#and it's probably exhausting for him tbh! reining it in all the time

[pray4jensen]

i wish jensen would stop changing his opinion on the finale every time he’s in front of a new audience. Today he said that there was nothing he would change, he could only sing it’s praises. And I’d like to blame Jared but Jared didn’t have any input. I just don’t feel like I can ever trust jensen not to appeal to any given audience 🫤

i don't think jensen really has a choice. it's his job and he can only talk about his opinions so long as it doesn't majorly offend anyone. and he'll only be in a job as long as he keeps things in balance.

it sucks, truly, but there are consequences for speaking up, especially in his position. he also wants to keep going with the spn universe. he has big plans, and he won't get to carry them out if he alienates a good portion of the show's fanbase. something that makes spn so attractive as a business is that it's kept a dedicated base of fans who are willing to spend a lot of money. spn has never been the most popular show, but its fans are dedicated in ways that most shows can only dream of. more fans are willing to watch the winchesters, for example, than jared's walker. because all jared's done post-finale is alienate the dean fans, and the cas fans, and the destiel fans. jensen, for the most part, has done none of that.

people are ambivalent about jensen whereas misha and jared have fans that are really black and white about their passion for them, and that's because jared and misha are really outspoken. jensen's always so careful with his words and the fact that he hasn't exactly shown a neutral face post-finale speaks a lot more about what his real thoughts and feelings are, rather than when he answers con questions where the audience is often very particular in the way they think/feel about the finale.

when he talks about the finale, he's very careful. he said it made good television. and objectively, that's true. look at how hysterical it was for all parties involved. it riled up everybody. people are still talking about it. that's actually quite a feat. and that's usually what the companies behind producing these series think is good television. that's what's going to convince these companies to go for another spin-off or reboot or movie.

he said dean wouldn't have been able to go on if sam died. also objectively true. because cas was also dead. it would've looked bleak as hell for dean.

jensen at the end of the day never lies tbh. but sometimes he withholds certain truths. like how he doesn't mention cas' absence in a room full of fans who probably hate cas anyway. the fact that he doesn't mention cas doesn't mean that he doesn't think cas' death wouldn't have affected dean too. it doesn't mean that jensen doesn't think it wouldn't have been a major factor for dean's ability to continue if sam died too.

just because it's unsaid doesn't mean it isn't true.

he's always been very honest when asked about what he would've done if cas came back (a hug, a desire to address the confession). and when asked what dean probably would've done if he'd had more time to respond to cas' love confession, he was also very honest (dean would've said i love you too).

so at the end of the day, he's never said directly that he liked the finale and that he was happy about how it ended (that's a very personal opinion to express and that's just inference that certain fans have picked up). but what he has done is make very neutral and very objectively honest statements about it that keep fans dedicated to the show.

he's not changing sides. he's not changing his opinions. he's just being very very careful while telling the truth.

[thesoundofnat]

Friends

Poe/Finn, Zorii, Snap, Jessika, Leia, Rey

Summary: Poe’s friends help him in various ways.

A/N: I just wanna write about Poe and his friends okay.

Warnings: Minor spoilers for The Rise of Skywalker, mostly I just write about one character that’s in it, but I make my own conclussions about their relationship to Poe, so the character’s mere existence is the spoiler tbh.

Words: 2.5k

Poe hadn’t changed in the slightest during the years they’d been apart. Zorii had to roll her eyes, in that fond way she saved for him even though he could exasperate her to no end.

“Are you done?” she asked when his grumbling had died down.

He sighed, deflating. “Yes. For now.”

“Good. Now. You want to talk about why you’re acting like a child?”

“I’m just tired.”

“We all are. You used to be able to hide your emotions better, at least.”

“Never around you.”

“But it’s not just around me, is it?” She felt her face soften. Couldn’t help it. “I get being frustrated. Truly, I do. But Poe. You need to rein it in in front of the others.”

“They’re as frustrated as I am.”

“And that’s why you need to put on a brave face and give them hope. You’re their leader, aren’t you?”

He shrugged, neither confirming nor denying.

“I think there’s something else bothering you.”

“Like what?”

She tilted her head at him. “I haven’t figured that part out yet.”

He’d seen her friend, her companion, co worker, beard, wear too many expressions to count, and she’d once been able to identify each and every one of them. But this one was different. This one was layered. A vulnerability, shielded behind something like pain, which in turn was being shielded by a stoicness. And in front of them all was vulnerability, again, because he was allowing Zorii to see all this. And then, front and center, a desperation, which was disguised as grumpiness around others. She couldn’t interpret what all this mean when they mixed together. She couldn’t read him as a whole.

“What’s wrong, Poe?”

He hid his face in his hands. “I don’t know what I’m doing. I don’t know what I’m doing.”

This was bad. This was hopelessness.

“You-” she started, taking a step closer and reaching for his hand before changing her mind. She slapped his back. He needed tough love. He needed the familiarity. “You need to have a good cry, some food and some sleep, okay?”

He peeked out at her, eyes dry, but barely. “You think that will help?”

“It always helps.” She ruffled his curls, grinning at his indignant whine. “You can cry on my shoulder if you want.”

He let out a laugh. “I’m good. You’d never let me live that down.”

“You bet your ass I wouldn’t.”

Poe crossed his arms, his smile melting off his face as quickly as it had arrived. “I just… I can’t help them all. I can’t lead them all.”

Zorii bumped into him. “You’re not alone.”

“People keep saying that, but I’ve never felt that less in my life.”

“Remember what I told you?”

He sighed, shoulders slumping. “That they make us think we’re alone to make us lose hope.”

“Don’t lose hope, Poe Dameron.”

His exhale was almost a laugh. “I’ll try.”

“Come on.” She pulled at his wrist, in the way that always made him grin back in the days because he found the action so childlike. “Let’s start with some food, okay?”

He was nodding. “Okay.” A beat and, “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

*

Snap was watching Poe. He wasn’t sure why. Something about his face, the way he held himself, had caught Snap by the throat and he couldn’t look away even if he wanted to. He looked exhausted, but not from a lack of sleep. More from a perpetually interrupted peace of mind. A restlessness about him.

Or something. Snap couldn’t say he was an expert on all things Poe Dameron.

“Hey, Poe,” he found himself saying, catching Poe’s attention before he could curse himself. What was he even gonna say? “Come here a sec.”

Poe did, a mild curiosity to his face. “What’s up?”

“I need your help.”

“With?”

With indeed. “I need someone to meditate with me.” What the fuck.

Poe raised an eyebrow. “You meditate?”

“No. But I wanna start, but I need a buddy or else I won’t do it.”

Poe looked around them. “Can’t you ask someone else?”

“I feel like you’ll need it the most, pal.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means we need some stress relief, Dameron.”

Poe started laughing, the sound unfamiliar to Snap, but oh so welcome. “You’re so full of shit,” he said, and Snap was laughing too.

“Got you to smile though, didn’t it?” he replied, realizing, belatedly, that this was all he needed to do. Tell a joke, be a little bizarre, and Poe was distracted. That was all Snap could do for him, but it seemed to be enough.

Poe rubbed at his neck, sheepish at being caught, but not denying his struggles. Not sharing, but also not pretending something wasn’t weighing him down. “It did. Thank you.”

Snap waved a hand at him. “Oh, stop. We’ll try yoga afterward to make us more flexible.”

*

Jessika nearly crashed into a building in her haste to fly the hell out of there, but Poe, that stupid brave bastard, stayed behind, his blaster going off in all directions in order to stall the Stormtroopers enough for his crew to flee. Practically leaving him behind.

She cursed. “Poe, come on.”

“Get out of here,” he called back into the comm, and she cursed again. “Jess, go!”

She did the opposite of that and turned her X-Wing back around, aiming straight at a group of Stormtroopers who were shooting in Poe’s direction. “Take this!” she cried, shooting them back and hitting one, two, injuring one, and making the rest turn to aim at her only for Poe to finish them off.

“That’s more like it!” she said. “Now come on.”

Poe jumped into his own X-Wing, thanking her over the noise of more Stormtroopers arriving. Not a match for them now though, and they fled, higher and quicker, and Jess was still cursing out of the need for relief.

“You’re an idiot,” she said later, much later, when they were fed and patched up and alive, alive, alive. “Next time, call for backup instead of thinking you can handle them all yourself.”

“Follow my orders next time, Pava.” But he didn’t sound angry. Just tired. “But thank you.”

She snorted, punching his arm. “For saving your ass? You’re welcome.”

He laughed and Jess finally felt herself relax.

*

Leia had an inkling she knew why Poe was sulking, but she sat down beside him anyway, feeling she could at least ask. Maybe he’d want to talk, even though that was highly unlikely. “How are you?”

He glanced at her, back straightening when their eyes met. “I’m well, General.”

“Poe, I’m asking as a friend.”

“Oh.” He slumped, if only a little. “I’m still well.”

“Something’s on your mind.”

“People keep saying that.”

“Well, I don’t know what they’re saying, but-” How to approach this? “I might be able to give more… experienced advice.”

“About leading? Oh, absolutely.”

Huh. More than one thing on his mind then.

“And other things,” she said, not prying, but opening the topic in case he wanted to share.

But she knew Poe. Poe was stubborn, shy about his emotions, nearly ashamed, and if she didn’t gently let him know she knew, he would never tell.

“Such as relationship advice. I did date Han Solo for years, you know.” A joke, but Poe flushed anyway.

“Right,” he said, eyes not on Leia anymore. “Well. I’ll let you know if I need some.”

“Poe.”

He licked his lips, the ghost of a laugh escaping. “I’m not good at this.”

“I know. It’s okay.”

“Is it?”

“It’s hard balancing these things in the middle of a war, let alone in the middle of a crowded military-esque base.”

“I bet.”

“But it’s possible. Maybe even more crucial because of it.”

“How did you know?”

“About Finn?”

He shrugged. “About Finn.”

“You’re being quite obvious in the way you look at him. But don’t worry, people would have to observe you in order to properly tell.”

“You observe me?”

“I observe everything.”

“How did you and Han- I mean-”

“Make it work? We needed to, or we could risk dying without having ever even tried.”

Poe nodded. “That makes sense.”

“It’s stressful dealing with feelings during times like these,” she continued, giving Poe’s arm a squeeze. “But worth it. And needed.”

Poe huffed out a laugh. “I guess. I just… what if he-”

“Doesn’t feel the same?”

“Yeah.”

“Then you’ll have to settle on friendship, which isn’t settling at all.”

“What if I lose him?”

“You won’t, Poe. I promise.”

Leia could tell him about how she’d observed Finn too and seen a love for Poe that Poe hadn’t noticed yet, but she figured it wasn’t hers to tell. He’d figure it out, once he stopped being so terrified. She was sure of it.

*

Rey found the hallways both creepy and soothing during nighttime. Empty, echoey, perfectly dimmed in case she wanted to see a shadow and mistake it for a person. But when she saw Poe sitting by himself one night she wasn’t startled. It was almost as if she’d sensed him. Sensed an unrest outside of her own.

“Poe?”

He looked up, eyes wide and bloodshot. Exhaustion rolling off of him even from afar. “Rey. Hi.”

“Hey.” She hovered before him. “May I join you?”

He gestured to the floor. “Be my guest. Please.”

She sat, their backs against the wall. Their base temporary, but the most comfortable one they’d had in a while. A planet they would have to leave, eventually. “Why are you up?”

“I could ask you the same thing.” Not a challenge. Just an observation.

She felt herself smile. “Couldn’t sleep.”

“Same here.”

“Nightmares?”

“No. Just-” He paused, humming. “Can’t settled down enough. Too much on my mind.”

“I see.”

“You?”

“Too restless to even try.”

He breathed out a laugh, the emptiness of the hallway amplifying it. “I can respect that.”

Rey turned to face him. “How long has this been going on for you?”

“Oh. Uh.” He shook his head, his smile small. Sad. “Too long probably.”

“Can I help you?”

“How would you help?”

“I can… I think the force might-” She shook her head. “I won’t mess with your head or anything, but… I think I can help you relax.”

“Really?”

“It won’t hurt to try. We need you to be alert, after all.”

He ran a hand through his hair. “I guess. I mean, sure, why not? I’d owe you my life if you fixed it.”

She heaved herself to her feet and held out a hand to help him. “Come on. Better do this around a bed.”

He accepted her hand, hope in his eyes. Hope she hoped she wouldn’t crush.

*

Finn wasn’t sure whether he should laugh or cry when Poe approached him and said he’d been hurt during their latest mission and not told anyone until now.

“You stubborn bastard,” he growled and Poe was laughing, that sweet sweet laughter enough to get Finn to smile despite himself. “Is it bad?”

“No, but- well, I think it might be infected?”

“Poe.”

“And I’m sure if I told anyone else they would scold me all the way to Jakku.”

Finn rolled his eyes. “Want me to clean it?”

“Yes, please.”

So there they were, in Finn’s room, door shut, with Poe’s shirt pulled up because the wound was on his side. Finn couldn’t say he didn’t want to push the shirt up even more, maybe pull it off entirely, make sure the rest of Poe’s torso was okay because that man had no self preservation. But he was tasked with sorting out the current predicament, and that was enough for now.

“Lean back,” he said, because Poe was slumping a bit and it was hard to see the proper damage.

“I tried to clean it myself, but…” he trailed off, sitting back against the wall as Finn looked at the wound.

“How did you even get this?” he asked, fingertips hovering over the infected skin. “This doesn’t look like a blaster wound, thank the stars.”

“I honestly think I bumped into something and didn’t even realize I was bleeding until much later.”

“Can’t take you anywhere.”

Poe’s laugh was cut off by him inhaling through gritted teeth when Finn started dabbing at the cut. “Shit.”

“Sorry. I should’ve warned you.”

“S’okay. Keep going.”

Finn cleaned the wound mostly in silence, apart from Poe’s occasional yelps or curses. Finn had his other hand on Poe’s abdomed, pulling the skin ever so slightly, head bowed low in order to see better. Ignoring that he was touching Poe. Entirely ignoring as he moved his hand over Poe’s lower belly.

He suddenly cried out, but there was a laugh in there that made Finn look up. “Poe?”

He looked sheepish, with his head tilted to the side and a smile still lingering on his lips. “Sorry. You just- you tickled me.”

Finn looked at his hand, and then back up at Poe. He couldn’t help his grin. “Huh. I’ll have to remember that.”

Poe laughed again, all timid and nervous. “Please don’t.”

Finn kept cleaning his wound. “Nope. Can’t hear you. Too overcome by the thought of a hysterically laughing Poe Dameron.”

“Oh, come on.” Poe used one hand to shove at him, and Finn, suddenly playful, shoved him back. “Hey! I’m a wounded man and this is how you treat me?”

“Serves you right. Now be still.”

Poe was grinning now as Finn kept patching him up, so much less tense, and Finn found the beauty of him unfair. Unfair to Finn, who had zero self control as it was. Could be as reckless as Poe and his stupid need to not seem weak.

But this he couldn’t do. Not without acknowledging it. Reckless and stupid and way overdue.

“All done,” he said, leaning back, but Poe didn’t pull down his shirt and Finn didn’t move away.

“Leia told me something the other day,” Poe said when neither of them spoke. “About needing to take a risk if you ever want to get the desired outcome. That you can’t just wait around and hope.”

“Leia is smart.”

“It was love advice, believe it or not.”

“Oh.” Finn’s heart was suddenly rioting. “Are you gonna listen to her?”

“When Leia Organa tells you something, you listen.” He leaned closer. “Everyone’s been helping me recently. Taking care of me. I figured it was time for me to try to help myself.”

“How will you do that?”

“Being honest’s probably a good start.”

“I see.”

“Finn.”

Finn couldn’t breathe.

“Can I kiss you?”

“Yes.” The word a whisper, Finn’s heart a scream. “Please do.”

Poe did.

[jungnoir]

college boyfriend!minhyuk;

man have ya’ll ever met a human puppy cause this!! ^^^ is it

for the boyfriend!minhyuk request~

literally everything screams boyfriend to me about minhyuk

try and tell me he wouldn’t be the sweetest thing since peach cobbler (i sound so texan when i say that)

okay, okay, okay, so minhyuk, this angel is an RA

at first his friends were kind of like??? RA? minhyuk?

it’s not that minhyuk is bad with people it’s just,,, most people think he’s bad with,,, rules,,, and the enforcement of them

minhyuk is extremely friendly all the time, but sometimes he sees students blatantly breaking some rules

usually a short scolding will at least get them to keep their shit to themselves, so he doesn’t obsess over the small things

like he’s such a sweetie pie and most people think that they can do whatever they want and walk all over him

and most people do tbh!!!! they don’t care about the curfew or how many times they lose their key or anything

most students in the building think “oh lol i ain’t gotta worry, the RA is lee minhyuk. what’s the worst he can do? pout???”

which, btw, is what minhyuk initially does

but one guy whose really been pushing it for the last month comes in wayyyyyy past curfew all smug and minhyuk is literally like “!! excuse me, i’m gonna have to write you up for that”

and the guy laughs and pats minhyuk’s shoulder all patronizingly like “hehe whatever bro i wasn’t that late, just let it slide”

and then the guy tries to walk off

and minhyuk grabs the kid by the back of his hoodie and reels him back in

the guy is about to protest but minhyuk smiles this huge smile

not like his usual… like it’s actually pretty unsettling

“i said, i’m going to have to write you up. would you like me to mention the situation from last week? i distinctly remember catching you with a bag of something… hm, idk… green? didn’t look legal to me”

the guy visibly gulps and starts shaking his head back and forth really fast

and minhyuk release the guy finally and puts on his usual charming smile and pats the guy’s back excessively hard, shooting him a wink, “try to make it on time next time, hm?”

when the guy mentions this to other residents in the building, those little instances start to reduce to almost none

because most people thought that oh!! minhyuk is my friend, if he sees me doing something i shouldn’t he won’t be a hard ass about it right?? he’s never mentioned it before”

but minhyuk def keeps a record of wrongs in his building, and he always has some sort of ammo against someone if they get too out of hand

which is lowkey scary to his friends but also highkey cool as hell

his friend, jooheon, once told minhyuk that he would make a great undercover agent or something with how great he is at keeping things concealed and minhyuk just deadpans “how do you know i’m not one?” and minhyuk is that good that jooheon is actually stunned into silence until minhyuk starts giggling like man i’m just fucking with ya

minhyuk just really does his job well, keeps a good rein on all of the more troublesome students living in his building, and is not a force to be reckoned with

all wrapped up in a cute little bow of tall and cute 🎀

and then you move in

you don’t really know too many people on campus and you’re not aware of the notoriety of your RA

all you really care about is getting some rest and unwinding

you’re so tired from the long drive from your home to your new dorm that when you set the last box outside of your dorm, you drop to the floor in a heap and curl up against the box, telling yourself you’re only going to take a quick nap

your eyes shut and suddenly it’s half an hour later and someone is shaking you awake

you’re super disoriented at first, having just had the best, restful sleep in days

and it gets ripped away from you like that?? rude

you’re about to curse out the blurry figure before you when the person comes into view

there’s this dark haired beauty kneeling between your legs, one hand on the wall beside your head and the other holding your shoulder

he’s wearing the school’s sweatshirt in a blindingly yellow color and his dark ripped skinny jeans stretch and writhe around his long, skinny legs as he crouches this way and that to examine you

his tufts of brown hair resemble bedhead but it suits him

suits him so well in fact that you’re not even aware you’ve been staring this whole time until he’s like “is the dorm hallway comfier than your new bed?”

you don’t realize that you’ve got drool on the side of your mouth or that you look absolutely freakin’ out of it while he laughs at your distant and sleepy expression

carefully, he takes the sleeve of his hoodie and wipes your mouth with it, shocking you into sitting up straight

you instinctively shove his hand back but he just looks at you super confused like??? i’m?? help you??? chill?

“who are you?” you demand, voice groggy from disuse but clear enough for him to hear

“your new RA!!” he grins, his shiny teeth glinting in the setting sunlight from the hallway’s window

your eyes shoot open and you quickly push him away, scrambling to wipe at your face and eyes in embarrassment

of course you’d fall asleep in a hallway and have to be woken up by a cute RA

no less while you’re drooling

“h-how long have i been out?”

he shrugs, shoving his hands into the kangaroo pocket at the front of his hoodie, “dunno. a resident came to get me a few minutes ago, claiming there was a girl passed out in front of her dorm door. you made quite an impression on your new roommate by the way”

internally, you’re punching yourself in the face but you manage to steel your expression into one of nonchalant understanding, as if pretending the situation wasn’t as embarrassing as it was would help you

“well, you should get inside and take a proper nap. need any help setting up?” he asks suddenly, twisting his torso this way and that with his lip between his teeth

and wow, i mean, wow, he’s really cute

probably way too cute to be humanly possible

you quickly reject his offer, hiking the box off the ground and into your hands with a smile “nah, i’ve got this… uh, thanks for not writing me up on my first day, by the way. i shouldn’t have fallen asleep, but i just-” “happens to the best of us. you seemed pretty tired so i’ll give you a break” he smiles softly, winking at you

your eyes shoot wide out of slight shock in reaction to his wink but then you melt into a fit of giggles, turning to go inside your dorm, before the cute RA calls out “I’m minhyuk, by the way!” on his way back down the hall

“(y/n)! nice meeting you!” you say, watching him wave and wave and wave, walking backwards until he eventually bumps into the wall at the end of the hallway and has to take a turn, his cheeks lighting up in a warm red before he leaves

when you get the door open to your dorm, you see your new roommate splayed on the bed upside down, her phone in hand as she types away without much thought

it’s only when you set the box down on the bed that she looks up, and her eyes widen completely

“oh my god!! what are you doing here?”

you’re like??? i’m your roommate??

but then she’s like “you fell asleep in the hallway and the RA caught you. i’m surprised you’re even still here”

“why? it was an accident?”

she rolls her eyes at you, falling back onto the mattress of her bed with a dramatic sigh, “yeah, but didn’t he write you up? or threaten you? or your family? don’t tell me he threatened your family”

“he just said that i should get some rest, is all. why would an RA threaten me over something like that”

she gives you this wide-eyed look that literally borders on crazy, “i’ve heard things. people say he’s the warden from hell”

you literally have to ask if she’s talking about the same person that you’re thinking of; the tall cutie with the sunny yellow sweatshirt similar to his disposition

but this girl is deadass convinced that minhyuk is secretly evil and that you probably weren’t really let off the hook after all

you try not to let her words get to you, but deep down you feel something so unsettling about the whole thing

not even toward minhyuk!!! you just feel like there’s more to the equation than your given variables

but you brush it off and actually introduce yourselves to each other and as you settle in for the first night, your mind is swimming with all the things you have headed for you tomorrow, though all of that takes a backseat to the mysterious RA that your roommate had warned you of

for the next few weeks, you see minhyuk in passing often

he’s always seen greeting students and asking about their lives in detail, like he’s pretty much best friends with everyone in the building

he’s just so open and friendly and excitable and it’s crazy to think your roommate is so convinced he’s a “warden from hell”

minhyuk even takes the time out to sit down and talk with you when he sees you at lunch, or asks if living there is any fun or if you have any concerns

he seems to really care about the residents and their wellbeing

in fact, had your roommate never said anything, you probably would’ve never assumed that there was anything particularly different about minhyuk

but you happen to be around one night when something goes wrong

you had trailed into the building after a few exhausting hours of studying in the library and you were fully prepared to sink into bed to rest and just forget the day

when you walk out onto your floor, you can instantly hear loud thumping music coming from somewhere and you internally groan, knowing it would probably be a long night, but you hold hope that minhyuk would diffuse whatever party was being held soon so you could actually fall asleep

however, when you round the corner to where the music is coming from (even worse, it’s coming from the hall your dorm is in), you see minhyuk being shoved against the wall by a group of guys, all looking too drunk out of their minds to realize the severity of physically threatening their RA

you throw caution to the wind and run in front of the guys, catching their surprise, which you use to your advantage

“are you guys insane? do you want to get kicked off campus because of this? possibly even expelled?”

then one of the guys is like “he was being a fucking killjoy, as usual”

“it’s his job. it’s damn near eleven at night and i don’t know about you guys, but other residents in this building have exams all next week. if he doesn’t shut it down, someone else will, and not as nicely” you defend, the tiredness from your day weighing in on you as you glare at the boys

most of them look irritated still, but when they realize you have a point, they grumble and back off, walking back into their dorm to settle down their party

when the door shuts, you look over to minhyuk

his back is leaned against the wall, his eyes shut with a heavy sigh, “thank you” he mumbles

“of course, they looked like they were gonna beat the shit out of you for doing your job!” you shove his shoulder a little, frowning at his complete lack of emotion

but minhyuk just shrugs, forcing a smile, “i’ve caught them doing shit like this a bunch of times, this is nothing new. no matter what i do, i look like the bad guy to them”

your roommate’s words resurface in your mind again, and you decide that you won’t leave tonight until minhyuk explains himself, so you take him by the wrist and start dragging him with you toward the lounge, his eyes narrowing when you lead him into the elevator

he’s about to ask what this is all about when you nudge him with your arm, “i’m gonna buy us some snacks, and then you’re gonna tell me why people call you the warden from hell”

and it’s really strange to him bc like?? you’re the first person to ever really want to hear him out about why he does what he does on his job?

like he kind of expects people to misinterpret what kind of person he is by word of mouth from the assholes who intentionally make his job harder

and if anyone sees him getting pushed around or talked down to they usually assume that it’s his fault and he’s just being a hard ass

but you buy him his favorite snacks and you sit down with him in the lounge and just allow him to let it all out, and he doesn’t realize how good it is to talk to someone and be heard

i mean his friends do it for him too, but even they sometimes think that minhyuk is just too enthusiastic about the job and can sometimes go overboard

but you understand him in a different way, and he’s thankful for that

“i’ve always been the class clown and the guy that was always super nice and did everything everybody expected of him, so when i got offered the job, i was excited. most people did what they were supposed to do, and if anyone even slightly slipped up, i let it slide. then, i guess, people got the wrong idea and assumed that they could walk all over me. so i stopped being so lenient and i stood up for myself, but as you can see, that doesn’t always go as planned”

as minhyuk tells you, you notice he doesn’t look you in the eye once, his hands fiddling with his green tea or fixing and re-fixing his fringe

“i never really found the middle ground, you know? where i could be nice, friendly, lovable minhyuk and where i could stop people from taking advantage of that. i don’t know… how do you find that balance?” he asks

“well… first of all, not everyone is going to like you. know that much is true, especially in your position. there are going to be days when no one likes you, and if you don’t like that, you should probably quit but… that’s life, minhyuk. you can’t quit life. you’re always going to find that bunch of assholes that take you for granted and push you to your limits. you just need that one person in your corner who will pick you back up when you get pushed down”

“do you have someone like that?” minhyuk tilts his head to the side, eyes wide and curious as you giggle “yeah, my best friend. do you have best friends?”

“i have six. they’re all insane” he says, but his words are betrayed by the wide smile on his face, full of fond and warmness, and you smile with him

minhyuk and you end up talking for a little longer, about his friends and how minhyuk’s doing in his classes while juggling his job

then, suddenly, something comes to mind

“ah, minhyuk? when you didn’t write me up for sleeping in the hallway… why did you do that?”

minhyuk blinks at you like it’s obvious, “because you seemed like a nice person who had a tough day. and because i thought you were really pretty, but i can’t really admit that because i’m supposed to be objective on my job”

you kinda freeze when he says this, the hand that was clutching your candy bar suddenly closing in and crushing the snack in between your fingers, but minhyuk doesn’t even look

he just… smirks

the lil shit

“we should head to bed soon, can’t very well write myself up, can i?”

he ends up walking you back up to your dorm and you’re happy to notice that the party from before has since died and cleaned out, so you can finally get some rest

as soon as he turns the corner to go to bed himself, you slink against the door to your dorm and heave a loud, wistful sigh, your mind replaying the scene of minhyuk smiling at you, cheeks bright and calling you pretty, his raspy voice letting your name roll off his tongue in an undeniably attractive way

your hands are still sticky from squishing your candy bar, and all you can think of is the rush and jolt of something you haven’t felt in a while coursing through you once more

your cheeks start to burn as you look down at your hands, contemplating if what you were feeling was actually what you were feeling

then you hear a soft whistle from the other end of the hallway, and when you look up, minhyuk is there, eyes glittering with mischief “you have two minutes before curfew”

you quickly scramble up and grab your doorknob, shooting a squeaky and hurried goodnight his way before slipping into your dorm none too gracefully, the look of playfulness on minhyuk’s face teasing you well until you finally get to bed

and well, after that, you become subject to some… suspicion

minhyuk doesn’t change how he greets you by much, at least in your eyes, but to everyone else there seems to be a hidden meaning behind it

your friends notice that minhyuk is a bit more touchy when with you, or that he might look over at you and instantly smile when he sees you

it’s small, barely noticeable things that he does and you think that he’s just being a friend, but your friends beg to differ

“did you see the way he looked at you? like the universe is in your eyes?” “he’s totally gonna ask you out” “what’s his sign again? i think you guys are compatible”

minhyuk’s lips could turn up like 0.000000004332992 degrees and they’ll be like !!!! see!!!!! obviously you two are hooking up!!!

and it’s not that you don’t like it!! it’s just that omg your friends are so embarrassing

it’s gotten to the point that if you’re with friends and you see minhyuk, you have to run in the opposite direction because you just know they’re going to find a way to push you two together and you will not have it. over your dead, embarrassed body

your friends are always like!!! ohHHH LEE MINHYUK??? THE RA??? THE CUTE ONE THAT YOU-

your friends nearly get whiplash with how hard you yank them around the corner

and minhyuk startles at the sound of his name and sees you naruto running with your friends being dragged along, watching with a tiny amused smile before he moves onto his next class, not really thinking too much of it

for a while, this works for you. as long as he caught you when you were alone, you’d be safe

but your friends are nothing compared to his friends

one just so happens to be good friends with yours :))

you’ve only seen him hang around your group a few times, and your friends referred to him as the supermodel in training, but you knew him by the name shin hoseok

you knew he was on a dance team for your school, along with a few other guys that all looked way too beautiful to all go to your school at once

hoseok was quite the looker himself but you would Not Admit that to his face

but anywho!! your friends are talking when the subject of minhyuk comes up bc hoseok knows him and they’ve been buds for a few years

well, one friend spills to him that they think minhyuk is into you, so hoseok is immediately like 

blackmail 😈

he offers to investigate for them and asks for a few subtle facts about you as well

hoseok starts out pretty timid, doing stuff like spelling out the first few letters of your name to see if minhyuk would perk up, or describing your figure to minhyuk when talking about some new girl he’s on

hoseok would be describing exactly how you look and minhyuk would perk up and his eyebrows would start to furrow and his mouth would turn into a lil pout

and then hoseok would be like “oh!!! yeah, i remember her name. she went to middle school with us” and minhyuk’s shoulders would fall and he’d let out a tiny breath and mumble that he’s listening and hoseok will be like jackpot :))

then hoseok will be sitting with minhyuk in the quad eating lunch and hoseok will point somewhere vaguely and scream “(y/n)???!!?”

and minhyuk whips around so fast it’s not even funny

then hoseok scratches his head when minhyuk glares at him and tries to play all sheepish

he, of course, relays all of this to your friends, who have also been secretly investigating you too

in the end, it’s pretty clear that you guys are cute, you guys are single, and you guys are checking each other out... so.... why aren’t y’all dating

hoseok decides to split up to find minhyuk and your friends split up to find you, both with one mission: get one (1) of you to confess before the other does

your friends go to you, 100% expecting a fight or something so they’re prepared to like restrain you and everything until they actually get to you

you’re sitting at your desk, neck deep in a psychology research paper and about three empty plastic cups drained of iced coffee to the side and without looking up you’re just like “yeh i like him, so what?”

“then why are you always running away from him when he comes around?” “i’m running away because of you guys, not him. you’re like a group of over-excited soccer moms when i get around a guy i like”

and your friends are like oh ok yeah that makes sense

but also!! they got a confession!

they then tell you that they have intel from an insider (which you end up making them spill that it’s hoseok) that minhyuk likes you back, and if you confessed to him first then they’d win the bet- i mean, y’all would finally be together :))))

they continue to ramble for what feels like an hour, listing off all the good reasons why you should do it, and maybe it’s because you’re super spent from writing your paper or maybe because you can hear minhyuk’s loud voice through the walls, but you end up jumping up and going to the front door, your friends trailing along like little ducklings

as soon as you spot minhyuk, your breath stifles in your throat, but you force yourself to exhale and inhale, exhale and inhale

bc if minhyuk didn’t make it weird, it’d be fine right?

he’s currently waving goodbye to one of the dorm residents when he sees you, and his expression lightens up immediately

he even jogs halfway to get to you, looking all the more excited to speak to you now that you weren’t running away from him again

“hey! i haven’t been able to really speak to you in a while-” “minhyuk, i like you”

minhyuk.jpg

cannot compute

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the boy is so shocked that he doesn’t even move for what feels like an eternity

your hands are sweating at your sides and you try your best to discreetly wipe them off on your jeans, hoping that he wouldn’t notice how nervous you actually were behind your steely facade

you’re about to crack a joke that this is the quietest you’ve ever seen the boy when he takes a step back, whispering a soft “...no” and disappears down the hall

you’re not really sure how long you stand there, but when your friends get their hands on you, you realize that the throbbing in your chest is no longer from a fast beating heart, but from a rather cracked one

you want to ask him why “no”, why he couldn’t consider you, why he had run off so quickly

you want to be mad at your friends for lying to you to get you to confess, and you want to slink back into your bed and hide away for a while, at least to recover from such a harsh rejection

but your friends are furious

“that asshole told us minhyuk liked you! i swear, we weren’t lying to you” one of them says to you, rubbing your back to comfort you, while another is clenching her fists, looking like she’s ready to fight

and then, she’s bolting around the corner after minhyuk

when you realize what she intends to do, you immediately break away from your friends to catch her, hoping to keep the damage of minhyuk’s rejection to a minimal

cause it’s not like minhyuk was obligated to like you in the first place right? if he didn’t feel anything for you, it wasn’t his fault

you catch sight of your friend when you turn the corner, but almost as quickly, you see minhyuk... and... hoseok?

hoseok looks absolutely furious, and minhyuk looks completely distressed to say the least

your friend freezes and backs up with you, the both of you tuning your ears in to hear exactly what was going on

“...what do you mean you said no? i literally told her friends you liked her!”

you quietly prepare yourself for what minhyuk might say next, maybe something about how he was only nice to you because he felt bad for you or something that would put you into even more of a rut-

“i do like her! but i’ve been planning my confession for like two weeks now and i nearly had everything set and then she just comes up to me and confesses and what am i supposed to say?? i panicked! i was going to take her hiking and set out a picnic at the top of a cliff and we’d watch the sunset together and i even asked my mom how i should confess but she was no help cause the last time she confessed to someone was way back in the 1800′s and-” “minhyuk-” “-i know turning her down probably wasn’t the best idea in response to her saying what i’ve wanted her to say since i fell for her but i told you i panicked! you know i start hiccuping when i panic! it’d be worse if she had seen me go into a hiccuping fit, how would i recover from that? i’d probably hiccup so much i’d accidentally swallow a fly and choke and then die and oh my god how would she even sleep after the guy she confessed to died right in front of her? i’d be a ghost haunting this school for the rest of my damned afterlife because i choked on a fly in front of the girl i-”

“you like me too?” you whisper, catching the boys’ attention

minhyuk’s face is suddenly beet red, and his eyes nearly blow out of their sockets when he sees you

he’s all fumbling legs and clumsy steps as he attempts to run over to you, looking so completely apologetic and torn up that he can’t even look you in the eye

“i do, i’m just an idiot who panicked! i’m sorry if i hurt you, i really truly didn’t mean to” he says, voice strained with worry

you were going to watch his face, check for sincerity, but you believed the little monologue he’d given a few moments before had been all the sincerity you needed

“can this panicky idiot make up for it with that picnic date he called his mom about?” you ask, a small smile growing on your face

minhyuk lets out a rough exhale of air, looking so relieved that you weren’t turned off by his mistake, so much so that he tugs you into a hug, catching you completely off guard as he squeezes around your torso, muttering a plethora of apologies, no matter how many times you tell him it’s alright

but minhyuk finally does end up taking you on that picnic date, only it’s a little more impromptu

and minhyuk didn’t get to make those dumplings you always go crazy about :((( he made extra sure to get the exact recipe for you too

but you’re fine with your chips and boba teas and you just sit out in the cool air, drinking in the sky and talking about anything and everything

he shyly reaches for your hand at some point, and you hold it back, looking over at him ignoring your gaze, biting his lip to fight the crazy smile that takes over his face

now, dating minhyuk is easy

first of all, he is The Cutest

even though he’s a bit older, he’s used to having younger friends, so he tends to be loweky like a dad

he’ll always ask if you need help with any homework, and if you want a study buddy

if you’re studying particularly hard one week, you’ll leave the door unlocked and he’ll come in, leave your favorite snacks on the desk, kiss your temple and tell you he’s rooting for you before leaving

and even though you might be too busy to really say much back, it always leaves a warm feeling in your heart to know he cares so much

he sometimes abuses his power as RA to be a good boyfriend

he’ll claim he’s just making some early morning rounds but really he’s running to your dorm and banging on it really hard bc he just knows you slept in again for your one early morning class

or he’ll let you know when that annoying guy from down the hall that always asks for your notes is lurking outside your dorm door, and try to get the guy to go away so you can get back before the guy sees

on his nights off, you two will grab lots of unhealthy food and chill in his dorm room, watching anime or playing video games

you always make him clean up his room before you come and even though he complains, he does it

bc the one time you came over and he didn’t clean you tripped on what you thought was a dead rat and nearly got a concussion

he shoves everything under the bed but you don’t need to know that

there was an attempt

since people know you and minhyuk are dating (i mean the boy practically flaunts it tbh), they sometimes try to sucker up to you so that you can get minhyuk to let them off on some things 

or they’ll try to get you to berate minhyuk if they think he seems like a tyrant that day

but you’re able to see through it all and you know when minhyuk needs to be kept in check and when he can afford to be a bit lenient

and if anyone tries to give him shit, they have to go through you

minhyuk may be a peacemaker but you certainly are not

you once threatened a basketball player within an inch of his life if he ever tried to put his hands on minhyuk bc the guy couldn’t keep his loud music down for once

it was a sight to see, this gigantic 6 foot basketball player cowering at the sight of you, minhyuk’s soft lover

he always gets 😍😍😍 whenever you get violent :D

minhyuk is KING of kisses okay

he will kiss you everywhere, in every place, at any time, with zero embarrassment

like boy will grab you by the waist while you’re eating lunch and place a big kiss on your cheek, or if you’re being particularly distracting that day he’ll lead you off to a random janitor’s closet and this is pg-13 you nasties

nvm that ok some details,,,,

minhyuk is definitely voical

as a kisser or... other :)

he’s always groaning, growling, hissing, whining

his whines are pretty delicious when you leave hickies on his neck

his lips get wet and his pants blow your hair out of your face and his fingers grip and squeeze at your hips and he bucks into you like he’s going to burst

but anywho!

minhyuk can get jealous but he doesn’t really like to

like he’ll get pouty and a lil :((( at best

sometimes, if he notices someone is being really touchy on you and you’re not cool with it he might :)) have a word :) with them :)))

if you don’t have a word :) with them first lmao

but he knows his boundaries, and he knows what is and isn’t right when it comes to dating you

he tries his very best to be the best supportive and loving bf you could ask for, and he works super hard so that he never lets you down

bc you make him proud, and you make him want to be the best he can be

bc when he looks at you, he sees a future

and he doesn’t know what kind of future or what it really entails but he knows that he wants it, whatever it is, with you