#but it’s also just… difficult in a way

[wonderjanga]

Billystiltskin

Rumpelstiltskin, a fairytale that many have heard at least some point in their lives, but if you haven’t, here’s a brief summary: a girl is confined to a castle to weave gold string from straw with nothing but a spindle. She has any normal human being cannot do that, so an imp named a Rumpelstiltskin offered to do it for her in exchange for her future, first born child.

That’s what the JL believes Marvel is.

As for why? Well…

Marvel: *watching tv in a rec room while on a spinning wheel, weaving gold*

Flash: *walks in* “Woah… Dude how are you doing that?”

Marvel: “Huh?”

Flash: “How’re you doing that?” *points to a couple rolls of gold string*

Marvel: “Oh. Y’know, magic. Wanna learn?” *stands up*

Flash: “I can?” *gets in his seat immediately* “I thought you said it needed magic?”

Marvel: “Yes, but there are ways for normal humans to do it.”

With that, Marvel started teaching him how to do it. Barry and gave up an hour in. It was just too difficult.

Marvel and Flash: *now chilling on the couch together*

Flash: “By the way, where do you get this whole ass spinning wheel from?”

Marvel: “I stole it back from a sorcereress I loaned it to a couple hundred years ago.”

Flash: “Oh ew. Was she one of those people that pretended to borrow stuff only to keep it?”

Marvel: “I guess. Honestly, I’m just more mad at what she did with it. I had to undo the enchantments on it because they were extremely dangerous.”

Flash: “What enchantments?”

Marvel: “She made it so that if you were to prick your finger on the needle, you’d fall asleep forever.”

Flash: “Huh. You know, that sounds a little familiar.”

or

Marvel: *walks into a meeting, looking grim, holding a newborn baby*

JL: *looking between him and the baby*

Supes: “Cap…? What’s with the baby?”

Marvel: “Uh… I think she’s mine now?”

Supes: “You thi—”

GL: “Who’s the mom?! You didn’t tell us you had a wife or a girlfriend??”

Marvel: “I don’t.”

*silence*

GL: “Is she your niece then?”

Marvel: “No.”

GL: “Cousin?”

Marvel: “No.”

GL: “Second cousin?”

Marvel: “Nope.”

*more silence*

Batman: “Captain, did you take someone’s baby?”

Marvel: “Wha— no. Well, actually now that I think about it kind of.”

Batman: “Pardon?”

Marvel: “See, I was joking around with the lady. I did something for her and I jokingly, emphasis on jokingly, told her that in return, I’d take her firstborn child. I didn’t think she’d actually give it to me, let alone so willingly.” *looking at the baby all sad*

JL: *horrified and disturbed*

Marvel: “She also wouldn’t take it back, no matter how hard I asked or told her it was a joke.”

That’s how the entire meeting got derailed and they all started focusing on the baby and who would take care of it. Marvel, because he was the one who got himself into the situation, opted to do it. So, that’s how Baby Marvel was introduced to all of them. It was such a cutie, and Barry was a ecstatic that it was a ginger.

Billy doesn’t even know of these allegations by the way.

[spaceyaemonds]

pairing: dr. jack abbot x reader

sum.: a quiet afternoon with dr. abbot.

warnings: age gap (jack is late 40s, reader is 23), unplanned pregnancy, jack is divorced, not a widower and mentions of his ex wife, it is mention that reader and her mom talk often. please let me know if i missed anything. minors DNI.

note: more of a filler chapter(i’ll consider this 6.5 instead of 7 LOL)!!! just a little look inside them, and we will definitely be seeing more soon!!! jack and reader will meet each others moms next chapter!! also, thinking about doing more drabbles set in this universe, like the proposal, is there anything specific you guys want to see?? unedited. and as always, any feedback is extremely appreciated, it helps keep me motivated. especially reblogs/comments/asks!

wc: 960ish

prev next

Over the past eight weeks, you’ve just about changed Jack Abbot’s entire life.

He goes to a farmers market on Saturday’s, brunch on Sunday’s with your friends, actually eats decent meals and gets a good night's rest at least three nights a week.

Also, he’d never admit it outloud to anyone, but he’s pretty invested in Vanderpump Rules.

Currently, he’s got your feet in his lap while he reads a medical journal, one hand massaging your ankle. Every once in a while, he glances up at you to watch as you knit what he thinks is supposed to be a sweater.

Ever since finding out the gender of the baby almost a month ago, you’d been determined to at least make something for the baby to wear. You got good at knitting surprisingly quickly, and so far have made three hats, two pairs of socks, and started a blanket.

You’ve got your bottom lip tightly tucked into your teeth as you concentrate on the yarn in your hands, and before he can stop himself, he’s reaching over and gently thumbing it out from between your teeth.

Finally, he thinks to himself when you’re wide eyes meet his.

You’re the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen.

“You’re gonna hurt yourself.” He gestures to your swelling bottom lip as you lick it.

“Sorry,” You let out a small giggle, “I didn’t even notice.”

He nods, hand going back to your ankle, “I figured.”

As he starts reading again, you take the time to watch him, head cocking to the side as you smile.

This hasn’t been so bad.

Sure, it’s been an interesting and difficult situation for both of you. But you like to believe that it could be worse.

He could’ve just not cared. Ignored you and went on with his life. Or pressured you into an abortion you didn’t want.

He could’ve done what he could to just take the baby the second she’s here.

But he really surprised you. He’s been so supportive and so good to you. It’s shocking, in all honesty.

You both feel a lot of guilt, though.

You think you’ve stuck him with you. That he’s only here out of obligation.

He thinks he’s ruined your life.

You work through it all, somehow. You talk him off his ledge more than he talks you off of yours, but you can tell when it’s eating at him more than he can with you.

Or so you think.

Jack likes to think he knows you pretty well despite the timeline of things.

He spends as much time as he can with you. Soaking up every moment of something he didn’t even think he ever wanted. Holds your hair back when you get sick. Rubs your back and feet when you ache. Tries some of the most interesting food combinations he’s ever heard of, some of which are better than others.

Fucks you when you’re insatiable and want him more than anything.

He isn’t quite sure it’s love yet, but he knows it’s on its way there.

He’s loved before. Hell he loved someone enough to marry her, but couldn’t love her enough to give her what you’re giving him.

Another source of guilt for him- one that he’s completely bared to you.

You didn’t know what to say, when he told you about what ate at him most. Why he couldn’t figure out what brought on the need, the desire, to do this with you, but he couldn’t even bring himself to try with her.

You just listen, rub his back, and whisper in his ear that some things just happened for a reason.

He appreciates you and the the way you just let him talk. Or just let him sit with you in silence. Whatever he needs, you somehow manage to give him.

One of the more recent favorites of his is when you take a bath. He can sit up against the cabinets under the vanity with a beer in his hand while you sit and talk about your day, things you want to do for the baby, or just read.

Life is more peaceful with you than he thinks it ever has been.

He glances back over at you, and sees the look in your eyes.

A look he knows all too well will result in him doing something he doesn’t exactly want to do.

“Spit it out, honey.”

You smile at the sound of his voice when he calls you honey.

“I was talking to my mom yesterday,” You trail off as he closes the journal he’s been reading and turns his body all toward you.

“Well?”

Jack knew your mom knew the basics, much like his own family did. How you got pregnant. How you met him. His age.

He knew that the last one had her concerned. Extremely.

The two of you talk most days, and she always gets distant when asking about the baby. Something about it makes him slightly uneasy.

“She’s coming to Pittsburgh next week. Wants us all to get together,” You look down, fidgeting with your fingers, “wants to meet you.”

He’s quiet for a long moment, making unease crawl up your chest.

It was a bad idea to bring it up.

“How do you feel about that?”

He sounds calm and collected, surprising you yet again.

“I mean, you are the father of her grandchild.”

You finally look back up at him, eyes meeting.

He sighs, shaky, “Is that all I am?”

You tilt your head to the side, “You tell me.”

It’s quiet for another beat before he shakes his head as he brings one of his palms to cradle your jaw.

“It’s only fair if you have to meet my mom, too.”

You laugh, nodding lightly before kissing his palm.

“Yeah, I can do that.”

He lets out a huff as he kisses the side of your head, “It’s a deal, then.”

[gradient-of-aster]

I mean... sometimes it does mean lower standards. At least when it comes to standardized tests, like the SAT. If you're, say, Asian, you have to score a lot higher to stand out on college applications. It's also difficult to hear DEI and not associate it with hating white men, especially when every other comment in the replies is slamming white men. An anecdote: I volunteered with a group of women, and one day one of them stated that her book club was reading only non-white authors for the year. I thought the way she said it sounded a little off, but I didn't want to make waves, so I said something like, "oh, to get some variety in perspectives? That sounds fun" And she said, "Yes, white men have been read ENOUGH." It wasn't about diversifying-- it was about bashing white guys, and that's what I see in the comments here too. (Doubtless because I am on tumblr dot com, but still.) I teach upper level high school science, and a good chunk of my students are young white men. Some of them do a great job and some of them could work harder. Should they be told they're useless? Should they be told that if they work hard but someone else is just as qualified as them, that they'll always take second place just because they're white?

DEI does not mean lower standards.

You are thinking of white privilege.

[ghostlyferrettarot]

🍄Pick a Picture: ♡₊˚🦢・₊✧𐦍️ Which Archetype do you embody? ♡₊˚🦢・₊✧𐦍️

❗️This is a collective reading, take what resonates and leave the rest❗️

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🧚🍄🌳Masterlist🧚🍄🌳🧚🍄🌳Masterlist 2🧚🍄🌳

🫧˚˖🌷͙֒✧˚.🧚🏻‍♀️Pile 1: The Queen 👑 Hi Pile 1, you embody The Queen archetype. You probably feel an inner strength that drives you to take charge of your life. You're like that friend who always knows what to do in any situation, and most impressively, you trust your intuition to make decisions, even the most difficult ones. It's not that you always feel 100% confident, but you have something inside you that tells you you can do it, that you deserve the best, and that you're made for great things. Your presence may make others look at you with respect, even if you don't seek attention. You simply have something about you that projects confidence and power. People listen to you, not only because you have great ideas, but because your voice carries weight. You know your worth, and that's something you can't hide. It's not boasting; it's an inner truth. Sometimes, you love to surround yourself with beauty, with the exquisite, with what makes you feel good about yourself. Material things and luxurious experiences appeal to you, but it's not just for the pleasure they bring; you like the idea of ​​elevating your surroundings, of having the best because you know you deserve it. Don't be alarmed if you sometimes feel a little alone in your path, because being a Queen sometimes means being in a leadership position where few understand what's going on in your head. But deep down, you relish that independence. You're not one to please everyone, because you know your path is unique and you're not held back by what others think. And no, it's not about being arrogant or believing yourself superior to others. It's about being aware of your own power, your ability to create your reality, knowing that whatever you touch can be transformed into gold. And if you ever doubt yourself, remember that being a Queen also means acknowledging your vulnerability and being true to yourself. True greatness lies in accepting all that you are.

🫧˚˖🌷͙֒✧˚.🧚🏻‍♀️Pile 2: The Mystic 🦄 Hi pile 1, you embody The Mystic archetype. Perhaps you're that person who always has an incredible intuition about things. Sometimes, you don't need proof or logical reasons to know something is true. You have that sixth sense that leads you to understand people or situations without them telling you directly. And the most incredible thing is that, when you follow those hunches, you're rarely wrong. It's not uncommon for you to be drawn to topics like spirituality, astrology, tarot, or even ancient philosophies. Perhaps you enjoy meditating, seeking inner peace, or simply connecting with something bigger than yourself. The feeling of being aligned with the universe, as if the cosmos is working in your favor, is something that fulfills you. And although you sometimes struggle to explain what exactly makes you feel so connected to everything, you know in your heart that this is your truth. You're not uncomfortable with the idea of ​​being alone with your thoughts or your rituals. In fact, sometimes you prefer solitude because that's where you find clarity. People may not fully understand your concerns or the way you connect with the world, but that doesn't stop you. In your heart, you know the mystical path is yours, and it's okay that others don't understand. If you've ever had that feeling of being "in tune" with the universe, of feeling that coincidences aren't random and that everything has a purpose, perhaps you are one of the Mystics. And, of course, you don't have to have all the answers. Sometimes, the beautiful thing about being a Mystic is being comfortable with uncertainty, with the wisdom of knowing there is so much more to discover and that the truth is always evolving. You see the things others can't, you see the beauty in beyond what feels "normal"; that is really special pile 2 <3.

🫧˚˖🌷͙֒✧˚.🧚🏻‍♀️Pile 3: The Lover 💕 Hi Pile 3, you embody The Lover archetype. People see you as warm, welcoming, and empathetic. You have a natural ability to connect with others on a deep level, as if you can effortlessly see into people's souls. You're not afraid of vulnerability; on the contrary, you embrace it because you know that only when you show yourself as you are can you create true connections. In your world, authentic relationships are paramount, and you do your best to cultivate and maintain them. You live in a state of constant awe for the beauty of the world, and you're not ashamed to express what you feel, even if it means being vulnerable. Perhaps at times, you find yourself always searching for something that will ignite that spark of emotion, of intensity. You don't settle for the superficial, because you know that true magic lies deep within, in genuine connections that transcend words. And not just in relationships with others, but also in your relationship with yourself. You've realized that self-love is essential for everything else to flourish. And yes, you may sometimes feel a little lost in your emotions, as if your heart is guiding you down unpredictable paths. But that's what makes you unique: that ability to let yourself be carried away by what you feel. People often see you as someone capable of loving wholeheartedly, without fear of rejection, because you know that even in vulnerability there is strength. You're not afraid to give your best, even if it means exposing yourself to pain. And when you do, you do so with the certainty that life itself is worth living that way. This archetype is also related to sensuality,so maybe you enjoy the small pleasures: a good meal, a conversation, a walk at sunset, etc. You know how to enjoy life to the fullest, because you understand that love and enjoyment are what truly give flavor to everything. I love that pile 3 <3!

🫧˚˖🌷͙֒✧˚.🧚🏻‍♀️ Thank you for reading and let me know if it resonated!🫧˚˖🌷͙֒✧˚.🧚🏻‍♀️

[maghendearey]

I’m begging you please write something for dad!Lando Norris maybe he is streaming with Max f and y/n walks in with their kid and lando just goes from game raging to being the softest person ever

I love this idea so much and am so excited to put it into action. Sorry if it took a while. If any of you have any ideas, my requests are open.

Baby days

Masterlist

:in which Lando decided to stream on one evening and ends up cuddling with the children

triggerwarnings:none

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

Since Lando was little, he only wanted a few things, to find a best friend: which came in the form of Max, to get into F1: he managed in the year 2019 and to win a world championship: he hadn't done that yet but was well on his way.

What wasn't on his plan, however, was you, when you broke down on the side of the road with your car problem and he stopped because you were somewhere in the mountains and he wasn't going to leave you there overnight without any help. What wasn't on his plan, however, was your beautiful smile and your sense of humor which was so bad it made everyone in the room laugh. What wasn't on his plan was that he would make you his girlfriend, that you would get on really well with his family and that Max, his best friend, would soon be like a brother to you. And what was least on the agenda was that at the age of 23 you would become a father to a little girl, Maja, and at the age of 25 you would become a father for the second time, in this case to a little boy, Oliver-Max.

He didn't quit F1 and to be honest, you didn't want him to either. You loved him and what the sport meant to him. And even though that meant he wasn't home a lot, the time he was there he was completely there for you and the little ones. He loved them and he loved you too, madly. He would die for the three of you in seconds if he had to. And even when he was home today, you had allowed him to stream on the computer with his friends; it was good for him to switch off and besides, Oliver, who really was the cutest baby, was already asleep on your chest. And Maja was watching Cars. You thought that film was weak but she had inherited her weakness for F1 from her father. Although she couldn't do anything with a go-kart yet because her little feet couldn't reach the pedals, you still knew that one day she would be a really good driver.

You left Maja alone in her room for a moment, the tablet in her little hand, and the film still playing, to put Oliver to bed. As you walked past Lando's streaming room with the baby in your arms, you heard him cursing loudly. You didn't really mind, but if he was that loud, it would wake Oliver up. So you knocked gently on the door before pushing down the doorknob. When he didn't answer, but presumably didn't hear you, you pushed down the doorknob and went in with the baby. Lando was wearing headphones, so he couldn't hear you. You stepped behind him and gently tapped his shoulder, which made him flinch. He took off his headphones and looked up at me, his smile changing from professional to loving in an instant. "My baby," he said, taking your son from your arms. You knew that "my baby" meant not just him but you too, because he didn't just take the baby from your arms. but also pulled you onto his lap. Your little boy pointed with his fingers at the screen, which your gaze also wandered to. There was not only the game but also Max, who was smiling brightly at you. "Hey, how are you?" Max asked, whom you could clearly hear through the headphones that were now on Lando's shoulder. It was difficult to concentrate because Lando's head was tucked into your neck and his lips were on your baby's forehead. "I'm fine, Max." You were just about to ask, but before you could, you heard the little footsteps running down the hallway and into your room with Lando. She must have heard Max's voice, because the one thing she loved besides F1 was definitely Max. But before she could do anything, you pulled Maja onto your lap.

Shortly after, Lando ended the stream; he wanted time with you. He wanted to kiss you, hold you, and spend the evening with you, Maja, and Oliver, with lots and lots of cuddles.

You didn't care about anything. You didn't care that you only got to bed in the middle of the night today, you didn't care that you'd both be overtired tomorrow. And you also didn't care that the photos from the stream would be all over the internet tomorrow. Because no matter what you were like, you were together. Totally in love and more than happy with everything you had and will have forever.

I hope you liked it and I was able to implement your idea. I wish you all a nice day.

Love you all 💋

[arylleth]

Critical thinking, at its heart, is an act of engaged understanding, not of cynical dismantling. It's a discipline of curiosity, one that asks: What is this? Why was it made this way? What might it mean to others, and what does it say about the world? It's not about tearing things down to feel superior or morally clear—it’s about looking with open eyes and asking honest, layered questions.

When we reduce critical thinking to flaw-hunting, we not only strip joy from the things we engage with, but also flatten our own capacity to be moved, surprised, or transformed. As bell hooks once wrote, "To be truly visionary we have to root our imagination in our concrete reality while simultaneously imagining possibilities beyond that reality." That spirit—balanced, open, and imaginative—is what real critical thinking aspires to.

Too often, "critical thinking" is misused as a license to destroy—to pick apart a book, a film, a worldview, or a person until nothing remains but flaws. But this is not critical thinking. It’s performative detachment. True critical thinking is not about dissection for its own sake; it’s about engagement, curiosity, and the courage to hold complexity without needing to resolve it into easy judgments.

Real critical thinking doesn’t mean blind approval—it means looking closely, from different angles, in good faith. It is the pursuit of why, not just the tallying of what’s wrong.

Psychologist Carl Rogers wrote, "The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change." The same applies to ideas, art, culture, and each other. When we allow something to simply be what it is—imperfect, messy, human—we open space for growth and meaning. This doesn’t mean suspending judgment; it means postponing the impulse to judge long enough to really see.

The philosopher Hannah Arendt said that "thinking without a banister"—without preconceptions or ideological guardrails—is among the most human acts. It’s also one of the most difficult. But it's in this space of uncertain footing that understanding becomes possible, and even beautiful.

We live in a world that increasingly values reaction over reflection, critique over curiosity. But reclaiming critical thinking as an act of care—as a practice rooted in openness rather than superiority—is not just liberating. It's urgently needed.

Not every flawed thing needs to be devalued. Not every opinion we disagree with is evil. Not every imperfect creation is without worth. To think critically is not to love less, but to love more wisely, more attentively.

As writer and philosopher Iris Murdoch put it, "Love is the extremely difficult realization that something other than oneself is real." And isn't that, in the end, what thinking well is all about?

Acknowledging that “critical thinking” means “thinking about things in a thorough way from different perspectives” and not “finding every flaw in a thing and fixating on it until all the joy is gone” is so liberating.

It’s supposed to be about intellectual curiosity, not about finding ways to devalue things that aren’t perfect or that we personally dislike.

[theliving-radio]

Sorry If this one is too confusing 😭 

So basically NRC (maybe Ortho too but platonic love) with a s/o that got turned into a cat by a potion mix-up, not naming names Grim and Adeuce 👀 (also, maybe reader could be like a maine coon? Idk but I love the idea of reader was a cat they would be bigger than grim but any cat is cute 😖) but the twist is that s/o is not a normal cat, but actually a flerken (If you don't know what that is, it's basically a space cat from marvel) So when Idia is petting them too aggressive or Floyd is squeezing them too tightly or if anyone is annoying them, they just open their mouth and swallow them up like a fckin snack, and maybe spit them back out when they're in a good mood leaving them so fckin traumatized. And the people witnessing it are like 🧍

I know about the Flerken! I used to be such a huge ass Marvel fan so many years ago! I fell off the band wagon right after Avengers: End Game. I even have an old fanfic posted on Wattpad for Marvel… I… haven’t worked on it in such a long time…

Please don’t attack me lol

Anyway, instead of just every character at once, I did every dorms reaction. Just to add some spice and fun to the mix!

And for the funnies

Warning: human consumption (but not gory or bloody. Just pocket dimension stuff), not part of the Big Brother Malleus writing, can be romantic or platonic (Ortho is clearly platonic)

And I do apologize for taking so long on writing this! Get distracted really easily.

Like REALLY easily. Anyway I hope you enjoy it!

“… Oops?”

Grim had no idea how it happened. He didn’t! You couldn’t possibly blame him for accidentally mixing up your drink with the potion assignment he was supposed to turn in!

But here you guys were, back in Ramshackle. Him looking up at your now fluffy fur body.

Cat.

You were now a cat.

“Listen, I can fix this!”

“Mrep…”

“Don’t doubt me hench… cat?”

Your cat self rolled its eyes and stood up on all fours. Before Grim was able to say anything, you picked him up by the scruff of his neck with your mouth and trotted out of Ramshackle.

The scene looked like a mother cat dragging away her baby kitten.

“MRAH! Let me go! I command it!”

You ignored him and went straight to the mirror chamber, hoping that one of your friends in the dorms will help you.

Heartslabyul

Ace and Deuce started losing their shit as soon as they saw Grim being dragged by a larger cat in the Heartslabyul garden.

“Grim, Who’s the fluffy one?” Deuce covers his mouth to hide his smile.

“Did you finally find your parent figure?” Ace teased.

“CAN IT, ACE!” You plop Grim down and trot over to Deuce who bent down to give you scratches.

Grim dusts himself off, grumbling under his breath. “I could have walked just fine! You didn’t have to drag me all the way here!”

You ignored Grim as you happily laid down in the grass and rolled over. Deuce’s eyes practically sparkled when you presented your belly to him, and he carefully rubbed it, making you purr happily.

“Mrah! Henchmen! Stop being difficult!” Grim shouted, his words causing Deuce to stop giving you pets and Ace to let out a strangled wheeze.

“P-prefect!?”

“Oh Sevens! What did you do this time!?” Ace crouches a bit as he begins laughing once again.

Grim crosses his arms and looks away. “I didn’t do anything! It was… it was them! They shouldn’t leave their stuff around in the first place!”

Offended! Scandalized! Wrong!

You picked yourself up from the grass and walked over to Grim…

Then swatted him.

“MRAH!?” Grim lets out a startled sound as he rubs his head. Before he was able to ask why you did that, you swatted him again. And again. And again.

Ace was on the grass floor laughing his ass off. It was like watching a cat hitting their child if they misbehaved.

“I would assume you’re finished painting the roses.” Ace stops his laughing and looks over to see Riddle, Cater, and Trey walking over. Riddle squints his eyes at the roses, seeing some of them still white and untouched by the crimson red paint.

“D-dorm Leader Riddle! We uh- we actually have a good reason why we aren’t finished!” Deuce tries to explain as he picks you up and shows you to the three upper class-men.

Cater gasps as he takes his phone out, quickly snapping photos of your fluffy figure. You only blinked at him and tilted your head, causing the ginger to squeal. “Oh my Sevens! They are totes adorbs!”

“A cat?! Why is there a cat here?” Riddle asks, his face showing confusion before he lets out a gasp. “The Hedgehogs! Are the hedgehog’s safe?! Did this cat do something!?”

“I’ll go check on them right now-!”

“There is no need to do that!” Deuce cuts Trey off. “This is the Prefect!”

There was a long pause between all the Heartslabyul students. The Three upper class-men processing what the first year just said. Riddle stares at Deuce and Ace before opening his mouth. “… what did you two do?”

Deuce sputters and Ace quickly looked offended. “We didn’t do anything! Grim was the one that did this!”

“Mew.” You let out a small meow and Cater broke out from his shock and started rapidly taking pictures once again.

Riddle groans as he takes a deep breath. Inhale, exhale… he didn’t want to blow his head off in front of the Prefect after all. “Grim, explain to me… what you gave the Prefect.”

“How am I supposed to know?! It’s their fault their water bottle and the potion bottle looked the same!”

“What was the potion you made?” Grim went quiet when Riddle asked the question. The dire-beast mumbles something under his breath and Riddle’s eye twitches. “Repeat that again.”

“It was supposed to be a Sleepy time potion! To help the drinker sleep better!”

“HOW DID YOU FULLY MESS THAT UP?!” Riddle full on shouts at Grim, causing the poor, small feline cat to flinch. “A Sleep potion? You messed up a SLEEP potion???”

“Riddle-,” Trey tries to calm Riddle down, but Riddle fully ignores him.

“In what universe could you possibly mix up a Sleep potion for a transfiguration potion?! And you didn’t even bother to check what you brought first before handing it to the Prefect?!”

Riddle continues going off on Grim, scolding him nonstop.

It was too noisy.

Your maw opens, an eldritch presence unnoticed by the others in the room, solely focused on Riddle. A single pink, flesh like tendril lulls out.

Targeting Riddle.

Nobody was able to progress what happened, it went by so fast. One second Riddle was standing right between Cater and Trey, the next he was gone. All they were able to see was a flash of… something… coming from you.

Deuce was the first one to snap out of it and let out a scream, dropping you in the process. Thank Sevens for cat-like reflexes! You landed perfectly on all hours and grabbed ahold of Grim once again, and bolted out of the Heartslabyul dorm.

Trey blinks at where Riddle was once standing, then the universe snaps him out of it. “W-wait! Hold on!”

“Suddenly… Prefect isn’t as cute as a cat anymore.” Cater spoke up as he watched Trey sprint towards the direction where you left.

“Would they even be considered a cat after what we just saw?! What the hell are they?!”

“I was giving them belly rubs this whole time… they could have eaten me too…” Deuce looks at his own hands in horror. Meanwhile Ace was cursing at the sky, and Cater was swiping through his photos he took of you.

Savanaclaw

Leona let out a loud snort when he saw Grim squirming around and getting dragged by a larger, fluffier cat then him. He had to cover his mouth to hide his smirk that threatened to break across his face.

You decided to try your luck in Savanclaw in hopes maybe Leona would help you out. He was in his third year after all!… even though he’s been held back a few times already due to being lazy and not giving a damn. Either way, you hope the lion beat-man can help.

“Prefect! Stop dragging me! You are the henchman, and I am the great mage! I should not have to be treated like this! And what was that from earlier! Why did you eat him?!”

Leona was on his way out to the botanical gardens to nap and get away from his noisy dorm. Now, he is more interested in what the hell is going on.

“Oui, Grim… who’s your new friend? Did you finally get a parent figure to treat your spoiled hind?” Leona couldn’t help tease the dire-beast as he strode over to the two of you.

When you spotted Leona making his way over to you, you casually dropped Grim off. When he was released, Grim immediately ran and hid behind Leona.

“Oui, what do you think you're doing? Get off.”

“No way! I ain’t getting close to the Prefect, after they turned into that… that thing!”

Leona looks over at your new fluffy body…

You were currently grooming one of your paws and rubbing it against one of your kitty ears.

“You turned the Prefect into a harmless house cat?”

“They ain’t a normal house cat! Nor are they harmless!”

As you were cleaning yourself, you felt a hand grab you from the nape of your neck and pulled you up. Leona held you in front of him and sniffed you… just by your scent alone he was able to confirm it was indeed you. But there was also something off with your scent, something unnatural…

“Housewarden Leona!” Leona pulls you away from him and glances over to where the voice came from, noticing Jack and Ruggie making their way over to him. Ruggie was currently eating a donut that Jack offered him just a while ago. He was even going to offer some to Leona.

“Ah, what’s with the fuzz ball?” Ruggie glances over at you and then see’s Grim hiding behind Leona’s leg, taking a bite from his guilty treat. “And what’s got you so spooked?”

“Leona, is that the prefect?” Jack speaks up.

“You smell them too, right? Yeah it’s them. Putting two and two together, I’m guessing Grim messed up some sort of potion.”

“I didn’t mess anything up!” Grim tries to protest as he looks up at Leona.

Ruggie snickers as he goes to take another bite from his donut… he never got the chance.

You lick your chops, eyes focused on the pastry in Ruggie’s possession. He noticed your intent a second too late, unable to protect his treat as you collect it like picking up a mug before swallowing it whole via tentacle.

Everyone went quiet.

You let out a small burp.

“MY DONUT!”

“THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE CONCERNED ABOUT?!”Jack yells at the Hyena beast-men. “Did you not see what shot out of the Prefect's mouth?!”

“See? See?! I told you!” Grim points his paw at you while looking up at Leona. Meanwhile the Dorm Leader wasn’t sure on what to do in this situation.

Sensing how Leona was unsure what to do, you decided it was time to go.

When you began to approach Grim, he took a step back. “Mrah! You stay away, Henchmen!” Ah, so he was gonna be difficult…

Before Grim was going to protest once more, a single tentacle shoots out of your mouth and grabs him. All three of the Savanaclaw students just watched in horror as you gobbled up Grim.

And went on your merry way.

“… I think I’m just gonna go take a nap in my room.”

“I’m suddenly not hungry anymore…”

“… shouldn’t we go after them?!”

Both Ruggie and Leona walk away from Jack. Not that concerned about what happened, or want to be part of it.

Octavinelle

“Jade?”

“Yes, Azul?”

“Can you explain to me why there is a cat sitting on the lounge bar?”

You sat upon the bar, lounging without a care in the world. When you left Savanaclaw, you hoped that maybe Azul would help out. Unfortunately Jade found you and decided to give you chin scritches.

You really enjoyed those.

Right beside you was a bowl of water and a small plate of cooked mushrooms that Jade really wanted you to try out. He wanted to see if cats could really eat mushrooms. Since you weren’t fully a cat, they should be fine… right?

“I found them in the dorm, they looked so hungry and lost… and I couldn’t just let them be.”

“… so you decided to feed them mushrooms…”

Jade smiles as he watches you sniff your plate before digging in. He’s been watching you eat the Turkey Tail Mushroom for 20 minutes now. This was actually your second plate, and Jade was more than pleased when he saw you scarf down the first.

“These mushrooms better not be harmful! I don’t want a dead animal to scare off our customers.”

“Don’t worry, these types of mushrooms are nonlethal to both dogs and cats.” Jade assures Azul as he gently pets your head, causing you to lean into his touch and purr. Azul only squints his eyes at you, placing his hand on his chin as he comes up with an idea.

“Why don’t we use them to lure in some customers? They seem well behaved.”

Just when you heard Azul say that, you sat up and jerked your body a bit. Azul panics, thinking the worst. “Jade, you said those were nonlethal!” The dorm leader looks at Jade, who looked just as confused as they watched you make coughing sounds and your body jerking.

Then you spit out a large hairball.

A hairball that shouldn’t come out of a cat.

Jade and Azul step back as they just stare in shock as Grim was laying on the lounge's bar face down, covered in saliva.

You went back to eating.

Grim lets out a gasp like he’s been holding his breath the whole time he was inside your dimensional body. He was able to breathe just fine, he didn’t have to be so dramatic.

Drama queen.

“Grim?! What in Sevens?!”

“FIX THEM!”

Grim scrabbles to Azul, only for the Octo-mer to back away from the slimy dire-beast.

“I don’t care if I have to sign a contract! Just fix the Prefect!”

“Oya~? Is that the prefect?” Jade looks in amusement as he watches you finish another plate of mushrooms. Maybe he should have given you something… better to eat.

Azul pushes his glasses up as he glances over to you. Grim didn’t turn you into some type of house cat… no, this was more weird than that.

“Eeh~ What’s with the kitty cat?” Before Azul was able to come up with a good idea to turn you back… and to scam Grim… Floyd walked into the lounge.

You looked over at the eel twin and saw his smile widen as he began to approach you.

Red alert!

Danger!

Activate distraction!

Your body starts jerking again and you cough off something much larger. Something more human like…

Floyd stops in his tracks as he watches you cough up a slime covered Riddle. The poor redhead was staring up at the ceiling, his eyes filled with horror and disbelief.

At least he’s more calm now.

Floyd bursts out laughing as he sees Riddle, the laughter causing him to snap out of it and to finally take in his surroundings. Jade was intrigued by events that were unfolding. Azul stared in horror at the slime that was getting all over the lounge floor, wondering if it would stain at all.

Distraction successful!

You take this as your cue to leave, this time not even bringing Grim with you.

“H-hey! Prefect! Get back here!” Azul chases you as soon as you see an opportunity to escape the Ocavinelle dorm.

As you run, all you hear behind you is Floyd laughing at Riddle's misfortune, and Riddle trying to inform Jade on what’s happening with you.

Scarabia

“Jamil! Jamil, look!”

Jamil was currently finishing up the dishes when he heard Kalim come running into the dorm's kitchen. He lets out a sigh, mentally preparing what Kalim was going to show him. When he turned around to face the dorm leader, it wasn’t as bad as he was expecting it to be.

Kalim was holding you out to Jamil, showing you off to his best friend. You slow-blink at Jamil who only stared at you with indifference. When he looks up at Kalim, he just expresses how unimpressed he was.

“I found this cat trying to get into the dorm!”

“… and you just let them in?”

“They might be hungry and are trying to look for food!” Kalim smiles as he changes his position on holding you, now cradling you in his arms.

You weren’t hungry after your mushroom meal, but you were thirsty. Thankfully, Jamil was able to pick up on that and began to prepare of bowl of water for you. Right as he laid it out for you, Kamil was more than happy to put you down right in front of the bowl.

“Can we keep them?”

“Kalim, you don’t need a pet cat. And it would be a terrible idea to keep them in the dorm. Look how thick their fur is, they would overheat, I wouldn't be too surprised if you hadn’t found them, they would have blacked out.”

Jamil's words caused Kalim to deflate just a bit, but he was able to bounce back up. “What if we find them a new home? That way they would be taken care of and be comfortable!”

Jamil already felt a headache starting to form.

In the corner vision, you see something scitter across the kitchen counter. You lick your lips as you pick your head up the water bowl and zeroed in on the small bug…

It was a harmless beetle.

But you knew for a fact that Jamil wouldn’t think so.

When the vice house warden saw your attention drawn away from the water, he looked at what you were staring at… only to tense up when he saw the beetle.

“Kalim…”

“I see it! Don’t worry, I got it!” Kalim was more than happy to help. The sweet sunshine child went to grab a napkin and a glass cup. When Kalim retrieved his items, he turned towards the beetle and slowly began to approach the counter.

But this wasn’t just any type of beetle.

This bitch had wings.

As soon as Kalim made his first step, the thing spread its wings out and started to take off. The house warden let out a startled yelp, and Jamil was ready to scream bloody murder as he grabbed his magic pen.

As much as you would have loved to enjoy this little chaotic show, you didn’t want to be in the crossfire between Jamil and his magic.

Before any spells were casted, you opened your mouth and a large tendril slipped out and grabbed hold of the beetle, and just as quickly… you drew it back in and swallowed the thing.

Like a frog.

Both Kalim and Jamil stared down at you; the silence in the room felt loud.

“Oh! Thank you very much!” Kalim put down his items and picked you up, raising you above his head and spun around. “You wanted to help, didn’t you? That’s so sweet!”

“Kalim! That’s not an ordinary cat! Did you not see what just happen?!”

“I’m gonna name you Froggy!”

You only let out a small burp as Kalim gave you your new name, swaying you side to side.

Jamil was starting to feel that headache. Just when he was about to protest about Kalim keeping the ‘cat’ again, a familiar voice made its way into the Scarabia kitchen.

“Ah, te voilà, trickster!” Rook walks in the kitchen with ease as he strode over to Kalim who was still holding you. Kalim beams as he sees the Pomefiore Vice house warden. “Rook! What a surprise!”

Jamil took you from Kalim and presented you to Rook. “I’m guessing you're here for… this… please take them away from here.”

“Oh, why thank you! Word has spread that the Prefect has turned into an alien-like cat, and I thought it was a perfect opportunity to take them to Roi du Poison.”

“THAT’S THE PREFECT?!” Jamil yells as his headache comes in at full force.

“Oui! I must go now! So thank you!” Rook doesn’t explain anything else as he whisks you away from Scarabia.

Kalim and Jamil just stand there in the kitchen, processing the quick retreat the vice Housewarden of Pomefiore made.

Jamil rubs his temples “ … I’m going to my room and taking a nap.”

“Ah, I’ll get the washcloth.”

Pomefiore

“CUT!”

Vil’s sharp voice echoes throughout the courtyard, making everyone in the Film Club stop what they were doing.

The Film Club was currently doing a short sci-fi horror scene. Vil wanted to give himself and his club members a challenge since sci-fi and horror isn’t their usual go to genre for filming. Thankfully, Ortho and Epel are helpful for stirring them in the correct direction.

“We’ve filmed this scene over and over… yet I feel like something is lacking in this… alien…”

Everyone looks over at one of the actors who was dressed up like a snake-mix-octopus-mix-crocodile.

The actor only gave Vil a little wiggle with his costume.

“Your acting is good, but the costume… I feel like I’m looking at a child's drawing come to life. Where did we get this costume again?”

“This was actually hand made…”

“So it is a child’s drawing come to life… truly a nightmare,” Vil lets out a sigh as he walks over to Ortho to go over the footage they captured. Epel was sitting off to the side to watch how everything was going.

“Roi du Poison!” Members of the Film Club looked over to see Rook. He was practically skipping over to Vil while holding a super fluffy cat. “I have found you an alien!”

Vil blanks as Rook presented you to him. You couldn’t help but slowly blink at Vil and meow at him. He didn’t look all that impressed by seeing you.

“This is a cat, Rook.”

“Oui!”

“Why, in the sevens, would this be an alien? It just looks like an ordinary cat you would find off the street.”

You were more than just a street cat!

Rook was already sensing you wanted to show off that you weren’t just some simple cat, so he took an apple out from under his hat.

Vil was ready to question him before Rook tossed it in the air.

You zeroed in on the fruit and opened your mouth, allowing the tentacle to zip out and take a hold on the apple, and bring it back to you. Students in the Film Club let out a scream as they witnessed the slimy appendage come out of your mouth. Vil didn’t really respond, but he begins to think on how to put you in the movie now.

“House Warden Vil! You have to let them in the short film!” Epel shouts enthusiastically.

“Are they trained?”

“Even better! It's actually the Prefect!” Rook smiles as he announces it was really you.

You nod to confirm it was, and that you understood what was going on.

Vil smiles as he claps his hands together, pleased with the new addition to his short film.

And that’s how you got to be the alien in Vils New Short Film. At first the Club members were a bit weary, but upon learning that you were the Ramshackle Prefect, they fully accepted you instead of just some weird cat Rook found.

Ortho kept staring at you in pure awe when the actors went to the scene to reveal the part of the alien. You let out a hiss and revealed the bunches of tentacles and tendrils, just a cluster of horrors.

Every moment when filming was over, Ortho kept doing scans over your new body. The results he kept getting back were quite curious.

You didn’t turn into an ordinary cat. And Ortho was intrigued by this, even going as far as to send his brother the scans and data he was collecting.

One of the scenes that the club needed to capture was when one of the characters gets taken away from the alien. And you happily delivered it.

By gobbling up your fellow Night Raven Classmate.

Members from the club screamed in horror from behind the scenes as they watched the poor victim be taken away in one gulp. Vil had absolutely no words to say as he watched you target the next sad victim.

“Rook, you mentioned to me offhand that they’ll be ok, right?”

“Oui! The Prefect has taken both Roi de Roses and Monsieur Fuzzball and spit them out in safe conditions!”

Vil raised an eyebrow as he stared at his vice Housewarden, “Define, in your words… ‘Safe conditions’.”

Just when Rook was going to answer Vil, you came padding along.

Then you coughed up the club members.

Both actors just laid there on the ground, looking absolutely wrecked. Meanwhile you just started cleaning yourself.

The Pomefiore Housewarden looked at his own club members with absolute disgust seeing them covered in questionable slime and saliva. “Both of you, shower… Now!” That seemed to have snapped the two members out of their small daze as they scrambled to get up and head to their dorms to freshen up.

“Vil Schoenheit,” Both Vil and Rook turn to see Ortho hovering towards them. “If it’s ok with you, after doing today's scenes, can I take the Prefect? I’ve been doing scans and collecting data on them. I got a message from Idia and he wants to check on them.”

“Well, Idia is more then welcome to have them. We are done for today anyway.” Vil glances over to you.

You were innocently laying on your back waiting for your next victim to pet your tum tum.

“The shots we’ve collected are better than I expected them to be. Prefect,” you pick your head up and look at Vil. “You did fantastic today.”

You slowly blink at him and begin to purr.

Ortho giggles as he moves over to you and gently picks you up. “Come on, Prefect, I’m going to take you to big brother. He’s quite curious about what you turned into… and he wants to play with you.”

You let out a small mew as you let Ortho float away with you. Vil waved Ortho goodbye as he looked over the footage, pleased with the results they got.

Ignihyde

“Wehehehe~ Prefect you have such soft toe beans~” Idia happily let you sit in his lap as he played with your tiny cat paws, he was even taking photos of you from all angles. You didn’t mind, you just sat there peacefully with your eyes closed and your tongue sticking out just a bit.

Ortho giggles as he secretly records his brother playing with you. It was too cute! Plus, their mom has been asking how Idia has been doing, and Idia has been dodging her questioning and all that. Now, Ortho can have something to send to her.

“The Prefect seems to be enjoying themselves, brother! It’s said that cats stick their tongue out when they want to be playful or are relaxed.” Ortho casually mentions the fact as he does another scan over your body. He floats over to Idia and shows him the x-ray scan of your body.

“There’s… no bones.”

“And I don’t seen a stomach anywhere, though I am detecting lots of tunnels reaching to different places.”

“Pocket dimensions,” Idia picks you up, holding you from under your front arms. “Wehehe~ you're an ultra find, Prefect. Like an SSR+ find!” Idia gets off his bed and places you in his gamer chair.

You blink at him with your tongue still out as you relax fully into the soft leather. You watch as Idia taps a few times on his hologram keyboard, pulling up photos from your acting scenes and the x-ray scans Ortho took.

“You can still understand what I’m saying, right? You didn’t turn into just a kitty cat with a smooth brain, right?”

You huff at that and fully sit up, meowing at Idia and flicking your paw at him as if saying “get on with whatever you're gonna say”.

“Perfect. Now, I’m gonna show you what you are… because you look like a cute kitty cat, but that’s your character armor. What you really are-,” Idia motions to his monitor, showing the x-rays. “-is a fleshy alien thing that looks like a large parasite crammed into your cat-like body.”

You stare at the X-ray certain of yourself. It should be concerning really, because how the hell did you turn into that thing? Just a few hours ago you were human, and now you're some type of… alien? Parasite?

Either way you look sick as fuck.

“You don’t seem to be that freaked out,” Ortho floats over to you.

To show you weren’t that troubled by it, you opened your mouth and let out a collage of tentacles. One shoots out to grab Idia’s opened bag of chips, causing the older Shroud to yelp. You bring it back to your mouth and fully consume it, spitting the plastic bag out when you were done with it.

“… make yourself at home I guess.”

“Ah! So you do have a stomach! I can see you digesting the chips!” Ortho exclaimed excitedly.

Ortho sends the X-ray video of you digesting the chips to Idia, making it pop up on one of the monitors. You watched with curiosity. Some would find it disgusting but for you- you just thought it was interesting seeing how your new body functioned.

“Now, I hope you don’t mind if we can do some tests on you, Prefect.” Idia begins putting on his lab gear, carefully watching your reaction.

Ok. Sure. Running some tests wasn't that big of a deal. You weren’t in a rush at the moment, and you were curious about what you are.

That all changed when you saw something that looked like a needle.

Before you had time to back away, Ortho picked you up. And you started yowling, trying to get out of his hold.

“Ah! Prefect, what’s wrong?” Idia turns to see his younger brother struggling to hold you, clearly confused on what got you all fussy.

“Ortho! What happened?!”

“I don't know! They just started acting up!”

Using the wonderful power of cat physics, you're able to escape from the younger Shroud’s hold. Your first instinct was to head towards the door… unfortunately it was closed and you didn’t know how to open doors with your toe beans.

Idia slowly approaches you from behind as you try to find another escape route. Idia then takes the chance to dive down to get you, but you dodge him and begin to scurry around the room. You run from one side to the other, hopping on Idia’s bed and then to his shelf with his Action figures.

“Prefect! You're gonna get hurt!”

“MREOW!” You run across the shelf, knocking down the figurines and making Idia freak out.

“NO! Those are limited edition!” You didn’t listen to Idia’s screams as you practically knocked off every single one of his figurines. You look around trying to find a way out of his room, and that’s when you saw it-

The vent!

A tentacle shoots out from your mouth as you rip the grate off the ceiling. You cast the grate in the general direction of Idia, hearing the sound of what remains of the merchandise fall to the floor. And Idia loud pitch shriek.

You hop onto another shelf and use another tentacle to give you leverage as you swing yourself into the vent. You left Idia and Ortho alone in the room.

Take that! No needles today!

Idia just looks at the mess on his floor, not really sure where to start. Ortho just floats over and pats him on the shoulder, knowing that his older brother was mourning the loss of several of his collectibles.

Diasomnia

When you were able to escape from Idia’s clutches, you immediately went to Diasomnia.

This should have been your first pick! Horton would be happy to help you!

When you entered through the mirror you went straight to the dorm lounge room, ignoring students in the process as they stopped to stare at the fluffy cat walking the halls. Some even tried to pet you or greet you, but you were on a mission!

Being this alien cat was all fun but now, it’s best to go back to living life like a normal human.

“Strange, what’s a cat doing here?” You were ready to ignore the student like you did the others, but this one was quick enough to pick you up.

You were ready to swat at them but stopped when you recognized them. Sebek held you from under your arms as he scrutinized you. “How did you get into Diasomnia?” He asks, and all you do is meow at him.

“No matter! I heard earlier that Master Lilia and Waka-sama were looking for a fluffy cat. Perhaps they were referring to you.”

“Mrew.” Yes! Take me to Horton!

Sebek positions you into a better way where he cradles you into his arms. You start purring immediately, which causes Sebek to stutter. “C-cease your purring! I’m just taking you to Waka-sama and then I'm putting you down!”

No complaints there!

Sebek begins to walk you over to the dorm's lounge room. And you couldn’t help yourself so you started batting at his tie. A few times Sebek scolds you, but doesn't have the heart to stop you.

Oh he would lose his head if he learned it was you, the prefect.

“Ah! Sebek, my boy! You're back, and it seems like you brought a friend!” You perk up hearing Lilia’s voice.

You see Lilia and Malleus sitting on the couch in the lounge, Silver pouring them tea and himself a cup as well. Lilia’s eye practically sparkled when he saw you, vibrating on the spot with excitement.

Oh no.

He knows.

“So you found the Prefect, good work Sebek.” Malleus praises Sebek as he takes a sip of his tea.

Sebek though stopped in his tracks. He was happy to be praised by his young master! But learning that it was you that he was cradling this whole time…

He drops you without thinking.

Silver was ready to take his pen out and have you land safely on the ground, but you landed perfectly fine on all fours.

Thanks to your cat-like reflexes.

“P-prefect?! Why didn’t you say anything?!” Sebek yelled at you. You only give him a glare and start batting at his foot, basically telling him you weren’t happy for the fact he dropped you!

Lilia starts cackling watching the exchange between the two of you. When you were done with fighting Sebek’s shoe, you began your walk over to the couch where everyone seemed to be resting and hop on the coffee table.

You don’t stay there for long until Lilia scoops you in his arms, twirling you around like Kalim did. “Ah! You're just so cute now, Prefect!”

Is he saying you weren’t before?

In response to that, you place your paw on his nose, causing Lilia to laugh more. Malleus hums as he watches, Silver on the other hand was starting to doze off after he took one sip from his tea.

“How long has it been since you transformed, child of man?” Malleus asked as he placed his own teacup and saucer on the coffee table.

You try thinking about how long it’s been. It had to be no more than several hours, right? Then again, you did notice how it was getting darker in the Diasomnia dorm. Didn’t you drink that potion this morning???

“Based on your silence, it’s been a whole day.” Lilia nods to his own conclusion as you try wiggling out of his hold.

A whole day?! Nope! You gotta change NOW!

“Fear not my dear friend,” Malleus gets up from his place from the couch and makes it way over to you and Lilia. Lilia smiles as he holds you out to Malleus.

“Meow?”

“As cute as you are in this form, I would prefer to have my best friend back to normal.” And with that said Malleus places his hand on your head, letting a bright green light come from his hand.

In a blink of an eye, you turn back to normal…

With Lilia still holding you up by under your arms.

“I like to be put down now…”

“Aw, but I’m still having fun!” You let out a shriek as Lilia spins you once again. Malleus couldn’t help but let out a laugh as he watched the two of you.

Silver was fully asleep now, and Sebek only stared at his hands in horror.

“I was cradling them the whole time in their cat form…”

“Were they ever truly a cat though?” Sebek whipped his head to look at Silver who spoke in his sleep.

Nobody truly understood what you were. What you turned into it.

All they hope is that it never happens again…

“Oh gods, my stomach…” you were back in Ramshackle, laying in your bed and holding your stomach. You were feeling such immense pain after leaving Diasomnia. You did eat a lot of things today in that other form, and spitting stuff out as well.

Grim was currently pouring you a glass of Bubble Soda, and set down some crackers by your nightstand… not without swiping some first. “Mrah, Silver told me this would help you with your tummy ache. How you should still eat something along with the medication he gave.” Grim hands you the packet he got from second year.

God bless Silver. Lilia did cook horrible meals, so it made sense Silver would have these on hand.

You thanked Grim as you popped a pill into your mouth and slowly drank the soda Grim messily poured.

He tried.

“I’m really sorry about today… it’s my fault you turned into some weird cat thing…” Grim apologized awkwardly as he sat at the edge of your bed.

You let out a huff and grab the dire beast by the scruff of his neck, making him yelp in surprise as you wrap your arms around him.

“I forgive you, Grim. Don’t sweat it that much, ok? You didn’t know, and you made a mistake, it happens! So don’t beat yourself over it.”

Grim whines from your hug but lets you awayway, wrapping his paws around your neck to hug you back. You also promised yourself that night that you were going to double check everything before you consume it.

Can’t have you turning into an alien cat thing again…

Unless to torture Crowley, then you would be down to do that.

[thatstrangegiiirrlll]

Weak hero Headcanon

How they act when they have a crush

Yeon Sieun

Sieun is extremely prioritized, his studies are everything. He didn’t ask for friends, but now that he has them, he clearly will do anything to protect them, even when he tries to separate himself and be alone again — It never works out. So someone like him developing a crush would make that person a very special person if they catch his eye. He’d observe quietly, admiring them. He’d do subtle things like help them with class work when he notices them struggling. Whether he makes a move or not would be somewhat difficult to know for sure. But his approach would be slow and steady either way, taking small points out of the day to interact with them.

Ahn Suho

As an extremely protective, confident, and masculine guy, Suho would be the exact same with a crush. He’s tough, but he’s truly a big softie. When it comes to a crush, he’ll roll out the red carpet for them, holding the door open, making them laugh, complimenting them. Suho is the type that will approach a person he’s interested in with confidence that can’t help but win them over. He just oozes charisma that can’t be touched.

Oh Beom-seok

When Beomseok has a crush, he acts distant and somewhat uninterested because he doesn’t know how to navigate his emotions. When interacting with his person of interest, he’d be fidgety and awkward. Beomseok would put them on a pedestal, making it even harder for him to see that they’re just human as well and to shoot his shot. He’d get caught staring at them with adoration and immediately look away in fear of rejection. The chances of him confessing how he feels are slim to none. He’d most likely just remain in his head about it.

Park Humin

Humin is a lot like Suho, but slightly goofier. He’ll do his best to make his crush laugh, knowing that his humor and positive energy is what helps win someone over. He’s not a pretty boy, he’s a tough, manly guy that happens to be a big, cuddly teddy bear. When coming up to his crush, he’ll crack a joke, compliment their outfit, and tell them how beautiful their smile is. Humin’s boldness will definitely win them over.

Seo Juntae

Juntae is very meek and timid, but when he has a crush he follows them around like a lost puppy. He does cute things like write them love notes and bring them their favorite snacks. When they’re down, he always encourages them, even when he doesn’t know the right words to say. He always knows how to bring light into a dark situation. His bright attitude and adorableness will make anyone fold.

Go Hyeontak

Gotak is relatively laid back and nonchalant when he has a crush on someone. Not in an uninterested way, but in a way that shows he’ll be fine whether his crush likes him back or not. He’s not scared of rejection. Every so often, he’ll show off some of his taekwondo moves to impress them, even going as far as to teach them a few moves. He’s playful and relaxed with his crush. They’d love that he’s a breath of fresh air that isn’t easily intimidated.

A/N: I’m not gonna lie, I’m lowkey biased. Sieun is my favorite character out of them. And I had some struggles with Beomseok 😩😩 his character pisses me off so bad, but I know some people would still appreciate his appearance every now and again — despite my seething resentment ಠ_ಠ

~ Also I’ll be opening my requests up next week I’m excited to see what ideas you guys have for me.

— Ash <3

[sillyuin]

Mingyu as boyfriend

Genre: fluff, fluff, fluff.

Pairing: Mingyu x reader.

Warnings: no proofread.

Yuin's note: An anon requested for bf! Mingyu but I deleted the ask by mistake 🥲 I'm terrible sorry, but here it is! Hope you like it, and thank you so much for your kind words, it means a lot to me (╥ ᴗ ╥)♡

Bf! Mingyu, who liked to flirt with you as friends and saying he was just joking, but he was dying inside at your shy reactions, his heart flustered.

Bf! Mingyu, who helps you with simple things and does acts of service just because: He knows you’re capable of opening that jar or doing the dishes, but he still does it so you don’t have to.

Bf! Mingyu, who takes you to different places from time to time, and makes sure that every date is a special moment that both of you can remember with joy, even if it doesn’t turn out as expected. Going out with Mingyu is always such an experience filled with joy and hilarious moments.

Bf! Mingyu, who makes sure that you’re taking good care of yourself. Not only eating properly and doing some exercise, he also keeps an eye on your mental health and if it’s not going well, you can rely on your lovely boyfriend to make you smile with his antics.

Bf! Mingyu, who loves when you borrow his stuff! He never gets tired of seeing you wearing his t-shirts, or smelling his favourite perfumes when you hug him. Mingyu will never say it openly, but he thinks that's kinda hot and makes him so weak on the inside.

Bf! Mingyu, who hugs you whenever he has a chance, even if it’s for a brief moment. Holding you in his arms is like a medicine during his difficult times, a piece of happiness. And even if everything is alright, hugging you is still a serotonin boost.

Bf! Mingyu, who loves you in many ways and is not afraid to prove it, be it tender or teasing, he showers you with love every single day.

[im-in-the-walls]

I just finished my library tech college program and the amount of times we've discussed the restrictions around e resources for libraries in my classes. Publishers are pieces of shit towards libraries and create really stupid ways to try to pull as much money out of them as possible. The licensing around e books and e audiobooks is actively hostile towards libraries cause they think they're losing money off of libraries. The subscriptions are incredibly overpriced for the amount of use people will end up getting of the e-book in comparison to buying a physical copy to circulate that many times. It also doesn't help that for ebook lending, there's pretty much only Overdrive for libraries to use, with very few other options. Publishing companies want it to be difficult for libraries to have ebooks and eaudiobooks for their patrons. And it's horrible out there. Libraries are already underfunded and stretching a tight budget as far as they can, they don't need publishing companies making it worse for ebooks and eaudiobooks where there is such a demand for those resources.

not being able to borrow an ebook because someone else has it on loan is stupid as hell. like babe this is Document. these are pixels.

[bnnysweets]

APPLE CIDER

loser!ellie x ditzy!reader

author’s note: english is not my first language. they’re inspired by cat and robbie in victorious bc i saw this edit and i couldn’t just don’t do nothing. ellie is just so mf in love with you omg.

warnings: ellie is IN LOVE, truly. reader is clueless. mention of marriage. reader is going out with a girl (booo🍅🍅) and she’s a asshole, ellie comforts you. fluff!

ellie is DELIRIOUS ’bout you, you share the same friend group so everyone knows she’s in love with you, but everyone also knows they can’t tell you because they already tried, but you didn’t believed, always excused it.

once, julien tried to tell you: “i telling you, she fucking loves you!” you laughed, “i knows she loves me, i love her too.” you said smiling and julien rolled her eyes, “i mean she wants you! like a girlfriend!” “yeah! we’re totally girlfriends!” you answered genuinely, “lord help me…ellie is in love with you. she wants to kiss you, with tongue. she draw you naked on her sketchbook, she writes songs about you, she gave your name to her favorite star.” you looked at her for a moment, without saying anything, just analyzing. “you know i don’t understand irony.” you said and julien gave up, changing the subject.

little did you know it’s aaaalll true, ellie’s big motivation to go the college everyday is to one day she have a great job and earn a lot of money to spoil you with all the expensive makeup you like and a pretty ring that you deserve. one page on her sketchbook has you in a wedding dress and veil, with your name + williams wrote on it. nobody else has ever saw it, it’s too precious to her.

so imagine her state when you started seeing a new girl, rachel. she was miserable, thinking you would never look at her the same way, but in one radom thursday you sat at the cafeteria table with a pout and sad eyes, ellie was experiencing a bittersweet feeling: at the same time time you looked so cute and sweet with that face, she was mad someone or something had made you sad. “rachel told me she liked me more when she didn’t really know me.” you announced to your friends, almost crying but before anyone could say anything ellie let a loud scoff, “are you fucking serious? this girl is insane?” she said and everybody was shocked, no one had ever seen ellie so mad and speaking so loudly, you just looked at her, speechless, batting you eyelashes at her, she swore you were trying to hypnotize her. “anyone who says they don’t like your personality is fucking insane, anyone should be fucking proud to get to know you. to know the pretty person you’re, inside and out, to know your kind heart and your bright mind. i’m not gonna sit here and listen to you say how rachel it’s just a difficult person when in reality she’s just a asshole, she’s a damn prick. she doesn’t deserve you, and you don’t see this! you don’t see how she talks ‘bout you when you’re not around, you don’t see because you trust her and it is the saddest and yet the prettiest thing ‘bout you, you believe her besides everything. but you need to wake up, she doesn’t like you! she likes to have you by her side, to show you off, to kiss you and show everyone how she has a pretty girl by her side. but she doesn’t truly like you, she likes how you make her feel, because she fucking knows how much you like her.” when ellie finished your face was all wet with tears, and ellie was out of breath, looking at you, fearing your reaction.

you got up and went to hug ellie, who was on the other side of the table. she embraced your body, smoothing your back while you cried and tightly hugged her body. when you calmed down you took your head out of her shoulder and looked at her, “thanks for the cold shower els, i needed it.” you said and waved goodbye to the group. you head to the rachel’s dorm to end everything right after this. maybe ellie has a chance after all.

[f1cflcfic]

Won't Say I'm In Love (SMAU ft. Lando Norris) - part x

pairing: lando norris x tennis player!reader (fem!y/n); past carlos alcaraz x tennis player!reader (fem!y/n)

summary: As a general rule, y/n does not date athletes. You've been there, done that - would not recommend. Besides, you definitely don't do love. There's no time in the world for complicated feelings when there's a career Grand Slam to be won. But what if your heart just refuses to listen?

genre: social meda/mixed au, friends to lovers

note: this is RPF and is obviously in no way, shape, or form reflective of real persons and/or events

series: part i | part ii | part iii | part iv | part v | part vi | part vii | part viii | part ix | ...

bonus: one, two, three

May 25, 2025

May 26 - May 29, 2025

[Excerpt: Press Conference Y/N L/N] "That was quite the match. How do you feel about the conduct violation and the subsequent fine you'll be paying? Do you feel like that's a fair call?"

Y/N shifts in her seat and shrugs. "It's already done, so what does it matter how I feel?"

"Do you feel like Roland Garros should be taking better measures to ensure these type of crowd interruptions don't happen?"

She shakes her head. "Honestly, there's really not much else to say about this topic. I'm glad that the person was removed, to me that is what really was disgraceful. Interrupting a match with the sole purpose of antagonising a player."

"It did feel like the tide was against you here today, and yet you came out on top. Despite a lot of fans cheering for Garcia, a lot of fans cheering for anyone that's not you because of your ex - and yet you won. Did you prepare for that mentally?"

"You always try and consider both the physical and mental aspects of each match, and what's going to make them a unique battle. Having a crowd be passionate about their home favourite is fine and to be expected, that doesn't bother me. At least they're excited and invested in tennis. What bothers me is the personal comments, and honestly? I'm really tired of constantly being put in the box of being Carlos' ex. We are both over it and have moved on, so."

"We were just in a press conference with Carlos. He didn't know about any of this, but seemed taken aback by what had happened and said he doesn't think this behavior by fans belongs in tennis. Has he reached out over the incident?"

Y/N hesitates, then speaks up again. "That's nice of him. But he's not responsible for what his fans do, and he's also playing a tournament here. I don't need or expect him to defend me."

May 30 - May 31, 2025

June 1 - June 5, 2025

[Excerpt Press Conference Elina Svitolina]

"That was a very exciting match. It seemed at the start like you had a good chance of besting your own record here at Roland Garros."

"Yes, I had a good preparation for the tournament this year. Strasbourg and Roland-Garros were both great tournaments for me. I love the physicality of clay as a surface, and it would've been nice to continue onwards, but it wasn't meant to be."

"Where do you think things went wrong?"

"You know, I started out quite strong but the rain delays and the switch from one court to another was quite distracting. I lost my momentum there. At the same time, Y/N is just a very strong player. One of the best in the world right now, so I really don't feel too bad about losing. I do think I didn't maximise maybe all the opportunities I had to make it more difficult for her, though. Still, 6-3, 5-7, 4-6 isn't the worst score."

"Lastly, you had your family here today. Does it make these tournaments extra special, after coming back from retirement to be with them?"

"Of course it does. My husband Gael [Monfils] obviously knows the sport very well, and I've always felt it's an advantage to have a relationship with someone who understands what matters most to you in the world. Having that stability and support is so important, but also to know there's more to life than tennis - as difficult as it is to say that sometimes in places like these. It's the truth. I wanted a family, and I was fortunate enough to have a child. You can't have both at the same time, as a woman. Not with a sports career."

"Do you think documentaries and series like Break Point help in making viewers understand those trade-offs a bit better, and the behind the scenes dynamics of high-level tennis?"

"It's hard to capture the unfiltered, unedited stories I think. But if it gets people interested in tennis, then it's a good thing. I just hope they watch for the right reasons, and it doesn't end with people yelling at players. I was very taken aback by that here. Because we're not characters in a fictional story - we're real people and we all hold a lot of respect for each other. Even when we're opponents on the court."

∘•···············•∘ʚ ♡ ɞ∘•················•∘ ∘•···············•∘ʚ ♡ ɞ∘•················•∘∘•···············•∘

A/N: HALLELUJAH they're in the city of love and y/n is finally realising she might have a crush...

♥ likes, comments, reblogs and asks are always very much appreciated - i love chatting and hearing your thoughts! ♥

taglist (open): @linnygirl09 @julesbog @midnight-and-books @sarx164 @obxstiles @freyathehuntress @vhkdncu2ei8997 @berrnuu @lightdragonrayne @glow-ish @batsratswrites @blushmimi @colmathgames2 @esw1012

[weaselle]

the second one is exactly how i’ve trained all the dogs i walk (which has often been 6-12 dogs each walk 3 walks per day). They are not allowed to rush the van door, they must remain calmly in the van with the door open while I leash them up and invite them out one at a time. No escaping unleashed into traffic! New dogs get trained on this the same way at their own door or gate from day one so they already know the deal when we do it in the van.

The first tip is great under the right circumstances, tho i personally don’t find myself in those circumstances while on the clock. I can’t really take the time to out-stubborn a dog while 7 other dogs get bored and start looking for trouble, and the pack often provides enough entertainment that the dog being trained doesn't care that we're not moving, and all kinds of things like that make this not work for me in my situation, but as a dog parent at home absolutely - the name of the game for this and almost all treat-less training is: identify what the dog wants (to move forward) demonstrate that you control that (no moving forward unless i also move forward) and then show that the dog's goal is only met when the dog follows the rule being enforced (no pulling on the leash). Of course you also provide positive feedback but the real reward here is the dog gets what they want (moving forward)

Not only does the pack make this leash work difficult, but I often have to work with dogs that have been conditioned by their owners to not be in full communication with their handler, not care if the leash is being pulled hard (not by me, but by them as i stand still) and, worse, that if they are stubborn they will get their way.

So here are some other things to try

Body Blocking: if they make the leash tight, stop them, then, keeping the leash tight enough that they can't move forward at all, maneuver yourself to be in front of them and then move them backward a step or two into a loose leash position. You aren't trying to push them physically with your body (tho you can, gently, if they aren't getting it) it's your physical presence you are moving them with - it can help to sort of puff up and pretend you are a bear or the hulk or something with intimidating presence. Take up a lot of space when you move, exude that you're-in-my-seat energy. Loom a bit. That's body blocking. You don't have to be facing them, dogs often use their butt to do something similar, you can see it when they play.

Sudden Turns: sometimes i play a game i call You Don't Know Where We're Going, Only I Know Where We're Going. The dogs in my pack aren't allowed to walk in front of me, only next to or behind (for safety reasons, if a couple of them get in front and cross their leashes in front of me i could fall on them and cause serious injury to some of us). So I will sometimes just randomly make right angle turns. If i am working a dog or two that needs a lot of improvement i might do this every four or five steps for a bit, just pick a destination a few feet to one side and go there. If you turn and the dog is in your way, walk through them slowly but firmly as if wading through waste deep water. This enforces that they have to pay attention to you and where you are walking.

Turn Around: as soon as the dog hits the end of the leash in front of you, simply start walking the opposite direction. This may mean you pace the same six feet a few times, but that's fine

Get In Early: if you're working with a dog that responds well to vocal feedback, start making disapproving sounds as they get too far ahead, increasing intensity the farther they get. This MUST be paired with positive vocal feed back, and the positive feedback must A: begin the moment the bad behavior is at all interrupted - if the dog is pulling ahead and you make a disapproving noise and they pause in the slightest, they get some good but small vocal feedback. You are playing hot/cold with them, worst vocal feedback at a tight leash, best vocal feedback in perfect position, on a sliding scale. B: be something other than "good" or "good dog" etc. Make a new positive feedback sound and as long as you emote it, they will get it, but you don't want one you've been using to mean "you have completed the task" because that indicates the task is over. In the same vein, in general, it is useful to have a vocal feedback that means you are doing it correctly AND keep doing it. Many trainers like the repeated phrase "that's right, that's right, that's right" for this, which allows you to communicate "you're doing it, you're doing it, you're do-nope. nooope. nooooooooo- yes!you're doing it, you're doing it" hotter colder style. Many trainers also use a word like "yes!" the same way you would use a clicker, to mark the exact second the right behavior happens

If aaaaall this is not working, some equipment can be great help.

For bigger dogs a harness with a leash attachment at the chest can be a big help (again, with a chest ring! harnesses leashed from the back encourage pulling behaviors) Small or short-legged dogs aren't a great fit for this tho, as it puts the leash on the ground between their legs.

I'm a big fan of a Gentle Leader or Haltie (those are the brand names as well as the generally accepted name of the type of lead) they work a lot like a hackamore or horse halter, which is like a bridle without a bit through the mouth, and they look like this

personally i like the brand Gentle Leader (bottom pic) better than Haltie, but they are both fine. You want to look for at least a little padding on the part that goes over the nose, and you can expect a period of adjustment while the dog gets used to wearing it, a lot of trying to get it off the first day and then maybe about a week of walking while they periodically paw at their face on the walk.

It is plenty comfortable and they can still drink water etc. You do want to be sure that the nose band is up kinda close to their eyes, if it's further down on some dogs it can pinch their sinuses shut and make it harder for them to breath right, so just make sure it's adjusted to fit right. Similarly you want the back strap to be right up behind their ears, at the base of the skull there.

Another thing to try is a harness with shoulder pouches, like so

i like using the ezydog harnesses in general, if you're looking for brand recommendations, but the important thing is that the pouches be up near the shoulders. The closer to the middle of the spine they are, the worse for the dog.

a harness with pouches set like the ones below is begging for back injuries for the dog, and is, imo, downright inhumane

when you get a harness like this, you only want a maximum of 10% of the dog's weight. So for a 60 pound dog, you only want about a total of five or six pounds (otherwise you risk long term damage to the dog's spine and/or joints). I have only done this with two dogs, and both times i saw vastly improved leash behavior within minutes. It gives them a job in a way they seem understand, and of course who wants to run around full speed with a full backpack.

DO NOT USE ONE OF THESE

This is a prong collar, and their popularity is on the rise, primarily because there has been a boom in dog service jobs and people are doing the restaurant thing (where they assume just because they are good with it at home for themselves they can run a business doing it even tho they have zero professional experience or training).

These are dangerous for many reasons. This collar simulates a bite to the neck, and one thing they can do is teach your dog that in your pack, you go from calm to biting, with no warning, over every little thing. (i've seen this happen, it is very sad, the dog had to be given up with very little chance of being adopted back out)

In very specific circumstances, with very specific dogs, when used exactly right by a very experienced trainer, as a temporary training tool, this might be useful. I personally will never use one.

DO NOT USE A PRONG COLLAR. Every single client who has insisted their dog needs the prong collar and nothing else will work? Their dog walks fine with me without one. If your trainer tells you to use one, get a different trainer.

Ah, lunch break is over, time for me to go walk a pack of dogs

parents were amazed how well the dogs walked on leash so in case this trick is more uncommon than I thought here’s my training technique

If a dog pulls on the leash just stop and stand there

that’s it that’s the trick you become a seat belt it works real fast. Start walking again if they stop pulling & even better if you wait until they look at you first (sometimes u might have to call them back to stop pulling if they are a bit dumb)

[l4ndoflove]

mv33 and 24

why'd you only call me when you're high?

feat. max verstappen

lyrics you get high, call max, spend the night with him: that’s what you both agreed to—nothing more. unless...

maddie reader is the toxic one in this??? what happened to sweet old yn???

1435 words

The violent screen light cut through the darkness of the street when you unlocked your phone, the numbers 03:08 burning bright behind your eyelids as you squinted at them like they’d personally offended you.

You knew it was late. Or early, depending on the point of view.

But you also knew it wouldn’t take him long to reply, so you searched for his contact and started the call with no regrets whatsoever.

It rang once, twice–

“Schat?”

Just as you thought.

“Hi Maxie,” you giggled, the slurred nickname rolling off your tongue with ease. “I missed you.”

You left the words hanging heavy in the air, waiting for him to take the bait like a lioness ambushing her prey.

He sighed, and you could almost picture him running a hand over his face, tired—not because of the ungodly hour, but because of you. You and your little game of cat and mouse. A game he knew he couldn’t win, but he just kept playing regardless because he enjoyed losing to you way too much.

“You’re high.” It wasn’t a question. Why ask if he knew perfectly well you only called him when you were?

“A little,” you shrugged like it was no big deal, tripping over your own feet a second later. “I’m coming over.” Again, not a question. You didn’t need his permission: that’s not how things worked between the two of you.

“I don’t think–”

“You don’t have to, baby,” you cut him off sweetly. “Just leave the door open for me, ’kay?”

He did. Of course he did.

When you finally stumbled in the hallway in front of his apartment, floor and ceiling dancing furiously before your eyes, all you had to do was push, and the handle immediately gave in under your dead weight.

You kicked off your heels in the entrance like you owned the place, walking straight up to the living room with a lot more confidence than someone who looked like she’d just went to hell and back should’ve had.

Max was there, pacing the room like a caged animal—loose pants low on his hips, no shirt.

Perfect.

He stopped in his tracks as soon as he heard the velvety pad of your thigh highs skimming across the pavement, turning around just in time for you to throw your arms around his neck and pull him down into a kiss so intense it made your head spin even more.

The warmth of his lips against yours was intoxicating—a different kind of drug from the one that clouded your senses and helped you get rid of your thoughts one puff of smoke after the other. It was grounding, the only thing that anchored you to this world when everything else kept slipping from your grasp.

Only this time—he did, too.

The loss of contact was so brutal that you almost toppled forward when he moved back, your mouth desperately chasing his as if you needed it to breathe.

“Max, come on,” you whined, hands already making their way back to his chest, “don’t be difficult. I want you.” You didn’t care about how pathetic that might sound because it was also embarrassingly true.

“No.”

He didn’t touch you, putting some distance between you instead, but that single word left a stinging sensation so vivid on your skin that you could’ve sworn he’d hit you.

“No?” You laughed in disbelief. “What the fuck does that mean?”

“It means we’re not doing anything tonight.”

“Yeah, sure,” you scoffed, sneering, though you could feel the weight of something ugly slowly starting to settle in your chest.

“I’m serious. You’re too high for this.”

There it was.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that was a problem the last fifty times I was,” you raised your voice, the weed in your system dangerously amplifying your growing anger.

“It was a problem,” he groaned, “I just–”

“What, you developed a conscience overnight? You don’t want to fuck me anymore because I’m stoned and you suddenly feel sorry for me?”

He took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose like he was trying—and failing—to get rid of a piercing headache.

You didn’t like that.

“Can you not… talk like this?”

The condescending tone of his question sounded awfully close to the one someone would use to deal with a spoiled child.

You didn’t like that either.

“Please, I thought you were used to people treating you like shit,” you rolled your eyes at him, swaying a dismissive hand in his direction.

He caught it.

“You’re the one treating yourself like shit, and I need you to stop it.”

“Gee, Max, what’s gotten into you?” you forced out a laugh as you averted your gaze, the intensity of his far more unsettling than the lustful, almost predatory look you were used to. “You’re acting like you’re in love with me or something.”

It was supposed to be a joke. It was supposed to be funny. Max Verstappen caring about someone like you? Hilarious.

So why didn’t he laugh?

Why was he staring at you like–

“No,” you spit out the way he had a few minutes before, reading in his eyes what his mouth had been too slow to tell you.

“Yes.”

Three letters. That’s all it took for the house of cards you’d built around yourself to crumble.

“You don’t love me, Max.” Your tone was firm, pitiful even, as if you hoped that hearing you say those words out loud would help him realize just how absurd they sounded.

Or at least trick him into thinking they did.

“Yes, I d–”

“That’s bullshit. You love feeling needed, you love all the attention I give you and how easy I am for you, you love having me in your bed every night—you don’t love me.”

“No, this is what you convinced yourself to believe. And you want to know why? Because you’re scared.”

“I’m not scared, Max, I’m pissed. We agreed to no strings attached sex, and now you’re busting out a fucking love confession like it wasn’t the first thing I told you I didn’t need.”

Your voice cracked toward the end of the sentence, and you hated yourself for it.

But what you hated even more was how you couldn’t stop the tears already clouding your vision to start streaming down your cheeks, the dam behind your eyelids suddenly breaking.

You wanted to wipe them away, remove all evidence of their existence, but Max’s fingers were still wrapped tightly around one of your wrists—or was it your throat?

“Let me go,” you said, voice stern but shaky as you tugged back your hand.

“Why? So you can run away and keep pretending like this means nothing to you?”

“It doesn’t! God, Max, what’s so hard to understand? It doesn’t mean anything to me!” You emphasized the word by hitting him square in the chest with your free palm, part trying to push him away, part just because you wanted to hurt him.

“This,” you added, showing off the half smoked joint you still had in the pocket of your hoodie, “is what your love is made of. The version of me that wants you doesn’t exist–it’s all in here,” you laughed, bitter and cruel, throwing it at him.

He didn’t flinch. Didn’t yell. Just raised the hand he wasn’t holding you with and moved a lock of hair out of your face.

Your reaction was immediate.

“Don’t touch me,” you jumped, slapping his fingers away like they’d burned you.

Which was weird because you’d gone all the way there and begged him to do just that.

“You ruined everything,” you sobbed, your fist landing against his bare skin over and over again as he pulled you even closer—too close. “It was so simple, and you fucked it all up.”

You cried, fought, screamed, your curses muffled in the crook of his neck as you blamed him for something he couldn’t control.

And he let you.

He held you through every second of it, his arms caging you in like you were both a frail creature to protect and a wild animal to lock up.

“I hate you,” you breathed out at last, completely drained from the drug, your outburst—him.

Max didn’t say anything at first, and for one insane, wishful moment you thought he would finally give up.

But then he whispered, “You don’t hate me, schat. You hate not being able to love yourself the way I do.”

And that broke you a little more.

© 2025 l4ndoflove. all rights reserved.

[thewildernesschooses]

Stone Cold Sober, a nataliexreader one shot

soooooo, basically you’re close friends with nat and you’re both gay :)

You don’t know why you were even chosen for this. You weren’t the second best shot, Travis was. He should be hiking out to the middle of nowhere where right now, not you. Also, he was a boy and this felt like boy stuff.

Travis was being difficult but no one could give him a particularly hard time about it. Seeing Coach skewered on a tree freaked you all out but it devastated Travis. He wasn’t like this before. He would never be the same.

Coach Ben volunteered you to accompany Natalie on the hunt, he said solo hunting parties were dangerous when hiking that far out. Natalie tried to convince him it was fine but he held firm.

And, yeah, it hurt that Natalie had basically refused to spend time with you alone the entire time you had been stuck in these god-forsaken woods. Especially because she was the one who kissed you.

Natalie didn’t have a car so you gave her rides to things sometimes. Your parents liked to live a little ways from town so you were only a couple of streets over from the trailer park Natalie and Van lived in. You had offered them both a ride but only Natalie accepted, Van had been getting rides from Taissa recently even though you knew Taissa lived by the school. But whatever, if they thought they were being slick with their queer little looks, you would play along. Can’t throw rocks in glass houses and all that.

Usually, it was fun to ride there and back together. You would get slurpees on the way back and Natalie’s parents didn’t care about you guys smoking weed on their porch. That’s the only nice thing you had to say about either of them.

The ride there was standard. Natalie and you always looked a little funny together. You were pretty square, wore whatever your mom got you from the GAP every season. Natalie was something else entirely. She didn’t have much more but she had an identity. You were sometimes envious of that about her. She didn’t feel all this pressure to not be herself.

You got to the party and Natalie went off with her alternative friends. They were apparently trying to score acid but you doubted that ginger kid she hung around wouldn’t get ripped off with some tissue paper. You never drank but you smoked a little, early enough for it to wear off by the time you had to drive home. You wouldn’t want to wrap yourself around a tree the night before nationals.

Shauna and Taissa got into some kind of catfight. Shauna always got confrontational when she was drunk. She kept everything too bottled up sober to not. Jackie tried to fix it but there was no fixing the fact that Taissa subconsciously crippled a freshman.

You were trying to catch Natalie’s eye, you usually would make eye contact when Jackie was acting like an 80s high school rom-com protagonist but she was staring off into space and giggling. Jesus Christ. That ginger managed to score acid.

You got pulled away from the team huddle by some baseball boys you were cool with, they offered you some wine coolers and a ride home but you declined. You weren’t ditching Natalie like this (and you kinda thought they were pigs who were only good for getting joints).

Eventually, you got back to Natalie where she was transfixed on the bonfire. She was mumbling things about Misty Quigley and the Olympics. You just hoped she came down in time for Nationals.

“Come on, let’s get you home.” She didn’t react until you put your hand on her shoulder. She jumped but settled when she realized it was you and smiled. The weed must’ve been strong because you felt floaty all of a sudden again.

She kept looking at you for a little before she stood up. She didn’t follow you until you grabbed her hand to guide her to your car. The person next to you parked like shit so you had to crawl over her in the passenger seat to get to the drivers. She grabbed onto your hips and tried to help you into your seat but it made you feel less coordinated for some reason. You’d really have to get one of those boys to get you more of that weed when you got back.

When you went to shift gears, Nat put her hand on yours. You assumed she was just feeling the LSD and wanted some connection so you let her have it. She was still giggling occasionally, you didn’t know what about. She started tracing her fingers on your palm but you couldn’t make out what she was drawing or writing. Maybe it was just the tactile sensation she wanted.

After a while, you pulled up next to her trailer. She didn’t rush to get out. You didn’t mind if she wanted to stay and talk, you’d always be happy to talk to Natalie, even if she was drugged up and incoherent.

She took a deep breath and turned to face you. You were already looking at her. She was just so cool, it almost hurt. That jacket she never took off, except for practice, looked almost blue in the motion-activated lights.

You thought she was going to say something. Maybe something funny but knowing Nat, it could be something accidentally profound. Instead, she reached over the console and kissed you. Closed mouth, chaste, but a real kiss. She was still holding your hand and everything. You were going to push her away but she backed up first. You thought she would look freaked out but she was still looking at you expectantly. That same look as when she slides her Slurpee next to yours at the counter and just knows you’ll pay for it.

You’re gonna pay for this, you thought to yourself.

“You’re high, Nat. You didn’t mean that.” You nervously chuckle, all of a sudden half hoping she did.

Natalie obviously didn’t see anything awkward or out of place. She was still holding your hand for Christ’s sake. She was smiling at you like you were just the sweetest thing.

“I liked it though.” So cheeky, always. So herself.

You looked down at your joined hands, why hadn’t you let go yet? Why hadn’t she? You liked it too and that scared you.

“Yeah, but Coach Ben talked about how when you’re drunk, you shouldn’t really do stuff with people because they don’t know what they're doing and I’m pretty sure that extends to acid, y’know?

Her voice was all low and gravelly. “So if I wasn’t tripping, you’d come inside?”

“I’m going to assume you didn’t mean that either. You should go inside, Nat. Alone.” You were talking big game for someone who hadn’t let go of her hand yet.

“I don’t want to be alone right now, I want to be kissing you.” How could she just say things like that? Girls didn’t just say things like that. It was uncouth.

You tried to tell her exactly that but she just groaned a little and said “You’re not convincing me you don’t want to kiss me.” She was all pouty and emotional right now. God help you.

You were going to say something stupid because of her. Stupidly honest.

“If you still feel this way tomorrow, we can talk about it then. We’re going to be sharing a room with Taissa and Van and they sneak off together a lot.” She was going to argue before you cut her off by saying, “You’re not going to be able to convince me to take advantage of you.”

She giggled more. “No matter how much you want to?” Starry eyes was not an apt phrase for hers.

You kept looking at her and let go of her hand slowly. What are the odds she even remembers this tomorrow? What the hell, say it. “No matter how much I want to.”

You guessed that was close enough to what she wanted. She got out and skipped to her front door. She looked at your car before walking in and blew you a kiss. You hoped no one saw anything. You hoped she forgot this all because you blew one back.

She obviously didn’t forget it all.

She got out of Van’s mom’s car and didn’t look at you once at the airport. She saw you saving a seat next to yourself and sat a couple of rows up front alone.

The only time she had talked to you, hell, even looked at you, was when she found you after the crash. You had a nasty gash on your calve and your nose was bleeding from a bag falling on your face. Adrenaline had you running from the wreckage further than everybody else because your brain was telling you it was going to explode for some reason. You ran for a minute or two until your leg started to hurt and you realized that no one else was with you. When you didn’t hear any explosions, you started limping back.

It took more time to get back than it did for you to sprint away. You returned to chaos that was mostly directed by Misty Quigley.

Taissa was looking around, shouting Van’s name. Natalie was shouting yours. You were already out of breath but seeing Natalie shouting for you made it worse. You couldn’t get a big enough breath in to let her know you were ok before she saw you and started running.

Your face must’ve looked worse than it was because she lost it. Natalie didn’t show concern like this usually. She was more likely to get pissed off at you for putting yourself in the situation to get hurt. This was panic.

“Are-Are you ok? God! You’re bleeding a lot. I’m going to get Misty, OK? She’s good at this stuff.” She was tempted to touch your face but didn’t know what hurt. She was terrified to make it worse. To hurt you. “Um, lean forward! Wait! No! Lean back. Or does that make the blood go down your throat? Whatever, keep your head like that. I’ll be right back.”

She didn’t really come back after that. She sent Misty to check on you and made sure you were bandaged up but that’s it. She sat next to other people around the fire, passed the water to the person that was next to you, avoided eye contact.

This was why you never let your mind go there. She had opened up all these feelings that you were content to push onto other things like baseball boys and soccer but now you were 100s of miles away from both and the girl you kissed won’t even look at you.

Actually, correction, she kissed you!

And Coach Ben had somehow contrived the worst way to force you guys to be friends again. If friends was even the right word. Two girls don’t get along anymore? Let’s give them a gun about it!

The two of you tromped through the woods in silence for a long time. You had no inclination to lead and certainly no inclination to be to one to break the silence so you quietly followed. You didn’t even know how to tell the cardinal directions.

The complacency made you feel slightly crazy but she owed you an explanation. She practically forced you to admit to whatever you implied you felt and now she has the audacity to act like you made it weird. She’s the one that kissed her girl best friend! Not you!

This was what drove you insane about Nat. She acted on impulse and did what she wanted. She knew who she was and at one point had chosen to honor that. You both admired her for it and regretted the way it inconvenienced the both of you. So why was she so self-conscious now unless she was disgusted by you?

You were never going to do anything about those urges. You knew it was wrong but sometimes you wanted to touch girls the way boys touched girls. You knew Shauna and Jackie practiced kissing so it wasn’t such a weird thing. And Tai and Van seemed to have a thing too. This is why your father didn’t want you to do women’s sports. It did turn you into a lesbian.

Natalie could practically hear you spiraling. She knew you were losing it but didn’t dare to address anything. She was sure you were just being nice to her when you said all that stuff about talking when she was sober. You were nice and from a good family. You didn’t need to throw all that away by turning gay and dating a burnout.

Natalie didn’t want to make you say it. She knew you were too nice to just tell her she was a weird predator. You fought to not have to come with her today even though three weeks ago, you had volunteered to go to Saturday detention with her even though you had no slip. You were sweet like that.

Natalie mourned the inevitable loss of your relationship. She valued your opinion in a way she never had anyone else. She trusted you. She knew you were a good person and Natalie knew how rare that was. Of course, she would go and fuck it all up.

She heard you sniffling. She hoped your nose was ok. It looked like the bruising went away but you started making that nasal sound again.

It took a little for her to realize you were crying. You didn’t cry. Natalie turned around to face you, knowing she had to put an end to this. You obviously were taking it hard.

It was embarrassing for you to cry like this, especially when you were so committed to staying steadfast but you needed Nat, especially with all this crazy shit happening. You couldn’t take her just ignoring you until you got rescued.

Natalie was looking at you with a blank face which made it worse. How could she go from smiling at you to looking like that? You had read everything so wrong.

“I’m sorry I kissed you. I made everything complicated and I didn’t mean to. Can we just forget it happened? Say it was the acid and weed and call it even?” Natalie was trying to act casual like it was no big deal. Just an awkward thing to deal with like walking in on someone changing. But you didn’t want to forget about it. You couldn’t no matter how much you had tried. She had showed you an option you didn’t even know was there. One you kept exploring in your head.

Humiliatingly, you started crying more, wiping the tears away like you could hide them. You practically yelled, “No, you don’t just get to forget about it. You kissed me and you’ve just got to live with it no matter how disgusting you find me.” Not the plan but OK! Emotional honesty had rarely gotten you anywhere good but you could try again.

“What? I don’t find you disgusting?” She looked confused and walked closer as if to prove that to you.

“Then why do you refuse to even look at me? You kissed me! And I’m sorry I kissed back when I knew you were fucked up but I never would take advantage! I didn’t even know I would want to do anything like that until you did it to me first so this is all your fault.”

Natalie scoffed. “My fault? You’re the one that let me hold your hand the whole ride. You got in my lap on the way in!”

“I’m not going to do this with you. Let’s just turn back and tell Coach we can’t do this together.” You tried to school your expression. She totally didn’t read that right. You weren’t flirting that whole night.

You turn around to walk back to the cabin when she grabs your hand. That same hand you kept on the gear shift. The one she held before your worst nightmares came true.

It was enough to make you turn around. She was always enough to make you turn around.

She struggles to say it but Nat asks “Were you serious? About talking about it later? You weren’t just saying that to be nice so you could let me down easy later?” Natalie wasn’t usually unsteady like this. Sure of herself was her natural state.

“No, I wanted to talk about it at Nationals but…you know.” You were going to try being honest. “I liked what happened.”

Natalie exhaled something close to a chuckle like she couldn’t believe it. “I did too. Like it, I mean.” You squeezed her hand that had grabbed yours

You made the same sort of chuffed sound. “What does this all mean?” You asked.

She squeezed your hand, “Whatever you want it to mean.”

That was difficult because you had no idea. Natalie was the one who always knew what she wanted. She could walk into any thrift store and find herself in the racks, could walk into any classroom and find the person that was broken like her. You had spent most of high school feeling the contact high that was Natalie Scatorccio. Now she was asking you to score some on your own.

But maybe that was tiring, always being sure. Maybe it wasn’t as natural for her as it was necessary.

You braced yourself, about to say something ridiculous, “Maybe we could just do what we want out here. Figure it out a little more before we decide.” It felt contradictory that your big exploration of self started with being comfortable with not knowing but you figured that’s how it usually went. Acknowledging you have a problem first and all that.

“Does figuring it out involve kissing you again?” She was always so cheeky, you’re glad the plane crash didn’t take that.

“If that’s what you want.”

“I think it’s what I’ve wanted for a while.” She stepped even closer to you. The distance you two would usually have when she was telling you a secret.

And you knew this was all supposed to be a secret. That you both would get home soon and probably forget all about this. Baseball boys and goths would get in between the both of you. But for now, in the woods, away from your conservative father and judgemental eyes, you could finally just do what you wanted. And you wanted to kiss Natalie fucking Scatorccio, stone-cold sober.

[sximsoc]

Hi, hope you're doing fine, if I can, can I request like a suggestive one-shot about haechan in the +82 pressin mv? 👉🏻👈🏻

𝐅𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐎𝐖 𝐌𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐍𝐎𝐈𝐒𝐄

genre - suggestive , mild angst , one shot

synopsis - two lovers end up with a mark on one another , what happens when they come face to face ?

pairing - (+82 pressin) haechan x reader

word count : 17 , 031

warnings : mdni ! suggestive , violence , weapons ( guns , knives ) a weird fight scene because i can never write them right but i tried , did a lot of research with dissecting the 82 pressin world and the world building and concept behind it, so very sin city inspo with rivalries that you’ll see soon , also took some inspo from mr and ms smith because i thought it was very fitting and i wanna give credit where credit is due yk

The rain was cold, freezing up every part of your body. Goosebumps raising on your arms as they violently shook, the grasp on your knife was getting lose, the rain not helping as the sweat on your palms were making it hard to grasp the smooth leather handle like normal. Were your eyes deceiving you? Were your eyes playing games with you? Since when was your job conflicting? Since when did you struggle to just hit your target like usual? It wasn't hard, it wasn't difficult, you were used to it all. The blood, the guts, the screams as they begged for you to not kill them, but this time as your knife was pointing straight at him, your strong resolve was falling. Cracks were forming and he could tell, but why wasn't he cracking? Wasn't this hard for him too? Why wasn't he shaking? Why wasn't he moving? Why didn't he pull the trigger already! Why is he stalling!

All these questions ran through your head like a marathon. Your vision blurring and you couldn't tell if it was because of tears or because of the rain. The dark night was looking upon you, the moon shining bright as his features glowed under its light. God, he was beautiful, even with a cold stare like the one he had right now. Why did this have to happen? Why did your next mission have to go the way it did? The second your handler handed you your next mission, your whole world fell apart. You should have said no, should have rejected the mission and gone back home without a job and without a life, and you'd laid in his arms like nothing happened. Like you didn't see your husband's picture in the manila folder. Like you weren't asked to kill him. His arms would be warm, his heart gently pounding and lulling you to sleep, his lips soft as they kissed your forehead and he'd mumbled a simple five more minutes before starting his day.

No, you can't be thinking about him like this, you can't, not anymore. His gun was pointed at you, his finger on the trigger, just pull it! Please! It's all you wanted him to do. End your life so he can live, that was the right thing to do wasn't it? How did this even happen? How did you end up here in the first place? How did your husband, the sweet, sweet Donghyuck end up standing in front of you with a gun pointing at you and your knife pointing at him?

20 hours before...

07:00 am...

The sun wasn't up yet, but here you were, wide awake as you stared at him. Even after being married for two years, it still felt like you were in the honeymoon phase. Donghyuck was good to you, he was caring, thoughtful, a tad over dramatic, but it was apart of his charm, you can't deny that. So, staring at him in the quiet of your small house was something you wouldn't give up for the world. 7 am and all you wanted was to be able to create the technology to craw inside his skin.

"Stop staring at me" Donghyuck mumbled, quickly feeling your cheeks go warm, you close your eyes in hopes of not being caught, even though you already were. "Don't close your eyes now" He chuckled out, gently grabbing your face and smothering you in small pecks all over your face.

The action made you giggle as you open your eyes and pretend to yawn. "What a way to wake up" You mumbled out, rubbing your eyes which made Donghyuck roll his.

"I know you were watching me sleep" He mumbled out, putting his arms above him to streak, his body twitching as he groaned.

"So what if I was?" You replied, leaning up on one arm to look down on him. Donghyuck looked at you with a sleepy smile as you bent down to peck his lips as they looked extra soft that morning. He softly moaned in pleasure and need, he chased your lips after you pulled away. "Don't lie, you love being watched"

Your tease went straight through his body as he gave you a smirk. "You saying you wanna watch me?"

"Maybe, it would be fun" You shrugged your shoulders, contemplating the idea of watching him pleasure himself in front of you.

Donghyuck furrowed his brows in hopes that you two were on the same wave length. "Are we thinking the same thing or are we still talking about you watching me sleep?"

"Depends, what would you be doing if I watched you?" Donghyuck gasped at your dirty words, covering his chest up with the covers.

"Mrs. Lee! You scoundrel! Taking advantage of a fair bachelor like myself" Donghyuck exclaimed, his voice going high and whiney to get into character. You laughed at his theatrics as he kept the covers up to his chin.

"A bachelor? What about that wedding band you have on?" You asked, grabbing his hand to rub your finger over the smooth band on his ring finger.

"That's decoration" He replied without a second thought which made you raise an eyebrow at him.

He smiled at you with all his teeth which made you fold for him. Shaking your head, you laid back down with your head on the soft pillows. "You're so dumb" You mumbled out, still holding his hand.

Donghyuck groaned, scooting closer to your warm body, tucking himself in your arms as he laid his head on your chest, flush to your neck. Your arms went around him, your nails gently scratching his back. "Five more minutes" He mumbled out, gently pressing a kiss to your neck as he sighed.

You should've said yes, should have said yes to him  and his request. Knowing what you knew 20 hours later in the future, you would've stayed home with him instead, should've made him call out from work and you yourself call out from work. You two should've spend the day together, sleeping in, cuddled up to one another until it was time to get up. You two would've had a slow morning, talking in bed, kissing one another, have nice, slow sex, the kind that had you begging and begging for more, legs shaking as he mumbled obscenities into your ear. Or maybe he would let you take the lead, your soft touches leaving him shaking, his eyes blown out from how bad he wanted you to touch him, to feel you swallow him up. God, the sex you two would've had would never end if you had the choice. Then you'd take a shower together, continue the fun in there until your fingers pruned up and Donghyuck beg you to finish so he could have breakfast. Again, breakfast would be slow, you gently cooking as Donghyuck had his arms wrapped around your waist as he followed you around, pressing a kiss to your neck and cheek.

Instead, you gently groaned and pushed him away from you to get out of his grasp. "Can't, we have work, baby" You said, sitting up in your shared bed as you looked down at him. "What?" You ask, getting shy under his strong gaze.

The way he was looking at you, the way your hair was messy, his shirt on your body, the way the sun was slowly peaking in through the blinds and showered you in its warmth. The way it hit you just right that it looked like a halo over your body, Donghyuck thought he saw an angel with wings. You were so beautiful in his eyes, your body, your face, your eyes, your laugh, it was all otherworldly to him. How did he get so lucky? How did he end up with you? If he knew what he knew now, he would have convinced you to stay home with him. Two stupid kids in love, not knowing what would happen next.

"I love you" Donghyuck said and for some reason, it's like everything clicked. Your whole world fell into place, this was supposed to happen. You and Donghyuck meeting and falling in love, your whole life was leading up to this moment.

"I love you, too" You replied, your eyes filled with love and your body buzzing with how he was looking at you like you were the only person in the world.

Donghyuck hummed as he shook his head at you. "Not as much as me"

"Nah, I definitely love you more" You denied, crossing your legs as you threw your hand in your lap, not breaking eye contact with him.

"Nope, no way, I love you more" Donghyuck said, still laying down as he stared up at you.

You shrugged your shoulders again. "Maybe you do"

"I definitely do" He said with a nod of his head, his hair flopping around with the movement. You smiled at him as once again, everything fell into place. This was what your 24 years of living led up to, this was your place, this was where you belonged.

Sighing, you laid back down, his arms going around your frame. You inhaled his scent and it made your brain go fuzzy, your body warming him as he played with the ends of your hair and you listened to the pounding of his heart.

"You're making it hard to go to work, you know that?" You asked him, resting your chin on his chest as you looked at him.

His next words were hushed, a whisper that felt like a spell. "Then stay with me" How tempting those words sounded coming out of his mouth. His face still flushed with sleep, his eyes dropping as he felt himself slip back into it. How your body felt on his, how he could reach for you so easily and how you'd let him do anything to you. You never thought much about how much control he had over you, how you really would let him do anything to you, anything he wanted. You never thought how far that would go.

You groaned, shaking your head at him. "Mark will kill you if you don't clock in on time" Your hand gently tapping his chest as you tried to get up, but he held you down.

"Who cares what Mark thinks" Donghyuck grumbled out, wanting to reach for his phone and texting his work husband to go on the mission without him. Donghyuck wanted to stay home with his wife and sleep in.

You let him keep you to his chest as he closed his eyes, while yours were wide awake. "He is your boss"

"He's a partner"

“He's a position above you" You pointed out, turning your head so you ear was against his chest now.

You felt his chest vibrate as he sighed. "Fine, boss, partner, either way, stay home with me"

"You have work and I have work" You told him, so adamant to go to work and earn money. You wish you didn't.

"Then we call out" Donghyuck said like it was nothing, just another day that would go by. But that's not how the world worked, the two of your rent to pay, food to pay, and credit cards to pay off.

"We have rent to pay and bills coming up" You got up out of his grasp and hovered over his face. You gently pecked the moles on his face until you ended up kissing his lips. He responded immediately, his lips kissing yours and his tongue licking your lips to open your mouth. As you did, the kiss went further on as your tongues fought for dominance, hitting against one another as you straddled his hips, his hands resting on your hips, the grip strong you knew there would be hand prints.

He moaned into your mouth, wanting more and needing more as he moved your hips on him, making your whine. It all felt so good, the friction hitting you and making pleasure go up your spine. This was a dangerous game he was playing as you two still needed to get ready for work. Donghyuck pulled away and started leaving kissing down to your throat. He gently sucked on your neck as your hands ran through his hair, gently gripping as he moaned at the pleasure. Your breath got heavier the more he kissed and sucked, you knew he'd leave a mark but you didn't care. Your hips began to move on their own, your eyes closed in bliss.

"Stay here with me" He mumbled once again, sounding more and more like a command than a suggestion. You were about to let the word slip out of your mouth, a simple yes and your morning would end in a bang. But your eyes opened and caught the red numbers on the clock, 7:37.

"We're late" You replied, gently pushing him off your neck, hands on his shoulders as his gently massaged your hips. "We're so late" You said again, trying to ignore his lustful gaze on your body, the way his chest went up and down as he filled his lugs with air and his eyes glossy and blown out. God, he looked like sex and you wanted him so bad, but at the same time, you needed money.

Donghyuck smirked as he caught how flushed your cheeks were, how he could feel your pussy pulsing against him, knowing you wanted so much more. Knowing how you were so close to begging for him to fill you up until you couldn't remeber your name or the fact that you had work today. But, he was a teasing husband, so he nodded and leaned back against the head board.

"Fine, fine, we'll go clock in" Donghyuck agreed, you nodded your head, ready to get off his lap, until he leaned back in and held your hips flushed against him. He leaned in, his mouth close to yours as mumbled against it. "After work though, we can have all the fun we want"

"Deal"

—

A typical 9-5 was the plan, originally when you were in university for marketing, a simple 9-5 where you'd have lunch at one point in time, where you'd collab with others to make profit and where you'd be able to put your degree to use. Except, that didn't happen. Instead, you graduated with a marketing degree, found no job and almost ended up homeless. Until, you found yourself drinking at a hole in the wall bar when a woman approached you. The conversation was normal, asking how you were and vise versa, asking if you had a job and you saying no. It was a normal conversation until the job topic, she handed you a card with her name and an address. She told you to meet her there the next day to talk about a position.

You were desperate, so you said yes. A job offering? If anything, you hope your drunken state didn't scare her off. But why would it scare her off if she gave you her card before she left? You didn't know, but the next morning you went to the shady address and ended up at a building you passed by everyday. You assumed it was a normal building for business people, somewhere you thought you belonged, but didn't.

You walked in through the glass doors and found a woman sitting at a receptionist desk. You quietly approached her and showed her the card the other woman gave you. The girl looked up from her computer and all you could think was woah, she's young, maybe a few years younger than you, but still. The girl you learned, her name was Miyeon and she was working here part time, working hard to be full time as all the people who work here are cool. Cool? The people who work here are cool? You guessed they were, but you honestly didn't remember the woman who gave you the card. Miyeon told you to use the elevator and go to the fourth floor, that was the floor you were looking for as all the other floors were used for training.

You nodded and made your way up. The elevator was sleek like no other, the metal cold as it dinged you up to the fourth floor. As you exited, your senses were hit with the smell of roses and your heart was pounding. Something was off, the way the fourth floor was laid out was like a normal office, but it didn't feel that way. Cubicles filled with women typing away or having a headset on, saying weird code words that sounded off. Execute, get information, denominate, and other obscene words that made you feel uncomfortable. What kind of office used that language? As you made your way down the aisle to the big back office that was made of glass, some of the women looked at you with raised brows, like they were examining you. Some of them were whispering to one another, sharing words you wanted to know. Did you dress wrong? You put on your best clothes for today, a fancy pencil skirt and a blouse you knew was within typical office dress code. Maybe your heels made too much noise when you walk, you didn't know.

However, you heard your name being called and looked up to see the women who approached you walk up to you with open arms, pulling you close and kissing your cheeks. You followed her into her office and sat down, handing her your resume. She gladly took it, your eyes landed on her name fame and it said Mantis. Mantis? What an odd name .

The interview went as normal, questions being asked and answered, however, Mantis asked some weird questions. Asking if you ever did martial arts, maybe knew how to fight, did you know how to use weapons? Guns? Knives? All these weird questions you thought were inappropriate, but you answered them in hopes that you'd get the job. You didnt know how to use a gun, but knives you had some experience since your family made you take some self defense classes as a kid.

All in all, it ended up with you being employed and started training the next morning. So, that's how you ended up here, a hit woman. You never thought you'd end up here, about to quit on the first day when you learned that training was fight training and not learning how to use Excel and Microsoft Word. However, you needed moneys and the only way to get out as a new hire was to die, no one could know about this line of work.

"Mako, you're late" Your handler, Lyra said, her eyes in slits as she walked up to your cubicle, leaning on your desk as you sighed. Mako and Lyra were code names, only ever referring to your coworkers as such. It helped keep your identities safe, no need for using your real names in this line of work. Code names are given by Mantis, your boss, the person who owns this whole operation.

You sighed, sitting in your chair as you crossed your legs. "I know, my husband kept me hostage basically" You explained, leaning back in your chair as you looked up at Lyra.

She shook her head, her mind still not grasping how someone of your caliber could get married. "Still can't believe you got hitched"

"Me either, wasn't exactly in the plan" You replied, sounding sad, yet you smiled so fondly at the thought of your husband sitting at his desk with a picture of the two of you on it.

"Or in the contract either, you're lucky Mantis likes you" Lyra added on, which made you cringe at how careless you were when it came to falling in love with Donghyuck.

The contract stated that marriage and partners were off the table. It was for everyone's safety, especially yours. If you get married or have a romantic partner, if anyone caught wind of it, you and everyone you love was in danger. However, you didn't think about the contract when Donghyuck first came up to you at the grocery store, you didn't think about the contract when he asked you out, took you to dinner, or when you ended up in his bed. You sure as hell didn't think of it either when you said your vows to him. The contract wasn't real in your mind when it came to Donghyuck, so when you asked Mantis for a few weeks off for your Honeymoon, she did give you an earful. She told you it was a breach of contract, that it wasn't allowed, it was frowned upon and most importantly, if you weren't careful, you could die.

You, however, assured her you'd be careful, you'd continue work like normal, but Donghyuck was your lifeline now. You weren't going anywhere and neither was Donghyuck, you two were a team, inseparable. Your determination to continue working while being married, and also being one of Mants's best employee had its advantages. Mantis, although still angry with you, let you have your way. After all, you made her a shit ton of money with your intel and assassinations.

"Mantis likes me because I have the most kills" You replied, saying it like it's normal. Saying it like you didn't kill people, just like it was another day in the office.

Lyra sighed as she thought back to when you two first met. "Who would've thought. I still remember your bambi eyed stare when you walked into the training room"

"I didn't think this place was that king of company" You joked, the two of you laughing at the memory of your training days. How shit of a fighter you were, but how clever you came out to be.

"You enjoyed it, don't lie" Lyra replied, pointing out how even though you were shit at fighting, it made you want to work harder and eventually you ended up loving it.

"I do" You nodded, being content with how your job turned you into the person you are today. "Has it been 3 years already?"

"About to be four in a couple months" Lyra pointed out, gently tapping your desk with the maxilla folder she still had yet to mention. "Be happy, you set a record at being a newbie and having more kills than the veterans" She whispered, making the two of you laugh as you're both somewhat new to the job.

"Heard that!" You both heard one of your seniors yell as she walked past the two of you.

This only made the two of you laugh a bit louder, Lyra mumbling a small, "Sorry, Aries!"

"You're gonna get us in trouble with her, you know that" You laughed at her, gently smack her arm as you put a hand in front of your mouth to hide your laughter.

"Sorry, sorry" Lyra chuckled out, clearing her throat as she silently locked into what she needed to tell you. Holding up the manila folder, she gave her a tense smile. "So, you have a new mission"

"Another one? Didn't I just kill a guy?" You groaned, knowing you just got off of a mission a solid two days ago. It was a simple mission, simple poison and he was gone.

Lyra nodded, but sighed a bit. "Yeah, but this one is different, come on let's go, we gotta discuss"

You sighed as she grabbed your arm and pulled you along to one of the private rooms to discuss the mission. Missions weren't as common as most people think, mostly your job was to get intel from people, gangs, companies, it was like you were a private investigator. However, those were mostly things you guys called tasks, missions were worth more money and were more dangerous. Your first mission was something that haunted you, but the money was too good to not do again. Killing people slowly became something you did like breathing. It got to a point where it was easy, desensitizing, and it scared you, but you knew you were doing something right. The people you killed were criminals, people who killed innocent kids and mothers, tortured husbands and random people on the street. You knew what you were doing was right, but it didn't meant it didn't haunt you, because it did. You still have nightmares sometimes.

Donghyuck would comfort you during those nightmares, thinking you watched a scary movie before sleeping. At least that's what you would tell him. Donghyuck didn't know your line of work, didn't know you were a hit woman, he just assumed you did marketing for a small business that paid you well. Donghyuck could never know what you do, it was too dangerous.

"So, what's the mission this time?" You asked Lyra, wanting to get it over with to come home in time to be with your husband. "Killing a criminal? A drug dealer? Rapist? What is it?" You asked, leaning back into the plush chair, your body relaxed as you had been through this so many times you lost count.

"Actually, you know our rivals right?" Lyra asked, your body going ridged and straightening up with tension. "The people who keep stealing our intel and selling it as their own?"

"NCT? Yeah, I know them" They were annoying little bugs. You'd heard rumors about them, sometimes running into them when you're both hired for the same job, but other than that, they're secretive like your company. Except for the fact that they steal your work and claim it as their own, little snakes. They've been on your companies radar for the past few years, Mantis doing everything in her power to take them down, but they're good at hiding themselves.

"Well, one of them kinda slipped up and we got them on camera. His name is Haechan, he's a hit man and he killed one of our allies for intel on us and what we have to sell, so we need him executed" Lyra reported to you, her voice formal as you nodded your head, yet it tilted in confused at his name.

"Haechan?" You asked, slight interest going up at the playfulness of his sunshine name. "Such a bright codename for a killer" You pointed out, Lyra agreed with you and sighed.

"Yeah, but that's his name" Lyra finally slid the manila folder holding all the information the company had on him, his name, photo, approximate height and stature. "Here's his file"

"Thanks" You mumbled out, opening it up and your body went cold. Heart pounding, yet not strong enough as it felt faint in your chest, your breath coming in short huffs as you stare at the photo infront of you. It's right there, Donghyuck's face staring right at you like he was taunting you. "That's not possible" You whispered to yourself, his beautiful face staring back at you.

You were convinced it was fake, it had to be. Maybe it was a clone, maybe it wasn't him and it was a trick of the light. But no, it was him, it was Donghyuck. His face moles all in the right spot, the same spots you kissed every night and morning, honestly any chance you could your lips would be pressed against his moles. Now, they were marks that you had to hit. Your silence and wide eyes concerned Lyra as she furrowed her brows, leaning down a bit to try to catch your gaze.

"Mako, everything okay?" She asked, her voice laced with concern, but in your mind, it was all fuzzy as it went through one ear and out the other. "Mako?" Lyra asked again, her voice a bit louder and it finally caught your attention.

"Everything's fine" You mumbled out, giving her a weak smile as you swallowed hard. You cleared your throat and closed the manila folder to encase Donghyuck's face. "So, I just need to kill him?" The words coming out so carefully, like if you said it into existence it would happen right then and there.

Kill him? Kill Donghyuck? The man you were going to spend the rest of your life with? How could you do that? How could that just be another day in the office? Kill Donghyuck. You can't do that, it was hard to even be mad at him, but you have to, it's your job.

Lyra nodded, not caring about how insane this is sounding to you. "Yeah, basically" Your mind kept replaying the same words over and over again. Another day in the office.

But wait, kill Donghyuck? A member of your rival company? Why not use him? Keep him alive, not just for your own selfish reasons, but for intel on NCT and how they work. Donghyuck could be useful to Mantis, and Mantis is anything, but wasteful, so why waste Donghyuck? Why get rid of him when she could use him?

"I don't need to keep him alive for dirt on NCT?" You asked, furrowing your brows and trying to stay in your Mako character. "I figured Mantis would want something like that"

"No, Mantis just said to execute him" 

Again, this confused you so much. Why kill off someone you can use? It defeated the purpose of anything. "But why? He works with NCT, you'd think she'd want information on them and take them down, why kill someone you could use to your advantage?"

"I don't know, but Mantis knows what she's doing" Lyra said with full confidence in your boss. Mantis is smart, Mantis always had the answer for everything, o of course you trusted her with your life, but again, this all seemed so careless.

"If you say so" However, you had to have trust in what you were doing, so you let it go. "So, when do I need to kill him by?"

"In 12 hours"

You got up out of your seat, eyes wide as the chair rolled away from you. "What?! 12 hours?" You voice loud that it caught Lyra off guard and made her confused.

"Yeah, that's not a problem is it?" She asked, making you blink twice and think about your outburst. Oh, right, Mako, who can kill so well and here you are, freaking out. "You usually knock them out in less then 10"

Your spine straightened up and you nodded. "Right, yeah, right" You quickly grabbed the chair behind you and cleared your throat, taking a seat. "Proceed" You instructed Lyra who just looked at you weird.

"Okay, what's going on? You're acting weird about this" She asked, putting her hands on the table to get a closer look at you. She can't know, she can't know that you unknowingly married Haechan from NCT, that'll ruin you. Not to mention, Mantis would kill you.

"Nothing, it's nothing" So, you shook your head as you trued to act a little sick. "Just, you know, feeling a little under the weather" You replied, coughing a bit and putting a hand to your head like it hurt.

Thank God for your skills at acting because Lyra bought it, at least you hope she did. "Oh, no, I'm sorry"

"It's fine, don't worry" You saying, sniffing to really sink it in that you're a little under the weather. "Uh, I'll get it done soon"

"Okay, just don't forget about the report you have to do after" Lyra reminded you in a soft voice, not wanting to make your head more.

"How can I forget?" You asked, staring down at the manila folder, opening it up and ignoring Haechan's photo staring at you. "So, where am I going to...to..."

"Kill Haechan?" Lyra finished your sentence, not wanting to say those two words that held so much weight to them.

You looked up at her and took in a deep breath. "Yeah" You breathed out, Lyra thinking you took a deep breath to fill your congested lungs and not because you were feeling heavy at the idea of holding your knife to your husband's throat.

"Sources say he's going to have lunch with his partner on 127th avenue"

127th avenue? There was only one place Donghyuck would ever have dinner, he took you there on your first date, took you there for your first month-aversary, he takes those things seriously, and he took you there whenever you asked because you knew it made him happy. It was a little Italian place, family owned and had great food, but Donghyuck only ever went for their garlic bread. It was a cute place, cozy and warm like Donghyuck, he got excited every time you asked him if you could skip making dinner and just go eat out there. It held a lot of good memories, so now that you had to go there to end his memories and end the ones that you thought you'd continue to have, it was a full circle moment you didn't want to happen. 

"The Italian place?" You asked, your voice cracking as the memories of Donghyuck making you laugh and giving you recommendations to food came to your mind. How he held your hand the whole time, how he insisted you two sat next to one another rather than sitting across from you, how he would pick from your plate and beg you to feed him. All those memories would be taken from him, because of you.

"Yeah, you know it?" Lyra asked, taking you away from your thoughts and you shook your head.

"No, I don't, just assumed"

"Oh, okay, well yeah, Haechan's meeting his partner there for dinner, we're assuming he's also NCT affiliated, but Mantis said to not intervene with Mark, your target is only Haechan"

Mark? As in Mark Lee? As in Donghyuck's boss/partner Mark? Just how many of Donghyuck's friends were apart of NCT? Well, it would be obvious that Mark would be apart of NCT since he works in the company as well, but what about the ones you met but didn't know how they met Donghyuck. You only met Mark by accident, running into them while walking around town, seeing that familiar head of hair you yelled his name. Looking back at it, you should have known something was off, how his back tensed up, how he turned around and didn't meet you with the same wide smile he usually gives you, how he didn't smother you in kisses like he usually does, even if he was in public, and how Mark looked at him with dagger in his eyes. Was marriage also a breach of their contract like it was yours? Did Donghyuck never tell his coworkers he got married? You should have known something was suspicious after that meeting, how Mark kept rushing and how Donghyuck looked uncomfortable, and you? You just kept talking and kept inviting Mark to have dinner with the two of you sometime since you never met any of Donghyuck's friends.

"Mark?" You questioned, your mind going back to that first meeting and all the others that came after it. "Sick son of a bitch" You mumbled under your breath.

"What was that?" Lyra asked, looking at you with raised brows.

You shook your head, looking back up at her and closing the manila folder as you finished reading all the info they had on Haechan. "Nothing, just, get my bag ready and I'll follow his lead"

"You got it"

6 hours later....

2:30 pm....

You knew Donghyuck's schedule by the back of your hand, so you knew what time his lunch would be. Sure enough, by 2:30 pm he sent you a text message, saying he was at lunch and going to get food with Mark. He didn't tell you where, but with the source you got, sure enough, you saw the taxi pull up and Donghyuck get out. You were in the restaurant, a wig on, sunglasses, and a coat covering your figure. You sat in the back corner, sipping on your water as you catch the two walk in.

"Mako to Lyra, sunshine walked in" You mumbled, your earpiece picking up your voice to send the message to Lyra your handler at corporate.

"Lyra to Mako, copy" She said in your ear.

The two sat down, five tables over and diagonal from you. Due to the small nature of the restaurant, you knew you had to act as normal as possible while watching your husband and from across the dining room. Your eyes left his figure periodically, going back every now and then as you continued on like this was your normal lunch break. Glasses of water and two entrees later, Donghyuck and Mark asked for the bill and paid. You watched his movements closely, how he buttoned his coat, how he pushed his chair back in and how he ran a hand through his hair. His soft hair, how you wished it was your hands running through it, how you knew if you gripped it the right way on the back of his neck, he'd whimper softly into your ear and his body would turn to putty in your hands.

"Mako!" You were brought out of your trance as Lyra yelled your name and Donghyuck looked straight at you. You froze, not only did you lose focus, but Donghyuck sees you, and you can't tell if he knows it's you or if he thinks a random woman is staring at a married man. "Mako! Do you copy?" Lyra yelled into your ear piece, but your eyes didn't tear away from Donghyuck as he continued to stare at you.

You quickly averted your gaze and looked away, the stare being too intense that it scared you. Clearing your throat you asked for the bill and paid, looking up to see that Donghyuck was gone. "Shit" You mumbled. "Mako to Lyra, I lost him"

"What? You lost him!" Lyra yelled into your ear, your hand going up to your ear piece to soothe your aching ear. You quickly got up from your chair and rushed outside the restaurant.

"It's fine! I'll find him" You assured her, looking left and right, but you didn't see him. You sighed as you heard Lyra sigh is disappointed.

"You better" She mumbled out, disconnecting your call as you took in a deep breath and made your way to the left, following whatever instinct you had.

Walking blocks and blocks, your heels were tiring you out. No one knew where NCT headquarters was, no one else had a lead on Haechan's where about, right now, you were close to giving up. You walked around the city for hours, looking down alleyways, looking into shops, glancing at anyone who looked remotely like your husband. You changed your disguise ten different times so no one could catch on to you. Your day was getting long, but maybe this was a good thing, it was a good thing Haechan got out of your sight, that way you wouldn't have to kill him. But then again, if you couldn't do your job, someone else would, someone else would kill your husband.

Maybe it was better for you to kill him, that way you could postpone it as long as you could, yeah, you'll do that. You'll tell Mantis a lie, say you had a showdown with him and he got away, but you know where he went, you say you can track him down and that you two were playing a cat and mouse game together. However, you knew Mantis and she would never agree to let you play childish games with someone apart of NCT, it was reckless.

7:40 pm

5 hours and 50 minutes remaining....

The sun was setting, your time was running around and your tenth disguise was starting to lose its charm. Staying in one disguise for too long would cause suspicion for some, especially for you. It was smart to constantly change so no one would notice you walking back and forth. Since it was turning nightfall, the sun going to sleep and the moon coming out to play, your last disguise was a black dress, a black dress with the same black heels you've been wearing and your hair down out of its updo. As you flawlessly changed in the midst of the busy streets, you knew where Donghyuck would go after a long day at work, the bar.

You tapped your ear piece and the line connected to Lyra. "Mako to Lyra, I've spotted him" You lied through your teeth.

"Lyra to Mako, you got eyes on him? Copy" You hear Lyra say on the other line, her fingers tapping on her keyboard.

You hummed as your heels clacked on the pavement to your destination. "He's at a bar, the one off of Dream street"

You heard Lyra hum on the other line. "Copy, you need backup? Is he with Mark?"

"Don't need backup, Mark is no where to be seen" You replied since you knew Mark always stayed after hours to get work done as Donghyuck would tell you.

"That guy overworks himself, I don't know how he does it" Donghyuck would say over dinner, sipping on his beer as you sipped on your wine. "He gets to work early and leaves super late, complete opposite of me. I get to work late and run out of that damn office like it's on fire"

"Why do you want to leave so early?" You asked, tilting your head like a confused dog. You set down your glass of wine, your eyes and attention solely on him. Donghyuck smirked as he looked at you, his beautiful wife.

It's like he was transported back to your wedding day, how you looked in your white dress, how he felt watching you walk down the aisle and how he felt when you said those words, "I do". Oh, how he dreamed that'd he'd wake up and it would be his wedding day all over again, how the nerves in his stomach would flutter around making him feel light, how his mind was filled with you and your memories together, and how he knew that in a couple of hours you would be his in every humanly way possible. So, of course, there was only one reason why Donghyuck would run out of the office like it was up in flames.

"To see my pretty girl" He flirted, his lips puckering up as he blew a kiss to you. You scoffed, rolling your eyes as you knew he was just saying that to be in your good graces. Happy wife, happy life, a motto Donghyuck lived by.

"You mean to get a drink at the bar" You called him out, your wine glass coming to your lips as Donghyuck faked a gasp, before chuckling.

"That's only on Fridays"

Which happens to be today. God, you were hoping he wasn't there, you were hoping that when you walked in that little dive bar he wouldn't be drinking a beer or any other concoction he felt like drinking. "Drinks on Fridays. Please skip it, please be the one day you don't come"

Please, don't be sitting there at the bar, up on a stool as he drank his afternoon beer away. You kept mumbling it, don't be there, don't be there, be walking home, be home and call me saying where I was, be home, cooking, making us food before we watch a movie and sleep on the couch. Please, don't be at the bar. It's all you kept telling yourself as your heels clicked on the parent, your steps going faster and your lungs burning as you breathed in the air. God, please don't be there.

You turned the corner, the sum was slowly being covered by grey clouds and the sight sky. Soon enough you saw the dive bar come in your point of view. The shitty LED sign buzzing and flickering its name, people already hanging outside of it, smoking cigarettes and talking. You walked up to the doors, pulling your ID out and went inside. As soon as you went in, the smell of beer and cigarettes hit your nose, inhaling you looked around, growing the looks the men around you gave you. Walking in slowly, hoping to not get noticed by your husband, you searched for him.

"Please" You whispered to yourself, your heart beating faster and faster as you approach the bar. As the crowd slowly got thinner the closer you got, the more you could see. Your breath fell out of your lips as you didn't see him, he wasn't here.

The bar stools not being occupied by your husband. He wasn't here. Donghyuck wasn't here, if he wasn't here that means he was at home, at home and safe and can live another day before someone else grabbed him. Maybe you'd run home, run home and tell him everything, tell him you needed to leave, to run, to change identities and live off the grid. You'd run away together, life together in hiding and it would just be the two of you again. No rivalries, no marks on your backs.

Yeah, that's what you'll do. So, with a smile on your face, you turned your body around, ready to run home and share your plan with Donghyuck. You couldn't wait to tell him, but even then, to tell him what exactly? That you were sent to kill him? Sent to en his life just as easy as he entered yours? And for what? Money? Would Donghyuck even want to still be married to you after revealing that? Would he still want to love you and be with you?

But your mind was made up. All the afterthoughts would come later, because you loved him so much more than a lousy paycheck. Turning around, a smile on your face, ready to start a new life, and you end up ramming yourself into someone. Looking up, your brain didn't register who it was yet, all you knew was that it was your husband.

"Oh, hey baby" You said with a smile, not thinking anything of it until you remember where you were, you remembered who you were and what you had to do. "Donghyuck!" You gasped, hand coming to your chest as you breathed in. "You scared me, what're you doing here?" You asked him, trying to catch his breath as he just looked at you.

gaze was different, it was something you noticed, something your assassin brain realized. Haechan was suspicious. "I can ask you the same thing" He said, his gaze looking you up and down, why were you in a black dress at a dive bar?

"Uh, I wanted to surprise you, duh" You said, trying to act cute for him. A pout here, your voice an octave higher and your eyes shining up at him like you weren't planning to kill him and then convince him to run away.

"You never surprise me" He said, his voice low as he looked down at you. His brows furrowed, lips downturned and not in their usual pout that you grew to love.

He was right, you never did surprise him. Surprises weren't your thing, you could never do them right and never did them justice. Even then, your idea of a surprise was making his favorite dinner on a random day and saying 'I made your favorite'. Donghyuck wasn't surprised by your actions though, as he always picked up on what you bought and would usually put two and two together. But, he'd still act surprised and shocked when you would tell him, wanting to make you feel special and loved. And even though you knew he knew, you still felt your heart swell when he'd say how surprised he was and how it was the best surprise.

It's why you fell in love with him. How he'd look at you with such love, how he'd bend over backwards to please you just because he wanted to. Donghyuck wanted to do things for you, he didn't do them out of a husband obligation, he did them because he wanted to see you smile. So, if it meant pretending, then he'd gladly do it. Pretending, is that what he's doing right now?

"Well, isn't that a surprise in of it self?" You questioned, trying so hard to not sound suspicious, even though he's already caught onto your little act: "Surprise!" You said happily, reaching up to pull him into a hug.

His arms instinctively went around your waist as yours went around his neck. You inhaled him and your knees went weak, your heart skipping a beat with the way he gripped your waist. Pulling away, you looked at him, hoping your cuteness and oblivious act payed off.

"Come on, let's go for a walk" He said, cocking his head to the door outside. You nodded as he grabbed your hand and led you outside.

Your stomach was churning, something wasn't right about this. Why talk outside? Sure, it's a little packed in the bar, but it isn't horrid, you two could still talk out here. As he lead you past the crowd of men, the air felt different. It wasn't was light as it used to be before you saw Haechan, it wasn't as breathable, because right now it was so thick and stuffy, your breaths were short huffs.

Your body was itching, your stomach feeling sick and Haechan's grip was too strong. He knew. He had to know, you couldn't help but think that he knew you were following him, he knew who you were and what you work for, he has to. Haechan was acting too cold, too nonchalant, he didn't smother you in kisses when you hugged him, he didn't pout and whine when you pulled away—in fact, he was the first he was the first one to pull out of your hug. The man pulling you out of the dive bar wasn't Donghyuck, your husband, but Haechan, the assassin from NCT.

This wasn't going to end well. But, maybe he'd have mercy on you, you are his wife after all. Maybe he'll let you explain and you'll tell him everything, tell him how you don't want to kill him, you want to run away with him and start over, be normal and actually have a normal 9 to 5 job, or even be a stay at like wife like some sick fairy tale ending. You don't know, but all you know is that Haechan knows what you're up to and you can't tell if he'll give you a chance to explain or your marriage was going to end in a death.

The air was colder now, a little sticky with the humidity. "Is it going to rain?" You asked, your question going unanswered as Donghyuck kept walking down the alley way. "Donghyuck, baby, where are we going?" You asked again and yet it goes ignored once more.

He just kept dragging you, turning corners, leading you to the dock where a lake was. This dock was where all the neighboring businesses collect their stock. "What are we doing here?"

You knew exactly why you were here. This dock, despite it being used 98% of the time, when it was dead night and everyone was out, this dock was secluded. Your nerves were buzzing throughout your body, he was just standing in front of you, ignoring your words as you stare at his back.

Donghyuck was contemplating. He was staring out at the water, how its soft waves reminded him of your soft voice, how gentle you were and yet when you wanted to, you were a storm of emotions he wanted to be drowned in. God, you were everything to him, he loved you so much, all these years of being yours, only to find you following him around.

It was odd, you following him. Your disguise might fool the people you kill, but it could never fool Donghyuck. "You know, you're not the only one who stares when sleeping" He said, his words conflicting as you stared back at him.

"What do you mean?" You ask, trying to act as normal as possible, but again, your instincts were itching at you to grab your knives hidden on your thigh. If only you could reach for them.

It was a conflicting feeling, wanting to reach for your knives despite your husband standing right in front of you. You knew you had to kill him, yet you can't you want to tell him everything and run away, and yet, you can't tell if he'll let you explain or go out fighting. All you knew was that the way Donghyuck was acting, you don't know if you'll come out talking. Did he want to fight? Did he want this to end this way? His guns blazing and your knives trying to cut him? You can't tell and it's making you paranoid. Maybe he had back up, maybe Mark was up on one of the building rooftops telling him, Haechan, she's reaching for her knives. You don't know what he's thinking, he's usually so open about everything, you can read him like a child's book, and right now, it's like you're looking at the worlds hardest language and trying to decipher it.

You can't, you can't read him, you can't see him and you can't understand him.

"I watch you too, when you sleep" He replied, his words so careful and so steady that it's throwing you off. No way Donghyuck, the man who loves you more than anything or anyone in this world is going to want to fight you. "Your face is so engraved in my memory that I can so easily spot you out in a crowd. It's funny"

"How?" You asked, confused at how him memorizing your face so much that it's carved into his brain is funny. "I just think it means you love me. Don't you think?"

Donghyuck hummed, he loves you so much. Your face is carved in his brain forever, it's so recognizable, so easy to find. "Yeah, I do love you"

"I love you too" You mumbled out, for some reason, you felt tears in your eyes. Hot, burning and blinding tears, you don't even notice how Donghyuck is reaching for the inside of his jacket.

"I just never thought I'd recognize your face in a silly disguise following me around town" He mumbled out, his words too soft for you to even hear them or to process them. "Let alone, be recognizable enough to be traced back as Mako"

Your world fell apart. How? What? How did he know? How did anyone know? You kept your alias a secret your work place was anonymous, everyone who hired you didn't know who you were, you kept yourself hidden when doing your assassins. How did anyone find out? How did he find out?

"What?" You questioned, your word coming out more like a squeak. "Wh-what're you taking about?"

"You're not as careful as you think you are, Mako" Your codename falling from his lips so naturally it made your breath hitch. "You had a run in with one of NCT's snipers not too long ago, maybe a year back" He said, finally turning around and your eyes locked onto his stone cold face and then trailed down to his hand holding his shiny gun. You felt your heart crack a little, he wasn't even going to let you explain. How did he know?  "TY, kinda tall, had pale blonde hair? You two were in Seventh City, ring any bells?"

Your face faltered. "Oh, no" You mumbled, the air getting knocked out of your breath as you remembered that mission.

1 year ago...

10:57 pm...

You were only a second year assassin and you were already climbing up the ranks. Kill after kill, intel after intel and paycheck after paycheck and despite being a newlywed, you didn't stop. It was normal to run into other companies doing the same job as you for other customers, but running into an NCT affiliate? That never happened. Yes, you both were rivals and always tried to get the better information to sell or people to kill for a greater profit, yet, you both never ran into one another. NCT and your company would always luck out on one another, either a customer chose you over NCT or vise versa.

Your paths never crossed until that night. It was a clear and cold night, you were inside the building and waking down the dark hallways filled with windows. As you approached the double doors leading to the office of a man who your client hired you to kill, you knocked gently. The other side let out a loud "What", making you mumble your words.

"CEO Lim, I'm here to give you your mail" You said in a sickly sweet voice as you reached down to your holster to grab your knives.

"What? What mail? It's nearly 8 o'clock" He said, his voice tired and annoyed by your presence.

You knocked once more, ignoring his calls for you to shut up and go home. You kept knocking, knock after knock until he got so fed up with you that with great strides, he opened up his door.

"Shut up! Are you stupid? I told you I don't want your goddamn mai—" His words were cut off with a simple stab to the stomach. His voice gurgling as he looked down at your figure, your hair covering your face as you quickly took out your knife and looked up at him.

"Mr. Park says hello" You said, a smile being offered to him as he began to step back, his hands clutching his stomach to stop the bleeding.

"Mr. Lim, that's not going to work" You said with confidence, watching at the foot of the entrance as he walked back to his desk, limping in pain. "If you're reaching for you gun, it isn't there"

Pulling out his gun from your other leg. He looked at you in bewilderment as you held it up and gawked it around like it was a trophy. "I raided your office during your lunch hour. Wasn't that hard to seduce your staff"

You tsked, throwing the gun off somewhere as you walked over to him, his blood still pooling out of his stomach where you stabbed him. You gently tapped his shoulder and he fell into his chair. Sighing, you grabbed his necktie and pull him closer to you, your other hand holding his knife to his throat as he remained silent and his breaths staggering as he bled out.

"Now, I'm going to make this as painless as possible, okay?" You asked, your smile conflicting the situation. How can you smile during this? How can you smile knowing you're going to kill a man?

This line of work was never easy, your first few kills always haunting you. And yet, you always came back, it was the sick part of you that you enjoyed. Knowing you killed people who wronged others, that's what kept you coming back. That and the paycheck was always too good.

As you finished your mission, you looked down at the lifeless body covered in his own blood. Taking in deep breaths you wiped off your knives with your fingers, the blood making a sloshing sound as it fell to the carpet floor. You pressed your finger to your ear piece turning it on as you called for your handler.

"Mako to Lyra, finished the job. Send in clean up" You ordered, looking out at the huge window his office had. It was a nice night, a nice night that is going to end in sweet sex with your husband who was patiently waiting at home.

"Lyra to Mako, copy, sending in clean up crew" Lyra repeated. The line went cold as you continued to look outside the window.

You admired the city, how at night it looked so calm, the bright lights illuminating the dark streets. It was like stars almost, hey there'd even a star out there flickering. Wait a minute, that's not a star.

Turning back on your earpiece, your voice echoed in Lyra's mind. "Mako to Lyra, we have company"

"Who?" Lyra asked, her voice perking up as this usually never happened.

"I'm about to find out"

"Mako wait, wait for back—" You cut her off as you began to walk out of the office. Your feet fast as your heels clacked against the floor.

Once you made it outside the building, you quickly entered the next, the doors sliding open as the front desk receptionist said a curt hello to you. You nodded, making your way to the elevator, riding up to the top floor. You waited patiently, watching as the lights above you dinged with each passing floor.

8, 9, 10, it was at the 11th floor that the doors opened up. A man with blonde hair in a nice suit with a brief case walked in. He gave you a small nod as he went to hit the top floor button, but realized oh, you had already pushed it. Question was, why would someone who's on the 11th floor want to go up to the 12th floor if he could just take the stairs.

Ah ha. Your brain made the connection as you both hit the 12th floor and none of you came out. It was eerily silent, no one saying a word and yet you both knew who you were. Assassins. However, he worked on rooftops, so a sniper and whatever he had in that briefcase was his weapon of choice no doubt about it, it was a gun.

"Lyra to Mako, copy, sending in clean up crew" Lyra repeated. The line went cold as you continued to look outside the window.

You admired the city, how at night it looked so calm, the bright lights illuminating the dark streets. It was like stars almost, hey there'd even a star out there flickering. Wait a minute, that's not a star.

Turning back on your earpiece, your voice echoed in Lyra's mind. "Mako to Lyra, we have company"

"Who?" Lyra asked, her voice perking up as this usually never happened.

"I'm about to find out"

"Mako wait, wait for back—" You cut her off as you began to walk out of the office. Your feet fast as your heels clacked against the floor.

Once you made it outside the building, you quickly entered the next, the doors sliding open as the front desk receptionist said a curt hello to you. You nodded, making your way to the elevator, riding up to the top floor. You waited patiently, watching as the lights above you dinged with each passing floor.

8, 9, 10, it was at the 11th floor that the doors opened up. A man with blonde hair in a nice suit with a brief case walked in. He gave you a small nod as he went to hit the top floor button, but realized oh, you had already pushed it. Question was, why would someone who's on the 11th floor want to go up to the 12th floor if he could just take the stairs.

Ah ha. Your brain made the connection as you both hit the 12th floor and none of you came out. It was eerily silent, no one saying a word and yet you both knew who you were. Assassins. However, he worked on rooftops, so a sniper and whatever he had in that briefcase was his weapon of choice no doubt about it, it was a gun.

"You stole my kill" He mumbled out, the elevator starting its way back down. 10th floor.

You furrowed your brows, not daring to look at him as you could easily see one another through the steel doors. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"You stole my kill" He said again, his voice stern as his grip on his briefcase made his knuckles go white.

You snapped your fingers, faking putting two and two together. "You mean CEO Lim?" You asked, your voice all happy compared to his.

"He was mine to kill"

You clicked your tongue and shook your head, your body relaxed compared to his stiff body. "Not according to my boss, he was mine"

"I was the one who was hired, not you" He pointed out, the elevator continuing to go down. 7th floor.

"Sure you were tough guy" You joked, making yourself chuckle as he remained stiff. "Say, why be a sniper when you can get all the action up close?"

"Why be an assassin when you can't even kill the man properly. You prolonged his death and for what? Some sick sadistic reason?"

"Client needed more info so I got more info. Snipers are always rushing. One after the other, one bullet and so forth. You don't listen to your clients when they say torture the guy for more info"  You ranted on about snipers and your distaste for them.

It's not that you hated snipers, they were fine for your field of work. Heck, you were friends with snipers, 98% of your company works as snipers, only 2% are assassins like yourself. Snipers are fine, they're just too quick. They want as many kills in as little time as possible, they see their target, they pull the trigger. Snipers are trigger happy and it pisses you off sometimes because as an assassin, torture was the only way to get more info and get a bigger pay check. Eventhough it is more personal, you earned more money and you were more careful. Snipers are careless creatures, who again, care more about a kill count then the clients who hired you.

"Snipers are quick, we don't prolong a death for extra info the clients won't pay for" Taeyong replied sternly, feeling offended by the perception you had of him.

"Well this client did. Maybe talk to your handler and boss, they'll make better deals for you" You boasted, thinking about the raise you earned for this mission.

Taeyong scoffed, annoyed at how money hungry you are. "We don't make last minute deals"

"Right, because NCT is just so quick with their kill count" You mumbled out, watching the light change from the 5th floor to the 4th. Times almost up.

Taeyong whipped his head to look at you, the first time since this elevator ride, he finally looked at you. "How'd you know I was NCT affiliate?"

Slowly turning your head to look at him, your eyes studied his body. Clean cut black suit, Italian leather shoes, a rolex, none the doubt that was modified to some sort of hidden weapon, maybe even his pager. Sighing, you looked at him with a blunt look, NCT affiliates are so easy to track.

"Your suit, the stitching is neon green in some lighting. You guys aren't as smart as you think you are. Some uniform" You pointed out, Taeyong's eyes glancing down at his suit and sure enough, in some lighting you could see the neon green stitching.

He looked back up at you and you raised an eyebrow at him. How could he one up you? Oh, he knows how. "Okay little miss Widow"

Now it was your turn to be surprised by this. "How'd you—"

"Your knife handle has a spider engraved on it. A bit on the nose, don't you think?" He asked, remembering how he looked through his sights to see your knives. Sure enough, there was a spider on it, Widows.

"I don't need the sass from an NCT" You shot back, annoyance running through your body.

He looked back at you with the same annoyance. "And I don't need a Widow stealing my kills"

You groaned out loud as your body slumped, it's not your fault two different clients hired two different people to do their dirty work. "I didn't steal your kill, you psycho! Clearly we were both hired by two different people, every think of that Sherlock?" You asked him, waiting for his response, but sure enough the elevator hit the 1st floor. Looking at the opening door, you glanced back at him, ready to leave. "Now, if you'll excuse me"

"How you know I won't follow you?" Taeyong asked, watching as you clicked your heels on the cold tile floor as you were walking away from him.

Your steps came to a hault, turning around to look at Taeyong who remained in the elevator, his arm stopping the doors from closing in on him. "Because then what's the fun in that?" You asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

Taeyong stared at you and you stared back at him. It was a mutual agreement that didn't need words, one that you both understood. Don't kill each other right now, both of your paths will cross again and only then would you two fight to the death. However, Taeyong is a sniper, snipers love their rooftops and doing their dirty work from afar, and better yet, they love doing it when there's no risk, you being at home is a risk, because who knows what kind of things you have hiding in your closet.

Taeyong would wait until the field, he'd wait until your somewhere with no risks, he'd wait for his kill. That's the sick fun people in your work have and crave for.

So, he let the doors close in on him, he let the elevator doors close and send him back up to his safe little rooftop as he continued on with his night. You however, would walk away, your figure disappearing as you made your way outside, no one suspecting a thing.

Honestly, that interaction left your mind the next day, not caring for when you would see Taeyong again. You just didn't think it'd come back and haunt you.

"Oh, yes. So, you do remember?" Donghyuck asked, a wicked smile plastered on his face as he began to circle around you like a vulture getting ready to eat its food. "Well, let me tell you a little story. When I was out today, walking around, eating lunch with Mark. I noticed a girl sitting in the corner watching us, or at least pretending to not watch us. At first I was confused you know, who was this stalker watching Mark and I, and it wasn't until I was about to leave that I realized, oh, it was my wife. Now, logically speaking I'm thinking, oh, she wants to see what I'm up to, maybe she recognized me while she was on her own lunch break, that's funny. But then, as soon as I leave, she leaves too and is trying to find me. Now, I'm nice and as I'm about to scare her with Mark, I hear her say something funny"

"Donghyuck" You interrupted him, wanting to explain as you felt your body tremble with anxiety and sadness.

He's really doing this, he's airing out the whole day and is ready to fight you. Why? Why did he want to fight you? Why couldn't he just let you explain, let you tell him your plan to run away? Why couldn't he just shut up for a minute?

"Something along the lines of Mako to Lyra, I lost him. Now, I think this is funny because I remember TY telling me a funny little story on how he had a run in with this women who stole his kill and info and that her name happened to be Mako. Now, imagine my surprise when I hear my wife call herself Mako!" Donghyuck came to a stop, standing right in front of you, staring you down as you felt weak. "Funny story, don't you think?"

"Donghyuck, just let me explain" You begged, your voice coming out in a whine as you just wanted to grab his shoulders and shake him.

Did he really think you'd kill him? Did he really think you didn't come up with a different possibility? Sure, your first instinct was to kill him until you thought of a different plant. But honestly? After being together for a couple years, you'd think your husband would hear you out, trust you.

And he did trust you. Oh my God, he trusted you so much, trusted you with every atom that made up his body. That's why he doesn't want to hear you out, doesn't want to hear the excuses you're going to make or the plan you thought of. Donghyuck felt betrayed, felt like his world collapsed when he heard you say those words to Lyra. Donghyuck felt like his world shifted, it shifted to the other side of the universe, a whole new world where you aren't his wife, but an enemy.

Donghyuck began to think, was all of this a ruse? A lie? Did you even love him? Did you want to marry him? Did you mean the vows and words you said to him? Every laugh, every word, every meeting and interaction, was it all fabricated so you could end his life? Those are the questions running through his mind. If you were sent to kill him, was it since the beginning? Was this your mission the whole time?

Did your company catch whiff of him so early on that they tasked you to kill him? Did you only get into this relationship to end his life?

"Wait, I'm not finished" He stopped you, his gaze growing cold, his warm eyes going dumb as he towed above you. His face so close to yours that you could see everything on his face. Every line you memorized, every mole you once kissed, every word you ever said to him, it was all coming to an end. "Now, in my head I'm thinking, no, no way my wife, my beautiful wife is Mako, and no way is she hunting me down to kill me"

"Donghyuck, please" Those were the only words that could come out of your mouth. Your world is slowly crumbling, falling down like one of your victims.

This wasn't normal, the way Haechan was looking at you wasn't normal, the way he was standing tall, standing like a man ready to throw a punch, this wasn't your husband standing in front of you, this was a killer. But so were you, you were a killer, still are, and you were sent to kill him, so do it, kill him.

"No, you're here to kill me, so do it" Even Haechan wanted you to do it. His steps getting closer to you as he stared you down, not breaking anything in his stature. His chest puffed, eyes dark, face hard and he was angry at you, furious. And yet, all you could see was Donghyuck, the man you'd laugh with at 3 in the morning because of something stupid.

It was all you could see, you can't kill him, because if you kill him, you'd kill yourself in the process. So, with teary eyes you shook your head at him.

"No, I can't" You said, your voice weak with emotion and distress. How could he ask you to kill him? And so easily?

He took another step towards you, his face so close to yours you could feel his breath hitting your face. His next words were grim, "Do it, or I will kill you"

The breath was knocked out of your chest, your lungs burning as your body went cold. Kill you, Haechan will kill you if you don't kill him. How can he say that? How can he stand there and say those words without second thought? But, aren't you a hypocrite for thinking this? Aren't you the one who decided to accept the mission anyways? Weren't you the one who followed him around all day for hours and hours on end just to end his life? You accepted it without second thought, so this was his revenge, his way one gaining control over a decision you decided to take.

"Donghyuck" You said, his name dying on your lips.

"You've made your choice. Kill me" He said, his finger messing with the trigger of the gun he's holding. You glance down at it, was he actually serious about this?

Tearing your eyes away from his gun, you looked back up at him. "Don't make—"

"Fine, then I'll kill you" Donghguck said, his gun lifting up, the tip touching your stomach. You felt your heart beat faster and faster, panic settling in as you look ed down at the gun touching you.

"Dong—"

"No!" He exclaimed, moving away from you as he turned around. You let out a breath of relief as his back was now to you, his gun to his head as he closed his eyes, thinking about what he was doing. He turned around to face you, his gun coming down as he flailed it around, his body running hot. "You do not get to back out of this, you chose your mission, now I'm choosing mine"

"Don't—" You snake your head, but he shook his head, his gun going up as he pointed it straight at you. "Please! Just let me explai—"

Donghyuck pulled the trigger, the bullet barely missing you as you flinched away. "Let me explain!" You yelled at him, your heart beating out of your chest. Donghyuck shook his head as he pulled the trigger again, making you run away from him, Donghyuck continuing to pull the trigger to hit you.

You ran behind a wall in between an alley way, hearing Donghyuck's foot steps come closer to you. "Shit" You mumbled, lifting up your skirt to grab your knives from their holster.

You gripped them tightly, your knuckles going white as you peaked your head from over the wall. You quickly found him walking closer to you, looking away, your brain had to think of a plan fast. Looking down, you found some rocks, instantly, you grabbed one and threw it to a different place away from your spot. The rock hit the ground, making some noise which caused Donghyuck to look away, which gave you an opening to move slowly around him, wanting to make him confused before you attack.

You stepped out of your heels, knowing this fight would be a hard one to get out of. Your feet stepping onto the cold concrete as you slowly and quietly came out of the alley way to confront him. You watched his face, his gun held up as he turned every corner to make sure you wouldn't come out and attack him.

It was a tango, a dance, the warmup before the show as you slowly approached him. Suddenly, as soon as you got closer to him, Haechan's back straightened up, his shoulders going lax as he turned around.

Your knives in your hand as his gun was in his. No words were exchanged, no remarks, nothing, just the both of you standing there, ready to give into this fight none of you wanted, but knew you had to have.

Donghyuck moved first, his gun going off as you dodged it, throwing one of your knives at him, missing your target by a mere inch. With one hand free as Donghyuck tried to regain his composure, you grabbed his gun by the barrel, moving it up as he shot a bullet in the air.

Using this momentum, you bring the gun to your side and tried to get it out of his grip, but he pulled his arm in which made you two he face to face. Haechan reeled his head back as it made contact with yours. You groaned in paid as it caused you to stumble back, Haechan quickly pointed his gun at your again, ready to shoot, but you bent down and extended your leg to sweep his own which caused him to fall to the ground, making him loosen his grip on his gun.

You ran to it, quickly kicking it away as far as possible when Haechan grabbed your leg and pulled it, making you fall on the floor ready for him to crawl on top of your to pin your hands above your head to grab your other knife and throw it far away as well.

Both of your now left without weapons, it was time for your hand to hand combat to pay off. With Donghyuck on top of you, he made it clear to punch you in the face as you tried to get out of his grip, wrapping your legs around his waist and using your full force to flip the both of you over, this was done fairly easily since this was a move you could do in your sleep.

Now with you on top of him, you began to punch him in the face repeatedly, but Haechan was quick to push you off of him, making you roll away on your back.

Looking back up at him, Haechan was now standing up, adjusting his suit coat as his feet began to kick at your stomach, making you groan in pain. After a few kicks, you gathered enough strength to pull your first back and punch him in the groin, making him double over in pain.

You got up from the floor with him following in suit. The two of you looked at one another, blood coming from his lips as your blood was coming from your eyebrow. Similar cuts on both of your cheeks as you caught your breaths. Haechan moved first, lunging at

you with a punch, which you caught with your hand as your knee moved up to knee him in the stomach.

He groaned as you repeated this action until he reeled back his fist to punch you in the stomach, making you push him off of you. You now lunged at him as you tried to kick him, but he dodged your kick, as he tried to punch you. He got his hit on your cheek, making you stumble back before you jumped up and twisted around in the air as you kicked him in his face, making him fumble to the ground.

You quickly got on top of him again, until he brought his arm up to the side of your neck, blocking you as he pushed you down in the ground for him to get up from the floor. You wrapped your legs around him to get some kind of control when he reached down with both hands to choke you. His strong hands making it hard for you to breathe as you clawed at his face.

The more you clawed, the more Haechan got annoyed with you, so he let go of your neck, putting the full force of his body on top of yours as your arms went around the back of his neck as he lifted you up in the air.

You gripped on as he to shake you off, and realizing that he couldn't, he rand to the closets brick wall he could find and slammed you against if, making your head smack against the wall and your back slamming with it. However, your arms didn't movie, but you felt the pain and exhaustion building up, so he pulled back and slammed you against the wall again, making you close your grip on him as he let you go, making you catch yourself with your feet on the ground.

Your hair as a mess, your dress ruined and exhausted filled your bones. Haechan on the other hand, tried his best to stand his ground as he lifted his fists up to protect himself, but you just looked at him. Trying to catch your breath when you pulled your hand back to punch him straight in his nose, making his head fall back and he felt his nose begin to bleed.

With not wasting a second, you jumped him and held on to his neck, your upper body practically hanging off his back as you elbowed his head and he punched your side. You began to fall down his body the more he punched you until he threw you down on the floor.

You groaned in pain, your body starting to feel the effects of it all when you looked ahead on the floor and spotted your knife. You quickly grabbed it, standing up to face him, only to see him pointing his gun at you.

You don't know when it started to rain, but the first trickles of water began to fall, hitting your hot skin as it began to soak you and him down to the bone. There he was, standing just a few feet away from you, your husband, your best friend, the person you wanted to share your life with.

There he is, holding a gun to you, ready to shoot, this wasn't happening, but it was. You felt your body reject you, your eyes filling with tears as your hand shook, your knife no longer feeling as steady as it once did.

You could see Haechan's resolve crack. His once hardened expression falling apart as he saw your tears. He didn't know why his tune changed, why he suddenly cared when all he felt was betrayal. But seeing you, covered in blood and cuts from the harsh punches he gave you and scratched from the concrete floor, he wondered, why couldn't he just let you talk. Let you explain and all of this fighting could have been avoided.

Your jaw clenched as Haechan lowered his gun, his body going tense as his face cracked even more. "I can't do this" He said, his mind and body betraying his training.

"No!" You exclaimed, your knife shaking even more. How can he back out now? After begging you to kill him only to say he was now going to kill you. He should kill you, pull the trigger and put you out of your misery of taking this stupid mission in the first place. "Come on!" You yelled at him, your voice weak and gritted through your teeth. But Donghyuck didn't move an inch he didn't raise his gun back up to you, it was now at his side. "Kill me! Come on!"

"I'm so sorry" Donghyuck mumbled to you, but also to himself, his Haechan persona. "Baby"

"No!" You yelled through your tears, running toward him with all your might, but it was futile. His hand instantly went up to grab your wrist that was holding the knife, holding it hard enough that it loosened your grip and it fell out of your hands, falling onto the ground with a clank.

"Please, just kill me" You begged through your tears, but all Donghyuck did was bring your body to his, his arms wrapping around you with such a gentle touch that it contrasted the way his arms felt wrapped around you during the fight.

"I'm so sorry baby" He mumbled into your damn hair, his hand cradling the back of your head as his other arm was wrapped around your waist, securing you to his body.

You sobbed in his arms, your own wrapping around him as he felt your body tremble and shake. He was trying to stay strong for you, but he too felt his heart crack as the realization hit him. He tried to kill you, so easily, like it was nothing.

"I'm so sorry" He apologized again.

It was all he could say, the rain was drowning his words out, soaking both of you until you ran cold, but for some reason, the hug was warm and you could hear his voice loud and clear.

You both didn't know how you would get out of this predicament. After all you failed a mission, Haechan couldn't go back to his company and go on missions like normal because your company would find out that you didn't kill him and you couldn't go back to work without Mantis killing you after failing your mission.

You both didn't know what to do, that would be a plan for another day. So now, all you both could do was hug each other, cling on to one another like you were both a life line to each other's lives in this pouring rain. The both of you were still alive, injuries to be tended to later, but all you wanted, all you craved was Donghyuck.

So you stayed in his arms and pretended that you had a life tomorrow, had him tomorrow, because you honestly don't know if you will have all of him when sunrise hits.

"I love you" You mumbled into his neck as your sobs and cries subsided. His scent filling your nose and you held him tight like it was your last time saying those words.

"I love you too" Donghyuck said, his own words echoing the uncertainty the both of you had when it came to tomorrow. So, all you had was this, this simple moment wrapped in each other's arms as blood slipped from his nose and cuts and bruised form on your bodies.

However, a simple moment is all anyone can have, a simple moment that can turn sour. All you heard was a ringing, a ringing in your ear as your world began to blur together. Donghyuck's grip on you tightened as yours loosens up, your arms slowly falling from his waist to your side. Your mind was fuzzy, your senses going blind to everything around you.

"Hyuck, something's wrong" You mumbled out, feeling your lungs running out of breath as your knees gave out and you fell to the ground, Donghyuck holding you steady as he fell with you.

He cradled you in his arms as tears began flowing down his face. "You're gonna be okay, you're gonna be okay baby" He mumbled out through his tears, your breath going unsteady as you looked down at your stomach.

"Oh" It's all you could say, all you could come up with as your brain processed the fact that you're bleeding, you're bleeding from your stomach and that ringing in your ear was the sound of a bullet going off. "Who"

"I don't know, but you're gonna be fine, you're gonna be okay" Donghyuck said, his hands gently resting you down as he pressed down on your wound.

The blood seeped through his fingers, he was trying to stop your bleeding, but it wasn't working, he wasn't helping. "Help! Someone help!" Donghyuck yelled into the wet dark night.

His voice cracking as he screamed for anyone to help him, for anyone to call an ambulance. "Please! Help!" He kept screaming and it was hurting your ears.

"Hyuck, stop yelling" You mumbled out, your words coming out in short breaths and cut up words. "Please"

"You're gonna be okay, you're gonna be okay" Those were the only words he could come up with only words he could tell you.

What else could he tell you? What else could he do? He couldn't call anyone because if he did that would require him to take his hands off you, making you bleed out, but even if he didn't call, you would still bleed out. Donghyuck was crying tears and tears for you, your eyes slowly closing.

"No, don't close your eyes, keep them on me, keep them open baby" He begged, he begged and pleaded. You couldn't keep them open anymore, they were heavy, just so heavy and you were tired, you wanted to sleep.

"Five more minutes" Those words, those three words that fell from your lips brought him back to this morning. He looked down at you and gave you a weak smile as you smiled back up at him. "Please, just five more minutes"

"Okay, okay baby, just five minutes" Donghyuck cried, his words being soft as he swallowed the hard lump in his throat. "I'll wake you up" He mumbled out, his bloody hand leaving your bleeding stomach as he gently stroked your hair.

"I wanted...." Your voice trailed off, Donghyuck shushing you and telling you to not speak. "I wanted to run away...run away with you" You revealed, your throat feeling a bit clogged up as you felt something coming up your throat. "I didn't...didn't wanna kill you, wanted to run away"

Donghyuck felt his heart shatter, shatter into dust as he heard you. "Oh, baby, we'll run away together, we'll go to Denmark, you always talked about Denmark" He revealed, you smiled at this and he went on. "We'll get we a little house, retire, have a kid or two"

"A girl" You whispered, your eyes blinking slowly and staying closed for longer periods of time. Donghyuck knew your time was running out, knew he wasn't going to have this life with you.

Donghyuck chuckled, of course you both wanted a girl, maybe two girls, but girls were always on the list. Donghyuck wanted a little girl so badly, but the time never arises. You were busy with work and so was he, you both knew you didn't have time for a baby, but that didn't mean you both didn't dream about it or talk about it. You had a list filled with baby names, a Pinterest board of the kind of clothes you'll both buy her, how Donghyuck would keep you up, his head on your chest as he talked about how he'd react when his baby girl would come home with a boyfriend or a girlfriend, he didn't care who she loved as long as she experienced a love like the one you both shared.

"We'll have a girl yeah, of course we'll have a little girl, we'll name her Hayoon, yeah, Hayoon" Donghyuck said, saying a name you both really liked.

The name was a whisper in the world, a whisper you both talked about when creating a list. Donghyuck's obsession with sun and sunshine, how he said you were his sun or how he said he was your sun. Something about sun and something about the idea of sunlight made you and Donghyuck think about so many times.

"Sunlight" You mumbled out, noticing how through the clouds you could see sunlight. The gray clouds and the stormy sky didn't matter anymore since you could see the sun peaking through.

"Yeah, she'll have your smile, your eyes" Donghyuck rambled on, thinking about what your baby could've looked like, been like, acted like. Would she have your laugh or his? Have your eyes or his? Who would she be a copy of? Which parent would she like more? Donghyuck said she would be a daddy's girl, and that he'd do anything she'd ask. You laughed and always said that your daughter would have him wrapped around her little finger. Oh, the life you two could've had, would've had if he just shut up and let you explain. But no, now you're here laying in a pool of your blood as it came out of your stomach and mouth. You were closed and Donghyuck felt your body leave a last breath and your body is now lifeless. "Baby? Baby?" Donghyuck called your name, his eyes scanning your lifeless body and he let out one last sob and cry. One last emotion from his shattered and dusted heart. "I love you so much" He cried out, leaning down to leave one last kiss to your forehead, his lips quivering as his tears mixed with the rain falling down.

Donghyuck let out his screams, his sobs, his whole heart poured out of him like the rain pouring itself on his body and yours. All the memories, all your smiles and laughs, all our times together of late night laughs, the soft sex and the way you two made love to one another was gone now. Everything was gone, he wouldn't see your face anymore, wouldn't wake up to you staring at him anymore and wouldn't be able to touch you anymore. You were gone, you are someone who would slowly fade away from existence.

"Haechan" His name came out from the harsh rain and his tears.

Donghyuck looked up from your body to see the familiar head of hair and strong face that was Taeyong. "What are you..." He was so confused why would he be here? He should have been away, why was he here? Wait, the bullet came out of no where, probably from a few feet away, maybe up in a building and Taeyong as here. Donghyuck's brows were furrowed with anger as he glared at Taeyong who held no remorse for what he did. "You did this? You did this!"

Taeyong shook his head, knowing that Donghyuck would be furious a him, but it was the only way. "It had to be done, she was going to kill you"

"Why would you do this?!" Donghyuck yelled into the air, Taeyong not flinching as he glanced at your body, he was so apathetic about the whole thing, he just killed his co workers wife in cold blood like it was another work day.

"I did what had to be done!" Taeyong exclaimed, his anger getting the best of him. Taeyong closed his eyes as he took a deep breath. "I did what had to be done" He said once more, his voice calmed like his whole persona changed.

Donghyuck shook his head, his tears still falling from his eyes as he looked up at the man who he thought was his friend at least. "No, you didn't, no, you ruined her plans! You ruined us! You killed my wife!"

"She was going to kill you!" Taeyong yelled over Donghyuck's voice, his shoulders going tense as he looked at Donghyuck who was covered in your blood. Looking back at your lifeless body, all Taeyong could see was Mako, the girl who was their rival, the women who stole his kill a year ago, the women who was going to kill his co worker. "She was a Widow, she was Mako, the girl who stole all our kills, our money!"Taeyong yelled, looking back at Donghyuck who just sat there, his jaw open as his brain still clouding wrap around the idea that Taeyong killed his wife.

"I don't care who she was! I care that you killed my whole world!" Donghyuck yelled again, this whole conversation turning in of a screaming match in the rain.

Taeyong clenched his jaw, his body slightly leaning back in his stance, mostly in disbelief that Donghyuck didn't understand that you were going to kill him with no mercy. He didn't care that you had a plan, a second option, the first was to kill him and Taeyong didn't want that to happen, he couldn't let that happen.

"And she was going to kill her own. You" Taeyong pointed out, you were going to kill your world way before Taeyong would kill Donghyuck's.

a

Donghyuck's brain was spiraling, his thoughts funneling into one. His eyes glancing around, he found his stray gun just a mere free feet away from him. Donghyuck reached for it and pointed it at Taeyong who held his hands up calmly.

"Put the gun down" Taeyong said in a stern voice, calm and collected like he always as. The only emotion he ever showed as anger, and right now, he was so calm, so easy going and so annoying to Donghyuck.

"You killed her you killed her and you didn't even think...didn't even think about what that was gonna do to me" Donghyuck said, his voice getting breath as his mind as screaming at hm to pull the trigger. Taeyong did this, Taeyong did all of this and had no remorse no mercy and no sympathy for hm.

"Haechan, put the gun down" Taeyong orders again, but Donghyuck kept his up, pointing at his body as he clenched his jaw.

Donghyuck's tears dried up, the blood on his hand slowly getting washed away by the pouring rain that hadn't let up. Donghyuck didn't want to debate anymore, didn't talk anymore. He didn't abt to do anything anymore. All he wanted to do was go home, get in bed and sleep, wanted to smell your side of the bed, wanted to pretend that you had a late night at the office, pretend that you would come home any minute now. He'd fall asleep, wake up to feeing someone dare at him, only to open his eyes and see your face, your soft skinned face and watch how you closed your eyes since you got caught. And then, he would stare at you, stare at your nose, your eyelashes, your lips, how they were this perfect color that became his favorite. He'd watch how the sun wild seep through the curtains to wash over you in this beautiful warmth.

That's all he wanted, to see you in that state, that relaxed state that only he could see. He just wanted you back, hadn't even been an hour since he felt your soul leave your body and he already wanted you back in his arms, laughing without a care in the world.

"You killed her" He mumbled, his eyes going down to your body. You looked so peaceful, so relaxed with your eyes closed. You looked just like you did this morning, beautiful. "You killed her" He repeated.

Donghyuck's eyes tore away from your peaceful body to look back up at Taeyong who continued to stand there.

"So now you're gonna kill me?" Taeyong asked.

Was he? Was Donghyuck going to kill Taeyong? The guy who waited until he was in the field to do what he wanted to do for a year. Taeyong waited a year a fucking year until he saw you again. He just didn't think you were Haechan's wife, he didn't think you two had any ties until right now. However, he didn't feel bad, because at the end of the day, he got his revenge. Call him petty and all anyone wants, but Taeyong had a grudge against you and he promised himself he'd kill you one day and today was that day.

Did you want Donghyuck to kill Taeyong though? Yo avenge your death? Did you want that? Did Donghyuck even want that? He was the one holding the gun and he can't figure out if he wanted to kill Taeyong. Because deep down he did, he wanted to pull the trigger, but then his own wife would be in the same predicament like he was. Her husband dead and seeking revenge for the person who killed him and then it would be Taeyongs wife who'd be holding gun pointed at Donghyuck who held his hands up.

So, yeah, Donghyuck anted to kill him so badly, wanted to pull the trigger so many times until the gun ran out of bullets. But, would he feel satisfied? It wouldn't bring you back, you wouldn't come back from the dead, you'd still be in the other side and Donghyuck would still be here.

"I want to" Donghyuck admitted. "I want to shoot you so many times, but it won't bring her back" He mumbled out, throwing the gun away to his side.

"I'll call Mark to get clean up crew" Taeyong suggested, but Haechan quickly declined his suggestion.

"No, just get out of here before I regret not killing you" He said, his eyes in slits like a snake ready to attack.

"Hae—"

"Go!" Haechan yelled at him. Taeyong hesitated before turning around and leaving. Donghyuck looked back down at your body and pulled out his phone. Donghyuck’s phone began ringing as he waited for the other side to answer. "I need an ambulance, my wife's dead"