#also if you can’t tell this is very sarcastic but also this song is just so damn funny because like what do you mean you don’t know

[harrywavycurly]

You know it’s not shocking the boys didn’t know where to find a broken heart because one of their first concerns was if you were sleeping alone or giving it to someone else so you know what? I hope they are still out there looking for you in every lonely place and calling out your name on every corner. Assholes.

[lomlhwa]

all american whore (n.r)

pairing: step brother!riki x step sister!reader

preview: your dad has just married riki's mom. but, you're not blood related so you should be fine to hook up, right?

tags/warnings: fem reader, handjob in the back of a car, oral (69 on the edge of a pool....), fingering, unprotected penetration (BOOOO), hickeys, breast slapping, pet names (angel, slut, cock whore), 4th of july celebration (and by celebration i mean orgasms for everyone), creampie

trigger warnings: STEPCEST!!!, like two mentions of reader having a dead mom

wc: 3.0k

song recs for this fic: american horror show by snow wife, all-american bitch by olivia rodrigo

a/n: i was so invested in writing this for like 4 days good lord

“you could at least try and be a little excited, y/n. sure, you’re meeting my new wife and her son today, but it’s also the 4th of july. it’s a celebration,” your dad says to you while driving. “whoopty doo,” you say as sarcastically as possible. you can feel him glaring at you without even looking over at him. “i know you miss your mother, but it’s been over a decade, i’m moving on.”

you lean your head against the window, the air hanging heavy between you and your dad. “i’ll be nice to them but i can’t promise i’ll like them,” you say, turning to see your dad crack a small smile. “i think you will like them, pumpkin. just trust me,” you nod as he speaks. 

____________________________________

as your dad parks, nerves run through you. it’s finally hitting you that you’re meeting these people that your father intends to keep in your life forever. he walks up behind you and squeezes your shoulders. “you ready, kiddo?” he asks and you give him the most unconvincing nod ever. 

you walk up to the front door and knock loudly. “you’re here!” a woman cries out as she opens the door. you assume this is your dad’s wife. “hello honey, this is y/n,” your dad introduces you and you give an awkward wave. “come in, come in. riki is just upstairs playing his video games,” she ushers you in and shuts the front door behind her. “you guys can just head out to the backyard, that’s where everyone else is,” she walks over to the base of the stairs and angles her head upwards. “NISHIMURA RIKI GET DOWN HERE,” she yells. 

you walk out to the large deck in the backyard with your dad and greet lots of people you’ve never met. you notice lots of things in the very large backyard. in-ground pool, hot tub, etc. your step-mom is rich. you settle yourself in a law chair by the pool with a spiked iced tea in hand. you’re soaking up the sun when you feel a presence next to you. you open your eyes and see a man standing there. “my mom told me i had to introduce myself to you. i’m riki,” he scratches the back of his neck and turns to yell to his mom on the deck. “happy now?” his mother shrugs. he walks away from you, clearly unhappy with your presence.

as the afternoon goes on, the family gathering becomes more lively. you’re sitting on the edge of the pool with your legs in the water when riki comes to talk to you again. he slips his shoes off and plops down next to you. “here because your mom told you to?” you raise your eyebrow at him and he shakes his head. “no, i came to apologize. i’m sure you’re in the same boat as me with our parents' marriage,” he swings his legs, creating small waves in the water. you sigh, your shoulders slumping.

“you wanna go up to my room? it’s quieter and we could watch tv or something,” riki nods towards his house and you give him a small smile before getting your legs out of the pool. you grab your sandals and follow him close behind. “y/n and i are gonna hang out in my room for a bit,” riki tells his mom and she gives him a warm smile. “have fun, kids,” she says. she shoots your dad an excited look as you two walk into the house. 

as you settle into riki's bed, you feel as though this is a very intimate space to be in with your step-brother. he puts on some brainrot show as background noise and sparks up a conversation with you. despite being invested in your conversation, you can tell there’s something else on his mind. the way his eyes dart between your own eyes and your lips brings butterflies to your stomach. 

riki snakes his hand onto your bare thigh, your shorts having ridden up from adjusting to sit comfortably in his bed. he strokes your skin with his thumb like it’s second nature. goosebumps rise in the wake of the soft movements from his thumb. you look at him with doll-like eyes and he can’t seem to get enough of your appearance. 

slowly, his hand snakes higher and higher before his fingers are teasing the stitching of your underwear. you can tell he wants to shove his hand in there and play with your wet heat. you know his fingers can feel how wet you’re getting. he shifts his arm a little bit so he can reach his pointer finger out to brush over your clothed clit. slowly, it gets harder for you to hold the conversation. 

riki leans over to whisper in your ear, despite the two of you being the only people in the room. “can i? please let me make you feel good” is all he says to you and you honestly can’t get your head to nod fast enough. you’re not blood related so you should be fine to hook up, right? at your consent, he slips his fingers under the fabric of your panties and plays with your clit. small moans and whimpers escape your lips when he touches you. it feels amazing. his soft fingers on your skin lights your nerves on fire.

riki scooches closer to you so he can press kisses onto your jawline and neck. you tilt your head back on instinct, giving more access to the expanse of your throat. he slides his middle and pointer fingers into your wet hole, pumping them in and out slowly. your muscles clamp around his digits, desperate for more pleasure. “riki, oh my god,” you breathe out, your hand shooting down to hold his wrist while he fucks you. he holds your face with his other hand, making sure you’re looking at him while he fingers you.

your high creeps up on you as the tips of his fingers jab the gummy spot inside you. you arch your back as your walls throb around his fingers. “give it to me, y/n. i know you’re fucking close. cum for me,” he whispers in your ear again. you dig your nails into the skin of his wrist as you cum around his fingers. riki lets out a sinister laugh before pulling his fingers out of you. he brings his wet fingers to his mouth and licks your release off of them. as you’re about to say something to him, you hear your dad’s voice. “y/n! it’s time to go home!”

____________________________________

for the next 3 days, all you can think about is riki. was what you did wrong or immoral? it can’t be. you’re not blood siblings. the only thing bonding you is your parents’ marriage. unfortunately for you, you can’t help but want more.

today must be your lucky day because your dad has some amazing news for you. “we’re going on a little shopping trip with riki and my wife today. do you wanna go there in separate cars or take one car?” your dad asks, leaning on your doorframe. “we can take one car, it’s fine with me. i’ll sit in the back with riki.” 

your dad gives you a warm grin, only happy that you’re getting along with your step-brother. he pulls out his phone to text his wife about your transportation decision. not even 10 minutes later, an suv pulls into your driveway. you rush to put your shoes on before climbing into the large backseat with riki. he pats the seat right next to him, despite the whole rest of the backseat being empty. happily, you oblige. the car is chilly and riki has a blanket over his lap.

it’s about a two hour drive to the biggest outlet mall near you. so you settle next to riki, watching a movie on the laptop he’d brought with him. about 20 minutes into the drive, you notice riki shifting around uncomfortably. you take a single glance down and you know exactly what’s wrong. he’s hard. so unbelievably hard. you can see it through the blanket.

“do you want my help?” you ask in a hushed voice. riki catches his bottom lip between his teeth as he nods. luckily, he decided to wear basketball shorts, so you have easy access. you pull the waistband of his shorts and underwear down just enough to get his cock out. you wrap your hand around it under the blanket and pump him slowly. he digs his teeth into his lip to suppress any sounds coming out. you run your thumb over the pink, dripping tip and he lets out a sigh. “you okay back there, hon?” his mom asks, seeming concerned. just as he’s about to open his mouth, you start pumping faster. “y-yeah, i’m so fine,” riki responds. his mom seems to accept this answer as she goes back to looking at her phone.

“the fuck is wrong with you?” he whispers aggressively. you give him a mischievous smile as your hand continues to work on him. you stroke him with firm, mildly swift motions. his hips buck to meet your hand’s movements and you can’t help but smile at his desperation. riki slides his arm around your waist, bringing you closer to him. he digs his fingers into the skin of your hip as his orgasm approaches. “right there, angel, fuck,” he squeezes his eyes shut as his cums, his hips stuttering. white ropes of cum paint your hand and forearm. as you bring your hand to your mouth to lick it clean, he shoves his cock back into his shorts. 

____________________________________

after your shopping trip, your parents drop you off at riki’s house. you walk into his empty house and plop down onto the couch. riki stands in the doorway of the living room, watching you. “you wanna swim?” he asks, nodding his head toward the back door. “i don’t have a bathing suit,” you reply, smirking at him. “swim in your underwear.” you shrug, not really minding the idea.

you rise from the couch, walking past riki towards the back door of his house. as you walk, you drop items of your clothes on the floor. first you drop your shirt, exposing your back and your black bra. next, your shorts. they left almost nothing to the imagination anyway. your black panties hug your hips and ass in a way that almost sends your step-brother into a frenzy. you peel your socks off last, throwing them into a corner. finally, you reach the pool. you dive in head first, drenching yourself head to toe. “you coming?” you call out to riki, who’s been a statue since you started stripping.

you can barely see him from the pool but you can tell he took his slides off and threw his shirt somewhere in the room. he comes darting out the door, diving into the pool the same way you did. when he comes back up, he flips his hair out of his face. you’re holding onto the edge of the pool and watch his movements. he swims over to you, halting in front of you. there’s a moment of silence between you before he grabs you by the back of the head and crashes your lips together.

riki kisses you like it might kill him if he doesn’t. the kiss is sloppy and full of saliva. he kisses you like he’s been poisoned and your lips are the only antidote. your hands travel to his exposed chest, digging your nails into his chest. he groans against your mouth and the sound goes straight to your core. you wrap your legs around his waist underwater and he kisses you harder. 

“i wanna fuck you, but not here. not now. let me taste you,” he whispers against your lips as if someone will hear you. you nod, but suddenly a better idea comes to your mind. “get out of the pool and lay on your back,” you instruct, also pulling yourself out of the pool. riki follows suit, doing what you told him to. you stand by his head and shimmy your wet panties off. you throw them onto the lawn before turning back to riki.

you put both feet beside riki’s head and lower yourself slowly, sitting on his face. his tongue almost immediately darts out to taste you and you fall forward, catching yourself with your hands on his hips. he wraps his arms around your thighs, pulling your core further onto his face. with trembling hands, you push his shorts down his thighs. he lifts his hips to help you in sliding them off him. you lay your torso down and take his cock into your hands. you stroke it a couple times before spitting on the tip.

you take the first half of his cock into your mouth, already choking around it. he moans against your pussy, his hips bucking into your face. he wraps his lips around your clit, sucking on it lightly. your knees fight to squeeze around his head but you don’t let them. you stroke the portion of his cock that you can’t fit in your mouth, trying to work an orgasm out of him. you bob your head up and down rhythmically. riki eases two fingers into you and they follow the same rhythm as your head. 

your orgasm creeps up on you faster than you would’ve liked it to, but you can tell he’s close too. you pull your mouth off of him to let out a high-pitched squeal when he curls his fingers inside you. “ah, fuck, i’m gonna cum,” you exclaim, clenching around his digits that are abusing your hole. “me too, angel,” riki replies. his voice is so husky and strained that it almost sends you over the edge. 

you manage to pump him a few more times before toppling over the edge. you shake above him, your thighs clamping down on his head. the noises you make as you cum send him into his orgasm. he releases onto your face and neck, causing you to flinch a little. you roll off of him, laying naked from the waist down on the warm concrete. when you sit up, you hear a car roll into the driveway. riki shoots up and give you an ‘oh shit’ look. you both bolt into the house, grab all your clothes and rush up the stairs. he barely closes his door before your parents open the front door. you can hear them talking and laughing about something but you’re too focused on how fast your heart is beating.

you collapse onto his floor, laughing about how close you were to getting caught. riki listens for the movement of your parents, trying to find out what they’re doing. relief washes over him when he hears them leave again. he turns to you to find that you’re moving to put your clothes on. “don’t you fucking dare.” he walks over to you and hooks his arms under yours, lifting you off the floor and onto his bed. you rest your body weight on your elbows and watch as he admires your body.

riki runs his hands up your thighs and spreads your legs for him. he pulls you so you’re almost hanging off the edge of his bed. “please, angel. let me fuck you. i need to know how that pretty fucking pussy feels,” it almost sounds like he’s begging you. your core throbs as he speaks. “please,” is all you can muster as a response. riki grabs the base of his cock, lining up with your wet hole. “god, you’re gonna be my fucking slut. right, angel? a whore for my, ngh, cock. gonna ruin you for everyone else. you’re only ever gonna want me” he shoves himself into the hilt before pausing.

your walls pulse around him, trying to adjust to his size. before you’re fully adjusted, he starts to thrust. his cock abuses your hole and it feels so fucking good. you wrap your legs around his waist as he uses you. “god, it’s like you were made for me. such a good cock whore. you’re taking me so well.” roughly, he pulls your bra down to expose your breasts. he slaps both of your breasts, leaving bright red marks. you cry out in pleasure, your back arching. “such a whore for your step-brother. what would your father say?” he teases. 

he leans down and connects his mouth with the plush skin of your breast. he sucks on the skin, leaving a dark purple mark. he continues the same motions a couple more times, leaving your chest riddled in his love bites. “you’re fucking mine. you hear me?” he says, grabbing your chin and forcing you to look at him. “say it. say it and i’ll make my sweet angel cum.” the idea of finally cumming makes your eyes roll into the back of your head.

“fffuck riki, i’m yours. i’m all fucking yours,” you cry out. your orgasm is right there. “good fucking girl. so obedient,” he slaps your chest again, leaving a bright handprint. “where do you want me to cum?” riki asks as his thrusts speed up and become sloppy. “inside, inside, god please inside of me,” you beg, your pussy clamping down on him. he chuckles at your desperation. he connects his pointer finger with your clit, rubbing it in circles. “cum. cum for me right now, slut.”

the combination of his words, his motions on your clit and his cock abusing your wet cunt sends you crashing over the edge. you cry out loudly, a string of curses erupting from you. he quickly follows suit, spilling his seed into your weeping hole. you both rest for a few moments, feeling his cum seep out around his cock. you wipe sweat off your forehead before looking at him.

“we can never tell our parents.”

© lomlhwa 2024

[riordanness]

fictional — [p.jackson]

pairing: percy jackson x reader

wordcount: 2.1K

warnings: none

‘i put myself in another world, where i can be any other girl, cause i don’t really wanna face it. cause if it isn’t real you can pretend all you want…’

I sigh as the lyrics of ‘Fictional’ by Khloe Rose filter through my headphones. My head leans against the cool glass window of the bus, bumping my forehead every time the driver goes over a pothole.

Hey, call me crazy, but this is probably the most relatable song in existence. At least to me. Falling in love with boys from books and movies was basically my job at this point.

I had one, though, that meant more than all my other ‘fictional boyfriends’.

Percy Jackson.

I’d grown up with this character, laughed with him, cried with him, held fast and braved the storm with him. I’d adopted his personality, tried to be like his girlfriend, acted as if we were best friends, talked to him, dreamt about him, read and written fanfiction about him, anything you can think of. I am obsessed, and no, I’m not ashamed of that fact.

I’m five years running with this crush now, and it’s not going anytime soon. I let out another sigh as I realise, yet again, that this is impossible. He’s fictional, as much as it hurts to admit. He isn’t real, and I can’t live my whole life pretending to date and marry a fictional character. Life just doesn’t work like that. Sadly.

The bus pulls up at school, and I climb off, slipping my headphones into my pocket. I’ll probably get them back out during a boring lecture in one of my classes, but for now I’ll just keep the daydreaming at a minimum.

“Hey, girl.” Andie sidles up to me, nudging me with her shoulder. “What’s kicking?”

“Nothing,” I deadpan. “Unless you’re a goat, like Grover Underwood.”

Andie laughs, my sarcastic comment going right over her head. I love her to death, seriously, but the girl hasn’t got an ounce of sarcasm in her. She’s the most literal and honest person ever, but she’s also super sweet and sincere. So, sarcasm isn’t even a word she knows.

“I’m not a goat, silly,” she giggles. “But guess what?!”

“Yeah?” I am actually kind of interested. Andie usually has all the gossip (somehow), so her news tends to be pretty good.

“There’s a new guy in our class today,” she squeals. “Apparently he just moved here from New York.”

“New York is where Percy Jackson lives,” I say automatically. “I wanna visit there someday so bad.”

Andie rolls her pretty eyes. She likes Percy Jackson. I made her read the books, and she did, but just so that she knows what I’m talking about most of the time. “You and your fictional boys, I swear. This is a real boy, y/n! You need to get your head out of a book for once if you ever wanna meet somebody.”

I shrug. “Real boys suck though.”

And even Andie can’t argue with that.

I’m doodling in my notebook, half listening to Mr Mintar explain something about geometry. I’m not terrible at maths, so I figure I’ll just catch up if I need to. My brain doesn’t want to pay attention today.

I perk up, though, when I hear something new.

“Students,” Mrs May, our principal, announces. “We have a new student joining us today. Please be kind to Mr Jackson and show him around. Remember, you were once a new student yourself.”

Jackson? Like Percy Jackson? How cool is that, I thought to myself. I yank my headphones out of my ears and glance up.

A boy is talking quietly with Mr Mintar; who is probably explaining what we’re learning and where he’ll sit. We have assigned seats in basically every class, because a few boys in our grade are idiots, so I sit alone in every class. Apparently, other students are very likely to copy my work if they’re sitting with me, so the teachers decided to make me sit alone all the time. It’s kind of okay, though. Means I can do whatever I want with no one to tell on me for listening to music.

I watch as Mr Mintar talks with his hands, waving them a lot. The boy has his back to me. He has messy black hair, and he’s wearing jeans, converse and a blue hoodie.

Mr Mintar gestures at me, and I sit up straight. The boy glances quickly, nods at Mr Mintar, and I realise what’s happening. He’s being assigned to sit with me, which probably means I'll also be assigned his personal ‘welcome-to-our-school’ guide. Which means I’ll be forced to be this guy’s friend for the next few weeks. Yay.

The boy turns to face me, and I swear my heart literally skipped a beat. Now, this wasn’t like those dumb fanfics where a girl’s celebrity crush just so happens to turn up at her school for some stupid reason, and they fall in love blah blah blah.

This was an honest-to-goodness ‘what the hell is happening’ moment. The boy now walking towards me looks exactly how I’ve always pictured Percy Jackson in my mind. The same crazily messy black hair, loose and slightly curled at the edges, twisting around his ears and falling in his eyes a little bit. He has the same smattering of freckles on his nose, the same tan skin, troublemaker grin, the same glint of determination in his eyes.

And gosh, I’d know those sea-green eyes anywhere.

The boy slides into the seat beside me. “Hi,” he says softly. “You’re y/n?”

I can’t do anything but nod, and I try to not stare at him too hard.

“You’re supposed to be my guide, or something, I think.” The boy sounds apologetic, like he knows how annoying being forced to be a school guide is. “And I’m supposed to sit with you in all my classes.”

I nod again, a little dazed. Even his voice is Percy Jackson-coded. A slight rasp, a little accented, ugh.

I find my voice. “That’s cool. I’d be happy to show you around and get you into the groove of things here at East High.”

The boy smiles, and he has little crinkles at the side of his pretty eyes, as if he smiles a whole lot.

“Awesome. I’m Percy by the way.”

I blink at him, absolutely sure he’s pulling my leg somehow. “What do you mean?” I ask.

Percy frowns. “Like… my name? The thing that people call me? It’s Percy. Percy Jackson.”

I just stare at him.

“Did I do something wrong?” he asks.

“Your name is Percy Jackson?”

“Yeah?”

“Like the book character,” I add, surprising myself with the calm in my voice. Inside my head, though, I was screaming.

Percy’s brow furrows. “A book character? I dunno. Never heard of a book character called Percy, but there probably is. I don’t read that much. Dyslexia.”

I nod slowly. “Of course.”

Percy frowns again, then chuckles a little. “You’re weird. I like you.”

My tongue feels like someone’s deep fried it in the microwave. I try to swallow, and it’s nearly impossible. “So you’re not messing with me right now? You’re really called Percy Jackson, and you have dyslexia and probably ADHD, and sea-green eyes, and your hair isn’t dyed, and…”

Percy laughs again. “Yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes. What’s this about?”

I shake my head. “You wouldn’t understand if I told you.”

Percy raises his eyebrow. “Try me.”

It’s been a week since Percy’s arrival, and I’m still about 89% sure I’m dreaming. Not that I usually dream like this, but still.

I’ve spent basically all my school hours with Percy, as well as half my bus rides home, as his mum lives nearby to us.

The longer I know him, the more I’m sure that he’s real, that he’s actually here, and that he’s really, truly, Perseus Jackson, the not-so-fictional boy I’ve been in love with forever.

The weirdest thing, though, is the night after he arrived, I got home and all my Percy Jackson books and merch were gone. Mysteriously vanished. Even Andie doesn’t know what I’m talking about when I bring up PJO.

It’s like that movie, Yesterday, where everyone forgets about the Beatles. It’s like that, but with Percy Jackson. Oh, and obviously I have a real Percy to replace it; whereas Jack in that movie didn’t really have that.

Anyway, it’s crazy, it’s probably a hallucination, and it’s absolutely incredible. I’m spending every single day with my absolute favourite person in the universe, and he’s real.

The boy I’ve cried over, laughed over, loved for years… He’s here. He’s real. And he’s my friend.

“Marshmallows are not designed to be eaten alone,” I argue, pouting a french fry at Percy. “They aren’t even that nice anyway, but especially not when you eat them dry. All the powder, like, clogs up your throat and it’s disgusting. If you eat them on their own, you’re crazy.”

Percy laughs. “I hate them in my hot chocolates. They get all gooey and mushy, and… ugh.” He makes a face.

I roll my eyes. “You’re insane.”

Percy shrugs. “At least I don’t hate rice.”

“Hey!” I protest. “I have sensory issues! It’s not my fault the feeling of rice in my mouth makes me feel sick.”

“Hey, I know,” Percy says. “I was just kidding. I’m sorry.”

I relax. “It’s okay.”

I stare at him a moment, realising once again that this is really happening to me. That his pretty sea-green eyes are actually looking at me.

“What are you thinking about, love?”

“Huh?” I snap out of my trance, sitting up straighter. “What did you say?”

Percy smirks. “Whatcha thinkin’ about?”

To be honest, I barely remember. “Uh—nothing. Trying to think of what to do this afternoon after school.”

“You don’t have plans?” he asks.

I shake my head, and sip my chocolate milk. It tastes terrible.

“You’re going on a date with me, dummy,” Percy says, so casually I almost miss it. He leans his head back and throws a grape in the air, catching it in his mouth. It’s surprisingly attractive.

“Wait,” I say. “What?”

“You.” Percy points his finger at me, then himself. “Me.” He makes a swirling motion with his finger. “That new waterpark by the beach.”

I raise an eyebrow. “You’re asking me to go on a date with you?”

“You aren’t saying no.”

“No,” I reply, my voice soft, “I’m not.”

“Wow,” I say. “That’s an epic waterpark.”

Percy grins down at me, his eyes looking extra pretty in the afternoon sunlight. “You wanna race to the gate?”

I pretend to think about it for a second, then begin sprinting as fast as I can. I hear Percy gasp in laughter, then start after me. He catches me easily, his legs much longer than mine, but as he does, he scoops me up into a hug.

“Hey!” I shriek. “Put me down!”

I can tell he isn’t taking me seriously though, because we’re both laughing too hard. Percy eventually drops me gently on the ground. I can’t help but suddenly miss the feeling of his bare chest against me. I blink, and instantly shake those thoughts away.

“Buy me an ice cream and I’ll let you win all our races from now on,” I tease.

Percy scoffs. “Darlin’, you couldn’t win if you had a jetpack on.”

I try to ignore the flutter in my chest and roll my eyes. “Could so, and I don’t need any old jetpack.” I flex my nonexistent muscles. “You see these? I’m perfectly fine on my own, thank you.”

“Oh, oh yeah of course. Sorry, your majesty.” Percy has a stupid grin on his face, and I have an urge to kiss him right then and there.

And so I do. I grab hold of his shoulders, pull myself up onto tiptoe, and press my mouth to his. “I love you, Seaweed Brain,” I whisper into his lips.

Percy wraps his arms around my waist, causing the flutter to return, more greatly this time. He deepens the kiss, his head tilting downwards to accommodate my shorter height. His lips taste of the jellybeans we were eating earlier together. He had insisted on eating only the blue ones, of course.

The world around me blurs, and fades, and I’m left with only him, only Percy Jackson. His fingers on my waist, his mouth on mine, my heart in his hands. I am completely and totally his, as I’ve been forever, but now? He’s completely and totally mine too. My not-so-fictional boy.

[sleepingdeath-light]

relationship hcs ; jax

requested by ; anonymous (26/10/23) & anonymous (27/10/23)

fandom(s) ; the amazing digital circus

fandom masterlist(s) ; here

character(s) ; jax

outline ; “i'm so excited you're doing requests for TADC!!!!! do you have any general dating hcs for jax?”

&

“I saw that you now do The Amazing Digital Circus requests!

Soooo how about Jax relationship headcanons?”

note ; characterisation may be shaky as we only have the pilot episode out so far

warning(s) ; canon typical asshole behaviour from jax, mostly fluff!

first and foremost, jax is an asshole and that will not change when the two of you start flirting or when you become an ‘official’ couple — he’s not outright malicious towards you anymore, sure, but he’ll keep on teasing and messing with you at every opportunity (he’s also very unlikely to apologise unless he feels like you’re genuinely upset with him and he can’t sweet talk his way out of it)

pranks and teasing are a big part of your relationship, especially if you’re able to match his mischievousness — whether that’s him leaving things in your room for you to find later that he knows will startle you, using nicknames for you that are more amusing than intimate (e.g. something poking fun at your avatar’s height, an inside joke, or just generally teasing you for something you’ve done in front of him that he refuses to let you live down)

he’s a massive flirt and always finds a way to work around caine’s rules and regulations — he leaves just enough unsaid to get the real message across and absolutely loves watching you process what he’s said and then get flustered or frustrated once you realise what he really means (even if you playfully smack him on the chest or arm because it’s more than worth it for him)

physical affection with jax only really occurs on his terms with very few exceptions — such as when he wraps an arm around your shoulders and pulls you against his side, or (if your avatar has hair) when he messes up your hair right after you’ve finished the introduction song — the main exception to the rule is if you’re really not doing too well and need to be grounded or comforted because of it (i.e. you’re experiencing a mental break due to your circumstances or are starting to get close to the point of abstraction for whatever reason — he might be an ass, but he cares and he doesn’t want to lose you)

during caine’s missions he generally prefers to hang out with you if possible, whether that means going off and doing your own thing, watching the inevitable chaos unfold from a safe distance, or actually participating (usually because you’re bored and he just wants to see funny things happen to people) — but that doesn’t mean you’re safe if he decides he’s bored, and he has on several occasions pushed you straight into the ‘line of fire’ of whatever you’re meant to be fighting just to see what you’ll do

(he wouldn’t do it if you could actually get hurt, mind you, but as you’re all physically safe no matter what you’re facing he’s willing to take the risk and the time in the ‘dog rabbit house’ for a laugh)

you’re just about the only person he’ll listen to if ever you tell him to ‘tone it down’… but only for a short while — yeah he can stop teasing pomni for ten minutes to let the poor jester get her bearings, and sure he’ll lay off the bugs in ragatha’s room for a week, but things always return to normal after that because he’s remarkably stubborn, a bit of an ass, and endlessly amused by the ‘suffering’ of others in the circus

if a new character or npc tries to flirt with you then he’s going to go from sassy and sarcastic to outright malicious — more openly so if it’s an npc (at least until caine gets the hint and decommissions them) but if it’s a new character trying to intrude on your relationship then he’s going to make it explicitly clear that (a) you’re taken, (b) you’re exclusive with him, and (c) he will make their time in the circus even more unpleasant if they continue down that path (especially if it’s actively making you uncomfortable in addition to just being disrespectful)

(he might not be able to cause them any harm, but he has keys to everyone’s room and little regard for the safety of others during ‘missions’ so he’s more than able to make them regret flirting with you if he wants)

[luvrrgirl444]

chapter 14: genius

IRL, INSTAGRAM!

“hi, y/n and i’m here today with genius to explain the lyrics of my song ‘kill bill’.” you smiled at the camera.

“so, fun fact about kill bill is that it actually only took about 6 hours to produce. i, uh-” you laughed. “i saw this thing online and it made me feel some type of way, and i was like ‘i need to release what i feel right now.’ so, i took out my songbook and went crazy. i called up my friend jean, my producer, and i was crying,” you laughed again, and made a phone gesture with your hand and brought it up to your ear. “and i was like, ‘bro i just wrote these lyrics, can we make a song right now?’ and we did, in like 6 hours.”

VERSE 1

i’m still a fan even though i was salty

hate to see you with some other broad, know you happy

hate to see you happy if i’m not the one driving

“the person that this song is about is actually also an artist, and he’s actually really talented. so basically, i was saying that even though i hate that nigga,” you stuck up your middle finger. “he’s still a great artist, unfortunately. the next two lines are literal, uh, about a month, maybe a month and a half after we broke up, he was posted up with another girl. which was honestly really shitty because he broke up with me to ‘focus on his music’” you quirked your eyebrow and used quotation marks. “basically this whole song is about me being a jealous heartbroken bitch.” you sarcastically smiled.

PRE-CHROUS

i’m so mature, i’m so mature

i’m so mature, got me a therapist to tell me there’s other men

i don’t want none, i just want you

if i can’t have you, no one should

i might

“i was tryna convince myself that i was strong, and that this wasn’t hurting me as much as i thought it was, but it definitely was. literally wrote a whole muthafucking song about it.” you laughed. “we we’re dating for a long ass time to be honest, so with the ‘i don’t want none, i just want you’ lyric, it’s basically saying that i’ve been with you for so fucking long, it’s always been you, how am i supposed to move on, y’know? it’s lowkey corny but yeah. the last lyric is very um, yandere simulator vibes but it relates to the theme of the song, which is like jealousy and vengeance and possession.” you put your hands up. “don’t worry y’all, i’m not a criminal.”

CHORUS

i might kill my ex, not the best idea

his new girlfriend's next, how'd i get here?

i might kill my ex, i still love him though

rather be in jail than alone

“i can explain y’all, i’m not a killer or a criminal but imma be real, i was definitely having some intrusive thoughts. but everyone does. like, anyone who says they’ve never had thoughts about hurting someone that did them dirty, or fucked with them, they’re fucking lying, 100%. and relating to what i said before, we were together for so long. no matter how much i try to deny, the love is still there. it’s been built up for years, as much as i want to, i can’t magically forget it overnight.”

you continued on with singing the lyrics and explaining them until you completely finished the entire song.

“kill bill was an impulsive creation and release. we recorded and finished the song in like 6 hours, and i was like ‘i want to release this today’” you pointed downwards. “but everyone told me no.” you rolled your eyes. “so i asked when was the soonest we could release it, and it was like in 2 days. so the next day i posted on instagram saying that i was releasing a song tomorrow and that was it. there was no promo for it, which is why i’m so fucking shocked that it did so well. but, thank you to my fans, friends and family, i love you all. stream kill bill, album coming soon, bye!” you blew a kiss to the camera, before smiling and making heart with your hands.

liked by erenjaeger, latto & 588,087 others

y/nsinterlude kill bill interview w @genius out neowwww!! go run it up 🫣🫣🤍

comments

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y/nsbby ALBUM COMING SOON? HOW SOON IS SOON GIRL??

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⤷ y/nsinterlude im the realest i love u too 🤍

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⤷ y/nsinterlude i’ll revive u bae 😘

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view 86.7k others..

🦋 !

- this chapter is fr just a whole lotta yapping but 🫣🫣

taglist! <3 @lovelytayy @cyberkitty1 @sqlty @cr0quis @koreluvsspring @asp7n @lottiematthewsceo @shidousmainluvr @idontknowwhatnametochoosee @drugzforyou @astrokatsuki @crvzy-fujoshi @ncentic @ilyconnie @stellartoi @bubbabobabubbles @tee4str

[cybrstone]

two slow dancers (s.mg)

⊹ ࣪mingi x f!reader

⊹ college au

⊹ genre: angst? fluff? unresolved feelings and pettiness is very present

⊹ warnings: cursing, parties, drinking, everyone is kind of stupid

⊹ a/n: can anyone tell i'm not in college and have never been to a party... also yes the title is a mitski reference but the fic itself is nowhere near as devastating as the song :) likes are appreciated

the walk back to your apartment feels longer today. maybe because it’s starting to get colder, or maybe it’s because you feel like you’re going in circles with the career path you chose. dropping out of college because of the toll the workload was taking on you might’ve been the worst decision of your life, if you didn’t apply for an office job directly after.

well… whatever pays the rent, right? at least you’re splitting the cost with wooyoung, the strange boy you grew close with junior year of high school. at least he cooks, so you don’t have to worry about food costs until he goes out partying and is begging for takeout when he gets back at three in the morning.

when you make your way up to the second floor of the apartment complex, unlocking your door, you don’t expect to see san - also a friend from high school - lounging on yours and wooyoung’s couch. you look around before turning around to lock the door. “hi san,” you greet, taking your shoes off. “where’s woo?” 

san gives a quick hi and a smile before responding. “he’s showering,” he says, looking back at his phone. “told me he’d be out quick, but it’s been 30 minutes. i think he drowned.” you chuckle, trailing to your room and shutting the door. you fall onto your bed, taking in the comfort it gives you for the first time in what feels like weeks.

it was last night. your peace and quiet is short lived, a loud knock on the door and you see the knob twist open. “you’re back!” wooyoung exclaims, going to lay next to you and wrap his arms around you.

you grumble in protest, but it takes more than that for him to uncurl himself from you. “so i saw on our calendar that you have this weekend off,” he starts, and you know this is not just a normal conversation, as much as you would love it to be. “yunho’s hosting a party tomorrow. san and i want you to come with.”

“does san know he’s going?” you ask sarcastically, and he smacks your arm lightly. “yes, he knows. he’s the one who asked me to invite you.” you hum, knowing that parties are not necessarily san’s type of fun either. “i’m not going, woo. i don’t know why you keep asking me to go with you when you’re gonna get shitfaced anyway and leave me alone.”

wooyoung groans, sitting up to look at you. “jesus, yn, what happened to you?” he asks with fake terror, and you can’t resist rolling your eyes. “you used to be so fun! do you not remember high school? you used to be crazy about parties, and now look at you. lonely and miserable.”

“i am not miserable-“ “you complain about your job every day you come back. you’re miserable.”

you look away, and you know wooyoung has won this debate. “even if i am, i’m not lonely. i have you and occasionally san and yeosang!” wooyoung deadpans, and he moves to sit criss-cross in front of you. “you know that’s not how i meant it,” he responds. “i’m just saying. you need to get out again. i know you’re not happy with yourself, and you forget that i know that.”

you sigh, laying on your back to look at the ceiling. “even if i did go with you guys, i’d probably get weird looks. that party is going to be full of people who go to the college i dropped out of,” you say, and you feel the bed shift. “i’m not gonna spoil the mood. plus, yunho probably doesn’t even remember me! i am not going to fight to get into a house party.”

“you’re not gonna have to argue your way in, yn,” you hear, and you turn your head to see san leaning against the doorway to your bedroom. “did it leave your head that me and wooyoung are friends with him? he won’t give a fuck who we bring.”

you groan, covering your face with your hands. “wooyoung’s right,” he continues, his voice getting closer. “just come with us. you’ll have fun, i promise. if you don’t, i’ll get you whatever dinner you want for a week straight.”

it takes you a while before you respond. maybe that’s the problem; you lost your personality with such a draining schedule. maybe letting loose once in a while is what you need. no, you just need to relax instead of going to parties. what are you thinking? why are you letting them talk you into this? what time should you be ready? what are you gonna wear?

you drop your hands to see the pair staring at you. “only if one of you gets me a drink before we leave,” you mutter, and you hear a whispered celebration between the two. “be ready by 8 tomorrow, okay? i’ll be back later. we’re going out.” you nod, waving bye to them and hearing the front door open and shut.

this is not your ideal way to relieve stress, but drinking will always help a little.

———

the morning and afternoon pass quicker than you would like it to. you weren’t very productive today, waking up and drinking coffee while processing what you had agreed to the night before. it was too late to go back on it now. wooyoung was too excited and yeosang had texted, surprised to hear that you’re “coming out of your dungeon.”

you cleaned around the house a little, taking a shot here and there to keep your nerves settled. now, it’s 5 pm, and you have exactly 3 hours to prepare yourself for something you would’ve gone to in a heartbeat 6 years ago.

wooyoung had gone out with san and a few other friends to help yunho with setting up, leaving you alone in the apartment. it doesn’t take you too long to get ready, fixing your hair and making yourself presentable within an hour and a half. what takes the longest time is figuring out what to wear.

you would’ve been late had wooyoung not come back early, perhaps sensing your conflict and choosing something in the back of your closet you had forgotten you owned. a tiny black dress that you could barely fit into when you were 18. you weren’t sure how it would look now.

as you walk out of the bathroom, wooyoung looks up from scrolling on his phone to stare. “what?” you say, uncomfortably shifting under his gaze. “does it look bad?” “looks bad my ass,” he says, dropping his phone. “jesus yn, i knew you grew up after high school, but not like this!”

“like what?”

“do you really need me to tell you? are you that oblivious?”

oh. that’s what he meant. “you’re gross.” “and you are wearing that out. hurry up and get your shit together, san’s here.”

wooyoung leaves no room to argue, practically dragging you out of the door and down the complex stairs to san’s car. you open the backseat door to see seonghwa and yeosang. they give you a greeting as you slide into the backseat, wooyoung taking his respective spot in the passenger’s seat.

“here,” san says to you, picking up a bottle from the cup holder and handing it to you. “you’ll probably need it, and i promised.” you take it while thanking him, sipping occasionally as you chat with the boys.

the drive isn’t terrible until seonghwa asks you a question. “yn, they told you that yunho is hosting, right?” you see wooyoung tense up at the question, but you choose not to comment on it. “yeah, why? that’s where hongjoong and jongho stay, right?”

“and mingi.”

oh. he had slipped your mind. mingi, yunho’s best friend. your best friend. at least, he had been, just before graduation. just before he got his first girlfriend, before he let her manipulate him into blocking you and cutting contact. into blocking everyone, keeping his attention solely on her. “yn,” yeosang shakes your shoulder, “you good?”

you blink, looking around. “yeah.” you turn your attention back to seonghwa, your voice now having a new tone to it. “i forgot about him,” you say, a fake smile on your face as you down the rest of the alcohol san got you. “wooyoung failed to remind me of that.”

“to be fair!” wooyoung blurts out, turning towards the backseat, “this is the first time you’ve agreed to come with us in forever! i wasn’t gonna remind you of that asshole when you finally agreed to go-“ “it would’ve been nice to tell her, woo. at least to prepare her,” seonghwa scolds gently.

“i’ll be fine,” you say, fixing the strap on your dress. “just more of a reason to drink. forget he even exists again, y’know? make him realize the feeling is mutual.”

———

the rest of the drive is slightly tense as you mentally ready yourself to see mingi’s stupid face again. to see that sweet, gorgeous smile on his face when he talks to his friends, to hear his laugh that’s louder than any music playing to you. to see what girl he has his arm around tonight.

the moment your group gets through the doors of the house, you take wooyoung and beeline to the drinks. you pour yourself a drink bigger than you usually would for your first of the night, chugging it. “you fucking owe me,” you yell to wooyoung over the music, who chugs his own drink.

“i’m sorry!” he says, looking out into the crowd. “i didn’t think you would care! you shouldn’t give a fuck about him, anyway. just have fun.”

and have fun you do.

you dance, you drink, you say hi to hongjoong and jongho and take yunho out to dance with you. strangely, you don't see mingi once. or maybe you're just too drunk to notice him. you spent all that time worrying about running into him, but maybe he's not even here!

"yn, come do shots with us!"

that gets your attention. you're already drunk, what's a few more? you stumble your way to the group, sliding past sweaty bodies. you see yunho and wooyoung, the latter offering you a glass. you see san in the corner of your eye watching, his eyebrows etched in concern. "yn," he says as you down the drink, "how much have you had to drink?"

you hum, thinking. "maybe, like.. four? i haven't been keeping count."

"six," the voice behind you says, and it causes your muscles to tense up. it's deep, smooth. it's mingi.

san shifts his gaze to him, his expression changing. "what?"

"she's had six." mingi repeats, and you don't dare turn around. you hear rustling behind you, probably his jacket, then see his arm hand a water bottle to san. "don't let her have more. that's her limit."

"thanks," san mutters, taking the water from him. "i know." he hands you the bottle after opening it, making sure you actually drink it. he glances behind you again, a scowl on his face. "you can go now."

"uh- yeah," mingi says, and you remember his habits well enough to know he's messing with whatever necklace he has on right now because of the awkward air. "i better go."

you come back to your senses as he walks away, gears shifting in your mind. he doesn't get to do that. you turn, following his footsteps despite san's protests. he doesn't get to act like he did nothing wrong. you stomp towards him as he goes to lean against a wall, grabbing his forearm and pulling him into an open room. "what-" he says, stopping himself when he notices the look on your face.

"you had no right to do that," you start, shutting the door and locking it. "you had no right to waltz over there and act like you still fucking know me because you don't!"

"yn, please-" "you haven't known me for the past four years of our lives because you threw me out for some girl you met a month before! you knew me your whole life! you don't get to act like we're still friends when you know damn well-" you stop yourself, the room starting to spin. you stumble, and mingi reaches out to keep you steady.

"can you sit down-" "don't touch me."

"okay, i'm sorry. sit down. you're gonna make yourself sick."

you roll your eyes, sitting on the rolling chair at the desk in whoever's room you're in. mingi sits opposite of you, elbows on his knees as he looks at you. "are you okay?"

"i'm fine. stop acting like you care." "i'm not acting, though."

"seriously?" you ask, in disbelief. "mingi, be real with yourself. i'm not going to be one of the girls that you hook up with after this. save yourself the trouble."

he laughs at this, making you furrow your eyebrows. "this is the first conversation we've had in years, and you think i'm trying to fuck you?"

"are you not?"

"god- no, yn, i'm not," he says, running a hand through his hair. "i'm sorry. i wasn't expecting to see you tonight because i haven't for however long it's been. and the drink thing- you can't expect me to not say something. if you have another, you're gonna vomit all over yourself just like you did junior year."

you cringe at the memory, but your heart clenches in your chest. you can tell from the look in his eyes that he's completely serious, but you're drunk, and you're petty. 

"so how are you and what's her face?"

"who are you-" he cuts himself off, realization in her face. "gyuri? we broke up, like, last year," he says, his eyebrows furrowing. "i wouldn't even be here at this party alone if i was with her."

he has a good point. she was that crazy to the point he couldn't go out alone. she's the sole reason you even stopped talking to him.  you decide right then and there that all of your problems are her fault.

"you still didn't talk to me after," you mumble, although you're just picking a fight for no reason now. 

"do you not think i tried?" he says, leaning forward, something about his voice compelling you to look at him. 

"the moment i broke things off, i texted you. it didn't go through. i asked about you, trust me, but in case you didn't notice your friends aren't too crazy about me either. san wouldn't tell me anything, and you know wooyoung won't even look my way," he explains, and you feel yourself sobering up with the information.

"i tried, yn, i did. i miss you more than anything. i know i fucked up. are you willing to talk to me again? be friends?"

you look away, biting your lip in thought. are you willing to do this again? to be friends with mingi again, to dedicate hours of your time to him, to ignore the way your heart clenches every time he mentions another girl he likes?

the universe doesn't want to give you time to think about it, someone banging on the locked door. "yn?" wooyoung calls out, your name slurring on his lips. "you okay? you're not dead, are you?"

you glance at mingi before yelling back to him. "i'm fine, woo!" you say to him through the door. "okay! just making sure! use protection!"

you mentally facepalm at his comment, hearing mingi chuckle. "he has no idea it's me with you, right?"

"not a clue."

going back to your thoughts, you decide to sleep on his question. "i'll text you, okay?" you say slowly to him, watching the light in his eyes return. he nods, a smile on his face. "okay."

you get up to exit the room, tugging your dress down, unlocking the door. "yn," mingi calls, and you look over your shoulder to look at him. "the dress looks good on you. it always has."

your face heats at his words, and you turn away to smile. "thank you, mingi," you say softly, turning the knob. "i'll see you later."

"see you around, pretty. don't leave me hanging too long."

[starlightkun]

❧ word count: 22.3k ❧ warnings: cursing, inaccurate descriptions of constellations bc this is a fantasy world ❧ genre: fluff, mild angst, slow burn, blind date, strangers to idiots friends to lovers, modern magical creatures au, college au, werewolf sungchan, human reader, ft. siren shotaro & various magical neos (and another extra special guest appearance!), same universe as strawberry sunday ❧ extra info: this work is set in the same universe as strawberry sunday but can be read as a standalone! there is no continuing plotline between fics in this universe, they simply take place in the same world/magic system and may have overlapping characters (neos may pop up in more than one work!) ❧ author’s note: so this is technically the spiritual threequel to my two werewolf jeno fics (pupsick + abh) but you still don’t have to read those to understand this one at all! this is absolutely meant to be read by itself! and this one is also very self-indulgent, from the a.c.e song title to werewolf sungchan, i had a very great time on this one, hence the word count. if you guys have even half the fun reading this as i did writing it, you’ll have a blast. enjoy! ❧ sequel ❧ EDIT DEC 2024: this fic had a brief allusion to a former 127 member in it. i’ve edited this fic to take it out, but if there are any mentions of him that i missed, inconsistencies, or plot holes, please let me know!

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ explore the strawberry sunday universe more here!

baby i’m your changer, changer, love is not a danger

Reclined on the plush, soft grass of the front lawn of your college with your hands behind your head, you basked in a particularly lovely patch of sunlight. It was January, the very beginning of the year and the semester, meaning that this would normally be a very chilly and unpleasant endeavor. Except you were sandwiched between two dryads. Dryads weren’t in and of themselves extra warm like dragons or werewolves, nor could one dryad on their own change the weather—and would most likely be influenced by it rather than the other way other—but if you got two together, and they were in a good enough mood, they could generate a little bubble of springtime around them. And for some reason, Jaemin and Donghyuck were in exceptionally high spirits today.

You knew the two dryads from Magical Botany Club, which you had joined your freshman year after you’d managed to kill the small cactus that your parents gave you as a housewarming present for your dorm. They were the only ones who didn’t immediately label you a lost cause, and instead saw you as a challenge. Now, your junior year, your apartment was a jungle to rival that of a dryad’s home, and you were even Vice President of the club this year.

After a long, refreshing inhale followed by an even longer exhale, you finally asked, “So what’s got you in such a good mood? It certainly can’t just be finalizing the calendar of club activities this semester.”

Jaemin was club President, and Donghyuck the Secretary/Treasurer, so this little sunbathing session before the start of the semester on Monday was really supposed to be an Executive Board meeting.

“Who, us?” Jaemin replied innocently.

“No, I was talking to the cardinal on Donghyuck’s leg,” you retorted sarcastically, gesturing to said bird that had also settled in to enjoy the cozy rays.

“We’re not planning anything,” Donghyuck said in the same tone as Jaemin.

You propped yourself up on one elbow to look down at your friend properly, narrowing your eyes at him suspiciously. “I just wanted you to share whatever good news you had, I didn’t think you two were planning anything, but now I definitely do. What’s going on?”

“Donghyuck, you idiot!” The other dryad hissed at him.

“What is it? Don’t tell me you and that fairy are going to try to convince your human friend that aliens are real again. Leave that poor guy alone, he’s got enough on his plate just dealing with all of you being real and jerks to him.” You scoffed disapprovingly, remembering when they recounted that story to you at club a couple years ago. You had been tempted to check on Renjun yourself when you spotted him at the library the next day, but you didn’t know him personally, and didn’t think he’d appreciate it in the moment. Especially not since he looked like he was really focused on his work at the time, so you just let him be.

“It’s nothing like that, I swear,” Jaemin promised. “It’s nothing bad at all.”

You sat up all the way to be able to look at both of them at once. “Okay, what is it then?”

Donghyuck sat up too, the cardinal hopping up to his shoulder. “Long story short, we have a friend that we want to set you up with.”

“No thanks, guys.” You shook your head.

“You won’t even let us tell you about him?”

“I’m not really looking for anything right now. Not after my ex—”

Jaemin pushed his phone screen in front of your face then, a picture of a guy on it. It was presumably the friend they wanted to set you up with. He was around your age, tall—if where his head was in comparison to the doorway of this building was to be believed, wearing a black leather jacket. It looked well-worn, though, as if it might not have been his originally, handed down or thrifted at least. And yeah, he was cute, you weren’t blind. But you also knew not to just eat with your eyes, or else you’d get a tummyache.

“Seriously, Jaemin?” You looked at your friend over the phone screen. “You think I’m that shallow? One picture and I’m going to throw everything away?”

“Dude, show her the—” Donghyuck flapped his hand at the other dryad insistently.

“Oh, right, right.” Jaemin nodded as he began swiping and tapping on his phone fervently.

Donghyuck kept talking to you, “Of course we don’t think you’re shallow. We always meant to tell you about him, too. His name’s Jung Sungchan, he goes here, too, he’s a werewolf, he’s really nice, uh… Jaemin? Some help?”

You let out a sound that was a mix between a snort and a scoff. “Yeah, he sounds great.”

“Okay, he’s really more Jaemin’s friend than mine, sorry,” Donghyuck admitted. “Jaemin? What’s taking so long dude?”

“I don’t know! I can’t find it for some reason, I think he deleted it!” Jaemin muttered, his voice panicked. “I’m checking Jeno’s Instagram right now.”

“So Jeno knows him?” You asked. You didn’t know Jaemin’s werewolf roommate as well as you knew the two dryads, but you did know that they were all friends. “Are they in the same pack?”

“No, they actually know each other through Jeno’s… Ha! Found it!” Jaemin yelled out in celebration, flipping his phone around for you to see.

It was another picture, this time of Jeno standing next to the person you now knew to be named Sungchan. They were at what looked like a u-pick strawberry patch, each proudly holding up a large bucket filled to the brim with strawberries. Sungchan was in a white tank top—a brave choice for a strawberry farm—and shorts. Despite the outfit showing off a lot more of him than the last picture, it was his bright, happy grin that caught your eye, and you had to consciously make sure your gaze didn’t linger too long on the picture.

Turning your attention back to your friends, you prompted Jaemin, “Well? Do you know any more about him than he goes to our college and is a nice werewolf that knows Jeno?”

“Right! Yes!” Jaemin sat up straight at attention as you saw Donghyuck do a little fist pump of victory out of the corner of your eye. “He’s tall—”

“I can see that, he’s like almost two heads taller than Jeno; I meant his personality. This isn’t me saying yes, by the way.” You pointed to yourself and Jaemin talking. “This is me gathering data. I wanted to take time for myself after what happened with my ex, remember? I think it might be enough time, but I need a bit more than ‘he’s nice’ to get me out there.”

“Of course, of course. I really appreciate you even considering this for us,” he squeezed your arm for a moment before letting it go. “He’s really smart, Dean’s List every semester, uh, it might take a minute for him to warm up at first, but once he does, he’s funny, and insightful. And he doesn’t have that constant go-go-go energy that werewolves usually do, he’s so much chiller, so if you were worried about that, don’t be.”

“And, sorry, I know he’s your friend, but I have to ask…” You winced. “He’s not one of those werewolf guys that only dates human girls as like… you know… an ego thing?”

Donghyuck snorted, “Oh he’s not, promise.”

Tension you didn’t know you’d been carrying in your shoulders relaxed at that. “Good.”

“We do have to tell you one thing though,” Jaemin grimaced.

“What?”

“This isn’t just a random set-up because we think you guys would be cute—”

“Oh God, what’s wrong with him?”

“Nothing! Nothing!” He rushed to reassure you. “Like, that part is true, we do think you’d be a good match.”

“Let me guess: the ‘but’ that follows that sentence is related to the ‘long story’ that Donghyuck mentioned earlier?”

Jaemin nodded reluctantly. “Yeah… long story long, Sungchan made a deal, and his end of it was letting us set him up with anybody of our choosing.”

“You’re using a date with me to punish him?” You stood up, brushing the grass off your back. “Yeah, hard fucking pass. Thanks, guys, you really know how to make a girl feel special.”

“No, not a punishment!” Jaemin scrambled to get to his feet as well. As you walked off, the air around you turned cold again, marking when you left their bubble of spring. He called after you, “Y/N! I’m sorry! Please!”

You didn’t want to go back to your empty apartment yet though, so you found yourself meandering into a familiar storefront. Jasmine & Pearls, a boba tea shop just around the corner from your college campus. There was only one customer ahead of you in line, and you stared blankly at the menu just to look at something. You weren’t feeling very adventurous today, so you’d probably get your regular go-to order. After the customer before you had been helped, you shuffled up to the counter, messing with your phone case to pull your punch card out of the back of it.

“Hey, Y/N!” Shotaro, the siren working behind the counter today, greeted you cheerily.

The iridescent pink scales under the tip of his button nose and apples of his cheeks shimmered in the fluorescent lights, making him look like he had a perpetual hint of rosy blush across his skin. That, and his cherubic smile could almost make you forget what those scales and his flashing silvery eyes really meant—he was a siren, could lure you to your death if he so wanted to. Obviously, he didn’t want to, had no reason to, and that would literally be a murder charge nowadays, but you nevertheless found it fascinating that such a being was just here serving you boba tea.

A few months ago, you realized that you came here probably too often once all the workers knew your name, but by then it was too late. It was just too convenient, delicious, and pleasant of an atmosphere for you to feel ashamed enough to stop coming.

“Hi, Shotaro.” You smiled back at him. “Just a regular honey milk tea with boba, please. No charms today.”

“On it!” He accepted both your punch card and credit card from you. After handing them back, he spun around to make your drink, and you went to go wait for it at the bartop at the other end.

Curious, and with nothing better to do in that moment, you pulled up Jeno’s Instagram on your phone. From the main grid on his account, all you could see was pictures either with or of his partner. Cute. Then you finally saw one of them at a strawberry patch, Jeno in the same outfit as the picture Jaemin had shown you before. You clicked on that one, and sure enough it was a whole set of photos. You swiped through to find the one of him and Sungchan holding the buckets of strawberries. And Sungchan was tagged.

You looked up at Shotaro. The customer ahead of you still hadn’t gotten their drink. You checked the notifications on your phone. Nothing new to reply to. Well, here it goes. You clicked on his account.

And he was private. Well, good for him. Internet privacy.

You went back to Jeno’s Instagram to check if Sungchan had maybe appeared in any more posts. You just wanted to see if you could glean anything more about him.

You finally found him again in what looked like a big group trip to Cape Solaria at the end of last summer. There were probably fifteen people here at least. He popped up in a few different shots, playing beach sports with Jeno and some other guys that you didn’t recognize; joining in on throwing some poor guy—who you presumed to be a witch, judging by the ritual tattoos he was covered in from neck to ankle—into the ocean; and sitting around a campfire roasting marshmallows with Jaemin and Renjun. And in every single one, Sungchan had such a genuine, pure, joyful smile. Like he was fully enjoying the moment and the people with him. Yeah, maybe you were projecting, but... surely it wouldn’t hurt to give it at least one chance?

“Y/N? Hello?” Shotaro was calling for you from the counter, shaking a drink that was presumably yours.

You snapped your head up, sheepishly turning your phone off and stuffing it away in your pocket. The other customer was nowhere to be seen; it was just you and the siren.

“Sorry, sorry.” You rushed up to accept the cup.

“It’s alright, you seemed like you were in the zone.”

You grabbed a straw, punching it out from the plastic wrapping. “In the zone of a little cyberstalking, as much as I hate to admit.”

“No shame here, we all do it. Who was it? Can I see?” He grinned mischievously.

“No,” you said flatly, stabbing your straw through the top of the drink. “My friends want to set me up.”

“Want to? Sounds like you haven’t said yes.”

“Perceptive.” You took your first sip.

“But you were cyberstalking them... So, you’re considering?”

“Ugh, I don’t know. Maybe.”

“Why not? Human lives are short.”

“Right. Thanks for that reminder.”

The bell above the front door rang then, announcing the entrance of another customer.

“Always here to help,” Shotaro patted your forearm before walking back to the register to greet the newcomer.

Two weeks later and you were nervously double-checking the name of the restaurant and the time that Jeno had sent you. Yep, this was it, and you weren’t weirdly early. You couldn’t believe how strange this felt, going on a date again. Comparing your outfit to the casual café as you walked in, you felt only a little better that you weren’t overdressed or underdressed either.

Your eyes scanned the building for Sungchan. You’d done enough cyberstalking on your own time in addition to the photos that your friends kept showing you to hype you up that you were certain you’d recognize him easily. It looked like you’d gotten here first. It was seat-yourself, so you might as well grab a table for the two of you.

You’d just come to a stop in front of a little two-seater and took your purse off to hang off the back of your chair.

“Y/N?” A voice came from behind you, accompanied by a gentle tap on your shoulder.

You spun around, immediately face-to-chest with someone. Looking up, you did, in fact, recognize the face of Jung Sungchan. He was admittedly cuter in real life than in the multitude of pictures that Jaemin and Donghyuck had continued to show you in preparation for the date. You didn’t want to know what they’d been doing to prepare Sungchan.

“Hi, Sungchan?” You still phrased it like a question, watching as the man’s features relaxed into an easy smile of recognition.

“Yes, hello.” He raised his arms up slightly at the same time that you did, and you realized that the both of you were now presumably having the same internal debate about if you were supposed to hug your blind first date hello as a greeting.

Ultimately, the two of you did go in for an awkward short hug, and you let out a nervous chuckle, feeling the warmth radiating off of him in the brief contact. You immediately looked down at the table, “Uhm, should we sit?”

“Of course, yeah.”

And as the two of you sat down on opposite sides, you looked up from your fidgeting fingers to your date’s face, not expecting his brow to be furrowed as if he were troubled by something, his gaze affixed on you.

You shifted in your seat uncomfortably. “Is everything okay?”

“You’re not wearing any perfume...” He commented, and you let out a minuscule sigh of relief. That’s all it was, he was just a bit put off that you hadn’t put on a perfume like one might’ve normally done for a date. A detail that he would’ve of course picked up as a werewolf.

“Not that I expect any brownie points for this, but I uh, I didn’t want to overwhelm your nose, in case there were any smells you’re particularly sensitive to,” you explained, picking up the menu that was already sitting on the table.

“You did your research.”

“Oh, I’ve dated a couple werewolves before, actually.”

“Really? You got a type or something?” As soon as the word were out of Sungchan’s mouth, he went to take them back, seeming surprised even at himself, “Sorry, that was—”

“No, no, I get it,” you cut off his apology, your tone reassuring. You knew that there were people who had a disturbing preference for werewolves, so you could understand why you dating now three werewolves might initially look a little suspicious. “Uh, I went to a kind of small high school. Private school. There were a couple of packs in my area that sent like all of their kids there, so my graduating class ended up being like 75% werewolves. It was just kind of statistics, I guess.”

“Oh, okay. Sorry about that, again,” Sungchan apologized once more, relaxing in his seat a bit more as he actually started to peruse his own menu.

“Anyway, that’s not a great first date topic.” You forced out a light-hearted chuckle.

“What’s not?”

“Past relationships? I think that’s third or fourth at least, don’t you?”

“Mm, yeah, of course. Sorry.”

Desperate to redirect the conversation to a much lighter, neutral one, you asked, “So what’s your major, Sungchan?”

“Earth Sciences.”

“Geology or Climatology track?”

He perked up at this. “Meteorology and Climatology.”

“And what made you want to study that?”

“Well, at first I thought I wanted to study astrophysics, but it was too much math and too little actual space. But I really liked my Intro to Weather class I took my first semester to cover a random credit so I switched to that and it stuck.”

“Wait, was it a morning Monday-Wednesday-Friday with Professor- Professor...” Suddenly, the memory struck you. “Oh! Hwang? Fall semester three years ago?”

“Yes, I believe so...” He answered, head tilting with intrigue.

“I think I had it too!”

“Really?”

“Yeah! I took it to get that Science credit as well.”

“I’m sorry to say that I don’t remember you at all.”

“It’s okay, I don’t remember you either,” you laughed, just amazed at the coincidence. “It was a big auditorium.”

Sungchan must have figured out what he wanted, as he set down his menu and leaned his elbows on the table to give you his full attention. “So what are you studying?”

“I’m an Interdisciplinary Major,” you told him happily, thrilled that the conversation was going much more smoothly now. “I was a bit indecisive, too. Except I couldn’t find one thing that stuck like you did. So I chose two: Sociology and Magical Creatures Studies.”

His eyes dropped from yours as he scoffed under his breath, sitting back in his seat.

And there went your pleasant conversation again.

“What was that?” You asked tersely.

“I didn’t say anything.” He shook his head like he was trying to clear the unpleasant tone from the conversation, but you weren’t going to let him go that easily.

“No, but clearly you have an opinion. So go ahead.”

“Not really, I was just wondering if you’ve even dated anyone that wasn’t a werewolf.”

You crossed your arms over your chest. “You think my major is just me cruising for a new boyfriend or something? Very expensive and essay-intensive compared to dating apps.”

“I didn’t mean it like that, Y/N,” Sungchan held his hands up, looking back up at you again. His features turned apologetic. “I just… I don’t know, I’m sorry.”

“So were you going to actually ask me that if I didn’t confront you, or were you just going to make assumptions?”

“That really was rude of me,” he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. “But, I mean… how do you ask someone something like that without coming off as a bit rude?”

“I suggest phrasing it like a genuine question instead of an accusation.”

“Right.” He took a second as if to compose himself, then asked, his tone much more conservational, “So, you said you dated a couple werewolves in high school. Uh, have you dated anyone else since coming to college, then? Before this?”

You did your best to return your own voice and manner to civility as well. “Dates here and there, but as for serious relationships, just one, I dated a human guy briefly.”

“And why did you break up? If you don’t mind telling me. I get it if it’s too personal.”

“It’s fine. He cheated on me.”

“So you’re of course looking for loyalty. Like, you know, a dog.” Sungchan fired back spitefully.

“Okay, I think we’re done here, Sungchan,” you declared, putting both your hands on the table to prepare yourself to stand.

“Y/N, I’m so sorry,” he rushed to try to apologize for the umpteenth time that night, but you’d heard plenty by now.

“No, it’s fine, really,” you assured him, still moving to get up out of your chair and grab your purse. “You’ve obviously had some bad experiences in the past, none of which I’m privy to. It’s not fair to you to constantly be suspicious that your date has ulterior motives for being with you. But it’s also not fair to me to have to constantly defend myself either.”

He was quiet at that.

You continued, “We both deserve to be able to relax and have fun, and that’s clearly just not going to be able to happen. It’s okay, sometimes things just don’t work out. So, I’m going to go, and I hope you have a great rest of your day.”

And with that, you turned around and left the café.

The ringing of the bell above the door of Jasmine & Pearls barely registered in the back of your mind as you lumbered right up to the cash register the next day.

“Good afternoon, Y/N!” Shotaro greeted you cheerily.

“Hi, Shotaro...” You couldn’t muster up anything close to his level of enthusiasm, letting out a sigh. “Same old, same old, please.”

“Uh oh. Sounds like the date didn’t go so well?” He surmised, ringing you up then starting on your order.

“No, it didn’t,” you leaned against the counter to keep talking to him. “Barely lasted ten minutes.”

“That’s rough. You end it or did he?”

“I did. It was for the best but still... I thought I was going to really like this guy.” Based off nothing but social media posts and word of mouth from friends, but you really were hopeful. You’d had a good feeling, and had trusted Jeno, Jaemin, and Donghyuck. And it blew up in your face.

Note to self, never fucking trust those three again.

“Don’t feel too bad, Y/N. Seems like it’s going around.”

“What do you mean?”

“My roommate’s date last night was a bust too.”

“We should make a club,” you chuckled cynically.

“Or I can set you up?” The siren offered hopefully.

“Thanks, but I’m good. I said I was going to take some time to focus on myself after my last relationship, and I meant that. Last night was me testing the waters, and I fucking drowned.”

“That special, huh? Or, I guess not, in the end.”

“Well, at least now I know, you know? No ‘what if’s to mess with.”

Shotaro enthusiastically slammed your drink down in front of you. “Hell yeah, Y/N. A clear head.”

“Exactly.” You pulled the cup over to you.

He put the packaged straw down on top emphatically. “Fuck that guy.”

“Bit extreme, Shotaro, but I appreciate the sentiment,” you grinned, hitting the straw against the counter to pop it out from the plastic wrapping.

“You’re coming to our Valentine’s Day event next month though, right?” Your friend asked, pointing to the poster taped to the wall advertising the event. The evening of February 13th at the boba shop, with a special themed drinks menu and activities to do.

“Of course. Wouldn’t miss it.”

“Great!” He beamed at you.

“Anyway, I’ve got to go, and you’ve got more customers. See you.” You took your drink with you towards the exit that a whole gaggle of high schoolers had just come through, waving to the siren over your shoulder.

“Bye, Y/N!”

Pulling open the door of Jasmine & Pearls some weeks later, you were immediately greeted by an array of red, pink, and white. The entire store had been redecorated for the event. A short stage was set up against the far wall of the dining area, a small photobooth in another corner, and a station where you could learn to make an origami heart, if the pictures on the instructions taped to the wall above it were anything to guess off. The shop was already bustling and buzzing with energy, filled with couples and groups of friends. All in all, it looked like it was shaping up to be a successful night for them.

You got into possibly the longest line you could remember having waited in at Jasmine & Pearls in a while—you’d learned the rush times and had become a pro at avoiding them in order to get your boba fix as quick as possible—and continued looking around with a smile on your face.

Unfortunately, you were flying this one solo. Your friends were all either working or studying tonight, and you weren’t going to flake after already promising Shotaro just because you couldn’t find someone to come with you. But you could have plenty of fun by yourself. And, you didn’t make any promise to stay the whole night. You’d stay just to finish your drink and maybe make an origami heart or two, depending on how good you were at them.

Finally, it was your turn to order, and you walked up to the register already with a big smile on your face.

Shotaro was manning the register while another employee fulfilled the orders. Your friend’s face lit up immediately. “Y/N! You made it!”

“I told you I would. Did you doubt me?” You questioned in mock offense.

“Not for a second,” he declared. Pointing to the little standee menu that was on the counter, he asked, “So what’ll you have? I recommend one of our specials for the occasion, obviously.”

You looked over the three new drink options that were advertised as for tonight’s event only. One in particular caught your eye, strawberry milk tea with heart-shaped brown sugar tapioca pearls, and an added feel-good charm. “That Lovebug sounds good.”

“Perfect! I knew you’d get that one! Coming right up!” He rang you up, but only took your credit card from your hand. “Sorry, no regular punch cards tonight. Instead, every purchase of a drink comes with a special event-only punch card.”

“Oh?” You raised your eyebrows as he handed you a small pink card with four circles on it, one already punched out with a heart-shaped hole punch.

“Yep! If you complete all the activities we have tonight, you can redeem it for a free drink! You’ve already gotten a punch for purchasing a drink, then we’ve got the photobooth—” he pointed to the large box. “Just bring your photo strips up here, and I’ll punch the card for you. And the origami, same thing. They don’t have to be professional, as long as you tried, just show them to me, and I’ll give you another punch. And then my boss, Baekhyun, is going to be hosting Valentine’s Bingo in like ten, fifteen minutes. He’ll punch everyone’s cards who participates.” He gestured to the stage, where you now saw a man starting to mess with a microphone and small table. “Don’t worry, you can play single.”

“Huh. Sounds good to me.” You tucked the card into your pocket. “Thanks, Shotaro.”

“Your drink will be out in a second!”

When you finally heard your name being called out by the other employee, you walked up and took the cup from him gratefully. It was another siren, who you weren’t nearly as familiar with as Shotaro, but you still offered Yuta a smile as you accepted the drink.

You looked at the heart-shaped boba at the bottom of the cup fondly. “Cute. Thanks, Yuta.”

“Of course! Now enjoy the ambiance.” Yuta shooed you away with a smirk.

You saluted him casually. “Heard.”

Meandering around the store, you took in the kitschy decorations in various heart, Cupid, rose, and arrow shapes all around. Despite your own striking out in the romance department as of late, you couldn’t find yourself wanting to muster up any morosity for the atmosphere. It was too endearing, and you were someone who just loved love. And maybe the feel-good charm in the boba pearls was doing its job pretty well.

Legally, Jasmine & Pearls couldn’t sell any charms that had effects as strong as alcohol, drugs, or hexes, or they’d need special licenses for that, but the little charms and enchantments available in some of their boba options could influence one’s mood for a short amount of time. Feel-good, tranquility, energy, focus, that kind of stuff.

A lot of the tables had been pushed to one side to make room for the stage, so you took your drink to the bar seating that was against a window, keeping your eye on the figure on stage. As he was readjusting the microphone, you caught a flash of scales under his skin, realizing that he too was a siren, and suddenly the employment choices felt a bit more intentional than coincidental.

Red and pink heart-shaped confetti had been sprinkled along the bartop, and you brushed some of it aside to be able to set your cup down. You were humming along to the love song playing over the speakers as you scrolled on your phone when you swore you heard your name. Straightening up a little, you listened carefully for it again.

“Y/N?” Someone gently tapped on your shoulder this time.

You turned around atop the stool you’d been sitting on, not prepared for who was behind you. Jung Sungchan was standing there, hands stuffed in the pockets of his worn black leather jacket. Honestly, you hadn’t thought much about him since your date five or six weeks ago. Your focus had been on school— with this being your junior year, you had a lot to get together in order to be ready to apply for grad schools, Botany Club, still going to work, and keeping up with friends around all this somehow. One failed date that wasn’t even in your top five worst dates hadn’t really been keeping you up at night. And yet somehow here he was.

You were sure that the surprise was evident on your face, and you probably left just too long of pause hanging in the air before you finally said something. “Oh, Sungchan, hi.”

“I thought that was you. Hey.” He offered a friendly smile.

“How are you?”

“I’m—” He was cut off by a distant shout of his name that only got closer.

“Hey! Sungchan!” It was Shotaro, the siren approaching with a prepared drink and straw, shoving them in the werewolf’s hand. “Dude, you can’t just walk away from the counter like that while we’re making your drink, then I have to come chase you down when you don’t hear your name.”

Sungchan accepted it from the employee guiltily. “Sorry, Shotaro.”

“Anyway! I’m glad you two have met.” Shotaro beamed at the pair of you, throwing an arm around Sungchan’s neck. “Y/N, this is my roommate I was talking about, Jung Sungchan. Sungchan, this is Y/L/N Y/N, she’s a regular here and goes to our college.”

Your eyes widened minutely in alarm as you suddenly connected way too many dots. Oh god, Shotaro’s roommate had an awful date, Sungchan is Shotaro’s roommate, you and Sungchan had gone on a date that night, the very same date you had also complained to Shotaro about. And who knows what terrible things Sungchan might have told the siren about the date, about you. After all, you had been the one to walk out on him.

You felt like you were going to puke as Shotaro gave Sungchan a sharp slap on the shoulder, winked at you behind his roommate’s back, and walked back to his station behind the counter.

After a heavy, long, awkward pause, Sungchan finally spoke up. “So… what did you get?”

“Oh, uhm… the Lovebug. What about you?”

“Me too, same. Lovebug.”

Another pause as you watched Sungchan open his straw and poke it through the plastic seal covering the top of the drink.

“So are we going to address the elephant in the room?” You decided to just get it over with.

“Which one? I feel like we have a whole herd at this point.”

You couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Okay, fair. I meant Shotaro. I’ll be the first to admit that I confided in him after our—I’m sorry to say but—disaster of a date.”

“That’s a generous assessment, actually.” Sungchan agreed. “And I told him about it too. I mean, we live together, it was hard for him not to notice when I came back home less than an hour after I left.”

“Ah, yeah…”

“I didn’t say anything bad about you, by the way. I told him it went horribly, because I ruined it, of course, but you were perfectly lovely. Truly way more level-headed than I deserved.”

“Oh, no, Sungchan,” you tried to reassure him. “Really, like I said before— Sometimes things just don’t work out.”

“I know. But still, I treated you awfully, and I am really, really sorry about that.”

“Thank you.”

A crackling came from the speakers up front, snapping your attention back to the man on stage. Baekhyun had gotten the microphone connected, and you saw Shotaro darting from the stage to his spot at the register as his boss called for everyone’s attention. “Hello? Hello? Great, this is working.”

He flashed a dazzling smile to the small crowd. “Hi, if you don’t know me, I’m Byun Baekhyun, I own Jasmine & Pearls here. If you’re in line, don’t panic, we’re not starting quite yet. I just wanted to thank everybody for coming out here tonight, this is honestly a much better turnout than we had expected. I, of course, also want to thank my two incredible employees, Shotaro and Yuta, for working tonight too.”

The two sirens behind the counter both waved as they got a round of applause, then everyone’s eyes were back on Baekhyun.

“We’re going to be starting Valentine’s Bingo in about five minutes or so. I just want everyone to know that you will need a partner for this. So if you came out here by yourself, find another single person out there and you know… get talking.” He grinned, and you swore his gaze lingered on you and Sungchan for a millisecond too long to be coincidental. “Okay, awesome, I’ll be back up here in five to get it started.”

Your eyes flashed over to your friend that was working, remembering exactly when he told you that you could play the game by yourself, and now suddenly you needed a partner. Shotaro was contentedly ringing up a customer’s order, though, seemingly not even paying you nor Sungchan any mind.

“So, uh, want to partner up? For the bingo?” Sungchan asked, then rushed to tack on, “Unless you’re waiting for somebody?”

“I’m not waiting for anybody,” you smiled, gesturing to the stool beside you for him to sit down.

“How have things been with you?”

“Good, they’ve been pretty good. Just a lot of school and Bot Club.”

“Bot Club?”

“Magical Botany Club. I’m the Vice President this year.”

“Oh, cool. So that’s how you know Jaemin, then.”

“Yeah, yeah. Him and Lee Donghyuck, we’re all on the board together.”

“How’d you get into it?”

“Because I sucked at gardening,” you admitted with a laugh. “My freshman year, my parents gave me this cactus to have in my dorm, and I killed the thing somehow. They can survive in deserts and the most extreme climates in the world, and it perished in my dorm room. I joined Bot Club hoping for some tips, and everyone just immediately thought I was beyond help. Jaemin and Hyuck were the only ones who actually took the time to help me. And it took a lot of time.”

Sungchan was smiling too, genuinely. “You must have grown to really like it, to stick around after getting your cactus caretaking tips.”

“Yeah, I do.” You nodded. “What about you? How’s school been for you?”

He grimaced a little. “Could be better, honestly.”

“Oh no? Why? What’s wrong?” You frowned.

Before Sungchan could answer, another person had approached the two of you. It was Baekhyun, a stack of square bingo cards in one hand and box of markers in the other. His silver eyes seemed to glitter in the lights as he smiled at you, his opalescent scales refracting a whole rainbow of colors where they sat just under his skin along his cheekbones, bridge of his nose, and forehead.

“Hi!” He greeted the two of you cheerfully. “Are you two together?”

“Oh, uh, yes,” Sungchan nodded, reaching out to grab your bingo sheet and marker before the store owner flitted off to the next pair of customers.

He set them down on the counter in between the two of you, but your focus was still on your conversation.

“So what’s wrong, Sungchan?” You asked, taking another sip of your drink.

“I mean, it’s just been a bit stressful is all,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “One of my professors asked me to do research with him, and then I took an SI position with another professor too, on top of all my classes. Just kind of got a lot on my plate.”

“Oh, okay. But that sounds like a great opportunity, at least. Your professor asking you to do research with him.”

“It is, it’s some seriously cool stuff.”

“What’s—”

Baekhyun clearing his throat into the microphone from the front cut you off, and you gave the werewolf an apologetic look.

“Sorry. But I do want to hear about it later, Sungchan,” you squeezed his arm before turning around to face the stage.

“Alright, we’re going to be getting started then.”

As Baekhyun kicked off the first round of bingo, you found yourself tapping the marker against the bingo card as you sat there. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Sungchan awkwardly leaning over as he tried to look at the sheet too, and you realized you’d been hogging it.

“Oh, sorry, here,” you moved the sheet more into the middle, at the same time that you scooted your stool over towards him to lessen the gap between you. “Is that better?”

Sungchan’s shoulder was just behind yours as he looked over you at both the card and the stage. “Yeah, yeah, thanks.”

“Did you want to mark them off? Sorry, I just grabbed it without thinking.” You offered the permanent marker out to him.

“No, it’s all yours.” He shook his head, then tapped his finger to the middle spot. “But you did forget the Free Space.”

“Oh, shit, thanks.” You crossed it off with an X.

Baekhyun called out number after number, and you and Sungchan worked together to search the small card for them.

You clicked your tongue as you couldn’t find the one the shop owner had just called out, and were about to pick your cup back up to take another sip of your drink, when Sungchan spoke up happily.

“Found it!”

“Oh, where?” You hovered the marker over the card, scanning the little letters and numbers.

“Right there.” He’d pointed, but his hand was gone too fast, and you lost it again.

“Wait, where?”

“Right…” he reached over to wrap his own hand around yours that was holding the marker, and dragged it over to the correct square. You giggled as he guided your hand to draw a messy X like you were a toddler learning to write your letters for the first time. “…There.” He finished, letting go of your hand.

“Ahh, okay,��� you nodded slowly. “I see… I’m illiterate.”

“Well, I wasn’t going to say it.”

“Hey!”

Sungchan laughed as you gave a half-hearted smack against his chest, and you couldn’t help but smile too. After all, it was your self-deprecating joke first.

He patted your back, apologizing through his chuckles, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

“Apology taken under consideration.”

“Oof, I don’t like the sound of that. Anything I can do to better my chances here?”

“Hmm,” you hummed, pretending to think as you tapped the capped end of the marker against your bottom lip.

Sungchan watched you, his elbow resting on the bartop and his cheek in his hand. The only thing separating you two was the bingo sheet, the game which you weren’t even focused on anymore. Your back was entirely turned to the stage now, gaze set only on the werewolf next to you.

Just as you’d parted your lips to make your proposal, you happened to hear Baekhyun announce the next number.

“O13!” The siren’s voice carried well through the speakers. “O13!”

You let your eyes flick down, immediately catching on that open square on your card. And it completed the row. You marked it off, a giddy grin spreading across your face as you went to elbow Sungchan. “Look!”

“Oh damn! Nice!” He raised his hand, as did you, as he called out. “Bingo! We got bingo!”

Baekhyun’s features lit up as he stopped his progress of reaching for the next bingo ball. He practically purred into the microphone, “Well, well, seems like we’ve got our first bingo. If one of you could read it out so I can double-check it, then we’ll see about getting you two your prizes.”

Sungchan called out your five spaces, and Baekhyun nodded with each one, the room erupting into applause when he declared that you two had won that round.

“Alright, come up here so I can give you your prizes and punch your tickets.” The siren waved you up.

You looked to Sungchan expectantly, and he gestured for you to go up ahead of him. Instead, feeling a bit uneasy with the entire café’s eyes on you, you latched onto his forearm and dragged him up right alongside you.

“So you each are getting a gift card to the shop—” He handed you two small cards, then turned around, where Yuta had appeared with a couple more items. Baekhyun then handed each of you a denim baseball cap that had the logo of the shop on the front in lilac purple thread. “And Jasmine & Pearls embroidered hats. Thank you so much for coming here and playing.”

You accepted both prizes from him, feeling over the embroidery on the cap with your finger.

“And if you’d give me your event punch cards, I’ll go ahead and give you your punches now, since you unfortunately, won’t be allowed to play to win again. Fairness and all that.”

You and Sungchan handed over your punch cards, and the siren gave each of you another heart-shaped punch before giving them back.

“Now, we will be playing two more rounds, so don’t worry if you didn’t win this time,” he announced to the rest of the crowd as you and Sungchan headed back to your seats. “I’ll hand out brand new cards to everybody, and we’ll restart. Y/N and Sungchan, you’re free to play again for fun, if you’d like. You just can’t play for profit.”

Sungchan looked over at you in a silent question, and you shook your head. You were happy to play and win just the one time. After all, with everybody else still occupied, this would be the perfect time to do the other activities with little to no lines or crowding.

“No thank you, we’re bingo-ed out for tonight,” Sungchan called out, and the host nodded graciously.

“Very well. Everybody else hold tight while I come around to distribute new cards.”

As the two of you finally sat back down at your seats and looked over your prizes, you realized that you had never introduced yourself to Baekhyun. Not when he had passed out the cards, nor when he was giving you your prizes. But he knew your names. You snapped your head up towards the counter suspiciously again, but Shotaro was once again minding his business, cleaning out one of the machines.

Sungchan was readjusting the sizing of his hat, then finally pulled it on, offering you a lopsided grin. “What do you think?”

“Looks good on you.” You tapped the brim of it, feeling a familiar airiness in your chest, one that you hadn’t felt in some time. “You wear baseball caps a lot?”

“For sure, so I’ll get good use out of this.”

“Wear them for fashion or do you play a lot of sports?”

“Oh, uh, both, I guess? I like how they look, and I usually wear them when I’m out playing whatever to keep the Sun off my face, yeah.”

The pictures from Jeno’s Instagram of Sungchan on their trip to Cape Solaria suddenly came to mind, and you diverted your eyes down to the gift card in your hand as your skin started getting warmer and warmer. At this rate, he was going to be able to hear your heartbeat picking up the pace and the idea of that in and of itself was embarrassing enough to make it gain even more speed.

“So…” Sungchan inhaled, and you looked up with both your eyebrows raised.

Admittedly, you’d completely forgotten where the two of you were in your previous conversation. “Hm?”

“Do you want to finish the other two punches together?” He asked. “I know they’re not partner things, but we’re both here, and everyone else is busy doing bingo, so it’s probably the best time to do them and—”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking.” You grinned at him, standing up off your stool. “I’d love to, Sungchan. Besides, you’re still supposed to tell me about your research, remember?”

His features lit up as he followed you over to the origami station. “Right, right! Are you sure you want to hear about it, though? It’s on climate change and how it affects human disease, it’s a little doomsday-ish.”

“Ah, perfect for the holiday.” You pointed to the giant paper cut-out of a cartoon Cupid hanging above your heads, then reached for your first square of red paper. “I’m sure, go for it.”

“Okay, cool,” he beamed at you, grabbing a piece of patterned pink paper.

As Sungchan walked you through all the intricacies and machinations of the topic that his research with his professor was on, you were genuinely happy at how much you understood. He didn’t mind slowing down to answer your questions, or explain concepts that you didn’t know already. And you two could have an actual conversation tangential to the topic, because you had taken a Magical Conservation class just last semester that dealt directly with how climate change was affecting a lot of magical creatures, such as sirens who typically lived in and around glaciers that were now losing much of their native habitats due to the lack of year-round sea ice at the poles. And all the while, you both tried your damndest to make an origami heart.

“Okay, what the fuck?!” Sungchan huffed, cutting himself off in the middle of a thought about disease vectors. He smacked his crumpled piece of paper that looked nothing like a heart onto the table. “I’ve taken engineering classes, how am I getting bested by a primary school arts and crafts project?”

“It’s not a—”

“It literally says ages 8 and up on the instructions.”

You pressed your lips together in a line. “Ah. So it does.”

Yours didn’t look much better. It seemed as though you were both getting bested by a project meant for children.

“Well, Shotaro did say we just had to show him we tried and we’d get the punch,” you reminded him.

“No, no, I can get this,” he shook his head, grabbing a fresh sheet. “I just need to focus, and not talk while I do it. You’re too much of a distraction.”

“My apologies, I’ll be quiet this time,” you chuckled, covering your mouth with your hand as you leaned against the table to watch him try again.

He made every fold with precision, but you found that you weren’t really watching him fold so much as you were watching him. His brow was set in concentration, a small crease emerging in the knit of his brows, his eyes narrowed slightly, and the very tip of his tongue poking out from between his lips. It was cute, adorable, endearing, everything in the thesaurus, and you could’ve sat there and watched him fold origami hearts all night if he wanted to, punch card and free drink be damned.

Sungchan stood up straight, his features relaxing into a proud grin as he held his completed piece up for you to see. It was definitely a heart this time, a simple baby pink color, and you were amazed at how straight the lines were.

“Nice, Sungchan!” You praised him. “That’s what those engineering classes were for, huh?”

“I wasn’t going to let some project for ages 8 and up that Shotaro picked out get the best of me!” He declared, and you could practically see his chest puffing out with pride. “I’m not going to give him the satisfaction.”

You couldn’t help but laugh. “So that’s what this was? Fragile STEM major ego?”

He narrowed his eyes at you. “Isn’t sociology a science?”

“I think you’re the first hard science major to ever say that.”

“It ends in -ology.”

“So do phrenology and astrology.”

“Fair. But seriously, is it not?”

“It is. But usually, you engineering and whatnot majors don’t like to consider us ‘soft sciences’ like sociology and anthropology and psychology to be ‘real sciences,’ whatever the hell that means.”

“Ohh, yeah… I’ve got better shit to do than tell a scientist that they’re not a scientist.”

“Like make children’s crafts.”

“Exactly.” He gave you another smile brighter than the Sun.

You nodded firmly. “A much better use of your time. Now, are you ready to take these to Shotaro?”

“Yeah, let’s go!”

As the two of you walked up to the counter, you continued your earlier conversation, “And I will remind you that I’m actually an Interdisciplinary major, and also study MCS. Both of which are considered humanities, a label that I wear with pride, even more so than the ‘soft science’ one.”

A smile tugged at the corner of Sungchan’s mouth as he looked down at you. “Noted.”

Shotaro was standing at the register, hands folded over each other and a smug smile on his face as he watched the two of you approach together. “Well, hey, guys! Congrats on your win!”

“Thanks, Shotaro.” You smiled back, holding your paper heart out to him. “We did the origami too.”

Sungchan held his up too, and you could see the proud look on his face as he did so.

“His is a lot better than mine,” you admitted as the siren took just a second to appraise them. Seeing the two side-by-side, yours was a bit misshapen, folds across parts that were supposed to be flat from you having to undo and redo parts over and over again.

“That’s okay! You guys just had to try,” Shotaro reminded you, picking up the hole punch. “Punch cards please?”

With just one punch left, you and Sungchan headed over to the photobooth in the corner. It was set up so that you didn’t have to pay for any of the films. Sungchan climbed in first, and you watched nervously where his head almost hit the top of the entrance.

“Goddamn this thing is tiny,” he observed as soon as he had poked his head in past the curtain.

“Is it small or are you a giant?” You asked pointedly.

Sungchan had fully entered the photobooth then, and retorted back, “Get in here and find out.”

As you parted the curtain and put just your first foot in, you immediately realized how cramped the two of you were going to be. “Okay, maybe a bit of both.”

“Uh-huh.”

Sungchan was already sat on the bench, and pressed himself as far back into the corner as he could to give you enough space to sit next to him. Your leg was squished in next to his, and his arm ended up around your shoulders. He was warm, as expected for a werewolf, whose body temperatures all ran naturally higher than humans.

As he shifted his shoulders and arm to settle around you, he double-checked, “Sorry, is this alright? It’s tight in here—”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s fine,” you turned your head to give him a smile, but were instead caught off-guard by just how close his face was to yours. If either one of you shifted forward right now, you would hit noses. Your breath hitched in your throat as you made eye contact with him. Oh, he could definitely hear your heartbeat in the tiny space afforded by the photobooth, surely as clear as you could hear it thudding in your own ears. God, you’d always thought he was cute, but something about being so close, and the lights in here hitting the angles of his face just right, he was striking, handsome. You curled your hands into fists in the material of your pants, not trusting yourself not to grab him and do something too wildly out of pocket.

The screen played a short melody at you, knocking you from your trance, and you turned your focus back to your task.

Pressing a couple buttons on the touchscreen, you looked between the height of the camera and Sungchan, squinting. “Is your head even going to show in frame?”

Sungchan swallowed, then cleared his throat before he spoke, as if his mouth had gone dry. “Guess we’ll find out after.”

“Alright, it’s a four-cut.” You announced after skimming the easy illustrated instructions. “You ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.” He gave you a thumbs up.

“Okay. 1, 2, 3.” You pressed the start button before sitting back in your seat against him again.

You smiled and held up a peace sign for the first one, and in the split second of the flash going off, you heard the werewolf next to you curse under his breath, “Fuck! That’s bright—” accompanied by the feeling of him flinching back, and immediately followed by a distinct thud.

Turning around as much as the space could allow for, you saw Sungchan curled in on himself, his eyes squinted shut presumably both in pain from the flash and from where he had just smacked the back of his head against the wall of the photobooth, judging by the hand he was cradling it with.

“Ooh! Sungchan, are you alright?” You asked through giggles, unable to get over the comical thunk! sound that his head had made.

Another flash went off, startling him into hitting his head again with another bonk! and this time you couldn’t help but burst out into full-bodied laughter, turning back toward the camera to not laugh directly in the poor guy’s face. You could barely see the third and fourth flashes because your eyes were squeezed shut as you laughed, running out of air and having to prop yourself up with a hand on Sungchan’s knee to not keel over.

Finally, you started sobering up enough to squint your eyes back open, and through your tears, you saw Sungchan smiling down at you as well.

“Alright, I don’t know if it was that funny…” he sighed, still holding his head.

“I’m-I’m sorry,” you tried to apologize through your wheezes. “It was the sound, and the two in a row, it was just too much for me. I’m not laughing at your pain, I promise. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m alright. Thanks.” He reassured you, dropping his hand from his head and resting it on the one that you still had on his knee. “I… I really like your laugh.”

Your hand suddenly tingled. “Oh. Thank you…”

After a beat, he shifted his gaze from yours. “So where do the films print out at?”

“Uh, on the outside of the booth. Should be two, one for each of us.” You said quickly, getting up to exit the booth and put some space between the two of you again.

Sungchan followed you out, and you easily found the dispenser, where there were in fact two film strips. He grabbed them for you, looking over them first. A smile spread across his face as he continued holding them, and you started getting antsy the longer that you hadn’t seen them.

“What, are they that bad?” You asked with a light chuckle.

“What?” He snapped his focus up to you.

“You’ve been smiling at them for an awful long time. Did I blink or something?” You joked, knowing very well that you were laughing for half of them.

He sucked in air through his teeth, shaking his head regretfully. “Yeah, I think for your own sake, I should keep both of these. I mean, I look great but—”

“Sungchan, let me see!” You reached for them, but he yanked his hand back from you at the last second.

You lunged for them again, but he once again kept them just out of your reach, a sly grin on his lips. The next time you tried to grab them, he held them above his head, and he most unfortunately had a significant height advantage over you.

You were already in his personal space from grabbing for them before, practically chest-to-chest (well, really chest-to-face), and now had to crane your neck straight up to look at them. With a huff, out of breath, heart racing for more than one reason now, you weakly pulled on his shoulders as you pouted, “Sungchan, please!”

“Here, I warned you.” He said melodramatically, handing you one copy of the film strips.

You eagerly held it in both hands, scanning over the four pictures on it. The first one was normal, it looked like Sungchan had taken your lead and both of you were smiling and throwing up peace signs. The second one was where everything went to chaos. Sungchan was wincing in pain in the corner, holding his head, as you had the back of your head to the camera, one hand reaching uncertainly towards him. In the third, you were turned back towards the camera, a little blurry as you laughed, and Sungchan was squinting one eye open to look at you. And in the last one, you were still laughing, leaning on Sungchan for support as there was nothing but simple joy on your face; and Sungchan’s features had relaxed out of pain as he gazed down at you with a fond smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Not as wide as yours was, but no less dim.

“These are so cute! You liar!” You elbowed Sungchan in the side.

“You didn’t let me finish. I look great, but you look radiant.”

“Good save.” You joked, but couldn’t suppress the smitten grin that wormed its way across your face. “And I’m keeping mine.”

Sungchan reached into the pocket of his jacket then, pulling out his pristine, baby pink origami heart from earlier. He held it out to you. “I-I wanted you to have this, too.”

“Aw, Sungchan…” You accepted the paper heart from him.

“Feel free to throw it out when you get home, I get it.”

“Hey, stop that.” You pinched his forearm where the sleeve of his jacket had fallen down. “Don’t do something sweet and then immediately take all the sincerity away by covering it with a layer of self-deprecation. If you’re going to be a sweetheart, own up to it or don’t do it at all.”

He rubbed at the back of his neck, and you could see a flush creeping up from his collar to his cheeks. “You’re right. I wanted to give you that, sans trash can.”

You were beaming, tucking it into the inner pocket of your jacket and patting it. “Thank you, Sungchan. I’d offer you mine, but I think it really should go in the trash.”

“Look who’s not taking her own advice, hm?”

“Alright, if you want it,” you sighed, taking your own lumpy attempt at the origami heart out of your pocket and handing it over to him.

Sungchan plucked it from your fingers smugly. “Thank you.”

“I expect you to be buried with that now, by the way.”

“I’ll be sure to write it in my will.”

The two of you were still chuckling as you walked up to the counter again, your film strips and punch cards in hand to show them to Shotaro. Your siren friend reviewed the pictures with a shit-eating grin on his face.

“You guys are so cute,” he commented so very subtly. “But uh, what happened here, Sungchan? Did you hit your head on something? How did you manage that one?”

As you covered your mouth to hide your giggles at the memory of the double bonk! resurfacing, Sungchan took his film strip back from his roommate. “Alright, are you going to give us the punches or not?”

Shotaro punched the final heart-shaped holes into both your cards. “And with that you’ve completed all the punches! Unfortunately, you can’t redeem the free drink tonight, but by all means, you are more than welcome to stay and hang out some more. We’ve got extended hours tonight, so you can keep doing the activities if you like, or just, you know… stay and chat or something.”

“Right, thanks, Shotaro.” Sungchan led you away with a hand on your back.

You ended up back at your original seat that you had sat at for the bingo game. The game finished while you were in the photobooth, the other patrons now milling around the shop again. Some were sitting, sipping on their drinks and enjoying each other’s company, others at the origami stations, others lining up at the photobooth, and still others back at the register ordering again. You looked down at the film strip in your hands before tucking it away safely with Sungchan’s origami heart. Looking around, you saw that Baekhyun was making rounds now that he was done hosting bingo, greeting customers and having conversations with everyone he stopped to talk to.

You didn’t want to leave yet, to have this night be over, to have your time with Sungchan be done. At least not without knowing if you’d see him again. This had been fun, really fun, and you wanted to see him again. Every bad first impression of him you’d gotten from your date had been wiped away.

“Hey, Y/N?”

You snapped your focus back over to him at the sound of his voice, trepid and unsure. You offered him a reassuring smile as you replied, “Yeah, Sungchan?”

He had taken his hat off, and was messing with the seam along the bottom band nervously. “I know I already said this, but I really am sorry for everything I said to you before. I was so incredibly wrong about you.”

“And I’ve already said thank you, so I suppose I’ll say I forgive you this time.” You squeezed his forearm. “So would you stop apologizing now?”

“I know we can’t start over completely, but…”

“Yes?” Your voice pitched up hopefully, your heart soaring along with it.

“Friends?”

Splat. Your heart plummeted back down with tremendous velocity.

It took all your willpower to keep your face from showing the disappointment you’d felt, and even then, you were sure it still fell minutely. You slapped on a rehearsed, customer service smile for him, too shocked that you’d apparently misread everything so badly to do much more than go through a script of what you should say. “Yeah, sure. Friends.”

Sungchan beamed at you, another heart-stopping, adorable, lopsided grin that now made your chest squeeze painfully. “Okay, great! Thank you, seriously!”

You threw open the door to Jasmine & Pearls the next morning so violently that it swung back the other way and rang the bell twice.

“Shotaro.”

The siren perked up to greet you. “Oh, Y/N! Back to redeem that free drink already, huh?”

“Sungchan here?” Your eyes flicked around the shop warily. You couldn’t see him, but now that you knew that the two of them were roommates, you had to be more careful.

“Oh, I see.” Your friend grinned, crossing his arms over his chest. “No, you just missed him, actually, he had class, popped in on his way to campus.”

“Thank god,” you groaned, collapsing into a stool near the pick-up counter, face in your arms.

“Uh, I’m going to make you a drink. Your usual?”

“Sure…” You mumbled, the sound even more muffled by your arms.

As Shotaro prepared the drink, he picked your conversation back up. “Now, what happened? You two looked like you were having a lot of fun last night. Not to pat myself on the back too hard.”

You lifted your head up just enough to rest your cheek on your arms so your friend could hear you when you spoke. “Did he tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

“Remember that awful date I went on last month?”

“Vaguely.”

“And Sungchan went on a bad date the same night.”

“Yeah. Did he do some kind of ‘all cards on the table’ confessional with you to try to scare you off?” Shotaro sighed, tossing his hand towel over his shoulder and putting his hands on his hips. “Listen, don’t worry, I know he says he ruined his date that night, but really he’s a big puppy—don’t tell him I said that, he’ll tear my throat out.” He paused, as if realizing what he had just said. “And don’t worry about that ‘tear my throat out’ thing either, I swear he’s super sweet. Honestly, something must have been wrong with that girl, he’s not—”

“It was me.” You cut him off bluntly.

“Huh?”

“Sungchan and I were each other’s terrible date that night.”

The siren slapped a hand over his face with a groan. “Oh my god, what did he do?”

“Now you think he did something? Two seconds ago, you swore there was ‘something wrong with that girl.’” You raised your eyebrows.

“Yeah, but I know you, Y/N. Him saying he fucked up and made you walk out? I can believe that.”

“We don’t have time to unpack all of that, but thanks, I guess.” You settled your cheek in your hand instead. “Anyway, it was all a mismatch at the time. He had his reasons, and I had mine, and I left. I didn’t harbor any ill will towards him, nor had I even thought about him until last night.”

Shotaro snorted, placing your finished drink in front of you. “Oh, well, can’t say the same for him.”

“What?”

“Whatever he did, he felt terrible about it. He kept talking about how he wanted to apologize to you, but he didn’t think you’d want to see him.”

You blinked at him. “Seriously?”

“I just thought it was like when you accidentally say ‘you too’ when the waiter tells you to enjoy your food and then you can’t stop thinking about that interaction for the next six months.”

Remembering the gist of your very short conversation from your one and only date with Sungchan, you shook your head. “No, not quite.”

“But it seems like you two made up last night, right?” Shotaro asked, head tilted.

“Yes, last night was so much fun. It’s what our first date should have been. We got to talk, and get to know each other, and joke, and laugh, and maybe flirt a little bit; and he’s funny, and smart, and a lot of fun...” You explained, trailing off pitifully at the end.

“So what’s the catch?”

“Well, I don’t know why I thought that at the end of the night, when he said,” you dropped your voice to mimic Sungchan, “‘I know we can’t start over completely, but—’ I don’t know why I thought that was going to be followed up by him asking me out, but it wasn’t.”

The siren’s jaw dropped. “It wasn’t?”

“Nope. Friends...” You said with weak enthusiasm, giving him two thumbs-up and a feigned smile as if you were being held at gunpoint.

“Ooh, Y/N...” Shotaro grimaced.

You dropped your head into your hands in defeat. “And somehow I feel even stupider than I did leaving that date.”

“I’m going to ask him what the hell he’s thinking.”

“No the fuck you’re not!”

“Y/N—”

“I told you this in confidence, Osaki Shotaro, not so you could you blab how pathetic I am right back to him!”

“But I just did that with him to you.” He pointed out innocently. “Seems a bit unfair.”

“Thanks for just agreeing with me on the pathetic part.”

“Well—”

“You’re not helping!”

“I’m trying!” He threw his hands up in exasperation. With a sigh, he came up to lean against the counter, voice turning sympathetic once more. “Look, Sungchan probably just thinks that you would want nothing to do with him romantically after he ruined it so stupendously last time. So he doesn’t even want to put you in the awkward position of rejecting him again— or, he at least thinks you would reject him again.”

“You really think so?” You asked quietly, watching a bead of water run down the side of your cup.

“Best I can come up with.”

And all the hope in your chest puttered out like a limp, half-filled balloon. “So that was a guess.”

“I’m a siren, not a mindreader, sorry.”

“Ugh, I’ve got to go. Thanks, Shotaro. For the boba. You were useless otherwise.”

“Bye!” Your friend waved to you cheerily.

Being friends with Sungchan was pretty easy, actually. You already had a lot of the same friends (it was sort of weird that you hadn’t met before that date, you realized), and as long as somebody else was there, it was easy to ignore the ever-present, ever-growing crushing pain in your chest whenever you were with him. You didn’t like that it was like this, you hated being that person pining over one of their friends who had explicitly said that they just wanted to be friends. You’d tried to get yourself to feel like this about other guys—the cute phoenix in your Criminology class, or the funny gryphon that you were partnered up with for a project in your Introduction to Interdisciplinary class. But it was useless, your thoughts always came back Sungchan. And you weren’t friends with him in hopes that one day it would be different, either; you really didn’t want to be that friend. You were just enjoying Jung Sungchan, in whatever capacity you got him in.

And right now, that was a rather tenacious study buddy. When you’d off-handedly mentioned an upcoming test that you hadn’t studied for yet, he immediately made you compare schedules so that the two of you could do a study session before it. So now you were reviewing flash cards of some key concepts as Sungchan was hunched over a notebook of his own. Working on his research with his professor, you were pretty certain. He switched between his computer and handwritten notes so frequently that you weren’t sure how he kept it all straight, and all the numbers and Greek letters and letter letters made your head swim trying to decipher it. As long as it all made sense to him.

It all mostly made sense to you when he would explain it to you, if you were actually listening to the words he was saying and not just thinking about how nice his voice sounded, or how pretty he looked that day. Your brain was truly rotting from the inside out.

And you two were alone. You didn’t know if he had invited any of your other friends and they couldn’t make it or if this was a “just us” thing. That was something that he did that always made it so hard for you to keep your rule of never hoping for more. Sometimes you two would hang out and invite Shotaro and Jaemin and Jeno and Jeno’s girlfriend and maybe even some more of their friends that you weren’t as familiar with; and sometimes when you’d ask if you should invite anybody, Sungchan would reply with a shoulder shrug and a casual non-explanation that this should be a “just us” thing. You could never delineate what made an activity worthy of a group invite or a “just us” thing.

You stared at your screen with immense focus. Not on what was on the screen, your thoughts had long drifted from dryad folk tales and were now in an endless rumination on what the hell a “just us” thing was. You’d been to group study sessions and study sessions with just Sungchan. Group movie nights and movie nights alone with Sungchan—those were an especially bittersweet kind of awful, as he liked to share blankets. Group dinners and dinners with just the two of you. So what made something a “just us” activity? What was the—

Something in your periphery caught your attention, and snapped you out of your pensive thoughts that you’d been stewing in. It was a small, white, origami heart being pushed up from the bottom corner of your computer screen. You took it, smiling at Sungchan across the table from you, who sat up straight now that he no longer had to reach so far to deliver it to you.

Upon second glance, it looked like the heart was made out of notebook paper from his spiral notebook with notes on it in blue ink. You squinted to make out some of It in his messy scrawl, but gave up after reading just a portion of a complicated, technical word.

“Thanks, Sungchan.” You ran your fingertip along the crisp edge of the paper heart.

This had been one habit he’d picked up since the Valentine’s Day event at Jasmine & Pearls, he now made origami hearts whenever his fingers grew restless and he had access to a suitable piece of paper that could be torn to size if needed. You were usually the target of receiving them and now had a steadily growing collection in a small jar on your coffee table. You didn’t have it in you to throw them away.

“Something wrong, Y/N?” Sungchan asked. He had presumably noted the intense way you’d been staring at your screen the moments prior. “Or is the material just that bad for your test?”

“Ehh…” You sighed, rolling your neck out. “Just tired. Ready for the semester to be over, you know?”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Is this made of your notes, by the way?” You held up the origami heart.

“Stuff I had to rip out and redo, I messed it up.”

You then stood up to crack your back, groaning at the cathartic cracking sounds that came with it. “God, I think my spine needs to be folded up like that origami, holy shit.”

“Fix your posture,” Sungchan snorted. “You sit like a little shrimp using a computer.”

Your jaw dropped as you put a hand to your chest, unsure of whether to laugh or be offended. Ultimately, you keeled over with laughter, having to plop back down in your desk chair—hunched over—to catch your breath again. Sungchan was watching you with a fond smile, reclined back in his chair with some not very great posture himself.

“A shrimp?”

“A little shrimp,” he corrected you. “A cute little shrimp using her little computer and fucking up her back in the process.”

“Alright, it’s not my fault you’re literally a tree. Anybody is a little shrimp compared to the man who almost broke a photobooth because he was too tall for it,” you teased him back through the fresh squeezing of your chest at him calling you ‘cute,’ even if it was followed by the words ‘little shrimp.’

“You’re never letting me live that one down, huh?”

“Never. I’ll be telling that story at your funeral, where you’ll be buried with my mangled origami heart, remember?”

“You’re banking on the fact that you’re going to outlive me in this scenario.”

“Right, my bad. Werewolves are the hardier species, so obviously you’ll outlive me.”

“Well, statistically—”

“Statistics say nothing about the power of spite, Sungchan. I will outlive you out of spite, so that I can tell that story at your funeral. And if not, I will have a backup recording of me telling that story, and in my will, have orders that it be played at your funeral.”

“You’re going to put it in your will to make sure you have the last word in case I outlive you? Which, statistically, I will.”

“Yes.”

The two of you held your defiant eye contact for another moment before you burst out in coordinated laughter, all tension fizzling out.

“I do expect that fucked-up origami heart to go down with you, though,” you pointed at him through your laughs, still only half-serious.

“Only if one of the hundreds I’ve given you by now makes it down with you,” he nodded, holding his pinky finger out.

You linked yours with it. “Deal.”

“Deal.”

As you walked out of the library together after you’d finally determined that your studying was over, Sungchan checked his watch.

“You doing anything else tonight?” He asked.

“Nothing in particular.” You shrugged. “Eating dinner. Sleeping. Why?”

“Want to come over?”

“Is Shotaro going to be home?”

“He’s closing at the shop today I think.”

You bit the inside of your cheek. Apparently sensing your hesitation, Sungchan nudged your side as he teased, “What? Am I not fun enough for you? You need Shotaro there to convince you to come over, too?”

“Yeah, you’re such a snoozefest, Sungchan,” you wrinkled your nose, elbowing him back. “Taro’s the only thing that keeps me from falling asleep every time I’m over at your place.”

“You hurt me, Y/N.”

With a melodramatic sigh, you relented, “I suppose I’ll make an exception. But I will nap where I see fit if you bore me too much.”

“I’ll take my victories where I can get them.”

At Shotaro and Sungchan’s place, you followed Sungchan into his bedroom. Normally, if Shotaro were home, the three of you would all hang out in their living room. But it was just you and Sungchan.

He toed his shoes off and flopped onto his bed face-first, spread-eagle.

“Oh, and who were we worried about taking a nap?” You scoffed, taking his desk chair. He had a gridded whiteboard above his desk that was mostly taken up by a to-do list of upcoming deadlines. But a small area labeled “Notes” by the company who made it was dedicated to pictures instead: the film strip of you two from Valentine’s Day at Jasmine & Pearls hung there by a magnet in the shape of a hurricane, a picture from the group trip to Cape Solaria from last summer under a tornado, and another of a younger Sungchan and Shotaro (early high school if you had to guess) at an arcade pinned by a tsunami.

Your friend rolled over onto his back. “I’m not napping, just basking.”

“Basking? In what?”

“Being done with today.”

“Have a bad day?”

“Just long. Had a long week, long semester, long three years.”

“Mm, felt that,” you agreed, knocking your own shoes off and folding your legs up in the desk chair.

The two of you were quiet for a while, and you would’ve thought that Sungchan had actually fallen asleep, if you couldn’t see that his eyes were open as he apparently just stared at the ceiling, his chest rising and falling with even breaths. You let the silence remain, content to just rest your arms on the back of the chair with your chin atop them, and look at him.

“Y/N?” He finally spoke, his voice soft.

“Yeah?”

Sungchan’s head lolled so he could look over at you, his warm brown eyes focused on your face. He had an unreadable expression on his features; not one of sadness, or pain, or really much of anything. It was like he didn’t even know what he was feeling. “Have you gone on a date? Since... you know, the one we went on?”

You blinked. You weren’t sure what exactly you were expecting him to say, but it wasn’t that. After a moment, you shook your head. “No, I haven’t. Have you?”

The corner of his lip twitched, but from your positions, you couldn’t tell if it was pulling towards a smile or a frown. “No.”

Another beat of silence. You continued staring at each other.

“Do you want to?” He asked, his voice so unnaturally devoid of intonation that you once again couldn’t glean the purpose of this discussion.

“What?” The word tumbled out of your mouth fast, defensively.

“I-I mean, are you going to? Like, is there anybody...?”

You looked at him, taking a good few seconds before you answered. He at least seemed nervous now, stuttering, his eyes flitting between you and the ceiling fan.

“No.” You answered plainly. No qualifying statements: any attempts at expounding would just land you in trouble. “You?”

“No...” He echoed. “You would tell me, right? If you were?”

This felt like a trap. Not from Sungchan, you knew he wasn’t like that, but from the Universe, somehow. And no matter what you did, you were going to fall into the spike pit.

“Yeah, Sungchan, of course.” You mustered up your well-practiced casual smile. “Always need approval from the counsel of friends for that kind of stuff.”

He did smile at that—not a full one with teeth, and it didn’t reach his eyes—but he smiled and nodded. “Good. Got to make sure they’re not a weirdo. You know there’s all kinds of magical creatures who will just date human women for the ego trip in bed, right?”

“I did know that,” you chuckled. “But thanks for looking out for me.”

“Always am, Y/N. And I always will be.”

Rocking back and forth from your heels to your toes nervously, you kept your eyes trained on the apartment door in front of you. Sungchan knocked on it. Your actions were stopped by your friend grabbing your arm and pulling you back down to flat feet.

“Y/N, I told you it’s going to be fine, seriously. They’re your friends, too,” he reminded you for probably the twelfth time that day.

When he’d randomly texted you earlier that morning asking if you wanted to go to Jeno’s birthday party with him tonight, you were very hesitant to accept. Mostly because you hadn’t received an invite from the birthday wolf himself. But after some more pestering from Sungchan, you gave in. Maybe if you didn’t have such a weak heart, you would’ve been firmer on your no. But instead, here you were, having signed your name under Sungchan’s on the birthday card the two of you bought on your way over, a gift card tucked inside with enough money pre-loaded on it to cover a nice meal for Jeno and his girlfriend.

“Then why didn’t he—” Your whispered question was cut off by the door swinging open, the bright smile of Lee Jeno greeting you.

“Hey guys, come on in!” The werewolf opened the door even wider, not seeming surprised at all to see you there next to Sungchan. He gave the both of you hugs after closing the door behind you.

You patted his back in the hug, offering a sheepish smile, “Hey, Jeno, Happy Birthday. Sorry to just show up. Sungchan insisted it was fine…”

“Oh, don’t worry about it! Everyone knows if we’re inviting Sungchan that we’re inviting you, too. It’s cool.” He said brightly. “You want something to drink?”

Trying not to get stuck on that little information bomb he’d dropped so casually, you looked around the fairly packed apartment, recognizing most everyone who was there, including a couple people by the drinks table. “You know, I see Jaemin and Donghyuck over by the drinks, I’ll go get it myself. Thank you, though, and Happy Birthday again.”

Jeno perked up in a different direction as if he’d heard his name being called—which he very well could’ve with his superior hearing—and he took off, disappearing into the kitchen. You’d been to Jeno and Jaemin’s place a few times before, mostly to hang out with Jaemin over the time that you’d known the dryad from Bot Club, and more recently, a couple times for group hangouts since Jaemin, Jeno, Jeno’s girlfriend, and Sungchan were all friends.

“I’m going to get some food,” Sungchan nodded towards the same direction Jeno had gone in. “Want anything?”

You stood on your tiptoes, unable to discern any of the options they had available, other than the fact there would be a lot of it to feed the werewolf guests. “Just get extra of whatever you think I’ll like, I’m not very hungry right now.”

“On it.”

While he went to do that, you made your way across the living room to the two dryads you had spotted earlier, both standing by the drinks table.

“Hey…” You said, still feeling awkward despite Jeno’s easy acceptance of you.

“Y/N! Hey!” Donghyuck greeted you cheerily.

“You made it!” Jaemin gave you a one-armed hug.

“Sounds like you were expecting me then?”

“Well, yeah.” Donghyuck said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world (which was bewildering to you, considering you didn’t even know you were coming until this afternoon).

The two dryads exchanged a look.

“I mean, Sungchan was coming, so…” Jaemin shrugged.

Donghyuck peered around the party. “Speaking of, where’d your wolfboy go?”

“He went to get some food. And he’s not. my. wolfboy, you little shit.” You glared at him. “And don’t call him a wolfboy either, you know he doesn’t like to be called stuff like that. Call Jeno ‘puppy’ or whatever all you want but leave Sungchan out of it.”

“I thought he didn’t like dog terms, but wolf terms he was fine with, since he is a werewolf.” Jaemin said.

“Yeah.” Donghyuck nodded.

You put your hands on your hips with a frank sigh, “As if wolfboy isn’t also diminutive and meant to—”

“Woah, abort, abort, Y/N’s going into Renjun-mode.”

Jaemin looked over at the other dryad regretfully. “Worse than Renjun-mode, this isn’t just educational.”

“You two are so obnoxious, I’m going to stage a coup in Bot Club one of these days,” you declared with a scoff.

“Hey...” Another voice entered the conversation from over your shoulder, and you looked up to see Sungchan stepping in between you and Donghyuck, a plate loaded up with food in his hand.

“Speak of the wolf and he shall appear.” Donghyuck had a wicked grin on his face. You were amazed sometimes that he wasn’t a fairy.

“What were you guys talking about? Y/N didn’t look happy.”

“It was nothing, Sungchan, don’t worry about it.” You tried to reassure him, sending pointed stares at each of the dryads with you.

Donghyuck was apparently not going to let up, though. “Hey, Sungchan, you down to do a little thought experiment with me?”

“Thought experiment?” The werewolf echoed.

“Yeah, just real quick. I ask you a hypothetical question, you give me a hypothetical answer. Just for fun.”

“A thought experiment with Donghyuck. Sounds thrilling, sure.” Sungchan agreed humorously, popping a piece of food in his mouth.

“So, if someone were to call you dog-like terms—which we know you’re not cool with and would never do—who would you most be okay with doing that?”

The werewolf narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Why would anybody do that?”

“It’s a thought experiment, Sungchan, come on. Play in this space with me!” Donghyuck whined, shaking the other man’s shoulder.

“Let’s rephrase then,” Jaemin joined in, a mischievous glint in his eye. You looked around to make sure Chenle wasn’t secretly listening in or something, because this surely had to be the work of your fairy prince acquaintance. You spotted the fairy very engaged in his conversation with his dragon roommate Jisung and a few other people. It seemed like the two dryads really were just deciding to be the absolute worst all on their own.

“Narrower scope. Would you be okay with, for example, Y/N calling you stuff like that?”

“Why would she do that?” Sungchan asked, confused.

“Yeah, why would I do that?” You asked, angry. They were clearly trying to get at something specific, make him admit something.

Jaemin offered an example, “Well, you know, Jeno’s girlfriend calls him ‘pup’ as a term of endearment.”

“And why would I do that?!” You repeated, feeling your stomach drop to the floor at how exactly he stressed those words.

“We’re getting off-topic here, it’s all hypothetical, remember?” It was amazingly Donghyuck who sort of saved you. “We know Y/N would never do it. But like… if she did, for some reason unbeknownst to us, what would you do? Would you be okay with it?”

Sungchan’s brow was furrowed as he seemed to genuinely contemplate this while he ate another bite of food. You, meanwhile, were plotting how best to kill two dryads. You knew enough from Bot Club, maybe a super-strong version of the magical weed spray you used would work... Were dryads more plant or more person?

“Well…” The werewolf finally began his answer, seeming to choose each word carefully. “Since I know Y/N, I know that if she were, in this batshit, hypothetical scenario, to do that, that she wouldn’t mean it in a derogatory way. So I guess I’d be more okay with her doing it than other people. Definitely more than you two weirdos who are posing this thought experiment that isn’t fun at all.”

“Thank you, Sungchan.” Donghyuck grinned at him, then turned to Jaemin. “I thought that was very fun and enlightening. What about you, Jaemin?”

Jaemin nodded thoughtfully. “I had a great time. Y/N?”

“You guys are so fucking annoying.” You groaned, grabbing a piece of food from Sungchan’s plate. “Leave me out of your thought experiments next time, please.”

The spring semester ended not long after Jeno’s birthday party, and you very thankfully didn’t have to take any summer classes, freeing up a lot of spare time for you. Sungchan, on the other hand, had to take a couple courses in order to make sure he would graduate on time. While you jokingly whined and complained when he told you about it, you were secretly relieved to have extra reasons to avoid him. As terrible as that sounded.

This afternoon, while he was in class, you had gone down to the river with Shotaro and Yuta, who miraculously both had a day off work at the same time. You didn’t even realize Jasmine & Pearls had enough employees to let the both of them take the same day off.

You were sat in your pop-up chair on the small beachy area, pulling your phone from your bag to check it while the two sirens continued lazing about in the waist-deep water. There was a text from Sungchan from a few minutes ago, and as you opened it up to read it, you realized that he was just sending you a funny picture he’d found somewhere online.

[you: aren’t you supposed to be focusing on class right now?]

“Sungchan?” Shotaro called out to you knowingly.

“What?” You yelled back, holding a hand up to shadow your face from the sun. Looking around your chair, you grabbed your baseball cap that you’d won in Valentine’s Bingo, pulling that on now that you were out of the water.

“You’ve got this little smile on your face that you only get when Sungchan texts you.”

“No I do not.”

Yuta stood up from where he had been floating on his back, shaking the water out of his hair as he asked you with a smirk, “So you don’t have a text from Sungchan on your phone screen right now?”

Your phone buzzed then, a welcome excuse to not have to answer that.

[sungchan: allegedly]

[you: i don’t want you whining to me when you fail that class]

You clicked your phone off, showing them the blank screen. “Nope, nothing on my screen.”

“You’re such a liar,” Yuta sighed, saying it as if it were as simple of a fact as the sky being blue or the grass being green. He trudged through the water up the shore until he could join you, plopping down in his chair next to yours. They had both kept their legs this afternoon instead of bringing out their tails, and he kicked his apart as he got comfortable.

Shotaro jogged up from the water too, grabbing the cooler and rooting around in it for a second. After securing the other half of his sandwich from the lunch that you all had eaten earlier, he sat down next to Yuta, taking a big bite from it.

You took Yuta’s lead and settled back in your chair, closing your eyes and just enjoying the warmth of the late afternoon Sun.

“He talks about you all the time, by the way.” Shotaro cut into your peace and quiet. If you had something within arm’s reach other than your metal reusable water bottle, you would’ve thrown it at him.

“Shotaro...” You groaned, rolling your eyes. You didn’t even need to ask who he was talking about.

“Seriously! ‘Y/N and I did this today.’ ‘Don’t wait up for me, I’m going to the movies with Y/N.’ ‘Y/N told me this funny story today.’ ‘Did you know such and such about this or that? Y/N’s so smart.’” He admittedly did a pretty good Sungchan impression. You would’ve laughed at it in any other context, but instead you were just annoyed.

“Yeah, well, we’re friends. We hang out, and do things together. He’s going to be talking about me,” you snapped. “He talks about you a bunch too. Because you guys, you know, live together. He also talks about his professors, and Jeno, and—”

“But it’s not the same.”

“Really?”

“Really.” He insisted.

Shotaro clearly wasn’t going to let up, so you momentarily engaged this line of thinking, hoping you could squash it. “What’s so different, then?”

“He’ll find just any reason to bring you up, for one. We’re grocery shopping? ‘Oh, Y/N likes this flavor.’ ‘We should pick this up for when Y/N comes over.’ ‘Shotaro don’t get that, Y/N doesn’t like it.’” His impression turned more high-pitched and whining. “We’re watching TV? ‘This reminds me of when Y/N and I did this...’ ‘I bet Y/N would love this show, we should watch it the next time she comes over.’ ‘Y/N has a shirt just like that character.’ We’re hanging out with other people? ‘Hey Sungchan, what uh, what are you giggling at on your phone over there?’” He first kept his normal tone of voice, then switched into his over-the-top fake-Sungchan. “‘Oh, Y/N just texted me something funny. But it’s an inside joke, so you guys wouldn’t get it, sorry.’ ‘Man, I wish Y/N could’ve come, sucks she had to work.’”

“Are you done?” You asked tersely, unamused.

“I could go on ad nauseum—”

“One could argue you already have.”

Yuta snickered.

“—but let’s call it there.”

“Thank God.”

Shotaro wasn’t done with his spiel yet, though. “I have had multiple friends, when he’ll first bring you around somewhere, quietly ask me if you’re Sungchan’s girlfriend and they like, missed when you two started dating.”

“I get it, I get it.” You said firmly, bringing a hand up to rub your face.

“Well?”

“Well, what?”

“Y/N, you’re an MCS major, I’m sure you’ve heard about what can happen to werewolves if there’s something discordant in their lives that isn’t alleviated?”

“You think he’s going to get pupsick because he’s allegedly got a crush on me?” You sputtered out in disbelief, your voice caught between a chuckle and a scoff at how absurd that sounded to you.

“It happened to Jeno.”

“Yeah, but he’s Jeno. With all due respect and no intention to kinkshame, he probably lets his girlfriend put a collar on him.”

Yuta shot up as he cackled, slapping his knee and coughing. He scrambled to grab his water bottle, taking a couple sips as he struggled to catch his breath.

Shotaro pushed on like you hadn’t said anything, “Now, I don’t want to have to put up with a pupsick Jung Sungchan, do you? That sounds awful. For me, obviously, since I live with him.”

“Shotaro, you are half-right about one thing.”

“And what’s that?” He asked smugly.

“I am kind of an MCS major. So I also know that Sungchan isn’t overly touchy with me, he hasn’t given me anything of his that smells like him, he doesn’t feed me, or do any other pre-mating behaviors that are ingrained in werewolves.” You ticked them each off on your fingers. “Look, I hate stereotyping you guys by your species. But if he’s apparently so down bad that he can’t help but talk about me every waking second of the day, wouldn’t at least one of these things that are literally instinctual to him have happened?”

Shotaro raised an eyebrow. “You do know that he’s half-werewolf, right?”

“What?” You blinked at him.

“Yeah, his mom’s a werewolf, and his dad’s a human.”

You’d had an MCS class on the Effects of Modern Integration, which had a unit specifically on the subject of cross-species offspring. Some species could have offspring together while others couldn’t, it depended both on genetic similarity and compatibility of their magic. With humans having no magic, that left only genetic similarity as a factor, making them a lot more compatible for producing such cross-species offspring. Werewolves and humans were one of the more common pairings to have such offspring, as they had one of the most extensive histories of living together.

Sungchan’s behavior on your first and only date immediately sprung to mind. His hesitance around humans dating werewolves just because they’re werewolves. “Are they...?”

“Happily married. They helped us move into our apartment last year.” Shotaro apparently knew exactly where your question was going. “But yeah, Sungchan’s half-human. As best I can tell, he’s kind of like a super-zen werewolf. Able to control everything a lot better than full werewolves because all of the wolf instincts and stuff aren’t as powerful.”

“He still shifts?” Despite the estimated number of half-werewolves being greater than the confirmed population of sphinxes, unicorns, and phoenixes combined, there was little actually known about them academically. It was all word of mouth, as no large-scale study had been able to be done on them. They were apparently reluctant to come forward and make themselves known to researchers. And their friends.

“Yeah, every full moon. Which I think is why he really just considers himself a werewolf.”

“I didn’t know,” you admitted, biting the inside of your cheek as you were still absorbing this information.

“Anyway, he can probably control whatever pre-mating instincts he does have a lot better than full werewolves!”

“And he’s probably doing that because he knows that you know what pre-mating behaviors look like and thinks you would get weirded out.” Yuta suggested, finally entering the conversation instead of just letting you two go back and forth over him. “Since you’re kind of an MCS major.”

“Exactly!”

You pursed your lips, an uneasiness creeping up on you about the whole situation. “I don’t know guys…”

“You said he doesn’t feed you?” Yuta questioned thoughtfully.

“No, he doesn’t. And you two are around us plenty, have either of you ever seen him try to?” You asked pointedly.

“No, but what Shotaro was saying about grocery shopping. He always buys your favorite foods, flavors he knows you likes, even makes Shotaro put stuff back that he knows you think are unappetizing.”

“I’ve never asked him to do anything like that.”

“And yet he does. Now, overly touchy is subjective. Does he—”

“No, we’re not doing this.” You cut him off, crossing your arms over your chest.

“Doing what?”

“Dissecting mine and Sungchan’s friendship and putting it up on a conspiracy board. I’m not playing. And if that’s all you guys are going to do, then I’m leaving.”

Shotaro jumped in, “Y/N, why can’t you even consider that—”

“Because he already asked to be friends and I said yes,” you said angrily, feeling your blood finally reach its boiling point. “I knew what I was getting myself into, and having you guys trying to convince me that it’s something that he already said it’s not, isn’t fucking helping.”

They were both quiet for a beat, and you clenched your jaw. You couldn’t keep sitting right now, you had to go somewhere, do something. If you stayed here, somebody’s feelings were going to get hurt. You stood up, stuffing all of your things haphazardly back into your bag. “Actually, fuck it, I’m leaving anyway.”

“Y/N, we didn’t mean to—”

“I know, you think you’re trying to help or whatever the fuck. But just drop it, okay?” You shoved your feet back in your shoes and slung your bag over your shoulder. “I need to go or I’m going to end up saying something nasty that I don’t really mean and regret it. I’ll see you guys later.”

And with that, you took off, leaving the chair you had borrowed from Yuta on the shore. You took your baseball cap back off to mess with your damp hair as you speedwalked down the city sidewalks. All the angry energy from wanting to just go off on your friends was still coursing through you, and despite Yuta having to pick you up and drive you the couple miles or so to the river, you figured that you might as well walk the whole way back home to blow off steam.

A little more than halfway home, your phone buzzed in your hand with a call, and you glanced at it intending to just send it to voicemail. But it was Sungchan. You stared down at it as you waited to cross a street, an unsure thumb hovering over your screen.

Glancing between your phone and the crosswalk signal, it changed to walk, and you rushed to cross. The call went to voicemail.

Just a few seconds later, your phone lit up with the missed call, a voicemail, then a text from him. You sighed, clicking on the voicemail first.

“Hey, Y/N,” Sungchan’s voice came through clearly. It sounded like he was outside, probably on campus and fresh out of class, if you had to guess by the time. “It’s Sungchan. Obviously. Uh, anyway, I just got out of class, wanted to see if you maybe wanted to come over? I know you’re supposed to be with Shotaro and Yuta, but Shotaro just texted me and said—well, it’s kind of a long story. Just let me know if you can come over, and I’ll tell you when you get here, okay? I’m headed back to my place right now. Okay, bye.”

Shotaro.

Still fucking meddling after you asked him to drop it. If you were less than halfway back from the river, you’d turn around and throttle him.

You checked the text from Sungchan.

[sungchan: hey! i’m out of class. are you busy?]

[you: i can be over in twenty. is that okay?]

You shifted uncomfortably as you stood in front of the front door to Shotaro and Sungchan’s apartment. Your hair wasn’t as damp thanks to your long walk in the hot Sun, and your skin was dry, but you still held yourself as you stared down the center of the white door. You hadn’t knocked yet. You didn’t want to know what Shotaro had told Sungchan, having already convinced yourself that it was everything. That you were about to walk into Friendzoning 2: Electric Boogaloo, this time with Letting Y/N Down Easy. It made your stomach churn, your chest squeeze like a vice around your heart, and your head feel like it had been cast in lead.

You shifted your weight between your feet on the welcome mat, trying to muster up the strength to just knock on the fucking door, when it swung open.

Sungchan was in a pair of dark sweatpants and a dark red t-shirt from your school’s astronomy club—dated for fall two years ago. He offered you a familiar smile, stepping back from the doorway to make room for you. “Hey, I thought I heard you. Come in.”

“Hey. And thanks.” You nodded, slipping by him into his apartment.

Wordlessly, he started leading the way further back towards his room. You longingly looked at the wide-open space of the living room as you disappeared down the hallway. In his bedroom, you saw his desk taken up by his laptop and a spread of notebooks and papers. His bookbag was in his desk chair.

“Sorry, I know that’s your usual spot, but I was doing some homework.” Sungchan had noticed where your gaze was focused. He patted the foot of his bed as he went to sit down against the headboard. “Come on, you can sit with me for once.”

You swallowed and nodded, stepping back out of your shoes and setting your bag down. Climbing onto the end of his bed, you sat with your legs criss-crossed, fidgeting with your fingers in your lap.

“So why did Shotaro text you?” You decided to just go straight into it. No small talk or pleasantries about his class or what homework he was working on. “What’d he say?”

“He told me that he told you that I’m half-werewolf,” Sungchan said bluntly. “I figured I owed you a bit more of an explanation.”

Oh. Well that wasn’t what you were expecting at all.

“You really don’t owe me anything, Sungchan,” you shook your head, your eyes trained on his comforter. “You don’t have to explain who you are to me if you don’t want to.”

“I want to.”

It was a touching sentiment, but it felt like a hot knife right in your gut. He wanted to because he cared about you as a friend. Not in the same way that you cared about him.

You could only manage a soft, “Okay…”

“It’s not some big secret, really. I’m not ashamed of my dad or anything. I love him, he’s a cool guy.” Sungchan started, and you felt like that first part was more to reassure you that it was okay for you to know. He was pointing to a picture that you’d seen a countless number of times before, hanging next to the mirror above his dresser. It was of him at his high school graduation, flanked on either side by his parents, proud, beaming smiles on all of their faces. You’d always assumed they were both werewolves when you’d looked at that picture, and only ever noticed that Sungchan got his smile from his mom, and his nose from his dad. The height difference between his mom and dad never really registered to you, as Sungchan towered over both of them, but now you did see that his mom was almost a head taller than his dad. Not a trait intrinsic to either species, just more of a trend.

But then, his tone turned a little more pensive, “I just... don’t tell people at first because I get a whole slew of questions, from the mundane stuff like ‘How was it growing up with one werewolf parent and one human parent?’ Which like... I don’t know, it was like growing up with two parents? To the people who think that I’m some oddity and therefore they can just ask me completely unprompted about what my dick looks like. And then at the end of it, it doesn’t really matter anyway. I’m just some dumb mutt to them, no matter how you look at it.”

“Sungchan—” His name came out of your mouth instinctually, pained, as you could only imagine what he had experienced to ever be able to call himself that, even cynically as he was doing now.

“It’s okay. I don’t really care about those kinds of people.” He reassured you, offering a small smile. “That’s why I don’t waste my time on them anymore. I just say I’m a werewolf, and eventually they’ll find out more if they need to.”

“I’m sorry, that Shotaro just—”

“Y/N, it’s fine, seriously. I’m okay with you knowing. I know you’re not going to be weird about it. And Shotaro knew that too; I’m sure however it came up in conversation, it made sense for him to tell you.”

You thought about the context of when Shotaro revealed Sungchan’s lineage, wincing minutely. “Okay. Thanks.”

“You can ask me questions, I don’t mind since it’s you.” He then added teasingly, “Come on, Miss Magical Creatures Studies, I know you want to…”

“Not because I think you’re some oddity to be studied, but because I care and I want to understand more about you…” You prefaced your question. “Shotaro said that you still shift every full moon. Are your shifts any different than full werewolves?”

“From what I can tell watching other wolves shift, it’s not as painful, for one. So, bonus!” He said the last word with mock excitement. “The shift itself doesn’t last as long. And some wolves, especially younger ones who are going through their first shifts, tend to get kind of moodier in the days leading up to the full moon. I never got that. Just, everything is kind of… less for me.”

“Everything?” You asked, brows furrowed with confusion.

“My senses are more heightened than a human’s but less than the average werewolf, when I’m not shifted.”

“Ah.”

“And I probably wouldn’t fare great in a werewolf arm wrestling championship,” he tacked on lightheartedly.

“Damn, I had you signed up in one for this weekend,” you joked, clicking your tongue in the back of your throat in fake disappointment. “Put money down and everything.”

He played along, “Well, I guess I can still try for you.”

You smiled to yourself, then looked up at him as you took a deep breath. Whether or not you two were here because you cared about each other in different ways, you at least still cared about each other. And you’d be an idiot to throw out that kind of connection. You’d have to suck it up, hunker down, and connect with him on his terms.

“Thanks for being so open about this with me, Sungchan. I know it wasn’t your choice to tell me, and I know you already said it wasn’t a secret either. But still, I feel... very grateful that you would want to share any part of yourself like this with me.” You tried to pick your words carefully, to convey as much genuine emotion as you could without veering too far into romantic territory. You could still easily picture yourself saying something like this to Jaemin, or Shotaro. Maybe not Donghyuck, though.

“Ah, what’s that?” Sungchan squeezed his eyes shut, a bashful smile coming to his face.

“What’s what?” You asked with a breathy chuckle, feigning offense. “Am I not allowed a moment of sincerity?”

“No, you’re not.” He said it in an overly joking tone, so you knew that he wasn’t actually upset with you.

“And why not?” You mimicked his tone.

He sighed, teasing falling from his voice as he fully leaned back against his headboard, seeming to take you in for a few seconds before answering. “Not if you’re going to be looking at me like that when you’re being all sincere.”

“Like what?”

“Never mind.”

“No, no sir. You do not get to start an avenue of conversation like that and not finish it,” you pointed at him accusingly. “What am I looking at you like?”

The werewolf held your gaze steadily as he said, “Like you want something more.”

You felt your stomach drop as you rushed to get up from his bed, putting even more distance between the two of you. “I’m sorry, Sungchan. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

He knew, he knew, he knew.

“Y/N, don’t get me wrong, please.” Sungchan stood up after you, grasping your hand before you could run out on instinct. His grip was loose so that you could leave if you wanted, but the presence was enough to let you know that he still wanted you there, to listen to him. His hand was warm as it held yours, but it burned like you’d grabbed red-hot metal. “I-I think you’re one of the most incredible, smart, fantastic people I’ve ever met. And I’m so grateful that you gave me a second chance.”

“But you don’t like me like that. Yeah, I can see where this is going.” You shook him off, searching the floor for your bag and shoes. This was going to be embarrassing, putting sneakers back on after getting rejected like that.

“No, I do.”

Sungchan’s words stopped you in your tracks, and you slowly turned back around to face him again. Your heart was a drum banging in your ears, you couldn’t trust that they weren’t all—your heart and your ears—playing tricks on you.

“You… what?” You were dumbfounded, staring up at him with a mixture of disbelief and thinly-veiled suspicion. You’d spent far too long convincing yourself that he just liked you as a friend to throw it all out over three words.

“I was going to ask you on another date, that night at the boba shop, I really was,” he explained. “But I realized just how lovely and wonderful you were. And I thought that you didn’t deserve... all the hatred that would come with it.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I love my parents, but growing up I got to see firsthand just the worst sorts of people… The things that my parents would be called, that I would get called, by other humans and other werewolves. It’s gotten a lot better, but I mean, Jeno’s girlfriend got called a knotslut at the park out of nowhere. And you don’t deserve to have that be your life.”

You narrowed your eyes up at him. “You think you’re not worth it?”

It was his turn to be thrown off-guard. “What?”

“You think that you, and being with you, aren’t worth it?” You reiterated.

“I wasn’t really thinking of it like that,” he admitted, scratching the back of his head.

“Do you think that? That you’re not worth it?”

“Well now that you say it like that, no, I don’t think that.” He frowned thoughtfully, his brow set with determination.

“And, I know you didn’t mean it like this, Sungchan, but you took the choice away from me. For a very sweet reason, I acknowledge that. But you didn’t give me a say in the matter. Imagine how that makes me feel.” You sighed, watching guilt flicker across his face. “I’m not going to pretend like I know at all what it was like for you growing up. Or what it’s like now. But I can tell you that I want this, that I want you. I want to be there for you, just like I know you’d be there for me if something ever did happen.”

“Of course I would be,” he declared.

Taking a step closer to him, you tentatively let a familiar airiness return to your chest, chasing out the painful squeeze that had been suffocating you since February. “See? We’ll have each other, Sungchan. Someone calling me something won’t matter as long as you’ll be there with me afterwards. You don’t have to prevent everything bad ever from happening, just hold my hand afterwards until it’s all better, okay?”

“Okay,” he nodded resolutely. “I can do that.”

“And I’ll do the same for you. Deal?” You held your pinky finger out to him.

He hooked his with yours. “Deal.”

Sungchan lowered your connected hands, and you watched curiously as he unlinked his pinky, only to turn your hand over with both of his and trace gentle circles into the palm of your hand with his pointer finger.

“Y/N?” He murmured.

You snapped your focus back up to his face at the sound of his voice, trepid and unsure. He was still gazing down at your hands as you replied, “Yes?”

“I know we really can’t start over completely now, but…”

“If you say ‘friends’ right now, even as a joke, I’m going to kill you with my bare hands, half-werewolf strength be damned.” You whispered through gritted teeth.

He sputtered out a chuckle, shaking his head fondly and the circles on your palm never slowing. “No, no, I wouldn’t do that to you. That would be a terrible joke.”

“Good.”

“I was going to ask...” He inhaled shakily, finally drawing his eyes up to yours. “If we could try that date again?”

A smile pulled at the corners of your mouth, and you nodded quickly. “Yeah, Sungchan. I’d love that.”

Sungchan beamed at you, a heart-stopping, adorable, lopsided grin that now made your chest flutter with hope. “Okay! Thank you, thank you!”

You couldn’t help but giggle at his enthusiasm. “You’re welcome.”

Leaping to your feet at the knock that just came from your front door, you ran to answer it. You threw the door open, abuzz with excitement.

It was just about a week later, and you and Sungchan were finally trying that date again. You’d actually seen him once in the intermittent days, at a previously scheduled group movie night at Jeno and Jaemin’s place. The two of you were all knowing smiles and questionably accidental bumps and brushes of skin under the blanket that you shared that night.

But tonight Sungchan was in your hallway, smiling nervously down at you. “Hi.”

“Hi, Sungchan.” You fidgeted with your shirt. He had specifically told you to dress casually and comfortable, but you still felt weirdly underdressed, even seeing that he was in a t-shirt and jeans himself.

“These are for you,” he said quietly, bringing out a bouquet of flowers from behind his back.

As you accepted them from him, you immediately realized that they were made of paper, intricately folded tulips, lilies, and roses of all colors. You couldn’t help but let out a small gasp, thinking about how much time it must have taken him. “An origami bouquet. Oh, Sungchan…”

“I figured you had plenty of hearts by now…” He said as he flushed from his neck upwards.

“They’re beautiful.” You got on your tiptoes, putting a hand on his shoulder to steady yourself as you pressed a chaste kiss to his cheek. “Thank you.”

His cheeks were bright pink as you turned around to set them down inside, then looked back to him expectantly. The werewolf led the way out to the parking lot, except you didn’t see his car anywhere around. There was a familiar old blue pickup truck, however, which he was walking towards.

“Your car in the shop or something?” You asked curiously. “Why are you driving Yuta’s truck?”

“Utility.” He answered cryptically, opening the passenger door for you.

“What does that mean?” You questioned with a chuckle, scooting into the middle of the bench seat.

You’d gotten your seatbelt situated by the time Sungchan had walked around and opened the driver’s side. He didn’t seem to have been expecting you to be in the middle, pausing for a second, and looking around flustered as he climbed into the truck too.

“It’s a surprise, like I said,” he muttered, fastening his own seatbelt and starting the truck.

Sungchan drove with one hand on the wheel, the other on his leg next to yours. You drummed your fingers on your own knee contemplatively.

“Sungchan?”

“Yeah?”

“Can I hold your hand?”

“Wh— Yeah, of course.” He laughed shakily as you laced your fingers with his. “You don’t need to ask me about stuff like that.”

“Well you’re so tense right now that I was afraid that if I just grabbed your hand, you might freak and crash the car.”

He cringed. “So you can tell?”

“Yeah, I can tell.” You patted his arm with your other hand. “What’s got you so wound up? It’s just me.”

“Well, yeah, it’s you,” he repeated. “I’ve already messed up so many times with you. I don’t want to fuck up again.”

You contemplated this for a second, watching the passing streetlights. “Think about it like this: Could you possibly fuck up again worse than our first date?”

“I hope not.”

“Then you’re already off to a great start.”

“Y/N, I think you need higher standards,” he said without an ounce of humor or joking in his tone.

You couldn’t help but burst into laughter at that. “Sungchan, you made me an entire origami bouquet and organized a whole night out to surprise me. I think my standards are pretty okay.”

“Alright, but you’ve got to promise that this is my last chance. Like, three strikes and I’m out. Seriously, if I was some other guy, I would’ve told you to throw me to the curb a long time ago.”

You looked over at him incredulously. “Are you seriously advocating against yourself right now? Is this some kind of reverse psychology flirting technique that I’ve never heard of?”

“No, I’m just not going to stop being a good friend because you’re on a date with me. I told you I would always look out for you, and I meant it, even if it’s not in my best interest.”

Nodding with a raised eyebrow, you decided to take his advice at face value. “Okay, your input is noted as part of the council of friends’ round table on my new guy.”

You saw a smile tug at the corner of his mouth. “Good.”

“So, did you tell Shotaro what we were doing?” You asked, curious now that the topic of friends had been brought up.

“I told him we were hanging out.”

“Did you tell him it was a date?”

“No. Did you?”

“If I did, do you think you would have gotten out of your apartment unscathed?” You snorted.

“Fair point.”

The car ride passed with mostly idle chitchat, until he made a turn away from the city center, off onto a back road that you were unfamiliar with. The buildings gave way to trees, the streetlights being replaced only with moonlight and the headlights of the truck or any lone car that you would pass occasionally. A while later, the asphalt became a dirt road, the trees around you getting thicker and thicker. You looked around in interest as he slowed the truck to a stop in a clearing.

“We’re here?” You asked, looking over at him. Your eyes had long adjusted to the nighttime, and you could clearly make out his features.

“We’re here,” he confirmed with a nod, turning the vehicle off.

Sungchan climbed out, helping you down with a hand, and you immediately knew why he’d had both of you dress casually. You were in the middle of the woods, being led to the back of the truck by the hand by your date. He opened the tailgate, and let go of your hand to hop up into the empty bed.

“Wait there,” he requested, now well and good towering over you.

You nodded.

He retrieved a large duffel bag from the truck bed, and you looked curiously at everything he brought out of it. Pillow after pillow, blanket after blanket. The truck bed soon looked like a bed bed, and Sungchan came back over to plop down on the tailgate, toeing his shoes off and setting them aside at the end. He gestured to the bedding with little fanfare.

“All done!”

You hopped up next to him, pulling your shoes off as well and putting them away next to his. Looking at him with a knowing smirk, you nodded to the fact that the two of you were still sitting up. “Now what, Sung?”

“Ah, you’re going to make me spell it out?” He rubbed the back of his neck, ducking his head awkwardly.

“No,” you laughed. “I’m not.”

He took that as his cue to lay down first, leaving an open space right beside him. You settled into his side with no hesitation, resting your head on his chest as he pulled a final fluffy blanket over the two of you. Being a half-werewolf, Sungchan was pretty warm, but you were grateful for the extra comfort anyway.

Up above you two was a gorgeous expanse of a night sky. A waxing gibbous glowed down at you, stars twinkling and winking in and out at irregular intervals.

“It’s so peaceful…” He murmured quietly, shifting under you, still settling in.

“I don’t know, it’s kind of scary out here…”

Sungchan moved to sit up slightly, looking down at you with concern. “Really? You think so?”

“Yeah, what if there’s wolves?”

“Oh my god you’re so annoying,” he groaned, even as he readjusted his arms to hold you closer.

You, meanwhile, were giggling maniacally at your incredible joke, hiding your face in his shirt as you tried to recover. “You mean I’m the funniest person you know.”

“In your dreams.”

Looking back up at the sky, you pointed to a random speck of light. “Do you know what star that is?”

“Which one?” Sungchan asked, craning his head to try to get in your line of sight.

“I don’t know, any of them.” You dropped your hand back down to his front. “You’re in astronomy club, tell me about them, you big Earth Science nerd. Which I say with great affection and fondness.”

“Okay, so you see the Moon?”

“That’s not a star. I do know that.”

He chuckled, which you felt underneath your cheek. “I figured as much. So, starting at the Moon, if you go due North—” he pointed, and you tried your best to follow the path of his index finger. “The first and brightest star you can see. See it?”

“Yep!” You nodded, seeing the exact star he was talking about.

“Then go the right, just a little, there’s a pair of twin stars, see them?”

“Mm… mhm! Yes!”

“Okay, down, and over to the right some more, we’re tracing out the top of a head, then we’re going back up, there’s another pair of twin stars, you see?”

You squinted, losing the top of the head he was talking about, but finally found the second set of twin stars he’d mentioned. “Yeah, found them!”

“Cool. Straight down from that pair, we’re going to find one, two, then over to the left to get the chin, over and up to get the other cheek, and up to round out the head.”

You nodded, vaguely able to picture what he was talking about. “Okay… so whose head was that?”

“Oh, I get to teach Miss MCS Major something!” Sungchan teased.

“Interdisciplinary major…” You reminded him under your breath.

“So that was Lykos, the great wolf in the sky. As in, lycanthropy.”

“Back when scientists thought werewolves were humans with an affliction that could be passed on to other humans. The quote ‘condition’ they were diagnosed with was lycanthropy.” You easily pulled a basic definition of it from class. “Of course we know now that’s not true. Like witches, werewolves are an entirely different species, not just a variety of human. And there’s never been any credible account of a werewolf turning a human into a werewolf.”

“Why is it that humans just think everything is also a human, even when it very clearly is not?”

“Well, if I were to give us humans benefit of the doubt? Uh, to relate to it? Empathy? Recognition of yourself in the other? I mean, it’s better than labeling everything a monster and hunting it down. Which, we also did a bit of.”

“Us monsters did plenty hunting of you guys, too.”

“You say as if you’re not also half-human.”

“Hey,” he frowned down at you suspiciously. “Are you recognizing yourself in the other with me right now? I think we should really save that for the second date—”

“Oh, shut up!” You gave his front a smack as you let out an indignant scoff.

Sungchan was kicking his legs under the blanket as he laughed from his stomach, and when you looked up at him, you saw his eyes squeezed shut tight as he cackled. You watched him with a smitten smile, unable to even pretend to be annoyed for any longer as his guffaws petered out to chuckles then to giggles until he eventually sobered up, and settled his gaze with a heart-stopping grin on you.

The two of you were quiet for a moment, just looking at each other, then he broke the eye contact, turning his eyes back up to the stars. “Uhm— I didn’t finish telling you about Lykos.”

You settled back into your spot, and with your ear to his chest, you could hear that his heartbeat was faster than it’d been before. You wondered if he was thinking the same thing about yours in that moment.

“So, Lykos,” Sungchan picked up where he’d left off before. “You can easily find him by starting at the moon to find his left ear. According to werewolf stories, Lykos was the very first werewolf that we’re all descended from. Because he was so great and powerful, once he passed, his soul ascended to be in the stars to watch over all of his descendants.”

“Wow…” You looked at the stars harder, willing Lykos’ shape to be a little more visible to you than before.

“In astronomy, though, the two twin stars that make up his left ear are called LK 1C04 and LK 2C04. They’re both red giants.”

“Are they going to explode any time soon?”

“Stars are kind of always exploding,” he explained enthusiastically. “They’re perpetually combusting and performing nuclear fusion. Well, most stars, if they haven’t run out of fuel yet.”

“What about when they run out of fuel then?”

“Depends on how big they are. LK 1C04 and 2C04 are both red giants, so when they run out of fuel, they’ll turn into white dwarves. So instead of being a burning ball of gas, they’ll just be emitting a very faint light from the remaining energy leftover from their previous nuclear fusion reactions that they can no longer perform.”

“So they don’t get to go out with a bang.”

“No, not really.” Sungchan pointed up at the sky again. “Okay, you remember Lykos’ chin?”

“Yes…”

“So that’s actually the end of the tail of a squirrel, according to some dryad traditions, or a gecko in some human ones.”

Sungchan sketched out the next constellation for you, then relayed the accompanying folk tale. Some scientific factoids would be interspersed too, and you loved hearing the enthusiasm in his voice as he told you about something he was very clearly interested in. And at some point, with his legs tangled up in yours, your hand curled around his waist, your cheek pressed against his chest, his hand casually rubbing up and down your back underneath your top as he still spoke so eagerly, you found your attention slipping away from black holes and how legends of ancient wyvern society said this or that about some other constellation. You were suddenly grabbing him by the collar with two hands and yanking him over to look at you.

“Y/N?” He asked, absolute bewilderment in his features.

“Jung Sungchan, I’m going to say this once, and please don’t take this the wrong way,” you murmured, holding eye contact with him very seriously. “You’re very attractive when you talk about things that you’re passionate about, and if you don’t kiss me right now I think I’m going to explode.”

Sungchan didn’t need to be told twice, reaching up to cup your cheek. Despite your rather blunt and unromantic request, he still tenderly guided your lips to his. Your eyes fluttered shut as you melted into the kiss, the grip you had on his collar relaxing. His mouth was soft as he moved it ever so slightly against yours. His thumb stroked over your cheekbone, the hand on your back pulling you even closer to him. One of your hands grabbed his waist to anchor yourself down to something on Earth.

It ended all too soon for your liking, though. You were pretty sure you could kiss Jung Sungchan forever. He pressed one more quick kiss to the corner of your mouth before leaning back to drink you in.

“You’re so beautiful…” he murmured, stroking your cheek again.

“Sung?” You whispered.

“Hm?”

“Do you want to kiss me again?”

He nodded, and you leaned forward to bump your nose against his. A giddy smile spread across your face.

“Good. Me too.”

sequel :･ﾟ✧｡･:･*

⤷ blog masterlist  | anthology masterlist

[digitaldiarystuff]

Enemies (To Lovers?)

so i’m shocking myself with how many stories i upload in one day but let’s not jinx it lol

this was a request but i can’t find where, anyways hope you enjoyy💖

————

pairing: Declan Rice x Y/N

summary: you and Declan never really clicked but now that you’re locked in a room what other option is there than to talk it out

genre: slight angst maybe also slight smut

————

“Ugh I hate him” you told your friend Ariana the minute you entered the villa.

“Who?” she asked not understanding how you got involved in beef even before talking to anyone at the party.

“Who do you think?” you asked her in a duh voice.

“Dec? Girl you two seriously need to drop this petty act.” she whined fed up with you.

But you couldn’t. You couldn’t just stop this childish hate for Declan Rice, the Arsenal ‘superstar’ You have been in the same friend circle since last summer. When your friends first told you about him you were pretty optimistic actually, everyone told you what a great and genuine guy he was and you thought ‘wow we’d get along well’ but it wasn’t the case. From the moment you first met, Declan had a weird vendetta against you. He showed how much he didn’t like you from the first day you met by spilling his drink on you, granted he might’ve accidentally do it but his actions after were enough.

“Stop laughing” you snickered trying to get the red stain out of your white blouse but Declan kept on smiling.

“At least now you have some colour in your life.” he bit back and you couldn’t believe this was the guy everyone told you about. He certainly didn’t look that great to you, apart from his piercing blue eyes and charming smile that obviously didn’t work for you.

If he’d just apologized like a normal person you’d of course let it go but he didn’t, in fact he constantly made fun of how angry you were and poked fun about it. That’s why you didn’t want to be here today, at his multimillion dollar mansion celebrating his team’s newest win but all your friends, especially Ariana, told you you had to be there. They had this weird fantasy about Declan actually liking you more than you realize and trying to show it like a third grader, pulling your hair and throwing erasers at you. You found it stupid, he was a grown adult and showed how much he disliked you like he was and you returned his hatred by hating him.

“Did I hear my name?” Declan suddenly appeared behind you and put his arm around Ariana and you were thankful he didn’t try it with you.

Deep down, what upset you the most was his behavior towards everyone else. He was seemingly cute and warm with everyone else while he always made fun of you and that made you feel uneasy, what was it that made him dislike you this much? You felt left out but you’d never admit it of course.

“Y/N was just telling me how proud she is of you.” Ariana tried lightening the mood and offer peace but Declan had to ruin it by rolling his eyes.

“Yeah, I’m so proud you make millions by kicking a ball for 90 minutes a week. That’s really noble of you.” you sarcastically said.

“Not all of us has to be chained to a cubicle 40 hours a week” he quipped back and you felt even more angry at him.

“Yeah because some of us need money to pay for real things like rent and food.”

He thankfully left you alone after that and went back to being his other persona.

“Y/N I know you don’t want to hear this but you need to stop being so hostile towards Dec. He’s really not that bad.” Ariana said.

“You’re right Ari, I don’t want to hear it.” you shut her down and grabbed yourself a drink.

You weren’t usually this cold but he had something about him that made you snap instantly. But there was no way you’d be the person to break the friend group so you were just going to have to deal with him.

It was well into the party and you felt the buzz from all the alcohol you consumed which was a lot. You needed it very much to calm your nerves and not start any more fights. You were just sitting on the sofa humming to the song in the background when one of your close friends Kayla suddenly turned to you.

“Y/N can you grab me some painkillers from the guest bathroom? My head’s killing me.” she whined.

You really didn’t want to go snooping around Declan’s home, one because you didn’t know the house quite well and two because you didn’t want him to say anything negative about you.

“Is there anyone else who could do that? I don’t know the house well enough.” you tried but she insisted everyone was either too drunk or outside so you reluctantly agreed. She even gave you the directions to the room and you went upstairs, you’d never admit it but Dec had a good taste in interior design. He didn’t have one of those all white lacking personality type of home, his space had character with some pops of colour in every room including the guest bedroom which was the size of your apartment. You cursed yourself for liking something about him and went into the en-suite connected to the guest bedroom trying to look for the painkillers Kayla described.

You were shuffling around the cabinets having a hard time because you had to steady yourself a few times a minute when you heard some footsteps and figured you took too long and she came to get them herself but as luck would have it, it was actually Declan.

“Oh, it’s you” he said with more softness than he did when you first walked in so you figured he must be intoxicated as well.

“I thought someone was trying to steal something.” he said as he walked over to you.

You didn’t stop looking around to look at him.

“I’m surprised you didn’t accuse me yet.” you scoffed.

“Oh I’m getting to it.” he laughed dryly. “What are you doing here anyway? Trying to see if I have a girlfriend?”

You couldn’t even comprehend his sentence when you heard the door shut. You immediately looked back and saw Declan lean against the en-suite door with his arm. His muscles were flexed as he turned to the bedroom door surprised it has shut down.

He made his way over to the door trying to open it only to be unsuccessful. He wiggled the door knob a few times.

“Why don’t you open it?” you asked and he looked back at you like you were stupid.

“What do you think I’m trying to do?”

“I don’t know, you look like you built those muscles for nothing.”

He tried again but in vein. The door was stuck.

“What the fuck?” he said still trying and you started laughing at your faith.

“You’d think after spending millions of pounds the doors wouldn’t be stuck.”

“Would you stop whining?” he asked clearly agitated.

“Only if you open the door.”

“Do you think I want to be stuck here with you?” he harshly asked and you felt your confidence slipping. You were always self conscious when drunk.

When you didn’t respond he turned his attention to you.

“Y/N, I-

“Why do you hate me so much?” you asked finally trying to get an answer to the question you’ve had for months.

“What?”

“Why do you hate me so much?” you repeated.

“I- I don’t hate you.” he murmured but you knew it was a lie.

“Yes you do, you love everyone else. You’re so nice with them but you’re rude to me. I know I’m not the best either but I feel bad when I see you with the others. What is it about me that you hate?” you felt the weight lifting off your chest as you spoke. Yes it was the alcohol that made you say those things but they were true.

“I think we should talk later when you’re not drunk.” he dismissed you and it only angered you more.

“I’m not drunk.”

“Yes you are, you’ve had a million cocktails.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I watch at you anytime you’re not looking!” he raised his voice startling you. In all the time you’ve known Declan he’s never even gotten mad.

“Why? So that you can use the things you see against me?”

“Do you really think that’s what I’m doing? You can’t seriously think I’m going out of my way everyday just to argue with you. I’m watching you because I like seeing you interact with people and it kills me that you’re not that kind to me. I wish you’d be like that with me but if bickering is what gets you talking to me I’m okay with that.” he finally let go of the door and went over to the bed sitting on it without looking at you.

You were in shock about all the things you just heard.

“Declan you’re being mean, you can’t play with me like that!” you shouted at him thinking this was his way of messing with you.

“Do you really think that low of me?” he finally looked up at you and you saw the sincerity in his eyes that everyone was talking about. He looked more genuine than ever. He combed a hand through his hair.

“I- I don’t know.” you murmured conflicted about the whole situation. On one hand you really didn’t think he’d stoop so low but on the other hand you couldn’t believe his admission that easily.

“Why do you act like a prick then?” you asked trying to get to the bottom of it.

“Because that’s the only way you’ll talk to me even if it’s to argue.” he admitted with his head low.

You stood in front of Declan with your hands against your hips trying to wrap your head around the situation but it was hard considering he was wearing a tight shirt hugging his body perfectly and his hair disheveled. With a sudden confidence, you walked closer to him and stood in between his legs and he immediately looked up at you with confusion. If you didn’t have any alcohol in your system you’d never be this forward but with it you could actually do something you actually want for once. You placed your hands on his shoulders as his hands went over to your hips. He was still wary of your reaction but you threw every sane thought away and pushed him onto the bed he was sitting on. He pulled you with him so now you were straddling him, both of you were shocked by your sudden boldness but he didn’t complain. In fact, he never said anything but sat up properly holding you down and started devouring your lips. You kissed back immediately with months of pent up frustration and infatuation.

“You’re so perfect.” he complimented you as his lips found your neck kissing and sucking on your skin. You felt electricity from his touch and cursed yourself for not doing this earlier.

By this time he was slowly pulling your dress straps down your arms and continued his kisses against your chest and you hastily lifted his shirt finally coming in close contact with his abs.

“You have no idea how much I’ve wanted this.” he murmured as he rolled you over so he was on top of you.

“Then why didn’t you?” you asked.

“Because I thought you’d slap me.”

“I’d much rather if you slapped me.” you said without thinking and his eyes turned even darker if that’s possible. His movements became more rough as you gave him the permission and he peeled your dress down your legs leaving you only in your underwear. You’d normally feel vulnerable and exposed if it was any other man but given the circumstances you just felt hot because Declan told you a million times.

“You’re so beautiful.” he kept telling you as you tried reaching for his belt. He let you take it off and now you were both in your underwear.

He did everything right in that moment, making you reach your orgasm multiple times even before he entered you and made everything about making you feel good. Even if it’s the first time you’ve ever had sex with him, it felt like he knew you better than anyone and you loved the feeling.

After both of you reached your highs moaning each other’s name once more he finally pulled out and laid on the bed pulling you to him. Your head was resting on his chest as he played with your hair occasionally leaving small kisses on it.

“I hope you know I meant everything I said.” he whispered and you looked up at his beautiful eyes knowing he wasn’t lying.

“I know.”

“And I’m not letting you go now that I have a taste.” he smiled.

“Does this mean this isn’t a one time thing?” you teased with a smile on your lips.

“Oh definitely not, in fact I was thinking about having a second round right now.” he wiggled his eyebrows as you laughed and lightly smacked his chest.

“Are you guys cool now that you’ve had sex?” you heard someone yell from outside of the door startling the both of you.

“What the hell?” Dec asked with his eyebrows furrowed.

“Yeah idiots, we locked you in there hoping you’d talk it out but this is even better.” you heard Ariana yell and your cheeks flushed knowing they must’ve heard somethings but right now you were more thankful than angry.

“Now come out we’re starving.” one of your friends said and you got out of the bed putting your clothes back on with a smile on your face.

Declan Rice wasn’t that bad after all.

[serene-sun]

𝕽𝖊𝖆𝖑 𝖋𝖆𝖈𝖙𝖘 𝖆𝖇𝖔𝖚𝖙 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖌𝖍𝖔𝖚𝖑𝖘 𝖜𝖎𝖙𝖍𝖔𝖚𝖙 𝖘𝖕𝖔𝖎𝖑𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖎𝖗 𝖎𝖉𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖎𝖙𝖞

ℜ𝔞𝔦𝔫.

Long legged boy

Some good ass abbs

The cutest nose ever

Has a matching tattoo with Swiss

Ruffles on all his clothes

Actually low key very funny

Loves tossing a ball between shows with sodo/dew

Not very shy, it’s the truth sorry

His voice is literally just the recording of an angel

Horney meter 7/10

𝔰𝔬𝔡𝔬/𝔡𝔢𝔴.

Very funny, not in a chaos or menace to society way, he actually has some really funny jokes to crack

Very shy, no like really

That Swedish accent make my heart flutter

ALWAYS with Swiss

Respects women with a passion

Makes far to many gay jokes (honestly don’t know if it’s in a bromance way of if there’s a little fruit to his goose)

Sarcastic

Horney meter 8/10

𝔖𝔴𝔦𝔰𝔰.

the glue of the ghouls

Has a little band with Mounti

I can’t really tell what kind of accent he has but there’s something there a lil bit

Forgets to close drawers and cabinets

ALWAYS dancing

Genuinely humble

Uses his mustache as a weapon (hard to explain but the people who watch his lives understand how upset we get when he “leaves it in the bathroom”)

Uses 3 different cups at ones, one for wine, one for tea, and another for water/Coffee

Laughs at his own jokes

Loves helping people

Did I mention that he is ALWAYS dancing?

Calls everyone “Jack”

Horney meter 9/10

𝔪𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔱𝔞𝔦𝔫.

Not shy, just doesn’t really do much when not necessary if that makes sense

LOVES dogs

We already know he tall af

Finds everything funny in one way or another

Goofy boy

Australian accent

Sorry- I really haven’t seen allot of him soooo

Horney meter 2/10

𝔞𝔢𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯.

GOOFY AF

Dancing too

Very much animated

British accent (it’s so cute I swear)

He’s so cute and adorable, I JUST FEEL SO Extrahapobscureness

Has banana with him at all times

Woman respecter ✊🏻

Horney meter 2/10

I really don’t know what else to say bc he’s just so perfect and cute that that’s just what he is!

Going to link my favorite songs by each of them for anyone curious, but know that you WILL hear THEIR voice and THEIR IDENTITY

Aether Swiss rain 1. 2. sodo/dew mountain papa(Tobias) 1. 2. 3.

(Also please don’t ask or bother them about ghost, they could be fired!)

[nwheregirl]

Pov: you are Johnny Silverhand’s punk rocker wife with a “rockstar gf” aesthetic. (AU in our reality and not cyberpunk’s?? NSFWish, just a stupid idea don’t take this seriously!! Also, English is not my first language!)

This is your aesthetic:

This is your relationship’s vibes:

being two anarchists who hate capitalism

free, wild, hating any form of racism

donating lot of money to charity

being humble and not money-driven

love to interact with very young fans bc they are so cute!!

adoring each other and being extra loyal, you will probably never have kids tho. johnny doesn’t like the idea of such a big responsibility

VINTAGE SHOPS!!! VINTAGE CLOTHES!!

TATTOOS! TATTOOS! TATTOOS!

PARTIES, ALCOHOL…johnny smokes too much!! smoking joints together!

he teaches you how to play guitar

MATCHING TATTOOS MAYBE?

he loves when you wear short skirts, of course. anything tight and skin showing, to be honest

calling you his little punk, his doll, “doll face”, “baby”…

he makes you laugh so much!

lot, lot of sex

no really, you can’t take your hands off each other

you fucked in his car, on his motorbike, on every surface of the house, in the studio, in the bathroom of your favourite pub…

getting along with all the members of the band and being friends!!

ofc u support every project and you never miss a concert but that’s obvious

being jealous of his groupies…ops…

“you know you are the only one i want, babe”

wearing his shirts around the house, and only that ofc ;)

teasing and making fun of each other because you are two idiots

you both like classic rock especially the beatles and led zeppelin

he sings “michelle” to you ):

speaking of classic rock, you two met some of the still living legends like paul, ringo, jimmy page, robert plant…

he can be a big softie with you but he will never admit it and if you tell him you’ve noticed how sweet he is with you when you two are alone, he will become his mean and sarcastic self again for the whole day! like he is with every other human expect you, lol

ofc you wore vivienne westwood for your wedding

its your fav brand!

DRIVING VINTAGE BADASS MOTORBIKES TOGETHER??!!

he secretly wrote a song about you, but he never told you which one it is

you both like to sleep a lot on your free days, johnny could sleep literally anywhere

ofc you two have a badass dog like a dobermann or anything big and scary

and you wanted a cat!

“i found this bitch in a dumpster” johnny once told you, a small female black cat in his hand ☠️☠️

he doesn’t like social medias so he doesn’t have an account on any social

you do! fans follow you! you post a pic of him or you two together sometimes.

he only uses messages to talk to you and his friends

he uses phones and writes like a boomer, obviously

PLS FEEL FREE TO ADD ANY IDEA OR FEEL FREE TO WRITE ANYTHING ABOUT THIS IF U LIKE IT! 🖤

[harrywavycurly]

Secret Rendezvous Part 18: Mixtape

Masterlist: Here

CW: None

Tag List: @emma-munson @aol19 @tlclick73 @prestinalove @kailey-firefly @fromasgardandback @therealgothamguardianfr @peaches-roses-sins @hiscrimsonangel @furiousladyking @angelina16torres-blog @sofaritsalrightt @josephquinnsfreckles @starrywhitenight @mrsjellymunson @witchwolflea @jasminelafleur @ohmeg @comeonatmebruh @missmarch-99 @arthurcerverogf @disassociationdive @123iloveyou456 @perplexing-vex

A/N: I have had this exact moment planned for a very long time and I hope y’all enjoy the chaos also there’s officially only two more updates left for this series✨

“Hey Eddie!” “Uh hey…Jessica…” “Oh my goodness you got my name right I think I can finally take my name tag off now….have a good lunch tell Chrissy I said hello.” “Yeah…will do..” “Eddie! Hey! Oh is that a new Metallica shirt?” “Uhm hi…Hailey?…uh yeah it-” “Hey Eddie do you know where Stacy is? She’s not here yet and if she’s not eating here today then I’m going to go eat lunch in the cheer gym and work on my stunts.” “Uh hey Taylor…uhm nope I have no clue where she uh is…but Gareth isn’t here yet either so maybe they are just running…late?” “Well I’m gonna go eat in the gym will you let her know if you see her? Hailey you wanna come?” “Sure! See you later Eddie!” “See you…later….” “Someone’s popular.” “Don’t start Chrissy…oh Jessica says hello.” “Thanks…so…how’s it going? I notice someone is missing from the lunch table today…” “yeah I don’t know where she’s at but I also don’t know where Stacy and-” “I’m just saying that’s not a very Henry…thing to do…” “speak of the devil! Where have you two been? Hailey and Taylor went to go eat in the gym because they got tired of waiting for you Stacy.” “Well I was helping someone….decide who just asked her to prom.” “Prom? Someone…uhm asked…you to…prom?” “Does that shock you Munson? That someone would ask me to prom?” “No…not at all…uhm why do…you need help figuring out who…it was?” “Because they just left me a mixtape and that’s it…and the song titles on the back spell out prom.” “That’s so cute! Was it Henry?” “Henry? You still talk to Henry?” “And if I do? It’s not like it’s any of your business who I’m friends with.” “Uhh Stacy let’s go join the girls in the gym yeah? I’m sure Hailey needs someone to spot her for some stunts.” “Yeah…good idea…you two uh…have a good…lunch.” “What’s your deal Eddie? Why do you look like someone just told you the Easter bunny isn’t real?” “Can we just start over? Please? Just…I’m sorry.” “For?” “Everything…you name it I’m sorry for it okay? I was an asshole to you and I shouldn’t have been and…I’m….just sorry.” “Oh…well…okay.” “Okay?” “Yeah…okay…you’re sorry and that’s a big step for you so I’m glad you finally took it.” “You…don’t forgive me?” “Not yet…” “okay that’s…fine…can we..at least be friends?” “Sure…we can be friends.” “So…you really think this mixtape was Henry?” “I mean he’s the only option so..yeah.” “Have you listened to it yet?” “No? I..don’t know if I have to since the back pretty much said everything.” “Oh…I mean you should at least listen to it…just once….” “Maybe I will on my way home.” “Are you going to say yes?” “I…don’t know…I have to think about it.” “What if it wasn’t Henry who gave you the mixtape?” “Who else would-” “Hey…where’s Stacy?” “Gare Bear! She’s in the cheer gym.” “Great thanks….” “You can’t go in there….” “Why not? My girlfriend is in there?” “Uh it’s the cheer gym…you’re not a cheerleader…” “oh…right…well looks like you two are stuck having lunch with me then.” “Yay us…” “I know you’re being sarcastic Eddie but I don’t really care.” “I gotta go…” “where?” “I just…have somewhere to be.” “He’s in a mood…what did I miss?” “Henry asked me to prom…” “oh…wait you still talk to Henry?” “No…that’s the weird thing…and he asked me with a mixtape…” “a..mixtape?….yeah…that’s…totally weird…I gotta go.” “What? You too?” “Sorry I gotta find Eddie and run a campaign idea off him! See you later!” “Okay…bye!”

[yenqa]

NEW ROMANTICS!

synopsis : y/n continuously struggles to contain her growing feelings for her crush (and longtime friend), lee heeseung.

003 : invisible string

wc : 0.6k

"y/n! come down!"

you hurriedly grab your purse, rushing down the stairs to be greeted with heeseung’s shy smile, while your mother is smiling brightly at him.

"you two have grown so much! i remember when you guys where this short in middle school!" she points to her shoulder, you both exchange awkward glances at each other, nodding slightly.

"we’ve got to get going ms. nam! it was nice talking with you," heeseung slightly bows to your mom as you wave goodbye and head to the car.

"you know you don’t have to talk to my mom every time, right? you can just tell me to come out."

he chuckles, a slight rasp in his voice, when he says, "it’s no problem really, plus it’s nice knowing she likes me already."

you nod, giving him a small smile.

your comfortable silence is slightly taken over by the soft guitar strums of a song you recognize immediately.

"since when did you have taylor swift in your playlist?"

he looks over to you, "i didn’t know any songs by her until you introduced me to this song. it’s your favorite song on the album, right?"

your eyes widen slightly, "yeah! it is! how did you know? i didn’t directly tell you did i?"

he shakes his head, "you always hum this song when we’re doing homework together, you also always play it at least twice when we share headphones."

"oh."

heeseung lets out a breathy laugh, putting his full attention to the road.

looking at his small smile and doe eyes you slightly smile. noticing his small head nods to the calming tune.

you turn your head outside the window to see the busy city opposite of the quiet atmosphere in the car. it’s filled with huge buildings, you quickly spot the new book store. it’s light color making it eye catching in between the tinted glass covered buildings.

the inside has a home-y feeling, the shelves slightly taller than you filled the room. though new, it was surprisingly empty, with just a few other parties looking around. rows and rows of book shelves excite you slightly. you grab heeseung’s hand, dragging him to the desired genre.

he happily follows quickly looking at the books before watching you, excitingly talk about the books you’ve already read or want to read.

he doesn’t mind holding the books you’ve been  wanting to buy (in fact he took the initiative to hold them himself).

after your "hundredth" round of looking at the books (said by heeseung but he doesn’t seem to mind one bit), you both decide it’s best to eat dinner then.

the walk is a short five minutes from the bookstore. you both happily agree to katsu-chicken to eat.

you’re quickly sat down to a booth near the window, with a perfect view of the sunset.

"heeseung?" you call, he looks up from his chicken, slightly tilting his head.

"do you even like reading?"

he chokes on his food slightly "not really." he answers, continuing his initial bite.

"then why did you come to the bookstore with me?"

he shrugs, "what? can’t i spend time with the most wondrous person ever?"

it’s obviously a very sarcastic comment, but your heart can’t help but flutter at the words.

"i am pretty wonderful," you answer, and you both laugh at each others antics. finishing the food on your plates.

the drive home is short, with the roads seeming empty because of the dark hours of the night.

he drops you off at your house, with a happy "see you at school!" before driving off, leaving you watching his car grow smaller and smaller as each second passes.

back masterlist next

☆ YENQA < i was going to make the song playing new romantics but i felt like it didnt feel like the right vibe for it (also its too early to reference the title)

taglist : @viyqe @luvistqrzzz @ifearjwn @tinydeerwasteland @enhastolemyheart @wannabeyn @zuyairus @bunnystrm @yeokii @weoris @ghostiiess @haerinsluvr @flwrshee @theskzvibe @viagumi @heesluvrgirl @hoonvrs @kpopstanmeg @harryedwardtris @ixomiyu @txtbrainrot @xrvrqs @haechansbbg @kimipxl @alkjsdfgg

italics = can’t tag!

[taiiunknown]

Whipped Cream 🤍…

This story is inspired by my favorite song whipped cream-Ari lennox 🫶🏽

Summary: y/n and Shuri have been friends since teens , they met through their moms . One day y/n Mom get Ill and Decides to let Queen Ramonda take care of her since y/n doesn’t really knows her dad . Around 16-18 shuri and y/n have a on and off relationship without anyone knowing especially the Queen, A lot of bumpy roads both of them ride on with each other , but they figure it out .💔

Warning:possessive shuri,Brat reader,cursing,smut⚠️⛔️(oral,,kissing,strap slinger shuri🌝), death,Angst,fluff, jealousy,light choking 😉,Crying (reader a crybaby), Manipulation, Embarrassment kink, Obeying kink, pussy whipped (reader and shuri), THIS WHOLE THING IS TOXIC AND CONTROLLING SO DONT TAKE THIS SERIOUS

Me and Shuri have known each other since we was around 14 until one day I had to move to America to live with my dad, And yes I am half American and wakandan bc my mom is from Wakanda and my dad is African American. I’ve lived in and out of Wakanda, My mom was really close to Queen Ramonda that’s how me and shuri met. Both of us was 14 and Ramonda wanted to catch up with my mom since both of them grew up together, so Ramonda invited me and my mom to the palace bc she also wanted me to meet her children.

When we arrived at the palace shuri was standing right next to her mom with a smile on her face when I approached them while having my headphones in, my mom snatched them off my head and whispered to me “show respect before I take your phone” she said “hi I’m y/n, nice to meet you” I said sarcastically while staring at them both with a smirk “wow” Shuri said shocked that I am in fact a rude person “Shall we ?” Queen Ramonda said pointing towards the entrance of their home “yes, and sorry” My mother whispered to Ramonda “it takes a village so don’t worry about it” Ramonda said with a chuckle.

When we entered the palace they introduced me to T’CHALLA and he was very kind, After 20 minutes of eating dinner with them and our moms catching up while laughing they dismissed us from the table and told me and shuri to go get to know each other more.

*in shuri’s room*

“Wow” I said walking into shuri’s humongous room “you can make yourself comfortable on my bed if you want?” Shuri said closing the door behind her, I walked to shuri’s bed and did what she said . “Sooo..”Shuri trailed off slowly walking towards me “what do you like to do for fun?” She finally asked “umm…I honestly into technology mostly but other than that I read,listen to music or skate board due to my dad teaching me when I was younger” I said “oh ok that seems cool…I like technology too.” Shuri said smiling while walking away “it’s awkward in here” I said bluntly while now standing up “yea…” Shuri said taking a deep breath “ want to listen to music ?” Shuri asked “sure.”

After spending two hours with shuri we found out we have things in common with each other , from being a popular loner to the music taste . Me and shuri had made a pact to hang out again to get to know each other more since we barely like dealing with people we very much clung to each other like we was meant to be friends, or even more than that, not saying I like shuri or nothing it’s just I feel like we are gonna have a long road ahead of us .

*5 years later*

Today is my 18TH birthday and I am so excited! I can’t believe that I am actually finally legal , I just wish that my mom was here to witness this bc ever since she been gone I’ve kinda felt lost even with the Queen and shuri been a big help with taking care of me since I was 16 and helping me heal , it’s just been a lot and I’ve even been to therapy to deal with my depression and attachment issues.

Oh ya… you guys didn’t know? Sorry I forgot to tell you .

My dad stop calling when I turned 15 so it’s always been me and my mom , But after me and shuri first meeting we have been hanging with each other non stop and I mean non stop. Okoye would say we was attached at the hip and I would 100% believe her . At 16 and shuri was 17 of course , I found out my mom had this very indescribable disease that neither me or shuri can figure out , till a couple months later it was too late , MY MOM TOOK HER LAST BREATH AT 38 Years old . That whole day was the worst day of my life bc I felt to small, like I was trapped in a bottle and can’t help to get out . Everyday I think about her, HER smile, HER smell,HER laugh, HER funny jokes, HER loving hugs, HER supportive ways, HER everything. Saying that I’m doing mentally okay was a understatement, bc I’m not.

*BACK TO THE PRESENT*

(Tonight me and shuri thought it was a good idea to get fucked up and also have fun , so we decided to throw a amazing 18TH party for me)…

I wore a cute champagne spaghetti strap dress with clear heels, And curled hair ofc .

Shuri decided to where a black button down shirt with black pants and a chain with a panther claw on it , Along side some sexy heels she go my for her 19th birthday.

“Y/n hurry we are gonna be late!” Shuri said while banging on my room door “OKAY MY BAD I DIDNT KNOW YOU WAS A PARENT WITH 12 KIDS !” I shouted back bc who was she rushing..

Once we made it to the club I am easily greeted by my little small group of friends, people that came to show love for my party, some of my friends who work in the lab beside me. “OMG YOU LOOK SO GORGEOUS MY LOVE !” My friend rhinestone says “THANK YOU BEBE!” I say pulling her into a hug. “ENOUGH LOLLY GAGGING LET GO GET WASTED !

After one shot, it turned into two, after two it turned into three, after three it went to fourth, after four it went to five, and let’s just say I get wasted quick.

( PLAY , I KNOW THERES GONNA BE A GOOD TIME- YOUNG THUG AND JAMIE XX)

MY song comes on and let’s just say my body was moving on its own honestly, I make my way through the crowd to start moving my hips as the rock, side, to side. I feel eyes burning in my skin , as I turn around I noticed her staring at me with nothing but lust in her eyes, then her eyes follows the figure behind me . Apparently there was hands slowly coming from behind me to grip my hips so I started to keep grinding on the unknown male , bc why not ? . As I look back to the corner shuri was at she was moving her finger in a (come here) motion so I obeyed bc I thought she genuinely wanted something even though I’m drunk as ever, as I got closer she quickly yanked me up by my neck (not in a abusive way THE FUCK) “WHAT TF ARE YOU DOING Y/N ARE YOU TRYING TO TEMPT ME Tonight BY DANCING ON SOME RANDOM AND LITERALLY MAKING EYE CONTACT WITH ME, YOU KNEW EXACTLY YOU WAS DOING , YOU WAS BEING A BRAT AND IM GOING TO SHOW YOU HOW BRATS GET TREATED!” She said in a low shout “meet me in the car, NOW!” She shouted in my ear . I QUICKLY MADE IT TO THE CAR WITH NO HESITATION BC IM IN SHOCK OF SEEING THIS SIDE OF SHURI , I KNEW SHE WAS MEAN BUT NOT THIS TYPE OF MEAN . And not to be that person but I got a little wet at that and couldn’t wait for what she was finna do when we got back to the palace bc me and shuri only had sex once and that was after like 2 months my mom died and it was just sex I needed to relieve my pain and after that night together we promised to just stay best friends and never mention it again .

The ride back to the palace was so silent , I can feel my wetness slowly dripping down my thigh and a pit in my stomach for what ever punishment shuri had for me , when we made inside the palace shuri gave me a quick glance and said “go to my room and strip and you better be naked by the time I get up there or it will be more consequences.” She said in a low tone , I quickly made it up to her room and did everything she told me to do , she slowly walked in locking the door behind and licking her lips like I was a snack , good thing I sober up quick . “Lay down and spread your legs” Shuri says while taking off her shirt and watch, less then a second shuri was between my legs licking my clit at the fastest pace and ever while being three fingers feel inside me , “UGHH- FUCK BABY IM ABOUT TO CU-” with out a thought I came so hard everything felt like it was turning white , “MHM” I squirted while making a high pitch moan that I never did before, I immediately went shy till shuri said “THATS MY GOOD GIRL” she said while slapping my pussy making me squeal a little. “Get on all fours and arch for me Usana” Shuri said while walking to her closet, “AHHHH!!!” I moaned so loud as shuri shoved in with out a warning with her strap while going at a impossible speed “FU- SHURI SLOW DOW-” *CLAP* “HUSH AND TAKE THIS DICK OR YOU WILL NOT CUM !” Shuri said after sending a harsh slap to my ass…

After a hour and 30 minutes of shuri fucking me brain less ,she bathed me and put me to bed after that she gave me a kiss on my forehead.

*two days later*

It’s been two days since shuri fucked me and she been keeping her distance lately, I was wondering why until she came in the lab today smiling and giggling with a girl she had her hands around her waist with . WTF , DID I MISS SOMETHING, I said to my self . Shuri noticed me and her smile instantly dropped, “Shuri can we talk for a minute ?” I said in the calmest voice I could ever have. “What’s up ?” Shuri answered with furrowed brows “who is that?” I asked “Lia” she said “mhm” I said “wym mhm?” Shuri asked with raised eye brow “just mhm” I said turning away and exiting to go back to my room .

“That was weird” RiRi said after I told her about what’s been happening “ so she just gonna leave you WHIPPED like that and bring who ever lia is, to her lab all hugged up with no real answer on who lia really is?” RiRi asked now getting mad about the situation “idk but two can play that game …” I said before me and rir said our good byes and hung up the phone.

*Time skip*

Two months has passed and I figured out that Lia and shuri use to fling with each other so I ended finding me a lil boo too , mykel, mykel has been breaking my back in , but not how shuri use to . I met mykel in the lab a couple times bc she usually the work in the area I work in , just to show him off to shuri I always kissed him in front of her or even let him hug me by my waist in front of shuri and trust me when I tell you , she HATED him!

“Hi babe” mykel said walking inside the lab coming towards my desk. “Hi handsome” i said with a bright smile , Me and mykel only been together for 4 weeks but so far it was going good , “what’s the move for tonight sexy ?” Mykel asked “idk you tell me, Bc no matter how much I will love to watch a movie and chill, I also will love to make a movie of our own” I said while straddling his lap (Right now me and mykel the only one in the lab since it’s 9pm)

“Y/n Will be right back!” Shuri said while grabbing me tightly by the arm and dragging me from mykel lap to a secluded under construction corner

“HAVE YOU LOST YOUR FUCKING MARBLES?!” Shuri whispered/yelled “I’m sorry I didn’t know you was here.” I said “I honestly feel like you are tryna piss me off with that scum you’ve claimed to be with , And also me and you both know he can’t beat that pussy up better than me so stop this madness between you and him RIGHT NOW OR I SWEAR TO BAST I WILL MAKE YOU AND HIS LIFE A LIVING HELL!” Shuri has officially lost her mind , Did this bitch just threaten me to break it off with mykel when she literally has a whole Girlfriend, OH hell no I’m finna turn up on her ass.

“YOU FUCKING BIT-” Before I can even finish I felt a hand wrap around my neck (Not a hard hold) “WATCH who you talking to Phambi kokuba ndimxelele uMntu wakho Indlela ebendindibize ngayo ngoTata, kwaye undithembe i wont hesitate ( Before i tell your Man How I had you calling me Daddy, And trust me i wont hesitate)” Shuri semi Whispered in my Ear . Shuri let go of me and walked off before turning back around and said “Do what I told you….NOW!” Then walked out the lab back door , When I looked around the corner shuri had me held at I noticed Mykel was packing up leaving “Babe? Can we talk for a minute?” I asked getting closer to him “ya wassup, And why was Queen Shuri so mad?” He asked “She just wanted to talk to me about a new project that I forgot about that’s all” “Ohhh okay, We’ll what you wanted to talk about?” mykel asked “I think we should break up…” I said with my head down “Why? Did I do something wrong?” “No!no no …It’s just I need to focus on myself for a while that’s it” I said with a tremble in my voice Tears was threatening to spill bc I seen his face sadden and it honestly broke my heart “I-I understand y/n… I’m sorry I got to Go” Mykel said rushing pass me sniffling slightly bumping my shoulder. When he left I honestly broke down letting all my tears fall bc I really liked him and he made me happy, I didn’t have to go through any toxic stages with him and he brung me hope and peace , but I guess good things doesn’t last forever…But this was the only way for me to keep both me and him safe bc everyone knows shuri is not the one to be played with…

After my little break down gathered my things and went home to cry some more bc ever since Queen Ramonda died shuri has been such a controlling,Manipulative,possessive,Mean person who wasn’t the same kind,understanding, sweet shuri that I use to love being around . It like the more I got older the more her love grew for me, And the more her love grew for me was more possessive she gotten.

*1 Month later*

It has now been a Month since shuri made me break up with Mykel and ever since that night shuri has doing nothing but getting under my skin , for example, she will have me staying in the labs from 5am till 9pm literally doing nothing but paper work or watching her do nothing !, Another time she had me do all her work just bc she claimed she has a meeting when she literally only went to Starbucks and took a nap for 4 hours.

I haven’t seen mykel after that night also, rumor has it he quit and moved back to nigeria. I kinda moved on from him but not as much bc little things kinda reminded me of how happy I was with him. Shuri and her girlfriend are still together of course, WHICH IS SO UNFAIR due to the fact shuri only wanted me to break up so she can still fuck me and keep her girlfriend, Yes you heard me I said still fuck me. Every time I even look at shuri she’s already staring and if I mouth off too her about stuff I don’t want to work on she has to put me in my place it’s either Fucking me senseless or giving me to silent treatment. Believe it or not I’m still madly in love with shuri it’s just she wants her cake and she want to eat it too, I sometimes just don’t understand us.

“FUCK YOU SHURI !” was all I heard outside the lab , When I turned my head I seen A angry Lia stomping away from shuri. When I seen shuri coming towards the door I quickly turned back around acting like I was still working on the sequence I supposed to did yesterday but my head was hurting at the time, “EVERYONE OUT !!” Shuri yelled which made everyone scatter out of the Lab , I grabbed my stuff and was finna leave from my station when I heard “NO YOU STAY !” When the lab was now clear she turned back around to look at me with nothing but lust and anger in my eyes “You look so good right now” shuri said as she looked at my black body con dress with my black bubble slides, gold anklet, and white lab coat. “And why do you have on slides in my Lab ?” She asked with a raised eyebrow while slightly biting her lip “I-I-I’m sorry , I j-ust thought since I wasn’t going to be here for long that I could wear something comfortable” I said stuttering a little bit bc she made me nervous I couldn’t even look her in the eye, “What did I tell you about eye contact?” Shuri said while slowly walking up to me, I didn’t say a word just kept my head down looking at the jewelry on my slides until I seen some black and white retro dunks come in my vision , shuri then lifted my chin with a not so tightly grip that made me look her in the eye “I STRICTLY SAID WHEN I AM TALKING TO YOU , YOU LOOK IN MY EYES , WHEN I AM FUCKING YOU SO HARD THAT YOU CRY YOU LOOK INTO MY EYES, WHEN I AM THREE FINGERS DEEP IN YOU , YOU LOOK INTO MY EYE! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!!” Shuri yelled “Y-YES” I whispered “YES WHAT ?!” Shuri said while now giving my ass a harsh slap that made me Instantly get wet “YES DADDY !” I Moaned while biting my lip to try to keep my other ones back “Meet me in my room I need you naked and layed on your back or I promise I will not make you Cum for two months” shuri said I quickly walked out the lab to do what she said when I made it to her room.

Let’s just say that’s after that night Shuri claimed me as Hers and promised me that she will never put me before a bitch who pussy isn’t good as mines ever again, After Shuri destroyed me for 2 hours me and her was layed down naked under her cover while I’m layed on her chest “Shuri what happened to Lia and mykel?” I asked curious “I sent mykel away and banned him from Wakanda” MY MOUTH DROPPED IN SHOCK “And Lia was mad bc I did the same to her and told her , Her pussy wasn’t good and kinda dry” MY EYES AND MOUTH WAS NOW WIDE BC WTF?!!! “Close your mouth before I stick the dick back in it” shuri said while kissing my neck , I quickly closed my mouth bc I’m tired. “I Love you shuri” I said while kissing her boobs since she kinda sitting up and I’m still layed on her chest “I love you More y/n , always and forever. You’re not going anywhere and me and you both know that”

Ever since we was teen we have both been

Whipped!

THE END 😛

[bathomet-writes]

prom (red edition)

summary: When your date for the school dance accosts you, who better to come in and save the day then the red-clad turtle?

relationship: Raph x GN!reader

warnings: romantic, fluff, humor, kissing, sfw

word count: 3,647

author's note: here's the third part of the prom!! part one, part two, part four (thank you @/cherryp0p224 for the request)

You smiled awkwardly at Tyler as he pulled you over to the dance floor. The energy between you two was a little off. He was enthusiastic about being the one to decide what you two would be doing tonight, from what kind of clothes you would wear to when you would arrive. 

“C’mon, I love this song!” 

Laughing, you oblige his offer for a dance. “Yeah, same!”

You felt stiff, almost robotic in your movements. Sure, Tyler seemed into you and everything. But it was almost a little too much. He was the kind of person you just didn’t mesh with very well, your attitudes and personalities being quite the opposites.

As you continue to shuffle along to the music, your eyes fall to the floor. Why weren’t you having fun, wasn’t this what you were supposed to do at a dance? Y’know…dance?

You ease your head back up so as to not look as disinterested as you felt. Tyler didn’t seem to care, dancing wildly. He was in his own little world. He was also a little too close, you notice. 

Casually, you step back to give yourself some more personal space. 

“You alright?” He shouts.

“I guess.”

“What?”

You swallow, forgetting that you were being drowned out by the music. “I’m fine!”

He grins, taking you at your word. 

Wait, why did you backpedal like that? Your despicable people-pleasing ways were back again, you lament. You weren’t a doormat, but you didn’t like causing anybody any undue trouble. Even if it was inconvenient for you. 

Before you get too down in the dumps, your eye spots something in the crowd. Moving about, silently and stealthily. 

Something bright red?

It's a pop of color against the sea of people that catches your attention. The color came from a bandana worn by a person who towered far above most of your classmates. You would think at this point you would know everybody that went to your school, but this person was definitely a new face. 

You shimmy around to get a better look, all of the sudden quite interested in who it could be. They seemed to be looking right at you. Or at least in your general direction. 

Their face looked nervous, shifting their eyes around the room. Were they lost?

Suddenly, you lock eyes with them. In a flash you see them duck back into the crowd to avoid your gaze. 

“Hey, what are you looking at?” 

Your attention is brought back to Tyler when he places his hand upon your hip, gingerly petting it. 

It was not a welcome sensation, and you recoil immediately. 

“Nothing. Could you actually–”

You move his hand away, cringing internally. 

“Oh, my bad! Look at me, acting like one of those touchy assholes! Could you imagine?”

He laughs heartily at you, acting like he didn’t just try to pull a move. Your strained smile finally drops as you listen to his mocking tone. You couldn’t believe he was actually trying to act like one of those ‘nice guys.’ 

“I can imagine.” You sigh. 

Again, he only half-listens to you. “What’s that?”

You search his face. Did he actually want you to repeat yourself, or was he just being sarcastic? You can’t tell, the overwhelming environment was impeding your judgment. His voice was so annoying all of the sudden, so condescending. 

When you don’t answer, he continues to chuckle. It makes goosebumps prickle along your skin. 

You unintentionally begin to look around for the mystery person, clad in red. You didn’t know who they were, but at least they could be a neutral third-party. Swiveling your head, you manage to spot the red bandana behind you. It’s closer this time, to your relief. 

It’s somehow harder to make eye contact with them though. You sneakily try to evade Tyler’s line of sight while he blindly dances. It’s crowded, but you politely cut through a few people. 

“‘Scuse me…sorry!” You shout. 

Then, you feel your hand being grabbed. 

All at once, you know exactly the kind of person Tyler is. 

“Where you going? The party’s right here!”

He spins you around, trying to give you his best friendly smile. It’s a thin mask for his growing rage. You’ve seen that kind of look before, from other people who had less than friendly intentions. 

You sneer, snatching your hand away. “Hey!”

His veiled charm falls away for a moment, and you see it. That predatory frown. Taking offense to your unspoken rejection, he smiles toothily at you. 

“Sorry! I didn’t wanna lose you!”

A likely story. 

“I just…wanted to go to the bathroom.” You lie. 

He sniffs out your discomfort, becoming even more offended. “I’m not trying to stop you? Is that what you thought I was doing? Jesus, touchy.”

That’s it, now you were pissed. You were done with this guy. 

“I’m just going to use the–” You back away, bumping against a couple people in the process. 

“Stop–!” He huffs, roughly grabbing your hand again. 

You panic, struggling against his vice grip. Even in a place like this, being surrounded by your peers, nobody notices you. They don’t see the fear flash across your face. 

Tyler shudders, correcting himself. “Stop…lying. You don’t want to be my date? Fine, just tell me. But don’t make me out to be the bad guy here.”

“I’m telling you to let me go.” 

You weakly shake your hand away and his fingers clamp down. 

“I’m not forcing you to do anything!”

You growl, grabbing onto your wrist with your other hand. “Yes, you are! Now–!”

“There a problem here?” A low voice calls out behind you. 

As you stumble trying to back away from Tyler, you hit a wall. Or rather, a person. It’s difficult, but you angle yourself to turn around. 

Your eyes widen. It’s the red bandana!

“No problem, buddy. We’re just talking!” Tyler smiles. “You know this guy?”

No, you didn’t. At least, you don’t think you do? He was at least six feet tall and built like a linebacker, and you think you would remember someone like that. You allow yourself to unabashedly stare at him, a warmth building in your cheeks. 

Suddenly, you weren’t so scared anymore.

Even though Tyler was still holding onto you, his grip relaxes a little bit. While he’s distracted, you finally slip your hand out. You back away and stand closer to the stranger who came to your rescue. It’s a little cliche, another man having to come in and save you, but you don’t think you’re going to get up into a tizzy about it now. 

“Hey, what’s up?” Tyler smirks, sizing him up. 

“What’s up with you?” He counters. 

You blink between the two of them. Maybe you could smooth over this situation before it got too crazy. These guys were getting a little more aggressive-looking the more they looked at eachother. 

“Let’s all just calm down…” You put your hands up between them. 

The red-clad dude moves around you and puffs out his chest. If he was trying to make himself as big as possible, he was succeeding. He made Tyler shrink a bit as he approached. 

“Why don’t you take a walk with me. It’s getting a little crowded in here,” he smiles, leading him toward the gym doors. 

Tyler scoffs, backing away. “Fuck you. I didn’t do anything!”

The big guy remains strangely calm, his voice even and smooth. “Hey, it’s fine. Raph just wants to talk–”

Wait, Raph? Your jaw nearly hits the floor. 

You reach out, trying to grab for his upper arm. “Hey–!”

“Fuck you!” 

Tyler looks positively venomous, feeling backed into a corner. He doesn’t even know what else to say other than obscenities. You begin to chuckle at his pathetic rambling. 

“I’m sorry?” Raph asks politely. 

“Fuck you. Fuck you. Fuck you!”

You feel Raph’s muscles begin to tighten under your grasp. He hadn’t really even acknowledged you this whole time, his focus placed squarely on Tyler. 

“Oh, fuck me? You gonna do something? Cuz a real man doesn’t just say it, he does something about it.”

Raph closes in on him, backing him all the way to the edge of the dance floor, cutting through the crowd. How did he do that so easily, you wonder? His enormous size and strength was an obvious answer, but there was something else. You knew Raph could easily peel this guy’s potatoes if he wanted to, but he was keeping his anger under control. 

Raph smirks as Tyler walks into the wall by the basketball hoop. He didn’t want to cause a scene, but he did enjoy putting the fear of God into this scrawny punk. 

“I’m gonna fuck you up!” Tyler shouts, rearing up to punch Raph. 

He chuckles, folding his arms. “There’s that word again. Your vocabulary is so limited.”

You approach, hiding behind Raph. He was very clearly wearing a cloaking broach on his sleeveless jacket, which would explain his current human form. His body was slightly smaller than his turtle one. The absence of his spiky shell was mostly to blame, but he still had an imposing presence. Even now, he felt familiar to you. A gentle giant that could power smash you into tomorrow. 

You smile, leaning against Raph’s side. “I would think about this if I were you, Ty. This guy doesn’t mess around.”

Tyler shakes his head in disbelief. “What the fuck are you talking about?! He’s trying to fight me!”

You and Raph give each other lazy looks, both of you perfectly calm. 

“You’re the one who has his hands up.” Raph points to him. 

“I-I’m just defending myself! You don’t think I can fuck you up?”

Raph moves his hand to point up instead, toward the ceiling. 

“Go ahead, but do you see those cameras everywhere? They can play the tape back.”

Tyler cranes his neck to look around the corners of the gym. There were, indeed, cameras everywhere. He gulps, tightening his fists.

“I-I’m gonna go to the SRO!”

His empty threats only make you and Raph chuckle harder. You find yourself trying to rationalize how you and him were so in-sync, even as you were both in your prom clothes and him in a human body. You should feel a little more freaked out, maybe even concerned as to why he was here in the first place. 

But, you were happy he was here. Not just because he was helping you scare Tyler, but also because you just felt so at home with him. 

“I’ve got a better idea! I'll bring them to you.” 

Raph snaps his large fingers together, summoning the SRO and the vice principal. They walk up behind him, seemingly out of nowhere. Had they been watching for a while? Unconsciously, you press yourself up against Raph’s arm. 

Tyler’s hands drop, once again trying to put up a calm front. “This guy was coming at me all pissed! You saw it, right?”

When you realize he was talking to you, you shake your head.

“He didn’t do anything. Tyler was the one cussing him out and threatening him.”

The two adults confer with each other silently before stepping in between Raph and Tyler. That’s all they needed to hear, evidently.  

“Why don’t you come with us, son.” The officer calmly places a hand upon his back to usher him out. 

You have to put your own hands on your mouth to stop yourself from smiling so much. What an idiot! You overhear the vice principal discussing something about a suspension. Sweet, sweet justice. 

Once the three of them walk away, you turn to fully look Raph in the eye. You two still hadn’t really greeted each other yet. 

He stands there, his hands still crossed in front of his wide chest. He looked so cool, his human features even kept his signature snaggle tooth. 

You blush a bit, looking at him for too long. You needed to talk with him properly, without all the people and noise. In an impulsive move, you find the nearby door to the storage room and try the handle. 

It was unlocked, thank Pizza Supreme. 

You grab Raph by the collar and pull him along. It was oddly not too hard to get him to follow, blush creeping into his cheeks as he obliged.

“W-Woah!”

Shutting it behind you, you flatten yourself against the door. You exhale, glad to be in a more intimate setting. 

“Okay. First of all–”

Raph screws his eyes shut, preparing you to dig into him for crashing your prom. April had cheekily implied that it would be a fun idea to drop in on you tonight, half-joking. But he took her suggestion very seriously, even going so far as to find his cloaking broach. And he never really liked to use it. 

“I’m sorry! I know that I shouldn’t have followed you around. I didn’t mean to be a creep–!”

“Thank you.” You hum. 

Raph blinks his eyes open and gives you a surprised frown. “Huh?”

“Thank you. The following-me-around part is a little concerning, but I think I can find it in my heart to forgive you. But…seriously, thank you for that.”

You step away from the door, moving closer to Raph. The storage closet was filled with all manner of sports equipment: wrestling mats, basketballs, shelves of miscellaneous objects. The room was also pretty small, so you two didn’t have any other choice than to be inches away from each other. 

“Uh, anytime. I shoulda cut in earlier, now that I think about it.” He smiles. 

Even so, you’re grateful that he did. “How did you manage to handle that situation so well, by the way? It was like you’ve talked humans down– err, I mean, other people…”

You furrow your eyebrows in confusion. You didn’t know if Raph was still trying to be sneaky about his human disguise or not. His distinctive way of speaking in the third person sort of gave him away back there, but you didn’t want to tease him about it. 

He flounders a bit trying to find the right answer. 

“I don’t know, if I’m bein’ honest.” He sighs. 

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I know I was holding myself back. Physically.” He drums his fingers along the sides of his legs nervously. “But I don’t know how I did it.”

“Did you just not want to murder someone in cold blood in the middle of my school? Not to state the obvious, but you’re a pretty reasonable person.” You toss your hand around flippantly. 

“No, I did.” He admits. 

…Wait, did he just–

“You what?” 

You inch away from his chest a bit, getting a better look at his face. His expression was fairly neutral. Almost pleasant. 

“I did want to kill him.” His voice lilts with positivity. “I wanted to punch his skull into the ground. Beat him past the point of death. Out of existence.”

Again, you think you should be a little more concerned. 

But, you’re happy. No, you were flattered. 

You were filled with…something indescribable. 

Raph stared at your dumbfounded face, your jaw slack and eyes wide. 

“I know, that was a lot. But I mean it.” 

He looks at you earnestly. Raph was protective with almost all of the people he knew. But when it came to you, he felt a little more passionate. More out for blood. He didn’t want to reveal himself before and potentially ruin your night, that’s why he was hanging back so much. Maybe he wasn’t as swell a ninja as he thought.

“You wanted to kill Tyler? Do you realize you just said that you would kill for me?” You whisper. 

Why were you getting so hot all of the sudden? The tiny closet felt even more constricting, more warm. Awkwardly, Raph tries to move himself closer to you. His impressive size wasn’t intimidating you though, it made you feel safe. 

“Yeah. Is that bad?”

Raph’s lopsided smile is the straw that breaks the camel’s back. Pressing your chest against his, you feel both of your heartbeats thundering away. Your eyes wander down from his face to his chest. 

He was blushing. Only it was on his neck. 

You can’t help but let your gaze go underneath the top of his shirt. It’s clear that he was just as ripped as he was when he was a turtle. But, then you felt your heart sink. 

Raph watches the small change in your mood. “What?”

Clicking your tongue, you look away from him. “I just…feel bad. I know you don’t like using that thing.”

You nod over to his cloaking broach. Raph’s hand creeps up to touch the edge of the pin, rolling in around. 

“Oh, this? Nah, it’s fine. I couldn’t exactly bring my turtle-y ass in here otherwise!”

He lets out a soft chuckle, and your heart sinks even lower. There he was again, holding back his words to spare you. You knew he was lying to your face. 

Why were you two always hiding your true feelings away?

“Stop that. I don’t care about that shit. I just–”

You turn to look Raph in the eye. There was barely any light from the window in the room, but his eyes almost shone in the moonlight. 

“I like the way you look. Human or not.”

Raph blushes even harder. 

“I…I don’t know what to say.”

“I know what it’s like to have body image stuff. I’m not gonna bore you with that right now…” You sigh dreamily, moving your hand up to caress his chest. 

“You’re like, the most beautiful person I know. And the most beautiful turtle I know. That’s still a pretty large pool.”

Your casual attempt to lighten the mood goes right over Raph’s head. His chest rises shakily, leaning into your touch. Your hand was placed squarely over his heart. It danced in his soft chest. 

“You’re a lot more squishy now…” You smirk, rubbing his pectoral. 

Then, Raph frowns a bit. The romantic mood was just about to hit its peak.  “I’m not squishy. I’m a hard dude.”

Teasingly, you place both of your hands on his upper arms. They were muscly, sure, but there was a little bit of give. You found yourself unable to keep your hands off of him. 

“You’re a hard turtle dude trapped in a squishy human body.” 

“Whatever. After all I've done for you, this is how you repay me?” He smirks, letting his eyes close.

“No, this is.”

You grab him by his hands and start slow dancing with him. The music from the dance floor was loud enough for the two of you to still hear. You couldn’t really tell, but it was a slower 80’s ballad, perfectly complimenting the tender moment. 

You give Raph an apologetic smile, shrugging. You hope you can still somewhat save this budding feeling you two shared. 

“Thanks for being so cavalier with me, no one’s ever stood up for me like that before…”

“Don’t mention it.”

You try to casually glide along with Raph, easing into a waltz. It was a small, weird kind of waltz with the confines of the closet. You hear Raph almost stub his toe on a shelf. He gulps down a shout of pain. 

You grab Raph by the waist and move him in the opposite direction. He sighs, feeling bashful. 

“I should’ve warned you, I have two left feet.”

You waggle your eyebrows playfully. “What a coincidence, so do I!”

Chuckling, you pop your foot out and start to purposefully dance poorly. Your silly, exaggerated movements are juxtaposed with your overly-serious face, making Raph start to giggle. 

“You must feel awful now, you could have taken anyone to this dance and you choose me? How unfortunate!” You smirk. 

You do an awkward spin out of his arms and accidentally fall into the same shelf Raph hit. Countless basketballs and sports equipment goes tumbling off, slapping you in the face.

“Holy shit—!” Raph cries out in surprise. 

He tries to dig you out of the pile of objects you’ve accidentally buried yourself in. Once he finally uncovers your dazed face, he picks you up underneath your armpits and raises you up to eye level. 

“Are you crazy? You coulda gotten hurt!”

“What seems to be the officer, problem? I only drink when I drive. OOP— I mean drive when I drink!”

Your head starts to spin, eyes dizzy. The hazy feeling was making you even more loose, more relaxed. 

As Raph stared longingly into your eyes, he thought back to his cloaking broach. Maybe he didn’t need to use it right now. He wanted to look like himself, if only for a moment. Taking it off of his jacket, he returns to his turtle form. 

“Hey…” You smile, eyelids dropping low. “You’re back!”

Feeling drunk off your kind words, Raph brings you into a tight embrace. He brushes his lips against yours, gently, before finally diving in. He kisses you deeply. 

Oh, boy.

You sigh into his lips, his sharp tooth cutting into your skin. It was a pleasant ache that you felt right in your chest. 

And for the next couple of minutes, maybe even an hour, you kiss. Time didn’t really feel the same right now. Raph shifts to pin your back against the wall, and you gasp. He has to physically stop himself from biting directly onto your neck. Instead, he just moves down, panting against your hot skin. 

“Do we have to go back out there at some point?” You murmur against the side of his forehead. 

“No. I’ll break us out of that window.”

You nod, smooching his brow. “Do we have to break out right now?”

Raph lifts his head back up to press into your mouth, a smile tugging at his lips. 

“Let’s just stay here for a while.”

taglist:@saspas-corner

[vctrvn-ls]

bro I had the fvcking request and then tumblr just ate it. like ong I can’t find it anywhere

request: AJ being our passenger princess

wordcount: 1k

warnings: language

"Fuck yeah!"

You giggled covering your smile as you watched AJ skip over to you with his arms open.

He gave you an affectionate kiss on the cheek before clinging onto you for a hug. You watched his friends wave to you from the couch.

It was a cold noon and you had come to pick AJ up from his long day of shooting that was rolling since 10am.

"Peace out everyone." He turned to Niko, Kenny, Chunkz and Sharky.

"Aje," you nudged him "Bye guys." You smiled before AJ began dragging you out of the set with great enthusiasm.

"I swear that guy found the one." Chunkz mumbled to Sharky who was nodding and still in shock since the beginning of your relationship.

"How'd today go?" You asked, rubbing his back as he continued to hold onto you.

"It was aight. I'm starving."

"Obviously," you nodded, stopping next to your car "Well Im ready to take you wherever your heart desires." You jokingly bow like a gentleman.

As you get in the car he replies "Nando's please, I'm begging you."

"Nando's it is." You start the car.

While you're putting your seatbelt on, setting the gear and preparing for the drive, AJ's busy getting comfortable next to you.

He reaches for the blanket that was in the backseat and wraps himself in it, then proceeds to adjust the back of the seat by leaning it back almost all the way. You simply react with a chuckle and an eye roll as he continues getting as cozy as he could.

Heater: on, heated seating: on, music: on.

You set your trip to the Nando's that was closest to your house, meanwhile AJ scrolled through his playlist, trying to find the perfect song for this journey.

Minutes later you heard a familiar melody start playing.

Poison, by Brent Faiyaz.

"Mm how romantic," you joke sarcastically, earning a small push from AJ.

"It's a good song!"

"Hey careful I'm the one driving."

"Girl you do da-mage to me! You know I love it! Yeah I love you," he turns to you, smugly singing the lyrics while also being dramatic with his hands. Even with just the corner of your eye you can see how funny he looks.

AJ enjoyed every second of the ride, he even slipped in a little nap near the end.

You loved it when AJ was happy, it made you happy. You knew that he was famous for being a "prickly little hedgehog who never wanted to be touched" amongst his friends, and you genuinely always laughed at those words because with you he was the complete opposite. So sweet, calm and absolutely adorable. Still energetic of course, but extra soft on the inside.

You parked your car, turning it off and looking at AJ who was dozing away, clutching onto the blanket.

You grinned.

"AJ," you whispered, learning over to him and moving some loose curls out of his eyes "Ajeee." You hummed, scratching the top of his head "We're here."

You sincerely thought that he was asleep, that was until a smile began to tug on the corners of his lips.

"AJ!" You laughed, giving him a good shove, this time instantly waking him up as he complained about how hard you had pushed him.

"Tsk, stop whining you big baby." You unbuckled your seatbelt and yanked the blanket off of him, then proceeded to exit the car. He got out with a tired groan, stretching and yawning.

Two hours later you were heading back to the car.

"-And then that's when they cut the cameras," AJ chuckled, telling you about the day "You know the craziest thing is that they said they were going to cut the last part out?" He exclaimed, waving his arms around "I was so pissed I swear." He huffed.

You chuckled and shook your head.

"What? It's not funny." Despite him saying that, he was still smiling.

"You're so cute when you're explaining something." You glance at him.

"I am NOT." He argued "I'm just very emotional because people from set got me fucked up."

"Yeah, yeah, alright." You reach for the top of his head to fluff around his curls. He swats your arm away and then proceeds to throw playful punches at you, jumping from side to side in front of you.

"Oh wow, wow," you raise your hands up sarcastically "Calm down Mr.ToughGuy. Not very gentlemen of you to hit a Miss."

He immediately stops and puts his hands in his pockets "Your my Miss tho."

"That's even worse!" You exclaim with laugh.

"I'm joking, I'm joking." He squeezes you from the side "I'd never." He kisses your cheek before quietly adding "Because you'd probably beat me up before I could."

You giggle and nudge him "I will."

Back on the road you noticed that you were low on gas and decided to stop at the nearest petrol station . While you filled up the car, AJ was busy inside the gas stop. You didn't even have time to blink when you noticed him standing next to you with a big slushy in his hands.

"AJ," you laugh at the innocent look on his face, like it wasn't him who had just bought that outrageously massive cup of ice. He shrugs and gets in the car, not evaluating any further.

The last ten minutes in the car were very peaceful. A gentle tune played while AJ hummed, accompanying the song whilst also sipping the gigantic slushy under the fuzzy blanket. Occasionally he'd reach the cup over to you and let you have a sip, allowing you to keep your eyes on the road while tapping the rhythm of the music on the steering wheel…

[scaryladyswife]

🖤 Ran Headcanons 🖤

| Some of my SFW headcanons for a character with zero lines and only a minute of screen time but I love them and we’re married. @sevikitty has very similar headcanons to mine so I’d definitely check out their list of Ran Headcanons.

If you don’t agree with my headcanons its obviously okay and I actually encourage you to tell me your headcanons. (Be respectful of course) |

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• Ran is in their mid 20s, maybe early 30s by the end of season 1.

• Non-binary, on the asexual spectrum (because I am and they give me the vibe), and bisexual. (I believe that they canonically use she/they pronouns.)

• Very quiet person. In a group setting, she doesn’t contribute to conversation unless asked for her opinion or feels like she has something important to say.

• The type of person to say something sarcastic or blunt and accidentally make people laugh.

• Ran’s an observer. Loves to just sit at The Last Drop and just people watch with Oba. Always notices small things when they step into a room. Has probably stopped Sevika and Dustin from walking into Jinx’s boobytraps before.

• Has at least 3 pet rats that her and Dustin named and take care of.

• Dustin is their best friend. They’ve been best friends since they were kids.

• Oba (the person in the picture above. Name not confirmed) and them met when they were a little older. The three of them are a trio, always together.

• Ran seems to hang out with this one patron with tattoos. They’re the same person they arm wrestled and the same person they play pool with before Vi and Sevika’s final fight. He seems way older so I’m saying he’s either their dad or they just have a casual, competitive friendship.

• Piggybacking off of that, Ran is very competitive and kind of a sore loser. Won’t make a huge scene or anything since they’re pretty reserved but will huff, walk away, and hold a small grudge for a bit.

• Will give people the silent treatment but unless that person really knows them, they might not even notice since Ran is usually quiet.

• I think we’ve established that Ran is very quiet but I also think their kind of a go-with-the-flow kind of person. People come up to them and ask if they wanna arm wrestle or play cards, they don’t usually initiate it unless they lost a game to someone and they want a rematch. Dustin usually has these stupid schemes that Ran just kind goes along with just to see how it turns out, not because they believe in the idea. They’re just the kind of person to just sort of shrug and go ‘okay’ with things.

• Not a dancer. Probably will dance with Dustin and Oba if it’s just them, but won’t dance at a party. Even when they do dance, they just sort of sway and bob their head.

• If a song they like comes on at the bar, they’ll tap/drum their fingers along to it without even realizing it. Dustin calls them out on it sometimes and they get embarrassed.

• I’m not sure how they lost their hand but I don’t think they lost it in the explosion Powder caused. Might have lost it in a fight. Maybe a sword fight.

• In the scene after Vi knocks down the neon sign and Silco is beating the shit out of Dustin, we see Ran running away in the background. I saw one person theorize that Ran was running after Vi and Caitlyn but I personally think Ran just didn’t want to be on the other end of Silco’s anger like Dustin. Silco has probably has taken his frustration out on them before in the past. Ran knows they can’t stop Silco from beating Dustin so they probably think it’s best if they just keep their distance for now until they can grab Dustin later when Silco walks away.

• Ran, Dustin, Oba, and (sometimes) Sevika will patch each other up after fights. It’s kind of the only time they can all let their guard down a bit since they trust each other. They’re a strange little family and they really care about each other but they won’t admit it out loud (especially not Sevika). But they don’t have to, they know.

• Vi and Ran use to be somewhat friends. Ran being older (maybe 4-6 years older). Vi looked up to Ran and had a small ‘kid crushing on their babysitter’ crush on them. And Ran thought Vi was a good kid and taught her some stuff about fighting and how to jump between buildings.

• Ran has a tongue piercing.

• Ran, Dustin, and Oba do each others makeup and nails 100%.

• I think enforcers either arrested or killed one of Ran’s parents when she was around 13 and the other parent fell into a depressive state so Ran had to take care of them and herself. If the man with the tattoos is their father, then they seem to have a good relationship now.

• Is an only child but will say Dustin is their brother if anyone asked.

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| I’ll probably add to this list in the future cause I’m always think about Ran and making headcanons for her cause I’m obsessed.

Again, if you have any headcanons about them, I’d love to hear them. |