#because it would mean taking some angst and running with it for 20 more chapters

[theskeletoninthegarden]

I have three versions of more or less the same story, again, and don't know what to do with myself.

[cupoftaae]

Forever And A Day (KTH x READER) series ♡ The Art Exhibit (Chapter 6)

Summary: your lifelong friend is forced to face his true feelings for you once he breaks the number one rule of becoming friends with benefits: dont fall in love. He knows he loves you, but you on the other hand need more convincing of the most important thing: the right decision.

Genre: fwb. Roommates, friends to idiots to lovers, fluff, angst, smut, the whole 9 yards tbh.

Pairing: taehyung x female!reader

rating: 18+ (minors dni!!!)

word count- 5k

chapter warnings!- swearing, alcohol, this is kind of a fluffy ass chapter, but the end is a little frusterating. NO BAD VIBES THOUGH! reader is finally happy rn. tw: annie.

a/n- Hi guys! first of all, HAPPY SPRING! Also happy Ramadan to anyone who is celebrating!! I really wanted to publish this by last Monday at least, but I ended up getting a cold, and then I had an exam this week too that I crammed studied for. I wasnt happy with the ending of this chapter and wanted time to fix it up a bit!! we are getting to the good stuff now so I really hope you enjoy! (ps. another thanks to all the likers, rebloggers, commenters, it means so much to see feedback, ily guys.

The song of this chapter was on repeat while I wrote it !!

This week had been good.

For the first time in what seems like forever, life was actually giving you a break....sort of.

"Kwan, cmon! I promise French isnt that hard if you just sit and let me teach you!" you exhale with a wide smile, looking at the 6 year old who was now running around the living room.

Since Tae quit his job, you decided to start picking up after school shifts to tutor your neighbor, Mrs.Chin, and her bratty 6 year old. You used to tutor her other child, Mimi, who was always well behaved, but she went to study abroad, leaving you alone with the devil reincarnated.

"I dont wanna! its stupid!" the younger child yelled back, making you take a moment to breathe before responding. "Kwan, I would appreciate if you let me teach you, or at least if you even sat down and listened to me read." you said calmly.

You looked over at the pouting boy and his action figures, arms now crossed over his chest as he glared. You sighed and ran your hands over your face, lets just say if the pay wasn't $90 an hour, you probably wouldn't submit yourself to this.

"Kwan." you said, getting up with your textbook and sitting on the floor next to him "your mommy hired me to help you learn, I really want to be able to teach you something here, because whether you realize it now or not, learning a second language is a really beautiful thing" you show him all the pages of notes youve taken from your own classes, watching him view it over.

"I wanna be here for you, we can be buddies, ok? no more fights, no yelling. How about this-" you turn around to him "If you let me teach you for a half an hour, 30 minutes, you can have 20 minutes of playtime, yeah?" you spoke softly

"mmkay.." he looked at you, nodding gently.

"aw, see, you are a good boy I knew you were, cmon, sit and i'll teach you how to introduce yourself in French, so when you go to daycare tomorrow, you can show it off to everyone" you smiled and gently tickled the boy, making him giggle loudly.

You really did enjoy teaching and learning, something about it just made you feel incredibly intelligent, and yes, you loved acting too, but the idea of being able to offer something new to someone genuinely got you excited. If you could go back and change your major to anything, It would probably be French or some other foreign language, teaching abroad doesnt sound too bad.

-

At the apartment, Tae had been cleaning a little bit more. He figured if he was going to have more free time, then he needed to learn to help out around the house....He also needed a distraction from the fact that tomorrow night is the art exhibit, and to say he was nervous was a complete understatement.

The work he'd been creating is done, but like always, he wanted to change it last minute. You sat with him last night and explained that it didnt need to be changed, and he needs to be more confident with himself and his art.

His thoughts were interrupted when you walked through the door, offering a quick smile at him before walking off into the kitchen. He put down his broom and walked over to you, "How did tutoring go?" He asks softly, watching you pour coffee into a mug. "It was okay" you shrug, looking at the clock and internally sighing, it was dinner time and you hadnt prepared anything.

"You okay?" he asks

you look back at him and lean against the counter, "yeah...Kaito was supposed to pick me up at 8, and I sat outside texting and calling him until 8:30, when I decided to just get an Uber home"

"why didnt you call me? I would have drove over there" he frowns, leaning against the opposite counter. "ah, didnt want to bother you" you shrug.

He sighed and looked down. "I made you dinner, by the way" he spoke, making you look up at him warily. "by made, I mean bought, dont worry theres no food poisoning here" he rushed, making you giggle.

"thank you tae, I really appreciate that" you walk over to hug him gently, telling him you were gonna wash up and shower before eating.

He finished cleaning the living room before finally crashing on the couch, watching as you left your room with a towel on your head, making him laugh. "are you gonna tell me my fortune"

You scoff and grab your bulgogi, sitting onto the couch next to him.

"yummy?" he asks, searching for something to watch, "mhm" you smiled and offered a bite which he gladly took.

"oh also, Because tomorrow night is the art show, I was thinking afterwards we should get dinner or something..." he trailed off, avoiding eye contact.

you turned your head to him, smiling softly, "hm that sounds fun. are we thinking Mcdonalds?" you giggle, making him laugh as well.

"nooo, no" his head shook, "I dont know yet, I'll look around."

"we can go to that Korean barbecue place that just opened, and celebrate your win" you shrug

"we dont know if Im gonna win, there are many talented artists participating. I have like no chance, y/n."

you scoff and shake your head, "you are telling me, that THE Kim Taehyung has no chance? I dont believe this!"

He smiled and watched as you rambled about how he has worked for this and deserves it, laughing quietly.

"yeah...I dont even care for the money to be honest. I Just want to go to Paris again...it was fun when we went last time" he sighed.

You chewed your food and nodded, standing up in front of him with your hands on your hips, "Mr.Kim, I am putting it into the universe now, that if somehow you dont win, I will make sure we both go to Paris once more"

"really?" he spoke after a moment, unable to take you seriously with the towel head.

"really"

"I dont think Kaito would like thattt" he sung jokingly, getting up and grabbing the blanket from the other side of the couch, covering himself in it.

"I dont careeee" you sung back before jokingly jumping onto him, squeezing his face as you continued to speak. "I dont even know where he is right now, probably drunk or something"

"does he get drunk a lot?" tae asked, smiling as you poked around his face with your hands. "yeah....kinda. He can handle it most times but.." you cut yourself off, not wanting to say anything else.

"but what?" tae asked, head turning to yours as you laid on him. Your eyes simply scanned over his face as he did the same with you. The urge to kiss him was there, but you knew better.

You got up and off him, making him sit up and look at you. "but what?" he repeated

"nothing" you smiled before stealing his blanket and running off to your room, making him get up to chase after you.

You were both laughing, but Tae was still catching his breath. You looked like you wanted to kiss him, no? His mind ran around in circles, ultimately convincing himself that he really does need to drop this and stop over analyzing everything.

He sat into his bed that night, looking over at his painting which leaned against his desk. He so desperately wanted tomorrow to be perfect, he wanted to win, but he also wanted to impress you.

His mind wandered down the rabbit hole. was it too clingy to ask to go to dinner after? was he annoying you and you didnt have the heart to tell him?

He rolled his face against his pillow, sighing heavily as tannie ran up and jumped on the bed, cuddling with him.

Across the hall you paced your room, glasses on as you tried to memorize your studying and figure out an outfit for tomorrow.

You gently hummed to yourself before moving the coat hangers around to see what you had, you dont exactly have 'art show' worthy clothes. You knew that ultimately it didnt matter, it wasnt about you, it was about him.

You climbed into bed and wrapped up your homework, deciding to pull your phone out and see if your boyfriend called or texted.

0 notifications

you sighed and opened up messages, texting him quickly.

you: hey....I hope you are okay? You havent texted or anything, im a little worried. you were supposed to pick me up today and then go for like coffee or something. did you forget? its okay if you did, just hope you are safe.

you bit your lip as you sent the message, waiting for a few minutes for a possible reply, but ultimately receiving nothing.

-

"ah, Yun Y/n, you really have impressed me, this is amazing"

you looked at your theatre teacher with hopeful eyes, glad that she appreciated the project script you stayed up to finish last night.

You bowed politely, "thank you so much, that means a lot"

"of course" she responded, taking her glasses off, "I really do hope you decide to take this class next year, you are one of my best students and I think the incoming freshmen would love to learn from your writing skills"

you smiled and nodded, "I dont see any reason why I wouldnt stay" you laughed lightly, making her nod, "good!"

she handed you your papers back with the received grade, allowing you to walk out into the hallway to see a certain someone.

"um...hello?" you spoke, aggravation evident in your voice. Kaito looked up from his bag at you, a guilty expression now showing.

"y/n, baby im sorry about yesterday"

"Look, I dont care about the pick-up thing, why couldnt you text me this morning even? I thought you died or something"

he laughs yet you were not amused. "My phone broke" he cleared his throat. You sigh and look around. "you know how many phones are on campus? you also have so many classes with Chae, would it kill you to relay the message?"

"im sorry, ok?"

you glared at him. 'Sorry' had become his broken record repeated phrase lately, and honestly, it didn't sound all to genuine anymore.

"yeah" you shrug and begin to walk away before he stops you. "Oh, are you free tonight?"

you stop and turn, shaking your head, "no, I have plans"

He scoffs, "doing what?"

"I have an art show with Taehyung and its late, we are going right home after"

"I see" he nods sarcastically, obviously pissed off. "are you going to the party that Jungkook is throwing at least?" he adds

"oh yeah....Dahyun invited me, I'll be there I guess" you mumble

"good" he smiled and held your cheek, making you look up at him. "dont bring him, okay?"

you look over his face before rolling your eyes and turning to walk to your next class.

Things lately with Kaito havent been as well as you had planned. When you two first started dating, the romance was there, there was a spark within sharing similar interests and likes, there were cute dates, late night conversations. As you find yourself walking down the hall, you wish that perhaps you never got to know the quiet boy in your acting class. You ponder about what would have happened if you two just remained friends, strangers, even.

His drinking was something you had been made aware of by a few classmates, but you can only blame yourself for ignoring them. As much as you hated to admit it, you didnt care in the moment. You are a young girl, who has vulnerabilities and of course wishes to find someone that makes her feel special....but given that....you also deserve pride, and the power to know, or to walk away from situations that arent helping you grow.

You dont ask much of kaito, he couldn't even pick you up on time and let you know why. It was borderline pathetic. He was pathetic, and the marks still evident on your wrist were enough to prove it.

you dont know what you had done in a past life to get such shitty treatment from men, but you could only pray that either the universe sends you in a different direction, or fixes the broken path you are currently trying to fight through.

-

"I called the restaurant, they take walk ins" Taehyung cheerfully spoke, barging into your room to see you sitting with your back towards him, papers sprawled around your desk surface.

"thats good" you mumble, refusing to turn around at the excited boy.

Taehyung notices the shift in your voice, the way your back is slumped over as you hid yourself in the piles of paper and homework. As he walked over, small droplets of tears resting on the wooden desktop below you are visible. You had been crying. A gentle hand comes up to graze against your back, remaining still for a moment before he spoke. "Y/N, whats going on?"

You sniffled, wishing that you could just be alone but also refraining against sending the boy out, he just wanted to help. "Im just stressed" a simple shrug and a blow of the nose make taehyung sit on the end of your bed as he faces you, deciding its enough distance from you, but not too much. "do you wanna talk about it?" he asks softly, his hair resting in front of his eyes, its grown so long these days.

You looked back at him and remained quiet for a moment before opening your mouth, "no" you shook your head. "I just....I just want tonight to be fun, I want you to have fun, I want this for us, just one day without anything pulling us down, okay?"

Taehyung nodded slowly, not sure what could have sent you into a spiral like this, but respecting your decision to not speak on it. "Okay, yeah, we will have fun okay?" he whispers, hand now holding yours as he got closer to you, wiping away your tears. "don't cry, everything will be alright sweet girl" he brings you into a tight hug as his words are close to brining you to cry again. You can blame it on being hormonal, but something about the comforting nature of the boy in front of you made you just want to constantly be there, support and love him for what he is. You would cling to him like a koala if you had the chance.

but he wasn't yours, and you were not his.

You had not been the best friend to taehyung for the past few weeks, something youve tried to make up for by either cooking, or buying him new art tools. You even stayed up late with him a few nights ago just letting him rant about all the shit on his plate. It made you realize that this boy would tell you every little detail about his life, he trusts you so much, yet you couldnt even be honest about the kaito situation.

Guilt was the best emotion to describe the feeling in your chest.

The best thing you could do tonight is to treat him like he were king of the world, he deserves a break, and it would kill you to have to be the one to ruin it again.

You sniffled and looked back at him, "so are you gonna show me the menu of the restaurant or what?"

Taehyung laughed lightly, squeezing your hand as he helped you up and led you out into the living room with him.

-

Every time Taehyung see's you upset, he feels as if those emotions transfer to him. If he could snap his fingers, or wave some magic wand, he would make it so you never cried again. A part of him was upset that you didnt feel comfy enough to open up about what exactly was bothering you, yet at the same time, he was able to understand your reasoning. You two fought more in the past few months than you have in your entire lives, it felt like walking on eggshells every time he spoke, he was fearful of losing you as a friend, so he made sure each word that came out of his mouth was nothing but delicate, kind, and loving.

He buttoned up his suit, smiling at himself in the mirror as he sprayed on some cologne you bought for him last Christmas. He remembers how much you loved to cuddle up to him when he got home from work, hiding your face in his neck, complimenting how good he had smelled.

Seems like those memories are so distant, in a way he almost mourns them. He is grateful to even have you at all, but as time goes on he truly believes he may never get over you, that you will always just be the one that actually got away.

He looks down at his drawer in his bathroom, the drawer that had been shared by you whenever you had used his bathroom. It hadnt been open in a while, but as he looked through it, he couldnt help but laugh.

purple nail polish.

You asked him if you had left it in his bathroom and he told you no. He thought it was cute that its the shade youve always worn. He even bought you a new bottle just so he could keep the one you left behind.

His mind flickers back to when you had begged him to let you paint his nails, after about 30 minutes of pestering, he finally gave in, letting you give him the full spa treatment.

He softly smiled as he examined the polish, carefully putting it back before walking out and into the living room.

"AHH you look so cute!" you giggled and ran up to him, squishing his bread cheeks. Tae had never worn a suit before, but you took him shopping a few days ago and convinced him he would look really good in one, and he has to admit he feels pretty well fit in it.

You fluffed his hair up and smiled softly, watching his eyes scan over you, something that made you blush. "You look really good, is this a new dress?" he asked quietly

"wow you noticed" you teased

"Of course, you look so pretty in it" He wanted to go on, he wanted to tell you how beautiful your smile looked and how it didnt matter what you wore, because in the museum full of brilliant art, he probably would only be able to look at you tonight.

"thank you" you shyly spoke, "are you ready?"

He held up his canvas, smiling brightly and nodding. "Here" you placed a plastic bag over the art so it wouldnt get destroyed or ruined in any way, especially since it was raining out.

"thank you" he spoke, lifting it up again before grabbing the umbrella and walking towards the door. "Lets go win that prize and rub it in everyones face" you tease, cheering as you made your way down the hall, tae walked behind and watched your childish nature, giggling to himself.

-

It was crowded.

You didnt even know there was this many art students in your school.

"just stay with me, its okay" Tae whispered to you after dropping off his artwork at the front table so they could enter it into the contest. He noticed your fidgety state, gently grabbing one of your hands with his own. You offered a light squeeze in acknowledgment.

"Taehyung!!!"

You both turned around to see Annie running up, smiling brightly with a glass in her hand. "Uhg Im so glad you made it, did you submit your work??"

"yeah I just gave it to them" he pointed at the adults working the table. "great, I seriously cant wait to see your work hung up, I know whatever it is will be beautiful."

"ah thank you, you are too kind" he spoke softly, feeling your grip on his arm tighten.

"Hi Annie" you spoke, annoyed that she chose to ignore you. "Oh hi!" she waved. "Im sorry, I forgot your name, what is it sweetheart?"

Taehyung scoffed quietly, stopping you from speaking before him "Her name is Y/N, I only talk about her all the time" he looked down at you, offering a reassuring smile.

"Oh, I forget everything im sorry" she giggled loudly. "cmon, lets go get something to drink" She tugged on his other arm eager to get him away from you.

"do you want anything?" he mouthed to you, making you shake your head. "no, go have fun" you offer, watching him give into annie's aggression with a sad smile, walking away.

You took your time walking around the exhibit, stopping at each frame to read the small descriptions and notes. You were never super artsy like Taehyung was, but it was impressive to see how dedicated he was.

you made your way through the large crowds of chatter, searching for taehyung before spotting him in the corner by the food stand. You walked over and gently hugged him from behind, it wasnt an act of anything, you just hated being in crowded areas, so you clung to him as best you could. His hand gently grazed along your arm before turning, a audible scoff from Annie is heard as he turns to face you.

"Hi sweet girl, You okay?"

"yeah" you nod, "I was just looking at all the art, which is beautiful but I think they have nothing on yours"

"Youre biased" he chuckled

"tsk tsk, I tell the truth" you giggled, hugging him as you rested your head on his chest, his arms around you loosely. To any onlookers, you two were a couple.

You both are naturally cling people, perhaps it can be to blame for how you both fell so easily into the friends with benefits thing.

"I didnt know you guys were dating" annie took a sip of her wine, gesturing between the both of you.

"oh no, we arent" you quickly spoke, "we are just really close"

"ah..." she trailed off and gave a knowing look to Taehyung, making him shrug. He didnt like to be mean, but he also liked seeing how jealous she got of you. He would never date Annie, and he felt guilty for maybe leading her on, but he feels pride in knowing that shes jealous of you.

you are his girl whether you were dating, friends, anything, everyone knew that.

"they have food if you are hungry" he suggested, patting your back to get your attention.

"Oh, thats okay, im saving room to stuff my face with Tteokbokki later" you both giggled,

"lets go look around, yeah?"

you nodded and grabbed his hand, leading him away from the judgmental girl watching you both like a hawk.

You noticed his frown as you sat in front of a canvas filled wall, "whats wrong, tae?"

"these are all....amazing..." he gestured towards a few, head lost in thought and self doubt.

"bubs, i promise you, yours is just as good if not better. remember what I said, no matter what happens, the outcome will be okay" you rubbed his shoulder, watching a small smile appear on his face.

"everything will be okay" he whispered to himself, taking a deep breath before nodding

-

As the night went on, guests were informed that the ranking and award ceremony would be taking place in just 15 minutes. Taehyung had been wrapped up in conversation with another one of his classmates, eyes absent mindedly searching around the banquet hall for you.

You told him a bit ago that you were gonna go grab a drink, and its been 10 minutes.

Across the room, little to his knowledge, you were wrapped up in your own conversation with a boy who caught you admiring his own work. "It took me a few months" the boy spoke softly, both of you standing in front of his painting. "You didnt want so submit it into the competition?" you asked, watching him shake his head. "I dont need people judging my art, it doesnt matter what they think. I like being able to just put it out into the world for what it is, I dont need a prize for that"

You were taken back by how well and soft spoken he was, unsure how to respond, "Whats your name by the way?"

"My name is Jung Hoseok" he bowed his head lightly, smiling brightly at you. "Ah nice to meet you Hoseok, Im Yun Y/N"

"pleasure meeting you" he spoke, shaking your hand. "so are you here tonight for your own art?" he added

"oh no, no, I am definitely not an artist", you giggled. "Im here with my best friend, he is the one participating tonight"

Taehyung finally found an out in the conversation and began his search for you, pushing through the room to see you standing next to some stranger. He would be lying if he said he didnt like to see you with other men, especially Hoseok, who was in his art class. He would rather you be standing with Kaito at that point.

"Oh taehyung!" Hoseok greeted the man you didnt even know stood behind you, making you turn and smile. "Sorry, I got lost" you giggled, taking his hand as he moved beside you. "Hello Hoseok" tae bowed his head.

"Y/N told me you are trying for the contest, good luck, I heard the judges tend to pick favorites" he laughed and tapped his arm, making him awkwardly smile. "I think he will be ok, wait until you see his painting, its beautiful" you spoke up

"Im sure" he looked at you both, bowing politely before walking off into a new conversation with his nearby friends.

"dont let his charm get to you, he isnt the nicest person" taehyung turns and speaks, gently leading you back to the front of the banquet hall.

"What? he seemed so sweet" you spoke

"I heard he is kind of....you know....like, he likes to play with multiple women at once" he explained as best he could, making you smile, "a man whore" you suggested, making him laugh. "yeah, a man whore"

"dont worry, Im not interested. Ive had enough boy drama to keep me away from any penis within a 5 mile radius" You spoke, watching Taehyung burst out in laughs. "speaking of him, is kaito mad you are here?"

"If he is, I dont care, tonight isnt about him, only you"

-

A few moments later, everyone had gathered into the front of the banquet hall, a panel of 3 judges proudly standing on the small stage ready to reward the prizes in rankings of the top 5 works of art submitted tonight.

"I am so nervous" Taehyung whispered, not directly at anyone but himself. You looked back and smiled, grabbing his hand and entwining it with your own. "Stop stressing, your hair is gonna go grey." you both quietly giggled before the lady on the mic began to speak.

"Thank you all so much for coming to our annual art banquet show, this is the 11th year we have been graciously welcomed back and we could not be more excited as the number of participants grow each year." she adjusted her glasses before speaking again. "Tonight is not about winning, or being the best, it is about recognizing talent of all unique levels, seeing things from other peoples eyes, its about the beauty of art"

The audience clapped lightly, making you smile as you looked around at everyone piled up together in anticipation.

"With that, I believe we are ready to begin the gift ceremony. The other judges and I graded on not only the art itself, but the impact received through it, we were looking for those who went outside the box, and we are happy to say we were not disappointed."

Taehyung looked at the black cloths that hung over the art work that was pinned on the wall up front, unsure if his was one of them or not.

"I'll remind everyone of the prizes, 5-3 place recieve a generous cash prize, as well as a discounted art session for next semester, 2 place recieves a larger amount of cash, while 1st place gets a visit to the Louvre Museum in Paris France, fully paid!"

The crowd happily cheers, the excitement in the room can easily be felt. You were nervous for Taehyung, not because you didnt think he could win, but you knew how much he wanted this trip. You wanted to see him happy, and most importantly, you wanted him to be proud of himself.

"We will now begin" The older woman walks to the lined up art, standing in front of one. "In 5th place, we will happily be awarding this to...." she gently pulled the black sheet off, revealing the art as the crowd clapped happily.

"Seo Yoon, with 'a walk with existence'"

you looked around to see the girl stand up and go to collect her certificate, bowing and thanking the judges.

"4th place, goes to.... Park Jimin, with 'serendipity'"

Everyone cheered as the younger man walked up to join the others.

You felt taehyungs hand squeeze yours lightly, as the 3rd person was revealed and it wasnt him, now he was eager. He either got 2nd, 1st, or none at all.

you gently rubbed his back as the woman went to reveal 2nd place. "In 2nd, we have..." the painting was revealed, "Kang Annie, with 'daydream'"

You both looked at eachother, "I didnt think her art was that good" taehyung claps but whispers in your ear, making you giggle and hold his arm for support. The tension in the room grew as the judge made her way to the remaining painting, the cloth gathering in her hand.

"and for first place, we, the judges have decided to reward...." the curtain felt like it fell in slow motion, taehyung quite literally on the edge of his seat.

"Kim Taehyung with 'Forever and a day'"

You jumped up immediately as his name was called, his beautiful painting on display for everyone to see as claps and "congratulations" were gifted his way.

"I won?" he mumbled, standing as you grabbed him close, hugging him tightly. "I fucking knew you could win!!! Im so proud!!!' you cupped his face and smiled, making him smile as well.

"get up there and claim your prize" you mumble, urging him up to the stage where he went to collect his prize and certificate. "Congratulations to everyone who won, and everyone who participated! lets get a round of applause for all the talent here tonight"

The room clapped loudly as you caught his eye, smirking and chanting loudly, maybe a bit too loudly for an art show. He laughed and congratulated the other winners, giving annie some bullshit answer when she joked about being his Paris plus one.

"You have no fucking idea how proud I am, Taehyung" you hugged him once more as you two started to get ready to head out. He made sure you took 10 million photos of his painting on display, making it your lock screen on your phone.

"I still cant believe I won.....it doesnt feel real" He joked, linking your arm with his as you both made your exit after saying goodbyes to everyone.

"wait until it hits, you are gonna be so proud of yourself. Paris....PARIS, taehyung, this shit is huge. Im not gonna lie, I almost cried when I heard your name"

"you did not!" he chuckled as you both walked to your car.

"Yes I did, you just dont get it" you teased "felt like such a power moment, you just know annie was pissed too....little bitch"

Taehyung bit back his laugh as he sat in the drivers seat, pulling his seatbelt on and resting his head back as you got in. "Thank you for everything, for coming....for just being my support" he spoke kindly, wide grin stuck on his face.

"dont thank me, im always gonna be here for you, seriously. Now, lets go eat until we get full, order dessert we cant finish, take it home and get drunk" You put your seatbelt on, car filled with excitement and giggles as he began to drive to dinner.

He really did feel excited, He was mostly in shock on how he was able to win something he threw together last minute.

Blame it on the alcohol, but some deep part of him wanted to come clean in this very moment, as you were now in the crowded restaurant, music blasted as you sang loudly, you looked so beautiful and alive.

The painting was about you.

Taehyung spent hours dedicating himself to that painting, and it was about you. It seemed like a perfect time to just rip the bandaid off right now, a night where everything was going right.

"y/n..." he mumbled, watching as you happily looked over at him, his heart now in his throat. you stopped dancing and made your way over to where he sat at the bar, your drunken self leaning forward to hear him over the music.

"I just wanted to tell y-"

"youre so handsome, jesus christ I hate you" you interrupt, words slurring as you look at him lovingly.

He knows you are drunk, but the comment still made him laugh, "thank you" he whispered as you walked back out to the dance floor, dragging him with you.

"ah y/n, im not really a dancer"

"you dont need to be, just listen to the music and feel it" you shout, jumping around and holding his hands. He has to admit, seeing you away from your usual tight knit persona was really attractive, of course he admired you always, but he never saw this side before, it was new and exciting.

He allowed himself to relax a bit, taking another shot before finally giving in and dancing with you in the crowded bar. "thats it!" you yell, jumping around with him as you both fell into fits of giggles. "cmere" you turned around and pressed your back to his chest, and even in his drunken state, his heart still fluttered at the sudden contact. You carefully danced against him, not in a promiscuous way, simply just a light sway.

You two ended up spending a bit too much money at the bar, making tae ultimately put a cap on the drinks for the night. You werent ready to leave yet, so he ordered a basket of fries and water, sitting at a table with you in the next room.

"we have to sober up just a little bit, I still have to drive home" he giggled and sat beside you, taking a few fries and shoving them into his mouth. "thanks bubs" you slur, eating the fries and chugging water like you havent had any in weeks.

"are you having the best day of your life?" you ask, making him smile, "yeah, I am actually" he held a fry up and fed it to you. "good, me too" you spoke, mouth open and full of food.

the two of you sat and spoke until you felt some of the alcohol waving off, "hmm, do you wanna go home?" you asked him, noticing how tired you both were getting.

It had been almost 5 hours youve been here, and you didnt want him to only stay because you wanted to.

"yeah...its kinda late" he smiled softly, standing up and helping you.

"youre okay to drive?" you ask, watching as he looked into the next room, listening to the jazz song that was playing.

"tae?" you walk over, watching him turn and smile. "wait, before we leave.." he held your hand and led you into the other room. "dance with me, just one last song" he looked down at you, and there was no way to say no to him.

You two were surrounded by some older couples, all of them turning their attention to you as you made your way into the center of the floor, saxophone blaring through the speakers.

Taehyungs long arms wrapped loosely around your waist, resting just above your butt, your arms reaching up to hold his shoulders as you two slowly swayed to the music.

"Why are you looking at me like that" you mutter, thankful for the dark lighting hiding the current blush on your face.

"Like what?" he smiled

You shrug, giggling softly, "I dont know" you bit your lip and looked at him, alcohol still able to be felt deep in your veins.

"whats so funny, hm?" he teased, looking directly at you with a wide smile, "whats my girl always laughing about?"

you shyly looked down, the weight of his gaze too much. Your head rested against his chest as butterflies filled your stomach. this was wrong.

"you cant say that" you whine quietly

"why not?" he stood back and gently spun you around, making you smile as your hands returned to his shoulders.

"because....im not your girl" you mumble, eyes fixated on both of your feet below.

He sighed and rested his head against yours, words not needed, yet actions saying much more as his hands squeezed your waist gently, rubbing up and down carefully.

you looked up at him finally as the song was coming to a close and allowed yourself to just be, smiling as he looked at you. "You will always be my girl" he whispered so only you two could hear, he quickly turned, grabbing your hand. "lets head home"

You felt breathless, and most of all guilty....but not in the way most would think. You were guilty about not feeling guilty. You had fun, and you werent going to apologize for the mindless flirting that occurred tonight.

-

The both got out of the car and jumped under the hood of your apartment complex, looking at the rain pouring.

"I had fun, tae..."

"I did too" he looked at you hopefully, his hand returning to yours.

"we need more time for just us, we've been so wrapped in other shit" you sigh, the sound of rain surrounding both of you.

"I agree, I dont care what we do, im always enjoying myself with you"

You smirk and jokingly jump towards him, embracing him tightly "ahhh tae tae...what will I do with you, little art boy" you smile as he laughs.

You both pull away, arms still on eachother as you stood outside your home. There was a moment of quietness, eyes scanning over eachothers faces.

"Tae...." you whisper, gathering your thoughts before he slowly leans in, nose brushing yours. The top of his lip grazes against yours as you lean in, suddenly realizing what was happening as you pull your head away.

He didnt react sharply, just watching you with sad eyes.

"we cant" you whispered, shaking your head

"why not?"

"because we dont know what we are doing tae, we know better than this." you firmly say

"do we?" he spoke calmly, eyes still fixated on you.

"yes.."

He looks down at your hands, squeezing them "please...."

You frown when he isnt looking, dragging your hand to pull his wet hair out of his face. "Im sorry" you softly spoke, rubbing your thumb over his cheek, "lets go get some rest, yeah?"

he waits a moment before nodding, silently following you into the apartment.

You werent sure what exactly was in the air tonight, but you knew something changed, and maybe it was the universe finally answering your call.

A/n: sorry ...

Tag list:

@turnthepageandbeburnt @taebangtanbabe @borahaexoxo @lelefoodlover @tan-veee

[nimuetheseawitch]

20 Questions For Fic Writers

Thanks for tagging me @marley-manson!

No pressure tags: @hero-in-waiting, @spurious, @sparrowsarus, @dedkake, @logicgunn, @colonelshepparrrrd and anyone else who wants to do this :)

Everything is under the cut because this is going to be long.

1. How many works do you have on Ao3?

36, although one of those is a playlist for the SGA Songfest.

2. What's your total Ao3 word count?

76,731

3. What fandoms do you write for?

I have written for Good Omens, MASH, Stargate (SGA and SG-1), Person of Interest, and now Top Gun: Maverick.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

walking alone at 3am (TGM), The McMurdo Chess Club (SGA), Autopilot (SGA), I would never dare (Good Omens), and Class A's (MASH)

5. Do you respond to comments?

I very much try to. I love responding to comments.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Angst-wise, I think it's Dear John (SGA), although it almost doesn't count because I wrote a follow up sequel that fixes the angst. There's no one I would rather be lying beside (SGA/SG-1) is definitely the saddest though.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Oh man, most of them have pretty happy endings. I think maybe my favorite happy ending is You Can't Go Home Again (MASH).

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I haven't. People seem to be pretty friendly.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yes. Some of the smut is just incidental to the plot, but I also do a few that are just smut. I guess I tend to write mostly m/m (although I have some f/f and want to write more of that) with a little bit of kink, usually some d/s dynamics and light bondage. I'm trying to get more comfortable with it in general. I keep on meaning to do some kinkmeme fills as practice.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Technically, my SGA/SG-1 fics are crossovers, but I don't think that really counts, since it's very much the same universe. Which makes I've bit my tongue too long to hide the blood I'm covered in (SGA/POI) my only true crossover. And definitely the craziest. Very niche fic that absolutely no one asked for, but I love it.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not as far as I'm aware.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Nope.

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Oh, that's so hard to answer. I feel like I have different answers for this depending on the day and the context. But it might be John/Vala (SGA/SG-1).

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

My SGA fic where John dies while Rodney is back on earth with Jennifer and Rodney comes back and slowly starts to lose it, seeing John everywhere. I have so many SGA fics that will take priority over it, and it's just sad, which is harder for me to feel motivated. It was also shaping up to be long, which I struggle with. I also haven't come back to SGA yet - I'm still thoroughly ensared by Top Gun at the moment.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Recently, I've discovered I may actually be good at fluff. Either that, or the TGM fandom is just really, really nice (or both). On the more nuts and bolts of things, I usually only write something when I feel I have a good handle on the character voice, and my grammar is generally really good (although when I'm tired I fuck up tenses and have had to go back and fix that too many times to count). I also think I do a pretty good job with making romance sweet but not over the top.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Comedy. I occasionally write some funny lines, but it's very hard for me to write jokes if I'm intending to do so. Also, as previously mentioned, I will sometimes switch between past and present tense without noticing and have to go back and fix that. And I really struggle with writing long fics (I just run out of steam). Which is why I've mostly moved to writing series of shorter fics instead of multi-chaptered fics.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Depends. Usually, I'm not going to bother. I just put some Hebrew in a fic because a character was celebrating a Jewish holiday, but it wasn't a whole passage, just a phrase that I think can be worked out from context (although I'm going to put in an end note to help give some additional context for anyone who isn't familiar with that particular Jewish holiday). But I'm not going to ever do anything more than that - I think it makes things a little harder to read, and generally, I think that you can say things like 'Radek muttered in Czech' if you want to bring in another language.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

First fandom I posted in was Good Omens, but I recently realized that I should count the comic my friend and I made in 6th grade, where we essentially put all of us and our friends into the Sammy Keyes universe (and also, wow, my character went by a man's name and dressed like a guy but still used she/her pronouns but didn't mind he/him and was essentially aromantic, and hindsight is 20/20)

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Again with the hard choices - I love so many of my fics. But right this moment, I think Autopilot (SGA) is my favorite. It's the only one I wrote longhand, and I wrote it because the SGA server was doing a challenge to write a 15-sentence fic. It was super fun to write, and I think it turned out really well.

[spacemonkeysalsa]

Appetites

Five years ago the Vampire Ascendant Astarion helped save Baldur's Gate. He has everything he ever wanted, and he's miserable.

Isolde is nobody, and has nothing. When given the option to become a vampire spawn, her response gives Astarion a moment of pause; “No. Thank you. I think I’ll just die.”

(Angst and fluff and smut) Changed up the format because it was starting to look so silly with 20+ chapters.

Check it out on Ao3 from the beginning or jump into chapter twenty two below the cut.

If the last few days had Isolde feeling out of her depth, then there was no reason that the present situation should be an improvement. But, she checked her heartbeat, her breathing, and examined her feelings and found that she was no longer panicking, no longer on the edge of drowning. She felt a little guilty about the whole thing, actually. Astarion’s life was falling apart, and somehow, her presence within it was contributing to that, but she felt a kind of relief. This might be the extent of the punishment that Mephistopheles had in mind. It was only then that she realized that she had been expecting something much worse for him. In comparison to the possibilities, being fiend-marked was manageable.

She did feel guilty for that thought, though. Astarion wasn't able to take this optimistic view, and why would he?

He knelt on the floor of the ballroom, clothing in tatters around his changed body, concentrating and failing to transform, either into one of his typical animal shapes, or back into his true form. Every moment that passed and he was still in this new, fiend-marked form was clearly agonizing for him.

Alice kept the gith child at an educational distance. Close enough that he could still see the master, but far enough away that he wouldn’t feel threatened by his very presence. She was whispering to him quietly, and he was nodding, so Isolde imagined that some reductive explanation was in order.

Leon and Aurelia were closer, but speaking in hushed tones that Isolde couldn’t catch a single note of. She didn’t see guilt in their countenances. Good. They shouldn’t feel guilty about any of this, she decided. It was his doing, in the end.

But, she still wanted to help him manage the consequences, if she could. Just because he was responsible for what had happened, didn’t mean he deserved it. She didn’t know what she could do to help, but to start, at least, she decided that she wasn’t going to keep her distance. Even if this new form made her uncomfortable, she was going to endure it.

Except, she didn’t feel uncomfortable with it at all.

It was tempting to attribute it to her childhood with Vovka, but honestly, Astarion and Vovka still didn’t resemble one another, even now that they shared some specific hell-touched attributes. Being in Astarion’s presence didn’t feel quite the same as being in the presence of a cambion. He was still himself.

And, even on a purely aesthetic level, the differences were stark. Vovka’s horns had been lacquer black and smooth when he was younger, drawing in and pointing high above his head like a wicked crown, and as he’d gotten older, they started to split with yellow and orange lines of infernal light, like molten lava, cracking through that smooth exterior, especially when he was upset. By the time he ran away from home, they were almost always burning bright through the tips.

In contrast, Astarion’s looked more like a sort of horns she’d seen on some of the humble tiefling citizens of Bladur’s Gate; they resembled white, unpolished bone, carving in more of a halo arc, and running parallel to his pointed ears in a way that complemented the angles of his elven features. His skin remained the bloodless, vampiric shade of pale that she was used to, though the sclera of his eyes had changed to black as pitch, and though the irises remained red, the new contrast seemed to add a sheen that hadn’t been there before. He also didn’t seem to have quite so many of the extra prongs, ridges and vestigial claw-like nubs that dotted Vovka’s skin. His tail was ridged though, that was a little different, and with a subtle lean and a swerve of her eyes, she could see that the ridges continued up his spine to the nap of his neck. 

The strangest thing was his wings, and his back.

The scars that his master had carved into his flesh were no longer in their original place, instead, the marks were distorted and stretched across the reach of his leathery wings. The infernal glyphs were huge, and now, easily exposed and readable. 

He flexed his claw-like hands and then fisted them against the ground with a crash of frustration. “Godsdammit,” he lamented in an almost imperceptible whisper. Another failed attempt to take control of his own body, and transform back.

It had only been minutes, and so Isolde was not ready to write off that possibility, but it seemed unlikely to her that Mephistopheles intended for the change to be anything less than permanent. At least, on some level.

Tentative, but determined not to leave him feeling worse, or abandoned, she scooted nearer, placing herself directly under the shade of one arced wing. He looked up sharply, sensing her, but he couldn’t quite lift his eyes.

She thought about telling him how very handsome he still was, but knew that wouldn’t make him feel better, even if it was true. The point of being marked as a fiend was not to lash one’s vanity, but to send a message, not just to the soul being punished, but to everyone who saw them. And the message about Astarion was clear, red, and written in angry infernal on his new wings. He was bound. Mephistopheles had him in his collection: a new monster.

“Why would he believe that you might try to go back on the deal?” the question slipped out from between her lips, thoughtless at first, but in the silence that followed, Isolde did think, and decided that the question was a very good one, though she might already know the answer.

Astarion finally met her eyes, and she read pain and shame and fear in them like she’d never seen before. “Because, even if it’s not what I intended, there must be a way to reverse the rite of profane ascension. I haven’t yet done anything to take any of those souls back from him, but… if it’s even possible.” His voice went toneless, and he managed to remark on the seemingly impossible task with no passion, even as he declared, “It must be possible.”

Isolde nodded, that’s what she had been thinking as well. Mephistopheles was warning him not to mess with the parameters of the deal, because, as with any deal, there was some way out of it. But, it appeared that it was not as simple as using a few scrolls of true resurrection on the victims.

Still. It might be something down that same path.

“If you knew how. Would you?”

“I don’t. I don’t know,” Astarion said in barely more than a murmur, and it wasn’t clear whether he was simply reiterating that he had no idea how to reverse profane ascension, or if he was saying that he didn’t know if he would even want to, if it was possible. He seemed to pick up on this ambiguity as he watched her face, and with a sigh he clarified his explanation, “I don’t know how, so there’s no point speculating—”

“—for the sake of pointless speculation.” Isolde pressed him.

His wings dropped, his shoulders slumping as his head tilted, almost crashing into his own chest with the new weight of his horns. “I suppose it would depend on how difficult it would be, and what it would mean for me,” he admitted. “Becoming a vampire spawn again would not be desirable. I’d never see the sun again, be limited in how and where I can live. The hunger would rule me again,” he winced at that last thought.

“But it still depends?” If it would only bring him inconvenience, and if he’d already purchased what he wanted from hell, why even entertain the idea?

“Well. If it wasn’t such a huge amount of trouble,” he groaned, “I suppose—not that there’s much hope for it,” he scoffed and rolled his eyes, “honestly—I’ve known for a long time that the best afterlife I could hope for would still be faithless and lost. But. That might be better than whatever is fated for me now.” But his gaze flickered to Leon and Aurelia, softening ever so slightly before he steeled himself and looked back at his hands, frowning, perhaps at how growing claws had positively ruined his manicure. He tsked.

“And if it’s very complicated and difficult? Likely impossible?”

“Well, it must not be impossible, if he’s this worked up about it,” Astarion gestured to himself in such a way that the last of his torn shirt flopped over his wrist and he flicked it away in annoyance. “But. I’ve had a few years to get to know myself, and one thing I have learned is that the longer a plan may take me to execute, the more likely it is that I will get distracted or lose interest.”

“Or, despair,” Isolde wasn’t sure why she said it, and she kept her voice quiet, but not so quiet that Astarion couldn’t hear her.

His gaze was hard on her face. His jaw clenched over his fanged teeth. “Yes,” he said the word in a clipped, dangerous tone. “Or that.” If he was angry with her, he fought it off, and when he spoke again his tone conveyed only concern, even if his words were harsh. “Now you’ll see how fickle I am. Just last night I begged you to stay, but you must see now that your plan to leave the city was a wise one. You should pack your—my things and go.”

“No,” Isolde said flatly, because for all his bluster, she didn’t believe that was really what he wanted.

“I think that I can land you in more trouble than either of your former horrid masters.”

“Undoubtedly,” Isolde agreed. “The hells already know I’m here with you.”

“But if you run—”

“—consummate predators,” she stated grimly. “The devils see us as things to be exploited or consumed. As I am, I’m in reserve. If I run, I incite their instincts to chase.” 

Growing up, Isolde was firm in her stated beliefs that there was nothing inherently evil about her brother. Unfortunately, Vovka himself often advocated the counterpoint. He’d confided in her about the drives he had, many of them dark and destructive, and aimed at himself as well as those closest to him. He’d once said that he never saw someone run without feeling the urge to chase them down like a dog.

Astarion was gazing at her like he wanted to argue, but for once he didn’t seem to have words.

She leaned in and caught his mouth softly with her own, taking him by surprise, it seemed. He didn’t so much lean into the kiss as she felt him resting his forehead against hers. His hands found her fingertips, and as though overcompensating for the new claws, his touch was more tender than usual.

Aurelia approached them, tugging Leon’s wrist and dragging him along, and glancing back as if to present him. She waited, looking at Leon expectantly.

With a sigh, Leon admitted, “I can probably put together some kind of glamor. It will take a little time though. And money.”

If Astarion heard him, he didn’t seem to comprehend what he was saying. He nodded, but his ascent felt mindless to Isolde. 

“I can see to Alice and Barnes and your little ward,” Aurelia offered, “if you need to take some time.”

Again, Astarion’s main form of acquiescence came only through silence.

He let his siblings leave him, Aurelia leading Alice and the gith child away as well. Their shoes were still clicking on the ballroom floor when Astarion finally gathered up enough will to say something in farewell. “I don’t regret it,” he declared, voice filled with the gravel of defiance.

Aurelia acknowledged him only by glancing back over her shoulder without slowing her stride.

Alone again, Isolde thought that she would be glad to spend the rest of the night sitting here with him while he failed to work it all out in his troubled mind. She wasn’t sure what she could possibly do to help—probably nothing much. But, his efforts to send her away aside, he didn’t want to be alone, of that much, she felt certain.

Heavily, Astarion began to lay back, tentative and awkward with his movements. He winced as his wings spread flat, his back arching and the tips of his horns clicking on the floor behind his head. “Oh gods. You really just can’t lie on your back like this, can you?” he sighed, “even if I could find a comfortable, folded position for the wings, or tail, the horns won’t allow it. So much for sleeping as a hobby.”

“Vovka always had to lie on his stomach,” Isolde recalled, “he didn’t sleep much either though.”

“...Perhaps some kind of neck splint.”

“They sell those for tieflings,” Isolde tried to remember where she’d seen them, or at least which vendors she could ask about the item. From a practical standpoint, these were problems that had solutions. He could use Leon’s glamor, or various temporary spells to change his appearance back, even if his true form was indeed, forever altered. Again.

And that was the real problem, she realized, with a pang to her heart. The issue wasn’t a practical one. It was a matter of emotional turmoil. A reminder that his body still wasn’t his own.

After a few moments, Astarion gave up on his attempts to find a comfortable position on his back, and struggled a little to sit up again, accidentally pinning one of his own wings as he tried to find purchase with his palms. He glared at nothing in particular.

Somewhat invited, and somewhat intruding, Isolde’s thoughts turned back to moments just mere days ago, when they’d made love less than a few yards away from where they sat now. Everything had seemed so complicated at the time, but looking back, those were surely the very simplest of days. The palace had felt so empty, and their time together was entirely dictated according to their own devices. And gods, had they ever spent it well.

That could easily never be the case again.

A low chuckle from the shadows made her start from her dreamy recollections. If Astarion too was startled by the sudden appearance of an on-looker, he only expressed it through another aggravated sigh.

From the far corner of the room, shrouded, a long body unfurled itself from dark leathery wings. Isolde’s denial only lasted a few heartbeats, but for an instant, she was certain that it was any monster in the world other than her own lost Vovka.

She might not have recognized him, if she hadn’t already spent so much of the day remembering him and recalling the details of him. He was so changed.

That Astarion deemed his height inconsiderate made perfect sense now that she was seeing him in the flesh. Vovka wasn’t larger than a human man could be, but she couldn’t immediately recall having ever seen a man taller. The horns and wings enhanced this impression. When she’d seen him last, they'd been roughly the same size, and he’d been wiry and lithe rather than muscular like he was now. His hair was long now, piled back off his face with the sides shaved lower, but still, undoubtedly long when it wasn’t tied up. Their parents had always kept it cropped rather short for convenience and because their mother wasn’t convinced it couldn’t catch fire from his horns when they sparked and smoked. His face was grown, and more than ever before, his bones made him look like their father, and her guts twisted at the implications. She’d speculated, as had others, that the mortal parent was not the one who carried the child in her womb, but that her mother had only been used as a forced surrogate for their father’s indiscretion. His maturing features seemed to confirm that theory.

His eyes were different from how she remembered them. Like Aurelia, and now, Astarion, the sclera was black, but his iris was not the wreath of flame she remembered, there was a cool, bright light to them, nearly a flat white straight on, though even as she thought this, the sheen and the angle of his face sparked red, then yellow, then purple.

Though he’d announced himself with a laugh, there was no hint of amusement on his face. He approached at a worrisome pace, gradual, like he wasn’t quite ready.

“I honestly didn’t know what he was going to do,” Vovka offered, cocking his head at Astarion, and then she saw the amusement, but it was fleeting.

Whether or not they should believe him, Isolde decided it didn’t matter. She couldn’t imagine a world in which anything anyone thought about it could sway an archdevil. She didn’t even realize she was on her feet until they had carried her directly to her long lost half-brother. She charged at him, still in a debate with herself over whether she should strike him, embrace him, or perhaps some combination of both.

It the end, she only managed to come to a halt directly in front of him, just inches before she might’ve wrapped her arms around his waist, or her hands around his throat. She looked up at him, and for the first time she ever remembered, couldn't read his face.  “I looked for you. Everywhere.”

“A waste of effort.” Vovka informed her curtly.

“It was not.”

He crossed his arms over his chest, seemingly trying to create a barrier between them, and now, for some reason, she could bring herself to hug him. First, she grabbed his arms and untangled them to his visible discomfort, and forced him into an embrace. She’d forgotten how warm he was. Of course, it was the fires of hell, so the longer she stayed close to him, the more painful it would become, and she released him mere seconds after he started to relax just a touch.

“Should I leave the two of you to catch up?” Astarion managed to infuse his voice with a little of his old bravado as he rose to his feet.

“No,” Isolde and Vovka said in unison.

“Too painful,” Isolde clarified.

“Too much trouble. Not in keeping with our family tradition of avoidance.” Vovka cocked his heavy brows.

“Precisely,” Isolde agreed with Vovka’s cynical correction.

“So that’s it?” Astarion seemed to welcome a momentary distraction from his own drama, at least.    “Two decades of estrangement and—”

“—more than that,” Vovka grumbled, “time can pass in hell according to its own metrics. I might be older than you are now, big sister,” he seemed amused by the idea, but it made Isolde feel despondent in the extreme. He gave her the slightest reprieve from his so familiar and yet so different gaze, and turned his attention to Astarion instead. “You know, the Erinyes used to be regularly mistaken for aasimar by mortals. Big feathered wings and serene countenance. But, they traded all that for cloven hooves and more bestial features.”

“By their own leave?”

Vovka laughed at that, “when is it ever?” he shrugged. “I can teach you the spell to take on your old appearance.” he added, “no charge,” just at the moment that both Isolde and Astarin started to open their mouths to ask about the other end of the bargain.

Astarion regarded him suspiciously, but after a moment said, “thank you. I’d appreciate that,” slowly.

“It’s going to hurt. A lot.”

“There it is.”

Vovka sauntered over to the spot of ballroom floor that was severely scuffed from where the githyanki’s woman sword had connected with it, and drew his boot over the marks absently. “It’s not perfectly reliable, and it's not going to be something you can use all the time. It might take you years to get a decent number of hours out of it.”

Isolde remembered vividly how frustrated he had been when Vovka was a child and couldn’t maintain his human form long enough to spend any substantial amount of time outside of the house. It was a kind offer, but freely given? “Will he be unhappy with you? For helping us?” Isolde asked, foregoing the temptation to just thank him. Leon’s glamor might be safer, less likely to cause trouble, if only because it came from Leon.

Vovka gave a shrug that said for all the world he didn't give a shit if Mephistopheles was unhappy with him, but Isolde knew better. They all did.

“Why help me?” Astarion asked bluntly. “Feeling impervious?”

“Apathetic,” Vovka corrected. “They want me to keep close? Keep watch? They know how this works. Why bother sticking to the shadows when a soul is already bound? If anyone asks, I can turn the question around and wonder at what methods they would use to keep you close and beholden to hell? Offering help is usually more effective than threats when dealing with mortals. Even devils out for their first harvest know that.”

His blunt delivery and deadpan tone was a bit chilling to Isolde, but Astarion’s mouth lifted into a sharp smile for just an instant. She could have sighed audibly, of course, he'd find that reassuring. Astarion desperately craved compassion and understanding, but could never quite accept those things when they were offered freely. He was more comfortable with artifice. “Independent contractor, you said?” He asked, contemplative.

Vovka groaned. “Slipped out. Bad joke.”

“But you're not one of them. Beholden to them yourself, I gather.”

“I’m just a cambion. I can serve an infernal purpose, when it's demanded of me, or I can be a light snack for Tiamat.” He shrugged again, this time with a little shudder through his wings that suggested that was less a casual example of hell’s cruelty, and more an anecdote. “I’ll serve.”

Astarion stole a glance Isolde’s way. She wanted to read it as conspiring, at first, but decided after a moment that perhaps she simply needed to get used to reading him with the newly blackened sclera. Astarion looked away after a moment, lips pursed before he reasoned out loud, “They’re just using you too.”

Vovka furrowed his brow a little at that, but not like he didn’t understand. More like there was nothing more obvious in the world.

[sayosdreams]

Thanksvember 2022

Shoutouts to some amazing fics and fic writers! Thank you so much for all the time and energy you put into your work!! Your fics mean the world to me and have gotten me through the past year. I can’t thank you enough <3 This year’s list is definitely going to contain a lot of Regulus stuff bc that’s my current fixation! So, here's a list of some of my favorite fics that I've read over the past year:

November 1 - As Soon As He Can by Trex_Patronus (ao3). This beautiful fic is what sent me down the Regulus Black rabbit hole bc it was so good that I wanted more. The Black brothers angst? The trauma? The healing? It’s all *chefs kiss*. Everything I could want and more ✨ oh, and it’s now completed with 62 chapters ✨

November 2 - I see how this all ends (poorly) by @quillium . I think that Seer!Regulus is one of my favorite kinds of Regulus characterizations, and this fic is the reason. The balance of angst and fluff in this fic is absolute perfection. The characterizations? The relationships? The evolutions of every character? Absolutely amazing✨ (I've reread the Sirius-meets-sleepy-Reg-and-gang-in-the kitchen scene at least 20 times bc its so ajsfbfsk!!! <3)

November 3 - Follow in her paw prints by @scottish-purple-shrubbery . I adore this fic, because what more could I want from this world than McGonagall taking Regulus in and giving him a path that doesn’t lead to an early death? 10/10, would recommend, we stan having healthy adult figures who actually care abt children as more than pawns✨ ♥️

November 4 - A Thing Like Stars in the Dark by toliveinthesky (ao3). Who doesn’t love a good “what if Reg survived the cave” story? Sprinkled with Black brothers interaction, Reg playing with baby Harry, being in love with a muggleborn 😍 I’m not usually a huge fan of OCs, but Reg/Maggie 🫶 I love this fic so much

November 5 - Live Fast, Die Young, Leave a Pretty Corpse by atta_boy (ao3). This fic is so underrated. I LOVE IT SO MUCH (I mean, Sirius thinking Reg is dead, only to hear about a muggle model named “Aster An” who looks just like him? *chefs kiss*) The irony of a disguise being the truest version of yourself is beautifully written in this fic. I need more ppl to read it (and join the discord 👀) so y’all can fangirl over it w me

November 6 - He Can’t Hurt You if You’re Already Dead by @unspeakable3 . So, yeah, I think I’m obsessed with the Ghost!Regulus concept?? I love everything about this fic — the chracterization, the internality, the mix of fluff and angst ♥️ You have no idea how many times I just randomly think of Reg folding Sirius’ clothes to “haunt” him or hiding inside a vase or being scared Dumbledore will exorcise him 💀

November 7 - In the fires of our youth (oh, brother of mine) by @quynhorlose . The writing! The art! I'm obsessed with everything about it, from the format that includes articles & poster style chapters, to the content of Regulus-and-Remus friendship and the Padfoot & Prongs band.

November 8 - We are all stardust by @rrosie08 . I have mentioned that I love Seer!Regulus, right? That, combined with Ravenclaw!Regulus, Black brothers angst, Reg having an awesome friend group, and Jegulus and Wolfstar drama is just *chefs kiss*. The scene where Reg just broke up with his bf and is crying and gets his first detention bc of Sirius on his birthday has been on constant replay in my brain. <3

November 9 - There is another sky (--Ever serene and fair) by llamallamaduck (ao3). This fic is everything I could ever want and more out of a "black brothers run away together" story. They travel the world, and I LOVE all the different magical systems & cities. All of the concepts in this story, along with all the emotions (angst! fluff! everything!), make this one of the best black brothers fics. I still haven't read the last chapter (I'm sad it'll be over!) but I'm so excited to read it too. Definitely recommend!

November 10 - Kill Your Darlings by MesserMoon (ao3). Marauders era meets college ice hockey in this amazing fic. I love all the tension, like the complexities of Evan and Peter's characters, Regulus working through his internalized homophobia, and ofc the extreme gayness <3 Deaf Remus! Jegulus! Rosekiller! Evan and Reg being roommates and becoming besties!

November 11 - Best Friend's Brother by @zeppazariel . This is one of the first Jegulus fics I read, and it dragged me down the Jegulus rabbit hole that I will stay in forever. This fic was amazing. It made me laugh and cry, and I felt like I also went through the raw emotional rollercoaster of a journey that Regulus and Sirius and Remus and James experienced. It's so beautifully written, and it felt healing? Like I have a lot of crappy childhood trauma, and it felt like this fic was me working through it Definitely recommend if you haven't read it yet (or if you're thinking about maybe trying your first Jegulus fic). Be warned: Angst! Feels! Drama! Working through trauma! Aka everything I adore <3

November 12 - I Didn't Catch Your Name by @kachwoww . This fic!! OK so basically, James & Reg hook up, but in the morning James asks Reg his name and Reg leaves without telling him. James, ofc, is obsessed and is searching for Reg. Meanwhile, Reg left the paper that Sirius (his estranged brother) gave him with his phone number at James' house, and panics about how he lost it. Basically they're all freaking out, Reg and Remus are librarian flatmates, Pandora and Lily are dating, Sirius and Remus are dating, and... yeah! It's #Drama and I'm hooked.

November 13 - The Marauders read 'Harry Potter' by SilverShadow1 (ao3). It's been a while since I read this types of fics, but this one!! Basically James, Regulus, Sirius, Remus, Peter, & Lily read the books & react, but it's set in a Jegulus & Wolfstar world and the fic dives into their pasts (through flashbacks and their reactions to different events) and their relationships with each other evolve throughout. The series is currently on PoA (so I have a lot of hope that it'll continue)! I've been hooked since the beginning and love seeing it update.

November 14 - i got wasted (like all my potential) by ascxlla (ao3). I love the Slytherin skittle shenanigans in this fic! Regulus interacting with Sirius-as-a-dog without knowing it's Sirius 🥹 It's a "I'm doomed so fuck it" fic and I love that. Want to explore the forbidden forest at night to get a cat? Do it! Want to kiss your friend for funsies? Do it!

November 15 - Hush Hush by @crippledgoddess . This fic was one of my main obsessions this summer. There are so many iconic moments, like drunk Reg flirting with James, or Reg just saying stuff like "You know what James looks good in? Me" to make everyone uncomfortable, that I ADORE. There's a lot of angst and feels, but I'm hoping for a happy ending (please!!) and I really enjoy the writing!

November 16 - Your Stars are True by Penelope_Muir (ao3). Sirius and Regulus haven't been close in years, so Sirius checks up on his brother by coming to him as Padfoot (though Reg thinks he might be a Grim). It's so cute and sad at the same time 😭 The scene where James tries to follow Sirius to see where he goes every night, only to have to transform into Prongs and Reg is like "oh you brought a friend?" to the dog is ingrained in my mind forever!

November 17 - with my back to the shoreline, i dreamed that he drowned by onceuponalazy (ao3). My favorite "James gets amnesia and can't recall the life he built with Regulus" fic. The pain Regulus is in, knowing that he loves a man who no longer knows him and doesn't even know that their son (Harry) exists 😭 It's beautifully written, and I love how James and Reg's relationship evolves and heals ♥️

November 18 - Confessions Under a Pride Flag by 55_cents_in_nickels (ao3). Supportive coming out black brothers fluff + asexual biromantic Regulus Black (which I read during my "questioning if I'm on the aroace spectrum" crisis period) = amazing fic that I love so so much. Yes, I am capable of loving something besides angst It's a comfort read that's close to my heart <3

November 19 - Burden of Duty by Grey_Kenaz (ao3). Aroace sex-repulsed Regulus Black meets Sirius in St Mungos after trying to figure out how to conceive with his (arranged marriage) fiancée. Sirius helps Reg figure out that there's nothing wrong with him and accept himself 🫶 We love supportive Black brothers!

November 20 - i can feel you slipping away (like the sunlight at the end of the day) by @casualmaraudering. This fic is so good! It's fluffy and angsty in all the right ways. Contains: Dumbledore critique bc fuck him, Black brothers have a strong bond, Reg grieving, aroace Regulus, a baby, and Sirius giving Regulus a hug. The writing is so good and the rollercoaster of emotions this fic takes you on is incredible ❤

[veilder]

[20 Question Fic Writer Game]

Thanks for the tag @eomma-jpeg! This looks fun. :D

How many works do you have on AO3?

Twenty, if you can believe it, omg. Though, tbf, most of them are just little oneshots, lol. I only have a few chapter fics to my name. XD

What is your AO3 word count?

It's apparently 189,048... Which feels like far too much for what I've written, but okay. 😅

What fandoms do you write for?

As of right now, the only fics I've posted are (mostly) for Detroit: Become Human and (one singular one) for Trigun. I've also maybe started a few things for Genshin Impact and The Silmarillion, but nothing even anywhere near done, lol. But maybe one day!

What are your top five fics by kudos?

The Nearness of You (981)

A Simple Equation (847)

In a Name (604)

we're just two lost souls (swimming in a fish bowl) (501)

In a Flash (309)

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Oh yes. I love getting comments, they mean so much to me? Even if it takes me awhile, I will respond to your comment!

What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Pft, well, right now, it's a story called Reflections that I never finished writing. XD I left it off on a really uhhhhh... horrible cliffhanger... and haven't updated since... >_> But yeah, as a general rule, I don't do angsty endings. No matter what I put a character through, they're getting out in the end.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Absolutely The Nearness of You. Lol, the entire goal of that fic was to be like... the anti-angst. XD The DBH fandom really loves going dark and I was deliberately setting out to write something happy to try and counteract it all, omg. Not that it doesn't have a few serious moments to it of course but, overall, it just a light, fluffy romcom with (I think) a pretty funny ending, so yeah. XD

Do you get hate on fics?

Not for my fics in particular, per se, but I've had some run-ins with folks who don't like the ships I write for... Which isn't fun. >_>

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Nah, no smut for me. Tbh, even writing kissing makes me squirm, I am so ace. XD I think I would implode if I even tried, wow.

Do you write crossovers?

I've... dabbled. Nothing I've ever published or anything, but I've had a lot of crossover ideas and stuff? And I've attempted to write a few, but nothing that ever got even close to finished, lol. Crossovers are fun to think about though. XD

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not a fic, no, but an idea? Uh, I used to get very elaborate with my prompts, with a lot of detail and stuff. Basically like mini outlines. (See my pinned message on my blog if you're curious, I have a whole list of them up there. XD) But yeah, one of them I shared with a former friend who I ended up having a huge falling out with. Well, they eventually wrote and published the idea awhile after we stopped being friends and like... fine, that's alright and all, but it sure would've been nice to get some credit for it... I don't care that they used it, only that any association with me is completely absent from the fic. :/

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope, not to my knowledge!

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Nothing published, lol. I've attempted one before (with that same former friend I mentioned above), but that obviously didn't pan out. However, now I am writing a much more successful attempt with my buddy, @eomma-jpeg! So finger's crossed that eventually gets posted one of these days, I love it so much.

What's your all-time favourite ship?

All-time fave?!?!?! Oh no.... How can I pick just one? Listen, you're just gonna have to deal with me listing one for each of my main fandoms rn, because I can't possible choose. For DBH, definitely Convin? (Connor/Gavin Reed) (Though damn, North60 is a close second these days. 👀) For Genshin... Ugh, I'm such a slut for Chili. (Childe/Zhongli) And for Trigun... Ugh, it's gotta be Millyons, right? (Milly Thompson/Millions Knives) I adore all these ships sm. 😭😭😭

What's a WIP you'd like to finish but doubt you ever will?

GD DBH COFFEESHOP FIC THAT I'VE HAD FIVE CHAPTERS WRITTEN FOR FOR LIKE THREE YEARS NOW BUT CAN'T FUCKIN FINISH, UGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😡

What are your writing strengths?

Ugh, geez, I don't know? Uh... I think I'm good at... description? Or like, setting the scene? I've also gotten a few compliments on my action scenes before, too, which I was kinda blown away by cuz I didn't think they were anything special, lol! But... yeah, maybe those?

What are your writing weaknesses?

Lololololololol, how about actually writing?!?!?! 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫 It'd be grand if I could actually do it, omggggggggggg!!!!!!!!!!

No, but other than that... I think I tend to rush? I get so fatigued by the idea of stretching something out too long so I think I tend to just cut right to the chase in my fics. I don't much like to meander or get sidetracked with B plots or anything. My fics are... compact, let's say. 😅

I also feel like my characterization can really veer off sometimes. I feel like sometimes I default to idealized versions of the characters I write instead of writing them as they actually are.

I make a lot of typos and stupid grammar mistakes and, despite me obsessively editing everything I write before posting, it seems like a lot of them still make it through. 😫

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I have... used little snippets of language in some of my fics before? But the kicker is that I found someone who actually speaks that language and asked them to help me with that, so idk, is that cheating? XD

I myself and a filthy monolingual, so I couldn't write a full-on fic in a different language or anything. But some phrases thrown in here or there for color/emphasis/character building? Yeah, I could probably do that.

First fandom you wrote for?

Oh, this is a loaded question, lol! So, first fandom I ever published a fic for was DBH back in 2019. But you'd be a fool to think that was my first attempt. XD Honestly? I think my first try was like a Suikoden fic back in... Idk, '99 or 2000? I was a child and it sucked hardcore, but y'know. XD I'm so glad my anxiety didn't prompt me to publish anything I wrote thought, omggggg. The mountain of garbage I would be sitting atop now if I did... XD

Favourite fic you've ever written?

Ah, man, it's The Lark Ascending. Without a doubt. That fic... It's both the longest thing I've ever written and the most personal. I drew from a lot of my own experiences when writing it and it helped me process some of the shit I was going through at the time and I just think it turned out... really nice. I went back and reread it not too long ago and I just... I adore it.

It's also one of the most accessible fics I've written, if anyone is curious? The whole concept of it centers around the characters as elemental spirits and I use no canon names or places or anything through the entire main story. It's the only thing I've done that's tagged with both the fandom that inspired it, but also Original Work. Because yeah, it basically is a completely original novel tbh.

The downside of it being super accessible is that it didn't really catch on in the fandom it was tagged for (DBH). It is still to the day one of my sadder failures, just because I put *so much* of myself into it? And I truly believe it has my best writing out of everything I've done, too. I went super stylized and almost poetic with it and I really tried to modulate how I wrote to match the elements of the characters I was portraying. Honestly, I'm so proud of it and I just really wish it had had a better reception than it garnered, but oh well. What's done is done.

Thank you again for the tag, @eomma-jpeg, this was a lot of fun!

As for me, I will tag... @woppy42 @ewates @sharysisnhmoonshadow @connor-sent-by-cyberlife @detroitbecomeonline @titaniumpsychologist @nock-and-bolt and anyone else who wants to pile in here! XD

[lavenderbexlatte]

Ok I have been putting off reading your newest fic bc I knew I would love the read and hate the wait for the next chapter but I have finally had time to binge and GOD BECCA I love it. I love how you have done it not just as a skz!au where they’re trainera but also as a Pokemon!au where it’s darker and grittier and more Adult. It’s just such a fun take.

The matchups for the Boys and their types are so good and I would love to hear more about how you matched them all up. Bin as fighting is perfect.

The smut came unexpectedly early in the fic, was expecting more of a slow burn and tease into it but I supposed it means there’s just more time for angst. How many chapters have you estimated this to be?

so glad you've enjoyed 😭😭

i chose the pokemon types for each guy kind of...on instinct 😂 some were obvious. seungmin and ghost type was super simple, it matches his chaotic energy so well. minho's calm and determined nature suits normal type, which sounds boring but is incredibly powerful.

jisung and hyunjin had to be the same type, bc it fits their irl rivalry, and there are a lot of water pokemon in gen1, so there's enough to give them each a unique team. changbin and fighting type was also a no-brainer, he's the strongest on the team, our gymbro king 😔

felix and flying type was maybe a surprise? he could have suited bug type, i thought, but that little baby chick?? no other choice. and then i gave fire type to jeongin bc i figured he would have started out with the same pokemon as chan (growlithe) and just run in that direction.

chan actually has no type specialty! he always talks about being indecisive and not knowing himself well, i figure he would also be nervous to tie himself to one type of pokemon 😅

the smut comes in early and then - spoiler - doesn't come back. because that's not the point of the fic, yknow? yeah, it's something that happens among them, but it's not The defining thing. most fics w/ smut have the Sex Scene as the ultimate thing, the capstone, the moment that everything builds to. that moment, in this series, is not sex, but understanding. they're not building toward physical intimacy, but emotional connection. it's easy to fuck someone. it's not easy to listen and understand them and accept them wholly.

there will be approx 20-25 chapters depending on how i ultimately split them up! (i keep changing it 😅)

[effervescentluminescence]

inspired by i think @ourflagmeansgayrights bc i also have too many WIPs (10 i guess, which is too many) and I kind of want to put them in the atmosphere so I finish some of them.

Starting with the two I might finish:

Not Christmas fic (also inspired by an @ourflagmeansgayrights post?) where post-divorce Stede on his first Christmas alone goes to NYC for the day on impulse bc all the movies make it look festive. It's not, really, but he does meet Ed there! And then they semi-accidentally go on a 24-hour extremely secular date and fall in love and have sex and all that.

Mega long fic where Ed and Stede meet as kids. Ed works at the Bonnet estate--he ended up there after the whole killing his dad thing, becomes bffs with Stede, they do some cute teen romance stuff, and they make plans to run away together after Stede's dad starts floating marriage prospects, but Badmintons intervene and Stede is forced into the British Naval Academy and Ed manages to escape the estate and goes home to his mom. But they tell Stede that Ed is dead! And then Stede finds out that he's not! And that Ed is Blackbeard (who has a slightly different reputation in this universe)! Anyway it's a lot of fic. I've got it pretty much mapped out but I'm intimidated by it.

lol not to mention the one I have mostly published with the last chapter mostly written but haven't finished yet haha

And some that are just sparkles in my eye:

Amnesia!fic where Chauncey does shoot Stede a little bit in the head before offing himself. Stede's marked dead on the logs and the only person who knows who he is is the guard Ed got to lead him into the forest, but admitting he knows who Stede is would be bad for him, so no one knows who he is. Basically Stede doesn't remember anything about his life, becomes a privateer, ends up accidentally unionizing his ship, accidentally on purpose kills his captain who is about to kill Ed. Stede's like, hi nice to meet you, I'm Toby (or something) and then Ed realizes that he doesn't actually know why Stede didn't meet him at the docks? Whoops.

Ed pretends to not be able to read and asks Stede to teach him so they can spend more time together.

Ed's mom is doing great now, actually, and after S1 he runs into his half-sister and meets his stepdad and sees his mom for the first time in 20 years and it's all very angsty and shmoopy

Fic where Ed and Stede are reunited and immediately start arguing/flirting so Izzy stabs Stede in the guts, more angst/shmoop

Jim forgives Ed--They get a letter from Olu via Olivia saying everyone is alright, so Jim's like...how can I fix this, oh hey an opportunity to try killing someone with kindness, been wanting to try that since they heard captain say it. It sounded stupid until they realized the killing was metaphorical. Jim so rarely has the moral high ground so this could be fun.

Sequel/Companion to my Princess Bride fic, missing scenes with Jim, Inigo, and Frenchie in the Fireswamp and the Bermuda Triangle

Post reunion pre-forgiveness, Ed has basically forgiven Stede but he just can't stop being a dick and he's so annoyed at himself about it but that makes him act even more dickish. It's a vicious cycle. (but it's because he hasn't actually talked to Stede yet because he's worried about being too mean and also crying a lot and he knows Stede's going to feel bad, but then he acts like a dick and makes Stede feel just as bad. He is very aware of how ridiculous he's being but can't stop.) Then Ed catches Stede him sneaking into the captains cabin. Turns out there's a secret bookshelf that Ed didn't know about where Stede kept all his favorites. Stede asks if he can take one, Ed just shrugs. Later Stede asks Ed if he can go grab another book and Ed for no real reason tells Stede he threw them all in the ocean. Ed can see the light go out in Stede's eyes, and he's like, no no no fuck that was so mean why did I say that, but then Stede walks away so Ed goes to his cabin to kick the walls. Later that day Lucius is like "heeyyyyy, did you really throw out all Stede's favorite books. Ed's like "...no." L: "yeah, that's what I thought. Could you tell him that? He thinks you hate him now and he's starting to lose all hope, and his will to live has always been tenuous at best--" and Ed's alarmed, now, also fuck it, he doesn't actually want to hurt Stede! Ed finds Stede and drags him into his cabin and then just starts monologuing all his hurts and apologies, and by the end they're both crying but Stede is smiling again and remarks how romantic it all was. The vibe on this is more humor than angst (angst mostly from moping!Stede)

[bratshaws]

goodness gracious 45. brb x oc

a/n: im so tired and i am writhing with cramps but i did this chapter somehow yaaay

check out the fic's playlist made by the sweet @wiipes !!

pairing: plus size!oc x rooster

warnings: fluff and slight angst, but like, minimal. AND SOME ANSWERS TOO

chapters:

1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12/13/14/15/16/17/18/19/20/21/22/23/24/25/26/27/28/29/30/31/32/33/34/35/36/37/38/39/40/41/42/43/44

(pls let me know if you want to be added to the taglist!!)

taglist: @mirandastuckinthe80s @roosterschanelslut @wiipes @lcahwriter @shrimping-for-all @gretagerwigsmuse @frenchtoastix

@lizzie-rdj @fanboyluvr @atarmychick007 @comebacktoearthpls

@peachiicherries @mak-32 @lizziespidiepridie @roosterswifey @ollyoxenfrees @piceous21 @sqrlgrl22 @hofficoffi @lexhalstead3 

@lorilane33 @legendarydreamersharkparty @luckyladycreator2 @emilybradshaw @j-6o @louisahale @leobabbyyy @kulicny @winter-run

-

To Beatrice it was a bit weird to be in the Hard Deck and not work, her hands would sometimes flex out of habit whenever she’d see Shells and Penny moving around, trying to reach for the tray with a ‘I can take it!’ on the tip of her tongue. But she is just another patron tonight, just a girl who went out with her boyfriend and is enjoying a night out together. 

But just being inside the bar was more than enough to make her happy, she really missed this place and the atmosphere that it has, she’s gotten used to it now. In the very first months of her working at the Hard Deck, Beatrice was very nervous to mess something up, having an absolute iron focus whenever she had to help someone out with a drink. Penny assured her, after holding her wrist once she noticed the brunette’s hand was shaking as she filled a patron’s glass, that she didn’t have to be perfect. Just get the order and take it to the person, nothing more nothing less.

Rooster hadn’t come to the Hard Deck during these first months of her working there, thank God, she’d be so much worse if he was there. She also didn’t think she’d last this long if she was honest, maybe three months at best because she’d probably trip and drop a tray filled with drinks on someone or worse, but she’s still here, still working. And while she’d love to become a full time artist, she couldn’t really see herself distancing from the Hard Deck that soon.

She liked it here, she knew pretty much everyone, she loved working with Penny and Shells, even Jimmy whenever he was available. She knew he had another part time job but would always try to come by if Penny needed his help, even though the woman has proven time and time again she could handle this whole bar on her own. Shells would always call her aunt a madwoman whenever she did that.

With Rooster’s arm wrapped around her waist, Beatrice gently ran her fingers on the back of his forearm repeatedly, leaning back against his chest as he talked to the other officers. She knew he missed this too, he spent so long with her there were a lot of things he probably didn’t know. Or her for that matter. It felt really good to catch up with everyone else…this non-blood related family of theirs. 

“Hey,” his voice calls from above, making her tilt her head up to meet his eyes, “You okay? You got a bit quiet.”

Beatrice smiles sweetly, nodding in response, “I’m fine, just enjoying hearing everyone talk.” she tells him, who in turn leans down to kiss her temple, hugging her even tighter to himself “It’s good to see everyone again, even if I’m not behind the bar.”

Rooster hums, his lips still pressed on her temple, then pulls back to look down at her, “I’m enjoying that I don’t have to hold back while you are in here. You know how often I considered kissing you while working? Penny would kick me out.” Beatrice’s soft laugh and red cheeks made his smile widen, glad that the other officers didn’t mind it at all. Speaking of the other officers, Bradley leaned closer to her ear to whisper something, “Someone else might be meeting your family soon.”

Beatrice blinks confusedly, “What do you mean?” 

His eyes slowly move over to Phoenix who’s busy talking to Halo to pay attention, “When your cousin was here, Nat was very interested in him. They exchanged phone numbers but I don’t know if your cousin noticed that she was flirting with him at first. Eventually, from what I heard through the grapevine, they went out and she showed him around.”

“Really?” she whispers with her eyes moving to Nat as well, “Well,Umberto is a bit oblivious to flirting. My uncle only found out my aunt was flirting with him after two years, so I’m not surprised…well, I don’t think they are together yet because my mother would definitely call and let me know.”

But she didn’t mind seeing Nat during family reunions, if she and Umberto did get together in some way. Was that even legal? Probably? She didn’t know much if aviators from different countries could have a relationship like that, she didn’t even know if anything would come out of it but it was still quite exciting! She looked back at Rooster who looked like a boy who just tattled his sister off, “You look very happy.”

“Of course, now I can pester her because of Umberto just like she did to me because of you.” 

Beatrice couldn’t help the soft laugh that goes past her lips, giggling quietly as she leans into his hold, now both of his arms were around her middle and his chin was pressed on top of her head. They stay like that for a few more minutes, until Beatrice’s eyes travel to the bar’s entrance and she sees a tall figure making their way inside, “...Ev?” she calls even though she was sure her friend wouldn’t be able to hear…but Hangman sure did. He immediately looked up from the pool table, still in strike position, as Evelyn casually strolled in with her hands in her pockets.

“Evelyn!” Shells’ shocked voice came from the bar, “You decided to join us too? What the fuck, why wasn’t I told about this meeting??”

“Well, knowing how you are, you wouldn’t be able to shut up.” the black haired woman said with a smile, making the blonde narrow her eyes in her direction, knowing she was right. Evelyn lifts a hand to the group of officers in a greeting, Beatrice noticed that almost invisible lift of her lips when she turned her gaze to Jake, who now stood straight with the pool cue held with both of his hands. He smiled charmingly, “Hey,beautiful.” He said, “I’m glad to see you here.” Evelyn only hummed in response as she turned her eyes to Beatrice

“I didn’t know you were coming either!” the brunette says, smiling brightly.

Evelyn chuckles, “Well, I wasn’t the only one.” she tilts her head back to the doors where three other women step in, Carmen’s hair was now a deep shade of purple instead of the pink she saw weeks before, Eliza and Jennifer looked around in wonder, with the younger of the trio talking something before she pointed to where Evelyn was. 

“You brought the others too?” Beatrice’s soft voice asks, almost as if she couldn’t believe all of her friends were there, celebrating her healing like everyone else. 

“Well, it wasn’t my idea.” Evelyn smirks, then nods towards the tall pilot still holding Beatrice in his arms.

Beatrice tilted her head towards Rooster, her lips parted in surprise as he just sent her a boyish grin, “Roos…you planned this?” she asks, “You asked my friends to come too?”

“I thought you’d like to see them as much as they’d like to see you.” he says sweetly, leaning his head down to peck her cheek while the other girls approach the group as well, “I know how much they mean to you.” Beatrice couldn’t help the soft gasp of amazement that left her lips, her green eyes shining with a mix of tears and happiness as she looked up at him. 

Beatrice’s breathing shook as she tried to come up with words, any words, to say how much that meant to her “...I…that’s…so sweet.” she finally said after a few minutes of opening and closing her mouth like a fish out of water, “That’s so sweet, Brad. Thank you so much.” her chest just warmed with so much love and care about this man she felt it’d burst out of her and fill the room.

Rooster tsked, shrugging as if it was no big deal but he knew it was. He remembers how she said she only had real friends when she got to college and how those were the best years of her life, he just wanted to give her a nice welcome back gift. And considering how bright she was smiling and how her eyes shone like precious gems, he did a great job.

The girls, while a bit uneasy at first upon meeting a group of aviators, seemed to ease up quite quickly. Soon enough they were all chatting without issues with everyone, Eliza and Evelyn were playing pool against Hangman and Fanboy, while Jennifer talked to Bob,Payback and Halo and Carmen pulled the sleeve of her shirt to show Coyote the scar she got when she was sixteen after a baby shark tried to bite her.

To Beatrice, it was what she always wanted. Having her friends, from both college and the Hard Deck, meet was like a dream come true. And to think Rooster was the one who suggested this, the one who wanted them to be here when she finally stepped back into the Hard Deck the second she healed, made her heart beat wildly inside her ribcage. She placed her hands on top of his crossed forearms wrapped around her middle, smiling when that prompted him to hug her just a bit tighter with his chin still propped on her shoulder, closing her eyes in pure bliss at what was happening.

Soon enough, Jimmy showed up and Penny let Shells join the others. Her niece looked confused from her to the group, almost in a ‘is this a prank’ situation, but her aunt just playfully shoved her out from behind the bar so she could stay with her friends. They weren’t the loudest group, but they were very talkative, it’s amazing what a bunch of Arts Students and Naval Aviators could have in common.

Bradley finally decided to sit down, bringing Beatrice with him so she’d sit on his lap and his arms were still around her waist. She blushed just a bit, seeing this was the most pda they’ve shown around the bar, especially since she works there and Rooster is a regular in the place. She’s sure some people had no idea they were together considering how they sent looks their way, some of surprise and some - like from Jeff and his wife - of fondness towards the couple.

Beatrice crossed her arms over her bust when a sudden gust of wind made it’s way inside, the brunette curling herself a bit into her boyfriend’s warm frame, making a noise of complaint that if she wasn’t literally on his lap, Rooster wouldn’t have heard it. He brought one of his huge hands to rub her denim clad thigh, “Cold?”

“A little.”

“I can get my jacket from the car,” he says, “Do you want me to?”

Beatrice thought about it, her gaze going from him to the door then back at him, “Not yet, you are pretty warm.” she says with a smile, feeling one of his arms wrap around her shoulders instead so she’d have more warmth traveling through her body. 

“You did call me hot.” he whispers against her ear, earning a red blush from the brunette who just smiled shyly “Maybe that’s why I’m so warm. Or maybe it’s because you are sitting right on my c–” he heard the sound of the back of her hand hitting the middle of his chest, then the subtle stinging of the quick skin to skin contact and he couldn’t help the chuckle that he had to hold back with his lips shut tightly, pressing his face to her neck to hide his complete amusement.

“You,” she whispers when no one else seems to be paying attention, “You are terrible.” but Beatrice’s tone is light, a soft giggle breaking her scolding tone as one of her hands travel up to his nape, caressing the shorter hairs there and smiling when he lets out a soft pleased moan on her skin.

He did try to behave, most of the time, but he loved when she blushed that shade of red and how she tried to fight back her smile. He’d never embarrass her, of course, he’s not stupid. It was just harmless fun that she didn’t seem to mind, if she did she would tell him. The conversation went on for a few more minutes until he noticed the subtle shudder of Beatrice’s arms, the temperature dropped just a bit more and her long sleeved shirt wasn’t helping her anymore.

“I’m going to go get the jacket.” he says, Bea looking up at him as he removes her from his lap, standing up.

“I’ll go with you.” she says, “You don’t have to go alone.” Beatrice smiles, already grabbing his hand and making him melt on the spot. Of course she wouldn’t want to stay behind. He tells the others he’d be right back, bringing Beatrice close to him as he makes his way through the crowd of people until he’s on the outside.

The wind had a back and forth between being stronger or weaker, while still very cold it wasn’t often that it’d be too wild for them to speed up their step. He opens the Bronco, leaning over to the back seat and grabbing the jacket, a dark brown aviator jacket with wool on the collar that Mav got for him a few months back. There were no patches on it yet, he still was considering whether he should put some or not since he liked the clean version a lot too.

He draped the jacket over her shoulders, helping her slide her hands into the sleeves and smiling when just the tips of her fingers were visible. The jacket itself was big on her since he was taller and broader, but she looked very comfortable, “You look so fucking cute.” he chuckles, “And hot too.”

Beatrice rolls her eyes playfully, bringing the jacket’s collar closer to her neck, smelling the scent of his cologne that was embedded on the wool then tilting her head up at him with a small smile, “Thank you.” she says, leaning up to kiss his lips, “Are you sure you won’t need it?”

“I’m sure,” he replies, leaning his back on the car’s door and sliding his hands to her lower back under the jacket until he cupped her ass cheeks “Plus seeing you wearing it is a lot better for me.” she laughs gently, shaking her head only to kiss him one more time. He doesn’t know how long they stay there, too busy to check the time really but he does open his eyes when he sees something in the distance.

His eyebrows furrow, still kissing her but tilting his head to the side in hopes he could see it better. Once he does his eyes widen and he stills completely.

The red truck, weakly hidden between two other cars just a few meters from them. Beatrice notices his sudden pause, pulling back to see his eyes staring at something in the distance, “What’s wrong?” she questions, looking over her shoulder to where he was almost glaring at, seeing the red truck pop out in the dark parking lot.

The inside of the car lit up as a person stepped out, yawning and rubbing their face before their head turned to where Rooster and Beatrice were. It took a couple minutes, but the person immediately cursed, fumbling with something in their hands until Rooster heard the sound of keys falling onto the ground. He didn’t wait long, honestly he didn’t wait at all, he stepped around Beatrice with fury in his eyes. 

His girlfriend called him confusedly, then tried to keep up with him as he neared the red truck with his jaw so tight it seemed the tendon would just snap. He stops right in front of it, dropping his gaze when he sees the glint of the keys illuminated by the barest ray of light coming from a lamp not too far, stepping on it and hiding from the driver’s view. The guy was still trying to find it, but he stops when he sees Rooster’s tall form staring him down, “Rooster!” he hears Beatrice calls, the brunette stopping by his side, “What’s wrong? What’s the matter- oh.”

The guy is now looking at the two with wide eyes, eyeballs moving back and forth between the two as he tries to say something, but Bradley’s eyes are burning through him and he doesn’t care to speak. Instead, Beatrice does.

“Damon?” she asks softly which makes Rooster blink in surprise and tilt his head in her direction.

“Damon? You know him?”

Beatrice nods, crossing her arms, “We were classmates in high school.” she frowns, however, “What are you doing here?”

Off brand Vanilla Ice, now Damon, just looked absolutely terrified by the sheer size of the pilot standing millimeters away from him, “I-I, I just—well, I…” Beatrice just watched him fumble, while Rooster clenched one of his hands into fists, the movement definitely catching the other man’s eyes, “I-I just–I-I haven’t been to this bar before.”

“It’s a Naval bar.” comes Rooster’s voice, which makes Damon gulp at how dangerous it sounded, “Full of other Naval officers.” 

“I-I yeah, um…I-I know.” Damon chuckles weakly, “I’ve a-always wanted to be Navy you know? S-So cool and…” 

“I thought you were in jail.” Beatrice says quietly and that makes Rooster even more alert. Jail? Jail?? Now he was already stepping closer to the guy, almost face to chest but his girlfriend held his wrist, “No, Roos, Damon isn’t that type of criminal.” Damon nods his head quickly when the pilot doesn’t seem convinced so the other man tries to explain.

“Got caught selling.” he gulps, “A-A few years back.”

“In school.” Beatrice adds.

“I-In school, yeah.” Damon gulps again, “I honestly didn’t notice where I was. I mean, I did, but then I fell asleep and,” he shivered under Rooster’s narrowed glare, trying to avoid the pilot’s eyes the best he could, looking down at the ground in hopes to find his keys but with no luck.

Beatrice frowns even more, ‘Are you okay?” she asks sweetly and Rooster almost tells her not to, tells her this guy showed up before and left before he could ask why “What’s happening Damon?”

They both see his conflicted expression, his hands coming up to his face to rub it twice before he opens his eyes back to the couple, “...damn, Bea, why do you have to be so nice?” he questions quietly, something that makes the two of them recoil in surprise, with Rooster’s alerts ringing loudly in his ears, “...you were always nice to me in school. Y’know? You never treated me like shit even when…” Damon met Rooster’s eyes briefly, “E-Even when I wasn’t nice to you… I came here to tell you something.”

“...tell me what?”

Damon looks back at her, then at Rooster, groaning inside his throat while rubbing his hands on his scalp over and over, “...When I saw you at the supermarket I…I didn’t know if it was you or not…then I saw you again when you were at that open gym, I-I wasn’t following you! I swear!” he lifted his hands up in defense when Rooster immediately tried to step forward, “I-I was waiting for my mom. There’s a flower shop on the other side, she likes buying tulips to put on my dad’s grave! I swear…but then…then Eric contacted me.”

The mention of her ex makes both of them look at one another, as Damon continued speaking, “He wanted to know if I knew something about you or, if you were dating or whatever. Listen,I don’t know how he got my number, we were never friends. I-I just told him I didn’t want to help him out.”

“What did he want?” Rooster asks before Beatrice could, “What did he tell you?”

“Just that! Just asked me to see if she had someone or moved on, I-I told him about um,” he gestures to the pilot, “Uh, you and he didn’t believe me.”

“Of course not.” Bea’s soft voice says, her eyes weren’t sad when Rooster looks at her, no, they were just angry and tired “He’d never think I’d find someone better than he was, ugh, what a fucking prick.”

Damon agrees, scratching the back of his head, “I-I just wanted to tell you that, you know? I-I didn’t want you to think I was working for him or something, i-if he ever said that to you. He’s not in California right now, he’s…like in the Bahamas or something…” The way he nervously wrung his hands and looked up at Bradley with fear in his eyes said it all, “I’m not following Beatrice, or you, or anyone, I swear.”

So...Bradley was partially right with his gut feeling. He knew the truck had something to do with Eric, but not how he thought it’d be. He clenched and relaxed his jaw, placing his hands on his hips as he took everything in, then looked down at Beatrice who just had her eyebrows furrowed, “You okay,baby?”

“...yeah,I’m fine.” She says after a few seconds, rubbing her forehead with the palm of her hand, clenching her eyes, “It’s just…a lot to take in…but,” she lifts her eyes to Damon, who still looked very nervous, “Thank you,Damon. For letting us know.”

“...d-don’t mention it.” he sends a fearful look towards Bradley, “A-Are we cool?”

Rooster kept his eyes narrowed, but kicked the keys from under his foot towards him, the cloud of dust that followed making Damon cough quietly when he crouched to pick it up. The pilot and Beatrice’s former high school classmate met eyes one more time, with Damon quickly moving his gaze away “I-I should go, I’m sorry for all of this…misunderstanding.”

Neither Beatrice or Bradley said anything, the latter still looked like he wanted to murder the other guy with his eyes alone. When Bea finally opened her mouth, all she told Damon was to go home and thanked him one more time. 

They watched the truck reverse out of the parking lot and leave the area in a matter of minutes, leaving the two alone to watch his tail lights disappearing in the distance. Beatrice sighs, rubbing her temples with the tips of her fingers, a dry chuckle escaping her mouth, “God, he’s so pathetic.” she whispers, which makes Rooster look at her for an answer, “Do you know how he got with me? He did the same exact thing, to another classmate of mine…asked him to ‘keep an eye on me and check if I was single’. I was ecstatic, it was the first time a boy paid attention to me in a romantic sense.”

Rooster’s eyes follow when she starts to pace, crossing her arms over her bust, “God I was so–so excited, I thought it was romantic, you know? I even told him that! I was a dumb kid, I barely turned eighteen. And now he thinks that doing it again will work? Oh, ha, ha ha ha! Hilarious!”

“Bea.”

“And you know what else? I’m not even sad or worried, I’m fucking pissed Brad! I’m pissed he thinks,” she points her finger to the distance, “He thinks he can use Damon, who’s already had a lot of issues in his life to get something out of me? Because I was the only one who tried to defend him?? He’s pathetic! He is the most pathetic man that ever existed and I cannot believe I lost my virginity to him!” she tosses her arms in the air and lets them drop to her sides, hitting her thighs with a dull slap.

Thankfully the music was loud enough for anyone to hear what she just said, and the parking lot was empty, or else there’d be a lot of stares thrown their way. With her back to him, all Rooster could see was how her shoulders lowered in a heavy sigh, the wind making her hair move and bring the lavender scent to his nose, “Baby.” he tries, but Beatrice just crosses her arms again, “Baby, it’s okay.” he comes up from behind, wrapping his arms around her to kiss her cheek.

Beatrice relaxes in his hold, leaning back against his chest so she could tilt her head back and look up to the sky, “...it is okay. Everything is okay.” she says softly, “...he’s not going to ruin my days anymore, Roos. I don’t care. I don’t care. I am having a wonderful night and Eric isn’t going to take that from me…not anymore.” she inhales one more time, the anger and tiredness in her gaze disappear when she turns to him, being replaced by adoration and love instead, “He’s not worth it.”

He couldn’t help the swell of pride inside his chest, “He really isn’t.” he smiles, cupping her cheek, “See this? What you just did?” he leans his head closer so their foreheads touch, “That’s bravery.”

Beatrice smiles back at him, closing her eyes with their foreheads pressed together, opening them so she could hold his hand and give it a firm squeeze, “Thank you.”

[flurrys-creativity]

Wabi-Sabi 21

(n.) [a concept] the japanese art of finding beauty within imperfection

Pairing: Kim Taehyung (BTS) x Fem!Hybrid!Reader; Genre: Hybrid AU, Angst, Romance; Wordcount: 3.278; Rating: sfw, NC-17; Warnings: Blind!Reader, crying Jungkook, angry Taehyung, clingy reader, implied nudeness, taking a bath together, mentions of what happened in the previous chapter, hints of hybrid cruelty, hints of Taehyung having quite a hard time (if you read between the lines); Based on the blind hybrid prompt of @hybridfanfiction

Summary: Being a failure in the eyes of science you hadn’t much hope for being permanently adopted as a blind hybrid. Instead you focused on music, the only thing that brought you joy. Until a stranger with the deepest and most beautiful voice you ever had heard wanted to adopt you. Would he really keep you for more than three days?

Chapter:  [1]   [2]   [3]   [4]   [5]   [6]   [7]   [8]   [9]  [10]  [11]  [12]  [13]  [14]  [15]  [16]  [17]  [18]  [19]  [20]  [21]  [Epilogue]

Jungkook stammered some broken apologies, too shaken to do anything else. He glanced towards the others, silently begging for forgiveness but his heart broke even more when Hoseok looked away, Jimin shook his head and Yoongi just sighed. 

This wasn’t what he had in mind when he asked you to this concert. “I didn’t mean to, I’m sorry, this was..”

“A mistake.” Taehyung cut in. He looked one more time at Jungkook before he turned around with you, guiding you towards his car.

Hoseok followed them immediately with a soft apology towards Jungkook, who watched them leave with tears running down his face.

“And that’s why I’m here”, Yoongi muttered towards Jimin. “Take them home safely, I’ll take it from here.” Yoongi waited for Jimin to leave before he walked over to Jungkook and patted his back.

“I’m sorry.”

“I know. All of us know you didn’t mean for this to happen. But I agree with Taehyung that taking Y/N to a concert like this was a mistake. You had good intentions, yes, but you didn’t think this through.” Yoongi placed his hand on the younger man’s shoulder and guided him to the parking lot.

From afar both of them looked over to Taehyung’s car, seeing how he sat you down and pulled his hoodie carefully over your head and ears.

“What happened?” Jungkook asked again, his voice cracking from the pain he felt in his heart. 

“Beats me. Taehyung was too angry to explain anything, really. And Y/N didn’t say anything at all when we arrived. Unless she talks about it we can only guess what happened.” Yoongi stopped in front of Jungkook’s car and held his hand out, waiting for the younger man to hand over the car keys.

Once Yoongi had the keys and ordered Jungkook to sit in the passenger seat, he rounded the car and got behind the wheel. At first only the low rumbling of the engine filled the inside of the car, occasionally interrupted by a sniffle from Jungkook.

“It was only a second”, the young man sighed and leaned against the seat, his whole body suddenly feeling way too heavy, “only a second where I didn’t hold her hand. We got pushed and, and..” Another sigh left his lips and he rubbed with the back of his hand over his teary eyes. “I searched for her. I panicked when she wasn’t next to me anymore.”

Yoongi hummed, understanding what Jungkook tried to tell him.

“What if she hates me now?” Jungkook turned to look at Yoongi, his eyes red rimmed and glossy. “What if Taehyung hates me now? What if he doesn’t allow me to spend time with her anymore?”

“Those are a lot of what ifs.” Yoongi said and glanced at the broken mess beside him. “Give them time. Y/N was visibly shaken by whatever happened and she’ll definitely need time to deal with that. Though I don’t think she’ll say you were at fault.”

“What about Taehyung?”

Yoongi inhaled sharply. “That’s a different story. Taehyung entrusted Y/N’s safety to you. He has a valid reason to be angry at you but I’m sure he won’t hate you because of that. And even if Taehyung did, he can’t force Y/N to not see you anymore if she wants to see you.”

“I don’t think she wants to see me anymore.”

“Don’t say that. Both of you are very good friends and she clearly likes to be around you. She might be hesitant to go out with you again but at home - she’s familiar with the environment.” Yoongi patted Jungkook’s shoulder again. “Give them some time for now and then try to apologise again.”

Jungkook nodded silently, feeling the tears threatening to spill once again. “I will.”

Taehyung followed Jungkook’s car with his eyes narrowed to a glare until it left the parking lot. Only then did he scoot over your form and sat beside you, pulling you back into his arms.

Jimin sat behind the steering wheel and Hoseok took the passenger seat, turning around on it to look over you. He couldn’t see any visible wounds, taking a deep breath in relief.

“Are you hurt somewhere, little one?” Taehyung asked in a low tone, feeling just as relieved as Hoseok when you shook your head.

You had stopped crying, only sniffling every now and then into Taehyung’s chest. But you refused to let go of him and immediately hid your face in his chest as soon as Taehyung stood or sat close to you again. Even when one of them tried talking with you, they only got silence in return.

Once Taehyung got you back to the apartment, his initial drive vaporised. Now that he got you in his arms and knew you were back safe at the apartment, he faltered - unsure what to do next.

Hoseok and Jimin had both bid their goodbyes in the hallway, giving you and Taehyung a little privacy. He now wished they hadn’t left just yet. At least Hoseok. Taehyung was sure the doctor would know better what to do now. Maybe even Jimin, who somehow always read the room perfectly and just knew what he had to do out of instinct.

Taehyung looked down on your form when you suddenly shivered in his arms. Despite wearing his large hoodie you still had wet clothes underneath. “You should take a shower”, Taehyung mumbled and guided you towards your bathroom. “You must let go of me to do so.”

You simply shook your head again. There was absolutely no way you would let go of him now. Taehyung felt like the one safe thing in your life and you just couldn’t let go of that pillar.

“Little one, I’m right outside the bathroom door. I promise.”

You still shook your head, ignoring the increasing smell of desperation from Taehyung. “Don’t let go of me, please,” you whispered so lowly, Taehyung probably didn’t even catch your words.

“Alright.” Taehyung walked with you to his room, grabbing some of his clothes and leading you then towards his attached bathroom. He kept one arm always around your form to guide you around, while he prepared the bathtub and started the water, checking the temperature. 

Soon enough you heard him hitting the lightswitch, his movements now slower and more carefully. You heard how he patted around the bathtub until he found the water level.

“I turned off the lights”, Taehyung informed you as you two waited for the bathtub to fill up. “You can take off the clothes and get into the water while I sit next to the bathtub.”

“Can you come inside it?” You asked, hesitating shortly before you continued: “With me?” All your instincts wanted to stay close to him - as close as possible and you definitely hoped he wouldn’t mind sharing a bath with you.

“If that’s what you want, of course.” Taehyung kissed the crown of your head and gently squeezed you against his body. He’d do anything for you as long as he knew it would make you happy.

After Taehyung stopped the water, you reluctantly let go of him to take your clothes off, letting them drop right where you stood. He then helped you into the bathtub, only letting go of your hand to get inside himself. He had taken off most of his clothes as well, leaving him in boxer shorts.

Once Taehyung sat inside the water, you quickly scooted over and leaned into his chest, nuzzling into him while he wrapped his arms around you.

“I’m very proud of you”, Taehyung whispered into the dark, holding you tightly and rubbing over your bare skin. 

“Why?”

“You remembered how to use the phone I gave you perfectly. It was probably too loud for you to hear my voice when you called and too loud to hear the ringing when I tried calling you back. You did good in getting away from the stage.”

Small tears escaped your eyes as you listened to Taehyung’s deep voice. “There were people not happy with me being there”, you sniffled and rubbed over your face.

Taehyung sighed deeply, knowing something like that would have happened sooner or later. “Sadly not everyone is so open minded about the existence of hybrids. And even if they are, there are still people that think hybrids shouldn’t be left unattended. They probably thought you were on your own because you and Jungkook got separated.”

“It’s scary to be alone out there.”

“The world is a scary place”, Taehyung agreed and patted your head softly, “but it shouldn’t be a reason for us to stay cooped up inside the apartment.”

“Why not?” You whined and hid your face in his chest, wrapping your arms around his waist and pressing yourself against his body.

Taehyung chuckled softly, ignoring how he felt your form so clearly against his skin. “We would miss so many opportunities to be amazed by the world. Remember when we drove to the forest and spent a day outside surrounded by nature? Or the street musician at the plaza we visited? Remember the smell of the river near the park you had visited with Namjoon.” He took a deep breath, contemplating his next words. “There will be more instances with people that aren’t kind. There will be more moments that might be quite scary, but you’ll never have to endure them alone. Like today there are at least seven men, rushing to your aid the second you ask for help.”

“Seven?” You piped up, surprised to hear that number. “So you’re not mad at Jungkook anymore?” Even though you had been crying the whole time,  you had still picked up the anger from Taehyung towards the younger man as well as the cold tone in his voice back then.

Taehyung scoffed but stayed otherwise silent.

“He smelled devastated before we left.”

“Good”, Taehyung grumbled and tightened his hold around you. “I should have punched him or something for leaving you alone.”

“It wasn’t his fault though.” You pressed your hand against his bare chest and pushed yourself slightly away, trying to get a better read of Taehyung’s emotions and reactions. 

“I know”, Taehyung murmured, more to himself but your sensitive ears picked up the confession. “It’s just”, he sighed and ran a hand through his hair before he let it drop into the water again, “I was angry with myself as well.”

“Why?” You tilted your head in curiosity, not understanding why Taehyung would have been angry at himself for something out of his control.

“I didn’t want you to go”, Taehyung admitted in a low tone, feeling a burst of embarrassment shooting through his body, “I got angry because I did let you go and then something bad happened.”

“Why haven’t you told me? I asked you if something was wrong!” You shook your head, frowning upon the revelation.

Taehyung sighed again, leaning back against the slightly cold edge of the bathtub. “I didn’t want to let my jealousy get in the way.”

“Jealousy? If you wanted to go to the concert with Jungkook, you should have said so!” You frowned even more upon hearing Taehyung burst into laughter, the water splashing violently from the force behind it.

“That wasn’t the reason for my jealousy.”

You pouted slightly and sat up straight, facing towards Taehyung and somewhat straddling him. “It was not?”

Taehyung gulped audibly, his breath even hitched when both your hands met his bare chest - probably feeling his rapid heartbeat. He threw his head back, hitting it against the edge of the bathtub but the dull throb was nothing against the nervousness running through his system. It got even worse when you leaned forward and questioned whether he got hurt or not.

“Please”, he whispered and grabbed your wrists, pulling you down into a straight position again. 

You listened to him intently, feeling confused by his nervousness. Though a part of your mind wriggled around in excitement, sending butterflies to your stomach, sparks to your skin where he touched you and a lump to your throat. Part of you expected something major but you didn’t dare to hope. 

“I never intended for this to happen”, Taehyung whispered, “and I’m truly sorry if this - if I - make you uncomfortable.”

You shook your head and leaned forward again. The water splashed violently around you as Taehyung quickly placed his hands on your hips and pressed you back down again, begging you to stay still until he finished talking.

He sighed deeply and closed his eyes, taking everything he felt in for just a moment. Taehyung rubbed small circles into your skin, trying to calm himself down with the motion but knowing in what situation he was just amplified his nervousness.

“It’s okay”, you told him quietly, “you will never make me uncomfortable.”

A small and somewhat relieved smile spread over his lips. He chuckled softly and thanked you for the encouragement. “It’s hard for me to watch you go with the hyungs but I can endure it because all I sense is friendship between you. With Jungkook it’s different.”

You tilted your head to the side, wondering how it was different with Jungkook when he was just as nice to you as the others.

“It’s not my place to tell you how he feels, but when you two went to that concert I got jealous because I wanted to be the one taking you out to a concert. I still like to do that, if you allow me.” Taehyung raised one of his hands, letting it glide over your arm until he reached your face to cup your cheek.

You nuzzled into his touch. Droplets ran down your cheek and fell into the water below. It tickled, feeling the wetness on your otherwise dry skin. You thought about his words, before you agreed. “I trust you.” 

“That means a lot to me. And I feel incredibly relieved you’re willing to go on another date with me.” Taehyung laughed softly only to exhale deeply right afterwards. “I like you, Y/N.”

“I like you too!”

Taehyung chuckled again, shaking his head. “I meant I like you as in I fell in love with you over the months we spent together.”

You stilled, ears in full attention and heart racing like a wild animal within your chest. You wanted to scream in joy, wanted to squeal and roll all over your bed while the butterflies in your stomach increased and made everything tingly.

“I’m sorry I dropped such a bomb on you”, Taehyung apologized, dropping his hand back down to your hip. “You had such a stressful event and I’m here loading even more on top of it.” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair before he rubbed over the bridge of his nose. “I don’t expect an answer from you, so please don’t feel pressured in any way. If it does in fact make you feel uncomfortable just say so and I’ll leave immediately.”

“No!” You leaped forward and wrapped your arms around his neck, pressing yourself as closely against his body as possible. “Never leave.”

“I didn’t mean like leave at all. Just to give you more space or something like that.” Taehyung hugged you and softly ran his large hand over your bare back.

“Never leave”, you repeated and nuzzled your face into the crook of his neck. You ignored your uncomfortable position, wanting to make sure your point came across even though you didn’t say much.

“I won’t”, Taehyung promised and pressed a kiss to the crown of your head, scrunching his nose right afterwards. “How about we cuddle some more later and focus on cleaning you up now? Your hair and ears reek of beer.”

A prominent pout formed on your lips but you agreed nonetheless, sitting back up and following Taehyung’s instructions to turn around.

Taehyung grabbed a bowl from the edge of the tub and filled it with water, carefully navigating it over your head and letting the liquid spill over your hair. He repeated the motion several times until he was sure your hair was completely wet. Taehyung then grabbed a bottle of shampoo, his motion memory helping him to find it easily, and started massaging the shampoo into your scalp.

A low moan escaped your lips from Taehyung’s soft touches and you basically melted into his hands. 

Only after the water got cold the both of you stepped out of the bathtub and wrapped yourself in towels. As soon as you were dry and wearing Taehyung’s clothes, he guided you out of the bathroom and into his room, mumbling something about needing a second pair of boxers as he didn’t plan to bathe as well.

Soon enough both of you snuggled close to each other on his bed, limbs in a tangled mess and heads close together.

“When we visit a concert”, you mumbled, picking up the conversation from before, “will it be like this one?”

Taehyung hummed lowly. “Depends.” He moved his fingers through your hair, gently combing them. “There are a lot of different types. We could go to a concert like this one but with much better precautions or we visit a seated concert. You’ll definitely not get pushed around there.” 

You frowned in thought. The incidents at the concert still haunted you and you weren’t sure if you ever wanted to visit one again, despite your love for music. You gnawed at your lower lip as another thought made itself present. What if you had to attend a concert with Yoongi one day because you produced music after all?

“We don’t have to go immediately. Or even this year. We can go when you feel ready for it. I just want to make sure you won’t be afraid of something that is not as bad as the experience you had to live through today.” Taehyung told you calmly. “You know, a friend of mine once had a car accident when he was still living with his parents. Nothing happened to him but the car was a wreck. He was so scared after the accident and refused to drive ever again. Though his father told him to drive again, even asked him to drive him around. Just so he wouldn’t develop a fear so prominent he wouldn’t be able to drive ever again.”

You listened carefully, letting the words sink into you. “Did it work? Is your friend driving again?”

Taehyung chuckled softly. “It worked quite well. He’s like the most reckless driver I know. Okay, maybe not reckless, but Jungkook definitely got more speeding tickets than any of us.”

You gasped audibly and sat up. You opened your mouth but closed it again quickly, not knowing what you even wanted to say. 

“Don’t worry”, Taehyung whispered and gently pulled you back into his embrace. “Even after something bad happened, he always bounces back. So we can let him suffer for a little longer before we accept his apology.”

“Tomorrow morning”, you insisted, still feeling bad at how devastated Jungkook felt. “I don’t want him to be scared of being my friend.”

Taehyung whined, begging you to ignore Jungkook for at least three days but he quickly gave up once he noticed how determined you were. “Fine, okay, fine. Tomorrow morning, we’ll put him out of his misery. You’re too kind, you know that?”

You simply shrugged with your shoulders, smiling to yourself as you slowly dozed off with Taehyung’s soft ministrations.

“I love you, little one”, he whispered and kissed the top of your head, getting comfortable and ready to sleep himself.

“I love you too.”

Chapter 20  |  Epilogue

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Taglist: @xavi-in-kpopland​

[streamafterlaughter]

New Kid

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Chapter IX: Night Out

MASTERLIST | chapter VIII | playlist

tags: smut (minors DNI) (i have indicated where smut begins and ends if you’d like to skip it), fluff, angst, eddie munson x reader, gnc!afab!reader, two idiots in love!, mutual pining, slight jealousy

a/n: hit a wall writing this one but we are chugging along! i’m seeing this be maybe 20 chapters so we are, in fact, almost halfway there folks! i’m becoming severely attached to the versions of these characters i made, im really hoping you guys are too<3 Disclaimer: I do not give permission to have my work reposted on other sites. Reblogs are more than welcome, but please inform me if you find my work elsewhere unless otherwise stated

Your POV

You can hear Eddie’s singing over the running shower, he’s chosen Die with Your Boots On. Eddie’s voice has you in a trance, first when he sang you to sleep, a ridiculous request on your part, but before that, when you watched him perform, and even again within your own dream sequence. Each time, you have restrained yourself from following it, letting his voice be all consuming. This time, though, you let it pull you towards the bathroom, where it bounces off the tile over the white noise of the faucet.

You knock on the bathroom door, speaking before Eddie has the chance to answer, “Can I come in?”

The singing stops, much to your dismay. But he answers you, flustered, “Uh, yeah I mean I’ll be out in a min-“

“No, stay in there.” It comes out like a command, but it seems to hush Eddie of any further argument.You turn the knob, entering the tiny bathroom you’ve grown used to maneuvering in. You shed the t-shirt and underwear you’d worn to bed, breathing in the steam as you try to calm your nerves. You tap on the shower curtain. “Room for one more?”

“Of course, beautiful.” Eddie’s hand, looking strangely naked without his rings, peeks from behind the plastic shower curtain, and you take it with your own, carefully stepping into the steady stream of almost scalding water. You take no shame in looking at Eddie, on full display in front of you. His hair is piled on top of his head, held with foamy shampoo, and his skin is glistening with water rolling down his body. “Are you expecting a show?” Eddie grabs your attention away from his torso, that you had been unabashedly admiring for far too long.

“Kind of, after the performance I interrupted you from.” You snicker, stepping closer to him in the already cramped space.

“Guess you’ll have to wait.” Eddie teases, flicking droplets of water at you. You gasp dramatically, pretending to be offended, but really you’re excited for whatever tonight holds. “So I made the calls while you were sleeping, they’ll be here in a few hours to pick us up. You’ll get to meet Nancy’s boyfriend, Jonathan Byers. He’s an okay dude, I’ve heard. Little weird, but who am I to judge?” Eddie leans his head back into the shower stream to rinse his hair, and your mind wanders. Byers… Will’s older brother, the kid you’ve heard so much about from Eddie’s freshman friends.

Zombie Boy to the locals, you’d only found out about Will from doing your own digging after hearing about his move to California. His friends weren’t very detailed, besides exclaiming how sick of aDungeon Master he is, so you’d taken it upon yourself to scour old newspapers from the years prior to you moving to Hawkins. You couldn’t find much, just that Will had supposedly been found dead, only to return weeks later, seemingly the picture of health. It left you with a lot of questions, how he came back, why they moved away, where he went those weeks he was missing. Maybe after a few drinks, you think, I’ll be able to ask some of these questions.

You shake the thought from your mind. You don’t know Jonathan, he doesn’t know you. Why would he give you anything to work with? Really, you just wanna know if Will saw anything like you did. And if he remembers what it was, because every time you try to, you can’t seem to pull the memory from your subconscious, like it’s stuck under layers of repression tactics, your brain locking it away to protect you.

(smut starts here)

Instead of spiraling, you look back up into Eddie’s eyes, that are once again on you. It’s his turn to look for too long, staring absentmindedly first at your breasts, because of course, then moving slowly, almost ravenously down your body. The worry you had possessed vanishes under Eddie’s gaze.

You decide to give him something to stare at, sinking to your knees slowly in front of him, not breaking eye contact until you’ve knelt completely, the water hitting you in the face. You can still feel Eddie’s eyes burning into the top of your head as you take him in your mouth, already rock hard from seeing you completely naked and soaking wet. When your lips wrap the tip of his cock, Eddie lets out a long, low groan, his head craning back to rest on the tile. You take him deeper into your mouth, hollowing your cheeks to suck harder, and he grabs hold of your hair, his fingers tangling at the crown of your head.You love him, and even though you haven’t told him, you can tell he knows. You bob your head faster, taking more at a time while your tongue circles his tip, careful not to let your teeth touch him, then almost completely taking him out of your mouth just to take him all the way, his cock sliding almost completely down your throat. You pull out again, licking a wet stripe from the hilt to his tip while he moans above you.

“Shit, Y/N, god, you’re so fucking pretty.” The words come out of his mouth slurred, and you smile around him as you continue to blow. Looking up at him through your lashes, you find his eyes, and he looks into yours, his cock twitching in your mouth. You pull from him one final time to spit on the tip, then take him completely down your throat once again. It earns you a low growl from Eddie, who’s slipping further down the wall. “I’m gonna come, where do you want me?” He pants, trying to collect himself and failing.

You pull him from your mouth to answer, “Wherever you want.”. Instead of responding, he bucks his hips toward you, and you take him back in your mouth, where he finishes, coating your throat with his salty come. You swirl your tongue around the tip, one final taunt before pulling off of him, a string of saliva still connected from your lips to his dick. A groan leaves Eddie’s throat as you swallow all of it, wiping your mouth with the back of your hand. You give him a gleaming smile, baring your teeth at him like a kid just offered unlimited sweets for life. He steps closer to you, gripping your waist to pull you into him, connecting your lips in a hungry kiss. The water washes over you both, similarly to your first kiss with Eddie, only this time with less layers— and less anger— between the two of you.

When you’re about to pull away, he yanks you back into him, one hand sliding down your body, caressing your ass, then your thigh, before slipping his hand between your legs. Despite the steaming water, you shiver at Eddie’s touch. His hand continues to work, first kneading the flesh of your thigh, his other still gripping your waist tightly. You let yourself fall back against the tile as your knees weaken, while Eddie works between your legs. He moves his hands further up your leg, keeping his eyes on your face as his thumb grazes your now throbbing clit. You let out a soft moan, earning a smile from Eddie as he moves his finger faster, circling on your bud as you unconsciously thrust toward him. Your hips continue rocking into his hand, and he slips a digit inside you, and your head lolls to the side as you try to keep your eyes open.

“You’re so beautiful, sweetheart. I love watching you like this. How are you feeling?” Eddie leans into your neck, leaving soft bites along your throat while you ride his finger. He moves down your body lazily, from your neck to your collarbone, leaving marks with his teeth you know will bruise soon after.

“So good, baby, feels incredible.” You barely know what you’re saying, only focusing on the stimulation between your legs. Eddie’s kissing the top of your tits now, continuing further down to take a nipple in his mouth. He makes a “mmm” sound in response, swirling his tongue over the bud, pulling a gasp from your lips. He gives your other tit the same treatment: nipping and sucking at it on his way down, sinking to his knees in front of you, mouthing your stomach, trailing kisses down the center of your torso. He pauses above your pussy to look up, watching your face contort with pleasure as he slides a second finger into your aching hole, his thumb swirling faster on your sensitive bud. The voice that next leaves your throat is barely your own as Eddie places a chaste kiss on your clit, then swipes his tongue between your folds, leaving a wet stripe from your hole back to your now throbbing bundle of nerves.

His fingers remain, pushing deeper inside of you, coaxing your hips forward to ride his face. You clench around him, another moan escaping your lips as he adds a third finger and smiles against your soaking skin. He disconnects from you briefly, only to spit between your lips, and the sounds that leave you erupt from your soul like it’s being exercised, Eddie’s mouth on you a holy prayer. Eddie chuckles under his breath, completely entranced by you writhing above him.

The knots in your stomach tighten, and you let the words fly without thinking, “Fuck, Eddie, yes. Please don’t stop. You’re so fucking hot. I’m gonna come, stay right there, shit.” As soon as the last word leaves your mouth, your knees give out, the knots in your gut unfurling as Eddie grips your hip again, holding your weight up as you ride his face and fingers through your orgasm. If not for Eddie’s grasp, you would’ve gone sliding down the wall, your legs incapable of holding you up. You let go, moaning Eddie’s name as he devours you, your slick covering his mouth and chin as he buries his nose against your clit.

When he finally lets you go, your body is still twitching relentlessly, both of your hands gripping onto his hair for dear life. He pulls his fingers from your dripping cunt, sticking each one in his mouth to suck it clean as he stands up. “Best meal I’ve ever had.” He grins wickedly, leaning down to connect his lips to yours. The kiss is no longer desperate, rather the opposite. He cradles your face in his hands, peppering kisses on your cheeks, your forehead, and your nose before finally grazing your lips with his own, barely letting them touch at first, until you’re fighting his grip on your face to lock your lips into place on his.

—

Eddie’s POV (smut ends here)

“We should probably get dressed, huh?” He says the words against your mouth, not wanting to pull away from you, even to breathe.

You whine an incoherent objection, and Eddie bites your bottom lip, conveying his understanding. He doesn’t want to untangle himself from you, addicted to the way your body feels against his, the taste of himself on your tongue, the noises he causes to escape from your throat. He feels himself falling further into love with you every time you look at him, and it terrifies him to his core.

Eddie watches as you step out of the shower, grabbing an extra towel off the rack to wrap yourself up. Eddie grabs his own, noticing as he glances down a pair of your panties that you’d worn to bed the night before. He glances back at you, your back turned as your feet pad against the floor on your way back to his room, before leaning down to snatch the red lace off the floor, balling them in his fist to sneak them past you. When he catches up to you, you’re digging through his closet, your towel abandoned at your feet as you fight the layers of denim and leather.

“What are you doing?” Eddie leans on his door frame, crossing his bare arms over his chest to once again take you in.

You turn to him, blushing more about being caught snooping than being caught naked. “What am I supposed to wear? Where are we going?”

“Here.” Eddie throws your shirt from the night before at you, a tight white baby tee, then digs through his closet. He pulls out a pair of black jeans with rips in the knees. “These barely fit me, they should fit you perfectly.” He dives into the closet again, coming back out with an oversized black and gray flannel.

You go to put them on, but realize you have nothing protecting yourself from the feeling of denim on your crotch. Eddie watches as you speed walk back to the bathroom, your butt jiggling as you do, and Eddie has to cross his legs to stifle the pressure he feels under his towel.

You return empty handed, your brows furrowed in confusion. “I swear I took them off right there, before I got in.”

Eddie clenches the fabric in his hand, and your eyes dart to his closed fist. “Did you steal my underwear?!” You accuse, eyes widening with a playful embarrassment.

Eddie doesn’t argue, but loosens his grasp to dangle the garment in front of your nose. “What, these? Thought they were mine. In fact, I’m almost positive they’re mine.”

You bite your lip, your cheeks growing pink as you look from Eddie to your discarded underwear he’s hooked around his finger. You go to snatch it, but Eddie’s too quick, yanking them out of your reach. “I’ll give them back on one condition.”

You roll your eyes, but don’t object. “What would that be?”

“You let me have them when we get back home.”

“Deal.” Home. Not his place, not yours. Just home. He’s home wherever he’s with you.

You beam, grabbing at them again, and this time Eddie lets go, watching you shimmy back into your underwear. “I should probably start bringing an overnight bag.” You say it so casually, but the thought of you making his place more your own sends an entire swarm of butterflies into his gut. Eddie busies himself picking out an outfit. The Hideout isn’t a fancy place. In fact, it’s probably the lowest of the low in terms of aesthetic appeal. It’s a dive bar on Main Street, occupied mostly by plant workers on weeknights, and underage kids on holidays and vacations. His band plays on Tuesday nights, to a crowd of bored adults that can barely keep their eyes open they’re so drunk, but it’s better than nothing.

Eddie chooses a tight Iron Maiden t-shirt, layering it under a flannel, his leather jacket, and his denim battle vest with Eat The Rich painted on the back in angry red letters. He clasps a pair of handcuffs around the waist of his own jeans, and slides his many shiny rings back onto his fingers. He takes a look at the four of them, and decides against wearing his favorite, the silver band with a small, blue orb in the center. He thought it looked cool, finding it at a thrift store in middle school. It reminded him of an eye, something to absorb evil energy, to protect him. He fidgets with the metal, wiggling it from his finger while slowly crossing his bedroom over to you. You’re putting the final touches on your hair, spraying spray pieces into place strategically. Eddie watches you, hypnotized by your concentration. Your tongue sticks slightly out the corner of your mouth, and your brows furrow with focus. Your eyes catch him in the mirror, and you whip around to face him.

“What’s up, pretty boy?” You cock an eyebrow at your boyfriend, who’s gnawing on the inside of his cheek, suddenly flustered by your closeness.

“I have something for you.”

“Oh, yeah? What’s that?” You take a step closer, pressing your chest against his pounding heart. Eddie holds up the ring, pinching it between his thumb and pointer finger. He’s threaded a chain through it, knowing it would be too big to fit on your finger. “If you wanna wear it, I mean.” Eddie can't bring himself to look at you, but you reach your hand out, cupping your hand over the ring between Eddie’s fingers.

“Put it on for me?” You bat your eyelashes at him, and he feels his chest loosen, releasing a breath he wasn't aware he’d been holding. You turn back to face the mirror, bringing your hair to rest over your shoulder, exposing your neck to Eddie. He pauses, relishing the bite marks and bruises he’d left there days ago, fading nicely into your soft skin. He carefully reaches over your head, the chain in each hand. He closes the metal clasp behind your neck, letting go to watch the chain dangle around your throat. “Not the first way I picture your rings on my throat, but it’ll do for now.” You giggle at your own comment, sending Eddie into the depths of his imagination. He pictures it often, taking you by the throat as he fucks you, leaving a red handprint wrapped around your neck, his rings digging into your soft flesh. He didn’t think you’d be down for that, but your comment teases that deviant part of his brain, coaxing it further to the front of his thoughts.

—

Your POV

There’s a knock at the door, snapping you and Eddie out of your lovers’ staring contest. Eddie rushes to pull his shirt over his head, and you notice it barely covers the skin of his midriff. You bite back your less than appropriate thoughts, reminding yourself this is a group outing.

Eddie’s gone to get the door, so you follow him, fiddling with the chain around your neck. You’d admired the ring from afar, a gleaming blue stone in the center, resembling an alert eyeball, promising to protect its owner. It makes you feel safe, but more than that, it makes you feel wanted.

“Hey!” You greet your friends, who’ve stepped over the threshold into Eddie’s living room. Robin’s sporting an oversized corduroy jacket thrown over a collared plaid shirt and tie, tucked into black high waisted cuffed jeans, exposing a pair of white chuck taylors. Next to her, Steve wears a white collared shirt with blue and yellow stripes, a red and blue denim vest, dark blue jeans, and black boots. Nancy has her hair in a tight ponytail, and she’s dressed in a red turtleneck sweater, black slacks belted at the waist, and black kitten heels. The boy next to her, with dirty blonde hair falling neatly from his head to just below his chin, dressed in a beat up blue and gray flannel, navy t shirt, and brown work jacket, paired with a pair of baggy blue jeans, and old, dirty reeboks. “Hi, I’m Jonathan, Nancy’s uh, boyfriend.” The boy reaches his hand out, and you take it in your own, shaking it firmly.

“I’m Y/N, Eddie’s partner. I’ve heard a lot about you!” You exclaim, then cringe at your own enthusiasm.

Steve claps his hands together, breaking the beginning of an awkward silence. “We ready to hit the road?”

“Shotgun! Lonely hearts in the front, love birds in the back.” Robin snickers, elbowing Steve in his side.

“Yeah, whatever, don’t remind me. Keys, Munson?”

Eddie tosses Steve the van keys. “Be kind to her, big boy.” Eddie’s voice imitates the one he likes to use with you, a low, seductive hum sliding like honey from his tongue. He breaks character though, to cackle at the bewilderment on Steve’s face.

“Fuckin’ couples, making me chauffeur.” Steve mutters loudly enough for everyone to hear, before turning to exit the trailer without waiting to see who follows.

-

The six of you pull up to The Hideout, a run down bar on a street corner downtown. Outside, a line of motorcycles stand across the building, surrounded by men in leather smoking cigarettes and chugging beers.

“Hey, guys.” Eddie greets the bikers, who shatter your expectations when they greet him warmly.

“Eddie! You playin’ tonight?”

“Nah, I’m here on a date.” Eddie gestures to you, and the men whoop and holler in congratulations. “Never thought I’d see the day, Munson. Lovely to meet you.” One of the bikers offers his big, hairy hand to you, and you shake it once. “I’m Harry.” Of course he is.

“Y/N. How do you know Eddie?”

“Ah, kid plays here with his band sometimes, you heard ‘em? We kept him out of trouble for awhile when he was a kid, before shit hit the fan.” You don’t know what Harry the Hairy is alluding to, but you nod politely anyway.

“Nice to meet you!” You give them a small wave as Eddie ushers you inside.

The bar is packed for a dive, buzzing with groups of teenagers definitely too young to drink, and tables of bikers and plant workers mingling with their respective groups. Over the noise of the crowd, you make out the song playing as AC/DC’s Walk This Way. Your group makes your way to a table in the corner, still sticky with the beer of former patrons. Eddie makes a beeline for the bar, waving you over to come help carry the drinks for the table.

“They just gave you these? No ID required?” You tease as you approach him.

“Guess they think I’m old or something.” Eddie carries a beer for himself, Steve, and Robin, while you carry glasses of whiskey for Jonathan, wine for Nancy, and a vodka tonic for yourself.

“Good, they’re back,” Robin’s voice grows louder as you and Eddie approach the table.

“What’d we miss? You inquire, passing the drinks down the table.

“We were deciding on a drinking game for the evening.”

You put your elbows on the table as you sit down, “Oh? What are we deciding between?”

“Quarters or Never Have I Ever.” Steve says, a hint of giddiness slipping through his tone.

“I think Never Have I Ever is easier to play in a bar.” You say, and in response the four of your friends, as well as your boyfriend, look at you like you’ve confessed to murder. “What?”

“Nothing! Never Have I Ever it is!” Robin places her full bottle in front of her, and the rest of you follow suit. “We’ll go around the table. Rules are simple, whoever’s turn it is will say something they’ve never done, and whoever has done it takes a sip. We play until someone’s empty, that person buys the next round.” Everyone nods in understanding, and you regret your choice of drink immediately. Robin starts, “Never have I ever… shoplifted.” You giggle at Robin’s innocence, taking a gulp of your drink as Eddie, and to your surprise, Nancy, join you.

It’s Steve’s turn, “Never have I ever hotwired a car.” You feel Eddie shift his beer to his mouth again, and you look at him with widened eyes.

“You’ve hotwired a car?”

“I’m full of surprises.” Eddie gives your thigh a squeeze, sending chills through your body.

Nancy goes, “Never have I ever failed a class.” The whole table rolls their eyes at her, and Eddie responds, “Do I have to drink for every class I have failed? I’ll black out right here.” The table chuckles, but you take a sip from your own drink, getting your look at Eddie returned.

“What class did you fail?”

“Algebra, freshman year. Went to summer school to make it up and still barely passed.” The drink is starting to hit you, your head delightfully cloudy. “Met the cutest girl there, though…” You trail off, wondering what Leigh’s up to nowadays. You look to Jonathan, “Your turn, Byers!”

Jonathan perks up a bit. “Never have I ever… uh… kissed a boy?” He chuckles, and you watch everyone, your boyfriend, all of his friends besides Jonathan, take a swig of their drink. You can only imagine the look you’re wearing right now: Mouth hanging open, eyes darting to each of your friends, not knowing who to ask about what first. You take a drink to signify your decision, and that you have, in fact, kissed a boy, and turn to Eddie.

His grin is taunting, his eyes glimmering with the secret you desperately have to know. His eyes briefly dart to Steve, so quickly you almost don’t catch it. But you do. “You kissed Steve?! Oh my god! I-“ You realize it’s not your business, and clamp your mouth shut.

Eddie chuckles. “Long time ago, we laugh about it now.” Eddie nudges Steve under the table. “Right, big boy?” He winks, and you look at Steve to find him beet red, a small smile on his face. “One day Im gonna wring your neck, Munson.” He says through clenched teeth.

“Please, feel free.” Eddie wiggled his eyebrows at his friend, and you fight the tiniest bit of jealousy in your stomach. You can’t tell who you’re more jealous of, though.

“Anyway!” Robin cuts in to save her friends from a sexually charged fist fight. “I’m a lesbian and I kissed a boy! I think that’s less believable than these two kissing. Whatever! Eddie, it’s your turn.” You cackle at Robin as turn back to Eddie, awaiting his next words eagerly. For some reason, you harbor a morbid curiosity of what he’ll say, the guy who has seemingly done it all in the span of his few extra years in high school.

“Never have I ever done it in a public bathroom.” He snickers, and you make sure he’s looking right at you as you take another sip of your drink. His eyes almost pop out of his skull watching you, and you don’t break the stare until you hear Robin.

“Y/N!” You look at the rest of your company, whom you now notice have not at all touched their glasses. “Explain yourself.”

You cackle, taking in the shocked expressions of your friends. “It was one time! Back in Boston, my date had taken me to a baseball game. Seventh inning stretch, y’know what I mean?” This comment provokes a loud maniacal laughter from almost everyone else at the table. You look to Eddie, who’s once again peeling the wrapper off his bottle. You rest your hand on his thigh as reassurance, but he doesn’t look up at you.

“Guess this means it’s my turn. Never have I ever been arrested.” Eddie’s expression doesn’t change, but he takes what looks to be his last sip of his beer, and you recall his story on your first date, where Hopper had taken him in for public intox. Without saying anything else, Eddie pushes his chair from the table to grab more drinks. “Is he upset?” You lower your voice to a whisper, only meaning for Robin to hear you.

“He might be a little jealous. But I don’t think he’s mad.”

“Jealous that I didn’t see that date as worth even taking home to sleep with?”

Robin shrugs. “I never claimed to understand guys.”

—

Eddie’s POV

There is literally no reason to be upset, idiot. You’re the one that asked. Eddie can’t help his anger with himself. Of course you’d had a life before Hawkins, before him. It wasn’t your fault Eddie hadn’t known love until he met you. Beneath the searing jealousy he felt, it kind of turned Eddie on to think of you doing something like that. He just wishes it’d been with him there with you.

Before he turns back to the table, he glances at the sign up sheet taped to the bar. The Hideout likes to host open mics on weekends, when the kids come out and showcase their talent— or lack thereof— to the amusement of patrons. Eddie’s done it a few times, and he hopes one day you’ll get the courage to go up yourself. He wants to hear you play more than anything, and hasn’t found the right way to ask you yet. Originally, he wanted to sign you up tonight, but he also doesn’t see putting that kind of pressure on you panning out well. Instead, he jots Steve’s name down, giggling to himself when he picture’s his friend’s reaction.

When he turns around, you’re in front of him, your eyes glass from the booze. Eddie hands you a drink, this time a Long Island, and clinks his beer bottle to the rim.

“Are you alright?” You jut your bottom lip out at him in a worried pout.

“I’m okay. Just a little jealous is all.” Eddie cups your chin in his free hand, bringing his lips down to meet yours. Your eyes flutter closed as you kiss him back, the buzz of your surroundings falling away. “Help me carry these?” He hands you two more drinks, taking two more of his own as you both return to the table. Nancy and Jonathan aren’t there, leaving you to look from Robin to Steve in question.

“They’re dancing.” Robin jerks her thumb behind her, where Nancy and Jonathan are wrapped around each other, swinging to Come On Eileen.

“Well, let’s join them!” You ignore Robin’s objection, taking her hand in yours to pull her up from the seat. Eddie jokingly offers his own hand to Steve, who waves it off to stand up on his own. The four of you join the couple on the floor, creating a circle in the middle of the small crowd of drunk kids and adults alike. Eddie watches as you move with Robin, holding her hands in yours, spinning her like you’re at prom. Eddie offers his hand to Steve again, and this time he takes it, letting the alcohol do its job of inhibiting his critical thinking. The six of you dance and laugh through the entire song, until it fades into a slower, moodier tune.

“Alright, I’m tapping out.” Steve lets go of Eddie, who then approaches you and Robin, still twirling like the song hasn’t changed.

“Mind if I cut in?” Eddie looks from Robin to you, and Robin so graciously bows out before joining Steve at the singles table.

—

Your POV

“Hi, beautiful.” Eddie rests his hands on your waist as REO Speedwagon’s Keep On Loving You blares on: You should have seen by the look in my eyes, baby there was something missin’. You should have known by the tone of my voice, maybe but you didn’t listen…

Maybe it’s the song, combined with the man in front of you, combined with the alcohol swimming through your bloodstream, but you feel a tear fall down your face. You don’t plan to acknowledge it, but even in the dimness of the bar, Eddie sees that you’re crying. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”

Your breath shutters as you inhale, preparing for what feels like the scariest thing you could say to Eddie. Suddenly, it’s as if your fear of abandonment, the ache of a possible rejection, fades from your mind. All you want is to spill over, a boiling tea kettle of emotion you've never wanted to share before right now. Your heart is ready to break through your ribs as it slams against your chest.

“I love you.” The tears keep pouring as you continue. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t say it, I don’t even know how I’m saying it now. But I mean it. I do, I love you more than I have ever loved anyone, or anything else. It fucking terrifies me.” You let loose a rattle of a laugh, the words continuing to tumble off your tongue. You avoid Eddie’s eyes, instead focusing on his chin as you talk. “I wanted to tell you, but I had never said it to anyone before. No one has ever meant this much to me. No one has ever been this kind, this completely non judgemental of me in my whole life. I’m not used to any of it: the way you touch me, talk to me, look at me. It’s borderline embarrassing how easily I fell for you. I should have said it right awa—“ Eddie stops your babbling with his own lips, and you kiss him back with relief. You can feel his heart pounding against your chest, and you realize his cheeks are wet with his own tears against your face. His warmth spreads through you like a fire, consuming every ounce of worry you’d been carrying around since meeting him.

“I know you do, but thanks for sayin’ it.” He says against your lips, and you wrap your arms around his neck tighter. “I love you, too.”

You want to press pause right here, look at Eddie’s expression of love for you indefinitely. The two of you dance as the song fades into Heartbreaker by Pat Benatar, easily going from a slow sway to an upbeat dance circle when your friends rejoin you on the floor.

-

“Steve H.! C’mon up here, Steve!” The MC reads off the clipboard for the next performer. You look to your Steve H., who’s stopped his conversation with a pretty woman in the corner to look to the stage in horror.

“Steve?” The guy calls again, looking around to find the one making his way to the stage.

“What the shit?” Steve crouches, running over to you and Eddie with a panicked look on his face. “What did you do?!” Steve shoves Eddie, not aggressively, but more frustrated with his stupid friend.

“Me? Nothing!”

“I’m not going up there.”

“Aw, why not?” Eddie pouts at Steve, who gives him another hard shove.

“Okay, guess we’re moving on. Hailey P.!” The crowd claps for the girl approaching the small stage, and you focus your attention back on the boys arguing behind you.

“Guys. Guys!” You push yourself between the two, who’ve been slapping each other’s chests in a testosterone fueled argument. “Quit it! We’re having fun!”

“Y/N’s right.” Steve responds, holding his hand out to Eddie. “Truce?”

Eddie’s skeptical, his eyes narrowing at Steve as he slowly takes his hand and shakes it. “Truce.”

You release your held breath with relief. “Now, let’s go get another round.”

-

It’s 2AM when the six of you finally leave the bar, drunk and tired from dancing and hollering over the music. “I’m driving!” Steve exclaims. “I had two beers, and that was,” He looks at an imaginary wrist watch on his arm, “about four hours ago. Let’s hit it.” Steve pulls Eddie’s van keys out of his pocket.

“Y’sure you’re okay to drive?” Robin slurs, wobbling as she walks to the passenger door.

“Plenty sure.” Steve rolls his eyes before performing an impromptu sobriety test, walking with one foot placed right in front of the other, bringing each pointer finger to his nose. “Z, Y, X, W—“

“Okay, we get it!” Robin flops down in the front seat, her head lolling to the side. Eddie leans his head on your shoulder, falling asleep almost immediately, while Nancy curls up next to Jonathan, her breaths evening.

You figure the music is loud enough, so you don’t worry about waking the two of them. “Hey, Jonathan?” You whisper, barely moving to face him so as not to wake your boyfriend.

“What’s up?” He whispers back.

“I know we just met, but I wanted to ask you about your brother.”

“Will?”

“Yeah,” You pause, trying to form a sentence that isn’t I heard he died and came back to life, what the fuck was that about? Instead, you say, “his friends talk about him a lot. I think he and I may… have some things in common.”

“I mean, I know he’s gonna be campaigning with everyone tomorrow night, maybe you can talk to him? I’m sure he’s heard about you by now, I know I had.” Jonathan jerks his chin at Eddie. “Kid doesn’t shut up about you. I heard most of what he said from Nancy, who got her quotes from everyone else, like the reporter she is. Anyway, he’s obsessed with you, enchanted. You hex him or something?” He lets out a quick laugh.

You feel your face warm as you rest your head on top of Eddie’s. The last thing you expected when you reached Hawkins was to fall in love. You’re so glad you were wrong. “Not on purpose. Whatever magic’s going on here, I had nothing to do with it.”

“If I can chime in here,” Steve looks at you in his rear view mirror as he talks. “Eddie has not been able to shut up about you since you got here. Robin has given me the pleasure of a play by play whenever you two are within spitting distance, much to my objection. The week you two wouldn’t talk, he talked to me. And we don’t talk!”

You feel your cheeks redden at Jonathan and Steve’s recollections of Eddie’s words, finally recognizing that you’re safe with these people. They have no intention of leaving, actively battling your insecurity instead. You let yourself close your eyes, the movement of the van, along with the warmth of your friends, lulling you to sleep.

-

Eddie’s POV

Waking up, he realizes Steve’s pulled into your driveway. “Stop number one, Y/N! Wakey wakey.” Steve reaches back to jostle your leg, rousing you from your nap. It takes a second for your eyes to adjust, focusing on Eddie’s face looking at you.

“Wanna come in?” You ask him, and he doesn’t hesitate, throwing the back door open.

“Keep the van safe for me, Harrington. I trust you!” He leaps out of the backseat, grabbing what looks like a duffel bag from his trunk before offering his arm for you to take, ignoring Steve’s shouts of objection. He holds your wobbly frame up as the two of you slowly trudge up the walkway to the front door.

Eddie follows you over the threshold as quietly as he can, but gives up when he realizes you’re stomping around your kitchen at full volume. “My dad’s doing an overnight, and my mom can sleep through anything. Don’t be quiet on my account.” You yank the refrigerator open, bending to search its shelves for something to satisfy your drunken craving. “Grilled cheese?”

“Sounds delicious.” Eddie sits at the counter, propping his chin on his hand to watch you shuffle around the kitchen, slapping butter onto bread, onto cheese, onto the pan that sizzles at the contact. You make two passable sandwiches, sliding Eddie his over the countertop. He devours it, feeling the grease and bread sop up the alcohol in his bloodstream, realizing he’s fucking starving.

“By the way, there is something I haven’t done… Something I wanna try. Can’t imagine trying it with anyone else...”

Eddie looks up at you, a bite of grilled cheese in his cheek. “What’s that?” He asks with his mouth full.

“I uh, saw the handcuffs on your wall. You ever use ‘em?”

Eddie chokes as you finish the thought, a sudden ache between his legs. “Uh, no. No, I never have, but I’ve wondered…”

“Well, if you ever wanna quench your curiosity, just say the word.” You give him a mischievous grin before taking a bite of your own sandwich, reveling in the blush on Eddie’s face. “But it’s late. Come to bed?”

Eddie nods, pushing from his chair and approaching you on the other side of the counter. You reach your hand for him to take, but he swats it away, instead scooping you into a bridal carry, and hauls you up the stairs without breaking eye contact. You cackle as he throws you down onto the bed, then flinging himself on top of you.

“You have something for me?” Eddie fingers the waistband of your pants.

“Everything I have is yours. But yes.” You help him yank your pants down, taking your underwear off with them. You grab the lace from your ankles and dangle it in front of his face. “You gotta earn these though.”

“I’ll do more than earn them, sweetheart.” Eddie says seductively, almost a whisper despite the door being closed. He collides his face with yours, lips latching onto your mouth as you kiss him back desperately.

—

chapter X

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[agustdakasuga]

Between The Bloodshed | Chapter 20

Genre: Mafia!AU, Angst, Romance, Fluff

Pairing: OT7 x Reader

Characters: Doctor!Reader, Gangster!Namjoon, Gangster!Seokjin, Gangster!Yoongi, Gangster!Hoseok, Gangster!Jimin, Gangster!Taehyung, Gangster!Jungkook

Summary: Being a freelance doctor, this was just supposed to be any other job, helping a private client and taking care of him through his recovery. But you were not expecting to get caught in something so much darker that would change your life entirely.

The boys are trying their hardest to find you. And you are trying your hardest to find out more, to find out why you are so important. 

Warning: This story is fictional and has nothing to do with real life events or the actual members of BTS. It may contain depictions of violence, blood shed/ gore and mentions of abuse. Please read at your own discretion.

Chapter warning(s): Kidnapping, hint of violence. 

“W-What do you mean gone?” Namjoon was the first to break the silence.

“She was talking to some of our employees. Then she went to the washroom but never returned. They found this placed behind the stack of hand towels.” Jin opened his palm and all the boys saw your wing charm. The one that was supposed to be on your bracelet.

“So, she was taken?” Jimin asked in disbelief. His words made all their stomachs sink, this was their worst nightmare. This was supposed to be the perfect night for all of you.

“It’s obvious she was taken. She left this there for a reason.” Hoseok pointed to the black wing charm.

“There are hundreds of people here. Someone must have seen her. Namjoon, can’t you get access to the cameras? This is your building.” Yoongi asked.

“Let’s go.” Namjoon nodded and led everyone back in.

“I need access to all the security cameras. Now.” Namjoon commanded. The manager nodded, hurriedly bringing the 7 bosses to the security room. Taehyung sat down, typing away.

“Look out for her.” Jin said.

“There!” Jungkook pointed. You were being escorted out by a group of people, walking calmly to not attract any attention. But it was obvious that someone was pointing a weapon at your back to push you forward. For a split second, you turned to the exact camera the boys were watching, meeting eyes with the lens. The boys held their breaths as they watched.

“No...” They watched you get into a car and the car drive away into the night.

“Call a meeting. Now.” Yoongi growled, slamming his palm onto the desk. The boys were quick to move, exiting the small room.

“We’ll get you back.” Taehyung whispered, placing his palm against your face on the screen. Pursing his lips in determination, he ran out of the room to assist his brothers.

“We’re going now. Run the license plate number and put out a notice to our allies.” Namjoon ordered. Their car pulled up and they jumped in.

“Every enemy of ours is a potential suspect.” Jin said.

“We have thousands of people who want to kill us! It might be too late by the time we go through everyone. There has to be a better, more efficient way!” Jimin said impatiently.

“Give doc more credit. She is smart enough to survive a lot longer than we think. Besides, they won’t be so dumb to kill her off quickly. They’ll definitely come into contact with us to give us demands or make us do something for her to safely return.” Yoongi stated, crossing his arms.

“Young masters.” The maid opened the door for them.

“No more visitors. The house is on lockdown until further notice.” Hoseok ordered and the maid nodded, running off to inform the other workers of the house. The boys went to the other wing.

“As expected, the plate is of an old vehicle. It was meant to be scrapped last week.” Jungkook said.

“Get in contact with all your underground informants. Someone must slip somewhere. See if anyone has heard anything.” Namjoon sighed.

“I’ll go meet mine first.” Jungkook grabbed his coat, leaving the house once again. The boys tried to busy themselves but there wasn’t much they could do with no clues. 

“We can hardly see their faces.” Hoseok pointed at the screen, rewatching the footage from different angles. 

“We shouldn’t operate here. Let’s use ‘Magic Shop’.” Jin said. Magic Shop was a shared business between the 7 boys. Like the name, it had everything they needed. Information usually passes through there.

On your side...

When you woke up, you were in an unfamiliar place. You looked around to scan the area, it was a small concrete room with an old bed in the corner, a small barred window to the right and two doors, you guessed one led to a bathroom. Your hands were tied in front of you, ankle chained to the wall, and there was a dull ache at the back of your head. You remembered what happened. 

You were finishing up in the toilet when you heard the door open and footsteps enter the washroom. From the heavy stomp of footsteps and heavier breathing, you knew whoever entered was male and not female.

*KNOCK KNOCK*

“Come out. We know you’re in there.” A gruff voice sounded. You remained silent but you knew that this can only go on for so long. As quiet as possible, you tried to get your phone out of your clutch to reach the boys but there was unfortunately, no signal.

“We’ll break the door down.” They threatened.

“Okay, okay. I’m coming out.” You sighed, hand resting on the doorknob. When you stepped out, you looked up to see two men that you’ve never seen before.

“Let me at least wash my hands first.” You raised an eyebrow. They looked at each other before nodding. You washed your hands with soap, not even meeting eyes with them.

“Are you done?” One growled in annoyance.

“Yeah.” You picked up a hand towel to wipe your hands then tossed the used towel into the bin.

“You’re gonna walk calmly, out of the building. If you dare do anything else, it’ll be the end for you.” You felt cold metal press against your lower back. You nodded as one opened the washroom door for you.

“Go.” They pushed you forward. As you left the washroom, you side eyed the gleam of a gem under the light. You only hoped that the boys would see it. No one suspected anything as you walked out of the building with two men behind you, one standing suspiciously closer than the other. A car pulled up to the steps of the building.

“Get in.” They opened the door. Turning around, you caught sight of a security camera, staring at it for a few seconds before the men impatiently pushed you into the car, slamming the door shut.

As the car drove, you tried to remember where you were headed or at least, some landmarks.

“You guys didn’t blindfold her?!” The driver finally noticed you. The male that was sitting next to you pulled out a blindfold, getting closer to you.

“Get away.” You tried kicking him.

“B*tch!” The male squirmed when you successfully manoeuvred yourself to get him in a chokehold despite the small backseat. But you had forgotten about the other person in the passenger seat.

“Sleep tight, princess.” There was an impact to the back of your head. Black spots appeared in your vision and soon, it was dark.

“Look who’s awake.” One of the doors opened, a bright light shining into your darkroom. You winced slightly at the sudden brightness hitting your eyes. A suited male came in, walking towards you. You stared up at him but the shadow made it impossible. 

“Nice to meet you again.” He said, a teasing tone in his voice. 

“Do I know you?” You groaned. 

“How could you forget me? I’m hurt, doc.” 

“Well, if you didn’t know how light directions work, the light makes it a little hard to see your face. All I see is a shadow now.” You hissed with a glare. Then he bent down and you saw his face. 

“Recognise me now?” He smiled. 

“Not... really?” You tilted your head. His smile fell from his face as he frowned. He backhanded you, waking you fall to the side. Your cheek throbbed and you tasted iron in your mouth, knowing that you were now probably bleeding. 

“Look, I’m sorry you’re butt hurt about me not recognising or remembering you. But I meet new people every day. If everyone is like you and expects me to remember them, my job would be a lot harder than it already is. Stop being petty.” You growled. Usually, someone in your position would be more submissive, considering you didn’t have the upper hand. 

“Ever the smart mouth, doc. Let’s see how long you can keep that up.” He threw his head back, laughing. 

“I also wonder how long it will take for you to realise that kidnapping me and holding me captive isn’t going to do anything.” You raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, doc. Ever so naive. What you don’t know is that with you being here, my boss already has control over your 7 mafia bosses. They’re probably scrambling and panicking to find you.” He said. 

“I’m just an employee.” You shrugged. 

“That’s what you think. You think every employee has a diamond bracelet like you?” He asked. 

“I never really cared, it was just a pretty bracelet to me. But I’m sure you’re about to tell me how important that is.” You said in a bored tone. Under playing everything was now your plan. 

“Only the 7 bosses have that bracelet. It’s a sign of their highest rank. And guess who’s the 8th person to ever get one?” He smirked. You didn’t let it show but deep down, you were surprised. You never really noticed the bracelet on the boys. Because like you said, you never really cared or gave it much thought. 

“So trust me, they’ll be here.” He scoffed.

“Hold on, I’m still trying to understand, so you and/or your boss is the enemy of the boys? You’re not from one of the families I cared for?!” You asked. 

“Oh, doc.” He shook his head, laughing. 

“Man, talk about shallow...” You rolled your eyes. The man just waved, heading for the door. He slammed the door shut, leaving you in darkness once again. You sighed, looking down at your dress that was now dirtied. 

“Who is he?” You wrecked your brains to try and remember. 

“The guy at the casino.” You finally remembered the incident that happened when you first had dinner with the boys outside, at Jin’s casino. 

He tried to speak to you as you were coming out of the washroom and it ended with Yoongi escorting you to the car while the others ‘dealt with him’. Though at that point, you didn’t know what that meant. Now, you imagined how the boys must have given him a ‘stern warning’, for him to have such bitter feelings towards you. 

“Talk about holding a grudge.” You sighed. 

“No wonder they didn’t want me to remove the bracelet. Some VIP treatment this is.” You wondered out loud. You needed to find a way out of here, you couldn’t just sit and wait to be rescued. 

“Let’s see.” You brought your bound hands up to your mouth, hoping to be able to use your teeth to try and loosen the knot. 

“Here. Eat.” The door opened, making you put your hands down quickly. It was one of the men that kidnapped you from the ball. He held a tray and a bottle of water in his hands.

“Is it poisoned?” You looked at him skeptically. 

“You never know until you try, right?” He raised an eyebrow, placing the tray in front of you. 

“Just eat!” He hissed impatiently. 

“You take a bite first. You eat it, I eat it.” You shrugged. The man was given strict orders to make sure that you ate. And all you were doing now was making his job a lot more difficult. He glared at you but you just stared back nonchalantly, not backing down either. 

“It won’t be poisoned. We’re waiting for the 7 to come. If you’re dead, there’s no use in all this.” The man scoffed. 

“If it’s not poisoned, then eat it.” You said. The man closed his eyes, letting out a deep breath. You knew you were being infuriating but your attitude was the only thing that you could use as a self defence now. 

“I swear.” He scooped up the rice and kimchi, taking a bite. 

“Now that wasn’t so hard now, was it?” You said. The guy clicked his tongue, undoing the rope around your hands to let you eat. He took a seat opposite you on the ground, but keeping his distance. 

“This food is sh*t.” You took a bite. 

“Well, it’s all you’re getting so learn to like it.” He crossed his arms. You sighed, eating your food in silence. 

“Alright, I’m done. I might actually throw up if I continue.” You scrunched your face, pushing the tray. The man took the rope to bind your hands again. Seeing the gun holster on his waistband, you knew it would be foolish to try and fight back to escape now. So at this moment, you just had to be obedient and do whatever they told you to do. 

“Ugh.” You threw your head back, trying to get the stiff kinks out of your shoulders and neck. You stared at the metal brace around your ankle, that was gonna be hard to get out of. 

-

“Where’s Taehyung?” Namjoon asked when he came back from his meeting. It was safe to say that thanks to their parents, Namjoon and Yoongi had the most ‘ears to the ground’ in the group. 

“He went for a breather.” Jimin informed softly. 

“We need to think this through. Doc hardly meets anyone with us... Or at least, ones who are alive.” Hoseok said. 

“I’m going for a meeting.” Jin looked at his phone. He stood up and left with his bodyguard in tow. 

“Hyung is right.” Jungkook started a fresh document to list down the times you went to visit any of the boys’ place of business. Most of the time, the boys tried to go home for you to treat them since most of your equipment was at home but of course, there have been urgent times. 

“She came to mine. But the person was dead.” Jimin raised his hand and Jungkook noted that down. The door opened and Taehyung came in. He dragged his bloodied bat on the ground, falling onto his seat. 

“Where were you?” Yoongi asked. 

“Just needed some fresh air.” Was all the younger said. Taehyung didn’t deal with emotions well, which is evident considering what happened with his father. 

“Anyway, we’re listing down the times doc came to our place of business to maybe find out a time where our enemy might have seen her.” Namjoon got his up to speed.

“Did you forget she doesn’t even know that she wears our family band around her wrist?” Taehyung asked. 

“Did she not even notice?” 

“No, she didn’t even know what I was talking about when I mentioned it to her at the club the other night. She thought it was just a nice gift. I told her the gist of it but she probably thought that most, if not all, our employees have one too.” Jimin informed. 

“Whatever it is. We’re all just trying to form at least a list of suspects. Every option, we’ll try it.” Yoongi said. 

“She hasn’t been to Stigma or Singularity before. I usually handle those businesses outside and try to go home to get treated by her.” Taehyung crossed his arms.

“Stop looking at that.” He saw Jungkook still had the paused video of you staring at the camera on his computer screen. 

“Let him be.” Namjoon chided. 

“I got video footage from Daydream.” Hoseok informed. His place was one of the only one that the car could have possibly driven past. If they did, they would have a general direction of where you went. 

“Hook it up to the screen.” Jungkook handed Hoseok the cable to hook his computer up to the screen and he played the footage from the night before. He carefully skipped forward the seconds, they couldn’t risk missing something. Everyone was quiet, their focus on the video footage in front of them. Jimin stood up from his seat. 

“There. Fast backwards 10 seconds. Slow the video down.” He pointed. Hoseok moved the video back. In the slowed freeze frames, they saw the exact car drive past Daydream and take a left.

“Hobi, where does that road lead to?” Yoongi asked. 

“Uh, the car slanted left. That leads to the highway... Up north, I think.” Hoseok pulled up the map. 

“Yes. That highway heads north.” Taehyung said. Finally, the boys felt like they had a breakthrough. The kidnappers probably held you captive somewhere up north of Seoul. 

“Who are the clans in the north?” Namjoon asked. 

“Here they are.” Jungkook flipped through the photos on the screen. 

“It is one of them. No one else would let another gang on their territory, knowing that they kidnapped one of ours. Unless they want an unnecessary war on their hands.” Yoongi said. Even if they did have enemies, a lot of gangs would rather be an ally instead. Bangtan was just that scary. 

“I’ll call Jin hyung and let him know.” Jimin took his phone out, stepping aside to call the eldest, letting him know what they had found out so far. 

It only took 20 minutes for Jin to come back, unsuccessful from meeting with all his informants. No one had a clue as to who was vengeful enough to kidnap you from Bangtan. 

“We’ll start visiting some of them. You guys fill Jin hyung in on what’s going on. It’ll be faster if we split up to visit the gangs.” Taehyung said.

“Okay. Don’t be reckless.” Namjoon said. Jimin nodded, a silent promise to keep Taehyung in check. Grabbing what they needed, the duo left ‘Magic Shop’ immediately. 

“Show me the photos.” Jin said. Once again, Jungkook pulled up the photos. 

“Hold on. Go back.” Jin stopped the maknae. Jungkook clicked the slide, going back to show the photos of the leaders and righthand men from one of the gangs. Jin moved closer, squinting slightly. 

“That guy... Don’t you recognise him?” Jin pointed. 

“What do you mean?” Yoongi asked. 

“We’ve encountered him before. That first dinner with (y/n) at my casino. He harassed her outside the washrooms. Jungkook came to rescue her in time and Yoongi took her away before he could reveal anything. We didn’t kill him since we didn’t want to make anything too obvious yet.” Jin frowned. The others finally remembered. 

“But she didn’t have a bracelet yet.” Hoseok reminded.

“From the way Jungkook sprung to protect her... They must have been keeping tabs on her.” Namjoon concluded. 

Just then, the phone rang. 

~~

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[junko-and-riri-domain]

five hearts on the line | pjs

↬ series: tatts & cupcakes | chapter 14 ↬ pairing: park jongseong / jay x reader ft. all members + i-land k ↬ genre: enhypen single dad au | ceo!jay | single dad!jay | baker!reader | single mom!reader | fluff | slight angst ↬ navi: beginning | previous chapter | next | series masterlist ↬ warnings: some angst ↬ word count: 2.1k ↬ a/n (1/2):

i know that i said last chapter that this one wouldn’t be as angsty but then i started writing and it sorta just happened? so there’s some angst in this one (forgive me again my loves 🥺)

Hope was never a plan, only a direction. After all, you could hope for money and with that hope make a plan to get it. Or you could hope for your parent’s approval but actually getting it was a different process for everyone. Jay had hoped for a future with you and Ni-ki, he really did. It was the direction he saw the rest of his life going towards, you and him as the parents of three boys. He knew it was foolish of him to hope of such things when so much chaos had happened and it was still too early since you never actually put a label on the relationship, hence, why he was going to ask the “what are we?” question that night.

17 days, 20 hours, and 30 minutes was how long it had been since you last saw each other face to face. But who was counting? At this point, he was entering himself into self-given heartbreak and there was nothing he could do to stop it. The scent of your shampoo still lingered on the fibers of his pillowcase but he couldn’t bring himself to wash it away. When he closed his eyes he could still feel your head resting on his chest and your fingers trailing random patterns on his arms. Some days it seemed like he could still hear Ni-ki’s giggles mixed in with Sunoo and Jungwon’s. The boys were doing ok, they still talked to each other at school, and Jay would bring them to the bakery if they wanted something. But he no longer went inside. He’d tell his boys that he needed to take a call or send a quick email and instead would wait for them in the car but really, he was just too scared to see you because he knew that the second he saw you he’d fall back in love all over again. Or maybe that love never left and he’d instead be forced to acknowledge its existence. The door to his office opening brings Jay out of his thoughts, sounds of excitement from his sons greeting his ears.

“Thanks, man,” he said to Jake with a small smile. This situation felt familiar to him and it didn’t take long for him to realize that it was because the first time he heard about you was when Jake brought the boys to his office and you defended him against Minjoo’s grandmother.

“Can we sleepover at Ni-ki dongsaeng’s place tomorrow?” Jungwon asked. Tomorrow was Saturday meaning that he’d drop off the boys Saturday morning, see you, leave, pick up the boys Sunday morning, see you, and leave again.

“I’ll text his mom tonight.”

Later that night after the boys were put to bed and he was laying in his, he found himself constantly typing and deleting what he had initially written out. To his surprise, you had texted him first with a simple “hey” to which he responded the same. While sorting out the details of tomorrow, Jay couldn’t help the slight happiness filling him now having a reason to talk to you again.

You couldn’t really place a name on the feelings coursing through your veins when you woke up on Saturday morning. Nerves, slight anxiousness, maybe even fear? While you were glad to be able to spend time with Sunoo and Jungwon, seeing Jay was a different story. The thought of seeing him again left you restless which led to constantly tossing and turning in bed, ultimately resulting in a sleepless night. When the morning came, you heard a knock on your door and upon opening it the boys greeted you before quickly rushing to Ni-ki’s room, leaving you alone with Jay. He looked like a mess, hair slightly messy, eyes somewhat bloodshot red, and lips chapped dry. You probably didn’t look any better either.

“Are you ok?” Upon saying it you realized what a dumb question it was. Only a little over two weeks had passed and two weeks wasn’t nearly enough to get over what happened. But if you were being honest with yourself, you weren’t sure if you’d ever get over it.

“Still processing, you?” Jay replied.

“Yeah, same here.” There was a sort of longing look in Jay’s eyes. That kind that told you he felt as if he wanted to say something but chose not to.

“I’ll be back tomorrow,” was all his reply before leaving.

Spending the day with three boys like Sunoo, Jungwon, and Ni-ki meant that they were eager to do whatever it was that you had planned for them. You had decided to try out new cake recipes and in the process using them as your little helpers and taste testers. While it did result in the boys getting cake mix all over their clothes and a little on their faces, their smiles of happiness and giggles of joy were well worth the cleanup after. When night came and you were tucking the boys into bed, you felt a hand grab yours. Seeing that it was Sunoo’s, you smiled,

“What’s up, bubs?”

“I don’t want Appa to pick us up tomorrow, I wanna stay with Eomma.”

“Eomma?” you asked. He nodded with a pout,

“Minjoo said that living together makes you a family and we lived together which makes you our Eomma, not our Noona! But because you and Ni-ki left he said you and Appa got divorced and you chose Ni-ki instead of me and Jungwon.” Tears started to fall from Sunoo’s eyes as he continued, “Wae, Eomma? Can’t you keep me and Jungwon-ah too?”

“Sunoo, I…” what were you even supposed to tell him? This was a conversation you shouldn’t be having with just the boys alone, after all, Jay needed to be here since they were his boys. Jungwon ended up waking up and crying too at the sight of his hyung crying which led to a confused Ni-ki. As you hugged the boys and rubbed their backs, your ears were met with blubbers of “Eomma” and “Eomma stay.” You didn’t know how long it took for them to calm down and finally head to sleep but once they did, you knew that you needed to talk to Jay now. Your hand trembled a little when holding your phone but as you heard Jay’s voice, you felt somewhat calmed.

“Everything ok?” he asked, sounding like he had just woken up. Letting out a breath you didn’t even know you were holding,

“Can you come over?” Hearing some shuffling from his side of the line,

“I’m on my way.”

When Jay got to your apartment it was nearing midnight. Without thinking, your hand took his and you led him to your room so that the boys wouldn’t wake up. Looking up at him,

“We need to talk.” He brought a hand up and rubbed the back of his neck nervously,

“I figured.”

“Sunoo and Jungwon called me eomma.” Jay’s eyes went wide,

“They what?”

“Minjoo, remember the kid with the nosey grandma?” you looked at him and saw him nod then continued, “He told the boys that living together makes you a family. Since me and Ni-ki lived with you guys that led them to the conclusion that I shouldn’t be called Noona, I’m their Eomma. Because Ni-ki and I don’t live with you anymore they thought we got divorced and that I chose Ni-ki over them. Jay, what do we do?” Silence washed over the room as Jay furrowed his eyebrows until finally,

“I lied,” Jay said. Looking at him confused you wanted to ask what had he lied about but he continued, “the night that your mom called. I lied and I’ve been regretting it ever since,” he finished. You racked your mind trying to remember what went on before your mom called and then you remembered. It was the conversation you two had about “like-liking” each other. He had lied then?

“W-what?” you can’t stop the stutter that escapes you as your mind tries to process that Jay lied to you.

“I lied.”

“That night, you asked me if I like-like you and I said yes. But I didn’t because what is this, high school?”

“Oh.” It came out just barely above a whisper out of millions of words to exist in the world, “oh” was the only thing you could bring yourself to say.

Was it a lie every time he called you love?

Was it a lie whenever he’d hold your hand and give it a reassuring squeeze?

Was it a lie the nights he’d run his hands through your hair and talk about how happy he was you were with him?

Had you been led on this entire time?

Then you couldn’t but think that maybe it was karma.

You didn’t think about how Sunoo and Jungwon would be affected with your presence there only for it to be gone after a few weeks.

You didn’t think about how to explain to Ni-ki the whole situation with K and instead downplayed it.

You didn’t think at all because you were too damn caught up in feeling.

Maybe it was your fault for hoping.

Jay’s next words are enough to get you out of your thoughts and back to reality. As they make themselves known to your ears, your eyes are near to tears.

“I lied because how the hell was I supposed to tell you that I love you?”

“Jay, you can’t be serious? Y-you can’t just love me!”

“I didn’t,” he sighed and brought his hand up to rub his forehead, “I didn’t say it just to hear it back from you. But we both know there’s no damn way we’ll ever go back to being normal or just friends because we never were in the first place.” Jay was right and you knew it. If anything you wanted to laugh a little at how foolish it was for the two of you to just somehow develop feelings so early on after meeting each other. Though neither of you had actually said the l-word out loud until Jay did just now, you had felt it in so many ways. It was exchanged in all the stolen glances and late-night cuddles. It was there the mornings you and Jay rushed to get the boys to school and the nights they’d plead for “just one more” bedtime story. It lingered on through the hopes you had for what one day could be your future like surprise visiting Jay’s office during lunchtime and bringing food using the excuse of, “I tried some new recipes and wanted you to taste it before I sold it,” or even one day having the privilege of being called Sunoo and Jungwon’s mom. But those were fleeting moments and hope wasn’t a plan, it was merely a direction.

“I don’t know what to tell you,” you muttered.

“Give us a chance.”

“What happens if we break up, Jay? What happens if Won and Sunoo want to stop by the bakery for some cupcakes but they can’t because you and I can no longer face each other? What happens when it’s not just you and I heartbroken, it’s the kids too? There are five hearts on the line here.”

“And I’ll do everything in my power to protect each and every one of them.”

“What happens if you can’t?” You felt Jay hold your hand and after missing his touch for so long, you couldn’t bring yourself to pull away.

“What happens when I can? What happens when this lasts just like I believe it will? What happens when,” you feel his thumb rub your ring finger and hear him take in a deep breath as he continues, “I put a ring on this hand and the two of us are facing each other at the altar? What happens when the five of us are taking trips to Brunei and Japan in the summer and all the other places we wanna explore together?” You wanted to believe Jay, wanted to one day fulfill all of the things that he talked about. But you couldn’t put this want into words and instead chose to answer him through action. Bringing a hand up to his shirt collar you pulled him closer to you and met his lips with yours. Unlike your first kiss with Jay or the brief ones you exchanged from time to time that were filled with passion, this one was filled with possessiveness. You could feel it in how his arms wrapped around you, holding you close to his chest as if he were scared that you’d fall into a black hole if he let go. You displayed it in how one hand of yours clung onto his shirt while the other cupped his face in hopes of keeping him here. Hope was never a plan, only a direction. But as you close your eyes breathing in Jay’s scent and reveling in the taste of him, you were desperately wishing this would be the right direction.

↬ a/n (2/2):

the end. JKJK this chapter isn’t the finale it’s the next one & i have no clue how i’m gonna wrap this story up-

❦ written by riri ( @enhykkul ) | next | series masterlist

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[youvebeenlivingfictional]

The Long Con Part Five

Previous Part | Masterlist | Next Part Pairing: Marcus Pike x Reader Rating: T Notes: I hope y’all had a good week! 💕 Warnings: This is almost purely fluff. There’s some angst in there, but it’s just, like...A speck. And it’s covered over by fluff. Also I’ve never been to Austin, I did a lot of Googling for this bit, so if any of it is inaccurate, I’m sorry!! It seems like such a cool town and I don’t wanna do it a disservice! Lastly, I linked the museum and the art pieces mentioned in the chapter at the end of the chapter, under the tags. Summary: You’d stayed behind to get ready— but you didn’t know what exactly what you were be getting ready for.

While you and Marcus would be helping Marnie and the family out with wedding prep during the week, they didn’t have anything in particular scheduled for that day. After he’d had his breakfast, Marcus had showered, gotten dressed, and left to get the car that he’d rented for two of you to use that week. You’d stayed behind to get ready— but you didn’t know what exactly what you were be getting ready for. “I wanna show you around while we’ve got some time,” Marcus had told you between stealing sips of your coffee (which were solely permitted because the two of you were pretending to be together - if this had been under any other circumstance, he would not have gotten away with a single sip. His parents had found it adorable. You had found it a loss of coffee).

You dressed in casual clothing, things that you knew you’d have no trouble walking around in for the day. Marcus honked twice once he was outside in the rental, and you bid quick goodbyes to his family. 

-- “So,” Marcus glanced over at you from behind the dark lenses of his aviator sunglasses, “We have a few options-- well, we’ve got a ton, but, I was thinking we could take a tour of the Capitol building, and check out the Harry Ransom Center -- it’s this massive archive and library. There are a few places we could hit for lunch, and then… I don’t know, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center? And I thought we could finish with the Blanton Museum of Art?... Or is that, like, a no, since we’re both kinda around art all the time?” You watched him for a few moments, stunned. He’d clearly gone out of his way to think about what you’d like to do -- places that he knew and that you would like. He wanted you to have fun, and time out of the house - away from his family. Marcus was taking you out and about like… Like he probably would a real girlfriend. “That all sounds really awesome,” You admitted softly. Marcus grinned at you, and you settled back in your seat, facing forward again. -- Conversation came as easily as it had when you were in D.C. Marcus dropped the odd fact about Austin now and again (though it was nothing near his panicked post-flight info-dump), pointed out his old haunts, told you about his and Marnie’s childhoods. Even without his family around, you found that the two of you kept close. You reached for one another’s hands; Marcus drew you into his side when you were in crowded places; even when there was plenty of room, Marcus’ hand was on your shoulder, or your back. The contact was comforting; it didn’t feel forced.  You found yourselves strolling through the Blanton with your fingers intertwined, speaking in hushed tones so as not to disturb the patrons around you. It was where the two of you wound up spending most of your day, discussing Fogel’s Conflict and Kern’s The Adoration of the Magi and Dorigny’s Diana of the Hunt. When you drifted into the Klimt pieces on loan from the Belvedere Museum in Vienna, and the two of you stopped in front of The Kiss, Marcus cupped your chin and leaned down, pecking the corner of your lips. You couldn’t help the stupid grin that took over your face, and you leaned into him, turning your head and hiding your face in his shoulder. 

He just curled an arm around you, smoothing a thumb along your side as you let your sheepishness run its course. You turned your head as it ebbed away, finally, taking in the intertwined lovers, robed in gold and adorned with flowers. 

--

“Okay, this… Is stupidly cool,” You admitted, looking around. “I was a little worried that you were going to stop at ‘stupid’.” “No!” You laughed, “I’ve never been anywhere like this.” Marcus had brought you to a bar with an arcade in Southern Congress for dinner. The two of you had ordered dinner and were looking for a few games to play before the food arrived. “They’ve got a little bit of everything. Pinball, Pac-man, Tron, Skeeball,” Marcus listed off. “Galaga?” “They’ve got Galaga.” “Perfect.” Marcus was exceptional at Pac-man and pinball, but you learned that you had the upper hand when it came to air hockey. You managed to play two games of it (both of which you won) before the food came. “Today has all been insanely awesome,” You told him after you’d polished off your pizza, “Thank you. I mean-- Seriously, you didn’t have to do this.” “I didn’t want you feeling like we were stuck at my family’s place all week, and...I mean I know we’re down here for Marnie, but you said you’d never been to Austin. I didn’t want you to miss out on seeing the city.” You and Marcus shared a smile before he added, “The whole day has been insanely awesome, huh?” “Yeah.” “Even in the kitchen?” “You mean when you were drinking my coffee? ‘Cause that put you on thin ice, mister.” “Right before that,” He corrected. The smile he was giving you was two parts bashfulness and one part coy. You folded one arm on the table, pillowing your chin on your other hand. “...Yeah, I’d include that. As first kisses go, it was…” You nodded a little, eyeing Marcus from under your lashes, “It was very...Very nice.” “‘Very nice’?” Marcus repeated, “I guess that’s not the worst review I’ve ever gotten.” “Don’t get all huffy,” You chuckled, ”I mean it, it was… I forgot what being kissed like that even felt like.” “What do you mean?” “I mean that...Was my first kiss in two years.” “Two-- How is that possible?” Marcus’ brow furrowed. You rolled your eyes a little bit, glancing away from Marcus as embarrassment swirled in your stomach. “The last person was my ex-fiancé. After that fell apart…” You shrugged, “I haven’t dated since.” You felt Marcus lean a little closer to get a better look at you. “Did you give up on finding someone?” “Not on purpose. I think I just...Built up some walls that I had torn down really quickly with them. And I built those walls up double. I prioritized work-- the devil I knew, you know.” “No dates, nothing?” “Nope.” “How many people did you turn down?” “What makes you think I turned anyone down?” Marcus tipped his head to the side, giving you a slight once-over as he muttered, “C’mon.” You shook your head, letting out a quiet, embarrassed laugh. “Well, how long after your engagement broke did you wait to date?” You asked. Marcus’ lips pressed into a thin, contemplative line before he admitted, “Five months.” “What made you get back out there? I mean… How’d you know you were ready?” “I wasn’t, but I was worried that if I waited until I was, the woman that had asked me out wouldn’t be available when I got there. I took a leap. It wasn’t a good leap, but it was a leap,” he chuckled, “And it made me remember that dating can suck and putting myself out there could be scary, but… Ultimately, it’s worth it.” You and Marcus regarded one another quietly for a moment. You couldn't even imagine what he was thinking. You couldn't understand how he was still so open to finding love when he'd been hurt the way he had. That sort of loss had only made you want to recede; it seemed to make Marcus even more determined to find love. Frankly, it was a wonder that he hadn't yet— he was the kindest man you'd ever met. You lowered your eyes to your empty plate as you realized that you were staring. It was easy to get caught up in his warm eyes; you’d found it happening more often lately, and it certainly suited the purposes of the lie you were playing up around his family. But there was something about all of it— his gaze, his smile, everything that the two of you had done today — it stirred up twinges or remorse. Lately you’d found yourself wondering if there ever could’ve been something real between the two of you, if you’d met under different circumstances. That was a very dangerous line of thought.

“If you’re finished with your food, we can go play some more air hockey.” You smiled at the offer, glancing back up at him as you asked, “I didn’t kick your ass enough the first time?” “Oh-- I was just warming up.” “Clocking all of my moves?” “Exactly.” “We’ll see about that.” (You beat him three more times.) (You let him win once.)

--

You flicked off the light before getting into bed, tucking yourself in beside Marcus. He yawned and mumbled, “G’night.” “Goodnight, what?” Marcus let out an exaggerated sigh, “Goodnight, supreme air hockey winner.” “Thank you.” “Mhm.” “I don’t ask for much.” “I know.” “Just that you steer clear of my coffee—” “Uh huh.” “And address me by my proper title.” You glanced over as you felt Marcus shift in the bed. Your breath caught in your throat as his arm wound around your middle, his hand dangling against your side as he rested his forehead against your shoulder. “Sleep,” He urged in a mumble, “Oh supreme one.” You settled down, resting one of your hands atop Marcus’ arm. It was a warm, comforting weight; a sweet touch that you could, if you weren’t careful, find yourself getting used to. “‘Oh supreme one’,” You repeated quietly, peering up at the ceiling, “I could get used to that.” Tag list: @hufflepuffing-all-day-long​ ; @spideysimpossiblegirl​ ; @blueeyesatnight​ ; @elen-aranel​ ; @yespolkadotkitty​ ; @artsymaddie​ ; @phoenixhalliwell​ ; @lunaserenade​ ; @winniedaboo​  ; @empress-palpat1ne​ ; @randomness501​ ; @nutmeg-20​ ; @leonieb​ ; @the-feckless-wonder​ ; @lou-la-lou​ ; @captain-jebi​ ; @supernaturalgirl​ ; @naturenebula21​ ; @evelynseventyr​ ; @giselatropicana​ ; @heatherbel​ ; @marydjarin​ ; @annathewitch​ ; @absurdthirst​​ ; @hnt-escape​ ; @writingletterstothefire​​ ; @misswriter​​ ; @bison-writes​​

Museums & Art Work

The Blanton Museum of Art

Fogel’s Conflict

Kern’s The Adoration of the Magi

 Dorigny’s Diana of the Hunt The Belvedere Museum

Klimt’s The Kiss

[kawaiijohn]

Rewind, Rinse, Repeat Chapter 1

For Invisobang Minibang 2021

Ao3 Link

Chapters: 3 finished, 12 total Rating: T+ Warnings: Major and Minor Character Death- all temporary, Implied Child Abuse/Neglect, Strong Language, Mild Body Horror, Mild Injury. Other warnings listed by chapter Characters: Clockwork, Danny Fenton, Pariah Dark, Levi | Leviathan (OC), Mal (OC), Observants, Mentions of other characters Ships: Lost Time, Dark Ages, CW & OC child, CW & Levi | Leviathan (OC) Genre/Tropes: Human AU, Magic AU, Found Family, Character Origin, Hurt/Comfort, Original Magic System and Lore Additional Tags: Existentialism & Existential Angst, Memory Loss & Amnesia, Corruption, Clockwork Centric, They/Them Pronouns for Clockwork, The Fenton's A+ Parenting, Obersvant Bashing

Summary

“Clockwork can I ask you something? How did you become a ghost?”

The tale surrounding the mystery of Clockwork's existence; a world where magic is common and ghosts are not. A world where one lonely, average mage tries with all their might to save what means most to them. A world where things need to be remade into something better.

Shout out to my betas @bibliophilea and @moonlights-shadow-warrior for keeping me sane, @13thdoodle for letting me use their OC, Levi, @dailudannos and @sailor-toni for providing art for later chapters, and all the folks over at @invisobang for being awesome!!!!

Chapter One below the Cut. The rest is available on my Ao3 account because tumblr linking/posting is hella broken.

Chapter 1: An Inquiry

“Hey, Clockwork? Can I ask you something?”

Clockwork looks over from the mirror they were watching intently.  “You already have, Daniel,” they reply, offering the other a smirk.

“Oh, ha ha.  You've never said that to me before.”  The reply is filled to the brim with sarcasm, as per usual.  Danny rolls his eyes, but a small smile gracing his lips betrays the fact he isn't annoyed in the least.  “Seriously, though.  It’s something that's been on my mind like... every day for the last two weeks!!"  He raises his hands towards the sky, flopping back in the air dramatically.  "But... it's kinda, y'know.  Personal-”  Danny trails off, slightly embarrassed.

Of course.  Clockwork finds themself smiling fondly- Danny thought he’d said something he shouldn't have- an inquiry that could make his guardian upset (as if it's even possible to upset Clockwork like that).  A question is a question, and this is a worrying habit of his that the Time Master is trying to help break, even if it's still somewhat endearing to them.

“I uh, I mean... it’s personal about- to you, not to me. That’s what I meant!!” Danny continued.

Clockwork stares at him, unblinking.  An idea (or thousands) of what he may ask flashes through their mind’s eye.  With a single, calming pulse to their Core, Clockwork pushes the involuntary slideshow of timelines aside as if they're no more than curtains.  They need to focus on the window in front of them; the here and now, not the temporal drapery.

It's a habit they are trying to overcome for Daniel’s sake.  To ensure their ward's growth, they need to stop peering into the near future as often- not discourage his asking of questions.  After all, what is a child if not but a well of endless curiosity?  Cutting Danny off is also sure to disallow the development of any trust or patience Clockwork needs to build within their young ward.  They wouldn’t receive either of those things if they assume what he wanted to ask.

It's common decency to not assume, lest it ‘make an ass out of you and me’, according to Daniel.

It is going to be a tough habit to break, but by the (other) Ancients, they're trying their best.  Their ward deserves the infinitesimal choices all other children have when asking things of their guardians, so even if they do glimpse to the future, they will not mention it to him.  Clockwork refuses and will continue to refuse to take their ward’s agency away; to not have a choice in things is a fate worse than fading.

The boy has been quiet, stuck deep within his own thoughts even after an impressive five minutes and thirty-seven and a half seconds of silence (uncharacteristic of the boy, Clockwork notes).

Now that just won't do- he must have lost his train of thought.  Clockwork gestures at the ghost boy, motioning for him to continue.  It works- Danny adverting his eyes and clearing his throat, "Well, it’s just like- you know so much about me- like, how I died, the whole Ghost Zone Prince business, that entire disaster doomed timeline with Dan... I just keep thinking- no- realizing, that I barely know anything about you!!”  He throws his arms up in thinly veiled frustration.

Clockwork smirks. “You had another question, did you not?”  They place a hand along the edge of the closest Temporal Mirror, turning to face the mirror- still halfway facing Danny.  They can see his inner debate clearly written on the boy's face- the mirror reflecting as if it were an ordinary object (for now).  They turn towards it fully and watch Daniel's reaction from behind them, acting as if they aren't finding joy in their ward's hesitation.  It's always adorable when he tries not to offend Clockwork. "I may be able to work with time, but that doesn't mean I wish to float here waiting for an answer all day."

Danny blinks a few times, rolling his eyes again in response.  Clockwork is certain that if they weren’t secured to his skull by human musculature they’d fall out and roll away.  “Well, I’m sorry for trying not to be rude and like, asking outright... but since it’s you I have to always be super direct!!  Jeeze you’re frustrating sometimes!”  He floats towards his mentor, crossing his arms.

Danny often forgets Clockwork isn't easily upset over trivial things such as questions.  Most questions are about things they already know the answers to, anyways.  And the few things that they don’t know when asked, they figure out soon after.  Such is the duty of the Master of Time- to be a step ahead of everyone and everything else always.  Besides, in most timelines (68.3% of them, to round up) the question Daniel wishes to ask is along the lines of ‘What was your past like?’ Another small fraction (a little under 20%) the question is ‘How did you get so strong?’ .  And even in the remaining timelines, the question would be along the lines of ‘How do your time powers work?’

They are each things Clockwork expects Daniel to ask them at some point or other, as it were.  There isn’t really anything Daniel can ask that could be too shockin-

“Clockwork, I was wondering… how exactly did you become a ghost?”

They... did not see that coming… in any of the timelines they’d glimpsed.  Clockwork stills for only a fraction of a moment, but it’s long enough for Danny to flinch, feeling as if he’s crossed a line.  They hear more than see Daniel shrinking in on himself as they look off into nothing, buried memories waking slowly in their mind.

Clockwork is brought from their introspection by a mumbled curse.  “Shit!  I mean... uh crap??"   They just stare at Danny as they are brought back to the present.  "Never mind just... sorry for asking...  Oh man!  Did I offend you somehow?  Ancients dammit, this is what I was worried about!!”  They watch him curiously, soft whirring coming from their ward's anxious core.  “We can just forget about it if-”  Daniel’s hands wring together nervously, shoulders tense with worry and face full of guilt.

Right- facial expressions are also important for a young ghost's emotional communication and development.  Sometimes the Time Master wonders if their isolation in Long Now affected their social behavior (it did).  Their face is carefully blank most times, so they set to fix it- they offer a small grin, hand coming to rest on Daniel’s shoulder.  “It is more than fine, Daniel.  You asked if you could ask a question- which is in fact, two questions, I should note- but I gave you consent to ask it of me.”  They squeeze his shoulder to placate the worry.

“It’s about time I told you this story, as it were.  I just did not foresee it being told at this very moment."  Clockwork floats slowly, turning away from their Mirrors.  "Come along- it’s best we sit for this.  I’ll have one of your friends bring us some tea.”

Danny floats after his mentor, looking around the room the two normally use to study history of the Realms.  “So, uh… is it a long story or...?”

“Oh, it is very long, indeed.”  They fly through an ornate door and over to their favored 'chair'- a stack of comfortable cushions in violets and blues, both impossibly cool and warm at the same time.  They recall Daniel discovering the room, eyes full of wonder and posture relaxed.  Clockwork chuckles- the first time their boy had wandered in here he'd decided to take a running dive into the pile, jumping up in surprise when it was cold as ice, yet warm as fresh laundry.  The expression on their ward’s face is one of their fondest memories; a happy moment amongst all the tedium of watching time.

“It may take a while to tell this tale proper. But, it is a story that ought to be told.”  Daniel makes himself comfortable on his chair of choice- an unholy combination of 'borrowed' pillows and what appears to be a more modern gaming chair- complete with an obnoxiously bright green-black color scheme.  Clockwork has to hide another smile as Danny wiggles himself deep into the pile.  “So, Daniel- what do you know of the phrase ‘Totems of Power’?”

“I thought I was getting a story, not a pop quiz!  Unfair!!”  His disdain for schooling makes Clockwork laugh fondly before the boy continues.  “But they’re like… hmm how do I explain this?  Well, there’s the universe right?  Like every timeline and every result of every timeline all at the same time kind of ties into the main universe thingy- but there's still a main timeline, and that's kinda like... Main Street, and the other possible timelines are uh... like side streets with dead ends?  But there's other forces that like, aren't time and… uhhh...”

He hums, crossing his arms deep in thought.  Clockwork takes the time to purr-sing-hum at one of the many blobs floating in and out of their lair; Daniel had asked them to keep some around as pets and the Time Master was happy to oblige.  They were unable to deny something so beneficial to the young Prince, after all.  The one deemed ‘Mr. Pants’ by one of Daniel’s friends answers their call.  Clockwork buzzes to it a quiet request- ‘bring Daniel's favorite tea and mugs for two, please.’  The little thing chirrups and zips off through the walls- eager to serve the Lair’s owner and be (potentially) rewarded with pats (from Daniel).

The Time Master brings their undivided attention back toward a grumbling ghost boy, lost in thought.  “Daniel if you need to ask for help I’m glad to-”

Danny snaps his fingers, coming to a realization before his mentor can finish.  “I got it!!  The best way to explain it is ‘The Universe needs to run smoothly, so there’s certain forces- like Time or Space- that are upheld by a powerful entity, like a person or like… the avatar of that concept?  Yeah, something like that, but they ensure the aspect they represent is properly cared for so the universe doesn’t completely like, die.’”  Danny nods to himself.  "It's why you stepped in to stop Dan, to make sure the world didn't end like that."

“That is correct- it is my job to ensure this universe of ghosts and reality doesn't crumble prematurely.  Now, do you have a recollection of any other Totems you may have encountered?”

“Well, yeah!  We call them ‘Ancients’, though- so like… Pandora is the one for war and history, and Nocturn is for like… dreams?  The Void or something, maybe?  And then there’s old man Pariah who isn’t one, but he said there’s a Leadership Ancient somewhere, and then-”  Danny pauses, blinking at Clockwork in realization.  “Wait, you asked that for a reason, didn’t you?”

“That I did.  Becoming the Totem, or Ancient of Time is where this story starts.”  Clockwork hums, seeing Mr. Pants fly back towards the two- nearly spilling scalding tea all over the ground.  “Now then.  We have drinks.  We are sitting comfortably.  I believe it’s time I spin my tale for you.”  They take a sip, closing their eyes in bliss.

They open them once more and see Daniel sitting, eyes full of stars and eager- Eager to hear, eager to fire off a question a minute.  It makes a chuckle bubble up in their throat, to see their favorite person so excited to learn.

“Once upon a time, there was a human; average in most ways, a simple person living a simple life.  They would get up in the morning, perform their daily tasks, and go to sleep at night.  Day in, and day out- a boring, but fulfilling existence.

“However, where this story differs from what we recognize as reality, is that in this realm, humans who could control magic were the norm.  Think as if it were like one of those fantasy games you and Tucker play together- mages, healers… all of those and more were commonplace when I was alive.  Yes, humans can wield magic now, but it is nowhere near as frequent as they could in our tale.”

They pause, seeing that Danny was about to interrupt.  “Wait wait- this realm?  Like- this is a completely different reality?? And people can wield magic now???  Are you messing with me?  Like… I thought it was all just-”  The boy stops, his train of thought drifting off the tracks as it tends to now and then.

“Yes, first, this is a completely different realm from either the Mortal Plane or the Ghost Zone.  Second, Daniel- tell me... have you not noticed the magic of those you have encountered?  Blood blossoms… a reality warping gauntlet?  The existence that is ‘Freakshow’ in general should be a red flag, seeing as his talents were… strangely non-ghostly in origin.  Not to mention objects such as the Infi-map...”

“Man, I wish I could forget about Freakshow… who mind controls ghosts???  He was the worst!” Their young ward crossed his arms and grumbles.

“If you’re done sulking about your past misadventures and former foes, I was in the middle of telling a story, if I recall correctly.  One you asked I tell you…”  Clockwork simply stares, unblinking as steam wafts from their slowly cooling tea.

All is well, they knew Danny would only take approximately 4.85 seconds to snap his attention back to their story.  Clockwork sips their tea, waiting.

Danny snaps out of his thoughts only a millisecond off of Clockwork's prediction. “Sorry... it’s just super weird to think that magic actually… still exists?  Like ghosts are real and all but magic being a thing feels a bit far fetched, don’t ya think?”  He pouts, brow furrowed.

The Master of Time finally closes their eyes, removing the hood from their head.  White hair floats gracefully behind them, settling just past their shoulders.   Clockwork opens their eyes again- a serious, yet warm expression directed at their ward.  “Magic is simply defined as reality altering acts using both energy and the willpower of a sentient being, if that helps.”  Another sip.  Mr. Pants made a wonderful batch of tea, as always.  They smile wider when they notice Danny’s expression- the boy has never seen them without a hood, and they know doing this will (in 99.78% of all possible timelines) convince the boy to take what they said seriously.   ”Just as ghosts can be defined as ‘ectoplasm given form and consciousness’, forces beyond humanity and the physical realm can be explained with scientific terminology if you know where to look.”

“So like... what all did magic have to do with this ‘simple human’ version of you?  Did you ever have the power to shoot lightning??  Could I shoot lightning if I tried?  Like were you some sorta time wizard?  Is that why you’re all… timey-wimey and powerful?”  Danny wiggles his fingers with a look of confusion on his face.

Clockwork always finds their Core warming when their boy acts his age.  He's abnormally prone to shoulder the destiny of the world on himself and often forgets he's just a kid.  “You could continue asking questions one at a time, or you could allow me to tell my story.  The choice is yours, Daniel.”  They smirk, watching as Danny purses his lips, his steady flow of questions stopping short.  The best answer.  “Perfect- all is as I thought it would be.”

They close their eyes and reminisce as they continue.  “Now- to answer your last question… Yes.  You could say magic is how I came to be the Master of Time in both the Infinite Realms and the mortal plane, but there is much more to the story than that.  Other players, situations, and pure circumstances.  The universe in its infinite chances and possibilities brought myself, as well as many others to the situations they face here and now.”  Clockwork pauses, taking the moment to stare straight through Danny’s soul.  “Even yourself.”

The boy shudders, an appropriate response.  “Wait... me?  Did you… do something in the past to like… a past version of someone we know??  Can that even happen???”  Danny is already enraptured by the story, eyes twinkling as his mentor opens up about themself.  The boy is obviously thinking about everything that has happened, everything that could possibly have happened, and everything that Clockwork could possibly drop on him.

They feel Daniel cautiously tug on loose strands of time to see if he could possibly scope out what is about to be said, quickly failing to do much else beside give himself a small headache.  “Time stuff is still really confusing, Clockwork…”

“You could say that.  You could even say that trying to mess with time in the inner sanctum of Long Now is the most confusing ‘time stuff’ one could do if they were not myself.”  They grin- a Temporal Mirror appearing behind them with a thought.

“What’s the mirror for?”  Danny catches sight of himself and looks away, embarrassed that he’s been literally glowing with power after trying to do something so simple with his developing powers.  The glow is something he’s been working on suppressing recently.  After all, it would be a shame if other ghosts could see the boy powering up by aura alone.

The Master of Time smirks, bringing tea to their lips again.  “I thought it would be fun to attempt braiding my hair and doing my makeup for once.  It has been an awfully long time since I’ve done either.”

They stare at Danny who just bursts into laughter.  “Did you just use sarcasm???  Man, I didn’t know you could lighten up, Clockwork!”  The boy laughs harder, sinking deeper into his nest of pillows.  After a few minutes he was finally wiping tears from his eyes.  “But no.  Seriously… what’s the mirror for??”

“Why, what they are always for, Daniel- seeing through time and space.”  Clockwork waves their hand.  The mirrors show an image of a human with dark hair and burgundy eyes.  They have a large, hooked nose and medium brown skin- and Danny finds himself having a hard time guessing their gender.  The human sits at a desk, paused in time with the delicate gears of a clock sprawled along the desk surface, tools in hand.

Behind Clockwork, the image changes, showing the human living through an average day- images play in small spurts, never showing the whole story.  “Do you understand what’s being seen?”  The young boy nods, grabbing Mr. Pants out of the air as the blob drifts between the two.  Good, he will probably need the companionship, especially towards the end.

This isn’t the easiest story to tell, nor is it easy to listen to, but with a sip of their tea, Clockwork continues.

[racheloveyunho]

Till Death do us part - 1

Y/N grew up in a wealthy family, she always was seen as a beautiful and smart kid and was most likely to take her father’s place as the CEO of one of the most important companies in South Korea. However, after the death of her mother, Y/N’s family slowly started to break apart. Her father was always working to forget his uncalled pain while his kids were left alone at home.

She was 17 years old when her life took a sudden turn when she met him in a dark alley. He was a bloody mess, bruises everywhere but behind blood and dirt, she could see his beautiful features and his addictive gaze. Maybe she should have walked away, maybe she shouldn’t have helped him, but the moment his gaze locked with hers, she was already his.

Choi San was his name.

Genre: Mafia AU, angst, fluff, stranger to lovers

Words: 2486

 TW: Y/N is described as an OC. Please be aware that this story will contain a lot of triggering content such as smut, blood, death, murder, drug, kidnapping, etc. Do not read if you are under a legal age!

Chapter 1

 I still wonder what would have happened if I didn’t meet him during this gloomy night? We were young and I was way too brave for my own good. Maybe it was my faith or maybe it was a sheer coincidence but now, I know that I will love him till death do us part.

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 5 years ago.

 "Hey Y/N, wake up sleepyhead! It’s time to go to school and I will surely not wait for the princess to wake up" my brother yelled loudly from the first floor, waking me up in the process.

I groaned and shifted uncomfortably in my bed; it was too much noise at such an early time of the day. My long-browned hair was messy from the last night, as always. I was the type of girl to move a lot during my sleep and my morning head was always a funny one, swollen, with small eyes and with some of my lightly curled hair stuck in my mouth. After five minutes of rethinking my life decisions, I found enough motivation to get out of my bed and walked down the stairs.

"Why the hell did I agree to help other students during holidays, huh?” I asked my brother as I lazily rubbed my tummy.

“Maybe because you are too dumb to say no to your teachers?” he answered, his mouth full of food.

“Do you mind keeping your mouth shut while you are eating? It’s disgusting.” I shook my head disapprovingly.

I headed toward the kitchen to get a cup of fresh milk. Jin, my brother, childishly opened his mouth wide to show me the content of it. I let out a long “Ew!” before smashing his arm playfully.

“No, but seriously Y/N. There’s no use to be brilliant at school if that means you have to help your classmates with their studies during holidays” Jin said after taking a sip of his coffee.

“Yeah, but the teacher who asked me this favor told me that he will write a recommendation for me if I agreed to help him” I answered.

“You don’t even need a recommendation, we’re from a rich family” Jin mumbled to himself but it was loud enough for me to hear it.

 He wasn’t totally wrong and I knew it. We were born with a silver spoon in our mouth. We were “cake eater” as the other kids used to call us when we were younger, we never knew what it felt like to run out of money and everyone at school was jealous of me because of that.

But they didn’t know. No one knew how hard it actually was for me and my brother.

My mother passed away 2 years ago, and since then, my father didn’t stay at home with us longer than a week straight. He was always working, working, and working again, his job had literally become his life. He was one of the richest men in Korea and still, he was always eager for more and worked every day and night for it.

He wasn’t a good father for me and Jin. He never made any compliments to us, all he was able to do was to pressure us to be as perfect as possible or at least perfect enough to not ashamed him and his reputation. Unlike my brother, I wanted to hear my father say that he was proud of me, just for once. That’s why I was trying hard to be the perfect daughter, with good grades, good manners, and good appearance but even if I tried my best, it wasn’t enough for him.

 “Do you know why I’m working so hard, Jin?” I asked him, voice as soft as a whisper, almost not daring to tell the truth.

“Why?” Jin put a hand on the top of mine, a sign of comfort since he already knew my upcoming answer.

“I don’t want to follow his rules forever. I’m still a minor so I had to stick at them but when I’ll turn 20, I will leave this house and will never come back” I sadly stated, “I want to marry a man I’m in love with, I want to do a job I like and most of all, I don’t want our father to commend my life.”

 Jin tightened his grip on my hand. He understood me, he understood me too well. We were indeed rich but we were far from being happy. Jin was 6 years older than me which means he was already an adult. He wanted to leave this house as much as me but couldn’t bring himself to do so and leave me behind.

Unlike me, Jin has never been a good student, he always has been considered a failure to our father, and even if he finally was able to run away from here, he stayed there for me. I was really lucky to have a brother like him and I was well aware of that.

 I took my breakfast and came back to my room to take a quick shower and get ready for this day I knew would be exhausting.

My brother was already waiting in his car. Jin took me to school as often as he could. He was working on a supermarket he owned and even if he was pretty busy, he wanted to spend his mornings with his “sweet baby sister” as he liked to call me.

I am indeed lucky to have a brother like him.

 8 pm, it was already late when I heard the bell ring for the last time today. I was the last one to leave the class as I helped my teacher with the preparation of some material for the next day. It didn’t bother me too much, I wasn’t in a hurry to get home since I knew my dad was finally coming back home from his work.

In all honesty, I didn’t want to see him. I didn’t miss him at all, even after all this time. I wandered here and there even though the street was already pitch black.

 “Oh! It’s been a while since I last went to the haunted alley!” I happily exclaimed to myself.

I knew every nook and cranny of Seoul, I grew up there after all. My favorite place was the haunted alley. As its name suggests and according to some beliefs, that path would be haunted.

It was an old story I heard with my friends when I was less than 10 years old. A grandma from our neighborhood scolded us and told us not to stay there because there was a woman who had been murdered in the walkway and that since then, one could hear her cry every night.

A simple way to scare naïve kids you may think, and you are more than right. However, this story is known by everyone, not just by kids. That’s the reason why I love this place, thanks to all of these rumors, no one uses this path except me. It was like my secret place.

 I walked around the alley with heavy steps, thinking about my father and his upcoming lecture about how to be a good girl. My thoughts were suddenly stopped by the voice of two men who seemed to be fighting each other. I stayed still for a moment, trying to figure out where the noises were coming from.

“You piece of shit! And you claim yourself as the Boss” son?” One voice laughed.

I hid in the dark and saw what could have been mistaken with a scene from a horror movie. Between two old houses, a tall man was beating up a boy who seemed to be around my age.

I felt shivers down my spine but before I could even think straight, my body started to move with its own will.

“Hey! Let him go!” I shouted, my voice betraying me by showing how scared I really was.

 I moved closer to the two men, I could now see them more clearly.

The young boy was sitting on the ground, badly bleeding, whereas the tall man was standing in front of him, blood on his hand and his nose broken.

They were watching me. The silence was heavy, the only thing I could hear was the beating of my racing heart and the shake of my knees that were begging me to run away from this place. The silence was soon replaced by an ominous laugh.

“Wow. What a beauty! Is she your girlfriend? Huh?” The tall man laughed and hit the youngest on his stomach before coming closer to me.

He came closer, until he was in front of me. I had a better view of his poor state. He wasn’t less bleeding than the other man, his blood was actually covering his whole face.

I don’t know what had taken into me at this exact moment, the adrenaline was rushing in my veins and even though my feet were stuck on the ground, unable to move, my hand reached the pepper spray I always carried in my bag. Before the man could react, I used my weapon against him.

When the chemical product had reached his eyes, he screamed and placed his hands on his face, trying desperately to soothe the pain. I took advantage of the situation and kicked him as hard as I could on his crotch before he fell loudly on the ground.

I quickly grabbed the boy by his arm and helped him stand up. He was badly injured but followed me without any complaint.

 I was panting when I reached a lighted street. We stopped there, trying to catch our breath.  I turned around to face the man I was still holding and my breath hitched in my throat, not from the run I previously had but because of how beautiful this man looked.

“Are you okay? What is your name?” I asked him but he simply stayed silent, staring at me with his piercing eyes.

I took a better look at his features, he was really handsome with a well-defined face. He wasn't older than me but he hadn't the body of a teenager either. His broad shoulders and his arms muscles could be seen without any effort from him. His dark hair was harmonizing with the dark of his eyes and his dimples were visible as the border of his lips turned upright in an inviting smirk.

How can someone like him be involved in such a fight?

“The sight is at your taste?” he giggled, his smile spreading wider.

I finally took notice of my staring when I heard him laugh. I must say it was the most beautiful laugh I ever heard, slightly high-pitched but almost bewitching.

“I wasn’t staring!” I shouted from embarrassment. Fortunately, the darkness of the night was covering the redness on my cheeks.

“Sure, you weren’t” He added, amused by my reaction “I’m San. Choi San. I didn’t need your help earlier but thank you, I’m glad you rescued me”

He came closer to me and gave me a sincere smile, showing even more his dimples.

My heart was going crazy in my chest. This boy seemed small earlier compared to the other man but he was way taller than me, maybe 7 inches taller.

“You’re welcome”

I was a bit intimidated by him but I dared not to look away. He had something special, an aura that seemed as dangerous as comforting. His gaze was intense and deep, it was like he was looking through me, memorizing every detail of my face.

He didn’t move and didn’t talk for at least 2 minutes and even if I was feeling uncomfortable, I did my best not to let him know.

“Where is your house?” he finally asked after what felt like an eternity.

He startled me with his sudden question, I didn’t expect him to talk this soon. Why did he want to know where I lived? He probably wanted to walk me home and I would have gladly let this handsome guy walk me home if I hadn’t met him in an odd situation.

‘But he is really handsome…’  I thought, sighing softly, making San arch an eyebrow.

“It’s okay, I live near here, no need to walk me home. You can go ahead…” I said “Go ahead to…the hospital, your house or…go murdering someone…whichever comes first” I added, lowering my voice at the end of my sentence.

His face changed into a surprised expression “I wasn’t going to walk you home, don’t worry”

I sighed in relief even if I felt a bit disappointed, maybe he wasn't that bad after all.

“I want to stalk you” he stared at me with his beautiful smile as if it was the most natural thing to say.

‘What the fuck?’

“Sure, stalking me haha, it was obvious, silly me!” I gently hit my head and laughed awkwardly, taking a step back from him.

He laughed sweetly and took my chin between his thumb and his index to lift my face up. His mouth came closer to my ear and he whispered a small “Just joking” before turning his heels back and leaving me, alone, in the dark street.

  I was finally back home. Fortunately for me, my dad hadn’t noticed me since he was already sleeping on the couch.

I quickly went upstairs to my room and collapsed on my bed, my mind still processing what had happened earlier. It was scary to say the least but fascinating at the same time. I was still confused even after showering. This San had a deep effect on me, not only mentally but physically too.

“Choi San…” I muttered before closing my eyes and drifting into a deep sleep.

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This is my first story, it’s bad but I’ll try to improve myself!

This series will be uploaded slowly since I don't have a lot of time.

Thank you for reading!