#and the CEO of the company called it's 'a coincidence'

[julielilac]

Umbrella merch by his FC, the famous skirt-pants and Nike shoes 👀

[honeyhae-svt]

🎮02 | Quit🎭

Part-Time Lover | JxW - masterlist

⚠️ WARNINGS ⚠️: strong language (profanity), petty arguments, mention of alcohol consumption, reader getting drunk, depictions of stress/anxiety related to online and work life, light suggestive jokes/humor. (thats about it in this chapt) smut warnings: n/a (yet) wc: 6895 (longer than the usual? ikr)

02

Jeonghan stared at his monitor, blinking twice. It has been two days since he last played with you as WINN3R. His Discord notifications were a chaotic blur of pings and unread messages. He’d finally caved and clicked into the app, his mouse hovering over the muted server where his circle of gamer friends resided. The icon sat there, blinking at him like a neglected child waiting for attention.

It had been ages since he’d last opened this. Back in the day, the server was his second home. Back when life wasn’t about board meetings, product launches, and meticulous schedules. Back when all he had to care about was climbing leaderboards and outplaying opponents.

The familiar server name, "GG Hyungsquad", brought a wave of nostalgia. The banner—a badly photoshopped image of all their gamer tags—looked just as ridiculous as he remembered. It had been years, but the memories came flooding back. Late nights at arcades, skateboards abandoned on sidewalks, and tournaments that had them glued to their screens until sunrise. That was their world. They weren’t just friends; they were brothers bonded by joysticks and caffeine.

But now?

Jeonghan sighed. He’d grown so distant, hadn’t he? He muted the server ages ago, choosing to prioritize his company and responsibilities over late-night gaming sessions. His friends got it. They’d teased him about it, calling him CEO-nim and joking about how he’d abandoned them for a “suit-and-tie life,” but they never pushed.

Click.

He opened the server, scrolling through the channels.

[#general-chat] pledis_boos: Bro why is Mingyu’s face in every ad lately?? Do they just like buff guys who are bad at games now? min9yu: HEY WTF I CARRY YOU ALL THE TIME!!! vernon_98: "Carry"? In which world? This one? Nah. Try again. ho5hi_kwon: Let’s all agree Mingyu’s just here for the visuals. min9yu: CAN YOU NOT

Jeonghan chuckled under his breath. They hadn’t changed a bit.

But then, his scrolling halted.

[#gaming-vc] kitsunya: you guys are so bad at league. please uninstall. ho5hi_kwon: YOU'RE CHEATING I SWEAR. min9yu: Literally HOW are you this good. You’ve got to be hacking. pledis_boos: Guys. GUYS. Let’s stop embarrassing ourselves. Kitsunya’s just built different. kitsunya: built different my ass y'all are just too weak :p

Jeonghan froze.

@/kitsunya.

His eyes darted back to the username, reading it over and over again. It wasn’t a coincidence, was it? There was no way. No freaking way.

You were here.

His heart skipped a beat, and he let out a breathless laugh. Of course you were. Of course his ridiculous friends would somehow rope you into their chaos. How had he not seen this coming?

Curiosity got the better of him. Jeonghan navigated to the gaming-vc channel, his mouse hovering over the join button. For a split second, he hesitated. He hadn’t gamed with them in years, and now you were part of the mix? What if you recognized him? What if he blew his cover as W1NN3R?

But then again, the thought of hearing your voice in the midst of their usual banter was too tempting to resist.

Click.

The moment he joined, chaos greeted him. “OH MY GOD, IT’S JEONGHAN!” Hoshi yelled, his voice piercing through Jeonghan’s headset.

“Hyung! You’re alive!” Seungkwan added dramatically. “We thought you forgot how to use Discord.”

“CEO-nim, gracing us with his presence,” Vernon teased, his tone as monotone as ever.

Jeonghan rolled his eyes but couldn’t suppress the grin forming on his face. “Yeah, yeah, keep it coming,” he said lazily, leaning back in his chair.

“Jeonghan?”

Your voice.

He stiffened for half a second before regaining his composure. “Who’s this?” he asked, feigning ignorance, even though he already knew.

“This is Kitsunya, obviously!” Seungkwan chimed in, like you were some sort of celebrity. “She’s the one who’s been carrying these idiots in League. Don’t let her innocent voice fool you; she’ll destroy you in-game.”

You scoffed. “They’re exaggerating. These guys just tilt too easily.”

Jeonghan smirked. “I’ll take your word for it,” he said smoothly. “Nice to meet you, Kitsunya.”

“Likewise,” you replied, your tone polite but distant.

The next few hours passed in a blur of chaos and laughter. They queued up for a few matches, and though Jeonghan mostly stayed quiet, he observed.

You were exactly as he’d seen on stream—sharp, witty, and completely in control. Every time one of the guys fumbled, you were there to pick up the slack, your voice calm as you directed them in-game.

But what fascinated Jeonghan most wasn’t your skill. It was the way you seamlessly fit into his circle. You weren’t intimidated by their larger-than-life personalities or their endless teasing. If anything, you gave as good as you got, throwing jabs that left even Seungkwan speechless.

And when the game finally ended—another victory, thanks to you—Jeonghan couldn’t help but feel… intrigued.

“Well, I think I’m done for the night,” you said, your voice cutting through the post-game chatter.

“Already?” Mingyu whined. “One more match!”

“I’ve got work tomorrow,” you replied, and Jeonghan swore he could hear the faintest hint of exhaustion in your tone.

“Boring,” Hoshi teased.

“Some of us have responsibilities, unlike you,” you shot back, earning a chorus of laughter.

As you left the call, Jeonghan sat there, staring at the now-empty slot in the voice chat where your username had been.

“Kitsunya, huh?” he murmured to himself, a small smile tugging at his lips.

This was going to get interesting.

You turned your computer off, your reflection flickering on the darkened monitor.

Shit. Jeonghan plays?

The thought looped in your head as you sat frozen in your chair. What the actual fuck? Jeonghan—your boss, the ridiculously polished, too-handsome-for-his-own-good CEO—played video games? The idea felt so far-fetched it almost made you laugh.

The same Jeonghan who demanded flawless work, who breezed through meetings with his effortless charm, and who somehow looked better at 3:37 a.m. than you did on your best day? That Jeonghan? Playing games? On Discord?

Your heart pounded as questions began to swirl.

Had he always been in that server, lurking silently? How long had he known? Was it a coincidence? Or—your chest tightened—did he already know you were both kitsunya, the streamer, and his secretary-slash-makeup-artist?

No way.

Right?

You swallowed hard, shaking your head in disbelief. There was no fucking way.

You paced the room, your thoughts racing. Jeonghan had always seemed... perceptive. The kind of person who noticed things others didn’t. His eyes always carried a glint of something—like he knew more than he let on. But that was just his CEO persona, wasn’t it? You didn’t remember any moment where he’d given even the faintest hint of recognition toward your streaming life.

Still, the timing was… suspicious. You’d been added to the server just a month ago, introduced as one of Seungkwan’s friends. And now, for the first time in what felt like forever, Jeonghan reappears?

No, stop overthinking.

You sighed, slumping onto your bed and burying your face in your hands. So what if he played? So what if he knew? You weren’t breaking any rules by streaming, and your private life was just that—private. There was nothing to worry about.

Right?

But the thought lingered. Jeonghan’s smooth, composed voice echoed in your mind from earlier in the call.

“Nice to meet you, Kitsunya.”

There had been something in the way he said it. Too polite. Too deliberate.

You shook your head violently. “Nope. Not doing this,” you muttered. “I’m too fucking tired for conspiracy theories.”

You grabbed your phone to mute Discord for the night, but just before you switched it off, you noticed the server icon glowing faintly. A new ping in #general-chat. Against your better judgment, you tapped it.

[#general-chat] pledis_boos: Bro how is Jeonghan still good at League after disappearing for years?? ho5hi_kwon: Right?? He carried that game like it was 2016 again. vernon_98: Maybe he was secretly practicing in his office lmao. min9yu: CEO by day, gamer by night. What a life. ho5hi_kwon: Watch out Kitsunya, he might replace you as our new carry.

You threw your phone onto the bed, facepalming.

“Replace me? Over my dead body.”

But as you lay there, staring at the ceiling, another thought crept into your mind. What if this was intentional? What if Jeonghan wanted you to know he was there?

The very idea made your stomach flip.

It was ridiculous. He’s your boss. Why would he care about your gaming life? Why would he even join a match with you? It had to be coincidence.

And yet, as your eyelids grew heavy and exhaustion began to pull you under, you couldn’t shake the memory of his voice in the call. His tone, his timing—it all felt too… deliberate.

But tomorrow was another day. You decided to let it go. For now.

Jeonghan, on the other hand, leaned back in his chair, a satisfied smirk playing on his lips as he stared at the Discord chat. His friends had flooded the server with their usual nonsense, but he wasn’t paying attention. He was thinking about you. "So, Kitsunya," he murmured to himself, spinning a pen between his fingers. Seeing your reaction in-game earlier had been entertaining. The way your voice tightened just slightly whenever he coordinated with the team. The way you muttered curses under your breath when things didn’t go as planned. You were sharp, competitive, and painfully good at masking your emotions. But Jeonghan had always prided himself on seeing past facades. It had been a long time since he’d felt this intrigued by someone. Not that he’d admit it, of course. For now, he’d keep playing the role of the unsuspecting CEO. After all, the game was just beginning.

Wonwoo leaned back in his chair, headphones snug over his ears as he prepared for another late-night stream. His week had been nothing short of chaotic, bouncing between sponsorship obligations and his part-time jobs. Sure, he didn’t need the extra work—his regular streams and tournaments brought in more than enough cash—but the latest gaming setup had caught his eye, and he was dead set on getting it. He cracked his knuckles and logged into Discord, quickly skimming through his notifications. His brow quirked when he noticed a familiar username in the #general-chat server. @/jeonghaniyoo_n. "Jeonghan’s back, huh?" he muttered to himself, a faint smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. Jeonghan’s hiatus had been the talk of their friend group for months. The guy had seemingly dropped off the face of the gaming scene, only to reappear out of nowhere. Wonwoo didn’t dwell on it, though; there were games to be played. Switching tabs, he opened the #gaming-updates server and typed a quick announcement.

everyone_woo: Streaming 10:23 pm min9yu: He’s suddenly back without notice.

He switched to his streaming platform and hit "Start Broadcast." His fans immediately flooded the chat, spamming greetings and hyping up the night. --- First Game: Valorant Wonwoo loaded into Valorant, selecting his main, Sova, a sharpshooter with incredible recon abilities. He adjusted his sensitivity settings and warmed up in the range while chatting with his viewers. "Alright, chat. Tonight’s gonna be smooth. No raging, no distractions. Just pro gameplay," he said, smirking as the donations and comments rolled in. The match began. Wonwoo was placed as a Duelist in his team of five, their goal clear: attack and plant the Spike, or defend and defuse it. His coordination was impeccable. First round in, he landed a clean triple kill while defending A-site, his precise aim and fast reflexes earning cheers from his viewers. "Easy, easy," he muttered into his mic as the enemy team tried to regroup. By the second round, his team was up 2-0, with Wonwoo leading in kills. MVP vibes, his chat spammed.

Midway through his second match, an unexpected notification popped up.

ho5hi_kwon has joined the game. jeonghaniyoo_n has joined the game.

Wonwoo froze for a split second, his eyes narrowing. "Oh? The retired CEO and the circus tiger decided to show up, huh?" he said into his mic, his voice dripping with playful sarcasm. Hoshi: "Shut up, nerd. Ready to lose?" Jeonghan: "I won’t even have to try." The lobby dissolved into chaos as their fans started spamming messages in both Wonwoo’s and Jeonghan’s chats. It wasn’t every day that you saw some of the top players in Korea casually trash-talking before a match.

Game On: Team Deathmatch Mode The match started with Jeonghan and Hoshi on the opposing team. Wonwoo’s competitive streak kicked in as the game loaded. "Alright, boys, no holding back. Let’s make these two regret logging in," he said, coordinating with his teammates. The first few minutes were a whirlwind. Wonwoo and his team pushed aggressively, taking control of the map. Wonwoo, using Sova, expertly tracked Jeonghan’s movements with his recon bolts. "Got you, CEO," Wonwoo muttered as he landed a perfectly timed headshot on Jeonghan, who had been lurking in a corner with Jett. Jeonghan’s voice came through the game chat, calm and smooth as ever. "Lucky shot." Hoshi was no easier to deal with. His Phoenix was an absolute menace, using flashbangs and firewalls to corner Wonwoo’s team. But Wonwoo’s aim remained impeccable. "Hoshi, sit down," he said, landing a kill streak on the tiger-like player. The match reached its climax in the final moments. Jeonghan’s team had pulled ahead slightly, but Wonwoo wasn’t about to let them win without a fight. It came down to the last kill. Jeonghan versus Wonwoo, Sova versus Jett. The tension was palpable. Wonwoo fired his ultimate ability, Hunter’s Fury, a series of devastating energy blasts, but Jeonghan dodged them with Jett’s agility, gliding across the map like a ghost. The two clashed in an intense 1v1, their every move scrutinized by their teams and fans.

Victory: Wonwoo's Team Wonwoo landed the final blow with a well-placed knife throw, sealing the win. "GG," Wonwoo said coolly, his voice betraying no emotion. Jeongahan groaned, leaning back in his chair. "Nice game. Been a while, you didn't hold back down there," Jeonghan chuckled. Hoshi laughed. "Welcome back, Jeonghan. Looks like you never left." As the match ended, Jeonghan leaned back in his own chair, a faint smirk tugging at his lips. Watching Wonwoo win was likely. The man was literally an addict to games since then. But what really piqued his interest was seeing if you would join the chaos again. After all, it wasn’t a game night without Kitsunya.

The next night, you logged into Discord out of habit, still half-asleep and sipping on your coffee. Your day at work had been another whirlwind—Jeonghan’s last-minute meetings, a pile of emails that somehow became your problem, and a near-meltdown from one of the junior staff over a lipstick launch. You rubbed your temple, your mind buzzing from the caffeine, and clicked open the #gaming-updates channel. It had been quiet for a few days, but as you scrolled, you froze.

jeonghaniyoo_n: Streaming tonight? 10 PM? ho5hi_kwon: Jeonghan asking to stream? who are you and what did you do with him? everyone_woo: More like he’s bored because he’s bad at work. min9yu: Shut up, both of you. he carried last match.

Your jaw clenched as you read the messages. Jeonghan? Streaming? Since when?!? No. Fucking. Way. You reread the username for the third time, just to be sure. That wasn’t a fake account—it was him. But you hadn’t ever seen him active in the group before, even though you knew he was technically part of the same gaming circle. You hesitated, your fingers hovering over your keyboard, but the chat kept moving.

jeonghaniyoo_n: Wonwoo and Hoshi, get in my squad. @min9yu, you're on standby. ho5hi_kwon: Sure thing, bossman. everyone_woo: @/min9yu's already benched lmao.

You sighed, not wanting to get involved, but something about the group’s energy tonight made you linger. You didn’t play with them often, but when you did, it was always chaos—and you were too tired to overthink. 10:15 PM You loaded into Valorant, headphones on, your usual confidence returning the moment you saw the familiar splash screen. The adrenaline of gaming was your escape—a space where your tired, overworked secretary persona could dissolve into the sharp, skillful player your fans knew as @kitsunya. But this time? The lobby felt different. Lobby: Match Start As soon as you joined the custom game, the chat lit up.

ho5hi_kwon: Oh shit, the kitsunya's here! everyone_woo: Great, now i can lose twice as fast. min9yu: As if you weren’t already carrying the Ls, wonwoo. jeonghaniyoo_n: Queue already

You paused at Jeonghan’s comment, your fingers stiff over the keyboard. His tone—or at least what you imagined of it—felt deliberate, like he was testing you. kitsunya: "and here I thought you were all serious players. what’s this clown show?" The chat exploded into laughter, and for a moment, the tension lifted. Match Setup You were placed on a team with Wonwoo and Hoshi, while Jeonghan and Mingyu were on the opposing side. Your character pick? Jett, of course—agile, sharp, and deadly. The first round started, and your team took control early. Wonwoo's pinpoint accuracy with Sova complemented Hoshi's aggressive pushes as Phoenix. You fell into your rhythm effortlessly, clearing angles and securing headshots like second nature.

Round 3: Midway Through

"Top mid, two," Wonwoo called out over voice chat. You responded immediately, using Jett’s dash ability to reposition, cutting off an enemy push. "Got one," you muttered, your voice calm as you landed a clean headshot on Mingyu. "You’re insane," Hoshi said, laughing. But Jeonghan wasn’t giving up. He played Chamber, a sentinel with precision abilities, and you had to admit—he was good.

Final Moments of the Match

The tension in the game was palpable, the chat exploding with messages as the final moments of the 1v1 showdown between Jeonghan and Wonwoo unfolded. You watched intently, your character long eliminated from the round, leaving you no choice but to spectate Wonwoo's gameplay from the sidelines.

The map was eerily quiet, the kind of silence that set your nerves on edge. Every footstep, every shift of the operator's aim, could make or break the game. Wonwoo moved with precision, crouching around corners, holding angles like his life depended on it.

You muttered under your breath, leaning closer to the screen. “Come on, you bastard... just peek already,” you hissed, watching Jeonghan’s Chamber disappear into a teleport at the last second.

“Nice try,” Jeonghan’s smug voice rang out through the comms, and you rolled your eyes. That was his signature move—baiting his enemies into overthinking, and then striking like a snake.

Wonwoo didn’t bite. Instead, he repositioned with surgical precision, heading toward the high ground. You could practically feel the weight of the entire round resting on him. Jeonghan had the operator, but you’d seen Wonwoo clutch in worse situations before.

“Five gifted if you miss,” you teased through comms, hoping to crack Wonwoo’s concentration.

“Mute yourself, kitsunya,” Wonwoo replied sharply, but there was no malice in his voice, only the hyper-focus of a man who was determined to win.

Your camera panned as Jeonghan peeked a corner, operator at the ready. Wonwoo was waiting. The crosshairs aligned. A burst of gunfire.

Headshot.

The kill notification flashed on the screen.

VICTORY

The screen lit up in your team’s colors, the victory music playing. The chat went wild:

- “NO WAY WONWOO CLUTCHED THAT!” - “Jeonghan WHIFFED LMAO.” - “WONWOO KING ENERGY.”

You threw your head back with a laugh, groaning dramatically. “Unreal. Of all people, Wonwoo clutched that?”

Wonwoo’s voice was steady, laced with the smallest smirk. “Maybe if you stopped dying in the first two minutes, you wouldn’t have to depend on me so much.”

“Ooh, burn,” Seungkwan cackled in the background, his voice nearly drowning out the victory screen.

Jeonghan’s sigh came through comms, followed by his usual mocking tone. “Well, congratulations, team carry. But don’t get used to it.”

"Better luck next time, sweetheart," Wonwoo added, just to get under Jeonghan's skin—and probably yours.

You groaned louder this time, fighting the heat rising to your cheeks. If the chat noticed the shift in tone, they didn’t let it show, flooding with emojis and more banter.

But as you muted your mic, you couldn’t help but smile, the adrenaline of the match still coursing through you.

It had been two months since you started working for Jeonghan and exactly five weeks since he discovered your double life as Kitsunya. So why the fuck was he still pretending he didn’t know? Every time your paths crossed at work, he acted like the composed, mildly sarcastic boss you’d gotten used to. Not a single comment about late-night matches or the fact that his so-called “secretary” could carry an entire Valorant team.

Weirdo, you thought for the millionth time.

When the invite to the Streamer-Fanmeet Gaming Expo arrived, you couldn’t say no. The event was an exclusive, high-paying opportunity for streamers to connect with fans and other creators. And when you saw the paycheck? Yeah, it was impossible to pass up. Thankfully, the organizers had chosen a date that didn’t clash with work—or so you thought. Because there, standing by one of the gaming stalls, was Jeonghan. You shouldn’t have been surprised; he was part of the same circle of streamers as you, after all. But seeing him in this setting, looking every bit the gamer he once was, sent your brain into a tailspin. He wore a black bomber jacket over a graphic tee, paired with ripped jeans and an air of effortless cool. If it weren’t for the fact that you worked with him almost daily, you might’ve gotten flustered by the sight. Nope. Not happening, you told yourself as you adjusted your glasses (part of your outfit) and made your way inside. The venue was buzzing with activity. Booths lined the walls, showcasing merch, gaming setups, and meet-and-greet areas. Streamers and fans mingled, and the excitement in the air was palpable. You spotted Seungkwan waving at you from across the room. Thank God for him—navigating this event alone would’ve been overwhelming. “You look... different tonight,” Seungkwan said with a smirk, his eyes scanning your outfit. You glanced down at yourself: white long-sleeve polo, black necktie, and a high-waist pencil skirt that hugged your curves perfectly. It was your typical office attire, but with a twist—your signature red kitsune ear headband sat atop your head. “It’s called branding,” you deadpanned, adjusting your tie. “Branding? More like slaying,” Seungkwan teased before leading you toward the rest of the group. The first person you saw by the stalls was Seungcheol, casually leaning against a counter while talking with Jeonghan, Dino, and Joshua. Seungcheol was exactly as you remembered him from your rare interactions: charismatic, loud, and the unofficial leader of their circle. Beside him, Joshua was calm and composed, his smile disarming as he nodded along to whatever Dino was excitedly explaining. Your gaze lingered on Jeonghan for a second longer than you intended. He didn’t notice—or maybe he pretended not to—but the slight smirk on his face as he listened to Dino’s story made your stomach flip. He’s too pretty to exist. It’s a problem. Further down, you saw Jun and Minghao—the Chinese duo who dominated every League of Legends match they touched. Jun was animated, gesturing wildly as he explained something to a fan, while Minghao stood coolly beside him, offering occasional commentary. You groaned internally at the memory of losing countless matches to them. Hoshi, Mingyu, Vernon, and Wonwoo were grouped together, laughing at something on Mingyu’s phone. Typical. You were willing to bet they were already planning a prank or some ridiculous challenge for later. On the other side of the room, Woozi and Dokyeom were deep in conversation, likely discussing music or some new project Woozi was working on. You made a mental note to swing by and say hi to them later. Did I miss anyone? Probably. This group was massive, and keeping track of them all was a feat in itself.

Seungkwan nudged your shoulder, snapping you out of your thoughts. “Come on, let’s introduce you properly. Everyone’s been dying to see Kitsunya in person,” he teased. You rolled your eyes but followed him anyway. As you approached, Seungcheol was the first to notice you. His eyes lit up in recognition, and he grinned. “Ah, the legendary Kitsunya,” he said, holding out a hand. “Finally gracing us with your presence.” Joshua gave you a warm smile, and Dino waved enthusiastically. But Jeonghan? He glanced at you, his expression unreadable, before returning to his conversation like nothing had happened. Seriously?

You forced a polite smile, exchanging pleasantries with the group, all while Jeonghan’s aloofness gnawed at you. Did he think ignoring you here would keep up the illusion that he didn’t know your secret? Or was this his way of messing with you? Whatever it was, you weren’t about to let him get under your skin.

The night carried on with a blur of photo ops, fan interactions, and casual games. But every time you glanced in Jeonghan’s direction, he was already looking at you—or worse, pretending not to. By the end of the event, you were exhausted. But as you made your way to the exit, Seungkwan caught up to you, a mischievous glint in his eye. “You know, Jeonghan’s been talking about you nonstop since you joined the office,” he said casually. You stopped in your tracks, turning to him. “What?” “Oh, nothing,” Seungkwan said, grinning. “Just thought you should know.” Before you could respond, he disappeared back into the crowd, leaving you standing there, equal parts confused and intrigued. Jeonghan. Talking about you? You didn’t know whether to be flattered or annoyed. Probably both. You scoffed at the ridiculousness. Game on, Jeonghan.

The event was winding down, and you were starting to relax. Most of the fan interactions were over, and the night had shifted into a more casual hangout vibe among the streamers. You decided to wander the venue, looking for a spot to decompress before the inevitable socializing would pull you back in. That’s when you spotted him. Wonwoo was perched at one of the quieter tables near a VR booth, casually scrolling through his phone. His ever-present headphones hung around his neck, and he wore a black hoodie paired with his signature expression—a mix of calm indifference and quiet observation. You couldn't deny that his face-card would never decline. Seriously, is this group recruiting visuals? You considered walking past him, but then his sharp gaze flicked up and met yours. For a split second, you thought he’d ignore you like he usually did during group interactions. Instead, he tilted his head, a slight smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Kitsunya,” he said, his voice as low and steady as always. “Wonwoo,” you replied, raising a brow as you adjusted your glasses. “Fancy seeing you here,” he remarked, leaning back in his chair. “It’s a paid event. Why wouldn’t I be here?” you shot back, crossing your arms. “Fair point,” he admitted, glancing back down at his phone. You stood there, unsure if the conversation was already over. Classic Wonwoo—conversations with him were always a guessing game. But just as you were about to leave, he spoke again. “So... white-collar kitsune, huh?” he teased, nodding toward your outfit. You rolled your eyes, though you couldn’t help the small laugh that escaped. “What can I say? Gotta keep the brand alive.” He hummed in amusement, finally setting his phone aside. “Well, the fans love it. The chat’s been blowing up since you walked in.” “Is that so?” You quirked a brow. “And what about you? Don’t tell me you’re one of them.” His smirk widened just enough to be noticeable. “I wouldn’t go that far. But I’ll admit, the tie is a nice touch.” You scoffed, shaking your head. “Flattery doesn’t suit you, Wonwoo.” “Who said I was trying to flatter you?” he countered, leaning forward slightly. Okay, that caught you off guard. Before you could think of a comeback, he gestured to the seat across from him. “Sit. Unless you’ve got somewhere better to be,” he said casually, but the faint challenge in his tone made it impossible to refuse.

The conversation started slow—typical of Wonwoo—but it didn’t take long for the familiar banter from your previous streams to resurface. Despite his reserved demeanor, Wonwoo had a knack for throwing sly comments your way, and tonight was no different. “You know, you still owe me for that Valorant match,” he said, leaning back with an air of nonchalance. You blinked. “What match?” “The one where you rage-quit after I sniped you three times in a row,” he reminded you, a rare glint of mischief in his eyes. “That wasn’t rage-quitting,” you argued, narrowing your eyes. “That was a tactical retreat.” “Sure,” he drawled, clearly unconvinced. “Let’s call it that.” “Do you always have to be this smug?” “It’s part of my charm,” he replied smoothly, earning an exasperated groan from you.

Just as the teasing reached its peak, Jeonghan’s voice cut through the air, calling your name from across the room. You turned to see him approaching, his expression as unreadable as ever. “There you are,” Jeonghan said, glancing briefly at Wonwoo before focusing on you. “Seungkwan’s looking for you. Something about a group photo.” “Right, of course,” you replied, standing up quickly. But before you left, you turned back to Wonwoo. “This isn’t over,” you said, pointing at him. Wonwoo chuckled, the sound low and surprisingly warm. “Looking forward to it.”

As you walked away with Jeonghan, you couldn’t help but feel a little unsettled. Wonwoo had always been an enigma—cold but oddly approachable when he wanted to be. And tonight? Tonight, he’d been... different. “Enjoying yourself?” Jeonghan asked, his tone casual but his eyes sharp as they flicked toward you. “More than I expected,” you replied honestly. He hummed, a knowing smirk playing on his lips. “Good. Wouldn’t want you regretting showing up in that outfit.” “Is that supposed to be a compliment, Jeonghan?” you shot back, raising a brow. “Take it however you want,” he said smoothly, his smirk widening. As the night continued, you couldn’t shake the strange feeling brewing in your chest. Between Wonwoo’s teasing, Jeonghan’s cryptic comments, and the sheer chaos of the event, one thing was clear: this gaming circle was going to keep you on your toes. The buzz from the event hadn’t died down yet when the announcement came: an exclusive afterparty for Korea’s top streamers was being held at a high-end lounge in Gangnam. You almost declined the invitation—between the long day of fan interactions and the emotional whiplash from your conversations with Jeonghan and Wonwoo, you were drained. But the promise of networking opportunities (and free drinks) was too good to pass up. Plus, Seungkwan had practically begged you to come. The venue was sleek and modern, its dim lighting accentuated by neon highlights and a panoramic view of the city skyline. Inside, the air buzzed with excitement as streamers, sponsors, and a few VIP fans mingled over cocktails and canapés. You arrived fashionably late, your outfit now swapped for something more relaxed yet chic—a fitted black blazer, skinny jeans, and ankle boots, paired with a minimalist silver necklace that caught the light just right. “Finally!” Seungkwan exclaimed, waving you over from a corner booth. He was already halfway through a fruity-looking cocktail. Beside him sat Hoshi, gesturing animatedly about some game strategy while Mingyu shook his head in mock disbelief. “You look amazing, as usual,” Seungkwan said, his eyes sparkling with genuine admiration. “Thanks,” you replied with a small smile, sliding into the booth. “Is everyone here?” “Most of us,” Mingyu answered, glancing around the room. “Jeonghan’s over by the bar, of course.” You followed his gaze and spotted Jeonghan effortlessly charming a small group of sponsors. He looked impossibly polished, his tailored suit and perfectly styled hair making him stand out even among the crowd of well-dressed attendees. “And Wonwoo?” you asked, trying to sound casual. “Somewhere being all mysterious as usual,” Hoshi teased, wiggling his fingers dramatically. As if summoned, Wonwoo appeared a moment later, holding a whiskey neat. He looked unbothered as ever, his black hoodie replaced by a sharp button-up shirt and dark slacks. He caught your eye briefly and gave a small nod before heading to the pool table at the back of the lounge. “You’re popular tonight,” Seungkwan teased, nudging you. “Oh, shut up,” you muttered, taking a sip of the cocktail Hoshi slid your way.

The night wore on, and you found yourself bouncing between conversations. Seungkwan introduced you to some up-and-coming streamers, while Mingyu pulled you into a heated discussion about a recent game patch. All the while, you couldn’t help but notice Jeonghan and Wonwoo in your peripheral vision. Jeonghan, ever the social butterfly, was making rounds with the sponsors, but every now and then, you felt his gaze on you. It wasn’t intrusive, but it was enough to make you hyper-aware of his presence. Wonwoo, on the other hand, seemed content observing from the sidelines, occasionally chatting with his close circle. At one point, he caught your eye again, and this time, he raised his glass in a silent toast.

Later in the evening, Jeonghan finally approached you. “Enjoying yourself?” he asked, his tone as smooth as the whiskey he held. “It’s... interesting,” you replied, glancing around. “Different from the usual gaming vibe.” He chuckled. “Well, it’s not every day streamers get treated like celebrities.” “Speak for yourself,” you shot back, smirking. He tilted his head, studying you for a moment. “You’ve been making quite the impression tonight. Even Wonwoo couldn’t keep his eyes off you earlier.” Your cheeks burned at his comment, but you masked it with a scoff. “Don’t start, Jeonghan.” “Relax,” he said, his smirk softening into something more genuine. “I’m just glad you came. These things can be overwhelming.” Before you could respond, Hoshi popped up beside you, grinning. “Group photo time!”

The group gathered near the panoramic window for the photo. You ended up sandwiched between Seungkwan and Wonwoo. As the camera clicked, you felt Wonwoo lean slightly closer, his voice low enough that only you could hear. “Smile. You wouldn’t want your fans thinking you’re tired,” he teased. You turned your head to glare at him, only to find a faint smirk playing on his lips. “You’re insufferable,” you muttered, but you couldn’t help the small laugh that escaped. “Glad you’re catching on,” he replied smoothly, straightening up just as the photographer signaled the end of the shoot.

The party continued into the early hours, but as the night wound down, you found yourself outside on the lounge’s balcony, enjoying the cool breeze and the glittering city lights. “You’re hard to keep track of tonight,” a familiar voice said, breaking the silence. You turned to find Wonwoo leaning against the railing beside you, his hands in his pockets. “Shouldn’t you be inside, brooding or something?” you teased, earning a quiet laugh from him. “I could say the same about you,” he countered. “Avoiding someone?” “Not at all,” you replied, crossing your arms. “Just needed a breather.” He nodded, his gaze shifting to the city below. After a moment, he added, “You’re good at this, you know.” “At what?” “Balancing both worlds. The office, the streams. Tonight.” You blinked, caught off guard by the unexpected compliment. “Thanks, I guess.” “Don’t let it go to your head,” he added, the teasing edge returning to his voice. And just like that, the moment passed, leaving you both standing there in comfortable silence, the city stretching out before you. 

The night was unraveling faster than you had anticipated, and alcohol had become your uninvited best friend. You didn’t plan to get drunk—who ever really does?—but between Hoshi’s relentless toasts, Seungkwan’s loud encouragements, and the general festive atmosphere, the drinks kept coming. One glass turned into two, then three, and before you knew it, you were giggling at your own reflection in the polished surface of the lounge's counter. “Another!” you declared, raising your empty glass to a passing server. “Are you sure about that?” Seungcheol asked, raising a brow as he caught your hand mid-air. “Seungcheol, my dear leader,” you slurred, patting his arm with an exaggerated seriousness, “I am more than capable of handling my alcohol.” He exchanged a knowing glance with Woozi, who shook his head and muttered, “Yeah, no. This is not going to end well.” Meanwhile, Hoshi was in no state to help, singing—screaming, really—what sounded like a very off-key version of a karaoke classic, supported by a grinning Vernon. Mingyu had mysteriously vanished, probably off charming someone, leaving the rest of the group to deal with... well, you. --- Things took a turn when you decided it was a great idea to hop onto one of the lounge’s high tables and declare yourself the “ace of the gaming world.” “All hail Kitsunya!” you shouted, arms raised dramatically. The room erupted into laughter and cheers, though some people exchanged amused yet concerned looks. --Okay, that was cring and embarrassing, but your drunk-self cannot be stopped Seungcheol immediately sprang into action. “Okay, nope. That’s enough. Get down before you—” Too late. You lost your balance and toppled forward, only to be caught at the last second by Woozi, who let out an exasperated groan as he steadied you. “This is why I don’t drink,” Woozi muttered, shaking his head. “Why did we even let her?” “I can handle myself!” you protested, though your slurred words and swaying body said otherwise. “Sure you can,” Seungcheol deadpanned, trying to lead you toward a chair.

The night continued in a blur of ridiculous antics, from you trying to "arm wrestle" a very confused server to challenging Joshua to a dance-off—which you lost, miserably. Finally, the group reached a consensus: someone needed to take you home before you caused any more chaos. “I’ll take her,” Joshua offered, ever the composed and reliable one. “Are you sure?” Seungcheol asked, clearly skeptical. “She’s... a handful right now.” “I’ve got it,” Joshua said, already reaching for your coat. Before he could help you up, Jeonghan appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. He looked as calm and composed as ever, his sharp gaze taking in the situation. “Actually,” Jeonghan interjected, “I’ll take her.” Joshua frowned. “You don’t have to—” “I insist,” Jeonghan said, his tone leaving no room for argument. His eyes met yours, and he sighed softly. “She works for me. It’s my responsibility.” Joshua hesitated, but eventually relented, handing over your coat. “Alright. But call if you need anything.” Jeonghan nodded, draping your coat over your shoulders with practiced ease. “Come on,” he said softly, guiding you toward the exit.

The ride home was... interesting, to say the least. “Jeonghan,” you mumbled, your head resting against the car window as he drove. “You’re so... so pretty. Like, stupidly pretty. How is that even fair?” He glanced at you, amused. “Thank you, I guess?” “No, no,” you insisted, turning to face him, your words tumbling out in a drunken ramble. “You don’t get it. You’re like... one of those NPCs in games that are so pretty they distract you from the main quest.” Jeonghan laughed softly, shaking his head. “I’ll take that as a compliment.” You sighed dramatically, slumping back against the seat. “I’m so embarrassed. Why did I drink so much?” “You’ll regret it in the morning,” he said with a smirk. “But for now, just try to relax.”

When he finally got you home, Jeonghan helped you to your door, his hands firm yet steady around your waist, guiding your slightly unbalanced steps as you fumbled with your keys. His touch was grounding, even amidst the alcohol-induced haze that clouded your mind. “Thank you,” you muttered, your voice barely audible but laden with sincerity. “Just get some rest,” he replied, his tone unexpectedly gentle, his eyes softer than you’d ever seen them. As you opened the door and stepped inside, something tugged at you—a mixture of drunken boldness and lingering vulnerability. You turned to face him, your expression uncharacteristically open, raw in a way you never allowed yourself to be. “You won’t... tell anyone about tonight, will you?” His lips quirked upward in a small, knowing smile, one that somehow both reassured and unsettled you. “Your secret’s safe with me.” You hesitated, the alcohol blurring your sense of restraint. Words tumbled out before you could stop them. “Then... why don’t we just...” And then it happened. Without warning, you leaned forward, pressing your lips against his in an impulsive, alcohol-fueled kiss. The contact was firm but still, your lips meeting his in an almost chaste but charged moment. You registered how soft and warm his lips were, the faint scent of his cologne mingling with the dizzying hum in your head. Jeonghan, however, froze. The kiss caught him so off guard that for a split second, he didn’t react at all. His mind was a whirlwind—of shock, of the faint allure of how you smelled even beneath the alcohol, and of a nagging voice reminding him that this wasn’t right. And then he pulled back. His hands gripped your shoulders gently but firmly as he pushed you a step away from him. “What the hell are you doing?” His voice was low, steady, but with an edge of disbelief. The haze of the moment shattered, and you stared at him, wide-eyed, your heart pounding for reasons far beyond the alcohol in your veins. You tried to say something, anything, but the words caught in your throat. Jeonghan exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair. “You’re drunk,” he stated flatly, almost to himself. “You don’t even know what you’re doing right now.” The truth of his words stung. Of course, you were drunk—that’s the only explanation for why you’d done something so reckless, something so completely you. You blinked rapidly, your head spinning for more reasons than one. “Thanks again, Jeonghan,” you mumbled as you stumbled into your apartment, tripping over your own feet. Jeonghan didn’t move to help this time. He just stood there, watching you with an expression you couldn’t quite place—disapproval? Amusement? Maybe something else entirely. His gaze was a sobering force, and you felt a wave of heat creep up your face. Your pride, even in your drunken state, surged up like a shield. You straightened yourself awkwardly, brushing off invisible dust as if the act could somehow salvage what little dignity you had left. “Fuck... Fuck myself,” you muttered under your breath as you straightened and closed the door behind you. On the other side of the door, Jeonghan stood motionless for a moment, exhaling deeply as he ran a hand through his hair again. “What a night,” he murmured to himself, before turning and walking away. Inside, you leaned back against the door, sliding down to sit on the floor. Reality hit you like a freight train, and with it, came regret. Why the hell did I do that? Your hands covered your face as you groaned into your palms. Tomorrow was going to be a disaster. How were you supposed to face Jeonghan after this?

a/n: made this one a little longer just in case i dont post the update tommorow.

i have a taglist so if you want to be updated, reblog / comment on this post / teaser / part-time lover masterlist and you'll automatically be tagged on every chapter ! im a (wo)man of my word LOL

taglist:

@asyre @choppedballoondetective @kpoppiesofinternet @syluslittlecrow @minhui896

@october-saturn @kpop-will-kill-me (thankyou for reblogging !)

get back to the masterlist?

[yandere-fetish]

Yandere Soulmate and Yandere Reincarnator X Female Reader

Part One

warnings: two male yanderes, rejection, reincarnation, death mentions, soulmates, possesive

Yandere Soulmate rejects you on the spot at a bar you went to out of boredom.

This leads to you walking home in a daze, stumbling along the road. You wonder if you're not good enough, or is he simply not open to romance? Maybe he prefers a girl with soft tones? Or maybe someone with a posh style?

All these maybes were taking up your mind when you should have been watching your surroundings.

All of a sudden, you were dead.

And then you were alive again.

You blinked in your bed and found yourself back to that very morning, the morning before you met him.

After deciding that it was best to avoid your soulmate at all costs, you go shopping early that morning. As a rich young lady who's heir to the Hymai Fashion legacy, shopping is only second nature to you.

Time's a blur and the next thing you know, you're on Cloud 9. A dazzling smile on your face, one of those big floppy hats on your head to block out the shining sun, and multiple bags littering the bodyguards' arms.

Names like Prada, Versace, Hermès, Cartier, Dior, Chanel, and Armani decorate the bags.

"Let's grab a bite to eat, boys. I'm starving after our little shopping spree!"

*BAM*

You aren't watching where you're going and run into your soulmate by surprise!

You're waiting for the rejection, knowing it's coming.

But nothing comes.

Instead, Yandere Soulmate smiles at you and hands you his card. Then, he ends up walking away with a coy smile etched on his face.

You're so confused. So confused that you stand, dazed, in the middle of the shopping court, staring at the space that's now empty.

"Keep in touch, doll."

Yandere Soulmate is pleasantly surprised when you choose to keep quiet about the bond the two of you share. The business group he had traveled with was a judgemental one, and if she doesn't fit the standards of a dutiful soulmate before he could fix it, it would not be worth having her.

But luckily, not only was she adorable, but that doe caught in the headlights look was simply unfathomable.

He craved it.

Needed more of it.

Needless to say, Yandere Soulmate is on edge, waiting for your phone call or text. He doesn't hear from you at all for a week. And on the second week, when you still refuse to call or text him, Yandere Soulmate begins drinking in his private lounge.

The whispers of a new company daring to compete with his family's company was enough to give him a hassle at work, now he must worry about his soulmate. Drunk and irked, Yandere Soulmate sends words to his people. His eyes slit like a snake as he takes the last sip of his expensive whiskey.

"Find that girl from earlier. Spare no expense."

It had been three weeks since meeting your Yandere Soulmate.

It had been two weeks since you began "coincidentally" meeting Yandere Reincarnator.

You met him at a coffee shop by accidentally grabbing his black coffee instead of your own.

Since then, you've continuously been meeting him at different locations by coincidence.

You two share small talk. It starts out small, like what you two do for a living. Turns out he's a big hotshot CEO hellbent on being the first millionaire of his family. You couldn't help but smile at his ambition. It takes until the fifth time the two of you "accidentally" meet to tell you about his other half.

It's a simple and sad story, one you can empathize with. Hell, you know first-hand what it was like to be rejected by your very own soulmate, so to hear he had been cheated on was heartbreaking to you. The way Yandere Reincarnator told his story made you feel as if you had been cheated on yourself!

So when Yandere Reincarnator appears in front of you, asking you to play as his very own soulmate during a very important business deal, you thought it over.

Thoughtfully, you agreed.

Yandere Reincarnator had taken the liberty of buying you a dress, shoes, and a clutch to hold your accessories.

"You really didn't have to buy the dress and shoes.. even this clutch—"

"No, no. You deserve the best, (Y/N). You look absolutely gorgeous in that color."

"*blushes* Thank you..."

When you and Yandere Reincarnator show up at the club, Yandere Reincarnator walks you over to the VIP table where his business partner was waiting.

The moment he stood up from his chair, you could see his mesmerizing face and just knew you were in for one hell of a night.

Yandere Soulmate had been genuinely astonished to see you appear on the arm of his business rival and soon-to-be partner. With a clenched jaw, Yandere Soulmate greets you and his now love rival.

Seems like you were one interesting girl.

Yandere Reincarnator doesn't feel the tension between you and Yandere Soulmate, but he does see the longing looks that Yandere Soulmate gives his supposed soulmate despite bringing a female companion. He didn't have a chance to confront the man until he was given a chance.

"(Y/N), what do you think of the contract?"

"Hmm, I don't know much about the business between the two of you but.. if you think it's worthwhile, I'd go for it. Otherwise, let's leave the deal on the table and leave."

"What? Wait—"

"Now, if you'll excuse us, we have somewhere to be. *gently guilds you out the booth*"

"Get your hands off my soulmate!"

"Your soulmate?"

"Yes. She's paired with me, which means she's my soulmate."

"(Y/N)? *raises an eyebrow*"

"*purses lips and looks at Yandere Soulmate in disgust* Soulmate? I think you mean stranger."

"No, I know it and you know it. You're my soulmate."

"Funny joke but that ship sailed three weeks ago when you rejected me."

"What? *genuinely confused* When did I—"

"Wait. This is the guy who abandoned you?"

"*frowns, glaring at Yandere Reincarnator* She's mine! *turns to you* You're mine! (Y/N), you and I are meant to be!"

"And you destroyed that. If I'm meant to be with anyone, it's him. *gestures to Yandere Reincarnator* He's the one who's bothered to come see me. He's the one who took me shopping. He's the one who brought me here. If anything, he's the one I should want— the one I should be meant to be with! After all, you're the one who threw me away. Now you want me back because I suddenly look nice and can match your preferences? Quit dreaming! *walks away with Yandere Reincarnator*"

"(Y/N), don't think you can walk away from me!"

"She's in my territory, therefore she's under my protection. If you want (Y/N), you'll have to deal with me."

Part Two?

[mariacallous]

Imitation caviar invented in the 1930s could provide the solution to plastic pollution, claims Pierre Paslier, CEO of London-based packaging company Notpla. He discovered the cheap food alternative, invented by Unilever and made using seaweed, after quitting his job as a packaging engineer at L’Oréal.

With cofounder and co-CEO Rodrigo García González, Paslier and Notpla have extended the idea, taking a protein made from seaweed and creating packaging for soft drinks, fast food, laundry detergent, and cosmetics, among other things. They’re also branching out into cutlery and paper.

“Seaweed grows quickly and needs no fresh water, land, or fertilizer,” Paslier explains. “It captures carbon and makes the surrounding waters less acidic. Some species of seaweed can grow up to a meter a day.” Best of all, he says, packaging made from seaweed is completely biodegradable because it’s entirely nature-based.

Paslier noted an amazing coincidence—Alexander Parkes invented the first plastic in Hackney Wick, the same part of East London that, 100 years later, Notpla calls home. Since Parkes’ first invention, waste plastic—especially tiny particles known as microplastics, which take hundreds or thousands of years to break down into harmless molecules—has been wreaking havoc in ecosystems across the world.

Plastic pollution is proving especially damaging in the marine environment, where tiny beads of plastic are deadly to the vital microorganisms that make up plankton and which sequester 30 percent of our carbon emissions, “without us having to build any new fancy technologies,” Paslier says.

Notpla’s plans to replace plastic began with a drink container for marathons. This is, in effect, a very large piece of fake caviar—a small pouch that contains juice or water that athletes can pop in their mouths and swallow when they need rehydration. “We wanted to create something that would feel more like fruit; packaging that you could feel comes more from picking something from a tree than off a production line,” he says.

Paslier showed pictures of two postrace streets—one where refueling came in plastic containers and one where it came in edible Notpla. The first was littered with plastic bottles; the second completely waste-free.

The next step was takeout food containers. Even containers we think are cardboard contain plastic, he says, as grease from food would make plain cardboard too soggy. Working with delivery company Just Eat, Notpla has pioneered a replacement for the per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS), the so-called “forever chemical” plastics that currently line cardboard takeout containers. It has even found a way to retrofit its solution into the old PFAS plant, so there was no need to build new factories.

The company is developing soluble sachets for detergent pods, ice-cream scoops, and even paper packing for cosmetics. And there’s plenty of seaweed to experiment with, Paslier points out. “You don’t realize it’s already available massively at scale,” he says. “It’s in our toothpaste, it’s in our beer, it’s in our reduced-fat products—so there’s an existing infrastructure that we can work with without having to build any additional processes.”

[esmerulia-chantelle]

Because I'm traveling and at the airport, I am reminded of this AU I've shared and keep talking about with my Big Sis @triforce-holder

🐙Thinking about Azul in what I call the Airport AU🐙

Imagine there's you at the airport and someone with silver hair accompanied by two teal-haired men are having a bit of trouble by the check-in counter so you decided to help. Said silver-haired mam with pretty blue eyes wants to repay you for your kindness but being the kind-hearted person you are, say it's no trouble at all. You left first for the departure area since the guys still have stuff to do at check-in.

Imagine your surprise when you see them again while waiting for your flight. The handsome blue-eyed guy approaches you and introduces himself as Azul, and with him are twins Jade and Floyd. You greet them with a smile and give them your first name. You seem to get along but Azul was insistent on repaying you back, not one for wanting to be indebted to someone. You say there's no need but Azul keeps offering you things.

Later it was time to board and what do you know? You're in the same flight! You weren't seated together so you thought that was it. But then you hear that familiar voice and find Azul exchanging seats with the person beside you so now, you and Azul are sitting side by side. You talk some more and for some reason even though you just met, you find comfort in Azul and he feels the same for you.

You get to know each other more during the flight but of course things come to an end. Your plane lands to your destination and you disembark from the plane to head to arrivals. You bid each other farewell, thinking this was just one of those coincidences in life.

With an end comes a new beginning.

Azul is actually a successful businessman and CEO of his own company, on his way to establish another business relationship with an esteemed and highly renowned hotel chain business.

Imagine when he meets with the couple who founded the business. The ones who built this hotel empire from the ground up, and with them is their daughter — you.

The one he met at the airport.

The one that piqued his curiosity.

The one he wanted to get to know more.

The one he might have fallen in love with at first sight.

Was this still a coincidence? Or is this fate?

I was actually thinking about this with my sona and Azul.

Heiress!Escha x CEO!Azul

PS: I don't really know a lot of business dynamics or how things work and stuff so please don't think about the business things too seriously. The idea just came to me some time ago and I just thought it was cute 😅

[proudahgase-exol]

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮

Mingi x reader

This is my first ateez fanfic I hope you guys like it sorry if it’s trash 😓

Summary: After six years of dating Jacob, your relationship has deteriorated, with him often busy or out with friends. One night, you attend a bar for dissertation, never expecting to meet an attractive guy.

18+ minors do not interact

Warning: cussing, cheating, alcohol use, unprotected sex, did I miss anything?

⊱ ───ஓ๑♡๑ஓ ─── ⊰

Summary: After six years of dating, your relationship has deteriorated, with him often busy or out with friends. One night, you attend a bar for dissertation, never expecting to meet an attractive guy.

Warning: smut, cheating, cussing, unprotected sex,

Words: 2,917

Your pov

It’s been six years since Jacob and I started dating, and although the relationship was good and he was a loving, respectful boyfriend, I have been feeling like I’m not his first priority anymore.

He’s always at work or with his friends. The only time I see him is when I wake up for work sometimes at night, but we haven’t talked or gone out in a long time. I miss him, but when I try to do something, he always declines, saying he’s too busy or tired, but when one of his friends calls to hang out, he's up for it.

That’s why, today I'm getting ready to go out with some of my girls. They know about this situation, and they encourage me to go out to a bar, so I agree.

Once at the bar, we all went to take a seat somewhere and order some drinks. We were having a good time until, one by one, they found some for the night. I was left alone at the table, so I went to get myself another drink.

Once I got there, I ordered my drink and waited for the bartender to bring it to me. I was in my own world when I felt someone standing next to me. I looked up and saw a really handsome man who looked down at me and smiled.

“Hey there, I’m Song Mingi. Nice to meet you." He said with a smiling.

"Hello, my name is y/n." I replied with a shy smile.

“What are you doing all by yourself here?” He asked me

"Well, I was with a few friends, but two of them, god knows, were, and the other one was talking to the guy in blue by the pool table.” I really, as I pointed out, where my friend was.

"Really, the guy is my friend Yunho,” he said, laughing.

“No way, what a coincidence,” I said, giggling.

“Will you like to go sit down and chat? You seem like a sweet girl,” he said, hopeful.

"Sure, lead the way," I said smiling.

After a few minutes, I couldn’t help myself any more, so I asked him.

“So what do you do for a living? I mean, you don’t look like the typical guy that comes to bars; you seem really rich in the clothes you are wearing,” I said curiously. “I mean, I’m just wondering you don’t have to answer me."

“It’s okay, don’t worry,” he replied. “I’m the CEO of my own company. The guy your friend is talking to is my assistant and best friend, although he’s more like my big brother."

"Really, that’s cool. Wow, he seems like a sweet person." I smiled at him.

"What about you? What do you do for a living? He asked

“I’m the assistant of Park Seonghwa, actually." I said shyly.

“No way! He’s one of my best friends. I'veknow him since college,” he replied.

“What a small world,” I said, laughing.

We continued talking, and after a few hours and more drinks, he invited me to his place, and I agreed. I mean, what could go wrong? He’s like a friend, right?

When we arrived at his place, I was speechless. His place was huge. He owns a big company, and of course he can offer a penthouse on top of a beautiful building in an expensive neighborhood.

When we got inside, he told them to get comfortable in the living room, so he went to get a bottle of wine. When he returned, he continued to chat and drink.

He told me about himself and his eight friends, who are like his brothers; he also told me about his family. He was such a sweet, funny guy, and despite being super rich, he was still so humble, which I liked.

After a bit of time, he felt him getting closer to me until he cupped my face with his hands and pulled me for a kiss. I didn’t stop him; I pulled him closer by his collar.

After a while of heated make-out, he pulled me on top of him and continued kissing me. That’s when I pulled away from him and sat down in embarrassment.

"Hey, what’s wrong? Did I do something wrong? Did I go to fear? Or made you uncomfortable?” He asked, worried.

"No, it’s not you... It’s just that." I tried to finish my sentence, but I cut myself off.

“What is it?” He asked as he rubbed my thigh.

“I have a boyfriend." I said, Look up at him in shame.

"Oh,” he said, sounding upset, “why didn’t you stop me when I first kissed you? Or why didn’t you say anything in the beginning?”

“Because it felt right. I felt seen and loved. He’s been ignoring me for a couple of months now.” I said, looking at him as I tried to get off him.

“What do you mean? Why has he been ignoring you?” he asked as he stopped me from moving away from him.

"Well, he’s always out with his friends, or he says he’s too busy or tired; he also has been canceling dates so he could spend time with his friends." I said upset.

“You know what fuck he I’ll make you forget about that piece of sh*t. I’ll make you feel loved and seen. I’ll show you how a man should treat his women. That is, if you let me, of course,” he asked, hopeful.

"Mmmh, yes, that’s sounding good,” I said as I pulled him for a kiss.

After that, he got up from the couch, took me, and walked us to his bedroom, where he placed me on his king-size bed and continued to kiss me as he slowly took my clothes off while I did the same to him.

Mingi’s pov

Taking my time with her, drinking in the beauty of her curvy body as I went along, and we climbed onto my king-size bed, where I kissed every square inch of her as I made my way to her tits, with her hard little nipples waiting for me.

I took my time licking and sucking on them, telling her how much I loved her body. The only sounds coming from her were moans, oohs, and ahhhs. I used those to guide me. I would run my flat tongue to lick up on her nipples, and I would get a loud moan from her, telling me her nipples were very sensitive.

I spent my time on her tits, then I went down on her, tasting her beautiful pussy, taking in its sexy scent, and working her clitoris with my mouth to give her her first orgasm of the evening.

I started working my finger in her pussy, feeling her G-Spot area swelling at the touch, and rubbing on her clitoral area using my thumb. It seemed to be working; as she moved in closer, I pulled out my middle finger and replaced it with two fingers, and I started curling them on her G-Spot. God, her tight little pussy felt good so fucking tight then I successfully made her cum with my fingers, as she said.

“Oh fuck, that feels so good, baby... I'm cumming, oh my god, I'm fucking cumming!!” She trembled a bit longer before it came to a slow end. When she stopped shaking, she pulled me up to her for a kiss, then whispered in my ear and told me, “My pussy is all yours now. Only you get to fuck this pussy!!"

That’s when I had to fuck her to finally have my cock in her pretty pussy so I turned her around and got her in adopt a doggy position.

As I stood behind her, I grabbed my cock, lined up to her, and proceeded to slowly enter her. I wanted her to enjoy every inch as we slowly became one. her pussy felt so tight going back in. I looked down and saw my dick entering and exiting her cunt.

Mingi, your big fat cock feels so good in my pussy. Oh Mingi your big cock is making me cum!”

Oh fuck, baby. Keep going, keep going! Don't stop, don't stop! she screamed out to him.

“Fuck me, daddy, fuck me!” she said without thinking.

“Are you daddy's little slut, huh, y/n? You like it when daddy fucks you”?

“Mm hmm” she responded in a whiny voice, obviously enjoying the hard fucking he was giving her.

“Who's pussy is it, baby? Who does your pussy belong to?”

“You daddy, this pussy is yours!”

“Don’t stop; I’m close; please don’t stop.” Y/N basically begs as I pick up the pace, “I’m cumming Mingi.” She screams.

I feel her pussy start to pulsate around my cock as an orgasm hits her. The feeling of her pussy contracting from her orgasm pushes me over the edge, and I slam my cock deep inside her and cum. I shoot rope after rope of cum deep inside your tight pussy.

Panic sets in almost instantly as I remember I’m not wearing a condom and I’ve just shot a huge load of cum deep inside.

“Shit, oh shit.” I gasp as panic consumes me. I pull out of bed and stand up, and I start to clean her up in a panic.

“Relax, it’s ok, I’m on the pill.” Y/N tells me she is obviously sensing my panic. Her words help to defuse my panic.

“That was amazing.” She says this before leaning up to kiss me.

After I finished cleaning her and myself up, I went to go grab a clean shirt and give it to her, put on a new pair of clean boxers, and went to lay down next to her.

She laid down next to me after putting the shirt on, and I pulled her closer to me so we could cuddle. She laid her head on my chest, and I petted her head.

“You were so good. I had never been fucked like that by anyone," she said, looking up at me.

“Are you serious, not even your boyfriend?” I was surprised.

“Not even him; you know he’s never been rough in bed with me, nor is he Vanella; he usually makes me ride him, and he just lays there; it makes me feel like I’m forcing him to have sex with me,” she replied.

"Well, that’s his loss. He doesn’t know what a great woman you are; he’s missing out on everything,” I told her as I kissed her head.

After a while of silence, she fell asleep. She looked so calm and relaxed. I didn’t want this to end, but I wasn’t sure if she would like to continue seeing me. I mean, she does have a boyfriend. But perhaps I could convince her that for now I’ll just sleep it off.

Your pov

The next day, I woke up to the smell of food. I sat up and looked around the room, remembering the events of last night. It made me blush. I got up and fell for the delicious smell that took me to the kitchen, where Mingi was finishing the last touches.

"Hey, good morning. How did you sleep, pretty girl?” He asked, and he placed the places on the table.

"Grateful, how about you?” I asked to take a seat.

"Grate, I made you some breakfast. I hope you like it,” he said, sitting in front of me.

"Mmmh, this is so much better than you," I replied as I took a bit of my omelette.

We ate and chatted for a bit, then I helped him clean up the dishes. He told me he left a change of clothes for me in the bathroom, so I went to get a change.

When I got out, I went to find Mingi, and he was sitting in the living room on his phone, so I went to sit with him.

"Hey, you look good in my clothes,” he said, teasing.

"Thanks,” I said, smiling. "Well, Mingi, I have to go. My friend has been blowing on my phone, asking me where I'm. It was nice meeting you. I hope to see you again." I said as I got up from the couch.

"Before you go, I wanted to ask you something." He said he was taking my hand, preventing me from leaving.

"Yeah, what is it?” I replied

"Leasing, I know we just met, and I know you have a boyfriend, but what happened last night was understandable, and I was hoping we could do it again, but if it makes you uncomfortable, I understand,” he said nervously.

“I agree. I had fun last night. You made me feel like the sexiest woman in the world, and I would like to do it again. It could be our little secret,” I said, biting my lip.

“Really? You would like to keep seeing me? What about your boyfriend?” He asked me

"Well, it would be fun to pass a good fuck from a handsome man like you,” I said, laughing, “and about my boyfriend... What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him, right?” I asked, winking at him.

“You like shit that’s sounding so hot and naughty,” he said, pulling me for a kiss. “I’ll be your dirty little secret, your side hoe right,” he said with my bottom up between his teeth.

Mingi and I continued seeing each other; we had sex multiple times, and he also took me on dates. He was everything I wanted my boyfriend to be; he was the perfect man.

When Mingi was busy with work, he would ask me to come by, and we would have a quickie in his office, but when he got up early, we would get at it for hours. Sex with Mingi was truly amazing, and it drove me crazy.

Jacob never suspected a thing; he never questioned me about why I was all of a sudden going out or being "busy.” He never asked why I didn’t want to have sex with him. To him, everything was normal.

A few weeks ago, Mingi asked me if I wanted to join him and his friends at the new club that just opened, and I agreed. Today Mingi texted me, telling me they were going to the club today, so I went to get ready, and I told him I would meet him at the club.

When I arrived there, I texted Mingi, letting him know I was here. He told me where he was as I went to find him. When I did, I saw this really pretty girl talking to Mingi; she was touching him and flirting with him.

Just the sight of her trying to seduce him made me blood boil. I became so jealous and pissed, but I knew I could do anything about it. Mingi was a free single man who could do whatever and date whoever.

I got so mad to the point where I just left the club, and once I was out, I broke down crying. I cry because I fell in love with Mingi. I wanted to date him. I wanted to be his girlfriend, but I wasn't.

As I was walking down the road, I heard someone’s footsteps and heavy breathing. I turned around, and I was face-to-face with Mingi. He looked concerned, and when he finally reached me, he pulled me in for a hug.

"Baby, why did you leave crying? What’s wrong? Why are you upset?” He asked, worried.

“Mingi Go back to the club. Go back to the pretty girl you were talking to,” I said, pushing him away.

"Princess, what are you talking about? You're the only pretty girl I talk to,” he said, pulling me back to him. “The girl was trying to get in my pants, but I told her I wasn’t interested; she didn’t get the memo, so I ignored her until I saw you walking out, then I ran after you.”

“Now tell me, why are you crying? I didn’t like to see my princess upset,” he said, kissing my forehead.

“Seeing you with another woman made me feel so jealous. It made me feel so angry. I only want you to myself,” I said, looking into his eyes.

"Baby, I’m all yours; you don’t need to feel jealous,” he chuckled.

"No, Mingi, you don’t get it. I want you to be mine. I don’t want you to be my “dirty little secret.” I don’t want to sneak around to meet you. I want to be your girl. I don’t want to be Jacob’s girlfriend. I want to be your girlfriend." I said, looking down in embarrassment.

“You don’t know how bad I wanted to hear you say that you don’t know how hard it is for me to let you go back to him when all I want is to keep you all to myself. Every time you leave my bed to go back to him, my heart breaks,” he said as he healed me closer to him.

"Really, you really mean that?” I asked in shock.

“Of course, baby, I mean That now what Wooyoung, so if I asked you to dumb your shitty boyfriend so I could be the boyfriend you need and deserve,” he asked, hopefully

“I will leave him in a heartbeat because there’s no other man I want other than you,” I said, getting on my tippy toes to kiss his lips.

After that, he took my hand, and we walked back to the club, but instead of being back inside, we went to the park, so he got in his car and drove us to his house. We talk on the way there about how I will end everything with Jacob.

When we got to his place, we went to his bedroom, where he got undressed and made love to one another. For now, we wanted to be together and forget about the world. Tomorrow, I will figure out how to end the relationship with Jacob.

[darkeagleruins]

Nancy Pelosi has some explaining to do…many ‘coincidences’ are being uncovered regarding possible insider trading re: United Healthcare scandal.

On February 21, 2024, UnitedHealth discovered a cybersecurity breach.

On the same day, Nancy Pelosi made her second purchase of call options in Palo Alto Networks, a cybersecurity company that was later chosen to investigate the breach.

UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was killed by a masked gunman today in the middle of a federal investigation led by the U.S. Department of Justice.

[turianhumanclient]

What I know about the situation at Zaum Studio OÜ, developers of Disco Elysium

Perhaps you've heard of the deplorable situation of Disco Elysium's fired leads, of the oust by majority shareholder and CEO, of the lawsuits and rest of the cultural association and 'old guard' still at work there, quiet and held quiet by corporate policy and perhaps embittered by the 'auteur' theory holding parasocial public.

What I am going to share with you is information that is publicly available through Estonian and United Kingdom company registers. I haven't seen any news outlet feature this information yet.

WHAT IS NEW HERE?

Ilmar Kompus, the current CEO who was installed in 2020, had actually been a shareholder all along since Zaum Studio's founding in Estonia.

Kaur Kender, the author in his own right and producer at Zaum, has founded a lot of game development companies in Estonia and United Kingdom, while Zaum worked, published and updated Disco Elysium. These apparently went nowhere, some of them are now defunct. All of them had Ilmar Kompus or some ZAUM subsidiary as shareholders, and some also shared correspondence addresses with ZAUM's UK subsidiaries.

The 'game pitch' that cost Zaum 4,8 million euros and funded Kompus' acquisition of majority share from Linnamäe, the so called Pioneer One, has been previously reported by one gaming news outlet to have come via Anu Reiman's YESSIRNOSIR Limited. I have discovered that Kaur Kender held a game company in UK called Pioneer One Ltd that was active between years 2018-2022, and it had an Estonian artist Kristiina Ago as its secretary. I cannot prove that it was this entity that sold it instead, but it is a glaring coincidence nevertheless.

Kaur Kender and later Ilmar Kompus have founded a succession of ZAUM studios (Zaum London, Zaum UK, Disco Elysium UK and now Zaum Studio Limited) which have held the main development operations in UK. Kurvits and Rostov/Taal hold minority shares in Zaum UK. The later ones are all Ilmar Kompus-held in shares. I suspect this is a method of his to sever the fired leads' means of control to the company's branches in UK.

Both the 'main line' of Zaum's UK companies and Zaum Studio OÜ back in Estonia have loaned money to the tune of millions to Newelysium and Revachol in UK (Note, Revachol OÜ in Estonia is held by ZAUM cultural association members and is not a game studio)

What does it all mean then? I am not certain. I have not practical experience in game dev industry to say whether constantly making side companies or shells is a sign of a healthy leadership.

However looking at all the shell companies made near annually, and how the successive ‘main studios’ have consolidated into Kompus’ hands, I am going to speculate a bit. This has been a long con. Whether there was going to be a product that sold well or not, Kompus, Haavel and Kender were going be the ones collecting the jackpot. There were shell companies being established even as the game was floundering after the estonians’ walkout. All the ‘artists’ had to do was just do the work and not get in the way of money.

But then ZA/UM made an award-winning darling game of the year. TV show adaptation deals. Lead developers like Kurvits and Hindpere standing at the Game Awards Show spotlight. Audience eating up all that and latching onto whatever crumb and morsel might come next.

A clean exit sale out of a modest studio became impossible. Now there were developers in the studio who knew they were worth A LOT and with shareholders’ power both in Zaum Studio OÜ and Zaum UK Ltd to hamper any sale to Tencent, Amazon or Microsoft. Now we reach the part of “toxic misogynist auteurs trying to steal the IP for themselves.” who had to be let go.

Kender's lawsuit around the turn of 2022-2023 and divestiture of his Zaum Studio OÜ shares as result muddles the water for this speculated theory even more as he still holds directorship in a number of shell companies with Kompus back in UK. There is also Dark Maths Studios that he founded this April in UK, so it remains to be seen what he'll do and if its with Kompus and Haavel or alone.

[teaberrii]

Chapter Twelve: Not Alone

Alhaitham has the looks and the smarts. He will also be the stand-in CEO for his grandfather's company for a year.

But, he's been mysteriously cursed to turn into a cat every night since his eighteenth birthday… until he meets you, an employee at his grandfather's company, who rescues him as a cat and changes him back with one kiss.

Alhaitham/You

Notes:

Cross-posted on AO3

Female reader

Chapter index at the end of chapter one

You feel something brush against your leg. So, you look down and see Alhaitham walking around your legs, purposefully rubbing against you whenever he can. Then, as if knowing he has your attention, he looks up and meows with a little smile. That's when you hear your apartment buzzer.

As soon as you answer it, you hear Lumine say, “Oh, wow. She's really home.”

“Told you so. My hunch is always right.” Then, Childe looks into the camera and waves. “Hiya, sweet cheeks! May we come in?”

Alhaitham doesn’t need to look at the screen to know it’s Childe. Besides the voice, only one person calls you by that nickname.

As soon as you open the door, you ask, “What are you two doing here?”

"I went out for a drive, and fate brought me to Lulu"—Childe notices Lumine's small eye roll—"and now we're here!"

“That explains a lot,” you deadpan.

Lumine smiles at Alhaitham. “Hey! It’s Mr. Kitty!”

"Mr. Kitty?" Childe asks. "It looks more like a Mr. Cat to me." He looks at you. "I didn't know you got a cat."

“Yeah… I got him recently.”

“Well, he seems to really like you,” Childe says, watching Alhaitham gently rub his cheek against your leg.

You bend over and pick him up.

“By the way, how’d your date go?” Lumine asks. “Did anything… exciting happen?”

You aren’t going to spill that you and Alhaitham just had your first kiss. You can only imagine the details Lumine wants to hear, and having Childe around won’t help.

Alhaitham meows and Lumine smiles at him. "Ooh, don't tell me Mr. Kitty has all the juicy details. Did they kiss?" You look at Alhaitham just as he looks up at you. Your noses almost touch, and your heart nearly stops. "I didn't see this little guy the last time Mom and I were here… did you go back for him, or did he come back to see you?"

You smile. “I guess it was a little bit of both.” Then, you look at your sister. “Anyways, enough about me." You put Alhaitham on the counter. "What about you?”

“Me?”

“You two just decided to hang out together for the night?”

Lumine and Childe glance at each other. “It really was a coincidence that we bumped into each other!” she insists.

Childe chuckles. “I got lucky.”

“Hey, since we’re here…” Lumine claps her hands together. “Should we go say hi to Alhaitham? He’s home, isn’t he?”

You glance at Alhaitham. Yeah, you could say he’s home.

Childe smiles. “Lumine told me you’re neighbours with Mr. Hottie now. Look at you livin’ the life.”

"What can I say?" you say sarcastically. "It's like I'm the protagonist of my own scripts." Then, you quickly add, "But, uh, he's a bit busy right now."

“With what?”

“...Meetings.”

If Childe and Lumine are suspicious, they don’t say anything. You think it’s a believable enough excuse. The man is a CEO, after all.

Then, Childe walks over and leans over to stare at Alhaitham. “...Or, is he right here?”

You look from Childe to Alhaitham and back to Childe. “What are you talking about?”

Childe laughs and leans upright. “It’s a funny story, actually..."

“...What? Is that a story idea you came up with?” Childe asked, tossing him bottled water.

Ayato easily caught the drink. “It does sound like an idea born from fantasy, doesn’t it?”

“What I’m wondering is why you’re talking to me about it.”

“I was just curious if you’ve ever heard of such a thing happening in real life.”

“People turning into cats? Of course not!” Ayato opened his bottled water, and Childe couldn’t help but ask, “...Have you?”

Ayato’s mysterious smile only made Childe more curious.

"People turning into cats?" Lumine asks. "That can't happen!"

Your eyes meet Alhaitham's, knowing exactly what's running in each other's minds. It might just be a meaningless conversation. But is it possible that Ayato knows someone who's cursed? Or... is it himself?

"Wouldn't it be interesting if it can?" Childe asks.

"Well, I don't think you would be able to look at cats the same way again," you mumble. Then, you look at the clock. “Hey, it’s getting late.”

“I guess that’s our cue to leave, Lulu.”

"Well, I don't have to, you know," Lumine says. Then, she smiles at you. "I could sleep over!"

Before you can answer, Childe huffs. “And I thought we could grab some an evening snack together before I dropped you off.”

“You should’ve brought a snack before you came here,” you say.

Childe laughs. “I promise I’ll bring one for you next time.”

You look at Lumine. “...You should go with him.”

“Why?”

“...You have work tomorrow, don’t you?” you ask. “Your place is closer than mine.”

Lumine narrows her eyes. Childe pats her head and says, “Sis just wants some private time with Mr. Kitty.”

Well, that’s one way to put it.

Alhaitham nuzzles his head against your arm until you pick him up again.

“Or… maybe it’s the other way around,” Childe continues.

Lumine pouts slightly. “...Fine.”

As your sister leaves your apartment, you say, “Don’t keep her out late, Childe.”

“I won’t.”

Childe has just finished putting on his shoes when you ask, “By the way, did something happen?”

He turns around. “What makes you ask that?”

"...Do you remember the day you randomly showed up at my house?" Childe slightly looks away from you, and you know you're onto something. "It was the day you fought with your parents."

“I can’t believe you still remember that.”

“It was the first time I saw you cry.”

Something about that statement makes him stiffen.

Lumine pokes her head back inside. “Um, hellooo? Are we going or what?” She looks from Childe to you and back to Childe. “Is everything okay? Why do you two look kinda serious?”

"It's nothing," you say. "I told him to drive you straight home."

Childe smiles. "And I told her I wanted to keep you to myself for a little longer."

Lumine nudges him. “As long as there’s food.”

“You’re way too easily convinced,” you deadpan.

“Alright, we’re leaving,” Childe says with a wave. He also makes sure to wave to Alhaitham. “Take care of her, Mr. Kitty.”

You lift Alhaitham’s paw and make him wave, even though his deadpan expression says otherwise.

Once you and Alhaitham are alone, you put him on the couch. You'd like to tease him a little longer, but you'd like to ask about what he thought about the conversation between Childe and Ayato. So, you lean down and kiss his fluffy, little head. 

Soon, Alhaitham is dressed, and you and he are sitting on the couch.

"Do you think we should talk to Ayato?" you ask.

"It would be a little strange if we grilled him on a conversation that might be meaningless."

That's true.

"But, with how things are going, I am a little curious if he really does know anything." When you look at him curiously, he says, "The timing isn't the only thing that's changed. The transformation back to my normal self was also different."

“You mean… you usually don’t just poof into a cat?”

Alhaitham shakes his head. “It’s a painful process.”

A painful process? Now, you’re imagining bones shrinking and breaking, and you aren’t sure if you really want to know. Maybe this is why he wanted privacy.

“Turning back isn’t as painful as turning into a cat,” he continues.

So, why are things different now?

Alhaitham pulls you close. “...We might be close to getting answers, but there’s one thing I want to make sure of.”

“I’m all ears.”

But, instead of talking, he leans in and kisses you, slowly and softly at first and then with a swift gradation of intensity that makes your world spin. Your back hits the couch with Alhaitham on top of you, his insistent mouth sending shivers through your nerves. Your body melts against his as your hands weave through his hair, pulling him closer.

Finally, when you two pull away, he says, “...Even when this curse ends, I want to make sure you are mine.”

You smile. This time, you say, “I’m all yours.”

◆◆◆

Back in the car, Lumine wonders if she should ask. She'd overheard the conversation between you and Childe. Your hunch is the same as hers. Something must've happened. But would it be intrusive if she asked? What if he got mad at her? What if—

“Is something bothering you?" The car roars to life, and Childe looks at her. “You've been quiet.”

Lumine’s not looking at him when she says, “...Well, I overheard what you and Sis were talking about.”

“Are you worried about me?”

Lumine turns to him. “Of course I am. You’re my friend.”

Childe smiles and ruffles her hair. “You’re cute, Lulu. Have I ever told you that?”

No. Never. Actually, Lumine had always thought he saw her as a kid or a little sister.

“...So, will you tell me what’s wrong?”

“Another time.”

Is it because he doesn’t think she would be mature enough to help him? Would… he have told you if you were the one who asked instead?

“Oh, fine,” Lumine says dramatically, “if you don’t want my godly advice.”

The car is back on the road now, and Childe glances at her. “Godly advice, huh?” Then, he chuckles. “...Then, let me ask you. Who is more important? Yourself… or your family?”

“What kind of question is that?”

“If you’re forced to make that kind of decision, would you choose yourself?”

"That's a terrible question!"

"Maybe that's the reason why I asked," Childe says.

Lumine sighs. "Well, I guess it depends on the context.”

“Context, huh?”

“It’s not like you to ask such serious questions."

Once the car slowly rolls to a stop, Childe lightly pinches her nose. “That’s ‘cause you don’t know me well enough.”

“I’ve known you for years,” Lumine deadpans. “Don’t give me that.”

Childe chuckles softly. “Just because you’ve known someone for years doesn’t mean you know every side of them.”

Lumine looks at him. Childe looks back.

“...What’s on your mind now?” he asks.

“...Nothing," she mutters, looking away.

“Oh? Really?”

“Why are you so curious?” Lumine asks flatly.

"Because you intrigue me."

Lumine turns back. “W-what is that supposed to mean?”

"It means what it means. You're interesting, Lumine."

"In what ways?" she asks skeptically.

"You used to have everything written on your face. I read you like an open book. Now, it's getting harder to read you."

"It means I'm not a kid anymore." 

Childe smiles. "You're right. You aren't. So, would you like to be my date to Zhongli's wedding?"

"Yeah, I'm not, so"—her eyes widen—"Wait. What did you just say?"

"Would you like to be my date to Zhongli's wedding?" Childe drawls.

After regaining her composure, she looks ahead. "Why are you asking me?"

"Because I want to go with you."

Lumine glances at him, and he gives her a quick wink. 

"...Let me think about it," she says quietly.

"Well, I guess I'll have to be patient."

"Maybe if you grabbed us some takoyaki, I'll come to a decision sooner."

Childe laughs. "Alright, but on one condition."

"Which is?"

"Your sister expects me to drive you straight home. Looks like we're taking a little detour. So"—he slightly smirks—"this little rendezvous is our little secret."

Lumine smiles. "You're lucky I'm good at keeping secrets."

◆◆◆

“It looks like you and Aether have gotten close.”

Not long after you and Alhaitham left, the group had also left his grandfather's room. Ayato spent the rest of the day with Ayaka. Of course, he also got to know your brother a little better. Now that Aether is back in his room, it's just the siblings.

“Are you jealous?” Ayaka teases.

“I’m glad you made a friend.”

Ayaka holds his brother’s stare, knowing exactly what he’s thinking.

“You should’ve told me how much she looked like her,” he says.

“...I didn’t think you would believe me.”

The silence drags on until…

“Are you going to tell her?” she asks.

“About?”

“Your curse.”

Ayato sighs softly. Should he tell you about his curse? You look so much like her, his late fiancée who supposedly cursed him. It happened spontaneously one night. An innocent kiss quickened his heartbeat. Then, a sudden sharp pain in his chest, and he knew something was wrong. He’d clutched his chest and doubled over in pain.

And then it happened.

Pointy ears. A tail. Four paws.

When the pain was over, his fiancée gasped. “Oh… My God.”

It's strange. Ever since that day, he'd become a cat without explanation whenever she kissed him. But even after she passed, it happened again, except with a new girlfriend who is now an ex. That's when he knew that the curse stayed with him. So, ever since then, he hasn't kissed anyone. Not even for his work.

"...I have no reason to tell her," Ayato says. "And I barely know her."

“But, aren’t you curious? What if… you don’t turn? Wouldn’t that mean the curse is broken?”

Ayaka's shoulders fell as she exhaled softly. "We can think of something then. Can't we?"

Ayato knows she's worried about him, but that doesn't mean he will ask you to kiss him. Aren't you Alhaitham's girlfriend? Besides, there's nothing to tie you to this curse besides that you look eerily similar to his ex fianceé, the person who started it all.

“That’s being selfish, Ayaka.”

Ayaka frowns slightly. "...Then, what are you going to do?" When Ayato looks away, his sister crosses her arms. "This might be the one chance to break the curse, and you're not doing anything about it."

Ayato sighs. Maybe his sister has a point. But… what is he going to say to you? Would you believe him? It sounds bizarre, like something out of a fantasy novel. He just met you. He doesn't need you to think he's completely bonkers by telling you he turned into a cat from a kiss.

“...I’ll think about it, okay? I just don’t want to scare her.”

Ayaka sighs. Then, in a voice just above a whisper, she asks, "When will you think about yourself for a change?"

◆◆◆

“Oh, my God! You look stunning!”

It's finally the Awards Night, and Candace and Dehya had come over hours beforehand to help you prepare. Dehya had convinced you to go for cat-eye makeup and a matte, dark red lip. It's definitely different and bolder than what you're used to, but it looks so good on you that you won't mind trying this look again.

“I actually didn’t think I could pull it off,” you admit.

“Well, anyone can pull off a look as long as they have confidence.”

You smile at Candace in the mirror.

Just as you and your friends leave your apartment, Alhaitham opens his door. When you see each other, both of you stop. Alhaitham can't stop staring. That black dress. That makeup look. He already thinks you're beautiful, but seeing this different makeup look on you takes his breath away. He instantly smiles and walks up to you. When he does, you catch a whiff of his cologne, which smells like a delicate mix of citrus and cedar. He's wearing a suit, but he adds a dark green tie and a jade diamond pin on the right side of his black blazer this time.

“Lost for words, are you, Haitham?” Candace asks.

You and Alhaitham meet each other's eyes. You've agreed to keep your relationship a secret, as his role as your company CEO will be publicly revealed. But as Dehya and Candace already have an idea, you and Alhaitham agreed to let them in on the little secret earlier today.

"Wait, wait," Candace said with a large smile. "So… Haitham made the first move?"

“Wait for me!” Dehya screamed from the washroom. “I need to hear the story, too!”

After you told them about the kiss, Candace clapped slowly, and Dehya’s jaw dropped. “Damn. That man knows what he’s doing,” she said.

“I’m happy for you,” Candace said, smiling at you. “You two look good together.”

Dehya put a hand on her hip. “We need a ladies’ night to celebrate!”

You and Candace look at each other. “Hey, it’s an excuse to celebrate,” you said.

Candace laughed. “Agreed!”

Alhaitham walks up to you and kisses your head. “...You look beautiful.”

You don't see it, but Dehya is shaking Candace. Candace has a slightly mischievous smile as she watches you and Alhaitham.

You chuckle. “You don’t look so bad yourself, handsome.”

When your eyes meet again, you’re thinking the same thing. You want to kiss him. He wants to kiss you. But, of course, there’s a time and place for everything.

“Alright, stop making the rest of us feel like single pringles,” Dehya says.

While waiting for the elevator, Dehya and Candace are talking amongst themselves while you and Alhaitham stand behind them. Then, he glances at you.

“You seem a little nervous,” he says quietly.

Tonight is the night you're changing Alhaitham back… in an almost public space. It's a little nerve-wracking as many people are supposed to be in attendance. What if something goes wrong? What if somehow you got caught?

You feel his hand in yours when you look at him and ask, “Aren’t you?”

You don’t get a chance to hear his reply as the elevator arrives.

◆◆◆

You and Alhaitham arrive separately. As soon as he does, he’s whisked away to meet important people. You head to the lounge, almost blinded by the expensive-looking chandelier. Then, someone taps your shoulder.

“You look lovely tonight.”

“Ayato!” you say. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

He slips out an invitation from his blazer pocket. “Here’s proof I didn’t sneak my way in here.” Then, he gives you a quick wink. You smile politely just as he looks around. “I thought you’d be coming with Alhaitham.” When he sees the look on your face, he lowers his voice and says, “Oh, I’m sorry. Is it a secret?”

“For now, yes,” you say.

“Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me.” But then, he holds out his arm. “However, as a friend, may I escort you inside?”

���My, everyone looks so flashy today.”

Ayato turns around, and you look past him to see Childe and Tighnari.

“How would you like to be escorted inside by not one but three good-lookin’ men in suits?” Childe asks you.

“Tempting,” you say. “But… I think I can escort myself inside.”

As Ayato watches you leave, he feels… conflicted. The more he looks at you, the more he’s reminded of her. Is there a reason why you two crossed paths? Ayato doesn’t believe in soulmates or fate, but the resemblance is uncanny. If his ex really started his cat curse, are you really the person to break it?

“Is something wrong?”

Tighnari’s voice snaps Ayato out of these thoughts. “No. It's nothing.”

“You were staring a little too intently at our award-winning screenwriter just now,” Childe says.

Ayato smiles. “Ah… well, she just… reminded me of someone I knew.”

“Oh?”

“...Care to share?” Childe asks.

“Perhaps another time,” Ayato says. “It’s not a story that should be shared during a celebration like this.”

“That’s fair.” Childe walks behind Ayato and Tighnari and puts a hand on their back. “Well, shall we go enjoy ourselves, gentlemen?”

Throughout the evening, Ayato has you and the conversation with Ayaka on his mind. There's no way you'd believe him. There's also no way to show you. This is getting a little annoying. Why did you have to look so much like her? Ayato is about to grab a chocolate-covered strawberry off a dessert platter when he hears someone approaching him from behind.

"Do you have a minute, Ayato?"

His heartbeat quickens upon hearing your voice. He turns around. "Sure."

You walk up beside him and grab a fruit tart. He turns back to the table just as you say, “I… heard from Childe that you asked him something about people turning into cats.”

He freezes for a second but ultimately grabs the strawberry onto his plate. “...It does make for an interesting conversation starter, doesn't it?"

“A little too interesting, I would say,” you say with a small smile. “Is that a story idea you’re cooking up?”

Ayato laughs. “You could use it if you’d like. I won’t ask for royalties.” Then, a little quieter, “What did Childe tell you?”

“Nothing much. He said you’d asked if he’d heard about something like that happening in real life.”

“Then, may I ask you the same question?”

You glance at him. "Would you be willing to answer my question in return if I answer you?"

“Certainly.”

You put the last piece of dessert on your plate. Then, you turn to him. “...I have.”

Ayato’s heart almost stops.

“...You have?”

You nod.

When you say nothing more, Ayato figures, you aren't going to elaborate on your answer. But he, of course, will also keep his end of the deal.

“Now it’s my turn to ask,” you say, “Do you know someone like that?”

Are you humouring him? Ayato never imagined that he would be having this conversation with you.

He looks you in the eyes and says, “I do.”

You're iffy to push for more. But you're dying to know. Who is it? And… how much does this person know about this curse? Your phone lightly buzzes, a gentle reminder that it's almost time for Alhaitham to turn.

You take a short, small breath. "I'd love to stay and chat, but I have to meet someone."

Right when you turn around, you feel someone grab your wrist. Startled, you spin back and see Ayato. But it’s his words that take you by complete surprise.

“Don’t go.”

Chapter Thirteen

Tag list: @suoshiii @lxry-chxn @seirenspinel @lordbugs @sakiimeo @ash-in-lavender @ceylestia @forsh4dow @deathkat657 @kalpie @elernity @sentieence @chichibleeps @sunsethw4 @hjjks @tanspostsblog @nqctre @just-simping-over-genshin @uchihaeirin @vynbin @ayanokomu @dksfl920 @alatus1808 @itztaki @thetwinkims @imkaaayy @angeilix @starlighttotheleft @letthewindlead

[incorrect-jojolands-quotes]

Chapter 17 Yap Session: YOU ARE NOT THE MAIN VILLAIN

Also, an interesting find on Hokkaido and puns.

Other Yaps (To Be Updated as I Go): 14, 15, 16, 17, 18

It's not a coincidence that Acca mentions Hokkaido

Hokkaido is known for being the agricultural breadbasket of Japan and a popular place for tourists to visit due to its natural scenery and cold temperatures. It is also where 90% of Japan's kombu is created due to the cold waters of Hokkaido being ideal for growing them as well as having high-quality seafood for the same reason. In addition to that, Hokkaido is where the Ainu people once resided. I say ONCE resided because the island was annexed and colonized in 1869 by Japan, forcing the Ainu to assimilate soon after. To this day, the Ainu continue to face economic and social hardships because of discrimination and many individuals grow up not knowing they are Ainu or are forced to hide their background to minimize oppression. The Ainu continue to be greatly restricted in terms of maintaining practices and customs, and there have been cases where attempts to revive or provide better laws for the Ainu are met with heavy pushback. Even prior to the annexation, the Ainu faced mistreatment from the Japanese government, which contributed to their population decline leading up to the event.

This is very similar to Hawaii's history. Hawaii serves as a main exporter of tropical fruits and remains a popular tourist attraction due to its environment while also having a history of annexation and treatment of indigenous communities- the difference being that Hokkaido is more known for its colder temperatures while Hawaii is known for its subtropic temperatures instead.

Usagi's a master of puns

The pun Usagi makes with MRI translates to "M - 無 R - 理 I - 言って スミマセン, or MuRi Itte sumimasen. (Sorry for asking you to do something unreasonable). "IDD" and "KKD" are common text phrases used in Japanese, similar to "BFF" being used in English. According to the English translator Kewl, various suggestions were made to localize Usagi's words in a way that is still natural yet comedic. Eventually, "Man's a Real Idiot",  "I’m Deeply Devoted", and "Kind Kindred Dude" were chosen.

How corporations work may hint at Acca not being the main villain

In a typical western public company, there are two groups that lead a corporation: the officers and the board of directors.

The officers, such as the CEO and CTO, are the ones who make the decisions and handle day-to-day operations of the company. However, they are not 100% in complete power. They have to work with the board of directors, who theoretically work as the advisors to the CEO and are led by a leader called the chairperson. The CEO himself could be the chairperson too, but there's always someone who represents the leader of the board and may be called the "lead director" to differentiate themselves from the CEO. The board of directors serve as advisors but they also have the ability to override and even FIRE the CEO under the pretense of protecting the company's investors. Should a CEO commit a crime, performed badly as a leader, or done anything controversial that the shareholders consider to be bad for the company they invest in, the board can boot the CEO out and find another CEO to take their place. Usually, it is another member of the board that is elected by the board to succeed but anyone could be chosen by the board to become the new CEO. This is all done legally but you can imagine some politics and manipulation at play; Acca could try to fight back or plant a successor to maintain power, or there is someone on the board who wanted to take his position and this was all part of the plan, or... there's some sort of bigger conspiracy at play.

There are already some good reasons for people try and oust Acca out. He himself is introduced as not well liked and having a terrible character, and Howler Co.'s market value significantly because of the land forfeiture situation implied to be because of his doing. Not only that, there's always that general sense of people simply wanting to gain power at all cost- even if it means taking someone down to get their position. Once word gets out and the shareholders catch wind of this, they're going to be hounding the board to do something to protect their investments; we've already seen one shareholder, Dolphin Bank, pulling out of their investments. The board will then fire Acca from his position as a way to scapegoat him, claiming he was responsible for the lost in value, and the board's "solution" will be to put someone else as CEO to ease the shareholders' minds. This someone else could be the actual main villain, or the chairperson/lead director is the main villain this whole time. It could be possible that either characters planned Acca's downfall this whole time and it will be them that will face Jodio in the end.

[youngwonhui]

✦ dance of the swords

*•. member: Jeonghan x gn readers

*•. summary: you were in a path of revenge. In your venture to obtain incriminating data of the company, Jeonghan, the illegitimate son of the CEO caught you by surprise and took you away. Little did you know that his next action will surprise you even more

*•. genre: angst

*•. wc: 1,8k

*•. warnings: none

“Let me ask you something then.” Jeonghan looks down to the stacks of paper on his desks. Hidden company data that simply wouldn’t do any good to the good name of the company.

Might as well put a big red tape with the words ‘Corruption’ it might not convince the media of the truth behind the dirty parts of his father’s company. Jeonghan subconsciously pulls the collar of his Loro Piana sweater. The soft material never felt so suffocating, yet Jeonghan enjoys this moment altogether.

You kept your breathing straight. Eyes never leaving the smirking figure of Jeonghan, now his eyes turn a shade brighter. Maybe it’s just the light. There’s a familiar glint. You spend enough spying around the office to recognize this particular trait of the CEO bastard son.

You had prepared every consequences that will follow this dangerous venture. Revenge are never risk-free and you’re determined to lurk around this company for any leads that will help you put a light on the truth of this company that took everyone you ever loved. A measly CEO son who treat the place like a playground just to pass his time isn’t going to easily stop you from your plan.

“Your question, sir?”

“Sir? That’s new, you never call me that.” Jeonghan glance at you before he leaned back on his seat, lacing his fingers leisurely, however he failed to control the ever-growing smirk on his face. “Ah, question, that’s right. I’m guessing this document doesn’t magically found it’s way into your pretty bag there? Wait i can answer this. Of course not, because to access this particular document you’ll need to pull a few strings up top. And i mean half of the board which i doubt you’ll managed, seeing that you only begin to work around…?”

You drew an exasperated sigh while Jeonghan continues to trail his gaze around the room and finally to you as he made his way around the obnoxiously large desk. What’s more obnoxious are the sound of Jeonghan’s expensive leather shoes paired with the tapping of his playful fingers on said desk. Million questions ran through your head as you perfectly aware it isn’t a coincidence that Jeonghan had manifested himself right outside the hallway after you had manage to secure the document.

You planted your feet straight, as now Jeonghan stood right in front of you with an indiscernible expression hanging off the usual bright complexion often posted by the mainstream media. Leaning against his desk, you kept your eyes against his. Refusing to back down, seeing as he hasn’t call any form of security to drag you off the property, a thought popped up on your mind that Jeonghan might have a different thought for your action.

Yet your question remain unanswered.

“I’m not gonna lie and pretend i don’t know every little detail and background about you. I’m also not gonna lie that i don’t have a little inkling of what you might have in plan with this incriminating documents.” Oh how you wish you could wipe those smirk off of his beautiful face.

By now you can’t help the little side eye that you give to him. The CEO son just chuckled at your crumbling fortress. By this point you wondered if this is just the shakedown Jeonghan is playing so he could impress his father. You took a deep breath and steel your will, straightening your posture and reminding yourself of why are you here in the first place.

Revenge.

There’s no doubt that the air and tension around the two of you could easily choke anyone without clear understanding of the situation. Underneath the silence and above the small ticking noise of Jeonghan’s old wooden clock, somehow you could find the rhythm to his slow breathing. His chest slowly moving behind his crossed arms. Not that you were staring at that particular spot. You were keeping an eye on him. Readying for the next blow. Because being interrogated like this surely will not be the only obstacle you found in this long road you had planned.

“If it is revenge you seek, i have an offer to make.”

Jeonghan’s soft voice caught you by surprise. More than the words he uttered, which both piqued your interest and raise the alarm at the same time.

“What do you know about revenge?” You found yourself asking.

“I don’t know much. But i feel like you do.” Jeonghan kept his eyes on yours, tilting his head ever so slightly. Inviting.

He’s dangerous. You kept reminding yourself. The mere fact that he’s off of your radar are what brought this obstacle altogether. If you had kept a close eye on him, you would be walking free with the much needed documents and further into your plan. And yet here you are.

You could dance around the tension built. The fact that Jeonghan manage to somehow figure out what you’ve been doing yet he’s so far from your attention are saying something about Jeonghan. For whatever reason he’s been willing to hide the fact that you are in the midst of smuggling incriminating data to the outside world. 

Judging by the fact that you’re not in a bigger problem yet.

Yet Jeonghan is already a problem enough. You just didn’t know how much, and his offer sounds more like a poisoned apple. But an apple still. Alluring.

“Whatever it is you’re offering, i don’t need it.”

“You haven’t even heard it.” Jeonghan argues. You hate how he’s enjoying this. “As i said, you seemed to know a lot about revenge. I know a lot about this company. More than any average money hungry old geezer of a board member at least. And i know you need help. What good is a revenge when you can’t even smuggle out a little document without getting caught by me.”

“Are you offering a way out or trying to be knight on a white horse?”

“We both perfectly know that i’m not honourable enough to be a knight. I’m merely offering an olive branch. Since we seemed to be headed to a similar path.”

“I’m not interested for your help. As much as i know of revenge, i don’t need to owe anyone anything. Moreover owe you.” Jeonghan briefly looks down at the accidental condescending tone you give. You regret nothing though if he’s being candor, so can you.

“So you’re stubborn. I like that.” Jeonghan muttered under his breath.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Apology accepted.” Jeonghan straightened, you can’t help to lightly chuckled at the situation. “As i said we’re going to the same path. So how if it’s like this, i’ll be your hired gunman. By your order i’ll shot the gun so that your plan goes smoothly without obstacle. You know, grease the gear a little.”

You couldn’t help but to be amazed at the polarity of his sentence. What could he be planning behind this offer. How could he said such words with a smile on his face. Words that might help you bring down this rotten company to ashes. He’s willing to stomp on those ground.

“Why do you want revenge?”

“That might be a talk for another time.” Jeonghan kept his composure. “I’ll be whatever you want and i’ll do whatever it is you needed. You have your obstacle, and i have mine. We’ll clear each other path so it’ll be easier for both of us.”

“What if i refuse?”

“Well, i was hoping you wouldn’t say that.” Jeonghan clicks his tongue before straightening up and stuffing his hand to the pocket of his trouser. No matter how heated the air has been between you, the cold breeze of the room and weather still gets to him. “Then i’ll find another way of revenge. Although i hate to be the one to stop yours.” His other hand move faster to picks up the phone on his desk.

In frantic, you unknowingly moves and stop his act before he could follow through. While being successful to keep Jeonghan from calling anyone important, you hadn’t planned the close proximity resulted from your action. You could feel Jeonghan’s cold hand in your hold. For some reason you can’t let go of it. In fear of him doing the deed or it just felt right to held his hand down.

You could sense the small smirk blossoming on Jeonghan’s face—hell, by this close proximity you can even feel the slight movement of his breathing. The warm puff of air he exhale right into your temple.

Slightly tilting your head to look at him, you took a deep breath before planning for the next step forward. Now with Jeonghan in the mix. You couldn’t lie he make a good addition to smooth out the small wrinkle in your plan. But the possible consequences of him being Jeonghan continues to throw you into the shadow of doubt.

You’ll have an easier path to your revenge but you’ll be dancing a tight line alongside a man with hidden intentions.

“What’s your next move?” Jeonghan whispers lowly, yet it rang so loud into your eardrum. You could feel his gaze. All the brown and glint of somewhat madness. It looks so clear up close.

It should scare you, but you can’t help to join in his dance.

You realize this is no longer your plan. As of this moment, you play right into his hands and now it became both yours and Jeonghan’s plan. Volatility and collateral damage be damned.

“I don’t like gunman.” You replied, sliding your hand off of his. Giving him the benefit of the doubt as a sign of agreement. Your first move. Strangely Jeonghan looks a little disappointed, when he lost the touch of your hand. “I prefer swordsman. Agile, skilful, and undoubtedly powerful.” You whispered those words straight into Jeonghan’s ear, which fall short to his neck. You could spot the slight jolt of his shoulder, which he quickly regain his composure and school his face back to his default disarming smile.

“I’ll be exactly that for you.” Jeonghan raises his hand to your face. Stopping a mere millimetres of your cheekbone. You held back your breath, but didn’t move away. Jeonghan took this to close the distance and graze your skin softly. As expected his hand felt as cold as it looks. His touch was brief, it left you somehow wanting for more. Jeonghan lowered his hand as an invitation. “I’ll join your dance. We’ll even talk to the dead. They’ll fear us.”

[yumizcorner]

CEO‘S FAV~

BangChan x reader

!!Fem!reader | breeding | slight sir kink | quicky | slight gagging | slight mention of fingering | slight begging!!

A/n: this is for all the people that wanted Chan smut in the poll I posted a few days ago! Have fun :)

„…wich leads to the perfect promotion.“ that was what y/n heard when she came back to reality. She zoned out a long time ago even tho she was at work,at a business meeting. She worked at a famous company wich made spots to promote products and other things. Her position wasn’t to high but she was definitely feared in the company. Y/n always only briefly noticed but behind her back everybody called her "CEO‘s fav". How so? Well the CEO of the company,BangChan, often treats her better than other employees that are literally the same position as her. She always used to think that he was just being nice and,to be honest,she didn’t mind it. At the end of the day it was good for her. She rarely got the hard work,more the work that was leading to interaction with Chan wich was the explanation for her second nickname people called her; "Bangs banging assistant". It was obvious that "banging" was meant in a sexual way since one employee once pointed out that Chan looked at her ass…not only once so that person thought they fucked. Of course people believed it,it would explain everything. But that wasn’t true. They never ever touched each other in any way except a handshake,yet y/n can’t deny that she’s attracted to her boss.

„thanks for your attention. You can go back to your working place now.“ the second CEO said wich made all of the people,that had a seat at the long table,stand up and leave the room. Y/n was ,what an coincidence,the last one to leave the room but she never left it since BangChan stoped her. „Mrs. L/N could you please stay“ she squeezed her eyes tight and turned around,being a little scared. „Sure mr. Bang“ she answered with a smile. „take a seat please.“ the girl did as he told her,being afraid that he might noticed that she zoned out and that she would get scolded for it now. „What’s the matter?“ she asked. „Well…“ he got up from his chair and walked around the table,leaning against it while looking down at the sitting girl. „I think you heard of the rumours that are trending in the company right now“ y/n looked at him a little confused. „The one’s about your fucking other employees with higher positions. That you’re only where you’re at right now because you fucked several people in the company.“ you gasped a little when he said that. Y/n never really heard that people said that. Maybe she briefly noticed it but she never realized that it was a big thing at her working place.

„uhm- I Never knew this was a big thing,sir.“ she said truly. „The rumours or that you fucked them?“ he asked and cocked an eyebrow at her with an amused smile. Y/n looked at him with wide eyes. „n-no I didn‘t do anything with anyone here.“ Chris just nodded at her answer and looked at the floor. „Will I get fired now?“ she asked after a short moment of silence. Chan looked at her and giggled softly. „How could I fire one of my favourite employees.“ he said wich made y/n sigh in relief. „Thank you, Mr. Bang.“ she smiled. The girl already wanted to get up and walk outside but Chan stopped her once again. „We‘re not done yet“ with that,y/n got afraid again. She knew that she did her job well but she was still afraid that someone better would take her place.

Y/n turned around again and looked at Chan. „hm?“ she looked at him confused. „There are also rumours that you think I’m really attractive..“ her cheeks turned slightly red at his words. Maybe also because she was mad at her best friend in the company who was the only person that knew how she talked about Chan when he was not around and perhaps talked about her with other people. Her mind went blank after a short time because her boss was way closer now than before. He stood in front of her,both of their chests almost touching. His finger found the way to her chin,right before lifting her head with it. „Are these rumours also false?“ he asked while looking into her eyes. Y/n got obviously nervous as she tried to reduce the eye contact with Chan. „Well…I can’t deny that I might said that once….or twice.“ Chris removed his finger from her face and chuckled a little. „So you think I’m attractive?“ y/n just nodded. She highly believed that she would just walk outside of his office and go back to work even tho she wouldn’t be able to focus,for the rest of the day,at all but that was surely not what Chan planned.

„would you let me fuck you?“ he asked as he was suddenly behind her,chest firmly pressing against her back. Her eyes widened at his question as she started to brabble. „You’re my boss,sir. That is not allowed and it could make you lose your job and you‘d get a bad reputation and-“ she got cut of by the guy behind her. „I didn’t ask for the consequences if we get caught,I asked if you would.“ he spoke softly,his breath tickling her ear. „I-I-“ y/n couldn’t speak anymore. She was to shy to admit that she just wanted to rip his clothes off of him and let him destroy her right away. To her surprise,she didn’t need to admit. Chris started to spread kisses all over her neck. She closed her eyes as a soft sigh left her lips. „If you want me to stop you can just say it and I’ll back up and pretend nothing ever happened but once I started I might not be able to stop myself so please answer me. Do you want me to fuck you y/n?“ he never used her first name. It made her think that he was really serious wich was good because so was she. „Yes“ she breathed out. „right answer baby“ a shiver went down her spine as he called her that pet name and she suddenly noticed how wet she was already. She ignored it the whole time,being overwhelmed by Chan’s presence itself.

Y/n snapped back to reality when she felt how her Boss lifted her up and set her down on his desk. He stood between her legs and connected their lips without any hesitation. The girl kissed him back while enjoying the feeling of his soft and warm lips. „Please~ I need you,sir“ she mumbled against his lips. Chan groaned and cursed a little under his breath. „God I’ve waited for this moment for so long“ he said as he moved her panties to the side. He knew that when he saw she wore a skirt today,it would be way easier to make things work. He was after all a busy man and the next meeting was waiting for him right away.

As much as he enjoyed fucking her,he had no time to waste. She was definitely more for him than just a help to relief stress in his breaks and he would definitely make it up to her but right now he just had to make it quick.

Chan started to prepare the woman by inserting two fingers into her. He threw his head back and hissed as he felt how tight and warm she was. „Please I’m ready and I can take it just please fuck me already.“ she said as she looked into his eyes. „you held back the whole entire time,yet you’re still here begging for me.“ he chuckled as he stroked himself a few times before entering her. Y/n gasped a little. She could tell from his whole everything that he was big but she didn’t expect him to be this big. He was long and also thick. He wouldn’t fill her. He would stretch her and she was all in for it. „Shit You’re so big,sir“ Chan twitched inside of her wich made her notice that he liked it when she called him "sir". She remembered that he often used to stare at her with that smirk on his face when she said it and it made her realize how blind she was the whole entire time.

She moaned out as she felt how Chan started to move. The whole desk moved in the waves of the man‘s thrusting,the sounds it made going a long with the moans of y/n. „You‘re so tight,pretty girl.“ he said as he sped up his pace. Chan‘s Hand found it’s way down to y/n‘s mouth as the girl started to moan louder with every thrust he did. „Do you want us to get caught?“ She shook her head,eyes being teary from all the pleasure. „Wouldn’t you like that hmm? Put on a show for whoever walks in? Welcome our new clients with your tight pussy being ripped“ she clenched around him hardly wich made Chan scoff. He never imagined it to feel that good. He took his blazer and stuffed it into the girls mouth. He placed his hands on her waist and started to fuck her harder. „Do you want it inside? Want me to fill you up?“ Y/n nodded repeatedly and cried out as much as she could wich send him over the edge. Seeing one of his employees laying under him and crying,being completely destroyed by him made him cum. A warm feeling started to spread inside of y/n wich caused her to roll her eyes to the back of her head.

Chan slowly removed his blazer out of her mouth and gave her a tiny kiss on the cheek. He helped her to fix her clothing and then send his assistant to help her get out of the building. He told her to stay home for the next few days and recover from their little session and so she did.

[angelicadamposting]

JuJuVi ૮ . . ྀིა⁩ | Overlord Of Idolatry

art credit to mr.artzy.shrimp on instagram !

Basic Info

Name: JuJuVi (Formerly JuJu as her stage name & Formerly Lim Hyeonju legally) Species: Rabbit Sinner / Mortal Soul / Overlord*(Formerly Human) Physical Age At Death: 20 Gender: Cis-Woman Sexuality: Heterosexual (meh) Birth Date: May 30, 1997 Death Date: June 03, 2017 Zodiac: Gemini Cause Of Death: Falling Stage Light  Height: 5'8 or 172.2cm MBTI: ENTJ Romantic Interest(s): Valentino (horrible person x horrible person) * = Overlord of Idolatry

Short Facts

Overlord Of Idolatry 

Was a K-Pop Idol in an upcoming rookie girl group 

K-Drama or Lookism level bully in life

Once a bully, always a bully. After being cruel throughout her school life, she continued once her idol career began. Pushing others down to get more attention, and seem more talented. And the behavior wouldn’t stop in Hell. 

Was killed by a falling stage light during her first comeback performance. It was labeled as a freak accident, however, the light was rigged by one of her fellow group members, Jinyu. 

Works alongside the Vee’s & altered her stage name to JuJuVi for branding

Vox, Velvette, Valentino, and her share employees– Her idols sometimes promote products on Velvette’s socials, filming for Valentino, or starring in commercials/television shows for Vox. 

CEO of the one and only K-Pop Company in Hell, making the industry more toxic and abusive than on Earth. Idols who work for her are sinners who have sold their souls to her. 

Own’s Jinyu’s soul now.

In a situationship with Valentino

Likes♡

Dancing

Cigarettes

Performing 

Singing

Fashion

Being Famous

Receiving Gifts

Attention (duh)

Choreographing 

Tearing down others

Working Out

Success

Dislikes‹/𝟹

Being Belittled or Disrespected

Being Alone

Clutter

Black Coffee

Her Schedule Being Changed

People with Poor Time Management Skills

Open Windows

Being Touched Without Express Permission

Those Who Can't 'Keep Up' With Her

Personality Traits 

Positive – Charismatic, Bold, Ambitious, Confident, Creative, Efficient, Extroverted, Intelligent, Talented, Musical, Meticulous, Passionate, Determined/persistent, Persuasive, Socially Aware, Witty, 

Negative – Two Faced, Catty, Cocky, Controlling, Cruel, Dishonest, Greedy, Attention-Seeking, Hypocritical, Judgemental, Know-It-All, Manipulative, Materialistic, Vain, Perfectionist, Pretentious, Resentful, Selfish, Vindictive, Volatile, 

Backstory (before Hell)

Born in South Korea, and raised from a young age with an interest in the K-pop scene, JuJuVi worked hard in both singing and dance lessons for a chance to debut in an idol group. 

Throughout her youth, she’d take out her frustrations on anyone she saw as ‘beneath’ her. Be it less popular girls or nerdy guys. Being known throughout high school as a ruthless bully. 

At age 13 she was accepted to a company and began training. She trained for 6 years before debuting at age 19  in 2016, in a girl group of 5 members called ‘V.Bunny', They’d release their debut single, ‘Service’ (originally by VIVIDIVA). 

A year following, they’d release their first comeback single entitled ‘BUNNY BUNNY’ (originally by Oh Bliss). During this time period, JuJu's bullying and attempts to claw herself to the top grew more severe. Doing things to actively ruin others' careers, rather than just pushing them down and lifting herself up. Even beginning to go as far as sleeping with their manager and trying to flirt with the CEO to gain more favoritism.

Eventually, during a live show, JuJu was singing and dancing alongside her group but once she took the center position during their performance of ‘Service’ a stage light would fall and crush her- killing her instantly in front of hundreds of fans. The whole ordeal would be decided nothing more than a terrible accident, but JuJu knew even from Hell that couldn’t have been just a coincidence. She’d spent over two years bullying and belittling her group mates, pushing them down so she could try and get the most lines or center position in the choreography. She wasn’t sure which of her members would have rigged the light but she had her suspicions.

Those suspicions would be confirmed 5 years later when Jinyu died and arrived in Hell, the girl quickly turned to the idol industry and found out JuJuVi was the one at the top now. JuJuVi encourages Jinyu to sell her soul to her, and she’d make her an idol more famous than their group could have ever become. 

Timeline In Hell

2017 : Arrival. After her death, JuJu awoke in Hell like any other sinner after their less than timely death and life of malicious decisions. However, she quickly became aware of the lack of a K-Pop industry in the pride ring, or anywhere in Hell. This became her goal to fix, and she quickly picked herself up. Nearly overnight the rabbit sinner had connections with other overlords, and a company building was being built in the Entertainment District within the Pride Ring.

2018 : Official Vee Meeting. As she grew in power and name by signing anyone who showed potential in performing as an idol into soul-binding contracts, the Vee's became more aware of her presence. Rather than being intimidated, Velvette specifically saw an opportunity to expand their territory by having the Overlord of Idolatry join their team. Inviting JuJu to the V Tower for a business proposal, and seeing as JuJu isn't stupid, she went. Officially meeting Valentino, Vox, and Velvette, their conversations led to a new partnership and a lovely name change for the idol. JuJu would become JuJuVi and the newest Vee. Her idols and groups are being promoted on Velvette's socials and promoting Vee-related products on Vox's television channels throughout Hell. The only place without overlap for the time being would be between Valentino and JuJuVi's girls.

2019 : Business Exchange with Valentino. Over time, the addition of JuJuVi to the Vee's was beneficial to all parties... Except Valentino, at least in his eyes. So the oversized moth took it upon himself to invite JuJuVi to dinner one night to discuss beginning to potentially have some of her idols work in his films or his adult video stars do idol work on the side. Initially, the prospect of dinner alone with Val in and of itself was not appealing... However, she wasn't opposed to the prospect of gaining temp idols for a (ask eddie what its called) sexy girl group but she wasn't privy to letting him take his idols away from their training for whatever filth he had in mind for them. To deal with this, and discuss the full details, she begrudgingly agreed to the meeting over dinner. Once they met, she set her boundaries clear-cut and ignored his overzealous flirting as usual. And yet, he didn't stop either. Hoping his 'natural charisma' could convince the bunny to give in to whatever deal he wanted to make, but it would be in vain. By the end of dinner, JuJuVi had drunk the Lust Overlord under the table and had him signing to her conditions. This would be the start of an odd, on-and-off, unofficial, toxic dynamic between the two overlords.

Pilot/Season 1 : Of equal standing to the other three Vees, she finds entertainment in seeing the despair of the sinners whose souls she owns along with whatever personal squabble going on between Valentino and Angel Dust, Valentino and Eva Lean, Vox and Alastor, Vox and Missy Misery, and so on. Mostly standing to the side with Velvette laughing at the drama if she's not trying to add to it, or getting into her own fights with Valentino. (cont.)

Notable Relationships

Valentino (TW/CW : mentions of toxic dynamics, ab*se, violence, etc) It's not even possible to say she only 'initially' disliked Valentino, from the moment she met him until present day, she's loathed him. And yet, he's the only soul from the living realm or Hell to ever see what could be described as her 'soft' side. Though, she'd kill him a second time if he ever tried to tell anyone about it. In public, they act as though they get along as business partners and squabble often. Behind closed doors, they scream, fight, and hurt one another -- but strangely, one of the two miserable idiots apologizes to the other at some point. One of them eventually reluctantly crawling back to the other, muttering a half-hearted apology before trying to kiss the other to just 'put the fight in the past.' Going back to how things were as if they hadn't just become physically violent with one another and drawn blood, continuing and ensuring the cycle continues. Despite how chaotic, and volatile they both are... and how willing they are to hurt the other, deep, deep... DEEP down, they truly care for one another in their own twisted ways. When JuJuVi and Val's 'relationship' began, privately I may add, (JuJu wouldn't want her personal relationships impacting her idol persona or cause an uproar in her fanbase), the two did what any ab*ser would to hide their truth. Each of them love-bombing the other, lying and gaslighting the other, all while under the sweet guise of 'loving' the other. Over time, each of their true personalities began to leak out. Be it Valentino going haywire from seeing her 'too close' to another male overlord, or JuJuVi smacking him for talking about Angel Dust, Eva Lean, or even Vox 'too much.' For someone who 'doesn't care' about his other entanglements, the overlord of idolatry didn't want to have to hear about them. By the time of the main series, the two have settled into a toxic cycle of love-bombing, fighting and hurting one another, apologizing, and making up before repeating.

Vox Peculiarly enough, JuJuVi and Vox are incredible business partners. Each of them has a capitalistic mindset and quickly bounces ideas off one another during meetings to increase each of their profits. Not the closest outside of work and keeping appearances up as a group. She's aware of whatever weird situationship Vox has with Valentino, and she doesn't care whatsoever.

Velvette The closest thing to a 'best friend' JuJuVi has allowed herself. The two of them gossiping and laughing at the dramatic scenes ensuing throughout season 1. Regularly taking photos together, or of the other to post and keep more than appearances up, but truly painting an image that reflected how 'close' they were to the public.

Missy Misery (OC belonging to me) JuJuVi was apprehensive of Missy when Vox first introduced her to the Overlord of Obsession, but they quickly bonded over their shared love for the stage and music. She does however keep up her fake, sweet 'family friendly' idol persona on in front of the other overlord. Solely intending to not piss the older woman off, considering how actually passionate she is- but JuJuVi isn't quite aware of the fact Missy, too, puts on a mask for the public.

[teecupangel]

Hey, so, assassins creed x Idols (Kpop?). From the comments of the other post I remember the band "Now United" where every member is from a different country, maybe it can be used as a concept for the band?, idk I'm just giving ideas but I really want to continue the idea of them as group bc I found it hilarious lmao.

I tried looking for the post where we talk about this but I can’t find it anymore TTATT

(Also, it’s kinda funny that I’m answering this ask now the same day I watched the last Hololive concert with my friend. What a coincidence lol)

So, first things first, since my idol era happened during the early 2000s with Jpop, I’m going to borrow the setup of Debut or Die for this one to make it feel more Kpop XD

First things first, we’ll set up what we need in the idol group:

Lead Vocalist

Sub Vocalist

Main Dancer

Lead Rapper

(there are other parts like “Face of the Group” or “Main Visual”… aka the most photogenic one, maybe even something like the group’s composer/lyricist if we want that)

Anyway, we’re focusing on those 4 because this is the formation for Desmond, Altaïr, Ezio and Ratonhnhaké:ton.

Okay, let’s be honest. We’re going to put Desmond in the lead vocalist part because it’s me XD

But, putting him as sub vocalist would be a random reference to the fact that Desmond’s voice actor, Nolan North, sang the sub vocalist part of Saint Row IV’s Opposite Attract singalong scene

(this also help show how high Nolan North can sing I guess?)

Also, also, Ratonhnhaké:ton has to be the lead vocalist. His voice actor, Noah Watts, has a 13+ min video showing why Ratonhnhaké:ton should be the lead vocalist.

Altaïr would be the main dancer because I like the idea of Ezio being the main rapper and Altaïr’s body build would make him a good dancer.

So our final setup would be

Ratonhnhaké:ton – Lead Vocalist and Maknae (the youngest by one year)

Desmond – Sub Vocalist and the reluctant leader

Altaïr – Main Dancer and maybe their dance coordinator?

Ezio – Lead Rapper and Face of the Group + Main Visual

Now, I think you asked what Edward’s part will be?

Normally I would say Edward can a retired idol turned into this group’s manager but let’s fuck with the timeline and make everyone around the same ages and turn this into…

ACB48

hehehehe

(for those wondering, this is a reference to one of the longest idol group in Japan, AKB48)

So Desmond’s group would be part of ACB48 together.

Other groups include:

A group composed of Edward, Arno, Evie and Jacob (fans jokingly calls them the Hundred Years War Group)

A group composed of Shao Jun, Arbaaz Mir, Nikolai Orelov and Aguilar de Nerha.

A group composed of Kassandra, Alexios, and the twins Eivor and Havi.

A group composed of Bayek, Aya and Basim.

(Modern Assassins will be assistants or managers. Other historical Assassins can have their own group: like maybe Malik and Federico with their own group??? An all girls group of Claudia, Mary Read, Anne Bonny (even if she's not really an Assassin), María, Rebekah and Roshan)

And, of course, one of their rival idol group is made of Haytham Kenway, Shay Cormac (who was once part of ACB48), Daniel Cross and Maria Thorpe. (The CEO of their company is Warren Vidic)

Since they’re all of similar ages (around late teens early to mid twenties), Edward and Haytham are brothers and Ratonhnhaké:ton is their half-brother. Whether they’re cousins with Ezio is up to you.

[victimsofyaoipoll]

Round 3

Propaganda under the cut

Shiv Roy

She's honestly kind of a canonical victim of yaoi almost. She and her husband Tom have a loveless marriage but never end up getting divorced. Tom has a weird psychosexual obsession with Shiv's cousin Greg and at one point literally compares them all to the time Emperor Nero pushed his wife down the stairs and then castrated and married a slave boy named Sporus (Tom is unwell). Anyway the show just ended and long story short Tom is now CEO of Shiv's family's evil company and she is reduced to being his pregnant wife (which is the result of her voting not to authorize either of her brothers as CEO in order to save them from themselves) and Tom made another weird comment about literally owning Greg. And now people who ship Tom and Greg are like "omg it's canon we won" but I don't. Think that they did. Sorry I'm rambling it was just a really good finale idek if this counts but

I will be honest I'm not really tuned into the tomgreg fandom, but tons of people wanted tom to leave shiv and get with greg and tons of people thought shiv was the devil incarnate and refused to see any nuance in her character and I don't think those two things are a coincidence. 

She gets a lot of hate from fans, largely just for being a woman who reacts in a non pretty way to abuse and for doing the exact same shitty stuff her brothers do. But also a large part of the hate she gets comes from the people who ship her husband with her cousin. To the point where people claim she's abusing her husband who views her as an accessory, a baby factory, and a ticket to money. Don't get me wrong, their relationship is incredibly toxic and unhealthy, but it is so on both of their parts. But Shiv's the only one who gets criticized for it

Peggy Carter

She’s a victim of Stucky mainly bc of the way marvel used her to give Steve an ooc ‘happy ending, but I know I’ve seen some posts calling her toxic or something it was 2019 so In CAT:FA, she’s introduced as a confident British agent. She has some chemistry w Steve Rogers (although more fans (on tumblr at least) preferred Steve and Bucky). She wasn’t just *woman who is strong*, but also had some emotional depth, with an actual range of emotion outside of angry and sad. She had a spin-off show, and she just continued to fight Russians and misogynists, even having chemistry in an almost wlw relationship and an eventual marriage to a famous shield agent. She went through character development and just was an awesome character. Then you know what endgame does? It has Steve Rogers travel back in time and take all of that development away. Most fans were mad at Marvel, and a lot were mad at Steve, but some fans threw Peggy completely under the bus, saying that they traded the (fanon?) queer ship/(canon) friendship for a bland love interest, which, um, she was so much more then that? I remember people really disliking Peggy, which isn’t fair to her character when she is/was so much more then that.

Peggy is vilified by people who ship Steve with his war comrade Bucky Barnes. I’ve even seen people claiming baselessly that she was secretly HYDRA the whole time. 

She gets in the way of stucky which OBVIOUSLY gives people, most of them women themselves, the right to be ridiculously misogynistic. Dismissing her character arc, traits, presence in the movies and her part in Steve Roger's life, saying she is insignificant on the ground of very subjective readings is one thing, but outright calling her 'just some old coochie', among other colourful, wonderful things, is another. They also keep reaching to villainize her (saying she's a literal nazi which she's not) and cancel her so their ship is somehow made more valid for it, erasing the competition as it were.

[itsclydebitches]

RWBY doesn't care if faunus are viewed as an allegory for real world minorities. Faunus are magic hybrids of humans and animals - fairy tales in RWBY were always true. Hence, Blake is offered to become a human or a cat. Blake calls herself a cat because she is part cat. Ruby tells the red prince Blake is a faunus (the elf of the group) and the rest of them are humans because they are. Simple. RT: "I didn't come over here looking to solve systemic societal issues."

Then RT shouldn't have written a story in which they are actively and knowingly commenting on a systemic societal issue.

Yeah, this could have been the case. It's absolutely possible to write a version of RWBY where faunus are just #there and their animal characteristics in no way intersect with social justice. But RWBY didn't write that story. They explicitly introduced the faunus as victims of long-term discrimination. They're "second class citizens." "Animals" to be exploited, tortured, and discarded. There's nothing simple in writing a post-war decree that forces everyone with certain physical characteristics onto an isolated island away from the "superior" group. Or making your billionaire CEO target faunus for slave labor, including giving us one character who was branded. We're shown an extremist group fighting for their civil rights and the end message of that is, "They're fighting the wrong way not to be treated like they're disposable :/" RWBY introduced Weiss as a character who would compare Sun to a trash can and, what? We're really supposed to believe that he's just the "elf" of the group? It's a complete coincidence that the citizens of Remnant just happen to systematically target all the people with animal traits.

This isn't even the only time RWBY has explicitly woven social justice into its story. They had a main character lose her arm, introduced another with a metal body, a third that had lost half of his, and took all three on a journey that hinged on their disabilities. The entirety of the Atlas arc revolves around class and getting us to emotionally side with the victims of the rich elite. They've been teasing a queer ship for four years, but refusing to commit to it in a way that might piss off real life homophobes. Our fictional world supposedly wasn't grappling with the same discrimination... until May casually tossed out that she was disowned for being trans. The ENTIRETY of the story hinges on rooting for four young woman in a genre that has historically been dismissive of them and the go-to insult when someone disagrees with a reading is, "You just hate women, huh?"

RWBY is seeped in social issues. It's built on it. They're the freaking linchpin. The writers WANTED that because they understood that the best storytelling engages with real life concerns. But they didn't know how to approach these topics respectfully - they wanted the rewards of a "deep" story without carefully working out what they wanted to say about these topics - and the result is a franchise that's often more insulting than it is inspirational. After nearly a decade of that, RWBY doesn't get to suddenly backtrack because they fucked it up. They can't have their cake and eat it too. "We're a story about strong, empowered women, one of which is fighting for equal standing in her society, another who is grappling with disability, a third who is acknowledging her status as heir to a company that has done irreparable damage to her world and exacerbated class discrimination... but if that's not written well, don't worry about it! It's just a fun, silly story! Haha, why would you take a cartoon so seriously?"

RWBY has always wanted to be taken seriously but, you know, only when they're succeeding. If they mess up they want you to do them the courtesy of ignoring that which is... not how writing a paid for, public story consistently commenting on minority groups works.