#What I&039;m Up To

[granonine]

Saturday Soliloquy: Tempus Fugit!

How did it get to be Saturday? Good grief! I missed two days in a row in writing my blog. “Things” just got in the way. Any time I have morning appointments, I find it hard to stay with my writing routine. Happened two days in a row this week. But I won’t bore you with the details, since NO ONE wants a minute-by-minute accounting of my last 48 hours 🙂 I’m looking at it from a longer…

[pencil-peach]

G Witch Onscreen Text: Episode 10

Wow! If you're reading this, you've reached Part "Eleven" ("Onze" in Portuguese, "Ju ichi (十一)" in Japanese) of my attempt to document and transcribe all the onscreen text in G Witch! (Although at this point, it's more like an episode by episode analysis of the series as well...)

<< Click Here to go to Part Ten! (Dez) (Ju)

Sit back, grab a drink, and join me under the cut! Because...after all..

Delling is going to die.

There's actually not any legible text for a good bit of the episode's opening, so I thought I'd take some time to talk about an interesting Text Related Thing !

For a long time, I was trying to figure out if there was any method to the naming convention behind Asticassia's Student IDs. After I spent an embarrassing amount of time thinking about it, I realized I had never actually gone through the official website to check... and as it turns out, the convention is in fact stated right there !

The ID has 3 parts to it: The Student's year of admission, their department, and their personal id number.

Year of Admission: "K" denotes a Third-year student "L" denotes a Second-year "M" denotes a First Year

Department: "P" denotes the Piloting department. "M" denotes the Mechanical department "S" denotes the Management Strategy Department

Personal ID: It's a bit tough to denote exactly what the website means when it says "The personal number is determined by the hierarchy of the recommending companies," but my best guess is that it has to do with the rank of the company that submitted the student. (But is also probably affected by, like, the order of admission...)

So, for example, Miorine's ID is LS001. So: L - Second Year S - Management Strategy Student 001 - Considering her dad is President of the Entire Group, it makes sense that her personal number is 001.

Guel - KP001: K - Third Year P - Piloting Department Student 001 - As we discussed before, Jeturk Heavy Machinery was ranked #1 in the group when the story starts, so again, it makes sense that Guel's personal number is also 001. (This also shows that Personal Numbers aren't strictly unique across the whole student body, but within the combinations of Admission Year + Department)

Interestingly, Elan Ceres is KP002 and Shaddiq is KP003, despite how when the story starts, Grassley is rank 2 and Peil is rank 3 within the group. This could mean that maybe the companies were swapped when the two were admitted and ID's can't be changed, or that Elan was just admitted before Shaddiq.

Lauda is KP013, but since he was also definitely admitted by Jeturk, he might have just been admitted a little bit after Guel for some reason, maybe? Don't think too hard about it.

But knowing this tells us some other interesting things too!

For example, with the exception of Lilique, Suletta, and Chuchu, all the Earth House students have ID numbers in the 200s. (Except for Norea and Sophie but they don't count) Martin: KS229 Aliya: KM237 Till: KM231 Nika: LM236 Nuno: LM238 Ojelo: LM232 Suletta: LP041 Lilique: MS119 Chuchu: MP039

If I may make an assumption, this might be because a lot of the Earthian students didn't enroll with the recommendation of a company. (Aliya mentions in the 1st Drama CD that she and her family didn't know much of anything about Asticassia, and she enrolled to the school on her own.)

Running with this assumption, Chuchu might be so high up (at 039) because we do know for a fact that the people that sent her to the school are Mobile Craft Operators. She might have used the mobile craft company her family works for as her recommendation.

Lilique is unknowable. Forgive me.

On the board at Earth House, we can see the to do list Lilique has written for business to take care of. TEXT: This week's online meeting schedule New applicants for investments Prepare budget sheet Final Adjustment of GUND prosthetics by operation test AERIAL repair status Ideas for increasing PV views

As we can see in the scene, the students are actually hard at work taking care of the things on the list. Lilique is in an online VOICE ONLY meeting, Aliya and Martin are working on the budget sheet, Ojelo, Chuchu, Nika, Suletta, and Nuno are working on the operation test, and Till and Miorine are checking on AERIAL (among other things)

Another cute touch is that before the founding of the company, the symbol on the back of the board was the Earth House Emblem, and now it's the GUND-ARM logo

God help me I don't know why of all the colors on god's green earth that they chose a light ass blue on white ass legs but Kaori Seki (Monitor/Graphics Designer) gives their toughest text to their silliest warrior. (me) My BEST Guess for what this says is: GUND MONITORING SYSTEM 01

I'm reasonably confident in GUND, SYSTEM, and 01, but i can only make out about half of "Monitoring." Considering the nature of the tests they're running on the legs, and how Ojelo says he's established a connection with them, I'm gonna go ahead with believing that I'm reasonably accurate with my reading.

The Tilting Tables also say GUND PROSTHETIC LEG MONITORING SYSTEM (and also READY.) So I think I'm right.

The tables' displays also change to 100%: NO ABNORMALITY when Suletta steps on them.

TEXT: WISH: 005 - EAT LUNCH WITH FRIENDS WISH: 006 - MEET UP WITH FRIENDS TO GO TO SCHOOL WISH: 007 - EXCHANGE CONTACT INFO WISH: 008 - TELL A JOKE AND MAKE EVERYONE LAUGH WISH: 009 - SHARE MATCHING ACCESSORIES AND KEYCHAINS WITH FRIENDS WISH: 010 - CALL FRIENDS BY NICKNAMES

Here we get a peak at Suletta's wish list. Do your best to fill it all out Suletta...! We also see that, accurately, "Share accessories" is in fact after "Tell a joke"

Off topic, but something that's only funny to me is that, when Suletta shows Nika the Cool-san and Hot-san Keychains, the word she says is (accurately) translated as "Keychains," but the word she actually says is "キーホルダー" (Kii Horudaa) which literally translates to "Key Holder"

Suletta is called The Key to unlocking the door for Aerial, and she's also the Holder at Asticassia. She's literally a Key Holder herself! Ho Ho Ho!

Something we hear about every so often but never really get a broader look into is how Grassley appears to be swamped in a succession race, most likely because Sarius is concerned he might die soon and needs to leave the company to a worthy heir when that happens. Shaddiq was leading that race, and that's most likely why the position of Acting CEO fell to him when Sarius "disappeared."

Also there's something about how everything at Plant Quetta only happened because Sarius erroneously told his son about Jeturk's plan because he thought he could trust him.

I will do my best to also document all of Norea's drawings that we see. I...think this one is a dead moth...? M....Maybe....? (Please correct me)

TEXT: GUEST: MIORINE REMBRAN GUND-ARM INC. COMPANY REPRESENTATVE What she says during this interview is as follows: "One strength of GUND treatment is that it can extract the user's intentions from comprehensive biological data. Thanks to this strength, we believe we can enable you to physically adapt to the space environment."

Okay now it's time to talk about this fucking scene. I think about this fucking scene all the time.

Okay so first of all, it's an intentional allusion to El4n's habit of silently appearing out of nowhere. But something is very immediately and tangibly off about it this time. Firstly, whenever El4n would appear, he would always be approaching Suletta when he makes himself known. He never just stood and waited for her to show up.

Secondly, whenever El4n would appear, his appearance would swiftly be accompanied with the track Tell Me More About You, which is a calming piano piece that leads with El4n's main motif.

(Funnily enough, "Tell Me More About You" plays more often for El4n's appearances in the show than his actual theme, aptly titled "Elan Ceres." From what I can tell, this song only plays when Suletta brings Elan out of the destroyed Pharact and they have their moment.)

The song usually starts playing almost immediately as soon as El4n appears on screen, if not before. (It even plays when Original Elan is pretending to be him at the Incubation Party.) But in 5lan's initial confrontation with Suletta, there is NO music. NONE. There's not even background ambiance. It is DEAD silent for a MINUTE.

Up until Suletta tells El4n she can't date him because of Miorine, to which he responds that it's okay because "that's all a lie, isn't it?" At Which the song My Depression cuts in, which is a distorted, unsettling arrangement of El4n's motif.

AND THEN, when 5lan continues to come onto her and she shoves him and runs away, we cut to a shot of Original Elan talking to one of the Peil Witches (Nugen) about "That new enhanced person," stating out loud that the Elan we just saw ISN'T El4n.

This scene literally drives me crazy because it is utterly perfect in its execution but it feels like it came directly from an alternate version of the story where we as the audience didn't ALREADY KNOW El4n had been killed. LIKE, AM I CRAZY??????

Anyway, we are shown the same data sheet for 5lan that we saw for El4n in Episode 6. Not much to be said here, the DECISION CRITERIA is Rank A, the graph is empty, and his test results all show "NO ABNORMALITY" , presumably because 5lan hasn't piloted the Pharact yet. We unfortunately don't get a closer look at the EEG section in this shot either.

Not text, but we can see that on the greenhouse monitor, Miorine is looking at a mockup of the Prosthetic Legs. She's probably looking over the results of the operation test from earlier. And thus, we have reached the end. My final gift to you:

In a scene where Miorine is unintentionally hurting someone she loves by emulating her father's worst traits, it's fitting that she's physically copying him as well, hm?

Episode 11. >>

Masterpost.

[fruitypinapple00]

Ok so vampire boxboy right but prefacing some things, in this vampires can eat normal food too, most prefer a strictly blood based diet. Eating normal food can keep them alive if they dont feed every day. For example, if only blood, need to feed once a day to stay healthy but if eating food too then they can only drink blood once a week and stay healthy. They aren’t quite as fast or strong as the vampires that are blood based but still much faster and stronger than humans.

•••

039 whimpered as it’s box was jerked aggressively forwards, slamming the small pet head first into the wall. Fear gripped it’s chest as one of the delivery men smacked the side of it’s box sharply.

Pet whined softly through the muzzle in fear. It was so scared it could barely think straight. 039 held back another noise as the box was dropped to the ground by the man.

He knocked harshly on the door of the pet’s new home. 039 squirmed slightly to get back in the proper position. It was hard to breath in the stuffy box, even harder through the muzzle. However, neither stopped it’s breath quite like hearing the door open did.

The delivery man and it’s new master exchanged some words and suddenly it was being moved again. Into the house and set down easier this time.

A few minutes passed before the it’s master began to pry the lid of the box off.

“Well, aren’t you a pretty boy.” She said with a sweet voice.

Pet looked up at her, trying to make itself look as appealing as possible from it’s current position. Mistress was beautiful! She looked to be mid twenties, still several years older than the pet. She had long blonde hair and had a large light green T-shirt on that went down far enough to conceal her shorts.

“C’mon, let’s get you outta there.”she said with a small smile and reached out to 039. It set it’s hand gently in hers and got up shakily, without placing any pressure on her hand. Pet stepped out of the box carefully and sank to it’s knees.

“Okay! Let’s see here.” She hums to herself as she reaches into the box and grabs the pet manual.

“Mhmm, ok so imma get ya some water. Then i have to bathe you? Can’t you do that yourself? Oh goodness, i should take that horrible thing off of you first.” She says dropping the manual to the ground.

Mistress steps towards pet and it bows it’s head to bare the lock at the base of it’s neck to her.

“ oh, it’s a number lock? What do i put in it? It didn’t say, do you know?” She asks pet as she kneels down to eye level.

Pet nods slowly, eyeing her cautiously.

“What is it then?” She asks tilting her head to the side.

Pet moves to show her the patch on the sleeve of it’s white shirt where it had pet’s designated number in large numbers.

“Is that it? Jeez they give you guys big numbers huh? I wonder how they pick out what number to give ya? Like there’s no way you’re the … 345,7039th pet they’ve sold?” She rambled as she put the number into the padlock.

“Here ya go hun” she hums pulling the muzzle away from it’s face gently. Mistress gasped as she saw the red indentations on pet’s cheeks from how tight the leather was. Pet whimpered softly as it opened it’s aching jaw to release the bit from between it’s remaining teeth.

“Oh my god what did they do to your teeth?!” She cries making pet flinch. Mistress reaches out and grabs pet’s chin, gently guiding it to open it’s mouth again. 039 obeyed, opening it’s mouth to show the holes in it’s gums where it’s canines used to be. But 039 hadn’t ever exactly had normal canine teeth there.

“Jesus! I know you’re a vampire and shit but what the fuck?!” She cries, releasing him.

039 panicked and bowed it’s body into the respect position. Pressing it’s forehead to the floor before it’s mistress’s feet.

“I’m not upset at you hun. It’s okay, here sit up. There ya go, good job.”

“When did they pull them out? I’m positive they didn’t give you any pain relievers, did they? Poor thing. Does it hurt?” She fawned over him, kneeling in front of him again.

“M-my handlers pulled my teeth before shipping mistress. A-and pain is what i’m made for, mistress.” 039 answers her questions and thinks back over her quick words, making sure it didn’t miss a question. “A-and no ma’am I’m not worthy of pain relievers” it quickly adds.

“Oh baby, c’mon, lets go to the kitchen. Get you some cold water, that sounds nice doesn’t it? Surely you’re parched.” She hums and stands, pet following closely behind her movements.

Pet is happy that mistress is taller than her pet. It never quite looks right when a pet is taller than it’s master, unnatural even. But that may be the point if you think about it.

Pet follows through the house, trying it’s best to memorize the direction so it won’t get lost later. Mistress’s house is fairly large.

Once in the kitchen, pet stands nervously off to the side, out of the way.

“Here, drink slowly or you’ll get a brain freeze. I hate getting those! I got a really bad one last week while eating ice cream but god, i love ice cream! My favorite flavor is probably rocky road or vanilla. Everyone always hates on vanilla but i like it cause you put a buncha stuff on it! You can make it whatever flavor you want. Whats your favorite kindof ice cream?” She says as she hands pet the glass of cold water and sits in a bar stool, continuing to talk to the pet.

“I-uhm I don’t remember what ice cream tastes like, mistress. I’m sorry” pet says and bows it’s head to her in apology, feeling as if it had done something wrong.

“What?! Oh this simply will not do! We’re gonna change that right now!” She tells pet and gets up off of her stool, going and getting something out of the refrigerator.

Mistress comes back and stands at the bar in front of pet at pulls the lid off of a tub full of brown and white swirled ice cream.

She whirls around quickly and holds out a spoonful to the pet. Pet looks quickly up at her and leans forward, taking the spoon into his mouth while looking up at her sweetly.

As the flavor explodes it’s mouth, the pets eyes cross and come down to look at the edge of the spoon in surprise.

“Good innit?” She smiles

Pet nods with the spoon still in its mouth. It pulls back a bit, taking the ice cream with it. Pet suckles on the cold clump of sweetness setting on its tongue.

“You like it?” She laughs

Pet nods quickly and looks up at her with gratitude evident in it’s face.

“Hmm and you know not to talk with your mouth full. Good, i really didn’t want to train you on manners. That’s where Max had gone wrong, he just wouldn’t learn manners. I was kinda sad that Sam had to get rid of him but like, if you’re gonna say you’ll be good then do it, you know?” She commented.

Pet swallowed nervously, effectively getting rid of the remaining ice cream on it’s tongue.

“Yes mistress. I value manners highly and hope that i may please you in every way ma’am. My entire being is devoted solely to serving and obeying you, mistress.” Pet said as it knelt before it’s master and lowered its head in a show of respect.

“i think you could shape up to be a pretty good pet. You probably wanna know your rules and stuff right?”

“If that would please mistress” 039 answers gently.

“Mkay. And ill write them down so you don’t forget anything.” She hums and stands, pet quickly backing up to stay out of her way.

“I cannot read, mistress” pet says, glancing up at her.

“Really? Why not? Even Max could read and he was about as dumb as a rock. How long have you been alive? Like jeez they must have picked you up off of the streets.” She complains as she plops back into her chair.

“Reading is an ability that the WRU has recently deemed unnecessary and have began to remove from pets unless requested otherwise.” 039 recites.

“Oh. Well. Ok then. I guess you will just have to remember everything yourself then. Can you do that?”

“I will try my hardest to obey every word, mistress.” Pet says focusing hard. 039 will do anything for it’s owner and is prepared to prove it.

[lonnymustreturntothevoid]

gerbert fics masterpost

—> specifically my own works from @/returntothevoid on AO3

your hot whiskey eyes (have fanned the flame)

rated E; 614 words

“You’re a fucking rat,” Gerard says with a grin. He climbs back into bed beside Bert, stealing a drag of his cigarette before laying down and closing his eyes. “I like you a lot.”

“Me or my dick?” He’s kidding, but somewhere deep down he does genuinely want to know.

sound effects and overdramatics

rated M; 1 039 words

It’s just fucking.

That’s what Gerard tells himself, at least. It’s generally difficult to think about anything other than sex when you’re high as a kite, caked in post-show sweat and being pinned to a brick wall by a guy just as far gone and desperate as you.

sleeping with roaches

rated E; 477 words

He’s happy here, he realizes. Buzzed and on the edge of consciousness, making someone that makes him feel safe feel so good.

All he knows is that he’s so, so tired. And happy. Gerard Way is happy.

sloppy kisses, dirty wishes (baby this is living)

rated E; 564 words

“You’re so fucking beautiful,” Bert spits before ducking his face into Gerard’s neck. He bites his jugular and Gerard whines. He smells like sweat and weed and sex.

lunacy fringe

rated E; 2 025 words

Gerard watches and Bert notices his eyes go lidded as the smoke settles in his lungs. He leans forward, eyes flitting down to Gerard’s lips before he slides a hand to grip the back of Gerard’s skull and pulls him in to seal his mouth over his. Gerard moans and melts into it. It’s lazy and slow, out of character for both of them. Gerard thinks he might like it.

“I don’t think I’d mind hurting you,” Bert starts, breathing heavily and holding Gerard’s stare. “Only if it’s what you want, though, and that you’re 1000% sure it’s what you want.”

blue

rated E; 380 words

It’s times like these where he pretends he doesn’t exist—believes he’s nothing but something for Gerard to play with, something for him to satisfy. Something to be satisfied. It’s hard to think of much else when Gerard’s doing exactly as he promised.

old bones

rated M; 425 words

His lips are chapped and dry despite the sweat and Gerard laps at the taste.

tell me i’m an angel

rated E; 3 048 words

He gawks at the way Bert’s inky black hair clings to his neck like spiderwebs, the darkness of his tattoos accentuated against his honey-coloured skin when they’re wet, the curve of his arms, all lean muscle, and the broad shoulders he’d suddenly like to grab.

waste some time with you

rated E; 1 332 words

It’s become routine at this point. Gerard’s had a rough day, Bert fucks him until he passes out. What can really be considered a “rough day” at this point in his life is beyond him. Everything bleeds together—hours, drinks, shows, sex. What he considers a relatively okay 3pm-to-4am period (or whatever constitutes a day for a rock star with an increasingly concerning drug addiction) is one that he can barely remember once he wakes up. He wakes up next to Bert a lot, and he’s okay with that for now. They chase their hangovers away together and Bert likes to blow him awake sometimes. He likes being around him, and that says a lot because Gerard doesn’t really like being around a lot of people.

Oh, and he gives the best head Gerard’s ever had in his life.

[whatsinyourstory]

Quench Your Mental Thirst &amp; Be a Sustainable Reader ! - What's in Your Story

"HOLA people!! Do you enjoy reading? If so, you are at the right place. I&#039;ve written a little bit about my fascination with reading. All of my efforts would be worthless if you didn&#039;t read my blog all the way through. I promise to make you smile :) What images pop up in your mind

[welcometoerinsworld]

5 Minute Life Update 4/29/18

5 Minute Life Update 4/29/18

HOW LIFE IS GOING:

Life is going pretty good. There’s not a lot to complain about. I’ve been sick since last Thursday (the 19th) and I think I’m just about over it. It’s pretty much just a bad cold. Every day after work I was just so worn out that I just crashed on the couch for several hours, then I’d wake up for a couple hours, and then go to bed for the night. I feel mostly better, but not…

[glorioblog]

The Wrap-Up: Spring 2021

Which anime were our favourite and which ones let us down the most? Find out in The Wrap-Up for the Spring 2021 anime season!

It’s alive! It’s aliiiiive! In celebration of what has to be one of the greatest anime seasons in recorded history, we at The Glorio Blog were reminded of the fact that we are, apparently, a blog, and therefore expected to deliver written content. Hence, the highly anticipated (?) return of our most tried and truest feature — The Wrap-Up. In The Wrap-Up, all of our contributors get to shine a…

[y0uc4n7kn0w]

Just Be Cool GUYS! - First Impressions: Mieruko-chan

Just keep it cool and it won't see us -- First Impression: Mieruko-chan! #anime #otakuthursday #anitwt

Hello and welcome back to Otaku Thursday! So, it’s spooky season–well into it–and Star and I have decked out our living spaces with Halloween things. We absolutely love this time of year, especially as we prepare for 13 Days of Otakutober which will be starting next week! We’ve got some fun and spooky posts planned out for festivities, but for today, as we prep for such activities, I’m going to…

[relationshipindepth]

21 Questions For A New Relationship.

21 Questions For A New Relationship.

What does a relationship mean? 21 Questions For A New Relationship: A relationship can mean different things to different people. For some, it may simply be a close friendship. For others, it may be a romantic partnership. Still, others may define it as a professional connection. Ultimately, the meaning of the word is up to each individual. 1. What do relationships mean for you? – For me, it…

[nerdeas]

When all your friends know what you up to...I'm brazilian btw

[magnetofsuccess]

Why Is My Ex Jealous When She Dumped Me?

Why Is My Ex Jealous When She Dumped Me?

Are you looking for explanations as to why your ex is jealous when she dumped you? If you are, you need to know that jealousy is often caused by attachment, expectations, self-esteem, and inferiority. It’s caused by dumpers’ perceptions of their ex and the way they’d imagined the breakup would unfold. So if your ex dumped you and appears jealous, don’t immediately assume that your ex has…

[ogiuemaniax]

Minmaxer Fiction: The Intersection Between Dungeons & Dragons and Isekai

Minmaxer Fiction: The Intersection Between Dungeons & Dragons and Isekai

I saw a tweet recently from someone complaining about isekai series that introduce and highlight stats and numbers the way an RPG would despite ostensibly being set in non-game fantasy worlds.  https://twitter.com/sdshamshel/status/1380945334113816580?s=19 In response, I  wrote the above tweet to give my two cents on the appeal of such an approach. However, it also got me thinking in another…

[thedailymobile]

“I’m Ready for My Close-up, Mr. Demille”

[king-galaxius]

The Gingerbread Man | Full Story | Animated Fairy Tales For Children | 4K UHD

The Gingerbread Man | Full Story | Animated Fairy Tales For Children | 4K UHD

The Gingerbread Man | Full Story | Animated Fairy Tales For Children | 4K UHD Watch amazing Animated Fairy Tales playlist including Little Red Riding Hood, Three Little Pigs, , Sleeping Beauty, Snow White Rapunzel, The Gingerbread Man and many more – https://goo.gl/wsrZqU About: The Gingerbread Man (also known as The Gingerbread Boy or The Gingerbread Runner) is a fairy tale about a gingerbread…

[amystoryteller]

Q1 Review

It’s tough to believe that the first quarter of 2017 is nearly over. How did that happen so quickly? If these are the slow months this year, I can’t even imagine how the rest of the year is going to go. But for my own edification, I wanted to do a recap over everything that’s happened over the last three months. It helps me to remember the things I actually did get done, especially in the face of…

[milkybonya]

corner store (part i)

order 039, anon: large milk tea with taro balls for ptg's Changgu

warnings: mentions of killing, gunfire, smoking, suggestive content

summary: Changgu, your local corner store worker. oh, did i mention he works for the mafia?

barista 🥛's 💌: ty to monsta x for singlehandedly giving me enough motivation to write this shitE OKAY goodnight <3

[x]

ever since you moved out into an apartment of your own, you've had terrible nightmares. someone's always watching over you in your house and it always feels so real. but ever since you met a certain someone just below your apartment, everything faded away.

who knew the pretty boy in the black turtleneck who sold you crappy iced coffee at the local corner store was actually one of the most skilled killers in the city? you certainly didn't.

you garnered your crush for him privately, rushing down to the corner store every day of the week even if you didn't need anything.

i need a coffee right now.

i'm running low on shampoo.

i'm craving apples.

any excuse you came up with lead you to that pretty boy behind the counter

Changgu, his name tag read. his fluffy hair and delicate smile were enough to make you weak and have you holding onto the counter as he cashed you out. he made you melt.

"at 5:32am, police received a report from locals that gunshots were being fired. after arriving at the scene, they were met with dead bodies sprawled around the area. the bodies were identified as members of a local gang, and the group behind the crime are thought to be none other than the mafia.

the mafia often leaves a symbol behind when they commit crimes. it takes the form of a simple 'x'. if you see this symbol on anyone or in any location, please contact the local police at--"

"ah, how silly. crime is crime. it's always happening, right?" Changgu told you after switching off the old TV in the corner store.

he cashed out your items for you and placed them in a bag, sliding them towards you and wishing you well. you turned away from him after watching him roll up his sleeves and reach for a hidden pack of cigarettes just under the counter.

-

a few days pass and Changgu's replaced by someone else in the corner store. you ask the new person what happened to Changgu, and he replies saying he'll be back soon after taking care of some business. the newbie's nametag reads 'Hyunggu'.

-

"hey, someone was asking about you in the corner store today," Hyunggu tells Changgu as he checks the ammunition in his gun.

"ah, it must've been the regular. you did tell them i'd be back, right?" Changgu asked Hyunggu, scanning his friend's expression.

Hyunggu nodded and smirked, saying, "you've never cared about anyone like this before."

Changgu scoffs but knows Hyunggu hit the nail on the head. there's something about you that makes you so unforgettable in Changgu's mind.

-

when Changgu's back at the corner store, you race to the counter with empty hands.

"how've you been?" you ask.

he throws you the same, sweet smile he always does and tells you he's been just fine.

"not buying anything today?" he asks, raising his eyebrows at your empty hands.

"oh! no, uh... i just forgot to pick anything up--" you start to explain, but Changgu cuts you off.

"it's fine, i'm just playing! you don't have to buy anything if you don't want to. want a coffee, on the house?" he asks, already grabbing a cup before you can even agree.

he slides you the cup after he's done pouring it for you, watching you take a sip with a smile.

"how've you been, sweetie?" he asks.

"m-me, i--"

it's only then, when he slightly leans his head back and his bangs shift slightly that the deep bruise on his forehead is revealed. he knows, right away, that your cut-off sentence is because of his bruised skin.

"ah, don't worry about this, it's--"

he leans his neck away from you and the fabric of his turtleneck struggles to stay in place, reveal two thin, black lines that seem to be travelling towards each other.

X.

Changgu notices where your eyes are and he quickly pulls up his turtleneck, pretending to organize something under the counter.

"it's getting dark, you should probably head home," Changgu says, and you take that as your cue to leave. but you don't forget the mark you saw on his neck.

-

"what would it take to get you to remove that turtleneck?"

Changgu laughs hearing you speak the words that you didn't even realize the double meaning of until after you spoke.

"maybe in the right mood, back at my place," he flirts, and you shake your head at him, trying to hide your red-stained cheeks.

"you're hiding something," you say.

"everyone's hiding a lot of things," he retorts, scanning your snacks and adding up the total cost.

"no, i--"

"i can tell you more about it if you wait until the end of my shift tonight," Changgu cuts you off as he tightly grips the counter, the outline of his knuckles clearly showing.

he's holding on for dear life, trying to ground himself as he feels himself falling deeper for you.

"i'll go for a walk and come back later, then," you say, grabbing your snacks.

Changgu's cold hand reaches for your wrist.

"it's dark out, don't leave," he says.

"what do i do, then?" you ask, turning back to face him.

his eyes flit from side-to-side as he thinks, then he throws you a smile.

"keep me company? there's a chair here, behind me."

"your manager won't get mad?"

"the manager's my best friend; you met him before."

you throw him a confused look, and he tells you that Hyunggu is the manager of this corner store.

"i'd expect someone older to manage this place," you say, stepping behind the counter and sitting on a beanbag somewhere next to Changgu.

"people often expect older people to do a lot of things, but you'll be surprised to find out how many young people get all the dirty work done."

-

unsurprisingly, you end up in Changgu's bed, tracing the mark on his neck that was indeed an 'X', the mark of a mafia member. he turns his head to look at you, shifting from his back to his side and drowning his neck tattoo in his pillow.

"are you glad now you know?" he asks, his voice raspy.

"i'm just glad, point-blank glad," you respond and he smiles--that soft smile that first captured your heart.

"how could someone with a smile like yours and soft, fluffy hair be a killer?" you ask, running your fingers through his locks.

"maybe 'cause i made a deal with the devil and somehow ended up in this mess?"

the way you cock your head at him each time you're confused drives Changgu just a little insane. he has to squeeze his eyes shut to avoid kissing the life out of you.

"the nightmares you had, dear, they were real. since you moved here, someone's been keeping tabs on you 'cause you moved into the flat of a mafia enemy."

"Changgu... how do you know about my nightmares?" you ask.

"you don't remember telling me?" he asks.

you watch his bicep flex as he shifts his arm. you definitely don't remember...

"i just ran petty errands for the mafia before. Hyunggu told me to keep charge of this corner store for him and keep an eye on you to make sure the mafia didn't step out of line when watching you. they almost did a few times, but i made sure it never happened."

"Hyunggu told you?"

"he's a few levels above me in the mafia hierarchy."

"he's in the mafia?"

"yes, dear. is this too much? should i stop?" Changgu asks, cupping one of your cheeks in his hand. his touch is cool.

"no, it's okay. go ahead," you reassure.

"the mafia got mad at me for meddling in their business. i told them to stop being so nosy and meddling in your life, and they told me they would keep that promise if i joined as a hitman--"

"you're a hitman?"

"i'm sorry, am i making you anxious?" Changgu asks, a worried expression on his face.

"you became a hitman just to protect me? did i even know you back then?"

"you came by the corner store quite a bit," Changgu recalls, smiling fondly at the memory.

"you realize none of this makes sense, right?" you ask him.

Changgu nods, pulling you towards his chest.

"isn't it more beautiful because it's so chaotic?" he asks you and you can't help but agree.

what a mess you've gotten yourself into.

part ii