wonwoo looks up, nodding before he rises to his height. You offer him a comforting smile and reach for his hand. 

Once you get hold of his hand, you bolt across the yard toward the parking lot. He almost stumbles over his lanky legs, but catches up rather fast. You throw your stuff on the backseat and enter your car, Wonwoo decides to jump over the door. 

You laugh at his antics with a shake of your head. 

Once your heels are discarded, you start the engine and drive off, leaving behind that dreaded engagement party. Wonwoo busies himself with shedding his formal wear, throwing his tie on the floor and removing his blazer. 

In any other occasion, this could’ve been such a lovely late-night drive, just the two of you in your beloved car, night breeze caressing your faces with her ice-cold kisses, cruising through deserted roads, barely a soul in sight except for the night owls.

And you might allow yourself to enjoy this moment.

The silence isn’t a bother, no, Wonwoo was always a man of comfortable silences to you, but this once, you’re worried about goes on in that busy mind of his.

“You alright?” You ask, looking away from the road to steal a glance or two at him.

“Yeah,” He replies.

“Truly?”

“No,” He scoffs at his own lie. “But I’ll be.”

You nod. 

You drive out of town and on the interstate roads for ages until Wonwoo finally speaks up. You’re completely engulfed in darkness except for your headlights.

“We should stop soon and have a rest.”

“Okay,” You nod, “Any preferences?”

“Anywhere.” 

And so you tell him to keep his eyes peeled open when a sign on the road says there should be a motel in the next couple KM. It doesn’t take too long before you’re pulling into the parking lot of a roadside motel, much of a far-cry from your expensive hotels and luxury living. 

You check in at the front desk with an old man who seems very unhappy with his life, he short of throws the keys your way. 

The room is… surprisingly nice, given the circumstances of the ambience. Only problem is the, although quite large, singular bed. You exchange glances.

“Shit,” Wonwoo curses, “I’m gonna 

“You wanna get hit?” You joke, “He’s minutes away from killing us over this room. We can just share the bed.”

He looks at you with wide eyes. “I’ll sleep in the tub.”

Oh, he certainly seems to hate the idea of sharing a bed with you, huh.

“Nonu, please, it’s late and we’re both tired. It will be just like when we were kids,” You explain, setting aside your stuff.

Wonwoo nods, sitting on the strangely comfortable bed.

“You think they have robes?” You ask, looking around.

“Wouldn’t bet on it.” 

“Oh, I’d kill to get out of this dress,” You whine, running to the bathroom to check for anything you could wear instead of your dress. 

He just bites at his lips, watching you pace from side to side in that tiny bedroom. 

That’s when you remember your forgotten shopping bags sitting in the trunk! Your compulsive shopping habits just saved you from a very uncomfortable night’s sleep, how convenient!

“I think I have some clothes in my car,” You announce, grabbing the keys and heading toward the door.

“Wait, you’re going by yourself? let me go with you.”

“I don’t wanna lock the door, though,” You whine.

He sighs, “Stay here, I’ll go.” 

You jump, “Thank you, Nonu!”

While Wonwoo rummages through your trunk and pulls out the surprising large amount of shopping bags, you shed off your clothes and head toward the bathroom, dying to get some hot water on your body, put on your new PJs and doze off. 

When he returns however, he is greeted by a sight any other man would die to see. You’ve left a trail of clothes from the bed toward the bathroom door. Starting on your pretty dress, splayed out over tiled-floor, and then your tights and then your underwear, matching, too— 

He clears his throat. “I’m back!” 

But you probably don’t hear him through the running shower, so he just sets down the bags and avoid the sight of your clothes. He decides to turn on the tiny TV and browse through any late night re-runs. You take only a couple of minutes in your shower.

“Nonu?” You ask from the bathroom.

“Yeah?” He turns down the TV.

“Did you find the clothes?”

“Yeah.”

“Can you bring me something to wear?” Wonwoo gulps. 

“Uh— Which one?”

“There should be a light blue bag and a pink one.” 

“Okay—“ He stands up and searches for the aforementioned colours. 

Wonwoo heads to the bathroom door and leans against the wall, facing away from the door. He knocks once. You open the door and shove your arm through, reaching for the bags.

“Thank youu!” 

He returns to the boring TV. Though all he could think about was the sight of your wet supple skin, knowing you were bare with only a thin sheet of plywood separating you. 

You leave the bathroom smelling of cheap soap and fresh into your brand new nightgown. It is tentatively short with an almost see-through round of lace over the hems. In your defence, you weren’t planning on showing this nightgown to anyone anytime soon. 

Sitting on the bed, you look around the room, not noticing how Wonwoo’s eyes don’t really meet yours or how red his ears seem to burn.

“Aren’t you gonna shower?” You ask.

“Feels a bit redundant to shower and get back into my dirty clothes.” 

“I think I might have something for you, if you don’t want to sleep in a suit,” You pry.

Wonwoo raises an eyebrow, “I’m listening.”

“But you can’t judge! I bought this for my dad because you know he deals very poorly with the heat— And he never buys himself anything!” You’re explaining yourself in advance because you remember very well what you bought.

Silky boxer shorts and a tank top, which your father loved to sleep in on stuffy summer nights but you doubted would be Wonwoo’s first choice of wear, ever.

He haggles with his own mind; give into the silky boxer shorts or sleep in the most uncomfortable outfit ever. With a tired sigh, Wonwoo accepts his fate and grabs the bag. 

You smile as he stomps toward the bathroom with a defeated frown.

By the time he returns, you’ve cleaned up your trail of clothes and made yourself very comfortable in the bed. You turn your head to face him.

God, he could make a potato sack look good. 

“How’s the fit?” You pull your eyes away before you look for too long. 

Wonwoo shrugs, “I’ve had worse.”

You laugh.

He coyly joins you in bed, keeping a large gap between your bodies, settling on top of the covers while you’re under their warmth. 

“Ain’t you cold?” You ask, fidgeting with the TV remote. 

Wonwoo shakes his head, leaning back into the headboard. With a pout, you cross the figurative bridge between the two of you and reach for him. He doesn’t shy away from your touch but it visibly confused.

“What’s wrong?” He asks, hands hovering in the air, far away from your exposed back.

“I’m sorry your birthday party sucked,” You murmur against his chest, Wonwoo smiles softly, letting his hands rest on you.

“It didn’t suck in its entirety,” he says, palms slightly tapping at your back, “it was fun running away with you.”

You giggle at his comment, heart fluttering at its meaning, “What are we going to do? About the engagement, I mean…”

“We?” He raises an eyebrow.

You pull away from him.

“Well— You dragged me into this!” You slap at his chest and he lets out a boisterous laugh that almost manages to pull the corners of your from into a smile.

“I know, I’m taking the piss out of you,” He extends his arms, pulling you back to your previous position, resuming the soft caresses he leaves on your arms. “I don’t know— This is the first time I’ve ever gone against my father.”

You sigh. “Don’t you wanna marry Suzy?”

There’s a pause and oh, you’re begging, wishing to hear the words you want most.

“Fuck no!” Wonwoo exclaims and you fail to hide your excitement.

“She is pretty,” You throw the bait, to pry at his true feelings.

“So is your sister, should I just marry any pretty girl?”

You raise from your position, eyebrows furrowed into a deep frown. Wonwoo looks at you, completely clueless to his words and its consequences.

“What the hell?!” 

“What?” 

Kicking off the covers in a flurry, you kneel on the bed, staring at him dead in the eyes.  “You have the hots for my sister!”

It’s Wonwoo’s turn to get angry, “What?! No— You’re twisting my words—“

“I’m twisting your words?! You just said you think my sister is pretty!” 

“Because she is!”

You jaw drops, you can’t believe he is doubling down. “Wow,” you shake your head. 

“What’s wrong with saying that?”

You shrug, turning away from him and crossing your arms. “I don’t know, why don’t you just go an marry my sister, then.”

Only then, does this thick-headed man you love so much realise he has been complimenting other girls without so much as telling you a single nice word — the bare minimum. He sighs and offers you a soft smile, shifting in the bed until he is near you again.

“I don’t want to marry your sister. I think she is pretty, but she’s not the prettiest sister, you are.” He waits for your reaction.

Hook, line and sinker. 

You turn around immediately, a hint of smile playing in your pretty lips. 

That’s enough for him to break into a wide smile, opening his arms to welcome you back into his warmth. You crash into his chest, wrapping yourself around his torso. 

He groans, falling back into the mattress but not letting go of you.

Minutes pass before you speak again. “It’s past midnight…” You whisper.

“It’s well past midnight… Why?”

You shift upwards until your faces are only inches apart, breath tickling his lips, your beautiful eyes gleaming under dim motel lighting. “Happy birthday,” You whisper between smiles, “Make a wish.” 

Wonwoo breathes in, eyes scanning your face, “There’s one thing I want…” 

“What is it?” 

If he said it out loud, he might’ve lost all courage to do so. 

So he just does it, Wonwoo leans forward until his lips meet yours in a chaste kiss. 

It probably lasted a couple of seconds, but those seconds felt like a lifetime when you were finally kissing the man you’ve loved for god knows how long. There’s a spark of electricity that burns bright from the moment your lips touch and travels through your body, blood boiling in excitement, shyness, and pure love. 

When the kiss ends, Wonwoo studies your face, watching for any sign of discomfort. Which is even more worrying when you’re standing there, froze solid with an empty stare.

But thankfully, before he can say anything, you throw caution into the wind. 

You pull him into a kiss. Throwing every sense of morale and shame you had out the damn window. He was a man sworn to another, for Pete's sake! But here you here, crashing your lips into his perfect, soft ones. 

Wonwoo lets out a quiet groan, almost inaudible, but you hear it, oh yes, you do. And it runs straight through your chest and down to your core. 

Although the sensible, rational part of your brain tells you to quit kissing him at once and just apologise, the other 99% of your brain, who’s been in love with him since forever, wants nothing of the sort. And you might have listened to the not-so-rational part of you, because you just deepened the kiss, shifting your weight until you’re partially on top of him.

Your lips move against him, shyly exploring this kiss, engraving every moment into your memory. 

Yet he reciprocates. His warm hands finds your waist, holding you flush against his torso, heartbeats thumping completely in-sync. You wrap your arms around his neck and he takes the chance to pull you deeper into those dangerous lips of his. His tongue finds its way into your mouth, licking and twirling against yours, hot and eager. 

He dips his head, one hand reaches to tangle into your hair and manoeuvre you around, allowing himself complete freedom to explore every bit of your mouth. 

Wonwoo kisses like no other. Not that you had too much of a repertoire to compare him to. 

But he consumes your lips with an unbound hunger, nothing similar to the calm and collected Wonwoo you knew, no. He’s hungry, messy, and very clumsy, clashing teeth one too many times, letting saliva drip down your chins and struggling to move with you on top of him.

When you part the kiss, you lay there breathless, gazing into his ridiculously beautiful beady eyes and long eyelashes, his handsome sharp nose and the most kissable lips you’ll ever see.

 It was breathtaking, mind-blowing and nothing like you’ve ever felt before. Your heart beats so fast you feel as if you might pass out at any moment but you’d die before you give up experiencing that again.

“What was that?” He whispers and his breath tickle your kiss-swollen lips. 

“Your birthday gift,” You bite at your lower lip. “Did you like it?”

Wonwoo smiles, breathless and half-lidded and your heart damn near bursts. “I did. Did you?”

You nod.

He nods. “Wanna do it again?”

You nod and he gives you that stupidly handsome smile of his.

And once again, you’re attached at the lips. This once, nothing like before, which you though impossible. It’s so much more desperate and it burns, it boils your blood in absolute desire. It leaves you light-headed, it wipes away your cognitive thoughts and leaves behind a foggy cloud of barely strung-together words that only translate into wanting more. More of him. 

You sigh into the kiss and he drinks it all up, he consumes everything you give him with erratic hands and eager tongue. 

Wonwoo leaves your lips and you whine with a breathless sigh of his name, almost chipping at any resolve he had left. But he nips at your neck nonetheless, warm, wet tongue trailing along your skin, making you twitch in his arms with the most delectable little ‘yips’ of surprise. 

He bites, feral and determined; determined to make his claim, to leave behind his mark on your body, to indulge in carnal pleasure without a prospect of tomorrow, letting everything else be a construct beyond these motel walls, away from where you laid. Away from this reality where he had you in his hands and you moaned his name with a soft smile.

Practically tearing your nightgown, he pulls the silky fabric just enough until your tits spill out of its confine. Wonwoo sighs at the sight, fingers trailing the contour of your boobs, raising goosebumps along sensitive skin. His eyes are burning in adoration, the most depraved glaze of hunger hidden behind sheer excitement. 

He dives in, hands kneading at the flesh, squishing soft skin. 

Slender fingers caress your aereolas, running fingernails along your nipples in curiosity, watching you squirm and bite at your lips as your nipples begin to perk up. 

And when you thought he was done, Wonwoo attaches his mouth to your nipple, sloppily running his tongue around it before he sucks. He makes sure to let his teeth graze, just to watch you jump.

All while his other hand makes work of your unattended boob, your attention is so thinly divided between his teasing fingers and his hot tongue and the sweetest, most satisfied groans that erupt from his throat. 

Your face burns and you bite at the back of your hand, shoving down every stubborn moan that tries to make it past; but he won’t have that, no. Wonwoo reaches for your arms, pinning them above your head without so much as pulling away from your tits. 

Mindlessly, you’ve been rocking back and forth against him, chasing a gut feeling you’re unsure of but desire more than anything ever. And without realising, you’ve been teasing him just as much as he has you, which is clear by the volume contained by his shorts. 

He wishes he could ravish your breasts all night, but any more of your squirming and he will come undone without so much as a touch from you. 

Wonwoo pulls away, hands once against finding your waist as he pulls you back to his chest.

“You know what comes next, don’t you?” He whispers against your lips, half-lidded, lust-filled eyes gazing so deep into your own. 

“I— I’ve never done it before,” You confess.

And something stirs within him, to know he is your first, the first and only man to every touch you this way, to trace his lips over your gorgeous body, to settle inside of you. 

Wonwoo smiles and kisses your nose, “I don’t care… But only if you don’t care that I haven’t either.”

You’re surprised, to say the least. 

Kissing in between smiles, you raise to your knees, letting him tug at the hem of shorts just enough to free his cock. 

It’s nothing like you’ve seen before and unlike the illustrations you remember from school. It’s red and veiny and it glistens with pre-cum under the dim lighting.

But it’s a part of him and you can’t help that your belly stirs at the sight of him stroking himself. 

When you reach for the hem of your nightgown, his hands stop you.

“Keep it on—“ He whispers.

“Why?”

“We’ve got all night to take it off,” He runs his tongue through his top teeth with a side smirk and you almost smack him up the head for being such a little shit.

As he asked so kindly, you bunch up your nightgown around your waist, hips circling around his warmth, meanwhile he’s playing with the flesh of your love handles, kneading and running his fingers over your skin. 

“Ready?”

You nod. He raises your hips and lets you control the pace, you feed in his cock, centimetre by centimetre, feeling it’s girth tear at your walls with an unimaginable sting, it burns hot and heavy in your hands.  

Crashing onto his chest, you cry out a pained yelp.

Wonwoo run his fingers over your back, kissing the top of your head, his eyebrows are bunched up, face painted with worry.  “We can stop— Let’s stop—“

“No!” you raise your head and he can see the tiny droplets bundling around your eyelashes, “Just gimme a minute!”

So you sit there, his cock half-in, pulsing angry red and throbbing under the  tease of warmth and tightness. Especially when you look so breathtakingly gorgeous, he gulps, leaning back against the headboard, urging his mind to be strong. 

It takes you minutes to get used to it, to slowly let the size settle until your muscles are well and accustomed to it and then you start it all over again, feeding the remaining inches until he’s bottomed out. 

And oh heavens, how utterly full and hot you felt. Despite the stinging pain, part of you wants to chase the pleasure, clenching in sheer hunger. 

Wonwoo stares up at you, looking for any signs of discomfort but he is met with the most enticing, beautiful, and tempting creature he’s ever laid his eyes upon. Your eyes are glassy with tears, but you’ve got a determined look on your face with a hint of a smirk that sends shivers down his spine and up his cock. 

“Shit,” He curses out with a smile, leaning back and rutting into your hips only to watch your eyebrows furrow and your mouth gape, a moan threatening to escape. “Ready to move, pretty girl?”

You breathe out, “Yeah.”

Steadying yourself against his chest, you raise your hips, feeling his absence leave you upsettingly empty until you let your body crash back down, his cock impaling you with its warmth once again. You rock against him, shallowly, though the motion is unbearably teasing, even for you. 

Wonwoo lets out an obscene, strained moan, fingernails digging into your waist, but you’re too focused on rocking your hips to notice. How he wants nothing but to piston his hips into your pussy like there is no tomorrow, he relishes in the feeling of your warmth, tight and gummy around his throbbing member. 

And he finds you might be just as insatiable as he is, especially when you’ve found yourself a steady pace, bouncing up and down, and his name pours out of your lips in such a beautiful manner. Though he can’t just let you have all the control, can he?

“Oh—“ You yip, “Feels so— Good—“ Still unsure of your thought, you explore the feeling, rolling your hips, feeling him stretch your wider, fill your insides and leave you full like you’ve never felt before. 

His hips meet yours half way, chasing your cunt every time you leave and pounding into you when you come back down, filling the room with guttural groans and the lewd sound of skin against skin. 

You run your fingers under his shirt, feeling bare, warm skin, the softness of his flesh against your hands, the definition of his pecs and the way his nipples peek through the fabric. Wonwoo groans at the way your manicured nails scratch at his chest, gathering momentum as you bounce yourself on top of him. 

He notices you’ve started moving faster, practically fucking yourself stupid on his cock and he would tease you halfway through tomorrow if he didn’t find himself in such a similar predicament. His pupils are blown wide, eyebrows furrowed across his brow, pretty lips hanging agape. You’re so utterly perfect and you were all his. 

“Tell me how you feel, baby,” He whispers, slowing down for a second. 

You sigh, nuzzling against his neck, “So good— I can’t even describe it—“ Your words are so airy and mindless, you’ve been consumed by the pleasure he gives you.

He catches the sight of the white rim that pools around his member, a mix of your juices, but it’s gone, sheathed inside you before he can admire it. There’s a poisoning thought that flashes in his mind, a fleeting, tempting picture. Of planting his seed in your womb, watching your grow full with child, his child. How absolutely breathtaking you would look, round cheeks and gorgeous smile, pretty fingers caressing your bump. And he would taint your taut stomach with his cum, watching it drip over your skin.

Wonwoo bites his lips so hard it breaks skin, throwing his head back, willing his mind somewhere else, anything else lest he come undone right then and there. 

Stomach tingling with indescribable pleasure, you lean forward, moaning incessantly, unable to contain your ecstasy. He supports your body, wrapping strong arms around your torso, firm hands planted on your hips, taking over the moving so you can lay still and let the buzz consume your body with its electric touch.

It’s a feeling you’ve never felt before, and it crashes over your body in a colossal wave, building up from the pit of your stomach; sending tingles rushing through your boiling blood. 

You raise your head, eyes meeting his and it seems he is familiar with this pleasure. His left hand meets your face, caressing your cheek, yet holding you still so he can gaze, he can watch you come undone around him. 

Wonwoo watches, unblinking, how your eyebrows furry, your eyes are glossy with tears that cling to your pretty lashes, your lips sit in an enticing pout. Yet you part them, letting out increasingly louder cries of his name. 

And you clench around him like there is no tomorrow, egging him on. He thrusts up into you, riding out your orgasm and chasing his over the edge. 

He crashes his lips into yours, savouring your hazy kiss, your tired sighs and it doesn’t take long before he’s spurting hot white strings into you, it trickles down him and stains the silk fabric of his boxers. 

Soon, he stills all movement except for heavy breathing and the soothing circles he runs over your exposed back. 

He kisses your hair. “How do you feel?”

“Good,” You breathe out, “Tired. But good.” 

His chest shakes with a soft chuckle, he runs slender fingers along your hairline, fixing any hairs that cling to sweaty skin. “Me too.” 

“It felt amazing,” You smile, raising your head to face him. “I’ve never felt anything like it.”

Wonwoo hums. 

“I’m glad it was you, Nonu,” You hid your face against his neck in embarrassment at your own mushy words, but Wonwoo feels their extent, hiding the blush of his cheeks. 

It doesn’t take long before the post-orgasm haze lulls you into sleep. 

And you slept like never before. 

The following morning, Wonwoo wakes up to an empty bed. He panics for a second or two, scrambling to look for your belongings, only to find everything is still there.

Calm, he washes himself up and gets dressed to leave. Finally having a moment to digest the previous night’s events. 

He had made up his mind, he would confront his father. His future was his to decide on. 

Looking for you, Wonwoo reaches the foyer, only to see you leaning against the wall, attached to the payphone. When your eyes meet his, you immediately say your goodbyes, ending the call.

“Who did you call?” Wonwoo crosses his strong arms against his chest and you try to ignore the sight of his muscly forearms peeking from the folded sleeves.

You don’t like his tone. “Seokmin.”

He raises an eyebrow. “Why did you call him?”

“I promised I would,” You shrug. 

Wonwoo can’t believe you would call Seokmin out of everyone, especially after you were glued to him last night at the party. “Why him?”

“He’s worried about you, you stupid— Stupid—“ You choke out on any mean names, simply stomping away from him. 

Why was Wonwoo being so mean so early in the morning? You thought after the amazing night you spent together things would change between you.   Stomping your way back to your room, you grumble under your breath.

While you’re folding your clothes, Wonwoo comes back. 

“I’ll talk to my father,” He announces. 

Before you can say anything about that, he continues. “We’ll get married— You and I, I mean— ” He clears his throat, “Will you marry me?”

Like a deer in headlights, you’re frozen, staring at him big-eyed with a dopey smile on your lips. 

“You’ll marry me?” You question, just in case you’ve tricked yourself into hearing the words you’ve wanted most. 

“Yes. And I— I’ll take full responsibility—“

You smile crashes into the ground. “You want to marry me out of… Responsibility?!” The words choke you on their way out. 

Wonwoo furrows his eyebrows, not understanding why you would be upset. “Do you not want to?”

“No, I don’t want to fucking marry you!” Not like that.

His face falls and he assumes a much scarier look on his face. “What would you rather marry Seokmin, then?”

And in your fury, you blurt out “Yes! Yes, I would rather marry him!”

You realise your rejection hurt him, you do. But you’re so blindsided by your anger you can’t bring yourself to care, not when he sees you as a responsibility. 

Wonwoo is suddenly not so angry, but indifferent. You watch his expression go away, replaced by one much scarier, in your opinion; nothing. A plain poker face. 

“Gather your things and go to the car.”

It’s all he says before he leaves the room. 

The ride back is the most nerve-racking hours you’ve ever experienced. Wonwoo is silent, even you huff and puff under your breath, angrily chewing on your breakfast of vending machine snacks. 

Though he says one phrase as you reach the city. “Leave me here.” 

And that’s the last you saw of him for over a month. 

Your previous anger dries up, turning into sadness. Then you’re furious. And heartbroken until you’ve accepted your reality. You’ve ruined your friendship and lost the love of your life.

It takes your sister plucking you out of bed for you to finally leave your bedroom in weeks. 

She was the first and only person you’ve told about the night spent with Wonwoo. Your parents were absolutely furious that you’d do something so dangerous, though relieved at your safety, they weren’t easy on their words. 

“He’s not doing well, you know,” You sister says. 

You humph. 

“I’m serious. Daddy said he’s clumsy, keeps messing up his work. I think you should go and see him.”

Closing your eyes, you let out a worrisome sigh. You still cared way too much to hear those news and not do something about it. 

So you dress up in whatever you can find and drive to his shop, building up a speech on your way there and practising every scenario. You just hoped everything could go back to the way it was. 

He’s working on an old model, hunched over the hood in his light blue coveralls, stains of grease from head to toe. 

“Knock knock,” You announced your presence, fidgeting with the hem of your dress, looking forward to meeting his eyes as much as you dread to. 

Wonwoo immediately recognises your voice, turning around to meet your eyes. 

And he looks just as wrecked as you felt. Deep-set eye bags and a tired gaze. Yet he still smiles just as handsomely. 

“Hey,” He greets. 

“Busy?”

“No! No,” Wonwoo scrambles, placing the wrench down removing his gloves. 

“Can we talk?”

“Yeah, I actually— I wanted to talk to you, too.”

It’s somewhat relieving as well at it’s worrying to hear him say that, it could be an apology as well as an insult or something of the sort. 

“We should— We should go to my office, someone might come in—“

“Yeah— We should.” You nod.

You walk into his office, one you’ve visited and killed time in quite often. But coming here after everything feels so crushing, all this distance between you. 

“Go ahead—“

“You first—“

You both say at the same time and that seems to ease the stubborn awkwardness pooling in the air. You laugh. 

“How about we say it together?” 

“On 3?”

“1”

“2”

“3”

Breathing in, you say the words that come to your mind from the bottom of your heart. 

“I want to marry you.”

“I love you.”

“What?!” 

“What?!” Once again, you both say it at the same time.

“You want to marry me?” He breaks into a wide smile.

“And you love me?” The words feel so alien to you, you can barely believe your ears, you feel the tips of your fingers shake in excitement, your heart pounds so strongly against your rib cage you can almost hear the thumping.

Jeon Wonwoo just said he loves you.

“I— Are you sure you want to marry me? You said you didn’t want to!”

“Yes. Well— I’ve loved you since forever! So when you said you wanted to marry me just out of responsibility— I was heartbroken! It’s like you were forced into doing it!”

“I didn’t want to marry you out of responsibility! I’ve been planning to marry you since the beginning—“

You choke, “You what?!”

Wonwoo sighs, “I never wanted to marry your sister and she was well aware of that… We were blessed that she found her husband and when everything went well, I thought— I hoped that it’d mean we’d be the ones to be wed.”

Processing every word, you almost feel dizzy. “But you said you’d take responsibility!” 

“For roping you into running away from my party.” 

“Oh.” You’re beyond embarrassed for assuming and above all, for getting so angry you didn’t even let him explain himself. 

“I should’ve been clearer,” He admits.

“No— I should’ve talked to you.”

Wonwoo smiles. “Thank you.”

With tiny tears threatening to fall, you can only confirm what you want to know the most. 

“You love me?”

“Always,” He smiles.

Wonwoo seems to remember something, he raises his finger in a “wait” motion and leans over his desk, reaching for the top drawer. It’s only when you catch a peek of the velvet box that you almost keel over.

Gulping, he gathers his courage.

In his grease-stained coveralls that smells of expensive cologne and lavender cleaning supplies, Jeon Wonwoo gets down on one knee, nervously looking up at your with his stupidly gorgeous beady eyes and an expectant smile.

“Will you marry me?”

And in your least presentable dress, the one he’d ruined with grease stains and an unruly hairdo, you respond with the biggest smile:

“Yes. Yes, I’ll marry you.”

Had you been questioned, there would be an answer to just how long you will love Jeon Wonwoo.

You’ll love him forever. 

[corkinavoid]

Quick question

I have three things on my mind:

1 - Horror Castle AU - Tim (possibly with a secretary/bodyguard/other Bat) has come to Vlad's castle to discuss some deal between DalvCo and WE, met Danny (possibly also Dani and Dan, possibly some of them, or all of them de-aged), heard some disturbing shit, got curious and stayed for dinner to learn more. I may or may not add Al Ghul Twins, LoA, Lazarus Waters, cannibalism, plain horror stories, and just creepy af vibes here. Approximately a one-shot. Vaguely inspired by this prompt but does not follow it closely.

2 - Call for Adventure AU - in the middle of conflict between Infinite Realms and Earth, Tim had been taken hostage by denizens of the Realms. Danny, the peace-keeper and a future King, steals him away with a portal, but it backfires, and both boys are stranded who the fuck knows where, while Danny is wounded and unable to make portals for some time. Now, they have to work together in order to make it back to Earth before Infinite Realms wage war. And it's all fantasy-world flavored, with magic lore and cultural differences. Yes, they end up falling in love.

3 - Other Call for Adventure AU - basically the same thing as one above, only it's not fantasy-world flavored, it's futuristic-space-odissey flavored, with cosmic horrors, spaceships, Tim being the genius tech mastermind that relies on science and machinery while Danny is a species native to space. Danny is the cosmic horror, yes.

The question is, what should I focus on first? I'll probably end up writing both (the call for adventure is either fantasy or space, so it's not three but two ideas, really), but I can't do them at the same time, unfortunately.

Also, no matter what you choose, it will be a while before I post it anyway.

[noeou]

HUSBANDS FOR DIFFERENT OCCASIONS? —- octorio.

hearing someone call themselves your work husband. (business au)

… ✦ INCLUDES: fluff! romantic. aged up! characters and reader. work environment.

… ✦ NOTES: this format because these are reactions, much shorter than my recent content.

[ azul ashengrotto | ceo and personal secretary. ]

had to do a double take as he heard one of his employees introduce you as his work spouse at a party. you weren't even near him, instead grabbing snacks with the twins to bring back to him. it's not true to say he didn't care, he just refrained from confronting them. noticing his foul mood, you eventually caught on. a couple came up to you to comment on how lucky your 'husband' was to have you and that you were beautiful, then asking who azul (your actual husband) was. best believe his job became a thousand times harder and you never saw him again.

[ jade leech | company secretary and employee. ]

he heard the other guy talking about you and referring to himself as such when you two were leaving to get lunch together. instinctively jade pulled you closer, looking at you curiously. when you told him that the guy has been doing that recently, despite your protests. he was pissed. he's more than willing to show more pda than usual, most definitely taking you off guard, and won't tell you why (yet.) however 'secret' your relationship was, it's out the door now. a lot of people started talking about around the company, as well as dubbing this guy as a creep and liar. oh well.

[ floyd leech | employee and division leader. ]

floyd heard about it at a division party, you decided to not attend (nothing out of the ordinary.) he was glad because he could handle this as he pleased. refraining from violence, taking a lot of his strength, he plainly corrected him. calm floyd is the scarier floyd, trust me. he didn't need to confirm it because people were under the impression you two were dating, just without confirmation. the look of embarrassment from him was beyond satisfying for your boyfriend, do expect him to explain his giddy mood when he gets home. 'cause he will... in great detail.

[faebaex]

Workplace Hazard

author note: i'm breaking my accidental writing hiatus bc I was watching TV and got inspired 😭 accidental mafia AU I guess bc I feel like it's given that Jade is probably going to be in some sort of shady occupation no matter what.

characters: Jade Leech x GN!Reader

When your partner works in a... Less than ordinary profession, there are certain risks involved.

You began your relationship with Jade Leech when you were in college. You both attended the prestigious Night Raven College, in the same year and in the same homeroom class. You were all too aware of his shady reputation and how he was considered one of the most intimidating figures in the college. Yet despite this, you found yourself entwined with Jade, your interests and personalities bringing the two of you together in a relationship that would transcend the cultural gap and difficulties that often persisted between merfolk and human couples.

When you both graduated from college, you went on to a career that blossomed from your fourth year internship whilst Jade carried on to closely work with Azul and his twin. Azul's humble Monstro Lounge grew into a service empire that encompassed ventures ranging from hotels and resorts, all of which Jade worked closely with as Azul's right hand man. Of course, Azul's under the table deals and predatory contracts flourished under the cover of Azul's corporation. Azul's public image considered him as a successful bachelor and a benevolent soul, but those who were unfortunate enough to not be able to fulfill their end of the contract had a different opinion. To them, Azul and his associates were a despicable mafia prettily gift wrapped in an illuminous reputation.

Jade Leech is considered a formidable and prominent presence both under the sea and on land. Employed officially as Azul's secretary, he also works as Azul's trusted right hand during his seedier operations. Such delicate work meant that Jade had accumulated quite the pool of enemies. And some of those enemies thought the best way to get back at Jade, was to get to you...

You had been waiting for Jade to come home, finishing up some of your work in your home office with an impatient sigh. Jade had said he was coming home days ago, yet he still hadn't showed. His messages were scarce and vague, filling you with a festering frustration that was slowly eroding away the edges of your patience.

A soft thump alerted you to a presence, and your eyes narrowed as you looked up from your work.

"Jade?" You called, reaching under your desk and discreetly pressing the button beneath the polished surface, your hand then slipping into your desk drawer.

"What time do you call this? You said you would be home days ago." You seethed, walking out of your office and making your way through your dimly lit apartment towards the front door. A quick, shadowed movement in your periphery has your head twitching to the side. "Jade...?" You repeated, feeling tense with the continued silence, a cold feeling crawling up your spine as you hesitated before a shadowed figure suddenly lunged quickly towards you.

....

Jade slid his house key into the front door smoothly, a constant low level vibration sounding from his phone in his inside pocket, alerting him of the panic alarm activated in his home. He twisted the key calmly, pushing open the door and entering without haste, closing the door with gentle precision.

"Darling, I'm home." Jade spoke in his smooth baritone, hanging his hat up on the coat hanger by the door. There was no response.

"I apologise, my love. Work has been terribly complicated at the moment. I do hope you could find it in yourself to forgive me." Jade continued, his polished shoes clacking through the hardwood floors of your shared apartment. Again, no response.

Jade's steps took him towards the lounge. As he entered, he saw a figure crumpled on the floor, their hands tied behind their back and their legs bound together. Another figure sat in an armchair in front of the bound figure, a baton twirling between their fingers as they looked up at Jade.

"Am I a joke to you, Leech?"

Jade's eyes lingered on the figure on the floor before they looked up at the seated silhouette with a smile on his face.

"Of course not, pearl. I would never dare to not take you seriously." Although his smile was genuine, it did have a hint of teasing to it, as if he enjoyed the thought of you all riled up. You tutted, your eyes remaining on the squirming figure at your feet before they moved to glare up at Jade.

"You said we'd go to dinner yesterday but you never turned up. I looked like a fool in that restaurant, all alone." You ranted bitterly, your lips pressed in a tight line.

"My apologies, pearl. Some clients can be so... Difficult," he crossed the room, stepping over the quivering figure, as if they weren't even there, so he could stand directly in front of you, "perhaps such misunderstandings would not occur if you attended one of Azul's restaurants, per my suggestion. I'd be able to get messages to you much easier that way." Your expression soured at that.

"I should be able to go to whatever restaurant I feel like when I've planned a dinner with my partner." You huffed, turning your face away from him and thumping the baton into your palm in frustration.

You felt the familiar feeling of smooth leather cup your chin gently as Jade's hand softly tilted your face back towards him, his eyes tender as he gazed down at you. "I'm sorry, darling. I'll endeavour for it to not happen again. It pains me to miss any precious moment with you."

You didn't soften at his words, continuing to pout and glare up at him, making a warm, fond smile spread across his lips. Jade leaned down, his hand still cupping your chin as he stooped so that his face hovered close to yours as he spoke quietly, "how about we go to dinner now? I discovered a restaurant with a fascinating menu you'd appreciate. I'm sure I could persuade them to stay open a few hours later than usual..." His thumb stroked over your bottom lip as he spoke, a loving gesture as he watched the worst of your wrath extinguish in your eyes, but the coals of discontent still simmering.

"Let me devote myself to you and make it up to you," he promised, his lips pressing a chaste kiss to your forehead before he stood straight again, "but first, let me deal with this complication." His hand reached into his inside pocket as he pulled out his phone and speed dialled a number, stepping away from you and over the body on the carpet casually.

"Floyd." The bound figure immediately stiffened when it heard that name. "Can you come over? There has been a situation," Jade said smoothly, "there is a wayward remora here but unfortunately, I am terribly late for dinner so I cannot entertain them. I wonder if you could keep them company for me."

There was a pause, the room silent apart from the buzz of Floyd's voice through the phone as he spoke to Jade. For the first time since Jade had entered the lounge, his eyes slid down to the bound figure at his feet, the tender look in his eyes long gone as he stared down at the figure with hard eyes and a cold smile.

"But don't be too rough with them. I'd like to play with them too."

[bunieluv]

ᰔ minecraft story mode deaf jesse au ᰔ

pairing || male jesse x lukas (jesskas)

content warnings || inspiration somewhat taken from a silent voice, this au has themes of bullying, child abuse, self worth issues, and the general undertones of the ‘perfect child’ syndrome.

summary || a love story about independence vs interdependence, and battling self-worth issues as the top student is framed for bullying his deaf classmate, and must find a way to overcome his flaws in order to prove that he is not a bad person. based off of the hc that jesse lost some of his hearing after the formidi-bombs explosion.

information under the cut!

World

Beacon High School is a school filled with students of all different ability and culture. The students of Beacon High School are full of life and believe that everyone should be given equal opportunity, regardless of their backstory.

In this AU, characters from Minecraft: Story Mode take the roles of teachers and students attending this school. Romeo is the headmaster, Xara is the deputy head, Gordon/The Warden is the school secretary, and the Old Order of the Stone are teachers of the different subjects. The new Order of the Stone, the Blaze Rods, the Beacontown townsfolk will be taking the role of the students. The main cast are in Year 12/11th grade, making them 16-17 years old.

In this AU, female Jesse and male Jesse are twin siblings rather than gendered counterparts. Female Jesse is referred to as ‘Jessica’ while male Jesse keeps his name. Ivor and Harper serve as the twins’ father and step mother respectively. Additionally, Jack and Nurm serve as Petra’s adoptive fathers and Soren is a father figure to the Jesse twins, as the ex-husband of their father and one of their primary carers during their childhood.

The plot of this AU focusses on the undertones of the perfect child, Lukas, and how the maltreatment of a child detriments them in their later lives. In the beginning of their academic year these unlikely group of students are sardined together into Mr. Soren’s form group, and then Jesse becomes the target of the Ocelot’s bullying. Lukas’ reputation, despite being the only one who spited the idea of bullying Jesse and abstained, takes the hit for it, and Lukas resolves to regain the trust of Jesse, who had captured his attention. However, now people are standing in his way, and he must face all the worst things about himself for Jesse’s sake.

Jesse’s information

Aged 16. When Jesse was a child, he was involved in a freak accident which damaged his ears and is now medically recognised as deaf, meaning that he has little hearing ability. Jesse was left with some residual hearing after his accident, however this is not a lot and is severely muffled by white noise and tinnitus. It has to be a pretty loud sound in order for Jesse to interpret it, which is why Jesse uses hearing aids to amplify these sound waves to interpret them easier. As a statement yes these hearing aids are worn on his own volition, and in no way a refusal of his right to exist as a deaf person.

Jesse has the ability to speak, as he had learnt how to speak fluently prior to the accident. However, he often prefers non-verbal communication in sign language (most likely to be ASL considering MC:SM would probably be produced somewhere near the USA) as reading lips is only about 30% successful and with the amount of straining he has to do to hear often leaves him feeling fatigued. He feels he is only able to hold conversations with two people max, ergo he tends to hang out in small groups. When Jesse does speak, it is comprehensible and near perfect, though very soft and uncertain.

Jesse’s deafness is not exclusively limited to his hearing loss. There are other side effect that come with his deafness due to the injury in his middle and inner ear. Jesse is constantly seen tripping over, and this is for two reasons; the first reason being that the inner ear damage has caused problems with his balance, and the second is that having to focus so intently on the sounds around him interfered with his ability to walk around carefully. He is also more prone to headaches as a result of his chronic tinnitus, which makes getting rest significantly harder for him than for others.

Jesse reacts more violently to his other senses as a result of losing his sense of hearing. This is why Jesse is often more uncomfortable to scents, and responds to touch more than the average person might.

Jesse’s auditorial challenge posed him some troubles in his life, as it interfered with his way to communicate with a hearing world. Because of this, Jesse was frequently misinterpreted by his classmates and became a victim of ostracism and bullying. Despite this, Jesse has always kept a positive outlook on life, happy to be alive and accepting that his deafness is a part of who he is, and it’s other people that are the problem. Even if his immediate family does not agree with this way of thinking, and are very protective of him and how others treat him.

Jesse is a sweet and compassionate person with an easy going attitude. He is shown to be very forgiving even if it other people would have refused their apology, if they are expressing sincere regret towards their actions. He doesn’t feel that it is necessary for people to treat him differently to others because of his auditorial challenge since he is just as well off as everyone else- his grades are decent and he is able to fluently understand 3 languages (English, Spanish and ASL), so he is quick to dismiss any feelings of pity or concern towards him by projecting the more positive parts of his personality. 

Lukas’ information

Aged 16.

Lukas is the concept of a perfect child. He is polite, respectful and selfless, and is often relied on by students and teachers with his willing he is to help them in his own free time. Additionally, he is academically smart and athletic (notably strong considering he practices archery) which emphasises the positive traits about himself. He is very diplomatic and does not hold people to their old selves, believing that everyone deserves a chance to be happy.

Because of these high expectations placed upon him by other people, Lukas often does not think he is good enough. In his eyes, he is inadequate, and thus he often does not do good things for himself and busies himself with the wellbeing of others, making him very generous. Much unlike Jesse, he internalises and blames himself for the things that happen to himself, rationalising it saying ‘if I had done…instead’. Lukas does not hold grudges towards people, most notably his mother, who he loves quite dearly despite Petra’s family thinking she is cruel. His perfect façade seems to hide his deep insecurities, and it means he treats people politely even if they don’t deserve it.

Lukas was born into a wealthy family, and he really didn’t enjoy it. His father was frequently working and so his mother was the primary carer of him, and she had her twisted beliefs on life. Despite being supportive and nurturing his academic life, Lukas’ mother is manipulative and controlling, and Lukas often feels guilted into abiding by what she wants for him, micromanaging his life and being told that some harmless things he wants to do are way worse comparatively given who he is. This conditioning meant that Lukas had felt powerless and without a sense of self, following what his family wanted for him.

Throughout his life, Lukas has always been academically gifted. He had been moulded into a perfectionistic child, which is why his feelings of inadequacy hit so much harder. Lukas had began to push himself beyond his limits just because his mother was compelling him to, even if she had a pretence of worry towards his health. For a while he had been feeling completely isolated, even if he was the boy that everyone wished they could be.

Lukas didn’t want any of that. He didn’t care about being popular or desirable, he wanted to be a writer. But other plans had been put in place for his future.

Lukas had befriended the Ocelots after saving them from their bullies. He had been surprised when they had looked up to him like a leader— in the most sense, he wanted to be their equal and he wanted to be their friend. Although he did take on a lot of leader like qualities, teaching them alternatives to coping with their stress which are not harmful to themselves. Despite Lukas convincing his mother that the Ocelots were good people, she was still hesitant and suspicious of them, wanting rid of them but having no reason to remove them from Lukas’ life at that moment.

[merakiui]

👀 bad endings for the idol au you say? I am intrigued~

-🦩anon

👀 allow me to share with you the bad endings.

(cw: yandere, nsfw, implied dub/non-con, somnophilia, captivity/kidnapping, mention of baby-trapping/pregnancy, unhealthy behaviors/relationship, murder, drugging, mention of torture, implied female reader for some of the scenarios)

For all seven, I think they would find a way to get Rollo out of the way, whether that's by killing him, threatening him, or making you look like a cheater. Rollo is essentially powerless against seven rich and famous idols, who could easily bribe any authoritative figure to keep quiet if he tries to go to the police about any of them.

As for individual endings:

Riddle

✧ he invites you to his hometown under the guise of gathering inspiration for a new song. as his manager, you decide it wouldn't hurt to accompany him. riddle is always pleasant company. he's polite and respectful and quite knowledgeable. he goes into detail about the history of his hometown throughout the flight (which is on a private plane). he tells you of this bakery that you absolutely must visit with him. he tells you how the roses look prettiest in the spring. he tells you of an annual summer festival (something he was never allowed to take part in) that he hopes to enjoy with you. there is no mention of songwriting or inspiration. it truly feels like a date, and when you awkwardly bring this up to riddle he insists this is his creative process. apparently, his creative process also involves you getting kidnapped by a strange man with purple hair and yellow eyes, who relocates you to a house riddle has prepared specifically for the life he'll share with you.

Leona

✧ he'll send his secretary (ruggie) to keep tabs on you as his interest in you continues to grow. it will be ruggie who breaks into your home to kidnap you, and it's ruggie you see when you wake in a nicely furnished home. leona comes home from an interview later that evening, pleased to find you (unwillingly) waiting for him. you'll be kept safe in leona's home. he won't do anything to hurt you, but he does get irritated when you cry and struggle. when ruggie comes to visit babysit, he'll keep you company and cook delicious meals for you while also informing you of how good you have it here. how lucky you ought to feel. it's also ruggie who pays rollo a visit with not-so-kind intentions...

Azul

✧ azul will send his two confidants (dangerous men who have taken over their father's business) to collect rollo. azul's offer is simple: be his for all of eternity and rollo can live. he's even willing to let him leave wound-free. isn't he so generous? depending on your answer, rollo is free to live another day or he's disposed of before your very eyes (a gruesome lesson that burns itself into your retinas forever). if the manager is female, azul definitely baby-traps you. the twins are the ones who punish you when you act out of line or attempt defiance. azul hides his ties to the mafia well. to think he's been a dangerous individual all this time and you never suspected a thing... you get better at begging each time you find yourself at the mercy of the twins. they know just how to mold you to azul's vision.

Kalim

✧ without meaning to, kalim sinks both his and your careers when he publicly announces he's in love with you. his secretary (jamil) had adamantly advised against this very outcome, so now he's left to pick up the pieces and assure the public that kalim is just joking and this was all one big social experiment. when things manage to quiet down (you've been bombarded by media and fans, all threatening you to come forward with the truth, to stop seducing the idols you manage, that you're only after kalim's fortune... these accusations are enough to wear you down, so much so that not even rollo can cheer you up). when jamil approaches you and claims that you should lie low for the time being (it's what kalim's doing), you think it's a good idea. for this reason, you don't think twice when you accept the all-expenses paid tropical vacation kalim gifts you. the island is small, but isolated and owned by his father. you think nothing of the dangers until you find that the only ones who exist on this island are you and kalim, and his secretary doesn't intend to help you no matter how much you cry and beg.

Vil

✧ he ruins your life. new years is an important time. the housewardens were invited to perform for a new years eve celebration and with any party there are bound to be plenty of snacks and drinks. you think nothing of it when vil offers you your beverage of choice, and throughout the evening you drink, and vil offers another glass, and you drink some more. it isn't until your every nerve is alight with hot, sticky desire that you begin to suspect something's wrong. but you're so far-gone that when vil hands you off to his secretary (rook) who brings you back to the hotel you're staying at you can only think of the discomforting heat that overwhelms you. vil has the key to your room and he pays you a visit once the new year has arrived. you've fallen asleep, twisting and turning in bed, and vil slowly peels back the covers. when you find out you're pregnant, you think it's rollo's child. you go the entire pregnancy thinking this. it isn't until you're holding your child and they open their brilliant purple eyes that dread chews through you. maternity leave is the perfect time for a certain mr. hunt to collect his dear vil's beloved.

Idia

✧ he's been cyberstalking you this entire time. there are cameras and microphones scattered throughout your house. he's been privy to every conversation, every late-night tryst, every morning spent wrapped up in rollo's arms. he sees and hears it all, and his envy consumes him. idia will find a way to fake your death so that, while everyone's mourning the untimely loss of their manager, they won't suspect that manager is actually being held captive in idia's house, shackled to his bed. idia's so pleased to have his manager all to himself. there's a lot he's been wanting to tell you and do to you. he seems almost shy when he speaks to you, but he's quick to become giddy the more he talks. rollo is a variable he's considered, but it's best if rollo suffers alone in his grief, never truly knowing what happened to his precious lover. if the manager is female, idia probably gets you pregnant without intending to because he never wears a condom. he thinks doing it raw is so much better. you learn all about idia's gross fantasies the longer you spend in captivity.

Malleus

✧ he'll leave everything behind for you: his career, his companions, his fame. and he'll start anew. malleus will move you into his childhood home, a gothic mansion that sits deep in a desolate part of the forest. you'll be kidnapped by lilia (malleus's secretary and father figure) and when you come to you're lying in a king-sized bed and malleus's bodyguards are standing just outside the door, preventing you from leaving. they keep telling you malleus will be back soon and that's when you'll be free to roam the house at your leisure. you're completely lost. who are these people malleus knows and why is he confining you to this room? you'll later learn malleus is just doing it to protect you and because he's found that fame is meaningless if it excludes you from the picture. from now on, you and him will live happily in isolation. no one knows what became of the idol who mysteriously vanished overnight, but fans and media are fraught with grief. another one who baby-traps manager; lilia is pleased to know he'll get to help raise another young one!

[ladyevol]

Decided to add some more info on the characters in my first fic for this AU other than Scar. Here is some extra info! And you can read the fic here:

Grian Xelqua/ Cuteguy-

Grian is a descendant of the watchers, beings of incredible power said to rule over the universe. While no one has been able to become a true watcher in centuries, their descendants still have powers such as the ability to grow wings, illusion abilities, clairvoyance and others. The descendants of the watchers are normally at the top of whatever society they find themselves in and the Xelqua family was no different. Grian was the youngest of two siblings, however, unlike his sister, he was deemed too weak to ever become a true watcher, leading to him running away from home. He lived on the streets and worked as a mercenary by the name of Poultryman for a while before meeting Hotguy. Despite being very hostile at first, he ended up befriending Hotguy and joining him. Now, he shares an apartment with his best friend, Mumbo, and works as a secretary in the permit office. He has a crush on Scar, but often feels frustrated towards how he carries himself considering his position.

Bad Times/Mayor-

Scar's twin brother and the mayor of the city. Bad is the closest thing to a true antagonist to Scar. He is someone incredibly selfish and greedy, but also very charismatic and often uses his charisma to get what he wants. Almost all threats Scar faces are caused directly or indirectly by the government in general and while he will work with his twin, it is always in exchange for something. Like Scar, he is the descendant of witches and vexes and, therefore, can use magic, though he normally doesn't use it to do any fighting. Both him and Scar were born in Boatem, however, after their parents were killed in a mysterious fire, the twins were sent to be adopted by Etho, a famous hunter of the time and a family friend. He has a crush on Ariana Griande.

Ariana Xelqua/Ariana Griande-

A famous popstar and the older sister of Grian. Like her brother, she is a watcher descendant and uses her power to control the masses and increase her popularity. She has chosen the name Ariana Griande as a mockery of her brother, who she sees as beneath her and her family. She is also the heiress of the Xelqua family and believed to be the closest person to becoming a true watcher in the present.

Pearl Moon

Previously one of the hunters of the city, after being bitten by a werewolf and acquiring lycanthropy, Pearl was forced into an early retirement and, instead, took a job in the postal office. The hunters are meant to prevent the creatures that spawn from dark areas at night from attacking people and essentially act as police officers or military officials who specialize in killing monsters. Pearl is Scar and Grian's friend and neighbor and is normally a very level headed person who will do anything for her friends, though she is known for having a bad taste in men. Unrelated, her and Scar did date briefly in the past, but that didn't go anywhere.

Mumbo Jumbo

Mumbo is pretty much the guy of the group. He is the son of vampires, however, unlike the rest of his family, he was born as a normal man away from the city, but moved in to become an engineer on the surface, while also allowing his family to hunt freely from time to time.

[myminecraftfantasy]

DSMP x RWBY AU

Introduction:

This AU seems to follow the initial RWBY storyline, but immediately steers off course because I’ll be trying to smash DSMP discourse and RWBY logic together.

While most of the settings and scenarios are the same, there won’t be any direct parallel counterparts for characters roles.

The names of the schools and most of the locations remain the same, with some differences such as the kingdoms:

Atlas = Greater Dream (XDream for short)

Mistral = Kinoko

Vale = L’Manberg

Vacuo = Las Nevadas

Menagerie = Badlands

Also while Salem may not exist, the maidens and magic still do.

Characters:

TEAM RSGD (Rose Gold)

Ranboo

Race: Faunus - ??; Grimmborn

Weapon: pair of bladed tonfa/pistols

Semblance: he can use his aura to mark a spot that he can teleport to. Marks can only be used once per teleport, and will need to be renewed. (Each teleport also cost aura)

Notes: His partner is Dream.

Allegiance: L’Manburg

Sapnap

Race: human

Weapon: assault rifle/sword + flamethrower

Semblance: can immediately consume aura for a temporary boost in all physical abilities

Notes: specializes in fire dust; animals are usually uneasy around him. His partner is George

Allegiance: Kinoko

Georgenotfound

Species: human

Weapon: crossbow/spear + small shield

Semblance: Can mark a target with aura to always track the target’s location

Notes: a true hunter. His partner is Sapnap

Allegiance: Kinoko

Dream

Race: human?

Weapon: twin axes that are also pistols. combines together to create a large battle axe that is also a sniper rifle

Semblance: ???

Notes: mask and arm guards also have practical applications. His partner is Ranboo

Allegiance: XDream

TEAM TTWT (Titan White):

Tommyinnit

Race: human

Weapon: shotgun that’s also a bat

Semblance: can use aura to strengthen/power boost allies

Notes: Youngest student in Beacon. His partner is Wilbur.

Allegiance: L’Manburg

Technoblade

Species: Faunus - pig

Weapon: rocket launcher/giant sword. Can divide into an submachine gun/short sword + fishing rod

Semblance: can steal aura from opponents that he fights. Becomes stronger per battle

Notes: He was saved by Philza when he was younger

Allegiance: L’Manberg (formerly XDream)

Wilbur Soot

Race: human

Weapon: double-edged sword. Separates into two short swords that can transform into pistols

Semblance: can ignite his aura to cause an explosion. Uses it to make landmines. The more aura is used, the bigger the explosion

Notes: Tommy’s older brother and his partner.

Allegiance: L’Manburg

Tubbo

Race: faunus - ram

Weapon: war hammer/machine gun

Semblance: Can create better shields and barriers powered by his aura

Notes: His partner is Technoblade.

Allegiance: L’Manburg

:)

Team PNFJ (Pink Flamingo):

Captain Puffy & ItsFundy

Niki Nihachu & Jack Manifold

Notes:

Puffy and Fundy are faunus (sheep & fox)

Niki is the current summer maiden

Team QFSP (Kingfisher Purple):

Quackity & Slimecicle

Foolish Gamers & Purpled

Notes:

All of them are from Las Nevadas

Team BSPA (Bright Spark)

BadBoyHalo & Skeppy

Punz & AntFrost

Notes:

2nd Year students from Beacon

Punz is from XDream. Everyone else is from Badlands

Bad is a Grimmborn. AntFrost is a cat faunus.

:)

Foreign Student Pairs:

Karl Jacobs & TinaKitten

Notes:

from Kinoko.

Karl has reincarnated many times. He was once the founding king of Kinoko.

Hannahxrose & Connoreatspants

Notes:

They’re friends with the KT pair

Connor is aware of of Karl’s past

Hannah is the current spring maiden

Eret & Eryn

Notes:

from XDream.

Eryn is an old friend of Tommy

Eret is a silver-eyed warrior

:)

Oher Characters:

L’Manburg:

Philza - Secretary, Vice-principal;

Schlatt - Principal; Ram Faunus

Ponk - Professor at Beacon;

XDream:

Michael Mcchill; Callahan;

ItsAlyssa - the current winter maiden

Kinoko: Vikkstar; LazarBeam; Hbomb

Las Nevadas: Awesamdude; Boomer

Aimseytv - the current fall maiden, whereabouts unknown

(This note was last updated April 21, 2022)

So how did Ranboo ended up with the dream team? Leader, nonetheless?! Well, I don’t know! Mind telling us, Dream?

[goldenheart-supremacy]

More Twin!AU things

✧Ambrosius and Todd actually knew each other since Pre-K because they were enrolled to the same prestige school.

✧They weren't really friends, weren't really enemies. They just co-existed.

✧Todd did think it was pretty cool he shared the same birthday with the son of the School director.

✧Then, the owner of the school [Modern Queen Valerin] adopted two children; Ballister and Nimona.

✧Nimona was still very young, so she mostly stayed with her new mother in her office. Valerin basically goes: "Yes, I can do my work efficiently while looking after my baby all at the same time, who do I think I am?"

✧Most of the students didn't like Ballister, but Ambrosius didn't like seeing the new kid all alone so he played with him at the sand box.

✧At first, he was just being nice.

✧He ended up really liking Ballister more than any of the other kids. New best friend.

✧Todd made fun of Ballister once, and that was the end of neutrality.

✧Ballister had to be Ambrosius's impulse control from then on.

✧When Ambrosius would come over the Boldheart household for a play date, Nimona would throw her baby toys at Ambrosius every chance she got.

✧It took a year for her to grow into liking Ambrosius.

✧Flash forward to the future.

✧For a Junior high school moving up to High school trip [So this happens in Summer vacation], Ambrosius and Todd finds out they were twins.]

✧It was due to an accident that required Todd a blood transfusion, but his blood type is very rare. It was one of those things were it was usually only family or relatives who could share the blood type.

✧Rudy Sureblade didn't have it though nor did he have any living relatives anymore, and he really didn't want to contact his ex-wife to check if she had it. It was a last resort idea for him. He checked if they could find someone.

✧Amazingly enough, they found out Ambrosius had it.

✧He still didn't like him, but Ambrosius isn't a monster so he was willing to donate blood.

✧They checked first to see if it was safe to do so with some lab test then BAM "You two are actually brothers."

✧Considering they also had the same birthday based on the hospital records, they put two and two together that they were twins.

✧Ambrosius had to dumb down the explanation to Todd how there was such a thing as fraternal twins.

✧The Director of the School and Rudy Sureblade told the hospital to uphold their patient confidentiality policy and keep this hush-hush.

✧Neither Ambrosius and Todd wanted word to spread that they're related to.

✧Rudy and Todd's relationship had already been lukewarm, so nothing really changed after the revelation except that Todd is more distrustful of his father now.

✧As long as Todd did whatever a student should be doing, and kept out of legal trouble, he could live and let live.

✧While his relationship with his mother wasn't exactly a warm one, Ambrosius did have some amount of respect for his mother since she did raise him on his own... Sort of. If leaving a secretary or whoever every now and then to attend important school events when he was growing up, whenever she was too busy, counted as raising him on her own.

✧Although ever the dutiful child, Ambrosius did accept that her job was important.

✧After finding out she kept a secret as big as him having a twin from him, he started questioning things.

✧Some point in freshmen year, both Ambrosius and Todd kinda felt getting disowned was better than being around their mostly absent parents.

✧Todd would still poke fun at Ambrosius and Ballister, especially when they started dating in high school.

✧Then enters Aerin Shieldstone in the middle of Freshmen year, and Todd is half the word of 'homophobic.'

✧The first half of it.

✧So Todd kinda goes up to Ambrosius one day, and the conversation kinda goes...

That's all... For now.

Todd: Okay, I'm accepting you as my twin brother now because I really need a brother right now. Specifically, a gay brother.

Ambrosius:

Ambrosius: First, what the fuck. Second, why the fuck?

Todd: How do I ask a guy out?

Ambrosius:

Ballister: I'm guessing third is going back to 'what the fuck?'

Ambrosius: More like 'who the fuck is the unlucky guy?'

[raointean]

Eärendil and Fam Modern AU

Eärendil is born in Croatia in the late 60s/early 70s

In first grade (or whatever the Yugoslavian equivalent is), he meets Elwing

Being the only two biracial kids in their little elementary school, they quickly become best friends

To absolutely no one's surprise, they start dating in high school

It's all great! ...until Elwing gets pregnant senior year (again, or whatever the Yugoslavian equivalent is)

Eärendil marries her and all's well that ends well

...until the fighting starts in Croatia

They make plans to immigrate to America (Eärendil's parents moved a few years prior, not long after President Tito died, and Elwing is an orphan so there's nothing really tying them to the country)

There's an attack the day they leave and Elrond and Elros are lost in the chaos, but they don't realize it until it's too late

The moment they get off the plane,they start calling everyone they know and asking them to check the orphanages and hospitals

After two days of no news, Eärendil and Elwing (reasonably) conclude that their children died in the attack

(Maglor, the second-in-command of a Serbian rebel group in Croatia, finds two little boys wandering through the rubble and takes pity on them, and love grew between them as little might be thought)

Eärendil and Elwing stay with Tuor and Idril for a while while they grieve and try to get on their feet as refugees in a new country

Elwing finds a job in a bird sanctuary and her coworkers swear up and down she must be part bird herself

(She maintains the birds speak Croatian and not English)

Eärendil finds a job as a truck driver and ends up LOVING it!

He likes the relative solitude, the weird hours, and the fact that he can GO and SEE

They have a few more children, but never forget the twins

They leave two empty seats for them at all holiday dinners

Fast forward several years, and their surprised to hear of a business owner in the Caribbean named Elros that shares their last name and is from Croatia

They do some digging into his background and sure enough, he's from their hometown, has a twin brother (who's a professor of literature), and was "orphaned" during the same attack they lost their sons to

They reach out to him and explain what happened and their theories

Elros explains his side of the story and asks why they never looked for them

They insist that they did look, but in the chaos that was 90's Yugoslavia, they couldn't find them and thought they were dead

Elros accepts the explanation and cc's Elrond in the email after a quick text conversation

"Hey, I found our parents. They're not dead." "wtf" "Yeah, they live in America now." "WTF!?"

They talk about what all they've been doing

Elrond tells them about how he met his wife (a botanist) and about their kids: Elladan, Elrohir, and Arwen

Elros tells them about his wife (who was formerly his secretary until they started seriously dating, now she's the CFO to his CEO) and their son, Aragorn

Eärendil and Elwing invite them to Christmas

For the first time in 30 years, there are no empty chairs at the table

(At one point during the visit, Arwen declares she's going to marry Aragorn. Never has a "no" from six people been so synchronized.)

And everyone lived happily ever after. "But they're all still mortal" AND THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER!!

[starry-skies-116]

Miko Nakadai Facts (Reboot AU:)

Sixteen years old, Japanese American, heir to multibillion dollar weapons and energy company Nakadai Industries and the illegitimate child of CEO Yoshiro Nakadai and his secretary Sonya Wang. Her defining traits are straightened tresses of jet black hair and bright, piercing copper eyes. At the start of the show, she dresses in more formal clothing- a blazer, a pencil skirt and an insufferably high ponytail- and she doesn't have her iconic pink hair streaks yet.

***

She comes across as cold and arrogant, but hides a softer side to her personality beneath. She serves as a little bit of a foil to Jack in some areas- academic, diligent, determined and resourceful- but due to them both being rather emotional, impulsive and dramatic, they often enable each other's antics and get into trouble more often than not. They're practically the definition of "sharing a braincell."

***

She's also a part-time reporter that works for a tabloid newspaper called "The Daily Blaze." It's mentioned a few times that a mild-mannered and timid man named Craig is her editor, who freaks out every time he learns that she risked her life to get front-page material for her article.

***

Unlike the original version of Miko Nakadai, this version of Miko didn't have a loving family- her upbringing actually stunted her development and her empathy. A childhood of constant emotional and even sometimes physical abuse at the hands of her controlling parents has left her bitter and cynical. She was forced to suppress her interests and her autistic traits, rendering her lonely but also heavily distrustful of others.

***

At first, she's harsh- bitter and angry at the world. She responds to any attempts at socializing with quick and blunt responses. She sometimes does and says things that are outright evil, in the sense that they wouldn't be too far from what a bully would do. She doesn't understand how the consequences of her actions would affect other people because she constantly acts on the anger that poisoned her at such a young age.

***

She's also very vindictive and quick to snap, responding to anyone wronging her with retribution- even if it hurts her. She even lets a coworker get robbed because of how they insensitively mocked her for her rich background- and when they tearfully confront her about it, she coldly throws their own words back at them, saying: “I missed the part where that’s my problem.”

***

This is why her dyeing her hair and changing her clothes to a more 'punk rock' style holds a much more personal meaning to her- those pink streaks and space buns are symbolic of her letting go of her anger and reclaiming her freedom back from her oppressors as she turns her life around for the better. It represents a new beginning for her- one that the kindness of those around her had given her.

***

Her dynamic with Bulkhead, as a consequence, is reversed- instead of her being the one to encourage him to let loose and get into trouble, it's basically the other way around. She's done with the Wreckers' shit at first, but really, she's never felt more free than when she's around them.

***

She likes punk rock and shoujo anime, and is a huge cat person. She used to run a podcast before it was taken down by her parents- which is why she begged them for a job opportunity anyways. They did do a nice thing for her- the collaborative broadcast- but they only did it just so she could shut up. A similar incident happened in the past with her electric guitar, with them throwing it out.

***

She has two older half-siblings- Himeko and Sora, both of whom are twins that are in college. They were both born from Yoshiro's first and only marriage that spiraled and ended in a divorce, and pretty much raised her way better than her parents ever did.

*** She wears full sleeves because she has to hide the bruises on her arms that she gets from her parents sometimes- when the Autobots first discover how she's being abused via the bruise on her wrist, Bulkhead's immediately ready to commit ten felonies for his human and then some.

[evertriedsoywithyourpopcorn]

My goofiest idea yet: Ace Attorney Wrestling Crossover AU

Starring Phoenix Wright as the guy I'll focus on the most, at least for this post.

The premise is: All culprits, Defendants, Legal Workers and some victims are all wrestling champions. Most minors are either not wrestling or are in junior/little league wrestling

- It follows the same storyline as the canon Ace Attorney games, but instead of murders it would be wins and loses or sometimes even decommissioning a wrestler due to an injury

- Much like in Ace Attorney AND in wrestling storytelling, there are heroes and villains, and long fleshed out conflicts and plotines

- Phoenix Wright's gimmick in wrestling is that he's a lawyer

- By "defending" someone, Phoenix is either winning a tag team match with his "defendant" or avenging his "defendant" over a loss that seemed unjust

I go more into his storyline below (vague spoilers for every game as it goes on)

- Phoenix was originally going to art school, but he started wanting to wrestle when he saw his former friend, Miles Edgeworth, as "The Demon Prosecutor", a wrestler known to use crude and exploitative tactics in "the name of justice"

- As Edgeworth's gimmick was being a prosecutor (I haven't drawn him yet), Phoenix models himself to be the opponent, and represent people fairly in their matches, so that he'll be more likely to cross paths with him

- They'd follow perhaps a similar storyline as the actual wrestling arc "The Golden Lovers", which btw got me into wrestling. They are both boys and one of them is from Canada and the other is from Japan and it's surprisingly emotional and I recommend you check it out

- So yeah they're gay and there's some unresolved tension there

- Mia Fey, a rising wrestler in the women's league, takes Phoenix under her wing after during a match against Dahlia Hawthorne, a well known and beloved wrestler, she saves Phoenix from a sudden and violent attack into the stands from his then girlfriend

(The reveal later on would be that there were two Dahlias, the twins, which feels like a good cheesy plotine for a wrestling champion. Phoenix didn't know that he had actually been dating Iris)

- A few years pass

- Phoenix gets his first victory

- I think Mia actually dies, though I'm not completely sold on it yet (because I'm not sure how Maya's gimmick will work yet)

- Behind the scenes, someone had caused some serious physical damage to her, and she had to be rushed to the hospital due to wounds from Redd White, a pro wrestler with a rich CEO gimmick, and the rings he wears on his fingers (a pretty clear hazard)

- Phoenix faces off in a tag team match against Redd White, April May, with the gimmick of being a sexy secretary, and Miles Edgeworth

- He's not alone though: He's "defending" Maya, a fresh face on the wrestling scene, and to even it out, Grossberg, a senior wrestler, is also there (but as obviously he and Redd White are lovers, he's kind of a handicap for that match and doesn't fight anyone at full potential)

- BUT THEY WIN! The crowd is shocked but supportive, they never knew it was possible to take down the Demon Prosecutor

- They go through the other cases

- Phoenix beats Manfred Von Karma, an undefeated champion who had actually killed ("by accident") Edgeworth's real father, Gregory Edgeworth, 15 years ago after they concluded that the match was a draw

- More cases happen, Phoenix gets blackmailed and has to work with Matt Engarde, a shiny popular wrestler, in a tag team match, but manages to expose him (I guess meaning that Shelly De Killer is a paid professional of sorts for underground wrestling deals) and retrieve Maya safely

- Miles leaves wrestling but later comes back (Like in the golden lovers wink wink nudge nudge)

- Franziska is cool and so is Godot, I'll make art/posts for their wrestling attire

The next chapter of his life:

(Spoilers for Apollo Justice)

---

--

-

- The Gramarye's are also wrestlers (you best believe it) with a magician gimmick

- Phoenix "represents" Zak Gramarye in a tag team match against rising star Klavier Gavin (He's 17 which makes it weird but idk how to fix that) and Valant Gramarye

- Turns out the wrestling ring had some tampered-with props, and Phoenix used one of them in a finishing move, causing unforseen injury to Valant

- Klavier, having received a "tip off" from his brother (who was going to be in the match until Zak rejected him, and so was Klavier's coach instead) that some of the props were tampered with and that he'd use them

- Phoenix gets exiled from the wrestling scene and Zak disappears, leaving his daughter alone in the audience

- Phoenix spends the next seven years compiling evidence against Kristoph, as well as coaching and supporting Trucy Wright, his adopted daughter, in little league wrestling tournaments she's in

- She wants to do magic-based wrestling just like the Gramaryes

- After a man named Shadi Enigmar is found unconscious at the Borshe Bowl Club, a restaurant in the wrestling stadium, there's some rumors going around and Kristoph, a well respected wrestler, is announced for a one-for-all wrestling match beside his new "understudy", Apollo Justice

- Phoenix comes back as a surprise audience member in that one-for-all wrestling match, and teaming up with Apollo (who accidentally uses a tampered with prop to win the final moments against Kristoph), manages to get in a loss for Kristoph

- Apollo is mad, and backstage he performs a very iconic punch to the face

- However, since Kristoph no longer wants to mentor Apollo, Phoenix is now seen helping him out during matches

- I'll go more into the end when I do Apollo, but using his evidence, he exposes Kristoph's lies in true lawyer gimmick fashion after Apollo wins a match against him

- Kristoph is like "But you can't truly prove it can you? You're not a real lawyer. I can get away with whatever I want. You can't do anything"

- And Phoenix smiles and raises his hands out to the thousands of people watching in the crowd and is like "You're right. But they can."

- So the reputation of Kristoph Gavin is tarnished beyond repair.

I don't have much to say for Dual Destinies and Spirit of Justice but he's back babyyyy (minor spoilers)

- He's now a senior wrestler but hey, he's cool

- Edgeworth played a big part in making this happen, so of course when he find out Pheonix is wrestling alongside an orca he is foaming at the mouth

- He still coaches Trucy, and also took on another gig as Athena's coach

- Themis Legal Academy is maybe the same but also now has a super popular wrestling league

- I'm not going to think about Khura'in yet but I'll get to Sahdmadhi

[the-starry-seas]

Okay been thinking about what's going on with Snack Squad in a sort of modern AU and I think I've got some things figured out. They live near (or in) a big NYC-style city where most of them work, although Zenith's work is the most distant from their house.

Winter: architecture professor

Bee: tech support

Indigo: art gallery secretary

Jewel: part-time rehab nurse

Nebula: accountant

Zenith: Forest Service pilot

Sunny: tattoo, digital, and traditional artist

Star: social media manager

Winter, Bee, Sunny, and Nebula share a six-bedroom house on the edge of the city that they got for cheap since it was in an absolutely ruined state. Winter had his heart set on it from the very moment he saw it. It took them almost a decade to finish fixing it up and plant a massive garden in the back with a few mature fruit trees. One of the spare bedrooms is kept for Zenith, and the other is used as a shared office since Bee and Nebula both partially work from home.

When Winter fosters the twins, Zenith's things are cleared out to move in two smaller beds for them. Zenith doesn't mind being moved out at all, especially when they end up replacing the backyard shed with a standalone studio that ey gets the key to. Ey jokes it's better that way because then ey doesn't have to listen to them being loud at each other. Over the next two years, they build a sunroom/office for Bee and Nebula, so the twins can later each have their own room.

Eventually Star moves in with them, when things get serious with him and Winter. He can work from home easily, and he loves the sense of community and belonging that the house has.

Jewel and Indigo share a loft in the downtown arts district, in walking distance of Indigo's workplace. They also share a bed platonically so the second bedroom is for Zenith. He prefers their place because it's much more conveniently located and also he worries about them being lonely since they live away from the others, even though they spend every other weekend at the family house.

Winter is highkey everyone's sugar daddy because he makes six digits and shares generously. You can't mention something you want around him without him finding a way to get it for you.

Bee is everyone's default "please help me figure out what happened to my wifi" guy and he allows it because Sunny always makes gingerbread snaps to thank him.

Indigo gets the entire squad into art museums for free. He's also connected to other artsy types and is always inviting the team along to indie film festivals, temporary museum exhibits, and other things they never knew existed until he brought them along.

Jewel uses the others' connections to help find hobbies and jobs for the veterans zhi works with, and brings home all sorts of gifts and freebies as a result. They've gotten quite an eclectic collection of gifts.

Nebula helps them with their taxes and gives Indigo's gallery a reduced rate on services as long as they showcase Sunny's work in the front room of their gallery.

Zenith hands out national park passes to everyone, whether they ask or not. Ey also flies Jewel and Indigo out on weekend trips when one of them gets an itch to visit somewhere, and helps arrange flights for all of their vacations.

Sunny makes dinners for everyone when they hit a busy patch. Xe's a great cook and baker, and it helps xer relax on the off chance that work is being stressful. Xe also makes vegan gluten-free chocolate chip cookies for Jewel to take to work.

[afterthegreatunknown]

asoue au (inspired by the six baudelaires au by @unfortunate-stranger-losers) involving book!quagmire triplets and netflix!quagmire triplets existing in the same universe as cousins because book!mr. quagmire and netflix!mrs. quagmire are siblings (book!mr. quagmire is adopted by netflix!mrs.quagmire’ parents). stuff that happens/is consider in this au:

book!quagmire fire happens first. book!quigley is thought to be dead in the fire for a year and a half (the replacement for three semesters, though i think a year and a half is three semesters proper), forcing book!duncan and book!isadora to live without their brother even longer. the twins comments hurt more now, because for almost a year and a half, from an outsider perspective, they do appear as twins, getting it more constantly.

due to the year and a half, book!quigley is more into vfd, being closer to a proper volunteer than he was in canon. book!quigley not reuniting with his siblings and getting an ‘apprenticeship’ was something approved of by the netflix!quagmire parents; by the time they learned of his survival. their family became targets. so it was best for book!quigley to stay separated.

(the revelations of the above has both sets of triplets losing their shit because ‘hey mom and dad/aunt and uncle what the f-’. netflix!quigley loses it the worst upon learning his cousin is alive. because while netflix!quigley is all up and interested in the vfd stuff, he doesn’t trust jacques as much as book!quigley, due to spending three weeks and a half vs. a year and a half.)

regarding the situation of the dorms and orphan shack, netflix!mr.quagmire was ready to sign the slips for both sets of triplets (because it’s time to get them into vfd training due to book!quigley’s situation). but the netflix!quagmire fire destroyed those slips. netflix!isadora -who now has the special interest in handwriting forgery- stole two slips from the office (she took it because she thought it would be important later), forged her dead father’s signature, and complained about how they did have their slips the whole time, but a lack of secretary had nero overlooking it (nero is rather apologetic).

the sack of flour is no more. book!duncan is klaus, netflix!isadora is violet, and book!isadora is sunny (she’s just crawling). netflix!duncan helps the baudelaires for their final exams because this kid is a real avid note taker compare to his sister and cousins. the poor boy cries his eyes out as he watches his sister and cousins get kidnapped at the end of taa.

netflix!isadora kisses klaus on the cheek, because she is bi and has a crush on him. she once had a crush on carmelita, but her personality + bullying got netflix!isadora going ‘NOPE’. book!isadora is a lesbian and never gets a crush on carmelita, and mocks netflix!isadora for it at times because ‘really? HER?’, the tables turn when it’s reveal book!isadora got a crush on violet. i guess i can say here book!quigley gets the romance with violet, while netflix!duncan keeps his minor crush on violet that goes nowhere (and one violet never learns about). book!duncan and netflix!quigley don’t have time for crushes; they have other things to focus on.

netflix!duncan is the first to understand the hansel and gretel reference because his special interest is history/folktales/fairytales (his interests has him needing to be an avid note taker, in his perspective at least). netflix!duncan also stays behind with his sister and cousins down in the shaft, so the quagmires disappearance worries the baudelaires even more.

book!isadora and netflix!duncan are throw out of the truck at the end of tee, because count olaf, esme, and the troupe realize they need one of each triplet set to get the full quagmire fortune. they kept book!duncan because he’s the eldest of his triplet siblings, and netflix!isadora because she’s mistaken for the eldest of her triplet siblings, and the bald man’s creepiness has book!duncan entering protective cousin mode and medical care.

netflix!quigley special interest is photography. astro-photography. the boy took so many photos of the night sky he knows enough about the stars and constellations, that after the two boys escape monty’s burning house, sometimes travel at night.

both sets of triplet cousins upon seeing fernald, jump and try beating the shit out of him. at least the duncans and isadoras. the quigleys are just watching from the sidelines because they don’t have that much beef with the man.

[miateawrites]

i love you, i'm sorry

Hello! For some context, this is from my Ninjago AU/OC story, a scene from the tournament of elements between Kai and my OC Ren. The AU is kinda like a political drama honestly LOL and Chen is a huge political figure amongst other characters, including the ninja themselves. The ninja as vigilantes have secret identities as opposed to their alter egos which are well known by the public as being "secretaries" for Wu, who is quite influential. Ren is quite morally grey at the beginning, and in a desperate climb for power, she falls into Chen's trap as he begins to show his true colors, and ends up losing her twin sister, Kaiya, to him in the process. Additionally, she and her sister are the granddaughters of Krux and possess tampered-down powers related to the two-time twins. For the purposes of this story, Ren is gifted with an "intuition" of sorts and fast speed, as her powers are based on the future. I may post more in-depth descriptions of the characters and storyline later. Oh also, Kai and Ren are in love (not that they'll ever admit that. yet.)

Description: Most everyone has been taken by Chen, and Ren has long since disappeared; at least that's what Kai thinks. After forming an unsteady alliance with Chen, he sneaks into the room the staff is kept in to put an end to all this. Unsurprisingly, Chen's crony, one-half of the masters of time, shows up to stop him. More surprisingly, she is someone he knows far better than he thought he did.

Warnings: violence, really badly written fight scene LOL, lots of angst, comfort at the end, gun (briefly)

Word count: 2,546

Maybe Chen couldn’t see through it, hell, maybe even Skylor couldn’t, but Ren was a girl with deadly precision and a strong gut instinct. Not just this, but she was also a girl with a dangerously untempered infatuation for the master of fire.

When she ran to the room with the staff, clad in the clothes of her other persona that was becoming far too real, she wasn’t exactly sure what she was going there to do. Briefly, she wondered if turning Kai in would earn her any favor with Chen, perhaps giving her sister a fighting chance. But the moment she saw him sneak past those security doors, she knew why she was really there. 

Kai didn’t seem to notice her at first, too preoccupied with breaking into the room as quietly as possible. When he finally did face her, he was startled. But his gaze was resolute in a way Ren had never seen before, and she felt a chill crawl down her spine at the realization that this boy she so admired had more sides to him than she thought.

“I should’ve guessed,” he muttered. Ren made no sudden moves, simply staring him down, daring him to take a wrong step in her direction. “Look, I don’t know what Chen has promised you, but I promise you it is worth nothing compared to what he really has planned. Aren’t you the slightest bit off-put by him?”

Dropping slightly from her hand came a blade on a long chain, dangling just inches above the ground. The rest of the chain coiled in her other hand. Kai’s eyes shifted to it before pulling away to look at her. She could feel the nervousness rolling off of him in waves. He had seen firsthand the things she could do with this weapon of choice, but even in those moments, he had his brothers to back him up. Now, he stood alone in a small room with this beast.

“I don’t want to fight you.” 

Unlikely.

“But I will if I have to,” he pulled a sword from his back, and from under her mask Ren raised a questioning brow. So, he had found his own weapon of choice, too. She almost felt bad for not being intimidated.

She sidestepped just as he charged at her, releasing the roll of chain from her arm to wrap around his ankles, bringing him down to the ground. He rolled out of the grip, and as she pulled back the oppressing metal, she placed herself in a defensive position.

A swing of his sword was met by a solid wall of chain metal, blocking it from hitting her. She twisted around, aiming her blade for a shallow cut on his shoulder, but he rolled out of the way before she could make contact. She huffed in annoyance, abandoned her usual strategy, and instead charged at the boy before he could, hoping to catch him off guard.

Ren was not physically very strong. She was slim and had a sallow appearance that made her look ghostly. Her sister was strong, short, and stocky, built like a tank. But if there was one thing Ren was, it was fast. Uncomfortably fast. Kai’s ninja training had taught him to be light and quick on his feet, but as Ren charged at him, finally taking the offensive, he found himself unable to move away in time. Her chain twisted around his half-raised sword, and she pulled down, extracting the sword from his loose grip. She grabbed it and threw it at the opposite side of the room.

It was a warning. The room was small, and Kai could easily run and grab his sword, with time to spare to guard against an oncoming attack. He could, at least, if he were in this room with anyone else but this master of time. She was quick, and she knew that he knew that. To run over and grab his sword would make this fight an easy win on her part. He swore that for a moment, in spite of the mask, she was giving him an expectant look.

He gave her one of his own, as he dashed off in the direction of the sword. Before he reached it, he swerved to the side, turning around and placing his first hit on the elusive creature, as his foot made contact with her side. She wheezed out in pain and shock. Clearly, even an otherworldly intuition could be fooled by falsely placed confidence.

As she was winded, he ran the rest of the way to his sword, drawing it and turning around just in time to raise it to the smaller blade of her weapon. Breaking away, he could see her heaving breaths as she studied his movements. She was getting frustrated, he could tell. He smirked at her, and with a tilt of her head she seemed to return the sentiment, as the excess chain rose to strike him directly in between his legs, the effect almost immediate as he grunted in pain.

He fell to his knees as she pulled away, and Ren almost felt a little guilty at that moment. It was a dirty move, she knew it, but whatever pain he felt now was nothing compared to what he would feel should Chen learn of his betrayal. Even in his pain, Kai began to rise to his feet, and she responded in kind, raising her blade and bringing it down, hoping to incapacitate him just a bit more so she could get this over with.

She gasped when his hand wrapped firmly around the metal of the blade. Blood instantly rose to meet its sharp edge, and when she met his eyes again she pulled the blade away, stumbling back.

She wasn’t sure if his eyes were really on fire, or if that was just how it felt, but either way, he looked livid, and if she had to guess it wasn’t just because she had pulled the lowest blow in the book. No, she knew this seething look, because she had seen it before. It was the look she had seen when he found out Chen had Zane, and it was the look he gave in the courtroom when corrupt injustice threatened to let loose.

She felt the heat before she saw the flame. The coat over her bodysuit had erupted into flames at its tail, Kai’s hands placed in front of him, aiming right towards her feet. In a panic she desperately tore the coat off before it could ravage her skin, throwing it to the ground and stomping the flame out. Only after the flame had been vanquished did she look back up, puzzled that the ninja hadn’t taken her momentary panic to strike her down. But still, he stood there, hand pressed to his chest, and eyes tearing into her.

He looked exhausted. In the rush of adrenaline, Ren hadn’t noticed how much time had passed. For nearly an hour they had been stuck in this violent dance, with her landing most of the hits. After all, it is hard to match the stamina of one who doesn’t fear the future. Her strikes to his ankles and legs must have done their job, because now it looked as if, the adrenaline now dampening, he was beginning to shake in his place.

He pulled off his mask, and Ren’s breath caught in her throat again, but for a very different reason this time. 

“This could go on all day,” he heaved, “but you know I’m not gonna back down. I can’t beat you, I know, but this isn’t about me.”

He got his bearings, raising back up to his full height, his posture strong and firm. For a moment, Ren almost felt like she was looking up at him.

“Lloyd… my brother, you guys won’t break him, and no matter what you do to me here I will defend him to my dying breath. As for Ren,” she stilled at the mention of her name, “I know you’ve hidden her away somewhere, and I will not rest until I find out where. Mark my words.”

His leg lowered slightly, his fists raising as he got into a fighting position once again. He was going to fight until he died, Ren realized.

She stared blankly at him for a moment, wondering what force of nature had brought someone so upstanding and good to be in her life. Even as he stared her down with malice in his eyes, her heart still fluttered at the way he said her name. Maybe that’s why instead of getting ready to launch another set of half-assed attacks, her hand raised to grip at the mask that covered her head.

In one motion, she ripped it off and cast it to the side. Untucking her hair from the body suit, she looked at him earnestly and held out her arms.

“I really, really do not want to hurt you,” she finally spoke.

She had expected shock and anger and was surprised to find his gaze lowered to one of silent disappointment; like this had been inevitable from the start. She supposed it couldn’t have been that hard to connect the dots, just as she had done with him and the ninja. She thought back to what Kai had said when she had poked fun at them, amused by the absurdity that no one had pieced together what was clearly so obvious:

“We’re whatever people want us to be, they’ll only ever see what they want to see.”

That was the look she was seeing in his eyes right now. Denial. 

He took a deep breath. “Well,” he started. A shit-eating grin crawled onto his face, and Ren wasn’t sure if she felt relief or annoyance at its arrival, “you’re doing a pretty damn good job at it if that’s the case.”

“Don’t do that.”

“That girl is your sister, isn’t she?”

With that, she rushed at him again, chain meeting blade, and apparently, he had learned a thing or two from her. He wound his sword along the chain, pulling it from her grip, and sliding it down onto his own arm. The dull end of his blade made contact with her stomach, stunning her, but not before she delivered a swift kick to his shin. He hissed between his teeth as he knelt to the ground, and she put a sizeable distance between them in the meantime.

“Okay, so don’t bring up the sister, noted.”

“Would you stop that!”

“No, Ren, I can’t,” he grunted, slowly rising back up, his legs unsteady beneath him. “I can’t just ignore the signs here, because they are glaringly fucking obvious. I don’t know what Chen has threatened you with, though I could make a pretty educated guess, but I know you aren’t here fighting me because you want to turn me in. You’re still my friend, and I’m not giving up on you.”

Her hand drifted over the pocket on her thigh. “You’ll fail, and then he will kill you and every single one of your friends.”

“He’ll kill you too,” he yelled slightly. “Don’t you see that? Ren, he will never stop using you. Every day that you think he’ll give whatever it is he’s promised you will be spent being trampled beneath him. You will die a slave to him.”

He took a step forward, and she took one back, hand dipping into her pocket, her fingers loosely gripping around the cold metal.

“Come with me,” his hand raised forward. “We can take the staff and we can put a stop to all of this. No one else needs to get hurt.”

The moment he took another step forward, her hand rose, shaking out of her pocket, and aimed the gun at him with more than a little doubt behind her eyes. She was frustrated to see that he looked more annoyed than he did afraid.

“Are you serious, Ren? Now, you decide to pull the gun on me?”

She cocked it quickly, raising it with slightly more confidence. “I’m not gonna let you throw all of this away. You don’t understand what you’re doing.”

She hated the way her voice shook when she said that, but she hated, even more, the way his eyes softened at her cadence. He took another step closer, and this time she didn’t back away.

“Ren, please let me help.”

“You have no idea what he’s done.”

Another step, and the first of tears fell down her cheeks.

“You’re right, I don’t. But I could, and I promise you he will spend the rest of his life wishing he never even spoke to you.”

“He’s going to kill her. He’s going to kill you.”

Two more steps, another tear.

“Ren…”

“Please just stop.”

He places a hand on the gun, and without any fight back he pushes it down. It drops from her hands, and she falls to her knees with a sob, muffled as she realizes the danger of their current situation, how easily they could be caught. He falls down with her, and the feeling of warm arms engulfs her as her head falls into the crook of his neck, tears pouring freely onto his gi as he holds her.

“I’m so scared.”

“I know.”

For twenty minutes, the master of fire holds the master of time and not once does he look away. Not once does his gaze turn towards the glass case, holding what very well could be the most powerful weapon in all of Ninjago. Never does he loosen his grip or pull away when her sobs become particularly violent. When the girl drags her face from him and composes herself, they don’t feel any need for words as he stands up, gently pulling her to her feet.

She’s the one who looks over at the staff first. Any sign of her vulnerability before had been sealed away, with only the reflection of tear stains to give away the passage of her old self. Now, her face is solid and resolute. Kai decides to keep his mouth shut and listen.

“Chen isn’t going to finish the ritual,” she states matter-of-factly. “But we aren’t going to steal the staff tonight either.”

Now it’s Kai’s turn to give her a puzzled look, and she sends him a devilish grin back. Her hands fall to his, and she brings the injured one up to her face, placing a kiss on his palm, gentle as to not disturb the already damaged skin. Kai swears he could die right there.

“I gave you a pretty nasty cut there didn’t I?” Her tone is joking, but Kai can see the guilt behind her eyes, He gives her hand a reassuring rub with his thumb. She begins to walk towards the door, his hand still clasped firmly in hers.

“I’ll tell you the details while I bandage your hand, but you don’t need to worry too much. I’ve had plenty of time to plot out my rebellion doing nothing as his secretary.”

Whatever doubt Kai has is pushed away by his utter adoration for the girl pulling him along. Whatever she has planned, he’s there for it through thick and thin.