#and then stopped midway to write said fic

[baynton]

[brynnmclean]

saw a post questioning shipping Senua and Thórgestr and started to reblog it with a tag novel-- felt weird about doing that since this is lengthy and potentially derailing, so making my own post instead. Spitballing under the cut:

First off, any time someone is like, "the real reason people ship this is because they find the dude attractive," this is SO funny to me as someone who doesn't find men attractive IRL and has fiercely loved Senua since I played the first game, like-- actually I find the dynamic between those two characters to be compelling and interesting precisely because of all the baggage between them re: their backgrounds, the rough (put mildly!) beginning of their relationship, all the things they don't talk about, and them finding a common enemy/common ground to work with. The explicit parallels between them stated in-game scratched an itch in my brain. The minute they pointed out the dark rot on his arm, it was like, "oh! hello there! NOW I'm interested in whatever your whole deal is" for me. Also, idk man, I too would follow Senua around after she knocked me into the dirt and then showed me a way to fight the giants that I very much wanted to fight instead of appease.

The idea that Thórgestr was part of the Orkney Raid that killed and mutilated Dillion is VERY interesting food for thought, even if I don't personally have that headcanon (surely there are more viking raiding groups than just the Bjorg). I think the Furies or the Shadow said something similar about Fargrimr (his kin murdered yours, you shouldn't save him, etc.) so I completely get that line of thought, but I think the game left it ambiguous enough that it's up for interpretation. Would I read fic with that premise? Yeah, I'd check that out. Could Senua forgive Thorgestr if his people were involved? Sounds fun to explore.

If (ha, when?) I write fic, I'd have to think more about it especially wrt timelines, like when did the Bjorg start specifically raiding for slaves for giant food sacrifices vs. killing people for resources and wealth? How far off are we from the old gods "dying" and the volcano erupting? Was it indeed a different group of raiders who made a deal with Zynbel, attacked Senua's home, and made the sacrifice at that time to Hela?

At the very least, I think there's a time jump between the end of Hellblade I and the beginning of Hellblade II since Senua wasn't alone on that slave ship and at least one of the (brief) survivors knew her by name. I wouldn't mind exploring that gap of time, too.

In any case I do agree that it would take a VERY long time for Senua to consciously catch feelings for anyone let alone Thorgestr with all their collective baggage. The idea of them having a relationship beyond friendship in the far off future of an AU where he survives is the only one that can make sense in my brain, personally. It would take time! Time they didn't get in the game! But I think there are a lot of different roads that could take, and some of them might be healthier than others. Shipping them certainly isn't forgetting or excusing what happened to Dillion-- or even mutually exclusive from still shipping Senua and Dillion. Or, frankly, also shipping Senua and Astridr, because I can see that ship too.

One of the nice things about all the details Ninja Theory didn't expand upon and that they left that ending so open is that the sky's the limit. I'm VERY interested in seeing fandom tackle this game as we get farther from the initial release.

[chocosvt]

HER | part three (m).

✧✎ synopsis: wonwoo, a heartbroken and burnt out writer nearing the end of his math degree, wants nothing to do with the seemingly perfect, intimidating girl who has everyone under her thumb. you. unfortunately, his literary talent has got him shoved him between a rock and a hard place when you want to write a book and require his expertise. you two are the furthest from compatible. wonwoo can’t see this going well. at all.

pairing: wonwoo x fem!reader word count: 24.8k genres/tropes: writer!wonwoo, university!au, plug!vernon + boyfriend!mingyu as prominent side characters, SLOWBURN (i am not fucking around this is my slowest burn yet), relationship drama, soul searching, strong angst/hurt (i’m coming for the jugular), comfort, romance, smut, a smoothie of every emotion on earth.

(!) warnings: drug use (weed, cocaine, ecstasy), wonwoo has anxiety + anxiety attacks + fairly dark thoughts, prescribed medication, gambling, intense language, infidelity, throwing up.

✧✎ a/n: just some quick things i want to make apparent!

the fic is told from wonwoo’s pov, not the reader’s! 

all major timeline events are organized through chronological dates

any smut or potentially triggering scenes are NOT MARKED bc the content is already quite mature, so just plz be aware of that! 

bolded and italicized text implies the characters are conversing in korean, tho it doesn’t happen often!

the fic in its entirety is 140k, so it has been split into 6 parts.

THE MIDWAY POINT 🎉 now i've just gotta prepare the last 3 parts! this is a chunkier chapter. it contains one of the longest scenes i've ever written (not even the full thing lol, it had to be split). but you'll see why, a lot had to "occur" :p

happy reading!! 💕

⇢ part one | part two | part four | part five | part six ⇢ soundtrack for those curious! ⇢ read at ur own pace! :)

“Holy fuck—you really did lose your shoe.”

He hadn’t actually noticed until you were both inside his dim apartment, puddles of water now forming on the floorboards.

“I told you!”

Looking down, you had on just a black, sodden sock. With a suctioning and uncomfortably wet squelch, you managed to toe off your remaining sneaker, flinging it carefully onto the shoe mat.

Wonwoo did the same.

Thunder continued rumbling outside, with lightning hitting no more than a few seconds after. The strikes were like white knives in the sky, ripping and shearing apart the storm clouds of summer humidity.

“Jesus,” you huffed, hands moulding down your face to wipe away all the droplets, “I can’t believe you got me to run, first of all. Second of all, I can’t tell if I absolutely hated or thoroughly enjoyed that.”

“I liked it,” Wonwoo said.

“Of course you did.”

He walked into the kitchen and grabbed a dish towel to begin cleaning off his glasses and phone, not caring about all the water he was dragging so liberally everywhere. Once Wonwoo fit the frames back to his face, he was able to clearly see you still standing by the door, and he appreciated that you didn’t want to make a mess of his living room even though it wouldn’t matter to him one teensy tiny bit.

Your fingers picked in a distracted manner at the clusters of your dripping hair, meanwhile soft, watery mascara dappled down your arched cheeks, framing you akin to a detailed and evocative painting. That hemmed, white t-shirt was clinging in soaked wrinkles to your heaving torso and chest, revealing subtle imprints of all the bare skin underneath. And Wonwoo found himself looking. Not in a lecherous, tainted way, but in the simple fact that you were…

He suddenly bit down on his inner cheek, curled his hand into a fist where he could easily dig at the scars on his thumb.

To Wonwoo, you were so indescribably beautiful, standing near his doorway, soaked to the bone in the rebirth of rainfall.

He had always thought you were pretty, but in that moment, he knew it was more than just that—it was a realization that stopped the breath in his lungs and the heavy beats his heart was just barely making. At least, that was how it felt. Wonwoo sensed his panic flare up for a split second, and then it simmered away into casual nervousness. Before his eyes could linger long enough to get caught, he remembered to take a deep inhale and reground his thoughts. You stopped fiddling with your hair and sniffled.

“Um, is it okay if I jump in your shower? I mean—well, it’s your place, so if you want to get yourself sorted first, that’s fine.”

He shook his head. “No, it’s okay. I don’t mind at all.”

You smiled back at him, adjusting the small leather bag strewn over your shoulder. He hoped your journal wasn’t soaked.

“Are you sure?”

“Well—okay, let me just run into my room and grab some clothes. I’ll dry off real quick in the washroom and change. I promise it’ll take me less than like, five minutes.”

“That’s probably best. I’ll just keep standing here.”

Hopping his way across the apartment, Wonwoo made it into his bedroom where he began ripping open the dresser drawers, pulling out some basic clothes like sweatpants and a hoodie. Then, he slipped into the washroom, peeling all the sopping, disgustingly sticky articles from his body and throwing them into the sink. Once he rubbed off with a towel, Wonwoo quickly got dressed—probably the fastest he’d ever put on clothes in his entire life. You were still standing patiently by the door when Wonwoo returned to the living room, having dumped his wet outfit into the laundry hamper.

“I’m making a colossal sized puddle right now.” You laughed.

“Ha—that’s okay,” Wonwoo answered, handing you a clean towel he’d pulled from his toiletries closet. “I’ll take care of it.”

You started walking toward the corridor, and then stopped.

“Do you think you have any clothes that might fit me? It’s just—I obviously don’t want to wear this again," you said, gesturing to the t-shirt and long skirt damply flush to your figure.

“Oh, yeah. I’ll look through my dresser and closet and pick out some stuff—you can see which fits best. I’ll throw your clothes and mine into the laundry as well—get it all clean and warmed up.”

“I’d love that, thank you.”

While you started undressing in his washroom, Wonwoo began sorting through all the clothes he had, pulling out older t-shirts and even some shorts, though he knew they most likely wouldn’t fit you. He heard you turn on the shower and wait for it to start heating.

Once Wonwoo was satisfied with all the options he’d picked, he knocked a few times on the washroom door. It was pulled open rather quickly, and he saw you standing in the threshold of thickening, hot steam, holding the spare towel closed at your chest.

“For you. There’s a whole bunch of sizes.”

“Okay, thank you so much. Do you want my clothes?”

“Yeah—that’s all of it?”

“Mmhm.”

“Okay. Take your time. I’m gonna run to the basement and get these in the laundry. I’ll probably be back up in like, five minutes. If you need anything else, just shout. I’ll be able to hear it.”

Wonwoo wasn’t sure how long it took you to shower, mostly because he was too occupied with looking out the windowpanes from his seat at the couch, watching the downpour continue, the evening dimness that flooded the room, and the liquified twinkling of city lights flickering behind all the rain. However, once you emerged from his bedroom and padded into the living area, dressed in a dark blue, logoed shirt from the neatly folded pile he’d handed you, Wonwoo had snapped back to the present. You smiled at him, and he saw that your face was now cleaned of the runny mascara and makeup.

“Oh—uh, our clothes are still in the laundry.”

“That’s okay,” you answered while walking around the coffee table. “I knew they wouldn’t be done right away. I’m fine to wait.”

Wonwoo proceeded to sit up straighter against the couch, rather than his slouched, wide spread position that he’d unconsciously sunk into before when staring vacantly into the rain.

“And, uh—just so you know, I’m wearing an embarrassing lack of clothes right now,” you admitted through your teeth, taking a ginger seat beside him. “So, like, not that I’m saying you’re going to be weird about it ‘cause I know you won’t be, but, do you have a blanket or something that I can toss over my lap?”

Immediately, Wonwoo got up from the couch.

“Yeah, there’s one in my room. I’ll grab it.”

He saw that your bag was also left in his bedroom, so he took it out with him, a few remaining droplets still bulbed on the surface.

“It’s probably not as soft as the one at your place.”

“Doesn’t matter.” You flapped the blanket out and settled it primly over your legs. “And thanks for grabbing my bag, too.”

Wonwoo collapsed back onto the sofa.

“I hope your journal’s not ruined.”

After fishing around inside the pouch, you pulled out your phone, and then the leather notebook, which was completely dry.

“Oh, thank God. I’d actually be so pissed if it was wet, probably more so than my phone.” You flipped through the pages, feeling for any splotches or tears. “I prevail, after all.”

Wonwoo smiled, and fluffed a hand through his hair.

“If you decide to stay longer because the rain won’t let up, I can always try to make you supper, or something. I can’t promise that it will be the best meal of your life, but I’m not that incompetent.”

“Oh—but what if I want something extravagant?” You smirked while flitting through your text messages. “Like buttery lobster with garlic mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables?”

He scratched under the pad of his glasses.

“Is that what you usually eat?”

“No. Only when I’m feeling super fancy. I force Mingyu to cook it for me because he’s good at that stuff. Really, I shouldn’t have to ask him—” you glanced at Wonwoo, smiling, “—he should just do it.”

“Well, if you decide to stay, I can make the next best thing.”

“Yeah? What’s that?”

Looking into his kitchen, Wonwoo laughed at himself.

“Ramen.”

“Oh! I actually love ramen,” you exclaimed, shuffling up your legs under the blanket. “And I would totally stay, but I promised Princess that I’d come to her new place at six o’clock-ish to help do some unpacking. Once my clothes are all done, I’ll probably get her to come pick me up. I don't know when the rain's gonna stop."

“That’s fine,” Wonwoo replied with an accepting, warm expression, even though on the inside, he was rotting in disappointment because he would have given anything for you to stay and eat supper, maybe watch a movie afterward, order ice cream.

He hated when you would leave. It left him to swim alone with his own thoughts—mostly consumed by you—and dreadfully wait until he could see or hear from you again. As Wonwoo stared off into space, he felt the phone in his pocket buzz.

It was a text from Vernon.

[ Vernon | 5:05 pm ]: hey sir-dork-a-lot

[ Vernon | 5:05 pm ]:  you asked her about the party yet?!

Fuck. The stupid party. The Solar Pop incident with Mingyu.

Wonwoo had completely forgot that was somehow supposed to wedge his way into receiving an invite, when he didn’t even want to go in the first place. Parties genuinely weren’t his scene.

Especially the kind that Mingyu and his friend, Seungcheol, would throw. But, at the same time, there was this very small seed of curiosity planted in his stomach—that, maybe, Wonwoo should just shoulder off his hatred of loud, cramped spaces and obnoxious university students chugging all their drinks straight from the bottle. If he just tried his best to stay calm, stay level-headed, breathe, then perhaps Wonwoo could survive a night partying with Vernon, as fucking ridiculous and deluded as it sounded.

He glanced over at you, who was texting someone.

God. Did he really want to ruin this calm, comfortable moment right now to ask about your boyfriend’s big slosh-fest?

“So, I noticed in your schedule, like, two weeks into June, you’re gonna be off the call for three days, I think.”

You scratched your cheek, continuing to text.

“Oh, yeah. I thought I already brought that up, but maybe I’m thinking of a conversation with someone else.” Shutting off your phone, you started sliding it around the blanket while talking. “It’s this big party that Mingyu’s helping to host with his friend from basketball, Seungcheol. I don't know if you're familiar with him. They do it every summer. It’s always so much fun, but I get so fucked up that I need at least two days recovery.”

Wonwoo swallowed, feeling how dry his throat was.

“Yeah. I know Mingyu’s trying to get coke from Vernon.”

You stopped playing with the phone, instead looking immediately to Wonwoo through the rays of gradual light that began easing past the gentler rain. He held his breath.

“Right, Vernon.” You almost shuddered.

“Yeah…”

“If he can get his hands on it, then, fuck, I’m fine with that. Whatever. Mingyu invited him, of course. As long as he doesn’t slink up to me and try to convince me the ten different ways he can give me the best orgasm I’ve ever had, I guess I shouldn’t whine.”

Wonwoo was embarrassed for his friend—it was a pretty rough situation, he would imagine. Not his most shining moment.

“I know he’s your bestie,” you said, stretching your legs out onto the coffee table, “and I’m not going to judge you to your face, but I will be judging you, silently, in the recesses of my own mind.”

Snickering, Wonwoo rubbed a hand down his neck.

“The transparency’s nice, I suppose. But, yeah. I understand why you’d have a gripe with him. To be fair, he’s not that bad. He’s a good guy that’s wrapped up in some shitty habits. I’m sure you taught him a lesson that night. It gave him a serious degree of humbling.”

“Pfft. Did it, now?”

Wonwoo opened his mouth, but he didn’t speak, and it was then you doubled over in laughter at him, patting a hand on his knee.

“No, no. It’s okay. I’ll just deal.”

“I know you will… and, like, be safe and stuff.”

You grinned, shaking your head.

“Oh, yeah. No need to worry. I know my limits… okay—well, actually, I shouldn’t say that—I have a vaguely good idea of where my limits are, and sometimes I happen to surpass them. Not by ignorance, though. My mind is just too mushy at that point to care.”

“How incredibly rambunctious,” Wonwoo replied. “You’re probably blacklisted everywhere; a walking threat, actually.

“Oh, shut up,” you chuckled, folding your arms. “If you were trying to wiggle your way into being invited, I’m revoking it now.”

“Well, that soils my next question.”

You raised your eyebrows, “… which is?”

For a moment, Wonwoo couldn’t process that he was about to ask such a pathetic question. He tried thinking about it more as an out-of-body experience, where it wasn’t really his true conscience taking the sails. You kept watching him, waiting for his response.

Thankfully, you didn’t grant him the breadth to speak, and he was certain a lively hue of colour had just flushed back to his face.

“Oh, you’re being serious. You want to go?”

“Not really,” Wonwoo admitted, pushing up his glasses. “But, uh, I don’t know. It helps that Vernon will be there. I’m sure you can tell, I’m not a party person—not at all. Just, it could be a good opportunity for… um… well, I really can’t explain why, actually.”

“Hm.” Your eyes narrowed. “I assume it’s Vernon pushing you into it for some stupid reason… I mean, I have no issues with you going, of course!” He watched you adjust your legs under the blanket, tucking them back beneath you. “But just so you know, these parties are kinda intense and can be a major sensory overload—even for me! And I know that you don’t like talking about it but I’m not sure how well it bodes to put you in a position where you might have… uh, never mind, actually. I shouldn’t speak on stuff that doesn’t concern me. I just care about your wellbeing.”

Wonwoo pushed his lips together. A slight rush of something warm and tingly flowered at his core and he couldn’t tell if he absolutely loved it or wanted the feeling to wither up and die. More light streamed through his windows as the rain weaned off and the sky morphed from grey back to a softer, evening powder blue.

“I appreciate your concern,” he answered after an almost questionable silence, “I’m sure it will be fine.”

“Oh, sorry—I just wanted to be sure.”

“It’s okay.”

Neither of you spoke for a moment. Wonwoo twiddled his thumbs while you stared down at the blanket, presumably thinking.

“I would love for you to come, then.”

He caught you smiling at him after extending the offer in a quiet voice. The outside light filled up your eyes like a glass of swirling gold and Wonwoo believed your earnesty. And while he knew Vernon would be elated that he was able to come, Wonwoo was fighting to understand if he felt more relieved or terrified.

—JUNE 15TH.

Coming home from his long shift at the pharmacy, it was some time past eleven at night. The day hadn’t been extremely busy, but Wonwoo found it always slowed down the most dramatically when he was absolutely itching to leave. He tried his best to get relaxed, jumping into a warm but short shower, making himself a cup of chamomile tea, looking back on some favourite excerpts from the journal he kept buried away in the first drawer on his nightstand.

Wonwoo willed himself not to look at any screens. And, yet, as he sat in his bed, drinking the last few sips of tea from his hot, porcelain cup, Wonwoo’s eyes flickered across the room to his desk where his laptop was placed, and he felt this ticking urge to write.

At first, he wasn’t sure what to do.

After all, he’d been putting in a significant effort to fix that godawful, nightmarish sleep schedule of his, and while his ventures weren’t always the most successful, Wonwoo was making notable strides. To throw that all away—just to pick open his laptop and most likely end up staring straight into a lurid, white screen, while nothing of actual substance came to his fingertips—it was fruitless, and perhaps a bit stupid. He knew he needed to let that story die.

The longer it sat, collecting pixelated dust on his desktop, the more it made sense to simply delete it. Move on. Acknowledge the fact that this relationship he once perceived as so perfect and glimmering had ended, and trying to find some wisps of closure in forcing himself to complete a fizzled romance was pointless. It made so much sense. Besides, Wonwoo was happier now than he had been back in March, April, May. And, he could attribute much of that to someone he once feared and poorly understood—you.

It was hard to describe, but you had been this flare—a comet more like—that kind of blazed with an uncontrolled fire into his very bleak life. And while he’d definitely felt your scorching, uncomfortable sting more than once, he was able to realize there was something so unique and enriching about you. Because you weren’t just an uncontrollable fire, you were a full body laugh that made it hard to breath, but in the best, most treasured way. You were the quiet stillness of a pond, deep in the woods, listening to all the sounds that thrived around you, even though it didn’t always seem like it.

And you were this very soft, caressing breeze that always found Wonwoo, even when he was at his lowest valleys, giving him that sensation of a shiver to let him know that he was still alive and breathing and not so horribly numb as he thought himself to be.

That was something he’d never experienced before.

It scared him somewhat, but there was comfort in the thought, nonetheless. True, warm, and pure comfort.

Wonwoo sighed, blinking away from his laptop.

He should probably just go to bed.

Once he washed his teacup out in the kitchen, Wonwoo started brushing his teeth. That big summer party he was supposed to attend with Vernon was tomorrow night, and to call him nervous was a complete understatement. Wonwoo wouldn’t be surprised if he threw up. He would probably have to smoke a bit before leaving, just to mellow out. Of course, Vernon was overflowing with excitation, and maybe that was a good thing—he could be Wonwoo’s buffer.

Since your day together at the museum, Wonwoo had revisited your apartment twice to help with further proofreading and editing. He would be downright lying if he claimed that having to read through a memoire of your fulgurant love for Mingyu wasn’t disheartening or turning him occasionally bitter. Wonwoo wanted to be happy that you were so devoted to him, you could write an entire book detailing all your sweetest moments and fondest memories and the overall history of your love. But he wasn’t happy in the slightest.

You made him happy—not you, plus Mingyu

Continuing to brush his teeth, Wonwoo heard his phone ding once, and then again from his bedroom. And while he hadn’t wanted to look at any screens tonight, he figured that responding to a couple texts wouldn’t thwart all his progress. With the toothbrush still hanging from the corner of his mouth, Wonwoo flopped backward onto the bed and yanked his phone off the charger. While he was expecting the messages to be from Vernon due to their late sending, he was quite surprised to see they were actually from you.

[ Her | 11:50 pm ]: IMG.2102

[ Her | 11:50 pm ]: do I look pretty?

Immediately, Wonwoo shuffled up onto his elbows, tapping at the picture you had sent him. When he nearly choked on the excess of minty foam stuck in his mouth, Wonwoo quickly ran into the washroom to spit it all out. He recognized the outfit you were wearing in the photo—it was that white two-piece from the boutique in the mall that you had tried on, with the high-waisted, short, tight skirt and the strapped top that wrapped around the back of your neck and criss-crossed over your chest. Coming back to his bed to sit down, Wonwoo leaned over with an elbow digging into his knee.

Did you mean to send that to him?

For a moment, his thumbs just hovered above the keyboard, attempting to concoct a coherent thought in his mind. He recognized the large, silver-bordered mirror from your bedroom. And while the phone was slightly covering your face, you had this leg crooked up in a sweet, almost delicate pose despite the open and revealing nature of the outfit. Wonwoo rubbed under his glasses, huffing out deeply.

[ Wonwoo | 11:55 pm ]: Did you mean to send this?

He prayed you didn’t take his text the wrong way.

[ Her | 11:55 pm ]: um yes

[ Her | 11:55 pm ]: ur wonwoo, aren’t u?

[ Her | 11:55 pm ]: I just wanted to know what u thought of the outfit I’m gonna wear. I know u have already seen it. but just in case u forgot I wanted to send another pic lol

[ Her | 11:56 pm ]: u think it’s bad? :(

Sitting back against his pillows, Wonwoo completely forgot all about his ‘no screens’ rule, texting you as quickly as possible.

[ Wonwoo | 11:56 pm ]: No, it doesn’t look bad at all.

[ Wonwoo | 11:56 pm ]: You look gorgeous.

[ Her | 11:57 pm ]: and ur not just saying that?

[ Wonwoo | 11:57 pm ]: No, of course not.

[ Wonwoo | 11:57 pm ]: You’ll be the prettiest there.

[ Her | 11:57 pm ]: omgg thxx <3 okay I feel better now

[ Wonwoo | 11:57 pm ]: Why? What happened?

At that moment, Wonwoo actually received a text from Seokmin, but he rapidly flicked it away. Another text followed, and Wonwoo swore he flicked it away even faster, as though Seokmin was actually talking into his ear despite the quietness of his bedroom.

[ Her | 11:59 pm ]: Mingyu told me he doesn’t really like it bc the skirt part is too short and he doesn’t like the top. he says it’s too revealing and that everyone will just be looking at my boobs lol. but I don’t want to change it :/ I like how it fits and it’s not like i’m going to be doing cartwheels or gymnastics

[ Her | 11:59 pm ]: idk he just made me feel bad about it

Wonwoo proceeded to rub a hand through his locks of clean, black hair, pulling them messily all over his head as he thought.

[ Wonwoo | 12:00 am ]: Hm. Well I do agree that it’s revealing and you probably will have people staring at you. I mean, if you’re not uncomfortable by that it’s fine. You’ll just have to be careful if you bend over or dance around, that’s all :) But I’m sure you already know that. You look beautiful. Don’t worry too much.

[ Her | 12:00 am ]: okayy thank you so much! :)

[ Wonwoo | 12:00 am ]: No problem.

[ Her | 12:01 am ]: I’m so glad that ur coming

[ Her | 12:01 am ]: it makes me feel better

[ Wonwoo | 12:01 am ]: Hopefully I can find you.

[ Her | 12:02 am ]: I’ll text you, no worries

[ Her | 12:02 am ]: mkay well I should go to bed now!

[ Her | 12:02 am ]: goodnight <3

[ Wonwoo | 12:02 am ]: Goodnight.

At last, Wonwoo clicked off the bright glare from his phone, setting it down against his chest. For at least five minutes, he did nothing but lay remarkably still in his bed and stare up at the ceiling, thinking—as he usually did—about why he was feeling that way.

That very certain, specific way that was so demanding in his heartbeat to be acknowledged, except for the fact Wonwoo wouldn’t acknowledge it because then he’d throw up and probably lose himself entirely as he panicked.

Eventually, his thoughts were becoming too loud for his liking, and Wonwoo promptly tossed his phone aside and crawled underneath the covers before turning off the bedside lamp.

Even then, Wonwoo was restless. When he tried rolling onto his side, the uncomfortable poking against his nose reminded him he hadn’t even removed his glasses. At first it was too hot, and Wonwoo pointed his leg out from beneath the blankets, pushing all the sheets down to rumple at his waist. But then it was notably cold after a few more minutes, and Wonwoo angrily stirred all his blankets back up to mask over his face. No matter what he did or how he positioned himself or what limb he decided to sacrifice to the hot-cold air, he wasn’t going to fall asleep. Wonwoo’s eyes popped open again.

Patting around the surface of the bed, his fingers eventually brushing the phone and glasses he’d discarded, Wonwoo decided he didn’t care about going to sleep anymore if that was how his body was going to so painfully treat him. He shuffled up more against the pillows splayed at his back and checked the messages sent by Seokmin about half an hour ago—the two boys hadn’t spoken in a while, almost since their exams ended in May, and while Wonwoo would have ideally liked to keep in touch with his friend, he was laughably horrible at it. At least Seokmin seemed chipper.

[ Seokmin | 11:57 pm ]: Hey Wonwoo!

[ Seokmin | 11:57 pm ]: I heard you were going to Mingyu and Seungcheol’s party! I didn’t think that would be something you’re into but I’ll also be there, probably for a couple hours

Wonwoo swiped out from the texts, not really feeling anything or thinking much about their content, and opened some messages from Vernon that he’d received at work but forgot to read.

[ Vernon |  9:55 pm ]: need a drive 4 the party?

[ Vernon | 9:55 pm ]: let me know beautiful xo

He couldn’t help but muster a chuckle at the teasing nature of his friend’s texts, though Wonwoo didn’t respond, making a mental note to answer the next day, instead. For another moment or two, he continued sitting in the dark shadows of his room, staring down at the only light which caught the reflection in his glasses. Wonwoo’s thumb at first hesitated, but then he was reopening his earlier conversation with you, and with a few upward flicks, he was back on that cute photo you’d sent him. It hadn’t left his mind at all.

This huge lump of guilt had come to sit in his gut like an anchor for a reason that Wonwoo didn’t begin recognizing, that is until he finally felt the pull from somewhere deep inside him—the thought had entered his mind and he knew if he just ignored it for even a second it would dissipate. But then, Wonwoo didn’t ignore it, because he didn’t truly want that. He was going to be selfish in that instance and sink into the pull, the heat—not dismissing the thought but the guilt he would later drown in—the shame of it all.

Wonwoo kicked off his mask of bedsheets, letting them settle in a slow puff around his ankles.

In the beginning, all of it felt so bizarre. The hand that twisted underneath his sweatpants, and then his boxers, coming to softly graze fingertips along his hardening shaft—he hadn’t done this in weeks. Wonwoo rarely experienced sexual frustration. It just wasn’t something that bothered him. But the absent tendency would always build up and inevitably break at some point and he hated that you were the cool, breathtaking breeze to push him over that cliff.

With the edges of his fingers, Wonwoo continued to stroke along himself, up and down, just barely touching. It would make his knee jolt or his thigh twitch, but the longer he teased, the more each touch transformed. The pleasure was soaking through and leading him in deeper until Wonwoo tilted up his hips in order to shove down the elastic waist of his sweatpants and underwear. The air was so cold but dually welcomed against his erection that he began pumping to full length in his hand, feeling it throb and grow and stiffen.

Wonwoo let his eyes flutter toward the phone he was holding at his stomach, examining your figure from head to toe. It was wrong and he fucking knew it, but as he rubbed a palm at his most sensitive head and felt the cum start to leak down his cock, Wonwoo couldn’t bring himself to scale the acceptableness of his actions.

In that moment, Wonwoo looked at you in all the ways he shouldn’t. He pressed his head back into the pillow, eyes falling shut while he lubricated himself in squeezing, slow strokes with his own arousal. His fingers gripped the phone tighter, refusing to drop it.

You were bright and flashing in his mind and Wonwoo wanted to know all of it—he wanted to know the feeling of your silk, swollen lips leaving warm kisses up his shaft. He wanted to know the sensation of your tongue laving messy circles around his tip, teasing him, purring at him, staring up at him with those intimidating, sharp eyes that had always seemed beyond frightening. He wanted to know the sounds you would make if you ever so kindly allowed him to settle between your thighs. He knew how fucking beautiful your cunt would be and he could only imagine your taste would utterly melt him.

His fist wrapped tighter, pumped faster, and despite his usual quiet temperament in bed, a throaty, deep whine caught in Wonwoo’s throat. He took another look at your picture, and somewhere amongst the smog of pleasure that thickly hazed his logic, Wonwoo felt this transient, selfish anger, because in that moment, he wanted you. He needed you. He would do fucking anything you asked him and more because there was so much weight you held in his life. Wonwoo just wanted to make you happy and he couldn’t help but burn with the desperation to treat you better than anyone else ever had.

Knowing he was going to shatter soon, Wonwoo braced himself through the torture that was removing his hand and letting the intense, throbbing accumulation of pleasure ebb from his cock.

He gritted his teeth at the frustrating feeling.

But there was a reason for his decision. Looking back to the phone still aglow, Wonwoo swiped out from your picture and began scrolling higher up in the conversation, seeking out something particular that had jumped into his memory. And once he found it, there was an even denser feeling of guilt he had to ignore.

Last week, you ended up sending him a voice note because you were too exhausted to even bother typing. It wasn’t that the audio contained anything even relatively lascivious, since you were mostly just rambling about your day and never quite finishing a thought.

However, Wonwoo loved your voice. He loved hearing it in person and through his phone’s crappy speakers, especially when you sounded so sleepy, and your tone would soften, the occasional sigh or gentle breath hitting his ear just perfectly. Placing his hand back around his erection, Wonwoo hit play on your voice note and laid the phone beside his head on the pillow. He managed to smile through the pleasure that was rebuilding inside him as he intently listened.

“Um, hi, so—ah! Sorry, my phone just fucking slid under the covers, oh my God. But, yeah, I’m sending a voice note ‘cause I’m drop dead exhausted from today. It was the worst. My legs hurt so bad that I could hardly carry myself to bed. Ugh. Anyway… okay, sorry, I forgot what I was gonna say… oh yeah! So—”

It all felt too euphoric—too warm and overwhelming and the more Wonwoo listened to your sweet voice the more he felt himself pulsate with how badly he needed you. He planted one foot to his mattress, using it for stability and leverage as his hips thrust upward and he began unbridled fucking into his own hand. More than anything in the universe he wanted it to be your cunt—your pretty, wet, soft cunt cushioning him in and gushing all over him. He was going to drive himself fucking crazy at the thought, so much that Wonwoo began begging for you in his husky, deep, quivering voice.

Most was complete incoherency, dipping into confusing, jumbled whimpers of his English and native Korean tongue. Your voice was right there by his ear, though he was hardly processing a word. His orgasm was going to collapse over him like a tidal wave and all Wonwoo could do was succumb as he continued pumping his strained cock. His breathing was laboured, heavy. He kept stuttering and pleading for you into the sheer darkness of his bedroom.

Lots of “pl-please” and “f-ffuck, fuck, fuck!” and “m’gonna cc-cum for you, I want t’cum for you, I need it all inside of you, put it all so deep in your p-perfect cunt”—and plenty more tainted things he would take to his grave before he would ever confess to uttering.

As the voice note came to its end, Wonwoo had slammed his fist down for the last time. He immediately turned his cheek to the pillow, ignoring how the rounded glasses dug into his face, simply because his moan was too broken and shamefully loud. His cock started throbbing with the most intense pleasure he’d ever felt against his palm. The cum dribbled down his ghost-white knuckles. Wonwoo refused to even glance at the mess he was making. With a few more shaky pumps of his fist, he’d milked out all he possibly could, some spurts landing on his rumpled t-shirt. At last, he could exhale.

Lifting himself up with his clean hand, Wonwoo took a few moments to simply breathe. His entire body was still racing with adrenaline and hormones and the pure rush of his self-orchestrated ecstasy. But, pushing between all the energy was his guilt—the fact of what he’d just done and how he’d so blatantly used you to make himself feel good. Wonwoo glanced back at his phone and the voice note in the conversation. Immediately, he clicked the device off, and there was strictly still, shapeless blackness that surrounded him.

What the fuck had he just done?

How was he supposed to text you, look at you, talk to you, knowing he’d officially jerked off to your picture and your voice. Even worse—it was probably the best his masturbation had ever felt. It was all so fucking heavenly in the moment that he thought he might die.

Wonwoo had no idea what to make of his actions.

His feelings for you.

But he thought he should at least tidy himself up.

—JUNE 16TH

Before Vernon had come by in his car, Wonwoo was caught in an exhausting and sickening guessing game of whether or not he needed to throw up. His lower stomach was in complete knots, prompting him to pace back and forth outside the washroom door, because sitting down was going to make him ruminate even more over how terribly nervous he was. Thankfully, however, Wonwoo never threw up, and he was able to calm himself a bit by rolling a blunt, sparking it while sat at the open windowsill in his bedroom.

There was also help from the nighttime breeze that touched against his warm face, a sensation he had always found so soothing.

Just before ten at night, Wonwoo received the critical text from Vernon—he was parked outside on the street. He’d fully smoked his blunt at the time of the message, and he pathetically prayed to himself that his nerves wouldn’t sizzle back up at the worst possible time as he locked his apartment door. Once Wonwoo had stepped outside, he spotted Vernon’s old vanilla Camry stalled beside the postal box across the street. He was kind enough to reach over and push the door open for Wonwoo, who quickly shuffled into his seat.

Immediately, Wonwoo received his usual greeting.

“Hey, Glasses.”

He gave a nod back in response, buckling on the seatbelt.

“So, you smell like confusin’ mix of straight cannabis and a fuckin’ breezy Caribbean Ocean tide. How the fuck does that work?”

“Uh, I put on cologne. And then I smoked?”

“You nervous, then?” Vernon asked through his trademark conniving smirk, meanwhile he began steering out onto the street.

“Of course I’m fucking nervous,” Wonwoo almost laughed back at the obvious nature of the question and habitually checked his friend’s blind spot. “I don’t even go to like, dinner parties.”

“Pfft, I’m sure you’ll be fine. The good thing about parties like these—everyone gets so fucked it’s unlikely they’ll remember some nervous dweeb like yourself. Amongst all that chaos, you’ll blend straight in. There’s nothin’ to be shaked up about. I promise ‘ya.”

Wonwoo merely huffed in response, opting to let Vernon focus on driving and working the car’s outdated stereo while he checked his phone. Actually, Wonwoo had wanted to text you before he left the apartment, but he was still stomaching all the rigid guilt that came with jerking himself off to your pretty picture and voice note the night before. It was a stupid, stupid choice.

All those thoughts that had been stampeding through his head—wanting you and needing you and craving to belong with you in a way that could never reach true fruition—Wonwoo had to convince himself it was all meaningless. His mind had conjured those ridiculous sentiments when his logic was razor thin and overcome by the deception of his lust, and, therefore, he refused to accept those urges were even close to his actual feelings for you. He clicked his phone back off, not meaning to sigh aloud but doing so anyway.

Vernon then shot him a speculative glance through the rear-view mirror, though Wonwoo barely caught it. He looked out the window instead, at all the passing lights and people who were eager to spend their Friday night doing something stimulating.

“So, I know you’re probably just thinkin’ to yourself over there, as you usually do,” his friend said, fiddling with the radio until the static noise died back into music, “but I think it’s all too funny.”

Wonwoo scrunched his nose, continuing to watch the nightlife slip by his tracing eyes outside the window.

“Hm? What’s funny?”

Vernon chuckled. “All that shit you said to me, like, over a month ago. We’re not friends. And now, you n’Her hang out all the time. I think she’s pumpin’ some actual life back into you. You’re not like you were before, y’know? Which is good to see. So, what I wanna know now is—would you say the same? Or is she your friend?”

Right, Wonwoo remembered the conversation Vernon was referring to—the night his friend drove him home after a tiresome shift at the pharmacy. With his entire chest, Wonwoo had claimed you two weren’t friends. There had been a lot of truth to it, at least from his perspective. Or, maybe, he’d crushed down the prospect of it so vehemently because Wonwoo had just assumed someone like you would have no interest in honestly befriending him.

He could offer you something, and that was it.

But, now…

“You’d have to ask her,” Wonwoo answered, shrugging.

Instantly, Vernon groaned.

“God, that’s such a fuckin’ cop-out answer, Glasses.”

“Well, what the fuck should I say? Yes, we’re friends, but then you might go and ask her, and she’ll say otherwise.”

“So what?” Vernon engaged, raising his hand partially off the steering wheel in a half-gesture. “So fuckin’ what if she says that? If you think of her as a friend then commit to that. There’s nothin’ wrong with it.” His voice became firmer, more convictional.

Wonwoo tilted his head back against the seat. It’s not that he didn’t think you were friends—it was more so that he might to admit it, and then the relationship could all fall apart, crash like a burning, charred asteroid at his feet. And then Wonwoo would be back in the same self-inflicted crater he was before, thinking he had a genuine connection in his life only to have the rug pulled out from under him.

“… I don’t know.”

“No, you do know. But I see you wanna be all secretive about it and keep your cards close to the chest. So, whatever.”

Rubbing at the edge of his nose, Wonwoo took a quiet moment for himself to muse. He wanted another blunt.

“I don’t think she’ll be that excited to see me.” Vernon said.

Turning his head, Wonwoo looked to his friend and laughed.

“Yeah, can’t imagine why.”

“Think she’ll rip my head off?” Vernon joked with a big, gummy grin, relaxing back into his seat. “That might be kinda hot.”

“No—it would be traumatizing, actually.”

“She better not,” his friend answered, slapping his glove compartment and smirking pridefully. “I’ve got her goddamn coke.”

“Jesus fuckin’ Christ… I’ve never seen a street this packed…”

Vernon couldn’t help his awe from spilling out as he navigated at a snail’s pace down the road, each and every available spot that lined the curb being occupied by a vehicle. Wonwoo spotted a few groups making their way up the sidewalks, toward the colossal sized house to the distant right of the street. Seungcheol lived in Hill Crest, just like your parents, but he seemed poised at the neighbourhood’s opposite end—probably ideal for throwing an outrageous party that would otherwise magnetize the entire police task force to the door.

Wonwoo glanced down at his phone.

Seokmin had sent him a text a few minutes ago, inquiring if him and Vernon were close by or at the house. He sent a message back about the worrying lack of parking spaces, and then continued to help Vernon search through the overcrowd for a hopeful pocket.

“Fuck… this isn’t lookin’ good…” Vernon lamented.

“I doubt there will be anything close to the house,” Wonwoo sighed, folding his arms in doubt. “It could be best to make a turn or go around the block? We might just have to take a hike.”

“Hansol Vernon Chwe doesn’t take fuckin’ hikes,” his friend jabbed, antsy fingers sculpting into his bitten lip while the other hand catered to steering the wheel. “I have this dude’s blow. Doesn’t that earn me a VIP-guest-list-skip-the-line type plot?”

Wonwoo scoffed. “Should’ve sorted that out earlier, man.”

“Shut your dorky ass up. I’ll figure somethin’ out.”

At that moment, the phone slid between his thighs vibrated with another text from Seokmin. His eyes widened at the invite.

[ Seokmin | 10:40 pm ]: Oh dw about street parking!

[ Seokmin | 10:40 pm ]: Use the gate at the house

“I think you’re right. I might have to turn,” Vernon announced in a defeated breath, brushing a hand through his dust black hair. “Get ready to see the best three-point turn that’s ever been turnt.”

“Just wait one minute,” Wonwoo then answered, leaning forward in his seat as he began to text Seokmin for more details.

[ Wonwoo | 10:41 pm ]: Gate?

[ Seokmin | 10:41 pm ]: Seungcheol’s got a gate that leads to this little underground parking thing. Some of his and Mingyu’s close friends are using it. Her’s friends, too

[ Wonwoo | 10:42 pm ]: Uh… I don’t know haha.

[ Seokmin | 10:42 pm ]: I asked Seungcheol, it’s fine!

[ Wonwoo | 10:42 pm ]: You sure?

[ Seokmin | 10:42 pm ]: Yup

[ Seokmin | 10:42 pm ]: Gate code is #1142!

“Don’t turn around, go up to the driveway and look for a gate,” Wonwoo instructed. “Apparently, this dude’s got an underground parking space. Seokmin gave me the code for it.”

“Jesus Christ,” disbelieving laughter swelled up from Vernon’s chest as he proceeded along the street. “This guy’s like, rich-rich. I wanna see all that fuckin’ cash up front. Bills in every colour.”

Wonwoo was just relieved that Seokmin was telling the truth, though he was nonetheless extremely anxious about using the parking space, and something sharp in his abdomen tightened upon reaching that bronze gate. Vernon had to roll down his window and partially lean outside to press in the code read from Wonwoo’s phone.

They both cast each other a bewildered glance when the gate separated automatically, allowing them access down the slant.

“Rich people can just do whatever they fuck they want, can’t they?” Vernon laughed, shaking his head. “Remind me not to steal anything while we’re wanderin’ around in there.”

But Wonwoo couldn’t say anything even half-conscious in response to his friend’s lazy joke. He was too busy focusing his breathing.

“Jeez, it's about time, huh?” Vernon’s words sounded rife with electricity as they approached the main entryway to the house, the brisk, nighttime air blowing back against their heated faces.

They had already witnessed several people slipping inside and out, to which the shuddering, clear blurt of the music would escape the doorway—not that they couldn’t hear it already. The deep and rhythmic bass was emanating from within Seungcheol’s house like a growl caught in a beast’s belly, and Wonwoo could only fathom what kind of damage his eardrums might sustain after the night was over.

Right before Vernon could touch the handle, the doors abruptly burst open with an aggressive swing, revealing two girls who were latched hand in hand, giggling to each other. The distinct stench of marijuana clouded after them down the steps.

Vernon opted to catch the left door before it could close.

“After you, Glasses,” he invited with an almost glimmering smirk, then gesturing inward at the practical void that awaited him—auroras of flashing light, loud conversation, and pounding music.

It seemed like stepping into another universe.

“Thanks for the chivalry,” Wonwoo answered.

He then forced himself into the mansion, not allowing the empty space in his mind to concoct ample regret or doubt. Vernon followed suit, the large door slamming shut in a forbidding manner behind the two boys, akin to a shoving a cork on a glass bottle and capturing all the sand grains inside. Wonwoo knew he could leave, though it didn’t feel like it. However, he didn’t want to act defeated before even starting the night. Maybe some of Seokmin’s miraculous optimism gloss would rub off on him before it was too late.

The thing was, Wonwoo had no idea what to think or do nor could he develop one sensible, sound thought that he might express to Vernon—the house was alive with what seemed to be a mighty sea of people. Some were mingling with their drinks loosely held in an attempt to feign casualness, pitching conversation despite the unrelenting music. Others were clashed together, dirty dancing, hands carnally wandering, probably thinking nothing other than how good it felt to be a part of the moment. Everything was so dim and dark. Lights blotched around the room in deep purples and blues.

Wonwoo had suddenly forgotten how to even move.

Until Vernon’s hand slapped his shoulder.

“Hey, what should we start with?!” His friend had practically shouted over the music and its hypnotizing synths. “Do you wanna get a drink? Smoke one out? Or should we find Seokmin?”

For a moment, Wonwoo just stared at him, trying hard through the murkiness and heat to match the words he was hearing with Vernon’s lips. The environment would take a bit getting used to.

“Also—,” he then grabbed Wonwoo’s shoulder, “—let’s move away from the door before we get fuckin’ trampled, yeah?”

Vernon helped guide Wonwoo further into the main living area, down a few stairs and toward the large square of couches. There was hardly any room to sit without being uncomfortably close to someone else—they were either in another person’s lap, swapping a disgusting amount of liquored spit, or completely faded and about as coherent as a rock. Wonwoo didn’t want to sit, anyway. He looked down at his phone, noticing that Seokmin had texted him again.

“Um, what do you want to do?” He decided to flip the question on Vernon, not wanting to be tasked with the decision.

Besides, he assumed his friend would know better.

“Me? I want a fuckin’ drink!” Vernon began to look around, though the air was notably veiled with a thin smoke and all the bodies were obstructing much view of anything. “Oh—I told you already, didn’t I?! That I’m definitely intendin’ to get shitfaced?! Did you figure out a ride in case you wanted t’go home later on?”

As Vernon began his quest to find a drink, Wonwoo was right behind him, remembering that Vernon had mentioned it already.

“I know!” He called out while reading Seokmin’s text.

[ Seokmin | 11:00 pm ]: There’s like two big living spaces

[ Seokmin | 11:00 pm ]: We’re not in the main one tho, easiest way is to go through the kitchen and out the other side!

Wonwoo had thought you would text him, and he couldn’t evade his disappointment at the expectation. He decided to assume that maybe you just didn’t know he was there yet. At most, he hoped you weren’t too blasted and at least cognizant enough to hold a conversation with him. Though, Wonwoo had not one inkling as to what you were like at parties. He could only imagine from the scattered bits and pieces he’d heard from yourself and Vernon. 

As Wonwoo followed Vernon down a foggy corridor, he suddenly bumped into the boy’s hard back with a bothered grunt. A girl had stepped out from a threshold that led into the kitchen and he realized that Vernon was only letting her leave before they entered.

She leaned in rather close to Vernon’s face, stroking a quick, flirtatious hand along the divots in his defined chest as she lilted aloud, “thanks, gorgeous.”

Her gaze switched to linger on Wonwoo for what felt like a long, excruciating eternity before proceeding past them in a confident stride down the dark and narrow hallway. Vernon kissed his teeth, staring back at Wonwoo with that hedonistic twinkle in his eyes.

“Okay—she was fine, not gonna lie.”

“Mmhm,” Wonwoo mumbled, adjusting his glasses, “can we at least get a drink first before you decide to start fucking people?”

“Why do you think we’re at the kitchen, smart ass?”

Shaking his head in dismissal at Vernon’s snarky comment, he urged the boy impatiently into the kitchen area (which was admittedly larger than Wonwoo’s entire living space).

One side of the room was lined with arrays of salty snacks, while the opposite contained big, rounded punch bowls of pre-mixed alcohol that people were dipping into with ladles. Vernon had noticed the option to mix your own drink, and thus Wonwoo was dragged toward the kitchen island where the boys waited to pick from the various bottles of alcohol and soft drinks left scattered about.

Wonwoo peeped down at his phone again while Vernon got easily caught up in conversation with a girl preparing a lemon shot.

He finally answered Seokmin’s texts.

“Hey, Glasses!” Vernon’s hand latched onto his shoulder, giving it a shake. “This is Sierra! She’s gonna make us our drinks!”

It took him a moment to properly decipher the girl Vernon had been speaking to, though, the longer he squinted through the shifty kitchen lighting, the more he could separate her silhouette and features from the dimness. She had a comfortable smile, full and warm, trustworthy, and so Wonwoo merely shrugged his agreement.

“Don’t worry,” the girl shouted, pulling aside two solo cups and then twizzling off the bottlecap to the rum, “I’m a bartender, actually. I used to work Room 319. Now I’m at Honeymoon.”

Vernon leaned his elbows on the granite, watching with intrigue as she sloshed a decent amount of alcohol into each cup.

“Room 319? You’ve definitely seen some shit,” he cackled.

“Oh, yeah. One-hundred percent.”

“Y’know, I tried getting this cunt to go—” Vernon jabbed an accusing thumb back at Wonwoo, “—but he’s such a flake!”

Sierra proceeded to grin quite demurely, flashing a quick, barely detectable glance toward Wonwoo, who had just managed to catch it while shoving the phone back into his pocket. She then grabbed a sweetener from amongst the clutter, tucking a short tuft of hair behind her ear before adding a small drizzle to each solo cup.

“Hey, it’s not for everybody!” Her cheeks flushed in the galactic, purplish light that flickered around the kitchen. “And, uh, this may sound weird, actually. But I recognize you, I think.”

“Oh, me?” Wonwoo was finally forced to speak.

“Yeah, uh—” she stumbled over her words a bit as she swirled the sweetener around inside the cups, “—from Bradbrook’s calculus. I think you sat a few rows ahead of me, or something. I just know because I, um—I was really close to failing the class. When I went to her for help, she gave me a ton of resources, even said I could try asking you about tutoring. She said you’re like, her best student.”

“Hm,” Wonwoo hummed, cracking his neck, “I’ve never tutored anyone—don’t know why she’d think to recommend me.”

“It’s okay! I never asked because you seemed like the type who didn’t want to be bothered,” Sierra responded, beginning to top off the drinks with some bubbling soda. “I figured it out, anyway.”

“Good for you,” Wonwoo commended.

“Yeah, I wasn’t sure if it was you, ‘cause your hair would always be down over your forehead in class. But you’ve got it all brushed and styled and stuff. It looks super nice!”

He smiled at her and mumbled, “thanks.”

“Well, I’m gonna get running! No matter where I end up, I always seem to be everyone’s mixologist at some point.”

Vernon dragged the alcohol over, maintaining his slouched position onto the island granite. Upon taking an experimental sip to taste the flavours and potency, his face momentarily soured, and then all his features relaxed. He was glowing like an ember, almost.

“No, that’s good. Tastes a bit like a… gummy bear?”

“Oh, yeah. It’s so delicious,” she agreed, shoving hands into her back pockets. “Tastes even better kissing it off someone.”

As Wonwoo stared down at his fizzling drink, debating his first sip, he again felt the transient flittering of her eyes ghost him.

“Go figure,” Vernon rasped, smiling, “appreciate it, player.”

“M’kay,” Sierra chirped and waved, ”bye!”

Not even a few seconds after she left, and someone else swooped in like an eagle to clasp the bottle of rum she’d once been handling, Vernon turned his head to Wonwoo with a raised brow.

“She was DTF for you, holy shit.”

“Hm?” Wonwoo sounded muffled with the solo cup now perched at his lips, allowing the drink to seep into his mouth, tasting the smoothness of the rum, and then the sweet. “What’s that mean?”

“DTF?” Vernon echoed. “Down to fuck!” He smacked his arm.

“That’s stupid and absurd.”

“Well, Glasses, you’re fuckin’ stupid and absurd if you didn’t see it. I mean, if you’re not gonna get a chance with Her, mine as well start seekin’ out what you can. Might make you less uptight.”

“No—that’s what makes you less uptight, not me.”

“I’m just sayin’, man—you’re hot and you don’t even take advantage of it. In no shapes or figures… forms? Whatever the stupid sayin’ is. You’ve got to live a little. But, whatever. Where’s Seokmin?”

“Through there, I think?” Wonwoo nodded toward a high-arched exit opposite to the side they entered the kitchen from. “That’s what he texted me. But I’ll double check anyway, to be sure.”

Flashing on his phone, Wonwoo finally saw your messages.

[ Her | 11:11 pm ]: wonwooooooo

[ Her | 11:11 pm ]: LIVING ROOM! I'm waiting!!!!

And just like that—like a splitting snap of the fingers—he felt everything all over again, and those nerves steamrolled him in the most pathetic way possible.

He stared down at his phone, moonfaced.

Wonwoo was happy you had remembered to message him, embarrassingly giddy at the thought, even. But he was also downright nauseous to reunite with your inquisitive friends, to meet Seungcheol, to again push through the intangible, brooding weight of seeing Mingyu. He took a gulp from the red cup, swishing the tart but sugared concoction between his cheeks before swallowing, hoping the rum burned down all his nerves in the throaty sting it left behind.

“Yeah,” Wonwoo rediscovered his voice, “through there.”

At first, he couldn’t identify you anywhere. The room was even bigger than the kitchen, just as poorly lit, with a high, pointed ceiling that somehow reminded him of the church he attended when he was too little to even properly grasp religion. But Wonwoo continued squinting through the jumbled crowd, making slow steps and surveiling the room each time alongside Vernon.

“I don’t see ‘em!” He shouted overtop the music, grabbing Wonwoo’s elbow to stop him from moulding into all the warm bodies.

“He said they’re in here!” Wonwoo raised his voice, checking his phone for another text, but seeing nothing. “Fuck, I don’t know.”

Sensing that fluttering, unsteady wind in his chest, Wonwoo was eager to indulge in another sip from his cup, desperately yearning for the alcohol to fucking hurry up and take its floating effect. Yet, as the taste subdued on his tongue, Wonwoo was able to notice a slight fissure that formed in between the congregation of people—a rather perfect alignment that revealed a home bar across the room, with familiar faces seated at the stools and more laughing behind the counter. That was when Wonwoo saw you, captured in a brush stroke of sweeping, amethyst light that dappled down your body.

You were leaned leisurely against Mingyu’s chest, holding onto his arm that draped like a protective sling over your shoulder, and Wonwoo supposed it was laid there with a not-so-subtle purpose.

Mingyu was speaking to his friend and co-host, Seungcheol, who was on the other side of the home bar, his lower back digging against the counter while he had quirked his head to still see Mingyu.

One face that Wonwoo had yet to discern was Seokmin, though, in all his honestly, Wonwoo wasn’t that fixated on further searching the low dusk and marijuana plumes hanging tacky in the air. He’d found you. All those nerves dissolved into comfort.

Maybe it was shallow, but that’s what he cared about most.

“Oh!’ Vernon piped up. “Damn. They’re right down there.”

And, before the crowd could readjust themselves to drown the slivered space between yourself and Wonwoo, your head turned.

In the nick of time, you seemed to recognize him, because that hazy, unfocused nature about your countenance shifted in a mere second, and he saw a smile pick its way along your mouth, like a springtime garden at last twirling abloom. You proceeded to nudge Mingyu’s arm aside, whispering something into his ear that he didn’t quite seem to hear correctly as he maintained his lengthy talk with Seungcheol.

Wonwoo knew he was smiling, too, bigger and bigger.

You wove your way through the crowd, to which Wonwoo couldn’t help himself from the short chuckle he spat out as you impatiently shoved aside the guy that had stepped into your way.

“Move! Oh my fucking God—”

But your flash of contempt didn’t last long.

A second later, you were buckling into Wonwoo.

Your arms reached up to curl tightly around his neck, and he felt the grooves of your warm, soft body press firm against him for the first time. Wonwoo was scared at the proximity, though his pounding heart ever so gradually calmed as he took in a deep breath and smelled that faint, fresh scent—strawberries. While it was undoubtedly integrated with some sort of spicy liquor, Wonwoo didn’t care. He pulled himself into the moment—realized how fucking badly he wanted to drop the solo cup and splay his hands at the open, revealing back of your outfit and feel your bare, supple skin.

But he couldn’t. Because Wonwoo wasn’t your boyfriend.

And you weren’t his to so unabashedly touch.

“I’m so fucking happy you made it!” He heard you squeal into his ear, his smile somehow widening at your animated voice.

“Yeah? Bit of a hassle, not gonna lie," Wonwoo answered.

“Parking? I’m sorry! I should have texted you about the gate!”

“No, no,” he laughed, trying his best and gentlest way to somehow ease some space in between you, “it’s okay. Everything worked out perfectly fine in the end. Don’t worry about it, alright?”

“You sure?”

Wonwoo looked into your eyes, so enchantingly bright and glistering as you blinked at him sympathetically, wearing a tiny pout.

Fuck—he wanted to kiss you.

It was such a blatant, jarring thought that Wonwoo couldn’t respond to your worry straight away, instead pushing down his urges.

“… I’m sure.”

“Well,” you then hummed, at last relaxing your hold around his neck and making some very unwanted but necessary space between your bodies, “is it still true?” You bit your lip afterward.

“Hm? Is what still true?”

Upon Wonwoo furrowing his brow, you pressed into him again, reaching up to his ear where you could comfortably talk and not worry about whether the music would muffle every syllable.

He felt the warmth of your breath tickle at his skin. And then—shivers, everywhere. Trickling down his spine. His nape. Not the kind from chilly, cold weather, or a scary movie, but a different kind that prompted his sense to disintegrate in a simple second.

“Do you still think I’m the prettiest here?”

Wonwoo sensed the grin paint his face, as easy as melting butter, though he hid it well in your sweet-scented hair.

“Mmhm, ‘course you are,” he answered, purposefully deepening his already deep voice. “You’re always the prettiest.”

One of your charming, seraphic giggles feathered at his ear and Wonwoo had never been so convinced that he would exchange just about anything in his life to call you his for the entire night.

“Um, hey, so… I don’t want to fuckin’ ruin your guys’ little reunion or nothin’, but I am still here, unfortunately!”

Damn—Wonwoo had kind of forgotten that Vernon was even there, and hearing his gruff voice break through the room’s drumming bass had quickly removed him from his fantasy. In a way, he was relieved, because Wonwoo knew he’d been thinking with unprecedented delusion and he needed something to draw a ripple through his thoughts before he became too meek to ignore them.

You then slotted yourself against Wonwoo’s side, adjusting the white strap grooving around the back of your neck. One arm remained around his wideset shoulders, latching him into place.

“Well, that’s an immaculate face I haven’t seen in a while,” you deadpanned at poor Vernon, sculpting him up and down with shameless judgement. “And what have you been up to? Selling MDMA from behind porta-potties to dumb, gullible first years?”

But Vernon took it well, as he was most likely expecting it.

“So, I won’t say no or yes to that.”

“Hm. Figures.”

Vernon shook his head, mustering up a husky laugh. “Should I assume you haven’t gotten over our incident, yet?”

Wonwoo felt your ovaled, sharp fingernails dig into his shoulder, and he settled his hand on your upper back to relax you.

“I’ll get over it when I want to get over it.”

“Okay, okay." A smile bled across Vernon’s face. “And I respect that, yeah? How ‘bout we both agree to keep it lax? That work at all?”

Despite your narrowed, seething eyes, you agreed.

“It works, for now.” You were in the midst of turning around, as though to begin pulling Wonwoo toward the bar, but you suddenly stopped on a dime, returning your glared focus back toward an unsuspecting, more lenient Vernon. “By the way, Princess is in a relationship with Seungcheol, so paws off. And don’t even think about trying to fuck Clara or Bells again or else you’ll need to take every single pill you fucking own in order to feel even a fraction of anything after I’m done beating your breaks off. Understand?”

“Uh, yes. I do. I understand.”

And then you grinned, though it was colder than outer space, and Wonwoo was more than pleased he wasn’t on the receiving end.

“Perfect! Now, let’s get everyone all introduced. I promise, though, there’s not many strangers. I guess just Seungcheol? Some of his friends are around here somewhere, I don’t know where.”

You curled an arm around Wonwoo’s elbow and began tugging him into the barricade of people, most stepping aside for you without request, like you were a princess or some other type of respected royalty. Wonwoo glanced back at Vernon who was already giving him a wide-eyed, skeptical expression, and so he made sure to dip his head close to Vernon’s ear to murmur some encouragement.

“At least your head isn’t ripped off.”

However, it might have not been the most thoughtful.

“Yeah, meta-fuckin’-phorically it is,” Vernon laughed back. “I forgot how scary the chick is. How have you not pissed your pants yet?”

“You get used to it after a while. N’hey—when the hell did you have sex with Clara and Bells?" Wonwoo couldn’t help himself from asking over his shoulder as he was further pulled along by your persistent guide.

“It was before you got to know Her, alright? But—” Vernon had suddenly leaned closer, his breath at Wonwoo’s ear, “—Bells is a fuckin’ homie hopper. Guaranteed she’ll try to get into your pants. I know she’s tried it with Seungcheol, Seokmin, probably you, tonight.”

“Well, you two sound like a match made in heaven.”

“Ha! Funny, man,” Vernon cackled, shoving his friend’s back in a teasing way. “No—she’s actually crazy. Gives good head, though.”

Wonwoo opted to ignore the last comment. He was soon at the bar alongside you, Vernon, and all the others, to which he noted your arm was still clasped around his elbow, a gesture that Wonwoo found himself greatly appreciating as everyone began pausing their own conversations to acknowledge the two newcomers. He didn’t know who to look at or greet first as his heartbeat thundered, though he recognized Clara and Bells seated together on two leather stools, a few emptied shot glasses aligned before them like dominos.

Princess, the friend Wonwoo always thought you were closest to, was behind the counter with Seungcheol, staring Wonwoo down through her hooded and smooth brown eyes. He felt Mingyu watching him too, though it discomforted him much more than Princess.

“Hey, nice to meet you guys, finally.” Seungcheol was leaning over the luminated countertop, bumping his fist against Wonwoo’s, and then Vernon’s. “Hope you’re finding it alright.”

Wonwoo had never met Seungcheol despite hearing his name frequently throughout campus, especially during the prime months for partying. The consensus was that everyone seemed to like and respect him for his cordial, easygoing attitude and sportsmanship, since he played a lot of basketball for the university’s principal varsity team. Wonwoo had never once heard anything concerning or relatively malicious about the guy. He was almost akin to a celebrity.

“We got in not too long ago,” Vernon explained, and Wonwoo was grateful he took the conversating initiative, “seems crazy. And thanks for lettin’ us use your garage! Street parkin’ was ass.”

“Shit, yeah. I get it.” Seungcheol shrugged in agreement, meanwhile drawing a shallow glass over to himself. “It’s no problem, man. You did us a favour with the blow. I’ll pay upstairs, yeah?”

“Hey, it’s all good. What’re you pourin’ up?’

Princess suddenly reached around Seungcheol’s shoulder, removing the large, maple bottle he was about to twist open.

“He’s not pouring up anything,” she smiled, placing the alcohol on a shelf behind her, “because whiskey gets him beyond hammered, and I need him coherent for at least another hour.”

Seungcheol turned around, his mouth hung open.

“Okay—I was gonna pour out a splash.”

The girl grabbed his sharp jaw, giving Seungcheol’s face a tender shake before pushing her lips against his. His previous objection suddenly disappeared like morning dew. For a couple that had recently started dating according to your allegory, they seemed remarkably comfortable with each other.

“Okay—shot, shot!” Bells yelped excitedly, slapping her hand against the polished countertop as Clara grabbed a tequila bottle.

“Oh, god.” Your eyes rolled, and Wonwoo heard the exhaustion in your tone. “Have fun getting alcohol poisoning.”

Mingyu scoffed, crossing his broad, buff arms. “They’ll be blackout in less than an hour.”

“What for?” Vernon asked.

You finally let go of Wonwoo, grabbing your own solo cup off the countertop and taking a fast swig before answering.

“Whenever Seungcheol and Princess kiss, they take a shot.”

“And they kiss a lot—" Clara hiccupped, a very inebriated fog cast across her gaze, “— even more than Her n’ Mingyu!”

“Oh, don’t bring us into this,” you snapped from behind your drink, leaning an elbow onto the bar, “take your shot and can it.”

“I’m starting to not even taste it!”

The giggling spilled from Bells’ mouth like a waterspout, to which both her and Clara leaned in close to each other’s faces, their expressions warping with breathless, dry gulps of laughter.

“Excuse them,” Princess then muttered, resting an arm along Seungcheol’s firm back, waves of moonlit blue dancing across her dark skin while she eyed her cackling friends with bits of judgement and concern. “I’m starting to believe they have an alcohol problem.”

“So, if I lose you later, should I assume you’re in the washroom holding back their hair?” Seungcheol then huffed into his clasped hands, flicking soft eyes up toward his sighing girlfriend.

She pulled at a long braid of her hair, nodding.

“If I’m not, I’ll buy you dinner.”

“Fuck, I like those odds, baby," he rasped, leaning back.

Princess smiled, squeezing his shoulder.

“No, you absolutely don’t, sweetheart.”

Wonwoo smiled at them, exercising his best effort to follow all the conversation even though his brain was whirring on overdrive. He was in the midst of sipping from the sweetened rum when Clara’s eyes snapped akin to a locket with his own, and she immediately squealed.

“Oh! You! From Spring Street! Mr. Deep Voice!”

Lowering the cup from his face, Wonwoo’s heart dropped.

He was more than perfectly okay with sitting on the sidelines and contributing nothing to the flow of conversation other than trivial nods and agreeable half-smiles. But Clara had singled him out, and now Bells was at last squirming around in her seat, her eyes patted with a popping, brilliant lime green as opposed to shimmery blue.

You tilted your head in questioning at Clara. “Yes, yes, we’ve been over this, girl. He’s been standing here the past five minutes.”

“Wonwoo!” Bells shrieked. “Why didn’t you say anything?!”

“He doesn’t need to say anything.” Wonwoo heard the irritable grit rub through your voice as you straightened your posture and propped a hand to your hip, glaring at your friends. “Why don’t you let him enjoy his drink instead of shouting at him?”

From behind, Mingyu’s large hand slid around your waist and stopped at your lower stomach, pulling you a step back into his chest.

“Relax. She’s drunk as fuck, alright?” He murmured by your temple, planting a reassuring kiss.

“Nah, it’s okay.” Princess was quick to diffuse any degree of tension before it could morph into a terrifying flame. “He’s just quiet, that’s all. Nothing wrong with it. I like your hair, Wonwoo.”

He clenched his fist tight, nodding at her.

“Thanks.”

It was only one goddamn word, but he’d choked it out with all the strength harboured in his chest and lungs. Princess smiled at him.

“Glasses is cool. All his jokes will come out later.” Vernon teased despite the instant, needling stare Wonwoo shot his way.

“Hey, no pressure,” Seungcheol laughed, swiping his phone off the bar countertop. “Should we all head upstairs? I’ve got a nice little room set up for us—can smoke and mellow out a bit, play some cards, finally get to that blow—whatever you guys think is best.”

“Fuck, I’m down.” Sliding off the leather stool, Mingyu came to his feet and agreed, his hand still settled at your stomach.

His utterance was met with a chorus of likewise answers.

Wonwoo suddenly felt your fingertips graze his hand.

“Are you okay with that?” You asked him personally, smiling in a reassuring, nonchalant manner that helped ease his stiltedness.

“Yeah,” he answered, delighted to see the sparks that jumped into your eyes through the shadows and nebulas of lavender light.

The room Seungcheol had referred to was quite separated from the party booming onward downstairs, though he claimed not to be worried about it much since his other friends were keeping tabs on all the action. Wonwoo appreciated the quieter, more laidback atmosphere that allowed him to actually think and analyze his situation, which he unfortunately could not help himself from doing.

It was a cozy and personally developed space—probably the room Seungcheol spent most of his time in. Large, pristine movie posters were perfectly tapered to covering an entire wall, with stringed, dull-glowing lights swooped around the wooden infrastructure of the ceiling. A billiard ball table was toward the left, and then a circular table to the right, stacked with miscellaneous things such as playing cards, textbooks, and poker chips.

There were some shelves by the windows, mostly to hold decorative items, though Wonwoo saw a number of trophies from what he assumed to be Seungcheol’s past sports competitions. 

Everyone began to settle.

As Vernon waltzed over to the couch by the cluttered table, he’d suddenly looked down at the cushions with a gruff shout.

“Fuck! Jesus Christ, Seokmin! What the fuck are you doin’?”

“Oh, yeah—the poor baby got a headache,” you crooned, walking toward the couch with a teasing smirk. “He thought he’d try and avoid all of us by coming up here and taking a nap.”

“I wasn’t napping,” Seokmin grumbled while pushing himself to sit up, swatting back your hand that rifled through his dark brown tresses disarrayed in every direction, “I was relaxing, that’s all.”

“Dude, you looked like you were dead,” Vernon laughed, stepping around from behind the couch to sit on the arm.

Leaning against a desk with two large speakers on it, Mingyu folded his arms, smiling at Seokmin whose face was beginning to tint red from all the attention. “That’s just how he looks when he sleeps.”

“Thanks…” Seokmin answered, standing up and dusting himself off. “Guess I’m never staying the night at your place again.”

“Well, if you’re not going to take the couch, I think these two should simmer down for a hot minute,” Princess said, shuffling the stumbling, giggling duo, Bells and Clara, to take a much needed seat.

“Okay, yeah. Mingyu, throw on some music. Give everyone a chance to get nice n’ comfy.” Seungcheol then beckoned toward Vernon. “Over here, man. Let’s get this shit sorted out.”

“Ah, right, right.”

His friend was quick to rise from the couch and meet Seungcheol in the corner of the room, by the billiard table as well as a small black safe. Mingyu pulled out his phone, linking up his Bluetooth with Seungcheol’s expensive sound system, and music soon replaced the empty air in the room. He then joined Seungcheol and Vernon in the corner. Wonwoo opted not to sleuth and glanced elsewhere.

He saw that you were already talking to Princess, the two of you pulling out some beers and other drinks from a fridge he hadn’t noticed before, and while he positively wanted to make time for a conversation with you, Wonwoo thought he should bother Seokmin first. The boy was shoving open a windowpane across the room.

“Hey, liar,” he announced in a dragging but not overly serious tone. “Not downstairs like you said you were, huh?”

Seokmin turned around, rubbing his face.

“I know, I know. I got a headache at the last minute. But I knew everyone would come upstairs. Glad you could make it!”

“Well then, how much of a headache should I be expecting?”

“Eh, depends,” his friend answered.

Wonwoo shrugged. “Depends on what?”

“I can’t imagine you jumping around on a countertop with your shirt off and a whippet in your hand.”

He snorted. “Is that what you were doing?”

“No—I was the one trying to get them off the counter.”

“Fair.”

 “I think you’ll be fine. At most, you’ll step outside for some air and get a nice breeze in your hair. No biggie… what’s that?”

“Uh, just a drink this girl whipped up. Sierra.”

“Oh.” Seokmin’s eyes brightened. “You mean Sierra Gomez?”

Wonwoo shrugged. “Dunno.”

“Did she have like, chin length, sort of coarse and frizzy brown hair? Freckles all over her cheeks? ‘Cause that’s Sierra Gomez. She works at the… the, um… Honeymoon! Yeah. The Honeymoon. She’s nice—used to stare at the back of your head all the time in calculus.”

“Hm.”

“Anyway—whatever—random thought.”

“Who used to stare at the back of your head in calculus?”

Turning around, Wonwoo noticed that you had approached their conversation at the open window, an abrupt flourish of wind sweeping back unto your inquisitive yet slightly firm expression. A bottle was in your hand, and you took a quick, easy sip from it.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Seokmin dismissed.

“No, tell me.”

Your eyes then flitted between himself and Seokmin. There was an innocent smile on your face that nursed the beer bottle.

“A girl who used to look at Wonwoo all the time during calculus with Bradbrook. She made him his drink, that’s all.”

“Really? Is that so?”

Wonwoo shrugged. “Apparently.”

“Who?” You asked, still maintaining that polished smile.

Seokmin chuckled, “nah, you wouldn’t know her.”

“Maybe I do.”

“No,” he was persistent on convincing you, pulling at the flushed cusp of his ear, “I know you don’t. It’s not a big deal.”

Your focused gaze then lasered into Seokmin, and much of the airy politeness to your voice had gradually sharpened out.

“If it’s not a big deal then tell me.”

Music from the speaker system atop the nearby desk drowned the momentary silence that lasted between the three. Wonwoo concentrated on the lyrics and the depth of the sensual beat, trying his hardest to mentally escape the odd tension smouldering up.

Seokmin was biting his lip, hard.

“Tell me.” You now were demanding rather than asking.

“It’s not—”

“Seokmin!”

“Okay, okay! Sierra Gomez. That’s the girl.”

Wonwoo shifted his eyes to you, observing the manner in which you quirked your head, pursed your bottom lip, and began staring around the room in an honest attempt to place the name that Seokmin had so frighteningly blurted, almost like a suspect under interrogation. And then you were shrugging, sipping from your cold drink.

“Hm, don’t know her.”

“Like I said...” his friend sighed, leaning backward into the cool breeze and settling his hands against the windowsill.

“She’s here? And she made you that?” You asked.

Wonwoo looked down at his cup, almost completely emptied.

“… Um, yeah.”

There was a nearly imperceptible falter that spilt across your face, though it travelled so quickly, like a blink of light, and Wonwoo was starting to think that maybe he hadn’t even seen it at all.

“Well, that was really nice of her.” A strange breathiness lingered in your tone. “I mean, I don’t know her but she sounds really… nice. I’ll have to chat with her someday. I don’t know what we’ll talk about… something nice, probably. Yeah. We’ll do that.”

Upon sensing your very unusual discomfort, Wonwoo thought he might try to quell whatever series of emotions must be taking shape behind those glassy eyes. But almost from thin air, Mingyu was at your side, sliding an arm around your waist and his head poking down to kiss your cheek. Wonwoo ate his words right back up.

“Sorry to bite the conversation,” Mingyu excused himself, removing the arm from your waist to hang off your shoulder instead, where it covered the same revealing patch of your cleavage. “But I like keeping an eye on this one—” he pecked your temple, “—one sip she’s normal, the next she’s on top of the damn table giving everyone a fuckin’ show they don’t deserve. Hard to tell what she’s gonna do.”

Your uptight posture melted habitually against Mingyu’s chest, meanwhile a slight snarl forged across your lips.

Wonwoo knew that his drink was getting empty, and he didn’t want to waste the remainder on trying to survive the unfortunate conversation he’d been whisked into. He realized how much he hated talking to Mingyu, especially now that Wonwoo was closer to you.

“Alright, you don’t need to overembellish.”

“Ha! Overembellish?” A heavy laugh flew off Mingyu’s tongue as he gave your shoulder a soft shake, staring down at you with his curious, twinkling eyes. “What am I overembellishing, pretty girl? Huh? You don’t remember that dance with Clara? Kicking that dude’s drink off the table? High out of your fuckin’ mind, weren’t you?”

“Yes, I remember. My problem is that you’re painting me out to be a mindless slut just waiting to show off. It’s not like I go into these situations, intending to get on a table and kick people’s drinks and shit. I’m just going with what I feel in the moment. I mean, I’m sure it gets a bit slutty. But that’s part of the fun. At least, I think.”

Okay—Wonwoo didn’t give a fuck about preserving his drink any more. He immediately dove in to take a generous sip, staring down the cup like there was something profoundly captivating scribbled on the bottom. Now that he was thinking about it, Wonwoo realized this is his first time witnessing your dynamic with Mingyu.

Mingyu sighed, tongue prodding against his inner cheek.

“Can’t make it easy, can you?”

At that, you cackled, tipping your head against his neck.

“Never. You should know that by now.”

“The important thing is, everyone has a good time.” Seokmin decided to add his two cents, not seeming as stiffened by the conversation as Wonwoo, probably since he was accustomed to it.

Nonetheless, it prompted your signature eye roll.

“Hey everyone! Seokmin thinks the most important part of a party is that everyone has a good time!” You mockingly chided, proceeding to raise the bottle to your mouth for another sip while Mingyu rubbed his nose, laughing. “Did that really need to be said?”

Partially closing the window, Seokmin chuckled. “I’m just saying it ‘cause you guys always bicker and bring the mood down.”

Your grip around the beer bottle visibly tightened.

“Bicker?! We don’t bicker!”

“Are you serious?” Seokmin folded his arms, a disbelieving smile mixed with puzzlement carving his mouth. “You just did!”

“No, that wasn’t bickering," you stated. “That was Mingyu saying something stupid and me correcting it. Purely factual.”

Shaking his head, Mingyu merely smirked. “Mmhm. Let’s go with that.” Though, it was quite obvious he was holding back what he actually wanted to say, but didn’t want to prove Seokmin’s point.

“Anyways, I’m not trying to make you look bad,” Seokmin mumbled, brushing a hand along an itch on his arm. “So, whatever you see here, Wonwoo, take it with a grain of salt, I guess.”

God, no.

He’d wanted so desperately to remain invisible—to not be summoned into the conversation in any way, shape, or form.

“Please,” you sounded exasperated, messing about with your hair, “I’m sure Wonwoo’d be the last person to care, anyway.”

At the worst possible time, he’d completely exhausted his soda and rum, and there was not even a single drop for him to make a lame show of sipping up. Wonwoo didn’t know whether or not to say anything. Maybe, if he just smiled genuinely, nodded his head, then everything would keep moving and he could somehow escape the burdensome pressure. However, what he failed to realize was that his overthinking gave him a very dazed expression that made it seem as though he wasn’t listening at all. Seokmin suddenly slapped his arm.

“Yeah, you’re probably right. Dude’s not even paying attention. Mentally checked out ‘cause of your arguing.”

“No. I’m listening,” Wonwoo answered, knowing the longer he stayed quiet the more guilty and strange he’d appear. “I just figure it’s better to let you guys hash it out. I’d rather not get involved.”

“Smart,” Mingyu huffed, to which Wonwoo found himself in the crosshairs of his intimidating gaze. “Best not to pick sides, right?”

“Oh my gosh, there are no sides.” Elbowing the tall, dark-haired boy gently in his rib, you shook your head. “And even if there were, I’m forcing him to take my side. You obviously have Seokmin.”

“When you are going to stop saying that?” Mingyu sounded notably annoyed at your comment, though you merely shrugged it off, instead wrapping a small hand with his in a successful attempt to pull him away from the conversation at the breezy window.

“Don’t whine, Gyu. Let’s go talk to Princess.”

Once you were gone, Wonwoo looked to Seokmin with some vague hope that he would share his astonishment at the situation. He couldn’t tell if you and Mingyu just clashed so naturally because your relationship was the long lasting, weathered kind where there were lots of little quips due to your shared comfortability. Or, maybe there was something else he was missing. But Seokmin didn’t seem even relatively phased, which lead Wonwoo into thinking that it was his overanalyzing brain picking things apart unnecessarily.

“Oh, I’ve gotta talk with Vernon for a sec.” His friend remembered, pointing out the tattooed boy who was closely admiring all the expensively framed film posters. “Nice to see you, though!”

The second Seokmin had slipped away, Wonwoo occupied his old position against the windowsill, letting his head tilt back until it bumped with the glass. A timidly building sickness ached in his stomach at the worry of all his conversations feeling like that—so agonizing, uncomfortable, with his mind racing a mile a minute.

He sighed aloud, attempting to steady his breathing.

Things would get better. They had to.

“Hey, Wonwoo! You wanna sit?”

Following the abrupt voice over to the now organized, tidied table, Wonwoo saw that it was Seungcheol who called his name. He tilted his head at an empty seat and Wonwoo decided to take the boy up on the offer rather than stumble into the undertow of his self-inflicted panic. Besides, Seungcheol was fairly relaxed and seemed easy to converse with—a much needed repose from Mingyu. As he sat down, setting his empty cup aside, Seungcheol leaned forward with his chin pressing down between his thumb and index finger.

“You okay?” He asked, lifting an eyebrow.

Wonwoo nodded. “I’m good.”

Relaxing back into his seat, Seungcheol smiled.

“Just making sure. I know it’s not always the easiest trying to make it through a Her-Mingyu-Seokmin three-way—pause—ignore how weirdly I phrased that,” he laughed, rubbing along his jaw.

The air around Wonwoo tinged with an immediate sense of relief, and he found himself relaxing, too, stretching out his legs.

“Yeah,” he then breathed out deeply, the tension in his chest loosening up. “I assume it’s best to just shut the fuck up.”

“Mmhm.” Seungcheol was eager to nod in agreement. “Yeah, exactly. Shut the fuck up, and give the most neutral answers if needed. It’s honestly a skill. You’ve gotta be a world class fence sitter.”

“So it seems.”

“Anyway, I’m curious—what’re you studying?”

“Nothing exciting. Mathematics, specifically calculus. I like a bit of data and statistics, too. I don’t know. Just, analyzing stuff.”

“Hm,” Seungcheol crossed his arms, grinning, “can’t say I’d be very good at all that. You want to be a data analyst or something?”

Wonwoo shrugged. “Maybe. I’ve thought about teaching, too.”

“University?”

“Yeah… I heard you’re in biomedical now.”

“Mmhm—switched my whole degree—can thank Junhui for that. He’s around here, somewhere. I like it, though. No regrets about it or anything. Besides—” Seungcheol turned his head toward the billiard ball table where Princess was chatting with you and Mingyu, a fond, amorous expression softening his face, “—that’s how I met Princess. I mean, she’s so intelligent, level-headed, thoughtful. Finally worked up the courage to ask her out, like… two months ago, now? Things have been smooth sailing since.”

“I can see that. You guys mesh together well,” Wonwoo answered, at first staring at Princess, but sensing his eyes naturally drift toward you and that tight hold Mingyu had at your bare waist.

“Thanks, man. Hey—I should say congrats, by the way.”

“Hm?” Wonwoo mumbled, spreading his legs. “What for?”

“Frontiers. You got a super good score.”

“Oh, that… uh, thanks. I mean, it was last year.”

Seungcheol’s face immediately scrunched with laughter.

“What?”

“Shit. It’s nothing.” Seungcheol was still chuckling a bit between his breathy words. “I love how you shrug it off. Like, whenever your name comes up, it’s always next to how smart you are, man. I love that you don’t even fucking care. If that were me, I’d be the most pretentious piece of shit—it’s actually insane.”

Wonwoo paused for a second to think, looking at his sneakers, and then back at Seungcheol, the cogs in his mind beginning to whirr.

“I didn’t think my name would come up much. If at all.”

“No, no, it does,” he answered, bouncing his fist off the table with another chuckle. “Hey—you get around more than you think.”

Maybe Seungcheol’s words were supposed to be uplifting, or rewarding to hear, but Wonwoo felt his stomach drop and a horrible, papery dryness spread throughout his mouth. He absolutely hated the thought of people talking about him, discussing him, perceiving him.

“Oh, yeah! Shit, I’ve been meaning to ask—” Seungcheol brightened and shuffled further up in his seat, “—Mingyu says you speak Korean? Were you born there, or from your parents, maybe?”

Wonwoo picked at his thumb slightly.

“Uh, yeah, I do. I was born there.”

“Same. Daegu.”

“Changwon.”

Seungcheol smiled, and when he switched so fluidly from his English to Korean, Wonwoo needed a moment to comprehend the different syllables and speech patterns hitting his ear. It was almost like a glitch, but it was infinitesimal, and Wonwoo processed it quick.

“Mingyu didn’t know where you were born. He just said he’d spoken Korean with you. It’s nice to hear, right?”

“It is. My parents still live in Changwon. Though their English is limited so I hardly ever use it with them.”

Nodding his head in understanding, Seungcheol then propped a leg onto his knee and began to grin. “It’s the same for me. I don’t know if Mingyu’s told you—he wasn’t born there but his parents spoke it around him growing up.”

“I’ve heard…”

“So Seokmin says you like to write?”

“Yes. Reading and writing.”

“I’m not much of a writer. I used to love reading. I still do, actually. But it’s difficult to make time for it.”

Wonwoo agreed. He would have never pegged Seungcheol as someone who enjoyed reading, mostly due to his reputation and his plethora of outlandish, jock friends, though he was pleasantly surprised to hear it.

“I haven’t been reading much myself. Or writing. I’m in a burnout, I suppose.” A sigh fell defeatedly from Wonwoo’s mouth. “It’s frustrating. What kind of books did you read?”

“Nothing unique. Lord of the Rings. I went through a period of really liking Goosebumps, too.” He  then bit his inner cheek in contemplation as he thought harder about his catalogue. “The weirdest book I remember reading was Walking Practice by Dolki Min. It gave me nightmares.”

“I’ve heard lots of mixed opinions about it.”

“It’s a book you read once, somehow manage to enjoy, but know you’ll never revisit… hm, it’s got me thinking…” Seungcheol was suddenly leaning forward, an arm dangling off the table as his forehead wrinkled with effort at placing a certain memory. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t you used to date that girl who worked at the university library? I think her name was… shit—” he snapped his fingers a few times, bit down hard on his rosy lip while his dark brow furrowed, “—Jeanie? I believe that’s it. She always wore a little pin on her pullovers. Didn’t really talk much. At least not to me. She was shy but seemed sweet.”

For a second, Wonwoo thought he misheard Seungcheol—that the music from the speaker system was blaring much too loud and he somehow misinterpreted a word or sentence. He even dug into his ear for a second, sat up in his chair instead of casually leaning backward.

“What?”

Wonwoo hadn’t even realized he’d dropped his Korean.

“Oh, I was asking about that girl you used to date. It was Jeanie, right? She worked at the university library.” When Wonwoo kept staring at him without so much as a sound, blink, or even a tiny twitch, Seungcheol waved his hand in the air dismissively. “Fuck, my bad. I’m probably confusing you with someone else.”

“No... you’re not.”

It had felt like a gunshot—realizing the specific pronunciation and shaping of Seungcheol’s lips hadn’t been misinterpreted at all. He was in fact saying what Wonwoo dreaded, feared, like the ghost stories from his childhood that his brother would utter through a white, dying flashlight until Wonwoo uncontrollably wept. Like the last step at his parents’ house he used to constantly miss, his heart practically jamming into his throat each and every time. It was that slow, nauseating accumulation of anxiety in his stomach, coming to buzz and rumble akin to a beehive. It was all those stupid mistakes.

Jeanie. To hear her name in another person’s mouth was almost sickening. To think about her again was pure heartache.

“That’s what I figured,” Seungcheol said. “She was nice, but I don’t think she came back in the fall… I don’t want to assume anything. Just a memory.” He reeled back on the topic as Wonwoo sat adjacent to him, paler than an alabaster pearl.

“Yeah…” he managed to croak out, feeling a rasp develop somewhere deep in his throat, “we’re not together anymore.”

“Hey, it is what it is,” Seungcheol affirmed, putting on a sincere smile that Wonwoo found a pinch of solace in. “We don’t have to fuckin’ mull over it or anything. All that shit’s in the past, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Right. You’re here now, amongst friends, I hope.”

Wonwoo swallowed, thinking about what Seungcheol said.

He then shifted his head toward the billiard ball table. Vernon was now involved in a very passionate conversation with Mingyu that Wonwoo was unable to hear from his distance. The two boys were bouncing back and forth, animated in their hand motions and expressions, meanwhile you and Princess were passing the most subtly judgmental looks between each other. For a moment, Wonwoo’s gaze caught your own, to which you shot him an innocuous eye roll paired with a small but tenderly growing smile. That thick uneasiness in his chest pulled back like a receding ocean tide and Wonwoo knew he was okay again.

Seungcheol took note of the glance, and he grinned.

“It seems you’re pretty close with Her.”

Turning his attention back to Seungcheol, Wonwoo nodded.

“Yeah, I guess you could say that. She’s… um…”

“Hard to describe, isn’t she?” Seungcheol answered for him, now observing the scene at the billiard ball table as well.

Wonwoo almost hesitated asking his next question, but before his brain could make much sense of it, he was already speaking.

“Does Mingyu always do that?”

Seungcheol chuckled, “do what?”

“He’s on her like a fucking sticker.”

Undoubtedly, his heart sank in at the predictable answer.

“Yeah, Gyu’s always got his eye on her. I understand where he’s coming from. She attracts a lot of attention. He straight up socked this dude in the face last year for hitting on her. I mean, to be fair, he was drunk and Her can tend to be a little… well, she likes to push his buttons. It was high tension all night. Bound to explode.”

Remembering his meal at Solar Pop with Vernon a few weeks ago, Wonwoo knew how anxious his friend had been at the thought of getting ungracefully decked in the face by Mingyu’s knuckles. While it never happened—and Wonwoo was certain then that it wouldn’t—he would hate to be on the receiving end of whatever power Mingyu did pack behind a serious punch. Wonwoo despised fighting and conflict. There was often a cutting, wolfish nature wading about Mingyu’s dark gold eyes that quite frankly petrified him enough.

Considering how fearful Vernon had seemed, Wonwoo was surprised the boy was even talking with Mingyu so freely. But that forgiving, never-take-anything-too-seriously gene was just embedded straight into Vernon’s core. He could get along with anybody.

“Hm,” was all Wonwoo hummed in response.

Since he had been laser-focused analyzing the cordial, humorous conversation between Vernon and Mingyu, he failed to note that Princess had joined her boyfriend at the table. Upon turning his head out of worry he might be caught staring, Wonwoo finally saw the beautiful girl leaning against Seungcheol’s back from behind; her arms draped comfortably around his neck and her cheek pressed to his midnight black hair. Wonwoo flashed an awkward half-smile.

“You guys getting to know each other?” She asked.

Seungcheol exchanged an agreeing glance with Wonwoo.

“Mmhm. We’re basically two peas in a pod now,” the boy proceeded to joke while Princess grinned down at him, her eyes gleaming. “Yeah, he’s pretty cool. One smart cookie, y’know?”

“Wow. Smarter than you, yeah?” She laughed, now straightening up and resting just a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, can’t be a winner in everything.”

“Oh. Maybe you can’t.”

“Shit—watch yourself, missy.”

Seungcheol quickly twisted around in his chair, managing to catch Princess by the waist and playfully wrestle her onto his lap. She hardly fought in retaliation against him, a huge, warm smile glowing from her face as she let herself get wrapped in his squeezing arms.

Wonwoo wasn’t sure if he wanted to throw up. It’s not that he was some spiteful, self-loathing recluse who couldn’t stand seeing others in healthy relationships—it wasn’t that at all. What he despised was the loneliness it reflected unto himself, and the deeply unsettling thought that he was just too damaged, insecure, and unlovable to ever truly warrant the pure trust of another. He feared he could never bring his inner self to fruitfully open in such vulnerable ways.

“Hey, Wonwoo. I just noticed your cup’s empty.”

When he connected with the earnest gaze of Princess, he realized she was pointing at the red cup left untouched by his elbow.

“Oh, yeah.”

“Do you want a beer? Or a chaser?” She offered in a polite tone as Seungcheol gently moved her long braids aside to drape over her far shoulder. “We have lots of stuff in the fridge over there.”

He bit into his lip, thinking.

“Doesn’t have to be a drink,” Seungcheol said, shrugging. “If you smoke, I’ve got some stuff already crushed up. Uh, I’ve got a bong around here somewhere. I think it’s on the shelf. Rolling papers, too. Don’t know how you prefer to smoke it.”

“Papers, usually,” Wonwoo answered.

“Cool. I’ve got that.”

With two soft, careful hands gliding up her waist, Seungcheol sweetly urged Princess to her feet and then pitched an announcement that anyone interested in smoking could come to the table.

Princess swiped the blue bong from Seungcheol’s shelf.

“I’m going for a bowl,” she said, clicking her tongue.

“Ou, me too!” Clara chirped, using Bells’ arm to help shove herself off the sofa, ignoring the way her friend whined.

“I’ll come sit with you guys,” Princess added, “just make a little room. And try not to throw up on me if you can help it.”

Wonwoo was in the midst of being accompanied at the table, with Vernon dragging out the chair to his left while Mingyu occupied the seat across from him. He watched the boy’s arm stretch out to accommodate you onto his lap, and Wonwoo assumed the hand he couldn’t see was groping your thigh underneath the table. In the pit of his stomach, Wonwoo knew what that slimy, bitter feeling was, though he refused to acknowledge it—he wouldn’t even look at you.

Seungcheol tossed a ziplock bag filled with weed onto the table and spread out an array of thin, dull, white rectangular papers.

Immediately, Vernon was tugging on Wonwoo’s sleeve.

“Can you roll mine, dude?”

“Hm?” Mingyu grunted, seeming amused. “You’re asking Wonwoo to roll your joint? You're a fucking drug dealer.”

“I’ve never met anyone who can roll as good as him,” his friend complimented, leaning back in the wooden chair and firmly shaking Wonwoo’s shoulder. “If he’s in the room, I’m gettin’ him to roll. He’s got nice, talented, dexterous fingers. Isn’t that right?”

Reaching for a translucent paper and smoothing out the crinkles, a suspect arch made its way to Wonwoo’s brow, meanwhile the tips of his ears burned with all the eyeballs examining his every fucking move. Wonwoo opened the baggie, beginning to shake out the pre-grinded bud as he held the paper in a curled shape.

“Please don’t talk about my fingers like that,” he muttered, pushing up his glasses. “Check that. You want a little more or less?”

“Nah, leave it at that,” Vernon answered.

Brushing a hand through his hair, Seungcheol then crossed his arms, smirking. “I wanna see it when you’re done rolling.”

“Me too,” Mingyu agreed, staring Wonwoo down like a hawk.

“Great. Why don’t we pass the joint around the table when he’s done with it, and we can all grade it. How fun,” you mumbled sarcastically, slumping forward and resting your chin against a palm.

“You gonna smoke or not, sweetheart?” Mingyu asked.

“I don’t know yet…”

Wonwoo knew you were staring at him while he fiddled with removing a crease in the partially rolled paper, because there was an itch crawling along him, like a sunburn, but not quite. Though, he opted to continue focusing on the joint, even with your eyes breathing him in from across the table, craving his acknowledgement.

“Lick there,” he instructed, holding the paper for Vernon.

From the couch, Wonwoo heard a bubbly laugh. It was Bells, her legs kicked up onto Princess’ lap without a care in the world while Princess sparked a lighter to help Clara ignite the sapphire bowl.

“Wonwoo, if you make one for me, can you lick it?”

He simply ignored her while carefully tucking at the joint.

Wonwoo turned to Vernon again. “Lick.”

After some finely tuned adjustments that required his utmost focus, Wonwoo was at last satisfied with the roll, then handing the joint off to Vernon for him to further pack and twist up. Once his friend finished the job, he passed the joint back to Wonwoo, who further gave it down to Seungcheol. The boy glanced over it closely.

“Damn… that’s pretty fuckin’ good, can’t lie.”

“Let me see," Mingyu practically demanded, granting Seungcheol the slimmest opportunity to even pass the joint along.

He’d snatched it up and settled back in his seat—nearly sliding you straight off his lap in the process—squinting to find some stupid imperfection or mistake he could point out, though, there was nothing. Without a word, he passed the smoke to Vernon.

“See? Told ‘ya. Glasses never fails me.”

“If you don’t mind—” Seungcheol rubbed at his bottom lip, staring at Wonwoo with a quirked eyebrow, “—could I get one?”

“Yeah, no problem.”

“Mingyu won’t say it but you should roll one for him, too.”

As Wonwoo pulled another paper toward him, he managed to look at you, and the little spark that jumped into your pretty eye. He smiled because you were smiling, and that always made him feel so inexplicably warm inside, like the soft melting of browned caramel.

“I can do that,” he said, to which Mingyu nodded his head.

“Thanks.”

“I’ll roll one for you, too, Her. I mean, if you want it.”

“Okay. That’s sweet. Maybe later.”

You smiled at him again.

He smiled back.

Wonwoo wasn’t sure how it happened or who initially decided the idea, but someone had suggested poker, and now the entire table was cleared off with the exception of Seungcheol’s playing cards and the multi-coloured chip stacks. They decided on classic Texas Hold’em because everyone who’d decided to join was most familiar with the style, though Wonwoo cared to dabble more in Blackjack as there was a mathematical basis to it that scratched a satisfying itch in his brain. Nonetheless, he was fairly good at Texas Hold’em, too.

Vernon hated playing with him, and he made that extremely apparent through his moaning while Princess shuffled the card deck. There was a decent number of people playing—only you, Clara, and Bells chose to sit on the sidelines and observe. Wonwoo had wanted you to play, but you kept declining, even without a concrete reason.

“Okay, everyone’s familiar with the rules, right?” Princess asked for clarification, at first burning the top card off the deck. “I’ll play dealer first round. That makes Seungcheol the small blind and Wonwoo the big blind. N'remember, you guys signed up for this, so if you can't afford to blow some money then you better be good.”

Everyone collectively agreed, and Princess began dealing the cards to all contenders until there was two before each person. Wonwoo wasn't exactly in the best position to be owing people cash, but he was a pretty solid player in his experience, though he was most comfortable going against Vernon and Seokmin. They had done a few poker nights at the random houses Vernon always claimed he was looking after for a friend. He had no idea what Seungcheol or Mingyu would be like as players. It did scare him a little.

Seungcheol made his move first—just a dollar, the equivalent of a single white-coloured chip. Wonwoo had to double the bet, so he moved out two white chips instead. Vernon decided to raise the amount to four chips, and Seokmin called the bet, matching it. Mingyu went next, his figure appearing foggy from across the table as the air became increasingly tinged with ruffles of smoke.

He called.

Seungcheol and Wonwoo both called at their turns, and thus, the first round of betting had ended. Everyone pushed forward their chips for Princess to collect, creating their small, measly looking pot.

Wonwoo kept the joint poised between his pointer and middle finger as he slyly gleaned the suit and ranks of his hand, keeping both cards flush against the table, just lifting their corners.

It didn’t seem like much and would probably result in little reward—an eight of clovers and a three of spades—but Wonwoo wasn’t looking to show out in the very first game, anyway.

He glanced toward the couch, where you were squished almost shoulder to shoulder against Clara and Bells. The bong was sat in your lap as you leaned down over the mouthpiece and sparked at the cannabis packed into the bowl. Bells curled at her long, black hair, heels dug into the edge of the coffee table, eyes glazed as pastries.

“I didn’t get anything from that,” she mumbled.

“That’s ‘cause you don’t know how to play,” Princess chuckled, again burning another card off the deck before setting down three more at the centre of the table, creating the flop.

Nine of diamonds, seven of hearts, and six of clovers.

Everyone took a minute to examine the flop, comparing it with the cards they had stowed close to their chests. Wonwoo, however, didn’t even bother comparing, as he already knew his move.

“Hm…” Seungcheol paused, rubbing at his chin and sucking in his bottom lip. “I think I’ll check.” He then leaned back, placing forth no bet at all, and instead looked to Wonwoo for his decision.

“Fold.”

“Ha!” Vernon practically choked beside him, the joint almost spat from his mouth, and Wonwoo felt the boy’s hand push in a teasing pressure at his shoulder. “You’re such a piece of shit, man.”

“Why is he a piece of shit?” Bells wondered.

“Just, uh—ah, never mind,” Vernon capitulated, still somewhat chuckling under his breath as Wonwoo smiled at him. “I’m gonna bet. I’ll put out some of these.” He slid out the required chips, forest-green in colour, each valued at twenty-five dollars.

Nibbling on his fingertip, Seokmin shook his head.

“I’m sorry, I’m folding.”

Princess smiled. “No, it’s okay! Mingyu next.”

“Hm, call,” he responded, matching Vernon's dare.

The attention returned to Seungcheol, who was rooted in his indecisiveness, pressed fingers masking half his face as he stared down at the three community cards, brow furrowed with thought.

Eventually, he shrugged. “Fuck it. I’m folding too.”

“Not feeling lucky, babe?” Princess grinned, collecting the bets placed by Vernon and Mingyu to the growing pot.

“I’m treading cautiously, let’s just say that.” He smirked.

After revealing the fourth community card, another round ensued between Vernon and Mingyu. Wonwoo relaxed back into his seat, an analyzing eye shifting from his tattooed, face-pierced friend to the stoic and collected Mingyu who was awaiting Vernon’s turn.

Wonwoo held his bottom lip between sharp teeth, then staring down at his lap in an attempt to smother that prying, wide smile, knowing the exact move his friend would make. It was Vernon, after all. And he always played big, even when he shouldn’t.

“Bet. Here you go.”

More of those green chips were moved out.

Mingyu huffed, tongue curling against his pronounced canine. “I don’t believe you, dude.”

Vernon cackled, propping up his knee and setting the heel of his sneaker onto the chair. He exhaled a smooth hit from his joint.

“Okay. Raise, then.”

Seungcheol chuckled, sharing a laugh with Seokmin who was sipping at a beer bottle from across the table.

“Fine—have it your way.”

"I’ll call.”

“Not feeling so confident, yeah?” Mingyu proceeded to laugh, eyeing Vernon closely with a testing, intrigued expression.

“I’ll let the showdown speak for itself,” Vernon pitted back.

Again, Princess collected their chips and rid the deck of its top card, and then placed down the fifth and final community card, establishing the river and the arrangement from which Vernon and Mingyu would need to create the most powerful hand. Each boy at last turned over their deck, and it was clear cut who was the winner.

“Mingyu’s got a full house,” Princess explained, standing up and leaning forward to swivel the card combination into place. “Take these three from the river, plus his nine of hearts and seven of clovers—that’s a three of a kind and a pair. Vernon can at most make a straight.” She then sat back down, pushing the entire pot to Mingyu.

“Did you win, baby?” After remaining silent for the entire game, you had finally perked up from the couch, admittedly buzzed.

Brushing back his hair, he smirked. “I won. Mr. Drug Dealer owes me about three-hundred dollars. But I guess you've just got that laying around somewhere? Stuffed up your pillow case?”

Vernon laughed, then took a deep, long drag from his joint. "If you're not sleepin' against a pillow case full of cash, I'm happy to officially give you the opportunity. Takes away all your stress."

“Congratulations,” you flashed a hazy smile at your boyfriend, courtesy of the smoke wafting through the air, like you were caught in a reverie, “I'm glad all those Sundays were well spent.”

“Okay, we’ll move down now,” Princess announced, reorganizing the cards into a deck. “Seungcheol’s the dealer, Wonwoo is the small blind, and Vernon’s the big blind this time.”

They continued to play until everyone at the table had a chance at being the blinds and the dealer. Wonwoo folded every round. He knew it might've been ignorant and distrustful, but to him, it was the perfect opportunity to see inside everyone's bag of tricks.

He’d developed a fairly foolproof inkling toward their tactics and gives. Seokmin was by far the easiest player to make fold, though Wonwoo was already well aware—he would only hold his ground if there was confidence in his hand, but even then, anyone else calling Seokmin’s bet always engendered him to squirm. And while Vernon was still a more seasoned player by comparison, his brashness and tentative nature toward folding was often his downfall.

Seungcheol and Princess were a bit harder to read.

They were alike in their more cautious, calculating style of play, and Princess clearly had experience with orchestrating poker matches. Seungcheol, however, would routinely make the same mistake that Wonwoo had noticed straight away—touching or covering his face. When he was most confident, his fingers would sit more around his chin, or jaw, and when he was dealt a shitty hand with little to no promise of creating something notable from the community cards, those fingers etched further toward his lips.

You had still refused to join the match when offered by Princess, though you were paying greater attention to the game—even stopping by to hover with interest at Mingyu’s shoulder.

Princess was back to being the dealer.

Seungcheol was again the small blind. “I’ll put up twenty.”

Wonwoo grabbed two stacks of his chips and slid them outward to double the boy’s forced bet. “Forty.”

Everyone called.

Since the pot had gone unraised, Wonwoo decided to push forth more of his chips, adding on another twenty in small stacks. “Raise.”

The eagerness to increase the bet had drained. Again, all parties at the table simply called, and Wonwoo was feeling quite confident.

“Flop time,” Princess said with a smile, neatly setting out three cards at the table’s centre for everyone to glean.

Seungcheol checked. So did Wonwoo.

“Raise.” Vernon was persistent in his choice.

Everyone matched the increased bet, now sitting at eighty chips, until it fell upon Wonwoo’s turn. Expectant eyes were drilling holes into him like he was plywood at a construction site. Under normal circumstances, Wonwoo would abhor it more than anything else, but he was otherwise relaxed and in tune with his decisions as the joint smoke warmly fluttered around him. Coughing out a tickle from his throat, he grabbed another stack of his chips.

“It’s at eighty, so I’ll push to a hundred.”

“Cunt,” Vernon coughed, though he matched the raise without so much as a leg shake or a bite at his glinting lip ring.

“Fold,” Seokmin sighed, forfeiting his hand to Princess.

Wonwoo looked across the table, watching your fingertips squeeze into Mingyu’s thick shoulders as he pondered his choice.

“Call.” He eventually decided with a shrug.

Seungcheol agreed.

By the fifth community card, Wonwoo, Mingyu, Seungcheol, and Vernon were still engaged in the match. From his analysis, Wonwoo was sure he would take the pot. Seungcheol was rubbing just below his lip using a slow thumb—there was uncertainty and doubt in the gesture. Vernon’s willingness to raise was merely intended to pressure out the others, but it hadn’t worked, and his quietness suggested there might be regret, and still, confidence, that he could somehow get away with it. Finally, Wonwoo saw Mingyu.

He'd played a handful of poker—specifically Texas Hold’em—with Mingyu when they had taken that probability elective last year.

The thing was, Mingyu had this gold-plated guise of believing his casual, unbothered demeanour couldn’t be disrupted under any circumstance—that no one would catch that transient slip of credence in those molten brown eyes or note the way he cracked the wood in the chair from fidgeting when the silence was too heavy and all-encompassing. But Wonwoo would notice. He could see it clearer than glass. The more Mingyu disguised it, the easier it poured out.

“Alright, showdown. Let’s see your hands.”

Everyone flipped their cards.

A moment of silence ensued, and then—

“Fuck you, Wonwoo,” Vernon grunted, jabbing his side.

Both him and Seungcheol could make a straight flush, but since the rank of Wonwoo’s cards were higher, he took the win.

Not to mention the rather large, admirable pot. He was pretty pleased to see those colourful bills being forked out from the losers' wallets. It truly did pay off to play with rich people, and Mingyu and Seungcheol's pockets seemed endless.

By Wonwoo's third joint of the night, he’d won more rounds than anyone sitting at the table. Vernon had cursed at him a fair amount, Seokmin hardly wanted to play anymore amongst the serious tycoons that surrounded him, and wallets were running drier than any desert. The effects of all that smoke wafting through the air and meddling with his senses was starting to take effect.

He could potentially last another round before his most concrete thinking would get whittled down to thoughtless guesses.

Before the final round had started, Wonwoo glanced down at his phone to check the time. Holy shit—one in the morning. He’d been at the party for almost three fucking hours and he was miraculously still functioning and somehow not crawling with the desperation to leave. You were seated back at the couch, head leaning on Clara’s shoulder as you waited, misty-eyed, for the final game to start. Wonwoo decided to text you even though you were sitting no less than five feet away.

[ Wonwoo | 1:02 am ]: Play the final round.

He watched as you picked up the phone from your lap to read the text message, and then, you were squinting at him in judgement.

[ Her | 1:02 am ]: um no

His thumbs fired back a response.

[ Wonwoo | 1:02 am ]: Why?

[ Her | 1:02 am ]: bc I don’t want to

[ Wonwoo | 1:03 am ]: You don’t know how to play?

[ Her | 1:03 am ]: ik how to play

[ Wonwoo | 1:03 am ]: So play.

[ Wonwoo | 1:03 am ]: Take Seokmin’s place.

[ Wonwoo | 1:03 am ]: Please? Should I beg for it?

Your scoff could be heard from the couch, and Wonwoo had to remind himself to steam out the smile twitching on his lips.

[ Her | 1:04 am ]: is it really that important to u?

[ Wonwoo | 1:04 am ]: Yes.

[ Her | 1:04 am ]: fine

[ Her | 1:04 am ]: just don’t come crying to me when u lose

Feeling especially triumphant that he was able to convince you, Wonwoo observed with a pleased smirk your quest to Seokmin’s place at the table, where you tapped his shoulder and told him to take five. The boy didn’t need to be told twice, allowing you his seat almost gratefully.

“Awe, you’re not gonna stay for the finale?” Princess asked in a crooning voice while shuffling the card deck between her hands.

Seokmin grabbed his skinny bottle of beer off the table and shook his head, his face glowing and his eyes beginning to hood.

“I’ve learned my lesson about this game: I’m not good at it, I don’t have the money, and that I should never play with Wonwoo.”

“Or me?” Vernon gestured, turning out a palm expectantly.

“Uh, right. And Vernon.”

Picking a fluff from Seokmin’s shirt and flicking it into the air, you merely shrugged, flashing him a comforting smile.

“Y’know, it’s a good thing you suck,” you said, then leaning back in the chair and folding your arms. “It means you’re a bad liar.”

“Nice to play with you, alright?” Seungcheol added, grabbing onto the boy’s hand and giving it a firm clasp as he walked by.

“Thanks. I think I’ll go back downstairs and see if I can find more people I know. Enjoy the game, guys! Tell me who wins!”

“Probably me,” you answered, waving him goodbye.

“Hm, I didn’t think you’d play at all,” Mingyu remarked while Princess began sorting out cards to everyone, and Wonwoo noted the boy's leg jostling underneath the table. “Feeling confident, are you?”

Poking out your tongue playfully at Mingyu, you smiled. “Yes. Don’t even think about trying to riddle me. I’ll see right through it.”

The game started out as usual. Seungcheol and Wonwoo offered the blind bets, and everyone at the table called. No one seemed keen to fold, even when Princess revealed the flop and his heart smacked in another resounding thump. An eight of spades, a king of spades, and an eight of clovers. Wonwoo then slipped his gaze around the table, particularly studying you, who hadn’t stopped grinning since the game started. Of course you would be grinning. There was nothing very coy or subtle about you upon any first glance.

Wonwoo discreetly lifted the corners to his playing cards. He caught the wind in his chest. There was an ace of spades, his very first all night, paired with a nine of spades. It took all his self-control to remain muted on the outside and let his joint continue burning.

At the fourth community card, the pressure was starting to seep through, and the intimidating, stacked size of the pot collected before Princess was only making the fold especially tempting.

Every time it seemed like a call was in order, someone would raise, and the bets kept climbing until the glass ceiling was at last hit.

Seungcheol brushed antsy hands down the back of his head, scattering his hair and puffing out his chest in a large, accepting sigh.

“I’ve gotta fold. There’s no way.”

Balancing a joint at the corner of his mouth, Wonwoo grabbed another stack from his chips and slid it outward, knowing there was little to no chance he would lose the round.

“Raise,” he announced, exhaling a deep breath.

“Oh my God,” Vernon mumbled into his palm, taking a moment to tap his fingers against the wood, “… I have to fold. Yeah, I’ve gotta. A smart man like myself knows when to quit. You got me. Fucker.”

Unphased by the hopeless, daunting feeling that swelled around the table, you merely crossed a leg and dared to not only match, but raise the amount of chips that Wonwoo had audaciously put forth. Mingyu was slumped in his chair with a musing expression, eyes stung red and the thick fronds of his hair messily strewn about from how often his fingers dug through them. He eventually cleared his throat from the hot prickle and shook his head in conviction.

“No, you’re lying. I don’t believe it.”

But you just smirked and fluttered your lashes.

“What’s your move then, babe?”

“I’ll check.” Mingyu shrugged, agitated by his own response.

And to that, Wonwoo poured more gasoline on the fire.

“Raise.”

“There is no fuckin’ way your cards are that good,” Vernon grumbled between half-sealed lips, attempting to hold the joint still with his mouth while he sparked the end using his lighter.

“I’m raising your raise,” you challenged, “one-hundred.”

As his hand fell onto the table with a loud rattle, Vernon started to cackle. “There’s no way your cards are that good, either.”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” You lilted.

“Mingyu?” Seungcheol hummed to get the boy’s attention. “It’s your move, man. What’re you gonna do?”

Wonwoo could see it scribbled all over Mingyu’s face. He didn’t want to get caught in the intense bidding flare between you, because he obviously knew his cards weren’t high enough rank to claim the pot at showdown. Wonwoo wasn’t planning to fold because the community cards were aligned in his favour. That steely, brash façade of the golden boy across from him was wearing increasingly thinner and Mingyu had seemed to realize it himself. After an almost agonizing silence, he pushed his cards away from him, forfeiting.

“Yeah, I can’t do it. Fuck you guys.”

“Oh, that’s too bad, sweetheart. That’s too bad, ” you giggled, leaning over to sling an arm around his shoulders and stipple his cheek in small kisses that Mingyu wriggled from.

“Alright, just fuckin’ get to the showdown already,” he tutted.

Wonwoo couldn’t have been happier that Mingyu removed himself from the game. It was solely between him and you, now.

“You raised to one-hundred?” He asked for clarification.

Nodding your head, you agreed. “Yes. One-hundred.”

The thing was, Wonwoo knew he was going to win. Even without Princess revealing the final community card, there was an opportunity for him to make a straight flush. Unless an unprecedented stroke of luck had fallen into your own hand and you could somehow make a royal flush, the game was already decided.

Unless Wonwoo folded.

“I’ll raise,” he answered, wanting to test your limits.

“Jesus, this is gonna take all fuckin’ night, isn’t it?” Vernon proceeded to groan while exercising his stiff shoulder.

You smiled, and a glint illuminated in your eyes like a fallen star the size of a perfect sand grain.

 “Should I make it more interesting?”

Uncrossing your leg, you sat up straight, pressing tight against the table as you braced an arm behind your remaining chips and shoved them forward slowly, right into the table’s centre. Everyone began to mumble excitedly at the brazen act, though Wonwoo could only focus on you and that mischievous but beautiful curve to your lips, ignoring everything else in the room.

“All in.”

He felt a fist lightly strike his chest.

“Glasses! You’ve gotta match that!”

Seungcheol was rubbing along his chin, grinning.

“That’s gonna make a huge pot… lotta money…”

“He’s been making moves all game,” Princess laughed. “Not that I’m pressuring you, Wonwoo. I mean, it’s your call.”

Mingyu shook his head. “She’s so bluffing.”

“Hush up so he can think!” Vernon cackled.

There was so much sound and noise and voices. But, through the cacophony and haze of all those distractions, Wonwoo could see into you so clearly it was like you had become magically transparent. In turn, you were staring at him, awaiting his response, and he felt those sharp eyes shearing at his fabricated thoughts, picking them all apart into little corners and strips and threads. It was impossibly subtle, and only Wonwoo caught it—your head just beginning to shake in disagreement.

However, Wonwoo had already made his decision.

“I’m folding.”

Vernon’s fists struck down on the table like a thunderous clap, and the tension nailed into the atmosphere suddenly burst.

Before Wonwoo could even make sense of the exploding conversation, his cards were pulled away from him by Princess. She flipped over both yours and his hand.

“Wonwoo, you stupid fuck!” Vernon practically leapt from his chair, wriggling at the boy’s shoulder. “That’s a straight fl—oh my god! I’m actually so—you could have easily won that!”

“Okay, okay. She’s got a straight flush, too!” Princess called, pointing down at your cards. “But Wonwoo’s rank is higher.”

“Doesn’t matter, anyway,” Mingyu said, pushing back in his chair and stretching out his muscular arms. “He folded. Her wins.”

Seungcheol sifted through the colourful chips.

“Looks like he owes you about five-hundred bucks.”

Continuing to smile at you, Wonwoo picked the joint back between his lips, borrowing Vernon’s lighter to fizzle the end and keep the paper burning. Your arms were crossed, hardly pleased.

“Looks like I do.” Wonwoo accepted through a wispy exhale of smoke, rolling out his shoulders and further quirking his lips.

After the final poker match, everyone decided to disseminate and take about half an hour to excuse themselves. Mingyu went back downstairs with Seungcheol so they could keep an eye on the general rowdiness, making sure people hadn’t started rioting or smashing vases, swinging from chandeliers and drinking questionable concoctions out of high-heeled boots.

Vernon wandered off in search for a washroom since Princess had occupied the nearest one down the staircase, at first helping nurse Clara through her incoming bout of alcohol sickness, with Bells joining them a few minutes afterward when that last sip decided to lurch back up her throat.

Only you and Wonwoo remained in the attic.

He was sat widespread at the sofa, slumped down, eyes closed, attempting to appreciate the high that could be attributed to the third joint he was now halfway through smoking. But then he felt the cushion beside him dip, and there was a pinch sinking rather harshly into the flesh on his hand that made his eyes fling back open.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Wonwoo moaned, rubbing over the small, crescent shaped branding dug by your fingernail.

Settling down notably close to Wonwoo, your knee prodded into his thigh while your one leg folded over the other. That scowl had yet to be ironed out from your countenance, and he could only suspect you were about to come down hard in regards to his stunt.

“Boo hoo. You’re such a lying liar who lies.”

Wonwoo stretched out a hand to his face, massaging slow against his temples while he sighed, “lying’s part of the game...”

“No—” the retort shot out with an electrifying quickness, “—not your type of lying. Your double-crossed lying. You’re a fraud.”

“A fraud?” He echoed, letting the hand fall into his lap. “Okay, that’s a bit accusatory. I wouldn’t call what I did fraudulent.”

Shifting his elbow off the arm of the couch, the joint was poised back at his lips, and Wonwoo couldn’t help but chuckle at your glaring, stiff face. He swiftly blew out his hit, smirking hard.

“I hate you for what you did. I mean, you should have gone all in and matched me. But, no! You took the wuss route and made me look stupid! It taints everything. And you better wipe away that jovial curl in your lip before I sock it off your face and steal your cig.”

Wonwoo tilted his head at you, perking an eyebrow.

“How’d you know my cards were better?”

At first, the question visibly stumped you. There was a lag in your response—an open mouth but not a single word to follow.

Then, it seemed as though you breathed out all your rage.

“Don’t ask such a dumb question,” sounded your calm sigh, with a leg bobbing up and down, “you made it so obvious.”

“I did? Hm.”

“Yeah…I know your tactic. You make everyone feel and nice and comfortable playing with you. Then, you totally flip the script and pull out the rug.” Your shoulder was digging into his and you two were now squished together so closely that he could feel your radiating warmth and smell the fragrance in your hair. “For someone who’s so damn quiet, your eyes are like a book. They just swim and trash with everything you’re thinking. So, don’t think you’re all that.”

Wonwoo switched the joint to his other hand, instead leaning against his fist and peering aside at you who seemed so certain of everything. Admittedly, he’d never heard that before, and if he weren’t beyond drowned in the watery red glowing behind his hooded gaze, your spiel would have downright terrified him.

It wasn’t that you just knew Wonwoo, it was that you were beginning to understand him and the way his mind operated.

No—if he were sober, that thought would obliterate him.

He shrugged. “I don’t think I’m all that.”

“Blah, blah. Y’know, the one thing about you that bothers me—you’re actually not a loser. People like you Wonwoo. People are impressed by you. They want to know you. And you just keep them at bay with your stinging hot fireplace poker, jabbing at them in case they get too close. I see it. And—I don’t know, maybe you’re right to keep all those people out. Maybe it gives you more control.”

Wonwoo dragged a hand along his face, laughing. “I think I’m a little too high to be having that conversation with you.”

“No, you’re not. You just don’t want to talk about it as usual. I don't suppose you've got five-hundred big ones in your wallet, do you?”

He shot you an obvious glance while chuckling, "absolutely fucking not. But sit tight, though. I can get it to you somehow."

Your head shook. "I don't care about the money."

He stared down at the joint aglow in his hand.

And then he was holding it out in front of you.

“Hit?”

You hesitated, but ultimately grabbed it, positioning the joint between your index and middle finger akin to a cigarette. Wonwoo watched intently at the soft inhale you breathed in, and the gradual relaxing of your chest as the smoke was gently puffed outward.

“Not so tough, is it?” He hummed in his deep, velvet-smooth voice, to which you squinted at him and scrunched your nose.

“I just studied how you did it, that’s all.”

Your knee was now pressed atop his lap. Wonwoo felt that momentary, passionate itch to settle his palm flat against your warm skin—ignore all boundaries that existed between you as well as their scalding consequences just for the sake of sweetly touching you, the one visible hope in his life. Still, Wonwoo was too afraid. As much as he wanted all your light and love to himself, it could never be true.

“We’re doing lines next,” you said, “… are you gonna do it?”

“Oh, no.” Wonwoo shook his head. “I tried it once and it went fucking terribly. I’m not gonna bother messing with it again.”

You looked relieved.

“That’s good. It’s so weird for me. Like, when it first enters my system, everything feels strange and I get this spinning, nauseating sensation. But it always passes. And then I let everything go.”

Wonwoo quirked at you a barely-there smile.

“I know it’s obvious—just be careful, alright?”

You puffed out another hit.

“I will.”

It was a bit strange—to just stand there, off to the side, as an observer of someone who was lining up a perfect streak of white powder using their credit card. And yet, that’s what Wonwoo had found himself doing, staring without much shame as you, Mingyu, Vernon, and Seungcheol began pressing shut one nostril and inhaling the cocaine through the other. Wonwoo never bothered to ask Vernon how he acquired the coke, or what he paid for it, or how he even knew someone that could baggie it up for him so nicely—Wonwoo didn’t ask anything of the sort because he’d rather avoid prison.

Though, that might be inevitable in the bigger picture. His closest friend was a drug dealer. By nature, he was already associated.

Princess had walked over to him, dropping off some bottled water from the fridge that he immediately uncapped and gulped down. It seemed his efforts to mend that broken circadian rhythm of his had done some actual good, because Wonwoo was feeling the tire spread over his eyes and the energy deplete from his body like an inflatable with an air leak. You had snorted the coke almost a little too naturally. He remembered an old conversation with Vernon—she takes that shit like it’s pixie dust—and he supposed it made sense.

He helped Princess shove the window open again to let some freshness back into the warm attic space. She spent a moment or so staring down at the driveway, watching the people come and go.

“How are Bells and Clara?” Wonwoo asked.

She glanced at him, though her brown eyes eventually wandered back to the ongoing buzz outside and below.

“Clara is totalled,” Princess sighed. “She’s lying down in one of the spare bedrooms. A friend is looking after her. Bells on the other hand...” she glimpsed over her shoulder, scanning the room, “I’m not sure where she went. I thought she came back upstairs, but it’s likely she wandered down to the living room. That girl is all gas, no breaks. Throws up one second, back to sloshing the next.”

Wonwoo swallowed more of his cold water.

“I take it Seungcheol owes you a dinner?”

“Ha—yeah, he owes it to me big time,” she muttered, at last turning her back to the breeze. “Good thing I didn’t let him drink that fucking whiskey. Holy shit. It would be worse than Clara.”

“Hm…” Wonwoo hummed, suddenly wondering aloud as he watched you cough into your fist at the table while Mingyu rubbed his nose and patted your cheek. “He doesn’t do it all the time, though?”

Princess folded her arms and smiled.

“No, she doesn’t.”

“She?”

“Her.”

“Oh. I was asking—”

“I know what you were asking. You don’t have to hide it.”

Wonwoo thought about further countering Princess’ assumption, but the way she was watching him—head knowingly tilted with that smitten crook so rightfully framed on her glossed, shiny lips—he knew it would be futile to even try. He felt relief at the confirmation, too. As long as you were careful. Really fucking careful.

“Sorry,” he answered, shrugging.

“Nah, apology not needed.” Princess shook her head.

The girl proceeded to look down at her feet, remaining silent and pensive—toying with the idea of saying something important but ultimately weighing its consequence before involving Wonwoo.

He was sipping from his water again when Princess at last cleared her throat, then holding the swig between his cheeks.

“Um, I don’t know, exactly, what it is you and Her talk about, or what you write about, or what you two do, ever. Just, uh, whatever it is—and maybe it’s best I don’t know—she’s really… happy. Not that she wasn’t happy before. But… it’s different, y’know? The energy is different. And I see this really, really beautiful light in her that I’ve never seen before. So, yeah. I’m glad you two are friends. And that you listen to her and stick by her and help her with this new craft even when she’s not the most cooperative, or… well… y’know… it’s Her after all. You don’t really know which version you’ll get.”

Wonwoo still hadn’t swallowed. The water was becoming uncomfortably lukewarm in his mouth but he held it there.

Princess dusted off her shirt, smiling again. “Anyway, I’ll go check on Seungcheol. Probably try to find Bells. Ah, later.”

Only when the girl had left him alone at the windowsill did he finally choke down that large sip, bracing through it as though he’d just downed some especially bitter cough syrup. His mind was replaying pieces of Princess’ speech in addition to that appreciative, even admirable look she had been giving him. He didn’t know what to take from it. He didn’t even know what he was feeling. All his emotions were cooking in one big heap at the pit of his gut like a disproportioned stew. Wonwoo rubbed a hand along his face in partial confusion and agony, hearing a giggle from you somewhere across the room, as he attempted to sort everything out.

Wanting to move somewhere a bit quieter, Wonwoo thought he might try his luck with the rooms down the staircase, and hopefully not waltz into anything he so clearly shouldn’t have. Yet, just as his hand ghosted along the wood railing, Wonwoo was suddenly colliding with someone and the rapidly permeating, muddled scent of daisies, cannabis, and fireball was filling his nose.

His water bottle dropped to the floor and rolled to the base of the stairs. Fingers scraped deep into his shirt. He grabbed onto the person’s waist with instinct, helping to steady them.

“Fuck—holy shit. Thanks, Wonwoo.”

But then the realization had metaphorically slapped him.

“My bad. Sorry.”

It was Bells who’d been stumbling up the stairs and plowed straight into his chest. She didn’t seem the most present, either.

“No, no, no. I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

The last thing he wanted on planet Earth was to get sucked into a conversation with her—not that he had any sort of grudge or concrete reason to dislike the girl—but his head was starting to ache and he craved peace and quiet for just five fucking minutes.

Her fingers were still wound into his shirt, almost holding him there, against the banister of the stairs, and Wonwoo couldn’t help but stare straight into her intensely dilated eyes that studied him like a shark.

“Uh, all good...”

Wonwoo honestly wanted to grab the girl by her shoulders and physically set her aside. At the same time, he didn’t think it was the best protocol to act so uncouth with one of your close friends.

“Oh, sorry!” It seemed to dawn on her that she was pinning him against the handrailing. “I just didn’t want to fall.”

She at last loosened her fingers, though Wonwoo noted how she somewhat dragged her hands along his chest in the process of doing so, like that girl had done earlier to Vernon. It was unnecessary, but she was drunk, and Wonwoo thought he could end the conversation quicker if he remained pleasant. Stood at the top of the stairs, Wonwoo smiled at her, knowing how exhausted he was inside.

“I hope you’re feeling okay.”

Bells smiled, swaying her shoulders, “I’ve never felt better.”

“… Are you… sure about that?”

“Mmhm.”

“Do you need water or anything?”

“Don’t think so.”

“Uh, alright, cool. Well, I’m gonna go—”

“Wonwoo, wait.” She latched onto his arm, fast and sharp.

He paused, not so much because of her grip but mostly from shock, as she had suddenly moved in closer and he could now feel her strength squeezing against his bicep. She batted her eyelashes up at him demurely, and there was nothing he stomached but discomfort.

“What are you doing after this?” The girl hummed, lowering her voice and intentionally smoothing it to add a sultry effect.

Dry swallowing, he debated whether or not he should even respond and instead simply peel her unwanted hand off his arm.

“… Going to bed?” He croaked, shifting in his place.

“Would you want to do something with me?” She bit her lip. “My apartment’s in South Elm. Have you ever been there?”

“It’s not a good idea.” Wonwoo was losing his patience.

“Awe, not a good idea? Why’s that?” She giggled, slowly massaging her hand down the length of his bicep and nibbling on her inner cheek. “We can do anything you want at my place… I live alone… so, I’m up for it. Anything at all.”

“Okay, uh, look. I don’t want to be—”

All of a sudden, Bells was ripped from Wonwoo like a sticky bandage, and while he was more than confused at the situation, he was nonetheless relieved. He assumed it was Princess who’d done the deed, and thus Wonwoo was very surprised to learn that it had been you—you, who did not appear happy in the slightest, and his relief was starting to transform into thick concern because it seemed as though you were going to ricochet Bells head off the banister.

“What the hell is wrong with you?!” You shouted, shoving a belittling hand against Bells' shoulder and tugging her away. “Why are you fucking cornering him like that?!”

“Uh—what? Cornering him? Her, I’m so confused.”

“Confused? About what, Bells? You’re fucking harassing him! Like, why are you in his face and putting your hands on him?!”

“Woah, woah, woah. What’s your fucking problem? I wasn’t in his face; I’m talking to him. Just talking. You’re jumped up again.”

“Jumped up?! You're one to talk!”

Wonwoo at first tried to intervene, mostly out of serious worry for Bells safety, because you were steaming. However, every time he attempted to speak up, his words would drown out in the echo of your squabbling. It didn’t help that you two were both mentally degraded in your own right—all that anger was shooting straight from your chest to your mouth with no thought involved.

“Just leave him alone!” You jabbed a finger at her chest.

Bells slapped your hand away. “Don’t touch me!”

“Oh, why? Does it make you uncomfortable, having someone in your fucking face, touching you without permission? Does that make you upset, Bells? Hm, wow. So funny you would say that.”

Wonwoo settled a hand at your shoulder, tugging at you once, then twice, wanting to pull you back without being too forceful.

“It’s okay,” he assured, though his heart was pounding and he wished someone else would help or even take note of what was happening, “it’s not a big deal, alright? Nothing worth all this.”

Again, he was completely ignored.

“So, that’s it?” Bells laughed, throwing up her arms. “Only you can talk to him, and look at him, and breathe around him? That’s all you? No one else is allowed to like, have a conversation with him?!”

“You don’t want to have a conversation with him!” Your fists balled up tight as you screamed at her. “You want him to fuck you!”

“Okay, okay—!” Wonwoo jolted with panic when you pushed the drunken girl, immediately coiling his arms around your waist and lurching you backward before a flailing hand could strike Bells’ face.

Bells stumbled for no less than second until she regained her balance and looked to you with the most seething, nettled eyes.

The situation seemed on the precipice of exploding beyond control, with you wriggling and thrashing against his arms, employing a strength he couldn’t have expected amidst your sluggish state. You were shouting at him to stop intervening, though, he knew letting go meant you would most likely beat the girl’s breaks off.

Thankfully, at the nick of time, Mingyu had sprinted across the room, catching Bells' arm just before it lashed out in a strike.

“What the fuck is going on?!” Mingyu grunted while wrestling the smaller, feisty girl away despite all her manic squirming.

Wonwoo almost got nipped by the unbridled swinging of your elbow as he gritted through his teeth, “I wish I knew.”

He did know. However, it wasn’t the time to discuss it.

“Fuck! Just take Her downstairs!” The boy shouted.

Jesus Christ—that was easier said than done. Trying to haul you backward down a staircase as you twisted, kicked, and screamed a very colourful litany of profanities at your friend was the exact nightmare it sounded like. Vernon’s head had suddenly popped over the banister, staring down at you and Wonwoo, his eyes blown wide with pure befuddlement, as though he wasn’t sure if it was real life or a narcotic delusion. Princess had gone to help Mingyu calm down Bells. Seungcheol had joined the commotion, too, though he didn’t come across the most intelligible. His mind was all fog.  

And yet, somehow, Wonwoo managed to ply you away from the stairs and into the corridor with hardly a breath to spare.

—END OF PART III.

[shuenkio]

Juno | Lhs.

Paring: Heeseung X M!reader | Genre: Fluff.

Synopsis: Thought he'd be disgusted by your love letter however who knows what he actually feels toward you? When your friend accidentally puts that for fun note in your gift that you're about to give him?

Cw: Nothing.

Non proof read | Eng is not my 1st lang.

This is a work of fanfiction, do not throw unnecessary tantrums on this nsfw/sfw blog. ©Shuenkio

A@N: Christmas's laterally 3 more months away but who cares, I wanna make a change 💪 plus Juno are on repeating, so why not make an inspiration fic about it?

The Earth's spinning, people are living their lives in their own way, especially with their loved ones. You wonder, to the point of this age, should you just grow old as an old bachelor or find someone? Well, looking at yourself in the mirror already answers all your questions; you find yourself didn't match your satisfaction.

Insecure about your look wasn't enough; another thing is you've been hopeless romantic all of your life. Deep down, you wanted to have someone stay by your side, holding your hand while looking at the sky when it's sunset, cuddle when it's rain, compliment all the sweet things you've ever needed every day, and last but not least, you wanted someone to love you.

It's a silly daydreaming; however, every single day you can't go a day without thinking about anyone randomly popping out, riding their white horse, kneeling in front of you, and asking you, Would you be their partner? That's kind of crazy. Ever since then, brushed it all off as if it's nothing.

Continue to work hard for your bill in this messy industry. Surprisingly, God always has his own plan; he won't let you die alone... Right? Apparently, there's someone just moving in next to your apartment, and it's a man. Oh my. No, you can't be thrill just because he's a man; M/N, behave yourself.

That's how thirsty you are; later on, you thought you're the problem and started to behave yourself to be less attracted to a stranger, especially a man. On one holiday night, while back from work as you were unlocking your door, it was a coincidence when the new guy came out at the same time. Both of you never get the chance to greet each other because you're such workaholics. He greets you with a warm smile on his face, offering a handshake, as you hesitated to but still did.

He then introduces himself as 'Heeseung' called 'Evan' for short. He also said he never gets the opportunity to meet someone, mostly who are his neighbors since they are always out of the house just like you. For now, Evan wanted to invite you for a coffee. Oh. Spare a glance at his towering figure up and down; you realize he's positive; no bad energy from him; yes, you happily agree. A day turns into a week, a week turns into a month.

Trying all your hardest not to fall in love with Evan, who likes to do all those weird gestures that make your stomach fill with butterflies every damn time. Maybe you lack affection, sort of. He looks cool, is an ACE in everything, at least he can cook ramen, is a green flag in your perspective, is gentle and respectful of the boundaries, but one thing that made you stop midway was he can't be gay.

Evan is probably a straight guy that you mistake with his clingy behavior. Sigh, a lesson of life learned as a homosexual person. It's not right to force him to like you back, isn't it? Not even right to confess your true heart when he's so straight code, or he's not? Or is it worth pouring away all the heavy weight in your chest? The TV play in the living room, an announcement that today is going to be snow on this special day too, a Christmas day.

Brainstorming to seek out his favorite thing as you pop out an idea by gifting him a logo set; he loves it too much you couldn't understand why. As you were preparing the gift with all your friends together in a room before going out to celebrate in the city, you suddenly wanted to write a confession note for fun—write everything that had been living in your heart for a long time that has been hurting—a poem, to be honest, well, a little freaky, because you know you'd throw them away anyway.

"You make me want to make me fall in love."

"Wanted you to adore me back, hold me like you always did, and always joke, telling me I'm your only friend."

"Sorry, I like you, but I can't help it."  "Liking you was the best experience in my life, and I hope for nothing but still us to be friends."

Out of the blue, coincidentally, once you finish the note, your friend happens to pull you for a group photo. While you were busy posing, one of your other friends had nothing to do, so they went to wrap all the gifts of all of them. Usually, at every Christmas festival, they are in charge of who does the wrapping. The group united is over; after they're all stepping foot in the city, they've all vanished. Holding your gift like a lost child, looking at the crowd of people who's busy with their own business.

The snow keeps falling down from the blurry sky nonstop, so cold yet it fits the vibe you were going for. Snuggle your hands inside of your pocket; you leave the scenes as you drag your feet to somewhere quiet, your favorite park that used to be lively but now it's a field of snow. Taking a hot breath under the cold temperature, a shadow cast towering upon you, looking up to see, it was actually your greatest neighbors, Evan.

"What are you doing here, Fox?"

"Me? Oh, just chilling; I don't like crowds anyway." response, the tip of your nose turns pink, which makes Evan find it adorable.

"Why? It's Christmas; you should go enjoy yourself!" Taking about Christmas alarms your mind; you take out the wrapped gift and hand it to him. He caught off guard to the gift you have for him. Everyone would give him gifts during this festival; never make him flinch but you, a different story.

"Ugh, don't get the wrong idea; you're my neighbors after all; neighbors gift neighbors, isn't that normal? Take it, unbox it," take a hold of his palm, and give him the gift while waiting patiently for his expression. Hearing you say those, he did as told. Unveil all the tie, tearing all of the paper. Evan sees a cartoon Lego set inside with a small scratchy note that is about to be trash. The corner of Evan's lip, tight into a cocky smile as he takes out the small note, and hands up to the light street nearby. Maybe he didn't laugh at the Lego set but something else.

Seeing a note that you did not put in there and a confession note too, your eye wide open. The heart inside of your chest is pounding and racing far from the beat. You were nervous and panicking. How can it flow in there? Oh, wait, don't tell your friend to put it in there; naur, screw you. Quickly get up from your seat. I wanted to grab that note away; however, who are you kidding, he was 180 cm while you? A tiny little person.

"Evan, give that back; it's not; it's not the right note. My friend mistakenly put them there. DON'T READ IT." jumping up and down, up and down to snatch the piece of paper away, which is no use. All you got was to exhaust yourself.

"Oh, let me see, hmm, mistaken? But I see your name under here from me, M-N. How is that a mistake?" Realizing Evan already read it, you stop there frozen; the outcome would be something you are not going to like. Same goes for Evan too. You thought he'd be all serious and disgusted by your love note yet replaced by giggles. Um what?

"You, M/N, why have you not told me sooner?"

"Because... You look straight, i guess. Sorry to assume, but you did look like it."

"Oh, come on, why should I be straight when you're alive?"

"I beg pardon??"

"The word 'I like you' is out trending, so I'd say I. Adore. You, my M/N. My gift for you is

'i love you too'

🗣️ please mind my English! ><

🗣️ Crd to all the room rightful owner: [divider Alanitalenia]

🗣️ ps: I was dead ass sick writing this, but still cooked anyway 🫂.

[hotchs-big-hands]

dbf & corruption link Hotch with plus-sized reader who didn’t think he would ever be interested in HER and is so naive about it omfg the gif u reposted fuckkk I can’t stop thinking about it

YEAHHHH YOU GET IT

Okay I didn't realise I was gonna turn this into a whole fic JWFJEKFKDKFKRK (I'm writing this midway through the fic rn whoops 🫣)

Reader is early 20s and lives at home with her dad. I cba writing too much abt it in the plot sorry lol

Dbf!Aaron Hotchner x plus-size fem!reader|Minors dni NSFW|5.9K words

Warning(s): SMUT, Corruption kink, fingerfucking, sir/daddy kink 👀, almost getting caught

(d/n) = dad's name

It wasn't often you met your dad's friends, they only really managed a few meet ups a year with how busy people's lives were these days. And so when your dad approached you to inform you he was attending a meal out with said friends you were happy for him. But you didn't expect him to offer you to join him.

"My buddies have been wondering how you're getting on," he had said, standing in the doorway of your bedroom. "You should come along, sunny. The guys are bringing along their partners but eh, you know me. As big of a bachelor as one can be."

You rolled your eyes with a chuckle, but within your stomach you felt it coiling with anxiety. And you knew he could tell from the change of expression on his face.

"Hey... you don't actually have to come along if you're not comfortable. I know you don't really, uh, enjoy these sorts of things."

"No, no! I'll come along. Um, I just don't really remember any of your friends by name." You said quickly. He chuckled and shook his head, and you knew if he was closer he would have ruffled your hair affectionately.

"Fair enough, sunny. That's a relief actually, given that I already booked for you to come along as well."

With a gasp, you thumped your dad lightly.

"Dude!" You cried, making him laugh and step back a little.

"Well, we're aiming to meet up around seven tonight so be sure to be ready by half six." He grinned at you and you felt yourself returning the expression. It was nice seeing your dad looking a lot happier these days.

By the time you were dressed up ready for the meal that night you were inwardly panicking. Had you overdressed? Underdressed? Why did it even matter what his friends thought? Oh god, having to eat in front of his friends?! Needless to say, you were an absolute mess. Your dad grabbed one of your hands to squeeze it comfortingly as the two of you sat in the back of a taxi on the way to the restaurant and your lips curled up slightly in appreciation. It would be okay. There was no need to panic.

The ride was all too short to calm your nerves and at this point you felt jittery. It was too late to back out now though, and you quickly climbed out of the taxi when your dad walked around to open your door for you, mumbling a quick thanks and smoothing out the skirt of your pretty dress. You hadn't gone with anything flashy, opting to wear a mid-thigh length white dress that was covered in tiny blue flowers with a dropped neckline, some pretty knee-high socks and white sneakers. It made you feel good, your large curves complimented your outfit and you felt less inclined to shy away right now. With a quick adjustment of the strap of your bag, you followed your dad into the restaurant.

Oh... it was certainly more posh than you anticipated. Had your dad's friends always been this fancy?! Those coils of anxiety only tightened more as your dad spoke to the waiter about the booking. And then you were both escorted to a large table where six other people were already seated.

"Well look who it is! (D/n), you're looking well!" One of the men exclaimed cheerfully. You vaguely recognised the faces around the table, but not enough to know them by name. The man's eyes flicked to you and his eyes widened. "Goodness! Is that your little one?! You're all grown up!"

Your cheeks felt hot as you quickly sat down beside your dad, smiling shyly at the outspoken friend.

"Yeah, it's me. I don't think you guys have seen me since I was... eleven?" You conversed quietly. One of the wives of a different friend leaned forward, eyes sparkling.

"You look gorgeous, sweetie!"

Beside you, your dad could feel you trembling slightly and chuckled, waving his friends off.

"Alright, alright let the girl be."

As the attention drifted from you and the conversations changed to the mundane of friends catching up after a long time, your eyes drifted around the table. Your brows slightly pulled together. There was an empty seat next to you on your left. You gently nudged your dad, who turned to you.

"What's up, sunny?" He asked quietly. You offered a quick smile of reassurance.

"Um, is there meant to be someone else here?"

His eyes flicked to the empty chair, then back to you.

"Ohhh right yes! You remember Mr Hotchner, right? He's running a little late but he should be here soon."

No, you didn't quite remember Mr Hotchner. It had been years since you'd heard anything surrounding that name. All you knew was he had a very involved job that took him all over the country. As you sat deep in thought your dad's voice cut through as he made a humming noise, mouth full of beer. You glanced at him, noting he was looking over your shoulder at someone. But before you could turn you heard the chair next to you slide on the polished floor and shuffle as someone sat down in it. A wave of an alluring cologne flooded your senses and you slowly turned back to facing the table, heart racing. Then you heard him.

"I'm sorry I'm late, we just got back from a case. Barely had time to freshen up at home before coming here." Mr Hotchner spoke smoothly, voice deep and sensually gentle. You dared to glance next to you and you clenched your pillowy thighs together. Fucking christ, he was sexy! With the corner of his mouth turned upwards, the man oozed assurance and control as he greeted his friends around the table. Your eyes couldn't stop wandering over his features, the scattered beauty marks on his mature skin, the eyebags under his dark eyes, the prominent slope of his nose that you quickly had to move on from to not let your mind wander too much... His hair was short with a few stray wisps flopping onto his forehead and you could have sworn you could spot a few streaks of grey in it too.

And then he turned to look at you and your father. He raised a brow, feigning surprise.

"Oh hello, Mr (L/n). It's been a very long time since I saw you last. And this must be..." his eyes drifted to you, his lips twitching.

"(Y/n), sir." You managed to say, feeling hot and flustered. You dad chortled.

"My lovely sunny is here to humor her old man! Don't spook her."

"Spook me?" You squeaked. Mr Hotchner chuckled and shook his head.

"He's referring to me profiling people as part of my job. It tends to freak people out." He explained to you in that delicious voice of his. "And please, call me Aaron. Calling me sir makes me feel old."

Aaron didn't look even the slightest bit annoyed, his smirk only growing as his eyes travelled up and down your figure. You shivered.

"I- I see... Could you tell me more about this, um, profiling stuff? I don't really know what you do for a living." You admitted. Aaron had ordered a bourbon, taking hold of the glass and sipping some of the deep orange coloured liquid and setting the glass down again.

"Oh? Well, seeing as you're curious..."

You barely remembered the meal you had ordered, more engrossed in the conversation you were having with this man. He was so fascinating, passionate and when the topic of his son came up his smile softened and he pulled his wallet out to show you a photo of the cute boy. That... hm. You didn't want to think about the fact that he had already been through something as involved as having a child with someone. There was no place for you to be thinking about this man any more than a daughter of his best friend should.

But here you were, spending the night chatting to the man effortlessly whilst your heart fluttered. It was only when your dad tapped you on the shoulder that you realised the evening was coming to an end.

"Hey sunny, I know you're having a great chat with Aaron there but it's time to get going." He said with a chuckle. Your eyes widened slightly and you scowled, shoving him with your shoulder.

"Say less dad, I beg." You shot back quickly, cheeks flushing as you followed along with him pushing away from the table and standing up. Your hands smoothed out your dress, making sure all was in place again and you shuffled closer to standing next to your dad. It was when Aaron rose up slowly from his own seat with an air of grace that you realised you had to crane your neck a bit to look him in the face. The corner of his mouth twitched at the slight widening of your eyes when he straightened up and you dipped your head quickly.

"Don't worry, I'll be sure to try see you again. Although, I'm not certain on when that would be." He spoke, eyes focused on you. Your dad reached forward to shake his hand, seemingly oblivious to what was happening.

"Whenever you're back in town Aaron, you're free to come visit, my pleasure." He shook firmly, but Aaron was barely focussed. With an unwavering eye contact, his smirk widened. You could feel your legs trembling slightly under his fiery gaze.

"Oh, the pleasure is mine."

When their hands dropped, Aaron turned to you and offered to shake your hand as well, his hand smothering yours when you hesitantly reached out to take it. He gazed down at you, his thick lashes framing his gorgeous brown eyes.

"Until next time, (Y/n)." He said quietly and then turned around and walked away. Your dad raised a brow at you as you watched the older man retreat but merely chuckled once under his breath.

"Come on you, taxi's on its way." Your dad pulled you from your daze and you blinked, cheeks feeling warm for being caught staring. With a huff, you slapped your dad's shoulder when you noticed the growing grin on his face.

"Yeah, yeah. Shut up."

Over the next couple months, you saw Aaron briefly as he passed by in between cases. Each time, no matter for how short of a time, he would stop to chat and get to know you a little more. And every time you felt your crush grow stronger and stronger. But suddenly, he stopped showing up. You never heard from him, not a peep. Humiliatingly, when you idly asked your father if he had heard from the man he showed you the communications he had had from the last time Aaron had been in town to now. To say the least it left you feeling crushed and stupid.

Another month flew by after that before you saw Mr Hotchner again. For the first couple weeks you were secretly hopeful he would show up again, checking up every time you returned from work. But he never showed. And it... well, it didn't feel good to miss someone you had only met properly once and had a couple smaller conversations after that with. Maybe he knew you had a stupid crush on him and was put off from showing up. He had no reason to want someone like you, after all. By the sixth week since you'd seen the man last you'd forced yourself to move on from being hopeful.

And then when you returned home from work one evening you noticed an unfamiliar car parked at the end of the driveway. Tired, you paid it no mind and trudged up to the front door and let yourself in with your key. You shuffled into the house and locked the door behind you, then made a move to enter the living room.

"Hey, dad? I'm home." You called out. There was a scuffle of feet and the very same man appeared with a grin.

"Ah, there you are! We have a guest over, as you probably could tell." He said cheerily and you chuckled.

"Mhm, well I'll just go and change upstairs. Be back in a sec."

With a ruffle of your hair from your dad, you rushed upstairs and decided to take a shower to wash the exhaustion of the day away. After you'd dumped your bag on your bed, you grabbed your towel and a fresh set of lounging clothes to lay out on your bed and made your way to the bathroom which was down the hall. Avoiding looking in the large vanity mirror, you stripped and stepped under the warm water of the shower once you'd switched it on.

"Mmh.." you groaned as the water sprayed down your achy muscles. For a moment, you simply stood there with your eyes closed as you basked in the soothing sensation. A moment later you lathered your plush body with your favourite soaps, taking care to glide your hands over your every curve. Idly, you thought of him, of those hands of his. You switched the water to cold.

Feeling clean and relaxed, you stepped out of the shower and wrapped your towel around yourself. Now all there was to do was return to your bedroom. As you crossed the hall, you heard the tap of footsteps making their way up the staircase. As sneakily as you could, you peeked to see who was ascending and a little squeak escaped you against your will. Still just as devastatingly handsome as the last time you saw him, Mr Hotchner was gaining closer and closer to your location and with a quick jump of action you scurried the rest of the way to your room and all but slammed your door shut.

Your chest heaved, adrenaline pumped through you and shakily you towelled yourself off and redressed in the fresh clothing. Maybe it was better if you changed, you thought as you looked down at the slightly more fitted tank top and shorts you were sporting now.

"No, don't be ridiculous." You mumbled to yourself and after hanging your towel up to dry you forced your legs to move towards your bedroom door and back out to the hallway. It was when you made it to the top of the stairs he called out to you.

"Oh, (Y/n). I'm sorry, I didn't realise you were exiting the bathroom earlier." Aaron said smoothly, startling you to spin on your axel towards him. Shit, had he seen you?!

"Um, it's fine. No harm done." You mumbled in response, shifting your weight from one hip to the other under his dark gaze. His brow twitched.

"Right."

Much to your dismay, he was by your side quicker than you realised and the two of you descended down to find your dad. With every step, the back of Aaron's hand would brush against the side of your arm accidentally, causing goosebumps to spring up across your skin. What were you to say to this man now?

"It's...it's been a while since you were last in town." You said finally, internally wincing and wishing you'd stayed quiet. The man beside you hummed.

"Had an onslaught of back-to-back cases. This is the first time my team and I have been able to catch a break. And... well, we won't get into it just yet." Aaron responded, his exhaustion barely suppressed behind his words. You wanted answers, to know why he showed up now or all times. Of what he wouldn't get into. Instead, you made a barely audible noise in response.

Glancing at the man you realised he was full on frowning now and you cleared your throat, chest aching.

"Oh! I see you found her then, huh?" The sound of your dad's voice startled you and you quickly stepped away from the older man beside you. Rounding the corner, your dad appeared wearing a jacket and shoes over his clothes, confusing you.

"Dad? Where are you going?" You asked.

"Just going to the store to grab some food."

Aaron frowned and stepped forward, stuffing his hand into his pocket to grab his wallet.

"Here, let me head to the store or at least pay for the inconvenience." He said but your dad huffed and straightened out his jacket.

"No, you're our guest, Aaron. Now grab yourself a drink and relax, buddy."

Shaking his head but smiling, Aaron reluctantly stuffed his wallet away and raised his hands in defeat.

"Next time is on me, (D/n)."

"Deal." Your dad grinned, then he shifted his focus to you. "You be a good host now, got it?"

You grimaced.

"I mean I don't mind going, he's here to see you anyway so.."

"Nonsense, I'm here to visit both of you." The man beside you said, of which your dad chuckled.

"Well there you go, he said it himself. Now I'm going out so we're not waiting too late having dinner."

You scoffed at his words but inwardly your heart was pounding. He was seriously leaving you home alone with Mr Hotchner?! Your eyes flitted to the man, who was seemingly paying attention to your father as he moved towards the front door. It was only when you heard the slam of the door that it truly sunk in; you were home alone with the man you'd grown an embarrassingly big crush on while simultaneously feeling an unjustified anger towards.

On shaky legs, you shuffled towards the kitchen to grab a drink and calm your nerves. Just as you grabbed a glass from the cupboard he spoke.

"Are you alright?" Aaron's voice startled you once again and automatically your hand let go of the glass cup, a crash following as it smashed into glistening, sharp shards. You'd barely gasped when Aaron appeared crouched before you, picking larger shards up immediately.

"I'm sorry." He uttered, snapping you out of your startled trance. You crouched down as well as you shook your head vigorously.

"No, it's okay. It's my fault-"

You looked up and froze, realising your faces were far closer than you'd anticipated. He was frowning, then he straightened up rapidly to dump the shards of glass in his hands in the trashcan.

"Please, leave the clean up to me. I was the one who startled you. Besides, you haven't got shoes on right now. So, can you hop up on the counter top?" He asked you, his tone more firm than you'd heard before. It made your lower lip jut out. You made a noise of acknowledgement, straightened up and braced your palms on the counter top behind you to help yourself onto it. Aaron had turned back to you by this point, a wash of satisfaction traced over his more alert expression at the sight of you safely away from the shards on the ground.

"Vacuum?" He simply said. You winced.

"O-oh.. um, it's in the storage under the staircase."

With a nod, Aaron swiftly left the room, his footsteps echoing through the house. God, could you feel anymore embarrassed than you did already in that moment? He had to clean up after you because you were incapable of functioning around him. You wished you had a crush on someone nearer your age, at least they wouldn't find you so childish as you suspected Aaron did. With your head hanging low you didn't even notice him re-enter the room, not until he padded towards you carefully and set the vacuum down.

"Hey... it's alright, just an accident. I didn't mean to scare you." He said softly. You sniffled and shook your head.

"S'fine. I'm okay." You mumbled. He paused for a moment, then placed a hand on your knee.

"I'll just quickly clean this mess up, alright sweetheart? I'll be with you as soon as I can."

Your head shot up at the pet name, wet eyes wide as you studied his face. The corner of his mouth twitched upwards, despite the concerned furrow in his brow.

"There you are. Just sit tight, don't want any glass to hurt you."

You watched as Aaron set up the vacuum cleaner and, crouched again, he hastily but thoroughly removed the debris from the floor. When he was satisfied, he unplugged the machine and lifted it up, the muscles in his arms bulging in his neat dress shirt. Your eyes followed him, but dropped away when he glanced your way.

"Um thanks, Mr Hotchner." You uttered and made a move to slide off the counter top. And then one of his long legs pressed against your shin, willing you to stay in place.

"Ah, ah, ah wait there." He muttered.

You quivered and shuffled back onto the counter top properly. What on earth..? You watched him leave again, swinging your legs nervously. Surely he had got rid of all the glass, right? You were unable to ponder for long when Aaron returned again, eyes on you as he approached. Your brows creased.

"Um I'm sure I can move, right? You got all the glass."

He hummed, stopping in front of you now, gaze still unwavering.

"Can't be too careful now, can we?" He said with a little smirk. You swallowed thickly.

"I..."

"May I talk to you about something?"

Your eyes trailed over his face, noting on an emotion you hadn't spotted upon first inspection. Slowly, you shook your head.

"Um yes, you can, Mr Hotchner."

He puffed air out of his nose.

"You don't need to be so formal with me, (Y/n)."

You dropped your gaze.

"Sorry, can't help it." You managed to say, feeling shy and silly. He leaned one hip against the counter beside you, crossing his arms against his broad chest.

"Don't apologise, sweetheart." He shifted his weight, now a little closer still to you. His scent enveloped you, it was soothing. "I... wanted to apologise for disappearing for a long time." He finally said. You shuddered.

"Um, it's okay-"

The sound of him clearing his throat silenced you and rendered you unable to do anything more than stare wide-eyed at him. He hummed and raised a brow.

"Sweetheart, you do know I can tell when someone is lying, right?"

Fuck.

"Mr Hotchner, sir I- I'm not lying, It's okay-"

Aaron moved suddenly, caging you in by placing his hands either side of your wide, plump hips and stared you down.

"Tsk. Don't be naughty by doubling down on lying." He gazed through his thick lashes now, leaning his face closer to yours. His scent overwhelmed you now and you bit back a whimper. "Come now, I upset you and I want to make things right."

You squeezed your eyes shut and gripped onto your shorts tightly, balling the fabric up in your tight fits.

"F-fine. I just... why did you stop visiting all of a sudden?" You wrinkled your nose a little and huffed. "God, I sound like a fucking weird-"

"No. Allow me to explain."

You exhaled quietly, not expecting him to cut you off like that. He sighed and lifted his hands up to rub his face.

"I... well, I had to distance myself from you. Not because I don't enjoy seeing you, it's more the opposite. I have feelings for you which I most certainly should not have, not as a friend of your father." He said, fumbling his thumb and pointer finger together.

You froze.

Was this really happening? Your heart felt like it was racing, your stomach coiling as you stared at him.

"I- Mr Hotchner, you..."

Aaron grimaced and shifted his weight, ready to step back from you.

"I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable. I knew this was a bad idea to tell you, but I just thought you should know why I had started avoiding you." He said sincerely, then dropped his arms and turned his body.

You didn't know why you did it, but your hand shot out and you grabbed his shirt.

"-No! Don't- don't go!"

Aaron's breath hitched from your outburst, but he also didn't try to pull away from your touch either.

"(Y/n)..."

You felt warm, dropping your gaze whilst your fingers messed with the expensive fabric of his shirt.

"I- I don't want you to leave. You didn't make me uncomfortable." You mumbled. The man waited for you to continue speaking as you opened your mouth and closed it a few times. "I, um, I just wasn't expecting you to say you were interested in me."

Your eyes flicked to his face and you sucked your lower lip between your teeth at the furrowed expression on his face.

"You thought I wasn't interested in you?" Aaron's brows raised and he stepped a little closer towards you. "Sweetheart, I don't tend to talk to people outside of my close circle much at all, and, admittedly, I don't often visit people very often. But I just had to see you again."

His confession made you feel strange in a way you couldn't pinpoint on. Not necessarily bad, but a little unsure. Your eyes met his beautiful dark brown ones.

"Mr Hotchner, I don't see why you-"

"Call me that one more time and you'll be calling me sir instead." He cut you off sternly and you gasped. His left hand moved to rest on the counter just barely brushing against the outer side of your thigh and he leaned towards you, his face almost close enough for the two of you to kiss.

"I want you, sweetheart. I've spent the last few months trying to clear you from my thoughts," He paused to let out a small sigh. "However, you remain embedded within the foundations of my mind and I've come to accept this wholly. But just tell me if you don't want this and I will never bring this to you again, I promise."

Your eyes trailed over his face, tracing the creases and lines of age and you longed to feel them under your fingertips. You grabbed onto his arm.

"I-I want this... please. I haven't been able to stop thinking about you too." You confessed with a shy smile. Aaron chuckled through an exhale of relief and he began to close the gap between your lips and his.

"I was hoping you'd say that."

Desperately, you pressed your lips to his and moved your hands to grip onto his broad shoulders. Responding to you, Aaron's hands moved to grab onto the squish of your hips, digging into them as he pulled you ever closer towards him. Now chest to chest, you whined against his mouth and instinctively, your legs parted enough for him to slip between.

All too soon, you parted for oxygen, your chest heaving and straining under your lounging tee. Aaron brushed his nose against yours sensually, his thumbs stroking your hips.

"I estimate your father will be gone for forty-five minutes at most." He murmured and you whimpered.

"Y-yes, maybe..."

"Sweet girl, I want to make sure you know how I feel, truly."

Your hands tightened their grip on the shirt.

"H-how?"

He chuckled, pressing a light kiss to your lips.

"If you'll let me, sweet girl, I want to pleasure you. We'll have to be quick though, at least this time round."

This time, this time. You felt light headed in the best way.

"W-what do you wanna do?" You hesitantly asked him. Aaron slid his hands to the expanse of your thighs with a hum.

"You don't know how much I wanted to slip my hand up your dress that night we met to touch your pretty pussy, sweetheart- "

"M-Mr Hotchner!" You squeaked, cheeks flushing from the dirty confession. A deep rumble reverberated through him and one of his hands lightly slapped your thigh. You jolted, but he held you in place.

"That's it, little girl. I don't want to hear any other title other than 'sir' from you now until I say so, is that clear?"

You nodded. Another slap, slightly closer to your inner thigh. You gasped out.

"Y-yes sir!"

Satisfied, Aaron hummed and grabbed onto your thighs and, with a hint of a smile, he pulled you closer to the edge and spread your legs wider. You yelped, hands grasping onto any part of him you could to steady yourself and he chuckled whilst pressing his lips to the corner of your mouth.

"Mhm, gonna let me take a look, sweetheart?" He murmured against your skin, fingers dancing along the waistband of your shorts. You whimpered.

"I-I-" Fuck, you didn't know what to even say. You'd done minimal things with others before, but they were underwhelming experiences and you preferred to close that chapter of your life. But here you were, sprawled out on the kitchen counter with your father's friend who was more than twice your age, trying to process what he had asked you.

Aaron brushed his nose against yours, bringing you from your racing thoughts.

"Aww, don't know what you want, sweet girl? It's alright, let daddy help you." He cooed. Almost immediately, your body spasmed with the way he addressed himself and he huffed out a quiet laugh. "You like that, huh? Like the thought of calling me daddy?"

You whimpered, hips rolling against his with need.

"Uh-huh, I do."

"Say it then, I want to hear it. Then I'll give you anything you want."

Your eyes widened at the commanding tone he used. Your pussy twitched.

"I- I do, daddy. Wanna call you daddy really badly."

"Mhmm.." Aaron pressed his lips to yours again and your hands gripped his shirt again. You could feel the prominent bulge in his pants against your clothed slit now, subconsciously grinding yourself against it. With a low growl, Aaron pulled his lips from yours sharply and his hands grasped your thighs to pin you in place. You whined, trying to push back and feel the friction against your pussy again.

"Behave, little girl. Now lift your butt up for me." He commanded you and, desperate for his touch, you propped yourself up on your elbows to raise your ass from the counter top. You vaguely heard him call you a good girl before he slipped his finger tips into the band of your shorts and, with a swift pull, he removed them. You squeaked, automatically closing your legs but Aaron growled, tugging your plush thighs apart again. Your chest heaved, arousal flaring within you as you realised he was staring directly at your panties. His mouth twitched.

"Pretty panties on such a pretty girl."

You whimpered when he let go of your right thigh to slide his thick fingers over a wet patch on the crotch of fabric. Your hips bucked, you hadn't realised just how pent up you were.

"D-daddy- please!" You pleaded and he cooed at you with a smirk.

"Want daddy to play with your little pussy, huh? We'll have to be quick if you wanna cum."

You nodded eagerly, grinding your hips against his fingers eagerly.

"Mmh- yes, sir!"

"Good girl. Hold your legs spread for me."

Hooking your hands underneath your knees, you trembled as Aaron moved his right hand to pull your panties to the side, revealing your slick, puffy pussy to him. He hummed in approval, ghosting his fingers over your folds and gathering some of your juices on the tips.

"You're so wet, sweetheart. Is this all for me?" He asked softly. You wiggled your hips a little.

"Y-yeah, daddy~ only for you..."

Aaron groaned as he parted your folds to reveal your hooded clit and dripping entrance.

"Next time I want to eat you out, sweet girl. You're fucking divine looking." He rumbled, swiping his thumb over your sensitive bundle of nerves. Your hips bucked immediately, Aaron hummed. "Gonna fingerfuck you this time, that sound nice, huh?"

"Mmmh, yeah daddy, need it!" You whimpered, at this point just desperate for anything. Aaron kissed you roughly, the sounds of both yours and his lips moving against one another made you squirm. But you gasped out when he slipped his thick middle finger into your entrance, taking you by surprise. And with a smug grunt, Aaron slid his tongue against yours to deepen the messy kiss. One finger became two, sliding in and out of your sopping wet hole and stretching you around the two digits.

The edge of his palm massaged your throbbing, little clit as he curled the fingers upwards inside you, searching for the spot that would have your toes curling. A sudden burning pleasure spread through your lower abdomen and you moaned against Aaron's mouth. You felt his lips curl into a smile, smug as he began to thrust the two fingers up inside you in an unbreaking movement. You heard it then, the messy, gushing sound of your pussy squelching in time with the rapid thrusts and you bucked up into it, feeling the burning pleasure begin to build up. You couldn't kiss back anymore, mouth fallen open now with every whimper and cry as the thrusts increased in speed. Aaron bit down onto your lower lip, then pulled away with a wet kiss.

"You're fucking clenching around daddy's fingers so well, sweetheart. You close, huh? You gonna cum for me?" He coaxed you, the hand that had originally been holding your panties to the side now pressed down on your plush stomach, leveraging his other hand's movement. You sobbed and writhed, eyes fluttering as you struggled to keep them open.

"G-gonna cu-um! Wanna cum, daddy!"

With a grunt, Aaron's fingers moved blindingly fast, your pussy's squelches echoing in the kitchen along with your wails. He pressed his lips to your neck.

"Fucking cum for me, sweetheart. Come on, that's a good girl. Cum." He growled at you. And as your pussy began to flutter and clench around his fingers he ripped them from your hole and instead brushed them over your almost neglected clit. It was almost instantaneous then, the arch of your back, the roll of your eyes, moaning brokenly as you cummed hard.

And then you heard the keys jingling in the lock of the front door.

"Fuck-" Aaron hissed, pulling his hand away and quickly grabbing your shorts so you could pull them back on again. You were shaking, struggling to pull the garment of clothing back on so you could slip off the counter top. You heard running water, spying Aaron washing his hands and when you met his gaze the two of you giggled, adrenaline pumping through your veins.

"G-go up to the bathroom!" You whispered, gesturing to the prominent bulge in his crotch area. He huffed, but grinned and pressed a quick kiss to your lips.

"We'll continue this another time, sweetheart." He whispered. He rushed off out of sight and, whilst on still shaky legs, you turned to wipe down the kitchen top just in time for your father to enter the room.

"Ah, you getting a head start with clearing up ready to eat?" Your dad greeted you and you bit your lip to hold back a giggle.

"Mhm, don't you know it."

Needless to say, Mr Hotchner ended up staying too late to drive home that night.

Not my best work I gotta say but 😔😔 hope yawl like it anyway SKSKSKSK

Gonna move the taglist to the comment section I think but yeah if you'd like to be tagged in future works lemme know!

[vminizzle]

Sex shop

pairing : bestfriend!jungkook x f.reader

genre : SMUT, fluff

warnings :masturbation, really bad description of sex shop & stuff (sorry), mention of sex toys (not used, maybe in part 2 who knows ;) hehe ), teasing, use of pet names, praising, marking, first time, love making, penetrative sex, unprotected sex ( wrap It up guys! ), creampie, slight cockwarming, THEY ARE CUTE UGH

best friends ͜͡➸ to lovers ♡

words count : 4.2k

A/N : pls I’m insane (the way I had to clean my search history) ,, sorry this is a whole mess. I don’t know what I had in mind when I started writing this. I spent ages on this fic and ngl it didn’t turn out how I wanted but I tried my best :). I wrote this there is a long time ago but I decided to edit it 💀 & sorry for my english.

FEEDBACKS ARE VERY WELCOMED

M RATED

“see you on monday!” you waved at Jungkook as he waved back driving away.

You sighed as you walk to your friend.

“so, today your boyfriend doesn’t walk you home?” she teased. 

“Jungkook is not my boyfriend“ you blushed slapping her arm playfully.

"please you guys are always together. like always! Studying, hanging out together, shopping, lunch.. Except when he’s working on the weekends. He even sleep at your house.. I’m asking myself what you guys do-”

You gasped slapping her arm lightly.

“what? Chaeyoung stop! don’t say non-sense, we’re just..best friends.” you retorted looking down.

“yea yea whatever.”

Chaeyoung and you walked to your house, eating ice creams on your way.

“so what you wanna do?” you asked unlocking the front door.

“let’s just do nothing.” you laughed nodding.

You were laying on your couch scrolling though your social networks lazily when Chaeyoung suddenly jumped on you.

“Yo look at this!” she shoved her phone to your face.

“what is it?”

“it talks about masturbation.” she explained.

“and what about it?” you asked confused.

“I read that some women masturbate with water pression.” your cheeks heated up at her sudden burst.

“w-why are you even reading this?” you handed her the phone back.

“ just saw a girl from our promo repost this article.” she shrugged.

“that’s really suprising. I mean I’ve never thought about masturbation with water pression. Like I mean, using toys are easier no?” you looked at her eyes wide open.

“oh my god stop!” you threw a pillow at her face as she caught it midway laughing.

“wait! Don’t tell me you don’t masturbate, do you?” you hesitated before answering.

“i-it’s kind of personal.” you muttered.

“ugh stooooop we’re friends.. except you rather talk about it with your "best friend.” she wiggled her eyebrows teasingly.

“Can you just stop with him?“ you groaned.

“so tell me.” she whined shaking your arm repeatedly.

“well, yea.. like every other teenagers.” you cleared your voice making her grin.

“how many toys do you have?” she asked curiously.

“ok enough! this is so embarrassing.” you whined.

“not at all.” finally letting go of your arm as she grab her soda can on the glass table in front of you both.

“i don’t own any...” you muttered.

Chaeyoung chocked in her soft drink “you don’t?!” you shook your head.

“I don’t need it so.. yea.”

She stared at you silently for awhile.

“you should buy one.”

“why?“ you laughed awkwardly.

“it’ll be a new experience, another level of pleasure. And maybe it’ll please you more than your fingers or whatever."

How can she talks so openly? you thought.

“i know a great little sex shop not so far from here!” she exclaimed.

“you should check it out!”

“I’ll think about it.” you said, wanting this conversation to end.

❁ — •*:｡✩

You furrowed your eyebrows, bottom lip caught between your teeth, the pressure on your clit making you feel frustrated.

Your legs spread wide open, fingers going in and out of you slowly to tease you a bit.

Rubbing little circles with your thumb on the throbbing nerve trying to stimulate you a bit more.

10 minutes. 10 fucking minutes that you were trying to make yourself cum.

You didn’t know if you were too tense, stressed or exhausted but these days you couldn’t make yourself reach your highs. You groaned and gave up as you sigh annoyed getting up to wash your hand.

—

Later, you smiled as you sat on the edge of your bed, noticing a message from your best friend on your phone.

[20:42] kook : just arrived home, I hope you spent a nice afternoon. You’re probably sleeping or watching something on Netflix without me :( 

[20:44] y/n : hey yes i did. How was work? nahh I’m gonna sleep. wanna wait for you next week to watch our serie :)

[20:45] kook : work was alright. ohhh that’s my girl hehe can’t wait for next week then!

[20:47] y/n : nice then. You’re working all day tomorrow ?

[20:48] kook : yea unfortunately I’m working all day :(

[20:49] y/n : ughh!! good luck for tomorrow. Go take a bath and rest idiot. 

[20:51] kook: thanks princess! Sleep well too love ya ♡ 

[20:53] y/n : hehe love you too ♡

You let your body fell back on the mattress, smiling like an idiot at the small conversation.

Jungkook could always make you smile without even trying.

Noticing a early message from Chaeyoung, you opened it.

[18:57] Chae : here the address of the sex shop I talked about earlier : <address>. I know how curious you are sometimes 👀 hehe you’ll tell me. xoxo

Your smile vanished when you thought about your little talk with Chaeyoung.

“ok” you sighed deeply.

“I’ll go to this shop tomorrow.”

❁ — •*:｡✩

Waking up with the warm sunlights caressing your body gently. You stretched out groaning at the sore muscles.

You checked your phone. 1pm.

Well damn, that was a long sleep.

You decided to take a shower, eat lunch and get ready to “visit” this little shop.

—

Not wanting to be seen at such a place, you put a cap enough to hide your face a bit. You went for a oversized hoodie, a jean and a pair of vans.

Comfy.

You didn’t know why you were so nervous to go there. Is it because you’re scared to meet someone you know there? Is it because you’re embarrassed to see all the stuffs you’ll probably discover there? What type of things you’ll find?

“C’mon that’s just a shop y/n the fuck is wrong with you." you whisper-yelled to yourself before pulling your cap lower.

You took a deep breath as you put your hand on the knob of the door.

“Let’s go.”

Entering the place hesitantly, you looked at your surroundings. Deep red velvety walls, lights keeping the shop bright enough to make it less dark, shelves full of stuff you never knew the existence of.

The cashier welcomed you and you smiled at him politely.

Walking further through the shop, you noticed shelves filled with magazines, covers of obscene pictures of naked women and men making you cover your eyes feeling like a shocked and scared kid.

You blushed as you passed by lingeries hanging on the walls. Not lying to yourself, they were so pretty.

You brushed your fingertips gently over the soft materials, some velvety ones, lacy ones and other lingeries more… revealing.

Different boxes at the back of the shop intrigued you as you approached them.

Getting closer, you gulped feeling a little lump in you throat.

“what the fuck are these oh my gosh” you whisper-yelled completely shocked.

Not only vibrators were there, but anal plugs, anal beads, dildos, strap-on dildos , bdsm toys… handcuffs, ropes , flogger , whips, open mouth gag, blindfolds, spanking paddles, cock rings (pls help me!!), fleshlights …

“nipple clamps? That sounds so painful.” you whined covering your chest.

”urethral sound? oh lord i don’t even have a penis and I can feel the pain." you held your stomach, disgust painting your face.

“the hell are these? rabbit vibrator? butterfly vibrator?… bondage hood?? h-how do people breath oh my-”

(little break, let me clean my horrible search history real quick and drink some water my head is spinning with all these new information lmao)

Looking around you noticed bondage furniture and other stuffs making you uncomfortable.

“Chaeyoung is completely insane what the hell!”

“Good afternoon, how can I help you?”

A really familiar voice could be heard behind you. You turned around only to see your best friend.

”J-Jungkook!?“ you said louder than you thought.

“y-y/n?! What are you doing here?” shock written all over his red face.

”I’m hm I.. wait! What are you doing here?” you said trying to avoid his question.

Jungkook stayed quiet, mouth opening but no words coming out.

Looking at his shirt, you noticed the logo of the shop on it. ”you work here?“

Your eyes widened as you glanced at his red ears.

”hm.. yes.” he replied, head down as he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

 “Oh.. that’s why you’ve never tell me more about your job…“ you trailed out.

He nodded looking at you again.

“and you? What are you doing here huh?” he asked curiosity laced in his voice.

You chewed on your bottom lip, searching for an answer.

“so?” he smiled teasingly ears still red.

“yo stop with your weird thoughts!” you punched him on his shoulder.

“personal stuff.” you muttered.

“well, I guessed it’s for personal stuff.” he looked around you smirking.

“oh shut up.”

“so what.. are you searching for?” you looked up at him shocked.

“eh that’s my job calm down.” he laughed as you looked around searching for someone else than your best friend to help you.

“I .. hm.. I came for this!” you grabbed a random box on the shelve next to you not even looking at it.

“wow..is this for you?” Jungkook tried his best not to laugh.

“yes!”

“never knew my bestie has a dick.” you looked down at the box .. cock ring.

You closed your eyes embarrassment washing over you. He laughed softly as you put the box back at his place quickly.

Looking for a diversion, you glanced behind him “hey what’s that?!” you pointed at a random spot.

When Jungkook looked over his shoulder, you grabbed the box of a vibrator running away with it.

“what?” he turned back only to see that you weren’t here anymore.

You stopped running, putting your hand over your heart as you tried to breath slower.

Looking up, you noticed that you were at the lingerie "booth”. Your eyes stayed glued on one of them.

A black one exactly.

You touched the soft bra, fingers sliding on the lacy material. It was just so cute and sexy at the same time.

You shook your head walking at the front of the shop to the cashier.

After paying your product, the cashier told you with no shame to “have fun”.

Gosh what a day.

❁ — •*:｡✩

You groaned exasperatedly throwing your purchase on your bed, this one bouncing on the mattress and ending on the floor.

You decided to take a shower, letting the warm water caress his way down your body pleasantly, helping your muscles relax, washing the stress and shame away.

After your shower, you went downstairs opening your fridge to take a bottle of ice cold water. You needed something fresh to calm down from all the events that happened today.

You swallowed down the liquid, the cold water hitting your throat in a pleasant way.

You jumped when you suddenly heard knocks on your door startling you.

You furrowed your eyebrows checking your phone to see if Chaeyoung texted you announcing she was coming over but nothing.

Opening the door you were faced to the last person you wanted to see today. The embarrassment too “fresh” to handle.

“Hi.” Jungkook smiled shyly.

You looked down nodding acknowledging his presence.

“hm.. can I come in?” he asked after a few seconds.

“oh! yea yea of course.” you let him in, closing the door behind.

“so.. what bring you here?” you talked still avoiding his eyes.

“can’t I come visit my favorite best friend?” he tilted his head to the side, raising an eyebrow up playfully.

“your one and only best friend.” you huffed.

“yep! my only one. mine.” he grinned cutely.

“yes. yours.” you smiled back this time looking at him, this one still smiling.

The atmosphere changed. You didn’t know how, why but it changed.

Something in Jungkook’s gaze changed for a second before he cleared his throat.

The word ‘yours’ affecting him a bit too much.

He couldn’t think like that, no , you’re his best friend.

But he wanted you more than that. He wanted you to be his.

A pleasant silence settled as you stared at each other, his eyes on your lips time to time.

“Can I kiss you?” he breathed out.

It was so sudden yet so tempting.

“yes.” you whispered as he approached you taking your face in his hands gently before connecting his lips with yours.

He kissed you softly, his hand sliding down your side to rest on your hip.

Kissing him felt so magical. It felt so unreal.

Jungkook pulled away, resting his forehead on yours before chuckling.

“i’ve never thought I’d kiss my pretty best friend one day.”

You chuckled hiding your face on his chest. He pulled you closer, hugging you.

This hug wasn’t like the others you shared before. This one was different. You could feel his heart beating faster when you wrapped your arms around him.

“y/n.” he spoke again.

You looked up at him waiting for him to continue.

“i.. i think.. I’m in love with you.” his cheeks red from the confession.

“think?” you teased.

He rolled his eyes smilling widely “I’m in love with you.”

“i’m in love with you too.” you said shyly before kissing his cheek.

He smiled before capturing your lips for another kiss, a sweet and loving one.

This time the kiss was longer, his hands creeping behind your back by your waist and tugging you closer onto his body.

The way your bodies were against each other’s made you feel some type of way.

A feeling you’ve never felt before. An unfamiliar feeling deep down in your stomach making you moan into the kiss as Jungkook’s hand went on your lower back pushing you harder on him.

He groaned feeling blood rushing down there. His growing boner pressed on your lower stomach.

You pulled away breathing heavily.

“I want you.” Jungkook whispered, his hands playing with the strings of your -his- hoodie.

“I want you too.”

You looked toward the stairs. Jungkook got the hint and took your hand in his walking upstairs.

It wasn’t the first time he came into your bedroom but this time, it wasn’t for studying, watching movies on your sleepovers or take naps… no this time was different.

Jungkook closed the door before walking to you, taking your chin between his thumb and index.

He leaned down, his lips envelopping yours into a loving and slow kiss again.

He started leaving little pecks, his lips trailing down to your jawline, to your neck sucking gently on the soft skin.

You walked backward to your bed letting your body fall on it pulling Jungkook in the process on top of you. He giggled softly as you caressed his cheek softly.

Your fingers went down, playing with the buttons of his shirt before unbuttoning them slowly one by one while looking into his eyes. He helped you taking it off completely throwing it away.

He bent down, lips on the side of your neck pressing light kisses, his hands sliding under your hoodie.

“can I?” he said gently pulling at the hem of the garment.

You nodded before sitting and raising your arms up. Jungkook chuckled pulling it off your beautiful body.

You suddenly froze, realizing that you were half-naked in front of him.

Your hands flew directly to your bra-covered breasts. If you felt exposed with your underwear on, you wondered how you’ll feel naked.

“don’t be shy.” Jungkook said softly.

“Easy to say when you don’t have breasts.” you muttered.

“i do have breats! But they’re super flat..it’s like they’re non-existent.” he said playfully palming his pecs.

“oh gosh stop.” you laughed slapping his arm.

Jungkook laughed too before taking your hands in his.

“look at me.” he started “your body is so beautiful. You are so beautiful. Don’t be shy around me. You know you can trust me and be yourself with me. So don’t hide from me.” you locked eyes with him, his words making your heart skip a beat.

No one ever talked like that with you.. about you.

You nodded with a smile decorating your lips.

“That’s my girl” he said as he peck your forehead.

He laid you down again gently, hands wandering on the bare skin, so soft as his fingertips caress their way up and down, goosebumps raising after their journeys. 

Jungkook lowered his head, his soft lips on your collarbone starting leaving open mouth kisses and little love bites there and then.

His mouth cascaded down on your chest, sucking on the sensitive skin to leave little reddish and purplish flowers.

He continued his way down, kissing every part he could, not forgetting to leave little marks proving that he has worshipped your beautiful body as it should.

He stopped when he reached your panties, looking up at you, a silent request to have your permission to take it off.

You hesitated for awhile, rethinking about his words. You did trust him. A lot. More than yourself perhaps? But being this exposed was really difficult for you.

Were you ready for this step?

“If you’re not ready or if you’re uncomfortable it’s ok princess, we can stop.” you heard him speak again pushing you out of your thoughts.

“take it off.” you answered.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“Yes.” you lifted your hips a little bit as he dragged the soft material off your legs.

“so pretty.” Jungkook murmured as he caressed your thighs.

He took his time adorning them with love bites and hickeys, making them look even prettier at his eyes.

His face got higher, just above your most sensitive part.

He kissed your clit gently making you hiss. The new sensation so good making it throb, anticipation growing more and more.

The need to close your legs really tempting. And that’s exactly what you did.

Jungkook got off the bed to get rid of his pant.

You immediately looked away when he glanced at you, hands on the waistband of his boxer ready to push it down.

He blushed thinking about the fact that it was also his first time being naked in front of someone.

He still chuckled at your shyness murmuring a quiet “cute.”

Jungkook hissed as he finally freed his cock from his confinement, the sensitive tip hitting the air before slapping against his stomach.

You breath hitched when you felt the bed dip again signaling that Jungkook was back.

He made sure you were confortable, pillows behind your head, blanket over your bodies as you suggested for more ‘intimacy’.

Jungkook hovered you before talking again “are you nervous?”.

You gulped before letting a small yes escape from your mouth.

“Are you?” Jungkook nodded.

Both of you knew it was both your first time.

“If you’re not ready we can stop.” you said softly.

He smiled shyly nodding “y/n we can stop at any moment. Understood?”

You nodded hand cupping his cheek, thumb caressing the cheekbone.

Jungkook positioned himself at your entrance, the head of his cock rubbing teasingly on your folds making you moan.

“´k are you sure?” he asked one last time.

You nodded before he stopped you, shaking his head.

“I need a verbal approval y/n.”

“I’m sure and I want you to be sure too.” you said softly making him hummed.

“oh wait wait!” Jungkook exclaimed.

“what is it?” you asked confused many scenarios creating in your head ready to make you panick.

“be my girlfriend. no! I mean, w-would you like to be my girlfriend?” you chuckled at how cute he was.

“I’d love to Kook” you pecked his lips making him smile widely, eyes turning into little crescents.

Jungkook started entering you slowly and carefully making sure not to hurt you, checking up on your facial expressions time to time.

You gripped on his bicep hard as it started to burn. The unfamiliar intrusion uncomfortable.

You hissed, the pain making his presence more and more.

“are you ok? Do you want me to stop? Pull out? I can st-”

“i’m good don’t worry, keep going slowly please.” you whispered.

Jungkook peppered kisses on your cheek and neck, to distract you from the pain of the stretch as he pushed in deeper until he completely bottomed.

You groaned, tears forming in your eyes “shh, you’re doing so well darling.”

He caressed your cheeks a bit concerned “Tell me when I can move yea?”

On the other side, Jungkook suffered in his own way.

He scrunched his nose, bottom lip trapped between his teeth at the warm tightness around him so foreign, his mind going wild.

You took a deep breath, trying to surpass the burn down there.

You nodded gesturing him to move again. This one, thrusted in and out slowly, taking his time not to hurt you and enjoy the new sensation around him.

He groaned as he started feeling this exciting and pleasuring feeling making his cock twitched inside you.

You moaned softly, the pain fading away and the pleasure coming gradually.

The burn was still there but it was bearable, it felt good as Jungkook continued his slow moves.

“J-Jungkook” you breathed out hand gripping his bicep tightly nails digging into the flesh.

“you ok princess?” he whispered against your lips.

“It f-feels good.. you feel so good” your eyelids getting heavy, trying your best to keep your eyes on him.

He looked so handsome. On top of you, lips swollen with all the kisses exchanged, a light blush decorating his cheeks, his ears red, chest gleaming with sweat, little droplets formed on his forehead….. so ethereal.

As Jungkook continued moving in and out of you, the pleasure took over, the painful burn long forgotten.

Your hands travelled to his back, fingernails were buried into the soft flesh of his muscular back drawing little crescents.

“you’re doing so good baby. so good for me.” he caressed your cheek.

Jungkook took his time making love to you, nibbling on your earlobe lightly as he whisper sweet nothings into your ear.

You scratched his back as he gripped your thigh lifting it a bit getting deeper inside you.

“fuck please don’t stop.” you whimpered voice cracking, his length rubbing deliciously against your warm velvelty walls.

The wet and warm feeling around him made him feel lightheaded. You felt too good to be true.

He pressed butterfly kisses on your jawline, his lips travelling down leaving beautiful dark red flowers on your neck, continuing his path to your collarbone biting it lightly enough to form a little mark. “so pretty.” he whispered more to himself.

He let out a low groan as you clenched around him “fuck!” he rolled his hips sensually grazing over your sweet spot making you whined out loudly.

You ran your fingers through his soft locks. You squeezed your eyes shut, letting your head fall back into the pillows as Jungkook hit deeper.

Art. Just art. You looked like a masterpiece.

All covered up with hickeys, the red and purple marks on your skin making his eyes sparkling with lust, admiration and love.

“you’re so beautiful. so beautiful all marked up.” he said fingers running over the little bruises he left. “mine. you’re mine.”

The vein of his neck was prominent as he moaned when you tightened around him, the pressure making him weak to a point “baby d-don’t stop clenching p-please.” 

“Jungkook I think I’m- fuck.” you moaned feeling the knot in your lower stomach tighter, your heart beating faster as the pleasure propagated inside you.

Jungkook placed your calve over his waist, he cupped your jawline, his lips barely touching yours as he whispered “cum for me love.”

He furrowed his eyebrows at the way your walls convulse around him. “fuck! I’m so near!”

Jungkook slid his veiny hands up your arms until they reached your hands, pinning them at each side of your head as he tangled your fingers together.

The sweet little gesture making your heart stop.

He bent down to press kisses on the sensitive marked-skin of your neck. His touches overwhelming you.

Butterflies finally blooming into your lower stomach as you came around him.

The sudden wave of pleasure forming tears in your eyes as they slid down your cheeks. His name leaving your throat in a high pitched moan.

Your soft moans pushed him over the edge of his own release, he moaned deeply as he came inside you, filling you up to the brim.

The warm cum made you sigh as you let your body relax against the soft sheet.

“i love you.” he pushed stands of hair out of your face.

Heat rushed to your cheeks, the three words making your heart melt.

“i love you.” you whispered softly, caressing the back of his head gently.

Jungkook buried his face into the crook of your neck, his breath tickling you.

You chuckled, hand stroking up and down his back to soother the scratched skin. He looked up at you before pecking the tip of your nose.

“’m tired.” you mumbled yawning.

“let’s get you clean up first cutie.”

He was about to pull out when you groaned pulling him down on you. “let’s stay like this please?” shyness showing up again.

“as you wish princess.”

He laid a kiss on your temple before turning around on his back, pulling you on top of him. His slow heartbeats and an last I love you were the last thing you heard before drifting off in his warm embrace.

a beautiful relationship started and probably a wild one …

—

a/n : not a frequent f2l fic right? I hope i did good - a part 2? I love writing fluffy smut since I’m a romantic person 😭 sorry sorry. Anyways, thanks for reading luvs. Take care of yourselves :)

+ I forgot to add that jk and reader are both college students and it’s a part job for Jungkook.

[slutforsnow]

Skin Don't Matter To Me

Quick a/n before the fic gets started; I am SO SO SORRY to those who were upset/uncomfortable/angry that I made the original billy x black!reader a former slave!reader. I didn't think. I shouldn't have been up at 1am writing. It was horrid and a terrible decision on my end. Forgive me or not, is entirely up to you. Ty to the anons who called me out for it and made me realize it was wrong to do that, biracial or not. I hope you can forgive me 🫂

Tw/CW: insecurities, anxiety, racism is brought up (not comments, just behavior).

Summary: Reader gets insecure about her relationship with Billy after seeing some girls flirt with him.

It was a chill Saturday evening in the saloon as patrons drank, played poker, and chatted absent-mindly. It was an easy night, for sure, aside from a few drunken snide comments made towards reader, but she shrugged them off. After all, she wasn't getting paid to fight the customers.

As she hummed and wiped down the bar, which was currently empty, she stopped midway to wipe some sweat off her face—reader loves her afro, and has no problems pulling it back so she didn't sweat to death while she worked, but some nights it was just too hot and having so many people out and about the saloon was making it harder to deal with.

Her dark skin shone in sweat as she worked but didn't complain. She had to make a livin' somehow, and she wasn't gonna do that by moanin' and groanin'.

As she resumed her work, she flashed a smile towards her boyfriend as he played poker. He was in his favorite seat, watching her work as he placed his bets and ignored the other girls hitting on him and trying to get his attention. He was technically working as well—he and his boys were security for the saloon because some of the customers were still quite horrid to the folks of color who worked, especially the women. They'd try to threaten y/n but were often silenced or kicked out by Billy and his men.

Y/n and Billy had been dating for 2 years, despite the ups and downs of him being a cowboy and the racism she'd face for being a black woman.

As she worked, still humming, she caught sight of some white girls being all touchy and whispering things in his ear. She bit her tongue as to not cause a scene and focused on continuing to grab glasses and wipe down tables.

'He'd never leave me. He's said that,' She thought to herself as a reminder that Billy would never leave her for some white girl. She was his, and he was hers. Yet, despite the constant love and affection he would give her, she still got that nagging fear that he would leave her.

A few hours later, Y/n's shift had ended and the couple were headed back home to the ranch that they bought with their savings over the course of their relationship. Y/n was silent the whole way home, which made Billy worry that he did something wrong.

"Darlin' did I do somethin' wrong?" He asked, setting his hat on a hook by the door as he shut the door behind him.

A lump formed in her throat and she sighed, knowing he'd keep asking if she said nothing.

"It wasn't you, Billy it... it's just my fears," She answered, trying to dismiss her fears.

"Well, what's wrong? It won't go away unless you talk to me."

Damn his smooth and relaxing tone- she didn't want to talk about it, afraid it would turn into an argument about his loyalties but he was so understanding that she knew she she couldn't hide it from him.

"Those... those damn whores that keep touchin' on you like you're not taken," She told him, sighing. "I know it's probably stupid or somethin-"

"Oh thank the Lord, I was hoping you'd bring this up," He breathed out, letting out a relaxed laugh and earning a perplexed look from y/n.

"...What?"

"I've been wanting to tell you about that. I never wanted to stress you out, but I hate, and I mean absolutely fuckin' hate when they do that. It gets so annoyin', I tell them I'm taken and to back off, but do they listen? No." As Billy continued to ramble about how he hated the other women touching and talking to him like he wasn't a taken man, she smiled.

He was so vocal about how much he hated it when they touched and flirted with him that it eased her worried soul and she hugged him tightly.

Fucking hell, she loves this man so much.

[scuttlingcrab]

Flowers for a Devil

This is one of two fics I wrote for the Raphael fan zine @silkandsulphur! You can find it here. I hope you guys enjoy, always wanted to write something about a blind flower girl a la the film City Lights.

The second piece I wrote is called A Devilish Mentor.

Summary: Raphael meets a blind flower girl named Vera, convinced claiming her soul will be an easy win. However, the Devil soon finds out this mortal in particular does not fall so easily for his lavish deals.

Link to my other work in the Devil's Archive.

(Image via keylana-dragon)

The Devil sat against a large oak tree, resting his head on the trunk as he fought off sleep. He found solace under its canopy, his body draped in shadows, cool in comparison to the scorching rays of the afternoon sun. Raphael’s doublet stuck to his chest from the humidity, but it was nothing he wasn’t used to. It was refreshing, tamer than what he experienced in Avernus. 

He stared into the vast fields of daffodils before him, a dense blanket of bright yellow spanning for miles in all directions. The flowers disappeared into the horizon, giving the illusion this was the only world that existed. The only world that mattered.  

Despite being so close to the chaos of Baldur’s Gate, to the interminable noise of mortals he grew to despise, the world stood still under the tree. Only silence enveloped Raphael. It was his patch of serenity, an escape from the demands of being a Devil. 

He yawned, absorbing the sweet scents of vanilla and honey wafting up from the flowers. He rode a wave of nostalgia, the smells guiding him through a sea of fleeting memories. It had been over a decade since Raphael was first introduced to these fields, led astray by a woman who left a lasting impression on him. 

Vera.

As unlikely as it seemed to Raphael, each flower, every individual petal, those brief memories of her, were too precious to him. 

He leaned back, shutting his eyes. He pushed away his current trepidations about Tav and the mess awaiting him in the Hells. Raphael allowed his muscles to soften with each exhale, helping him to finally relax. 

Soon the Devil dozed off, escaping into a memory... 

---

Raphael was perched atop his balcony outside the Devil’s Den, overlooking Wyrm's Crossing. He had taken a brief respite from the day’s work, deciding to step outside for some fresh air and perhaps some inspiration. He leaned against the wooden railings, observing the ongoing flood of mortals below him. Creatures of all shapes and sizes moved about their own volition, progressing through the day completely oblivious of their impending dooms. 

Something was brewing, something delicious. 

The change in the atmosphere was tangible. Raphael’s skin twitched at the scent of blood that lingered in the air, the buzzing of gossip dancing around at the news of another murder. A corpse was discovered near Sharess’ Caress that very morning, the body disposed of just like the others. A real bonafide serial killer they said! But Raphael knew otherwise. The murders stunk of Bhaalists. 

Either way, it was all good for business. It meant more panic, more deals, and ultimately more power for the Devil.

Other varied scents drifted up from the muddy streets, distracting Raphael from his thoughts of murder and mayhem. Metallic whiffs of money hungry merchants, warm earthy odours of farm workers… Raphael wrinkled his nose, noticing one aroma that stood out to him amidst the rising sea of mediocrity. Something new. A curious scent, an aura both sweet and rich that came from somewhere beneath him. 

Raphael inhaled, following his nose as he proceeded to walk along the length of the upper balcony. He stopped about midway, narrowing his eyes as he searched through the rabble. He immediately found the irregularity, planted firmly against the fast moving current of bodies.

A young woman sat near the entrance of Sharess’ Caress, sitting comfortably on a wooden chair. From that distance, he could just about distinguish her plain features. She had a simple face and dark chestnut hair. Her short sleeved dress hung over her small figure. The woman’s pose was regal, her back so straight she could have been a Queen in disguise. 

In front of her was a handmade stall filled to the brim with flowers. From daffodils to bluebells, she had them all. Much to Raphael’s surprise, her little bespoke shop was quite popular. Despite being so close to the murder scene, long queues snaked well into the alley surrounding the pleasure house.

Why was this woman selling flowers so close to death? Mortals typically fled such sights in horror or goggled with grim curiosity. But she carried on as if nothing happened. Could she really be that innocent? That oblivious?  

Raphael wet his lips, running his fingers through his hair as he prepared for this impromptu performance. Without a second to spare, he snapped his fingers, teleporting down below. He stood on the opposite side of the brothel’s entrance, hiding behind the corner.

Now that the Devil was closer, he spotted the sharp contrast between the beauty of the flowers and the woman’s appearance. The flowers were vibrant and fresh, as if plucked from the heavens. Yet her body told a different story. Although she wasn’t dishevelled, her hands were covered in dirt and her dress crusted over at the hem. 

Raphael gasped, his heart skipping a beat as he noticed the woman’s eyes. They were white, her irises a thick milky blue. She was blind. Her mannerisms weren’t as swift as he thought watching from his balcony, but clunky and slow. She used her hands as a way to guide herself, identifying each flower by delicately petting the tip of the petals. 

He glided towards her as if in a trance, placing himself in front of her stall. The noise of the bustling street faded as Raphael focused on the blind woman. His own eyes widened in excitement. The blind made such easy targets, always willing to give up anything for their sight, for a chance to see even the most mundane backdrops. 

The crowd parted for only a moment but it was enough time for Raphael to discover the woman was staring directly at him, her cloudy eyes meeting his. The Devil stiffened, a sharp chill running up his spine. He wanted to look away as his cheeks burned unexpectedly, yet he carried on staring, pulled to her by an unseen force. Could she be…? He waited, expecting her to approach him. He readied his defences for a fight of some kind, but she remained positioned behind her stall, her gaze unmoving. 

Raphael shook off the uneasiness and took a step closer. The blind woman wrinkled her nose, an act the Devil was used to amongst mortals. 

“Are you planning on buying flowers, sir?” The woman asked. She moved her hands to graze the tips of her bouquets, showing them off in her usual manner. “Or will you continue gaping? I can only assume that’s what you’ve been doing.”

Words escaped Raphael, probably for the first time in his entire existence. He closed his mouth, realising it still hung open in astonishment. He squinted, studying the woman, trying to see if this performance was some sort of ruse. She looked right through Raphael, her face not reacting to his movements. 

“Very good.” Raphael cleared his throat, “Pleased to make your acquaintance. I am Raphael.” 

He bowed, out of habit, feeling a tinge of embarrassment start to flood his cheeks again before he shoved the feelings away. He immediately stood back up, straightening his doublet. 

“Allow me to purchase a bouquet of your finest arrangements.”

“Of course, sir. For your beloved?”

“Merely for my own enjoyment.”

Raphael flicked his wrist, coins appearing in his hand. He leaned in closer, placing them in the woman’s open palms. 

“What a curious smell.” The woman said, cupping her fingers around Raphael’s hand. She held him there for longer than necessary. “Palmarosa, pepper…” She raised her head slightly, inhaling. “Hmm, yes, notes of cherries… and is that a hint of sulphur?” The woman’s face distorted at the word.

Raphael nodded his head in approval, impressed despite himself at the woman’s sense of smell. She released her grip but he left his hand lingering above her, his fingers tingling.  

 “One might wonder how a woman of such talent remains on the streets of Wyrm's Crossing instead of in a shop of her own. My dear, the city would go mad with a gift like yours.”

“I would hardly call it a gift, sir. Your scent is quite peculiar, however.”

“How so?”

“The sulphur. That’s what I couldn’t place. I personally wouldn’t mix that with the others, but then again, it somehow works. What is your profession?”

“I am an opportunist, through and through.”

Raphael was tempted to touch the woman’s face, curious if she might sense his movements. Perhaps he would test just how far her perception went…

“Is this man bothering you?” A gruff voice came from behind Raphael.

The woman chuckled, her laugh light and airy. Raphael pulled his hand away from her, massaging his palms in contemplation.

“What have you done this time, Baldwin? Is poor Mrs. Fenwick angry at you again ?” A tiny smile grew on her lips, as delicate as the very flowers in front of her.

Raphael turned towards the aggravating voice, smiling politely. Baldwin didn’t return the smile, but glared back at Raphael. The man was short and stocky, with a massive beard that covered more than half of his chunky face.

“Afraid so, Miss Vera, made a mess of things, I did. In real hot water if I don’t get her some of those famous flowers of yours.”

Vera. So that was the creature's name. 

Raphael took that as his cue to leave and slinked back into the crowd. As Vera continued her conversation with Baldwin, her nose lifted, her head following Raphael as he moved further away.

---

The next day Raphael returned to Wyrm's Crossing, watching Vera from his balcony. The crippling weight of his never-ending to-do list grew heavier the more time he wasted watching her, yet he kept avoiding his real responsibilities. He spent the rest of yesterday, and all morning, observing how she worked, how she moved; afraid if he looked away, this budding opportunity would vanish forever.

With a snap of his fingers, he was once again in front of Vera’s stall. 

Her nose twitched as he made his appearance, her head tilting not in alarm, but in curiosity.

“Back again, sir?”

“For some more flowers… and to perhaps ask you to dinner.”

Vera’s visage remained expressionless.

“Which flowers would you like, sir? I’ve only got roses and daffodils left.”

“Hmm… some daffodils, if you would be so kind.” 

The woman nodded, reaching towards the wicker basket on her left. The tips of her fingers delicately brushed the petals, her way of confirming they were indeed the right ones. She scooped up the bouquet with one hand, the other patting the side to ensure the flowers were properly secured. She then extended her arm out to Raphael, offering him the bundle.

“And the dinner?” Raphael inquired, taking the bouquet. 

“I have my work cut out for me today, I’m afraid.”

“If I purchased all your flowers, ridding you of the day’s responsibilities, would you at least consider the proposition?”

Vera hesitated. 

“‘That would be… most generous, sir, but it is not needed.”

“I insist. And please, call me Raphael.”

Vera sighed, her hands gripping one of the empty baskets in front of her, twisting the handle as she considered Raphael’s proposal.

”If you were to buy the rest of my goods, then I might allow you to walk me home, Raphael. ”  

“Then we’ll consider it a deal.”

Raphael clapped his hands, and a pouch of gold fell onto the table with a loud thunk. 

“Let me package these up for at—“

”No need, my dear. I’ll have someone collect them on my behalf. Now, let us walk…” 

---

Raphael and Vera strode in silence through the dirt laden streets towards Rivington. They walked side-by-side, Vera using a wooden cane to lead the way. Long shadows crept from the crooked buildings, growing larger as the sun made its descent.  

As they moved further away from Wyrm's Crossing, the crowds worsened, making it near impossible to navigate without shoving up against strangers. Children cried for their mothers, men lay sleeping on the streets, and families begged for food; pulling on Raphael's garments as he walked past them. These creatures were what Raphael liked to call the lowest of the low; the desperate and needy, his least favourite meals. All the begging and pleading made their souls cheap and sour. He rarely travelled to this side of town unless it was absolutely necessary.

“What do you hope to gain from this?” Vera asked eventually, breaking the stillness as she paused in front of the Open Hand Temple. “No one has been this nice to me without wanting something in return.”

“You wound me to think I would stoop so low, I am not a barbarian but a gentleman. I am here to help.”

“With what, pray tell?”

Vera began walking again, Raphael following suit.

“What if your sight could be restored? Your life begun anew? Filled with so many riches you’d be swimming in gold and luxury?”

“I’d say no.” Vera responded without hesitation. 

“No? Just like that?”

“My condition is incurable. Do not give me hope with this talk of fancy, Raphael. I have been crushed by hope in the past, discarded, left to die from its repercussions.” 

“I am not here on behalf of hope. I have solutions, answers . I am a purveyor of possibilities. Just give me the word and I can fix your sight and if need be, make you so rich you’d never have to sell flowers again.”

Vera laughed. 

“You find this funny?”

“I find it foolish! A bedtime story for children. And how do you suppose you’d fix my sight? Hmm? Magic? Don’t think I haven’t tried that before.” 

 “I have my own means, tried and true. I can discuss them in more detail, with a proper agreement, if you are–”

“No, thank you.”

Vera came to a halt, stopping in front of a large makeshift shack. It was constructed from mismatched wood and random materials, as if it was put up in haste with whatever seemed convenient at the time. It had small windows and a jagged metal chimney that stuck out the side.

“Many thanks for the walk and the thought provoking conversation.” Vera turned away from Raphael, searching the pockets of her dress for a key.

Raphael’s face contorted as he watched her, out of annoyance at the sudden dismissal and from pity. A key? For that sorry excuse of a house? If anyone coughed, or sneezed, it would’ve caused the very foundation to topple.

“May I have the honour of calling upon you again?” Raphael asked, keeping his voice flat to avoid sounding too desperate. Or too peeved.

“If you choose to stop by my stall again,” Vera said, as she unlocked her door, “that is your business. But I will not turn you away.”

And with that, Vera disappeared inside, slamming the door in Raphael’s face. 

Although the door did not hit Raphael, he felt the full force of its impact as the wind slapped his cheeks. The rickey wood only inches from his nose. He immediately retracted his ill thoughts towards the stability of Vera’s home, if it could handle that slam, then it could handle anything . 

Raphael scoffed, turning on his heels as he walked away, quickly disappearing into a fiery inferno. 

---

Day after day Raphael returned to Vera, buying out her flowers, and asking her to dinner. 

The more Vera refused him, the more his obsession grew, turning into an uncontrollable yearning for her submission, to hear only one word from her lips: yes. Raphael wanted her, craved her company. He dreamed of the day he’d finally wipe that smug smirk off her face. Raphael would restore Vera’s sight just to spite her. He would claim her eventually, as he did all mortals who refused him. He just needed time.  

However it wasn’t all torture for Raphael. He had gotten to know Vera as he waited, finding unexpected comfort in the banality of their conversations and in the silence they shared. He watched her every move and knew her entire routine. He observed her as she picked flowers ceremoniously in fields so big they swallowed her whole, often joining in. His thoughts calmed when he was around her, allowing himself to escape in the moment, to savour the present, rather than break from the crippling pressures of his growing ambitions.

The days turned to weeks, and soon months passed, until one day, Vera obliged Raphael and agreed to his invitation.  

The Devil appeared at sundown, as he had often promised, knocking on Vera’s door with the back of his knuckles.

Vera answered almost immediately. Despite not bothering to change her dress or clean-up from the day’s labour, she was beautiful, glowing in the twilight.

The pair began their walk in the warm summer evening, the streets were quiet save for the random insect chirps and occasional gusts of wind that blew in from the sea. They did not make it far before Raphael stopped Vera, the Devil checking over his shoulder to ensure they were alone. 

“Where is this house of yours located?” Vera asked. 

“Quite far. Do you trust me?” 

“Do you want an honest answer?”

“Yes.”

“I do not.” Vera said. 

Raphael smiled broadly, snapping his fingers. A portal materialised in front of them, hot air blasting through it like a raging kiln. Vera scrunched her face, sniffing the air rapidly as the heat brushed up against her. 

“Allow me,” Raphael placed his hand on Vera’s forearm and she accepted his lead. 

They began to walk through the portal together. 

---

The House of Hope was serene, Raphael had forced the debtors to clean every single inch of his domain before banishing them all for the evening. He wanted everything to be perfect, spotless, on the off chance Vera would agree to his deal. 

The silence was rife with unasked questions as Raphael led Vera through his halls, her forehead lightly sweating from the stifling heat of Avernus. She held onto his arms, nearly tripping over herself as Raphael led her deeper into his House. Her face grew long as they passed one open window after another.

“Where have you taken me, really?”

“To my House of Hope, in Avernus.”

Vera nodded, mumbling something to herself. 

“Are you afraid?” Raphael went on, eager for what her answer would be.

There was another pause as Vera frowned.

“Yes, but not as scared as I thought.”

They reached a spiral staircase at the far end of his House, leading up to his atelier. It was a room only he had access to, a place no living being had ever entered save for the Devil himself. With a flick of the wrist, Raphael teleported them to the top of the stairs. He waved his hand, dismissing a ward and simultaneously opening the ornate doors to his workshop.

The room was an organised mess. Half finished paintings occupied most of the space, statues sat discarded in the corners, and stacks of books were piled high, nearly reaching the ceiling. 

As Raphael stepped forward, Vera froze, becoming an anchor. 

“You are a Devil.” 

Vera’s words were more of a statement, a confirmation to herself, than a question.  

“In the flesh.”

Vera pulled Raphael towards her, placing her hands on his face. He jumped at the unexpected action, his heart picking up speed, at the feeling of her hands on his skin so freely. 

“Yet you have the face of a normal man.” Vera frowned.

“A guise. Do you wish to know my true form?”

She nodded. 

In a rush of sparks and embers, Raphael shed his mortal skin. She backed away from the heat of his transformation, nearly tripping over backwards. Vera’s hands trembled as she gained composure, reaching for his face again. She gasped, moving over his horns, his sharp cheeks, even touching his wings. Her hands intertwined with his as she traced his claws. 

Raphael desperately wanted to probe her mind, to peek behind the curtain, but he stopped himself. He would not violate her. Not now. When he was so close.

“So it’s true, you are real.” 

There was no fear in her voice, only a hint of wonder. And affection. Raphael melted into her touch, not an inch of his form went unexplored. He swallowed, his mouth becoming drier than the deadliest wastelands. He had never felt such tender, mortal hands, against his infernal flesh.  

“And you’d still deny me the honour of helping you?”

“If it is a soul you’re after, Raphael, then I’m sorry to disappoint you. My soul belongs to me.”

“Even when you could have everything?”

“You must understand, some people are content with life’s simplicities.”

“In poverty? And in darkness?”

“I don’t need my eyes to see. I know you are a Devil. But I can also feel you are honourable. Gentle. You have an appreciation for things that are cracked, imperfect. You care so much about your appearance, and yet… you hide the one thing that makes you the most attractive, the most alluring, your true form. The sulphur. Why do you mask it with other scents?”

“Don’t be a fool. It’s unwise for Devils to parade amongst the mortals so blatantly.” 

“Why?”

“Were you not afraid of me moments ago?”

Vera paused, considering Raphael’s question. 

“I quite prefer this version of you, Raphael. It’s a shame you must hide it.”

Vera looked directly at Raphael like the day they first met. Those milky eyes stared into his very existence, burning a hole through his heart. His foundation crumbled. Yes, the Devil had his ambitions. His longing for the Crown of Karsus, his dreams of conquering the Hells… yet he wanted nothing more than to restore Vera’s sight at that moment. For her to see him truly. All he had to do was snap his fingers… 

Raphael’s temperature rose as he bit the side of his cheek, the metallic taste of blood flooding his mouth. His limbs shook as he restrained himself, using all his power to keep from fully ascending. Years ago Raphael would’ve laughed in Vera’s face, denying her everything until he was the only option she had left. He would’ve taken her soul where she stood and ate it for supper… but now, all those inclinations evaporated. 

That damned woman had cursed him. And he, worst of all, had allowed it.  

“Do you wish to leave?” Raphael asked, preparing to create a portal back to Baldur’s Gate. 

“No, I am happy to stay. This is the furthest I think I’ve ever travelled. And you promised a meal.” 

Vera smiled, that devious smirk crawling up her lips. Raphael snapped his fingers and a small table and chairs materialised in front of them.

“So I did. You’ll come to find out a Devil always keeps their word.”  

---

Raphael had disappeared for nearly a week. He never intended to stay away for so long, but his work finally caught up with him. Their dinner had been interrupted when Korrilla summoned him, rather rudely, to an urgent meeting in Dis. Raphael had ignored his warlock for so long, pushing her away like an unwanted child, that he had forced her hand. Korrilla’s act of insolence would not go unpunished… 

His thoughts ended abruptly when he arrived near Vera’s home, teleporting himself into sheer havoc.

A massive crowd surrounded her shack, circling it like rabid wolves. Mortals gawked, some pointing their fingers and laughing at the home like it was some sort of circus attraction. Investigators lined the entranceway, pushing people back who tried to sneak through. The air was heavy, thick with humidity and the smell of rotting meat. Raphael’s heart dropped to the pit of his stomach as he pushed through the throng.  

“Shame… another attack…” One woman said.

“Apparently she put up a fight…” A man whispered. 

“A Dragonborn… lurking about, but who knows…” Another woman remarked.

Raphael barely made it to the front of the crowd when he stopped, noticing he was standing in a puddle of blood. The liquid sparkled in the morning sun as it seeped through his boots. 

“She was barely breathing when they pulled her–” A woman behind Raphael began. 

His ears rang at those words, at the possibility of her still being alive, and he instantly spun around, grabbing hold of the woman’s shoulders. 

“Where did they take her?” 

“Sir-I beg your pardon–”

Raphael shook the woman as she stared dumbfoundedly back at him, squeezing her shoulders tighter as she refused to give an answer. Others in the crowd backed away from Raphael, some even starting to scream.

“Where is she?!”  

---

Raphael charged through the hallways of the hospital. Kicking down one door after another until he found Vera. She was in a room no larger than a closet, her body haphazardly thrown onto a metal bed. Her dress was torn to shreds, body barely recognisable, save for those pale eyes, her beautiful eyes, that now stared fixedly at the ceiling. She had been cut open, gutted like a farm animal. They didn’t even have the audacity to cover her body. 

Raphael collapsed, a numbness growing in his chest, spreading through his entire body as the realisation of Vera’s death hit him like a tsunami. It was strange, he had never felt anything over a mortal's death, not until Vera. He grabbed the frame of the bed, the metal warping at his fiery touch, as he attempted to lift himself to his feet.

He picked up Vera’s body, his hands trembling as he held her, searching through her very being for any leftover traces of her soul, something he could latch on to, bring back… but she was hollow. Lost to him forever. Without warning, Raphael erupted into flames, turning the entire room into an inferno. The fire grew bigger and angrier, licking its way across the ceiling as it travelled outside the hallway, slowly moving throughout the rest of the hospital. 

The Devil paid no attention to the screams or to the damage he caused. It all became part of the same noise. Let the flames consume them all, let the flames destroy everything. He had lost something precious to him, and they would all pay for it in turn. These mortals will suffer for their stupidity, their chaos, their violence! 

And Vera…  

Raphael howled, the flames around him turning blue in his grief. He should’ve taken her soul when he had the chance and dealt with the repercussions later. She would’ve forgiven him eventually. Then she would’ve been his. Forever. She would’ve been safe.

Raphael brought his arms to his chest in an attempt to hug Vera, to hold her close and never let go, but the only thing that remained were her ashes. 

---

Raphael woke up from his nightmare. He screamed into the darkness, gasping for air, choking on the tears that streamed down his cheeks. The full moon lit up the field before him, covering the flowers in an eerie luminescent glow. 

Thoughts of Vera stung like fresh wounds. The pain served as a reminder for his failings, his eternal punishment for going against the very nature of his existence, all for one mortal. 

Raphael’s chest unexpectedly grew tighter, an uneasy feeling rising like bile in his throat. He shut his eyes, attempting to restrain the intrusive emotions. These damned mortal inclinations never ceased to torment him, a sense of dread creeping through the cracks of his composure like rampant weeds. 

All at once a torrent of different thoughts overtook him, flooding his mind as he was snapped back to reality. Tav’s failings with the Hammer, his cursed pursuit of the Crown, tasks that piled up the more he sat there, and worst of all, the echoes of Vera, lingering still… He tried to destroy each thought, but more grew in their place.

Raphael took a deep breath, attempting to reclaim his presence of mind. He coughed, his nostrils filling with the abrasive scent of burning. His eyes shot open and he was met with thick black smoke trailing up from his hands. 

The daffodils within his proximity were on fire, the petals curling up around the edges and withering away. His fists dug deeper into the soil, the ground bubbling, threatening to erupt at any moment. He watched as the flames grew, slowly eating the field, destroying its beauty and everything it stood for.

“YOU FOOL!” Raphael screamed. His voice rippled through the burning field, the leaves above him trembling in his rage.

Snap!  

The fire reversed itself, the flames crawling back into Raphael’s fingertips as the world around him went back to normal. He let out a pained sigh, his rage extinguishing. 

He had been so close to destroying everything. 

Again. 

They never found Vera’s murderer, but Raphal saw through the facade, he knew who did it. That Bhaalspawn. The same creature who painted the streets red in murderous glee, later claiming the responsibility for Bhaal’s re-birth. That vile Dragonborn haunted Raphael’s dreams, taunting him with Vera’s death as he hid away in the shadows of his subconscious, evading his capture. 

In the decade since Vera’s slaughter, Raphael ensured all his schemes led to the path of revenge one way or another. When he caught wind of the Dark Gods’ plot to steal the Crown of Karsus, he knew then it was his destiny. Once the Crown was his, he would unite the Hells and eradicate every single Bhaalist from the face of the earth. He would make that coward Bhaal suffer as he did. Then he would find Vera’s soul. Somehow. 

Raphael’s thoughts quickly flickered to Tav and their pending negotiations. The Crown for a Hammer. To the last few scenes left to play out before his grand finale. 

He would not make the same mistake again. 

He would not be denied.  

The Devil would get his vengeance.

[geordikisser]

angst with yumi idk necessarily about what 😭😭 maybe hc or a short fic, live laugh luv ur writing ong <3

a/n: tysm!!! i’d love 2 make yumi angst, its acc been on the back of my mind -,- .. its a little poorly done but this was a concept ive had for awhile

REQS OPEN!

distance | yumi

epilogue: the honey moon phase has just about ended, you and yumi have been butting heads recently & when the idea of him moving out with the boys come up it throws you off the rails

content contains! suggestive material, gender neutral usage, & angst

♡ you wake up, sunlight drowning the walls of your room. you turn to see your boyfriend, sitting up on his phone. he notices you’ve woken up. “g’morning.” his flat tone rings throughout your ears. you merely grumble back a, ‘morning’ yourself. yesterday night you two had a small argument. you threw attitude at him due to the lack of effort & communication when it comes to trust between you two when it comes to going out. yumi is constantly on his computer recently and you’ve been busy as well and this has caused a few heated squabbles.

your chest remains heavy from last night as you get up and slip on some bottoms. you stretch out your back, grabbing yumis attention to your back. he let out a heavy sigh as he bites his tongue. “hey, i’ll meet you in the kitchen. we need to talk.” he calls out as you reach the master bath. you feel your heart drop, as if you flatlined where you stand. keeping your cool, you nod. “got it, babe.” you throw in a pet name to ensure you aren’t angry about last night, hoping he would catch onto it. you close the door behind you.

you feel your breathing becoming troubled as you stumble onto the bathroom floor. grabbing a hold of your chest quickly trying to calm yourself down. what if today was your last? composing yourself, you stand up and get ready for the day.

about 20 minutes later, you come downstairs refreshed. teeth brushed, face washed. yumi was standing at the counter leaning against it, his eyes meeting yours as you walked towards the counter. you sat at one of the free stools at the counter. you brush your hair back as you give him your full attention. “we need to talk about something really important to me. we spoke on this awhile ago. on the topic of me moving out.” loosing eye contact with you midway. you fell pale. “ok.” you sigh, shakily. your hands clenching eachother. “the guys really want to move to austin, texas sometime next month and i.. i plan to join them.” he admits as he meets your teary eyed gaze.

he sighs, defeated. “c’mon, don’t start crying. it’s 9am.” he hangs his head low. you furrow your brows. “blake you’re so fucking unreal.” you stand up and walk off. he looks up and realizes you’re leaving. “hello?? the fuck?” he calls out as he rushes after you, grabbing your wrist. you snap away. “stop. i can’t deal this shit with you right now, blake.” you said.

“a few arguments and now you want to move out??” your eyes filled with pain & disdain. he shakes his head. “don’t make this what it isn’t! this has been a plan for a long time, y/n. you know it has.” he exclaims practically. his frustration stealing his tone. taking you aback a bit. your tears escape your tears ducts as you begin to sob. holding yourself tightly cause you know he won’t. he snaps out of this haze he was trapped in and reaches out to you. “hey— babe. c’mon, look at me.” he tries to attempt gently. you shift away as you completely break down. “i feel impossible with you lately, blake. why don’t you even want to try for this.” you stumble a bit, blake catching you instantly. he holds the small of your back.

“i just don’t understand. why don’t you try for this, for us, for you.” you pull away from his hold. “it don’t know what i can say to you anymore.” you admit, a small weight from your chest lifting. making it easier to breathe. his eyes analyze you, the situation. he looks away, sighing. “i don’t what to do either.” he says softly. “i know i love you. i love you so fucking much that these arguments kill me. and they’re dead to you.” he puts his head in his hands. you sniff, crossing your arms. “i need space from this.” he admits. your eyes widen out of fear, where the big 5 words gonna come out?

you feel fear wash over your body and you look at him slowly. “is that why you want to move? to get space and away from me?” you accuse. “you don’t need to runaway from me to get space, blake.” you attempt to not say it before he does.

“it’s not that—“ you stop him right there. “no. no it’s whatever. you’ve truly said enough to me recently that i think we both just need to think.” you storm off and grab your keys and head to the front door. he chased after you. “y/n, i didn’t mean it like that. where are you gonna go??” he asked worryingly. “that’s a first, you genuinely care about what i’m gonna do?” you snap back, sourly.

“for once it’s not that fucking computer. it’s like i’m second rate to you.” you open the front door and slam it shut. you walk towards your car and begin to drive away to your parents house obviously.

yumi felt scared, after a long time of being fearless he felt fear. his eyes felt cold & he felt so misguided. was that not the best move? to bring that up now? better now than never he thought.

[sameschmidtdiffname]

And now, for some shit ain't nobody asked for... *drumroll please...*

Fanboy Futturman Headcanons That Hardly Make Sense Unless You're Deranged

(because it's fun)

Tags: just rawdog it bruh, idk what this is. I got fucken murmed.

Notes: Special thanks to @luverstream for going insane with me. This list is based off of our oddly specific thread. Love you pookers <3

                        °☆>》¤●¤《<☆°

• 100% started writing fanfiction for 'Biotic Wars' because there was only two works in the whole fandom and they were both illiterate/ooc

• It started as a challenge because he likes writing as a hobby so he made a random account on Tumblr and wrote a one-shot from Tigers POV just for shits and giggles

• He didn't expect literally anyone to read it, maybe a couple notes

• Then around his lunch break the next day his phone won't. Stop. Dinging.

• Long story short, he ends up with an account with like. 1.1k followers

• Once he realizes he has a serious reader base, he takes his blog seriously

• He spends a weird amount of time perfectly curating his blogs aesthetic with mods and whatever extentions he can find

• Personally commissions other fans for his fanfic borders, proper gifs, etc. He has one fanfic actually illustrated for Kinktober and it stays at the top of the 'Biotic War' tags for months

• Speaking of Kinktober, literally will not make plans for October/late September because he knows he's gonna aim to post everyday

• Will stay up for days writing when he gets hyperfixated

• Hates posting short fics. If the number doesn't end with a .k he doesn't post it until it does

• Also has a bunch of Easter eggs from his favorite movies and such in his works as well

• Knows an insane amount of copywrite laws because he's had to deal with people illegally selling his works/uploading them on other platforms

• When he eventually gets a partner he initially lies and says he wanted to become a lawyer when he was a kid, thus why he knows so much

• That works for about 12 minutes before he finally breaks down and tells them the truth, then offers to show them his work because he's told literally no one in his personal life about it

• His partner eventually becomes his editor and co-author on certain works (mainly smut)

• Half the time when he's actively working on smut he's gotta stop midway to "test the accuracy" w/ said partner

• Writes OUTRAGEOUS smut that makes him unable to look in the mirror while he's writing it

• Deadass hides under his blankets in total darkness with tape over his computers camera because of the shame

• Has a collection of proofreaders/consultants because his first smut included cervix penetration and he got dragged by basically everyone on Tumblr for it

• Had a work get popular enough one time one of his friends sent it to him because they figured he'd get a kick out of it

• Which made him panic and stop writing for like a month to lay low

• Has a completely different Spotify account for writing because his mom uses his "normal" account even though he has a family plan (side note: they make little playlists for each other :))

• Has like 50 different playlists dedicated to his fics that's available for his readers to listen to

• The artists all range from Deftones to dodie depending on the work

• His top artist is Ayesha Erotica with 2000+ minutes spent on 'Yummy'

• (Also has an impossible amount of hours logged on said Spotify account)

• Has a whole panic attack when he leaves his phone in the 60s because he had a whole new chapter ready to publish in his 20 part hurt/no comfort/slowburn fic that was over 10.k words in his notes app

• Wolf finds his Ao3 account one time and becomes... concerningly obsessed with Futturmans work without realizing Futturman is the author

• It gets to the point Wolf will legit go on 30+ minute rants about the stories while Futturman is just hyperventilating in the corner because he doesn't know how long he can keep up the facade

• It gets worse when Wolf makes an account and starts actually commenting on the works

• However he ends up getting impressive tips from the rants and ends up incorporating his suggestions into his works

• Wolf never stops bragging about this

• His most popular work/series follows a female oc that originally started as a one-shot request for a oc x Wolf fic (which Wolf hates because he says it's OoC. Futturman does not agree nor care.) But ended up getting popular enough there's well over 20 parts

• At some point he, Wolf and Tiger get into a massive argument because he finds a bound copy of all of his works amongst their supplies and no one will confess who's it is and keep blaming each other

• (It's Tigers)

• When he gets to his final timeline he manages to get his all of his drafts back through Susan (who had a lot of questions, and was given no answers) and just publishes his work as an original series since Biotic Wars no longer exists

• "Orginial series" gets insanely popular and now he has like five burner accounts so he can read fanfiction of his own fanfiction

• Writes fanfiction for his own series purposely to fuck with the fanbase

• Usually will make it ooc but well written, but once in awhile comes up with a "headcanon" that will come true in his next book so he can watch the readers implode

• And last but not least

• He casts his other self in the final timeline as the male lead in the eventual movie adaptation. Because of course he would

(Bonus: in the OG timeline when Futturman ends up disappearing, his biggest series ends up never being finished, nor his blog updated. Leading to a weirdly thorough four hour video docuseries made by Wendigoon about the rise and disappearance of the mysterious author and how the 'Biotic Wars' fandom eventually finished the fic themselves and created their own spinoffs, leading the work to get more popular than 'Biotic Wars' ever was and like five different people falsely claiming they wrote it, only to be disproven within an insanely short amount of time. Yeah, kinda a full on My Immortal.)

                           >¤》○《¤<

Don't ask me what this was, I think I got possessed. Anyways, bon achoo sweet.

Taglist:

@cassiecasluciluce @gh0u1ishly @joshhutchersons-slut @schmidtsbimbo @sugarevans @wompwompwomp57 . Thank you for your support pookies!!! <3

               •▪︎Masterlist▪︎•

[gyuluttony]

hello i love your fics and neeeeeed!! more yeonjun wg in the world; maybe a freshman 15 (or more ;) ) wg? where yeonjun takes a break from dance classes for a semester or the summer and doesn’t focus on his diet, does even notice anything has changed until his pants are weirdly getting tighter and tighter, maybe eventually he goes back to dance classes kilos heavier and is surprised when he can feel.. his belly? jiggling? that he’s never felt before.. and everyone is noticing their ace has gained some weight

i've been cooking this one quietly because i always love to write yeonjun gaining,,, when he's been my number one ult for like three years. that's usually why i throw him down the gain train for all the txt fics SDFJSDF

so i've been excited for this request and i hope you enjoy it hehe (i'm also lowkey yeonbin trash so don't be surprised if they're the only pair i write for him sDFJSDF)

also an apology because holy shit i kind of go off on a tangent before filling this request properly SDFJSDF

Honeymoon Weight

This is a feederism fic and features weight gain, breaking of clothes, unintentional weight gain, and smut. Don't like, don't read.

It was pretty commonplace to receive flowers following a dance recital. When someone had worked their way to the top of the dance team and become the de facto leader as well as ace, most of the flowers were praises for a semester of hard work and just people who had fell for the way that he performed on stage.

His solo on stage had taken the more sensual route so flowers were expected... but what he didn't expect was a single extravagant bouquet from one person. One man who looked like his face was about to explode in flames.

Although, he was fairly certain that he didn't look all that different, covering his face with his hand as he looked away shyly.

"Oh my god, Soobin hyung actually did it." Yeonjun looked at Kai rather flustered who awkwardly started whistling and looking anywhere but their little scene. He could feel the dance team behind him, giggling about it.

"I don't think I've seen Yeonjun oppa that red and we've had some pretty intensive practices this semester."

"Oh, is that the hyung that always comes to pick him up after rehearsals? I thought they were dating."

"Finally. Do you know how long that Yeonjun hyung-" Yeonjun's head turned back to shoot a glare at Beomgyu specifically who put his hands up defensively, an indicator he'd stop talking as he smiled. The little brat seemed to enjoy pointing at Soobin.

Which was fair. Yeonjun hadn't said anything as he looked at the taller man.

"Ah, Soobinnie... thank you so much. I thought you weren't..." They had discussed it earlier. Soobin said he might miss the recital because he had an exam to study for and it was one of the many traits that he loved about the younger man. Even if he was disappointed, he would miss the performance.

He had been so invested he didn't see Soobin enter midway through the performance and he probably would have stumbled on stage seeing that large of a bouquet.

"Hyung, I wouldn't miss it for the world." The coos from behind him were ignored as he felt his face flush a little deeper, "I really like watching you dance... but I also just like you in general."

Yeonjun laughed, the smile splitting his face as he covered it with his hands, "Ah, wait a minute. You can't just ambush me with that after this long." Although, the hands that snaked around his waist and feeling the bump of Soobin's belly pressing against his thin waist made him feel weak.

"I'm serious, hyung. I like you." Yeonjun looked at him in the eyes, seeing the serious intent as his mouth opened, slightly agape before he cupped his cheek with the now free hand and pulled him into a tender kiss.

The choice to ignoring the hollering behind him was strong until Beomgyu told them to get a room and then he was ambushed by the new happy couple.

-

For the first time in his four years at college, he never really took the summer off for the dance team. But, there was a lot of work to be done. Mostly rearranging his apartment with Soobin. Considering the two of them lived together prior to becoming a couple, they wanted to organize it to suit them better now that they were a couple.

Originally, Yeonjun planned to manage both but the conversation was pretty present on his memory. "Hyung~" The sound of Soobin whining filled their space as Yeonjun washed the dishes from their meal. "You can trust your team to be fine while you rearrange everything..."

Drying his hands, the older man walked over, sliding rather naturally onto Soobin's lap, the plush thighs providing a comfy space as his hands cupped his lover's soft cheeks as he was pouting at Yeonjun. A small kiss to him as he looked rather pleased, "Do you want me to take a break that badly? This is going to be my last summer with them... and we're going to have a lot of summers together in the future."

He enjoyed seeing the way that Soobin smiled at the comment before he added, "Well... you're right about both of those but no one is stopping you from helping them after you graduate. But, we only get one first summer together..." Soobin grew a little more shy as he added, his hands resting on Yeonjun's hips, "And... I might have wanted to take you with me when my family goes on a cruise."

Yeonjun's eyes widened. It's not like Soobin's parents didn't know and love him but the family cruise that they went on every year? He usually missed his best friend significantly during that time. "Binnie, are you sure? I know you miss me but I don't want to intrude-"

Soobin looked awkwardly, "They're inviting you... It's not like they didn't know I had a crush on you and they're happy that they can finally get the family of four discount." A laugh come from Yeonjun before he hugged him tighter, hands sinking in a little closer to Soobin's soft body as he felt his lover's hands move to his perky behind.

It'd be a first in terms of not leading his dance team through the summer but Beomgyu should get the hang of it since he was the prospect as the next captain.

The team was rather sad to hear he wasn't going to be helping them for the summer showcase but he promised that he would be there since it was right before classes began again. Beomgyu in particular looked rather excited, "Don't worry, hyung. We're going to do a number that will have you jealous you didn't participate!" The smile from the elder as he ruffled his hair roughly was only widened as cried out for help.

-

Yeonjun lounged around their apartment on the couch as he examined. It didn't take all that long to move everything into place and most of the time that he wasn't at work, he was wondering if he could have just attended the dance practices as usual.

But at the same time, Soobin seemed to have some date planned. He hadn't really pegged the young man as a romantic, but considering they did something almost everyday from the other man's plan, it was hard not to fall deeper in love with him.

The restaurant they first ate out at when Soobin started to attend the same university as him, at home dates where he'd get all of their favourite dishes to share, other date activities like laser tag, mini golf, or just movie nights. They spent a lot more time together considering Yeonjun wasn't spending lots of time in the dance studio these days.

As he walked to Soobin's room, he watched the younger man game before he moved into the space of his chair rather naturally, sitting on his lap. Any creak from the chair was flushed out by the noise of surprise that came from his lover as he smiled. "Was I taking too long? The game is almost done."

Yeonjun shook his head, "I just wanted to sit here." Settling on his thighs, his hands squeezed him teasingly as Soobin sighed into his ear. He saw the mute button pressed in the corner of his monitor as he slid down again, a small whine coming from his boyfriend before he knelt in front of him. "Are you going to stay muted? Don't you have to do call outs or something?" He was getting more familiar with the terms but the kiss on the bulge of his shorts made him twitch as Yeonjun smiled at him.

Soobin looked rather conflicted as he unmuted, sensing the sort of vibe from his boyfriend and began to say some things about what the other team might be doing as he slid down his shorts, the length sort of popping out as Yeonjun glanced at it. Had he gotten smaller? He touched his crotch as Soobin whimpered before apologizing to his friends. It felt softer than it had before. Maybe he'd gotten bigger.

His boyfriend was a victim of the freshman 15 and it was only expedited with how he shamelessly asked his boyfriend for meals during his first year. And Yeonjun was happy to spoil him but he didn't expect him to get bigger. His stomach was already pretty comfortably on his lap but it's not that he didn't mind it. Quite the opposite really. The feeling of his boyfriend's heavier body pressing him into the mattress was one of the highlights of their sex life and he told him in earnest that he didn't need to hold back because he wanted that sort of feeling of being pressed down.

So, knowing he was getting bigger? Yeonjun felt himself twitch in his pants before taking his whole length in his throat. Bobbing back and forth while Soobin tried to talk through it was one of his favourite hobbies when it came to spoiling him. Sinking his hands into plush thighs, he made sure that his lover couldn't move back while he struggled to play.

"Ah, I died!" Soobin seemed to exclaim as Yeonjun smiled before continuing to suck him off, the complaint no longer valid when Soobin knocked his head back, biting his fist to stop from moaning as he struggled to mute himself as he looked at his hyung who continued to service him without a second thought. "Hyung~" The whine was complaining but his gaze was thankful for the act, "That was an important game~"

Yeonjun moved back with a pop, enjoying seeing how his boyfriend shuddered at the sight, "Should I stop then?" Soobin looked at the screen hesitantly while Yeonjun smirked, feeling one hand move to his locks as he moved him closer to his dick again, "N-no. I can do both... please keep going."

He watched Soobin unmute, a little excited with how he seemed to be confident in himself as he moved his hips forward a little, grinding in his spot while Soobin moved forward, the gut hitting his forehead as Yeonjun moaned a bit around his length. Soobin's tone with his friends sounded more out of breath while he continued to suck.

Before long, the game finished as Soobin hurriedly left the call and placed his hands on Yeonjun's face, stroking his cheek. "Hyung, I'm gonna-" It didn't take much longer before he felt his mouth filled as he swallowed it, taking the load perfectly even with the short warning.

They were rather comfortable in their domestic bliss and after Yeonjun brushed his teeth, he asked, "Where did you want to go for dinner today?"

-

Yeonjun collapsed on the bed in a heap as he groaned. He hadn't known that most of the time on cruises, the most that you could do was eat. He wasn't sure if he was looking too hard at him after those cruises before, but now he was sure of it. Soobin usually did get heavier after those sorts of things and it was already showing at how he sort of waddled back to their shared room, almost amused at the state that Yeonjun was in.

"I told you they were good, weren't they?" He looked at his boyfriend's gut which was starting to hang out of the bottom of his shirt. It was hard not to drool but his own stomach didn't seem eager to do anything right now as he sank into the bed.

"Too good. Oh my god, I don't think I can move today." The bed creaked and groaned as Soobin lied down next to him, his gut pressing into his boyfriend before he felt the chubby hands rubbing his stomach as he groaned in relief at the pressure. "Don't stop, Soobinnie. Your hands are like magic..."

A giggle came from his boyfriend as he continued to massage Yeonjun. "Would now be a bad time to tell you that they change their special everyday?" He laughed rather hard seeing his boyfriend snap his head at him.

"We have to go then." The cruise was a month long which meant that he had time to try different things. And that restaurant by far was his favourite.

Soobin's fingers combed through his hair adoringly, "There's still the dessert bar we haven't tried either." He patted Yeonjun's stomach who groaned before he started massaging again.

"If you keep working your hands like that, we can go in an hour or two. It's all-night service, isn't it?"

-

As the cruise made a stop over, Yeonjun was struggling. He had an outfit ready for when they docked but as it turned out, maybe there had been a flaw with the laundry that they were doing because it almost felt like everything was struggling to fit on him.

He felt Soobin come from behind him and press into him. His stomach on his back as Yeonjun looked at him. "I think they messed up my laundry." It invited his boyfriend admiring his figure before he smiled.

"If you're fine with a baggier look, you can just borrow my clothes." It worked out well since Soobin adopted his style since they started living together, so it's not like it was out of his taste anyways. He dressed baggy most of the time anyways, so this was rather comfortable. Plus smelling his boyfriend on the clothes definitely added to his enjoyment of the fact.

"Ah, you're the best, babe. I'll show my thanks later." Yeonjun winked as his boyfriend flushed as if they hadn't done worse at this point.

Although, following this dock, the trend was that Yeonjun just started wearing Soobin's clothes. They both enjoyed how he looked wearing Soobin's clothes and it made them more excited when they got back to the privacy of their room with the way Soobin always seemed to pounce on him. He wasn't ever as lethargic after eating all day like he was on the first week so they were able to do a lot more.

The last night of the cruise specifically stood out. Getting their fill completely and when they made their way back to the room, it was hard to stay off of each other. Yeonjun wearing a button up that completely drowned him since Soobin was a lot bigger than he was as they fell onto the bed.

"Wait, Soobinnie, let me..." He was quieted with a kiss as Soobin stripped, the stretchmarks on his belly an angry red as Yeonjun admired his boyfriend's large figure.

"No, hyung. Let me tonight. You had a lot so I can do more." A chill ran down his spine while he felt Soobin prepare himself, sitting down heavily on Yeonjun's thighs, suffocating in the bed as he guided Soobin closer to kiss him while the sound of him stretching himself out with lube filled the room's sounds.

Despite his boyfriend's own gluttony, he was a lot more mobile compared to Yeonjun who leaned on him while they were leaving the buffet and it showed with how well he rode, almost mirroring the way that Yeonjun was able to do it to him. Grabbing thickened thighs, Yeonjun's head rocked back while his boyfriend's body jiggled with each small movement.

An end to their first summer together with an explosive finish. Yeonjun definitely would have to stick around for the cruise next year.

-

True to his word, the number that Beomgyu organized had him itching to go back into the dance studio and Soobin patted him on the hip as he dropped him off, waving before heading to his classes for the day.

"Welcome back, hyung!" The members of the team seemed rather eager for him to settle, even bringing a cake that they happily snacked on before they began their practice.

Beomgyu in particualr was eyeing him a lot but he didn't really pay it any mind when they began stretching. Simple warm ups to make sure they were ready to dance but the room felt slightly colder as he looked at the rest of his teammates.

Oddly enough, they all sort of avoided eye contact when he looked at them before they switched positions. Halfway through, Yeonjun was a little more aware of the way he felt out of breath. Most of the time, he could lead warm ups just fine so he wasn't sure what was happening today.

While they learned the choreo, the cold feeling never really left before Beomgyu awkwardly scooted closer to him as he whispered, "Uh, hyung. your belly is sort of peeking under your tank top." The words sort of splashed over him like cold water.

He hadn't really ever heard that word directed to him. He knew Soobin was bigger and his gut was something that he'd call a belly but in his mind, he wasn't that size so he had always had an abdomen... until he looked at himself now.

That trim middle that he had when he first got together with his boyfriend was nowhere in sight. Completely exploded with fat, Yeonjun was now suddenly aware of the way the mass jiggled when he tucked it into his tight pants. It seemed that just about every part of him was hit with this sort of weight gain.

The rest of the practice was distracting. Constantly needing to tuck in his mass into his clothes that he was spilling out of. The glances that were following his every jiggle and just how much he'd let go in that honeymoon phase with Soobin.

If Soobin had gained the freshman fifteen and then some, Yeonjun was almost certain he did most of that gain in a fraction of the time. The stretchmarks he had seen in the mirror looked horribly angry in comparison to the ones that he saw while Soobin rode him.

Some of the dancers definitely found it distracting and Beomgyu even squeezed his chest playfully, saying Soobin must have been having a lot of fun before he swatted him away. That made him wonder if Soobin had known about it this whole time... it's not like it made him unattractive because it was just weight but was he enjoying the way Yeonjun was completely unaware of it?

He'd have to put it to the test.

-

It was a little funny to act innocent of it now when they reached the weekend.

He was eating a lot less compared to the summer but Soobin basically made sure to keep him well fed throughout their dinners to make up for it... basically confirming with Yeonjun that he enjoyed the extra padding.

The touches that he didn't really notice before like Soobin fondling his own gut and shaking it, squeezing his plumpened ass and thighs. He was actually pretty bad at making it subtle but it's not like it'd be a secret after tonight.

Wearing old clothes was a choice considering nothing fit anymore and Yeonjun regularly stole Soobin's clothes which were starting to fit comfortably instead of oversized. But, the button ups that had no business being on his frame were what would get Soobin's attention.

They had gone back to their favourite restaurant and the mood seemed to shift as Yeonjun put Soobin's hands on the space between the buttons. "Soobinnie, I think I broke my shirt..." His boyfriend seemed to short circuit, trying to stammer out a response before Yeonjun added, "If you order another plate, I might even break my pants..."

He moved Soobin's hands down the swell of his gut with a smile, feeling the taut button as he watched him exhale shakily before looking at him with hungry eyes.

This was definitely a new layer to their relationship but given how he was getting excited by showing off his own gluttony to his boyfriend, he'd probably just need to adjust the routine. Only Soobin would get the luxury of seeing how he'd jiggle from overexerting himself.

And with the way he ordered two plates of food after he already broke his shirt, this was going to be something he'd need to get used to.

[naomi-nana]

── REGRETS🎐SHIKANOIN HEIZOU ༉‧₊˚✧ .

SUMMARY . you liked your best friend, you've always wanted to tell him that. but maybe you're too late now.

warning : unrequited love, angst, lowercase intended. might be ooc

a/n: i love writing angst for heizou- it's inspired by an indonesia song i liked! Sampai Jadi Debu by Banda Neira. the last line of this fic is one of the lyrics <33

"hey, what's with that face?" you almost fell off your chair when your friend, heizou, suddenly comes up to your seat with no warning. you send him a glare jokingly.

"it's nothing. i just felt..left out. that's all." you muttered the last part as you don't want him to worry too much. he sat beside you and hummed as a respond, encouraging you to continue. "i mean..you know."

"..no one wants to talk to me." you answered hesitantly. he sighed as a respond and lean back to his chair. "huh. I guess i'm non-existent then.." he said, you stifle a laugh to yourself as you look at his face.

his pretty, handsome face. he is your first friend in middle school and you guys have been together ever since. even going to the same high school. you've taken a liking to him in your first year of high school, and you still do. but you can't bring yourself to say it. you want to wait for the right moment.

"i know. but, what if we go to different college..or..you know, stop talking suddenly?" you looked down and tried to hold back your tears, thinking about how one day he could've just left you alone.

he breathe out a laugh. "heh, are you kidding me? of course not." he sit straight up and pulled you close to him. really close. "we're going to stay together, obviously." he leans down at you and smiled.

"i will be staying over here with you." he whispered. you smiled warmly to yourself and leans on his shoulder. "yeah..and i'll stay here with you." you muttered to yourself quietly. you feel really calm at this moment, sitting together with the man you love.

whispering things to each other as if it's only the two of you there, everyone is just a mere background character to you. you hoped that you're able to stay like this. With him, forever.

always.

though, i guess there is a reason why people always told you to not get your hopes up. "hey, guess what!" heizou surprised you from behind with a wide smile on his face.

"woah..never seen you this excited before." you let him sit beside you and you put down your phone, "what's up?" heizou pulled something from his pocket and showed it to you. it's a letter.

"i got a love letter." He smirked, waving the letter on your face. you breathe out a laugh as you wondered who would have sent him a love letter. Well, maybe you would. but other than you, who will?

"nah, really?" You took the letter from his hand with a smile on your face, ready to laugh at whatever cringe letter someone just send to your best friend. "yeah. it's from someone i like."

you stopped opening the letter halfway and looked at him with a questioning look. "what..you liked someone?" you asked hesitantly. he nodded at your surprised face, his smile widening.

you froze midway and didn't try opening the letter. there's no way. he actually liked someone? but you didn't know anything about it. aren't best friends supposed to tell the others about stuff like this? does he not consider you a friend anymore? does he have a new someone to talk to now?

"hey what's the matter? stop looking at the letter like that and start opening it!" you snapped back to reality and opened the letter slowly. surely he is just joking with you, right? he said it himself. he will stay with you forever, no?

reading the letter and each word carefully, you almost cried on the spot. but you held back. because you don't want him to think that you are a possessive freak. "wow. i didn't..expect that." he smiled at your respond and snatched the letter back. "congratulations.."

"thanks! i will talk to her about this. wish me luck." he exclaimed as he left the bench both of you are sitting on earlier. as for you, you are still sitting there by yourself. a feeling of getting betrayed, sad, angry, regret. all mixed up into one.

betrayed as a friend, sad as someone who liked him, angry at him for not telling you sooner about the girl he liked, and regret. regret for not confessing sooner. "honestly..why should i get mad at him anyway? It's my fault." you said to yourself.

you leaned your head back on the bench and sighed. 'i'm going to stay together with you'. your tears started to drop slowly, closing your eyes as you try to forget about him. about his laugh. his smile. his voice. and think of him only as a friend.

"yeah..and i'll stay here, by myself." you muttered to yourself quietly as you looked over to the distance, seeing him with another girl.

naomi-nana 2023. all likes, comments & reblogs are appreciated!

[purgeprincesskore]

Heys guys what's up! Here is my submission for the Varadeva love day event. This is my first time writing a fanfic AU. I hope you guys will love it as much as I do. Enjoy!!

"Harana"

Varadeva AU College Fic

Deva is not really much of a romantic guy. In fact he's not the kind of guy to fall easily with words of affection that comes from most of his classmates who admires him. It's not his fault that he's THE GUY that almost everyone else falls for. Being the captain of the football team and vice president of their university student council. It's the day before Valentines after all that is why he is already been receiving letters with chocolates that invites him to be their date for the Sweethearts Dance tomorrow night. It's all flattering really and he does not want to reject each person that gives him the letters. He just accepts it and decides to give the chocolates to his mother when he comes home later.

"Deva wait up!!" Aadhya calls behind him as he makes his way into their next class.

"Have you gotten any letters yet for the dance tomorrow?" Aadhya teases him while they walk side by side. He then shows her the inside of his bag containing the said letters given to him early in the morning.

"Oh wow. So have you picked anyone yet? To be your date for the dance tomorrow?" Aadhya continues.

He shakes his head. "No not yet." The person he wants to be with tomorrow does not even know that he loves him. His bestfriend since they were kids. And also the president of the student council. Varadharaja Manaar. He does not voice this out to Aadhya afraid of being criticized by her. Or maybe there's a possibility that Aadhya can help him confess his feelings to Vara. He hesitates. Stops midway to the room. Just as he was about to call for Aadhya who's already at the door of the room comes Varadha the opposite way towards him. He stops in his tracks to take in the image of Vara before him wearing blue shirt with a few buttons popped opened revealing his chest hair. Deva's mesmerized by this man who has no idea that his bestfriend is inlove with him for years now.

"Hey Deva! Got any plans yet for the dance tomorrow?" Vara asks him pulling him out of trance. Vara walks over to him wrapping an arm around his shoulders

"No not yet. I haven't asked anyone yet to be my date for tomorrow. Though I may have receive a few letters asking me to be their date" Deva then showed his bag full of letters. He is a bit nervous now cause of the way he is staring at Vara a while ago and he hopes Vara does not notice it.

"Huh. You think you're the only one with those letters?" Vara then shows Deva his bag which to his suprise is also full of letters. He almost forgot that he is not the only famous one here at the university. His Varadha also attracts lots of women in their university. Wait did he just called Varadha "his"? He really is in a lot of trouble now. He needs to confess his feelings or else it might be too late for him. But he is scared that it will be the end of their friendship. He can take the rejection but the friendship that they build all these years he does not think he can bear the pain that will come if ever their friendship falls apart because of what he will confess to him.

" Are you ok Deva? You don't seem too well now. I'm sorry if I offended you by showing these letters. It's nothing really. I haven't ask anyone yet" Varadha apologizes thinking it was his fault that Deva feels anxious now thinking of the possible outcomes when he confesses to Varadha.

"No I'm fine. Just feeling a little bit sick that's all. Just a headache"

"Hey you two class is about to start get inside the room now come on" Aadhya calls them by the door.

The whole day passes by quickly without Deva even noticing it. He still plans to confess to Varadha tomorrow and has no idea how to do it. It will be a perfect time since it's Valentines day tomorrow. He searches for Aadhya along the corridor to ask for help since they been close friends for a few years now.

Aadhya emerges from the corridor from the west side of the building.

"Hey Deva! I need your help with something. Come with me" Aadhya starts to drag him by his arm through the corridor that leads to the student council room. The doors are close and there seems to be someone else inside strumming a guitar.

"Do we have a meeting I didn't know about? Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Aadhya is also a a part of the student council. She's the treasurer. Aadhya does not respond to him but instead opens the door. His heart has started to beat real fast when he recognizes the person sitting on a stool with a guitar on his lap. Varadha. He smiles at him while scratching the back of his head also looking nervous as he is. The door closed and they were now the only ones in the room. That is when he noticed the sign behind Varadha. Written in a white banner with red font are the words, "WILL YOU BE MY VALENTINE?" He is now confused and he does not want to get his hopes up about Varadha's feelings for him.

"What is this Vara?" He finally had the courage to speak first after the silence that passed between them

"Uhmm I figured since you already got letters and chocolates I thought I'd do something different to tell you how I feel about you"

He is not able to say anything. Varadha takes that as a cue to start strumming the guitar to a familiar tune he seems to remember vaguely in his memories. And now Varadha started to sing.

"You're the one that never lets me sleep

To my mind, down to my soul, you touch my lips

You're the one that I can't wait to see

With you here by my side, I'm in ecstasy

I am all alone without you

My days are dark without a glimpse of you

Now that you came into my life, I feel complete

The flowers bloom, my morning shines, and I can see

Your love is like the sun that lights up my whole world

I feel the warmth inside

Your love is like the river that flows down through my veins

I feel the chill inside

Every time I hear our music play

Reminds me of the things we've been through

In my mind, I can't believe it's true

But in my heart, the reality is you"

Varadha singing the song with full of emotions while looking at him. Then it clicked in Deva's mind that this is the favorite song of Varadha he never really knew why but he understands now. The happiness in his heart is unexplainable now the he knows that Varadha feels the same way for him. He waits for Varadha to finish the song. He always loved his beautiful voice ever since their highschool days.

"I guess this the part where I ask will you---

He does not let Varadha finish as he cups his face and kissed him on the lips. Soft and smooth just like he had imagined. Varadha was taken by surprise of his actions but kisses him back after a few seconds. Varadha can't seem to get enough of him as he deepened the kiss. They stopped kissing just to catch their breaths and he leaned in to put his forehead on Varadha's. Both of them panting and grinning like fools.

"I take it you feel the same way about me?" Varadha grins while looking up at him

"Yes. I do. I guess I'm just too scared to confess my feelings for you because of the fear of being rejected"

"I guess were both fools then. And we have Aadhya to thank for making me confess my feelings to you"

"Which reminds me I have something to give you" Deva reaches out for his pocket to reveal a locket necklace and gives it to Varadha who opens it to reveal their pictures inside.

"Let me" Deva takes the necklace from Varadha and puts it on him. Deva did not fight the urge as he kissed Varadha on the neck then continued to hold his jaw to make Varadha face him as kissed him again.

"So where did you get this idea?" Deva ask after a while

"I had a classmate wayback freshmen year. She is an English major. She said that in their culture when you want to court someone or to simply confess your feelings to them you sing them a song that conveys your feelings for that person. They call it "Harana" in their native language"

"Well I really am glad that you did this for me" Deva can't stop smiling.

"Only for you my Deva" Varadha kissed his nose making his heart flutter with happiness

"I love you my Varadha" Deva can't stop himself from kissing the love of his life.

"You'll be my date tomorrow for the dance. Got it?" Varadha demanded as he pulled away from the kiss.

"I have no other choice now do I?" Deva chuckles as he teased Varadha who kissess him to shut him up.

[jasmine-the-fox]

A second chance to be happy

So, this VERY long fic was requested by Stormfalcon2018. I do know that this one had tired me enough that I will be taking a break before writing more requests but that doesn’t mean that I am done just yet.

So please enjoy!

If you would ask Marinette Dupain-Cheng about the worst time in her life. She would have talked about when Lila Rossi entered her life with her lies… causing her classmates to bully her and accuse her of things that weren’t true at all.

But now… now she would talk about how Adrien Agreste, her best and only friend, her protector, her partner, her kitty was killed by Lila Rossi all for the ladybug and black cat miraculous…

That day happened so fast, one minute she was outside waiting to meet with Adrien and the next… Lila had somehow gotten a hold of Hawkmoth and Mayura’s miraculous and unified them to become Farvona (which is Farfalla ‘butterfly’ and Pavona ‘peacock’ mixed together) … Mari has wondered at first how Lila got them… but she gave up at one point to find out how she got them when they were civilians. Her skin had gone from tanned to a shade of purple that wouldn’t be noticed if you didn’t look close enough.

Her hair was a mix of blue fading to purple in her usual style but while looking slightly tangled, her outfit was a dress with the style of a peacock at the end of the dress while at the waist and chest it had a butterfly design. The skirt was a dark purple with the blue peacock design while the top was dark blue with the purple butterfly design, for her footwear… it was a mix. She had a blue boot with purple butterflies on one foot and on the other was a purple heal with peacock style stocking.

The gloves were also weird… reaching midway to her shoulders, going from blue to purple at her hands. On her wrists were blue butterflies with peacock feather at the top. Her mask was weird too. One half was a butterfly with her eye being purple and the other half was peacock style with her eye being like Mayura’s… but the scariest part were the black veins where you can see her skin.

She also looked deranged… while also coughing at times… which meant the peacock miraculous was still damaged… but Lila didn’t care…

Cat Noir had gotten on the scene first, she demanded his miraculous but he refused and began fighting her to keep her distracted until Ladybug arrived. When she did… Lila was screaming nonsense about ‘how life wasn’t fair’ and how ‘Marinette ruined everything by not following her’ with many other things… but it was clear that something was wrong with her right now.

They begin to fight her together though; cataclysm was used on the fan and lucky charm destroyed the staff… but Lila didn’t stop attacking them “I need your miraculous! With it I can wish that Maribrat was never born!” she screamed as she grabbed a piece of her broken staff… and stabbed Cat Noir with it.

Marinette wasn’t scared since she knew he would come back to her… but after using her miraculous ladybug… her was still bleeding for some unknown reason…

It was then that he detransformed to Adrien. With the last of his strength, he gave her his ring “Make the wish… destroy the miraculous before she can make her wish my lady” he gasped out… but his life ended. She began to cry as Lila screamed about needing to wish him back to life now which scared her since it would mean her life will be lost so Lila can have what she wants… so quickly she works to reveal Gimmi the kwami of reality.

They asked Marinette for her wish “I wish for the miraculous… to be destroyed… so that no one can use them for evil and hurt other” she said which surprised Gimmi “You do know that by destroying them… there powers will search for a source to reside into… are you ready for that to happen?” they asked and she nodded as Lila slammed herself on the barrier that stopped her from trying anything.

“I am… I know they will return one day but even if for just a moment we can relax before someone finds them… that is fine with me… I only hope that they are found by someone with a good heart” she explained… she didn’t notice though the way the kwami of reality was watching her. Gimmi nodded and granted Mari her wish… next thing she knew, Marinette was blinded for a moment and then she found her earrings and the ring gone from her.

Lila screamed making her turn to her looking even more deranged “THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT MARINETTE DUPAIN-CHENG!!” she screamed and moved to charge at her but Mari quickly moved to get back home. She ran until she entered her home where her parents were packing what they could from her room together.

The second her mom saw her… she ran over “You need to leave. If you don’t everyone will hunt you down for answers on what happened and you need to go now” she said making her nod as Tom gave her a few bags they were able to prepare her “Once your somewhere far and safe… send us a letter under a fake name with your address and will send you the rest of your things… but don’t come back” he said making Mari cry as they made her leave from the back… which was a good idea since when she got a few blocks away she heard screaming.

Panicked that they will find her she thought about where she could go that was far… next thing she knew she was in Japan… which confused her deeply “How did I get here?” she asked herself as she moved to get somewhere away from the public eye while trying to figure out an answer.

And then… she saw herself in a reflection…

On her body were the symbol of each miraculous almost like she got tattoo’s, her eyes were a brighter blue, she had pointed ears and her hair… it had grown long like when she becomes Pegabug but it waved as if there was a breeze where there wasn’t one in the first place. She was shocked to see them on her in the end… but she was happy since now no one could use these powers for evil purposes. For the next few months, she learned more about what she could do.

While she is faster, stronger and flexible… when she would use one of the powers the symbol will glow and her eyes will change to the color and symbol of the power, she was using… using two gives her a headache once done but now she understood what she could do. It was sad to not have the kwami’s by her side to talk to them but now no one would harm them… at first, she was worried about the peacock since it had been damaged… but when she used it nothing ended up happening to her which made her think that since it didn’t have a physical form now it was now no longer deemed damaged.

Which was good… she could use these powers to help her survive now… and then she got caught…

It happened at night. She was out to try and earn a little bit of money to eat something without needing to steal… she never wanted to steal but she no longer had a choice… which is when she tried to pick pocket Eraserhead… and failed. Shota was patrolling the area because of her; she had been described and Nezu asked him to bring her to him “I wish to meet her and learn more about her” he said and so Shota was here… and he caught her.

Marinette was terrified… which is why she used Venom on him to escape… but due to her still training herself since she understood she had used Voyage to get to Japan… it wore off once she was about a block away. As a result, Shota caught her quickly enough and brought her to UA to meet Nezu “He won’t hurt you and I won’t take you to the police if you come with me” he had said and here she was now.

They got to Nezu’s office where he sat at his desk with a smile towards Marinette “Hello there. I am Nezu, the principal of this school” he said as Mari sat down, she nodded towards him “I’m Marinette Dupain-Cheng” she said making him nod. For a while they went back and forth with questions and answers but there was one thing that Nezu kept reminding Marinette… she was safe here, no one was going to hurt her here, they only want to help and understand her while working with her to better control her quirk.

As a result… she told him and Shota everything. The miraculous, the wish, Hawkmoth, her partner, Lila Rossi, the bullying, Adrien’s death, her wish, her escape and her new look “I have been studying about my powers… well quirk as you put it. I understand somethings about it but I’m still learning” she explained making Nezu nod while Shota kept quiet.

“I do believe that living here as a student will be safer for you right now. The teachers here are pro hero’s while a number of students are working to become pro heroes after graduation… as a result you will be safe from anyone who could know you and try to do you harm” Nezu explained making her nod “I think my class will be the safest. They have been training since the League has targeted them so they are ready for anything” Shota spoke which startled Mari since she thought he had left at one point.

As a result things were done for her… she got an entire floor to herself where she could keep everyone safe if she lost control all of a sudden while also able to do her designs, her uniform was made with a different fabric since Mari now had sensitive skin… but at the end of the day she was safe from danger and was going to become a student once more… which is why she was nervous when she saw a boy with curly green hair and green eyes that reminded her of Adrien.

She wasn’t ready to think about her precious kitty that she lost by Lila’s hands… now yet… for now she wanted to heal and focus on school…

“Everyone… this is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She is a new students approved by Nezu to be part of our class to help her train with her new quirk that she is still learning to use… you are to respect her and help her when she asks or accepts your offer” Shota explained making them all nod, due to not having an available desk for now she was to sit by Shota.

He then had them go outside to train… sadly the workout clothes were not possible to be redone so instead Mari made her own clothes to train in… they were red in the shade of Tikki with black lines. Of course, because she was still learning things… she wasn’t to train “For now Marinette will be observing. Once she is deemed ready, she will join you all” Shota explained making them all agree… except for Minoru Mineta.

And everyone learned at that moment… to not call her ‘princess’ ever…

“Sure, thing princess… enjoy your tea party while we actually put an effort to become hero’s” he said… and that caused a trigger in Marinette… she remembered all of the times that Adrien as Cat Noir called her princess… and the way Minoru said it towards… angered her as it was tainting her memories of her partner. Next thing everyone knew, Marinette walked up to Minoru, activated Clout to throw Minoru while doing a suplex on him.

After Minoru was found and brought back… he was expelled “I have had enough of you” he simply said before walking away to find Mari… who had curled up into a ball on her bed in her room. He knew about what she went through in Paris… but all of that over a name? He needed to understand “What happened?” he asked her softly “My partner… he would call me that if I wasn’t transformed but he was… hearing Mineta say it in such a mocking tone… it destroyed the name for me” she explained making him nod.

“Take some time to rest and come back when your better” he said and then he left her room. She comes back an hour later, the class looked at her with worry but she ignored it as she took Minoru’s seat. Classes went on that day with no one bringing up the incident… she did get stopped by a few girls who wanted to thank her for getting Minoru expelled… turns out he’s a pervert who bothered many of the girls at the school and now they could relax.

Mari felt like she did something good and began to relax a bit. In the following days, Marinette slowly began to make friends in and out of her class. It made her happy… but she kept her distance of Izuku Midoriya… who reminded her too much of Adrien, he was so much like him and as a result she couldn’t be near him. This of course was noticed by Izuku… but instead of asking her about it, he decided to give her some time and space to adjust and come to him when she’s ready to talk.

On the other hand… she had no choice but to work with Katsuki Bakugo. While she is smart in class and her hand-to-hand combat was great… she needed help with her ‘quirk’ so Katsuki was assigned to help her master it. Of course, the guy was angry and screamed about having better things to do… but always waited for her in the training area and helped her learn more about what she could do.

He works hard also in making her a day-to-day routine and her diet to keep her in shape which really surprised her… but she followed it to the letter. But… overtime she began to notice that she developed feelings for him… but since she uncovered who he is… she decided to swallow down her feelings for him instead of telling Katsuki. Then one day, as she was waiting to train with Katsuki… she finds a little girl with silver hair and red eyes, her name was Eri and the two began to play together until Shota arrived.

While Eri was distracted with something she went to see Shota “If anything were to happen to Eri… I will hunt down every single villain in Japan and punch them… then hunt Minoru to punch him twice” Shota had to hold in his desire to laugh at what she said… but deep down he hopes it never happens. A while later, Katsuki arrives to get Mari in her usual training. As they leave, Shota begins to wonder when the two will start dating.

Things are going great… until Katsuki needs to talk to Mari. He went to her floor to review how her training is going, but she wasn’t there when he arrived so he walked around as he waited for her… and then he found her open diary. He saw it was open to her latest entry with a sketchbook right next to it. He decided to take a look and discovered hero suit designs for a good portion of the class… they were amazing as he saw noted about little details she made to help them.

He then turned to the diary… and went to read it… which he shouldn’t have done… since inside… was everything she felt about Katsuki… and how Izuku reminded her so much of her first crush…

Realizing he saw too much… he put everything back like it was and then left her room. Once back in his room he texted her to let her know he went and knocked on her door but she didn’t answer. She informed him that she was out with a few friends but would be back soon… this gave him time to look into this Adrien guy… and he uncovered more stuff about Marinette and her life in Paris.

Some stuff made sense to him… but other things sounded fake and decided to ask her side of the story when she was ready to talk about it. He also found a blog by a girl named Alya Cesaire who was begging Marinette to come back to Paris… but she wasn’t explaining why she wanted her back or anything… this told him she was hiding something important and decided to make sure that Mari never went back to Paris no matter what.

One day, Mari was outside in the school yard under a tree simply sketching both outfits and hero suit designs for her friends and classmates “Hey there. Mind if I join you?” she looked up and saw Izuku. She couldn’t run or anything and so she simply nodded for him to sit by her, he quickly thanked her and once seated… began to read a book he brought with him. She was so nervous with Izuku near her right now… especially with how much he reminded her of Adrien, it broke her heart knowing she wasn’t able to save him in the end but she hoped he was at peace right now.

After a while… Katsuki walked over “Oi, I’m sitting here” he simply said and then sat down on the opposite side Izuku sat… which of course made Marinette even more nervous since her crush was here now. For a while, things were fine and quiet… and then Katsuki took a look at what she was doing “Damn! That’s an amazing design for my hero outfit!” Katsuki said which caused Mari to startle from his voice.

He pointed out how some parts of the design were perfect to help him while asking her questions about other things… which Mari was more then happy to explain her ideas to help him pick things out and giving his own ideas. Izuku quietly watched them talking with a smile on his face… before getting up to get back inside “I think that was enough to help them get closer” he whispered to himself while going inside to find Mina watching the two with excitement.

For the next few weeks things are getting better for Mari. She is now able to train with the class and as a result they were able to see her use her quirk that she named Miraculous which amazed everyone. Then one day while she was working out “I’ve been meaning to ask… did you pick your hero name yet?” Katsuki asked making her stop to look at him for a moment “I have actually… I went with Miracle because I want to be seen as a miracle when things seem to be over and they need one” she explained making him nod before going back to their workout.

Once they were done, Mari was just about to go back to her room “Hey… can we talk?” she was surprised with Katsuki’s question since he wasn’t one to ask someone to talk… most of the time he will drag others away to talk to them. They walked to his room and went inside, there she sat on his bed while he sat at his desk “So… what did you want to talk about exactly?” she asked as he kept quiet for a moment… and then he spoke “I like you. I’ve started to like you over time as we trained together and I hope… we can try going on a few dates” he explained…

Mari looked at him in shock as she thought back to Adrien and how badly she always wanted to confess to him… but never got to do it. She slowly stood up “I… I think… I” she tried to reject him but he cut her off “I know about Adrien Agreste… how he was your first crush and how he died before your eyes… I accidently read your diary” he explained making her look at him in shock as she fell into his bed.

And then… just like with Nezu and Shota… she told Katsuki everything that happened to her until she arrived at UA…

It hurt her greatly. To reopen old wounds that were still healing in her opinion… but he had a right to know what he was signing up to by dating her. Once she was done telling Katsuki everything… everything was silent between them, she was scared he would throw her out and tell everyone to make them hate her… but instead he pulled her in for a hug, he was silent the whole time as Mari busted into tears and began to sob about wishing to fix what happened.

It took a while, but soon she calmed down and Katsuki pulled away slightly from her “I know this might be too soon… but I know someone who can help” he said making her nod and follow him out of the dorm building to visit Toshinori Yagi aka All Might. She was surprised at this but after telling him what happened to her… he revealed how he too lost people and how he also wished in the past that he could fix it all “Sadly no one can go back in time to fix what happened… so we must move forward” he explained which opened her eyes to his perspective of things.

It also made her feel a little lighter about the guilt of losing Adrien…

Overtime, Mari began to feel better from everything that happened… sure she still felt some guilt about not being able to save Adrien but sometimes these things can happen. A few times she would talk about going back to Paris to visit Adrien’s grave and visit her parents which made everyone happy to hear… but Katsuki was worried about something bad happening so he decided to go to Paris with her just to make sure nothing goes wrong.

The first thing they did after landing… was go find Adrien’s grave, Katsuki was the one to find it “Here lies Adrien Agreste. Loving son, loving friend… and loving partner until the end” he read which told Mari that after being revealed behind the masks… his father must have requested it for her.

It broke her heart to see his grave… but since she had to leave so quickly… she had to miss his burial “I wish I had brought some flowers… at least he deserved some from the partner he swore to protect until the very end” she said as tears welled up in her eyes. Katsuki didn’t say a thing as he knew she was in pain right now “Miss Dupain-Cheng?” they turned to find a man with gray hair and a woman with black hair and a streak of red watching them…

Katsuki thought they were going to harm her… but Mari stopped him “It’s alright! That’s Adrien’s father and Nathalie” she said making him stop. Gabriel walked closer and set the flowers he brought down “How have you been?” he asked making Mari look at him with a smile “I have been slowly healing from everything” she explained making him nod.

They took a moment of silence together for Adrien, then Gabriel offered to give them a ride to the bakery “It’s better then for someone to figure out you’re here” he said making them nod and follow him and Nathalie to their car. Once inside, Gabriel told her what happened after she left “The media crews came to the bakery demanding to question about being Ladybug and your wish. Lila was taken away as she was seen as insane and in need of help… I guess it makes sense with the peacock miraculous being damaged” he explained making Mari nod… but Katsuki was confused

“Damaged?” he asked making Mari explain “When a miraculous is damaged it causes the wearer to weaken slowly the more, they use it… they also begin to get sick over time until they are unable to move” she explained making him nod “In Rossi’s case while it made her sick… it also affected her mental state” Gabriel added making Katsuki nod to his words.

“Sadly, the public believed that you failed to save Adrien and were selfish with the wish… I however knew why you didn’t and defended you as I believed you did the right thing” he said making Mari smile at his words… soon they arrived at the bakery and the two got out. The two were silent for a moment “You could have told her that we were Hawkmoth and Mayura… yet you didn’t” Nathalie said making Gabriel “It’s for the best… not much I can do and besides… I would rather die with this secret” he explained making Nathalie nod to his words.

Tom quickly rushed the two inside before anyone could see Marinette, once in there home, Sabine moved to hug her daughter “Were so happy to see your alright” she said making her smile from hearing her mother say this. They all sat down together to talk. Mari and Katsuki explained what happened in Japan while Tom and Sabine talked about what happened in Paris since she left.

“We barely go out now with all the reporters blocking us to demand answers… so anything we know is thanks to Gabriel, Nadja, Kagami with her mother, Clara and Luka with his parents” Sabine explained making Mari nod. Sadly… she felt like this was all her fault with everything that was happening to her parents… but Katsuki gently took hold of her hands “Tell me about Alya and this blog she has” he said making Sabine curse in mandarin while Tom looked angry.

Mari sighed at this “So you found them huh? Well, the Ladyblog was the blog she posted about me as Ladybug and Cat Noir when we fight akuma’s. The other blog was to reach out to me and make me come back” she explained making him nod “We sued her after she refused to take it down… but we sued her twice as she didn’t want to stop… but the judge warned her with jail time the third time she does it” Sabine explained making Katsuki sigh.

Tom and Sabine had to go back down to the bakery to work… leaving Mari and Katsuki alone “Let’s go to my room for now” she offered making Katsuki agree. They relax there for a while… and then after Mari put contacts and a wig on… they went out to walk around Paris before going back to the bakery to rest for the day.

For there week in Paris, it was pretty much what they did in the end, Katsuki was amazed at how relaxed and happy Mari was right now which made him feel relief. While some places they went to were ones Mari liked to go to… other places were unknown to her which was fun as he got to learn more about Mari in the end. She did ask to stop by to see Kagami and her mother to thank them for helping her parents and he agreed since he wanted her to see a friend.

The two were very happy to have her visit and promised to come see her in Japan soon enough. Katsuki did worry that they would encounter her old classmates but so far nothing happened which was a good thing in the end, soon it was sadly time for the couple to return to Japan.

Tom and Sabine promised to come visit them in Japan at some point… and they were all surprised to find Gabriel there, he offered to drive them to the airport and they accepted the offer. Mari thanked him for everything before he returned to the car… knowing full well that he will never see Marinette again… unless he visits her in Japan. As they head to where they are to board their flight… Mari froze when she saw Chloe who was walking in their direction.

Katsuki wasn’t happy about this but he waited to see what she does. Chloe came a little closer and smiled towards Mari “You look good Marinette… I guess leaving Paris was a good thing for you… just like it was for me” she said making Mari look at her in surprise, she was so used to her calling her by her last name so it was a big surprise to her in the end. Katsuki then moved to protect Mari “I won’t let you hurt my girlfriend so just leave instead of trying to hurt her” he said making Chloe look him in shock… before a sad smile appeared on her face “I deserved that… especially with everything I’ve done” she replied and this took Katsuki by surprise.

She looked around for a moment “I know a spot that should be private to talk in without anyone figuring out it's you” she said making them nod and follow her to a private room. Once inside they sat down in a moment of silence “I’m actually only here to visit my dad, hang-out with Sabrina, visit Adrien and then go to your parent’s bakery before heading back to New York” she explained which surprised Mari.

She was living in New York? She always believed that Chloe would travel but live in Paris “I’ve been seeing a therapist since Adrien’s death. Therapist believed that a new scenery could help me heal from everything… and help me see things in a new perspective” she explained making Mari nod in understanding. Chloe took a moment to breathe which Katsuki used to watch her, he simply couldn’t believe that someone like her changed “So… what have you been doing?” he asked to try and start a conversation.

Which made Chloe look at him “After I moved to New York to live with my mom… I discovered I had a half-sister. It was a huge change for me but I adjusted slowly thanks to her. I was even able to make actual friends and change myself” she explained and it was then that Mari saw that Chloe’s hair while longer was tied in a braid, her outfit was actually a cute dress and her make-up was better than the blue eyeshadow she always wore… it actually looked good on her and Mari actually wanted to design her a few outfits even.

She also noticed… how calm she was. She wasn’t showing off like she used to or anything… she was actually smiling and showing she was changing for the better. After a bit more talking, Chloe got up and said that Sabrina was waiting for her “If were lucky… maybe will see each-other again” and with that she left the room they were in first. Katsuki looked out to make sure no one was watching and then they left the room.

Mari watched Chloe walking away and smiled “I think… I’ll try to contact her” she whispered making Katsuki look at her as they walked “You sure? This is already a huge step for you” he said making her smile and nod to him “Yeah. She’s clearly changed and I want to try for us to become friends” she explained making him nod as they walked off to where they were boarding their flight to Japan.

Sadly… Chloe wasn’t the only one who saw Mari… Alya Cesaire who was at the airport to welcome her sister Nora… had seen and recognized Mari from the few pictures people were able to take of her new look before she vanished from Paris…

Once they were back at UA… the class greeted them and helped Mari to relax from everything that just happened. They knew that going back was a huge deal but they hoped she would open up about everything once she was ready. Katsuki handed out what they bought for each of them making them all thank the two for what they bought… but Katsuki was more focused on Marinette then the thanks he was getting.

Once he was done handing the gifts out… he then went to her side to bring her some comfort from everything, this was also noticed by Izuku who went and asked Katsuki what happened later in the day “We saw Chloe… the girl that bullied her before Lila came to there class. She was different from the Chloe she remembered… was actually better than the one she knew” he explained but it worried Izuku greatly since Mari was quiet since they returned from Paris, but Katsuki believes that she simply needs time to wrap her head around the new Chloe.

Sadly… things weren’t going their way… as Alya caused trouble for them…

She had followed them somehow and found out that Mari was in Japan. She told anyone in Paris that would listen and as a result… they demanded for Japan to send Marinette to Paris as she had questions to answer. As a result… she was terrified of going back and locked herself up in her room in fear. Then Nezu got a call from the hero commission… and it was about Marinette and how they wanted answers about her and why Paris wanted her… sadly he had to inform Marinette of this and ask for her permission to tell the commission everything… and she gave it to him.

As a result… Nezu told the commission everything Mari had told him, the commission called a week later “Due to the fact that Marinette Dupain-Chen has a powerful quirk after absorbing the miraculous… it is clear that Paris will abuse her if she were to be sent back… so she will not return unless she wishes to visit her family and friends” the head said before hanging up.

This also caused Mari to need a therapist since her mental health had gone back to when she was in pain from what Lila caused her. Nezu got her an amazing therapist that gave her time to speak and only brought up something when Mari was ready to talk about it. A month later she was back to being the happy Marinette they know so very well… but sadly things didn’t get to stay happy for long.

Since Japan refused to send Mari back… Alya with the entire class… and Lila flew to Japan to force Marinette to return with them to Paris so she can answer questions… and bring back Adrien like she should have done from the very start. Her new friends on the other hand… refused to let them try anything but it wasn’t enough as Mari panicked and used Burrow to escape… and Katsuki followed after her.

Once he passed through… he quickly saw that they weren’t in Japan anymore… but in Paris…

It wasn’t long before he found his girlfriend freaking out over where they were… well when they were actually. From he could hear her say… this was the day her partner was killed by Lila; Katsuki knew that they had to move away from sight but he needs to calm her down first “Come on Mari… slowly breathe” he said gently to her but it was like he was talking to a wall at the moment… he tried to find other ways to have her talk and relax though “Hey! Is everything alright here?”

He looked up to find a boy dressed like a black cat… and it made Mari spiral “No! She’ll kill him! Even if we get rid of her weapons, she still kills him! Then I make the wish and then escape!” she claims which cause the guy to look at her in shock “M’lady? Is that you?” he asked as he slowly walks over while he detransforms.

And at long last… Katsuki was able to put a face on Adrien… since he couldn’t find any recent picture of him from before he died…

“Guess it makes sense for her to become the miracle box. Since she is the guardian, we deemed her safe and went to her after she makes the wish” a little black creature says which causes Katsuki to become confused on what that thing was “That’s Plagg. A kwami that helps me transform” Adrien explains as he moves to gently hold Mari into his arms “Princess… you need to calm down… panicking over me isn’t going to change anything” he explained and that caused her to calm down… and simply cry in his arms.

Plagg flew over to Mari’s side as Adrien got up “I’ll be right back” he said and got off the roof to do something, Katsuki watched Mari as she looked down in shame… but silently walked over and sat down with her “So that’s him right? Your partner?” he asked making her nod “We have worked together to try and take down Hawkmoth. Then we got a few temporary holders to help… but he got Mayura” she explained making him nod in understanding.

A while later… Adrien returned with a small bag in hand. He hands the bag to Mari who was about to open it when he stopped her “Please… go back to your time… seeing me die once is enough… once back in your time you can look” Adrien explained making Mari nod as she cried. They stood up together and were quiet for a moment before Adrien moved to hug her “Thank you… not just for being an amazing partner… but for being an amazing friend to me” he said making Mari smile and nod.

Adrien then turned to Plagg and nodded “Plagg… claws out!” he said and with that he transformed into Cat Noir before there eyes. Cat Noir turned towards Katsuki and glared “If you hurt her or make her cry… I will do everything in my power to haunt you and have you sent to hell” he said before leaving them there to go and fight “You got it” Katsuki said softly before taking Mari’s hand “Let’s go back” he said making her smile towards the direction her partner left before nodding.

She activated Burrow once more and they soon returned to their time. Mari then opened the bag Adrien gave her… and found a gorgeous jewelry set of yin and yang jewelry based off them back when she was Ladybug… and Cat Noir was alive “Thank you kitty” she whispered as she put on the Cat Noir pieces… then turned to give Katsuki the Ladybug pieces.

But he rejected them with a smile, she didn’t push him and put them back in the bag before walking together where her old classmates were in a screaming match with her friends. Before getting any closer… Mari stopped “I just… want to see something” she said making Katsuki nod “Sublimation” she said with her eyes closed “What is that power?” he asked making her smile “It’s the power of the rooster… I can give myself any power I desire… and I gave myself the power to see and hear the dead” she said and opened her eyes… and busted into tears.

Because right there… next to Katsuki… was Adrien Agreste… with beautiful white angel wings…

Adrien smiled towards her “I wondered when you would try that” he said softly making her giggle towards him “It’s good to see you again” she replied making him nod before looking serious “After my death… I watched you get a new look… and watched you runaway. I saw myself getting buried… and how Alya got everyone to believe… that you were to blame for my death” he explained making her eyes widen in shock “I couldn’t stay in Paris so I went looking for you… when I found you, I was then assigned to watch over you” he finished making her smile.

With all of this information… Mari walked over to where everyone was “All of you… go back to Paris since I won’t be returning with monsters like you who protect a cold-hearted killer like Lila Rossi” she said making Alya and the other’s look at her in shock to her words. But it affected them still… some looked nervous while Lila looked pissed from what she called her.

But Alya Cesaire… she was the most pissed… because she wanted Mari to pay for the pain and suffering, she put her through… especially with Adrien’s death…

“You have got to be kidding me right now! This mindset of yours about Lila needs to stop! You are the one who refused to bring Adrien back with that wish so you killed him in the end!” she shouted which made Mari’s friends glare… but none of them spoke “But she wasn’t the one who went and stabbed Adrien which caused his death… Lila did that” they all turned to Juleka who glared towards Lila who began to sputter “That’s right! Maybe there’s a reason why Mari didn’t use the wish to bring him back! So, it’s not her fault… Lila is to blame since she didn’t stop” Kim was the next to speak.

One by one, Mari’s old classmates spoke in agreement… but Alya wasn’t done “Well it doesn’t matter! Mari is to blame and should fix it by using the wish to bring Adrien-“ “Then who should die in his place Alya? In order for him to be brought back… someone needs to die” Mari cut her off which made everyone go silent from the shock her words left them in.

But she wasn’t wrong… the wish to happen needs balance… so for Adrien Agreste to be brought back to life… someone else needs to be picked to die. Alya kept her mouth shut from Mari’s question. She had no words to snap back at her with since Marinette’s words echoed in her head… But Mari had one last thing to say “Why don’t you call me back once you have a name for me to take Adrien’s place… but now leave before we get the police involved” she said before she with her friends left.

Once inside her room… she cried from everything but that entire time she cried… she felt warmth around her… which told her Adrien was doing his best to comfort her. A while later, Katsuki came to see her “They left for the airport… wonder when she’s gonna call you with a name” he said as he set a tray of food down making Mari smile towards him as they relaxed.

Time went by and Alya never contacted Mari with a name… she at times believed she would call and tell her to give up her own life to bring back Adrien since in Alya’s mind… she killed him but she never did… but Gabriel did call her “I found out about what you told your old classmates… and I would like for you to think about ending Lila Rossi’s life to bring my son back. She murdered him after all” he told her which surprised Mari.

She spoke to Adrien though and told her that it was her choice since she was making the wish. This hurts her because this girl lied about her and caused her to be bullied… and she wasn’t going to get punished for it. The class helped where they could while never bringing the wish up around her as it was still a sensitive subject for Marinette. Katsuki would at times be there for her just to hold her and never spoke because he knew she needed comfort and not words.

And then… one day while in class… she was asked to go to Nezu’s office… where pro hero Hawks and a member of the hero commission waited for her with Nezu…

This confused her since she didn’t know what was going to happen “Please sit Marinette… there is much to discuss” Nezu said making her nod and slowly sit down, no one spoke for a moment… and then Hawks spoke “It’s come to the commission's attention that your old classmates visited you a good while back right?” he asked making her nod.

“Alya believed I killed Adrien and that I should use the wish to bring him back… so I told her to give me the name of someone who should die so Adrien can be brought back” she explained making him nod “Well then… someone is on the line and requested to speak to you… were not forcing you just so you know” he explained making her nod before taking the phone “Hello? Marinette speaking” she said with slight nerves… but the person on the line surprised her “Hello Marinette… how have you been?” asked Nora Cesaire… Alya’s big sister.

“Nora!? Why are you calling?” she asked quite surprised by the call. The woman chuckled at her words “Look… I’m not gonna dance around this subject so I’m going to make this quick… when Alya came back from seeing you… she ranted about what you said about the wish so we know about it… we all sat down and talked… the twins were there too… and we want you to think about having Alya take Adrien’s place” she explained which shocked Mari.

“Are you sure? This is… a huge deal” she explained making Nora sigh “I know it is… but Ella and Etta are traumatized because of Alya now… see after you left… Alya somehow got into not only her college fund… but there’s and used a majority to get Lila to return to Paris… and they now hate her and do there best to not be near her since she brings Lila over often since her mom kicked her out… she’s no longer the same girl we knew and loved” Nora explained.

They talked a little more before Nora reminded her to at least think about it before they hung up. Nezu allowed her to return to her dorm building where she went straight to her room to think things over for a bit… she didn’t really know what to do about all of this right now since this was a big choice to make.

She then decided to talk to Adrien about this and really listen to his opinion… and not him telling her that she makes the final decision about all of this. Once she could see and hear Adrien, he explained his feelings on the whole thing… pretty much how this could affect things if one of them took his place. It took a while but, in the end, “Alya would be best… that way the twins college fund will never be touched to help Lila” he explained making her nod “Alright then… Gimmi reveal yourself” she said… but nothing happened.

This of course confused her since that’s what she had to say to speak to Gimmi to make the wish “Maybe since you didn’t call for Plagg and Tikki… you need to just… make the wish?” he suggested making her nod “Alright then… I wish for Adrien Agreste to be brought back to life… and for Alya Cesaire to die in his place” she said… but still nothing.

This made her wonder… if there would be no wishes granted…

She tried to call out for Tikki and Plagg but nothing happened “If I have to say that I need to reveal myself I’m going to scream” she whined as she called her whole name to reveal herself… and it happened at long last. Adrien while a ghost… was the only one who saw it happen. Marinette began to glow, her eyes were white, her markings glowed and her hair looked like a galaxy.

She made the wish and the next thing he knew… he was in his bed waking up, he quickly moved and looked into what happened to Alya and sure enough instead of him dying with his and Mari’s identities getting revealed… Alya died after being crushed by a piece of a building Lila destroyed. They defeated Lila of course but because Alya didn’t live again… he told her to wish the miraculous gone… then he told her to run in which leads to now.

He sighed in relief at the fact it worked… but now he needed to make sure that UA and the hero commission knew about how Mari can grant the wishes now “Let’s hope she’s alright” he said to himself as he got dressed “But let’s plan how to make our ‘friends’ pay for what they did to you princess” he said before leaving his room to get to work on his little plan. He knew it would mean cutting ties with them… but they pushed him to do this after what he saw them do after he died…

He didn’t even care that Alya was screaming at him right now… as she is slowly being dragged down to hell by rotten and cold hands into a blazing hole where only she can hear the laughter and whispers of what would be soon done to her once she joins them in hell for her sins while she was alive… she knew that Mari made the wish… but cursed her for making her pay for Adrien to be brought back when she has been such an amazing friend to her from the start.

Sadly, she was wrong… so very wrong… for Alya hasn’t been Mari’s friend since she believed Lila about Mari bullying her…

Mari woke up in her bed, a glass of water on her nightstand and food on her desk with a note next to it. She drinks the water and slowly walks to her desk to read the note… Nezu wrote to inform her that two days after she fainted Nora called and she with her family still remembered everything and thanked her.

He then explained that she had been out for three days now but that she was excused from classes, Katsuki took notes for her and asked that she informs him in advance when she’s going to make a wish. She sighed as she wrote down this new information about the wish. Ever since the miraculous became part of her… she took notes of everything that happens to her and what she was able to do… and she needed to take notes about the wish so she knew how it works now.

While she did feel bad for ending Alya’s life… she brought it upon herself by hurting her family without a care in the world for there feelings. She wasn’t sure if anyone else will remember the truth of who really died but if her old classmates remember… then she hopes it makes them understand how serious she is about not coming back home to Paris. After eating her meal, she grabbed the dishes and went to leave the room only to find Katsuki there about to open the door to enter her room.

The blonde looked tired and drained. But the second he saw the dishes in her hands… he took them and left to clean them… leaving her to go back into her room to grab her things to get cleaned up and a change of clothes. She did encounter a few of her friends who greeted her… but she took her shower and returned to her room to dry her hair… and then Katsuki came back inside with food.

He set the food down on her desk and then set down a notebook “This contains the notes I took for you. Teachers are allowing you some time to read them over before giving you homework” he explained which made Marinette nod to his words. They were then quiet for a moment “We all saw a new photoshoot Adrien was in… and how Alya died… seems like you made the wish” he explained making her slowly nod.

“Turns out that after Lila was sent away… Alya stole her little sister’s college funds with her own to get her back to Paris… she didn’t even care about how much it hurt them” she explained making his eyes widen as he looks at her “She did… what?” he asked making her sigh and explain what Nora told her before she made the wish.

It was a huge shock for Katsuki… but in the end… he understood what Marinette did by wishing her to take Adrien’s place in the afterlife…

“So… does anyone else know?” he asked making her nod “From what I can understand… the Cesaire’s remember so if our friends remember then that means my old classmates remember too” she replied making him slowly nod before sighing. The moment had gone to silence once more and Mari didn’t feel like anything at the moment… then Katsuki got up “Let’s go take a walk” he said all of a sudden but she still agreed and followed him outside.

The walk felt nice in her opinion and she enjoyed herself greatly, they chatted for a little while before heading back to there dorm building… where everyone waited for there return. They didn’t say anything at first since Mari had only just woken up a while ago… so they wanted to give her some time to herself to rest and recover from the wish.

After that… things went back to normal for Mari. She went back to class; she worked hard and contacted her parents to talk for a bit. Mari was really happy because Katsuki also introduced her to his parents… causing them to deeply desire for her to work with them at their fashion company which made her excited since that meant experience and learning more about making clothes.

They also went on some dates together which caused them to get closer to one another… while also hanging-out with some friends which made her have so much fun with them. One day she got contacted by Gabriel who thanked her for bringing his son back and offered to help her whenever she needed help at any point in time which made her thank him for the offer before going back to her new life.

But who would have thought… that she would need to ask for his help… so soon after he contacted her?

Lila Rossi blasted her anywhere she could think out… not only was she claiming that Mari killed Alya… but she claimed that Mari stole the miraculous, stole her clothing designs and lied about everything that happened in Paris between them to make her look like the victim while Lila was the proclaimed bad guy. Her friends were angry about the whole thing since Lila was clearly not giving up on trying to ruining Marinette’s life at all.

Mari planned to inform Gabriel about the situation… she hoped he would be able to help clear her name from Lila’s actions. She sent him an email explaining the situation with the high hopes that he would be able to help her with Lila and what she was doing at the moment to her image “She’s clearly trying everything she can to force you to come back to Paris” Ochako huffed out in anger as the others nodded in agreement to her words… Mari agreed with her too since this was her clear demand… for her to come back to face her actions towards her and Alya.

But Gabriel and Adrien had other plans in mind…

One morning, Mari woke up like usual in her room with the hopes that Lila has decided to take a break of bullying her. She did her morning routine like usual before going to greet everyone as she didn’t want to check her phone just yet to see what Lila did to her image… Katsuki went to her side with his phone in his hand “You need to see this” he simply said before handing her his phone.

She looked at him curious as to why he wanted her to see something but the look on his face told her to ask later… so she took a look to see what was so important that she needed to see over greeting her friends that morning… and it was then that she saw a video… of Adrien speaking up about Lila and her lies about herself to get friends to do things for her and how everything she claimed about Mari was a lie.

He went on to give examples of lies she told and proved they were lies from the very start. Even Gabriel joined in to reveal how Lila tricked him into believing she was an actual model with experience… they also got Kagami with her mom, Luka with his parents and Chloe came back to reveal some lies Lila told her that at the time she thought were true “Is she going to be punished?” she asked after Katsuki took the phone from her.

“From what was said on the news… her mom was screaming at her as police took her away… she defamed a bunch of people with her lies and they are all suing her for that and the lies she made of them” Mina said as she laughed at the video of Lila getting taken away why police while her mom screams at her.

Clearly, she was enjoying that part of the situation, she then sighed in relief at the news until Shota walked in “Marinette… there’s someone in Nezu’s office who asked to see you” he said making her look at him in shock to what he said. Everyone who heard him became worried about Mari but Only Katsuki moved to take her hand in his “Let’s do this together” he simply said making her smile and nod as they then followed Shota to Nezu’s office…

Where she found Felix Graham de Vanilly waiting for her “Hello Marinette… I hope I didn’t interrupt anything” he said while Katsuki looked at him confused “He and Adrien are cousin’s” she simply said which shocked Katsuki while Felix got up “That’s right and I wish to thank you for bringing back my cousin… I know that it must have been a difficult choice for you to make” he said making Mari slowly nod to his words.

“If you mean picking to kill the liar or the bad ex-friend… then yeah sure a hard choice to make” Katsuki said making Shota sigh and Nezu softly laugh at his words. Mari shakes her head at this before turning towards Felix “What can I do for you Felix? It’s clear you’re here for a reason” she said making him nod and sits down once more “This… may come to you as a shock… but I’m not human… but a sentimonster my father created after my uncle lent him the damaged peacock miraculous because he and my mother couldn’t have kids” he explained which shocked everyone in the room.

But for Mari… this meant that Gabriel was Hawkmoth and Nathalie was Mayura… and he wanted the wish… more then likely for something relating to his wife Emily “So what… you want her to wish you as a human?” Katsuki asked “That’s the tricky part to the wish… by making me human… someone must become a sentimonster” Felix explained making the room go silent.

No one said anything after that… but Mari had to ask Felix something “Who do you have in mind to take your place?” she asked him and in response… Felix smirked “Well isn’t it obvious? I want Lila Rossi to become my puppet so I can make her suffer” he explained making her nod to his request “I’ll get to it later today. Contact me with an update for changes” she explained making Felix nod, hand her his ring and was then escorted out by Shota…

Leaving Mari and Katsuki to walk back to her dorm room in silence… only then did she spoke “I need to have something of her’s that’s important to her… something that she would freak out over if it went missing… only with that in hand can I bound Lila to it and make her take Felix’s place as a sentimonster. Katsuki nodded and then left her room to get someone.

That someone… was none other… than Toru Hagakure…

Katsuki explained her quirk and how she was perfect for this “All you need to do is send me into her room and I’ll just sneak around until I find what’s precious to her and then bring it back to you” Toru explained. Mari nodded to this plan but made her promise to text once she got something from Lila, after Toru promised to do so she activated Voyage and Toru was soon in Paris… right on the roof of the building Lila lives in.

She moved into the shadows and stripped herself before moving to go down to a window so she could peak inside to see who lived there… she continued until she got to an open window and saw Lila in the bedroom doing her makeup before leaving the building. Toru waited a moment and sure enough after entering the room… Lila rushed back to close the window and go to a jewelry box.

And then… Toru saw it… Lila gently plucked out a gorgeous ring with a lily design around the ring… and in the center… was an emerald…

Lila spoke quietly in Italian with her eyes closed, once she was done. She put the ring back into the box and ran out… Toru waited once more just to make sure Lila didn’t come back inside for anything. Then she went to the box and took the ring, opened the window to get out, closed it and went up to the roof where she got dressed and texted Mari that she got something.

A portal soon opened and Toru went through… the second it closed she revealed the ring “I don’t speak Italian but she ran back in to say something to it… maybe a prayer?” she said making Katsuki nod while Mari thanked her. Once she left Mari got up “I’ll look into the past to see where the ring came from in her family… then I’ll try and mess around to change where it goes so Lila never has it” Mari explained making Katsuki nod in understanding.

After going through Burrow. Mari got to work to look into Lila’s past… and she saw a lot of pain for people she lied about to be better than them and make them vanish. She sighed as she kept looking… and then she found what she needed. Turns out she had a grandmother on her mom’s side who passed away before Lila was born, she had been conceived for two months before her grandmother passed and the ring was handed to Lila’s mom to give to her first daughter.

Mari decided to look into Felix’s family and discover that his maternal grandparents were in Italy at the time she lived… and decided to go in. It wasn’t hard for her to make an illusion of herself to look different, then all she had to do was discover Felix’s grandparents and then bump into Lola which was the name of Lila’s grandmother. And then help her to meet Felix’s grandparents.

As a result… they became friends… and then knew about the ring… but Mari wasn’t done… for she had to warn to woman about her granddaughter…

She turned herself into a fortune teller… Lola loves them and believes them often when they say things that end up happening with no information from her. When Lola walked by, she acted “Oh my! Miss Lola is your name correct?” she asked making Lola turn to look at her “Yes? Is something wrong?” she asked making Mari nod “Yes! Your granddaughter is so vile in the future! Your daughter failed in so many ways!” she exclaimed making her eyes widen.

“But how!? I can help her and her husband raise her, no?” Lola asked making Mari sigh “Sadly no… two months after she is conceived you pass away. Your granddaughter Lila lies about her father and causes her parents to divorce” Mari began to explain making Lola gasp… and then… she points to her ring “That ring… you hand it to your daughter to gift to Lila after she is old enough to understand it’s value… but she sells it a few days after receiving it and then lies to her mother about where it is" she lies making Lola go pale as she looks at her ring

“What do I do then? I wrote in my will that my daughter must give it to her first daughter” she explained making Mari smile “There is a way… there is a couple you met and became friends with… their daughter Amélie will have a son named Felix… he cares for antiques better then Lila does… if you will it to Amélie to gift to her first son then he will care for it as if it were a child” she explained making Lola slowly nod “I need to think about all of this… but thank you” she said before walking away.

Once far enough… she uses Burrow, drops the illusion and goes into the future to where sure enough… miss Rossi has become desperate to have a child and her husband is ready to do anything to have one with her. This made her happy… and now she had a wish to make… but she would need to possibly work with the timeline to make sure it all goes to plan “I’ll need to check on the past after I wake up from making the wish… if things don’t go like, I hope… I can just make a deal with the Gabriel from the past to save his wife from the negative effect of the peacock miraculous” she said to herself.

Once back… she made the wish for Felix to be human… and Lila becomes the sentimonster. She passes out and Katsuki catches her… and places her in her bed to sleep there for the next three days. When she wakes up again, she eats the food Katsuki left for her to eat and then uses Burrow to look into the new timeline… and sure enough it changed perfectly.

Gabriel went to Italy one day and bumped into mister Rossi, they talked and one day he reveals the peacock miraculous. Mister Rossi steals the ring from Amélie to create Lila… then gets rid of the ring… causing Mari to go there and put the ring back where it was before he took it, she then secretly goes to Gabriel further along the timeline “Your wife’s ailment… I can save her from it… but you need to hide me for three days… and never tell anyone about this” she said… Gabriel accepts and hides her in his office.

There… she makes the wish… for the negative effects of the peacock miraculous… to be transferred to mister Rossi… which kills him later on…

When she wakes up again. She asks if Gabriel took the brooch from Emilie “It needs to be fixed or else she will get sick again” she had explained to him before making the wish “I locked it away from her… I said that something could have happened to her with it being damaged and told her I would try to fix it… I will fix it yes?” he asks making her smile and nod “It will take you making some akuma’s to get the ladybug and black cat miraculous but yes you will fix it” she replied and then she left… she used Burrow and after that… the timeline she knew was there.

Gabriel becomes Hawkmoth, Nathalie becomes Mayura but the peacock miraculous is fixed… so she secretly goes back to her time but in Paris… to use the rooster’s power Sublimation… to grant her the power to heal someone of the negative effects of a damaged miraculous one time for the person.

Nathalie of course woke up and turned to Mari “So you found out” she said quietly “Felix was a sentimonster… he told me what Gabriel did… I just swapped it to Lila’s dad” she revealed before leaving and using Voyage to get to her dorm room. She leaves her room to find Katsuki “How are things looking for Lila?” she asked making Katsuki chuckle.

“Felix called… said that thanks to the ring he was able to fully control Lila on what she says and does… and ruined her at school by getting her caught when she tried to lie or steal… resulting in her expulsion multiple times” he revealed making her nod with a faint smile. But then he revealed a box “He sent the ring to you though… said something about having enough fun with when growing up and how you have a right to make her pay now” he said making Mari stare at the box… and then she shakes her head.

“It wouldn’t feel right to me… controlling someone to ruin them… it feels wrong to me” she explained making him nod… then he took the ring out of the box “Then I’ll do it… I don’t know her well other then what you said about her so I don’t care” he explained making her nod “Also… can you make me a sentimonster? One that can help me see and hear what she’s doing?” he asked making her nod.

She made a sentimonster that could be controlled with his phone and with it he made her do what she lied about… if she said she didn’t have any money left because she donated it… he made her do it for real… same with her clothes and many more things about helping others. Sometimes Lila would freak out but Katsuki would make her believe that she wanted to do this… and then she followed along as if it was the truth… which made Katsuki laugh because he knew she hated this.

Sometimes if she lied about meeting people or travelling… he would have her admit she lied the very next day while making her feel guilty for lying about those things… and while she didn’t understand why she was doing this… he laughed because since she’s a sentimonster he can make her say and do whatever he wanted of her.

Mari sometimes watches him control Lila but after a while she would leave him be to have his fun of controlling her… sometimes another friend will join in to make her suffer but it was rare and Mari didn’t care since it wasn’t her ring now… but sometimes Felix will ask to have it back for a little while since his parents know he has the ring which Mari didn’t mind doing… but Katsuki will complain about not being able to control Lila for a while.

But once it’s back in his hand… he laughs and goes back to controlling Lila…

A few years later…

“You need to take a break bug… clearly this report is draining you” Adrien said making Mari sigh “I know that minou… but I need it done by tomorrow” she replied making Adrien sigh… while Felix chuckled “Just let her be cousin… it won’t be long before she sees that the report and her latest commission is keeping her from going home to her boyfriend” he said making her eyes widen and check the time…

And she starts running around “Katsuki is going to be pissed if I’m not home soon!” she said… the last thing she heard was Felix laughing before she ends the video call to finish packing up… then uses Voyage to get to her house… where she unlocks the door and walks inside “I’m home!” she says as she takes off her shoes and set’s her things down.

And then… she looks up… to a lovely surprise… prepared by her boyfriend Katsuki…

While she was working… he prepared a romantic dinner for the both of them to enjoy. The home they bought together was decorated with lovely candles and flowers, then Katsuki walks over in a lovely suit “Marinette” he says making her look at him confused to why he said her full name like that… and then her eyes widen as he got down on one knee… and then she saw it… while she never pushed him to wear the ladybug pieces that Adrien bought… he was now wearing them at long last.

“I love you Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I know that I would never love anyone else as much as I love you… so will you make me that happiest man on the planet… and marry me?” he asked making her run over as she said yes multiple times. He slips the ring on her and then guides to the table to eat… next thing that she knows they are working together to plan there wedding. Of course, there friends and family are invited… but she couldn’t wait to do one last thing.

After a month had passed since they got married… together they sent her bullies who hurt her because they believes Lila over her pictures of there wedding… as for Lila… she not only received pictures… but a film of there wedding… and the bouquet she tossed at her wedding… and while it was caught by her friend Ochako… she agreed to let it be sent to Lila… at the prison in Italy she was locked up in… to tell her that she might get married after getting released… but she and the class would never see her again or control her…

[phenomenalgirl9]

Hey, hope you’re doing well! can i request a Jun fic where reader gets a call from Jun while she’s at uni telling her to pick him up because he’s feeling sick (maybe he has food poisoning or something) and she drops everything to be there for him and take care of him for the rest of the day? 🥲🥰

Junhui x Reader: Ssick

A/n: the request was so sweet! I loved writing it.

W/c: 550

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Your phone vibrated in your pocket, but you tried not to pay attention to it as Mr. Kim explained the underlying meaning of the sonnets of Shakespeare, the way the- okay who has been calling you non-stop? You thought and pulled it out to be shocked by the name.

"🌚Junhui🐱" flashed on the screen and you immediately stood up and excused yourself. You rushed out and received the call.

-Y/n? No, I'll talk with MY girlfriend. Y/n?

(You heard Jun's voice from the other side)

Yes, Jun. Are you okay?

-Yeah I'm fine. You were in class weren't you, I disturbed your studies, I told them not to csll you now.

Jun, tell me what happened? (You insisted)

-Just, can you swing by the studio when you're done, I- (the phone was snatched from him, and you heard Seungkwan's voice)

-Y/n, it's Seungkwan, Jun Hyung has food poisoning, he's been vomiting since the morning-

You wait, I'll be there.

You answered and rushed inside and excused yourself, saying you had a family emergency. You gathered your things and rushed out to your car. You drove to the building and were greeted by Seungkwan in the lobby as you found Jeonghan sitting with Jun.

"Jun! Are you okay?" You rushed to him. "You left class?" He asked. "Let's go home" you said, as They both helped Jun to your car even though he insisted he didn't need them to follow you guys. "Thanks guys, I'll take care of him," you assured them.

"You can just drop me home and leave for class," he said in a soft voice. "No Jun. Right now your health is more important to me" you said, shaking your head at your boyfriend's stubbornness. Jun shut up, he saw the look on your face, that worry and concern, he smiled to himself. You stopped midway to get some medicines and supplies and asked him to wait in the car, and he did.

You both entered the apartment and you asked him to change and lie down. He lied down and thought of the way you dropped everything and came running for him. Now, you're making soup for him but you've already asked him if he feels okay twice in 15 minutes. "What are you smiling at the ceiling for?" You asked him as you entered the room. "Nothing" he said and pulled you into him as soon as you placed the tray of food down. "Sorry" he mumbled. "What are you sorry for?" You asked, looking at him in surprise. "For making you worry and drop everything to come home" he said with the cutest pout, you couldn't hold back the urge and kissed it and laughed. "I'd do it anyday Jun. You're really important to me you know" you said, kissing his cheek again. "I love you" he said with a huge grin, "Love you too. Now eat the soup before it gets cold".

Of course you spent the rest of the evening with him, watching him, giving him medicines and food. You watched a movie, he was extra cuddly and pressed random kisses all over your face.

"What?" You asked when suddenly kissed your forehead. "Can't a man kiss his girlfriend?!" He asked back chuckling, as he snuggled closer to you.

_____________________________________

Masterlist

[brainyrot]

The crew meeting BATIM Bendy in your fic be like: Oogly boogly bitches.

Them: AHHH

Hhhehhe. Not quite, since I wanna experiment a little idea I had 😈

But!! You got lucky because I was writing more of it so now you get the part I wrote for now.

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"..bu- but it's not possible! Wh-"

"How did it get..here?" The two dishes wondered, how could a machine this massive could possibly be in this.. tiny studio.

"this is just getting weirder and weirder." The red one said, well now yellow. "How- first an animation studio, then those posters about bendy and the cutouts, then- cussing Boris cut open—"

"Woah- wait. This is an animation studio- Bendy's cutouts, wh- BORIS?!" too much information at once, mugman couldn't even register one that the other popped out.

"what do you mean Boris cut open?! He's here? Where's the rest?!" He demanded, that poor kid.

"Bro, I don't know mugsy. I just found Boris on this metal table an-.." he couldn't even finish the phrase, the image still printed in his head, clearly. Not leaving any time soon.

"look- whatever happened to boris, might happen to us as well. We-"

"We can't just- leave him there!"

"he's dead already mugs! what are we gonna do, drag him with us?! what if bendy finds us with his brother's dead body going around?!"

"but we can't just leave him there! At- at least..I don't know.." maybe bury him, or something. Don't know. He didn't think the kid would end up like that.

"look. There's something or someone going around, and it's probably going after us like it did with Boris, so let's get outta here and fast." the elder said, firmly. Quietly. It hears.

"But what about the others?" The younger asked.

"What about 'em?"

"What if they are here too? What if whoever did..that..to Boris is doing it to them? holly, Felix..bendy or-" he was right. They didn't know how or why they were here and they also didn't know who was here.

Sure, a threat was around. He could feel it.

He was being watched. It was listening, lurking in the shadows and the ink, but they didn't know who else could be in this weird studio.

"Mhm." He nodded, and now that he thinks better of it, if this is really some cult meeting place or- somewhere to worship bendy or some stardust like that, then bendy must be here.

If they got mugman and him, then they must have gotten bendy as well, it's the cult's "lord" after all.

If his theory is right that is.

But..how?

Boris is here, mugman too..

Maybe a sacrifice? Possibly, sacrificing for their lord. Using boris and the rest as a sacrifice for bendy.

"Okay, here's the plan. We search the whole place up, it shouldn't be too big. It's just some old studio. If we don't find anyone or anything important, we scram. I know where the exist is, we just need to get that door open. Got it?" Quick, effective and most importantly quiet.

"..got it. I got it." So quiet it was almost as if he didn't talk at all. "Let's- let's just be quick." He can already feel tears coming out- it's. he thought he was stronger than this but..Boris.

the had to search for others, quickly.

And so they did.

But they didn't find anything, just a random closet with a radio on, playing a tune.

someone must be in there.

"Behind me." Cuphead whispered, slowly approach in the door and turning the knob.

He thought he would have found someone, maybe a cult member or some dead body or something. I dunno.

It was just..a closet with..bacon soup? Again with bendy on them. And the radio playing, and someone listening to it.

almost jumping back and shooting, he realized who it was, the very demon he saw everywhere in here.

Bendy.

he wasn't doing anything too special, just eating some bacon soup and listening to the tune, stopping midway through to look at the stranger in front of him.

"..bendy?"

"Bendy??" Mugman spoke louder from behind, but the demon didn't answer, just drank the soup while looking at Cuphead. Was he scared ? Scared of what? He was gonna take the soup?

This demon and his weird obsession over bacon soup.

"Dude- dude we've been looking for you!" Cuphead sighed in relief. "Do you know if anyone else is here?" Let's hope he doesn't ask about Boris.

Raising an eyebrow, like if he wasn't even expecting guests. He was scared, the cup could tell. He was nervous, gripping that can like it would have done something.

"Like- do you know if holly or Felix are here?" And suddenly, an imaginary exclamation mark appeared, like if bendy found the reason of life.

Jumped back up and got Cuphead hand, and bolted into a direction that wasn't promising nor it felt or looked safe.

"Wait- hey wait!!" Mugman called before joining the two in a run for who knows where.

"Dude- hey!" The handgrip was firm, strong. and this was gonna be the last time the ink demon was gonna be this friendly and actually approaching someone, especially strangers with finger guns, in this pathetic,weak tiny form of his.

But he didn't like strangers, so, since he knew where those..holly and Felix whatever it was are, might as well reunite them and get them out of of his hair.

he didn't care if they died, got lost and got consumed by the dark puddles or just, walked out (if it was even possible) he just wanted them to go away.

They were loud. Gullible and most importantly, annoying and dangerous.

unless he manages to change back, then it's no issue. He'll eat them, easy peasy.

He knew where the other two where, they were sitting and quietly chatting in the lunch room.

That room that employees here used to eat, in that one or two hours of break they had, along with chatting, laughing, kind of like those two strangers are doing, before going back to work at their desks of pipes that will soon be their eternal torment.

opening the door, at this point broken with how many times Henry has abused this door to open it in a rush.

finding the two...toons, sitting at the couch right after the stairs. Giggling at whatever they were talking about, jumping at the noise of a cup with the body of a human cursing and almost screaming at the ink demon.

"Dude!" He finally gets his hand back, holding it like if it was gonna fall off. Funny. Maybe it will.

"Guys! There you are!" The cat said happy, and relieved. "we thought we were the only ones here."

"..yeah." holly agreed, quietly. Clearly not comfortable with a certain person in the room.

"Bendy dragged me here, we found him in a closet." Mugman popped in from the doorframe, only his head could be seen. Rather amusing if the ink demon must say.

"Yeah, we were looking for you guys and whoever else is here." The other crossed his arm, already making his way down the stairs, while bendy simply watched them chat about useless stuff.

he's already sick of all of them.

"Hey, are you two okay? Have you seen anything weird?" The younger cup, joining his what the demon assumes is his brother, asked. Worried.

Nervous.

"No, not really. We woke up on the floor in this room and just,, didn't move. We didn't know who was out there, especially since we heard multiple footsteps.

"Maybe it was bendy?" Cup pointed out.

"Maybe,,"

"No. No these footsteps were..weird. it was like if whoever was passing by was constantly stepping on mud, or ink considering this place. I think it was a guy, he was humming something I didn't even recognize." Holly. he thinks. she's the smart one and she just heard a certain someone who won't be pleasant to talk to.

"Yeah now that I think about it bendy is rather quiet in his footsteps, he was quick but kept quiet." Mugman remembered and said.

"Mhm, whatever it was, it's good that we're all together. We just need to find boris-" mhm. "-and whoever else is here." Good point Felix.

"There aren't many rooms lefts anyway, it's all desks and papers all over the place, it's easy to tell if someone else is here. And hopefully it's people we know." That aren't our enemy. You have many Cuphead, you better start praying.

"Have you two found anyone else, aside from bendy?" Holly asked.

"..no." forget about what you saw.

"Mhm. What about you bendy? you've been standing there all along, are you worried about Boris?" What a silly question the cat decided to ask him. The wolf is more worried about the ink demon than the contrary.

But if they mean that dead body, then no. He's not worried about that, it's been there for ages now. And there are many others anyway.

All he did was shake his head and shrug. He can't talk anyway and at the moment he isn't worried about focusing on hearing the many screams, cries and maniacal laughter from the various people here to identify the stranger and lead these fools to them.

He was hungry, but he can't eat a lost one now, he has to stick to regular food like he was doing earlier, it's safer with his situation.

And so he did. Walking back to that closet so he can finish what he was doing.

"H- hey bendy wait!" The cat quickly mustered before following like some lost puppy the demon. "Don't you think it's dangerous to go around like this, in a place you don't even know?" A place you don't know, he knows this place very well and by experience it's only dangerous for you, mr.cat.

but he shrugged.

"Don't tell me you're looking for Boris- look we can look for him together, I'm sure he'll be fine. I'm as worried as you-" why does he talk so much? He doesn't care for that wolf. and he doesn't wanna search for anyone.

he just wanted to eat. And you're lucky he can't eat you.