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serendipityseulgi · 4 years ago

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8 Ways of Love;

— park seonghwa

according to the ancient greeks, there are eight different types of love. here is:

･*:༅｡ the one known as pragma, the enduring love.

aka, the kind of love that matures and develops over a long period of time, and somewhat rare to find.

8 ways of love series; version i

A love story that shows the progression of yours and seongwha’s relationship from the moment you two become friends, to lovers, to exes, and everything else in between.

love catalyst: the subconscious.

At the age of six years old you declare Park Seonghwa to be your boyfriend, solidifying your “relationship” with a hug.

“Eww, y/n, you have cooties!” your best friend barks, pushing you off him.

“Wha- hey no I don’t!” you squeak.

“Yes you do because Mingi told all the boys not to touch the girls because they have a disease and it’s going to eat our bodies alive!” he practically screeches getting up from the sandbox about to walk away from you.

“Seonghwaaa he’s lying!” you whine out and he huffs turning around to face you.

“Well all the other boys are listening to him so he has to be right.”

“Well I touched you yesterday when we were playing tag and you’re fine!” you defend. “And if all girls have cooties then how come your mommy still hugs and kisses you goodbye in the morning? Wouldn’t you be dead now?”

Even at the age of 6 you were the biggest smartass Seonghwa knew.

After a moment of deliberation, he sighs. “Okay fine, you’re right.” your friend huffs.

“So are you gonna back so we can play again?” you ask, arms crossed over your little body.

Seonghwa nods before grabbing onto your hand to drag you back into the sandbox.

The two of you return to making your sandcastle and it’s only a mere two minutes later does your friend speak up.“Am I actually your boyfriend now?” he asks suddenly and you whip your head towards him.

“Well I hugged you so yeah.” you roll your eyes at him and his soft little laugh makes your tiny heart jump.

Within the next week you two forget you’re “boyfriend-and-girlfriend” and go back to being the best friends you’ve always been, playing in the sandbox after school, watching cartoons at your house, and never missing a single dinner together while your parents listen to the two of you talk your little heads off.

For the record, there wasn’t much of a difference in your so-called relationship and your friendship in the first place when you were just six years old.

At thirteen years old, your best friend confesses he likes you.

“Okay I know this is weird because, I should see you as like, a sister or something, I don’t know!” Seonghwa rants, pacing back and forth in your bedroom as you watch him frantically explain the way he feels about you.

“You know what I mean though? You’re like, practically family to me! Right? Right...” you figure he’s talking more to himself than to you as he asks himself questions that he’s quick to answer to. “Like you’re probably gonna think I’m weird or something, but you are my best friend and I don’t want it to be weird-”

“Seonghwa for the love of god can you just get to your point.” you interrupt impatiently.

“I like you okay?” he says quietly, avoiding all eye contact with you.

His heart is beating so fast he feels like it’s actually going to rip right through his chest. He’s never been nervous around you ever. You’re his best friend, and you have been since you were 5 years old, and he doesn’t know why he suddenly feels like you’re the only girl he wants in his life.

When he hears you laughing at him his heart drops to his stomach and he braces himself for the upcoming rejection.

“Can you come sit next to me.” you ask, gesturing to the empty spot on your bed.

Seonghwa complies, yet his anxiety is rising by the second. He has never been so nervous in all the thirteen years he’s been alive. He almost wants to vomit as his stomach churns at the thought of you telling him you didn’t feel the same way.

“You’re rejecting me aren’t you...” he sighs, plopping down onto the spot next to you.

You shake your head with a smile. “No idiot, I like you too. Obviously.” you roll your eyes at him.

“Wait, what? Seriously??” he almost goes into shock. “Are you joking?”

“I mean, I thought it was pretty obvious.” you shrug. “I was throwing subtle signs at you for the longest time.”

“Like what?!”

“Like the time I kept pestering you to take me to the Valentine’s Day dance, and when I made you hold my hand during that scary movie when you know I never get scared of horror films. Oh, and the time you kept badgering me about why I rejected Hongjoong for no good reason. I kept telling you that you were the only guy I needed in my life and you were too oblivious to realize I didn’t mean it in the friend way anymore.” you chuckle.

“Oh... Oh,” Seonghwa realizes. “I really am oblivious then.”

“It’s okay, I already knew you liked me back anyways.” you smirk at him, grabbing your remote off the bedside table.

You flip the TV on as you feel Seonghwa’s heavy gaze on you. “So does this mean you’re my girlfriend?” he asks you and you pause.

“I mean technically we never broke up when we were six so you’re basically just re-asking me out.” you tease, pulling the blankets on both your bodies as you settle on a show to watch.

“Oh god, you still remember that?”

Of course you do.

“Obviously, how could I forget you screaming to the entire park that I had cooties.”

He laughs at that and you can’t help but smile widely hearing him. You both lay comfortably next to one another, watching intently at the show in front of you, yet both your minds were racing at the fact that officially, you could say you were boyfriend and girlfriend.

“So when did you start liking me?” he asks you.

“Honestly, I think I always did.” you answer truthfully. “But, like actually realizing my feelings for you?” you pause for a moment to think. “I think it was when you got really sick that one time and your parents were away for a business trip, and my mom made me drop off soup to your house. And I was only supposed to drop off the soup but I took care of you because even when you were all snotty and gross and barely awake to hang out with me, I kinda just realized I’d rather spend my time with you doing that than anywhere else.”

His eyes soften at you. “Aww.”

“Buuut then before that, there was also that time that Ashley told you she liked you and I got super jealous and I was actually going to shove her into a brick wall, so ...I kinda just figured...” you add.

“Way to ruin a sappy moment, moron.” Seonghwa playfully shoves you and you laugh.

You cuddle up next to him returning your attention back to the show in front of you. Only a few minutes pass before Seonghwa speaks up again, and his question catches you off guard.

“What if we break up... like eventually?”

You think about it for a second. “Then we go back to being best friends.”

“That easy?”

“That easy.” you nod.

“For the record though, I don’t ever want there to be a time where I don’t like you. I hope there isn’t.” he says.

“I hope there isn’t either.” you assure, and just like that, you two go back to watching tv.

You’ve always had a soft spot for Seonghwa so it never came as a surprise to you, or anybody for that matter when you figured out you had a little crush on your best friend.

In a hypothetical situation, if somewhere along the way your feelings ever started to fade, you still couldn’t picture a life where he wasn’t right beside you no matter what. He was your person, and he has been since you two were five. There was nobody in this world that could replace the bond you had with him.

Even at the age of thirteen, you knew you wanted Seonghwa to be there for the rest of your life.

At the age of fourteen and a half, you and Seonghwa have your first ever fight where he conveniently declares that he loves you for the first time.

seonghwa <3; received 4:24 pm

y/n can u not be like this and talk to me :(

plsssssss

i’m sorry

can u let me come over and talk to u

Your phone continues to buzz as you stare at it beside you, rolling your eyes at his insistent messaging.

You try your best to ignore it but the continuous beeping irritates you to no end.

you; delivered 4:26 pm

i’m mad at u.

seonghwa <3; received 4:26 pm

you; delivered 4:27 pm

can u like do smth with ur life instead of bothering me

seonghwa <3; received 4:27 pm

ouch.

Okay, you admit. That one was a low blow and for a second you almost feel bad until you’re reminded of the fact that you were still royally pissed at him.

you; delivered 4:28 pm

ur actually annoying

seonghwa <3; received 4:28 pm

ya ik i am

but yk what i’m not

someone who is going to do nothing about their gf being mad at them

so open ur window bc im climbing up so i can apologize

stop being a meanie and let me say sorry

Despite how mad you still are, your heart can’t help but skip a beat reading his messages. No matter how hard you wanted to stay angry at him and tell him to go away, you knew you wouldn’t be able to resist him even if you tried. Seonghwa was charming like that, always managing to sweet talk you in every way.

You crack open your window and see his tuft of black hair climbing up your ladder. As he hops into your bedroom you fold your arms across your chest, not daring to say a word to him until he speaks first.

“Look, I’m sorry for being an ass earlier.” Seonghwa apologizes, and all you do is look at him. He sighs before continuing. “I was just having a bad day and took it out on you and I shouldn’t have blown up on you during class. I get it. Dick move.”

“But then you had to go and talk to Ashley about it?” you added. “That was like the worst part of it! Do you trust her more than me or something?”

“What? No! Of course not!” he panics.

“You, and everyone else and their mother knows she’s like obsessed with you!” you shout in frustration. “She’s liked you for so long, do you know how stupid you made me look running off to her knowing how she feels about you?!”

“That wasn’t my intention-”

“Were you trying to make me mad?”

“No, y/n.”

“Did you do it to make me jealous?”

“No!”

“So why Seonghwa, did you have to go and vent to her after you yelled at me in front of everyone when all I did was try to help?”

“I don’t know, okay!”

“I just don’t understand why me of all people you had to take it out on. When all i’ve literally done for you for like the last ten freaking years of us being friends was listen to you when you had a bad day or try to cheer you up when you were down! Never once when I was feeling crappy did I take that out on you. Never.” you explain with a heavy sigh.

“I’m sorry.” he doesn’t know what else to say because he knows he’s in the wrong.

“Do you like her or something?” your voice is quiet and the hurt is evident. “Cause if you do just tell me.”

Seonghwa is quick to shut you down as he pulls you into his arms.

“No, no, no. Y/n, I don’t like her. I don’t. Please believe me.” he begs. “Look, I don’t know why I went to her when I should’ve gone to you. I couldn’t even begin to explain what was going through my head at that point because I don’t know. But I love you, okay? I would never, ever like Ashley.”

Your eyes widen and you pull away from him. “W-what did you just say?”

“I... um...” Seonghwa starts to fumble over his words because he didn’t exactly intend to tell you, but it sort of just came out and now he’s starting to panic.

“Do you mean it?” you ask.

He just nods, a little embarrassed at his sudden declaration.

“I love you too.” you say softly, and he relaxes.

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

"I’m really sorry, y/n.” he pulls you close to him, burying his face into your hair as he hugs you tightly.

“I’m sorry too.” you murmur against him.

“I hate fighting with you.” he mumbles.

“Me too.”

“I promise I’ll never take my anger out on you again. And I’ll never talk to Ashley again. And I’ll literally do whatever you want me to if it means you won’t stay mad at me because I don’t like it when you’re mad at me, and I hate making you sad.” he rambles and you let out a small chuckle.

“Just come lay down and watch Friends with me.”

“Okay.”

And you ultimately forget that you’re mad at Seonghwa because you decide that you can’t really stay mad at him after he tells you that he loves you. And although all is forgiven, he still decides to grovel for the next week as a reassurance that he really meant his apology.

So at fourteen years old, you have your first, and last fight with him.

At the age of sixteen, you celebrate your three year anniversary with Seonghwa, and decide you were ready to lose your virginity to him.

“Okay I know you said that the expensive dinner date was enough of a present for you, but you know me and always overdoing it....” he says behind you as you hear the crinkling of a bag behind you.

“Seonghwa...”

“Trust me, babe. You’re gonna love it.” he assures as he walks over to you.

Your eyes instantly fall onto the small red velvet box in his hands and your mouth falls open.

“This was expensive wasn’t it?” you pry and he shrugs.

“Maybe, but I was saving up for it for a while now.” he responds, sitting next to you as he hands you the box.

“I always feel bad every time you spend money on me.” you sigh as your fingers smooth over the velvet.

“I know but it was worth it, trust me. Open it.” Seonghwa urges.

You pull apart the bow and lift up the lid, your eyes widening in awe at the shiny ring placed inside. You lift it out gently noticing the small engraving on the inner part of the band, with both your initials and a small ‘i love you 4ever’ written underneath.

“Oh my god,” you utter. “I love it.” you place the ring on your finger.

“Good because I have a matching one too.” your boyfriend grins at you as he pulls out another box lined with a silver band with that very same engraving.

You pull him in for a hug as he wraps his arms around you instinctively and all you can feel right now is an overload of gratitude for him.

“I actually love you so much.” you say, pulling his face towards you to press soft kisses all over his face.

“Yeah, I know I’m the best,” Seongwha chuckles. “But I love you too baby.”

Your lips mould together perfectly, the kiss slow and soft at first. His hands wrap around your waist and your mouth moves gently against his. But soon enough you’re clinging to him and his body is pressed against yours, the kiss growing more needy and intense.

You knew when things started to get heavy he would stop the both of you from going further, never wanting to push you to discomfort. The furthest you had gone with one another was only third base, but it never went further than that and Seonghwa always left that decision up to you if you wanted to take it there.

You figure if you don’t speak up now, he was going to cut this short, so it’s only then at this very moment do you decide you wanted him to be your first.

“Do you want to have sex?” you blurt out suddenly and you swear you’ve never seen your boyfriend’s eyes go so wide before.

He opens his mouth to speak but he can’t seem to find the right words to say. “I- um, wait, are you being for real?” he stutters. “I mean, I do want to, but, are you sure you want to?” he asks, still in disbelief from your question.

“Shit, sorry I know that was really sudden to ask, but I do want to.” you assure. “But only if you want to.”

“Of course I want to.” his eyes soften, and his hand finds yours in an instant delivering a comforting squeeze.

“Okay so come here and kiss me again please.” you say quietly.

And just like that, Seongwha’s soft lips land on yours once more. Without breaking apart he gently guides you to the head of his bed, laying you down underneath him as your bodies press up against each other.

You swear you can kiss Seongwha for hours and never grow tired of the feeling. You get drunk off his kisses, unable to think of anything else but him. It’s dizzying really, but you love it. You find that off all the things you love about him its his lips, and how impossibly soft they are and how familiar they feel against your own. How much comfort it would bring you, and how all you had to when you had a bad day was just kiss your boyfriend for however long he let you.

It felt like home.

His lips trailed lower to your neck, littering soft pecks across your skin. Quiet noises escape your lips and Seongwha can’t help but grind against your lower half. His hands travel across your body and the ache between your legs grows by the second, and the only thing you can think of is how much you love him, and need him.

Your mind kind of blurs because the next second you find yourself both naked and he’s fiddling in his drawer to find what you assumed to be a condom. He notices your curious stare as he opens his mouth to speak. “M-my dad told me to keep these in here,” Seongwha stutters. “He said to be prepared in case the time comes, and well, here’s the time I guess.” he laughs lightheartedly and the very sound makes your heart swell.

“Nice call on Papa Park I guess,” you joke and Seongwha chuckles.

He climbs over you and delivers another peck to your swollen lips. “Okay, no more mention of my dad please when I’m about to put my penis in you.”

“Sorry, sorry.” you chuckle nervously as your boyfriend pulls you in for another kiss.

"Okay, if it hurts tell me to stop and I will, alright?” his eyes stare deeply into your own.

You nod at him with a small smile, admiring what little of his face you could see in the darkness of his room. “I will, don’t worry.”

“Okay.” he sighs, positioning himself in front of you. “I love you.” he whispers against your lips.

“I love you more, baby.” you say to him before you feel him push himself inside you. You gasp at the feeling and he stills in his spot to let you adjust.

And once you signal that it’s okay for him to move, he does at a slow pace, and you gasp at the intense pleasure. Even though the pain has subsided his thrusts are still slow and controlled, and you don’t know if it’s because he’s afraid to hurt you, or if he just wants to revel in the feeling of you around him. Either way your heart fills with love for this one boy.

“I love you so much, you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, you know that?” he whispers in your ear and your eyes shut at his words and the newfound feeling you would grow to love. “and thank you for trusting me right now...” his breathing grows heavy. “because I would do anything for you, and I just want you to know that, okay?”

You almost feel like you could cry because above all the pleasure that you’re experiencing right now, his words feel different, more intimate, and all the more meaningful to you.

And you believe every word he says because you know he truly means it.

“I would do anything for you too.” you repeat his words back to him and he buries his face into your neck as he continues to thrust into you.

So at sixteen years old, you have your first time with the love of your life. And you tell yourself that no matter what happens between the both of you, you were never going to regret giving that part of yourself to him.

At the age of eighteen years old, you do the unthinkable.

You decide after a long and heavy conversation, you two were going to break up. You were both set to leave town to pursue your studies at your dream schools, and you felt that parting ways at this point was the better option.

While you two could figure out a way to make things work while half way across the world from each other, you had to take into account all the factors that would drive you two apart. The time difference, the long distance, the fact that you were inevitably going to meet new people, and that you simply did not want to hold each other back from experiencing a life without one another.

Because all you’ve known almost your entire life was being with Seonghwa, and him with you. You knew it was only fair to give each other the chance to explore something new, and now was that time.

It wasn’t an easy decision by any means, and although it was an amicable split, you’ve never felt the pain of a broken heart before. It hurt really bad.

Your friends and family decide to throw you both one last goodbye party, wanting to celebrate this special milestone with you. And of course there was no way you and Seonghwa could pass up the last good night you two would have together as a couple.

The party was fun at first. The dancing, the singing, the laughing, and the endless exchange of pictures as you guys shared the last few memories you would have as high school graduates.

But as the night started to creep in, you both realized that in less than 24 hours, you two would no longer be attached to one another like you had been for the last thirteen years. And after five years as a couple, you still couldn’t believe that your relationship would come to an end, just like that.

You hear the faint music in the background of your house, as you and Seonghwa sit in your backyard, gazing up at the stars.

“This fucking sucks.” Seonghwa sighs, resting his head on your shoulder as you lean your head on top of his.

“I know.” your throat burns, suppressing the urge to cry.

“I just didn’t expect this day to come. I never thought we would actually break up with each other.” he admits, and you nod your head in agreement.

You grab onto his hand rubbing comforting circles onto his skin, and you feel Seonghwa’s body start to shake next to you. You don’t want to look at him because you know if you see him cry, you’ll cry too.

You close your eyes trying to control your heavy breathing and the quivering of your lips. Your eyes are watering but you refuse to let your tears slip, and your heart hurts like it’s never hurt before, and you don’t know if the pain will ever go away.

“Seonghwa I really love you.” your voice breaks and you finally let the tears fall.

“I know, baby.” the pet name has always affected you, but now more than ever it tugs at your heart strings in a bittersweet way. “I really, really love you too. Always.”

“You know you’re the love of my life right? You’re always going to be.” you state and he delivers a squeeze to your hand in acknowledgement.

“And you’ll always be mine.” he answers back. “You’re my best friend in the whole world and the last five years with you as my girlfriend will forever be the greatest five years of my life. I will always stand by the fact that you are the best thing to ever happen to me.”

As you stare at one another with teary eyes, he knows you’re saying the same exact words to him. He doesn’t need to hear you say it, nor does he expect you to. Your eyes say more than enough to him.

You look down at the rose gold band around your finger and you realize how long you’ve kept it on, never once taking it off since that day Seonghwa gave it to you. “Do you want your ring back?” you utter, your eyes watering once more.

Seonghwa shakes his head. “Please keep it. Because I still mean it. And I always will. I’m gonna love you forever, y/n. Even if you decide to take it off, if that’s the last reminder you have of how much I love you, then please keep it.”

Your heart is hurting, and the tears seem never ending as they continue to fall down your cheeks. “I don’t want to leave you Seonghwa.” a sob escapes from your lips, and Seonghwa squeezes your hand again.

“I know, baby but you have to. You’re going to the school you’ve dreamed of going to since you were in the fourth grade. You’re going to accomplish so much and a build a great life for yourself, y/n. And even though I won’t be physically with you, I’m always going to support you every step of the way.” he assures.

You knew in a perfect world you two didn’t have to break up. But long distance was a bitch, and you moving across the world was never going to be easy on him. You couldn’t force each other to wait for the other. Not when the both of you had to start a whole new life separately. You had to let each other go.

You turn to face him, your teary eyes staring into his own. “I’ll always support you too, okay? No matter what. I want you to make the most of your time in Seoul, study hard, surround yourself with good people and have the most fun you’ve ever had. You’re gonna make so many friends and pursue the career you’ve always wanted and experience new things that you’ve never done before. And most of all, you’re going to meet a girl and love her just as much as you loved me. And you’re gonna fall in love all over again, and just be happy. Just promise me that you will make the most of your time over there and live your life to the fullest. Don’t look back, don’t wait for me. Just live until I get to see you again.” your voice breaks. “And if somehow we find our way back to one another, then just know everything we did up to that point was worth it.”

Seonghwa lets out a sob and nods. “I promise.” his voice breaks and you pull him in for your last goodbye kiss.

At nineteen, you visit your hometown for Christmas, which was the first time you’d be back in a year and a half.

Having missed out on the chance to visit last year with your busy schedule, you made sure not to pass up the chance to see your family and friends. The more you grew accustomed to your new home you managed to find a good balance between school, work, and your personal life, so you found that this year was finally a good time to return back for a visit.

And there was no better time to come home than for Christmas day.

“Yeah, just landed at our layover and waiting for the next flight.” you say to your mother over Facetime.

“That’s great honey, I’m so excited to see you.” she smiles at you and you return the gesture.

“I missed you mom.” you say.

“And I missed you even more.”

You two continue conversing amongst one another, as she filled you in on all things you missed while you were gone before a voice interrupts your conversation.

“Hey babe, here.” Juyeon says, handing you a coffee as he presses a small kiss to your forehead.

“Oh thank you.” you murmur with a small smile as your boyfriend sits down next to you.

“Oh hey miss y/l/n!” Juyeon greets seeing your mom’s face plastered on your screen.

“Juyeon!” she squeals excitedly. “I can’t wait to finally meet you in person instead of over video chat. It was about damn time.” she states and you and your boyfriend chuckle. You hand him your phone allowing them to talk with one another and you smile fondly at the newfound bond between Juyeon and your mother.

“I know, I can’t wait to meet all of you guys too! I know y/n’s been really excited, it was all she could talk about for the last three weeks.” he teases. “And she says you make really good pie so i am definitely looking forward to that.”

“That is such an understatement, I make the best pie.” she scoffs. “And I made one specifically for you.” your mother beams.

After a few minutes of playful banter exchanged, Juyeon hands your phone back to you. “I’m gonna go to the bathroom before we board, I’ll be back.” he excuses himself and you nod in acknowledgement.

“Oh y/n, I just thought I should mention Seonghwa and his family are coming over for Christmas dinner as well.” your mom says and the sheer mention of his name as your heart beating in your chest.

“Oh he’s back in town too?” you ask casually and she nods.

“Yup, he’s also bringing his girlfriend.” she adds.

“That’s great, I’m really happy for him.” you say with a smile.

And you meant it, truly.

You knew of his girlfriend from the few photos he posted of her on instagram, and he seemed genuinely happy. Aside from his newfound love, he was clearly enjoying his time in Seoul like you had hoped, and it was everything you wished for him.

You two hadn’t really spoken over the last year, and it wasn’t really on purpose, you two just kind of drifted, as expected. You two were starting fresh in an unfamiliar place, and you both were finding your way around your new homes. You two were also preoccupied with school, and meeting new people so it was sort of inevitably really that you two grew apart. Of course there were the few times you two would chat, but it never lasted long due to time differences and busy schedules.

Although you missed him immensely, you were beyond happy for the life he started for himself, and you knew he was happy for you too. He did exactly what he promised you the last night you spent together, and that was enough to make you happy.

“Flight 219 now boarding.” the announcer calls and Juyeon meets you right on time.

“Okay mom, that’s us. I’ll see you in a few hours, bye, love you.” you bid your farewell before hanging up, and Juyeon grabs your hand leading you to the gate.

“Ready to go home?” he smiles at you, and you beam excitedly, nodding your head.

As the days pass leading up to Christmas, you spend all of your of time with your family and friends, using every second to catch up with your loved ones. You find that Juyeon is adapting well to your home life, bonding with your father and making your mother love him even more than she already did. You introduce him to your childhood friends and he instantly wins over Mingi, Hongjoong, Yunho and Jennie. You admire how much of an effort he put into forming a friendship with them because he knew how much it meant to you.

You were thankful really, to find a guy who was almost perfect for you.

But still, in the back of your mind, even though you loved Juyeon beyond belief, you knew Seonghwa would always have that special place in your heart.

On the day of Christmas, you and Juyeon set the table as you await the Park’s arrival. You were slightly nervous, obviously, given the fact that you had not seen Seonghwa in over a year and you would be meeting his girlfriend. Although you were happy for him, you still felt anxious to see him and her, and you could only hope that she was good for him, because he deserved that much.

Only a few moments later do you hear a knock at your door and your mother walks over to greet your longtime neighbours. Juyeon stands next to you as he wraps an arm around your waist comfortingly and you relax against him.

You see Mrs. Park first as she walks inside, giving your mother a friendly hug. Mr. Park follows suit as he greets your mother and your father with a wide smile on his face.

And then you see him.

His hair is slightly darker and he does look a little older. But other than that his face is so familiar to you and your heart beats wildly in your chest as the two of you make eye contact. His face softens when he sees you and you deliver a small wave to him as he smiles. His girlfriend trails behind him and you take notice of how beautiful she was. You smile at her too and she returns the gesture and your heart kind of warms seeing how shy she is because you always kind of knew Seonghwa would pick someone similar to him.

“Oh my y/n, how long has it been!” Mrs. Park calls towards you and you hug her tightly.

“I missed you!” you say to her and her arms wrap tighter around you.

“I missed you too, darling. And you look even more beautiful than the last time I saw you!” she compliments. “And who is this handsome man?”

“This is Juyeon, he’s my boyfriend.” you smile, and Juyeon shakes her hand.

“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Park. Y/n’s talked a lot about your family.” he says politely.

“Y/n’s picked a good one, I see.” she winks playfully as you notice Seonghwa and his girlfriend make their way towards you two.

“Hey y/n, long time no see.” Seonghwa says and you almost melt at the sound of his voice. He pulls you in for a hug and you notice how he still wears the same cologne that you had bought him all those years ago.

“Yeah, it’s good to see you again.” you smile at him, and although it had been well over a year since you two last saw each other, there was no hint of awkwardness, just nostalgia.

“Oh, this is Juyeon.” you introduce and Seonghwa delivers a warm smile to your boyfriend, shaking his hand respectfully.

“Nice to meet you.” Juyeon smiles.

“It’s nice to meet you too, I’m Seonghwa. Y/n’s... childhood friend.” he decides to say.

“I know she’s mentioned you a lot in her stories.” your boyfriend acknowledges. “From all the things she told me you were one of the people I was looking forward to meet the most. You seemed really great to her.”

“I could only hope so. She was my best friend after all.” Seonghwa glances at you, and you know there’s a deeper meaning behind his words. “And you seem like a really great guy, so I’m glad she has good people in her life.” Seonghwa returns and you find it heartwarming how well their exchange is going.

You look at the girl beside your ex and she’s staring at you with gentle, curious eyes. “Hi, I’m y/n.” you smile at her, extending your hand out for her to shake.

“Rosé,” she beams at you and you don’t even really know her but there was something about her that assured you she was good fit for Seonghwa. “I heard a lot about you as well, Hwa’s always talking about his life back home so I’m really glad I got to meet his best friend. You were really special to him.”

You smile softly. “I’m glad I got to meet you too.” you say.

“Okay, time for dinner everyone!” your father announces and you all take a seat at the table, passing over plates of food and catching up with one another.

“So Seonghwa, how’s Seoul treating you?” your mother asks as everyone turns their attention towards him.

“Uh really good actually,” he responds. “I joined a band actually! Uh, I became friends with these really nice guys. San and Yeosang. They basically recruited me after they found out I could sing and now we play at this local bar every week on Friday’s and Saturday’s. It was really good for me, I think. It helped with my stress and stuff. And that’s actually where I met Rosé.”

“That’s amazing.” your mother comments with a warm smile.

“Yeah he was really shy at first but San kind of forced him to talk to me which I was really thankful for because I was eyeing him for a while and was too shy myself to approach him.” Rosé says. “I still remember the night he asked for my number and he was stumbling over his words and I swear he looked like he was going to pass out.” she chuckles, and everyone at the table laughs along with her.

“Oh my god I know what you mean, he also cracks his fingers a lot and starts to turn really purple when he’s nervous.” you add and Rosé points at you nodding in agreement.

“Yes! I notice that all the time!” she laughs, and you can’t help but laugh with her.

“Trust me, I have the most embarrassing stories of him when we were kids.” you say.

“Oh god, you have to tell me all of them.” Rosé giggles.

“Obviously, we have the whole night for that.” you wink at her, and you realize how easy and natural it was to talk to her, and that confirmed that you indeed really liked her.

Seonghwa watches the exchange between you both, and as you two make eye contact with each other, a small smile appears on his face as you nod at him, silently approving of the girl he chose to bring home for this special day. His heart grows full seeing how well the two of you got along, and he’s forever grateful at how amazing of a person you were that you were so willingly to form a friendship with his new girlfriend.

Although he loved Rosé dearly, there was still a piece of his heart where he’d always love you. And that piece grows a little more when he realizes how you continue to support him, even through this unconventional situation.

Seonghwa decides he’s going to do the same for you, because just like you were happy for him, he was happy for you too.

Of course he was glad you found someone who could put a smile on your face like he once did, and he knows that for you to have willingly dated Juyeon, he had to have been just as great as you were. You always had the best judgement of people.

“So Juyeon, how’d you and y/n meet?” Seonghwa asks genuinely and he notices the way his face lights up at the mention of your name.

“We had a lot of mutual friends and they introduced us. It’s funny actually, I could tell y/n didn’t even really like me that much at first, she was always so disinterested when I would try and talk to her.” Juyeon laughs.

“Probably stressing too much about trivial things.” Seonghwa chuckles.

“Yeah she does that a lot, so overly anxious all the time” Juyeon notes, and Seonghwa agrees.

“Hey,” you interrupt and Juyeon apologizes.

“Sorry babe,” he chuckles. "but yeah, I finally sweet talked my way to get her to go out on a coffee date with me and then the next day she asked to go out for lunch after our lecture. We kind of just ended up hanging out more often and well, the rest is history I guess.”

“That’s great, I’m really glad she found someone that makes her happy.” Seonghwa smiles, and you feel a sense of gratitude towards him.

The rest of the night your families converse with one another and share a few drinks, as you and Seonghwa share old stories with Juyeon and Rosé. If you told yourself three years ago that you would be sitting by the fireplace on Christmas day with you and Seonghwa as exes exchanging stories with your new lovers, you would’ve never believed it.

But you don’t think it’s a bad thing at all. In fact you’re immensely grateful that despite not being as close to Seonghwa anymore, you were able to see each other grow and adapt with your new lives. A life where you made new friends and made new memories. Where you tried things you’ve never tried before, and explored new places. And where you could love other people and still be so insanely happy for one another.

This was a good thing.

At one point during the night the two of you find yourselves alone, a comfortable silence filling the room as you stared at the fire in front of you, basking in its warmth.

“I missed you.” Seonghwa is the first to break the silence.

“I missed you too.” you return. “And I’m really happy for you, you know?”

“I’m really happy for you too, y/n.” Seonghwa smiles at you. “And I really like Juyeon. He seems really great, and he makes you happy, I can see it. That’s all I ever wanted for you.”

You hum in acknowledgement. “And I think Rosé is amazing. She’s perfect for you. And I’m forever grateful that you two have each other. I know we’ve drifted over the last year, but you’re still my best friend in the whole world. And even though I don’t say it often, or even out loud, I’m supporting you through everything. As long as it makes you happy that’s all I care about.”

His heart warms at your statement and he locks eyes with you. “And you know I’m always supporting you too. Seeing you happy and thriving is the best thing that’s ever happened to you. It’s all I want for you.” he states.

Neither of you have to say it, but you know this is your unspoken way of saying that you both still loved each other greatly. You still stood by the fact that Seonghwa was, and always would be the most important person in your life, and you in his. Seeing one another content and happy despite not having each other around anymore, was the one thing that mattered to you both. The maturity and support you continued to show was only because of the immense love you have, and have always had for one another.

The kind of love that lets you give up the person you love the most so they can have a better life without you.

And the kind of love that’s okay with it.

At twenty-one years old, you and Seonghwa meet again.

It’s during one of your breaks where you find yourself extremely homesick. You don’t even give your family a heads up until you’re outside your childhood home knocking at your door.

It was an impulsive decision but it’s not like you were currently in school. You had the time and the money, and you missed your hometown so incredibly bad that it only took you one second to make that decision to come back.

“Coming, one second!” you hear a male voice call behind the door and your eyebrows furrow in confusion.

“Well, that’s is definitely not my mom, or dad.” you say to yourself. “Did they move out without telling me or something-” your internal conversation is cut short as the door swings open and you’re greeted by an unexpected figure.

“Y/n?” the boy says in surprise.

“Seonghwa??” you say even more confused.

“Who’s at the door Seonghwa?” now that’s your mother’s voice you hear and she gasps as she walks over to the door. “Y/n! Oh my god why didn’t you tell me you were coming back?!” she pulls you into her arms.

“Surprise.” you chuckle. “I kind of sort of felt really homesick and impulsively bought a plane ticket last night so I could fly back so... here I am.”

“Well come settle in! Seonghwa was just helping with some renovations in the house but I’ll let you two catch up.” your mother grabs your luggage, carrying it up to your bedroom. “Go grab a coffee or something!” she yells upstairs.

You look over to Seonghwa and he shrugs. “Let’s go then.” he smiles and your heart swells.

The two of you walk comfortably beside one another as you take in the scenery around you, missing the familiar place you once called home.

“I didn’t know you were back in town too.” you say after a few moments of silence.

“Yeah, it was pretty impulsive too actually.” he admits as he looks at you.

“What was your reason?” you ask curiously.

“Break up.” he states and your mouth falls open.

“Wait, you and Rosé...”

He nods. “Yeah, things just kinda, fizzled out. You know, we grew apart, wanted different things, came to a point where we were in different stages in our life.”

“Oh wow.” is all you say. “I’m sorry to hear, she was really sweet. I really liked her.”

“Yeah, she was,” Seonghwa sighs. “I mean, we ended on good terms. We’re still friends, actually. I don’t even think I’m necessarily sad about it to be honest, it’s just different, you know? Like I know we weren’t even dating for that long, like two and a half years at most. But I just got so used to being around her and spending so much time with her, and then things just weren’t really the same after a while. It just felt odd not having someone. And being alone made me miss everything I had here so I came back.”

You nod your head in understanding. “Yeah, I totally get what you mean.”

Seonghwa raises his eyebrow at you. “You mean... you and Juyeon too?”

“Mhm,” you hum. “I think for us we just realized we were better off as friends than as a couple, you know? Like after a while the attraction kind of went away and we were only really together because it was comfortable. And we didn’t want to stay together if we weren’t in love anymore, it wouldn’t have made sense. The break up was easy and it felt right when we ended things, I kind of wish it happened sooner but, I was still thankful for the time we spent together. He is still one of my best friends so I’m grateful for that at least.”

“That’s good.” he smiles softly.

“Hey at least we both can confidently say we have a track record of smooth break ups, right?” you joke lightheartedly.

“Thank god for that.” Seonghwa says with a laugh.

When you two enter the coffee shop you’re once again hit with a feeling of nostalgia as you think of all the times you, Seonghwa, and your friends would spend most days after school, drinking hot chocolate and eating pastries together as you all talked for hours and hours.

“I’ll get our usuals, you can wait by our spot.” Seonghwa offers, and you nod making your way towards your designated table.

The moment you sit down you’re hit with a wave of flashbacks you shared in this very space, and a small smile creeps onto your face as you look back on all the old memories.

After your brief moment of reminiscing, Seongwha sits across from you handing over your cup.

“Sometimes you don’t realize how much you miss home until you’re actually back in all the places you grew up in,” you note as you take notice of the small engraving in the corner of the table marked with yours and all your friends’ initials. Your fingers ghost over the mark and when you look up at Seongwha you see that he’s also eyeing the engraving.

“I remember when we put that there,” he recalls with a smile. “After five years of coming here and sitting at this same exact table with our friends we claimed our ownership by putting that stupid engraving that took us forever to do. As if that stopped people from sitting here anyways.” you both chuckled.

“Well at least Jennie and Hongjoong were brave enough to kick out the people who stole our spot.” you laugh.

“Yeah,” Seonghwa smiles fondly at the memory. “I still remember the days where Mingi and Yunho would bet the barista on how many butter croissants they could eat in one sitting so we could all get a supply of free hot chocolate for a year.”

“And it was only after Mingi threw up everywhere that it turned out all we had to do was ask her, and she would’ve done it anyways because we were regulars here.” you finish with a soft chuckle.

A comfortable silence fills the air as you two reminisce on the old memories of your teenage years.

“Can I ask you something?” Seonghwa says.

“Of course.”

“When you finish university,” he starts. “What are you gonna do afterwards? Like do you plan on living abroad permanently? Or are you gonna come back home?”

You pause for a second. “Honestly, after the first year there, I fell in love with the city. And I truly was planning on starting my life there and making that my permanent home, ‘cause I had Juyeon, and I had my new friends, I had jobs lined up for me after graduation, and just an overall great home.” you say. “But after splitting up with him, and sitting with the fact that I was constantly homesick, I kinda realized that this is my home, you know? Like, no matter how much I loved my new friends, and loved the city, it would never be as special to me as here. Nothing over there compared to everything I have here. And I knew you were gonna come back from Seoul after graduation, and Jennie and Yunho were gonna come back from New Zealand too. And Mingi and Hongjoong, and the rest of them were all still here... I didn’t want to be the only one gone. All my real friends are here, my family’s here... you’re here. I didn’t want to leave that all behind.” you exclaim and Seonghwa’s face softens.

“I’m really glad honestly.” he responds. “Because I missed you a lot. And it would’ve really sucked to know you weren’t gonna be here anymore when I moved back. I just really miss spending time with my best friend.”

Your heart skips a beat. “Well, you have the next two weeks to do that.” you smile up at him.

“I have an idea.” his eyes light up and you raise an eyebrow at him. “Do you wanna have a sleepover tonight? We can have a move night and order take out like the good old times.” he grins at you.

“You had me at sleepover.” you say with a smile and so he grabs your hand, pulling you towards the exit.

When Seonghwa lets you into his house you almost forget the fact that you haven’t been inside in almost three whole years. This was practically your second home and you found comfort in the fact that nothing really changed since you last saw it. Everything looked almost exactly how you remembered it, minus the new couch and dining table, and a few new paintings hung up on the walls.

“Your mom didn’t change much over the last few years.” you observe.

“Yeah, she was going to do a whole renovation like your mom, and she even planned a whole design out, but she opted out last minute. She said she wanted me to come back home to something I remembered.” Seonghwa answers. “I didn’t get why at first but it only started making sense to me the more I started visiting and realized this was like my safety net.”

“Yeah, that makes sense.” you say.

You and Seonghwa walk upstairs to his bedroom, and of course nothing changed inside either. It almost seemed like it had been untouched aside from the fresh bedsheets and clean floor. You notice the small picture frames neatly placed across his dresser table and you realize most of them are pictures with you. You pick one frame up as you remember the day so clearly. A faint smile forms on your face as your fingers ghost over the photo.

“I asked my mom to put those up again recently.” Seonghwa states from behind you. “I was gonna put more with our friends but I realized we didn’t take many with them. They were mostly just of us two. I hope you don’t think it’s weird.”

You shake your head. “No, of course not. I would never think it’s weird.” you say, placing the frame back onto his dresser.

Seonghwa tosses you one of his shirts and a pair of your old shorts that you always left at his house during your impromptu sleepovers. And suddenly you’re once again hit with a wave of nostalgia.

“What do you wanna do?” he asks and you flop onto his bed with a deep exhale.

“Let’s just lay here for a second.” you say pulling him down next to you. “I just wanna remember everything that I missed while I was gone.”

Seonghwa settles beside you and you can’t help your racing heart as he inches closer to you. As you lay next to one another looking up at the ceiling, your breathing relaxes and you revel in the feeling of just being so comfortable and at so at home.

“You don’t know how much I missed this,” Seonghwa whispers next to you. “even though we haven’t seen each other in years and we don’t talk as much anymore, when I’m with you it’s like we never even left each other. Like we just pick up right where we left off. You’re the one person who’s always brought me comfort and I never feel like we have to force things with each other, no matter how much we drifted.”

You feel heat rise to your cheeks and suddenly the room feels so much warmer. Your heart beats fast and you realize how much of an effect Seonghwa still has on you after all these years.

“I think about you everyday, you know that?” you confess, turning your head to look at him. “Every time I’m out somewhere there will always be little things that remind me of you. And I think about all the places in the city I would take you, and the places I know you would love. I think about all the things you would tell me when I was feeling down, and how you would react to certain situations as if you were right there beside me the whole time. I miss you all the time.”

You both stare at one another and your eyes flicker back and forth to his lips and when you look into his own eyes you notice him doing the same. After a moment of just staring into each other’s eyes, unsure of what to do next, Seonghwa pulls you towards his face and kisses you, and the feeling absolutely overwhelms you in all the good ways.

It’s far from soft and sweet, instead heavy and messy, and so intense that your chest burns with desire. You don’t dare pull away from him even when you needed to catch your breath, because the feeling of his lips on yours after all these years intoxicates you and has you yearning for more. He’s pulling you closer to him and you feel like your body is on fire.

Seonghwa rolls on top of you and your bodies mould perfectly with one another, as if you were both the two missing pieces of a puzzle. You can’t exactly describe the feeling but it’s overwhelming and very reminiscent and brings you back to all the times with Seonghwa that brought you so much happiness years ago. It’s a feeling you didn’t know if you would ever feel again and you missed it more than anything.

The ache between your legs becomes overwhelming and before you know it you’re begging him to touch you, and without any hesitation he does. Your bodies press tightly against each other and your desperate need for him only grows the moment he grinds down on you.

The next thing you know, you’re both unclothed and fully exposed to one another, and you see each other in your most vulnerable states for the first time in years. When he finally pushes himself inside you the pleasure is significantly magnified as the fire inside you only intensifies at the feeling of him.

It happens quick at first but Seonghwa decides he wants to take his time with you. Like you, he didn’t know if he would ever feel you in this way again and he was going to use every second with you that he could.

You don’t know how much time has passed but by the end, you both are exhausted and sore, and panting heavily next to each other. It’s dark outside and the room is warm and even though you’re both sweaty and gross, you haven’t felt this good in a long, long time.

“Was that okay?” Seonghwa asks, pulling your naked body into his arms.

“Yeah,” you say with a small smile. “It was perfect.”

So you lay in each other’s embrace for a while and your heart feels warm and fuzzy, bringing you an endless amount of comfort. You feel content at this very moment, and your worries are pushed to the back of your mind as you fall asleep soundly together.

It’s only at 2 o’clock in the morning do you wake up in a haze and through your fatigued confusion does your brain recall the events that took place a few hours ago. Unable to make out your surroundings in the darkness, your eyes widen not knowing if what happened earlier really happened. When you attempt to sit up you feel a pair of arms wrapped securely around your waist and your body relaxes. Soft snores escape Seonghwa’s lips and you snuggle closer to his body to feel his warmth.

It dawns on you that you still are very much in love with Seonghwa, and of course deep down you knew that you always would be. You also knew given the chance (like now) your feelings would resurface because well... they never really left in the first place.

The unknowingness of this outcome has you shifting in your spot and anxiety creeps in as you think of leaving him all over again. Because after tonight, you don’t know if you can bear the thought of parting ways with him and returning to your life abroad where you can’t tell him exactly how you feel.

You don’t realize right away that Seonghwa has woken up next to you and he only does so because of your constant shifting. It’s when he delivers a gentle squeeze to your waist do you finally take notice.

“Are you okay?” his voice his deep and tired and the sound is enough to make your heart beat fast.

“Yeah.” you reply unconvincingly, but Seonghwa has known you all his life and was also the one to date you for five whole years. He knew you better than you probably knew yourself so in an instant he could tell there was something bothering you.

“What’s on your mind?” he asks.

Your back is leaning against his chest, and you can feel his soft breathing on your neck, and instinctively he starts to rub small circles on your arm knowing that was the one thing that could calm you down.

“It’s stupid.” you say, your voice is quiet and laced with a hint of embarrassment.

“Do you regret what we did?” Seonghwa asks and you’re quick to shut down his claim.

“No! No, of course not.” you return. “It’s not that.”

“Then what is it?”

You exhale, letting out a heavy sigh. “Seonghwa I still love you.” it’s almost inaudible to him but he knows he heard you correctly.

He lets out a soft sigh and a smile smiles forms on his face.

“I still love you too, baby.” and when you hear him call you by the name you loved so much, you feel like you’re going to melt in his arms. “I always would remember?”

Your eyes start to water because it’s been so long since you’ve been able to say that to him, and to hear him say those same exact words back to you has a weight lifting right off your shoulders that you didn’t even know was there.

“Why’s that upsetting you?” he questions and you feel him press soft kisses to your shoulder.

“I don’t want to leave you all over again.” you admit.

He sighs next you and attempts to pull you even closer, if that were possible.

“Well we’ll spend the rest of the time we have together and enjoy every second of it. And after graduation we’ll come back home and we’ll pick up right where we left off like we always do.” Seonghwa tries to reassure you and you shake your head, sniffling.

“That’s not what I mean...” you say. “I mean that I don’t want to go back and not be with you. I don’t want to wait out till graduation and know that we aren’t together because I don’t think I can. Not after tonight.”

It clicks in Seonghwa’s brain and he knows exactly what you mean, and so he decides now’s the time to ask you what he’s been wishing to ask you for so many years. He knows he wasn’t supposed to wait for you, but he always knew he would.

“You don’t have to then.” he states.

“I don’t?”

“Do you want to get back together?” he asks and your heart almost stops. “I mean we only broke up ‘cause of the distance right? And we both fulfilled our promises to each other that we would experience a different life and learn what it was like to not be together. We’re in our last year of uni, we’d only have to be apart for a few more months and then we’ll both be back home in no time, permanently. We would never have to be apart again.” he reasons with you.

And it did make complete sense. He was right in every way, so in truth, there really wasn’t anything stopping you from being together again. You don’t have to think much about it because the decision was already made deep down. You knew you wouldn’t hesitate to be with Seonghwa again if you had the chance, and now was that chance.

You turn to face him and even though you two can’t see each other, there’s a small smile painted on both your faces and you lean in to press a kiss to his lips.

“Okay, let’s get back together.”

So at twenty-one years old, you and Seonghwa officially reconcile, and spend the next two weeks together like you planned, catching up on everything you did while you two were apart.

And just like he said, it was like you two never left each other.

And now, at twenty-two years old, Seonghwa pops the question.

And you finally marry him.

"Family, friends, and all loved ones. We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of Y/n and Seonghwa. We stand here to support this couple and share the joys of their love and commitment as they solidify this partnership, choosing to spend the rest of their lives together.”

“Through this marriage you make a lifelong promise to one another to always love, respect, trust and honor each other through anything, and everything. You promise to stay committed, and loyal, and most importantly, share your dreams, your happiness, and your sorrows with each other.”

“From today, and this moment on, you will forever be united as one.”

You stare at Seonghwa and your heart beats hard against your chest as you stand in front of him watching his eyes light up and his smile grow by the second. You feel like you’re in a dream and everything around you feels so surreal.

Your eyes scan the alter and you see your mother beside Mrs. Park, both of them clinging onto each other as tears of happiness running down their cheeks. Their smile is wide and filled with so much love and you knew this day was something the two have been waiting for, for as long as they could remember.

You see Mingi, and Yunho, and Hongjoong, and Jennie, your best friends who witnessed every progression of your relationship with Seonghwa from the moment you two met. They’re all grinning from ear to ear and you can’t help but laugh as they silently cheer you on from the pews.

You see your dad, and Seonghwa’s dad, and both of your grandparents, and the entirety of yours and Seonghwa’s family joined together as they smile brightly at the two of you.

And then your eyes meet with Rosé and Juyeon as they mouth a “you got this!” to you and Seonghwa, delivering a thumbs up in your direction, and your heart kind of warms because even after splitting up, the friendship between you four remained and it was evident through their support on this special day.

When your eyes lock with your soon-to-be-husband his lips quirk up into a warm smile as you mouth out an “i love you.”

“Now Y/n, Seonghwa, please join hands” the officiant states.

"Do you, Park Seonghwa take Y/N Y/L/N to be your wife?”

“I do.” he states softly, eyes gazing into yours.

"And Y/N Y/L/N, do you take Park Seonghwa to be your husband?”

“I do.” you respond beaming.

"Seonghwa, please repeat after me.” the officiant says. “I, Park Seonghwa, take thee, Y/N Y/L/N, to be my lawfully wedded wife.”

“I Park Seonghwa, take thee, Y/n Y/l/n, to be my lawfully wife...” he repeats.

"...To have and to hold from this day forward...”

“...For better for worse...”

“For richer for poorer...”

“...In sickness and in health...”

“...To love and to cherish...”

“...And to honour you all the days of my life...”

“Till death do us apart.” Seonghwa finishes and your eyes start to water.

“Now, Y/n, please repeat after me.” the officiant calls on you. “I, Y/N Y/LN, take thee, Park Seonghwa, to be my lawfully wedded husband.”

You exhale before repeating his words. ““I, Y/N Y/LN, take thee, Park Seonghwa, to be my lawfully wedded husband.”

"...To have and to hold from this day forward...”

“...For better for worse...”

“For richer for poorer...”

“...In sickness and in health...”

“...To love and to cherish...”

“...And to honour you all the days of my life...”

“Till death do us apart.”

As Jennie walks over to hand over the rings she smiles brightly at you, as the crowd watches you and Seonghwa each place the new band on your fingers, signifying the start of your lifelong commitment to one another.

“Well! By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife!” the officiant shouts with a smile. “You may now kiss the bride!”

And without a second wasted Seonghwa pulls you in kissing you like he’s never kissed you before and the loud shouts and cheers in the background fills your ears as everyone hollers around you. And when you pull away you can’t seem to wipe the smile off your face as Seonghwa carries you out of the alter.

“Here’s to our new life together, Mrs. Park.” Seonghwa says with a grin as you kiss him once more.

“I love you so much.” you say.

“And I love you even more.” he returns.

So at twenty-two years old you know that you’re never going to stop loving Seonghwa, and that love was made permanent by the unity of your marriage. From the moment you declared him as your boyfriend at the age of six, to the years you spent learning everything together as a couple, growing apart and reuniting, you know that this was a rare kind of love to find, and one that had to mature and progress over a long period of time.

And so you remember the words you said to him all those years ago the night you parted ways, “if somehow we find our way back to one another, then just know everything we did up to that point was worth it.”

Which stayed true four and a half years later, and for the rest of your life thereafter.

LA FIN.

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dyaz-stories · 5 years ago

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Out of The Woods — One: Acceptance

It’s here!! You guys might remember this post of mine, and that is what this story is based on! I had planned to have everything done by Inukag week and... yeah that didn’t happen, but this is chapter one, the next ones will be based on prompts, though I definitely won’t have them all out this week. Let me know if you want to be tagged for this specifically (tagging everyone just for the first one) and I hope you’ll enjoy this first one!

Thank you so so much to @sweetchcolate for being my beta for this chapter, you helped improving the final result so much and you’re amazing ❤️

Tagging: @shinidamachu @sailorbabydoll92 @sweetchcolate @clearwillow @zelink-inukag @cstorm86 @digital-art-monster @danycontreras90 @redflamesofpassion @lost-amidst-the-stars @eternalnight8806-3 @desiree239 @keichanz @ashleys-canvas @mustardyellowsunshine @meggz0rz @contacting-u @ramen---boi @superpixie42 @kazeinori @disgruntledbeast

The full moon shone high in the night sky, its soft light falling on empty streets and tightly shut windows. The villagers laid restless in their beds, waiting for the morning to come, pretending nothing would be happening tonight, pretending that they didn’t know about the white form dashing through the trees in the forest, pretending they hadn’t left him an offering that was far more than they had ever expected to pay. Pretending that the moonlight was enough to repel the darkness.

In the forest, things looked very different. Even the midday sun hardly pierced the thick foliage, and the moonlight barely reached the ground. Unlike the village, the forest was full of life and movement, even at night. Small demons, animals, owls and bats… It was like they knew the humans wouldn’t venture in here tonight, and they intended to make the most of it.

Sometimes, however, the noise was interrupted for just a moment. Silence fell brutally on the trees, as a flash of white appeared, only to vanish just as quickly, letting the animals resume to their lives as though nothing had happened. The silhouette stopped in front of a clearing, sniffing the air, as it checked its surrounding. Once it was satisfied, golden eyes focused on a bag laying on the ground. Good. Relief overtook it for just a second, before resolve flashed in its expression, and it jumped in.

The action was only a matter of seconds. The form jumped in, easily threw the bag over its shoulder, paused, only long enough for an exterior observer to discern red clothing underneath long white hair, before he ran away, just as fast. A blink, and you could have missed it.

It didn’t stop until it had reached a small river. There, it took north, going up stream, the sound of bare feet on rocks barely audible over the brook’s whisper. Finally, the shape slowed down as the banks of the river started to rise to form a small ravine. After one last glance over its shoulder to make sure it wasn’t being followed, the white shape disappeared behind the rocks.

As it walked to a small wooden hut by the lake that had formed there, the moonlight revealed a definitely humanoid shape, an impression that was only disrupted by the two triangular ears on top of its skull. He unceremoniously dropped the bag onto the grass, only to freeze when a yelp came from the bag.

Slowly, he knelt down next to it. The moonlight caught onto claws, and they briefly shone in the dark as he prepared to open it.

Kagome didn’t regain consciousness until she was moving. She remembered the men, showing up in her house, dragging her out as she asked, begged, for an explanation. She remembered Mo, the leader of the village, telling her that he was sorry, that this was for the best, for everyone. She remembered the pain exploding in her temple. She remembered hitting the ground. And nothing after that.

She woke up, disoriented, unable to see, terror coursing through her veins, aware that someone was moving with her at full speed. Her stomach immediately protested against the up and down movement, and made it all the more difficult for her to fight her first instinct: to scream. She dug her teeth into her lower lip in order to keep from making a noise. Trying to calm herself down, she took a few quick breaths. That, however, only fueled her panic as she realized with horror how hard breathing through the cloth was, but she somehow managed not to have a complete meltdown. She could breathe, after all. It was just difficult. She focused on that for a moment, and used that to consider her situation.

It wasn’t easy to form coherent thoughts, not with the fear that was infecting her system, and certainly not with the fact that she could feel the youki of the person carrying her. Her reiki was always under control, and she had never had any problem with it, but as it was, it took everything she had not to let it spike. If she did, it could have disastrous consequences.

She swallowed, and forced herself to focus. What did she know? The men of the village had knocked her out, but clearly, she wasn’t with them anymore. She closed her eyes, both to calm down her breathing and to try to remember Mo’s words.

“I’m really sorry, Kagome,” he’d sighed, shaking his head dejectedly. “If there was any other way, I would choose it, but you’re the village’s priestess, and I know you understand why you must offer yourself in this situation.”

“What are you talking about?” she’d asked, tensed, not aware of the gravity of the moment yet.

Her eyes shot open as his words finally came back to her.

“I’m sorry,” he’d repeated. “I believe what we need right now is a virgin sacrifice.”

‘The situation’ had to be a reference to whatever lived in the forest. From what she’d been told when she had joined the village as a priestess, only a couple of weeks ago, in replacement for a distant cousin of hers who had been murdered, everyone believed it was a god that they had angered. They made regular offerings to it, once a month, on the full moon. And tonight was…

Gods. She was tonight’s offering.

She had just realized it when she felt herself falling, and let out a cry of protest when she hit the ground. She closed her mouth shut, but the damage was done already.

The silence that followed was excruciating. She felt the bag being lifted as though she weighed nothing, and she knew that it wouldn’t be long until it was open. Concentrating her reiki in her hands, Kagome prepared for a fight. She would not go down easily. She knew herself, knew her power, and she didn’t doubt that she would be able to take out a demon, even without her bow, if she had the advantage of surprise.

But, as she prepared to deal it a death blow, knowing that she wouldn’t have another chance, she hesitated.

Maybe she was being unfair. Maybe it was her fear speaking, and not her reason. Her work was not to inflict death. It had never been, and in fact, she had always held strong beliefs against that practice. Kagome knew that gods and demons could often be reasoned with, and that they would rarely go out of their way to attack humans unless provoked.

It was stupid, not to kill the demon instantly. An act of folly. It was taking a chance on something nonsensical.

Kagome took it anyway.

When the bag was finally pulled down, she held back her power, only sending a flash strong enough to make the demon jump back with a surprised growl. Sharp pain to her cheek told her she’d been hit, but she didn’t care as she stared at the supposed god that terrorized the village, and all she found was…

A young man. No older than herself, probably under twenty. Sure, his hair was white, his eyes seemed like liquid gold, and the dog-ears on his head weren’t human, but other than that— He was practically a boy. Skinny, almost to the point of being called scrawny, and his entire body tense as a bow string.

Kagome slowly lowered her hands, though she didn’t disperse her reiki just yet. The man kept growling as he glared at her, claws in evidence. His eyes moved over her clothes, a priestess’ garment, and the growl only became louder.

“What the fuck are you doing here? Where’s my food?”

Fear was soon replaced by anger, and Kagome shot him a death glare that would have made most men cower. He didn’t react to it — she hadn’t expected him to. Clearly, he was not ‘most men’.

“Oh I’m sorry, am I not a sacrifice satisfying enough?”

“Sacrifice?” he repeated with a frown. “The hell sort of sacrifice are you? Am I supposed to— eat you?”

People didn’t eat other people, did they? He couldn’t say he was tempted, even if she smelled a lot like fresh meat.

“No, I’m—” Kagome rolled her eyes. She had not expected to have to explain that part of the situation, and now it was weirdly uncomfortable. “They said they needed to make a— a virgin sacrifice. To appease you.”

A puzzled look appeared on the man’s face, and for a second, Kagome really feared that she would have to explain to him what a virgin sacrifice was. But then, his eyes widened in understanding, and, much to her surprise, his cheeks heated up. He glanced away from her, blushing and clearly embarrassed, which only made her feel more awkward.

“K-keh! So there’ll be no food this month?”

The question took Kagome off guard, yet again, and she was starting to realize that she really did not like that sensation. Why was she always one step behind? Something was wrong here.

“I… suppose not.”

For a few moments, there was only silence. He was crouching and glaring at her and she was trying her best to assess the situation, now that her fear was mostly gone, but she still was far from having enough information. First things first, then. Clearing her throat, she asked him about the thing that had been on her mind ever since she had felt his aura.

“You’re… not a god, are you?”

His lips curled to reveal his fangs, and his growl, which had stopped when she’d mentioned being a virgin sacrifice, picked up again.

“Are you making fun of me?”

His voice was defiant, and Kagome didn’t doubt that he would have attacked her if he hadn’t feared her powers. She swallowed as she looked him over once more. His youki was extremely powerful, so she had assumed he was a demon from the beginning, but now that she was looking at him, there was only one explanation that made sense. She hadn’t even considered it before, but the ears spoke for themselves.

“You’re a half-demon,” she said slowly.

“Gotta problem with that?” he snapped.

“Everyone believes you cursed the village,” she said, shaking her head, just trying to understand. She didn’t know how such a mistake had been possible. She’d only ever met Kikyo a few times, but based on what she’d heard about her power, there was no way she wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference. Maybe, maybe, she would have believed him to be a full demon, but she doubted even that.

“Sounds just like those assholes to blame their problems on me,” he mumbled bitterly. “Been blaming me for their priestess’s death, too.”

That caught her attention again.

“You’re Inuyasha?” she asked.

He almost jumped when she said his name, before focusing back on her. His eyes were shining dangerously, and Kagome resisted the urge to lift her hands defensively in front of herself. She didn’t want to risk escalating the situation.

“How would ya know that?”

“I was told that, on her deathbed, Kikyo said you were responsible for her final injuries.”

She watched his face crumble. The shock in his eyes, the way his lips fell. He whirled around, turning his back on her, but his reaction told her everything she needed to know. Having seen that— she couldn’t believe he had anything to do with her cousin’s death.

“She said that, huh?” he asked, voice sounding a little too loud and too clear. “Sounds just like that bitch. Keeping me her dirty little secret and stabbing me in the back last second. Nothing surprising about it.”

Kagome watched his back, silently. She didn’t know what to do. Didn’t know where she went from here.

“I’m Kagome, by the way,” she said, awkwardly.

That snapped him out of whatever emotion he was feeling, and he turned around.

“I didn’t ask,” he growled. “So ya said ya were— a sacrifice? Were ya okay with that?”

Her lower lip started to tremble, as it finally dawned on her what the men from the village had been willing to let happen to her. Whether they expected she’d be killed or— It would all have been horrible for her. The worst part was that she was pretty sure she could have been guilted into accepting it.

“Well, that’s humans for ya,” the half-demon said with a shrug, able to tell what the answer was from her silence.

Kagome forced herself to breathe in, but it didn’t help. She had been called to the village. They had asked for her presence, and she hadn’t thought much about it. She travelled a lot, usually going where she was needed. When they had called for her, she had assumed they wanted someone powerful, given what was living in the forest. She hadn’t doubted their intentions at all. Did they know then? Had they planned this all along? Did they think of it whenever they saw her walking through the village in her robes?

Inuyasha cleared his throat, right before she lost herself completely in questions she didn’t have any answers to, and she looked at him, blinking the tears away.

“What are ya gonna do now? Going back? Are ya gonna tell them that I ain’t a god and I haven’t cursed their village?”

He was trying his best to sound detached but, judging by his previous reaction, he did count on the offerings of food, which meant he did care about what her answer would be. She wanted to give him something, she did, but she didn’t know what to tell him. Even if he hadn’t killed Kikyo, he had injured numerous villagers who had ventured into the forest. She couldn’t find it in herself to feel bad for them right now, but he was still very much dangerous, even if he looked so young and normal. He could probably feel her reiki, and that might be why he hadn’t done anything to her yet. He might very well be waiting for her to lower her defenses to strike.

“I don’t know,” she admitted regardless, voice weak. “I can’t say I really want to go back there.”

The silence that followed was heavy and uncomfortable. Kagome wrapped her arms around her knees, pressing them against her chest, and finally let the reiki dissipate in the air. She would be able to summon more energy if needed, but it didn’t look like it. For now, at least.

“I guess ya can sleep here,” Inuyasha finally said, reluctantly. “’s not much, but it’s warmer than outside, and demons don’t come here.”

She could understand why. The air was infused with his youki, clearly marking the place as his territory. It made sense that other demons wouldn’t want to challenge him.

“…I think that would be for the best,” she said.

His reaction was less than enthusiastic. He sighed, obviously considering retracting his offer, then pointed at the hut with his chin.

“C’mon.”

Kagome pushed herself up, wincing at the sudden wave of pain that shot through her head, where she had been hit. If Inuyasha noticed it, he didn’t show it. In only a few large strides, he was in front of the hut, pushing the curtain that served as a door.

“You comin’ or what?”

Well, even if he didn’t kill her, he was pretty insufferable, Kagome decided as she followed him, walk a little wobbly.

The hut consisted of one room, with no furniture whatsoever. In a corner, there was some straw and what looked like a blanket, laying directly on the earth, and that was about it. It was not, by any means, comfortable, and Kagome found herself almost horrified at the thought that he lived here. These conditions were definitely not good.

“I told ya, it ain’t a palace or anything, but unless you wanna sleep outside, you should get your ass in here.”

Inuyasha’s annoyed voice — though Kagome was pretty sure she detected a hint of shame in there as well — finally got her to step in.

“You can sleep there,” he said, pointing at what was probably his bed.

“But what about you?” she questioned, concern filling her voice despite the fact that she wanted nothing more than to collapse on there to soothe her throbbing head.

In the darkness, with the only window in the hut being the sole source of light, she missed the suspicious glance he shot her. When he didn’t find anything in her behavior that should keep him on his guard, he merely shrugged.

“I’ll be good. I’m not like you humans, my body can handle a lot more.”

Kagome accepted his explanation, too tired to object that demons, while more resistant, still needed sleep.

“Well, if you’re fine with it…”

The only response she got was another shrug, so she slipped under the blanket and did her best to wrap herself in it. As expected, it wasn’t pleasant, but it was better than nothing. She watched as Inuyasha went to sit against the wall opposite her, putting as much distance between them as he could in this small space, and closed his eyes. She hesitated a second before rolling around, turning her back to him. Maybe it wasn’t the smartest decision, as she wouldn’t see him coming if he attacked her, but she knew she’d hate it if someone watched her as she slept.

Even with her exhaustion, sleep wouldn’t come to her, and the pain did not help. After a while, she rolled over again, attempting to find a better position to sleep. When she moved, she saw his eyes opening. It lasted less than a second, just long enough for her to see a golden flash, but it told her that he was keeping track of her actions.

It seemed that he was as weary of her as she was of him. The thought was almost reassuring. She wouldn’t attack him, unless he did first, and if he felt the same, well, they were both probably safe.

And with that thought, Kagome was finally able to find sleep.

When she stepped out of the hut in the morning, Kagome at least felt a little better. Her head still hurt, and the cut on her cheek stung, but she assumed she would be okay. The first thing she did was to examine her surroundings, something she hadn’t been able to do when she’d arrived at night.

There was something surreal about being here, in the middle of a forest she’d been told was inhabited by dangerous monsters since she’d arrived, and to see that it was, actually, a really normal place. The sun was shining bright in the sky, the birds were chirping in the trees. Today was looking like a beautiful day.

Looking around, she realized the hut was by a lake, in an enclosed area surrounded by cliffs. There was a small waterfall just a little further, making the river the only easy way out, though she assumed Inuyasha had other ways. The scenery was idyllic, in stark contrast with everything she’d imagined about the forest. Sure, she could feel youki all around her, even with Inuyasha’s so present, and she couldn’t forget that this place clearly wasn’t inhabited by humans, but it was all so… peaceful.

She heard a noise above her, and was startled when Inuyasha simply jumped down from a cliff. He landed with a grunt, and she took her chance to examine him as he pushed himself back up as though he hadn’t fallen from at least ten meters.

She hadn’t noticed in the night that he was dressed entirely in red, and that was not the only way he looked very different in the daylight. He went from a mythical being to— a person, simply put. She noted his sharp jaw, the hard glint in his eyes, the frown that she doubted ever left his face. When his eyes turned towards her, she glanced away quickly, then berated herself for her reaction. She hadn’t done anything wrong.

“Hey!” Inuyasha yelled at her, “I got some food for ya!”

Joining her, he hastily handed her some fruits.

“It ain’t much, but ’s all the forest gives at this time of the year,” he explained.

“It’s fine,” Kagome replied, forcing herself to smile. “Thank you for that.”

A look of suspicion passed on his face, and he had to bite back a comment. He didn’t like her behavior, not one bit. People were never nice to him. He definitely expected her to try some shady shit. Maybe she wanted something from him. He couldn’t figure out what for the love of him, but that would explain that ‘virgin sacrifice’ story she’d told him. After all, he’d never asked for that. Surely, those guys weren’t twisted enough to get that in their mind without any suggestion?

Keh. All things considered, he wouldn’t put it past them.

Humans couldn’t be trusted, after all.

“You should try to wash yourself,” he said bluntly as she bit down on a pear. “You reek.”

In fact, she smelled like animal blood. That was why he hadn’t been able to tell she was in that bag. Which was definitely weird and—

“Excuse me?” she protested, eyes wide. “I’m so sorry I didn’t have time to wash myself before I was given as a sacrifice, you—”

Was she insane? Did she think that, just because she was a priestess, there’d be nothing he could do to her?

“Whatever, wench,” he growled. “Should probably take care of your clothes, too, ‘cause it ain’t any better.”

Kagome didn’t think she’d ever been so insulted. It took a lot of her self-control not to shoot some reiki at him. She tried to tell herself that he had helped her so far, and that it was probably a bad idea, but damn if it wasn’t tempting. She folded her arms on her chest, self-consciously tightening her clothes around her.

“And what am I supposed to wear then, you pervert?”

The way his eyes widened as color rose to his cheeks his face told her that he had not considered that difficulty.

“That’s not what I— Ah, fuck.”

He quickly got rid of his haori and pushed it in her hands.

“Just get it done. I’ll be— around. Scream if a demon starts eating you alive or— something.”

With that, he was gone, and Kagome was the first surprised when she felt a grin lift the corner of her lips. She’d been told before that she trusted too easily, clearly she had, and perhaps this was another one of those situations, but Inuyasha just seemed weirdly… inoffensive. She didn’t doubt that he could be dangerous, however it was also strangely easy to forget.

Shaking her head, she walked to the lake, and found a place where she would be hidden by rocks to take off her clothes, before taking a deep breath and plunging in.

It was the middle of spring, and the water was biting cold, which didn’t stop her from immersing herself completely. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, Inuyasha was right about her needing a bath. She didn’t think she reeked — jerk —, but she didn’t think she smelled great either. She took the time to rub her body energetically, then to rinse and disentangle her hair. She was almost done and was about to start working on her clothes when she felt a disturbance in the forest’s youki.

She only had the time to look up before a giant centipede, with a woman’s chest and head, came out of the woods, screeching in a high-pitched voice. Instinctively, Kagome tried to reach for her bow and arrows, only to find them missing. She didn’t have time for anything else, so she moved as though she did have them at her disposal. With only her mind, as the Centipede was closing in on her, already opening its mouth wide enough to swallow her whole in one bite, she shot a reiki arrow.

The shot was unfocused, difficult to maintain, and it wasn’t nearly as efficient as an actual arrow would have been, but the creature was close enough that there was no way she could have missed it. Fortunately, purification was her strong suit, and the Centipede was destroyed in an inhumane scream.

Kagome remained there, trembling, frozen in place, unable to comprehend what had just happened. She was still immobile when Inuyasha burst into the clearing, jumping in the water in front of her, fully clothed.

“What the hell was that? What—”

His eyes widened and he spun around, though not quite quickly enough for her to miss the blush forming on his cheeks. Kagome slowly realized, while staring at his back, puzzled by his reaction at first, that it was because she was naked. That finally got her to move, and she wrapped herself in his haori, hands shaking so hard that she had to try several times before she made it.

She forced herself to breathe in. She’d fought and killed demons before. Sure, this time she’d been taken completely off guard, and she didn’t have her weapons here, but still. She’d been through worse. She couldn’t let this affect her that much.

“Wash your clothes,” Inuyasha ordered, though the effect was undercut by the fact that his back was still turned to her. “I’ll be closer, ‘kay?” Then, after a moment of awkward silence, he added “Good job on that one”, and took off as fast as he had the last time.

Kagome didn’t even have it in herself to protest his manners right now. She started to wash her priestess garment, with regular movements that she had done a hundred times before. Still, the Centipede’s scream kept replaying in her mind, and she couldn’t seem to shake off that horrible feeling she’d had when she had realized that her bow wasn’t there.

Despite all her efforts, her hands didn’t stop shaking.

Inuyasha watched the woman from above. Seeing his haori on her shoulders made him feel— weird, to say the least. He hadn’t expected her natural scent to be so pleasant for his nose, and he knew his clothes would definitely smell like her afterwards. Right now, though, the aroma from the mix of their scents was having more of an effect on him than he’d have wanted it to. Stupid demonic instincts…

It would probably only get worse if she chose to stay. He didn’t have much experience in that domain, because he hadn’t been in contact with many dog demons, or not for a long time, but it was likely he’d start to consider her part of his pack. Which meant he’d feel protective of her. Get attached to her.

He sat up with a growl at that thought. He knew he should have wanted her to leave, if only to avoid that. She was human, after all. She wouldn’t have the same instincts as him, and judging on how easy it had apparently been for Kikyo to stab him in the back, he didn’t have many hopes for that one.

Keh. He couldn’t believe Kikyo would have done something like that to him. He’d— Fuck, he didn’t know if he’d loved her, not when they’d spent so long openly distrusting each other, but saying that, on her deathbed? She’d really done him dirty.

And it sucked, because he hadn’t been able to mourn her. He’d been preparing himself to meet her, in the clearing when they found each other, when it had happened. It was like a refuge for them, a place where they just— sat, next to each other, and talked, ignoring their differences. She spoke a lot about not wanting to be a priestess anymore. He listened, mostly. Let her daydream out loud about a world where they’d both be simple humans. Normal.

It had almost made him want that, too.

But Kikyo had died, and the villagers had tried to kill him, almost succeeding that night, because they’d taken him by surprise, and he’d been all alone once more.

He swallowed, risking another glance at the new priestess. He should have gotten rid of her as soon as he’d realized she was a— a person. Should have made sure she wouldn’t be able to guide anyone to this place, and shouldn’t have looked back. However, even though she clearly viewed him as a threat, judging by that first shot of reiki she’d fired at him, she hadn’t commented on the fact that he was a half-demon. Her gaze had lingered on his ears, but outside of that, she hadn’t shown she was even aware of the implications of his status, something humans were usually very keen on reminding him.

That had gotten him… curious. Not hopeful, he didn’t do that anymore, but if she proved to be somewhat interesting, if she could dull the loneliness, even just a bit… Let’s say he wouldn’t be opposed to her presence.

He’d been alone for almost as long as he could remember. The memories of his mother had been fading, and he now tried his best not to think about it, because he couldn’t take that her face wasn’t as clear in his mind as it used to be. He clung to her scent, which he still knew, but he didn’t have much else, and when that’d be gone— He’d have nothing left. He knew it was stupid, to try to make new memories, hadn’t worked well with Kikyo and wouldn’t work with that one either, and yet he couldn’t help but try.

He could take being alone, had for years. He couldn’t take not having a single good thing, a single good person to remember. He just couldn’t.

Down there, the priestess was done with her washing and had laid her clothes on a rock, waiting for them to dry, and he decided that was his cue to go back down.

She jumped when he landed next to her. In other circumstances, he might have found that funny, but right now, he was just satisfied with her reaction. She should be afraid. This place was deadly, and ignoring it wouldn’t do her any good. If she was on her guards, it was all for the better. As long as she didn’t zap him with her reiki, at least.

“Is everything okay?” she asked, frowning, when he didn’t talk immediately.

Yeah. Fine. Just, there was this weirdly childish part of him that liked to imagine that she wouldn’t remember she was supposed to choose whether to leave or to stay today, and that she’d just end up… Well. Staying.

Like she could fucking forget something like that.

“’s all good. You?”

She shivered at the question, but quickly caught herself.

“I’m… fine. I didn’t think a demon would come here. Your youki is pretty powerful. I thought it would keep them at bay.”

“It usually does,” he replied, shrugging off her concern. “Could be ‘cause they smelled the blood, or ‘cause you’re a new smell. Some find reiki… tasty, I guess.”

She threw him a horrified glance, and he took offense at that.

“Calm the fuck down. I don’t eat people. Would be shit if you taste as bad as you smell anyway.”

Kagome rolled her eyes, reminding herself that she should not waste her energy on getting offended because this jerk implied she would taste bad. It just was not worth it.

“Men at your village did that?” he asked, pointing at the injury on the side of her head.

She had done her best to clean it, and she didn’t think the wound was infected. It still throbbed painfully, and it couldn’t possibly look good, but there was not much she could do about it right now.

“They did,” she replied, mouth dry. “They knocked me out before… You know.”

He did, and it still didn’t sit right with him. He wondered if they just wanted to get rid of her and were hoping he would do the dirty work for them, or if there was something else underneath it all, but he just couldn’t come up with an answer.

“So? You gonna go back there or what?”

She flinched, suddenly snapped out of her thoughts, and Inuyasha cursed himself. He was supposed to approach the subject carefully — or, ideally, not at all — and that just wasn’t the way to do it. Especially since he had this irrational wish that she would stay.

“Well, I clearly can’t for the moment,” she said, finally. “My clothes are drying, and I don’t think I feel well enough to travel. But…”

Inuyasha’s ears had perked up, which was pretty pathetic in his opinion, but at least she hadn’t noticed. That wasn’t definitive, not by any means, but it was something, right? If she stayed for a few days, he could perhaps— pretend. Pretend she was something for him that he could never even hope for. Pretend that, maybe, she didn’t feel sick and disgusted from being in his presence.

“But?”

“I just— I have nothing here. I’m not talking about the food, you can clearly find those things, even without the offering—” Inuyasha felt his chest swell with pride, as his instincts to provide for his pack kicked in. “—but there isn’t much I can do about the creatures here. I mean, I barely took down the Centipede, and you and I know it’s not the most dangerous thing to live in those woods, not by a long shot. Not to mention I don’t have herbs to take care of my wounds, or…”

“I know where herbs humans like grow,” Inuyasha interrupted her. “Can’t help you with picking them, don’t really know the difference between ‘em, but I can take ya there. I can go steal stuff from the village, too, but if you’re talking ‘bout your bow, I don’t think I’d make it to the temple. That’s usually under heavy guard.”

Kagome frowned, but nodded.

“I suppose I could learn to focus my reiki without it. It’s doable, in practice. If you know where herbs grow, that would be great, though.”

Inuyasha couldn’t help but think that there was something weird in the way she spoke to him. He was vaguely aware that it was because she talked to him normally, without calling him a monster, a half-breed, or an abomination every sentence, but there was something other than that. He couldn’t identify it as respect — he hadn’t been faced with it enough — however he could hear the underlying kindness in it.

That definitely played a role in him letting her stay, in walking her to the spot where herbs grew, later in the day, and in waiting around to make sure she wouldn’t get in trouble. It was rather nice, to have someone talking to him like that, he wasn’t gonna complain, that was for sure, and yet…

There was also something worrying about it. If she kept it up, it would probably get harder to endure the way others spoke to him, so, when he recognized it for what it was, he told himself he shouldn’t get used to it.

But fuck if he didn’t want to.

Days passed. Kagome was healing slowly but, though she appreciated not feeling pain every time she got up anymore, the idea was more worrying than pleasant to her. Every time she thought about it, and about going back to the village, she felt a pit in her stomach. She hated it. She had always lived to help others, devoted herself to it body and soul.

And they had betrayed her so easily.

She didn’t think she would be able to change her behavior, even after that. She knew herself well enough to be able tell that if someone was in danger, she would jump in without a second thought. She spontaneously took action for others. It was just who she was, what she did.

Now though, the thought of doing this for them was actively sickening. The thought that they would use her, would take advantage of her again, and the knowledge that she probably wouldn’t be able to stop them— it hurt in so many ways. She didn’t want to be the type of person who couldn’t trust. It was— She believed people were good. Maybe not entirely, and maybe they hadn’t always been, to her and to others, but all in all, she thought everyone deserved her help, her kindness. If they talked to her about their issues, she wanted to be able to listen to them and to believe them.

The idea that she might not be able to do that anymore was soul-crushing.

Inuyasha, as it turned out, wasn’t of much help when it came to her moral dilemma, and she hated that he had been the first recipient of her new-found mistrust. He didn’t deserve that. Clearly, he had been through enough already.

Not that he had talked to her about it. In general, they didn’t talk much. She’d tried to engage in some conversations, but he’d shrug her off quickly, take off in the woods, or close his eyes, leaning against the wall of his hut. She knew he could probably still hear her, because there was no way he fell asleep that fast, but she got the message, loud and clear.

It didn’t mean there was no communication between them, though. It wasn’t much, and he certainly didn’t make any grand gestures, but if she mentioned something, he’d make sure she would get it. It generally manifested in food, but he also stole some items she’d brought up. She knew she should have said something then, but she hadn’t found it in herself to berate him.

“Thank you,” she’d just said, genuinely grateful.

“Keh. If it can get you to stop talking my ears off, it’ll have been worth it.”

But she was starting to be able to read him, and even if his arms were folded on his chest, and he was frowning, she knew that when his ears perked up that way, it meant he was happy about the attention.

It was the cutest thing ever.

“You shouldn’t put yourself in danger by going to the village, though,” she’d added, genuine worry piercing in her voice. “I can make it without these. I really don’t want you to get hurt because of me.”

As most of their conversations, it had ended abruptly, with him rolling his eyes and growling “Whatever” before running off in the forest, and she’d let out a long sigh. Just once, she would have liked not to feel like a complete nuisance when she talked to him. Was that really too much to ask?

It wasn’t even like they could avoid each other completely, otherwise she would have given him as much space as he wanted. Instead, they lived together, in a really small space. He had taken to sleeping regularly outside, and when she’d voiced her concerns, because she really, really didn’t want to push him out of his living space, he had vaguely replied that he did that before she was here, that he liked sleeping in trees, and that she was overestimating her own importance.

Another extremely fulfilling conversation.

So Kagome had done her best to use the same language as him. She couldn’t be as silent as him, because she was the type of person to express herself vocally, and not with growls and grunts, but she could pick herbs and fruits, even if she still didn’t stray far from the hut, and she could kill small demons. So that was a start.

She did her best to pay attention to him silently, to avoid scaring him off, which wasn’t simple for her. It was obvious that he was used to a rough existence. There was no hidden softness in him. Whether in his body, all muscles and bones, or in his behavior, he seemed to treat everything with the same harshness, including himself. It was that very harshness that came out when he was talking to her. That became a lot easier to accept once she realized that it was just who he was and that it was very likely that he hadn’t received anything else.

She wanted to show him something else.

That turned out not to be such an easy task. He always pushed her away when she tried to show him kindness. She didn’t know if he just really didn’t like her, or if it made him uncomfortable for some reason. She didn’t want to impose anything on him, she just wanted him to know. Not everything needed to be so hard all the time.

When she was coming back from picking fruits, she found him knees deep in the lake, and chest bare. It wasn’t the first time, and she was pretty sure he had caught glimpses of her naked as well. Normally, she would have been uncomfortable with it, but her attachment to privacy had greatly diminished recently, so she just watched him from the corner of her eyes, absent-mindedly noticing his toned chest.

She heard him groaning in annoyance as he attempted to untangle his hair. His claws seemed to be doing a pretty good job at that, but it still looked like an unpleasant experience. She winced in sympathy for him, and then the idea hit her.

“Do you want me to brush your hair?” she asked, words leaving her mouth before she had really decided whether or not it was a good idea.

The look he gave her told her that it definitely wasn’t one. Yet, because she just didn’t know when to quit, she insisted.

“You got me a brush, remember? That would be a lot easier, and I would actually see what I’m doing.”

Inuyasha glared at her, and Kagome swallowed. She was pretty sure that was an argument she’d just lost. It was obvious, from the look in his eyes, that he was doubting her. Well, it would just be another failure to add to her list. No big deal, fine, whatev—

“Okay. But if you try anything funny, I’ll tear off your hand.”

“That’s great!” she beamed. “Just give me a second to get the brush!”

He was still eyeing her suspiciously when she came back, and she wondered what he thought she would do. Beat him to death with the brush?

She sat on a rock, and he took place between her legs, back turned to her. He tilted his head, and she got to work, an inexplicable grin forming on her lips. His hair was surprisingly smooth and silky between her hands, and it was a pleasant feeling underneath her fingers. After the first tense minutes, Inuyasha started to relax. His shoulders fell down, and she heard him taking in a deep breath, followed by a long exhale.

Her movements were slow, careful. Soft. Evidently, he didn’t mind the treatment.

“Can I touch your ears?” she asked, curious, after a while. She had wondered about them since she had first seen him.

“Don’t pull on ‘em,” he mumbled back, voice almost slurred, as though he was falling asleep.

She decided to take that as a yes. Hesitantly, she reached to take one in her hand, and let out a small exclamation when she found it feeling like real fur. Not just that, but it was pleasantly pliable, and she had to actively resist an urge to play with it.

Don’t, Kagome, she told herself. She didn’t want him to push her away again.

But Inuyasha didn’t say anything as she massaged them. Instead, he let out what she thought was a contented sigh.

“So,” he said, still with that half-asleep voice, “your injury’s better. Are ya, y’know, going back there? Have ya made your mind ‘bout that?”

Kagome froze and let go of his ears. She cleared her throat awkwardly as she took back the brush and got back to taking care of his hair.

“I’m in no hurry,” she admitted, voice small. “Why, do you want to get rid of me that bad?”

She had intended to say it as a joke, but it sounded desperate instead.

Inuyasha’s long silence after that only made her feel worse. If he was trying to find a nice way to say it, it was more than she had expected. She thought she would only receive bluntness in response, but she could take him at least not wanting to hurt her feelings too badly.

“…nah,” he said, so low she almost missed it. “Y’can stay a while longer. Or a lot longer. I don’t mind.”

That almost had her dropping her brush.

“Really?” she asked in disbelief. “You told me I was breathing too much of your air.”

“Didn’t mean that.”

“You said if I hurt myself when picking fruits, you’d me get eaten by the wolves.”

“I wouldn’t have done that.”

“You—”

“Ugh, fine, go, see if I care!” he finally exploded, standing up and stepping away from her.

He found her with a bright, wide smile on her face, and his heart skipped a beat.

He didn’t know he was capable of making someone smile like that.

“I’d love to stay,” she said softly. “I just didn’t think you’d want me to.”

“Well I told ya. I don’t care.”

“Actually,” she grinned, leaning forward, “you said you didn’t mind.”

“I meant I didn’t care!”

“Right.”

“I don’t care! I fucking mind if you’re going to be like that!”

Then Kagome bursted out laughing, and Inuyasha felt like he couldn’t breathe simply from listening to her. The laugh flew high in the sky, losing itself between the clouds, and Inuyasha felt lucky from having been there to witness that. Hearing her laugh. Certainly felt like an event in and of itself.

“Thank you,” she said, simply.

“Keh. You’re welcome.”

When she pushed herself off the rock to get up, he held out his hand for her. He didn’t know why he did, certainly couldn’t find a good reason, but he did anyway.

She took it without any hesitation, ignoring the calloused palms and the claws. This time, he felt like he could finally breathe, like she was injecting air directly to his lungs.

He could get used to that feeling.

#inuyasha #inukag #inukag week #kagome #kagome higurashi #my writing #out of the woods

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thegracelessfaceless · 3 years ago

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Can u do head canons for Travis with a s/o that he’s been best friends with for a long time and ends up dating // like he introduces him to the gang and they’re just like ... yeah wow your definitely straight bud // I’m tryna write a whole fan fiction on the concept and wondered what lil things other people would say about that idea // I would deffo give u credit for helping me get my head around the concept :)

Alright, Anon, I'll try to help, but for Travis, I always pair him with my OC, BISO (Big Intimidating SO), who will be officially named in this post (but probably still affectionately referred to as BISO (he's growing up so much, my baby OC)) Also, this may not exactly come out in headcanons. When I really get going, it turns into an imagine. I hope you're alright with that. And you better tag me! I wanna read what you write 😅.

(I was trying to find intimidating boyfriend gifs. Did it work?)

Disclaimer: this ficlet is based off of a character(s) and setting from Sally Face (© Portable Moose). It is fictional, and moreso, fiction filtered through an individual imagination. Any likenesses to IRL people are purely coincidental. If you are triggered by it, or it's not for you, sorry, send in an ask, and we'll figure out something!

Travis Phelps had a secret. Well a couple of secrets. Sal Fisher had figured out one of them, but for some reason he kept good mouth shut. When Travis had asked Sal why, Sal had replied with a simple, "It's not my news to share." And no more. Sometimes the peace that radiated from Travis' old crush infuriated Travis blindly. Other times, it was comforting.

A new boy had moved to Nockfell, a tall, muscular intimidating new boy. Travis had been drawn to him, like a moth to flame.

Whenever the new boy had walked through the halls, his classmates parted to create a path for him with uneasy faces. Poor Travis, only having had one crush (and it luckily was on the nicest boy on Earth), didn't know how to even approach the handsome leviathan, much less ask him in a date. So Travis tailed him, sure he'd work up the courage to speak to him.

It took days, but the new guy had noticed Travis' continual presence and his failure to even introduce himself. Thinking that this was some type of new kid hazing since he'd heard that Travis was the resident bully, he'd had enough and caught Travis off guard after fourth period.

His large hand closed around the collar of Travis' fuchsia sweater and gripped it. Then the new boy lifted Travis from the ground by it in order to bring Travis face to face with him. Travis froze in his grip, feet dangling, as the guy must have stood to be six foot five or six inches.

"What the hell is your problem dude?!"

Travis was left to dangle, mouth opening and closing like a guppy. He was so embarrassed that he felt like his face was going to suck out of the back of his head. He'd thought he had meant the words "Shame swallows me whole" when he'd written them to Sal, but he felt it now twice as strongly.

"I-I wanted to introduce myself. Was trying to get the courage" Travis confessed, and flinched then, eyes squeezing shut, head turned away, waiting for a punch that didn't come.

Once Travis noticed that the side of his face wasn't about to be caved in, his small confession grew branches and they sprouted from his mouth, "The first time I saw you, I wanted to know you better. Maybe we could hang out... Like on a date or something?"

Travis looked up from the spot on the floor his eyes were burning a hole through, into the new kid's face. The boys expression softened and he sat Travis on his feet. Travis looked down and kicked the toe of his foot into the ground, so he missed when toys bear of a guy just envelopes him in the most tender hug. One moment, he's staring at the floor, the next, he's in strong muscular arms and staring into to an equally muscled chest.

Intimidating as he may have looked, the new boy was actually the biggest sweetheart. He saw Travis' flinch and it broke his heart that someone could expect pain that unprovoked. Sure he'd snatched him up, but he hadn't offered much violence. Only gotten Travis' attention. He'd wanted to hug that flinching away, so he tried.

He pulled away from Travis a little, looking down at him, "Do you want to know my name before or after this date?" They didn't share classes, he only knew Travis' name from whispers about him in the halls.

Travis was already blushing, and now he was turning a deep crimson, completely out of his comfort zone, "I'm, I'm sorry, where are my manners? I'm Travis."

"It's okay, you were working up the courage to introduce yourself, remember? I'm Will."

The two were practically inseparable from that moment on, together whenever they were out of class, but at school, and frequently after too. They had their date, a twilight picnic at Wendigo Lake. Sal had started asking Travis to try hanging out with the Gang™ and told him that he could bring his new friend, though his demeanor was knowing, like he knew Travis and Will had become a couple. No words had exchanged been Travis and Will about their status, but them they didn't need to talk about it. They were just... Together. They had, started to hold hands in private places, even had their first kiss, and more, riding high on the excitement of young love.

So Travis had accepted Sal's invitation to hang out at Larry's place after school and extended the invitation to Will, who of course accepted. Larry let them in, body language stuff, but Sal was there to meditate, and frankly, Travis just didn't feel like fighting with Will around him. Will exuded the same peace that Sal did, but instead of getting annoyed by it, Travis basked in it.

Sal led conversation, made small talk, and eventually everyone relaxed enough to have a worthwhile conversation. Ashley, Todd, Todd's boyfriend Neil, and a guy Sal called Robert had joined the four of them and conversation was flowing, Larry, Sal, abs Robert talking about music.

"You two should check out Soundgarden. The lead guitar is killer" Robert was saying.

"Oh, yeah, man, Cornell is a god" Will piped up as he laced his fingers with Travis'. Then he leaned over and kissed Travis' lips, a quick peck.

You could have heard a pin drop. Everyone but Sal, and strangely Today and Neil, were looking at Will with shocked faces.

Will's brow furrowed in confusion, "What? Ya'll look like you got poked with a cattle prod."

Everyone was still shocked, so Sal took the liberty to explain. "I think they're surprised because they didn't know either of you were gay."

Will laughed then, a deep rumbling laugh that turned into a guffaw "You mean you were still in the closet? With your friends?"

"You know my situation, Will. Can you blame me?"

Will squeezed Travis' hand, showing that he was sorry and there, "Not a bit."

"We won't judge you guys" Larry said, "You gotta do what makes you happy."

Travis nodded, his golden brown skin a little paled out, "Thanks, Larry."

"Anytime, man, what are friends for?"

#sally face #graciefacewrites #travis phelps #travis phelps x biso

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surveys-at-your-service · 4 years ago

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Survey #391

“if you wanna soar with vultures, you’ll have to swallow crow”

Have you ever been to Australia? No. I want to visit a friend there, but honestly, Australia scares me too much lmao. That place is like, the Hard mode in life. Who was the last person you know to have a birthday? My sister's husband just had his. Are you wearing a necklace? If so, describe it. No. Do you know anyone who is left-handed? My best fren. Ever wear out a CD? What was it? Haha, yeah... I caused a few scratches on Ozzy's Black Rain, as well as one more of his, where the album name is surprisingly evading me. What’s your favorite card game? Magic: The Gathering. What’s your favorite fast food meal? Burgers or chicken tenders are usually my go-to, depending on the place. Where is the best restaurant you’ve ever eaten in at? The Cheesecake Factory. @_@ Lamb chops or pork chops? I've actually never tried lamb chops before, but I've always thought they look yummy. If you HAD to pick ONE song to listen to for the rest of your life, and that would be the only song you ever heard, what would it be? "Life Won't Wait" by Ozzy Osbourne, probably. It's very motivating. Ever heard of Shinedown? Yeah, I like 'em. They're one of Dad's faves. What size is your bed? Queen. What is the first meal you remember eating? Hell if I know. What was the first movie you ever saw? I also don't remember. What percentile of your class were you in? The top. Can you name every place you’ve ever had sex? I probably could, but I'm not going to. What forms of birth control have you used? The pill and also just not having a sex life lmao. Do you use sponges or dishcloths when doing the dishes? A sponge. What’s your favorite song on the top twenty right now? I have zero clue what's in the top twenty. Ever punched a wall? No. What was the last bug you killed and what did you use? An ant in the house. My fingers. Ever get pulled over by the cops and get away without a ticket? I've never been pulled over. What was your first legal alcoholic drink? A margarita, I think? What’s the most expensive things your parents ever bought you? Probably this laptop. What’s the most expensive thing you’ve bought? My snake. Or my most recent tattoo, idr. What is your favorite cover song? I think Disturbed's "Sound of Silence" is unbeatable as a cover. Well, or Johnny Cash's "Hurt." Both SLAUGHTER the originals. Did you ever drop out of school? College, three times. Ever raise a child that wasn’t your own for more than 3 months? No. Strangest medical procedure ever performed on you? Considering the location, having a pilonidal cyst drained by pushing on it. Jesus FUCKING Christ it hurt so goddamn bad. Does the place you work have music playing? What sort? I don’t have a job. Do you use Windows, Mac, Linux, or something else entirely? Windows. Do you cut tags out of clothing so they don’t itch and bother you? Yes. How many times a year do you go on vacation? Zero, generally. What is your favorite time period in history to learn about? The Holocaust. What’s the saddest report you have ever seen on the news? *shrug* I don't watch the news. In your honest opinion, what is the scariest sea creature you know? Putting aside my illogical fear of whale sharks, probably giant squid. Like no thank u. What superpower do you think would be the most handy in times of trouble? Teleportation. Do you believe there is just one love for everyone, or…? No. There are WAY too many people in the world for that. Plus, you're talking to a person who has been in love with two different individuals, and both were perfectly valid feelings. Why are you best friends with your best friend? She's just simply amazing. Strong, funny, intelligent, caring, supportive, loyal... She's, again, amazing. Do you world peace is truly a possibility in the future? Realistically, no. But it's nice to imagine. Pretend you are a really good cook, what meal would you make? *shrug* It would depend on what I wanted to eat. What do you think of when you look at the stars? Just the vastness of everything, and I wonder what it's like up there in outer space. If a turtle doesn’t have a shell, is he homeless or naked? Dead? Their shells are part of their actual skeletal structure. What’s one thing you feel you must do in your life before it ends? Just... feel like I did something. What Disney princess are you most like? Personality-wise, I mean. Maybe Belle? To be totally honest, I don't really remember the details of most of their personalities. What do you think is the most important thing in this life is? Love. Do you use any acne medication? Not anymore. Have you ever tried to learn another language? How did it go? I took Latin for one semester, and it was hard as FUCK. I quickly changed to German next semester and did that for all four available classes. Do you still have a landline phone in your home? No. Throughout a typical week, which places are you likely to go? I go to the TMS therapy office every weekday, and I might ride with my mom to pick up groceries or something. How often do you use your webcam, if you even have one that is? Never anymore because my mic doesn't work on this laptop, so there's no reason to. Do you have a lock number or pattern for your phone? Neither, actually. What was the last thing you bought from a liquor store? Mom bought a nice bottle of some pink lemonade Smirnoff the other day for us to try, but she left it at my sister's. ;-; It looked soooo good. Is there any cereal in your house? What kind? Yeah. Mom got some Honey Nut Cheerios and Reese's Puffs. What's the most number of people you've ever lived with? Excluding myself, I wanna say five. Do you celebrate St. Patrick's Day? No. Do you have any pets? How long have you had them? I've had Venus forrrr... I want to say four years, and Roman for two, I think. What's your favourite kind of cheese? American. Have you danced in the rain? No. Who is your favorite person to text? Sara. What’s your favorite brand of jeans? I haven't worn jeans in many years. Do you enjoy Mario games? Not especially. Mario Kart is fun, though. What’s your favorite online game? World of Warcraft. Have you ever been hit with a ball in gym class? Yes. That shit hurts. Who was last to cook for you? My mom. Would you ever wish to explore a cave? YES!!!!! You see the person you fell hardest for. What do you do? Freeze, physically and mentally. Have you ever ridden in a car with someone who was high? Yes, because I was afraid to say no. Did you ever date the last person you kissed? Yes. Have you ever held a snake? Plenty of times. How often do you have friends over to your house? Never. Have you ever had a boss who acted unprofessionally? No. Who was the last person who cried around you? Why did they start crying? Was it unexpected? My mom, because she always feels unwanted at Ashley's house. It wasn't unexpected, honestly. She cries a lot in the car when she leaves my sister's house, honestly. It's heartbreaking. Do you have any exercises you do everyday? No. :/ Are you more of a dog or cat person? I'm a cat person. That only becomes more apparent with time, really. Have you ever had a dream of stabbing someone? I probably have, given I've had nightmares of strangling someone, punching and slapping people... all kinds of stuff. My nightmares are so fucking violent and I hate it. Would you ever have a bird as a pet? No. Have you ever had to speak at a funeral? No. Do you know someone who’s been cremated? My dog, as well as my younger sister's old pup. And Mom's. What is your favorite animated movie? The Lion King. Did your grandparents teach you anything? To not be horrendously old-fashioned and to never have kids, yes. Congrats, Grandma, I took both things to heart. Do you want/have a Bachelor's degree? No. Are you into superheroes? Who's your favourite? Not massively, no. I like Deadpool (yeah, yeah, antihero, whatever) and Spider-Man. Have you ever played Cards Against Humanity? Did you like it? Yes to both. Have you ever played a drinking game? Which ones? I don't think so. Did you ever play Neopets when you were younger? Yes, I LOVED them. Sometimes I'm still tempted to make a new account, I shit you not, lol. Have you ever been to Mexico? No. Have your parents ever worked in medicine? My mom was a pharmacy technician or some title like that for a long time. Is there anything unusual about your house? I don't think so? How many serious relationships have you been in? Two. Do you listen to Rise Against? I only know "Re-education (Through Labor)," but I LOVE that song. When was the last time you congratulated someone? It was probably something on Facebook, but idr. Have you ever taken care of a newborn baby? Go no, I could never. How old were you when you got your ears pierced? I don't remember my age, but old enough where I did it of my own volition. Do you snore when you sleep? No. Surprising for someone with sleep apnea as horrendous as mine. What was the last type of burger you ate? I had a McDouble from McDonald's a few nights ago.

#survey #surveys #random questions #lyrics: ''queen for queen'' by motionless in white

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carrotmakar · 4 years ago

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thirty (twenty-nine) questions tag game

tagged by ashley!! @cherryslips thank u so much for tagging me hun!!

rules: answer 30 questions and tag 20 blogs you are contractually obligated to know better

name/nickname: zoey/zo

gender: female

star sign: libra

height: 5′4″ (approximately)

time: 12:22 am

birthday: september 26th

favorite bands: one direction, 5sos, fjkadsjf i don’t listen to bands that much tbh

favorite solo artists: harry styles, taylor swift, lorde, niall horan (i’m starting to listen to him more kjfdsha), shawn mendes (but not wonder the album lol sorry), there’s probs more but i’m just blanking lolfjkdsahf

song stuck in my head: champagne problems and tolerate it

last movie: heathers

last show: lucifer

when did i create this blog: december 14, 2019 very late at night fjdksal

what do i post: my writing, a lot of my thoughts about random things, and shitposts tbh

last thing googled: chewy.com (for a thing that connects to a dog collar and has an app so i can track my dogs if they ever get out)

other blogs: @vehicularmanslaughterr (al the shitposts that don’t make the cut for main), @zoeysficrecs (for my to reads), @sadbitchesonly (for the sad things that i see / my feelings that i don’t want to bombard main with)

do i get asks: sometimes, mostly just ask games, feedback, or hate fsj

why i chose my url: fine line (the song and the album) is superior tbh

following: 362

followers: fjkdsf i don’t really like... disclose that info <3 i have a certain milestone in my head that i’ll do something for so when i get there y’all will know <3

average hours of sleep: normally like 30 minutes to 3 hours, but when i don’t have class or it’s the weekend, i get like 5 or 6 tops

lucky number: i don’t really have a lucky number tbh

instruments: i can play the violin, viola, cello, bass (strings, not guitar), piano, a few chords on the guitar (i’m learning), and i played the trumpet for like a year but i don’t remember how fkjds

what am i wearing: athletic shorts, a hoodie from a school i no longer go to and christmas socks

dream job: either something in the music industry or something to do with law (it’s the way i’m still undecided for me)

dream trip: i just want to go somewhere and have fun with someone that i love tbh, but i think that europe and australia would be nice to visit

nationality: american

favorite song: buzzcut season and champagne problems

last book read: um... i started reading pride and prejudice if that counts

top three fictional universes i’d like to live in: the mcu, spongebob (i know that has to sound crazy but... wouldn’t that be epic??), and the h2o just add water universe (as long as i’m one of the mermaids fkjdhskfj)

okay so i definitely am not going to tag twenty blogs because i literally am so meh right now that i don’t think i could think of twenty but i’ll tag until i can’t anymore

@hsonesupremacy, @academia-ashton, @meetmeinfleetwood, @glowunderthemoon, @uglypastels, @glimmerry, @stylesloveclub, @havethetimeofyourstyles + anyone who sees this and wants to do it!!!

#yes there are only 29 but i couldn't find the thirtieth for the life of me okay #tag games #tagged

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catdaddydef · 6 years ago

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❤️💖💘💓💝💕❣️💟❣️💕💝💓💞💘💖❤️💝💞💕💖

Tagged by the lovely @enderkate and the wonderful @ahgase55g7

The rules are:

1. Tag the person who tagged you

2. Answer the questions.

3. Tag 10 people

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE U GUYS

•How tall are you?

5’2 and flourishing. Give me a tall man tho, but I'mma still wear the pants. Everyone in my family is literally the same shape and height. The genes are hella strong.

•What color and style is your hair?

I dye my hair all the time, but my natural hair color is a lightish brown. Right now I have it a pretty dark shade of brown, but an thinking of dying it again. I have super long, straight, and THICK hair. It’s getting hotter out and I am about to chop it all off. I really want to bleach my hair, but that is too big of a step.

•What color are your eyes?

Brownnnnnn.

•Do you wear glasses?

Only when I drive or am in class. I have tried everything, but my glasses always leave a weird indent where my makeup is on my nose. So, I try to get by without them.

•Do you wear braces?

No. I actually sucked my thumb until I was ten, so I am surprised my teeth aren’t messed up, and I have really straight teeth. Maybe sucking my thumb moved them back into place? Is that even a thing?

•What’s your fashion sense?

I love fashion so much omg. I usually go for a vintage look, but am really into athletic fashion. If I could wear vintage Chanel or Versace everyday, I would, but your girl is broke. I desperately want a Chanel boy bag, so sugar daddy where u at?

I tag a lot of fashion under INSPO. So, if you ever see that tag, that’s what u will see me wearing or wanting to buy.

•Full name?

Ashley Rose. Idk if I want to put my full name because I am dodging the feds. JK JK

•When were you born?

August 5, 1997. 🦁♌🦁

•Where are you from and where do you live now?

I’m from Minnesota in the US. Reppin that northern twang. I live in Minneapolis, which is the biggest town in our state. It’s smaller than Chicago, but just the right size to get a small town feel in an urban city.

•What school do you go to?

I’m in university right now at the University of Minnesota. I’m a third year studying Psychology and Family Therapy. My goal after getting my degree will be to go onto grad school, either for Psychology or Social Work.

•What kind of student are you?

I was always the class clown, but in uni there are to many people to be wildin like that haha. I actually really love school and enjoy all of my classes. I worked really hard to get here, so I am milking it for all it’s worth. My grades are really nice, and I pride myself in saying that because I have went through such a tough time and still willed myself to keep up with school.

•Do you like school?

I’m a nerd yeah.

•Favorite subject?

Anything psych related. I’m in this cognitive psychology course right now and I love learning about the brain and how it explains our actions. Did you know we can live with only half a brain?

•Favorite TV show?

I love love love love love Naruto. It will forever be my favorite childhood memory, especially with my sister. That being said, I love anime as a whole. Right now I am watch JoJo and it is giving me life. Some of my other fav’s rn are The Haunting of Hill House, The Office, and That 70’s Show. I was a big Game of Thrones fan, but I didn’t like that they diverted from the books, so they lost me there.

Oh! And I am a huge reality TV fan. I have seen almost every season of The Challenge, watched Flavor of Love and I Love New York a million times, and Keeping Up With The Kardashians is a guilty pleasure. Say what you want, but I have been watching that show since 2008.

•Favorite Movie?

I’m a sucker for any emotional, sad movie. I love Titanic, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, A Star is Born, Edward Scissorhands, yeah. But my all time favorite movie would be the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy. I can recite the whole script of Dead Man’s Chest and don’t even doubt it.

I just recently saw Akria and have been super obsessed with it, so that may potentially be a favorite.

And The Room is such a gem to me. Midnight showing are such a mood.

•Favorite books?

Hands down the Harry Potter series. I have read them all three times. I also am an avid fanfic reader. Go support your fandom writers plz. They are so precious.

These are some of my favorite writers @prettywordsyouleft @urlocalkpoptrash @katdefbeom @ahgaseda

Favorite pastime?

I’m a huge YouTube Stan. Like, I spend most of my free time watching shitty videos. I’m one of Trishy’s Fishies 🐠🐠🐠

I am super in love with my cat, Miss Boo. So, I try and spend and give as much love to her. ♥️

Something I really love doing is finding new animes to watch with my sister, so shout out to her!

•Do you have any regrets?

I do, but if I had the chance to take them back, I wouldn’t. I have struggled a lot, but realizing that my mistakes have made me grow and learn is something I cherish.

I regret not fully standing Got7 till If You Do. I watched their little asses from debut, but fell in completely later on. Foolish.

•Dream job?

I’m so looking forward to what is ahead of me in social work and therapy. BUT I have always wanted to be an ice skater. Deadass. Or do something in fashion.

•Would you ever like to be married?

Yes! It will happen when it happens, but I know I would really love to grow old with someone and build a family. Let’s hope my prince gets his ass together and come find me. I’ve been waiting.

Where u at Jaebum. The fuck.

•Would you like to have kids?

Definitely. I want to have a huge family with a bunch of pets. I grew up with a yellow lab and when I am out of uni I want to adopt one. Also, I want to have an army of cats.

•How many?

Deadass five or more. Let’s go womb.

•Do you like shopping?

It is a bad habit. Don’t get me started. I admit I spend too much money on stupid stuff. I am such a makeup addict so plz keep me away from Sephora.

•What countries have you visited?

Italy and Greece! I really want to travel more, but my wallet says no, no, no, no, no. I will probably end up living in Minnesota for the rest of my life because I want stay close to my family. Family means everything to me.

Regardless of being labeled as a kpop fan, I would love to visit Korea. I studied four semesters of Korean and would love to put it to use. I have also been a fan since 2013, so through kpop I have taken in a lot of the Korean culture. It would be a dream trip.

•Scariest nightmare you have ever had?

Waking up. JK. I don’t really remember my dreams all that much, but any dream where either someone has died or I am getting chased really freaks me out. I use to have really bad sleep paralysis, but I never had any hallucinations, just the experience of not being able to move or breath is super trippy.

•Any enemies?

Only myself.

•Any significant other?

Yeah, that spot is open right now. Please send in your applications.

I’m pretty sure Jaebum is single right now, just saying.

•Do you believe in miracles?

I want to, but I physically do not think they actually happen. I am a really practical person, but am open to learning and wishing.

I am suppose to insert a Got7 Miracle quote here hehe?

•How are you?

Gucci. Stressing and excited because the semester is coming to an end. And also super hyped because I just ate some good food. Hehe.

Tagging these lovely people! I’m not sure who has done this or not, but if you want to, JUST DO IT!

@lordofassgard @jacksonurs @defsoulsgirl @tuanamino @empressjiaer @youngjaelitist @prettywordsyouleft @mark-tuan-and-namjoon-lover

#omg this took me forever to get done #but i love everyone of u #about me #hehe #personal

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buginetta · 6 years ago

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27 questions tag

Rules: Tag the person who tagged you, answer the questions and tag 20 people: i was tagged by the angel that is lisa, @ladybuginettes!!

1. How tall are you? 5′2″ (fun fact: i thought i was 5′3″ for about a year before i went back to the doctor’s for a check-up and they stole that inch away from me)

2. What color and style is your hair? it’s dark brown. i have side bangs and it’s naturally straight, but i braid it/put it in a bun/ponytail so often it becomes wavy a lot of the time. right now it comes to the lower part of my chest but i think i want to cut it to a little below shoulder length again

3. What color are your eyes? brown. ROMANTICIZE BROWN EYES

4. Do you wear glasses? nope

5. Do you wear braces? no but i might be getting invisalign this year

6. What is your fashion style? it’s been a lot of leggings and hoodies recently but my style is very casual. if i’m not wearing hoodies, i’m probably in a random tee-shirt but i love floral dresses. i wear vans religiously

7. Full name? ashley marie something

8. When were you born? 1998

9. Where are you from and where do you live now? i’m from california and i’m still here! i lived in florida for a few years but i’ve moved back

10. What school do you go to? currently at a community college but i’m waiting for an answer to my transfer application for this fall!!

11. What kind of student are you? i’m embarrassingly studious. not nearly as much as i was in high school, but i have a 3.7 gpa (stupid environmental science & bio brought it down with their stupid b’s) (ha it’s bullshit)

12. Do you like school? eh, depends on the class and teachers really. your school experience is really dependent on the people you interact with and if you like the major you’re studying. i’m a psychology major so i have a pretty good time

13. What are your favorite school subjects? psychology and english!!

14. Favorite TV shows? miraculous is a given, friends, she-ra, dragon prince, you (it was surprisingly good, i wasn’t expecting it to be), sex education, grey’s anatomy, the flash, criminal minds, & girl meets world (it deserved better)

15. Favorite books? oh lordy okay, prisoner of azkaban, the pact by jodi picoult, all the bright places by jennifer niven, the truth about forever/along for the ride/lock & key/just listen by sarah dessen (can u guess who my favorite author is)

16. Favourite past-time? i used to love writing poetry but i don’t have nearly as much time or motivation/inspiration anymore. i’m starting to read more again though so i can actually say it’s my favorite past-time again

17. Do you have any regrets? the last date i went on

18. Dream job? unrealistically, i’d love to be an actor or something along those lines. maybe a music video concept creator. realistically, with psych as my major, i really want to get into the field of addiction and help people who struggle with it, as well as their loved ones who get the backlash of it

19. Would you like to get married? it’s part of the dream

20. Would you like to have kids someday? i think i would, but i know i want to adopt at least one child

21. How many? i think two would be my limit

22. Do you like shopping? only when i don’t have money to, bc then it’s a game to see how much i can stress myself out with my resulting receipts

23. What countries have you visited? well i live in the u.s., but i’ve visited china, taiwan, hong kong, and canada

24. What’s the scariest nightmare you’ve ever had? i think my dad’s best friend was trying to sabotage a date of mine by attempting to k*ll us?? idk i remember him trying to chase after the car with a knife and i woke up absolutely terrified

25. Do you have any enemies? my co-workers

26. Do you have a s/o? i wish

27. Do you believe in miracles? i do!!

i’m just tagging at random so if you’ve already done this or if it’s annoying, i’m sorry!! @marinettas @ladybugs-mask @yikesml @stinkysocksout @drabblesofcass @chatalyst @totographs

#ashley.txt #not ml #hope u learned something new #and kinda useless #ask game

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a-man-adrift · 6 years ago

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Writer Questionnaire

Internet hugs to the super talented @eluari for remembering that I exist, even though I’ve not been providing much evidence of the fact lately!

Short stories, novels, or poems?

I’ve written (or at least started!) all three, but I have a bad habit of not beginning a project unless I can see the path to the end, which usually limits me to shorts, or long-shorts/novellas at most. Usually. There was this one time when a whole novel plot sprang fully formed from my head… I’m still working on The Anti-Agathics War, I swear!

What genre do you prefer reading?

If I had to pick just one, I’d say SF, but I’m also fond of crime stories, thrillers, and Victorian novels.

What genre do you prefer writing?

Again, probably science fiction if I had to pick just the one, although examples abound of how you can tell almost any kind of story within SF… come to think of it, maybe that’s why I like it so much!

Are you a planner or a write-as-I-go kind of person?

A bit betwixt and between, really: I’ve not had a lot of luck with those writing exercises where you just start writing anything and try and bootstrap your way up to an idea, but on the other hand once I’ve had an idea I don’t need to do a lot of planning to run with it. This does vary with length, though: I do have a skeleton for TAAW—one or two sentences per chapter, then sometimes divvying up chapters into scenes—whereas I can generally write a short story straight off the back of the idea for it.

What music do you listen to while writing?

Either something instrumental or something with lyrics I know really really well, so the words don’t distract me. When I’m writing Mass Effect fanfic, as often as not I’ll put the game soundtrack on, since it’s one of the best things about Mass Effect, and has no distracting words!

Fave books/movies/tv shows?

Books: I love Lois McMaster Bujold’s Miles Vorkosigan novels: so much that I can’t pick just one, it has to be the whole series! I’m also very fond of Wilkie Collins, with my favourites probably being Man and Wife, and the short story collection The Queen of Hearts, although his better-known novels, like The Woman in White or The Moonstone, are great too. I also likes me some Isaac Asimov, particularly The Caves of Steel.

Movies: My absolute favourite is The Guard (2011). Thanks to flickchart.com (which I recommend as an excellent waste of any superfluous time you may have hanging around!) I have a top 20, which you can check out at the link if you’re so inclined.

TV Shows: Breaking Bad absolutely deserves the hype, and I’ll always have a sentimental fondness for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, because it’s the Trek series I grew up with.

Any current WIPs?

The Anti-Agathics War is my main ongoing project. I’m in the midst of the first of two chapters that form the climax of the piece, and I’m trying not to spook myself by angsting over whether I can live up to notes in my chapter plan like “Neela makes an awesome speech”!

I also have another Scene from the Life of Phil Shepard about two-thirds done, and generally I feel like I should keep adding to my Mass Effect fic output until I’ve gone from Phil’s parents meeting and deciding to move to Mindoir, all the way to Terri and Nezzy’s and li’l Ashley’s turn to save the galaxy!

If someone were to make a cartoon out of you, what would your standard outfit be?

Haha, probably chinos and an Oxford shirt. I'd make up for it with wacky and memorable dialogue. Hopefully.

Do you like incorporating people you actually know into your writing?

Really no. This was actually one of the things that killed a previous project: I tried joining the hallowed tradition of writing weird and wonderful events set in a university town and lab very much like the one I used to work at, but when I got to writing my viewpoint character meeting a bunch of grad students and post-docs very much like my real-life friends at the time, I found it incredibly skeevy. Guess I’ll stick to aliens and space marines…

Are you kill-happy with characters?

Well, I did kill off Tali’Zorah, even though she’s one of my favourite canon characters, but no, on the whole I probably err the other way, on the side of keeping my character-babies happy!

Coffee or tea while writing?

No thanks!

Slow or fast writer?

Fast when I actually get down to it, which is at such infrequent intervals that, on average, glacially slow.

Where/who/what do you find inspiration from?

Well, obviously as a fanfic writer I’m inspired by my source material, but more generally my writing tends to owe a lot to whatever I’ve been reading most recently. My saving grace, in that regard, if I have one, is that usually I know what source I’m riffing on when I do it, so I can turn it into a comment/reference/tribute to some source or other, rather than a plagiarism.

Most fave book cliche? Least fave book cliche?

OK, I’ll admit it: I like the typical Victorian/Edwardian male author’s conception of romance, where the hero loses his heart to the heroine on usually rather less than a paragraph’s-worth of acquaintance, and then suffers agonies of denial and self-doubt for chapter after chapter (in intervals of the plot moving itself along) until finally she admits that she quite likes him too! I have to add a quote here, because it made me laugh:

'I say again that you are a foolish Robin,' said she, resting her cheek against my shoulder. 'You think your goose is a swan. But go on thinking it, and she will be as near a swan as she can manage, or failing that, a very faithful, affectionate goose.'

I don’t know about least fave, but one cliché I’ve been getting a bit impatient with lately is the one where the protagonist’s parent/mentor-figure dies at the most timely possible moment for the protag to step up and show that they can handle shizz on their own. The man behind the curtain is so apparent in some of these that I wonder if the author just had really overbearing parents of their own, so that they can’t imagine any way a person could fully grow up without the olds getting killed off.

Fave scenes to write?

Fluffy home and family scenes always feel very self-indulgent, but they seem to go down well. One of the perks of being a fanfic author, I guess!

Most productive time of day for writing?

This varies so much that I think the only honest answer is “any time when I don’t have something else I ought to be doing!”

Reason for writing?

Oh, some combination of “Liara is best waifu” and “BIOWARE U DUN GOOFED!”, probably…

I declare Omni-Tag! If you see this and want to play, thou art subject to entagment!

#ask memes

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qodforsakens · 7 years ago

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QUESTIONNAIRE 4 SUFFERING

Q: WHAT IS YOUR MIDDLE NAME ? A: Ashley. Relatively unoriginal, but my mom wanted my middle name to be Blue ( in which case i would have DIED ) Q: HOW OLD ARE YOU ? A: Feel like I’m 12 but I’m almost 20 Q: WHEN IS YOUR BIRTHDAY ? A: March 21st, i’mmA SPRING BABY

Q: WHAT IS YOUR ZODIAC SIGN ? A: Technically an Aries but ig i’m on the “ Pisces Cusp ” ? dk what that means but my mom told me the other day but i feel as if i’ve cheated astrology stuff lols ?

Q: WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE COLOR ? A: I don’t really have one, but I like the color pink a lot so maybe pink

Q: WHAT’S YOUR LUCKY NUMBER ? A: Lucky who ?

Q: DO YOU HAVE ANY PETS ? A: Three ! Bailey, Dana and Melvin.

Q: WHERE ARE YOU FROM ? A: Everywhere ? Born in Missoula, Montana / raised in Wisconsin until I was around 12 / went to school in Montana until I was a sophomore / went for a semester of school during sophomore year in Wild Rose, Wisconsin / moved back to a quaint Deer Lodge, Montana until the end of my junior year / moved to Hudson, Wisconsin my senior year of HS and lived there until July 31st / living in the Shithole that is Mondovi, Wisconsin.

Q: HOW TALL ARE YOU ? A: 5′5 3/4″. The 3/4″ is important to note because I’m NEARLY 5′6″ and most everyone in my family is around 6′. I’m dead inside

Q: WHAT SHOE SIZE ARE YOU ? A: Technically a 9.5 but the size varies by brand.

Q: HOW MANY PAIRS OF SHOES DO YOU OWN ? A: Probably nine, but I hardly wear any of them because I work at the fucking time

Q: WHAT WAS YOUR LAST DREAM ABOUT ? A: I remember that I had ANOTHER dream with u in it but I didn’t remember enough about it that it was worth sharing ? But I did wake up feeling like all of my problems were gone so it was a positive dream

Q: WHAT TALENTS DO YOU HAVE ? A: I can learn songs from musicals in no time.

Q: ARE YOU PSYCHIC IN ANY WAY ? A: No, next question

Q: FAVORITE SONG ? A: My favorite song is either You and I ( Lady Gaga, Born This Way ) or The Cure ( also Gaga, current single )

Q: FAVORITE MOVIE ? A: RENT. Hands down my favorite movie of all time. I could watch it on a loop tbh

Q: WHO WOULD BE YOUR IDEAL PARTNER ? A: Someone who understood that I’m really fucking depressive all the time, like, grossly depressive ? I can joke abt wanting to kill myself 500 times and not mean it, but other times I do and I wish ! ppl could read minds bc having to tell someone that I’m depressed makes me hurt worse bc I feel like a Disappointment

Q: DO YOU WANT CHILDREN ? A: I’m not sure if I do. I mean, at nineteen ? No fucking way. In ten years ? Maybe, I’m thinking yes, but to be decided obviously

Q: DO YOU WANT A CHURCH WEDDING ? A: Probably, but not because I’m religious

Q: ARE YOU RELIGIOUS ? A: I don’t follow any religion, but when I’m scared I repeat, “ i believe in God. ” until my freight vanishes

Q: HAVE YOU EVER BEEN TO THE HOSPITAL ? A: A few times. Three were the most serious. Broke my wrist, caught Lymes Disease via nasty-ass deer ticks and had a concussion from cheer.

Q: HAVE YOU EVER GOT IN TROUBLE WITH THE LAW ? A: Once, and it actually wasn’t my fault. I was, hello, gay-baited and naive, and the gal that gay-baited me told me that it was LEGAL to spray paint. Because it was Montana, I didn’t get into much trouble but was supposed to go to a local courthouse to clear up w/e had happened which never occurred bc not even a month later were we moving to Wisconsin

Q: HAVE YOU EVER MET ANY CELEBRITIES ? A: One but he’s gross so : /

Q: BATHS OR SHOWERS ? A: Showers but only if I don’t have bath bombs to use

Q: WHAT COLOR SOCKS ARE YOU WEARING ? A: Currently none bc I’m in bed and it’s 4:13 a.m.

Q: HAVE YOU EVER BEEN FAMOUS ? A: Thankfully not

Q: WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE A BIG CELEBRITY ? A: Maybe a Broadway star or jazz singer but other than that ? Pass

Q: WHAT TYPE OF MUSIC DO YOU LIKE ? A: MOSTLY SHOW TUNES, BUT GAGA / QUEEN / DAVID BOWIE

Q: HAVE YOU EVER BEEN SKINNY DIPPING ? A: Don’t have the gall to tbh

Q: HOW MANY PILLOWS DO YOU SLEEP WITH ? A: I think six ? Too lazy to count rn

Q: WHAT POSITION DO YOU SLEEP IN ? A: I fall asleep laying on my side, facing the wall, with my legs folded like ? behind me but i always wake up laying on my back so

Q: HOW BIG IS YOUR HOUSE ? A: uh average ?

Q: WHAT DO YOU TYPICALLY HAVE FOR BREAKFAST ? A: I rarely eat which doesn’T show but I sleep and work too much to fit breakfast into an every day schedule

Q: HAVE I EVER FIRED A GUN ? A: My dad is a white male AND a conservative from Montana, u tell me

Q: HAVE YOU TRIED ARCHERY ? A: In high school bc I needed to do it to pass P.E. but it was not my thing

Q: FAVORITE CLEAN WORD ? A: idk if i have one ? i say Mood all the time but that’s not a favorite

Q: FAVORITE SWEAR WORD ? A: Bitchin’

Q: WHAT’S THE LONGEST YOU’VE GONE WITHOUT SLEEP ? A: Around 25-ish hours ? I can’t handle that anymore tho

Q: DO YOU HAVE ANY SCARS ? A: I have a handful of scars on my forehead bc of an Incident in kindergarten, a scar on my left earlobe bc a dog almost ripped my fucking earlobe off and one on my right big toe due to my brother not telling me abt the glass he broke and didn’t clean up : ) that one cut to the bone : ) and a few on my left arm lols

Q: Have you ever had a secret admirer ? A: Not attractive enough tbh

Q: ARE YOU A GOOD LIAR ? A: I don’t lie on per the norm so no. I smile too much tbh

Q: ARE YOU A GOOD JUDGE OF CHARACTER ? A: Usually not.

Q: CAN YOU DO ANY OTHER ACCENTS OTHER THAN YOUR OWN ? A: I can slip into accents for .00006 seconds but no one ever hears them

Q: DO YOU HAVE A STRONG ACCENT ? A: God I wish

Q: WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ACCENT ? A: Boston / Mass accents.

Q: WHAT IS YOUR PERSONALITY TYPE ? A: This requires me to take a long-ass test n i’m not gna do that rn

Q: WHAT IS YOUR MOST EXPENSIVE PIECE OF CLOTHING ? A: Probably my $70-$80 jeans that are now Ruined

Q: CAN YOU CURL YOUR TONGUE ? A: Mhm

Q: ARE YOU AN INNIE OR AN OUTIE ? A: Innie

Q: LEFT OR RIGHT HANDED ? A: Right

Q: ARE YOU AFRAID OF SPIDERS ? A: Naturally

Q: FAVORITE FOOD ? A: Highkey Gyros

Q: FAVORITE FOREIGN FOOD ? A: GYROS

Q: ARE YOU A CLEAN OR MESSY PERSON ? A: Both : (

Q: MOST USED PHRASE ? A: haHahahA whatta mood !

Q: MOST USED WORD ? A: Mood

Q: HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE FOR YOU TO GET READY ? A: Two hours

Q: DO YOU HAVE MUCH OF AN EGO ? A: Probably best known for forgetting things

Q: DO YOU SUCK OR BITE LOLLIPOPS ? A: suck eM

Q: DO YOU TALK TO YOURSELF ? A: Probably

Q: DO YOU SING TO YOURSELF ? A: All the time

Q: ARE YOU A GOOD SINGER ? A: I’ve been told that I am by a handful of ppl but who knows

Q: BIGGEST FEAR ? A: Drowning, burning to death or being stabbed in either lung bc yiKEs

Q: ARE YOU A GOSSIP ? A: Not necessarily tbh

Q: BEST DRAMATIC MOVIE YOU’VE SEEN ? A: Baby driver but it wasn’t rlly dramatic ?

Q: DO YOU LIKE LONG OR SHORT HAIR ? A: On me, it’s a tie tbh. I love long hair until I have it n then I want it shoRT SO

Q: CAN YOU NAME ALL 50 STATES OF AMERICA ? A: If I have a while to think abt them then yes. If not, no

Q: FAVORITE SCHOOL SUBJECT ? A: English / Language

Q: EXTROVERT OR INTROVERT ? A: Intro x100

Q: HAVE YOU EVER BEEN SCUBA DIVING ? A: No and I don’t want to

Q: WHAT MAKES YOU NERVOUS ? A: Being honest abt how I feel regardless of context

Q: ARE YOU SCARED OF THE DARK ? A: I’m the Biggest baby so yes

Q: DO YOU CORRECT PEOPLE WHEN THEY MAKE MISTAKES ? A: Not verbally bc I wasn’t raised in the jungle

Q: ARE YOU TICKLISH ? A: EvERYWHERE

Q: HAVE YOU EVER STARTED A RUMOR ? A: Gross, no

Q: HAVE YOU EVER BEEN IN A POSITION OF AUTHORITY ? A: Once for a hs class assignment but I’m the only one who worked on the project in the long-run

Q: HAVE YOU EVER DRANK UNDERAGE ? A: mhm

Q: HAVE YOU EVER DONE DRUGS ? A: Only smoked weed tbh

Q: WHO WAS YOUR FIRST REAL CRUSH ? A: My kindergarten boyfriend, how the turntables

Q: HOW MANY PIERCINGS DO YOU HAVE ? A: Eleven

Q: CAN YOU ROLL YOUR Rs ? A: Barely !

Q: HOW FAST CAN YOU TYPE ? A: Pretty fast, idk the wpm tho

Q: HOW FAST CAN YOU RUN ? A: What is this, middle school ?

Q: WHAT COLOR IS YOUR HAIR ? A: Bleached bitch

Q: WHAT COLOR ARE YOUR EYES ? A: Brown

Q: WHAT ARE YOU ALLERGIC TO ? A: Cats, unfortunately

Q: DO YOU KEEP A JOURNAL ? A: I don’t but should

Q: WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS DO ? A: My dad is a licensed Electrician and my mom works at a grocery store

Q: DO YOU LIKE YOUR AGE ? A: I feel 12 yall

Q: WHAT MAKES YOU ANGRY ? A: Being mocked or people bickering with me over something that I’m obviously right about

Q: DO YOU LIKE YOUR OWN NAME ? A: Skye is a shit name tbh, would change it to Liz if my parents wouldn’t freak out about it.

Q: HAVE YOU ALREADY THOUGHT OF BABY NAMES, AND IF SO WHAT ARE THEY ? A: I love feminine / strong / unisex names.

Q: DO YOU WANT A BOY OR GIRL FOR A CHILD ? A: Idk probably either

Q: WHAT ARE YOUR STRENGTHS ? A: Doubting everyone

Q: WHAT ARE YOUR WEAKNESSES ? A: Assuming the worst of ppl

Q: HOW DID YOU GET YOUR NAME ? A: Well, my mom wrote a list of names on a sheet of paper and my dad liked Skye so here we are. I was almost a Chloe / Mercedes / Samantha.

Q: WERE YOUR ANCESTORS ROYALTY ? A: Obviously not

Q: COLOR OF YOUR BEDSPREAD ? A: Black ONLY because my main sheets had been washed recently and I haven’t changed back

Q: COLOR OF YOUR ROOM ? A: Yellow but not by choice

And the meme is from HERE. Tagging @heartcraves but u genuinely don’t have to do this bc it took me almost two hours so please spare yourself

#personal tbt.#i wanted to stop @ question 19 but here we are #this Goes to my mom who says i haVE NO FOLLOW THRU

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businessguide12-blog · 6 years ago

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Tips for Shopping for a Plus Size Wedding Dress

New Post has been published on https://businessqia.com/awesome/tips-for-shopping-for-a-plus-size-wedding-dress/

Tips for Shopping for a Plus Size Wedding Dress

Shopping for a wedding dress should be fun! Even if you’ve not been into that whole “fairytale wedding” thing your entire life, you still want the shopping experience to be fun, and to have that bridal moment where you realize you’ve found THE dress. The reality for many plus size brides, however, is really different.

Why is it so hard for boutiques to offer plus size wedding dresses? What can a plus bride expect at a bridal appointment? What if I’m self-conscious? Keep reading for answers to these questions, straight from the mouths of boutique owners.

All photos by Love Hunters

One of the biggest worries about planning my wedding was being able to find a wedding dress that fit, flattered, and expressed my personal style. Traditional bridal samples are in smaller sizes. This means as a size 26, I couldn’t simply walk into a store and try on gowns. Even if a store had brands that were available in plus sizes, the likelihood of having a sample in-store that I could squeeze into was small. There was no way I was going to buy a gown by staring at it on a hanger. The excitement of going dress shopping can turn to dread for many curvy brides.

It’s difficult when many wedding blogs, vendor social media accounts, and websites show very few plus size brides. I wrote about this frustration a while back as I was planning my October wedding. I did find a good selection of samples in my size at David’s Bridal (read about my experience here), but I didn’t find exactly what I was looking for there. Right before I started dress shopping, I met two women who own The Couture Closet Boutique in La Grange, KY (about 15 miles outside of Louisville) who said they had plus samples. I was a little leery: would the selection be tiny? Would the dresses look like every other dress I’ve seen already? Did they consider a “plus” sample to be a size 14? Not only did they prove my skepticism completely unwarranted, but they have also continued to blow me away with their commitment to their brides of all sizes:

They had gorgeous samples of all sizes in store, and I found my gown within 45 minutesThey have continued to expand their plus samples over the past yearThey have consistently posted brides of all sizes on their social channels (their Instagram is swoon-worthy)They put together a styled shoot with several of their curvy brides from the past year, so they would have more beautiful images to share with people. This is no small feat and requires a lot of coordination, time, and money to execute. All of the images in this post are from the styled shoot – vendor credits at the end.When they went to see the collection of the designer of my dress, Ashley & Justin, I had asked if they’d pass along the message that they needed plus size brides on their social channels. When I bought my dress, there wasn’t a single plus bride on their site or social channels, despite offering dresses up to a size 30. Part of me was frustrated for not supporting a designer that embraced plus more, but I loved the dress so much. Guess what? They passed along the message, and Ashley & Justin have since featured 3 of my photos. Not that the goal was to get my photos in particular shared, but having never seen a visibly plus person on their feed, I am thankful and hopeful they’ll feature even more!2 weeks ago, they told me they’ve updated their styled shoot guidelines. If a vendor requests more than 1 dress for a shoot, they have to also include a plus size dress and model! Talk about a way to push the industry as a whole forward, at least locally!

Me in my dress by Ashley & Justin from The Couture Closet Boutique

I found my gown in under 45 minutes and knew it was the right decision. I didn’t feel stressed during the shopping experience and didn’t compromise on exactly what I wanted. Unfortunately for many brides-to-be that have reached out since I started sharing my experience, this isn’t the case. I asked Lauren and Tera, owners of The Couture Closet Boutique if they’d answer some questions for me about plus gowns in particular: what do brides-to-be need to know about shopping? Why don’t more stores have plus samples? What can a bride expect at an appointment?

Q: Tell us a brief history of The Couture Closet – when did you all open, why wedding dresses, what do you like most about the bridal business?

A: We opened our doors January 2, 2007. At first, we did it all….wedding dresses, bridesmaids, moms, prom, shoes, and accessories. It took us years to determine that specializing in one thing was the way to go. So STEP 1 we eliminated the prom and mothers, deciding to focus on bridal, bridesmaid, and accessories. Then, once the internet became the go-to for bridesmaids dresses, and the trend started gravitating toward letting maids wear “non-traditional bridesmaid” dresses, it didn’t make sense for us to pour our resources into something that wasn’t making money for the shop. So then, STEP 2, we decided to part ways with bridesmaids and take those funds and floorspace and use them at something that had been pulling at our heart strings, Plus Size Bridal Gowns. It took over a year to build our collection but we finally debuted our Plus Size Bridal Collection in October 2017. It took a decade to get to this point, but we are so thrilled to specialize in just the Bride, of every shape and size!

Lauren and Tera of The Couture Closet Bridal Boutique

We opened our doors wanting to provide exceptional customer service, in a space that is exceptionally beautiful and comfortable. We want to give a high-end experience without a high-end price tag. We are advocates for body positivity, a judgement free boutique, we respect all love, and enjoy having a role in supporting or encouraging the brides gut feeling and her inner voice. NOT the voice of her entourage, but HER inner voice.

Tera: What I love is being a place our brides can trust and know we are going to taken care of them. From the start of an appointment we may have no clear idea of what will work, and then by the end find a dress that lights the bride up. Sometimes, we listen and watch the body language of a bride, and then sometimes it’s obvious. Each story is different, every bride is unique in her own way. Being a part of this occasion definitely makes this a rewarding job.

Lauren: What I love is the ability to create memories for the bride and her family. When the bride thinks back to her time planning her wedding I want her to remember picking out her dress and feeling supported by our staff, being heard by us, and being loved by us throughout this season in her life.

Q: So many bridal salons still have limited plus size samples. What made you all decide to bring plus samples in?

A: We always had a handful of plus size samples, but when we decided to “go all in” and invest in the collection, it was late 2015. What made us take the leap was opening up retail floor space and finances when we let go of the bridesmaid dresses. We could add 50-75 more bridal gowns so we decided that those gowns should be Plus Size because it had been on our hearts for so long. After years of having Plus Size brides in our store we felt sad, disappointed and, sometimes, down right flustered because we knew we didn’t have that many options. Yet, even with a handful of Plus Size gowns, the Curvy brides would cry HAPPY tears and share their previous shopping experience and how our boutique was so different, caring, and made them feel good about themselves. Even with their positive feedback, we still felt we were not providing an ideal appointment for them, it just wasn’t up to our expectations. If we felt disappointed, how were they feeling?!

Choosing to pick up any designer has a large price tag no matter the size of the samples. Deciding to invest in new lines cost thousands and thousands of dollars. We want to see that season after season the designer produces styles we want, so as store owners, we feel confident investing and expanding in our purchases. That means buying beyond the minimum and/or purchasing two sizes in certain gowns. We do not get these gowns free from designers, so of course there is a risk on our end. If the designer is a flop, we can take a huge financial hit. Deciding to invest in the any line is a big gamble. So over a year we accumulated enough gowns that we finally felt confident to announce that “we carried plus size gowns”. In our case our magic number was about 30 gowns in sizes 18-30. In October of 2017, we debuted the collection and made it official! To date we have about 50 plus size gowns and the number keeps growing!

Q: I think many brides assume it’s easy to have samples of all sizes in a store, which is why it’s frustrating. Why don’t more stores have plus samples?

A: You are totally right, it seems like it should be simple but it is not an easy feat, especially being a small business. We have to buy each and every dress that is shown on the floor with no discounts at all. They are not on loan from the designer.

AWARENESS + COST plays a big role: One thing that’s a struggle for small boutiques is actually getting enough Plus Size brides through the door to justify the cost. Throughout the course of bridal boutique history, the Plus Size brides have learned to stay away from small boutiques. In the past, smaller boutiques gave the great experiences, but they didn’t carry their size. A safe guess is that boutiques can’t afford to add Plus Size and if they can, it’s still hard to get the word out. Even with the recent addition, debut, and advertising of Plus Size Wedding Gowns at our shop, it took almost a year before we saw a (somewhat) consistent flow of brides over a size 18 make appointments. So for a year we’ve seen increase in sales, but not where we wish. But of course, we weren’t giving up! We knew it would take time to get the word out and get photos from real brides weddings to share on our social media to bring more awareness that we are a place to shop! The very real and unfortunate part that looms over us, is that without the steady traffic of brides over a size 18 in the shop, it’s hard to see why we use our floor space and/or investment. Over these past few years we have seen an increase. We are sure the internet searches and social media has helped. We still are working on getting the word out and are devoted to it! So we would love it if you’d please help spread the word!!!! Special thank you to Emily for helping us with that!!! You’ve been a leader in this for us and we greatly appreciate it!

On one hand we have to be aware of what the returns on our investment are. On the other (emotional) hand, we want to be able to help every bride zip up in a dress and give them many options! The hard truth + vulnerable truth is, we are in business, and we have to let go of things that do not work and invest in what does. Right now, we are remaining committed to building this collection and hope that within the next year we see that it works and that this is a great match for us! There are a lot of factors and a lot of the unknown. As of now, we have honed in on Bridal ONLY and hope that for many years to come we have brides of ALL shapes and sizes walking into our doors.

Q: How do you choose which samples you bring into the store?

In the bridal industry you are not able to carry a designer just because you love it. It has to be available in your “territory” and/or make sense financially for the store. We could have a designer that requires us to purchase 18 new sample gowns a year, while another one may require 10. That could be a several thousand dollar difference between those two designers! We need to have terms that fit us, because in the end we want to stay in business so we can continue serving our brides. We have to look for designers that are consistent on their style throughout the seasons. We can’t choose designers that have beautiful gowns one season and horrible gowns the next. Once we invest in a designer it isn’t smart business to get the gowns in the shop only to part ways with them the next season because the line isn’t strong.

We attend bridal market twice a year, once in the Spring and once in the Fall. Each time we purchase the minimums from our designers, or if we are head over heels with a season, we will purchase more than the minimums!!! We pick styles that we know “fits a need” or know our brides love. Sometimes we are more focused on specific necklines, or maybe its a skirt or a material we are lacking in the shop. The main thing is, we are shopping for the type of bride that come to Couture Closet, and that is the bride we build our inventory around. Sometimes our bride changes but for the most part we are shopping for the romantic, whimsical, modern, and boho bride.

Sometimes we come across a gown we ordered in traditional bridal sizing and learn pretty quickly that a certain bust line would be great for our plus size ladies. A certain fabric would be great for our curvy clients or a certain cut would be helpful for a fuller waist, or hip. Then we might purchase that dress (again, because we already bought it in a sample size 12) for our plus size collection.

Q: I know one thing you all have worked on a lot, and we’ve talked about extensively, is lack of representation of plus brides across the industry: from vendor websites to styled shoots. Why do you think representation is important, and what are you doing to help with that?

A: The lack of representation is very real and honestly we didn’t know it was a concern until we started talking to brides and doing our research. It’s a vulnerable topic and requires some real talk and the right questions. For YEARS our “average” size brides haven’t even been able to relate to the 00 size models in the wedding magazines and designer websites. So the plus size brides were EXTREMELY left out. Now that social media is the best way to reach new brides, we email every single one of our #ccbrides after their wedding, checking in and letting them know we would love to share their wedding pictures on our website and social media accounts (if that interests them). We have noticed slowly but surely our Plus Size brides will share these with us, where our non-Plus Size brides will almost always share their photos. Maybe they are sharing because they are actively seeing us strive for positive body talk and representation. We want to help change the face of the industry and it takes all of us, shop owners and brides alike, to make steps to do this! We love sharing and representing all sizes of our amazing and confident #ccbrides. Emily, YOU have helped with this this sooooooo much! With your wedding pictures and the styled shoot you participles in, YOU have been a major player in making this change! THANK YOU!!!

Thankfully it seems that 2018 was the year that we have noticed designers hearing the comments and starting their plan of action on how to address this for their models, gown options, and offerings. We have seen high profile designers like Hayley Paige adding Plus Size models to her social media and tweaking her designs to fit a fuller figure. We have seen designers like Lillian West add on Plus Size packages to make it less expensive for boutiques to add Plus Size gowns to their inventory (and Lillian West doesn’t charge an UP SIZE charges to ANY of their gowns!!!!!). We have seen Plus Size designers popping up who ONLY cater to brides size 12-32 instead of size 0-20. We are seeing more and more brides owning their curves and embracing them! 2018 looks like it was a pivotal point and we hope the momentum doesn’t stop!!!

Q: For the nervous curvy bride-to-be, can you describe what an appointment looks like?

A: First of all brides of EVERY size are nervous about trying on wedding gowns. And for every Plus Size bride that is worried about her curves, there is a teeny tiny thin bride who is worried about not filling out a dress properly. Most brides are worried and nervous about some part of their body being exposed, or on display. As a bridal consultant, we are here to LISTEN and HEAR what you are worried about OR heck listen and hear what you LOVE about yourself and want to showoff! We have your back and want to help you find the dress that flatters, highlights, or hides all the parts you are worried about or love. When you first walk into OUR shop you are greeted by your consultant, taken to your semi-private area (you won’t be sharing seating or mirror space with anyone else in our shop). You will chat with your bridal consultant about styles, what you want to cover, what you want to show off, your likes and dislikes in fashion, and budget. Then we will get down to shopping. We will help you select about 5 gowns (so you don’t get too overwhelmed) and once we have seen you in a few and listened to your feedback about each one, we will feel confident in selecting a few more for you to try on. We NEVER pressure you in our shop. Your gown might not be here. We will NEVER try and convince you that you look great in strapless when you feel uncomfortable in strapless, or that you should wear a mermaid if you hate your hips. We don’t talk about loosing weight unless you want to, and we typically don’t even suggest shape-wear unless you want it. We want to celebrate you as you are!

Q: To expand on the question above, what should a bride wear, or bring to her appointment? What if she’s self conscious about getting undressed with others – any tips or words of wisdom for her?

A: We always encourage brides to wear what they are comfortable wearing. So if that means full shape wear, that is fine. If she wants to wear a bra that’s fine too. Of course, underwear is required, but if she wants to go bra-less, we are fine with that as well. There will not be any judging. Promise! There will be a consultant in the fitting room helping you into the gowns but we have been doing this a long time and NOTHING surprises us. We have a fan in our fitting rooms in case you get too warm, and chances are we will turn it on (but if we don’t feel free to turn it on yourself) …..it’s a little workout trying on gowns!!! All of our brides nerves fade away within the first dress or two. We promise. You can do this! You deserve an incredible experience, and you don’t need to change or be anything else than what you are.

Q: Can you give me some names of designers that you have plus samples of? Best way to make an appointment?

A: We carry Callista Bridal that is exclusively Plus Size, and we have Plus Size gowns from Lillian West, Jasmine, Lis Simon, Ashley and Justin, and a Private Label that is exclusive to our shop. Hayley Paige just launched her size inclusive line so you may start seeing a few of those in the coming the next months as well! The best and easiest was to make an appointment is online via this link.After you submit your appointment you will get a confirmation. One thing we added to the bottom of that confirmation email is a “Wedding Dress Details” tab. There you can let us know anything you want. Anything that is helpful! Tell us you are Plus Size, or Curvy, or Full Figured. Or just use the check boxes to describe what you like. You can also include your Pinterest page so we can see what styles you gravitate to. We can’t wait to hear from you soon!!

Thank you so much to Lauren & Tera for answering all of my questions about this. I think it’s important for brides to remember that they have a choice where they take their business, and also for everyone to understand why it’s not so simple for boutiques to simply add more plus sizes.

The 411: The Couture Closet Boutique123 East Main StreetLa Grange, Kentucky 40031Phone: 502-225-0305Email: [email protected]: @couturecloset_kyFacebookPinterest

Styled Shoot Credits:Dresses: The Couture Closet BoutiquePhotography: Susan with Love HuntersFloral: Rose & HoneyHair and Makeup: Sara Drury

Tips for Shopping for a Plus Size Wedding Dress originally appeared on Authentically Emmie on February 6, 2019. If you are reading this on a different site or a different feed than Authentically Emmie, it has been taken without permission.

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