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I think, given his⊠erm, past, that Alastor would view murder as an appropriate form of showing affection.
He does it for all the hotel inhabitants. Everyone who starts to grow on him, whoâs wellbeing he begins to care about, despite himself.
It happens with Charlie first. A sinner out on the streets talks a little too poorly about her and her hotel, her dreams, her ideas. She hears and it brings her down for only a moment (she always was one to recover quickly) but the short moment is enough for Alastor.
They find the sinnerâs body impaled on the wrought iron fence the next morning. No one fully understands why Alastor seems particularly giddy about it.
The next time, itâs Angel. A client sees him outside of work, and seems to forget that he isnât owed time he doesnât pay for. Alastorâs shadow grows behind him, and after steering Angel and the others away, Alaator guides the man down a darkened alley.
He eats the man whole, enlarging his head to do so. He returns to the others with the manâs shiny golden tooth, which heâd spit out after devouring him, and he drops onto Angelâs hand without an explanation.
For Lucifer, itâs a bit more subtle, or at least harder to detect. Because Lucifer didnât even know that the bodies heâs constantly finding outside his room belonged to individuals whoâd once mocked his name. He hadnât known that theyâd belittled him, called him weak, called him a coward.
Alastor knew. Which is why, one by one, he picks them off. His memory is carved from stone, and he remembers each and every greatest offender.
And what better place to leave his kill than at Luciferâs door? Like a cat presenting his master with a caught mouse, he brings his trophies back to Lucifer, depositing them where he is sure to find them and be proud.
Eventually, everyone figures it out- Alastor was never hiding it, but the others didnât know to look for it either. They piece together that all it takes is an insult in front of Alastor, and suddenly the offender is missing, or perhaps they come across their body shortly after. Death is so common in Hell, that it takes them a while to get it.
When confronted heâll shrug and hum, offering a half hearted wave of his hand. âIâm just doing my civic duty as patron of this hotelâ he says, casually examining his claws.
No one really knows what to say. They are not used to love that is so vicious, so violent. So damning. Red paints not only Alastorâs heart but also his hands, staining him further with every act of affection.
Itâs all he knows. The only way he understands to express his indebtedness to the others, the only way to carve out a bit of himself and present itself to the others for them to adore.
Itâs unconventional, but so is everything that Alastor ever does.
And for the others⊠Well. In a place like Hell-? Itâs not exactly a bad way to receive love, so long as it keeps them all safe.
#hazbin hotel#alastor#hazbin alastor#alastor headcanons#appleradio#radioapple#charlie morningstar#lucifer morningstar#hazbin angel dust#angel dust#alastor and charlie#alastor and lucifer#alastor hazbin hotel#hazbin hotel alastor#hazbin hotel charlie#hazbin drabble#long post
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Bones, Blood and Teeth Erode | Jeong Yunho
â ïž Summary: Taking a child under your wing, tackling complex feelings for a man who didn't make your life easier, and waking up to the entire world wanting to sink their teeth into your skin would make for one hell of a college essay. Too bad you were already done with your studies and working a full time job kicking rotten ass.
â ïž Pairing(s): Jeong Yunho x F!Reader
â ïž Genres/Tropes: non-idol AU, zombie apocalypse AU, horror, romance, hurt/comfort, a lot of action, a lil comedy, golden retriever x black cat (kinda, not really)
â ïž Warnings/Tags: female reader, no use of (Y/N), explicit language, reader has a panic attack, derogatory words (bitch), use of weapons (guns, knives), blood and gore (quite descriptive), (probably inaccurate) gun wounds, losing consciousness, petnames (flower, angel, darling, sweetie), zombies, murder, reader is a badass, attempted murder by strangulation, brief allude to suicide and hanging (just a quick mention), medical needles, disagreements, Wooyoung is a menace, jealous!Yunho
â ïž Wordcount: 39.3K
â ïž Author's note: This work has been a fun challenge as it's my first time writing a zombie AU. With that, I'll kindly ask you to please be nice if the gore and action doesn't live up to your expectations! I'm also thinking of making a "sequel" as everything I planned couldn't fit here, but I don't know... I'll leave that for future me to decide. Until then, I'm going to focus on finishing Cold Hands, Warm Heart. Plus, who was going to tell me there was a limit to Tumblr?? Wdym I can't exceed 1000 paragraphs? đ
This is all fiction and not meant to represent the idols involved in any way or form. This work is NSFW and not appropriate for minors as it contains explicit scenes.Â
AO3 Masterlist Moodboard Click on me!
The most memorable moments of life were limited and a majority of them werenât even stored in the humanâs hippocampus until the ages three or four. First words, first steps, first birthday, first time using the potty amongst other things werenât memories, but rather snippets of stories retold by parents or other significant individuals. With the years passing and flowers withering as snow spread through the country, the less memorable things became. Birthdays were celebrated every three hundred and sixty-fifth day, but were only really a big deal if it was a big number or when the line of adolescence and adulthood was crossed. After that, no one was eager enough to celebrate the less time they harbored in the world.
Then â in some random order â your wallet would be updated with a shiny driverâs license accompanying your credit card, a few pennies and other meaningless receipts you couldnât bother throwing out. The desk in your childhood bedroom was cleared of coloring books, instead proudly displaying the evidence of graduating college that would eventually be framed and nailed to the newly painted walls of your first apartment. Those were the more memorable milestones youâd think back to in your senior years while relaxing on your porch with a cup of freshly brewed tea. By that point in life, youâd be free of school, work and other duties. The only worry was when your next doctorâs appointment was or if the neighborhood kids were stealing apples from your garden again.
The universe was known for throwing curveballs when one least expected and no one could foresee the bombshell of death and despair exploding on the green earth, altering everyoneâs hopes and dreams to dust. Within hours, the vision of spending your last years alive tending to your garden flowers and watching the sun go to sleep was erased from existence along with your cherished memories, because there was no moment in life youâd remember more than the day the world went to shit.
âHowâs little Nari doing? Have you checked the locks?â
âSheâs good, as much as a seven-year-old could be. Iâve already put her to bed like half an hour ago. We ate some fruit snacks and watched an episode of Bluey, and poof, she was out like a light,â you chuckled gently. âAnd yes, I already checked, I double checked even.â
This was your new nightly routine ever since moving miles across the country for more opportunities in the big city. Your mom had yet to accept the fact her baby girl (and only child) wasnât a baby anymore, but a grown woman with adult responsibilities. Nonetheless, she still called you at least once a day, and as much as you loved her, she sure was getting on your nerves.
âTriple check it⊠Oh! And see if your windows are locked too. Sheâs such a sweet little girl. Speaking of, how are the Kangs?â
Leave it to your mom to ask about everyoneâs and everythingâs wellbeing. It was no wonder she had trouble sleeping at night, the constant worry gnawing on her brain like a mouse with a stolen piece of cheese.Â
Rolling your eyes, you refrained from chastising her for staying up late watching one too many criminal documentaries. You lived on the fifth floor; what did it matter if your windows were locked or not?
âThe Kangs are good too, I believe. Theyâll be her first thing in the morning to get Nari.â
âThey are good people, those Kangs. Iâm happy you have normal neighbors and not some weirdos. Especially when they know thereâs a girl living alone, it makes you vulnerable.â
âBecause a couple in their early thirties definitely canât be perpetrators. Bonus points if they have a daughter.â
âIâm just concerned for my little baby girl. You know itâs difficult for us now that youâve moved out. Your father doesnât say much, but he hasnât stepped foot in your bedroom after the last box was carried out.â
And as much as you wanted to tell her, âMom, Iâm not your little baby girl anymoreâ, the words wouldnât roll off your tongue. Perhaps it was the mention of your fatherâs somber behavior â someone you never saw without a smile on his face â or you were missing them equally as much as they missed you.
âI know, mom. But it was a question of when Iâd move out, I mean, it would happen eventually and here we are.â
âWell, I donât care. Youâll be my baby until they stuff me down below.â
âMom!â
âItâs true! Adult or not, Iâm still your mother and will always be. Doesnât matter if youâre five, fifty or five hundred. Now, I donât want to hold you off any longer, itâs quite late and you have an early start tomorrow. I love you, my sweet girl.â
âI love you too, mom. Hug dad for me, would you?â
âOf course. Good night, sweetie.â
âGoodnight.â
Plopping down on the sofa barely big enough for three, your phone lightened with a gentle tap of your thumb. The wallpaper was a picture of you standing behind your parents with the family cat seated on your momâs lap. It was taken days before youâd leave for Seoul (your mom insisted you take another family portrait to match the collection of the already existing thirty something photos). Your two hours were spent aimlessly scrolling through various social media apps, seeing what news and events you missed out on while entertaining the previously energetic seven-year-old. Amidst your scrolling, the three full bars of the Wi-F emoticon turned transparent. Not thinking much of it, you opted for resetting your router, but nothing changed. Even your data roaming wasnât working.
âHuh? Thatâs weird,â you mumbled to yourself.
The device quickly lost its value and was forgotten on the coffee table as you reached for the TV remote. That proved to be useless too as a multitude of colors covered the screen with the words âNo Signalâ staring right back at you. Growing up in the countryside, you werenât all too shaken over the loss of Wi-Fi, but considering you were now residing in the heart of South Korea, where everything was supposed to be ten times better and faster, you were left with a queasy feeling. Giving the government â or whoever was in charge of these operators â the benefit of the doubt, you decided to get ready for bed. The internet would be back sooner or later, thatâs how it was in your hometown at least.
You gently peeked inside your bedroom and with the reassuring sight of Nari still in a deep slumber, you resumed to the bathroom.Â
âMaybe itâs a sign to tune in for the night.â
Watching yourself in the bathroom mirror, you shrugged and got to washing up. As you completed the long list of your skincare routine and dried your face with a towel, you didnât expect to be met with sudden darkness and nearly fell into the bathtub. Regaining your composure, your feet were glued to the floor and ars extra sharp, listening for anything suspicious on the other side of the door. You couldnât help but think someone had broken into your flat. To your fear, a silent creak echoed throughout the apartment followed by rapid pattering of feet. A whimper â you wouldâve missed it if it werenât for the complete silence â slipped through the tight space between the door and threshold.Â
âAuntie?â
The speed you unlocked the door at should be studied by a group of scientists. You wasted no time crouching before Nari which she saw as an invitation to sling herself in your embrace. The few solar sticks shoved into your window baskets provided your apartment with enough light to avoid bumping into furniture as you entered the living room. The TV had gone from a bright rainbow to a void of nothing, enveloping you in complete darkness. A simple fuse going out wouldnât turn off the power in your entire apartment and you wondered if the whole building was without electricity.Â
âWhy is it dark?â She whispered against your shoulder.
âI donât know, sweetie. I think the power went out. Wanna see if there are any candles laying around?â
Grabbing your phone from its place, you quickly put on the flashlight and rummaged through your cabinets for anything useful. If you knew your mother at all, you were certain she snuck in some candles or a real flashlight while you were busy carrying boxes with your dad. Opening the second-to-last drawer, you found what you were looking for and in that moment it was a treasure bigger than gold.
âLooks like auntie had some candles after all.âÂ
With the help of Nari â who actually just watched you scatter the candles everywhere â you managed to bring more light into the apartment.
âIsnât this much better?â You asked and Nari nodded while shuffling to one end of the sofa, her knees brought up to her chest and her hair a mess from the short nap.
âWhen will the lights be back?â
Honestly, you didnât know, but sensing it would spread more worry than comfort, you werenât about to let her know that. She was already spooked from the sudden blackout and you werenât all that keen on consoling a distressed child a quarter to midnight.Â
âSoon. Iâm sure of it. In the meantime, how about you go bring me your pretty pink hairbrush and Iâll fix your pigtails for you?â
You watched Nari run off into your bedroom and gave yourself a pat on the back for handling the situation quite smoothly. With the power out, you had no option but to save the battery on your phone, thus turning off the flashlight and relying on the candles for guidance. Not to sound entitled, but you truly thought the outages would be left in your hometown and wouldnât follow you all the way to Seoul. Trying to go against the odds, you checked your phone again and noticed the service was completely wiped out. The top of your screen looked rather naked as the battery percentage glared at you tauntingly.
Now would be a good time to worry. Water seeped through the ventilations in your flat and hastily rose upwards. Parts of your body turned numb at immediate contact and your nightgown stuck to your cold skin. You looked around. Your living room was flooding, but no one did anything. No one came to help. The world was still spinning and you were slowly drowning. As your view was obscured by a beautiful hue of blue everything stopped.Â
It was quiet, but your thoughts were loud. Submerging underwater was supposed to give a sense of tranquility yet there you were, struggling to tame the voices in your mind. It was first when you parted your lips for an intake of air that they simmered out and a wave of panic washed over you as water gushed down your throat and into your lungs. Your mouth clamped shut and you made grabby motions as if youâd latch onto a plug and the water would magically go down a drain. The lack of oxygen caused darkness to cloud your sight and a force so tight wrapped around your head you thought it was going to explode. Fire burned your lungs and something clawed at your throat, but you refused to inhale again. It was scary. The fight was slowly leaving your body and right when you heard death calling for you, a bubbly call of your name brought you back to reality and suddenly there was no evidence of the translucent liquid ever being in your living room.Â
âHere you go, auntie.âÂ
Nari reclaimed her seat on the couch, the only difference being her back turned toward you. Releasing a shuddering breath, you took the brush from her and tried to differentiate between reality and imagination. This seemed to be real, you thought and got to work, despite your heart banging against your chest. With gentle touches, you removed the ties from her hair and combed it until silky smooth. To your relief and her luck, the strands werenât tangled together and allowed the brush to run freely. Deeming her hair neat enough, you parted it down the middle and into two sections, and redid her pigtails from earlier. It was an easy hairstyle and suited her pretty face. You looped both your index fingers through each tail and giggled at the cuteness.
âThere you go. All done, little flower.â
âThank you, auntie!âÂ
Nari turned around and wrapped her arms around your waist, her cheek mushed against your stomach and your heart soared with joy. The display of affection was enough to keep your head on and not worry about all the connected dots seemingly leading back to the power outage. Besides, you couldnât act recklessly. If Nari caught wind of your unease, you could confidently say sheâd spiral into a panic of her own.
âOf course⊠Now I was thinking with the power out, how would it sound if we raided my freezer for some ice cream? I mean, it will turn bad otherwise.â
The Kangs were quite strict with Nari and sweets, in the sense that they didnât want her over consuming before bed or on weekdays. Something about having a balanced diet. It wasnât anything you had a say in and if you wanted to be paid at the end of the day as well as avoid a lawsuit, you were going to ensure Nari followed those rules. But considering something was out of the ordinary and with your endless supply of ice cream, you couldnât bother with what her parents had to say.Â
While she was shifting between eating the flavors of strawberry, chocolate, banana, raspberry and vanilla ice cream, you pondered over the elephant in the room. Knowing now it wasnât something solely affecting your apartment complex, but the whole city, you were trying your hardest not to freak out. Perhaps some vigilante had hacked into the government and planned on leaking some top secret files? Were you going to war? A sign of an earthquake?
âAuntie?â
âYes, Nari?âÂ
âIâm sleepy. Iâm sorry your ice cream will go bad.â
âDonât worry about that. It was too much for just the two of us anyway.â You patted the top of her head and she childishly beamed at you, immediately illuminating the room better than any light source created. âWanna get ready for bed again?â
As you stood up, you expected Nari to follow, but the child was still seated. Her feet brushed against each other while she picked around her fingernails. She avoided your eyes, her gaze trained on her fiddling hands.Â
âIs something wrong?âÂ
The mumbled words were far too quiet for you to make sense of and with a polite request to repeat herself, Nari spoke again, a tad bit louder than before. âI donât wanna sleep in the dark.â
A crack went down the middle of your heart and echoed loudly in your eardrums. Her sullen attitude caught you off guard, but knowing the reason behind it, you now wondered if she was used to being chastised or mocked for her fear in the walls of her home. Whatever it was, you werenât going to endorse that behavior.Â
âWe couldâŠâ You began and waited for her to meet your gaze. Her little eyes carried a plethora of stars and you had to hold back from pinching her chubby cheeks. âHave a sleepover, right here.â
The stars in her eyes grew in size and twinkled brighter than any night sky. Her previously pouty lips curled in a sugary smile that cured any type of sadness. The child was up in seconds, already rearranging the pillow to her liking and claiming her side of the sofa.
âOkay, flower. Itâs time for another brushing session.âÂ
Luckily, Nari didnât appear like a kicked puppy and happily skipped to the bathroom instead. Your phone in her hands lit up her path despite the candles burning for the same purpose. You released a breath of relief and whisked out two blankets from your bedroom as well as one of Nariâs stuffed toys. She had spent enough nights under your watch to know sheâd ask for either Sir Fluffington (a rabbit with one of its ears ripped off) or Spiderfrog (a purple ladybug). Coming out of your bedroom, you were surprised to see Nari sitting on the sofa, legs tucked beneath her bum and arms hidden underneath her shirt making her look armless.
âOh, youâre done already?âÂ
âThe water is not working.â
Dropping the soft objects on the couch, your brows scrunched together. âWhat?â
âI opened the sink and the water didnât come. It was first brown, like poopy water and then it disappeared.â
Disregarding her easy mix up between a tap and a sink, you flew across the room to the kitchen and as feared, no water came out. Something was wrong. How big of a coincidence would it be that the electricity, internet and water were out of function?Â
Swallowing the lump growing in your dry throat â a placebo created by the knowledge you had no running water â you faced Nari and ushered her under the covers.
âIâm positive itâs nothing. The water and power will be back when we wake up.â Shuffling beside her, you handed her both Sir Fluffington and Spiderfrog, an easy distraction from the weird occurrences.
âCan we sleep with the lights on?â
âYeah, I wonât blow out all the candles until youâre asleep. Is that alright?â
Nari nodded and tucked both of her stuffies beneath the blanket then brought it up to her chin. You gave your phone one last glance, sighing at the red battery and lack of a signal. Just your luck, you thought and let it back down.Â
âGood night, auntie.â
Nariâs breaths evened quicker than you could reply back and soon you too struggled with keeping your eyes open. As promised, you blew out the candles â starting a building fire was not a part of your bucket list â and came back to bed. Fatigue weighing more than three bags of flour tugged on your eyelids and it was easier to give into the darkness than fight it. Besides, youâd rather not stay awake and theorize over all the possibilities as to why the country seemed to be out of function.
âNight, flower.â
The trip to dreamland was short and didnât last for longer than two hours. You woke with a startle, your body covered in a sheen of sweat and heart loud in your ears. It wasnât because of your neighborâs early shenanigans of rearranging furniture or a fast food delivery guy knocking on the wrong door, but people talking, or rather screaming, in the corridor of the apartment building. Nari was still sleeping soundly next to you, seeming nothing in the world was able to disturb her. It wasnât because of your neighborâs early shenanigans of rearranging furniture or a fast food delivery guy knocking on the wrong door. Still surrounded by darkness, you hastily grabbed your phone and blinded yourself as â what felt like â a hundred suns appeared right before your eyes. The numbers showed it was a little past two in the morning.
A commotion of multiple bodies running and sharp tones turning into faint screams, had you standing on your feet. The walls of the apartment were thin, but not enough for you to make out what was being said. It couldnât be a normal argument between neighbors if the shouting went from anger to fear, hands pounding against doors with pleas of being let inside. You didnât move until a bloodcurdling scream echoed through the stairwell. In all your years on this earth, you never heard a being make such painful and horrifying sounds. Not even movies portraying the most gruesome torture scene could be compared to what your ears were witnessing. You couldnât describe it even if you wanted to. All you knew was that it touched your core, nearly cutting all mobility in your legs. The screaming didnât stop for a while, but when it did everything turned silent. The silence in the dead of a night with everyone asleep; no engine rumbling, no people talking and no animals wandering around. Complete and utter silence.
By some miracle, you managed to get closer to your door without stumbling into something and for once in your life you were grateful for your motherâs nagging about checking the locks. Something was wrong. Really, really wrong. You could feel it in your bones, like birds sensing the beginning of a natural hazard. It wasnât something you could explain either and if you tried, whoever was on the receiving end would probably call you crazy, but it didnât matter because there was no one to convince of said feeling. Nari was too young to indulge in and she was at the age where children questioned everything. Giving her one last glance, reassuring yourself she was still asleep, you stepped closer to the door and prepared yourself to look through the peephole. It was first then you felt the side effects of not having water as your throat was uncomfortably dry and your tongue stuck to the roof of your mouth. Whatever you were going to see â hopefully nothing â on the other side of the door, you werenât sure if you were mentally prepared for it.Â
âAuntie?â
Like the hands of a grandfather clock reaching an hour, your heart chimed loudly in your ears, pushing all the air out from your lungs and freezing the blood in your veins. The childish voice didnât ease your worries and for a moment you thought a scene from the movie Orphan played out in your life. The crazy thought lasted for a split second until you remembered why there was a child in your flat to begin with.Â
âWhat are you doing?â
Facing Nari, you exhaled and mustered up a gentle smile. âI thought I⊠Nothing. Iâm not doing anything.â
As you stepped away from the door, an internal battle broke out in your head. The logic in you argued it was nothing but a speck of your imagination while your gut feeling threw all sense out of the window and was ready to die on the hill that something wasnât quite right.
âDid you hear it too?â
That was all the reason your gut needed to push logic out of the window. Swallowing dry air, your tongue darted out over your bottom lip. Inhaling a shaky breath which was a failed attempt at calming your nerves, you decided to see where the conversation would go.
âHear what, flower?â
What Nari said next confirmed you werenât crazy.
âThe screaming,â she emphasized, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
âI⊠uhâŠâ
As you parted your lips to say something â what, you didnât know â a faint scratching noise sounded from behind your door. The best way to describe it would be a fingernail being dragged along the wooden surface. It was nearly undetectable, but with the silence in the apartment the sound was loud enough to interrupt your conversation and spread another wave of fear through your body. Nari whimpered, obviously still affected by the screaming from before, and quickly threw the blanket over her head. Sir Fluffington and Spiderfrog squished under each of her armpits.
Hanging onto the thin rope of sanity left in your body, you coaxed yourself into believing it wasnât anything to be frightened over. The whistling wind could be heard every once in a while, right?Â
âDonât go,â Nari squeaked. She was clearly scared of you going out into the hallway and while you admired her thoughtfulness, you had to remind her you didnât have a single brave bone in your body.
âI wonât,â you whispered back. âI just want to see.âÂ
If the situation wasnât so eerie, youâd be laughing at her concern. Nari acted as if whoever was out there would grab you through the keyhole and youâd disappear somewhere akin to Raccoon City or The Upside Down. But you didnât laugh because the possibility of that happening scared even you, a grown adult with her frontal lobe fully developed.
Exhaling, you flicked the metallic cover of the peephole and stared into an abyss of darkness. The green flickering light of an exit sign illuminated the hallway for a split second before everything turned black again. It continued on like that for a moment and each time the light came back on, you expected something grotesque to stare right back at you, but there was nothing.Â
âHa, like I thought. Thereâs no one theââ
Your voice died in your throat as the lightbulb died only to be brought back to life. The only difference being a figure standing in your line of sight. The green light was gone in a second, not allowing you to see who it was, but when one sense was diluted, the remaining four heightened.Â
âHelp.â
The voice, if you could call it that, sounded like it belonged to a chainsmoker of fifty years. Raspy â not in a sexy way â and weak. They were wheezing for air and almost choked on their own saliva. It wasnât until the hallway lit up again that you could make out what was presented before you. Mr. Shin from the level below you with ears that were good for nothing and his obnoxiously loud Yorkshire terrier. However, you couldnât recall him being a smoker or having a gruff voice. Thinking about it, the elder hated anything to do with cigarettes. The smell, the long list of side effects and not to mention the higher risk of being prone to lung cancer.Â
None of those facts were important though, because what you were seeing nearly sent you on your backside.Â
Mr. Shinâs head was abnormally tilted to the right and something sharp, and white, boney, stuck out of his neck. The liquid he was choking on was in fact not his saliva, but buckets of blood. Dark, thick, blood seeping out of his neck and mouth, making it hard for him to speak.
âOpen⊠Help me.â
Lights off. Lights on.
A big chunk of skin and meat was torn right out of his shoulder, coating his arm in a wine-red liquid nearly having you spilling your guts out. Clamping a hand over your mouth, both to keep your food inside and not to let out a scream of terror, you moved backwards. You felt sick. Your stomach was up to your chest and your pulse was so quick the beats per minute were impossible to count. The few words leaving Mr. Shin became a jumbled mess of groans and growls. His pleas for help and demands of you opening the door were indistinguishable, something not even an aggravated dog would let out. The scratching turned into slamming fists and jerks of the handle.Â
Your phone was useless and there was no other way to get hold of an emergency service. Mr. Shin obviously needed help. He had always been kind to you; he bought you a fresh basket of peaches each month and collected the morning mail for you. There was yet a moment for you to repay him and now would be the perfect chance to give back for all his numerous favors. Not thinking much, you turned the lock west and the door opened on its own as a stumbling Mr. Shin entered your apartment.
âMr. Shin what happenââ
It was as if he was possessed. The man old enough to be your grandfather staggered over the threshold and grabbed onto your shoulders, forcefully pulling you towards him. Your left hand pushed against his ribcage as you simultaneously pressed your other hand against his throat, your fingers digging into the open wound and getting coated in red. As the lights seeped into your apartment, you saw his lifeless eyes, red mouth and pale face. Your scream was loud enough to wake the whole of Seoul.
Still struck by the image of your kind neighbor looking like the upper part of him was put through a rusty meat grinder, you stumbled over your own feet and fell flat on your rear with Mr. Shin following in tow. Your throat was turning sore from all the screaming that didnât reach your own ears. He didnât stop his advances and his mouth was opening and closing in a biting manner, his rotten teeth loudly chomping against each other snapping you in and out of your screams.
âStop! Mr. Shin!â
It was as if you said the complete opposite as he fought against your pushing hands. Your hand which was previously on his ribs jumped up to his shoulder and gradually slid further up his neck. In the midst of your fright and panic, you latched onto the bone sticking out of his body. It was cold and sturdy, and so incredibly nasty that you nearly puked all over yourself like a wasted teenager coming home from a night out in the club. The friendly face of Mr. Shin with deep dimples and moon creasing eyes was void of any happiness.Â
âPlease, stop,â you cried out. Hot tears kissing your cheeks and lips wobbly.
You were left with no choice. Using all the strength you could muster, you dragged both hands in opposite directions. Like opening a newspaper with force and not stopping until it tore in half, his skin parted in the middle with more blood and tissue seeped out of him and straight down on you, coating your pink nightgown and bare skin. A modern version of Carrie.
A whispered apology left your mouth and what was once whole was split into two. The body of Mr. Shin slumped down over you while his groaning head rolled across your living room floor. You scrambled away from the corpse and didnât stop until your back was against the couch, where a crying Nari loomed over you.Â
âWhat the fuck? What. The. Fuck!â
Your hands shook uncontrollably. In an attempt to calm down, you weaved them into your hair, gently tugging at the strands while trying to arrange your fleeting thoughts into something rational. It was impossible. There were so many questions and not one answer. You didnât know how long you sat there for. Maybe ten minutes? Twenty? An hour? Everything blurred together, but it were the wails of Nari that cleared up the mist you found yourself in.Â
Throwing a glance over your shoulder, you saw her on the complete opposite end of the sofa. The blanket you provided her with was brought up to her chin. She was red as a cherry tomato, presumably from all the crying. As you somehow got up on your feet, her crying turned up in volume and you realized she was afraid of you. Thanks to the red smeared all over your body, that little mind of hers couldnât differentiate between you and Mr. Shin. Probably assuming what happened to him got you too.
âNari, little flower.â She peeked between her fingers obscuring her view. âIâm alright. Iâm notâŠâ
Iâm not like him. Iâm safe. Iâm well.
âIâm okay.â
Three years had passed since the outbreak started. One thousand and something-something days of moving from location to location, clearing rundown gas stations and seven-elevens, surviving on canned food and dried fruits and nuts. It wasnât particularly easy surviving an apocalypse with a child. The first month was spent shifting between crying for her parents and then mentally aging half a year every day. You, on the other hand, promised no more tears would be shed ever since you decapitated your sweet grandpa of a neighbor. A decision made for the safety of both yourself and Nari. The girl that was thrust into your care for a few hours turned into a lifelong partner, however long that would be.
Perched on the roof of an apartment building you spent the past month temporarily residing in, you thoroughly examined all the stuff you needed for the long journey waiting ahead. With the little resources you had left, it was safe to say your time in the capital was coming to an end. Every store in a one-mile radius had been emptied and those that were still full of necessities were in the red zone, also labeled a suicide mission.
A shadow loomed over you, obscuring the sun from your view and providing you with a cooling shade. âYou tell me not to sit in the sun, but youâre doing the complete opposite?â
You looked up at Nari, your brows scrunched together and mouth pressed into a straight line. It was a poor attempt at a joke, Nari knew that much, but it didnât stop her from sharing her lame humor with you even if it didnât go far. Glancing between a packet of bandages and the bottle of alcohol, you weighed your options before throwing in the alcohol. If either of you got hurt, itâd be better to clean the wound with alcohol than to plaster on a bandage and call it a day.Â
Zipping up your backpack, you got on your feet and threw it around your shoulder. âDo as I say, not as I do.â
âThatâs no fun.â She pouted and crossed her arms over her chest. The oversized cap you found in a local store shop was one or two sizes too big for her head, but would fit right in about a year.
âBecause fun gets you killed.âÂ
You pushed the cap further down on her head and headed for the stairway. The sun was high in the sky and while it would be best to wait for the heat to pass, it would leave you with a lot of walking in the dark. Not the most ideal time to be outside as the biters were more active during the night.
âOkay, so when can I get a weapon? Like a gun-gun. Not a sharp stick.â
âWeâve already talked about this, Nari. The adult has the gun and the child keeps the map.â
âThe map wonât help me fight bad guys.â
You clicked your tongue and patted yourself down. The knife was in the holder attached to your hip and your gun was loaded with the safety lock on, resting against your other hip.
âNo, but it will help you find safety which means no bad guys to encounter.â You unclasped the big chains looped through the metal handles of the roof entrance and opened the doors. âReady?â
âAs long as we find anything besides chips. Like was there an overconsumption of the salty potatoes in twenty-twenty four or what? Why are the stores full of them? I donât get it. They taste like eating a handful of salt.â
Inheriting the guardian role of a child wasnât something you planned to do until much later on in life. You werenât prepared to take care of another being, let alone be responsible for their growth and not let them take on the personality of a psychopath. Through the long year of parenting and providing shelter and safety, you had a hard time finding the perfect balance between a strict and laid back aunt. While Nari still deserved to experience the life of a normal child, you were aware normal in a world full of rotting cannibals wasnât the same as a year ago. Instead of playing with dolls and cars, children were taught how to work a gun and where to aim for a hundred percent kill.
Nari knew the theoristics. Their senses were diluted in the day and heightened at night, but a speck of blood would leave you vulnerable at any hour. The heart and brain were the weak points. For absolute certainty it was best to aim for the head even if a bullet was already lodged through their hearts. She knew all these facts, but had yet to take on a biter. Her kill count was a zero whilst you stopped counting after double digits. It was another thing you had taken upon your shoulders. As long as you were breathing and capable of clearing the path off obstacles, Nariâs hands would remain clean.
Before she could walk through the doors and take the lead, your arm shot out and halted her in place. A serious expression took over your features as you held Nariâs gaze.
âRemember; I need to see you and hear you at all times. Donât stray from my line of vision, donât just walk away and in case of an emergencyââ
âHide, sit and wait it out or run until my lungs are about to explode and my feet are covered in blisters.â
You inhaled deeply. Future you would either come to regret this decision or thank the heavens. From the pouch wrapped around your thigh, you took out a small switchblade.Â
âGood. Thatâs good.âÂ
You flipped open the blade and wiped it against your thigh before folding it again. The switchblade wasnât much of a use to you, ever since you found the combat knife hidden in the armory of some old manâs apartment. It was your companion for a little more than a year and saved you from a lot of trouble, but it was time to pass it on.
âIâm thinkingâŠâ
âIs that for me? Am I finally getting a weapon?!â
âAs I was saying before being rudely interrupted, I was thinking of giving you my old switchblade.â You could practically see stars light up in her eyes. âBut with the promise you wonât use it unless absolutely necessary, okay? That means itâs in your pockets and I only want to see it in your hand if itâs a life-or-death situation.â
âYes, yes, yes!â Nari shuffled excitedly on her feet and if you didnât know any better, youâd say your persistent rant entered through one ear and out the other.Â
Sighing again, you handed it over and watched with attentive eyes as she tested its functions. Then, as ordered, she stuffed it in her back pocket and gave you a determined nod. Leading the way down the long flight of stairs, you shared the plan you put together over the span of three days while Nari was asleep and you kept watch.Â
âI think itâs best if we head south. Most of the infected have probably been drawn by the loud sounds in the big cities, leaving the countryside vulnerable. The only thing Iâm worried about is coming across other humans.â
âSounds good. We can maybe grow crops and have cows or pigs? Aw, man, now Iâm hungry for some pork belly.â
It was in these moments you were grateful for Nariâs presence. Her childish takes and questions were what kept your sanity intact. If it werenât for her, youâd probably be roaming the infected streets like a lifeless monster gnawing at other humans.
âSure. Weâll see what we can find, but ideally itâd be best to find shelter and then animals.â
âAs long as I get to own a fluffy cow, I donât care when or where. Donât you think itâd be cool if I put a saddle on it and killed biters while riding her?â
The glare she received was hotter than the scorching sun and sharper than your knife. It was enough to keep her quiet for the majority of the journey, but it could only last for so long before she started firing questions again.
âCan I make a birthday wish this year? I promise to keep it realistic.â
You spotted a secluded shop that was yet to be raided for its goods. The windows were covered by planks â they seemed to be placed in a hurry â placed askew and barely shielding the glass panes behind the wood. The door was untouched, not a scratch on it besides the color chipping away and rust collecting on the chain tied around the handles. Nari was a smart kid. For her seventh birthday she didnât ask for anything extravagant. A new pair of clothes, preferably a pink shirt and shoes. Because of safety reasons, the shoes were out of the picture unless you wanted to be an easy target. Itâd be like spotting a Christmas tree in the middle of July. It wasnât until her ninth year came around that she asked for the impossible; a dog. You couldnât find a group of people that weren't out to kill you, let alone a creature with the appetite of a starving jaguar.Â
âOkay, letâs hear it.â
âTeach me how to use a gun?â
The four cans of peaches were placed close at hand and you quickly scooped them into your bag as the question looped in your mind. In a perfect world where people didnât turn into rotting cannibalistic creatures, youâd never entertain the idea of a ten-year-old handling a weapon. But the world wasnât perfect and her birthday wish was more logical than her wanting a Barbie doll. You really wanted to say no. Use the excuse of wanting to protect her innocence for a few more years, but what good would that bring her in a moment of desperation? What would be worse, a longer life haunted by nightmares or a short one full of flowers and bees?
âIf we find a little one,â you muttered lowly and handed her a pack of sealed batteries.Â
She squealed and you masked your own smile with a scowl that immediately had her pressing a hand up to her mouth, a futile attempt to suppress the gleeful noise.
âGotta make sure we donât die before that though. You keep watch while I scavenge the place for anything useful. Weâre leaving in five.â
The shelves were full. It was harder to pick things when you had more to choose from. You wanted nothing more than to stuff everything into two duffel bags and be on your merry way, but it would get you nowhere. The five minutes were spent choosing between bandages and medicine or extra food and nutrition. As you gave in and stuffed the two sealed medkits, the sharp whistle of a bird sounded through the store. Your head snapped up as cans clattered to the ground. Forgetting about the other necessities, you zipped up your bag and hid behind the shelves in the back where Nari too had taken shelter.
âWhat did you see?â
âA car. It stopped right out front, but I didnât see who came out.â
The sound of the door opening killed the hushed conversation. Quite some time passed since you encountered other people, but each run-in was always more unpleasant than the previous and it left a sour taste in your mouth. Avoiding biters was easy â the creatures had rotting brains with no critical thinking â it was dealing with other humans that gave you a fright. There were already psychos in the normal world and you didnât want to imagine what demons youâd be dealing with now.
Nari quietly slid down and sat on the floor, knees pressed up to her chest and a hand over her mouth, while you pulled out your gun and knife. Your wrists connected, making a human cross and the hand holding your gun rested on top of the one clutching the blade. Your finger was on the trigger with no fear of firing a bullet or two; anything to secure your survival.
The footsteps belonged to one person and you hoped whoever it was didnât bring a friend. In a circumstance with the dead youâd throw something sturdy in the opposite direction of you, but dealing with other humans would take more than some trick. The best would be to avoid any bloodshed, take the car and leave fast as fuck.Â
As the walking ceased so did your thoughts and you were certain your heart could be heard all through Seoul. A can of pears rolled by, passing your hiding forms and stopped as it hit the wall opposite. Whoever was there seemed to have found the tumbled cans, a give-away that they werenât alone.Â
âCome out,â they said calmly. The voice was deep and belonged to a man.
A curse died in your throat. Weighing your options, you glanced down at Nari and signaled for her to stay put. The man was obviously aware of your presence and with you as a distraction, Nari could get out. You werenât worried about yourself more so over her safety. You could cut and swing and shoot, but Nari could only run and slash, and even that wouldnât get her far. Left with no choice, you stepped out of your hiding with your arms locked and gun poised straight at the man.Â
Yeah, Nari would have a zero percent chance of outrunning this guy. He was taller than the shelves and the majority of his body consisted of legs and muscle. Not only that, but his arms were long too and heâd probably get to you in three steps or less, hands quick to grasp at your shoulders and neck. Hand-to-hand combat would leave you with a guaranteed loss and the safest bet would be to keep him at three arms lengths. Speaking of arms, he wore a black leather jacket. In fact, he as a whole was covered in black clothing â except for the white cap on his head â even his hands were adorned with fingerless gloves. Quite strange as you were in the middle of summer, but you had seen stranger things. Trailing downwards, you noticed a gun was semi-hiding beneath his jacket and you wondered what else dangerous he kept out of view.
The cock of a gun snatched your attention. A gun â much bigger than yours â was in one of his hands and he made it out to be the size of a teaspoon. It looked ridiculous. Not only was this man tall as a skyscraper, but his hands were big enough to crush your head in.
Appearance wise â besides the overly traumatic analytic of his body proportions â he was quite handsome for living in an apocalypse, and clean too. Dark brown hair that tickled his nape and a fringe which nearly fell in front of his eyes. A long nose and round, but serious eyes which didnât leave your figure since stepping in his line of vision. His lips, formed with a cupidâs bow, were pressed together and quite dry. If it werenât for your unfortunate situation and the fact you didnât care about him, youâd maybe offer him one of the hundred lip balms hanging by the cash register.
âWho are you?âÂ
It must have been the dumbest question to date. What value did your identity have in a fucked up world?Â
âI could ask you the same thing.â
âAnd I asked first.â
Youâve held more mature conversations with Nari than this guy.Â
Sensing you werenât willing to give up any personal information, he tried approaching the situation in a different manner. âAre you alone?âÂ
âYes,â you answered without skipping a beat. Your eyes were locked on his, refusing to glance in Nariâs direction.Â
The silent battle of not moving lasted for a few more seconds until he decided to break it.Â
âIâm Yunho.âÂ
The muscles of your mouth twitched downward and you tightened the hold on your gun, the trigger still being hugged by your pointer finger. You couldnât give less of a fuck if his name was Yunho, Bruno or Minho.Â
âIâm not here to cause trouble, Iâm just looking for supplies. Thereâs a group of us, all very hungry and tired. We could use some of the food in here.â
âBeggars canât be choosers.â
The corners of his lips curled in an amused grin. âNo, they canât, but all Iâm asking for is a bit of compassion. Youâre one person. We are a group of thirty-forty people. You surely donât need all the food in here?â
A silly question. Everyone was either starving or injured, not to speak of completely sleep-deprived. Of course you needed everything. From the smallest piece of crumb to the most out of date canned fruit.
âCompassion flew out the window the moment I was attacked by other people. Whoâs to say you wonât do the same?â
âIf I wanted you dead, youâd have a bullet lodged between your eyes by now.â
Fuck this guy, you were not giving him shit.Â
âThat was the wrong thing to say, wasnât it? However, I donât think youâd let me leave with anything to be honest,â he chuckled and lowered his gun. A bold move for a guy who was deliberately pissing you off.
âYouâre finally getting the hang of things around here. I advise you to leave while Iâm still being civil. Itâd be a shame to end the life of someone so brave. Risking your life for thirty-something people. Thatâs hard to find nowadays.â
âDoesnât take much. Maybe you should try it sometime.â
A comeback rested on the tip of your tongue, but was swallowed with a startle as vehicle lights seeped through the sealed windows and the squealing sound of tires coming to a stop outside. You slid back behind the shelf where Nari was still seated on the dirty floor, but shimmied more over to the left so you could fit better. Both flinched as Yunho rounded the same corner. His eyes grew comically in size at the sight of Nari and if it werenât for the newcomers, you were confident heâd make a comment about her presence. Probably something about honesty getting you far, which you clearly lacked, and youâd argue it left you with nothing but a broken nose.Â
As the door opened and multiple footsteps echoed through the store, Yunho stepped closer to you. His right hand came up next to your face as the other raised his gun, ready to attack if given the chance. His right hand was tense against the shelf and the only reason he wasnât completely pressed up against you. The position was uncomfortable and you could smell a faint fragrance of lavender and some other herb emitting from his wrist next to your face. His other hand was raised up to his cheek, the pointer finger on the trigger and his face turned sideways as if to work out when would be the best time to attack.Â
âBe careful, that engine was still hot. They couldnât have gone very far,â a gruff voice exploded through the store. Great more men.
âLooks like this one wasnât raided, Boss,â another man announced, his voice squeaky and unpleasant for the ears, as a third guy whooped in delight.
Light as a feather, your fingers brushed against his elbow closest to your head and the brief contact was enough for him to find your eyes. You nodded to something behind him and Yunho held your gaze before slightly turning sideways. A door was left ajar. Usually, youâd never enter a space without checking it free from infected or traps, but it was either meeting these strangers head on with a guy you were ready to blow the head off a few seconds ago or going head on into danger.Â
Yunho prodded the side of his cheek with his tongue and pointed at Nari. He wanted her to go first, but you were quick to shut the thought down. As much as it drove you crazy to leave Nari in his wake for a moment or two, it was safer than having her deal with biters alone. Your pointer finger was driven into his peck and Yunho shook his head. What a gentleman. There was no time to argue so you pointed at yourself, then at Nari and lastly at Yunho. He wordlessly agreed and you gave a quick pat to the top of Nariâs head. As you pushed off the shelf, Yunho grabbed your bicep and it took everything in you not to drive your knife in the side of his torso. It was then you discovered one of the men standing in your blindspot and had you stepped out he wouldâve definitely seen you. The man turned around and Yunhoâs fingers were off you in seconds, giving you the green light to go. Stealthy as a cat and quick as a bunny, you disappeared behind the door without alerting the men.
You found yourself in a passageway leading to a bigger space which you recognized as a storage room. The rest of the room was bigger than the front of the store and somewhere in the far back, behind stacks of prepackaged foods and other goods, you could see a green emergency sign, probably a door leading to the outside world. Your only concern being if something was against it on the other side. Seconds later, Nari came through and the world spun faster than itâs normal at a thousand miles per hour.
âWe have to help him!â She hissed and pulled at your wrist back to where you came from.
âHelp who?â
âYunho! Theyâve spotted him or, no, they saw me, but he went out of hiding so they wouldnât go after me.â
âNari, stop. We have to go.â
âWhat!? We canât just leave him.âÂ
You tore your wrist out of her grip and latched onto her shoulders in return. âThe fuck we canât. Heâs not my priority. You are.â
âHe tried to help us and even got us both to safety! Please, auntie, itâs the right thing to do.â
âWhat did I tell you about playing the hero? Weâre not in some video game, Nari. Itâs the real world. Just because itâs right doesnât mean youâll get out of there alive and Iâve done a lot to ensure our safety. I wonât let some stupid men be the reason I lose you, do you hear me?â
She shook out of your embrace and pushed you back. Tears littered her waterline and lips wobbled from holding back sobs. âWhy are you so mean?â
No punch to the gut would make you lose your breath the way those five words did. How would you explain to a child that the last years were all for her own good at the same time as you were letting someone else die?
âFuck,â you whispered and clutched the roots of your hair. âFuck, fuck, fuck!âÂ
You checked the magazine of your gun and counted six bullets. All you needed was three.
âOkay, fuck. Hereâs what weâll do. You clear this area. Take anything thatâs useful and not heavy, okay? Iâll go check the situation outside. Whatever happens, donât fucking think of coming for us. Do you understand?â
âButââ
âI said, do you understand?â
Hesitation swirled in Nariâs eyes and she gnawed on her lower lip. Agreeing with your conditions meant she was practically leaving you for the dead and while you always returned, safe and untouched, it made her more aware of this being real with no take-backs. Remembering the kindness Yunho showed within the second he met you, Nari couldnât take it for granted and be selfish.Â
âI understand.â
Slamming the magazine back in your gun, you nodded. âGood. If Iâm not back in a few, get out and run.â
First, you were unofficially tasked with guarding a literal child, and now you were sent on a rescue mission for a literal stranger.
The door was still not entirely closed and before you dared to peek your head out, a couple voices along with Yunhoâs filled the silence. âIâm telling you, I came alone.â
âAnd Iâm supposed to believe that the Wrangler outside is driven by one man only? Be honest, how many people do you have hiding in the storage room?âÂ
Yunho sighed exasperatedly. âFour less than whatâs out here, so you do the math.â
âBoss, this guy thinks heâs funny. Want me to take him out or leave him to suffer?â The pipsqueak asked and by his voice alone you could guess he wasnât much taller than a fifth grader.
âDonât do shit, Mouse. I want to find that lil girl first.â
The blood in your veins ran cold at the mention of Nari. Now you had to kill them or theyâd circle back to you.Â
âSay less, Boss.â
âLizard, keep your eye on him and Mouse? Go check that room.â
Changing positions, you hid behind the door, handgun exchanged with your combat knife and raised up in front of you. The heartbeats were loud in your ears and mouth dry from nervousness. All you had to do was catch him off guard and the rest would fall into place.Â
The door opened inward and you pressed further into the wall, completely disappearing from his line of sight. Gently, you nudged it back in place and stalked behind the supposed Mouse. You were right, the man wasnât tall and Yunho put him to shame with those long legs of his. Light on your feet almost as if floating through the air, you inched closer to him and advanced. Your hand went over his mouth, index finger and thumb pinching his nose shut, and the knife plunged hard into his back. Mouse barely struggled, which was a given, and you gently let him down. To guarantee he wouldnât come back and bite you in the ass, quite literally, you allowed the blade to go through his skull, ending any chance of possessed resurrection.
One down. Two to go.
It would only be a question of time until their boss sent out the second guy to look for Mr. Pipsqueak over here and it wasnât like you could dispose of the body and clean up all the blood. Whatever youâd do next would catch the attention of the leader and you hoped Yunhoâs height wasnât just a show off, but that he could actually take him on. For all you know they could be from the same community. Yunho did mention they were thirty to forty people.
Taking Mouse by his armpits, you dragged the body away from the door and hid it behind some crates. There was still a track of blood smeared all over the tiles leading straight to the body. It was how you wanted it to be. Mouse wasnât completely useless. A flashlight was attached to his hip along with a fairly bigger gun than your own â you recognized it as a glock â and a taser. These guys were either a part of previous law enforcement or raided the place. You tore the bag off his shoulders and flung it over your own, it wasnât heavy at all and you hoped he at least had some extra bullets. Feeling like you wasted enough time you hid behind two boxes stacked on top of each other on the opposite side of Mouse. Whoever entered would react to his body first before theyâd catch a whiff of you.
Any time now, you thought and crouched into position. As if speaking into existence, the door swung violently and collided with the wall behind, and your muscles tensed. The grip on your knife tightened and you refrained from breathing too loud. You refrained from breathing at all.Â
âWhat the fuck?â
Your plan was in motion as Lizard immediately noticed the blood. Anyone cautious enough would think of it as a biter attack and not something created by a pair of human hands. As thought, the man crossed the nonexistent threshold into the actual storage room and immediately saw his comrade in a forever slumber. He hastily turned around, gun up in the air and eyes wide, a wildfire spread in them as he locked gazes with you. His open mouth formed into a mean scowl and as his finger hugged the trigger, you lunged forward with your arms out. They pushed against his and â to your favor â changed the trajectory of his gun. The bullet was fired up in the sky, marking the start of your fight.Â
Lizard shook you off himself and you fell with a roll landing behind more crates and boxes. As you got up on your feet, a pair of hands grabbed you by the collar of your shirt and smashed you back down. The air was knocked out of you and the telltales of a concussion quickly flooded your body. Your brain wasnât getting enough oxygen and the world was spinning faster than a thousand miles per hour. Lizard threw a knee over each side of your hips and grasped a firmer hold around your neck. The air you were craving didnât enter your lungs. Panic and the instinct to survive seeped in your veins as you desperately clawed at his hands.Â
âYou fucking bitch. Think you could take us out, huh?â He hauled you off the floor only to slam you back down. âCâmon, do something now. You canât, can you? You bitches are good for nothing.â He chucked sinisterly. âDonât worry, Iâll make it so you feel everything before I let you turn into those devil spawns.â
It felt disgusting. His rough hands on your skin and spit flying in your face. Tears clouded your eyes and the more he squeezed, the more it felt like they were going to pop out of your skull. It wouldnât surprise you if veins were prominent on your head and neck or your nails turned a creepy shade of blue. You wondered if you looked as scary as the rotten biters.Â
Lizard was staring into your soul. He made it his life mission to take you out. To see the life slip from you. If you werenât on the verge of death with hands restricting your vocal chord, youâd ask him what woman rejected him to be calling you a bitch every five seconds. Too caught up with seeing you die, he was completely unaware of anything else. Eyes crazy and mouth pulled upwards, the happy expression scared you more than anything else and perhaps it was what still kept you going. Your arm was extended, fingers fighting to grasp the knife which was just about out of your reach. Black spots appeared in the air and it was getting harder and harder to stay conscious.
âDumb bitch, do you think Iâm fucking blind?â
Your combat knife landed in his hand â the other still pushing at your neck â and came up against your cheek. The sharp point rested against your delicate skin.
âI should leave a mark. What do you think? Youâre quite pretty for a bitch.â
Garbled words were whispered out in the open. Realizing you wanted to say something, he let up on his hold. The inhale of oxygen was sharp and hurt more than it did soothe your lungs.Â
âWhat did you say, scum?â
âI said,â you inhaled deeply and raspily exclaimed, âgo fuck yourself!â
Your thick spit mixed with blood launched and landed straight in his eye. The knife was temporarily off your face as he wiped the saliva off his own.
âShould have picked a better choice of last words.â
A gun went off and your heart stopped. When did Lizard get a hold of his gun?
Warm, sticky blood splattered all over your face and your skin beneath the thick liquid burned. Lizard went limp and fell forward, and you wasted no time pushing him off you. He landed with a thud. The crazy from his eyes was gone and now he was left to stare lifelessly at the ceiling of a random storage room. More blood pooled on the floor and you stared at him, chest heaving and oxygen slowly getting back in your system. Your hearing was overtaken by a buzzing sound, like the whistle of a kettle or the harsh wind of a storm, and didnât fully return until a few minutes later.Â
Noticing a figure, you tore your gaze away from the body and it landed on something more lively. In front of you â not a scratch to his face and a few splatters of red adorning his cheeks and forehead â stood Yunho, one hand holding his gun and the other stuffed in the front pocket of his pants. His eyes trailed all over you, but lingered longer at the area around your neck, for what reason you couldnât bother grasping as you were too busy catching your breath. Done ogling you, Yunho stuffed the gun in the holster attached to his hip and waited for you to accept his hand.
âIs your compassion back now?â
âAuntie!âÂ
The familiar voice of Nari snapped you out of the pain. You whipped your head around and were met with a flash of black hair and thin arms circling around you, pulling you closer to a shuddering body. The smell of rose petals and dirt wrapped around you in a secure blanket.
âNari,â you croaked out.Â
âYou scared me.â
No words could relay how sorry you were and instead you embraced her in a hug, your hand coming to caress the back of her head as the other was gently laid on her back. Something wet hit your shoulder and seeped into your bloodied shirt.Â
âItâs okay.â
You didnât sound okay and your throat may have hurt, and youâd just gotten the cloud of darkness out of your view, but none of it mattered. Having Nari in your arms unharmed meant you were well too. Yunho silently stared at the intimate moment unraveling before his eyes. The forty people waiting for him back at camp were the equivalent of your one niece and he understood that. Everyone had people theyâd do anything for, someone keeping them going in this living hell. Nari was your person. She helped you back on your legs. A bit shaky, but up nonetheless. With the back of your hand, you wiped away as much blood off your face as possible, but it felt like you were smearing it around.
âHere.â
You jumped at the four-letter-word and pushed Nari behind you. Yunho, who was holding your knife, gun and a rag you hadnât seen before, didnât take offense to your heightened protectiveness. You nearly died at the hands of another man, heâd be worried if you werenât cautious of him. He gingerly held out your things and planted them in the palms of your hands.Â
âI didnât think youâd wait around.â
âI wasnât,â you confessed and cleaned your face. The rag smelled of oil and tires. âBut she talked me into it so if youâre going to thank someone, thank the kid.âÂ
At the mention of her doing, Nari peeked over your shoulder only to retreat as Yunhoâs eyes found hers. Cute, he thought and smiled at her timidity.
âI know she makes the last calls, but thanks, kiddo. Iâd probably be in a lot of trouble if it werenât for you.â
A long silence settled over you. The fingers of Lizard still ghosted over your neck, an imaginary pressure squeezing your tendons and making you fight for air. With the expectation to touch the digits of someone else, your fingers ran alongside the tender area and the suffocating feeling disappeared. Yunho followed your movements, jaw clenched and eyes darkening at the sight of gradually growing blue and purple bruises on your skin.Â
âWe part ways here,â you declared and returned the cloth.Â
âYou think thatâs a good idea?â
Yunho didnât mean for it to come out as a threat and he backtracked when your stance grew defensive, your hand armed with the knife and the other thrown protectively in front of Nari.Â
âItâs dangerous at night and youâre hurt. Come back to camp with me. My people, we could patch you up and give you food and medicine until youâre good enough to go out on your own.â
âNot a chance in hell.â
âLook, I know youâre suspicious of me. I get that, but I wonât hurt you. If I wanted you deadââ
âIâd have a bullet lodged between my eyes. I know, but I could also get a knife lodged through my back or neck snapped when least expected.â
Yunho sighed. âIf you donât think you need the help, at least think of your niece. A week or two where she doesnât have to wake up wondering if youâll have enough food and water to last you for the day. Donât you think she deserves to have a break too? Where she can act her age and not be alert every waking hour of the day?â
What kind of question was that? Of course you wanted Nari to have a normal life. Where she could meet friends, go to the mall after school, have boyfriends and girlfriends â whichever she was into â experience her first heartbreak whether it be romantic or platonic. You wanted it all for her. Youâd hand pluck each and every star in the sky if she asked you to. What you werenât going to do, was put her in harm's way.Â
âYouâre asking me to do the impossible⊠Choosing between living and surviving.â
A small hand came to rest on your lower back, fingers weaving into your shirt and anchoring you. It didnât make you flinch, the contact was an all too familiar occurrence by now. A wordless reminder to take a breather and actually think things through. To not make decisions based on what was right or wrong, safe or dangerous, life or death. Throwing a glance over your shoulder and seeing the sullen expression on Nariâs face was enough of a reason to accept Yunhoâs offer.Â
This girl would be the death of you and youâd have it no other way.
The ride to Yunhoâs camp lasted for well over a day, but you didnât set off until the sun peeked over the tall buildings of Seoul. You were already taking a risk trusting Yunho, the last thing you needed was a run in with the biters at night. On the bright side, it gave you more than enough time to search the store for necessities. There was little to no space left in Yunhoâs Jeep and you were assured, if rationed sparingly, the supplies would last his group for a week or two.Â
Beautiful scenery of abandoned farms and vibrant, lively forests passed in blurs. You couldnât remember the last time you were out of the city. Away from skyscrapers, ditched vehicles and hoards of biters. At some point you passed a group of horses that once belonged to humans, but turned wild. Yunho switched the blinker to the left before turning, a built-in reflex from years of driving in normal traffic. He glanced in the rearview mirror and smiled. Nari was sprawled out in the backseat, her bag sufficed as a pillow and a purple stuffie â which Yunho had a hard time figuring out the species of â was trapped in her arms. He wondered how a girl seemingly his age and a child lasted so long without a network to lean back on.
âWhat did you do? You know, before everything went to shit?âÂ
The greenery was replaced with Yunhoâs profile. You lingered a little, taking in the slope of his nose, pouty lips and pinkish ears. The ends of his hair curled, tickling his nape and falling over his eyes. As he averted his gaze for a split second, you hastily looked back out the window.
âNothing. I had recently moved to Seoul with a fresh diploma. The plan was to find a job and save up for traveling and other shit, but job hunting didnât go as expected so I worked part time babysitting my neighbor's daughter until an opportunity would present itself. The outbreak happened before I could put my education to use.â
âSheâs not your niece?â
âNot by blood, no, but sheâs the closest thing to a family I have left.â
It took a while until Yunho said something else. The running engine and the crunch of tires on gravel mixed with the stillness of the countryside. The conversation sent you down memory lane. Images of your dad teaching you how to ride a back and then a car popped up like an ad that shifted to one of your many girlâs days with your mom. Not bearing the cumbersome memories, you rolled down the window and aired the car out.Â
âWhat about you? What were you doing?â
Yunho jolted and the car swirled left then right until it was back to driving in a straight line. A loud groan came from the back. Nari sat up, eyes squinted and lips pouting as a hand came up to rub against the back of her head. The driver offered her a sheepish smile and a whispered apology. He cleared his throat and pressed on the pedal, the car accelerated and with enough speed he shifted his right foot on the clutch and changed into a higher gear.
âI was working in a repair shop. School wasnât it for me and I knew a dude whose father worked with cars so he pulled some strings and before I knew it, boom, I was seventeen and employed.â
For a second, you imagined him in blue working pants, a white tank top and smudges of oil on his fingers and cheeks. Maybe far in the future when you bought a car and it eventually broke down or needed an oil change, youâd stumble into his workplace and meet him there. No threat of having your brains blown out or body gnawed out by the infected, but be welcomed by his cheeky smile and the question of what needed to be fixed today.Â
âSo you can teach me how to drive?â Nari burst your bubble. Her head peeked out between the two front seats, one arm latched onto the headrest of Yunhoâs seat and her upper body completely crossed over to the front.Â
âCar rule, kiddo.â
An annoyed sigh left her lips as she dramatically flung back in her spot. With no hurry behind her moves, she buckled the seatbelt and crossed her arms over her chest.Â
âAnd no, he can't teach you how to drive.â
Nari snapped her mouth shut and sank further down in her seat. Youâd reconsider if she asked for it as a gift for her birthday, but that wish was already decided. While it could be necessary for survival, most of the cars you found were already emptied of gas and what good would it bring her if she couldnât see over the wheel? She was already pushing it with wanting to handle a gun.
âI mean, I donât mind going through the basicsââ
Much like Nari, Yunho sealed his mouth shut at the scorching heat of your glare. No more words were exchanged apart from Nari asking Yunho about this supposed camp. Questions about how big it was, were there animals, were there dogs, what kind of rooms they had and other questions reminding you she was just a kid.
âWe have a dog.â
âA dog! Whatâs its name?!â
Yunho hummed, âHis name is Heart.â
As the two got into a nice conversation about the dog, stars glimmering in their eyes and hearts overflowing with joy, you caught wind of movement in the distance. A singular figure stopped in the middle of the road and at first glance it was almost mistaken for a biter, but as they raised their arms up and took on the stance of a man you realized you werenât dealing with the infected. Eyes widening and brain not functioning to produce the words, you rapidly started hitting the dashboard.
âWhat?â Yunho glanced over at you and then back through the windshield, still not seeing anything alarming.
âStop the fucking car!â
The bullets moved faster than Yunho could slam down on the brakes and tore right through the glass, piercing him in the shoulder. Nari screamed and Yunho tried avoiding the shooter, but the pain made it hard to maneuver the wheel and he drove into the person, killing them right on the spot. You turned around to check on Nari, hoping not one of the three bullets grazed her skin and as the car swiveled to the sides, you faced the front again. View obscured by cracks in the glass and shards flying everywhere, it was hard to make out the road and it wasnât until you got closer to the other vehicles that you screamed.
âWatch out!â
The collision sent you into a deep sleep that would last until the sun kissed the horizon and greeted the moon on her way out. Stars twinkled in the sky, no city lights or air pollution there to dim the pretty view. You woke up with a stir. A heavy ache spread through the back of your head and spread to the front. Chirping of crickets and raspy groans filled the silence. You put a hand up to your head, feeling for a cut or blood or any injury to have you lightheaded, but there was nothing.
âFuck,â you managed to get out through a dry mouth.
Unbuckling the belt, you turned around and were met with a switchblade in your face and Nariâs teary eyes staring at you. Furrowing your brows, a noise akin to a confused hum left you and your gaze ventured to a passed-out Yunho.Â
âPlease, please, please donât be one of them. Please, donât make me do this. Anyone but you.â
You glanced back at Nari and saw big, fat tears running down her cheeks. The knife in her hand was shaking and her breathing was unstable. Images of the incident flashed in your mind; the shooting, Yunhoâs shoulder, the collision, you losing consciousness.Â
âNari, are you alright? Are you hurt?â
As you moved further over the console to see her better, she shimmied backwards and yelped.
âDonât touch me! Please.â
You werenât scared of the weapon, but of the one behind it. However, in this situation, you knew Nari wasnât capable of hurting a fly let alone the one person who cared for her. The knowledge didnât soothe your mind. Clasping your hands around her shaking ones, you took the switchblade out of her hold and ran your thumb soothingly over her skin.Â
âItâs okay. Weâre okay.â
âYunho,â she started and wiped her nose. âHeâs hurt. There was so much blood and, andââ
You couldnât fathom how you didnât notice his bare body, the bloodied bandage going around his shoulder and chest, or his faint breathing as if barely there.Â
âIâ I tried fixing it. I used one of our medkits to stop the bleeding, but I didnât know how.â
Your fingers gently pressed on his bandage and then you hovered them beneath his nose. âNo, itâs good, I think you've stopped the bleeding. Itâs his breathing Iâm concerned about.â
âWhy?â
âItâs weak. We have to get him to that camp.âÂ
You unbuckled his seatbelt and moved his chair further back. With gentle slaps to his face, you called his name. God knows what youâd do if he didnât wake up. There was no way youâd be able to carry him out of the car and into the backseat.
âCome on, wake up!â You hissed and started pulling at his eyelids. It was after the fifth repeat of his name that he fluttered them open.Â
âAngel?â
âWhoâs Angel?â Nari asked.
Disregarding her question, you gave him one more chaste slap to the cheek. âAre you with me?â
Yunho nodded and tried to sit up, only to groan in pain and fall back.
âYeah, buddy. I donât know if you remember, but you got shot. It looks pretty bad and we need to get you help.âÂ
âIt hurts.âÂ
âI can imagine. Can you hold out until youâre in the back?â
With a determined nod and sigh of exasperation the plan was in motion. Before jumping out into the dark, you scoped out the area and spotted a handful of biters standing quite far from the car.Â
âWe gotta be quick,â you warned and ran over to Yunhoâs side.Â
Throwing open the door and placing his uninjured arm over your shoulders, you helped him â more like pulled him â out of the car. Nari was quick to open the backdoor from inside and move away. Blood drew from how hard you were biting your tongue. He was making quite a fuss and the last thing you needed was to gather the attention of the biters. By the time you were behind the wheel, Nari had jumped to the front from between the seats.Â
âWill you be able to see?â Nari gestured to the broken windshield.Â
By some miracle, the whole glass was still intact except for the one hole created by the bullet currently inside Yunhoâs shoulder. The other shots probably hit something less vital or completely missed the vehicle.
âYeah, itâs not that bad. Annoying? Definitely, but manageable. Just put on the seatbelt and give me your map.â
Doing as told, you unfolded the paper and turned to Yunho. âOkay, hey. Hey! Are you with me? Good. Now, point out where weâre going.â
Slow as ever and shaking like a baby foal, he managed to press his finger on the paper and you were quick to mark it down with a pen.Â
âGood, thatâs good. Nari, you keep an eye on him. If he falls asleep, wake him. We donât want him sleeping for more than a few minutes at a time. If he shows any sign of turning, and I mean any sign, you tell me or weâre all as good as screwed.â
âGot it.â
The most recent time you handled a car, you were still living with your parents and only really used the family car for when going somewhere out of town. Driving was like walking. Once you got it down it was a part of your nervous system. Sure, your skills could get rusty the longer you went without driving, but they sat in the back of your mind like the multiplication table.Â
You were an hour into the drive and by your calculations, you wouldnât reach the spot for another two.
âWho do you think Angel is?â
âItâs none of my concern, Nari.â
âNo, but Iâm curious. Do you think itâs a friend?â Your silence spurred her on. âOr a girlfriend?â She tauntingly wiggled her brows and you had half a mind not to steer the car into a tree.
âAgain, it really isnât my or your business.â
âWhat Korean person is named Angel though? Isnât that, like, really foreign?â Nari gasped dramatically. âWhat if itâs his child? People are more modern with names these days, but he does look a bit too young to be a dadâŠâ
âNari,â you said, a sternness to your tone.
âOkay, okay⊠But what if he thought you were an angel?â
It was going to be a long two hours.Â
Multiple signs with poor writing were stationed with a distance of ten miles between each board. The words were in black â whether it be by paint, a marker or a spraycan, you didnât know â with an arrow showing what direction to follow.
âSector one, all survivors are welcome. Doesnât sound that bad, right?â
You scratched the side of your neck. The consistent position of sitting with your arms stretched out and feet on the pedals was giving you an ache in your back.
âI guess weâll just have to see. Howâs he holding up?â
Nari wiped sweat off Yunho's forehead. âHeâs still breathing. A bit sweaty, but heâs not burning up.â
âWeâll be there soon enough. Letâs hope at least one of these forty people is a doctor or something. Thereâs only so much a medkit can do.â
Noticing another sign, you flashed the high beams and lit up the whole road. The only difference about this poster was the additional wooden plank beneath reading, five kilometers away and an arrow showing left. Doing as the sign read, you turned left and came off the street into a secluded path obscured by trees and bushes. It was big enough for three mid-sized cars, but it was still suffocating. If anything jumped out, youâd only have the option to run them over.
âThis is scary,â Nari whispered from the back as if a louder volume would draw an army of people or biters from nowhere.
âAgreed.â You stepped on the gas and advised Nari to hold on as the road was getting bumpier the faster you went. Yunhoâs head bobbed to the side and hit the window multiple times until Nari placed Spiderfrog between them.
The forest gradually grew further and further away from the road until a chain-linked fence came into view. What came next was like something taken out of a fairy tale. On the other side stood big cement walls with barbed wire continuing all around the top edge. It was already impossible to climb them due to their height, but the steel spikes made it abundantly clear to not even try. Each corner of the walls had a little house, like a treehouse created out of stone, with a perfect sight miles away. The greenery separated the remaining world from the castle-like building and you wondered where in hell you had arrived. As the magic of a fairy tale evaporated into thin air, it dawned on you where Yunhoâs group had taken shelter.Â
At a prison.
âLook.â Nariâs arm came through the middle and her index finger raised at something so obvious it shouldâve been the first thing to catch your eye.Â
The Jeep slowed down as you lightly pressed on the brakes and shifted down until in the first gear. A sign bigger than all of the previous ones youâd seen combined was nailed to the gates of the chain fence. There were actually two signs, one nailed to each door.Â
Welcome to Sector One.
Pulling on the handbrake and turning the keys sideways, you breathed out as the vibrations of the car came to a stop. The keys were left in the ignition. You werenât going to take chances on an ambush happening and you panicking with finding the right key, inserting it and starting the car without stalling it.
Checking your gun and reloading it with the bullets you found in Mouseâs bag, you turned to Nari. âIâll go first. Donât get out until I give a signal that itâs clear, alright?â
âYes.â
You gave them one last glance. Yunho looked peaceful, but lacked the warmness he greeted you with and although you didnât know him well enough, it was still weird seeing him like that. Treading on the thin line between sleep and death. Then there was Nari. The girl had grown⊠you wouldnât say attached, but rather fond of him and his kindness. There werenât a lot of people who offered you a roof over your heads and food in your tummies, besides, she was still young when the breakdown happened. Not nearly enough time spent in this world to create bonds with more people, especially kids her age. Yunho was â other than you â her closest thing to a friend, someone she deliberately chose to befriend and stand up for. Something was telling you he wasnât about to leave your lives any time soon and if this place proved to be as good as he was making it to be, you'd be forever in his debt.
You stepped out of the car and quickly surveyed the area. It was still dark out and the moon was high up in the sky. Staying on alert with your gun ready, you stalked closer to the gates. The towers seemed to be empty of watchers and you didnât know whether to feel happy or wary of it. If the place was safe, shouldnât someone be on the lookout? The sound breaching your ears seconds before Yunho was upgraded with a new wound to his body went off again and a bullet â you couldnât see, but feel â skimmed past your toes. If you had a penny for every time you were shot at, youâd have two. Not the biggest number in town, but it sure was crazy considering it all happened in the span of two days.
Clasping your gun between both of your hands, you aimed it high and looked around. The bullet came from a place where the shooter had a perfect view of everything. Your eyes widened as a body that wasnât there seconds ago stood in the tower closest to the gate. No wonder you didnât see them, they blended perfectly in with the dark swirls of the sky. Youâd argue their black clothes â a hoodie pulled over their head and swallowing them completely â were darker than the background. However, it wasnât their sudden appearance that had you frozen in place, it was the rifle resting in their embrace.
âDrop the gun and step back,â they shouted and when you didnât comply, they continued. âDrop the gun or have your brains blown out. Itâs your decision, sweetheart.â
Cursing the mysterious person didnât feel like it would give you free entry into Sector One. Then again, if it meant dealing with armed people shooting without a thought behind their heads then you didnât want in. For the sake of Nari though, you did as the guy ordered and raised your hands in a mocking gesture.
âKick it away from you!â
âAre you serious?â You mumbled beneath your breath. The guy was really testing your patience. Playing the part of an obedient dog, you sent your handgun hurling toward the gates.
âNice Jeep you have there. Whereâd you get it?â
âA friend of mine.âÂ
In any other circumstance Yunho wouldnât be described as your friend. Heck, you couldnât even call him an acquaintance. The guy was still a stranger in your eyes, but you wouldnât test your luck with the rifle-guy.Â
He chuckled â dare you say charmingly â and lowered the rifle so it was resting on the rails of the tower.Â
âThatâs funny because my friend has the exact same car with the exact same logo on the front and last time I checked, my friend went out alone for some dog food and not with some girl. So, letâs try this again⊠Nice Jeep you have there. Whereâd you get it?â
âYunho. His name is Yunho. A funny guy, quite tall too.â
Rifle-guy moved with such speed that the hood slid off his head. The weapon was raised again and you were certain he was a millimeter away from shooting you dead.Â
âWhat did you do to him? You better answer fast or Iâll send so many bullets through you, weâll alert every biter in a ten mile radius.â
âHeâs in the back. Breathing, but barely. He offered me a place to stay and we got attacked on our way here⊠I stopped the bleeding, but thereâs no guarantee of his survival.â
Time seemed to stop as the guy didnât move. You didnât dare breathe louder and tensed your whole body from moving an inch. Anyone with a weapon aimed at you and their finger on the trigger wasnât to be trusted. A bullet could be fired with the slightest of movement and you werenât about to suffer the same fate as Yunho for breathing a little harder or accidentally losing your footing.
Feeling impatient you cleared your throat and spoke up. âI can show you⊠Yunho. I can show you heâs in the backseat.â
âHow do I know you wonât get something to shoot me with?â
âBecause people who have something to lose wonât act so recklessly.â
âAnd, do pray tell, what is it that you value so highly?â
Letting out a shaky sigh, you slowly turned your head sideways and looked through the cracked windshield. The guy couldnât see her, but you and Nari made immediate eye contact. You flickered your right hand forward slowly and she caught onto what you were trying to convey. The backdoor opened and with a copy of your stance, Nari exited the car, arms high and vacant of the switchblade you gifted her. She came up to stand beside you, a tight-lipped smile on her face. The guard was taken back as a literal child appeared. Of all the people he encountered over the wall, not once had he aimed the muzzle at a kid. It was usually Yunho or some of the others who brought them in. He dealt with strangers who were lost or searched for cover. Rifle-guy closed his gaping mouth and lowered his weapon again.Â
âStay there. I donât want either of you to move,â he explained and proceeded to talk into a device.
A lamp on the other side of the fence lit up and two figures appeared from a door leading into the building. They were heavily armed, so much you could see, and were of a great build. One was challenging the other with his height â he even gave Yunho a run for it â but the other made up with his broad shoulders. Both carried a rifle each and had thick vests going over their chests, leaving you wondering what kind of camp this was. Were all newcomers welcomed with a rifle straight out of the military embassy and a one-month training program to become ripped?
The pair stopped and just stared at you through the fence. The headlights of Yunhoâs Jeep reached to their knees, but made their faces more visible. The first thing catching your attention was the freshly bleached hair on the tall one. It looked ridiculous, but his serious expression scared you into being quiet. Not to mention his sharp yet round eyes which told you he wasnât amused by your presence. He stuck out like a sore thumb. His companion was more subtle, with parted black hair and a short fringe falling in front of his eyes, but in a fashionable way and not the my-hair-is-a-mess way. Speaking of his eyes, they were sharper than Mr. Snow White over there, but held the heat of a bored tiger. He had very prominent cheekbones and naturally styled brows every model dreamed of having. The sleeveless shirt he was wearing gave a beautiful view of his thick arms, youâd argue his one bicep was the size of your head.Â
The men were as handsome as they were dangerous and you first realized how unfortunate of a situation you were in. Yunho was a nice guy, but his actions didnât seem to reflect those of his friends. The sound of the gates opening by a mechanic whirring snapped you out of your worrisome thoughts.Â
âDonât move,â said the white-haired one. His voice was deeper than the ocean and struck you to the core.Â
You wanted to let him know you werenât planning on it, the threat of rifle-guy hanging over your head. As Snow White advanced to the car and picked up your abandoned gun on his way, his friend held you at gunpoint. You cast a quick glance to the watchtower and saw rifle-guy doing the same thing, his weapon supposedly aimed at Nari. Their positions didnât change, not even when the car door opened and Yunho was carefully thrown over his friendâs shoulder. The pair shared a look and you were ushered back in the car before you could ask about Yunhoâs well-being. Nari followed shortly and it confused you as to why she sat in the passenger seat. When the black haired guy sat right behind you, gun positioned toward Nari, you understood.
âDrive up to the door. Donât think of doing anything funny and I wonât hurt the kid.â
Through the rear-view mirror you held his heated gaze and he raised a perfectly arched brow as if daring you to disobey. Giving up, you started the car and did as ordered. If you had known youâd be rewarded with your heroism by having a gun presented to Nariâs head, you'd have taken the Jeep and left Yunho on the side of the road. Instead, you listened to a freshly turned ten-year-old and got thrown into a jail cell, all for trying to help a guy not die. It could have been worse, you tried convincing yourself. The guards â is what you decided to call them â could have separated you and Nari.Â
You didnât expect much of a prison. The most you knew was from textbooks and documentaries online, and the material didnât give you the best image of the place. You expected dirt, filth and wickedness everywhere. The prisons you heard of gave nothing to the prisoners, they treated them like animals with shitty food and equally shitty sleeping arrangements. To see your cell furnished with a bunk bed, a table in the corner and blankets, you were bewildered. San â the shorter guy with broad shoulders and a tiny waist â locked you in with the promise of returning shortly. Staying true to his words he came back, but with the company of Mr. Snow White. The only real bad side to this arrangement was them taking away all your weapons. Nariâs switchblade, and your combat knife and handgun were all in the possession of San.
âUp to the wall,â he ordered and didnât lock up the door until your backs were one with the wall.
Mr. Snow White entered first with two trays in hand. Your eyes quickly scanned what he was holding. It was food and water. You werenât going to lie, the food looked appetizing and you hadnât eaten a warm meal in a good while, but you knew better than to accept food from strangers. Mr. Snow White placed the trays on the table and straightened back up.
He cleared his throat and clasped his hands behind his back. âIâm Mingi.â
Your eyes didnât leave his and the neutral expression on your face didnât falter. He didnât move and you realized he was waiting to hear your names. You licked your dry lips and glared harder at him. You werenât going to tell him anyâ
âNari. Iâm Nari,â she spoke up from beside you.
You whipped your head toward her and she was purposefully avoiding your gaze. You couldnât believe your ears. There wasnât a critical thought behind that head of hers. Glancing back at Mingi, he raised a brow and tilted his head sideways. Being left with no other choice, you gave up your name. Just because you were exchanging pleasantries didnât mean you were going to be all friendly with them though. They literally took you hostage after you helped one of theirs.Â
âOkay⊠Uh, eat.â
As San fiddled with the jail doors, you coughed up the courage to ask about Yunho.
The jingling of his keys stopped and San looked up at you. The fierce aura from when he held you at gunpoint and growled threats in your ears was replaced by an unexpected softness. His eyes didnât send blades your way and the corners of his mouth weren't pulled in a scowl. Everything about him was completely different and for a flicker of a second you could see the same compassion lit in his soul as well as Yunhoâs.
âHeâs okay. Heâs better. You did a good job stopping the bleeding. Heâs still⊠Unconscious, but his breathing is more stable now.â San sighed and stuffed the key back in his pocket. âIâd like to ask what happened, but itâs not⊠Our Captain wants to talk to you first thing in the morning.â
You werenât surprised at the alias for their leader, it seemed like a lot of people had a knack for weird names.
âI want to talk to Yunho. Heâs the only face I can somewhat trust.â
âAnd you will, but first youâve got to talk to the captain and then as soon as Yunho wakes up weâll bring you to him, so eat and rest.â
Neither of you moved toward the food. It smelled delicious though and your stomach was turning in on itself from hunger. Seasoned chicken and potatoes. How theyâd acquire that you had no idea. It didnât matter though. Everything came with a price, before it was actual money, but now you could be forced to pay in numerous ways. Some which you didnât want to imagine.
âAnd the food? What do you want for it?â
âWant for it?â His dark brows scrunched together and a little wrinkle appeared on the surface between them.Â
âWhat do you want in exchange for the food?â
As if a light switch went off in his head, he waved his hands around. âNothing? Nothing! Itâs free, I mean, itâs leftovers from dinner⊠Weâre not like that. The thing out front was just a precaution. I promise.âÂ
His gaze shifted from you to Nari and his expression softened into that of pity. You both kept quiet as his somber eyes trailed over her lean body and you were a toothpick away from pushing her behind you.
âYouâre too thin for a kid⊠Please, eat⊠And when youâre done, Iâllâ Iâll, uh, bring you something sweet, okay?â
âI like chocolate,â Nari whispered.
âWell, I hope you like pudding because we have lots of it.â As San closed the last big door separating you from the rest of the camp with the reminder to eat, you wasted no time chastising Nari for her lack of critical thinking.
âYou canât go around and trust people like that. This,â you gestured toward the area outside the cell, âisnât permanent. We donât know what they want or what they do to newcomers like us. Not to mention they think we hurt Yunho.â
âBut we canât always expect the worst to happen. They could help, Yunho said they would help.â
âYunho isnât here! Itâs just you and me locked up. Out there we could at least roam free, but now, we donât even know if weâll ever see daylight again.â
Fatigue tugged at your eyelids and all the muscles in your body burned from overexhaustion. You plopped down on the bottom bunk, arms propped on your knees and head in your hands, as you tried assessing the situation. However you looked at it, you were at a disadvantage. Your only hope would be Yunho waking up and even then you werenât entirely free from harm. The tall man could still lie and put the blame for his wound on you.
The bubble of darkness burst as keys clashed together and the cell door was harshly opened. You didnât remember falling asleep or laying down in bed, or the feel of your head hitting the plush pillow. It just happened. Rolling off the bed, you took on a defensive stance with your hands coming up to your face. You were ready to pounce at anyone daring to come inside.
âI thought I told you guys to eat?â
Blinking your weary eyes awake, you took in the disappointed look of San. This guy apparently had a thing for promises because he was standing there with a chocolate flavored pudding in hand. The two trays on the side were once filled with warm food and had turned cold from being out in the open for long. Your stomach growled in retaliation and you tried pushing back the thought of regret.
Regret for not eating. Regret for yelling at Nari. Regret for helping Yunho.
âAnd I told you I wanted to speak with Yunho.â
Additional shuffling footsteps echoed in the empty block and the familiar head of black locks peeking from around the side of your cell grabbed your attention.
âCalm down now.â
âYunho!â Nari wasted no time climbing down the ladder. Her imaginary tail wagged violently as if an excited dog reuniting with her friend from the park. Thinking about it, you werenât that far off with the visual imagination. They got into a small conversation about his shoulder that quickly shifted to questions about Heart. You breathed out and slumped down on the chair behind you. Yunho was alright. He was breathing and talking and walking just fine. The chances of your and Nariâs survival skyrocketed by fifty percent. He gently patted the top of her head and a dimple you hadnât paid attention to earlier formed on his cheek. The ripped pieces of fabric from last night were replaced by a white loose-fitting t-shirt and â instead of wearing his black jeans â a pair of gray sweatpants covered his long legs.Â
âYouâre okay.â
Yunho hummed. âOf course. It takes more than a measly bullet to get rid of me.â
âYou were closer to death than life,â was what you wanted to say, but held back. It wasnât your place to remind him of his state. Besides, he wasn't anyone of importance. Yunho was your ticket to safety until you decided to move along somewhere else.
âNot to interrupt your lovely reunion, but Captain wants to see you soooo,â San interrupted. âLetâs go.â
He proceeded to sheepishly smile as you raised a brow at the loaded rifle in his hands. âIâm sorry, but itâs just a precaution.â
A precaution for what? They already took all of your things. How big of a threat could you pose with your bare hands and a kid against a mountain-shaped guy and his skyscraper of a friend? There was nothing you could do to put a scratch on either of them and you were certain youâd get an arm, if not both, broken in return.
âCan we see Heart after this?âÂ
Sanâs brows flew up at the question and he turned toward Yunho who was still sporting a bright smile. âThey know about Heart?â
The taller of the two men only shrugged, but the gleeful expression gave him away. You didnât have enough energy to reprimand Nari for her nonchalant behavior. The girl was doing whatever she wanted and you didnât deem the situation dangerous enough to land either of you in trouble, unless the dog was rabid and attacked at first sight.
âLetâs see what their leader wants first, okay?â You put a hand on her shoulder and guided her out of the cage.
Nothing prepared you for the walk from one empty cell block to another full of people gauging you like circus freaks. It wasnât that weird considering you and Nari looked to be taking daily baths in the sewers and voluntarily gave each other body altercating wounds, but it annoyed you nonetheless. Fear pooled in their eyes, young as old, and you wondered how out of touch with reality they really were. July turned into August three times since the outbreak started. What kind of rules was Sector One built upon if their people couldnât hold their own?Â
It made your blood boil. You wanted to give them a reason to be scared. Bare your teeth at them and ask what they had been doing while you were fighting for your life day by day.Â
âThis is where I stop. Yunho will be with you, so just follow him,â San said from behind you. âCaptainâs already waiting inside, Yun.â
âRoger that soldier⊠Come on, letâs not keep him waiting.â
The room they labeled the âCaptainâs headquartersâ was probably where the previous warden spent most of their time while working. It looked nice. Classy. You could argue it was a different world than the rest of the jail. There was actual furniture inside, two leather sofas facing each other with an expensive looking table in the middle. To your left was a little window looking out on the common room; the area where people ogled you like nothing. Behind the leather set up was a mahogany desk where a man much shorter than Yunho, Mingi and San sat. Two pairs of chairs were placed across from him, letting you know he was expecting your and Nariâs presence.
The most outstanding detail of his was the white bandage wrapped around his forehead and slightly over his right eye. Captain â as they called him â stood up, a smile taking over his features and his eye creasing from cheesing too much. He had quite a peculiar look to himself; short black hair in the front that grew more at the back and covered his nape like a semi-mullet with the sides freshly shaved. His nose was charming and pointed, quite small too and the lone eye reminded you of a catâs. Mischievous and cunning.Â
Unlike the rest of the people youâd met, this guy wasnât wearing plain clothing. A white button-up shirt clung to his thin frame and a pair of black slacks actuated his well-formed legs. It wasnât something people wore in the apocalyptic setting as they opted for clothes allowing them more movement. To top it off, a green military jacket reaching above his ankles hid the fancy outfit underneath.Â
âTake a seat, please.â
While you and Nari did as told, Yunho cleared his throat from behind and the leaderâs eyes (or well, eye) lit up with a particular glow.
âItâs nice to see you back on your feet, Yunho, but try not to die when you go out on a mission next time, hm?âÂ
Said man mockingly saluted and leaned against the wall beside the door.Â
âWant anything to drink? Water, tea, juice?â
Your stone cold expression conveyed your answer and the silence from Nari wasnât hard to decipher either.Â
âThe offer still stands if you change your mind⊠Anyways, welcome to Sector One. Iâm Hongjoong or as the people call me, Captain.â
You didnât put up a fight to keep your names a secret. Mingi, San and Yunho already knew of them and it wouldnât take long until one of the three whispered it in their leaderâs ears.Â
âI already know of you. I talked to San, Mingi and Wooyoung about it and the guys told me fairly the same things, but Iâm still curious about what you have to say.â
âDoes it make a difference?â You asked and parted your legs, leaning comfortably against the backrest and your arms coming up to cover your chest. âYouâre obviously going to believe your little soldiers before even taking into account what I have to say.â
Hongjoong smiled even wider, not taking his lone eye off you and it was slowly starting to bug you out. Especially when he didnât blink and just continued holding your gaze.Â
âThatâs valid, but Iâd rather hear your side before I decide on anything. Think of Yunho as an alibi, plus you look quite young to be fending for your life. For both of your lives, so Iâm feeling a bit sentimental.â
The insult of him shoving his dick up his own ass didnât get to be flung out in the open as Nari took the lead of the conversation. She spilled everything from your first encounter with Yunho to your near-death experience as a person appeared out of thin air and unloaded rapid shots.
âAnd Yunho said you had a dog named Heart and promised me Iâd get to meet him!â
Hongjoong, who was resting his arms on the desk with his fingers intertwined and lips touching the skin, sighed and gently sank in his chair. His arms fell on each armrest and his head lolled to the side as if in deep thought.
âWe do have a dog named Heart and that does sound like something Yunho would say⊠Tell me more.â
Always eager to humiliate you, Nari jumped straight into action. âHe called auntie Angel⊠When he went in and out of consciousness.â
Your body heated at the memory and Yunhoâs eyes widened. He had no recollection of that happening. A pink hue which rapidly changed to a darker red settled over his ears and he hastily avoided the curious eye of Hongjoong, much like you. The short man couldnât hold himself from laughing and you were a molecule away from threatening him.
âWho is Angel?â Nari turned in her seat and stared at Yunho with a curious gaze. She was dead set on figuring out this mysterious person.Â
Hongjoong recovered, but the yellow glow of happiness didnât dim from his face.
âOh, little one. Thereâs no one named Angel at camp.â He glanced over at you who glared daggers at the pristine white wall. âIâm almost a hundred percent convinced Yunho thought your auntie was an angel coming to save him and I canât say I blame him for mixing them up.â
âWill you shut up?â You snarled.
âNo. I donât think I will.â He smirked while standing up and averting his attention to Yunho, who wanted nothing more than for the ground to swallow him whole. âDoes that sound familiar to you?âÂ
âUh⊠Yeâ Yeah.â Yunho scratched the lobe of his ear, growing uncomfortable as they burned more.Â
âGood⊠Now, Iâll consider keeping quiet if you tell me what it is you want. Why did you come here?â
âYunho offered us a place to rest until we headed back out on the road.â
âSo you wanna stay, is that it?âÂ
Hongjoong didnât like when people circled around things, you mentally noted. He wanted it served straight to the point and you understood; he was a leader with people to look out for, but it didnât make it less embarrassing asking for help. For the sake of Nari, you swallowed your pride, albeit with difficulty, and nodded.
âThen enlighten me. How many infected have you killed?â
The dumbest thing to come out of this apocalypse â after the biters â would be these questions. You didnât survive this long by hiding and outrunning the dead, it was a common fact and as far as you knew, Hongjoong couldnât have talked his way out of an encounter with biters. As for other humans, you didnât doubt his sharp tongue and talent for outsmarting them in getting what he wanted. It was no wonder Sector One was functioning, the whole organization was under his care.
âCould you answer how many breaths youâve taken since birth? Exactly. Itâs too many to count, but itâs well over a hundred.â
A tense silence spread through the room. You couldnât decipher the look on his face. He would be an infuriating opponent in a game of poker.
âHow many people have you killed?â
âFiveâŠâ You exhaled a big gust of air and kept your eyes trained on your shoes.Â
The memories of each person at the end of your knife or gun werenât pleasant. They were locked in a chest in the back of your head with no intention to be let out. It took you far too long to get used to their faces appearing in your sleep. Waking up from a rapidly beating heart and heaving chest became a part of your routine until it suddenly stopped. It didnât mean you werenât thinking of them whenever you were stuck in a silence too loud for your own inner voice.
âWhy?â
Curse Hongjoongâs curious mind and soft spoken tone. You really didnât want to talk about it, but you also didnât want to risk being thrown out of the prison â every convicted person was probably turning in their graves â as it was currently the safest place for Nari.
âThe first one⊠It was a mercy kill and the only life I took without the intent of surviving,â you began and avoided Nariâs eyes. No one knew of this. Only you, the victim and whoever was watching above.
âIt was still early on in the apocalypse and Nari hadnât even turned double digits so I rarely ever brought her with me. This was one of the times she stayed in our old base while I went out looking for food. Back then I was scared of searching through stores and my biter kill count hadnât even gone over five, so I stuck to clearing houses and small corner shopsâŠÂ
âThe house was relatively empty and it didnât take me longer than three minutes to continue upstairs. It was a boy, maybe around Nariâs age now. I found him hiding in his parentsâ bedroom, blanket up to his chin and face entirely wet and red from crying. He was bit and yeah⊠There wasnât much I could do.â
Casting upwards, you locked gazes with Hongjoong. The stone-hard expression was still there, but a twinkle of sympathy flickered in his brown eyes.
âThe most recent one was when Yunho found us,â you continued. âA group of men wanted to raid the same store as us and well⊠they werenât the kindest of guys. It was either kill or be killed. Yunho can vouch for that.â
It was quiet after that. You could faintly hear the people going on about their day in the cell blocks and the small details of life around you. Yunhoâs shifting in place. Nari picking on the skin around her thumb. The clock ticking above the doorway.
âYou mentioned five people, but weâve only heard about two.â
You shouldâve known better than to think Hongjoong wouldnât ask about the remaining three. It wasnât something you were proud of, but it needed to happen or everything youâve based your new life around would go to waste.
Sensing Nari move in her seat, you decided to keep the explanation brief. âSome men⊠attacked Nari.â
âThatâs all?â Hongjoong asked, curious as to why they werenât getting a lengthy story.
âThatâs all you need to know. They put her in danger and I put them six feet under⊠I protected my own. Wouldnât you do the same?â
âI have. We all have.â
The reply was instant. So he did kill someone. Not that heâd ever know, but you were intrigued. How? When? Why? In this time and day itâd be more concerning if he hadnât killed someone.
âIâm willing to let you stay on one condition.â
He brought you out of your bubble. You squinted and folded your arms. âWhich is?â
Hongjoong rounded the desk and leaned back on it. Legs crossed and hands coming back to rest on the edge of the surface. âYou may stay in Sector One⊠but because of Yunhoâs injury, one of you will have to look for resources in his place.â
To be frank, the offer wasnât bad. You were already in charge of scavenging and finding safety over your heads. It was a no-brainer Nari would stay inside the four walls of Sector One and youâd take Yunhoâs responsibility while he recovered. It would only be for a few days, you reasoned with yourself, and then youâd take Nari by the hand and leave to a new destination.
âHongjoong! Iâm perfectly fine going on my ownââ Yunho was interrupted and stopped advancing forward, his hands hovering in the air as your voice overpowered his.
âIâll do it, but I have a requirement of my own.â
âGo ahead.â
âIâll do the scavenging, clearing areas and helping around the prison if Nari stays out of it all.â
âAuntie!â
âButt out.â You threw her a look and she sank back in her seat, an angry pout taking over her lips. âDo we have a deal?â
Hongjoong smiled and held out his hand that you shook with strength.Â
âDeal⊠Yunho, fill her in on how things work around here, would ya?â
â...Yes, Captain.â
The agreement to stay a week or two in exchange for risking your life prolonged to a month. But with a little persuasion from Wooyoung â the guy who nearly shot your toes off â and Yunho, you came to the realization that staying in Sector One until further notice was a better option for Nari than living on the streets.Â
Week three of temporarily living in the prison was inaugurated by another run for supplies and you were meeting Hogjoongâs demands by going alone. San offered to come with â something he had been every single time â but you told him you could hold your own and that the prison needed him more than you would. He didnât fight your decision and also refrain from hiding the concern on his face. San was like that, you realized. If he wasnât planted on the post or following Hongjoongâs orders, then heâd be doing rounds asking everyone if there was anything they needed.Â
Another sweet guy who wasnât all content with you venturing outside the prison walls on your own was Yunho. It was his fault you were doing so in the first place, of course he wouldnât be happy with you doing runs in his stead. He didnât want to entertain the possibility of you getting hurt or â even worse â bit. Yunho would never forgive himself. You didnât have time to reassure either of them youâd be fine. They were both old enough to know such promises wouldnât hold longer than a goldfish out of its tank. You simply collected requests of the people inside and tried to cross out as many things on the list as possible. To keep everything under control, you made up the rule that everyone could wish for one thing each and it had to be bearable otherwise it would be impossible to shorten the list.Â
Today was a successful day. A toothpick wouldn't fit in your bag from how packed it was. Batteries, hard soap, pads, cigarettes, crayons, dog treats, books, pacifiers, chocolate bars, you had it all and headed home. A blue collar with a silver heart attached to it was stuffed in the back pocket of your jeans. It was dirty, the color barely distinguishable from the dust and stains, and the heart locket started taking on a green hue. It was perfect for Heart and would be a shame to leave it behind. You were usually strict with your rules and rarely brought back things people didnât ask for or were deemed unnecessary. The only exception was if it were something for Nari (you had to get better with that, but honestly speaking, you couldnât care less). Back at the prison â one hour earlier than scheduled â you circled cell block two and handed out the goods to the respective person. Soon enough you were left with an empty bag and an unsolicited bag of chips in your hands, the extra salty type that made your mouth shrink and turn back in on itself. There was only one person you knew who was dying to eat these.
âOh, youâre back already?â Mingi greeted you with a smile as you entered block one.Â
The giant got up from his seat in one of the round tables and you met him in the middle. âYeah. I underestimate how fast I actually am on my own.âÂ
âBetter that than to have us running around like headless hens thinking somethingâs happened⊠Whatchu got there?â
âSnacks⊠For Nari. She really loves chips.â
âCool. Ay, donât let Yunho see you with that, itâs his favorite flavor,â Mingi chuckled and his boxy smile appeared, and as did his dimples.
âWhat a coincidence,â you murmured and cleared your throat. âWhere is he anyways? Shouldnât he be on⊠like, some duty?â
âNah or well⊠yeah, but nah?â
You tilted your head quizzically and your eyebrows scrunched together like two furry caterpillars. Mingi waved you away as if you were the one spewing nonsense. Was he or was he not on duty?
âYouâll get what I mean when you see him. Heâs in his cell doing nothing⊠something. No-so-thing?â
Twenty-one days. You had known Mingi for twenty-one days and each time you conversed, he didnât fail to leave you more perplexed than the last time. His white hair should have been enough of a warning he was somewhat weird or at the very least confusing, but the equal amount of kind.
As you were told, Yunho was in his cell. You moved the white sheet that was covering his cell and admired his peaceful form laying in bed. Arms bent at the elbows and fingers intertwined beneath the back of his head while his ankles crossed over each other. The bed wasnât quite fit for his tall figure making his feet stick out over the edge. You understood what Mingi meant now. Yunho was put on duty⊠a duty to rest until healed. Although that didnât stop him from keeping the positive spirits up in the place. The first few days spent around him and his happy-go-lucky demeanor were enough for you to believe he was putting up a facade. You refused to believe the constant happiness he spread around was genuine. Witnessing even a quarter of the apocalypse was enough to tarnish any positive emotion inside a person and Yunho surely couldnât be immune to that. But the more you lingered around him, the more you realized he was being himself. His curled up lips and squinted eyes, and a dimple popping out even when sleeping proved to be his true self.
âAre you just going to stare at me or?â
The fabric slipped from your fingers and shielded you from him and his chuckle. Of course he was awake. Everyone who was a part of Hongjoongâs patrol and resource squads was basically walking on eggshells. Slipping in his room, you were greeted with an overly joyous Yunho. A shit eating grin on his face and cheeks puffy and round from the smiling. His brown eyes carried a twinkle of mischief that had you frowning. Not bothering to entertain his poor taste in harmless jokes, you tossed the snacks over to him and plopped on the vacant seat opposite of his bed. A pair of comics were stacked in non-chronical order on the desk â some of which you recognized as Spiderman comics â along with scattered polaroids of him and people from camp, a bag of dog treats and his gun.Â
âWhatâs this?â He asked and immediately sat up. The bag was intensely inspected as if he couldnât believe his eyes. The gasp that left his mouth upon realization told you he knew exactly what it was you tossed him.
You werenât prepared for his gaze to find yours. A look of gratitude painted his face and a wave of warmth welled over your body and sent your heart into palpitations. The attention was suddenly too much to bear and you averted your focus on the boring cement walls that were much easier to look at. You grabbed the comic at the top of the stack and aimlessly flipped through it, the colorful pages doing little to calm your heated thoughts.
âThey are Nariâs favorite,â you began and stopped on a random page. âI found two and she told me to give you the other one.â
âThey are my favorite too,â he whispered as if admitting a sin in a confessional.
There was no reason for you to lie, but the emotion in his eyes sent you into panic and it was like he could see right through you. It was embarrassing to admit, but you didnât want him to think⊠You didnât want him to know what you thought about him. Heck, you were still trying to accept the fact Yunho was slowly infiltrating your mind let alone giving him his favorite things like a poor attempt at a courting offer which it wasnât!
For such a long time, you were only thinking about yourself and Nari. You never thought to fit a third personâ scratch that. You never thought thereâd be a third person to fit in your already busy mind. Getting attached to people was dangerous, it made you vulnerable and an easy target. The quickest route to your heart would be through Nari and you didnât need to involve romance in that mess. Love was the greatest weakness of humans after all. Despite that, you couldnât help but disguise your worry through acts and harsh words. Giving him painkillers in the dead of night, purposely moving peas from his plate to yours as you heard him complain about them once (without anyone seeing you, of course), or keeping an eye out for those comic books heâs into. Instead of asking how his recovery was going, youâd say, âYou canât be in that much pain if youâre laughing.â
Yunho opened the bag and wasted no time stuffing his cheeks with potato chips. The need to chastise him for eating too fast rolled on your tongue. Feeling like itâd be crossing the line of friendship and acquaintances, you hastily stood up and feigned stretching your back. Yunho peered up at you with his round eyes, pouty lips and puffed-up cheeks, and you nearly stumbled over your own feet. It was⊠so different having to look up at him and having him stare at you from below. He looked so pliant and what would be your drunken mistake after too many drinks on a night out with your friends.Â
âIâm out,â you announced before you could do something youâd regret and ran to the safety of your cell.Â
One thing youâd rather do than admit that Yunho made the apocalypse bearable was to take a screwdriver through your eye. Since meeting him, the world splattered in black and white for three-and-something-years was slowly getting back its colors. Perhaps it was his abnormal humor keeping you up way past the curfew set by Hongjoong or his weird faces having you burst out in laughter at the most inappropriate moments. It could also be his natural leadership, taking control over situations and coming up with plans when you were too tired to function. It made you feel taken care of, like you could slow down and breathe once in a while without worrying about what the next move should be.Â
It was nice. It was good. It also meant your plan of shielding your heart from intruders failed miserably as Yunho slowly, but progressively, wiggled his way through the five hundred locks surrounding your beating organ. The thought hit you on a random night as the leaves changed into an array of more depressing colors and daylight didnât last longer than until the afternoon for the second time since passing the gates of Sector One. You were used to a vicious cycle of waking up, operating on survival mode and going back to bed with no anticipation for tomorrow. Yunho, with his small talk and respectfully prying questions, changed that and you found him in your thoughts before sleep, during dinner, when washing up and whenever your mind wasnât occupied with tactics of survival. You wouldnât say you yearned for his presence, but you looked forward to seeing him, to hear him talk about the newest car parts he found on his latest run or to play another round of twenty questions (which you answered as nonchalantly as possible and asked the most boring questions known to mankind).
For a little less than two years, you worked on gradually welcoming more people into your life. You didnât feel the need to hide yourself behind brick walls for protection anymore. Youâd always be wary of newcomers â that was understandable â but you were done thinking Hongjoong and his crew had ulterior motives resulting in your demise. You could actually fall asleep around them without a knife tucked beneath your pillow and stopped offering to keep watch during supply runs â the fear of being killed in your sleep was built on the lack of trust â as the moon and sun exchanged places. There was still a long way to go until you could call Sector One a home, but at least it was safe and it was mainly thanks to Yunho.
As you loaded the last bags in the backseat of Yunhoâs Jeep, he refilled washer fluid in the designated reservoir while shielded by the bonnet.Â
âAuntie, wait! Donât leave yet!â
Nari came running down the path, doing nothing to keep her volume down with Heart hot on her heels and his joyful barks mixing in the autumn breeze. Closing the doors, you leaned against them and patiently did as requested. She caught up to you and rested her hands on her knees, air heaved in and out of her chest as she tried catching her breath. She raised a hand, asking for a moment to not sound like she climbed multiple stairs.
âOkay,â she started and straightened. âI have something for you guys. Yunho! Come over here and close your eyes! You too, auntie.â
âComing,â Yunho muttered and screwed the cap back on and closed the front surface of the Jeep. He did the thing you couldnât call jogging or walking which did nothing to pick up his pace and came to stand beside you while simultaneously wiping grime off his fingers. He shot you a glance as if to ask what was happening, but you shrugged, knowing as much as he did.Â
âClose them! And palms up.â She placed something tiny and light in your hands. âAnd open!â
A smile graced your face. In the palm of your hand was a bracelet. It wasnât flashy or made out of silver or gold, on the contrary, it was created using two things; a piece of colored garn and the tab of a soda can. Your string was a vibrant red while Yunho got a pastel green. The ends of the garn were tied to each side of the tab thus creating a loop that would go around your wrist. It was simple and probably didnât take longer than five minutes to create, but it was a gift nonetheless.
âItâs beautiful, flower.â You immediately put it on and showed her.Â
Nari clapped her hands enthusiastically and squealed. âIt looks so good and now you have a piece of me with you wherever you go!â
âThat was sweet of you, Nari,â Yunho said, admiring the poor trinket on his wrist. âIâve always wanted a good luck charm and now I got it so, thanks a lot, kiddo.â
The grin she sported grew bigger at the praise and Yunho couldnât refrain from ruffling her hair. His attention was suddenly on you.
âYou ready?â
âAs ready as one can be.â
âPlease be careful.â Nari engulfed you in a hug, and you immediately reciprocated.
âWhen am I not?â
âDonât worry about her, Nari. Sheâll be under my protection.â Yunhoâs chest puffed up and he placed a hand over his heart. His lips did that upside down triangle shape making his cheeks look extra squishy while his eyes tingled in the sunlight.
âShe better! Itâs my family weâre talking about.â
âOkay, Rambo, calm down before you blow a vessel⊠And who is taking care of who? Last time I checked, I was the one protecting the both of us,â you trailed off and rolled your eyes.
âAre you two leaving soon or are you going to chit-chat the day away?!â The high-pitched voice of the one and only, Jung Wooyoung, came from the tower closest to the gate.Â
âThat would be our cue to get rolling. Weâll see you in a few days, kiddo.â Yunho ruffled her hair again, just because, and hoped in the driverâs seat.
Searching for food and other necessities had become a part of your life long before you joined Sector One, the only difference was leaving Nari behind while you stepped out into the danger zone, not knowing if youâd get to see each other again. You wanted to say it was easier leaving with time, that every departure wasnât as heavyhearted as the previous, but youâd be lying to yourself.Â
âListen to Seonghwa and Yeosang while Iâm away. Donât do anything I wouldnât do and if anything happens to the place, and I mean anything, you take your things and you run. Iâll find you wherever you go, okay?â
Nari didnât reply. Instead, she wrapped her arms around you and hid her face in the crook of your neck. Thinking back to it, three years ago she could barely reach up to your neck, let alone tuck her head into it.
âIâll miss you.âÂ
You sighed and pressed a chaste kiss to the side of her head. âIâll miss you more. Iâm going to try and see if I can bring you more of those pictures that fit your camera.â
Yunho gifted her a Polaroid camera for her eleventh birthday. It was a present that started her obsession with photography, the downside being the films were hard to find and were almost rarer than medical kits and unexpired condoms. This year he promised her driving lessons, however, they would have to wait until he was back from the mission.Â
âThank you.â
Two quick beeps was your signal to go.
âSeonghwa and Yeosang will help you with anything you need. Weâll be back in a few days, behave till then.â
âI always do,â she retorted, brows coming together and nose scrunching cutely.
You smiled slyly. âI know⊠Oh, and Nari?â She hummed and looked up at you through her lashes. âTell that Eunwoo kid I have eyes everywhere even when Iâm out of camp.â
Blush attacked her cheeks and she pushed you away with a noise of embarrassment. The words âweâre just friendsâ tumbled out of her mouth faster than lightning.
The engine was warm and rumbling when you got inside. A water bottle rested in the cupholder closest to you along with a granola bar. Having spent a lot of time with Yunho, you grew accustomed to his silent checkups. It was his way of giving you comfort without putting it into words or asking aggravating questions that would have you exploding in his face.
âReady?â
Singing, you clicked the seatbelt in place and nodded. âLetâs get this over with.â
The idea of raiding a mall in central Seoul was suggested by one of the civilians in charge of the prisonâs crops. With the years, the member count in Sector One gradually grew. You went from thirty people to fifty in a month and it nearly doubled until the next summer. The number was now close to one hundred and ten. Paracetamol and other medical supplies were starting to run short and it wasnât such a problem until the stores nearby had all been cleared, one after another the shelves were emptied. It was then that the first meeting took place, followed by multiple others to make up the perfect plan on how, who and when.
What was supposed to be a mission of twenty people was cut down to two. Initially, you told Hongjoong to count you out. You werenât comfortable with doing runs bigger than a local grocery store or gas station, besides, Hongjoong was bound to give you a pass. It was the least he could do, especially as you searched for resources almost weekly, even going out of your way to take up others' scheduled runs. When the time came to decide who the two (un)lucky participants would be, Yunho took the initiative and your choice to sit on the sidelines was forgotten as you raised your hand up and volunteered. It benefited everyone because, honestly speaking, no one really wanted to put their own life on the line.Â
The first step of the plan was to find a secure and easy access to the car if in need of a quick getaway. The amount of vehicles aimlessly left by the entrance of the mall clogged up the path. It was best to park the Jeep further away and Yunho contemplated whether to leave it on the road connecting the parking lot to the highway and as you weighed your options, it turned out that would be for the best. The handbrake was pulled up and in a previous life, heâd return to his car already towed away with a ticket waiting for him in his mailbox.
âYou nervous?â Yunho asked as he strapped the high-quality vest provided by the prison to his body.
You huffed in reply and did the same. It wasnât affordable to feel anything beside confidence and even too much of that could get you killed. The best emotion to describe you would be exhaustion. Tired of doing your utmost to survive day by day.Â
The thick texture of the vest was uncomfortable and quite tight all over, however, youâd rather wear it than take the chances of being bit. âI donât even know what Iâm feeling anymore. I just⊠want to get the things we came for and go back.â
Yunho checked his gun, although everything was thoroughly looked at back in the base. A small walkie-talkie was attached to his right peck while yours was hanging on the waistband of your pants. It was a precaution if you were to lose each other in the mall or needed to contact Hongjoong back at the prison. Your hair was tied back with the purpose of not falling in your face during hectic situations, but also so it wouldnât be easy to grab. You had heard too many stories of women dying because perpetrators used their hair against them, latching onto it when they least expected it, not to mention many of the high school fights you witnessed where girls weaved their fingers into each otherâs roots, pulling until chunks of hair fell out.
âTo be honest, I think Iâd get more bored of guarding the post all day. I canât fathom how Wooyoung does it. Like donât the trees eventually bleed into each other?â
âProbably. Then again, itâs Wooyoung weâre talking about. He has a freakishly good eye when it comes to intruders so I wouldnât be too worried, besides, Mingi and San are quick to follow up if he does miss anything. Although itâs highly unlikely.â
Yunho unrolled a map portraying the inside of the mall on the hood of the Wrangler as you brought two empty backpacks from the trunk.Â
âRemember the first step?â
âTechnically, weâre already on step two.â
You rolled your eyes and muttered, âSmartass.â
The remark had his dimple popping out as a cheeky smile stretched across his face.Â
âSo we enter through here.â He pointed at a makeup store. âItâs the only shop we can enter through the backdoor without gathering much attention and the pharmacy is on the same floor. We can look through the salon first and see if thereâs useful stuff in there.â
âLike what? I doubt anyone wants cosmetics in a time like these.â
âNo, but Iâm pretty sure thereâs like sunscreen, stuff for the hair and body, shaving things. You know, necessities.â Yunho folded the map back together and slipped it into the back pocket of his pants. âWhat? Why are you looking at me like that?â
âNothing, I justâŠâ You averted your gaze, but the amused smile was still here. âDidnât know you were into cosmetics.âÂ
The pink hue of roses didnât attack his ears, but his contagious chuckle reached yours and a smug smirk crossed his face. âYeah? I thought it was a given, like, Iâm a sucker for blush if you haven't noticed.â
âOh, shut up.â You shoved him and he flew sideways as if weighing nothing. Trust Yunho into over exaggerating and making the situation look worse than it was. You didnât wait for him to catch up â not that it would take him long â and immediately headed for the backdoor entrance.Â
âThis should be easy.â Yunho tied a black bandana around his mouth and nose to keep dust and bacteria from entering his system while you pulled up the neck tube gifted by Mingi a while back.Â
The two of you shared a look and as Yunho nodded, gun in hand and flashlight in the other, you worked the door open and let the darkness of the mall swallow you whole. The storage room was like any other. Full of boxes and crates, and even a few shopping carts containing various make-up products. The layers of thick clothes did little to hold your warmth against the freezing temperature of the storage. Words were exchanged through your eyes, neither taking the risk of alerting potential resting biters or raiders, and Yunhoâs light flickered to life.Â
You sneaked around the space and took time clearing the area of threats. Confirm there wasnât an unwanted presence with an urge to pierce your skin and feed on your insides, you could breathe a tad bit heavier and relax your rigid posture. Sweat coated your body and your pulse was loud in your ears. However many looting rounds youâd do, youâd never adjust to the adrenaline and fear that came with as a plus two.Â
A faint whistle traveled through the air and your head whizzed up to see Yunho standing by a door, presumably leading to the actual store. He called you over with a nudge of his head and you tightened the grip around your gun and knife. He put off his torch and raised a finger to his covered lips, and you nodded. Taking a step back and planting your feet wider apart to get a sturdier stance, you raised your gun and used your other arm to support it underneath. It wouldnât be ideal to fire off bullets inside, but if it came down to it, youâd be left with no choice.
Yunho hugged the handle and held up three fingers â his hand big enough to hold the gun with just his thumb and pinky â and began counting down. With his fingers gone, he gently opened the door and you stuck your head out, coming face first with the register. A big table shielded your view of the complete store and you immediately dropped to a crouch and waddled out, Yunho following close behind. It was much brighter out there than in the storage room courtesy of the light coming from the corridor of the mall, most likely from the windows on the ceiling. As you moved to round the corner of the cashier register, Yunho roughly grabbed your shoulder and nearly sent you stumbling backwards. Throwing him a questioning glance, he pointed to his ear.Â
Moans and grunts in various tones vibrated through the building. Some were faint, barely there, and others were alarmingly loud. The weight of Yunhoâs hand was still there and a soft squeeze of said man was enough to bring you back. He gave you all of three seconds to get your head out of your ass and follow his lead.Â
Yunho weaved between the aisles â still crouched down â and as you peeked around him, you quickly realized the make-up store was untouched. All the products were in their designated place and it was abnormally tidy inside. No blood coating the white tiled floor or decomposing corpses laying around. The only thing you could think of was that the workers quickly rolled down the sliding grilles before any of the infected could enter and made their escape through the back. The longer you stared at the shutters, the clearer it became how tilted it was. One side wasnât completely flat with the ground, you presumed it had something to do with one of the cogs being stuck. If it came down to it, the barrier would only hold so long against a horde of biters.
âHow are we getting through that?â You whispered and wiped your clammy palms off your pants.
Yunho plopped down on his rear and moved into a comfortable position; his legs were propped up, creating a triangle passageway, and his elbows came to rest on his knees. You were in a similar stance, but with one of your legs flat against the ground and hands on your stomach. The sides of your thighs touched, but neither were distraught by the display of (accidental) skinship. Stealing a glance, you nearly jumped out of your skin as he hastily turned toward you.
âOkay, I got an ideaâŠâ
You swallowed thickly and nodded.
âSo⊠I think I could raise the bar high enough for us to squeeze out. Youâd go first and keep it up until I pass. The thing is, we need to have an emergency exit if everything goes to shit and I donât wanna take the risk of us having to pry it open again and getting caught.â
âYeah, no, that sounds like a nightmare waiting to happen honestly⊠Iâm thinking we can find something sturdy that will hold it for us and we can just slide through if weâre being chased.â
âLetâs hurry.â
You got up and quickly scanned the store for something useful, but all you could see were make-up products, perfume, brushes and other miniature things that weren't good for your issue. You needed something easy to move that wouldnât make too much noise and cave in under pressure. Looking around, you lingered on the door you came from and everything lit up as if a lightbulb appeared over your head. A whistling tune cut through the store and Yunhoâs head popped up from behind a rack, one of his brows raised and you waved him over.Â
âA shopping cart,â you murmured, a high tilt to your voice. âThere are plenty in the storage room, they are easy to handle and wonât falter.â
The smile he showed you could easily be mistaken for his natural cheery persona and you convinced yourself it was just that. Yunho smiled at everyone, especially with those glistening eyes of his as if a brush coated in glitter went over them. You were the first to spring into action and it had nothing to do with the clump of nerves gathering in your abdomen from his soft gaze. It wasnât the time nor place for confusing feelings, you thought as you grabbed the cart and pushed it out. Coming the closest youâd been to the grilles, you hid behind the trolley and looked through the small holes to assess the situation. Chaos was the first term to appear in your mind.Â
Broken glass shards littered the previously white tiled floor. It was currently covered in muddy water leaking from the roof, dried blood and weeds sprouting from between the cracks. Rotten meat and rusty metal lingered in the air and it was disgusting, you had never smelled anything like that before. These biters had been there for quite some time, judging by the lack of skin on their decaying bodies and bony figures. They hadnât feasted in a while and that scared you. Shaking your head clear of such thoughts, you looked in the direction of the apothecary and deflated. A big island of trees, plants and bushes was the first thing you saw. The decorations stood tall and wild, spilling over the fence so you couldnât see the pharmacy that was supposedly on the other side. The run from point A to B suddenly got overcomplicated.
How would you know if the apothecary was open? And if it was, how many infected were there inside? What if everything was already taken? Then the whole mission was a fail. A waste of time, a waste of gas, a waste ofâ
âEverything okay?â
You could feel the heat emanating from his body and the aroma of his detergent and pine needle-like scent as he got near. In fact, you could feel him too, where his chest pressed up against your back and his left hand weaved into the grid of the cart, wrist centimeters from touching the top of your head. His close presence was dizzying and attacked your senses at the worst possible time, but at least it overpowered the stench of death. Compelling yourself to get over his spell, you explained the situation and Yunho, ever the optimistic, pointed out the positives.
âAt least it isnât teeming with biters as we thought. Look.â He gestured to the biters. âThey are just standing there like statues so we can easily sneak past, plus, we have a few hours until the sun sets, meaning?â
âThey are slow as fuck.â
âBingo. We should be fine as long as we donât set off a chain reaction and wake the whole building. Otherwise, weâre pretty fucked.â
âItâs risky,â you stated the obvious.
âEverything is nowadays, but donât worry your pretty little head about that because Iâve got a plan.â
He thought your head was prettyâ
âWe can use that forest thingy as cover. The bushes and leaves are big enough to cover us completely. I say we use that to check the situation and see where we go from there.â
âIâve got a better idea.â
âWhich is?â
âI can use the bushes to check the situation and then call you over depending on the situation. Both of us shouldnât throw ourselves out there. Itâs dumb, what if itâs locked? Itâd be a waste of energy.â
âOkay, Iâll do it.
âNo, I just said Iâd do it. Yunho, think about it. Iâm quicker, harder to notice and thereâs more things I can hide behind. Youâre freakishly tall, where would you hide?â
He pondered for a moment and agreed in the end, but not before voicing his distaste for the idea. âI donât like it when youâre right.â
âI donât really care, just get the shutters would you?â
You positioned yourself behind the cart and watched as he rolled up the security shutters just enough for you to slip the metal hunk on wheels underneath. Still crouched down, you waited to see if the biters were drawn to the light clinking noises, but â much to your pleasure â it didnât attract any. Before you could cross over to the danger zone, Yunho grabbed your bicep.Â
âBe careful,â he whispered tenderly, like talking to a distressed dog. His hand remained until you nodded, but even when he drew back, the warmth spread out through your chest to the very tips of your toes and lingered to what felt like an eternity.Â
It was pleasant. Safe. Yunhoâs arms were safe, you concluded and wished to feel more of. Both his touch and the protection he provided.
âYou too.â
You didnât wait, wholeheartedly believing youâd stay back if you looked at his doleful expression for a second longer, and slid out. The biters were oblivious to your presence, but you werenât about to abuse that privilege until it had run its final course. Like the existence of a ghost, you floated through the mall on your tippy toes, knife trembling in your tight hold and eyes frantically searching for trouble waiting to pounce out of nowhere. Considering you were always reaching for the short end of the stick or possessed more bad than good luck, it was no surprise you were constantly thinking five steps ahead. There was no need for that now though because you made it to the decorations without getting your knife bloodied. The greenery was bigger than what could be seen from the make-up store, a result of constant sunlight, water dripping out of a broken pipe and no one there to keep it tidy. You just hoped you were alone in the idea of hiding there.Â
The pharmacy was open to the public. You didnât know whether to deem it a win or a loss. Easier access was always good, but that included everyone and a bigger chance of the place already being looted. Not much more thinking and strategizing had to be done though, and you immediately signaled Yunho over. The inside wasnât completely trashed either. It wasnât as neat as the make-up store, but from what you could see, there were still things that could be of use or it was your wishful thinking kicking in.
âThis is good⊠right?â It was so quiet that you nearly missed it.
âItâs less of a hassle getting in, so Iâd say so. Our best bet would be that one keeps watch while the other gathers as much shit as possible, unless we want an early date with death.â
âThereâs a pet store behind us too, maybe we can pick something for Heart on our way back.â
âWeâll sââ
A growl was quick to shut you up. The sound sent unsettling vibrations down your spine and you snapped your lips together as a biter staggered right past you. Its sudden appearance reminded you to get your asses moving. Neither breathed until its figure was far, far away from you.Â
âFuckâŠâ Yunho exhaled. âOkay, you keep watch and Iâll look around, you know, see if thereâs stuff on the higher shelves or something.â
He handed you one of the baseball-sized rocks strewn across the dirt on the island â the kind youâd find at the beach â and snagged one for himself too. In a previous life they were used to make things prettier for the eye, but now it was something you bashed rotten heads in with or threw across the room to distract the biters.
Of everything you've done so far, getting into the cursed pharmacy was by far the easiest and least nerve-wracking.Â
âGo, be quick!â You hissed and crouched behind a table closest to the entrance while Yunho zoomed past you, hastily unzipping his bag and filling it with things. You had half a mind to chastise him for the rattle of bottles and rustling sounds, but withheld. Your voice would reach farther than objects clashing in his backpack.Â
Your hyper-focus was glued to the front. You were nothing better than a dog waiting to attack, body stiff and on high alert. Adrenaline coursed your veins and it was hard keeping still, head jerking in every direction and your hand frozen around the hilt of your knife it sent tremors up your arm. Teetering on the edge of control, you struggled not to slash at the slightest of movements and sound. Yunhoâs request for your empty bag breached your concentration and the breath you inhaled was like waking up in the middle of the night and clenching your thirst with the glass of water you set on the bedside table hours prior. It didnât take long before the other backpack was filled too and the curse of being stupid not to bring a third fell from his lips.Â
âYou got everything?â
âNot even close. Come over here.âÂ
And like the good guard dog you were, you heeded his command, leaving the post unattended despite the turmoil in your abdomen.Â
âPut as much stuff as you can in your pockets. I wonât sleep at night if we leave all this behind.â
The amount of money worth of drugs you had in your pants right now was beyond your comprehension, but you knew the bidding between a local druggie and vitamin obsessed grandmother would be hectic. Glancing in Yunhoâs direction, you did a double take at the blue tinfoil packages in his hands and grew hot from embarrassment. Your look was all it took for Yunho to defend himself.
âWhat? I doubt people want to reciprocate at this time.â
He wasnât wrong, but it didnât make you feel any better or stop the sensual image of Yunho. His naked body tangled in sheets looming over you and the very same condom you just saw in his hands, now stuck between his lips. Then you shook your head, as if to make the thought disappear before it could delve into an even more lustful scenario. The naked Yunho was gone, but the heat burned your cheeks worse than the sun on a summer day.
âLetâs get the fuck out of here.âÂ
If he noticed your flustered state, he didnât mention it. With bags on your backs and weapons at the ready, you found yourselves in the bushes again.
âDonât you think itâs weird?â
âWhat?â
Yunho scratched the spot behind his ear. âThat everything is going⊠smoothly? Like itâs too easy?â
âWhat?â Your brows drew together. âDo you want it to be difficult?â
âObviously not. Iâm just⊠pointing out the obvious. Itâs never been this easy.â
He had a way with words because not even a fraction of a second after, he jumped out of the bushes and evoked a high-pitched, squeaky noise that reached every nook and cranny of the mall. He breathed out a soft âfuckâ, the tone dripping with disbelief. Beneath him, squished and still peeping the more Yunho raised his foot, was a blue, rubber pig. Its mouth pulled in an open smile and snout scrunched.
Fucking petstore. Fucking pig. Fucking Yunho.Â
You popped out of hiding, knife pulled out but violently trembling in your hold under the gaze of what felt like a thousand translucent eyes peering at your warm bodies. The one watching your life through a squared screen pressed pause on the remote and then when it was resumed, everything went to shit. The biters lunged for the first piece of meat theyâd seen in months while you stood rooted to the ground, legs refusing to cooperate with your nervous system.
âGo, go, go! Fucking move!âÂ
You did, in fact, not fucking move. You watched him drive his blade into the head of a biter, blood dripping everywhere as the rotten body slumped down and you fell with it, ass bruised and brain too scrambled to understand what was happening. You were going to die. You were never going to see Nari again. You going to turn into aâ
Yunho was there in seconds to haul you off the ground, his hand grabbing the back of your shirt, shouting at you to run. âAre you deaf?! Go!âÂ
It was the harsh push to your shoulder that finally got you moving. Slow and uncertain steps, but moving nonetheless thanks to Yunho barking orders behind you. One would think you had never stepped foot outside the prison walls, let alone gone on numerous resource runs. Everything between his push and you reaching the make-up store was a blur. The blood covering your knife and hands â along with the trail of corpses left behind you â being the only proof you had been involved in the massacre.Â
âI told you to get inside!âÂ
You jumped as Yunhoâs hand landed on your forearm, tugging you toward the store. Throwing a glance over your shoulder, you counted over a hundred rotting heads. The shutters would only hold a dozen until it broke and they tore you apart.Â
Yunho watched the gears turn in your head and got a whiff of what you planned to do. âDonât.â
The foreign depth in his voice did nothing to change your mind and he noticed it too, thus holding onto you until his fingers turned white and the veins of his hands protruded. You snapped out of the haze as another forceful tug bruised your arm. Determined to see your plan till the end, you used the element of surprise to your advantage and bore your teeth into his wrist, just enough for him to loosen his hold on you and give you the chance to step back. You ripped your bag off your shoulders and slung it at Yunho, who caught it with an âoomphâ, successfully keeping him down on his rear for a few extra seconds. His raspy call of your name clawed at your heart. Something was eating you from the inside, but you ignored the wails of your soul and kicked the cart with all your might, allowing the shutters to fall with a bang. Your stubbornness wasnât the sole thing to stand between the two of you anymore.
âWhat the fuck are you doing?!â
You paid little attention to the burning feeling in your chest and the flame dancing across his features. Leaving him there would hurt, but it would be hell to see him get ripped to shreds knowing he had a chance of surviving. Back at the prison, you only had one person to look out for while Yunho was a pillar for many. You couldnât do that to them. To Hongjoong, Mingi, Wooyoung⊠Heck, you couldnât do it to yourself. Angry Yunho was a fleeting image. It would pass, but the Yunho with cheesing eyes and heart-shaped lips pulled in a joyous smile was forever engraved in your memory.Â
âItâs not going to hold,â you gestured to the stupid shutter. âGet home and make sure the stuff gets to Hongjoong.âÂ
âYouâre crazy if you think Iâm leaving without you!â
âTell Nari I love herââ
His fist slammed against the metal cover and for a moment you thought it would crumble beneath his touch. âDonât you dare finish that sentence. Youâre going to tell her yourself because weâre going back together!â
There was so much on your mind. What to say, what message to leave the others; apologies and closure or a last round of advice? What would Nari think? There was no doubt in mind sheâd be heartbroken. You were the last piece of family she had left and it would be downright evil of you to make her lose another parental figure.
âIâll find you. Outside, Iâll find you. Iâm not dyi⊠â Your throat tightened at the empty promise. You didnât know if you said that to reassure him or yourself. âTen minutes. If Iâm not outside in ten minutes, youâll leave. Yunho, promise me youâll leave.â
If only you knew what you were doing to his poor soul. Asking him of the impossible. He could promise you anything you wantedâanything in this cursed worldâand heâd hand it to you on a silver platter. Anything, but that. Leaving you behind was like signing his own death sentence. Heâd be nothing, but the shell of a man. An empty, hollow, useless shell with the bitter taste of resentment for both your selfless and selfish sacrifice. Yunho knew agreeing to keep the promise would give you peace of mind, yet if anything happened to you, heâd be haunted by the memories of you until his very last breath.Â
Across from him, you waited as if time wasnât about the most sacred thing you could have. A mix of concern and determination wedged in your beautiful features and Yunho knew he had to speak, although he didnât want to because the words rolling off his dry tongue would be some kind of agreement to your request.Â
âYunho, please.â
The burning fire in his eyes dimmed as a wave of tears washed over them. They looked magical, even when obscured by grief and longing for the one still alive. His bottom lip formed into a pout to keep from trembling just as his hands balled into fists for that same reason. The sand continued seeping out of the imaginary hourglass, no matter how much Yunho tried scooping it back inside, the universal clock wouldnât stop ticking.Â
With great effort â his lips parted and the shaky breath released aimed straight at your heart as did the tears brimming his red eyes which were a reflection of your own â he nodded. âI promise⊠but donât make me fulfill it.â
In another life, the vow would be exchanged in a happier setting, surrounded by friends and family. Vacant of gloomy clouds and death knocking at your door, and filled with belly laughter and tears of joy instead. A time where the promise of sacrifice was made out of love and not for survival.
âYunho, Iââ
The remaining seven letters died in your throat as cold and wrinkly fingers sank into your shoulder. Yunho watched you scramble from the touch, his heart pounding for your safety, and felt completely useless. He couldnât breathe until your blade was driven into the side of the biterâs head and the creature landed with a thud, blood pooling at your feet. The growling worsened and you needed to get a move on if you ever planned on seeing another shift between the sun and moon.Â
âCome back to me, do you understand?âÂ
Your eyes met for what could be the last time and you drank him in like he was a part of the seven wonders of the world. His messy charcoal strands falling over his equally dark brows, knitted together with a crease in the middle that you wanted to smooth out. Trailing down to his naturally puffy eyes reflecting a storm of emotions â thundering anger and heavy anguish â threatening to spill over with tears. Your throat tightened. You couldnât bear seeing the pain you inflicted upon him and hastily followed the slope of his pretty nose, red as a ripe strawberry. A beautiful blush, probably stemming from his anger, kissed his round cheeks and spread to his ears. The need to reach out and touch him, caress him with reassurances that everything would be fine grew at the sight of his trembling lips.
The angel on your shoulder whispered for you to run. Another whisper â this time from the devil â tingled your ears with the statement to stay a little longer. You wanted to heed the little red fella, but what you wanted wasnât what you needed, so with a final nod, you tore away from his painful gaze and willed yourself not to turn back around because if you did, you wouldnât be able to leave.Â
With fear and adrenaline pumping through your veins and the promise of returning alive, you slipped on the mask of a soldier â putting a pause to the war in your head â and faced the army of the dead.Â
âCome get me, fucking assholes!â
Hungry groans and aggravated snarls echoed loudly around the mall, each vibration reaching your bones, but your loud whoops and hollers didnât waver. Not even when one of the infected got dangerously close to you, its teeth making a loud chopping sound like a knife violently smashing against a cutting board. You grabbed a chunk of its hair, guiding the monster as close to your skin as possible without it getting to sink its teeth into your neck. You were done being the prey. It was time for a change of roles. The taunting click of your tongue colliding with the roof of your mouth launched into the open as you sinisterly smiled at the biter.
âGo to hell.âÂ
The sharp point of your knife pierced the underside of its jaw until the whole blade could be seen through its open mouth. Your hand, covered in red and wrapped around the hilt, was flat against the jaw and continued pushing upward. The anger, hurt and worry mixed into a new emotion that took over all of your senses. Revenge. With a new force of purpose, you pushed and pushed until the lower half of its face and jawbone ripped from the body like pieces of fabric. There was so much blood, tissue, and muscle beneath. .Â
Bile crawled up your throat as the corpse stared at you with an open mouth, if you could even call it that considering the nose and jaw were somewhere on the floor. The sight wasnât for the weak and you were anything but that, yet the amount of blood gushing down and coating both you and the biter would follow you into the grave. It was an exact replica of the oral cavity poster in your local dentistâs office; the tongue, uvula, and tonsils were all in their righteous place. You forced down what was once your breakfast and wiped the blood, or sweat, maybe both, off your face and let the body fall.
The next kills were faster and less gruesome. There were a bunch of them after all and if you did a little show of each and every one, you wouldnât return home until late into the night. Throwing a quick glance at the cosmetics shop, you relaxed at the empty spot that was once occupied by Yunho. He listened. He kept his promise and now it was your turn. Running for a brief escape, you whipped out your gun â the magazine full and waiting to be used â as you climbed the escalator â taking two steps at a time â just enough to get some space between you and the human eaters. You had both hands on the firearm to keep it steady and fired in quick succession. The first shot was loud and foreign, and the hairs on your body stood up, but you kept hugging the trigger as if it were your one purpose in life. Your ears got used to the deafening crack of thunder after the third round.Â
You counted five, ten, fifteen, twenty shots before you slipped the hot gun back in your holster. Always keep one bullet for emergencies, you used to tell Nari. Going out with a bullet piercing your brain was less painful than being shredded to death was what you liked to think. A bonus point if you do it correctly; you donât come back as one of them.
The number was still high and if you were to count, youâd reach at least somewhere up to fifty biters. You didnât even want to think of those unintentionally hiding or stuck in a store. It didnât matter though, because you werenât leaving until every infected was put to rest. For that to happen, you needed to stay alive and from the rapid speed the biters were going up the stairs (one would think theyâd lost all sense of coordination when their brains turned into purĂ©e), it didnât look so bright for you.Â
âFuck,â you whispered and continued up to the second floor.Â
It was significantly darker and vacant, but you didnât want to take your chances of getting cornered in a random shop. Although killing your way out of the mall was taking a toll on your body and sanity, that was something you already lost. The second floor was a completely different world than what was going on downstairs. The windows were intact, not a single speck of blood coated the walls and everything was in its place. It was like the disease stopped spreading after coming in touch with the escalators. A glass railing went around the whole second floor, giving you a perfect view of the chaos downstairs. The height difference wasnât too big and a jump down wouldnât cause you any harm, unless you fell unexpectedly. That would be a different story.
Pushing that to the back of your head, you passed a hardware store with a bunch of crowbars set on a display outside. Grinning to yourself like a child on Christmas Eve, you grabbed one of the many crowbars and gave it a swing. Itâd be far easier welding a long piece of metal than your four-inch knife. Plus, it wouldnât just be used to smash the heads in on biters, but to pull shit apart. Like doors.
âI think Iâll call you Maneater.âÂ
The rustle of clothes worked as an alert. Right on cue, an infected staggered out of the very same store you got Maneater from.
âAnd youâre going to be my guinea pig.â
The loud, sickening crunch of bones breaking was eerily loud as the curved end of the crowbar met with the side of the biterâs head. Now, the second floor was tainted with a splatter of brains, and blood and everything in between. It didnât disturb you anymore. How could it when the majority of you was drenched in a rotten, red liquid?
Some of the biters that followed you from the first floor had finally caught up. Their spine shaking groans announced their arrival and you gave one more twirl to Maneater.
âIâve always wanted to try out for the baseball team,â you admitted and swung it again. âBut mom said sport wasnât for girls.âÂ
Another biter fell limply. Its skull cracked open and one eye squeezed out of the socket at collision with the metal rod. You grunted and raised it high above your head. âThis is as close to baseball as Iâll get.âÂ
Swinging it down, you screwed your eyes shut to keep the grime and blood from splashing into them. The feel of Maneater plunging into the meat of the biter didnât vibrate up your arms, but the sharp inhale of air getting caught in your throat did as you were pushed off balance. Tripping over your own feet, you crashed into the delicate railing which broke at immediate contact. Shards descended like snow around you and shimmered like thousands of miniature diamonds. The crowbar slipped out of your hold as you tried grabbing the air for support, but in the end, all you could do was watch the ceiling of the mall shrink while your arms and legs flailed out of your control.
Time slowed down as the realization set in. You were going to die. You didnât keep your end of the promise and Yunho would return alone.You wouldnât be there to teach Nari how to use a gun.
As you were falling to your death, a bitter smile took over your lips. You really had no regrets. And it seemed that even with one foot in your grave, you couldnât stop lying to yourself. There were no regrets when it came to Nari, that much was true. Everything you did was for her safety; the murders, the running, the fights, everything was for her. But what about you?Â
Did you have any regrets for yourself? The answer was simple and short, only needing five letters to spell it out. Three vowels and two consonants to be exact. Yunho.
A sharp prick seared through your shoulder followed by the ground kissing your back. The pain was unlike any before and you immediately felt yourself losing consciousness. Everything hurt. The sudden headache was worse than any hangover you experienced in your college days and your shoulder burned with the slightest of movements. Lying there unable to move, you fought diligently to stay awake, eventually succumbing to the tired voice lulling you to sleep with the whisper to just close your eyes.
The fog surrounding you was thick and cold to the touch. Wetness seeped into your clothes and hair, and droplets echoed around you, but you couldnât see a water source anywhere. Just a black void, much like space, that seemed to go on forever.Â
âHello?â Your voice traveled through the vast darkness and no reply came back.
You didnât understand. Where were you? What was this place?
âAuntie⊠wake up.â
Your head jolted to where the sound came from and your body followed. It was distant, but youâd recognize that voice any time of the day.
âNari?â You cupped your hands around your mouth. âNari!?â
âAuntie!â Her childish giggles swirled around you, once coming from your left and then the right. You turned in every direction, but the little girl wasnât with you.
âWhere are you?!â
âYou need to wake up.âÂ
âWhat?â
âWake up, auntie. They are coming.â
Your brows scrunched together as you tried making sense of her words. âWho is?â
âThe monsters. They are coming for you⊠You need to wake up. Wake up!âÂ
An invisible force with a presence so heavy ran through your body and threw you off your feet. A scream of sheer surprise and fright crawled out of your throat as you fell backwards, the faint presence of Nari standing before you â a dull expression painted on her features â as she did nothing to help you. It was unsettling. Landing in the water again with the darkness wrapping around you like a silk sheet, you woke up with a startle. You felt everything at once. The pain of the sharp object lodged in your shoulder blade and heat attacked your feet while your head was cool. Your throat was parched and hurt as you swallowed to soothe the itch, but it only made you taste dry blood.
Managing to turn your head sideways, you were greeted with a biter and the events from you didnât know how long ago came surging back. It was the biter that caused all of this, lying face down beside you with parts of its body scattered all over the place. If the situation were different, you wouldâve hung the fucker using its own intestines, but it wasnât and all you could do was give it a glare and send your wish of it going to hell. Sluggishly slapping along your chest, you hoped to grasp the walkie-talkie that was supposed to be attached to you, but the little device wasnât in its usual place and you cursed at your bad luck. Through your blurry vision, you could see shuffling further in the distance. The imaginary weight resting on your chest suddenly lifted and small gasps of air finally entered your lungs.Â
Muffled moans, something akin to being underwater, were the string pulling you back to reality. The eerie warning of your subconsciousness played in your mind. Grinding your teeth together, you mustered up little of the strength you had left and rolled over on your stomach. Your hands lay flat against the tile, the broken glass cutting into your skin as you lay in a pool of your own blood. Something shifted in your shoulder blade, and a cry of pain and desperation erupted from deep within.
âFuck!â
Death wouldâve been a better outcome than this.
Opening your eyes â that closed without you noticing â and blinking back tears, a laugh of disbelief almost slipped out at the object before you.Â
A blue piggy.Â
The blue piggy was staring at you. Its happy expression irked you beyond belief. It was all its fault. The biter and this stupid pig were to blame for everything. Your upper lip curled in a snark as you squeezed the living shit out of the toy and pushed to sit back up on your knees. Heart was getting a gift and you hoped to see the toy shred into pieces.
Commanding your body to stand up was harder than expected and your legs nearly gave out. The searing burn of agony spread like a wildfire all the way down to the tip of your toes. There was no point in trying to feel around as it would only hurt more with every twist and turn of your torso. The exit sign in the far back of the pet store flickered violently, as if it were trying to get your attention, and even though you didn't believe in miracles, you reconsidered your values then and there.Â
âItâs the only shop we can enter through the backdoor without gathering much attention andâŠâ
Hours later and you still remembered his words. It wasnât like you had much of a choice. The make-up store was a no-go and you didnât have the energy to prance around and look for a safer exit. Who even knew how much time you had before your body would give out? The shuffling in the distance paired up with hungry grunts was getting louder, and with your condition, theyâd reach you in no time. You had played it safe so far and received nothing but near-death experiences, what was one risk against ten precautions?
You bit into the material of your neck tube to stifle the cries made with each step. Staggering up to the emergency door, you leaned your forehead against the cool metal and jerked the handle, but it wouldnât budge.Â
âOf course.â
The one thing you saved for yourself had to be used on something else. Letting the almost empty gun rest in your hand, you stepped back and aimed the muzzle straight at the lock. You had to make this count. You inhaled, exhaled, and pulled the trigger. A loud blaring alarm sounded through the whole mall and you had no need nor obligation to linger around until every biter in a mile radius crowded the area. With the piggy in hand and your other gripping the side of your torso, you limped out of the cursed place.
The weather was dull and gray, but brighter than inside the shopping center and it took a while for you to adjust to the light. Heavy rain pelted from the sky yet, the reason behind your wet clothes wasnât to be blamed on nature. Standing in the middle of the parking lot, a trail of bloodied footsteps followed you only to be washed away as if they never existed in the first place. Raindrops trickled down your red-smeared face, revealing streaks of your skin beneath. The freezing temperature sweeped over your body, cooling off your muscles and rewarding you with the possibility of a cold which didnât sound too bad. Glancing up at the gloomy clouds, your hand came to shield your eyes from the rain slapping harshly at your cheeks. It was impossible to tell if the moisture on your cheeks came from tears or the rain.
Your ten minutes were up. Yunho was gone and the weather portrayed your inner turmoil. The emotions you suppressed while on survival mode hit you fast and hard. You were happy he stayed true to his words, but the little part deep in your heart, cried and trashed around, disappointed he didnât wait for you. At least you were alive. Dirty and hurt, but alive.Â
The storm would clean you up by the time you got home anyway, if you didnât die from hypothermia that was. With a weight on your chest, a knife carrying the deaths of many and the will to see your family again, you headed home.Â
You werenât angry with Yunho. How could you when it was you who made him promise to leave? When it was you who threw yourself to the wolves, better yet, to the brain-eating corpses and â more or less â locked him in a shop with no way out besides the backdoor. If anything, he had every right to be angry with you.Â
What if you died in front of his eyes? Or got seriously hurt?Â
There was no coming back from that, you knew that much yourself. The memory of putting that poor boy out of his misery resurfaced every time your eyes shut. Every thump reminded you of striking his head with the butt of your knife. You still remembered driving that same blade deep through his stomach until your hand touched his shirt, a dog taking up the majority of his tee. It was the first time you felt actual blood. Not the three drops from a paper cut or a harmless sample, but the slimy and warm kind that came in buckets. It was everywhere too; your hands, your clothes, his bedding covered in happy dinosaurs and rainbows. Days passed until your hands returned to their natural hue, but the nightmares never ceased. It was quite funny. You had seen a lot of fucked up shit, but the least violent death was still looming over your head.
Bright yellow lights blinded you. Throwing up a hand to reduce the damage and get a better look at what was happening, you peered between your fingers and saw the shape of a car slowing down. You couldn't find it in you to run. Everything hurt everywhere and your muscles ached with as little as a breath. The emergency alarm hadnât stopped and hoards of infected would turn up any minute. The rain â which you already thought was heavy â turned harsher and bounced off the pavements like small shining diamonds. The sound of the car door opening and slamming against the metal hunk followed by rushing footsteps frightened you into a defensive stance.Â
You were tired of death. You were so tired of killing things, but the universe didnât seem to care as she continued sending you threat after threat. The rope wrapped around your emotions slowly slipped out of your grip. Its rough texture grated along the skin of your palms and frustrated tears coated your waterline. The sob â a wail of utter fatigue â that slipped out was smothered by the rain and ear-piercing siren. You really tried holding on, but you could only suppress your hectic emotions for so long until your hands went limp and everything came crashing down. A tear streaked down your cheek, followed by another and another.Â
The figure ran head first at you and as you waited for a hard impact to plummet you to the ground, a pair of warm arms wrapped around you instead. Clean clothes and wet trees filled your senses.
âI got you.â
âYuhnâYunho?â You sluggishly asked, making sure it wasnât another trick of your mind.
âYeah, Yunhoâs got you, angel. Iâm here.â
You buried your nose in his shoulder and inhaled his comforting scent. Shutting your eyes and curling your fingers in the fabric on his back, holding onto every piece of him for dear life. You released a shuddering breath. The shirt smelled like him and his body was very real beneath your fingertips. That alone proved your subconsciousness wasnât deceiving you. This was Yunho. The real Yunho. Your Yunho.
âIâm going to pick you up now, alright darling?âÂ
His arms were gentle just like his soul and he handled you with absolute care. It made you feel warm despite the weather only Zeus himself could inflict upon the world, and you were oh-so-tired. Your empty stomach wasnât a match against your full heart as it was all you needed to fall asleep. The last noise entering your consciousness was Yunhoâs frantic voice.
âHey, hey, hey! Stay with me. Come on, just stay with me!â
Yunho stood his ground as you went limp in his hold and his face paled at what he saw. A shard â not shorter than his palm â protruded out of your shoulder, somehow managing to diagonally cut into your skin and avoid the bulletproof vest. Just your luck. He wasted no time scooping you up bridal style, as if you weighed nothing more than a sack of potatoes, and thanked the heavens your head found his shoulder instead of lolling to the side in sync to his fast legs. His mechanic's heart hurt at leaving the engine running, but on second thought after feeling the warmth on his face, Yunho almost praised himself for his unintentional thinking. Despite that, he still stripped you off the first layer of clothing â cutting the shirt right in the middle â and decided to leave your tights on. The heat was as good as useless if you were completely wet. He maneuvered you to the side and covered you with the soft quilt he stored in the vehicle for emergencies like getting stuck in a storm or something.
The ride back home was done in silence minus the rapid patter of the rain and squelching of tires on asphalt. Much against his wishes, Yunho was plagued by the brief image of your bare torso, the black bra that left little to the imagination as well as his concern for your state. The glass was bloody and looked uncomfortably lodged in your shoulder blade. Shaking the beautiful and horrid image of you out of his head, he remembered why you passed out on him in the first place and the anger that disappeared at seeing you emerge from the mall resurfaced. A flurry of emotions swirled in his mind; concern, anger, sadness, relief⊠He couldnât pinpoint if his heart beat erratically out of rage or desire.Â
Glancing in the rearview mirror, Yunho sighed as your chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm. As long as you were breathing everything would be fine. Going under a surgical blade in the hands of Jeong Yunho would do you no good, unless your insides consisted of automotive parts. Spoiler; they didnât. Pressing his foot flat on the pedal, he broke a handful of traffic rules holding as much significance as the first man on the moon in this time of day.
The next time you opened your eyes wasnât in the backseat of the familiar Jeep Wrangler, but in the medical wing which was technically just a room not much bigger than Hongjoogâs office, but illusioned to be smaller because of the multiple lined-up beds. Turning your head to the right, you stared confusedly at the IV bag connected to your arm. A sudden coldness swept over you and you instinctively pressed your free hand to your stomach, expecting to meet with a blanket and not goosebump-covered skin. Distraught, you glanced down. Your shirt was missing â that alone shouldâve had you on high alert â and in its place was a gauze going around your chest and over your right shoulder. A delicate feel kissed your fingertips as you gently ghosted it over the bandages. The tenderness quickly changed into harsh bites stemming from your back and erupting all over like fireworks.
The mall. The Apothecary. The hoard of biters. Yunho. The piggy. Leaving Yunho. Man-eater. Falling. The rain. Finding Yunho. Safety. Darkness.
It was too much information at once and your back pain was accompanied by a headache growing rapidly. It didnât help that your mouth was unbelievably dry. The IV-bag seemed to be doing an awful job of keeping you hydrated. Feeling sluggish, but determined to get answers, you freed yourself of bedrest and ventured out in the hallway. Yeosang turned the corner and stopped abruptly. His stoic face fell into an expression of utter panic seeing you out of bed. A chart of some kind and a pencil clattered to the ground as he crossed the distance between you, gentle hands cupping your arm and elbow.
âWhen did you wake up?â
And when you couldnât form a response because of your dry throat, he immediately steered you back into the room with strict orders to stay and not move until he was to return. What he failed to mention was the ten-something people heâd bring along, all equally happy to see you awake, but some more furious than others. To his credit, they were forced to wait outside as you got the chance to drink water and change into something more comfortable. The excuse of you needing rest could only hold them off for so long until Wooyoung barged through the doors, an accusing finger finding you like a moth being drawn to a flame. The threats spilling out of his mouth faster than the shots of a machine gun were excused as a waterfall of tears sprung down his cheeks.Â
The words of malice came from a place of worry and love, and if you reciprocated that by masking your discomfort as he tightly hugged you â nearly opening the wound Yeosang diligently stitched together â no one had to know besides you. The reunion didnât last long, all thanks to Yeosangâs strict orders that you needed a quiet recovery and Hongjoongâs authoritative voice backing him up. Being left alone with your thoughts was worse than having a group of chatterboxes asking you the same five questions every ten seconds. Because out of everyone there, out of everyone who came to see you, the two faces you searched for werenât there and you didnât know how to take that.
You expected it from Yunho. The radio silence and cold shoulder served as a punishment for your careless and considerate acts of heroism. Nari surprised you. More so the lack of her. Youâd be lying if you said it didnât sting a little. In other words, it hurt a tenfold of the stabbing pain coming from your shoulder. You missed her. A lot.Â
But like Yeosang said â hours after he came to drop off dinner and medicine â there was nothing you could do but wait her out, quite literally as you were trapped inside the makeshift hospital room. If it werenât for his unmatched beauty and pleasantly calm demeanor, you wouldâve sent him to hell a long time ago. Not only was he forcing pills down your throat and feeding you disgusting celery soup, now he was giving you unwanted advice concerning a child you raised since the stone age. Your agitation went up in smoke as the doors opened and a blur of black strands strode inside instead of Yeosangâs exasperating chestnut hair announcing dinner time in a sing-song voice.
Perhaps Nari missed you too and perhaps Yeosang was right, and perhaps you were imagining things as the girl stopped in front of your bed, both arms crossed over her chest and eyes cutting yours like she wanted you dead. Her sour frown left a bitter taste in your mouth. Soft taps filled the heavy silence and Heart â her true companion â sat down on his rear beside Nari. The blue piggy was caught between his teeth. It was good to know not all of your doing was in vain.Â
âYouâre angry.â
The annoyed scoff and roll of her eyes was the second surprise.
âNo, Iâm so clearly happy.â
You heard the false chirp in her voice and scrunched the sheet in your hand to keep from snapping at her sudden bratty attitude. Itâs justified, you told yourself and let her have her moment.
âI am so happy that the only person I care about nearly died. I am so happy my best friend sacrificed herself without a thought of what it may do to the people around her. I am so happy I almost became an orphan for the second time in my life! I am so happy, happy, happy!â
âNariââ
âNo! Juâuhâ just listen to me! Be quiet and let me speak!â She left no room for negotiation and snapped your mouth shut. The same shame of being reprimanded by your parents settled into your every bone.
âJust so you know, Iâm only speaking to you because Yunho forced me to or heâd take away my Heart privilegesâŠâ She heaved in a breath of suffocating air and her voice cracked just as the next words separated your heart into two. âIâm so angry with you.â
Staring at Nari was like looking in a mirror. Your lips trembled and cheeks were wet from the salty tears slipping down to your chin and dropping on the pristine covers. You imagined your eyes to be red and irritated from the crying and it was a miracle you could produce more tears.
âI told you to be careful, right before you left. I said, be careful and you said, when am I not? Never! Youâre never careful. I ask you to do one thing and you do the exact opposite. How come I have to act like the adult and you the kid? Youâre the grown up, not me! Iâm not supposed to see you bloody and barely breathing.â Â
âNari, Iâm sorryââ
âYou donât get to be sorry, okay?! A sorry wonât make things right again. What you did wasnât fair. Not to me, not to you and definitely not to Yunho. Sacrificing yourself? For what? For who?â
âYou,â you wanted to scream at her. Everything was about her. Everything you did was for her. For her chance of living longer, living better.
âDo you know how it felt to see you so, so, so⊠close to death? Donât answer that, of course you donât. I couldnât breathe. I was in hysterics and it hurt. Everything fucking hurt. I thought I lost you. And I canât get it out of my head; Yunho screaming and crying, carrying your lifeless body in his arms and that shit lodged in your back⊠Itâsâ Youâreââ
âIâm alive. Iâm breathing. Iâm okay, weâre okay.â
âExcept weâre not! You donât get to do fucked up shit and just say, âOh, weâre goodâ when giving us a scare. Giving me a scare! Are you fucking dumb?â
âHey, watch your mouth!â
âI will when you start acting like an adult. So do the adult thing and stop sacrificing yourself for others! I need you, okay? I donât care about the others. I donât even care about myself. I need you and only you.
âIâ I donât know what to say to make that go through your head. What? You want to hear about my parents? Do you think I remember my mom? My dad? Youâre the closest thing to a family I have left. You are my mom and my dad. I canât lose my family again. Please, donât make me loseââ
Nari hid her face behind her hands and let the thundering sobs wreck through her body. Heart whined and nudged his snout against her thigh in consolation. It wasnât enough. Nothing could be of comfort enough to erase the gut-wrenching image of your limp body or mend her inner wound. Not even when you got out of bed and guided her head into the crook of your neck did she feel better.
âIâm sorry, flower. So, so sorry.â You kissed the crown of her head. âYouâre right. It wasnât⊠I was in the wrong and Iâll do better. Iâll be better. Not just for you, but for me too, alright? You wonât ever have to worry about being the adult again⊠Can you forgive me?â
The little nod against your shoulder was delayed, but you didnât care. Youâd wait years if it meant her forgiveness.
The next time Yeosang came to check up on you â a tray of dinner in his hands â he silently backed out of the room as if never entering in the first place. On the hospital bed lay you and Nari, her nose hidden in the crook of your neck and a ticklish trail of air loomed across the exposed skin. Your chin nuzzled her forehead and your hands were light against her head. Nariâs arms were loosely stretched around your waist and would grow numb from the awkward position. Your legs wove into each other like a pretzel. The human-sized golden retriever was also there. His head a dead weight on your calf and the rest of his body pressed up against your back, tail tickling the exposed skin on your bicep. It was cramped and sweaty, but you wouldnât change it, not even if the world went back to normal.
Disappointment. The bitter reaction of not getting what you expected and hoped for. If green was used to describe jealousy and yellow stood for happiness, then gray would be the color representing disappointment.Â
The reason for your disappointment? A man with brown hair, warm eyes and a laugh contagious enough to heal a wounded soul. Yunho didnât visit you for the remaining time you were under Yeosangâs care. He came through stories told by the others, always hovering over whoever was your latest visitor and asking questions regarding your recovery, but never doing more than that. Never actually stepped foot inside the room. The week after you were discharged wasnât any better. Hongjoong put you under strict orders to not go out on runs until you could move your arm without as much as flinching from pain and everyone walked around you on eggshells. As if you were a delicate piece of glass just waiting to break at the slightest inconvenience. At the news of your freedom, Yunho vanished into thin air. It was quite amusing how he was both the yellow you desperately wanted to see and the gray standing (figuratively) in your way.Â
The loud clanking against your cell diverted your attention from the cement ceiling to whoever felt the need to disturb your peace.Â
âHe still hasnât talked to you?â Wooyoung asked and sat down beside your feet, which you kindly shuffled more to the left.Â
âTalked? I havenât seen him since I passed out in his arms. I donât think talking is an option considering heâs a walking ghost.â
Wooyoung moved further up your bed. His back pressing up against the wall as his hands weaved together over his stomach. You laid your legs over his lap and breathed out a frustrated gust of air.
âIâd say give him time, but it has been, what? Two, three weeks since you got back. Heâs just being petty at this point. Wasnât it him who forced Nari to speak with you again?â
You nodded and Wooyoung huffed out a dry chuckle. âVery mature, Yunho⊠So whatâs the plan?â
âThere is no plan.â
âOh, come on! You both canât be self-deprecating, itâs only somewhat alright if one of you is being stupid, but both! Nuh-uh!â Wooyoung flopped beside you. His chin rested against the palms of his hands with his fingers squishing his cheeks and making them really pop.
âWhat do you want me to do, Woo? Yunho obviously doesnât want anything to do with me. If you havenât noticed, heâs avoiding me like the plague. The least I can do is stay out of his way if it means heâll hang around everyone more. He was here before me, after all. His family before mine, no?â
âWe both know thatâs not true and if Yunho heard you speak like that, heck, if anyone heard you say shit like that theyâd give you hell for it. Youâre family as much as anyone else is, old as new members. So stop thinking like that⊠As for what you can do, how about you just, oh, I donât know⊠Talk to him!âÂ
You averted your gaze as the words wrapped around you like a hug. The rational part of your brain knew Wooyoung was right. That you werenât intruding on anything. It was your family, your friends and your space as much as Yunho, Wooyoung and everyone elseâs. However, the stubborn part of your brain feasted on your self-deprecating thoughts. It was why you didnât fight Wooyoung on these matters because somewhere down the line of getting to know everyone, you realized Wooyoung wasnât just a package of teasing and mischievous remarks. When he wanted to, he could say the things one needed to hear the most.
âWeâve already ruled that one out. The talking wonât happen until he wants it to.â
âWell, heâs acting like a loser, a really sore one at that.â
And as much as you wanted to agree with Wooyoung, to call Yunho a few mean words of your own, you couldnât find it in you to voice those thoughts because they didnât exist in the first place. All you saw was Yunho who took on the qualities of a golden retriever. The Yunho who would go up and beyond to turn a frown into a smile. The Yunho who would adopt every dog he came across and name them something sweet like Cheesecake or Muffin.
âI donât care. Everyone has a right to process things in their own way, even Yunho.â
âI wish he didnât. Itâs dumb. Yes, you kind of messed up by putting yourself in danger and whatnot, but it wasnât like you did it for shits and giggles! If it wasnât you, then itâd be him. Trust me, I know that guy better than myself.â
You kicked Wooyoungâs thigh and sent him a teasing smile. âYeah, because youâre always in everyoneâs business but your own.â
The dramatic gasp filling the room was followed by your laugh.Â
âDo you want me to talk to him?â You knew Wooyoung only meant well, but his well wouldnât bring anything good to the situation. Yunho wouldnât give in and thereâd be just one extra person involved in the war of cold shoulders and purposeful absences.
âDonât bother. Heâll seek me out when heâs ready to hear what I have to say. Iâll just⊠lay low and give him space.â
âYou do know you donât have to sit here and hide all day, right? You can always come and hang out with me or San at the towers. Jongho could use some help in the weaponry, counting bullets and other boring shit if thatâs more to your liking.â
âI know, WooâŠâ
As the silence took over, Wooyoung patted your calf and got up on his feet, simultaneously throwing a finger gun in your direction. âWell, duty calls. You know where to find me if you change your mind.â
âHey,â you called out after a second of contemplation and he arched a brow in question. âThank you⊠Umm, for being there⊠For being my friend, I mean.â
âBrother would be more fitting. Weâre way past being friends, but I get what you mean and donât mention it. Weâre family, thatâs what family does.â
Damn Wooyoung and his heartfelt words. The tears made an appearance as soon as he disappeared behind the corner and you wiped them away, not up to explaining why you were crying if someone were to pop out of nowhere. For so long, Nari was the only person you could call family. She was your home, your rock and your will to move forward. Your new family expanded to a little more than a handful of people ready to help you in their own peculiar ways. Your home still didnât take on the form of a place or a building, but another person. Someone who couldnât stand in the same room as you for the time being.
Turning over, you buried your nose â much like Wooyoung did with othersâ businesses â in the pillow and threw the thin blanket over your head. Sleep was a great activity to make time pass faster, something you discovered while being chained to the hospital bed in Yeosangâs unit. For what you didnât know, it didnât seem like Yunho would search you out in the near future and it was alright. You had plenty of time to think over what to say. Until the options became too many and you couldnât decide which was the best one. Apologize and admit your mistakes or reason for your actions and die before you ask for forgiveness. It was like Wooyoung said, Yunho would have done the same thing if you hadnât beaten him to it. Then what? Would you treat him with the same coldness he showed you or would you stick to him like the gum on school desks?Â
The question was constantly on your mind and you were at war with yourself. In this moment, you liked to believe youâd forgive him, but there was no saying you wouldnât be absolutely furious with him either. It was better to sleep on it, you consoled yourself and you closed your eyes.Â
Your dreams were scary and although that wasnât anything new, it was unsettling. Instead of reliving the day you took an innocent life, you watched the mall mission like a movie. The only difference was you never made it back alive. Everything was the same up until the fall, because the moment you landed on your back, you startled back to consciousness. Drenched in cold sweat and a concerningly fast beating heart, youâd use the first few seconds awake to take in your surroundings. To remind yourself you were very much alive and in the safety of your room. It had been your routine for, give or take, two weeks. Sleeping was both a blessing and a curse. Escaping one reality for another â arguably one of the worst coping strategies you could choose from â wasn't something youâd ever get used to, and if it was your way of punishing yourself for hurting Yunho so much that he couldnât stand breathing the same air as you, then so be it. Wooyoung called it self-deprecating, you saw it more as reaping what you sowed.
The moon was halfway up in the sky when you awoke from your rather restless sleep. Swirls of purple, yellow and orange mixed beautifully on the baby blue canvas wrapping around the earth. It was Wooyoung who, once again, came to check on you with the news that Mingi and Yunho were back from their weekly hunt and had actually managed to bring something back. A stew of deer meat cooked over the fire outside and the whole prison stood in line waiting for their share of the food. You soon joined them with a bowl of your own.
âNext!â
You shuffled over, your gaze unfocused and glued to the ground as you handed over the bowl. When they still hadnât taken it out of your hands, you looked up with furrowed brows and a questioning tilt in your eyes only for it to be replaced with pure chock. Yunho looked as pretty as the day you last saw him.Â
You were just staring at each other, both surprised by the sudden encounter that neither showed signs of sweeping the awkward tension under the rug and getting on with the day. The people around you grew irritated at the uphold, the hunger and standing in the cold weather getting to their heads, and you â wanting to get out of there as soon as possible â literally pushed the plastic bowl in his hands so that he was left with no choice but to pour the stew and watch you disappear somewhere far out of his reach. If Yunho wanted space then space was what heâd get, you thought as you spotted the familiar head of Yeosang sitting around a fire. Hauling your ass over there, you occupied the empty spot beside the self designated nurse. He was startled at your sudden appearance and took in your disheveled state.
âWhy does it look like youâve seen something you shouldnât have?â Yeosang asked hesitantly and sipped on his water.
To put it bluntly, Yeosang was very observative and a great friend of Wooyoung. Whatever Wooyoung knew, Yeosang did too, including your and Yunhoâs feud. Trying to stall for more time, you scooped up a mouthful of deer stew. What you didnât take into account was that Yunho served it straight out of a boiling pot. It burned your tongue and all of your tastebuds. Acting on pain and panic to stop the fire in your mouth, you snatched the paper cup right beneath Yeosangâs nose and downed the whole thing. Yeosang, being an angel in disguise, gave you his second glass too.
âYou want more?â
You shook your head and set down the stew, deciding it was better to let it cool off first.
âSo⊠What happened?â He tried his luck again.
âWhat do you mean, âWhat happenedâ? I just burned my tongue off!â
âNot that, you idiot. Iâm talking about you running here like your ass caught fire.â
The glare you scrutinized him with did nothing to change the topic, instead he challenged you with a quirk of his brow.
âI saw Yunho.â The words were barely audible.Â
âWhat did you say?âÂ
You leaned over to land a punch on his shoulder, but missed with a narrow distance as he moved.
âThink of your stitches, think of your stitches!â
âWhateverâŠâ
Yeosang sheepishly smiled. âIâm just messing with you. So you finally met the guy and⊠how was it?â
âGood, we were actually talking about the rising economy. How do you think it was?â
âAwkward, probably.â
âBullseye. I ran away after.â
âI noticed.â
âYou know, for being a nurse whoâs supposed to have some therapy knowledge, you really do suck.â
âThanks, Iâll jot that down for our future sessions.â
Your next punch wasnât futile.
As the sun gradually descended and a darker quilt laid over the green earth, more people joined you around the fire. You saw Nari and Eunwoo share a blanket further away from the group, pointing toward the sky full of stars as their sweet giggles weaved through the talking voices of the adults. They did sit a little too close for your liking, but you let it be. She couldnât experience the normal sneaking around with a boy phase and that would be the closest sheâd get to it.
Some time between the laughter and conversations shared with Yeosang and the other people, Yunho was added to the mix. He sat right across from you between the broad shoulders belonging to Mingi and San. You didnât utter a single word in his presence and moved in on yourself to appear smaller, an attempt at going unnoticed by him. He sipped on the whiskey bottle being passed around the circle while giving Seonghwa his full attention and you took the chance to stare at the side of his face. He was absolutely ethereal. The orange glow of the fire kissed his cheeks and his eyes were even warmer, more inviting.Â
He looked happy.
Your eyes went wide as he suddenly turned to you. The smile fitting him perfectly dimmed and was replaced by a neutral expression. You pictured yourself reflecting that same blankness. He was the first to break contact and the corners of his mouth went up again as he re-entered the previous conversation. You let out an anxious breath, wondering if you really brought him that much misery. An arm laid over the bridge of your shoulders, the palm attached cupped your bicep and pulled you toward them. Glancing up, you were met with the side profile of Wooyoung. You mustâve been too caught up in your own thoughts to notice him slipping in beside you. The faint, barely-there squeeze was him letting you know he bore witness to the wordless exchange between you and Yunho. The top of your head touched his neck and he nuzzled his cheek against your hair, soft puffs of air going over your strands. And while you were usually opposed to skinship, you let Wooyoung spoil you with it, not having the mental energy to push him away as well as you found it to be quite comforting.
âYou alright?â
âItâll pass. Just like it always has.â
Although Wooyoung wasnât really in tune with what you were referring to, he still nodded and gave you another supportive squeeze. Sadness, grief and anguish. All the emotions belonging to the color blue would resurface every now and then. The last memory of your parents, failing your math tests in high school, breaking up with your first serious boyfriend⊠Those were all sad occurrences in life that left a scar in your heart, but were somewhat mended with the essence of time. Some took longer than others and some never really healed, but either way, they passed. The brief moments of blue passed. Thus, you were certain this thing with Yunho would pass too. The question of whether youâd remain friends or go back to strangers wasnât something you wanted to entertain with the heat of the flames caressing your cold skin so you left it for the future you to mull over.Â
The warm meal and nice company completely drained everyone as they just sat and enjoyed the stillness of the night.
Hongjoong, always having everyoneâs best in mind, clapped his hands together. âWe should call it a night.âÂ
Albeit everyone would rather stay out more and bask in the comforting atmosphere, Hongjoongâs words were law and no one wanted to disobey the law, not even in a raging apocalypse. You took it upon yourself to collect the quilts while someone else put out the fire or cleaned up the stray dishes. A bunch of knitted quilts were swung over your left arm and as you bent down to pick up another one, your knee buckled making you lose your footing and head into the blazing fire.Â
Yunho scooped you up, his arm circling around your waist and flinging you off the ground to face away from the fire. Your back was pressed to his front and the rapid pounding of your hearts synced. Yunhoâs hot breath curling over your ears and the sudden close proximity sent your body into overdrive. The autumn wind was useless against your burning skin. Your chest deflated in disappointment as he let you down, not a word of worry or comfort leaving his lips. Desperate and tired, you swung around and wrapped your fingers around his wrist, stopping him in his fleeting movement.
âYunho, wait!â
Perhaps it was the honey dripping of your plea or the soft and delicate touch of your skin (that he missed so much, but would never admit) or it was simply him being curious as to what you had to stay. Whatever the reason, Yunho did as told and maybe, just maybe, he wouldnât come to regret it for the second time around. But now, with his eyes on you and his pretty lips pressed in a determined line, you forgot what you wanted to say.Â
Hearing Wooyoungâs half-hearted advice from that evening echo in your mind, you cleared your throat andâ
âYou know, if you wanted to talk you couldâve just done so. Thereâs no need to bring a third party into,â he gestured between you, âthis.â
âWhat?â
âWooyoung.â
You kept replaying his words in your mind, dissecting each term, putting them together and so forth until they lost their meaning and you were back to the start trying to figure out what he meant.Â
âWhat?âÂ
âNothing, forget I said anything.âÂ
Seeing him roll his eyes and hear his tongue click the roof of his mouth was your breaking point. Smoke huffed out of your nostrils as you grabbed the blankets from the ground, marched in front of him and stopped him right in his tracks with a hand on his chest. It was one thing to ignore you for weeks, but it was a whole other pain to hear him say demeaning shit to your face.
âYou donât get to do that,â you furiously spat. âYou donât get to disappear and then tell me I should have just talked to you. Yunho, I couldnât find you even if I turned the whole prison inside out! Anâ andâ and Wooyoung?! What the hell?!â
Your emotions were a tangled mess that not even the most talented hairdresser could unknot. Hurt, sadness, anger, disbelief, everything bled into each other until you couldnât put a name to them anymore.
âListen here. I donât know what you think you saw, but itâs not like that and even if it was, why the fuck do you care?âÂ
Your question was met with silence, but a wave of fury swayed in his eyes and you wanted to laugh at the absurdity of the situation. You expected to hear a lot of things the day either of you confronted each other, but nothing couldâve prepared you for that wild and disrespectful assumption.
âI wanted to apologize for my selfish actions back in the mall, but I donât think Iâm sorry at all⊠Actually, Iâm sorry I wasted my blood on you. Iâm sorry I sacrificed myself for a guy who canât bring himself to check up on me while bedridden orâ or that the first thing he says to me is that Iâm making âmovesâ on his friend, on his brother! From the bottom of my heart, Yunho, go fuck yourself.â
You threw the blankets at him and walked off. Your job there was done. You heeded Wooyoung's advice only to have it all blow up in your face, although you werenât going to fault him for the loose mouth of Jeong Yunho. The roles reversed as your wrist was trapped between Yunhoâs slender fingers and the roots of the grass twined around your ankles keeping you in place. The grip tightened as a result of you fighting back, yanking and shaking as if touched by something poisonous.Â
âDonât⊠Donât go,â he pleaded. âThat was stupid of me. I didnât mean it. I justâŠâ
Lost my cool. Got jealous. Missed you.
âYou just what?â
You spun around and a fuming swirl of wind slapped him in the face. The growl ripped out of you drilled shame and guilt into his bones, and although the angry load Yunho carried for weeks evened it out, he couldnât feel his blood boiling without red tinting his ears.
âIâm talking to you now, am I not? Are you going to answer me or stand there doing nothing, because I really have no issue with going back to you forgetting about my existence. I know I sure wonât have a problem with it.â
âYou think I forgot about your existence?â He asked in disbelief, a broken expression lacing his features. âIt was the only thing I couldnât do. I could blame you and think of you as selfish, stupid, reckless, immature, irrational, anything, but you were still there. You occupied my mind every hour of the day, every dream and every nightmare⊠And when I wasnât busyâŠâ Yunho paused, seemingly searching for the right word. âBlaming you, I was turning gray from worry. So no, I canât go back to âforgetting about your existenceâ because I never did nor could forget about you!â
âThen what was it? You were too busy worrying about me to take a quick peek in the hospital wing? You couldnât put your hatred aside to ask Nari, Yeosang, Wooyoung or whoever the fuck about my well being? You think Iâm going to believe you cared when you couldnât even show it? That on our first encounter since a month ago you couldnât even say something simple as âHiâ without looking absolutely shell shocked at my presence. I havenât forgotten about you my ass, your face told me everything I needed to know.â
âIf I fucking forgot about you, would I be dying to do this?â
Yunho stepped forward, determined to show you just how wrong you were. The feel of his hands â large, warm and slightly callused â cupping your cheeks was unexpected. The yelp of surprise died in your throat as he forced your face up to his and slothed his lips against yours. They were as chapped as they usually looked, but soft and carrying a hint of chocolate and whiskey. Your own arms hung limp by your sides, eyes wide and heart thumping against your ribcage. There was nothing besides Yunho, no anger baiting you to clamp down on his lip or a spiral of sadness telling you to push him away. You were completely consumed by him. His scent, touch and taste. It was all just Yunho.
As you failed to respond, he slid his thumb over your cheek and drew back. Before he could get as much as a centimeter of air between your mouths, you latched onto his wrists and lifted your chin to properly meet his lips, and closed your eyes. It was the most beautiful and tender first kiss you had ever shared with anyone before. It was innocent and sweet, a bit rough as you pushed your heads as close to one another until you were on the brink of hurting. You poured your all into it and broke it off as the need for air somehow grew bigger than your need to feel him on you. Chests heaving and lungs burning from the oxygen shortage, you didnât dare to look away, afraid either of you would disappear.
âI could never forget about you,â Yunho breathed out, his hands gliding down to adorn your neck like a 24-karat gold necklace. His thumbs found your pulse point while his pointer finger caressed your nape in a slow manner, treading lightly on the strand between teasing and adoring.Â
Words failed you in the moment you needed them the most and to add fuel to the fire, your internal thoughts were a jumbled mess of nothing. You kept replaying the feeling of Yunhoâs lips on yours, the heat that prickled your mouth after and how you wanted nothing more than to do it over and over again.
âPlease say something.â
Realizing Yunho was as far gone as you was the push of confidence you needed to fulfill your wish. Using more force than intended, you tangled your fingers in the front of his shirt and pulled him into another kiss with mouths smashing and teeth clicking together. It was a stark contrast to the first one; needy, searing and desperate to reciprocate Yunhoâs cryptic confession. You took Yunho's bottom lip between yours and worshiped him as if your life depended on it. His hands trailed gently all over you; waist, hips, even daring to give squeezes to your ass. You didnât know how long you stood there, exploring each other like horny teenagers, but by the time you parted for air â hair messy, lips swollen and glossy, eyes intense with a burning desire â everyone had escaped inside.Â
The fire was long extinguished, but you were still warm all over and a different kind of flame ignited inside of you, born in your core and pulsed harder each second you werenât touched by Yunho. The scorching hot butterflies fluttered more violently as his thumb swatted over your bottom lip, spreading the spit â his or yours, it didnât matter â more, but he stopped as the weight of the situation dawned on him. Jumping right into bed after the agonizingly long weeks of ignoring each other and brewing an irritation that could only be cured by talking didnât sit right with him.Â
A pregnant pause filled the space between your spit-swapping action and the beginning of Yunhoâs next words.Â
âI really need you to say something or Iâll go crazy. I donât think you understand how much you mean to me, so please, say something. Anything.â
âI⊠Youâ uhâŠâÂ
It was so much easier to act than to speak. Why must he torture you? Wasnât the kiss enough? Didnât he feel your desperation seeping into his bone and very being? What more did you have to say for him to get it through his head that you were honestly, truly, completely in love with him?Â
You grabbed his amusingly large hand and placed it on your chest, right over your beating heart. As if feeling Yunhoâs touch, the thumps came stronger and quicker. The chance to explain yourself wouldnât come at a better time than this.
âYou mean everything to me, Yunho. That thing back there in the mall? I did it becauseâŠâ
âBecause what?â His whisper was delicate like a summer breeze filtering through your hair and swooshing the seam of your sundress.
âBecause I didnât want you to die. Fuck, I didnât even care what would happen to me, I just needed you to be safe andâ andââ
âWhat about me?â He interrupted. âDid you even think what it would be like for me if you wouldnât have made it out of there alive? Watching you hobble out, bloodied and looking more dead than alive hurt like a blade through the heart. I thought I lost youâŠâ
âYou didnât though. I came back. Barely, but I did come back⊠To be honest with you, I didnât think Iâd affect anyone with my passing. Nari is an exception, but thatâs about it. Youâve known them for longer than I have and⊠I thought it would hurt less if I was the one to go and not you.â
Tears filled his eyes and grew red at the saltiness. Yunho pressed his palms against them and breathed irregularly. Through his soft sobbing, his words came out drenched with disbelief. âHow could you say that?! How could youââ
âIâm sorry,â you whispered.
âYou canât say sorry. Thatâs so fucked, why would you even think like that? Fuck, I felt like dying just looking at your limp body in my arms and you were the one on the verge of death, not me. Yet I couldnât breathe until I got you to Yeosang.â
Yunhoâs cries were loud and it was getting harder to understand him. You think you understood what he meant by feeling the pain of a blade through the heart. You closed the gap and circled your arms around him. He fell into you, his tears soaked through your shirt and his fingers almost tore holes into the material from how hard he was holding on. You rubbed soothing patterns into his back and patiently waited for his crying to subdue with a few reassuring pecks left along his shoulder and collarbone. When the silence was filled with his light sniffles and shuddering breaths, you continued from where you last left off.
âIs that why you didnât come to visit?â
Yunho nodded and cleared his throat, but his voice was still raspy and muffled from crying and being pressed against your skin.Â
âI did come. I stayed the whole time you were unconscious, I was right there. That chair might have fucked my back forever, but I vowed not to move until you were stableâŠâ
âI didnât know,â you lamely admitted.
âIâd kill them. I said, if word got out that I was there, theyâd wish a biter got to them before me.â
You cradled Yunhoâs face and firmly pried him out from the comfort of your shoulder and directed his focus to your eyes. A watery smile curled your lips as the threat sounded so foreign coming from him. The Yunho who wouldnât dream of hurting a fly, and who the children adorned and pets seeked out for comfort. Then a snippet of your first encounter flashed before your eyes and you remembered it to be the same Yunho who didnât think twice when putting a bullet through the head of your perpetrator. Suddenly, the threat sounded more promising.
Yunho grew shy at the intense eye contact and enveloped your hands in his. He ran his thumbs over your knuckles in various patterns to divert the attention elsewhere, a coy trick to easier say what was on his mind without having your beautiful eyes dissecting him for his thoughts.
âI wasnât angry then either. For those two weeks I felt nothing but fear for your life and it wasnât until you came back that I let everything wash over me. Thatâs why I didnât come after. Because I was so angry with you, but I need you to know I never, never, hated you⊠Thereâs another thing too, but itâs stupid.â
âTell me,â you demanded.Â
It took a while. He managed to circle a couple of figure eights on the brass skin of your hands before revealing the embarrassing secret that tugged at his heart every night prior to falling asleep.Â
âYou got hurt because you were trying to protect me so I thought, if I wasnât thereâ if I wasnât in your life anymore, you wouldnât have the need to put yourself at risk for me ever again.â
âYouâre so stupid, Yunho. That would never work. You could literally hate me, wish me deadââ You ignored the glare he sent you, âBut it wouldnât matter because Iâd do it again, over and over again if it meant youâd be alright.âÂ
Yunho deeply sighed. Your words made him hot and he was trying hard to ignore the heat fluttering inside of him. âDon't say stuff like that, it makes me want to kiss you.â
Always putting others' needs before yours was the path you molded for yourself and reaching for what you wanted wasnât something that came naturally. But as the stars cheered you on with their soft twinkles of encouragement, you did the unimaginable and connected your souls for the third time that evening. The hour long nights spent talking about one another with the moon as your only witness paid off as she lovingly gazed down on your beautiful rendezvous.
âI guess thereâs going to be a lot of kissing then,â you breathed out and moved a few stray hairs out of his eyes.Â
Since the outbreak started, you never once entertained the idea of finding a romantic connection. Your main focus was providing Nari with a safe future ensuring her a life where she could at least live past the age of thirty. Even if it meant sacrificing a few things. You didnât realize how miserable you were until you crossed through the gates of Sector One. There was only so much you and Nari could do to quelch each otherâs needs. Your start at the new camp was rocky. It was tough, yet you broke through everyoneâs prejudice and showed them you werenât just a suicidal bastard, but a woman with interests and feelings like everyone else. The apocalypse hadnât erased the person you were before, it just took soft spoken words, gentle touches and a whole lot of understanding for you to come out of hiding.Â
In the meantime, youâd patiently wait. Maybe the world wouldnât ever return to what it once was and maybe it would only go further down hill from there, but standing in front of Yunho as his eyes darted all over your face â the challenge of trying to figure out what part of you he wanted to admire the most was impossible to solve â melted away those worries. As long as you were surrounded by people keeping the flame of survival alive, youâd be fine.Â
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#[đ¶] HONGJOONGSPOETRY#jeong yunho x reader#jeong yunho#jeong yunho oneshot#jeong yunho angst#jeong yunho smut#yunho x reader#ateez x reader#ateez#ateez oneshot#ateez fanfic#ateez angst#ateez smut#zombie au#zombie apocalypse#apocalypse au#horror#romance#hurt/comfort#kpop x reader
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The Set Up.
Sneak peek: based on the following request: Aaron and the reader are secretly married, and the team try to set them up together (obviously not knowing they are married) and they go on their date that the team set up and they enjoy it and the next day they tell the team that they are married. - I changed it a little bit but I hope you like it!
Aaron Hotchner x (Fem) Reader
Fluff
Word count: 1878
REQUESTS ARE OPEN - not edited - please be kind. Requests are open and feedback is welcome if it's constructive!
Warnings: READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!!! My blog is 18+, minors DNI, implied age gap (kinda?), secret relationship, mentions of canon typical violence, some language, team members meddling. I think thatâs all, let me know if I missed any!
I do not consent to having my work translated or reposted to any other site. That being said I do not own the characters portrayed in this story.
The team had been immediately aware of the difference in Hotchâs demeanor when you joined the BAU. You had been bright and shiny, straight out of the FBI academy and youâd had an impressive resume. In all seriousness, Hotch had chosen you to join the team prior to reading your name or date of birth. So, when you arrived with that twinkle in your eye and a hunger to make the world a better place, he knew he needed to protect you that for as long as he could.
Dave was the first one to mention the elephant in the room to Hotch. It had been about six months since you had joined the team. He had cornered Hotch at the coffee maker and outright asked him.
âDo you have feelings for her?â
âDave that is not an appropriate question and this is certainly not the place for it.â Hotch shook his head, walking away.
Of course he had feelings for you, how could he not? You had been sweet and gentle, and you hadnât let the horrors of the job harden you. Which is exactly why Hotch had asked you on a date two weeks prior, you had been out a few times since then, but Hotch couldnât let Dave know. What if it didnât work out? What if it got out and the bureau reprimand you both? What if it got out and you were targeted because of him?
Those are all the reasons he continued to use as an excuse for keeping your relationship under wraps. Itâs been two years, and since then the two of you had become serious, moved in, got married, and were now talking about expanding your familyâŠwhich of course led to a more intensive conversation of telling the bureau and more importantly the team of your relationship.
On the other hand, Penelope had been working endlessly to set you up with an eligible bachelor she knew, and after many failed attempts and a drunken night out with the girls, Emily had outed the crush you had on Hotch. If only they knew. That was the beginning of the schemes â the team was doing everything in their power to set the two of you up.
They had sent you undercover as a couple more than once, constantly partnered the two of you up on cases, made sure to take all the seats on the plane so youâd be forced to sit next to one another, and left you two to share rooms when it was needed on cases. The two of you found it humorous given that youâd already been doing all those things in secrecy.
It had been a pretty quiet day, you all had been catching up on paperwork, when the girls approached you and unbeknownst to you, the guys approached Aaron. That evening while cooking dinner you and Aaron would share nearly identical stories.
They approached me about a blind date. They said that it was scheduled for Friday at 7pm at Fredrichâs. To look for the
Woman in red and that I should wear gray.
Man in gray and that I should wear red.
At that point the two of you looked at one another and laughed. The team had set you up on a blind date with one another. You both agreed to play into the teamâs plan and go on the âblindâ dates they were setting you up on.
The rest of week went on slowly, but once Friday came around, the girls couldnât contain their excitement for you. Emily had reassured you that the guy she set you up with was nothing if not a gentleman.
Morgan had made sure to stop by Hotchâs office and remind him of his date.
âDonât leave this girl hanging man. Sheâs a great girl.â Morgan scolded.
âI will be there; you have nothing to worry about.â Aaron couldnât help but smile as he thought of you.
Youâd left work at 5:00 on the dot and went straight home to get ready. Aaron left at 6:15 and adjusted his attire, he removed his jacket and tie, unbuttoning the top two buttons on his shirt.
âHey sweetheartâ his hands made their way around your waist âyou look incredible.â Aaron placed a desperate kiss on your neck.
âAaron, we should really be going!â You couldnât help the giggle that escaped you.
You headed to the restaurant, excited to be out on a date, it had been a while since you had been out for dinner together, with work being so busy. When you arrived at Fredrichâs, Aaron pulled up out front and made his way around to your door. After assisting you out of the car, he handed his keys to the valet and led you inside.
As you made your way inside to the hostess stand you looked around the restaurant. Taking in your surroundings you were quick to notice a gentleman sitting alone at a table for two wearing none other than, a gray suit. As you were waiting for the hostess to seat you, a woman entered the restaurant accidentally bumping your arm. At the disruption Aaron glanced in your direction and took note of the color of the woman's dressâŠit was red.
 Aaron and you shared a look, one that was filled with acknowledgment and laced with a little bit of humor. When the hostess looked up at you, Aaron gestured for the woman to go first she mentioned to the hostess that she was meeting someone, and he was meant to be wearing gray. The hostess nodded and said he got there just a few moments ago and directed the woman to the table with the man in gray, sitting alone.
When she returned you asked for a table for two and were directed to a small booth in the back corner. You couldn't help the scoff that escaped you looking over to Aaron in utter disbelief.
âI can't believe thisâŠâ you shook your head âthey have been trying to get us together for months and they set us up on these blind dates, with random people at the same place this doesn't make any sense.â You finished.
âDo you think maybe they thought that if we saw each other out with other people that we'd come to our senses and ask one another out?â Aaron inquired.
âI mean maybe, I guess they thought that we'd either end up with one another because we couldn't stand the thought of each other with someone else or they thought that we'd end up matching well with the people they set us up with. Either way I think it might be time to let them in on our little secret.â You suggested.
âYeah, I think perhaps you're right.â Aaron agreed.
Throughout the rest of the evening, you and Aaron shared a wonderful dinner and couldn't help but peek over at the couple that was set up by pure accident. It made you smile at how well they appeared to be hitting it off and if anything could come of this night you were glad it could be new love for two people deserving of it.
When you and Aaron arrived home that evening you decided to discuss how you would break the news to the team that you'd actually been together, married in fact. You knew it would be hard especially with how close you were with them, Penelope would for sure be the most upset, given that you'd have had a wedding that she wasn't invited to.
Monday morning Aaron and you woke up, got dressed (unintentionally coordinating I might add) and for the first time, drove to work together. You walked in the building together hand in hand, with the hope that your team would be accepting. Unsurprisingly the first person to notice was Morgan, he had been sitting on Emily's desk and looked over as soon as you two entered the room.
You couldn't tell what they were more shocked about as eyes made their way to you. Was it the fact that this is the latest Aaron had arrived to work since he started at the BAU or was it the fact that you were so openly partaking in PDA. Naturally you were bombarded with questions like; how long you have been together, when you got together, what the relationship status was, if Dave has secretly known the whole time, they all were tossed at you with ferocity. But in the middle of all those questions Emily posed a rather important one,Â
âIf you two are together, what happened on your dates last night and why did you even agree to go on them?â
âWell, we've been together for quite a while and when we went home the other night, we had shared the information of the blind dates you guys were setting us up on and when we both had the story of me wearing red and him wearing Gray we sort of thought you guys were trying to set us up together.â You explained, âSo color us surprised when we got to the restaurant at the same time as a woman in red who was looking for a man in gray.â
âWait, but what about Mary? Hotch I told you not to leave her hanging, she's a good girl and I've known her a long time.â Morgan warned.
âAnd what about Ethan, he texted me this weekend saying how great the date went?â Emily questioned.
âWell, we let the hostess escort the girl in the red dress to the guy in the gray suit. So, Ethan and Mary went on a date together. While we enjoyed a much-needed date night.â Aaron clarified.
There was chatter amongst the team trying to break down the information they had just received from the two of you. You could tell they were still confused on some of the details, especially that of yours and Aaron's relationship. You looked at Aaron with pleading eyes, which he returned with a curt nod. The two of you thought it best to explain the situation to everyone.
âI guess we should probably explain ourselves. We have been married for about eight months. We have been together for nearly two years. I know that that probably comes as a shock but given everything we've gone through working here we do hope that you'll understand. our secrecy wasn't because we don't trust you, it was simply to keep one another safe as well as avoid any sort of reprimand from the director.â You informed.
You could tell the team was a combination of many emotions seeing them all flash across their faces, emotions like hurt, understanding, shock, but the most surprising was the love and care that ended on all of the faces in front of you. You couldn't be more appreciative of the people standing before you.
The blind date story was one that the team would go on to tell in many ways; to your future children of how they found out their parents were together, in Dave's best man speech at your vow renewal, and in simple jokes in passing. At the end of the day the team couldn't be happier that the two of you got your happy ending. Together.
#aaron hotchner#aaron hotch hotchner#hotch#aaron hotchner fic#aaron hotchner x reader#ssa aaron hotchner#criminal minds#aaron x reader#hotch x reader#hotch x you#hotch x y/n#emily prentiss#penelope garcia#spencer reid#david rossi#derek morgan#jennifer jareau#criminal minds fandom#thomas gibson#jack hotchner#jessica brooks#haley brooks#haley hotchner#aaron hotch x you#aaron hotch x reader#aaron hotch imagine#aaron hotch fluff#aaron hotch fic#aaron hotch fanfiction#aaron hotchner x you
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i donât go here often but the weird tension and watching porn together andâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠ. and bakugouâŠâŠâŠâŠ.
âź tags ; parts r left vague in detail (so u can imagine tdick or other), masc!reader, gay sex, jerking off in the same room, frotting, reader is a crass jackass, dubcon-ish (bkg is into it he's stubborn tho) stupid hent tropes, premature ejaculation on bkgs end.
âź a/n ; merc this literally possessed me KJDSHFKJSD.
"The fuck do you mean you don't jerk off?"
Bakugou flushes, throwing a pillow at you from the other side of the couch. You can't understand what he's saying to save your life.
"Fuck you. It's not that weird."
You give him a disbelieving look. "No, it definitely is. You don't like... watch porn?"
He makes a face at you that you can't identify. "No? I just like take care of it in the shower. If I get like morning wood or whatever."
"You only jerk off if you have morning wood?!"
A blush spreads up his neck, all the way to his ears. There's little sparks in the palms of his hands that make you snort. "It's not weird!"
"We're living different lives," You reply,without skipping a beat. "If I don't rub one out like. Twice a day at least, my dick will explode."
His face crinkles up with disgust. "Are you a fucking animal?"
"Dude, twice is nothing."
He doesn't have anything to say to that. You think on his situation for a while before a shit-eating grin spreads on your face. "You know what? I think I can fix you."
"Fuck do you mean fix me? There's nothing to fix, I'm going to kill you."
"Hold on," You ignore him, reaching around the arm of the couch for your backpack nearest the table. You grab your laptop and take it out of it's nice, blue sleeve - opening it up. Some short clicking sounds in the room before you set it on the coffee table in front of you both. "Here we are."
There's thumbnails of obscenities upon obscenities upon your screen - all with varying appropriate titles and run times. You look at him triumphantly, like a proud crow with shiny trinkets. Bakugou looks at you with complete disdain and disgust.
"What is wrong with you?"
"Don't be rude," You reply, not skipping a beat. "I'm offering you my curated, high quality porn stash without charge. This is the good stuff. You have to go to like... the sixth page of the internet for this quality. All HD."
"You're a fucking degenerate."
You grin. "I'm a connoisseur." You pause a bit, scrolling through your collection before glancing at him. "You got a type? Like in chicks."
"No," He says flatly, then looks at you. "Do you?"
You think on it before grinning. "Blondes."
He blushes at that. You scroll to the bottom of the first page and find your favorite video. It's a little vintage, but the main actress is a pretty blonde with a nice rack. It's NTR, plenty debauched. You click on it, setting the laptop back in view of you both before. Bakugou throws you a distressed look. "The fuck are you doing?"
"Changing your life, man. You're like a brother to me."
"And your show of brotherhood is watching fucking porn together? Don't be disgusting."
"It's not disgusting, come on. Don't be rude. This actress is super hot and this clip is hard to find. Show some gratitude."
"I'm going to leave." He threatens. You shrug.
"I'll have fun jerking off in your living room." You reply back. That keeps him glued to his seat.
The video starts playing after the intro. It's a pretty typical set-up for porn. A lonely, neglected housewife cheating on her husband with the plumber. It's nasty right from the jump though, not much emphasis on panty-shots and build up. They get straight to business in the first ten minutes of the film. You've seen it plenty by now, but your eyes remain in trance anyway. The actress is a natural beauty. A pretty face, short-blonde hair, and nice chest with pretty nipples.
Your breath hitches, something stirring underneath your waistband. She plays prickly in the film, all for show of course - but it makes the pay off way better. It's hot seeing her get corrupted.
You almost forget about Bakugou next to you until he whispers to you, low and offensive. "The hell are you doing?"
He must be referring to the hand unbuttoning your jeans. "What do you think?"
He makes a noise of protest, but ultimately can't stop you. You're hard. Always does the job this one, but you feel another layer of arousal feeling a gazed fixed on you. You glance at Bakugou, noticing a pillow over his lap and a blush over his face and grin. You think it's probably just your dick talking. The situation is so fucking obscene though.
You wonder what Bakguou sounds like when he moans. They look similar, him and the actress. Chest might be the same size, too. You let off a soft laugh. "Don't be shy on my account."
"Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you."
You make a face, lazy and lidded eyes meeting his. "You want to? Dunno if you've got any lube around to make it happen though, since you're such a priss."
His eyes go wide, pinched expression suddenly twisted with anger. He goes to cuss at you again but you beat him to the punch.
"Hey. Wanna jerk off together?"
You didn't think he could look more shocked if he tried. You snicker. "It'll feel better than humping the pillow like you are right now."
"I'm not fucking humping it."
"Right. D'ya wanna?"
He clearly thinks about it, which makes you laugh. The whole situation is making your head spin. You think it'd feel good to rub against him at least. You've never done anything like that with another guy though, but Bakugou is so pretty - can't be sure it counts. You get fed up with his waiting after a minute, scooting closer and circling in. He backs up against one arm of the couch as you crowd infront of him - stood on your knees on either side of his thighs. The angle is perfect to get your dicks to touch with some effort. He makes a choked sound in the back of his throat as you gingerly move the pillow.
You pull his sweats down as well as your jeans and press the tips of your cocks together - spitting into your hand to make the tips both wet. Bakugou gasps, groaning in the back of his throat. Humiliated, he pulls back and looks at you. He's pissed, feral.
Weirdly, you think he's kind of sexy right now. You leaned down to kiss him, and he tries to pull away. You grip your hand in his hair and force him to kiss you - all teeth and tongue. He pulls back with a flush.
"Fuck," You groan, rutting up against him - your whole body shuddering and pulsating from the sensation of his dick. Hot and velvet, making your body twitch. "You're kinda sexy."
"Shut up," He replies, no real bite when his voice is so blown out with lust. "We're not even watching the porn anymore, dipshit."
"Guess not," You reply, rubbing against him again. He moans aloud, pleasing you. "You're way sexier than that."
His dick twitches in response to that. "Shut up,"
"Might be bad if I get addicted to this," You reply, sweat dripping down the crown of your head as your hips follow their own rhythm. "Let's cum together. C'mon."
He frowns at you before craning his neck up to push another kiss to your mouth. You shudder as you feel him cum against your fingers from that, laughing in amusement.
You were joking about being addicted, but you can't be sure. Not anymore, at least.
#return to sender#bakugou x reader#katsuki <3#dubcon cw#I NEED THIS TO BE ME !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!#sorry merc i . literallt went insane thinking of this
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Lord Choso Kamo.
Synopsis: bridgerton au- 22 yrs old nd have yet to marry, only to be set up in an arranged marriage to Choso ^-^
Pairing: Choso x Fem!Reader Content: no use of y/n nor readers appearance, Choso is 26, enemies (on one side) to lovers, reader is sharp tongued and stubborn, plotttttt booooo, just a niche fic I couldnt stop thinking about ^-^, catered for a very specific audience, if you get it- YOU GET IT.
Presented to society at seven and ten. One of the many young potential brides.Â
You had asked your mother to allow you to wait a few years- focus on your studies instead of marrying you off. As lacking in presence as your father was, even he said, âAbsolutely not.â
The first year had a handful of potential husbands. But none of them could nack your witty remarks towards them. Causing your second year to have an even less amount of suitors.
The second year, you were already deemed a spinster by your parents. Attending balls and only sitting on the sidelines in the very same gowns you've worn before- only ever seeing it as a meaningless affair. Only present to watch the other young ladies receive marriage offers before you did.Â
By the time you were two and twenty, your mother and father saw you and saw a sort of disappointment. An only child- raised and trained for marriage- and refusing to let go of the silly notion of going through life unmarried.Â
They blamed you- but in reality it was a mix of their inability to keep up with the fashions of the seasons. Having to re-wear dresses didnât help you in the situation either. That and the lack of an eye-catching dowry. Seemed as though no man wanted to marry a woman with a mere four figure dowry, no matter how beautiful.Â
One afternoon, as you read a book in the drawing room, you sat on the couch lazily, wearing a day dress that you deemed obsoleteâdressing up for no one but the servants and your mother.Â
And your mama spouting- âI do not know why you insist on filling your mind with nonsense.â Pacing back and forth a few feet from you.Â
Causing you to lower your book and look at her with pursed lips. âIt is not nonsense, mama,â you snipped, lining up your eyes with the words again. âIt is Shakespeare.â you muttered, a small smile curling on your lips at the look on your motherâs face.Â
She was about to start speaking again- only your father walked into the room with an unaccustomed smile on his lips. Almost exasperated, âAnd what is it you have to smile about, my lord?â your mother scoffed, sitting on the couch across from you with a sigh.Â
âI have found a proper suitor for your daughter,â he said, causing your shoulders to tense and your book to lower in disbelief.Â
âI am your daughter as well-Â father.â you scoffed. Lightly pinching the bridge of your nose and sitting up.Â
The gleam that shone on your motherâs eyes was one you hoped youâd never see. âWho?â she asked, breathless and eager to see who would finally take you from their hands.Â
Your father flashed his eyes to you, almost worried for the words that dared spill from his lips- âThe lord Kamo.âÂ
You closed your eyes with a soft sigh. You had been appropriately raised to not talk back to your father, but the vein that pulsed in your mind when he said that name almost made you snap at him.Â
Lord Choso Kamo.Â
To others, just another lord without a bright and shiny title. Firstborn son and heir of the Kamo name, his mother gave birth to 8 more boys- all one year apart. And on the eighth, his mother died.Â
His father remarried within the year, speculated with a woman he had an affair with when his mother was still alive. Giving Choso one last little brother.Â
And to you, three years your senior. Choso was a playful child growing up. Chasing you around- stepping on your shoes and stealing your ribbons at the various balls you would attend with your mother.Â
But somewhere around the time his father died, he became more serious. Now head of the Kamo family at a mere five and ten, he grew taller and more serious-faced. And no longer picked fun at you, nor chased you around. If anything, he ignored you.Â
Even as a child, you had developed a special kind of disdain towards him. Seeing him as an ill-raised boy, blamed for his misdeeds by your mother. âBut mama- he is the one who chases me!â you would defend when she would pull you away by the arm.Â
And in your teen years- you would avoid him like a plague. Holding your head high as your eyes looked over at him- his eyebrows, thick and furrowed with severe eyes scanning the ballroom.Â
You disliked Choso not only for his actions as a child but also because he had a dismissive aura when it came to these ballsâand when it came to you now, apparently. Far too mature and busy to even hold a conversation with you now.Â
Only once when you were four and ten did you approach him. Standing much taller than you at seven and ten, hands behind his back with a stern look in his eye.
Choso stood near the far wall of the ballroom, his eyes scanning the lively room for his little brothers. To make sure they did not stain his legacy even further than his father had.Â
âI think you owe me a dance, my lord,â you spoke, standing beside him but not bothering to look over at him, dressed in a dark plum suit, a color he had taken a liking to at his coming of age.
His face churned in confusion, âOwe you a dance? Whatever for.â he spoke- improper and uncaring of this supposed debt you imposed onto him.Â
âFor stealing my ribbons and stepping on my shoes.â tilting your head slightly, so sure you were correct.Â
He only scoffed, walking away from you and collecting his rowling brother.Â
Chosoâs coldness against you was upsetting. Not because you wanted his friendship but because of how improper and indifferent he was when it came to you. Not even bidding a goodbye before walking off.
In the third year you were on the market, you stood beside him once moreâyou, freshly twenty, and he, three and twenty. Thinking if no other man would have you, who was the Lord to deny you?
It was not as though he was the worst man of the bunch. A decent name, a decent fortune- and a better-looking face than most suitors. His only flaw was how standoffish he could be and how improper he was with you.
Yet still. You gave the man one last chance.
âYou still owe me a dance, my Lord,â you spoke, watching the people dance at the center of the room. Choso looked over to you, quickly scanning the light pink gown you wore that evening, surely to attract a suitor.
Your gaze caught the bags below his eyes, a side effect of the late nights spent in his study with only candlelight illuminating the mess of books his late father left him. And his long hair tied back, giving you an unobstructed view of his strong jaw.
âShould you not be looking for a husband?â he spewed, looking back at the dancing crowd and lightly widening his eyes. Unable to see the youngest sibling he was watching.Â
You let out an unamused laugh, âThat is what I am doing, is it not?â looking over at him with a pleased expression.Â
âNo, you are talking to me-â he murmured. Walking off and trying to find the pink-haired sibling with a penchant for wandering off.Â
After that, you swore never to speak to him again. There was a spark of hatred in your heart when you saw his stupid, serious face at the balls. And when his eyes caught on yours, you would look away, uncaring if people saw. If anything, you wanted people to see your dislike for that brinking-on beastly man.Â
So when your father said that he- Lord Choso Kamo was to be your husband, you almost hemorrhaged on the spot.Â
You did not speak to your father for three days and two nights. At the dinner table, you stayed silent. Picking at your food and avoidant of any conversation. And your mother held more than enough excitement for you both. Planning the flowers, the gown- all before the Lord even proposed.Â
And when your father grew tired of your silence- he shouted at you to speak.Â
You bowed your head, tears in your eyesââPlease,â you said in a tone of voice you had not used since you were a girl. Peering your eyes up at him, full of salt water and a weary lip. You said, âPlease, do not make me marry that man, father.âÂ
Though your papa was generally uncaring when it came to what you felt. The way you looked at him- he saw a glimmer of his little girl in your eyes. The same little girl that would cling to his leg, scared of the strangers he would present her to.Â
Your father took your hands in his- and you were so sure he would call it off.Â
âI will allow you a two-week courting period.â He whispered, watching the tears spill from your eyes. âYou must marry him,â he spoke your name softly.Â
It wasnât until the following day you heard your father speaking to your mother- the stoic man practically in shambles at the thought of using his only daughter as a form of paying his debts.Â
Before the late Lord Kamo passed, your father owed him a substantial amount of money. A debt your father was still unsure how he would pay. And the news of Chosoâs father's death washed over your papa as a wave of relief.
So when a six and twenty-year-old Lord Kamo wrote to your father- something along the lines of;Â âI have in my late fatherâs books that you owed him an undisclosed sum of money. I would like to discuss this face to face-â
Your father thought up a million thingsâselling off the silverware, the dresses, and letting go of the staffâbut it didnât amount to half as much as he owed.Â
So when your father met up with the young Lord Kamo at a gentleman's club, he was far too inebriated. Drinking to fill the uncomfortability he felt with the severity Choso imbued in his words.Â
âIt is my understanding you have yet to marry?â your father spoke- glass half empty in his hand as he looked at the brown-haired man before him.Â
Choso furrowed his eyebrows, looking at the drunk man and squinting. âI have yet to.âÂ
âThen the matter is settled. You may haveâ*hic* My daughter,â he said, thralling his arm around Chosoâs shoulder with a happy smile. âShe is well-read. And you have been friends since youth, have you not?âÂ
Choso parted his lips to speakââPhenomenal!â your father said, âWe will discuss the technicalities later,â ending the conversation and continuing to another topic.Â
In Chosoâs mind, he knew the impending task of finding a wife had run at him at full speed. And rather than slotting through the many carefully primped young ladies, Choso found peace in knowing if he should have to marry, let it at least be you who he does.Â
The least objectionable option. Finding it revolting how the many mamas would peddle their overly young daughters to grown men. Be it you- three years his junior and knowing you far better than he would know any of them.Â
And when your mother advised you that the Lord Kamo had asked to see you- you felt a pool of nerves and unease form in your tummy. Knowing that the two-week period your father had granted you, would begin the minute, he would come see you.Â
Your mother mulled over what you were to wear when he would visit. Trying to find the best option- an option that would make your beauty distracting enough to ignore your sharp tongue.Â
âMama, Iâve already told you- he is not interested in marriageâ you insisted- your mother ordering you to hold a dress against your body.Â
âHush up.â she insisted, causing you to sigh.Â
Tossing a light pink chiffon gown onto your bed- âI have known him since I was a child- mama, he knows what I am like.â sitting onto your bed with a scoff, âA frilly gown Iâve worn before wonât change his opinion on me.âÂ
Your mother shouted your name- âYour father has said that he already agreed- mouthy and far too mature as you are. Lord Kamo has agreed to marry you.â she insisted. Making your mind reel at the possibility that he only agreed to vex you, knowing him.
As your ladies maid fixed your hair- looking into the mirror and thinking of your foiled plans. Plans that had been entirely derailed simply because the Lord said âyesâ to marrying you.Â
And as you sat in the drawing room- back slouched and a bored look on your face. Your mother did not hesitate to slap your back when the footman walked in âThe Lord Kamo, to see you- my lady.â he directed at you.Â
Straightening your back- fixing your face as you watched the man stand at the doorway. Flowers in hand and with his hair pushed behind his ears. Unfurrowed eyebrows and nervous eyes looking at you.Â
You rose to your feet, âMy lord.â you exasperated, lowering in a half-assed curtsey as he slightly bowed.Â
âMy lady.â he spoke- almost unsure and far too formal for the relationship you had with him.Â
You clenched your jaw looking at him- your mother leaning to your ear, âBe kind, and smile.â she instructed through clenched teeth. Sitting at a tea table a few paces from the couch you were sitting on.Â
Choso took a step towards you, holding out the bouquet. âThese are for you,â he mumbled- yet another thing you disliked about him. He spoke unclear words far too often.Â
You plastered a false smile on your lips, reaching for them- âThank you. My lord.â dropping the smile and holding them out for your ladiesâ maid to take them. Thinking of a snide comment, only laughing softly to yourself at-Â âmake sure to leave them in the sun till next week.â you said in your mind.Â
âDid I say something funny?â he asked- watching you sit onto the couch and following you.Â
You eased your expression. âNo, unfortunately you didnât.â you spit. Hearing a slight cough come from your mother, reminding you to be kind.
Choso parted his lips to speak- âMay I ask you why you agreed to marry me?â you interrupted- a hushed tone so your mother would not scold you. Eyebrows stern and determined to know his reasonings.Â
The Lord squinted his eyes slightly with a furrowed brow. âI have yet to ask for your hand?â he queried- as though you had the answers that you, yourself, were looking for.Â
âMy father says you agreed to marry me in two weeks.â deadpan face looking at his confused one.Â
The corner of the Lordâs lip curled, âYour father was drunk when he struck that deal.âÂ
You rolled your eyes and looked off to the side. âSo you do not wish to marry me.â you stated rather than asked. So eager to hear the words- âI do not want to marry you.â
âI did not say that.âÂ
You almost groaned in frustration at his words. Only your twitchy eye went unnoticed by the man sitting before you. âThen?â you pressed, pursed lips and squinty eyes awaiting his declaration- or an excuse.Â
âI am reaching the age to take a bride.â he started, bordering on a mumble that only frustrated you even more.Â
âAnd why not take on a well-behaved child bride-â
Chosoâs expression churned in a flash of disgust. âI did not choose you,â he spoke your name in a whisper. Improper as ever- not even using your family name with a simple âmissâ before it.Â
You blinked harshly at your name callously spoken as though you were already wed.Â
âYour father offered-â
âAnd you accepted.âÂ
âBecause I have known you since I was a boy.â he defended, âI found marrying you to be simpler than carding through the many eligible young-â you sighed at his droning on. Giving you every excuse besides the one you wanted to hear.Â
âYou also said 'yes' to this union, did you not?â he asked. You looked off to the side, scoffing at his assumption.Â
Intertwining your fingers together and pursing your lips, âThis union is everyoneâs choice but mine.â you muttered. Looking down to your hands with a frustrated look on your face.Â
Choso called your name again- this time in worry. Making the vein in your temple pulse from his improper tendencies. âIf you do not want to marry- I will not force you to.âÂ
âYou do not know a thing.â you spouted, causing your mother to look up from the embroidery cloth to see why you were seething in your words. And Choso only smiled at your mother, assuring her it was okay.Â
Clearing your throat- standing from the couch and urging him to do the same. âI think itâs time for you to take your leave, my lord.â You spoke- hearing your mother stand.Â
âCanât you stay for tea?â she asked- only for Choso to look at you. Mouthing a soft âNo,â instructing him to assure your mother that was not necessary.Â
The next time Choso saw you was at a ball. You stood near a wall, a pondering look on your face, an unsipped glass of lemonade in hand, and an empty dance card on your wrist.Â
Looking off as though you were physically here- but your mind was elsewhere.Â
The Lord came up to you for the first time since he was seven. Calling your name in a mutter and pulling you from your thoughts.Â
âYes, my lord?â you spoke- refusing to turn and look at him.Â
He inhaled sharply, âHave you thought more on-â
âIt is all I think about these days.âÂ
Choso tried thinking back on the lessons he was taught as a boy- how to approach a lady and how to ask for a dance.Â
He parted his lips to speak- âWhat is it you want, my lord?â you asked, interrupting his attempts to communicate with your tone bordered on frustration.Â
âI owe you a dance, do I not,â speaking your name with the same thoughtlessness as he always held. You sighed, placing your glass on the table beside you.Â
Looking over at him with a peaked brow, âWhy is it now you want to dance? Not once have you ever shown interest before.âÂ
He scoffed softly, âI aim to court you- dancing is part of it, is it not?â
You let out an unamused laugh, âIf dancing meant courting- you declined that proposition long ago, my lord.â taking a sarcastic tone, holding your head high as he furrowed his eyebrows.Â
Unknowing what you were talking about, Choso squinted his eyes. âWhy do you speak to me in that tone?â he looked over at you, trying to recall if he had insulted you or even done something to warrant your curt behavior.Â
You sighed harshly, bored of this conversation- and irritated that Choso had the guts to ask that. âMy mother is summoning me-â Trying to find an escape from this conversation; you chose to lie.Â
Turning to face him, pursed lips and your jaw slightly clenched, âGood evening, my lord.â you spat, his eyes widening and scoffing.Â
As you turned to walk away, he called your name- loud enough for more than enough people to turn their heads to the source. Seeing you still in Choso's presence, his face troubled as he looked at the back of your head.Â
The control you had in not turning around and snapping at the man, was control you werenât sure you held. You only breathed in a small breath and continued your steps, hearing the Lord step behind you as you walked out of the ballroom.Â
Nodding your head 'no' as you stepped onto the terrace- breathing in the crisp evening air and clenching your jaw. Your name was spoken again, in the same uncaring tone he always held when he referred to you.Â
âIf I have done something to offend you-â You turned around swiftly, angered by the face before you and your eye threatening to twitch.Â
âIf? If you have done something?â you scoffed, finding it unbelievable that he didnât even know what he did wrong. Choso turned his head, awaiting your explanation as your gloved hands balled into fists at your side. Â
Choso parted his lips to speak, your name falling from his lips carelessly, making you even more upset. âPlease, tell me if I have done something wrong.â The urgency in his tone fell on deaf ears.Â
âI do not wish to speak of this any longer-â you muttered, âMy Lord.â you gritted, a breath leaving his lips at the name.Â
âWhy do you insist on calling me that?â he lightly grimaced, cringing every time youâve ever referred to him as that.Â
The control you held slipping from the satin covering your fingers. âBecause it is politeâsomething you do not harbor,â you spat, shivering at the crisp breeze brushing against your arms.Â
Choso furrowed his eyebrows- even more confused than before at your proclamation. You scoffed- âDo not pretend you are unaware of what I speak of.â your chest puffing and slightly spilling from the top of your gown.Â
You abandoned the topic, knowing he would only look at you with the same stupid expression in wait for you to further elaborate.Â
Turning away from Choso and placing your hands on the balconyâs edge, sighing softly before a smile crept onto your lips.Â
âWe have yet to marry, and we are arguing already,â you whispered, looking out into the gardens with a pummeling headache.Â
Choso sighed, his face troubled. âIâve already told youâif this marriage is not of your will, I shall decline your father.âÂ
You breathed a sharp exhale from your nose at his claim, knowing it was not up to you nor him. It was a duty your own father entrusted to you.Â
âIt is of my will.â you muttered, hearing his footsteps creep beside you. Looking out to the same view as you.Â
âThen why is it you hold such disdain for me?â he whispered, looking to the side of your face in worry.Â
Dropping the veil of anger to answer his question in earnest. âDo you remember when we were children? And you would chase me around the Easter gardens?â you asked, taking a softer tone and looking to the very same gardens below you.Â
âOr when you would step on my freshly polished shoes- or steal the ribbons of my hair?â Looking back to him with a soft expression- watching his face churn to a pensive one.Â
A small smile formed on your lips, âI was able to forgive all of that- but when I was ten and four, you declined my offer for a dance.â your mouth in taught purse, watching his lips part to defend himself.Â
âAnd when I was twenty, I offered again.â the corner of your lip curling in disbelief, âAnd you declined- again.âÂ
âThis is all because I refused to dance with you?â Choso asked in a half laugh.Â
You huffed a smile, âNo, not because you declined my offers for dancing, my lord.â clenching your teeth and the seething below your skin burning in your cheeks. âBecause after all of that- you somehow managed to foil my plans for the future.âÂ
Sighing in a straggled breath, âAfter all of that- you agreed to marry me. And go on as though we have been friends since childhood.â You nodded in disappointment.Â
âBut we have been-â Choso stated in almost a question.Â
âYou bullied me in childhood. We are not friends.â You spat in a whisper, turning and taking a step away. Only for his hand to grasp onto your clothed forearm, holding you back with an amused expression.Â
âBullied?â he asked in a surprised tone. âIf anyone was a bully- it was you,â speaking your name and looking at your angered expression.Â
Choso loosened his grip on your arm, âDo you not recall? When you would pull my ears or push me?â he smiled, remembering the memories he held fondly.Â
âOr when I would call you 'my lady'- and you would snap at me? Tell me that was not your name- and that you were no lady?â he scoffed with an earnest smile. You furrowed your eyebrows, barely able to remember the memory he was referring to.Â
âIf I am so horrible- why did you agree to marry me?â you whispered, the smile on his face only growing in the slightest.Â
His cheeks slightly flushed and daring to inch closer to you. âI do not find you horrible,â the tone he took when saying your name made your own cheeks threaten to warm. âI never have.â he smiled.Â
Watching your tight expression soften, you parted your lips slightly. Darting your eyes back to the ballroom and seeing a pair of debutants whispering whilst looking through the doors.Â
You cleared your throat, taking a step back and exhaling a shaky breath. Choso furrowed his eyebrows and looked over to where you had looked, âA dance, my lady?â he offered his hand out to you.Â
You took it with a sigh, what you interpreted as anger filling your cheeks. Allowing him to guide you back to the ballroom.Â
A hand on your waist and other holding yours, taking precise steps as your eyes avoided his. Thinking of a way to break the tension without stuttering. âIf you insist on marrying me- I ask we speak of agreements beforehand,â you expressed, avoiding the gaze Choso held on you.Â
His hand guiding you into a waltz, âAgreements?â he murmured, snapping your eyes back to him and nodding.Â
âYes, agreements. Discuss what shall happen if we marry.â you reiterated, keeping a stern brow and ignoring the wisp of a smug expression on his face.Â
Choso lightly smiled, âVery well.â he murmured again, making you nod your head no with heat rising in your cheeks.Â
âBring freesias for my mother- and stop mumbling.â you seethed, watching his smile deepening as he heard your demands.Â
-
(a.n) sooo niche and I overindulged I know, but I don't CARE.
#jjk x reader#jjk x y/n#jujutsu kaisen x reader#choso jjk#choso jujutsu kaisen#jujutsu kaisen choso#choso kamo#choso x reader#jjk choso#kamo choso#choso#choso x you#choso my beloved#choso x y/n#choso x female reader#choso x chubby reader#jujutsu choso#choso kamo x you#choso kamo x reader#jjk x reader imagines#jjk x you#jujustsu kaisen x reader#jujutsu kaisen x you#jujutsu kaisen#jjk
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astrology observations pt. 5 (i believe)
remember, if this doesnât resonate, leave it, scroll away and forget it. i wanted a summer theme, so iâll do it on this post why not đ
đŹđđđ
đŹđđđ
đŹđđđ
đŹđđđ
âââââââ âââââââ âââââââ âââââââ âââââââ âââââââ
đŹ I wish I could look a Sag sun in the eyes and tell them that no matter how little or big they achieve, theyâre worth something. That they donât have to chase the next big shiny thing, that they donât have to be a millionaire by age 30, that they donât have to « be someone » because theyâre already someone.
đ Weâre always talking about how lucky Jupiter natives are and how free spirited they are, but the truth is, Jupiter is also about expansion and sometimes I feel like that expansion translates in a pressure to be exceptional. And in this society, in this world, being exceptional is only valued at a material level. The number of Sag suns that Iâve met that felt like complete failures at like 20 years old is not normal. Theyâre so harsh on themselves. I wish I could give them all a big hug
đ The power of pisces mercury lies in their intuition. As virgoâs sister sign, it makes sense that Pisces mercuries donât find their answers through logic and evidence-based facts but rather intuition and feelings. It can be hard for them to trust that gut feeling or to feel intelligent cause if someone asks them « well how do you know? » their answers most likely will be « Eh, just a hunch » But trust it, itâs one of your many gifts
đ
I used to be so fascinated with people with Aries and Gemini in their birth chart cause I found them so comfortable with people, the life of a party type of people and so damn charming. As I grow older though and begin to see life in nuances of grey instead of straight black and white, Iâm able to realize that those people often suffer from people-pleasing tendencies, a sense of self that is either broken or fragile and codependent behaviors. Itâs like their sense of worth is tied to how much people like them.
đŹ Cancers are very loyal, I know itâs not a popular sign on mainstream medias and people love to shit on them, but the truth is, Cancers will have your back, no matter the placements. If youâre ever loved by a Cancer, make sure to treat them right !
đ People who are not that much into astrology will meet a Leo and be like âomg, you donât act like a Leo at all, youâre not arrogant or an attention whoreâ When we look at Leos celebrities, itâs easier to see that arrogant, flashy, extra side. But irl, we rarely meet that âkind âof Leos, right? (Except at bars lol) The reason for it, I found, is that Leos, for the most part, have personas. First of all, theyâre a lot more private than youâd think. I believe that most Leos loooove attention, but they also know when itâs appropriate to show it or not. Depending on their other placements, theyâll decide when to grab that spotlight and when to leave it to others.
đ I had this girl that I knew that was a Leo sun (and Iâm sure a bunch of virgo placements) and everybody was shocked of her sun sign because she was introverted, quiet and observant. But she was still a theater girl, wanted to be the main character (preferred the villain), veryyyy assertive when it came to her boundaries or what she liked and didnât liked, and very extra and colourful in her outfits. The reason why I donât like mainstream astrology is because itâs a bit childish in the way it describes a sign. You can love attention but show it in a way other than screaming and dancing on tables. This girl, for example. To me, she was a Leo sun to a T.
đ
Aquarius placements đ€đœ their desires to connect with someone through intellectual stimulation, but refusing to show and acknowledge their deep rooted fear of intimacy and vulnerability
âââââââ âââââââ âââââââ âââââââ âââââââ âââââââ
and thatâs it from me, folks.
-B.
#astrology#astro community#astro notes#astrology observations#birth chart#astrology notes#astroblr#scorpio#aquarius#pisces#sagittarius#cancer âïž#virgotraits#libra#leo#leowomen#celeb astrology#pluto astrology#astrology tumblr#astrology aspects
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Salt Mirror
phic phight fill with two prompts; for @echoghost1 and @fuyuthefoxwriter
(Sister fics are Snow Day, Snowdrift Sanctuary, and Frozen Out)
********
The first thing Danny noticed was the teeth.Â
Or. Well. The first thing Frostbite noticed were the teeth. What Danny noticed was that suddenly he was being offered bigger and bigger bones with his meal, which were very much not typical human-appropriate food.Â
âYou break them,â Frostbite showed him, pinning the bone between two sharp canines and biting down. The bone broke clean in two. Hot-dog style. âThen you are free to eat the marrow inside.â
Danny stared. âI donât⊠I don't think my teeth do that.â
âTry it,â his guardian encouraged.Â
âŠWell. He hoped Far Frozen had as good a dentistry practice as they did medicine. Danny shoved the bone between his canine teeth, and clamped downâ
âAnd the bone broke clean through.Â
Huh. That wasâŠnew.Â
Well. Marrow tasted good, anyway, and scooping the butter-soft marrow out with a spoon was easy. Danny might have clunked the wooden spoon against his teeth a couple times (man, was he clumsy today) but he was very happy with the results.Â
The next day Frostbite offered him an arm-length rib bone, Danny didnât even hesitate to chomp down.Â
He ate through four ribs before he felt full. He was happy.Â
*
The second thing Danny noticed was how pale he got.Â
Like. As in âhis arm matched the snow-white fur of his tundra-proof coatâ level pale. âWhite as a glacier and just as blueâ level pale. Like. There was no red left in his skin.Â
He pressed his thumb to his palm. It went yellow, and then flushed back to white as his blood went back in.Â
âŠSpooky. Uh. Danny blinked loudly. Maybe he wasâŠsickâŠ?
There wasnât a mirror in their cave dwelling, and nothing was shiny enough to reflect inâ everything that wasnât medical was cast iron, or not quite mirror smooth, like Frostbiteâs round cooking knives.Â
Danny needed a mirror.Â
He bundled up and walked through fresh snow drifts to the closest medical facility: an ice cave across from Ledyanoy and Avalancheâs home, carved into one of several dozen pillars of ice embedded into the floating island. Danny knew that there was a mirror there, since Frostbite went in for mirror therapy every time his ice-carved arm began to itch psychosomatically.Â
He darted inside. Pritla was the only one in there, so they ignored him in their quest for additional data. Great. All Danny needed was the mirror set up in the corner, ready and waiting to be rolled into place for Frostbiteâs next session.Â
Danny peeked at his reflection. He lookedâŠwow.Â
For one, Danny looked spooky as hell. The blue went all around his eyes, nowâ no whites to be seen, creating an uneasy, inhuman look. He was pale. He was very pale. He looked like the printer had run out of any colors that might have given him some sort of standing to wander reality with.Â
The insides of his lips were blue. The wet inner linings around his eyes were blue.Â
âŠWhat.Â
And. Speaking ofâŠlipsâŠhis gums were a deep, sapphire blue, as was his tongue. None of that was as important as his huge freaking fangs, though!
Like! Huge! Not yeti huge, of course, but still!! Danny had no idea how they werenât sticking straight out of his mouth when he closed it. Big, pearly fangs.Â
What the heck was happening to him?Â
*
âI think youâre turning into a Yeti,â Tundra decided primly, and flung himself at Arctic without any further thought. The teenage Yetiâ still taller than Danny by two heads and a halfâ squawked, barely seeing the projectile cub in time to dodge appropriately.Â
âNo,â said Danny. It was more outright denial than certainty. He wrapped his coat tighter around himself.Â
Avalanche, who was the closest to adulthood out of all of them, watched the two wrestle balefully. Tundra was barely out of cub age, and Arctic wasnât much better than Sidney Poindexter when it came to having his crap together, so it was kind of like watching two frogs mud-wrestle in knee-high snow.Â
âI mean,â said Avalanche, mostly bored by the spectacle of Arctic getting his butt whipped by what amounted to a kid, âIâm pretty sure itâs normal for human-born ghosts to adapt to their Obsessions after they form. You have to change a little to match your environment. And we have a lot of snow.âÂ
âSo much!â Tundra howled from where he was perched on top of Arctic. His victory lasted as long as it took for Arctic to get his legs underneath himself, push himself to standing, and launch Tundra into a snow drift with a surprised squeal.Â
Arctic shook himself off. His fur fluffed up with the effort, which made him look larger in size than usual. âI think that if you were turning into a yeti, Frostbite would have noticed. Or said something. Or done something.â
Avalanche shook her head, gamely ignoring how Tundra had turned from a fallen-in-the-snow position to a crouching-and-ready-to-pounce position. Danny had seen this a million times now; either Arctic would notice (he wouldnât) and dodge, or heâd once again fall victim to Tundraâs childish enthusiasm.Â
Danny and Avalanche largely had no comment on Tundraâs second leap of faith, nor for their mutual struggle for pubescent dominance that ensued.Â
There were other questions to ask.Â
*
âAm I turning into a yeti?â Phantom asked.Â
Frostbite looked down.Â
The half-ghost looked nervousâ picking at his lip until green beaded under his teeth, his hands in the sleeves of his coat.Â
âNo,â Frostbite confirmed. He didnât smile, as it would have seemed condescending in the face of Phantomâs genuine worry. It was better to keep calm. âWhy are you worried about turning into a yeti?âÂ
Phantom stared up at him, eyes deep and luminous. Frostbite had seen similar coloration on deep-sea creatures, long-travelled things desperate for any sort of light. The sight was compelling, yes, but could not substitute for a verbal answer.Â
â...Because Iâm changing colors and now I have sharp teeth and I think Iâm growing claws,â Phantom pointed out. All of these things were true. They were very good, sturdy teeth, and very good, sturdy claws, which was a good sign; anything otherwise would have indicated a lack of support on Frostbiteâs end.Â
âIt is a very normal thing to want to explore other forms of expression at your age,â Frostbite pointed out. He threaded his paws through Phantomâs pale hair, and found, to his pride, little buds of ice horns. âAnd I am very flattered that you think so highly of us that you are interested in mimicking some of our more obvious traits; that being said, if it distresses you, you are always free to change back.âÂ
Phantomâs face turnedâŠlost. âOh.âÂ
Frostbite continued petting. More explanation would come, or it wouldnâtâ but in the meantime, the human tinge returned to his chargeâs cheeks, flush with red blood, and the bud horns collapsed where they grew. His chargeâs hair turned dark once more, his teeth flat and human.Â
Phantomâs eyes were always blue. The human color was not as deep, but was just as nice. Now, there were tears in them.Â
âWhat is wrong, little one?â Frostbite rumbled, concerned. Phantom took his paw and pressed his face to it in search of tactile comfort.Â
âI didnât know why I was changing,â Phantom admitted, sniffing. His voice was wet and raw. âI was scared I couldnât go back. Humans donât justâŠchange like that, 'cause we're made of matter. I was scaredâŠâ
Frostbite rumbled wordlessly. His charge had adapted very well to a non-human environment, but there were knowledge gaps that would have come naturally to any Realms-Borne being; most intuitively was knowledge of the self, as well as the rigidity (and fluidity) of oneâs own manner of expression.Â
Changing without realization would be distressing. Frostbite still remembered what it felt like to wake up some mornings and realize that his arm was gone.Â
âYou are alright,â Frostbite reaffirmed. âIt it healthy to change, and it is a good time to find out how you will want to present yourself. That being said, there is no rush.â
Frostbite paused.Â
âThere is one rush. If you intend to partake in eating marrow with our dinner tonight, you may want to manifest your teeth againââ
Phantom laughed, little cubâs fangs poking out between his teeth. All would be well; but first, there was dinner to be had, and a good nightâs sleep to be found.
#phic phight#phic phight 2024#phic phight 24#i cannot remember what tags I have been using and it's kind of distressing ngl#danny phantom#far frozen#Frostbite#Danny Fenton#Yeti!OCs#'what do yeti teenagers do' idk babysit n roam around n hit each other probably#Danny's having an identity crisis which is p fair for cross-species adoption after your parents rejected you for expressing inherent traits#faer fic
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Eddieâs doing some dumb trick with a couple of wooden spoons, clever hands making them move through the air in improbable ways, and Steveâs about to bite his whisk in half.Â
Heâd thought for sure that Eddie would be going home the first week; Edward Munson, 29, bartender/musician from Brighton with mismatched tattoos and wild hair, seemed like exactly the kind of pretentious asshole who would flame out early with some ill-advised hipster experimentation. If Steve (28, social worker from Indiana, USA) had been a complete asshole, heâd have said that Eddie didnât have the fundamentals. That he was all sizzle, no steak.Â
Itâs a good thing Steveâs not a complete asshole, because Eddieâs been blowing the technicals out of the water so consistently itâs actually pretty fucking embarrassing. His signatures and showstoppers are making a very respectable showing too, except for the time he tried to incorporate some fresh pandan extract and fucked up the liquid ratio, leaving him with a dripping mess that Maryâd declined to even try.Â
Afterwards, Steve had seen him leaning against a tree and struggling to light a cigarette. Steve went over for no particular reason, flicking on his lighter and holding it out like a peace offering. Eddie looked at him warily, but bent over the offered flame.Â
âCanât believe I made it through this one,â Eddie said after a moment, white smoke curling out of his mouth.
âYeah, I feel like that every week.â Steve leaned against the tree next to Eddie. It was a big tree, the kind thatâs probably been growing in this field since before England was even England.Â
âNah, butâcâmon, you know what I mean.â
âYou had some bad luck with your showstopper. Happens to the best of us, man. Your signature hand pies looked sick as hell.â Steveâs own hand pies had turned out pretty well, so he was feeling generous. It had only been the third week; plenty of time for Steve to snag Star Baker, though even by that point, Steve had been getting the creeping feeling that he was being a little too American about the whole thing. Everyone else seemed to think competitiveness was some kind of deadly sin. It wasâactually kind of nice, to get the same kind of nerves heâd always gotten before high school basketball games, but know that he wasnât really fighting against anyone except himself in the tent.
Anyway, the very next week, Eddie had done some kind of kickass gothic castle with a shiny chocolate dragon and gotten Star Baker for the second time. Steve had clapped him on the back, appropriately manly. Eddie had pulled Steve into a real hug, arms tight around Steveâs shoulders and his whole lean body pressed up close and warm. It had only lasted a moment, and then Eddie had bounded over to Mel and Sue, both of whom heâs been thoroughly charming since the get-go.Â
Steve thinks that when this seasonâor, uh, seriesâairs, no matter where Eddie places, the entire country is going to be just as charmed. Eddieâs going to get whatever kind of cookbook deal or streaming show he wants. Sponsors will take one look at that handsome face and charismatic grin, and a whole world of possibilities is going to open up for Eddie.Â
Steveâs not in it for any of that, of course. Heâs here kind of by accident, because Robin pushed him to apply, and itâs a goddamn miracle heâs been holding his own. Hell, itâs a miracle heâs in this country at all. When Robin had started looking at the Cambridge MPhil program in linguistics, sheâd said wouldnât it be great if and heâd snorted, yeah right, like I could ever get whatever job Iâd need to move to another freaking country, but thenâwell. Things had happened the way theyâd happened, and now Robinâs almost finished with her degree and Steve is taking time off from the London charity he works at in order to be on Bake Off.Â
Heâs told all this to the cameras, plus the stuff about how baking started as a way for him to connect with the kids he used to babysit in Indiana, blah blah blah. He thinks itâs probably too boring for them to air, but he gets that they have to try to get a story anyway.Â
Eddie Munson, on the other hand, is probably going to be featured in all the series promos. Steve is rabidly curious about what Eddieâs story is, but he hasnât worked up the nerve to just ask. It should be the easiest thing in the world. Theyâve got kind of a camaraderie going, the two of them; a bit of a bromance, as Melâs put it more than once.Â
Itâs true they get along pretty well, and the cameras have been picking up on it: on the way Eddieâll wander over to Steveâs bench like a stray cat whenever they get some downtime, how they wind up horsing around sometimes, working off leftover adrenaline from the frantic rush of caramelization or whatever. Thereâs the time Eddie had hopped up on a stool to deliver some kind of speech from Macbeth, of all things, and overbalanced right onto Steve, who had barely managed to keep them both from careening into a stand mixer. Sue had patted Eddie on the shoulder and said, âWell, boys, thatâll be going in the episode for sure.â
They both get along with the other contestants just fine, of course, but theyâre two guys of about the same age with no wife and kids waiting at home. Itâs only natural that theyâre gravitating together, becoming something like friends, Steve figures. Itâs pretty great that heâs getting at least one real friend out of this whole thing.
It would be even greater if Steve could stop thinking about Eddieâs hands in decidedly non-friendly ways. With all the paperwork heâs signed, he canât even complain to Robin about how Eddie looks with his sleeves pushed up to show off the tattoos on his forearms, kneading dough and grunting a little under his breath with effort. Steve had almost forgotten to pre-heat his oven that day.Â
Two benches away, Eddie fumbles the spoons heâs been juggling with a clatter, and he bursts out laughing, glancing over at Steve like Steveâs in on the joke. Steve grins back, heart twanging painfully in his chest, and thinks: well, fuck. Guess this is happening.
#this is a TRULY bonkers AU like wtf even is the venn diagram of steddie fans and people who exclusively like the BBC GBBO#I know nothing about the process of creating reality tv so I most likely will not be continuing this#(plus ST is just so intrinsically American to me)#but I saw the GBBO musical last week and that's what prompted this little abomination#steddie#GBBO AU#ETA: ftr I rated the GBBO musical 2.5/5. I have a colour-coded spreadsheet.#decent songwriting & solid performances but the emotional beats/pacing were all over the place and it did some weird revisionist callbacks#plus the level of assumed thirst for not!Paul Hollywood was wildly off-putting to me#a person who finds neither his personality nor his appearance in any way attractive#anyway I paid ÂŁ15 for my ticket and that felt right to me. I will see literally any show for ÂŁ15.
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I'm the anon with the questioning 70+ y/o uncle and I have the cutest update (he gave permission to share and said you're amusing (good thing to be))
The day after I made that post Uncle calls me because of a "homosexual emergency" and said emergency was a new guy moving in to the unit next to him at the care facility who was "shockingly gay" and I wasn't sure what my uncle meant until I met the guy the following day, he walked out of his unit wearing shiny sequin dress pants, a shirt that said "move, I'm gay" and a top hat with different hankys glued on to it (yes, for flagging/hanky code reasons). New guy clocks me for being queer immediately and he ends up joining me and my uncle on a walk where they get on great and I heard all about them getting closer over the next few weeks (he showed my uncle Brokeback Mountain and they held each other while they cried through the movie đ) then yesterday when I visited they shared they decided to try dating and see how it felt. I kept myself together and was super happy and supportive then cried from happiness in my car when I left. Uncle literally found out he was attracted to men and got himself a boyfriend in about a month and I can't even get a text back đ
I'm not opening the door to ao3, myself and inevitably the staff don't need to be helping him navigate that site especially in October đ I am curious what pick up line Dan would say to him but also I don't think I wanna know
(og ask from a few weeks ago)
oh my GODDDD. ok so like first of all. extremely appropriate that your phannie uncle got a boyfriend that fast, like that fully checks out actually. and i just need to reiterate that dan and phil would LOVEEEEE this, so so much. oh that's so sweet :( i hope your uncle and his new boyfriend stay together, might get awkward at the care home otherwise lmao, i believe in them though <3
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Chapter Six - Wasteland, Baby!
knight!benjicot blackwood x princess!reader
word count: 6.6k
warnings: mentions of violence, arranged marriage
song: Wasteland, Baby! - Hozier
a/n: she juicyyy
âRather small, isnât it?âÂ
Benji snorts next to you, but you donât find it humorous.Â
The castle is small. Not even remotely comparable to what you are used to.Â
Which you would not mind, if it didnât showcase so blatantly how little your father cared about where he had sent you off to.Â
Not remotely deserving of your status.Â
You clutch the reins and nudge Fury forward, breaking from your cluster of company until you were the one leading them up to the gates.Â
You donât exactly do it to spite anyone. In fact, youâre not even sure if this is wrong. Traditionally your suitors would have to travel to you and not the other way around, but you figure being the first face seen would perhaps assert some kind of dominance that you so clearly lack otherwise.Â
You try not to think of the fact that Benji had shared a bed with you last night.Â
Not in a promiscuous fashion, at all, but because you were embarrassingly overwhelmed with the way your life was moving forward at the moment.Â
Now you wonât really look at him again, and it pains you a little bit, but you had to at least somewhat have your head in the right place when meeting your future husband.Â
The sun is shining today. Perhaps itâs a good sign.Â
Somebody yells something, an introduction of some sort, trumpets sound out and the gate creaks open.Â
It whirls up grey dust that stains the shiny black of your dress.Â
Marion had snuck it in for you, you were certain, nobody else would have approved a mourning gown to meet your Lord Husband.
Sitting on your horse like this, you melt into one, colourwise. It makes you look taller, stronger, powerful.
You trot forward, across the small bridge and into the court of the castle.Â
Lord Cathcart has his arms flung open, a wide grin on his face. You canât bring yourself to return the small.
âAh, the princess of the realm in my humble abode,â he greets you and finally as though saying your title reminded him, he bows.Â
Briefly, not appropriately low enough.Â
You nod at him, unwilling to get off your horse just yet. âLord Cathcart.â
He makes a discarding hand gesture. âPlease, call me Erik.âÂ
âErik.â
He doesnât look bad. Of course not, neither does his sister. Theyâre both bronze-haired beauties, not particularly the kind of beauty you cared for, but undeniably beautiful nonetheless.Â
âI hope your travels were safe,â he continues. It is a painfully uncomfortable ordeal.
You glance at the castle residents, all lined up behind him, none of them moving and all of them staring at you as though you were perhaps a particularly interesting cow.Â
Livestock is becoming increasingly relatable to you as time goes on.Â
You havenât answered yet. âYes. No disturbances.âÂ
Erik stares at your dress but then decides he would not address it.Â
Fury trudges forward until she is face to face with him, and you want to feel bad for the way he flinches at her height.Â
âWell then,â he croaks out. Your eyes flit over to Benji, who unlike you, is not concealing his amusement at all. âI suppose you will want to get rest and settle down in your chambers.â
You nod. âVery much so, my lord.âÂ
Somebody is whispering something, eyes filled with curiosity and confusion.
You canât blame them, the picture that is commonly painted of you â soft, sweet, kind â doesnât exactly align with the entrance youâve just made.Â
It is quite foreign. To remain seated. To not do the polite thing. It isnât as though youâre being rude or as though youâre obliged to appease these people. The only reason youâve ever done it was to be nice and you really donât have the energy to be nice today.Â
âLord Cathcart, I should inform you that her Highnessâs horse Fury is unfortunately stubborn. The princess prefers to bring her to the stables herself,â Benji says. The sentence is shaped like a cautious reminder but his voice has an edge to it. You wonder now, whether the edge is natural.Â
Lord Cathcart nods, eager, excited, like a dog whoâs been shown a bone.Â
âWhere To then?âÂ
âOh, of course!â Thereâs a strand of hair that bounces. Like a tail. Many dog similarities about the man. âMy stable boy will lead the way.â
A young lad breaks from the row and bows to you before approaching.Â
âMaâam,â he mumbles.Â
Maâam?Â
You open your mouth to correct him, but a loud smacking sound interrupts you. Your mouth falls agape in horror. Lord Cathcart had struck the boy.
âIt is âyour highnessâ, you fool,â he yells. Then he turns to you, wide-grinned once more, as though he had painted an entirely new painting in the blink of an eye. âApologies, we arenât quite used to such important visits here.â
You want to vomit. âSer Benjicot and I will go ahead. The rest of you may wait.â You slide off Fury, grab her by the reins. âCome on, sweetling.âÂ
The boy mumbles his sorrows through welled-up tears as he scurries across the court toward the stables, you and your knight right behind.
Once you are out of sight, tucked away behind the oaken doors, you rest your hand on the boyâs shoulder and force him to face you.Â
Heâs perhaps three and ten moons, by the looks of it. He looks a bit like Tristan did at his age, but rougher around the edges than a young prince would be.
âYou may call me anything you want,â you tell the boy.Â
He looks up at you. âMy apologies, my highness.âÂ
Benji chokes a laugh. You send him a warning look.Â
âIf you wish to call me so, you would have to say âyour highnessâ,â you correct him. âBut you mustnât worry. If you wish, you can even call me by my name.â
The boy nods. âMy apologies, again.â
He doesnât look convinced. Matter of fact, he looks as though heâs waiting to find himself trapped somehow.Â
You retract your hand and tilt your head. âHow often does Lord Cathcart get violent?â
His eyes widen. âI donât- His father before himâ I donât know, maâ uh, your highness.âÂ
When you look at Benji once more, as though he might have an explanation for this dilemma, he has a face like a knife ready to be swung.Â
âWell, if I am to wed him, then things will have to change around here.â
Still, he doesnât believe you but he doesnât seem the type to disagree with you either and so you simply guide Fury to her resting place for the next few weeks. Or moons or years.Â
She doesnât seem all too pleased, a spoiled girl, used to palace stables and quality carrots reserved for her.Â
âMarvellous first impression,â Benji huffs at you.Â
âWhat, on my part?âÂ
Heâs close to you suddenly and you wish that you didnât enjoy it as much as you do. He somehow smells intriguing. âObviously on your part. What kind of man strikes a child?â
You donât unsaddle your horse, it is not your duty to do so but you rest your head against her side and sigh deeply. âLord,â you sigh out and if it werenât for the deeply rooted feeling of nothingness you would have probably cried.Â
Benji rests a hand on your shoulder. Heâs behind you, an armâs length of distance and yet you suddenly are struck by the thought of how distant he actually is from you, how you had fallen asleep in his arms, likely even drooled on him in your sleep and yet he is still your knight. Nothing more, nothing less. Bound to you and not a friend. Or a lover.Â
âI shall rest,â you cough up. âI shall rest,â you cough up. You cannot face him and you wonder if you could ever again do so, knowing who you were set to marry and knowing what might have happened in another life. You wish you had some sort of consolation.Â
Like perhaps your betrothed might not be the kind of man to strike his servants, but you do not and so you wish to go to your chambers and stare at the ceiling for the next few hours..Â
When you emerge onto the court you do not bother to walk back to Lord Cathcart.Â
"I shall see to it that I get my rest now, my lord. There will be room to talk another time."Â
He is narrowing his eyes at you. Be that because he is suspicious of your behaviour or because he cannot see you well from where he is standing, but he hurries towards you on his slender limbs. "I will see you to your rooms, your highness. If you wish, we can have a bath drawn for you."
A bath was not a bad idea at all, you must smell of horse and sweat and uncomfortable humidity but for some reason you cannot fathom the thought of doing anything at all.Â
"No thank you. I will bathe before supper has come and passed, but for now, my bones are too tired."
He pushes out his bottom lip in an odd childish manner, as though your rejection had hurt him in some way. Such a peculiar man. "Follow me," he says. "We have prepared your room the best way possible."
You nod and then glance at your entourage, still standing around, looking morbidly out of place. Capital men, your young new maid, none of them of high status and yet they are engulfed in a blanket of regality by comparison to the courtier's of Lord Cathcart.Â
"Say, where will my people be staying? And my knight?"
Erik offers Benji a more than disapproving look. "Downstairs, where they are in the best position to protect you."Â
A huff escapes you, at his disregard of rules. "Erik," it drags across your tongue like the bitterest of poisons. "My knight is to wait outside my door until nightfall where he is replaced with a member of the King's guard. Must I remind you of protocol, so early on in our courtship?"
"I have guards of my own, and you will be my wife soon. You are no longer in need of anyone else."
By god, you would have jumped at a chance like this, to be rid of your guards, the most luxurious prison of all, just a few moons ago. But now, as you stand there, you suddenly feel as though protection at all times is much more important than you had previously thought.Â
"We are to be married, on that I agree, my lord, however, it is of the utmost importance that my dignity is not compromised beforehand. Therefore my guards will keep watch until God in heaven has blessed this arrangement."
You give him the most saccharine of smiles, so sweet it would make your teeth hurt. "I'm sure you understand."
He clears his throat and looks back and forth between Benji and you and then over at your father's men. Really, they are more Tristan's than the king's at this point. Loyal to you either way.Â
Young Lord Cathcart shakes his head as though he is trying to get rid of something and then he grins his idiotic grin. "Why of course, your highness. I suppose it is better to be safe than sorry."
"I am certain you will have no trouble accommodating the lot of us. It is a small castle but it shall do."
You speak the tongue of the snake now. Never in your life have you made comments like this. Never had you been one to participate in the ill-speaking of others.Â
You had listened to gossip, had grasped at the tiniest bits of information the loose tongue of any lady would give you and soaked it up to safely put away into a corner of your mind. Knowledge is power.Â
Never in your life had you returned the favour to those who would gossip. Not one secret had fallen from your lips, not the slightest of jabs at whether somebody was getting quite rounded around the belly, or that they had worn the same dress on one too many occasions.Â
It doesn't feel as good as you had imagined it to, to be a participant now. With how much people talk and talk and talk, you had figured it would be more fun being mean, but you cannot ignore the uneasy pit in your stomach.Â
Lord Cathcart leads you to your chambers,, Tamsyn, your new maid hot on your heels, Benji to your right, your left arm looped through that of your betrothed and it feels as if you're walking toward your execution.Â
Hours later, you find yourself bathed and dressed in the most god-forsaken gown you have ever put on your body.Â
You are dressed as a peacock.Â
And worse so, you are wearing an old dress of Lady Cathcart's. You know it because she had worn it to the very costume ball at which it had become blatantly obvious that sin was afoot between your father and her.Â
Tamsyn is working hard at your face, perhaps she is hoping to take away from the fact that there are humongous feathers attached to your back. You wonder how much the dress must have cost just for it to be so desperately ugly that you want to scratch your eyes out upon seeing your reflection in the mirror.Â
"Tamsyn?" You whisper.Â
She croaks out a yes. Poor thing, so far from home, you think to yourself.Â
"Have you ever heard anyone speak of Lord Cathcart?"
She pauses, cheeks cherub-red, powdered brush frozen in front of your face.
"What do you mean, princess?"
You shrug. "Just that young boy from earlier. Have you heard of such behaviour before we came here?"
Her expression is that of a trapped animal. "I do not know if what I hear is true, princess. People talk a lot at the capital."Â
So she had. You wonder who else had heard of these matters and had not spoken up. People in power. Not your maid, but rather so the other Lords, the Barons, Dukes, Viscounts. Who had known what was happening and had let it happen? Who had known where they were sending you and had let you go? Has your father known?Â
You can picture it. Your father, with his red face and his horrid slur, laying in the bed he had shared with your mother, Lady Cathcart there as they laugh about the mean joke they would impose on you. Oh what a joy to send your child away, your daughter who carries her mother's face, whose disdain for your actions you cannot escape. What fun, to have her marry so low, to have her be forgotten by history as an unimportant Lady married to a weak, little man.Â
"Princess, may I speak freely?" Tamsyn says, no whispers.Â
You look into her big brown eyes. "Always."
"Your father has made a mistake sending you away. The people of the city barely tolerate him these days. They starve while he feasts upon their animals. They like you. Perhaps even love you. Times are changing...," she trails off. "I fear if something is not done, the people might do it themselves."
A knock sounds through the room and you nearly jump out of your skin, haunted by her soft and tender voice and her harsh and haunting words.Â
"Your highness, Lord Cathcart, wishes to see you," Benji says. "Are you decent?"
"NO!" you exclaim, louder than need-be. "He will see me once I make my way downstairs."
You think you hear a bit of a commotion on the other side but it quickly dispels.
Carefully you take Tamsyn's hand. "Whatever do you mean?"
She swallows thickly. Her moment's courage is gone.Â
"It is not treason to warn me of things," you mumble. "I would not betray your trust."
She nods but she doesn't wish to speak further and you are concerned that if you push too hard now that she may never speak again.
Another knock. "What?" You yell out across the room, more than annoyed.Â
With much care the door is opened and Benji walks in backwards, for modesty's sake.Â
"I'm decent Ser Benjicot."Â
He turns around and you wish you could wipe that expression of amusement right off his face.Â
"What?" you repeat.Â
He tilts his head. "Just here to report that Lord Cathcart has urged you to hurry up, as he would like to have dinner before sundown. Apparently the lighting is marvellous during."Â
You take the powder from Tamsyn, any more and you might have looked like a jester, anyways. "Let us go then. If Lord Cathcart insists upon it then so be it."
As you get up you damn near fall over, dragged down by the weight of your dress. All the curses in the world, you mentally send to Lady Cathcart.Â
"Do not say anything," you threaten your knight who has to fight his laughter harder by the second.Â
To make matters worse, the Lord of the house had sent a tiara with equally oversized feathers attached to it for you to wear.Â
You do not pride yourself in being fantastically tasteful like your sister Cordelia but you know for certain that you never could have come up with an atrocity of this scale in a million years.Â
You loop your arm through Benji's, praying that you will not stumble down the stairs to your death. Or perhaps that might be a kind fate, rather than having to spend the remainder of your life attached to a spiteful gnome.Â
But then, who would Benji have to offer his arm to?Â
Surely somebody, you remind yourself. He is a renowned rebellious man. It would be a miracle had he never lain with a woman before.Â
It crosses your mind that you have no reason to be thinking about this and so you push these thoughts back.Â
The pair of you walk through weird and winding corridors, decorated with stuffed animals and you stare at them as they watch you pass them by. "Have you heard of any commotion back at the capital?" you whisper to your knight.Â
He tenses beneath your touch. "Why do you ask?"
"Justâ No reason. But I was thinking of my friends." You cough. They are not your friends, rather than simply people who you've offered your service to. "And they seemed so tense when I last saw them."
You don't need to look at him to know he is raising his eyebrow. "And when was that?" He asks with a tone of great authority for somebody of his rank.
"Before you were here. You know of my sole attempt, Ser Benjicot."
He takes a sharp turn to the left and you nearly trip.Â
You had never been known to trip. It bothers you greatly, how swiftly things seemed to be changing at the moment.
Benji sighs. "Nobody is quite happy with how things have been going along in the kingdom. After the death of your mother and the removal of Ser Attenborough from the position of hand the smallfolk has been growing uneasy."
You glance over your shoulder. Is it dangerous to speak so freely in a foreign place? Likely. "Is there reason to fear?"
For my brother. My sister who is visiting. For Marion even. For all the people at court that aren't corrupted by their own wealth.Â
Benji doesn't answer for a moment. "It is not yours to worry over such matters."
Of course. You scoff but you cannot be offended in truth, for you know that he is right. What would you even do? You held no true power, all you could do is warn Tristan and even so, what would you warn him about? Everyone knows of the dire situation in the kingdom.Â
You take another turn and you are not sure you would be able to find your way through this castle by your lonesome, as topsy-turvy as it is.Â
Finally you reach the grand hall and the sight before you is chilling. There are no guests at all.Â
Erik is sitting at the head of the table, whispering to a priest.Â
Servants stand in row along the cobbled and dark walls, statues or perhaps living dolls.Â
A shudder runs down your spine.Â
"Lord Cathcart," your voice chimes through the long room, reverberating from its hollowness. You've never particularly enjoyed hearing your own voice so intensely.Â
His eyes shoot up and his teeth are bared. "Your highness! My, you look just marvellous. Peacock is certainly your colour."
If it is a joke you don't laugh. Your smile is meek and you make your way towards your seat to his right. The only other of the about twenty chairs that has a dinner set resting in front of this.Â
Benji pulls your chair out for you and you squish the thick layers of dress down beneath the table.Â
"You may be excused," Erik tells your knight.Â
Your eyebrows raise.Â
"Have we not discussed this earlier?"
Erik nods. "That is what the priest is here for. To protect your virtue."
Benji does not say anything at all, not an ounce of protest and you can already hear his footsteps retreating.
"What of intruders? Kidnappers? Enemies to the crown? My safety is just as important as my chastity," you plead, exasperated, desperate to not be left alone with these strange men.Â
But you are waved off as you so often are.
The door opens and closes and you have to watch the closest thing to a friend you have here leave.Â
The sting of betrayal surprises you.Â
Lord Cathcart is delighted. "We have guards at all doors princess, you need not worry. I will protect you."
He couldn't protect you from a small dog, you are certain, but what use is protest? Somehow you will have to find a way to tolerate him.Â
Your wine is poured and you take a gulp and are hit with an instant wave of regret. "What is this?"
"Our local wine, princess. Do you like it?"
You consider lying for a moment. "Do you perhaps have anything sweeter? Cider?"Â
He claps and one of the frozen servants scurries quickly. Your chalice is replaced with a new one and the cider is only a tiny bit better. By god, you had not been aware just how spoiled you are.Â
The priest lingers by the fireplace. An ugly man, undeniably. Small bird-like eyes and wormy, moist lips. He's watching you with the eyes of a predator.Â
"Now, Princess," your betrothed says. "I am quite sorry for these circumstances,."
Your food is plated. "Whatever do you mean?"
"I am well aware that you must have expected a better match. Maybe even a love match."
The meat is cold in the middle. "I tried to not delude myself into thinking I would marry for love's sake."
He gives something of a look of consideration. âStill. Had we at least had the chance to know one another before being thrust into the otherâs arms.â
He is not being thrust into anybodyâs arms, you think to yourself. A husband is not the wifeâs prisoner, it is the other way around. You donât disagree with him, just keep chewing your hopeless, bland food.
âI am aware of my sisterâs wrongdoings, princess.âÂ
His voice has lowered to a whisper now, as though he is afraid of the shame his sister might bring upon him. As though his housekeepers do not quiver before him.
âWhat wrongdoings? Meddling in politics which do not concern her? You must clarify, my lord,â you demand.Â
The priest stares at you, unwavering.
Erik is uncomfortable. âNo. I cannot. I do not know what she did, but I assure you she must have done something for you to be here now.â
âWhere are your parents? Are they not concerned with their daughterâs actions?â
âThey have long left the kingdom, as you surely know, princess.â There is a piece of lettuce stuck between his teeth. âThey have no care for their children.â
âWell, at least we seem to have one thing in common.â Your voice drips with resignation.
He beams at you like an excited dog. âYes!â
A bit absurd to get quite so excited about such a sombre fact.
âLord Cathcart,â you say. You have to say this now. âI do hope we can find a way to make our marriage tolerable. But I must warn you that I will try to fight it until I am dragged down the altar. Once we are wed, I shall be an honourable, dutiful wife.â
There is a film of something strange across his face, the sheen of light disgust or aversion.Â
âPrincess, this is an agreed-upon arrangement.âÂ
You shrug. You wish you werenât so scared. You wish your knight were here with you. âI am still the kingâs daughter. I outrank you.â
Your heart is trembling with the fierceness of your words. You can't remember another time where you had spoken so frank.
But you had tripped today. It is due time you adapt to the world.
The air feels sharp. "Princess, you are my betrothed. There is no way out."
His knuckle blanch from how hard he grips the table. "I am sorry for the ordeal. But I will be your Lord Husband, you are not free to run your mouth like this."Â
It flashes across your mind how Benji had respected you more after you had spoken your mind and how disgusted with you Erik seems.Â
"I will not disrespect you in any regard. But if you are yourself sorry, why would you still agree?"
You know the answer. Wealth. The glory of marrying an Apricate girl. Proximity to the rulers.Â
He doesn't speak these things. "I will work hard against your unhappiness. But to remove myself from this betrothal would be undignified."
Have you gone too far? Had you been too crass? You do not know these unfamiliar waters, you do not know how much is too much, you have always given too little.Â
"I am sorry, my Lord. I do not mean to offend. I am simply-"
"Tired," he cuts you off. He rests his hand against yours. You wish you could remove it.. "How could I make you rest easier?"
Your gaze catches that off one of the paintings behind him. "Why do you lay hands on your people?"
He squeezes your hand and it feels like a threat but he catches himself. "For discipline."
"That is a foolish reason. Not even the king hurts his servants."
His beauty is so painfully tainted by the face he is making. "But this is the most efficient way. How else would they learn?"
The priest is still watching. Would a true man of god let this happen under his watch?Â
"Is it not god that taught us to treat each other with kindness?"
It feels as though you are speaking to a child and he truly doesn't understand what you are trying to imply.Â
But he gives in.Â
"If this is what you wish for then fine. I shall follow your command," he says.Â
You nod and take another sip. If you drink fast enough you might be able to interpret this as a win.Â
And perhaps while you are at it, you might unburden yourself by the plague that your knight is.
Comparison is the thief of joy and the way you cannot help but see how much of a better man Benji is, in comparison to the wimpy Lord Cathcart.
You never should have let him comfort you. It is like a gate in your mind has been opened and cannot be closed. A flood of thoughts, all repeating the same face over and over again.
"Princess, I must inform you of something and I am doubtful that it will make you happy."
Your stomach twists. "What is it?" Another big sip.
"Well, once we are wedâ" He pauses. Which we will be, is what he is trying to suppress but the warning look in his eyes says it for him anyways. "You will be assigned a new sworn protector."
You pray to god that he doesn't see the frown you immediately pull into your chalice. "Pardon?"
"You will be assigned a new protector. My family is close with House Bracken and has been for many years. I cannot have that unhinged young lad running around my castle."
Unhinged is a strong choice of word, coming from him. "He swore an oath. How would I dispose of him?"
"In the same way your last knight was disposed of. It is not a dishonourable thing, but merely a precaution. I do not wish to run into trouble."
"My knight was picked in very specific conditions. He is part of the peace treaty in the Riverlands. If he returns, trouble will surely be worse."
It is quite funny how suddenly the tides have changed. Just about one moon, or two ago you were beyond upset with Ser Benjicot Blackwood, and had prayed for a way to rid yourself of him. And now, you were fairly certain that if he left, you would be the most lonely person in the world.
He isn't even your friend. You are not even sure he doesn't still partly despise you but with Marion gone and your siblings gone and your work (if one can call it that) taken from you, you had to call him a friend. Otherwise you might fall into a pit of deep despair.Â
Lord Cathcart had perhaps not considered the treaty. Or he hadn't considered that you might be aware of it. Either way he doesn't speak for a very long time and decides to aggressively cut his lamb up.Â
"You must know, it is a liability to have Bloody Ben running around my home. I can't imagine why your father would ever have him assigned to you in the first place, but I surely do not want this."
You disregard your food entirely. "Well, if you wish for it, I do not hold any power over who is sworn to me. But you hold no power either. If we were wed perhaps it might change, but even still. The Blackwood boy was chosen by the king and plays an essential role in keeping peace in this glorious kingdom. The choice is with him and his counsel."
And as you speak you wonder if they might execute him. Where else would they put him? Surely Lady Cathcart would find a way to have your father listen to her brother's request. And then what? He isn't allowed to return to the Riverlands, but how could they ensure that he wouldn't?Â
You must write to Tristan. Or perhaps Cordelia could offer him refuge in Arbormere. Without her husband''s knowledge.
It is becoming more noticeable by the second that this dress is not yours by the way parts of it dig into tender flesh.Â
Erik clears his throat.Â
And gets up.
You stare at him perplexed.Â
"Your highness, my princess, the realm's delight. I do not wish to sadden you." He grips your hand again, both of them this time. "But I cannot have you talking in this unwomanly manner. Politics do not concern you. Discipline does not concern you. How I handle things is not your concern. Speak disrespectfully again and I assure you, I can be much unfriendlier."
You swallow thickly before you rip your hands out of his. "I am still the princess. Do not dare threaten me ever again."
Tears of anger betray your coldness and you get up with enough force to send the table wobbling, wine stains the cloth spread.Â
"I bid you goodnight."
You turn to face the priest. "And you father."
He doesn't speak, still just quietly watching with bird eyes and nods.Â
Apparently luck is on your side after all, and the Lord of the house does not attempt to follow you.Â
You storm out of the room and do not slow down when Benji calls after you. He must have waited by the door. Has he heard your conversation?
"Do you even know where you are going?"Â
You ignore him, hectically climbing the stairs with your stupid, stupid gown.Â
Ser Corrigan nearly runs into you when you hurry around the corner but you ignore him too.Â
Since you have no idea where you are going you decide to continue climbing the stairs. You can hear Benji tell Ser Corrigan that he has not a single clue what has gotten into you.Â
You aren't even crying. You wish you were, you figure that would suit you more than an erratic outburst of anger. Maybe you are your father's daughter after all.Â
Finally Benji catches up to you and you are once more reminded of how restricted you are even by something as minute as the clothes you wear.Â
Forever the most privileged prisoner in the world.
"What on earth happened?" He asks, matching your speed as you keep going up and up and up.
"I cannot marry that man," you huff. This is surprisingly exhausting; your face feels like it's aglow from the heat.Â
"Did he do something?"Â
Did he? Not really. Can you even blame Erik for anything? He is doing what he has been taught his whole life, how he has seen women be treated by their husband's for forever. This is a tradition older than you or your mother or her mother before her. Generations of women who could do nothing but obey. Rage runs hot in your veins.,
"No," you say. "He did what was expected, I just figured I wouldâ" Be successful in your rebellion. That if you had never spoken ill or not done what was expected that would mean it would be more effective once you do. But it wasn't. Not at all.Â
You can only place your hope with God now, and you have not done that in a very long time.
You reach the top of the stairs, the bell tower. Closer to the sky but not remotely a free bird.
With an exasperated sigh you lean against the wall, tilt your head to peek at the sun setting on the horizon, a fiery orange hue. The ridiculous feather tiara slips to the ground.Â
The dining room must be looking marvellous about now, it being faced west-way and all.Â
Benji also looks marvellous. Not nearly as out of breath as you, dressed in black leathers, his raven pin twinkling as his chest rises and falls.
"He wants to get rid of you," you tell him.Â
He nods. "That makes sense."
"How does that make any sense? You are here based on a contract, a deal, an entire peace treaty. He cannot just rid you of me."
He smiles halfheartedly. "Rid you of me? I thought it would be the other way around. That you'd be glad to be rid of me."
There is not an ounce of energy left in you to take such jests.Â
Benji is across from you. You are so high up, the tip of the tower. He feels too tall for the space. "I knew he was friends with the Bracken pack. I figured I'd run into some issues with that."
A strange sensation grows in your overwhelmed heart. "Why would you not tell me this?"
"You're so well-versed in gossip I thought you knew this."
You had known. But you had not realised that the bond between Bracken and Cathcart was strong enough to warrant such behaviour.Â
"He is like my father," you whisper. "But worse in some ways."Â
You consider it for a moment. "Better in others."
"So why are we up here? Are you planning to jump?"
You roll your eyes at him. "Idiot."Â
He nudges his boot against the bottom frills of your dress., and they leave a small splotch of brown. Somehow he is never fully clean. There are always specks of mud trailing him. You don't know how he manages it.
"Am I too not know love, ever?"
He nudges you again. "You are loved by so many. I'm quite certain that you are one of the most loved people in the world."
"It isn't tangible love. The smallfolk think they like me but they don't know me and soon they will have forgotten me in favour of my father's shortcomings. My siblings love me. Marion perhaps. Ser Rodrick once, but he hasn't written me any letters."Â
Benji sighs. "That is still more than what some people have in a lifetime."
There isn't a way to deny him because he is right. He has backed you into a corner with his words, but still he must be aware how none of that could make up for the marriage that was luring in your future. You do not even want to think of the consummation of it.Â
Silence remains as it so frequently does between the two of you.Â
He stretches his hand out toward you and you take it, not questioning why, as he pulls you forward, until your skirt wraps around both your legs.Â
With gentle hands he does the same, wraps around you until you are engulfed in his arms, his scent, his warmth.Â
Your head grows dizzy, as it rests against his shoulder.
"I am not familiar with the ways of the court," he whispers, his breath hot on the crown of your head. "But many noble women find a way to be with their husbands in a way that isn't too straining. Your sister seems content, doesn't she?"
"She wasn't always and she still is not. Her husband will not relent until he has an heir to take the throne. They get along fine but the bearing of children is laborious for her. My mother died when she had me."Â
His hand draws a circle on your back and you hope he never stops doing it.Â
"You're a witch. That won't happen to you."
You laugh but it is laced with venomous sarcasm. "I'm a terrible witch. I couldn't even say goodbye to my cauldron. Or my sick people."
He pulls away, yet just far enough for your noses to touch. "That was not your fault. And besides, you did try to leave the castle. You just weren't quite...tactical about it."
Your laugh dies in your throat when your eyes meet his. You're certain that nobody has ever quite looked at you like this. Least of all Benji.Â
That legendary young man, with a supposed undying thirst for blood. And while you had seen him angered, the way he is looking at you now makes it hard to imagine that he had ever been anything but tender.Â
The moment stretches out, up into the sky and across the two of you like the dome you are standing beneath.Â
In hindsight you won't be sure how it happens but something pulls the two of you together and your lips meet.Â
Your breath hitches, heart hammering the way Fury's hooves do when she gallops across a field and it is better than the rush of any wine you've ever had.Â
Your head is screaming at you to put a stop to it, but you cannot bring yourself to, when every fibre in your being is yearning for more, your hands in his hair. It is foreign and odd but in a fantastical way.
And in the end, it is him who pulls away.Â
"Oh," you breathe, chest rising unsteadily.Â
The grin on his face is prideful. "Mhm. Oh."
A twig snaps in the court, but it does not matter. His lips are on yours again.Â
#benjicot blackwood#hotd#benjicot blackwood x reader#davos blackwood#benjicot x reader#house of the dragon
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Ruin Me (part 4)
wc: 4.7k || rating: E || story summary: Steve shows up on Eddieâs doorstep with an offer he canât refuse || chapter summary: Smut ensues, as does a terrifying realization. || tags: omegaverse, alpha!Eddie Munson, omega!Steve Harrington, intersex omegas, explicit content (see ao3 for full tags) || posted in full on ao3
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Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
PreviouslyâŠ
âYou feel so good, omega,â Eddie whispered with a pant against Steveâs skin, feeling how his own tip was beginning to bead with desire for the boy beneath him. âGonna knot you up so good. Gonna ruin you for anyone else again ever.â
âProve it,â Steve growled. âStop being such a pussy and put your fingers inside me already.â
Who was Eddie to argue with that?
With a sharp bite to Steveâs shoulder just above his clavicle, Eddie let his finger finally sink into the wet heat of Steveâs pussy, causing Steve to let out a deep groan of both pain and pleasure. He pumped his finger in and out just enough to feel the muscles adjust, pleased at how quickly Steve accepted even just this part of him, and then he was adding the second finger soon after.
âFuck, Eddie,â Steve whined again, hitching his hips up higher to rock against the thrusting fingers. The wet sound of him was evident even over the rain outside, little gasping breaths leaving him as he dropped his head back exposing his throat. âFeels so good, alpha.â
âYou touch yourself like this, baby?â Eddie murmured, pressing a kiss to the bright red mark his bite had left behind, moving back to trail soft kisses to Steveâs exposed neck. âYou touch yourself and imagine itâs alpha cock instead?â
âGonna be thinking about yours next time I do,â Steve groaned, which turned into a high keen when Eddie curved his fingers to find that spongy spot inside that caused Steve to tense beneath him.
Smirking, Eddie pulled back to look down at Steveâs face, pressing into that spot over and over again as obvious pleasure jolted through Steve. A quick look down showed even Steveâs cocklet was shiny with arousal, and Eddie was eager to taste it all. He could feel Steveâs muscles coiling, knowing how quickly the first time can go with someone else in charge of your pleasure.
Eddie pulled back, eager for Steve to climax as if it were his own pleasure he was chasing, but wanting to do it right. He ignored Steveâs whine of loss as Eddie pulled his fingers free, knowing heâd have his fingers back in that slick heat soon, and soon after that heâll have even more.
First, however, he gripped Steveâs hips and scooted back to pull Steve lower on the bed until he was flat on his back, grinning at the small surprised âoomphâ Steve let out from the action.
âIâm going to suck your cock now as I spread your pussy with my fingers,â he said conversationally, giving Steve just barely enough time to protest or call out âredâ if need be (not that Steve could do more than simply gape at Eddie as his brain obviously tried to process that information) before he was diving in, sliding three fingers deep in Steveâs pussy as he wrapped his lips around Steveâs cocklet and took him whole into his mouth.
Steve cried out at the dual sensations, hips stuttering as though they didnât know if they wanted to press up into the warmth of Eddieâs mouth or down onto his fingers spreading him open.
Eddie, meanwhile, was quite happy to slurp up the slick that had spread over Steveâs cocklet and was even coating Steveâs thighs until they were just as shiny, letting Eddie know easily that Steve definitely didnât have a problem with getting appropriately wet. Encased against Steveâs core by his own draping hair, Eddie eagerly breathed in the omegaâs enticing sweet musk.
Though Steveâs inner walls were tight around him, he was slick enough to let Eddieâs quickly thrusting fingers meet no resistance, his body adjusting to the new width easily and promisingly. He could feel the quivering of Steveâs thighs again, could hear the needy whines the boy was making as he took Eddieâs fingers as deep as Eddie could bury them, making Eddie wonder at how easily Steve might be able to take his whole fist.
The thought of Steveâs wet pussy lips encasing him up to his forearm had his dick jerk warningly, so he pushed that thought aside for later contemplation, instead focusing on the just as alluring present. He suckled at Steveâs cocklet, groaning around him at the pleasant weight on his tongue, before reluctantly pulling back. He wanted to see Steveâs face for this.
Letting Steve drag slowly over his lips, swirling his tongue around the tip one last time, he released him with a small pop as he readjusted his fingers inside Steve to find that spot again. Once he was certain he found it, he glanced back up at Steveâs expression with a grin, watching the way Steve flushed all the way down his chest, writhing beneath him.
âFuck, baby, you look so good riding my fingers like this. Canât wait to see how you look riding my knot,â he breathed, causing another sharp whine to rip itself from Steveâs panting lips.
âA-alpha,â he moaned, limbs shaking with the intensity of his building orgasm as Eddieâs fingers assaulted the sensitive spot inside him over and over again. Eddie couldnât tell if Steveâs hair was still wet from the rain or if it was from sweat, but Eddieâs own hair was sending droplets of sweat down the back of his neck, so he figured it was probably both. Eddie wanted to lick it all up. âG-gonnaââ
Though Eddie had a feeling he knew how Steve was going to finish that sentence, he had no chance to as, with another firm massage against his g-spot, Steve was suddenly shouting in surprise and arching off the bed with an accompanying rush of slickness that soaked Eddieâs entire hand down to his wrist. The scent was unlike anything Eddie had ever smelled before, making saliva pool in his mouth with anticipation.
Even still, Eddie milked Steve through his orgasm, working the sensitive spot until Steve was whimpering at the overstimulation, utterly spent. Only then did Eddie pause, slowly pulling his hand free with a wet squelching sound that was music to his ears.
Steveâs face and expression during this had been everything Eddie had hoped for. Eyes squeezed tightly shut as the orgasm hit, head thrown back against the pillow and bedding, mouth open after his shout with his face, neck, and chest flushed a deep red. One hand was curling into the sheets in a white-knuckled grip that had Eddie worrying about the continued wellbeing of the old material, while the other was curled into Steveâs own hair and threatening more than a few lost strands there as well.
With his dry hand, Eddie moved to lightly grasp those fingers first, easing them open to release the hair that had already been through a lot tonight. And would be through so much more after he was done with the omega, that was for certain.
He squeezed the hand once it released the precious strands, causing Steve to flutter his eyes open and stare at Eddie with glazed, unfocused eyes. Eddie patiently waited for him to return to himself, grinning down at Steve with a smug expression. He needed Steveâs focus for the next part.
Steve, focusing on the leering face above him finally, let out a small chuff, carefully stretching his legs back down on the mattress. His nose wrinkled a little as he shifted on the damp spot beneath him, his eyes moving to track Eddieâs hand still shiny with his slick as the older boy finally brought it up to his mouth, licking a long stripe from wrist to fingertip.
Eddie could only smirk at the wide eyed stare he received for that move.
âYou really are as sweet as you smell, precious,â he purred, taking himself in hand next to spread the slick over his own cock, squeezing himself once more to keep himself under control. The mere aperitif of Steveâs taste had him more than eager for the real thing waiting for him, however, direct from the source.
A small whine left Steve at Eddieâs words, the sweet smell Eddie was quickly growing addicted to rising, and all Eddie wanted to do was bury himself in the scent and drink his fill. So he did.
Eddie took only a moment to wipe off some of the slick on the sheets, and then he was scooting back on the bed and lowering himself down flat until he could mouth at Steveâs hip bones, nipping him sharply before softly kissing the reddened mark. He glanced up at Steve, catching his pink faced look of incredulity, and then he lifted one of Steveâs legs to throw over his own shoulder and moved in.
The first swipe of his tongue over Steveâs folds was unlike any pussy heâd ever tasted before. Not that he had a lot of experience, of course, but he had enough. Enough to know what he was doing at least. Enough to help a little virgin through the first time he had his pussy eaten.
âOh, fuââ Steve gasped out in exclamation, one hand staying fisted in the bed sheets while the other moved to curl in Eddieâs hair this time. Steve didnât pull or twist or push or tug, however, instead he just held on as Eddieâs tongue slid through his folds, curling to flick along his already swollen cocklet.
Entirely without his permission, a deep rumble of pleasure began in Eddieâs chest, the taste of Steve even better than he had ever expected it to be. He thought about teasing Steve some more, about telling him how sweet he was, about how his virgin cunt tasted, but a hunger was burning in Eddie. He wanted more, he wanted all, and he wouldnât be satisfied until he had his tongue soaked in Steveâs delicious slick.
Even still, Eddie let himself enjoy the moment. He swiped his tongue flat over Steveâs drenched pussy, every bit of slick he cleaned up being replaced by yet more. He could feel it coating his lips, his cheeks, his chin, mingling with his own saliva as he ate the bountiful feast before him.
âEd-ddie-ee,â Steve continued to whine out, his heel digging into Eddieâs back where it was slung over his shoulder, hips thrusting up to meet his tongue. Great panting breaths were forced from his plush pink lips, Eddieâs name a repeating gasp for air, a reminder of who was making him feel this way.
It was the prettiest fucking sound Eddie had ever heard.
Unable to control himself, Eddie turned his face briefly to sharply bite at Steveâs inner thigh as he shoved all four of his fingers into Steveâs dripping hole. A sharp moan, nearly a cry, left Steve as he squeezed around the intrusion with an expression of pure bliss andâŠ
Yeah. Eddie was going to fist this boy one of these days. He could feel that to the very core of his being.
For now, however, he had other things in mind.
âLook at you, darling,â he whispered, nuzzling into the red indent of his teeth. âSo fucking pretty. Iâm going to fucking ruin you so no alpha can ever make you feel as good as I can. Iâm going to make you insatiable for me and me alone.â
Despite bordering on inappropriate, seeing as how they both knew this was only meant to be a one time thing and it wasnât real between them, Steve could only frantically nod. âPlease,â he moaned so prettily. âPlease, Eddie. P-please, alpha. Make me yours.â
The growl that had been building itself up in Eddie finally let loose. He all but ripped his fingers from Steve, though he didnât give the poor omega even a second to mourn their loss before he was diving back in, his tongue finally replacing them once more.
âAlpha!â Steve all but shrieked, both hands now curling in Eddieâs hair and this time he did pull Eddie closer, thighs trembling as theyâre squeezed against Eddieâs ears, keeping him boxed in against his heat. Eddie was more than happy to oblige.
Steve arched off the bed as Eddie expertly tongue fucked him, crying out with each thrust and curl of the appendage inside his core. Eddieâs fingers dug into the thigh hooked over his shoulder as he pressed so close he was suffocating in Steveâs moist scent, his other hand having to squeeze his own balls trapped against the bed so he didnât pop a knot just from eating Steve Harrington out.
He ate with a ferociousness, licking and sucking and biting and thrusting, until Steve was nothing but a babbling, sobbing mess. He could feel and taste the gushing of Steveâs eager cunt, how tightly he began squeezing around Eddieâs head and tongue, how he was trembling beneath him so tightly coiled, so close, close, closeâ
Steve came with a scream, his cocklet squirting over his own chest.
Eddie nearly laughed with glee as his face was soaked with Steveâs release, swallowing the rush down with greedy swipes of his tongue. He kept licking and sucking at Steveâs swollen walls and lips until Steveâs fingers tugged a little too forcibly at his hair, overly sensitive and aching. Eddie did laugh then, chuckling as he lifted from his prize and immediately sought out Steveâs other lips.
Steve moaned into the sloppy kiss, bent nearly in half with his leg still over Eddieâs shoulder, panting against Eddieâs mouth and shuddering at the taste of himself. Teeth clacked together as Eddie couldnât quite stop smiling, smearing Steveâs own juices over the other boyâs face.
âDamn, baby, I almost burst just from tasting you,â he lightly huffed, trailing his lips to Steveâs ear and swiping his tongue along the shell of it, causing another sharp whine to leave the omega. He smirked, slowly letting Steveâs leg slide from his shoulder to the crook of his elbow. âBut weâre not finished yet, sweetheart.â
Without giving Steve a moment to react, Eddie pulled back, tossing Steveâs leg over to his other side to give him the space necessary to grab the other boy by the hips andâthanking the muscles that came from hauling around heavyass amps and drums every weekâflipped Steve over until he was on his front.
A startled squawk left the omega, causing Eddieâs smirk to become a small grin, especially when he then pulled Steve up to his knees and pressed the length of his cock against the boyâs pussy, pulling out another moan from Steve beneath him.
Eddie paused though, swiping his fingers lightly over Steveâs hips, giving the other boy a moment to catch his breath. Steve shakily held himself up on his forearms, his body twitching like he didnât know if he wanted to move forward or back against Eddieâs body. His entire body was slick with sweat, and god if Eddie didnât want to see just what else he could wring from the boy.
âWhatâs your color, baby?â he quietly asked, his voice gruff with desire. It took every drop of strength within himself not to rock against Steveâs hips. âItâs not too late to stop now.â
But Steve shook his head roughly at that. âNo,â he gasped and groaned, and though when he looked over his shoulder there was a pinch of anxiety around his eyes, his voice didnât waver. âItâs green, Eddie. My colorâŠitâs green.â Steve drew in a shuddering breath. âKnot me, alpha. Please.â
Christ on a cracker. Eddie let out a heavy groan at that, and then he couldnât stop himself from thrust his hips against Steveâs, the tip of his cock sliding through the soft folds of Steveâs swollen pussy.
Whatever smirk had started spreading on Steveâs lips at Eddieâs groan was knocked from him by the action, a moan of his own escaping him. Eddie pulled back, taking himself in hand to line himself up, before pausing again.
âAre you certain you want me to come in you? No condoms, orâŠanything?â If he was meant to knot Steve, it wasnât like he could pull out, but he didnât want to cause Steve any worry. Since Steve wasnât in heat then it wasnât likely for anything to catch, and heâd give Steve a morning after pill too just in case, but he wanted to make absolutely certain that Steve was serious about going raw.
âFuck, Eddie,â Steve groaned, sounding exasperated and annoyed. âIf you donât stick your dick in me right noâOWH GOD!â
Well, it had sounded like permission enough.
Eddie thrust forward as soon as he was certain that Steve was certain, bright green and certain, and then he was sliding home into Steveâs tight, wet heat like it was where he had always belonged.
After two orgasms and being properly loosened and relaxed, there was little to no resistance, Steveâs body squeezing around him to suck him in deeper. A sound like the air being punched from his lungs left Steve as his head dropped to the pillows before him, thighs trembling.
It wasâŠfuck. It was unlike any pussy or ass or mouth or anything else that Eddie had stuck his dick in before, Steveâs body an inferno andâbefore tonightâuntouched. A soft keen left Steveâs lips as Eddie slowly slid in, deeper and deeper, until their bodies were flush against each other.
âFuck, baby boy, itâs like you were made for me,â Eddie panted, and he could feel the sweat spilling down his back, over his chest, down his thighs at the sweet pleasure and effort it took not to move. âYour virgin pussy feels so perfect, omega, made just for my thick cock.â
He knew he was supposed to ruin Steve tonight, was supposed to fuck him hard and deep so that there was no denying what had occurred tonight, to save him from an unwanted bonding, butâŠ
He needed to make certain that Steve was okay. Despite Steveâs earlier assumptions that Eddie would just take and take and take, he wasnât that sort of alpha. No, instead he wanted to give and give and give. And maybe take just a little bit as well.
As he felt Steve flutter around him, clenching and releasing as his omega body naturally accumulating to an alpha cock inside him, Eddie slowly rocked in circles, taking pleasure in the hitched breathing of the boy as he adjusted. Of course, it wasnât just for Steve either. Eddie feared that if he moved too quickly, heâd pop his knot and bust a load immediately, more turned on than he had ever recalled being before.
Eventually, however, a small whine came from Steve, and then the boy was pressing back against him. âEddie,â he moaned. âNeed you, alphaâŠâ
âIâve got you, omega,â Eddie answered immediately, wrapping an arm around Steveâs waist as he laid himself over the boyâs sweat-sticky back. He nuzzled into the back of his hair with a rumble in his chest. âMâgonna knot you so good, omega. Gonna make you scream for me. Gonna fill you with my seed so everyone knows youâre mine.â
Oops.
That last part was probably a bit too much, because Steve wasnât his, but before he could backpedal and try to explain that he was just in a role right now, Steve was moaning and pressing even further back against him with a needy whine.
âFuck, yes, alpha. Show them Iâm yours,â he panted. âMark me up. Ruin me, alpha, please.â
How was Eddie supposed to do anything but answer that request?
Steve was already marked with blossoming bruises, but Eddie couldnât help but leave more, sucking biting kisses along Steveâs neck, shoulders, and back, though he avoided the mating gland he knew that Steve had been worried about. That Steve had trusted him with. That fact shouldnât make him feel the way it did, yet it did.
That strange urge to protect Steve began rearing its head again, causing Eddie to squash it down and focus on what was real between them: nothing but hot, no-emotions sex for a specific purpose.
(If that purpose was to protect Steve from an alpha who would hurt him, well, that was neither here nor there at the moment.)
Eddie finally pulled back again, sliding slowly out of Steve until just his tip remained inside. He relished in the needy whine Steve let out, though he didnât let the boy finish it before he was slamming back inside the omega with a bruising grip on his hips.
A choked off cry left Steve at the force, followed by a shuddering gasp as Eddie repeated the process, working his hips as he thrust into Steve over and over again. All of it Steve took willingly, spreading his thighs more as pushed back against the alpha drilling into him, back arched like a bitch in heat.
Eddie did not let up, tilting his hips as he brought Steve backwards to meet him, angling for that spot inside of Steve and knowing he found it again when Steve let out a sharp cry, even his forearms giving out on him until Steve fell face first into the bed.
âYou feel so good, omega,â Eddie panted between thrusts, the cheap bed frame beneath them creaking and groaning as the force of his thrusting made it hit the wall repeatedly. Slick dripped from Steve with every thrust, pulled out of him by Eddieâs dick, the wet sound of their bodies moving together louder than even the raging storm outside.
Steve made an attempt to speak, but it came out as little more than an incomprehensible and drooling moan as Eddie nailed Steveâs g-spot over and over again. Were Eddie not holding Steveâs hips up to fuck into, he was certain Steve would have collapsed fully to the bed.
âSo fucking tight,â Eddie moaned. âSo wet for me, omega. Such a good boy.â That caused another high pitched keen to leave Steve, causing Eddie to grin. âYou like being my good boy? Like taking my cock? Bet youâd look so pretty choking on it.â
Shit, he was close. There was no denying that with how well Steve was taking his dick, wet and hot and so inviting, keening moans leaving Steve amidst cries of pleasure. Literal cries of pleasure, tears leaking from Steveâs lids as Eddie fucked him closer and closer to his own climax, his fingers weakly scrambling in the bedding for purchase.
âLook at you taking my cock so well. Like a fucking pro,â Eddie groaned, sliding one hand from Steveâs hip to glide over Steveâs sweaty back and curl his fingers into Steveâs messy hair. He clenched his fingers in the strands, pulling slightly, causing Steve to let out a whining shout and shudder around Eddie.
Eddieâs knot, which had already begun filling, nearly fully popped right then and there at the sound. Christ, he needed to come now.
âGood boy, such a good boy,â Eddie breathed, feeling his growing knot pressing against Steve with every thrust. One hand still in Steveâs hair, he slid his other under Steveâs chest, sitting back on his heels and pulling Steve with him until the omega was all but riding himâŠhad he the presence of mind to do so.
A sharp cry left Steve at the new angle, thighs and entire body trembling as the force of gravity made him take Eddie deeper, and finally Eddieâs knot fully popped inside the omegaâs quivering body. The wet heat felt like coming home.
Holding Steve to him, pulling his head back against Eddieâs shoulder to expose his gorgeous neck already dotted with his bruising marks, Eddie thrust up as much as he was able only a handful of times more before his release broke.
As his spend flooded inside of Steve, Eddieâs teeth found purchase in Steveâs neck once more, clamping to the small protrusion of Steveâs mating gland to suck a deep, dark bruise over the area every instinct in him was telling him to pierce and bleed and claim.
He didnât though, of course, because he wasnât some knothead and Steve trusted him, but he would make it known that Steve was not untouched in the greatest way imaginable.
And if his inner alpha was whispering that it was a promise, wellâŠno one needed to know that.
Steveâs hoarse voice cried out as he arched against the bite, the knot, everything Eddie was doing to him and giving him, reaching back to grab old of Eddieâs hair as his cocklet squirted again across the bedding as he clamped down hard on Eddie with a flood of his own release.
Eddieâs arm across his chest kept him close, his hips jerking in small thrusts as they rode their shared orgasm together. Without even truly knowing what he was saying, Eddie whispered quiet though filthy praises in Steveâs ear.
It was only when Steve turned truly boneless against him, wrung dry and yet filled with Eddie, that Eddie carefully maneuvered them back against the bed, their heads at the foot of the bed as he rolled them to their sides. A small whine left Steve at the pull of their bodies, held together by Eddieâs knot, but he made no other protest.
Steveâs gasping breaths matched his own, chest heaving as he panted for air, and despite knowing this wasnât real, Eddie couldnât help but gently nuzzle into Steveâs sweaty hair, placing a soft kiss to the dark bruise on Steveâs mating gland.
The feeling of Steve against him, of his knot inside the other boy, the mingled scent of Steve and sex thick and heavy in the roomâŠfuck, Eddie wanted more of it, he realized with a sudden pit in his stomach.
SteveâHarrington hadnât been anything like he had expected. Sure, itâs not like they had had a truly meaningful conversation before theyâd fallen into bed, but Eddie had seen and heard enough. The person he had thought Harrington to be simply didnât seem to exist. Steve wasnât the pampered, spoiled prince everyone thought him to be.
Well, maybe he had been a little spoiled, but he certainly hadnât been pampered. Not if he was willing to pay the townâs drug dealer to fuck him and hurt him just to get away from his parentsâ machinations. How much of Steve had been Steve? And how much had been the puppet of his parents?
Did Steve even know?
Even he couldâŠacknowledge that the Harrington of this past yearâhell, even more so these past few monthsâwas not the Harrington of last year. Ever since that first time Steve came to school busted to hell because of Byers, something about the boy had changed. And nowâŠshit.
Shit hell goddamn fuck.
Steve had shown up at his door, desperate and afraid, but oh so fucking determined. Heâd come expecting a night of pain and being roughly used with no thought to his own pleasure or wellbeing, only being broken and used up so that no purity obsessed alpha would want him, all just to get out of an unwanted mating.
Because, in his parentsâ eyes, he was nothing more than a piece of meat to be put up for auction.
There was something more to Steve Harrington than he had ever expected, more to the strange omega who was unlike any omega he had ever met before. An omega who was willing to do anything to protect himself, even if it meant getting hurt in the process.
Steve was purring.
Eddie froze for a moment, realizing he was still nuzzling Steve, still lightly kissing over his neck, still gently running soothing circles over Steveâs belly, and that Steve had begun purring as he melted into Eddieâs embrace as they both waited for Eddieâs knot to go down.
Shit.
Eddie didnât know Steve, not really. Knew him only by reputation, but that was obviously false, or at least exaggerated. Steve was practically a stranger to him. And yetâŠ
And yet Eddie wanted nothing more than to protect the omega in his arms who trusted him to keep him safe, at least to a certain degree.
Stupid fucking biology.
Eddie wasnât stupid. He knew that, even if he was interested in getting to know Steve more, there was no way that Steve would want anything more to do with Eddie after tonight. He had gotten what he wanted and EddieâŠwell, Eddie wasnât stupid.
Sure, maybe his rants about forced conformity and biological slavery were enough to convince Steve heâd probably be safe enough with him, but Eddie knew the truth. What greater disappointment was there than having a Munson be the one to steal the precious golden boyâs virginity?
The super senior, drug dealing, trailer trash, poor excuse of an alpha Munson who had no hope for a future that didnât include the bars of a cell or six feet underground.
Why would Steve ever want anything more to do with him after tonight?
next
Author commentary:
So, besides a little minor ficlet here, this is the first time Iâve published some genuine smut publicly. This is also the first time Iâve ever written intersex omega smut, which for some reason vaginal sex was just harder for me to actually write. It was fun though. Might have to do it again.
I was originally going to write the part where Eddie finally penetrates Steve as a quick and sudden thing, but it ultimately felt more genuine for Eddie to pause and get Steveâs continued verbal consent again, just to check in on him. Consent is highly important to me.
You also see Eddie starting to realize fully that the douchebag he thought Steve was actually isnât his true self, that Steve is actually so much more, as well as someone that needs protecting. Something Eddie is finding himself drawn to more and more, despite knowing (or so he thinks) that nothing could ever come of it.
Despite himself, Eddie has already fallen far more than he would ever like to admit to himself. His inner alpha has already claimed Steve as his own, much as he might try to deny it. He fights hard against biology, not wanting to succumb to baser instincts.
The line âAnd if his inner alpha was whispering that it was a promise, wellâŠno one needed to know thatâ is probably one of my favorite lines of the entire fic. That scene where he left a mating mark without actually biting Steve was just a favorite in general too.
And Steveâs purring.
Steve has never had reason to purr like that before, so he simply hasnât. Even when he was with Nancy, he had only seen to her needs while ignoring his own, and she wasnât really the cuddling type. But Eddie has taken care of him, was praising him, making him feel good, and holding him close in a way that his inner omega is latching on to, even if he is similar to Eddie and believing nothing further will come of it.
As for pregnancy, in my omegaverse headcanon, omegas can get pregnant outside of heats, but itâs harder and less likely. Itâs especially harder for male omegas. Even though Steve is wanting to be ruined, itâs only about his virginity, not making him an unmated teen parent. Thatâs a step a little too far haha.
Once again, morning after pills can be used but like real world Plan Bâs, theyâre not very pleasant and can either make an omega skip their heat, or make it come earlier and a little moreâŠextreme. Suppressants and birth control donât really work then either. Suppressants not at all and birth control very minimally. Itâs basically like a super heat. And without an alpha, itâs very painful.
I also am incapable of writing Steve without a praise kink. Boy deserves to be praised and Eddie is more than happy to step up to the plate for that.
~
If anyone in the permanent tag list would like to be excluded from this ficâs parts, please let me know and Iâll remove you for this fic only!
Hostage Hotties:
@derythcorvinus @katyawriteswhump @honeii-puff @scoops-aboy86 @dotdot-wierdlife @everywherenothere
As well, temporary tags for this fic only are also still open if anyone else is interested in my bts author commentary.
Temporary fic tags:
@amerikanskaya-krassavitsa @estrellami-1
#fic: ruin me#ladyxdarcy#omegaverse steddie#steddie#eddie munson#steve harrington#stranger things#plot thots
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do babies like this primarch?
Lion: yes. I want you to imagine him picking up a random baby (abandoned on a planet or whatever, make up whatever situation you want as long as it beings you to the mental image of:) and making the most pensive bordering on displeased face. he's holding the baby like a live explosive while they just smile and giggle about it
Fulgrim: yes. Fulgrim, for his part, likes babies as a concept but he does not like holding them on account of them treating him like a giant mobile, complete with yanking his hair. he's happy to just observe the next generation from a safe distance
Perturabo: no. he doesn't like them either so it works out well. don't bring it near him, they'll both be happier that way. will stare at you so hard you cry if you try to hand him a baby
Khan: they're kind of neutral on him until he starts pulling faces when no one's looking and then they're all about it. he doesn't really care about holding them or anything but he's good at holding babies if you hand them over -- do not let this trick you into thinking he knows how to care for a baby. he's clueless
Leman: babies are neutral on him, leaning towards dislike. toddlers though? toddlers love him. toddlers have correctly vibe checked him as a guy who will throw them exactly as high in the air as they want (read: very high) and always catch them
Dorn: not really but if you hand him a baby, they WILL fall asleep. he's warm, his hearts are very loud, he holds them very securely, and they love it, even if they're initially not very happy about it. that said he doesn't really want to hold your baby, even if he won't complain about it. why do people keep handing him babies?
Konrad: there's probably an AU where they do but in HH, no way. even when he's well groomed and all, he's got the whole "filed teeth, starved rat" thing going on and they do not dig it. he doesn't want to hold your baby either so this works out well
Sanguinius: nope. he's too shiny and bright and the wings are offputting. toddlers will pull on his feathers, babies will experience the instinctual fear of being eaten by an eagle. secretly this is kind of a relief, cause Sanguinius is not all too big on babies either
Ferrus: yeah. he thinks it's funny and he especially thinks it's funny that they'll pull the hair and earrings of a man Fulgrim's size. such bold little things. he will not hold the baby though, don't you see his much more social brothers over there?
Angron: children used to love Angron but now they are (rightfully) very scared of him and it is funnysad to me if babies haven't gotten that memo yet. Angron likes babies; he will not like you if you try to hand him one.
Guilliman: yeah sure. that's just a big guy. he can give them a politician kiss without complaint and he's got a surprising skill, for a guy who rarely interacts with them, for soothing them when they're upset
Mortarion: no, absolutely not, no. they don't know he's a person because of the mask. you should not let him hold a baby because of the mask. he does not want to hold your baby. no one is happy here
Magnus: no. he could build a rapport with a baby and especially a toddler but upon first contact, the whole Psyker Vibes thing just makes them hate him. squirming and crying, the works. he's kind of sad about it. sidenote he was definitely helping deliver babies on Prospero on account of his biomancy
Horus: babies hate him and it is the saddest thing in the world. he wants to hold your baby. he will make all the appropriate cooing nosies at the baby. he's fully prepared to talk to them like a little person and wiggle their hands. the baby is gonna wail and push his face away with all the strength in their little arms when he tries to give them a kiss like a proper politician.
Lorgar: baby catnip. he's the most photogenic Primarch, there is not a single picture where he does not look at his best, and that includes all of the pictures of him blessing a baby and/or giving them a kiss. this is useful cause people keep asking him to bless their babies and the baby is sooooo happy about Lorgar holding them. and they looooove to stare at him
Vulkan: I'm legitimately torn but I lean towards babies liking him, which is good, cause Vulkan definitely likes babies and hearing about their milestones and about toddler's little escapades. also cause it's fun to imagine this also extending to nonhuman (read: eldar) babies so he can experience the worst emotions in his life
Corvus: no but at least they usually won't cry about it. you hand him a baby and they just freeze up until you take them back. he doesn't know what to do with babies either. congrats, please don't make him interact with them
Alpharius Omegon: oh yeah. it's inexplicable but babies just like being around them and staring at them. neither of them knows how to handle a baby. I can also envision one of them standing around making small talk to a toddler exactly like they would to an adult, which toddlers LOVE
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Monkey Chase
I stepped off the loading ramp and got a good view of the reason why weâd landed in the wrong part of the spaceport. A giant cargo hauler lay on its side, broken and bent â had a ship crashed into it, or had the engine exploded? I couldnât tell from here â and large slabs of spaceship insulation gel sprawled everywhere. The haulerâs cargo, clearly. As I watched, three people with a hovercart tried to shove one aside to no effect, and another slab as big as a cross-section from my old apartment on Earth slowly peeled off from inside the remains of the hauler. It hit the ground with the squishiest thud Iâd ever heard - the thing was the color of smoke, but dense enough to make the ground vibrate from here.
I whistled, then regretted it when the tentacle alien on the ramp beside me scrunched up at the sound. âSorry,â I told Mur.
âOw,â he said, uncurling his blue-black tentacles. âWas that a human swear? Itâs sharp.â
âMore of a âwow-look-at-thatâ kind of noise,â I said. âBut swearing would sure be appropriate. What a mess.â
âYou said it. Glad itâs not our problem.â
Captain Sunlight came down the ramp to join us, regal as ever in the bright yellow scales that had given her the name. âOur client isnât answering,â she said. âIâve put in a request at the local medcenter to see if theyâve been injured in this crisis, but havenât heard back yet. Anyone interested is welcome to join me in walking over to where their ship was meant to be parked.â
Three other crewmates followed her out of the ship: Blip and Blop in their flowiest silks that both matched their fin colors and also showed off their biceps, and Zhee with his purple exoskeleton as shiny as always. They all made quiet noises of dismay at the state of the spaceport.
(Well, Blip and Blop seemed dismayed. Zhee was looking down his nonexistent nose at whoever had been careless enough to cause such a mess.)
Mur waved a tentacle. âLead the way,â he said to the captain. âHereâs hoping the ship isnât buried under all that.â
âYeah, it looks heavy,â I said as we moved out. âI wouldnât be surprised if a little ship could be crushed under that, especially if it also took damage from whatever kaboom happened in the first place.â
As we got closer, I made several observations in a range of importance. A medical shuttle was zipping off toward the city center while another appeared to be waiting around just in case; the medics were standing there chatting instead of tending to anyone. The gel slabs couldnât be pushed, though they could be lifted with a big enough gravity platform. There was only one of those here. Cleanup was going to take a while. The slabs covered a large area of ground as well as a couple ship-sized lumps, turning the spaceport into a sea of smoky gray translucent rubber.
A small creature bounced around on it. People were shouting about that.
âWhatâs going on over there?â I asked.
Captain Sunlight sighed deeply and sped up. âI really hope thatâs not our cargo.â
âOur cargoâs an animal?â
âYes, among other things. I thought I told you, but I guess not; it was a last-minute addition to our load. Someoneâs exotic pet.â She looked up at me with concern on her lizardy face. âHow are your animal-catching skills?â
âDepends on the animal,â I said, squinting at the fast-moving thing. I was the critter expert on the ship, but I didnât want to promise anything. âWhat species is it?â
âIâll bring up the description in a moment,â Captain Sunlight said. âI think I see our client over there.â
She was right. The slender Frillian with a leash and an exasperated expression did turn out to be the person weâd come to meet, and the various spaceport officials on the scene had no any easy answers about how to catch his pet.
âNormally he comes running for food!â the client exclaimed. âBut heâs got plenty to pick from here!â He pointed accusingly at the spill of fruit from a truck smashed open by a slab of gel.
âOh, like thatâs my fault?â said a Heatseeker who was busy gathering fruit. âHalf my stock is ruined! Go catch your little menace and stop complaining.â
This led to a rant about how impossible the menace in question was to catch when he didnât want to be â giving him a bath had to be done by trickery â and he was never going to come down from this playground full of food, and oh the man should have just paid for a transit that allowed him to bring pets.
Zhee muttered agreement at that last, but I donât think the guy heard him. Spaceport officials offered calming words and a reminder that nets had been sent for.
Captain Sunlight asked one of them, âIs there an animal-handling service anywhere nearby?â
âNowhere close,â was the answer.
She looked back up at me. âAny bright ideas? Here, Iâll show you the description.â
While she unfolded a screen and brought up the information from this particular courier gig, I watched the jumpy creature carefully. He was close enough for a good look now, since heâd come back to snatch another alien citrus off the ground, making the owner yell after him.
My first thought was âmonkey,â followed by âfrog.â The animal was long-limbed and green, though with velvety fur instead of an amphibianâs shine, and had a tail that could hold fruit just as well as his hands could. Pointy nose, round ears, and the biggest eyes of anyone here except for Zhee. He could probably see a person sneaking up from behind. He was fast. And he was clearly having a great time jumping from one bouncy surface to another, making chattering noises and spitting citrus peel everywhere.
âItâs called a treeleaper,â Captain Sunlight told me. âWarmblooded, diurnal, omnivorous, and âa bit of a troublemaker.ââ
Mur snorted. âSounds like your species,â he told me.
âJust with a tail,â Zhee added.
âI wanted a tail as a kid,â I said absently, thinking hard. Iâd just caught sight of a shipful of humans disembarking nearby, on the other side of the biggest pile of gel. They looked like they were in pretty good shape. One was already walking on the gel and laughing about the bounce.
I had an idea. âExcuse me, Captain. I think I see reinforcements,â I said, then ran off toward my unsuspecting kinfolk. When I got close, I took great pleasure in yelling, âHey humans! Who wants to help me chase a monkey across a trampoline??â
They were all smiles and questions, then when I led the way to where they could see the monkey-frog jumping around with stolen fruit, they volunteered immediately.
âIâll get the small cargo net!â
âDo you think the big gravity wands will slow it down?â
âBet you a cleaning shift that I can grab it in a towel.â
âYouâre on!â
I told Captain Sunlight that I had successfully recruited some animal-catchers, and she didnât bat an eye, just suggesting that our crew gather similar tools from our own ship. Zhee and the twins rushed off while Mur stayed to yell suggestions.
The other humans were already venturing into the bounce zone. I hurried to follow, grabbing a fist-sized lime thing from the ground as I did. We made a wide circle before closing in.
The treeleaper saw us coming, of course. Threw a half-eaten fruit at one person and made a rude noise at another, then sprang up to ricochet between surfaces like an unholy pinball.
Thus began a merry chase.
It brought back memories of bouncy houses and birthday parties at the trampoline gym. The gel was tough enough to take an impact without doing more than denting briefly and launching a person hooting into the air, to rebound off another surface and hopefully not smack into anyone else in midair. There were a couple close calls. But that just made everything funnier somehow.
I jumped off one gel wall with and hit another with my shoulder, making the monkey-frog turn a 180 back towards a pair of guys with gravity wands. He tried to spring away to the side, but I threw my lime to bounce off a surface nearby, spooking him enough to change direction yet again. Somebody slid down a gel slab like a rubbery playground slide, yelping as that turned into a wild tumble. The animal didnât know what to make of all the flailing and laughter. His hesitation was enough for the gravity wands to lift him partway off the gel, then when he stuck a leg out far enough to jump free, he was immediately bagged by a grinning lady with a cargo net.
Everybody cheered.
The treeleaper growled and tried to scramble free, but no luck. Somebody else caught up and helped tie the net off with a scarf. Everyone settled down to minimal bouncing, and many hands worked together to carry the bundle of ropes and disgruntled animal back to solid ground.
âYou got him! Is he okay? He didnât sprain anything in that net, did he? I hope he didnât eat too much fruit. Heâll do that if given the chance, you know.â The owner was grateful and worried and relieved and talkative.
Eggskin had arrived from our ship with a medical scanner, and thankfully they could put everyoneâs mind at ease about the state of our animal cargo. The treeleaper was fine. It had a stomach full of fruit and a bloodstream full of adrenaline, but all it needed was a nice nap in its carrying cage.
I considered asking why it hadnât been in the carrier before, when the rented shuttle got its windows smashed, but I didnât.
A small hand patted my back, as far up as it could reach. âEarning your keep once again,â said Captain Sunlight.
I laughed. âThat was my pleasure.â
Another human lingering nearby asked, âIs there anything else that needs catching? That was great.â
âYeah, you should sell tickets to this!â agreed another.
A Frillian in a port uniform said, âNo, but thank you.â She paused, then added, âHm. I wonder if thatâs worth suggesting to the owner of all this insulation. Itâs useless for its intended purpose now that itâs breached the sanitation shielding.â
I smiled. âIt still makes an excellent trampoline even with footprints all over it. Lay those out in an empty field and charge people entrance, and they could make back a decent amount of money. You get plenty humans through this port, right?â
The woman whoâd caught the treeleaper said, âWeâre here early for a family reunion before the big festival, then there are three or four sporting events in a row. Let us know if that does happen, because we can get you a lot of humans interested in jumping on this stuff.â
I had to leave with the animal cargo back to our courier ship, so I didnât hear how the rest of the conversation went, but I saw the official bring the representative of the hauling group over to meet the humans. He looked very interested in what the spokesperson had to say.
I grinned at the scene as I walked away: the intense conversation in front of the vast playground of bouncy surfaces. I wondered if weâd get a chance to come back for a visit when they got it set up properly.
~~~
The ongoing backstory adventures of the main character from this book. More to come! And I am currently drafting a sequel!
#my writing#The Token Human#humans are weird#haso#hfy#eiad#humans are space orcs#and today#humans are space monkeys#who enjoy certain things just as much as the next primate-adjacent entity#add another one to the list of things I've made up that I'd love to do in real life
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hey! this is my first time requesting something so iâm not too sure what to ask for !
would love to see some oscar fluff tho đ„čđ„č
Note: I'm happy you sent in a request, feel free to always share your ideas! 𫶠also, this was totally not written from personal experience đ
Tw: reader accidentally gets hurt
Dating an athlete meant that your holidays would often include adventurous plans like hikes and trails. For this afternoon, Oscar wanted to check out a hike near the beach where you could walk along the coastline.
"You don't have to go if you don't want, love", Oscar assured you as you put on your sports bra, "I want to, it's supposed to be very beautiful and it's a nice change of scenery from the pool", you smiled, getting your trainers, "these should be okay, right? I only have sandals and flip-flops and those are definitely not appropriate footwear", you reasoned, "yes, I don't think it will be slippery, more dusty I think", your boyfriend offered, grabbing his own trainers so he too could lace them and you could get going.
It started quite easily, the steps carved into the rocks from erosion clear and well limited, making you follow Oscar quite easy, "wow, look how blue the sea is!", he gasped as you reached a balcony like area looking out the coast line, waves hitting the rocks and turning into white foam.
"It says here the water line can go up and cover all of those rocks completely", you read on the wooden and metal informative plaque, pointing with your fingers, "Osc!", you squealed when you noticed he was taking a photo of you, "at least warn me first so I can sort myself out!".
"You look beautiful, love", he smiled, shoving his phone back in his pocket and circling his arms around your waist.
"I am sweaty and shiny from the suncream and my hair is all tangled from the wind", you pouted as you tamed down the little hairs that never seemed to lay flat unless they had a lot of product on them.
"You look lovely, believe me", he stole a quick kiss, "let's continue?", he urged, pulling you with him.
The trail started to shrink as the flat ground approached the line where the rock stopped and a couple of feet wrong and you'd be down in the rocky wall in no time, "can you hold my hand, please?", you murmured to Oscar, stretching your hand out while the other one was already grasping the safety steel railing chord, "here, I won't let go, I promise", your boyfriend assured as he laced your hand in his.
"We climbed all of this, so now we have to go down, be careful, okay?", he warned after you had taken a rest break to admire the view.
"It's fine, I'll be careful", you added, getting up and following him down. You didn't see one of the steps, so you went right over it, not measuring the distance properly and falling on your butt.
At the yelp you let out, Oscar was quick to turn around and help you, "are you okay, Y/N?", he asked, checking over any injuries, noticing a little cut on your thigh and a graze on your elbow.
"Just bumps and scratches - and a sore butt", you pouted, accepting his hand to be pulled up to a standing position, "can you walk all the way back or fo you want me to carry you?", he wondered, "I'm fine to walk", you smiled, kissing his cheek and carrying on.
As soon as you arrived back at the hotel, Oscar stopped by the reception to ask for a first aid kit, taking it with you to the room so he could help.
"I'm sorry it stings, love", he pouted, kissing your thigh to distract you as he made sure the wound was clean and disinfected, "but it's looking good", he kissed your thigh one last time before moving up to your arm, seeing you had already cleaned it, "I can't put the protective band-aid", you explained, having him help you with it too.
"We can stay here for a bit before you go to lunch, how does that sound?", he suggested as he pulled you to cuddle him, "that sounds good", you kissed his lips before making yourself comfy, "my clumsy girl", he kissed the top of your head.
(Thank you for sending this in âšïž)
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28 asks! Thanks yall! :)) đŠ¶
My last doctors appointment came up with nothing. Onto the next one in a few weeks...
Oh good idea-- :00
Dink already has a friend! His name is Doink! :)
@stupid-thatsme
I usually watch YouTube or listen to music while I draw. I feel like it helps me draw faster and keeps me focused somehow.. XDD And no one wants to be alone with their thoughts lets be real-
@coolguyinternet
<XD I'll have to think about that one-
1: I knew what was coming for me in Tales from Ba Sing Se. But it still hurt. :(((
1: At first I don't think I liked Mei very much <XDD But after seeing her turn around at the end of the show?? I really like her :))
There's a lot of moments that were sweet and sad. But Zuko's apology to Iroh, and Toph and Sokka's talk about Katara's motherly nature were amongst the sweetest. And Aang going avatar mode when loosing Appa and being comforted by Katara has to be the saddest I can remember.. đ„șđ„șđ„ș
The ending overall just felt like it came too soon, I wish the show was longer..
@mrplants-world
You're gonna have to be a liiiitle more specific- đ
(Aang holding Appa art in question)
Do people really ask that?? Man.. smh.. smh.. đđ
That sounds like something they'd do! :DD
:DDD Thank you! I'm glad you like my artwork!! :))))
@the-woomyverse
XDDD Oh man that's some fantastic angst potential
(Evil Grim and V post in question)
An asker in this post described what I imagine they'd be like really well! :00
And yes! The evil versions are all shiny but evil Anastasia (Kricketot) is normal colors XD
I didn't intend to have Miraidon around, no.. đ
And I don't have the DLC, so I am unfamiliar with Ogerpon.. <:0
@necromicon42
The boo mushroom isn't intended to be in my AU.. but the boomerang and cloud flower could be included :00 I imagine they'd be/look a lot different though..
The boomerang flower might not be a full on powerup.. I might make it this big flower that once it grows its oddly shaped petals fall off and harden like wood. Leaving behind these perfect flat boomerangs. I can imagine Mario and Luigi just learning how to throw the boomerangs instead of absorbing a powerup. This would also explain how boomerang bros got their boomerangs. They throw the same dried up petals that the bros throw-
The cloud flower might just be changed into some king of... wispy thing and the bros can collect. Instead of a flower. Maybe a literal cloud? I'm not sure.. but I can see it existing :00
@spinelfan11
I believe so! XD Thank you! :)
(Refencing this post and this post)
<XD No one is safe from the bootleg curse!
<XD No no, my AU was made before the movie came out. Nothing from the movie applies to my AU- including the Vanessa daughter thing <XDD
Well lets see,
1: I think Gravity Falls and Pixars cars was very inspirational to me! :0
2: My favorite song changes from day to day,, but currently I really like Lights by Ellie Goulding! :))
3: When I understood it, I think I liked math! :))
4: And sorry! But drawing suggestions are now closed đ
@anikakitty11
Shroomie!! :DDD
@untitled-7613
I wouldn't trust them personally- đ
đ
@khoiazo
XDD The only appropriate response to evil Grim and V honestly-
@xxanxious-anxietyxx
:000 WAIT REALLY??? THANKO YOU!! :DDD
@hope0koi
They doin good! I've been meaning to draw them more often <XDD
@minophlia
Ah man.. this is very bitter sweet. I'm glad you found me here and that you like what I make. But its also horrible to hear that you found me through stolen artwork that I worked so hard on..
@katpotato55 (In response to this post)
:DD THANK YOU SO MUCH!! :)))
@im-nice-but-i-dont-like-you
XDD Well hey it made me laugh too! Also thank you! :))
@ink-machine-kidd
I'm afraid I wouldn't know what to do for that..đ
I'm not familiar with Digimon.. đ„ș Thank you for the suggestion though! :00
@agent-cakeshroom
XDD Thank you!! And yes! I DO love sky! :DD Been playing ever since season of dreams back in 2021 đȘđȘđȘ
#my response#avatar the last airbender#pokemon scarlet and violet#fnaf security breach#super mario bros
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So the reboot trailerâŠ
First off, I was so excited to see this, and secondly, the wizards were not in it. Iâm becoming more and more convinced that they have been scrapped and I will have to have a long, disappointed cry. But onto happier, more cgi things! *activates nostalgic Winx music to write to*
Bloom on a bike, as happy as can be, wherever you are going, Bloom, please wait for me! (Personal reference, if anyone gets that, I will probably have a little squeak of joy.) I honestly like that sheâs still got her bike, just like the original. Her top is cute, too, more OG Bloom than Nick Bloom, which I like.
Flora and Stella are fighting this guy, and already, Iâm sad. Heâs fine, I guess, butâŠhe doesnât have half the personality of Knut. Knut had overalls, and glasses, and a bunch of ghoulies, and this just feels very generic.
Bloom takes him out, but it doesnât seem to have a dragon, just fire, and sheâs just standing there, frozen, like Ogron whenever anything remotely dangerous happens. It lacks the drama of the OG, where she gets grabbed and unleashes a while dragon made of fire, which was badass and hit really hard.
Floraâs here. Which, I love her, but this is Bloom and Stellaâs special time. Also, they were looking for Bloom. Looking for her. This is meant to be an accident. (Or meet cute, if you happen to ship.) The wings look weird, honestly, like theyâre made of plastic on dolls, and Stella looks odd. Flora looks pretty, as always, I like the outfit, but do I love it as much as her original fairy form? No, not sure I do.
Just, letâs take a moment to note this other presumable base level fairy, shall we? She looks way more like the original, but the fact that she, also presumably a student at Alfea, looks so basic next to the Winx, gives me the feeling that the Winx are just going to be special and powerful for no real reason. WhichâŠI donât love, in the OG they were just normal people that wound up fighting evil, theyâre not the chosen ones. (Except in my Halloween fanfic Iâm writing where they unknowingly are, but thatâs beside the point.) But this is a nice fairy form, and frankly, Iâd love the Winxâs to look more like this, their forms are more detailed than Enchantix already.
I do like these outfits, theyâre nice, and probably more appropriate for high school students than their adventure outfits from season one. I actually do like that they have their hair up, thatâs a thing for me, because trust me, if Iâm adventuring, first thing Iâm doing is putting my hair back. It gets in my face when Iâm eating breakfast, long, loose hair is a hazard in adventuring. Also, love Tecnaâs little pose here. Thatâs cute. And also one of only two appearances for her in the trailer. She and Musa are tied for least relevant.
No. Just no. Iâm sorry, I justâŠI hate this. Iâm trying not to be negative, but this is just wrong. This is not Faragonda. Faragonda wears blue. And looks different. This just jars for me, but itâs not a bad design, I guess, so think what you like.
I just took this screenshot because the video paused on it and I thought it was funny. Looks like Bloom going back to Earth, and also, like high school, so maybe weâll see more of her human life, which, I guess is cool? I donât think I ever felt much pull for that. I want to see her at Alfea. But she looks so cute and dramatic, jumping out of a hole in the air! And I do like her outfit. Itâs actually cute, and she has her flares again, and the pink isnât excessive.
Stella has a sceptre! Itâs not as kickass as her original, but sheâs got one! Which I love, because I miss the old one. It vanished, then cameoed one last time to get eaten by Shiny. Sheâs still sticking with that outfit too, I see. HoorayâŠitâs not as bad as I keep looking at it, I guess, when you cut out the skirt, but still. And I kinda miss her fringe here. Also, her spell name is âBurning Sunâ. IâŠI feel like it could have been more creative. Even âRising Sunâ sounds better. Or âSolar Blazeâ. I just like them better. Or bring back âSolar Windâ.
YES! YES, THIS IS WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT! Beautiful, beautiful women! And it looks like theyâre not triplets in the reboot, because the skin tone redesigns Iâve seen so many people use are actually canon now, which honestly, I love. They look beautiful. If Riven x Darcy is a thing in this reboot, then lucky, lucky Riven. I like that the outfits arenât too different from their originals, just redesigned a bit. Itâs perfect, and I wish the Winx had stayed truer to their OG fairy forms. I think, for the first time, I get why people have posts saying that the Trix were their bisexual awakening, I get that with this picture.
Sorry for the dreadful quality, Sky just wasnât feeling photogenic. We still have our guys! Tiny Riven up there if anyone can seeâŠtheir ship is still the iconic red, and they now have hoverboards! Gotta be honest, I sort of miss the original uniforms. They were so impractical, but they were iconic and these lookâŠwell, cool, and I like that theyâre sci-fi, but I miss the capes, Iâm sorry. Even after watching Duman pick up and grab them by the capes, I miss them. (Also, itâs agreed now that if the wizards donât show up, any background character or creature with pink hair is just Duman in disguise. This is canon now, whoâs with me?)
Weâre keeping, âJust Winx!â Which I like, itâs a really cute scene. I like Bloom having a notebook, itâs cute, she feels like she should have one. I like characters that have a notebook or journal for all their thoughts and doodles.
Speaking of the notebook, itâs so cute! But Iâm so scared this is all the Kiko weâre getting, and if it is, I mourn him even more than the wizards! He was so cute, and if Bloom doesnât have a tiny, implausible bunny sidekick, I will be sad. Also, does Bloom have a smartwatch? Is that a good idea? What if the Trix can track her through it? I guess Tecna could prevent that. The details on her jeans are cute, I like them. And thereâs that iconic hand pose! I donât know what itâs for or why it exists, but I love it!
And thatâs all from me for today on the reboot! So far, no wizards spotted, but Iâll survive somehow. Weâll see how they handle the Trix, only then will we know whether we can trust the reboot to handle the wizards. If the Trix get backstories and personality, then I will campaign for the wizards to be there. If not, if theyâre cardboard soup, then I will protect the wizards from the madness as much as possible.
So what were your thoughts on the new trailer? Are you excited? Or clinging to the OG and refusing to acknowledge the reboot?
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