#and like pretty nature shots and sunsets and things

[good-to-drive]

All this about not getting to see John Lennon on twitter but I think the real tragedy is that Freddie Mercury never had an instagram

[kurikive]

sticky | kim minji

things between you and minji are... sticky this summer.

— childhood friends to lovers, summer trip, soccer player!reader, slowish burn, lowkey bromance, futchish READER 💜

contains : cursing, kinda slight makeoutism, a lot of bro and dude, just a little bit of angst but i promise its literally nothing, NOT proofread at all i am tireeeddd

wc: 13.7k words

inspired by : Sticky — KISS OF LIFE

You're not really sure how you got here.

You’re watching the sunset at the beach with Kim Minji, your hand in between hers and the sand below you, your face two inches from her own, your lips two seconds away from colliding.

Actually, let's rewind.

It’s summer! It's been 3 long years of being away in Seoul. A soccer scholarship was always great, and you were having a fantastic time with your teammates and classmates, but you were completely burnt out after these exhausting last 6 months.

Korea University Anam Tigers proudly win 3rd place in the U-League for the first half of the season. 5 wins, 2 draws, 3 losses. Not too bad. You did better last year, but you're sure you'll recover and bounce back during the second half. Or maybe it was the alcohol and smell of grilled beef that was making you emotional.

After you finalize your amazing speech with a broken voice and a tear threatening to leave your eye, you realize you're actually quite drunk. The applause of your teammates startles you, and they may be mocking your sentimental state with their laughs and ‘aww’s and teasing pushes, but they cheer you on anyway.

“Han Y/N!” One of your teammates, Hsu Nientsu, also pretty tipsy, nudges your left arm as you sit back down, “Don't get so sensitive with us now!”

“Our Y/Nie gets emotional when drunk, huh?” Central striker Ahn Yujin, leader of the team, pinches one of your red cheeks from across the table, action to which you groan at.

“I just…” You sigh, drowsy and teary eyes block your vision yet you can still tell all your teammates are looking at you. “I really love our team and want us to do our best…” You make a mental note to never get drunk with your team again when they coo at you for a second time.

“Well then,” Oh Haewon starts pouring you another shot (she usually would make you pour it yourself, but your flimsy arms and hung head bring out the instinct to take care of you instead), “Let's climb up the leaderboard for Leftie!” She declares as she leaves the small glass of soju on your side of the table.

You hate the nickname. Nientsu came up with it the first year of your scholarship because when you were supposed to be in central midfield you spent most of your time on the left side of the field, for some reason. Her broken Korean and teasing nature muttered the name in an attempt to mock you and everyone started repeating after. You can't complain much about it. It stuck too well.

You take the shot and grimace at the bitter taste of alcohol. You're still not used to it even after countless team dinners.

Won Haneul, your roommate, best friend and goalkeeper, laughs at your expression. The other girls have already picked up their own conversation, yet she seems very entertained at your drunken state, “Unnie, are you sure you don't want to go?” You've told her multiple times to drop the formalities, it's a one year difference; she keeps refusing.

You look to your right and you (hardly) see her looking at you worried, but still smiling. It takes a couple seconds for you to process her words. “I… I think I should go.” You slur, you're sure you'll die if you take another shot.

Haneul nods, understanding as always. “Guys, I think me and Y/N unnie are gonna head back now!” You hear your teammates complain and whine but you can't make out anything they're saying.

“I'm too drunk!” You try your best to scold them, “And I have my last class tomorrow…”

A soccer scholarship didn't mean you were just in Seoul to play soccer and get drunk with your friends. You also had to study and attend classes, like everyone else. Maybe you would've had it easier if you had chosen Physical Education as your major. But no, you had chosen Media and Communication for some reason.

At least it was the last class before break.

“Go then! Quick! Get away!” You hear Jung Sunhye drunkenly shoo you two away. It makes you giggle. You wave goodbye to your teammates with your frail arms, it makes you look like a car rental inflatable. You hear a chorus of ‘sleep well’s and ‘Bye Y/N’s.

Haneul holds you as you walk out of the BBQ place, and then a cold wave of air hits you right when you realize you have to go up the hill to get to your dorm. You don't know if the chill you get in your spine is from the cool late night air or the dread of borderline hiking while drunk.

“Haneul, I'm sorry.” You don't even want to look at her in fear of getting dizzy. You're only a few steps up the hill but you're already breathing a little heavy. However, your apologetic expression is enough for her to understand your feelings.

“It's okay, unnie!” She's such a joy to have around not only as a teammate but as a friend. You hope her kindness never leads her to getting taken advantage of. You and the other girls would ruin the life of whoever could even dare.

“I'm really grateful for you, y’know?” You probably shouldn't talk while you're rapidly growing out of breath, but you're already sentimental.

“I'm flattered.” She says with a light laugh while pushing you from behind, making it easier for you to walk upwards.

“Are you going back to Suwon this summer?” You ask after a while of more heavy steps. Haneul had also gotten a scholarship and moved from Suwon to Seoul, therefore getting to be roommates with you.

“Mhm! Gonna go see my parents.” Her voice turns a little softer and you notice even when you're mostly out of your conscious mind. “What about you, unnie? Are you gonna stay here?”

It's been three years since you left your hometown and replaced the ocean with the river. Three years since you left your friends behind. Three years since leaving your mom and dad.

Of course you missed them. How could you not? It's not like you were avoiding them, the last summers were just filled to the brim with practice and studying and everything got tangled and you didn't even leave time for yourself.

That's over, though. You can already see yourself on the shore.

And then you're at the bus terminal. Hands shaky and heavy steps, just like the ones you took walking up the hill of your dorm building. You carry your backpack at your front and hold your gym bag on your left hand. You wait in line to step inside your bus and you think you're ready to fall asleep for the whole ride.

But once you're settled in your seat, your thoughts leave you restless.

There's a fear in the back of your mind that your friends will treat you differently when you arrive.

You've been gone for 3 years, and you talk slightly less now. But the group chat is still active, and you talk with them when you're allowed the time to. It's not like you've gone completely radio silent and disappeared from their lives.

It's just scary to be back.

But the scariest thing by far is the fear of being proven wrong. The fear of still liking her.

See, ever since you were a kid running around with a ball between your feet, you've had a crush on Kim Minji.

Neighborhood pretty girl. Class president in elementary, middle and high school. Best grades in your year. The most crushable girl ever.

You remember the first day you met her. You actually think about it a lot.

You were 7, playing soccer with your friend Gyuvin on the beach at sunset hours. There was no real goal to kick the ball towards, you were just trying to steal the ball from each other and keep it as long as possible. But then Gyuvin gets a little too close to taking the ball, and in panic you pass it to your right. 

But there's no one to your right. And you realize you've just kicked it towards three girls about your same age building a sandcastle.

You see the ball roll away further and further away from you and Gyuvin, and closer and closer to the castle, and the girls don't seem to notice.

You don't know why you're frozen. You could've stopped the ball by now if you had run after it. Gyuvin notices your lack of movement and becomes the one who shouts instead, “BALL!”

It seems to wake both the girls and you up from your daze, and suddenly you're running as fast as you can to catch the ball before it collides with the sand clump. And you manage to catch it.

You had thrown yourself into the sand, and the ball gets stopped by your arms. But your head crashes into the sandcastle instead. It doesn't collapse completely, and it didn't hurt that much, but it suddenly knocked you out for a few seconds.

You hear Gyuvin’s voice behind you when your mind is back in its place. “We're really sorry! We'll help you patch it back up!” You shake of the sand from your head when you sit back up, and you can finally take a good look at the three girls.

They looked pissed.

The smallest of the girls speaks, “I guess you can help. You're lucky it didn't fall on your head.” She points at you and you feel guilt engulf your cheeks with its warmth.

“Great!” Your friend helps you shake off some of the remaining sand off of your head, “Let's get to work, Y/N!”

You're confused at his enthusiasm, you were just playing soccer with him a few seconds ago and now he wants to build a sandcastle with some girls you just met? “But… we were-”

Gyuvin cuts you off, “It's the least we can do. We almost destroyed it.” It makes sense, but you're still a little reluctant. You grab a shovel anyways.

Your friend is already introducing himself when you start digging a hole into the sand, “I'm Kim Gyuvin! What are your names?”

The short girl with short hair that spoke to you before is the first one to answer, “I'm Hanni Pham! I'm from Australia but we moved here a year ago.”

“Your parents like fish, huh?” The boy's joke makes Hanni's mouth open wide and her eyes dilate a good amount.

“How did you know?!”

“I'm Seol Yoona.” Says a girl with a voice so quiet you have to ask Gyuvin what her name was right after she said it, “What did she say?”

“Seol Yoona.” He repeats, and you get back to digging with a nod, not before you give an apologetic smile to the girl.

The last girl introduces herself, “I'm Kim Minji.” You notice three things about her. Her voice is deeper than the other two girls, her eyebrows are really pretty, and she's wearing a blue clip on her hair.

All three of the girls are pretty, but if Gyuvin asks you later who you thought was the prettiest you are sure you'll say Minji.

Said girl notices you've been doing nothing but dig since you started introducing yourselves. “What's the hole for?” She says.

“I'm gonna put water in it to make wet sand. It's going to make it easier to build and harder to collapse.” And right after you say that you stand up, bucket in hand, ready to go and fetch water from the shining ocean behind you.

But just as you're about to go, the girl with the pretty eyebrows calls out again, “What's your name? You never told us.” Right.

“Han Y/N.” You tell her with a smile.

“Han Y/N.” She repeats your name back to you, like you're not supposed to know it already. It sounds pretty coming from her. 

The sunset glow crashes in the sea and bounces back into the eyes of the girl. You see them glisten as she looks into yours. Your heart starts beating as fast as it was when you were running around earlier.

“Don’t ever play soccer near my sandcastles.”

You look like an idiot, laughing by yourself in your seat. It's already night when you feel the bus stop in its tracks. You realize it's slightly warmer than when you departed, even at these hours of the night.

You're here. And you're not laughing anymore.

Everything you dread is getting closer by the second, and you don't want to face it.

It's been three years since the last time you saw your friends, since you saw Minji. Three years of only speaking to her in the group chat. Three years of believing you've gotten over her when in reality you were just getting distracted.

Because if you had truly moved on you wouldn't be worrying about moving on.

You step out of your bus and smell the scent of the ocean. Your worries fade away for the rest of the night. You'll worry about that tomorrow.

You're home.

It’s around 10:30 P.M. Knowing your parents they wouldn’t be asleep right now. They’re probably watching replays of soccer matches or some strange animal documentary. Even after three years you can tread lightly towards your home. Not much has changed.

The street lights are dim, and the wooden floor boards of the port are not much louder than the last time they squeaked beneath your feet. You take a picture of the moon watching over the dancing waves, then keep walking.

You wish you don’t run into any of your friends on the way to your house. It’s not like you don’t want to see them, but it’s late, and you couldn’t catch even a wink of sleep the whole ride. You just want to see your parents and sleep in between the warmth of their bodies like you did when you were just a kid. You chuckle at the memory.

You step into your neighborhood. Most of the lights are turned off, but you can hear a couple of things as you walk deeper into the block. Crickets, waves, and a couple different TV stations. 

You get closer to the neighboring house from yours. Gyuvin’s house. The lights in the first floor are off, but there’s a dim light coming from the window of the bedroom facing the street. It (probably still) belonged to Gyuvin himself. You don’t really know what he’s doing at this hour of the night, but you won’t bother him right now, even when you get the urge to text him something like ‘look out ur window’.

You hear the voice of a commentator from outside the door of your house. They were watching replays. Knew it. You think about what to do next. It’ll be too loud if you ring the doorbell, Gyuvin might notice you’re here and come around to investigate, And then you get a sudden, bright idea.

You set your gym bag on the ground and start typing your mom’s number to call her, clicking on her contact when it shows up. You take a big breath and wait for her to answer, it doesn’t take her long.

“Hello, baby! What’s going on?” There’s a twinge of worry in her voice but she always answers so happily when you call her. You chuckle deviously, mischief is about to begin.

“Hi mama! I sent you guys a surprise, I’m calling to make sure if the package arrived safely. Sorry about the time, by the way.” You try to mask the smile appearing on your lips as you talk.

“A package?” She seems confused, “I.. We didn’t get anything.” She sounds a little more concerned.

“Really? Can you check the door? Maybe it came late.”

“I don’t think it’d come this late, darling.”

“Just check, ma. Please.” You hang up. You feel a little sorry for leaving your mother bothered and confused, but you try to telepathically tell her it’ll be worth it.

Your heartbeat starts picking up its pace when you hear the door unlock. You put your phone in your pocket and pick your bag up again.

 When the door opens, the first thing you notice is your mom’s disheveled hair, probably from laying on the couch and watching TV. The second thing you notice is that her eyes immediately fall on the doorstep, and she frowns when she finds nothing. The third thing you notice is that, even before she realizes you’re there, she’s already taking out her phone to call you again, but she sees a pair of shoes in front of her before she gets around to doing that.

Her eyes travel from your old sneakers to the top of your head, and then they fall back at your face. Her jaw drops and her eyes look like they hold the moonlight in them when she realizes it’s actually you.

“Y/Nie…” She’s a little breathless when she says your name, and you laugh at the sound of rustling behind her. Your dad probably heard her.

“Hello!” You simply greet. Your father appears shortly behind your mother and you send a wave at him when you see he’s making the exact same expression as her. “Am I going to be outside all night? That’s how you greet your daughter?”

Your mother throws herself at you with a hearty laugh, it makes you happy too. “When did you get here?!” She asks, a little too loud for your liking, but you won’t complain. You pull away to greet your dad, who was frozen on the doorframe.

“Just now, actually.” Your father is in shock, but he does his best to hug you back, and the hug gets tighter when he finally understands it’s really his daughter. You giggle a little at his lack of words, then tap his back a little rougher when you start struggling to breathe, “Hey! Not so tight!”

He lets go and you hear him laugh more calmly now. “Let’s go in. Gyuvin doesn’t know I’m here yet and I want to surprise him tomorrow.” Your mom closes the door behind you, and then hits you on the back, quite roughly for your taste.

“How dare you not tell us you were coming?!” She rubs the same spot where she hit you when she hears you hiss at the pain, “It was a surprise!” You argue.

“Did you have dinner?” Your dad asks already in the kitchen, and your stomach growls even before you can respond. You giggle shyly at the noise, “I’ll take that as a no.” He says, “Go sit with your mom and watch TV with her. I’ll heat up something.”

“Oh, we’re not watching anything. You’re gonna tell me everything you’ve been doing.” Your mother taps the seat beside her on the couch, which you gladly take. “How was the season?”

You’re so happy to be back.

You wake up with the sunrise.

You fully expected to open your eyes and be hugging your mom while your dad was already up in the kitchen. And that did happen, except you wake up with your back sore from falling asleep on the couch. Your dad is in the kitchen, making breakfast for you three.

You rub your eyes and yawn. It wasn’t that late, you woke up pretty early actually. 8:27 A.M. Maybe it’s because your body is used to waking up early. Your dad looks back at you and laughs at your messy hair, smiles brighter when he sees one of your mom’s arms sticking out of the couch. “Rise and shine!” He says brightly.

“Morning…” The sound of your croaky voice seems to wake up your mom, as she’s already rubbing her face.

“Smells good.” She says in the same tone as you. “Is it almost done?”

“I just finished. Come take a seat.” Your dad turns off the gas from the stove. The scent of kimchi jjigae fills your home, and it makes you feel a lot more energized even before having a taste of it.

You run your hand through your hair to try and make it more presentable. Your mother goes up to your dad to ask for a taste, he waits for her approval. You start setting the cutlery and it makes you think of the mornings before school, but rather than getting sentimental, you enjoy the moment with a smile.

“Y/Nie, do you want apple juice?” Your mom asks with the fridge open, you just nod as you sit down.

When the three of you sit down to finally eat, you start to realize how much you actually missed this. You spent your mornings in Seoul either eating a quick and not-really-filling meal, or eating an energy bar and a vending machine kimbap with your teammates before practice. You don’t remember the last time you had a hearty breakfast.

The sound of laughter and birds chirping combined with the smell of a home cooked meal and the warmth of a seaside morning couldn’t compare to any of the emotions that crossed your heart whenever you won a match. 

Your mom and dad gossip to you about your neighbors and everything you missed while you were away.

You don’t find it hard to believe when they tell you that the weird old man that used to drink his nights away at the port got arrested. One of your neighbors' sons dropped out of college to be a model, Kim Sunoo apparently. Good for him, you always thought he had a pretty face.

Supposedly, Minji keeps her title as the number 1 student even in college. You’re not surprised, but you do feel full all of a sudden. There’s just a little bit of stew left when you groan, “Ah… I’m full…”

Your mom raises an eyebrow, “Already?” She looks at your bowl and laughs, “Nevermind, you finished pretty fast.”

“Do you eat well in Seoul?” Your dad asks. You feel a little flustered at the question and stutter when you answer, “I mean… not in the morning, but I eat pretty healthily the rest of the day. Me and Haneul prepare meals when we have afternoon practice. I’d say we’re pretty good cooks.”

Your parents laugh, “I guess we’ll put you to the test one day.” Your mom nudges you, “And it’s ‘Haneul and I’, by the way.”

The correction makes your eyes roll as you stand up to wash your dishes, “Yeah, yeah, grammar queen. I’m gonna go take a shower and go to Gyuvin’s to surprise him, ‘kay?”

“Aye aye, captain!” Either your parents planned to do the same move and say the same thing at the same time beforehand, or they’re literal soulmates.

You get out of the shower and choose a simple outfit- some baggy, ripped jeans and a graphic tee that you found in your closet (you asked your mom if it was clean enough for you to wear, considering the closet looked a little dusty; she said it was fine). The shirt felt a little tight around the arms and it was quite smaller than you expected, but it wasn’t uncomfortable at all. If anything it made the outfit more interesting.

So you stand outside your friend's house, with nothing in your hands but a smile on your face. You’re not really sure if it’ll be him or his mom answering the door, but you hope either of them will be happy to see you.

You ring the doorbell, and immediately hear footsteps get closer from inside. You don’t know if your heart is going to race everytime this happens, but you just hope you get used to the feeling. The door opens and you're met with a familiar face, Ms. Kim, Gyuvin’s mom, dressed up and ready to go to work. It’s summer, though?

“Y/Nie?” She looks delighted to see you, and yet quite surprised. “You came back!”

You give her a bright smile after you bow in respect, “Good morning, Ms. Kim! How have you been?” 

She steps back in a manner to invite you inside, “Oh, I’ve been well, dear. Gyuvin told me you weren’t able to visit these past years. We all missed you very much.” Her words surprise you, and you feel a little guilt squeezing your heart for two seconds.

“I’m glad to hear that, Ms.” She walks around the kitchen, packing what seems to be a lunchbox into her bag, yet still giving you her full attention. “Are you heading to work?” You ask curiously.

“Oh, yeah.” She looks a little agitated, “They don’t give me breaks, baby. I work for the news now!”

“Oh! How has that been going?”

She stops in her tracks, “Honestly, quite great.” She says, and you both laugh together. “Does Gyuvin know you’re here? I imagine he’s who you came to see.”

“He doesn’t.” The woman looks quite surprised. “I wanted to surprise him. I arrived just yesterday.”

“Oh honey, you’re gonna give him a heart attack.” She laughs and you chuckle, “I hope not!” You say,

“He’s in his room. He’s probably still asleep, but he’ll wake up if you knock hard enough. Make sure he doesn’t think you’re me, then he won’t get up.” The woman unlocks the door, coat hanging from her arm and bag over her shoulder, when she sees you nod. “I heard you won third place this half, right?”

“That’s right, ma’am.” You proudly say.

“Go Tigers!” Is the last thing she says before she walks out of the door. What a charming woman. You smile at yourself before walking up the stairs to your friend’s room.

Knock knock. No answer.

Knock knock knock. A groan.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK. A louder groan.

“Kim Gyuvin, I will bust your door down.” You yell, “You think my legs haven’t gotten stronger?”

Fast stomps and the sound of a clutter of objects falling on the ground startle you slightly. The door opens so roughly you wonder if Gyuvin himself has also gotten stronger.

“Y/N?!”

“What fell on the ground?” You chuckle. He hugs you, possibly tighter than your dad. You didn’t quite expect it, but you welcome it anyway.

He pulls away like he’s checking if you’re not a hologram. You laugh the hardest when he pokes your cheek. He looks relieved, then mad. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?! When did you get here?!”

“I got here yesterday. You were still awake, I think. But I wanted to greet you properly, and I was really tired last night.” You explain with a little bit of remorse.

“Dude!” He hugs you once again, “Bro, I can’t believe you're back!” You hug him just as tightly. “I’m really happy I’m here.”

He pushes you lightly with a smirk, “Don’t get sappy on me.” He teases, “Congrats on third place, tiger.” You cringe at the nickname and push him back.

“Eww!” You both laugh, and you notice the bundle of things he has on the floor of his room, “You dropped all that?”

Gyuvin looks back, and pushes you out of his room, closing the door in shame. Unbelievable.

You hear him pick up the things and put them back in place, until he finally opens the door again. You’re right where he left you. “Get dressed. Your mom made you breakfast.”

“Wait, help me pick an outfit!” You’ve been here for less than a day and he’s already being annoying. Like always.

“Bro, I’m wearing a shirt that’s too small for me, I am not the one to ask for fashion help.”

“That’s your fault for getting swole!” You hear him yell while you go down the stairs. Maybe nothing's really changed.

You’re back at the kitchen. You look at the lonely plate at the table, it doesn’t look very appetizing. It’s not like it’s a bad meal, it’s an omelet and toast, but when you touch it it’s abnormally cold. Fuck you Gyuvin. He was probably supposed to wake up a while ago.

You take the plate and place it in the microwave, one minute should be fine. You open the fridge and snoop around to see if they still- yup, they still have a box of the triangle juice boxes you and Gyuvin always shared at school. Apple was your favorite. You’re sure he or his mom won’t mind you taking one while you wait for the food to heat up.

You take the little plastic straw attached to the juice box and stab it into the designated hole. Just as you close the fridge, you hear the shutter sound effect from a phone. You turn around and see Gyuvin already dressed up and smiling at his phone.

“Did you take a picture of me?” You ask. The microwave beeps, “That’s your food.”

“Check the group chat.” He says as he walks past you to the microwave. You take out your phone and rest your elbows on the counter when you open up the group chat. Gyuvin named it “Beach boys”, even when he himself was the only male.

You’re immediately met with a picture of you from your side, stabbing a hole into your apple juice box. You looked at yourself in the mirror this morning, but you only realize how tight the sleeves of your shirt look when you stare at the photo. “Damn…” You mutter

“Ow! Ow! Hot!” Gyuvin yelps as he walks beside you, plate in his hands. He sits down at the table while you scroll back up to check the other messages.

gyuv | 9:44 A.M.

guys Y/N got so swole its actually insane

sully | 9:44 A.M.

Well yeah shes an athlete what were u expecting

henny | 9:44 A.M.

did she post something on ig?

where is this coming from

minj | 9:44 A.M.

Good morning first of all

gyuv | 9:45 A.M.

yeah but ud expect her legs to get bigger or her thighs idk

tell me why this absolute gremlin has bigger biceps than me

i feel threatened

this feels like a bro code violation

henny | 9:45 A.M.

this feels more like you just being insecure

i checked her ig and theres nothing?

sully | 9:45 A.M.

Vin are you hallucinating be honest

minj | 9:45 A.M.

Why gremlin

If anything the gremlin is hanni

henny | 9:45 A.M.

literally so out of pocket

what compelled you to say that

gyuv | 9:46 A.M. 

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henny | 9:46 A.M.

Gyuvin is that ur fuckign house

is that han Y/N in your fucking house.

minj | 9:46 A.M.

What the hell

You | 9:46 A.M.

hi guys!

henny | 9:47 A.M.

Han Y/N are you in gyuvins fucking house

You | 9:47 A.M.

possibly

gyuv | 9:47 A.M.

[1 attachment]

guys im shaking theres a uleague third place winner in my kitchen

im so honored

sully | 9:47 A.M.

Omg she did get swole

Hiii Y/N

gyuv | 9:47 A.M.

RIGHT

IM SAYING LIKE

U DONT EVEM USE UR ARMS IN SOCCER

henny | 9:47 A.M.

Y/N when the FUCK did u get here

im gonna start vrying omg

You | 9:48 A.M.

i got here yesterday at night

i wanted to surprise u guys but ig gyuvin got too excited

pham hanni DO NOT CRY

hi sullyyy !!

henny | 9:48 A.M.

ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS

You | 9:48 A.M.

stop cursing so much omg

minj | 9:48 A.M.

This is actually crazy

How could you say nothing to us

I feel lowkey betrayed Han Y/N

You | 9:48 A.M.

IM SORRY???

so surprises are the worst thing in the world now huh

gyuvs mom was so much happier to see me than you guys fr

going back to seoul

it seems im not welcome

henny | 9:48 A.M.

Y/N actually stop playing rn

where do we meet

You | 9:49 A.M

me and gyuv will pick u guys up

were going to the soccer field

but i got money from the scholarship so we can buy stuff on the way

gyuv | 9:49 A.M.

guys just to be clear i had literally no idea she was here

she showed up at my house 20 mins ago

sully | 9:49 A.M.

Omg we can go to that antique shop thats close to our high school

henny | 9:50

literally how r u so calm abt this

minj | 9:50 A.M.

Maybe ur just abnormal

You cackle loudly at Minji's last text.

When you arrive at Yoona's house, she's already waiting for you two on her porch. She looks a little taller than when you last saw her. Her eyes light up when she sees you arrive.

“Y/N!” She runs up to you and hugs you so tightly your breath falls a little short. What's with everyone and suffocating you lately? “I missed you so much!”

“I missed you too, Sully!” You smile at her when you pull back, and the first thing she does is poke your arm. Her jaw drops in awe at the toughness of the muscle and it makes you laugh.

Gyuvin comes up behind you both with his arms open and a silly smirk, “Where my hug at?” It's quite awful. Yoona gags and sends him a distasteful look, which quickly shuts him down

You missed this. And it’s like this - full of banter and laughs - the whole way to Hanni’s house, the three of you take turns at making fun of each other, with the brief recurring tease at your job as an athlete.

Your friends like to brag about you being a college athlete, and a good one at that, but they certainly enjoyed sitting you up on a pedestal as a joke. They talked about you like you were the main star of the national team when in reality most people had little to no idea who you were even on campus, with the exception of the Yujin fans who tried using you to get close to her.

“Y/N, I promise you, when you make it on the national team, there’s gonna be a ton of fan accounts for you.” You’re in the middle of pushing Gyuvin away and blushing at his comment, about to contradict him when you hear a voice calling you.

“Han Y/N!” You don’t even realize you were already at Hanni’s house when you look towards the sound and two girls are waiting for you at the steps of a big house.

The first thing you notice is Hanni’s hair. She cut it, a fuckass (affectionately) bob that looked exactly like the one she wore the first time you ever met her.

The second thing you notice is that Minji is right beside her, already smiling at you. She stands up from the steps she and Hanni were sitting on and shakes off the dust from her pants. She wears a simple white graphic shirt and oversized blue jeans, beige puffer jacket hanging off her arms, and she looks so much taller than how she did when she was 16.

(That’s weird, shouldn’t she have stopped growing by then?)

The third thing you notice is your heartbeat suddenly racing when her eyes and yours meet for the first time in three years.

It beats at the same pace it did when the afternoon sun hit her face when you were 7. It beats at the same pace it did when you stared at her sitting by the window in middle school. It beats at the same pace it did when she sat beside you on the bus and fell asleep with her head on your shoulder.

Nothing has changed. Nothing at all.

It hits you like a bullet through your chest, but you try your best to ignore it as Hanni runs towards you. 

“You asshole!” She yells with a smile on her face, and it contaminates your lips when she hugs you. She doesn’t hug you as tightly, but it’s longer than you expected. When she finally pulls away from you you touch the short strands of hair that cover her ears.

“What happened here?” You ask, watching in awe at the striking change.

“I kind of had an existential crisis last night.” She responds shyly while caressing her trimmed locks. “Minji helped me make it look better. It did not look good when I did it. They didn’t know either!” She points at the two behind you, both of them with their jaws hanging when you look back.

“Dude, you literally look seven again.” You say. You don’t mean it in a teasing way, she genuinely looks younger, but you reconsider telling her that when she hits you in the arm. Hanni widens her eyes at the unexpected roughness, “What the hell… you did get swole.”

“Can we stop talking about that?” The topic of your arms is starting to tire you, but it’s mostly embarrassing, so you groan at the mention.

You hear Minji laugh when Hanni goes up to the other two and they immediately start touching her new hair. It makes you laugh too, but you gasp a little when you feel a hand touch your shoulder.

“Hey.” She says, her god-damned pretty eyes look at you so sweetly, and her voice is so soft, and-

“Hey!” You say before thoughts about her take up your brain and you awkwardly freeze.

She smiles right before she hugs you, and it’s surprisingly warm, but you’re sure most of it comes from your own blood rushing everywhere inside you.

Everything about her is gentle, her eyes, her voice, her embrace. It’s a complete one-eighty in contrast to the tightness of everyone else who’s put their arms around you for the past two days.

“I missed you.” She says so delicately, almost quiet, even if she says it right next to your ear. And you’re about to melt, and she has no idea, so you hug her back, a little less soft than how she does, and say “I missed you too.”

It comes out a lot more calmly than you expect it, and you internally praise yourself for not making a fool out of yourself. It’s not like you want to pull away, but you might start sweating if you don’t.

You take your arms off her back and her warmth suddenly fades away. When she looks at your face again, there’s a small grin painting her lips, “Congrats on the win.” She pokes at your shoulder and you laugh at the gesture.

“It’s only third place. I want first.”

“Oh wow!” Her amused smile makes you dizzy, “Didn’t know you were so ambitious.”

“People change, I guess.” You giggle with her. But you haven’t really changed at all.

“Well, you better get first place, tiger.” She teases and you groan even louder at the nickname as you get away from her to join your friends. Maybe getting over Minji won’t be so hard.

Getting over Minji is going to be fucking impossible. Matter of fact, you're sure it’s never gonna happen. You’re going to be 45 and still think about her, and it’s going to slowly kill you.

You stare as she holds a little cow plush in her hands, inspecting it carefully. Her round eyes shine just like the glossy buttons of the doll. You think of a believable excuse before you take your phone out of your pocket and open the camera app.

You zoom in and despise how your fingers tremble before you snap a photo of the girl, unbeknownst to her.

Gyuvin comes up behind you, his voice is quiet yet it still startles you, “What’s the pic for?”

You look at him with widened eyes and bring your hand to your chest. “Just… memories.” Truth lies within your (not quite) excuse. “I want to look back on things like this when I go back to Seoul.”

The boy narrows his eyes at you and smirks, “So sappy.” He teases, so you zoom out the camera to 0.5 and take a bad close up of his face, “Hey!” He laughs.

You get away and put your phone back in your pocket to look at more of the items in the store. Many things catch your eye, small, shiny, weird, big, you could buy it all if you had the money to.

You walk around the shop, your eyes examine all the items on the old wooden tables and your fingers lightly brush on some of the more eye-catching trinkets. You stare at the little ceramic figurines of dogs and cats and other animals and mentally consider buying the little calico cat on the far left.

There are some cute keychains with little black and white designs as you pass by. You add them to your roster too. Hanni’s voice catches your attention from a few steps away.

“Y/N! What do you think of this cardigan?” She’s in the clothing section of the store, sporting a vintage cream colored wool cardigan with little brown stripes on the sides of the sleeves. It’s a little big on her, but oversized is trendy so it’s fine.

“It’s cute!” Your eyes glance towards some of the clothes behind her, “I like that one better though.” You point at the blue-gray checkered sweater behind her and she frowns in confusion when she looks at it, “Y/N, that’s so ugly.” Guess you don’t have an eye for fashion.

“Oh well…” You sigh and keep looking for more artifacts.

As you walk around, you accidentally bump the top of your head on some of the ornaments that hang on the ceiling, the sound of multiple wind chimes emerge a little before your quiet “Ow!”, which grabs the attention of Yoona and Gyuvin.

“You okay?” The girl asks in concern, but you can hear her hold back a laugh between her teeth. Gyuvin isn’t so subtle, his laughs resonating on the walls of the shop.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” You assure Yoona as you rub your forehead with your eyes closed, turned away in embarrassment. When your eyes open again, they land on an item that makes you freeze a little.

A small, pale blue hair clip. It looked oddly similar, if not exactly the same as the one Minji wore on the first day you met. The clip she lost on that same day while the five of you swam in the ocean together.

You remember her being so upset when she realized it wasn’t there anymore, so much she cried silently on the way back to your respective houses. She was over the sadness of losing it in less than a week, but it stuck with you after Hanni told you in a whisper that it was the first time she ever saw Minji cry.

You immediately take the clip in your hands, the first item you’re certain you will buy. Actually, you buy it in that same instant. Thankfully, none of your friends seem to notice your quiet purchase, too engrossed in their own item search.

The five of you spend around 40 minutes in total in that damn shop, and you could kind of tell the owner was getting sick of Gyuvin’s constant questions on how he acquired the items. “They’re mostly donations or things I find on trips. I don’t know anything else.” He says.

In the end, you bought a few more things apart from the hair clip. You did end up buying the little calico cat figurine, a silver necklace with a spiral pendant, a pack of stamps with really cool designs, and a love letter.

There was a cardboard box sitting on a chair in one corner of the shop with a sign that said “Old Love Letters, ₩300 Each”, and not only is it something you’ve never seen anyone sell before, but it’s also cheap. How could you not buy a chance to snoop around in unknown people’s love lives? 

You put your stuff in the little tote bag Yoona had bought for you. She said the design made her think of you (it had three monochrome fish painted over it).

Now you’re making your way towards the nearest soccer field. You used to play there all the time with Gyuvin, sometimes the other girls joined, or some of the other kids in the neighborhood.

The five of you walked with you right in the middle, like you were the center of a K-pop group. It definitely made you stand out to the locals of the neighborhoods you passed through, and some of them even recognized you and went as far as to congratulate you.

Did your parents tell the entire town about your rank in the league?

“It’s like I’m walking with a celebrity.” Hanni voices just as you get back from shaking hands with one of the old men of the neighborhood. As much as you enjoy the praise and congratulations, it’s a little embarrassing to acknowledge you’re gaining a lot more fame within this town. You imagine this is how famous soccer players feel everytime they go out in public.

“Microcelebrity.” You clarify, “Aren’t you an influencer?” You recall Hanni spamming the group chat one time in the first year of high school because one of her Instagram posts had gone viral. After a while of her videos getting more and more views, she started gaining a small following and could be considered a daily-life influencer.

“Yeah, but most of my followers aren’t from here so I don’t get recognized everytime I go out.”

“To be fair, this is the first time this has happened to me. My parents probably told the whole town about this.”

“Oh, they sure did. Even my mom found out.” Minji states, to your surprise. Minji’s mother was well known for not liking any sports at all, and it’s not that she hated them, she just wasn’t interested. She didn’t even know who Messi or Ronaldo were.

“Wow… I knew they liked to gossip, but that’s… crazy.” You scratch your nape shyly. Your parents are known for finding out everything, but you didn’t know they also told everything they knew.

“She didn’t really know what anything meant but she was very happy for you.” She says with a smile.

Oh! There’s a strange giddy feeling that shows up as a smile on your face you can’t hold back. You’re not really sure what to say, but you don’t even have to worry about it, because before you realize you’re already at the field, and when the boys that are playing there take notice of your presence, all you can hear is screams.

Sounds of “Y/N Noona!”, “No way it’s Y/N!”, “You’re back?!” get closer as the match pauses and they start running towards you. Most of them are your high school classmates, some are your younger neighbors or underclassmen you played with during recess.

You get closer and they bombard you with hugs and questions, with countless reminders of how much they missed you. One of them complains about you not answering his texts, and another boy defends you by excusing your forgetfulness on being busy.

“Okay, okay. I’ll make it up to you with a match, okay?”

You end up playing for two hours straight, the first half with your friends as a team, but after a while it seemed like the only one with energy left was you. Not even Gyuvin could keep up your pace.

“No wonder she’s an athlete.” Hanni says, fanning herself under the shadow of a tree that trespassed the field enclosure. Your friends were all sitting down on the ground, watching attentively at the match you played against the boys while chatting.

It was 5v1 and you were winning 4-2.

Minji watched carefully at the way you carried yourself on the field, so graceful and yet not passive at all, a different perspective compared to how you usually are.

There's a little bit of sweat that glistens on your forehead, and after playing for such a long time you only now start to look slightly tired. “I pray everyday she makes it to the national team and gets rich.” Gyuvin says.

“Same.” Hanni answers, laying down on a blanket over the warm grass and resting her head on her bag and it makes Yoona laugh when she grumbles at the discomfort of feeling all the crystals she bought on the back of her head.

The boys score another goal at you, so you decide to get serious and start playing like you would at a normal university match. Minji stares when you run faster and slide through the opponents so easily. She kind of wonders if she could calculate your speed mentally.

Field length = 55 meters, Penalty area length = 9 meters

You were around 9.2 meters from the halfway line and traveled around 18 meters in a straight line, Minji counts 4 seconds.

18/4 = 5 m/s, 1 m/s = 3.6 km/h, 5 * 3.6 = 18 km/h

Han Y/N’s speed in that one moment was 18 km/h.

The average maximum sprint speed of La Liga athletes was 30 km/h, according to an NLM article (don’t ask Minji how she knows that; she isn’t even studying medicine).

Suddenly Minji feels the need to see you play an actual serious match.

“I don’t think you need to pray.” She says with a smirk, standing up from the ground and wiping away the bristles of grass stuck to her jeans. “She has it in the bag.”

The others notice her taking out her wallet from her pocket, “Can you buy me a Fanta?” Gyuvin makes puppy eyes at Minji, even while knowing they never work on her, or anyone for that matter.

She gives him nothing but a wave and walks away, “She’s not getting you shit, dude.” Hanni kicks Gyuvin in the back with the tip of her foot and Yoona laughs at the scene.

The grocery store is not far away at all, only a block from the field, and Minji treads lightly with her mind made up on what to buy. A bag of chips and two glasses of apple juice, and maybe a strawberry lollipop for Hanni, NOT cherry, she notes.

The owner is an older lady who used to babysit Minji’s mom. She’s seen her countless times in her life so it’s easy for her to greet her brightly. “It’s been so long, Minji!” The woman greets her, her aged features morphing into a kind smile.

It’s true, it has been a long time. She doesn’t really come here that often anymore unless she’s taking a walk out of boredom or walking the neighbors dog when she’s out of town. She used to come here all the time when you all went to play soccer, but the matches got less and less frequent after you left, mostly because the only one who actually wanted to play was Gyuvin.

Minji makes her way to the drink section of the store and lights up when she sees the chilled glasses of apple juice right where she remembers them being. She was honestly surprised you hadn’t brought a water bottle with you when you left, and maybe just water would be healthier and hydrate you better, but she’d rather make you happier with your favorite drink.

(You would’ve been happy enough even if she just brought you water.)

The glass is cold when it reaches her hand, a nice contrast from the heat of the afternoon sun. She was starting to get a little hungry so maybe instead of chips she’d get a sandwich. Maybe she’ll get two.

She excuses herself in her mind, she’s not excluding her other friends! It’s just… this day is about you, of course her focus would be you. And maybe tomorrow. And maybe the whole time you’re here. She laughs at herself while walking up to the counter. She meant it when she told you she missed you.

“That would be ₩4,200 but I’ll give to you for ₩4,000 because I missed you.” The woman beams her a warm smile and Minji can’t help but return it. She hands her 4,200 won anyways and is out the door before the woman can complain. “Bye, Mrs. Do!”

Minji walks back with a smile on her face, the wind hits and blows her hair back. Some leaves and dust get blown her way too but she doesn’t have to squint her eyes because they already do that when she smiles. 

The sun isn’t as bright and the rays don’t burn her skin anymore. She hears louds screams just as she’s getting closer to the field, and when she looks through the gaps of the metal enclosure she sees Gyuvin running up to hug you while the boys you were playing with fall to the ground in defeat.

She missed your win. Minji puckers up her bottom lip and sighs, shoulders shrugging helplessly.

You hadn’t even realized she had left until you see her enter the field again, so you send her a light smile she almost doesn’t catch. She looks back to the other girls and when her eyes meet Hanni laying on the grass she realizes she forgot her strawberry lollipop. Oh well.

She sits down next to Yoona and takes her sandwich out of her bag.

“What’d you buy?”

“Just stuff. Nothing for Gyuvin.”

Yoona laughs at the comment. “The apple juice is for Y/N, right?” Minji nods as she looks at you tap the boys on the back to cheer them up, “You can have the other one if you want.”

Minji was just about to open the packaging of her sandwich when she sees you and Gyuvin walk towards her. She quickly stops her actions and takes the other cold glass from the plastic bag, struggles a little to open the lid, and just as you take your last step she holds the cold apple juice to your face, or the closest to it her arm could reach.

You’re a little taken aback, but luckily you don’t blush at her act. Instead you just smile at her, mirroring Minji’s own kind smile and take the glass from her hand. “Thanks.” You say before you take a sip.

Both of your hearts feel full, yours at the flavor of apple that fills your tastebuds and calms the thirst of running for hours, and hers at the fact she made you even just a little happy with such a small action.

You gulp down probably half the glass down and end it with a “Ah~” that makes your friends laugh. “You still do that?” Hanni sits up and rests her hands behind her on the grass.

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve done that since you were a kid.” Minji says and your eyebrows raise,”Really?” All your friends nod.

“I never noticed.”

Minji goes back to her sandwich as you and Gyuvin sit down in front of the other three. You’re tired now, but you don’t wanna lay on the grass because you say it makes you itch, so you try resting your body weight on Gyuvin, to which he adamantly pushes you away, “You’re heavy, Y/N!”

“What the hell, bro. I’m literally not?” You pout at him to try and get him to surrender but he just pushes you away harder every time you try to lay your back against him.

“Go lay on Minji or something, not me.” He says as he pushes you for the last time, you hear Hanni laugh.

You look at Minji and she’s already putting away the plastic bag she had on her lap. Oh, okay, yeah, no biggie. No problem at all.

You do a great impression of acting normal and move to sit next to her. “The shadow is better on this side anyways.” You fake whine at the boy as Minji grabs your shoulder and guides you to rest your back on top of her legs.

You turn your body so that you face her and hope she can’t tell your heart starts beating faster when you notice she’s already looking down at you. It’s a beautiful scene.

Minji’s face, the green leaves of the trees behind her and the sun peeking through the gaps, the wind blowing her hair a little to the side, the way her eyes smile at the same time she does. “Hey.”

“Hey.” You answer.

Everything about this is normal! You have to close your eyes so you believe it, and you start to after a few seconds. Everything about this is normal. It feels so normal and you love it.

It’s soothing. The wind caresses your face and you lose focus on the conversation your friends were having beside you.

And then Minji starts running her fingers through your hair and you lose focus on anything that’s not her.

Your heartbeat picks up for a few seconds and then it doesn’t. And then it’s all calm again. Your eyes are closed but your mind pictures Minji so vividly, smiling at you sweetly while her eyes. Her loving eyes.

God, you hope you’re not blushing, because you can already feel yourself getting warm all over. Thankfully, the gentle breeze is there to save you when you need it.

 And then there’s a moment where everything, the breeze, Minji’s hands caressing you, and the sound of playful conversation, all merge at the perfect moment and you experience a calm that feels heavenly. Almost divine, and it sends you into instant slumber.

You don’t really remember every detail of what you dream of, you just remember it being about Minji, Seoul and snow. Either way, you know it had something to do with her confessing her feelings to you after you win nationals. You remember that you froze after she kissed you, then called your name after she saw you not move.

“Y/N! Y/N!” You hear your name being called out, then your body being shaked roughly. “Y/N!” You hear loudly before you wake yourself up.

“Sorry!” You don’t know what you’re apologizing for until your body jerks away and your forehead almost hits Minji’s. “Oh, sorry.”

“You fell asleep.” She states the obvious with a giggle.

“No shit, queen.” You hear Hanni laugh loudly at your response. “How long was I out for?”

“It’s 5:25.” Yoona says behind you, only then you realize they were already packing up and it was time to go. Where? You have no idea.

“Shit. Sorry guys.” You sit back up and stretch your muscles before you can stand properly.

“My legs fell asleep, you know?” Minji announces, and when you look back at her she has a teasing smirk on her face.

“Yeah, well, maybe blame Gyuv for that.” You answer sassily, but you can’t help but feel a little guilty.

Said male goes to grab the tote bag Yoona got you and the half finished apple juice you left behind and holds the bag it to your face while you’re still stretching, “Hurry up, girl. We gotta go to the beach before sunset.” He throws the bag at you and you catch it just in time.

“Careful! I have a cat in there!”

You arrive at the beach at exactly 6:00 P.M. and as soon as you get to the sand Gyuvin is already taking his shoes and shirt off. You look at everyone, confused on the plan you never actually listened to.

“We were going to swim?”

“Do you not want to?” Hanni asks.

“I don’t know…” You look at your friends with a sorry expression. You were already worn out from the whole match, and even after you slept a whole two hours on Minji’s lap, you still felt a little tired. “I’m kinda drained guys.”

“Bro… How could you?” Minji looks at you like she’s so betrayed and you laugh at her annoying little face that’s also so pretty and cute and annoying

“Bro… I’m sorry.” You play along. Calling the love of your life “bro” is crazy.

Okay, “love of your life” is an exaggeration (it’s literally not, in every sense of the word literally).

“I’ll watch your bags and take pics!” You tried bargaining, and they look at you like you’re crazy. “Guys, please, we can come swim tomorrow. The beach is not going anywhere considering we literally live beside it.”

Then Yoona gets real close to you and whispers, “You’ll pay for this.” then takes off her shoes.

“What the hell, man.”

Gyuvin and Yoona are already running at the sea and splashing each other, they don’t actually care about you not joining. Hanni hands you her bag with a strange force and you don’t know where it came from, “Take care of my babies.” She says.

“Your… babies?”

“My crystals.”

“Oh, right. I will.”

Minji walks up to you when Hanni walks away and hands you her jacket and another bag, this time plastic, “There’s one sandwich left in there. I told Gyubin not to eat it and I didn’t think he was going to listen but he did, surprisingly.” She tells you with a smile.

“Thanks. Very thoughtful of you man.” Alright, pack it up.

Minji sends you one last smile before she leaves and your heart beats when her eyes squint too. You watch her disappear into the waves and smile. You take out your phone and take a picture of your friends all swimming and playing in the water, their silhouettes clashing with the sun that was just about to set. It’s so pretty you make it your lock screen immediately.

You take out a blanket from Hanni’s bag, the same one she was laying on in the soccer field, and spread it on the ground to sit down. You take off your sneakers before they get filled with sand and take comfort in the warmth of the sand beneath you.

You stare at your friends for a bit, a beautiful picture presented just for you. You’re so happy to be back. Your stomach lets out a loud grumble before you even get to tear up. What a way to ruin the mood.

You take the bag Minji gave you and take out the sandwich. Ham, bacon, cheese, lettuce- oh, who cares. You take a bite out of it and it tastes like home. She definitely bought it from Mrs. Do.

It eases your hunger quite well. You hear the waves crash and Minji’s laugh from far away and, what a beautiful sound. What a beautiful person. You think of Minji and think of beautiful, not just from her appearance but her soul. What a beautiful soul.

You take your last bite and your stomach feels full, but you feel a little empty and can’t pinpoint what it is. You feel like you’re forgetting something. You reach for your new bag and search for whatever it seems you're forgetting.

Oh, right, the letter. Suddenly you feel excited.

The sun starts just in time. What a way to set the mood. You take out the white envelope and notice it still has some scent remaining. It kinda smells like something Minji used to wear, jasmine and liquorice. You didn’t smell it on her today, though.

You notice the envelope doesn’t have a sender or recipient name anywhere on it, nowhere at all. Maybe they didn’t plan to send it, or they changed the envelope at the shop. Eager to know more, you rip the envelope, careful not to damage the letter itself.

You take it out and take a deep breath to prepare yourself. You’re probably a little more excited than you should be, but whatever. You’re excited to intrude on a stranger's possibly failed love confession.

Except when you unfold the page, it’s not from a stranger.

You panic and fold the letter closed just as fast as you had opened it. You must have misread, right?

You open it again and the top says “Kim Minji, 23rd of June, 2021” like it’s a diary.

It must be another Kim Minji. There are hundreds of thousands in South Korea. It could be anyone. Anyone at all. So you keep reading in hopes it’s someone who’s not the girl swimming in the sea just a few meters away from you.

Dear Y/N,

It’s not a stranger. It’s Kim Minji. Your Kim Minji. You’re reading an old love letter from Kim Minji. You bought a love letter from Kim Minji for 300 won.

Wait, why is it addressed to you?

Now, you’re more confused than shocked. Now, you have to find out. You were going to put it down and not read it to not intrude and break your own heart, but now you have to find out why on Earth the first two words are Dear Y/N written in Kim Minji’s handwriting. So you keep reading.

Dear Y/N, I hope this finds you well. If you’re reading this, I gave this to you on the 24th or maybe even earlier on a strike of confidence. I hope you’re not keeping yourself up to read this at midnight. I wanted to tell you something I’ve been keeping for a long time before you leave for Seoul. Maybe it’s a selfish thing to do, and it won’t keep you from departing, but I think it would be worse to tell you this through text and I can’t bring myself to say it to your face.

I have feelings for you. Real romantic feelings. I like you a lot.

I like possibly everything about you and it’s killing me that I’m so scared and unable to tell you. I don’t even know what I’m so afraid of, really. Probably rejection, but even if you did like me back I still have to live without you for four years. My wish of you coming to visit me will probably depend on how harsh your rejection is, but I’d still like to see you back regardless.

When you first told us you got that scholarship for Korea University, I was so happy and proud of you. In a perfect world I would have kissed you and told you how happy I was for you and maybe even gone with you. But it’s not a perfect world and I just told you “Congratulations!” and you’re leaving tomorrow, without me. 

I’m not one to take pictures, if anything that’s you, but right now I wish I had an album full of photos of you, of us, because I don’t know how I’ll make it without seeing you everyday. I think I won’t, actually. I hope you consider letting me borrow the photo album full of the countless pictures you take, even if they’re not of you they might fill the void you leave in my heart.

Anything from you will suffice, I think, but just your memory is not enough.

I kinda wish you could stay, but I also know you’re going to do your best over there and I hope you fulfill your dream of being a professional player. When you said you were going to choose to study mass communication I thought “that must mean she’s going to communicate with us a lot!” I hope it does. I hope you don’t miss us too much, but I do hope you miss me a little bit more.

I’ve never written a love letter before, if you could even call this that, so excuse me if this is not a good one, I’m sorry. I should probably state what I like most about you, but I don’t even know where to begin.

I love the way you’re driven to do your best even at the smallest of things. When we first met, you built us the best sand castle I had ever seen in my short life of seven years. The sandcastle was still standing when we went to visit it the next day.

You do your best at school, even when it gets hard for you, and I love that you’re not afraid to ask for help when you really need it. I kind of envy that if I’m honest. I hope you become the best student in your major.

I remember the time we babysat Ms.Yoon’s daughter and you were the only one who knew how to change her diapers and at what time to feed her. I also love how good you are with kids and sometimes it makes me think of very inappropriate thoughts of building a family together, but I won’t get into that because I don’t want to be weirder than I’m already being right now.

I love the way you always try your best to make me smile when I’m upset or stressed and even just the thought of you going out of your way to care is enough for my heart to melt. When I got sick in middle school while my mom was out of town you came to my house every day and made me chicken soup. I think that was the day I started thinking of you as more than just a friend.

I love the way you look when you put your hair up in a ponytail. I used to stare at you the entire time we watched you play during recess in middle school.

I love the way you’re clumsy and you’re never embarrassed about it. You always get up when you fall and you don’t pretend it doesn’t hurt when you scrape your knees. And I love the way you still try to smile when I’m patching up your wounds.

I love the way you always want the best for us and encourage us to be ambitious. I wouldn’t be on top of my class if it weren’t for you.

I love the way you like cats and they like you back. They always hiss at me unless you’re around. Maybe it’s a sign that we should be together all the time.  

I love the way you say Ah~ when you finish drinking water after playing soccer.

I love (you) the way you love apple juice. I hope you feel the same. – Kim Minji

P.s. if you don’t i also understand and you’re free to do whatever you want with this letter.

You have no idea at what point you started to tear up, but you only realize when a tear falls from your eye into the paper and blurs the ink in the last “Minji”. 

You don’t even process anything around you at that point. All you can think about is that Minji liked you 3 years ago and never told you and now you don’t even know if she still likes you.

No matter how much you think about it, you would’ve absolutely given her your photo album, if only the letter had actually gotten to you when it was supposed to.

“I saw you open the letter from over there, I came here to be nosy.” You can’t tell anything she says because you’re so entranced but you can tell it’s Minji’s voice. You freeze when she sits beside you.

“Is it any good?” She asks before realizing you’re completely paralyzed. “Hey, are you crying?” She touches your shoulder in concern, and it wakes you up a little bit, but the only thing you can do is hand her the letter.

She stares at you for a few seconds before she finally takes the page and mutters, “Oh.”

You don’t really want to look at her, and you don’t know what comes over you that makes you turn your head anyways. The red sun rays hit her face in a way that makes her tan skin glow. Her hair is damp and her shirt is stuck to her body but you don’t dare to look.

She’s clearly just as shocked as you are to see the object in her hands. And she still looks so beautiful. “Y/N, I-” You wipe your tears and sniff before she turns and see them in your eyes.

“Was this the one you bought?” You nod, and she looks back at it with her mouth hung low. “I… was wondering where this went. I thought I lost it.”

“You didn’t send it? At all?” Minji shakes her head. Wow, this is so great. “Why didn’t you?”

“I was supposed to give it to you before you left. I was hoping it would make you stay, but then I thought I was being too selfish and… just didn’t.” There’s clearly some regret still left in her face and the wind starts to blow. You hand her the jacket you put down next to your friends’ bags. “Thanks.” She says as she puts it on. You turn away to look at the sunset and gather your thoughts.

There’s no expression on your face for Minji to read, and for some reason she starts getting worried. “Y/N… I- It’s been three years, you don’t have to worry about-”

“Do you still?” You ask while looking away at the sea.

Minji stays quiet.

“Do you?”

She still keeps quiet. You turn to face her.

“Please tell me the truth, Minji.”

There’s something about how the sun makes your eyes glow and how you say her name that sabotages Minji at not giving in.

“Yes.” She speaks out with a sigh, “I do. I still do.”

You don’t know if your heart is beating faster or slower, but you feel it beat stronger. You turn away to get your bag, Minji just watches, her eyebrows slightly furrowed in distress and curiosity. The only thing she wants right now is to know how you feel.

You reach inside your bag for something, and Minji can’t really tell what it is when you take it out.

Finally, you extend the pale blue hair clip in your hand, “I have liked you since we were seven, Minji.” The girl looks at the clip then at you, her round eyes widened in disbelief.

“Are you serious?”

You hold your hand closer to her, urging her to take the gift before you sniff once again, “I saw this and thought of you. It looks like the one you had when we first met, that’s the day I started liking you. I haven’t stopped since.”

Minji takes the clip from your hands and feels herself tear up, says nothing, stares at it, then stares at you.

“We’ve known each other for thirteen years and I’ve loved you for thirteen of them.”

“I had no idea.”

“We had no idea.”

“We knew nothing about everything.” It’s now Minji’s turn to sniffle but still smiles as she wipes away the tears that threaten to fall from her eyes.

“How could you never say anything? Thirteen years, Y/N.” Minji complains while caressing the blue clip in her hands like it’s a precious stone. “Thirteen.”

“I got distracted with soccer.” Minji laughs with you and pushes you away by the shoulder. “Every goal I’ve ever made has been for you, though,”

“That’s so cheesy.” Minji giggles to herself as she pops the clip open and places it on her hair, it snaps shut with a ‘click’. “What do you think?” She says, turning to you. She tries to ignore your eyes and how sweetly they look at her.

“I think I love you more than I love apple juice.”

That’s the last thing you say before Minji smiles and gets shy, she looks away but her hand searches for yours and you help her by placing yours over hers. She fights back by taking it back and placing hers on top of yours. It makes you laugh.

The sound of your laugh takes her attention and now she stares directly at you, a smile on her own face. Her cheeks now take a reddish color, and her eyes shine like the reflection of the sunlight on the water. It feels like a deja vu.

You think you could stare at Minji’s face all day and not complain. You think maybe she thinks so too with how intensely she’s looking at you.

You raise your eyebrow when her eyes trail down from your eyes to your lips, and she seems to notice when your lips form a smirk. “What?” She giggles at herself, her already red cheeks turn an even darker shade.

“I saw that.”

“Weren’t we about to?”

“So straightforward, You should’ve been like that when sending that letter.”

“Oh my god, shut up.”

Is the last thing she says before she leans forward, she hesitates a little bit and her eyes go from your lips to your eyes, a shine of expectancy as if asking for permission, even when she already has it.

She’s about to close the gap when the both of you hear a chorus of gasps from the sea. It takes your attention. Hanni, Gyuvin and Yoona are all pushing each other giggling and gasping, hands on their mouths. You hear a faint “It’s finally happening.”, You can’t tell who it’s from though.

Minji is visibly annoyed, yells “Look away!” and it bounces in the waves. It’s actually insane how dumb she looks, red cheeks, furrowed eyebrows, pouty, perfect lips. It takes you everything to control yourself and even then you still can’t help grabbing her face gently and turning it towards you to finally, once and for all, kiss her.

You don’t really care if your friends actually turned away or not, because you can’t really tell with how glorious it feels to kiss Minji. It almost feels holy. You feel like you died and went to heaven in five minutes.

It’s a new feeling, a new experience, and it feels so familiar at the same time. Like flowing with the waves, like dancing with the wind, like drowning in apple juice, drowning in love.

Your lips dance like that for a while. At one point Minji’s hand goes up to your face and it’s such a warm feeling it makes you smile into the kiss. You start running out of breath and you don’t even notice. You could die happily if it meant dying with Minji’s lips on yours.

But then your stupid survival instincts kick in and it’s such a shame you have to pull away.

Both of your breaths are heavy and you burst out in laughter at the same time when your eyes meet. When your laughs die down your eyes fall on the pale blue clip that adorned Minji’s head. “You look so cute.”

“Says you.”

And then you hear cheering from the beach again. “Finally!” Hanni yells. You watch in astonishment, “Did she know?” You ask Minji while the both of you watch the three of your friends jump up and down in the water.

“I have no idea. I didn’t tell her. She might’ve noticed.” The cogs start to turn in your brains.

“They all did.” You and Minji say at the same time, then laugh at the same time. What a friendship of thirteen years does to you. And when you see Gyuvin and Hanni get up from the water and get closer to you, you realize you’re about to be ambushed.

“Oh, hell no.” You mumble right before you stand up and grab your bag. Minji just looks at you confused, “Come on, get up. They’re wet.” But Minji doesn’t seem to cooperate.

“Dude!” You grab her hand and pull her up as you run away as far as possible from your friends. You don’t even realize where you’re going, but laughing with Minji while running on the sand at sunset feels heavenly.

You look back and Minji struggles to keep up. Gyuvin and Hanni don’t look anywhere close and they probably decided to just let the both of you go, so you stop running.”

“We…” Minji rests her hands on her knees as she catches her breath, “We didn’t have to run that much. I’m not the soccer player here.”

You send her an apologetic smile, “Sorry…” 

Minji now can stand up and breathe stably. She looks back and there’s no one behind. “So, where do we go now?”

“Home. You need to get changed or else you’re gonna get sick.” You walk towards her to touch her shirt, “It’s still damp.”

“Isn’t your house nearby?” She asks, “I live further away, and it’ll be night by the time we get to my house.”

You squint your eyes at her, “My clothes won’t fit on you, they barely fit on me.” You flex your bicep and the sleeve gets so tight it’s going to cut your blood flow if you keep it like that. “And I haven’t seen your mom yet.”

“And I want to have dinner with your parents.” She confesses. “My first official meeting with them as your girlfriend.” You never actually established that but it’s not like you’re going to refuse the offer.

“You’re actually so annoying, bro.”

“Says you, bro.”

“I’m your girlfriend, bro.”

“No shit, bro.” Minji holds her hand out for you to take it, and you gladly do. You start walking in silence for a little bit.

“Also, my mom won’t let us make out at my house.”

“Okay, that’s enough, bro.” You take your hand back and walk faster to get away from Minji. She immediately sprints to catch up and stick to you.

“I was kidding!” She tries to grab your hand but you refuse it and take it back. “Hey! Hold my hand!”

You look at her and wouldn’t you know, she’s making puppy eyes at you. It makes you give in, it never fails. “You’re so sticky.”

“You wanna know something?” She says as you start walking together again.

“What?”

“When you kissed me it tasted like apple juice.”

end.

🗒️ probably one of my favorite things i've written i giggled a lot and had fun writing this.. there's probably lots of mistakes here and there but i beg u pls ignore it bc im dizzy i can't look at words anymore. Minecraft coming soon! love u guys 🫂

[skzthelomlhehe]

A lustful collab

Masterlist Total Masterlist

Genre: music, fluff, smut, romance, slice of life.

Warnings: sexual descriptions (as the genre suggests)- fingering, harsh language, bleeding, first time, unprotected sex.

Description: In love with your voice he asks for a collaboration. You invite him to your studio but seeing how he was gonna be late you decide to do... Questionable things. And alas he walks in on you doing that cuz you're dumb and forgot to lock the fucking door and things get spicy hehe~

A/N: Heyy! This is my first time writing at Tumblr and also my first take on smut that isn't roleplay lmao the story itself is mostly fluff with smut in between. Hope it doesn't get too stretchy eeee- I literally came up with the plot while listening to connected fr and got even more inspiration from MOVIE by JUNNY srs! anyways~ hope this little delulu one shot can feed yalls delulu hearts~ also PS: A warning is given before the smut starts JUST IN CASE idk why I added it but I did lmao

Vibe with:

It was a beautiful autumn noon. Birds chirping, people probably at home napping or at work or whatever. The street was empty and you were inside your room working on your new song at your parents' house. After a while of humming and singing, you put down your guitar and took off your headphones before looking out the window of your room.

A quiet and peaceful afternoon painted with golden hues of the pretty sunset. Perfect time to record your song. So you decided to take your things which included your guitar, phone, a big tripod and a black foldable chair.

You headed out to the yard with your hands full of stuff barely managing your balance and not accidentally tumbling over and risking every bit of fortune you spent on your set up.

Upon reaching, you successfully manage to put down your stuff in the correct position which was unusual given your extraordinarily clumsy nature. But oh well, luck was just on your side. After you were done with all the silly little labor you finally sat in your chair and started recording. The melody flew gracefully, your guitar cooperated and didn't buzz as your hands guided each note, your voice obeyed your pleas and didn't crack but escaped your lips soft and smooth. The rhymes flowed by as if it were a river devoid of any bounds and for once you didn't feel disrupted or out of breath. Everything went down smoothly which was, once again, quite unusual given your tendency of taking a thousand takes.

All this while, your eyes remained shut as if naturally. You couldn't open them and frankly, neither did you want to. You preferred the soft breeze that tickled your skin, making your hair flow just the tiniest bit. As your song came to an end, you slowly opened your eyes and switched off the recording. Just as you were about to check the video you just took, you were startled by a soft clap followed by a deep, husky yet smooth voice. One that you knew a bit too well. "That was so beautiful! You've got an amazing voice, mate!" The voice spoke out. You looked up, utterly shocked thinking your ears were playing tricks on you. But when you did look up, your heart skipped a beat. In a good way obviously!

There he stood, an averagely tall man, eyes sparkling as if millions of stars were held in them, the dimples at the end of the corner of his smile made you feel like you would drown in them and you honestly don't complain. His hair curled perfectly into a neat fuzz. These details, you knew it too well. A bit too well. Christopher, a well known musician who was the heart throb of many. He's your idol, someone you look upto a lot and also the one who inspired you to go against your family's disapproval and start a career in music. If not for him, you wouldn't be here making music right now.

you quickly put down your guitar on the chair and grabbed your phone stuffing it in your pocket while rushing to him who was standing behind the fence out on the sidewalk. "O-oh gosh thank you...! You flatter me!" You said flustered. You could feel your face getting hotter. Shy? Embarrassed? Flustered? Anything that falls into the similar synonym spectrum, you felt it.

"I'm serious! You make a great deal of a singer." He said, his smile Perking up hiding his eyes. He extended out his hand in a gesture of a shake, "I'm Chris by the way. Just moved here a few days back, nice to meet you!" And almost immediately like the silly fangirl you were, you held his hand, albeit gently unlike those psychos who don't know personal space and bowed "I-I'm Y/N!! It's very nice to meet you too sir!" And with that you just buried your self-esteem deep inside the ground. Sir? Seriously? You could do better Y/N.

Upon blurting out whatever you said, you were met with a rather charming chuckle. You looked up to see the man in front of you laughing, still holding your hand and covering a teeny bit of his smile with his other hand. "You're a funny one, Y/N!" He said, still having the after effects of the little laugh. He let go of your hand, you felt a little disappointed when he did so but you didn't bother to make an expression out of it. "So it seems you live around here? Ive heard you sing but never really saw you before." He spoke, possibly making small talks. "Ah no I used to live here. This is my parents' house, I come by every other week. I live 3 blocks away actually." You spoke quite calmly even though there was a storm raging inside your mind. But no one needs to know that except you and me right? Moving on!

"Ahh~ I see~ well! We'll still be seeing each other some time, no? Can I have your number? I don't really have many friends my age round here." He pulled out his phone and held it in front of you expecting you to type your number in. "o-oh sure..!" You took his phone rather abruptly cuz once again you're clumsy cuz why not~ and typed your number in. You made a quick call from his phone and saved your number in his. You handed him the phone before taking yours out and saving it as well. "great! So I'll text later yeah? I gotta run now, but I'll see you later?" He spoke, looking at you expectantly. You just nodded with a bright smile. "That's that then! See ya, mate!" He cheerfully bid you goodbye, turning away and looking at you one last time with a wink and waving his hands in a peace sign.

That was when you went into a faze. And the next thing you know, you're lying in bed, your stuff neatly organized. "So uhh... I was singing in the yard, someone came, said I sang great, the someone so happed to be my fucking crush and idol and he asked me for my number and he said he'll text me... He... He asked... He ASKED FOR MY FUCKING NUMBER OH MY FUCKING GOD IS THIS A DREAM?!?!?!" After taking your sweet sweet time processing whatever happened you started kicking your feet like a teeny tiny little girl in Love even though you're a fucking (your age) year old woman. (Y'all freaky minors I see you so you better get going)

And then all of a sudden amidst your delulu moment, you get jolted awake to reality by a text notification. When you open your screen your face lights up into a bright ass smile, heart in your eyes and just- delulu all over again.

And just like that you snatched yourself a date (not really) with your favourite local artist! How lucky aren't you? Anyways~ you looked at the clock and it was 4:16 pm already. You rushed up, swifting through your closet only to find nothing wearable. "Do I really not have anything here??? Why did I take everything there with me ugh!!!!" You whisper yelled cuz after your little yelling sesh earlier the last thing you want is for people (especially Chris) to think you're crazy. After failing to find anything wearable you quickly grabbed your things and drove off to your studio.

After a lot of deciding you finally found an outfit you wanted to wear and quickly headed into the shower. And after managing to shower, get dressed, put make up on and do any other finishing touches you were finally ready! You took one last look at yourself into the mirror and felt extremely self satisfied. The clock showed 5:35 pm and it takes about 15 minutes to get there by taxi and the last thing you want is to be late. So you hurried down and got yourself a ride and right to the cafe you went.

You've been to this cafe for a good long while now. It was your favourite spot to chill and the bells attached to the door was always a calming welcome for you. This time although, that same ring sent shivers down your spine. And you didn't know why. You were, as usual, greeted by a gentle young man who was pleased to see one of the regulars back again.

"a single seat again?" He asked as you entered. You shook your head, "not this time boy! I've got company" and soon a giggle left your lips followed by a confused, curious and pleased 'oh?' from the man. He smiled and led you to a comfortable seat. A perfect seat is what you considered it. A big glassed window which gave the perfect view of the lit up streets outside. The cafe was warm and cozy like its name. You took your coat off and draped it over the chair lean before taking a seat. After few minutes of waiting which seemed like hours your clock showed 5:56 pm. You were starting to get worried. Was he gonna ditch you? Were you gonna get stood up by a person you admire so much?

As you let yourself spiral into your overthinking, you were brought back to reality with a knock on the wooden table, "hello? Anyone there? Earth to Y/N!" You looked up, blood rising to your face making it warmer. "A-ah yes! S-sorry about that. I sorta uh... Lost myself there, heh." You mumbled, loud enough for him to hear albeit quite faint. "Right, it's all good!" The man took a seat in front of you, "lovely view." He said, looking out the window. "Ah... Lovely indeed." Your awestruck fangirl eyes stayed glued to this man's face, observing every little detail. His beautifully curly brown hair, big lips that stretched into a smile, that deep and gorgeous dimple that dug at the end of the corner of his smile. Lovely... He was more than just lovely.

"So... Which one of the view is lovely here, exactly?" You didn't realise he was looking at you. His right elbow rested on the table while his tilted head rested on his palm, his face painted with a shimmering smile.

You were dazed by the view in front of you, "You..." You muttered, your head falling off your palms, "N-no I mean both! I mean- no- the outside- or like no uh maybe both? Uh- ah! I don't know!" You hid your face within your hands and heard a soft chuckle. That chuckle tickled your ears turning them bright red.

After much awkward blabbering you guys finally got down to business. Having discussed a few of the details, you guys agreed to meet on the weekends in your studio since his new studio wasn't fully done yet. You both decided to discuss further details and make a contract on Saturday at your studio.

Time passed by in the blink of an eye. Before you know it, you guys have had chatted endless conversations in the meantime. Gotten much more closer. And before you knew it, your phone display showed 8:35 AM on a Saturday morning. Chris was supposed to arrive at 12:30 pm, grab lunch with you and then work on the song.

You looked around realising your room was a total mess. You had 4 hours to clean everything up, shower and get ready and you were quite determined.

You cleared everything up, every Speck of dust lying around was removed in what felt like an instant. You quickly took an everything shower. Washing your hair, shaving, skincare etc etc everything.

After all was done, you checked your phone again. The time showed 12:23 PM. You felt content, giving your chest a light pat of approval. You put on some casual clothes and put up your hair into a messy bun. You patted on some powder, a little blush, tad bit of eyeliner and some soft lip tint to tie it all together.

Just when you were done with everything, you heard your door bell ring. Anticipation grew with each step you took running to your front door. "coming!" You yelled.

Opening the door felt like opening it to a beam of light. You were greeted by a warm smile and a "Hey, pretty!" In the softest most endearing tone youve ever heard. It was like music to your ears. You replied with a "hey handsome~" as a giggle left both your lips.

You knew better than to delude yourself but right now... For a tiny bit... You wanted to think this was more than just some collaboration and something perhaps a little more special. Although getting to Collab with this man was a great deal of honor in itself.

You guys drove to the restaurant in his car. The way his veiny hands glided on the steering wheel made you feel things. The way he spoke, the way he sat there driving, the way he laughed, the way the wind ruffled his hair ever so softy, everything made butterflies rage inside your stomach.

You guys vibed to some music, both singing in tune as he drove. At the restaurant you both chatted while waiting for the food. Chris, curious of the food you were having, took a small bite and regretted immediately with how spicy it was. He coughed "good- lords! How do you eat that?" You chuckled. "or you're just too much of a baby to handle even this little bit of spice? You even have food on your face!" "Eh? Where?" He scanned through the corners of his lips trying to wipe the food away. Watching him struggle, you took a piece of tissue and leaned in to wipe it for him. It felt like time stopped, like some kind of a cliche rom com movie. You both stared at each other for a few moments before he cleared his throat. You sat back down clearing your throat as well.

After the lunch, you both came back to your place. For a second it was awkward but that tension was soon killed as he initiated a small talk that dragged into a conversation.

Getting home, you both talked about the collab. You both jotted down a small contract that his manager would review later to confirm it. But you guys were too excited to wait for any of that and decided to start working on the song.

You both presented ideas you guys had come up with in the meantime. While he took a look at the sheet of printed paperwork you switched on your computer. Time flowed like a river with clear path.

"Should we make some alterations in that part?" He spoke, pointing his pen towards the lit up computer screen. "Which one? This?" You moved your cursor towards the line and selected it. "No not that one, the one below. Here this-" without much thought, his hand trailed to the mouse and placed right about your hand. He clicked the line he had originally pointed to, "I think we could make it a little more feely here-" he paused and realised where his hand was. He looked at you, your face flushed a cute shade of pink. Seeing you, his face, too, flushed in a soft blush before he abruptly took his hand away. "R-right yeah we uh we could do that"

You looked away, tucking a piece of hair behind your ear as you bit your lower lip feeling a slight sense of disappointment having him pulled away. His hand was big on yours, the warm weight of it felt comforting. You've had your hand held by a lot of people, family, friends, exes. But this particular moment made you feel like your hand was on fire and frankly, so was your entire body.

You felt a wet slick in your lady down there. You quickly excused yourself to the restroom. You had considered that maybe it was... Something else ... But you had thought maybe it was just your period coming a day earlier. But once you had made it into the restroom, you realised, it was, in fact, what you had anticipated and that anticipation was definitely not your period.

You went back, things seemed a tad bit awkward. You didn't like it. You didn't like it at all. You hated the tension that had been created just because of a trivial matter like mistakenly putting his hand on yours while reaching for the mouse. Although the tension was there, you guys still managed to get some work done. After a while, Chris got a call from his manager asking him to get home since it was already 9:12 pm.

Time sure flew. You wished time would stop so you could spend more time with him but you knew you couldn't. So you swallowed down your disdain and walked him to the exit bidding him goodbye. It was bitter, but it is what it is.

You went back in finding yourself in a faze again. You could barely make sense of anything that was happening. You saved the progress on your computer and went straight to bed because frankly, you didn't have any energy left for anything else.

(just imagine some spicy stuff cuz idk how to write a wet dream 💀)

The next day, you woke up to your kitty feeling extra soaked. You groaned thinking it was the after effects of the wet dream you just had. But to your utter surprise and absolute agony, it was none other than that annoying cousin you despised. That's right ladies, you got your period. Periodt.

You took a quick shower before cleaning up last night's mess. You knew your cramps were about to HIT today. And you dreaded it. You could barely move around the entire day because of the excruciating pain you were in. No wonder your sex drive was so high and you felt pain in your waist for the past week.

Time ticked to 6 PM and it was about time Chris arrived. And just on time, you heard your doorbell ring. You tried your best not to look too groggy. You opened the door to his bright smile again, all the tension out the window. You smiled back, your abdomen almost on the verge of busting.

"Hey... You alright?" He asked, his eyes glistening in concern. "Y-yeah... I just got my period today and the cramps are wild." You replied. "oh... Then... Should I leave? I mean-.. I don't wanna cause you any more pain" you couldn't believe how painfully nice he was. Gosh he was just... So considerate. But you didn't want to miss this opportunity. You didn't want to wait an entire week. "No! No it's okay! I can do it! Don't worry!" You blurted. "alright then. But let me know if you're in any pain ok?" He wanted to make you feel comfortable and just him being so considerate made you feel like you could get through a thousand cramps.

You nodded before letting him in. You guys started working on the song again. But unfortunately, as optimistic as you were before, you couldn't help but feel the pain resurface ever so often. The pain felt harder each time it returned. At some point you couldn't help but groan, clenching at your tummy.

"Are you... Are you ok? You don't look too good." He held your shoulder ever so softly. "Ye-yeah I just... Need to use the restroom real quick. I'll be back." "Sure, take your time."

Just as you were about to stand up, your legs gave out and you tripped. Chris, who was right there, happened to catch you in time. Had you fell, your head wouldve went straight to the corner of the table cracking it open. Your heart raced. But, you couldn't tell if it was out of fear or the fact that you were practically groping his chest. Or maybe it was both.

You got up in a rush, your head felt fuzzy. "ah im- im so sorry! I didn't mean to!" "No- no it's alright! You were about to fall so I just... It's okay I don't mind... I mean... Uhh I would mind if it was some random person who just got all over me without permission but uhh what I mean is it's alright I didn't think anything of it..." He looked away turning his head, his ears a bright red.

You hurried off to the restroom and locked the door. "Stupid stupid! You stupid girl! Agh why did you have to fall on him??" You whisper yelled. Your hands still felt warm from the sensation. Your nipples had perked up and you felt aroused out of your mind. But you didn't want to feel it. You didn't want to be a creep and make him uncomfortable.

Time skip ...

A month had passed now. You guys got even more closer now. In the meantime you had many more physical contacts that ignited sparks within you. The sessions didn't last in tensed awkwardness anymore and you guys were having fun.

You were checking out your calender as usual to check out if you had something important in the coming days. Your period for this month had ended two days ago, you were supposed to have a doctor's appointment on Tuesday and the rent was due on Thursday. Everything was checked out. You looked at your phone that showed 10:34 am on a Saturday.

You suddenly get a text and your face brightens up when you see the sender of it.

If this was a while ago, you would find it illegal to even think of getting coffee with THE Christopher. Asking him to bring along coffee and having him treat you to pastry as an apology just would've felt illegal and a faraway day dream. But here we are.

You flopped down on your bed, scrolling through the gallery in your phone. It had endless pictures of Chris. Even more of him than you, your family and friends combined.

You squealed with every picture as you realised again and again how attractive he was and this very man was coming over every other weekend for a collab. It was just... So unreal to you.

{Warning: here the smut starts so if you're not ok with that please skip until you see a divider. Thank you.}

As you were thinking of all this, you found yourself feeling a tad bit aroused. You put your phone down as you glided your hand through your body gradually sliding in down inside your shorts.

You rubbed your clit that had been a swollen bud and your hole had been leaking ever since, thirsting for a little action. You pulled your shirt up revealing your breasts as they bounced and you pulled your pants down. Your pants hung by your ankle as you slowly rubbed your entrance gently.

It throbbed. It wanted more. You started thrusting your finger in. First your middle, then both your middle and ring finger and soon your index as well. You gradually became a moaning mess. Occassionally calling out Christopher's name under your breath as you fondled your boobs.

Oh how you wished he were here with you. As you were in your moments of pleasure laying unbeknownst of anything, a thud jolted you awake from your fantasy.

You looked towards the door of your room realising the clear view of your kitty you had put on to anyone who stood there. Horror overcame you as you realised who was standing at the door. Chris. His bag had fallen, possibly due to shock of seeing you like that.

His face was utterly surprised. You quickly closed your widely spread apart legs scrambling to hide but it just didn't work out. "h-how are you here?!" You asked, shame and guilt overcoming you. "We-well the door was unlocked and I called out to you but you didn't hear me an-and I just-" his face brightened red. You looked down unknowingly and realised he had a painful bulge that looked like it would pop out any moment now.

"y-you... Why are you..." You pointed, he looked down and quickly hid it. "I'm oh lords I'm so sorry! I didn't-"

As if your body moved on its own, you got off the bed and walked closer to him. He stumbled as you did, "wha- what are you-"

"don't you..." You shut him off, "don't you feel repulsed? You heard everything didnt you?" "I- I mean I did hear you... Calling my name but.. uh.. no no... I ... I don't feel repulsed... Not in the slightest!" He blurted out. You weren't usually the bold type but today, for some reason, you felt unstoppable. You took the bag of coffee from his hand and set it down on the shelf near the door. "So... You're turned on by what you saw?" He looked away turning his head before softly nodding. That nod in itself made you even bolder. You slowly glided your hands to his shoulders, letting your arms rest around his neck as you leaned closer making him flinch.

"Come on, Chris... Look at me..." You whispered. "N-no I..." "But... I want you to look at me." You looked at him with sparkly eyes. He looked at you clenching his fists trying his best not to lose himself.

"Do you... Want to touch me...?"

"I shouldn't..."

"it's not about should or shouldn't... Do you want to? Or not?"

He clenched his jaw, unable to speak anything. You leaned in closer to his face. "if you don't want it... Push me away right now..."

And with that, you leaned in even more. Both of your lips not even an inch away from each other. You could feel his warm breath against your skin. You felt so... So turned on. You'd have thought he would push you away. But to your utter surprise...

He grabbed the back of your neck and pulled you in to a kiss. You flinched and were caught off guard but soon gave in to the passionate kiss. He was rushed, but not too much. It felt good. Your lips touched in perfect harmony. You mewled as you felt his tongue on your lips. Without any complaints you let him in.

Your tongues twirled in a beautiful rhythm. Your breaths clashed with each other. You grabbed onto him a little tighter, pulling him in towards the bed. He pushed you on the bed, kissing you again.

You broke the kiss, unbuckling his pants revealing his throbbing member. His dick was nice and long. Perfectly thick and girthy. You panted at the sight of it and your pussy throbbed. You wanted him. You want to take him.

You got up and pushed him down on the bed as you got on your knees. "Can I...?" You asked and he nodded biting his lips. You could see it in his eyes. Just how eager he was. He huffed as you blowed softly on his tip.

You rubbed it against your soft cheek making him groan. He was already overflowing with precum. You slowly glided your finger through his member. It both scared and aroused you to see his size and how veiny it was. It was throbbing and flinching every now and then.

"just... Do it alreadyy.." he begged and you couldn't wait to comply. You slowly started shoving it inside your face. Licking every bit of it. He threw his head back grasping onto your hair, pushing your head further down. You moaned again finding it incredibly hard to take it all in.

You choked as his tip hit the back of your throat and he let you go instantly. "Ah! Im sorry! Are you ok?" He asked pulling you closer to your face cupping your cheeks. "Yeah.. I'm.. I'm okay. I just don't have much experience with deep throating." You spoke still catching your breath. "it's ok if you don't want to. I don't wanna force you to do something you don't enjoy."

"no it's alright. I want to do it. So just relax." You went back to his groin. This time, taking it slow. Rubbing his member and licking the tip slowly preparing to him all in. Steadily you start putting it inside your mouth. It felt weird at first and you felt overwhelmed but you were determined. You wanted him to feel good.

It gave you immense pleasure when you heard his groans and moans. "Fuck baby you're so hot..." He moaned under his breath. That just aroused you even more. You went back up to his face, kissing him passionately. He pushed you down on the bed and took off his shirt.

Good lords that was the most sexiest and hottest thing you've ever seen. He soon made his way down between your thighs. First kissing your inner thighs along with soft bites that sent shivers down your spine. You yelped a moan when you felt his fingers circling your poor swollen bud and moaned even more when you found him licking it. You thanked your soundproof walls. You thanked yourself who worked endlessly to afford that soundproofing. It just meant you could moan as much as you wanted.

"Shit... Chris... Im... Fuck im so close...!" You mewled. He came up to your face, kissing you relentlessly again as if he was just going to devour you. "can... Can I put it in..?" He asked with these adorable puppy eyes. You felt his tip rubbing against your entrance. "yes.. god... Yes please... I need to Chris... I need you so much... Fuck just put it in already..." You moaned. You couldn't take it anymore. You needed him. You needed him so bad.

"but... There's no condom? Should I go buy some?" He said pulling away and almost getting up. You wrapped your arms around him and pulled him closer. "Fuck condoms just do it! Im safe." (A/N: please use condoms even if you're safe. Your partner might not be safe 💀)

And without much ado, he started shoving it in. It was your first time. You didn't expect it to hurt so much. A drop of tear trickled down your face as you gasped in shock. "agh... Ah fuck... Fuck fuck fuck that hurts ngh..." You cried. It hurt. It hurt so much. You could feel your hymen tearing apart. Blood trickled down your hole. "fuck... Im sorry... Just... A little more... I promise it'll feel better..." Chris reassured you. He pulled you into a tight hug kissing your shoulders and neck. You cried in pain. It was even more painful than you had imagined.

You wrapped both your hands and legs around him. It was painful, but you wanted to keep going. After a while, it was in. His whole dick was completely inside you, wrapped by your walls. "I'm in... Im in..." He huffed. A wave of relief flooded over you. It hurt, but it was starting to feel a little better now.

He gently started moving. Each thrust started making the pain leave your body. And before you knew it, you were overcome by pleasure. Once what was a cry of pain turned to cry of pleasure.

You moaned loudly over and over again calling out his name. "Fuck angh Chris...! Aah... That... That feels so good nngh.." you moaned.

He thrusted inside you, relentlessly. "good fuck baby you feel so damn good... Oh gosh you're so pretty... You're so beautiful... Fuck I love you so much..." He moaned back. You were caught off guard. "you... You what...?" Another tear trickled down your face. Your heart raced like crazy. "I... Im sorry but... I just happened to feel it I... I don't know..." He stopped thrusting feeling hesitant. You smiled before placing a soft kiss on his lips. "Why'd you stop, silly? I love you too... I always have... It feels like a dream to be here like this with you..." You pull him closer. He sniffles, his eyes teary and he smiles before kissing you and thrusting again.

He hugged you, kissing and sucking on your nipples leaving hickeys where only he can see. You suddenly felt a knot form inside your belly. And you knew what it was. "Shit Chris... Im... Im close... Im so close..." You mewled. "I'm... Im close too... Let's... Let's cum together yeah?" He groaned. "Yeah... Yeah let's do that..." You huffed.

Before you know it, his pace fastened and so did both of your grunts and moans. The room filled with noises you made and the noises of skin slapping, kissing and sucking.

And at last, that knot loosened and you felt yourself flinching and trembling and reached your climax. He quickly pulled it out and came on your belly before falling on you. Both of your pants unsteady. He turned to lay down on the bed, your head on his arm. "Fuck... That felt so good..." He huffed. "Yeah... It did.."

.......................

{smut ends here lmao}

After a while of laying there and catching up on breathing. You both decided to take a shower together and clean up. Having done that, you both made your way to the bed and laid next to each other.

"So... You like me?" Chris asked as he caressed your head gently. In embarrassment, you hid your face in his mascular chest. "We-well... I've been a huge fan of yours for a while now and... I've always liked you but... Ever since we've met... I couldn't help but develop feelings more than that of a fan to her idol..." You replied shyly.

"that's... Quite nice to hear actually..." He smiled. You looked at him, your chin rested on his chest. "what about you?" You asked.

"hmm... I've actually seen you before. You performed in the 'Railway Bar and Restaurant' right?"

"Oh yeah... I did. Don't tell me... That was the first time you saw me?"

"I did! I was amazed by your performance. Shortly after I saw you all over my tok tik and tube-you (names are funny cuz I'm pretending to be funny hehe). I really liked the music you made and I wanted to meet your for the longest time. You caught my eye like none other. So when I met you again, I couldn't help but feel this... Attraction towards you."

Your face flushed red. You couldn't believe what you were hearing. It felt like you were dreaming. "So... What are we now...?" You asked, unsure if you should ask to begin with. "I don't know... What do you want us to be?" He asked. "I... Kinda want us to date..." You spoke hesitantly. It felt illegal to ask him that.

But surprisingly enough again, he chuckled. "Sure let's do that." You looked at him in disbelief. He was smiling. And he wasn't lying. He wasn't kidding, he wasn't playing. He really wanted it too. You couldn't help but giggle. He placed a soft kiss on your forehead and then on your lips.

Time skip again....

Another few months later, the collab was finally done and posted. It turned out to be a super hit. Both your and his fandom went crazy over it. At first you both wanted to keep your relationship private but one day a fan saw you guys on a date in a cafe. You were scared his fan would be mad and throw a tantrum but what you didn't expect was that she would start squealing and saying how she was expecting it because of the collab.

A few weeks later you guys came out public. There were two sides of the fans. One side was toxic. They bashed you both for the choice you made. But the majority were nice and supported your decisions.

It was overwhelming, to say the least, but you guys were together and that's what mattered. Both your families loved each other as well. Although your family was a bit hesitant at first, they soon caved in to both your career and your relationship.

Things were looking up and you were happier than ever. Your face was all over different social media platforms, in a good way. Your popularity increased significantly and people loved the music you made.

Now the rest of the story? That's for you to write :3

This is the end of "The lusfut Collab" and I hope you guys enjoyed it! See you again with another oneshot! Byeee!

[milliesfishes]

⋆౨ৎ˚⟡Star Girl⋆౨ৎ˚⟡

⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖masterlist⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ [fem reader] contains: attempted kidnapping pairing: billy the kid x fem reader summary: billy meets a star girl author’s note: thank you my darling @phantomamor for talking ab this with me and helping me flesh out this world and the characters! MWAH I'm so excited for you all to read this <3 Pinterest Board Spotify Playlist

The city was buzzing, breathing life into what had formerly been a word on a map to Billy. Beings of every species imaginable were conversing, haggling over prices and gossiping amongst themselves. It was impossible to stand still without touching anyone.

Billy's pockets were newly lined with the reward of his latest bounty, not as much as he would have liked for his efforts, but something, nonetheless. When he was newer to this line of work, maybe it would have put a spring in his step. Maybe he'd have even whistled, allowing himself a look at the shiny blasters arranged at the nearby table, maybe even considering buying one.

But today his spirits were lowered, melancholy even. His boots trudged along the dusty footprints of those who'd walked before him, hands shoved in his pockets. He ignored the call of surrounding merchants, letting their voices blend into the hum.

It was the same thing over and over again. He'd find some treasure long prized by a pawn dealer, risk his neck to locate it, and accept a measly price in return. Later today he'd fork over a portion to Jesse, the price for using the gang's name to secure better offers. And then the cycle would repeat.

It was a baseless existence. Flying all over the galaxy, getting his hands on things others deemed precious. It was funny- it all looked so important on the pages of a book, but not once when he held it in person did it feel that way. As far as he was concerned, it was terribly unimportant, faint relics destined for a life on the shelf. He almost felt bad removing them from their natural states. Every gem, every weapon...it felt like robbing a grave.

Clumping down the road until he emerged from the mouth of the crowd, Billy stopped for a moment, leaning against the brick of a building close at hand. On a normal night he'd go to the bar, but right now it seemed unappealing. The last thing he needed was a drink. He supposed he could return to his ship and retire early for the night. Goodness knew he didn't get enough sleep as it was.

Standing up straight, Billy was about to make his way back in the direction of his ship when a peculiar sound caught his ear.

"Excuse me sir...I need to get past..."

"Pretty little thing. C'mon sweetheart..."

Immediately Billy turned sharply, searching for the source. He took a step forward, ducking his head around the corner into an alleyway. The sight before him nearly made his blood boil.

A man, clearly heavily intoxicated, grasping the arm of a young woman. Billy couldn't tell what species she was from first glace, but she looked remarkably human from here. In the soft glow of the sunset, he could see the shine of her hair. There was a glow that seemed to brighten her from the inside out, as if her heart was made of light. Her eyes were wide, fear pooling in the centers.

You stared up at your captor, struggling slightly. "Please. Just let me go."

"Ain't lettin' one of your kind slip past," the man spat. Billy winced- he could practically feel his hot, liquor tainted breath from here. "Damn star people."

It hit Billy like a shot to the stomach, his body stiffening as he realized it. Your glow. You weren't human at all.

Star people were rare to see, especially in a place as godless as this. Said to have been born from the heavens themselves, star people were a legend lilted from the lips of bounty hunters far and wide across the galaxy. The blood coursing through their veins wasn't crimson, but golden, and it ran for a price that was enough to set a man up for life. The species made themselves scarce due to this fact.

When Billy was learning the art of the hunt, he'd accompanied a man seasoned on the market, seeking a rare plant with silver berries going for a decent price. It had confused him when they hunted down a man with a golden luster and tied him down instead of scouring the nearby forest. He assumed they were going to question him about the location of the plant, let him go when he'd given up such trusted information.

But instead, his companion drew a knife, turning to Billy with a hungry look in his eyes. "Watch 'n learn Kid. Always seize the opportunity for a better bounty."

Much to Billy's horror, the knife came down on the golden man's skin, drawing forth a spurt of shining liquid. He was paralyzed watching him bleed out, his inside life force collected by someone so overtaken by greed that he failed to realize the awful thing he was doing.

The memory of the star person's face as he died had haunted Billy ever since he witnessed it. It was the reason he'd never collected a living bounty since. And it was the reason his feet were moving forward now, straight into the alleyway. His hands tore the man away from you, shoving him aside. His body hit the ground with a heavy thump, buying you some time. Billy extended a hand to you. "Come with me. Before he gets up."

You shrank back a bit, the sight of another man so close likely terrifying. Billy winced at the swiftness of his actions, but he emphasized his hand. "It's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you."

In the dim light, Billy could see the golden sheen filling your body with light, the freckles dotting your arms like a sun had kissed them. There were strands of gold woven into your hair, making you appear nearly unreal. And suddenly the notion of you being descended from the stars didn't seem so impossible.

Slowly, you set your fingers in the palm of his hand, your soft touch igniting something in him, a conflagration that reached from his toes to his hairline. When he looked into your eyes, he could have sworn they were glowing.

Carefully, he led you out of the alleyway, back into the streets, which were emptying with each strain of darkness that settled in. Your breathing was slowing down as you followed him, shoes barely making a sound on the cobblestone ground.

There was a loud clatter behind you that sounded suspiciously like a blaster falling from a holster, and Billy squeezed your hand without thinking. "Quick-run!"

Almost akin to a doe, you started sprinting with him, surroundings becoming a blur. Your skirt trailed behind you, the pale color of it making it look like you were being followed by mist. It and your top were of light iridescence, shimmering as you hurried along beside him. It was mesmerizing how gracefully you ran, and it made him feel a hundred pounds heavier as his boots clomped alongside your slippers.

There were string lights swooping over the gap in the streets, twinkling like your eyes. You both came to an abrupt stop once you turned a corner, panting for breath. Your hand was still engulfed in his, and he didn't complain when you kept hold.

Turning his face to you, Billy was expecting distress, tears even. But your expression was elated. Shoulders rising up and down, your eyes caught on his, the sight of your smile making him feel as though he was watching the sunrise. "Do you think he was even chasing us?" A breathy giggle trailed after your words like fairy dust.

Billy couldn't help his own chuckle bubbling from his lips. "Better safe than sorry."

Putting your free hand to your heart, you took in a deep breath, watching him warmly. "Thank you for rescuing me. He's been following me all night and I made a mistake in where I went to try and lose him."

"My pleasure." Billy tipped his hat. It was a product of his upbringing more than anything, but he imagined even the worst of scoundrels would find themselves gentlemen in your presence.

He was endeared when you lifted the sides of your skirt, sweeping a foot delicately behind your ankle and bowing your head. "Twas good of you anyways, sir."

"Billy." He was grinning.

"Billy." You said it so lightly, so curiously, and he wanted to exile his name from everyone else's mouth. In sweet tones, you told him your name too. Your identifying word could have been anything and he would have found it beautiful simply because it was attached to you.

Taking in a breath as fine as spun silk, you said, "I truly do appreciate what you did. Not everyone would have." The luscious curtain of your hair fell over your shoulder as you leaned in, and the ambrosial scent of you filled his nose. Every detail of you was coming to light, enhancing you when he thought he'd already viewed perfection. Billy was no purveyor of the arts, but you were a masterpiece.

You were close enough that he could see every freckle that dotted the smooth plane of your face, and their gold color. The beads of your top kissed your arms like droplets of water. Even as the night settled upon the world, your skin glimmered, every shining strand of hair winking at him like a call to reach out and touch. He was sure that you would melt under his roughened fingers if he did.

Remembering himself, he cleared his throat, nodding once. "Maybe not everyone knows what's right."

Something changed in your eyes, and he saw a flicker, a flame in your irises. Suddenly he couldn't seem to tear his eyes away, like both your hearts were magnets yearning to connect. Pushing your hair over a shoulder, your eyelashes fluttered as you peered up at him. He was unsure if it was your heavenly origins that were drawing him in, or if it was you. "Can I walk you back home?" The sentence slipped from his mouth before he could regulate it, his body's natural instinct to be near you for longer.

Even the littlest hint of your smile was dazzling. Your head bobbed up and down, and you squeezed his hand lightly. "I'd like that."

Oh how he would thank the heavens later.

The cosmos were brimming with eternal wonders that burned at their edges, gathering in the dark side of every moon and hiding in the shadow of the rings of silvery planets. Billy had been far and wide across the space of the galaxy, seen things man could never dream up. But never had he been so captivated by anything as you.

Your coppery aura enveloped him like an aphrodisiac, crashing over him and rebounding like the waters of some lost ocean. He was tethered to even the mere idea of you.

You chattered as he walked with you to your residence, and he felt like he was listening to a song. Your being seemed to not only decorate space, but time, and he'd lose a thousand hours in your presence if he could.

"I haven't lived here for long," you explained when he asked, eager to hear you talk about yourself. "I travel between planets, seek passage wherever I can find it. Travelling is my favorite thing." You smiled, seeming to lift off your feet at the thought. "What brings you around here?"

"For work," he said, tearing his eyes away from you to look ahead. Feathered creatures were flying low between string lights, the buzz from earlier dulled to a quiet hum. "I find things for folks who want 'em. 'n they pay me to do it. The last buyer was here."

"You're a treasure hunter?" you asked, delighted by the idea. He exhaled softly, smile growing. Treasure hunter sounded much better than bounty hunter.

He nodded, looking back at you. "Yeah. 'xactly. I find pretty things that folks wanna have."

"So you get to go all over the place," you mused, swaying slightly as you walked like a willow in the breeze. "It must be so wonderful."

"It's exciting, sure," he commented, scratching the back of his head. It was beguiling how much interest you were taking in him, in what he did. Nobody had ever done that before.

You chewed on your bottom lip, pace slowing as you seemed to think of something. Lifting your eyes to his, you let go of his hand and asked, "Does anyone ever want to have something like me?" The question was delivered quietly, with a sense of dismay Billy wanted to scrub from the air. You didn't deserve to ever have to feel such harrowing emotions.

He held your gaze, the reality of the situation seeming to gamble with his feelings. Would you want to talk to him after learning what he was, what people in his occupation did? "Yeah," he found himself saying. "But I ain't in that kinda business."

"You're not?" Conduct lightening again, you held a spark of hope in the vision of you.

"I don't go after anythin' livin'. It's cruel," he assured you, searching your eyes. "Others do. But not me."

There it was again, that divine smile that Billy wanted burnt into his eyes. You took his hand again, resuming walking, and he felt something warm him on the inside. "I'm glad. I'm glad that you don't."

"Me too," he agreed, enjoying the weight of your hand in his. It was almost like you didn't realize the significance of the gesture, like you were doing it simply because it felt nice. There was nothing but innocence attached.

It was blissful just walking with you, watching you point out different things around. You were enthralled by every facet of your surroundings, enchanted by the littlest things. It was adorable- the way you'd gasp and lift a gold-tinted fingernail, the object of your fascination ranging from bugs to buildings. It only made you more wholly beautiful, and he wished the walk was longer.

When the sky was completely black, you stopped in your tracks, another little gasp of the variety he'd grown to love passing your lips. "There they are!"

He followed your gaze up, to where the stars were blinking in patterns stretching far and wide, limbs that glittered in the same wondrous way you did. You lifted a hand in a wave that melted his heart, beaming up at the glinting little spheres. "They're my family. I wave at them every night to let them know I'm okay."

Your words were anointed with a reverence artfully arranged. Billy watched you for a moment. "Hope they're okay with me takin' you home."

"They're very grateful that you've kept me safe," you insisted, squeezing his hand gently. He was stabilized by you, held to the ground. If you left the planet, his gravity would be gone and he would float out into the sky with nary a worry except that he wouldn't pass you on his way through space.

The effect of you had to be alchemistic, a mercurial drug crafted specifically to wrench him in like prey to predator. But you were in front of him, soft and sweet with no possible hint of danger. And Billy felt as though he'd been knocked over the head, seeing an illusion borne of his own loneliness. Though anything of that manner would have faded by now. You remained in his line of sight, roseate and sparkling as only a descendant of the heavens could.

The two of you had reached the edge of the forest, the cobblestone street fading into rich brown earth. You were glowing ever so slightly, enough to distinguish you as extraordinary, and he felt as though he was in a dream, trailing behind you as a shadow.

Stopping there, you turned to him, a darling smile seeming to brighten your light. "Thank you again. For walking me home. And for helping me out."

"'s no problem, sweet." The term of endearment slipped out, and he cursed himself for the half a second before you smiled.

"It was nice," you started, and he found himself hanging onto every word, every breath you exhaled. "To talk to someone who wasn't wanting something else from me." Your doe eyes were boring a hole into him, and he would have disintegrated into dust.

"I liked talkin' to you too," he said, hearing the awe he'd felt all night with you creep into his words. "D'ya...d'ya think I'll see you 'round here again?"

"If it's written in the stars," you smiled, letting go of his hand. With one last look at him, you disappeared through the trees in the blink of an eye, soft glow visible through the mess of branches, then fading into the distance like a candle burning out.

For a moment, all Billy could do was stand there, grinning like a fool. He hadn't even known he was capable of feeling as strongly as he had when you were around. He'd held the hand of a fallen star. A daughter of celestial magnitude.

Chuckling in disbelief, he only turned around when your glow was swallowed by the forest, never dimming, just hidden like a light under a bushel. His steps were meandering, and he retraced his footsteps, drunk on the memory of you. Oh, wouldn't it be nice if he saw you again?

It wasn't every day a star girl smiled at him.

Next Part

[nugromancer]

Veilguard Photodump (Spoiler Edition)

End Game Spoilers (mostly me gushing ab art direction (￣y▽,￣)╭ ) under the cut

I can't get over how stunning the light and colour design is in this game. Funniest thing I noticed was that, while treading through any area, there were a lot of very obvious "Photo Opportunities" where the map designer was like Hey. Hey. Come over here for this little bit of treasure haha. Oooohhh but maybe you can take a moment to enjoy the view? (we worked so hard on it please look pleasepleapspslelpeas) And it's banger after banger of beautiful scenery!

I want to get on this level where I can convey something so gd big. It's much more obvious how massive a Titan is when Rook is in frame, but even without, that's a big lad!!! Huge sucker for a good cloud cap that lets the sun peak through. Literal Silver Lining.

This shot from the end of the Corruption questline (and if you complete the Dreadwolf's Memories + Convince Mythal to help) is great. Like our lady's dragon form is beautifully lit, she's got a spotlight and everything!! And it looks natural. It looks like the sun managed to poke through the blight on this one place.

Also allow me to giggle and kick my feet because not only does Dragon!Mythal's design FUCK (look at that tri-crown horn formation like YEEESSSSSS THAT'S MY BITCH!!!!)

She's also PINK AND PURPLE?? LIKE HELLO??? The lighting is absolutely saturating her scales (plus she's breathing lightning, which glows violet/blue, adding to the effect) so it's brighter than it probably is. But what a fantastic coloration none-the-less!!

End-game Arc doesn't fuck around either. The gold ring from the eclipse against that eye-searing magenta is just. Augh. Ough. Foreboding has never looked so damn pretty.

(Also this general area is one of my favourite places in the Lighthouse. The lighting is just so on point. I have a dozen other photos of this section bc I always stop to admire it lmao.)

That magenta is striking. You'd expect it to be solid red across the board! But once we're in the "real" world we get those warmer tones you would normally associate with this sort of thing... But now that I think ab it, it's probably from the amount of smoke rising from the antaam encampment. The Crossroads don't have pollution! Of course it'd be more jewel-toned! I wonder what our sunsets would look like if there was less of that. Sigh. Anyways--

The Regret Prison. Probably my favourite sequence in the game. Yes I love colour, but let's not forget CONTRAST.

It's soooo easy it end up with a horrible clashing of shapes if you don't balance contrast. So you gotta Contrast the Contrast... by reducing the Contrast. Yes there's depth-of-field shenanigans (making lines blur the farther from the viewpoint they are) but there's also mist/dust/atmosphere. I love this shit.

Not to mention that subtle introduction of colour by incorporating greenery (still heavily desaturated, as to not be glaring/distracting) as you make your way through the map. Like. The starting area was desolate and devoid of life. Any plants you saw were dead. Bare-bone roots. But as your proceed you find Life scattered around. Hope.

I didn't get a proper shot/video clip of the end sequence for this quest, where you're walking across a barren expanse and can see the ritual sight erect itself piece by piece in the distance as you get closer. That sequence knocked me out it was so fucking good!!! To the person(s) who all made that happen, I'm sending them a big sloppy kiss on the cheek it was so elegantly executed. <333

Anyways I feel like I said a lot without saying anything at all but hopefully this was somewhat interesting to someone thank you for coming to my TEDtalk <3

[manias-wordcount]

GRGRGLEGLEF i hope ur taking requests at this time because I cannot find a “reqs closed” sign anywhere

can i request Yosuke Hanamura or Yusuke Kitagawa w a male S/O who likes photography??? And maybe one day they ask them to model in one of his photos?? thank u!!! (Headcanons :P)

again very sorry if your reqs were closed D:

S/o who likes Photography HCs (Yosuke Hanamura, Yusuke Kitagawa)

𝗔/𝗡: 𝗼𝗼𝗼𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝘁 𝗳𝘂𝗻! 𝗶 𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝘁!

𝙒𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚? ⇒ 𝙈𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩

𝙟𝙤𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚𝙧?

𝙗𝙪𝙮 𝙢𝙚 𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙚?

Yosuke Hanamura

When you said you were into photography, Yosuke thought it was going to be one of two things

“Boring” nature shots of Inaba OR cool, epic action shots (*cough* of him *cough*)

So imagine his surprise when you ask him to model for your photos

And imagine his surprise becoming even bigger and MORE dramatic when you tell him you don’t want action shots of him splashing in the take or riding a scooter- you want to take portraits of him

Begrudgingly, he’ll accept (because he loves you too much hehe) but he’s going to be awkward about it the whole time

You’ll probably take him around beautiful sights around Inaba like the shrine or the Flood Plains around sunset and have to coach him through all these different positions and poses

You’ll probably have to tell him a thousand times to “smile normally” and “stop looking miserable” because he’s starting to get bored just “standing around and looking pretty for you”

But once you show him the final product, don’t worry- he’ll be amazed at your skill and just amazed at how good you made him look

Sure, he may grumble a bit about how you took hours dragging him around only to end up with less than 10 photos that you’re satisfied with but he does thank you profoundly 

You made him feel beautiful and loved when you showed him just how good your favorites looked (in the most, manly way he swears)

Yusuke Kitagawa

Yusuke is a guy who GETS it (kinda)

Since the man is (primarily? completely?) a painter and you’re medium of choice is photography, there are definitely some rules and ways of going about finding and showcasing a subject that differs between the two of you

But an artist can absolutely appreciate another artist’s work, even if you both engage in different forms of art so expect this guy to 100% be your biggest hype man

Y’all probably go back and forth with trying to spark inspiration for each other when one of you is stuck in a slump

Either way, Yusuke is not only honored- he’s thrilled to pieces when you ask him to be your model one day

Though he’s a bit difficult to work with at first

He has his own eye for aesthetics and naturally prefers to do his own poses and expressions (while maybe even directing how you should frame him in the photograph)

But once he cools his jets and lets you do your thing, everything works out

He’s more than happy with seeing your final product and he’s really able to understand your vision once he sees it come alive in the printed photographs

Might even make him so happy that he’ll make a completely abstract painting of his emotions in that moment and even name it after you haha <3

[mintsv]

cherry blossom - k. gyuvin (ch 2)

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read chapter 1 here!

pairing ➷ gyuvin x gn!reader

synopsis : you and gyuvin were in your last years of high school and lived beside each other. at school, he's captain of the basketball team, gyuvin is friendly and easygoing, not to mention he's extremely popular. on the other hand, you're the class president and have been for many years, you very studious, making you not have many friends. nevertheless, your fateful friendship bloomed under the cherry blossoms of april.

genre : romance . fluff . angst . high school au

word count : 3.5 k

warnings : swearing (i think that's it lmk if theres more!)

notes : sorry this took wayy longer than it should, silly fact is i had to write a lot of these on the airplane :) anw this chapter's a lot of angst and the storyline became kinda messy im very sorry i tried my best, i hope it's okay tho and i might make a follow-up fluff chapter if this turns out well!

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'do i like y/n?"

gyuvin thought to himself, suddenly not being able to think of anything else other than that question. gyuvin was very unfamiliar with the terms : 'like', 'crush', or 'love'. the idea of having crushes and a partner had never really piqued his interest so to think of his bestfriend, you, in a romantic way gave him mixed feelings.

ultimately, he remembered his initial task which was to bring you home after the tiring day you went through. shaking his head, he put those thoughts behind him and began rushing to the gym. just as he arrived, he saw your figure with a blonde haired boy sitting on the bleachers happily chatting while sharing two cans of coke, the drink you usually bought for him after every tournament.

unknowingly, gyuvin felt his heart sink into his stomach at the sight. again he couldn't understand what he was feeling, he placed a hand on the left side of his chest, feeling how his heart beat quickened with every sight of you.

'stop overthinking, your heart's beating fast because you just ran here idiot.' gyuvin thought, removing his hand while his feet trudged their way up the bleachers.

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"y/n!" he shouted loud enough for the both of you to hear. your head peeked from the blonde's broad shoulder before bidding him a farewell.

"it was nice talking to you ricky, i hope we can continue this conversation someday." you grin as you wave him goodbye, packing up your things with a small smile plastered on your lips, obviously in a better mood than before thanks to ricky.

you walked to gyuvin, finding him a little odd than usual but you decided not to question it.

"cmon let's go!" you awoke the boy from his trance, his head shook similar to a puppy as he awkwardly swung his arms around your shoulder.

"yeah sorry, let's go home." he apologized before rushing out of the gym, his arm was still around your shoulder and he was practically dragging you by the head considering your evident height difference.

still, you decided not to question why he was suddenly awkward and nervous, usually that was your job but you let it slide this time.

"gyuvin wait!" your eyes caught the view beside you, the sun was still setting over the horizon, faintly illuminating the cherry blossoms as it's petals danced in the wind. you quickly took out the camera you had bought the other day, playing with the settings trying to get the perfect shot. you have always been infatuated by nature and it's doings, things as simple as catching a sunset could lift your mood in seconds.

the brunette knew how much you loved taking photographs, with no other option he stood beside you and waited. unconsciously, his gaze shifted from the view to your figure. starstruck, gyuvin gulped as his eyes traced your features illuminated by the golden haze and somehow he felt the same feeling of his heart speeding up, beating in sync with every glance he takes of you.

"gyuvin isn't it so pretty?" you said, leaning towards the railing of the bridge you were on as the comfortable chilly wind brushed past you.

"yeah, very." but he wasn't looking at the sunset. he mirrored your movements as he leaned to the railing to place himself beside you, afraid you'd be uncomfortable, he finally pryed his eyes away from you to take in the sunset that was equally as beautiful. after a few minutes gone by, you broke the silence as you felt a wave of tiredness wash by you after the long day.

"it's getting dark, lets go home now." you give the boy a thin lipped smile, and he nodded in return.

the night ended with the both of you walking home together in a comfortable silence, enjoying each other's company even when there were no words to be exchanged, and although you don't realize it, it was one of the things gyuvin was grateful for. your presence always had the ability to heal his social battery after a long day, and all along, you were his serenity. why did it take so long for him to realize?

arriving at your doors, you bid farewell to the boy as he waited for you to go in your apartment first before himself. after confirming you were okay, he laid in bed, sprawled out like a starfish as he stared holes into the ceiling. his mind went back to everything that had happened and unintentionally the boy began to fall asleep with a silly smile glued onto his lips.

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the day after, you open your front door to be met by an unexpected sight.

"hey, ready for school?" the boy spoke with a charming smile, dressed tidyly in his school clothes with his hair neatly styled.

it took you a few seconds to take in his surprising appearance, it was usually the other way around and you'd wait for him in front of his door but the new change didn't upset you, even though it was a little strange.

"yeah.. let's go.." you both began to walk to the bus stop but what surprised you was gyuvin didn't take the initiative to sling his arms around your shoulder or initiate any contact like usual, sure it rather upsets you but you didn't want to seem clingy so you tried to ignore it.

until breaktime, gyuvin continued to act strange towards you. you offered to have lunch together but he refused saying he had plans with his teammates. so there you were, taking your lunch to your classroom and eating unaccompanied. at one point, you remembered the homework you were assigned to check this morning, taking the papers out of your desk compartment and setting your half eaten lunch aside.

you felt the break time become increasingly boring, while everyone was gathering with their friends, you were stuck doing duties as class president and most of all you felt a slight headache occur. just as you were about to put away the papers, a voice called out.

"y/n, there you are." you turn to look at the owner of the voice, although a bit dissapointed you were glad you at least had someone to share the pain with.

"oh hey ricky, what're you doing here?" you respond as the blonde takes a seat beside you, bringing out his lunchbox and putting it on his table. you put away the papers and placed your cold lunch in front of you.

"thought you could use a friend." he gave you a small smile as he began eating the food he brought. in return, you open your lunch and start to eat in the presence of a friend to accompany you.

"by the way, have you been looking for me?" you noticed how ricky was sweaty and panting when arrived so you assumed he must've spent a hefty time looking for you.

"well, actually gyuvin asked our whole b-ball team to have lunch with him, he said it was important and i assumed you were there too, but you weren't so i came looking for you."

"if it's important.. why didn't you stay to listen?" you asked curiously in which ricky replied with a scoff.

"gyuvin just ended up rambling about girls and crushes and all that, it seems like he has a crush on someone but he wouldn't tell us. most of the team ended up leaving anyway, i think only yujin and taerae stayed." your hands stop from taking another bite, feeling your heart sink at the sheer thought.

"what else did he say?" you were hesitant to hear more, but your curiosity took over.

"hmm.. something about it being recent and i think their name is-"

"Y/N!" you flinched from shock, turning around to see gyuvin in front of the classroom door he just barged through.

"speaking of the devil.." ricky whispered to you before saying goodbye, vacating the awkward atmosphere and leaving you alone with gyuvin in the classroom.

after ricky's departure, gyuvin sprinted onto the seat beside you, the one ricky had just sat in.

the silence was so deafening you would hear if a pin dropped. truthfully, you couldn't bear eye contact with him, but you didn't necessarily enjoy the discomfort you were currently in either.

"what're you doing here? i thought you had plans with the team." you say in a voice lower than a whisper, hoping he had heard and you didn't have to repeat yourself.

"oh um, i feel bad for leaving you, anyway i have something to tell you-" you cut him off in between, feeling your heart drop to your stomach from both his words and the fact that you thought he liked someone else.

"you felt bad for me?" anger welled up along with the feeling of your heart wrenching.

"wait no no no that's not what i meant but i need to tell you something!" gyuvin panicked, moving his arms in the air when realization hit him.

"gyuvin i'm perfectly fine, ricky was here anyway so i don't understand why you had to come. i'm not someone who always needs to be taken care of, i'm not that weak gyuvin." you ranted, saying whatever came to your mind impulsively and unintentionally ignoring what the boy was about to say.

"y/n i never said you were weak, what's wrong with being taken care of? can you take some time to see where i'm coming from first?" taking one of your hands in his as he searched your eyes with a pleading look.

"i'm trying to gyuvin, but whenever i do i can't help but think you will see me as a burden, someone that has to be walked to school and back home everyday, someone that has to be accompanied when eating, or sometimes i'm someone that can't even attend your matches and support you." you reply, holding in the tears threatening to fall as you stare deeply into his orbs, in fact you just needed reassurance. that was all you truly wanted from him, 'i don't' two simple words you hoped to hear.

"well i'm just trying to look out for you. maybe if ricky did those things to you, you wouldn't mind." the boy's impatience took over as frustration fueled his body for a split second.

his blunt words did nothing but worsen the ache in your heart. you quickly packed up your things, not having the energy to reply to him anymore.

"you know what, i'm not feeling well, i'm going home early, gunwook will take care of the class. and don't follow me." part of you didn't lie, you felt your head still throbbing from inexplicable pain. but you also had to excuse yourself from seeing gyuvin any longer.

you stood up, getting ready to leave until a hand pulled you back.

"y/n, are you mad?" what a stupid question, you thought. you didn't answer him, harshly letting go of his hold on your wrist before walking out of the classroom, closing the door behind you just in time as the bell rang.

in the classroom, gyuvin sat back down in despair. he ruffled his hair brutally after realizing what he had said, ruining the perfectly styled hair he did at 6 in the morning just for you. in fact, gyuvin was trying to say 3 words : 'i like you' but somehow he had messed everything up. unknowingly he felt a something slide down his left cheek.

'shit why am i crying?' the boy thought to himself, he quickly wiped the tear as he stood up furiously, startling the students who had just came in the classroom. seeing the scene he was creating, he quickly packed his bags, mumbling a few sorrys before heading out of the room to the basketball court.

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you rush out of the classroom and down the stairs with your head down, wiping a few stray tears along the way. suddenly, you were stopped by someones chest blocking the way. you were about to walk around him but he had stopped you once again, holding onto your shoulder as he forced you to look up.

"y/n.. what happened?" the tall blonde asked in a worried tone.

"nothing, i don't feel well so i'm going home." again you tried to walk past him but ultimately you were stuck in his grasp.

"did gyuvin do something? you can tell me." you start squirming in his hold, trying to get out as you felt the pain in your head worsen.

out of the sudden, you felt ricky let go completely as your view was no longer the blonde rather a tuff of brunette hair.

"what do you think you're doing asshole!" gyuvin held the boy from his collar as his back towered over you almost protectively.

"i think i should be the one asking. what did you do?" ricky emphasized on the 'you' and when he felt gyuvin's grip weaken, he pushed the boy off, dusting off his blazer before walking off with a smirk on his face.

gyuvin threw his head back in annoyance, ruffling his already messy hair as he turned around to face your figure.

on the other hand, you were pissed at what he did, it made you feel like you always need to depend on his help once again. your tears have already dried up, leaving your cheeks stained in which gyuvin couldn't help but notice.

"let's go." he took your wrists with a strong grip, practically dragging you whilst you try to pry his fingers off.

"leave me alone gyuvin, i can go by myself and i don't need you!" you yell, although the pain becomes unbearable. seeing your struggle felt like thousands of daggers flying through his chest, automatically he loosened his grip to gently hold your hand, caressing the back of it with his thumb.

"y/n, please don't hurt yourself like this. i'll explain everything once you get home and rest okay? let me take care of you one last time." with his free hand he took ahold of your tear stained cheeks, gazing deeply into your orbs while he felt tears gather in his own.

despite your anger, your heart couldn't help but soften. you have always had a soft spot for the puppy-like boy. when you felt his hand comfortingly rub your cheek, you let out a sniffle.

suddenly you felt your head throb, you stumbled forward to be caught by gyuvin. you shut your eyes from the discomfort as gyuvin quickly read the situation, turning around to lift you onto his back. your arms automatically circle his neck while his latched onto your thighs, slightly rubbing his thumb in a comforting manner.

you rest your head in the crook of his neck defeatedly. gyuvin mumbled some incoherent words you could barely hear before he began speed walking to your apartment.

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arriving at your apartment, you were already worn out and sleeping on the boy's back. just then he had remembered he didn't have your apartment key, he decided to rest you in his own flat. he unlocked his door, closing it behind him before rushing to his bedroom as he placed you on his bed carefully.

"wait here okay? i'm gonna go get your meds" he spoke to your sleeping state as he put his hand on the top of your hair and gently stroked it.

in the kitchen, gyuvin prepared some medicine and cooked up a bowl of porridge taken from a recipe you used to make from him when he was sick. after everything was ready, he took a deep breath before entering his room once again to find you still sound asleep.

he placed the food tray onto his nightstand, pulling up his blanket to cover your body before turning on the small nightlight and closing the curtains to create a comfortable homey atmosphere.

at last, he sat down on the floor beside the bed to be eye level with your sleeping figure. the boy sighed, tucking a stray hair behind your ear to get a clear view of your face before starting to talk, thinking you were still sound asleep.

"y/n i'm sorry, i really really really am." he sighed, making sure his voice wasn't loud enough to wake you up as he continued,

"i know i'm an asshole for not telling you sooner, hell i messed up so bad i made you cry. what i wanted to say all this time was that.. i like you, a lot." the boy sniffled, holding in his cry so he could finish the sentences he prepared.

"the argument we had today made me realize that i don't deserve your kindness. i don't and have never thought of you as a burden, in fact i wish you'd trouble me more often. y/n i know how hard you try to satisfy other people, you stay up late to arrange events for the class, you agree to revise other people's work even when you haven't done your own, you do every group project alone but after all of that you still try to attend all my matches, make me lunch when i forget, or take care of me when i'm sick, so i just want to do the same for you."

finishing, gyuvin wiped his tears, his eyes traced your features illuminated by his small nightlight. he had always thought you were the most beautiful person in the world though he hadn't had many chances to see you up close. just tonight he had confirmed his feelings, he was completely and utterly in love with you.

"y/n remember to eat the porridge before it gets cold and drink your medicine with warm water, i'm sorry i disturbed your sleep. i'm going now." the boy stood up getting ready to leave but on his second step, he paused deliberately when a hand latched onto his wrist.

"i'm sorry too.." you sat up from the bed, tears gathering in your own eyelids similar to how the boy looked a while ago.

"w-wait no no don't cry again or else i'll start crying too.." in a split second, gyuvin was sat in front of you and holding your cheeks with both of his large hands as he wiped any tears that fell. the feeling of his warm palms on your icy skin made you melt in his touch.

"gyu i'm sorry i didn't listen to you, it's just that before you came, ricky told me something about you having a crush and it made me really upset so i ended up getting mad at you even though you did nothing wrong. i was scared i was bothering you too much because you always go home with me and you never go home with your other friends even though they ask you to. and whenever i get sick you always skip school like you're doing right now and i feel like i'm in the way of you just because we live beside each other." again you rambled continuously in between your sobs and sniffles, your mouth speaking whatever comes up in your head.

"of course not, i never feel troubled doing all those things for you, hell i'd do anything for you. but wait, why did you get mad when ricky told you i had a crush?" gyuvin stared at you doe-eyed as he waited for your reply.

"cause well.. i guess j like you too." feeling embarrassed, you tried to look everywhere except his eyes but the hands holding onto your cheek made it impossible to do so. eventually you locked eyes with him again, failing to escape the inevitable situation.

your faces were inches away from each other with only the small nightlight and the faint moonlight seeping through the curtains to illuminate the cold room.

after a while of gyuvin processing your words, a silly grin crept onto his lips before enveloping you in a bear-like hug. his arms circle entirely around your torso while his head snuggled into the crook of your neck. you wrap your arms around his neck, burying your face into the fabric of his hoodie as you both share a comfortable hug.

breaking the hug, gyuvin looked at you when he suddenly remembered what he was originally here for.

"wait, your porridge is already cold now and the water too and you haven't drank your medicine-" you cut him off by a short kiss.

"shut up." you chuckled when gyuvin actually stopped talking, staring at you wide-eyed with his lips parted.

"what? do you want another kiss?"

"is asking really necessary?"

you didn't know where the sudden confidence came from, but you leaned in slightly lifting yourself up to meet his lips again. this time, gyuvin responded to the kiss as he held your cheek, guiding you while it only lasted a few seconds both of you pulled away with faces redder than tomatoes.

"so does this mean we're a thing now?" gyuvin asked, holding both of your hands and swinging them like a kid would.

"yeah, whatever.."

"we're in such a serious situation and you're still saying whatever?"

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it seemed like your headache slowly seeped away the longer you spent time with the brunette. eventually gyuvin forced you to eat the porridge he made although it was a little on the salty side and you ended up staying over at his place, ending the eventful day by watching a horror movie with your boy-friend.

[hell0mega]

guy wakes up in a place he recognizes but doesn't know why or how he got there. he's a bit confused but he lives out the next few hours just like he normally would, just a bit dazed. but once he goes to sleep, it immediately restarts back to where he woke up.

he realizes this is a time loop... but something is different about it.

he realizes pretty quickly that this is some sort of dreamscape. it's a time loop, but for some reason, things around him do change, and he can pretty easily change things too just by thinking of them, like a lucid dream. but he always wakes up in media res once it gets to some sort of end point, and no one else around him remembers previous loops.

as he's trying to figure out what the goal is to end the loop, he's suddenly thrown for a loop when he's attacked and killed by someone he's never seen before. he wakes back up, shaken, but at least it was something new and out of his control.

he starts to go about as he had been but is killed again. faster and faster, sooner and sooner after he wakes up, he's killed by increasingly horrifying ways, all because of this other dude. finally, it stops when he manages to get a word in to the other guy before he's killed. turns out this guy is also in the time loop, and our guy was the first thing he saw that was different. thinking he was the test, or had something to do with it, he attacked him. his time was reset, so he knew he was onto something, hence the repeat killings. he was obviously taking this a lot harder than the first guy.

they decided to work together and figure out a way to stop the loop. they could both affect things with their lucidity and they tested what they could do. they could do a lot, though none of it seemed to matter. if one of them died, or got to some sort of "end point," they'd both reset. they slowly stopped really trying to get out and started just enjoying their time. they imagined things they'd always wanted to experience or see, and it would happen. it was fun.

eventually, they started noticing a certain girl was around more than any other person. she didn't seem to also be in a time loop, but she wouldnt completely forget who they were with each reset, either. they decided to befriend her and bring her along because it was nice to have company after all this time. she enjoyed the experiences they were conjuring but didn't find it incredibly impossible like a real life person would at seeing what was essentially magic. typical dream-based character acceptance behavior.

at one point, they're sitting on the pavement of a parking lot watching the sunset they thought up of, just talking casually. guy one notices that the sunset starts moving backward and forward in time, rhythmically, preventing the sun from setting. things would "escape" their control sometimes, but he realized the sun was going up and down at the same rhythm that the girl was rocking back and forth. she simply looked upon it in calm awe, not acknowledging that she may be influencing it. before guy one could say anything, guy two reached past him and shot her in the head.

time did not reset.

things went on, as much as it does in a dreamscape time loop, and they had settled into some kind of pattern of normalcy. most days they didn't even talk about trying to get out of there. they were able to carve some comfort out of their situation.

eventually, guy two runs up to guy one with the girl. he's excited and says he's thought of another thing to try to get them out. he says they just need to get into a truck and drive backwards really fast. confused, guy one asks why he thinks this would work at all. guy two says he has no idea. he just knows it'll work. he has a feeling.

so they go to an open nature area with a long road and conjure up a pickup truck. guy two is driving, with guy one in the passenger seat and the girl in the small backseat. guy two revs up and barrels backwards, whooping and celebrating the stunt, saying they're getting out of here.

guy one sees the trees whip by. they go over a bridge crossing a lake. the sky is bright with sun. he looks at guy two. his eyes are wild, his mouth in a gruesome open smile as he hollers. the girl in the backseat simply looked on in ignorant bliss.

guy one knew then.

he opened his door and jumped out, tucking and rolling. as he did, he thought about the truck barreling backwards off a cliff. when he stopped and got up, he saw just that. time slowed as the truck lost traction with the road and started to soar. guy two's face fell as he saw guy one standing there, looking down at them from the edge, face solemn. a look of shocked realization spread across his face as he descended towards the ground below.

then i woke up with a splitting headache. so. i guess i escaped the time loop???

[miliwritesnow]

Am I the only person who thinks that Bakugou would have a weird taste when it comes to beauty? Like none of that love at first sight type deal, and more like love at first fight? I feel like it makes sense for actions to be what attracts Bakugo. Not a pretty face, or whatever constitutes as kind or nice behavior. Rather than explaining it, I thought I'd write an example instead.

Bakugou Defines Beauty (His POV)

Bakugou knew the exact moment he began to like her.

He had no concept of beauty in this world. In fact, it was something he never considered in anything. Things weren't pretty or beautiful. Not paintings, not flowers, not those stupid sunsets, and there's no way he thought of any woman as pretty or beautiful. He didn't have a preference for anything in that sort, which was probably why he thought he'd stay alone for the rest of his life.

And that was fine to him. He didn't mind being alone, if anything, he welcomed it.

But on a particularly dark night, on a particularly busy day at work, Bakugou witnessed it.

Effortless movement, as though her entire body danced the fight a million times, as though each action engraved itself deeply, down to her very bones. Every movement was calculated and precise, with nothing unnecessary in the way she swung and shifted her weapons. There were no flashy tricks, no special gimmicks nor deceptive tactics. She fought in a way that was straightforward and genuine, as though her quirk was only an accessory to her embodied, natural strength. She lived and breathed battle as though it was air.

And it couldn't be just that. She had a way of bringing about an unjustifiable slight annoyance in every fight he fought with her. Her every move was a challenge. A challenge to keep up, a challenge for the enemy to strike if they dared. She kept her enemies close but kept him even closer to her side—so close that you would think she'd get in the way with how damn close she positioned herself.

But that wasn't the case. She was watching. She predicted every swing of his arm, every fucking explosion, every kick, and long-distance shot as though he were one of her enemies. She moved out of the way exactly at the right moment without having to hear any warnings from my mouth. She never feared the enemy, never feared being in the same vicinity as his blasts, and she sure as hell never feared the possibility of getting hurt at all. It was like she knew in that pretty little head of hers that she was just that damn good at what she did.

But what really did him in was that damn face. A natural composure that shrouded dangerous bright orbs. Because she was so damn close, Bakugou had a clear view of the way her hair clouded over her face and the way it swept away in brief moments to reveal small portions of a deadly calm expression. The moment he looked into those eyes, time froze, and his heart stopped along with it.

Bright orbs that reflected the serenity and calmness of a full moon, and yet shone with the fiery tenacity of a burning sun. She wasn’t holding back. It was an expression that boldly announced that she would do anything in her power to win against the foe before her.

Bakugou didn't pride himself for his knowledge of beauty or anything of the sort.

But what he witnessed that day was undoubtedly the most beautiful thing he's ever seen.

Read More >

[pastel-peach-writes]

BAELOYYY YASSS!!! Would you be down to write some fluff👀 like aloy and fem!reader stumble upon a pretty lake or something and they're just messing around and maybe the reader get hit with a wave of mischief and pushes her in? Or!! Aloy teaches her how to override a little watcher to have a cute little buddy to keep them company and angjkwkw (can you tell that when i played the game i kept wishing that i could pet the watchers after i befriended them? lol) Thank youuu you're the best!! XD

Hiii! I'm so sorry I'm writing this late. I'm going to do both, but I'm really interested in a mischievous reader so i will do the first one. enjoy!

Cool Off | Aloy x Reader

╰┈➤ PLOT: It was supposed to be a relaxed day. After training for the Proving, you and Aloy decided it would be nice to have lunch by a secluded lake. Aloy isn't too fond of what follows.

╰┈➤ WARNINGS: No Use Of Y/n, Pre-Game One Discovery, Cursing

⍣ ೋ Enjoy!⍣ ೋ

The sun during high noon was nothing compared to the afternoon sun in the Sacred Lands. Though the sun wasn't exactly overhead, the closer it got to its sunset position, the brighter the sun shined. Its beams and rays on your skin made sweat beads appear on your forehead and roll down your face.

"Come on," Aloy's voice snapped you out of your misery. All you could hear was her items cling and clang against each other as you scaled a mountainside. The heavy swish of her leather and the smashing of the gravel underneath seemed familiar somehow. "It's not that far from here. You'll make it."

"Says you," you seethed. "Not all of us were blessed with an endurance only lions had. And not everyone has ridiculous leg muscles such as yours." You went on all fours to climb over a decent-sized rock, but its surface burned your skin. You winced and let go of the rock.

You lose your footing on the loose gravel and your heart sinks down to your stomach. You can't think of anything but your impending doom.

That is until there's a strong grip on your wrist.

Aloy pulled you up with a slight grunt. She shook her head with a teasing smile as she moved you beside her. "Hasn't anyone ever taught you not to talk shit while scaling a mountain?"

You narrowed your eyes. Of course, she would take this as a moment to mess with you. Despite the tensed jaw and urge to flick her ear, you're grateful for her fast reflexes.

Aloy was always the one to catch you before you fell or to get you out of trouble. You don't know how she does it.

It started when y'all were six.

She was training with Rost and you were with the grade-school kids. You wandered off, distracted by a butterfly and then the pretty flower it landed on. Engrossed in the beauty of nature, you didn't notice how far away you were from your group. Once you realized they were gone, it was too late.

Tears welled up in your eyes. The feeling of impending doom dawned upon you and you couldn't help but wail. You cried and cried as you sat flat on your tush.

Again, not aware of the things around you, you couldn't see that you were attracting the attention of a few watchers. How could you notice anyways? You were a kid who thought they lost their ticket home. You thought you were never going to see your family again.

Hell, you sure weren't as heavy footsteps of machinery quickly made their way toward you.

With tears clouding your eyesight, you turned around to see an alerted watcher running towards you. It was on a mission and you were its target.

You brought your arms up to block your face. Your heartbeat threatened to explode out of your chest and your tears were hysterical at this point.

You were never going to see your parents again. You were sure of it when the watcher came five feet within you.

But then all of a sudden, the watcher fell to its side. Almost as if it's been shot with something. You froze. This is what everyone saw before they died, right?

A small girl with red hair and a blue headpiece came running over to you.

At that moment, you couldn't decipher who she was or what she was saying. Everything was a blur and you felt as if you blacked out.

Eventually, an older man walked over and the three of you went to find your group. You were silent the whole time, but grateful. If it wasn't for that girl and her rocks, you would've been dead.

Since then, Aloy was always there to save you. You were sure it was exhausting for her. It was exhausting for you to get into trouble all the time. Eventually, you stopped getting yourself into danger less and less, but you never stopped seeing her. Even though she was shunned, you didn't care.

You two were attached by the hip.

Because Aloy was in tune with the constant danger that roamed the planet, you've always wanted to catch her off guard. Maybe you could do that now while the two of you are supposed to be "relaxing".

"Shut up, Aloy. Thank you for saving me." You let a smile show on your lips as you walked past her. At the top of wherever the hell Aloy wanted to take you was flat. There were bushes, rarely any trees, thin bushes, and a lake near the cliff edge.

The mountaintop wasn't a place for hiding, so there weren't any evil-ass robots trying to murder you either.

You sat at the edge of the lake. It was a beautiful deep blue and was surrounded by green florals. On occasion, there were some colorful flowers that peaked through the taller portions of the grass.

Aloy sat beside you, groaning like an old man as she did so. "Yeah, of course, but, you don't have to thank me. I appreciate it, but my saving you from the stupid danger you get yourself in is just something that comes with our friendship." With a small grin, she handed you a leather pouch full of food.

In a brief moment, your fingers grazed each other. Neither you nor Aloy flinched or shuddered from it. Finger grazing and long eye contact have been occurring a lot as of late. You didn't question it. You liked the butterflies the actions gave you or how your body felt warm all of sudden.

"Yeah, I know." You took a piece of bread out of the pouch and ripped off a bite.

You and Aloy sat at the lake eating for a while. There were moments of silence, moments of chewing, and moments of conversation. You two were happily laughing away with full bellies by the time you finished lunch.

Aloy sat crosslegged and rested back on her palms. You had your legs stretched out in front of you, crossed at the ankle. Mimicking her stance, you rested back on your palms.

"Ugh, it's so hot!" Aloy groaned. In her dramatics, she threw her head back. She closed her eyes shut as the sun beamed on her.

From the side, you could see she was sweating all the way from her hairline to the back of her neck. You couldn't blame her though. All the gear you had to wear got hot on the worst days and it's not like all the hair she had was keeping her cool either.

"You should cool down, Alo," you hummed. Your gaze remained on her as she shook her head like a toddler.

"I can't! It's too hot!" She fell onto her back. Exasperated, she wiggled her limbs around. "This grass is too itchy and my water isn't cold anymore!"

Laughter erupted from your stomach. You quickly cleaned up the remainder of your lunch. "You're so dramatic, Aloy. There are many ways you could cool down."

Aloy cricked her neck over to you with a pout on her lips. "How?"

"Well, as you mentioned, water." You shoved your trash into your pouch.

Aloy groaned. "You don't listen to me. I said my water isn't cold." Aloy stood from her place on the ground. She figured she should help you clean up instead of whining and rolling on the floor like a toddler.

The water in her flask wasn't the water you were talking about. For Gaia's sake, there's a whole ass lake in front of you two. A little dip in it won't hurt.

It took five minutes to clean up the trash and you would've been done quicker, but you kept messing with Aloy by throwing grass scraps at her or refusing to give her the pouch full of trash.

It was 5 pm now and the sun would be setting soon. Despite the cooler air that usually came around this time, Aloy was still hot. Her skin was sticky and dry, her face scratchy, and the clothes on her were giving her sensory nightmares.

She stood by the lake edge with her eyes closed. She tried to let the freshwater smell take her whole and calm her down, but just like her hair, her anger was firey.

You've been watching Aloy take deep breaths and trying everything she could to calm herself down.

For some reason, neither of you suggested going home.

You both liked the silence the mountaintop provided and the comfortability you two had away from other Noras. She could laugh and joke with you and you could be carefree and mindless with her. You both could be your authentic selves.

Aloy scowled, clenching her fists. You didn't have to see her know her nose was scrunched and her eyebrows furrowed together. You could also bet her lips tensed into a thin line. "Ugh, this sucks!"

"Relax, Aloy."

"I'm trying!" She whipped around to face you. "Can't you see that? This heat is unbearable. I physically can't calm or cool down."

Besides cutting off the oxygen, what was one way you could take out a fire?

Water.

As Aloy continued to ramble and yell about how she couldn't cool off and how unfair it is that she has a full stomach yet couldn't enjoy the feeling of being full, you charged forward.

She was too clouded by her fiery rage to notice.

In the middle of her rant, you pushed your firm hands on Aloy's abdomen. She screamed out your name, but it was drowned out by the enormous splash of the lake.

You hunched over, laughing and holding onto your stomach.

Aloy swam to the surface, her cheeks puffed up. Her freckled cheeks were red, but you couldn't tell if it was from anger or embarrassment. "What the fuck was that!"

Through your laughter, you reply, "You need some way to cool down, right? Why not go for a swim?"

Aloy smacked the water's surface. "This isn't funny! Stop laughing!"

Her water smack splashed some water your way, but you didn't mind. You weren't a typical fairytale witch. A bit of water won't kill you. "Oh, come on! You wanna laugh too," you leaned down with your hands on your thighs. "I can see it on your face."

No, what you saw on her face was the spark of a devious plan. Aloy reached out of the water and pulled you in. With another splash, Aloy erupted into laughter.

From beneath the water, you could hear her muffled laughter. Her laughter brought a natural smile to your face, but you had to pretend you were mad at her.

So, when you swam up to the surface, you feigned scowl. Aloy only laughed harder.

"Okay, I get it now!" the freckled girl said. "This is funny. Are you enjoying your swim?" Aloy taunted by sticking out her tongue. She had her arms crossed over her chest and a smile permanently plastered on her face.

If her pulling you into the lake is what it takes to get her to smile, so be it.

You responded with a shrug. A smile threatened its way through. "It could be better."

The golden light from the sun shined onto the water making it clear and crystal. Not to mention how the golden rays brightened up Aloy's hair and face. You never noticed how much darker her hair was when it was wet.

Because of the ethereal sight of Aloy, you couldn't help but admire her. Her green eyes stared back into yours with the same admiring glint.

She was having the same thoughts you were having about her skin, hair, and eyes. Staring into your eyes made time stop. She wouldn't dare to pass up the opportunity of being in forever with you. "You look really pretty," Aloy whispered.

You snickered. "Pretty? That's all you got?" You swam closer to her.

Aloy shrugged, a shy but amused smile on her face. "What am I supposed to call you? Beautiful? Handsome? Charming?" She swam closer to you.

A simple pen could be used to measure the distance between you two.

She snaked her arms around your waist and you put your own around her neck. "Those would suffice." Your voice was softer than before. You made a note to speak slower for clarity, emphasis, and mood.

Similar to her smile, Aloy grinned. She leaned in and you could feel her breath on your skin.

You weren't sure if you were dreaming or hallucinating. Maybe you hit your head as you were pulled into the lake. You closed your eyes to scan your body for any signs of pain, but there weren't any. When you opened your eyes again, you could see Aloy's gaze never left yours.

Your breath hitched. Finally, you leaned in too, threatening to close the gap between you two.

You closed your eyes again, but this time to prepare yourself for the spectacular kiss that was to be blessed upon your lips.

Aloy's lips barely ghosted yours when she stopped. You opened your eyes to find her smirking at you. She pulled away, giving your sides a teasing squeeze.

Now it was your turn to feel fire all over your face and body. Suddenly, the lake's water wasn't doing any justice. "Aloy, you tease!" You huffed as you shoved her shoulders.

Aloy laughed. She stumbled back from your shove. "Oh, what? Did I do something? Was there something you want from me?"

You didn't dare to reply. Instead, you huffed and swam out of the lake. It was all in good fun, you knew that. But damn, it was embarrassing to have your crush know you want to kiss them.

Aloy followed after you, giggles and laughs escaping past her lips. "Hey, hey," she grabbed your wrist. She pulled you to her body and yet again, her eyes didn't dare to leave yours. "Don't be embarrassed, okay? I like you too."

"Who said I like you?" you scoffed.

Aloy looked you up and down. Her smirk made an appearance. "Your body language when we were in the lake. No one leans in, closes their eyes, and holds on tight to someone they don't like."

All you could do was pull away with a slight smile. "You're an asshole."

"Meh, but you like me and I like you too." Aloy wiped some of the water off your face. "Don't worry, Splash, you'll get your kiss soon."

WC: 2,436

[extremelyblackandwhite]

the price of power - 01

pairing: mob boss!sebastian stan x wife!reader

warnings: swearing, mentions of organised crime and violence

masterlist

Y/N had convinced herself as a young girl not to believe in happy endings, or to believe in them in normal circumstances. At least, not the whole story of the prince coming in saving the damsel in distress and galloping into the sunset. Yet, despite all odds, she found herself happily in love, living in the city of love with who she swore was the best baby someone could have. Life pretty much had developed into a fairytale for her, things were good and even if she thought for a long time, she couldn’t figure out anything she wanted. However, no one told her on her wedding night how to actually be what she had signed up to be. 

     - Hey, you gonna serve or you afraid to lose? - her half-brother called out to her, his racket in hand. 

     - You talk too much, Dan! - she rolled her eyes, throwing up the ball in the air before hitting it with the racket. 

She’d taken up tennis as a suggestion from her husband, well, kind-of. Things over the past year had been complicated, going back to normal and adjusting to a life she’d spent her whole life witnessing from the side-lines wasn’t something easy. Gwen had the training, Gwen knew how a wife of a mob boss should behave, knew how an heiress should behave, what to wear, where to go, how to seek and how to protect herself. Y/N did not. Sure, she’d watched it happen, she’d heard about it and god knows she’d heard Gwen complain about it but now it was her life. All of the danger and the moral and ethical code was now something she suddenly had to master while Gwen jet set around the globe. On top of all that, she had her son and learning to become a mum was something new to her as all. Sebastian did what he could, he guided her through all he could but even he had to admit that some things were just, well, some things were just instilled in you. He’d always tell her that he was raised for the job, it comes naturally to him. Funny how she used to consider that a disadvantage. 

Tennis had just been a way for her to find a normal hobby to do, away from the house. She’d usually bring Nate in his baby carrier and play against one of the ladies in the country club or one of the trainers, but today her brother had decided to visit. He’d told her it was to see his nephew and his sister, but Y/N knew better to believe those were the sole reasons. She did know one thing and that was Dan. She knew he was here because he cared but she knew he was also here at the hand of their father. 

      - So, how’s your husband? - and there it was, her suspicions confirmed. It always started like this, like a carefully crafted dance where he attempted to bring up Sebastian as smoothly as possible. 

      - Good. - she replied with a shrug, hitting the ball with the racket once more.

      - How so?

      - If you want to ask about the job, ask about the job, Dan. Although, you’d be better off asking him than me. 

      - You know how cagey your husband can get. He’d soon tell me his blood type than anything about the business. 

      - Maybe dad should ask him. - she smiled sarcastically. - After all, it is dad who wants to know, isn’t it?

      - Can you blame him for worrying about his kid? - he shot back. - The man finally gets to tell you you’re his kid and you get married, knocked up and move to Paris? At least let him worry. 

      - He’s not worried, he just doesn’t like him. 

      - He is worried and it’s not like Sebastian makes it any easier. You’d think he’d be more open to actually sharing considering you’re his wife and one day you’re gonna fill his shoes.

     - One very distant day. 

     - All I’m saying is, it wouldn’t hurt for him to share with dad what he’s doing every once in a while. Or share it with you.

     - You know ... - she put her racket down. - Next time you say you wanna see your nephew, you might wanna talk about him a lot more before moving onto Sebastian. 

She looked over to the corner of the caged tennis court where she had laid the baby comforter. Nate liked being in the sun, he enjoyed the sounds of the balls hitting the rackets and the grass and would usually doze off after one or two matches. These days he was the one who brought her some sense of normalcy, the sense of having a family which matched the one in 80s sitcoms and parenting books. 

      - You do have an adorable kid. - he sighed. - Can hardly believe half of it came from your husband. 

      - Maybe our family just has really strong adorable genes. 

      - I think that’s just you, sis. You know I’ll go bald just like dad in a few years. That if your husband doesn’t speed up the process. 

      - Sometimes I think you two just like bickering. 

      - Well, sometimes, I think you just like watching us bicker. 

      - It ... - the words died in her throat as she noticed a series of black cars pull up. Odd.

Dan had the same thought, crossing over to her side of the court and following her to the corner where Nate was. She recognised those cars, they belonged to Sebastian and as that thought dawned on her, her heart seemed to stop beating and that buzz which accompanied her frequent anxiety attacks settled in her ears. Men who she equally recognised moved down and towards the court with neutral faces and she hadn’t noticed she had started moving away from them until her back hit her brother’s chest. 

     - Mrs Stan we need to go. - the first one on the court spoke but it didn’t register on her. All her brain could compute about was Sebastian. Was he okay? Why were all these men here? - We need to go. 

     - What’s going on? - Dan spoke up, his arm wrapped protectively around her sister. 

     - We need to go, it’s not safe. 

She wasn’t sure when or how she’d gotten in the car and hadn’t completely come to her senses until it sped up down the road. She looked inside the baby carrier, unbuckling her son from the little chair and bringing him instinctively against her chest before turning to Dan. He didn’t know what to do or how to react, instead he just smiled at her, attempting to calm down his sister but that didn’t appear to work. Her hold tightened against her son, her fingers twiddling with the fabric of his onesie as they brought her back to her house. She didn’t want the door to open, she didn’t want to see what awaited her, she couldn’t ... she didn’t want to see it if it was bad and like a bad joke, her mind could only replay him shot on the ground. She couldn’t ... no, he couldn’t. They would’ve told her, right? They would’ve told her. 

One of the men opened the door for her and she struggled to step in, only doing so when her brother held her hand. Inside, the home looked exactly like she’d left it and as she turned her head towards the living room, she spotted her husband on the phone, walking in circles. Her breathe returned to her in a wave, her heart rate decreasing as she attempted not to cry out of relief that he was ok. He turned his head to meet her, dropping his phone to the ground and rushing to his wife. 

     - Are you alright? - he cupped her face, inspecting it for anything different than the one he’d woken up to this morning. - You’re okay. You’re okay. Nate ok? 

She wasn’t sure if he was speaking to her or if he was reassuring himself. 

     - What’s going on? - Dan crossed his arms. - Just sent your whole army of gorillas to get us and they don’t even say a fucking word?

     - None of your fuckin’ business, Daniel.

     - Seb. - she whispered, holding his hand. - It’s fine, we’re fine. What’s wrong?

    - It’s your dad, angel. 

She should’ve known good thing don’t last for very long. 

////////////////////////

taglist: @buckysteveloki-me​

[cas-kingdom]

Supernatural Masterpost

Main Masterpost

one shots

A Brother Like No Other (Sam x Dean) - Sam sometimes forgets that he’s not the older brother.

Toast (Sam x Dean x Castiel) - Castiel makes toast for the first time.

My Humans (Sam x Dean x Castiel) - Dean sticks post-it notes to his brother’s back, and Cas is one confused angel.

Louder Than Thunder (John x reader) - John helps you overcome your fear of thunder.

Sunset (John x reader) - You and John have a picnic and watch the sun set.

Tears (John x reader) - You talk to your dad before he leaves to go on a hunt.

A Father’s Love (John x reader) - “No man in this world can love a girl more than her father.” You learn this after having a pretty horrible argument with Dean.

Ladybird (Gabriel x reader) - Gabriel. A brother, a protector, a survivor. And most importantly, your best friend.

Into Battle (Gabriel x reader) - You’re about to enter the biggest battle you’ll ever face. A snowball fight.

A Light in the Dark (Dean x Crowley x reader) - Part of being an older brother means chasing away the nightmares. That’s what Sam and Dean’s been doing since you were a little girl. Now, it’s Crowley’s turn.

All That Matters (Sam x Dean x reader) - You lose against Dean in a wrestling match. What could get worse than that?

Get Some Sleep (Castiel x reader) - When you refuse to go to sleep, it takes a certain angel to remind you who’s the boss.

To Annoy an Angel (Castiel x reader) - There’s no better way to pass the time than annoying Cas. Cas, on the other hand, has a different opinion on the matter.

Fade Into You (Castiel x reader) - Sometimes, you just need a hug, and Cas is all too happy to oblige.

Bring Him Back (Gabriel x reader) - Gabe was here, but he wasn’t… here. Not your Gabe, anyway. But don’t worry, you’d bring him back.

Hey Brother (Dean x reader) - You were meant to be home six hours ago. Dean’s not happy. At all. Or: Even when you’re alone, your brother is always there.

Living (Sam x Dean x Castiel x reader) - Cas walks in on you and Dean sliding along the hallway in socks. It’s all fun and games until someone breaks their ankle.

Nobody Knew (Lucifer x reader) - People forget that the Devil was once an Angel.

Gimme a Kiss (Crowley x reader) - Crowley wants a good night kiss, and he’s not letting you leave without one.

I’ve Got You (Crowley x reader) - You’re injured, and the first person you go to is Crowley.

About a Dog (Sam x Dean x Castiel x reader) - Even dead, Gabriel still finds ways to make you happy.

Learning to Love (Sam x Dean x Castiel x Jack x reader) - A nephilim asks an angel for dating advice. What could go wrong?

Archangels and Austerity (Gabriel x reader) - After Jack asks you out on a date, Gabriel turns up… and he’s not happy.

Toro (Dean x reader) - He looked like a bull about to charge. And what do you do when you’re faced with a bull? You run.

A Memory (John x reader) - Jack has disappeared, you haven’t heard from Cas in a while, and you’re starting to miss how things used to be.

Taken (Sam x Dean x Castiel x Jack x reader) - The blood of a virgin is needed in many a spell, and Sam and Dean have become accustomed to turning to you. However, after one particular night, they’re about to find out they’re going to have to turn to someone else from now on. And it can’t be Jack.

Real (Dean x reader) - While Michael’s possessing Dean, he says things to you that make you think.

Soldier (Gabriel x reader) - Gabriel finds out you’ve been keeping something from him, and he’s not impressed.

Locked In (Sam x Dean x Castiel x reader) - Jack’s locked in the box, and you’re only just finding out.

A Little Unsteady (Jared Padalecki x reader) - You have to get a cavity filled, and it’s your first one. Naturally, you’re quite nervous, and who better to help calm those nerves than Jared Padalecki?

drabbles

John x reader (“I was just worried.”)

John x reader (“You can’t give up something you haven’t even started.”)

John x reader (“Remind me never to play this damn game with you again!”)

Dean x John x reader (“Are you really reading right now?”)

John x OC (“I shouldn’t have to tell you how dangerous that was!”)

John x OC (“You did this to get my attention and now you fully have it. Let’s hear it.”)

Gabriel x reader (“I don’t care when you go to bed, but do you have to wake me up in the middle of the night with your loud music?”)

Chuck x reader (“You forgot to say the Magic Words.”)

Sam x Dean x reader (“What are you running from?”)

Dean x reader (“Give them back.”)

Chuck x reader (“Don’t make me come get you.”)

Sam x reader (“You don’t scare me.”)

Gabriel x reader (“Move over!”)

Dean x Ben x reader (“Seriously, have you seen how old he’s gotten?”)

Castiel x reader (“That’s against the rules.”)

Crowley x reader (“When am I going to join your little game? Hm. Never.”)

Bobby x reader (“Could you stop throwin’ that damn ball against the house?”)

Gabriel x Chuck x reader (“Wanna build a tree fort?”)

Dean x reader (“Sorry, I can’t help you.”)

Dean x reader (“How long will this take?”)

Castiel x reader (“Oh? You want me to tickle you that bad?”)

Gabriel x Chuck x reader (“Now, let me watch the freaking movie in peace!”)

Dean x Sam (“You’re okay, Sammy.”)

Dean x reader (“I love you.”)

Dean x reader (”Don’t tell Sam?”)

[mandomaterial]

Mawey Txampay

Pairing: Tonowari x Reef!Na’vi!Reader

Wordcount: 2.3k

Warnings: none really, loneliness, finding someone unconscious, lil bit of fluff

Notes: i actually wanted to make this a rlly rlly long one-shot but i just LOVE the idea of Tonowari teaching us the way of the water and falling in love with us! What do you think? I’m thinking of putting some angst in a few chapters… cus drama and stuff… please leave a comment :P pics not mine, credit to the owner!

Alone was all you were. You knew how to take care of yourself and you were fine with it. Living a peaceful life on an island with no one but yourself. You weren’t always alone though. Remembering the time you spent with other Na’vi always brought a warm flutter to your heart, but that was a very long time ago. You don’t know how you ended up on this desert island where nothing but the sea surrounded you or how to ever return to where you came from and to be honest, it didn’t bother you anymore.

Having grown up on the island has toughened you up and given you lots of time to be with yourself. Being this close to nothing but nature brought you closer to Eywa as well and with every passing day you felt closer. You were pretty happy with your life although you had no one to share it with. Spending your time working on the cove you called home could only keep you busy for so long until you decided to go for a swim.

You walked along the little path that led you to the shore where you walked closer to the seam of water and land. Always liking the feeling of the sand crumbling underneath your toes when you walked along the beach you looked out to the horizon and admired the sunset. This day wasn’t special, it was just the same as the previous ones. Nothing ever changed and it was starting to make you feel down. Being young and having nothing to do was truly one of the worst things.

Suddenly feeling a little wave splash against your feet took your attention away from your thoughts and back to the water. Sighing you took a couple of steps until the water reached your hips and you could feel a gentle current pulling you deeper. You followed the current until you reached your favorite spot on the island. It was a small stone platform where you often spent your evenings just looking around in silence. You never felt the need to talk out loud so you never did. But you craved change in your life.

Just then you felt something shift in the atmosphere. Something had happened and you wanted to find out what. Curiously looking around you felt the urge to swim further out to sea. You’d never gone further than the rock, after almost drowning once as a child while looking for a way off the island, but today you just had to. Starting to swim you felt the current shift and push you further. Maybe this was Eywa telling you that something was out there.

And truth be told, you saw a mysterious shape floating far away. Of course, you decided to investigate. So you dove down into the water to gain some speed. You flicked your tail behind you and only returned to the surface for air. After a while of swimming you started to wonder what it was that was floating there. It didn’t look like anything you were familiar with but as you got closer and closer it started to look like a person. Intrigued and worried you quickly swam closer with a new burst of energy.

Once you reached the figure it turned out to be a male Na’vi. He looked similar to you and that was all you knew. He wasn’t moving so you quickly pressed your ear to his chest to check if he was breathing. And thank Eywa that he was. You felt the steady beat of his heart and decided that you would drag him back to shore. You flipped on your back and floated under him. You gently gripped his chin, tilted it up so that his head would stay over water, and started your journey back to shore.

It took quite a while until you got to your little rock for a quick rest. You held his upper body on your lap and admired him. He was still breathing steadily and you couldn’t help but want to touch him. Not thinking about it too much you reached out and stroked the side of his right arm. Your fingers traced the thin black lines that were engraved on his skin, not knowing what they were. Just now the whole situation became real to you. You rescued a stranger and you were way too comfortable with him already. Maybe it's because you’d been alone for so long but your face flushed and you continued swimming back to shore with him in tow.

Your toes touched the shallow sand and as you started getting out of the water you changed your grip on the mysterious boy and dragged him out by the shoulders. You laid him down on the sand and sat down next to him. He didn’t move and neither did you. But now that the two of you were out of the water, you could take a closer look at him. His hair was braided and tied in half up half down style with a bun at the back of his head and the rest open and sprawled around his neck. Continuing down, his shoulders were broad and connected to a strong pair of arms that lay motionless next to his chest. He looked as if he were sleeping just a tad too peacefully so you reached out and placed your hand against his chest to feel for a heartbeat. Once again you felt the strong beat of his heart and pulled your hand away quickly as if you had done something forbidden. You looked over him once more and he seemed to be pretty close to your age. He wasn’t a child but he also didn’t look that grown up but you weren’t sure.

It started to get dark so you decided to get up and bring him to your little cove for the night. Standing behind him, you tried picking him up but quickly noticed that it was impossible without the help of the ocean. Feeling stumped you thought about what you could do. You can’t leave him here, can you? What would happen if he woke up? Should you just get some supplies to spend the night here? That was the best idea you could come up with right now so you jogged to the cove where you looked around for the things you needed. You picked up the mat that you weaved after lots of trial and error, a few fruits that you had picked earlier, and the spear that you had carved. With all your stuff you ran back to the boy and set up camp a few feet away from him. Laying on the mat, facing him, you watched him for a while until you fell asleep under the stars.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

The sun shone brightly and you started to stir awake with the sounds of the ocean waking you up. You rolled around a bit until you suddenly remembered the events of the past day and sat up quickly looking for the boy. And there he was, still motionless, laying next to you.

The sun was already high up in the sky so you decided to gather some food for when he woke up.

Getting up and walking to the edge of the forest with your basket in hand, you were thinking about the boy. Why was he here? How did he get here? Did he know the way back? You decided that it would be pointless to start thing about stuff you would eventually get answers to and continued looking for ripe fruit that you could pick.

After a while, you determined that you had picked enough and rushed back to the beach. As you walked over to the spot where you had left him, confusion struck your face; the boy was nowhere to be seen. Where could he be? Had he left without you? Were you all alone again? You dropped the basket with a little too much force, the food spilling out of it; you were upset. Clenching your fists, you stomped around the indentation in the sand; kicking sand over it as if that would make everything disappear.

You faced the ocean, trying to calm down, when you suddenly felt something slam into you from behind, a force that knocked the wind from your lungs and sent you tumbling to the ground. The sand scraped against your skin as you hit the ground hard, your head ringing from the impact. She tried standing up gain but something heavy pressed against her. Maybe you could wiggle out from underneath? You tried that but suddenly felt something sharp against your neck. “Don’t move” you heard; your eyes widened in shock. Was this the boy that you saved? Why was he hurting you? You saved him! So you spoke your mind “Hey! Get off me!” You were met with silence and the knife inching closer. This sent a pang of fear through you “…please don’t hurt me. I didn’t do anything!” you tried.

“Where are we? Why did you take me here?” was your reply. Why would he ask that? You didn’t know that. “I don’t know! And I didn’t ‘take you here’. You were floating in the ocean! I rescued you!” This seemed to stun him long enough for you to turn around under him. He quickly put more of his weight on you and pressed the knife close to our throat again, in silence. You recognized the boy, staring into his teal-blue eyes, admiring the sparkles in them. He seemed to look you over too, his eyes moving up and down quickly.

For a few moments of observing he sat up on his knees and shuffled off you, plopping down next to you. “Do you live alone here?” he asked, while you were brushing the sand off your arms “Yes, I live alone here… not by choice though” you saw the confusion hit his face and cracked a smile. “What? Why didn’t you leave?” “You really think I haven’t tried that?” you giggled “I swam for hours just to save you”

The boy didn’t respond; why didn’t you use an ilu to swim that far out? “Why didn’t you ride an ilu?” This time, your face was struck with confusion “A what?” “You don’t know what an ilu is?” “Obviously” you rolled your eyes. The boy suddenly had a sympathetic look on his face “Well, ilu are animals that live in the ocean. My people-“ “Your people?” “Uh, yes, I live with a lot of people in a village named Awa'atlu.” You looked at each other and he felt his heart beat faster as he saw your eyes fill with wonder, curiosity, and hope. He averted your gaze, his face flushing a tiny bit. “By the way, my name is Tonowari…” he muttered. You gave him your name as well and asked how he had ended up in the open sea.

“The last thing I remember is bonding with a tsurak and trying to ride it.” Before you even had the chance to ask, he already explained what it was; a large, powerful flying fish, that could breathe underwater and above. “I was trying to bond with it for my Iknimaya, that’s like a test you have to pass to be considered an adult and hunter in my clan.” So you’re a hunter?” He chuckled at your curiosity “Not exactly- I have to bond with it and be able to ride it, and I ended up here” he laughed. That made you giggle and you figured that he wasn’t so bad after all, he was actually quite charming.

“What’s it like in your village?” You asked with a sad tone in your voice. Tonowari’s eyes were fixed on the horizon “It’s beautiful; peaceful. You can spend your day however you like- after completing chores of course. My favorite thing to do is riding ilu with my friends outside the reef.” he smiled, remembering his adventures fondly.

“Will you go back?” “Of course, I have to go back. Besides, my father probably already sent out someone to look for me. He overreacts easily” he chuckled. You wanted to ask if you could come with him, but the fear of rejection kept the words in your mouth, so you just nodded.

Tonowari stood up and walked closer to the seam of land and sea. “Have you tried leaving with a boat?” He turned back to look at you, offering you a smile. You shook your head gently, choosing not to meet his eyes.

“Then we should get started”

[magicamicitia]

Volume 3, Chapter 4 - PART TWO

“I guess I’ll find out.”

The overwhelming roar of thousands of legs skittering through the walls raged behind her, but Sunset didn’t dare look back. It’s not like she could afford to - if she stopped for even a second, she knew it would have been over. Still, there really wasn’t anywhere to go. Twilight and her brother were trapped inside the cocoons, and Sunset didn’t know how to exit a labyrinth by herself.

“If only that stupid cat was here…”

Lo and behold, Kyubey appeared as soon as the thought popped into her mind.

“You know, going into a witch’s labyrinth all by yourself is practically suicide. Sometimes you need to recognize the difference between bravery and stupidity, Sunset Shimmer.”

“Buzz off, Kyubey! I don’t need your help!”

She really did, though.

“Oh? And how do you plan to defeat a witch like that all on your own? Even Twilight, a magical girl, couldn’t do it. But if you wished for it, I’m sure I-“

“Thank you, dearest, but we’ve got it under control.”

A familiar voice suddenly emerged from the rooftops of the chapel. Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie Pie stood ready for combat.

“Remember the plan, y’all. We only got one shot at this!” The country girl shouted.

With a framing motion of her fingers, Rarity stared at the familiars intensely for a second, before adding. “Hmph. I can’t figure out the witch’s nature from just these creatures. Pinkie, You’re on. The two of us will try to get a closer look.”

Pinkie Pie jumped down and swiftly picked up Sunset in her arms.

“Roger that!”

“Whoa, Where are we goi- NOT DOWN THEEEEERE!!”

Shimmer’s protests were futile as the pink-haired girl happily jumped down to the lower floor, where a horde of angry bug-guests awaited. She closed her eyes, preparing for impact, until she felt herself arrive safely to the ground.

“Huh…?”

The familiars stood in place, shaking their wings violently as a buzzing sound echoed through the halls, but none even attempted an attack against them.

“Wait, what’s happening?”

“Sunset, look over there!”

The cocoon. It was left unguarded now that the familiars were docile and the witch was after the others. This was their chance. Her chance.

“Twilight!”

Before she could reach the altar, Pinkie’s hand stopped her.

“Woah, step back, silly! How’re you gonna pop that thing open without…” An enourmous hand cannon appeared seemingly out of thin air. “…A weapon?”

“How did- Wait, are you gonna explode it?!”

The Boom sound and blinding lights that came after quickly answered that question. But to Sunset’s surprise, it worked pretty well, aside from the fact that Twilight regained counsciousness in a very confusing state.

“Cough, cough.. What… Where am I?”

“Twilight! Are you alright?” Sunset hurried over to her friend’s aid. “Oh! Your brother- Pinkie, Where is…”

“He’s fine, don’t worry about it! Just a little passed out.”

“A little passed out?!”

The sound of a merciless roar shook the ground below their feet.

“Looks like Rarity and Applejack are having some trouble against that witch, Huh?” Pinkie laughed and reached a hand out to Twilight. “Should we help?”

Twilight, still confused and covered in bug sludge, quickly accepted Pinkie’s help getting up.

“Did I… get captured? I don’t remember… I was home, and then…”

“Don’t sweat the details!” The other magical girl cut her off. “Right now, we need to focus on defeating the witch and getting our friends outta here! But we need your help, Twilight!”

After a moment of confusion, she nodded hesitantly and took out her soul gem. With a ray of pink light, Twilight Sparkle had transformed and was ready for battle.

“Rarity!!!” Pinkie shouted. “Send ‘em down!!!”

“Of course, darling!”

Trapped in a web of silk, the bug bride crashed down the aisle.

“What’s the status report?!” Pinkie took out her cannon.

“There’s another human trapped near the witch’s chest area- And they’re injured! Be careful!”

“Another human…?” Sunset whispered. “Could it be…?”

Twilight’s eyes widened.

“Cadance!!!!”

“That darn thing’s using ‘er as some sorta hostage!” Applejack spat out a mouthful of blood.

“Of course it is.” Rarity rolled her eyes. “This witch has an Envious nature, it won’t fight us alone. As long as we can contain its familiars, all we have to do is steer clear of its chest!”

“Contain the familiars…” Sunset began to understand her situation a little better.

“Alrighty!” Applejack swiftly interrupted her train of thought. “Pinkie, Twilight, I need you two on the defense! I’ll weaken this bastard with some warnin’ shots! Rarity, you’re our only safe option of attack today, So I hope ya don’t mind gettin’ dirty!”

“Oh, please.” Rarity scoffed. “Nobody likes to be covered in gross insect ooze, but if it’s for a good cause, I’m willing to make a few… sacrifices.” She muttered the last words with a tone of disgust.

“Sounds good to me!” The cowgirl declared, summoning an army of muskets.

With their eyes on the witch, the three more experienced magical girls declared in sync, as Twilight clumsily ty followed their chant; “In the name of harmony, your story ends here!”

There were loud explosions of sound and light, and although it was hard to see anything clearly, Rarity’s figure danced gracefully in the shadows as she took down the bride and caught Ms. Cadance as she fell from the skies.

Not long after the witch had vanished, the familiars too were wiped out by Pinkie’s cannon, until all that was left was a normal home, seven people and a Grief Seed.

“Nice job, team! We really nailed the fight this time, even though we were missin’ some members.” Applejack wiped off a drop of sweat from her forehead, still trying to catch her breath.

“O-Oh, that’s right…” Twilight realized. “Where’s Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy?”

“Fluttershy wasn’t answering our calls.” Rarity mourned. “We figured she must still be upset, and Rainbow Dash volunteered to talk her out of it. Besides, I doubt she would have wanted to join us on this mission anyway…”

The girls fell into an awkward silence. Sunset quickly decided to intervene;

“Um… I was meaning to ask, but… How did you know the witch’s weakness?”

Oh, right!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Did we never tell you this? Sometimes, magical girls get special powers depending on the wish they make. Rarity can use her Super Fashion Sense to find out how we can beat up a witch!”

“Is that how you paralyzed the familiars?”

Pinkie Pie giggled. “Well, I wouldn’t say paralyzed! You see, my power is to make people smile! But witches and familiars don’t know how to smile, so they just sit there like a bunch of confused dorks!”

“I see…” Twilight pondered. “That is quite the useful ability to have in battle. if only I had something like that…”

Applejack pat the other girl’s shoulder in consolation.

“Don’t sweat it, sugar. Not all of us get stuff like Pinkie’s. My ability, for example, is to draw in good luck. Sometimes, your magical powers can show up in the darnest of things! You’ll find out when the time is right.”

“Yeah, you’re right…” Twilight hid the pain in her eyes. “I guess I’ll find out, huh?”

“What Applejack said is true.” Kyubey finally broke its silence. “But you four really came in close today. You used up a lot of magic, too. I doubt that grief seed will be enough to go around. Fighting in groups like this will only-“

Applejack raised her hand.

“That’s enough, Kyubey. You three can have the grief seed. I’ll pass.”

“But, Applejack…” Twilight protested.

“Hey, it’s alright. Y’all did most of the work, anyway. I won’t go hungry cuz of a little magic.”

“I-If you say so…”

A feeling of gloom poisoned the air around them, until Pinkie stood up to say;

“Hey, you know what?! Now that we beat the bad guy, Let’s call Rainbow and Fluttershy for a PARTY!!!”

“That’s all y’ever think about, huh, Pinkie?” Applejack chuckled, and things were finally back to normal.

[animehouse-moe]

Spy x Family Season 2 Episode 2: Damian's Research Field Trip

The two chapters this episode adapts are ones that remain as standouts to me, each for different reasons. They're very rare, and very fun and impactful, and the team behind this episode has done a great job with adapting them so I have plenty to talk about!

As is the case for Spy x Family on the regular, Bond's chapter goes into great detail with what is only a few panels. What was originally a montage of Bond avoiding his dinner like the plague turns into far more of a story than it originally was.

Within the improvements there's also a few fun ideas that appear from Bond's imagination, like cutout Loid.

And the art for the sunset/rooftop Bond scene was very pretty/fun.

The majority of the legwork comes from Loid's infiltration mission though, where they bring some really creative ideas. I loved this top down tracking sequence, and they do a good job of working it in as they make use of distance and space somewhat consistently in Bond's runaway sequence.

Similarly, they use this sequence to prep viewers with the use of first person perspective via a cool shot of Loid following Bond through the compound.

I think the only thing I can really say I'm "disappointed" in is the masked Bond reveal. In the manga it has a more intense feel than what the anime brings, but it's definitely still fun.

It really is interesting though to see where they sneak in the good animation and choreography. If you blink, you'll have easily missed this solid cut of Loid that followed up the previous image.

And then there's the bond kick. Loved this moment in the manga, and it's even funnier in the anime with the expression of the scientist.

But truthfully, I don't think this part of the episode holds a candle to what follows with Damian. I loved this chapter so so much in the manga for what it does about the expectations of children and how they can weigh on them and stop them from being kids, and the team understood that message completely.

Right away, they start with the entire idea that surrounds Damian. Not so much "I'm better than you" but "I must be better than you". And what better a way to do that than to (like the manga) place the children that are able to be children and have fun beneath Damian.

And then there's this piece, of Damian spacing spacing out. It might not seem important at the moment it appears at, but it plays so much into the point of this chapter about Damian being a kid. The sheet tied around his neck like a cap and the vacant stare up into the sky show that he's idly daydreaming, as a kid should. I'll come back to this point later.

Anyways, the rapids appear, and while there might be some wonky stuff, I also think there's a lot of fun and well done pieces with it. Like Mr. Green's perspective of the kids while they're in the Canoe.

I'll skip over the middle part because there's not a whole lot to talk about, but I love the dedication to showing the kids enjoy themselves here. Having the insert song and sort of playing with the style of the animation and even art to a degree creates such a palpable sense of fun and innocent excitement. A lot of the scenes also just look plain pretty.

Onto the important stuff, and man is there so much. I love this part so much for what it does in regards to fostering creativity and imagination in children through education.

Here, Mr. Green's talking about the wonders of nature and how enjoyable they are, looking up through the trees at the night sky, striking a pose somewhat similar to the one I mentioned Damian was in earlier.

But what's more important is what comes next: Damian's POV. What a stunning choice for the anime to make with having him look down.

There's two pieces to this exchange, and both are really valuable.

The first is how Damian's unable to daydream due to the stress and pressure he feels from his father in regards to becoming a Stella scholar. The kid only knows of school, and results are all that matters to his father, because of that, in moments like this one Damian's unable to daydream or soak up what's around him like Mr. Green.

On the flip side though, what we see in front of him is not an empty pair of hands, but one holding the fish that he caught and cooked. It provides a sense of disparity between Damian's inability to be free of school, but his desire to do so. He caught that fish with his friends, it's a symbol of the happiness he experience during those moments, and holding it with his own hands is his reminder of that. But it's at odds with his greater worldview.

It's such an incredible direction to take with the scene, and it speaks so loudly about the struggles that Damian experiences.

But Mr. Green, and the episode remedy that in wonderful fashion.

The first time we get to see what Damian's looking up at is when he's with his friends.

It makes me want to cry it's so damn cute and valuable. Damian's looking up at the stars with his friends. The stars that he initially equated to stella stars, before his friends interjected with their opinions on them. Simple opinions that compare the stars to sugar, or just how big the universe is.

It's so valuable because it's taking from the moment of happiness that Damian experienced with the fish, and expanding it to include the world around him. It's just so, so important because of that. It takes his daydreaming, upward stare in isolation as he remains lost in his mind about school, and replaced it with pure happiness and wonder at spending a night under the stars with his friend. Just such an important message that's delivered in absolutely wonderful fashion.

And shoutout Mr. Green for supporting the dreams of these kids and encouraging them. Offering all the right words he neither pressures the kids into a future, or lets them get away with a being half-hearted about their desire. It's just so wonderful to see both him and Mr. Henderson see the how these children have struggled with schooling as of late, and to then try and help them unwind and appreciate the wider world that exists around them.

An incredible and important chapter in the manga, and one that sees equal importance and value in the anime. These first episodes of the second season have absolutely been standouts so I'm incredibly excited to see what they bring next.

[danicalithegirl]

The Great Escape (One Shot #17)

The sunset was dipping low, casting a golden hue over the tops of the trees as we pulled up to the campsite. Eddie had been raving about this place for weeks. Some hidden gem by a lake, surrounded by trees, far from civilization. I was nervous about the idea of camping—it always seemed great in theory, but I had never been one for bugs, no bathrooms, or missing my morning coffee.

But here we were, and I had to admit, the view was pretty stunning.

“Told ya,” Eddie grinned as he jumped out of the van, all enthusiasm and energy. “Perfect, right?”

I followed him out, stretching my legs after the drive. The air smelled like pine and lake water, a breeze blowing through the trees. It was quiet. Peaceful. I could see why he loved it, why he craved these moments of solitude, away from the world.

“Yeah,” I said, smiling despite myself. “It’s... nice.”

He was already pulling out our camping gear from the back, tossing me a bundle of poles and fabric. “Alright, babe, let’s get this tent up before we lose the light. You’re in charge of instructions, I’ll do the heavy lifting.”

I raised an eyebrow, unfolding the cryptic instruction manual. “Do I look like someone who can build a tent?”

Eddie flashed me one of those smirks. “We’ll figure it out. We always do.”

An hour later, after plenty of laughter, some mild swearing, and a brief discussion about whether or not we’d just sleep in the van, the tent stood—crooked, but standing. I wiped the sweat off my forehead and looked at him, his hands on his hips like he’d just conquered the world.

“Not too shabby,” he said, nodding in approval. “You’re a natural.”

“Please,” I laughed, shaking my head. “I think this thing might collapse on us in the middle of the night.”

He shrugged, grinning. “That’s all part of the adventure.”

Adventure. That’s what Eddie called everything. Every new thing was some kind of escape from normal life. And maybe that’s what I loved most about him—he always made even the most ordinary things feel... special.

“Alright, I’ll get the fire going,” he said, rubbing his hands together like he was some kind of wilderness expert. “You wanna grab the marshmallows?”

I started digging through our cooler for the marshmallows, looking up just in time to see him crouched by the fire pit, trying to get a flame going. He looked so serious, so focused. It was adorable.

Ten minutes later, he was still at it, muttering under his breath as the wood refused to catch.

“You doing okay there, Munson?” I teased, standing over him with a bag of marshmallows in hand.

He shot me a look, his curls wild and a little disheveled from his battle with the fire. “It’s just... stubborn.”

I laughed, squatting down next to him and holding out my hand. “Let me see the lighter.”

He blinked, then reached into his pocket, pulling out the lighter he’d had on him the whole time. I flicked it on and set the kindling ablaze with one quick motion.

He stared at me, jaw slightly open, and then burst out laughing, falling back onto the grass. “I was trying to do it the real way.”

“Oh, please,” I rolled my eyes, though I couldn’t help but smile at his ridiculousness. “We’re not cavemen.”

With the fire finally going, we settled into the evening. The stars came out, one by one, the sky turning dark and dotted with sparkling lights. Eddie pulled out his acoustic guitar, quietly strumming a tune while we roasted marshmallows over the crackling fire. It was peaceful—so much quieter than I expected. I never thought I’d be someone who could relax like this, in the middle of nowhere, with just the sound of the trees rustling in the wind and the lake lapping at the shore.

“See?” Eddie said softly, still strumming. “Told you this place was special.”

I looked over at him, his face half-lit by the firelight, and for a moment, I felt this strange sense of calm. Like maybe everything could just be... easy. Like we could escape for a little while. I leaned back against a log, breathing in the cool night air.

“This is nice,” I admitted, my voice quiet. “Really nice.”

Eddie smiled, still playing softly, his fingers moving effortlessly over the strings. “Told you.”

We sat there for a while, just listening to the sounds of the night. And then, out of nowhere, Eddie stood up, holding out his hand to me. “Come on.”

I blinked, confused. “Where are we going?”

“You’ll see,” he said with a wink. “Trust me.”

I took his hand, letting him pull me up, and we walked down a small path that led to the edge of the lake. The water was calm, reflecting the stars and the moon above. It was beautiful.

Eddie stopped by the shore, turning to me with that mischievous grin of his. “Skinny dipping.”

I laughed, shaking my head. “You can’t be serious.”

“Come on!” He laughed, already pulling off his shirt. “It’s tradition! You can’t camp without skinny dipping.”

“You’re insane,” I said, but I was already smiling.

“Maybe,” he said, grinning wider as he stripped down and ran straight into the water with a loud splash. He resurfaced, laughing, his curls plastered to his face. “Come on! It’s not that bad!”

I stood at the shore, arms crossed, trying not to look too impressed by his daring. But then, with a deep breath and a roll of my eyes, I kicked off my shoes and joined him, the cold water sending a shiver up my spine as I dove in after him.

The water was freezing, but exhilarating. When I resurfaced, Eddie was laughing, his arms reaching out to pull me close. I wrapped my arms around him, feeling the warmth of his body against the cold lake.

“See?” he whispered, his lips brushing against my ear. “Told you it was perfect.”

I rested my head against his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart. In that moment, under the stars, with the water around us and Eddie holding me close, it was hard to disagree.