#but do i remember what their choreography is half the time? nope

[sanstropfremir]

Favorite tvxq choreos?

SOMETHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! even if the actual choreo was meh (which it is not), that cable management and coordination is NEXT level. also kyhd, that hands on the dancers' heads move is crazy and i think about it like at least once a day. also catch me, how could you not love another ridiculous gimmick that has no reason to work (and literally doesn't half the time kdlsjfs). and not to be that person but the original five member choreo for mirotic just has something else (junsu). they went fucking OFF for that one.

[dvrk-moon]

ENHYPEN ; 엔하이픈

HAVING AN IDOL S/O

requested : yes!!!

genre : fluff, crack

pairing : enhypen ot7 x fem!reader

warnings : cursing, this is long asfk LOL

HEESEUNG ; 희승

so you two trained together

and you mutually liked each other while training but didn’t really talk much

you ended up leaving bighit in early 2018 and going to train at cube instead

so you lost contact

but you ended up debuting as the maknae of (g)i-dle

and since you debuted before enhypen, you were more well known than they were initially

you were one of the more famous members in the group in korea, so your face was pretty inescapable

so imagine heeseung’s reaction when he sees a birthday ad for you for the first time

mind literally blown

so he’s like looking you and your group up to see if it’s really you (it is)

and he’s like damn i gotta get in contact with her again

but he doesn’t have an opportunity because even from a friends standpoint, he didn’t really have time because he had to focus on training and eventually going through i-land

ok skip forward and he’s debuted yay!!!!!

so you had a promotion period that’d lined up around a year and a half later where you made a duo debut with your member shuhua while enha was promoting manifesto

and heeseung saw you backstage once

between him seeing you for the first time up until that point he’d literally been trying to find out how to talk to you again

and this was his opportunity!

so before you went to perform heeseung approached you randomly

and lowkey you’d forgotten about heeseung until you saw him again lol

and you’re like oh hey… so awkward because what do you genuinely say to someone you haven’t talked to in like four years

but when you remember that he’s the heeseung that you talked to during your trainee days (the same heeseung you had a thing for) you are more willing to talk to him

but then your conversation is cut short because you have to go perform your song

when you come back, he’s still waiting for you :((((

like that man is COMMITTED to getting to talk to you again

so then after like thirty minutes of talking (right before he has to go promote his song) he finally gets the courage to ask for your number

and you’re like shit yeah

so he texts you like every day

and during your overlapping promotions, he tries to meet up with you backstage as frequently as possible

so eventually you gain feelings for him again (and he obviously does for you) and you start hanging out

but then he goes on tour for a while

you miss him a lot

and he misses you a lot

so when he comes back, he impulsively like picked you up while hugging and you’re like um okay MARRY ME

one hangout he finally asks you out (as more than friends) and you’re so excited

so you quickly begin dating :)

dating him is definitely like dating your number one supporter

like he makes it a point to meet you backstage (even if you don’t have an overlapping promotion) and he makes you teach him your choreography

and you’re like “heeseung i can teach you this at your or my dorm” and he’s like “nope i need everyone here to know that you only teach me your dances”

you’re like “???” but don’t question it bc he’s just odd

he prefers you to go over to his dorms because of his solo room but he’s not opposed to making friends with your members even though they’re all older than him

just know if you go over to enha’s dorms though they will 100% try to be around you all the time

and don’t get heeseung wrong, he obviously wanted the members to like you, but he also wasn’t anticipating his own girlfriend being stolen from him

you almost get caught by dispatch a couple times

but dispatch fr fr catches him at MAMA

like this man was so protective of his idol image for so long and the he watched your performance and dispatch was like “WRITE THAT DOWN WRITE THAT DOWN”

does not gaf if you’re exposed tho bc he’s like “yup that’s my girlfriend suck it she’s MINE”

JAY ; 제이

so you debuted before him

by like a year and a half, so like january 2019

you were one of the members of itzy, which was the talk of the town for quite some time

and jay was actually a huge fan of your group since he was a trainee

your group had a few hit songs in korea but jay made it seem like every song of yours (yes this includes b sides)

you’d been his bias since your teaser dropped ofc

and he made it everyone’s problem to listen to your music during practice

even during i-land there were clips of him doing the shoulder move from ‘wannabe’

but i digress

so once his debut place is secured as of i-land episode 12 he was so excited that he might have the opportunity of meeting you

but like. he had to be normal about it

so he freaked out about you respectfully

but “respectfully” to him was mentioning you as his role model and ideal type

on like every variety program possible

like damn we get it!!!!

but your and his companies thought it would be just so silly and funny if they brought you out to meet him the next time he mentioned you

and so they did exactly that!!!

he was on weekly idol and all of a sudden you came out from where the staff were filming

he actually almost fainted on the spot

and you thought it was sooo cute that he was that flattered over meeting you

so you approached him and asked him for his number

cue him almost passing out pt 2

but you end up talking quite a bit

like u come visit him quite often and he comes to visit you

and he like is literally like the perfect talking stage

so it takes like zero time for you guys to actually start dating

but when he can’t visit you he’s texting you all the time

“your stage was so good how are you real”

always buying albums for each other for support

and he’s like $$ so he buys a ton of yours (and of his if you want some)

he gets so excited when he pulls your photocard and is so happy when you pull his because he thinks it’s fate

but the one time he caught riki’s photocard in the back of your phone he swapped it out for his almost immediately

he always jokes about his bias being yuna, and so you’ve started to make a point of saying your bias is jungwon and sunghoon

and because you did that you took a picture of you and jungwon once to send to him like “proof that my bias is jungwon”

that pic became his lock screen btw

you one time said that you were an enhypen fan and midzy and engene were freaking out

they were like “just date already smh”

little did they know that you already were!

JAKE ; 제이크

you were a year and a half their junior

and you debuted in kep1er

so the time that they were promoting blessed cursed you were promoting wa da da

and like you’d just debuted too

so you had just done a stage and were on your way to your groups van to go back to the dorms

and you go to enter the first black van you see with an open door

and instead of your members you’re met with jake sunghoon sunoo!

you turned red immediately and ran in the other direction to actually find your van where yujin, yeseo, chaehyun, and hiyyih were waiting for you

you told your members and they thought it was so funny

but jokes on them

because the very next week, jake had accidentally walked into your waiting room at mcountdown

who’s laughing now!!! (you are)

after the incident, he found you and came to apologize for walking in

and you were like “ohhh that’s so funny because i actually was the one who came into your van last week!”

but after the apologies were exchanged, you two ended up walking around backstage anyways and just talking about anything and everything

after you and your members had to go perform, jake just waited for you backstage

and once you were done performing you came back and talked to him more ! yay !

but then soon enha had to go on to perform b-c and by the time he came back, your group had already left :’(

it’s okay though because you left your phone number on a post-it that said “FOR JAKE” in their waiting room

enhypen teased him so hard but he was like whatever at least i got her number

so he texted you like almost immediately

soon after, you two texted like all the time and started meeting backstage whenever it was possible

jake asked you out for the first time right before you went on stage to perform and obviously you said yes

but when you went to perform, your voice was such a bright red color that it went viral amongst kep1ians (and later other fandoms)

after that stage, jake and you just sat and talked in the kep1er waiting room for sooooo long

he’s literally the biggest fan of your group

like he’s so open and genuine about how much he likes your group, and he always somehow has one of your songs on his recommendation playlists

and those songs will somehow always be sandwiched between the most beautiful love songs ever and it makes engenes go 🤨🤨

you also are open about being a fan of them

so basically your fans and his have already put two and two together very quickly

but the suspicions were confirmed when he posted a late-night river view picture on weverse and then you posted something extremely similar a couple days later

winning the idgaf war about people finding out though

like he’s like DONTTTT CAREEEEE <3 MY GF

he actually thinks it’d be better if people knew so that no one would try anything on you because you’re taken

SUNGHOON ; 성훈

you were the seventh member of ive, also known as wonyoung’s group

and like wonyoung is your bff

she knew you found sunghoon cute from all the times you’d asked her if you could come visit her on music bank days

so she wanted to play matchmaker!

(love me not reference?!?!)

anyways

she gets “sick” once and is like “hey y/n why don’t you stand in for me?”

and you’re like “yeah sure whatever idc it’s chill”

it’s not chill

for reference, sunghoon also thought it was going to be chill, because he had no idea that you were standing in for wonyoung

little did wonyoung know, sunghoon also found you very attractive

ofc he would’ve tried to get your number through wonyoung, but he was too introverted to even think about it

so when you get there, both of your faces are pretty red, but your cheeks at least cool down by the time you’re recording

his do not 😭

he’s like sneaking looks at you and shit

he thought he was being so subtle too about it like bye 😭😭

but fans love the interactions!!!!

and they’re sooooo stoked to have jungwon sunoo and sunghoon on the radio that you host after the fact

sunghoon fucking DRESSES for the occasion too like damn

and like you made a point to be like “nice outfit”

on the outside he was like “yeah it’s whatever” but on the inside he was shitting his pants

anyways

and so you asked him for his number because you wanted “fashion tips” (you’re a liar)

so the first time he asks you out he’s like “let me style u an outfit”

and then while doing that he’s like “let’s date!”

and you’re like “well alright”

(jk u were just as stoked)

and dating him is so relieving

because you don’t have to keep the relationship (at least beyond friends) a secret

fans love the interactions

and so when you guys actually announce the relationship everyone is so hyped

like they already expected it

but still

he never misses an opportunity to talk about you on live or on a variety show

the interviewer is like “so, sunghoon, what was your favorite part of this comeback?”

he thinks for a second. then all of a sudden, “well y/n-”

like bro we get it

he just does not even care tho bc he’s so down bad

SUNOO ; 선우

okay now so remember when sunoo was a radio dj?

yeah

so you debuted in billlie, and your song, gingamingayo had just been released

and sunoo had heard it quite a few times already on his dj show

and he’s like “ok damn i get it let me look up the song”

he became a fan so quickly

like learned the choreo and everything

so the following week on the radio show he’s like “oh have you guys heard this song it’s so good actually i’m a fan of this group”

and then BOOM next week you’re on the show he radio djs for

chemistry between u guys went CRAZY

and then you filmed a tiktok together

and posted it like a week after the radio episode had gone viral

engenes and belllie’ves went crazy

you guys had already exchanged numbers at that point too

so getting to laugh about your fans freaking out was super fun to you two

you started visiting him at radio show schedules in secret after the fact

so he ends up asking you out about a month later

and ofc you say yes

so once you started dating, he would visit you at your schedules a lot

you would often pretend to be a staff member at the radio show so you could be there without raising much question

but then one time you were a “special guest” on the radio show again, and you filmed another tiktok, but this time it wasn’t like one of your group’s dance challenges

it was like a cute trend

so once you got the okay to post it, you did

this confirmed to engenes and belllie’ves that you were friends at the very least

he always finds a way to sing your songs on live

doesn’t ever sing when it’s your part though 🤨🤨🤨 it’s almost like he wants to hear your voice

one time he came to one of your fansigns “anonymously”

people found out it was him so quickly 😭

he’s so shameless about people knowing though

after that, fans basically already know you’re dating even if you don’t outright say anything

nobody actually cares though

they’re just waiting for that third y/noo tiktok 🙏

JUNGWON ; 정원

you debuted in illit, as a result of the belift survival show “r u next?”

you came in first place, just like jungwon did on i-land

so naturally, under the same sublabel, illit and enhypen passed each other quite frequently

you’ve actually interacted quite a bit with the other members

but for some reason, their leader was a bit standoffish to you

and you had absolutely no idea why he would be

you thought that maybe it was because you’d also come in first place on your respective survival show, so maybe he had one sided beef with you?

it didn’t make sense but that’s just what you assumed

actually ☝️🤓 jungwon had a big fat crush on you

and had no idea what to do about it

like he secretly supported you on r u next? and everything

so eventually, belift decides to make a variety show for illit and enha

as the first place winners, you two are paired together, along with your japanese maknaes, ni-ki and iroha

iroha and ni-ki were already acquainted, so iroha told ni-ki about how funny it was that you and jungwon were in the same group, given that jungwon hated you

and ni-ki’s like ?!

so he like goes up to jungwon and is like “she thinks you hate her bro”

he’s so embarrassed to find out that you thought he hated you

ni-ki teases him so hard about it

so eventually jungwon admits to you (off-camera) that he doesn’t hate you, and in fact he’s quite fond of you

it lifts the biggest weight off his chest when you also admit that you’re fond of him, and that he was your role model ever since you’d joined r u next?

after filming, you two exchange numbers

he’s such a baby like seriously how could you think he hated you

it doesn’t take long AT ALL for you to start dating

in fact hybe/belift encourages it because they think it’ll be good exposure for both groups

and it highkey is

in korea, you guys gain the title of “first place couple” and omgggg knetz eat that up

you’re invited on a ton of variety shows together

jungwon is sooooo so supportive and is lowkey a stan of your group

he like sends you your fancams and is like “teach me this dance pls”

when your two groups pass each other in the hallways, enha and illit always make it a point to tease you two

you guys don’t mind though because at least you have each other ☝️☝️

RIKI ; 니키

you debuted as the maknae of loona

so you’d been in the industry a few years longer than enhypen had

so riki knew of you, but you weren’t super familiar with them

but the both of you were invited onto a variety program for foreign idols

you ended up becoming more familiar with them after being paired together with riki for a couple challenges

one interaction you had made you two go completely viral after executing a twice choreography together extremely well

both bbc and belift saw this as an opportunity to make some money, so they kinda forced you and riki to get close

little did they know that’s what you both wanted anyways lol

so like you’ll have a live with him

or you’ll film a tiktok together

or you’ll post something together

etc

somewhere along the lines you two start dating in secret

namely after you two filmed a live together

and he saw one of the comments that said “y/n please do perfect idol challenge” and you started doing the perfect idol dance on live

you started giggling because you started to forget the dance because you were embarrassed and he was smiling like a fucking maniac and then he realized he really really liked you more than a friend

and so soon after he didn’t wanna waste any more time and he just confessed that he liked you

and you were like “no way me too!!!!”

(everyone could tell)

it wasn’t super in secret though

because belift/bbc had that “bffs for life” image for you two

so you could interact freely

it just took every bone in riki’s body to not grab your hand and pull you into his arms during a dance live

but then womp womp

dispatch exposes you guys like four months into the relationship

no one cares though (except delulu fans)

so when you terminate your contract with bbc for the mistreatment, engenes beg you to audition for hybe/belift because they’re afraid if you go somewhere else you won’t be able to interact freely with him anymore and they love your interactions

you end up joining ctd, which is the company of one of the post-loona acts, along with five of your ex-members

luckily ctd is a good company so they let you and riki still stay together and still have your lives

one time riki was doing a weverse live and you showed up

and fans absolutely LOVED it

ctd is an unknown company so they unexpectedly got a lot more sales with this relationship

they were like DAMN OK

anyways

you guys teach each other your choreos A LOT

like a lot

riki eats them up so bad like fans start saying he’s the seventh member of your group 😭

a/n : had to include illit in this somehow i love them they’re so cute. sorry for the lack of posts i am sooooooo fucking busy and this was in the drafts for forever

[faux-fires]

tagged by @ranilla-bean for the 20 questions meme!

1. how many works do you have on ao3? 35

2. what’s your total ao3 word count? 466,309. Hey, that's not too shabby!

3. what fandoms do you write for? Currently NONE. previously: dragon age, tsubasa chronicle, supernatural, fullmetal alchemist, legend of zelda...

4. what are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Your Princess is in Another Castle ("Dragons kidnap princesses, everyone knows this… except sometimes, they get it wrong. Or do they? A story about mistakes, misunderstandings, and flower crowns. Also Kurogane's non-stop never-ending suck of a life, and the idiot that causes all that chaos to begin with.")

For Better or for Worse ("A 'five things' fic, featuring five different times Hawke proposed to Anders.")

The Centre of All Things ("Hawke gave Anders a ring, after their first night together, and never quite told him what it meant. As Kirkwall begins to crumble around them, Anders struggles to strike a balance between love and the needs of the mages.")

Adjustment ("A year after the end of Act 2, Anders comes home late, and Hawke missed him.")

Bound ("Anders receives many gifts from Aggressive!Hawke across the years. He's charmed by most of them, surprised by others.")

most of my fics predate ao3 and while i backloaded the TRC ones on, I can't be bothered doing the same for the FMA fic i wrote 20 years ago. and the SPN stuff, uh, well, AO3 kind of did it for me! i woke up one day and an old archive i forgot my fic was on had been ported to the archive, all my spn fics helpfully attached to my account in the process. when i tell you i orphaned them at something like the speed of light -

5. do you respond to comments? Um.... I MEAN to, but.... i'm not great at remembering...? i really cherish every one i receive and i KNOW it's bad of me, i can only offer apologies.

6. what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? i literally just write happy endings i can't answer this

7. what is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? how are defining happy??? look mikke takes the piss out of me ALL THE TIME for my definition of fluff, ever since i entered a fluff vs angst competition on the side of team fluff with a story in which one half of the otp was tortured and murdered (he got better)! *i* define a happy ending as one in which, during the course of the story, a character grows and develops. by that metric, an ending where the character loses everything and everyone they love but gains a mindset enabling them to find peace with the loss is a happy ending, TO ME. a sad ending, by contrast, is one in the character does not grow or change, and stays in the same state (or worse!) than they started the story.

so with that in mind, probably through a forest wilderness. people die! anders and hawke are rejected as monstrous by the people they tried to save! but they gained one (1) feral orphan and solved their relationship issues, d'awwww. <3

8. do you get hate on fics? nope

9. do you write smut? if so, what kind? yes, but not in EVERY story. i find smut to require a lot of effort to write! there's complex choreography and emotions to handle... the only thing harder (HEHEHE) is fight scenes for the exact same reason

10. do you write crossovers? what’s the craziest one you’ve written? i'm not interested in crossovers (blorbos from series a meet blorbos from series b) but i love a good fusion fic, where blorbos from series a have always lived in the world of series b. craziest... probs the trc/wow fusion fic i wrote for an audience of three people? idk i've written a lot! i dreamed of a zukka howl's moving castle fusion a few days ago (probably inspired by chiptrillino's gorgeous illustrations she's been sharing recently) so that was pretty fun, as someone who very, very rarely remembers my dreams.

11. have you ever had a fic stolen? nope!

12. have you ever had a fic translated? yeah, to russian!

13. have you ever co-written a fic before? yeah, @mikkeneko and i wrote a whole SPACE OPERA. well. half of one, i guess (oops).

14. what’s your all-time favourite ship? whatever i'm shipping at the moment

15. what’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? i plead the fifth

16. what are your writing strengths? EMOTIONS. also i think i write humour well?

17. what are your writing weaknesses? starting, continuing and finishing. /sob

18. thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? even if you're fluent in that language, it alienates more people than it impresses, i think. i love using other languages as an easter egg (like rana has a character named with a cantonese pun in the iconoclast) but whole dialogue is like... very hard to pull off, and outright mortifying if you don't actually speak the language and just google translate it.

19. first fandom you wrote for? the legend of zelda! my irl friends and i (aged 13) had a massive shared self-insert 'verse going on. my first steps into fandom PROPER tho was with fullmetal alchemist.

20. favourite fic you’ve written? this is a complex question because how do you define favourite? swift illuminations was probably the most fun to write (anders vs hawke arm wrestling) and i always enjoy getting to write comedy - your princess is in another castle has my favourite lines i've ever written, for example:

"Can I go?" Yuui asked Ashura. Despairing it was, then. At least he wasn't naked. It was a low bar to meet in terms of presentation, but so far two of the six people in this room weren't making it.

these skies are breaking i've always been fond of because it's 35k and i wrote it in two days but the plot is uhhhhhh. missing. ash on the windowsill same sitch, 50k in 36 hours and my first completed multi-chapter fic but i wince at how clumsy it is when i reread it. i'm proud of a lot of my later dragon age fics because they contain better exploration of ideas and characterisation, so... idk. toss up!

but in terms of stuff i'm most satisfied with, probs 'how to love a god' this short character exploration piece i wrote for the anderszine. first time writing second person and because of the zine space limit i had a hard maximum word count too so i agonized over every word choice. i don't really edit my own stuff - i post it pretty much hot off the hoop - but i did actually enjoy doing it that time.

uhhhh so that's me. but i'm tagging.... anyone who wants to do this!

[dream-a-little-bigger-x]

Don’t Go Breaking My Heart | Charlie Gillespie

Requested by anonymous: Hi! Could you possibly do a Charlie x reader fic where they are filming season 2 & there is a new character (fashion expert/can see ghost/a little bit of enemies with Luke at first) but off screen they are very close (always hanging out/on ig posts & stories/dance partners/they sing karaoke/adventure) & the whole cast likes to tease them about it but they deny any feelings however they are about to film a very important scene that involves their characters & might change everything between them.

Pairing: Charlie Gillespie x reader

Warnings: fluff

Words: 2,789

Season 2. Finally Season 2. Everyone had been hoping, wishing, praying for a season 2 of Julie and The Phantoms, and after months of waiting, Netflix finally picked it up for a second season. After those months, the actors had just to wait a little while longer while the crew wrote up the first drafts of scripts and made it perfectly save for the actors to do their work. Once all of that’s ready and they’re good to go, the cast finally reunite again in Vancouver. They even meet some new cast members. Like you. You had auditioned for the role of Daniela Ramos, Julie’s cousin and Victoria’s daughter, and got it pretty much straight away. Daniela is a fashion student at a High School in Melrose Hill and Julie asks her for some help with costumes for her next gig with her band. To Julie’s surprise, Daniela can actually see the boys, even when they’re not playing, which causes for a lot of trouble in the band and family, especially between Julie and Luke. This is your first big role on the small screen and you’re the most excited you’ve ever been. You met the other cast members at the summer bootcamp before the filming process would start, and though almost everything had to be done with a face mask covering half of everyone’s face, it still was a lot of fun getting to meet everyone and spend the most fun summer ever. Every day, you grew closer and closer to everyone on set, and soon became best friends with Madi, Jadah, Savannah and Tori, doing plenty of sleepovers. Besides the girls, you also grew closer to Charlie, Owen and Jeremy, but mostly Charlie. For some reason, the two of you just clicked instantly. You have the same humor, the same taste of adventure, the same passions and dreams. You, Charlie and Owen even rented a place together to live in for the time being in Vancouver. You got even closer during filming, especially since you and Charlie have a lot of scenes together. “Oh my God, Luke, you’re so annoying!” you yell at him when the two of you are in the garage, taping a scene. It had taken you about ten takes and you still couldn’t help but giggle at the shocked face he pulled every time. “If I’m so annoying, Dani, why do you keep coming back?!” The angry face he pulls resembles that of an angry kitten, which just makes you crack up again. “God dammit, Y/N!” Charlie laughs now too as Kenny yells “Cut!” “Sorry! Sorry, guys! I promise I’m a real actor!” You hold your hands up in defense, then cough to get ready for another take. This time around, you could finally manage to get through it without laughing. “Yes!” Charlie exclaims when Kenny yells “Cut!” again. He holds his hand up for a high five, which you giddily give him. “Do you need any more takes, Kenny?” he asks the man himself. “Nope, you’re good! You can go on your break now!” he pats Charlie’s shoulder. “Nice job, guys!” “Thanks, Kenny,” you say, the smile growing on your face. “I need food, Gillespie,” you tell your best friend, linking your arm with his. “Let’s go get food!” The two of you head down to catering and sit down at a table with a plate full of food. “What are we doing tonight?” he then asks before taking a bite of food. You swallow your bite of food and take a sip from your drink. “Don’t you have a night shoot tonight?” you ask, remembering him saying something about a late call. “No, that’s tomorrow, after our dance rehearsal,” he replies after swallowing the food. “Oh! Okay!” You start thinking of things to do, “We could go to karaoke? Bring the others maybe?” He raises his eyebrows, looking at you questionably. “I’ve always loved karaoke,” you shrug with a giggle. “Yeah, okay!” Charlie nods his head agreeingly. “Karaoke it is!” The two of you smile up at each other, teeth showing, both of you glowing. “What are you love birds discussing?” Owen asks when he joins them, his voice muffled from the mask covering his face. He pulls it down to under his chin as he and Jeremy join the two at the table. “We’re thinking about going to karaoke tonight with the whole team!” you tell them, completely ignoring the ‘love birds’. “Ooh, fun!” Owen exclaims with a smile that nearly reaches his ears. “Yeah, we’ll leave after shooting the last scene tonight,” Charlie suggests, looking at you for confirmation. You nod your head agreeingly. That night, you and the rest of the cast head to the nearest karaoke place you know. You’ve linked arms with Savannah and Tori, giggling through the night, trying to keep your balance on your heeled boots. Meanwhile, without you realizing, Charlie has been keeping his eyes on you the whole way there. He finds it adorable how your giggle floats through the night air and your hips bump against the other girls’. He couldn’t lie, you had easily become the light in his life. “So, what song shall we begin with?” you ask the gang as you settle into the booth. “Pick the first one on the list,” Jeremy replies when no one else does. You nod your head curtly and press play on the first song, which is Living on a Prayer by Bon Jovi. You can already tell after that first song; tonight is going to be a fun night. You sing a couple of songs with the girls, there are many group numbers, and you even sing one with your roommates. After singing with Owen and Charlie, the latter points at you. “We’re going to sing together now!” he exclaims excitedly before turning around and picking a song for you to sing. When he’s picked one, he grabs your hand to pull you closer towards him. You blink a couple of times, unable to process what’s happening right now. The opening notes to Don’t Go Breaking My Heart by Elton John and Kiki Dee chime through the booth. You glance over at Savannah and Tori, who offer you an encouraging smile. Then you look at Jadah and Madison, but they’re too busy giggling and whispering, and it makes you wonder if that’s about you and Charlie. Your eyes dart over to the boys – Jeremy, Owen and Sacha – who just offer you suggestive smiles and eyebrow-wiggles. Charlie’s voice captures your attention again, and you turn to him. “I couldn’t if I tried,” you sing back to him. The encouraging smile on Charlie’s face calms you down a little up to the point where it almost seems like the two of you are the only people in the room. You have no clue what is happening or why it’s happening. All you know is that you’ve wanted it to happen sooner. Though you wouldn’t ever admit that to anyone. It’s the way he looks at you and the way he makes you feel like you’re the only person on this planet that matters. It’s been the way he’d looked at you since that first day of meeting him. “I won't go breaking your heart,” you sing the very last line to him ever so softly, not even looking at the screen anymore, but instead, looking into his eyes. “Don't go breaking my heart,” he sings back. The song ends and you both lower your microphones, staring into each other’s eyes. If it wasn’t for the rest of the cast breaking out into cheers and applause, you would’ve kissed him then and there. But it startles you, and you step away from him upon realizing how close you are and how that must look to the others. “So, when’s the wedding?” Madison asks teasingly, which makes the others laugh, and you blush. After that night at karaoke, the two of you had silently agreed to forget anything ever happened. Savannah said you were in denial, but you believed you weren’t. You told her it was just the atmosphere in the air that night, the both of you had consumed a little bit of alcohol and it might’ve just been that. No one stopped teasing you though. On every possible occasion, they’d ask you if you’d kissed him yet, or when your next date it, or started singing Don’t Go Breaking My Heart randomly. You just shook it off every time, finding it amusing how consumed the cast was with this ‘relationship’ you had with Charlie. There was nothing more going on than just a really, really tight friendship. Until the dance scene happened. Your character, Dani, was supposed to go to a school dance with her crush, but she was nervous because she had never slow danced with anyone before. When she tells Luke, he insisted on teaching her, saying he’d gone to plenty of school dances back in ’94 and ’95 before he died. You and Charlie know this choreography by heart, you’ve been doing it for weeks on end at bootcamp and during rehearsals. It had always just been fun and games, the two of you being immaculate dancers and bouncing off of each other so well because of your tight friendship. “I could teach you?” Charlie says as Luke, stepping closer to you. You raise your eyebrows at him. “I’ve gone to numerous dances in my days, Dani…” One corner of his mouth curls up into a teasing smirk. “Unless you want to embarrass yourself in front of… Jake.” He emphasizes the name of your fictional crush, to which you react with wide eyes and a blush spreading on your cheeks. “Come on, Dani!” He reaches out for your hand, which you place hesitantly in his. Dani being able to see ghosts, is also able to make them corporeal. The lights on set dim a little, except for one spot on the pair in the middle of the studio, and then the music starts playing through the speakers. Charlie starts singing the song they’d learned at bootcamp, one the cast wrote together during the quarantine. The atmosphere in the studio has suddenly become really intense. You can feel the butterflies erupting in your stomach as the man in front of you sings to you, mere inches away from each other as he leads you in this beautiful dance Paul Becker and Tori Caro choreographed for you. Just like at the karaoke booth, it feels like the two of you are the only people on set. Just you and him. You and Charlie. You and your best friend. There’s no denying you have feeling for him anymore. You knew you did, you just told yourself it wasn’t a good idea and suppressed those feelings, pushing them down. It worked for a while. Until now. “Cut!” Kenny yells after your scene. You step away from Charlie, glancing down at the floor as you try your hardest to hide your flustered face. “That was perfect, guys! It really looks like the two of you were in love!” he claps his hands in excitement, then tells them to do it again. After four takes of the dance, Kenny tells you to go and take a break. Without saying another word to Charlie, you rush off set and towards your trailer where you sit down on a chair, trying to calm your breathing. Charlie might not like you the way you like him. Admitting to these feelings might just ruin everything the two of you have. With this in mind, you grab your phone and text Savannah, asking her to come over to your trailer. Maybe she could help you. “Are you okay?” she asks when she enters and finds you staring at the ceiling. “No…” you reply and take a deep breath, “I think I’m in love with my best friend?” “Oh, sweetie…” Savannah sighs, and pulls you up to take you in a hug, “I know…” You pull her away again to face her properly. “What do you mean ‘you know’?” “Everybody knows,” she starts, “The two of you have been inseparable since the day you met, and everyone can see the way you look at each other. Plus, your duet the other night was a little intense for it to be a platonic one.” She chuckles, and you can’t help but chuckle too. She then grabs her phone from her back pocket, opening Instagram. “You know fans have caught on too, right?” She shows you the comments on some of Charlie’s pictures on his account. One picture is of the two of you, napping in Julie’s bed on set, cuddled up. He even posted pictures from your hikes on your days off. All of them are bombarded with comments from fans saying, ‘I ship it!’ or ‘Y/S/N’. Sav then opens her dm’s which are flooded with fans asking if you and Charlie are dating yet, and how the two of them are so in love with each other. “Charlie isn’t in love with me?” you deny, not believing one bit about it. “He is, though…” This does not come from Savannah’s mouth. Your eyes widen when you recognize the voice, and peek behind Savannah to find your best friend standing at your open trailer door. “Sav, can you give us a minute?” he asks the younger girl. “More than a minute,” she chirps, offering you a wink before leaving the trailer. Charlie steps in completely and moves until he’s in front of you. He takes your hands in his, and chuckles at your overwhelmed and confused expression. “Are you okay?” he asks, that beautiful smile of his persistent on his face. “Y—yeah? No? I’m not sure?” you sigh, trying to get your thoughts in order. “Charlie, wha—?” “Can I talk? I’ve been going over this conversation in my mind a billion times, and if I don’t say it now, I think I’m going to forget what I’m supposed to say…” You nod your head in response. “Y/N, I’ve been in love with you since the very first time I saw you walking in at bootcamp. You looked adorable with your little nervous smile and your polite hellos to everybody. I knew from that moment on that I wanted to get to know you better, and that I wanted to become more than just friends…I didn’t think you’d feel the same way, so I told myself that it was okay if we’d just stay friends. Especially since your character kind of hates mine and you bring Dani to life so convincingly, that I was almost sure you hated me too,” you chuckle at that, “But I can’t hide it anymore, Y/N. I am so embarrassingly in love with you that I could’ve kissed you after that scene we just did and that I could kiss you right now even though I’m—” before he can finish his sentence, you lean up and crash your lips onto his, your hands flying into his hair. He’s a little startled at first, but quickly melts into the kiss and presses you closer to him. “I am so embarrassingly in love with you too, Charlie,” you whisper when you pull away, pressing your forehead against his. “They’re going to be so relieved,” you tell him with a chuckle. He frowns his eyebrows at you. “Who?” he asks. You take his hand in yours and lead him towards the door of your trailer, pushing it open and making it bump against whoever was closest to the door. All of your cast mates scramble, trying to act natural while Owen rubs his forehead since he was the one that got a door in his face. “Ah, them!” Charlie chuckles. “Thanks for the door in my face, guys,” Owen says disgruntled. “That’s on you, buddy,” you tell him with a grin. “Don’t you guys have a scene to shoot or something?” Their eyes widen at the realization and, after yelling at the two how happy they are for them, rush to set in a hurry. “So, where were we?” Charlie turns back to you when everyone’s gone. “Don’t you have a scene with them?” “Shit!” he grumbles and jumps off the small steps in front of the trailer. He starts running towards set but turns around almost immediately to you and kisses your lips quickly, but sweetly, and then runs off. You watch him with an amused smile on your face. There was nothing to be afraid about after all and nothing changed between you two. You were still the best of friends, just friends that kiss and are in love with each other. But both of you happy.

Taglist: @hannahhistorian92​ @marinettepotterandplagg​ @thequirkybookaholic​ @parkeret​​ @lukeys-giggle​ @gingerxarmy​ @lovesanimals​

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed Episode 09 first part

(Masterpost) (More Canary Funsies)

Warning: Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!

This episode features so many eternal minutes of zombie shambling that I thought I could fit everything into a single post. HA HA HA HA nope. 

Zombie Temple

The trio do their best to fend off the not-zombies in the temple. Lan Wangji tells Wei Wuxian that he can’t go carving them up because they’re not actually dead, and drops a callback to their very first meeting at the gate of Cloud Recesses, when Wei Wuxian caught his attention with his pillowy lips comment on the not-dead cultivator. 

Lan Wangji: You said it in that golden moment that will be seared into my memory for eternity, where I heard your voice and laid eyes on your angelic face and lost my heart forever, remember? Come on, babe, it was our very first zombie! How baked were you?

Wei Wuxian: I jerk off to the sword-fighting memory, not the zombie memory, you weirdo.

Nie Huaisang’s fear of the definitely not undead has apparently gotten him the rest of the way over his fear of Lan Wangji, because he’s now yelling “Lan-Xiong!” right along with “Wei-Xiong!” as he struggles. Note that although he later mentions that his fan is made of some fancy metal, we don’t see any evidence that he wants to fight with a fan any more than he does with a blade. I don’t hate anyone’s fan-fighting NHS headcanon, but my take is that he just isn’t a physical fighter, and that’s ok. 

This is a good time to remember that our entire experience of the Nie clan so far in this story is 1. Clever but hopelessly combat-unready tiny artiste Nie Huaisang 2. Quietly helpful, absurdly pretty sidekick Meng Yao. 

We don’t know yet that Nie Huasang’s gege and Meng Yao’s sugar daddy is literally the toughest motherfucker in the entire cultivation world. But his friends do! Which makes me love these dynamics even more, because not one of them criticizes Nie Huaisang for being the person he is. 

(more after the cut!)

Never Let Me Go

This scene is where Wei Wuxian gives his tacit consent to being used as the eventual agent of Nie Huaisang’s vengeance....ok not really.

But he does make it clear what Nie Huaisang should do when he’s in a pickle. And NHS doesn’t forget things.

Priorities 

Meanwhile, Lan Wangji isn’t nearly as patient as Wei Wuxian, and he drops a silence spell on Nie Huaisang basically out of annoyance. It’s not like they’re trying to be sneaky. 

Lan Wangji: How about you have an exquisitely crafted ceramic cup of shut the fuck up?

Flute Girl

Wen Qing comes to the rescue by summoning all of the not-zombies, who happen to be her extended family, to come toast some marshmallows. 

She’s another person who unwisely demonstrates, where Wei Wuxian can hear her, the power of flutes over zombies. 

This move doesn’t seem to do anything important but it looks cool. 

Brother Dynamic: Bad. Really Bad. 

Jiang Cheng shows up in the temple and trolls everyone, because this is a great time for childish antics. Wei Wuxian is super happy to see him and runs over to hug him, which earns him a shoulder slam. 

This is a regular part of their body language with each other. Wei Wuxian covers his hurt reaction very, very quickly, with a smile that doesn’t involve very much of his face. 

Ow

Wei Wuxian is so good at pretending his feelings aren’t hurt, he probably convinces himself. 

Then he gives a too-honest answer when Jiang Cheng accuses him of...daring to enjoy himself, basically.

That’s more truth than Jiang Cheng was looking for, and he raises a hand to Wei Wuxian, who hides behind Nie Huaisang. This move is interesting because on one level it’s just clowning; obviously Nie Huaisang can’t protect WWX from anything, and WWX doesn’t need protection from Jiang Cheng. 

WWX can easily beat JC in a fight, as he’s let us know before. On another level, this retreat signals WWX’s harmlessness, his childlike-ness, in a semiotic dance that has been playing out for over a decade between the brothers.  NHS is taking on Jiang Yanli’s role in the choreography, this time.   

All of this troubling hostility doesn’t make Jiang Cheng a bad person. He’s young and he’s still under his parents’ control and subject to their abuse at home. It takes time to develop mindfulness about this stuff and learn to treat people beneath you differently than the way you are treated. 

Jiang Cheng isn’t ready for that yet, any more than he is ready to say out loud that he cares about his brother. 

Leave My Boyfriend Out of It

This interaction is noteworthy for Wei Wuxian defending Lan Wangji to his brother, before Jiang Cheng even has a chance to blame Lan Wangji. 

Wei Wuxian says that following Lan Wangji was his own idea, and then gives LWJ the sweetest, warmest smile.

Lan Wangji also gets a pair of totally unearned, delighted smiles of thanks from his two besties when he lifts the silence spell on Nie Huaisang. 

Being mildly dickish all the time works out fine, I guess, if you only make friends with people whose brothers are legendary grouches.

Grilling Wen Qing

Wei Wuxian finally decides he’s had enough of Wen Qing’s crap, and gets slightly aggressive in questioning her.

He’s not actually roughing her up but he is approaching her as a near-enemy for the first time, rather than as someone who wants to be her friend. Once Wen Qing tells him what’s up and agrees to a sort of temporary alliance, he goes back to being his normal slightly awkward self with her. 

I don’t romance-ship WQ and WWX, except maybe as corpse-mountain era FWB, but I do like their chemistry. And their friendship is really refreshing and interesting, based on sharing goals and working together, not on emotional intimacy. It’s nice to see people with a lot of barriers around their hearts, building a strong, trusting bond without having to actually open up very much.

The idea of perfect sharing between people is a nice one, but it’s pretty alien to many of us who are recovering from trauma, or people who just aren’t wired that way, and it’s good to see other models of friendship and love. 

Wei Wuxian, at Lan Wangji’s direction, parts the Red Sea drops a cage on the other 3 cultivators before going to hunt the dire birdy.  

Jiang Chang is, predictably, pissed off about it, in spite of Wei Wuxian’s “you’re good at this” parting words, and says, according to the subtitles, “you bastard!”

“Bastard” is a pretty specific epithet, in English. In the current century, it’s generally used to mean “asshole,” more or less. But it still does carry the meaning “of illegitimate birth,” and since The Untamed is often concerned with legitimacy it seems pretty strong for JC to use with someone who is rumored to be his own Dad’s by-blow. 

Let’s have a look and see what he really is calling him... 你混蛋 =  Nǐ húndàn = “you bastard” per Google translate. Wow, Jiang Cheng, you really went there, huh. 

Wen Granny

Wen Qing and the others in the golden cage watch as the not-zombies try half-heartedly to get to them. Wen Qing is super sad about it, as opposed to the two guys who are just annoyed (Jiang Cheng) or scared (Nie Huaisang).

The first time I saw this, it was just - oh, Wen Qing sympathizes with this poor random woman, she feels bad about what's happening, this is to show us she has a heart.

Now though --  that's HER granny. Maybe not her bio-grandma but clearly a granny of her clan, who she knows well, who later cares for A-Yuan when he's a child, so may very well have cared for A-Qing and A-Ning when they were small, too. Owie.

Dire Bird Hunting

Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian run off to hunt the smoke bird together. They are quickly trapped in cool-looking fog. Kudos to the Director of Photography.

They spend some time being confused and also being peak Wangxian 1.0 as they help each other out. 

Lost in the fog and unable to summon talismans, Wei Wuxian is mainly about checking on Lan Wangji, making sure he’s ok, making sure he’s near.  He doesn’t spare any worry for himself.

(We get a rare instance of seeing an actually glowing sword here, instead of just having a character say “I saw the beams of swords!” to save money on VFX.)

Lan Wangji, meanwhile, understands the mental attack they are under, explains it to Wei Wuxian with only a little snark about Wei Wuxian’s overly busy mind, and teaches him how to handle it.

Lan Wangji is super disciplined in mind, body, and sword - his fight moves don’t change, really, throughout his life, but he gets better and better at execution. Wei Wuxian isn’t exactly undisciplined, but he’s super creative and busts out a new skill in nearly every encounter. Lan Wangji sees this and is learning to make use of it.

After Lan Wangji helps Wei Wuxian overcome the confusion that is blocking his talisman use, he tells him which talisman to use. 

This isn’t a talisman that LWJ uses himself, it’s just that he’s paying very close attention to WWX’s battle moves, and has a great memory, so he knows which ones will work. In a pretty short timespan he’s moved from thinking like a solo swordsman to thinking as part of a team with a broad range of battle skills. Very soon, he’ll be starting to use Wei Wuxian’s talismans himself. 

WWX takes a hit from the flying death chain, but uses it to his advantage, as in so many encounters. He’s not just self-sacrificing--he is definitely that--but he’s also a chess player, knowing how to use a sacrifice or an injury to his advantage. Cue Lan Wangji being worried for the entire rest of his life.

Part Two is here!

[sapphire374]

Soy Sol: Chapter 10 (Hopeful Curiosity)

Wattpad Link

Ch.1 / Ch.2 / Ch.3 / Ch.4 / Ch.5 / Ch.6 / Ch.7 / Ch.8 / Ch.9 / Ch.11 / Ch.12 / Ch.13 / Ch.14 / Ch.15 / Ch.16 / Ch.17

The gang is huddled around each other at the Jam and Roller rink. Ámbar proceeds to glance over her clipboard that carries the original sign-up sheet. “So, Ámbar, do we have enough members to make up a team for the competition.” Ámbar quickly looks Luna in the eyes and decides to call out the list of names. “The official Jam and Roller team members are Luna, Simon, Matteo, Gaston, Ramiro, Jim, Delfi, Pedro and Jazmin.” Everyone starts counting with their fingers but before anyone gets the chance to start counting, Gaston and Nina both yell out “that’s nine members, we’re missing one.” Luna rollers towards Ámbar. “Ámbar you’re not on the list. Are you going to join us? Please, pretty please join us. Whether you would like to admit it or not, you’re one of the best roller skaters out there and we need you.”

Ámbar takes a big gulp of air, processing everything that’s going on. Luna’s pout with her watery eyes has made Ámbar reconsider her decision. Before she always wanted the worst for Luna, but the past few years has made them become inseparable. She now views Luna as her younger sister plus being the manager of the gang’s favorite place has made her feel as everyone’s bigger sister, being the mature one. Ambar gives in. “Fine, I’ll do it. Especially since you guys need me so much. You guys aren’t wrong though, I am the best,” Ámbar jokes. The whole gang cheers, everyone jumps up and down and excitement enters the room.

Everyone is huddled as they all set their hands out and chant, “ready! One, two, three Jam and Roller!” Juliana enters through the chaos of excitement. “Opa opa! Seems like the group has never separated and feels closer than ever.” The gang all turn around facing her, their faces show signs of shock. No one was expecting this except one certain person in the room. “Juliana! You’re back! Wait how did you know we got the team back together for a competition?” Simón asks. “A little birdy called me and said that a certain team needed my help so I came as quick as I can.” The whole gang starts whispering, wondering who was it that reached out to her. Luna gives Ámbar and Simón a little smirk.

“So have you guys chosen which song you all are going to skate to?” Juliana questions. “Nope,” Ámbar answers. That’s when the idea hits Simón. “I have an idea! Maybe not only the team gets back together for this competition, but also the band? What do you guys say, Nico, Pedro?” Simón suggests. Nico and Pedro look at each other in disbelief and with a loss of words. “Uhh yes of course! You have no idea how long I’ve missed playing on the drums,” Pedro states. “And you guys have no idea how long I’ve missed collaborating the three of us together again,” Nico chimes in. “I guess that settles it. The band is back!!” Simón announces. The room is filled with so many emotions as everyone is so excited about what’s to come next. True nostalgia and memories really do start coming back to them since working together and competing to save their beloved place truly brings them back to old times. Just like how Matteo and Luna wouldn’t stop stealing glances at each other through the midst of it all.

This competition will be fierce including what’s called two stages. The first stage is the basic entry in which they record a video of their performance, the second stage is where they have the official competition. They first though have to make it through the first stage. For the next few days, Juliana tries to prepare them with some exercises since it has been years some of them roller skated. Then they gradually learned again how to do some simple routines as pairs then as groups. Before the gang knew it, in a week they have mastered all the skills and are ready to practice the actual choreography for the performance. Luna and Matteo still haven’t talked much though, yet they’re constant staring proves to show that they still miss and love each other.

Monday Evening at the Jam and Roller (after about a week and a half)

Juliana tells the gang that they can rest, and training has just finished. The group has finally mastered the double turns alignment but are struggling with air spins. Matteo heads over to Luna like old times, while she’s drinking water near the rails. “What’s the matter Chica Delivery? Has all the training finally tired you out?” Matteo flirtatiously says. Luna tries to hide her blushed cheeks and smirks at his comment. “Chico fresa you know that can never happen. My internal adrenaline is endless.” Luna and Matteo begin to laugh. Luna stops once she remembers why she was trying to avoid him for the longest. “Matteo don’t think I forgot everything that has happened.” She begins to stare at the floor, holding back a tear. “I’ve already apologized, what more do you want?” Matteo begs.

“You know that’s not the issue. I just feel like I can’t trust you anymore. You promised me you wouldn’t lie to me anymore and that’s exactly what you did. I don’t want our relationship to be built out of lies. I’d rather stay single instead of having someone stab me in the back unaware.” Matteo widely opens his eyes, it feels like someone has sucker punched him in the gut. For a long time, Matteo has tried to prove to Luna he has changed and does truly care about her, how can one little lie bring all the pain back. “Luna, you know I would never want to break your heart or ‘stab you in the back.’ I just lied about this because I knew you would get jealous of me hanging out with Viviana.” Luna gasps in astonishment. “Jealous! Now that’s a joke right there. For me to be jealous of her, that would mean I would want to be like her or want something she has but that’s not the case at all. I’m happy with the life I live and don’t want to change it. I just don’t like how close she’s been with you. You know I’m okay with you having female friends, but not when one tries to kiss you when I’m not around and constantly wrapping her arms around you. Even the news outlets think you broke up with me and dating her because of how much ‘quality time’ you guys spend together.”

Matteo responds with, “You know how much I miss it when you call me Chico Fresa and miss these fun bantering moments. I would never fall for her because you’re my one true love. You may not be jealous of her but you’re jealous of her getting to spend time with me. Is that it? You want to hang out more with me? How do I make it up to you?” Luna shakes her head and says, “You just don’t get it and it’s okay. I don’t feel like arguing today.” Luna rollers away and Matteo covers his face as he lays his elbows on the silver polished rails. Gastón heads to him and pats his shoulder. “She still hasn’t forgiven you?” Matteo shakes his head in response. His phone begins to ring in the pocket of his jeans. He lifts himself up and pulls it out. “Hello…. yes……. Already in a week? ..... ah I see, okay that seems appropriate I guess…...tomorrow okay, I’ll see you then.” Matteo hangs up and places his phone in his pocket again. “Who was that?” Gastón questions. “It’s my manager. They’re planning to release my music video with Viviana at the end of this week. Usually, we don’t release music videos this early but apparently she demanded for it since it would look good and perfect for this summer. Well to prepare for the release, they want me to perform with her in a live concert.” Matteo’s expression shows his stress and frustration. “But what about the Jam and Roller training?” Gastón asks him. “I’ll try to practice for the concert before the Jam and Roller training starts every day and the concert is on Saturday so that day I guess I’ll just miss training for that one day. I have no other choice.”

Gastón keeps thinking and doesn’t say a word till an amazing idea slips in his head. “I just got it! I just thought of the perfect plan that’ll get Luna to forgive you and get back together with her.” Matteo starts smiling as Gastón whispers the plan into his left ear. “Hermano, you’re a genius.”

The Benson Mansion

Ámbar doesn’t stop glaring at the letter in front of her. It was the original copy that was locked up in Sharon’s vault. This was what her biological mom wrote to her before she gave her away, it includes her phone number. She wants to call that number, desperately wants to but what if this number doesn’t work anymore? Or what if it does? She feels so confused. The closer the wedding gets, the scarier it feels for her. She wants to invite her biological mom and maybe even Sharon, she’s just undecided. It’s more than just complicated for her.

She sucks up every bit of courage left in her, grabs her phone and types in the numbers smeared at the bottom of the letter. It’s…. ringing. The longer she has to wait, the faster her heart beats. The phone stops ringing. “Hello,” the person on the other end answers. Ámbar’s voice begins to crack, “Uh… yes is this Sylvana Ariel?” Ámbar takes a big gulp of air. The person on the other end responds, “yes this is she. Who do I have the pleasure speaking to?” When Ambar hears that it’s her, she decides to move forward with the plan of meeting her. Maybe it was destiny for her to still have this phone number for so many years? “Yes, this is Ámbar, Ámbar Smith. We need to talk. Are you available today?” Ámbar takes control of the situation showing no signs of hesitation, even though her heart says otherwise. “Oh Ámbar? Yes, I’m available today.” Ámbar takes one good look at the letter and answers back, “Good. Meet me at Pachani’s restaurant today at 7 p.m.” The lady answers with an okay before Ámbar hangs up the phone.

She didn’t know this day would come so soon. Getting to meet her birth mother. What should she say? What should she do? Maybe this would help her understand her whole story and discover more who she really is before she gets married. Simón walks into the living room. “There you are. I thought you would be at the Jam and Roller; you never miss an afternoon of work?” Ámbar quickly folds the letter and slips it into her purse. “Oh yeah I just came home to… find another bridal magazine. I thought I left one of my favorite ones here in the living room.” Simón scrunches up his face, “here? In the living room of the Benson Mansion? But you always look at them at our apartment?” Ámbar clasps her purse and places the strap around her arm. “Oh well I sometimes look at them here whenever I visit the Valentes and have a cup of coffee, by mistake one of these days I left my bridal magazine.” Simón nods showing how he understands. “So how are bridal things going?”

“Pretty smooth. Luna and Nina agreed to go order the sets of flowers and decorations at the boutique right across town,” Ámbar states. “Oh, that’s nice. Luna and Nina were so kind to offer their help. What would we do without them?”

“Yes, I agree. We’re very lucky to have them indeed. Um there is one thing I forgot to tell you. At around 7 p.m I won’t be at home yet, I have a meeting with some other law school students for this project we have going on, so I won’t be home.”

Simón’s smile fades away. “Aww I’ll miss you, but I do wish you good luck on the project. I know you’ll do great on it.” Ámbar smiles from thinking how lucky she is to have a caring, understanding partner by her side. They hug each other and head out of the mansion.

*Gif not made by me. Owner of gif's name is at the bottom right hand corner :) *

Lacey’s Boutique

Luna and Nina wait at the front desk holding a slip of paper that carries a list of things they need to purchase for Ámbar’s wedding. “He said that?” Nina whispers. “Yep, I can’t believe he called me jealous when he was the one who lied and created this whole mess in the first place. When we got back together, we agreed on no secrets and to always communicate. That’s the only way a relationship can go well, just look at Ámbar and Simón?”

“I absolutely agree. I felt awful when Gaston spied on me that day, so I understand what you mean. Luckily everything is fixed now,” Nina cheers. “I’m happy for you Nina, sadly in between Matteo and I is a person who doesn’t stop flirting and hanging out with him. Plus, it’s so obvious too, even Simón thought he was dating Viviana and broke up with me. I can’t believe Matteo doesn’t believe me and instead calls me jealous. After everything we’ve been through.” The cashier heads to the counter and Luna and Nina’s conversation ends. “So, is this the list for everything?” Luna nods in approval. “Okay great, everything will be prepared in time and the delivery will be sent to the place on the date of the card.” Luna picks up the card and puts it away in her tiny backpack.

“Thank you,” she begins to head out before the cashier stops her. “Wait, I have something to give you.” He pulls out another card from his pocket. “Here’s my phone number, maybe we can have a cup of coffee together someday if you’d like?” Luna is speechless and turns to Nina for a choice of words. Nina shrugs and seems to be just as confused as her. “Um... well the thing is I’m in a relationship… well right at this moment I’m not sure…. Honestly I don’t know it’s complicated me and my boyfriend well after what he did, I don’t think he’s still my boyfriend but I don’t know…” Luna stops talking when the cashier extremely perplexed expression shows vividly. “Um… well once you get all that resorted and decide not to be with this… complicated person feel free to give me a call.” He leaves and heads to the back of the store. “Luna, I’m shocked he’s still into you after everything you blurted out. I think you even fried his brain.” Nina and Luna giggle their way out.

Jim and Yam’s Apartment

Ramiro adjusts the collar of his nicely firm long sleeve button up shirt. He’s holding a bouquet of sunflowers and is trying to collect the right words to say to Yam. He knocks on the door and waits for a response. “I’m coming,” she says. For Ramiro, hearing Yam’s voice is like a breath of fresh air.

She opens the door and is surprised to see Ramiro’s well put together fit. “Before you say anything I want to do this right. Yam, I know our relationship has been like an ongoing rollercoaster, we’ve been through the ups and the downs but the one thing that has always stayed constant is my love for you. After everything that has happened, I always knew I love you and my path ends up meeting yours. Yam would you like to go on a date with me?” Yam covers her mouth in amusement. She’s appalled from the beautiful surprise he’s presented her, and with a speech too. Usually, Ramiro is too cool for all of this but seeing what he has done has proven enough to Yam that he’s committed. “Ramiro of course, I would love to. In fact, I was always thinking what took you so long?” Yam begins to chuckle. “I guess fear from this not working out, but you can’t always live in fear for the rest of your life.”

Yam jumps into Ramiro’s arms and kisses him on the cheek.

[forhereyesonlyyy]

gfriend as your staff team! // gfriend. // scenario.

author's note: i should make a tradition where i do something for the whole group first before going into the individual stuff 🤔 idk how these things work so i kinda just winged it, please bear with me 😭 i hope you guys still enjoy it! 🥰

Sowon:

• manager kim sojung! 😳

• she's actually more of a bodyguard than the actual bodyguard.

• seemed very uptight and strict at first glance but she actually lets you do whatever you want as long as you don't get yourself hurt.

• blew up among your fans and trended in the media because she's so pretty.

• never hesitates to throw dirty looks towards people that push you around in public spaces.

• never afraid to talk back to those who hate on you for no reason. it doesn't matter if she was showing unpleasant behavior to everyone else, sojung will protect you no matter what.

• you refer to her as "manager kim" but as the two of you got closer, sojung was comfortable enough to ask you to call her by her first name 💓

• since the two of you hang out so much, there were multiple dating rumors that popped up in the media. surprisingly enough, mostly everybody was rooting for the two of you and they were disappointed when you denied the claims.

• sojung tries very hard to keep up with your, and the rest of the team's, energy and often finds herself in situations where she gets dragged in your ridiculous antics. one of them being unnecessarily goofy during live streams.

• she genuinely wants you to make it big in the industry, nothing would make her happier.

Yerin:

• jung yerin, your proud bodyguard and self-proclaimed 'arm candy'.

• so, before everything, yerin was your best friend since high school and she promised that she would go wherever you go. at first, you didn't think much of it because you were young and it was probably going to change once yerin finds something she wants to do, but nope! up until this day, she's still right there beside you 🥺

• may or may not have accidentally confessed that she had a huge crush on you for the longest time during the night you got your first award where your team celebrated by drinking.

• she always keeps you close to her at all times. sometimes out of habit, sometimes because it was literally her job.

• she's the most popular with your fans since she treats them so well, but of course she isn't always nice. yerin may not look like it, but she's perceptive so she's the first one who knows that some certain kind of 'fans' are being weird and gets super protective of you. going as far as to threaten those to act 'strange' around you.

• yerin and sojung are polar opposites, so it didn't surprise you when yerin showed signs of hostility towards your manager when they first met. but because of you, they got along well and now they drink soju every now and then, gossiping about you.

• other than sojung, your close relationship with yerin had people thinking that there was something between the two of you. but you were quick to deny that, saying that the two of you are only close friends.

• yerin doesn't mind that you don't reciprocate her feelings, she was more than satisfied by being beside you as you were living your dream of being a performer.

• she really is your biggest fan.

Eunha:

• your hair and makeup artist, eunha!

• a flirt through and through. when you first met her, she did not hesitate to throw a suggestive wink your way. did she know that she was going to be working with you? probably, but of course that didn't stop her.

• some would probably call it unprofessional to hit on your coworker, but you didn't mind it. in fact, the compliments she tells you out of the blue are some real confidence boosters, especially when you're about to perform in a big event.

• there's a new pickup line everyday! eunha smiles the brightest when you laugh at her little antics.

• even when you're in a bad mood, she always manages to crack a small smile in your face.

• "did it hurt when you fell from heaven?"

• "i'm from hell."

• "...well that explains why you're so hot."

• yerin was wary of her at first, but you assured her that eunha did not have feelings for you and that eunha is like that with everyone. eventually, yerin warmed up to her and now they flirt with you together.

• kissed you once when she was doing your makeup because she couldn't help it. it didn't mean anything, but eunha was one blushing mess that time.

• one day, you forgot something from the change room a few minutes before your performance at a show and you heard eunha singing her heart out to one of your songs. you made sure to give it your all at your performance that day to make your second biggest fan proud!

Yuju:

• your beloved vocal coach, choi yuju!

• she's like your second best friend (don't tell yerin). every lesson with her is like a casual hang-out with a classmate, sometimes it doesn't even feel like she's an actual professional because she's just that chill.

• can get pretty serious but at the end of the day, yuju just wants you to enjoy singing and not take it too seriously.

• along with yerin and eunha, yuju is also a big fan of your music! she often goes to instagram and promotes your songs to her followers and is always eager to gush about you with other fans.

• sometimes she helps you write lyrics for your songs and that's when she really gets serious.

• the last thirty minutes of your lessons turn into a messy karaoke battle that mostly end with you nearly dying of laughter because of yuju.

• she makes sure to guide you well while you're in the studio and she always compliments your singing to keep you in a happy mood!

• your instagram story is really just filled with you and yuju doing whatever during ungodly hours. sojung scolds both of you a lot, but knows that she can't fight it since the two of you will probably force her to join your late night adventures anyway.

• remember those karaoke battles? yeah, half of those aren't always intense and chaotic. as soon as a slow song plays, yuju starts singing with her whole heart and you have to admit that you've never been so attracted to someone's voice until you heard hers. maybe there was something more to that, but you were too afraid to look deep into it.

• pretty much everyone notices the obvious sparks between the two of you except, well, you and her.

• you never told yuju, or anyone, but one of your mellow and heart-fluttering songs was about her.

SinB:

• your wonderful dance teacher and choreographer, hwang sinb!

• just like sojung, sinb intimidated you a lot when you first met but then all of your first impression of her vanished when you found out how kind and genuine sinb really was.

• well, except when she's teaching you a new choreography. she's a real demon.

• sinb bullied you a little into the start of your career just to see if you have any fire inside of you but unfortunately for her, you kept your cool and remained level-headed despite the rigorous routines she put you through. when she saw that you were genuinely passionate about doing well, she grew fond of you.

• details are everything to sinb, so it warms her heart whenever you listen to every word she says and does every little thing she does.

• when she isn't being one hell of a dance teacher, she's a huge dork who always has lots of energy to spare.

• the main reason why your instagram posts are so pretty is because sinb is the one who takes the photos for you. you admit that your heart does jump when she tells you how pretty you are when you're posing for her.

• sinb also listens well to your comments about her choreography, and a part of her feels proud whenever you include subtle changes in your dance.

• when you struggle with a certain move, sinb makes sure to guide you through it step by step and that included close contact. something you dreaded but also looked forward to every time you step inside the practice room.

• there always seemed to be tension between the two of you when you're close, but neither of you acted on it.

• sometimes sinb would joke about it though, much to your dismay.

• "oooh you want to kiss me so bad."

• sometimes you clap back and render her speechless for the remaining of the day.

• "what if i do?"

• "...w-well. i mean, go ahead. not that i want you to! i just mean that... that i wouldn't mind— oh, screw you, (y/n)!"

Umji:

• your adorable and incredibly wise fashion stylist, kim yewon!

• she was shy around you at first, and vice versa. now, you aren't usually one to be so easily flustered but yewon was just too cute to you.

• even when you've spent quite some time around her, yewon still gets shy whenever she gets close to you to get your measurements and such. you tease her about it sometimes and she playfully hits you, cutely telling you to knock it off before she gets to work.

• yewon always makes sure to get your input. the most you've probably heard her talk is when you're trying out whatever she made for the first time, asking if it was too bombastic or too safe, or if it felt nice or not.

• she wants you to be as comfortable as you can be on stage, and for that you are thankful.

• yewon can be a bit too harsh on herself. you often hear her muttering criticisms while she's taking notes. you always tell her that the outfit was fine and that it felt nice wearing it, but apparently those are not always the issue for her.

• she was afraid of you having a wardrobe malfunction on stage so she takes her time with her designs.

• you know it was part of her job, but your stomach spin a lot when she's adjusting some things in the outfit while you were wearing it because yewon was just so cute and her face when she's concentrated was quite... attractive.

• sinb likes to intensify the tension between the two of you. she 'accidentally' bumps into yewon and have her lean on to you for support and then she apologizes with the most unconvincing tone ever while she walks away with a grin. and you're left with your flustered stylist who suddenly cannot function properly due to the close contact.

• you never miss the way yewon stares at you for too long most of the time. it didn't matter if she was studying your features and proportions or if she was just simply checking you out, no matter what, you would always catch her eyes on you.

• when she realizes that she has been caught, yewon becomes a complete mess. she either drops everything and literally runs out of the room or make up a dumb excuse to save herself. either way, it was adorable and your heart warms up every time yewon shyly smiles at you.

• "i might melt into a puddle if you keep staring at me like that, yewonnie."

• "i wasn't s-staring you..."

• "oh? were you looking at our dear manager then? i didn't know you were into older girls!"

• "no! i'm definitely into you!"

• "...?"

• "i will see myself out, thank you."

[chalkrevelations]

Episode 35 of Word of Honor, and I AM NOT OK. I think we all know how this is going to go, so we may as well get to it.

(Spoilers. Keep scrolling and come back later, if you want to watch it unspoiled.)

I dunno, maybe don’t expect any deep analysis in this one? I’m really just a mess of feelings, because THAT MOTHERFUCKING MOTHERFUCKER. You’re right, Wen Kexing, that it should have been a longer, more painful death. I forgive you, though, because I wanted to snap his neck, as some poetic justice. GOD, I could see it coming, as soon as Mo Huaiyang reached out and put both of his hands on Cao Weining’s jaw. As soon as his fingers touched Cao Weining’s face, there was a voice in my head, shrieking, “get him OFF of him, don’t let him touch him, he’s going to …” And what makes it even worse, if that’s possible, is that he had Cao Weining in such emotional distress before it happened. But, can we take just a minute and go back to this, the theme threaded through the show, this word of honor, embodied in these two men, Zhou Zishu and Cao Weining, reflections of each other, both of whom are now in the position of dying for the person they love, reflections of each other: I won’t fail you. And Cao Weining pleads this case to his shifu, kneeling in the sand and the dust and the barren rock of the Ghost Valley, where multiple women who have been failed, over and over, have sought refuge. Where a girl who was raised in all this could have had the chance to escape it, if Wen Kexing hadn’t turned out to be tragically, prophetically correct when he told her humans and ghosts can’t mix. In any kinder magical universe, fucking flowers would have sprung up around Cao Weining as he knelt in front of his asshole shifu and renewed the vow that he’d already made, multiple times, to the woman he loved, where he stood by it, even unto death, where he met his end in the Valley of Ghosts, in the land of the dead where his wife apparently wasn’t allowed to leave and he wouldn’t leave her behind. And then she follows him into death, just as he vowed he would follow her. In her own way, the way she knows how, she follows him into death. I suppose those bracelets from Wu Xi from the previous ep are supposed to be some comfort, particularly since we actually saw them closed around both wrists, and they echo, again, the vow Cao Weining already made to Gu Xiang, to be reincarnated with her, but right now, they are some cold comfort. This is not the pairing I expected to be torn apart over, when I started watching this show.

I have to give them props - especially, again, Zhou Ye - because I had about a minute and a half of grief, and then I, right along with A-Xiang, was consumed by rage that wanted nothing more than to see Mo Huaiyang die slowly and painfully. And then even as my heart was pushing for this, I kept remembering WKX’s conversation with Chengling in the last ep about the three Ghosts in the cold pool, and the philosophical conversation at the tip of Ye Baiyi’s sword in Ep 27 re: retributive vs. restorative justice, and the shift in WKX from wanting to burn down the world to being satisfied with exposing Zhao Jing, and how proud his shixiong was of WKX for not just stabbing Zhao Jing in the face right there in front of everyone, and the effect all of that must have had on Chengling. And then on the other other hand, even as all of this was going through my head, I wanted Mo Huaiyang flayed alive. His death scene was hella gratifying, I’m not gonna lie – this was the kind of catharsis I didn’t get from the interminable fight scene with Zhao Jing, and I’m trying to convince myself it was the pacing, and the fight choreography, not just the sated bloodlust that made the difference. But I felt that sneer on Gong Jun’s face, he was great in that scene, although I suppose it’s not great for WKX’s soul, to be back where we came in, in Ep 1, with the signature Ghost Valley Master choking move in the signature Ghost Valley Master blood-red robes. It sure did feel good, though, and I suppose that’s the seductive appeal of backsliding on your ethics.

I also was pretty impressed that as much as they’ve built up the zhiji relationship between WKX and ZZS, all of it disappeared for WKX in the face of his meimei’s death – as soon as he cradled his dying little girl in his lap, no, as soon as he saw her down on the ground, he was blind to anything else. I really appreciated it, that this little girl who WKX saved and was saved by mattered so much to him that nothing else mattered, to the point that as he’s getting ready to die, he tells her to wait for him because he’ll be there with her in just a minute, he’s on his way to her, without a single apparent thought for anything or anyone else he’ll be leaving behind. It gave their relationship so much weight - a weight that helped make both of them such complex characters, I think. During her death scene, I couldn’t help thinking about the last time we saw A-Xiang this wracked with emotion as they talked, the fear and pain in Ep 23, when she was curled up protecting all the tenderest, most vulnerable places, speaking not only for herself, but for all the things Wen Kexing couldn’t yet say and show, at that point, and now to see them both sobbing and curled into each other just about killed me, particularly when this episode was the realization of all the worst fears of that episode.

Also, yes, all the super-manipulative flashbacks scenes of Cao Weining and then Gu Xiang and then Cao Weining/Gu Xiang absolutely worked on me, along with both of A-Xiang’s goodbyes to WKX – including the one when ZZS apparently used the Drunk-Like-A-Dream on him and A-Xiang telling him she was OK and with her parents was the thing WKX wanted most in the world - and I spent a good part of the episode a snotty mess. I don’t know, did anything else actually happen in this episode?

Oh, yeah, the truth about the (lack of) Seven Nails came out, and while it was an appropriately emotional scene, although only about a minute long and lacking WKX’s reaction, boo show, it also was buried under a mountain of trauma that had already happened.

Other things that also happened:

Not precisely an other thing, but maybe tangential - I remember thinking, wondering - with a detached part of my brain that wasn’t shrieking a danger alarm, as I sat there watching Mo Huaiyang’s hands on Cao Weining’s face, KNOWING what was going to happen at any minute, and helpless to stop it – I remember wondering if this was some kind of commentary on religious (or other) fanaticism, on compulsions so strong that you’ll literally and figuratively sacrifice your own children in the most horrifying ways and think you’re righteous for doing it, and that reaction was only strengthened by Mo Huaiyang’s language to WKX that he needed to “cleanse” his sect. Wen Kexing wasn’t wrong when he said that evil doesn’t just reside in the Ghost Valley. Also, we’re told later in the ep that Mo Weixu is still missing – is that Cao Weining’s da-shixiong? Oh my god, Wikipedia tells me he’s Mo Huaiyang’s son. Wasn’t it implied then, that Mo Huaiyang killed him, too, along with Fan Shishu?

Oh, wow. So, when Liu Qianqiao said “Loser Boyfriend? I don’t know him.” she literally didn’t remember him. So, Water of Lethe, then? My dude was not expecting that, particularly after he just saved her. Well, I guess you’re dying together after all, you and your girlfriend and her girlfriend. (Rocks fall, everybody dies. That felt a bit meh.)

Finally, nope, we’re done, Xie’er. I mentioned at some point earlier that I had a hard limit, and that was hurting A-Xiang, and indirect responsibility COUNTS, with your little deal with Mo Huaiyang, and not even a double-cross gets you out of this, so you are dead to me. (I did like your moment over Beauty Ghost’s death, though. Are you having a little, tiny, digging-a-grave-with-a-sword moment? Y’all have been a little weird about each other since you met.)

[ko-fanatic]

Blood, Guts and Chocolate Cake (Part 3)

Rating: Mature

Fandom: Danganronpa

Pairings: IshiMondo

Summary: Breakfast before the show, and Mondo realising he loves Taka's music if it's live. Still, there's something too close to a disturbing premonition burning under Mondo's skin, and the idol's comments, actions and frame just make it worse. Something's going on with him...

TW: Alcohol, and eating disorders (both restrictive behaviours and B/P), mentions of disability, underage sex/sexualisation, drugs

Other parts: Part one | Part two

Kiyotaka did not, in fact, get to finish his allotted miles. 

Mondo, in his defense, had attempted to continue, but after another mile his lungs had given up on him. Taka was so concerned, hearing his wheezing breaths, that he’d gotten him to spill about being asthmatic. The idol then promptly freaked out, calling a taxi to take them back to the hotel and insisting that he’ll keep his workouts to a gym setting in future.

He could tell Taka was upset - he might be callous, but he wasn’t stupid. Still, the kid said he was just antsy, nothing to worry about. Excess energy he hadn’t had the chance to burn off.

After a while of sitting on the couch, watching the TV that was way bigger than it had any right to be, he wasn’t actively dying anymore. Therefore, Taka saw it fit to leave him for a bit as he pottered around, doing idol things. He could hear Taka practising one of his songs in the bathroom as he performed his ludicrously long skin care routine. 

Honestly, he was more focussed on Taka’s singing than the shitty sitcom on TV. He’d heard the polished, studio versions - who hadn’t? - but this was something else. Fuck autotune, for sure; Taka’s voice was beautiful, crisp as a bell and perfectly trained. But rather than the polished version, Taka added more vocal tricks and a generally interesting style to the song that he’d never heard before. 

If there was more of that in his official audios, Mondo would’ve been an avid fan by now. 

“And if you got a little more time, baby let me hold your hand in mine,” The idol sang as he strolled into the kitchenette, opening the fridge and retrieving an apple, “Drink you up like the finest wine, lick you off my lips before showtime -”

“Whoa,” He whistled lowly, unable to help himself, “Those lyrics aren’t very ‘sweet boy next door’.”

“Oh,” Taka blinked, seemingly just remembering he wasn’t the only one in the room, “That was actually my original version, before it was reviewed. Too lewd for the image, I guess.”

“Or they didn’t want a bunch of tweens bustin’ their first nut in public,” He chuckled, Taka’s nose scrunching in disgust. 

“Ew,” He huffed, retrieving an apple from the fridge and starting to cut it up, “I’d rather not think about that.”

He just smirked, not bothering to turn back to the mindless crap on TV, just watching as Taka prepared his breakfast. He was about as meticulous about cutting up that apple as he was his choreography; while anyone would cut an apple into segments (barring bento making), Taka halved and cored it before cubing the frankly pathetic slivers of fruit he was left with. 

The cubes were small, almost diced, and quickly scraped into a bowl like they'd burn Taka if they so much as brushed the pale, thin skin of his hands. Then, a bottle of lemon juice was procured, sprinkled on the un-diced half of the apple before it was wrapped in cellophane and sealed in a Tupperware box. Just watching the methodical, practiced actions had Mondo raising an eyebrow; Taka sealed that half apple away like some corny Hollywood curse. Like it would come back for one final scare if he didn't get rid of it.

He expected another fruit to be taken from the fridge, making up a small fruit salad, or for bread to be put in the toaster. Hell, he'd be cool with the promise of Starbucks or McDonald's on the way to the venue, but no. 

Taka sat next to him on the sofa, chopsticks in hand as he daintily picked at the meagre portion he'd given himself. His frown only deepened when he saw just how little it amounted to, barely obstructing the bottom of the bowl from view. It hardly counted as an apple, looking far more like peelings you’d throw in the garbage than an actual meal. 

“That it?” He asked, gesturing to the ‘meal’ as Taka placed a particularly small cube into his mouth. 

“What do you mean?” The idol asked, raising an eyebrow, “It’s my breakfast.”

“Yeah, no shit Sherlock,” He grumbled, “I mean, ‘wow, kid, you eat less than a fuckin’ bird, go get some more’.”

“Half an apple is perfectly fine,” Taka defended, putting down his chopsticks to properly argue with him. It made a pang go off in Mondo’s chest, especially as his eye was drawn to the small bowl, resting on Taka’s thin thigh. 

Most people’s thighs pool when sitting; flesh, whether be muscle or fat, generally molds under pressure. However, there was still that oh-so-lauded gap between the boy’s thighs, hardly more than bone. It made him… uncomfortable. Like seeing a cancer patient on their final days; only Taka wasn’t dying, ashen complexion notwithstanding. 

“Yeah, no, it’s not,” He spoke bluntly, no preamble, “You did a three mile run, and you’ll be in rehearsals all day. Half an apple’s not going to keep you going.”

The idol rolled his eyes, muttering something about how his run should have been five miles, and picked up the chopsticks once more. He seemed to just push the fruit around his plate, however, instead of bringing piece after piece to his lips like he had before. 

“What -?”

“Lost my appetite,” Taka shrugged, standing on those tiny, boney legs once more, “I’ll have something later.”

Mondo didn’t comment, not wanting to upset Taka more than he, apparently, already had. He simply watched as the peelings got scraped into the bin with the rest of the apple, hardly eaten. Maybe the equivalent of a couple bites. 

He didn’t say anything, considering he’d already put the kid off his food. He’d make a note of it, but he mainly put it up to nerves for tonight; big venue, and didn’t they say that stage fright was an important part of this shit? 

“Looking forward to the show?” Taka asked as he washed up his bowl, chopsticks and knife. 

“Honestly, yeah,” He nodded, kicking his feet up onto the coffee table, lounging around like he owned the place, “I’m not a huge fan of pop, but what you were singing now was cool. Guess I like live music better than studio versions.”

“Honestly, that’s completely valid,” Taka smiled, “I prefer doing my own thing, with no editing to slow me down…”

---

Mondo was having the time of his fucking life! Taka wasn’t kidding about editing slowing him down, the guy was a beast on stage. 

The stage lighting pounded down on the idol, refracting off the metallic accents of his costume and catching the beads of sweat at his temple. Two hours of jumping around, dancing, singing, and playing his guitar, and he showed no signs of slowing. The adrenalin was high, and it vibrated through Taka, the crowds, the stadium itself and straight through Mondo himself. 

If he was a cheesier person, he’d say it was like he could feel Taka’s own heartbeat through the music, resting in his chest next to his own. But he wasn’t that sappy. Nope. Not at all.

He certainly wasn’t prepared for Taka to remove the prince-like, white jacket to reveal the costume underneath. A crisp button-up was par for the course, but the leather harness buckled around his torso made the simple look jaw dropping. Finale outfit, he’d heard one of the costumers mention, but he hadn’t been paying attention at the time. 

The leather looked so perfect wrapped around his thin body, and Mondo was screaming. Internally, thankfully, but this was going to be his end. 

The song wasn’t long at all, maybe a couple minutes. Like a vast majority of Taka’s “approved” songs, it was about love; albeit darker. A couple heavily veiled allusions to bondage, both in the fun and not-so-fun senses, a feeling of wanting to pull away but being far too in love to do what was healthy. 

The crowd just ate it up, even if it gave Mondo an odd feeling… Foreboding, perhaps? Some sort of anxious buzzing under his skin, like a premonition, but no basis in anything he could actually pinpoint. It wasn’t like he could see Taka’s eyes, or anything like that. Maybe a slight tremor in the voice, but fuck, the kid had literally been singing for hours. 

After the final guitar riff, and a couple breaths, Taka grabbed one of his water bottles off the front of the stage, not even hesitating to dump it all over his head. The screaming from the crowd managed to increase tenfold, and he was pretty sure the whole stadium was enjoying the view of that white shirt turning translucent and clinging so enticingly.

“Thank you and goodnight!” He cheered, stage lights going out and allowing Taka to walk off stage with minimal awkwardness. 

“That…” Mondo began, Taka holding up a finger as they disconnected his mic, making sure none of the sounds backstage got broadcasted and ruined any spell the audience was under. 

“Sorry I had to interrupt you,” Taka apologised, so sweetly sincere, “You were saying?”

“Just… That was incredible…” He breathed, still slack jawed from the rush of the concert, “You… I…”

“Articulate,” Taka smirked, hand on hip as he sauntered off to get changed, before he would exit and be swarmed with both eager fans and paparazzi alike. 

Mondo was smiling, heart still hammering, until his attention was brought to what was visible beneath the sodden fabric. 

Ribs.

[popculty]

52 Films by Women: 2020 Edition

Another annual challenge complete!

Last year, I focused on diversifying my list. This year I kept that intention but focused on watching more non-American films and films from the 20th century. Specifically, I sought out Agnès Varda’s entire filmography, after her death in 2019. (I was not disappointed - What a filmmaking legend we lost.) 

I also kept a film log for the first time and have included some of my thoughts on several films from that log. I made a point of including reviews both positive and negative, because I think it’s important to acknowledge the variability and breadth of the canon, so as not to put every film directed by a woman on a pedestal. (Although movies directed by women must clear a much higher bar to be greenlit, meaning generally higher quality...But that’s an essay for another day :)

* = directed by a woman of color

bold = fave

1. The Rhythm Section (2020) dir. Reed Morano - Not as good as it could have been, given Morano’s proven skill behind the camera, but also not nearly as bad as the critics made it out to be. And unbelievably refreshing to see a female revenge story not driven by sexual assault or the loss of a husband/child.

2. Cléo de 5 à 7 (1962) dir. Agnès Varda - If you ever wanted to take a real-time tour of Paris circa 1960, this is the film for you.

3. Little Women (2019) dir. Greta Gerwig - Still my favorite Little Women adaptation. I will re-watch it every year and cry.

4. Varda by Agnès (2019) dir. Agnès Varda & Didier Rouget

5. Booksmart (2019) dir. Olivia Wilde - An instant classic high school comedy romp that subverts all the gross tropes of its 1980s predecessors.

6. Girls of the Sun (2018) dir. Eva Husson

7. Blue My Mind (2017) dir. Lisa Brühlmann

8. Portrait of a Lady On Fire (2019) dir. Céline Sciamma - Believe the hype. This film is a master thesis on the female gaze, and also just really effing gorgeous.

9. Belle Epine (2010) dir. Rebecca Zlotowski

10. Vamps (2012) dir. Amy Heckerling - With Krysten Ritter and Alicia Silverstone as modern-day vampires, I was so ready for this movie. But it feels like a bad stage play or a sit-com that’s missing a laugh-track. Bummer.

11. *Birds of Prey (2020) dir. Cathy Yan - Where has this movie been all our lives?? Skip the next onslaught of Snyder-verse grim-darkery and give me two more of these STAT! 

12. She’s Missing (2019) dir. Alexandra McGuinness

13. The Mustang (2019) dir. Laure de Clermont-Tonnere - Trigger warning for the “protagonist” repeatedly punching a horse in the chest. I noped right out of there.

14. Monster (2003) dir. Patty Jenkins – I first watched this movie when I was probably too young and haven’t revisited it since. The rape scene traumatized me as a kid, but as an adult I appreciate how that trauma is not the center of the movie, or even of Aileen’s life. Everyone still talks about how Charlize “went ugly” for this role, but the biggest transformation here isn’t aesthetic, it’s physical – the way Theron replicates Wuernos’ mannerisms, way of speaking, and physicality. That’s why she won the Oscar. I also love that Jenkins calls the film “Monster” (which everyone labels Aileen), but then actually uses it to tell the story of how she fell in love with a woman when she was at her lowest, and that saved her. That’s kind of beautiful, and I’m glad I re-watched it so that I could see the story in that light, instead of the general memory I had of it being a good, feel-bad movie. It’s so much more than that.

15. Water Lilies (2007) dir. Céline Sciamma – Sciamma’s screenwriting and directorial debut, the first in her trilogy on youth, is as painfully beautiful as its sequels (Tomboy and Girlhood). It’s also one of the rare films that explores the overlap of queerness and girl friendships.

16. The Trouble with Angels (1966) dir. Ida Lupino – Movies about shenanigan-based female friendships are such rare delights. Rosalind Russel is divine as Mother Superior, and Hayley Mills as “scathingly brilliant” as the pranks she plays on her. Ida Lupino’s skill as an editor only enhances her directing, providing some truly iconic visual gags to complement dialogue snappy enough for Gilmore Girls. 

17. Vagabond (1985) dir. Agnès Varda – Shot with a haunting realism, this film has no qualms about its heroine’s inevitable, unceremonious death, which it opens with, matter-of-factly, before retracing her final (literal) steps to the road-side ditch she ends up in. (I’m partly convinced said heroine was the inspiration for Sarah Manning in Orphan Black.)

18. One Sings, The Other Doesn’t (1977) dir. Agnès Varda – Probably my favorite classic Varda, this film feels incredibly personal. It’s essentially a love story about two best friends with very different lives. For an indie made in the ‘70s, the diversity, scope, and themes of the film are impressive. Even if the second half a drags a bit, the first half is absolute perfection, engaging the viewer immediately, and clipping along, sprinkling in some great original songs that were way progressive for their time (about abortion, female bodily autonomy, etc) and could still be considered “bangers” today.

19. Emma (2020) dir. Autumn de Wilde

20. Black Panthers (1969) dir. Agnès Varda

21. Into the Forest (2016) dir. Patricia Rozema - When the world was ending (i.e. the pandemic hit) this was the first movie I turned to - a quiet, meditative story of two sisters (Elliot Page and Evan Rachel Wood) surviving off the land after a sudden global blackout. Four years later, it’s still one of my favorite book-to-screen adaptations. I fondly remember speaking with director Patricia Rozema at the 2016 Chicago Critics Film Festival after a screening, her love for the source material and desire to “get it right” so apparent. I assured her then, and reaffirm now, that she really did.

22. City of Trees (2019) dir. Alexandra Swarens

23. Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020) dir. Eliza Hittmann - To call this a harrowing and deeply personal journey of a sixteen-year-old who must cross state lines to get an abortion would be accurate, but incomplete. It is a story so much bigger than that, about the myriad ways women’s bodies and boundaries are constantly violated.

24. Paradise Hills (2019) dir. Alice Waddington

25. *Eve’s Bayou (1996) dir. Kasi Lemmons – I’ve been meaning to watch Kasi Lemmons’ directorial debut for many years now, and I’m so glad I finally have, because it fully deserves its icon status, beyond being one of the first major films directed by a black woman. Baby Jurnee Smollett's talent was immediately recognizable, and she has reminded us of it in Birds of Prey and Lovecraft Country this year. If merit was genuinely a factor for Oscar contenders, she would have taken home gold at eleven years old. Beasts of the Southern Wild has been one of my all-time favorites, but now I realize that most of my appreciation for that movie actually goes to Lemmons for blazing the trail with her story of a young black girl from the bayou first. It’s also a surprisingly dark story about memory and abuse and familial relationships that cross lines - really gutsy and surprising themes, especially for the ‘90s.

26. Blow the Man Down (2019) dir. Bridget Savage Cole & Danielle Krudy - Come and get your sea shanty fix!

27. Touchy Feely (2013) dir. Lynn Shelton - R.I.P. :(

28. Hannah Gadsby: Douglas (2020) dir. Madeleine Parry - If you thought Gadsby couldn’t follow up 2018′s sensational Nanette with a comedy special just as sharp and hilarious, you would have been sorely mistaken.

29. Girlhood (2013) dir. Céline Sciamma

30. Breathe (2014) dir. Mélanie Laurent

31. *A Dry White Season (1989) dir. Euzhan Palcy

32. Laggies (2014) dir. Lynn Shelton

33. *The Old Guard (2020) dir. Gina Prince-Bythewood – Everything I’ve ever wanted in an action movie: Immortal gays, Charlize Theron wielding a labrys (battle axe), kinetic fight choreography I haven’t seen since the last Bond movie…Watched it twice, then devoured the comics it was adapted from, and I gotta say: in the hands of black women, it eclipses the source material. Cannot wait for the just-announced sequel.

34. Morvern Callar (2002) dir. Lynn Ramsay

35. Shirley (2020) dir. Josephine Decker

36. *Radioactive (2019) dir. Marjane Satrapi – The story is obviously well worth telling and the narrative structure – weaving in the future consequences of Curie’s discoveries – is clever, but a bit awkwardly executed and overly manipulative. There are glimpses of real brilliance throughout, but it feels as if the director’s vision was not fully realized, to my great disappointment. Nonetheless, I appreciated seeing Marie Curie's story being told by a female director and embodied by the always wonderful Rosamund Pike.

37. *The Half of It (2020) dir. Alice Wu - I feel like a real scrooge for saying this, but this movie did nothing for me. Nothing about it felt fresh, authentic or relatable. A real disappointment from the filmmaker behind the wlw classic Saving Face.

38. Mouthpiece (2018) dir. Patricia Rozema - I am absolutely floored. One of those films that makes you fall in love with the art form all over again. Patricia Rozema continues to prove herself one of the most creatively ambitious and insightful directors of our time, with this melancholic meditation on maternal grief and a woman’s duality.

39. Summerland (2020) dir. Jessica Swale - The rare period wlw love story that is not a) all-white or b) tragedy porn. Just lovely.

40. *The Last Thing He Wanted (2020) dir. Dee Rees – As rumored, a mess. Even by the end, I still couldn’t tell you who any of the characters are. Dee, we know you’re so much better than this! (see: Mudbound, Pariah)

41. *Cuties (2020) dir. Maïmouna Doucouré – I watched this film to 1) support a black woman director who has been getting death threats for her work and 2) see what all the fuss is about. While I do think there were possibly some directorial choices that could have saved quite a bit of the pearl-clutching, overall, I didn’t find it overly-exploitative or gross, as many (who obviously haven’t actually watched the film) have labeled it. It certainly does give me pause, though, and makes me wonder whether children can ever be put in front of a camera without it exploiting or causing harm to them in some way. It also makes one consider the blurry line between being a critique versus being an example. File this one under complicated, for sure.

42. A Call to Spy (2019) Lydia Dean Pilcher – An incredible true story of female spies during WWII that perfectly satisfied my itch for British period drama/spy thriller and taught me so much herstory I didn’t know.

43. Kajillionaire (2020) dir. Miranda July - I was lucky enough to attend the (virtual) premiere of this film, followed by an insightful cast/director Q&A, which only made me appreciate it more. July's offbeat dark comedy about a family of con artists is queerer and more heartfelt than it has any right to be, and a needed reprieve in a year of almost entirely white wlw stories. The family's shenanigans are the hook, but it's the budding relationship between Old Dolio (an almost unrecognizable Evan Rachel Wood) and aspiring grifter Melanie (the luminous Gina Rodriguez) that is the heart of the story.

44. Misbehaviour (2020) dir. Philippa Lowthorpe – Again, teaching me herstory I didn’t know, about how the Women’s Liberation Movement stormed the 1970 Miss World Pageant. Keira Knightley and Gugu Mbatha-Raw’s characters have a conversation in a bathroom at the end of the film that perfectly eviscerates well-meaning yet ignorant white feminism, without ever pitting women against each other - a feat I didn’t think was possible. I also didn’t think it was possible to critique the male gaze without showing it (*ahem Cuties, Bombshell, etc*), but this again, invents a way to do it. Bless women directors.

45. *All In: The Fight for Democracy (2020) dir. Liz Garbus and Lisa Cortes – 2020’s 13th. Thank god for Stacey Abrams, that is all.

46. *The 40-Year-Old Version (2020) dir. Radha Blank – This scene right here? I felt that in my soul. This whole film is so good and funny and heartfelt and relatable to any artist trying to walk that tightrope of “making it” while not selling their soul to make it. My only initial semi-note was that it’s a little long, but after hearing Radha Blank talk about how she fought for the two-hour run-time as a way of reclaiming space for older black women, I take it back. She’s right: Let black women take up space. Let her movie be as long as she wants it to be. GOOD FOR HER.

47. Happiest Season (2020) dir. Clea Duvall - Hoooo boy. What was marketed as the first lesbian Christmas rom-com is actually a horror movie for anyone who’s ever had to come out. Throw in casual racism and a toxic relationship treated as otp, and it’s YIKES on so many levels. Aubrey Plaza, Dan Levy, and an autistic-coded Jane are the only (underused) highlights.

48. *Monkey Beach (2020) dir. Loretta Todd

49. *Little Chief (2020) dir. Erica Tremblay – A short film part of the 2020 Red Nation Film Festival, it’s a perfect eleven minutes that I wish had gone on longer, if only to bask in Lily Gladstone in a leading role.

50. First Cow (2019) dir. Kelly Reichardt – I know Kelly Reichardt’s style, so I’ll admit-- even as I was preparing for an excellent film, I was also reaching for my phone, planning on only half paying attention during all the inevitable 30-second shots of grass blowing in the wind. (And yes, there are plenty of those.) But twenty minutes in, my phone was set aside and forgotten, as I am getting sucked into this beautiful story about two frontiersman trying to live their best domestic life.There is only one word to describe this film and that is: PURE. I’ve never seen such a tender platonic relationship between men on screen before, and it’s not lost on me that it took a woman to show us that tenderness. Reichardt gives us two men brought together by fate, and kept together by a shared dream and the simple pleasure of not being alone in such a hard world; two men who spend their days cooking, trapping, baking, and dreaming of a better life; two men who don’t say much, but feel everything for each other. The world would be a much better place if men showed us this kind of vulnerability and friendship toward each other. Oh, and it’s also a brutal take-down of capitalism and the myth of the American Dream!

51. Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) dir. Patty Jenkins - My most-anticipated film for the past two years was...well, a mixed bag, to say the least. Too many thoughts on it for a blog post, so stay tuned for the upcoming podcast ep where we go all in ;)

52. *Selah and the Spades (2019) dir. Tayarisha Poe

I hope this gives you some ideas to kick off your new year with a resolution to support more female directors!

What were your favorite women-directed movies of last year? Let me know in the tags, comments, or asks!

[minyoonmeme]

Normalcy of the Pretty Posse

Chapter 1 

Word Count: 2494

Pairing: reader x ?????

Genre: like 90% fluff, 10% stupid jokes and bad humor

Description: Stupid Jeongguk and his cute sweaters and pretty posse of hyungs. 

(Disclaimer: This will probably have some typos. I started writing this instead of doing some Statistics homework and spent so long on it that I have zero time to edit. Sorry~)

next

masterlist

There was no game plan. There never really had been, at least not for me. Making it past 16 was something I had never foreseen, never imagined I could do. And now, here I am, alone in a country in a university far from home with no idea how life is supposed to go. Okay, maybe I’m being pessimistic because I’m not completely alone. I have friends if you count the two idiots who don’t let me drown in takeout boxes on weekends. They’re wonderful, they really are, I promise. 

Yoonjin is the sweetest person I’ve ever met no matter how much I want to strangle her into putting herself first. She’s the one who calls me about anything and everything. Don’t tell her that I secretly love that she calls me first when something happens. Chaebin is my right hand gal. My broski. My homegirl. My uh… well she’s great honestly. She’s all bark and no bite with the strongest affiliation for cute things, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. These two are pretty much my whole life other than the impending doom of my failing future that I have chosen to personally personify. Makes it less scary if it's punchable, honestly. 

“Are you gonna actually do your work or are you gonna stare at your coffee all day?

Rolling my head to the side, I eye Chaebin with the blankest face I can muster. 

“I didn’t ask to be criticized when I asked you to come to the library with me.” 

“No, but you did ask me to make sure you finish your paper in time for practice tonight. Yoonjin will cry if you let her go by herself again.” I groan, throwing my head against the cushion of the booth’s chair. She’s right, I know she is. I’ve missed two weeks of dance workshops and Yoonjin, without missing a beat, after every workshop comes knocking on my door teary eyed and sputtering about how she was all alone and lost without me there. Food usually helps soften her up. 

“You think she’ll forgive me if I miss just one more week?” Chaebin twitches her eyebrow up as she side eyes me from her computer. I slump even further and push my laptop farther away in favor of laying my head down. “You’re right. She’ll probably accuse me of abandoning her and our friendship if I skip one more time.” 

“I’ve literally seen you pump out a 12 page research paper in 3 hours, just go dance or whatever tonight and stress yourself later.” 

“Anxiety and Red Bull are a toxic combo, but I’ll have you know that I got a 94 on that paper.” Smiling smugly, I turn my head to look at her. She’s not wearing her glasses today, so it’s hard to tell if she’s glaring at me or blind today. “If I bail, are you gonna be okay by yourself? I can swing by afterwards with Yoonjin, so you don’t have to walk home alone tonight.” 

Her glare softens as she shakes her head no before grabbing some eyedrops. Oh. So she is wearing her contacts. “No, I’ll be okay. I came packing.” Her right hand pats her bag before she smirks and continues searching through her syllabus. 

I eye her bag warily and half jokingly say, “Please, tell me you don’t have a gun.” 

Her face scrunches as she stares at me. “Are you stupid? Why would I have a gun? I meant I have my phone and a taser. Do I look like I know how to shoot a gun?” 

I shrug and start packing up my bag. My joints scream and pop from being stationary so long. “I am, do I look like I know how to shoot a gun? You never know Chae, I could be a highly skilled marksman just waiting to take someone out. I might not even be a real college student, just a really good undercover assassin.” 

Her nose twitches as she clicks open a few browsers. “You almost cried last night when you saw a stray cat ignore you. I highly doubt you’re killing anyone these days.” 

“Animals love me and that one hurt, don’t use my feelings against me. Don’t you remember when you cried because you thought I was ignoring you last year?” Her face dropped as she coughed into her shirt, trying to hide the red splotches. “I was literally sick for three days and you came to my apartment with food because you thought I hated you. What was it you said? Something about not being allowed to hate you if you fed me.” 

“We don’t talk about junior year, I was going through it.” Her voice was tight, but I could tell she was amused. “It’s almost 6 o’clock, you should text Yoonjin and tell her that you’re not abandoning her tonight.” She slides my bag towards me and lets me scoot past her out of the booth. 

“Yoonjin and I will be by later to walk you back to your apartment around 9:30. Sound good?” My legs wiggle as I try and get a feeling back into them from sitting so long. When I stand there longer than normal, her eyes flash up as she nods and waves her hand at me to leave. 

To: Yoonjin the Trash Bin

You wanna meet outside the commons tonight or walk over together?

From: Yoonjin the Trash Bin

WAHH 

YOU”RE COMMING? No more awkwardly standing in the back by myself!?!?!? :)))))))

[crying egg dog.pdf]

let’s meet in the the commons

To: Yoonjin the Trash Bin

7? By the double doors upstairs?

From: Yoonjin the Trash Bin

No, no, no my friend come ASAP. We have much to discuss.

To: Yoonjin the Trash Bin

Uh okay???? See you in like 10 minutes I guess??? 

From: Yoonjin the Trash Bin

See you! <3

_______________________________________________________________________

“You actually did come.” Yoonjin’s hand reaches out and pinches my arm before she settles back against the wall. “I thought for sure your text was all some weird daydream I had conjured up.”

“Chaebin convinced me that our friendship was on the line if I left you alone at another workshop for the third week in a row.” My bag landed on the ground as I slide down next to Yoonjin. Her hair, newly cut and dyed to a short choppy greyish purple bob, was still something I needed to get used to. Yoonjin had failed her midterm last week and as a result decided that her hair would rejuvenate her life and, thus, her will to study. I still don’t think she’s bought her textbooks for this semester yet, but that’s not my business. 

“As she should! It was your idea to start coming to these dance things, and you left me!” Despite her anger, she still turned her smoothie toward me as an offering. “I look like a loose limbed monkey in there. At least with you there, you explain the steps to me.” I choke on the smoothie a little bit, as she crosses her arms.

“Loose limbed monkey? Yoon, you look fine! These workshops are meant for people who don’t have dance experience. It was your idea to try dancing, I just found a place to do it” Her face contorts as she sips on her smoothie again, shaking it to mix it up and get some frustration out. 

“It wouldn’t be so bad if people like you or Jeong-fucking-guk didn’t kept coming. It’s not fair to suck and then have to watch you two just like magically do it.” Her head gets thrown back with a thud as she grunts. Immediately I laugh and rub the back of her head in oder to soothe the soon to be ache. 

“I can go if you want since you seem to not want me or Jeongguk here apparently.” Her eyes dart over to me in the most non threatening but threatening way possible for someone like her. “Okay, so I’ll stay. Make your mind up Yoonjin, I can’t keep playing these games with you.” I click my tongue against my teeth as she smacks my thigh closest to her. “You said something about Jeongguk coming right? Since when does he come out to these things? I thought he was a dance and choreography minor? Shouldn’t he be with the big dogs or something in like a real class dancing?” 

Yoonjin hums, offering me the rest of her smoothie. It’s a green looking health smoothie from a self proclaimed health bar down the street. It’s for sure my favorite, and definitely not her’s, so I take it and nudge her as a thanks. “That’s the thing, I didn’t even know he went to these things. Usually I just hang out with you and everyone else who hides in the back with me, but last week he came up to me and asked if you were still coming.” I raise my eyebrows in surprise and nod for her to continue. “I told him you’ve been busy and he kinda just nodded and shuffled away. He did tell me to tell you to take it easy though.” “Were you ever planning on telling me that a boy approached you about me?” 

“I'm telling you now and that’s all that matters. Besides, I thought you swore off men after the mishap freshman year with that one Tinder date.” 

Immediately my face heats up, and I grimace at the memory. “We don’t talk about that for a good reason, you brat.” If she’s mad I called her a brat, her smug smile doesn’t show it. I go to open my mouth and further yell at her for bringing up the traumatizing story when a pair of black heavy boots skids to a stop by my stretched out legs. 

Okay, so here's the thing about Jeon Jeongguk . He is terrifyingly good looking. So much so that looking at him hurts, like physically hurts. Jeon Jeongguk could punch me in the face and I would say thank you for the attention and bow before passing out. Okay, that’s perhaps way too far but he is attractive and built. God, is he built. And he’s not even an asshole about it! Most guys who exercise thrive on showing off their bodies and flaunting their muscles. Not Jeon Jeongguk , though., Nope! Jeongguk wears sweaters and button ups that make him resemble a Korean version of Mr. Rogers. All smiles and kind eyes with a heart of gold. Men like Jeongguk are the reason I have heart issues and top notch acting skills. 

“You’re back!” My eyes blink a few times at Jeongguk before I register that he's looking at and me actually speaking. When I don’t say anything Jeongguk fiddles with the sleeve of his shirt and looks at Yoonjin before letting out a cough. He speaks a little calmer now, more airy and rushed. “Yoonjin said you’ve been busy and I was worried you weren’t gonna come back ‘til next semester. Not that I worried about you or like not not worried about you, but uh…” He sputtered a little and lets out a small huff of air before ruffling his hair back. My lips pressed together as I swing from internally swooning over his cuteness to the attractiveness of him pushing his hair back. “It’s good so see you back. Hobi hyung, says it's good to have some experienced people in the class to encourage and help beginners.”

“Is that why you keep coming too?” 

Maybe he doesn’t expect my question or for me answer him at all, but he blinks a little too hard and shyly looks over my shoulder rather than my face. It’s cute and maybe it makes a smile break out on my face. Just maybe though. “Yes! Hobi-hyung asked me to help him since he can’t uh ya know help everyone at once.” He doesn’t sound too sure of himself, but I let it go seeing as this is our first comprehensible conversation. 

“That’s sweet of you to help your hyung for free. Does Hoseok-shi think I’m there to do the same? I feel a little bad missing the past two weeks if you’ve been doing it all by yourself.” I frown and pinch my eyebrows a little tighter, looking the direction of the doors. Should I apologize? Yoonjin beside me, I can tell, has grown more and more interested in our conversation as she undoubtedly is texting our group-chat with Chaebin about what's happening. She nudges me to focus when the conversation stalls a little. The nerve of her, I swear.

Jeongguk , getting redder and slightly more panicky, shakes his head no a little too roughly. His hair looks a little messed up, and I nearly squeal with the need to fix the adorable mess that he is right now. Outside, however, I just smile softly and encourage him to explain. “Hobi-hyung and I are okay, you’re just like an added bonus to class cause you know you obvious have some experience with your technic and seem to pick up the dances quickly.” It’s a little rushed, but I think I make out everything he’s saying.

“Are you trying to say I’m a good dancer Jeongguk ?” It’s meant to be lighthearted and playful, but Jeongguk physically widens his eyes and looks everywhere, but in my direction for a few seconds before he stops trying to voice anything out just nods. My hands clasp in my lap as a I suppress a smile and will the flush to disappear from my cheeks. “Thanks, you dance really well too. I can see why you’re studying dance.” 

Jeongguk whispers the faintest, “Thank you,” before shoving his thumb in the direction of the door indicating that he’s gonna help them set up for the workshop. I wave goodbye and watch as he does the same and dashes behind the door. Now that he’s gone, I can breathe a little easier. That was probably the weirdest experience I’ve had today, or this week for that matter. Pretty people don’t just go up to me and talk, let alone me of all people. And when I say pretty people, I mean pretty people like Jeongguk and his pretty posse of friends.  Jeongguk and his hyungs are just uncommonly so pretty and somehow together all the time. Even now Jeongguk is inside with Jung Hoseok, a graduate student who hosts the beginner dance workshops on Thursday. The fact that  Jeongguk even talked to me, or asked about me last is enough to twist my insides a little. Normal people talk to people all of the time, but  Jeongguk was not normal and his hyungs are not normal. I mean they are, but they project this ethereal aura that just intimidates everyone. So, why for the love of God was Jeon Jeongguk just talking to me?

“Are we gonna talk about what just happened or are you gonna keep staring at the door?”

“Shut up, I'm trying to process everything.”

[jboofan]

The River where the Moon Rises

She told him she would meet him there, at the river where the moon rises. In his heart Jungkook knows one day she will come.

Chapter 4

Joe-ra blinked hard at the clock behind her. Another late night in the Big Hit studio and another hit song coming she was sure. She had no lyrics for this song just yet, but she had woken from her sleep humming a tune and remembered dancing to it in her dream. She'd hummed it again until she recorded the loose rhythm and had been holed up in the studio every night since.

It was always the same story; most if not all an evening well after closing she'd make her way to the building. She'd nearly been discovered one time when someone had left their bag in the same practice room as her, and after that she waited til late before making her way there. The guards knew who she was, and once in, she made her way to the studio that was always booked under an alias.

Sound proof and safe she was able to record backing tracks of her next album, one she never knew the release date for, but being in the studio let her work on music and visualisation. Maybe she was delusional or overly positive but she hoped that somehow her voice would come back. Too much googling on the subject hadn't done anything to alleviate her fears but keeping some sort of routine anchored her for now. She'd worked her whole life to be a singer, made it and then lost it all.

Perks of a well off family afforded her every hobby she wanted, after music it would be dance. Whether hip hop, jazz, tap or ballet she loved every form. Earphones on, ballet shoes on, to keep limber she'd practice old routines, modify some to newer music or on a bad day she would simply lie on the floor staring at the ceiling. Sometimes grief overtook anything, and lying there silently crying was what she did best.

Knowing for a fact that no one was there to disturb her, it wasn't difficult to visualise the choreography she wanted, even if she couldn't sing the lyrics. Joe-ra always felt the music through dance and it allowed her mental blocks to ease away. Dancing melted away her stress but tonight nothing was doing the trick.

Realising it was a full moon tonight in a wintry Seoul made her way alone to Cheonggyecheon Stream to soothe her soul. Every Saturday she could manage, Joe-ra pulled her coat closer to herself as she watched the almost frozen stream. Eyes closed she listened to the trickle of the water push against the crackle of ice shards as it travelled down the man made stream. The place was usually desserted, and she was pretty sure she'd be in trouble if her manager found her out here so late, alone but none of that ever seemed to matter in the moment.

The picturesque views made a small smile bubble to the surface of her mouth as she took in the twinkling lights, as the sun came into view across a hazy Seoul sky. Joe-ra's memories somehow pulled her back briefly to that night of crazy intense almost mythical sex in that club, promising she would keep in touch, even bravely mentioned that she would meet him here; close to the Cheonggyecheon Stream Steps. But then everything changed.

Joe-ra stared off into the distance. Would he have turned up? She'd dropped her phone soon after and lost a whole bunch of messages, and found when she was ready to speak to him that she couldn't. Oh what cruel irony! She'd played the scenario over and over in her head. Would she have been able to tell him she couldn't speak? Would he have wanted to stay if he had known?

Forlorn of hope, her eyes found the moon. It's large silvery grey figure hovered high in the sky reflected in the ice below.

Ass now numb from having sat there so long alone on the same stone step, and heart feeling colder, Joe-ra willed her legs awake, rubbing her jeans to warm herself up, as she dusted herself off and made her way towards finding a taxi to take her back to the studios.

Sitting amongst the stone steps allowed her to clear her mind, that or run away to her grandmother's home in the country. She struggled to remember the last time she had gone to see her mother's family but now wasn't the time for thinking. It was time to go home, sleep and forget everything.

Jungkook watched a heavily coated woman wait nearby, usually around the same times as he usually did. She was here late today though, not that it mattered to him; she sat back, staring up at the full moon tonight, she was near enough he could see some reflection of the moon upon her face. She was soon up on her feet and getting ready to walk away.

Tonight it was emptier than usual, most likely down to how cold it was, it seemed only him and that woman had made the journey out. He blinked back heavily, his head was full of haziness and he stopped feeling the cold hours ago.

Everyone ignored each other and that was fine with him. No following cameras, no bright lights, screaming fans or struggles with privacy. But his usual late night friend across the stream was leaving and he felt lonely again.

Guess I'm not the only lonely person in this city he told himself, staring mindlessly into the stream a little longer before eventually heading back to the dorm.

Joe-ra walked towards the subway entrance, the walk along the steps wasn't long. She'd noticed the same guy sitting on the opposite side as she always did but he never bothered her, therefore she had no reason to pay him too much heed. She had to cross over the walkway to reach the exit, and the one on his side was closer.

An empty bottle of soju rolled across from the man, as he groaned loudly.

Ignoring him and wanting to simply get home to her warm bed, rubbing her hands together Joe-ra kept walking. The guy's groans were getting louder and it was getting more difficult to ignore him. Then she heard it.

A loud sob escaped him as he fell over several empty bottles at his feet, beginning to wobble now as he tried to steady himself. She walked away stopping near a wall. Damn her conscience. Why wasn't she walking away?

Swearing inward for possessing a shred of courtesy to the rest of the human race, and against her better judgement Joe-ra carefully thought about walking back across the stepping stones linking both banks of the stream toward him and running away.

Jungkook was sure he was drunk out of his mind. He should have stopped himself from reaching for that first bottle, let alone the fifth and then the sixth; but lately his heart just felt so heavy he didn't know how to handle it. Eyes seeing double vision, face firmly on the ground he blinked hard as a pair of black heeled boots walked ever closer towards him.

Oh shit don't let it be the police. Or Nam Joon, please be the police over Nam-joon he sobbed again, half drunk but fully wallowing in his own self pity.

Joe-ra reached in her pocket for a tissue. The idea of touching anyone made her skin want to shrivel up, and she most certainly wasn't going to touch some random drunk. Sighing as she realised she had none, Joe-ra pushed her hand into her coat and used the sleeve to try and paw at him to try pull back his hood with no success.

Getting as close to his face without being too near, Joe-ra studied his face. Nope no idea who this was. She gasped as she saw two full ears with rows of earrings.

A smaller but colder hand moved his hoodie off his face, kneeled down beside him and picked his hair out of his eyes delicately.

Joe-ra sighed. This poor guy's eyes were almost sadder than hers.

Jungkook couldn't see who this stranger was, but they were awfully quiet in their actions. No swearing or shouting. Just sitting him upright, moving his mask carefully which was pathetically hanging off one ear off and brushing it free of the dirt.

Joe-ra couldn't believe her luck. Of all the drunk shits to have stumbled upon, it had to be one of her father's employees. In the most famous band since forever, swaying from side to side and mumbling some rubbish she couldn't uncipher.

Pulling her jumper sleeve out further, she cleaned his face gently of loose grit and stone. His eyes were closed, a small restful smile on his face as her hands moved across his skin, a clean sleeve dabbed his moist eyelids carefully.

Joe-ra moved away a moment, her knees starting to hurt but his arm shot out and grabbed her leg making her wobble and grab his head to stop herself falling.

She shook her head. "Man, I do not want to be you when Nam-joon sees you," she wanted to say, but instead tutted at him, head shaking.

Jungkook sat on the ground holding onto her waist tightly, head against her stomach.

Fighting him off didn't seem to do anything. His grip was solid like someone was trying to take his favourite toy away from him. Nestled against her and getting comfortable he wasn't budging.

Giving up and lowering her head over him, Joe-ra found his hands and held them in hers. After a few minutes Jungkook held them back, realising it was still her hands, and she managed to eventually help him to his feet.

Two cold hands grabbed Jungkook's face and made it stop from falling side to side. Satisfied that his eyeballs were no longer going to roll back, but still very aware that the sun was now going to be rising fast; and with it other people had Joe-ra worried that they would be caught.

Needing to hail a taxi and fast, Joe-ra thanked the submissively drunk that was Jungkook for not struggling or causing a fuss. She held out her hand and he took it. They walked slowly but surely along the walkway, as they reached the steps.

Joe-ra held his warm hand and climbed a few steps, but he suddenly stopped moving. Sleepily he managed a half step suddenly falling on her, causing her to scrape an exposed knee across a step, as his whole weight fell into her back.

Her eyes rolling back in pain, knowing trying to scream out loud would have had no use, Joe-ra resisted the urge to smack him hard instead hitting him in the chest and letting go of his hand in frustration.

Try and do something decent and get injured for it.

Pulling herself upright again and really wanting to push him down the stairs herself, Joe-ra walked off, dusting her hands off.

"Dasi tteona jima," he looked at her drunk and upset. Don't leave me again he kept repeating to her as she realised holding her hand out of his reach made him look around for her and walk towards her. "Why do you keep wanting to leave," he mumbled, "I said I'd come, be here. Stay with you. Why did it take you so long to come? I waited. I missed you. I missed you," he told her sadly, his hands grabbed her face and apologised.

"Mianhe," he hugged her tightly on the steps, afraid to fall she grabbed onto the side rail and him with the other. "I knew you would come. In my heart, I knew you would come. I didn't mean to drink so much," he sniffed, "don't go. I want to show you to them. You're real. And I knew you would come."

Totally confused, and starting to feel sorry for whatever heartbreak he seemed to be going through, she awkwardly patted his back and moved away. Holding out her hand he climbed the steps one by one to hold hers.

Joe-ra used this unorthodox method until they were able to find a taxi, and she literally shoved him into the back of a cab, pulling his hoodie over his head even lower as the taxi driver gave them stand looks.

Clearing her throat and holding out her phone for the plaza location he nodded and turned back to pull away.

A warm hand felt across the seat, found her fingertips, pulling her hand next to his as he tried to pocket her fingers into his jacket. "Jagi, you have such cold hands. I need to give you gloves," he pulled her closer to him, "I need to look after you. Then you won't leave," he snuggled her hands in his. "Cold hands," he kept mumbling as she tried her best to contain her anger at him. Reaching over and pulling his seat belt over him, Joe-ra was sure he even giggled? For someone that Nam-joon had described as a shy muscle bunny, he sure was talkative when he was drunk.

Her finger hovered over Nam-joon's name, she should tell him who she found, but they were nearly home now, and if she was honest she wasn't sure how he was going to react, and worse she get in trouble for being somewhere she shouldn't be.

She stopped. It wasn't like she had done anything wrong so why was she afraid? But if her father found out? Shit she was not ready to even comprehend what would happen if he found out one of his golden boys was getting up no good. She couldn't be associated with that.

His head rolled forward and she cupped it in time and pushed out back. Jungkook held her hands and snuggled into her neck causing her to awkwardly try and strain away from him. She was gonna have to boiled herself when she got home.

Eyes now rolling, she sat as far from him as she could, giving up when his big head kept flipping back and forth as they moved through morning traffic.

"Are you awake? I need your help 148." She typed it quickly hoping he would see it.

Mouth dry as they approached home, Joe-ra was desperate to unbuckle him and get him out the taxi as quickly as she could.

Narrowly avoiding the doorman she managed to get him into the lift where he was adamant he now lie down and sleep.

Punching their floor as hard as her fingers could she had to get him to their private floor to avoid any other residents, the image of her father absolutely pissed off at her actions spurred her on to wildly punch the number until the doors closed.

A quick side glance told her the idiot was still awake and Joe-ra let out a massive sigh as the doors opened to their floor and it was just them. The silence was unnerving, as was the way he wasn't letting go of her hand.

Refusing to leave the lift, Joe-ra kicked him in the ass and he was starting to focus again.

"Are we home my jagi?" he slurred again, enraging her even more. He watched her slender figure impatiently tapping her foot and reached out her hand to him.

"Baby, Oppa missed you," Jungkook grabbed her arm and slid a hand over her shoulder and turned to face her, pulling her into a tight hug. "I missed you so much," he sniffed, hitting his chest, "it hurt so much."

Jungkook hastily pulled his mask off and held her face closely. Big eyes startled and surprised stared back at his.

"Baby," he asked her softly, "did you miss me? Did you think of me?" his voice cracked.

What was that saying about drunks and honest answers? And why did his touch feel not sleazy for use of a better word? Why did she have so much food still in her fridge?

Random thoughts drifted out of her mind as Joe-ra, in the lights saw just how shit faced Jungkook was. Definitely not the same dude gracing the TV, this guy was so drunk and no amount of good looks could mask how pathetic he looked before, or heartbroken now.

Joe-ra nodded her head woodenly.

Jungkook perked up, so happy at her answer. "You did?!" he kissed her cheek. "I'm so soft for you. Don't tell the others." He stared at her until she nodded again.

Jungkook allowed the pretty lady to tuck his hair behind his ear, smiling at the intimate skinship. Reluctantly moving a hand under his jacket and feeling for his waistband Joe-ra yanked on his belt to grab hold of something in case he suddenly started going sideways again.

Groaning under his weight the walk to his apartment opposite to hers seemed never ending. Confident they were no longer about to be found out, Joe-ra let out her breath, and was prepared to drag him by the ankles to the front door if she needed to.

Patting his face to wake him from his stupor she pointed to the digital keypad, hoping he would somehow know his combination to get in. Several minutes of just staring at it and groaning had her ring the doorbell several times hoping someone was in to take this fucker off her hands.

**

Incessant rings of the doorbell woke the guys from their sleep. It was never a good thing to be woken that early especially when their manager wasn't due for another few hours.

Jin, a light sleeper, had the misfortune of opening the door. Before the eldest could get a word out, Nam-joon no longer in his dressing gown but shorts and a t-shirt was rushing toward the shoe rack to grab shoes and check on her.

Unfortunately it was just at the same time as Joe-ra stumbled through the door with Jungkook.

"What the fu—" came a voice, and even Joe-ra knew shit was gonna hit the fan now.

Arm drooping over her, Jin helped walk Jungkook to the kitchen table, the nearest place he could sit himself down.

Nam-joon looked at Joe-ra and then Jungkook as she tried to loosen his vice like grip from her hand. Joe-ra felt Nam-joon's angry face staring into the back of her head.

"Ah," the only sound she could roll as she yanked on her arm free of a sleeping drunk who somehow still wasn't letting go. Whimpering as she rubbed her elbow as it smacked on the table.

Joe-ra's head was pulsing as she realised the magnitude of the situation and to be fair, she didn't really need to be hanging around to witness it. Not when she saw how angry Nam-joon was.

Standing awkwardly with his jacket in her free hand, she made eye contact with Nam-joon as the others slowly made their way into the living room area. Instinctively she held out her free hand to Nam-joon to free her from the drunk mess but she quickly recoiled on noticing that vein in his forehead popping. She knew that look, he was gonna blow and kill them all.

Jimin was trying to not freak out as they watched Nam-joon's eyes start to bulge and slowly turn wide, as J-Hope desperately did his best to wake up their drunk friend, slapping his face repeatedly.

"Ya, pabo wake up," Hope tried to shake free Joe-ra's arm, looking at Joe-ra and apologising for Jungkook but Jungkook had held on for dear life.

"No she's mine," he sniffed now grabbing her with the other hand pulling her into a hug. "I've missed you jagi."

"Um, are we missing something here? He really has a girlfriend?" Jin asked shocked.

Eyes massive now, Joe-ra struggled against him, trying to hold out her hand to anyone that would grab it, as her friend neared. She knew the sibling code, you don't date your brother's friends and she definitely wasn't.

Nam-joon squared in on Jungkook and it really did look like he was going to lunge at the youngest when Joe-ra spotted it and grabbed his arm haphazardly and tried to pull him away for fear of being injured in the crossfire.

As much as Jungkook was still heavily drunk, Nam-joon getting so vexed wasn't going to help right now.

"How? When—" he spoke in English, Nam-joon's anger wasn't letting him get a word out. "Ya," he roared, hands on his waist, trying to digest the situation, "where—" he pointed fingers at them again.

"Why is our yeppeun neighbour here so early? And why is Kookie hugging her?" Suga had arrived in his pyjamas as he read the tense room, in his usual deadpan voice.

"Anneaseyo," he spotted her and gave her a polite nod.

"Um, hyung, isn't that our neighbour?" Taehyung answered confused. "I thought she was Kookie's girlfriend. Our neighbour is his girlfriend? I thought she was American?"

"That," Nam-joon laughed angrily, "is my sister."

[nubnubblr]

If You Do. 32 Handcuff Hideaway

THEA

         "Do you have any classes for the next hour or so?" I asked Shawn. Everyone recovered quickly but there was still concern in their expressions that Mackenzie was going to walk back through that door and Shawn's world would fall apart.

"Nope," he shrugged taking a huge bite out of a burger.

"Does that mean you want to be my knight in sweaty armour?"

"That's gross," Charlie pulled a face.

"Where do you want to go?" Shawn ignored her comment.

"I want to do some shopping," I smiled sweetly.

"But you're crippled," Junsun smirked.

"The correct term is disabled and that never stops you," I retorted.

"How am I disabled?" he frowned.

"You're disabled in the brain," I huffed.

"I think that's referred to as being 'on the spectrum'" Austin commented.

"Fine, I'll go with you shopping," Shawn nodded devouring the rest of his meal.

"You're ditching me?" Charlie frowned.

"No, Doobin said he was having trouble remembering your choreo on top of the other classes he's taking, I figured you were going to help him out and that would have left me stuck here," I sent her a slight smirk.

"He doesn't need my help," she gave me a warning look.

"Actually, some help would be great," Doobin nodded.

"Seriously?" she asked in a flat tone.

"I mean if you don't want to, I'll just go ask one of the other students," he shrugged.

"Oh, come on, throw the kid a bone," Austin sided with Doobin. I had to cough to cover the laugh that almost burst from my throat.

"Fine, but you better pay attention because I'm not doing this again," she huffed.

"Right," but Doobin and I mumble together.

CHARLIE

         I knew that he didn't want me to help with the choreography, he could do it in his sleep. But I wasn't going to boost his ego any more than it already was.

"So what part of the choreo is confusing your little brain?" I sighed following him into an empty practice room.

We have a few around the building, they were just small 5x3 meatre rooms with a mirror covering one wall and a door, there were no window and the rooms where soundproof so that several students could practise at the same time without disturbing or being disturbed by anyone. The doors also had locks on them, convenient.

"Why don't we start with something you know isn't small?"

"You're attitude?" I raised an eyebrow.

He just smirked, let out a slight laugh, then his face turned dark with lust, he took a step towards me and instinctively I took one back leaving me pressed up against the wall, with nowhere to go. His lips connected with my neck and a small moan escaped my lips, I felt his smirk on my neck before he relocated his mouth to mine. I wanted to curse myself for giving in so easily but the logic in my brain evaporated the longer Doobin's lips assaulted mine.

"If you want me to stop just say so," his husky voice whispered inside my ear. I didn't trust my voice so I just didn't say anything, he waited a few moments before taking my silence as permission to continue.

I was lost in my train of thought as we slid to the floor, he stretched my hands over my head with one hand, logic slammed back into me when I felt the cold metal clamp around my wrists.

"What are you doing?" I frowned.

"Having a little fun,"

"What if someone tries to come in?"

"The door is locked, and the room is soundproof. But if you want me to unlock you then that's fine, just thought it would be fun," he shrugged.

I don't know why, and I wasn't even sure when I had decided it would be fine, but the words seemed to fall from my mouth before my brain had the chance to run them through a logic filter. Instead of saying what I should have said, being the responsible adult and his teacher, I said;

"Leave them on,"

BM

         I wanted to throw everything, I had to step away from my desk so that I didn't throw anything breakable or important. I was trying to function on barley any sleep, Austin has stolen so much money that I wasn't able to give a lot of shifts out to my staff and I even had to let a few go. They were understanding about the whole situation, but not being able to use my staff meant that I had to cover the shifts. Thea still came in and worked the kitchen, but she didn't say anything to me, she just showed up, did her job, and left. So my day usually went; up at 3 a.m, work at the bakery until 6a.m, come home and get a few hours sleep, usually 3 or 4, then wake up but no later than 10 a.m, set up the bar, re-stock the shelves, do ordering, open, serve customers until closing at 1a.m, clean the bar, maybe eat something, quick shower, sleep for an hour, and repeat.

So, I was overworked, overtired, understaffed, and severely stressed. I had been to the bank about a loan, but they felt like I was too much of a risk, I had reported Austin to the police, but I wasn't hopeful about getting my money back, I should probably talk to one of the boys about it because I know they would help out in the bar but they hadn't been home since I slept with Olivia, it was pretty clear they know about it, also I vaguely remembered hearing Charlie's voice.

I'd been feeling guilty about that since it happened, not just because of her technically being Sam's girl-whatever, or because it was Jae's bed, or even the whole Thea situation. Don't get me wrong, I felt bad about all of that, but I had also realised that I had kind of been seeing Somin, and I mean, we weren't dating per say but it's not okay to show someone that you're interested in them and the go and slept with someone else. That's not the type of person I am, but I haven't really been acting like myself lately.

Pushing my friends away, keeping secrets, sleeping with strangers, getting angry for no reason. Okay, not for no reason, but in from the point of view from everyone else it is for not reason because I haven't told them what's going on.

Maybe I should just sell my car.

THEA

         "I still don't understand why you haven't already done your Christmas shopping," Shawn frowned at me as we made our way back to the dance studio. We had been gone about an hour and a half, long enough for Mackenzie to be long gone, and for Charlie and Doobin to have finished, 'dancing'.

"I have most of it done, shut up, like you have any Christmas shopping done," I huffed defensively.

"I only have to buy for a handful of people, and I'm not Miss Overly Organised, which is why I'm surprised that you're Christmas shopping wasn't don't in like July," he retorted.

Okay, it was actually already done, but in September, not July. I just needed a reason to get Shawn to stay out shopping when he was insisting on my getting off my foot. Besides I found some things that I just had to buy for Charlie.

"Maybe you should have used this time to do your Christmas shopping,"

"I still have time,"

"Christmas is in like 8,"

"Yeah, that's 8 days full of time to buy things,"

"When there is nothing left in the shopping centres that qualifies as good gifts, you'll regret waiting," I shook my head at him.

"It's the thought that counts," he tried to counter,

"And apparently they're the last thought," I retorted.

"Has anyone ever told you that they can only handle you in small doses?" he huffed at me.

"All the time," I nodded as we walked into 1Million, well technically I hobbled but I wasn't about to admit that.

"Shit. I have a class in 10 minutes," Shawn groaned.

"I thought you said you were free?"

"I forgot about it, I'll catch up to you later," he rushed off.

I looked around for Charlie, she didn't seem to be anywhere maybe she was still with Doobin? Her car was still out the front, and she wouldn't leave me here anyway. She had to be with Doobin, I should probably find them before Shawn stubbled across them.

"You're back," Doobin nodded towards me, he was standing in the doorway of one of the classrooms. I looked around him to see if Charlie was in there. She wasn't.

"Yeah, have you see Charlie?"

"I have," he smirked.

"Okay, stupid question. Do you know where she is?"

"Of course," he nodded still smirking.

"Well are you going to tell me?" I sighed.

"She's in that room," he nodded towards one of the practise rooms.

"Thank you,"

"Thea," he called as I turned away from him.

"What?"

"You might need these," he handed me a set of small keys.

"These look too small to unlock the door," I thought out loud.

"They're not for the door," he smirked, I frowned and began to ask him what they were for but he turned and walked into the classroom, that Shawn was teaching.

I headed over to the door he had pointed towards turned the handle, but it was locked. I thought he had said that the key wasn't for the door. I knocked just in case I had the wrong door. Then realised that the rooms were sound proof so I wasn't sure she would even hear it, so I rattled the handle.

CHARLIE

         The door handle turned and shook, if whoever was on the other side was calling me, I couldn't hear them, the downside to a soundproof room. Did I risk opening the door to see if it was Doobin with the keys? What if it was one of the other boys? How did I explain being naked and handcuffed in a practice room? I didn't. Which left me with no other option but to wait until Doobin decided to come and save me. Even though he is the reason that I'm stuck in this situation to begin with.

My phone started buzzing in my pants pocket on the floor. I maneuverer my way towards them and somehow managed to answer the call, only because it was Thea. I hit the loudspeaker button.

"Hey,"

"Hey, opened the door,"

"Why?"

"Because Doobin gave me a key and said that you would need it,"

"Where is he?"

"In Shawn's class,"

"And where is everyone else?"

"How am I supposed to know?"

"So, if I open the door, you're the only one out there?"

"Well, other than the reception staff but they're all busy. Why are you being weird?"

"Okay, I'm unlocking the door, but hurry up," I sighed working my way to my feet. I unlocked the door and quickly ducked behind it just in case anyone looked over to see what Thea was up too.

"Why are you being so weir..." Thea started at me.

"Close the door!" I snapped.

She pushed it closed and tried to cover a laugh with a cough. May have actually worked, if she didn't just laugh instead.

"What?" was all she could manage to get out between laughs.

"Shut up and give me the keys," I snapped.

"And you think you're going to be able to unlock those cuffs by yourself?" she raised an eyebrow once she stopped laughing, although she still managed to chuckle at me.

"Yes," I cursed the doubt that found its way into my voice.

"Do you want me to uncuff you?" she giggled.

"I want you to stop being a jerk, but I guess I'll take the uncuffing," I sighed, she held her laughter until I said uncuffing, for some reason she found that hysterical.

"Thea!"

"Oh, wait, I have the perfect thing for you!" she beamed.

"Like the keys to these cuffs?"

"Yeah, yeah, in a second," she rolled her eyes rummaging through the bags in her hands.

"Bro, I'm literally standing here naked," I was starting to get a little annoyed.

"Yeah, I know, I'm about to fix that,"

"You could just give me the damn keys and I could get dressed!"

"Yeah, but that wouldn't be nearly as entertaining. Ah! Here it is," she smirked pulling a jacket from one of her bags.

"I have clothes over there,"

"Yeah, but this works sooo much better, I saw this in a shop and had to buy it for you, because you're technically Doobin's professor, I got you a professor jacket, with elbow pads!" she unfolded the grey checked jacket, brown patched covered the elbows.

"I hate you, now uncuff me,"

"Argh, fine," she rolled her eyes.

THEA

         I uncuffed her and she basically kicked me out of the practice room, she's so touchy sometimes. I watched Shawn's dance class through the glass door. Doobin seemed pretty pleased with himself, he caught my eye through the door and smirked at me, I suppose that the fact I was the only other person who knew about the two gave him a small kick, considering that he could basically brag about it with one look.

"Let's go," Charlie came out of the

SAM

         "I want food," Jae whined lounging across the edge of the couch.

"Then go get something," I shrugged.

"Are you kidding me? The last time I took food out of that crazy dwarfs kitchen she withheld food from me for like a week,"

"It was an hour, and that's because you were so annoying she didn't want to listen to you anymore,"

"Yeah, well, it felt like a week,"

"Then order something,"

"That takes too long to get here, and it costs money,"

"You can wait until she gets home,"

"Can you message them and see how long they're going to be?"

"Why can't you do it?"

"Because I don't know where my phone is," he whined

"You're literally staring at it,"

"Shh, busy," he muttered scrolling through Tumblr.

SAM: Hey, where are you guys? Jae is complaining he's hungry and I'm worried he is going to eat me.

I wasn't expecting her to reply so quickly but she replied before I could relock my phone.

CHARLIE: Just waiting for Thea to get her braces off, not sure how long it will take.

"Charlie doesn't know how long she is going to be,"

"They went shopping, how much can two poor girls even buy?" he huffed.

"They're at the dentist, Thea is getting her braces off," I rolled my eyes. He paused, looked at me and smirked.

"Come on," he stood up.

"What?"

"We'll go get food, Thea is going to be in so much pain when she gets back," he beamed.

"You don't need to sound so happy about it," I frowned.

"Yes, I do. Do you know how easy it is to annoy her when she's in pain, and then she does that thing where she get huffy and hurts herself, it's hilarious, but I'll even buy her food to make up for it,"

"Really?" I looked at him sceptically.

"I mean, you'll pay for it because I lost my wallet, but sure," he shrugged.

"Of course, you did," I rolled my eyes.

"I think I left it next to or on my bed, so it may as well be lost, who knows what naked parts of BM have touched that," he shuttered.

"Okay fine," I sighed.

"Keys," he held his hand out.

"Why?"

"Because you still can't drive? Do you think I'm going to walk there and like go into the building with those people?"

"Those people? Who are also going to buy fast food because their too lazy to cook for themselves?"

"If you were supposed to cook for yourself they wouldn't have invented cars and drive throughs, are you going to mope around here daydreaming about Charlie or are you going to come on this adventure with me?"

"We're going on an adventure?"

"It's modern-day hunting, come on Samwise," he stood.

"Does that make you Frodo?" I raised an eyebrow following him.

"I feel more like a Gandalf, wise and magical,"

"More like Radagast," I commented.

"Charlie likes him better anyway," he shrugged.

CHARLIE

         The boys weren't there when we got home, or at least Sam's car wasn't and he still can't drive so unless Jae decided to go out and take Sam's car, which wasn't likely.

"I thought the boys were staying again?" Thea frowned.

"Maybe they went to get a change of clothes," I shrugged.

"Hopefully they don't come back, the last thing I need right now is Jae and his stupid face,"

"Are you sure you two don't have a thing for each other?" I raised an eyebrow.

"If by 'a thing' you mean do I want to stab him with a sword? Then yes, but if you mean in the general sense, then I would rather stab myself with a sword," she pulled a disgusted face.

"You two just seem really interested in where each other are," I shrugged.

"I am in enough pain right now; do you have to make me want to vomit as well?" she sighed.

"Shouldn't you be pain-free after having your braces off?"

"You would think so, after two years with the pressure moving my teeth you would think the release would be amazing, not painful,"

"Then again, it's been two years of pressure, what happens when you release the pressure after you hurt yourself?"

"Intense pain," she groaned collapsing into the couch.

"There are painkillers in the kitchen, do you want me to get them?"

"I'll get them, hot coffee might help with the pain," she sighed.

"Alright,"

"Do you want water in the kettle?" she asked.

"I'm good," I shook my head.

She just nodded leaving the room, I checked my messages to see if Sam and sent one letting me know where he had gone, he hadn't.

CHARLIE: Hey, where are you guys?

SAM: Jae decided he would have me buy us food, he thought it would be entertaining to get things Thea can't eat and eat it in front of her.

CHARLIE: Forget his wallet again?

SAM: Apparently he lost it

CHARLIE: I bet you it's in his pocket

"Where are these painkillers?" Thea asked, she walked into the lounge room pulling the door with her.

"On the shelf about the kettle,"

"They're not," she shook her head.

"Maybe they're in my bedroom," I got up, she turned around to leave the room, the door handle wouldn't turn.

"Not funny," I frowned at her.

"Not kidding," she frowned back.

"Seriously?"

"I must have hit the lock on the way in,"

"You locked us in the lounge room?"

"I mean not if your bedroom window isn't locked," I thought about it, I had locked it a few nights ago, there was a breeze that came into my room and the window only stayed securely closed if it was locked.

"Is yours?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Paranoid," she pointed at herself.

"So you locked us in the lounge room," I sighed.

"I mean only technically, we can just call one of the boys to come to save us," she shrugged.

"Jae and Sam only went to get food, they'll be back soon,"

"See, we're fine," she shrugged again.

"I'll text Sam and ask them to hurry up,"

SAM

         CHARLIE: Hey, can you guys be quick, Thea locked us in the lounge room

"We don't need anything else?" I asked as Jae pulled out of the parking lot.

"No, why? Do you miss Charlie already?"

"No, the girls are locked in the lounge room, Charlie wants us to come save them,"

"How did they...?" he because.

"Thea," I cut him off.

"Of course," he shook his head.

"Well, let's go to the Zoo then," he smirked, which probably meant he wasn't going to save them straight away.

"The Zoo?"

"Their lounge room is basically entirely windows, which means we can eat and enjoy the show,"

"Charlie will kill you,"

"Probably," he shrugged not seeming too phased by the idea.

[dinoyoongi]

Cuddles & Kitty Cats

SYNOPSIS: After a night of drinking, you go to Yoongi’s dorm for some quality cuddles. Unfortunately, you’ve forgotten that you are currently giving him the silent treatment.

PAIRING: Yoongi x Reader

GENRE: Fluffy angst

WARNINGS: Language

WORD COUNT: 2292

AUTHOR’S NOTE: I have a million other things that I should be writing but this spontaneously jumped into my head. Nothing was planned, I just wrote whatever popped into my head. Hope you all enjoy!

_______________________________________

“Yoongi! Y/N is downstairs! Should security let her up or are you two still arguing?” Jin yells from the foyer of the apartment. Yoongi, who is currently slumped into the living room sofa and attempting to decode the obviously inebriated text messages you had just sent five minutes prior, lifts his head in confusion. He sighs heavily.

“I think she's drunk. Tell them to let her up.”

Your boyfriend and Jin idle by the door for what seems like fifteen minutes, waiting for the doorbell to sound. Yoongi is about to go search the floor for you when there's suddenly a loud banging on the door, followed by a pitiful whine. Jin yanks the door open quickly and both boys are startled when your body tumbles inside, crumpling to floor at their feet.

“Ow,” you half squeak, half hiccup. You slap the pristine, gleaming tiles with the palm of your hand. “Big Hit too cheap to spring for carpeting?”

“I don't think they anticipated drunk girls breaking their head open on our linoleum, Sweetheart,” Jin says, watching in amusement as Yoongi pulls you gently to your feet. He steadies you when you wobble, keeping one of you arms around his shoulder. Feeling his limbs against yours, you yank yourself away as if his skin is made of lava.

“I don't want to talk to you,” you say snottily, wrapping your arms around yourself. Yoongi snorts humorlessly, his eyes widening in disbelief.

“Then why the fuck did you get dropped off here?”

Jin has to stifle his laughter when you genuinely look confused – why did you instruct your taxi driver to take you here? It wasn't because you subconsciously wanted to make up with Yoongi and cuddle him all night. Nope. Absolutely not. No way. You were punishing him with the silent treatment and would continue to do so until he apologized for the things that he had said yesterday.

You hiccup again, your eyes moving toward the taller boy. He's surprised when you shove a finger in his direction. “Jin! I came to hang out with Jin. Jin is my best friend.”

Before Jin can even process what you've said, you have him by the elbow and you're dragging him into the living room, pulling him down to sit next to you on the sofa that Yoongi previously occupied. Yoongi leans against the wall of the entryway, already exhausted of your theatrics.

“So, Jin, how have you been lately? Tell me everything new that's going on!” you exclaim, kicking your leg up over your knee. Yoongi's eyes narrow at the expanse of skin that is suddenly revealed when your skirt shrinks in on itself with the movement.

“Uh,” a panicked Jin throws a worried glance at Yoongi, who motions with his hand and the rolling of his eyes to play along. “I've been … good. Things have been … good. Nothing new going on – just recording music and learning choreography and photoshoots … you know, BTS stuff ...”

You nod your head. “Of course. Sounds hectic.”

There's an uncomfortable silence. The weight of your expectant gaze targeted right at Jin is even more uncomfortable. He clears his throat. “And … yourself?”

By the way you perk up, shoulders squaring and posture suddenly proper, Jin can tell that you clearly didn't give any kind of shit about how he has been or what was new with him. He locks eyes with Yoongi again, both of them realizing what kind of game you were playing.

“I've been just peachy, Jin. Just peachy. I broke up with my neglectful boyfriend yesterday-”

Yoongi scoffs loudly. “We did not break up.”

“As I was saying,” you talk loudly over him with as much sass as you can muster, “I broke up with Yoongi and went to the bar tonight to find myself a new man who will actually remember my birthday and not call me immature for being upset about it.”

“You forgot her birthday?” Jin asks in incredulity, facing the younger boy with wide, disappointed eyes.

“I was only one week off!” Yoongi exclaims defensively. “I thought it was on the 18th instead of the 10th! I even had her present already bought and wrapped!”

“We've been together for three years, you asshat. And we've known each other for even longer than that. It is against the law for you to forget my birthday by now!”

Jin grimaces. “Err … that's not a law, Y/N.”

“Well it should be!”

“And this is why I called her immature. You're hammering the nails right into the coffin, Babe,” Yoongi drawls, shaking his head in amusement at your ridiculousness. The smug look on his face only enrages you further in your intoxicated state.

“And this is why I broke up with you! You are also hammering your -”

“You did not break up with me,” Yoongi interrupts, smirking when he sees your face flush red with anger.

“Shut up!” you screech, grabbing the first solid object that your fingers can reach and whipping it in his direction. Unfortunately for you, it was a stray sock and barely traveled halfway to where Yoongi stood. He stares at the piece of laundry for a few seconds before bursting into loud guffaws. Somewhere between throwing the sock and Yoongi laughing at you, your liquid courage dried up. A sudden wave of humiliation washes over you and you jump to your feet, ignoring the pain when your knee knocks into the coffee table hard as you run past Yoongi into the nearest bathroom.

Jin sighs, grabbing the edge of the coffee table to right it's position. “What I just witnessed was ridiculous. You know that, right? She's drunk. Why are you antagonizing her?”

“She came over here looking for an argument so I indulged her,” Yoongi shrugs. Something about Yoongi's nonchalant attitude sits wrong in Jin's stomach.

“Do you really think she came all the way over here to argue? She got drunk and probably missed you. And whether you'd like to admit it or not, you do owe her an apology for forgetting her birthday. That's kind of messed up.”

Yoongi sighs. “She understands. I forget important dates and anniversaries all the time and she always lets it go. I don't know why she's freaking out this time.”

“Do you ever forget my birthday? Namjoon? Jungkook? Any of the other members? Hell, you even remember to send some of management gift cards on their birthdays. Imagine how that must make her feel, Yoongi. She probably doesn't feel all that important to you.”

Yoongi's eyes fall to the sock on the floor by his feet. Jin was right – of course, he was right. When he forgot your birthday the first year, you were so calm and understanding. Yoongi had panicked and prepared for the worst but you soothed his worries and forgave him with no fuss. When he forgot your anniversary the next year, he could see that you were visibly upset but also let it go with a smile on your face. After that, it became routine. Yoongi didn't think these dates mattered to you all that much so he didn't put forth the effort to remember them. Has he been taking advantage of you and your feelings this entire time?

“You're right,” Yoongi sighs, rubbing the spot between his eyes with his thumb. “I really am an asshat.”

“I know you hate to do cheesy things, but I think you have to just suck it up this time. Go in there and apologize and be nice. And then bring her to bed because she seems on the brink of passing out. I'll make her a sandwich so she isn't so sick tomorrow.”

“Thanks, hyung,” Yoongi pats his elder on the shoulder before padding down the hallway to the first bathroom. He raises his fist to knock but leans his ear to the wood instead when he hears a faint whimpering from the other side. “Y/N? Jagi? Are you okay?”

When there's no answer, Yoongi turns the knob. Surprisingly, it opens. He finds you sprawled across the bathmat next to the shower, wet, mascara-streaked eyes trained on the screen of your phone. There's a faint melody of familiar music playing but he can't place a finger on what it is until you begin singing.

“It leaves me feeling seasick, baby ...” you half-sob, half-sing from your spot on the floor. Yoongi sighs, crouching down next to your body.

“Are you okay? Did you get sick?” he asks, lifting the toilet seat to check. The water is clear as crystal.

“No,” you whimper. The sight of your bottom lip quivering makes Yoongi's chest throb. “But I don't have any kitty cats for Jimin.”

Yoongi's eyebrows furrow in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“The kitty cats!” you howl, sliding your phone aggressively to where Yoongi is crouched. He's overcome with a mixture of understanding and amusement when he sees the agency page of BTS World running on your phone. “Jimin is so sad but I don't have any kitty cats left to give to him.”

Yoongi hides his chuckles with his hand. Even sloppy drunk with smeared make-up, you still managed to be both infuriating and adorable at the same time. He picks your phone up off of the ground, sliding it into his back pocket before reaching down to gingerly lift you into his arms. Fortunately you don't fight him, choosing to instead wrap both arms around his neck for support. As Yoongi carries you out of the bathroom and into the hallway, you catch sight of Jimin leaving his bedroom.

“Jimin!” you wail. Your mouth is near Yoongi's ear and the volume makes him wince. It startles Jimin, too, who stumbles over his own feet. His eyes are wide as saucers as he stares at you; eyes puffy and red, makeup everywhere except where it should be. What a sight. “I'm so sorry that I couldn't give you the kitty cats. I tried so hard. All they gave me were the stupid flowers. I'm so sorry.”

Jin's laughter is high-pitched and loud from the kitchen. Jimin opens his mouth in confusion but Yoongi shakes his head, jerking his neck forward as if giving permission to carry on. He brings you into his bedroom, kicking the door closed behind him and lowering you softly onto his bed before heading into the bathroom for a damp washcloth. He sits down next to where you lay, dabbing and wiping gently at your ruined makeup.

“I hope you remember this in the morning because I'm terrible at this but … I'm sorry, Y/N. I'm sorry for not being attentive and forgetting so much that is important to you, to us. I'm sorry for being mean when you got upset. And I'm sorry for teasing you tonight. I'll be better, I promise.”

“And I'm sorry for throwing the sock at you. Violence is never the answer.”

A tired, amused smile stretches across your boyfriend's face. “That's right.”

“But Yoongi? Am I important to you?” you mumble pitifully. Yoongi's chest throbs harder.

“Of course you are, Jagi. You are the most important person in my life and I'm sorry for making you feel like you're not. Can you forgive me for being an asshat this whole time?”

You push down the queasiness in your stomach to roll onto your side, reaching out to grab his arm. He understands your motives and lays down next to you, tucking you into his side. You sigh in contentedness. This was what you wanted. This is what you came here for tonight. Yoongi cuddles were the best cuddles and you craved them even when you wanting nothing to do with him.

“I love you so I suppose I can forgive you,” your words are muffled by his shoulder. He chuckles. “Only if you make me something to eat, though.”

“Your best friend is in the kitchen making you a sandwich right now.”

“Oh? Why is she here? Did I bring her with me? Yoongi, she's a terrible cook. Can you ask Jin to make me something instead?”

All Yoongi can do is laugh. He reaches for the edge of the blanket and pulls it up over your body, knowing you enough to be prepared for the sudden slumber that you always fall into after you stop making sense. He watches your eyelids begin to droop.

“Jagi?” he asks, moving a strand of hair from your face. You hum in response. “You said you went to the bar to find a new man … you were joking, right?”

“He wanted to buy me french fries, Yoongi,” you mumble sleepily, your eyes never opening. “But I said no thank you, sir, I have a boyfriend.”

Yoongi's responding laugh is louder than he thought it would be. He slaps his hand over his mouth but the effort is wasted as you have already fallen asleep, your lips parted with soft snores. Still snickering, he leans down to kiss you lightly on the forehead before clicking the lights off and making his way back into the kitchen. Jin is already plating a large sandwich stacked with meats when Yoongi finds him. Jimin sits on a stool at the counter, flipping through the week's schedule.

“Might as well wrap it up and put it in the fridge. She's fallen asleep but I'll make her eat it for breakfast. Thanks, hyung.”

“Did you two work things out? No fighting?”

Yoongi smiles. “We're good. No fighting.”

“I'm really happy that you and Y/N are on good terms again but I have a question,” Jimin chimes in from his seat. Both boys turn to look at him. “What kitty cats and flowers was she talking about?!”

[bngtanah]

Private Dancer | JK (m)

summary: You keep Jungkook company as he stays late for practice and he ends putting on a different kind of show.

part of the EXPECTATION! oneshot collection.

pairing: jungkook  x reader genre: pwp(smut) words: 3.11k warning: smut, black!reader, boyfriend!jk, stripping, thigh riding, interruption, m/f

a/n: still over here foolish. there’s so much to re-upload T_T

Your name: submit What is this?

Jungkook had always been a hard worker. From the day that you met him, that particular trait was one that you admired immensely. When he committed to something he always put 100% of his effort into making sure that the outcome was nothing short of perfection and you loved that about him.

Except when you didn’t.

Jungkook’s bullheaded dedication to giving his whole mind and soul to a project often meant you became a second thought when his current goal had nothing to do with you. Like tonight, for instance, you’d lost track of the amount of time you had been stuck in the practice room with him. Watching intently as he repeated the same song choreography time and time again. It was entertaining at first since you always enjoyed watching him in his element; dancing and singing like no one else was watching. It was enthralling to be quite honest. But that was hours ago and all the feelings of amazement had melted away to lethargy.

You were slumped against the back wall using Jungkook’s jacket as a makeshift blanket to keep warm as he stopped himself mid spin and shook his head then raced over to restart the song he had been dancing to all night.

“Ah, why can’t I get this right?” He muttered to himself, wiping away the strands of hair that were stuck to his sweaty forehead. “How did that look, babe?” he asked, glancing toward you.

“The same as it did two hours ago, Jungkook” You answered, not bothering to open your eyes.

His head perked up from the boombox and he finally looked in your direction. You rarely called him by his full name unless something was wrong and the image of you curled up in the corner of the couch bundled up with his jacket made him focus on something other than his dance routine for the first time that night.

“I’m sorry. This must be so boring for you, Y/N….” He sighed, scratching the back of his head.

“It wasn’t at first but… I think I’m just going to head home,” You grumbled and attempted to get up “I thought we would get a chance to hang out before you start promoting but obviously you’re too busy.”

“No! Y/N, don’t go.” Jungkook protested, but you waved him off.

“Seriously, it’s alright. You can still come over if you get out of here before the sun rises.”

Jungkook pursed his lips in thought for a few seconds before reaching out to grab both of your wrists as you walked toward him.

“Please, Y/N. Just stay for one more song?” He pleaded, placing your hands on his chest. You were beyond tired and the thought of spending another minute in the dance studio gave you a headache, but then he smiled at you. One of his genuine, adorable smiles and you found yourself without a defense against the batting of his big brown eyes.

“Fine,” You groaned “One more song and then I’m going home.”

“You might not want to…” He muttered, and you looked at him questioningly, expecting an explanation. He shook his head instead and motioned back to the couch “Just take a seat, Y/N.”

You obeyed and returned to the couch, arms crossed against your chest and a single eyebrow raised as you attempted to decipher exactly what was going through your boyfriend’s head. Your thoughts were interrupted when he glanced in your direction again, this time wearing a playful grin instead of the intense look of concentration he’d had on his face all night.

“Do you remember that thing you asked me to do for you the other night?”

You didn’t respond. You had no clue what he was talking about; you asked him to do a lot of things when he actually had the free time to spend with you. Jungkook continued to smile despite your silence and soon enough he was standing right in front of you, hooking his finger under your chin. He lifted your head up to look at him and you blinked a few times.

“You really don’t remember?” He asked you, his head tilted and the smirk still gracing his perfect lips. The intimacy in his stare was almost too much, sending a shiver down your spine that you barely managed to hide from him when you realized exactly what request he was referring to.

“Kookie, you can’t be serious,” You let out a short breath and tried to smile back, “I was drunk when I said that…”

“I’m very serious,” He replied without a beat. “Consider it a thank you for staying with me tonight. I know it may not seem like it but I feel better when you’re with me.”

Before you could answer, he suddenly turned around and made his way over to the little “DJ booth” in the corner of the room. He scrolled through a few songs on his phone until soft pulsating music began pouring through the speakers. It wasn’t fast and loud like the song he was practicing to earlier, but instead, it was slow and sensual, and low enough that you could still hear the shuffle of his sweats as he walked over to you and got close again.

Without warning, his body started slowly moving, almost as if he was experimenting with how you would react to him in that moment. Your eyes followed him and even though you were still couldn’t believe that he was actually going through with this, you couldn’t deny the way his movements were making you feel, and the smug grin on his lips told you he was truly only getting started. 

He studied your face, biting his lip slightly as he looked at you and you backed up on the couch just slightly to give him more room. He took that as an invitation to get closer and spread your legs slightly before putting his hands on the back of the couch for leverage. He moved slowly, deliberately so that his body was practically on top of yours without really touching you and started body rolling again, causing a very visible shiver to run down your spine.

“Are you trembling already, baby?” You heard him tease you, bringing you out of the little spell you were in. You looked up at him and shook your head and his lip curved up a bit in the corner, barely noticeable. “I haven’t even done anything yet”

“Just shut up and strip for me,” you hissed in response.

“Patience…” He hummed and rolled his body, again emphasizing the thrust of his hips. Even though he was barely touching you it was almost like you could feel him. You were almost certain that having him strip for you would be an embarrassing gesture you could tease him about later. You never imagined that he would actually do and do it so well. You should have known he would put everything he had into his performance. Jungkook never did anything half-assed. There was still a small part of you that wanted to giggle whenever he would go down to the floor and thrust upward in your direction but you were definitely into all of it. That was evidenced by the way you felt your underwear becoming more moist each time his upper body brushed against yours, and your thighs begged to be rubbed together for some type of friction.

He chuckled softly and grabbed both of your wrists, putting your hands higher on the couch, moving his body towards you slowly until finally he was close enough to feel you. He pushed his hips into yours and you gasped at the feeling. He was half hard already, and the fact that you were having the same effect on him gave you a bit of confidence. You used your feet to hook against his thighs and attempt to push him harder into you, to feel him more, but as soon as you did Jungkook smiled and pulled away.

“Nu-uh, No touching baby.” He chuckled.

“Please tell me you’re kidding,” You groaned.

“Nope. You wanted a stripper so we’re gonna do this right, that means you can look but not touch.”

“Why do you know so much about strippers?”

“Don’t worry about that.”

Your eyes narrowed in annoyance which only made Jungkook laugh harder and cradle your cheeks between his large hands, “Don’t pout, this is what you wanted.”

You rolled your eyes, heavy, but you shrugged anyway and motioned for him to continue with his little show. Him stopping you was probably for the best, considering it wouldn’t have taken much for you to want much more than just making out on the couch, and you didn’t come here to sleep with him in the practice room where just about anyone could walk in.

You watched closely as he resumed his dance, and then brought his hands down to the edge of his shirt and pulled it up and over his head, leaving him in just his grey sweat pants, making it very obvious that he wanted the same thing that you did. The way he held himself back was actually somewhat impressive. This was far from the first time you’d seen him shirtless but now that he was here in front of you, close enough to touch, you could feel yourself growing more and more frustrated that you weren’t allowed to reach forward and feel his smooth skin under your fingers. 

“Like what you see?” He asked as he tossed his shirt in your direction.

“I hate you Jungkook,” was your answer.

Jungkook grinned broadly as you responded, and you were positive that he was reveling in the feeling of you being completely desperate to touch him. The way his hips were moving only added to the feelings of frustration pooling at your center and you pushed your legs together for some slight relief.

“I want you too, baby girl.” He groaned, looking down at the way your thighs were rubbing together. You stopped your movement once he caught on and he smiled gently, leaning forward and putting his hands on your thighs to make them move in the same way that they were before, “Don’t stop.” He whispered against your skin as he nuzzled his face against your neck. They way his fingertips pressed deeply into your thighs let you know that he was definitely done playing games.

He sighed loudly, eyeing you up and down as you made a small attempt to pleasure yourself then his eyes suddenly flashed over to the door. You wondered what could possibly be more deserving of his attention at this particular moment but your questions were answered when he walked over, turned the lock with a click and made his way back over to you again.

He sat down on the couch for the first time that night and he smoothed a hand up your thigh, “Get on my lap, baby.”  Without a second thought, you settled into his lap, lips moving over his with an urgent need as his hands quickly moved to grope your body. 

“We could go back to my room.” He whispered in between kisses that started behind your ear and traveled down your neck. “I don’t want to,” You answered and winded your hips down against his crotch. The closer your bodies pressed together, the more your wanted to feel his length buried inside you. You reached for the hem of your top, which was already halfway up your torso, and pulled it up over your head. Soft moans of his name passed your lips as he gently nipped at your neck and you harshly tugged at a tuft of his hair.

He let out a low moan and didn’t waste any time in putting his hands on your hips and pulling you even closer into him, thrusting up into you. A heavy moan tumbled from your lips, and he suddenly had a hand over your mouth. “You have to be quiet, Y/N.” 

“Mhm,” You replied through a breathy moan as you brought yourself down onto his lap, harder this time. His hard cock had to be uncomfortable in his sweats, but he didn’t seem to mind as he moved in time with you. He removed his hand from your mouth, putting it back onto your hip and continued to thrust with you, hitting your clit whenever he bucked up in a certain angle. You could barely control yourself as another noisy moan formed in the back of your throat. The thought of someone hearing you both made you cautious and also turned you on even more. He ran one hand through your curly tresses and used the other to keep you in place, pulling you closer whenever he would thrust up.

As much as you enjoyed the friction that was being created between you two you were also growing impatient for the main attraction and soon found yourself reaching down, feeling for a way to get him out of his pants when his hands landed on yours, “You really don’t have any patience do you?” 

“No,” You admitted, pulling your lips off his neck for a moment to look at him. “Don’t act like you’re not the same way.”

He snickered and glanced to the side, rethinking what he had planned to say as he toyed with the strap of your bra. “I want nothing more than to be buried so deep inside you that you’d have trouble walking tomorrow,” He said slowly and carefully as he pulled down the strap he had curled around his finger “But I don’t have a condom, so unless you’re willing to take the risk….”  He practically purred as he pulled down the other strap and unhooked your bra from the back, “You’ll have to settle for something other than that.”

Before you could answer and scold him for not being prepared, your nipple was in his mouth and you lost track of your thoughts. Flicking his tongue over your stiff nipple before sealing his lips around the dark brown bud, grazing his teeth over it. His tongue flattened against your golden peak, sucking at it hard. He bucked his hips up once again while his mouth teased your breasts, and you were almost convinced that he could get you off based on that action alone.

Jungkook had other ideas, apparently, as he grabbed hold of your hips and maneuvered your body so that you were no longer straddling his waist but securely seated on one of his thighs. He motioned for you to move your hips and when you did he flexed his thigh, moving it against your core in the perfect position. Your clit hitting a fold in his sweats, causing even more pleasure to shoot through you. Soon you built up a rhythm and braced yourself by grabbing on to his shoulders for support as you breathing became sporadic, you were getting close and he could feel that in the way your thighs flexed and shook with every thrust forward. He raised a suggestive eyebrow at you and then slid his hand down the front of you pants, straight into your underwear to let his fingers slip between your folds. He groaned lowly in his throat, trying to stay quiet “You’re so wet, how are you this wet?”  He asked with a husky grunt.

He barely gave you the time to reply before he spread the lips of your core open, sliding a finger inside and finding the spongy tissue of your most sensitive spot. “Are you this wet for me baby?” he moaned, and you echoed the sound and nodded quickly as his fingers twisted and curled inside you. You tensed around his fingers and then continued moving your hips, riding his fingers over and over again until you could feel the dull pressure of ecstasy buried within you grow tighter and tighter with each thrust and movement of your hips. You groaned again, and he crashed his lips against yours in a sloppy and careless kiss right before there were a series of knocks on the door, hard and nonstop. Your eyes widened and so did his before he stopped himself and cursed under his breath, “Shit.”

“Yah, Jungkook-ah! Why is the door locked? Open up!” Hoseok and Jimin’s overlapping voices could be heard from the other side making Jungkook more swiftly to erase any signs of your intimate session. He pulled his fingers out of you, wiping them on the material of his pants, and then with his free hand he put a finger up to his lips, telling you to be quiet. “Why are they here so late?” You whispered.

He shrugged and frowned toward the door, clearly imagining what it would be like to make his hyungs evaporate with just a thought, but instead of wishing for the impossible he was putting his hands on your waist and moving you from his lap. He got up, grabbing the shirt from the floor to put it back over his torso before bending to you hand you your shirt with a genuine frown. He waited until you were dressed again to press a chaste kiss to your forehead.

“Sorry, I-.”

Whatever he was about to say was interrupted when the banging on the door resumed. Jungkook groaned loudly then turned to open the door, revealing Hoseok and Jimin who both looked annoyed by how long he took to answer their calls.

“How long does it take to open a door, Jungkookie?” Jimin asked as he brushed past the younger male.

“What are listening to, anyway? You should be practicing for-” Hoseok cut himself off when he caught the glimpse of you huddled up on the couch. “Oh, Y/N I didn’t know you were here.”

“Don’t mind me, I’m leaving!” You responded quickly, jumping up from the couch even though your legs felt like jelly. “I’ll see you later Kookie.” You smiled and kissed his cheek before slipping out the door.

Knowing glances passed between Jimin and Hoseok as they noted the slight wobble in your walk and the light sheen of sweat that covered both your bodies.

“Please, just tell you didn’t do it on the couch, I sleep there!” Jimin pouted and was subsequently ignored by Jungkook who dashed around them to grab his jacket and follow you out of the practice room.

“You guys can have the room, I’m..uhm..tired! Yeah, tired I’m going home!” He shouted over his shoulder as he ran to catch up with you to finish what he’d started.

[kpophours]

Movie Night

➵ EXO: Chanyeol x fem. reader / one shot / fluff

➵ warnings: none

➵ word count: 2k

You turned up the volume of the music before finally getting into the hot shower. You sighed, feeling your stiff muscles relaxing. The day (or rather the whole week) had been tiring — university was stressful at the moment, a lot of papers had to be turned in as well as research projects to be finished. And then there was your part-time job: being an English teacher at SM entertainment. You enjoyed it, of course you did, but to prepare the lessons always took a lot of time, something you had way too little of at the moment. But at least you made good money, which was the reason you had been able to pay for your small studio apartment on your own. To be living alone was a lot more relaxed than living in a dorm together with many other people, so you didn’t even think about giving up this luxury, even if it meant pulling a few all-nighters to finish all of your projects and lessons. 

You tried emptying your mind while shampooing your hair and sang along to the music, getting some of the lyrics wrong and smiling to yourself, laughing slightly. 15 minutes later, you were freshly shaved, showered, conditioned and felt way more relaxed than before. „Now some ramen and Brooklyn Nine-Nine and the evening’s perfect.“, you said to yourself, sighing while drying your frizzy hair with a towel. After putting on your underwear and the fluffy white robe you loved so much, you left the steaming bathroom. When you entered the shared kitchen and living area though, you issued an ear-splitting scream. 

„Are you sure she won’t mind?“, Chanyeol asked for the millionth time. Baekhyun huffed and threw him another dirty look. „Of course not! Y/N loves me and I’m sure she’ll be happy to finally meet you. I’m always telling funny stories of you!“ 

„Oh God. That does not sound good.“ 

The tall man looked really worried and his friend just rolled his eyes. 

„Don’t worry — she can be as clumsy as you, so she actually relates to a lot of the things happening to you.“ 

„Well, are you sure we should meet, then? I mean… it could get really dangerous with me and her being in the same room.“ 

Baekhyun snorted, punching the code to your front door into the lock pad.

„Why do you have her code?!“ Chanyeol sounded more than surprised. 

„Y/N gave it to me, for the not so unlikely situation that I should need a place to crash. You know, should I be bugged out by you guys or be stalked by some so-called fans.“ His statement sounded proud, as if he was a bit amazed by having earned your complete trust. 

„But she does know that we’re coming, right?“ 

„Yes, I texted her earlier.“ 

„Did she answer?“ 

„… well, no. But I’m sure she’s seen my message.“ 

But Baekhyun didn’t sound so confident anymore, making Chanyeol worry even more. „She doesn’t have any weapons in her apartment, right? I don’t want to be killed because she thinks we’re burglars or something!“ 

The smaller man huffed. „Don’t be ridiculous.“ With that, he finally pushed the door open, entering the apartment and pulling Chanyeol with him. The first thing both heard was muffled music coming from the bathroom as well as the sound of the shower rushing. „Ah, she is home. Perfect! Let’s wait for her in the living room.“, Baekhyun proposed good-humoredly, slipping out of his jacket and boots and leaving Chanyeol to close the front door. „Yah! Don’t leave me alone! What if she comes out now and sees me?! She doesn’t even know me!“, the tall man hissed in a panicked voice, following his friend quickly. Your studio apartment was small but very stylish — everything was either white, black or grey. A comfy sofa took up most of the space, standing besides a tall and overly filled bookcase that separated the living area from your bedroom. Loads of different plants filled the windowsills as well as some corners of the room. 

„Huh. It’s really nice.“ 

„Why do you sound surprised? Y/N has good taste! That’s why she choose me to become one of her closest friend.“ Baekhyun grinned cheekily, making Chanyeol roll his eyes. At that moment, the bathroom door opened, releasing steam and music as well as a young, flushed woman. The first thing Chanyeol noticed was you being nearly half naked, only clad in a fluffy, not completely tied dressing gown that didn’t even reach completely over your knees. The second thing was your loud scream — apparently, you had not read Baekhyun’s message. 

„WHAT THE HELL?!“ One hand over your heart, you stumbled back, „Baek?! Are you kidding me?! What are you doing here — without notifying me beforehand, might I add?!“ 

Said man looked pretty sheepishly by now, while you hurried to wrap your dressing gown tighter around herself. „Uhh... Hi? I’m Y/N.“, you said, gazing towards Chanyeol, while your face flushed even more. 

„Chanyeol. It’s nice to meet you…?“ He sounded embarrassed as well, but shot you a soft smile nevertheless. Your eyes light up at his name. „Oh, it’s so great to finally meet you! Baek told me a lot about you.“ At this, your face darkened. „But it would have been nice to have been informed of this meeting beforehand. I would have worn something more formal.“ You cracked a grin at that, striding through your living room. „I’m just going to change real quick and then we can... reintroduce ourselves.“

That’s how you and Chanyeol met for the first time — and a lot of times followed. Often, you, Baekhyun and Chanyeol hang out together: going bowling or to the cinema, trying to cook or sometimes just taking a midnight stroll along Han River. Sometimes, you hang out with only one of them, as their busy schedules didn’t allow it any other way; but in general, you mostly tried to find time together. 

It was a Saturday in late November, when your relaxed evening was interrupted by loud knocking on your front door. You groaned, placing your wine glass on the coffee table and getting up from the comfy sofa and throws. „Who is it?“, you asked before reaching the door. „It’s me.“, a deep voice answered and you immediately began to smile, opening the door. „Yeollie!“ You pulled the tall man inside, closing the door behind him and hugging him tightly. „It’s been way too long!“, you complained muffled, pressing your face into the man’s broad chest. He chuckled. „Sorry, but we have our comeback soon and need to practice.“ 

„I know, I know. Why didn’t Baek come, too?“ 

„He’s still busy recording — but he said I should give you a long hug from him.“ 

„Then give it to me.“ 

Chanyeol laughed again, pressing you even closer to himself. „There you go.“ 

„Thanks.“ You looked at him again and gasped, finally taking in his new hair color. „You’re blond!“ 

„I am indeed.“ 

„Can I call you White Chick now?“ 

„Yah! I’m still your elder, so mind your manners.“ 

You laughed and hit him playfully. „Well, come in. Do you want some wine? Or beer?“ 

„Beer, please. You know what I think of wine.“ 

„That it’s disgusting — which it’s not, by the way. You simply haven’t tried the right one yet!“ 

„And I probably never will.“ 

He grinned at you, falling down onto the sofa and stretching out his long legs. You huffed. 

„Not even for me?“ 

„Nope.“ 

„Not even if I try my puppy eyes?“ 

„Which puppy eyes?“ 

You laughed again and took a seat beside him. „I’m talking about these!“ With that, you got nose to nose with him, widening your eyes. Chanyeol’s widened as well, shocked at the sudden close proximity to you. „I… I see them, yes. Still, no wine for me.“ He quickly leaned back, trying to ignore his fast beating heart. You sighed. „Well, I tried my best. Beer it is, then.“ You finally gave him the bottle, toasting him with your wine glass. „So, how’s the comeback coming along?“, you asked, tilting your head and sweeping his whole body with a calculating look, „You look tired.“ He shrugged. „Nah, it’s okay, I’m used to it by now.“ 

„That doesn’t make it right!“ 

He gave you a cheeky smile. „Ohh, are you worried about me?“ 

„Of course I am! I care about you.“ 

He raised an eyebrow. 

„Well, about you and Baek, I mean. We’re friends, after all.“ 

You felt your cheeks warming under Chanyeol’s amused gaze. Why did he have to be that good-looking? And now with those blonde curls… Dear lord, you just wanted to touch them and see if they were as soft as they looked. 

„So, your comeback…?“ 

„Ah, yes. It’s coming along fine. We’re still trying to remember all of the choreography — okay, I am at least — but we’ll film the music video real soon. After that, it’s going to be really stressful for us, with all the stages and shows and what not.“ 

„If I can help you guys with anything, just tell me.“, you offered, smiling softly and taking another sip of your wine. Chanyeol smiled back. „Thank you, but you’ve got your own stuff to do — don’t you have exams real soon?“ 

You sighed deeply, rolling your eyes. „Don’t remind me!“ 

He laughed. „I could always help you with testing you.“ 

„Thanks, but no thanks. I already have enough sunbaes at university who want to torture me under the pretense of trying to help me with my studies.“ 

„Well, they surely don’t have my methods.“ 

Now it was your turn to raise your eyebrows. „Which are…?“ 

The blond man grinned. „I have an amazing reward system.“ 

„I’m intrigued.“ 

„Good, but you’ll only know what the rewards are going to be if I am allowed to test you.“ 

You sighed. „Okay, okay — but not today… I’m just way too exhausted.“ 

„Thank God, me too. Want to watch a movie?“ 

„Always.“

Half an hour later, both of you had drunk some more wine (or in Chanyeol’s case, beer) and were snuggled under some soft covers, watching a pretty boring movie. 

„We should have just watched School of Rock again.“, Chanyeol complained, finishing his third bottle of beer. 

„But we always watch that together!“ 

„Well, it is an amazing movie.“ 

„True.“ 

„So…?“ 

„Let’s put it on.“ 

Chanyeol whooped, making you laugh and shake your head. “Don’t laugh at me, I just love that movie so much.“, he defended himself playfully.

„Oh, I know — and me too. It always manages to make me feel good, no matter what.“ 

„Yes! But I do hope you don’t need it now to feel good?“, the tall man asked teasingly and you shook your head again. 

„I always feel good when I’m with you, Yeol.“ 

Immediately, a huge smile appeared on his face and he hid his face shyly behind his large hands. You laughed. „Aww, you’re so cute!“ You poked one of his dimples teasingly, winking at him and bending forward to grab your wine glass, which was standing on the small coffee table. Chanyeol saw his chance and wrapped both arms around you from behind, pulling you against his chest and hugging you close. You yelped and giggled, wiggling around until you could turn around to face him. „What are you doing?“, you asked playfully, your eyes shining brightly. Chanyeol took in a deep breath before gathering all his wits, beginning to lean towards you — giving you the chance to stop him. Which you did not, instead you ignored your galloping heart and leaned towards him as well, your eyes fluttering shut.

Soft, warm, careful and toe-curling— that was your first kiss. 

The first of many more to come.

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