#basically I’m a nuisance to them in life and will also be in death
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psychoticwillgraham · 1 year ago
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*talking about funerals with mom and sis for some reason*
me: ‘well y’all should just throw me in the dump bc I have no insurance due to being a constant suicide risk’
sis: ‘well then don’t fucking kill yourself because if you do, im not footing the 12k bill to bury you because suicide would be inconsiderate to us and wouldn’t deserve a burial. moms not allowed to pay either, so your ass is getting burned’
me: *through watery eyes* ‘ok :))’
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robolvrr · 2 months ago
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Hi! I’m 19 just to clarify in case of anything.
Can I request HCS for TFA Optimus and Megatron with a childish human female reader, that basically yaps a lot and is energetic asf?
I was also wondering if you could make a NSFW version too? Tysm☺️🙏💕
hey non! gladly. 🤖
nsfw under the cut.
all charged up! ⊰⁠⊹ฺ⚡
tfa! optimus & megatron headcanons for a childish/energetic reader (fem! human)
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"no, don't touch that. wh -- no, don't touch that either! oh, by the allspark, hellooo!"
optimus prime
remember when i said optimus stressed out protecting humanity?
yeah, this was primarily the source of why.
he's always got tons of responsibility placed on his shoulders.
his team, for one, is always managing to get themselves into trouble and while he cares for them deeply, he's gonna start gaining faceplate dents like ratchet.
so when you get fumbled in the crew? he thinks that maybe karma is out to get him from some past transgression.
"can i touch that?"
"no."
"how about.. this!"
"wh-- no. are you trying to lose one of those things?"
"fingers?"
"not the point. it's an axe, not a toy."
he chides you just like everyone else out of love.
if he didn't care (which just isn't in his circuits, is there a rusted piston anywhere in that heroic frame?) he'd let you go wild.
when the threat of death isn't looming though?
finds your characteristics to be rather charming. he is after all familiar with bee and the twins and sari.
you have a strange way of encouraging him to relax, believe it or not. remind him life isn't just work and balancing the universe in his servos.
when he isn't in a mood, he likes to listen to you ramble.
you have a unique perspective. like how you talk to him for hours about how you thought ghosts were real and ask silly questions about his culture like "do you guys eat rocks?"
he goes to you the most to consult about earth.
hyperfixations? he may not understand a lick of yours or just what "my little pony was and how it changed the internet for years to come", but he lets you animatedly describe every thought on every inch of your brain.
let's you sit on his shoulders.
similar to your planet, you've gotten him warmed up to you.
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"just how much longer do you plan on prattling, little one?"
megatron
he's mean.
i mean, what do you expect from an galactic warlord?
not to say he doesn't find amusement in the behavior. his lackeys frequently argue and get into ridiculous situations and arguments on a cycles basis.
however, he doesn't like organics. given his predicament, fiending without the power of a frame to push his narratives for so long builds resentment.
at first he finds you an absolute nuisance. you were really a comment away from having shockwave get a hold of you instead.
he's kidnapped you from the autobots because similar to that meddlesome doctors offspring, they clearly hold high regards for you.
you just didn't stop talking.
yes, you got the large glass jar treatment.
yes, he did rattle it once when you asked him if "decepticons sounded like band name."
when he's feeling boredom, he'll demand you try to say anything interesting.
he holds little regard to your feelings. though he does find the need, almost craving, for you to constantly be restless.... somewhat entertaining.
think of how one looks at a mangy mutt. (isn't he a gentlemech?!)
nsfw.
optimus prime
"hahhh.. hff. just h-how long can you keep up this pace, haha!?"
you have the libido of a bunny.
optimus learns the hard way, when you first start to get intimate.
you're eager -- you both are -- but he finds your wandering hands to be almost overwhelming as you just can't keep still.
you ask him lots and lots of questions. how big is he? can you lick his valve? are those fluids toxic? do you need to get protection?
his helm is hot to the touch. he ends up putting his digit in your mouth as a distraction.
interfacing with you is never slow. it's why he has to concentrate every control filter to not slamming into you when you claw at his array and whine at him to stop being a bully.
he's about to correct you but of course, you're talking. his audials are close to setting on fire.
you shove yourself on his spike and he bites his dermas hard, because you're just so eager and he's way too big. just the tip is enough to create a bulge at your mound and suddenly, his intake feels very, very dry.
you're so talkative. too talkative.
"ha... mmn! your spike is so, so good! i-i can't believe i'm doing this! sex with a giant. ahn! robot!!! this is the best day of my life!"
his optics are burning and bright. your excitement drips down his shaft.
when the compliments get to be too much, he ends up grabbing your wrists and pinning them behind you, bouncing your body against his hips.
he silences you a lot with kisses. not out of annoyance (though sometimes you do get too loud and he's not trying to risk waking up the entire base), but because you fluster him so damn bad.
when he overloads and you're squealing, he lifts you up just to see the sticky transfluid roll down your ankles.
".... another round?"
"another!?"
megatron
"not so chatty now, are you little one?"
megatron's cruelty does not stop at the berthroom.
his way of dealing with your nonstop buzzing? is to simply frag it out of you.
it's painfully indulgent. you're the size of nothing compared to him, a behemoth of a being outside your comprehension. he treats you like a sleeve.
you ask the stupid notion if maybe he needed to get his frustration out in a more "fun" way.
then maybe he wouldn't be so gloomy all the time!
the look he gives is terrifying. that smile isn't helping either....
all that energy and innocent glee? he plans on putting to good use.
now, he finds your cherub nature enchanting. how you whine and chirp out silly protests, huffing how he's just a "big, bad meanie" and you were gonna "make him regret it, so help it!"
"yesss, yesss. cry harder, little human."
takes you from behind so he can stick a single digit in the pocket of your cheek. you loll your tongue out in a way he finds appealing and stupid.
when you go on rambles amidst his planning, primarily when you are bored and lonely, don't be surprised if he opens his panels at your chin and pops it in between your lips.
"am... i... ffff.. a-am i gonna get pregnant with your little ro--"
"don't finish that imbecilic question unless you want this to be the last time, girl."
megatron's human concubine. there's a first time in history for everything, after all.
deep down? he doesn't want you to change a bit. he rather likes breaking you down.
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arwenkenobi48 · 1 year ago
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My thoughts after seeing Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama
Rama and Lakshman are the best brothers ever (also Rama literally killed multiple demons with divine weapons as a teenager and that’s honestly more than I accomplished at 15)
Sita has Disney Princess powers
“I will cleave your filthy brain in two!” is not a line I expected to hear from a PG rated movie
Bharata is underrated
Surpanakha needs therapy (and a nose job)
Why is Maricha kinda- 😏
Ravana seriously needs to keep it in his pants (I was mentally shaking his shoulders and yelling “when will you learn that your actions have consequences!?” at him the entire time)
Rama furiously declaring he’ll hunt Ravana to the ends of the universe and then Lakshman just casually telling him to calm down was way funnier than it had any right to be
RIP Jatayu
The sentient mountain turning out to be a demigod literally felt like an NPC side quest in a fantasy RPG
Hanuman is the GOAT
I love how Jambavan just randomly drops the bombshell on Hanuman that he has divine powers, also his voice is weirdly amusing
Hanuman gets swallowed by a sea serpent, then promptly chops the thing up into sushi
Ravana’s giving off vaguely yandere vibes and I’m all here for it
Hanuman introducing himself to Sita with a beautiful song legit warmed my heart so much, he’s so wholesome
Ravana filing his nails while listening to Hanuman’s speech only to be like “kill him” was darkly hilarious
“alright, but set fire to his tail first, then let him go home” Ravana WTH-
Then Hanuman subsequently commits arson and burns down half the city of Lanka (cue the theme from It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia)
I have only known Vibhishana for a minute and a half but if anything happened to him I would kill everyone in this room and then myself /j
Bridge building montage woohooo
Why do all the rakshasas sound either animalistic or flamboyant?
Speaking of which, there’s no way Indrajit is straight, no man who wears indigo eyeshadow, a crop top, no trousers and knee high boots isn’t at least a little bit bent
“Oh, what a nuisance! This is bothering me!” Ah yes, just how I’d describe being in the middle of a battle between literal demons and very floofy monkeys
Rama’s speech about respecting life was genuinely one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever heard
Kumbhakarna is the best boi
Kumbhakarna is the best round sleepy boi in the history of everything
His sons were absolute badasses and their deaths made me sad (not at all helped by his heartbroken expression when he found out)
I love how it literally took being waterboarded to wake up this giant
Vibhishana just casually mentioning to Rama that Kumbhakarna would become immortal after sleeping for SIX WHOLE MONTHS
Literally everything about Kumbhakarna is immensely endearing to me in a way I cannot explain, I just wanna smoosh his cheeks and feed him strawberry mochi, also he so ROUND
Kumbhakarna, don’t eat the Vanaras ffs
Kumbhakarna getting increasingly frustrated by the flying demons buzzing around him like mosquitoes should become a meme/reaction gif, purely because of how he yells “yOu ArE aNnOyInG mE!” at them
*two strikes of a divine sword later* NUUUUU MY BABYYYYY 😭
“I wish I’d known him as a friend, Vibhishana” that’s it, happy AU where everybody lives and they’re all besties let’s gooooo *crying inside*
The way Ravana’s voice quakes when he hears he’s now sans a brother 🥺
Indrajit is horrible but I love him
HANUMAN JUST AIRLIFTED A FUCKING MOUNTAIN HOLY SMOKES-
Omgggg an aerial battle this is so cool- INDRAJIT NOOOOO
RAVANA WHERE DID YOU GET AN AEROPLANE???
Yikes, Ravana, you’re really laying on the body horror here 😳
Awww Rama and Sita are together again yayyyy
Yasssss happy ending we love to see it!
Why are they flying to the moon in a glittering gold helicopter???
Basically, I love this movie and everything about it, especially Kumbhakarna 💞
(Also for the record I mean absolutely no disrespect by any of this)
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mysteryman-17 · 2 years ago
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[EDIT 5/11/2023: Be sure to check out the updated version!] The amazing art in this video was made by @bittybattybunny. She did an incredible job bringing the concept I had for this lil project to life; be sure to check out their other work!
You can listen to this track in high quality on my SoundCloud, as well as find the separate vocal and instrumental renders over on Google Drive -- in both WAV and OGG format! (For charters/modders: tempo starts off as 91, but switches to 110 at about 31.681 secs into the song. Time signature for the whole song is 4/4.) In addition, for the first time in almost two years, I’ve mirrored this video on my YouTube!! The rest of the description (including my brief story idea for this concept) is underneath the Read More.
Story: Boyfriend rummages through Snatcher's things in his tree. The Subcon Minions notice and quickly try to get him to leave, figuring Snatcher will be mad. He is, but not enough to actively hunt down a nuisance that's already leaving. BF is walking out of Subcon Forest as heard in the very start of the song, the old stuff he rummaged through still fresh in his mind as he takes in the once-beautiful scenery. But all of a sudden (at 0:31 in the track,) he trips one of the forest's many traps and is dragged into Snatcher's contract-signing dimension. Snatcher pops up excitedly, looking forward to tormenting someone with the prospect of menial labor (followed by death!) ...But then he sees that it's BF again, and is basically like "bruh..." But hey, a soul's a soul, so he's just gonna get this over with. Or so he thinks.
Ladies and gents, behold: my first "proper" FNF-styled track!! So firstly, like, I am genuinely shocked that I'm THE FIRST ONE to try to make a ground-up FNF track for Snatcher. I can't even find an actual track based on Your Contract Has Expired anywhere (only direct ports with random charts slapped on top,) and that's essentially the Megalovania of A Hat In Time!! ...Anyhow, upon seeing this shocking gap in the FNF fandom's musical lineup, I knew I had to TRY to throw my hat into the ring with this at least once -- I figured at this point that if I didn't do it, chances were slim to none that anyone else would. As for how I decided to go about working on this track: Oh It's You left me so much room for jazzy swagger, and Alpha Bookstore brought the potential to integrate his tragic backstory as the Prince into the mix. I also directly sampled Snatcher's Contractual Obligations for a better transition between the two initial sections lmao. I wanted to have the best of both worlds shine here, and sort of "sum up" Snatcher: a spooky, pompous bastard with a dark sense of humor, but also one that once had a heart of gold long ago (and maybe still *has* a hint of the old him in there... somewhere. If you squint hard enough.) It was tricky to get certain things sounding as I wanted them to, especially since I was worried the two tracks might not fuse well! All in all tho, I am incredibly satisfied with how this turned out, and I hope you all enjoy.
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agentnico · 5 months ago
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A Quiet Place: Day One (2024) review
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Well, well, well, guess Eddie Munson ain’t a one trick pony after all.
Plot: When New York City comes under attack from an alien invasion, a woman and other survivors try to find a way to safety. They soon learn that they must remain absolutely silent as the mysterious creatures are drawn to the slightest sound.
I was fairly surprised when I heard a few years back that the director of the indie emotional drainer Pig (that was made on a $3 million budget) was picked to take on the $70 million prequel to the major A Quiet Place franchise, and one that was set right in the Big Apple itself, New York City. And I’m not sure how much you know about NYC - but it’s huge! With lots of people. Add to that the alien invasion aspect, one can expect something very different to Pig, with more so in the lines of Cloverfield. However, we shouldn’t have questioned Michael Sarnoski after all, as even though the first 10 minutes start with a bang, most of the movie (aside from some big set pieces) ends up still prioritising the human element of it all. There is something oddly sincere and sweet about Sarnoski centering a studio vehicle movie on a cancer patient who wants nothing more than to get a slice of pizza. It in some ways simplifies humanity to its most basic and innocent instincts, and where this movie succeeds the most is when that humanity is allowed to shine through and shine bright.
Narrative wise, aside from the no-talking and make-no-sound gimmick this is a very by-the-numbers alien attack story, and part of me does wish that the film took more opportunity from its Day One title. I was expecting to see the origins of how people realised that these freaky clicking crab creatures only attacked things based on sound, however the main character played by Lupita Nyong’o gets knocked out during the first attack and when she wakes up everyone seems to already be fully in the know that sound is illegal from now on under threat of death. Sort of defeated the purpose of needing a prequel to A Quiet Place. And I don’t know, I also kind of wanted to see more people get constantly gruesomely f-ed up and ripped apart seeing as this movie is released in peak summer blockbuster season. Again, I’m thinking of Cloverfield again. And maybe I still haven’t recovered from the pointless silly yet endlessly entertaining titan monster brawl in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. Gosh that movie was so stupid, yet I had a blast. Sometimes you just need that ridiculous big budget beat-them-up, and summer is when you need that the most. Again though, not dissing A Quiet Place: Day One - it’s actually a very interesting approach to the alien invasion genre; it simply took me off guard a little with my expectations.
Lupita Nyong’o and Joseph Quinn are truly fantastic in this film. They deliver so much emotion and nuisance through their expressions, with many chunks of the film seeing them communicate simply through glances and nods. Nyong’o especially does well carrying the heavyweight nature of her character suffering from cancer, yet Quinn really showcases his puppy dog eyes, and also makes the audience feel really sorry for him every time his character had another panic attack. Then there is the cat. Look, the cat is cute and also has way more screen-time than I believe it should have, but overall I enjoyed the cat. It may be the most unrealistic cat ever in that it makes absolutely no sound. In real life that cat would have caused our heroes’ demise at least 500 times. But no, I got nothing against the cat, it served its purpose.
Genuinely I was surprised by A Quiet Place: Day One, as even though I am a fan of John Krasinski’s original entry, A Quiet Place: Part 2 left a sour taste in my mouth, however here I genuinely dug the allegory of one’s own fleeting mortality, and discovering what it means to live again…… under the backdrop of an alien invasion, cause you know, what better time to have an existential epiphany, right??
Overall score: 7/10
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myclippings · 29 days ago
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Yolk - Mary H. K. Choi (Part 2)
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Sunday, 9 June 2024
>"I tidy it up. So it’s more aesthetic. I find that the more I hide, the more presentable I am to the world."
Monday, 10 June 2024
>"Knowing that we don’t know everything leaves room for mindfulness. It opens up the possibility that thoughts and feelings can change. Perception is a lot more subjective than anyone feels in the moment.”
Sunday, 16 June 2024
>"I want her to tell me the day, the hour, and the exact minute when she’ll die. And I want her to go away so I can start preparing for it now with zero new memories because I have enough that I’ll miss. She gets up. The conversation is over. When I stand, I’m struck again by the heft of it. My sister has cancer."
Wednesday, 19 June 2024
>"It’s also so weird that any news of death makes you almost immediately think of yourself. I’m determined to know how I’ll feel when June dies. I want to be able to see it, touch it, taste it so I can make sure I’ll survive."
>"If they show you who they are, believe them."
Thursday, 20 June 2024
>"I can practically hear the fissure in my brain. It’s as if every splinter of frustration from every nonconfrontational moment in my entire life forms this dense thorny morning star of rage that I’m desperate to hurl at him."
>"Fernweh. Noun. Origin: German. Translated as wanderlust but more literally, far woe. Or, far pain. Longing for a distant place. Could be characterized as a homesickness for somewhere you’ve never been before.”
>"Everyone else’s need to be seen is embarrassing to me because I so badly need the same."
>I always looked away first. I wasn’t ever sure whether he was mocking me. “You see quiet things,” I practically whisper. “You do too,” he says. “At least you did then.” “I’ve changed a lot though.” I finish my vodka, hoping to make it true. “Yeah,” he says evenly. “I see that.”
>“Do you ever look at your parents and wonder why they make their lives so hard?” I ask him. “Okay,” he says, getting up on the sofa with me. “I guess we’re going in.” “Sorry.” I bite my lip. “No,” he says, and reaches over to touch my forearm. “I didn’t mean that. I just…” He shakes his head. “It’s like you said the exact thing I’ve been thinking for the past few years. It’s just a bit uncanny, I guess.”
>"He’d rearrange small things for maximum unraveling."
>“You look nice,” I tell June when I see her at the gate. “Thanks,” says June. It feels like it’s been a month since I’ve seen her. It’s oddly reassuring that in her black suit and tall, spiky heels, she’s back to the June costume I’m most familiar with, the version of her I know least well.
Sunday, 4 August 2024
>"There’s that Maya Angelou quote how people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. For a few hours, I felt my mother’s love for me in a deep and profound way, and then she was gone."
>"Secrets are like wishes. Everyone knows they don’t work if you tell. But if you really want them to gain power, you can’t acknowledge that they even exist."
>"While Mom was gone, I tried rubbing my own ear and was shocked by how loud and insistent it was, how unpleasant. It never occurred to me that she might not be experiencing the exact soothing, quieting sensation I was. I hadn’t known I was a nuisance."
>“Because being in a family is about doing shit you don’t want to for the benefit of other people,” she says. “Mom and Dad sacrificed everything for us, and they want the stupidest, basic shit in return.”
>"People don’t really want to know how you’re doing. They want to wait until you’re done telling them so they can tell you how they’re doing.”
Wednesday, 2 October 2024
>Still without talking, he kissed me, pushing up against me on the splintery wall of that dank shell of a house. His hooded eyes were open but unseeing, and I left my body there, preferring to witness this as a bystander. I knew this was going to have to be a secret—at least for a while—but I was confident that everyone would recognize the change in me. They’d see it in my movements. That this intense, pulsing charge of rage at my mother could be alchemized into power. He was a good kisser. Slow and deliberate, melting into my edges, which were already fuzzy from the cinnamon liquor. For that moment, I didn’t mind that we stood in a squatter’s den. That there was so much broken glass on the floor. We were both floating.
>“Every time someone hurts you, you find a way to hurt yourself ten times worse.”
>"People aren’t abandoning you just because they go.”
>"I grab four more sheepishly and add them to the cart. I feel guilty all the time when I forget she’s sick. As if the cancer will discover my negligence and multiply faster out of pique."
>"June says that however badly people treat me, I treat myself worse. She doesn’t get that there’s a certain logic to it. When I had my wisdom teeth pulled last year, I couldn’t stop rooting in the metallic socket, dislodging the blood clot with my tongue, exposing all the nerves. The pain had been so stunning and clear. It was both precise and expansive. I like that I could control when that zip of agony coursed through my head. It made everything and everyone else so quiet."
Sunday, 10 November 2024
>“Life is fucking weird,” she says. “It is.” “Do you think it gets worse?” “Probably?” She laughs and toasts me again, which makes me laugh. My sister hugs my shoulders and squeezes. I wrap my arms around her middle. In her stripper heels, she’s taller than me for once.
>"We’re posted up on the street in front of the glass-enclosed white entryway. I cross my arms to conserve heat and tuck my head as low as I can. Anyone reading our backlit body language across from us would take this for a breakup."
Friday, 13 December 2024
>“Fernweh is rooted in pain, or sickness and sadness,” says Gina. “It’s directly translated as ‘far pain’ or ‘far sickness’ as opposed to ‘heimweh’ or ‘homesickness.’ But it’s also longing for the unknown, since the familiar is stifling or challenging. The foreign can seem fantastic, exalted, since its possibilities are infinite. We have no data or experience around it. But once we arrive and the faraway is known and becomes familiar, then what? You’ve got all that energy and longing and possibility that no longer has anywhere to go. It’s got nowhere to be invested, nowhere to live. Have you ever considered that it isn’t a place that will improve your life? That there is no such thing as a geographic cure?”
>"New York is just a place. It’s the people who will become a home for you.”
>"He confesses how difficult it is to find a reason for it, but he was always filled with a deep loneliness. He leans forward, and his knee starts to jog. He says that from a young age he’d always felt as though he were observing all the people around him as if through glass. That everyone always seemed to know how to have friends and joke around and that he didn’t. That they all seemed to know what to do with boyfriends and girlfriends and that it all looked so easy."
>“You know, the trick to taking care of your sister is letting her think she’s taking care of you.” She scoops my hand in hers. “I suspect you can ask your father the best way to do that since he does it so well with me.” This makes me laugh."
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catastrophe-at-sixteen · 4 years ago
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strawberries and cigarettes (m)
Jungkook x reader
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“For a biology project, you and your class are going on a field trip to collect evidence for your hypothesis. It is all going well until the dark haired nuisance called Jeon Jungkook decides to piss you off.”
Also - a nerd. The resident bad boy. The police. Annoying friends. A loose psycho killer. What could go wrong?
This is my first time ever uploading any fics !! im super nervous haha - i'll probably post a little of each one and see how it goes !!
Jungkook x reader.
This is your classic enemies to lovers but with a slight little twist!
This is set in the 80s/90s and is your typical bad boy/nerd girl trope- but , there is a killer on the loose. I mean this is kind of based on jack the ripper (serial killer) and my teenage fantasies of falling for bad boy jungkook. I hope you’ll give it a go and tell me what you think !!! <3
Tw : cursing, killings, descriptions of death and psychopaths, masturbation , making out, smut.
WC : 11K
also a big massive thank you to @ggukkiereads for helping me gain the confidence to write and dedicate time to finishing this ! ik its been a while since we spoke but much love to u angel <3 may u always have the best !
Begrudgingly the students lag off the bus at 10pm, finally having reached their destination.
Tired and sore from their journey the teachers find no trouble in distributing bedrooms for everyone.
When your name is called out along with Tiffany you internally groan - great you think one of the most plastic girls in the school all to myself.
You grimace but make no argument as you could have gotten worse you suppose.
As you grab your belongings and ignore her protests that she doesn't want to room with a loser like you, a dark clad figure pushes past you, almost tripping you over.
Angrily you shout
"Watch where you're going you prick"!
Yet he doesn't so much look in your direction.
Under the dim moonlight you can faintly make out the low blunt of a cigarette in a tattoo clad hand - so it was the infamous Jungkook.
Honestly you didn't understand why all the girls fawned over him when he was just a rude and ignorant asshole. Sure, he had a pretty face but no good soul to match.
Calming yourself, as it was unlikely that you'd ever receive an apology from the school rebel you just head to your new room.
The school had organised a biology trip so that you could gather authentic evidence on the correlation of birds and wood growth in a certain designated area and honestly you were excited- not having enough expenses to get out of town when you were younger meant that this was a treat for you and paired with you being a biology major your inner geek was surfacing pretty quickly.
You move into your room and begin unpacking your things ignoring the chatter coming from your new roommates.
You set everything nicely, precisely -just to your liking. Maybe some would call you fussy, but you like to think of yourself as organised and classy.
You don’t have many thoughts that night as you lay down for bed, but you do hear the news playing in the background.
" a killing has not been sighted for a time breaking the pattern of the 1-week intervals in which they have been happening, but police still advise to remain on high alert at all times. "
You shudder as you think about it, a killer on the loose in the country and everyone powerless to stop him.
He fed of the insecurities of people, the fear of not being safe. He did a damn well good job at it as well.
You look outside and see the police on night duty setting up, the country while terrified also was reluctant to admit the threat and instead of protecting you properly they had merely sent police force units as glorified bodyguards to ' keep you safe '.
You sigh, as you climb under your covers those problems seem like a long way away from you as you drift off with an empty mind.
It was morning, the sun was shining brightly through the windows giving an orange glow to the room.
You were up before your roommates, had brushed your teeth and were already preparing for your project.
You had to do well, you were depending on a scholarship for university, your family could simply not afford it otherwise.
When your first signs of morning hunger begin to strike you venture outside your room in order to satiate yourself. You find that it’s still quiet only a few students up like yourself, you find a coffee machine and immediately begin to make one for yourself.
“While you're at it could you make one for me too".
a deep voice drawls out.
You almost jump out of your skin at the sound his voice breaking the silence you had been enjoying. Jeon Jungkook.
You scowl at him, choosing to ignore him carrying on making your own cup.
He whistles under his breath.
“wow, edgy or a bitch? I can’t decide".
He taunts you.
You roll your eyes at him and sigh in annoyance, his eyebrows raise at this.
“you’re clearly not a morning person".
He speaks.
You mutter under your breath.
" or maybe I’m just not a YOU person, not everyone lives to be nice to you. "
He lifts his hands up in a mock surrender.
“Okay, okay I get it it's a bad time for you jeez.... I suppose I'll have to make my own coffee".
He moves closer to you, totally invading your personal space, clearly, he had never heard of a personal bubble! You scowl and try to move away but he’s faster and is hovering over you before you know it. He looks down at you with those pretty dark eyes.
They’re so gorgeous.
Not that it matters to you because he is still an asshole, and he still ruined your morning.
“get out of my face Jeon Jungkook".
You say between clenched teeth.
You’re not some sort of pushover.
Yes, you're clever, as society classes a nerd but you're not one to let people walk all over you.
If he’s shocked, he doesn’t let on, just hums and lets you walk away, which you do, a little aggressively. You got back to your room and let out a sound of annoyance, the girls are still sleeping.
You sigh.
This was going to be a long trip.
After an uneventful morning, the wait was over and finally the teachers had called you to gather in the common area. Much to your dismay however there would be no actual data collecting until the police had secured the area, which meant that your whole day was pretty much wasted. The other students were chatting and gossiping and being idiots as per usual.
It’s not that you thought you were better than them, it's just that they were so mundane, so lifeless. They were just living on with no sense of direction. You suppose that's what you get for attending a school for rich kids though.
You could never fit in.
So, you never tried. People took pity on you every now and then offered you a smile. You smiled back but that was it. Your thoughts are running and to clear your head you decide to go outside for a little breather.
There isn’t much, just a few abandoned train tracks that seemingly lead into nowhere, a few broken fences and lots of grass. Not much time after this you head to bed.
Finally, the day had arrived, you could collect your samples.
You are so glad that it’s an individual project because you honestly cannot even imagine working with one of those air heads.
You shudder at the memory of having to work with Taehyung last semester for a chemistry practical.
You had to basically pull all the weight for your grade.
So, you get on working your way through your work and proving or disproving your hypothesis.
You’re pleased at the work that you completed. Not entirely satisfied but satisfied enough, for now.
You let out a stiff yawn, you need to stretch and need a little fresh air since you had spent the last few hours writing up your data and making graphs to compliment them.
You forgo your jacket since the weather isn’t so bad.
It’s nice.
When you go outside there are quite a few students already there, goofing around. There is also a pretty scenery, that in all honesty you had not appreciated until right now.
“Wow" you mutter under your breath.
Maybe I should try living outside my own head sometimes.
You spot some students surrounding a police officer and the curiosity gets the better of you and your soon wandering around the outskirts of their conversation.
Alas, it was merely a fruitless conversation. The police officer telling the other about his escapades and how they will be good in hands.
You lose yourself to your own thoughts again and look at the scenery. Until a little scuffle, breaks you out of your thoughts.
“What was that? There was a movement down there!! “
A boy called Josh calls out.
The police officer had also noticed it, then a sound of a gunshot sounds through the air.
The police officers curse and begin to get ready to scout the area. They want you all to go away, be safe inside but you’re all young adults- you want to see what’s going on.
Everyone gathers, watching the officers.
You scan the area; you spot the balcony that looks over the area just in front of the cabins.
Perfect you think that’s the perfect spot to see what’s going on.
So, you begin to climb up the steps to that room, when you get there, you can see everything.
You see a dead dog, a dead bird and the gun which had killed them laid out to where the officers were heading.
Fear grips your heart; your heartbeat is erratic. You think you see the shape of figure retreating into the distance but before you can look again, you feel the ground give way under you.
You let out a shriek, feeling yourself falling.
Is this truly how my life end you wonder I didn’t even get to complete my PhD?
Yet, instead of the hard fall that your body had been anticipating; your landing is softer and lets out a low grunt.
You're sure you're dead and have entered heaven.
Slowly you register a warm feeling under your legs and a secure one at your waist.
oh, this feels nice.
you think, eyes still closed until you hear some chaos in the distance.
what's happening?
Why is heaven so noisy? Are they partying because I’ve arrived? Was I actually an angel all this time am I coming home?
Ah you think this must be the angels- I knew all those days spent doing charity would help me.
You open your eyes and you’re met with bambi eyes staring back at you.
Slowly you begin to piece the rest of your angel together.
“Jeon Jungkook? “
You try and raise your voice to compliment your surprise, but it comes out in a more whisper.
“But this, Jungkook, you were an angel all this time? “you say.
His eyebrows knot together in confusion.
“What are you talking about strawberry?”
You gasp.
"Do we all get code names in heaven? You’re a pretty angel Jungkook. “
Then your eyes zero in on the scar on his cheek.
“Aren’t Angel’s supposed to be blemish free? Is that? Are you fallen? Wait.... for me? Are you my angel Jungkook? “
His eyes, which had previously shown confusion are now coloured with amusement.
“You talk a lot don’t you my little strawberry”.
You vaguely hear the sounds behind you before you begin to feel drowsy and fall limp the arms of your unexpected angel.
Jungkook was, of course no angel, your delirious ass was just doing and saying delirious things. You were going to be mortified when you woke up.
When you come to your room in a dark room, tucked into a warm bed. Your headaches aches as if someone is using a sledgehammer to hit it every second.
‘Agh’ you let out a pained groan.
What even happened? you wonder in your head.
You move quickly, getting out of bed ignoring your protesting limbs.  You almost reach the doors until a pair of arms trap you.
‘woah woah where do you think you're going?’
You let out a scream, completely startled. A hand comes to cover your mouth.
‘man, you really do have a set of lungs, don’t you? ‘
You stop struggling in his embrace to match his voice to a face. Its familiar.
‘Jeon Jungkook?’ you let a little unsure and panic still evident in your voice.
‘your one and only’
You frown.
‘mine?’
He smirks at you,
‘that's right yours strawberry’.
You shake your head.
‘are you smoking something? Are you high right now?’
He pouts a little then, it changes his look completely. He looks a little cute.
‘you don't remember? ‘ he cocks his head to the side and points to himself. ‘I'm your angel’.
You scoff.
‘Please in what world are YOU an angel? You're far from it’.
Then it all comes back to you.
Jungkook watches as the realisation begins to show on your face.
‘Oh my god I had a concussion, you cannot be serious right now ‘
He chuckles.
'The words still came out of your mouth' Jungkook counters, he leans closer to you, his face way to close for your liking.
You feel your face grow warm from his proximity, but you don't give him the satisfaction of knowing that.
You scoff and push him away.
‘You're insane’.
He accepts the distance you've placed between the two of you and he chooses to smirk at you from where he is standing.
‘And you're crazy for me’.
You let out an incredulous laugh, not believing him.
‘Oh, my lord, please shut up for the sake of my sanity’.
He chuckles at your flustered state and you scramble your brain to find a change of subject.
‘okay whatever now just excuse me because I need to go back to my room’.
You move to begin walking to the door, but his voice halts your movements.
‘This is your room now’.
You whip around to face him.
‘What?! Ha as if Jeon, why would they room us together- were supposed to separate for the opposite genders- which I totally get when you're involved’ you say disbelief painting your voice. You whisper the last part though.
He puts his hands into his pockets and shrugs.
‘Protection?’
You set him a hard stare.
‘Save your lame ass men superiority talks for someone else i am having a severe case of I'm not interested’.
Why the hell would you need Jungkook for protection, it reeks of patriarchy and you hate it.
He shrugs.
‘Listen princess I don't know why either really to be honest but I'm not complaining-’
You don't bother entertaining him for much longer.
This can't be true. You cannot be paired into a room with him. He cannot be your new roommate - heck now tiffany doesn't seem so bad. Flirting asshole, you mutter under your breath as you begin searching for your teacher.
You only learn a bitter truth, due to the collapsing of the room you had to be relocated into another room and the only person without a roommate was Jungkook. They ‘trusted’ you enough that you would be able to handle it and not to do anything you were not supposed to.
‘We trust you, y/n’ was what she had told you.
You spend your time cursing out both her and Jungkook as you gather your belongings to move into your new room.
You're so caught up in your own thoughts that you don't notice a foot that comes out to trip you.
You look up and see the faces of three stupid bitches.
Tiffany Jessica and Irene.
They seemed to consider themselves above everybody else, though you've no idea why. Aside from flawless looks they seemed to live pretty empty life in your eyes. They were living definitions of empty shells walking around.
You get up quietly from the ground, you'll gain nothing from engaging with them, maybe you'd lose a few brainless. You just want to go back and rest - your head is killing you.
But to your disappointment they begin to talk.
‘Well, well well, if it isn't the school's new slut moving into MY boyfriend's room’.
You have to let a little laugh at this. This one is seriously deluded. Jungkook didn't do relationships you knew that. Everybody knew that. They had hooked up about 3 months ago and even though he does his best to ignore her she still insists that he is her boyfriend. It's just pathetic and a bit sad you suppose. Her obvious attraction to him which he just does not reciprocate.
She becomes enraged at your actions.
‘listen here you little bitch you better not even think of starting anything with my man-’ she spits out at you.
You snap back then, unable to hold your tongue.
‘I am not a slut, and I will not go after your man- which fyi  he is not. He is a human and he doesn’t belong to you he never has’
She grows red at your words.
‘you little piece of shit-’
She raises her hand but just then a voice interrupts her and she halts her actions.
‘well if it isn't my new roomie, l’ll take that from you strawberry’ Jungkook says, too cheery for your liking, your still contemplating hitting Jessica.
Jessica begins speaking up, but he ignores her turning to you.
Your mouth almost drops open at his dismissal of Jessica but then again, she is annoying, and he cannot be immune to that.
‘Jungkoooook’ she whines when he doesn’t respond to her the first time.
He still doesn’t entertain her.
He moves to take your things from you, but she speaks again, latching onto his arm.
‘just leave her -cshe's just an annoying stuck-up bitch’.
He responds to this under his breath laughing.
‘reminds me of someone ’
She doesn't understand his comment.
‘huh?’ she says almost comically.
‘who baby?’ she pouts at him ‘my poor baby having to deal with such people, just leave with me and we can-’
‘no’ he sets her with a hard stare.
It's like she has forgotten that you're there, so you decide to use this to your advantage, letting Jungkook deal with them. You move to get your suitcase, but a hand stops yours. Its Jungkook.
‘I don’t think so strawberry - I'll be getting those for you’.
You turn to look at him scowl adorning your features.
‘I don’t need your help Jeon’.
He smirks at you.
‘no no - I insist’.
He dismisses Jessica with a wave of his hand and begins to walk away your suitcase in his hand, which prompts you to follow along.
‘What. Was. That. Jungkook?!’ you say when the door closes, you’re fuming because he had made it seem as though you were dating or doing things together which meant that they would keep bothering you, which is just something that you don’t want.
He turns around to face you.
‘oh, don’t get your panties in such a twist, I just needed to get the fuck away from her’.
He sounds angry and this is the Jungkook that you are more accustomed to. Not the flirty one you have been seeing. Hopefully he had given up on whatever he was trying to achieve with that. He was a rude asshole who was just to used to seeing things come out in his favour.
‘excuse me, you just fuelled her whack ass thoughts and next time don’t use me as your escape route’ you say matching his hostile tone.
‘oh, don’t be such a priss, it saved you as much as it saved me’.
An exasperated noise escapes your throat.
‘well maybe you should have kept it in your pants lover boy’.
He sets you with a hard stare.
‘oh, shut up - you don’t know me’ he grits out.
You cock your head to the side much like he had done to you earlier in the day.
‘hmmm I think I know you pretty well Jungkook, you're not as unreadable as you like to think, Jeon Jungkook the infamous bad boy who uses girls to fuel his ego and is used by girls to fuel their own ego and status quo among their own stupid--’
You do not get to finish you sentence however because you're harshly being pinned to the door. His grip on you is hard and it stings but you meet his gaze.
‘shut the fuck up y/n’ the tone of his voice is almost carnal, animal like.
You seriously had hit a nerve.
‘I go beyond your perceptions of me- you little miss goody two shoes’.
You spit back in his face.
‘I've yet to see you act more like a crazed rabbit Jungkook and to be honest I don’t plan on finding out the depths of your character either. I don’t fucking care about you’.
You push him aside and move to unpack your suitcase.
He mutters something under his breath that you can't hear, and he walks out slamming the door behind him.
‘well, that was fun’ you say and begin to take out your notes and books that you will need through the day.
When you wake up the next you feel like you’ve been hit by a ton of bricks. The painkillers had given you the illusion that you were okay. You look a mess, you're tired, you cannot believe that this happened.  You had been looking forward to this for so long, they had told you that another student would be collecting your data. Your new roommate. Jeon Jungkook. He was going to be collecting your data.
This is preposterous! He would probably sabotage you on purpose! This cannot happen, but they wouldn’t budge from their choice. You huff as you look out of the window, where you could be collecting your data along with the other students. Darn you and your curiosity.
They always did say didn’t they- that curiosity killed the cat.
Your walking around the room, pacing- that’s how bored you are. You had reorganised your things 3 times and colour coded all you notes, redrew your graphs, you had done everything that you thought would keep you busy but here you are sitting with nothing to do.  You look around the room see Jungkook's things laying on the ground.
You sigh into the empty room again and just lay down waiting for them to come back. You end up falling asleep.
You're stirred from your sleep, quite rudely by a book being thrown at the foot of your bed. You sit up, still groggy and look at Jungkook.
‘what the hell man’
He stares at you blankly.
‘There's your work priss’
You're not bothered by his hostile tone instead open the book and seeing what he had done, or you suppose looking at it what he had not done. The more you look at the work the more the frown on your face deepens.
‘what the hell is this Jungkook?’
He looks up at you annoyed.
‘the work? Thought you were meant to be a genius?’
You scowl at him.
‘this Jungkook? Is unacceptable a nursery kid could do way better than this !’
He rolls his eyes at you.
‘and? That’s what you're going to get priss so deal with it’.
You make an exasperated sigh.
‘you've used the wrong measurement and everything Jungkook’.
‘look - I don’t care. I didn’t want to do this for you anyway’.
‘like I wanted YOU to do it for me’.
You sigh,
You keep bumping into him everywhere, you know he is your roommate but he is always there at the cafeteria taking the last donut which you had been craving pushing in line, making unnecessary comments and he makes the room so messy!
It’s the same thing for the next few outings, Jungkook comes with the same half assed versions of the data you need.
You try, you really you try so hard to use the data sets he provided but its no use. They're absolutely useless, so you decide to take matters into your own hands.
Your going to sneak out early in the morning, you have to sneak past the guards which as you’ve gathered won't be as hard as one may think because they are not good or much invested in their job anyway.
You prepare yourself and head to set out in the morning. You quietly get up so as not to disturb or wake Jungkook. If he sees you, you know that there will be trouble.
You throw on a hoodie and grab a notebook, a pen and your watch. You have to be back before anyone can notice that you're gone.  You steel yourself one last time, giving yourself a pep talk and sneak out. You hold your breath as you walk past the room of your supervisor and out the back door of the cabins.
This isn't so bad you think. Once you're out of sight of the guards and you think your safe, you let out a sigh of relief and do a little shimmy out of your happiness. You are so pleased and proud of yourself. What you didn’t know that behind you, watching your every move was a boy covered in tattoos with a cigarette in his hand watching you with an amused face.
Jungkook was, not as you thought asleep when you had snuck out. He was also outside, leaning on the side of the building a cigarette in his hand, he couldn’t sleep that night, it happened to him on most nights so he routinely wakes up to have a smoke. On this particular day there is not the usual eerie morning silence that he is used to, but a few grunts and hisses to accompany it. He furrows his brows.
Is that? He thinks y/n!?!?!?!?!?
No way he thinks what the hell is she up to?
Then he catches sight of your notebook and pen.
'Oh, what a nerd' he mutters under his breath. Then he smirks.
He can totally use this to his advantage.
He stubs his cigarette, pulls his hoodie over his head and follows you.
Your heart is still racing you honestly cannot believe that you. l/n f/n are doing this.
‘What a badass’ you say into the silence.
‘Badass? Sneaking out to do bloody work is your idea of badass?’ a voice speaks up behind you.
You shriek startled and are met with Jungkook.
Why is it always him?
‘what in the bloody tarnation's.... are you trying to kill me Jungkook?!’ you say putting your hand on your heart.
He grins pleased at the reaction he had elicited from you.
He cocks his head to the side.
‘what the hell are you doing here ?!’ you hiss at him.
‘could ask you the same thing strawberry’ he replies.
You look at him.
You were so sure that you had been quiet, how could he be here to ruin everything.
‘you do realise that I actually have name, and it's not strawberry’ you say to him.
He shrugs.
‘Yeah but you always smell like them’.
You scoff;
‘and you always reek of cigarettes.’
He frowns but then asks you again.
‘what are you doing here?’
You think of excuses,
‘I'm - I'm on a walk’ you say.
He lifts his eyebrow up.
‘a walk?’
You nod.
‘that's right for my daily exercise its been a pain to be stuck indoors’.
He snorts.
‘you're on a walk with your graph paper pad and pencil case?’
You curse inside your head.
‘yeah I am a nerd after all’ you say, hoping and praying that he’ll just let you go on your way.
He doesn’t
‘I don’t know, you look awfully suspicious to me, do tell why you're heading to the sight of our data collection points when the trail track is in the opposite direction?’ he says.
You rack your brains for an answer.
‘well, I like an adventure’ you say, standing straight.
‘oh, is that so?’ he says laughter infiltrating his tone.
‘yes’, you say meeting his eyes.
‘hmm’ he says ‘I don’t believe you’ he says.
‘do you wanna know what I think?’ he continues.
He takes one step closer to you.
‘I think that our resident miss goody two shoes is sneaking off when told specifically that she can't’ his gaze burns into yours
You feel yourself going red out of embarrassment.
‘I literally have no idea what you're talking about Jungkook' you say breathless.
He leans closer and you can feel his body heat, he continues to bore his eyes into your own and you almost fall into his gaze until you feel your book being snatched out of your hand.
‘HEY!’ you say reaching for it.
But he holds it higher than himself, opens it to the last written on page.
‘new data collection points’ he reads out ‘and oh would you look at that ! It has todays dates written on it’ he says looking down at you with a squint in his eyes.
You huff.
‘well obviously I had to do this because how on earth could I let your lame ass results and data reading be used for my final piece – I'm not looking to fail’ you say venom laced in every word.
He scowls at you.
‘there was nothing wrong with my results princess’ he grits out.
‘oh, please save it’ you snap back ‘you didn’t even use the same measurements – your hopeless’.
‘well, if I'm so fucking useless you should do my work for me’ he says.
You set him a level stare.
‘what?’
‘you heard me’ he says with a roll of his eyes.
‘and why in the hell would I do that? I don’t care if you fail Jungkook, heck I don’t care if you get kicked out’ you tell him.
He shakes his head.
‘well, I mean I could go back right now and tell Miss Taylor-’ he begins.
You narrow your eyes at him.
‘You wouldn’t dare’.
He holds a staring contest with you.
‘oh, wouldn’t I?’ he says.
You both hold each other's gazes before you give in.
You cannot believe the audacity of this asshole.
‘fine whatever asshole’ you say folding your arms and turning around.
He grins in victory and places your notebook back into your hands.
‘chop chop partner get to it’ he says.
You glare at him.
‘partners pull equal weight Jungkook ‘
He rolls his eyes.
‘I don’t really care – you just need to get a move on’.
You turn around no longer wanting to deal with his annoying ass.
You make it forward a few steps before you stop and turn around.
‘why are you following me?’  you ask him.
He rolls his eyes at your apparent dumbness.
‘well smartass, there is a killer on the loose if you didn’t know’.
You freeze up for a second,
Shit
You had almost forgotten. You don’t let him see that you're scared.
‘and? ‘ you say feigning composure.
‘what the hell are you going to do if he pops out of the woods anyway?’
He shrugs.
‘I dunno actually a lot more than you could do anyway’
You stare at him.
‘I could be a black belt in karate for all you know’.
He laughs.
‘okay princess whatever - I just need to make sure that you're not going to fuck this up’.
So, you turn going to the place you need to, to collect your data pieces.
With having to do Jungkook's work as well, it takes a lot longer to complete than you would have liked.
He is surprisingly bearable in the mornings that you both sneak off though. He doesn’t say much. Just watches you – pretends he isn't though.
You catch him once. Its been about 2 weeks since you started this godawful task, and Jungkook's notes and work were in dire need of help so its taking you time. This time however you meet his gaze before he is able to pull away.
You cock your head to the side.
‘what are you staring at?’ you say placing your hands on your hips.
He says something inaudible under his breath.
‘what was that?’
He snaps at you.
‘do you think you have tie to stand around making idle talk with me? The work ain’t going to do itself princess.’
You huff in annoyance.
How dare he! This was just plain wrong anyway I should not even be doing this, but you knew it was the only way. You couldn't risk getting caught and with Jungkook you wouldn't be surprised if he really did rat you out you to all the teachers. And if he did well, you wouldn’t be receiving a very good reference.
It was during an early morning that you hear Jungkook walk off into the distance. Probably to smoke, such a bad habit you tsk.
But you're also done for the day – so you begin to head back on your own.
You feel the grass brush against your feet as you walk back. You’re humming along to that song that was always on the radio, when you hear it. A little whimper - then a cry. You know that you shouldn’t go to look, you know that you're paying for your curiosity already and you don’t need another thing to happen, but you just cannot help yourself!
You follow the sound, going on a detour from the track.
You do consider yourself somewhat of a badass but a serial killer? Yeah, they kinda scare the shit out of you. You hold your breath and walk as quietly and slowly as you can. You hear the whimper again to your left but its deeper into the woods.
As you walk closer you see a pool of blood - your eyes widen, and your heartbeat becomes erratic.
‘what the fuck?’ you whisper into the silence.
You walk closer to the body of the animal and you can feel your knees grow a little weak you can see a white paper which has been tainted red with the blood of the animal that was killed.
You gasp, taking it up in your hands. Your hands also become stained with the redness.
It's in Morse code.
-.-- --- ..- / ... .... --- ..- .-.. -.. -. .----. - / -... . / .-- .- -. -.. . .-. .. -. --. / --- ..- - / .- .-.. --- -. .
(YOU SHOULDN'T BE WANDERING OUT ALONE)
You look at it for a while and rack your brains to be able to translate it but no such look. Your mind is busy running at 100miles per hour. As you try and clear your head and look at the note one more time, but a noise in the distance pulls you way from any semblance of concentration that you could have obtained.
You frantically look around trying to locate where the sound had come from. Your senses are all on a high right now. You shove the piece of paper into your pocket and begin to go back the way that you came. After the first few steps you begin running your head running wild with the idea of being found dead in ditch. Your nearly at the main path which you had strayed from. You make it onto the path, and you bend over catching your breath when two arms encircle you from behind.
You let out a scream.
A hand is placed over your mouth.
‘shut the fuck up y/n’.
You recognise THAT voice. Its Jeon Jungkook. Why is this motherfucker always trying to scare you? Your turn around and hit him on the chest,
‘what the actual hell Jeon, you gave me a bloody heat attack and a half’.
He doesn’t respond. He is looking at you, his eyebrows are furrowed and his eyes have a glint of anger. He is furious.
‘where the fuck did you go y/n?’ he says, he holds your wrist stopping you from hitting him again.
He holds it in the air holding your gaze.
‘I was.... walking back’ you didn't want him to know what you had found. He would probably tell you it was a bad idea to even translate it. Which it was, but what is life if not for taking risks?
You yank your hand from his grasp.
He looks at you an unreadable expression on his face.
“you’re a fucking liar “he says.
You scoff.
“oh please, what’s it to you anyway jungkook, you left me first “
He doesn’t say anything, but observes you, trying to look for signs of what you’re hiding.
He had found one too, a dead animal and a note written in Morse.
But he could read it and he knew he was in trouble
“Be careful, or your little girlfriend may be snatched from right under your arms “
He swore under his breath as he read it and immediately began to make his way back to you.
“strawberry?” he calls out but you’re not there.
You’re not there and he hates the feeling of dread that sits in his stomach.
He runs back the way you came, but he still finds no trace of you
“fucking hell where did she go?”
He almost gives up and is going to tell the police when you appear before him, out of breath and you look terrified.
He knows you’re lying, if you were where, you said you were, he would have seen you.
He narrows his eyes at you again.
“I left for two seconds and you ran off. Where the fuck did you go? “
He asks, he wants you tell him, needs you to, he’s overcome with this sense to protect you but you don’t trust him. He needs to change that.
He lets you believe that you have him fooled, that he believes your story and he begins to walk back to the cabins right before the call for breakfast is sounded. You follow after him breathing in a sigh of relief that he had believed you.
That night you find it difficult to sleep. You need to find out the meaning of the Morse code, but you don't have access to a book that will help you translate, meaning that you will have to ask around without looking too suspicious.
You decide that a police officer would do nicely, if you seem overly invested in their job, they would just give you the information.
You spot the officer who looks younger than most, you remember his name.
Park Jimin.
You approach him cautiously.
“Officer park?”
He turns around to face you, smiling softly.
Oh, he’s cute you think.
“yes miss?”
You smile at him warmly.
“nothing serious it’s just that I was wondering if you would like some company, it must be a little boring for you out here on your own “
You say to him and you’re glad you asked him because either way his face breaks out into a smile that has your heart fluttering.
“how very kind of you miss! And yes, a little company wouldn't hurt “, he grins at you.
As you strike up conversation, with the officer you fail to notice a figure dressed in black listening in on your conversation. Jungkook listens in as you try and get information out of officer. He knew it. You had also come across the same note, as he had. He wonders what yours said.
He leaves after a bit, leaving both of you oblivious to the fact that he was even there in the first place.
When you get back to your room, you see Jungkook sitting at the foot of his bed frown on his face.
You ignore him and write down the information you'd just got given by Officer Park. You felt a little bad manipulating him when he was so nice but you just had to know what it meant.
Jungkook speaks up.
“that was a nice conversation you were having with Officer Park “
He says,
You whip you’re head up to look at him and closing your notebook harshly.
“What? Were you eavesdropping on my conversation?”
He rolls his eyes
“Why would I be listening to the conservation of the school nerd with a cop? No, I just happened to hear in passing “
You let out a breath that you didn’t know you were holding.
“That’s mighty rude of y-" you begin to retort before he cuts you off
“what’s a biology nerd like you need with Morse code?” He asks.
Your mind malfunctions for a moment until you bring yourself back together.
“A little extra knowledge hurts no one you know?” you say appearing nonchalant.
He narrows his eyes
“I know it”
You look at him
“you do?”
He nods,
“why need something translating?” he tries.
You think about it, but ultimately decided against showing him the note you found.
You have no clue what it says. You don’t want him understanding before you do.
You shake your head,
“No, I don’t “
You say, deciding enough is enough and you need to sleep now to be up in the morning.
The next morning you sleep in, meaning that you couldn’t do the work that was set out for you. You stretch and moan as you get out of bed when you sit up and open your eyes fully your locks onto the Bambi ones from across the room. You let out a shriek!
‘What the hell why were you watching me you creeper!’ you say pointing a finger at Jungkook.
He rolls his eyes at you.
‘oh, please don’t flatter yourself’.
‘why didn’t you wake me up? Its so late !’ you question him.
He looks at you and says words that you don’t think that you would hear.
‘I think that we should lay off for a bit strawberry’
You look at him in shock
‘but why!?’
He doesn’t really give you much of an answer in his usual Jungkook manner.
You sigh.
Over the next few weeks, you rarely bump into Jungkook, you see him sometimes in the cafeteria and you can always feel him just watching you it makes you grow warm when you notice his staring.
Jungkook is also going crazy. You drive him crazy.
You guess that you'll have to work at the same pace as everyone, truthfully you had actually caught up with your work that was missed a while ago, you were just doing extra readings to stay ahead. One step ahead of everyone. But you guess that that is going to be changed now.
It had been a while since you had been on your morning trips with jungkook and though you hate to admit it, you kind of missed it.
He wasn't as bad company as you thought he would be, he was oddly quiet which meant that without him talking as much, you really got to admire his beauty. And good lord was he handsome, you understand why people are attracted to him, when his mouth is closed, he’s fine. Basically, you became a little horny when you saw him, it had been ages since you had had sex even masturbated, since you now had room with him.
Jungkook has such strong sharp features which sometimes go all soft, if he pouts while he’s thinking or a bird catches his attention, his eyes will go big and doe like. It's cute. Everybody had two sides you suppose, yours was your horny side (lol what)
Okay maybe, more time to admire him was a bad thing, you did not need to have sexual fantasies with him, no, that was a big no no.
It's been a few weeks since Jungkook had asked you to lay low for a while and in that time, you had been asking around about the killer to the police. You tried your best not to seem suspicious about it though, if they caught on – well it wouldn’t exactly end well. So, you make slow progress, you did make progress though, however.
You could now understand the note and while it scared you, it also ignited something in you that you didn’t even know that you possessed inside of you. You wanted to outdo him, you want to find him, lead him into a trap or something like that anyway. You want to catch him.
Something in the back of your mind is telling you begging you to stop being so stupid, but you ignore and continue to daydream about catching this bastard.
But it can only cure your boredom for a while – you get bored and what better to do when you're bored than to read erotica novels?
You had packed this book with you – the secrets of the alluring painter in France. You had taken to reading at night time on some nights.
Like tonight.
You need a wind down, so you pull out your book, and it has such racy scenes that leave you clenching around nothing.
Your sexual imagination goes wild when you read the erotica in the book and the way they make it seem so fiery, you were no virgin - you knew what sex was like, but never has it been close to the way it is in the book.
You’ve allowed yourself to fall into this horrible habit, at night, when Jungkook is asleep to touch yourself, play with yourself, pretending it is you who is being touched by Kim Taehyung the painter with many secrets.
You feel yourself growing more frustrated with each passage you read, it becomes a little irritating and, you have to touch yourself or you'll go crazy, the man in the book was doing it so well, so hot.
Kim Taehyung, he was described as an utter beauty, soft black hair and soft eyes, a deep voice that just made the reader swoon, you close your eyes and reach your hands down to your shorts, they slip past the hem.
You wish you could moan, wish that you could be vocal, like you were in your bedroom when it was just you and your pillow, but there was one big problem and that was Jeon Jungkook.
Why did you have to room with him?
You lighten your breathing and listen for signs of him being awake, but he seems to be breathing really deep, he is asleep you assure yourself.
You turn the lamp off, at the side of your bed, setting the book on the bedside table.
You trail your hand down your stomach, much like Taehyung had done to the main character, he slowly lets his fingers flutter over the top of her shorts, and you do the same. You build the tension, like it's his beautiful hands working against you.
You pause and let your fingers slip past the hem of your panties, you trace over the fabric covering you - first over your mound, stroking sensually.
How had Taehyung done it?
Right yes, he had used his nails slightly and grazed over lightly, a slight pressure but nothing that hurt - it was just enough to make you squirm under your own touch.
You feel your own wetness, feel how obscene it is in the darkness of the night.
Jungkook is right there, and while it scares you, it also thrills you, you feel a new wave of arousal and adrenaline when you remember he is there.
Slowly and as quietly as possible you shuffle, moving to take your shorts off, it's a little loud but you think that you're okay, Jungkook is out like a log.  After a moment you continue to tease yourself.
Running your fingertips over your lips, pressing down on your hole and clenching, withholding the need to hiss.
You raise your hand further and your fingers land right at the centre of your pleasure.
Your clit. Oh, the beautiful bundle of nerves.
You cover your mouth with a hand to stifle the moan that you almost let out when you begin to rub small circles around the sensitive nub.
When you can’t get enough your panties are next to go, and when the cold air hits your wet centre you have to hold your breath, shaky.
You reach down and gather your slick slowly, spreading it all over your centre, making yourself drown in your own arousal, you use your middle and ring finger to slide up and down at a pace that leaves you edged and eager for more, you need to bring yourself to the very edge to get yourself the release that you’re after, you free hand travels up to your ever sensitive boobs, you play with them, brushing over the nipple, making them perk and then groping them while you rub at your clit.
A dirty thought crosses your mind, when you remember the boy who was asleep across from you.
What if, he was the one to touch, the one touching you, with those beautiful hands of his, those big hands.
You stifle another moan, as you think about him, hovering over you, giving it to you just right. You had heard that Jungkook could actually make a girl cum while having sex, that made you a little interested. It’s just he always opens his mouth and is an ass and ruins everything. But right now, in your imagination, only his looks and reputation matter, you twist and turn his character to be someone that you can gain pleasure from.
You can the pleasure increase and you begin to fasten your speed until you feel the signs of your orgasm and then you pull away. Edging yourself.
Your breathing is a little heavy and your work on controlling it, both your hands go to fondle your breasts and you unconsciously lift your hips, humping the air, you lean down again and enter three fingers easily into your own heat.
The squelching sound heard is deafening in the silent room, your cheeks burn red and you pull out slowly, so that was a no no, you would have to focus on your clit for you orgasm. Which was fine because you were so sensitive from playing with yourself, you know that it would only take a few more strokes to get there.
You press the fingers that were just inside of you, against your sensitive bud and you rub in slowly circles and then fastening your place and then slowing once more.
Jungkook comes into your mind again, ugh, now his lips, his pretty pink lips and the way he licks them, and the way they glisten under the sun. What if they were attached to your clit, if he was using his face to give you pleasure, like Taehyung had done to the main character of the novel, God it was so filthy.
Its driving you insane and you love it, the frustration will only make your release all the more powerful.
After a while you feel the fire blooming in your bottom of your stomach, and you quicken your pace to the point where you feel light and the waves of pleasure rack over your whole body.
You press your hand to your mouth again to conceal the gasps that are escaping you, you sigh and fall back onto your pillow feeling so much better and lighter.
Gosh did that feel good. You were aware that in your mind alarms were going off in your mind. You had thought of Jungkook while masturbating. It was a line you have no idea why you crossed. How would you look him in the eye now?
After a while, you pull up your panties and shorts and you promise yourself a shower in the morning.
What you didn't know was that the raven-haired boy of your fantasies was in fact awake and now painfully hard as he listened to your filthy little moans and gasps, he grabs his own member in his pants, strokes slowly. He spreads the pre-cum over his member before setting the fast pace that he liked, his breaths through his nose – to conceal the way his breathing has become strained. His hair becomes damp from sweat and it sticks to his forehead. He came much faster that he would care to admit the thought of you right there yet unreachable the fact that you were so NAUGHTY under all that good girl.
Turning him on, making him needy.
He breathes heavy, thinking of you under him as he squirts out cum into his pants, Jungkook too showers in the morning after you.
After this Jungkook stays up at night, listening to you, seeing if you would do it again, you do and, on those nights, Jungkook cums at the same time as you. He feels a little pathetic, he knows that he can fuck a lot of girls in the class right, but it wasn't you, God he wants it to be you writhing underneath him.
It’s the next morning and you're getting ready for your shower.
You're gathering your clothes and shampoo and creams into a little bundle and are about to open the door to the shower, when it is opened for you. The song that you were softly humming gets stuck in your throat when you register that the door was opened by Jungkook.
A very naked Jungkook.
Your face grows red, and your eyes wander over his gorgeous body, the tattoos that trail up his arm and a few on his waist, God they looked amazing.
Your ogling comes to a stop when he clears his throat. Oh, shit you think - I was staring. You quickly look up and your eyes meet Jungkook's.
He is smirking at you and as soon as you meet his gaze, he lets his own wander over body – taken in the skin that was exposed in your pyjama shorts and a t-shirt that had been small for you since you turned 13 years old.
He looks up and down your body brazenly before meeting your eyes. He licks his lips, and you zero in on it. God it was so annoying that he was this hot.
How could this be happening now? When you had spent a while avoiding him? And him you? Why did this happen after you were thinking of him last night? Oh god you grow red again and you think what if he had heard you? God, that would be embarrassing. You look at his lips again, avoiding his gaze again but maybe his eyes would have been a better option because as soon as you look at his lips, the same filthy thoughts come back to you - you shift uncomfortably trying to calm yourself. In that time, you don't notice but Jungkook has come closer to you.
You register his closeness when a water droplet from his hair falls onto your cheek. You move away slightly.
You don’t realise it but in your extended silence of checking each other out the both of you have moved closer to each other. There is no longer what people would call a healthy distance between the two of you anymore. He looks down at you and licks his lips again. His hair is wet and the way he runs his hand through it – he looks so good like this. Your dirty thoughts run wild again. Its only when another water droplet from his hair falls onto your cheek that you finally snap out of it. You move a step back.
“You look a little hot strawberry is anything the matter?” He asks you, a teasing lilt on his voice.
It’s way too early for this, you cannot be dealing with this right now, not when your mind has gone on a memory flashback to last night and he was right here in front you, so very naked.
Still, you feign your ever composed self.
“I’m just fine” you say through gritted teeth.
“I need to shower and your kind of standing in my way” you tell him.
He chuckles, a deep chuckle, gosh how are you this horny in the morning? Stop it y/n you think.
“I don't think you really mind though do you strawberry, you seem to have a very different secretive side” he says, cocking his head to the side.
You blush, shit had he heard you?
“I have no idea what you're talking about Jungkook” you say to him “I need to shower though”.
You move to get away from his hearted stare but just before you enter the washroom, a hand grabs onto your wrist and pulls you back.
Jungkook looks at you, a deep and confusing stare.
“Be careful, it’s quite wet in there” he says and then his tongue pokes into the side of his cheek. Then suddenly, he lets you go and walks off to his side of the room, your left in shock at his words and quickly scurry to get into the bedroom before more heated tension breaks through.
You shake your head of all thoughts and quickly go into the shower, what you don’t realise is that you accidently drop something, the note with the raven-haired boy who you had left in the bedroom.
Its later on during this day that Jungkook approaches you.
'Hey strawberry’ he says to you.
You raise your eyebrows at him, what’s with his sudden kindness.
‘hey’ you reply voice dipped in surprised.
‘Oh, shut up, I just came to talk to you’.
You look at him.
‘I didn’t say anything but okay…. talk then’ you gesture your hands between your two bodies.
He lets out an exasperated gasp.
‘The note – did you find one?’ he asks. You still in the next sip of coffee that you were going to take. You feel yourself grow cold. How did he find out?
He looks at you.
‘So, you did’.
‘I didn’t say that’ you say tone slightly higher than normal – you were a terrible liar.
He laughs at you
‘Hmm is that so?’
‘I have no idea what you’re talking about Jungkook’.
He looks at you, more serious this time.
“Listen y/n there's no point playing dumb, I found your stupid note anyway”.
You watch mortified as he pulls out the note that you had thought was in your pocket. Well shit then.
“I- I have never seen that before in my life Jungkook” you can't let him know; he would ruin everything - you convince yourself.
He looks at you, he’s getting annoyed that you're lying to him. He pokes his tongue against his cheek again.
“I suggest you stop lying”.
You scoff.
“Why would I ever need to lie to you your nobody to me Jungkook”.
Something akin to hurt flashes across his face for a few seconds before he slams his hands on the table.
“I don’t think you know what you're even getting into strawberry”.
You gather your belongings getting up, you need to get away from him.
“And I don't think you know what the fuck you're talking about Jungkook”.
You walk off leaving him there, but he follows after you,
“Listen I found one too, you don't need to be miss hero or anything”.
You carry on walking, not bothering to give him an answer, he would want to tell the teachers and everyone, they would cancel the trip and then how would you finish gathering your evidence? No, he was insane.
“I don’t know what you're talking about”.
‘you think your so fucking slick, don’t you? Asking around and acting unsuspicious but your wrong I could sense your stupid plan from a mile away’ he says to you, pulling you on your arm effectively stopping you so you can't walk away from him anymore. You struggle out of his hold.
‘and so, what? So, what if you know? What the hell are you going to do Jungkook? Tell on me? Are you going to threaten to tell the teachers because you know what? I’ve been thinking about it and I think they would much rather take my word for yours and all this work I’ve been doing for you – I could easily go right now and show the teachers and say that you forced me to do it!! ’
He looks at you angrily, looks like he is going to swear or curse you out but then his face relaxes.
‘you say that baby, but the truth is I have money and you don’t if I want to manipulate something I can because I have the means and power to do so, my dad's made himself something while yours totted away in the fucking garbage can’.
You feel the anger come over you and he smirks at you.
‘real fucking classy Jeon, yeah insult my parents – like it's their fault they were born into a world where people are born with silver spoons on their mouth, and at least my parents love me Jungkook’
His eyes flash with hurt
‘how do you now my parents don't love me you little bitch?’
You laugh an empty laugh at his face.
‘just look at you – you’re the very definition of boohoo my parents don't love me so I'm going to kick up a mess, so they notice me for once’.
He groans in frustration at your words then.
Somehow amidst your confrontation with Jungkook you had managed to reach your room, why are you here? Why did your feet have to leave you here?
You walk into the room and as soon as he gets in, Jungkook grabs you by the wrist and pins you against the door, your books and pencils fly across the room and while your mortified - he doesn't even bat an eyelid.
Your breathing is both heavy as you look each other in the eyes, waiting for the other to say something.
You struggle against his hold, uselessly, curse him for doing his workout routine every morning.
“You found the fucking note y/n when you went missing in the woods that day, the note that’s in Morse code, the note that you spent a week trying to decode, don't act fucking dumb” he grits out.
You still try and keep up your act,
“I have no clue in the world what you're talking Jeon, I think you're going fucking insane” you seethe out
He growls, yes, he growls.
“Your seriously fucking pissing me off now, I know you did, I know you found it”.
“Fuck off, Jungkook does it look like I care if I am fucking pissing you off”.
He looks into your eyes again and whispers something like “fucking priss” before he is connecting your lips in a kiss, a kiss that is full of ego, passion and heat. You can feel in searing through your body so fiery, setting your nerves alight.
He is relentless in his pace. His mouth against yours and God indeed Jungkook is good kisser. Before you knees grow weak you move your hands to tangle in his hair and you pull at the end causing him groan against his lips, when he does you swipe your tongue into his mouth getting a taste. You pull harder, and he groans again. It was a sound that you know you would like to hear again.
His hands move from the door and one tangles in your hair while the other presses harshly on your waist. You gasp at the pleasure and at this he takes over, he fights your own tongue for dominance and once he wins, he is rough, he wants all his saliva in your mouth, wants his taste on you, wants you to feel him in every way.
When he knows that your just as enthralled by his kisses he pulls back to taunt you - whispering the words against you bruised lips.
“You act like such a fucking little priss don't you? Act like your better than me? Lying to me? Fuck you drive me insane”.
He attacks your neck now, leaving open mouthed kisses along your ear and neck. He nibbles lightly at a few areas and when he gets to just the right place - where your breath hitches and you move your thighs together he bites down harshly without warning and you try you best to suppress your moans. Not wanting to give him any satisfaction.
“I am better than you” you say to him breathlessly, “I don’t just act like it, I am”.
He bites harder at that and you wince - Jungkook is painting you skin wine and purple and your letting him and it feels so goddamn good. He pulls you back by the hair to look at him,
“You don't look much better than me when you are bending at my will, when you're looking so fucked out and I’ve done is fucking kiss you”.
Your answer is swallowed by a moan that you let out as he takes you breasts into his big hands, and squeezes hard, you pull him up from your neck and kiss him again, his lips, your lips bruising and fighting against one another.
He trails his hand down further and dances around the hem of your pants for a while, and you place your own over his, just as your about to lead him further down a knock is heard at your door.
You both freeze
“y/n?” A voice calls out.
You calm yourself before answering, still a little shaky.
“Yes?”
“Our guest speaker has arrived, I just thought you might like to ask him a few questions before he gives his talk”.
Jungkook swears under his breath, raking a hand through his hair.
“You fucking nerd”.
He pulls you back by your pony tail and the back of your head lands on his shoulder, he tilts you slightly, so he has better access to kiss and leave more marks against your skin.
“Ah- I thank you, I’ll come in an ah- while” you say, and you hear the footsteps walk off, Jungkook spins you around and he goes to kiss you again, but you pull away.
“No, just, stop I have to go and talk”.
He looks at you “you fucking nerd” he kisses you once more, like he can't get enough of your mouth.
You pull away again.
uh what in the fuck just happened you think.
This was not meant to happen.
“Look Jungkook, I did, that is my note and I- I’ll, we can talk just not now, okay? I-I have to go. This is important"
He doesn't say anything, just watches as you fix your appearance in the mirror, an appearance he had ruined, and he smirks a little in triumph. He watches as you gather your books that had been thrown onto the floor and he watches as your ass is on display for him and God, he wishes he could grab a handful, but he doesn’t. He just watches.
You walk out the room, without so much as looking at him again and he feels oddly rejected.
He knows that you had felt good, he had heard you groan against his mouth, grind against his clothed member but he hadn't ever been walked out on before. He's not sure what exactly he is feeling. Its not a good feeling - that he was walked out on and for some old ass lecturer too.
He watches the door close, and he sits and waits for you to finish being a nerd. But truthfully it is a little hot to him that you’re so independent, you do things for yourself, your confidence and your wit, it makes you fun, you piss him off, but your company is nicer than the ones that he is used to.
He sighs what the fuck is he getting himself into.
You take a breath as you exit the room,
What in the fuck just happened? you think.
Well, when you promised Jungkook that you would talk to him you hadn't been in your right mind.  Why did you agree to that like fuck? You have no idea what to even say. How do you even start that conversation like...?
"Hey, was just wondering if you would like to you know? Go on a hunt for a serial killer with me?"
Gosh this was so stupid and the kiss, gosh your face heats up as you remember the way he had kissed you - oh so sweet and so naughty!
Gosh you were in bad, as an adult you decide to deal with the problem logically, you'll just ignore him. That will work, Jungkook had a small attention span anyway. You're sure he would forget. You really hope he does.
371 notes · View notes
moonbcams · 3 years ago
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❃ ↷ ˊ-          pelican town is all abuzz about YOON AHNA, our resident 25-year old BARISTA. you know, the one who looks like IM NAYEON? i don’t see it, but maybe that’s just because they remind me of running through fields of flowers, singing along to perfect road trip playlists, & dancing in the moonlight every time i see them at THE BEACH. word around town is that they’re increasingly FREE-SPIRITED and INQUISITIVE, but can get rather ALOOF. hope to see them around the valley soon! 
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hiiiii i’m mimi ( 𝕞𝕚𝕞𝕚#7025 ) and i am so very very excited to be here !! i’ve been listening to nayeon all day which very much inspired me to find an rp where i could play her beautiful face. i also just started my summer break so i’m looking forward to getting very invested and making grand plots and bugging you all all the time ok sorry in advance  x.
BASIC INFORMATION
full  name :  yoon ahna  nickname(s)  :  anna, nana, yoonie preferred  name(s)  : ahna  birth  date  :  december 24th 1997  age :  twenty five  zodiac :  capricorn gender  :  cis female  pronouns :  she / her  romantic  orientation :  biromantic  sexual  orientation : bisexual  nationality  :    ethnicity :  asian
BACKGROUND
birth  place  :  pelican town  ,  stardew valley hometown :  pelican town  ,  stardew valley  social  class :  middle class  father  : yoon dae-min  mother :  cha sooyoung  sibling(s) :  n/a  pet(s)  :  jae & duri ( rescue cats )  previous  relationship(s) :  tba.
PHYSICAL  APPEARANCE  &  CHARACTERISTICS  
eye  color  : dark brown  hair  color  : changes frequently depending on her mood  glasses  /  contacts  :  doesn’t need them but will sometimes wear glasses without prescription for the aesthetic  height  : 5′4″  build  :  petite   exercise  habits  :  can sometimes be convinced to workout, but not often.
MANNERISMS
accent :  local accent quirks :  is never fully still  ,  she is always tapping ,  bouncing  ,  wiggling  ,  or dancing  ,  she hums all the time. . hobbies  :  dancing  ,  going for long drives  ,  thrift shopping habits  :    is always late to everything, looses everything all the time  nervous  ticks  :  fidgets a lot  fears  :  heights  positive  traits  :  free spirited, friendly, charming  negative  traits  : careless, flakey
IMPORTANT  /  BACKGROUND
TW: death of parents.
yoon ahna was born on a cold night in december to a middle class family. she was the only child of dae-min and sooyoung and the apple of their eye. she grew up living in her birthplace of pelican town, running around without a care in the world. life was easy. her parents ran a busy restaurant that gave them a steady income, even extra money during the summer months when the area was loaded with tourists and they had a home that was warm and welcoming to all.
ahna was always well liked. she was even considered popular in school, her free spirt and kind heart attracting people to her like moths to a flame. she was a social butterfly, spending more time in class talking to those around her than actually paying attention to the lesson and doodling in all her notebooks. she did just well enough in her studies to make it to graduation. however, she was involved in every other aspect of school life that wasn’t her studies. she was on the student council, a cheerleader, prom queen, dance committee, and even acted in theatre productions. when she wasn’t in school she could be found down on the beach, dancing in the waves, riding her convertible down the highway with the music on full blast and the sound of her laugher always echoed in her wake. ahna was a source of light. 
though, she wasn’t perfect. ahna was always forgetting her curfew, she lost almost everything and you couldn’t rely on her for much. she had the best of intentions at all times but her head was very much in the clouds. she was a daydreamer and would have lost her own head if it wasn’t attached. her carefree attitude was as much of a nuisance as it was an asset. she was so free-spirited that it often appeared she didn’t truly care about anything or anyone. you wanted to be around her but you could never really know her and she never really took the time to know anyone else, everything was at a superficial level.
after graduation, she managed to get into college only a few towns over. this was huge for the yoon family who never really ventured far from their hometown. ahna had decided to study cosmetology. she was to become a make-up artist and hair dresser. it was something she was already somewhat confident with and knew it would be a successful career path. she was good at talking to people and loved the idea of making other’s feel as beautiful on the outside as they were on the inside. not to mention, everyone always talked about how she would be the perfect fit to go off and work in los angeles. it would be a dream to be on movie sets or tours, working for the stars she adored.
however, she was less than a year into her program when tragedy struck. ahna’s parents were in a head-on collision, driving to surprise her with a visit. both died on impact and the young yoon’s whole world was turned upside down. she immediately pulled out of school to return to her hometown. she found comfort in being surrounded by the community who had helped raise her and those who knew her parents as well as she did, if not better. 
the first year, it was like she was walking around in a fog. she has very few memories after packing up and leaving school and packing up her childhood home and parents belongings. that first year she was far from the same girl that had left stardew valley. she had lost her spark. which was understandable. but the bright star who was off to work for the stars of hollywood was gone. she was a drifter, no plan, no job, couch surfing and having no intentions of moving forward.
though, after time it got easier and she started to find herself again. it was a slow process but being in her hometown was certainly helpful, having people to rally around her and support her no matter what. it started when she was offered a job at the cafe to keep her busy, then when she was sold a small beachside cottage at a very discounted price to make her home, then finally she would find herself smiling and laughing -- breathing made easier. it took time but ahna’s community became her family. 
now, ahna can be found cheerily chatting with locals and guests as she serves them coffee. she is bubbly and still a little scatterbrained, she’s the life of the party and very reminiscent of the girl she was in high school -- but with a sadness that never fully goes away. sometimes she’ll disappear for a day or two, only to show up again like nothing happened. she never tells anyone when she’s leaving or why, she just goes. 
WANTED CONNECTIONS / PLOTS
platonic  ───  unlikely  friends ,  friend from college  ,  a  nice  wholesome  best  friend  &  confidant  ,  childhood friends  ,  a  party  buddy  ,  someone who is also as free spirited as ahna and they go on adventures together  , neighbours. , any other form of friendship really
romantic  ───  first  kiss  /  first  relationship  /  first  love,  a  past  or  present  unrequited  crush  from  either  side ,  exes  on  good  or  bad  terms  (  eyes  emoji  .......  the  spice  )  ,  friends  with  benefits ,  a one  night  stand
negative  ───  someone  who  just  doesn't  click  with  them  ( this is probably someone more uptight who can’t stand how ahna seems to not have a care in the world ),  friends  who  had  a  falling  out  ,  anything else to bring the d r a m a 
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secretfandomrambles · 3 years ago
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I know that this has been done a few times, but I’m still going to make this outline as original as I can.
ATLA Time Travel AU
Sometime after The Last Airbender ends, the GAang time-travels due to spirit-nonsense (Sokka insists it’s Yue wanting to help them. Zuko thinks it’s some spirit getting revenge on Aang for some slight during a past life. Katara just wants them to stop arguing about it).
Zuko time travels to a month or two after Lu Ten’s death, while the others are sent to the day Aang is freed from the ice. Once he realizes what has happened, Zuko, not knowing if he is alone or not, and seeing that his sister is not yet insane, and still cares for him (even if she is somewhat difficult to understand) basically kidnaps her and drags her on her own Life-Changing Field trip. He fakes the kidnapping as a potential murder, leaving his own and Azula’s pajamas in the woods complete with animal blood (don’t ask, he really doesn't want to think about it) at the end of a trail he set earlier that day.
By the time Aang awakens and the others’ time travel, Azula is more-or-less actually functional. Zuko’s managed to help her realize that no one but their father cares if she’s perfect at firebending, and he’s a jerk anyway, so it doesn’t really matter what he thinks. He has also helped her to learn (and unlearn) behaviors that will help her in the long-run.
There are rumors circulating the Fire Nation that the Prince and Princess were kidnapped and brainwashed by a Spirit. Ozai has been forced to divert some attention from the War effort to locating his children. Iroh, when he returned from his spirit journey, was all too willing to aid the effort to save his niece and nephew, by getting a boat and crew and sailing around the world.
The Fire siblings, the Water siblings and Aang meet up at Kyoshi island on accident. Sokka throws his boomerang at Azula only for Zuko to shield her with his own body. Azula attempts to throw fire at Sokka in return, while raising her body temperature until Zuko’s skin turns red (she would never admit it, but it’s sweet when he tries to protect her. Not that she needs protecting, of course…and, wait, that stupid wooden object comes back?!)
Meanwhile, Toph is making a nuisance of herself by bending everything metal she can get her hands on into weird, random shapes, freaking other people out as they can’t understand what’s happening. She’s not sure of what’s happened, or where her friends are right now, but figures she’ll find them eventually.
Aang, who by now knows Zuko and Azula are Roku’s grandkids, introduces them as such to the Kyoshi warriors. Neither of the Fire siblings appreciate the attention they get.
As soon as they leave Kyoshi island, they go to get Toph, and then the group brainstorms what they can do to stop everything bad from happening. (Azula is agast at what she’s hearing about the not-future. Father burned Zuko! Father burned her idiot brother? Father got his bending taken from him and Zuko became firelord?! Everything else kind of gets shoved to the back of her mind. Something about a girl and a fish? Well, she’s always known that Zhao was an idiot.) When someone starts to say what happened to her, Zuko glares them into silence.
Eventually they decide to have Zuko challenge Ozai in an Agni Kai for the Throne. Zhao appears at some point, Zuko beats him in an Agni Kai again. When the creep throws fire at his back, Sokka throws his boomerang, and it knocks Zhao out. He gets found by some earthbenders and taken to the nearest City: Ba Sing Se.
While on their way, Aang brings them to Omashu to visit Bumi. He still dresses as an old man, but this time he claims Azula and Zuko as his grandchildren, with Toph, Sokka and Katara as his wards. Somehow it works. Bumi is as insane as ever. Azula and Zuko are not impressed.
Once they get to Caldera though, it ends up with Aang/Roku challenging Ozai in an Agni Kai for guardianship of Azula and Zuko, and once Ozai is beaten, only then is Zuko finally allowed to challenge Ozai for the throne.
Ozai throws lighting at Zuko, and in a panic, the prince redirects it straight at Ozai, accidentally killing him. Zuko becomes Firelord, and, while Aang doesn’t actually become his or Azula’s guardian, word spreads about the Fire Nation Avatar who “came back from the dead” to fight for his family as the old Firelord was an unfit guardian for Roku’s great-grandchildren.
Iroh is overjoyed to see his long-lost nephew and niece when he returns, and, while somewhat saddened by his brother’s death, he recognizes that if the man was willing to throw lighting at Zuko, he wasn’t the kind of father the two children deserve. Zuko sends a message to the Northern Water Tribe giving them quite a scathing Lecture that basically boils down to: ‘You need to protect the fish in the Oasis’. Arnook had many, many questions for this presumed dead prince who somehow knows about the Koi fish.
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aspoonofsugar · 4 years ago
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Jaune: Zero to Hero
Pyrrha: It's not about why; it's about knowing. Understanding dark and light helps us manifest our Aura. Everyone has some of both.
Knowledge, Creation and Destruction all lead up to Aura. This is just another way to say that they lead up to individuality, which is something Grimms lack:
Pyrrha: They are creatures of Grimm, the manifestation of anonymity.
Individuality is conveyed through Choice. This is why Choice is the most important and final gift. It is symbolic of self-actualization, which is what our characters are pursuing in their coming of age story.
Jaune’s personal arc comments the group’s collective journey and marks each stage very clearly.
In which way does it happen? And what do these stages mean for Jaune’s growth as an individual?
THE IGNORANT WARRIOR
Pyrrha: Jaune, do you... know what Aura is?
Jaune: Psch! Of course I do! Do you know what Aura is?
Jaune is introduced as inexperienced and ignorant. He lacks combat experience and knows nothing about key concepts like Aura, Landing Strategy or Semblances.
His journey starts because Pyrrha shares her knowledge with him:
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She awakens his aura, his very soul and later on trains him, so she helps his body get stronger:
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In other words, Pyrrha is the one who puts Jaune on the right path to become a true “hero” and a “warrior”.
This is Jaune’s objective since the beginning, but he initially pursues it in the wrong way:
Jaune: I don't want help! I don't want to be the damsel in distress! I want to be the hero!
He is fixated on an idea of hero which is outdated and has its root in toxic masculinity:
Jaune: Cause this is always what I've wanted to be! My father, my grandfather, and his father before him were all warriors! They were all heroes! I wanted to be one, too. I was just never good enough.
This is why symbolically Jaune wants to be like his male ancestors. He wants to grow into “a real man”:
Cardin: Let's see how much of a man you really are...
And this is conveyed also through his Weapon:
Jaune: It's a hand-me-down. My great-great-grandfather used it to fight in the war.
Jaune did not forge his own Weapon, but he inherited it. Crocea Mors initially represents the legacy he wants to live up to. However, this legacy, instead of driving him, slows him down because he can’t grow until he remains in his ancestors’ shadow. Jaune needs to develop his own individuality instead.
In order to do so, he needs to grow not only as a figther, but as a person too.
As a matter of fact, Jaune’s ignorance is not only limited to the world he has stepped into, but also to the people around him:
Jaune: That's easy for you to say. You've probably got guys clamoring over each other just to ask you out.
Pyrrha: You'd be surprised.
He is so self-focused that he does not notice others’ feelings and hurts them unintentionally.
However, Pyrrha teaches him once again:
Pyrrha:Tell her exactly what you said. No ridiculous schemes, no pick-up lines. Just... be honest.
 It is thanks to her that Jaune manages to become a better man:
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He is even able to call Neptune out the way Pyrrha did with him:
Jaune: Then just go talk to her. No pickup lines, no suave moves, just be yourself. I've heard that's the way to go.
And as a result, even Jaune’s relationship with Weiss gets better:
Weiss: You said you were embarrassed at first. What made you come talk to me?
Neptune: You're looking at him.  You got some good friends looking out for ya.
Because the girl realizes Jaune is not only after her money or her romantic attention:
Weiss: All my life, boys have only cared about the perks of my last name.
But wants to genuinely be a good friend to her.
In short, Jaune starts the story as immature both as a fighter and as a person to the point that he is considered unfit and annoying by other characters:
Glynda: I don't care what his transcripts say. That Jaune fellow is not ready for this level of combat.
However, thanks to Pyrrha, he is given the chance to mature.
Not only that, but while other characters see a weakness and a nuisance in Jaune’s ignorance and inexperience, Pyrrha sees it as a possibility:
Weiss: Jaune, is it? Do you have any idea who you're talking to?
Jaune: Not in the slightest, snow angel.
Weiss: This is Pyrrha.
It is specifically because Jaune is new to Pyrrha’s world that he is free from bias:
Pyrrha:  That's what I like about you. When we met, you didn't even know my name. You treated me just like anyone else. And thanks to you, I've made friendships that will last a lifetime. I guess, you're the kind of guy I wish I was here with. Someone who just saw me for me.
This is why Pyrrha feels she can forge a genuine bond with Jaune. What is more, the girl has faith in his potential:
Pyrrha: It's all right. I used my Aura to unlock yours, but the energy that protects you now is your own. You have a lot of it.
She sees in him what others do not and helps him develop both as a man and as a warrior.
This is well highlighted by the metal motif the two characters share.
As @hamliet explains here Rwby has several characters linked to the seven metals of alchemy.
The goal of alchemy is to create gold thanks to a process of refiniment that purifies the metal and has it go through several transformations. 
The seven metals are nothing, but a scale that goes from the heaviest and most raw metal (lead) to the most purified (gold) passing through the others (tin, iron, copper, mercury, silver).
For a story, it simply means that a character goes through a process of change that leads to self-actualization.
In Rwby this idea is conveyed through specific characters embodying a metal (Ironwood, Penny, Mercury) or even thanks to metal motifs commenting a specific part of a character arc.
For example, Yang is associated with gold:
I am the golden one Who burns just like the sun
But Adam takes her arm away and has her regress in the scale of metals to iron. This regression is not simply physical, but psychological as well:
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However, Yang re-affirms herself and moves forward. The first step of this process is to symbolically make her new arm “gold” again:
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When it comes to Jaune, I think that he may be the character associated with lead aka the “prima materia” that needs to be molded into gold. Even if this is not true, metal is at least definately still a motif in his arc, as it is in Pyrrha’s. This is why both characters wear metal armors, differently from others.
Pyrrha is already close to her self-actualization and she reaches it in the climax of the Vale arc, where she completes her (tragic) arc and dies a Maiden.
This is why her armor is gold, while Jaune’s is white and gray. Pyrrha is at the top of the metal scale and close to the end of her journey, while Jaune is respectively at the very bottom and at the very beginning.
He is the embodyment of the prima materia that has potential for greatness, but only if he is rightly guided and if he himself works hard.
Pyrrha takes over herself the duty to help Jaune mold himself.
This is underlined also by Pyrrha’s semblance:
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Pyrrha: Well, Ruby has her speed, you have your glyphs. My Semblance is polarity.
Pyrrha can control and bend metals and she shows her power for the first time when she helps Jaune against the Ursa, so that he can overcome his self-issues.
So, Jaune starts the story as the lead and is going through a path of self-refinement which will lead him to become gold, so more similar to Pyrrha herself.
Pyrrha offers him the basic knowledge to start this journey, but unluckily leaves him too soon and now Jaune has to move forward on his own.
THE CREATIVE AVENGER
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Pyrrha: I want you to know that I'm just happy to be a part of your life. I'll always be here for you, Jaune.
Even after Pyrrha’s death, this stays true:
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Blacksmith: That was some fine metal you brought me. Accents the white nicely. Where'd you get it from?
Pyrrha has become a part of Jaune.
This is a recurring motif in Rwby:
Penny: I won’t be gone, I’ll be part of you.
It is the idea that grieving is a process that leads to acceptance, but also to integration with a lost one. It is a way to have the deceased keep on living through the survivors.
In Jaune and Pyrrha’s case, this is conveyed through Pyrrha’s metal being used to enrich Jaune’s Weapon.
As stated by Ruby:
Ruby: Just weapons? They're an extension of ourselves! They're a part of us! Oh, they're so cool.
Weapons are symbolic of the self, just like Semblances.
What is more, Weapons and Semblances are also a declination of the dychotomy of body and soul, presented by the series.
Weapons are wielded by bodies, while Semblances are a materialization of the soul.
In other words, Pyrrha’s gold becoming a part of Jaune’s Weapon is symbolic of Jaune’s first step in a painful process that will lead him to overcome his partner’s death and to inherit Pyrrha’s legacy.
Jaune must keep on learning from Pyrrha and become more like her. As noted by @hamliet​, this is symbolized also by Jaune’s design aquiring more golden details as he goes on in his journey:
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Jaune: Guess I was going to grow out of it eventually.
Ren: A sign of progress.
Jaune: Progress.
That said, grieving is not easy and Jaune must struggle with much pain and negative feelings.
This is why the changes he makes to Crocea Mors are finalized to increase its attack power:
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It is because Jaune feels anger over Pyrrha’s death and wants revenge.
In the Battle of Haven he gives in to his fury and tries to kill Cinder. He is trying to superficially imitate Pyrrha’s sacrifice:
Jaune: If I die buying them time, then it's worth it. They're the ones that matter.
However, he is not doing it out of bravery or necessity, but out of recklessness and self-hate. This is why his actions lead to this:
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Once again, Jaune risks to lose another loved one:
Jaune: No, no, no, no, not again! Weiss, c'mon, please!!
However, this time he is able to save Weiss thanks to his Semblance:
Jaune: My Semblance?
Nora: How else do you think you're healing her, dummy?
Jaune gives up on using his Weapon to fight and chooses to use his Semblance to cure. He chooses soul over body and Creation over Destruction.
At the same time, Jaune’s activation of his Semblance is meaningful on two levels:
Jaune: No. I don't think I'm healing her. Our Aura heals our bodies. It feels... it feels more like I'm using my Aura to amplify hers!
Nora: Wait, aren't you worried about running out?
Jaune: Pyrrha once told me I've got a lot of it. I still believe her.
First of all, Jaune’s Semblance is rooted in the idea that people heal themselves. His power is not to cure others, but to amplify others’ auras, so that they can become stronger and can heal. It is about bringing out the best in others. It is a power fit for a leader, but also an ability symbolic of Jaune’s own process of healing. He can heal himself through helping others to heal.
Secondly, Jaune’s Semblance is in itself a nod to Pyrrha. Pyrrha used her own aura to awake his and Aura Amp is simply an evolution of this idea. It is not about activating others’ auras, but it is a power that lets Jaune share his. It also makes good use of something Pyrrha noticed immediately aka Jaune’s huge quantity of aura.
In other words, Jaune ends up acting like Pyrrha in the Battle of Haven, but not because he fights Cinder, but because he shares his gift with others, just like Pyrrha did with hers.
Pyrrha is a part of Jaune both in body (Crocea Mors) and soul (Aura Amp), but Jaune must still truly understand what this means.
He makes progress in Lost:
Red-Haired Woman: She understood that she had a responsibility... to try. I don't think she would regret her choice, because a Huntress would understand that there really wasn't a choice to make. And a Huntress is what she always wanted to be.
This is the essence of Pyrrha’s sacrifice. Jaune comes to understand it and chooses to make a similar choice together with his team:
Jaune: I think... I think she knew she wasn't going to win. That she might not come out alive. But... she also knew she was the only one that could try.
Ren: So she did.
Nora: Maybe we should too.
Jaune: Yeah, we should.
In this way, it will be as if Pyrrha were fighting together with them:
Nora: Pyrrha may not be by our side anymore, but we can fight like she is.
Jaune: And in a way... she will be.
Jaune tries to overcome his anger and his sadness for Pyrrha’s death in order to keep fighting like she did.
So, once again he chooses this:
Ruby: I wanted to protect my friends.
Maria: Precisely! It is the desire to preserve life which fuels the light inside you. And to make no mistake, it is light. Preservation is an extension of creation, or, at the very least, an enemy of destruction. The Creatures of Grimm were made by the God of Darkness, but your light comes from his brother.
He chooses to protect life and this is the essence of Creation.
Once he confirms this choice, he is free to explore Creation’s potential and he does so in the land of Creation itself, Atlas.
He strengthens his shield instead of his sword:
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And he trains his Semblance:
Oscar: Nice, your recovery is getting faster.
This all leads him to become stronger psychologically:
Ren: Him on the other hand... There's no fear at all. I can see it, he believes we're going to get this done.
That said, Jaune starts meeting limits to his new found strength rooted in Creation:
Jaune: Ah, sorry. No matter how much I boost you, they won’t go away.
Jaune: Did... I stop the virus?
Penny: No. It’s still there.
Jaune’s way to move forward is to heal himself through healing others. Still, what to do when this is not possible?
THE DESTRUCTIVE HEALER
Penny: No… there’s not enough time to heal me…
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Penny: But there is something you can do…
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What happens in Atlas is an inversion of Haven.
Penny pushes Jaune’s Semblance away and touches Crocea Mors.
Jaune is asked to give up on healing her and to speed up her death instead. He is asked to choose his Weapon (body) over his Semblance (soul) and Destruction over Creation.
This marks the characters entering the Destruction phase:
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Leaving Creation (Penny) behind.
For Jaune, this means that his own self image that he has worked so much to build and to make his own:
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And that has been enriched in Anima thanks to Pyrrha...is shattered:
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At the same time, he is once again put in a similar spot as Pyrrha:
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They both become unwilling agents of Penny’s death because of Cinder (and Emerald and Mercury in the first case):
Pyrrha: Ruby, I... I'm so sorry.
Ruby: Me too. But it wasn't your fault.
Jaune: She's right. Whoever was on that microphone... they're the ones that did this. And we have to make sure they don't take anyone else.
So Jaune’s journey to integrate with Pyrrha, to understand her and her struggle continues.
What now?
It is too soon to say because we have yet to properly start our journey through Destruction and what it is about.
That said, there are two things that are worth highlighting. The first is a motif Rwby is following, while the second is a general theme found in many stories.
1) As @hamliet​ has stated in many metas and as I have written here, Rwby is an alchemical story. Alchemical stories are usually marked by three important deaths. Each death is symbolically linked to a color. They are usually black, white and red. However, sometimes there can be yellow instead of the white or the red. This is the case here, where a resonant death is the yellow death aka Penny’s.
It is a death that happens while the characters are surrounded by yellow:
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And it happens through a weapon called “Yellow Death” (Crocea Mors’s meaning). So, it is really not subtle. Penny’s death is meant to mark an important passage for our protagonists, just like Pyrrha’s one (the black death).
2) It is common in stories that deal with healers to explore the concept of death as well.
The basic idea is that a healer is a person meant to cure. That said, they will meet people impossible to cure and that will die on their watch. This is an unescapable truth a true healer must live with.
Let’s highlight this theme is found in works very different for genre and culture.
Let’s have two examples.
Scrubs aka an American comedy about doctors deals with this theme multiple times. In many episodes the characters must simply accept they can’t save a life, but must still not lose hope and keep on living themselves.
Yosano from the manga BSD says so:
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Her backstory explores the link bewteen life and death further since it is shown that a power that cures fatal wounds can be used to cheapen life itself:
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It is too soon to say if Rwby will explore a similar theme, but the fact that Jaune, (the healer) is the one that has to speed up Penny’s death might be a very powerful and poignant choice. This is true especially because Rwby does not refuse Destruction (and so does not refuse death), but presents it as a principle equal to Creation (so as a part of life).
THE CHOOSING HERO
Jaune’s arc is about living Pyrrha’s death over and over again with different scenarios and outcomes. This happens so that in the end he can finally overcome it.
So far, it has happened three times and each time has been in the climax of an important battle.
The Battle of Beacon has him witness powerlessly to Pyrrha’s death (lack of knowledge and passivity).
The Battle of Haven has him saving Weiss (creation).
The Battle of Atlas has him killing Penny (destruction).
What is more, every time Jaune becomes more proactive and conscious of what he is doing.
In Beacon he has no idea of what is happening. He works with little information and things happen to him without him being able to do anything.
In Haven his actions lead to Weiss being in danger, but he manages to save her. That said, he does not do it consciously. He unlocks his Semblance because of emotional stress. It is an unconscious choice and not a conscious one.
In Atlas he makes a specific conscious choice, but it is a choice that is forced on him because of external circumstances. It is also a choice that is meant to challenge and temporally break him.
In other words, he is slowly and painfully approaching Choice aka self-actualization. Right now, he has to face the consequences of Penny’s death, but this will probably lead him to finally enter the Choice stage and to complete his arc by becoming a “hero” aka gold (probably).
At the same time, this final choice will also be about healing and overcoming grief. It will be the final integration with Pyrrha and him being able to honor her legacy.
After all, we have been told from the beginning what Pyrrha’s fate would have been. We’ve just failed to notice:
Pyrrha: For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death. I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee.
June and Pyrrha’s bond is eternal and she is meant to be the key character in Jaune’s arc. It is only through confronting and finally overcoming her loss that Jaune can finally self actualize and become the person Pyrrha has always known he could be. Pyrrha will symbolically be with him in this struggle. Her memory will protect and inspire him. 
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warrioreowynofrohan · 3 years ago
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My previous post on unselfishness in characters in characters also has a lot to do with my feelings towards characters in The Untamed. [I’ve only watched the show, not read the book - and I know I can sometimes get annoyed at people’s analyses of Lord of the Rings movie characters, when they aren’t in line with the book - so if you’re an MDZS fan and not a show fan, please ignore me.] Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji are two of my favourite characters, and a lot of it because, well, they aren’t particularly inclined to get their drama all over everyone else. When someone who Lan Xichen cares about deeply is accused of terrible crimes, he doesn’t rage and storm and get horribly offended; he carries out a thorough i vestigation, follows the leads he’s given, places all his resources at the disposal of the people making the accusations, and then, when it looks convincing, goes to talk to his friend and see if he has any posdible other explanation. He’s calm and systematic. And he’s kind to people - to Meng Yao, to Wei Wuxian, particularly during the Gusu Lan Training arc - who he has no personal connection with, simply because that’s the sort of person he is; kind in a thoughtful, considerate, undramatic way. He’s a dilpomat, he’s a conciliator, he believes in and values forbearance and mercy.
Lan Wangji might have a lot going on internally, but he’s going to focus on dealing with the Yin Iron because that’s what matters, a lot more than this weird crush he’s apparently developed. On the occasions he chooses to support Wei Wuxian and is punished for it, he accepts that without objection. After Wei Wuxian’s death, he becomes the main teacher of the Lan students and the one who leads them on cultivation missions; he doesn’t let his grief stop him from doing things that need to be done.
Wei Wuxian, by contrast, positively exhults in getting his drama all over everyone else. It took me a while to warm up to him because he was just - so - aggravating during the Gusu Lan arc. You’re attending what are apparently very prestigious lectures that everyone values the opportunity to take! You shouldn’t make excuses and throw blame around when you screw up! You shouldn’t goof off and be deliberately disruptive! (Some people are trying to learn, Wuxian!) You shouldn’t blatantly break the rules and then complain about there being consequences! In fact, as we see later, Wei Wuxian is an incredibly and perhaps pathologically self-sacrificing person - in the same way that he plays up minor injuries, discomfort, and sadness, only to hide the large ones, he combines being a nuisance in the small matters with being a deeply principled person in the great ones. This does, however, sabotage him to an extent, because people who don’t know him can’t distinguish between “Wei Wuxian is arrogant and making trouble for lulz again” (and to be clear - he is arrogant and he does make trouble for lulz) and “Wei Wuxian is making a stand on principle”.
And then we have Jiang Cheng, Drama King. He is the polar opposite of the Lans. If Jiang Cheng has a problem, everyone in Jiang Cheng’s vicinity also has that problem. His personal issues, obsessions and hang-ups cannot be set aside from the rest of his life or from what needs to be done; they suffuse everything he does. He cannot be impartial; he cannot consider things from outside his point of view, and endeavour to set his biases aside. If the Lans are admirable in both personality and character, and Wei Wuxian is aggravating in personality (by his culture’s standards - and often mine) but with strong character, and Jin Guangyao has an ideal personality (by his culture’s standards - polite, diplomatic, accomodating, dignified, organized, meticulous) and bad character, Jiang Cheng is the worst of both worlds. His character is deep attachment to what is close to him, and unconcern for the moral value of people outside his sphere (as when he says Wei Wuxian should have let the other cultivators die rather than anger the Wens; as when he tells Wei Wuxuan to abandon the people who saved both their lives - and Yanli’s life - to be killed). His personality is a giant mess of neuroses mixed with anger, abrasiveness, and - in most cases, with a few exceptions - difficulty in expressing sincere affection; and a chronic inability to understand either his own emotions or those of people around him (including Wei Wuxian’s), or to sincerely communicate his emotions to others. (All of that does make him an interesting character, and fantastic fanfic fodder - many envies is one of my favourite Untamed fics, and has easily the best portrayal of Jiang Cheng that I’ve read.) (Basically, the sheer volume of both Jiang Cheng bashing and Jiang Cheng apologia out there has mainly had the effect of moving my sentiments on him from “disaster (annoyed/judgemental)” to “disaster (grudgingly affectionate)”, but it intermittently swings back to “asshole. the absolute worst.” when I remember he abandoned Wen Qing to be burned to death when she lost everything as a consequence of saving his life - and what he values more than his life.)
Wen Qing is also one of my favourite characters, because she continually takes great risks to help others at no benefit to herself simply because she knows it’s right (and is skilled and savvy enough to actually win Wen Ruohan’s respect by doing so, up to a point) - and because she knows she’s on the wrong side. In a sense, she starts out having already made the same decision that Jiang Cheng later makes - I will sacrifice all other moral principles to protect those dearest to me - but whereas he’s self-righteous about that decision (one of his more annoying traits), she knows that’s what she’s done and does everything in her power to mitigate it. And in the end she does risk everything to help the Jiangs, and loses everything, and when, after she’s done that, Jiang Cheng says I’m willing to save you but not your family or people, she doesn’t rage or resent, she just recognizes that choice and leaves; even later, when her brother has been killed because of that decision, and when Jiang Cheng tells Wei Wuxuan practically in front of her that he should abandon her and her brother and her people to death, she doesn’t get angry at him. She’s capable of understanding where people are coming from, of not treating their moral valence as something determined purely by their treatment of herself, in a way that Jiang Cheng, again, isn’t. And at the end, when she sees that Wei Wuxian is going to pay the price for the choice that she made long ago to serve Wen Ruohan, she decides that she will turn herself in and face the consequences of that choice rather than let him bear it for her. She’s a strong contender for my favourite character in the show (extreme competence is also a factor in that; that’s always appealing).
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everythingsinred · 3 years ago
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Let's Talk About NatsuMikan: Natsume (pt. 22)
Today we'll talk about the Time-Travel Arc. Obviously, the focus in that arc is Yuka's past, so there's going to be a lot of content that I'll skip unless it's relevant to NatsuMikan. What ship/character content there is I will dissect heavily. This is just a warning that I'll be skipping even five or so chapters at time, and it might seem jarring. Sorry about that.
In this part, we'll see how Natsume and Mikan are in many ways fated, but also how selfless Natsume can be, even in the face of losing the person he loves the most forever. He's going to keep his promise to protect her no matter what happens, even if it means never seeing her again.
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Chapter One Hundred and Seven
For most of this arc, Natsume and the others are merely observers of Yuka’s past. They keep the talking and interaction to a minimum. There will be some instances where Natsume does enough for me to be able to analyze him, but they’re limited to start with.
For example, when Tsubasa, Tono, and Nobara are finally able to join them, there’s a dramatic reunion.
Nobody has seen Tsubasa in some time, and his whereabouts were a mystery. Obviously he shares a meaningful embrace with Mikan, but he also makes eye contact with Natsume, who looks shocked and relieved to see him again, even if he wasn’t the one to find him. Tsubasa knows Natsume had searched tirelessly for him, so he apologizes for making Natsume and the others worry. For a moment, it almost seems as though maybe they will share the next reunion hug. But to show that everything truly is back to normal, Natsume’s demeanor shifts and he gets annoyed with Tsubasa for hugging Mikan for so long.
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Thinking really hard about Natsume's love languages: nicknames, being willing to die for you one second and then pretending like you're a nuisance the next, never giving compliments so they hit like a brick when he does, just hanging around you, and physical touch.
Natsume doesn’t know how to show feelings properly. With Ruka, he can be more openly affectionate and loving, and now with Mikan he has recently (today) had the opportunity to be more honest about his feelings, but Tsubasa is different. For a very long time, he has pretended like Tsubasa was nothing more than a nuisance. Suddenly being honest with everyone would be tiresome. Besides, Tsubasa already knows that Natsume cares, since he struggled so much to find him.
If you want to hug somebody, Natsume says (or doesn’t say… this conversation seems to all be telepathic), go hug Misaki. Not my girl. It hardly matters that Misaki isn’t around and that idea is impossible to make a reality. So Tsubasa naturally shoots back that he will simply pretend Mikan is Misaki.
Natsume is a good person, as we have seen over the course of the manga. When he loves someone, he loves hard and with his whole chest. He doesn’t half-ass his feelings. Despite his occasional bouts into saying something kind and heartfelt, he is and always has been naturally a bit more reserved. His personality is one to withhold a little, and to interact with people through teases. Even at his most free, before he came to the academy, he would tease and insult before saying something sweet. His love will always be something that needs to be interpreted, because he hates being open about why he’s doing the selfless things he is. If he is too open, then people will know and then they might feel guilty or like they owe him something. He doesn’t want that. Another thing is that he just likes having fun with his friends and loved ones this way, with occasional taunts and teases. That’s just the kind of person he is.
Chapter One Hundred and Nine
We get introduced to Igarashi Kaoru, an upperclassman of Yuka’s and a mysterious figure. Yuka first met her in a compromising position, when she’s about to sleep with a boy who we will later find out is Natsume’s father. She looks very much like a more grown up, female version of Natsume, and they seem to have a lot in common when it comes to their basic personality.
Just like Natsume, Kaoru can be serious-minded and doesn’t take any shit. She’s also like him in that she shows affection through teasing.
Mikan, in this chapter, finally asks who this Igarashi person is, since she looks so familiar. Natsume sarcastically says, “Heaven knows.” I’m sure he wasn’t actually expecting to see his mother in these flashbacks. She died when she was very young and as a result she didn’t have the opportunity to talk much about Yuka. It must be a surprise to see that she played such an active role in Mikan’s mother’s life.
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Heaven knows. Get it. 'Cause she's dead. Hahahaha.
To everyone else, it’s obvious that the Igarashi person is related to Natsume. Ruka might even directly recognize her from the painting he saw at the Hyuuga house that one time, but either way they look and act so similarly that it’s apparent to everyone but Mikan.
In any case, Natsume is seeing more of his mother than he ever has before. He knows very little about her, since she died when he was so small. He couldn’t have many conversations with her and he spent more time mourning and missing her than actually being with her. Not only is Mikan getting the chance to know the mother that was a mystery to her for her whole life, but Natsume is too. This is also his chance to discover his mother and get to know her, and it’s just his luck that Yuka and Kaoru actually had a strong bond.
After Kaoru intimidates Yuka at the Hana Hime den, Mikan and the gang react to the shocking scene. Kaoru is a force to reckon with, and Noda comments on how this force and tough love helped Yuka find strength in herself and confidence in her own alice.
Ruka insists on knowing more about Kaoru, and since everyone but Mikan seems to get that Kaoru is Natsume’s mother, we can see that Ruka is asking for Natsume. Natsume won’t ask. This is about Yuka, after all, and about Mikan. Natsume will see what he will of his mother insofar as she’s in Yuka’s life. Beyond that, he won’t ask for anything. Ruka knows this, so he asks instead. He wants to know about Natsume too, and what better way than to learn about the woman who seems to have so much in common with him? Natsume is touched that Ruka would go out of his way to ask a question Natsume will not ask.
Noda answers that Kaoru and Yuka will become best friends after this, and Mikan is shocked. How could someone so scary be Yuka’s best friend? But Noda explains: Kaoru has a compassionate and caring heart behind her cold front, just like Natsume, and Yuka could rely on her, even in her darkest moments. Yuka wouldn’t have gained confidence in her alice the way she did without Kaoru by her side.
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That is a really fucking long red string!
And then Noda says it so even Mikan can tell now, that Natsume’s mother has always been beloved and a truly amazing person.
Chapter One Hundred and Ten
Noda further explains about Kaoru. She used her alice to spy on the academy for the HSP, and then after she graduated she continued to use her alice to expose corruption. She was deeply committed to doing the right thing and holding the academy responsible, and this commitment was inspiring to Yuka as well, who went down the path she did for the same reasons.
Somehow, their children met at the academy by pure chance, and are standing side by side now.
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Here they are, standing together and in love with each other. Fate is a silly thing.
They are fated somehow. The same red string that tied Kaoru to Yuka now ties Natsume to Mikan. In fact, it’s his love for her that motivated him to go against the academy, more than his own misfortune or the wellbeing of other students or even because it was the right thing to do. The strong bond between their mothers now lingers between them, but differently, and maybe even stronger.
Natsume and Mikan are holding hands, looking at each other. Were they always meant to meet? To be together? Nothing is said out loud, but it’s apparent that they’re both thinking about their moms’ past and what exactly it means for their future.
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Perhaps there's a difference between fated to fall in love and fated to be together.
Chapter One Hundred and Sixteen
Lots of chapters are getting skipped because there simply isn’t enough content, if any, of Natsume, not to mention NatsuMikan specifically.
Izumi is about to die, and everyone knows it as they watch. Mikan has just returned from falling through the time window. She wanted to warn her father, but Tsubasa was able to bring her back without much changing. Natsume immediately goes to Mikan’s side when she is safely returned and doesn’t leave. He holds her hand because what she’s about to witness will be deeply traumatizing and he knows that she will suffer all the more because she wasn’t able to stop it.
Everything happens as it is meant to, perhaps. Izumi is dying from Rei’s alice, since his own nullification can’t fight against Rei when he uses so much power at once.
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I don't have anything clever to say here. He just loves her so much.
Mikan is distraught, and although Natsume first just tries to keep her from approaching the window again, once he sees her crying, despairing face, he shifts. All he’s ever wanted to do was keep her happy, keep her from sinking into even a fraction of the darkness he’s had to live in. It hasn’t always been easy, because Mikan was also destined to suffer, just like him.
Everyone else is pleading with Noda to get them out of the hole, to stop the flashbacks, but Noda can’t. The window is too turbulent and any moves on his part might be dangerous.
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Protecting her no matter what doesn't only mean protecting her from physical harm, it means protecting her from seeing horrible things that she shouldn't have to see, like the death of her father.
So Natsume holds Mikan close. It is the only thing he can do, to tell her not to look and to hug her. She doesn’t need to see anymore. Natsume doesn’t just want to protect her physical safety but her mental and emotional well-being as well. He fell in love with a girl who always looks on the bright side, who is so optimistic and kind that her cheerfulness bleeds into everyone else. From the start, he was concerned that if her life darkened, her own light would fade and become tarnished.
But Natsume doesn’t need her to always smile. He just wants to protect her the best he can. If she needs to cry, then she can cry on him. He will hold her and support her and comfort her. She can’t always be happy, but all he’s ever wanted was to be there for her when she can’t be. When she needs to crumble a little, he will be there for her, because she would do the same. She comforted him too, even if she never knew she was doing it. It's not about having her be happy all the time, just minimizing the trauma. He can't protect her from all of it. Everything else is more powerful than he is. He can't keep her ignorant and blissful forever. Nobody can. But if they can't escape the flashback, then he will keep her from looking.
He can do this openly now, so he does. He wants her to know that she can rely on him and seek comfort from him. No matter what happens, he will be there for her.
So as Izumi dies, Natsume and Mikan aren’t looking. She doesn’t need to see. He keeps his focus on her, to support her, because she has to process a deeply traumatic event in a very short time. After all, the flashbacks are still going. Time didn’t stop for Yuka, and it won’t stop for Mikan.
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Natsume’s shirt is probably soaked with tears. Not that he cares.
He holds her, not just through Izumi’s death, but for most of the aftermath. He stays, holding her, for as long as she needs him to. He will only let go when she’s okay to stand again. He ends up holding her for a couple chapters, and even when they stop hugging he still holds her up. He'd hold her for hours if she needed it.
Conclusion
Natsume and Mikan learned that their mothers were besties and are now struck with the knowledge that by pure chance they managed to meet and become as close as they did. Natsume confessed to the whole DA class (including Mikan) that he loves her in the last part, and he's done nothing but prove it over and over again.
We'll wrap up what is left of NatsuMikan in the Time-Travel Arc next week on Monday. His low self-esteem, selflessness, and all-consuming love will all take center stage in the next few entries.
Thank you all so much for reading so far. I hope you have a lovely day!
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ktheist · 5 years ago
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pretty girls don’t get hurt | m
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synopsis. your mom has been asking you for a grandchild - not even a son-in-law but the baby to said nonexistent son-in-law! and your dad is hitting an age where he can barely work anymore. at some point you’re going to take over his position as the chairman of the family hospital but you know nothing about medicine. that’s where kim seokjin comes in. he’ll marry you and become the chairman so you can keep your ceo position and you’ll get a child out of him too. it’s like killing two birds with one stone.
except there’s one problem: you’ve never met the man and you need him to agree to the marriage first. okay, make that two problems.
muses. heir!doctor!seokjin x heiress!ceo!reader x best friend!heir!taehyung
words. 15.6k
contents. slowburn. sexual tension. impregnation kink. daddy/older men kink. viagra is involved lmao. 
warnings. matured content.
verse. knj. myg. kth. pjm. jjk. jhs. story time.
x
“you want my what?”
seokjin’s jaw hangs loose, brows coming together in a show of frustrated bewilderment. it’s tells you enough that he heard you the first time but then again, you’re not asking him for dinner. you’re asking him for-
“your hand in marriage.” glossed lips curl upwards underneath the pristine white cup of hot coffee from the vending machine.
you watch as his widened eyes narrow. lips smack together and finally anger settles in the muscles of his hardening expression. “you’re joking.”
it’s understandable that he’d feel offended. even more so when it’s coming from a stranger who strode right into his office and introduced herself as the chairman’s daughter - the ceo. that’s probably the only reason he agreed to spare you his time - and you’re spending it for this.
it’d be a lie if you say you weren’t surprised that he didn’t know the ceo of the hospital he’s working at but judging from the way he treats you, like he has better things to do - lives to save, you know he’s that type of person. the mad scientist version of a doctor. doesn’t attend annual dinners. doesn’t take off days. he’s perfect.
“dad’s getting old and he needs someone to succeed him but i don’t know anything about medicine - i’m more of a businesswoman and the board wants someone of a clinical background to continue the tradition. if it were up to me, medical expenses would be much higher per patient but i’m also not a capitalist so i need someone on the field to tell me how things are at the hospital so we don’t overcharge nor do we undercharge.”
his eye is twitching at the end of your words and his jaw is clenched in suppression of agitation. at this point, you’re going to have to keep it short so not to drop the whole bomb on him before he himself explodes. “so how bout it? you marry me and become the next chairman and i’ll take care of all the non-clinical related matters. if you were to decline... i can’t guarantee things will remain the same after dad retires.”
“my break is over. it’s nice meeting you miss ___ but i hope we don’t run into each other again.” the chair screeches backwards when he stands up abruptly before you can even finish your sentence. he didn’t even check the time when he swipes his phone off the table and slips it right into his pocket. his words are as clear as day: this is the first and last time we meet.
“you still have ten more minutes, doctor kim.” for some reason he hasn’t stormed off - dare you say, he’s even taking what you said seriously - good. because you’re not here for a laugh either. you meet his heated gaze with ease. “i’m not sure you understand but you’re the cinderella and i’m the prince charming.”
you take out a single midnight scented card and slide it over to seokjin. “and this is a proposal, not a blackmail. call me when you’re ready to talk about the terms for the prenup.”
x
it’s been a week since you left your card with seokjin.
now, sitting in your office, the scene keeps replaying in your mind like a broken record. a scream erupts in the otherwise pleasantly silent room as you slump in your seat, hands digging into your hair as though if you rub your head hard enough, the memories would fade away. “taehyung, how did i even get that confidence? a prenup? he didn’t even say yes!”
the aforementioned man spares you a glance from the couch he’s lying on before going back to typing away on his phone. it’s probably yuju - one of his recent acquaintances. if you remember correctly, she’s the daughter of sbs’ ceo.
“boys are simple minded beings, give it another day and he’ll call you.” he casually assures, this time not even look away from his phone.
the sleek back hair and black button down underneath seokjin’s white coat flashes at the back of your mind. you don’t see that many doctors wearing something that needs ironing to work that often. sure there’s a dress code but your dad isn’t strict about it - all that mattered to him is the quality of one’s work. for all he cares, these doctors can come to work in pj’s. it’s you that had to make sure they don’t come in pj’s. collared t-shirts are acceptable. so are sneakers instead of heeled shoes. but kim seokjin was nothing less of button down, a well made tie and polished black shoes.
it shows that-
“he’s a man, not a boy.”
this time, taehyung’s fingers freeze on the screen before he turns his cheeks to you with an unfazed expression - as though he’d expected this but still got disappointed when he hears it. “so it’s his age? you wanna marry him because he’s nine years older than you?”
there’s something about the way he singles out the reason you decided it was seokjin, that makes you look away in shame. but you still force out a laugh in a last ditch attempt to brush it off but it sounds awkward in every octave. “ha ha ha ha what are you talking about? he’s the most eligible marriage prospect - that’s why.”
“there’s another one.” he points out. still unconvinced, “that suho guy - he’s also a fellow. also an only child-”
you speak over him,“-but his background is so-so. civil servant parents. went to an ordinary school. you think he’ll adapt to the pressure as quick as seokjin?” suho’s smiling picture peeks from underneath the documents you’d been reviewing before the flashback of your bold proposal comes and haunt you. it’s his resume along with every physician working at the hospital for more than eight years, that you’d obtained from your dad’s secretary. “you know whoever becomes my husband and assume the chairman position is gonna get chewed out alive by the board. it has to be him - it has to be seokjin.”
a sigh echoes from somewhere across from you as taehyung sits up, brows furrowed together as he rubs his head as if it’ll make the the problem go away. “yeah, but he left the social scene a decade ago. you think he’ll walk back in just like that?”
“his records have been nothing but remarkable. he sticks around and works overtime. he’s been one of the most consistent physicians that worked on every holidays. doesn’t take off days. basically a workaholic who loves his job way too much - he doesn’t need to enter the social scene. not when i’m his wife.” a grin spreads across your face by the end of it - all this time, you’d been reading the report about him but once you’ve actually put it in words, the chances of him saying yes seems to sound more real, “he’s gonna keep working as the chairman and ignore anything the board says. he’s perfect.”
“yeah, okay let’s say he is perfect and there’s no reason for him to say no except one,” taehyung pauses for a more dramatic effect, lips twitching upwards slyly as if he knows it’s already got you on the edge of your seat, “what if he has a girlfriend he wants to marry?”
and that’s when your world comes crashing down like waves against the rocks but you don’t like the smug look on taehyung’s face, “yeah but with his schedule, it doesn’t seem like he has one.”
“you never know - they could very well be living together. plus, it’s not like he has to report his dating life to the hospital and he seems like a private enough man to keep it on the low even from his colleagues.”
his words are barely registering but the longer the second stretches on with your thoughts running wild, the faster your heart seems to race. but one thing’s for sure. taehyung’s here because you’re supposed to be discussing the partnership.
“if you’re not gonna talk about work, then get out.” your eye visibly twitches - all of a sudden your best friend since you were in diapers’ presence serves more as a nuisance than a blessing.
“you’re mad, aren’t you?” a grin spreads across his lips before he bursts into laughter - he’s the only person that would laugh in the face of death, “man you’re full of ego - i guess you should be. i mean, if all else fails, he might just say yes because of your face, right, sparky?”
he’s using that nickname he used to call you when you were kids. your love - or as taehyung would put it, obsession for shines and sparkles in diamonds peaked at the age of ten thanks to your mom’s hobby of collecting dimes. she’d sold everything off after she got bored of them and needed space for the arts she bought - her new found hobby. but you remained true to your love for diamonds and symbol of riches and bought half of her collection.
over time, he starts using it less and less and only for reasons to get a rise out of you. where did that cute boy who called you sparky because he thought you were as pretty as the diamonds, go?
all he is now is a devil incarnate. with that height and silly grin of his, he easily antagonize you. and you always give in. 
“you’re supposed to be on my side and give me assurance!” you toss a balled up paper, aiming right in his face but instead of hitting the mark, he easily catches it.
“how’s this for assurance? you’re only gonna hurt yourself if you throw a ball like that.” he picks his blazer off the handrest and makes a beeline for the door when he senses the smoke coming out of your ears, “i’m late for my date, see you later!”
x
it’s exactly fifteen hours later that you receive a call from seokjin.
instead of meeting up at the cafeteria, he’d directed you to flower child, one of the most coveted fine dining restaurants in seoul two days after the call. it turns out he’d made a reservation - and you’re no fool to the long waiting line to get a table. he must’ve booked it some time after your first meeting.
he’s made some effort into putting on a black blazer and matching pants. hair styled to perfection. he may have cut his family off but he hasn’t completely abandoned the way he lived up till a decade ago. you allow yourself to check him out once - when he’d stood up at your arrival and pushed the chair for you.
thankfully, you’re not too underdressed. a creme blouse and grey pencil skirt suit any kind of formal setting.
“have you thought about what you want to include in the prenup?” you ask after the server leaves with your order.
seokjin seems more collected this time. or maybe it’s the incense and dimmed lighting that gives off a more suitable atmosphere to talk about marriage.
either way, you don’t expect the man to chuckle - a short, wistful one. as though he truly, honestly believes- “why would you want to marry an old man like me?”
you know what he’s asking: there’s got to be a catch. straightening your back and crossing it over your chest loosely, you decide to come clean - the full truth. “you’re only thirty-four but i won’t lie - you have a price on your head, doctor kim.”
the server comes back with a small cart and a bucket of chilled red wine. you wait until he pours a third of both glasses and goes away. but seokjin doesn’t appear all that eager for your elaboration - it’s almost as though he’s already known. or at least expected that much.
“your mother is willing to pay anyone who marries you a whooping ten million if the lucky bride brings you back to your family.” you watch as he studies the density of the wine, twirling the glass gently with a sort of tilt on his lips like a smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes, “but i won’t make you reconcile with your family. i’ve told you my intentions - i need someone who knows the ins and outs of the hospital since don’t have any clinical background and it’d be easier if we were husband and wife.”
it’s in that moment that seokjin tears his eyes off the wine and captures your gaze. in the absence of the sunlight, those brown eyes appear more black, reflecting the dancing fire on the incense. you feel naked and bare as he wedges his fingers in and tear open the windows to your soul. “don’t you have someone you want to marry, miss___? someone you love?”
taehyung’s silly grin flashes at the back of your mind like a solar flare you can’t erase - all you can do is wait until dies out on its own. you don’t realize your unfocused gaze is directed to seokjin in the split second you wait for your thoughts to gather itself. redirecting your gaze to the wayward reflection in your own glass, you let out a breathy chuckle. “yeah, well.”
it’s pathetic and embarrassing but you can’t even conjure up proper words. instead, you bring the wine to your lips, preferring to taste the bittersweetness of the wine than that of your own reality.
x
all you talk about for the rest of the night is matters pertaining the marriage. what he’ll have to endure and what he won’t have to endure. he doesn’t need to attend any of the social functions even if you’re married. doesn’t also need to concern himself with matters about his family - it becomes tricky when his family catches news of their only son’s marriage and want to be there for the ceremonious day.
“i don’t know what’s going on with you and your family but they won’t be invited if you don’t want them to be.” you fix him with one of your smiles. a tilt in the corner of your lips and a languid flutter of your eyelids before meeting his gaze. it always works - takes away the essence of the conversation and makes them focus on you so if he wants to throw your words back at you, there’s a leeway you could escape to.
until you couldn’t.
“it’s fine. i’ve been running away for the last few years - it’s time i face them head on.” he looks up from the steak he’s cutting - you still haven’t recover from the time he’d look at you in the eye and effortlessly tore your defenses like it was paper but there he does it again, splaying out your scheme like a dish best served hot, “besides, they won’t be invited but you can’t- no, you won’t stop them from showing up, right?”
it’s true. his family isn’t just any normal family. his father is a ceo of one of the most prominent cell phone companies in the world after all. you’d be invincible if you’re in good terms with your in-laws. or at least, if they think you’re on their side and want to help them get their son back.
but seeing as nothing gets past seokjin, you’re only left to either evade the question or full out deny it to keep your pride intact. either way, both options will only serve to confirm his suspicion - he may already know what you’re up to but verbalizing it is a different kind of pride-crushing. your lips curl into a smile - an irony of having been cornered in every direction from the man you thought you could wrap around your fingers.
but because your pride wouldn’t allow you to look like a fool and your ethics wouldn’t allow you to tell a flat out lie (half truths are alright), you decide the first option is much better. “there’s one more thing - i want to get pregnant within the first year of our marriage.”
or else, you’re going to end up like your parents - their bones weren’t as strong as they used to be by the time they got you and their souls were withered from the works they’d put on in their better years of their lives. your mother’s life was risked by the late pregnancy. still, they tried to love you better but there were things you couldn’t do with parents who were hitting 50 before you even reached high school. you couldn’t go camping or bike riding or fishing like your grandfather brought your father to.
it seems to have caught seokjin off guard when he stares at you with wide eyes a tad longer before dropping his head and chuckling to himself, “my, i don’t know if i still have it in me.”
and that’s how you know he’s messing with you - perhaps it’s his own way of reminding you that he’s too old for you and if he’s lucky, it’ll scare you away from the idea of marriage altogether. but the fact that he’s trying to make you give up means that he’s agreeing to the marriage. you let your lips curve into a smile, adrenaline rushing through your veins and into your very core.
you absolutely can’t wait to get married.
x
the marriage will be held within five months - it’s the earliest you can get. it’d be suspicious if you just suddenly got married without any scandal or news of dating the estranged only child of the kim family. you’ve already hired a reporter to follow you during your first three ‘dates’ - they may very well be the only dates you go on together judging from your packed schedule. it’s been almost a week since that dinner and you’ve made plans to appear in public together - your first date.
rapping your knuckles on the door, you wait for the light on the handle to turn from red to green - a signal that the owner’s allowed you access. “hey, you ready?” is the first thing you say, even though you know he’s not.
“miss ___, i’m sorry i was working and didn’t realize the time.” he seems to be genuinely apologetic - and there’s an x-ray film and some papers strewn over his desk to verify his claim. “i’ll freshen up and -”
his brows lift in surprise when you lower yourself on his lap just as he pushes the chair backwards to stand up. the usually gelled light brown hair falls over his face in a messy middle part and his button down is less crisped than when you saw him the first time. granted your first meeting with him was at noon - it’s not enough time for the demands of his career to dishevel him. it’s evening now.
his jaw slacks just the slightest bit, resulting for his lips to part - you’ve noticed their plump fullness and it’d be a lie if you said you didn’t wonder about how they’d feel on yours. the taupe acrylic on your thumb digs into the soft pink flesh of his lips before it travels to his chin.
“may i?” two words. and that’s all it takes for something lustrous to take over his eyes. you find yourself smirking when he stares quizzically as your hand leaves his face and brings his own between your lips. his fingerpads are callous from years of surgical training but they don’t tremble under the touch of your tongue. his digits are lengthier than you expect them to be. his middle finger hit the back of your throat easily before you can get them all in but he’s not the only one that’s received training.
you switch to his ring finger, tongue gently curling around it before you drag your teeth over the ridges of its joint. as a finishing touch, you make sure to lick the bottom of your lips all the while holding his gaze. then, you allow the smile to grace your lips as though nothing happened but the way you pretend to struggle to get up, causing your ass to rub against his arousal - defeats that false sense of innocence.
either way, his surprised expression turns to an amused one as he chuckles a low chuckle - an admittance of your victory, “my, i just lost, didn’t it?”
“whatever do you mean?” you blink, lashes fluttering with feigned innocence.
x
articles are starting to pop up after your personal reporter uploaded hers. it’s not enough to shake the world but it’s enough to catch the eyes of secretaries which in turn tell their bosses and as a result, your phone’s been blowing up and your own secretary has been taking calls since this morning.
“___, you’re leaving already?” taeyeon cups the mouthpiece of the phone she’s been on for the last five minutes, alarms going off in her eyes at the thought of your absence. you don’t blame her - from the way the conversation seems to be going, she might just drag the whole telephone all the way to your desk and make you answer them.
business proposals must be pouring in. you feel bad for your secretary but to be frank, the instant ringing as soon as she held up the last call - has been bothering you to no end as well.
you grin sheepishly, “i got a meeting with dad.” it’s just a coincidence that your dad called you to his office today - he usually does every once in a while just to ask how you’re doing and lament about having to handle your mother’s random burst of hobbies she’s getting into ever since you moved out.
looks like nobody’s noticed the ‘rumor’ yet from the way the workers in the administration department bows and greets you on your way to the office. granted, these people are too devoted to their work to pay attention to the latest business scandals but you expected at least one person to be blowing up the group chat with pictures of you and seokjin’s first date.
there’s a familiar figure leaning against your dad’s desk but no trace of the elder man - he must have went to the washroom or something. you thought it odd when taehyung’s eyes fall on you without the usual grin he would usually offer whenever he sees you - like reflex. at first, you assume his own date with yuju probably didn’t go very well.
“hey, loser. this is the first time you’re here earlier than me.” you fix the man your own grin, happy to be able to see not one but two of your favorite persons. taehyung’s been coming over to play at your house since forever. it was normal for your dad to invite him to his office and take you two to lunch now that you two have grown up.
...until you notice your dad on the couch and another person sitting adjacent to him. it’s easy to miss people when they’re sitting down and easier to have your eyes focus on taehyung’s tall frame.
the tension almost crushes your lungs as soon as you walk through the door. it becomes apparent all too soon that taehyung tried to warn you with his eyes to not be your usual idiot self. now, you’re paying the price for it as all eyes fall on you.
the third person in the room turns his cheek towards you - seokjin. he offers a too polite smile as you come to a stop next to the couch he’s one.
“daddy?” all of a sudden, you’re a child in a room full of adults and calling your out to your dad, as if it would somehow make him explain this situation you just walked in.
the elder man releases a long drawn sigh before speaking, “i’d like a word with my daughter and doctor kim, if you don’t mind, taehyung.”
“sure, uncle.” the aforementioned man offers one of his gallant smiles, pushing himself off the desk without taking out his hands from his pockets.
you grab onto taehyung’s arm as he’s about to pass you - pleading with your eyes for him not to leave you, a mere ant, with the elephants in the room. that’s when his serious facade falls through and he’s grinning at you like a brother would to his sister when he knows she’s going to get in trouble with their parents. your temple throbs with a burst of rage but before you can say anything, he’s already out of the door.
the sweetness of the tea mrs. nam served is tasteless compared to the tangible tension in the air. it’s become apparent that while the more tech savvy staff remain clueless of your updated dating status, your father, is not.
be it as it may, guess you should give credit where it’s due - seokjin’s expression is free of any tautness. it’s perfectly neutral - it’s frightening. you know for a fact you’re not saved from a hard line on your glossed lips and a crease between your brows.
“i heard from my wife that you two are dating.” the elderly man finally breaks the silence.
he’s addressing your mom like that so to make it known that he’s talking to seokjin too - and you’re not the only one in hot water. but seeing as it’s your idea and your proposal, it’s also your responsibility to respond-
“that’s correct, sir.”
-but seokjin beats you to it. it’s not just his expression but his tone is completely at ease. almost as though he’s faced tense situations like this one too many times.
you breathe out before speaking, “i was going to introduce doctor kim to you and mom once we bought our engagement rings.”
your dad finally looks up, eyes wide and mouth slacked for the briefest second before his eyes flutter close. now’s about time for him to be rubbing his temples from the headache but instead, he lets out a sigh. for a split second, you see your dad for the age he is - not the age you remember him as in your earliest memories. wrinkles and smile lines and graying hair.
the seconds stretch on as do the silence. you can hear the distant ringing of the telephone all the way from mrs. nam’s desk from outside, almost clearly.
once your word settles in, then comes the million dollar question, “do you two love each other?”
it’s a no brainer. anyone with eyes can see and answer that for you - or perhaps taehyung already told your dad since he must have gone through a similar interrogation session. and yet, it’s only natural to want confirmation from your own daughter instead of her best friend even though he knows everything about her.
this can only go two ways: yes or no.
but you’ve never been fond of flat out lying, especially to the man who taught you such principles and you’ve talked about marrying for convenience with them ever since you realized that ambitions tend to reward but cheap sentiments like love does not.
yet your chest feels heavy having to go against your parents’ wishes and hopes for you - they want what any parent want for their child. happiness. “no, we don’t.”
“but no one enters into a marriage with divorce in mind. i don’t plan on just being a husband to your daughter just on paper. i’ll care for miss ___ and treat her the way like a queen. that much, i promise, sir.” seokjin holds your dad’s gaze - it’s haunting and charming, you would know. you’d been on the receiving end once too many times already. and you know that’s how he gets your dad.
the older man nods, shoulder line relaxing almost as though he’s been lifted off a dead weight. he’s not the only one - you don’t realize you’ve been holding your breath until you feel your own muscles loosening and you’re breathing out in relief.
until his head snaps up to point out one thing, “you’re getting married yet you’re not on first name basis?”
x
“sorry to rope you into family drama, i’ll be more prepared next time so you won’t have to leave your work.” is the first thing you say once you’re in the elevator. your dad has made sure to grill you to half-death with his questions. he’s gonna give the immigration a run for their money. the first name basis matter is just the beginning of a series of dread -
‘what’s my daughter’s favorite color?’
‘dad, do you even know my-”
‘shh. do you know my daughter still wets the bed at the age ten?’
‘dad!’
seokjin had taken your dad on in stride. he chuckled when your dad said something ridiculous, borderline false and he listened on when your dad went on about the sob story of a ‘poor father with an undefeatable daughter’. but the way he did it was so effortless - almost as if he was a boyfriend visiting your parents and getting told all the embarrassing stories of your childhood and would tease you about it but at the end of the day, tells you he thinks the kid-you was cute - bed wetter or not.
there’s something that restricts your airway at the thought of sharing a feeling so strong with someone. in no time, you push the intimate image away. you and seokjin aren’t like that - this is marriage is strictly convenience-based.
“i asked a friend of mine to cover for me.” so he knew it’d be long but he didn’t actually said it was okay either. marriage is a tricky subject especially for someone as work-crazed as seokjin. you’re surprised he hasn’t cursed you out for making him miss work. “is it red?”
“what?” you blink, steps halting as you stare up at him with what starts to be mindless curiosity but ends up with a stretched on pause as you study the man’s visage. the plumpness of his lips is a given- it’s the first thing you noticed about him.
“your favorite color.” the corners of his lips lifts upwards before he includes his assertion, “you’re always wearing something red - your lipstick was red when we went for dinner. you have a red blouse on now.”
 even you didn’t know you have so much red. but it’s true - your functions and meetings wardrobe consists of red and black predominantly besides the more neutral pastel colors. you have a higher success rate of getting sponsors when you wear the tight fitted red dress.
but it’s not a preferred shade per se.
“no,” you chuckle, “my favorite color is yellow, like the banana.”
seokjin’s brows rises at that. he probably didn’t expect that - nobody expects the fierce and confident woman to like such a bright, clarifying color. “though i understand why you think it’s red.”
his lips curl into a smile - the kind of smile that mimics your own, not the one that he wears to charm your father. though that one was also genuine, this one makes him feel younger. like someone you can crack silly jokes with instead of the ever uptight working man.
before he manages to say anything, your name reverberates across the lobby. taehyung’s shrugged off that ugly grey checkered blazer of his and left it at the sofa as he mini run towards you. the grin on his face gradually falls off when he notices the lack of smile on your face.
“you left me for dead!”
he blocks your fist with a hand around your wrist before sighing as if you’re not just directing every ounce of energy in that punch of yours - but then again, none of your smacks really get to him.
“i didn’t know uncle was gonna ask me about that - i thought it was gonna be the usual lunch. i mean, come on, i waited for you down here even though i have work to do so i can make sure all your limbs are intact!” he looks like he almost meant it. almost.
it’s in that moment that seokjin’s remark reminds you that he’s still there, “you two must be close.”
“huh?” taehyung narrows his eye at you as though you’re no more than gum under his shoes while you whip your hand out of his grasp and scoff.
“nah, i’m her only friend.”
“it’s because he doesn’t have any other friend.”
you both say at the same time.
at least seokjin’s still able to laugh with all the intention-to-kill in the air. before you can elaborate on how taehyung kept following you around like a lost puppy when you were younger, seokjin’s hand finds its way around your shoulder, you thought it odd that he needs to pat on the shoulder farthest from him but it turns out he’s pulling you towards him but by the time you realize it, you’re already craning your neck to look at him. but you barely notice the awkward position of his lips on the spot just above your left eyebrow - his lips really are soft. and warm.
and gone.
before you know it, he’s pulling away, saying something about seeing you later - you couldn’t hear it from the blood rushing in your ears and the heat rising on your face. it’s only after you see his white coat disappear around the corner do you finally take notice of the slyly grinning fox in front of you.
“what did i tell you? simple-minded beings.”
x
you still don’t know why seokjin kissed you on the forehead.
sure, he told your dad he’s not planning to just be a husband on paper - okay. but he’s nowhere near a husband to you yet and you haven’t even given him an engagement ring. it doesn’t help that your heart keeps racing every time time the image of his sharp jaw and pursed lips before he kissed you, plays at the back of your mind.
he smelled good too - like aftershave and lemon and a hint of disinfectants.
before you know it, you find yourself rapping on his door eight minutes past 7 in the evening. after a whole solid minute of the red light on the door handle remaining the same color, you finally let out the breath you’ve been holding. it’s supposed to be past his shift but judging from the lack of response from the other side of the room, you know straight away that he’s still at the wards. it may have been an impromptus decision but now that you’ve walked the distance from your office to the other end of the building, you might as well go the extra mile and actually look for him. 
most of the nurses and doctors that pass you recognize you, bowing briefly before hurrying to where they were heading before they saw you. you rarely visit the cardiology department - or any other department for that matter because it’s always a hassle for the staff to prepare to greet you. in that aspect, you agree with seokjin - that they could be doing something better than pushing their schedules on their colleague to accompany a sightseeing vip.
“miss ___?” a young man around your age calls, his brows furrow at the idea that his eyes could be fooling him but when you turn to him, his eyes light up in pleasant surprise, “it really is you. why - i didn’t know you were visiting today.” 
“doctor kim,” you don’t forget a face easily - right before you is kim suho. the smile that stretches when you recognize him is telling enough. his past achievements are definitely to brag about and he must have attended the annual dinner if he recognizes you, “good evening. this isn’t an official visit - actually, i’m looking for someone. do you happen to know where doctor kim seokjin is?”
“seokjin?” he repeats the name with a sort of familiarity, coupled with confusion. of course, he’s probably wondering what the work-crazed doctor did to have the ceo come all the way to the wards.
“miss ___?” it’s feels almost deja vu - having your names called out by two different people within the span of five minutes. both sounding equally confused but for different reasons.
“good evening,” you fix seokjin one of your alluring smiles, heart skipping a beat - it’s probably the stethoscope hanging over his shoulder. it compliments the collared button down and white coat, look you usually see him in, “i went to you office but you weren’t there so i came here.”
“let’s talk in my office.” he clears his throat, eyes drifting to look to somewhere on his left before he stops himself. if it’s the whispering nurses at the counter he’s worried about - he shouldn’t be. because you’re about to put a ring on it.
x
“sorry, i was doing my last rounds but the patient was a chatty one - i lost track of time.” he says, walking into the office and setting the stethoscope down on his desk before he takes a seat behind it.
you notice the way his eyes travel from your perfectly pinned up hair down to your diamonds adorned neck down to the halter strap of your elegant maroon dress that wraps around your body flawlessly. but he doesn’t say a word - and you’re forced to school your expression to not show your surprise and hurt when he doesn’t even let his gaze linger for any longer than necessary as he meets your eyes again.
you take out the suede velvet box from your purse and place it right in front of him. “it just came in, why don’t you try putting it on?”
his eyes twinkle with a surprise not because of the foretelling shape and characteristics of the box, nor the affirmation of the silver band inside it but because it sits snugly around his ring finger when he slips it on.
“how did you get my size right?” the impressed tone laced in his voice makes your chest swell with pride and lips curl into a smirk.
it only takes him a few seconds to interpret your smirk - that time in his office. the ghost of his digit on your tongue still lingers. it wasn’t just for show and you weren’t cruel enough to put a man through that misery if you didn’t have your own reasons.
he shakes his head, ring bluntly glinting as suppresses his chuckle with his hand.
your heart is beating too loudly in your chest - there’s something in the way he’s bearing your claim but you still manage to sound leveled and collected. “since we’re officially engaged, do you mind if i call you seokjin?”
“i’d like that very much, ___.” he’s finally dropped the suffix. ms. this, ms. that. you’ve gotten used to it but it serves to enforce the invisible line between you and him when he addresses you so formally.
your phone buzzes in your purse - it must be taehyung. you didn’t expect to spend longer than ten minutes but he must be waiting at the lobby if he’s texting you now. standing up, you bid him a parting “have a nice evening, seokjin.”
he doesn’t seem like he has anything on his mind but just as your hand covers the handle of the door, he speaks up, “once we’re married, could you refrain from going to these functions?”
it takes you off guard. like a spear that pierces you just as you lay down your armor but you’re not one to let something like this get to you, “i’m afraid that’s not possible.” and that’s it. it’s final.
but you should have known when you decide to use that practiced icy tone, that seokjin wouldn’t just back off the way almost everyone would. the only people who would still have the gal to say something or dismiss it are your parents and taehyung.
“i know you expect me to be an obedient husband and become chairman and do my job. it shouldn’t matter if you attend these functions since you’re not forcing me to go with you.” and there’s those eyes again. tearing into the soul of your window and stripping you bare the way only kim seokjin could. “but marriage is about compromise - giving up one thing for the other. i’m gonna inherit my dad’s fortunes and you’re gonna get that 10 million my mom promised. shouldn’t that be enough to get the projects for the hospital rolling?"
when he says it like that, it seems so easy and simple. “no wonder you’re a doctor. you don’t know a thing about maintaining a sustainable business.” you let your lips curl briefly, “but i’ll think about what you said.”
then, you’re out of his office. heels clicking against the floor as you make your way to the lobby and into taehyung’s familiar sleek black burgatti.
x
“so he asked you to stop coming to these functions.” the car rolls to a stop right in front of the hall where the birthday party of seollyu’s president is held.
“in essence, yeah.” you say after he comes around the car and your hand automatically tucks itself in the crook of his arm.
“then why are you mad?” the car purrs behind you before the valet takes it somewhere to park it.
some of the reporters at the entrance calls your and taehyung’s names in an attempt to make you look at the camera. there’s too many and the lights are blinding - you just want to get into the hall quickly. at least they won’t be able to follow you past the doors.
“i just - i don’t like that he’s asking me to change, you know? just because i’m married, i won’t get to do the things i usually do before? that’s just bullshit.” you huff in frustration - not bothering to hide your stiff eyebrows and slightly pursed lips all the while you have your pictures taken. at best, they’re going to slander you with jealousy over taehyung’s new budding romance.
“i mean, he did cut his family off and stopped going to these things.” the man shrugs, “maybe he has a good reason - did you even ask him why?”
and that’s how you know you’ve lost the fight. taehyung’s too sensible - naturally, he wouldn’t have his own startup at such a young age, if he isn’t the way he is now. but you don’t want an analyst - you want a friend who would listen to you and let you vent your frustrations before finding the root of the problem and suggesting the solution.
taehyung knows this and he knows plenty of many things, having been your childhood and best friend all in one package. but because he knows you too well, he also knows you’ll end up doing something you would regret if he were too late to point out your mistake. sometimes you want to prove him wrong - that you can call the right shots when it comes to people without having him paint a picture for you to foresee the outcome but so far, there’s limited exhibits of your success. your failed past relationships being the prime examples.
“i hate it when you’re right.” you grumble, letting your hand fall to your side - usually you wouldn’t mind having to cling onto taehyung like a child. you’re all the other has in these functions - everyone has their own reason for attending and just like absolutely everyone, you approach people because of what they can give you. that’s why you see groups of people your age flocking together - they grew up trained to sniff those with ill intentions and those with a mutual interest.
and usually, they’ve known each other at a very young age - the way you knew taehyung for as long as you can remember.
you have other friends too - or rather, they’re people you single out to be of no threat to your business and could even become partners someday. like sowon - her bright amber dress making it seem as though a ball of fire is flitting across the hall. you’re about to wave at her before you notice a more furious fire burns in her eyes.
“you bitch!”
all of a sudden, your neck is craned in an awkward angle. the blaze on your cheek settles a little later than the realization that sowon just smacked you right across the face yet when you turn back to her, hands clenching and unclenching in suppression of rising anger - she’s the one with tears in her eyes. “i trusted you.”
oh boy.
the host hasn’t even made his speech and the crowd’s already excited. the widespread whispers don’t go past you - some of the people in your periphery doesn’t even bother hiding leaning into the person next to them while stealing glances your way. but you doubt the woman in front of you would notice anyone here but you.
“ladies, there’s plenty of me to go around.” taehyung speaks from next to you, his smooth baritone echoing off and reaching anyone within five feet. you know he’s doing this to cover for any other possible misunderstanding - after all, this isn’t the first time you’re trapped in a scandal between taehyung and one of his girlfriends.
sowon loathes taehyung though.
but it doesn’t matter as long as everyone thinks it’s just another day of you getting in between the budding romance of taehyung and his female acquaintance. you can already see the expressions of the guests falling - probably disappointed at the not-so-news news. but there are also those who snicker underneath their breath - probably one of taehyung’s past acquaintances. it’s no secret taehyung would choose you over them in a heartbeat - and it’s been established when taehyung appears at a function with another woman once and appear to the next five with you until a new poor soul takes that woman’s place.
what can you say? your best friend’s a charmer. but the downside is, you don’t have that many female friends at functions. and one of the few you do have, you’ve managed to piss off.
sowon’s sniffle tears your attention away from the crowd. flushed cheeks and puffed eyes. you’re not close but you’re acquainted enough to know she’s a woman of pride and confidence. she wouldn’t lose her cool over a man - well, at least not a licentious man like taehyung. and that’s the only reason keeping you from bitch slapping the pride off her. the sting on your cheek is nothing compared to the injury your pride sustains - all because what’s left of your conscience wouldn’t allow you to return the slap.
deep down, you know you deserved it and more. your insides churn painfully. all of a sudden the dress around your body is two sizes too small. it’s suffocating - the whole room is suffocating.
“after everything i told you - you had to go for him?!” her scream could almost burst your eardrums if it isn’t for the blood rushing in your ears.
it’s easy to think she’s referring to taehyung. somewhere from across the room, the crowd starts clearing out a path - looks like the host has caught wind of the commotion sowon has caused.
you want to curse her too. hurt her with words as much as she hurt you with her physical assault. but instead you find yourself dropping your gaze.
“i’m sorry, sowon.” is all you say before mr. jung and his army of secretaries approach you and bring you two to different rooms. by the time dinner starts, sowon isn’t around - it’s understandable, her pride wouldn’t allow her to let these people poke fun at her.
but you don’t survive this world you’re born in by running away - you survive it by developing skin as untouchable as scales. so you stay until desert, smiling with a sore cheek and conversing with those who you know would be neutral about the incident, like nothing happened.
taehyung sticks closer to you. he doesn’t ask if you’re okay - you’re not. but when you tug on his sleeve and timidly murmur you wish to go home, he does so without hesitation. it’s times like these you’d choose him over the world.
x
the tabloids love gossip. a sensational, popcorn-worthy scoop. there are two divided groups thanks to that. the first one is devoted to the belief that it’s a love triangle between you, taehyung and sowon. the other one, choosing to dig deeper than what’s on the surface, believes it goes way back. ten years back.
“sorry, i should have told you sowon was my ex-fiance - it didn’t occur to me until i saw the articles that you two might meet at a function.” seokjin finally says, the strawberry ice cream beginning to melt in its paper bowl when he asked you to ‘at least, let me cure your injury,’ - you didn’t, in a - make that ten - million years picture it to be in a form of an ice cream bowl he bought from the mini convenience store next to the cafeteria. it was to hold it on your cheek but you couldn’t just let good food go to waste.
it hurts to even smile but you can’t help it at the thought of the rumored half-mad doctor using his break for something besides working some more. coupled with a shake of your head and the plastic spoon trapped in between your lips, you look just as insane. 
your heart still clenches at the recollection of the other night, “i knew you two were engaged.”
his shoulder line straightens just the slightest bit as he lifts one eyebrow, not completely surprised but neither is he unfazed. so you continue, “it was by pure dumb luck that you turn out to be the best marriage prospect for me but i thought she was over it since it’s been years.”
there it is again, the churning in your stomach. like something’s eating you from the inside. if you focus enough, you can hear the voice inside your head scoffing - even if they’d just broken up yesterday, you still would have proposed to seokjin, maybe even the day after said break up. 
this time, you don’t look away when his eyes meet yours. you let him strip your armor down to your very core. show him just what kind of person you are - the person who wouldn’t let anything get in the way of her ambitions. wouldn’t dwell cheap sentiments like friendship. even if that made you - as sowon would put it - a bitch.
then, he lets out a heavy sigh - the kind of sigh a parent would do when their kid got in trouble and admitted their fault. so now he can’t lecture you on morals and ethics because you have your own principles.
if anything, it reminds you of the glaring difference in your age - the things he’s already experienced that you’re about to someday. the betrayals. the broken friendships. the choices between what you want and what you need. he’s probably seen this all before.
“is an old man like me really worth all that trouble?” the tiniest of smile graces his strong feature. eyebrows wavering with something you can’t pinpoint.
“well, there’s a doctor - kim suho.” this time, you don’t bother pointing out his not-even-that-old age. the way his eye twitches barely noticeably tells you he doesn’t expect your answer. a moment later, it becomes too apparent, from his troubled expression - brows stiffed and jaws tight, that he doesn’t like the idea of you asking for another man’s hand in marriage. you have to tell yourself to refrain from smiling, not because your cheek might hurt again but because it’s probably not a good time to tease him.
deciding to release him from his own misery, you quickly elaborate, “but he has an average background - no matter how much experience he has, you don’t just get on your knees and start slithering with the snakes. you have to be born into the family. so yes,” you place your ice cream on the coffee table, hand pushing back a strand of hair to appear more delicate and win his favor while you let a furtive smile adorn your face - and there’s a smile he’s suppressing too because he knows what you’re trying to do, “this old man is definitely worth it.”
his shoulder line seems to ease up as he tries to hide a relieved sigh by clearing his throat. but it’s short lived when the crease between his brows returns and a newfound tension settles in space on the couch separating the two of you, “yes, but suho was never the one i should be on a look out for, was he?”
you blink but he’s already shaking his head. a smile on his face, “never mind.”
x
things seem to settle down - everyone at the hospital knows about you and seokjin now. and you’ve managed to convince him to finally use his off days to spend it on preparing for the wedding. cake tasting. dress and suit fitting. deciding on what color the napkins should be - a month ago, you approached seokjin with the mindset to make him agree to marry you. after all, prince charming was the one who had it all - it didn’t make sense to have cinderella do all the wedding planning.
he was mad at you for some reason - it lasted for quite awhile until you directly asked why he’d been given you the cold shoulders. “you keep playing a two man game by yourself.” he sighed when he said those words - because he saw in your eyes, that you thought there was nothing wrong to be finishing what you started by yourself, “we’re getting married - we’re gonna become a team yet you keep making decisions by yourself.”
ever since then, you started asking if he wanted to join you to the cake and dessert tasting, napkin color picking. you didn’t realize how nice it was to do things with another person than decide it on your own.
and somewhere along the way, you started teasing him more.
“if the saying ‘men age like fine wine’ is a person,” a grin slips over your face as you shamelessly give seokjin is a once over, “then you’d be the embodiment of that.”
he doesn’t seem to mind - rather, he seems like he’s enjoying the attention as he chuckles and shakes his head. probably thinking there’s no saving you and your compliments now.
“come here.” it’s the way he says it - with a smile on his lips and eyes that says you’re all he sees and hand extended to capture yours, that makes you jump from your seat. the front of the dress bunched up in your hands as to not trip over it and right into his arms. just like moth drawn to flames.
he pulls you up over the platform that he’s been standing on and lets you stand in front of him, hand on your shoulder as you stare in front of the 3 part mirror in the boutique. the dress you have on is a light gold dress with a sweetheart neckline that wraps around your curves flawlessly down to your knees and flow out like a mermaid’s tail. seokjin has on a traditional cobalt blue single breasted suit with three buttons fitting around his waist perfectly. his hair is gelled back the way you specifically requested.
he gave you a quizzical look as though wanting you to elaborate on your reason for that request but you’d only left him with a kiss on the cheek and a ‘see you on monday.’
if there’s one thing you learned about seokjin, it’s that he’s devastatingly unaware of his strong features that makes every woman’s legs turn to jelly and every man’s heart skip a beat. and he chooses to hide it under that usual middle parted style.
seokjin’s reflection bends down but his eyes remains on you as he whispers against the shell of your ears, “you look exquisite.”
you have half the mind to push him off and run away in case he’d ear the erratic beating in your chest but he probably already knows from the way you shyly look away. the you from a year ago would laugh at what you’ve become - the kind of girl that gets flustered and can’t form a proper sentence in the presence of a male. but before you can respond, a boisterous voice from the sofa you were sitting at, announces, “alright, next!”
your teeth clench together as you whirl around to face taehyung’s silly grin. that cockblocker - he knew you were having a moment and went out of his way to ruin it. “what are you even here for? don’t you have something better to do?”
for once, taehyung isn’t on his phone. you wouldn’t mind it so much if he’d just ignore you half of the time whenever you hang out. “your mom tasked me to find you a perfect dress since she can’t be here.” there’s a glint in his eyes - something ratchet and devious but his lips curve like that of an angel.
you don’t miss seokjin’s tightened jaw and stiff shoulder line as he helps you down the platform. ever since taehyung showed up ten minutes into fitting, seokjin’s expression has been switching from that suave smile to looking like he has a splinter stuck in his thumb - a human sized splinter that goes by the name of kim taehyung.
you never thought you’d live to see the day when kim seokjin would harbor any sort of animosity towards someone - he’s probably a strict supervisor, but resentful? can’t be.
you chalk it up with the plain fact that anyone who’s not head over heels for taehyung would want to skin him alive on the early stages of getting to know him.
“hm? seokjin’s not here yet?” you ask once you’re back from the fitting room, having slipped into an ivory trumpet shaped dress. it’s a much simpler design compared to the one you had on which makes it a perfect counter part for the after party. “that’s a first, the lady finishing first than the guy.”
“oh, it’s not that unusual.” taehyung snickers. guess that just shows how confident he is with his skills.
“i’ve never been this tired and i’ve only tried on three dresses.” instead of entertaining his remark, you choose plop down next to him.
“sparky, does he love you?” it’s that nickname that gets you.
there are only two circumstances where he would call you that: one, when he wants to annoy you and two, when he’s feeling nostalgic. guess it’s finally hitting him that you’re no longer kids chasing each other around in one of his mansions. you’re both grown up and one is trying out wedding gowns.
“uh, me and seokjin are about to get married, taetae.” you throw in a nickname of your own just to lighten up the mood.
but all it does is lift the corners of his lips into a wistful smile. and that’s how you know you can’t be telling your half-truths. and evading his question isn’t working all that well either. “it feels like we can talk about things more openly now - but no, i don’t think he does. he’s marrying me to become the next chairman and i’m after his money and maybe get a kid out of him too.” a knot forms in your stomach - something about what you said doesn’t sit well with you but this is what you wanted. this is what you prepared for the moment you decided to ask seokjin for his hand in marriage. you shouldn’t hope for more.
the laugh taehyung lets out is reactionary. humorless. “can’t you wait for me? i know i’m in no position to ask - but can’t you?”
two years and three months ago, when you were a little youthful, had a little more stars in your eyes - maybe you would’ve said yes in a heartbeat. with every birthday you celebrate, fear rears its ugly head and reminds you that time isn’t an illusion and you know better than to bet on something - someone you're not sure you can win.
your heart aches a similar way it did two years ago - but you know now it’s not because it’s breaking to pieces. instead it’s hurting for the pieces of that young boy you could never hope to complete using yours. it took awhile but you know how to get back on your feet - but it’s not all that simple for taehyung. only he can fix his broken pieces.
“i stopped, taehyung,” you finally say, gaze burning holes inside the lace material of the dress, “the moment you told me you can’t - i stopped loving you. i’m glad i did because it wasn’t love. i was just scared to lose you like you’re afraid to lose me now,” you tug on his hand to get him to look at you and he does - all of a sudden, you’re both eight, inside your own bedroom with your dolls and his remote control cars strewn across the floor, “but you’ll always be my taetae and i’ll always be your sparky - i’m always gonna be here for you.”
you thought he’d changed. it’s nice to know he still uses a fruit scented shower gel when he brings you into a hug. the piercing sweet scent isn’t as strong as you remember it. the hug lasts a bit longer and his body is trembling slightly but you know it’s going to be okay - even if he packs up and leave for a foreign city like two years ago when you told him you loved him and you had to hunt him down through your wits and will (that damned private investigator accumulated a fortune to last him for probably ten years). at the end of the day, you’ll come back to each other. because the bond you’ve formed is thicker than the blood coursing through your veins.
“if he makes you cry, you come to me, okay?” you can’t even be mad when he ruffles your hair before picking up his blazer and shrugging it on. by the end of it, you’re both smiling - though his remains wistful, yours is sanguine.
it’s only after taehyung’s figure disappears through the door, do you notice the feeling of a pair of eyes burning holes inside your head.
“seokjin.”
the man is leaning against the door where his changing room is. you don’t need to ask why his brows are strained and the lips that would usually grace you with a smile, is pressed into a tight line.
x
“i never knew-” seokjin stops himself, lips pressed together as though he doesn’t want to say it, but he does with a shake of his head, “-no, i did know there was something between you and taehyung.”
you end up in seokjin’s apartment. the whole ride has been stiff silent. it’s the first you’ve seen him so disheveled. his tie hangs loose on his neck as though he’d yanked it without a care in the world and forgot about it. the first two buttons of his button down are undone. what once was his perfectly sleeked back hair disheveled from having been mussed up.
the hot chocolate seokjin made you is losing heat the longer you hold onto to it for the sake of having something to do with your hands. “i proposed to him two years ago and stopped loving him as soon as he turned me down - taehyung, he... he’s got a lot going on. that’s all i can say. i hope you don’t misunderstand what you saw.”
his eyes turn as round as saucers for the briefest moment before they flutter to their original almond shapes. shoulder line shaking from chuckling - but there’s nothing funny about any of this so you keep your eyes on him. if he needed confirmation of the truth you’re speaking, he need only search it in the windows of your soul.
“that’s very like you, ___.” he finally says.
you’re not sure what he meant but you’re not about to ponder on it either, “is there anything else you’d like to know about me, seokjin? there’s no reason for me to lie to you - we’re about to get stuck with each other for the rest of our lives. we should at least be able to talk about our past openly.”
when he doesn’t seem to have any other inquiry, you decide to let go of your pride - the reason you never asked was because you were too proud to be wrong. growing up, there were only a few people that you let poke fun at you and fewer you’d let prove you wrong. it dawned on you some time after you’re all showered and ready to go to bed one night - that you’re about to let seokjin waltz into your life and he’ll bear witness to your most intimate side. he’s about to be said one of the fewer people.
“then, my turn - why did you want me to stop attending social functions? i’ve been doing it my whole life - i’m good at it. and i’m not planning to stop just because i got married unless you have a proper reason for asking me to.”
the way his gaze drops tells you it wasn’t just a baseless request. you reach out across the counter, slipping your hands into his. that seems to have brought him back.
“my parents chose to attend a function instead of staying by my grandfather’s side even when the doctor told them he wouldn’t make it til morning - they weren’t even sorry. couldn’t even stay throughout the whole funeral.” he shakes his head almost as though being hung up over it was ridiculous yet couldn’t move past it either, “it’s ugly what too much wealth does - i just- i’m sorry i asked such a thing from you. it’s my own problem that i have to deal with, you don’t have to stop.”
it’s not hard to put yourself in his shoes. you understand where he’s coming from - you want to tell him that but somehow words are cheap. especially right in this moment.
so without thinking, you slip off the stool and walk around the counter until you reach him. the last thing you see before you wrap your arms around his neck and pull him down to your level, is his wondrous gaze.
the man doesn’t flinch away from your touch nor does he welcome it in any way. but the longer the seconds stretch on, the more you realize how idiotic and awkward it is to hug someone you barely know - it worked for taehyung but that’s only because he knew you preferred action rather than words.
“i’m not gonna stop completely but i won’t go as often - it’s getting boring anyway.” you nonchalantly say - or at least try to sound like you’ve lost interest in the function on your own. you haven’t been to any since that incident with sowon, waiting out for the rumors to die down is a better choice.
the body in your arms is unresponsive as ever - you would think you’re hugging a dead body if not for the heat of his breath fanning your delicate skin. maybe he’s just too nice to push a lady away. just as you’re about retract your arms, a warm hand rests on your hip. his touch is soft and gentle - as if he’s handling a porcelain doll while you’d just dragged him down to you without even considering how uncomfortable the angle would be given his tall broad frame. 
his body vibrates when he lets out a short breath like a brief chuckle, “you’re very generous with your hugs.”
your brain short circuits when the man raises his head from your shoulder and rests his forehead on yours - it reminds you of how woman you are. even when he’s sitting he still hovers over you. his free hand cups your jaw, thumb lightly pressing on your lower lip. so this is what it felt like when your roles were switched - is he going to give you a false sense that he’ll kiss you the way you would him?
“may i?” he’s smiling when he repeats your own words - eyes trapping the ray of sunlight that pours over the wall-window like an illuminate waterfall. for the first time since you know him, you’re scared. not of what he will do but of what you want him to - but he won’t do.
your train of thoughts dissipates along with your worry the moment his lips touch yours. gentle. yet the hand pulling you into him is possessive. something in your stomach churns with butterflies.
you want to say you don’t know how you end up with your stomach pressed against his crotch or how his semi-hard arousal started rubbing into your abdomen. it’s supposed to be awkward but it isn’t and you know he’s refraining from addressing his aroused state to avoid making it uncomfortable for you - even though every time you shift and lean into him, you see his the gentle bob of his adam’s apple. it makes you want him even more. he leans into your touch as soon as you reach for him like moth drawn to flames.
“right.” he declares as if he’s been reminded of something when he comes in contact with one of the ridge of the rock on your middle finger. it’s your own engagement ring you ordered with seokjin’s. when the man spoke about getting you one, you’d held up your left hand and told him you already had one made. in fact, you never took it off since the day you put it on - which was the same day it came it.
understandably, you’re always wearing more than a ring on your hand - it’s easy to mix up between the ring from your personal collection or a ring of promise. especially when you didn’t tell him you got one made for yourself.
the hand on your cheek is warm as it brushes against your cheekbones, your rolls off his tongue like sweet honey, “what did i ever do to make you think i don’t love you?”
you blink once. you heard his words but your mind isn’t registering anything. but it seems your heart has seem to figure it out from the way it’s accelerating, you’re afraid seokjin might hear it. “wh-what?”
all of a sudden, you have this urge to pull the invisible blinds of his wall-window and hide from the peering rays of the sun. seokjin’s airy gaze. your fallen dress strap. the gentle protrusion in his pants. your own mussed up hair - you want to keep this moment all to yourself.
he pecks your forehead one last time. this lips curling into a smile - he knows you heard him. loud and clear and you have a feeling you’ll be hearing it at the most unpredictable moment from now on. so there’s no rush.
“where should we go for dinner?” 
x
seokjin knows they call him the doctor version of a mad scientist. he knows a plenty of many things. like how he’s more strict with the junior physicians under his care. but that’s only because if he treats them below their potential, they’ll end up being that.
but the part where suho jokingly told him that he was crazy for working on holidays - maybe he was.
he’d moved out as soon as he turned 18 and eventually cut off his parents. before, even if it was just for show, he still got to see them during those functions they held.
but by the time he graduated college and started interning as a doctor - he was already erasing part of his existence. and his parents didn’t seem to notice. it made it cutting them off effortless.
but then, loneliness - pure, unadulterated loneliness started to sink its claws into him. so he turned to work even more. built his life around it.
by the time he became a fellow, he had absolutely zero social life. the only human interaction he had was with his patients - but they come and go. sure they’re grateful for him - and since the private hospital he’s working at is frequented mostly by the richest, he’d received gifts like cars or gold bars from one of his elderly patients who were convinced they were going to die - until they woke up from a successful surgery done by seokjin himself. but they eventually forget him.
and of course, he returned those gifts. he’d be no different than his parents - than the people he wished not to see anymore after he left that world. but the one thing he thought he wanted - the one thing he thought would make him happy, started to burn him out. every birthday was just a reminder that he’s half the age his soul is. 
he’s worn and tired and losing sight of that man he told himself to be by a certain age.
that is, until you came along. at first, it was just courtesy that he listened to what you had to say - apparently you were the ceo. and quite literally, his boss. at first, he thought you were messing with him when you asked for his hand in marriage - no one just waltzes in and propose to someone they don’t know.
even those convenient marriages don’t go this way. but he’d accepted it anyway.
it has more to do with those eyes of yours than the chairman position. those eyes - they remind him so much of himself. the current him. except where his soul wanes, yours thirsts to thrive. like a dying cactus refusing to dry out.
you had thorns but picking them out wasn’t a problem - you’d been disconcerted at first but you’d quickly learn to use it to your advantage. telling him only the truth or nothing. since evasion and half-truths don’t work on him the way they would work on the people you probably surrounded yourself with. and he knew exactly what type of people they were.
eventually, you started telling him the blunt, honest truth. it threw him off a few times - like when you’d straight out told him that you knew who sowon was and still went for him.  and that time when you admitted that he was the second man to receive your proposal - the first being that brat, taehyung. and then, you’d straight out asked him about why he didn’t want you attending functions anymore instead of ignoring his request like his parents would. or flip out of shame for having your lie found out. you were forbearing but firm. sometimes, it felt like you were much older than him. 
but then you had a childish side to you too - it was food for his soul. every time he was with you, he felt like himself again. like that boy who applied for a job at the hospital with only his wits and his will backing him up. at first, he’d only saw that side of you in front of your most treasured people. your father. your mother. taehyung.
what you and taehyung have - seokjin will never come close to comprehend. a bond so strong, not even death could tear you apart. it became apparent too soon to seokjin that taehyung dominated parts of your life and he’ll only have a but a crevice of his presence in yours. your smile would always be a little brighter when you’re with the younger man. eyes always drifting away from him to taehyung.
and he was content with that but he thinks you’ve changed. or maybe it’s him that did. because you’re grinning at him now - like there’s something up your sleeves. and there is - his eyes widen at your brazenness. one minute he was admiring the way you lasted for hours in those heels that you just kicked off - you’d been wearing them starting from the ceremony to the reception and finally the after party but the next minute, you were grinning and pulling him with you down onto the velvet sheets. the your dress has ridden up to just below your knees in the process and seokjin’s caressing your exposed calf - he thinks you’re all the more delicate. your skin, too soft. he’s afraid he might bruise you.
“oh,” you speak into his mouth before pulling away without even a peck on his lips - but there’s a twinkle in your eyes when you pick up a small golden box that sat prettily on the night stand, “almost forgot. for you.”
“i didn’t get you a wedding gift.” he announces, pushing down the suspicion dominating his brain but how can he not pull out the ribbon to find out what you’ve prepared for him, when you’re looking at him like that? all grin and proud and saying something like you didn’t need one.
then his face falls and he’s looking at you deadpanned in the eye after noting the too familiar tablet of blue pills. but the frown doesn’t live long - he finds himself shaking his head. a smile wedging itself on  his own face, “viagra. really?”
“better safe than sorry, right?” it's not right context - usually, a condom would be involved where that sentenced is used. but you know from seokjin’s dazed stare that he doesn’t get it - but he chooses to admire your features instead.
it takes everything in you not to bury your face in his chest just because his stare is making you feel like a high school girl with a crush. his eyes don’t make you want to reel away from him and cover every scar and lies with a thick blanket anymore. perhaps it has something to do with the fact that there isn’t any that he hasn’t seen. both your flaws and your virtue - if he wanted to run away, there were plenty of chances for him to do so but he stayed and now - now, you’ll never let him go. hold him captive in your castle, smooth criminal. you lean and press a kiss on his lips - just to make him close his eyes.
when you pull away, his lips chases yours. just like moth drawn to flames. you can’t help but giggle - it’s cut short when his hand weaves itself into your hair and bring you down to him.
you barely notice the hand that wraps around your wrist before your back hits the soft mattress. his shoulders appear more broad now that he’s hunched over you like a beast who hasn’t had a drop of water since the drought. at times like these you’re reminded of how man he is and how woman you are. a fact you seem to forget because he’s been playing along with your little games like a well-behaved child.
“hey, no fair!” lips pursed, you cross your arms in a show of protest. but he chuckles that soothing chuckle and he’s standing on his knees while the frame of his belt glints in warning.
your heart skips a beat at the sight of his arousal that was begging to be released from the confinements of his cobalt blue pants. the sigh he breathes out when he pulls down the zipper, sends shivers down your spine.but disappointment makes your face fall when he leaves it like that instead of pushing his pants down along with it.
that’s okay. you tell yourself. we’re married now-
you reach out for him only to have a hand wrap around your wrist, your fingers hovering achingly close to the gentle protrusion in his black boxers but not really touching.
you crane your neck to look at him but when your eyes meet, your words die in your throat. the smile is gone and in its place, is a tilted smirk, “are you sure? once we start i might not be able to stop.”
it’s that question that gets your heart writhing and crying to be set free from the confinement of your rib cages.
“seokjin,” the name tastes delectably sinful tonight, “i’ve never wanted anyone to fuck me this badly.”
maybe it’s the vow you’re making on the absolutely zero occasion where you’ve been this rapt by a man. maybe it’s your out of character use of the curse - that’s just how much you want this. or maybe it’s both. either way, seokjin’s gripping handfuls of your dress and you wordlessly raise your hands up for him to pull your dress off you.
it’s the way his eyes travel down your body. hunger. madness. lust. they meld together in those darkened eyes of his yet you’ve never felt so safe. he dives in for a kiss. this time, it’s raw and passionate and has no intention to stop halfway - not after he made it clear that he couldn’t and not after you pleaded for him to take you.
your white cotton bra is first to go - you only wore it because the straps won’t contrast too much with the strap of your dress. initially, you were going to tease him a bit and disappear into the bathroom to change into the lacy black lingerie set you’d specifically ordered to be custom made by victoria’s secret. but with the way he’s kneading your breast in his palm and the way you’re clawing against his clothed chest like a ravenous creature - the lingerie can wait.
“take off your clothes.” in your head, it sounded more demanding - but it comes out breathy and begging. a part of you chide yourself for waving the white flag before the game even began but another part of you is tired of being the only one bare and naked.
there’s a godless gleam in his eyes the moment he heard your request and you should have known seokjin wouldn’t make it that easy for you. this is karma coming back to bite you in your butt naked state after all those times you spent teasing the man and him accepting it without any complaint. you thought he was just mature enough to get over it. it turns out he was just a beast laying in wait to claim what he deserves, “what’s the magic word?”
“please.” you answer in a heartbeat.
that same heart stops beating the second he shakes his head. no. wrong answer. “the other one - do you really think i didn’t notice? the way you tease me - the way you know i won’t do anything about it because i’m older, i have to be a bigger person?”
that’s when your pride comes crashing in like tidal wave. walk away, it says. you take back what you said about having nothing to hide from seokjin - there’s one. and you thought you’d keep it with you. let it be buried in your grave. but he knows - like he knows every layer of your existence. your every desire and compulsion. it’s disgraceful and mortifying, for you. but seokjin holds your gaze and wait, wait, wait - he doesn’t seem to share your thoughts - doesn’t look disgusted either.
“daddy.” the moment the word leaves your mouth, you feel liberated. freed. like a long overdue confession. the pleased look on seokjin’s face is everything and more. “daddy, please.”
“as you wish.” he’s your liberator. your freer. and he’s about to grant your one carnal desire.
his clothes hit the ground within less than a minute. you can’t help but gawk at his perfectly sculpted physique. it’s like gods personally descended the heavens and blessed him in his mother’s womb and stayed by his side up until now - only for him to scorn them right in this moment. your body bounces off the bed lightly when his fingers dig in your thigh, pulling you closer like a ragged doll. a small yelp escapes you.
your panties are the last to go. discarded somewhere on the floor along with yours and his wedding attire.
the first whimper escapes the moment he slips into you, but not fully. he lets you take him in, get used to his size and directs your hand to his lips before placing it on his shoulder. as if telling you, you can hurt him, claw him until his back is raw and bleeding.
you wouldn’t at first - opting to keep your hands fisted while you try your hardest to suppress every moan that erupts from your mouth with every stroke. but then he hits that sweet spot. your back arches forward and you think it’s that moment when your fingers break the delicate skin on his back - but you can’t remember. it’s a blur - the electricity coursing from your heart through your veins and curls your toes. the stars you see in the back of your mind and the way you tighten around him when the delectable sound of his moans brushes the shell of your ear as he holds you against him.
he almost crushed him underneath his weight when he pulls out of you. the traces of his arousal pressing in between your bodies as he forces himself up by propping himself on his forearms. his labored breath fans your face and he’s all you see.
there’s still a surplus of tingle in your lower abdomen how high he takes you - almost like cloud nine. and you’re slick with sweat and body fluid but there’s no where you’d rather be than here, in your husband’s arms.
five months ago, you approached him with the objective of gaining a husband to take the chairman position and maybe give you the grandchild that your mother’s been asking you for. you didn’t expect for anything more than what you bargained for. but the first time he told you how he felt - you still didn’t believe him. 
it was too surreal. and seokjin probably saw the tendrils of doubt every time he tells you how he feels - at the most sporadic moment. but he kept picking your thorns one by one like he could do this for a hundred years and more. you think i was that day when he found out about your past feelings for taehyung that he started. and he finally picked all of your prickly spikes - and now, he’s holding you like a child. head buried in between your breasts, muscled arms loosely hugging your waist. what a contrasting different to the man he was half an hour ago but so very seokjin of him.
the elated breath he lets out with his sigh is warm on your skin, “you know how to make an old man feel young.”
there he does it again. he’s been saying he’s old even though he’s only in his 30′s. at first you thought he was joking but over time - you think he truly believes he is. but when you agree with him-
“is your back okay? wouldn’t want your ancient bones breaking.” you pat his head sympathetically. 
almost as if you’ve pushed a that button with a flashy warning red on it, his fingers twine around your wrist and pull it away from his head. the bed shifts as he hovers over you with an aggrieved glint, “i’m sure there are greater things that little mouth of yours can do than express your concerns for my back, sweetheart.”
your heart skips a beat.
x
epilogue.
you love being married.
not because you can strut to seokjin’s office and have everyone know you have every right to be there. nor because the board can’t really say anything since seokjin fits every characteristics of a chairman either. but because-
“we’ve been at it like rabbits,” seokjin shoulder line jolts slightly when your arms gently wrap around him from behind but there’s a sort of mirth laced in his voice, “you’re still not tired?”
“what ever do you mean, dear husband?” your voice is sweet but not entirely innocent.
sure, you did it an hour ago and you’re both supposed to get ready for bed but when you stepped out of the bathroom and find the bed empty, you had to wander outside. you know he’d be in the living room reviewing past years’ reports in his preparation to take on your dad’s position. he could just step up first and get familiar with his job along the way - but it wouldn’t have been very seokjin to enter the battlefield without polishing his armor.
he smells like peppermint and lavender. donning a plain white shirt and grey sweats - it’s the second most dressed down you’ve ever seen him in compared to the white-collars you’re so used to seeing him in. the first, being when he’s in bed, of course.
“okay, well, i’m going to bed first.” with a peck on his cheek, you bid him a good night.
but it’s not in your nature to give up without a fight - or rather, without sauntering in front him in your pastel pink camisole. you put on the a black and gold corset on your first monthivasery - it was just an excuse for you to try on the lingerie and it paid off. but there’s just something about camisoles - floral or plain pastels are what gets him prancing on you like a hungry beast. it looks like you’re not the only one with a fetish.
the cleaner comes in every twice a week and you’re not here enough to mess up the place except the master bedroom - like seokjin said, you have been going at it like rabbits. still, you bend down, making sure your ass is perked a little higher as you rearrange the picture frames on the rack under the tv.
a tune of your favorite song vibrates against your throat for thirty-six seconds before you straighten your back and begin to walk towards the bedroom. but something you caught in your periphery halts your steps, “did you just check out my ass then bite your lip? ‘cause if you did we’re having sex. right now.”
that seems to catch him off guard - you’ve been finding new and creative ways to get fucked. some worked. and by worked, you mean it had you moaning and writhing as he took you raw. some failed. meaning he had relented mainly because you were asking and he wanted to please you - at times like those, he was the one lying down, watching you ride him but halfway through, he’d pulled you down and started fucking you missionary because ‘you were good darling, but watching you makes me want to personally fuck you senseless. you can ride me next time, i promise.’
either way, your work life is superb and your sex life is out of this world. especially with a husband like seokjin. guess that dry spell has finally lifted and unleashed the hungry beast in him.
seokjin sighs, eyebrows coming together in a troubled frown but the lump in his pants say otherwise. “when you’re sore and need me to walk you to your office tomorrow, remember you asked for this.”
something in the pit of your stomach churns. your heart races with adrenaline as he takes two steps with those long legs of his and close the distance. a yelp escapes your lips, not expecting him to hoist you over his shoulder like you weight nothing and landing a smack on your ass like he’s reprimanding you.
“seokjin! put me down, i’m heavy!” you cry out, smacking his back in protest. when you wanted him to take you, this wasn’t exactly what you had in mind - it’d be a completely, perfect lie if you say you weren’t dripping with excitement.
“this way’s faster than your tiny little legs, darling.” you can hear the smirk in his voice before he kisses the exposed skin on your hip.
x
note: and that’s it. but it’s not over yet! there might be drabbles coming up on our fav couple’s adventure as they try to get preggo lmaooo also i’ll be doing a ‘story time’ where i talk about the background of this fic - what inspired me to write it, why i titled it like the way i did and i’d like to dissect and oc and tae’s relationship and so much more. send me an ask if you have something in particular you want me to address from the fic!
if you like this fic feel free to check out namjoon’s version called good guys finish last. i’m also planning to turn this au into a series for every member. taehyung or yoongi will be next!
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I’m very very influenced by a tik tok that I saw ages ago by user solaryze
Who was, in turn, influenced by Minuiko on tumblr, but I would like to talk about how Nico di Angelo and Leo Valdez are not on opposite ends of an introvert-extrovert scale, and if they are, they’re not on the ends you’d think they are. 
Nico di Angelo is not an introvert. If you go through and explore the way his character changed and shifted from the Titans Curse all the way to Tower of Nero (SPOILERS), it’s definitely easy to think that Nico would be an introvert. He withdraws from people, he doesn’t like to interact in a group, he’s awkward around many people. Classic introvert traits. He’d rather be alone than anything else. However, he also went through a lot of trauma. First off, just going through the time switch from when he was born (1932) to the Lotus casino for well over half a century to present day in the Titans Curse (2007) is enough to traumatize anyone, but even before that, he had the loss of a parent-- really, two parents, because after Maria died Hades dipped-- who died because he existed. That isn't even the end of it. His sister, the only constant in his life, basically abandoned him, then went on a quest and died too. Then he discovers that he has powers inherently linked to death and pain. That’s enough to scar anyone. He decides that he isn’t worth being around anymore at the mere age of 10 and runs away to gods know where. He goes into the labyrinth, alone, at eleven years old. More trauma, but he survives and proves to himself he can do things by himself. Proves he should do things by himself. How is he operate in a group now? He can’t, he shouldn’t. It only leads to pain. 
but 
Let’s not forget that Nico is a chatterbox. Him not trusting himself to talk doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to. Remember the start of Titan’s curse, where he kept talking about Mythomagic and asking Percy question after question and generally being a nuisance to everyone around him (I say this with full love)? That is important. After that, we mainly get dark, brooding Nico who hates Percy because he loves him, so we don’t get much of that anymore. Then... tartarus. And the jar. Then we get his perspective, finally. And we can see how dependent he is on having a group of people around him to energize him. Yes, Reyna was physically supplying him with power, but she was also doing so emotionally. His health improved, despite the fact that it was also deteriorating due to the constant shadow travel. He’s learning to trust other people, so he still generally keeps to himself, but just being around Gleeson and Reyna helps, a lot. He becomes so protective of them that he ends up damning a man to hell over it, which, one could argue that since he had never done that before he may have gotten stronger from being around others. We don’t really get to see his extroverted side. But then we get to TOA 1. Nico sits at mealtime with Will and the other Apollo kids because being around other people is better for his health. Then TOA 5. (SPOILERS ARE HERE) He was well respected and got along well with the subterranean creatures who function as a huge family. Will disliked it because of what the creatures were, but recognized that they were important to his boyfriend (both for questing reasons and because Nico had another, albeit untrustworthy, group. Mainly for questing reasons though). Nico thrived once he finally had a group, a home, and a family. He got his life and his energy back because he had people around him. That’s what makes him an extrovert.
I’m going to add leo’s part to this tomorrow. 
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prose-for-hire · 4 years ago
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Guardian of the lost soul
Pairing: Spike x reader
Request: if what the reader dress as an angel (kinda like Supernatural angels) and she finds the scoobies gang  in the haunted house with the costumes magically change them. (you know the episode ^-^)  only this time , Spike sees her wings and in angel terms that's a soulmate.
Requested by: @everlastingartist​
A/N: Kind of a soulmate au I think? I am not familiar with the Supernatural angels (yet - I plan on actually watching it soon) I did google them and I’m still none the wiser lol. So this is my own interpretation of what was requested! I chose a guardian angel, and twisted it in my own way. It is very made up but that’s what I’m here to do!
Also I mashed up two Halloween episodes together for this one but Spike doesn’t have a chip. Not even a soul. But he finds his soulmate.🖤🦇
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You loved Halloween in Sunnydale, it never disappointed. The pumpkins were freshly carved, there was candy everywhere you turned and kids really did love dressing up and making a nuisance of themselves. Even when you were running for your life the mood always picked up somewhere after midnight. And hey, being friends with a very protective Slayer had its benefits.
You were basically skipping around the streets, you were excited about going to the haunted house. You had tried to convince Willow, along with buffy to take the ghost costume off but she flat out refused. Even when you begged all the way to the party. You wanted to get to the end so you could join the party with your friends and you waited briefly for everyone to show up so you could enter together. While you and Willow waited outside, a figure in a dark cloak pushed past you. There was something about them that you recognised but they muttered some insult at you for being in their way so you decided to just ignore them. Eventually, everyone arrived and you were able 
You had chosen to dress as an angel. A guardian angel. Not the stereotypical kind, one you had read of in some of Giles’ thick mythology books. You had been bored and the passages had been surprisingly interesting in an I’m-so-bored-I’d-read-the-back-of-a-cereal-packet kind of way. It spoke of the kinds of angels, of the truth about how they operate rather than those spoken of in popular culture. Some of your costume was white however as you wanted people to at least recognise what you had come as (although nobody except Willow had got it). 
You went through the various rooms together and had a laugh at some of the more ridiculous spooks in the house. There had been a slight tension a few words exchanged but mostly you were having a nice time. Everyone was squabbling over which way to go next and you had lost interest, managing to break away from the others.
As you did this, you saw the hooded figure again. You were sure you recognised the flashes you had seen of the person’s face. You left your friends for a moment to tap them on the shoulder and who should turn to face you but the big bad of the moment. Spike. You hadn’t faced him alone yet but he had always singled you out when you were with the others. The conversation always turned suggestive, which annoyed Buffy to no end and made you try to hide yourself when you were with the others.
You couldn’t lie and say you didn’t love the attention though. Hope that he would catch your eye. You longed for even a moment alone with him, although you were well aware of the danger. You couldn’t help like him but there was no way you would ever admit that to your friends. 
“What’re you doing here?” You asked, trying to suppress a smile.
“Thought I’d drop by… see what tasty… treats Halloween has to offer” He closed the space between you as his voice became a little huskier with every step. His hand was on the wall, palm flat against it. His arm blocking you in as he slowly scanned your body before returning to your face.
“What has the devil got in store for you this Halloween do you reckon pet?” He asked, the smirk audible in his voice, “Somethin’ naughty no doubt…” He added, biting his lip teasingly.
“I’m an angel. Always preferred them anyway” You shrugged. It had been a very low blow and when you saw his expression darkening into anger rather than lust, you backtracked – knowing better than to get him mad, “To the devil, I mean”
“Bollocks – where are the wings? The halo? And you’re not foolin’ anyone wearing that white-” he gestured wildly to the corresponding area where each item should have been with the hand that wasn’t leaning against the wall. You smiled, about to respond when someone interrupted.
“Spike!” Buffy shouted, having turned to find you in the haunted house. She was relieved to see you (as she had lost the others) but she was not pleased to see the vampire that still had you boxed in, pressed pretty close against you.
Buffy made light work of hauling him away and trying to throw him out of the house completely. She tried to find the front door but it had gone. You were now aware you were trapped inside this now truly haunted house. No, it was worse. It had turned into a murder house as half the student body upstairs had started to scare themselves to death almost before the real threat had.
Everyone was rushing past you and as Spike smelled fresh blood, he ran in the opposite direction to where the others were coming from, straight into the carnage. His stomach was rumbling and he was ready for a decent meal.
Everything was going on at once and you wanted it to slow down, or at least give you chance for a breather. There were too many threats at play tonight. As if the powers had requested it this way, a busy scene of threat and revelations for their own personal enjoyment. 
As you tried again and again to leave and to help find the others, things started to get worse. You had now lost Buffy and were trying to find her by (you guessed it) calling out her name which was the best way to attract anything other than good luck. You had to fight off some cobwebs and now, your own body it seemed. You were hurting, doubled over. Something was happening. You sunk to your knees, grimacing. Nothing was going your way. 
It was a strange night. The strangest Halloween you had experienced. The others were lost and at the same moment, Willow turned into a real ghost. Xander a real soldier and Buffy was now a genuine high society lady from the 1700s. It was spooky and not in a cute way.
You had managed to get to your feet, pulling on the cobwebs as they attacked your head again. As you looked down checking you had removed any stray webbing, you saw that you were glowing. Literally. You appeared human still - no wings or halos but there was a strange feeling that you had aged hundreds of years in just a few seconds. Not in appearance, that was still your skin and your face. But in knowledge. As if you had read every book known to man and then some. You felt powerful. Strange.
You walked around, able to know what was happening in every room. You managed to get places just by thinking about it. Able to protect people before they succumbed to the terrors the house had in store. You didn’t know how this was happening, but you knew better than to question it.
You had hope. You had a purpose and you were getting used to adapting to different people and their needs. That was until it came to something you needed. You turned and saw your friends through a two way mirror. They had all found each other but you couldn’t get to them. They were trying to remember who they were and come up with a plan. You started to panic, banging your fist on the mirror that you could see them through but they didn’t hear you. You hurriedly left through a side door to try and get to them seeing as your previous power wasn’t working. But you never made it to your friends. You had walked straight into someone. The one someone that you always managed to find, no matter what.
Spike had appeared. He seemed the same except... was that a heart beat? You frowned as he stepped towards you, the swagger still in tact.
 “You listened to me then, pet? About time” He muttered as you looked at him confused. You didn’t understand. You looked around for some kind of clue until he spoke again, “The wings. You put ‘em on. Knew it would complete the look… not that you need to be wearing any more clothin’ items” He added, the trademark smirk on his face as he almost prowled towards you further.
“I’m not wearing any wings…” You said slowly as he came to stand right in front of you, leaving not so much as room to breath between you. He frowned, and looked behind you before looking back into your eyes. He could see the wings as clear as anything. They had a large wingspan, it was kind of impossible to miss. He reached out the touch them and you felt his fingers. You frowned, checking behind you. There they were, bat-like rather than the feathered kind you had expected and almost translucent whilst appearing closer to your skin tone. He found them aesthetically very appealing. Almost as if it were a part of you. He just stared, almost in awe as he felt they were warm the texture as soft as your skin.
 It came to you suddenly. The folklore you had been researching. The mythology. The only one that may see the wings of the angel is their soulmate. Their one eternal love. It was said that every angel had a soulmate and that no matter how long they lived, they should find their soul no matter how seemingly impossible. No matter how many times they were lost, they would always be found. And you had found yours. Your love.
You and Spike had been less than useless during the fight to escape the haunted house and regain your own lives back. You were perfectly happy right here. Locked in each others gaze. A happiness neither of you had felt before until this moment. Until this revelation. You had been sharing. Talking so easily to one another. Him telling you stories of his past, and you surprising yourself with stories of your own. Ones that could match his. You felt an entrenched need to protect him. To hold you into him so that no harm could ever befall him. 
The chaos going on around you was now secondary to your story. You holed up in a room together, Spike never looking away from you. The guardian angel in you was screaming for you to help the others again, but your heart was set on him. On relearning of your love. You had faith in your friends abilities anyway.
He leaned in, his thumb trailing your face and lingering near your lips. He had thought about this for so long. His usual crude quips had been founded in truth. Forged to both show how he felt and camouflage them at the same time. He felt for you so deeply his soul had made an unwitting appearance back into his life. Whenever you were around his heart felt as if it may break free from his ribcage in the hopes of greeting yours.
You closed your eyes as he did, the build up to this kiss achingly slow. You could feel his breath on his face he was so close. His touch was warm and familiar, his lips made for yours. You could feel it. The anticipation almost became too much as he finally grazed your lips.
But, just as suddenly as it was cast, the spell broke. The feeling of danger returned to your gut as you were in Spike’s presence. Your kiss never deepening. Your stomach flipping as you snapped opened your eyes. Spike’s vampire instincts kicked back in and it was resoundingly telling him that he was hungry. Your scent was so enticing to him, his face changed of its own accord. His fangs so close to you but you knew he wouldn’t kill you. You knew it as if it were fact. As if it were gravity or the colour of the sky being blue. Spike loved you and wouldn’t harm you. They were each true sentences, you had never been so sure.
Buffy, however, now fresh from being bound in the sensibilities of a woman with no aspirations other than to be pretty was ready for a fight. She had fought to escape the haunted house and now she would fight the nearest big bad in sight. Spike. She wrenched him from your neck.
But when he drew back, he had the same look in his eye as he had only moments before. Your soulmate was still right here in front of you, there was nobody that could convince you otherwise. And believe me, Spike really tried since then.
Buffy and Spike traded blows. Neither became victorious, but you were able to leave the house and Giles had somehow managed to force Ethan Rayne into reversing the curse he had put on your costumes. 
After that long Halloween night, your mind barely stopped thinking about him. Sometimes you walked around after dark to see if he would come along and pretend to eat you as an excuse to just talk to you. He often wished to find an excuse to see you. Without knowing what it was, he felt it too. Deep within. Stronger since Halloween night. Sometimes he found himself standing around in places he knew you would frequent just so he could watch you. Catch a glimpse of you. Although, he had been doing this before Halloween as well.
You remembered so much more than that night, however. Memories that should have been long since buried of you and Spike finding each other over and over in other places and times still lingered as you wished his thumb still would along your jaw. You still remembered those memories and you wrote them all down before you could forget. They were like dreams, something you knew so well but struggled to recall in enough detail to satisfy.
You would forever carry a piece of his soul around with you now. That feeling just couldn’t go away, you wouldn’t let it. It was as if his soul were a locket hung around your neck. You would guard it with your life. Keep it close to your heart. 
He would come back to you, you were sure of it and you were happy to wait until that day came.
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sincerelysober · 3 years ago
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Addiction & Weak Spots
Every addict has their weak spots where it’s easy for this disease to enter your life again. I guess you can also call them triggers. I feel triggers is a concept that is beaten to death in rehab, meetings, and therapy. Basically, we all can identify at least a few of our major triggers. But I like referring to them as “weak spots” because it’s a term I have never considered before.
For me I am weakest when I am alone. I am normally a shy and quiet person, but I do like to be around people. I can be sociable and not be a nuisance while sober. When I’m alone I used to look for a drink because that feeling of being “tipsy” or “drunk” made being by myself seem more fun. When in actuality it harmed me more than I realized. If someone needs me in an emergency, I can’t get in a car to help. If someone offers for me to go over or go out, I’ll be an annoyance because I’m already drunk. When my ex-fiancé came home he was upset to never be greeted sober. I need to get comfortable being alone and learn how to handle it & my time better.
Being overwhelmed is probably the second biggest weak spot that I have, which seems like the complete opposite of being lonely. When I get too overwhelmed a drink used to calm me down and numb everything. The things I were overwhelmed about would slip away like a heavy rain on a windshield. In the end it never went well. Being drunk would lead me to either procrastinate or get nothing done at all. Only causing that overwhelming feeling to build. Hence a vicious cycle.
Going along with being overwhelmed, having anxiety is my third weak spot. Mostly this would be if I was out at a bar or a party with people I didn’t really know. I’m an awkward and shy person. I would use taking sips from my drink to busy my hands. Further than that though, I would sometimes do shots for the sole purpose of getting drunk to allow myself to loosen up and stuff the anxiety down. Thinking back though, the regret/embarrassment in the morning was probably worse than just dealing with my anxiety heads on.
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