#also this has been sitting in my drafts for months

[redhoodinternaldialectical]

I 100% have a whole Scheme planned out for the super likely and definitely going to happen event in which I win the Comics Books Lottery and get to be the CEO of DC for a day lmao I have been dreaming about what I'd do for this for MONTHS!

welcome to the first draft test screening of...

Red Hood: Vein Tides

ISSUE #1

We open on a panel of a mugging which has just begun, then, the next panel pulls back to show us the looming silhouette of THE RED HOOD looking down. The view of the mugging is split into two panels side by side across the width of the page with the blacked out shape of Jason in the middle, poised to spring down and attack!

But he doesn't. Instead we see his inner monologue as he continues to let this go on.

The panel on the left holds the mugger and Jason's first thought box: [John Abernac. Father of four. He lives down the street. He's also about to get evicted due to late rent.]

The panel on the right holds the victim [Don't recognize her. Do recognize the pearls. Genuine. Two grand, easy, if you know a good fence.]

We face Jason, seeing him in an impassive, unreadable full face mask OR in full creacher mode with only the two red dots of his eyes visible in the darkness of the hood. [Four kids kept off the streets for the price of endangering one stranger who can clearly afford it? Simple math... so long as nothing goes wrong.]

The mugger reaches for her jewelry. [Maybe I don't love or understand God...]

[But I am praying.] Closeup of his white knuckle grip on the hilt of his kris.

The mugging goes as fine as threatening someone with a knife for their possessions can. He wasn't needed, and tonight, everybody walks away unharmed.

Jason steps away from the edge and breathes a sigh of relief. [That's the difference between me and Bruce... He's never been able to make the hard choices.]

[And after tonight, with any luck, any luck at all, I won't have to.]

The rest of the issue sees Jason making sure everyone in his territory is okay, settling scores, and paying up debts, at one point literally sending small sums of cash to various members of his friends/family, culminating in him shedding his armor and physically cleaning his home and giving back a borrowed object as a civilian.

He checks his now incredibly clean apartment and declares his satisfaction [Perfect.] Then we linger on him hesitating for a moment before deciding against calling his landlord.

Then he leaves the apartment, passing by a janitor who he smiles and waves to. [Not here. I can't do that to him. Besides, I've always been partial to Lydia Tomkiw's view of it.] The last part being a reference to this song.

He walks through the streets and down to the water, hiding himself away with his back against a support pillar and the water up to his gut.

He holds a gun up to his temple. [I felt so light and free all day today that it actually surprises me when I feel fear in the end.]

He screws his eyes shut, tears rolling down his cheeks. [I am so, so scared.]

He pulls the trigger and we see the muzzle flash from afar lighting up the sunset and then a panel of the sunset as it tints purple.

ISSUE #2

Jason wakes up in the hospital, having been found by beachgoers at Amusement Mile and rescued. The bullet only grazed his skull and he almost drowned, but all in all it only took pumping the seawater out of him to get him well enough to wake up and walk out.

He goes home, curls up in the shower, and weeps.

This has firmly cemented in his mind a suspicion that he's long held: [Death is a mercy God has forbidden me from receiving.] <- this should be the first actual thought or speech we hear from him this Issue.

He gets dry and dressed and sits down. Several panels of him simply staring at the floor. Then he thinks [Well... guess it's a good thing I didn't cancel my lease after all.] and the bleak humor of how unfairly mundane that is seems to break him out of the paralysis of depression somewhat.

He weakly resolves that he's got to find something to do or be or whatever that will make it worth surviving.

He can't name anything that could possibly do it though. He's not honestly sure he can remember a time in his adult life that he was actually fulfilled or at all happy.

In the meantime though, there's no rest for the wicked. Some how or another he finds out about a secret underground laboratory that's right beneath his feet and has been producing batches of highly rare designer drugs.

He sneaks his way into the laboratory and we end with a panel of his face, he looks awed. [It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen...]

ISSUE #3

Full page dramatic panel as Jason stands before a huge vat filled with a horrific squid-human-crab hybrid. From behind him out of panel comes a speech bubble. "So, Red Hood, what do you make of our latest creation?!"

"It's gorgeous..."

The awe in his voice and the unusual response is enough to break the traditional back and forth that a hero and villain ought to have at this juncture. So, when he turns around and reveals our Villains(?), Monsieur Mallah and The Brain, they don't start fighting.

Instead he gets a tour of the facility as a potential ally - or, well, more like a potential landlord and mafia jackass who's going to demand a cut of the profits from all the drugs they've been making in order to fund this operation.

This also gives us a tour of their goals. "Clones, I'm sure you've noticed, tend to disintegrate very, very quickly. The solution to this is generally to add enormous amounts of non-human DNA, specifically lobsters and octopuses and anything else that demonstrates significant resilience to aging"

The problem is that they can't get anything even remotely human out of the process. Vaguely Bipedal is about the best they've ever managed, and the Brain doesn't want to be stuck as a pile of incoherent stabbing limbs and slimy tentacles. So, the progress of science marches ever onwards, one failed, brainless squid monstrosity at a time.

And they are brainless! No brain or even any spinal chord in their vertebra - they aren't eager to make a bunch of minions that'll inevitably turn on them when they learn they were made purely to have their brains scooped out to house The Brain.

Or, at least they claim that they're brainless and why should anyone be trusting them? In every panel, Jason's thought boxes have been consumed with figuring out ways to take out the lab, the guards, and of course the loving duo of evil themselves.

And when he finally gets to the end of the tour Jason's mind is made up:

It's too dangerous to take them on without good reason. The lab is positioned right underneath an apartment building that houses at least a hundred people and there's no way in hell he can take this place out without it being a blood bath that seriously risked opening up a sink hole right under all those innocent people.

Plus, they just aren't doing anything all that evil! [Who gives a shit if they're doing weird experiments on a bunch of animals? The world does worse things for hamburgers every day.] The audience is meant to be made a little uncomfortable by the fact he cares so little about the animals.

So he gives them his stipulations for safety and selling practices with regards to the drugs and agrees to let them stay in his territory - And silently resolves to follow up on the brainlessness claim to make sure they're on the level with that one. [Zapping animals? Fine. Making an army of disposable quasi-people? Not so fine.]

Jason leaves, trying to think of what to do next to keep the soul crushing depression at bay. He's about to despair that his only options are sleep and throwing himself off of this roof - when suddenly he spots Damian moving into a nearby building.

ISSUE #4

Jason follows Damian and inserts himself into whatever fight Damian gets himself into.

It turns out that Damian has been tracking down an odd case: designer drug manufacturers with a penchant for rare animal smuggling on the side... He's after the lab that Jason has just sanctioned.

Damian confronts Jason about the drugs that are coming from his territory. "And you mean to tell me you are simply okay with this poison spilling out from underneath your own nose?"

"Hey, what do I care if the people of the Diamond District have gotten bored of their usual highs? Besides, it's not coming out of my territory, just moving through it. You'll have better luck trying the other Robin down at the docks - good f%$king luck getting him to cooperate as much as I am by the way."

Damian leaves, hopefully none the wiser for now, and hopefully this will give Jason enough time to figure out a plan.

Because seriously, what is he DOING?!

Jason looks down at his hands, trying to sort out why on earth he'd felt any desire to stick his neck out for them.

His reasons for not taking Mallah and the Brain down immediately fall apart like this. On his own he stands a high chance of making a deadly sinkhole, but a whole team? They could just dedicate one of them to keeping collateral to a minimum, problem solved.

All the same, for reasons he doesn't even understand himself, Jason thinks again of the haunting beauty of the horrific squid beast and he cannot bear the thought of its legacy coming to naught.

We change over to Damian clashing with Tim as he tries to find the information on this case that Tim supposedly has.

They figure out pretty fast that Jason lied to him about it.

This has him... well, Damian would never call it scared, but it provides a distinct sense of concern. He remembers fighting Jason with Dick, the way he ran rings around them, the way things went very, very badly for every other bat who has tried to fight him one on one, and how Jason required basically ALL of them to catch him in Task Force Z - and it turned out that Jason had simply meant to get captured anyways at the end of it.

Together, Tim and Damian decide they need to call in The Big Guns. They each pull out their phones and dial, with the last two panels showing that Tim is calling Cass and Damian is calling Dick.

((Though, Author's Note here: I'm not sure I have enough room in this plot to justify this many characters. I may axe Cass, bc as is she has to get sidelined pretty damn heavily, since this is really about Dick and Jason. I might end up axing Tim too, or maybe instead of her? Could have her fill in his plot beats? Idk, we'll see. Sometimes not including a character at all feels more respectful than shoe horning them in and out of the plot, even though it would logically make sense for them to be involved.))

ISSUE #5

We open into a scene of Jason arguing with Mallah and the Brain, trying to convince them to pack up and move. In turn, they're demanding that he either fuck off or buy them time to make one last attempt. Being captured and being forced to move on both bring them to effectively the same square one and they'd rather fight it out.

Jason snarls. "You two-bit morons already know exactly what's going to happen if you stay! You'll make yet another body that's 90 percent fish, fuck yourselves over with your own damned pickiness, and get your shit kicked in by every damned vigilante in the city!"

"Since you are so concerned with my Husband's so called 'pickiness', then I am sure you won't mind it if we put you into one of these failures and take your body for ourselves!"

The idea shocks Jason and we transition into a flashback via panel edges shaped like shattered glass

[Memories. Not exactly mine - a different Jason, a different reality...]

Various thoughts play out over panels roughly summarizing the tenta-Todd-tacular events of the Nightwing run Brothers in Blood. [Joy.] [Freedom from pain.] [Finally feeling like a part of my body rather than a prisoner inside it.] [Power. Thrilling strength.]

We fade back the present moment as Jason realizes, [I could have it all again...]

"Do it!" Jason thrusts out his exposed wrist. "Take a sample then, see if I'm compatible!"

This again brakes the flow of the normal Villain-Hero dynamic, and Mallah cautiously steps forwards and stabs him with some kind of super science gadget.

He mutters some comic science mumbo jumbo and declares him to be a viable body donor.

The Brain says, "It will take at least 48 hours to build your body. If you cannot keep your associates away from us for that long, we will simply have to go ahead with the surgery - without a destination for your grey matter... Deal?"

"Try to take it without and I'll turn both of you into a fine pink paste spattered across the walls. Deal."

Scene transition into a planning session as Jason assesses the resources and forces available to him for the purpose of misdirecting the bats. He's planning for everyone, even though he knows that most of them have far bigger fish to fry right now.

He briefly gets out into the field and talks to various goons and mooks, setting up his pieces, but it's clear he's planning on fighting many of the Bats himself, one at a time, ideally. He knows he's no match for them all at once, but one on one he's got good odds he can take anyone except Cass and Dick.

Then Jason is called back to the lab for surgical preparations. They're checking his blood pressure, taking a bit of his last minute medical history, determining if he's allergic to any particular kinds of anesthesia, getting told when to start fasting, getting his head shaved, that sort of thing.

We see Jason staring into the main cloning tank. In the dark water within we see the mass of cells that will form his new body. In the dark of Jason's metaphorical mind space we see a soft blue glow in roughly the same shape as the mass of cells.

The Brain joins him. "Horrid, isn't it?"

"I thought we'd been over this already."

"I meant the Hope."

"Oh..."

They briefly discuss the shared pain of brutal failures suffered over and over and over again, of existing in a world that seems bent on nothing but retreading their greatest moments of suffering, always leaving relief just out of reach, and about the simple truth of why they both keep trying:

There's nothing left for them if they ever try to stop.

We end with Jason gearing up to go out and fight, outfitted with some yet-to-be-revealed gadgets from his temporary allies.

ISSUE #6

Most of this issue is dedicated to his fights with the other Bats and their encounters with his schemes.

During these fights, it's very clear to see he's gained back some of his zest for life, flipping and shit talking and joking around in a distinctly Robin way - something that's been absent from his fighting style for years now, and wasn't there in earlier fight scenes in this series either.

He returns to the lab battered, bruised, tired, but victorious and mostly unharmed.

He rests against a wall and listens in on a conversation between Mallah and Brain. They're talking about what they're looking forwards to doing with his body. Drinking tea, feeling the warmth of the sunset, holding each other. It's soft and sweet, and a striking contrast to the way he's always viewed his own body. It leaves Jason more determined than ever that he's doing the right thing.

ISSUE #7

The bats can tell they're being maneuvered, and so switch from trying to directly catch Jason, to trying to catch a mook who knows enough that they can start catching up to Mr. Three Steps Ahead.

Another frustrating as hell fight with Jason later and they manage to catch someone that's actual been inside the lab. However, they don't know much beyond the basics because Mallah, The Brain, and the Red Hood keep speaking French to each other and not many of them understand it - it's a cloning lab, they know the way to get to it, the bosses have changed the plan to stealing the Red Hood's body, and no one seems to know why the Hood isn't fighting them about that.

The Bat group assumes that Jason must have fallen for a trick, that maybe they'd falsified some kind of terminal diagnosis and were offering some kind of false promise of a cure or something. It would go some way towards explaining why a few of his actions lately have seemed an awful lot like tying up loose ends...

Dick isn't so sure, though. Something about it feels off. Even ignoring the fact that Jason's way too clever to get duped like that, would he really go to some random supervillains for a cure instead of just... waiting it out? Or finding a proper blaze of glory? However, without a better idea to propose, he hesitantly goes along with the group's ideas.

Back at the lab, Jason looks at his new body, far more formed now, and listens to the technician walk him through what it's likely to be able to do once fully matured. He gives some last minute input on the ratios of how much species's genetics will be expressed. Lots of silly comic book science about how octopus DNA alone could give him the limited shape shifting abilities he's after, but adding in sea sponge or clam DNA will be necessary if he wants the sort of toxin filtration systems needed to survive living in the Gotham Harbor.

For once, he finds himself truly looking forwards to tomorrow, eager to see what life in the water is like, rather than merely grimly resigned to enduring another day.

[It's almost unbearable. Too soft, too kind. It's all I can do to keep myself from trembling.]

ISSUE #8

We're down to the final hours of the cloning process. The bats have finally managed to side step Jason's schemes and it's down to tunnel warfare down in the storm drains and sewers of the city.

They're having to fight for every damned inch of ground against mooks and dozens of traps clearly designed to disable them, but it's clear to see that it's only a matter of time before they reach the lab proper.

Alarms blare as they breach the doors and Jason stands ready to greet them, loaded for bear with armor and weapons.

Dick tries to get Jason to stop fighting so they can talk, beating around the bush like, "We just want to make sure you know what you're getting into..."

Jason is reasonably responding with different versions of "Fuck off with that patronizing horseshit!"

Tim gets tired of this and yells out, "He is trying to steal your body so he can f@#k a gorilla, goddamn it!"

This successfully shocks Jason to a standstill. Genuinely horrified he says, "Tim! Mallah is a person with a name! That's his husband!"

Then in the next panel Jason continues, while firing his guns at them again, "What they do in the privacy of their bedroom with my body is none of your business!"

Tim, dodging bullets, "What?! You think this is ending in a three-"

"I DEMAND WE CEASE THIS LINE OF QUESTIONING AT ONCE," Damian interjects, while stabbing.

Jason backflips away, cackling - and then the device on his wrist beeps as the countdown displayed on it reaches zero. "Ah well, this was fun folks, but it's time for the finale!"

He bolts as fast as his legs can carry him, heading for the surgical suite with his pursuers nipping his heels. The Brain has already gotten into the machine, and Mallah practically slams him into his end of it.

Jason has one last moment to look longingly towards his new body, the first glimpse we see of it in its completed form, then the anesthesia takes him under.

Mallah punches the lockdown button that will seal this room off from the outside world, but he's too late. Nightwing manages to slide underneath the blast doors at the last possible second

A tense one on one, man versus ape fist fight ensues. Mallah is clearly giving it his all, but in the end, Dick wins. He stabs a tranq into Mallah and is left alone with the controls.

He opens the case protecting the ABORT button.

One panel goes by without his fingers lifting off of the case. Then two. Then three.

He closes it again, walking away and pacing the room. He looks at Jason, floating in his tank, tubes and wires hooked up to him, various horror movie style buzzsaw arms and massive injector needles hovering over him, and starts talking to his sleeping form.

"How could you possibly...? This is- it's repulsive, it's insane, it's..."

He looks down silently for a moment.

Dick walks to the control panel again and begins typing. "I know you. They're wrong. They underestimate you. This has to be what you want for yourself... And you've had too much of that taken from you already..."

The computer speaks as the machine whirs to life, and we get to see the saws baring down on his skull, {PROCEDURE INITIATED - PREPARING DONOR BODY}

Outside we see that this has triggered the last ditch defense mechanisms of the laboratory. The whole place is quickly flooding with seawater. {TRANSFERRING PATIENT TO DONOR - TRANSFERRING DONOR TO SHELL}

The rest of the bats are forced to evacuate while Dick scrambles to get the emergency breathing equipment onto himself and Mallah who is groggily beginning to wake up.

{TRANSFER COMPLETE - WAKING PATIENT AND DONOR}

The last page is absolute chaos as Jason practically explodes out of his tank, laughing and shouting his victory, spiky red rimmed speech bubble and all :3

ISSUES #9 and #10

Everyone scatters -Mallah and the Brain escape onto some kind of helicopter or something, Jason crashes his way into the harbor, and the Bats are left cleaning up the mess.

We focus on Jason learning his new powers, and just enjoying the feeling of swimming and transforming and playing kraken with a boat full of people smuggling guns out of the US.

We get a small aside to show Mallah and the Brain living it up somewhere, maybe Zandia if that's still a thing. Ideally this will include a tasteful fade to black, because, of course, what they do in the privacy of their own bedroom with Jason's the Brain's body is none of our business.

I also want to have a scene where Jason returns to the spot where he committed suicide in the first issue, but I'm not exactly sure how I want to handle it. I want something that both shows that he's happy to be alive, but also that he doesn't regret having made the attempt. I want him to reject the narrative that it was a mistake, instead seeing it as... a vital part of his autonomy I suppose? I have complicated thoughts on it and they aren't quite fully formed yet, but I know I want to have him respect his former self's decision. His decision to become a sea monster is of the same substance after all.

The final scene has Dick taking a boat (Tim's?) out into the water at night and luring Jason up to him. They talk for a little while, about how he's doing, whether or not he can actually participate in life on land anymore (he can), and Jason thanks him with a hug before they part ways again.

Obviously, DC would almost certainly undo both the Brain getting a body, and Jason gaining monster powers :/ Tis tragic, but! The point of this would be to force them to actually put some damned work into it! No last minute return to the status quo, you want that shit back you're gonna have to take a whole ass other story arc to get there >:3

And of course, alas, SOMEDAY I'm going to be able to admit to myself that DC will never ever let me install this shit into their canon and simply draw it as the fan comic it was meant to be lol

Serious question: DC has asked you (yes you 🫵) to write a 10 issue Jason Todd comic run. No conditions or stipulations, any era, any supporting cast, any villain. What do you do?

[eleganzadellarosa]

That’s Unconditional (Part 1)

pairing: jaehyun x fem!reader

genre: fluff, angst, best friends to…something

warnings: reader is a bit of a dumbass (you might just get pissed off, so my bad in advance), heavy usage of Y/N (please don’t be cringed out), mentions/ hints of coercion, underage drinking, slightly suggestive.

words count: 9.1K

A/N: Whew, here's another long one y'all. This has been sitting in my drafts for months (basically since the MV was released) and finally had enough energy to finish it. I'm honestly looking forward to everyone reading it because this was a random idea that popped in my head and of course I come here to write said thoughts out. So as always, enjoy and thanks for reading :)

*static*

March 9th 1-9-

“Jaehyun, Y/N! Oh my gosh, do you think they’ll do it again?…c’mon sweetie you got it!” *distortion* “Come to mommy!”

*static*

“Ugh mom, do we have to watch this one every birthday?” Jaehyun asked adjusting the too small pointy hat on his head.

Jaehyun was your best friend since birth. Your moms had you on the same day just two hours apart from each other and he never misses the opportunity to joke that he’s older. You’ve done everything together from eating, sleeping, going to the same schools and as a birthday tradition you get to watch the day you both took your first steps. It was said that you only started walking because of him since you seemed too scared to do it on your own. He was there when your dad died and you were there when his mom got divorced. There’s not a day you can remember where Jaehyun wasn’t in it. Just goes to show how close your moms are too.

“Oh stop it! Both of you hurry and make a wish so I can take this picture!”

If it wasn’t your mom, it was his making you two snap a picture to go in the big “J + Y/N” album that was kept on the top row of your bookshelf in the living room. You exchanged glances with Jae before clasping your hands at your chest and closing your eyes to make a wish. Every year you wished that he would still be your best friend no matter what. That even when either of you were away, the memories never faded. You were somehow always finished before him, so when you looked up his eyes were still closed. When he opened them he gave you a smile and a quick nod so you could blow out the candles together.

He reached in his pocket to grab something and put it in your hand before you could see it. “Happy birthday Y/N.” His eyes were sparkling in anticipation as he watched you look at the present in your hand.

It was a friendship bracelet with both your initials on it and a magnet inside each of the letters so when they were close enough, they would “hold hands”. It was the perfect gift you think. Anything that you could keep forever to remind you of him was just right. It was your turn to reach into your pocket for something and surprisingly (not really) you also bought some friendship jewelry, but instead of bracelets they were rings.

He chuckled and happily slipped it onto a finger it would fit. “Promise me you’ll always be my best friend?” He stuck out his pinky and pressed his thumb to yours to seal the deal.

“I promise.”

“Who’s ready for the piñata?! Oh you’re gonna love it, it’s so cute!” Your mom said snapping a few extra pictures. “You know the kids are waiting.”

More recently it became tradition to share the candy from the piñata with the kids in the neighborhood. As much as you would love to say you only wanted it because of them, your mom was really good at choosing candy.

“Okay but I get dibs on skittles this year!” You exclaimed jumping from your seat and heading to the front door.

“Uh, not if I get there first!” Jaehyun was quickly following behind you but not before he popped the string on the kid sized birthday hat and throwing it on the table.

As expected, kids were surrounding the tree in your front yard. “Happy birthday Jaehyun and Y/N, you guys are the best!” They were so sweet and made you wish you had a younger sibling or two. Jaehyun had his hair pushed back with a black plastic headband, bat in hand ready to take a swing. You never hit the piñata hard enough on the first try or so you told yourself when actually you just loved watching him do it.

“Go-Jae, go-Jae, go-Jae!” They all started chanting, boosting him with courage so his swing had more power. You quickly joined them, clapping your hands to the rhythm. One swift swing and candy went flying and scattered across the grass. They knew the skittles were off limits but they always had first choice. Again, you and Jae didn’t mind the leftovers because each option was just that good.

You sat with him under the tree afterwards and opened the bag of colorful candies. “Since you’re my favorite, I’ll give you half.” You say, dumping them into his readily cupped hands.

“You think it feels weird being 18 now?” He looked over at you, now with a lollipop in his mouth. “I mean like should we feel different since we’re like…adults now?”

“Hmm…” you actually hadn’t thought of it that way. You’ve only ever lived your life not really thinking about that. Each milestone was shared with him so you never felt the need to worry about those types of things. “I don’t know how we’re supposed to feel, maybe it’ll change when we go to college with all the “big kids” and have our first drinks before we’re supposed to.”

He chuckled and turned toward you, “We’ll be the big kids too technically but Y/N…I don’t wanna drink. What if it makes us forget each other?”

“Forget each other? That’s not how it works Jae.”

“I know I know, I just mean what if it changes us and we start growing apart?”

You turned and draped your legs in his lap to scoot closer to him and wrapped your arms around him. “I’ll never ever ever forget my best friend. I’ll always remember the coolest, sweetest boy Jae.”

He couldn’t fight the smile that spread across his face, dimples on full display. He hugged you back tightly but only for a bit before he started tickling you, causing you to burst into laughter.

"I brought us more cake because why not?" You said kicking your flip flops off as you entered his house. He had asked if you wanted to spend the night with him and you of course, happily accepted it. "I scraped up the extra icing and added it too."

"Thank God because I wanted more." He grabbed your bag from you and took it up to his room with you following closely behind.

You climbed into his bed and slipped under the covers. "I'm pooped, I just wanna sleep now. Come on Jae it's time for bed." You say patting the space next to you.

He hopped on top of the bed and began jumping. "What? No way, I still have so much energy left! I won't stop until you jump with me~"

You rolled your eyes but smiled and threw the comforter off and stood up with his help. He held your hands and you joined in with jumping, making the bed squeeze every time either of you landed back down. You held your wrist up to him, showing him the bracelet and he did the same. You were amused at how quickly the dangling charms magnetically connected so you couldn't help but laugh.

"Think we're gonna get made fun of for these?" He asked, slightly winded from how long he was jumping. "I mean I don't care I'm just saying."

"Probably, you know how they are."

Rumors spread like wildfire in that school. Nothing left someone's ear that didn't end up in another. Whispers flowed through those halls like the wind. And of course you and Jaehyun weren't exempt from having your names thrown into the latest gossip. No one believes you two could be friends for so long with nothing going on between you. No matter how many times you denied it, everyone assumed you just didn't want anyone to know because of whatever reason.

“I hope everyone got their applications in! If not, you have until the end of this week to do it. Remember this is a choice that will change your life forever so don’t take this lightly!” It was every teacher’s job this week to remind all the students about their college applications so no one could lie and say they missed the deadline.

“Hey Y/N where are you applying?” Lily, a girl in your English class that never really bothered talking to you until she needed help with her homework.

“Oh uh, just State.”

“And what about you Jae?” She looked over at the boy who sat in the seat next to you, as she practically batting her eyelashes.

Without looking up from doodling in the back of his notebook, he spoke, “Same for me.”

She rolled her eyes before looking back at a group of friends who anticipated the both of your answers. They were all chuckling behind their hands. A boy from the group walks over and stands in front of your desks. “Are you guys gonna keep your relationship a secret there too? Or are you finally gonna fess up?”

Jae’s head finally popped up, brows furrowed in anger and confusion but before he said anything, you did. “What? What are you talking about?”

“Oh Y/N don’t be so dense, everyone knows and thinks it’s weird that you guys don’t just tell the truth.”

“We’re not lying, Jae is my best friend!”

“Why would we even have to lie about that? What’s wrong with her being my best friend?” His book was closed now and pencil down; fists clenched atop the desk.

“Relax buddy, no need to get all worked up over it. And since you aren’t dating, how would you feel if I asked Y/N out on a date?”

Jae looked over at you, face and ears red with embarrassment and were your eyes watery? He couldn’t tell but he didn’t like this. “She wouldn’t even consider saying yes, what’s your problem? Don’t you have friends?”

“Yeah man I do, but this is why you don’t have any!” He threw his head back and he laughed loudly, all of his friends following suit.

“Hey come on, leave them alone.” It was Damien’s turn to speak up. He wasn’t usually one to intervene on these types of things but it made him all the more attractive to you. You’ve had a crush on him ever since last year but unfortunately for you, he was already dating someone. “She said they weren’t dating and a pretty girl like Y/N doesn’t seem like the one to lie.”

Jae could feel his stomach twisting in knots hearing Damien call you pretty. When he looked over at you, you had a small smile on your face. It was better than you looking so sad but he couldn’t help but scoff. There was nothing special about this guy but you turned into a puddle of goo every time he was around. Jae wouldn’t call himself jealous but you’re his best friend and a guy like Damien he didn’t trust.

As Jae was about to lean over and offer to leave, Damien slid in between you two and held out his hand for you to grab. “Come on Y/N, you don’t have to listen to this.”

You happily clasped your hand with his and walked out of the classroom, leaving a stunned Jaehyun behind. It was making his blood boil—you didn’t even look back once. Something bubbled up in his chest and his jaw shifted. It doesn’t matter, he was going to wait outside for you so you can walk home together like always. He grabbed his stuff and yours and head to the front of the school.

He waited 45 minutes and still no sight of you, it was definitely making him worried. Should he go look for you and make you cut your time with Damien short or should he let you enjoy your time with your crush and head home without you? It was stressful trying to make a decision because obviously he wanted to snatch you away but he also wanted to be a good friend. The question was, would him leaving you with a boy he doesn’t know make him a better friend than making sure you were safe just because you had feelings for him?

After waiting another 10 minutes, he decided that if anything were to happen you would just call him. He unlocked his door with the keys dangling from the lanyard that you made him on his backpack.

“Jaehyun sweetie is that you? I’m in the kitchen!” His mom called out. He set both bags down and walked up to her. “Oh, by yourself today? Where’s Y/N?”

“Uh…hopefully she’s on the way, she was with Damien before I left.”

“Damien? That boy she talks about from your class?”

“Tsk, yeah. Him.” Jaehyun rolled his eyes as he plopped into one of the dining chairs.

His mom smiled but cleared her throat to try and hide it as she stirred the pot of spaghetti on the stove. “Well let’s hope she’s back for dinner, her mom is coming too.”

Jae nodded his head. He hoped you were back way before dinner, he didn’t like the uneasy feeling of you not being around him.

ding dong

Jaehyun’s ears perked up like a puppy when the scratchy tone of the door bell filled the house. Before he could hop up to get it, his mother was already excitedly rushing to the door to greet her friend. They both squealed and embraced each other as if they don’t see one another at least every other day or more. But something was off, where were you?

Your mom noticed Jae looking behind her from the couch, expecting another person but she hated to be the bearer of bad news. “Y/N should be here soon love, Damien will drop her off.”

He smiled, biting the inside of his lip trying not to seem too disappointed. What the hell were you doing with him all day? He walked into the kitchen to help set the table and serve both women before placing your plate right next to his. If you would be here soon, there was no point in eating without you, especially because he didn’t want to.

“You made sure to add extra garlic for Y/N right mom?” He asked looking in the pot as he stirred as if he’d be able to spot with small white pieces.

Both moms looked at each and smiled. “Yes sweetie I made sure. Come sit down we wanna ask about this Damien boy.”

Just hearing his name made Jae want to thrust his fingers in his ears. Not just you but now the moms were curious about this kid too? Oh great. “Sure, what’s up?”

“Tell us what he’s like, is he a good fit for Y/N?” Your mom pitched in, elbows on the table as she leaned in.

A good fit for you? Absolutely not! No one was a good fit for you unless he was absolutely perfect. Jaehyun has never met someone like that though so until he did, no one fit the requirement. “He’s okay, but I thought he was dating another girl that’s not in our class. He’s really nothing special, no offense, but I definitely think Y/N can do better.” That statement earned a laughed from the two and Jae didn’t know what was so funny.

“Awww you’re so good to Y/N Jae, she’s lucky to have someone like you.” Your mom pat him on the shoulder and tucked a piece of hair behind his ear.

Just then the doorbell rang for the second time tonight and Jae shot out his chair to run to the door. His heart swelled when he opened the door and saw you standing there with a huge smile on your face. Then he looked next to you and saw the last person he wanted to see right now.

“Hey Jae! Damien is here to meet our moms real quick before he goes.”

Jaehyun hesitantly stepped to the side and allowed the both of you in. He so badly wishes that he could have pulled you inside and slammed the door in Damien’s face but he would do as his mother taught him and be nice to his guests. Even though that might be quite hard if he saw you two holding hands for a second longer.

“Oh how wonderful, a guest! Please come in!” His mother greeted the boy and hugged you.

“We’ve heard so much about you Damien.” Your mom says, standing up to shake his hand.

“Oh?” Damien looks over at you, your ears slightly red at the tips. “Well I’m glad this isn’t your first time hearing of me.”

Jae could gag just listening to how fake he sounded but he was too focused on making your plate just the way you liked it. He set his and your plates back down on the tables, this time full with food and pulled your chair out before sitting down. He stared at you until you looked over at him and gave you a big smile and called you over. You absolutely loved his mom’s spaghetti and rushed to sit down.

“Would you like to stay with us for dinner? There’s plenty left and we have an extra chair!” Jaehyun’s mom offered and he almost choked on his food. He’s had enough of this guy and wanted time alone with you and that extra chair was his dad’s, not for some random.

“Oh I would love to but my mom wants me back for dinner too so I’ll have to take a rain check on that offer.”

“Hey Y/N, we still on for scrabble tonight?” Jaehyun leaned over to whisper while the moms were saying their goodbyes to Damien.

“Oh my gosh, of course! You’re totally gonna lose, I’m taking you down Jae!” You playfully slammed a finger down on the table to add emphasis.

“Bye Y/N, I’ll see you around school yeah?” Damien stood in the archway of the kitchen, putting on his sweetest smile as he pulled your attention away from Jae.

“Yeah, I’ll see you Monday.” You tried stopping the blush blooming on your cheeks, but all eyes around the table were on you.

“Damn, I need to exchange one of these letters…”

“Having a hard time over there Jae? I can totally help if you need to make a word.”

He smirked and rolled his eyes as he reached into the bag of tiles. “Thank you very much sweet Y/N but I’m capable of making my own words. Don’t think you’re gonna win just because I don’t make any points this turn.”

“Mhm whatever you say but you’re not ready to see what I have up my sleeves syrupy Jae.”

“Syrupy?”

“Yeah…you said sweet and I couldn’t think of anything to say back that was equally as sweet. Please forget I said that, I’m so embarrassed right now.” You cringed and put your face in your hands and pretend sobbed as Jaehyun chuckled.

“Well syrupy Y/N, you still have to place your word.” He laughed as he dodged your missed smack to his arm.

You both were playing for at least another hour before tallying up the scores to see that neither of you won and it was a tie. A perfect 540 points. Jae didn’t really mind who won, he was happy that his night ended with seeing you because he definitely missed you while you were gone for most of the day. You would never tell him but you forgot about him while you were with Damien and you weren’t sure if that was a good thing or not. Jae was your best friend always but maybe you did want to venture out and make new friends. Not because he wasn’t sufficient; maybe you were just curious.

He was your only best friend this entire time but hanging out Damien made you realize perhaps you were ready for love. Your 18th birthday just passed and you were gearing up to go to college. He would be your first boyfriend and you were to embarrassed to admit that. You knew you needed Jaehyun around once you did leave high school, hence applying for the same schools, but hearing him be told that he didn’t have any friends because of you sent a pang right through your heart. Was that really true?

“So, how was your date?” Jae snapped you out of your thoughts as you laid against the footboard of his bed; him at the opposite end. “Didn’t think you’d be gone all day, so I hope it was good.”

“Mmm, I’d hardly call it a date but it was pretty chill. You know, I don’t really have anything to compare it to since I’ve never had a boyfriend but I think I would say it was good.”

“Well, would you go out with him again if he asked?”

“Yeah, yeah I guess I would. I really like him Jae so I want to see how this goes.”

He couldn’t explain it but he felt…scared. He really really didn’t want to lose his best friend. He was happy for you but he could feel it deeply in his bones that there was a big shift coming and he probably only felt that way because he knew college would be soon. Would he really have to worry about that? Not seeing you for long periods of time because you would be too occupied with all the new friends you made?

Day by day, time seemed to stretch on. Days seemed liked months and these past two months seemed like 2 years. He could never get you to stay in one spot, or to not be around Damien. It was like you were glued to him. You did everything together; even the stuff you usually did with Jaehyun. You just never had time for him anymore, but you were just spending time with your boyfriend; that wasn’t a bad thing right?

“And oh my god Y/N, you’re never gonna guess what happened after!…….Y/N you still there?”

“Y-yeah Jae I’m still here but lemme call you back another time okay? Then you can tell me.”

“Oh…yeah, another time. See you this weekend maybe?”

“Sorry, Damien invited me to a party with him so I’ll probably be doing that.”

“Right. See you around.” He barely finished his sentence before he heard the click on the other end signaling that you had already hung up.

“Jaehyun again huh? Gosh he just doesn’t get the message that you don’t wanna talk to him huh?” Damien had his hands rubbing up and down your exposed arm as you laid together on his bed.

“What? Don’t be mean, that’s not true! Jaehyun is such a sweet guy and we’ve been best friends for ages.”

“Yeah but he doesn’t know how to stop being a loser and make some more friends.”

That made you sit up and shove him on his chest. “That’s not fucking nice to say Dame, he’s not a loser.”

“Okay okay, sorry.” He guided you to lay back down and stuck his hands under your shirt to fondle your boobs. “We don’t even have to think about him right now. Let’s take this off.”

You’d been letting him kiss anywhere below your face and above your hips. He convinced you it wasn’t a bad thing and that it’s not like he was taking your virginity. He said this is what couples do and you weren’t stupid but somehow you allowed him this far. Jae wouldn’t do anything like this with you when you weren’t comfortable or maybe you would be more comfortable since it was Jae. But he was your best friend and you were simply using him as an example.

The night of the party, you put on a short sequin dress. A bit out of your comfort zone but this was a party and you should live a little. It was supposed to be a small house party, the kind they’d show in movies—the ones where the kid would throw it after their parents left, but the only thing small about the party was the amount of space left with everyone piled in. Damien walked with you, hand settled on your left hip.

“Let’s grab some drinks babe, time to get the real party started.”

“Actually I don’t drink.”

His face bunched up with a mixture of confusion and disgust. “What do you mean you don’t drink?”

“Why would I? I’m not 21 at all.”

He scoffed then laughed, even throwing his head back. “Oh that’s real grand Y/N no one waits until they’re 21 to drink. What do you think happens at these kinds of parties?”

“I don’t think that’s entirely true and yeah obviously but I also promised Jae I-“

“Jae? Jaehyun? You know in a bit Y/N I’m going to think he’s your boyfriend and not me.”

"Come on Damien don't be like that, you know he's my best friend."

"Yeah you keep saying that but maybe y'all are a bit more than that. Jae isn't here right now, I am, and he can't stop you from having a little fun. Now drink up."

You looked at the mystery liquid in the cup he held and stared at it before quickly taking it and downing the drink in one go. It went down hard and sizzled in your throat causing you to cringe and cough. Damien pat you on your back and praised you for your bravery. Once the initial feeling went away, the taste wasn't too bad; it had a nice fruity flavor. Before you knew it, you were going through drinks like they were water and eventually you started to feel a warmth grow all over you body and up to your face. It felt weird and with the way your head felt so dizzy, you weren't sure how much longer you could stand on two legs.

"Hey...Dame, I wanna leave, my head feels funny."

He turned to look at you and caught you as you stumbled. "Right now? The party doesn't end for like another 2 hours. You can't wait?"

"I don't...I don't know, I feel all loopy and my stomach hurts a bit."

"Yeah baby that's the buzz from all the alcohol you had. It's your first time, don't expect to feel fine."

"Damien please, I really wanna go home."

He peered over at the guys he was talking to before you walked up to them and sighed before helping you find a place to sit. "Just sit here and rest and I'll wake you up when it's time to go if you fall asleep."

Before you could protest, he was already walking back to his crowd. You felt like you could cry, laugh and puke all at the same time and you didn't want to be here when you did it. You were going to get home one way or another, whether he liked it or not. You pulled out your phone and sent a quick text to Jae. You weren't really sure what it said but once you hit send and he read it, he immediately text a "send me the address" back. You waited for what seemed like 5 minutes but with the lack of comprehension you possessed right now, who knows how long it actually took. He said he was outside waiting for you, so you got up and made your way to the door, the time on the couch helping you regain the strength in your legs.

A lazy smile settled on your face when you saw him standing there. He smiled too and for a second you forgot you were drunk and at this stupid party.

"Hey, I came as fast as I could. Are you okay?"

You sat down with a plop and sighed. "Yeah I'm okay."

There was a long silence between you, the cool wind prickling at the skin on your legs and a small cloud of smoke blowing from your mouth every time you released a breath. Stillness aside, it was comfortable. Everything with Jaehyun was comfortable. He turned to you, still silent but now looking like he had something to say.

After what seemed like 10 minutes, he finally spoke. "Y/N can I say something? I want to say it now so I don't regret not mentioning it to you sooner."

"Sure Jae, shoot."

"I don't like Damien, never have; but recently it feels like he's the reason you're not talking to me and not because you're just so focused on him. He's a douchebag and I can only hope he treats you better than the vibes he gives off."

"Don't say that Jae..."

"You didn't deny anything I just said Y/N and that makes me worry."

"I didn't say anything."

"I know and I want you to. I want you to tell me that I'm not losing my best friend to someone that's not even worth it."

"You just don't like him is all and you have no reason to not give him a chance." You wanted to say something else, something more in depth, but gosh your head was starting to spin again.

"Okay well give me a reason, look at me and tell me I have nothing to worry about and that you still like me." He placed a hand on your shoulder and you turned to face him. His eyebrows creased in concern. “Are you drunk? Are you fucking drunk?!”

You pushed at his arm with much more force in your mind than you actually did. “Yeeees~ and why are YOU so worried about it Jae?” You tried to boop him on the nose but he grabbed your hand before you reached his face.

“What the fuck Y/N?! this...this isn’t you. I don’t like what he’s doing to you.”

“Oh yeah? Well why do I have to care about what you think? Why can’t I just—just do whatever the hell I want?!” You actually succeed in shoving him on the chest this time and he stumbled slightly in shock. “Do you think you’re the boss of me Jae? This is why you don’t have any fucking friends!” As soon as you let the words leave you, you felt a deep pain in your chest but he shouldn't have yelled at you like that. Jae was wrong, Damien wasn't changing you it's just that you would never do these adventurous things if Jaehyun was around because he was too careful and you couldn't live the rest of your life not knowing what it was like. Jaehyun didn't know what he was talking about.

He hadn’t spoken to you since that night. He felt bad for getting so upset but what were you thinking? You had just promised him you both wouldn’t do anything like that, yet you couldn’t even make it to college before you broke it. It was all Damien’s fault; he was bad news. Jaehyun so badly wanted to apologize but you weren’t answering his texts, his calls and he hasn’t seen you around school. Hope filled his heart, telling him you say something—anything—back to him and you’d be occupying his time with your presence.

Yet here he was sat at the table, a scrabble board placed perfectly in the middle, ready for an extra player. But you weren’t there and making words for the both of you as if you were playing with him, didn’t give him the satisfaction he thought it would. And why were all of his words so so romantic? This was stupid, he hated this. You were supposed to be sitting adjacent to him, sitting crisscrossed in the chair, thinking hard about a word to play. Maybe you were right, he was too boring for anyone else to be around and the only person who put up with it for years was you.

His mom walked in the kitchen to see him staring at one piece in his hand; zoned out. “Sweetie it’s getting late, you might wanna put it away for tonight.” When he still didn’t budge, she placed a hand on his shoulder and he stood up and pulled her in a tight hug. She felt his body shake and heard the small whimpers coming from him so she rubbed his back. “Oh my baby boy…it’s okay…it’s okay.”

“What did I do wrong mom? Why does she hate me so much? I just want Y/N back…I want my best friend.”

He’s never felt emotions so strongly for someone but what should he expect when he’s lived his life knowing what it was like to wake up and fall asleep next to you. Whenever you needed him he was there for you. No one could ever make him laugh like you do, make him protective like you do, make him…love like you do.

He loves you. To the moon and back. And he never wanted to admit that because it would sound typical, so boring, so cliche. But the veins on his head bulged just thinking about you being with someone else that wasn’t him. What if you were forgetting him slowly every day that you weren't around him? No, that could never happen right? He didn’t want to know at this point, he just wanted you back. Has he messed so badly that he wouldn’t see or talk to you until you got to college? Maybe he’d see you at prom but even then, there was no guarantee that you’d even bat an eye his way.

You'd been at Damien's all weekend, cuddled up with him in his room like always. There's actually not much else you would do together. He didn't take you on dates, he almost always snuck you into his house and when you were at school, he acted like everyone else was more important. Jae would never do that to you but he was being so stupid right now so until you got over it, you would continue reading his messages from the drop down menu on your phone. Maybe you'd see him at prom but even then, there was no guarantee you'd want to see him.

Damien broke you out of your thoughts when he started to kiss you on the neck and moving awfully close to your face which was "off-limits". His hand rested on your waist and worked to remove your shirt. He eased his way up to your jaw and around to your lips before you put a hand to his chest and backed away.

“Why won’t you kiss me?” Your boyfriend touched your chin with his finger and leaned in but you moved away.

“I just want my first real kiss to be special.”

“And you’re saying it won’t be special with me?” He crossed his arms and sat back against his headboard. “This have anything to do with that guy you always hang around?”

“Who, Jae? No, he’s just my best friend.”

“Oh yeah well you two look at each other like you’re in love so maybe you are just a liar and this totally has something to do with him, just like I fucking thought.”

You felt extremely offended now and you scooted back away from him. “A liar? I’m telling the truth, Jae is my best friend and there’s nothing going on between us.” You scoffed loudly and your brows furrowed in anger. “Why did you ask me out if you thought I liked him then?”

He rolled his eyes and pulled out his phone. “I actually just wanted to make Sarah jealous and I had high hopes for you but you don’t even wanna kiss me so I can’t brag that we had sex.”

You caught a lump in your throat and your eyes brimmed with tears. “What? W-why?” You had to swallow down that burning and sore feeling before you spoke up. “Why would you do that to me? I thought you liked me.”

“And I thought you’d jump at the opportunity to have sex with me but you’re the most boring virgin I’ve ever met. This idea sucked and all my friends were right that you weren’t the right choice for this.”

With tears streaming down your face, you slapped him as hard as you could and put your shirt back on and stormed out his room. Some boyfriend he was. He wasn’t even that cute to be such a waste of time. But alas, your heart was still broken over something that easily could have been avoided. He was a walking red flag but you let his looks get to you. Boys are stupid, except for Jaehyun and right now you’d love if he hugged you and let you fall asleep on his chest.

But you doubt he even wanted to talk to you right now. He wouldn’t just watch you cry though right? When you got to his house and knocked on the door, you had already stopped crying but your eyes still felt red and puffy. His mom answered the door and immediately pulled you in when she saw how wrecked you looked.

“Y/N what happened?! Oh my goodness!”

“My stupid boyfriend—no, ex boyfriend is stupid. Dumb and stupid and I hate him and I never want to see him again.” You could feel the tears fighting their way back to your eyes so you quickly wiped them on the back of your hand. “I just wanna see Jae.”

“Well sweetie…I don’t know if that’s such a great idea. You’ve been avoiding him like the plague and that’s not a good look for you if I’m being honest. You’ve missed out on scrabble and you know how much he loves playing with you.”

Now you were tearing up for a different reason. You were about to be why your birthday wish doesn’t come true all because of a boy that didn’t really like you.

“Buuut if you must know, he’s at the basketball court. His feelings are pretty hurt right now so be ready to see a different side of him.” She put a reassuring hand on your shoulder and offered a smile of comfort.

He was playing with a few other guys and looked to genuinely be having fun. You watched from the other side of the gate, fingers slipped through the holes to support you. You quietly stood there as he continued to make goal after goal--he's always been good at the sport. He hadn't noticed you until he stopped to get some water. He made eye contact and quickly avoided it.

“Hey Jae.” You walked along the path outside the gate but he didn’t respond nor look up at you. “Can we talk Jae?” Now he was no longer inside the court and he was walking past you towards his house. “Please Jae, I need to tell you something.” You followed him as he walked and you would keep following him even when he got home. “Okay if you won’t talk to me at least just listen okay? I broke up with him today…he was an asshole. You know, he said he only dated me to try and make Sarah jealous and since I didn’t want to kiss him he knew he couldn’t make her jealous by telling her we had sex either. He used me and I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you and said all those mean things to you. I really want my best friend to hug me and make me feel better like he always does.”

He stopped on the doorstep of his house and when he opened the door, he didn’t close it behind him; silently inviting you in. He plopped onto the couch and when you sat next to him, he reached over to pull you into a hug. You wrapped your arms around his waist and laid your head on his shoulder as you burst into tears. He really was the best at comforting you and even when he was upset with you, he cared for you deeply. He laid his head on top of yours and rubbed your back.

You woke up, turning on a surface that felt nothing like his couch. You were in his bed aka he carried you there after you fell asleep to make sure you were cozy. As you were stretching, his door creaked open and he peaked his head around it, smiling when he saw you were awake.

"Good nap?" He plopped down and laid next to you.

"You know the naps you never see coming are the best." You turned on your side and started at him for a while. "Thanks Jae, I really needed that. You're the best best friend a girl could ask for."

Was that supposed to make him feel so sad? "Who would I be if not Y/N's best best friend? And this best best friend is taking you to prom."

You quickly sat up and squealed, "no way Jae are you serious?! you still wanna take me after everything that happened? It's okay if you don't actually want, I don't want you to feel obligated."

"Come on Y/N, why would I not wanna take you to prom? We JUST had a conversation about being best best friends." He chuckled to himself and stood up at the foot of his bed. "And I've already been practicing this." He bowed and then positioned his arms as if he had a dance partner and took dancing steps around his room making you laugh and applaud his determination.

"Jae, Y/N! Dinner's ready!"

Your heads shot to the door and you jumped up from the bed grabbing Jae by his arm. "You're not off the hook Ms. Y/N, we're practicing together next time and you can't say no."

Things were back to normal at school with you and Jae being friends again, besides the awkward run-ins with Damien. You've had to stop Jaehyun from tackling him a few times this week but that was expected. Everyone was gearing up for prom which was traditionally held within the last 3 weeks of school before graduation. Most other schools had their proms one to two months ago but your school tried giving the students more time to stay focused on their finals. You and Jae had received the the good news that you were both accepted to the school you applied for which meant you'd be seeing him every day for at least 4 more years.

"Can you believe we're less than a month away from walking to school for the last time?"

"Honestly, no. As much as we've talked about this, I can't believe we're seniors in high school." You walked with him back to your house as you both drank a juice box.

"Well I have two surprises for you this weekend so I hope you're ready."

"Surprises? I don't know if I can wait all the way until the weekend Jae, can you show me now? Please please please?" You jumped up and down while holding his arm, begging to see what he had in store for you.

"Nope, your tricks won't work on me. You only have to wait two days for your surprise, I think you can wait until then right?"

You halted your pleading movements and pouted, "I guess so, but it better be worth the wait."

Saturday had come much faster than you expected with the way you couldn't stop thinking about what he thought would be a surprise. Jaehyun was good at surprises though so you shouldn't have doubted him but the excitement took over. He told you to be ready by 2 o'clock and he came inside to escort you out.

"Close your eyes, you can't spoil the first surprise Y/N." He guided you down the stairs by your arm. "Okay, open!"

You opened your eyes and they almost flew out of your head. "OH MY GOD JAE YOU HAVE A CAR?!" He smiled proudly and nodded. He rushed to open the door for you and gestured you to get in. "But we can't go anywhere Jae, you don't have your-"

Before you finished your sentence, he pulled his license out of his pocket and held it in front of your face. "I got it like 2 weeks ago but I didn't want to spoil the surprise. Now I can drive us to our classes."

"No freaking way Jae what the hell! You're a real adult now huh? Looks like I need to catch up. These are the best two surprises ever!"

He smirked and turned the key in the ignition. "Oh, that wasn't the second surprise, just wait until we get there."

He drove for about an hour and a half before he pulled into the parking lot of the aquarium. You hadn't been in some years and you kept mentioning it to your mom every once in a while hoping she would get the hint to take you both, but instead he took it upon himself to surprise you with this trip. Inside, you walked around arm in arm in awe of all the animals. Hands down your favorite part was the quiet and secluded room they had specifically for viewing the sharks and jellyfish. There was a bench right in the middle of it, so you lead him over to take a seat.

You sighed when you sat down and he looked over at you quizzically. "You know" you started carefully, "Damien never did things like this with me and as much as I hated that, I didn't think it was enough to make me want to break up with him. But every time, no matter what, you always find a way to do what he should have done. I know you wanna say 'I told you so'."

"No Y/N, I'm not going to say that to you. I'm just glad you're my best friend okay? And we don't have to talk about this anymore if you don't want to."

"No Jae, I want to talk about it because I just wanted to say thank you for always being there for me."

He put a hand on your back and gave you a small, comforting smile. "Hopefully this isn't too much but I got you something else." He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a pink rose. "I was going to give you a whole bouquet at prom but this was the last one and I got scared they wouldn't have anymore in time and they were so perfect for you and-"

You leaned over and put your lips on his. He kissed you back--no hesitation--his hand resting on your cheek as he deepened the kiss. This wasn't supposed to feel natural or nice, it was supposed to be a spur of the moment type thing that you regret afterwards. But it wasn't any of those things, it was something you wanted more of until you couldn't bother to stomach it. You pushed off of him and moved closer to the other end of the bench.

"Why would you kiss me back Jae?!" You leaned forward and put your head in your hands as tears fell from your eyes.

You could hear the panic in his voice next to you, "Y/N I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean t-to-" he reached for you to comfort you like always but you swatted him away.

"No Jae, you shouldn't have done that! I was vulnerable and you shouldn't have kissed me back like you loved me!" You stood up and walked toward the exit.

"Y/N no, wait, please, I-I..." He chased after you and grabbed at your wrist before you could fully make it out of the area.

"I don't wanna hear it Jae, just take me home."

The ride home was quiet and the air was tense. You sat with your legs facing away from him as you stared out the window. You’ve known him long enough to know he would take small glances your way—trying to make it not seem so obvious—turning back before you caught a glimpse. You weren’t sure why it made you so upset, why you yelled at him the way he did at the party. He shouldn’t have done it, he should have been more careful.

“Uh Y/N, you’re home.”

You were so deep in thought and so caught up in trying to ignore him that your house suddenly seemed so close to the aquarium. “Thanks.” was all you said before opening your door and hopping out. You would try and talk to him if he stopped you before you closed the door; you would give him a chance. Yet he said nothing and that pissed you off more. Was he not worried about how you felt? Did he not care that you didn’t talk to him the whole ride? What was wrong with him? It didn’t matter, you understood. He didn’t think he was wrong and wasn’t going to apologize for it.

You heard him drive off after you closed the front door. You slid down to the floor and began crying again. Your mom walked into the foyer, rushing over to make sure everything was okay. “Y/N what happened? Is everything okay with Jaehyun?”

“I don’t want to talk about him anymore mom, he’s just another stupid boy!”

“How do I look?” You stood in your bathroom mirror, adding the final touches to your makeup and hair.

“You look gorgeous sweetie, as always.” Your mom stood in your room, watching you from the bathroom doorway. Her hands were clutched at her chest, tears welling up in her eyes. “Are you sure you’re okay with having no date love?”

No, you weren’t okay with it but Damien was a no go and you still hadn’t spoken to Jae since last week. Your short but traumatizing history with boys has taken a toll on you. Prom was for girls to have their first dance with the boy they promised to be with forever and grow old with. Something that you apparently weren’t going to experience because as you’ve come to learn, boys are stupid.

“Have a great time honeybunch! Call me if you need a ride back!” Your mom yells out the window as she drops you off in front of the school. It was now or never, you only have prom once.

As expected, the vibes were quite nice, something that you’d expected from the countless times you’ve thought about it and also seeing it on TV. The music played loudly from the two big speakers that sat atop the stage at the back of the gym, which was the biggest and best spot to host such an event. You looked around seeing a few familiar faces but landing on one in particular. You hadn’t interacted much with Damien since you broke up with him or really thought much about him. He stood in a crowd, like usual, laughing and talking. As much as you still found him attractive, you’ll never forget how he took advantage of your kindness for his own benefit. You had heard that Sarah didn’t even want him back and told him that “trying to make her jealous” made him look pitiful. Serves him right.

You stood on the sidelines, occasionally blocking your eyes from the pink hued lights that shined brightly from the ceiling. Eventually growing tired of standing in one spot, you walked over to the punch bowl. Flashbacks from the night of the party twisted your stomach in knots; no drinks for tonight even if it wasn’t spiked. As you turned around, you nearly bumped into someone.

“Hey.” That tall, blonde haired boy you actually missed so much was standing in front of you, holding a bouquet of the same pink roses he tried giving you at the aquarium. “They had more and I didn’t want to not give them to you. I also wanted to say I’m sorry.”

“Thanks for the flowers Jae.” Short and curt. If you didn’t know any better, he looked like he was going to cry but you know his feelings were just really hurt with not being able to talk to you or be your prom date like he previously wanted. “I’ll see you around.”

As the night went on, he couldn’t help but wonder where he went so wrong. He wasn’t even the one who initiated the kiss. It was beginning to stress him out not knowing how to deal with these feelings for you. You obviously didn’t feel the same way but part of him thought it might have changed after that kiss but he was far from the truth. He wished he could go back to that day and do nothing but would that have satisfied you or just made you hurt more? Having your best friend do more than the guy you dated but couldn’t even be courteous enough to kiss you back? He shouldn’t have kissed you at such a vulnerable time but they were your words not his. He’d have kissed you a million more times if that’s what you wanted or maybe that’s what he wanted.

“Aaaalright boys and girls or should I say ladies and gentlemen, go ahead and grab your partner for tonight; whether that be your prom date, a good friend or a once in a lifetime opportunity to confess your love to the person you’ve been watching all year. Let’s slow this music down a bit and end this night off with a bang!”

Jaehyun hadn’t imagined his night going like this. You practiced with him on countless nights, dancing across his or your floor, leading each other through a routine that you let your subconscious choreograph. To be able to hold you so closely and look into your eyes, he wanted to tell you then and there, each time, just how much you meant to him. He looked up and saw that you were already staring at him from across the room. Would you give him a second chance to apologize and make it up to you? Guess he had to find out.

He walked over to you and offered you a hand. Suddenly you were back in his room, laughing as you both messed up a move, stepping on each other’s toes and falling into each other. The world around you was quiet besides the music still playing through those big speakers. It was just you and Jae in this moment. You laid your head on his chest, feeling like you could hear his heartbeat. You looked up at him. He always had that look in his eyes like he was looking through a telescope and viewing the way the stars shined and the planets aligned.

“Y/N I have to tell you something.” His chest was moving fast and his eyes were frantically searching your face for approval.

“Yeah go ahead Jae.”

“I love you Y/N.”

“Yeah I love you too Jae.”

“No, Y/N. I love love you, not just because you’re my best friend but maybe even more because you’re my best friend. I can’t keep this to myself anymore, I fucking love you Y/N.”

Immediately you were more aware of everyone around you, the music blaring, the lights too bright and now you were stepping on his toes again.

You pushed away from him. “Jae what’s happening with you? Stop this.”

“Y/N please, I didn’t want to keep that from you. Those are my true feelings, I meant what I said.”

“Yeah and that’s your problem. What about my feelings huh? This is your 3rd strike Jae, I can’t do this anymore.”

Just then, a tap on your shoulder. It was Damien. “Hey Y/N, I know this is a terrible request but do you wanna dance with me since it’s the last day of school and all?”

You wanted to cringe and step away from both boys but you turned to look at Jae who watched for your reaction, “Y/N don’t.”

You rolled your eyes, turning back to your ex boyfriend “Sure Damien, I’d love to.”

[nuclearanomaly]

Spite Loves...

[hoshiina]

— a guy asks for your number ft. hoshina, narumi, reno

warnings: mentions dick and profanities in hoshina's

[starbandit]

Mr. Rockstar (J.J.K)

Preview: Your black sequined set hugged your body perfectly from what he could see, your appearance alone made his mouth water. If anyone was coming home with him, it would be you.

contains - rockstar!Jungkook, chubby reader, riding, oral (f!receiving), unprotected sex, nipple play, mentions of alcohol, non established relationship MINORS DO NOT INTERACT

word count - 2.5k/ unedited

These shows usually went the same way, a dimly lit club with stuffy air and screaming girls. Jungkook loved the attention, what twenty something year old boy wouldn’t? They would always fawn over the dark sleeve of tattoos that lined his arm while he stood at the bar after his set, boys and girls alike. 

The lights beat down on Jungkook, the sweat dripping down his face as he sang into the mic. He couldn’t wait to get off stage, get a drink at the bar, and get back to the hotel. Maybe he would get lucky and take someone home, but based on how his night was already, he had his doubts. 

That was, until a black sparkle caught his eye. A smirk painted his face as his eyes traced over the person dancing in the front row. Your black sequined set hugged your body perfectly from what he could see, your appearance alone made his mouth water. If anyone was coming home with him, it would be you. 

Once his set ended, he stripped in the changing room, opting for a shirt that wasn’t drenched in his own sweat. He freshened up before leaving, going back out on the club floor to search for you. He spotted you at the bar, giggling with a friend with a drink in your hand. 

He stepped to an open spot next to you, flagging down the bartender with a kind smile. Your head turned to look at him and Jungkook could swear you took his breath away. 

“Could I buy you a drink?” He leaned down to ask in your ear. His breath tickled the sensitive skin, a shiver running down your spine. 

“Hm, usually I’ll play hard to get, but you’re cute, and I want another drink,” You giggled, placing your hand on his chest. “I’ll let you buy me a drink.” 

Jungkook smirked at you, watching as you told the bartender what you wanted, followed by him sliding his card into his hand. He turned back to you, admiring the outfit you had picked for the night. The way your arms fell at your sides, the soft skin slightly red from the rough plastic. He wanted to admire the outfit in better lighting, to watch how your curves moved as you slid off your pants, the supple skin that was gently hanging over the top of your pants being freed, the way your breasts would fall as you took off your top. 

He was snapped out of his thoughts as you giggled, moving slightly closer to him in the growing crowd. “So, Mr. Rockstar, did you buy me this drink out of the kindness in your heart or were you hoping for something more?” You spoke over the loud music that the DJ had started playing

“To be honest, I was hoping to get you out of that outfit tonight. As amazing as it is, I’d much rather see what you look like without it.” He chuckled and took a sip of his drink. 

You smiled up at him. “I might have to take you up on that offer, how about we dance a bit and then you can take me home?” You set your, now finished, drink down on the bar before grabbing Jungkook's hand to pull him to the dance floor. 

The two of you danced for a bit, which had turned into mostly sloppy grinding. The sloppy grinding turned into a hot kiss, and Jungkook had to hold himself back from taking you right there on the dance floor. 

“Let’s take this somewhere else,” He suggested, pulling you out of the dance floor and towards the double doors next to the stage. He smiled at security and pulled you through, to a much quieter area. 

Your tipsy giggles filled the space as Jungkook pulled you towards the back, collecting his personal belongings and texting his manager. As much as he wanted to fuck you backstage, the amount of cameras and people made him slightly anxious. 

He led you to a big van with blacked out windows. The driver continued to stare forward as the two of you stumbled in, taking a seat on the long bench in the back. 

“Hm… I know you’re hot but are you sure this isn’t a kidnapping?” You let out a nervous giggle as Jungkook brushed your hair out of the way to suck a mark on your neck. The cold metal of his lip ring against your skin made you jump slightly.  Your worries flew out of the window as he gently bit down on the skin and immediately soothed the area with a soft lick. The whimper that was torn from your throat was almost embarrassing. Almost. 

It didn’t take long to arrive at the hotel, a quick drive full of hot touches and messy giggling. Jungkook tugged you to his room, barely even looking as he scanned the keycard and pushed into the room. He grunted as he pulled away, flopping to sit on the edge of the plush bed in the center of the room. He spread his legs, the tight fabric of his jeans outlining the definition in his thighs and the bulge growing in his pants. You watched as the muscles in his arms rippled as he leaned back to rest on his hands. 

“Let me see the outfit,” He bit his lip, the piercing sat in his lip getting caught between his teeth. “Give me a twirl, baby girl.” 

You blushed, giving Jungkook a slow turn. His eyes scanned you, how the black fabric sat over your rolls, how the fabric sat tight against your skin. He eyed the stretch marks on the backs of your arms, wondering just where else you had them. Surely they lined your thighs and ass, maybe you even had some on your stomach. His mouth was watering at the thought, he couldn’t wait to feel them under his fingers, under his lips. 

“God,” He groaned, his hand moving to rub at his cock through his jeans. “I love it, but I wanna rip it off you.” 

You smiled at him, moving closer to straddle him. You moved his hand before sitting down, placing it on your ass as you took a seat. He got the message, gripping and rolling your hips forward as soon as you got settled. You ducked your head down, placing soft kisses to the skin of his neck. Soft whines flew from his throat, egging you on. 

You sighed against his throat as his hands unclasped the tight, corset-like material of your top. The material was starting to irritate your skin, leaving lines and slightly red areas where it was the tightest. Jungkook ran his fingers over the sensitive skin, gently teasing the area. He sat back, eyes lowering to admire your body. 

He let out a groan as his hands reached up, gently squeezing your breasts. His thumbs flicked over your nipples, causing your eyes to roll back for a second. He dipped down, taking one of the hardened buds into his mouth. He looked up at you, eyes hooded and pupils blown, while he gently played with your other boob. You whimpered and let your hands fall to his hair, brushing the long locks out of his eyes before gripping the strands at the crown of his head. 

His eyes fluttered closed as he let out a small hum, pulling away with a little pop to pay attention to your other breast. You gripped the locks harder, pulling him away when he began to rut up against you. His mouth fell open in a whimper and he bit his lip as you smirked at him. 

“Getting a little desperate, are we?” You teased lightly, wiggling a little on his lap. 

“Baby, I am going to fucking ruin you.” He growled. Your heart began to race as he wrapped his arms around you and flipped you onto your back, now hovering over you. “Not so tough now, are you?” 

You hummed lightly and nodded. “I’ll let you do whatever you want to me, Mr. Rockstar.” You smirked up at him, letting out a little moan as you dragged your hands over the curves of your body. 

His hands moved down to your pants in record time, unbuttoning the material and pulling them down, exposing the soft flesh. Jungkook could feel himself growing impossibly harder, soaking a wet spot on the front of his underwear, at the sight. Your supple thighs, the gentle pudge of your belly, god he was weak. 

He dipped down, lips making contact with your stomach, kissing down, down, down. His tongue peeked out and gave teasing licks over the stretch marks on your tummy, humming as he pushed your thighs apart. Jungkook could feel his mouth watering as he stared at your skimpy underwear, the fabric soaked. 

“Well, these aren’t doing you any good, now are they?” He hooked a finger under the thin fabric and snapped the waist band. “Why don’t I get rid of them for you?” 

You gasped as he completely tore the fabric off your body and threw it, giving you no time to react before he dipped down and began feverishly licking at your pussy. A broken moan left your lips and you dug your hands into his hair. The heat of his tongue was just right, hitting every spot perfectly. 

You glanced down, catching a glimpse of his eyes. He was staring up at you, eyes dark and glossy. He moaned against you, digging his face deeper into you. His hands gripped your hips, fingertips digging into the skin. You whimpered as you pulled his hair and dropped your head into the pillows. Sin, he was pure sin. 

Jungkook continued to eat you out, tongue working absolute miracles on your clit. He was alternating between flicking the sensitive bud and sucking, bringing you close to the edge before switching, leaving just enough time in between to leave you wobbling a few steps back from orgasm. Two tattooed fingers made their way to your entrance, sinking in and immediately finding the spot that makes your vision go black. 

His tongue and fingers moved in time together, creating a beautiful symphony of wet sounds and moans. Your orgasm was quickly reapproaching, a fire was lit in your belly and there was no stopping it. 

“O-oh fuck- fuck,” You whimpered as your thighs began to shake, hand tightening in Jungkooks locks. You pulled him impossibly closer, thighs squeezing around his head as your orgasm took over. The warmth spread down to your toes, and through your body as you rode it out on his tongue and fingers, hips twitching in search of friction. 

Jungkook removed his fingers and quickly placed them in his mouth, cleaning any remaining traces of you from them, before ditching his pants. You watched in awe as his cock bounced, tip glistening with precum and ruby red. He wrapped his hand around it, head falling back to expose his perfect neck as he gave himself a few tugs. 

As soon as he crawled back onto the bed, you wasted no time in jumping on top of him. You needed him. You let out a loud groan in unison as you sunk down on him. His cock sat so perfectly inside of you, so warm and hitting every spot perfectly. 

You gave him no time to adjust, instead rocking your hips back and forth in a steady motion. Your hands found their way to his chest, fingers gripping the soft material of his t-shirt as you bounced on him. Whimpers sounded around the room, and you weren’t sure if they were from you or Jungkook. 

“Take it off,” You pulled at his shirt. “Please, get it off.” You balled the fabric up and began trying to tug it over his head. Jungkook assisted you, working feverishly to get the shirt off. Once the fabric was finally ditched, you couldn't help but admire the man beneath you. 

Colorful tattoos decorated his skin, leading to a broad and muscular chest, down to a set of chiseled abs. You groaned and leaned back slightly, gripping Jungkook's thighs as you rocked your hips faster, milking more noises from him. The muscles contracted under your fingers as he rocked up to meet your movements. 

Jungkook's hands trailed all over your body, touching and squeezing every inch of exposed skin that he could get his hands on. “I’m fucking obsessed with you.” He grunted out, fingers finding purchase on your hips, gripping the flesh. 

You whined in response, your rhythm beginning to slow as you grew tired. Your fingers found their way to his nipples, gently rolling the buds between your fingers. You couldn’t help but smirk at the shiver that snuck its way through his entire body as you played with the sensitive buds. 

“Come here,” Jungkook wrapped his arms around you and pulled you into his chest. You collapsed forward and caught him in a sloppy kiss. You gasped as he adjusted, placing his feet flat on the bed and began bucking his hips up into you at a fast pace. His hips made contact with your ass with every thrust, a loud smacking noise echoing throughout the room. 

You moaned into his mouth with every movement, your tongues sloppily meeting in the middle and caressing each other in the most sinful way. You sucked his bottom lip into your mouth, giving a slight nibble as you pulled away to catch your breath.

You were getting close again, the fire was burning low in your belly and beginning to spread down to your hips. Jungkooks pace was speeding up and getting sloppy, leading you to believe he was in the same boat. 

“Gonna, ah fuck-” He groaned. “Gonna fuckin’ fill you up so good.” He dug his nails into your back and wrapped his lips around your collarbone. He sucked a dark purple mark into the skin, giving it a quick bite before pulling off. His hips bucked into you at the perfect angle, stroking your walls just right. 

“Fuck, I’m close.” You whimpered, your hands gripping around to find something, anything, to hold on to. You tightened around Jungkook, your ears ringing and vision going black as you released. 

A moan ripped through Jungkook as he pressed up one final time, painting your walls with thick, hot, ropes. He gently pushed through both of your releases, hugging your body tight as you both took deep breaths and tried to come down. A thick coat of sweat covered both of you. 

You sat back up, his now softening cock still nestled deep in you, and ran a hand through your hair. You glance back down at Jungkook, who is resting beautifully against the plush hotel pillows. His cheeks are flushed, lips pink and swollen, and his eyes are closed. You allow yourself to bask in the moment, silence covering the hotel room. 

Jungkook breaks the silence first. “So, after our shower, you wanna grab some dinner?” He cracked an eye open to peak up at you. “My treat.” 

“Okay, Mr. Rockstar.” You giggled. “I’ll meet you in there,” 

Jungkook watched as you stood up and sauntered off towards the bathroom, hips swaying as you walked. He bit his lip as he watched, and couldn’t seem to get up fast enough when you turned around and beckoned him over. 

[tiresomespaceplant]

moonlight

[sirenofthegreenbanks]

“Who knew that I would spend my entire life living in the wrong moment?” 《山河令》 WORD OF HONOR (2021) | Episode 14

[katsu2ji]

hanta sero w/ pop princess gf!

a/n: you will have to pry sabrina carpenter's short n sweet album from my cold, dead hands and this is the result of that

YOUR BIGGEST FAN

if anyone tells you otherwise, they're lying to you because this man right here? oh you have him down BADDD

he's there at every single concert, whether it be front row or back stage

wears his "i <3 my gf" shirt with PRIDE!!

you wink at him in the crowd and he's giggling and kicking his feet falling to his knees JAKJBABJ

literally brags to all of your guys’ friends that he heard your album and songs first

SOOO many photos of you guys (mainly him, let’s be fr) looking at each other with lovesick expressions

especially on the red carpet—ohmygod you have this man wrapped around your finger it's insane (PLEASE someone tell me they see what i did there—)

speaking of such events!!!

you guys EAT UP the red carpet. every. time.

cause my god does that man look good in a suit.

and your outfits are ALWAYS on point omg!!!

literally you guys are trending on twitter after every single event because y'all are HOT HOT HOT

your hype man while you record!!! at first he was super nervous to be in there, because he didn't want to make you mess up or do something wrong

but now if he's free on the days you go into the studio TRUST he will be there!!!

jokes around that you should let him have adlibs or do backup vocals LMFAO (he's not expecting you to say yes...unless u wanna say yes...)

but in all seriousness: he might know nothing about music, but it's good to have him around when you get frustrated or upset while recording. he helps to remind you that things don't have to be so serious and, at the end of the day, it will come together!!!

now, when you post pictures of yourself, whether they be from official shoots or pics you took yourself, that man is a FIEND.

all up in your comments like "AWOOGA" and "u got a bf??" and "HOTTT" LMFAO HES A MESS

i'm talking comment spamming, story reposts, the whole nine yards

does not gaf if people see him drooling over you!!!! he proudly let's everyone see how obsessed with u he is HE DOES NOT GAF!!!!

he has perfected taking ur pics—he knows all the angles you like, the lighting, everything

he's on the ground fully laying down just to make sure he's getting the perfect angle for you JKASKDFJ

tbh y'all are just the cutest couple ever <33 everyone is either obsessed with you guys or they're mad cause they aren't LOL LOSERS!!!!

katsu2ji © 2024. please don't copy, modify, or do anything of the sort with my work! i work very hard and you simply do not have my permission.

[sleepytoken]

[fandomfloozy]

Classical Conditioning

Pairing: Kento Nanami x clingy!reader

C/W: reader's love language is physical touch, petnames (kento refers to reader as love, sweetheart, darling), sorcerer instructor!reader (students refer to reader as sensei), gn!reader, slightly nsfw, mdni

wc: 6.5k

~°•*~

You're on the way home from a particularly grueling training session with the second years. Your muscles burn, your limbs feel heavy, and you want nothing more than to treat yourself to a sweet dessert and head home.

Home to bed, home to sleep, home to Kento...

You weakly push open the door of the nearest cafe you could find and head in. No sooner does the entry bell chime that the exhaustion of the day dissipates from your aching body. From one moment to the next, you've gone from zombie walk to barely containing your excitement as you spot an unmistakably familiar head of blond hair.

You don't even hear the cashier greet you as you're halfway across the room, your feet moving on their own volition. The closer you get, the wider the stupid grin on your face grows until you've practically jumped your fiancée from behind, wrapping your arms around his neck and pressing your cheek against his.

"Kento!" You're nuzzling into him with your eyes closed, feeling yourself recharge to practically full capacity.

He doesn't seem the least bit startled or surprised to see you as he reaches a hand up to place on your arms. He moves his face away to get a good look at you. "Hi, sweetheart." He rubs his thumb on your forearm. "We were just talking about you."

In your haste, you failed to notice Takuma Ino sitting across from your lover.

You breathe out an awkward chortle, slinking your arms away from Kento and rounding his chair to pull out the one next to him. "All good things, I hope?" You slide a hand down his arm as you take a seat.

"Nothing but, sensei!"

"You're not one of my students, Takuma-kun." You give a semi-exasperated smile as you reach down the table to grab Kento's hand. "I already told you; you don't need to call me that."

Kento glances your way. "We were actually talking about potentially having him shadow you on one of your next missions." He gives a squeeze at your locked hands at the suggestion. "Have you give him a few pointers, show him how you do things."

"Oh!" You look over at Takuma. "I'm not sure what I could teach you that you don't know, you're plenty capable already!"

"But you're a first grade, sensei! I could pick up a lot from watching you work."

"You're pushing first grade yourself!" You argue.

"And you're pushing semi-special grade, darling," Kento chides, coolly sipping at his drink. "Don't sell yourself too short."

You frown. If you sold yourself too short, Kento upsold you too much.

Leaning your head on his shoulder, you let out a hum as you think. "Well..."

You look up and Takuma is giving you the closest thing a young man his age can get to puppy eyes. And it's working.

You fiddle with Kento's fingers. "I trust you're capable enough not to slow me down..." Takuma visibly starts to brighten. "So I suppose it couldn't hurt to have you come on a mission and shadow me--"

"Yes!" Takuma pumps a fist and grabs your free hand to shake in earnest. "I won't slow you down at all, sensei! Promise!"

You giggle as he continues to shake. "There's no doubt in my mind."

Kento chuckles a bit and moves to stand up. "Now that that's squared away, why don't I get you something to eat?"

"Oh! Yes, please." You remember that the sweet treat you came for remains unordered. You lean away to let Kento stand. "You remember my order?"

"You need to ask?" He smiles and starts making his way towards the register. You hold his hand and then his fingers to the last moment as they slip away from you. You then watch him with your chin leaned into your hand and a dopey smile on your face as you watch him tell the cashier your order and pull out his wallet.

"Your two's relationship is so wild to me." Takuma's voice breaks you out of your lovelorn trance. You clear your throat.

"I guess it is atypical," you hum.

Romantic relationships in the jujutsu world, especially between jujutsu sorcerers, are few and far between. Not many sorcerers become old enough or secure enough to explore those kinds of relationships, let alone get to the point of planning to marry. You and Kento are lucky...

"Especially because you two are such an unlikely pair."

You hum in response again, before what he said kicks in. "Wait, what?"

Takuma responds casually while taking bites of his pastry. "Well, you know. Sensei and Nanami-san are so different. Don't get me wrong, he's a great man, but he's kind of a square."

You snort, recalling your jujutsu tech days with Kento. "He's always been a little standoffish. Been that way since we were students."

"It's just crazy. You're so bubbly and nice, and he's so..." He gestures vaguely. "I guess what they say is true: opposites attract."

"Well..." You fidget. "He is a little more reserved than I am, I suppose."

He takes in another fork full of his food. "I don't think I've ever even seen him hold your hand first."

That leaves you speechless.

Was that true? Has he never held your hand without you reaching out to grab his first? You've never thought about it before.

No, surely, it's just in public. Takuma has never seen Kento initiate because you're in public. Kento doesn't mind PDA, but you're just more prone to initiate in a public setting. Surely that's what he means.

Surely.

The weight of the day is suddenly returning to your body all at once.

Kento returns with your order, hand on the back of the chair. "Don't worry about the bill, it's covered." Takuma cheers to himself. Kento turns to face you. "Ready to head home? You look exhausted."

You nod and let out a little, "Mhm." You reach out a hand and Kento helps you up. Huh...

Initiated.

"We're heading out now. I'll see you tomorrow, Ino-kun."

"See you, Nanami-san. Sensei."

You offer a wave and lean into Kento's arm as you walk out of the cafe.

Initiated...

The ride home is quiet. You're on the verge of nodding off in the backseat as the driver takes you and Kento home. He holds onto your treat from the cafe, your craving now forgotten. Your hands are folded in your lap as you try to stay awake.

It's private enough in the car. Surely, he'll at least try to hold your hand...

You want him to hold your hand. Your thigh, your shoulders, your waist... Anything, really. But he could at least hold your hand.

Please, hold my hand...

The car coming to a stop wakes you. Your head lay in Kento's lap as he gently pets your head.

"We've arrived," the driver announces.

"Let's get you to the shower and then you can sleep all you want, alright?" Kento whispers as he tenderly lifts you from his lap and into a sitting position.

Falling asleep on him like that in front of the driver. You really forced his hand there. He had to hold you in his lap. He had no choice.

Initiated.

Arriving home is a bit relieving, though. It didn't get more private than that. More comfortable.

You were showering. He was undressing and going about his nightly routine. It didn't get more intimate than that.

So by the time you stepped out of the shower, water dripping off your form, you expected something--anything--as you creeped up behind him. Dressed in pajama pants and slippers, brushing his teeth in the mirror, he saw your naked form in his peripheral.

He smirked and spat out the toothpaste. "All done, beautiful?"

You nodded meekly, holding your arm behind your back. He turned to face you and you looked at him, alternating between looking at each eye.

Surely, he'd initiate. Nothing was stopping him. You'd initiated all day; it was his turn. Surely...

He reached out to you, and you waited with bated breath...

...as he reached behind you, grabbing the towel to place over your head and dry you off. He smiled softly. "Go put on some pajamas. I'll join you in bed soon."

He then wrapped the towel around your shoulders and turned to finish washing his face. You stood, dumbfounded for a moment, before scuttling to grab clothes to sleep in.

Maybe he just isn't in the mood tonight.

T-shirt.

I mean, you don't have sex every night.

Underwear.

But even when you do... does he initiate? You suddenly can't recall.

Something you do every night, though, is hold each other. That's a given. Cuddling is essential. It's how you get to sleep: relying on Kento's warmth to lull you into a sense of security and comfort.

You rush to the bed and under the covers. You wait.

Kento emerges from the bathroom, turning off lights on the way to you. Your anticipation is almost palpable at this point.

He situates himself in bed, sat up and looking down at you. "Long day, love?"

The top half of your face is peeking out from under the covers as you nod. "Very," you remark with a bit of a whine. "Glad to finally be home with you, Ken." You reach out to him instinctively then think better of it and stop short, your hand flopping on the bed with a thud.

You both look down at it for a beat.

He laughs. "Me too." He picks up your hand from the space between you and presses his lips to it, holding back a chuckle. "Sleep well. We've got an early start tomorrow."

He then drops your hand to turn off the bedside lamp. The darkness somehow makes the room feel significantly colder.

Kento shimmies down into the covers, lays down face-up, and closes his eyes. "Good night, love."

"Night, Ken," you whisper.

You close your eyes as you replay the exchange in your head.

Initiated.

~°•*~

You wake the next morning curled up by Kento's side. Through the course of the night, it seems like you ended up drifting closer to him. Your head is on his chest, your legs tangled up with his.

His form is the same as he fell asleep in. Supine. Completely relaxed.

You sigh. You tried to give him a wide berth last night and still ended up encroaching on his space.

You carefully untangle yourself from him. His alarm hasn't gone off yet and you don't want to wake him. Once out of bed, you pad down the hall and to the kitchen. With the extra time, you decide you might as well get some breakfast ready.

In the silence while you're cooking, however, you can't help the doubts that start creeping up in your mind... You probably make him uncomfortable with your constant need to be touching him in some way, shape, or form. You know physical touch isn't his love language, and yet you pester him constantly anyway, even in public. He didn't so much as touch you last night without you practically begging for him to. He probably only reciprocates out of obligation.

Maybe you should tone it down today.

You hear the rushing stream of water from down the hall as you finish plating the food. Seems like you have time to pack your lunches for the day as well.

As soon as that's done, you pick at your breakfast a bit. The pit of insecurity in your stomach is having adverse effects on your appetite. You sigh heavily to yourself and figure you should at the very least have a coffee.

You prep one for yourself and one for Kento, and as if on cue, he emerges from the bedroom. His hair is glistening from the water and product still drying in it. He's got his dress shirt on with his tie hanging loosely around his neck. He looks absolutely heaven-sent.

"Ooh, thanks for breakfast, love." He smiles as he takes his seat at the table and you hand him his mug. Your fingers brush as he grabs it, and you yank your hand away a little too forcefully. Kento raises a quizzical brow at you. "Careful, I'm sure it's hot." He blows on it a bit before taking a sip.

You hide your hands behind your back to avoid potential slip-ups. You resigned yourself to no touching him unprompted today. You were going to stick to it.

"How did you sleep? I missed you when I woke up this morning."

"Slept fine." You grab your own mug to give your hands something to do. "Just woke up a bit early. Lunch is packed and everything."

"Oh, wow. That's quite proactive of you," he teases. Oh, you wanna kiss him. He digs into his plate and gives a nod to yours. "Aren't you having breakfast?"

You shake your head. He scrunches his brows and his eyes soften. God, you want to rub at the lines between his brows. "I should actually start getting dressed, if anything. I'll go do that now."

You set down your mug on the counter and make a beeline to your bedroom. This is harder than you thought. He's irresistible. How are you meant to make it through the day?

Ugh, but this is for his sake. You don't want to make him uncomfortable. Show restraint, you're an adult.

You get dressed, do your hair, brush your teeth, and take a look at the clock to make sure you're good on time before your driver arrives. Once you're sure you're presentable, you grab your things and start making your way to the front door to put on your shoes.

"Hey, sweetheart--"

You stop in your tracks and look over at Kento, who is standing by the coat rack, jacket in hand and a weird look on his face. His tie is still loose. That's unlike him.

He gives you a crooked smile. "You seem frazzled this morning. I'm sure you're in a rush, but do you mind helping me get my jacket on?"

You hesitate, then you walk over to him. You don't have to touch him while putting on his coat. This is fine. He's asking you to do this anyway. "I've got you, Ken." You take the jacket from his hands, and he turns around to give you full access.

Oh, his back looks so good under his dress shirt. One arm in. It'd be so easy to just run a hand over it and cop a feel... Other arm in. Has he always had such a biteable neck?

You don't get a chance to think about it before it's covered by the collar of his jacket. You clasp your hands together in front of you as he turns around.

"Thank you, darling."

He looks you in the eye and you can't help your gaze from drifting down to his lips. You should kiss him. You want to kiss him. But he isn't leaning in. He's not initiating. You shouldn't. But you can't help gravitating towards him when he looks at you like that with so much love in his eyes and--

You lean in and tighten his tie up to the collar of his shirt.

He looks down in surprise. "Oh! Heh, thank you again." He lets out a chuckle.

You smile. "Anytime." Success. You restrained yourself. That was a close one.

Your phone chimes and you look down. "My driver's here. I'm heading out now." You turn around and put on your shoes at the doorstep. You open the door and spare a glance back at Kento, who is still standing right where you left him. "I'll see you tonight. Have a good day. Love you!"

"Love you, too..." He trails and adjusts his tie with one hand while the other waves a goodbye.

You give him a quick wave back and close the door behind you.

Phew, this shouldn't be that hard.

~°•*~

It's really not.

That hard, that is.

You spent the car ride to the school congratulating yourself on a job well done, coasting off the high of a win. By the time you arrived in the classroom, the whole ordeal took a backseat in your mind. As it stands, Maki, Toge, and Panda are enough of a handful in their own right.

You enter and all of your students seem to be here, sans Yuta. You close the sliding door and smile before walking to the front. "Alright, be seated," you announce as you set your things down. "Pop quiz today, so notes away and pencils out, please."

Your students' audible groans fill the mostly empty room.

"That's too cruel, sensei," Panda whines.

"Mustard leaf."

"Yeah, you didn't even prepare us for this," Maki complains.

The chorus of complaints keep ringing out. You sigh at the lack of order. You're not exactly in the mood with only your morning coffee sitting in your stomach, but you can't exactly blame them when it's so early in the morning and it's the last day of the week. However, that doesn't stop you from taking a deep breath and bringing your hands together in a forceful clap.

The sound reverberates through the floorboards and up the walls. Your students freeze.

The juxtaposition of your gentle smile and the tilt of your head lend to the immediate quiet. "I thought I asked you all very nicely to put your notes away and take a pencil out. I must have imagined the idle chatter, hm?"

They all sit up straight, desks cleared, pencil in hand. "Yes, sensei!"

A handful indeed.

It's what you need today, though. While Kento's off working, you're busy with the second years. There's no temptation this way. Not seeing him for the better part of the day helps. The rapid pace of training and lessons keeps you distracted... for the most part.

That is until, without warning, he's walking onto the training field where you're leading your class through combat drills. He has one Yuuji Itadori in tow, skipping along beside him.

You're kind of geeking, but you try not to let it show. This is Round 2. Second test of the day. You're in public this time. Your students are around. You can hold back.

You greet him with a smile. "You're back early. How did it go?"

Kento rolls the shoulder on his dominant side out. "It went well, all things considered." He looks a bit disheveled.

"It was so cool!" Yuuji cuts in. "Nanamin's cursed technique is always amazing to watch!"

You feel a swell of pride at that. Kento is very talented, you're glad Yuuji gets to learn from him. "How did you do today, Yuu-kun?"

"I think I did really well--"

"His form is still sloppy. He needs to get a better grasp on real-time battle strategy." Now that he's closer to you, you notice Kento's hair seems out of sorts. You want to run your fingers through it and fix it a bit...

"I thought I did a lot better today," Yuuji pouts. He leans his head onto the front of your shoulder and whines lowly so only you can hear. "Nanamin's been kinda mean today, sensei."

You laugh and wrap one arm around Yuuji, using the other to rub at his hair comfortingly. "He really wants you to improve. I'm sure it's nothing personal, Yuu-kun," you coo.

"I'll watch your students for you." You don't get a good look at Kento's face as he is already briskly making his way to where your kids are training.

Now that you mention it, that was a bit snappy. You wonder if something happened to Kento while he was out today.

You hum. You release Yuuji from your hold. "Why don't you tell me more about how today went?"

"Well." Yuuji starts prattling on about how he met with Gojo this morning who then let him know Kento would be instructing him again today, so they headed off to meet him, and Kento had seemed out of it this morning to begin with. Anyway, they went to exorcise some curses, but Kento seemed to be a little more aggressive with them today than usual. He mentioned how Kento had scolded him sternly more than a few times while they were working, but once they finished Kento still seemed unsatisfied and kept grumbling about this and that, stuff Yuuji couldn't make out. "And once we were done, I asked Nanamin if we could eat something and he said okay, but he just wanted to stop by here first to 'Check on the state of the instruction you students are being provided.' Whatever that means."

Huh. You should've guessed Gojo was at the source of this. He was probably pestering Kento into this morning. On top of that, Kento seems to be dissatisfied with how Gojo is teaching the first years and came to analyze the situation.

No wonder he seems a bit touchy.

Oh, Yuuji is still speaking to you.

"Sounds like a lot." You nod along to whatever he started talking about next. "I'm sure you and Kento had a long morning, Yuu-kun. How's about you take him to find Gojo-san and the other first years, okay?" You start guiding Yuuji back across the field to Kento.

It gives you pause to find that your second years are out of breath and hands-on-knees by the time you get back. You couldn't have been talking with Yuuji for more than a few minutes, what happened in that time?

"Really putting them through their paces there, huh, Ken?" You breathe out a laugh nervously. Kento is kind of scary when Gojo gets him riled up.

"They can handle this much," is all Kento offers, standing cross-armed, facing you students.

You pause. Your brows scrunch together in worry. "Okay, guys. Water break! Be back here in five minutes."

Your students let out a sigh of relief as they stagger towards the sidelines for some reprieve. Yuuji trails a safe distance behind you as you round Kento to face him fully. You soften your eyes as you meet his own, shielded from you by his round goggle sunglasses.

"Are you alright?"

The scrunch in his brow relaxes a bit at your scrutiny. "Yes, darling, I'm fine--"

"Are you sure?" You press. You take him in a bit more. His stance is relaxing some more. "Your hair's all fussed," you tease with a snort.

He looks at you. You look at him. You're mirroring his arm-crossed stance. You don't move to fuss over him, especially if it'll just make him more uncomfortable in this state, but you expect him to at least run a hand through his hair himself.

"Are you sure you're alri--"

"Yes, everything's fine. Yuuji, let's head over the first year classroom." He's already leaving before you can protest.

"Aww, but I thought we were going to eat first." Yuuji jogs to catch up with Kento and the two talk back and forth until their chatter becomes too quiet for you to hear.

You're left kind of unnerved by how he left things. Kento isn't one to beat around the bush. He'll usually tell you what's making him upset without mincing his words, especially when it comes to venting about Gojo. This recent transgression must have bothered him something fierce.

"Lover's quarrel?" You hear Maki comment behind you. You turn and realize all of your students have gathered to watch you watch your fiancée and Yuuji walk away.

"Pfft, no. Nothing that dramatic." You wave off their concern, or lack thereof. They're fishing for gossip, and you know it.

"Seemed like something fishy was going on between you twooooo," Panda singsongs.

"Salmon."

"Hey, do you want to waste the last..." You check your watch. "Two minutes of your water break yapping? 'Cause you're going to need it for the next set."

"No, sensei!" They scatter off to finish drinking at their jugs.

"Mhm, that's what I thought," you declare to yourself.

You want to bask in this recent victory. You staved off another round of the grabby hands again, after all. But something about this win just doesn't sit right with you. You don't feel good as long as you know something is eating at Kento this much...

Hopefully he works out whatever he and Gojo have going on.

~°•*~

The rest of the day is a blur. Your students are eager to get a start on their weekend or on missions, so as soon as it's time to dismiss them, they are out the door.

No new assignments were offered to you as the day went on, and thankfully, it seems like there aren't any pressing matters for you to attend to with the higher ups. By all accounts, you're free, so you grab your things and make way out the door and to the campus gates.

You haven't had a proper meal all day, so you start contemplating what you could pick up on your way home. You had enough ingredients to make a big dinner tonight. Maybe a quick snack would be enough to stave off the hunger until then.

As you continue to ponder your options, who do you run into but Satoru Gojo himself.

He spots you before you can think of turning tail to avoid him.

"If it isn't my lovely coworker and counterpart!" He offers a childlike grin and waves as his lithe form approaches you. "How is the beloved second-year sensei today?"

"Just fine," you respond, walking past him without a second glance.

He doesn't miss a beat as he trails behind you and continues chatting. "Aww, c'mon. Give me more than that. I feel like I barely get to see you."

You sigh. "That's on purpose, Gojo-san."

He feigns offense, dramatically pressing a hand to his forehead. "You wound me. We've known each other for years. You can call me senpai when we're not around the students, or at the very least drop the honorifics."

"Would you rather I referred to you as 'hey, you,' or maybe as 'trash-kun'?" You tease. You didn't hate Gojo, per se. You just found him a mite unbearable sometimes.

"'Gojo-san' is fine, then..." He pouts. "You and Nanami are just the same." He brightens as he seems to remember something. "Speaking of! I got to speak to our resident ex-salaryman today! He was telling me all about how you--"

"How he thinks you're slacking on training the first years?" You interrupt.

"What? No! I'll have you know I am doing an amazing job, especially with Megumi and Yuuji. As a matter of fact, they're..."

You tune him out for the rest of the walk to the exit. The thought of Gojo defending himself in the face of a scolding Kento was amusing enough to get you through the rest of the walk out. At the gates, you find your driver waiting for you, the car idling and primed to take you far away from the school and this conversation.

"As much as I love our talks." You turn to look at Gojo with thinly veiled annoyance. "I should be getting home for the day, Gojo-san." Before you can reach for the door yourself, Gojo does it for you. He opens it widely and with a flourish, offering his hand to help you in.

"But of course, sorry to keep you. Get home safe. Get rested. I'm sure next week will be another doozy."

You accept his hand and roll your eyes half-heartedly as he goes on and on. You can't help the small smile on your face as you make your way into the car, though.

As soon as you're securely inside, Gojo peers in and looks you in the eye. "But if I could offer you a bit of advice, my dear kohai." His tone comes across a bit more serious. You attention falls securely on him at that. "I'd go about talking to our friend Nanami over... stimulus control."

Huh?

You give Gojo a look that you hope conveys your confusion, but any note of seriousness in his demeanor leaves him as fast as it came. He grins widely at you and closes the door before you have the chance to question him further. As soon as the door closes, the driver pulls off and Gojo becomes but a shrinking figure in the rear window.

Well, that was cryptic.

What the fuck did he mean "stimulus control"?

You don't think much of it after a while. Gojo is infamously too unserious for his own good. It would be a waste of brain power to read too much into what could very well just be him messing with you, so you don't. What you do continue pondering is what you could do for dinner.

By the time you get home, you've decided on snacking on yesterday's treat while cooking up a suitable feast to make up for missing breakfast. And to congratulate you on a job well done today.

You are in high spirits as you eat and cook at the same time. You could get used to this! Restraining yourself was far easier than you had anticipated. What had seemed like an impossible task this morning didn't seem so bad in hindsight. Maybe every day could be like this...

With no touching Kento at all...

And him not initiating any physical contact with you... at all.

This experience had really put Takuma's observation to the test, hadn't it? Kento really doesn't initiate physical affection with you at all, does he?

Your mood sours a bit.

But you attempt to pull yourself out of it just as quickly. He has other methods of showing he loves you. He shows you he loves you every day. Constant messages checking on how you're doing. Doing the chores whenever you're far too drained. Sitting down to watch your favorite show with you. Bringing back trinkets from missions outside the city that made him think of you. Not to mention that he says he loves you outright every day without fail.

Kento is an intensely loving man, and if you only had to sacrifice a bit of hugging and squeezing for his sake, that was completely fine with you. He just wasn't the type to receive love that way and that's okay.

That's fine.

There's a jingle of keys in the lock of the front door just as you're finishing up the last dish of tonight's spread. You turn off the stove and start transferring to a serving dish as Kento appears in view, dropping his briefcase and shedding his jacket at the front.

"Ken! You're home!" You turn to place the pot and spoon in your hands in the sink. "Dinner's just about ready, just gotta set the table and everything." You reach to grab a towel and wipe your hands as you turn around to face him. "Unless this is a have-dinner-standing-up-at-the-kitchen-island sort of da--"

Kento leaning on the kitchen island with a hand on his hip gives you pause. His head is hanging low as he reaches up to rub at the bridge of his nose.

You crane your neck to look him in the eye. "Long day?"

He sighs. "Like you wouldn't believe." He looks up at you, facing you head-on. An uncomfortable silence fills the space between you. He doesn't elaborate.

You scratch your head. "Well, at least dinner's ready!" You gesture to the courses for the meal. "One less thing to worry about."

"Mhm." He nods. You're not sure with the tinted lenses, but it almost seems like Kento is looking at you... expectantly? You don't know what to say. The silence stretches on. You twist at the towel in your hands.

You tilt your head and press your lips in a thin line. "You seem stressed."

He surprises you by letting out a dry chuckle and turning away. He takes off his goggles and places them on the counter. He runs a hand down his face as he leans on the other.

"Kento..." You approach him cautiously. You're not sure what to do. Usually you'd rub at his back, but you're not sure that's the right thing to do here. "If this is about the Gojo thing--"

"Gojo?" You're taken aback as he stands at full height and throws his hands up. He starts pacing and grumbles to himself, "Of all the things... Had to sit there and talk to Gojo about this, of all the people..."

"Are you alright?"

"Are you alright??" He turns quickly and faces you.

The outburst has you dropping the towel and bumping into the sink. You didn't realize you'd stepped back so far. Kento's right there with you, though. There's nowhere else to go and nothing else to do for him but to press a hand on either side of you, caging you in.

"Have I done something to upset you?" His bare eyes look into yours solemnly, almost pained.

You alternate between looking at both of his eyes for a moment. In your surprise at the seriousness of this exchange, laughter is suddenly bubbling up in your chest and bursts out before you can stop it. "What? Haha!"

Your fit of giggles seems to take Kento aback. He blinks. "Darling, I'm serious."

You try to stifle your laughter with the back of your hand. "Ken, honey, what do you mean?" You shake your head. "You haven't done anything to upset me. What made you think that?"

The warmth of a gentle hand on your cheek shocks you out of the hilarity of the moment.

Initiated.

Kento doesn't give you any choice but to look him in the eye. "I had to pull you in so you'd sleep in my arms last night." He emphasizes his words with a stroke of his thumb on the apple of your cheek. "I woke up without you this morning. You left today without a send-off kiss. God, I stopped by while you worked and didn't even fix my own appearance for the chance that you'd run your hands through my hair." Kento grows progressively more distressed as he speaks. You're speechless. "You haven't so much as brushed a hand against me all day. Have I done something that made you... uncomfortable with me?"

"Oh..." In the blink of an eye, all of the restraint you'd brute force trained into your disposition today is thrown out the window. "Oh, Kento." You reach up to place both hands on either side of his face. "You could never make me feel uncomfortable with you." You reach around his neck and squeeze him into you, rubbing your head into his cheek comfortingly. "The whole reason I pulled back today was because I thought I was making you uncomfortable."

"What?" He pulls away to look at you, placing his hands squarely on your shoulders, not moving them away. "What could possibly make you think that you make me uncomfortable?"

"Well..." You look down at your hands as they fiddle with his tie and dress shirt. "You have to admit the way I'm constantly touching and hugging and kissing you is a bit excessive, no?"

"No, actually. I don't have to admit that because it's not true. Look at me."

You peer at him through your eyelashes.

"Sweetheart, what made you feel this way?"

You glance away.

"Love, look at me."

You do. He's making full eye contact with you. Patiently waiting.

"Someone might have..." You trail off a bit. "Offhandedly pointed out...." Man, this is hard to admit now. "That you never hold my hand first?"

Kento blinks. Then blinks a few more times. "Surely, that's not true. Who told you that?"

"That's beside the point," you blurt. "The important thing is that that's what this whole thing was. Me making an effort to not touch you as much, only if you initiated first. And then it sort of turned out to also be a ploy to see if you'd even initiate at all... Which you didn't..."

Kento looks appalled.

"I just got really in my head about it!" You ramble on. "And then a little insecure. And then I was really just doing this all for your sake because I sort of got it in my head that you didn't like PDA--or physical affection in general--at all, because you never initiate any of it! And then I thought that maybe I was being too much and--"

In your panic, you failed to notice Kento slinking his hands down to your hips, towards the hem of your shirt. The feeling of the pads of his fingers on the bare skin of your stomach makes you jump a bit. "How could you ever think you're too much..." His palms are warm as they join his fingertips. He's moved his head to lean beside yours and speaks lowly into the shell of your ear. His hands start wandering farther up to your bare waist. Unfettered. "When I can't get enough of you?"

You squirm in his grasp. "Kento..." you breathe. You're not used to him taking initiative like this.

"I'm sorry I got so used to receiving your affection without any effort on my part." He glides his nose from your ear down your neck. "I got so used to having your hands on me without trying-" He presses a kiss at your pulse point. You gasp. "That I made a real ass of myself as soon as you took that away." One of his hands moves from your waist to your bare spine. It makes you shiver and arch forward. "I took you for granted and for that I apologize."

Your breathing is picking up. "It's okay, Ken," you say unevenly.

Kento shakes his head. "No, it's not." He pulls back just enough so that he's practically nose to nose with you. "I love you very much. Let me be sorry." He presses his forehead to yours, eyes closed.

You nod against him. "Okay."

"Surely," he continues. "I have to show you just how sorry I am." The sideways smile he gives you carries mischief. Your eyes widen before he leans down. You let out a yelp as he lifts you off the ground and onto the counter.

He sits between your legs, and you hold him by the neck as you try to keep your breath even. "The food'll get cold."

"You'll hear no complaints from me."

You giggle as he leans on one of his hands to smash his lips into yours and uses the other to start loosening his tie.

This is so unlike him, and you can't help thinking that you should deprive him of your touch more often just to illicit this response.

Somehow that reminds you of a certain someone's advice and you end up smiling deeper into the kiss.

"What?" Kento's laugh mixes with yours in the space between you.

You snort at the thought. "I can't believe I Pavlov'd you into expecting hugs and kisses from me."

"Oh, sweetheart." He leans down and gives your neck a playful nip. "You're one bell I'll just about always salivate for."

That makes you snicker and shriek even more as Kento continues trailing kisses down your neck and squeezing and touching wherever his hands can find purchase.

Dork.

For a love language Kento didn't start off with when you met him, physical touch sure seems to be something he can't go without. And that's all your influence.

You guess what they say is true, to be loved is to be changed.

~°•*~

divider via cafekitsune

gif via darkbluepassion01

[crystallizsch]

ouagh yuusha i miss youuu

[walkingstackofbooks]

"I can't believe he used to annoy me," said Miles, watching as Julian chattered animatedly with Nerys and Keiko across the room. "Now it's just nice to see him like this again. It's quite the change, isn't it - but then, I guess you've got used to it by now?" He turned to Ezri, smiling. "Clearly, eight months with you have been good for him."

It took a few moment for Ezri to respond, and Miles had no idea what her expression meant. He'd never known her particularly well, and since returning to Earth they'd only exchanged a few words over subspace if she'd walked in on one of his conversations with Julian.

"I don't think I've ever seen him like this," she said eventually.

Well that was unbelievable. Julian was resonating with the sort of energy he always did when he was in love, so Ezri had to be doing something right.

"What do you mean?" he asked, brow furrowing.

"He's so bouncy. And talkative. Usually he's more - I don't know - restrained, I guess? It's suddenly like..." She paused, thinking. "Well, like he's back planning your Alamo battles with you, but more, and for everything - even in the staff meeting earlier! He's been smiling the whole day."

Miles' frown deepened. "That's just Julian being Julian," he said. "I know the war took a lot out of him - it took a lot out of all of us - but..." He trailed off. "I just assumed he'd managed to get back to normal. You've really never seen him like this?"

Ezri shook her head, then stopped herself, wincing a little. "I know Jadzia did?" she said cautiously. "But her relationship with Julian was so different, she always saw him as so much younger than her. And honestly, I try not to pry into her memories of him too much. It doesn't seem fair."

"How would you describe him, then?" Miles asked curiously. "What's usual for you?"

She smiled. "Kind, sweet, gentle. A little awkward, sometimes. Not as much as me, though," she added with a soft chuckle.

"He makes me laugh," she continued, "but I wouldn't call him 'funny'. He's usually quite a quiet, serious person - or not quiet, perhaps, just... reserved? If we're alone, we'll talk for hours, but at gatherings like this, he'll try, but ends up getting kind of distant. That's why it's felt so odd the past two days. He seems almost... manic?"

"Probably just the suprise of seeing us," Miles replied, a little unsettled. Humming in unconvinced agreement, Ezri's gaze returned to watch her partner, who was now allowing Molly to drag him over to inspect the tower she'd been building with Jake.

"It's like he's forgotten to be sad," she said suddenly. "Is that what it is? He seems lighter, in a way."

Miles chuckled nervously. "I can't believe our visit is having that much of an effect on him," he replied. "Has work been busier than normal lately? Maybe he just needed a break."

"No, it's definitely more than that," Ezri responded firmly. "I know Julian. He's--"

"Dad, come and look at my tower!" Molly interrupted, dashing over to their sofa. "Julian said it's the best one he's ever seen!"

"Well, if Julian said that, sounds like you don't need my opinion," Miles teased, causing his daughter to roll her eyes.

"But Julian's just a doctor, you're an engineer."

"I suppose I am," Miles replied. "Sorry, Ezri, do you mind if--"

"Not at all," she said easily, waving him off. "I've... got a lot to think about."

[fervidgrey]

my favorite flavor on you✨️

When did the chapstick you wear become a ritual for him? Why did it feel so good?

✿ Featuring: hajime umemiya, hayato suo, jo togame

✿ Warnings: the only warning is that I am terrible at writing fluff but I am trying to stretch my wings. sfw.

¨`*•✿ Togame ✿•*`¨

Togame's chin tips, stopping just before the kiss, where he lingers. His glasses rest at the tip of his nose, while his green eyes peer down at your lips. A frown takes over his features. Your change in chapstick did not go unnoticed. 

“Where is the one I like?” His question startles you.

He wiped his long thumb across your bottom lip smearing your chapstick away. You shifted your foot, finding your words.

"I was running late, this was the only one in my bag." It was true, you had rushed to meet him after work. His favorite lemon scent balm sat on your desk forgotten.

"Don't forget again." He smiled coly before pulling you close and bringing his thumb to your lips once again. He focuses the last bit of chapstick away before taking a long drink of his ramune.

His lips pulled you into a demanding, his fingers lacing in your hair. You melted into the kiss, your hands finding their way to his chest, feeling the steady rhythm of his heartbeat.

The world around you faded away, leaving only the sensation of his lips on yours and the warmth of his body pressed against you.

When he finally pulled away, you were breathless, your cheeks flushed and your lips wet. A small smirk sat at the corner of his mouth. He adjusted his sun glasses, pushing them back up the bridge of his nose.

"Much better," he murmured, chuckling to himself. Your whole mouth now tasted like ramune, the flavor strikingly similar to his favorite chapstick. Something told you this man might be more in love with ramune than you.

¨`*•✿ Ume ✿•*`¨

The look on his face was sweet as normal but there was something about the way Ume’s eyes traveled to your lips after a kiss that made your heart drop. You had forgotten to put on his favorite chapstick, sweet mint. It smelled akin to one of the herbs in his garden.

He would never say anything negative about something as silly as chapstick- no he was far to sweet but it was easy enough to read the disappointment in his eyes. You silently cursed yourself for such a small oversight. Ume's gaze lingered for a moment longer before he smiled softly, his fingers brushing against your cheek.

"Shall we take a walk to the garden?" he suggested, his voice warm and inviting as always. You nodded, grateful for the distraction from your perceived misstep.

As you strolled hand in hand among the fragrant herbs and blooming tomoatoe flowers, you couldn't shake the nagging feeling of having let him down. The mint plants caught your eye, their leaves swaying gently in the breeze. Ume noticed your gaze and squeezed your hand reassuringly.

"This is good timing actually," he smiles, leading you closer to the patch. A small tin was sitting in the shade with a silly doodle on the lid.

“Here!” His grin was ear to ear waiting for you to take it. Gently you palmed the tin noticing it was twist. With ease you twisted the lid and instantly smelled mint. Upon closer inspection you noticed it was some type of balm.

“I made it for you, homemade lip balm!” He looked so excited as he pointed to his plants “They are from my garden!”

Your heart swelled as you realized the depth of Ume's thoughtfulness. The worry you had felt earlier melted away, replaced by a warmth that spread through your chest. You couldn't help but smile as you gazed at the homemade lip balm, a testament to Ume's care and creativity.

"Ume, this is... incredible," you breathed, your fingers tracing the doodle on the tin. "You made this just for me?"

He nodded, his eyes filled with delight at your reaction. "I've been working on the recipe for weeks. I wanted it to be perfect for you."

Touched by his gesture, you immediately opened the tin and applied the balm to your lips. The cool, and the tingley sensation was refreshing. With a quick lick you could detect subtle undertones of other herbs from his garden, maybe cammomile. It was better than any store-bought chapstick.

“I love it Ume, thank you!”

Ume's big blue eyes lit up with joy, and he leaned in to press a soft kiss to your lips. As he pulled away, he licked his own lips, savoring the taste.

"Mmm, even better than I imagined." he murmured, his gaze warm and affectionate.

¨`*•✿ Sou ✿•*`¨

The dry winter air pulled at your skin with a fury. You had dressed warm but the air still found tender flesh to dehydrate. Small red dots forming on your cheeks as proof. Pursing your lips became very painful.

You fumbled in your pockets, searching for the familiar tube, but came up empty. A pang of disappointment hit you as you realized you must have left it on your nightstand this morning. With a huff your resigned yourself to cracking lips for the rest of the day. Of course Sou appeared beside you, seemingly out of nowhere with the very thing you needed.

"Here," he said softly, pressing the chapstick into your gloved hand. "I always keep one- just in case."

Gratitude washed over you as you applied the soothing balm. The familiar scent of mango filled your nostrils, a small comfort against the biting wind. Sou's thoughtfulness never ceased to amaze you, especially in these harsh winter months when he always seemed to anticipate your needs.

"Thank you," you murmured, your newly moisturized lips curling into a smile. Sou nodded pulling your scarf up higher, covering your nose and mouth, how you got such a sweet boyfriend was beyond you. He used the height difference to kiss the top of your forhead, his lips oddly warm dispite the weather. A blush rushed to the top of your ears as he lingered, enjoying a moment with you in the falling snow.

"Come on," Sou said, gently taking your hand. "Let's get you inside before you freeze." You nodded, feeling the chill seeping in despite your best efforts. Sou gestured towards a nearby café, its windows glowing invitingly in the fading afternoon light.

"How about some hot chocolate? My treat." Sou offered, knowing it was one for your greatest weakness. You could never turn down chocolate, and thought of your hands around a steaming mug was too tempting to resist.

[wingsofhcpe]

Aramis: trust me, I know what I'm doing

Athos, 0.2 seconds away from a stroke: NOT EVEN GOD KNOWS WHAT YOU'RE DOING

[singingcicadas]

The delightful enigma that's idw Soundwave - I feel like he's a hopeless nose of wax who exists in a constant pendulum-like state getting pulled in whichever direction his various bosses wants to go because everything he does - all his beliefs and actions and all the "freedom and equality" stuff he waxes poetic about - is so inherently contradictory that it's insane.

He'll say stuff like this:

And then also stuff like this:

What even is his definition of equality? Everyone above myself should be equal (except megatron ofc), everyone below myself should know their place?

This is him:

And this is also him:

While the order he gave Ravage on the Lost Light is:

(So much for loyalty lol, it only applies to Megatron)

He says he wants peace (i.e. the thing Megatron surrendered to achieve and the thing he hates Megatron for):

But apparantly peace doesn't apply to making peace with the Autobots and he just wants to continue the Autobot-Decepticon war with Earth as a resource base so what even is the difference:

He says this:

But then he follows Galvatron (yes he knows Galvatron was behind the Deceptigod thing that screwed them over):

Who does this:

And Soundwave's just like whoa calm down not now

Through the ex-rid issues he makes like five different proclaimations about what the Decepticon cause is. Really conflicting guy with constant 180 turnarounds, whose only consistent worldview can probably be boiled down to this one line👇

[oceanwithouthermoon]

saiki kusuo would work in a cafe or bakery just for the employee discounts on sweets