#but i finished it with a study session with my dear friend - long chats about class and what we are thinking about and what we are noticing

[rowenabean]

.

[6thfjune]

The beginning

Long overdue graduation but alhamdulillah for the opportunity.

Looking back to my 4th year of college, I would never imagine getting a degree would have taken so long for me since I love to plan things out. Insurmountable amount of hurdles that I felt like giving up in the way I finally made to this day, officially. Those extended years have been something else. It has opened my eyes to many things and many people who actually care for me. It has its ups and dows and ins and outs. It is just the beginning of little steps in the real world, but insyaAllah, everything will all be fine (again) as long as I try and believe.

Leading up to graduation day, I was very unsure for what the future held me — 2 months before graduation, I was in my lowest, which I started afraid of the future. Some people might say it was normal since a new fresh grad are unsure about what they plan next. Since I've faced some limitations and rejections, target cancelations. I was afraid to dream again. But as I recall this momentous year and the previous seven years glued to the university, suddenly a full spectrum of emotions started circling around me—from the moment I step foot with a proud smile and nerves, right to the moment I hold my degree certificate.

It was right at that moment where a whirlwind of emotions rushed through me—after long days of classes, lived independently and away from my family, longer hours of studying, countless sleepless nights while working on my dietetic reports and thesis, obstacles, and hurdles started in my last year of university.

There were moments when I doubted myself, questioned my self-worth, and was anxious with the future and trapped in my own fear since people around me already achieve big.

These years also taught me about life and all the crucial lessons to be gasped in between. It guided about the value of experiences and the rewards of hardships.

It hasn't been as easy as it seems, and truth be told, it wasn't a smooth sailing journey. Poured and endured in order to come this far. I am proud of who I have become and am forever thankful to myself foremost for staying and not giving up while juggling personal and professional matters until the end.

Despite all that. I made it through. I have finally made it to the end. It took a lot of effort to overcome everything at once, but I'm blessed that I've been surrounded by good people who always support me to be better, my dear friends (You know who you are even though you didn't make it into a picture in my grad sessions) have been my biggest supporters and be the one who I knew I could turn to, for everything, literally everything. I am too grateful to have you by my side!

They say it's cool to have the best friends to keep, but that became the reason we had no other options but to stick together. Also, I'm thankful for all the congratulations and wishes on my personal chats. Sorry for not informing you about my grad sessions beforehand. Perhaps I will inform you another big day in the future, hehe!

Thank you, everyone who ever crossed path with me. I believe I've learned something from each of you, from how you managed to stand up after experience things. Thank you also for the silent prayers you made for me

I will always remember my parents' proud faces, seeing I graduated, although It was long awaiting for them that I didn't choose to stop and give up — they've been my greatest pillar of strength. I knew these past few years weren't for us, but the reason Allah tested us was to make us bonding more together. I feel like our communication is much better than before. The more I think about it, the more I can't seem put into words. The situation has made us stronger—giving us the reason that family is home that we could turn back to. The amount of hurdles and memories we have together and how much they mean for me. Thank you for the sacrifice you have made and for instilling in me to finish that have guided me to this day.

All in all, alhamdulillah. Some people might say everyone has their right time and their own timeline, do not rush over things (like the way I used to do). It's one of those timings that we should pat our back, Gita. Towards more challenges, we're in! 👋

To all the aspiring dreamers out here, I hope my journey serves a reminder that with determination, faith, and self-believe, anything is within your reach.

To my dear self, I hope you can look back to this day and reread again whenever you feel anxious about the future.

Sincerely,

Gita

| @6thfjune

[plaidbooks]

Dark Secrets: New Beginnings

A/N: This is the first installment of the Vampire!Sonny x reader fic. This chapter is only setting the stage; next chapter will be more about the vampire aspect, I promise! This covers the Bookstore square in @adarafaelbarba​ moodboard bingo!

Tags: mentions of sex

Words: 2233

Taglist: @witches-unruly-heart​  @beccabarba​  @thatesqcrush​ @itsjustmyfantasyroom​ @permanentlydizzy​ @ben-c-group-therapy​  @infiniteoddball​ @glowingmess​ @whimsicallymad​ @lv7867​ @storiesofsvu​ @cycat4077​ @alwaysachorusgirl​  @glimmerglittergirl​ @joanofarkansass​ @caracalwithchips​ @berniesilvas​​  @reading--mermaid​  @averyhotchner​  @mrsrafaelbarba​ @detective-giggles​ @crowleysqueenofhell​ @dreamlover31​

You spent hours on the computer compiling resources for your thesis. After years and years, you were finally getting your Ph. D in History…if you could just finish this damned thesis. List complete, you headed to the local bookstore; you always checked them first before going online, since they were cheaper.

You were intimately familiar with the bookstore; you went there often. And you had double and triple checked online that they had these books. You had a small basket, four books in it, while you looked for the fifth and final book you needed. But its spot on the shelf stood vacant; a perfect hole where it should be.

Shaking your head slightly, you started to search the shelves around it, in case someone didn’t put it back correctly. But you were coming up empty. And this was the book that you needed to buy here; the shop had it for $20, while online was a couple hundred.

“Looking for Making the Revolution: America, 1763-1791?” a voice asked from behind you.

You turned to find a pale, lanky, attractive man, his hair slicked back, his bright blue eyes watching you intently. He was sitting at a table, open book in his hand. Seeing the cover, you knew it was the book you needed.

“I am, yes. Were you intending to buy it?” you questioned, praying he said no.

The corner of his mouth twitched upwards. “I was debating it. Why, do you want it?”

“I do; I need it for my thesis. If you let me buy it, I promise to give it to you when I’m done, free of charge.” At this point, you were just desperate for that book.

His eyes seemed to bore into you as he thought about your proposal. Finally, he smiled, saying, “I think that’s a noble reason to buy this book. You’ve got yourself a deal.” He held the book out to you, and you gently took it from him.

“Thank you so, so much. You don’t know how much this helps me,” you said, placing the book in your basket.

He held a hand up. “No problem. There’s a lot of inaccuracies in that text, anyways.”

You blinked in surprise. “There are?”

“Oh yes. For one, it perpetuates the idea that Christopher Columbus came here to ‘escape tyranny’ in England, which is a load of crap, if I’m honest.”

You took a step closer to the strange man. “Do you have a source on that?”

He thought about it, chuckling to himself about something, before he answered. “Well, I am in the process of transcribing a manuscript from the man himself. But it hasn’t been published quite yet, so I doubt it’ll be of use to you for your thesis.”

“Wh—who are you?” you asked in awe.

He held a hand out for you to shake. “Dr. Dominick Carisi Jr., but you, my dear, may call me Sonny.”

Your eyes widened in shock, and you quickly shook his hand. “Dr. Carisi? Oh my god! I’ve been reading your work in class; I loved your thesis on slavery!” You had never seen a picture of him, had no idea he was so young; he was about your age. You had expected him to be an old man, at least in his 80s, not this attractive man in his early 40s at most.

He barked out a laugh. “You’ve really been reading my work? I’m flattered. I didn’t think anyone put stock in my texts.” While it was true he was a world renowned historian, his work was seen as highly controversial. He had a knack for citing manuscripts and journal entries, things that no one had discovered before he brought them to the limelight. But every authenticator had proven that the writings were from the time period. And that was enough for you.

“Please, sir, er, Doctor. Could I spend a day with you, pick your brain for my thesis? I’ll—I’ll buy the drinks and food, just…please?” you asked, suddenly embarrassed.

But Sonny’s smile grew. “I’d like that. But only if you call me Sonny. If you’re doing your thesis, then I assume you’re almost done with your doctorate?” You nodded, and he continued, “then in my eyes, we’re equals, and you don’t need to call me ‘Doctor’.”

Your heart beat a little faster when he called you equals. “Thank you so much Doc—Sonny. Does the coffeeshop next door work for you?”

“It does. And I’m free all week, whenever you need me.”

“How about tomorrow morning? I don’t have class until 3pm; I hope that’s enough time to chat.”

He gave you that heart melting smile once more. “Sounds good. See you tomorrow.” Then he took your hand and kissed it. As he walked away, your knees felt weak. You were infatuated within five minutes of talking to him.

 **********************

Sonny turned out to be an incredible source of information. Plus, he brought books that he thought would help you, letting you borrow what you needed. And, like yesterday, you found yourself completely enamored with him. He didn’t have a ring on, so you assumed him unmarried, but you didn’t know how to bring it up without being weird. Sure, you were close in age, but he was done with school, became a published historian, while you were still finishing up college. But he never talked down to you; on the contrary, he seemed highly interested in what you had to say.

Like before, you had been nervous—star-struck, really—when you met up with him. But as the hours ticked by, you found yourself more and more comfortable with him. He was highly intelligent, especially about history. You had found it hard to find someone who was as interested in history as you were, without sounding like a pretentious asshole. But Sonny checked all those boxes for you. You were just unsure if he felt the same.

“When is your thesis due? I feel like it’s still early in the academic year,” he asked.

You cleared your throat. “It is; I still have months and months to work on it. It’s due next year, but I want it to be perfect, you know?”

“I do, I do,” he agreed, nodding. “I hope you’re taking some time off, though, as well. Don’t let this paper take up your whole life; you should be out, appreciating everything this life has to give you. Don’t get stuck in the past.”

You looked at the table, letting his words soak in. It was like he had looked right through you; for the past month or so, you’ve been deep in your studies. You had friends, sure, but you hardly saw them. And you’d given up on dating until after you finished college, anyways. But maybe Sonny was on to something. You should seize the day, capture every moment in memories.

“Would you like to get dinner with me, Sonny?” you asked, trying to sound as confident as possible.

It was his turn to look surprised. “Oh, uh…sorry, you caught me off guard. In all my years, no one has ever asked me out; it’s usually the other way around.”

You chuckled. “You’re not much older than me,” you joked, and he smiled. “Maybe it’s time for something new. For both of us…that is, if you want?”

“I’d love to go to dinner with you,” he said, and your heart soared.

When it was getting close to 3, you bade him goodbye, and he told you he would be eagerly awaiting your dinner date. You felt your face heat at the words, and you swore your face never cooled off for the rest of the day.

*********************

That date with Doctor Carisi turned out to be the best decision of your life. You both felt the spark between you, and you said yes to a second date before he even finished asking. Now, it’s been ten months of loving bliss between you. You completed your thesis, got your doctorate, and Sonny couldn’t be more proud of you. And you learned that while he was a historian, he was also a detective. He said he wanted to help people now, by giving them both access to history material, and by putting absolute monsters away.

But there were little things with him, quirks, really. Though you’ve been to his place, and he yours, he never made a move to get you into bed. Sure, you’ve kissed—and sometimes this escalated to a full-blown make out session—but he didn’t seem interested in sex.

He also didn’t seem interested in moving in together…or a future at all, really. Whenever you tried to bring it up, he would just nod along with you, agreeing to whatever you said and adding on a lot of “one day’s”.

He had no family for you to meet, and yours didn’t live close. You noticed he also didn’t eat or drink much; he loved to make you dinner, and he would say that he snacked while cooking. And then, about once a month, he’d leave for 3-4 days, claiming he wanted to be alone to work on the manuscript.

You gave him as much space as he asked for, and though you still loved him dearly, you were starting to wonder if there was something wrong with you…or if it was just something he was having issues with.

“Hey Sonny?” you asked one day while snuggling on the couch at your place. “Are we okay?”

He glanced down at you. “As far as I know, yes? Why, something on your mind?”

“Well…I was just thinking about how we’ve been together almost a year and we still haven’t moved in together,” you tried.

He looked to the ceiling as he thought. “Wow, I guess it really has been that long now, hasn’t it? I feel like I just met you yesterday.”

“So, are we not connecting on a deeper level, then?” You sat up, turning to look at him.

His bright blue eyes found yours, and his expression softened. “That’s not what I meant; I’m sorry it came out like that. Time just…it moves so quickly is all. Look, I love you, I just—I don’t think I’m quite ready to make that jump yet. I’m sorry; I know this must be frustrating, but I promise you one day, I’ll…I’ll be ready.”

You nodded. “I love you too, I just….”

“What is it? You can tell me—”

“Why won’t you sleep with me?” you asked softly. His eyes widened, and you quickly added, “are—are you ace? It’s fine if you are, I understand, but I just…I feel like it’s something wrong with me, and I—”

He cupped your face in his hands, looking deeply in your eyes. “No, it’s nothing wrong with you, I promise. I’m just…I’m not ready—”

“I have urges, Sonny. And I love you, want to wait for you. But it’s been almost a year. I—I don’t believe a healthy relationship is built on sex, but well, it’d be nice to have every once in a while….”

He sighed, releasing your face. “It’s not that I don’t want to, because I do. I just want to be absolutely sure I’m ready. Call it shyness, or embarrassment, whatever you want. But I want to make sure that—that you’re the one for me, first, okay?”

You opened your mouth to respond when his phone rang. He gave you an apologetic look before answering with his stiff, “Carisi.” He mostly listened, making little noises of affirmation, before hanging up.

“I’m so, so sorry, doll. But the department needs me. I swear we’ll talk about this once I’m home, okay?” he promised, getting to his feet.

He grabbed his jacket, heading for the front door. “Sonny wait,” you called, and he stopped, looking back at you. You hurried over to him, looking up into those beautiful blues. “Be careful.”

He smiled softly. “I will be; promise.” He gave you a kiss, and then he was gone.

 ********************

You didn’t hear from Sonny again until the next morning, when he showed up on your front door, breakfast in hand. He apologized for leaving you last night during that important talk, but you brushed it off, telling him it was fine.

“That’s not all I have to apologize for,” he said, looking anywhere but at you. “I’m…going undercover. I’ll be gone for three months.”

Your face fell, and you put your fingers under his chin, tilting his face until he looked at you. “Three months?” you breathed.

“I’m sorry; I tried to decline, but the Lieutenant gave her orders. I leave in an hour.”

“Three months…” you said again, worry blossoming in your chest. This was the longest he’d be gone since you started dating.

He nodded. “I’ll text or call when I can, but don’t expect it; it may be too dangerous.”

You’d heard enough; you lifted onto your tiptoes, kissing him desperately. Your hands went to his hair, and you pulled him close, all your fear and trepidation in the kiss. He froze for only a moment before he was kissing you back, hands on your hips. He clutched you tightly enough that you gasped in pain, and he pulled away, releasing you.

“I’m sorry. I love you,” he muttered before turning to leave, but you had a suspicion that he wasn’t apologizing for leaving.

[whosemorales]

Notes From Prince Charming

I absolutely loved the last episode. But I refuse to believe that Kwamis don't fall in love. I refuse to believe that Plikki isn't a thing. Their 16 in the story BTW.

≈≈≈≈≈

Dear puurincess,

Thank you for the movie night and food I had a furbulous time.

P. S Hope you have a pursitively pawsome day princess.

- Your knight in shining leather.

Marinette rolled her eyes at the note but couldn't help the soft smile that made its way onto her lips, reaching for her blanket she pulled back the cover and slipped out of bed. A cold chill ran through her body when her feet made contact with the ground, walking over to her desk Marinette opened a circular box and shook her head as she looked at all the other notes nestled inside, all the same as the one in her hand. Well, not the same exactly, they all said different things, but they all had the same purpose so they were the same none the less. Folding the note she placed it in with the others before getting ready for school.

*******

"Bye Maman, bye Papa," Marinette called as she raced out of the bakery, grabbing a croissant and a chocolate chip cookie on her way.

She was late.

Again.

How? She had no idea. OK maybe she had slept in a bit too long, but she had stayed up late watching the movie with Chat Noir so of course, she was going to be tired.

Once she got to the school she heaved out a sigh, she had 3 minutes until class started. Deciding that she didn't need to run anymore Marinette made her way up the steps of the high school, carefully slipping the chocolate chip cookie into her purse. She giggled softly when she heard Tikki's excited squeal.

Entering the classroom she looked over to Alya who had her eyebrows raised and a smirk resting on her lips, Marinette gave her a lazy smile before slipping into the seat beside her.

"So what was it this time?" Alya asked as she looked over at her best friend, who had her head resting in her arms like a makeshift pillow. "Let me guess, you had to feed your cat, but it ran away from you so you had to chase it. Or how about you fell asleep while eating breakfast or maybe prince charming came in through your skylight and whisked you away into the night, where you had a spectacular dinner on top of the Eiffel tower."

Marinette laughed at the last one, it definitely wasn't as far fetched as Alya thought. Lifting her head she sat back in her seat and looked at Alya who was still smirking at her.

"For your information, my prince charming would never climb through my skylight. Adrien is way classier than that. And as for your question I was up late watching a movie with a friend."

Alya narrowed her eyes and smirked. She watched as Adrien and Nino entered the room and waited for them to be within earshot before she continued.

"A friend huh? And who might this mysterious friend be?" She asked nudging Marinette.

Marinette rolled her eyes. "Don't worry about it Alya you wouldn't know him anyway." Marinette's eyes went wide at her mistake.

Adrien and Nino had both turned to listen to their conversation now.

Alya's eyes went wide. "Oooh so it's a he is it? So what exactly were you and this boy doing in your room at such a late hour?"

Marinette had started to go red, and so had Adrien though Alya had no idea why. The poor boy was blushing up a storm.

"I told you we were watching a movie, nothing more nothing less."

"Mmmmh, that doesn't sound very believable," Nino smirked. "What movie was it?"

"We were watching Tangled." Marinette shrugged.

"And why were you watching Tangled?" Alya frowned.

"Because he'd never seen it before."

"Girl that sounds even less believable, everyone has seen Tangled it's one of the greats. Are you sure nothing happened Marinette?" Alya wiggled her eyebrows and smirked as Marinette went even redder.

Alya laughed. "Girl chill out I'm messing with you, unless..."

Marinette groaned and rested her head back in her hands.

Alya and Nino both laughed, shaking his head slightly Nino turned to Marinette.

"Relax M we're just teasing, even if Mr Prince Charming is climbing through your skylight and whisking you away to a magical dinner and then bringing you back to watch a romantic movie with strictly no funny business," Nino gave her a quick wink. "Who are we to judge."

Marinette let out another groan and looked at Nino and Alya with narrowed eyes. "God you to really are made for each other."

Nino smirked and reached for Alya's hand, giving it a quick kiss he turned back to Marinette. "What can I say I'm just naturally charming, it was only a matter of time before she confessed her undying love for me."

Alya laughed and pulled her hand back, leaning forward slightly she smirked. "Right, and what was it that you said to me after I confessed my undying love for you?" She brought her hand up to her chin and pretended to think as Nino's eyes went wide and he started to stammer. Alya clicked her fingers. "Ah that's right after I confessed my undying love for you, you thanked me."

Everyone burst into a fit of laughter as Nino's face went redder than a tomato, this was definitely going to be an eventful day.

*******

"Urgh, why does Mr Coopers have to give us so much homework?" Nino groaned as he finished packing his bag.

"I know it's not like we have a life we're trying to live." Alya laughed bitterly as she hooked her bag around her neck.

"School just sucks," Marinette concluded with a shrug.

Once Adrien had finished packing his bag they all walked to the front of the school, they talked for a few minutes until Adrien's bodyguard showed up. Marinette was even able to get out more than one sentence, with the occasional stuttering of course.

"Bye guys, see you tomorrow," Adrien called.

"Bye dude."

"Bye Adrien."

"Tomorrow bye- ugh no sorry- Uh see you tomoz- Ugh," Marinette facepalmed with a groan. "Bye just bye."

The others laughed at her attempt as she watched Adrien's car drive away, she felt her purse moving slightly, no doubt Tikki was laughing too.

Marinette rolled her eyes. "Whatever I'll get there one day."

"Of course you will dudette, we believe in you."

"Yeah girl, it's only a matter of time before he realizes he likes you and confesses his undying love." She gave Nino a smirk.

"Just don't give up M." Turning to Alya Nino kissed her goodbye.

"I love you," He mumbled against her lips.

Alya leaned forward and kissed him, pulling away she smiled. "I love you too, see you tomorrow turtle boy."

He gave her an adorable smile before giving her one last kiss goodbye.

"Damn you two really are made for each other, that was so cute."

Alya turned to Marinette and smiled, her smile grew wider and before they knew it they were both in a fit of laughter.

Catching her breath Marinette gave Alya a wave. "I'll see you tomorrow Al."

Alya frowned. "Tomorrow? Girl, I'm coming round to your house, and the girls too. For the study, session remember."

Marinette's eyes went wide, she definitely did not remember that.

"Uh yeah- the sturdy- uh study session of course I remember." She rubbed her neck nervously.

Wait wasn't Chat supposed to be coming tonight?

Marinette's face paled, this wasn't good. She had no way of contacting him, so he wouldn't know not to come.

"Hey! Earth to Marinette!" Alya waved her hand in front of Marinette's face. "You ready?"

"A-are yeah, sure. Let's go!"

"The girls are going to meet us there," Alya informed as they made their way to the bakery.

"OK." Marinette breathed. Maybe it wasn't going to be that bad.

******

It was bad.

It was so bad.

The rest of the girls had arrived 30 minutes later, and they had been studying all afternoon, which was fine. The bad part was that it was getting close to 7:30 which was normally when Chat decided to show up.

"Ugh! My brain hurts." Alix grumbled, pushing back her chair she flopped down onto Marinette's chaise.

"Mine too. It feels like mush." Mylène agreed.

"Yeah, I think it's time for a break." Marinette pushed her chair back and stood up. "Do you guys want some food?"

"Oooh yes please!"

"Could you bring some of those pineapple macaroons?"

"Ohh and some of those chocolate croissants?"

Marinette laughed. "Sure I'll bring back a whole feast."

"Thank you!"

"Hey, Marinette? Have you done any new designs lately?" Mylène asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"I just want to have a look. Where do you keep your sketchbook?"

"It's in the box at the end of the table," Marinette yelled as she made her way downstairs.

Looking around Marinette's desk Mylène spotted a circular box resting at the end of her table.

"That must be it." She said to the girls.

Picking it up Mylène pulled off the lid, only to be met with a box of notes.

"What is it?" Alix asked lifting her head to get a closer look.

"There notes." Mylène frowned.

"What do they say." Alix jumped up to get a closer look.

"They kind of look like love notes."

"What!?"

Everyone quickly jumped up to look at the notes. Reading the notes everyone's eyes widened. They really were love notes!

"-OK so I just grabbed some of everythin- EPP! WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING!" Marinette quickly dropped the food onto the table and raced over to the girls.

"Why didn't you tell us you were getting love notes?" Alix asked grabbing out another note to read.

"They're not love notes!" Marinette argued snatching the notes out of their hands and stuffing them back into the box.

Alya scoffed. "Have you even read them, they are 100% love notes."

Marinette rolled her eyes. "Funnily enough I have read them."

"Who are they from?" Rose asked, trying to get a better look in the box.

Marinette quickly stuffed the lid back on top. "No one."

"That's not believable," Juleka mumbled.

Alya suddenly gasped. "Is it from your mysterious Prince Charming?"

Marinette started to blush though she had no idea why.

"Oh, it is!" Alya squealed.

"Woah Woah back up, who's this Prince Charming?" Alix frowned.

"Oh that's right you guys don't know," Alya smirked. "Marinette had a boy in her room last night at quite a late hour."

"Ohhhhhhh!" Smirks grew on all their faces.

"Urgh!" Marinette groaned. "Nothing happened, all we did was watch Tangled."

"Right you watched Tangled." Alix gave her a sly wink. "I understand," she smirked.

"No, you don't! Because nothing happened. All we did was sit together, watch a movie and eat food that's it!"

"OK ok girl calm down."

"Did you guys cuddle?" Rose questioned.

Marinette choked on her words. Did she cuddle with him? It wasn't really classed as cuddling was it? There were no romantic feelings so was it still cuddling?

"N-no. Well, I do t-think it's classed as cuddling."

"Well, how were you sitting?" Mylène questioned.

"Um, he was leaning against the wall and I was laying in between his legs with my back on his chest."

The girl's jaws dropped to the floor.

"No way!"

"Like I said it's not even classed as cuddling," Marinette argued.

"It 100% is so classed as cuddling." Alix counted.

"Where were his hands?" Rose questioned.

"Around my waist, and resting on my stomach."

"And where were your hands?"

"Ah, they were sort of, fiddling with his," Marinette mumbled.

"Awwwww that's so cute!" Rose squealed knitting her hands together.

"But we weren't cuddling!"

"Does he know that?" Mylène raised her eyebrows.

"Yes!" Marinette answered quickly.

Deciding to change the topic Marinette turned back to the food.

"Anyway, I brought up a bit of everything." She gestured the plate. "And then once we're done with the break we can go back to our homework." She gestured to the forgotten books on her desk.

"Oh no no, you don't get to change the subject so quickly, I still have tons of questions," Alya smirked.

"Seriously!" Marinette groaned.

"Come on M, we deserve that much. You kept this a secret for who knows how long." Mylène shrugged innocently.

"That's a good point, how long have you been meeting up with Prince Charming?" Alya questioned, folding her arms over her chest.

"Do you really have to call him that?"

"Well, are you going to give us his name?" Alix raised her eyebrows.

"No," Marinette grumbled.

"Then yes we do have to call him that. OK so how long has Prince Charming been coming over for?"

"I don't know."

"Then think girl."

Marinette brought her finger to her chin. "Um, I think the first time he came over was in May."

"May!!" They all gasped.

"Dude that was two months ago." Alix laughed.

"OK, so this clearly isn't just a recent thing." Alya's eyes were wide, she opened her mouth to ask another question but Rose cut her off.

"What do you guys do when he comes over."

"Uh Sometimes we play video games, when my parents are out of the house we go into the kitchen and cook, sometimes we watch a movie, sometimes I'm busy with my designs so he just sits there and watches but sometimes he helps me with the measurements, sometimes we just sit there and talk for hours-" Juleka cut her off.

"What do you guys talk about?"

"Everything. The future, the past, our fears, accomplishments, things that make us happy, things that we enjoy, but sometimes he just comes round to c-" Marinette quickly stopped herself.

"Sometimes he just comes round to what Marinette?"  Mylène narrowed her eyes.

"Nothing!"

"Come on Marinette no more secrets just spill." Alya urged.

Marinette sighed. "Sometimes he's really tired and overworked so he comes round and we just cuddle until he falls asleep."

"Awwwww that's so romantic." Rose squealed.

"But it's not really cuddling cause there's no romance or anything."

"OK so what do you want us to say, you guys sleep together?" Alix smirked.

Marinette's face went bright red. "You know what cuddling is fine, we'll just say cuddling."

The girls laughed.

"OK I've got another three," Alya glanced back at the box full of notes. "Why does he call you Princess, why did he start writing the note in the first place, and why have you kept the notes if there no romantic feelings between you?"

Marinette froze. She didn't know how to answer any of them. Well, she did. But then she didn't. Urgh, this is a nightmare!

"I don't know why he calls my Princess, it's just something he called me at the start and it stuck, and the notes well, one night we had both fallen asleep while 'cuddling'," She did quotation marks, glaring at Alix. "And he woke up before me so he wrote me a note to thank me and I guess it's kind of routine, he does them a lot more now that he knows I keep them, and as for why I keep them... I don't really know why, they just make me happy I guess. "

The girls all had smiles on their faces.

Deciding to break the silence Marinette turned back to the food. Grabbing one of the chocolate croissants she looked over at the girls.

"OK well since you've all asked your questions how about we get back to-"

Tap Tap

Oh, you've got to be kidding me!

"What was that." Mylène frowned.

"Probably just the wind." Marinette offered loudly hoping that Chat would get the hint.

"Princess?"

"I didn't know the wind could speak," Alya smirked.

"Princess," Chat called again, slipping through the skylight he landed cross-legged on her bed. "I was feline lonely so I thought I'd drop in and-"  Then he saw them. "Oh uh- hi girls." He scratched the back of his neck nervously.

Marinette facepalmed.

For the superhero of luck, she really didn't have a lot of it on her side today.

The girl's jaws dropped.

"OH MY GOD!"

"No way!"

"I don't believe it!"

"Prince Charming?"

Everyone was in shock, well except for Marinette she wasn't even surprised by her luck. Looking at the croissant in her hands Marinette shrugged.

"Anyone want a croissant?"

"Oh! Yes me please!" Chats eyes went wide with excitement.

"Catch!"

Marinette threw the croissant across the room and Chat caught it perfectly.

"Thank you mademoiselle." Chat smirked,  taking a bite Chats eyes went doey and he hummed in satisfaction. "Mmmh, did you make these ones?"

"Yeah, how can you tell?"

"Cause they're amazing, just like you." He flashed her a wink and took another bite.

Marinette rolled her eyes. "Stop trying to butter me up, you're not getting anymore."

Chat placed his hand over his heart and gasped. "You wound me, Princess, I would never try to butter you up. I am the purrfect gentleman."

Marinette rolled her eyes. "Oh of course you are how could I forget."

"Don't worry Puurincess, you can make it up to me with, oh I don't know, maybe some cookies and warm milk, and I puuromise I'll never ask again." He smiled innocently.

Marinette shook her head, but couldn't fight the smile tugging at her lips. "Kitty we both know even that wouldn't stop you from coming over."

He smiled. "Well you know what they say, if you feed a stray it will keep coming back for more."

She smirked. "I wouldn't say your a stray more like," She tapped her lips in thought. "A mangy alley cat."

"You know you love me." Chat scrunched up his nose teasingly.

Marinette's eyebrows furrowed. "Do I know that?"

The girl's eyes were all wide with shock. What the hell was happening?

Alix leaned towards Alya, careful not to take her eyes of the bizarre scene in front of her.

"Is Marinette flirting?"

"I'm not sure, I've never actually seen Marinette flirt."

"Oh my Princess loves to flirt, she flirts with me all the time, most of the time I can never get her to stop talking."

Marinette narrowed her eyes and placed her hands on her hips. "You are so full of yourself, you know that. At this rate, you might as well marry yourself."

Chat sighed lovingly. "I would if I could Purrincess, but I'm afraid my heart belongs to Ladybug. Bugaboo loves me, even though she's too stubborn to realise it, it's one of the things I love about her, besides her eyes of course."

Marinette scoffed. She wasn't stubborn.

"Well-" Alya cut her off.

"OK can I just, stop you there, um how- no, what the hell is going on?!"

Marinette sighed. "Um girls Chat Noir, Chat Noir girls."

Alya rolled her eyes. "Girl we know who he is but what is he doing here!?"

"Is this Prince Charming?" Mylène asked.

"Prince Charming huh?" Chat smirked and flexed his muscles teasingly. "Is that your nickname for me Princess? If so I approve."

Marinette glared at him. "You shush."

Chat lifted his hands in surrender and pretended to zip his lips shut.

"How did this happen?" Alix questioned.

Marinette sighed. "Do you guys remember when Andréa' got akumatized?" They nodded. "Well that night Chat had stopped by for a talk, and then when Glaciator came after me Chat saved me. After the fight was over he came back to make sure I was safe, and well... Here we are."

"Couldn't have put it better myself." Chat smiled.

"... So you guys have been hanging out ever since then huh? Watching movies, talking, playing videos games, cooking. All that." Alix wondered.

Marinette and Chat both looked at each other and shrugged. "Yeah pretty much." They both said in unison.

"Wow!"

"OK wait so just-," Alya took in a deep breath. "You're telling me, that my best friend, and one of Paris' superheroes, have been hanging out together-"

"Practically dating!" Alix cut in.

Alya nodded. "Practically dating, and I wasn't told?"

"We are not dating," Marinette argued. "And I didn't tell you because, well it wasn't anything important."

The girls gaped.

"Not important! Girl, you've had a superhero coming into your room to hang out for the past two months and you didn't think it was important to share this information."

"I'm sorry."

Alya sighed. "You're lucky you're my best friend, or we would be having a very different conversation. But I forgive you."

Marinette smiled. Looking over at the forgotten textbooks she sighed. "Well, I'm guessing no one wants to continue with their homework so how about we play Ultimate Mega Strike 3?"

"Yes! I'm down."

"Sure."

Chat jumped off the bed and raced over to grab a controller. Turning to Mari he gave her a smirk.

Marinette tilted her head and gave him the same smirk. "Oh kitty, you only wish you were as good as me." Reaching over she flicked his bell before starting the game.

********

As the game numbers started to thin out so did the number of girls. So far Mylène, Alix, Rose, and Juleka had all gone home, the only person left was Alya.

"Marinette style! Boo-Yaa!" Marinette cheered as she won another round.

Chat groaned, dropping his hands and controller into his lap he turned to Marinette with a pout.

"How do you do that!?"

She smirked and leaned closer to him. "Like I said Kitty, I'm just that good." She tapped his nose before turning to Alya. "Wanna go another round?"

Alya yawned shaking her head. "Nah, it's getting pretty late I better head home."

"OK well, I'll walk you out."

She turned to Chat. "You behave."

He smirked. "Princess when have I not behaved myself?"

"There was that time with the yarn."

Chats smirk dropped and he crossed his arms.

"Yeah, yeah I know, it was 'the yarn's fault'."

"You know me so well."

She rolled her eyes with a smile. "Just please don't touch anything."

Chat placed his hand on his heart. "I promise I won't touch anything, cats honour."

Grabbing her stuff Alya made her way downstairs with Marinette following close behind. Once they got to the door Alya turned and hugged Marinette.

"I think Adrien might have a bit of competition."

"Competition? What do you mean."

Alya's eyes drifted up to Marinette's balcony and the certain superhero currently lounging around in her best friends room.

Following Alya's eyes Marinette sighed. "Alya I told you-"

"I know girl, I know. But that doesn't change what I saw." Smirking she gave Marinette a wave. "See you Monday."

Frowning slightly Marinette waved back.

What did Alya see? It's not like she was doing anything unusual. Right?

Walking back up to her room Marinette stopped short of the trap door. She could hear singing? Was Chat singing? Moving a bit closer she was able to make out the words.

"Little kitty on a roof all alone without his lady."

A pained smile crossed her face, she'd heard him sing that before, her mind wandered over to Chat Blanc. His excitement when he saw her, the way he had chased her through what used to be Paris. How long had he been there before she arrived? Days? Months? Years? Shaking her head she made her way up the trap door stairs.

Right before she opened the hatch, something Chat Blanc said crossed her mind.

"It was our love that did this to the world, M'lady."

Our Love.

And he knew who she was. Does the mean she knew who he was? Did she fall for him before or after she knew who was behind the mask? But she would never give up on Adrien. Would she?

"Princess?" Chats voice called out. "I can hear you on the steps so if you're trying to scare me it not going to work!" He said in a sing-song voice.

Marinette smiled despite herself, bring her sleeve up she wiped away any damp spots on her eyes and coughed trying to get rid of the tightening sensation in her throat. Shaking her head she climbed the last few steps and pushed open the hatch.

Chat was sitting cross-legged in her spinning chair, slowly swinging himself round. When he heard the hatch open his eyes went wide and he jumped up.

Marinette couldn't help but think of Chat Blanc, he'd jumped over to her the same way. But his eyes weren't as vibrant as Chats, they didn't have the same mischievous glint in them, they didn't have the energetic spring in them. Chat Blancs eyes were cold and dead and well, lifeless and most importantly they weren't the same gorgeous green that Marinette had fallen in love with.

Wait love. No. She didn't- Did she? Had she fallen for-, No? But even Alya said that-

"Marinette?" Her eyes snapped back to Chat, whose brows were furrowed and whose eyes were burning with worry. He placed his arms on her shoulders. "Are you alright? What's wrong?"

Marinette coughed again trying to get rid of the constricting tightness in her throat. "Nothing." She quickly turned to her desk, releasing herself from Chats grip.

Chat grabbed her wrist and tried to turn her back around, but she didn't budge. When it was clear that wasn't working Chat slowly let go of her wrist and walked forward. Wrapping his arms around her waist he placed his head into the crook of her neck. "Mari? Please tell me what's wrong." He mumbled, his warm breath brushing across her collar bone.

Leaning into Chats warm embrace she let out a shaking breath. She couldn't tell him why she was crying. She couldn't tell him what she'd seen. Not without giving away her identity. And that would make them one step closer to Chat Blanc.

Turning around she wrapped her arms around Chats neck and hugged him like there was no tomorrow. Chat was shocked for a few seconds before he smiled warmly and wrapped his arms around her torso pulling her in closer while he buried his head in the crook of her neck, savouring the sweet smell of cinnamon and vanilla that always seemed to radiate off Marinette's person.

They stood there for who knows how long. An hour a year a minute or even only a few seconds it didn't matter, because they were here, not in the past, not in the future, here in the present, where all they needed was each other. And if they both wished they could stay in each other's embrace until the word ended, well no one would be the wiser.

Marinette immediately felt the warmth leave her body as she pulled out of Chats embrace. Looking down at her feet she waited for the right explanation to pop into her head.

"Princess? Are you alright?"

She nodded, not knowing what else to say.

Chat knew she was lying but he wasn't going to push, she'd tell him when she was ready. But now the most important thing was to get her smiling again.

Placing his finger under her chin he tilted her head up softly. "I thought I was going to get cuddles when I showed up, but now it seems like you're the one who needs all my cuddles."

Marinette laughed softly smiling up at him.

Chat smiled triumphantly. "There it is, there's that smile." He booped her nose.

Turning around Marinette grabbed a chocolate croissant of the tray. Chats eyes widened when she handed it to him.

"I think you deserve it. Besides, I suppose even if you are a mangy alley cat I still have to feed you." She smirked.

"Meouch Princess, you wound me." He smirked, grabbing the croissant he finished it in all but two bites.

Marinette rolled her eyes and walked over to her bed. Climbing up the ladder quickly she sat down.

"Now if I have this right, then the only reason you came to see me today was because you wanted cuddles."

Chat hummed in response. "Because you give out the best cuddles in all of Paris."

Marinette raised her eyebrows. "Well, then I guess I'm going to have to start charging you, can't just give away my cuddles for free now can I?"

Chat gasped. "No! Please Puurincess, you can't do that! I promise I will do anything you want."

Marinette smiled. "I'm going to hold you to that."

"I am nothing if not a man of my word buginette." Chat bowed.

Marinette was slightly shocked by the new nickname but smiled. "Well, I suppose I can give you a 30-day free trial kitty."

Chat smiled and walked over to her bed, climbing the latter her was at the end of her bed within a few seconds. Shaking her head she pulled back the covers and motioned for him to come over. Smiling happily Chat crawled over to Marinette who had her back resting on her wall, climbing in between her legs Chat buried his head in her stomach while wrapping his arms around her waist. Smiling softly at him she pulled the blanket back over the top of them, reaching behind her she grabbed out her book and started reading.

Moving her hand she started running her fingers through his hair, receiving a hum from Chat she smiled. She continued to run her fingers through his hair, occasionally scratching behind the ears on the top of his head. About 15 minutes had passed when Marinette heard a low rumbling coming from Chat. Frowning slightly she leaned in closer, it sounded like purring.

Was Chat purring?

Smiling softly Marinette leaned so her lips were near his human ear and whispered. "Are you purring?"

Chat didn't respond, he only squeezed her tighter and nuzzled his head into her stomach more. Looking at his face she smiled, he looked so peaceful like every worry in the world had vanished without a trace, like he never wanted to leave. She should be waking him up so he could go home, but she couldn't bring herself to it. He told her before that his home situation wasn't the best, and that some of the only times when he could have fun were when he was with her, both ladybug or just Marinette. She brushed his hair back from his face and ran her fingers through his hair softly, careful not to disturb him. He was still purring, the low hum was vibrating through her body, making her more relaxed than she'd been all week.

Looking down at him she smiled again. He looked adorable, with his mouth slightly open and his hair all ruffled up, and his eyes, even though they were closed she could see his eyelids moving slightly, no doubt he was dreaming about something. Probably a ball of yarn. She giggled softly.

Looking at his face she knew now. She used to think it was impossible, impossible that she could fall in love with anyone other than Adrien. And Chat no less, he had always been out of the question, it was too risky. But looking at him she knew it was possible, he'd wormed his way into her heart in the future and he'd ultimately done it again. She knew she loved him. She knew it with every fibre of her being that she did. Even if her head refused to listen to her heart it was obvious, it always had been.

Chat Noir. Her goofy partner, her teammate, someone she could count on when she had no one else, someone she knew would be there for her no matter what, someone who helped her protect Paris every single day, someone that brought out a laugh in her she swore no one else could bring, someone who made her mood brighten without even have to say anything, someone who could make her happy when she thinks it's impossible, someone... Someone that she had fallen head of heels for without even knowing it, someone she cherished with everything she had. Someone that she hoped would never leave her side, and someone she wished could stay by her side forever.

So yeah, she understood how he'd done it.

And she understood why she'd fallen, it was inevitable really. No one could change fate no matter how hard they tried, Marinette should have known better because when you're destined to be with someone, the universe will do everything in its power to make it so.

She was his Princess.

And He was her kitty.

To think this all started with a simple note. A simple love note from her Prince Charming.

And classy or not, she was happy to let him climb through her skylight.

[slipping-through-my-fingertips]

Could You Be My Little Quarantine?

AU: Mercedes has no excuse to not be zooming with Kurt right now and Blaine has the wrong Zoom ID.

AO3

A/N: This is a product of my late-night story ideas. I could see more from this 'verse developing but I'd need some ideas for what to write. If you have prompts please send them my way. I hope you all enjoy it!

Part 2 Part 3

***

2020

It wasn’t that Kurt isn’t happy for Mercedes. In all the years they’ve been best friends, they've always been supportive of one another. So, it was no surprise to Kurt that she was enjoying her two-week quarantine with her boyfriend. She didn’t flaunt her relationship around Kurt and she made just as much time for him as she always did and Kurt really appreciated it. It meant so much to see her occasionally pushing plans with her boyfriend in favor of talking to Kurt be it Zoom or a regular phone call. Sometimes, she’d cancel because of her recording schedule, which Kurt understood. When he had been rehearsing for a Broadway production of Moulin Rouge!, his schedule was ever-changing.

Tonight was different though because Mercedes had no excuse to cancel on Kurt. She was literally ordered to stay in her apartment. There were no recording sessions, no producers to meet with, and her boyfriend was basically living with her so Kurt’s a little frustrated to be left waiting on Zoom. He’ll give her 15 minutes before texting her. He's still using the college 15-minute rule. As in if the professor doesn’t show after 15 minutes, the class is free to leave. Except, in this case, Kurt was planning to text his friend until she responded.

Kurt did what he usually did while waiting. Played a new word in Scrabble against Carole and went through his recently saved photos (deleting the ones automatically saved from his Instagram Stories) before ultimately opening his fashion Twitter account and scrolling endlessly. He’ll periodically look at the time and note only a minute has passed since he last looked. Until someone who is definitely not Mercedes joins his Zoom meeting room and says hello.

“Hello,” Kurt says, putting his phone down.

“Um hi,” the other man replies. “You’re not Cooper.”

“And you’re not Mercedes.”

“No, I’m not. This is awkward.” He runs his hand through his black curls. “I’m so sorry. I should probably hop off and yell at my brother for giving me the wrong Zoom ID.”

“It’s no problem, my friend’s likely ditching me for her boyfriend. This was a nice surprise.”

“Is it?” he asks. “Cause I feel pretty embarrassed right now. What are the odds I typed an actual Zoom ID in?”

“Well, you were looking for your brother,” Kurt says. “I imagine it’s similar odds to dialing the wrong phone number.”

The man laughs. “You’re probably right. I’m Blaine by the way.”

“Kurt.”

“Wait, you aren’t…” Blaine trails off and leans closer to the camera like he’s trying to get a better look at Kurt. “You are,” he concludes. “Kurt Hummel?”

“Um yes?” Kurt winces at his voice cracking.

“I saw you twice on Broadway last year. You were outstanding as Christian. Moulin Rouge! is one of my favorite movies so when I heard it was going to Broadway, I knew I had to get tickets. Then, after I saw it the first time I didn’t shut up about how incredible it was so Coop brought me tickets again for my birthday, which ended up being much better seats than I could afford.”

“Oh, well thank you. It’s one of my favorite movies too. That’s why I auditioned in the first place but I was shocked to get the lead. I was told so often that a voice like mine didn’t get the romantic roles of the stage.”

“Are you kidding? They couldn’t have cast a better Christian! I saw you in Peter Pan too. Stunning performance.”

“You saw Peter Pan?” Kurt questions. “I performed that for a charity event at a nursing house like five years ago.”

“At my grandmother’s nursing home to be exact.” Kurt thought Blaine was turning a little red but maybe it was the lighting. “I’ve been following your career ever since. I hope Moulin Rogue! won’t be your last performance. It’d be a waste of talent.”

Kurt smiles. “I appreciate your support. I don’t intend to make it my last but I’m taking a short break from performing to get back into student mode. I’m finishing up my last semester of grad school at NYU.”

“I did my undergrad at NYU. Great professors,” Blaine comments. “I was actually supposed to be making my debut on the stage this summer but alas COVID-19 has shut us down for a bit.”

“Debut in what? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“David Mamet’s American Buffalo.”

“Let me guess, Bobby?”

“Yeah,” Blaine replies grinning.

“I’m sure it’ll be back up and running soon. I assume you still live in the city then?”

“I do. New York’s my real home. I always felt out of place in California. My mom moved us there after her divorce and Cooper got his first gig so we stuck around.”

“Gig? Like a band?” Kurt asks, wondering if Cooper ran in similar circles as his college friend, Elliott.

“No, like acting actually. Sorry, poor word choice on my part. He did credit-score commercials for a while but now he primarily does soap operas.”

“Wait, you mean your brother is Cooper Anderson?”

“Um yeah, he is,” Blaine admits.

“Now, it’s my turn to be embarrassed.” Kurt feels his face warm up. “I might’ve had the jingle to that credit-score commercials as my ringtone back in high school.”

“No, you did not!” Blaine exclaims, laughing a little.

“I’m afraid so,” Kurt tells him. “No offense but Cooper was every young gay teen’s fantasy in Ohio. And by every young gay teen, I mean myself because there was only one gay teen in Lima.”

“Kurt, I promise to never tell Cooper of this because his ego is already too large to handle however I will be holding this secret near and dear to my heart only to remember it fondly when I need a good laugh.”

“Oh hush.” Kurt bats his hand at the camera.

“So, what are you studying at NYU?”

This question led the two down a rabbit hole of their favorite classes and professors. Similar experiences they had during vocal performances and various laughter-inducing stories of their off-campus activities. Kurt’s friends’ weekly karaoke nights, Blaine’s goal to try every coffee shop in Greenwich Village, Kurt’s dream role to play Peter Allen in The Boy From Oz, and Blaine’s secret identity Nightbird, who made yearly appearances in October when Blaine went to sing-a-longs at local children’s hospitals.

“Sam learned the hard way that Gatorade hurts more coming out of your nose than chocolate milk does,” Blaine chuckles.

Kurt is about to jump in with another story but a third box shows up on their screens. It’s Mercedes.

“Kurt, I am so so sorry,” she says. “Oh, hello.”

“Hi,” Blaine waves. “Mercedes, I presume?”

“That’s me.”

The call goes silent for a moment.

“Mercedes, this is Blaine.” Blaine smiles. “You were apologizing…”

“Right,” she says, ignoring Blaine’s presence for a minute while she explains.

Meanwhile, Kurt is typing a chat to Blaine so Mercedes won’t see it.

Kurt: Lovely chatting with you tonight. I’d love to meet up again sometime.

Blaine: Me too. Text me.

Kurt quickly entered the number into his phone and nodded confirming that he was both listening to Mercedes and was agreeing to text Blaine.

“Apology accepted,” Kurt tells Mercedes once she’s finished.

She grins.

“Well, I don’t want to interrupt. Lovely to meet you both but I think I’ll try and call my brother now as I had originally planned.”

Blaine does a two-handed wave before leaving the meeting.

“You have a lotta explainin’ to do, mister,” Mercedes says. “Who was that cutie?”

Kurt sighs dreamily. “If all goes my way, a potential boyfriend.”

Mercedes claps excitedly and proceeds to pull all the information Kurt’s willing to divulge about Blaine Anderson.

[nikstersss]

Not How To Pass The PLE

Before I go into the main gist of this post, let me give you a small background story. I was a mid-year post-graduate intern in Manila who started in January 2021. I lived alone in our condo unit near the hospital I went to. My usual routine was to get up early, prep, take a short walk to the trike station where I’d take a tricycle to the hospital, go on duty, insert a coffee or carioca break in between, walk all the way home at the end of the day, then maybe have a short study session with a couple friends after dinner or just chill at home. It was a pretty good setup. But then COVID happened. Suddenly, I was a pandemic e-ntern stuck at home listening to Zoom endorsements and lectures all day. At first I was hopeful that things would somehow go back to normal and maybe I wouldn’t be spending the rest of my internship in front of a screen, but we all know how that turned out. 

I finished the first half of my internship with the regular year PGIs online. While they were prepping for their boards, I was on my second half with the new batch of interns (that’s probably you, dear reader)—still online. Now you might think that it would have been wise of me to use all that “free” time to start early with my own boards prep and you would be correct. I thought the exact same thing. And trust me, I tried. And failed. Countless times. I won’t even try to justify it. Admittedly, I still think it was a wasted opportunity to read more and make notes, but then again, there’s no use crying over spilled milk. Besides, while it would have been nice and probably less stressful, I still survived without it. Which means that you can, too. So if you’re one of those who’s berating himself because you “didn’t make the most out of your time”, cut it out. You’ll be fine.

Towards the end of my internship, I enrolled in a review center. Despite the asynchronous setup, the review schedule was super tight and the sessions already started while I was still in the middle of final reports and exams. Needless to say, I was already behind on that before it even began. In fact, I didn’t even get to focus on reviewing itself until maybe around early February because of clearance, paperwork, and application stuff. So if you were to ask me how long I really reviewed for the March 2021 boards, I’d say just a little over a month. Kasalanan ko. Wag po tularan. Stressful siya. Nakakaloka. 

And even when I did get to really buckle down and do some intense reading, I didn’t follow the program anymore. I tried to catch up at first, but I was already way behind. But I am grateful for all the summarized material because that meant I didn’t have to pore over the mother books anymore. What I will say, though, is that because I didn’t exactly follow the recommended study hours etcetera, I was able to enjoy the whole process because I did it at my own pace. Sure, there was still that dread that maybe I wasn’t on the same level as the others, but I learned to tune those thoughts out eventually. And that’s where goal-setting and discipline comes in, I guess. 

The most common question I’ve been getting is what was my day like during the PLE review season. Honestly, I’d like to say I had a routine I followed, but that’s only half-true. While I did have a structure for my day, I rarely followed it exactly. Nevertheless, allow me to share what it would have been like if I did: 

Ideally, I’d wake up at 5:00 A.M. then do my morning routine which included prayer and meditation, making my bed, taking a shower, and brewing coffee. And because I’m the type of person who enjoys these mundane activities and slow mornings, I also took this opportunity to get myself in the zone before all the studying that’s to come. I’d plan out my study goals and outline (something you can do the night before, actually) then maybe have breakfast while watching some videos (could be review-related, or those self-motivational vids, or maybe even Korean street food). I’d do whatever I wanted to wake my brain up without stressing it out too much until around 6:30 A.M. By this time, I’d work on backlogs for about an hour and study until about 10 or 11 A.M.—it depends how in the zone I am. I’d prep and cook lunch and then eat while watching Netflix maybe or even play a bit of Fortnite or Paladins until about 1:00 P.M. At this point, I’m pretty certain to be quite sleepy so it’s either I make coffee or tea, or maybe even go out to study at a coffee shop, and then it’s study all the way until 7 P.M. I then take a break to get some exercise, take a shower, have a light dinner, and if I feel like I deserve it, nap for a little bit. At around 8:30, my family usually calls and then we pray the rosary together. After this, I study again, but more of a recall and review session for the day’s progress until about 11:30. I then have my night self-care routine and then go to sleep around midnight. 

The main takeaway from the previous paragraph? “Ideally.”

During the first few days of setting up my schedule or routine, following it was already challenging, but still doable. But then the backlogs started piling up and no matter how much I tried to streamline the whole study process, I just couldn’t keep up. I did what I could to follow study habits and schedules, but the setup was falling apart. And you know what? That was okay. 

Normally, my type A self would have been so frustrated already with how poorly I was handling my review season. Admittedly, there were a few meltdowns and anxiety attacks as the exam drew nearer, but for the most part, I just let things happen as they did. I still adjusted, sure, but I wasn’t hard on myself for always having to. I kept changing goals when I didn’t meet them (which was probably 80% of the time). There were even instances where I’d finish a handout and then I’d say that okay, I’ll watch an episode for a reward, but that episode became the entire season. While I considered myself to be the most chill reviewee, I also thought I was the worst because I refused to give up any of my wants for my needs. I resisted, of course, but then they’d bug me the entire time I was studying so instead of staying productive, I’d just annoy the hell out of myself. I was probably just lazy and stubborn. LOL. Long story, short, it was a constant battle. 

There were times when I felt confident enough to power through the whole thing. I enjoyed the whole process of studying, actually. Making notes and my own ways of memorizing things was fun. I made use of different study strategies, self-checks, and motivational boosters (more on these on a different post). Aside from these, having review-mates who were just a chat away made things bearable. Breakdown session muna tas aral na ulit. And how could I forget all my sweet friends who would send over coffee ayuda every now and then? To me, passing the boards, while mainly should be for oneself and one’s self-actualization, is also about not letting down these people who have been with you throughout your journey. 

But it wasn’t always a hyped-90s-movie-transformation-montage kind of environment. Other times, I was just worn out and dejected by my lack of progress. In the already meager time I had to study, I still had plenty of off-days. Concepts just wouldn’t stick and it was disappointing how I’d already forgotten what I just read a couple days ago. It got really tiring even if I was staying indoors all the time. I missed the comfort of coffee shops and the company of study buddies. I missed my family. I wanted to hug our dog. There were days when I couldn’t even bring myself to make coffee and open my notes. I even reached a point where I was sure that I wouldn’t finish reading all the material. (I kid you not, I have handouts I never got to open.) 

Yet here I am. Here I am writing about how I survived all that and got those two letters attached to my name. I am not a good example, obviously. There are hundreds better than me and you probably should be taking advice from them instead. I’m simply writing this to tell you that you don’t have to worry. This is all just to ease your anxieties about the PLE. I’m not saying it’s an easy feat that you can just achieve just like that. While I seemed rather complacent, I still put in the work, after all. Admittedly, I know I could have done more, but again, I’m not going to dwell on that anymore. It’s done. 

My goal in writing this is to let you know, my dear future doctor, that you’re going to be just fine. Here’s someone who understands the huge disconnect that stemmed from being a pandemic e-ntern. Here’s someone who’s always been doubtful and full of anxieties about the PLE even before she filed her application at the PRC. Here’s someone who constantly prayed that the PLE be moved even for just a month (or kahit two weeks lang masaya na ako nun) up to the week before the exam along with a rising number of cases. Here’s someone who barely has the capability to maintain focus for more than an hour. Here’s someone whose reading pace was literally at 10 minutes per page (yes, I actually timed it and IDK if that’s slow or really slow). Here’s someone who still allowed herself to study at coffee shops and even have samgyup (with proper health protocols, of course) even if she knew she was drowning in backlogs. 

My point is that if I managed to pass despite all that, you can, too. My close friends know that I developed a rather funny mentality to ease the jitters as the boards drew nearer. I knew and claimed it for myself that I would already pass. I viewed the whole PLE as just a “formality”--a means for His plans of me becoming a doctor to manifest in this realm. I believed it so much to the point that I thought that no matter what bloopers and slip-ups I have during the test, I’d still see my name on the list of board passers. I’m not saying you should totally ease up and just have a come-what-may attitude. Again, I’m not the model student you should be following here. What I’m saying is to have faith in yourself, your capabilities, and in God. So chin up, Doc. Just a little more ‘til you get to legally practice with that MD at the end of your name.

[nad-zeta]

Match up | (• ◡•)| (❍ᴥ❍ʋ)

heya!! tysm again fr the ikesen matchup, i loved it sm ♡ sooo now could i pls get a matchup for ikevamp, if its ok? 💞 (ps i hope ur doin ok!!) here’s the info again!!

bi girl, i prefer guys! ambiverted intp, gryffindor or ravenclaw, neutral good, scorpio. i have an older twin sis n i love/hate her sm!!

medium-length straight-ish black hair (side bang to the right) & dark brown eyes!! 5'5-ish, filipina! im getting glasses soon~

complex daydreamer- i crave affirmation/praise!! anxiety, i overthink sm! quiet w/ others cause idk what to say. im like half funny/playful & half deep/awkward- easily annoyed but guilty after cause im soft-hearted. i have a way w/ words, poetic? hopeless romantic! i tend to be quite chaotic? sorta socially anxious-

not innocent/naive but ppl think so at 1st! i look fine but im a big mess. superiority complex, insecure- smart n knowledgeable. passionate! a kid w/ my twin but w/ others, mature. its hard to friend ppl! dramatic but rather closed off. its hard for me to ask fr help- opinionated but i try to understand. i need lots of space,,,

i like to have fun n loosen up but would also just cuddle n have long convos. forgive but never forget- realist but rather optimistic. good w/ technology! imaginative/creative. near-sighted! rather selfish, i put myself 1st. love language is words of affirmation/quality time- stubborn! observant- sensitive.

a habit- i tend to drift away n just think? i care a lot abt how i look! i like bein the best so i get competitive. keyboard smashes!! i swear quite often. i like bein organised! i like makin faces!!

fun fact: math/history r my faves. sometimes im rlly hyper n say the most random things? i fear judgement, future, unknown, n failure. bilingual, learnin french! fr pda only hand-holding?

likes: gaming, affection, jokes (stupid/puns), space (stars), weapons (swords/guns), music, instruments (piano), animals, movies, books, philosophy, psychology, writing, exhilirating stuff, astronomy, mythology, etc.

dislikes: heat, presentations, naivety, stupidity, blind faith, stereotypes, being pressured, etc.

tysm!! shjsjsjs i changed it a bit- anyway, stay safe!! dont forget to take care of urself 💞

Hehe, you are most welcome dear!🥰❤🌻 I’m so happy you sent in another request! You are honestly so sweet! ❤🥰Soz for taking sooo long! I hope you enjoy this dear and I hope you are looking after yourself! Sending lots o hugs! 🌻❤ @x-joie-x

So I match you with………….. Napoleon

The first time Napoleon meets you was when he legit grabbed your hand and pulled you along with him, as he tried to get you out of the mansion. It was not safe for a human in a mansion full of vampire, and this soldier wanted to get you out before it was too late. But alas it was just that, too late. By the time the two of you had arrived at the door from whence u came, it was sealed shut, and no amount of tugging or pulling could get it to open.

Comte, who had heard the commotion, stepped into the hallway to see you and Napoleon trying to open the door. He strode over to you and placed a gentle hand on your shoulder as he led you and the soldier to his study so he could explain. After a lengthy explanation about your current situation he named Napoleon as your personal bodyguard to help you navigate, the Paris of the past

To say you were starting to overthink and get anxious would be an understatement. Napo looked over at your quiet demeanour and scanned your face to find a glimpse of anxiety. After the conversation with Comte was over, Sabastion came to escort you to your room for the night.

The next few days you spent cooped up in your room. Too anxious to leave, u needed time and space to sort through your feelings. 

Your stomach started grumbling, but you just ignored it, cause honesty you were just too stubborn to go downstairs and ask for help. Napo had been pacing outside your door, trying to figure out the best way to coax you from your room. That’s when he heard the rumble coming from your stomach. He gently opens the door and strode into your room, “come nunuche, I made too many pancakes this morning, And I need some help finishing them.” Just as you were about to refuse your stomach gave another loud growl, cue Napoleon bursting out into laughter, “I think its best we feed that little bear before it gets angry.”

You couldn’t help but chuckle at Napo, as the soldier went from scary and intimidating to boyish and playful in 0.2 seconds. You smiled as you watch the former Emporer of France try to catch his breath through his full body laughter fit. He finally calmed down and grabbed your hand, pulling you towards the dining room. A new fit of laughter erupted from the man as you couldn’t help but crack a joke on your way there. The rest of the afternoon was spent cracking jokes and eating pancakes.

Napo found you incredibly amusing, especially how you could go from funny and playful, to awkward in 2 seconds flat. He loved to joke along with you and then tease you whenever you would turn into an awkward mess the second one of the other residents entered into the room. 

Especially Arthur, you would often get annoyed at his flirty comments and pick up lines, you absolutely left Napo in stitches when you made a sarcastically awkward comment back to Arthur on afternoon. Napo had learned by now that you were actually rather soft-hearted so the minute he saw the guilt flash across your eyes for being annoyed at Arthur’s comments, he squeezed your hand in reassurance, “don’t feel guilty nunuche, trust me he deserves it. Plus if you don’t believe me, just ask Isaac.”

Napoleon would invite you with him every day to help teach the children at his makeshift school. At first, you were somewhat socially awkward, but thanks to Napoleon and Isaac’s encouragement, you actually started teaching a class of your own. Napo loved how smart and passionate you were. You gave your all in teaching the children various topics, and honestly, Napo couldn’t help but fall in love with you. You taught them everything from maths to history, and the children absolutely adored you. So did Napoleon tbh, the man would take sneaky glances just watching you in your element. When stealing these little glances of you, a lovestruck foolish smile would dance across his face, which most certainly didn’t go unnoticed by Isaac or the children.

After class, Isaac would go off to his second job as a professor of the University, leaving you and Napoleon up to your own devices. Napoleon seemed to bring out that playful side of you, as the two of you goofballs would grab lunch at a nearby cafe. Or have a little picnic in the park, and just spend the entire time quick-firing stupid puns and jokes at each other. You sometimes get super hyper and start saying random words, which leads the two of you to have loads of random conversations. And TBH the two of you are always pulling silly faces at each other just for laughs. You live for those moments when u make a joke or pull a face, and monsieur de Whaha starts erupting with laughter. It is a true sight to behold, the way his whole body shakes, and the sight alone is enough to prompt you into your own laughing fit.

The day Napoleon knew you were the one and only woman for him, was the day he found you in the training hall. You loved swords and weapons so when you were helping Sebastian with housework one day, and you came across a vast display of swords, you were absolutely ecstatic. You wasted no time in picking up one of the swords and swishing it around. Napoleon walked into the room just as you pick up one of the swords and his eyes went wide, “pfft what in the world are you doing?” You narrowed your eyes at the man, as he chuckled, “practising, obviously.” 

Napoleon’s eyes lit up as he strode past you to pick up a sword of his own, “then I shall be your partner.” You smiled a broad smile as you went on the offensive and attacked Napoleon. The two of you spent the next few hours smack-talking each other as you fought. Napoleon enjoyed every moment of your fight and the way you were determined to win. He found that competitive side of you rather sexy, so much so that he decided to confess his feelings.

After you had beaten him, he proposed a rematch, but this time he raised the stakes. He went on the offensive, and just before delivering the final blow, he dropped his sword and grabbed hold of you. Smouldering jade blue eyes met your brown ones questioningly, and once he found his answer, he leaned down to kiss you.

The former emperor of France was utterly head over heels for your stubborn optimistic, competitive personality. He absolutely adored what a walking contradiction you were, being both a realist and optimistic, being organized yet messy at the same time. Napoleon had noticed early on in your relationship that you were rather closed off and slowly, but surely he managed to get you to open up to him. The two of you have had many a deep conversation while cuddling. 

He found that whenever you were snuggled in his arm, it was easy to pry information out of you. Especially when he would tickle you. He found out a lot during his cuddle interrogation sessions like how you feared judgement, the unknown future and failure, like how you actually care about your appearance and that you have a superiority complex. None of which scared him off, if anything he loved you more for it! Being sure to curb and banish all your insecurities with the sweetest words of affirmation and praise.

Napo like you, is also a bit of a romantic so this dork will 100% plan dates under the stars, especially after he found out about your love for astronomy and space/stars. He will definitely plan small quiet dates for the two of you, away from the loudness of the mansion. This boi will burst into your room in the afternoon, drag you to the stables, plonk you on top of a hose and before you know it you are sitting in his arms reading or chatting about anything from philosophy to psychology under the shade of a willow tree, surrounded by flowers.

Napo loves your writing, and this boi will insist you read him your fics whenever you finish them. He will spend the next ten days bragging about how amazing your writing skills are to everyone, even going as far as to say your a much better writer than Arthur. 

Knows you need space and alone time and will give you as much as it as you need. He knows you will come and find him once you want some company again. And once you do seek him out, he will crush you in a warm embarrass and whisk you off on some exhilarating adventure.

Mornings between the two of you sweethearts consist of soft, heart-melting moments. Naturally, the first thing Napo does when he wakes up is, plant a loving kiss on your lips. He will tighten his embrace around you as he cracks open his eyes to wish you a good morning all while nuzzling your neck. He knows you are a sucker for sweet words so he will be whispering the sweetest of endearments to you, in between lazy morning kisses. Best be sure this boy will complement and praise you every single day of your life.

Other potential matches…………….. Dazai

I hope you enjoyed this dear! 🌞🌻and I hope you have a super good day! ❤❤🌻

[a-n-conrad]

Fighting and Flirting (Bakugo x Reader)

Chapter 2: The Race

[Summary: It’s time for you to take your entrance exam to get into UA. Will your nerves get the best of you or will you make it in?] 

Masterlist

To say you were nervous about the entrance exam to UA would probably be an understatement. You were far more than nervous. You had no idea what you were headed into tomorrow, and you knew that if you didn’t make it in and make it to the top class, Endeavor would never let you talk to Shoto again. He had made that pretty clear at your last sparring session, and you had no doubt that he’d follow through with his threats, especially after he put his name on the line to recommend you.

That’s why you had spent the last couple of weeks staying up as late as you could, studying every subject that you could think of. Your parents hadn’t been home for about a week, so you didn’t have anyone there to tell you when to go to bed. 

That also meant that you ended up on your own for your meals for the whole last week, and it also meant that you would be on your own for the entrance exam. As much as you were used to being on your own, with the number of trips your parents ended up going on for their work, it definitely didn’t help your nerves to think about how little support you’d be getting on the day of the exam that you’d been nervously awaiting for weeks.

As your brain started to fry itself, you glanced at the clock on the other side of the dining room, showing that it was eight at night. You had spent about four and a half hours studying, and that plus the anxiety had really started overwork your brain for the past couple days. 

“I suppose I should eat something and then get ready for bed a little early,” You muttered to yourself, remembering the advice the Shoto had given you a few days ago when you told him how nervous you were getting about the exam. Just make sure you eat a decent breakfast and get a good amount of sleep. Two things you almost never did, and he knew that pretty well.

You sighed and stood up from your chair, closing your books and sliding them off to the other side of the dining table. You had accumulated a good stack of notes and books you had been studying from and you were really getting close to running out of room on your little dining table.

Heading over to the cabinet and opening the door, you were disappointed but not surprised to find just about nothing in the pantry aside from a few containers of instant ramen noodles, a few cans of soup, a box of mac and cheese, and a handful of other random food items. 

You stood there for a couple of seconds, staring at your options, before grabbing an instant noodle cup and walking over to the kitchen counter. Dinner and then bed. 

- - - - -

Your alarm just had to be the most annoying sound in the world. That had to be an objective fact, right? Either way, it meant that it was time for you to start getting ready for your entrance exam.

You slowly dragged yourself out of bed, after clicking the button to turn your alarm off, quickly setting your regular workout clothes on your bed and made your way over to your bathroom to take a shower. You couldn’t tell if you were completely dreading this test or if you just hadn’t woken up yet, but both was a pretty likely answer.

Eventually, you had managed to shower, secure all of your hair out of your face, and get dressed in your regular (f/c) long-sleeve workout shirt and black sweatpants. You made your way over to the kitchen and looked through all of the cabinets for something even remotely breakfast-like. After a good twenty minutes, you did manage to find some bread and a box of snack bars.

As you waited for your bread to toast, you paced back and forth in your kitchen, checking your phone to see if there are any new updates from Shoto and took a few bites out of the chocolate-coated snack bar.

Sho: Hey, are you going to meet me in front of my house on your way to the test?

(Y/N): Sure, it’s on the way, isn’t it?

(Y/N): Besides, it’ll be a good chance for us to hang out without having to beat each other up.

Sho: Alright, I’ll see you in a bit.

(Y/N): Yeah, see you in like 20.

You toast finally popped out of the toaster as you finished off your snack bar and put your phone away. You grabbed it, burning your fingers a little in the process, and quickly set it out a plate, before spreading a little bit of butter over the toast. You spent the next few minutes trying to calm yourself down while you munched on your toast, trying to fight the nervous feeling flooding your stomach as you thought about the exam you were about to face. 

Before you knew it, it was time for you to start on your way over to the Todoroki household to meant Shoto. You had finished your toast, but the nauseous feeling still hadn’t left your stomach as you stood up, slipped your shoes on, and walked out the door.

It didn’t take you very long to make it to Shoto’s house, and you really didn’t have to think about your path while you walked, you had been there enough throughout the years that you could walk there entirely on muscle-memory. That meant that it was really easy for you to continue to wallow in your own anxiety during your walk.

And apparently that’s what you did because, by the time you made it to the Todoroki house, where Shoto was waiting for you, you had spaced out so much that you didn’t even realize you had made it there until your legs stopped in front of the gate.

“Are you ok?” Shoto asked, looking at you with concern.

“Yeah, Sho,” You reply, trying to shake the fog out of your head, “I’m fine. I’m just really nervous about this exam.”

“Yeah, I get it,” He replies, “But I’m pretty focused on doing good. And I’m going to get in without using any of my fire.”

“Yeah? I’m sure you can do that. Your ice is really strong on its own,” you respond as the two of start walking towards the UA campus, “I’m just worried that my quirk won’t be good enough. It’s not really any good unless I can count on some human error.”

“Even if you don’t do amazing in the practical portion, I’m sure your written section will make up for it. You’ve been studying nonstop, right?”

“Yeah, but I had no idea what exactly to study, so I’ve just been trying to study everything.”

The two of you continue to chat, having the most relaxing conversation you’ve had with him in quite a while. No sparring, no quirks, and no Endeavor. You hadn’t had a regular chat with Shoto since the two of you were children and Endeavor hadn’t started focusing purely on training Shoto yet. 

You were surprised at how quickly you seemed to make it to the campus. You couldn’t tell if it was just a lot closer than you thought it was, or if you were just having so much fun talking with your dear friend that you hadn’t noticed how much time had passed on your walk. Either way, you were now one step closer to the exam that you had spent the entire morning worrying about.

Finally, the two of you walk through the door and find your way to where you’re supposed to wait for the exam to start. As you wait for the explanations to finish, you’re each assigned a number. You end up with 17, while Shoto gets 23. 

You finish your interview and then blast through the written portion of your exam. Both of which you manage to go through without even really thinking. You even end up finishing the written portion pretty confidently, having studied as much as you possibly could. 

The downside of managing to go through those sections quickly was that you had gotten to the part of the test you were most nervous about quicker than you had liked. 

Before you knew it, you were all lined up in front of what you could only assume to be a very long obstacle course. An assumption that was quickly confirmed as the pro hero, Present Mic, announced that this would be your practical exam. And that you’d all go, six at a time.

You glanced at Shoto, who was way too focused to even notice how nervous you were. You knew that all he was thinking about through the entire exam was his hatred for his dad. And to be completely honest, you couldn’t blame him. 

You waited for your number to be called. Shoto was called first, and you weren’t surprised to see him navigate the entire course on a road of ice. He finished second out of his run, and you were pretty sure out of the entire exam so far. 

Eventually, your number was called. You took a few seconds before the race started to focus yourself. Focus on all of your ambitions and why you wanted to be a hero. You wanted to be better than Endeavor. You wanted to replace all of the heroes who were as cruel and prideful as him. You wanted to stop letting people who hurt your friend be considered heroes.

Finally, it was time to go. You ran quickly, you had done runs like this before. Three kilometers was nothing to you anymore. You had to be able to keep up with Shoto, so three kilometers had to be nothing. 

The obstacles didn’t pose much of a challenge either. You were nimble and flexible. You had enough gymnastics skills that you could navigate all of this without needing a quirk. Your only issue was that you were falling a bit behind. Everyone else was using their quirks, and they were all just a little bit ahead of you. 

However, you managed to keep up pretty well, even without using a quirk. You were in the middle of the pack, relying entirely on your physical prowess, and as you finally made it close to the end, you had already made it up to third out of your six. All you needed was a little boost.

You closed your eyes and held up your hand, your palm facing behind you, at a slight angle. With a quick thought and a jump, you let out a sonic boom, launching yourself a good bit forward, and as you landed, rolling in order to keep up your momentum, you had made it to the front of the pack, just a few steps away from the finish line.

With another couple of steps, you crossed the finish line, just a portion of a second ahead of your nearest competitor. You stopped near the finish line, attempting to catch your breath as your adrenaline faded.

“Alright!” Mic shouted, his voice a little more excited than it was just before the test, though for him, that was a pretty hard thing to measure, “That’ll be all of today. You’ll all be getting your results in the mall pretty soon.”

You nodded, before heading off to find Shoto, before starting to walk home together.

Tag list:  @reyna-avila-ramirez-alreanaldo

[sparklingskz]

something’s gotta give | lee minho

▸ requested?: yes!!

▸ genre: enemies to lovers, brother’s best friend au, fluff, a bit of angst

▸  pairing: reader x minho (lee know)

▸ description: you couldn’t stand jisung’s awful best friend, but he was begging you to let him be your plus-one for your aunt’s wedding.

▸ word count: 3.4k

“Jisung, can you tell your awful best friend to stop leaving the empty milk carton in the fridge?” You shouted towards the living room, where your brother was most certainly watching TV or playing games.

A few seconds later, you watched as Minho entered the kitchen, putting down an empty glass in the sink. “Said awful best friend is here, so why don’t you tell me yourself?”

You rolled your eyes before responding. “Why are you always here? Do they not feed you at your house?”

“Yes, but your mum’s cooking is much better,” he said. “Trust me, I’m not here all the time because of your awful face, it just so happens I like hanging out with your brother.”

You scoffed. “My awful face? Have you looked in a mirror recently?”

“Yeah, and let me say you should be grateful I come over so often so that you get to admire my face,” he said, a small smirk adorning his lips.

“Yeah, you keep believing that,” you told him before turning around and leaving the kitchen, heading towards your room.

That’s how your encounters with Minho would usually go.

You know those people that leave a bad first impression on you and then everything they do or say irritates you? Yeah, that was you and Minho.

You met when he was assigned to tutor you at school, and let’s say things didn’t go smoothly. During your first (and only) study session you were filled with frustration and the snarky comments from you two came and went, probably thanks to his poor teaching abilities and your stubbornness. You didn’t even want a tutor in the first place, so with that mindset you probably made things much more difficult for the boy who only was there because his teacher asked him to.

There’s no need to say that he didn’t continue tutoring you after that, and thankfully, as he was a year older, you didn’t have to see him in any of your classes. Basically, you tried to avoid him as much as possible.

Which sucked considering he and Jisung were tight as a knot, and seeing him around your house was not a rare sight. You didn’t complain as long as he didn’t disturb you, but sometimes a snarky comment or two came out of your mouths whenever you crossed paths.

Jisung didn’t really mind that you two didn’t get along (he stopped trying a while ago), but he usually interfered when both of your comments start getting too aggressive. Not that it would happen often, you usually didn’t make it past the sarcastic remarks and glares.

Either way, you tried to stay out of sight when he came over.

-

“Hey, have you already decided on who’s going to be your plus-one for aunt’s wedding?” Jisung asked one day, completely out of the blue.

Oh, you had forgotten your aunt’s wedding was a thing that was going to happen.

“Uh, I don’t think I’ll be inviting anyone,” you answered, not giving it much importance.

That’s when Jisung stood up from where he was sitting in the sofa and plopped down right next to you.

“Why don’t you invite Minho?” he asked, putting on his best smile.

You turned to look at him, unamused. “And why on Earth would I do that?”

“Come on, he wants to go and your plus-one invitation would go to waste! You should totally use it on him.”

“And how about you invite him instead and leave me out of it?”

“I have a boyfriend who I would very much like to invite, thank you,” he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Besides, you could even get something good out of it! Everyone would think you are dating Minho and you wouldn’t have to answer questions about your sad love life, which we both know will be coming sooner or later,” he added.

“I don’t have a sad love life, you just scare all of the good candidates away.”

“That’s not true! They can’t handle me, your amazing big brother, and they go away on their own,” he pouted.

“Who am I supposed to date then?” You questioned playfully.

“Minho,” he deadpanned.

You rolled your eyes. Jisung also had this weird fixation on trying to convince you that you should date Minho, but you always saw it as playful remarks and not serious ones.

“You really want me to take him to this wedding huh,” you sighed.

“Yeah, as I said, it would be a waste of your plus-one invitation if you didn’t use it.”

Are you really considering doing this?

You thought for a moment, before responding. “Ugh, okay. Tell him he’s going with me, but only because you asked. Don’t let him get any ideas.”

Jisung smiled brightly at you. “Thank you! And just you wait, everyone’s going to be thrilled that you’re going with him, the family loves him.”

Just in that moment your mum entered the living room. “Watch,” Jisung whispered. “Mum! y/n is going with Minho to auntie’s wedding, isn’t that nice?” He asked her, throwing a playful look at you.

“Oh, finally! That’s amazing, dear.” She answered sweetly.

You smiled at her, but then immediately turned to Jisung. “What does she mean with finally?”

Jisung shrugged, smiling.

-

You saw Minho a few days later at your house, which was no surprise. He and Jisung were talking in the kitchen when you decided you were hungry and went to get some food.

“Oh, Minho is here, what a surprise.” Sarcasm dripped from your tone.

“That’s getting a bit old, don’t you think?” Minho asked.

You pretended to think for a second. “Nah, it’s fun.”

The boy rolled his eyes. “Very mature.”

In the middle of your bickering, Jisung spoke. “Hey, shouldn’t you two try to get along? The wedding is soon and if you want people to think you’re dating, you’ll need to be more convincing than this.”

Minho suddenly turned towards Jisung. “Wait, who said anything about fake dating?”

“Yeah, I didn’t agree to that plan,” you added.

“Come on. You,” he pointed towards Minho. “Are getting free food out of this. And you,” he pointed towards you. “Should be happy you’re getting an improvement on your sad love life.”

Minho chuckled.

“See, don’t give him any more reasons to mock me,” you said.

“Okay, okay. How about you both make a truce and act civil around each other for the wedding? After that you can be back to being the most insufferable sibling and best friend duo you love to be,” Jisung said with an exaggerated tone.

You and Minho looked at each other, and he put his hand in front of you for you to shake.

“Truce?” He asked.

You shook his hand. “Truce.”

-

After that, your encounters with Minho were pretty uneventful, choosing to ignore him at school and only exchanging short greetings when he was at your house.

That would be enough until the wedding.

When that faithful day arrived, Minho was supposed to meet your family at your house, so you could all go to the venue together.

You gave yourself a final look in the mirror, when your dad exclaimed that it was time to go. You left your room and went down the stairs, just as Minho was entering through the front door.

He was wearing a nice black suit with a white dress shirt underneath, his black hair parted in the middle. Dangly earrings adorned his ears, and he wore a subtle silver chain around his neck.

Even you couldn’t deny he looked good.

A few minutes later the whole family (plus Minho) was in the car, your parents occupying the front seats and Jisung sat between you and Minho in the back seat. The car ride was filled mostly with chatter from your parents, who every so often asked a question to one of you guys.

You arrived at the venue where the ceremony would be held, and started greeting people once you entered. You met up with Jisung’s boyfriend, Hyunjin, and went over to sit together before the ceremony could start.

You ended up seated next to Minho, which, honestly, wasn’t what you wanted but that didn’t mean you were going to make a fuss out of it. It was just being next to him, nothing major. It wasn’t like you were hyperaware of his presence or anything, not at all.

-

The ceremony turned out beautiful. You could tell from your aunt’s face that she was ecstatic with how everything had turned out, and you were super excited for her.

Now you were all seated at the reception, waiting for the food to come out. You were put in a table with Jisung, Minho, Hyunjin and two girls you didn’t know, probably from the side of your aunt’s partner’s family.

And you were sitting next to Minho, again.

The food arrived and you tried to focus on that and not on the way his hair fell perfectly over his forehead. Nope.

“This is so delicious, oh my God,” Minho said with a content sigh after taking a bite.

“Can agree with that,” you responded. That’s a first, you thought

“I literally only came here for the food, and I’m not disappointed.”

“You can thank me for that, by the way.”

“Oh yes, thank you dearest y/n for sharing your invitation with me, how could I ever repay you,” he said, overly exaggerating his words.

You rolled your eyes at his sarcasm, and left the exchange there. Thankfully, Jisung immediately engaged in conversation with the rest of the table, all of you falling into a carefree chat.

Some time later, after everyone had finished their food, a slow song started playing and the newlywed couple headed over to the dance floor, and started softly moving to the beat of the music. After they had their chance to shine, other couples joined in.

You watched as Jisung and Hyunjin stood up and headed to the dance floor too, leaving you and Minho alone with the two girls. They quickly engaged in conversation with each other, and an awkward silence fell onto you and the boy as you watched all the couples dance, not really having a topic to converse about.

Everyone had been dancing for a while now, when suddenly the music changed to an upbeat popular song, all the couples breaking apart to start dancing more excitedly and freely.

You watched everyone move to the beat, and you honestly felt like standing up and joining them, the atmosphere having changed to a relaxed and fun one. You didn’t want to go over there alone, though.

You stole a glance at Minho, who was staring at the dance floor, lost in thought. He didn’t know anyone there except for you and your family, so he was probably a little bored.

You concluded that you weren’t going to find anything better to do, so you decided to risk it.

“Wanna go over there and dance?” You asked Minho.

He turned to look at you, a surprised look taking over his features. “Really?” he said, raising his eyebrows as if he didn’t believe what you were asking to him.

Honestly, you wouldn’t believe it either given your usual encounters.

You shrugged. “You said you came here for the food and it’s gone, so we can either stay here and remain bored, or use our time on something fun and dance.”

He seemed to weigh his options in his head for a moment, before answering with a shrug of his own. “Okay, why not.”

He stood up and you followed his actions, both of you going over to an empty spot on the dance floor. You started moving to the beat, an obvious distance between you two. The atmosphere wasn’t awkward, but you still felt weird dancing with him.

He looked like he was enjoying himself, though. Minho had this confident aura, his movements flowing with ease, matching his whole body to the song. He made it look effortless, the way his head bopped and hips swayed.

You were a little entranced, to be honest.

You had never seen Minho in this light before, just dancing without a care in the world, a contrast from the boy who was usually spitting bitter words at you.

You got a bit closer to him, so he could hear you. “On a scale of one to ten, how surprised are you that we’re dancing together?” you asked with a smile.

“A solid eleven,” he laughed. “I’m enjoying it, though.”

Surprisingly, you were too.

“Same here,” you responded.

You continued to dance, until a point where you were standing pretty close to Minho. Not touching or anything, just enough so you could admire the pink tint on his cheeks, so different from the usual confident, cocky aura he had. Every time your eyes met, you had to remind yourself that this was the boy who you argued with every time you were together.

You tried to ignore these thoughts and just keep dancing, the music rotating between upbeat songs.

After some time had passed, your feet started to hurt, so maybe it was time to go back.

“Hey, I’m tired, do you want to go sit down?” You asked Minho, leaning over to him.

He nodded. “Yeah, I’m tired too. Let’s go.”

You both went over to your seats and slumped onto them. You stayed in silence for a while, just catching your breath.

“You know,” Minho started saying a few minutes later. “In my two years of friendship with Jisung I can’t think of a time that I was remotely nice to you,” he chuckled. After a few seconds, he added. “Sorry for that, by the way.”

You waved him off. “I think your best moment was when you told me I sucked a little less after you found out I liked cats.” You smiled.

He laughed, recalling the memory. “Remember when I came over and you were making cupcakes and gave me one when I asked? That was the peak of our non-existing friendship”

Now you both were laughing, talking about all of the moments that came out of the bad blood between you.

“And to think it was all because of a frustrating study session huh?” he said.

“Yeah, it feels weird to be talking to you like a normal human being.”

“I think being mean to each other is in our nature now.”

You chuckled, and right after you saw Jisung and Hyunjin approaching you, both of them looking tired from all the time they spent on the dance floor.

When they spotted you, Jisung stared at you with a quizzing look.

“Did you… Did you just laugh? At something Minho said?” He inquired.

You raised your eyebrows at him. “Uh… Yes?”

“Not… At him?”

“… No?”

Jisung squinted his eyes at you two, and just hummed and went to sit next to Hyunjin.

You and Minho shared a look, and only laughed.

-

After the wedding ended, you and your family piled into the car, this time Hyunjin joining you. That’s how you ended up squished in between the door and Minho, Jisung sprawled on top of the three of you (don’t ask why).

You left Hyunjin at his house and then drove towards Minho’s. You had to get out of the car to let him pass, and you both muttered a small “bye” before we walked away.

When you arrived home, your parents immediately went to their room, and Jisung decided it was a good idea to start interrogating you.

“Was I hallucinating or did you dance with Minho for a good half an hour?” He suddenly asked.

You considered lying or downplaying it, but it was probably no use. “Yeah, we danced,why?”

“Um, maybe because you two hate each other? You argue every three seconds? That’s why?” Jisung said, overly gesticulating to emphasize his words.

“Come on, I don’t hate him.”

“You literally told me last week you didn’t want to be in the same room as him.” He raised his eyebrows.

“I was mad because he ate the last piece of mum’s cake! He isn’t that bad, I think…”

“Oh? Does little y/n have a… crush, perhaps?” He playfully nudged you with his elbow.

“What? No I don’t. We don’t even know each other.” You evaded your brother’s gaze.

“That’s a lie and you know it. He has been coming over to this house for the past two years, you know him as good as me. Well maybe not that good because I’m his best friend, but it’s still a lot.” Jisung said. “How did you even go from glaring at each other to dancing?”

“I don’t even know, one minute we were just sitting there, and the next one we were dancing. It was probably a result of boredom, to be honest.” You shrugged.

“The question is, did you enjoy it?” He asked looking serious out of a sudden.

“Um, yes? Maybe? I don’t know, this is very new.”

Jisung laughed. “He’s coming over in three days, you have until then to figure it out.”

Your eyes widened. “Three days? That’s not enough. Wait, what am I even supposed to be figuring out?”

“What you feel, dummy.” Jisung stood up from the sofa, walking towards the door to his room. When he was right at the door, he turned around. “I approve, by the way.”

You rolled your eyes and slumped back on the couch, sighing.

-

The three days passed, and it was safe to say you hadn’t figured it out.

You had thought about it, yes, but you didn’t arrive to any conclusions that satisfied you. The only thing you knew is that maybe now you didn’t wish to throw a book at Minho’s face when you saw him.

You knew that the circumstances that made you dislike him were not even that serious, but after that evening of “tutoring” you couldn’t stand him, so you left it that way.

The thing is, after all the times he had been in your house, you had seen how we truly was. He was playful, funny and caring, judging from how we behaved with Jisung, your parents and his parents after all the overheard conversations on the phone. It was all just buried under your cloudy judgement, which didn’t allow you to see him as someone other than the mean boy who treated you badly that evening.

Now, after one evening of dancing and talking, you perception of him had quickly changed.

And that’s why you were currently in your room, dreading to come out of it because Minho was right there, in the living room with Jisung. Sadly, earlier or later you’d have to eat, and you didn’t know if you were ready to face him.

When your stomach growled for the third time in a minute, you knew you had to go out there. You silently opened your door, peeking outside.  It looked like the coast was clear, so you made your way to the kitchen.

You started preparing yourself a sandwich, when a familiar face walked in.

“Hey,” Minho said nonchalantly.

You knew you were screwed the second you looked up.

“Hi,” you replied, looking back down at your sandwich.

“Wow, not commenting on how I’m always at your house? Who would’ve thought.”

You chuckled. “I think that after our civil interaction at the wedding, maybe it was time I stop coming at you for everything,” you said.

Minho raised his eyebrows. “Really? I’m glad.”

You looked up at him in curiosity. “Why are you glad?”

“Because hating you was tiring.” He shrugged. “And…”

He stopped speaking midway, and you encouraged him to continue. “And?”

“You not hating me makes it much easier for me to ask you out.” He finished, looking up to assess your reaction.

You were shocked, to say the least.

Your heart immediately sped up at the prospect of going out on a date with him. It was weird thinking that a week ago, that thought would’ve never crossed your mind.

However, things felt different now.

“I never said I stopped hating you, though,” you said, deciding to mess with him a little with confidence you didn’t know you had.

He raised one eyebrow. “Are you completely sure about that?” He suddenly came closer to you, leaving only a few centimeters between your faces.

You’re sure your heart skipped a beat at the proximity.

“I was, um, I was joking,” you barely let out.

He smirked. “Good.” He got out of your personal space, heading to the kitchen’s door. “I’m picking you up at four tomorrow, wear something as pretty as you.” He winked, and walked out.

[our-heroes-rise]

Hi there!!! First time requesting... I'll use this chance to request a Midoriya x reader story where reader is small breasted, tall, thin, shy at the beginning, cheerful when they're comfortable, nerd, gamer, wears glasses, brunette and olive skinned. I'll leave the plot on your capable hands, I just want a happy ending, please!!! Izuku and reader ending up together!!! Thank you so much!!!

i think i had a bit too much fun writing this, haha. i deeply apologize for the ridiculously long wait though, hun, and i hope you enjoy what i’ve written for you. i rewrote this three times then finally got something i was happy with on the third try. think i’ll try to incorporate the “realistic” messages more often, they’re sure fun to make. anyway, hope you like it!

———————————————————————

Your fingers thrummed anxiously against the hardwood table as you stared blankly at the textbook before you, not at all taking in the very much helpful information it provided for figuring out the problem you had been stuck on for the past ten minutes. It wasn’t entirely your fault that you couldn’t bring yourself to focus though.

Ten minutes. They were all ten minutes late.

It wasn’t normal for all of them to be late. Momo was always on time -- always early, in fact. She never allowed herself to be less than five minutes early. Which was why you were extremely surprised when you entered the small coffee shop to find your friend’s usual table vacant of the beautiful high black ponytail.

There were no new messages in the group chat, you had already checked about a million times since you had arrived.

Nothing to let you know that anyone would be running late, or had canceled plans. It was so unlike Momo -- so unlike everyone, honestly. And it made you nervous.

Had something happened to them? Did a message not get through to you or something? What if they had all said that they couldn’t make it and he showed up expecting everyone to be here but all he found was you sitting at a table by yourself? Oh God, that would make it look like you lied to him. Would he be mad and want to leave? Why would he want to stay? He had probably only said he would come because he didn’t want you to feel bad if he rejected your offer.

That didn’t make sense anyway, he was in the group chat so even if you didn’t get the message that didn’t mean he wouldn’t. Why would he even bother coming then?

Dear Lord, you wished your brain would shut up.

Two years. Two whole stupid years you have had a crush on him and never once had you tried to “shoot your shot”, as Mina would put it. You would face a hundred villains and All Might himself before you decided to muster up the courage to shoot your dumb friggin shot and face the possible embarrassment of rejection. It had taken you months to actually stand there like a big girl and have a decent conversation with him without stumbling over your words and averting your eyes away from him every two seconds. Then even longer to just ask him to hang out with you.

But not alone. God, no, not alone. You had to have other people there or else it would be too intimate, at least with other people you could have other things to distract yourself with if things got awkward. Keeping up a conversation with people you liked or weren’t extremely familiar with wasn’t exactly your forte. Your brain always seemed to draw a blank, which made normal human interaction a pain.

If you got stuck alone here with him you weren’t sure that you could forgive your friends for ditching, unless something really serious had happened. Geez, how would you even focus on your work? The study session hadn’t entirely been a ploy made up by your friends and yourself just to get to spend time with your crush. You had actually planned to study for the upcoming math test. You weren’t exactly terrible at math. Usually, you didn’t have much of a problem with it, but this unit had been utter hell, to put it bluntly. If someone is trying to become a hero, why do they need to know how to calculate the length and space between a curve on a graph? Really, what was the point?

A shrill ping echoed through your headphones, interrupting your blaring music and causing you to flinch slightly out of your thoughts.

Your eyes narrowed as they trailed further and further down the paragraph, suspicion settling into the pit of your stomach. All three of your most family-oriented friends forgot they had previous arrangements with their families? Doubtful. Mina getting food poisoning sounded about right, she sat with Sero and Kaminari during lunch sometimes, who are always daring her to eat disgusting food combinations. Jirou offering to help take care of said sick Mina? Absolutely not. Jirou can not stand to be around sick people, it grosses her out. She would rather spend ten minutes flirting with Bakugou than smell another person’s food-poison vomit.

If they had wanted to lie they should have tried a little harder to make it believable.

You weren’t going to call them out on it, though. Not once the realization dawned on you that your friends had, in undeniable fact now, left you all alone with your crush. And on purpose.

Why do they hate me?!

Your fingers hovered over the keyboard, at a loss for what to say, until you saw his message slide through the chat.

Your heart lurched into your throat at his question. Now was your chance to ditch, to reschedule the plans for another time, and you were already typing up your excuse when another message pinged through your headphones.

This was completely unfair. They had all promised to be here with you and now they were all dropping out on you at the last second like they had planned this all along. Which, honestly, is probably what they had done.

You let out a heavy sigh, slumping further down into your seat, textbook and notes completely forgotten.

Truly, you knew your friends meant well in all of this, you just wished they had chosen a better way to go about it.

But, there really isn’t a better way, is there?

You certainly weren’t going to make the first move and Midoriya probably wasn’t either - if he even liked you that way. Despite the great amount of confidence he had gained over the past few years, mostly regarding his fighting style and the way he spoke to Bakugou, he could still be easily flustered, even if it wasn’t as common as before. So, no, you supposed there definitely wasn’t a better way your friends could have pulled this off.

Another heavily anxious sigh pushed past your lips as you fixed your slouching posture and reopened the group chat.

You let your fingers loom over the keyboard, once again, seriously contemplating your original idea to take a raincheck. Midoriya wouldn’t be upset with you, he would be completely understanding, especially if your excuse was good enough. Period cramps were a thing, ya know? Sometimes they caught you off guard and maybe you just didn’t -

Oh, for Christ’s sake, screw it.

That wasn’t too bad.

No, it was perfectly fine and he would be here in a few minutes.

He would be here in a few minutes.

Oh, for the love of All Might, he would be here, with you, alone, in a few God forsakenly short minutes and you had not a clue in the whole stupid world how this was going to go. You were panicking, a sort of pathetic amount, if you were going to be honest with yourself.

This was just Midoriya.

Midoriya, the cute nerdy kid who was the absolute sweetest person you had ever met in your entire life. The I Can And Absolutely Will Give My Life To Protect Everyone I Know And Love, Midoriya. The Midoriya who could shatter ten brick walls with less than a fifth of his power and still have enough to fend off three hundred more waiting villains.

Midoriya, the kindest, most gentle, and fiery soul you had ever known. The soul you had so stupidly allowed yourself to fall in love with these past few years.

Love.

That was a strong word, but something about it felt right when you applied it to your feelings for the gentle green-haired boy, which was a little terrifying, considering that most of his perspective of you was largely unknown. It was probably just your overly hormonal teenage brain trying to convince you that this emotion could only be found in the green eyes of the one and only class nerd. That didn’t matter anymore though. You knew you had already let yourself fall too far from the cliff edge to have any hope of saving yourself now.

Screw it, you repeated to yourself, tossing your phone back onto the table to resume staring blankly at your textbook, your brows only slightly more furrowed than before.

You had already started digging this grave two years ago, fully aware of the consequences, might as well finish it up and lay in it, nothing worse could come of it. Except, maybe, being buried alive and suffocating under the weight of your own regret.

It’ll be fine. It’s just Izuku. My friend. My friend... that I’ve had a crush on for -

It was a long - but still too short - couple of minutes.

Midoriya arrived at the cafe ten minutes later looking surprisingly out of breath. The freckled bridge of his nose and cheeks were a bright rosy red, bitten from the crisp winter evening air. He slumped into the chair across from you, flashing you the brightest smile you had ever seen while he set his bag down beside him.

“Sorry, I’m late,” He said, voice garbled through the noise of your headphones, which you immediately yanked out. “I was talking to Kirishima and completely lost track of time. I’m glad you waited for me though.”

“O-Oh, it’s okay,” you stammered, doing your best to return his smile just as confidently, though you were sure anyone could see how terribly flustered you already were. “I really hadn’t been waiting that long, I’m just happy you were able to come.” His breathing still sounded slightly labored as he pulled out his notebook and Algebra textbook, your brow quirked up in curiosity. “Izuku, did you run all the way here or something?”

A flush that you know has nothing to do with with the cold flares up his entire face to the tips of his ears, and his green eyes flicker sheepishly towards yours. “Uhm - Well, yeah, I felt bad for keeping you waiting for so long. Don’t worry, it was just a couple of blocks, I’m okay.” A small breathless laugh bubbled past his lips, “I’m thankful for Aizawa’s endurance training though.”

“Yeah,” you laughed with him, too aware of the heat you felt crawling up your neck. He had actually ran all the way from the dorms to the coffee shop just for you, because he felt guilty for keeping you waiting, even if it had only been a couple of minutes.

It was silly for you to dwell on such a thing, honestly. Midoriya really was just that type of person, it wouldn’t be considered a big deal to anyone else, but to you it meant the world. And you couldn’t do anything to tame the butterflies in your stomach when you pictured him, face scrunched with slight panic and focus as he rushed through the evening crowds all the way here, just to get to you quicker.

“I know it’s a bit late and all,” Midoriya mumbled, bringing you back into reality with a small jolt that, thankfully, went completely unnoticed by him as he still had his face in his bag. “But did you want anything from the cafe? I brought some money with me.”

“No, I’m okay, thank you though.” You were wide awake right now, caffeine wouldn’t do anything but make your nerves worse.

A small frown tugged at the corner of his mouth once he came back up from his bag, beaten up All Might wallet in hand. It was a challenge not to crack a smile in its direction. “You sure? I really don’t mind getting you something. I feel like I should pay you back for waiting for me.”

You rolled your eyes picking up a playful smile so he knew you weren’t actually irritated with him. “I told you, it’s fine, Izuku. You didn’t keep me waiting long, I promise.” You waved a hand in the direction of the cafe bar, “If you want to get something, go ahead, I don’t mind waiting a few more minutes.”

Midoriya paused for a moment, casting his gaze off to the side for a second before he shook his head. Seemingly having made a decision he tucked his wallet back into his backpack and gave you a warm grin. “I’m fine, I was really just asking for you, but I’m glad you’re not upset. You’re really too sweet, Y/n. Anyway, was there anything you wanted to go over first? Ochaco said you were struggling with-”

But your mind had started buzzing the second his compliment had reached your ears. A part of your brain was screaming at yourself to get a grip and the other part of you just really, really wanted to hear him say it again with that same heart-melting smile of his.

“Yeah,” you said absently, unaware as to what you were actually agreeing to. You knew the smile you were giving him must have made you look like a lovesick puppy ready to barf rainbows, yet you didn’t have enough properly operating brain cells to make you care. “We can start with that first.”

“Okay, that’s great! I have some notes you can look over if you want, or I can explain it if you’d like. I was also having trouble with this, but Iida was able to explain it to me in a way that actually makes sense, so I can try to explain it the same way. Is that alright?”

It took all of your focus to make yourself look down at the notebook he was holding out for you and actually process the words written on the paper. Then another few seconds for you to realize that you had no clue what in the hell the notes were talking about. Yeah, you definitely couldn’t zone out anymore or else you would be utterly screwed by the time the test came around.

“Uh, explain it, please?” you mumbled, casting a quick shy glance in his direction. “If you don’t mind.”

He chuckled and the sound made the heat in your cheeks grow a little hotter. “Not at all. So, the way Tenya explained it was like this...”

It was quite a feat to keep your brain focused on the task at hand rather than on the way Midoriya’s hand would brush against yours every once in a while when he was showing you how to solve a problem. Or the way his nose crinkled when he thought something you did was funny, but clearly didn’t want to laugh at for your sake. Or the way he had asked if he could sit next to you instead of across from you because it would be a lot easier for him to show you what he was doing. And the way his warm shoulder - covered in a large grey hoodie that had no right looking that good on him - pressed gently into yours.

It had been a difficult battle, but you had won. By the end of the night, you were caught up on everything you hadn’t understood in Algebra a couple hours prior. Midoriya grinned proudly down at your practice problems, unable to find a single mistake this time.

“You’re a really quick learner, Y/n,” he laughed, tilting his head to look back at you, his green eyes sparkling. “Are you sure you needed my help in the first place?”

You flushed, letting out a small giggle. “Oh, definitely,” you responded softly from behind the hand you had brought up to cover your mouth. “I didn’t know what the heck I was doing until you got here. It all just looked like a bunch of-”

“You shouldn’t hide your smile like that. It’s too beautiful to keep hidden.”

“H-Huh?” Oh, your face was totally on fire now.

Had you heard him correctly?

“I-I mean - U-Uhm - I’m really sorry!” Midoriya stammered, his hands immediately flying up into the air as if he didn’t know where to put them anymore as he quickly shuffled away from you on the booth. “That was really weird of me to say, sorry. I just - well, uhm - just -” he moved his text book over towards him and stared intensely at it, obviously intent on not making anymore eye contact with you.

Which was the absolute last thing you wanted right now, but you were still trying to wrap your head around everything that had just happened. That wasn’t the usual Midoriya compliment. He didn’t tell all of his friends how beautiful he thought there smiles were. It didn’t even seem like he had meant to say it in the first place, he was so flustered now.

“Was there - uhm - anything else you wanted to go over? I’m pretty much caught up on everything, so it’s - it’s whatever you want to do.”

Well, that definitely caught your attention. “You’re caught up on everything?” You asked slowly, brain still buffering severely. Midoriya nodded, green curls bouncing with the jerky movement. He didn’t look at you though. “Izuku, did you rush all the way out here just to help me?”

Again, not a thing Midoriya wouldn’t naturally do on his own, but the way he was reacting was a clear sign that this wasn’t just because of that fantastically kind heart of his. Warm hope, that you didn’t have the willpower to crush, bloomed large and all consuming within your chest.

He nodded once again, but this time you caught the apprehensive glance he shot at you from the corner of his eye. “Y-Yeah.” You noticed how prominent his freckles looked against the firey color of his cheeks, and it made your heart flutter. Midoriya let out a heavy sigh before finally looking back towards you, textbook forgotten. “Ochaco said it was a good idea for us to hang out together because - well - I - she knows that I - that I’ve liked you for a while.” The last part was barely loud enough for you to hear over the night time rush of the cafe, but your ears had most definitely not failed you that time.

“M-Me?”

Yes, you idiot! Who else would he be talking about?

Ochaco had known about it. Your best friend had known about it and hadn’t told you? Had let you keep your feelings for him buried deep within your heart for all of that time.

You couldn’t blame her, no matter how terribly you wanted to. You knew Ochaco did it with the best intentions. Ochaco wasn’t one to go around spilling everyone’s secrets. She had probably kept hope that Midoriya - or maybe you, even though the chances of that were slim to none - would finally admit to one another. That made this grand scheme of hers her way of telling you and Midoriya that even she had gotten tired of waiting for you two.

“Yeah, I told her this was a bad idea and that you probably didn’t feel the same way, but she insisted,” he added quickly, hands gone back to moving around the air awkwardly. “I’m really sorry that I’ve made this really weird now, I - I can leave if you want.”

Without thinking - just as you had been through out the course of this entire conversation - your hand shot out to wrap around one of his to keep him in place, even though he had made no indication of getting up.

“No!” You winced at your sudden volume, face burning again. “No, you can stay. Trust me, you haven’t made it weird, I’m just - uhh - trying to, I guess, process everything. Give me a second, please?”

Midoriya looked visibly stunned, but nodded his quick jerky nod nonetheless, bouncing his green curls again. Your brain ran through everything he had just said over and over until you were absolutely positive you hadn’t imagined any of it. Until you were absolutely positive that the boy you had so stupidly allowed yourself to fall for had just admitted having feelings for you. It wasn’t a trick of your mind from lack of sleep or too many hours of work, Midoriya had really just said all of that. That he thought your smile was too beautiful to hide, that he had ran all this way not because he needed to study but because he wanted to make sure you didn’t need his help, that he liked you. But not just liked you, he had liked you for a while.

A while. How long was that?

Probably not as long as you, but the answer didn’t matter. You were sure that he could have told you it was for the past couple of hours and you would still be just as happy.

A gentle squeeze around your hand from calloused fingers pulled you back to Earth, and you looked down to find that his hand - only slightly bigger than yours - was still wrapped up tightly in your own as if you were too scared to let go of him, scared he would disappear like the remnants of a dream.

“A-are you sure I didn’t make it weird?”

You laughed breathlessly, a bright grin lighting up your face as you lifted your eyes to meet his. His shoulders had relaxed a tiny bit, but his emerald eyes were still swimming with anxiety, even when you shook your head no.

“I’m - I’m sure, Izuku. I promise you didn’t make it weird.” You glanced down to pull his hand into your lap as you shifted in your seat to face him properly. Truthfully, you should have let go of his hand a while ago, but you just couldn’t bring yourself to do it yet. At least, he didn’t seem to mind. “I just - I dunno - I guess, I thought I would never be able to hear you say those words and I’m still having a hard time believing that you’ve even said them-”

“I said them!” He jumped in, the anxiety replaced by overwhelming joy. “That was all real, trust me, my heart is still pounding from the anxiety.” He let out a shaky laugh to which you joined him in. “I wasn’t at all sure how tonight was going to go. All Ochaco had told me was that I should trust her and that everything would be fine and, honestly, I didn’t know whether to believe her or not. But then when I got here and I saw you I knew there was no way I could keep this from you anymore. I had planned to tell you on the way home, except, well, I guess spending all of this time alone with you was enough to push me over the edge.”

You grinned and softly breathed, “I’m glad.”

——

There hadn’t been many people left out on the streets, this part of town never really got busy after dark because there were no bars or clubs. Only small shops and businesses that closed no later than ten lined this city block and every city block within a five mile radius of U.A. The frosty night air nawed at the warmth from your cheeks, washing them with a deep shade of scarlet. You curled into the warmth of your thick wooly sweater, thankful that you had thought to put it back on before leaving the cafe.

One of your hands took refuge in your cozy double sleeve so that it was no more than a nub of thick cloth, while the other, wound frigid fingers through the tender warmth his hand provided. A small, content smile adorned your face as you walked closely together, shoulders brushing with each step, to conserve the heat between you two.

Midoriya was beaming. He hadn’t stopped since he had left the cafe with his hand in yours, heart singing in delight at the sensation of your fingers slotted perfectly through his, like the missing pieces of a puzzle. His joy and excitement was so clearly bubbling past the brim of his self-control, you were sure that if he could smile any brighter that he would, just to show how proud he was to be holding your hand.

Neither of you said anything on your walk back to the dorms. You didn’t have to and neither did he, even if his posture said that he could barely contain himself. Midoriya could speak if he wanted, knew that without a shadow of a doubt, but he chose not to. He chose to walk with you, hand intertwined with yours, on a blissfully quiet trip back to the dorms, basking in your presence. Just as you did so happily with him.

Minutes pass much too quickly though, and it seems like you’re upon the entrance steps of the dorms only seconds later. He pauses and you stop with him, turning to face him, eager for the buildings heat, but more eager to understand the hesitation that flickers in his gaze. Another moment of silence passed before he turned to you, freckled cheeks flushed a bright red that once more has to do with far more than just the cold.

You wait patiently, eyes soft and mouth still pulled into a gentle smile that wordlessly urges him to speak his mind. He takes you in for one last moment, his beaming grin grown slightly muted as he searches for the confidence he needs, which he quickly finds resting in your own gaze.

“I - uhm - I just wanted to thank you,” he started quietly, “for making tonight so amazing. I really can’t tell you how happy it made me.”

Oh, you were going to swoon, truly.

This boy...

After all that he had done for you tonight, he still wanted to thank you. To thank you. When all you had done was show up and bottle up your feelings for the past two years. You didn’t deserve him and you weren’t sure if the universe had already realized its mistake, but there was no way in hell you were going to give him back now.

“Izuku,” you sighed, your smile lifting fondly at the edges, “I should be the one thanking you here. You went through all of this trouble today just to help me out and if it weren’t for you I would still be sitting there with that stupid text book and my harbored feelings not knowing what the heck I was supposed to do. So, thank you for all that you did for me tonight and making it one I will forever remember.”

His mouth fell open in a look of awe and soft adoration, then within one swift step forward, he swooped down and gently pressed his lips to yours. The kiss was short and sweet, a fleeting brush of his lips, but it was enough to warm your entire body in a flood of overwhelming heat.

Midoriya pulled away, cheeks flushed with embarrassment, likely matching your own, and gaze slightly chagrined. “S-Sorry, I should have asked.”

You beamed, shaking your head vigorously as you moved to wrap your arms around his neck, bringing your forehead to rest against his, “Stop apologizing for silly things and kiss me again.”

“S-Sor - I mean - wait, really?”

You couldn’t stop yourself from giggling at the genuine surprise in his eyes, it was adorable. “Yes, Izuku, yes, kiss me again.”

And so he did. With a grin that reflected your own, he pressed his lips against yours once more, this time more firmly than the first, and brought his hands to your hips to pull you closer.

The night wasn’t so cold anymore. He warmed your heart, your chest, your body, your soul. Everything you could ever ask for, he was a brilliant pillar of light that radiated comforting heat and he was all yours. Your own personal ray of sunshine that you would hold on to for as long as you could.

———————————————————————

✨ written 10/9/19 ✨

[darkmacademia]

hi! this is a stupid question but anyway. i’m doing my alevels (uk) so going to uni next sept. i’ve got my actual exams next summer too. the thing is, i rly want to do well and go to a good uni and my teachers have told me it’s possible. but the problem is i just can’t like study. i’ve bought books for extra reading and i told myself to watch ted talks and to write up study notes but i just can’t seem to motivate myself to actually do it. i know i’ll regret it if i don’t but i still can’t (1)

(2) find the motivation to knuckle down and study. i even wake up early and i still am not nearly as productive as i should be. i’m just tired when i come back from school so it’s easier to just watch netflix then read a book. do you have any advice/tips because i could really do with some!!! thank you so much. p.s. your blog is amazing and it makes me rly happy when i see your posts on my dash!

[long post]

Thanks for the question, it’s not stupid at all! Sorry to hear you’re struggling with studying, it can be a very stressful time. I’m not super qualified to give advice but I’m gonna try anyway! I’ll relate the tips to myself if you don’t mind, just for context. (For reference, I finished Australian VCE in November 2018)

Usually when you’re struggling with something that is totally in your power to do but you just Can’t, it might not be due to the actual task, but something about it or adjacent to it that is stopping you, e.g. fear of failure, wrong studying techniques, etc. Maybe try and analyse what exactly is stopping you? For example, when I was really struggling with writing practice essays for English (like i wrote Nothing, ever), I found that it was because I didn’t like sitting alone trying to push out ideas onto a blank page, it was just suuuper boring for me. 

So instead, I grabbed my friend and we sat for hours just chatting (and sometimes arguing very passionately) about the text and occasionally jotting down ideas to write about later. This made me actually passionate about my ideas and enjoy the work rather than it being a chore. It wasn’t because I couldn’t write essays, but because the way I went about it before didn’t work for me. (I ended up doing really well in the exam even though I started the year doing zero work). This is sort of vague advice, but if you want to chat more, feel free to send a chat message. I’d be more than happy to talk!

But for more concrete tips, these are some that I’ve found work for me personally:

1) Making it less effort to start: sometimes we don’t want to study because that involves getting out notes, setting up stationary, chargers, text books, waiting for the planets to align, etc. So what I did was make it as easy as possible to just get right into it. I’d organise my supplies on my desk so I could literally just sit down and start. That initial hesitation can set you back, especially when you don’t want to do the thing.

2) Studying with friends: this might not be practical for everyone, but I personally find it terribly difficult to motivate myself when studying alone. Find some similar-minded friends and just sit together and study. It helped me a lot to know that I wasn’t the only one suffering lmao. This leads onto the next point:

3) Pomodoro sessions: a common study technique is splitting up your time into 25+5 minute blocks, as it’s not as daunting as sitting down and telling yourself you’ll study for 2 hours straight. Especially if you’re with friends, you’re rewarded with those 5 minutes of relaxing, chatting, getting a drink, so it doesn’t seem like hours and hours of hell. (No joke, this video was my favourite video of 2018, she’s amazing). My classmates and I would find a quiet table, put that video on and just work in silence for 25 minutes, which is actually a lot less time than you think.

4) Studying is hard, but doesn’t have to be complete agony for you to do well: something I learnt during the HOURS of tediously making 500+ A3 pages in my visual diaries (I counted) for my two art subjects. Yes, doing well isn’t easy, but success is NOT synonymous with pain. Yes, you’ll have to do those equations somehow, but grab a hot drink, play some music, put on a cute outfit (idk why this helps, it just does), study with friends. Learning is meant to be fun, don’t let study get in the way of that. 

5) You can’t do everything at once: ever get overwhelmed with the size of the task? I got super scared at all the Chinese stuff I had to memorise and it totally shut me down for weeks. I had to remember that I physically could not do all of it at once, so I stopped trying. I broke everything down into weekly/daily tasks that I could manage short-term. The sheer pressure itself was stopping me from working, not the tasks themselves.

6) This is for the more extreme scenarios, but lock your social media: my friend @acastemia and I legit couldn’t stay off our social media during Year 12, so we got the other to change the passwords for all our accounts and not let each other have them until we proved that we did the work for that week. Obviously a dramatic move, but dear god it helped in those final months ahaha

7) Other random stuff that might work: this app for staying off phones, this app for getting better sleep, cleaning your desk - seeing a clear space helps clear ur mind I guess?? Studying in different environments - alternating between cafes, libraries, parks, at home. 

Whoops this is super long but I hope that helps somewhat! Please please message me further if you have more questions, I’m very passionate about navigating the hellscape that is the education system and want to see everyone do well ! Best of luck, I’d love to hear how you go in the future. xx

[papa-1-rights-activist]

Could you tell us some things about your characters?

thank you so much for this ask :D sorry for such a late response, but ngl i got very excited and started writing shit down as soon as i saw it, but then it turned into an entire essay and i had to cut down a ton of stuff until i decided to write it in a list of some sort kjhgkjfgkfg

currently i have like 11 fan characters in total so i will start with 4 to not infodump too much at a time

and i’ll admit that literally all of these guys were made for shipping purposes, but they all have different personalities and dynamics with canon characters. i’m such a sucker for writing couples, so many things to explore, that’s like my favourite thing ;w;

it got very long so imma put it under the cut \o/ (hopefully it works bc tumblr has been pretty unpredictable lately)

sorry if it’s probably way more than just “some things” but i couldn’t help it, i just love these guys so much and i don’t get to talk about them often u v u

e n j o y ~

imma start with the one you guys are more familiar with

Lucas

one of the cardinals in Ghost’s church

Mexican

in his late 40s (like 46-47)

hardworking, ambitious

pretty composed

huge „your teacher from english class who’s also a dad” energies

his character can be summed up to, as someone has said, „he’d kindly but sternly correct your shitty posture”

currently takes the 3rd place of most „best employee of the month” awards (Copia is 4th at that time)

he and Copia start off as rivals for the 2nd place (bc no one can beat whoever is the 1st)

but wouldn’t you guessed it, they end up dating

Lucas has a fair collection of various rodents, including rats. Actually, he’s the one who infected Copia with love for them. Luc prefers ferrets (that’s a rodent right kjhfgkjgh)

he doesn’t really get angry, but when he does he really goes off

he writes poetry, which is actually very, very bad, but Copia loves it to bits which makes Luc feel validated to write more

because his language is so similar to italian, Lucas can implement a lot of spanish into his conversations with Copia, while the other will reply in italian and they will still understand each other (ofc there are some exceptions that result in miscommunication, but that just makes it all more fun)

Copia shared with him that he’s writing music for his album (even tho he wasn’t supposed to tell anyone) and Lucas was more than happy to help him in the process…which was mostly moral support and a few suggestions.

he loves calling Copia “cariño”, “mi amorcito”, “mi alegría” and other cute names in spanish

once Lucas mentioned he used to play flute and Copia immediately decided to include a flute solo in one of his songs, so Luc could play it. Unfortunately things didn’t go as he planned and he had to change it to sax solo

The thing about Lucas is that Imperator sees him as a threat. She’s been plotting with Copia to get him to papacy for a long time, but in the end she isn’t the one who decides who will be in charge, so Copia has to work hard to deserve it. He was already a hard worker, but unfortunately Lucas works harder. It creates this dillema for Copia, bc on one hand he does want to become Papa and in order to do that he has to get rid off competition. But on the other he loves Lucas and he wants what’s best for him.

(i’ll probably post the pic above in a separate post with other doodles, i just wanted to show sth new and relevant)

Elise & Greg

Imma put these two together bc it’s impossible to talk about one without the other.

they work together in a company that takes art commisions such as paintings & murals and their restorations. They’re both pretty skilled in those departments, except Elise specialises in art restoration while Greg specialises in murals and frescos. And ofc one day they’re hired by the church.

they’re both pretty good at painting (but the thing about restoration is that you don’t have to be a great artist to do that, it has more to do with chemistry tbh)

They live together and have been very good friends for a few years now

they both went through some traumatic events in their lives, but maybe i’ll leave that part for another day (or i’ll leave it in my fanfic they’re from that i need to finish ;w;)

they’re very supportive of each other, but also they like to mess with one another

their chat is filled with horny texts about other people

Elise

34 years old

British

a bit awkward, tends to stutter when nervous

very sweet overall, feels the need to be everyone’s therapist

autistic, which shows mostly through her sensitivity to certain textures

hates onions (bc the texture is awful)

gets very emotional very quickly when she sees cute animals. She will use her baby talk to speak with them (which is sth that Copia does too with his rats and once he catches her doing that as well, he feels less embarrased about it)

Cirrus was the first one from the church to actually talk to her and show her around, making her feel a bit more welcome in an unfamiliar place

she talks through her sleep. A lot. Copia finds it very amusing…and adorable.

she discovers that Papa III has fallen hard for her friend way before he himself realises that, but then she’s also the kind of person to not see her own feelings for someone

she finds working on restoration quite relaxing. It’s sth she can fixate over and do for hours (even tho it’s not recommended)

a bit of a workaholic

another thing she finds relaxing is sitting in a corner somewhere warm and doodling people she sees around the abbey (mostly those she finds attractive lol so mostly Cirrus and Copia)

eventually ends up with Copia and Cirrus in a poly relationship

she also finds Cumulus cute, but the ghoulette isn’t interested in another romantic relationship. the one she has with Cirrus is enough for her.

Elise’s relationship with Copia is basically two dorks trying to impress the other while trying not to be too obvious about it, while her relationship with Cirrus is bisexual equivalent of „shy nerd has a crush on a cool girl leading the cheerleaders squad and shopes she doesn’t know. She knows.”

(had to doodle sth real quick bc i can’t believe that i don’t have a single good pic of him lol)

Greg

37 years old

Polish (bc ofc he is)

pretty stoic, might come off as cold

he gives cute nicknames to people he likes (in polish ofc)

he’s actually pretty cheesy and wholesome, but you wouldn’t know that bc he shows his affection through a language that no one understands (which is what he wants, he doesn’t want others to know he actually cares)

has some trust issues, so it’s harder for him to become friends with people

huge Scorpions fan. no, like really, he’s obsessed and will share his music taste with whoever will listen (which is mostly Eli and Papa III lol)

knows a few words in italian, but mostly those related to art after he’s been studying it for a few years. He doesn’t speak it, but he can read it.

he owns a guitar signed by Kirk Hammett (his musical crush)

he’s the kind of guy who will call the person he likes „my dear”, „my love”, „sweet pea” in his mother language and then tell that person it means „dickhead”, „loser” and „lazy ass”

his stay at the abbey is just laying under the ceiling and doing fresco for most of the day, visiting Elise in her art studio and dealing with Papa’s bullshit

Papa eventually starts coming up to lay beside Greg on the construction and watch him work. They tend to just lay in silence while a mix of Scorpions and ABBA plays from the radio. There’s barely any space for a second person, but Greg would lie if he said he didn’t find it endearing.

one time Greg fell off the construction and broke his leg bc of that dumbass (but it’s his dumbass uwu)

anyway he eventually starts dating Papa III

Papa purrs to Greg in italian and Greg speaks sweet words to him in polish (tho it took him a lot of time to get comfortable with that)

their relationship is your typical „1 brain cell and 1 dumbass” and under certain circumstances simply „2 disastrous dumbasses”

they once burnt down Elise’s apartment on accident and the only things they managed to save were the art supplies and Greg’s guitar

anyway

here are these guys in comparison to their partners in this silly style, bc all the other drawings are outdated ;w;

Melea

45 years old

American

fashion designer commissioned byt the Ghost’s church

huge fan of old rock

for a long time her relationship with Papa III was purely professional. He came to her studio, she took some measurements, they discussed what he would like and then he left and they didn’t see each other until the next meeting to try the outfit on, to make some changes, or for another project.

well that is until she asked him to stop putting his face paint on so he wouldn’t ruin the fabrics

i share this popular headcanon that Papa III is pretty self conscious about his clean face, so it was kind of hard to convince him at first

eventually their sessions became that much more personal because of that

she’s a bit superstitious, believing that some things may cause bad luck

collects crystals with good energy

she’s in a way a modern witch…but it’s not like she tries to be one

knows french fairly well, which allows her to talk to Papa (who also speaks it) when they don’t want others to understand them.

huge mum energy

loooves watching conspiracy theories. Sometimes she will pick one of the more ridiculous ones during her sessions with Papa and will argue and try to convince him it’s true, making it seem like she fully believes it, even if she doesn’t – just to fuck with him

and a few times she actually did convince him. Then had to tell him she wasn’t serious and oh my god the millenials aren’t killing the pillow industry by going vegan

anyway at some point they start dating which eventually leads to them getting married ;w;

her relationship with Papa is very soft and romantic. they have the same energy as Morticia and Gomez in regard of how loving they are to each other

also some chibis of these two bc again, all the other drawings are a bit outdated ;w;

[randomguywithwords]

My BNHA Fics, Collated

All of the BNHA Fics I’ve written and posted here. I’m considering publishing them to AO3 once I’ve edited them. Enjoy!

Full Fics (Long stories) 

I’d recommend reading them on AO3, so I’ve linked them here, because I’ve made edits that have not been carried over to the Tumblr posts. So AO3 has the latest, better (IMO) draft. 

1. As The Dust Settles (Geten X Dabi)

Slowburn story, takes place post MLA arc. Fem!Geten. 

2. Thanks For The Assist (Neito X Itsuka)

Somewhat slowburn, takes place at start of season 1. 9/9/20 Update: On hiatus till I finish ATDS or once my exams finish

Shipping One-shots (For the record, none of these are NSFW)

Finding Peace in a Crowded Mall (Todomomo)

We all need time to ourselves every now and then...having a friend to accompany us in that time can make it better. 

Polar Opposites (Yui Kodai X Neito Monoma)

Yui and Itsuka talk about the former’s newfound partner, to the latter’s complete surprise and disbelief. 

Mania (Nemoto X Chisaki)

Nemoto enters the abyss willingly, but the abyss is indifferent to his emotions. 

You Love Me, Don’t You? (Chisaki X Reader)

What encompasses servitude for the leader of the Eight Precepts? Dying for him? 

Duty Calls (Dabi X Geten, Uni!AU, fem!Geten)

A bad day can be made better with someone by Geten’s side, even if that person is a troublemaker. (Overused trope I know)

The Seraphim (DabiHawks God AU)

Gods often take mortal forms, and the memories of that mortal life are what the fire god hopes to awake the angel from, because his humanity was fading...

Sleeping Trouble (Setsuna Tokage X Mezou Shoji)

Setsuna reminisces about a conversation with an unlikely schoolmate-turned-friend when the two share some stories about each other.

Actors (Dabihawks, fem!Hawks)

After the High-End incident went sour on both ends, the two have some heated words while wearing their personal masks.

Secret Santa (Momo Yaoyorozu X Yui Kodai) 

Upon discovering one of Kodai’s interests, Yaoyorozu takes it upon herself to surprise her at the annual school event.

Streaks (Kamijirou)

Short conversation between the two students. Insecurities are discussed.

Midnight Train (Todomomo)

Todoroki has an unorthodox birthday wish. Yaoyorozu is annoyed to grant it.

Long Study Session (Momojirou)

Frankly I feel the title gives enough away to not warrant a description.

You’re So Annoying (Monoma X Kendo)

Monoma takes his frustration out on himself and the gym, and Kendo is willing to help beat him up while he’s at it. 

Sparks (Kamijirou)

Kaminari waits for Jirou to wake up at the hospital after the attack by the LoV.

Something Just Like This (Kamijirou)

It’s Valentine’s Day and Kaminari is extremely frustrated. I’m sure we can all relate to this – well, most of us.

Class Presidents’ Meeting (Kendo X Yaoyorozu)

Yaoyorozu takes advantage of the meetings to get closer with Kendo and feels her nervous system breakdown. 

Confrontation (Kamijirou, Traitor AU)

Jirou discovers Kaminari’s secret. 

Writer’s Block (Momojirou)

Jirou has trouble starting one of her songs, and Yaoyorozu helps too efficiently.

Fight On Flight (Kamijirou Drabble)

Chaos ensues on a plane when Kaminari takes something that belongs to Jiro. 

Stage Three (Dabiten Drabble)

Geten tries something that doesn’t work. fem!Geten

Weight Of The World (Bunnywings)

Keigo and Rumi. Hawks and Miruko. They’re people and heroes. It’s difficult to remember this sometimes.

Airpods (Kaminari X Shiozaki Drabble)

A chance encounter via an unexpected device, on a random bus, on a random day. 

A Magic Trick (MonoKendou)

U.A alumni reunite after a decade, and Neito shows a pretty cool trick. 

Talking Late At Night (Kodai X Kendou)

It’s a nightly ritual for the two, and it’s never been more important after the summer camp that went south.

A Friendly Chat Between Two Murderers (DabiHawks)

When your world comes crumbling down, sometimes you just need a person to listen and lots of alcohol.

Catharsis (Awase Yosetsu X Yaoyorozu)

The two looked at a monster in the eye and lived. No one else saw that horror that night, only them. 

Non-shipping Fanfics:

The Student (Geten)

Something didn’t add up. Geten had to know what the MLA truly stood for. And what better way than to ask the son of the founder?

Honour (Overhaul Hero AU)

An empty word, Chisaki thought. There was no honour in what the Hero Commission made them do. 

The Sharpshooter (Snipe Villain AU)

Snipe faces off against a troop of unwitting soldiers sent to capture him.

Hour Of Need (Deku Villain AU)

When the LoV invades the U.S.J, Midoriya unleashes a power he cannot control, not to mention his emotions.

Locked Up (Moonfish)

Moonfish finds himself in another prison. Not for long.

Turncoat (Kaminari Traitor AU)

An enraged and broken Kaminari deals with the tragic aftermath of the Vanguard Action Squad’s invasion.

Dark Future (Sir Nighteye Villain AU)

When your quirk sees the future of anyone you choose, and those people just so happen to always die, what is more likely?

I Am Here (Shigaraki & AFO)

A destructive quirk a child cannot handle. But All For One says he can. 

The Puppetmaster (Best Jeanist Villain AU)

Don’t wear clothes with strings on them, or someone will pull them from afar...

5 Pearls (Mr Compress)

A squad sent to capture Atsuhiro Sako learns just how effective this serial killer is.

Backstab (Hawks Villain AU)

The gambit was up. And Hawks just made himself the subject of one of the doctor’s experiments: Combining his quirk with Moonfish’s.

Fallen Angel (Deku Villain AU) 

A shaking police inspector documents the tragic incident that befell, involving a hero that turned rogue.

Dear Shoto (Todoroki Drabble)

Shoto reads a letter. 

At World’s End (Liberation War Canon Divergence) [On Hiatus, still deliberating]

Everyone is sent to help. The end is coming. And the heroes must stop it at all costs. 

Pocket Knife (Toga Drabble)

Living is hard. They always make it so difficult.

1 Second (Crust Drabble)

A tribute to this hero. R.I.P

Miscellaneous 

Hello. Goodbye (Twice & Toga poem)

To Those Who End (LoV poem)

[saemi-the-writer]

The green-eyed monster: jealousy

Fandom: The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Pairing: Utterson/Jekyll and Utterson/Hyde Warning: None, attempt at humour maybe?

I was inspired by one of @melodiouswhite post, I hope she and the anon who requested it will like it! Lady Summers (only mentioned here) is her (lovely) OC. One of the scene mentioned by Lanyon was heavily inspired by @kurakuradon post here .

Summary: Jekyll and Lanyon both get ridiculously jealous over Utterson.

[EDIT: I corrected some mistakes and finished a sentence -I have no idea why it stopped at “surely” ?? If you spot more mistakes, don’t hesitate to tell me! ]

Enjoy!

“But jealous souls will not be answered so. They are not ever jealous for the cause, but jealous for they are jealous: ‘tis a monster begot upon itself, born on itself.” (Shakespeare, “Othello”)

Lanyon sighed contently after taking a sip of his tea; it had been a long day at his hospital, and he was grateful now for the peace of his home. The physician leaned back in his armchair and relaxed, he was finally taking another sip of his drink when someone barged into the room.

“HASTIE!!” Jekyll’s voice teared up the silence. “GABRIEL IS CHEATING ON US!!”

Lanyon coughed his tea up.

“Why don’t you scream louder? I think the neighbourhood did not hear you well!” the hoary surgeon growled at his friend, after his coughing calmed down.

Said friend had the grace to slap a hand over his mouth, his eyes widening in realization of his outburst and blushed. Lanyon rolled his eyes and waved impatiently at him, offering him crossly to sit down. Jekyll silently did in the armchair facing him. The blonde doctor had not even taken his coat off, and his hair were messy (well, messier than their usual, flawless state).

“Now.” Lanyon put his cup down and crossed his arms. “Would you mind explaining yourself?”

Jekyll pressed his lips together before answering.

“Gabriel has refused my invitation to dinner next Friday for another’s!”

“…well, that’s a pity, he will be missed.” Lanyon stated slowly, as if he was speaking to a child. “And?”

“Stop mocking me, Hastie!” the other doctor snapped, blushing in shame. “You don’t understand!”

“No, indeed, I don’t!” Lanyon rolled his eyes. “I don’t understand how you can leap from being disappointed that Utterson will not join us for dinner to accusing him of cheating! And, by the way, why did you include me in this?! ‘Cheating on us’?”

Jekyll’s face was now entirely red. The beardless physician joined his hands before him while taking a deep breath in; Lanyon only raised an eyebrow.

“Let me just start all over again.” Jekyll insisted calmly, if somewhat drily.

-----------------------------------------------------

--Less than an hour ago—

“Oh, Utterson, before I go” Jekyll turned back to the lawyer. “I will host a dinner next Friday; would you join us? Dr Lanyon will be there too.”

Jekyll wished he could have asked his lover less formally; but they were in his office, the client waiting outside could overhear them. It had been a while since they could spend time together, their respective professions had kept them busy, and the doctor was hoping to have the pleasure to welcome him for the evening -and the night if the opportunity arise!

“Next Friday? Oh, I’m sorry but I cannot.” despite his even tone, he could tell by looking in Utterson’s eyes that he was truly sorry.

“Oh, busy evening?” the doctor did his best not to look too disappointed, but he could not help asking.

“I have already been invited.” Utterson answered, walking to his side. “By Mr Guest.”

Jekyll bit the inside of his cheek not to add anything about it, his alter-ego was complaining for them both inside his head; and settled for a soft “I will miss you then” … until Utterson opened the door for him.

The man waiting outside was unknown to him.

“Ah, good afternoon Mr Guest!” Jekyll immediately spotted the discreet pleased smile on Utterson’s face.

Mr Guest rose from his seat and greeted him back in a similar manner; a hidden warm friendliness lingered under the professional, polite tone they used.

“Dr Jekyll, this is Mr Guest.” the lawyer introduced him. “Mr Guest, please meet Dr Jekyll.”

“Oh, I finally meet you!” the brown-haired clerk extended a hand, that Jekyll shook out of politeness. “Utterson told me a lot about you. It is a pleasure.”

“The pleasure is mine.” the smile on Jekyll’s face was the masked one which he had practiced keeping for countless years. “I do hope we will get the chance to become better acquainted. I wish you both a good day.”

After a last, polite, bow Jekyll was outside. He could not even tell whose voice between his and Hyde’s was ranting right now.

------------------------------

“And?” Lanyon inquired again, looking even more annoyed.

“Gabriel choose to spend the evening with him instead of us, and that’s all you got to say?!”

“Oh dear… Henry, could you please stop?! You have no right to be mad or jealous for that! Gabriel has other friends besides us, deal with it! And do not bring me into this!”

“I’m not-“Jekyll stood from his seat, clenching his hands into fits. “Alright, yes, I am jealous but not only because Gabriel is my lover! You did not see them! They have so many things in common, and Mr Guest is… it was like I was gently left out! You have no idea how it felt!”

“You are just being dramatic!”

Lanyon regretted his outburst when he saw his friend’s eyes were shining with unshed tears. A small sigh escaped his lips.

“I think some fresh air will be good for us.”

----------------------------------------

“That’s what I said, you are being jealous.” Lanyon pointed out after Jekyll described Mr Guest as “good-looking”.

“It’s not just that!” Jekyll moaned, wiping his face with his already wet handkerchief. “I don’t- I don’t even know why I am feeling so betrayed! But seeing Gabriel so at ease with someone else than us, someone of his family or Lady Summers…”

The surgeon sighed again and rubbed the other’s back; after a while, he offered him his own handkerchief. The two were currently sitting on a bench out of sight, in Hyde Park (the irony…).

“Speaking of Lady Summers, when is your next session with her?” he asked. “I think she would be a better help for this than I am.”

“In three days, I think.” Jekyll sniffed, accepting the dry handkerchief but not using it yet.

Lanyon noticed two persons were walking close to their position, so he gestured to his friend to keep it down; then placed himself in front of him, to hide him from prying eyes.

He blinked in surprise when he recognized one of the two gentlemen. It was Utterson.

“It’s him.”

Lanyon glanced back at Jekyll -who was biting his handkerchief in frustration- before reporting his attention on their friend.

Utterson had not seen them, he was engaged in talk with his other friend -Mr Guest, he forced himself to recall. One would think the two were talking about business, but Lanyon knew Utterson since they were boys; the latter was chatting passionately about something -he had no idea what- and was obviously exchanging some jests with the other. Yes, obviously to him, he could see the way Utterson’s eyes shone in delight and his -oh- so discreet smile. Mr Guest wore a similar expression, surely enjoying the moment as much as the lawyer.

…

There was something. He could not put his finger on it.

It was like the two were walking in their own bubble and one could not even imagine joining them…

…

Why do I feel so betrayed?!

“Hastie?”

“Jekyll, give me back my handkerchief!!” Lanyon sobbed.

------------------------------------

The two doctors were back together in Lanyon’s lounge, a bottle of wine -already half empty- between them.

“Do you think he felt like that, when we were always discussing medicine, chemistry or anything science related in front of him?” Jekyll asked sadly as he refilled his glass.

“Maybe… I realize none of us really asked him about it.” Lanyon was staring at his. “One of the only times he actually snapped at us was the night we were arguing, while he was trying to study. And he did not complain about the subject, just the fact that we were too loud…”

They both drank half of their glasses and sighed at the same time.

“I guess it’s only fair he has a friend who shares the same passions.” Lanyon said as a matter of fact.

“I know about laws and go to the theatre too!” Jekyll objected, glaring at his friend.

“Yes, but you are not passionate about either of them.” the bearded doctor noted, taking a new sip. “Nor am I. And who said those are the main subjects of their discussions?”

“What do you think they talk about, then?”

Lanyon was staring into space, so he did not notice how Jekyll’s brown eyes were slowly turning red, and not because he had cried earlier.

“How do I know?” he answered with a shrug. “But I must confess, Henry, that I misjudged your reaction back there… or I realize I am more jealous than I thought I was. Gabriel is a dear friend to me; I should be happy to see him like that and yet…”

“What does he have that we don’t?” Jekyll’s voice was becoming hoarse, it snapped the white-haired doctor out of his sad reverie.

When he turned to look at his friend, the transformation had already started.

“Wait, Henry!” he bounced back on his feet and rushed to seize him by the shoulders. “Calm down!”

Too late.

Jekyll’s frame shrank and became thinner while his skin paled; his short, light blonde hair grew in an accelerated manner and darkened into a jet-black shade. Hyde was now glaring at him.

“I will not allow it!” he hissed, pushing Lanyon out of his way.

The doctor knew best than try and hold him back, he watched the smaller man rolling up his now too long sleeves as he stomped out, his beastly growl resonating in the room.

Some strange thoughts occurred him while he hurried to his office, such as “had I witnessed this transformation in other circumstances, I would have died from the shock” or “good for him that the size difference is not that big, it would have been awkward!”. Once he reached the room, he rushed to the phone and prayed God to bless whoever created this marvellous device.

-----------------------------------

“I knew he was vexed, but that much.” Utterson tutted. “Thank you for calling, Hastie. I think it is time we discussed it. (…) Yes, don’t worry. Oh, and would you join me for tea this Sunday? (…) That would be lovely. Thank you again, and don’t worry my friend. Everything should be fine.”

Utterson sighed as he hung up. Some people rejoiced at their lover’s jealousy, finding it flattering or seeing it as a proof of love; but he was not one of them. While he had to confess that Hastie’s jealousy (the latter had been very ashamed when he told him) had pleasantly surprised him, he did not want it to become a habit. Nor for Jekyll and Hyde.

Now, he had to prepare himself to welcome an enraged “guest”.

If Jekyll or Hyde wanted to play Othello to him, Desdemona would not suffer her tragic, usual fate tonight! 

[sweetpeatrashxo]

Just Friends? - A.A**

A/N: thought I’d come sliding back into imagines with a smut. Well for our dear old Archie at least 😏😉

————————————————————————

You were apart of the original core 4, until Veronica came walking in, now it’s 5. It was the long July weekend and you were out with the other 4 at the waterhole. As you sat off on the edge of the water you couldn’t help but notice Archie and Jughead both staring at you, you stood up and slowly got back into the water swimming back over to the group, you chuckled “What’d I miss?” Berry chocked “Oh yeah Cheryl is having a party and she wants all of us to go.” You shook your head “Party’s aren’t my scene and I’ve got mathletes to study for.” Veronica laughed “Quit being a nerd for one day Y/N. Come with I’ll let you borrow some of my clothes.” You sighed “If I go, I’m using my own clothes.” They all nodded in agreement, Archie spoke “Well the party is in a couple hours so I think we should all head off and get ready now.” Jughead nodded “Alright car split again, Y/N you’re with Archie and V + B you’re with me.”

You slid into Archie car as he slid into the drivers seat, he turned the engine on and started driving, the radio was the only sound playing in the car until Archie announced “So the guys on the team are gonna try and get with you at this party cause they think you’re a hard target.” You nodded “Yeah?” He sighed “And they dragged me in on the bet.” You sighed “Yeah and? No one is getting with me.” He chuckled “That’s why I have a deal with you.” You raised your eyebrow “Continue.” He chuckled “You get all dressed up, and every time they try with it you turn away. But they think I’d be the least likely to even try, so we act like I’m winning.” You nodded “Sure, why not.” The car stopped but Archie didn’t shut off the engine, you looked over at him as he looked at you, he smirked “I’ll see you tonight.” You smiled and got out of the car, you walked inside to be greater by neither your parents or you sister, you shrugged it off and walked up to your room. Pulling out several outfits, and narrowing it down to two.

(First is with the ripped jeans)

You sent a photo to your group chat with the girls and let the girls decide, Betty replied quickest “The first one, we all know who will love that 😉” You chuckled at the text as you replied “Shut it Elizabeth. He told me the whole football team is trying to get with me anyway cause I’m a hard target.” V replied “Well they’re not wrong. Girl look at you, but we all know you’re running after one cute redhead boy.” You shook my head and started a group call, they all answered quickly.

(Y = You. B = Betty. V = Veronica)

Y: I’m not into Archie we’re just friends.

B: Yeah keep telling yourself that Y/N

V: it’s so obvious you two hang off each other.

B: exactly, I’ve known you two my whole life. And it’s quite obvious.

Y: *chuckles* I do not like Archibold more than a friend, he’s my best friend.

After that was said the two girls hung up, you questioned it but didn’t stress over it, you just decided to start on your makeup. You decided to be bold but basic at the same time, so you done winged eyeliner and put a bold red lipstick on. After you finished your makeup you put on your heels and walked for the door, before you got to the door your phone started vibrating, you looked down to see it was Archie, you answered “Yes Archie?” He replied “I’m here to pick you up.” You spoke “Alright coming out now.” You hung up the phone and pretty much ran out the door, you knew B and V were right you so have a thing for Archie but he probably just thought of you two as just friends. You slid into the car as he admired you, he complimented “You look great Y/N.” You chuckled “You said dress up so I did.”

The car drive to Cheryl’s was quiet but not awkward you were too busy in your own thoughts about Archie, thinking about if B and V were right about you liking him. The car stopped and Archie turned the engine off, you slid out of your seat and followed behind Archie into the haunted looking mansion, the doors swung open and you couldn’t stand the smell of the alcohol going throughout the place. You saw the football team over at the table and the vixens at another, but no one from your normal group, so you decided to hang out with the vixens, you stood beside Betty as she complimented you “Damn Y/N dont you look fine.” You smile “Thanks B, also got a lil secret to tell you.” She smiled “If it’s bout the familiar red head who’s basically eyeballing you right now. I know, you two have been into each other for yea...” before Betty could finish her sentence and familiar tanned raven haired boy spoke “Do you mind if I talk to Y/N for a sec?” You looked up and saw it was no other than Reggie Mantle, you replied “What is it Mantle?” He asked “Wanna dance?” You shook your head “Sorry already promised my first dance to Archie, but maybe the second guy I dance with will be you.”

You looked at B “I’ll be right back.” She nodded as you basically stormed over to Archie who was taking to Moose, you put your hand of his shoulder as he turned around “Yes Y/N?” You smiled “Hey Archikens, you wanna come dance? I did promise you the first dance.” He smirked “Alrighty. I’ll be back later boys.” You grabbed his hand and pulled him over to the dancefloor, where you started dancing with him, you spoke “Reggie tried.” Archie laughed “Yeah he said he was gonna.” You chuckled “You wanna won that bet or nah?” He shrugged “Why not. What are you gonna do?” You smirked “I mean we could kiss or I could grind on you and then we leave like we’re going to hook up.” He smirked back “How about both.” You nodded as you turned around and placed your backside to his crouch, he had his hands on your waist pulling you closer to him, you started swaying you hips to the music when you heard a loud “Yeah Archie get it.”

You couldn’t help but smirk to yourself as Archie spun you around “And now for the grand finale.” He cupped your face bringing it closer to his, you two connected lips and shared a semi make out session. You pulled back to all eyes on you two, you looked over at Betty and Veronica who had a huge smile on their faces. You shook your head and dragged Archie out of the mansion, you two walked back to the car, he pressed you up against it and whispered “you wanna come back to mine?” You nodded “Yeah sure but will your dad mind?” He shook his head “No dad is out on a trip.” You nodded and got in the car, your phone started buzzing from texts constantly, you opened it to see it was from the girls group chat.

B- GET IT GIRL

V- Told you so Y/N

B- Go get some

Y- Shut it. It was to get the bulldogs off his back

V- 😂😂 if you say so hunny cause the way it was going it looked like the bulldogs planned it.

B- Maybe V and I planned it with the bulldogs who knows

Y- WHAT THE FUCK GUYS

Y- I could have done it on my own

B- no you couldn’t of

You stopped replying, you spoke “Archie I wanna say something before we get back to yours.” He hummed in response, and you continued “I’m attracted to you. I like you more than a friend.” He smirked while still focusing on the road “I like you too.” A couple minutes of silence and Archie pulled up to his house, he shut off the engine and you two walked into the house. After Archie locker the front door he pinned you up against the wall and started making out with you. You pulled back out of breath “I think we need a shower cause you smell all sweaty.” He chuckled “Well come on then.” You didn’t hesitate to follow him to his bathroom where he stripped down almost immediately while you took you time, you pulled down your jeans revealing the rest of your bodysuit, you unzipped and removed the body suit revealing the red laced underwear and brayou were wearing.

He coughed “Come on I’m already ahead of you.” You chuckled “Oh Archibald, I’ll be ready when I want to.” His eyes darkened with lust as he stormed over to you and practically ripped the last of your clothing off revealing your now naked body. You followed him into the shower, you both started making out, soon enough he pinned you to the wall of the shower having your back press again the cold wet wall. He placed his left hand on your left breast with the right hand holding himself up against the wall, you let out a soft whisper of pleasure as he pulled back from the kiss and going straight for your neck, sucking and biting in places all over your neck, that was until he found your sweet spot, which you knew you’d be covered in love bites tomorrow, he pulled back examining what he done. As he done that you quickly went for his neck doing exactly what he done to you, you pulled back and spoke softly “Please.” He smirked “Please what Y/N?” You moaned “Fuck me god damn it. Fuck me Archie.”

Within seconds he had picked you up and inserted his member in between your wet flaps, you let out a moan as Archie looked at you smug, You bucked your hips trying to cause more friction which earned a grunt from Archie “Hmm want more baby girl?” You moaned “Please.” He started quickening the pace withe every thrust hitting your g-spot earning a moan come from your lips, your hands went for his back clawing at it as much as you could, you two were now moaning messes, Archie had one hand on your back and the other one wandered down to your clit as he rubbed the bundle of nerves causing you to moan loudly “Fuck Archie.” You felt a knot tie in your stomach and felt your walls clench around Archie’s dick, you moaned “I’m gonna gum.” Archie grunted “Cum for me.” You felt the tie release as your vision went blurry, Archie placed you down as he stroked himself you placed your hand on his member pumping him. Seconds later you felt his dick twitch in your hand, and out Came his seeds.

You two stood there hugging each other out of breath, you looked up at him and chuckled “Just friends my fucking ass.” He smirked “Yeah more like girlfriend hopefully.” You nodded quickly agreeing to be his girlfriend

[namjoonchronicles]

dear barcelona | nj

Now. Incheon International Airport.

People ushering in and out, the sound of chatting in the ambiance, and announcement through the speakers declaring flights arrival and departures. Something is so foreign to you. You have never left the country, and here you are, leaping as far as your head could get you. The irony of a non-believer, finally believing what she loath with every fiber in her blood.

You held your passport and placed your ticket inside the flaps, so you won't lose it. Your hands are cold, shivering and trembling underneath your skin as you keep wetting your lips because it kept getting dry from the nervousness, the unfamiliarity of the atmosphere. Will you be okay? Luna signed. And you nodded, finding the words unequipped to decipher how you felt, but Luna knew better than to ask more. Leap of faith, something you have never done in your life. What if you found him, and he doesn't love you?

"Calling passengers of Flight BC1223 Korean Air, please proceed to Gate 9E..." you spring up and dragged your roller bag to the said gate. Stopping at the desk, you asked the direction of Gate 9E. The staff carefully instructed you that if you go straight this hall, 9E will be on your right and there will be Korean Air Flight BC1223 written on the top, "You can't miss it," she politely smiled. Her sharp work attire, neat and and dandy showed how trustworthiness should look in a person. "...Thank you very much, you have been a great help," you said and bowed repeatedly as you scampered away with your bags, sprinting. And the staff looks down to gasp loudly.

"Miss! Your passport!" She ran after you and handed them with a small brush of her hand on your back, "Be careful" She reminded and went away. There's not much people around yet. You thought you were late. Boarding time is in an hour. "I trust you've done your immigration checks?" the male staff and somewhat snobby appearance gave you a side-eye to which you replied with a smile. There's no need to steep low to his level and give him exactly what he gave you, an attitude. You were too mature for that. "I have no idea what you're talking about... it's my first time flying abroad, well. My first time flying anywhere, really..." you cared to explain to him. Slowly, he began to wane his stance, and asked you for your passport. Unlike the tone earlier, this one was a bit inviting and not standoffish.

His mouth frowned and his eyes squinted at your name, and the fresh passport. "...I think it looks great, names all registered, you have stamped out of South Korea and once you arrived there, you will receive a stamp in, and then once you come back, you'll have the same thing again... I wish you good luck and please have a seat while we wait for the other passengers to come," he finally smiled and put you at ease. He also added, "...Everything will be alright." You sighed out of relief and placed yourself next to the wide windows where you could see airplanes parked in their consecutive places, some of the stations are empty, probably waiting for arrival, holding tight to your roller bags.

Now that the chaos has finally died down, and all you had to do is board the plane, you smiled to yourself feeling rather proud that you've come this far on your own. His voice came seeping into your thoughts, and just the sound of it made you calm, "...Life is what you made of it. If you feel contented to waiting around for miracles to happen, then you're missing out on what the world had to offer, and the world, has a lot to offer...

Every places, every nook and cranny of the streets, are lessons no one could teach, but you. Every faces, every knowledge you're obtain, those are love letters. Love letters from God. Even heartbreak...

...and with every heartbreak," you rested your chin on your hand and finished his words, "...proves that we could heal." I really hope I can find you

I wish things were easier. I wish I have met you first. Maybe then I'll love you like I've never been broken.

One year earlier. Seoul.

Crystal ball casts a rainbow shadow on the walls of an empty little shop. Bell hung static behind a door that will only ring when someone walks in, kettle on a live stove, several mugs with dry tea bags on the side, the smell of lit incense evaporated around the small parameters, ensuring a peace of mind for whoever it shelters. "Peace of mind, my ass..." you exhaled through your nose, shutting the book of Astral Studies, having enough of the whistling sound of the kettle that your cousin left on the stove while she takes a phone call from her boyfriend. With fiery gaze, you burned a hole through her head, from the dusty window. The view obstructed by a pretty bush of red carnations your grandmother grew, that you remind yourself to water once you're done making tea. Your grandmother will come down from her meditation session and she will expect tea done just right. You twisted the stove off angrily that it clicks loudly.

Gritting your teeth, you duck your head out the opened door to the back of the shop where your cousin was, screaming, "You ungrateful piece of shit, your hair will go bald talking to someone you aren't married to!" Luna almost dropped her phone, chest heaving and gasping as she tries to fetch her phone into her grasp, slamming the 'end call' button before her boyfriend heard you nagging more. She turned her heel to face you and thinned her eyes at you. "Meditation hours is almost over, did you recite your daily mantras?" You huffed angrily, the fury still exudes from your entire body, marinating. Luna still hasn't said a word. Your bones trickle at the sound of her dragging her feet against the wooden flooring of the shop. She nods. Luna pouts after you asked her to bring the tea to the round table in the center of the shop.

She taps your elbow, and you shot, "What?"

You shouldn't curse. She signed. Your chakras will deterioriate, and your visions will be impaired

You twisted the faucet and let water flow into the sink while you ran your hand underneath it. "Don't worry about me, I just wanted a place to stay until I find a new apartment that I can afford and a job with my diploma," you replied, unfazed and watch her take the tray and set them where it belongs. Taking the broom and the dustpan, you sweep the floor carefully that the dust doesn't fly up in the air and pile on the other precious gems your grandmother kept on the shelves. With long list of loyal customers, your grandmother was able to pay off the lease and made the shop hers after almost two decades running under minimum pay. In the past, the first few years of the shops' being established, many tried to bring it down, accusing that it was witchery, practicing dark magic and an untouchable property because sorcery. Those were the tough moments.

A dark hole to crawl from, but you grandmother remained enthusiastic, determined and optimistic--or pretty stupid, you'd say. Most of the customers are superstitious to the point that they defied fate. Splurging money on things like fixing a cheating husband, a ruined household and attracting money--yes. Heaven forbids if your grandmother ever heard your inner thoughts, because if she had, she would have been saddened by it. That's where you shield most of your chambers. "Moonchild," her voice came from the stairs and you snapped your head to her direction, leaving behind the broom and dustpan behind, and "...is my tea done the way I preferred?" Her crackily voice, and shaky footsteps made you ran to her side and helped her down. "I did," you answered short, "...but the tea leaf was not of good quality, so you have to be happy with what I've made. Also, Luna is talking to that boy again. Are you going to do something about it?" You complained and helped her sit on her marble chair.

Her emerald ring on her ring finger flashes for a moment there. Luna is hurrying to scribble her mantras on the wall. "She's the least of my worries, you on the other hand, had been revising a plan to leave your abilities behind," she took one oddly calm sip of the tea, from the chinese cup. You drew meaningless shapes on the table with your index finger, pouting and blinking hard, repeatedly. "How many times do I have to study astral energies? Luna had moved on to volume 3 of the books. I'm getting bored of reading the same thing, over and over and over again, granny," you whined, puffing your cheeks. She slapped your butt, lightly and scolded, "You are two years older than Luna! But your behaviors are unlike those who are your own age...You're supposed to be in love. What do you even do on your day off?"

Aside from strolling bookstores, walking in the park, you preferred to stay home with all your familiar things. Rolling in bed until its noon, taking a bus town trips and back alone. Enjoying the serene surrounding of quietness and peace, where your heart is all you care about. Loneliness became your friend, that it no longer become burdensome or painful. It became you.

"Being in love isn't like choosing a cloth from a cloth rack on sale, granny... I just couldn't find the one I like," Men are trash.

Granny sighed, "...I know your Uranus placement would have made you despise the idea of marriage, I was hoping my interpretation were wrong, but I hate it when it's right. How is it possible for someone to have so much love but hate the sacred instuition that ensures the longevity of human race..."

Fiddling with your crescent moon bracelet, you heard Luna's footstep coming from the kitchen and next to granny. She brought along with her, a walking stick and a bag Granny uses when she has a client that couldn't come to meet her in the shop. "Where are you heading to?" You stormed, holding her bag while Luna tries to loosen your grasp, badly. Granny stood up after she finished her tea. "Take care of the shop," was the only thing she said. Luna drives.

"Can't we just go together?! It's going to rain heavily soon, and there won't be any customer!" you screeched but the car sped away nonetheless. Your shoulders drop and squinted your eyes at the dark sky, rain droplets on the skirtings of the roof, muttering to yourself, "It's really going to rain heavily soon..." You brought your hand to your chest, dragging your feet back into the shop, glancing repeatedly to the sky as if it'll change its appearance if you don't keep looking, and, "...I won't be able to look at the new full moon tonight because of this clouds." Thunder crackles in the skies, cloud rolling and speeding fast with the wind. The weather begins to cool and all you were worried about your grandmother. She always complains that her knees becomes stiffer when the atmosphere gets colder. You sat boringly in the shop, by the round table and looked to the shelves where the rest of the Astral books are.

Astral Studies Vol. 1 that you got sick of reading, left abandoned on your study table. You sneaked to the shelves and ran your index finger on Vol. 2 but skipped to Vol. 3; feeling mischievous like you're stealing an ornament, you pull it out of its row and began flipping the pages. Astral Volume 3 focuses on Astrology on Love and Relationships where Lillith houses are intensively explained. It begins with an intricated drawings of planetary placements and familiar terms but you went straight to the contents and it mostly describes compatibility between Sun Signs and Moon Signs. There's also, Venus and Mars placements that discusses about sexuality and seduction. "No wonder Luna is having fun..." You muttered to yourself. You flipped to the next page, "Soulmates?"

Incheon International Airport. 40 minutes to boarding time.

You were caught staring at  a cute toddler. Shy and not someone with many words, you looked away, back to your phone where Luna is freaking out at Granny's demands through texts. She had never brewed tea on her own before and Granny wouldn't drink the one her boyfriend helped purchased from a nearby shop because it doesn't taste 'authentic'. Suddenly, a tiny hand poked your knees. The little toddler you were looking at, with apple bob hair and striking red pants is giving you a candy. You got down to your knee and looked into her beautiful blue-green eyes, cooing a bashful 'Thank you'. Her mother smiled back and gave her a thumbs up. "How old is she?" You asked, and her mother signaled, "12 months old," in sign language. Then you replied back in sign language, asking,

Are you mute?

And she signed, Yes, I am. I saw you calling and signed. 

Then she moves to the seat next to you with the little toddler, beaming a wide graceful smile. I'm so glad to speak with someone who understands me. My child is normal though... I hope one day she'll get to hear my voice She looks fondly to her daughter. And you twinkled your eyes at her, and replied,

She will...

Is this your first time? She asked. You nodded. A place you wanted to visit? She tilt her head to one side. You shook your head, "Looking for someone..." . . .

Your grandmother's little shop. Twelve months ago.

When strong contacts exist with the Nodes of the Moon in synastry, there is a deep compulsion to be together. Asteroid eros in the temptations and sexual attractions. Also, trines. So many linkage--

Dings. The door bell rattle, the same time a lightning flash and a young men walked in, semi drenched and without an umbrella. There goes the floor I just mopped, you silently cursed. "...welcome to Moonchild House of Synastry, how may I help you?" You put on your customer service voice to this tall lad with baseball cap and he snapped his head around at you, proposing a wide polite shifty smile because he was taken aback by the sudden encounter. He passed a hefty look outside the shop through the large window and you followed. It was raining heavily, very. The sound of the heavy rain hits the roof and you were reminded by the hole on the corner of stairs, and gasped out loud, making the stranger jumped in place. He turned to you, and you breathed, "...if you steal something, I remember your face and we have a CCTV running." And then you ran up the stairs, fetching an empty pail at great speed, again, taking the stranger by surprise at a very animated character you don't usually show outsiders.

Namjoon felt uneasy. He heard numerous dragging, and grunts so he offered help. He pokes his head through the stair gaps and asked, "...do you need any help?"

"I... we're fine," you sighed, tiptoeing on the chair on the bed. The chair is wobbly while you stood unsteadily on it, you were determined to have the pail right underneath the leak, but it has grown twice bigger from the rainy season. You'll have to fit a plastic sheet over the hole, so you're trying to force them through the gap but with your unprivileged height, you'll need another chair to reach the roof. Wobbling more, the chair tilted and you fell. Namjoon's head snapped up when he heard the loud thud and rushed upstairs, skipping three to four steps up. "Are you alright?" A deep voice strike through the grunts and you grabbed your grandmothers' hair comb and pointing the blunt end at him. He held his palm outward and promised that he is no harm. "My name is Kim Namjoon, and I'm not dangerous," he introduced himself. You kick your feet and pushed yourself away from him to the opposing bed, your bed, where you lean your back, palms rested on the floor.

"What are you trying to do?" He calmly asked. You pointed to the leaking roof, rubbing your shoulder since you landed on them first.

Namjoon took off his shoes and climbed onto your granny's bed. He managed to force in, two more plies of plastic sheet into the hole and prevent the third from enlarging. "You'll need to change the roof soon, this is not going to hold on much longer... It's going to be dangerous if you leave it this way," you heard him say and you sighed. "Even if we take away all our savings, we won't have enough..." you casted your eyes to his feet, definitely larger than yours, your voice drifting into mumblings, "...its not like we're doing well these days. I've told granny to have those roof leaks fixed, but no..." His lips curl into a smile, and then to a grin and that's when you look up and caught his expression. For a moment there, you caught a twinkle in his eyes but it exists too briefly for you even rectify what it meant so you blurted out of a sudden, "You have dimples. Cute."

Then you walked out the room like you did not just throw a compliment out of the blue, causing the stranger to blush excessively and embarassingly. You have a knack of thinking that everyone is younger than you so you act like rather rashly to anyone. You also think that compliments should be given where it fits, genuinely, so it wasn't something that you hold your tongue against. Often too late to ever take it back because now he is stunned but you put on a fake front, "...can you. Leave the room because." You halted and he climbed down the bed and took his shoes, flustered. The rain is still falling heavily, visions are cut down and there;s so few cars around. "Warm tea would be nice," you blurted and glanced nonchalantly over the stranger, "...would you like to have tea, Namjoon?"

For a moment, he was surprised that you knew his name and then he remembered he introduced himself. He nodded, but hesitantly. His eyes were at awe at everything in that small shop while you disappeared into the back, making what he assumed would be tea. There's bronze turtle statue set next to the crystal swan with blue gemstone inside, and also pendulums. The ceiling was drawn in a shape of astrological maps with tractable planets with constellations he didn't understand but memorized. His eyes caught the book on the table, Volume 3, it reads. He didn't dare to touch it so he earnestly looked at it. There are sanskrit writings and egyptian hieroglyphs on the walls and several dreamcatchers hanging by the hexagon mirror. The smell of incense begins to fade. "...Where are you from?" Your voice broke the silence but gently, a very welcoming voice that soothed Namjoon.

"Up town," he sat down after you pointed to the seat, "I have always wanted to enter this shop but never had the time, and I walked at the park today before it began to rain. But it downpoured," he chuckled lightly and short. You avoided too much eye contact, it seemed that he was drinking you in with his visions, and it was odd because you're not the kind to get scared. Maybe it was because you have never shown your vulnerability to anyone and Namjoon walked in to see you on the floor, earlier...it felt strange. He understood your shifty gaze and looked away while pulling the brim of the cup to his lips and taking a sip. But the tea tasted so good that he came to focus into drinking them instead of looking around. It took his curiousity away, almost magnetic. He downed the whole cup at once, causing you to stare disapprovingly, but still polite in a way.

You both stayed silent, just staring at each other for awhile. Namjoon and you opened your mouth to speak at the same time but Namjoon managed to finished his sentence before you did, "...I'm sorry, I shouldn't drink it all at once, it was just too delicious, I have never tasted anything like it before," he blabbered, and you assured him that it's fine. "Plenty more in the pot," you smiled, awkwardly and poured him another cup. "I can see from your eyes that you don't believe in astrology... your logical mind blocks the possibilities of dreams," you halted your tongue when you feel you revealed too much about reading him. Namjoon blinks at you, wet his lips and stammered, "...it's not that. It's just. How did you... is it obvious?" You clenched your eyes shut, scolding yourself mentally. This is why you don't have friends, you keep on reading people. "...I apologize, I didn't mean to, it's impulse sort of like a reflex thing, when people walk in, I began to read them head to toe, it's...I can't control it," you ran your palm down your face.

Namjoon shook his head, "...it's alright! It's okay." It's interesting. To know a side I've never known. "How much do I pay you to read me?" He asked. Your thoughts flew to the leaking roof upstairs but your grandmother will shun you if you do psychic reading in the exchange of money and favours. But have you ever listened to her?

"...It depends on what you want to hear." With Namjoon confused expression, you decided to explain more, "...I can't do the entire natal chart yet, but I can do basic birthchart reading, palm reading and umm," your eyes shifted to Volume 3 of Astrology studies, "...Relationships and prophecies." Lies.

"Relationships prophecy. And birthchart," Namjoon spat, pretending to know what he is talking about. "I'm guessing you're a Virgo, or maybe a Scorpio, you have strong masculine aura in you... it's a compliment. Are you born in November or September?" You began and took out a fresh natal chart and a pen. "September 12th, 1994." He answered. You began to plot, and small talk while at it. Namjoon thinks its so cool that you plot the chart by heart, but really your hand just moves in accordance of the placements. "It seems like you've been to many places," you blinked at him and Namjoon felt his heart skipped but in a comfortable way, like a warm embrace of a lukewarm pool, disturbingly pleasant. "I travel a lot because of my job, and I always feel like I need to be free, shackles around my ankles doesn't make me happy," he added a dry chuckle and a sip of your tea.

You sighed, "...that's because of your Moon in Sagittarius. You yearn to freely educate and vigorously share your knowledge with the world, and you think you can't educate many people, by staying in one place," you tutted your tongue, tilted your glass. "...you find walks in the park, pleasant. Greens, I see a lot of earth elements because of your sun in Virgo...you like the sea, Namjoon?" You tipped your eyes up at him and he stuttered out, "Y-yes." You smiled gently, feeling satisfied that your reading are going well so far. "...Venus in Scorpio. That explain the masculine aura you have. Broken in love before?" Namjoon stayed silent, his gaze falls to the table and he pressed his dimples before looking away. "Painful, still?" You didn't sound tame but you were only stating facts. "I'm more curious about my future, not my past," he darted with a stricken smile. "Strong willed, possessive in the matters of the heart. Your Venus in Scorpio is showing, Namjoon," you giggled like an old friend.

"What about my future relationships?" He shot, impatiently. "That will only be found out through palm reading," you replied. He laid his palm flat upwards at you, next to his natal chart that you were completing.

Oh fuck. I don't know how to read palms, I've never done palm readings on relationships before... The volumes I've read are all birth charts. Fuck.

You hesitantly took his hand closer and you studied his love lines. It is abnormally straight. You know that it means that he is incredibly stable, a bit too conservative for his age, extremely affable and approachable. But in love, he would usually play a passive role or is shy. No wonder he looks away whenever he felt like he stared too long. "Your heart lines are long, and straight. It indicates a great fortune in career and wealth. But you've gone through major upheavals in achieving that," you looked up to him, emphatically. Because you feel the struggle he went through to get where he is. "...When a bond is broken, especially love... you feel extremely distraught," you trace your index finger along his heart line to show him where you're looking at. "That it feels like just yesterday when it's been many years...," you paused, and asked meekly, "...high school?"

Namjoon pulls his hand away, slowly. "You wanted to know your future," you scramble to get the charts back and began earnestly reading. The feeling of awkwardness filled the air, Namjoon turned away in his seat and lift his buttocks from the wooden chair. "I... it's getting dark soon,"he stammered, not from nervousness but from the discomfort of feeling naked under your eyes. He thinks he had revealed too much of himself, its unsettling. "But the payment!" You exclaimed as his hand enveloped the knob to leave and you notice him halting in his motions, "...you can't leave without paying, this is, business..." You chuckled dryly. He held a phone to his ear as you expectantly anticipate the call to be answered and when it did, he uses his social skills to deliver what you desperately wanted to do on your own, but didn't have the resources to."Hello! Taehyung!" He exclaimed, and you've never someone wearing a smile that big.

"...listen, I have a friend here that has a leaking roof, and I've taken a look at it and I think it's something only your boys can do, the whole thing needs to come off and the foundation isn't doing very well," he spoke while looking out the wide window at the rain still falling, showing no sign of stopping. Then he pulled away from the phone to ask you for a pen and paper in a whisper. "Can you write down the address for me too?" he added and you asked him to turn around so you could his back as a desk to write on, then you passed them to him. "Jungjil Hwara, 32 Shinmullo 8-ga, Hongdae-gu, SEOUL 198-700," he read them for Taehyung. "And for the billings, they're for me, I'll pay them," Namjoon reminded. You clasped your hands together and skipped in place, you beamed. "A friend, she's a friend..." Namjoon exhaled through his nose, explaining to Taehyung. The thunder strikes and the lights blasted off.

Eyes snapped to where the fusebox were. "...oh no," you muttered under your breathe. "What happened," Namjoon calmly asked. He heard the chair being dragged to where the fuses are, or where he thinks where the fuses are. "I can't see you, where are you?" He asked, and only then, he panicked, "Don't touch the fuse box, don't you touch them fuse box." One, because the thunder is still crackling outside, and lightning is flashing and you'll be risking your life if you touch that fuse box right now. "Relax, I'm not. The candles are placed to the box right next to it, I'm just trying to get it..." Namjoon used his phone's torchlight to find his way through the little shop and he thought he saw your shadows, but when he caught, what he thought was your arms, he flashes his torch to this figure, a dried skeleton was staring back at him. He yelps embarassingly loud, falling to the floor, head first.

With the small glint from torch of his phone, you pinpoint where he was and rushed to his side. "Oh my stars... is this your first time in a fortune teller shop?" You tilt your head as he pressed the heel of his pam to his temple, scrunching his face. "It hurts..." he whimpers. "Get up, you big baby," you chuckled. Namjoon sat himself on the wooden floor and thinned his eyes at the skeleton. The match flares fire and you lit several candles in the shop as the night falls while Namjoon pressed a cold compression on the back of his head while you try figure out how to fix the electric supply. "You need the roof repaired and the electrician to come over, it's very dangerous. It's rainy season now," he mumbled and you sighed to the chair opposed to him. His phone was dying. "I left the powerbank in the car," he disgruntledly say. "What is a powerbank?" You asked.

"..." Namjoon blinked twice at you. "I'm technically illiterate when it comes to modern things except for phone... it's a psychic thing, Granny thinks that it absorbs chakra energies and disrupt spiritual flow--"

"--it's a. Power source, if we need to charge our phone, but we have to move around, you just plug it in and your phone gets charging without having to stay at a plug. Like, an extra battery," he earnestly explained, "It's convenient..." he inhaled through his teeth, hissing and, "Your grandmother is a very interesting person."

Interesting was a right word. But to be accurate, you think she was, "...weird." You darted your tongue out your teeth. "...She is all, no gadgets, no modernization but loves using car. I made her tea with an electronic kettle before and she couldn't tell the different, that's when I know that the 'modernization disrupt chakra energies' is a whole load of bullshit..." you shrugged. Namjoon smiled, and his gaze dropped to the wooden floor between his legs. "So you live here?" He pressed his dimples by accident and you squealed with a huge childish grin, "You have a dimple!" And kept zooming in to see it closer, Namjoon turned as red as a tomato even thought he was slightly tanned, his ear helixes gave him away. "If I were your lover, that will be my favourite thing to stare at, she's so lucky," you gushed. Namjoon nervously chuckled, feeling hot all of a sudden and he felt the need to step away. "I should get some cold air, it's warm in here and maybe get the powerbank," you heard him say and your eyes followed him to the door.

He twisted the knob open but it's... It's. It's locked?

"Umm..." he scratched the back of his neck, perplexed, "...why is this locked?" You furrowed your brows at the knob and you couldn't answer his question because, "...it's never been locked before." You went to wraggle the knob yourself and it was true, the knob is locked, the windows and the back door is also locked. You clenched your eyes shut and leaned your forehead to the door, groaning, "...it's the stupid security system that I thought I already broke because it never works!"

Namjoon raised both his eyebrows and, "It works now."

"Yes, I can see that," you skipped to your work desk and took out a large phonebook and start flipping the pages, sliding your thumb on the tip of your tongue to efficiently turn the yellow pages. "What year are you living in? The 60s?" Namjoon gawked. "Don't," you snapped and showed him your index finger then continued searching.

Incheon International Airport. Food court area. One hour to departure.

You waited for the warm water to fill up to the line in the noodle cup. The flight is delayed. They excused you to get some food. Slipping yourself on the tall stool, you sighed into your food. You plugged your phone to the powerbank that had a star sticker on its body. He left them without a cable, but luckily for you, you can get the cables from a nearby shop to charge. Thumbing the star sticker, you whispered and smiled, adoringly, "...I'll find you your moon."

Carrer de Mallorca, Barcelona. Yesterday.

The moon sticker on his bag's keychain, his breathe caught in the summer wind, exhaling your name. Standing before Le Sagragia Familia Cathedral, he clenched his eyes. "What am I doing?" He ridiculed himself.

He prayed.

Like prayers, he clenched his eyes in a small memorial of your sweet laughter, the trickling raindrop falling atop of his shieldless head. He turns his attention to a baseball cap sold by a immobile vendor stall, asks for the price and paid in full without much question. Then he fastens them on. His dimple dip at the familiar sight of the wet ground, watching the cyclist on his cycle, going through a puddle in the road that he avoided. Safe. It was a mistake to come here. The park is now filled with couples that he is envious of. All the conversation he dreamt of having, clenched fist on his side that longs for another hand to hold, the luxury of speaking and being heard, to speak and be listened to--the privilege of belonging to someone, somebody.

Amongst these people, is there none for me?

But he walked away from his instincts, and left you there. In that little shop, in Hongdae. Thinking that he finally knew his destination. He walks aimlessly and caught a taxi.

Moonchild House of Synastry. Twelve months ago.

"Found it! I have found the instant noodles!" You exclaimed, Namjoon almost dropped the candle holder, "...but there's only one." Your voice toned down. Sharing the tiny noodle cup, Namjoon shed off his jacket hours ago and only wore his white Tees while you were still in your colorful hanbok. Taking a final slurp and Namjoon threw his head back in satisfaction, groaning, "...Noodles are the best when it's raining." You drink the leftover soup but Namjoon stopped you, "...that's not how you eat the soup..."

You looked into the rice pot and there's a bowl and a half of cooked rice inside. Namjoon plopped them inside the noodle cup and handed them to you. "I'm not hungry," he said to your questioning eyes.

10.05PM and Namjoon was laying on the floor covered with blanket, staring at the wall. He rested his hand behind his head and you lay yours on the yellow book page. "Have you tried reading your own fortune?" His voice low now. "No..." you whispered. "Why not? That's the first thing I'll do if I'm a psychic..." he gushes and you giggled along with him. The laughter dies a bit and you hummed.

"I'm afraid," you paused, blinking to the ceiling of drawn constellation, "...of what I'll see. Of what it''ll reveal. Takes away the element of surprise, you know..." you glanced at him, "I don't want to let it define me."

Namjoon pursed his lips, and his brows furrowed, deep in thoughts. Not agreeing nor disagreeing with the fact. "You have the possibilities to know where you're heading in life, and you chose not to..." he stated. You switched on your elbows and watched him with a big smile, "It's unfair for people like you who can't."

"So you get to see my future, but I can't see yours," he challenged you. "No. There's nothing about me worth knowing!" You gurgled. "There's everything about you, worth knowing," he shot back.

You casted your eyes down his nose and paused on his luscious lips before turning away and switching to your back, clearing your throat.

"I like movies. I love coffee, not tea. I sometimes sneak out of the shop at midnight to walk in the park, that's why the roof is leaking..." you blabbered, and blinked at the dangling star, "...I like watching the moon, and the sound of cars..."

Namjoon shook his head a little and, "What's your greatest fear?"

"To be in love." . . . The door unlocks. The lights were back on and it finally stopped raining. The time was 2AM.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay alone? Should I wait until the sun come up?" He returned from his car, fetching the powerbank. You nodded. He helped you plugged them in and decide to stay until the sun come up despite your protests. You both talked until there's golden rays evading the window. He spoke about his high school lover who broke his heart, and about how his family was against what he does, and while he spoke, you placed a moon sticker on his wallet while he sticks a star shaped one to the powerbank. You spoke about never wanting to be in love or being married, to which he was suprised about.

"What can I say? I'm unconventional. I can't wait to get an apartment and live on my own, and a real job and not this," you raised your voice a little and he chuckled. "What do you want to do first, when you get one?" He asked, switching on his elbows as well, your shoulders touched. "I want to furnish it will cute furnitures and lightings and a little dining table for two. I don't need a TV," your eyes brightens at the idea. "Your eyes sparkles... wow, they really twinkle," he suddenly say, zooming in to see better just like you did when you saw his dimples. When you both gaze up, your face was too close for comfort.

His breathes fanned on your skin and your smile slowly disappears as your eyes melt into his brown orbs, shining hazel golden from the sun rays outside. "I have never spent a whole night with a men before," you breathed, his hand slowly moved upward and he gently thumbed your lower lips. His eyes plastered on your chin, your cheek and rested finally on your lips.

"Can I... kiss you?" Namjoon spoke in a small voice.

You couldn't even blink because you were afraid that the moment will dissipate so you nodded a bit, but hesitantly. He knows better than approach you forcefully, because that will scare you away, so he moves in achingly slow and in calculated actions, scooting closer to you with his elbows before closing his eyes and embraced your lips lightly, far too lightly. Like a feather. Soft and fuzzy.

He repelled slightly, but your nose were clashing. "Was that okay?" he asked linking his forehead with yours, with a gentle smile, his eyes still closed. "One more? Please?" You asked, before you could even stop yourself. And this time, you initiated the kiss.

A bit sloppy and hastily, but only because you were in the moment. "This was a mistake," you suddenly say. Namjoon's smile slided away. "I shouldn't have let you..." you added.

Namjoon's pained expression wounded you, so you look away. He stood up after you and, staggered in his steps and gathered his things, his jackets. His hand lunged to the powerbank that is charging your phone, but stopped midway and he bit his lips. "...Taehyung will come and fix your roof, that's his number on the table," he stepped out of the door. "I had a lovely night," you smiled at him, the pleasantry wasn't returned and you understood why. "...Best of luck, in your life," Namjoon shot dryly and clicked his car door open. He drove a Black Jaguar. "Here at Moonchild House of Synastry , we inspire to give you the best of your sta--" you recited the company's little farewell speech but Namjoon's engine proved to be louder and that he wasn't going to listen to any of your bullshit. Black Jaguar left in the almost empty street in a weary early morning.

A chunk of you left along with him. But your pride will never let you admit that. You walked back into the shop with a sigh. All that's left to do is wait for Granny to come back.

She did, a few days later.

Luna was one of the first to notice the natal chart that belonged to Namjoon, she signed,

Did we have a customer?

"Yes," you sighed, "One." Luna took a closer look to on his birth chart and before she could signed anything you told her, "...but I couldn't read his palm, nor did I have visions. All the things I told him were based on his planet placements which is basically what all astrologers could do... I lied about everything..."

Luna scrambles to the rack book and took out your natal chart. She threw you a pen to get your attention and she signed,

Dummy! Your birth chart and his are aligned!

"...So?" You sang, unexcitedly.

She came next to you and pinched your flesh, until you whimpered,

Psychic cannot see their soulmates' future!

"Holy shishkebabs..." your eyes widens.

Find him! Luna jumped in place, pulling you to the door.

"I can't. I told him to move country...To Barcelona."

Well Luna gritted her teeth and crossed her arm at you, Guess who is going to Barcelona?  She eyed you, up and down.

"With what money, Luna... He'll be long gone before I could afford the flight ticket."

Luna shoved rushed to the pile of old newspaper and slapped them on the table you're on. "What...what is it?"

She skips to the middle of the newspaper and flipped them for you to see. You read and, "...oh. Ohhhh...." Like a revelation. "But Granny won't approve..." You were suddenly afraid.

Luna placed her hand on her hips and shrugged, What granny doesn't know, granny doesn't have to approve...

Your lips curled into a mischievous smile and you folded the newspaper into your hand, skipping outside and stopped a taxi, "Hwangdang Supermarket please."

The grand prize is cash money, with a plane ticket to anywhere you wanted to go. All you had to do is predict the color of four balls that will be drawn in the future. It was pure luck for everyone else but not for you. You bought seven other tickets to minimize the risk of getting caught, thus carefully, you start to fill the blanks with predicted colors.

Upon touching the ball baskets, you clenched your eyes shut and let the universe tell you.

"Yellow," You saw in your visions, and "Green. Green," you breathed.

"Leaving the family behind for a boy!" Your hand suddenly froze as you were reminded by your grandmother screaming at your mother. You were little. "I love him... I love him..." your mother whimpered and scathily walked away with that man. It was the last time you seen her because she died in a car crash with that man. "Mom! Mom, don't leave me, please..." Your nails raked the concrete floor at her but she didn't look back, not even once. That was the last conversation you had with her.

That's why you don't want to be in love. Love, stole your mother away from you.

But I deserve love. You whispered.

You wrote the final color, "blue..." on that form and inserted them into the box.

Carrer de Mallorca, Barcelona, Spain. Midday. 

Amongst these people, is there none for me?

But he walked away from his instincts, and left you there. In that little shop, in Hongdae. Thinking that he finally knew his destination. He walks aimlessly and caught a taxi. He climbed in and,

"¿Puedes llevarme al aeropuerto?" Can you take me to the airport?

Gate 9E, Incheon International Airport.

"Passengers of Flight BC1223 to Barcelona please approach the desk for final clearance and prepare for boarding," the announcement goes and you saw the airplane on the next station arrives as well. You gathered your roller bag and bit your smile, holding your passport tight to your chest, feeling giddy.

The male airline staff gladly took your passport and smiled wide at you.

When you were allowed to walk into the bridge of the airport leading to the airline, you were at awe with everything...

"Ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to South Korea Incheon International Airport. Local time is 5.00pm sharp, and the temperature is 23 degrees..." Namjoon snaps open his seatbelt and turned his phone on, before anything else. He was required to report his arrival so his driver knows that he's coming. He wants to get the deal over and done with so he could put this behind him.

"Yes, I'm here... we'll be going straight to company, yes?" His seating section was first class and was first to leave, greeted farewell by the stewardess. "...On behalf of Emirates Air and the entire crew, I'd like to thank you for flying with and we are looking forward to seeing you on board again in the near future. Enjoy your stay..." The announcement continued.

You couldn't help snapping pictures of this once in a lifetime view and can't wait to show it to Luna later when you return. Meanwhile, announcements were propelling dimly through the barricades of the wall, that you guess for the airplane that just landed. The planes you're going to ride in are filling up passengers, while the next one to you is unloading passengers.

Namjoon had his sunglasses on, with a small tote bag on his side, "...Flight KA2312 from Barcelona, Spain has safely landed in Incheon International Airport."

You were scrambling for your powerbank that has magically gone missing so you ran back to the desk and tried to get it but the security caught your arm, "...I left my powerbank," you nervously chuckled and pointed to where you last left it. Its chord dangled down the seat.

Namjoon went out the arrival gates and you walked into the departure, right next to each other, unaware.

How many of us, are victims of missed chance?