#as in like. people claim he’s not real.

[mask131]

I have not looked at all the notes below, just at these pictures.

This discussion, unfortunately coming up in the lights of all these horrible things, is something I do wish to explore further and that I already kind of felt before - see my last post about Good Omens, as the TV show adaptation and Gaiman's handling of it DID make me doubt some of his claims. While I do believe the first season was made with respect and care for Pratchett's work (despite failing to do justice to Pratchett for me, but at least there was a real sincere effort there), I also believe that with the additional seasons Gaiman was milking the non-existent cow that was the unwritten sequel and that we can't fully trust what he claims when it comes to idea planned since the early beginning and stuff he might want to add or project or on his own... But that's something that tends to happen with every book that is co-authored, so I won't go down there much further.

What I DO want to stress however is that, while yes we can put into doubt how much Gaiman was truly close or "in the papers" of Pratchett (a part of it isn't just Gaiman's own invention, another part is also a lot of popular culture projection and fan assumptions, we can't throw the stones just at Gaiman, there was also the whole cult following thingy at play), we also have to put into doubt WHO is currently putting into doubt the Gaiman-Pratchett connections.

I'll explain: Internet seems to have a very short-term memory, and people tend to forget that not so long ago transphobes literaly tried to mass-gaslight people (and gaslighted themselves) into thinking Pratchett would be against trans people, when Pratchett literaly wrote an entire book about accepting trans people. And for all Gaiman has done or has been accused of doing, we can't forget that he was one of the two fervent defensors of Pratchett - or rather one of the two major voices to denounce the absolute craziness of these people (alongside Pratchett's own daughter). And that's something people did NOT like. A lot of people got angry at Gaiman for "pretending to know" what Pratchett would think...

... This is exactly the same kind of talk that is starting to appear here and there. For very different reasons, from different people, but it is still the same doubt and so it means there's a bridge here ready to be crossed. The same way there is a certain amount of people who try to use the Gaiman scandal to "justify" or "defend" J.K. Rowling, and turn a very serious case of sex crime accusations into somehow a "turns out the transphobe was right all along".

Don't be fooled, the people who are outraged, angry or mobbing against Gaiman aren't not all defendors of women's rights, or betrayed fans, or even just decent people shocked at such a case. Some don't even want to know the truth. There's a lot of people who are ready to pounce and get in the fight just because they hated the guts out of Gaiman for being against transphobia, and for gay people, and for a lot of other causes they want to persecute or eliminate.

There was an interesting thread on Bluesky dissecting Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett's relationship

TL:DR - It seems like Gaiman has been exaggerating the level of closeness between them for YEARS

[clarii]

Title: Just Chilling

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Reader

Summary: Eddie Munson wasn’t your boyfriend- at least, that’s what he told people. But after one careless moment at a gig shatters everything, he realizes too late that losing you is the last thing he ever wanted. Now, he has one chance to fix it, and he’s willing to put his heart on the line to do it.

Warnings: Angst, hurt/comfort, mild language, fluffy ending

Eddie Munson wasn’t your boyfriend.

At least, that’s what he told people.

But if you asked anyone else, they’d swear otherwise. The way he held your hand absentmindedly, thumb tracing circles over your knuckles. The way he always pulled you onto his lap instead of letting you sit anywhere else. The way he kissed your forehead before dropping you off at home, murmuring a soft “ Sleep tight, sweetheart.”

If he wasn’t your boyfriend, then what was he?

It was a question that lingered in the back of your mind more than you wanted to admit. But you never asked, because Eddie-loud, dramatic, full-of-himself Eddie- shut down when things got too real. You weren’t stupid. You saw the way he stiffened whenever the word relationship was mentioned. You heard the way he brushed off questions about love like they were ridiculous.

Still, he acted like he was yours. So you let yourself believe maybe, someday, he’d say it out loud.

Then came the night that shattered everything.

Eddie’s band, Corroded Coffin, had landed a gig at The Hideout- a bigger crowd than usual, packed with regulars and newcomers alike. You were there, of course, front and center like always. His biggest fan.

He caught your eye as they set up, flashing that boyish grin that made your stomach flip. You winked at him, and he tilted his head, mouthing, For me?

You rolled your eyes but nodded. He knew you hated being in crowded, sweaty places like this, yet here you were. For him.

The show was electric. Eddie was in his element- head-banging, fingers flying over his guitar, voice rough and wild as he screamed into the mic. And you? You were completely lost in him.

Then, during a break between songs, someone from the crowd called out, “Hey, Munson! That your girl?”

Eddie looked up, confused.

The guy gestured toward you, smirking. “The one you’ve been making heart eyes at all night.”

The crowd laughed. Your cheeks burned.

Eddie hesitated, glancing at you for half a second. You felt it then- that flicker of uncertainty, the moment where he could choose to claim you.

Then he shrugged.

“Nah, man. We’re just chilling.”

Just. Chilling.

The words hit harder than any guitar riff.

You barely heard the crowds reaction, barely noticed Gareth giving Eddie a What the hell, dude? kind of look. Because the only thing you could focus on was the way your stomach twisted, the way your heart squeezed so tight it physically hurt.

Eddie turned back to his guitar, ready to jump into the next song- until he saw you.

Or rather, saw your back.

You were already walking away.

His fingers froze on the strings. Panic surged through him like a bolt of electricity.

You weren’t staying to watch the rest of the show.

You weren’t waiting for him after.

You were leaving.

And that’s when he knew.

He fucked up.

—

Eddie barely made it through the rest of the set. His head wasn’t in it anymore, and he knew the guys could tell. The moment they finished, he shoved his guitar into its case and bolted out the back door, scanning the parking lot for you.

Nothing.

His heart pounded. You always waited for him after his shows, always teased him about the way he got lost in the music, always let him wrap his arms around you and press a sweaty, breathless kiss to your temple.

Not tonight.

Tonight, he was alone.

—

You ignored his calls. His knocks at your window. His voice outside your house at midnight, begging you to just talk to him.

Each day that passed without you felt like a slow, agonizing punishment.

For the first time in his life, Eddie Munson was terrified.

Because he realized something.

You weren’t his.

And he had no one to blame but himself.

—

The next Corroded Coffin gig rolled around a week later. Eddie couldn’t bring himself to care. Playing didn’t feel the same without knowing you were there, watching, cheering, rolling your eyes at how much of a show-off he was.

But he had an idea. A desperate, last-ditch effort.

And he needed help.

So, he did something he rarely ever did.

He asked his friends for it.

It was Robin and Dustin who came to your house that night.

“Look,” Robin started, hands on her hips. “ you know you don’t want to see him, and honestly, he’s been a colossal dumbass, but-”

“He’s miserable”, Dustin interrupted. “Like, really miserable. And he wants to fix it.”

You crossed your arms, unmoved. “Then he can come here and say that himself.”

Robin sighed. “He wants you to come to The Hideout. Just for a few minutes. No pressure to stay. No tricks. Just…hear him out.”

You hesitated.

Going back to the place where it all fell apart? Where you felt humiliated? Where Eddie made you feel like you were nothing to him?

Yeah, no thanks.

But…if he really wanted to fix things, why would he bring you there?

Unless-

“Did he say what he’s gonna do?” you asked suspiciously.

Dustin grinned. “Nope. But I do know he’s been pacing like a lunatic and mumbling to himself all day.”

Robin smirked. “That means he’s planning something big.”

You chewed on your lip.

And against your better judgment….you caved.

—

When you walked into The Hideout that night, the first thing you noticed was how Eddie was already on stage, gripping the mic with white-knuckled hands.

The second thing you noticed?

The way his eyes locked onto you the second you stepped inside.

Everyone else faded. The noise, the crowd, the band. It was just you and him.

He took a deep breath. Then, with everyone watching, he said-

“ I lied.”

Murmurs rippled through the crowd, confused.

Eddie’s gaze didn’t waver from yours. “Last time we were here, someone asked me if you were my girl. And I said, ‘We’re just chilling’.

A beat of silence.

“That was the biggest lie I’ve ever told.”

The entire bar went still.

Eddie licked his lips, voice raw. “You are my girl. You always were. And I was a fucking coward for not saying it.”

Your throat tightened.

Eddie shook his head, almost laughing at himself. “ I was scared. Scared that if I made it real, you’d realize I wasn’t good enough for you. That you’d leave.” His voice dropped. “But I lost you anyway.”

You swallowed hard, feeling every eye on you.

Eddie took a shaky breath. “So, I’m saying it now, in the place where I ruined it. In front of everyone.” His voice was steady now, sure. “You’re my girl. And I love you.”

Your heart stopped.

He loved you.

Tears burned at the corners of your eyes.

Eddie’s expression softened. “ I know I don’t deserve it, but… if you’ll have me, I want to be yours. Officially.”

The silence stretched.

Then, finally-

You stepped forward.

Eddie barely had time to react before you grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him down into a desperate, breathless kiss.

The crowd exploded, but all you could hear was the pounding of his heart against yours.

Eddie Munson was yours.

And this time, he wasn’t afraid to say it.

[onelinerbust]

Cas, a twenty-year-old Computer Science major, blended into the leafy, tranquil campus like a beige wallflower. His uniform consisted of oversized hoodies, perpetually stained sweatpants, and thick-rimmed glasses that magnified eyes glued to lines of code. Weekends were spent in the dimly lit computer lab, fueled by instant ramen and the glow of multiple monitors. Girls were an abstract concept, a theoretical variable he'd never quite managed to debug in the real world. His friends, equally nerdy and socially awkward, were his digital tribe.

One Thursday afternoon, while mindlessly scrolling through his phone during a particularly tedious lecture on algorithms, a notification buzzed.

*bzzt bzzt*

It was a text from an unknown number. He almost ignored it, mistaking it for spam, but the first line that popped in the notification snagged his attention. "Tired of being a beta, Cas?"

As he clicked the message, it's a long text that quite simply put.....jarring, offensive, and sounds like something that comes out from the particular corner of the internet that people thought dudes like Cas subscribed to

“You think this is all you deserve? Skinny arms, hunched shoulders, living in the digital shadows? Bullshit. You’re a white, all-American Alpha male. It’s your birthright to dominate. To take what’s yours. To conquer. Pussy is yours for the taking. It’s your reward. Liberals are weak, fags are pathetic, socialism is cancer. Real men build empires, not safe spaces. Imagine: Steel cut biceps, a chest that screams masculinity, the confidence to take any woman you desire. That's your true self, buried under layers of soy and self-doubt. It’s time to claim your birthright. Just accept it. Embrace what's right and you approve this message,"

As Cas finished reading, a peculiar tingling sensation spread through his body as his head started to spin. It started in his fingertips, then surged up his arms, across his chest, and down his legs. His clothes felt suddenly… constricting. He glanced down. The baggy sweater seemed to shrink-wrap around newly defined pecs and biceps. His sweatpants, once loose and comfortable, now strained against thicker thighs. His posture straightened, shoulders broadening, neck thickening. Even his face felt different as his jawline hardening, the soft, almost cherubic roundness vanishing in instance.

As the finality of the transformation hit him, he blinked, and his reflection in the phone screen stared back, completely foreign. The thick glasses were gone, replaced by 20/20 vision as if he went through that LASIK surgery he discussed to his parents back during Christmas. His hair, once thin and greasy, was now styled into an effortless slight curl. His posture, gone was the timid slouch; in its place stood a posture radiating an almost predatory confidence as he absent-mindedly checked the set of abs that adorned his torso like an armor. His eyes, previously sparkled with knowledge but filled with anxiety, now held a flinty, assertive glint. He instinctively knew the transformation went beyond just his body, it's something more. A surge of testosterone, or something akin to it, flooded his senses. He felt….....powerful. Angry. Entitled.

He flexed a bicep, a ripple of lean muscle confirming the unbelievable shift. The air around him seemed to crackle with a newfound energy. The leafy, predominantly liberal campus all of a sudden felt like his personal domain, ripe for the taking. A smirk curled his lips. This new reality, this aggressive, dominant persona, felt… right.

Around him, it seems like no one noticed anything weird that one of their kind just transformed into an entity clearly not belonged in a Computer Science major classes. So, without hesitation, a new thought, crass yet compelling, took hold. Maybe it's time to onboard everyone to be on the same page as him then. He opened his class group chat, his fingers now moving with a certainty and speed he'd never possessed. He copied the transformative text, added a casual, "Lol, check this sh*t out," and hit send.

Within seconds, replies started flooding in. "WTF is this, Cas?" then, "Dude, are you serious?" followed by a confused, "Wait… I feel kinda… different?" A flicker of amusement danced in Cas’s eyes as he watched a ripple of confusion, then a dawning understanding, spread through the digital ether. He caught a glimpse of Trey, a lanky classmate, across the classroom, smiling at him with a smug knowing smirk in his now much more handsome, confident face, his fingers about to press "Enter" and spread the chaos further

Leslie, this quiet red-head girl no one would even look twice right behind Mark, abruptly altered to become this fit babe fitting to be fucked by the now handsome jockish Mark. Her once dull, short hair turned into this blonde messy bun, her eyes sparkled a rather antagonistic glint as her clothes turned into a set of alo apparel looking more fitting for a yoga session rather than an algorithmic lecture.

The subtle tremors of transformation had begun. Cas leaned back in his chair, a predator surveying his newly claimed hunting ground, the suggestive, transformative text message now an unseen virus, rewriting the reality of the campus, one insecure nerd at a time.

[sxdisteez]

☸ Dorm Series: Part-Three | 정윤호

| series masterlist | previous | next |

✦ summery: after a long awaited date night full of sensual touches and sweet words, you anticipate a night full of passion only to be blown off by your boyfriend for video games. frustration builds each minute that passes with his empty promises to get off, you decide to take matters into your own hands and have your own fun with him. ✦ pairings: idol! boyfriend yunho x fem! reader ✦ genre: smut!, idol boyfriend au ✦ word count: 2.5k ✦ warnings: smut!, desperate yunho, naughty! fem reader, teasing, oral (m receiving), masturbation! (f), finger sucking, yunho struggles to focus, breast play (slight), pet names (princess, baby), unprotected! sex (use protection folks!), orgasm denial, tears, edging, creampie (I do not condone), big dick! yunho, reader is in control, dirty talk

this is a work of fiction and is not meant to be a realistic representation of any of the real people mentioned.

nsfw content below. 18+ - mdni

“Yah Wooyoung!” Yunho yells into his headset for the umpteenth time that night. Rolling your eyes you stare mindlessly at the drama playing on the tv in front of you. Yunho invited you to stay the night with him after he took you out for a romantic date which hadn’t happened in weeks due to his hectic schedule. You thought he wanted to be under you as you wanted to be with him, but instead he got on the game with Wooyoung, Jongho, and Yeosang the minute you settled down for the night. Earlier he talked your ear up about all the things he wanted to do to you then switched up saying.

“Oh I forgot I told the guys I’d get on to play for a little while. I’ll make it quick princess.”

It has now been three hours of him yelling into his microphone out of frustration from losing. Feeling bored you walk over to his desk just as he dies again. “Yeosang you’re cheating!” He rages in his mic. Looking up at you, he moves his mic from his mouth. “Hey princess I’ll get off after this game okay.” He proclaims. “You said that three games ago.” You whine a little knowing it would be the case this time as well. “I won't, the guys already said they were gonna get off soon.” He states. “Okay Yunho.” You say rolling your eyes at him. “Hey, don't be like that, come here.” Yunho pulls you down claiming your lips in a sweet kiss. “Just wait a little longer.” You nod, walking away to lay back in his bed suppressing your desires.

-

After his “last” game Yunho did not get off as he claimed because he’d finally won. A mischievous thought crossed your mind that would give you both what you wanted. 

‘Since he won’t get off the game and I’m horny let’s see who will win in the end.’

Getting on the floor and crawling over to Yunho you make your way past him without him knowing, planting yourself under his desk. He only notices your presence the minute your hands skate up his legs pushing him back a bit so you could peak your head out. ‘What are you doing!?’ He mouths down at you, eyebrows furrowed in confusion and shock. Smiling, you ignore his question fixated on your first task; teasing Yunho. Raking your fingernail up and down his thighs slowly, getting painfully close to where you can see the outline of his cock. He gasps at your actions, narrowing his eyes at you disapprovingly. Moving your hands up to palm Yunho’s cock, you give it a light squeeze massaging his member gently. Despite Yunho’s displeased looks his cock betrays him growing slowly under your touch, urging a smirk to form on your lips. No matter what his mouth said his cock always told what he truly desired deep down a fact you both have learned on various occasions.

Inching your hand to the waistband of Yunho’s underwear, you slip your hands in his briefs, gripping his member in your hand. Pumping up and down knowing despite the already large appearance he was nowhere near fully hard. You lock eyes with his gazing seductively at him, with each draw he releases soft breaths; at least to Yunho it was soft until he heard someone clearing their throat through his headphones.

“Um, are you okay Yunho?” Jongho questions sounding concerned.

“U-uhh. Y-yeah. Just my adrenaline.” He stammers mentally cursing himself.

“Guys I think I’m gonna-.” You cut Yunho off shaking your head before he could even complete his sentence.

Shifting up on your knees you signal Yunho to come down to your face with your forefinger. Obeying Yunho leans forward inches away from your face anticipating a kiss. Playing along you feign as if you will kiss him only to skate past his face to his ear. Moving his headphones from his ear you whisper.

 “Don’t get off the game now baby, let's have a little fun.” You purred.

“Make sure you keep it down or they just might hear you.” Putting the headphone back to its right position, you push Yunho back loving the dumbfounded look that took over his features.

“Nevermind.” he spoke shakily into the mic struggling to focus between you and the game in front of him.

You felt rather satisfied with your plan so far wanting to take it further and watch Yunho crack from pleasure. Removing your hands from Yunho’s member, you grasp the band of his underwear, working to remove them as best as you could from his seated form. With a little help from him, you succeed moving on to your next task; edging him until you were satisfied. You thought it was only fair since he’d filled your mind up with all of the ways he was gonna fuck you only to leave you horny and frustrated.

Yunho eyes your next movements carefully, unable to predict what your motive for doing this was. He observes as you take his cock in your palms again, eyes wide and hungry as you licked your lips in anticipation. Your lips wrap around his tip sucking sparingly only wanting to savor the sweet and salty taste of his pre cum. Knowing how much eye contact turned Yunho on while being intimate, your eyes skate up looking at Yunho who was already peering down at you mouth agape. Gliding your mouth down his length taking as much of him down that you could muster. Mouth full, saliva already running out the sides of your mouth down his shaft, Yunho eyes darken, his gaze piercing through your soul. Moaning at the sight you smirk knowing the members could hear you when Yunho’s eyes widen.

“S-sorry guys. T-that was the drama y/n’ s watching.” Yunho falters over his words struggling to keep his pleasure at bay. 

His entire body felt like molten lava bubbling up, preparing to erupt at any moment. Attempting to concentrate on the game in front of him, Yunho took a deep breath inhaling sharply when you began fondling with his balls while deep throating him. Stroking him rapidly you felt the familiar twitch, more precum oozing into your mouth. Removing your hands and mouth from his member with a loud pop, you watched his cock continue to twitch the tip red and angry. 

“Not so soon.” You say smirking at the sight of Yunho's pleading face.

Feeling even more turned on you decide to take your edging up a bit knowing how crazy Yunho would go. Standing up slightly you sit slowly in Yunho’s lap, his chest to your back. Bringing your feet up to settle on his desk, legs spread wide, you see your slick soaking through your underwear. Yunho releases a strained groan at the sight, his cock jumping underneath your ass. Moving your panties to the side exposing your pussy, you run two of your fingers through your juices making sure to cover them thoroughly. Bringing your fingers up, you place them to Yunho’s lips watching as he eagerly opens up to suck on them, eyes rolling back at the taste. His tongue swirls skillfully around your digits, cleaning them off in full, as you pull them from his mouth Yunho lets out a small whine feigning for more.  You place them back on your pussy, rubbing your clit in the way you liked it, releasing a whimper in Yunho’s ear, finally getting off after waiting what felt like ages. 

Groping your breast while playing in your heat, small pants escape your open mouth from the extra stimulation. Your fingers skate down to your slit feeling as your slick drips down, inserting two fingers with a quiet moan you pump into your cunt quick and deep enjoying how Yunho began leaving small kisses on the side of your face and neck.

Leaning into his kiss you angle your face, your lips meeting with his, his tongue quickly darting out exploring the inside of your mouth desperately. Continuously pumping into your pussy, your orgasm nearing with each stroke you kiss Yunho with more urgency. Twirling your fingers around the familiar heat burns in the pit of your stomach, your release hitting you swiftly causing you to bite down on Yunho’s lip muffling your moans.

Yunho jerks back releasing a hiss, quickly covering your mouth. He’d completely forgotten his members were still on the other side and he was in the middle of a game looking up to see he was losing horribly.

“Where’s your head at Yunho?” Yeosang questions. 

“This is literally the one game you’re good at.” The guys laugh at Wooyoung’s dig, Yunho letting out a strained chuckle not really being in the mood to laugh. 

“I’m a little distracted. I should lock in.” He lies knowing well he’d rather be off the game fucking into your tight pussy.

You chuckle softly at Yunho’s lie watching as he continues to eye your pussy and not the pc in front of him. Putting your legs down and standing a bit, you slide your panties off. Spitting in your palm and grabbing hold of Yunho’s cock giving it a few long strokes. You position yourself over his cock, gently rubbing the tip up and down your slit before easing down on the head of his cock, sighing at how full you already felt with less than half of him inside of you. Grinding on the tip of his cock you refuse to push yourself down feeling Yunho’s hands grip your hips tightly in an attempt to ease you down further. Slapping his hands away you look back.

“Play the game baby. No touching.” You say sternly,  in response Yunho whines a pained expression on his face. Cooing at his desperation you lean over to place a kiss on his forehead slowly moving your hips up and down once more wanting to get Yunho close to his climax again. 

Small whimpers escaped your lips at how good his cock rubbed against your walls, speeding up your movements lost in your own pleasure. You didn’t realize you’d began going further and further down on Yunho’s member until you were fully seated in his lap again, stuffed full of his cock. 

“Shit-.” Yunho grits his teeth at the feeling of your cunt’s deadly grip around his length. 

Leaning on him, head laid back on his shoulder, you propped your legs onto Yunho’s thighs to help balance. Grinding back and forth feeling him hit new spots deep inside of you encouraging you to even grind faster, needily chasing your pleasure. Yunho moans at the new feeling, his orgasm inching closer with each movement of your hips. Playing the game his eyes turn hazy at how tight your pussy gripped around him. Shaking his head he half heartedly focused on the game, hearing Wooyoung and Jongho shit talk to each other as they battled head to head. 

He tried but failed miserably at trying to seem normal but it was impossible with the way you were pleasing and teasing him tonight. He’d just have to explain to the guys that’d you’d fallen asleep and he didn’t want to wake you by talking loudly.

Being hypnotized by your sweet moans, his head filled with thoughts of you, he was close to coming at any moment. 

“Don’t you dare cum.” you cut off Yunho’s daze, feeling his cock beginning to throb inside of you.

Looking at you with soft eyes, Yunho pleads silently for his release, biting down hard onto his lips, tears starting to pool in his eyes. You shake your head, no, staying firm in your control.

“You cum when I say.” You order, only to receive a low whine in response, a few tears escaping.

Removing yourself from his lap and turning to straddle Yunho, making eye contact you sink back down on him enjoying the stretch you felt. Moving up and down on him you lean forward placing light kisses across his collar bone. Kissing up to his neck where you lick over his favorite spot. Yunho thrusts into you slightly at the action, clenching his hands tightly around the arms of his chair. You give another small lick to his spot before biting down on him sucking a little bit.

“Fuck princess.” Yunho growls out his hips bucking upwards sharply this time.

“I love the way your cock fills my pussy baby.” You moan teasingly, making your movements painfully slow on his member. 

“You’ve stuffed me so full I can feel you in my stomach” moaning softly into his ear you nip at it a little satisfied when a moan slips past Yunho’s lip.

He begins to twitch inside of you again, his head falling backward on the chair. Taking advantage of his position you place your hands on both sides of his shoulder using them as leverage to quickly bounce on his cock, chasing after your own upcoming orgasm. 

“Oh my god. Fuck-.” You moan out desperately fucking yourself onto him longing for his cum.

“Cum for me baby.” You say the minute your orgasm peaks, both of you moan loudly the mixed feel of his cock twitching wildly inside of you and your cunt clenching and unclenching tightly. Your movements slow down making sure to milk him dry of every drop of cum he has. Falling over into his lap you rest your head on his chest trying to steady yourself.

-

Finally breathing normally Yunho is brought back from his high with someone clearing their throat in his ear.

“Oh shit I-.” Yunho jumps up, making sure to secure you on his lap. He looks forward, eyes wide anticipating what the members would say. Silence peaks for a while, Yunho not daring to say anything.

“You both owe me $100.” Yeosang says finally breaking the silence. Jongho and Wooyoung groan in unison, voicing their displeasure.

“Wait. What are you talking about?” Yunho questions confused.

“We made a bet on whether you were fucking or not and I won.” Yeosang states plainly. 

“What- How?” Yunho asks not understanding why the boys would even make such a bet.

“Well you weren't exactly discreet about your um noises.” Jongho says not wanting to be direct with what he heard.

“It was that obvious I guess.” Yunho states more to himself, looking at your slumped form on his lap.

“ I mean could you not hear yourself in the end? You were like ‘ohhhh, fuc-’.”

 “Shut up.” Yunho hisses, cutting Wooyoung from imitating his moans. The three laugh at Yunho’s embarrassment.

“Well I should at least get a percentage since you all listened in.” Yunho demands half jokingly and half seriously.

“Yeah okay.” Yeosang said in a tone that was not too pleased.

“I’ll talk to y'all later… maybe.” Yunho bids his farewell before the guys could say goodbye, directing his attention back to you. 

Yunho scoops you into his arms, bringing you to lay on his bed. He stares down at your naked figure, his cock slowly getting hard again at the sight. 

“That was very naughty of you princess.” He tsks at you climbing in the bed hovering over you. You smile up at him knowing exactly where his mind was going just by the glint in his eyes.

“I think it’s my turn to do something fun for you.” Yunho says sliding down to your cunt preparing to go another round with you.

—taglist: @spicxbnny @dawn-iscozy @levisforgottentea @nopension @ateezswonderland @jiminssluttyminx

be on the look out for part-four with yeosang coming soon!

thank you for reading! if you enjoyed it like, reblog with tags, comment, and follow!

[fontseeker]

ITC Benguiat (pronounced "ben-gat") was created in 1977 by Ed Benguiat, presumably while chainsmoking.

Reddit user ChunkArcade said of Benguiat:

I had Ed Benguiat as a teacher in college. Absolute legend. He used to smoke in class (looonggg past when smoking indoors was illegal in NY), tell us stories for 75% of the class, then randomly drop gems of typographic genius that I still use on a daily basis at work. Such a good soul and a fucking REBEL.

Originally the letters were intended to form part of a logo for a friend's business, but when the logo was rejected, Benguiat decided to continue working on it and turned it into a font. It was one of approximately ten billion fonts Benguiat designed.

ITC Benguiat is often described as an "Art Nouveau" font, but Benguiat denied this:

When I designed this font I was not thinking “Art Nouveau” style. My thought was just to create a beautiful font that would fit the need for a highly readable serifed font.

The font includes a number of ligatures, like AR, LA, SS, and TT, which are rarely used in practice.

One of the many places ITC Benguiat ended up being used was on book covers in the late 70s and 80s:

A well-known recent use of ITC Benguiat is in the Stranger Things logo, which is widely claimed to be based on the covers of Stephen King novels.

But... I can't actually find any Stephen King novels with ITC Benguiat on the cover? Classic Stephen King novels actually used a modified version of Pacella Latina for his name and the title, and Korinna for smaller text. (Image below from avperth on Flickr.)

Korinna and ITC Benguiat do look kind of similar, but Korinna was never used for titles. The only real similarity between Stranger Things and (some of) these covers is the way that the first and last letters of "StepheN" and "StrangeR" are bigger than the others.

I mean look at this shit:

Are people blind? That's not the same font! Look at the E, look at the G! Look how thin the verticals of the N are! Just because they're both red doesn't mean they're the same font.

"It graced the cover of countless Stephen King novels", but they couldn't find a single example because none of these covers actually used ITC Benguiat (nor do they all use the same fonts as each other). They are right about Choose Your Own Adventure books using it, though:

Fonts In Use has more examples of ITC Benguiat, as well as higher standards than slop factories like Screen Rant and Collider.

[darqx]

Another BP/HH/Gen answer dump as usual starting with BP and then moving into the other two \o/

All demons age about the same rate as humans (although with earlier milestones as babies) UNTIL they hit their 30s-40s after which aging slows down drastically 🙂‍↕️

Izm chasing you down to get .D back like

🤔 You guys sometimes really make me think about things I don't often have to think about LOL. I'm just gonna do the gang this time so off the top of my head:

Izm and .D are often eating sushi in my drawings and since I'm pretty sure Izm is mainly the one buying, sushi is his fave. He'll eat any type but he prefers the raw fish ones.

Whilst .D also likes sushi, it's not his fave dish. His fave dish is pasta in a red sauce (like Sugo or Arrabiata) for some reason. Nostalgia maybe?

Zeke is a meat and potatoes kind of guy, so, a nice juicy sirloin with mushroom sauce and a side of roast potatoes and veggies. (BP!Zeke is similar but he really likes pork/bacon particularly, so a pork roast for him probably).

Wei Ren's comfort foods are chicken congee, and seafood steamboat/hot pot.

Marcus' fave is his mom's chicken casserole.

Oh I'm glad (and thank you very much)! I hope you get lots of inspiration and can create a lot of things :D

Hm, that's a good question! I think, for doodling purposes, my fave is Rire mainly because Rire always looks more or less completed in black and white. My other two faves are .D and Izm - .D is a good exercise in subtle expressions whereas Izm is the complete opposite (esp with BP!Izm with that mouth).

Yes. I mean, I'd prefer you be at least 15 for those two things only cos if i had to age rate them they could be considered M or MA15+.

Hullo! The short answer is that there are also "not normal" skin tones, it depends on the demon species :)

The rest of society is pretty standard so yes there are charlatans in the world of BP lol. HOWEVER, no one would pretend to be a BP for three distinct reasons:

You need to be sanctioned to be a BP (ie they have abilities that normal people do not, like being able to perform exorcisms.)

There is no profit to be had as BPs generally don't get paid (all their living expenses are generally covered by their religion's HQ).

It's dangerous work. You'd have better luck being a bank robber.

Desmond is def a club music kind of guy XD EDMs, techno, trance, hardstyle, house, whatever - the kind of stuff you jump energetically up and down to at a club/concert/rave, he'll listen to it.

Not yet for BP (soon...🙏🏻). HH wasn't really a comic series so much as a bunch of somewhat random one shots I did for fun lol.

^ you guys :d

I don't put my pronouns anywhere partly because it is lowkey amusing for me to see how people perceive me online. It doesn't really matter to me, so go with your best guess lol.

You would be surprised at how much time those two hobbies can take up outside of work |D; I also like doing puzzle games (like Quordle etc), coding, going for walks/bike riding, making slightly odd food combos in normal recipes and freaking out my friends on Discord with them, and watching horror/disaster films and playthroughs of horror games.

Maybe one day I would, but not at this particular time, sorry!

Thanks for asking as this is a bit of a grey type area! Personally, I think that as long as this is purely for your own use and you aren't going to on-sell it in any way...then it should be ok. I'm going to categorise something like this as somewhat similar to say...people printing out my art to stick to their wall type thing. Of course, if you ended up buying a bunch and then thought oh i have so many extra I'll sell them to whoever wants them - that would be a no no.

In what capacity lol if there's something I've learned from real life it's never agree or disagree to anything without knowing specifics. Eg if you would like to use my art as a PFP on tumblr then you can if you credit it, but if you want to use my art as a face claim for your own charac then i would have to say no, etc.

That makes two of us as i am not familiar with the twisted wonderland universe :P

.D: Diasomnia

Izm: Pomefiore

Wei Ren: Ignihyde

Zeke: Savanaclaw

Marcus: Diasomnia

I never really specified one so my friends and I have been calling it the fictional city of Hedone lol.

I haven't given up on HH, i just dont draw it nearly as much since i'm focussing on developing BP :) Anyway HH wasn't seriously planned to be a comic or anything (though technically...it does have a very loose storyline that I've alluded to in some drawings |D ) so it's something I can just jump back into and doodle whenever i feel like.

This was from a while back

It's pretty straightforward HH is a slice of life 'verse where my main characs are in an all boy's boarding school and Rire is the headmaster. It focuses on the boys shenanigans though so if you specifically like Rire you will be disappointed as he's barely in it.

I cut off this post cos I dont think the stuff in it should be shared with other random people even though anon is on anon. If this is you anon i hope you are doing well and i would genuinely encourage you to talk to someone about certain things (like a therapist maybe).

[anyalovesu]

𝓷ever recover

idol!Heeseung x lsf member!reader

— get over the tv show and live life like you used to. that’s what you promised yourself when your members chose you to participate in the tv show your group was selected to star in. it was never your intention to fall for heeseung in real life, but you’re here anyway.

જ⁀➴ ˚ ༘ ೀ⋆｡˚

genre : fluff/angst w comfort (?)

pairings : heeseung x fem!reader

wc : 14.2k+ words

cw :

☾₊‧⁺˖⋆ idol!au ☾₊‧⁺˖⋆ reader has eating issues (tw!!) ☾₊‧⁺˖⋆ yunjin and yeonjun being in a rs mentioned ☾₊‧⁺˖⋆ reader is a member of le sserafim, '03 liner ☾₊‧⁺˖⋆ (ft. beomgyu from txt, lsf members, and en- members ☾₊‧⁺˖⋆ heavily inspired by joy and sungjae from when they were in we got married ☾₊‧⁺˖⋆ slight smut (?) very suggestive ending ☾₊‧⁺˖⋆ mentions of sasaengs, obsessive fans, death threats ☾₊‧⁺˖⋆ lmk if i missed something hehe ☾₊‧⁺˖⋆ not proofread (yet hehe)

playlist : i'll never recover જ⁀➴ ˚ ༘ ೀ⋆｡˚

“It’s going to be an amazing opportunity for you to actually give people some perspective!” Chaewon pleads with you in the common room while you sit there with the rest of the girls, just arriving from your dinner with your managers where you found out that Le Sserafim was offered to participate in a tv show.

Arguably, this would definitely make or break your group's long standing record of hate trains. You’ve gotten used to it at this point. This would assuredly bring some of those back in a bigger surge most probably, but the rest of them were arguing that it would be a good opportunity to show them a side of you that they have not before—especially since you were always branded as the man-repellant of the group ever since your debut with your playful show of disinterest in dating.

“And if the perspective doesn’t turn out to be what you think it is?” You sighed, fiddling with the strings of your hoodie. You wished you could banter about this the way you normally do, but by the way you were hyper aware of the camera clipped on your table, you knew it would probably not be the best idea to do right now.

“Then you did it for the plot!” Yunjin playfully jokes, making you snort quietly. “If it doesn’t turn out well, then we can just laugh at it and say that you did it for the plot!”

You’ve always done that. You were never one to have inhibitions to do whatever you pleased, which also meant you were a big pain in the ass for your managers and PR associates. This was a huge step in the box on what you usually do, but you’re not going to argue that the seemingly impulsivity of it all seemed very on-brand for your fearless and playful persona.

“It would’ve been you most probably if you stayed in the US with your parents. I’m pretty sure those American boys would’ve been head over heels for you!” Yunjin egged on even more.

“When am I going to find out who it is?” you asked your manager who was sitting on one end of the coffee table in the common room. 

“Once you’re in the show, they’re going to surprise you on who it is?”

“Is he going to be in a different company or the same?” You bombarded your manager with questions which ultimately made your group laugh with how persistent you are with milking your manager for answers. Most of you knew that he probably already knows who it is by the way he tried to avoid your gaze while actively deflecting your questions. 

“You have to wait!”  he says finally. “I just want to know if you are really sure about this. You know we can always decline the offer.”

“Crazy shit like this doesn't come everyday,”  you laughed. You knew it was unreasonable and the arguments you have to defend your claim on why you should actually do the show would probably not stand well in court but you are you. You’re always going to say yes to the most outrageous shit that offers itself to you. You were fearless after all.

જ⁀➴ ˚ ༘ ೀ⋆｡˚

You paced around to try and calm your nerves when the production staff from the tv show began to set up in your practice room where you and your members would meet your virtual “husband” for the first time through a mystery zoom call. You were oriented that they would have you message each other first and try to get as much information from each other before finally going to the meet up place tomorrow so that you could formally meet. As the call time drew closer and closer, you couldn’t help but feel your feet turn cold, finding yourself in deeper waters than you would usually dare to go to. Besides, who even has an absolutely insanity of a mind to agree with this outrageous show? You were starting to delude yourself that this was a prank and that your manager wasn’t actually going to have you marry for the next 30 days. You have a busy schedule! You are already going insane as it is, is he really going to let you do this?

“Honey, come back here,” Yunjin laughed as she pulled you to plop on the couch next to her and the girls. “You know I can’t tell if you're anxious or you're excited?”

“I don’t know either,” you chuckle at her. It was true. The thrill of being out of the dorms and living with a complete stranger for an entire month was exciting. In a game of most likely to, the girls would’ve pointed at you the same way they did when the offer was discussed with your group in that dinner. This really was something you would most likely do compared to the other girls but whoever you were going to be paired with will determine how this is going to go. You have a massive ten-wheeler truck of  hate waiting to crush you and leave you for dead without an active career in entertainment. You were worried this was not the amazing opportunity they made you think it was.

“Okay, we’re starting in 2,” the producer smiled at you girls as he held up a hand to get your attention. 

You couldn’t help but stare at your phone on the table showing your lock screen, watching the numbers turn from the displayed time before the director finally calls everyone’s attention by handing your leader white box adorned with a bright red ribbon around it, holding it securely.

“Oh!” Chaewon giggles excitedly, “I can't believe my baby Y/N is going to be the first to get married! My baby!”

You were only 3 years younger than Chaewon and a few months younger than Kazuha, but you were always referred to as Chaewon’s baby because of the doting  nature that the leader had for you and your group’s youngest member, Eunchae. 

Chaewon happily helps herself in opening the gift box, finding an envelope and a phone in the box.

“Oh, you have a mission card! And a phone!” Sakura chimes.

“Is it your invitation? Am I invited to your wedding? What is the phone for?” Eunchae bombards you with questions, excitement practically bursting through her seams. 

“I can’t believe you’re getting married before your Unnies!” Yunjin adds.

Chaewon opens the envelope to find a mission card which read in wedding-esque lettering, 

“To Y/N, your virtual marriage starts tomorrow but first you must get to know your virtual husband through a special couple app that we have made especially for you.”

“Do you think your husband will be younger or older?” Yunjin asked.

“I hope he is older or the same age,” you replied politely. “I don’t want him to be younger. It would feel wrong. My grandpa is older than my grandma, and my dad is also oppa to my mom. I also have a little brother who is only younger than me by exactly a year. That would feel really weird.”

“I think older would also be fitting for you,” Sakura replied. “ I think you need someone who will take care of you and you tend to be a little stubborn towards your peers that are your age.”

“She literally does not eat unless it’s the unnies that tell her to eat,” Kazuha complained. “She would literally just watch me eat!”

“I am taught to not eat before my elders do!” you argued, remembering that because you were raised in a traditional household before you moved in with your grandparents, who also upheld necessary traditional values,  in Uiwang-si when you told your parents you wanted to be a musician in Korea, you were very connected to what you were taught to be disrespectful and what not.

“Girl, you are just a picky eater and are always looking for an excuse to skip meals,” Yunjin chuckled. “I hope your husband makes you eat different things.”

“I’m going to eat ramyeon.” you joked.

“I hope my brother-in-law does not make you eat ramyeon,” Eunchae laughed. “You need to eat healthy, too much ramyeon cannot be good for you.”

“Brother-in-law?!” Chaewon sounded appalled upon hearing Eunchae call the mystery man as such already.

“They are virtually married, are they not?” Sakura laughed at Chaewon, poking fun at the excessive reaction from the leader. “I agree that we should call him brother-in-law from now on.”

“Tomorrow! The virtual marriage starts tomorrow!”

After the yap session, which you were very sure was going to be in fast forward once the episode airs, you finally decided to open the app to find your virtual husband already sent you a message.

“He sent me a message already!” You laughed dryly, trying not to make you seem too excited before you deadpanned, “oh I already feel like the prettiest person in the world.”

Hello. Do you play video games?

“Oh! He asked if she plays video games!” Kazuha happily jumps as soon as she sees the message.

“Oh no!” Chaewon jokingly whines. “They are going to play video games all day!”

Yes. I play Valorant.

“I have a feeling that they will bond very well!” Yunjin announces. “The vibes are vibing right now and they have a total of 2 messages to each other!”

The next few messages were responded to very quickly, both parties seemingly anticipating the response of the other. You could help but start to wonder who your virtual husband was or was this some elaborate prank to get you to break and show a new character that the media hasn’t seem to unlock yet. It was a crazy idea after all.

જ⁀➴ ˚ ༘ ೀ⋆｡˚

“Hi guys,” you chuckled towards your little camera mounted on a small tripod, even though cameramen surrounded the HYBE Cafe to capture the scene. “Good afternoon!” You made sure to bow and greet everyone from the production staff and the cafe staff before making your way to the seat that you were oriented to sit in. 

“I was told that I had to prepare a gift,” you started after propping your mini camera on the table. “So, my gift is in here…” you made sure to let them see the little brown box that you and Kazuha decorated in your dorm last night after you had packed your things to move for a month with the mystery virtual husband that you will meet today.

You were told that while the two of you will be living together, given that company would not fully allow you sleeping next to someone remotely close to tempting you to ruin your own career, you were assured that after filming you are allowed to sleep in the other room in the apartment they were going to make you stay in for the next 4 weeks.

“I’m just going to spoil it,” you yap while waiting to be signalled that your on-screen partner is there already. “It’s a gaming keyboard since he mentioned that he plays video games. I thought maybe I should get him an xbox controller but I’m not sure if he plays games that use that. So a keyboard would be more generic to give. I promise to give better gifts to my virtual husband when I get to know him better.”

As if on cue, right after you talked to your little camera about your gift, you were asked to put on a blindfold because your virtual partner has arrived and they want you to have a first look at each other at the same time.

“You may now take off your blindfold,” the producer instructed before you tugged on the lace of the blindfold behind your head. 

Your eyes had to take a good few seconds before it could adjust and recognize the person sitting across you. 

“Oh shit.”

You immediately slapped a hand over your mouth in surprise that you actually said it out loud. You only meant to keep it in your thoughts, but it’s Lee Heeseung from Enhypen.

His fans are going to hunt you down, you were so sure of it but the assuring look on his face as surprise wore off of it as he got used to looking at you made you seem more comfortable.

You’ve interacted with him a couple of times before. Maybe made a tik tok with him once or twice. The ship was very unlikely, you weren’t very sure why your managers agreed to this, whereas if they had placed Kazuha or Yunjin in your place, considering the amount of manips he has with your other members, they would’ve gone more viral.

“Hello,” he bowed to you politely, even getting up in his seat again to do a full 90 degree bow. You found yourself mirroring his actions almost immediately. 

“Lee Heeseung,” he introduced himself, holding his hand out.

“L/N Y/N,” you replied in the same tone before accepting his hand to shake. 

“Did you have a hunch on who your virtual partner would be?” 

You both looked at each other, trying to recall from the conversation last week before shaking your head. There were a couple of other idols that played video games—it could've been your best friend, Beomgyu for all you cared.

Oh shit. Beomgyu. He is going to crash out when he finds out you're married to his other bestie for the next month and you haven't even told him you're doing this.

“How are you feeling then? Now that you already know who your partner is for the next few weeks?” The production staff was giddy. They were through the roof with squeals from behind the camera every now and then. 

“Choi Beomgyu is going to kill me for virtually marrying his other bestie,” you replied frankly, holding back your laughter as you looked at the director. “Ya! He's going to lecture me for hours about marrying him!”

“I think he will kill me first—”

“We made sure Beomgyu will not burst through the door,” your director announces. 

“Unless he is tied up in the basement for the next 30 days, we are never sure if he's not going to burst into our apartment instead,” Heeseung jokes, leaning back against his chair. 

You take a good look at him. If you were to be honest, you've never looked at him for this long. By some fucked up standard, you have trained yourself not to look at people for too long, at least not long enough for unsuspected cameras to capture. You've never had a dating rumor since debut which was honestly a big deal for you—and now this. But that's besides the point.

Heeseung reeked of charisma. He had this good aura around him that made you feel comfortable. He was undeniably handsome and lean. God. He seemed like his parents carefully crafted him with handpicked good genes from their body and took their absolute time of their lives creating him with love—he definitely did not looked like he was made from a fuck and go situation. He was a masterpiece himself—god what are you even thinking? 

“Y/N, Heeseung asked for your coffee order,” your manager repeated, snapping you back to reality.

Heeseung chuckled at your previous zoned-out state. He daresay you looked adorable with your pupil blown out and seemingly in deep thought to not recognize that you were being instructed to do something.

“Oh it’s just a Spanish Latte, thank you so much,” you replied to him. He grinned at you as he nodded before you hid your face in embarrassment.

The crimson in your face began spreading to your ears which made the production team squeal in delight at your sudden shyness. Even your manager and Heeseung’s manager who sat closely to the director could not hide the stupid grin on their faces as the cameramen tried to capture the obvious blush on your face.

“This should be illegal, why does he smile like that?” you playfully talked to your small camera on the table. “He looks like he knows everything about me but not in a creepy way!”

“Really?” 

Oh sweet babybel cheese. He heard that.

“No! It was a joke!” You panicked, hiding your face with your hands as you kept your head low on the table to avoid looking at him again. 

It hasn’t been an hour and you’ve already embarrassed yourself for about more times than your hands could count. Everything Sakura just taught you about flirting before you came here was suddenly out the window. You were a huge bag of disappointment and embarrassment right now and you don’t even know how you managed to do that much in such a short span of time.

“I’m just really flustered, I’m sorry,” you apologized before coming up with another yap topic, “I have been training since I was 14 and was homeschooled before that. My social skills had to be developed in training.” 

“My manager only told me, my partner was from Uiwang-si,” he told you. “My manager hasn’t told me anything after that.”

“He's right! I am from Uiwang-si! My grandparents live there!” You replied happily. “I have lived there since I was 14.”

“I was born there!”

“We should visit there before our marriage ends! My grandpa is going to have a heart attack if he finds that I came there with a husband!” You laughed. “I brought my friends there one time, and then Beomgyu was there! He told me after that if Beomgyu hadn't been the way he is, he would've assumed he was my boyfriend and his blood pressure would have shot up.”

જ⁀➴ ˚ ༘ ೀ⋆｡˚

“How would you describe your childhood?” you asked, reading the cue cards they had given you as your “get to know each other activity”.

“Hard,” he jokingly laughed. “Looking back at it now, half of my childhood was training and worrying if I'll ever debut.”

He made it sound light and funny but it was a reality for many people, especially in the kpop industry. Once upon a time, you also thought about whether you should've just continued pursuing your ballet career in the US because your dream of the kpop scene did not seem to go anywhere. You were lucky your grandmother insisted that you continue your ballet lessons on top of training with Source back then so that you'd always had that safety net if ever you ended up not pursuing your kpop career.

“You debuted though,” you reminded him, his face softening at your tone and your statement. “Arguably one of the best performers of our generation also. So I guess, the hard work paid off, huh?”

Heeseung was stunned. He's always reminded of how far he's come by many of his peers but somehow, hearing it from someone who trained for a year longer than he did, validated something in him. He knew you would be able to understand what it felt like to hold your career so dearly after working day in and day out for it.

“It did. Yours too.”

Heeseung knew about you. He would be lying if he said he didn't have a tiny crush on you. You were highly regarded as Source's golden child. You were their secret weapon trainee and he's always known that whenever it may be, when you debut, you were going to make it big—international, even. And now you are sitting in front of him, after you did make it international with your Coachella stint, which you and your members did well in his opinion despite the criticisms. Maybe you could give him a couple of tips on what he can do better for their turn next year..

“I remember seeing you in the Hybe building,” you smiled at him. “Source was just acquired by Hybe and I was relatively a new recruit. I think you and some of your other members were preparing to go to I-land back then. I had a short conversation with Jay because he heard that there was another American in the building.”

You were a spectacle to Heeseung from the get go. He knew Jay spoke to you but he couldn’t do the same after he got intimidated by the rapid English words that made your conversation with him seem so enjoyable for the both of you. He didn’t want to insert himself into a situation he didn’t know how to sustain, so he stayed back.

“That’s why he knows you!” he laughs. “You did very well in your training too. We were really happy when we heard the news that you were going to debut!”

“He was really a good brother figure to me,” you explained. “Him and Yunjin always made me feel close to home.”

“I am looking forward to making you feel at home too then,” he replied, making you cackle at his pick-up line. 

“To be fair, Uiwang-si is my home too, so I am looking forward to that!”

“You haven’t answered the question yet, though,” he reminds you, pointing at your cue card, reminding you once again that you have lost yourself in a stream of thought. 

You look at your cue card to check the question once again as you laughed at yourself, trying very hard to focus on what you were actually doing. 

You thought of your childhood but it seemed that it wasn’t any different than his. You were dancing the moment you were able to balance yourself on your own. You’ve been doing ballet since you were three, did full time training as soon as you were old enough to be in a pre-professional program before you were recruited by Source Music in a ballet recital when you were 14. That somehow awakened a dream in you that you didn’t know you had. You wanted to resist it at first. Ballet has been your whole life—you are leaving an entire career of continuous conditioning, training and dance competitions for a chance to be in the spotlight in your home country. It seemed far-fetched to leave an entire life behind for what could be but it was what your heart desired and being the ever so impulse-driven person that you are—it brought you here.

“Ballet has been my entire childhood. I was on my toes for half of it, and crying for the half because I feel like I will never be good enough or because something hurts,” you explained to him while holding back a laugh. “I think I will still be doing that if I didn't debut but you know, I don't think I'll be as happy.”

Heeseung could watch you talk all day. It seems all too surreal to even fathom that he will be virtually married to the girl he had a tiny crush on before he went to I-Land. You were still a sight to see, even years after the last time he was in close proximity. 

-

The day eventually ended and you were in the living room of your home for the next month. All  the cameras were either shut off or taken home by the production staff at last so you were able to sit comfortably on the living room couch watching your favorite show on the TV. 

“I'm making ramyeon,” Heeseung calls from the kitchen connecting to the living room. “Do you want some?”

“Yes, oppa!” you replied to him, raising a thumbs up just in case he didn't hear you properly. 

You have decided to drop the honorifics for the camera and just let me gradually lose it as time goes after the cameras are out during one of your  a while ago. 

It didn't feel like you were going to have a hard time working and living with Heeseung. He was a gentleman after all and has a nurturing nature in him. You know Chaewon wishes he's not going to feed you ramyeon right now just like they had predicted but it could be worse. You and Heeseung didn't have any interactions personally other than for the tiktoks prior to today so it's a huge step already to have him cook for you.

“We should go buy groceries tomorrow with unnies,” you tell him quietly as you both enjoyed your own bowl of ramyeon and some spam. “They will not be very happy if we eat this for the rest of the month.”

He did not object to it, nodded before asking, “Did you really want to do this?”

You look at him, curious as to why he would ask that suddenly. Was he expecting someone else? Did he not want you to be here?

You shook your head, trying to deflect, even though deep down inside of you, you wanted to do this just to see how it would turn out. 

“You?”

“Just wanted to know how it would turn out,” he snorted. “Jake didn't want to do it. He would be a mess the entire show too. My guy is too nervous and too hormonal for his own good.”

“Could've turned it down?”

“I barely had a girlfriend when I was in highschool and right now, our fans would quite literally destroy anyone remotely close to seemingly dating me.” He chuckled. “I don't think I'll ever be with someone anyway in my 20’s. So I just went for it.”

The utter ingenuity of his explanation somehow got you because you did feel the same. Yunjin was blasted when she got the dating rumor with Yeonjun. The world seemed to close on her when it happened because it seemed like everyone was trying to end our career because of it. It never stopped though, people trying to end your group. You just started to learn not to give a damn what they have to tell you.

“What about you?” 

“I don't really care what happens,” you reply. “I don't even know how I feel about it right now. But I'm glad it's you.”

“I'm glad it's you too,” he chuckled before going back to just sitting there in comfortable silence while you watched Grey's Anatomy on the TV.

જ⁀➴ ˚ ༘ ೀ⋆｡˚

“You look unwell,” Heeseung points out, concern laced in his voice as he watches you come out of your room to get ready for the day. “Can you still go grocery shopping today? I don’t mind going by myself if you’re not feeling well.”

You shrugged. You hated flaking out of plans, besides when you survived practice with a mild fever before, grocery shopping isn’t something you were afraid of doing while a little hot. You were sure that you were okay.

“We can do it tomorrow. You really look like you’re going to faint,” he explained before rising up from his seat from the dining table to help you walk to the other end of the table from where he sat. “It’s totally okay, Y/N.”

“Oppa, I’m okay.”

“Jay can do the grocery for us!” he announced. 

“The producers will kill us,” you forced out a laugh. “I’m okay, Heeseung. I’ll just take an Aspirin and I’ll be fine for the rest of the day.”

“Are you sure?” he asked, opening the fridge to take the microwavable bibimbap he got this morning. “Do you want this, or cereal?”

“You got us breakfast?” You looked surprised that he did. You always woke up with food on the table because Sakura hated not seeing you and Kazuha have breakfast. So she always made you two foods before you could even wake up. 

“I wanted to make something better than anything that goes in the microwave but this would do,” he replied, shyly scratching the back of his head as he avoided your gaze.

He woke up earlier than he usually would that morning to take a walk outside of the apartment building to check for food stalls or convenience stores he can get you breakfast from. He contemplated if he was going to get bibimbap or something that he thought was more your thing as an American. So he ended up buying a ready-made bibimbap that he could easily microwave at home and a box of cereal and milk. He really was hoping for a more thought of breakfast for the both of them since it was their first time eating breakfast together but upon thinking of it last night, which honestly was the first time he was up that late that wasn’t because of practice or League, he realized that he’s not confident about cooking anything besides spam and ramyeon. 

And the thing was Heeseung wanted to impress you. Everyone knew you were a lazy eater, and he wanted to make sure that with him, despite all that, you were being fed very well. So, giving you options was the most doable effort he has for now. He took a mental note on his way home that he will make sure to message Jay or one of your members later this dinner to teach him how to cook anything you might want to eat tonight.

“That bibimbap looks nice actually,” you replied. Heeseung nodded before placing the food container in the microwave to heat it up for you.

“Are you really sure you can film today?”

“I have a mild fever, oppa,” you laughed at him. “I’m not going to die.”

“I don’t want to be accused of neglecting my wife, excuse me!” he playfully argued. “If you really want to go, the production team will be here in about 2 hours, so we better start getting ready after this. Take your time though, two hours is still a long time.”

You were fortunate enough to be with people who always took care of you. That being said, you never had to look for anywhere to fulfill the desire to be loved, because you were loved in every home you went to. Dating never interested you before, to be frank. Besides the fact that your manager would more or less kill you if you ended up in a dating scandal, you were too busy to meet anyone. You didn't know many people outside of Le Sserafim. You barely had any friends predebut because you were homeschooled and your ballet class friends weren't exactly friendly with you after they found out that you were training to be a kpop idol and were not too focused on the same goal as them. 

It made your heart race that someone who barely knew you managed to show you kindness. The things that years of struggling to make genuine connections taught you somehow vanished into thin air as Heeseung gently places the back of his hand against your forehead to check if you were still hot before nodding when he felt that you didn’t feel very warm anymore.

“Just tell me if you don’t feel well along the way… yeah?” His bending down to be at eye-level with you was the cherry on top of it all.

Who is this man and why does he know how to make your knees feel weak?

“Okay,” you replied shortly, smiling at him, your eyes crinkling on the sides which was a feature Heeseung was sure he’s never seen before and he’s only noticed now that his face is so close to yours. 

You were… beautiful.

He knew that all along, long before you were this close to him. But it was like seeing what beautiful is in 4K—like all of a sudden being this close to you gave him a whole new definition of beautiful, because even the texture of your face makes him wonder how long it took for God to craft you… it must’ve taken them a lot of time.

And you would’ve fully fallen for it, if you just kept your eyes on him—if the corner of your eye didn’t catch the cameraman hauling this huge filming equipment to capture the moment because now you have this pit in your stomach as if your heart has sunken into it. 

It’s for the show. You have to remind yourself as Heeseung offers his hand for you to hold as you make your way out of the apartment that you shared. 

-

“My grandma used to always bring me with her to the market,” you smiled at him. “I went home to them on the weekends. It sort of just became a normal thing for us to go to the market really early every Saturday morning.”

“Are you closer to your grandparents or your actual parents?”

“Well, my grandparents took care of me from the moment I landed here. So maybe now, I’m closer to them. I still have a very good relationship with my parents and my little brother. With my little brother, it’s a little better now than before, because we always used to fight but whenever I can take breaks and I could go home to New York, we bond a little better now,” You explained to him as you browsed through the meat section of the supermarket. “I suppose you and your brother are close too? I saw that clip from I-Land.”

“We are close,” he chuckled. “Every now and then we meet up to play basketball when we’re both free since he is in University.”

“I wish me and my brother still lived in the same country,” you laughed. “While I do treat Beomgyu like my brother, that idiot would pick fights with me and our entire day out would’ve been just us bantering about random things that don’t matter.”

The two of you kept on going around the supermarket trying to find novel things to make your apartment a little more interesting. So, by the end of it all, you had funky shaped coffee cups, mismatched plates and a couple other cutlery that you both picked for each other.

It really did seem that you and Heeseung were building a home for each other as you talked about each other’s upbringing over what color of plate the other should get. And while he thought he’d never be the type to enjoy those kinds of things, he figured that maybe hearing about the tiniest and the most mundane things about someone could be interesting if it was you that’s talking. He found out that you and Yunjin were family friends long before you were kpop trainees and actually flew to Korea together and how devastated you were when Yunjin went home to New York after PD48 and how somehow, you became HYBE’s way of convincing Yunjin to come back and join the girl group even though it did not take her a lot to say yes. And even in the things he would usually not enjoy getting done, like picking out meat for the upcoming days as he would rather just order take out—he seemed to enjoy it now that he’s with you.

And you didn’t feel any different. You don't have to feel anxious whenever you have to talk to a vendor as Heeseung would beat you to it every time. Oh and you had to pretend you didn’t notice how hard he blushed when an old lady told you that your boyfriend was a dream to have and how you playfully corrected that he is your husband. You enjoyed seeing Heeseung flustered.

-

“Today was a lot, right?” Heeseung laughed, throwing himself on the sofa, already showered and dressed in his pajamas. Which consisted of his grey sweatpants and a Hybe shirt that you were sure everyone from the company had. 

“I hope I didn’t talk your ears out,” you replied at him, raising your head from your phone to look at him. 

“I like listening to you talk,” he smiled.

And you couldn’t help it. Before you could even cover your face, you were already blushing and Heeseung is basking in his glory once again that he’s finally got his revenge from you flustering him a while ago in front of the production staff and the old lady.

“It is actually refreshing to hear someone else that isn’t one of my members,” he laughed. “Don’t get me wrong. I love those idiots, but I am enjoying hearing you talk. It’s like I have this personal podcast playing live all the time.”

Before you knew it, you were asleep on Heeseung’s shoulder. You were out all day after all running errands like a married couple should, it must’ve tired you. But in Heeseung’s opinion, you did not look tired at all. 

Heeseung couldn’t help but feel his heart race as he watched your sleeping figure. It was too early to fall in love with you, but it did feel like that. You were so easy to love and he was all in for it like he has been doing it for a long time already. The way you would innocently explain things to him around the marketplace that he would ask you about somehow made him feel at ease that you weren’t going to judge him for not being as knowledgeable in life as you were. It was as if you were okay with helping him learn the things he should’ve known a long time ago. You were a breath of fresh air and it made him feel like he was free from the bounds of being perfect for the next few weeks while he’s with you. 

He carefully lifted your head from your shoulder before picking you up and bringing you to your room. You are  a heavy sleeper, he takes note in his mind as he pulls the covers over your resting body.

જ⁀➴ ˚ ༘ ೀ⋆｡˚

“Don’t forget to eat lunch, okay?” Heeseung reminds you as he drops you off of your practice room with your members.

“Hi oppa!” Eunchae happily skips towards you to give you a hug as she smiles at your husband brightly. “How is unnie adjusting at home with you! Is she eating well? I hope you’re not staying up too late playing video games!”

Heeseung could tell that you were so well taken care of by your members. You were their second youngest after all. He was so glad that so far, Eunchae’s inquiries were all being met. He’s managed to make at least a decent breakfast for the both of you this morning with the help of Jay from facetime. Was Jay excited about waking up at 5 in the morning to teach his brother how to cook? No. But did he do it anyway for the sake of giving his darling virtual sister-in-law the breakfast that she deserves? Oh yes. 

“Of course, I am feeding Y/N! Right, jagiya?”

Eunchae screamed in excitement as soon as the nickname slipped out of Heeseung. She was ecstatic, running over to the other girls to tell them what she just heard. The other girls screamed as well. The both of you couldn’t help but laugh at their reactions. 

“Jagiya…” you trailed. “That’s new.”

“I’m sorry, was it too much?” Heeseung peed, immediately going into panic mode, thinking that you weren’t comfortable with it. “It just slipped, I promise!”

“It’s cute,” you answered, chuckling at his panicked state before pressing a soft kiss on his cheek as you let him go. “Go now. Your members must be looking for you. You’d be late.”

You hurriedly closed the door before you ran towards your girls, leaving Heeseung a blushing mess at what you just did. 

“Did you just kiss that poor boy?” Yunjin screamed, grasping your arm as she made you look at her. 

“He is my husband, unnie!” You explained, making it sound as it was a matter of fact that she should have already known. “What did you want me to do?”

“I don’t know, maybe show some decency because there is a kid in the room?!” Yunjin dramatically retorted as she pointed at Eunchae who was still buzzing in exhilaration from witnessing that. 

“Is he treating you alright, at least?” Sakura asked softly as she wrapped her arms around your waist. “Are you eating dinner every night? Eating is always your problem, Y/N. He should be feeding you alright.”

“He is feeding me alright,” you sighed. “I heard him talking to Jay this morning. He asked Jay how to make a proper breakfast. Is that enough evidence that I am eating alright?”

“You're smiling a little differently,” Chaewon teased. “The show got you good, no?”

“What the hell do you mean I’m smiling differently?” you voiced, brows furrowing as you turned to Chaewon, whose face expression you couldn’t quite figure out if it was happy or scared. She was smiling but her eyes told you something else.

“Let’s just say you do end up falling in love with him,” your leader mumbled. “You do know the managers are never going to let you do it, right?”

She said it so calmly and nicely that you almost forgot how harsh that truth was. The worst part was realizing she was right. The few days that you have spent living with Heeseung really had you smiling differently and you’ve only realized now that she pointed it out. You were starting to like him. But for what? You were never going to be with him in real life after the show. You don’t even know if he likes you that way outside of the show.

You looked around for anyone familiar from the production staff of the show to see if anyone was filming it. Relief washed over you as soon as you confirmed that they stuck with their terms and did not film your activities when you are separated.

“Y/N,” Sakura cooed as soon as she realized how Chaewon’s words affected you. “It’s okay! You’re going to be okay! I mean it’s a normal thing to fall for people like Heeseung! He is so kind and generous to you!”

“Right! I would fall in love too if someone made that much of an effort to feed me!” Kazuha added. 

“I don’t want you to see falling in love with Heeseung as a bad thing,” Chaewon sighed, moving closer to you as she reached for your hand. “We’re not even sure how long we’re going to do this for and if we’ll ever have the chance to fall in love with anyone with the schedule that we have!” She squeezed your hand before lifting your chin up to make you look at her. “I’m just saying that it’s going to be hard but I cannot blame you for feeling that way. You’re still a human person, Y/N and falling in love with someone who is kind to you is a human experience. That is okay to have.”

While she did have a point, you did realize how sad and unfortunate it was to be in a situation like that. 

“You still have 2 and a half weeks to enjoy his company,” she reminded. “After that we’ll ask you how you feel about it and then decide our course of action from then on.”

“What's important is, whatever your decision is,” Yunjin smirked. “Whether or not it’s going to get us in trouble, we are going to support you! Even if it meant all of us would have to sign an NDA again to keep your future relationship with Heeseung a secret.”

2 weeks and 2 more days. After this, you can just live your life like you never knew him and maybe then your accumulating feelings for him would fade. 

-

“What do you want for dinner?” Heeseung asked, standing by the door frame of your room, watching you stare at your laptop that you brought with you since your normal gaming set-up was too much of a hassle to transfer just to bring back after a month.

The production team had already left a good half an hour ago after the both of you were briefed about tomorrow’s agenda which was hanging out with his members for half the day and with yours for the remaining half. You felt lethargic after all the practice you had to do for your upcoming promotions as your EP was waiting to be released by the approaching month, around the same time this show will go on air. On top of that, your conversation with Chaewon still clung to you, and you were so desperately trying to get your head out of it by playing Valorant. But your trusty game to replace your worries with anger did not seem to work at all for you tonight. Heeseung standing by your door frame was not helping either.

“I don’t really feel like eating dinner tonight, Hee. I’m fine tonight,” you replied at him politely, glancing back at him to acknowledge his presence. 

Heeseung clicked his tongue before walking over to see your game. He sat on your bed watching you play.

He’s never really entered your room before. You’ve entered his room a lot of times before when you watched him play League and when he taught you how to play his favorite game. Nothing malicious ever happened when you were in there so you weren’t expecting anything here either.

“Chaewon explicitly told me before the show started to never let you sleep without eating dinner,” he stated as soon as you died for the round. “So, I’m sticking with that. What do you want for dinner?”

“I’m not hungry,” you repeat, a sigh following as you avoided his gaze. “You can just not tell unnie that I didn’t eat dinner tonight.”

“Okay,” Heeseung shrugged before getting up and leaving your room. You let out a sigh of relief when he does, thinking that he finally left you alone.

Or so you thought. As soon as your door was shut once again, Heeseung was dialing Yunjin’s number in hopes that she can suggest anything he can cook up to make you eat dinner. 

“Heeseung! Is everything okay?” Yunjin asked immediately as soon as she answered on the 3rd ring.

“Y/N doesn’t want to eat,” he confesses. “She just sounds upset and I don’t know if it was anything I did or something just upset her before coming here.”

“Oh,” Yunjin sighed from the other line. “Well, I don’t know if I can tell you what might be the reason why she’s like that but ramyeon should do the job of feeding her for the night. We don’t usually let her have it for dinner, but when she’s especially resistant to eating, which usually happens when she’s upset, we just let her have it.”

“So ramyeon is the solution to all of this?” he asked, a chuckle following his inquiry. 

“Yes,” Yunjin laughed from the other line. “She will inhale that shit so fast and the dinner problem is done before you know it.”

“Would it be so bad to tell me what upset her?” he asked once again. “If it’s something I did, I want to know. I don’t want to keep on doing something that upsets her, Yunjin.”

“I'm afraid it’s something all of us have little to no control of, Heeseung.” Yunjin dejectedly replies. “If there was anything I could do about it, I would’ve done it myself. But it’s out of our hands. But it isn't anything in particular that you did, don’t worry about that anymore.”

As soon as the call was dropped, Heeseung got to work making your dinner. 

On the other hand, Yunjin turns to Chaewon and Eunchae who’s looking at her in shock that Heeseung called her. 

“What did he say?” Eunchae inquiries immediately. 

“I really think the conversation about her and Hee not being able to be together even if they do end up falling for each other got to her,” Yunjin starts. “She doesn’t want to eat dinner. Heeseung called to ask if there’s anything he could do to somehow just not make her skip dinner.”

“And you didn’t tell him that he’s partly the reason why she’s upset?” Chaewon added.

“Of course I didn’t!” Yunjin sighed exasperatedly. “I don’t want to upset them both. They seem into each other and it’s just sad that it’s supposed to end. I wouldn’t have wanted it to end if that was me.”

Eunchae gave her a weird look, “Not because I like Heeseung. I’m just saying if that was me and someone else and I’m getting treated like a proper girl in love, I wouldn’t have wanted it to end. I don’t even know if I’ll ever get to experience anything remotely close to that ever again!” Yunjin explained right away. 

“I just feel bad for Y/N,” Yunjin continues. “You know she’s all that uninterested in the idea of dating and all before but you know she’s a hopeless romantic.”

–

“I made you something,” Heeseung knocked on the door once again, holding up a bowl as he stood by the slightly open door. 

“Heeseung—”

“Before you complain it’s ramyeon and Yunjin is going to lecture you tomorrow for not eating dinner if you don’t eat this because I asked her if there’s anything you would eat so she knows that you’re being hard right now,” Heeseung cuts you off before barging inside of your room and placing the bowl in front of you. 

If Heeseung wasn’t fast enough, he wouldn’t have noticed that you weren’t playing anymore and was instead doing something with your digital audio workstation software open in your laptop but you managed to change the window before he could check the song title. 

“Eat up,” Heeseung demands, as he picks up the chopsticks and puts them in your hands. “Can you do it or do I have to chew it for you.”

“You are a disgusting rat, Heeseung,” you rolled your eyes at him before letting out a chuckle. “Where’s yours?”

“They’re outside, I’ll eat when you’re done.”

“Get a chair and eat here,” you ordered. “It’s sad to eat alone.”

Without any objections, Heeseung does what you asked him to do. Which in reality made your heart skip at how willing he was to make sure you weren’t feeling lonely. He had to take in consideration that you never ate alone when you were with your girls. And whenever you did go in your solo activities alone, either one of the girls ate with you through facetime or your manager ate with you.

“You didn’t have to do this, Hee,” you mumbled at him as you devoured your bowl. Heeseung couldn’t help but smile fondly at you. Yunjin was right, you were going to inhale it.

“I wanted to do it,” he replied shortly.

You hummed in response, looking at your laptop screen where you watched your favorite show while you ate. You were half watching and half lost in thought on whether or not you should tell him or if it was too much information. There was a reason why your members rarely ever let you eat alone and it was a reason only a specific group of people knew.

“You wanna know why they always make sure someone is always with me whenever I eat?” 

Heeseung raised his eyebrows, looking at you with intent before he asked, “why?”

“The people in my school used to bully the fuck out of me during lunch,” you recalled. “I was in second grade when these kids started to make fun of me for bringing Korean food for lunch. I used to hate lunch breaks because it would mean that my favorite food in the world would get picked on for another day yet. Until people just started avoiding me at lunch tables and they would sometimes shoo me away from their table. It was too much for me back then so I just stopped eating lunch to avoid it. I would throw my food in the trash before getting on the bus because my mom would kill me if she found out that I wasn’t eating the food she prepared.”

“And the principal caught me throwing my food away one time and told my mom, and of course she was furious but then she heard why I didn’t eat lunch. Even if she switched up the food she gave me it still would’ve been unappetizing to eat and the kids still would bully me for ‘wanting to fit in’. I mean to be fair, maybe I really wasn’t the prettiest girl when I was a kid, and it probably was the reason they didn’t stop the bullying even after my food was switched. But you know… kids will be kids… I just wished someone would stop them and tell them it was wrong, you know? Because one thing led to another and the next thing I knew I switched to homeschooling and food was just a bad memory to me because I blamed it so much for not having any friends.”

“I hung around with Minji a lot when I was scouted,” you continued. “But she got transferred to Ador and I was alone once again. Then, Beomgyu found me eating alone in the practice hallway and the little shit just sat with me and ate his sandwich next to me, outyapping me because I got really shy when an idol approached me out of pity.”

“You didn’t bring it up to him at all?” He asked curiously. 

You shrugged, “Boy, I was already struggling to debut. My friends were one by one getting chosen to be in survival shows and getting placed in debut lineups. I was starting to delude myself if I really lived up to my secret weapon trainee title because they really showed no interest in putting me in a debut lineup any time soon and only wanted me to help produce songs for the meantime. I did not want them to think that I am barely improving and I still had the audacity to demand having an eating buddy?”

“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” he sighed, obviously brought down by the sudden lore being spilled.

“It’s no problem anymore,” you told him. “Beomgyu actually managed to toughen me up and lectured me for hours on end whenever he found out that I didn’t eat which was honestly absurd because we’re not even related and he keeps saying he’s doing it out of pity. But that idiot did manage to tell my manager and my members about the eating situation when I debuted and they kept their word. I’m surprised he wasn’t the person you called a while ago.”

“I have no prior knowledge that Beomgyu had that kind of power over you,” he laughed.

“He doesn’t,” you snorted. “He just never gets tired of saying the same thing over and over and I don’t always have the braincells to listen to him. So it’s ramyeon first, if it doesn’t work, call Beomgyu.”

“You and Gyu are really close, no?”

“He’s like my older brother that I never had,” you tell him. “We like to joke that he only acts like such because it makes him feel responsible without doing much. We’re also really close in personality so the friendship works.”

“I’ll know when to call him then,” he smirked playfully. 

“I’ll know when to decline his call then,” you retort.

જ⁀➴ ˚ ༘ ೀ⋆｡˚

“Are you hot?” Heeseung asked as he reached for the mini fan that the staff was handing him as you and his members walked through the busy street trying to look for the restaurant that Jungwon found online. 

“Not really—”

“Noona, we found it!” Ni-ki happily jumped as he ran back towards you and Heeseung, taking your hand quickly to bring you to the restaurant that was just a few stores away from where you and the rest of the older members were walking. Ni-ki reminded you so much of Eunchae. He started all shy and serious but did end up opening up to you and talking a lot once he got the hang of you. 

“Your youngest really just stole your wife like that,” Jake teased as they watched Ni-ki open the door for you and get inside of the restaurant. “He looks like a kid excited to have his mom around.”

“She looks like she’s enjoying his company anyway,” Heeseung chuckled fondly, watching you and Ni-ki laugh at something as they entered the restaurant themselves. “Just let him be,”  he tells them. He watches as you throw your head back like a kid while you laugh over something he’s yet to ask the context of, but he might just watch you laugh like this instead. You were adorable interacting with his youngest member like that.

“Have you ordered already?” Heeseung asked you. 

“Oh, Jungwon handled all of the orders. I just told him to surprise me,” you replied, turning over to him as he reached for your hand. The weather outside was still very cold and it was a wonder how your hands stayed warm with that cold wind outside as if you had a personal heater inside of your body. 

“Your usual food isn't on the menu though,” Heeseung replied, brows furrowing as his eyes trail back to Jungwon and Sunoo who were still finishing up the orders with the menu in their hands. “What if you don’t like it?”

“Then I’ll make you finish the rest of it,” you playfully squeezed his hand, making him shrug.

“And if I don’t like it?”

“We’ll pack it to-go and I’ll force myself to eat it at home,” you chuckled. “I wanted to see what your members would feed me, Heeseung. Chill. It’s not like I cannot go out of my usual food selection!”

–

“He's the laziest cook in the dorms,” Jay chuckled as he sat back with you while you two watched the other members play foot volleyball. “I was about to crash out on him when he called me that early but then he asked me how to make fucking curry at 4AM in the morning.”

“And you want to tell me what?”

“That I'm pretty sure Heeseung likes you—in love maybe,” he replied quietly, hoping that the mics won't be able to catch it as the smaller production team that went with you today only had one boom mic with them and it was being used towards the guys who were playing. “I heard he's been calling your members too to ask them how to make your favorite meals.”

“Jay, are you hearing yourself?” you ask, holding back a laugh as Heeseung tries to catch a falling Ni-ki before he lands on his butt after the younger attempted to kick a ball too early.

“Heeseung is a lovesick fool,” he laughed. “And you are a little dense to not notice that.”

You thought about it well. You'd be lying to say that you didn't notice that he was really kind to you and no friend would've gone the lengths of bringing you food in the practice room if you were too busy to grab food for yourself. Regardless of whether or not cameras were seeing what his efforts were, he did it anyway. But you've never been involved with anyone romantically—what do you know?

“Noona, join us!” Jungwon happily calls as he jumps. “Jay-hyung! Get up!”

You couldn't help but adore the cat-like leader. Jay helped you get up from your seat on the mat they laid down for you on the grass. 

“Noona! Is in our team!” Jungwon declares that he and Ni-ki stood in front of you when Heeseung tried to take you.

“That is my wife!” Heeseung argued, trying to go around them to take you but the two were persistent. 

“And we are around the same age, so she's ours!” Sunoo joined in, creating another wall on your side to close you away from Heeseung. “You guys are old!” 

“You're not even 7 months older than Sunghoon!” Heeseung retorts. “Y/N! You're supposed to be on my side!”

“The kids want me on their team,” you laughed, reaching for Ni-ki's shoulder, which definitely was higher than you anticipated.

“The kids will always get their mom,” Jay shrugged jokingly, pulling Heeseung away so the round could start. “Even the court would agree.”

–

“Please give my gifts to the other boys, okay?” You told Jay as you got into the van, preparing to go to your afternoon schedule with your members this time. 

“I'll make sure they thank you for it, Y/N,” he chuckled. “Don't worry about it.”

“They seem to love you very much,” Heeseung told you as soon as the van started moving. 

You nodded. You noticed how they would make an effort to include you, even toning down their energy just to make sure they weren't tiring you out too much considering you still have things in your agenda after your time with them. Especially their younger members, they seemed pretty close to her despite only hanging out today. 

Although you couldn't quite forget what Riki told you when you got to the park earlier, “I'm going to miss having you around when you and Hyung finish filming this show,” he told you.

You started to wonder how complicated it would be to maintain a good relationship with Enhypen after this show ends. You truly wanted to be friends with them after this. They were really a very friendly bunch after all. But if Jay is telling the truth, wouldn't that make it complicated? To remain friends with all of them but one because he had feelings for you before and the feeling is possibly mutual?

“Especially Ni-ki,” he chuckled. “That kid did not want to let go of you!”

“He's like Eunchae,” you chuckled at him. “Really shy at first, you would only get giggles from that poor girl. Then when she gets to know you she turns into yapperton 3000.”

“It's hard to comprehend that you're the second youngest in your group,” he shrugged.

“Still 3 years older than Eunchae though,” you smiled at him. “She is like everyone's little sister, then me and Zuha are twins. Yunjin is our big sister. Chaewon is our mom and Kkura is our fun gay aunt.”

“Do you think they'll like me?”

You were taken aback. Since when did Heeseung worry about being liked by anyone? Everyone likes Heeseung from the get go. The moment they lay eyes on him, he's already got this good aura around him and then he opens his mouth to sing and it's over for everyone. He has the qualities of a person that is likeable.

“You've met plenty of women in your life, Hee,” you laughed. “Especially being a male idol. You have a huge audience and the majority of them are women. I'm pretty sure you know that you are one of the very likeable men out there.”

“I appreciate that you think I'm likeable, but I can't just flirt with your sisters to make them like me!” He argued playfully. “Jagiya, do you think I annoy them?”

“For what?”

“For calling them all the time to teach me how to cook your dinner,” he explained. “Oh my god! What if noona thinks I'm annoying?”

“I'm pretty sure that's cute to them,” you chuckled, patting his knee to calm him down. “They like you, Hee. There's nothing to sweat about.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

–

“Hello, my baby!” Chaewon happily goes over to you to hug you before stepping aside to let Kahuza and Eunchae literally pounce into you to give you a hug, Yunjin follows suit before greeting Heeseung. Sakura does not give you anything less than that before fist bumping Heeseung. By this time, you’ve already gone back to your apartment to freshen up and get ready for your next agenda.

“We already ordered, by the way,” Yunjin declares. “Oh, Heeseung, I asked Y/N, your order. I hope she got it right?”

“I'll eat anything,” he replies shyly.

“Please order anything you like if I got your order wrong. I asked all your members a while ago about your food preferences because you never told me anything and you always just ate exactly the same thing I usually eat.”

Yunjin watched the conversation intently. Heeseung always looked at you with eyes no one could dim and good Lord. If that isn't love, then she does not know what is. 

“You ate an unfamiliar order a while ago,” he reminds you. “I'll do the same to return the favor.”

“Stop being cute, I might throw up,” Sakura joked across from you. “Is she being hard to live with, Heeseung?” 

“Aside from the fact that she takes her sweet time getting ready and does not like getting up early,” Heeseung started. “I think she's okay to live with.”

“Do you like unnie?” Eunchae blurts out, chin resting on her hands as she smiles at Heeseung innocently.

“Eunchae!” You didn’t mean to raise your voice, Eunchae seemed to know that already that’s why she bursted out laughing at everybody’s reaction because there was a lasting shocked face in Sakura’s face while Kazuha was laughing along with her, implying that she was in on the joke. Chaewon who was sitting next to Eunchae managed to playfully slap the younger’s arm in shock. And Yunjin… the ever so theatrical member, managed to choke on her water, when she heard Eunchae’s question.

“I don’t have a good enough reason not to like someone like Y/N,” Heeseung replied confidently. His chin even lifted a bit as he maintained eye contact with Eunchae as if convincing her to believe him. 

The next thing you knew your heart was skipping beats as you watched him and Eunchae banter. You didn’t want to believe it because ultimately, the cameras are on and the mic can hear everything he’s saying right now… but he’s sounding a little too convincing and you don’t know how to feel about it. 

“You didn’t have to go through all that banter with Manchae,” you whispered to him as soon as you felt him reach for your hand from under the table. “You don’t have to convince them.”

“I wanted to,” he replied coolly, fiddling with the rings on your fingers. “I want to convince them.”

“What for?” You asked as you watched him slide off the silver band from your middle finger to your ring finger. Your eyes followed the tiny little diamond encrusted on the top of your grandmother’s silver wedding band that she’s given you as a gift for your birthday a few months back. 

To say that your heart was exploding was an understatement. You felt everything and anything all at once. You had to hold your breath and blink a couple of times to hold back your tears as he aligned it properly before he glanced at you. 

“Because a husband must always prove that he is in love with his wife,” he replies before poking your cheek.

—

Somehow the conversation with Heeseung during that dinner never left you. You never got confirmation if he meant what he said or if he only did that because he knew the cameras were watching. In all honesty, you just want to believe it because it would hurt so much to hear that it isn’t real.

You liked Heeseung.

You were tired of denying it and sitting in front of your desk trying to get your little passion project song done has never felt more real as you try to justify that it's a normal thing to fall in love with people like Heeseung. It's his day job to make girls fall in love with him and you were a willing victim to his charm. Weirdly enough, you wouldn't have it in any other way.

You only have seven more days with Heeseung before you go back home and only go to the studio to film the confessionals. You're not even sure if you'll see him there but you want to. You don't want this to end. 

You still want someone to reach for when the movie gets too sad. You still want someone to hold your hand when you're tired. You still want someone to care for you whenever you don't feel like eating or when you're sick—but the thing is, you've had all of these before Heeseung. 

Heeseung has done a great job making it comfortable for both of you and you especially by providing everything that you're used to when you're in your dorms. He mimicked everything he could just to make sure that you were comfortable with him. But now that the end is near, you suppose you were too comfortable.

So now you're texting Yunjin, while holding back tears as you send her the demo version of your song after a long dreadful writer's block.

—

“Are you ready to meet them?” You asked Heeseung as he entered the car after you.

“Can you guys stop being cute, it’s gross,” Beomgyu rolled his eyes before crawling inside the car and squeezing himself between the both of you. “You have to ask the hand of her older brother first, Heeseung. Have you got no manners?”

“You are so annoying,” Heeseung rolled his eyes at him, holding back a laugh at how unserious his best friend was. 

“You married my other best friend, imagine how that feels for me!” Beomgyu argued. “And if you’re going to argue about how this shouldn’t be that big of a deal for me, I’m here to tell you that it is. Because it’s gross to see the both of you together and we’ve been friends for long enough to guarantee my invitation to her wedding and I was not even informed that it’s going to be with you!”

“Calm down, oh my god!” You slapped his shoulder to hold him back from nagging Heeseung any more. 

Your actions might not seem like it but you were grateful the production staff agreed that it was a great idea to bring Beomgyu along since, essentially, this whole man-child has treated you like family and your family did the same to him. And if they really wanted to sell the ‘meeting the family’ fantasy that they’ve been conceptualizing as your marriage soon reaches its conclusion, they must go all the way. Alas, Beomgyu is here. Lodged in between you and Heeseung because apparently, it’s gross to see your two best friends get married for a tv show. 

“You are an entire challenge to get through,” Heeseung murmured as he poked on Beomgyu’s side to annoy him even more. 

“Imagine the interrogation I can put you through if you keep acting up, Heeseung!” Beomgyu threatened him, eyes widening as he jokingly peered over Heeseung. “I am the favorite friend and there’s no topping that. I can put you through hours of interrogation with just one bad mouth.”

“I swear to everything good, if the both of you don’t shut up the entire ride I’m throwing you off this car.”

The both of them seemed to get the message when they looked back at you before quietly tugging on the seat belt to fit them before the car started. The car ride was relatively quiet, aside from the occasional banter that you had no problems whatsoever breaking up immediately before it got too serious, it was peaceful. Even the driver insisted on putting on some music just so it wouldn’t be too quiet whenever the two had to shut up for the sake of your sanity.

-

You can't help but put out a huge sigh  when you reach your grandparents home. You had explained to your grandmother last night the arrangements with Heeseung and that it was only for the tv show and you wouldn't have married someone you don't know beforehand. Contrary to what you formerly believed, your grandmother had a good laugh last night about the concept of the show and found it funny to keep it a secret from your grandfather for the meantime and surprise him about your marriage when you arrive.

“Y/N!” Your grandfather happily waddles to your car as soon as you step out of the vehicle, your grandmother slowly following him. The old man happily pulls you into a hug doing a little dance as he turns you around before he notices Beomgyu and does the same with him. “Beomgyu!”

“Who is this fine gentleman, Y/N!” Your grandmother smirked as soon as he noticed Heeseung smiling at the both of them shyly. It was so weird seeing him look so shy. He looked like he was screaming for help and he had to wipe his palms that began sweaty profusely the moment he heard your grandfather's voice. 

“Good morning, Sir Y/G/N and Ma’am Y/GM/N, I am Lee Heeseung from Enhypen. I come from the same company as your granddaughter and we're filming a show today which…” Oh dear heavens. Heeseung had it all practiced before he even got in the car. He practiced it in the mirror this morning, even practiced his speech with you before leaving the apartment but now he couldn't remember anything. Not a single thing on how he can properly break it to your grandfather that you got married for a variety show.

“Grandpa, Heeseung is my husband—”

“Excuse me?” Your grandfather looked like he was about to have a heart attack with the sudden news. “Does your mother know? Did any of your parents know? How could your company let you do this? Y/N! You're only 21!”

Your grandmother was taking it all in her to hold back from bursting out in laughter, holding on to Beomgyu as he does the same. Heeseung on the other hand, didn't look any better than your grandfather. He looked like he was going to pass out in fear with how your grandfather is reacting to all of this right now.

“Eomma knew it,” you joked. “Jen told her.”

“Yunjin told your mother? You couldn't even tell your mother yourself?”

“It's for the tv show only, grandpa,” Beomgyu bursted out in laughter as soon as your grandma signalled him to tell him already. She knew you were going to play it for as long as you could because the mischievous child that you are. 

“It's not real? You did not sign anything?”

“Just the contract for the show and an NDA that I'm not going to talk about until it's aired,” you laughed at him as the old dog let out a sigh of relief. 

“Why do you always do this to me?” he huffed as you looked back at your grandma, who planned it all. “Of course it was your idea!” 

“Well, Mr. Heeseung,” he smiled at the younger. “I am glad that you wanted to meet us even if this marriage is not for real.”

“I am actually from Uiwang-si too,” Heeseung replies politely before he finally comes out of the car to bow down to your grandparents. “I am very honored to get to meet you, sir.”

You all gasped in surprise when Heeseung, in his light brown pants, went down on the grass to kneel and bow to your grandparents. “Thank you for bringing Y/N mother into this world, without her the world would’ve never seen how talented of a person she is.”

“Please get up there, son,” your grandfather laughed, helping him get up and dust the specks of dirt on his clothes. “Come inside.”

You laughed as you approached Heeseung, Beomgyu managing to distract your grandparents with his excitement for your grandmother’s food. 

“Your hands are very sweaty,” you laughed at him, as you grabbed his hand to walk him in your grandparents’ home. “Were you that nervous?”

“I think I lost my heartbeat for a good 30 seconds when you broke it out like that,” he whined. “Good graces, I thought he was going to kill me!”

“He’s a cool grandpa,” you laughed. “Even if we did get married for real, he still would’ve accepted you. He has no room for resentment.”

“Heeseung, come here! We have Y/N middle school pictures, come look!” Beomgyu laughed from the door, holding up an old photo album that you recognize to be yours and your little brother’s that your grandmother made from the pictures that your mom sent them when you were back in New York. 

“Those are horrendous, put it back, idiot!” You yelled at him, dragging Heeseung inside before you ran towards Beomgyu to take the photobook away. “You are an insufferable little bitch, Beomgyu, oh my God, put it back!”

Heeseung took a look at the place while you and Beomgyu quarrel over the photobook. 

“Come here, Heeseung,” your grandfather called him over the piano on the corner of the living room. It was no secret that your family did have a wealthy background. After all, after a little more research under his belt, your family did own a successful business in the engineering field both in the country and in the US. It was sort of surprising to find that out, considering your modest way of living in the apartment with him. “Loosen up, kid. I’m not going to bite you.”

“Sorry,” he chuckled nervously still. “It’s the first time I’m meeting someone’s family.”

“You’ve met your members’ families, I’m sure,” your grandfather quips. “What’s the difference now? Y/N is your colleague just as much as they are.”

Heeseung thought of it well and hard even though it came out hard with you and Beomgyu still running around the house fighting over the photobook. His eye caught a picture of you dancing in a ballet tutu with a tambourine in one hand.

“That’s La Esmeralda,” your grandfather tells him when he notices the younger one staring at it. “She’s been dancing that variation since before she could wear pointe shoes. On her first birthday, her grandma put those ballet slippers in front of her at the last minute because Y/N’s mother used to dance ballet too. It used to be her whole life. She did nothing but dance but then decided that she was done and went straight into managing the family business. Y/N eyed those slippers before she was allowed to even pick and the moment she’s allowed, she grabbed onto it so fast and refused to give back that singular slipper.”

“She’s never looked back since. She would sleep in those ballet slippers as a baby. She was obsessed with it. Then one day this recruitment woman came to her after her dance recital and then it clicked something in her the same way engineering switched inside of her mother. In a blink of an eye, our Y/N didn’t want to be a ballerina anymore. She wanted to sing and you would think that four fruitless years of training would bring her back—but that kid never knows when to give up. The moment she decides something—call it a done deal, she will find a way to have that no matter what. When she loves, she loves it wholly and with everything that she has, even if it takes a lot of time to get there.”

Heeseung couldn’t admire the determination that you had as she looked at the years of ballet pictures that you had since you were in diapers. Some were even photos of you dancing with your mother. You really were a woman of your words… which… well… if weeks ago he wasn’t sure if he was in love with you… now he’s sure of it.

“Now, I don’t know your intentions with my granddaughter,” your grandfather continues, reaching for Heeseung’s shoulder as he pats it. “But whatever you do, I hope you don’t break something in her that will lose that determination, especially her ability to give as much love as she can. Because I don’t know who my granddaughter would still be if she loses that.”

Heeseung had no intention of hurting you. If he has to stay away from you just to make sure that it doesn’t reach the point of breaking you in that case, then he will even if it would feel like burning him alive. He’s never met anyone quite like you before—someone so open but so mysterious at the same time. It’s like he knew everything about you because you had no problem sharing it but still, there’s always more to you than what you’d tell.

“Yeobo, Heeseung, food is ready!” Your grandmother calls, making the both of you turn towards the entrance to the kitchen.

You and Beomgyu were busy placing the food and the plates on the table. You were like a kid again, arguing with your brother and then making up the next moment to get ready for food. You looked so relaxed and carefree around here than when you were in Seoul.

Heeseung was convinced he’s never seen you eat this much before. He just knows you’ll complain about how you’ll need to go to the gym first before going home just to burn everything you consumed today or your trainer would be a bitchy bunch when she notices your sudden weight gain. He hated that it’s the way that it is, but after a few arguments about her over worrying about it, he’s finally come into the acceptance that it’s the price they all pay for their dreams and no matter how fucked up that is—while someone has to go and change that ideal—it’s how it is right now.

It’s like watching you be another version of yourself that’s still you. Because everything you are is still the same, but more alive… and if he hasn’t admitted to himself, yet. Holy shit, he is in love and his heart skips eight beats every time you look at him with your pretty eyes that look like you’re convincing him to treat you like a baby every time you do. And for the longest time, he thought love looked like something else… he’s not quite sure what they’re supposed to look like but he definitely did not expect love to look… exactly like you.

જ⁀➴ ˚ ༘ ೀ⋆｡˚

“You’re in love with her, aren’t you?” Beomgyu shrugs as he tosses Heeseung the can of beer as they sit on the rooftop of the apartment building that they sent you and Heeseung in.

“What the fuck are you talking about,” Heeseung shrugged.

“Everyone can see it, idiot,” Beomgyu laughed, hitting the back of his head. “Everyone knows you guys actually fell in love but none of you care enough to admit it.”

“Like it’s even possible to admit that,” Heeseung chuckled bitterly, opening the can before chugging down on the alcohol. “Can you imagine the amount of protest trucks they’re going to send in front of the building if they find out? They’re going to block the streets. Worse case scenario they’re going to send Y/N death threats. I don’t think I have the stomach to instigate that.”

“So you care about her?” Beomgyu pressed.

“You care about Y/N and I don’t question you like this!”

“Because when the topic of protest trucks being sent to the building came when she debuted and everyone was planning on the PR to make sure that our image does not get perceived as a threat to the fans, Y/N and I just laughed it out and called bullshit,” Beomgyu explained. “Even the idea of getting death threats did not faze her. We never cared if people called our friendship something else. But you seem to care more than that, so it’s different.”

Heeseung fell silent. What’s the point of hiding it from Beomgyu anyway? He’s known him and you since before you and Y/N even met. If there’s anyone that will sense it, it’s going to be him.

“I’ve signed more NDAs than brand deals, to be honest,” Beomgyu continued. “I don’t mind signing another if it means you guys are going to stop acting like fools about this. Even the Le Sserafim girls are literally okay with it. It’s possible. You just have to want it.”

“Do you know how far fetched it is to say that I actually had the chance to actually fall in love with Y/N?” Heeseung started. “I literally liked her since the day I laid eyes on her to the point that I used to get so jealous that you get to have that relationship with her and I don’t.”

“It sounds stupid, really,” Beomgyu laughed before taking a sip of his beer. 

“It doesn’t even feel real that I said okay to this fucking show without knowing that she’ll be my wife for 30 days! Are you getting this? It’s like the universe just gave me a chance and I don’t even know how to go about it now! I’m not even sure if she feels the same way!”

“Oh trust me, she does.”

“God. It’s like the world is asking me to give up on everything I ever worked so hard for to be able to actually experience being in love!” He cried. “And it fucking knows that I will but I don’t want to hurt her like that.”

“That sounds to me like you’re the only one here that’s afraid of the hate,” Beomgyu shrugged. “Because knowing Y/N, she would walk in front of those protest trucks and would possibly take a selfie with it if she’s feeling like it. She knows her worth so much that she’d bring coffee for the protesters because it’s hot outside.”

“That woman has loose screws in her head, she turns absolutely unhinged once she’s put her mind into something,” He continued. “I know it’s weird that a girl with eating schedule problems can be that tough, but she is.”

Heeseung lets out a big sigh as he watches Beomgyu stand in front of him. 

“So now, I should ask you,” he trails off. “Are you willing to love my best friend with everything that you have inside you and nothing less? Because if no, you should really just stop being so damn unnecessarily romantic with her when the cameras are not on. That woman is going to love you wholly and nothing else if she decides that she does, and you have to make it clear if you’re going to meet her halfway or not because you’re not going to like what you’re going to hear from me and Yunjin if you lead her on, Heeseung.”

“Why does that sound like a threat?” Heeseung asked to diffuse the tension but Beomgyu, so serious all of sudden, did not back down.

“Because it is a threat, Hee,” he quips before going back to his seat. “You have 5 more days to tell her how you feel before the show ends. When you’re clear on where the both of you stand, tell us. And we’ll take whatever steps we must take.”

—

“Jagiya?” Heeseung called as he stumbled inside of the apartment. “Jagiya?”

You turn to look at Heeseung’s miserable state, leaning against the wall next to the door, shocked that he even managed to get this wasted after he fully refused to drink with you and Beomgyu when you were in your grandparents’ house.

“I thought you only had beer when you went up?” You asked as you scurried over him, immediately helping the poor boy get back up on his feet and into the dining room chair. “Where’s Beomgyu?”

“Manager… picked him up…” He drawled as he rested his head on his hands while his elbows were on the table, smiling stupidly at you as he watched you scramble in the kitchen to get him anything that might help his state. 

“What else did you drink?” You asked as you slid a glass of water in front of him, urging him to drink.

“Beomgyu… that sneaky little bitch… brought… um… that green—”

“Soju?”

“Yes! You’re so smart!” He laughed, clapping his hands happily. You couldn’t help but laugh at his stupid state. How can he even drink this much without thinking of the consequences after?

“Well, finish this already,” you told him, picking up the glass of water to help him drink. 

And just after he’s steady enough to stand up with your help, he bolts to the bathroom and hurls. 

“I’m pretty sure, you’re not going to be drinking a lot more often after this, no?” you asked him as you helped him sit up against the tile wall after he was done. “Come on, let’s clean you up.”

You got up and found a wash cloth that you drenched in warm water from the tap before ringing it. You managed to clean most of his limbs up, but there was some vomit on his shirt that you had to clean up before you let him sleep because that would be awfully disgusting. 

“Can you clean yourself?” you asked, trying to see if he was functional enough to at least change his clothes. 

“I actually like having my wife take care of me like this,” he giggled giddily. “So nice and so caring.”

You shrugged at his drunken state before getting up. 

“Noooo…” He whined, grabbing onto your ankle to keep you from going. “Don’t leave me!”

“I’m just going to get you a new shirt, Heeseung,” you laughed at him, bending down to take his hand off your ankle. “Wait here.”

You went up to his room to retrieve a shirt when you found his phone ringing. A number you recognized to be your grandfather’s. You didn’t want to invade his privacy so instead you took it and allowed it to ring until you were back in the bathroom where Heeseung sat with his long legs straight in front of him, lazily leaning against the tile wall.

“Who is it?”

“Grandpa,” you replied nervously. “Why is he calling you at this time of the day? Shouldn’t he be asleep?”

“I don’t know!” he claims before you answer the phone and put it on a loudspeaker. 

“Heeseung, son?”

“Yes, Grandpa?” he answered politely, trying his best to sound normal. 

“I just realized that I forgot to tell you that I think you are good for Y/N,” your grandpa exhaled. “And wherever your relationship goes after your tv show, I hope you guys stay good friends. You are good for Y/N. And I can also tell that you like her because no one gets that nervous when meeting your friend’s grandparents. I hope you stop denying that.”

“Umm…” Heeseung trailed off, not knowing what to say. He looked up at you to ask for help but you seemed to be in a panic too. 

“Just say thank you!” you mouthed at him in a panic, not wanting to reveal that you have been hearing the conversation all along.

“Thank you, grandpa,” he says, following exactly what you told him to. 

“Well, it’s getting late. I should rest. Please tell Y/N I said good night and good night to you too, Heeseung. Please take care of my granddaughter.”

“Good night, grandpa,” he said before the call was dropped. “Oh my god, I think that just sobered me up!”  he laughed slightly before wincing, making him lean back down on the tile wall to support his head.

“No, it didn’t,” you shrugged at him before kneeling next to him. “Can you take your shirt off, so you can change?”

He carefully tugs on his shirt to pull it off before handing it to you. In exchange, you gave him the fresh shirt that you got from his room. It was surprising that he didn’t fuss about it so you decided to take advantage of his compliant state and went over to the kitchen to grab a chair and put it next to his sink. You weren’t sure if he had anything on his agenda tomorrow, but are you really going to let him out tomorrow looking like a dehydrated piece of vegetable after all he drank with your best friend? Maybe you cared enough about Heeseung to not let him do that to himself.

“What’s that for?”

“Get up, I’m not letting you skip your skincare,” you replied in a duh tone while you helped him get up from the floor to his seat on the chair. “Sit properly.”

“You are crazy,” he laughed, as he patiently does what you tell him. 

“You like me though,” you replied condescendingly.

He chuckled before responding, “I actually do.”

“Tell me that again when you’re sober, alright?” you tell him before squirting some of his cleanser on your hands and lathering it on his face. 

“Come here,” he chuckled smugly as he gently placed both his hands on either of your sides to pull you closer to him, making you sit on his lap. “You heard it from your grandpa, jagiya.”

“But you’re only admitting it now that you’re off your face,” you replied to him patiently, as you kept on rubbing the cleanser over his face. “If you really mean it, you won’t have a problem saying it again when you’re not intoxicated.”

You continued doing his skincare sitting on his lap in silence.

“I don’t want you to think that I’m only doing this because I’m drunk because I am willing to tell you the same thing over and over again tomorrow when I’m not in this state.” He tells you. “Saying that I like you is an understatement because doing this show with you really just intensified what I already had for you years ago. I can’t explain to anyone enough how I almost passed out when I found out that it was going to be you to do this show with me.”

“You can ask Jay and everyone else. Because they knew—well, they sensed it because I couldn’t get myself to admit it for the longest time. But right now? I don’t think that I can let you go anymore now that I’ve got to experience all these with you.” Heeseung added. 

“Oh, sweetheart,” he sighed, bringing a hand over to your face to wipe the tears that you didn’t know had already escaped your eye. “I’m so in love with you and it sucks that they put people in situations like this to fall in love and separate them after—but I’m going to work hard to turn this to our favor once it’s over, okay?”

“Please keep your word, Hee,” you mumbled quietly. “I need you to keep your word because I don’t mind doing the same.”

જ⁀➴ ˚ ༘ ೀ⋆｡˚

You were up bright and early the next morning to get Heeseung a hangover drink and some soup because it wouldn’t be logical to buy any more stocks when you’ll be moving out less than 5 days from now. The camera crew will be there in a few hours so you really had to wake Heeseung up as soon as you get home or he’ll run late for filming if he doesn’t

“You didn’t have to do this, Y/N.” He mumbled as soon as he was down on the table enjoying his soup.

You don’t know why it did, but it stung to hear him call you by your name after confessing last night and getting you used to being called jagiya. You shouldn’t have let yourself fall for it, he was off his face after all. Why did you even consider believing it in the first place?

“I had to,” you mumbled quietly. “You looked helpless last night. It’s actually surprising you still woke up this early.”

“Y/N?”

“What?” You lamented. Hearing it the first time was stung, for the second time? You wanted to cry in humiliation for assuming that he meant what he said. God it felt like the same way Minji broke it to you that she was moving to Ador after promising you that she’ll always stick around—and you couldn’t blame her. You couldn’t blame anyone because at the end of the day you both had dreams and you can’t demand anyone to stay for your comfort. Not in that competitive environment. 

“Why are you so quiet?” he asked. “I’m sorry for the bother last night.”

“I wish you weren’t sorry about it though,” you replied honestly. “That makes me feel like everything you said was a mistake.”

“Oh!” He almost spins after you jog his memory. “Jagiya, I meant everything I said!”

“Then why are you calling me by my name all of a sudden? God, if this is a joke to you, Heeseung, I might as well walk away right now, because I can’t let you do that to me,” you rambled. 

“Okay, let’s calm down first,” Heeseung sighs heavily.

“Don’t sigh like that!” you snapped at him, making him break into a soft chuckle.

“I was waiting until you’re done with your coffee before I tell you,” he laughed softly, before walking over to your side of the table. “You’re a little snappy before your coffee. So I was waiting for you to finish that first and then I will tell you how you are the most beautiful person in the world and I am so in love with you, I’ll fight Bang PD-nim even for a slight chance to hold your hand on camera after this show is over.”

You couldn’t help but cry even more after you realized that you have overreacted over the situation. 

“I hate you,” you sobbed as Heeseung tried to contain his laughter out of awe as he wrapped his arms around you.

“And I am so in love with you for it,” he continued laughing.

–

“What’s on the agenda today?” you asked the production manager as they set up the cameras inside of your home. 

“Well,” the production manager smiled at you, “We have a surprise for the both of you today.”

“Oh?” Heeseung quips, head peeking through the bathroom door while he was brushing his teeth. 

“We have your members with us today,” they tell you before the door bursts open and your groups’ members enter the home one by one, crowding your living room faster than you’ve ever seen before.

“Hi!” You jumped happily, throwing yourself over to Yunjin when she entered the room, wrapping your legs around her as you happily squealed.

“Well, they’re reunited,” Jay laughed as the camera panned over to you and Yunjin, still screaming happily. 

“What? What’s on the schedule today?”

“Well, you will have a virtual marriage ceremony in Everland,” they announced. “When you were in the cafe when you guys first met, we asked you to draw your dream fairytale wedding. We were quite impressed with the design that Y/N made that we started questioning if we could do it. But we managed! So, we're all going to the Hybe building today, get everyone ready and we'll be on our way for the big event.”

You couldn't contain your excitement as they handed you an iPad with a picture of a fully realized version of your dress sketch from that day that they asked you to. You didn't think too much of it back then and really just drew your fantasy, you didn't expect that they'd actually use that in real life. 

–

Soon enough the parade was in full swing, people were starting to gather around as soon as they noticed who was sitting on the huge carousel float and the convertible cars behind. Your members were dressed as princesses too, Heeseung's were dressed as knights.

People were squealing as they watched you and Heeseung interact with the kids in the crowd. You were dancing and playing with the bubble machines they gave you early on. 

To be frank, it made you feel like a kid again. You didn't get to experience a lot of it when you were a kid because you were always busy with dancing and even when you became an adult, you still barely had time to go. You couldn't believe that you were there on the carriage, being looked up to by the babies and kids that were probably there for the first time. You hoped that they were getting the fun that they were meant to experience being in a theme park. 

“Y/N!” The crowd cheered your name as you turned to them and gave them a little dance. 

Heeseung watched you fondly from the side. He couldn't help but notice how natural your presence were, especially around kids. You looked so happy, your smile was brighter than he's ever seen. 

“Lee Heeseung! Is she beautiful?” A kid yelled from his direction, making you look over the kid and then to your partner. You thought he'd deflect it, anything he would say or do right now will be held against him by his begrudging fans. You would understand if he did. 

But instead Heeseung crossed his arms at the kid and asked him back, “Have you seen a woman more beautiful than her?”

You couldn't stop yourself from blushing, even attempting to hide your face in one of the posts, making the crowd laugh at your cute reaction. 

“Aigoo,” he cooed, walking over you and hugging you from behind, once again making the crowd roar as he laughed at how shy you were getting. 

Just then, the float started moving again. By then you were too shy to even move from your position, leaving Heeseung with no choice but to take your hands off the post and use it to do a little cute dance infront of everyone. 

You were laughing uncontrollably, you face was crimson through the make up on your face and you were sure your face would be all over the internet when you go home later but you couldn’t seem to be worried about that right now. All your mind was on trying to stabilize yourself in front of the people once again.

“Are you okay now?” he asked, fixing a stray hair that slipped out of your perfectly pinned hair. “You're not very red anymore.” He points it out, carefully dabbing a paper towel that the staff handed him moments ago on your forehead while chuckling lightly. 

“You're saying it like it wasn't your fault,” you rolled your eyes at him playfully, softly hitting his shoulder. 

“Come dance with me,” he grinned, reaching for both of your hands and interlocking them behind his neck before placing his on your waist. The both of you pranced around the lively music as the float moved to it's next spot. 

Asking you to dance was Heeseung's way of concealing the fact that he was about to drop dead out of nervousness for what he's about to do. In the briefing a while ago, while they were getting ready to go to Everland, he was asked if he wanted to do something special, considering that the two of you only have less than a week before the filming of the show is over. After being egged on by his members to do a cute proposal, he agreed that it would be cute and would make the experience more special for you. 

“You're having so much fun, no?” he asked, as he spun you around, your dress flowing around you. You can hear the faint coos of your members from the next car, even laughs from Heeseung's teammates. 

“So much,” you replied as you attempted to do the same thing for him but the height difference made it much more difficult for him, bending his back more than he would usually do. 

He laughed at himself before grabbing you by the waist and spinning you around. 

Soon enough the float stops again and you notice everything starts to slow down a bit from what it used to. You looked around curiously, trying to figure out what was going on with the sudden change of tempo, but instead you find Heeseung down on one knee with a silver ring presented before you, before he proudly shouts out, just so everyone can hear it, “Y/L/N Y/N, will you marry me?”

The crowd roars all so suddenly after Heeseung says it, making you jump a bit from how loud it was. You could even hear Sunoo, Kazuha and Eunchae screaming a few feet away. You looked around, once again, and it was a fairytale. You don’t even know why no one has climbed up your float and grabbed you by the neck after seeing this unfold. The girls were out of the car now, they were happily jumping while Heeseung’s younger members cheered as loud as they could, even chanting some ship name you’ve only heard for the first time. 

Looking back at Heeseung, his eyes never looked so clear and so happy before. His smile made his face so insanely handsome, you began questioning if it was possible to fall in love with the same face twice and feel just as gobsmacked with how beautiful he was made. 

“Yes,” you laughed, awkwardly going down on your knees too. You don’t even know why you did but it felt right to just be there, on the same eye level with him. He laughed at your actions as he slipped the ring on your finger, next to your grandmother’s ring that you still kept to where he moved it. 

“Kiss her!” a kid yelled from the crowd, following an uproar of requests to do so. Of course it was not going to happen, but Heeseung did manage to sneak a soft kiss on the side of your head as the both of you posed for the people taking photos. 

You don’t even know how you’re going to recover from this. You were smiling and dancing all throughout the rest of the parade, but deep inside, you were hoping that Heeseung stays true to his word because there is no way that you were going to be able to live normally after this. There was no way that after filming this show, you would be able to show up in the same music shows acting like this man never made you question your capabilities for love. 

You were in too deep, you don’t even know how you’ll manage to ever be the same after this. And it wasn’t like you. You were resilient. You knew how to withstand the adversities that came in your life.

But what if it’s not so much of an adversity? What if it was love? How were you ever going to endure that?

After all of you were worn down by excitement and thrill from hopping from one ride to another in the park, you were later informed to rest early after the group dinner, as you will be back in the studio to record your special performance song for the music show that will be aired once the variety show airs. The song would be yet to be decided but you were pretty sure it would be heavily discussed over dinner. So you just decided to go with what everyone thinks would sell the most.

You weren’t quite sure how to feel by then. You were tired and your thoughts plagued you over and over whenever you had your silent moments. You couldn’t believe it. In 4 more days, you will be separated from Heeseung. 

“Are you okay?” Heeseung asked, as he reached for your hand. “You’re very quiet.”

“Just tired,” you replied shortly. “I’m okay.”

Heeseung didn’t buy your excuse, but he held onto your hand still, hoping that it would give you some sense of comfort to whatever might be bothering you. You had a long day and tomorrow and the following days would be as well considering that they are now asking you to record and perform a song for the last episode, which he hasn’t even experienced, but is already breaking him inside to think about. 

He doesn’t even want to think about what song he would perform, in high hopes that he could avoid it that way despite knowing the inevitability of it. But what’s wrong with a little blind hope, no?

જ⁀➴ ˚ ༘ ೀ⋆｡˚

You sat there inside of the studio as you watched Heeseung record his part of the song, Accidentally In Love.

It didn't feel real that you and Heeseung have to get this all done in a matter of 3 days. It only feels like yesterday when your girls were only convincing you to do this—now, you're four days away from parting ways. And you managed to fall in love with someone you barely knew for less than a month, and him likewise. 

Do it for the plot they said. 

No matter where this road may take you and Heeseung, things will never be the same for you. You can never tell how it will be for him—but for you? A piece of you will never recover from this. A piece of you will always remember the shape of his body next to you or the way his perfume smells or the way the palm of his hands molds perfectly into yours. Nothing can make you not remember those things now. And if it doesn't end well… then you guess the only comfort left is that you'll see him around. You can pretend that things are okay—and that it's all a performance because that's what you do, you perform.

It's one sick and twisted performance. But at least… you got to experience it, no?

“Jagiya, it's your turn!” Heeseung happily exits the booth and reaches for the notebook in front of you where you had taken notes from your vocal coach earlier. 

He was actually surprised how detailed your notes were. At this age, he wouldn't think someone would still be this serious about taking coaching, especially since you've been a trainee and an idol for years now. Somehow, even though it wasn't a question before, it made sense that you were your company's golden child—you were dedicated to your craft and was always open to improving anything, and you always come through with the best results. Years ago, Heeseung thought it was not worth his dreams to pursue any girl. But you're Y/N. You are way out of his league. And you are in love with him. It would be blasphemous to not take the risk for his dream girl. He doesn't have it in him to waste that.

“You two are really comfortable,” your coach chuckled at the both of you. “Young love.”

You and Heeseung looked at each other, shocked at what your coach just said. The woman laughed payfully at your surprised faces, “It would take a person to be braindead to not notice how in love the both of you are. I can hear it, even if you don’t say it directly. I can see it, just by the mere look in your young faces. And the air got disgustingly sweet the moment you two stepped in this studio.”

You glanced at the camera, but the man behind shook his head to tell you that he wasn’t recording. You don’t wish to ruin your career, as much as you love Heeseung but you were going to take the risk and believe the cameraman that he wasn’t recording when you said it, “You think so?”

“My husband looked at me like that when we were younger,” she smiled, grabbing her phone from the soundboard and unlocking her phone to show you her screensaver. It was a photo of her and her husband, with their two sons. One was a little over three years old and the other looked like he was just a year old. “Now he’s taught our boys to look at me the same way. It pays to marry men who truly make you happy and would do anything to keep you that way.”

Heeseung wondered if he did that to you—if he made you happy. Because he wants to do that. He wants to be the person that you’ll think of wanting to come home to or at least for where they are right now, someone you’ll be excited to call after a busy day. He wants to be the person that you’ll want to reach for when things get heavy or if you want to celebrate even the tiniest things. He wants to be your person. He wants to be present for you.

“I must be lucky then,” you joked. Half-meant though. 

“Only one of the very few who are,” she chuckled, reaching for your arm to give you a little squeeze. “If they tell you to enjoy your youth first, tell them it’s even more enjoyable to do it together. Don’t let them get to you, okay?”

–

“Tired?” Heeseung asked as soon as you rest your head on his shoulder only seconds after he’s settled next to you inside the car. 

“Yeah,” you respond quietly, trying to get a few minutes of rest before you are home. “We had to polish the choreography for the comeback next week after our rehearsals. The steps were pretty fast and detailed.”

“I know you’ll do great next week.”

“We’re not going home to the same place, next week,” you mumbled sadly. 

“I’ll watch you still,” he reassures, placing a soft kiss on the top of your head. “I will always watch you and think you’re doing great.”

–

“The two of you are going to be allowed to start packing up your things tonight,” they told you as you tried to hold your breath to keep yourself from breaking down. 

You were exhausted. After your performance in MBC’s music show, you had to follow through your original schedule with your group to rehearse for your comeback show which was draining with the amount of criticism you had to receive from how distracted you seemed the entire time. 

Judging from how quiet Heeseung was being, you knew he had a long day too and you didn’t want to add up to it by telling him and allowing it to weigh him down even more. 

“I need to talk to you, Y/N, before you go,” your manager called before you could stand up and gather your things from the green room. 

You nodded and followed her outside to the other makeup room so that you may be able to speak in private.

“Are you and Lee Heeseung together?” she asked sternly as soon as you shut the door after you.

You looked at her in shock, wondering if you were too obvious about it or if she could read your mind. 

“What do you mean?”

“I need you to not play dumb with me, Y/N.” She tells you, the atmosphere getting thicker around the both of you, making your heart pound against your chest. 

“I don’t know…”

The older woman seemed to notice the fear in your energy, making her regret the harsh tone she used on you almost immediately. The woman softened as soon as she noticed your eyes glossing as you looked at her.

“Y/N,” she sighed. “I need to know it if you want me to help you.”

You let out a deep breath that you didn’t notice you were holding. Along with it, came with the rest of your tears as you slid down on the floor, crying. 

You don’t even know why you started to cry. Was it a relief? Was it because you knew this was going to bring trouble to your group? What is because you could put Heeseung’s career in jeopardy? God, a few days ago you were so sure that you were going to power through this with Heeseung? Yesterday, you were so sure that you could do this—but now? You don’t know where it all went. You don’t know how to feel.

It was the first time you felt as such. It was the first time that you had to admit that you were not sure how to go about something that you wanted so badly because this time, it wasn’t just you. It’s Heeseung’s career and his life that’s on the line too. And you don’t know if you can do that to him.

“Y/N,” your manager called softly, helping you up and ushering you to sit on one of the chairs. “Are you and Heeseung together? I’m not going to be mad at you or him. I just need to know. I want you to be happy.”

“I don’t know what we are,” you confessed. “We’ve only established liking each other, but other than that, I don’t even know where we stand.”

“Thank you for telling me, darling,” she tells you while squeezing your hand to calm you down. “After this, I’m going to sit you and the girls down on how to go about this behind the media, okay?”

She helped you look less miserable when you went out by giving you your baseball cap and a facemask before exiting the building to get to your ride home. 

“Please eat dinner and pack your things, okay?” she reminds you one last time before closing the door after you. 

—

“Hee,” you called Heeseung as soon as you saw him exit the bathroom, freshly showered.

“Yes?”

“Watch this with me,” you tell him, reaching for him to pull him faster next to the empty seat next to you. 

“What movie is it?”

“Serendipity,” you replied. “It’s my parents’ favorite movie.”

“Serendipity,” He sounded it out like a kid learning a new word for the first time. “What does it mean?”

“It’s destiny’s big fat joke to humankind,” you replied. “It’s when it gives you something really good you refuse to believe it’s real or you deserve it. But no matter how far the chances will take you, it will always find you.”

“I hope that’s what we’re experiencing right now,” he tells you before scooching closer to where you sat. 

“What if it’s not?”

“It wouldn’t change anything.” He smiles softly at you, face inching closer to yours. “Having to experience being this close to you, someone that I liked for years now—it’s something I would never get tired of bragging about to my members. And if it is and life goes well for the both of us, I’ll tell the story of the luckiest man alive whose chance presented itself in front of him to be in love with the most beautiful woman in the world. I’ll tell it as a bedtime story to our kids.”

“I don’t want this to end, Hee,” you hummed quietly. “I don’t want to lose you.”

“You’re not losing me,” he smiles at you as he rests his forehead against yours. “Or I’m going to lose my mind.”

Tears began falling from your eyes again before you could even stop yourself. You’ve already cried so many times today, you don’t even know where it’s coming from at this point. You thought by now, you’ve already cried every tear you had in your system but it doesn’t stop coming. 

This time, Heesueng couldn’t help but feel his heart clench at the sight of you being so anxious and broken over the thought of the both of them having to separate. He’s been having a hard time trying to brush it off because he didn’t want to show you how much it affected him out of fear that it would bear more weight on you. Jungwon has been trying to listen to him these past few nights, trying to comfort him that everything will eventually fall into place—Yeonjun and Yunjin made it work. He believes that you and him could work just as well. 

“What can I do to help you, jagiya?” he asked, running his knuckle softly across your face to wipe down the tears that stained your cheeks already. 

“Kiss me.”

You don’t know why you said it. You don’t even know what made you say it, but it felt right to ask him that. Somehow, you felt like being that close to him would make you feel comfortable. 

And Heeseung did not hesitate. The kiss was hot and heavy… and wet and sloppy. Your stomach began to tingle a bit, then even with the both of you sitting down, your knees felt like wobbling jelly. His open mouth, moving against yours made you weak. You were melting at the hot touch of the palm of his hands snaking its way from your cheek to the back of your head to pull you closer to him as if it was still humanly possible. It’s like you were floating and you don’t know when you started to feel weightless because moments ago, you felt like the weight of the world was weighing down on you. So weightless, you didn’t even notice Heeseung moved you to sit on his lap already.

“I’m so in love with you, jagiya,” he says, as soon as you pull away to breathe. “I’m so in love with you I can’t even explain how it feels to hold back.”

“Then don’t hold back,” you replied, pushing his chin up with your index finger to make him look up at you. “I don’t want you to hold back, Hee. Even just for tonight.”

“Jagiya,” he breathes heavily, physically restraining himself from bringing it any further but also failing as he chases your lips every time he feels like you are moving away. “You know it’s not that easy.”

“Please,” You pleaded, hands moving to reach for his hand before guiding it under your shirt and over the soft mound on your chest. He looked surprised at first that you weren’t wearing a bra underneath. God, he couldn’t help but feel himself get hard underneath you—he was almost embarrassed but you seemed to not mind, pressing yourself harder on him. 

“Are you sure you want this, jagi?” he asks one more time.

You nod.

“I need to hear you say it, jagi,” he tells you, his free hand moving to your face to move the stray hair on your face. “Say it to me, please?”

“Ruin me,” you tell him firmly, as you rest your forehead against him. “For everyone. I want you to make sure I’ll never be able to love anyone else but you.”

Something snapped inside of Heeseung. He cannot believe he’s hearing all these right now but he’s not complaining. He doesn’t have it in him—he’s just a man. Someone craving for closeness with someone he never thought he’d even come close with. 

He doesn’t know if it’s the right thing to do right now, but it didn’t bother him one bit. You could be gone tomorrow and he’ll never get the chance to be this close to anyone. You could be just a mere memory to him before he notices it—would it be so bad to keep you this sweet in his memory? 

“I love you, Y/N.” He says before pressing a passionate kiss on yours once again. 

For once, you let yourself go. You let the feeling consume you—the lust and love. You let it hug you like it never has before. 

And if this is destiny’s sense of humor playing its trick on you. The joke is on them. Because you were not known to give up. You never wanted someone as much as you wanted Heeseung and you were going to have him—even if it meant looking at sasaengs dead in the eye while they wished for your untimely death.

—

a/n: 

I got carried away???? Omg???? It literally started when I saw a tiktok abt We Got Married when Joy and Sungjae were there and watched it and got inspired and the next thing I knew I was pushing to 40 pages into my google docs file 😃 Anyway!!! I have been very absent recently… due to a lot of causes (lol i got into another situationship and it didn’t end well again and i took it to heart even if it was my fault—also i’m in my last year of college I'm literally 😃😃 even finding time to rest is hard)

Anyway~ I hope you guys liked this one!!! Tell what you think here and if you want me to make blurbs from this fic in the future. 

Thank you for making it this far in the story hehe

xo, anya ୨୧

[nayaesworld]

Deliver us from Eva

Pairing:Terry Richmond x Eva

Warnings: Drug use (cocaine), smut, love bombing

Summary: In a rush to stake her claim in the bedroom, Eva unknowingly signs a deal with the devil…

A/N: This will be strictly a one shot.(telling myself this bc ik how I am😗)

—

—

“Stuck up boujie bitch that thought she ran the office”. That’s what they all thought about Eva, but if she didn’t…who would? They were all dunces and lacked the overall beauty and intelligence that she held and quite frankly she wouldn’t apologize for it. Just a bunch of losers who couldn’t kiss her ass if it was engulfed in flames. She was just a young hot babe that overly excelled on the job yet they dwelled on the fact that she used work as a fashion show and the hallway as her runway..they simply couldn’t take her. But the newest work tea had her interested heavily…somebody had a crush on her. Well that explained all the little gifts being left on her desks, the bouquet of lilies, the little letters that explained how much they loved her work ethic and especially her radiant beauty. Well at least someone admired her hard work…and she had a feeling who that someone was.

She had noticed his affections…but everyone knelt down for her and kissed the ground she walked on. How was she supposed to know the difference? Terry Richmond was exactly Eva’s type. Tall and pretty with brains and strong arms that looked like they lifted twice her weight on a daily. His hypnotic puppy dog eyes would flick towards hers during group meetings, cheeks high and mouth upturned with a smile and she’d get suspicious of him and turn away with a roll of her eyes. He could try working that spell on another woman in the office, they were easier than her anyways. The fawning and gossiping made her gag on a daily, he was only ever cordial with the other women in the office and yet they acted as if he’d offered up his face as a seat. Pathetic.

But Eva still had an itch inside that needed to be scratched. She wouldn’t deny herself pleasure for one second. She wanted to ride that pony right off into the sunset, and she hated him for making her feel that way. If she only had to snag him and use him to get herself off then so be it..men did it all the time. A nice plan was settling in real fine in her head, the brainstorming room was Terry's playground it seemed, he spent more time in there than anyone and it showed. His business proposals for companies looking to work with theirs and diagrams were exceptionally detailed and straight forward. A man about his work. She knew where to find him and reapplied her dark brown lip liner to her plump lips. She sealed it with a clear gloss before puckering her lips and stuffing her compact mirror back into her purse, time to work some magic.

Terry had heard her coming before he saw her. Heels clicking to a beat so familiar to him that he could hunt her down in a building full of people. He had a thing for snobby pretty bitches, knocking them off their high horses and filling them with dick was his speciality and little miss Eva was his newest obsession…how fun. His matte black MacBook sat in front of him and he read through important work emails meticulously, a little bit of work before the play. She was getting closer now, just outside the door. Forcing his eyes to stay glued on his laptop screen, he tried to ignore her presence as she sat directly next to him. Notes of raspberry and saffron wafting into his nose. His ears began to ring and his foot tapped quickly underneath the table and she made it all worse by speaking to him in that sultry tone.

“I know your little secret Terry.” He paused his scrolling and arched a brow at her. Ahh so she had been receiving his gifts. Good.

“You have a crush on me, though I couldn’t really blame you.” There it was again, that air of arrogance. He liked that shit.

“Do I now..what makes you so sure?” He turned to her, giving her his full attention now.

Her full lips sat slightly open and her dark silk pressed hair fell around the cleavage that peeked from her blouse. Almond shaped eyes zeroed in on him suspiciously as she let his question sit with her. Fresh gel manicure tapping gently against the table brought his eyes downward where he watched the pretty manicured hand move to its own beat.

“Because I like you too. Believe me that was hard enough to say so don’t give me that look.”

“And just what do you like about me, Miss Eva…you ignore every other man’s advances so why me?”

“Because you’re smart and pretty..and I wanna fuck you.” Hmm a bit bolder than he’d expected but he’d bite.

“You wanna fuck me or do you wanna get fucked, there’s a difference mama choose wisely.”

The chair she sat in rolled closer and he was practically breathing in her whole existence. Her minty breath warm on his forearm as she dropped her hand onto his bicep, stroking against it like a sweet pampered house cat.

“I don’t discriminate, I’ll take whatever you’re offering and double it.” She was overconfident in her ability to overtake him and that stirred something deep inside him. Women didn’t usually challenge him this way and he was teetering on the edge of showing his hand…in due time.

Terry knew her type. Overly confident and arrogant to compensate for what she was actually lacking, he had clocked her months ago. Simply watching for an entry point into her head..to infiltrate her mind and body like a parasite. To control her. She had the workings of a good little sex slave…something to own and degrade. Something to tear down and build back up in his image.

“What if I’m not offering anything, what if I just wanna take. You willing to give lil mama?”

And willing she was. She had no idea what she was agreeing to..what she’d have to do to be down with him. The dark sinister side of him loved the art of ambush. The ability to play it up and source information about his prey while they stood in front of him. She craved something that he could only feign to give her, and he saw that present in her mind.

Terry didn’t know the true extent to his abilities or the origin of them. He assumed that they had been passed down through his bloodline..generation to generation. He knew things about people before they ever told him, he felt those things. Felt their turmoil and longing all around them, how it oozed from their pores like perspiration. And Eva was no different. She was desperate to feel any inkling of what she thought was love from people, underneath the facade she was heavily distraught by the lack of sympathy and kindness in her life. No one truly looked under her hard exterior and analyzed why she acted the way she did, said the things she said. But Terry would give her some justice tonight even if he was the only one that benefited from it.

Rushed lip locking and the sound of ripped garments filled his bedroom. There was no time to slow down. Not when her aura glowed blue with need and despair and not when his most carnal desires were coming to the forefront. There was wickedness at play there in the room, the lights turned down casting a warm glow over heated melanated skin and a tango of bodies that would frighten the gods. Terry withdrew his hand from her hair, the thick tresses so tightly bound that his knuckles rubbed against her scalp. And like a moth drawn to a flame, his brawny body carried itself to his dresser drawer. His guilty pleasure and the only white bitch that he had ever craved like air in his lungs —coke. It rushed through his senses like a dream, centering him and abusing him all at once.

The mini ziplock rested on the dresser as he snorted his first line of the night. Head thrown back in pure bliss as he felt the instant euphoric rush to his bloodstream. His back was to his dresser as he beckoned her to come to him.

“Do you partake?” A question so simple and yet she stared at him like he had two heads before shaking her head no.

“You do now… you’ll love it. It’s everything you’ve been missing I promise.” Her compliance meant little to him as he held the line up to her nose.

“Nice and slow, there you go.” He swept a thumb under her nose, gripping her chin gently in his hand. He wanted her fluttering around his space like a butterfly fresh from a chrysalis.

Her bare body twirled and wiggled in front of him like his favorite after hours show. Notes of Australian sandalwood and Haitian vetiver filled the space in his room, that intoxicating perfume that relayed signals to his olfactory bulb everyday. When she turned her back to him, hands thrown in the arm, he noticed the tramp stamp on her lower back. Heaven is what it read, but he had plans to take her someplace a little hotter, someplace she couldn’t come back from. A great satisfaction it would bring him to take her down so low he would be the only thing grounding her when he was finished with her.

He pulled her buzzing body to his. Naked chest to naked chest. His hands focused her whipping head forcing her to stare into his barren eyes, blown out pupils barely leaving room for the pretty brown he saw on a regular. He wanted all the signs of her snuffed out…aura slowly changing from blue to red. She placed her arms around his waist, lacing them together before she pressed her lips to his. A green light. An ok to wreck this helpless soul.

His mouth drooled and leaked for what seemed like the thousandth time already. Mustache and goatee drenched with pussy juice, he was getting his protein for the week and then some. Tongue curling around her clit to suckle it roughly while two of his fingers dig into her clenching hole. Her thighs had begun to bruise from his hold on them and the pain she felt from it made her moan and cry out loud. Euphoria wasn’t the word to explain what this was. This was splitting her mind in two, throwing her out and stuffing Terry inside. Did he love her? He had too, that’s what he had told her just minutes ago wasn't it? She wasn’t hearing things, couldn’t be.

“Fuck I love you too. Take it.. it won’t matter without you.” She was crying out those words to him, giving him something to hold over her. But what was she offering..,her own life perhaps?

Wild colors burst behind her eyes as she orgasmed again. Legs shaking and quivering in his tight hold, while she let him wipe tears into her hairline. He stood over her hand gripping her throat so tightly that her heart raced in fear that he wouldn’t let go.

“Love?That’s what you need right..what you’re missing? That’s what I’m giving you right…that feeling you feel right now, that’s the kind of love I offer Eva.”

Love? This newfound love made her heart race and beat rapidly in her chest, it squeezed and rattled against her ribcage begging for reprieve from his hold..the hold she felt all over her body. She wanted it tho, people never made her feel anymore, just made her realize how much she wasn’t. And when his body came to lay over hers, dick positioned just above her entrance she began to truly see.

“I own you from here on out. Forget your family..they never loved you. Forget your friends..they never offered you any solace. I can bring you that and so much more. If you just let me in.”

Her verbal consent unleashed something. And before she could protest in fear he sank deeply into her, and her mouth was caught in a permanent ‘o’ as he pistoned into her quickly. She cried quietly in his ear as the walls bled around them, her eyes wide in horror. It gushed all around them and she wiped her forehead feeling a drop splash there.

“Shh shh, there’s nothing there. It’s the drugs playing tricks on you I swear.” His deep voice cooed into her ear. His reassurance didn’t go far.

Her nails sank deep into his back as he bottomed out in her pussy. The lewd notices that came from between them were not even enough to pull her focus from the wall behind them. A pair of yellow reptilian eyes stared at them through the blood and she shrieked in terror pointing at the wall.

“He won’t bother us baby..he just likes a little show. You don’t mind now do you?” The unsettling grin on his face chilled her bones, but the fucking never stopped. He never stopped. Not when the headboard snapped in two, and not when she screamed bloody murder as another orgasm ripped through her body.

She made the mistake of shutting her eyes and when she opened them again she was watching herself and Terry on the bed. Her body stuck to the ceiling in a sort of lucid dream. She saw it all, the way he lifted her body and continued fucking her as he stood facing the wall now and how the Eva on the ground stared right up at her. Terry followed her line of sight and blew kisses up at you… the real you. Or maybe that was the real you, but how could you be sure. When you raised your hand hers raised too, and when you subconsciously asked her to wink at you she did.

Then came his voice, the lightest whisper in your loud mind. Softly pulling you back into your own body, and when your wet eyes fluttered open again viridian eyes met yours. Your body smelled fresh and clean like you had been bathed and your silky tresses sat wrapped securely under a scarf. Confusion set deep in your features and a pounding migraine to make matters worse, yet answers were all you needed. And like your mind was being read he provided one.

“Deals with the devil are best made sober…shall we try again later?”

@luvrsluxe @slvt4her @rawflwrs @thabiddie23 @blyffe @notapradagurl7 @sk1121-blog1 @dimepiece09 @playgurlxoxo @zillasvilla @23jammy @pocketsizedpanther @kenshisluvrgirl @brattyfics @nahimjustfeelingit-writes @melosliving @bimbosnbutterflies2026 @kirayuki22 @alyssawritcs @becauseimswagman1 @ranikyani @keehendrixx @ovohanna24 @venusincleo @grlsbstshot @yassbishimvintage @avoidthings @simplyzeeka @blowmymbackout @kimuzostar @kumkaniudaku @megamindsecretlair @theereina @keyaho @hotgrlcece @miyuhpapayuh @uzumaki-rebellion

[heliosunny]

Bidding for trouble

Yandere!Sugilite x Assistant!Reader

Working under Sugilite was nothing short of an experience. It wasn’t the workload that drained you, no, you had handled more demanding jobs before transferring to his department. It was the way he worked. His approach was... unconventional at best, completely insane at worst.

And today?

Today might just take the cake.

“You’ve got to be kidding me…”

With a deep sigh, you set the paperwork down on his desk, rubbing your temples as if that would somehow soothe the headache forming.

Across from you, Sugilite leaned back in his chair, sipping his coffee with the usual, infuriating calmness. He had allowed you to be more casual with him—something few employees in the Strategic Investment Department could claim. But at this moment, you weren’t sure if that was a privilege or a curse.

“Unfortunately, I’m not” he said smoothly, placing his cup down with a soft clink.

Just moments ago, he had casually explained his new plan to deal with a planet in deep financial debt to the IPC. A plan that, for some ungodly reason, involved you.

“I have to be auctioned? Seriously?” You gave him an incredulous look, half-expecting him to say this was all some elaborate joke. “Boss… don’t tell me you’re already tired of me. Even so, don’t sell me like that.”

That earned a full, unrestrained laugh from him. A rare sight.

Sugilite was usually composed, his amusement measured, but you?

You always managed to catch him off guard. It was part of the reason he kept you around, despite the constant back-and-forth.

After all, work was far less dull with you in it.

“Who said I’m going to do that?” he said between chuckles. “You’re my precious employee. Just follow my orders.”

“But—”

“No but.” He waved a hand dismissively, already moving the conversation along. “Besides, what makes you think I’d sell you off to someone else?”

You hesitated. “Well… a few colleagues of mine said I’ll soon move under Opal—”

Sugilite nearly choked on his coffee.

“Okay, stop right there” he cut in sharply, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

You blinked.

“You can go home now.”

“But—”

“If you say one more word, I’ll cut your salary.”

That was enough to send you bolting for the door, offering a quick bow before making your escape. As soon as you were gone, Sugilite let out a long sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Opal? Seriously? The nerve of those gossiping employees.

He wasn’t about to let that happen.

The Strategic Investment Department wasn’t known for taking the most ethical approach to problem-solving. But when it came to Sugilite, the term ethical might as well be optional.

Which explained why, after days of preparation, you now found yourself standing in the center of a lavishly decorated auction hall, as one of the items up for sale.

Sugilite’s plan was simple: infiltrate the underground elite of this debt-ridden planet by letting you play the role of an “exclusive product.” You would be the bait, drawing out the highest bidders—corrupt politicians, shady financiers, and the type of people the IPC wanted under control. Meanwhile, he would work from the outside, pulling the necessary strings to ensure the debt was paid back in full—in ways the bidders wouldn’t like.

And at first, it all went smoothly.

Sugilite played his role perfectly, making business deals, exposing financial fraud, and manipulating the planet’s economy in real time. He always had a sharp tongue and sharper instincts, and as you watched from your designated position in the auction lineup, you knew this planet’s leaders were already falling into his hands.

The moment his name was announced in the VIP section, the entire hall fell silent.

Then came whispers.

Nervous murmurs.

Everyone knew the IPC didn’t just send high-ranking officials to small, struggling planets without reason.

Sugilite took advantage of that fear, leaning back in his seat as if he owned the place already.

It was going well.

Until it wasn’t.

Sugilite expected you to be exactly where he left you.

But when the auction’s proceedings finally wrapped up and the planet’s debts were effectively handed over to IPC control, he turned to retrieve you—

And you were gone.

His eyes darkened, the casual amusement from earlier draining from his expression as he turned to one of his men.

“Find them. Now.”

The operative hesitated for only a second before scrambling to follow orders.

Sugilite tapped his fingers against his chair’s armrest, gaze sharp as he considered the possibilities.

Had someone figured out who you really were?

Had they seen through the plan?

Or—

His jaw tightened. Or had someone decided they wanted to keep you for themselves?

That thought did not sit well with him at all.

One way or another, he would track you down. And when he did, whoever dared to take what was his would regret it.

Your Perspective

You should have expected this. From the moment Sugilite suggested this insane plan, you knew things would go sideways at some point. You just thought you’d at least get a warning before that happened.

But, here you were—bound at the wrists, being dragged through dimly lit corridors by a man whose breath smelled like stale liquor.

“Didn’t think I’d be getting such a prize tonight” the bidder sneered, his grip tightening as he shoved you forward. “You were supposed to be mine from the start, but then that damn IPC agent had to get in the way.”

This guy had tried to bid on you earlier in the night, but Sugilite’s very presence had sent him and others into a panic, forcing him to back off. He must have gotten desperate.

You glared at him. “You really think you’re going to get away with this?”

The man scoffed. “You think the IPC cares about a single—”

A low beeping sound cut him off.

He frowned, reaching into his coat to pull out his comm device. The moment he glanced at the screen, his face paled.

CRASH. The wall exploded inward.

Dust and debris filled the air as a figure emerged from the wreckage, stepping through as if he had all the time in the world.

Sugilite’s Perspective

It took less than ten minutes for his men to track your last known location. And only five more for him to personally break through the underground facility’s defenses.

The moment Sugilite spotted you—alive, unharmed, but bound like a prize, his usual easygoing demeanor vanished.

“Ah… Boss!!” you coughed, waving at him weakly through the dust. “You’re early.”

He ignored you.

His gaze locked onto the pathetic excuse of a man still holding onto you, now trembling like a leaf.

“I—It’s a misunderstanding,” the man stammered. “I—”

Sugilite’s smile was slow, but there was nothing kind about it. “You know,” he said, taking a deliberate step forward, “I really hate when people try to take what’s mine.”

The man barely had time to scream before Sugilite grabbed him by the throat and slammed him into the wall.

You winced.

Someone was definitely dying tonight.

The man barely had time to sputter out another excuse before Sugilite lifted him higher, letting his weight dangle uselessly.

“You really thought this was a good idea?” Sugilite’s fingers pressed down with a slow, deliberate force, just enough to watch the bastard’s face turn shades of red.

“P-Please—!” the man choked out, clawing at Sugilite’s wrist.

Sugilite tilted his head, watching with mild amusement before sighing. He was already bored.

“Not even a minute, and you’re already begging?” His grip tightened. “Disappointing.”

“Boss” your voice cut in. “Maybe don’t kill him immediately? I’d rather not be classified as collateral damage.”

Sugilite flicked a glance at you, taking in your disheveled state, the dust clinging to your clothes, the slight tension in your shoulders. You were fine, but that didn’t change the fact that someone had dared to lay hands on you.

His grip tightened further.

You groaned. “C’mon, at least let me get out of the blast radius before you commit murder.”

Sugilite chuckled.

“Fair enough.”

And with that, he slammed the man into the ground hard enough to crack the concrete. The body twitched but didn’t move again.

Sugilite rolled his shoulders, satisfied, before turning his full attention to you. “Now, onto more important things.” His eyes scanned you from head to toe, sharp as ever. “Did he hurt you?”

You exhaled. “Not really. Just manhandled a bit.”

He nodded, then reached out, far too gently for a man who had just nearly crushed someone’s windpipe, to untie the bindings on your wrists himself. His fingers grazed your skin briefly, lingering for a second longer than necessary before pulling away.

“You really had me running around, you know” he said, stuffing his hands back into his coat pockets.

You huffed. “It’s not like I planned to get kidnapped.”

“Mm.” He tilted his head slightly, his gaze unreadable. “Maybe I should’ve raised you higher at auction. Then no one would’ve dared to touch you.”

You blinked. “That is not the takeaway here.”

Sugilite only smiled, his amusement evident as he gestured toward the exit. “C’mon, let’s go before the rest of the idiots show up.”

Later – Back at IPC Headquarters

You were so close to clocking out for the day.

But of course, Sugilite had other plans.

“You’re not going home yet” he announced as soon as you reached your desk.

You stared at him, tired beyond belief. “Why?”

“You still have paperwork to fill out.” He smirked. “You were technically ‘purchased’ tonight. We have to make sure you’re properly ‘returned.’”

You dropped your head onto your desk with a loud thud. Sugilite laughed.

At least one of you was having fun.

[whereispearlescentmoon]

Genuinely the best thing I think we can do as a fandom is not give Shitfuck and the people stupid enough to believe him our attention. I can only imagine he did this on purpose to slander the hermits (real irony considering he’s claiming to have gotten the police involved for that reason). And to make himself seem like a victim.

To be clear: His supporters don’t care that he didn’t show any evidence for his claims. They don’t care that people who brought allegations against him DID show evidence. They don’t care that there’s holes in his story (he contacted the police and got legal council within an hour and half even though he “had no idea what the allegations were”, he claims the screenshots were edited without showing proof of the original chat logs but also that even if they weren’t it’s fine because it’s between two adults anyways, etc). They don’t care that something doesn’t have to be illegal to be morally bankrupt.

If you see these people in comment sections, don’t try to argue with them. They know all of what I just said and it doesn’t matter because they want to parasocially believe Shitfuck can do no wrong. They want to believe that 25 people who were shown the screenshots and who had been friends with this guy for nearly ten years just randomly decided he must be a horrible person with no proof which, idk if you’ve ever had a friend turn out to be a shitty person, but it takes a lot more than that. They want to believe the VH dev team is extorting him for money instead of wanting him out so they can continue to work on something they love without his name connected to it. They want to assume the worst in everyone but him.

And last thing, fuck you to Shitfuck’s best friend who I wanted to believe was maybe just taking time to process. But no, she believes him. She’s PROUD of him.

[aqua-tophana]

Actually, you know what? Reblogging again because the more I re-read Garret’s bullshit, the more it sounds like the Inquisitors from the Warhammer 40K universe preaching the Imperial Creed. An uncontrolled cult, completely cut off from its progenitor, radicalized against its founding tenants, and willing to devour any who hold to the “heresy” of wrongthink.

• “…We cannot afford mercy for any of its victims too weak to take the correct course. Mercy destroys us; it weakens us and saps our resolve. Put aside all such thoughts...”

• “Innocence proves nothing.” | “Blessed is the mind too small to doubt.” | "An open mind is like a fortress with its gates unbarred and unguarded."

• “The weak will always be led by the strong. Where the strong see purpose and act, the weak follow; where the strong cry out against fate, the weak bow their heads and succumb. There are many who are weak; and many are their temptations. Despise the weak … Pity them not and scorn their cries of innocence - it is better that one hundred innocently fall before the wrath of the Emperor than one kneels before the Daemon.”

Yada yada yada. But can you see the similarities?

Like, these people - the real ones like Garret, not the fictional Ecclesiarchy - are cartoonishly evil. Their extremism is extreme even compared to the intentionally radical and uncompromising theocracy of a fictional media that coined the term “grimdark”.

And they can’t see it. They can’t see that while claiming to follow a god who preached to the homeless and the infirm and the weak; who - if you look at cultural norms of the time - preached civil disobedience (that’s what turn the other cheek actually meant); who raised up the down trodden; god who preached love; who claimed the meek would inherit the world; who’s first converts were predominantly women and slaves - people without power; these people can’t see they are doing the exact opposite of every one of his core principals while calling it Good.

I’m a heathen; I don’t believe in the god of the New Testament. But if Christ was born in this age as he was said to back then, I am absolutely sure American Christians would try to deport him, jail him, lynch him. They’d call him “woke” and a simp and silence his voice as he tried to speak for the minorities and the disenfranchised.

This man, Ben Garret, claims to be Christian, claims to speak for Jesus and to know what Christians should do in his name. And he said they should hate.

“Do not commit the sin of empathy… you need to properly hate in response.”

This is American Christiandom. This is the theocracy that the zealots want to put into place. Not one built upon the foundations of love and tolerance and good will laid out by the god they claim to worship. One built on greed and bigotry and open, unabashed hatred of others.

My mother was a simple woman. She didn’t understand the dark and bloody history behind Christianity. She simply believed in Jesus and the most simple of his edicts - to love thy neighbor, to be charitable and compassionate, to welcome strangers, to heal the sick, to never throw stones for who among us has not sinned. I can’t believe I’d ever be grateful my mother has passed, but I find myself in that horrible position. Because I can’t imagine the heartbreak she would be feeling right now to see open applause as people preach hatred in the name of her god.

[promptedwordsmith]

The LaDS at Halloween

Caleb:

The Halloween party was in full swing, with laughter and music filling the night air. The house was decorated with cobwebs, flickering lights, and a haze of smoke from a fog machine that drifted through the rooms. Everyone was dressed up, but you and Caleb stood out in your zombie costumes—your skin pale with dark makeup, tattered clothes, and the slow, exaggerated shuffle of your steps. Caleb looked terrifyingly real in his zombie makeup, his sharp features enhanced by the dark shadows under his eyes.

You could tell he was a little out of his element, even though the party was his idea. Caleb wasn't one for crowds, and definitely not one to show much affection in front of others. As you both entered the party, his hand hovered near yours, but he didn't take it. Instead, he kept his arms crossed, eyes scanning the room with that practiced coldness of his, ever alert.

You nudged him gently, a teasing smile tugging at your lips. "Hey, you're not going to let all these people get to you, are you?"

He glanced down at you, his gaze softening for a brief moment, but the coolness returned quickly. "It’s just… a lot of people. We’re fine."

But you could feel the distance in his tone. Caleb had always been protective of you, but he wasn't one to outwardly show his emotions when others were watching. It was always like this, a struggle between the man who cared deeply and the soldier who had learned to keep his feelings locked away.

The night went on, and you both mingled with friends, but Caleb remained distant, his hand never quite reaching for yours. A few times, he caught a glance or an offhand remark from someone, and you'd seen the way his eyes flashed with something darker. It wasn't jealousy, not exactly—more like a fierce need to keep you close, but without letting anyone see it.

Then, as the party began to wind down, a group of people came up to you both, laughing and commenting on your costumes. One of them, a guy you didn’t recognize, leaned a little too close, offering a playful compliment. Caleb’s eyes narrowed slightly, and without thinking, he grabbed your hand—firmly, possessively—and pulled you closer to him.

The shift was immediate. The guy immediately took a step back, and you saw Caleb's lips curl into the faintest smirk, something almost territorial in the way he held you.

“You’re mine,” he murmured quietly, leaning in just enough so only you could hear him. His voice was low, intense, but there was a warmth in it, too—like he’d just found a way to make sure everyone else knew, without saying it out loud.

You smiled up at him, finally feeling the affectionate connection you’d been craving all night. “I know,” you whispered back. “And I’m all yours.”

For the rest of the night, Caleb didn’t hesitate. His hand remained firmly around your waist, his touch no longer guarded. Every time someone looked your way, he would tighten his hold, silently marking his claim. And in that moment, as he stood beside you, you felt the warmth of his affection, not hidden or distant, but proudly shown, just for you.

Rafayel

It was Halloween night, and you stood in front of the mirror, adjusting your pirate costume. The hat perched slightly askew, and you couldn’t help but feel a little silly—but it was all worth it, especially with Rafayel at your side.

When you turned to look at him, your heart skipped a beat. Rafayel’s siren costume was absolutely stunning. His dusky purple hair cascaded like waves, and the shimmering scales on his chest caught the light just right. The ocean-like hues of his outfit made him seem almost otherworldly, like a creature who belonged to the depths of the sea.

“You look incredible,” you said, voice filled with admiration.

Rafayel turned, giving you a playful smirk. “Well, a pirate and a siren... seems like a dangerous combination.”

You chuckled and adjusted your pirate hat again, giving him a look. “You’re full of it tonight, aren’t you?”

“Why? I’m just trying to lure you into my plans,” he teased, eyes sparkling.

You rolled your eyes, laughing. “No need for the fish puns.”

He flashed you a mischievous grin, stepping closer. “What can I say? I’m hooked on you.”

You groaned, but your smile betrayed you. “Really? That’s the best you can do?”

“I’ve got plenty more where that came from,” he said, winking. “But, for now, how about we get on with the evening? I can’t let this ship sail without my favorite pirate by my side.”

You shook your head, laughing again. “You’re impossible.”

“Impossible?” He stepped back, striking a dramatic pose. “More like irresistible. How could you resist a siren like me?”

“Don’t get too full of yourself,” you replied, playing along. “I’m the one with the treasure map here. Who says you’re the one doing the capturing?”

Before you knew it, Rafayel was spinning around, eyes gleaming with excitement. “I’m the one who’s supposed to do the capturing, remember? I’m the one who enchants with my voice, luring sailors into the sea.”

You couldn’t help but laugh as he twirled and danced around you, dramatically sweeping his hands in the air like he was serenading you. “Oh, Captain Pirate,” he said, his voice deep and teasing, “Come sail away with me... let’s leave this world behind.”

You couldn’t help but smile, your heart swelling at the playfulness in his voice. “Is that so?” you said, pretending to ponder it. “I suppose I could be swayed.”

He grinned, moving closer again, and with a mischievous glint in his eye, he wrapped an arm around your waist. “Then let’s set sail, my pirate queen.” He leaned in, brushing a soft kiss to your forehead, and in that quiet moment, you felt like the whole world had faded away. It was just the two of you, caught up in the magic of the night.

Maybe you were a pirate, and maybe he was a siren, but together, you were the perfect pair.

Sylus

Halloween night is one of the busiest times of year for Sylus. The phone calls, the discreet meetings, the plans, the deals—it never stops. Yet, as the clock strikes late into the evening, there’s a shift. A quiet message, a barely perceptible pause in his endless schedule. You’re on his mind, and despite all the chaos of his world, he finds a way to make time for you.

The party is in full swing when you arrive—laughter, music, and the low hum of conversation fill the air—but Sylus? He’s a world apart, nestled in the shadows of the grand mansion where the party’s being held. You know he’s watching, but he makes no move to approach, waiting for just the right moment. You stand for a moment at the top of the stairs, hands tugging at the edges of your costume—a tiny nurse outfit that fits just a little too well, the hem of the skirt teasingly short, the fabric hugging every curve in a way you know won’t escape his notice.

As you make your way down the stairs, his gaze meets yours—sharp, predatory, yet with a heat beneath it that makes your pulse race. His lips curl into that familiar, self-assured smirk, the one that speaks of knowing exactly what he wants. The weight of his attention is heavy, suffocating in the best way, as though he’s appraising every step, every movement, as if savoring the moment before he takes action.

“Quite the costume,” he murmurs, his voice a low rasp that sends shivers down your spine. “But I suspect it’s more than just the outfit that catches my eye.” His gaze drifts, unapologetically following the curve of your waist, the line of your legs, before settling back on your face, locking in with that burning intensity.

You don’t say a word, but a playful smirk tugs at your lips. You know how he is—always a few steps ahead, always the one in control. But tonight, there’s something different. He’s never been one to openly admit his weakness, but his gaze softens, just for a moment, as if he’s momentarily caught off guard by how captivating you look.

“I’m afraid, darling,” he says, voice teasing but with that undercurrent of truth, “you’ve distracted me more than I care to admit.” He takes a step toward you, his hand brushing yours lightly before slipping it around your waist, pulling you close. “But I’ll make time for you. Always.”

In his arms, the world outside fades. For just this moment, it’s only the two of you.

Xavier

Xavier had never cared much for holidays, but the way your eyes lit up every time you talked about Halloween had done something to him. For weeks, you’d been buzzing with excitement, debating costume ideas, rambling about the party, about the decorations, about the candy—until, finally, an idea struck you.

"We should do a couples costume!"

He had agreed without hesitation. Of course he had. Why would he ever say no to you?

What he hadn’t expected, however, was to open your door on the night of the party and see you standing there—not as a vampire, as he had assumed—but as a vampire hunter.

For a long moment, he just stares at you, expression unreadable, eyes tracing the details of your outfit. The leather straps, the silver accents, the wooden stake tucked neatly at your hip. And then, to your surprise—

He laughs.

It’s low, barely there, but unmistakably amused. He likes it. The thought of you hunting him down—chasing him, catching him, never to strike the final blow because he knows you already own his heart.

"Clever," he murmurs at last, stepping closer. "But you realize, if you're the hunter… that makes me your prey."

You grin, pleased with yourself, but before you can respond, he leans in slightly—just enough that his breath ghosts against your ear. "Just be careful, love." His voice is quiet, but laced with something teasing, something almost dangerous. "You might not want to catch me."

The party is loud, filled with dim lighting and flashing colors. People move through the space in elaborate costumes, drinks in hand, music pulsing in the background. Xavier stays close, his presence steady beside you—a silent, shadowy figure wrapped in elegance and something just shy of menace.

Then it happens.

You’re chatting with someone—a little too friendly, a little too warm—and from across the room, Xavier watches.

His head tilts slightly. His fingers tighten around his drink. His gaze sharpens, unreadable. And then—

Without a word, he crosses the room.

Before you even realize he’s there, his arms slip around your waist from behind, his body pressing into yours. He’s cool, steady, the silk of his costume brushing against your skin. Then—before you can react—he buries his face in your neck.

"Mm," he murmurs against your pulse, low enough that only you can hear. "Getting a little careless, aren’t we, hunter?"

Your breath catches.

His lips don’t quite touch you—just the warmth of his breath, just enough to make your heart stutter.

And then, as if he hadn’t just laid a silent claim on you in the middle of the room, Xavier lifts his head, blinks at you innocently, and tilts his head.

"Something wrong?"

The guy who had been flirting with you? Gone.

You whirl on him, whispering, "Xavier, did you just—"

"Did I?" he echoes, voice calm, unreadable.

You narrow your eyes at him, and he only gives you a small, almost imperceptible smirk.

“Careful, love.” His voice is silk and shadows, teasing, warm. "Wouldn’t want me to bite, would you?”

…But when his fingers brush yours—gentle, barely there—you know the truth.

You already have. And he has no intention of escaping.

Zayne

The Halloween night was thick with fog, the air damp and heavy as it rolled through the streets. The usual bustle of trick-or-treaters was muted, the mist softening the sounds of laughter and footsteps. Zayne had promised you—at your insistence—that this year, he would take the day off. No late-night surgeries, no rushing to the hospital. Just the two of you, tucked away in the warmth of your home, carving pumpkins and enjoying the quiet of a rare, peaceful evening.

But, as with most things in Zayne’s life, plans had a way of changing.

The call came. An emergency patient. His brows furrowed briefly in frustration, but there was no hesitation in his movements. He quickly made his way to the door, his usual stoic expression falling into place. “I’ll be back soon,” he promised, his kiss lingering on your forehead, a quiet regret in his eyes.

You knew how important his work was, how deeply he cared, and though you missed him, you understood. But as the hours passed and the fog outside thickened, you decided to do something about it.

After the surgery was finished and the hospital had quieted down, you set off. The night was even foggier now, the streets barely visible through the haze. The cool, damp air clung to your skin as you made your way to the hospital, a grin forming on your lips as you imagined the surprise waiting for him.

Once inside, you moved through the corridors quietly, the hospital feeling colder and more distant than usual. You headed straight to Zayne’s office, where the sterile fluorescent lights flickered overhead, cutting through the dense fog that had somehow made its way into the building.

You slipped into his office, the familiar hum of machines filling the otherwise still space. The soft glow of his desk lamp cast faint shadows across the room. Everything was as it should be—quiet, composed, and a little lonely.

You hid behind his desk, your small witch dress catching the light as you waited. The air felt thick around you, almost like it was holding its breath. Then, the door creaked open. Zayne stepped inside, his shoulders heavy with the weight of the day, his tired eyes scanning the room, unaware of your presence.

With a playful grin, you jumped from behind the desk, hands raised in mock fright. “Boo!”

Zayne didn’t flinch. He simply paused, his gaze slowly lifting to meet yours, taking you in with a quiet, amused expression.

“Well,” he said, his voice low, “maybe you're not a witch... but a temptress.”

You blinked, momentarily surprised by his cool reaction, but then your lips curled into a mischievous smile. “A temptress, huh?”

Zayne’s lips twitched with a barely contained smile. “What kind of spell are you casting on me, then?” His voice dropped a little lower, his eyes never leaving yours.

The fog outside seemed to press in closer, softening the edges of the world around you. Inside, though, the tension between you two felt palpable, something far more intoxicating than a simple Halloween prank. It was just the two of you in the dimly lit office, the world outside blurred by the fog, sharing a perfect, unspoken moment.

[icebear4president]

I like to think Arthur didn’t really know Alfred as well as he likes to claim. He was away most of the time getting milk, and probably missed a lot of important moments in Alfred’s life that shaped him. He knew everything about America, but he didn’t know anything about Alfred.

And Alfred was the other way around. He always wanted to know what was going on with Arthur, hear as many stories as he could, talk to people who had talked to Arthur himself. Alfred didn’t care about England, he only wanted to know more about the man he called big brother.

Both of them think they know each other inside and out. And both of them are incredibly wrong. They never really KNEW each other. One didn’t take enough time to learn, and the other made up epic fantasies about the other.

They don’t know what’s real and what’s not between them.

[sirfrogsworth]

2 new things I learned about Mormonism.

Thing the first…

Joseph Smith once held a sorta Mormon Comic-Con where he invited all of his followers and claimed he was going to perform miracles and talk to God and other nonsense. He set up a faith healing demonstration with an audience plant and they pretended to be suddenly stricken deaf and dumb.

Joseph was all, "By the power of Jesus, alakazam, you can now hear and speak again!"

Everyone clapped.

Joseph did not seem to have the foresight to realize other people might want to have their chronic maladies cured. So he was ready to wrap up his little magic show and move on.

But an old dude in the audience was all, "I've got this fucked up hand. Would you mind unfucking it for me?"

In his head, I'm sure Joseph thought, "Well, shit."

But he decided to give it a go. I mean, when I was young I would try to use force powers "just in case." Like, how do you know you don't have force powers if you never try to use them?

So he did his routine again on the fucked up hand and the old man stretched out his fingers for a second and Joseph probably thought "Oh shit, did that really work?" and then they curled back into their fucked up state. He tried his best to make an excuse and hoped that was the end of the faith healing portion of the show.

But then…

A man walks in carrying his little boy.

Who is super dead.

He's like, "Yeah, I was going to take him to a doctor, but everyone said you were coming and I should just wait. Would you mind un-deading my little boy real quick?"

In his head… "Fuck fuck fuckity fuck fuck..."

Out loud… "Jesus Christ and the almighty Father, restore life to this very dead child!"

And the boy opened his eyes and smiled and everyone clapped…

Would have been a great ending to this story.

But he was still quite dead.

Thing the second…

I knew that when Mormons turned 18 they went on a little mission. I always thought they picked a poverty stricken country somewhere and went to help the poor and build houses and give people food and medicine using the church's immense wealth and resources. That seems like it would humble a young person and give them a valuable life experience.

I suppose I just assumed that considering that's typically how Catholics do missionary work. They do a bunch of good deeds and when people are happy and grateful for their help, they pull out a Bible and start their sales pitch. I always had mixed feelings about this but I thought "at least they were helping people." (Not always the case. Sometimes missionaries do more harm than good. But that is the idea, at least.)

Mormons skip the helping people and just do the sales pitch.

They honestly believe converting them to Mormonism is more valuable than food, shelter, clothing, money.

Being a member should solve all of those things, right?

Well, that is essentially what these young mission kids are told.

And they don't just go to poor countries, they often go to rich areas in the US. One might go to the Congo and the other... Beverly Hills.

These 18 year olds are thrust into an unfamiliar place with a few weeks of language training and are tasked with getting people baptized. They have to pay for this "honor" and are judged by how many people they convert. They are often housed in sketchy places and in order to keep them from going rogue, they are attached to another 18 year old who must stay within sight and sound at all times.

Mormonism relies heavily on tattling to keep people following the rules. Seriously, I think the glue that holds all of it together is "snitches get riches." BYU even has an official snitching office where you can narc on someone for getting coffee.

The point is, no one is helped and these kids are essentially slaves for 2 years. They work 80 hour weeks with no pay just trying to get baptisms.

[omlette-prince-of-denmark]

As a theatre scholar and practitioner, I feel like this doesn't always apply, but that may just be in my field, where your performers generally come face to face with their audience and to a degree depend on a connection between them. I personally try to always take them into account. Don't get me wrong - I LOATHE it when another director makes choices that betray that he's just scared of the audience and thus keeps it lukewarm.

But a big chunk of performing tends to be creating some sort of connection or energy between the performers and the audience. Thinking about target audience can become very crucial actually. I recall working on a project that was a 10-minute show meant to be performed at a train station, at random times during the day to just sorta brighten the travellers' and commuters' days. So far so good. One of the pieces chosen for this was an extremely multi-layered poem about drinking. The director, scared as he was that if made too complicated no one would like it, played it purely for entertainment value. It ended up more like a celebration of escaping reality via alcohol. Nothing could persuade him to overthink this.

Now I'm sure you can imagine who our regular audience ended up being. Those who saw multiple performances per day for a three week period. That's right. The homeless that had claimed the station as their sort of base.

And now imagine how these performers felt: with their relatively cushy lives, playing a slapstick kinda scene and blurting out lines like "I drink til I can't no more all day long". And imagine me, who had to politely intervene a thousand times so the regulars didn't touch or otherwise startle the performers. They were the ones we interacted with the most in this piece. And always when we were on the cusp of earning their trust or respect, this fucking scene came on!!! They felt so mocked. So humiliated. It wasn't the intention AT ALL. The poem had been part of a thingy that we were supposed to pick our scenes from but... since there was no consideration about the target audience at a train station, the whole thing was an embarrassing disaster that in my eyes did more damage to the atmosphere there than good.

So I guess I'm trying to say, be weird, don't be scared that people might not like it and really question if you find yourself aggressively tailoring and marketing a thing to a specific demographic. But if you are tied to a time and a place and have to interact with real humans, context IS important and considering it can be the difference between a crazy fight between a bunch of angry homeless people and some confused scared actors who didn't know what they had done wrong.

fuck an "intended audience" how about we normalize engaging with new and unfamiliar art pieces on their own terms

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Liz Plank at Airplane Mode:

I’ve been watching the tech bro rebrand, Zuckerberg bulking up, Musk ranting about testosterone, billionaires cosplaying as cavemen, and I have to say the quiet part out loud: They look like clowns. The men running the internet aren’t just controlling the narrative, they’re starring in their own all-male drag show, desperately performing masculinity for each other. Musk, Zuckerberg, and their billionaire boy band are so obsessed with proving who’s the most alpha that they’ve lost the plot. They’re not exuding strength; they’re just insecure men rigging platforms and rewriting algorithms like a group of closeted frat boys terrified of being the least manly guy in the room. At this point, their version of masculinity isn’t just fragile, it’s camp. Take Zuckerberg. He went on Joe Rogan’s podcast to whine about how the world needs more “masculine energy.” And what does his version of masculinity look like? A social media empire that encourages posts calling women "property" while banning information about their life-saving healthcare. In a desperate, bootlicking move, Meta has blurred, blocked, and removed posts from abortion pill providers, even suspending their accounts and hiding them from search results, all while letting misogynists run wild. But this double standard isn’t about men being powerful and women living in fear; it’s about male insecurity being codified into policy. Zuckerberg isn’t masculine, he’s a boy cosplaying as a man. Real men protect women; they don’t make them more vulnerable to predators. Even by his own definition of masculinity, he doesn’t measure up.

These men claim to want to go back to when men were men, so let’s talk about their own masculine standards. Evolutionarily speaking, men have always played a role in ensuring the safety and survival of the group. The essence of masculinity, at its best, has always been about using strength and strategy for the benefit of the collective. In hunter-gatherer societies, men would work together to hunt large game, not just for their own benefit, but to provide food for the entire group, including women, children, and the elderly. Protection of the most vulnerable, particularly pregnant women, was paramount in early human societies. But let’s be honest, Zuckerberg wouldn’t last five minutes among the ultra-masculine cavemen he probably idolizes. They’d be embarrassed by his selfishness and shortsightedness, sabotaging his own species just to protect his fragile ego and win approval from other men. And then there’s Elon Musk, a self-proclaimed alpha who literally rewired Twitter’s algorithm to artificially boost his own tweets, because nothing says strength like rigging the game so you don’t have to compete. Imagine being so fragile you have to buy and rig an entire platform to manufacture respect.

Musk didn’t stop there. He made sure Trump got the same algorithmic coddling, boosting Trump’s content because nothing screams “masculine energy” like two insecure men holding hands while silencing women and critics. Not only did Musk reinstate Trump on the platform, but he also bent the rules to ensure his content got maximum exposure, proving that their version of strength relies entirely on manipulation, not merit. For a guy who declared “masculinity is back” he sure isn’t radiating much of it, unless your definition of masculinity is begging other men for approval.

[...] And for men who claim to hate DEI and champion “meritocracy,” they’ve created their own version: Loser DEI —A system for guys who can’t win without boosting their own voices, inflating their allies, and erasing their critics. They sneer at the idea of uplifting people who don’t deserve it, yet their entire playbook is built around rigging the system in their favor. And their loser DEI worked. Congratulations to them on the promotions they could never have earned on their own! Musk’s tweets promoting election lies racked up over 1.2 billion views, tipping the scales for his favorite lapdog, Donald Trump, and handing him a position he’d never be qualified for on merit. Musk’s interference ensured his election-related posts garnered twice the views of all political ads on the platform combined during the election period. For guys who love to brag about being self-made men, it’s almost poetic how much Trump and Elon’s so-called success depends on cheating. If they’re such powerful alphas, why does everything they touch hinge on manipulation? Imagine having a masculinity so fragile that you have to rig algorithms just to keep it up. [...] But misogyny has a fatal flaw: It thrives in silence, and silence isn’t something women are known for. Women have always found ways to fight back. Abortion providers are already building underground networks. Communities are organizing. For every account banned, women find new ways to keep their voices alive. You can try to erase us, but you can’t stop us. Every attempt to control us only proves how much power we hold. Trump, Zuckerberg, and Musk want to believe they’re kings of a new digital era, but their actions reveal the truth: They’re scared little boys, rewriting the rules so they don’t have to face a world where they’ve already lost.

Liz Plank wrote a good piece on how two men with fragile egos-- Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk-- are controlling the internet to enable the spread of far-right content in their quest for masculinity (aka the masculinity that reeks of male entitlement).