#and i really hope that so many of these artists moved onto bigger n better cool shit

[marshbarks]

theres so many artists i miss SO BAD from the beforetimes... the long long ago... (2014-2018)

[ithinkilikeit-reactions]

The coffee and the cup (Jeong Yunho/Smut)

Ateez Masterlist                                       Group Masterlist 

A/N: You bet your ass this was inspired by the pottery video. I was also inspired by a lot of ceramics artists I follow on instagram and thought this was fun.

This is a feel good story, no bad things, just good. Just wanted a feel good thing. 

Tags: Potter! Yunho x Café owner reader!, Fem! reader, a lot of pining and sweet glances, coffee, a freshly starting relationship, love confessions, Hongjoong that likes to judge

Smut tags: Very sweet, gentle, soft dom! Yunho, marking, oral (female receiving), Fingering (female receiving), scratching, Praise, teasing, Unprotected sex (wrap it up y’all)

Word count:  8046 (I don’t do short stories) 

There was something utterly comforting about the feeling a café could give you. It was something that you had always enjoyed, from being in middle school, getting cookies and chocolate milk before school, to high school and college where you did all day study sessions, cafe’s had become a safe haven for you. Therefore it was only natural that you had grown up with a dream of starting your own. 

With the little money you had managed to save up and the help from your family, your cafe had become a reality. A reality that you never thought would happen. It was even more surreal as you unpacked your first groceries and placed them in the pantry and refrigerator, looking around your place. Your place.

It was small, with only two, two persons tables indoor and two outdoors, it was more a “grab a drink and go” type of place and it was perfect for you. It was seated in a small street, filled with small locally owned businesses and what better way to introduce yourself, than to bake. 

A classic lemon blueberry muffin was the taste of coming home, the taste you wanted to sell at your store, a taste you wanted to give your fellow shop owners. You wanted people to feel comforted at your place, so you made something comforting with a little twist, so that everybody could see what type of person you were. Baking was your second love to coffee, so you went to work making around 30 muffins. The delicious smell filling your store and placing a smile on your face. Nothing could drag your day down, not that day.

Once the muffins had cooled enough from coming out of the oven, you packaged them carefully and placed them all in a little wicker basket, setting off to say hi to your neighbors. Starting with the little music instrument store right next door. The owner wasn’t what you expected at all, young, well dressed with one painted nail on each hand, going by the name Hongjoong. He greeted you with an amazing smile, wondering how he could help you.

“Welcome! Can I help you find anything?” He asked and you couldn’t help but beam a smile back at him. “No believe me you wouldn’t want me playing any instruments. I bought the café next door and wanted to introduce myself!” You said raising your basket to show him. “Oh! Welcome to the neighborhood!” He shook your free hand, smiling at you brightly. “So you’re going to be providing us caffeine from now on. I greatly appreciate it.” He said and you couldn’t help but laugh. It’s nice that people were missing a café here, gave you hope that you would do well.

You grabbed one package of muffins and placed them on his counter. “I hope you like lemon blueberry muffins. I made them from scratch and well they’re my personal favorite.” You explained and he tore into the packaging quickly. “I’m partial to anything made with bread.” He said, pulling apart a muffin and popping a piece into his mouth. “Oh, everyone around here is going to love these. You should head to Wooyoung’s restaurant down the street, Yeosang’s skate shop, Oh and Yunho’s little store next door. He might eat you out of house and home but oh boy he might become your best customer. These are delicious.” He complimented and you felt a sigh of relief. No matter how many people tried your food and drinks, you still got anxious when it came to their opinions. “I’ll head there now. Would be nice to have a customer before we even open.” You said softly and Hongjoong nodded. “He’s loyal too. If he likes what you have, he’ll never go anywhere else.” He added, making you laugh.

The sound of the door opening behind you made you glance in that direction, seeing a teenage boy looking around the instruments. “Well, I’ll let you get back to it.” You said, heading for the door. “Thank you again for the muffins and if you ever need any help with anything, don’t be stranger.” Hongjoong told you, making you feel all warm in your chest. He was incredibly kind, you could tell from the way he carried himself. “I won’t. Have a good day!” You said, waving as you exited his store. 

It was an incredibly good day out, sun brightly shining down on you as you walked to the little shop next to the music store. The bell signaled that you entered the building, but there was no one in sight. You stood by the door a moment, not wanting to overstep boundaries even if it was a store to shop in. Not only for that reason though, you were scared to knock something over and break it. 

The store was filled with shelves lining the bright yellow painted walls, on those shelves were a bunch of clay made works. From little figurines to beautifully sculpted plates, vases and mugs coated with bright paint. It was all so colorfull and bright, making a large smile pull over your lips. 

However, no one came to the front so you remained still another moment before calling out. “Hello?” You asked, holding on to your basket and leaning forward to see if you could spot anyone. “Hello?” You asked again, not really expecting a response but wanting to make sure. 

“Come on to the back, I can’t open the door back here because my hands are really dirty!” A voice called out and spotted the door that muffled it. You maneuvered yourself carefully to not knock things over as you made your way to the door, spotting a few mugs and plates you wouldn’t mind adding to the café’s collection on your way. You stood in front of the door not quite knowing what to expect when you opened the door, but you did it anyways. 

It lead to a little studio, with big windows in the back and more shelves lining the room. In the middle sat a pottery wheel with what looked like a half finished vase resting on it. But what was really eye catching, was the man washing his hands by the sink in the corner.

He was tall, with long legs, dark hair and broad shoulders. Wearing blue jeans and a white t-shirt that had clay stains all over them. Then he turned around, finally exposing his face to you and you seemingly felt your knees get weak. Never in your life had you seen eyes like his, so big and full of emotion. It only made the stripe of dried clay on his cheek seem even cuter. 

“Can I help you with anything?” He asked, drying his hands before walking towards you. Lifting your basket, you had a hard time finding words for a moment as he smiled at you. “I- uh- Hongjoong next door sent me over. I bought the café 2 doors down and wanted to introduce myself.” You explained, watching his smile get even bigger. You quickly stuck your hand out to his and he looked down at it, taking it gently. “I’m Y/N.” You said, really taking note of the way his eyes sparkled. “I’m Yunho.” 

Now Yunho knew it wasn’t really all that common for people his age to make a living off of pottery and art. But he saw that as a challenge, a challenge he took head on and had managed to do it. It was his passion, it was what he was good at and well, the looks of surprise on people’s faces when they asked him what he did for a living was an added plus. 

Now he hadn’t been expecting any visitors that day so he was taking the time to create a vase he had been thinking about making. But he wasn’t mad at the interuption at all, especially not one in such cute packaging. Your yellow sundress was inviting, your pink cheeks even more so and not to mention the wicker basket with baked goods. You looked like the angel of his own personal heaven. 

“I made muffins, they’re lemon blueberry.” You said, pulling the two packaged muffins out of the basket and handing them to him. You were feeling incredibly shy suddenly, even though the man was radiating nothing but a positive energy. “Oh! You said Hongjoong sent you?” Yunho asked, taking the packaging. You nodded at his words and he let out a hearty laugh. “He knows my kryptonite, baked goods.” You couldn’t help but laugh at his words as he took one more step closer to you. 

“I hope you don’t mind my asking, but what are you making?” You asked, gesturing to the pottery wheel. Yunho’s eyes widened at your interest before moving back towards the wheel. “I was asked to make a vase specifically for calla lillies. The design needed to be ‘unique’ according to the client.” He laughed and you took a step closer to look at the clay better. Unique was definitely an accurate description for it, but beautiful none the less. “It’s really pretty.” You said and looked back at him. He was watching your response to his work, finding it endearing how focussed you were on it. 

“I have something for you.” Yunho said quickly, wanting to welcome you to neighborhood properly. He gestured for you to follow him back to the front of the shop as he scanned his shelves for something. “Something for me?” You asked, following him as looked around. “Yes, something for you. To welcome you to the neighborhood.” He said sounding incredibly cheerful which made butterflies fill your stomach.

It was funny how Yunho had taken a few looks at you and instantly had a piece of his in mind to gift you. It just seemed like it suited you, with your bright choice in muffin flavors and the sunny aura that you had radiated to him. It was just an obvious choice to him. 

“There they are.” He said, pulling 2 mugs from the back of a shelf. They were made for a large cup of coffee, with sunflowers molded onto them and painted. They were very pretty and something you most definitely would have picked out for yourself. He quickly shuffled to his counter, wrapping them with paper for protection and placing them in a little bag. Yunho was a little scatterbrained, self admittedly, but it was only natural to get a little extra nervous when there was a pretty girl in front of him. 

“I hope these get put to good use when the café opens.” He said, as he wrote something on a card and slipped it into the bag. You caught a glimpse of his handwriting, noting how messy and cute it was before looking away again. “I’ll definitely put them to good use. I’ll make sure to serve my first cup of coffee in one.” You promised and Yunho could feel his ears burning red. “Good.” He said softly, sliding the bag in your direction. “The shop opens in 2 days, I would enjoy it if you stopped by.” You said softly as you grabbed the bag and placed it in your basket. “I’ll be there for sure.” He said, simply standing and looking at you. You admittedly were doing the same, finding yourself getting absolutely lost in those eyes before tearing yourself away. “I have a few more stops to make-” You started, walking towards the door because you were embarrassed for staring. 

“I really hope you enjoy those muffins.” You finished, placing your hand on the door handle and looking back at him one more time. “I most definitely will.” Yunho smiled, watching you leave his shop before leaning down and pressing his forehead against the counter. He hadn’t had a rush from someone in a long time, you were like a shot of caffeine and he had you on his mind for the rest of the day. 

You had brought around the rest of your muffins before coming back to your shop. It was now late in the afternoon and the had calmed down quite a bit. You had discovered that your new little neighborhood was close, tight knit. Everyone seemed to know eachother and something about that was quite comforting. Wooyoung’s resaurant was incredibly home-y with delicious food (he had forced you to sit down and enjoy some food) and Yeosang’s skate shop was just adorable with a lot of custom boards there and they all seemed to know eachother quite well. It was helping you realise you had chosen the right spot, you needed the support. 

Sitting down at a table, you placed your basket down as well. The whole afternoon you had been curious about what Yunho had written down on the card. It was on your mind the whole time and well so was he. He was quite magnetic, awkward and just very cute, you really couldn’t help it. 

Pulling the mugs from the bag, you unwrapped them carefully so that you can take in the details more. You hadn’t really gotten the chance to before, you were entirely too focussed on something or rather someone else. You held one of the mugs in your hand, looking it over and running your fingers over the smooth ridges. It was all so incredibly detailed and such a sweet gift. 

You put the mug down and pulled the card from the bag. It was just simple cardstock with no design on it, only his writing and you felt the butterflies bubble back up as you read.

“I thought it was a good day because of the weather, but I guess it was because you were in the neighborhood. I can’t wait to stop by your café when it opens, but I would love it even more if you would go on a date with me, maybe let me teach you how to sculpt. I’ll leave my number for you. 

It was nice meeting you, sunshine.

- Yunho

P.S the mugs are handwash only”

You laughed at the last sentence holding the letter to your chest as you did so. A date with Yunho, it was all so sweet. Not to mention his nickname for you had you swooning. 

Pushing yourself up from the table, you placed the mugs on the counter and put the card by your store’s phone. It was too soon to call right away, but you were definitely going to call. There was no doubt about that, you could feel a connection with him instantly and you couldn’t help but mentally thank Hongjoong for that. 

-

Time had seemingly slipped away from you after that day. You had been incredibly busy the day after, getting everything ready and prepared for your grand opening. Baking what you could, grinding coffee beans and preparing mugs, plates and other items. You weren’t expecting a huge turnout or anything... but it never hurt to be prepared. 

But that coupled with your anxiety for doing well, you seemingly forgot about Yunho’s number that was just waiting to be called by your phone. It was purely accidental that it happened, that it had all slipped your mind. 

But you were quickly reminded of it when he stood in front of you, after you had given one of your first customers their order of coffee and an oatmeal cookie. There he was, standing in front of you at 10 a.m, wearing a lightly striped button down tucked into black jeans. Considerably more dressed up than the last time you had seen him, however this image of him made you think of his number and you panicked. 

“Oh my god Yunho, I forgot to call.” You said, clasping a hand over your mouth in embarrassment. You felt absolutely horrible at the realization however Yunho could only laugh. “It’s alright, it’s alright sunshine. I figured you were busy with the opening and everything so I didn’t take it to heart.” He smiled at you and you pouted. “I feel really bad. What can I do to make it up to you?” You asked, walking around your little counter because from what you could tell, there were no more customers left to serve aside from him in the café. 

Your response was just so cute to him, he didn’t think you owed him anything at all. He gave you his number and it was your choice to call him or not. However he still would have really like that date, especially seeing you again. You were wearing a simple orange, shin length, floral skirt with a black t-shirt tucked into it and an apron fastened around your waist. You were... sunny to him. 

“You don’t have to make it up to me, you don’t owe me anything. But I would still like to know if you would like to go on a date with me?” He asked and you couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief at his question. “Oh and I would love another lemon blueberry muffin. I ate both alarmingly fast the other day.” He added on quickly, laughing as he did so. He didn’t want you to feel pressure, at all. Yunho wanted you to go out with him because you wanted too, not anything else. 

You looked down to the ground in attempts to hide the blush on your cheeks, before pulling yourself together and finally looking up into his eyes. “I can definitely do a date and I can also definitely do a muffin.” You said and quickly disappeared behind your counter again. Yunho watched with adoration as you did, incredibly happy but trying to keep things cool. 

“Here is your muffin... would you like anything else?” You asked, handing him the packaged treat and his fingers grazed yours. “No, I got what I came for.” Yunho said and reached for his wallet. “No, it’s on the house.” You stopped him and he looked at you, opening his mouth to  say something. “I know you said I don’t owe you anything but, just take it. For my own sake.” You explained and he bit down on his lip to keep his smile to a minimum. “Thank you.” He said softly, back away from the counter because how much he was beaming. 

“Call me to set up the date tonight? Okay?” He said, now leaning in the open door of the café. “I will. I definitely will this time.” You said and he nodded, walking away and letting himself smile fully. 

Your first day was incredibly good, a total of almost 50 customers which really wasn’t much but still good and a date settled with an absolutely beautiful man. It was just a good day, you smelled like coffee when you got home and there was nothing better than that. Life was coming together. 

-

He had set things up in such a specific way, he wanted this to be perfect. Something about you drew Yunho in so much, he didn’t want to mess this date up at all. It meant a lot to him. 

So when you showed up to his store again, ready for your date, he had his heart in his throat. He had told you to wear something you wouldn’t mind that got dirty and well you listened, showing up in overall you deemed your “paint overalls” the ones you would wear while painting your house and some beat up Converse sneakers. Yunho was wearing the same clothes from the day you had first met and waiting inside his store when you appeared at the door. 

“You look very cute.” Yunho commented, the second you entered the building and your cheeks flushed red. “I’m used to people starting conversations by saying hello.” You said, leaning onto the counter he was stood behind. He mimiced your actions, face getting closer to yours. “Hello. You look very cute.” He teased and you looked down to avoid his gaze with a soft smile. “Anyways, what are we doing today?” You asked, standing back up fully and slipping your hands into your pockets. 

“Well, do you need anything else for your shop?” Yunho asked and you took a moment to think. “I was thinking about stopping by for some small, single flower vases. To see if you even had anything like that. Why?” You asked and he pushed himself off the counter. 

Now if you had said no, he would have sat you down to make something random just to have fun. But now he was going to give you something you could absolutely make use of and hopefully something to remind you of him. 

“I figured I could teach how to make them, something you want exactly.” Yunho said, scratching the back of his head because he was now completely questioning his own idea. “Oh!!! I would absolutely love that!” You said, needing to contain your excitement. Something about a date like this really touched your heart and even if this wouldn’t go anywhere, you know you would remember it for the rest of your life. 

He let out a sigh of relief before leading you to his studio, where he had set up a picnic blanket on the floor next to the large windows with a basket filled with treats. You couldn’t help but place your hand on your chest, your heart pounding because of how sweet he was. 

“Jeong Yunho, I do believe you are a romantic.” You said, gesturing to the blanket and he had to hold back a laugh. “Maybe just a little bit... I just thought we could talk a bit while the clay is in the kiln.” He explained, well rambled more. He was absolutely making your heart melt and there was no doubt about it. 

He sat you down behind the wheel after preparing everything for you, the damp clay sitting on top of the wheel. You looked up at him, questioning what to do because this was completely foreign territory to you. “Start spinning the wheel and wet your hands in that bowl and just start feeling around the clay a bit. Get a feel of what you’re doing.” He said, crouching down by your side. You followed his instructions, under his carefull gaze.

Yunho had guided your hands carefully from next to you, until you had accidentally placed way too much pressure on the clay and denting the form. “Oh, uhh let me see if I can fix that.” Yunho said, seeing how you struggled to get it back the way it was. You stood and he took your seat, his height when sitting coming up to your shoulders. He was mesmerizing to watch as he sculpted, eyes focussed on the wheel and lips kind of pursed. He was just so pretty. 

“I think I get it.” You said and he looked at you in confusion. “This suits you, sitting here behind the pottery wheel, working with your hands. It really suits you. You’re completely in your element. It’s really beautiful to see.” You explained further and he allowed the wheel to slow down, to look up at you. 

You didn’t even realise how close you were until you felt his breath fan over your lips and you suddenly felt excitement in your chest. So you made a split second decision, you made a judgement call. 

Leaning forward, you pressed a quick kiss to his very soft looking, plump lips. Yunho was caught off guard, not having expected that at all but not complaining either. In the few hours you had maybe spent together, there was something completely undeniable there. 

Now admittedly, the kiss was too long for it to be a peck and that was because Yunho could’ve sworn he tasted strawberry on your lips. It left him wanting more, so he deepened the kiss and for a moment you forgot your hands were covered in wet clay. You cupped his face, only for him to laugh against your lips and you realised your mistake. 

“Oh my God, I am so sorry.” You said, pulling away and looking at your hand prints on his cheeks. Yunho couldn’t stop laughing, maybe because of how ridiculously funny the situation was or maybe because of the pure joy he was feeling. “I got too caught up - I- I- completely forgot my hands were-.” You explained in frustration, really wanting to cover your face in embarrassment but deciding against it with better judgement. 

“It’s okay, it’s okay. Can you just maybe wash your hands and then hand me that washcloth by the sink?” He asked and you did as told quickly bringing him the damp cloth to help him get your marks off of him. His cheeks and ears were flushed the whole time as you did so, eyes following your movements and reading the concern on your face. “It’s really okay.” Yunho laughed, comforting you a little more but you couldn’t help but stay embarrassed. “It’s definitely a story to tell. Not my best first kiss admittedly.” You said and pushed your hair out of your face, not your brightest moment most definitely. 

“I mean, I could act like it didn’t happen. Or we could just have a do over?” Yunho suggested, placing the cloth down on the counter and looking at you with a cheeky smile. He just wanted to make sure it was really strawberry he was tasting on your lips. “A do-over?” You asked, crossing your arms and looking up at him. 

His hands came up to your waist, pulling you a tad closer by the belt loops of your overalls before leaning down to your level again. You cupped his face, allowing your thumbs to run over the smooth skin of his cheeks and smilled to yourself. “Oh sunshine, you’re just the cutest.” He said softly and closed the space inbetween you too. This was it, this was what it was supposed to feel like. Butterflies flying around your stomach and your heart pounding in your chest because of how badly you wanted to kiss someone. This was right. 

Your hands moved from his cheeks to his hair as he deepened the kiss, tasting that sweet strawberry flavor again and making a mental note to ask you about it later. His hands held your waist gently, not moving in any way in fear of overstepping his boundaries. 

Pulling away again, this time with a considerable less amount of embarrassment, you placed your hands on his chest gently. “You see, that’s what I was trying to do.” You said softly, toying with the fabric of his shirt. “I figured.” He said in response, letting eachother go in the process. “Your lips taste like strawberries, as if you couldn’t get any more sweet.” Yunho commented, just looking at you with mild disbelief as you sat behind the pottery wheel again. You knew exactly why you tasted that way, you were experimenting with strawberry creme for on top of cupcakes and had to taste test it.

“Come by the café some more and I’ll show you why.” You smiled cheekily and started to spin the wheel again, wanting to finish your vase. “Hmm, sounds good. It sounds like another date.” 

- 

“That’ll be 7.50.” You said cheerily before going to pour her coffee and grab her 2 slices of coffee cake. You handed her, her items and waved her out of the store before letting out a sigh. There was a dip in how busy it was and you had a moment to relax. 

“I just noticed that your customer service voice is the same as your regular voice.” Hongjoong said from the table closest to your counter. He had been coming in on his breaks to hang out and talk and well this was one of those times. “Is it? I never noticed.” You asked with a raised brow, Hongjoong shook his head at you. “I can’t believe your just genuinely that sweet.” He commented and went back to looking on his phone. 

“Of course Y/N’s that sweet.” Yunho’s voice came in from behind you, knowing he came in through the back. His hands moved to your hips from behind and rested his head on your shoulder. “They even smell cake 90% of the time.” He added on before kissing your cheek. This earned a blush from you and a sigh coupled with an eyeroll from Hongjoong. 

“Disgustingly cute.” Hongjoong grumbled, standing from his seat and grabbing his coffee. “I’ll be taking this to go.” He added, leaving your cafe to give you both a shred of privacy. 

Laughing, you turned around in Yunho’s arm and wrapped your arms around his neck. “Hi.” You said softly, toying with the hairs on the back of his neck. A few months in and you were incredibly close, ridiculously in love. The whole neighborhood knew, the whole neighborhood thought it was disgustingly cute and well you were incredibly happy. 

“Hi.”  He said back, leaning you backwards to press you against your counter. He had been missing you all day, all week more like. With the school breaks on top of general vacation days, business had been going quite well. But that also meant a little less time together. Which was alright, that was healthy but God Yunho was missing you. 

He kissed your cheek, moving his lips over your skin lightly to pay you some special attention because there was no one in the cafe anyways and there was just something about getting you so flustered. 

“What’s gotten into you?” You asked, taking a deep breath as his lips moved over your neck and down to the neckline of your dress. “When can I get you alone for more than 5 minutes?” Yunho asked, pulling his lips away from you again. He could tell you were breathing a little heavier and your cheeks were flushed, exactly what he wanted. 

“I think I have more than 5 minutes of alone time after work.” You explained, only for his lips to find the base of your neck again. His hands were now massaging your sides, bunching up your dress slightly when the bell of your door rang. 

“I forgot my phone and I’m glad I saw this so that I can leave a bad review on yelp.” Hongjoong said and you both pulled away from eachother quite quickly. “Come by the shop after you close up okay sunshine?” Yunho said, trying to hide his embarrassment as Hongjoong gave him a dirty look.

“I will.” You said, quickly pecking his lips one more time before he exited your shop. You were a total shade of pink because of the way Hongjoong was looking at you. “Don’t say anything.” You said, pointing your finger in his direction the second Yunho left. He started laughing, grabbing his phone from the table. “You two are so in love it’s disgusting. Get married already, have coffee filled, artsy babies.” He teased and you shook your head. “It seems like you two were half way there already, wonder what would’ve happened if I didn’t walk in.” He added and you turned away, suddenly feeling the need to keep your hands busy. 

“Probably nothing, we haven’t gone that far. Doubt it would’ve happened in broad daylight, in an open café.” You said, now wiping down a fully clean counter to get out of your own mind. You wanted to take that next step with Yunho and he seemingly wanted to take that step too. 

So you made your way over to his shop after closing, checking the way you looked in the reflection on the windows before entering. You weren’t nervous, at all actually. Everything felt certain with him and so did this. You instantly walked to studio portion of his shop, anticipation in your chest as you pushed the door open. 

“Hey you closed early.” Yunho said as he cleaned his counter by the sink. “I did. Thought maybe we could stretch those 5 minutes into a few hours.” You said softly, walking behind him to hug him from behind. You missed him the last few days too, you were definitely realising it while holding him. “You can’t just kiss me like that in the middle of the day and leave.” You mumbled against him as his hands found your, drawing shapes into your skin with his fingers. 

“Sorry about the inconvenience.” He chuckled and pulled you to stand in front of him, wedging you between him and the counter. “Big inconvenience. I’ve been thinking about you all day.” You leaned back onto the counter as Yunho took a step forward. His thigh, wedging between your legs as he did so. He was completely hovering over you, hands finding purchase on your hips. “Maybe that’s what I wanted.” His voice was a tone lower than normal, making your tongue dart out to wet your lips. 

You grabbed the back of his neck, pulling him close because you really couldn’t wait much longer and kissed him. Yunho loved it when he brought you to that point because he found it oh so endearing when you needed him so badly. 

Using his hands, he lifted you up onto the counter fully making your dress bunch up slightly. His hands moved down to the newly exposed flesh of your thighs as his tongue slipped into your mouth. This, this was what drove him insane because everytime he kissed your lips you tasted so sweet. 

You tugged his hair as his grip on you tightened, making him groan against your lips. “How do you do it, you always taste so sweet?” He asked with his forehead pressed against yours. You leaned forward a little, making your core come into contact with his denim clad thigh and you whimpered before answering him. “That’s for me to know and you to be amazed by.” Shaking his head at your answer, he pressed his lips to yours again absolutely not caring if it was sloppy or not. 

He continued to pull your hips down, making your core rub over his thigh and you couldn’t help but pull his hair harshly. This made him nip down on your bottom lip before moving his hands to hike up the skirt of your dress. He was absolutely obsessed with how soft your skin was in his hands every new inch that was revealed, didn’t disappoint. 

Moving his lips down your neck again, he made sure to nip down on your skin and making you gasp. Yunho was going with intent to leave marks, there was just something that made him compelled to do so. His hands moved to your waist to drag you closer to edge of the counter and closer to him. His fingertips finding the hem of your panties to toy with them, making heat pool between your legs even more. 

His mouth stopped at the neckline of your dress, before he looked up at you. “Can I take this off?” He asked, tugging on your dress slightly. The little question making heat rise to your cheeks. “Yes, you can.” You answered softly, helping him lift the fabric off of your body. You were about to throw your dress to the side when took it from you, folding it before laying it down gently on a chair. You sat, kicking your legs slightly as you watched him because the action made your heart flutter. 

“Don’t want your dress to get dirty.” He said, turning back around to look at you. He could feel his heart stop a moment, you were incredibly just so incredibly beautiful to him. The dim lit room, coupled with your slightly swollen lips, pink cheeks and the fact that you were sitting there in nothing but your underwear, it was driving him insane. 

“God you look...” Yunho started, walking back to you to wrap his arms around your bare waist. You curled his hair between your fingers, looking him the eyes. “Absolutely beautiful.” His eyes sparkled as he spoke, making your whole body fill with warmth as he looked at you. You wrapped your legs around him, to pull him even closer to you. “I’m feeling a little self conscious here. Can you maybe?” You didn’t finish your sentence, just tugging on his shirt in hopes he’d get the message. He pulled it off of him and simply threw it on the ground, not giving it the same care he gave your dress. “I don’t care if that gets dirty.” He said before kissing your lips quickly and sinking down to his knees. 

Eye level with your core, he traced his fingers over your clothed slit slowly, looking at you to see your response. Your eyes were shut up and your lips were agape, body tensing as his finger grazed your clit. That was enough for him to hook his fingers into the lace, tugging your panties down your legs. You brought your hand to your face, taking your thumb between your teeth as Yunho pulled your legs over his shoulders. 

He feathered kisses over your thighs, squeezing them as he did so and inching closer and closer to where you needed him. “You’re going to tease me when I’ve already been thinking about you all day?” You asked, voice muffled by your own hand. He looked up at you again, eyes darker and blinking at you. “Yes, because it seems to be working.” He answered, dragging his fingers over your slit. “You’re so wet, Sunshine.” He finished, kissing your clit lightly and your hips bucked for more friction. 

He looked up at you one more time, taking a mental image of you with your finger caught between your teeth just staring at him before kissing you again. Allowing his tongue to move over your folds and tasting you. You attempted to clamp your legs shut at the sensation only for him to hold them open, not allowing you to go anywhere as he ate you out. Lips wrapping around your clit and making you moan out loud. Your hand moved to grip his hair, just wanting him even closer to you because fuck... he was making you feel so good. 

“Yunho-” You moaned, making his fingertips dig further into your thighs. “Sunshine, you even taste sweet.” He commented, kissing your thighs again as you tugged on his hair for more. “Baby please don’t stop.” You begged, nearly pouting as you did so because you were oh so close to cumming. 

He stood back up, face now level with yours again and you whined. “Relax.” He said softly, hand trailing down your body before cupping your core. His finger teased your hole while the other hand cupped your face, slipping a finger into and watching every expression as he did so. Yunho thrust his fingers into you harshly as your mouth fell open again. Eyes locked onto Yunho’s as he drew you closer and closer to your orgasm. Your fingers clawed at his arms as the coil in your stomach tightened. “Yunho, please.” You whined, feeling him insert another finger and stretching you out. 

He sped up his pace, feeling you tighten around his fingers and the scratching down his arms get harder. “Come on, cum for me sunshine.” He pressed his forehead against yours as you let out a small scream that faded into a whine. The coil bursting as his fingers continued thrusting into you. Your face burried into his neck as you held onto him, needing something to brace yourself with. 

He watched you slump into his arms, using his hand that was holding your face to now stroke your hair. “You’re alright.”  He cooed, ignoring the uncomfortable feeling of his hardon pressing against his jeans. You kept your face in his neck as your hands moved from his arms down his chest and torso. Trailing down the faint outline of abs as your hands went down, resting on the button of his jeans as you finally looked at him again. 

“I love you.” You said softly, as if it was a secret and you were in a crowded room. Your fingers undid his jeans, not waiting on a response from him. If he wasn’t there yet, he wasn’t there. 

“Hey.” He cupped your face again, making your focus now be solely on him. You hardly gave him time to respond to your confession before you went undo his jeans, he needed you to focus on what he was going to say because he could tell you were scared for his answer. 

“Relax, Sunshine. I love you too.” He said, taking in the way your eyes widened at his words. “I- I- can I?” You stuttered, gesturing to his jeans. “Yes, yes you can.” He laughed, continuing to cup your face as you undid his jeans and dragged the zipper down. He hummed as your fingers grazed his hard on, gripping your face a little tighter making you smile. 

“Now who’s teasing?” He asked you and you giggled, only for him to shake his head. He grabbed your hands and pulled them off of his jeans so that he could pull them down, together with his briefs. “Can’t deal with what you dish out?” You asked and he shook his head, placing his hand next to your hips on the counter. “Not nearly as well.” He admitted and you wrapped your legs around his bare waist to pull him against you. 

His free hand gripped the base of his cock as he rubbed it over your folds. You held the back of his neck, watching his actions before he slipped into you slowly. Your nails dug into his skin, making goosebumps coat his skin as he sheathed himself into you fully. The whimper you let out of was like music to his ears and the way you felt wrapped around him was better than he dreamed of. 

Yunho gave you a moment to adjust before wrapping his arms around your waist and almost picking you up off of the counter. It caught you by surprise making you hold onto him even tighter. “Fuck Yunho.” You hummed, as he started thrusting into you, using the leverage he had gotten from holding you. His pace picked up, fucking into you slowly as your sounds filled his studio. 

“You feel so good, Sunshine.” He praised, a low moan leaving his mouth afterwards as you scratched down his back. He thrusted a bit harder and faster, needing a taste of that sweet release because he too had been thinking about you all day. 

“Right there-” You choked out as he hit your sweet spot, the heels of your feet digging into his thighs. He pressed his face into your neck, placing kisses everywhere he could reach and sucking even more marks into your skin. He continued actions, making you tighten around him very quickly. He let go of your waist to place one of his hands by your side on the counter and the other down to rub your clit, giving him leverage to bring you both to the edge quickly. Your hands moved to his arms, scratching down them as well just adding to the pleasure he was going through. 

“Sunshine, I’m really close.” He moaned out, hips staggering slightly as he continuously rubbed your clit. You pet his hair, drawing his attention back to your face and that was it for him. You looked oh so fucked out and the way you were holding on to him, it was enough to send him over the edge. His hips stopped as he came inside of you, head drooping and beautiful loud moans leaving him as he did so. However, his fingers never stopped circling your clit and threw you over the edge with him. 

He was a mess, moaning at the feeling of you contracting around him and the overstimulation of it. The way you felt holding on to him, stroking his skin as you both calmed down. He was now holding you close against his chest, still resting inside you for a moment as you caught your breaths. 

“I meant it you know, when I said I love you back.” Yunho’s voice was soft spoken as he pet your hair. “I know.” You said as you traced over his arm. “Good, just wanted to make sure you knew I didn’t just say it because we were having sex.” He explained, body leaving yours and making you sigh. 

“I know I definitely didn’t just say it because of that.” You said as he handed you back your underwear. “That’s good.” He smiled at you that goofy smile, eyes filled with love. You shook your head, before grabbing his face gently and pulling him for another quick kiss. You just really wanted him to know that you meant it.  

“Come on, let’s go to my place. Maybe watch a movie, eat dinner, have round 2. All of the options are allowed.” He said laughing before handing you your dress, as you rolled your eyes at his words. 

“Ah Sunshine, I love you to bits.” 

- 

“The back of Yunho’s neck looks like he’s been mauled by a tiger, you wouldn’t happen to have anything to do with that?” Hongjoong asked as he entered Yunho’s shop the next day. He had to run errands and asked you to watch his shop for a moment, so there you were sitting behind his counter and painting a piece of pottery you had helped him make not to long before. 

“I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.” You said, needing to bite on your lips to contain your smile as you continued to paint the clay. “Uh-huh, tell that to those hickies all over your neck.” He commented and you looked at him. “Do you ever spend time in your own store?” You asked in frustration and he started laughing, pointing at you. “I knew it!” He laughed and you shook your head. “Okay, okay. Shut up about it.” You hid your face in your hands, feeling how beat red you were. 

“Fine, fine, I’ll stop teasing.” Hongjoong joked, walking around the shelves of pottery. No one else was in the shop, so the conversation wasn’t entirely inappropriate. “But it was good though? No hiccups, no awkward situations?” He asked and you could only smile at the thought of it all. “No, nothing awkward.” You said and he stood in front of the counter again. 

“I told him I love him for the first time.” You added quickly, simply going back to painting. “Wait, you did? For the first time? It took you both that long?” Admittedly Hongjoong wasn’t wrong, but you had felt love for him a long time ago. There just wasn’t a desire to vocalize it just yet, on either end. “I mean it was obvious that you too loved eachother, I’m just surprised it took you so long to say it.” Hongjoong explained and you nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. But sometimes it’s better to just wait until there’s that moment. That perfect moment to say it.” Last night was most definitely that moment for you. 

The store bell made you both redirect your attention to the door. Only for Yunho to pop his head in and look at you. “I was half way to the store when I realised that I didn’t ask you needed anything.” He said, smiling at you with stars in his eyes. “You could’ve just texted me.” You smiled back as Hongjoong watched the interaction. “I could’ve, but I would rather just walk back and see you instead.” He explained and Hongjoong laughed. 

“You two, you two are something else.” Hongjoong commented and Yunho shook his head. “But you don’t need anything?” He asked and you shook your head. “No, I got all I need.” You said and he nodded before going to leave again. “I love you, Sunshine.” He said quickly, shutting the door behind him. “I love you too.” You said smiling, knowing he couldn’t hear you anymore but still taking the time to do it. Hongjoong rolled his eyes at you and opened his mouth to say something. 

“As disgusting as you two are, how cute you are together makes up for it.” 

A/N: Feedback is kind!

I’m not completely satisfied with the ending but I still like this story alot. Sometimes you just need some happy stories. I hope you guys enjoy!

[sidespart]

The Fall of King Romulus part 4

Summary: Twin Princes Remus and Romulus are cursed at birth with Honesty and Obedience. When Romulus, who cannot disobey any order, is told to kill his brother the next time he lays eyes on him, he changes his name to Roman and runs away. Roman joins up with a misfit group of adventures and plans to never return to his homeland. But the fae have other plans for him...

Warnings (for whole fic not necessarily individual chapters): Violence, mind whammying/memory altering, curse of obedience related consent issues, references to sex, references to war related injuries/PTSD, references to child abuse/neglect (YMMV on that one but just in case), antagonstic-but-not-exactly villian!Janus, Extremly-moraly-dubious-but-not-exacty-unsympathetic-Remus

Pairings: Mostly Platonic LAMP and all the found family feels. Could be read as pre-slash.

Feedback appreciated.

NOW ON AO3 :D

Prologue     Chapter 1   Chapter 2  Chapter 3

“I will grant them handsome features and beguiling voices,” the maiden whispered, her own voice dripping with honey “that all who great them will be blessed from the meeting.”

“I told you it wouldn’t work!” Remus grinned smugly when Romulus was deposited back in in their room, their nanny shutting the door firmly behind him.

“Urghh.” Romulus whined as he hurled himself face first onto Remus’ bed, making his giggling brother bounce from the impact. “But it should have! It always does in the stories!”

What was the point of having a twin, Romulus wondered if they couldn’t even switch places to get him out of boring geography lessons?

Remus poked him until Romulus rolled over onto his side to pout at his brother.

“It’s because I’m better lookin’ than you.” Remus told him cheerfully.

Romulus thwacked him with a pillow. “We’re identical!”

“Doesn’t matter,” Remus grabbed a second pillow from the floor, “I’m still the cute one!”

“Are not!”

“Are too!”

“Are not!”

“Are to – oof!”

The pillow fight soon descended into a wrestling match, their shrieks and giggles echoing through the bed chamber.

Eventually they ran out of breath and Remus flopped back down on the bed, his legs hanging over the edge. Romulus collapsed on the floor amongst the fallen pillows, batted Remus’ foot away from his face and gazed up at the family portrait hanging above their fire place.

They were identical. The artist had taken care to draw the crown prince a little bigger than his brother, closer to the forefront of the picture, but even so; their hair, eyes, nose - everything was the same.

Romulus glanced up at his brother, who was currently digging snot out his nose with every sign of enjoyment. Romulus gagged. They were not the same -Remus was gross!  

Except.

Everyone said what a handsome young man Remus was growing up to be. How brightly his eyes sparkled.  How confidently he held himself, even as a child. They never said that stuff about Romulus.

Remus shone, even when he was being gross.

“Your voice is better.” Remus said suddenly, snapping Romulus out of his sulk.

“What?”

“Your voice.” The older twin lent over the bed, staring his brother in the eye “It’s nicer than mine, ‘specially when you sing.” Romulus beamed, showing off his gap toothed smile. Their parents had hired teachers to drill both boys on the lute and harpsicord, but Romulus’ talent for singing was all him.

“You think so?”

“Yeah.” Remus smiled back at him. He’d lost a baby tooth that week too – one of his canines, giving him lopsided fangs. “And you’re way better at crying.”

“What! Well – your feet are stinker!”

“You’re worse at pranks!”

“Well you’re worse at fencing!”

“But l I’m the best at tickling!” declared Remus and leapt from the bed, pinning Romulus with his knee whilst his fingers attacked his brothers armpits.  The younger prince’s peals of laughter and cries for mercy were so loud nanny came rushing back to check on them, finding the future rulers of Notaleveale wrapped around each other on the floor, covered in dust and wearing matching smiles.

“I will grant them strength and creativity.” The mother smiled, she had a thousand eyes and all of them twinkled under the halls many candles “so that their rule will never be questioned.”

“Lord Venchi?”  Romulus asked.

The royal treasurer, normally one of the more composed members of his father council, was pacing the entrance hall alone, what little hair he had left sticking up in all directions as he tugged at it.

“Oh, Your Highness!” The he gasped when he caught sight of Romulus, “oh thank goodness! He-“

Romulus sighed. “What has my brother done now?”

Romulus had spent the morning on a rare visit into town, missing the days council meeting. It was completely unfair -  Romulus attended meetings almost daily, under Julius supervision, as part of his training to one day take over managing whichever aspect of the kingdom bored the future King Remus the most. They were mind numbingly dull sessions and it was only Julius’ steady glare that kept Romulus’ eyes open and his face attentive.

But today, visitors from the far south were attending. Which meant the session might actually be interesting. Which meant Remus got to go, and Romulus was immediately barred from entry. Instead, his father had asked him to represent the family at the ceremonial graduation of the latest batch of city watch recruits. So, instead of hearing tales from beyond the kingdoms borders, he had spent most of the day on a podium waving dispassionately at a crowd of braying onlookers.

It was always daunting, being around so many common folk. They lacked the decorum of the nobles at court. Whilst most seemed content to gape and sigh at him from a distance, there was always one who would shout out ‘my prince, look at me!’, ‘come here!’, ‘kiss my baby!’

Even with his fathers voice ringing in his ears – “no matter what you hear, stay by your guards side until you are back in the palace.” – Romulus had spent the day tense and unhappy, pinpricks of pain dancing in his skull. By the time he was allowed to speak he had quite forgotten his prepared speech and been forced to make up a quick poem on the spot. The crowd had seemed happy enough – the watch captain had tears in his eyes - but he knew neither Julius or his parents would be happy with his improvising once his guards had reported in.

He had hoped to get a few hours alone before the inevitable lecture, and were it anyone else he might have tried to sneak by without getting pulled into whatever chaos Remus had caused.

But Venchi was an old ally, one who had served his father wisely for years and who always took the time to compliment Romulus on his few measured contributions to the councils discussions, or to explain carefully any point he had missed.

He had also seen Remus at council. There shouldn’t have been anything left that the older prince could do to shock him to this extent.

“He-“ the old man looked like he couldn’t quite believe his own words, “He flipped the table.”

Romulus stared at him. The council table was ancient and enormous, made of a stone so old it’s real name has been lost. Moving it was impossible, the palace had practically been built around it.

“The Arkazeii  ambassador is being seen by a healer.” Venchi continued, “but I believe his foot Is broken, I-“

The side door behind them slammed open suddenly, crashing into the wall with enough force to make the hanging portraits shake. “I said.” Remus roared, a snarl on his handsome face, “Leave me alone!”

His voice was so forceful Romulus found he had taken three steps towards the main door before he stopped himself, face flushing. The order hadn’t been meant for him. Julius, who had clearly been chasing after the young crown prince, was now openly glaring down at Remus, two spots of colour high on his cheeks.

“Your highness I must insist-“

“Seriously?” Remus cackled, “You’re insisting?  Juju, honestly, I am not interested in what you have to say.” He barred his teeth at the King’s advisor, eyes wild,  “If my father wants me he can come get me himself but if not you can go and -oh.”

“Hello Remus.” Romulus sighed, giving the shortest bow he could get away with, “I hear your meeting went well.”

Remus eyes narrowed “Hello Romy, have fun getting your butt kissed in town?” he slug his arm around his brother’s neck, adopting a high pitched, sing song tone in apparent impression of the townsfolk “Oh Prince Romulus, you’re sooo clever and handsome and perfect. Won’t you pretty please sign an autograph and let me suck your di-“

“Your highness, please!” Venchi looked disgusted “There is no need for vulgarity.”

“Aww hey Vee! Wow, your hair is really going, you know the balder you get the more you look like my ballsack? Romy – I’m serious, picture him with two heads”  he held up his thumbs and index fingers and positioned them in front of the red-faced treasurer like a frame “I can’t be the only one that sees this.”

“You are.” Romulus snapped, shrugging his brothers arm off of his shoulders, “Did you really break the Arkazeii ambassadors foot?”

“The Arkazeii ambassador deserved it.” Remus snarled, good humour vanishing instantly. “They want to dig up Orenlla till it’s hollow. Use the rock to turn their sky black. Have you heard the stories outta that place? All the chickens are dying, ’s a travesty.”

“The chickens are- what? Just. Whatever. Not liking his trade ideas doesn’t mean you can hurt him!”

Remus eyes were always sparkling. Like a man on the brink of madness. “I can do whatever I want little brother.” He grinned at him with too many teeth, “you should try it sometime.”

“Your sons have all the makings of rulersss” the final fae smiled, her one golden eye glinting in the depth of her cloak. “My gift is for you. I give your children honestly and obedience.” She smiled sweetly, “May they bring you joy.”

“Your father is sick” Julius told him.

I know that Romulus thought but didn’t say. Watching the old man carefully.

They were in Julius practice room, at the top of the northmost turret, where Romulus had spent so much of his childhood.

“There is of course, still hope. And we have the finest healers, from every corner of the Kingdom.” Julius was pacing as he spoke, wringing his hands. It was profoundly odd, to see the old man so unsettled. But he had known Romulus’ father from when they were both boys. He loved him, as much as he was capable of loving anyone, and he loved the kingdom that he helped rule.

So Romulus found he wasn’t as surprised as he should have been with what Julius said next.

“Your brother cannot be allowed to take the throne.”

Since Romulus curse had been recognised, his parents had taken great pains to limit the brothers’ interactions, for both of their safety.

Remus could not keep a secret.

Remus was honest. He was honest at their mothers funeral when he’d announced to the mourners that she was ‘a bitch by anyone’s definition’ and honest later than evening when he’d sobbed into Romulus’ shoulder and cried that he would miss her.

He was honest when he announced to Romulus causally, over are rare shared meal, that he dreamed about killing him. “I’d do it with a morning star” he told him, slapping his spoon down onto the head of a roasted tomato and watching the red pulp fly about his plate. “Just like that.”

He was honest when he forced his way into Romulus’ room at night, shook him awake and told him, shaking, that the palace was haunted. That voices whispered to him from every corner - so loud that he couldn’t sleep.

He was honest when Romulus asked him, baffled, why are you telling me this. “I trust you.” Remus admitted, his voice thick, “You’re the only one I can trust.”

Just because he was honest, didn’t mean he was right.

Romulus gazed at Julius, his face carefully blank – a skill he had perfected over many council meetings.- and said “I don’t think you can order me to change our birth order.”

“No.” Julius smiled, and had the decency to look pained. “That’s not what I’m going to ask.”

In this room, Julius had tried every trick to strip Romulus of his curse. And when he failed, he’d dedicated himself to learning every possible way it could be exploited. In order to help protect him, of course.

“Sit there and listen to me until I finish.”

If Romulus didn’t hear an order in full, even if he could guess it, it could be ignored. As a child he’d sometimes escape his teachers simply by running away before they could give him the next task.

“The next time you lay eyes on your brother, kill him. Ensure no one can trace it back to you.”

Vague orders were still orders, and often more effective than those that were too direct. If he couldn’t prevent someone from seeing him, then he would have to kill the witness too in order to obey the instructions in full.

“Let no one know you did it. Tell no one of our conversation”

There was, by now, a long list of things Romulus was forbidden from talking about. It was one of Julius’ favourite orders to give.

“If anyone contradicts this order, ignore them.”

Contradictions were tricky. Normally the most recent order would take precedence, but often enough once the newer order had been completed, the old one would return.

“Do you understand me, Price Romulus?”

Romulus nodded and some of the tension left Julius’ shoulders.

He smiled at Romulus then, and lent over the bush back a strand of hair that had fallen across the young man’s face. He left his hand on Romulus cheek and gazed at him like he really was a kindly old mentor and Romulus his favoured pupil.

“This year, it will be the rise of King Romulus. You will be a just and fair ruler. I’ll make sure of it.”

***

As the second son of a King, Romulus future had never been certain.

His parents discussed it often. He should have become a commander in the army, or a leader of the church or married off to a neighbouring princess and become king in his own right. With all options too likely to lead to discovery however, it had been decided he would stay home, construct a reputation of studious detachment and become his brothers distant advisor.

Help him. Protect him.

Like Julius protected them.

Instead, Romulus ran away and became Roman.

Roman was loud and confident and sprouted poetry and song without hesitation. He basked in the attention from crowds and flirted  with every pretty face who crossed his path. He worked and earned for himself and argued back with anyone who disagreed with him and never sat still if he could help it. He kept Romulus and his memories of home buried so deep sometimes he forgot he’d ever had another name.

Even so, there had always been, at the back of his mind, the paranoia of this day. When he would be found. Recognised. Forced back to Romulus life.

He just didn’t think when it happened it would be so embarrassing.

They’d reached a fork in the road. The Marquis paused and whipped his head from side to side, presumably checking for witnesses although it looked more like he was trying to shake water free from his ears. He stepped in front on Roman.

“You.” He enunciated slowly and loudly “Turn left. Okay? Le – e -e f -t”

Roman stared at him.                                  

He had been kidnapped by an idiot.

With great deliberation he rested all his weight on one foot and turned left. And then kept turning, spinning in a circle a few times until the Marquis hissed “no!” and grabbed his arm.

And then dropped it immediately, wiping his hand on his sleeve.

“You. Just – follow me, alright? This way.”

Roman rolled his eye but did as he was told.  The man could have just told him in the beginning to follow him to wherever their destination was, and Roman would have done so. There was no need to give him a new instruction every few paces. But if the Marquis – what was his first name? Romulus must have known at some point – didn’t know the ins and outs of his curse then Roman wasn’t going to be the one to tell him.

They continued on, the Marquis stopping every three feet to stare at him, or repeat some instruction, or glare at a crumpled map in his hands. Roman despaired. Romulus had had a crush on this man.

At first, Roman assumed he would lead him towards the Royal Palace and present his find to the Princess or to whatever other Notalevealian nobles were already here for the coronation. But instead he tugged him away from the wider streets, back down hill towards the main sprawl of the city.

“Where are you taking me, villain?” Roman asked after twenty minutes of marching “because I’m pretty sure we’ve passed that street lamp three times already.”

“Somewhere where your little friend won’t be able to help you.” the Marquis muttered, glaring at the lamp in question.

Roman felt his heart freeze. His friend?

He supposed it made sense. There was no conceivable way they could have been followed in the woods. Not without Patton or Virgil noticing. The Marquis must have spotted him in the market and followed from there, which means he would have at least seen Logan, perhaps the others too since he had been at the tavern…

Although why would a noble be at the Stevangie street market?

He tried not to let his anxiety show on his face, puffing his chest out and summoning his most haughty glare.

“Listen to me, lordling, if any harm should come to them I will personally-“

“Them?” The Marquis stumbled, map fluttering to the floor. When he spun to glare at Roman his eyes were enormous. “How many are there?”

Roman blinked, haughty glare ruined by his genuine confusion. “Erm,” he tried “lots?”

The Marquis audibly gulped, but before Roman could even attempt to interpret that the man’s face brightened, his gaze caught on something behind Roman. He smirked, some swagger returning to his step.

“No matter.” He said and grabbed Romans arm, dragging him towards a nondescript building in the centre of the street, unlocking the door and shoving the bard through.

It was a bath house. The back entrance, perhaps, but the damp in the air and smell of scented soap was unmistakable.

Roman tried, in his sleep-deprived, underfed, over-stressed state, to come up with a reasonable explanation for this.

He had nothing.

“Why-“

“Shut up” The Marquis snapped. “Walk that way.” He pushed Roman down a long corridor, past arched doorways through which he caught a glimpse of the bathhouse proper, and into a dusty looking stairwell. He had produced a candle from somewhere, but the dim light did very little to illuminate anything as they gingerly picked their way down.

When they finally reached the bottom floor Roman squinted to see boxes and crates of empty bottles– a storage room? But he had no time to take it all in before he was being dragged through another pair of doors. Two more rooms and another set of stairs later and the Marquis finally stopped.

The room he’d led them to was hot and humid. Sweat dripped down Romans nose after only a few seconds. At first he couldn’t work out what the noise that filled the room was, until his eyes adjusted enough to see the tubes running from the floor to ceiling.

“You’re lucky to see this.” The Marquis had to raise his voice over the rush of running water to be heard “This room is a modern miracle – the lifeblood of the city!”

Steveange’s heated bath houses were famous. So much so even Virgil had heard of them, and he seemed to take pride in knowing nothing about the outside world. Roman had assumed the city must have been built on hot springs or some other natural source, but this was something else.

“The furnace is below us.” The Marquis explained, as he propelled Roman towards the back wall. “The pipes bring water from the river, it’s heated and pumped up and out to every bathhouse in the city.”

He grinned with something like pride as he tapped one of the  pipes above Romans head, making it sing, “Arkazeii engineering and Orenllan iron. Lined with Orenllan copper of course…give me your jacket.”

“But. Notaleveale doesn’t trade it’s ores” Roman blinked rapidly, trying to remove the sweat from his eyes, as he shrugged out of his jacket.

Jacket was a generous term – it was a silken red thing, better suited to performances than travelling. But he enjoyed the way it billowed as he walked. The Marquis took it and without so much as a moments respect for the garment, ripped one of the sleeves clean off.

“Hey!”

“You’ve been away a long time.” the Marquis snarled, “you little fae touched traitor.”

Roman gaped at him, even as the man grabbed his right arm and began attempting to tie it to the nearest pipe.

“I used to look up to you” the Marquis continued, “you were everything a Prince should be. But you betrayed your father and put a curse of madness on your brother - all because of your own petty jealousy!”

He squeezed Romans wrist with enough force to leave bruises. And stepped back to admire his handywork. The silky material had no grip and it was painfully obvious the man was not used to getting his hand dirty. The resulting knot looked more like a bow. “You are no prince of mine.”

“Lucius.“ Roman knew he’d known his name. “That’s not true. That’s- that’s not even a clever story! Who came up with that?”

“Shut up.” Some of the panic from the journey had come back to Lucius’ eyes but it faded quickly “And don’t think you can scare me with my name, there is more iron in this room then anywhere else in the city.”

He grinned at Roman nastily. “Your little friends aren’t coming to save you.”

Roman stayed quiet, mind whirling. They thought Remus was cursed?

Well. He was. But not in the way Lucius seemed to believe.

They wouldn’t send a mad man to another kingdoms coronation would they? Had the seller actually been certain Remus was coming?

Tied up, exhausted and with a man who seemed to hate him glaring down, Roman started to giggle in giddy relief.

Lucius stepped back, looking unsettled, before reaching out, roughly grabbing Romans chin and shoving the remnants of his jacket into his mouth. “Stay here,” he told him, slowly and clearly “until I come back with your transport.”

He stood, taking the candle with him to the door. He paused for one moment before leaving, the flickering light illuminating a cruel smirk. “You had better hope I can arrange it before the furnaces come back on.” And he was gone.

Roman glanced above himself into the darkness, where his wrists were strapped tight to the currently cool metal. A rush of fear went through him, finally bringing him down from the giggling hysteria.

Alone In the dark, tried to think.

Roman was a bad friend. He lied to his companions as easy as breathing and took his own fears out on them.

Romulus was a bad prince. He had abandoned his kingdom and his subjects and allowed some sort of conspiracy to spring up in his wake.

But he was a good brother. Remus was alive. And he would stay that way.

After all, this afternoon he thought that Remus was here. That he would have to confront his past, escape the city, evade every member of the Notalevealian court and his  own friends and steal a horse.

Now all he had to do was get out of this basement and outwit one idiot who could barely tie knots and hadn’t even thought to pat him down to check for hidden daggers.

Easy-peasy he thought, his eyes fluttering closed as exhaustion finally overtook him.

Part 5

[idreamofplaid]

Bigger Dreams

Square Filled: Photgrapher!Jensen for @spnchristmasbingo & Pregnancy for @spnfluffbingo

Characters: Jensen x Reader 

Rating: Teen

Summary: Sometimes dreams can change, and sometimes they can work out even more beautifully than you imagined.

Word Count: 2174

Created for @spnchristmasbingo & @spnfluffbingo

He would be home soon, and you’d be waiting for him by the door, well near it at least, with a cup of hot coffee spiked with Irish Cream. The barometer outside had dropped, just a little more and snow for Christmas was a possibility. The warmth in the cup would drive the chill out of him and put him in a better mood.

You heard Jensen’s key in the lock right on schedule. He always hurried home as soon as he could. Your relationship was still new, and you couldn’t get enough of each other. He smiled as soon as he saw you, closed the door, and crossed your tiny living room to join you on the sofa.

As he sat down, you held out his cup of coffee. He took it from you, letting his fingertips brush over yours as he did. “How was it today?” You started to massage his shoulders, working out the stress induced kinks there while you waited for his answer.

Jensen relaxed under your touch. “Three screamers, two criers, and one runner,” he answered, rolling his neck and making a contented sound. It was working; he was feeling better and letting the tension of the day fall away. 

You stopped massaging and let your hands rest on his shoulders. “I’m sorry, babe.” Jensen considered photography an art, his chosen artform; but it was hard to make a living as an artist. Until he was able to do that, he made a living in the much more lucrative world of family photography; and the holidays were the busiest time of year in that line of work. It seemed nearly every parent in the city decided it was necessary to dress their kids up in red velvet and have professional photographs made.

You could understand why they would want to do that, much better now. Absentmindedly, you ran your hand over your stomach. Jensen never said much about the kids he took pictures of, except how much he hated it. They wouldn’t sit still, wouldn’t smile, and the worst was when siblings started fighting. That could really “fuck up a schedule,” and the frequent result was an unhappy client with some expensive pictures of red faced kids.

It made what you needed to tell him that much harder. This pregnancy wasn’t planned, instead it was the result of a night of too many tequila shots that made the two of you careless, but from the first moment the doctor had verified there was a baby growing inside you; you’d loved your child. It was an instant and all consuming love. Problem was, you had no idea how Jensen felt about being a parent or how he was going to react.

The only time you’d ever talked about children was when he told you about the kids he worked with, and those conversations weren’t favorable. Maybe it’d be better to give him a chance to shower and change clothes. You could feed him and then tell him. 

Several minutes later, Jensen was wearing his favorite henley and a pair of jeans. You were putting the last of the dishes on the table as he walked up behind you and circled his hands around your waist. He kissed the side of your neck, then raised his head and scanned the table. “You outdid yourself tonight, babe.”

Jensen sat down and took another look at the spread in front of him. All his favorites were there. “When did you find time to do all this? Didn’t you have two auditions today?”

You hadn’t expected the conversation to take this kind of turn. Lying to him wasn’t an option. You just weren’t going to do that, but you had been hoping for more time to lead up to what you were going to say. Your finger played with the edge of your plate. “I did, but I cancelled them.” The roles you had planned on auditioning for weren’t for pregnant women.

Jensen stopped spooning potatoes onto his plate. “What is it, baby? Are you feeling okay?” Normally, nothing would cause you to miss an audition. Your desire to be an actress had been similarly as strong as Jensen’s was to make art through his photography. 

You moved your finger from your plate, opting to fiddle with the napkin on your lap instead. You smiled weakly at him. “I’m fine, Jensen. It’s just those parts aren’t right for me.” 

“What changed your mind, sweetheart? You were so excited about those auditions.” He looked down at your almost empty plate; morning sickness had started to set in. “Are you sick, Y/N?”

You paused for a second. “No, Jensen. I’m not sick.” Why was it so hard to say this? So many thoughts were swirling through your head. He had plans for his career, and you’d had plans for a career as well. Finding out you were going to be a mother immediately changed that for you, and you were happy to change your way of thinking. Visions of baby booties were now dancing through your head, and you were mentally making plans of how you wanted your baby’s nursery to look. 

Jensen’s eyes reflected the various colors of green like a prism, and those beautiful eyes now filled with concern. It was time to tell him the truth. “Jensen, I…” You stopped, took a breath, and tried again. “I know we haven’t talked about this, and I wasn’t trying. Jensen, I wasn’t. I promise I wasn’t.” Tears started to roll down your cheeks. 

He got up, walked around the table, and kneeled beside you. “Y/N, honey, what’s wrong? What are you talking about? Talk to me.” He reached for your hand and took it into his. 

You loved Jensen’s hands. They were broad and strong. Whenever he touched you, held you, it never failed to make you feel cherished and safe. This time was no different. 

With his other hand, Jensen reached up and brushed your cheek with his knuckles. He wiped away your tears as he did, and the words bubbled up past the knot in your throat. “Jensen, I’m pregnant.”

It took a couple of seconds for recognition to register in his mind. “A baby?” His eyes fell to your stomach, and his hand started to move toward it before he stopped it in mid air. Jensen looked to you, a softness now filling his eyes. “Can I?”

You took his hand and led it to your belly. “Of course you can.” 

His hand was warm, and even though he couldn’t feel anything at this point, Jensen’s eyes grew a little wider. “We’re having a baby?”

You didn’t let go of his hand, and Jensen made no effort to move it. You focused on his hand beneath yours and drew strength from it. “I want this baby, Jensen. I know you have so many plans, and this wasn’t one of them.”

The strength you had been feeling just a few moments earlier ebbed and faded away. You felt a fresh wave of emotions wash through you, and the tears started to flow again. “I don’t want to ruin your life and mess up everything you wanted. I’m sorry.”

Jensen wiped away more of your tears, but they were coming almost faster than he could brush them from your face. “Sweetheart, it’s okay. I want this baby too. This is incredible, Y/N.” He took you into his arms. It felt safe; he made you feel wanted, you and the baby. Or, was that just all in your mind because it was what you wanted to believe? Jensen stroked your hair for several minutes; not saying anything, just repeating the soothing motion of his hand over your hair.

Your tears turned into full blown sobs; the pregnancy hormones were already reeking havoc with your body. “You don’t like kids. You never said you wanted any.”

You were starting to sniffle and trying so hard to stop crying. You’d done this to yourself. You took the napkin Jensen handed you and tried to daintily blow your nose.

“Y/N, sweetheart, why do you think I don’t like kids?” One of his hands was resting on your knee and the other was cupping your cheek.

“B...because they stress you out so much. You come home from work tense and miserable most days” You clutched the used napkin tightly in your hand. 

Your eyes were still filled with tears, blurring his handsome face, but you could hear him clearly. “I like kids, Y/N. It’s just those kids I work with are unhappy because they don’t want to be there. They don’t want to wear the fancy, itchy clothes, and they don’t want to sit still. They want to run and play and laugh. Just be kids. I don’t want to be there either. Photography is art to me, not taking glorified snapshots. I want to take pictures that will hang in galleries, maybe even a museum one day.” 

His eyes focused on yours, and his voice grew gentle. “It doesn’t mean I don’t like kids. It means I’m frustrated with where my career is right now.” He smiled at you, and his eyes took on that reflective dreamy quality that had shown you the depths of this man and made you fall in love with him. “I knew I wanted to have kids with you almost immediately. I’ve never known a kinder person.You are going to be the most amazing mother. Our baby is the luckiest kid in the world. You’ll teach our baby to be a good person just like you.”

 He touched his lips to yours, kissing you in a way that was clearly beyond chaste, but it didn’t seek anything more than what you gave him in that kiss. When he pulled away, the glimmer of a tear was shining in his eye too. 

“I’ve got an idea,” he said excitedly as he stood. He came back with his camera in his hand. “Will you let me take your picture?”

“Jensen, I’m a mess.” You smoothed your hands over your hair, but that wasn’t going to help your tear stained face. 

“I’ll focus on your stomach this time.” He leaned in to kiss you again. “I want to capture every part of how beautiful you are through this whole process.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Next December

It was the most festive and happiest of nights. One year ago, on this very day, you’d told Jensen you were pregnant. Now, you were holding your precious little daughter in your arms at her daddy’s first gallery opening. You watched him across the room, networking, making the contacts he would need to ensure he was never stuck in a job ever again that didn’t bring him happiness.

Jensen left the group he was talking with, walked over to you, and took Leigh from you. The way he smiled at her was like nothing you’d ever seen. “How’s daddy’s little angel?” He turned his attention to you, kissing your cheek. “Mommy looks gorgeous.”

You lowered your head. “Jensen.” He was making you blush like a schoolgirl, or maybe it was the pictures of you all over the room in various stages of your pregnancy. He had named the collection “The Blossoming of a Mother”. If you didn’t know you were the subject of those photographs, didn’t remember posing for him while he took them, or the way he’d made love to you after every single one of those photo sessions; you’d never believe they were pictures of you. You’d never known you could look like that. 

Jensen held Leigh in the bend of his arm, took your hand, and led you to one of the photographs. You were dressed only in a blush pink silk sheet that was billowing around you, one of your hands cradling your round stomach and the other on your breast. Jensen leaned in and whispered so only you would hear, “I’m keeping that one.”

You also lowered your voice to a whisper. “How do you feel about pictures of me being on other people’s walls, being in places where anyone can see them?” It wasn’t the first time you’d talked about it, but you wanted to hear him say it again. “It doesn’t bother me because I know they’re never going to see you the way I do, never hear those beautiful sounds you make when we’re together.”

You were blushing again. “Jensen, stop.”

He smiled at you with that sexy flirtiness he possessed glinting in his eyes. “I promise that’s not what you’ll be saying later tonight.”

You watched him turn and walk back across the room to a group of potential clients. He could certainly fill out a pair of dress pants. If you weren’t careful, Leigh would have a little brother or sister soon. A smile crossed your face as you observed him showing off his daughter to the gathered crowd of people, proving to you that she was an even bigger dream for him than his art. 

Everything: @gambitwinchester @princessmisery666 @onethirstyunicorn @peridottea91 @logical-princey @emilyshurley @beenlovingromansincedayoneish @fangirlxwritesx67 @waywardbaby @atc74 @shaniquacynthia @mariekoukie6661 @tumbler-tidbits @67-chevy-baby @fandom-princess-forevermore @terrarium-jpeg @emoryhemsworth @crashdevlin @heycasbutt @jules-1999 @mrsdeannafuckingwinchester @cosicas-cuquis @sammyimpala-67 @queenoftheunderdark @dean-winchesters-bacon @mrs-meghan-winchester @timelordy-fangirl2 @sweetness47 @hobby27 @awesomesusiebstuff @kickingitwithkirk @sandlee44 @supernaturalgrandma @lonewolf471 @dawnie1988 @volleyballer519 @outcastedangel @kdfrqqg @lizette50 @sorenmarie87 @winchesterxfamilybusiness 

Dean/Jensen: @deansyahtzee @flamencodiva @deanwinchesterswitch @feelmyroarrrr @focusonspn @akshi8278 @ladywinchester1967 @sgarrett49 @wingedcatninja @coffee-obsessed-writer @adoptdontshoppets @ellewritesfix05​ @weepingwillowphoenix​

[hanniiesuckle17]

Pros and Cons

A/n: im sorry it took so long for me to do this bb! This is for @poeticallyspaghetti​ you've done so much for me lately. you were there for me when no one else was. I love you and I hope you like this! I also can’t wait for our collab together

Look out for Checkmate on both of our accounts!

(not thoroughly edited)

Member: Bangchan ft. 3RACHA, Jae & Dowoon of Day6

Word Count: 20.2k

Warnings: POV switching, censored cursing, mentions of theft, slight violence, mentions of the mob, sensual themes?

Summary: Y/n L/n has lived her whole life locked up in a fancy penthouse. Chan has spent his whole life living one adventure from the next. When fate brings them together by accident Chan takes on the task of whisking her away from her seemingly perfect life, but little do the both of them know bigger problems arise forcing them on the run.

Genre: Con-artist au!, romance, scammer!au, Non-idol!au, comedy, a little bit of angst?

♛

Y/n’s POV

The sound of violins floated across the grand foyer of my parents' penthouse. Well...my penthouse. Really, the presidential suite of the nicest hotel in Seoul. The older I got the more the luxurious mansion in the sky seemed like a prison instead of a palace. Once again my mother was throwing one of her high society parties. The parties were one of the few chances I got to actually interact with the outside world. My parents were convinced that I was some delicate flower that needed protection and isolation.

The closest I got to the outside world was the balcony in my room.

A man over half my age was talking to me about the stocks my father held in one of the many corporate companies in Seoul. “So, it would mean a great deal to our organization if you could pass the word along to your father.” I nodded and downed the rest of my champagne. Now would have been a great time for friends to come in handy. But, there was no one but myself to save me from this dreadfully boring situation.

“Excuse me, sir,”

The man nodded graciously and let me walk away, my heels clicking across the polished wood floors. A hand grabbed my elbow, yanking me in the opposite direction my feet were moving. “Y/n would you be a dear and go talk to the Minister of Education’s daughter.” My mother’s voice nagged in my ear. Her smile was basically permanently plastered on her painted face. “The two of you would be terrific friends. Also, your father needs more pull in the Cabinet.”

My eyebrow rose as I looked across the room to the Minister’s daughter. “Mother she is eight.”

“Yes and?”

“Can’t I have friends my own age?”

“Yes. When both your father and I are dead. We can’t have you hanging around boys and other bad influences. You could ruin your father’s reputation.” She then took my wrist and spun me around taking in every single inch and fiber of my being. “Darling, who dressed you? You look thoroughly underwhelming.” I rolled my eyes as she started unlatching the heavy and bling filled diamond necklace from her neck.

“Mom-”

“Don’t fuss. Photographers are here tonight.”

My chest instantly gained a little under a pound as the close to twenty-thousand dollar necklace was clasped onto my neck by my controlling mother. After it was safely secured on my neck, my mother pushed me in the direction of the little eight-year-old girl snacking on hour devours. “Hi, you’re Jisoo- right?”

I sighed and prepared to sit next to this tiny little girl for the rest of the evening.

♛

Bang Chan’s POV

Several shouts could be heard behind me as I raced down the hall of the hotel. I can’t believe some people live here permanently. My fingers hurriedly started unbuttoning the black button-down I used to pass off as a waiter. The staff's hall was practically empty as I walked through and tossed the button down onto a laundry cart. I shivered feeling the cold air on my arms. 

My hands latched onto the black backpack I stashed behind a potted plant. I pulled out my flannel and threw it on over my tank top. “There he is!” A quick glance behind me showed three overly buff goons chasing after me. Maybe swiping that dude’s watch was not the best idea. But this was easily like $3,000. He didn’t need it given what I heard the waiter saying his meal cost. “You won’t get away with this!”

“Yeah, that’s what you think,” I whispered, shoving the watch in my pocket. Maybe I should stick to cons and leave the pickpocketing to Jisung. The one time I try and pickpocket I get caught. My pace quickly turned into a run and burst through the nearest door. 

Smells of gourmet food flooded my senses as I weaved through the kitchen. “Where is he?” I pushed passed another waiter, shoving the backpack over my shoulder. Please tell me there is a back door somewhere. My eyes frantically searched for an escape. 

“Ha! Score!”

An old dumbwaiter came into my sights. Most hotels had them but didn’t use the mechanisms anymore. I opened the door and climbed in slamming the up button before closing myself inside. It was close to one a.m so hopefully, the guest in whatever room I ended up in was asleep. 

♛

Y/n’s POV

The party was wrapping up as I trudged down the hall. I had spent the past several hours talking about cartoons and other childlike things with Jisoo. The sound of mt parents talking with some final guests could be heard behind me. A random staff from the hotel walked passed me as my feet carried me down the hall. The hotel usually lent staff to help with our parties.

My tired body pushed the door to my room open to be greeted by the dark and looming space. Moonlight streamed through the patio door that led to my balcony. I kicked off the painful heels my mother forced me into and took out the tight pins and tie in my hair, walking over to the mirror. My hands shook out the tightness and threaded through my H/c strands. 

A large thump had me turning to the far wall. My eyes searched the dark in panic. Blindly, my hands grabbed for an object behind me on my bureau. I looked to see a lamp in my grasp. Well, better than nothing. 

“Hello.....who’s there?”

My eyes picked up on a dark shadow standing up from the floor. My heart pounded against my chest. the shadowy figure hulked on the other side of my room, clearly looking around. “The f***?”   

“Who are you? Stay where you are.” The head turned at my words. I tried to steady my hands and voice; both were shaking. The figure inched closer and I raised the lamp over my head. 

“Oh sh**!” 

The figure made a break for the window and I tossed the lamp. The sound of it crashing against the wall filled the room. I grabbed a heavy candle on my dresser. My eyes searched the dark for his movement but the string of panicked curse words gave away the intruder.

“SUCK ON A EUCALYPTUS MINT CANDLE, YOU THIEF!!”

I heard a loud thud and the room was quiet. There was no movement. Inching forward I saw the body of a boy about my age slumped on the floor. The candle lay about a foot away from his head, the glass cracked. Cautiously, I nudged his shoulder with my foot. When he didn’t stir I started to panic.

“Oh crap. I killed a guy. Now, mom’s never gonna let me leave the penthouse.”

A knock on my door sent me jumping out of my skin. “Y/n? Y/n. Open this door. We heard a crash. Is everything okay? Y/n, open this door.” Smoothing down my hair, I rushed to the door and opened it enough to stick my face out. She studied my face and tried to look passed me. “Y/n, what the hell is going on? You should be going to sleep soon.”

“I’m fine, mom. I just tripped and knocked over a lamp.” 

She rose a brow and folded her arms. “Really? It sounded like more than that.”

I kept my grip firm on the door, knowing she might try to push through. “Yeah. I’ll leave it for Soonyoung to clean up in the morning. I’m gonna shower and go to bed. Night Mother.” Before she could say anything else I slammed the door and locked it. 

Okay. Dead body. In my room. What the heck do I do? Who do I call? I pulled out my phone and opened my contact list. Empty. Okay, so I’m on my own. I paced the floor, staring at the boys with shaggy brown hair. On instinct, I lightly kicked his stomach and he let out a groan. 

Okay, not dead. Good. Not dead. Bad for me. I dragged the chair from my vanity to the middle of the room and grabbed some pantyhose and scarves from my closet. It took all of my might to lift up the heavy boy into the chair. “Good grief. How much does this guy weigh?” 

With a final grunt, I threw him into the chair and started tying him up with the sheer tights. When I was finished I stuffed a scarf in his mouth and looked at my work. “Who is the fragile one now, huh Dad?” I said, hands on my hips. Another soft groan had me jumping across the room and grabbing the heaviest book near me. 

There was no way I could just leave him here. There was also no way I was sleeping in this room tonight. So instead I grabbed a fluffy bean bag and dragged it in front of the chair. I was going to sit and watch this dummy intruder all night. Or....until he woke up.

♛

The sound of a muffled grunt sent me shooting out of the chair. I had fallen asleep while watching the thief. I readied my weapon: The Complete and Full Works of William Shakespeare. I had hurt many a toe dropping this thing.

The boy was looking around wildly before his dark eyes focused on me. “Who are you?” I asked, the heavy book ready to swing. He sighed and nodded his head before I realized what he was referring to. “Oh...sorry.” He sighed when I took the scarf out of his mouth and stretched his neck. 

“I’m Chris.” He replied in English. “Do you speak English?” He asked adjusting in his bonds. I scoffed and kept my Shakespeare weapon at the ready. 

“Yes, I do. But, you speak Korean. I heard you last night. Don’t play with me.”

He sighed and hung his head. When he looked up I saw his stare flash to my neck. His eyes turned to saucers before coming back to my face. “Alright, alright. What do you want to know?” The boy, Chris, answered back in Korean. Slowly, I lowered the book and sat down on the bean bag.

“How did you get into my room?”

“I climbed in the dumbwaiter and got off on a random floor.”

“Why were you in the dumbwaiter?”

Chris looked around my room before turning back to me. “Would you believe me if I told you I had a crazy ex-girlfriend. I’m sure you’ve got a crazy ex or two. I’d do anything to get away from her.” He shrugged his shoulders and plastered on a smile. The kind I had seen all the boys wear in movies. The kind that made your knees go weak.   

“Really? An ex?”

“Yeah.” I watched him gulp and look down at my necklace. 

“Is there something wrong?” He shook his head and looked away, squinting. 

“No. It’s just the sun is bouncing off the rocks on your neck. You trying to blind me or something?” I glanced down at the necklace my mom gave me last night. Then I turned to find the sun rising up above the Seoul skyline. 

“Yeah well....deal with it. You broke into my room.”

“By accident! Look, I’ll be happily on my way if you would let me go. What is this- underwear?” He said struggling against his DIY restraints.  

“Pantyhose.”

My parents would be up soon. My father would be going into the office and my mother would be attending numerous social events to further my father’s reach in the political parties. Or shopping it was a 50/50. “What are you? Sixty?” I scoffed and shoved the scarf back in his mouth. “MMmrrpphphh.”

“Yeah, no wisecracks now, huh?”

“NRRgghhrrgggg!”

“You gonna behave, pretty boy?”

“.....Mmpph.”

Smirking I grabbed the scarf from his mouth and tossed it onto the bean bag.  Chris shot me an annoyed glare. “So, let’s say I believe this whole ex-girlfriend thing. There’s no way I can sneak you passed my parents. Even if they both left early the staff is coming up to clean. We had a sort of gala in honor of my father last night.” I started pacing the floor, the sunrise leaking into my room.

“Oh, a ‘sort of gala’. Unlike a full f***ing gala. Those are for royalty.” Chris mocked in a British accent.

“Shut up.” 

He watched me pace the room and nervously tug at my messy hair. He sighed and hung his head, his chest resting against the tight make-shift bonds. “Look. As long as your parents leave, I’m sure I can make something up with the staff. Then we can go our separate ways and you can go back to shopping in Gangnam or whatever it is girls like you do.”

“I’ve never really been out of the penthouse...so I wouldn’t know what girls like me do.” He blinked at my response. 

“You’ve never left? That’s insane.”

“You haven’t met my parents.”

“I don’t think I want to.” I saw his eyes flick back to the necklace and an idea popped in my head. My fingers dragged across the diamonds and I tried not to break a smile when his eyes widened ever so slightly. 

“You like this don’t you?”

“I mean,” He shrugged, pursing his lips and looking out the huge door that led to my balcony. “It’s not bad. I’ve seen better.” I smirked and gently played with the necklace causing him to glance between me and the window. 

“Oh...I would agree. $20,000 is basically trash. Chump change really. They could have ripped me off for fake diamonds.” Chris’s eyes bugged out of his head.

“$20,000?!” 

I rushed to cover his mouth, looking to the door. “Shhh! My mother is a light sleeper.” After waiting a few moments I brought my hand away from his mouth. His eyes couldn’t help but bulge out at the payday sitting inches away from him around my neck. And I knew it.

My fingers undid the clasp behind my neck and I dangled the necklace in front of his face. It was like dangling a carrot in front of a mule. The diamonds swung back and forth slightly, his eyes tracking every move.

“You want it?”

All he did was gulp and look back up at me. He let out a heavy breath when I backed away still holding up the necklace. “What’s the catch?” He asked, still eyeing the diamonds.

“Take me with you. Get me out of here.” 

“Won’t your parents notice your gone.”

“My mother will miss these diamonds before she’ll miss me. And she won’t even notice they’re gone until tomorrow. She’s got tons of these.”

Chris seemed to be thinking about the deal. I was finally getting my hopes up. I could maybe start a new life. Earn my own way. Have friends. Have freedom. “Okay, are we talking like get you out for the day...or...’get you out’?”

“I can’t stand being here anymore. Get me out. I can always come back if I want to.”

Chan’s eyes followed the bling as I swung it back and forth. “Deal. Untie me.” I dropped the necklace on my dresser and untied Chris from the chair. I saw him make a break for the dresser, but I beat him there, grabbing the necklace. “Hey! Deal is a deal!”

“You haven’t gotten me out of here yet. You aren’t getting this necklace until you completely finish the job. If you know what I mean. And I think you do.” Chan sighed and crossed his arms.

“So you didn’t believe the girlfriend story?”

“Not for one second.”

“Da**.”

“Sorry, pretty boy.”

He backed away from me and shrugged. “Okay, princess. Change out of that freakshow dress and get ready to leave. I’m gonna show you what the world really looks like.” A huge grin overtook my face.

♛

A few hours later I slipped out of my room and stuffed a backpack behind a plant near the door. First I had to sneak Chris passed the staff, then I was one step closer to freedom. Quietly, I snuck back into the room where Chris was lounging on my bed.

“I still don’t know why you want to leave. This thing is the softest blanket I’ve ever felt.”

I scoffed and started grabbing a pair of jeans from my dresser. “Yeah. I would trade freedom for those blankets and everything else in a heartbeat.” Chris sighed and started rummaging through my drawers. Probably looking for more stuff to steal or at least clues about my personality. 

“Is it really that bad?” I nodded and grabbed my favorite shirt and a jacket from my closet. After closing the bathroom door I started to change. “They don’t let you have any friends?”Chris called through the door. 

“I mean, Dowoon and Jae. But, they work for my father. Jae has always been...nice to me. But, my father hardly ever leaves them alone with me.”

A smile twitched on my lips thinking about Jae. He had been working for my father as a PA for almost five years. I had always had a big crush on him, but I could never know if he liked me back. He was always a stickler for my dad’s rules. 

“You ready?” Chris asked as I exited the bathroom fully changed. With a nod,  the two of us headed towards my bedroom door. Cracking it open I verified that the hallway was clear. “Okay let’s blow this popsicle stand,” Chris said as I motioned for him to follow. 

The staff seemed to be minding their own business in other rooms of the penthouse. Chris carefully followed me into the living room, quietly marveling at the crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling. My ears picked up on the front door opening. “Get down!” I whispered.

“Where am I supposed to hide? Everything is out in the open?”

“I don’t know just get down!”

Finally, I shoved him behind a white couch and sat on the arm just as a pair of leather shoes rounded the corner. A nervous smile graced my lips seeing who it was. “Y/n? What are you doing out here?” Jae asked. He looked insanely good standing in the pressed black Italian suit. It hugged his lean figure in all the right ways. 

“Uhhhh, Jae? I..uuh-..wanted some air?” I said the first thing that came to mind, instantly regretting it. I heard a groan come from Chris so I carefully kicked my leg behind me to keep him quiet.

“Miss, you have a balcony...”

“Yeah well, the air in here is better than in my room?” Come on Jae, just buy it. 

“Miss, the hallway air is exactly the same as the purified ultraviolet filtered air in your suite. Is the filter broken? Should I check on it?” 

He started advancing towards me but I pressed my hands against his chest stopping him from moving past the couch. My eye darted over to Chan who was quietly watching the whole scene from his hiding spot. “Uh..no! Umm....I just...heard you come in and....wanted to see you...” 

My voice trailed off at the last part and I looked up to see a light dust on Jae’s cheeks. “You wanted to see...me?” Jae’s voice was soft and he chuckled before looking around the room. I saw a thought flash through his mind before he backed away running a hand through his blonde hair. “Well- uh...your father forgot some papers for a deal with China and asked me to come get them.” 

I nodded and shoved my hands in my pockets. This was usually how most encounters with Jae went. Hopefully, he didn’t suspect anything. “Oh...okay. Do you know if he’s gonna be home for dinner.”

Jae shrugged and gave me a smile that screamed pity. “Sorry, I don’t know.” Jae turned around and headed for my father’s office. A few minutes later he came back out a file in hand as well as a briefcase. Jae gave me another smile sending heat to my cheeks and butterflies to my stomach as he existed the penthouse.

The second the front door closed, Chris shot up from his hiding place. “So....you like that guy or something?” He said dusting himself off. I shrugged and stood back up. A hand to my cheek told me my skin was still hot. 

“Oh...that was just Jae. I told you about him earlier.”

“Jae......?”

“Yes, Jae.” I couldn’t help the smile on my face when I said his name. Chris scoffed behind me as I grabbed the backpack I stashed. I glanced back as the two of us walked out the front door and into the hall. “What’s with the attitude?”

“Nothing. It’s just I thought you would have better taste.”

“What?”

“Please. He’s just some pretty boy with skinny chicken legs in a nice suit,” Chris took the lead, as we approached the elevator. He pressed the button for the basement and turned back to me with a smirk. “No muscle on him at all.” 

“Okay, pretty boy. Whatever you say.” Before Chris could make a retort the elevator doors opened and we entered, leaving him fuming. We rode the first two floors in silence. Then Chris opened his mouth.

“You know your little boyfriend was packin’ right?” My eyes went wide and I felt another blush rise to my cheeks. I tried to keep my stare forward. Chris chuckled at my expression.

“He’s not my.....-what do you mean- HOW WOULD YOU KNOW, YOU PERVERT?” 

Chan smirked and rolled his eyes. “No. I mean, your little chicken boy- he had a gun on him. I don’t know any personal assistant who carries that’s all.” Jae had a gun? He was with my father twenty-four seven. Maybe Dad wanted extra protection?

“So, why are we going to the basement?” I asked changing the subject.

Chris handed me a black cap from his bag. “We can’t just go out the lobby doors. Your a chaebol’s daughter. We’re gonna go out the loading dock. I’ve got some friends Itaewon that can maybe help you out.” Nodding, I put the hat on and sighed when I had to tighten it. Before the door opened Chris shoved the brim down over my face and threw an arm over my shoulder. “Pretend to talk about something that pissed you off.”

The doors opened and a couple of busboys stood in front of us. They looked the both of us up and down and then up to me when I started to speak to Chris. “So, this random girl jumps in front of me and steals my cab. Like who the hell does that? I was already late for work and I literally heard her tell the guy to take her uptown. No one works uptown!” Chris smirked and pulled me closer as we walked past the busboys. 

“That sucks, babe.” 

“I know! I was fired for being late. That freaking hag in 705 reported me for being late to clean!” Chris glanced back and then dropped his arm from my shoulder. “Good job, princess. Let’s bounce. The train for Itaewon leaves in fifteen minutes.” 

“Isn’t Itaewon....”

“Yeah. Don’t worry you’ll love it. Jisung does anyway.” 

♛

Bang Chan’s POV

Y/n sat next to me, backpack in her lap. The boys were probably chilling at my place waiting for me so I knew where I could find them. The train doors opened and I motioned for Y/n to get off. She followed me out into the streets of Itaewon. A couple girls at the station called out to me and even to Y/n. She smiled at them, but I pulled her to my side. 

“Don’t talk to them.”

“What, why? I was just being nice.”

“Just keep walking and stay close to me. You’re practically a walking dollar sign.” She shrugged and walked closer to me. No way was I gonna let someone else scam my prize. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Y/n pull out her phone. She called out when I grabbed it.

“Hey, give that back!”

“We’ve gotta scrap it. Parents like yours are bound to have put a tracker on this.” She quieted and let me search through her phone. Sure enough, a quick search through it showed a program embedded into the software. It would take way too long to remove it. My eyes scanned the street we were on and landed on a pair of girls on the street corner. 

Y/n followed me as I walked towards them. “Hey!” Their heads turned and they stood up a little straighter. Their painted lips turned upwards into a smile. “You girls work for Yeji?” One girl nodded and crossed her arms. “Tell her I said hi. Also, here take this. Give it to one of her rookies.”

“And who should I say sent the message,” the girl with pink hair inquired, twirling a strand around her finger. The other pocketed the phone.

“Tell her Bangchan sent it.” The girl nodded and motioned the girl in the opposite direction. “Okay, princess let’s go.” Taking her arm I led her towards the burrows of Itaewon. 

“Who were those girls?” Y/n asked. I ran a hand through my hair as we walked through the streets. I was hoping Y/n didn’t look too out of place. Hopefully, Changbin would have some clothes that might fit her. He was small enough. 

“Well let’s just say Yeji provides girls to people seeking private entertainment.”

“Oh.” 

“Yeah. That’ll be fun for your mom to find.” I heard Y/n laugh behind me. “You think that’s funny?” I asked confused. She shrugged and looked around her. She seemed fascinated by everything around her. It was almost endearing. 

“I think anyone would think that’s funny.”

“Jisung is gonna looooove you.”

A few blocks later we stood in front of a two-story brick building with trees that hid most of the house, and what wasn’t hidden was fenced in by a wall. “You’re a pretty private person, aren’t you.”

“Yeah. Congratulations you are officially the fourth person to know this location.”

I opened the gate door and closed it behind us before walking up to my front door. My fingers quickly entered the key code and the security system beeped letting me know the door unlocked. “DADDY’S HOOOMMMEEE!” Someone screamed inside.

“Who the heck is that?”

“That’s Jisung. Try not to touch him. He may or may not have fleas.”

She chuckled and walked through the door. Jisung lounged across my couch and raised his arms when he saw me. “Chan! Channie! What’s up, dude? Where have you been?” I threw my backpack on the couch and motioned to Y/n behind me. 

“Got a little held up.” Jisung’s eyes went wide as Y/n rounded the corner. He stood up and brushed off what seemed to be Cheeto dust from his jeans.

“Hyung, who’s the chick with the great ass?” 

Jisung started walking towards her but I grabbed the back of his collar pulling him back in front of me. “She’s a payday.” His eyes widened and that mischievous grin lit up his eyes. 

“SHE’S GOT CAKE AND CASH!”

“Shhhhh!”

“My type of woman.”

I rolled my eyes as Jisung continued to ogle Y/n’s backside as she looked around. “Where’s Bin?” Jisung shrugged, his focus still on Y/n. “Hey! Can you not? Look she’s got a huge payday and I might split it with you.” That perked his attention.

“50/50?”

“Try 90/10.”

“60/40?”

“80/20.”

“85/15!”

I paused. “Yeah sure. I’ll split it 85/15. You drive a hard bargain.” Jisung laughed and shook my hand. His blonde hair bounced as he went over to Y/n. I climbed the stairs in search of Changbin. “Yo, Bin! You up here? I’ve got a favor I need.” 

Changbin was indeed upstairs. He was hidden behind multiple computers, typing away at lightspeed. The office door was open allowing me to see him. At my voice, he peeked out from behind the monitors and then returned behind his technological shields. “Chan I’ve done enough favors for you. Remember Gangnam?”

“Yes. I do. And that was very generous of you to help.

“No ‘ands’. No more favors.”

“1,000 bucks?”

“Sold. What am I doing?”

I laughed and sat at the edge of the desk. “YO, JISUNG! GET UP HERE!” Changbin shook his head and continued working on his previous project while Jisung took his sweet time climbing the stairs.”Can you find someone just off a first name?” I asked Bin, as Jisung walked in. 

“I can find someone off the first letter of a nickname.”

“Search for ‘Y/n’.”  I turned to Jisung. “So, what did she tell you?” He shrugged and picked up a random half made device on the desk. 

“Put it back,” Changbin said without looking away from the screen.

“Not much. She just told me you were helping her get away from her parents.” Jisung drummed his fingers on his thigh. The boy had enough energy to power half of Seoul. “So how big are we talking about?” Jisung questioned, his tongue swiping over his bottom lip. 

“Found her,” Changbin said, leaning back in his chair. “This better not be your favor.”

“Already?”

“Her name popped up in a google search along with a picture.” Jisung and I both moved to peer over Changbin’s shoulder. He was right. The screen showed a picture of Y/n in a very nice dress standing next to a very powerful looking man. A man I recognized. My eyes widened as I saw her full name listed under the photo. Y/n L/n. 

“Oh, f***...”

“What? She's loaded.” Jisung said next to me. He took the mouse and clicked on images. He scrolled through all the photos of her at high society parties. “Da**. She is one hot chick.”

“No, idiot. Look at her dad.” Turning I saw Jisung’s face pale. 

“Dude, we are so f***ing dead.”

♛

*Later That Same Night*

Jae’s POV

I stood hands clasped in front of me as I stood off to the side in the L/n dining room. Dowoon stood next to me. We listened to the soft clink of silverware against china as Mr. L/n and Mrs. L/n ate their dinner. “Have you seen Y/n today, honey?” Mr. L/n asked his wife.

She shrugged and continued to daintily eat her food. If I knew anything about her she would be throwing it back up within the next two hours. She was obsessed with image. It made me sick how she always had to control everything. Even Y/n. 

“No. I haven’t. I was out all day. She’s probably still sulking in her room like always.” I tried to hide the frown on my face, but Mr. L/n saw it. 

“Jae. Have you seen my daughter?”

I cleared my throat and glanced at Dowoon. “Yes sir. I saw Y/n-Miss Y/n earlier this morning. She seemed a little off-put.” Mr. L/n sighed and rubbed his temples. 

“Dowoon, please go check on my daughter. I’d like to speak to her.” 

Dowoon nodded and bowed to both the lady and the boss. Without a word he left the dining room and headed down the hall to Y/n’s room. I drummed my fingers against my hand. I hoped Y/n was feeling better. She was acting a little weird this morning. I blushed thinking about what she said to me.

Feeling a tap on my shoulder I turned to see a nervous Dowoon. He leaned in to whisper to me. “Uh, hyung...she didn’t answer the door. I knocked like four times. What do I do?”

“She must still be upset or something. I’ll check on her.” 

Dowoon nodded and went back to his place watching over Mr. and Mrs. L/n. I walked across the penthouse to Y/n’s room and sighed when I saw the lights off from under the door. Gently, I wrapped my knuckles on the door and waited to hear her voice. When I didn’t, I called out for her.

“Y/n?” 

No response.

“Hey, Y/n? It’s Jae. You wanna talk?”

Nothing. Again I knocked.

“Y/n? You okay, beautiful?” 

There was no response. Something was wrong. “Hey, Y/n, I’m coming in.” My hand found the doorknob and turned. I was surprised to find it unlocked. My eyes quickly adjusted to the low light in the room. 

“Oh sh**.” 

The room was empty. She was gone. “Y/n? Please tell me your hiding somewhere, beautiful.” I started searching the room. Under the bed. In the closet (Some of her clothes were missing, but the staff did laundry today). In the bathroom. On the balcony. Then I saw it. The dumbwaiter. It was open. My heart started racing, panic starting to set in.

“Jae is everything okay-”

I turned to find Dowoon standing slack-jawed in the doorway. “She’s gone.” I rubbed the back of my neck. Mr. L/n was gonna kill me. Literally. It wasn’t official, but not only was I in charge of his safety and affairs but also Y/n’s. I can’t believe I didn’t check on her when we got back to the penthouse. This was all my fault.

“What’s that?” Dowoon pointed to the center of the room. I walked over and picked up a cheap pair of headphones from the floor. These weren’t Y/n’s. “Those aren’t hers, right? We’ve gotta tell the boss.”

I nodded, pocketing the headphones and leading my partner back into the dining room. Nervously, I walked up to Mr. L/n and whispered in his ear. “Sir.....we...can’t find her. She’s missing.” I winced, waiting for the storm.

His face reddened and he slammed down his silverware and stood up abruptly, startling the whole room. “Jae. Dowoon. My office. NOW!” Mr. L/n stormed into his study, not waiting for us to follow, which we did. Quickly.

I closed the door after us, knowing exactly what was to be discussed. As I turned around a large hand flew across my cheek, causing me to stumble into a bookcase. I touched my cheek, feeling blood. Mr. L/n adjusted his cuffs, a furious expression on his face. His ring had sliced my cheek. 

He came back with a second blow. Dowoon watched, hiding his fear. I would rather take it than him. “MY DAUGHTER WAS IN YOUR SAFETY.” He screamed, backing away from me. Mr. L/n started pacing, his hand twitching with agitation. “SHE MIGHT HAVE BEEN TAKEN BY ANOTHER KINGPIN!” 

Dowoon and I flinched at his words. “We apologize, sir.” We both bowed low. 

“Jae,” I looked up, hesitantly. “While I am furious...I trust you more than anyone else in the syndicate. If you can find her and bring her back unharmed...I will give her to you. It was in discussion already.” My eyes went wide. I knew there were plans to marry off Y/n. Mr. L/n wanted for her to marry within the syndicate so she could be protected.

“Sir, you mean-”

“Only...if you bring her back to me. I’m hoping your infatuation with my daughter drives you even more to find her. And you WILL find her.”

“Yes sir.” The blood slowly trickled down my cheek. I fought the urge to wipe it away. His eyes bore into me. Mr. L/n was one of the most dangerous men in Seoul and he loved his daughter very much. He had many enemies that wished to harm him and his family, so this job might have been near impossible. But, it was Y/n.

“I will find her.”

♛

Y/n’s POV

Jisung raced out of the room closest to the stairs and leaned over the balcony.

“YOUR DAD IS A F***ING MOB BOSS?!?!?!”

“My dad is a what?” I asked as I watched the wide-eyed blonde boy on the staircase. Chris followed him out and started pushing him down the stairs. Another boy with dark hair, much shorter than the other two, appeared on the landing. He was seemingly unfazed by this shocking news. “What do you mean my dad is a mob boss? He’s a cabinet secretary. He works for the president.”

“I hate to break it to you princess, but that’s not all he does,” Chris said sitting down on the plush sofa in his living room. Jisung stood near me, a tentative and slightly wandering hand on my waist. I slapped it away making the silent boy chuckle. “Your dad runs one of the largest and most dangerous mob syndicates in Seoul.”

“And he doesn’t like Chan too much either.” The silent one said while scrolling through his phone. 

“Changbin, shut up will you?” Chris said throwing a pillow at him.

“I’m sorry, who is Chan?”

The other two boys looked at Chris. Jisung backed away from me and rubbed the back of his neck. Chris hung his head low and half-heartedly rose his hand. “That would be me.” I was very confused. 

“But you told me your name was Chris?”

“Yeah, that’s one of the many names I go by.” I looked to Jisung who just shrugged and gave me a nervous smile. Tension hung in the air. “I’m what some people call a hustler.”

“He’s a con artist. Quit beating around the bush.” The shorter boy, Changbin said.

Chris, or Chan, sighed. “Your dad hired me to scam a couple candidates into giving me their campaign plans. It worked. Piece of cake. But, your dad refused to pay me the agreed amount,”

“Yeah...he can be a little cheap,” I said rubbing my arm and sitting down across from him. Jisung followed like a loyal puppy, listening intently with me, even though he had probably heard this story many times before.

“Anyway, I made the not so great decision and I sort of...swindled $10k from him.”

“That’s nothing to him-”

“And a Porsche.”

“Oh......” My dad was really serious about his cars. I did remember him telling me about someone stealing one of his sports cars about two years ago. “That was you? Jae told me someone swiped it while it was in the shop.”

Chris laughed and Changbin high fived him without looking up from his phone. “Here’s the thing,” Changbin said still laser focused on his screen. “With your dad being who he is, it will be harder to get you under the radar. Your dad has eyes and ears everywhere. I’ve got to completely erase you from the system.” 

I felt a touch on my shoulder and I turned to see Jisung pulling away from me. “Were you smelling my hair?” I asked crossing my arms.

“......No...”

“Jisung can you not be a thirteen year old for a second?” Chris said rolling his eyes. Jisung scoffed and spread out on the couch, purposefully pushing his thigh against mine. He yelped when I slapped it away. “So, Changbin, how long before we can set her up with her new life?”

The boy sighed when Chan pulled away his phone, trying to see for himself what the boy was working on. “I should be able to get off the grid within the next 32 hours. Getting her new ids shouldn’t be a problem. Jisung can swipe me some templates from that guy...what’s his name?”

“Minho?”

“Yeah, him.”

“Minho is not gonna like me ‘borrowing’ his things again,” Jisung awkwardly shifted on the couch next to me. “Last time I barely made it out with my head. He threw a f***ing toaster at me.” I had to stifle my laughter with my hand. 

“Y/n, you can stay here until we get you new ids. I’ve got a house in Jeju we can set you up in after that.” Chan said pushing himself off the sofa. I watched him walk around the back of the couch before he turned back to me again. “Jisung, sleep on the couch tonight. Y/n, you’ll sleep in his room.”

“What! That’s not fair! She should sleep in your room. You’re the one who brought her here!” Jisung stood up from the couch to continue whining but Chan stopped him.

“Who’s the one who accidentally burst all the pipes in their apartment with a boomerang?”

Jisung shuffled back and forth on his heels. “....Me..”

“And who’s the one who has been letting you stay here for the past six months rent-free?” The blonde boy quieted and looked at the ceiling. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” While the conversation seemed light hearted, I knew Chris meant business.

Changbin grabbed back his phone. “You all should sleep. Chan you’ve got that deal tomorrow and Jisung you’ll have to give Toaster Man a visit.” Jisung groaned, stuffing his face in a couch pillow. “I’ll stick around and start working on her stuff.”

Soon everyone dispersed. Jisung showed me to his room like a gentleman. Unfortunately, I had to physically push him out like a four year old. I put my backpack at the foot of the bed. I slipped under the covers and tucked my hand under the pillow only to be met with a couple crumpled up candy wrappers. I laughed and tossed them into the trash can before returning to the bed. Soon, I fell into a deep sleep. 

♛

Jae’s POV

Eighteen hours had passed already. It took me eighteen hours to remember that her mother put a tracker in her d*** phone. Dowoon sat in the passenger seat of my car, a computer in his lap. 

“Turn left up here.”

“What the hell is she doing in Itaewon?”

“They have good fishcakes.” Turning I saw Dowoon’s innocent smile. It fell when he saw my serious expression. We drove in silence for the next few seconds. “Dang it. Now I want fishcakes.”

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. I hadn’t slept since yesterday morning.  In the rearview mirror, I could see the beginnings of dark circles forming under my eyes. I wouldn’t rest until I found Y/n. 

“Okay, the tracker says she’s in that building over there.” I sighed and pulled the car over onto the side of the street. Dowoon and I got out and I squinted in the afternoon sun. The building ahead of us was unmarked but several women, wearing revealing clothes stood out front talking amongst each other. 

“Hey, cutie,” A girl with long red claws said, gently grabbing Dowoon’s arm as we walked past. “You got time to talk?” She twirled a strand of hair around her finger while looking at him with big doe eyes. 

“Actually I-”

“Sorry, we’re working,” I said dragging him away and through the door. 

“What’s wrong? She was being nice? We could have asked her about Y/n.”

“She was gonna give you more than that.” My eyes scanned the large room we entered. Dowoon stood next to me trying to decipher what I just said. Several girls, scantily clad, milled about. Some had men on their arm.

“I don’t get it. What else was she gonna give us?” Dowoon asked confused. I sighed and pressed forward. A girl with blonde hair walked up to me, pressing her hands against my chest.

“Looking for some fun, hot stuff?” I opened my jacket and the girl backed away seeing the gun I had stashed there. “Sh**, a simple ‘no’ would suffice.” The girl walked away and I checked my phone. The tracking program said Y/n was upstairs.

“What is Y/n doing in a place like this?” The thought sickened me. I knew for a fact she wouldn’t be here voluntarily. 

“I don’t know but these all seem like nice girls. Maybe a little cold not wearing a sweater in here. But, they seem friendly.” Dowoon was a great shot. He could shoot an apple off someone's head from an entire building away, but somehow be completely innocent in the weirdest ways.

I checked my phone seeing that the tracker led behind a closed door at the end of the hall. I pulled out my gun and motioned for Dowoon to follow me.  Pressing my ear against the door, I listened for voices in the room. I picked up the muffled sound of a female voice that sort of resembled Y/n. Nodding to Dowoon we burst through the door, guns aimed. 

The girl screamed and rolled off the bed, scrambling to find a sheet or a shirt. “Oh My- Dowoon, cover your eyes.” I blindly grasped his face trying to hide his view. I looked away giving the half naked girl who was not in fact Y/n some privacy. 

“What the f*** is going on here?” The man the girl was with asked. 

“Sir, I need to talk to this woman. Please get out before I decide to make you.” The man’s eyes widened and he quickly ran out of the room. My eyes landed on a phone on the bedside table. I picked it up and saw the case was Y/n’s.

“Hey! That’s mine!” 

I looked up to see a girl with pale pink hair. She had managed to slip on her shirt and now stood furious on the other side of the bed. “This?” I asked holding up the phone, gun still trained on her. “No, this- this is not yours.” Her body obviously tensed up under the barrel of a gun. “What’s your name?”

“Jae, can I look now or?” 

I turned to see Dowoon still with his eyes closed pointing his gun in the opposite direction. I pointed his gun in the correct direction and elbowed him. His eyes opened and he let out a nervous chuckle before he focused on the girl. 

“My name is Irene. Look, that’s my phone. It's used though. I don’t know anything about the previous owner.” I lowered the gun and put it back in its place. 

“Who gave it to you? When?”

“Yesterday. Some guy came up to me and a co-worker. Said he knew our boss, Yeji, and that the phone was a gift.” Dowoon lowered his gun and got out his phone. We would have to report back to the boss soon.

“What did he look like?” 

“What are you cops or something?” Irene said sitting on the edge of the bed. 

“No. We aren’t cops. But, we do have quite a few of the police on our payroll.” She visibly gulped, shifting uncomfortably under my stare. I was so close to finding Y/n, I could feel it. “Now tell me everything you remember about this guy.”

“I don’t know. He had brown hair. He looked like a foreigner, but he didn’t have an accent. I don’t remember his name. He was really cool looking, to be honest. Had that whole boy next door look, but you knew he was a bad guy. In a good way. Oh! He had a girl with him. I remember because she didn’t look like she was from around here and she was way out of his league.”

I listened carefully, a scowl forming on my face. Dowoon noticed my change in demeanor immediately. “You know who he is?” I nodded, turning towards the door. I was furious. Dowoon followed me out the door, eager to hear my answer.

“It’s Chan. Bang Chan. He’s got Y/n. And I’m gonna kill him.”

♛

Y/n’s POV

This morning I woke up early. I wanted to thank the boys for helping me finally leave that hell hole. Their kitchen was useless. Chan had practically nothing stocked and what little food there was Jisung devoured. So, instead in ordered them takeout.. 

Chan was set to come back around the time it got dark. Changbin was still holed up in the Pit, that’s what Jisung called his computer room. Jisung and I had taken over Chan’s living room, takeout, and soda bottles on the coffee table as we screamed at the drama playing on the huge TV.

“NO, YOU LOVE HER DON’T PUSH HER AWAY!” Jisung said as he grabbed onto my arm. Through tears, he reached for another slice of pizza.

“JISUNG WHY ARE WE WATCHING THIS? IT’S SO SAD!” 

He shook his head next to me and wiped his tears. “Because your teenagedom was deprived of sleepovers. And I am dubbing myself your official best friend.” I cried harder not only because Jisung was my new best friend but because the lead actress was chasing her lover through the rain. Jisung and I clung onto each other and continued our rant at the screen.

“Um.....what pre-teen girl tornado blew up in my house?” Turning we saw Chan walking through the front door, a confused look on his face.

“DADDY’S HOME!”

“Jisung stop screaming in my ear!” I yelled as he jumped over the couch. I then took in Chris’s attire. He wore a white coat and he had a stethoscope draped around his neck. His dark brown hair was pushed back and parted, exposing his (as I was just noticing now) handsome features.

“Someone answer my question.”

“I was showing Y/n  what it’s like to actually have fun with people her own age.”

“Since when were you or Y/n thirteen year old girls? What’s that I smell?” Jisung slowly moved his hands behind his back. “Holy sh**. Jisung you let her paint your nails?”

“What are you talking about? Jisung painted mine than practically forced me to do his.” Jisung’s eyes went wide and he turned around and made the shushing motion towards me. “What’s with the getup?” I asked Chris, changing the subject. “You look like a doctor.”

“Oh- it’s just uh....some business I had planned before this stuff happened.” I crossed my arms coming to stand next to my new BFF. Jisung glanced at me before crossing his arms like me and listing his head and pursing his lips.

“You know you can be honest and say you were working a con.”

“Fine, princess. I was working a con. Happy?” I shrugged and patted his shoulder.

Jisung chuckled and gave Chris a thumbs up before throwing an arm around my shoulder. “I think we should all call it a night. I’m starting a new life tomorrow after all!” With that, we left Chris standing in his fake doctor's coat in the living room. 

“Are you guys gonna clean up?”

“Nope!”

♛

A crash sent me shooting up from the bed. “What the hell?” I drowsily asked myself. Another one sent my eyes flying open like saucers. The bed shook and I practically screamed. Jisung shot up from the bed, drool on his mouth and blonde hair sticking up in all directions. 

“Jisung! What the hell? What are you doing in here?”

“The couch was lumpy. What’s going on?”

The third crash sent me rocketing out of bed. Suddenly the door burst open. I grabbed the closest thing which was the lamp on the bedside table. Chan burst through the door in sweatpants but lacking a shirt. 

“Oh- Sh**! WHAT IS WITH YOU AND LAMPS?”

“WHAT IS WITH YOU AND NOT WEARING A SHIRT?” 

“I’M SORRY IF I DIDN’T BOTHER TO PUT ON A SHIRT WHEN YOUR CHICKEN LEG BOYFRIEND IS ATTACKING MY HOUSE!”

“What? Jae is here?” I asked putting the lamp back The sound of gunshots confirmed Jae’s presence. “What is he shooting at?” I asked as I grabbed my shoes and started slipping them on.

“Wait, Jisung what are you doing here? You know what- nevermind. UH- Changbin. He’s throwing plates at your boyfriend and his monkey friend.” Chan started rummaging through the closet and throwing a bag and clothes at Jisung. “Get your stuff, princess. We’re about to make a getaway. Jisung meet us at the hideout in Gwanak. Get Bin out of here after we leave.”

“After? What about us?”

“You are gonna give us a head start,” Chan said pulling me out the door. 

“SO I’M BAIT?”

“Chan, are you gonna leave like this?” I asked, shouldering my bag. A peek over the railing revealed several men in black suits brandishing guns. Except they were clearly thugs and not agents looking for aliens. 

“I’ve got a getaway bag in the car.” He kept a strong grip on my hand and looked around him. He looked up and grabbed a metal pieced of artwork before adjusting our hands. “When I tell you to run, run. Got it? You run for the garage and don’t look back.” I nodded and he held the metal sheet in front of both of us. 

Chan pulled me down the stairs. “Hey! There he is! He’s got the girl!” The pounding sounds of gunshots rang against the metal sheet less than a foot away from my face. 

“Chan! I’m gonna kill you!” I heard the familiar voice of Jae scream. “Y/n! Come on let me take you back to your dad! Come back with me, beautiful.” If Jae really wanted me to come back with him sincerely he would tell Dad’s goons to stop SHOOTING AT CHRIS AND ME. 

“RUN, Y/N! NOW!” Chris yelled just as Jae charged him ripping away the metal sheet he was using as a shield. Following his instruction, I bolted for the garage. When I looked back I turned to see Jae land a pretty hard blow just above Chris’s eye. 

“Chris!” 

“Y/n, GO!” I sighed and burst through the garage door. That little-....There in pristine condition sat my father’s favorite lightning blue Porsche. I tossed my bag in the car and jumped in. My hands frantically searched for the keys. The sound of gunshots had my heart pounding against my chest. I found them in the glove compartment just as Chan burst through the door.

“START THE CAR!” 

“I’m going! I’m going.” 

The car started and Chan dove into the car. I opened the garage door, but it was only halfway up when the garage door opened again. I turned to see Jae and Dowoon in the doorway. Jae was bleeding from the nose and Dowoon hand a pieced of a plate in his cheek. “Y/n-GO!” 

“I can’t! The door!”

“Just GO!”

Screaming, I slammed my foot on the accelerator and the sports car shot forward, erupting through the garage door. “GET IN THE SUVs!” I heard Jae yell back into the house.

“How are Jisung and Bin gonna get out?” I asked keeping my eyes on the road, frantically looking behind me. 

“Don’t worry about them. They’ll meet us in Gwanak.” Chan reached behind him and pulled out a bag from behind the driver's seat. He slipped on a shirt he pulled out from the bag. “Woah! Wrong side of the road! Move over!” Chan screamed grabbing the wheel and steering the car onto the right side of the road. “What’s wrong with you? Do you not know how to drive?”

“NO I DON’T!” 

“YOU’RE DRIVING WITHOUT A LICENSE?”

“YOU SCAM PEOPLE FOR THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS AND YOU CARE ABOUT THIS!?” I said frantically and sporadically looking from the rearview mirror to the road ahead of me as we drove at top speed in the middle of the night. My skin went cold as I saw tow black SUVs appear behind us. “Chan...what do I do? They’re right behind us!”

He turned around and muttered a string of curse words. “Okay...um...We are gonna switch places.” Chris said turning back to me. 

“Chan we are going ninety-three miles an hour!” 

“Do you trust me?”

“.....Yes.”

“Okay, princess. On the count of three, I want you to let go of the wheel and take your foot off the pedal okay?” I nodded and got ready to do as he asked. In my peripherals, I saw Chan reach near my seat and I nervously looked behind me. “Ready, princess?” I nodded and gripped the steering wheel. “One...two...three!”

I let go of the pedal and steering wheel and Chris jerked my seat back and climbed over me. “Great job, love! You can move over to the other seat!” My heart was pounding against my chest. I was sure any second now I would fall into a panic attack. When I was safely in the passenger seat Chris pulled his seat forward and shifted the gear of the car. 

Chan did his best to shake the two tails we had on us. “Your boyfriend is seriously crazy,” Chan said shaking his head, turning down a narrow alley still going at top speeds. I gripped the door handle in fear. “He is seriously determined.”

“Again, not my boyfriend!” I said turning around to check how far away the sedans were. 

“Hold on tight, love,” Chan said, throwing his arm in front of me as we drifted into another tight alley. This time, Chris slid the car to a stop and shut off the lights and engine. “Get down, baby girl.” He said pushing my head down below the windshield. After a few seconds, we heard the SUVs race by us. Chan and I stayed down, his hand on the back of my neck and our heads inches away from each other.

“Well.....that was fun?”

♛

Ten minutes later Chan was pulling into another dark alley. We had finally made it to Gwanak without anyone following us. “Is this the safe house? Where are Changbin and Jisung?” Chris shook his head and shut off the Porsche. 

“No. We’ve got to make a stop first. We’ve gotta go deep undercover. Your face and mine are about to be plastered everywhere.” Chan got out of the car and before I could reach for the handle he was running around the front to open the door for me. “Come on, let’s hope he’s home,” Chris said quickly ushering me to a dimly lit back door.

“Who are we talking about?”

“An old friend,” Chan said pounding on the door. He kept his hand firmly on my waist. Every few seconds he scanned the alley, making sure we were still not followed. “Hey, it’s Chan! Open up!” 

“Chris, we should keep moving. I know Jae. He’s gonna figure out where we are soon enough.”

“All the more reason to be here.” He pounded on the door again. “Dude! Come on! You owe me! Open up!” While Chan continued to yell at the door I watched the ends of the alley, hoping not to see Jae or Dowoon rounding the corner.

“I’m coming, I’m coming. F***...” A muffled voice said from behind the door. Chan stepped back from the door and took my hand, dragging me further into his side. “F***ing sh**. Chan, d*** it. It’s two a.m!” An angry voice said as it approached the door. I flinched as it flew open. A giant of a man with bright red hair and dressed in a fancy robe appeared. “What, pipsqueak?”

“BamBam. Long time no see.”

“What do you want, Chan? I was asleep-.....who’s this hottie?” The cherry headed man, BamBam, said leaning on the doorway looking me up and down. 

“This is Y/n L/n,” Chan said his hand gripping onto my hip. BamBam’s eyes went wide and he slammed the door in our faces.

“NO! NO! I AM NOT DEALING WITH L/N’S SYNDICATE. NO. CHAN YOU CAN’T MAKE ME. A FAVOR IS SUPPOSED TO BE LIKE BORROWING SUGAR. NOT BRINGING THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN SEOUL’S DAUGHTER TO MY DOOR!”

“BamBam you barely eat carbs let alone processed sugar.” The door opened and he stuck his head out. “Come on, Bam. We need your help. Or at least your bathroom.”

“Bathroom?” Both BamBam and I both questioned. 

♛

“What is this place?” I asked as BamBam lead us through the first floor of the building. It was covered head to toe with clothes and hats and crazy objects. 

“It’s my personal treasure trove. Everything your man Chan uses for his little schemes most likely came from here.” BamBam said picking up a policeman’s uniform and throwing it behind another rack of clothes. The giraffe with red hair rummaged through the piles of clothes and costumes. “Here, Chan. You need this.....and Y/n.....look through these.” BamBam tossed Chan a brown bottle and handed me a container with a bunch of hair in it.

“Wigs?”

“Don’t worry. They’re all the finest synthetic hair. Bathroom is back there, you two.” He said pointing a long finger in the correct direction. I smiled and tightened my hold on the box Chris’s weird friend gave me. “Stay as long as you need. I’m going back to bed.” BamBam dragged his feet up some stairs that probably led to where he was previously sleeping.

“You wanna help me with this, princess?” Chan said holding up the brown bottle in his hand. I shrugged and followed him to the back of the building. My eyes trailed down Chan’s shoulders as we looked for BamBam’s restroom. “Ah, here we go.” Chan opened the door and let me enter first. I dropped the big box on the toilet seat and started searching through them.

I heard Chan pull a chair into the bathroom from the hall. “Why does BamBam have all these? Chan shrugged and searched something up on his phone. “There are some weird colors in here.” He laughed as I threw a neon green wig at him.

“Oh yeah. That’s perfect for you, princess.” He laughed and tossed it back. “Have you ever bleached hair before?” Chris said looking at the bottle. I laughed seeing the familiar brown bottle of hydrogen peroxide. The bottle was a familiar sight from my mother’s bathroom counter. 

“Not personally.”

“Do I just like...pour it on?”

“If you want to permanently fry your hair! We can’t damage those cute curls you’ve got.” 

Without thinking I ran my fingers through Chris’s dark brown and tangled mop. His eyes looked me up and down, a small smirk. “Cute?” He asked, poking my side. He laughed when a rosy dust fell on my cheeks. “You want to help, princess?”

Chan sat down in the chair and handed me the brown bottle which I immediately put down. I looked around and grabbed two bottles from the shower. Chan watched me struggle to get the cap open like an idiot. “You good there?”

“This plastic bottle of.....designer conditioner....is smarter than me.” Chris laughed and reached for the bottle. In less than a second, the bottle popped open for him. He laughed when I sent him a glare. “I loosened it for you.”

“Sure, baby girl. Whatever.” He leaned back in the chair and looked at the ceiling,  a genuine smile on his face. Heat flushed to my face at the new pet name. Chan seemed unfazed by it. Nervously, I turned on the sink and began washing his hair. “What’s your favorite candy?” Chan asked as I was rinsing the conditioner out of his hair. 

“Why?”

“I don’t know. I’m bored. Entertain me, princess.”

“Okay...um...I like Milkyways.”

“Milkyways? Really?” 

“You bash my candy choice, pretty boy, and I’ll make sure your hair turns orange.” He laughed, his eyes turning into crescents. Chan continued to ask me random questions while I bleached his hair. It was fun getting to know Chris...well the real Chris. “You must really be dedicated if your bleaching your hair.”

“Bleaching my hair....or dying at the hands of your boyfriend. I choose the former.”

“Again. Jae is not my boyfriend.” I said squeezing hydroperoxide into his hair. Thank goodness BamBam had gloves in a cabinet otherwise my hands would be messed up. “Jae is just Jae.” I was surprised when I didn’t feel myself smile as I said his name. 

I took off the gloves as Chan sat forward, waiting for his hair to dry. “What’s the deal with you two anyway.” He asked poking my arm. “You two were totally into each other back at the penthouse.”

“Well...I think my feelings have changed after he shot at us.”

“Well, he was mostly shooting at me.”

“Yeah...guess he was, pretty boy.” I smiled looking down at Chan. He grabbed my hand and swung it back and forth. I glanced down and then back up at him. 

“Hey...it’s gonna be okay, Y/n. I’ll take care of it.” I scoffed and rolled my eyes. He tugged on my wrist. My feet shuffled forward making me stand between his legs. Chris brushed his thumb over my hand. 

“Take care of what?” 

“Of you. I’ll make sure you get what you want.” Chan stared up at me with a look I had never seen before. It was hard to tear my eyes away from him. Like he had this hold on me. But, I felt safe with him. I felt fully myself. “We’ve got twenty minutes. Why don’t you try on some of those wigs? Put on a little fashion show for me, baby girl?” He said with a smile, leaning back in the chair, his hand still attached to my wrist. 

Chan laughed as I tried on all the crazy wigs BamBam had in the box. After his phone timer went off, I helped Chan wash his hair again. Then he let me towel dry his hair. “Woah,” I said, pulling the towel away. 

“Is it that bad?” He asked standing up and rushing to the mirror. He ran his fingers through his new blonde hair and he stared into the mirror at his locks. 

“No...you look really good.” 

He smirked and messed with the new blonde strands before turning to me with a bright smile. “You think so?” His hands rested on my waist, his thumbs grazing over the fabric of my t-shirt. There was a tension in the air. One that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. 

“Yeah, I do...” 

Hesitantly, I let my palms press against his chest. Was he going to kiss me? I could feel my stomach start to do somersaults. Chris leaned down, only barely enough for me to notice. He was. Chan was going to kiss me.

“HEY LOVEBIRDS! I NEED TO PEE!” BamBam said pounding on the door. 

The two of us burst apart, Chan scratching the back of his neck. “We should probably....- Bin and Sung are probably waiting for us.” Chris nervously grabbed my backpack and I grabbed the closest wig to me, stuffing my hair inside it. 

“Yeah totally.”

Chan opened the door for us to find a pissed off BamBam. “Can I pee now?” Chan laughed and took my hand, pulling me out into the hall. 

“Thanks for letting us hideout and stuff!” Chan called back to his friend who was already in the bathroom. Chris pulled me back out the Porsche, which was still sitting safely in the alley. Like a gentleman, Chan opened my door before sliding across the hood and getting in the driver seat.

He spared me a glance and cast a smile my way. “Short and Dark is a good look on you.” I brushed the wig’s bangs out of my eyes and blushed, turning away from Chan as he started the car and drove off into the early morning.

♛

Jae’s POV

“F***!” I exclaimed slamming my hand on a nearby table. Stressfully, I ran a hand through my hair. Dowoon just stood off to the side, awkwardly watching our guys rummage through the house. 

“That did not go the way I expected.”

Daggers flew from my eyes. He instantly shut his mouth. “Dowoon...she was right here. I missed her. She just...slipped through my fingers.” Dowoon waved off a man who was trying to ask him a question before turning back to me.

“You know she more ran...than slipped.”

“You’re right. She did run away.” I said standing up straight once again. “She practically flew when Chan told her to run.” My eyes returned to the door I watched Y/n run out of. 

“Why do you think she ran?”

“Chan’s probably got her brainwashed or something. I wouldn’t put it passed him.” I reached for the mail that was left on the kitchen counter. “Remember I want this entire place searched!” I called out to the men. “Man, she knew I was here for her. Why didn’t she come to me?” I said tossing it onto the marble island.

“Maybe she’s just not into you dude.”

“No. That’s not it. It’s got to be Chan. He must have told her everything about her dad and then freaked her out. It’s all his fault.” Dowoon, sifted through the week-old envelops I had tossed.

“What’s this? Does this Chan guy go to university?”

“What- no?” I scoffed and leaned against the counter. “He barely has his highschool diploma.” I watched Dowoon pick up a magazine and flip it over.

“Maybe one of the guys that were here. The blonde one looked kind of young...and dumb.” Dowoon flipped through the magazine smiling at some of the pictures.

“Why do you ask?”

He shrugged and tossed it to me. I flipped through the magazine and saw it was a college-based magazine. Student made. “Well...that magazine is only sold in Gwanak. Near Seoul University.” My eyes went wide and I looked at the cover of the magazine. 

“I’ve got a call to make. We need another pair of eyes.”

“More than the thirteen guys we have now.”

“I just want her back Dowoon...” I said pulling out my phone. I scrolled through my contacts until I found the one I needed. Pressing the name, I brought the device to my ear and waited for the dial tone to end.

“Hey. It’s me. Look, I need you to find someone. This asshat took her...She’s somewhere in Gwanak, we know that.” I listened to him speak while drumming my fingers on the counter.

“Yeah. You’ll get the money when you get her and bring her safely back to me.” I pursed my lips, feeling myself getting angry as he asked his next question.

“I don’t care what happens to the guy she’s with. Just get her back.” With that, I hung up the phone.

♛

Chan’s POV

Jogging around the blue car, I opened Y/n’s door and helped her out. She grabbed her bag and started walking towards the dark apartment building. The sun would be rising in a couple of hours. I reached for her hand and led her up the stairs to the top level. 

She laughed when we came to the door. “Another passcode? Mr. Privacy?” I smiled and shrugged my shoulders, taking her backpack for her. 

“The code is #0325.” She turned to me and smiled. 

“You trust me with the code to your safehouse?” I shrugged and tried to hide the smile on my face. I watched as her fingers touched each number gingerly on the keypad. She smiled when the bright tone notified her that the door was unlocked.

“Y/N’S HOMMMMMEE!” Jisung yelled. I heard his feet thundering down the small hall. I rolled my eyes when Jisung tackled Y/n out of my grasp, hugging her tightly. With serious eyes, he turned to me, still holding onto Y/n. “From now on, Y/n and I are inseparable! You will not drag her into messes and get her killed! She is my best friend!”

I sent Jisung a hard glare and took one step towards him making the blonde squeal, hiding behind Y/n. “Sorry, Chan. Nevermind take her she’s yours. I can see now that I clearly overstepped my boundaries.” Jisung said, words flying out of his mouth faster than I could comprehend. 

“What’s going on?” Y/n asked. I saw Changbin saunter into the hall and join us. He leaned against the wall, arms crossed, and face stoic.

“Don’t worry. Chan just wants you all to himself.” The short boy said smirking at me.

“WHAT?!” Both Y/n and I exclaimed looking from each other to Changbin. Y/n turned to me, a curious look on her face. The same one from when we first met, except this time my head didn’t hurt.

“Well...this isn’t awkward at all,” Jisung said, coming out from behind Y/n. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and puffed out his cheeks, looking around the four of us. “Hey, Y/n, lemme show you something!” He practically dragged her out from the hall and towards the bedroom. Fearing for what he did to my apartment, I followed.

“So, what is it you're showing me, Sung?” Y/n asked and Jisung guided her into my room. Wait. Sh**. My room.

“This was originally Chan hyung’s room, but I figured with a few touches you would like it better! I figured since he loves you and all he can sleep on the sofa.” They entered the room a few feet ahead of me. “It’s his turn to have back problems. Y/n gasped. I rounded the corner and my jaw dropped.

“JISUNG, WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO MY ROOM? HOW DID YOU EVEN GET ALL THIS?”

My room was plastered with posters and pictures of unicorns and rom-com movie posters. It looked like a fourteen year old girl from a Disney channel sitcom threw up their essence all over my bedroom. There were boyband posters and albums everywhere and heart shaped hangers in the closet. My clothes were in a huge black pile in the corner marked ‘Chan’s Sh**’. One wall on the far side was spray-painted pink and stuffed animals were all around the room. 

“When did you have time to do all of this? We got here two hours after you! Where did this all come from?” I said picking up a Super Junior album that was sitting on what used to be my dresser.

“You’d be surprised,” Changbin said standing in the doorway. 

I sighed and turned to Jisung. He turned to me with an innocent smile as I grabbed him by the arm and pulled him out into the hall while Y/n continued to marvel at the room. “Sung...you do understand she’s not staying right? We are just helping her get to Jeju so she can start a new life.” He stared down at the ground, fiddling with the rings on his fingers. His light blonde fell in front of his eyes as he looked back up at me.

“You don’t really want that...do you?” 

I looked into his eyes. My friend looked genuinely sad. No, that wasn’t what I wanted. Not now at least. Maybe before, but it wasn’t what I wanted now. “What I want doesn’t matter. It’s what she wants.” I said patting his shoulder. “Do you understand?”

“Yeah...of course...”

Jisung sulked back into my room, which I would be burning after Y/n went to Jeju. “Jisung! Thank you so much! I love it!” Y/n said hugging a huge stuffed toy.

“Sung, how did you even pickpocket a three foot tall stuffed rabbit and four B.A.P posters?” I asked looking at the toy Y/n was holding in her arms. I tried to suppress the thumping against my chest at the sight. 

“Chan I don’t remember asking for your opinion, but it’s called talent, okay?”

Y/n laughed and set the bunny down next to my bed. She gasped and picked up a heavy purple candle on the bedside table. “Oh, a candle! I love these! I always had candles and stuff like that in my room at home!” I saw Jisung’s face turn soft and he ran out of the room.

“HOLD ON ONE SECOND!” He screamed through the less than small apartment. He returned with a hand full of candles. 

“Oh no no no no no,” I said pushing him back out of the room. 

 “What? Y/n says she loves candles.’ Jisung said shrugging and trying to push past me and back into the bedroom, where we heard Changbin and Y/n talking. 

“Jisung I will not have candles in my house after she attacked me with one!”

“What about incense?”

“NO SMELLY THINGS!” I shivered at the thought of what Y/n could accidentally do to me with burning incense. My eyes found Y/n walking out of the room holding the lit candle, her eyes happy. 

“Chan, thank you so much for helping me and for all of this! And Jisung, I really love the candle.” With that, she went back into the room and jumped onto the bed.

Jisung turned back to me with his eyebrows raised. I crossed my arms and then looked back to Y/n sitting happily on my bed watching the candle flicker happily. I felt Jisung nudge me bringing my attention back to him. “Okay...one candle.”

“Bro, you are so whipped.”

“Shut up before I throw you off the roof with all those candles strapped to your head.”

“You wouldn’t...”

  ♛

Y/n’s POV

Chan slept in his room that night. Well, he rested. He said it would be hard to sleep with all those pop stars and animals staring at him. I had told him I wasn't tired, so I scrolled through the phone Jisung had pocketed for me. 

When the boys awoke a few hours later, I had prepared breakfast for them. This place was actually stocked with food. I gasped seeing Jisung emerge from the guest room. He had bruises on his shoulder and the strong scent of candles came from him. 

“Sung, what happened to you?” I said taking his face in my hands. He glared at Chan as he exited his bedroom and sat down at the kitchen table. 

“Ask your newly blonde boyfriend.” He said sitting in the farthest seat from Chris. 

When I turned to Chan he just gave me a sweet smile and turned back to the breakfast I had made. “This is good, princess.” He said slipping a strawberry into his mouth. I blushed and sipped on the mug of tea I had made earlier. 

“So, what’s the plan today?” I asked, setting the cup down.

Chan took a sip of the orange juice in the glass near him and looked to me. “Changbin still needs templates to get you IDs. Jisung knows where to get some, but I’m not gonna leave you here so you’ll come with us to the meeting.” I nodded and took another sip of tea.

“Sounds good.”

“We’ll leave in like...an hour?” Chan said.

 Jisung turned to me, mouth full of toast and berries. His eyes turned down and his cheeks were full, but somehow he still managed to frown with toast sticking out of his mouth. “I’m gonna need more than an hour. It’s just too good.” Jisung muttered with his mouth full.

“Fine. Y/n just go get ready, princess. Don’t forget the wig.”

♛

The black bangs of the wig kept blowing in my face. It was about noon when we finally left Chris’s apartment. “Stay right here, princess. Jisung and I are gonna go pick up the templates.” Chan said stopping in front of one of the many stalls around us. He had taken us to a local thrifting fair. A bunch of college students milled about, helping us blend in. 

“Okay, what should I do while I wait.” 

“I know the shop owner, so they’ll let you stay at the booth.” His hand rested gently on my arm as he spoke to me over the noise of the crowd. “Just pretend you are looking for a gift.” He motioned to the wares the vendor was selling. “I’ll be back soon. If someone asks, just say you’re waiting for your boyfriend or something.” 

Chan and Jisung left and I watched them disappear into the crowd. Running my fingers through the short locks of the wig I waved to the vendor who sent me a polite smile. There was plenty to look at from the booth. The woman was selling very pretty handmade silver jewelry.

I picked up a very simple chain necklace with a small silver ring on it. I thought about how nice it would look on Chan. Maybe I had enough cash with me to get it for him?

“That’s very pretty.” A voice said behind me.

A man came to stand beside me. He had shaggy black hair and a boxy smile. His long fingers picked up the necklace and held it up to the light before gently giving it back to me. “Thank you,” I said, keeping my answer short.

“Is it for you or is it a gift?” The boy asked again.

I sighed and avoided looking at him. “Um...a gift.” He nodded and began looking at other necklaces. Every so often he would cast a look my way. 

“I’m Wonpil, by the way.” I nodded and gave him a tight-lipped smile. Why would he not go away? I put the necklace down and moved further down the table, pretending to look at other things. “What’s your name?”

“Uh...Jessica...”

I said turning back to the table. He nodded and moved down the row as well. He moved o the other side of the table to look there. However, he was clearly intent on talking to me. “So, Jessica...are you here by yourself, or are you with friends?” I nervously laughed and looked in the direction Chris left.

“I’m here with my boyfriend. I’m waiting for him to come back.” 

Wonpil gave me a kind smile and went back to looking at jewelry. I glanced up at the boy. There was something off about him. He was just barely too old to be a university student. Maybe he just lived near here?

“So, is it a gift for him?” I nodded, then turned my attention to the box of rings near the middle of the table. “What’s his name?” Should I give Chris’s name? No. That would be a bad idea. I don’t want him to get hurt.

“His name is Chanyoung.”

Wonpil nodded and continued pursuing the wares and jewelry. Come one, Chris. Where are you? “Has he been gone long? You seem nervous.” I laughed and shook my head.

“He and our friend just went to go pick up something. He’ll be back...any minute now.”

“I’ll wait with you if you’d like?” Wonpil suggested, that kind smile on his face. He came around my side of the table and placed a hand on my shoulder. I shook my head and backed away.

“I’m fine, really-”

“Hey, baby girl! Sorry to keep you waiting.” I felt a strong arm wrap around my waist and lips press against my cheek. I turned to see Chan with a cool and composed smile on his face. “We didn’t mean to be gone for so long.” His hand came up to my cheek and he pressed his lips against mine like he had done it thousands of times before.

Not wanting to break the charade I closed my eyes and let him kiss me. Chan pulled away and pecked my lips once more before Jisung coughed and gently kicked him. “Oh- sorry. I’m her boyfriend. Who are you?” Chan said holding out his hand to shake.

“Oh, you're Chanyoung. I’m Wonpil.” They shook hands and I could see Chan’s face sour for just a second. His eyes glanced at me and then doubled back. 

“Oh, baby, you’ve got a bug on you!” 

“I’ll get it!” Jisung shouted, eyeing my shoulder. He swatted the bug away, grabbing it in his fist. I looked at the two boys wondering what was going on. “Hey, we’ve got lunch plans so we should go soon,” Jisung said, sticking his hands in his pockets.

“Did you get what you needed to get, baby?” I asked, palms pressing against Chan’s chest. His grip was still firm around my waist, keeping me as close as possible.

“Yeah! Let’s go get lunch, baby girl.” Chan said kissing me again. “It was nice to meet you Wonpil,” Chris said waving goodbye before steering me in the opposite direction of the booth. Jisung followed us and sped up to keep our pace. “Y/n, who was that guy?”

I shrugged and looked back. Wonpil was no longer at the booth. “I have no clue.” Chan shook his head and gripped my side tighter. 

“He’s gotta know who you are.” The three of us walked through the streets of the thrift fair quickly hoping to evade whoever it was Wonpil actually turned out to be. “He actually planted a bug on you. That’s why Jisung and I freaked out.” I shivered. My feeling about Wonpil had been right. We walked a little further before Jisung spoke up again.

“So...like, can we actually get lunch though?”

♛

The little bell rang as the three of us entered a little sushi shop Jisung knew about. “Jisung didn’t you have sushi like four days ago?” He shrugged and led us to a secluded booth in the back. A few waitresses waved at him as we passed by.

“Chan, you can never have too much sushi. Plus I get discounts here.” 

“How do you get discounts?” I asked.

“Used to date the owner’s daughter. She dumped me. He still liked me so... free sushi.”

I nodded, still not quite understanding as I slid into the booth. Chan scooted in next to me, his leg just barely touching mine. My hands reached for the menu, but Jisung quickly whisked them away. “Nope. I’m ordering for us.” Chan laughed and pressed his hands to his temples. The waitress came by and Jisung ordered practically everything on the menu and sake.

“Jisung that is a lot of food.”

“I’m a lot of hungry.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Chan said throwing his arm over the back of the booth. Jisung shrugged and started blowing bubbles in his water with the straw. “You are such a child,” Chris said laughing.

“Speaking of, I need to pee,” Jisung announced. I grounded and shoved my face into my hands. Jisung hopped out of the booth and shuffled to the restroom. That left me and Chris...alone.

“So...”

“So...”

We looked at each other and burst out laughing. “You kissed me,” Chan nodded and looked away. I was surprised to see a dark blush on Chan’s ears. “Thank you. For saving me from whoever that guy was.” Chan shrugged, a shy smile lighting up his face. His fingers tapped against the booth. 

“My pleasure.”

“Your pleasure saving me, or your pleasure kissing me.”

“Would you be mad if I said both?” 

It was my turn to blush and look away. My fingers locked onto the cold glass filled with water and I took a heavy sip, before turning back to Chris. “Not...entirely,” I said unable to keep the smile from leaking onto my lips. Chris looked around the restaurant before looking back at me.

“Would you be mad if I did it again?”

“Not entirely,” I said, a smirk flirting its way onto the corner of my mouth. 

I felt Chan’s other hand reach for min under the table, making me smile. “If I kiss you, you promise you won’t whack me with like a lamp or something right?” I laughed and rubbed my thumb across his hand. He smiled when I shook my head ‘yes’. Slowly he leaned closer until he was only a breath away. 

“You gonna make me wait for it, pretty boy, or what?” 

He let out a soft breathy laugh before connecting his lips to mine. He tasted like the strawberries from this morning; sweet and decadent. Chris deepened the kiss and laced his fingers with mine. My heart pounded against my chest as his lips ghosted over mine. He pulled away just long enough to smile before coming back for more. It felt like Chan and I were the only two people in the world.

“WHY THE F*** ARE YOU KISSING MY BESTFRIEND?!”

I heard a loud clang and several shouts and pulled away to see Chris grasping the back of his head and Jisung standing there holding a waitress’s tray. “What the hell man?” Chan exclaimed.

“STOP! KISSING! Y/N!” Jisung said, whacking Chris each time.

“Jisung! Chill out! I wanted him to!” I said to the tray maniac in front of me. “It’s okay! I wanted him to kiss me.” Jisung slowly lowered the tray, giving Chris a wary eye. Chan rubbed the back of his head and I cupped his face checking to see if anything was bleeding.

“Okay...fine. Sorry. I got a tad bit overprotective.” Jisung said completely lowering the tray and sitting back down. “Oh- here this is yours.” He said handing the metal tray to the confused waitress. “Don’t worry, I’ll leave a big tip!” Jisung said with an innocent smile as if nothing ever happened.

Nervously, the waitress walked away to get our food. Now, safe from Jisung’s wrath, Chris gently reached for my hand under the table. I smiled feeling his thumb gently rub circles on my skin.

“Jisung, don’t you think that was a little overkill?” Chan asked as the waitresses set down mountains of sushi in front of us. He shook his head and dived into the flavorful bites.

“Not at all. A psychic once told me my spirit animal was a vicious chihuahua.”

“I can attest to that,” Chris said before placing a roll onto my plate. I smiled at him and ate the piece. “Okay, let’s eat and get out of here.” We all nodded and ate quickly, enjoying every bite.

“I don’t know if they’ll let me back in here,” Jisung said after we paid the bill.

♛

The three of us rode back to the safe house in the Porsche, Jisung sat with his legs squished to his chest in the back. When we got out Chan punched in the code and we all spilled across the living room in food comas.

“What happened to you guys?” Changbin said wandering into the living room.

“Sushi coma,” I said laying across Chan’s lap. Changbin nodded as if completely understanding. I looked over to see Jisung lying face down on the sofa, his butt sticking up in the air. 

“Did you guys get the templates?”

Without speaking Jisung started rummaging around his pocket until he pulled out what looked like a blank passport and ID card and raised it in the air. His head was still thoroughly buried in the cushions.

“Great. I should have these done in like...four hours. Then you can start your new life.” Bin said checking the templates. I watched him leave the room before staring back up at the ceiling. My fingers tucked under the hairline of the wig and I pulled it and the wig cap off my head. 

“I like your natural hair better than that old thing,” Chan stated, pulling the hair tie from my updo. He ran his fingers through my hair, shaking it loose as I stared up at him. “You better not change it too much once you get to Jeju.” I laughed and tossed the wig onto the coffee table. 

“Y/n, do you really have to go?” Jisung whined. He had turned his face just enough so he could speak without sounding like he had cotton balls in his mouth. “I’m going to miss my new best friend so much!” 

“I don’t think it’s safe for you all here. The longer I’m with you the more Jae is going to come after me.” 

Jisung sighed and put his butt down, fully laying on the couch. Chan and Jisung eventually fell asleep in their places, but I stayed awake thinking about what was to come. I was less excited about leaving Seoul than I was before. Jisung was in Seoul. Changbin was in Seoul. Chan was in Seoul. I would be in Jeju. All by myself.

I felt like they were my family now. Chan stirred in his sleep, his fingers twitching on top of my stomach. Gently, I traced light patterns on the back of his hand. “Did you not sleep?” He asked drowsily, lifting his head.

“No.”

“Thinking about Jeju?” I nodded and played with his fingers. It was easy to tell I was nervous. “You know, Yn,” He whispered, wrapping his hand around mine. “I could always stay with you the first couple of days. Just to make sure everything is alright of course.” Chan shrugged, but couldn’t stop the little smile edging itself onto the corner of his mouth.

“Oh, of course. Just to make sure everything is alright.”

“Yeah, just for that.” 

I laughed, keeping it quiet hoping not to wake Jisung. “Oh, I have something to give you. Actually two things.” I said, getting up from the couch. Chan watched me bring my backpack from his bedroom and sit back down next to him. He waited patiently as I dug through the bag. “Here is the first,” I said. Chan’s eyes widened when I pulled out the diamond necklace.

“But, I haven’t gotten you to Jeju yet?” I shrugged, placing it in his hands. 

“You’ve already been through so much for me.” He looked from me to the jewels in his hands. He gently placed it on the coffee table, before pulling me close and kissing my cheek. “And... the second thing. Hold on.” I tried to hold back my grin as I pulled the silver chain out of my pocket.

“Where in the world did you get this?” Chan said, as I delicately placed the necklace in his hand.

“Jisung may have taught me a few things. It’s from the booth you left me at.” He laughed and looked at the simple piece of jewelry. “It’s nothing much. I just saw it and thought of you. It can be something to remember me by.”

“Baby girl it will be near impossible to forget you.” I smiled as he traced his finger along my jaw, bringing me closer. His lips brushed over mine, sending butterflies into wild flight patterns in my stomach.

Chan pulled away, a soft smile lighting up his eyes. I watched as he draped the necklace over his neck. “Would you really come with me to Jeju?” He nodded, his grin growing as I cupped his cheek.

“Guys get a room. Some of us are trying to take a nap!” Jisung said throwing a cushion at us.

♛

I looked at the passport and ID in my lap. Changbin had done an incredible job. These looked immaculate. My fingers brushed over my imprinted picture. “You take a pretty good photo,” Chan said, glancing over at me with a smile. 

He sat beside me in the driver’s seat of the Porsche, watching the road. “I’m sure you do too.” Chan shook his head, checking the rearview mirror.

“Nah. No pictures. Part of my job description.” 

“You don’t have any pictures of yourself?” I laughed bewildered, as he shook his head. Chan shrugged, pulling into the line for cars to board the ferry. “How far away are we?” Chris let out a hefty sigh, dropping his hands from the steering wheel as we inched forward closer to the boat. His fingers reached over and held onto mine.

“Um...I’d say about forty-five minutes on the boat and another twenty to get to the house.” Chan leaned his head against the seat, rubbing his thumb over the back of my hand. “You’re almost there, Y/n.” I turned in my seat, leaning against the headrest.

“Thank you, Chris. For everything.” The blonde shrugged it off, a shy smile spreading to his cheeks. Soon we made it onto the boat. Chan parked the Porsche near the bow of the ferry. With both our stomachs rumbling, Chan went up to the top deck before bringing us back down cheap slices of pizza.

The radio played softly while Chan and I laughed and ate the subpar pizza in his car. I giggled when Chris took one of the crusts from my plate and stuffed it in his mouth. “Don’t steal my food!” 

“Can I steal something else then?” Chris said turning to the setting sun.

“If you’re gonna say something cheesy like my heart, I’ll toss you over the railing.”

He laughed, taking my hand again. “Fine, I won’t.” I played with the silver bands and rings around his fingers. It felt so normal to be with Chris. Everything about him felt...good. Wonderful. “Please let me finish! Y/n I haven’t been cheesy in so long.” He almost whined, bringing our hands up to his forehead. 

“Fine...” I groaned though a smile was still creeping its way onto my face. “What are you going to steal then?” I said cringing and closing my eyes. They opened when I felt his hand on my jaw.

“First I was thinking, a kiss...” His lips ghosted over mine, leaving a lasting sensation when he pulled away. “Then maybe another...” His lips pressed against mine again, his thumb running over the back of my hand. His forehead rested against mine. “Why don’t you just give me your heart?” He whispered,

“Why should I do that, pretty boy?” 

He smiled, glancing at the sunset before his eyes looked back into my own. “Because you already have mine.” My teeth dragged across my bottom lip, desperately trying to hide the grin I was threatening to give him. Tilting my head, I pressed a kiss to his cheek and then again on his jaw. 

“Do I really now?” Chan nodded his head softly. His eyes twinkling in the setting sun. “Well, that was fast,” I whispered before leaning forward and kissing him.

♛

The sun was almost gone from the sky when we pulled up to the house in Jeju. I was surprised to find it right on the beach. The house was lined with huge windows on every side facing the ocean. “Chan, you can’t be serious right? This is yours?” 

I watched him come around to my side of the Porsche. “Nope. It’s not mine.” He said wrapping his arms around me from behind. He smelled like cinnamon. His long fingers wrapped around mine before pressing something into my palm. “It’s yours, baby girl.”

Opening my hand, I saw a set of keys. “Chan this house...it must have cost a small fortune. I can’t take this from you.” He shrugged, kissing my shoulder. 

“I’ve got the one in Itaewon. The apartment in Gwanak. And maybe...a small place in Bora Bora.”

“Excuse me?” 

“Come on! Let’s go inside and see your new house!” Chan said dragging me inside. I laughed and let him pull me inside. He showed me every inch of the house. It was bright and open and gorgeous. I covered my mouth as Chan led me out into the sunroom. The walls were entirely windows and stairs to the right led down to the waterfront. “You like it?” Chan asked.

I turned to see him standing in the doorway holding a bottle and two glasses. “What is this?” I asked with a laugh. He smiled and sat on the day bed on the porch. 

“This,” He said popping the bottle open. “This is your housewarming party.” I watched with a smile as he poured me a glass of champagne. His fingers brushed against mine as I took the flute. “I know it’s not the parties you’re used to.”

I took a small sip of the bubbly drink and smiled. “Are you kidding?” I said, standing between Chan’s legs and looking down at him as he poured his own glass and took a drink. “This is the best party I’ve ever been to.”

The waves crashed on the beach behind us. A cool breeze blew through some of the opened windows, but I felt warm near Chan, his hands around my waist. “You’re just saying that cause I’m here,” Chan whispered.

“So what if I am. It’s the truth.” I said running a hand through his hair. 

“Come here, baby.” He whispered, pulling me down onto his lap. I took another sip from the champagne, before reaching across Chan and setting it on a table. “F***, you’re beautiful.” He whispered, pushing a piece of hair away from my face. I smiled, draping my arms around his neck. 

“You keep saying things like that and I’m going to have to keep you here with me.” 

“Do you see me leaving?” 

He smiled when my fingers carded through his blonde locks. His arms wrapped tightly around me, pulling him closer to me than I thought possible. My lips reached down for his desperate for even more of his touch. 

I felt a cool breeze on my back as Chan’s hands pushed up the hem of my shirt. I shivered feeling his hands on my bare skin. His lips attacked mine as if I was the only thing in this world keeping him alive. I let my fingers drag down his chest. He smiled against me, feeling me play with the hem of his shirt.

His teeth dragged over my bottom lip giving me goosebumps. My hands traveled under his shirt. I was surprised to feel so much muscle under my hands as they rested on his stomach. Chan smirked before he turned his attention to my neck. 

Having had enough of the barrier between myself and Chan I tugged his shirt off, holding onto him tightly as he marked my neck. “Chan...” I whispered, bringing my lips back to his. 

“Sh**,” 

Chan let out a content sigh and pushed me down onto the cushion of the day bed. “How about...we move this somewhere...you know....not outside?” I said between heated kisses from the man above me. He nodded before kissing down my jaw. “Chan, did you hear me?” I asked the breath leaving my chest feeling his teeth graze my skin.

“Sorry...I got a little distracted,” Chan admitted with a smile. I laughed feeling Chan pick me up. “Into your house, we go!” I laughed as he carried me in his arms through the dark living room and down the hall. The master bedroom was full of moonlight from the huge windows on the far wall. I screeched as Chris tossed me onto the big bed. 

“CHAN!” 

He laughed and jumped onto the bed. I smiled as his lips rejoined with mine. His body fit perfectly into all the curves of my own. I sighed against his lips feeling his hips press down against mine. I tangled my fingers in his hair pulling on the blonde locks. 

I watched the moon glisten over the ocean before my eyes closed, the only thing on my lips the name of the man with me.

♛

Jae’s POV

My fingers drummed against the wood of the desk. Not my desk. No. I didn’t get a desk. This was the desk of an old friend. A friend who was late to meet with Dowoon and me. “Wasn’t he supposed to be here an hour ago?” Dowoon said, messing with some of the books on a shelf. 

I kept my feet propped up on the desk and my stare focused on the door. To keep myself busy I had been disassembling and reassembling my firearm and timing myself. “Don’t worry. He owes me more than one favor.” I said slamming the gun down on the desk.

The door creaked open and both our eyes shot to the door. “Woah! You guys scared me. Jae, you look like the f***ing Grim Reaper himself.”

“I will be if I don’t find her. Then, believe me, Wonpil, if I don’t find her and kill that bastard; then there will be too many souls for the gates of heaven to hold.” In the corner of my eye, I saw Dowoon shiver.

“Dude.....that’s creepy,” Wonpil said, tossing a folder onto his desk.

“Jae just really loves Y/n,” Dowoon said with a dopey smile.

I rolled my eyes and picked the gun up off the desk. “What did you find?” Wonpil stat on the edge of the table, casting me a side glance. Dowoon picked up the file my friend entered with.

“I planted a bug on her, but one of the dudes with her snagged it.” Wonpil got up and shooed me from his chair. Reluctantly I complied. He stuck a flash drive from his pocket into his computer. 

“The guy who took the bug- dark hair, foreign-looking?” I asked.

“No.” He said opening up a program. “Both of the guys with her were blonde. She also went by a different name. She called herself Jessica.” I sighed, rubbing my temples. Chan had definitely gotten in her head.

“Sh**.”

“You’re really not gonna like this. One of the guys she was with- she called him her boyfriend. Not gonna lie, she looked happy.” Everyone jumped when my fist slammed into the nearest wall.

Taking a few deep breaths, I calmed myself down and waited for Wonpil to access whatever file he wanted to show me. “The bug should still be going, though.” With a few clicks, Wonpil started playing a live feed.

The sound of two male voices filled the office. “Dude...I’m gonna miss Y/n so much!!” One yelled. Wonpil sighed.

“That’s one of the guys she was with. Not her boyfriend, the other one.” Wonpil stated.

“Don’t worry, Sung. Chan will be back from Jeju any day now. He just went with her to make sure she settled in alright.” I pushed myself off the wall I was leaning in. She was in Jeju. With Chan. I was fuming. 

“Are you sure she was taken?” Wonpil asked. “Because it sounds to me like she was paying these guys to take her.” Dowoon laughed and poked Wonpil’s shoulder.

“No way. Y/n loved her life in the penthouse.” 

Wonpil shrugged and continued to listen to the live feed. “Do you even know where is place is in Jeju?” The rougher voice asked. The one called ‘Sung’ laughed. 

“Of course not. That was Chan’s special place. He never took anyone there.”

“And he’s just giving it to her?”

I sighed rubbing my eyes. “Okay, can you track this thing?” I asked looking over Wonpil’s shoulder. He nodded and tapped away on the keyboard. Impatiently I waited to see where these little sh**s were hiding.

“Looks like the bug is in an apartment complex near Seoul University,” Wonpil said pointing at the screen. I nodded to Dowoon, who took the file from earlier and stuffed it in his jacket.

“Thanks, Wonpil. We’ve got some business to take care of.”

♛

Y/n’s POV

Three days had passed. Three incredible, wonderful, magical days. All spent with Chan. Spent drinking wine on the beach, spent making homemade dinners in the amazing kitchen, spent in bed where Chris whispered sweet nothings into my ear as I fell asleep.

I opened my eyes to be greeted with the morning light seeping in through the large windows of my bedroom. I sat up in bed watching the waves crash against the sand. This was my life now, I thought a sleepy smile spreading across my face.

I looked beside me to see Chan missing from his side of the bed. “Chan?” I called out. Maybe he was in the kitchen. “Babe?” My bare feet pressed against the cool wood floor and I grabbed Chan’s black shirt from off the floor. The fabric brushed against my thighs as I walked into the kitchen.

“Chris?”

“Out here, baby girl,”  I followed Chan’s voice out into the sunroom. He sat on the day bed most of the windows cracked open and the doors were propped letting the warm morning breeze flow through the room. His blonde hair blew slightly in the wind. “Hi, baby.” He said setting down a coffee mug.

“What are you drinking?” I said crawling over him and nuzzling into his side. 

“Tea. You want some?” 

I shrugged feeling his arm wrap around me. “I’ll get some later.” I closed my eyes and enjoyed being next to him. He sighed as I ran my fingers up and down his chest softly. 

“Is that my shirt?” 

“Maybe...”

“It looks good on you.” He whispered, placing a kiss on the top of my head. I draped my leg over his and rested my head on his chest. “Did you sleep well?” His arm wrapped tightly around my back, rubbing my side. I nodded and looked up at him.

“What were you doing out here?”

“I was trying to get in touch with the boys,” Chan said pulling out his phone. “Jisung isn’t answering my calls, which isn’t far from normal.” He sighed and scrolled through various text messages. “But, neither is Changbin.” His brows furrowed and he placed his phone next to the mug.

“Do you need to leave early? To check on them.”

“You couldn’t rid of me if you tried.” 

I laughed looking up at him. “You keep saying things like that, but how do I know you’ll actually do it?” He scoffed and sat up. I scooched upward so I could still lay on his chest. 

“You see that out there,” Chan said pointing out into the ocean. “That whatever is out there.” He smiled, looking down at me before he turned back to the sea. “Japan, the Philipines, whatever is in that direction. I would swim there and back if you asked me to, without hesitation.”

“You don’t know what’s in that direction?” I said with a laugh.

“Y/n you are missing my point!” Chan said chuckling.

“No, I get it. I was just teasing you, Chris.” Leaning up I pressed my lips to his. Chan smiled and pulled me fully on top of him. His fingers tangled themselves in my hair. I felt his heartbeat going crazy against my hand. “I don’t think I’ve ever been happier than I am now,” I whispered against his lips.

“You make me happy,” Chan whispered, looking up at me. “I swear if you tell the boys I ever said something like that I’ll be so embarrassed.” I giggled watching him cover his face, hiding the blush growing on his cheeks.

“Don’t worry, I wo-”

I was cut off by a crash coming from inside the house. Both our heads shot towards the sound. “Did you leave something on the edge of the counter?” Chan asked staring at the door leading back into the house. His grip on my waist tightened when I shook my head.

“No...Chan, what’s going on?”

The door burst open and I screamed seeing Dowoon aiming his gun at the both of us. “Jae they are out here!” He called back into the house. 

“Dowoon!” I screeched, pulling down Chan’s shirt further over my legs. Before I could say anything else, Dowoon grabbed Chan roughly by the arm and pulled him away and into the house. “Let him go! Dowoon!” I screamed and pounded on the man’s back. 

My eyes widened as he threw Chan down onto the floor in the living room. Right at the feet of Park Jae. The man who used to make my heart skip a beat. Now I was furious. “Chan!” I screamed, holding onto him. 

“I’m fine, just stay behind me.” He whispered to me, getting up. Chan stood tall, though his height was no match for the whopping half a foot Jae had on him. I did as Chan told me, sending a glare at Jae from behind Chris, my fingers holding tightly onto his arm.

“Really, Y/n. You’re with this guy!?” Jae screamed pointing his gun at Chan. “What about us?” Jae said quieting down. He looked genuinely hurt. 

“Jae it wouldn’t have worked...” Chan laced his fingers with mine, still keeping his eyes on Jae and Dowoon. 

“Look, Jae...I remember you from a couple years ago. This isn’t you. Let’s put the gun down and handle this like men.” Chan said with a calm tone. Jae scoffed. 

“Fine.” Jae tossed his gun to Dowoon and nodded to him. “Let’s settle this like men.” I heard the sound of his fist making contact with Chan’s face before I saw it. Chan reacted immediately pushing Jae off him before landing a punch of his own. 

My eyes widened when I heard the front door opened. During the scuffle, Dowoon had exited and was now dragging in two men. “HEY MAN WATCH IT! I bruise easily.” I would know that voice anywhere.

“Jisung?” His blonde head turned to me eyes wide.

“Y/n! Y/n, save me from this Mad Monkey Man!” 

“CHAN STOP! They have Ji and Bin!” Chan’s eyes widened and he looked up to see his friends being held by Dowoon. I pulled him off of Jae, who stood up and dusted off his suit. He smirked seeing our reaction to the boys. Jae shrugged off his jacket and turned to our friends. Even Bin looked a little scared. “Jae, leave them out of this.” 

“I can’t do that Y/n. I know for a fact...this one,” He said grabbing the back of Jisung’s hair and lifting up his head. “Was seen helping you make a getaway in Gwanak and he was at the house in Itaewon.” Jisung struggled against Jae’s grip. “Gave Dowoon quite the scar on his cheek.” I turned to see in fact Dowoon had a fresh scar on his left cheek.

I let out a short scream as Jae’s fist flew across Jisung’s face. My friend glared up at him and spat on the floor, a dark red substance falling from his lips. “don’t hurt him.” Jae’s eyes widened and a surprised smile spread over his face.

“Well, seems both men have got you wrapped around their finger, Y/n.” He said taking Jisung’s face in his hand. “The question is,” He said turned to me and reaching behind him. “Which one matters more to you?” Jae pulled out another gun and aimed it at Chan. Dowoon pulled his out as well and pressed it against Ji’s temple. 

In the corner of my eye, I saw Chan’s hand move behind him and reach into the lampshade. When his hand reappeared he was grasping a gun. I held onto his arm and shook my head ‘no’. Chan watched as I stepped between him and the barrel of the gun. 

Jae scoffed. “You’ve got her brainwashed pretty well, don’t you?” I scowled and stood still staring down the barrel of the gun. I knew he wouldn’t fire if I was standing between him and his target. “You probably tried to take advantage of her. Luckily she’s not dumb enough to fall for that sort of f***ing scam.” 

I heard Chan scoff behind me and I shot him a look. He ignored it, however, stepping forward. “Really?” He asked with a smile, listing his head. “From what I remember...she came on to me.” I could see Jae getting angrier and angrier. “Man, you should have been here the past few days. Things were pretty crazy,” Chan said with a smirk.

“D**MMMMMM BRO! THAT’S COLD!” Jisung laughed. Another punch from Jae silenced him.

“You’ve got a right to be jealous,” Chan said, grasping my hand. That was the last straw. Jae launched at Chan, taking him to the flower. Dowoon, thoroughly confused as to what was going on, dropped Changbin and Jisung. Bin ran over near me, wanting to be as far away from Dowoon as possible. Jisung on the other hand stayed over there, enthralled by the fight.

“YES. STEAL HIS GIRL CHAN! SHOW HIM WHO’S BOSS!”

“Jisung, dude, she wasn’t his in the first place,” Bin said narrowing his eyes at our friend. Jisung looked from me and then back to the fight.

“.......KICK HIS ASS, HYUNG!” 

Both boys rolled around on the floor throwing punches and wrestling for dominance. “Stop it!” I screamed pulling on Jae’s shirt. “Stop!” They kept on fighting, not hearing me over Jisung’s trash talk to Jae and his cheers fro Chan. “That’s it.” 

My eyes scanned the room for something relatively heavy. I raced over to the end table and grabbed the purple object before slamming it against the back of Jae’s head. “ENOUGH!” I screamed. All the boys stopped what they were doing and stared at me, eyes wide with fear.

“Chan you were right....what is with your girlfriend and candles...” Jisung whispered to his friend who lay at his feet. Chan looked up and then let his head drop to the floor. I looked to see a Black Cherry Merlot candle in my hand, the lavender tinted glass cracked from the impact of Jae’s cranium. 

Jae rolled off of Chan and held the back of his head. “Enough. Stop this madness. I have had it up to here with you all.” Dowoon flinched at my yelling and I almost felt bad. Jisung helped Chan up from the floor and I dragged Jae by his ear to the kitchen. 

“Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow...” He whined all the way.

“Shut up and listen okay?” Jae nodded and silently watched me grab a bag of frozen peas from the freezer. “I’m not going back with you,” His eyes saddened and he opened his mouth to say something but I stopped him. “I left on purpose. I hated it there. I wasn’t living my own life. I felt like I was locked up in a prison.” 

Jae nodded and pressed the vegetable bag to the back of his head. “So, you really love him?” He looked broken. I still loved Jae, very much. But, not in the way that I used to. His head fell when I nodded. “Your dad is going to kill me, you do know that right?” There was a tiny laugh in his voice, but the words were more true than I would have liked to believe.

“Give me your phone.” 

He passed me his phone and I scrolled through the contacts until I found my father. I waited, arms crossed for him to pick up. “Jae! Have you found my baby girl?” My father’s voice exclaimed through the phone.

“Hi, daddy!” I said, looking around the mess of my new house. Changbin was helping Chan and Jisung was having a sort of staring contest with Dowoon. He flinched away when Dowoon uncrossed his arms. I tried not to laugh.

“Y/n! My darling! Please tell me you are coming home.”

“Daddy, I love you,” I started. He went quiet hearing those words. 

“You aren’t coming home are you?” I shook my head before telling him what he didn’t want to hear. I told him all about my deal with Chan and how he kept me safe until he got me to Jeju. I told him about how I never expected to fall in love with someone like him, but it happened. 

“I’m happy, Dad.” I heard a slow sigh on the other end of the call. I could just picture my father rubbing his temples in his study. 

“If you are happy and you are safe... then I trust you.” I smiled hearing those words. I wanted to jump and scream and sing all around the house. I wanted to run into the ocean and bask in the sunlight. “Please promise me, that you will come visit us.” 

I agreed and told him I loved him before hanging up the phone and giving it back to Jae. “Would you and Dowoon like to stay for lunch? Chan and I were going to grill some shrimp and other stuff.” Jae seemed shocked by the offer. 

“That would be nice.” I smiled and patted his shoulder. 

“The bathroom is just down the hall, but I’m sure Jisung would also like to clean up his face...so I would run.” He gave me a confused look. “He is a strong supporter of ‘dibs’. So, I would run before he calls it.” Jae nodded and turned to leave. 

My hand on his wrist stopped him. “Jae, I’m really sorry. About us. About everything.” He gave me a tight-lipped smile and placed a hand on my shoulder. 

“It’s okay. As long as you're happy with...Chan...then I am happy for you.” 

I smiled and reached up to give him a hug. “Now go before Jisung calls dibs.” He smiled and walked down the hall, breaking into a sprint when he saw Jisung was doing the same. 

♛

Chan and I watched from the sunroom as Jisung and Changbin pushed each other around on the beach. Jae and Dowoon had left after lunch. Now the sun was setting and Chan was grilling up some more food while I sat and talked to him. I laughed watching Changbin throttle Jisung into the ocean.

“How into this are you?” Chan asked flipping some vegetables over on the grill. I gave him a lopsided grin and stood from the daybed. I wrapped my arms around his waist feeling the muscles beneath his tank top.

“Into what? This? Us?” He nodded. I pretended to think about it, making him smile. I let my lips trail down his shoulder. “Very.”

“You’re saying that you want to be my partner in crime?” I rose a brow and he gave me a nervous laugh. “Okay, semi-legal partner in crime.” I laughed and kissed his shoulder again. 

“Let’s start with ‘girlfriend’ before I break the law with you.” He smiled and closed the grill. 

A scream called our attention back to the beach. I was relieved to just see Jisung running away from Changbin. Unfortunately, Jisung wasn’t fast enough and Changbin had his hands around his shoulders, shoving Ji down under the waves.

“I’m friends with literal children.”

 “Yes, yes you are.” He leaned down and pressed a heated kiss onto my lips. I was seriously falling in love with this man. “What do you want to do now, handsome?” I smirked seeing him roll his eyes, but a rosy blush tinted his ears. 

“I don’t know,” He shrugged.

“Something good? Something bad?” I played with the ends of his hair before kissing the corner of his lips. “Bit of both? Whatever you want, pretty boy.” Chan sighed and wrapped his arms around my waist. His eyes turned to the sunset, twinkling in the light. 

“Bit of both then.” He said with a smirk, leaning in for another kiss.

♛

Requests are open my lovelies! Just send an ask!

Masterlist

[writingwithadinosaur]

“Under the Knife - Part 8

“Under the Knife” - Part 8

My Masterlist - Here

Story Masterlist - Here

My Tag List - Here

Hannibal Lecter x Reader, Will Graham x Sister!Reader

Word Count: 2,700-ish

Key: Chunks of text in italics are (Y/N)’s thoughts. Y/N = Your Name, H/C = Your Hair Color, E/C = Your Eye Color

Warnings: Cursing, Violence, 

Summary: You are Will Graham’s sister who works with him at the FBI. When you get offered a job promotion, life starts to change. Some changes for the better; Some for the worst.

Author’s Note: This is my first Hannibal piece and I am proud of it. There aren’t too many stories for Hannibal, so I figured I would add to the collection.

This does take place in some happy medium where they are all alive and work together. Sort of a happier season 1 era.

This is beta-read by @theeactress​, but please let me know if there is something that we missed or that we should look at again! 

If you would like to be tagged in any of my future pieces, check out my tag list above and let me know! And as always, feedback is greatly appreciated!

<3

- DreaSaurusREX

Tag List: @fruitloopzzz @theeactress @melconnor2007 @ashenfallsof @geeksareunique @all-by-myself98 @sj-thefan​ @fuck-your-bad-vibes-dude​ @ntlmundy​ @a-person-unlabled

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today was the first day in awhile that you didn’t feel any intense pressure weighing down on your shoulders. You walked into your office, prepared to have another day of trying to figure out the puzzle that was the Virginia Scalpel. But as soon as you shut the door, you realized that you didn’t have to worry about that anymore. It was a strange relief that you hadn’t ever felt. 

Although Jack’s tactical team still hadn’t caught Henry Urik yet and you were unsettled by him still being out there, you weren’t as scared as before. The killer that had been teasing you and that had named you one of his next victims now had a name. 

Jack’s team had all of the information that you and Hannibal could give them. You also had an armed agent watching over you and Hannibal until Henry was caught. 

All you had to worry about at the moment was your 1 o’clock lecture on the “stereotypes of gender roles and how they can affect the psyche of an individual,” and then you could take a half day and go take a nap at home. Well, that and your dinner with Hannibal tonight. But even then, you weren’t as worried about that as you were about Henry still being out there.

Your lecture went by quickly, even the students seemed to understand everything rather easily. Only a couple asked a few questions for clarification after your presentation. Even with those students stopping you, you got out a bit earlier than anticipated. Looking at your watch, you realized that Will was going to be leading a lecture soon.

I should probably talk to him. And I do really miss those dogs.

After stopping by your office to grab your bag and close up, you weaved through the familiar hallways to the nearest coffee machine, getting two cups, making one how you like  and one for Will. With both cups securely in your hands, you found the lecture hall he was assigned to today. You softly walked in, seeing your brother completely entranced in something on his laptop. Before you made it all the way into the room, you cleared your throat in effort to grab his attention. It worked. As soon as he located where the noise was coming from and saw you, he stood up and walked around to the other side of the desk.

“(Y/N)! Hey! Wh-what uh… What’s up?” You knew he was trying to not seem nervous, but you could see through him. You took a few steps closer and offered him the coffee cup, not seeing the probably empty one already on his desk. You tried to make your voice as comforting as you could.

“I was passing by and decided to stop by to ask you something.” 

“Is everything okay?” Will was hesitant but took the coffee, looking all over you for any sort of tells as to what is going on.

“As okay as they can be.” You shrugged, not feeling anything in particular, which only added to Will’s worry and confusion.

“What’s going on, (Y/N)?” 

You pause, seeing the visible uncomfortableness and growing fear in Will’s features. You quickly try to find a way to calm him down while getting to the point of why you’re here.

“Do you think the dogs would mind their favorite aunt stopping by for a drink tonight?” You couldn’t help the small smile that crept across your face as a slightly bigger one formed on Will’s. You could hear the extra air he let out in his chuckle, an obvious sigh of relief. 

“I think they would really like that.” His smile faltered a tad as he looked down to his hands. He spoke quieter, as if unsure how you would react. “I would really like that.” 

As he looked back towards your face to see your reaction, you met him with a sincere and reassuring smile. 

“Good. Me too.” Another huff of relief from Will. “I have dinner plans with Hannibal tonight. But I was hoping I could just drive over afterwards for a nightcap?”

“Sounds good to me. I’ll have the good stuff ready and waiting for you.” Will took a breath in, trying his best to be careful with his words. “And, if that nightcap ends up turning into a few, you could crash at my place.” 

Again, Will looked as if you were a powder keg about to explode if the wrong button was hit. You just closed the gap between the two of you and wrapped your arms around his torso, his finding their place around you. 

Your brother was not fond of physical affection from a majority of people. But you were one of the very few that he not only tolerated, but sometimes felt a need for. 

“I’ll pack an overnight bag just in case.” You pulled away and tapped your hand on his upper arm. “For now, I am going to go home and take a nap.

“Jack’s letting you go home early?” Will was genuinely surprised. Jack was never one for early dismissals.

“Well, considering I did finally find out the Virginia Scalpel’s real name last night and got all my work with that wrapped up, I think Crawford is a bit more lenient on what I do today.” You casually mention as you shrug.

“You did what?!” Will’s expression was one of shock and pride. A handful of students filed in behind you. A playful grin graced your face as you tapped his arm one more time before taking a couple of steps backwards.

“I’ll tell you all about it later tonight. I need to get ready for this assuredly anxiety-inducing dinner and you have a lecture to get through.” Will gave you a slightly annoyed look as you winked and walked away, talking over your shoulder. “I’ll call you when I’m on my way.”

You couldn’t see it, but Will just shook his head and let his smile linger a bit longer before turning his attention towards his class. As much as he worried about you during this case, he was very proud of his little sister. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When you got back to your apartment, you tried to take a nap. Key word: tried. Your brain would not calm down enough for you to fall asleep for even a quick cat nap. The coffee that you got before meeting with Will probably didn’t help.

After tossing and turning for 30 minutes, you gave up and decided to make some tea and get some cleaning done around your place. You hadn’t been able to do laundry thanks to the case, so you finally started to chisel away at that pile. 

Once you had put the last load in the dryer, you looked at the clock and saw that it was 5 o’clock. You had an hour before you were supposed to be at Hannibal’s. Might as well take my time and get ready.

After fussing with finding a comfortable but semi-formal outfit to match Hannibal’s aesthetic, you quickly packed a backpack with some overnight things. You were sure you’d end up talking to Will for longer than you both intend, meaning you’d either be too tipsy or too tired to drive home safely. 

With the last of your laundry out of the machine and plopped onto your bed for you to put away later, you grabbed your keys and headed out the door. Preparing for anything to happen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As per usual, you pulled up to Hannibal’s five minutes early thanks to taking some backroads. You put the car in park and took the keys from the ignition, but you didn’t move. There was a tightening feeling in your chest. You tried to close your eyes for a moment and take some deep breaths. 

Dinner won’t be bad. Hannibal is a trained psychologist. If anyone is going to be able to guide the conversation into a calmer place, it's gonna be him. Plus you know damn well that you miss spending time with him that isn’t plagued by confusion or the fuckin Virginia Scalpel. You two are adults. You can talk about literally anything and be okay. 

So why am I still anxious?

Because you had your eyes closed, you didn’t see Hannibal approach your car. So when he opened your door, you instinctually jumped back and gasped.

“My apologies, (Y/N). I didn’t mean to startle you. Are you alright?” 

“No. It's fine. I’m fine. I was just taking a breather.” Hannibal nodded, sensing that you didn’t want to expand on this further. So instead he held out his hand.

“Shall we then? I have some salmon in the oven that is awaiting your judgment.” He let one of those small side smiles of his grace his face in an attempt to comfort you as you reached for his hand and he helped you out of your car, shutting the door behind you once you got your purse. 

Unlike usual, Hannibal led you to the dining room as opposed to the kitchen. He pulled out a chair for you. After you settled in, he poured you a cup of water and a glass of wine as he spoke.

“Everything is prepared, I just need to take the salmon out. I won’t be long.” You just thanked him and nodded as you took a sip of water. 

Within a couple of minutes, Hannibal was walking in with two plates that looked just as artistic and beautiful as he normally presents. The main part was a rather large piece of salmon with thin lemon slices laid across the top, paired with a mix of halved grape tomatoes, white asparagus, and the same twirly romanesco broccoli that you had tried the last time you had dinner with Hannibal.

“This looks wonderful, Hannibal. Thank you.” You said as he sat down. The two of you started to eat, both of you trying to figure out how best to start the conversation that you knew was coming. Hannibal was the first to speak up.

“Are you planning on going somewhere?" You were caught off guard, not expecting this to be the starting point of your talk with him.

"What makes you say that?"

"I couldn’t help but notice the slightly overstuffed bag in your passenger seat. I assume it's for staying the night somewhere other than your own apartment. And while you’re always welcomed to stay here if you wanted, I don’t think you would without asking me first."

“Then you would be right. I wouldn’t impose on you like that.” You went to take a sip of your wine as you looked at Hannibal. He gave you a look that said that he knew there was more that you needed to share. “I talked to Will briefly today and we made plans for tonight. We are finally going to talk this all out. The bag is for in case I end up getting too tired and sleep on his couch."

Hannibal gave a slight nod before cutting off a piece of salmon and continuing the conversation.

“I'm sure Will is happy to finally have a moment to talk with you and share his side of the story."

“I'm sure he is.” You took a sip of your wine, bracing yourself for the unavoidable topic. “How about you, Hannibal?” Hannibal looked towards you and raised a curious brow. “What's your side of the story?”

Hannibal took a sip of water before turning his body slightly more towards you, giving you his full attention as he finally spoke on what he had been thinking about saying for days now.

“Will came to me rather distraught after you had said that you were going to accept Jack’s offer. It was my idea to insert myself into Crawford’s team as background support. And while my original intention for joining the Scalpel case was to ease Will’s mind, I couldn’t ignore my own reasons.” Hannibal reached a hand out and grabbed yours, you felt your cheeks warm at the unexpected contact. He was so gentle with you as he spoke sincerely.

“After seeing Will crack again and again under Crawford’s intense force on the handful of cases that they worked on, I was worried you would also be damaged under his leadership. I cannot deny that I do truly care about you and your wellbeing. And with this being your first time handling a major active case, I wanted to be there in case something were to happen to you.”

You weren’t sure what to say. Hannibal had not only told you that it wasn’t Will’s idea to have him follow you, but he admitted that he cared about you. The trouble was that you couldn’t tell if it was the type of caring that you had secretly longed for with a more romantic relationship with Hannibal or if it was similar to how your brother cares about you. You wanted to ask, but the words wouldn’t fit together and be coherent enough for you to vocalize.

While you struggled to figure out how to respond, Hannibal lifted your hand to his lips and kissed the back of your hand softly before putting it down and reaching for his glass of wine, raising it in your direction.

“Here’s to you and your impressive mind. Without you, who knows how long it would have taken to find out the true identity of the infamous Virginia Scalpel.” You raise your glass and gently tap his, finally able to form a coherent thought again.

“I’m sure Crawford would have just asked for your help or maybe even Will’s if I hadn’t said yes. I got lucky with this one.” You took a sip of your wine, savoring the sweetness of it as you started to slice the fish on your plate. “Honestly, I don’t think I would have figured it out without you inadvertently helping me.”

“How so?” Hannibal questioned before taking a bite of salmon.

“When you came to check on me after the lab meeting, I went on to say something about being your friend and colleague but not your patient. And that’s when it hit me that we weren’t looking in the right demographic.”

There was a moment of silence as Hannibal thought about where to go from this information.

“And how do you feel now?” You finished the bite of food that you had and looked at your water cup, not wanting Hannibal to see into your eyes even though he was already watching you rather intensely. Trying to read all of the nonverbal indications you were giving. 

“I feel okay. Well, as okay as I can be. That insane pressure of figuring out who the hell Henry Urik is was bigger than anything I’ve had to deal with since I started working with the FBI. But there is still the fact that Jack’s team still hasn't found him that has been really messing with me. That and the anxiety of finally having this talk with you and my brother.”

“I hope that some of that anxiety has worn away now that we have resolved things between us?”

“Some. But I can’t help but be worried until everything is settled.” 

“You now know that protecting you was my intention when I joined the Scalpel case. I don’t intend for that promise to end with this case being closed.” Hannibal’s hand casually found yours again, making you focus even more on what he was saying (if it was even possible to focus more.) 

“I promise to do everything in my power to make sure you feel safe and taken care of.”

His warm hand was instantly comforting and you hadn’t realized how much you craved physical affection from him, even in the smallest forms. Your heart swelled at his vow. 

Before you could fully process what he had said, the click of a gun being armed and a very different voice demanded your attention from the other side of the room. A man with messy red-brown hair cocked and aimed a pistol right at you.

“I don’t know if you wanna make that promise so soon, doc.”

[newcaptainofsquad9]

So, When Can We Tell The World? {1} Min Yoongi x black! fem! reader

Parts: 1 2 3 4  5 6 

Pairing: Yoongi x reader

Summary: You and Yoongi have been collaborating for a few years, what the public world didn’t know however was that the both of you were in a happy, functioning relationship. After showing up to support at one of your shows, Yoongi suggests going public, making you anxious for him, but most of all your own well-being with his fans and of what the South Korean public would think of you. 

Genre: Angst, Fluff, Romance, Idol-verse, Smut (hinted at in this part, but none explicitly)

Word Count: 2, 046

Author’s Note: So, here we are another series. I know too many, but this one will probably be the same chapter length as Shakespeare Sub, I promise. Anyways, I hope ya’ll enjoy it and if ya’ll have any BTS or EXO requests, send them my way. Thanks!

The last song of the concert always feels surreal. The stage isn’t huge, just a decent sized theater in Bluetsville(your hometown). It’s the thought that gets me, I’ve played at bigger venues before, yet coming back always gets me emotional. Once the song finishes I smile so hard my cheeks hurt and glance out into the crowd as applause fills the entire venue. 

One person stands out the most with his over-sized black hoodie, glasses and a cap with my stage name on it. I wouldn’t have done a double take if he didn’t flash that familiar gummy smile, as if he knew I was going to look there. It’s only a moment, yet I recognize Yoongi’s smile anywhere, he hardly does it even around me. Maybe his fans don’t notice him but in that slip second I did as he claps the loudest before sending me his finger hearts. I start to do it back, but stop myself abruptly. No, that’ll just draw attention to us. It’s almost an exclusive k-pop gesture, which someone on Twitter could easily pick up on. Instead I send him a quick wink. 

“Thank you so much!” I scream.

The crowd reacts in thunderous applause once more, I give one last bow and turn back towards the curtain, disappearing behind it.

***

I find myself dressed down in my dressing room, wearing one of Yoongi’s old hoodies, a snapback and grey sweats. My phone lights up abruptly, signalling an upcoming call from my brother, Kevin of all people. 

“Sup loser,” I say through a low giggle. 

“Yo idiot,” he answers back, “how’d the show go?”

I sigh with a dopey grin.

It was amazing. Even though the people packed together in swayed, waved and sung together like a frenzied horde, I couldn’t help but think back to Yoongi. I hope he got to wherever he needed to safely. 

“Uh, did you hear me?” Kevin asks. 

“Y-Yeah,” I say quickly, “it went amazing, a little more daunting compared to my first tour.”

Kevin gaffs.   

“If that didn’t boost your chances at the Grammys, I don’t know what will!” 

I chuckle against the phone at my brother’s words. 

“I don’t think that’s how it works Kev,” I say, “I don’t really care, they invited me, I guess to preform.”

Kevin hums. 

“Yeah?” he asks, “And what about ol’ Agust D, eh? he performing with you? I heard him and the guys were supposed to be there too.”

I can’t help but smile when he mentions Yoongi’s other rap persona. That album was what made me discover Yoongi’s music, along with BTS’s discography and eventually pushed me to want to collaborate with them. What I didn’t expect was to fall in love with Yoongi during our time recording All The Crown Players(a song from your album). 

“I’m not really sure,” I say, “you know how they can be.”

“Oh, I know, how can they snub you twice!” Kevin whines, “anyway, I gotta go! Next time you talk to ol’ Suga tell him I said hey!”

I roll my eyes. 

“I told you  to call him Yoongi,” I groan. 

“Ey, that’s what the fans call him,” he says, “talk to you later, love you.”

“Love you too idiot,” I say.

Kevin starts to say something else but I hang up anyway. If he’s got something to do he won’t call back as fast and I won’t get another earful. 

“That’s what you get for teasing me about my boyfriend,” I mutter to myself.  

A text from Yoongi lights my phone up instead. 

Yoongi: It amazes me every time you perform, God you were so amazing babe

My dopey smile returns once my fingers numbly tap the keypad in response.

Me: I saw you at the end! How the hell did you get in without anyone recognizing you?

Yoongi responds straight away.

Yoongi: I have my ways. I’ve been doing this for seven years sweetheart, I’ve mastered the art of incognito mode. 😎

My grin spreads out at his message. My fingers follow the lame joke that pops into my head, yet I couldn’t care less.

Me: So, what you’re Batman? No, Anpanman! 😂😂

I giggle out as Yoongi’s response takes a little longer, as it should. Between my lame jokes and Jin’s dad jokes I think he’s fed up with the both of us. At least with me it makes some sort of sense. 

A moment passes, instead of a text back I get a call from Yoongi. Oh boy. 

“Hello?” I answer.

“I know you’re laughing,” Yoongi says, “I just want to confirm that it wasn’t funny.”

I cover my mouth to stifle the remaining giggles that flood out. 

“I know, but it’s true,” I say, “you are my Anpanman.”

Yoongi grumbles something that I can’t make out. 

“Sorry babe, what was that?” I ask. 

“Nothing Jagi,” he says, “anyway —”

“Yoongi,” I warn, “tell me, please?”

Yoongi sighs deeply.

“I said, I better be your Anpanman,” he admits, “are you happy now?” 

“Yes,” I say, “how long are you gonna be here?”

“As long as you want me,” Yoongi answers, “we got a small break before Grammys and the MMAs. I was wondering if we could meet at your place.”

My heart hammers in my chest at his words. We’ve stayed with each other overnight before, yet I always feel like I’m some lovestuck teenager when I’m around Yoongi. We rarely get moments together, if it’s public we have to remain friendly, but not too friendly to raise dating suspicions. Even when he’s here in America it’s difficult to schedule time for each other. I’m an artist too and BTS is getting just as huge, the fact that Yoongi and I both have time before the Grammy’s is a God send.    

“Y/N?” Yoongi asks, breaking me from my thoughts. 

“Yeah, we can meet there,” I reassure, “you still have a key?”

“You know I do,” he says, “see you there.”

I bit my lip before humming in agreement. 

***

The moment I step across the threshold of my house, I shut the door and twist the locks in place. A pair of strong arms wrap around my waist before I can get a chance to take my hands off the cold locks. 

“I need to go to your shows more often,” Yoongi says. 

I shiver at his breath near my ear and turn around in his arms to face him. He’s in his dark hoodie, but the hat is gone, revealing soft, short brown hair that falls into his eyes. 

“You come when you can,” I say, “I’m just glad you got there safely.”

Yoongi chuckles while he moves a hand up to cup my face. 

“You worry too much,” he notes, “I’m here, ok?”

His eyes soften as they bore into mine, he leans in to press our foreheads together. I follow his lead, our lips meet in a fierce kiss, something we haven’t been able to do in months. My fingers find themselves in his brown locks as he groans into the kiss, backing up slightly, yet not disconnecting from my lips. 

I pull back with a giggle.

“Are you good?”

Yoongi nods and nudges his head towards my velvet sofa. 

“I just wanted to take this to the couch,” he admits, “your concert took everything out of me.”

“Oh really?”

Yoongi nods as I take his hand and lead him to the sofa before we both plop down on it. 

“Really,” he confirms with a kiss, “you kinda got me worked up actually.”

I return his kisses fully, pull myself up into his lap and rub down his chest. 

“Is that in a good way?” I challenge. 

Yoongi growls against my jaw, kissing down my neck as his hands rub up and down my sides. 

“Oh it’s good baby, so good,” he groans, “God, tug your fingers in my hair again.”

I nod as our lips meet once again, my fingers find themselves in his hair as our make out continues. His moans make me smile, his hips bucking up against me as the kisses grow hungrier. 

“You’re so needy,” I whisper, “do you need me to take care of that?”

Yoongi’s eyes close as he nods. 

“Please, I, God, I love you,” he moans. 

My hands freeze once I reach for the buckle of his pants. Did he just say the l word? 

Yoongi opens his eyes, the lust that was once there is replaced with concern.

“Y/N?” he asks, “you all right?”

I nod and slide back onto the couch from his lap. 

“Yeah,” I lie. 

Of course I knew he loved me, he never says it though. I’m the one you says it, and Yoongi always responds with a “me too” or “love you more.” Never fully. It shouldn’t bother me much, yet it does for some reason. 

“Y/N,” Yoongi says. 

I look up and his face is only an inch from my own. 

“Was that too much?” he asks, “what did I do wrong?”

I stroke his cheek and shake my head. 

“Nothing, it’s just,” I pause before continuing, “it was just surprising to hear I love you from you.”

Yoongi pulls back to pull me into an embrace. 

“You had me worried,” he whispers, “I know I need to say it more especially when we’re pressed for time together.”

I smile in the crook of his neck. 

“No, it’s fine,” I say, “we can keep it between us.”

Yoongi pulls back with a puzzled glare.

“What do you mean?”

I sit up and gnaw at my lip. 

“Maybe, we shouldn’t say it often, because I don’t want it to slip out at the wrong time,” I explain, “with ARMY and all those girls clawing at you.”

Yoongi chuckles as he leans in to plant a few kisses down my neck. 

“Do they make you jealous?” he asks.

I can hardly focus as his lips continue to work. 

“Well, a little,” I say, “it’s a lot to live up to.”

Yoongi grows serious. I end up against his chest as his arms wound themselves tightly around me. His heart beats rhythmically in tune with mine, forcing me to calm down just a bit.

“They don’t hold a candle to you,” he says, “I love them, but it’s a different type of love. You know I’d do anything for you, right?”

The words get lodged in my throat at the intense look Yoongi throws at me. He’s completely serious. 

“Yoongi-”

“Y/N, I want to tell the world,” he admits, “ARMY, everyone.”

Where is he going with this?

“Yoongi, what are you-”

“We should be official,” Yoongi declares.

My mind goes haywire. He isn’t serious, right?

“But we are official,” I say, “Yoongi, we’ve already established that we’re dating.”

Yoongi shakes his head this time.

“Y/N you know what I mean,” he says, “I don’t want to hide anymore.”

A rush comes to my head at once. The headlines would be horrendous: “BTS star Suga has been revealed to be dating ‘urban’ Hip Hop artist Y/N Y/L/N.” Kpop Twitter will literally implode in on itself. Yoongi won’t get any rest and I won’t be able to live it down. If I was Korean maybe, just maybe I would get out alive, even if I was white too, but as a black woman? There’s not a chance in hell.

“Babe, please tell me what you’re thinking,” Yoongi pleads,”you’ve been quiet for awhile.”

“Yoongi, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I say.

“How come?” he asks.

“Well, for one, do you know what happened with Chen? Kai? Jennie?” I ask, “the fans would devour me!”

“They wouldn’t,” he grumbles, “you’re an amazing person, singer, rapper and writer.”

“Yeah and black,” I say bluntly, “they can’t get past that.”

Yoongi takes both of my hands prior to squeezing tightly. 

“I know, but they’ll just have to handle it, right?”

It’s like the words aren’t even being comprehended. Does he not hear me? 

I inhale slowly and stand from the couch. 

“Y/N-”

I give Yoongi an artificial smile, something to get him off my back for a moment. 

“I-I’m ok, I-I just need some time to myself,” I say. 

Yoongi deflates, but nods anyway before leaning back into the couch. 

[norabrice1701]

An Offer Received - Part II

A Jaguar Villain Tom Hiddleston Character (Thomas Conrad) fanfic

Pairing: Thomas Conrad x Fem!reader

Summary: Part II - Mr. Conrad plays five steps ahead of you, baiting his trap, planting his seed...of change, that is. 

Rating: Part II - an F-bomb or two, controlling behavior 

Previously: Part I - 5 Minutes 

A/N: Thank you for all the Part I love! This work of fiction is intentionally free of any direct country references. Conrad’s sights are set bigger than any one nation. 

GIF credit to the original poster via the Tumblr search! 

Part II - 5 Weeks 

The news sent shock waves through the corporation. Even five weeks later, the rumors still hadn’t died down.

The most common theory was that you fucked him for the position. Sure, you didn’t wear the shortest skirts or the tightest blouses, but you were pretty enough and still a woman – and he was just a man. It was an obvious, frustrating assumption. The second prevailing theory was that you just plain fucked up. Why else would someone move from department head to a glorified office assistant?

Of course, no one ever said anything to your face. Your presence brought too much undeniable authority for anyone to make a direct snide remark. But you didn't buy-in to the gossip about Conrad before, and you didn’t buy-in to the theories now. Everyone could speculate on the limits of your ambition, but you held your head high, secure in the truth that you hadn't sacrificed your integrity to get the position. Hell, it wasn't even something you asked for. 

But with each week that passed, the noise became easier to drown out as your knowledge of the corporation’s inner workings expanded exponentially. As Head of Production, you had a limited purview – but now, nothing was off-limits. Civil service initiatives. Defense contracts. Private buyer agreements. All in addition to the main consumer technology ‘gadget’ market.

It proved endlessly fascinating. The corporation had branched into so many different industrial and municipal strata that it was no wonder LOKI continued to post record-topping revenue each quarter during Conrad’s reign.

It made you wonder. Had Conrad been the architect of all this? Somehow, you doubted the former CEO had left this grand vision for Conrad to execute. The old guard – largely symbolized by Mrs. Brunhilde – was a thing of the past, and Conrad plainly had eyes for the future.

True to his word, you took very few of his calls and managed very little of his schedule. You knew it, of course, and had turned plenty of people away who hoped to just ‘drop in on him’. You’d note names, numbers and topics, adding them to your list of talking points for your daily meeting with him.

Those meetings proved unforgiving on a good day, and brutal if any fires burned. You had to ace it – an ever-changing status to condense the daily workings of a multi-faceted corporation into a few minutes’ time. But Conrad never missed anything – his questions cut to the chase, distilled issues down to their core, and always looked five moves ahead.

Of course, he had to look flawless all the while. You’d never once seen him with his tie loose or sleeves rolled up. His suit jacket came and went, but it wasn't a tell of his mood. He maintained a professional, even keel and nothing ever seemed to fluster him. Even when production numbers took a dip during the transition – even though you would begrudgingly admit that Jeremy Barton was doing a decent job – and even when a lucrative acquisition contract with Hong Kong fell through, you never saw the man break a sweat.

You sighed, forcing yourself back to focus, thumping another file folder onto the stack, this one named Operation ‘Lily Pad’. Oddly enough, the corporate-level initiatives had the most unprofessional and vague names.You’d received word late in the day that Conrad planned to lead a meeting with the corporate investing committee tomorrow. He hadn’t shared the objective, but he had requested four slides of investment figures and activities from each department, highlighting the corporate-level initiatives.

So, here you were at 7:46 pm on a Wednesday night, reading and typing away. At least, you weren’t alone. Not that you were counting, but Conrad hadn’t emerged from his office in over three hours. And he didn’t really have to – with a private washroom, and probably a hidden kitchenette in the wall paneling, why would he?

Perhaps you would look at getting a mini-fridge for your desk if these late-night tasks continued. Your stomach rumbled again with hunger as you reached for the next folder.

Operation ‘Blue Sea’. By far the largest in the company, and the biggest consumer of resources with little to show for profitability. Of all the initiatives in the portfolio, it did look the oddest, but admittedly, you were still coming up to speed on federally-funded projects. You poured over the funding update, trying to condense the information for the slide.  

“I thought you might be hungry.”

You looked up, startled by the sudden mellifluous tone. How had you not heard him exit his office and walk to your desk?

“I…,” you shook your head clear, “I am, sir, but I should really finish this. You have your investing committee meeting up first tomorrow.”

“I do, indeed. And the night is far from over,” he paused, the corner of his mouth lifting as if in regret, “but needs must.”

You eyed him warily, unable to tell if he was making a joke. Had you ever seen him eat? Yes, he’d sipped from coffee mugs, teacups and to-go cups – but you didn’t think you’d ever seen the man ingest food.

“Come on,” he nodded for the suite door, “I know the perfect place.”

His tone told you that he wouldn’t take no for an answer, so you rose, grabbing your purse and scarf. Early autumn had brought a touch of chill to the daily breeze, but not enough to require a coat. Of course, Conrad was all buttoned-up in his perpetual state of perfection. 

Following him into the elevator, riding in companionable silence with the knowledge that you two were actually leaving together, getting food together…part of you wasn't convinced that this wasn’t a hunger-induced hallucination, while the schoolgirl part of you was giddy with the prospect of a public outing with such a man.

Not that this was anywhere near a date.

“This way.” He turned in the parking garage, dulcet tones echoing off the concrete surfaces.

Dutifully, you followed, just resisting an eye-roll as he strolled up to a gleaming white car. A Jaguar from the markings. 

Of course. Of course, a man in his position would drive such a flashy, sleek, sexy vehicle. He held open the passenger door without further ado, and you didn’t make a fuss about his show of chivalry. As with all things, you knew when to pick your battles. And accepting his dinner not-quite-invitation, sitting in his car, going to a place of his choosing – you knew better to let it play out for now.

He slid with fluid grace into the driver’s seat, closing the door behind him as the car roared to life. The buttery leather of your seat rumbled with the silky purr of the engine for the briefest second before the gears shifted and the car shot out into the night.

One big, seductive power play. How many other women had he poured into this same seat who just opened their legs at the sight of him at the wheel? Admittedly, it was an extremely appealing sight – the effortless ease with which he handled the tightly coiled power and navigated the city traffic. Faint piano music filled the interior, just audible over the engine’s steady growl.

It took you a few measures, but then you recognized it. Your piano teacher would be so proud. “Beethoven,” you glanced over at him with a small smile, “if I’m not mistaken.”

He nodded. “Very good.” The music stretched a little further between you. “Are you a classical music fan, or do you play?”

“A little of both, I suppose. I enjoy a good symphony when I can spare the time. And I took piano lessons through school. Sacrificed it to pursue a more practical career.”

“A shame, really. The world can always use more talented artists.”

You held back a snort. “I wouldn’t say I was a talented artist.”

“Perhaps not, but you’re not the type to accept failure.”

You licked your lips, suddenly uncertain. “And what of yourself? Classical music fan, or do you play?”

“Yes, to both.”

Your gaze dropped to his hands on the steering wheel. Such long, elegant, strong fingers. Perfect pianist’s hands. A blush rose on your cheeks as you turned to look out the windshield. “Well, they do say there’s a correlation between engineering and music.”

“Of course.” He sounded almost bored. “Most of my senior staff are amateur musicians of some kind.”

The thought made you pause. Did he already know that you played piano before asking you? How could he possibly know that? There was no official record of all those years you sat on Mrs. Campbell’s bench with her metronome and stern instructions in your ear. Was there?

Suddenly, the interior felt suffocating and your sense of unease grew. Just what sort of man was Conrad? You knew he was powerful within the walls of LOKI…but just how far did that power extend outside those walls?

He turned off the main street, gliding down a narrow lane that teemed with store and restaurant fronts. You squinted at the passing names, not sure if you’d heard of any of them. Just where exactly were you? 

The car rolled to a stop in front of an unassuming building. Unassuming, but not inelegant. Burgundy lacquer coated the front and swooping gold script simply read Sora’s. Conrad exited the vehicle and you closely followed, not giving him the opportunity to come around for your door again. He did, however, hold the restaurant door open for you to pass through first. 

Couples sat at the majority of tables as servers bustled about. The air was rich with aromas of spices and savory ramen flavors that made your mouth water. A warm, steady hand ghosted the small of your back and you caught a sudden hint of subtle, woodsy cologne. You chased the scent, taking a deep breath. Conrad brushed by you just as quick as he had stepped close - leaving you reeling in his wake. What was wrong with you? One minute you were drooling over the restaurant smells, and the next, wanting only to smell your boss’ cologne. 

God, you needed food. And wine, probably. Lots of wine. 

Conrad stepped up to the host, a smile lighting his face as he was obviously recognized. The host smiled wide, speaking in a smooth Japanese dialect as he gestured at your boss. Conrad returned the man’s greeting, Japanese syllables rolling effortlessly off his tongue. The host handed over a menu and Conrad took it with grace. 

“Here,” he handed it to you, “choose anything you’d like.” 

You skimmed the selections. “What would you recommend?” 

He indicated a couple, and it wasn’t a hard choice. Once he relayed your order to the host, and the host scurried off towards the kitchen, you couldn’t hold back, looking to Conrad with a small smile. “I didn’t know you spoke Japanese.” 

He looked over with a quirked brow, as if surprised at your boldness. “You haven’t needed to know.”

“Did you learn after becoming CEO? Or was this a skill you brought to the position?” 

“You don’t ask such trite questions. I suggest you don’t start now.” 

You froze on the sharp remark. What had changed between the conversation in the car, the touch to your back, and right now to warrant such a response? Perhaps he was uncomfortable in a public setting, talking about himself. Perhaps when you got him alone in the car again, you could...no, there would be no could.

In surprisingly short order, a server rushed to the front with a carry-out bag as the host motioned Conrad forward. 

“Sir,” you called after him, “please let me pay for my dinner.” 

He ignored you, accepting the bag with a nod and parting words that you didn’t understand. Without any further exchange, he turned, easily side-stepping you and holding open the restaurant door in silent expectation. 

You didn’t hold back your glare as you brushed by him. All at once, you couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d played you. That he’d orchestrated the entire outing to his exact specifications. It was the only explanation why the food had arrived so quick after placing the order and why he didn't pay in person.

You sighed as you settled back into the passenger seat. “Let me see if I understand this right,” you said as Beethoven’s gentle strains resumed, “you called ahead and paid in advance. Of course, you placed your order over the phone, but as far as my food…how did you know what I would choose?”

The corner of his mouth lifted in the passing streetlight. “It’s commonplace for first-timers to ask a regular for their recommendation. Knowing what I would recommend for you helped narrow the selection so the kitchen could plan in advance.”

“But there was still no guarantee that I would pick from your recommendations.”

“There’s very few guarantees on anything, but there's one predictable truth of humanity – the truth that you crave subjugation. You had the freedom of choice, and yet you chose to defer to my direction, instead.”

“Predictable truth of humanity?” You arched a brow in disbelief, offense prickling along your spine. Who did Conrad think he was? “Is that true of you, too, sir?” 

Nothing about Conrad’s demeanor suggested that he enjoyed surrendering control. In fact, he seemed much more the type to enact subjugation than surrender to it. 

Nothing about that thought was comforting.

You turned to glare out the window as he offered no answer to your question. A throng of people had gathered outside of a large building – you couldn’t tell what. Some people held signs for peace, equality; others held hands, small candles, offered prayers and songs; each protesting the injustice that ran rampant and the need for a changed world. 

Conrad’s voice carried softly. “They say we live in the most developed, advanced civilization in all of human history. Yet society rots around us. Global injustice of those still judged for their race, nationality, gender, creed. The superpowers of the world crumble under the very weight of their titles - divided, conflicted - and fail to learn the lessons from history. The Romans proved that military might is not enough to survive. Internal divisions, squabbles – failure at administrating peace – ate the Persian and Mongol empires from within. Focus cannot just be on one strength with the rest ignored; nor, is it worth the risk of burnout from fortifying all fronts at once as the British Empire once did.”

You turned towards him, brow furrowed in the low light. Where was he going with this?

His gaze focused out the windshield, but there was no mistaking the serene conviction on his face. “With each protest, each bombing, each hungry mouth that starves to death – we are witnessing the decline of the modern age as we know it. The leaders of this world, this realm, have been blind too long to acknowledge the problem. And their arrogant, blind ignorance will be their downfall.”

You swallowed, taking in everything he said. It was certainly an unexpected turn of conversation. “You’ve clearly spent a lot of time thinking about this. It’s almost a wonder you aren’t in politics.”

“Their games are meaningless drivel. Their false promises and continual inability to affect global change drive us further into decay.”

“Then…then what are you suggesting? Yes, I agree – change is needed. But you…you do recognize the throne from which you preach?” You couldn’t help a small scoff of disbelief. “You sneer at powerful people on high, making decisions for the world – but how are you any different? Sitting atop the throne of the largest tech giant in the world? One could argue that almost gives you a more powerful platform. At least, everyone knows that you’re just out to make money for the company.”

“Do not mistake me for a robber baron.” His voice lost none of its clipped calm, despite your words. “The opportunities afforded by this position will be made clear to the world soon enough. As will the knowledge that with the right support, the right drive to succeed – change can be realized. For the good of all.”

You had to admit it was a nice thought. A world for the good of all, not just those who the powerful decided it was for. You turned to the window, not entirely sure what to make of the conversation. It surprised you, honestly. You’d never given Conrad enough credit to consider others beyond himself. Yet here he was…sympathetic to the need for global change.

Maybe, just maybe…you could agree with him. You nodded slowly. “For the good of all.”

Up Next: Part III.1 - 5 Months

[yoonglesmari]

»»- — — — — -　❈　- — — — — -««

Smiling one last time at the text from Yoongi you turn your phone off you put the small device in your back pocket and continue looking for Jimin. For a party that was thrown in such a short notice a lot of people had arrived. Taking in a deep breath to prepare yourself to continue on your search for your friend. The room wasn’t all that big, and that was the reason it was harder for you to get around everyone’s dancing, laughing and drunk bodies. You call out for Jimin time and time again hoping to find him before someone else did.

When you meet Hoseok for the very first time you had never thought that it could have been the same Hoseok from high school. If you had known that things would turn out like this you would have never brought Jimin along. Heck, you yourself probably would have declined his offer, but now it was too late and the only thing you could do was find Jimin and head back home. You looked everywhere, in every corner, room, and place.

Nothing. No matter where you looked or how many times you called out for him you couldn’t find a single trace of him. After a good 20 minutes without seeing him you walk upstairs. Upstairs was almost completely different from downstairs. There were couples kissing and making out almost everywhere. You had your fair share of parties here and there but making out at someone’s random house was where you drew the line. Seeing them really wasn’t something you wanted so you made your way across the hallway looking down at your feet. Lucky you were able to make your way without seeing anything, at least until you bumped into someone.

“oh sorry I didn’t mean to bump into you sir”

“Nah its all fine y/n no need to apologies and how about we drop the sir”

It was Yoongi. Without hesitation he quickly took hold of your hand and lead the way. Although you were worried to death because of Jimin you couldn’t ignore him. His hands were soft and gentle while they were holding yours. Your hands felt small as he held onto you and his warmth ran up to your cheeks. All of a sudden and without a warning Yoongi came to a sudden stop causing you to bump your head against his back. Looking to the side to get a better look at what made him stop like that you were meet with what you feared the most that night.

In front of you was Jimin against a wall with Hoseok’s arms on both sides of him. You could barely see Jimin’s face and all you could see from Hoseok was his back. The only clear thing that you could see was the sadness in Jimin’s eyes. You wanted to let go of Yoongi and take Jimin far, far away, but you couldn’t move. Yoongi turned to look at you and he saw that you were about the break right in front of him. The next thing you knew Yoongi’s hands were holding your face.

“hey, no need to cry, I said everything is gonna be alright”

“Yoongi its all my fault this is happening,” you couldn’t hold your tears back anymore and you started to sob quietly. “I shouldn’t have been so dumb. I should have noticed. I shouldn’t have brought him in the beginning.”

Yoongi wiped your tears away with his finger. “no this is not your fault so don’t blame yourself”

“I need to help him, but I feel I’ll just make things worse”

“no you won’t because you care about him and I know you would never hurt anyone”

With that he let go of you but not before he left a small kiss on your forehead. Yoongi ran over to where the two were and pulled back Hoseok. Hoseok was saying something to Jimin but wasn’t able to say anything.

“I think that’s enough for tonight Hoseok. We’ll talk more about this tomorrow”

“ok, but hyung, can you tell him that I’m sorry”

“I will now go get yourself a drink of water, I’ll take care of this from here”

Hoseok nodded and walked downstairs. As if on cue Jungkook and Taehyung came running towards them. Jimin started to cry and Jungkook and Taehyung hugged him. While Taehyung tried to calm Jimin down Yoongi went over to you and took you with them.

“hey Yoongi what happened?”

“it’s a long story Jungkook but for now why don’t you take Jimin to calm down and I’ll try to calm y/n”

Not wanting to make a bigger problem Jungkook agreed and took Jimin to go outside.

“taehyung…”

“what is it y/n?”

“please take care of Jimin for me and tell him I’m sorry”

“sure thing now go get some rest yourself” Taehyung then ran to catch up with Jungkook.

“come on y/n lets go so that you can rest, you’ve gone through so much in one night.”

“ok thank you for being here with me through all this. I don’t know how to make it up to you.”

“no need for anything y/n I’m happy that I can help you now lets go”

“but Yoongi…”

“what is it? Do you need anything?”

“no, well sort of. The thing is that I don’t want to be left alone, not now, not after all this”

“then I won’t leave you, not for a single moment”

You and Yoongi leave the party and head over to your apartment. It was a silent walk and the only thing hearable was your soft sniffs. The whole walk there Yoongi never let go of your hand and that was a good thing because that was the last thing you wanted. After all that happened you didn’t know what to do. You had never imagined that all that would ever happen but now all that you could hope for was that everything would work out. One way or another.

»»- — — — — -　❈　- — — — — -««

【Unexpected】

Part 14: Don’t cry

[Pairing: songwriter!yoongi x artist!y/n]

[Genre: social media, fluff, crack humor, slight angst?]

「Yoongi’s life is a simple one but it’s a good one, but y/n’s isn’t so simple. With so many things in her life she moves in hopes of leaving it all behind. So what happened when an unexpected boy finds her in a pantry and causes her to question everything she’s done so far?」

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@biaisezabini @imasxbstxn @dearlydreadful @bottlebugg @bruisebberry @doilooklikeinoe @btsareallbiaswrecker

『A/N: I really want to know if you guys would like writings like this or if you only want the text post. please let me know, thanks!』

[queenkaywinchester]

Another Type of Hunter

|| Dean Winchester x Paleontologist!Reader ||

Word Count: 2,235

Warnings: fluff, smut (vaginal fingering, a touch of dry humping), a super cheesy ending.

A Note from the Queen: This is my first fic in quite a while. It’s just a random little snippet to a series I’ve flirted with for a long time now. I may write the rest, I may not. But, here’s this little thing.

You stared up at your biggest find yet. It was the skull of a new species of dinosaur that was yet to be named, found by yourself and two of your closest fieldmates only three weeks earlier. Now, it was being added to an exhibit that you had been elected to curate just over a year ago.

The massive, nearly-intact skull towered over you, almost as large as you were tall. Not that being larger than you was much of a feat. You weren’t terribly tall anyway. Nevertheless, being in the presence of such a massive, prehistoric being was nothing short of magical.

“So, is this the Y/N dinosaur?” a familiar whisper asked from behind you. You turned to find Dean, your long-time boyfriend, clutching two cups of coffee. He was there earlier than expected, rocking a deep blue suit with no tie. “Sugar-free Caramel Latte, two Splendas,” he confirmed with his award-winning smile.

“Thanks.” You accepted the much needed cup of caffeine and turned back to the skull. It was a kind of Ceratopsid dinosaur, related to the famous Triceratops. You smiled up at your find, still getting over the fact that you were in the center of this great discovery.

“I doubt this thing is going to be named after me. I’m not the only one who was involved in all of this.” A chill rushed over you, mostly excitement. “But, it’s the biggest find in my career so far. It’s one of the biggest finds in that area, well, ever.” You beamed up at your prize. “It’s rare to find such an intact skull.”

Dean watched as you locked your gaze on the spectacle and sipped your coffee. “How long have you been up?” He peered down at his watch. “It’s only seven-thirty.”

“Um,” you muttered, turning back to him. “I got here about an hour ago. I woke up a little over an hour before that.” Dean’s eyes widened.

“I thought you were a night owl,” he teased. You chuckled and shrugged.

“Yeah, but this is exciting. Plus, when I have a new exhibit or show piece, I have to be here early to make sure it’s up to par. And, well, since this piece is from me, I want it to be perfect.” You took another sip of your coffee. “When I’m in the field, we get up with the sun anyway.”

Dean laughed. “Well, the sun wasn’t up two hours ago,” he teased some more. “But, I’m proud of you. This thing is freaking huge! It’s a heck of a lot cooler than anything I ever hunt down.” You chuckled.

“If only I could convince the committee to let me put some of your findings on display.” You turned to him and kissed his cheek. “Now thatwould be the exhibit of the century. Just imagine vampire fangs and feathers from angel wings.” You smiled. “I’m sure Cas could spare a few.”

“I don’t think the masses will ever be ready for that kind of information,” Dean muttered. “Most people don’t react well when we have to break the truth to them anyway. Nothing like you.”

“Yeah. I doubt many people are as ecstatic as I was about that.”

“Usually not.” Dean wrapped his arm around your shoulder. “So, what’s on the schedule for today?” You stomach swirled a little at the thought of what was next.

“We have a private viewing to some of our major contributors in about an hour. Then, we open the exhibit to the public this afternoon.” You leaned your head onto his shoulder as you continued to admire the new piece. It wasn’t in the middle of the showroom, but against one of the side walls. That didn’t bother you at all. You had actually planned it that way.

The center of the room was always packed, which forced so many spectators to bypass the pieces there to avoid the crowds. So, having your piece towards the side would give everyone a better chance of viewing it and learning about it. Plus, since you were acting as a docent too, you were happier not standing in the center of the room.

“Well, Sam gave me the day off. So, I’m here if you’d like me to stick around. I love hearing you lecture.” You huffed a laugh.

“I’d love to have you here.” You turned your head and kissed his jaw. “If you don’t mind staying. I like the support, and someone to make faces at.”

“I already offered, sweetheart. I’m here all day.” Dean pulled you into a hug and pressed a kiss onto your forehead. “Plus, I want to learn more about the Y/N-a-saur.”

You followed the last of the contributors out front door and closed it behind them. Then, you let out a deep sigh, spun around, and slid your back down the textured metal door.

“Finally,” you muttered, closing your eyes. Footsteps approached you, but you didn’t look up. You knew exactly who it was.

“Well, that was riveting,” he poked. “Ready for the second wave?” That forced your eyes open.

“Uh, well,” you muttered as you peered down at your watch. You had just over an hour until you needed to open the doors again. Just outside the windows, it was easy to see the line of eager eyes waiting to view the new piece.

“I need more caffeine before anything else,” you whispered as you leaned your head back against the door. “There is no way I have the energy for more people right now.” Dean extended his hand and offered to help you up. After rolling your eyes, you took it.

“Well, maybe coffee isn’t the answer.” His arms snaked your waist. He leaned in and stole a kiss off your lips, lingering there just a little longer than normal. You smiled against his lips.

“Well, seeing as I’m at work, I think coffee is my only option.” You pulled back a little. “C’mon, I have one of those new single-serve coffee makers in my office, courtesy of one of my assistants. It comes with these little pods that are all sorts of flavors.” You wiggled your eyebrows and giggled while Dean rolled his eyes.

“Great, more flavored coffees. Sam would be proud.”

You leaned against your desk and smiled, staring down into your Cinnamon twist Latte. Bless your assistant’s soul in finding so many sugar-free flavors. The last thing you needed was a caffeine andsugar crash in the middle of a busy work day.

Dean settled right next to you, clutching a steaming cup of dark chocolate mocha. It wasn’t super sweet, so you thought Dean would like it more than any of the other options. He took a sip, scrunched his nose, then shrugged.

“Not bad,” he admitted. He turned to you. “You can still taste the coffee.”

“Brilliant, then that will be your flavor for when you’re here.” You stared down at your coffee. “Do you think that will be a little more often? I haven’t seen you much lately.”

You could tell Dean’s heart sank a little at your words. It was true. Even though your work and apartment were only three hours away from the bunker, and you were only there for five total months of the year, it got a little bit hard to get together between your busy schedules. Lately, Sam and Dean had been away from home more often, chasing bigger stuff than usual. And with your own big find to add to the mix, it had been a while since the two of you had some quality time together.

And all you could hope for was that would change soon.

Dean leaned in a little closer and wrapped a free arm around your waist. His hand ventured a little lower than normal, causing your heart to race. You remembered his words from before, but you only had a little more than forty minutes before you needed to be back downstairs to meet the second wave of hungry eyes.

Dean’s hand lowered even further, resting on the top part of your ass. Your gaze flicked over to him, meeting his devilish grin.

“Dean,” you warned, placing your coffee down beside you. “I still have to—” Dean cut you off with his lips. He turned his body without breaking contact and pinned you against your desk. His hands gripped tightly on your hips as he pressed his whole body against yours. His erection ground down just below your hip, coaxing a breathy moan from your throat.

“You were saying?” he hissed into your ear before moving his lips down to your jawline.

“I don’t have long before I—” you gasped, “need to be downstairs.” Dean’s fingers teased the waistband of your pants.

“We’ll just have to make this quick, then.” His voice was dark, smooth, which drove you wild. His hands slowly smoothed down from your hips to the buttons of your dress pants, and slowly unzipped them. Then, his fingers traced their way over the lace waistband of your panties and met your gaze.

“Well, don’t stop now,” you whispered. With that, Dean grinned and dipped his fingers below the light blue lace.

Dean’s fingers quickly found your folds, and his middle finger dipped into your pooling slick. He groaned at the feeling as his lips found yours. He dragged his finger up to your clit, circling the pad of his finger over the sensitive nub.

“Dean,” you mewled, throwing your head back. Dean’s free hand worked at unbuttoning your blouse, then rolled back the cup of your bra to expose your nipple. He quickly lowered his lips and enveloped the hardened bud.

He groaned against your skin as more of your slick encased his finger. He slid his finger down and teased your hole, earning himself a low growl of his name. He dipped the tip of his finger into your entrance, then pulled away and set his concentration back on your clit. You whined at the loss of contact, but quickly focused on the growing pressure in your core.

Dean moved his finger faster as he dragged his teeth over your nipple. He lifted his mouth and peppered kisses over to the other side. It was all becoming too much. Dean really knew how to light your fire. He knew every soft spot, and every little nerve to hit. He was an artist when it came to his hands. And, right now, he was using them how he knew best.

Dean gazed up at you as his lips slipped from your breast. “Are you close, sweetheart?” he growled. His eyes were blown with lust, leaving only a sliver of emerald staring back at you. You just nodded, teetering on the verge of your peak.

“Dean,” was all you could muster before the thread snapped, and your orgasm crashed over you like a tidal wave. Your mouth opened, but no noise came out. You arched your back and rolled your hips as Dean guided you through the waves.

“That’s it,” he praised as he slowed down, holding you against him. When you calmed, he pulled his hand free and smiled down at you.

Your eyes glanced up at the large clock on your wall. Wow, he really had made that quick. But, it was almost time to head back down and get ready for the next wave of people. You reached up and pressed a sweet kiss on Dean’s lips, then started pulling yourself together.

After cleaning up, Dean offered his hand and pulled the door of your office open. “Ready, babe?” he asked sincerely, squeezing your hand the moment it met his. You nodded as another feeling flooded your stomach. A serious case of the butterflies overwhelmed you. This was it, what you had been waiting for.

Dean led you down the hall towards the elevator, but stopped just before you can reach the door. He pulled you against him, pressing his pelvis against you, his cock half-hard.

“When this is over, when we can head back to your apartment, I’m gonna make up for the time we’ve been missing.” He kissed the soft spot just below your ear, then pulled back, and lead you to the elevator door before you could muster a rebuttal.

When the two of you reached the first floor, you quickly made your way to the exhibit room. You pulled away from Dean to meet with two other exhibit workers, and one of your fieldmates who promised to be there. You quickly got a game plan down for then the doors opened and set out for your stations. Just before you headed for the doors and to the press waiting outside, you peered back at Dean. He was hovering in one of the far doorways, watching you with half a smirk. The moment your eyes linked, he mouthed three familiar words of encouragement.

I love you.

Sure, you couldn’t wait for your piece to be shown for the first time, for your career to take off. This was what you had been working for since you graduated. But, none of it would be worth it if you didn’t have someone to go home to, if you didn’t have Dean to support you. Sure, he didn’t hunt the same things you did. But, your leveled each other out. And, in the end, you always had each other.

Queen Kay’s Loyal Followers (Forever Tags):

@waywardmoeyy @fandoms4everyone @sophiebobzz @idk-life01 @spnbaby-67

[marvelous-avengers]

In Bloom - 3

summary: Bucky’s got some scars in more places than he cares to admit, and thinks some art is the key to helping him recover. What he doesn’t expect is for a certain tattoo artist to settle his soul. Modern AU with tattoo artist!reader

pairing: Bucky Barnes x TattooArtist!Reader

warnings: angst, talks of depression, therapy and recovery, slow burn lovin, some fluffy fluff and heart skipping

a/n: i feel like it’s been forever since i updated this (it has been) and i originally wanted to wait until i got more chapters written but decided against it. i’ve been going through a lot lately and haven’t written as much, so i’m trying to get back out on the horse and write. i really love this series and where i plan to take it, and i have a couple days off so hopefully i can find time to write. anyway, here’s chapter 3! enjoy, like, reblog, please leave feedback <3

Saturday rolls around and his nerves are making him an anxious mess.

In his session this week, he had told his therapist about the decision. Saying it out loud had only made him smile, and the man in the plain grey suit had nodded along with him.

“Do you think this is a good decision?”

“Yes,” he voices before he can stop himself, fingers grabbing at the material of his jeans. The question wasn’t meant to be accusatory or mean, but Bucky feels like he has to defend his decision. To his therapist, to himself, who knows. He sure doesn’t. “I’ve thought about it a few times, but as I keep saying it out loud, it just makes it sound...better.”

He relaxes when the man across from him smiles and nods, and they move on.

That was yesterday. He was calm and collected, almost gleeful as he went about the rest of his day. Sam, a mutual friend of his and Steve’s, had stopped by and he was surprised to see Bucky so happy.

“Damn,” he remarked after Bucky had let him in. He set the take out on the table and Bucky went about grabbing plates and utensils. “You’re this excited about it, I almost don’t want to tease you about being so smiley.”

Bucky shakes his head, thankful for the easy mood that Sam brings with him. Although their friendship was based on jokes and teasing, Sam knew when he needed to stop pushing Bucky’s buttons. Sam never treated him any differently than he had before he had served, and for that, Bucky was thankful.

“What are you going to get?” he asks, shoving a mouthful of noodles in his mouth.

Bucky shrugs, pushing some food on his plate around. “Not sure yet. Hopefully this consultation will help me figure it out. But I know I want something.” He thinks back to the Instagram page, which he looks at almost daily, and to the pictures he has saved. It’s mostly floral pieces, but he would never tell Sam that, knowing that he would never hear the end of it from his friend.

“Is she cute?”

Bucky almost chokes on his food and Sam smirks at him. “What?”

Sam’s smirk gets bigger. “The tattoo artist. It’s a girl, right? Is she cute?”

Bucky blinks once, twice. “Wha–I don’t, I don’t know. There weren’t any pictures of her on the page. Why does it matter?”

Sam shrugs and pulls out his phone. “It doesn’t, maybe.” Bucky narrows his eyes at his friend as he fiddles with his phone for another minute before grinning. “Boom!” He meets Bucky’s eyes and there is a mischievous glint in them. “I found her personal page. She’s cute. Wanna see?”

“No.” Bucky says it almost too quickly, his mind betraying him. He can’t think about that yet. He had stopped himself from snooping into it too much, afraid where his mind will go if he saw her. He didn’t want to ruin anything that hasn’t even started yet.

Sam scoffs and puts his phone away. “Chill out man, I’m just playin’ with you. But you better let me know how it goes tomorrow.” Bucky only rolled his eyes, knowing that Sam didn’t mean the actual consultation.

But when this morning rolled around, Bucky couldn’t get out of his head if he wanted to. He woke up with a start, his mind already racing and reeling. He had to get up, had to get himself ready for the day. He was already too anxious and he had only been up for a few minutes. His actions were too rushed, his morning routine seemingly taking not enough time. To stall himself, he trimmed his growing scruff–he had gotten so good at it without a mirror that he didn’t have to remove the towel that was still hanging over it in the bathroom.

He was ready too early, his mind going through so many possible awful situations that could happen today.

What if he was late to the appointment? What if he picked something he didn’t like? What if he picked something he would later hate? What if he started having a panic attack while in the chair? What if he couldn’t do it? What if it just couldn’t be done?

But the one that stuck out in his head the most, the one that he was absolutely terrified of: she could see his arm, his scars, all the battles that he had been through mentally and physically, and decide right then and there that he was not worth her time. The thought makes his heart clench painfully in his chest.

He feels his heartbeat increase, sees his hands start to shake slightly as he clenches them and unclenches them. He grips the sink, holding onto the cold porcelain as if it was his lifeline for the moment, taking breaths to steady his overactive body. He backs up and leans against the wall, breathing in and out, wrapping his arms around his own body. He slides down the wall until he’s in a sitting position, and with a shaky breath, leans his head against the wall. He tries to control his breathing, closes his eyes and lets out a sigh. After a few minutes, he feels his heart start to calm, if only slightly.

It picks up again when he realizes what time it is and that he should leave, or he’ll miss his appointment.

Another minute passes as he checks himself, over-analyzing everything he’s wearing before shoving his self-conscious thoughts to the back of his mind, grabbing his things and heading out.

The drive to the shop isn’t long, but somehow too long and too short at the same time. It’s in a small lot, nestled in between a bookstore and a pharmacy and a few other shops. He takes notice of the strange combo as he pulls into a parking space, shutting off the engine and letting it fizzle out. He knows that he’s still a few minutes early, just on the borderline between over ecstatic and appropriate. He uses this to calm himself down. He takes in a deep breathe.

In and out. In and out.

He lets the air out of his lungs as his eyes roam over the sign that hangs above the awning to the shop.

Odin’s Garden

He knows that it’s now or never as he tries to keep his bad thoughts at bay, acutely aware of the time on the dashboard. Part of him wishes that he had accepted Steve’s offer to accompany him, his friend always pushing his buttons in the right way. The other part of him, the more practiced part of him, the trained part of him, is glad that he will hopefully get through this on his own. Eventually.

With shaky hands, he gets out of the car and starts towards the glass front of the shop, clicking the lock button for his car three times out of habit. When he opens the glass door with equally shaky hands, a small chime signals his arrival. There’s soft music playing in the background, interrupted only by the buzzing of the machines. Sketches and paintings cover the walls, a large plant rests in the corner on the wall opposite the door, and a couple large photo albums are scattered about the countertop that is at the front of the shop. He looks passed it to see a couple open stations with chairs, and an artist that is currently bent over, tattooing the back of someone’s leg.

“Hello!”

The booming voice makes Bucky jump slightly, nerves on edge. He looks over to see a large man with blond hair that reaches his shoulders, part of it pulled back. He’s wearing a loose tank top and a leather vest, exposing his muscular arms, the right one covered entirely in tattoos.  Bucky glances quickly, and notices that it looks like some kind of story, characters and shapes in beautiful colors going from his shoulder to his wrist.

The giant steps up to the small desk behind the counter. “What can I help you with today?” He takes a lollipop from the glass bowl that sits on the counter and fiddles with the wrapper before popping it in his mouth.

“I, uh–” Bucky swallows, subconsciously wringing his hands, “I have an appointment, with Y/N.”

“Ah!” He smiles with the lollipop in his mouth. “Yes! Let me go get her.” The man steps away from the desk to head to the back of the shop, where Bucky can see a window that looks into another room, probably an office, he guesses. His eyes roam the space, checking for any and all exits out of habit. One in the front, one in the back. There is another closed door in the back, a small fridge in the corner with a table with three chairs around it. It’s a pretty open space, but Bucky isn’t sure if that relaxes him or makes him even more nervous.

The buzzing of the machine acts as white noise against the music and the voices in the background. Bucky takes a moment to look at all the drawings around the shop, some framed and others hanging free. There is so much work on the walls, ranging from floral pieces and butterflies, calligraphy, to people and things. He can easily spot the differences between artists in each of the pieces.

He was staring at a big, bright cartoon painting near the desk when he hears footsteps approaching. He looks over and a small wave of calm washes over him. It’s gotta be you, he thinks.

You’re walking towards him from the back of the shop and you smile. “Hi, I’m Y/N. You must be James.” You come around the desk and stretch your hand out, which he immediately takes. He takes note of how soft your skin is compared to his rough palms. It makes something soften in his chest.

“That’s me,” he says, hoping his voice sounds as even as he thinks it does. He takes in your form, takes in the black bandana tied around your head with the cutest little knot, the loose tee bunched up just slightly at your side, the loose jeans with rips in them, the black converse on your feet. In reality, it takes him maybe half a second but he still feels like it’s too long. Your eyes remain on his face, bright, and something turns in his stomach, but he doesn’t hate it. He gulps.

Your smile is still easy as you let go of his hand and motion for him to follow you. You move to the back of the shop and tap your fingertips against the table as you walk around it. He sits in a chair and you open the fridge.

“Would you like some water?”

“Yes, thank you.”

You grab two small bottles and then plop down in the seat adjacent to him, sliding him one. Bucky holds the small bottle in between his hands, the plastic cool against his skin. He takes a breath in and releases a shaky one. When he looks up from the table, you are smiling softly at him.

It stirs something deep inside him.

“I’m sorry,” he suddenly blurts out, and you only furrow your brows at him. His fingers play with the paper wrapping around the bottle, tearing it slightly. “I’m not good at this.”

Your lips are still curved up at the sides and you shrug slightly. “It’s okay. Today we are just going to talk, get to know each other a bit and maybe get an idea or two. Nothing too big, right?”

Bucky is looking at you and you are so kind and gentle with him and so he nods. “Yeah.”

You smile wider and take a sip of your water. He thinks about how bright your smile makes your face. “Good. So did you have any ideas?”

His mind automatically goes to your artist page online, to the intricate designs, soft colors, and the beautiful pieces. “Kind of. I actually really love all the flowers that you do.” The thought of having a flourishing piece of color on his arm makes him blush, but in a good way. In a happy way.

Your nose scrunches in the cutest way when your grin widens, if that’s even possible. Dear god. “Thank you. Floral pieces are some of my favorite to do, it’s what a lot of people come to me for. Do you have any specific flowers in mind?”

“Roses, sunflowers, daffodils, maybe orchids. My ma really liked those, always tried to have some flowers in the house.” It feels so easy to talk to you; his mouth just kind of moves and he goes along with it.

Your face softens at the mention of his mother, and you tilt your head slightly. “All wonderful choices. And lots of great colors to work with. Any definites? Black and white or color?”

He pauses. Blinks. “I’m not sure yet.”

“That’s okay. I can draw a rough sketch out based on those three, do a couple options and see what you like best. Then we can go from there. No tattoo until you are completely happy with the design. Sound good?”

His chest feels the tiniest bit lighter. That’s it? He releases a breath and nods. “Yes. Thank you.”

Your face is still so bright and so gentle. “Of course. Now, where do you want it?”

He stops. Gulps down the saliva in his throat. “My arm.”

You only nod. “Okay, where?” Your hand reaches out to the space between you, and Bucky almost flinches until you stop in the space between you, inches away from him, fingers poised in the air as you motion to his bicep, “here,” and then to his forearm, “or here?”

It takes Bucky only half a second to tell himself to calm down, to realize that you hadn’t actually touched him, but it feels too long to his nervous brain. It takes him the rest of the second to realize he needs to explain himself better. “I would really like to have it start at my shoulder and go down to my elbow, at least. Maybe a full arm piece, but I haven’t decided that yet.”

You nod, again, looking over his arm and Bucky is itching in his three-quarter sleeve under your gaze. “That’s okay. You can always add on more later. Do you have any other tattoos? Skin or blood issues? Anything I should be concerned about?”

The pause Bucky takes is a little longer this time, but you are patient, hands folded atop the table as you look at him. For a moment, he wonders how he got so lucky to have found you. So patient, so kind.

But then he realizes that he needs to speak. This is it. “I, uh,” he takes a sip of his water to quench his Sahara desert of a mouth, and gulps. “I have a lot of scars, actually.”

There’s a crease between your brows just the slightest. “Oh, really?”

He nods, hesitancy creeping into his voice. He feels his heartbeat increase. “Yes.”

You tilt your head, curious, but your eyes never leave his face. “That’s okay. How old are they? And where are they?”

“They, uh,” Bucky rakes a hand through his hair as he pauses, mouth dry. “They’re a few years old at this point. They’re on my shoulder.” His hand automatically goes to grip at his shoulder, and he pushes his fingers into his muscle to ground himself.

You nod, thoughtful, and play with your fingers as you speak. “That’s okay. The older the scars are, the better. As long as they aren’t fairly recent, everything should be fine. The skin might be a little tougher, but other than that, everything should be okay.” Before Bucky can speak again, you say, “I won’t ask you about them, or to see them today. It’s obviously a very tough thing for you and I respect your privacy and for coming in today to see me. Is this a cover-up piece?”

Bucky is slightly speechless. He wets his lips, hands wrung together in front of him. “Yes. In a way.” He pauses, opening and closing his mouth like a fish. You sit and wait for him to finish his thought. He can’t stop staring at your eyes. “It’s partially a cover-up and partially just for me. I wanted something good to combat the bad. To help me feel better about everything that I’ve been through.”

Your face is soft, smile gentle as it quirks up. “That’s beautiful, James.”

You are, he thinks but instead he blurts “Bucky,” out of nowhere. He feels his face heat up, and clears his throat as your eyebrows pinch together. “Please, call me Bucky.”

You nod and grace him with another smile. He feels the burning heat in the tips of his ears. “Okay. Well Bucky, it’s a beautiful reason and a beautiful idea. I would be more than honored to do it for you.” You stand up and he follows you back to the front of the shop, where you stop next to the desk. You stand in front of him, and the sunshine coming in from the windows gives you a lovely glow. “I’ll work on a few designs for you and send you something in about a week or two, and we can go from there. Sound good?”

Bucky can only nod, the tightness leaving his chest as he shakes your hand goodbye. You watch him leave the shop and he lets out a breath as he gets back in his car. He watches the shop for a minute, sees you through the window as you fix some papers and disappear to the back of the shop.

The vice around his chest leaves him entirely as he drives home and steps into his apartment. Steve is there when he arrives, reading on the couch.

“Hey, how’d it go?” He asks as Bucky steps into the living room.

It’s the first time Bucky actually thinks about the meeting. He was too preoccupied with the color of your eyes and the light on your skin to give Steve a proper answer at first.

“It went really well, actually,” he says, sitting down on the opposite end of the couch. Steve dog-ears his page and closes his book on his lap, watching his friend closely, sees the relaxed expression on his face. “It went really well.”

“That’s great, Buck. I’m proud of you.” He takes a sip of his water, letting Bucky gather his thoughts. “So, what’s next?”

“She’s gonna draw some things up and send me the designs,” he answers, already thinking of the colors and petals that will one day be adorning his arm, your gentle fingers on his skin. He feels his lips curl up just the slightest. “I’m excited for it.”

Steve’s smile is wide, happy to see Bucky excited about something. “That’s great! I’m excited to see how it turns out.”

So am I, Bucky thinks.

He can’t wait to hear from you again.

tags:

@buckyhalf @softlybarnes @sgtjbuccky @barnesrogersvstheworld @sweetboybucky @captainrogerss @buckyywiththegoodhair @delos-mio @kentuckybarnes @evanstar @evanstarff

@bitchingwintersoldier @theunicornotaku @beansstan @aveatquevale-@faithfullpanicmoon @aljadams369 @callmedaddys-blog @dontneedbiologytoadopt

[groomlakeprojects]

Crash(test) The Ballad of Faded Wolf

(Summary)

Barry Mick is a struggling tour manager for a young US rock band in his 30's working in the rock world and mainstream pop; but also works several part time real jobs. The band he is currently managing is a young band “Faded Wolf”; full of notorious stories and behaviors including sex,drugs, and rock and roll. Will they crash and burn? Or live and learn? Probably neither.

Crash(test) The Ballad of Faded Wolf

Story written by Joe Bruno

Edited by

Max Barksdale

There’s something peaceful about waking up in a moving vehicle. The scenery moving like an old movie reel as we make our way to the next destination is the best part, I guess. From what my folks told me when I was young, you actually had to dedicate a person, with a license, to controlling the vehicle; which sounds like a terrible idea looking around my immediate company.

“Tommy Rocks”, as he’s known, is in the next bunk over; putting his genitals on one of our roadies face while he’s asleep. Classic. The band I’m currently out on the road with, (for way less money than I should’ve negotiated; had I known the shit storm I had agreed to) Faded Wolf, are one of the new growing bands in the heavy metal scene. And they are all about attention.

These guys just cost the label $600,000 in damages; leading cops on a two hour chase after stealing a old school collection car from a classic car show, then proceeding to manually drive it onto the highway.

Fucking psychos I tell you. Especially in 2044.

A human messing with with our great, automated highways? It’s crazy they’d let anyone touch a real steering wheel. Thankfully the van doesn’t have one or I’d never sleep with this band around. Not that I do much.. From what I heard growing up, people died like all the time crashing these things it was something crazy like the plague, it was in the millions of people dead all of the time, senselessly. And you’ve got to be an idiot to get out on the roads with the old cars and attempt to drive with the cars we have today. Nobody stops and goes and burns gas anymore. The road system today is cars going everywhere all automatically timed to drive without hardly stopping. Except out here, there’s some drivers still not enough automatic services out this way yet.

Suddenly, there’s a loud pop and the van comes to a stop on the side of the road. We are somewhere on I-70 near Anywhere, Kansas. The van operator broadcasts on to the intercom, “Hey fellas, we are really sorry to inform you but your ‘Bandvan’ rental has had an internal problem with it’s charge system and needs repairs. With your insurance purchase, we will be covering stay at a hotel for you guys until we can get the next van in your area. The nearest one is a day away. Really sorry about the inconvenience. We can give you two free days on your next trip. Again, so sorry. Local tow resources are on their way and should arrive in 25 minutes.”

Damn. We had one more date for tomorrow in Colorado, then I was to catch the Interstate speed train to California; where my next job starts. A pop artist, “Yuki”, is playing the VENUE on Mars’ grand opening. This is like the big stadium time too; bigger than the theaters and bars that host Faded Wolf.

I was asked to smuggle some personal belongings they had left when they took off last week. Oh, and it’s going to take two months to get there. The band managers “great joy of the music world”, is basically being the babysitter to the most irresponsible group of people in the world.

Not now.

I have to figure out what we are going to do. The tow truck is pulling up now I guess I’ll go settle up with the service and oh hey it’s the gang is already around the front. Shit. Tommy, Jim, John, and Freddy are chugging beers and flashing their private parts to oncoming traffic. I used to hear stories about bands like Motley Crüe and Guns N Roses, in my grandparents younger days, who did this kind of stuff.

It was wild.

I think that’s what they want.

Shock value.

It sounded fun at first; but after two months of living it, breathing it, and smelling it with this group, it has lost it’s appeal. I can’t wait to go Mars and get away for a bit.

But what are you gonna do?

These guys want it all.

And unfortunately, they’ll do anything for the attention.

We arrive at a local hotel. It was one of these small mom and pop ones with a kind of old “Bates Motel” vibe; except this was Conways motel. It’s almost like a slasher film; but instead of killing you in the shower, you would step back in time to what the elders would call, “the eighties baby!” The room was filled with neon colors on the walls and 80’s movie and music posters on every wall.

A short older man, maybe in his 60’s, in black pants and a faded blue vintage nascar shirt approaches us. He introduces himself as Earl Conway and asks if we are the rock band staying the night. Tommy and the gang, the kind of wild living guys they are, of course are already shotgunning beers behind me with the roadies and some local fans who are also staying at the hotel.

They have also recognized the band.

I shrug and go into “manager mode”.

We get away to settle up the insurance at the front desk.

“Well, I know it’s y’all’s misfortune, but it is just our treat to have y’all stay with us at ‘Conway’s’ tonight. We never have too many city folk stay here; especially real rockstars. Let us know if you need anything; food, beer, some coke, ‘Ya know’,” Earl brags with a grin.

Well, at least I know these guys are mostly safe to party.

“Thanks Mr. Conley. I really hope we don’t need too much. Our next van will be in town around 12 tomorrow. And then, we are back on the road to the rockies. Though, I can’t speak for the band. It looks like they are already making friends.”

I gaze out the door.

The crowd partying with the band has tripled since exchanging info at the front desk. It appears Tommy and Freddy are now signing several women’s breast and taking some suggestive photos. They probably assumed I quit paying attention, went to my room take my sleep aid, and pass out.

What the hell could go wrong? This is what they do.

That’s not managing though.

I’m thinking I got to go break this up.

“Mr. Conley, I’ll make sure we keep the crowd and noise down,” I assured him.

“Nonsense Barry! You know what; on the weekends we have a 25 Acre track, just behind the motel, where we race good old human driving cars. I saw the band’s mishap with that car out in California on the news. Compared to that footage, I’ll gladly let them rip it up tonight!” Earl responded.

Well there goes my peaceful night.

It’s not even night, and two of the old classic cars that drove by earlier have rolled up to the growing party in the parking lot. Freddy, Tommy, and the gang, are now doing what are called “donuts” in the parking lot. I’ve seen videos online where the human controlled vehicles speed and then brake during a turn, to slide across parking lots at shopping centers and apartment buildings. I suppose it’s better they can do that here; instead of the theft and driving on automated highways charges.

I head to the room to try to get some peace and quiet. Maybe I can try to go over my lists for the Mars trip; which I’m surprised about it being a whole 4 month thing and I’m not that nervous yet. I guess it’s hard to think to that far in the future when you live in “Faded Wolf’s” now.

As I’m approaching the room, I can hear sounds of giggling. Nope thats moaning.

Shit.

Someone is having sex in my room.

Again.

I can’t really count at this point how many times this has happened. But I’m not surprised really. It’s Faded Wolf. What did I expect. At least I have my bag. I can work on some things in this old chair at the end of the hall.

Luckily, I brought my headphones to tune this out.

And they are dead.

Goddamn Bluetooth!

I really miss the older devices my grandparents showed me when I was younger, the headphones may have had to be plugged in; but you weren’t left hanging.

Well, i passed out in the hallway on the floor for couple hours and awake to Earl right in my face and shaking me “buddy I got other customers rolling in soon can’t have you here like this.” I agree. I startle but get up in a haze.. I haven’t really felt this low since i turned 30. The world keeps turning though, I get up and grab my bag and computer I used as a pillow. The room was cleared out and I can finally catch a shower.

There’s clearly cocaine residue on the dresser and all of the room beers are gone. As much as I’m disappointed they didn’t leave any to share, I’m guessing Earl may have to order more for tonight.

I finish my shower, get dressed, and head out to the tracks. It’s a sunny summer day, with green trees and a field view; not that Kansas is known for its landscapes. It was a nice break from the crowded cities we usually stay in.

The guys are all hammered and driving these cars, I’d say, 90 miles an hour back and forth through a loop called a “race track.”

I’ve seen these before on the web. This used to be a popular sport, and still has a strong presence in the south to this day.

More of the local community has shown up looking for a chance to party with this band of fools.

I finally take a seat in the stands, with my own beer, and a little cigarette of ‘grass’, as they used to call it. One of the cars with Tommy driving, and yelling something obnoxious out the window, suddenly turns too quick. It goes up sideways, and flips several times in a barrel roll before stopping on it’s hood.

I drop everything and run over to help.

Tommy quickly climbs his way out, soaked in blood and yelling out in pain; which seems to be coming from the arm he’s holding. I look over inside. One of the fan girls from earlier is inside; luckily with a seatbelt on, which is holding her up. Kind of dangling, but still not awake. She looks a little cut up and I can’t tell if she’s breathing.

This right here is why they did away with letting humans drive. This is what my parents used to ramble on about when I

was young and driving had just been banned. I can’t believe they did this for over 100 years. This is a horror movie in real life. The shock and anxiety. You know, cannabis can make you very anxious without any bad shit happening; but this anxiety was something completely new.

One of my clients may have just killed someone.

As the local ambulance and fire response vehicles roll up, so do several police cars.

This is it.

We are fucked.

I am fucked.

The mars trip, is super fucked.

There is no way we are getting out of this mess by the time our next van rolls in tomorrow.

The rest of the band and I stayed back and talked to the cops about what we saw. I look over to the medical team, and see the fangirl miraculously retain consciousness; with no visible broken bones. Just a few scrapes and bruises on her faces. When her eyes finally opened and she got up and walked off with her friends quickly to the ambulance and seemed to try to keep looking over seeing Tommy at the ambulance, my anxiousness subdued a bit.

But now, we had a new set of problems. The law.

Tommy was immediately arrested and was being charged with an older charge called a “DUI”, reckless driving, and driving without a license. Apparently, this whole track operation is mostly for skilled drivers who still get a thing called a “drivers license.”

After they take him away, local news crews start rolling in to film the documentary of the end of our careers.

I had to call the label to let them know what had happened.

Well look at that. Faded Wolf news travels fast. Tim, the A&R rep, is calling me.

“Hey Tim, buddy! How are you?” I ask, trying to cool tension. “What the fuck did you let happen Barry? You’re the manager! Do you know how much this is going to cost us?” He yelled.

“Look man; you know these guys! Okay? They don’t listen to anybody! I just clean up the mess, like always! But I’m gonna go down there and get Tommy out, okay? These people are super fans; so we might get lucky,” I explained.

“Try what you will Barry; but if you can’t fix this, you’re done.” He hung up.

Earl comes up, still shaken from the event. I immediately start apologizing.

“Hey man. I’m so sorry these guys are idiots, And that poor girl”

He interrupts, “It’s ok Barry, it’s my fault. I encouraged it, and we’ve had accidents from time to time. I could’ve done more to set some ground rules. You guys being here has just been the most fun we’ve had in a while. Look. I got a lawyer buddy who helps me with my books. I’m gonna call him for us. Would you like a ride to check on Tommy?” He asks.

“Of course man! That would be amazing. I actually don’t know how to drive; really none of us from out west do.”

The rest of the crew stayed back.

The buzzkill shook everyone into retreating back to the rooms.

The parties over.

The drive was quiet.

The local radio report is already talking about the accident. I had to change the channel and the next station is, of course, a rock station ironically playing the “Faded Wolf” song “Crash”. I change it again, and finally tune into some obscure classical channel.

It was finally peaceful.

We get to the police station and go check in.

You know in jail movies, this part always sucks. Going to meet your friend or family member; locked up in the jump suit.

It is an all around shitty experience.

It also has be somewhere around 1 AM; about 12 hours away from our van departure schedule. At this point, I feel we are not gonna make it. And I’m not gonna make that Mars trip. We get to the front desk and ask for Tommy.

The desk lady grins and says, “We are hanging that mugshot up in the break lounge; as soon as we get it autographed. We’re holding him a bit longer. You know, y’all are so lucky that girl and her family likes him. He could’ve been here a while.”

I reply confused, “So he’s getting out?.”

“Well, yeah. Some lawyer came in representing that girl. Says she’s his daughter and he settled up with the judge. He will be free to go in just a bit”.

I look to Earl, “Dude, your lawyer is the girls dad?”

He looks shocked, “Shit I had no clue. I hope he doesn’t shut me down.”

The lawyer pops around the corner. “No real harm, no foul; I suppose. We live a little wild out here with these cars, and have accidents from time to time. Regardless, my kid, for some godforsaken reason, has been obsessed with this band for years now, since her high school days, and says it would be the most embarrassing thing to put you away for this. She just wants this to go away. And she really likes this “Tommy” guy, so we’ve made a hefty financial settlement that will take care of her, myself, and get some money flowing down at city hall again. Anyways, we will be in touch with the label for payment soon. And, please. Never. Ever. Let Tommy, or the rest of the band, drive. Or maybe never come here again. I’m serious. Goodnight, gents.” He leaves the station.

Well only in this rock and roll world can such scenario play out. Apparently everyone in this jail is a Faded Wolf fan even the judge. Tommy finally comes out of the back putting his shirt back on and a little bandaged up it seems. He signs a few copies of his mugshot for the station employees. Tommy then comes running at us jumping “ dudes I can’t believe it they love us here, apparently that girls dad is a lawyer, and begged him not to let me stay locked up and pay a fine instead” I reply “ so what’s the damage how much is this going to cost us?” Tommy smirks “ well let’s just say the label is not going to be happy about it and I’m sorry Barry if they blame this on you” I reply “ blame what?” Tommy deeply inhales and answers “eh it’s gonna cost about 20 million or so”. Well in my mind I was thinking a lot worse but that is still probably enough that it’s coming out of the next albums check and probably my check too. He continues “ it’s all good Barry we are getting that next advance and the last album just hit platinum”. This guy has no clue how completely fucked we could’ve been. But how could he? We let this happen and now by paying it off we encourage it.

We all get back to the hotel it’s probably close to 4 AM everyone’s passed out. Earl comes by as I’m packing things to be ready to go in the morning. “ well I’m glad it all worked out for you guys and I’m sorry about letting this happen” I interrupted “ look Earl these guys like to do crazy things and don’t think much, don’t blame yourself

We are all lucky it wasn’t worse.

And crazy lucky that the girl’s dad was lawyer; in our favor.

“You’ve been a great help to us! I’ll make sure to send you a postcard from the new venue on mars!”

He sort of gets excited, “Mars? No way! Is that the pop star everyone is going crazy for? ‘Yuki’ right?”

I replied, “Yup! That’s the one! I actually have to bring some things they forgot when they left the other day.”

Earl grabs a postcard from his folder he was carrying. “Well, could you show some love to the motel up there?”

I look at the picture of the motel which had several cars driving in the background, “You bet Earl, thanks for everything”.

I caught some sleep and woke up just in time for the “15 minute warning” for the vans arrival. We all loaded in and waved goodbye. Tommy was, of course, holding up the show and making out with the girl Alice. You know, the girl he nearly killed last night. I think that’s what her name was. Actually, I’m not really sure what her name was; but I guess it’s best we leave town on a good note.

And there we were; back on the road, heading to Colorado, cracking jokes trying to laugh off the bizarre events from the night before.

Tommy leans from his seat to me, “Barry, man, thank you for being there. We all appreciate it and I promise you that I’m never driving again! Well, unless I come back out here and see her again” he chuckles.

It had been on my mind all morning though, that maybe it was time for a career change. Possibly something with less responsibility for those least responsible. Maybe I’ll start my own band or label and just be in charge of myself. Who knows?

The Colorado show went off without a hitch; other than arriving right as soon as the band was scheduled to be on in 30 minutes. I’m glad we made it, but also just as glad to be out and not in charge of these maniacs for a long time. I left early to catch my train to the launch pad in California.

I can’t believe I made it.

Still sleepy and still taking in the events of the last two days, I figured it was a perfect time to take a sleep aid; seeing as I’ll be boarding a space shuttle to live in (which is basically a hotel lobby) for two months.

From what I’ve read, these launches can make you feel sick quickly; so it’s probably best to be passed out for that part. I get through security, get my bags checked, then board the ship. As I’m seated and buckled, I lay back with freshly charged headphones and some classics playing.

I slowly doze off.

I wake up, and I’m not in the ship anymore, but back in the port at the launchpad in a wheelchair. A flight attendant is near me, sees that I’m awake, and jumps up.

“Sir we are so sorry to inform you like this, but our ship had trouble taking off and was grounded. A second ship left later

in the day, but you have been out for about 10 hours and we could not get you into the next one passed out like that.”

I feel ambushed by the whole situation.

I’m still waking up but I take a second to process it “So when’s the next one?”

She replies, “Unfortunately, the Mars shuttle only flies three times a month, twice a day. That was the last one, and there are currently no options for two weeks. I’m so sorry for the inconvenience”

I’m still processing, but try to negotiate with her, “So what else can I get? my clients need their package.”

She responds, “Well your boss, Tim I believe, has left a package and note for you about that.”

I open the packages and letter.

“Hey, Barry. Give me a call when you get this. You’ve got a new mission. You're now taking the daily flight tomorrow to the moon for ‘Faded Wolf’s’ surprise show next week for the moon colony at the Lunar Lounge.

PS: Mars mail carrier will take the package; don’t worry. But you gotta watch these guys again!

You owe me!

And the label!”

Really? I quit.

[purplerose244]

Our Reasons

Pairing: Nathaniel x Marc

Summary: After the last akuma attack Marc has ignored Nathaniel the all week. Now, during the Christmas party at their school, the artist wants to make things right. He can’t lose him

Words: 2013

Read it on the AO3

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That was Marinette’s plan, one hundred percent. Or Alix’. Or both, honestly. The former because of her undying passion for their destined collaboration – like she didn’t already have things planned with someone else –, the latter… an occasion to leave him alone to deal with an awkward situation, consequentially facing his problems? The roller-skater’s kind of fun.

And here he was, locked outside the school during the Christmas party, with no other company apart from some malfunctioning Christmas lights, a stray dog sniffing his way in front of the building and him.

Marc didn’t look happier for the situation, nervously rubbing his hands together. He still wore his typical fingerless gloves, even if the tips were completely red. His nose was stuffed into a fluffy green scarf, and it did not come out during the last five minutes spent in silence. He looked as uncomfortable as he was back when Nathaniel first meet him. Were they really all over again?

The stairs were cold. There wasn’t snow at least. Just what were the girls thinking? Make them froze to death just to make things right?

Was he really that hopeless?

“Hey… maybe we should talk about it.” Nathaniel faked a cough.

Marc shrugged, not looking up. His eyes were so lucid, hard to tell if for cold or the situation. Nathaniel was really glad his superhero counterpart didn’t have that eye color, or even trying to emulate that on his notebook would be impossible.

Alix knew better than anyone how stubborn he was on the matter, she had one of his street painting made of nothing but shades of green. No one even close to Marc’s. A challenge that costed her too much painting for losing it. She pouted for the entire week, getting herself together only under the promise to never bring up the matter ever again. She really couldn’t see it like Nathaniel could.

A car passed in front of the school, lights getting bigger then smaller as they got away.

“You have something to say?” Marc’s almost whispered voice was hurt and husky. Just how much he thought about it? All week? It’s been a week after all. Staring at the calendar every day gave him the assurance of it.

The Christmas party was continuing inside, the music was loud. Nino was probably having the time of his life. All of their friends, and they were out, in the cold. Alone. It was surprising how little he felt the unluckiness of it.

Nathaniel scratched the back of his head. Something to say. Maybe, but the right thing to say? No way to know it for sure. He didn’t want to make it worse than how it already was. What was really the problem? He just knew that, after the last akuma attack, Marc had ignored him like he suddenly disappeared from the world.

And it hurt. So bad.

Nathaniel cleared his voice.

“I guess. I mean, I know you’re upset. I get it, that akuma was huge, it basically destroyed the city. Trust me, I had my thinking about it too. But we’re both fine, we can get through it… right?” He smiled nervously, turning at him.

And Marc was finally looking back. Disbelief. His lips were slightly parted. He opened his mouth, then closed it. He shook his head. His eyes hardened, but he was fidgeting with his frozen fingers. It was probably painful.

“For a comic.”

Nathaniel blinked.

“What…?”

“Nathaniel, you risked your life for a comic book! That is not okay, no matter how much you pretend it is!” Marc shivered. “I just… do you have any idea how scared I was when you did that? I get it, it’s our work, but if it wasn’t for Ladybug and Chat Noir you wouldn’t be here! And you still think you did nothing wrong, this is why I’m angry!” He went silent, his face was incredibly red, his eyes reflecting the Christmas lights.

Nathaniel felt the world disappear. Oh. Oh yeah.

He ran towards it. While everybody was escaping from that giant thing, he went straight towards it. Because of a comic.

The akuma was just a middle-age woman that couldn’t get over the Christmas shopping stress apparently – he got the information from Alya afterward, it was good material for their comic series. A giant ant busy accumulating all the stuff she could find inside her, getting bigger and bigger, to the point she was devastating the city just by walking in.

When it happened, they were hanging out in the city. Even if neither of them was a never-ending source of Christmas spirit, they loved getting inspired just by the feeling of it. The invisible atmosphere and warm of the holiday.

It was something they had in common. Just another thing they had in common.

Then, the attack.

“I’m… I’m sorry.”. Nathaniel lowered his head.

The writer sniffed, hiding more of his face in the scarf. He closed his eyes.

“You put yourself in danger like that, without saying a word. Do you have any idea how scared I was when I lost you in the crowd? The entire city was crumbling, a-and I was f-frozen on the spot with n-no idea of what to d-do…” His shoulders were trembling. In his usual closed pose, he looked way smaller than how he really was.

Nathaniel felt a painful press in his chest. Slowly he reached for his hands, bringing them together into his gloved ones. He didn’t look up, concentrating on those iced tips.

“I-I didn’t mean to make you this worried.”

Marc shook his head. Tears immediately fell.

“What was the point? We can make thousands of comics together, one less one more, it doesn’t matter! But we won’t if something happens to you! What if Ladybug didn’t grab you in time?? What if you got hurt, of worse?! I don’t want that!! I don’t wanna be alone now that I have you!!” He gasped, like he got scared of his own raised tone. “S-sorry, I… forget that, I-I didn’t want to put it onto you.” His shoulders were shivering terribly.

Nathaniel felt his entire body aching. He needed to do something. Anything. So he let go of his hands and hugged him around the shoulders. His heartbeat was getting faster, he could hear it in his head, right near another really loud one. He closed his eyes, hoping that it wasn’t too much, that even if Marc was angry and shaking like a leaf it didn’t mean every bond between them was lost.

He felt a wave of relief when the writer reached for his back, leaning his chin so close to Nathaniel’s neck. He could feel those black hair tickling his ear, and the scarf slightly brushing his skin. It sent a wave of warm all over him.

Nathaniel smiled.

“You’re too nice.”

The cutest squeak followed.

“W-what?! I’m just…”

“For real. What are you doing with someone like me?” Marc definitely wanted to protest, but maybe his low tone made him quiet. “It came to my mind at some point. It was all because of Marinette that we ended up working together, otherwise we wouldn’t even know each other. If it wasn’t for our shared interests… for a comic…” Nathaniel swallowed, his throat was getting dry. He breathed, a white cloud came out of his mouth.

The writer moved his head a little, accidentally brushing his lips onto his neck. His bones melted all together, so he instinctively closed his eyes.

“What are you saying?” Marc’s voice got low and intense.

Nathaniel swallowed. After knowing him they spent so much time together. Being alone an entire week had gave space to unpleasant thoughts.

“I gave you a hard time accusing you when we met. I turned you into an akuma. And now I even made you so angry you ignored me. You, with all the people! The only reason I can be around you is my work, and that’s us! That’s the only reason why we are together!” Nathaniel hold Marc closer, his arms shaking. “So… when I realized I dropped the comic, I panicked. I thought that you were going to hate me for losing it, that you would’ve realized that there is no other reason we see each other so frequently. I didn’t want to lose you. And now that I say it it’s really stupid, you’re not like that.” He sighed. “I’m sorry for worrying you. I really am.” Nathaniel tried to break to hug, too ashamed and sorry for himself to keep the contact.

He never had a reason for drawing. It was his everything, hobby, passion, ambition, a part of him like an eye or a leg. Now it brought him someone special, in a way that made his heart shaking for fear and happiness. He couldn’t lose it.

Marc suddenly took his hands instead. His eyes weren’t gloomy anymore, just vivid, bright. His cheeks were completely red.

“You’re right. There’s no other reason.”

It felt like a slap. Nathaniel lowered his eyes.

“Y-yeah. I guess it’s just a fact, eheh.” Marc was still staring intensely at him. “What?”

The writer swallowed. He slowly moved closer, keeping eye contact even if his eyelids were shaking. The Christmas lights reflected in his green lakes.

“But I want other reasons.”

“Huh?”

Marc smiled, the world lightened up.

“I love seeing you and working together on our comics, it feels like I’m accomplishing something amazing. Like putting together pieces that are naturally meant to be close. But… b-but it’s not just that.” He looked at his hands. “Even when I didn’t know you I was into your art, it spoke to me, inspiring me to get better at what I do too. And I admire you for having so many good friends, something I always have a hard time finding. A-also, the thing about getting inspired by the city, I’m glad it’s not silly since you do that too! And, a-and…” He bit his lip, his entire face was the equivalent of a Christmas light now.

Nathaniel found himself in awe, unable to say a think, fearing he would stop talking. But he did, Marc looked stuck on his own words. The artist slid some more, brushing their hips together.

“Marc?”

“I… I think you’re really handsome. I-I know, it’s shallow! But I thought about it since I first met you, it’s what I really think!” He breathed out, sending hot air on their hands. “I’ll never get tired of working with you, I’m sure. But I want more reasons to see you, to hang out and talk… o-or whatever you wanna do, really!” Marc swallowed hard, shily spying the other’s reaction. “What… do you think about it?”

His cheeks and nose were completely red, his lips tense. His pupils kept moving, like he didn’t know where to look on his face. And the green. No grass, no mint, no pistachio. Even saying green oceans would be reductive.

Nathaniel felt himself on fire, from the frozen stairs he was sitting on to his fingers intertwined with Marc’s. His mind went blank. Is this really happening? A wave of excitement made him shiver. Did he really ask that? His face burnt. Is this going to happen? He locked eyes with the shy, terrified guy in front of him, so close he didn’t realize he was.

The artist reached for his cheek, making him squeak. No looking back. No useless thoughts in between. He leaned and kissed him on those red, cold and cracked lips. Marc’s hand gave him a hard, surprised squeeze, only to relax right after in a dreamy sound. It felt like flying with no body or worries. The winter wasn’t on them anymore. Another car passed through, the light barely touched them. The Christmas lights turned off for just a moment.

When Nathaniel found himself enough to step back, he looked right into Marc’s half lidden eyes, lips parted and still slightly humid. He smiled, and the writer mimicked him.

“I would like that.”

He wanted more reasons too.

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Hello everybody! Here’s my piece for the Miraculous Ladybug Secret Santa! So brilliantly late ^^”

This is for you, @findmeinthevoid, I’m really sorry I didn’t post it earlier! But I was just a tiny bit four hours away from home :P Hopefully you enjoyed your Christmas as much as the end of the year! Happy Holidays! ^ ^

Between your ships I went for a cute Nathaniel x Marc a little fluffy with some angst, because you asked for it and also because I think these two works well because they had to deal with a pretty hard start. Also Alix is super cool and I couldn’t avoid adding some bro moments <3

Well, this is it! I really hope you liked this! ^ ^

Thanks a lot @mlsecretsanta for hosting this event, I had a lot of fun! Happy holidays to you, as well as everyone else!

See ya!! ;)

[uruhabuns]

it’s all about the foundation (makeup artist!reader x ruki) (Part 2)

A/N: here is part two of my dot point AU ;) this was so fun to write omg i think i should write for gazette more :’)) there’s not that many readerxgazette fics around so i’ll get around to writing more when i can! Also, this series may turn out a bit longer than I planned lmao...I have a tendency to drag things out unintentionally :’) anyways, hope you guys enjoy! Please like or reblog if you’ve read <3

Part 1 / Part 3

Genre: Fluff

Pairing: girl reader x ruki

___________

By the time you came back from your break, Kaolu had finished with Uruha’s makeup, and was beginning to work on Ruki’s eye makeup

“Kaolu-san, I got your coffee.”

Ruki couldn’t see you because he had his eyes closed as Kaolu was working on his eyelids, but felt his heart rate quicken slightly when he heard you come back

“Welcome back. Thanks, just put it on the coffee table over there.”

“Okay. Is there anything I need to do?”

“I’ll need you to do Ruki’s lips and contour once I’m done with his eyes. Just wait a little bit longer.”

“Okay.”

You sat on one of the couches, and sipped on your mocha

While you were waiting, you decided to look up the GazettE to get to know them better

You were baffled to read that they debuted in 2002; you didn’t know visual kei bands could last this long

Then again, you were more familiar with idol groups, who usually did not last half as long before disbanding

You then looked at the members’ profiles, attempting to match the names with the individual members in the room as you looked at each of them discreetly

When you felt like you got their names and faces correctly, you looked up their history

A lot of images came up on your phone, showing their countless looks from debut to present.

You were quite shocked at how they progressed, but then again, they’ve been around for nearly 18 years

You were also quite surprised at how different the members looked with and without makeup

Kaolu really is a good makeup artist if he could make them look like that, you thought.

You were too immersed in researching the band when before you knew it, Kaolu called to you

When he did, you jumped in slight surprise as you snapped out of it.

“Can you do Ruki’s lips and contour so I can get a start on Uruha’s hair? The products are already on the table.”

“Yes, right away!”

Meanwhile, Ruki was ecstatic on the inside that you’re doing more of his makeup since he thought you were assigned to only do his base makeup.

You sat in front of Ruki, observing Kaolu’s work on his eyebrows and eyes.

You were completely in awe at the transformation; Ruki looked like the complete opposite compared to his bare face

You felt as if he was staring into your soul with that look

Needless to say, Kaolu made Ruki look intimidating as hell with all that eyeshadow and gel liner

“Are you gonna start or are you gonna keep staring?” Ruki joked with a small smirk.

You squeaked. “Oh, I’m sorry! The makeup is just amazing...”

“You’ll have time to look later. We have rehearsal in a bit.”

“S-sorry,” you stuttered, bowing your head once.

You applied more hand sanitiser before grabbing the muted rose lipstick from the table

“Have you applied lip balm yet?”

“Yeah, just after you left for your break.”

You then leaned in to begin to apply the lipstick on Ruki’s lower lip.

As you did so, oh boy

If he wasn’t as dead inside as he is right now, his face would be tomato red

The sight of your delicate fingers on the lipstick, your softly coloured eyebrows knitted in concentration, your perfectly mascara-ed lashes, along with the subtle scent of your perfume, and gentle application of the lipstick was enough to send his insides burning

Ruki tried to avoid looking at you directly, so he kept his gaze on the mirror

“I’m finished with the lipstick,” you said to Kaolu. “Is this how you usually do it?”

Kaolu looked over and nodded in approval. “Great. You pick things up quite quickly, ______-san.”

“She should be your new assistant, Kathy,” Ruki commented as he observed your work.

You giggled softly, blushing at the compliments. “Thank you very much.”

Your soft laugh rang in Ruki’s ears, and he couldn’t help but feel the corner of his lips twist up slightly.

“There’s just contouring left,” Kaolu said to you, “You think you can manage?”

“I’ll do my best.”

“If you need help, just ask.”

You thanked him again before beginning to work on Ruki’s contour

You started brushing the powder from his nose bridge, working your way up to his brow bones

You lightly shaded his nose bridge to emphasise the height of it, and shaded a bit under the brow bone to make his eye makeup look deeper like in the pictures you saw earlier

While you did so, Ruki kept his eyes closed for two reasons: one, so that the powder wouldn’t fall into his eyes, and two, so he didn’t have to look at you in order to reduce any chances of getting flustered in front of everyone

Your touch was like ASMR to his skin, and he couldn’t help but feel light goosebumps form on his arms at your gentle brushing

You then moved on to contour the sides of Ruki’s face

The way you contoured was to make the face appear smaller, which was essential for anyone, especially idols, who is often in front of a camera

Ruki furrowed his eyebrows at the technique that was quite different to how Kaolu usually did. “Is this how you usually contour idols?”

You nodded. “Yes. It’s to make their faces look smaller for the camera, because the camera usually makes the face look bigger than it really is.”

“Is that so? Interesting...”

“You guys are always on camera, right? I’m sure you know that already, Ruki-san,” you joked.

Inner Ruki: STOOOOOOOOOPPPPP DOING THIS TO ME

Outer Ruki: “Well, yeah, we are. But we don’t pay as much attention to our looks as our performance.”

“Ah, I understand. Bands are a lot different to idols. For idols, image is almost everything.”

“Good thing we have one less thing to worry about, then.”

You let out another soft giggle.

oh boi

Ruki’s heart almost skipped a beat

But he tried to fight it off

He can’t let this happen. He can’t let another person do this to his heart again. Not after what happened in the past.

Once you were done, you called over to Kaolu to check your work.

He finished doing the final touches to Uruha’s hair before he went over, observing what you had done, and nodded in approval.

“This is brilliant, _______. How are you not a proper makeup artist yet?”

“Oh, this? It’s what we usually do with idols. Nothing too special.”

“Don’t say such things. You should be able to get a position if you keep up the great work.”

You smiled shyly and bowed your head once. “Thank you. Though this isn’t overly amazing. Ruki-san has very defined features, so it’s easier for me to contour.”

“Ah, yes, the idol department must have very high standards. Oh well, I hope you can get a promotion soon. You’re doing great.”

“Yeah, she makes me look ready for the camera.” Ruki joked.

You bowed deeply at Ruki and Kaolu’s compliments. “Thank you very much. I’ll work harder in the future.”

“Don’t mention it,” Kaolu replied, “Also, since you’re done, do you mind helping the other stylists clean up a bit while I do Ruki’s hair?”

You nodded. “Of course.”

By then the other four members were already done with their hair and makeup, and had left the room to begin sound checks on the stage

About half an hour later, Kaolu was done with Ruki’s hair, so he then made his way out to go for rehearsal and his sound checks.

You were coming back from the bathroom, so when you opened the door, you almost collided with Ruki, who was in the middle of making his way out.

The both of you yelped in surprise, and you held onto your chest

“Careful!”

“Ah! I’m so sorry!” you squeaked and bowed a few times.

“No, I should be sorry, I was moving too quickly.”

You moved to one side to let him leave, looking downwards to hide your embarrassment.

Once he left, you went inside the makeup room to report to Kaolu

“I think I’m finished.”

“You did great today, _______. I told you the guys were nice.”

You smiled softly and nodded in agreement. “Yes. I was actually a little intimidated when you first showed me the pictures because they look very fierce.”

“Not a chance. They’re very kind and ordinary once they leave the stage, so you have nothing to be afraid of. Though, of course, you would get shy meeting new people; that’s completely normal.”

“Yes, I agree.”

Fast forward two hours, you managed to get another half hour break while the members came back to the makeup room

When Ruki went in, he discreetly scanned the room in the hopes of finding you, but to his disappointment, he couldn’t hear your sweet giggle nor voice.

He wanted to ask the stylists where you went, but he didn’t want to seem like he liked you, so he kept it to himself and assumed that you went on a break.

At the cafe, you were waiting impatiently on the side of the counter for your coffee to be made; your break was nearly over, and the barista had mixed up your order with someone who ordered after you

Let’s say you returned with one minute to spare

You were red and panting from running so much by the time you got back to the venue

You opened the door, and your heart almost stopped when you saw all five members of the band in full hair, makeup, and costume chatting among themselves

They turned to face you when they heard the door open

You froze on the spot

Fuck, they’re hot as HELL

You were glad your face is red from running so they didn’t know you were embarrassed

That was when you realised that the stylists weren’t around, and you probably barged in while the boys were probably discussing something important.

“I-I’m so sorry!” you squeaked, bowing once. “U-uh, where are the other stylists?”

“They’re on their break,” Reita replied, “Though Kaolu should be back pretty soon.”

You nodded. “Alright, I understand. Again, I’m sorry for interrupting,” you said before beginning to make your way back out.

When you turned around...

“How ‘bout you stay with us until they come back?” you heard Uruha suggest.

You looked back, raising your eyebrows. Did you hear correctly? “I-I’m sorry?”

“Come sit with us,” Uruha repeated, motioning for you to come over.

You gulped. “A-are you sure? I should be working...”

“It’s fine. If you get in trouble, we can defend you.”

Ruki gave him the biggest death glare as if to say “WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU PLANNING YOU DUMBASS”

Uruha only smirked back at him

You carefully entered the room, your face still slightly hot from running

When you got to the couches, you looked around to find empty seats next to Ruki, Uruha, and Reita, while Kai and Aoi had taken the armchairs

You walked over and carefully sat on the seat next to Ruki, since you were a little more comfortable with him than the others

Ruki slightly shifted over to give you more room, but you didn’t need that much since there was enough space already

During that time, they got to know you a bit more, asking you about your background, why you chose makeup arts, and other things like that

You also got to know them more too; you learnt that they started from nothing and worked their way up to where they were now. You also learnt that their original drummer left after their first year of debut, and was replaced by Kai, who’d been in the band ever since

You became more comfortable with them, and it turned out they’re really not as intimidating as you thought they would be -- they were all kind and funny guys to you

Fast forward to the start of the concert!!

You were at the door of the makeup room to wish them luck as the members left one by one, with Kai leaving first, and Ruki last

"Good luck, Ruki-san,” you said with an extra sweet smile for him as he was about to walk out the door

He only gave you a knowing smirk as he walked past you

Your heart almost skipped a beat

That was when you realised that Fuck he is actually really fucking hot

But you knew crushing on your clients wasn’t professional, so you brushed it off; he was just attractive, that’s all. You’ve barely known him for a day.

When you heard Ruki shout to begin the concert, you sneakily dashed out of the dressing room to take a peek of the stage

Kaolu was right - they were all completely different on stage, as if they had a switch for their personalities

However, your focus was mostly on Ruki; he was probably the most different - the way he hyped up the audience with his fierce style of speech, to the way his body language expressed along with the music

You felt your heart beat slightly faster as the band began playing NINTH

You didn’t know if it was from the excitement the audience received from Ruki, or if you were just excited to see what the band were going to do...or if you actually were starting to crush on Ruki

Either way, you knew you didn’t want this to be a one-off time working with the band

[fmdtaeyongarchive]

↬ 괜찮아 괜찮아.

date: ~march/april 2019.

location: n/a.

word count: 1918 words.

summary: my attempt at setting a world record for how many times i can write some variation of “ash is thankful to candy”.

notes: creative claims verification for fantasy!

ash gets to work on the song not too long after he has his first conversation with candy about it. he leaves the conversation inspired and wants to see if he can whip up the beginnings of something to work on so he can create some kind of demo to send her to demonstrate to her that he’s interested and he believes in her ability to pull off a solo. even a solo made by him if that’s what she really wants. he’s proud of himself and his growth as a writer and producer, but his first instinct is still to doubt her judgment in coming to him. why him of all people when bc has some of the industry’s top hitmakers available feet away at any given time and ash is pretty sure he already peaked with his last album? the confidence she seems to have in him reassures him, though, in a way that lets him push past that block of insecurity that so desperately wants to wall off his artistic muse more quickly than usual, and, for that, he’s silently grateful to her before he’s even begun to work on the song in earnest.

at the beginning, he has no clue if he’ll make it very far before he surrenders and suggests someone else take up the mantle of candy’s album, but it’s a new root of inspiration for him, being so directly asked to create a song by someone who isn’t a messenger from bc entertainment’s a&r department with a pre-decided list of genres and themes and concepts they want incorporated to manufacture a hit, and he wants to toy with it for as long as he can before letting himself completely give up. ash has found he’s not very good at being handed a laundry list of items to work off of, if the numerous rejections he’s gotten by higher ups in his attempts to fulfill bc’s desires is any sign to go by. but candy isn’t bc, she’s a dear friend and someone who let him talk out the creative process with her to ensure they could find an understanding with each other instead of doing what bc does: piling everything onto him with too many unrealistic expectations and too few questions he’s able to ask. and that makes all the difference in the world, it seems, because once ash gets going, he finds it all comes almost unfairly easy to him for once.

he sets aside the lyrics for now. the track he has in mind after letting it bounce around in his head all day is driven by its atmosphere, something the composition and production, and eventually candy’s voice, will be critical in creating even beyond whatever words he comes up with to reflect the seductive fantasy concept she told him she’s looking for.

drafts of songs he’s supposed to send to bc soon for review along with ones he’s working on entirely of his own accord get pushed aside to focus on this one track. he keeps in mind what candy had said she wanted in her ideal solo debut, even the parts he doesn’t have any control over like lingerie styling and a mature, possibly shocking, music video. he can’t make those things happen, but any detail is a hint to what he could do to give her the closest thing to what she’d envisioned. if candy’s all in about it, ash will be, too. if it ends up being too atmospheric, too sensual and hazy, he can reel it back in until he finds the perfect balance. he briefly recalls an acting lesson he’d taken a few years ago back when bc had thought that’d be a good direction to try pushing him in. “it’s always better to overact than underact,” he’d been told by his acting teacher, “because overacting means you’ve already passed the ideal and you simply have to find your way backwards to it.” it isn’t something he’d thought of much since bc had mercifully dropped plans for that career path after his scandal, but now that he thinks about it, it’s smart, and it can apply just as easily to the creation of music. more layers means more opportunities to see what will work and what won’t. the first draft he comes up with doesn’t have to be perfection neatly wrapped in a pretty package with a bow. in the end, ash scales his earlier drafts back to something simpler than he starts with, but it allows him to tie in the experimental, playful synths that are used in the final product in a way he wouldn’t have risked if he’d kept it less hectic from the start.

ash makes sure to establish the base of the composition in an area that sets up the song for what he wants it to be. the main melodic line is, naturally, in a higher register than he normally writes, but he settles in a key and range he gauges to be well within candy’s abilities. he’ll send it to her later to see if it’s comfortable for her, since his main frame of reference is having heard her sing within the context of lipstick songs. he hasn’t written for her before, but there’s no one he really has that kind of knowledge of yet anyway, other than himself. if it works out as intended, he wants it to sit in an area that lends itself to the mix range of her voice that can lilt into something breathier and headier to keep with the tone, or maybe, if it suits her better, a shallow chest voice. it won’t require vocal gymnastics or skillful belts, but the melody takes shape into something that he envisions relying heavily on her delivery.

working on the song, one word in particular comes to mind: closeness. the tension of two people drawing closer together until they can both feel their breath mixing between them, the torment of being so close to touching. the slow burn moment of hesitance and coaxing before a barrier is crossed, that’s what he wants the instrumental to feel like because that’s the most simple fantasy in the most vivid detail. the song doesn’t need to be the entire fantasy; it can be a teaser.

it’s something he’d be scared to create for himself, the expectation of sensuality that comes with having to contribute to the mood vocally something he’d struggle with embarrassment over when put into a recording booth, but the knowledge candy’s expressed more comfort in the concept allows him to push past his own boundaries and make something suited for her instead. she seems more sure in herself with this kind of image, and that’s something ash admires about her: her ownership over herself in an industry that likes to play with idols like discardable dolls that will outstay their welcome in a few years time.

at some point, when he gets frustrated with the track sounding too dated (he’d wanted to incorporate some 80s sounds, not make something that sounded like it’d already been done thirty years ago), he finds himself straying to listening to past lipstick songs, grasping for inspiration. this isn’t a lipstick song, though, he eventually has to remind himself after his fifth listen to “hurt locker”. it’s a candy song, and much like he would hate to be handed a rejected knight track to head an album, he isn’t going to half ass this and leave his friend with something derivative of a bigger picture. instead, he makes a point to stray from the sounds most frequently heard in lipstick’s production. it’s not a song made for six or seven voices, it’s a song made for one. that’s the key to the intimacy of it, the illusion of a one on one conversation, as long as he didn’t wander too far off into trite fanservice. regardless of anyone else’s intentions, he isn’t in this to rile up the hormones of lipstick’s fans, he’s in it to tell a story. a story that’s different to most of the ones he’s tackled in the songs he’s created before, yes, a fantasy instead of a harsh reality, but a fantasy nonetheless.

once he’s happy enough with the instrumental, ash knows he can’t put off the lyrics any longer. he’d been so worried about them after his struggle with writing what he’d written of “swim good”, but when he gives in and the time comes to create the words to the song, inspiration swarms to ash much easier than it had before in his attempts to approach more blunt sensuality in music. he credits that largely to the fact that he won’t be required to sing any of the words himself and he thanks candy under his breath in the stale air of his studio again for the ease with which he’s able to create multiple lyrical drafts to see what fits the track he’s created best.

some choruses are more forward, some more coy, some more dangerously toeing the line of what an idol can get away with singing (he doesn’t anticipate those to be the ones he goes with even as he writes them, but they’re a fun exercise in expressing himself lyrically in much different way than he has before), but the one he ends up choosing is a delicate mix of everything. or at least ash thinks it is, and he hopes the people in charge of ultimately approving the song and its lyrics agree. the final chorus is subtle, but seductive. alluring, but not aggressive. and he bases the verses around that simple, but satisfactory chorus. any fantasy needs a steady center to swirl around in a haze of desire.

the chorus isn’t too wordy, but he still wants it to be lyrically driven instead of propelling forward by twisting synths to keep a throughline in the music. it all needs to be on the same level, in a way, to keep the fantasy going without pulling the listener out of the experience. as he moves to writing the verses, he keeps that in mind, putting extra work into keeping them all consistent with the chorus and playing with a slow, unfolding reveal of a fantasy. it’s fun to present words so forward and clear in their intentions while still holding back enough to keep it within the good sensibilities of the public who will listen to it. the idea of not faking innocence leaves him more room than the sugary sweet naivety of many an idol song with underlying innuendo. instead of acted inexperience, the focus of the lyrics is on coaxing the listener (reassuring is another word ash keeps in mind), though ash is careful not to assume innocence, faked or otherwise, on the part of the listener either and crosses off several lines that play too reliantly into that.

in the end, the lyrics are a game of gentle push and pull in a way, leading but not forceful, flirting, but not crude, and, frankly, ash really likes what he’s done when the whole piece comes together. he’s happy with himself for creating something he would have never thought he was capable of only a couple of months ago. comfort is found in writing for someone so different from him as a performer and idol, and for the first time, when presenting a song he’s written for someone else, he feels far more pride in his work than he feels nervousness of rejection.

[17mounteens]

College roommate (Minghao)

Request:

Bullet points with collage Roommate minghao❤ and he ends up kissing you in front of seventeen at a party?

» alcohol warning!!!! again, drink responsibly if you’re old enough!

your first impression of Minghao was nothing but good

the second you walked into the room you’d be sharing with him, you were welcomed with a bright smile as he took his headphones off and got up from his bed

“You must be Y/N?”

you put the box you were carrying down and turn to him, smiling a little, too

“Yeah, and you’re Minghao, right?”

he smiles warmly at you and nods

“I’ve already settled down, so if you need any help unpacking or something, I can help.”

you thank him for his offer and think about it for a while, but decide that for the time being you should be fine by yourself

besides, you don’t want to be any kind of a bother to him; not so early into your life as roommates, anyhow

however, as you bring in a few more boxes and realize how much you have to unpack, you turn to Minghao with a meek expression

he raises his gaze from the book he’s reading and grins at you

“Need help?”

“Only if it’s not too much of a bother, but yes, I could use some.”

and so he helps you unpack some of your things, such as the books, CDs and smaller things you had wanted to take with you

while doing so, the two of you talk as you get to know each other a little

he comments on some of the CDs you have, excitedly pointing out a few bands/artists that he likes, too, and you’re happy to find a book you both like, too

you talk about your majors and hobbies and the like as well, and you find out Minghao enjoys dancing and photography among many other things

"I also like watching new movies, so if you want to, we can have movie nights every now and then.”

the suggestion is tempting and you find yourself nodding eagerly

“That sounds great!”

you also insist on seeing some of his photography at some point, and Minghao excitedly tells you that you’d see it soon

by the time your boxes are empty, you and Minghao have both concluded that you’ll get along well

and you’re so happy when you realize that he really is a nice roommate in practice, too

he tends to make sure you’re not oversleeping and is always willing to offer you whatever snacks he’s having, and you do your best to return the kindness

the two of you become friends pretty fast, which isn’t too surprising considering how well you get along

you find him easy to talk to, and he enjoys listening to you and telling you about everything, too

even your senses of humor seem to match, and a mere week or two into college he introduces you to his friends because he wants you to be a part of his group of close people

you’re surprised with how such different people get along so well, especially when there seems to be so many of them, but you enjoy being with them 

occasionally Minghao would switch to Chinese with his friend Junhui, and you smile at how at ease he seems to be when talking in his native language

you get along with most of his friends, and find Mingyu in particular easy to be around

you learn that Mingyu and Minghao are best friends and practically inseparable, and you love seeing them bicker and laugh together

but yes

you and Minghao always help each other out and probably get the “most supportive roommates” prize as a joke from Seungkwan

whenever there’s assignments one of you needs help with, the other is always there

and also whenever one of you is stressed, the other finds a way to help

whether it’s you dragging Minghao to a party or Minghao taking you for a drive during the night

same goes for whenever you’re down; you do your best to support each other through difficult times, and as you become closer friends it’s not too surprising to have one of you fall asleep while hugging the other one after a rough day

usually it’s you cuddling up to him, but it being the other way around isn’t rare either

the only problem with everything is that

eventually you realize that there’s a tiny chance you like him as more than a friend

and that chance seems to only get bigger whenever Minghao decides to be shirtless

but you keep it under wraps and just enjoy being his friend and roommate

and the movie nights

they’re one of your favorite ways to wind down, really: both of you comfortable on his bed, snacking on something and watching a movie

most of the time the movie is good, too, which only helps

you also love seeing his photography, as he has a habit of hanging pictures taken by him on a string he’s put nicely on his wall

you’re surprised to find a few pictures of yourself that you didn’t even know he had taken

then again in one of them you had fallen asleep on one of your books, so perhaps it was understandable you didn’t know he had taken a photo

regardless you find it cute and make a note to ask him about them later

it’s nearing the fall semester when Minghao invites you to a party his friends are hosting

“We’ve worked hard this semester and could use some loosening up, right?”

honestly he didn’t even have to excuse it because if it’s Minghao and a party and your common friends, you’re in

the party proves out to be just as amazing as you had expected it to

there’s good music, great people, and a fair share of entertainment in form of Seungkwan, Seokmin and Soonyoung generally entertaining people as well as different kinds of activities

Seungcheol seems to kick everyone’s ass at the beer pong table, and Jeonghan challenges him time after time

you and Minghao enjoy some drinks while watching the beer pong game, unable to fathom how Seungcheol’s still playing as well as he is after all the beer

alcohol starts to enter your blood stream steadily, and eventually you’re in a happy buzz and clinging onto Minghao

he laughs and holds you up

“Think you’ve drunk enough?”

you laugh and shake your head while playing with his hair

“Nope.”

then there’s silence because Minghao can feel how close you are and your gaze falls to his lips

“Have your lips always looked this soft?”

he snickers at your question and shrugs a little

“Probably.”

you remain there for a while longer, and your hand moves down to his neck, which has him swallowing

“Y/N, I...”

“Anyone up for a game of spin the bottle?!”

Minghao throws a glare at Soonyoung, who’s completely oblivious, and sighs when you show interest in the game

a moment later a large portion of the people at the party are gathered in a circle with an empty bottle of wine in the center

you’re sitting next to Minghao, leaning your head on his shoulder, and he smiles a little at that

everyone spins the bottle in turns, and you both get to witness a series of kisses, some quick and shy and some so passionate that one can only guess how much the participants have been checking each other out

eventually it’s Minghao’s turn to spin the bottle, which has yet to fall on either of you, and his eyes widen momentarily when the bottle points at you

you grin at him, unable to even feel nervous as all you’re able to feel is excitement

"I guess you have to kiss me now.”

Minghao licks his lips and turns a little so that he’s able to face you better

you shiver the slightest bit when you feel his hand on the back of your neck

“I get to kiss you.”

before your tipsy brain is able to process his words, you’ve already got Minghao’s lips against yours, just as soft as they had looked

his friends all gasp, except for Mingyu, who coughs into his fist with a very obvious “I knew it”

you let yourself melt into the kiss, bringing your hand into Minghao’s hair as you kiss him passionately, pulling him closer and closer until he breaks away with a wide smile on his lips

“Easy there, Y/N.”

you pout as you only want to kiss him more and more, and he suggests the two of you leave the game to get you some water

so you move to the kitchen, and you drink some water while Minghao sits next to you and enjoys the snacks, offering you some, too

holding the water glass, you hum, and Minghao asks you what’s on your mind

“I saw some pictures you’d taken of me... what’s behind those?”

his cheeks heat up and gain a rosy tint to them as he stuffs his mouth with a handful of chips just so that he’d have more time to think about an answer

“...I think that’s something we should discuss when you’re sober.”

you sigh dramatically, the alcohol making you feel a bit drowsy

“But I really like you, Hao.”

his heart jumps and he smiles a little while getting an arm around your shoulders

“That’s just the alcohol.”

you shake your head and pout at him

“I like you when I’m sober, too. You’re cute and funny and so lovely, gosh how are you so lovely?”

snickering, Minghao pulls you into a small half-hug

“I could ask you the same.”

the next morning you wake up with a headache, luckily in your own bed, with a painkiller and a big glass of water on your nightstand as well as a note from Minghao

'Based on last night, I think we should talk when you’ve woken up.’

your initial reaction is to wonder if you did something stupid that you didn’t recall, but then you remember everything that happened

everything from Minghao kissing you to you kissing him back with more passion and need than you could recall kissing anyone with in a long time

as well as to you telling him you liked him

sighing deeply, you take the painkiller and get up to go shower in an attempt to help yourself feel better

an hour or so later you’re sitting on your bed in comfortable clothes, and Minghao comes in with some food while smiling widely

“Good timing, right?”

“Perfect,” you smile at him, even as your heart begins beating faster, and eagerly welcome the food as he takes a seat next to you

the two of you eat in silence for a bit, until you hum again

“So... those pictures.”

Minghao nods slowly

“I hope they don’t seem weird or anything. I just... thought you were really cute when you slept.”

you chuckle, your heart warm at his words

“No, they’re cute. Is that all there is to it?”

Minghao seems to avoid your gaze a little, and it makes you grin

finally he sighs

“I like you. A lot. And it’s taken so many food bribes to keep Mingyu from blurting it out to you.”

butterflies fly about in your stomach as you nod, a smile widening on your lips

“Well, at least you’re not alone in that.”

Minghao looks at you in surprise, and within a few seconds he’s got your lips soft against his

and when you pull back you’ve got one dazed cute boy next to you

a smug smile takes over your features as you quickly take your phone, open the camera and snap a pic of him

“You’re not the only one who enjoys taking pictures of cute things.”

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