#but my brother takes time away from working in a cookie shop and doing 100 mile bike rides and 5am gym sessions and surfing

[eonars]

jesus christ my brother made such a life changingly good pumpkin pie it reversed any of the physical and mental damage i incurred today

[joezy27]

HAWKEYE - "The More Things Change, The More They Stay the Same"

A Kate Bishop story by Kelly Thompson

My neighbor across the street is trying to kill us all.

Okay, wait. We gotta go back further. Let’s see…where to start?

I broke my leg.

Actually, that’s inaccurate, Ladder Man broke my leg while I was doing super hero stuff during the pandemic. Oh yeah, the pandemic. Context. Stories have to have context. So let’s go further back. This is the last time, I promise.

Nobody ever expected this to happen. I mean, we were all waiting for the apocalypse of course... a zombie one, a nuclear winter one, even a sharknado one…but the one where you have to stay home for months on end by yourself and watch your life and loved ones slip away either metaphorically or literally or both? Yeah, nobody wrote stories about that. You know why? Because it sucks. And it’s boring. And nobody would sign up for it! I would fight a thousand zombie hordes before I’d be trapped in this uncertainty again. But we do what we have to do for the safety of ourselves and others. Even when the ask is huge. Even when the ask is weird.

And I am who I am, so I wanted to do more, I wanted to help. Heck, I needed to help, it might be compulsive, but let’s put a pin in that for now.

Annnnnnyway, while I’m someone with some very particular and impressive skills, I’m not skilled at everything. In fact, I’m bad at a lot.

The masks I tried to sew? They were bad. Very very bad.

The website I tried to build for Ramone to help her surf shop get through the shutdown? She fired me. Do you know how bad a website has to be to get your best friend—who is not paying you—to fire you? Yeah. It was that bad.

I did successfully donate blood, but there’s only so much blood you can donate, and only so many cookies you can eat. Well, okay, you can probably eat infinite cookies, and have a great time doing it, but not if you ever want to fit into your costume again. Like, a form-fitting costume with hip holes is not forgiving, people.

But it turns out—surprise surprise!—that Super Villains are not exactly great at following the rules. In fact, they see nothing but opportunity in times of crisis. So, yeah, Super Villain activity spiked real fast. Just in Venice Beach alone we were lousy with villains making trouble. I put up some personal bests as far as taking down jerks.

But…and here we get to the relevant leg bit. I was fighting Ladder Man and his ridiculous “stepstool minions” three days ago with Johnny and Ramone Watts, who most people know as Fuse and Alloy, brother and sister Super Heroes, who also happen to be two of my absolute favorite people on the planet. But I digress, Ladder Man, in a deeply Super Villain—deeply jerk move—broke my futzing leg. Small sidebar: he didn’t actually set my leg but I saw Doctor Mole at the hospital and that guy is just terrific, anyone that tells you he isn’t the best part of ‘The Mole Men of Los Angeles Reality Show’ is…well, they’re just plain wrong.

So. The Leg. Compound fracture. Healing time: 3 to 6 months. Total disaster.

And there we have it, after a solid little run of feeling like I was actually doing some good, I’m back to being stuck inside…can’t sew masks, can’t build websites, can’t donate blood, can’t donate money (did I mention I’m broke?), and can’t fight Super Villains. In fact, I’m more dependent than ever on the kindness of friends…and sometimes strangers…aka some guy that works in Ramone’s surf shop brought me a burrito today. Best burrito I’ve ever eaten. That man is a hero.

So I’m back to feeling useless. Or So. I. Thought.

Because the neighbor across the street from me is 100% a Super Villain and now I just have to convince Johnny that I’m right. This should go well. It starts when he finds that the floor by the window (and also his favorite jacket) are soaking wet.

“Kate, why is the floor all wet over here…and wait, what happened to my jacket?”

I wheel my seen-better-days wheelchair toward him, slightly sheepish, “Well. It’s a long story.”

“Ten words or less, please.”

“Ice arrow,” I say.

“All right. You can have more than ten words, explain.”

“I discovered that our neighbor across the street is a Super Villain, and in an attempt to expose him and thwart his evil plans I carved an arrow out of ice and shot it into his apartment.”

Johnny stares at me for a long moment, his mouth slightly open. “I have so many questions. Let’s start with why did you need an ice arrow? You have hundreds of arrows laying around, I am literally constantly getting stabbed by them.”

“Well, he’s got that huge window you see—with all those individual panes of glass. And I needed to break one of those panes…but I didn’t want there to be any evidence left behind that I had done that…so the ice arrow melts. Leaves nothing behind. Cool, right?”

“You learned this from a movie.” He says it. It’s not a question. I want to deny it but he knows me too well. Of course I learned it from a movie. He sighs, “I still don’t understand why it’s wet in here.”

“Well, carving an ice arrow is harder than you might think. A lot of trial and error.”

“Is that why you have eleventy billion Band-Aids on your hands?”

I forgot about the Band-Aids. I raise my hand, “Well, if you must know, some of them are from when I burned myself while making a grilled cheese sandwich earlier.”

“Okay, so you broke into this man’s house?”

I scrunch up my nose, “I feel like it’s more of a grey area than a clear break-in, but sure,” I shrug and shove a pair of binoculars at him, “Do me a favor though and take a good look.” Johnny raises the binoculars to his face and scans the villain’s apartment. A moment later he gasps and in excitement I do as well. “Did you see it!?”

He looks down at me, the binoculars still in his hands, “He has a whole huge closet full of …GASP!...toilet paper! DUN DUN DUN!” My smile fades. Johnny teases me, “Hoarding valuable supplies might make him a terrible member of his community, but I’m not sure it qualifies him as a Super Villain.”

I roll my eyes, “That’s not what you’re looking for dum-dum. Look again. To the left of the closet.”

Johnny scans again with the binoculars; I bump him, pushing the view left, “Left, I said!” After a long pause I can tell he’s found it, so I start babbling, “He’s got one of those creepy ‘Super Villain bulletin boards’ full of his plans—look there’s news articles, schematics, and notes all over…he’s even got little red strings connecting things!”

Johnny lowers the binoculars again, slowly this time. He looks over at me, expressionless and gesturing to the wall beside us, “You mean one of those crazy bulletin boards like this one of yours?”

I follow his gaze to my bulletin board and roll my eyes again, “Uh. That is clearly a crazy super hero bulletin board, not Super Villain. The differences are subtle but important.” His phone pings violently a few times and I try hard to talk over it, “For example my board has a bunch of low level thugs that I’m trying to tie to a bigger fish…whereas his board has the schematics of a local hospital, an insane number of articles on the pandemic, and--”

“Uh-huh,” he says unconvincingly while handing me back the binoculars, “Tell me this, Kate, if it’s really an evil bulletin board, why would he have it out in plain view…and with his shades wide open?”

I sit back in the chair, pleased with myself, “Well, you see, the bulletin board wasn’t visible. I saw just a peek of it last night when he was home looking at it…but then he covered it up with that drape when he left,” I gesture vaguely at the window and Fuse squints his eyes in that direction again. “And then this afternoon, after breaking the window pane with my first ice arrow, I used the second ice arrow to cut the cord to the drape. See how it’s fallen to the ground?”

Johnny squints at the apartment again, still not convinced. “So, you broke this man’s window and then wrecked some of his property because you saw the faintest hint of a Super Villain plan and--”

I interrupt him, waving my hands, “It doesn’t matter why I did it, I was right!”

Johnny glances down at his phone a finger raised that I should wait a moment. I huff out an impatient breath. When he’s done he looks at me. It’s a look full of kindness and compassion, but I can tell he doesn’t believe me. “Maybe he’s just a doctor, Kate.”

I frown deeply. “What doctor has a villain board, let alone schematics of his hospital?”

Johnny smiles at me as his phone keeps pinging, “We can talk more about this later but don’t do anything, okay?” He kisses me on the forehead and walks away from me.

“Wait! You’re leaving?” I roll after him, sliiiightly desperate.

Johnny turns back to me, “Kate. I know you’re going stir crazy in here, but you need to channel yourself in another direction, you already wrecked this guy’s window, don’t push it. It’s too easy for your imagination to run wild with this, but you gotta reign it in before you do something you can’t take back,” Johnny glances at his phone again, “I have to go deal with this horrible thing in Malibu, but I’ll be back soon, I promise.”

I sigh, defeated. And jealous that he gets to leave and deal with something horrible. I wish I could go deal with something horrible.

After the door closes I turn back to the apartment across the street, staring at his crazy villain board through my binoculars. “Guess I’ll just deal with something horrible from here,” I say to myself dramatically.

Four hours and six pop-tarts later I’m struggling to stay awake at my post by the window when my phone pings, jolting me back to full consciousness. A text from Johnny, sent…45 minutes ago!

JOHNNY: Maybe you’re right. It IS weird that a doctor would have schematics of his hospital. I’ll swing by his place on my way home and feel him out a bit. *heart emoji*

“Ahhhhh!” I scream and reach clumsily for the binoculars, which promptly fall off my lap, with my phone. As I reach for them, the light clicks on across the street. My villain is home. I click off my only light and stare. Johnny might need the binoculars, but my eyesight is as good as it gets, I’m a futzing Hawkeye after all. But my eyes are best when I’m holding a bow, so I raise it and nock an arrow for good measure.

Tracking my villain across his apartment feels so right…and also a little bit wrong. What if I am wrong?

My villain looks with a wrinkled brow at his bulletin board, now naked and exposed in his apartment. He moves to the fallen drape and picks it up, confused. He crouches down and touches his carpet—probably still a bit wet from my second melted ice arrow. The crease in his brow deepens and his eyes narrow. He finally clocks the broken windowpane. He comes to the window and examines it. And then he just looks out the window. Directly at my apartment. But it’s dark here and I don’t move. It’s not my first day.

He squints his eyes and it feels like he’s looking right through me. I don’t even breathe. He eventually turns his head and I exhale lightly. But I can’t help but gasp when I see him open his front door to reveal Johnny. Handsome and kind and just trying to do the right thing. A smile in his eyes since his mask covers the one surely on his mouth. Due to the mask I can’t read Johnny’s lips, a skill the other Hawkeye, Clint Barton, has taught me, but I imagine it’s something adorable and heroic, as is Johnny’s way.

The villain gestures him inside and it’s all I can do not to scream. Johnny, being the polite, and very strong guy that he is, goes inside, unafraid and trusting. Before he can even get all the way inside the villain slams a comically huge vase over his head. Johnny is down. I curse his kindness. He could have walked in there made of futzing vibranium…but he probably didn’t want to scare the guy, so he went in made of stupid, highly vulnerable, bones and blood.

Well, my villain has picked the wrong guy to hit from behind with a heavy object. As the villain rifles around in a cabinet (probably looking for something evil), I don’t even hesitate to fire my already nocked arrow. It slams into the fabric of his dress shirt and pins his shirt to the cabinet with a satisfying THWACK. He yells and I can hear it from here thanks to the broken window. He spins wildly trying to see who’s attacking him while also trying to wrench himself free of the cabinet.

As I nock another arrow he manages to spin out of his shirt. Now free, he moves as fast as he can to get away from the windows. I fire my second arrow. It’s not for him.

This arrow crashes violently through not just glass but some of the wood that holds the panes together. It’s a catastrophic structure failure and leaves a gaping open hole to his apartment. My villain looks up from under the arms he was using to protect himself, which is when I release my third arrow. It sails into his apartment almost happily and when it hits some of his cabinetry with a sharp ping it explodes into a hail of lights, temporarily blinding him.

My villain scrambles to his feet and I fire the fourth arrow. It hits him right in the chest. As intended. Safety Foam arrow has a harmless tip and then explodes into a sticky ..well…”safety foam” that—without help—he’ll still be struggling to get out of in three days. I watch for long seconds as my villain struggles and cusses and Johnny remains passed out on his floor. But Johnny is bleeding pretty badly. I pull another arrow and fire it across the street into the wall of the building. I anchor the other end in my apartment.

I grab my phone, re-secure my mask and with a considerable amount of effort heft myself, broken leg and all, out of my apartment window and onto the secured cabling line. Fortunately the villain’s apartment is slightly lower than mine, so with some painful but efficient scooching, I’m able to use my bow and slide down the line straight into my villain’s apartment. I bump up against his building with an impressive but painful thud and sort of half-toss myself off the line and into the apartment. I clear most of the glass. Ouch.

I crawl across the floor as my villain cusses at me and squirms. “Oh, just shut up!” I finally say as I inch past him in his slightly crunchy and slightly sticky safety foam prison. I get to Johnny and yank a towel down off the counter and press it to his bleeding head. He groans, I think, appreciatively.

I lay down next to Johnny, exhausted but pleased. I keep the towel pressed to his head and pull out my mobile phone and dial my very good friend that doesn’t think I’m annoying at all, Detective Rivera.

“Bishop. The world is in extreme crisis, make it fast.”

“I need you to come here…and bring an ambulance, I airdropped you my location.”

There’s a long pause, “This is across the street from your apartment. What have you done?”

“Saved the day, as per usual. I’m making a citizen’s arrest…or an off-duty Super Hero arrest—whatever, you can decide what the paperwork situation is—annnnyway, I am arresting this villain across the street from me that not only hit Johnny with a very heavy vase but also has detailed plans in his apartment about blowing up the hospital…apparently as a way of…” I roll my eyes and raise my voice, “…stopping the virus…is that right, sir?” My villain bangs his head lightly on the floor. He hates me.

Rivera sighs deeply on the other end, “Ambulance is on its way, Bishop. Walk me through the whole thing.”

“Well, you see, Rivera, it all began with this idea I had about ice arrows…”

                                                     FIN

[scarletwinterxx]

End to Start pt. 3 - Jaehyun AU

Hello lovelies! this part took awhile to write but she’s here, i hope you like it! I enjoy reading your feedbacks😊🤍

For my other works you can check them out here, and for my other story series’ you can check them out here.

taglist: @the-universe-in-you-jjh @undevotedfangirl @dumplingley @halbae​​

All works are copyrighted ©scarletwinterxx 2020 . Do not repost, re-write without the permission of author.

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“But like how rich is he?”

“Rich enough to buy this building three four times over” you mumbled, not really paying much attention to Jungwoo and more on the cake you’re trying to decorate

“And you broke up with him? Wah noona” you looked over at him with a glare, signaling him to shut up. 

It was the day after the gala, you were supposed to take the day off but you’d rather keep yourself busy than overthink at home. Thus why you’re here now at the cafe with a very nosy Jungwoo beside you with his 100 questions after finding out you dated the Jung Jaehyun. 

“I’m three seconds away from kicking you out of this store permanently” 

“That’s the third time I heard that, this month” he smiled at you, walking back to the kitchen to grab the other pastries to be displayed. It’s still pretty early and it’s the weekend so you don’t expect that many people right now.

“So is he the guy you dated when you were in college?”

“Yes”

“You didn’t say he owned a big company”

“Are we playing 20 questions right now? Go serve the customers” you pushed him to the side when you heard the bell right, going back to what you were doing and letting Jungwoo deal with it. 

“Goodmorning, what can I get you today?”

“Two iced americano please”

Hold up, you know that voice. You don’t even have to look up to see who it was, “Is that all? Would you like to try some of our cakes and pastries? It’s good to pair with the coffee” Jungwoo said, still clueless about who he’s currently talking to 

“Is that green tea with pistachio? I’ll take a slice of that” it just so happens it was the cake you were currently setting up. 

“Sure thing, is that all?” After taking his order, the guy walked to a vacant table. 

“Noona, should I set you up with that guy? He was looking at you, plus he looks handsome and rich”

“Jungwoo”

“Mhm?”

“Shut up”

 You were preparing the order when the bell rang again, “Goodmorning, welcome to the cafe” Jungwoo greeted happily. 

“Oh, looks like he’s with someone” that made you halt for a second but quickly shaking it away. Passing the tray over to Jungwoo, “Here, go serve this and please stop being nosy”.

Jaehyun wanted to visit the cafe for some time now, but he didn’t want it to seem like he’s stalking you. He already knew you know how to bake, your cookies were his favorite. You used to bake those for him after exams as a way to cheer him up.

He didn’t know the first time he’ll be visiting here is when he’s about to break-up with his current ‘girlfriend’, with you standing only a few meters away. But after last night’s gala, Chungha called him suddenly asking if they could talk. 

“Here’s your order, is there anything else I could get you?” Jungwoo asked him and Chunga but the girl just shook her head with a smile, “Really? green tea cake? Your taste is so weird sometimes” she chuckled at the sight of cake on the table

“It’s one of the more unique flavors, we also have a chocolate one. It’s our bestseller” Jungwoo added, “Maybe later, thanks” 

After Jungwoo walked away, the two were left alone to talk. 

“Go on, just say it”

“You don’t have to act all tough all the time you know” 

His eyes landing on hers, as if he was telling her to just get on with it. “We had a good run” she chuckled, “What will your parents say when the word gets out?” Jaehyun asked. He might seem like a cold guy but he does still have some empathy left in him,

“I’ll deal with it. Happiness comes at a price, it just took me this long to realize I’m willing to pay for it no matter what the cost. Maybe you should too”

Jaehyun can’t help but look over at you, you were having a conversation with the guy that took his order and was laughing at something he said. Jaehyun’s gaze made Chungha look over at the side too, in that moment she knew

“So that’s her?”

“No” he cleared his throat before drinking his coffee, “You know you can’t lie that good, not to me atleast. Or her it looks like. Word of advice though, if she’s worth it just do it”

You were doing your best to ignore the two people on the far side of your cafe, Jaehyun and the girl looked like they were having a very serious conversation. When the girl stood up you immediately busied yourself again, then someone was standing infront of the counter on the other side. 

“I heard the chocolate cake is the best seller here” she said, her voice gentle and sweet. She seems like a lovely lady. 

“Yea, and the chocolate chip cookies too. Would you like to try it?” you asked her with a smile of your own

“I’ll take both to go” you packed the treats yourself, passing it over to her as she hand you her payment

“Green tea cake, sounds different” she chuckled, looking at the cake with a single slice missing “Oh yea, I just like trying out flavors here and there”

“What are you talking about? You always make that, if you want to try something new, you can order that. We always have extra” Jungwoo butted in, “Will keep that in mind, my friend loves that flavor”

“Oh, friend” Jungwoo said then looking over at you, “Thanks by the way” the lady said then walked out the door. 

“Friend” Jungwoo repeated with a wicked grin on

“Stop”

“But this is your chance at finally landing someone! Jihyo may be bad at setting you up maybe I can”

“No-”

“Let’s just try, see he’s walking over here”

“I said-” “Uh can I have this cake to go, please? I’ll also get the rest of it” Jaehyun said  looking back and forth between you and Jungwoo

“Sure, would that be all?” you asked as if you didn’t know him

“Uhm so my boss here-” you elbowed him on the stomach, trying to stop him from continuing. “I’m here! Sorry I’m a bit late, class finished later than I thought” Sungchan announced as he enter the shop, making the three of you look over at the tall boy

“Oh, hyung what are you doing here?” he asked Jaehyun when he spotted him, “You two know each other?” Jungwoo asked from beside you

Then it clicked, you almost wanted to slap yourself. How can you be so stupid, you’re not sure. 

“You’re related, how come I never put that together” you looked back and forth between the two

“You two know each other?” Sungchan asked back, “Something like that” Jaehyun mumbled. That made Jungwoo look over at you then Jaehyun then at you again, “Oh, Jung Sungchan. then you must be-”

After that stressful encounter, you chose to just call it an early day and leave the boys at the cafe. Jaehyun didn’t say much afterwards, just waited for his order then left with a few words said to his younger brother. 

Add that to the list of things you were thinking about. After the gala yesterday, after seeing Jaehyun’s mom again you can’t help but overthink about things again. A big part of you itching to do what you’ve always been meaning to do, something you wish you never did. 

Unable to stop yourself, you opened the door of your closet and rummaged through until you find the box stashed inside. Stuffing it in your bag before shruging your coat on, took your keys and drove off. 

You've only been at their place once, that was the first and last time. 

It’s what you see in movies, the typical huge mansion rich people have in movies. The Jungs were no exception, their home looked like something straight out of a magazine. Until now you feel like you shouldn’t be here. 

Parking your car on the driveway, you walked towards the front door. Knocking twice and wait for someone to open the door, when it did it was just the person you wanted to see, 

“Can we talk?”

Jaehyun didn’t expect the turn of events this day had, after finding out his youngest sibling works part time at your cafe ofcourse he had to know more. Telling Sungchan he’ll wait until his shift is over to drive him home. 

“You didn’t tell me you work at the cafe”

“Why? would you stop me just like mom?” the younger one asked, he knew what his brother meant.  With their mother there’s almost little to no room for freedom, their lives were planned out for them. As kids they were told what they should be when they grow up, expectations they had to meet, things they needed to accomplish. 

“No, it’s close to my office. You could’ve just worked for me” he answered, the older brother tone gone

“Then what’s the point? Like I said, I wanted to atleast see the world on my own before mom and dad stops me. Or atleast until college” Sungchan mumbles

“If you don’t want to study the course mom and dad are making you study just tell me, I’ll help you”

“Why? They’ll just get mad at you too”

“Then they can be both mad at us, don’t make the same stupid mistakes I did. Don’t take too long to decide that this isn’t the life you don’t want to live. Just... just be you. If they won’t have that, then you’ll have me” he sincerely said, meaning every word he just said. 

He wished he had someone to say that to him back then, in a way he did. You told him that. 

Even if the world is against him, he’ll have your hand to hold on to. 

“So, how did you know Y/N noona?”

“We went to same college” he answered, keeping it brief. After that Sungchan didn’t ask anymore questions. When they finally arrived at their home, there’s an unfamiliar car on the driveway. Assuming that it was one of their parent’s visitor,

“Are you staying the night?” Sungchan ask as they walk towards the house, “No, just came to talk to mom about something”

“Okay, well see you later” the two brothers went their own ways, Sungchan skipping up the stairs to his room while Jaehyun walk around the house looking for his mom. 

What he didn’t expect was to see who she was talking to, they were at the foyer, sitting at opposite sides of the table. 

“Even when I didn’t have anything to my name, I never touched a cent in that envelope. I’m ashamed I even took in the first place, that was my mistake. And I’m still paying for it until now, you got what you wanted. Jaehyun hates me”

You were talking about him with his mother? 

What envelop were you talking about?

“Then why did you take it?”

“Because it was the only way you’ll stop, I thought if I took the money and disappeared you would atleast spare him, you’d let him live the way he wants to. I don’t care if he’s angry at me, he has every right to be” you answered, no sign of intimidation or fear in your voice. 

But he does hear the pain, and he hated it. 

“Your son is worth more than whatever you give me, that money is bitter reminder of my lowest point. But even then, I’d rather starve and have no roof over my head than spend a single cent you gave me. It’s up to you if you tell him what you did, I think we’re way past the point of going back anyways. He can’t even stand being in the same room as me. One way or another, you got what you wanted. All I want is my peace, I don’t want that with me anymore, I don’t want to keep that in the corner of my closet like the monster I’m too scared to face”

Jaehyun was trying to take all of your words in, struggling to process the truth he just accidently uncovered. 

All those years he thought you left him because you didn’t love him was in fact not what really happened, His mother, surprisingly but not really, manipulated his life yet again. 

“All of the money is still in there, I haven’t touched that since then. I was just waiting for the day I could finally give it back to you. I’m pretty sure you don’t need it, but neither do I” you said your final words then rose from your seat. 

When you turned around to leave the place you didn’t expect to see the person standing by the door, a gasp leaving Mrs. Jung’s mouth

“Jaehyun” she said but his gaze was on you

You didn’t have to ask him, you already knew he heard it. How much? probably enough judging by the look on his face. 

You looked at him with same intense stare, trying to say your apologies without saying anything at all. It feels like there’s this weight lifted off of you after you gave the envelope containing the money back to his mom. Like this time you can look him in the eyes without thinking about the money stashed away in your closet.

There are still questions floating in his mind, you could tell. But Jaehyun didn’t look as troubled as he should be, even with the overwhelming amount of questions in his head he knew this time it would be okay. You were the only answer he needed.

[craigslistdiavolo]

Coffee dates with the brothers, Diavolo, Barbatos, Simeon and Solomon please. (Also, I love your username 😂)

I would like to say that I've never had a coffee before lmao also thank you :)

Genre - Fluff/Crack

Warnings - Language

GN Reader

Lucifer

Very nice and chill setting

He takes you to this really nice cafe and you guys get a table near the back so that you won't be disturbed

Will literally buy anything off of the menu that you want

Black coffee, you got it. A latte, you got it. A cookie, you got it.

This man seems like he drinks black coffee but he probably adds a bunch of shit to it when people aren't around or aren't looking

You are the only person who knows his secret about his coffee

"MC we will never be speaking of this moment again."

Who knew you could get such simple blackmail from a coffee date?

Mammon

Takes you to this small, local coffee shop

You are allowed exactly one item off of the menu so choose wisely

If you want anything else you have to pay for it

Tries to convince you to buy him a cookie because he doesn't want to spend too much money

"Mammon the cookie is only $1.50"

"And??? What's your point?"

Overall, a very nice date

Afterwards he'll probably take you to his room to hang out and watch a movie or something

Leviathan

Let's be 100% honest, he's gonna take you to either a maid cafe or an anime themed cafe

He gets a latte that has Ruri-chan latte art on it

Tries to convince you to get it as well

If you're at a maid cafe he'll be blushy and embarrassed the whole time

If you're at an anime themed cafe, he's probably freaking out and telling you all about the different anime stuff they have there and where it's from

Please listen to him talk about this while you drink your coffee, he's super passionate about it

Once you guys are home he drags you to his room so he can show you an anime that was being played in the cafe

Very lovely date, Levi got to be happy and talk about stuff he likes :)

Satan

Cat. Cafe.

"MC would you like to get coffee with me at this new cafe that opened up."

Surprise there's cats in the cafe and you can pet them

Unlike Lucifer, this man drinks straight black coffee

He'll get you whatever you want

Is really happy because he can spend time with you, tell you about the new book he's reading, and he gets to pet cats

As you guys get ready to leave you end up finding out that the cats are actually up for adoption and the cafe is a way to help people get to know the cats

You guys do in fact go home with a cat :)

You spend the rest of the day with Satan in his room with your new cat

Asmodeus

Takes you to this really nice cafe that people on Devilgram always talk about

Like really really nice

It's one of his favorites

Asmo is one of those people that takes pictures of his food and drinks so that he can put them on Devilgram

He'll take some pictures with you too :)

He probably gets a latte

It has a heart shaped in it

He also wants you to get a latte with a heart so that he can take a picture of them together and post it and then talk about the two of you to make people jealous of your relationship

After the coffee date he probably takes you shopping

Beelzebub

He takes you to his favorite coffee shop

Someone comes over to ask you guys what you want to drink or eat and Beel scares them so bad

"We want everything on the menu."

"Pardon me sir?"

"Everything. On. The. Fucking. Menu."

So you can just choose what you want after it's brought out

You see Beel just straight up chug really hot coffee

"Beel, be careful, won't that burn your taste buds?"

"MC, my taste buds have suffered worse."

Flashbacks to when Solomon cooked him food, very dark times

Very nice date, he'll make sure that you get anything you want :)

Belphegor

He doesn't take you to a cafe or coffee shop

He sets up a little nice space in the attic and just brews some coffee at home

That way you can both make your coffee exactly how you want it and if you want another cup you don't have to order another one, you can just pour yourself some more coffee

Very chill setting

After you guys had your coffee, he wants to take a nap and cuddle with you

"How are you gonna sleep? You just had coffee."

"Caffeine holds no power over me MC."

It was a really nice date, and it felt very intimate and cozy :)

Diavolo

So he actually also doesn't take you to a cafe or coffee shop

You guys just have your coffee date in the castle and Barbatos is probably the one serving it to you

He'll tell you about how his day has been, his work, and how he wishes that he could spend more time with you

He doesn't care how much coffee you've had already, if you want another cup, he will make sure that you get another cup

After you guys finish your coffee he probably walks around the castle with you and shows you parts of it that you've never seen before

He'll walk you back to the House of Lamentation when you're ready to go home

Barbatos

He takes you to this cafe that he really likes to go to when he finally gets time away from work

It's a really small cafe and not that many people are there

He likes it because it's quiet and quite relaxing

He usually drinks black coffee with nothing in it to help keep him up for work, but he indulges himself for once and gets whatever he wants when he comes here

He'll let you get whatever you want off of the menu

After you guys are done at the cafe, you two go on a walk and he shows you some of his favorite places in Devildom

Very sweet date and you got to see a side of Barbatos that you don't get to see often

Simeon

Takes you to a nice coffee shop that he found one day while just meandering around Devildom

He probably gets you a coffee and some sort of pastry

He'll you try what he ordered if you let him try what you ordered

He tells you about the Celestial Realm and various other things

He'll answer any questions that you have about the Celestial Realm

He likes to listen to you talk about literally anything because he loves the sound of your voice so feel free to tell him anything that you want :)

After your date he probably takes you to Purgatory Hall with him and you guys just chill and cuddle until you have to go back to the House of Lamentation

Solomon

Takes you to a cafe that's magic themed

While you wait to get your order he tells you about all things related to magic

He also points out the cafe's faults and how they portray magic all wrong

Once you guys get your order he quiets down a little

He'll answer any questions you have about magic and will listen to you talk about anything you want

Once you guys are done he walks you back to the House of Lamentation and talks about having another date

The only problem is he wants to have another date where he cooks you dinner 😬

No matter how many times you try to save yourself and come up with an excuse for why he can't cook for you he manages to find a way around it

After you get home go to Asmo for help and hope that he can convince Solomon not to cook for you

A/N - Sorry if there's any mistakes, I wrote this after I had just woken up. Also sorry that it took a few days for me to write this, my winter break just ended yesterday and I wanted to spend my last few days of winter break playing a video game that I really like. Yesterday was my first day back to school, we're online right now but next week we're supposed to be back in person which I'm not excited for because last time we went back to in person school, I literally managed to cry everyday that I was there. Also my birthday is coming up so I'm really excited for that :) anyway thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed

[alex-ruins-everything]

Turning Pages - Chapter 2

Intrulogical bookshop au! Read the whole thing on ao3 here. 

Remus had walked by the bookshop at least three times before finding it. All because Roman’s dumb car broke down he was stuck carting his brother around. Eventually he did spot the shop Roman had gone off to (to annoy poor old Virgil of course, because bothering your boyfriend at work was peak romance, right?). It was a wooden storefront and a bell tingled as he opened the door, looking around as he was hit with that immediate paper smell. God no way that was just coming from the books, they had to have a candle or some shit lit somewhere. He glanced around, looking for his brother, but his eyes landed on someone much better. That man behind the counter was hot in a way Remus didn’t usually notice but goddamn, he was noticing now. His eyes lingered for a second before he raised his voice.

“Roman! If you don’t quit making out with Virgil against a bookshelf I’m gonna leave your ass here!” he said, shooting an annoying smile at his brother when he finally showed himself.

He looked around while Roman paid, not finding too much interesting until he joined him by the counter, taking another look at the man there. He was almost sure the guy’s name tag had been printed but nope...it was just painstakingly neat handwriting. Logan. Well, the face had a name.

“Nice to meet you, Specs,” he winked after Roman introduced him. “Now c’mon. If I don’t get to chase geese I’m throwing you in the pond.”

Roman bid the bookshop guy bye bye and finally they were back into the sweltering heat. Remus had commented earlier that if he had the chance he would 100% kick the Sun’s ass for making it so hot. And he stood by that. The two of them finished their day and Remus got to chase his geese like he wanted - until the geese started chasing him and then they went home. He couldn’t get that bookshop guy out of his head though for the rest of the day. Or the next day. Eventually he had to ask Roman what he knew.

“So, that bookshop dork. Specs,” he said, leaning against the doorframe of Roman’s bedroom. His brother was sitting on his bed with a sketchbook in his lap shooting him a questioning look.

“What about him?”

Remus took that as indication enough and he entered, sitting in Roman’s desk chair with a spin. “What do you know about him?”

“Logan? He’s a total stiff,” Roman laughed lightly. “Why do you care?”

“Hey, am I not allowed to be intrigued by people?”

“Not the way you get ‘intrigued’, no. Re, Logan won’t go for you. Hell, I’m pretty sure he only has eyes for that bookshop and the occasional biography,” Roman stated, adding a few more lines to his drawing.

“Once again, I am not lusting over a nerd who wants to fuck his books. I was just asking!” Remus said, putting his hands up in faux surrender before getting up. “At least I don’t spend my days there following the emo around like a lost puppy!”

And with that he slipped out of Roman’s room, laughing as shouts of protest followed him. Days passed and Remus went about his life until Saturday when he found himself at the thrift store that was right down the street from that bookshop. Well, surely it wouldn’t go hurt to visit. Right? He could have played it off as visiting Virgil, but Virgil didn’t work weekends so he was most likely back at Remus’ house with Roman. He got his excuse though when he reached the shop, a sign out front advertising that Patton’s Reading Circle was happening in about ten minutes. Ah, fate had given him impeccable timing today.

Remus pushed the door to the bookshop open, that same bell tingling. It wasn’t hard to spot where the book reading was going on. It was where the crowd of little kids and their tired looking parents were gathered. However he was keeping an eye out for a different spectacled bookshop employee. Logan wasn’t anywhere in eyesight though as Remus took a seat by the circle, figuring he had some time to kill anyway. Might as well learn why you shouldn’t give a mouse a cookie or whatever. He took a seat on the carpet with all the kids, blatantly ignoring the odd looks the parents gave him. He did accept the fruit snack offered by the kid next to him, leaning back on his hands as some guy in glasses came out holding a book and said hi to everyone. Remus figured that must be Patton. He looked like a total dork, but in a different way than the nerd Remus had come to see. His book reading wasn’t too shabby either, though it was far too vanilla for Remus’ taste. It ended and he clapped along with the kids, not moving from the carpet for a bit as kids joined their parents and either left or went to roam around the bookshop. It was a lot busier than the weekday Remus had been here before.

Eventually he stood up, going to a display and flipping through the book Patton had just read. It was very convincing that you should under no circumstances give a mouse a cookie. Remus’ attention fell away from that as he spotted a book on marine biology, leaving the cookie book on the display in a haphazard way. He picked up the marine book, flipping through. It had scientific illustrations...his favorite kind. It was like a grown up picture book!

“Can I help you find anything?” a familiar voice asked and when he looked up from his book there Logan was. Still as handsome as the day he saw him. “Oh, ah...Remus. Hello.”

“Howdy, Specs,” Remus grinned, happy this trip hadn’t been for naught. “How’s it going?”

“I’m quite adequate, thank you for asking,” Logan replied, his eyes glancing to the book in Remus’ hand. “That’s an excellent resource, it goes quite in depth on the flora and fauna of the bottom of the sea. Though personally I find all of that unsettling. If marine life is your thing we have lots of books on it.”

Remus almost could have laughed at that. Ah, such a salesman. He noticed Logan had a different tie on today, though it was still in shades of blue, this time a neat dot pattern instead of stripes.

“Maybe next time you’ll have to show me. I think for now I’ll just take this one since it's apparently an excellent resource,” he said, shutting the book. “I was also wondering if I could take you out for some coffee maybe. What time’s your break? I can hang around.”

Logan opened his mouth and closed it again before adjusting his glasses. “I appreciate the offer, Mr. Kingsley, however I have already had my break so I will have to pass. If you’re all set I can ring you up?”

“Yeah, I guess just the book then,” Remus shrugged, slightly shocked by being turned down, but not too discouraged.

As Logan was ringing him up, he felt his phone buzz in his back pocket, a text arriving from ‘Two Face’.

‘You coming today or no?’

Remus typed out a quick reply, watching Logan stick his book in a paper bag after sticking a bookmark between the pages for him.

‘Fnnshng smthng up, b thr soon. You want cffe? Usal?’

His texting was headache inducingly hard to decipher sometimes, but those close enough to get lots of texts from him had figured it out already. He got the buzz and the ‘yes’ as a reply, sliding a twenty over to Logan as payment. He stuck the change in the near empty jar on the counter that read Employee Book Fund with a smiley face under it.

“Thanks for the book, Specs. I’ll be sure to let you know how I like it,” Remus promised, gripping the paper bag in a fist. “Have a good one.”

“Goodbye, Remus,” Logan bid him farewell, motioning for the next guest in line to come forward.

Remus was off to the coffee shop first, getting the two drink orders before heading over to Janus’ house. Oh he had tea...and not just the kind he had just gotten from the coffee shop (because of course Janny drank tea). No, he had to gush all about this bookstore boy that he definitely had a crush on at this point.

TAGLIST:

@theiwatobiicepic

[sambergscott]

a peralta guarantee

“I promise I’ll come home safe, Ames. That’s a Peralta Guarantee.”

(missing scenes from 7x08 - amy worrying about jake)

hUge thanks to johanna for inspiring this fic and helping when i had a lil breakdown halfway through

When he approaches her desk mid-afternoon with a decaf coffee and the white chocolate chip cookies she’s been craving from the bakery across town, she knows he’s either a) broken something, b) wants something or c) has bad news. She narrows her eyes suspiciously, detecting an excited bounce in his step which can only mean it’s b and c; he wants something she’s not going to like.

“Hey, babe,” he tries to play it cool, clearing a butt-sized space on her desk on which to sit. “I come bearing gifts.”

“What do you want, Peralta?” She cuts to the chase.

“Damn it, you know me too well,” he mutters. “OK, so, here’s the thing: Doug Judy’s gettin’ married. He invited me to his Bachelor Party this weekend and I know he’s a criminal, Ames, but I really wanna go. Like, so bad. Would you be cool with that?”

She conjures up a mental pro and con list. On one hand, Doug Judy is The Pontiac Bandit, known felon, committer of God knows how many crimes, an overall bad dude. On the other, he’s Jake’s friend, singer of the smush songs CD in the glove box of their car that they always forget to take out, giver of the Le Creuset pot she adores. He’s always been nice to her and—.

“Sarge?” Gary interrupts her decision-making process with a quick question about a perp he just brought in, snapping her back to reality. She’s a Police Sergeant, her job is to serve and protect the city they call home and as much as she loves cooking her mom’s beef casserole recipe in Judy’s awesome wedding gift, she has a responsibility to bring him in.

“I’m sorry, babe. I just think it’s a bad idea.”

His face falls, his disappointment coming through loud and clear.

“What were you expecting me to say? Ignore the million arrest warrants out on this guy, many of them submitted by you, so you can drink beer and go to strip clubs?”

“You’re right,” he sighs. “You’re obviously right. Man, being good at your job sucks.”

She nods in agreement. “Remember last month when I had to shut that binder store down for running a secret drug dealing operation out back?”

“How could I forget? You cried for three days straight.”

“They had the best binder collection I’ve ever seen!”

(It was actually what was so fishy about it. In four trips to buy pregnancy binders, she hadn’t seen any of the founding members of the Brooklyn Binder Babes blog — Mary Sue, Catherine, Margaret or Jane — once. And there’s no way a stationery start-up would attract such long queues without their recommendation. It was a pretty easy solve from there).

“The point is, you can’t go to a criminal’s Bachelor Party.” She pats his hand. “You’ll just have to come maternity clothes shopping with me instead. None of my jeans fit me anymore.”

“As much as I would love to, you can take Kylie. I’m going to the party.”

“What?” She double-takes. “Jake, did you not listen to what I literally just said? We’re cops. We cannot be friends with criminals.”

“But we can be friends with informants who have helped us catch numerous, even bigger, more dangerous criminals,” he says with that look on his face, the one he gets when he finds a loophole that he can use to his advantage. She recognises it from home videos Karen has shown her where, instead of tidying his room like she asked him to, seven year old Jake shoves everything under his bed and carries on enacting a police chase with his race cars. “Captain Holt has given him immunity before, so technically I should be able to go party it up with him in Miami!”

“Wait... It’s in Miami? Miami... Florida?”

It’s a stupid question, she knows. Of course he means Miami, Florida. It’s just... they both promised on the flight home that they would never, ever go back there. After everything that happened with Figgis and not knowing if they’d ever see each other again, a statewide travel ban seemed a good way to put it all behind them, focus on all their future moments together, not on all the moments they missed.

“This isn’t like last time,” he reassures her. “It’s only for a weekend and then I’ll be coming straight home for snuggles with you and —,” he lowers his voice to a whisper because they haven’t told anyone she’s pregnant yet, “the baby.”

Her eyes fill with tears and she bites her lip so hard to stop them overflowing in front of all her uniformed officers. It’s pretty clear that he wants to go and she never wants to be one of them wives who control their husbands’ every move. All she wants is for him to be happy. And if going to Doug Judy’s Bachelor Party makes him happy, he should go, no matter how much she hates the entire state of Florida. She agrees, on one condition: “You have to text me hourly updates to let me know that you’re still alive.”

“Don’t I text you constantly anyway?”

“I guess so,” she sniffs.

He lifts her chin so she’s looking him in the eyes. “I promise I’ll come home safe, Ames. That’s a Peralta guarantee.”

“You better,” she warns, tears suddenly flowing down her face at the thought of him not coming home, not being there to watch Property Brothers with her, not raising their baby and proving to everyone what a great dad he will be.

Used to her extra strength pregnancy hormones shifting her emotions from 0 to 100 faster than John McClane can say “Yippie-Ki-Yay, motherfucker”, he pulls her into a tight hug, careful not to crush the precious cargo that is behind said mood swings.

He strokes her hair and whispers that he’ll be home before she knows it and that nothing, not even the worst state in the country, will tear him away from her.

When it’s time for him to leave, she follows him out to the street and, after a brief argument over the fact he packed his bag before he OK’ed the trip with her and another hormone-induced cry when his cab shows up, reluctantly waves goodbye.

True to his word, he texts her before the car is even out of sight. Miss you already 😘.

--

Her phone buzzes periodically throughout the rest of the day.

In a meeting with Holt and Terry: flying on mark cuban’s dope ass private plane!!!!! ✈️

Cooking dinner: florida is HOT (not as hot as u babe, dont worry)

Doing her crossword in bed: g’night ames, g’night baby, love u both SO MUCH

She smiles, tells him she loves him too and braces herself for the barrage of drunk texts and selfies coming her way.

--

Sleeping without him sucks. The bed is cold, her pregnancy pillow is not as good of a cuddle buddy and she tosses and turns all night worrying about him, where he is, what he’s doing, whether he’s safe.

Her eyes finally slip shut around 1 am when her phone buzzes. Again. And again. And again.

She tries to ignore him, bury her head under her pillow and go back to sleep, but the messages keep coming thick and fast. She groans, giving up and unlocking her phone.

There are 47 new messages from him.

Forty-seven.

Her initial annoyance at being woken up quickly disappears as she scrolls through the thread. He’s mostly sent her random, meaningless emojis and keysmashes, interspersed with the odd “I love you”, “you’re my best friend” and “I’m thinking about you” that warm her heart. He mentions something about their proposal, about crying with Doug Judy, which obviously makes her cry too.

(Dumb pregnancy hormones).

By the time she reaches the bottom, he’s sent her 10 more.

She decides for her sake — and the sake of all of her officers who would have to deal with a tired, emotional pregnant lady — to turn off her phone and reply to him in the morning.

She returns her phone to her nightstand, settles back into a comfortable position and closes her eyes.

She lies motionless for what feels like hours, unable to fall asleep. She tries the breathing technique her brother David brags about constantly, counting sheep like little Matthew, even reciting police codes like Teddy used to go to sleep after sex. Nothing works. She’s still awake.

She turns her phone back on to see what Jake’s up to now, only to see his messages ended abruptly with a caterpillar emoji over an hour ago.  

She immediately panics, dialling 911 into her phone.

Her thumb hovers over the green call button.

She’s heard thousands of crazy operator call stories, frequently reminded the general population to only call in a genuine emergency and watched the YouTube compilations for fun. She deletes the number, positive that if she told an operator her husband was missing because she hadn’t heard from him while he’s at a Bachelor Party, she’s positive she would be added to those videos.

In an attempt to stop her spiral, she contemplates the possible scenarios in which his constant texts would cease.

Scenario 1: He’s living in the moment and has put his phone away (something she has been encouraging him to do lately to reduce his screen time)

Scenario 2: He’s very drunk and has completely forgotten about his promise

Scenario 3: He used up all his battery texting her and his phone has died

Scenario 4: He’s fallen asleep (although a quick check of Trudy Judy’s insta reveals the party is very much still in full flow)

Scenario 5: Judy’s criminal buddies have killed him and thrown his body into the ocean

Once the thought pops into her head, no amount of squeezing her eyes shut will make the image go away.

Holt giving an emotional eulogy about wearing ties and being an amazing detective/genius.  

Some rookie taking over his desk.  

The sympathetic looks when she tells all the other moms in baby group that her husband died.  

Usually Jake is there to hold her when her nightmares get bad. She rolls over, expecting to see his kind eyes and soft smile, the untouched side of his bed only serving to make her cry harder.

She can’t lose him. Not yet. Not until they’re old and grey, and maybe not even then. She spent so long denying her feelings for her dorky partner, rueing every missed opportunity to be together, and when they finally, finally took the plunge, she had never been happier. She can’t lose him yet. They have so much more life left to live.

She can’t lose him because he promised her he would come home safe. He guaranteed it.

She clings onto the tiny grain of hope like one might cling onto a raft in the middle of the ocean.

He would never break a Peralta guarantee.

--

Her phone finally buzzes again an hour later.

From: Unknown

Ames, it’s me, Jake. Judy’s buddies found out I’m a cop + destroyed my phone. So sorry I couldn’t text before. Hope you didn’t worry too much, although I know you probably haven’t slept. You can stop worrying now. I’m safe. Love you + see you tomorrow.  

Love you too, she responds, yawning as she places the phone back on the side table.

Relieved that he’s OK, and exhausted from all the worrying, she falls into the easiest sleep she’s ever had.

--

Before she knows it, it’s the next afternoon, Jake’s keys are turning in the lock, he’s dropping his holdall on the floor and rushing to her side to kiss her all over her face.

“I missed you too,” she laughs, kissing him properly.

“Sorry it took so long — Doug and Trudy made me fly commercial —.”

“Don’t worry about it. You’re home now. That’s all that matters.”

“I’m never leaving you two again,” he swears.

“You’ll have to leave us eventually to go to the bathroom and stuff,” she points out, raking her fingers through the unruly curls that she so hopes their baby will inherit. “Just don’t go back there.”

A solemn understanding passes over his face and he nods. “Never again. Not even if our kid wants to go to Disney World. We’ll take them to the California one instead.”

“Smort,” she says, stealing his line and in an instant, that familiar grin is back.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

A dozen memories flood back, of oldies in short shorts and shuffleboard and Doug Judy getting away again. Of noice and smort and saying “I love you” for the very first time. Her eyes fill with tears — dumb pregnancy hormones strike again — as she buries her face in his shoulder.

“Let’s go to bed,” he whispers, pressing a kiss to the top of her head and lifting her bridal style to carry her to their room. He places her carefully onto the mattress and flops down next to her.

She snuggles into him, eyes closing once more. “Did we even get an invite to the wedding?”

“Not even close,” he sighs.

“Damn it. I would’ve loved to see that trainwreck.”

“You and me both, babe. You and me both.”

[palettes-and-prompts]

100 First Meetings (Dialogue Prompts)

1) "Were you the one in the bathroom a second ago trying different lines in the mirror to work up the courage to ask that barista out?" 2) "Wow, you're cute." 3) "You come here often?" "This is a morgue." 4) "You! What the hell are you doing in here? We're closed!" 5) "Ahhhh! I hate my fucking life!!!" "Mood." 6) "You have magic?!" 7) "You don't look like you'll last a day here." 8) "You should leave before your date gets back from the bathroom, I saw them in here the other day popping the question to two different people." 9) "They never told me they had a younger brother/sister." 10) "Who's the twink?" 11) "I gotta ask, are you mad about something or is your face just /like that?/" 12) "You're my new roommate?" 13) "You're not married are you?" 14) "Hey, you're not dead are you? Cause I'm on probation and I can't afford to be involved in a fucking murder or something." 15) "So you're the one causing all this trouble." 16) "I need you to pretend we're dating so this dude will leave me alone." 17) "Honey, there you are I've been looking all over for you! Pretend you're with me so this person will go away." 18) "So you're the loud moaner from upstairs, huh, never knew you'd be so cute." 19) "You're not the pizza guy." 20) "You know, when I said I wish the love of my life would just fall out of the sky this isn't exactly what I had in mind." 21) "Any particular reason you're putting peanut butter in my kid's hair?" 22) "You made me dinner?" 23) "You've got the wrong room, but feel free to stay naked." 24) "You must be the motherfucker who broke my windshield!" 25) "Hi, you are very naked." 26) "You their new toy?" 27) "How'd you like to make fifty bucks?" 28) "I know I'm going to regret asking but who are you?" 29) "You got any friends?" "No." "Well you do now, come sit with us!" 30) "Cute face, I'd love to sit on it sometime." 31) "Where'd you find this dork?" 32) "Uh, there any particular reason you're screaming at two thirty-six in the morning? 33) "Out of curiosity, do you think you could lift a dead body?" 34) "If you don't let go of this bag of chips I swear to god I'll bring you to your knees in the middle of this fucking WinnDixie." 35) "WHO THE FUCK ATE THE LAST OF THE FUCKIN DORITOS, I SWEAR TO GOD I'LL-oh! I'm sorry, I didn't know we had a guest. If I'd known we had a guest I would've cleaned." 36) "Are you the vegan cannibal? Because I have so many questions." 37) "Ooh, hello Mommy/Daddy. Fuck, did I just say that out loud?" 38) "Am I dead? Are you an angel? Am I in heaven?" "Actually you're in a taco bell, you tried to do a kick flip on your skateboard in the parking lot and hit your head on the side of the dumpster." 39) "You brought a fucking guest to our SECRET BASE?! I'll deal with you later. Hi, hello, it's very nice to meet you please make yourself at home!" 40) "So, you gay or what?" 41) "No, sorry, we don't want any girl scout cookies." 42) "Holy shit, you just saved my fucking life!" 43) "Hey, honey, it's just me. You were in a really bad accident so don't try moving around too much, okay? How are you feeling?" "You called me honey. Do I know you?" 44) "Jesus, your face is about as red as your hair." 45) "Run along little ballerina, you wouldn't want to be caught hanging around the bad kids, would you?" 46) "No, I'm not the stripper, but I can be if you'd like." 47) "You ready to cut open some bodies?" 48) "Get in if you want to live." 49) "What are you looking at, short stack? Mind your own business." 50) "Your headphones aren't plugged in properly so I can hear everything you're listening to. I was going to tell you earlier but then you started watching the weirdest porn I've ever seen and I didn't want to embarrass you, but I'm about to leave so I figured I'd tell you before someone else sits around you." 51) "I don't know what they've told you but we don't need another member, go home." 52) "Hey, stop right there, you can't steal that! That's illegal!" 53) "Who's the nerd?" 54) "You look like the kind of person who wears days of the week underwear." 55) "So, how many pitchers of margaritas are you allowed to sell me?" 56) "My head fucking kills, I shouldn't have drank last night. Hey, wait, why do you and I have matching rings on our fingers?!" 57) "Congratulations, idiot! You just ruined a six month plan and now we have to start all over!" 58) "That is the ugliest shirt I've ever seen, where can I get one just like it?" 59) "I know you make straight A's, but I'm still not sure if you're really smart or dumb but really lucky. Because I've seen someone ask you what the square root of pi is and you answer with 'I don't know, I guess it depends on the flavor.'" 60) "Who the fuck let you in?" 61) "Hey, I'll give you twenty bucks if you take a photo with me to make my ex jealous." 62) "So, you eat ass or what?" 63) "You a cop?" "No." "Too bad, you would have looked good in a uniform." 64) "With a face like that I'll be whoever you want me to be." 65) "Hey, you have eyes, do you think this outfit makes me look fat? You can be honest, I can handle it." 66) "I'm just looking for a nice person to settle down with who'll fuck me hard and tell me they love me when they cum on my face, like, I feel like that's not too fucking much to ask for, you know? Anyway, I'll have a diet coke and the chicken salad, please." 67) "I swear to god, this is not what it looks like." 68) "First of all, don't you fucking come in here and try and start a fight with my best friend while you're looking straight goofy as hell in those fucking Walmart shorts and those thrift store crocs." 69) "HEY! YOU ACROSS THE STREET! YOUR DOG IS SO FUCKING CUTE AND I WOULD FUCKING DIE FOR THEM!" 70) "Anyone who says they don't like musicals is either lying to themselves, has never watched one, or is a heartless android sent by the government to blend into society and collect information about us." 71) "Asking someone out is easy, watch this. Hi, I think you're cute and if you're not seeing anyone do you want to go out sometime?" 72) "Hey, I saw you crying earlier when you stepped on a bug. Do you need me to, like, call someone for you?" 73) "I can't tell if you're really high and just hungry or if you're buying 28 family bags of shredded cheese at three am because you just love cheese. Either way you should probably also buy some laxatives or lactaid while you're already here." 74) "When I told you to make a power point about something you're passionate about for our first class meeting I didn't mean make a power point on 'How to Give Great Head' and I absolutely didn't tell you to include pictures." 75) "Are you wearing that tacky ass outfit because you genuinely like it or because you're a Leo and crave the attention?" 76) "Did you really just buy the last chocolate chocolate chip muffin? You are now dead to me." 77) "The fuck are you looking at loser?" 78) "Dude, books are just like subtitles without the movie." 79) "Hey, in your tinder bio is says your friends call you Badger Slammin' Sam and I literally only swiped right just to find out why." 80) "Are you hitting on me? Am I being punked? Are you a hooker? Did my dumbass friend put you up to this?" 81) "Hey, I need you to settle something for me and my friend. Which is the right way to pronounce carrot?" 82) "Do you believe in love at first sight, what about disgust at first glance?" 83) "Look, I'm not saying that MCR's last album changed my life, but I'm absolutely saying that." 84) "Can you move out of my way, I have to clean puke off the floor before I'm allowed to use my lunch break to cry in my car." 85) "Hi, I believe this very drunk person is your roommate, they told me this is the address. I caught them in my backyard playing with my dog again." 86) "I know you're probably not allowed to do this, but I kind of need to borrow an iguana." 87) "Hey, I saw you drop your sandwich in the parking lot earlier and start crying and I felt bad for not saying anything earlier, but I went to the sandwich shop and luckily the dude remembered your oddly specific order so I got you another one. I hope you get to feeling better." 88) "No, we don't sell 'that crazy kush' here, you can try Target." 89) "I was just calling because you sent me a picture text three weeks ago by accident with the caption 'When they let you deliver the digiorno after you clap them cheeks.' and I was just wondering if you could explain what that means because it's been keeping me up at night ever since you sent it." 90) "Hey, I just overheard you talking with your friends about how you put mustard, ketchup, and ranch on your macaroni and cheese and I just wanted to come over here and personally ask you which circle of hell you crawled up from." 91) "What the fuck is a diet water?" 92) "You guys here for the orgy?" 93) "Was that your scream? Why did it sound like a banshee?" 94) "I saw you pour two five hour energy shots into a cup of coffee earlier and then proceed to mix it with monster and red bull and like, dude I know this isn't really my place or whatever but I think you should probably go to the hospital. Like, I think you're gonna die." 95) "Your profile said you're a vegan but my profile says 'Only contact if you eat ass' and you contacted me, so what's the truth here?" 96) "Call me adorable one more time and I'll knock your teeth down your fucking throat." 97) "Move, I have to go fail my Stats test before I can go home and cry into a bag of hot cheetos while I rewatch The Office." 98) "I'm sorry, did you just order a fifty piece mcnugget for here, for yourself?" 99) "So, how do you feel about lizards?" 100) "Question, are you a top or a bottom, because you're giving off major power bottom energy but I'm not one hundred percent sure."

[t0ngue-tech]

Longing For You | Three

“’N-No! We’re best friends.’ You chuckled softly. ‘We’ve known each other way before elementary school.’

Hoseok gave you a look of worry as you finished your sentence, but you smiled and shrugged at him. You were used to saying it.”

↠ angsty highschoolAU bestfriendAU ↞

word count: 4.3k

↠ series: 1 | 2 | ↞

A/N: I UPLOADED AGAIN???? WHAT WORLD AM I LIVING IN LMAO??? hennywayz, enjoy the chapter my loves ♡

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Hors d'oeuvres . 

Your mother specifically said hors d'oeuvres and you were expecting small sandwiches or a fruit platter, but your mother had you cooling three racks of cookies and deep frying breaded pork chops on the side. Leave it to your mother to make an entire meal as an “hors d'oeuvres .”

One by one, the council members appeared and they each offered to help you in the kitchen. It was starting to look like a normal lunch-get-together with the entire squad and you made a mental note to start the meeting once everyone settled down. 

“We should always have meetings at your house, y/n” One of the members, Jimin, took a nice bite out of a pork chop and made himself comfortable on your couch.

“Yeah! And thanks for the food, y/n.” Nayeon chimed in and took a seat next to you on the floor.

“You’re very welcome. It was my mom’s idea to have this much food and I bet all of you five bucks that she’s going to walk in the door later with either dinner, dessert, or both.” You smiled fondly. Even if cooking and cleaning everything afterwards was tiring, you appreciated your mother’s initiative in taking care of your friends and treating them like her own children.

“Okay everyone, I don’t mean to be a party pooper, but we should get started on this meeting. We have a lot of shit to get through.” You pulled your laptop from the coffee table onto the ottoman in front of you. “And the first order of business is the damn winter formal.”

An orchestra of groans floated around your living room and you couldn’t help but laugh. You all have been purposely avoiding planning for the formal because trying to think of a theme has been a train wreck. Everything that you all came up with prior to this meeting all sounded remotely similar to what other high schools were doing or it didn’t have any pizzazz. 

“Can’t we start on the other things?” Hoseok asked from the kitchen.

“I’d love to but Mrs. Kwon is going to grill me if I don’t have the proposal done for the formal by Monday.” You groaned. Being student council president was fun and all, but because of your position, you took the majority of the heat.

The living room fell silent as you all took a brief moment to think of a theme. You thought about all of the failed suggestions and after thinking too hard, your mind wandered off to last night when Taehyung called you a Disney princess. 

“Okay, this may sound cheesy, but hear me out,” You started. “‘A Winter Fairy Tale.’ We could have white and blue decorations and kind of branch off a Disney theme.”

“Oh my god,” Dahyun exclaimed. “That sounds so cute! Everyone is gonna feel like princes and princesses!” She stood up and twirled around in her skirt with a cookie in one hand.

“I’m for it.” Jimin smiled and everyone else chimed in, agreeing and spewing out decoration ideas.��

If only you had thought of this idea sooner then Mrs. Kwon would have spared you the lecture from the previous week.

“Pssst! Y/n.” Nayeon scooted closer towards you while some of the others were in the kitchen stocking up on cookies after working for about an hour and a half. You tore your eyes from your laptop to give Nayeon your undivided attention.

“What’s up?”

“I was wondering…” she started off quietly. “Is Taehyung seeing anyone or likes anybody?”

It felt as if your chest caved in a little.

“Uh, he hasn’t mentioned anything about someone he likes, but he’s currently not seeing anyone either.” It pained you to be honest, but you didn’t own Taehyung. He was your best friend not your boyfriend and he was allowed to date whoever he wanted.

“Oh! Okay. I was wondering if you could put in a good word for me? I always thought he was cute and maybe I could ask him to the dance.” Nayeon stared at you with puppy eyes that gleamed in natural lighting and you felt guilty for even considering lying to her.

There was nothing wrong with Nayeon. She was with the council since last year as secretary, but she decided to be a council helper so she could focus on cheerleading during her senior year. She was trustworthy, reliable, and had an aura everyone loved. There was nothing about her that Taehyung would hate; she was perfect.

“S-Sure, Nayeon. I’ll be sure to work a little bit of magic for you.” You smiled weakly and patted the top of her head.

Her eyes lit up and she squealed in delight. “Thank you so much, y/n! I would have asked someone else from the basketball team, but I know you two are best friends so you know, you know him on a more personal level.”

Yeah.. I do..

“Thanks again, y/n. I’ll get us more cookies.” Nayeon stood up. “How about a refill on juice?”

“Yes please. Thanks.” You watched as she retrieved your glass and walked away with an extra pep in her step.

Ugh. What the fuck am I supposed to do?!

“Did Nayeon just asked to be set up with your Taehyung?” Hoseok whispered and crawled over to sit next to you.

You raised an eyebrow at the “your Taehyung” comment before answering him. “Not exactly. She wants me to put in a good word for her because she wants to ask Taehyung to the formal.” It was clear to Hoseok that your eyes weren’t matching your smile.

“Are you really going to go through with it?”

“I have to, Hoseok. Taehyung isn’t my boyfriend.” You sighed. “Plus, Nayeon is a great girl. Taehyung would like her a lot.” This wouldn’t be the first time a girl asked you to set her up with Taehyung nor would it be the first time he’s had a love interest.

Your movements against your keyboard began to slow down at the thought of Taehyung possibly having another girlfriend. Maybe it wouldn’t bother you as much if Nayeon wasn’t close to you, but that wasn’t the case. 

You were definitely overthinking this whole situation. 

She wasn’t asking you to set her up with Taehyung, she didn’t even ask for his number, but you were taking it to the next level on your own.

How were you supposed to even do this?

↠↞

The meeting ended around five and your suspicions were right, your mother brought back food for the council members. There were now extra pieces of pork katsu, cookies, boxes of pizza, and a box of custard filled donuts--she wanted to make sure the members had food to take home.

You were in the kitchen with your mother and Hoseok who stayed back to help clean up the dishes and any other mess you all made. Your father was on skype and after catching up with him, your mother went to her room to discuss business matters in private with him.

“Is it lonely since your dad is always away?” Hoseok asked.

“Ehhh...sort of, not really. He calls periodically and texts me every morning so it’s like he’s still here but cooped up in his office 24/7.” You handed another plate for Hoseok to dry off. “I can’t believe you haven’t met him in person yet. I’m pretty sure he would love you just as much as he loves me.”

Hoseok chuckled. “You’re sure about that? He’s not going to accuse me of being the boyfriend of his precious-only-daughter or say anything else?”

“Yes! Trust me. My dad’s brother recently got married to his boyfriend of four years and he’s his number one supporter if that’s what you’re worried about.” You smiled softly at Hoseok and he nodded in relief.

“Ugh, I’ll be back. Bathroom again.” Hoseok winced and darted down the hall.

“I told you to go easy on the donuts and cookies!” You called out after him.

The doorbell chimed and you were already 100 percent sure that it was Taehyung. You sent him a photo of all the food you had and his instant reply was “SAVE ME SOME OR ELSE” with multiple crying emojis at the end.

You opened the door and a blush rose to your cheeks.

Taehyung’s hair was tousled in all sorts of directions and he wore a plain white shirt that you loved seeing him wear. His cheeks were slightly flushed, probably from running to your house and he had a dust of sleep still settled in his eyes.

God, he’s so cute.

“Well, good morning. Tae.” You smiled.

“Food.” He answered instantly.

You moved out of the way and gestured him to walk into the kitchen. “Use one of the plates on the drying rack! I really don’t want to wash a new one.”

Taehyung began ranting about how exhausting his day was. He only meant to drop off his mother to work, but his basketball friends called to have a game at the park. Then, they went to have lunch at the mall so they could set new high scores at the arcade. Before he knew it, Taehyung had to leave to pick up his mother and she needed to do a little grocery shopping. As soon as he got home, he dropped onto his bed and drifted off to sleep before waking up five minutes later to your text message.

“Why don’t you just pack up your food so you can go finish up your nap.” You suggested.

“You see, that’s where your bed comes to play,” Taehyung replied with a mouthful of pizza. “I can take a quick nap here after digesting so that I’m refreshed to do some homework when I get home.”

This would’ve been the perfect opportunity to ask Taehyung what he thought of Nayeon or if he even knew her, but the words were caught in your throat. 

What am I doing? Just say it, y/n! Say it!

“Oh, hey Taehyung.” Hoseok walked into the kitchen wiping his hands on his jeans. You had to admit, you were relieved to see him.

“Hey, Hoseok.” Taehyung waved his pizza slice in the air.

“Is your mom still on the phone? I’d like to say goodbye before I go.” Hoseok quickly helped you wipe down the island counter and put away the leftovers in your refrigerator.

“Yeah, she’s still in her room. I’ll tell her you said bye though.” You smiled at him and handed him his food to take home.

“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow morning then.” Hoseok placed his hand on your lower back and Taehyung propped his head up.

“What’s happening tomorrow?”

Hoseok explained that the council finally came to an agreement about what theme to do for winter formal and that while waiting for Mrs. Kwon to look over the proposal, it would be best to at least have an idea on what the layout of the gym would be. Taehyung clasped his hands together and begged the both of you to tell him what the theme was, but no matter how much he begged, you insisted that he waited until the announcement came out for school.

“Aw, I thought we were boys.” Taehyung pouted.

“Sorry, Tae.” You chuckled. “The announcement should probably be out sometime next week.”

“Yeah. I think everyone would love the idea.” Hoseok added. “Alright, so I’ll come by to pick you up around 10:15? Then we’ll go and get Jimin at his house.”

“It’s a date.” You joked and Hoseok rubbed your lower back. “Come on, I’ll walk you to the door.”

Hoseok fist bumped Taehyung and followed right behind you. “See you, Taehyung!”

“Yeah. See you!”

↠↞

You planned on sleeping by 11 pm, but of course that didn’t happen because Taehyung stayed until 1 in the morning talking with you and having a quick chat with your father via skype. Now you were groggy and starving because you had no time to heat up any leftovers for breakfast. On the bright side, Hoseok picked you up with coffee waiting for you in the cup holder. At least this was going to keep you full until you had time to eat.

The layout of the gymnasium worked perfectly for the “winter fairy tale” theme everyone chose. There was enough room for tables, the dance floor, photo booth, and decorations. Dahyun suggested a carriage near the entrance of the gym as a prop and large pieces of cotton to replicate snow, hence the name winter fairy tale.

After scoping out the gym, the three of you headed off to the council room to do some more planning. 

“We should get started on fundraising for the costs. I mean, we still have enough money from prior fundraisers but we also need money for senior prom and we have to go all out for that.” Jimin suggested.

“Hm, you’re right. We can definitely do the bake sale again. We raised a lot of money from that last year.” Hoseok typed away at your laptop that you brought with you. “Any other ideas, y/n—? Y/n!”

You jolted up from your seat realizing that you had fallen asleep. “Oh, God. I’m sorry.”

“Long night?” Jimin questioned.

“Yeah. Taehyung didn’t leave until one in the morning.” You rubbed your eyes and leaned back in your seat.

“Taehyung? Was he there at the meeting?” Jimin mumbled to himself. “Hey, what is the deal between the two of you anyway? Are you guys dating? You’re together almost all the time.”

“N-No! We’re best friends.” You chuckled softly. “We’ve known each other way before elementary school.”

Hoseok gave you a look of worry as you finished your sentence, but you smiled and shrugged at him. You were used to saying it.

After a little more intricate planning, Mrs. Kwon entered the council to officially approve of the theme for the winter formal. She even took a look at the fundraiser ideas you three brought forward and took the time to fill out the proposals.

Now that the theme was out of the way, this meant you were going to be extremely busy with the rest of the responsibilities that came with the winter formal like money, forms, entertainment—sigh, I feel like death is inching closer and closer to me.

Jimin treated you and Hoseok to lunch at a small burger joint near the school because he could automatically feel the stress weighing on the president and vice president. Even if the three of you tried to avoid the topic of school, it naturally came up because you were seniors who were a part of the student council that had extracurricular activities and had lives that involved family and friends. Although the main topic was school and stress, the afternoon was spent well with good company; it was something all three of you needed.

You ended up staying out a little later than you had planned and it was all thanks to Jimin, who wanted to try out the bakery that opened in the next town. He offered to drive Hoseok’s car and you each gave Hoseok money for gas.

The afternoon was great, but it was even greater going to the bakery and back home; singing your hearts out to Jimin’s playlists, taking the wrong exit, spending a little too much money on baked goods and lattes, and attempting to be friends with stray cats near the bakery.

You haven’t felt this stress-free in weeks.

↠↞

“Sigh, Hoseok. Today was great.” You sighed happily. Hoseok helped you carry your things onto your porch because he had to get back home to finish up some homework.

“Hell yeah. We should do it again sometime.” Hoseok suggested and you readily agreed.

“Hey, Hoseok.”

You both turned around to find Taehyung standing in your driveway with his hands stuffed in the pockets of his hoodie.

“Oh, hey, Taehyung! Hold on, I’ll be out of your guys’ hair soon—y/n, here’s your satchel.” Hoseok shimmied the strap of your bag off his shoulder to put it over your own. “Alrighty-roo, I’ll see you two tomorrow. Y/n, I’m gonna be about thirty-minutes late to the meeting tomorrow because of science team duties.”

“Yeah, no problem. Drive safe.” You smiled and waved him goodbye. “Taehyung, can you help me?”

Taehyung assisted you up to your room where he propped his entire body down on your bed. You waved the takeout box of almond cookies near his face and he immediately jumped up to snatch the box out of your hands.

“Oh. My. God. Where did you get these?” Taehyung asked with a satisfied groan.

“Jimin, Hoseok, and I went to the new bakery. We have to go there dude! It’s quite the drive, but their mocha lattes are uh-mazing.” You hopped on top of your bed and laid your legs out over Taehyung’s thighs.

“Oh shit, okay!” Taehyung swallowed the rest of his cookie. “When do you want to go?”

“Uhh…” you suddenly remembered how busier you were going to be and frowned. “Ugh, actually, I’m not even sure when. The winter formal is going to keep me extremely busy now that the theme is approved.”

“That’s alright, y/n.” Taehyung reached out to lift your chin up with his fingers. “We’ll figure out a date soon enough.”

Your cheeks instantly burned at the touch of his fingers. How were you going to put in a good word for Nayeon when you felt this way about him? But you thought about all of the good words there were to be said about her and you decided to grow a pair and just do it.

You swallowed the lump in your throat and clenched your bed sheet. “H-Hey, Tae. What do you think of Nayeon?”

“Nayeon?” He repeated with a cookie stuffed in his mouth. “The one from council?”

You nodded your head.

“Hm, I don’t really know her that well. What’s up?”

It pained you staring into his eyes. Taehyung was not your boyfriend. He was not yours.

“Well, she’s honestly a sweetheart a-and…” you bit the inside of your cheek. “And she thinks you’re cute.”

Taehyung smiled and raised his eyebrows. “Really? Wow. She’s a cheerleader too right?”

You nodded again, slowly this time.

“Hm, I guess if I see her tomorrow I’ll say howdy.”

You snorted. “Please don’t say howdy. I’m begging you.”

“Wha—why not?!”

Taehyung playfully argued with you about how his howdy greeting was not as embarrassing as you thought it was. He mimicked the way he used a cowboy accent and tipped an imaginary ten-gallon hat. You laughed until your stomach hurt and tears rimmed your eyes.

Your smile slowly faltered as you thought about how there was no way Nayeon would ever change her opinion about Taehyung. He was goofy, welcoming, and incredibly kind; any girl would be lucky to have him--you were already lucky to know him on such a personal level for so long.

↠↞

Ugh. People. Communicating. Eye contact. Exerting energy.

It never occurred to you how tired you were until the students in your classes were giving off a lot more energy than what you were used to. They all were laughing and smiling while you were huddled in your seat wanting nothing to do with anybody or anything. The mindset you were having was not good, but in your defense, you didn’t sleep well last night.

You kept tossing and turning thinking about how happy Nayeon and Taehyung were going to be together. They looked like an attractive couple in your head and you were just making it harder for yourself to go to sleep. It was obvious that you were overthinking everything--you’ve been doing since Nayeon asked you about talking to Taehyung. You were constantly reminding yourself that she was only asking you to speak well of her not setting them up for a date, but the war of selfishness and friendship was raging inside of you. How were you supposed to sleep?

Now, here you were, bags under your eyes and a sick feeling in stomach. Even the radiant atmosphere of your council peers couldn’t fully lift up your drained spirit. 

The meeting consisted of designing the form for the winter formal and picking the announcement date; it was a good thing that the winter formal wasn’t as big of an event as senior prom, although the workload was almost similar.

“Okay, Hoseok and I are going to be here early tomorrow so that we could put up some fliers before the entire student body shows up. Dahyun, and Jimin, you three are going to put up the posters tomorrow during lunch. Nayeon, Doyoung, and Wheein, just have lunch in the council room just in case students show up to ask questions on the formal--Mrs. Kwon is going to be here too.” You spoke at the head of the room and scribbled in your notebook, making changes to your schedule. Everyone agreed and you adjourned the meeting to tomorrow.

Your peers all waved goodbye and advised you to get some sleep because the dark circles under your eyes were prominent. After each of them left, you slumped onto one of the chairs and sighed loudly.

“Did you drive to school? I can take you home if you’re that tired.” Hoseok tidied up some of your paper to give you a break from standing up for so long.

“I’m fine Hoseok. I drove today.” You tipped your head back and covered your eyes with your forearm.

“So… did you talk to Taehyung?” Hoseok asked quietly.

“I...did…” you replied softly and brought your head back down. “Heh… he’s willing to talk to her to, you know, get to know her and stuff.”

Hoseok blew out a breath and stood behind you to stroke your hair. “Hey… it’s alright… I-I’m sorry, I don’t really know what to say.”

You smiled and stood from your seat. “It’s fine, Hoseok. I’m just overreacting. I don’t own Taehyung. I can’t make his decisions. I’ll be alright.”

Hoseok tried to give you a comforting smile, but you could tell he was hurting for you. He knew you were going to have to brace yourself for conversations with Nayeon about Taehyung and vice versa, he knew all too well how much it hurt to see the person you like go out with a good friend and he just wanted to be there for you.

“Okay…” he handed you your bag. “Come on, I’ll walk you to your car.”

You dragged your feet against the tiles in the hallway while Hoseok had his arm around your shoulders. He was telling you a few stories about his skype dates with Seokjin to cheer you up because you always enjoyed hearing about their relationship. You had to admit, you were a bit jealous but you were extremely happy for them nonetheless. 

“And then he lifts up his burger and goes ‘burger-ndy!’” Hoseok failed to hold in his laugh as he talked about his boyfriend’s puns. “I swear his puns are the worst sometimes, but this burger one was pure gold.”

You laughed full heartedly hearing the delightful squeaky sound of Seokjin’s laughter in your head. “I guess you can say puns are his resPUNSibility.”

Hoseok pulled you into a headlock and you choked on your laughter, apologizing and begging him to let go. “Maybe you should stop talking to Seokjin. His jokes are rubbing off on you and I already have to deal with him, I don’t want to have to--” His voice grew softer and his footsteps halted.

You wriggled out of Hoseok’s, now loose, headlock and questioned why he stopped all of a sudden. He stared off into the distance and you looked forward, breath caught in your throat.

In the distance, you saw Nayeon leaning against the row of lockers with Taehyung standing off to the side. Judging by their smiles, it seemed like they were having a riveting conversation. You watched as Nayeon pointed towards the nearby classroom and Taehyung nodded. She disappeared into the classroom and your heart broke at the sight of him smiling as he watched her go inside.

Suddenly, Taehyung turned his head to find you and Hoseok. He flashed his boxy grin and stuck two thumbs up. Even with tears in your eyes, you grinned and returned the gesture. Hoseok also gave Taehyung a thumbs up and then waved at him after catching a quick glimpse of your facial expression. Hoseok put an arm around you and guided you back towards the other exit of the building.

You walked silently beside Hoseok for a few minutes and before you even reached the exit doors, you stopped walking and felt a tear roll down your cheek and you began to chuckle to yourself.

“Ha.. heh… it’s--why am I crying?” You tried to laugh about it, but all you could see was the pure bliss on Taehyung’s face as he watched Nayeon go into the classroom. “Why am I…?”

Hoseok whispered your name and enveloped you in his arms. He rubbed your back and softly repeated it’s okay, it’s okay.

It wasn’t okay. You were going to have to stand by on the sidelines once again as Taehyung got himself romantically involved with someone, but it was different this time. You knew the girl. She was a dear friend of yours who was perfect in every way possible while all the other girls Taehyung ever dated or had a thing with was someone he knew from another friend of from class; you didn’t know them personally. You had a gut feeling that everything was going to work out perfectly between Nayeon and Taehyung. Why wouldn’t it?

This wasn’t supposed to hurt this much.

It wasn’t okay, but it was going to have to be.

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♡ rae jagi

[strawbwrry]

know it all ❥ h.ys

word count：4.k

warnings：slight swearing, time traveling, soulmates, and a few tears

↳ happy yunseong day!

now this is in no way a secret to anyone, but i do adore yunseong, and i wanted to do something special for 100 followers (currently 132, love you guys :D) and something special for yunseongs birthday, so this is where it went! now before anything i’d really like to say i truly do hope for the best for him, his future looks bright and i am eagerly awaiting for whatever happens in his career and his life, and will 100000% support him in all his endeavors. i hope he is having a good birthday, and just would like so say i really appreciate him. also hey woolim let us see him and the rest of the boys we miss them!!! to end my small rant (cause trust me i could go on for ages, and as the great @choi-yeonjunz said to me the first day we talked “im head over heels for yunseong) all i have to say is, happy birthday yunseong ♡

song rec：dayfly ❥ dean

❥❥❥❥

know it all

hwang yunseong

❥❥❥❥

I had seen him before, but he was new here. No matter how many times I tried to convince myself of that, I knew very well I had seen him before. Something about him didn’t feel normal.

How did I know him? I wasn’t so sure.

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Yunseong was attractive, seemed nice, and was on the quiet side. You’d always find him near his friends. But something was, off. I’d talked to him just once, and it was an apology after running into him and spilling some of my water on his shirt. In total honesty, before I had realized I had spoken to him, our conversation had ended.

Now usually I would’ve brushed off this unsettling feeling and continued on with my life. No matter how hard I tried to move past it, desperately tried to ignore it, I was drawn to him. When I’d see him enter the coffee shop I couldn’t help but stare. I’m sure he’d caught me more than a few times, but I couldn’t care less.

I couldn’t help it.

The day everything would change was, to be excruciatingly honest, the most mundane of them all. I got dressed, finished my classes for the day, and headed off to work. I checked in, and began on my daily tasks. As I began to clean the tables right before we closed up, I realized one thing : Yunseong hadn’t come in today. For the past few months every single day, and at the exact same time, down to the second, Yunseong walked in and ordered a drink.

He never missed a day.

My co-worker walked up to me and handed me a cookie and pointed at the table and we sat. Serim took a bite from her cookie before giving me a wide grin. “Did the boy you like not come in today?” I rolled my eyes and groaned as I opened up the packaging, “Oh shut up! I do not like him Serim.” She laughed and patted my arm, “Whatever you say Y/N.” A chill ran up my spine as a loud screech was heard outside. My eyes bolted to Serim before I tried to look out of the large window.

“Y/N, what was that?” I peered through the window all I saw was darkness. I vaguely saw dark figures, one moved continuously till I felt it look in my direction. I couldn’t see was looked back at me, but it’s eyes stung into my chest. Everything about its gaze hurt. Whatever was staring at me wasn’t human, or in the very least, wasn’t fully human. All of a sudden there was a knock on the door, when I turned to look at the person there, it was Yunseong.

His face remained stoic and calm as always, his hair tousled, but nothing out of the ordinary. It wasn’t till I noticed a figure behind him, that I felt my eyes widen, it was a tall man with seemingly no distinct features what so ever, his large hand landed onto Yunseong’s right shoulder. His lips quirked up into a lopsided grin, his eyes looked straight into mine, as he turned around in an instant, I had fallen to the floor. My vision went black for just a second, my breathing became erratic, and when I looked back there stood Yunseong alone. I turned around trying to find Serim to no avail. “Serim!” My shaky voice yelled out, as my arms pulled my body away from the door slowly. My video on blurred, and I felt a throat getting tighter and tighter by the second.

“Serim?” I felt my eyes began to sting. I pulled myself up and felt a sudden pain in my side, which dropped me right back to the floor.

I heard knocks once again coming from the door, my head instantly looked up to find Yunseong there, but his demeanor had drastically shifted. His once stoic face had turned into one of anxiousness and his hand pounded against the door violently, he looked terrified. He point behind me and as I turned around I came face to face, with who I could only describe as the tallest person to ever exist. I quickly scrambled up and ran to the door, my hands fumbled clumsily until it was open, I quickly shut the door behind me and watched as the man disappeared once again. I looked into Yunseong’s eyes to find a certain sense of relief, but deep behind that was something else. A secret, a fear, that I knew was there.

“It didn’t happen.” My face clearly contorted in confusion. What did he mean it didn’t happen? I struggled to regain my breath and vision as I stood across from him. My chest heaved tiredly.

Up. Down. Up. Down.

As my breath began to settle I looked up at him, “What do you mean ‘it’ didn’t happen?”

He let out a deep sigh, then proceeded to look around him. He anxiously rubbed the back of his neck with the palm of his hand before turning back to make eye contact with me. His eyes boring into mine which only made me more nervous.

“I’m not sure how to tell you this, but you were supposed to be dead 5 minutes ago.”

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That was a rough night. Yunseong and I had agreed to meet at the park the next day to talk, I really wasn’t ready for what I was about to learn, what I was about to see, or what I was about to feel.

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We sat besides each other awkwardly. To anyone else it would’ve looked like the most awkward first date to ever have taken place. What was really happening though, was something no one would really understand. Hell if I understood what was going on.

My eyes wandered to him before I nervously breathed in and sighed. “What did you mean when you said I was going to die last night, and who were those people with you?”

He seemed taken aback at the mention of people. “You could see them?”

“Was I not supposed to be able to see them?” He smiled timidly before straightening his face out and looking back at me. “Y/N you’re something special.”

I stayed silent. How should I respond to that? Should ask why? I wasn’t sure.

I stayed sat beside him quietly, my hands feeling as if they were going to sweat, but to be frank I wasn’t sure if they would. He sighed heavily, wiping his hands over his knees and laughing quietly. I turned to face him, quite honestly startled by his sudden laugh. It was cute, but I was confused. I laughed softly too, I had just realized I had flinched at the sound of his sudden laugh. An array of giggles escaped us before we began to quiet down.

“I’m not sure where to start, is there anything you want to know?” I sucked in a breath of air and lightly played around with my fingers wondering where to start as well. “Is there anything significant you think I should know?”

He purses his lips tightly, racking his head for a little bit. “Lee Sujin, your grandma.”

“What about my grandma?” My jaw clenched tightly, I’m wasn’t so sure if I wanted to know this. “Your grandma had a younger brother right?” I nodded quietly, my head turning to his direction as I did so. “Was his name Lee Eunsang?”

I swallowed dryly, and nodded my head nervously, “That was his name. My grandma used to talk about him all the time. But he died in 1969.” He nodded, “He wasn’t supposed to.”

“What do you mean?”

“Everybody has a certain time at which they’re supposed to die. The vast majority of people die the date and time they’re supposed to, but others die too soon, or too completely miss their time and seemingly live forever.” I squinted my eyes trying to process the information. I bit my lips back lightly, nodded very gently at his words, trying my hardest to understand them,

“So he died too early?”

He nodded, “My job is to correct each early or missed death in multiple universes, your great uncle just happens to be next on my list.”

“Can I go with you?” I pursed my lips, anxiously waiting for a response.

“Why do you want to go Y/N?” His head cocked to the side curiously, a little bit of a smile popping onto his face.

“I’d love to meet him, plus I’d love to see if you’re lying or not.” A small grin fully etched itself onto his face at my words, his hand outstretching itself till it was right by mine. He looked forward, his eyes closing for a few seconds, before he opened them again. They looked different now. A certain new quality had appeared within them. It felt comforting, almost even familiar in an odd sense.

“Y/N, take my hand and close your eyes. No matter what keep them closed, until I tell you to open them.“

My heart began to thump erratically, I felt a certain sense of nervousness overcome me in totality. I swallowed nervously but asked one final question, “What happens if I open my eyes?”

He pursed his lips for just a second, and then let out a shaky breath, “Something bad would happen. Something very bad.”

His hand began shaking slightly, his fingers gently curling inwards, “Do you still want to go?”

I nodded softly, then lifted my hand to place it in his. His grip on my hand tightened just a bit before loosening once again, “Close your eyes.”

I closed my eyes, the bright sun, green trees, blue sky, and the fountain that formerly resided in my field of vision now gone. His once regular quiet breathing became heavier, and sounded more labored. The grip of his hand adjusted, gently locking his fingers with mine, as his grip tightened, in an instant I could no longer saw any hint of light.

Darkness, a totally unexplainable lack of light, it was odd in every way possible. Yet it was familiar, I’d felt this before, I was sure of it in every way possible. A sudden image flashed before me, it was a picture of me with someone, someone who couldn’t be seen, was blurred out, seemingly wasn’t supposed to be there in that picture with me.

It stayed there motionless, until it began moving. The person next to me began to poke my cheek, even pinching it later on. As the video began fading from my sight I saw lips land onto my forehead.

I felt my heart flutter as I watched intently. I could feel the kiss being gently pressed to my forehead, and where my cheek had been gently poked and pinched. It was gentle and soft, but still prompted a shy smile on my face. I didn’t know who the person was, but deep down I could feel an unknown fondness for them, I couldn’t help it. As the video faded from my view I belt my heart ache at the sudden disappearance of the person in the video.

My chest tightened as I felt Yunseong squeeze my hand, his small pinky began adjusting slightly. “Almost.” I felt a sudden wave of reassurance wash over me at his voice, I’d never felt this way. I’d never felt so utterly comfortable with someone.

But I didn’t know him.

I had known about his existence for just a few months, talked to him for much less than two hours, but felt the strongest sense of infatuation with him. The strongest feeling of attachment. The darkness began to fade, and a sudden light appeared, “Y/N you can open your eyes now.”

When my eyelids parted, instantly I knew, we weren’t in 2019 anymore.

It was the summer of 1969.

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Everything was so different. The cars. The people. The clothing.

“Yunseong, holy crap is that my grandma?” My eyes widened at the sight of a certain teenager, my age, walking hand in hand with a male. “Wait no way, that’s my grandpa!” I quickly turned around, crouching down, and raising up to my hands to my eye sockets covering my eyes.

He chuckled, his hand reaching out to help me stand up again, “Bingo.” I placed my hand onto his and let him pull me up. His head turned away, as my eyes were drawn to his side profile, I unknowingly smiled, my heart felt content, here holding his hand.

For once everything felt right.

❥❥❥❥

Everything changes with perspective

What’s going on in Yunseong’s mind?

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Her eyes widened significantly and she turned to me for just a second, “Yunseong, holy crap is that my grandma?” Her hand landed over her mouth in shock and her eyes scanned over the teenager stood not far from us.

“Wait no way, that’s my grandpa!” I chuckled softly, she crouched to the floor and covered her eyes with her hands trying to process the sight just a few feet away. When she turned to look back at me my hand instinctively shot out to help her up, “Bingo.”

He hand landed onto mine and for the few second it was there I felt complete.

She’d never be mine, but that wouldn’t stop me from coming back to her.

I turned away, my heart heavy, but feeling content. “Y/N, your great uncle should be in the park over there. Come on, let’s go.”

The walk was quiet, not a single word uttered between the both of us. The day was nice, the sky clear and blue, a gentle wind blowing past us, the sun beaming warming our skin. Her hand grabbed my wrist stopping us both. Her head quickly turned to look back at me, “Yunseong, is that him?” I smiled softly at her excitement and nodded softly, “Hey Eunsang! Is that the girlfriend you’ve been telling me about?”

He blushed and rolled his eyes, “Hyung! You’re embarrassing me!” I laughed before turning to look down at Y/N, her eyes wide and face reading shock. My hand intertwined with hers, before I looked back up, “Yunseong hyung, who is she? Is that your girlfriend?” Y/N’s face went red, her hand tightened around mine, but before I said anything,

“My name is Y/N, and yes.”

My face heated up slightly, as I felt her hand tighten around mine. Eunsang’s girlfriend smiled widely, “Care to join us for a bit?”

I turned to look at her and she smiled softly, her eyes wandering into mine, boring holes into my soul as she hopefully stared at me. “We’d love too!”

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"How did you like being with them?” Her smile was wide, and hands remained warm, she looked so happy. So genuinely excited, I couldn’t help to smile back at her. “I understand what my grandma meant when she talked about him.”

“What did she say about him?” We stopped in front of a gorgeous rose bush. She let go of my hand, and faced me in front of the rose bush, her eyelashes fluttered prettily, her eyes reading me in a way I couldn’t pinpoint. “Mischievous personified. She told how much he enjoyed seeing others happy. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a better descriptive of someone.” Her head dropped down, a fond smile growing onto her face, “She would’ve loved to see him one last time before she passed.”

Without a thought my hand lifted to brush her hair away from her face, my eyes drawn naturally to hers. It felt so natural. Her eyes softened slightly before she turned to admire the roses, “Tell me Yunseong, what other things exist that we don’t know about.” I smiled sadly at her, I was so helplessly entranced by her in every way, it was so obvious.

“Which ones do you want to know?”

“Well I know about time traveling, since we just did it, and the fact that multiple universes exist, so just anything that’d be a shock to most people.”

“I know in your universe it’s a big debate on if soulmates exist, but they do exist. Other is probably, people you see, aren’t always people, they can be some misshapen monster put into the wrong universe.”

Her eyes shot back to mine, “Like the people next to you from last night?” I nodded, “I was shocked when you could see them because you’re not supposed to be able to see them. No normal person should be able to see them. I’m positive you saw some kind of video or picture when we were coming over here.”

“I did.” My hunch was right. Nobody is every that quiet, there’s always some sort of panicking or nervous whispering. She was silent. She wasn’t normal and I’m sure of it, I’m just not sure in what way she’s different. “What was it of?”

A shy smile painted itself over her face and her eyes filled with a certain sense of happiness I’d never be able to understand. “It was incredibly mundane and unimportant, but it seemed so life changing and real to me. The main thing was, I guess when a person kissed my forehead.”

“Who was this somebody?” Her face contorted slightly in confusion, “I’m not really sure, I couldn’t see their face.”

“If you’re okay with answering, what about it seemed so important to you?” Her bashful smile returned, her eyes turning to mine for a bit before turning away once again, “I don’t know who the person was, but at that moment I felt like I needed them. Like I wasn’t complete with out them. I could feel the kiss, but I couldn’t pinpoint what about felt so special and important to me. It just was.”

I smiled sadly, “It must’ve been a vision of your soulmate.” My hand reaches out and gently poked her cheek, I smiled fondly at the girl who stood in front of me, each time she died I always came back, even if I knew I shouldn’t. My heart broke each time but I couldn’t help it. I loved her.

“Yunseong do you have a soulmate?”

I smiled,“I do, but because I technically don’t exist, my soulmate has another soulmate.” I looked down at the roses and smiled, their vibrant reds truly shining as the setting sun covered them in a golden light. It was a scene that could really only be described as unreal, “What do you mean you don’t exist?”

“I was born in between universes, so while I am here and real, I’ll never really exist anywhere. I’ll spend all of my seemingly endless life fixing the universe’s anomalies, until the day my body gives out. But then I’ll be reborn like this once again.” I paused, my throat tightening slightly, “The majority of us don’t have soulmates. I’m one of the few who does. I’ll never be able to be with them though, so what does it matter at this point.”

“Do you know them?” I turned to look at Y/N, her eyes glazed with a childlike sense of curiosity, I smiled wholeheartedly before turning away to watch the sun set, my smile instantly falling, “I’ve seen her die, and be reborn multiple times. Each and every time it happens I can’t help but hope she’ll be one of us. It’s selfish I know, but it’s been centuries in your years, over again watching them fall in love with another man. It’s futile. But I’ll always adore her no matter who she’s been reborn as.”

Her hand landed gently on my arm, lightly grabbing in the long sleeve shirt that hung loosely on my arm, tears brimming at her eyes. A wave of emotions washed over me in which I could only name a few, my hands lifted up to her face and I gently swiped her tears with my thumbs, watching as she sniffled. My hand gently pinched at the soft skin of her cheeks, smiling as a timid smile painted her face. She gently took my hand in both of hers and held it tightly. “Doesn’t it hurt?”

“I can’t do anything about it. All I can do is watch and hope she’s happy with who ever she lands as a soulmate. It hurts so damn much. She’ll never know how much I truly love her, but it’s alright. I’ll die one day, maybe I’ll be among the majority of us who are lucky enough to not have soulmates.” Her lips pursed as her eyes locked on mine. Once again, her eyes stared into mine trying to find something, something I’d never know of. Her hands still firmly held onto mine. “Would you ever tell your soulmate that?”

Words were caught at my throat, I had so much to say, yet no way to say it. Should I tell her? I sighed heavily and and gently leaned in to place a loving kiss to her forehead, using my free hand to gently cup her face, my thumb stroking her cheekbone,

“I just did.”

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We had just arrived once again in 2019, I was hesitant to leave. Y/N stayed silent, and while she hadn’t said anything to me following my three-worded confession, she refused to let go of my hand. The sky was dark, the only illumination present in anyway being the uninviting street lights that were scattered across the sidewalks.

I walked Y/N to her doorstep and watched her head up to the door. Each step she took to her door felt agonizingly long, I’d never see her again after this, and she knew it. Her hands reached the doorknob and I watched as she unlocked her door. My eyes watched intently as she began to walk inside her house. In an instant she dropped her keys and turned back to me, she walked quickly and rested her head against my shoulder, her hands wrapped around my waist. To say I was shocked was an understatement, I felt my body relax against hers as my arm pulled her closer. My head rested against hers and we stood there quietly,

“Yunseong don’t leave. Please don’t leave.” My heart broke at the shakiness of her words, her warm forehead pressed against the side of my neck sending goosebumps up my spine. “You know I can’t stay.” Her arms tightened around my body as I began to pull away. “Why can’t you stay?”

“I don’t belong here.” She shook her head gently, before pulling her upper body away from mine and looking me in the eyes, “Whenever I look into your eyes I see something different, I can see your fears, I can see your thoughts, and I can see your memories. You’re real in every way. When I look at you I see Hwang Yunseong. Whether you exist or not, I love you. Whether you knew it or not I always have.”

“And whether you accept it or not I’m not letting go.”

A smile grew on my face as I bashfully looked away from her trying to hide a smile. A sudden stinging in my eyes startled me, I chuckled softly at myself, soon joined by Y/N. Just like the first time we had truly talked, for a moment it was just a fit of giggles. Her gleaming smile so gorgeous, I couldn’t help but stare. When the laughs ceased I felt a tear roll down my cheek, something that hadn’t happened in quite a long time. “Why are you crying Yunseong?”

“I never thought I’d be able to have a moment like this with you. I just love you. Much more than you’d ever know.”

“I love you too Yunseong.”

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This was the moment that’d change our lives. This was the moment I felt complete, after what felt like an eternity of endless searching, endless watching happy couples together, I finally felt like I was complete.

She’d never understand how much I love her. She never will. Your not just fond of someone for hundreds of years. Sure I’m a know it all, but I really didn’t know how she felt.

And I’m glad I didn’t.

❥❥❥❥

[erin-gilberts]

Bc It’s such a good post will you answer all the cafe asks?

Yessss totally! 

Vanilla Chai Latte : Are you in love?

Yes, wholeheartedly and unapologetically, I am. 

My girlfriend and I have only been together for two months, but it’s one of those things where when you know, you know. I’ve been in relationships lasting upwards of a year where I still didn’t know at the end of them whether or not I was in love. Early on in the year, I was actually even having conversations with my mom about how I wasn’t sure I’d ever been in love; I had no concept of what that felt like. I didn’t feel like I was feeling what I was supposed to be in relationships. I wondered if I was aromantic and if I wasn’t meant to experience romantic love.

With her, I’ve realized everything love IS supposed to feel like, and I’ve realized I AM capable of feeling those feelings - I just hadn’t met the right person yet. My heart was waiting for her. 

We daydream of the life we intend to build together, and it delights me to be able to wake up every day and choose her, again and again, as we run boldly and breathlessly into the future we now share. We totally u-hauled but we’re both so committed to blooming and becoming together; it’s unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before despite having quite a bit of experience in relationships. 

Flat White : Coffee or Tea?

Coffee. It feels more substantial to me with more ways to customize it exactly how you like it. I also just have a lot of really positive memories being in coffee shops! I’m currently obsessing over Starbucks’s seasonal salted caramel mocha. 

Cappuccino : What’s your middle name?

Elizabeth! I was named after my mother and grandmother, so it’s the only part of my birth name I kept when I changed my name. 

Mocha : Dream Job?

A famous professional organizer on the same level as Marie Kondo and Dorothy Breininger! They’re my inspiration and the reason I went into this kind of work. Also, the executive director of my own LGBT-focused nonprofit (which I have been, and I intend to be again!). 

Pumpkin Spice : Dream car?

The super fancy bike I’ll use the day I ride in the AIDS LifeCycle? Haha, I don’t drive and I don’t intend to! 

Jasmine Tea : If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?

Ugh, if I could visit any place in the world right this moment, I’d choose to go back to Toronto in a heartbeat. I went there in 2015 for the Inside Out LGBT Film Festival and I LOVED that city. It was so fun and the people were so welcoming. Other than that? Moscow, because it’s where @googoogojob lives, or New York City, because I just learned Hook & Ladder 8 (the Ghostbusters firehouse) is a real place and I want to see it! 

Old English : You’re stranded on an island, who do you bring with you?

Do I have a limit?? If I have a choice, I’m definitely bringing my mom, brother, maternal grandparents, best friend, best friend’s family, cat, and girlfriend! That’s like the minimum amount of people in my life I couldn’t go without. 

Iced Chocolate : Do you have a crush on someone?

My girlfriend, who I continually redevelop a big gay crush on every day! But I feel like that’s not quite the spirit of what this question is asking, so - I also have a big gay crush on Kristen Wiig, which my girlfriend endlessly makes fun of me for! Like, to the point I named my cat Erin Gilbert. 

Caramel Frappe : Favorite video game?

It’s a tie between Minecraft and Undertale. I swing wildly between playing Minecraft daily to not playing for months, but it never gets old. The sandbox nature of the game enables infinite creativity, and the low stakes make it both accessible to me (not a gamer) and relaxing. And Undertale with its story and unique mechanics remains to this day the game to inspire the biggest emotional response in me. I’ve thought about having, “Despite everything, it’s still you” tattooed. 

Iced Lemon Tea : Favorite song/band?

My favorite songs of all time are “The Greatest” by Sia and “I Know a Place” by MUNA, both of which were written in the aftermath of the Pulse shooting and can be interpreted as the process of rediscovering queer joy at the same time your community is constantly faced with tragedy and pain. They hit hard in a beautiful way as a hate crime survivor. 

Iced Cafe Mocha : Favorite thing to do on rainy days?

I like to go out as soon as the storm passes and just walk downtown in the rain. The air always smells and feels so good; it clarifies me and I feel renewed. Walking in the light rain or before / after the storm always feels like breathing, really breathing, for the first time. It reminds me I exist and it reminds me that’s neat. 

Hot Chocolate : Are you an affectionate person?

Yessssss oh my god. I live and breathe being affectionate and not even in a strictly romantic sense. I’m naturally an exuberant person and I delight in making people happy. My girlfriend would also say I engage in “cat behavior” with my demands to be held or touching constantly. XD 

Caramel Macchiato : You’re travelling the entire world but you can only take one person with you. Who do you take?

My girlfriend @sweetmckinnon. Not only would we have the unprecedented opportunity to be gay in every country and continent, but we’re both writers, and we’d write an excellent book about these adventures! 

Green Tea : How tall are you?

5’7. 

Early Grey Tea : The inevitable Zombie Apocalypse is upon us! What’s your plan of action?

I’m rounding up everyone I care about and taking us to the nearest commune of marginalized people. We’ll be avoiding those uber-macho survivalist types like the plague, because their arrogance will 100% get everyone killed. At least marginalized communities would be more likely to understand working together and looking out for the community, not just yourself. 

Mint Tea : How do you relax?

Indoor cycling is my drug of choice. It’s HARD to be mad or stressed when you’re exerting that intensely. I might also write self-indulgent fanfics or indulge in a little controlled chaos (I’m an acrylic pour and collage artist). And talking to my girlfriend, best friend, or mom always makes me feel better, too. 

Vanilla Latte : Board games or drinking games?

I genuinely love board games and wish I had more people to play them with. 

Iced Coffee : Do you like reading? If so, what’s your favorite book?

I like reading, but having ADHD has made it extremely hard to read entire books in recent years. My favorite book is probably The Radium Girls by Kate Moore. The author takes what’s already a horrific story and a dark chapter in American history and with her devastating writing style, humanizes each woman involved to the point it makes you ache to read knowing the inevitability of their fate. Anytime anyone asks me for a book recommendation, this is the book I suggest. 

Italian Soda : Describe your dream date

My dream date would be after we’ve been together for a while - maybe on a date that’s special to us, like our anniversary, or maybe just on a random night because we feel like it, we have one of those super romantic dates like you see in the movies. We dress up super cute, go out to dinner and come home to a bedroom full of candles and rose petals on the floor, and every moment is spent just enjoying each other and what we have together in every way we can. <3 

Sparkling Water : Describe what qualities you look for in a person

Passion - I’m an activist who became the executive director of their own nonprofit at the age of 16. I’m not going to mesh with someone who’s just going through the motions of life without any aspirations. 

Flexibility - It’s a turnoff for me when someone is EXTREMELY committed to a very specific view of how their life is going to be. It tells me right away I’m going to have to continually contort myself to fit into their unbending path, because I accept I can’t predict the direction of my life with any degree of precision and I’m not rigid about it as a result. 

Creative - I’m currently dating another writer and it’s the most fun I’ve ever had in a relationship. The quickest way to get us to pop off into a spirited debate is to get us started about story structure and characterization. We. Go. OFF. And could go off for days. Our shared creative passion gives us endless ground to connect and bond on. 

Those are just a few, but definitely a few important ones for me! 

Orange Juice : Have you ever had a valentine?

My first girlfriend, who I dated from 12-17, is the only valentine I’ve ever had. The timing of my relationships as an adult has never worked out for me to be partnered on Valentine’s Day. We weren’t super out about our relationship at the time and didn’t spend Valentine’s Day together, but I still have the love letters she sent me copied into my 7th grade diary, and I still have the antique gold heart necklace with enamel roses she gave me one year, too! Lots of lovely memories from that relationship. 

Rose Hip Tea : Describe your first kiss

My first girlfriend and I were 12-13, cutting class in the bathroom because she was often bullied for her sexuality. She was having an especially rough day that day and I knew exactly where to find her. She kissed me out of the blue while I was comforting her and in all of my baby gay naivety, I hadn’t fully realized I was gay or that she liked me that way prior to that. Turns out I was and she did. We dated for five years. 

Herbal Tea : You’re at a candle shop, what scented candle do you buy?

Oh, I’m going right to the bakery scent section. I’m not a huge fan of chocolate-scented candles, but vanilla? Christmas cookies? Gingerbread? Sign me the FUCK up. 

Sandalwood is also one of my favorite scents, but depending on what it’s blended with, it can be hit or miss for me in candles. 

[jinterlude]

Innermost Thoughts

↳ header is made by yours truly. I do not own the rights to the image used.

➳ Pairing: Mark Lee x Reader (female OC)

➳ Genre(s): Soulmate!AU, Barista!AU, Romance, Fluff, Friendship, & Humor

➳ Words: 6.6K

➳ Summary: You work at the local coffee shop. He currently interns at a business firm. Your life is right on schedule. His life is a mess. He is always on the go. You take one day at a time. Total opposites, so why is there a special connection between you? More importantly, why is there a bunch of random phrases written on your palm? You don’t remember writing down anything to help you remember, so this honestly strange to you. It doesn’t help that Mark too is experiencing a strange phenomenon when it comes to his own body. There’s no way that your experience is linked with his. Absolutely no way...

Soft whispers from the outside. An icy cold breeze brushes through the naked tree branches as it pushes the million snowflakes, that descends from the vast sky, in different directions. Falling at a decent pace as it joins their brother and sisters on the concrete ground.

Winter is an interesting season as people either love it or hate it. People simply focus on the harsh coldness that it comes with it or focus on the mere fact that Christmas is soon approaching. For you, you always love the season. Not because it means that the year is almost over or that you’ll receive gifts from your friends and family. No. You are in love with this weather because of the tranquility that comes it. Seeing the blanket of pure white snow on top of what used to be your grass? Magical. Observing the footprints that causes your eyes to follow after it? A fun adventure. Most important, you absolutely love your job. Being a barista at the local café and serving hot drinks to the customers as they chat away about anything that has happened during their daily life. It is because of this job that you have the opportunity to meet some interesting characters. It is because of this job that you believe in the idea of soulmates.

As you prepare their orders, you overhear the coffee lovers talk about how they met one another. From the months of working there, you gain the knowledge of the “red thread of fate”, “two soulmates who feel the exact emotions”, and the list goes on.

Hearing about their stories makes you question if you have that special someone to call your own. Someone who is destined to make you into a better person. Someone who will love you unconditionally until the end of time.

In simple terms…

Someone to call your own…

With a soft smile gracing your lips, you grasp your fingers around the handle as you steam a cup of milk. You hum a Christmas tune to yourself as you focus on making the perfect latte for a customer.

           “Hey cutie!” shouts a fellow barista, who also happens to be your partner in crime.

           “You’re late Sowon…” You point out with a grin.

Sowon scoffs, rolling her eyes, as she ties her hair up in a ponytail.

           “Sweetie, a queen is never late. Everyone else is simply early.” She says, putting on her apron and tying it in place.

You chuckle as you do one of your signature flower art on the customer’s latte before serving it.

           “Here you go sir.” You smile sweetly at the elderly gentleman.

The gentleman says a quick yet polite thank you before taking his drink back to his seat.

Sowon perks her eyebrow up, “I think you made yet another person fall in love with you.” She states as she clocks in for work.

You wave away her remark before attending to another customer.

This is going to be yet another amazing day for you.

In a different part of the city, sadly, a certain intern at a business firm isn’t having such a wonderful start.

For Mark Lee, his day has been filled with nothing but sweat, tears, and some curse words. With his hair a disheveled mess, he forces himself to knock on his boss’ office door, praying to God that he has noticed him rushing in late. While he is a music major at the local university, his professor has suggested that he should also expose himself to the business side of the industry. Luckily, a colleague of his has helped land the internship.

However, looking at his situation now, he honestly doesn’t think he’s so lucky.

His boss is scary. His fellow interns only care about themselves. He is always late because the train and bus schedule are always unpredictable.

There are some days where Mark Lee wants to quit but decides against it when he remembers that his dream goal is so close to not being a dream anymore. He is going to be a famous producer one day, working with famous artists left and right. Yep. He can see the end goal. He just needs to keep trucking on.

Taking one final breath, Mark Lee musters enough courage to knock on the glass door. His face slightly grimaces when he hears his boss’ harsh, cold voice demanding that he enters. He wraps his fingers around the door handle and pushes the door open.

           “Take a seat, Mr. Lee.” Demands his angry boss.

Mark Lee nods meekly and quickly takes a seat. His timid stare meeting the strong, confident stare of his boss.

           “Mr. Lee, may I ask why you are late for the hundredth time this month?” His boss asks, leaning back into his seat.

           “It wasn’t a hundred times…” Mark thinks, “I am incredibly sorry, sir. I woke up late and then both the train and bus arrived late, and—” Before Mark can continue his explanation, his boss interrupts.

           “Mark, I do not want to hear your excuse. No matter what, I expect you to be here on time and ready to work,” His boss pauses, sighing, “I am not sure if this is going to continue to work out. While, yes, you are an intern, I still treat you as if you are one of my employees, and I expect my employees to have an amazing work ethic. Quite frankly, you are not displaying any of that.” He says; each of his words stab a whole in Mark’s pride.

He is right. The boss man is always right. Mark knows that he hasn’t been given his internship a 100%. He always gives whatever the task he is handed his all. What makes this internship any different?

           “You are absolutely right, sir. I have been half-assing this intern. I come up with excuse after excuse, and I apologize for that. That is not an exact representation of my work ethics. Please give me one more chance, I promise that I will deliver you nothing but the best from now on.” Mark says; confidence dripping from every word. A total 180 from his earlier mannerisms.

His boss finds himself nodding. A light humming emits from his lips as a short smile begins to form.

           “Okay.” He tells Mark shortly, alarming the poor boy.

           “Okay?” Mark repeats in a questioning tone of voice.

           “Okay as in I will give you one more shot. You blow this, and you are out of my company. Got it?” The boss clarifies, standing up and fixing his suit jacket.

Mark practically shoots up from his seat, grabbing his boss’ hands as he proceeds to shake them.

           “You will not regret this sir!” He shouts with an eager smile before dashing out of the office.

Mark’s boss shakes his head but with a smile as he takes his seat. An amusing thought occurs in his mind causing the distinguished man to chuckle.

           “I can go for a cup of coffee from my daughter’s café.” He utters to himself as he sends Mark a quick text message with his order.

Now scrolling through your phone, as you are currently on your 20-minute break, you hum along to your music. You have the habit of getting lost in your music. Something about the lyrics and the melody just speaks to your soul.

And the funny thing is that it’s always about love. The idea of falling in love. You can say that you tend to be a hopeless romantic.

           “Say yes…say yes…say yes…” You sing softly; your eyes trailing up as you drink in the peaceful atmosphere. You watch the precious snowflakes slowly trickle down before blending in with the rest.

A faint smile appears before focusing your attention back on your phone. As you reach for the device, you feel an odd sensation on your palm. More specifically, on the palm. This tickling feeling continues for a few more moments, then it suddenly disappears.

Your brows scrunch together. Tiny creases form on your forehead. You have had your share of weird encounters, but that takes the cake.

You flip over your hand. Your eyes widen as you see handwriting on it.

           “That’s odd…” You think to yourself as you scan the written content, “Why is there a coffee order on my hand?” You mentally add, finding it even weirder that you register it as your dad’s go-to coffee order.

So many questions begin to swarm your mind. Questions like, “did I write this down earlier?” or “Maybe Sowon got a message from him and had me write it on my hand for her?”

Ah…this is going to bug you for the rest of the day.

The funny thing is that you didn’t even think about the possibility that maybe this is your soulmate’s doing. Don’t you love ignoring the obvious?

With a quick huff, you grab your phone and stuff in one of the pockets of your apron. You push in your chair and head back inside. Maybe it won’t hurt to ask Sowon.

She’s one smart cookie after all…

Feeling the warmth from the heater as it melts away the icy, numb feeling from your face, you smile at each customer, checking up on every other one, as you make your back behind the counter.

You push open the little entrance door, walk up to Sowon, and whisper roughly,

           “Hey, did you have me write down something for you?”

Sowon stares at you with a questioning expression.

           “Uh…not recently. Why?” She asks, putting down her pen.

Instead of answering, you show her your palm. Sowon leans forward; her eyes squinting to make sense of the tiny font that decorates your palm. A few words quietly exit from her mouth before returning to her original position.

           “Yeah…are you feeling okay? You go from writing down a coffee order to writing anything and everything that comes to your cute little mind.” She asks, stating what she has read on your palm.

Wait what?

Last time you checked, only a coffee order is written on your hand. You quickly flip over your hand and low and behold, Sowon is right. Instead of a simple order, there’s a bunch of random words.

You read over the jumbled-up words, stifling a laughter that forms within your chest.    

          “One large iced Americano with two pumps of…wait…what time did the boss man say he wanted the summary report on his desk? Shit…! I think he said that he wanted it on his desk tonight! Fuck!” You read aloud, chuckling at the number of times the word, “fuck” is written on your hand.

Sowon watches curiously at you. She takes note of the goofy smile that is glued on your face. How your head tilts to the side as you continue to read the essay that is on the palm of your hand.

Wait a minute…

That is quite strange that out of all her years of knowing you, you only just now start to write things on your hand. Normally, you’ll grab your tiny notebook and jot down anything and everything that pops into your brilliant mind.

Suddenly, a light bulb lights up.

Sowon swiftly grabs your hand, and her assumption is right. Her eyes observes the ink disappear but soon appears once again. This time bearing a new set of phrases. Sentences that go from being articulate to being simple rambles.

           “Say, you haven’t found your soulmate yet , right?” You hear Sowon randomly ask.

You simply shake your head before standing behind the register. Sowon hums in response as she access her mind bank, specifically looking for her knowledge on soulmates.

She leans a part of her body against the counter, continuing to look through her intelligent mind.

Then, it hits her. As if someone has taken a book and lightly smacked it on her head.

She quickly pushes herself off the counter and moves next to you. Completely ignoring the fact that you are helping a customer.

You smile sweetly at the lady, who appears to be in her mid-twenties, and hand her exact change. You grab the order receipt and place it on a clip before moving around Sowon to help prepare your signature latte. What can you say? People love your signature drink. It’s probably because of the fancy latte art that you do, but whatever helps bring revenue to the café.

           “Are you even listening to me?” Sowon throws her hands up, sighing loudly.

You smile apologetically as you tighten your hair up again and quickly wash your hands.

Sowon frowns as her eyes narrow; they practically become slits.

           “I promise, I will listen to what you have to say after work. Right now, I need—” Before you can finish your sentence, requesting your dear friend to actually work instead of chit chatting, you hear an awkward voice speak up.

           “Um…excuse me? I would like to order.”

You give a Sowon a look before stepping around her and position yourself at the register.

           “Hi sir! How may I help you?” You ask politely, lightly drumming your fingers against the register screen.

A short, airy chuckle leaves the customer’s lips.

           “Sir? I would’ve thought we would at least be on first name basis with each other.” The person says, causing you to softly giggle.

You raise your brow as you tell him, “Well... Seeing how I am at work, Mark, I need to keep a sense of professionalism. I can’t play favorites with my customers.” Near the end, you playfully wink at him

The customer, who is now revealed to be Mark, laughs at your remark. He quietly says, “true”, before relaying his go-to order. Every day, Mark comes in ordering two things. He orders one coffee for his boss and then orders something to calm his nerves. Almost always he orders a plain old cup of coffee with a few shots of espresso and can’t forget a little bit of room for the creamer.

           “You know…eventually, all of that caffeine is going to kill you.” You playfully say as you ring up his total for his drinks.

Mark eyes you with a lazy yet amused smirk as he digs out his wallet from his back pocket. He then hands her the company credit card before jokingly wipes away his imaginary sweat. He is honestly amazed with himself for finally having his boss’ order correct. His prior attempts either had him making the drink too sweet or too bitter. Sometimes, he’s even forgotten to make the drink iced.

Now Mark understands why he’s always been assigned coffee duty while the other interns are either filing away important documents or scheduling important meetings for the executive board members.

If he can’t remember a simple coffee order, then how can he remember the tiny details of his clients needs—wants—when it comes to their music?

           “Everything happens for a reason…” He chants like a broken record.

As you insert his card into the card reader, you notice Mark mouthing something out of the corner of your eye. You secretly find it both adorable and hilarious that he tends to do it whenever he wants to memorize something.

Wow…you have seen him enough to know that small detail about him.

That’s kind of depressing…

           “Your order will be up soon, Mr. Lee.” You announce as you hand him back both his card and the receipt.

           “Ah… I thought we went over this. Mark is just fine. Mr. Lee reminds me of my dad.” Mark tells you, finding it quite amusing to hear you say that.

You giggle at his response, “Funny. I can say the same thing when people call me Miss L/N. It reminds me of my dad’s employees address me. It’s just weird.” You say.

The moment he hears you say your last name, he feels this poking sensation on his brain. Why does your last name sound so damn familiar?

           “Say…you don’t happen to know an elderly gentleman named, Y/D/N L/N?” inquires Mark as he mirrors your steps.

A look of confusion spreads all over your face as you begin prepping a drink for a customer that is ahead of Mark.

           “Yeah I do! He’s actually—” However, before you can spill the beans that the person in question is your dad, you hear your Sowon shout,

           “Oh, baby girl! Stop flirting with the handsome intern! The manager is demanding that you provide her with your amazing hands! Apparently, she can’t make those latte arts that the people are so fond of!”

You smile apologetically to him before handing off the shot of espresso to Sowon and leaving behind an even more confused Mark.

Mark eyes your retreating, displaying a genuine smile and walking away himself. As he’s walking away, he rolls the sleeves up just 3/4ths of the way as it has grown a tad warm inside the coffee establishment. He then glances behind his shoulder; his smile growing by the second. Seeing you smile  and chat away with your manager triggers a few fond memories. To be specific—he begins to recall the first day the two of you have met…

Heavy pants leave his mouth; the air in his lungs disappearing right in front of his eyes. He exerts every ounce of stamina to make it the local café shop and back to the office before his boss arrives. Mark has only recently been accepted into the business firm and now is going to be late on his first day. What an amazing first impression he wants to establish to not only his boss but his senior employees as well.

To add insult to injury, he’s forgotten what the assistance has told him about his boss’ favorite coffee combination.

Why didn’t he write it down?

Oh….

That’s right…

He’s a cocky idiot thinking that he can remember a simple order.

Life is cruel to him…

With the coffee shop nearing in sight, Mark picks up his pace. He loosens up his tie and unbuttons a few of buttons of his dress shirt. The last ting he wants to add to his piling list of “reasons why I should be fired” is the fact that his shirt stinks of sweat and despair.

Uncaring about being a perfect gentleman, he pushes past the sea of customers, wanting to make it to the front of the line. He ignores the loud complaints and profanities as he rests his hands on the counter.

He tries his best to catch his breath fairly quickly. Time is precious to him, and he can’t afford to dawdle right now.

With you, on the other hand, you have all the time in the world. Your dad has given you permission to work at this wonderful café since he knows about your hidden passion for creating any form art. Whether it’s with a paint brush or a colored pencil, you always have to create something.

When Jae Hwa told you that the local café near the university was hiring, you immediately jumped at the chance. Now, you can practice your latte art and be technically paid to do so.

           “Hey, can you cover me at the register? My dad has been keeping me updated with my little brother, so I want to give him a call and see how things are.” Jae Hwa asks with a hopeful smile.

You tighten your pony tail and quickly say, “yes”. She has covered for you before, so why not return the favor?

Jae Hwa happily and swiftly thanks you as she exits the bar area and goes outside.

You quickly type in your login credentials before taking the next person’s order.

           “Hi there! How may I help you this fine morning?” You ask with a warm smile, though, you observe the look of dread that’s painted all over the poor soul’s face.

           “…yeah…I need…uh….shit…” The person mumbles, trying his hardest to remember of the coffee order.

This unexplainable feeling of pity fills your heart as you notice the morning rush piling on behind him.

           “Would you like me to recommend something for you? You seem tense…” You politely question, taking note of the constant sweat that trickles down the side of his face and his uptight body language.

           “Nah. I’m okay,” He pulls out his phone and opens his messaging app, “I’m lucky that my boss’ assistant messaged me his order.” He replies before relaying an interesting drink order.

A grin of curiosity forms on your lips as this knowing feeling in the back of your head pokes at you. That drink is oddly too familiar; however, you decide to push that thought onto the back burner. The morning rush needs your absolute focus. You can dwell on why that drink order is familiar later.

           “Will that be all?” You ask, remembering your training.

The person quickly says, “yes”, and then you total the amount for his drink.

           “Okay that will be $5.87, and may I have your name for the order?” You ask, taking his card and inserting it into the chip reader.

           “Oh! Um…Mark Lee.” He says awkwardly as you hand him back both his card and receipt.

You smile sweetly before telling him that you’ll call him when his drink is ready. Mark returns the smile but it’s not as wide as yours. It seems rather timid—almost nervous like. You watch him move to the side and try to find an empty table to park himself at until his drink is ready.

           “I think he likes you…” says an all too familiar voice.

           “What do you want, Jungkook? Sowon isn’t scheduled to work until the afternoon shift.” You state, ignoring the annoying grin that is currently on his face.

Jungkook holds his hands up in defense, “Hey now. I’m just here for a good old cup of coffee and to see my favorite latte artists.”

You can’t help but roll your eyes, “Whatever,” However, before you can resume your register duties, your manager comes up to you and asks you to start delivering drinks to the customers. When you ask her why, she says that the place is too noisy that no one can’t hear their names being called.

           “Fair enough.” You salute her as you grab Mark’s and another person’s drink orders. You first deliver the other person’s drink since the woman’s sitting at table closest to the counter. Then, you carefully make your way to Mark’s table. That boy just has to sit in the farthest corner.

           “Mark!” You try to yell subtly, hoping to gain the boy’s attention. After no response, you try again and luckily, he looks up.

His eyes widen as he notices you struggling to push through the sea of people. Mark stands up and makes his way towards you.

Unfortunately, he should’ve just waited for you…

           “Holy…I am so sorry Mark!” You apologize loudly as the two of you eye his now coffee stained shirt.

You quickly pull out a clean rag from the back of your pocket and carefully wipe down his shirt.

Mark frowns and admits that his shirt is ruined. He then gently grasps your wrist, ignoring this spark electricity that shoots up his arm, and forces you to stop cleaning.

           “I think you can stop cleaning my shirt. Coffee stains are a bitch.” He tells you, causing you to blush from embarrassment.

You awkwardly stand up and once again apologize for ruining his dress shirt. Mark waves off your apology as he deems it his own fault for trying to meet you halfway in this packed café.

           “Let’s just say we are both dummies, and I’ll quickly go remake your drink.” You tell him.

Mark chuckles softly, “Don’t worry about it. I’m already in trouble for being late. What can having a dirty dress shirt and no coffee do to me?”

You frown; your eyes dripping with sympathy. You want to help him, but it seems like his mind is made up.

           “Well, how about this? Next time you visit, your coffee is on me.” You suggest, smiling.

Mark returns the smile,

“See you tomorrow then…”

His last words echo throughout your mind. The more you think about it, the more you find yourself smiling as you watch Mark leave your line of sight. Now having a better look at him, you take note of his attire. A dress shirt, a pair of black slacks, and a nice pair of black vans.

A short hum emits from your lips as you find it odd that a college student is wearing such a dressy attire. Maybe he works right after school, so that’s why he always stop by to buy a few drinks before dashing out of the door.

Though…

What type of job requires such a fancy attire?

More importantly, what kind of job requires this poor boy to down so much caffeine that you should just start giving him a pot of espresso to go instead of simple large cup?

To make it your thought process even wilder, you find a tad interesting that Mark always orders your dad’s go-to drink to go with whatever is his choice of the day. People can develop similar tastes in drinks. You have seen enough duplicate coffee orders to know that your hypothesis is indeed correct.

           “…nah…” You say quietly as you resume your duties.

Maybe one day, the two of you will meet outside the four walls of this coffee shop, and you guys can talk about anything and everything that comes to mind.

Meanwhile, with Mark, he is currently scrolling through his work email. Reading over everything and anything that his boss has CC’d him in. He silently curses at the fact that he didn’t bring his work laptop with him. If he did bring it with him, then he would’ve been working on the many summary reports that has piled on. Looks like he’s going to be staying behind late…yet again…

Mark can’t help but sigh, questioning his life decisions, however, before he can be completely lost in his thoughts, his phone sounds off.

As he reaches for his phone, he notices something that is drawn on his arm. His lips pursed together as he wonders what’s on his arm. He doesn’t remember being bored and doodling on it.

Wait…

Did he doodle on it?

Today has been a long day, and it’s not even evening yet.

He flips over his arm, wanting to get a better look at the doodle that he has supposedly drawn. His face is blank with emotion. Then, his bottom lip disappears followed by a few hums. He tilts his head to one side and then to the other. Yeah. Mark’s now even more confused.

           “Why is there a flower drawn on my arm?” He thinks as his eyes scan the intricate details of the flower.  His brows continue to be scrunched together the more he works his brain into overtime about this damn plant…

Out of the corner of your eye, you notice Mark looking at his arm. His face extremely close to it. You continue to stare until hearing Sowon say something to you pulls you out of your stalker behavior.

           “I’m sorry, can you repeat that?” You politely request as you resume making another latte art. This time, it’s a heart because the customer who has requested wants to give it to his lady friend. Apparently, he’s going to confess his love to her.

Ah…young love…

           “I said, ‘have you noticed that your hand writing now says the same thing over and over?’” Sowon repeats her question, roughly flipping over your hand and causing you to mess up the heart.

Your mouth nearly drops to the floor. Your perfect latte art is now this ugly blob. You honestly want to cry. Maybe your tears will make the coffee art all pretty…

You mumble a few curse words under your breath as you begrudgingly dump the perfectly made coffee into the sink. You quickly grab another cup and create the order yet again.

Sowon, wanting your undivided attention, purposely gets in your way. While you have no idea why she’s behaving like this, a part of you has an inkling.

Sowon is quite observant. Even more than you. She has seen the depressed gleam in your eyes whenever you overhear the customers talk about their soulmate. How this heavy sigh leaves your lips as you hear her gush about Jungkook and what he has done for her that day. This envious tone in your voice when you politely ask her to stop talking about the idea of having a soulmate.

Over the years, Sowon has helped couple after couple find their better half. Yet when it comes to you, she’s absolutely stuck. Without your knowledge, she has subtly checked for any signs that your soulmate is going to show up. It varies from checking your left pinky finger to seeing if you experience the same emotion as the one you are destined to be with.

Sadly, every time, she has come up emptied handed. It’s as if the Gods of Romance is telling Sowon to stop meddling and allow you to find your soulmate at your own pace.

When you found out what your best friend has been doing, you’re annoyed at first, however, you later thanked her for efforts and then told her that you’re fine with not knowing.

After all, you have accepted the fact that your soulmate is not going to make an appearance anytime soon, and that is fine with you—or so you think.

           “Can I please finish this person’s coffee? He really wants to confess his love for his lady friend before the day is over.” You say to Sowon, steaming another cup of milk for your famous latte art.

Instead of answering, Sowon grabs your hand, making sure to not accidentally burn you. She holds your hands firmly as she closes the gap between the two of you.

           “Jae Hwa! Cover us!” She demands as she pulls you out of the café and into the cold, harsh winter air .

The rush of icy air hits your body like a ton of bricks. Your body begins to shiver. Your teeth starts to chatter. Why didn’t Sowon bring your jackets?

           “Okay, young lady. I have figured out why you have a bunch of words randomly scribbled all over your hand!” Sowon declares happily, flipping over your hand.

She then shoves your palm into your face, causing you to pull your head back a smidge. What? You don’t want to get slapped by your own hand.

That’s just embarrassing…

           “In one the many books, that I have read during my months of denial over Jungkook being my soulmate, I have read somewhere that whatever your soulmate is thinking, it will be written on your hand,” She draws back your hand, examining the ever-changing sentences, “When did you notice the writings?” asks Sowon.

Using your free hand, you tap your chin lightly. Once you figure out the answer, you then quickly tell it to her. You reply that you have only noticed it today, however, it doesn’t rule out the fact that this strange occurrence could’ve happened prior to today.

Sowon nods as she says, “okay”, repeatedly.

The thing about soulmate is honestly tricky. There is no definite answer as to why one’s soulmate will appear when he or she least expects them too. One person can go on for years without knowing who their soulmate is while the other can meet their soulmate in less than 24 hours. It’s random gamble.

With Sowon, she hasn’t seen any signs of her soulmate for almost a year. Then, one day, when she’s walking back to her car, she feels random emotions hitting her all at once. A few days later, she comes face-to-face with Jungkook, and everything begins making sense to her.

With you, it hasn’t even been a whole day yet and the Gods of Romance wants you to meet your better half ASAP. However, the downside is that anyone can be thinking the things that are written on your palm.

The human mind is always changing; naturally, the thoughts change as well.

           “I don’t see why you couldn’t tell me this inside…I can’t feel my face anymore…” You mutter, crossing your arms over your chest.

Sowon laughs at your comment before pulling you back inside and allowing the two of you to defrost. You can see Jae Hwa secretly freaking out as she gives it her best effort to remain calm.

You and Sowon glance each other as you rush to Jae Hwa’s aid…

Back with Mark, who is still deciphering what his newly found tattoo means, he is currently scanning the Internet for any answer. While he is a stranger to the world of soulmates, it didn’t mean that he’s completely oblivious to it. He knows what a soulmate is, and why people have one. He’s just unfamiliar with how one obtains their other half—the one person that is destined to love him for all of eternity. Better yet, he hasn’t quite understand how one finds their missing pair.

In his group of friends, half of them already have found their missing piece of the puzzle. While the other half, they are either currently searching or patiently waiting for the next clue to smack them in the face.

Now with Mark, he’s been too busy to either care or even notice that there has been tiny hints. He just didn’t know it…

Sending a quick S.O.S to his friend, Taeyong, Mark stares at his phone intensely, waiting for a response. As he is doing this, he fails to realize that an odd combination of numbers appears underneath the detailed drawing of the flower. To be more specific, a certain date now displays nicely below the drawing.

After what seems like a forever, Mark’s phone makes a bell like sound, signaling the anxious man that he has a new message.

[From TY-Track 05:45 PM: First off, aren’t you still doing your internship? Second of all, since have you become so keen on this soulmate stuff?]

[From TY-Track 05:47 PM: You always seemed disinterested whenever the fellas and I talk about it…]

Mark’s brows furrow together. His buddies have discussed this before? Then, a look of realization washes over him. They do talk about their missing half whenever they get the chance because they give each other great advice on the topic.

One of the many joys of having a growing group of friends. You will always have at least three people who are experiencing something similar.

With a sheepish grin, Mark quickly types a reply, not knowing that you are walking towards with his order. You are embarrassed that you honestly forgot about Mark’s order since the café has gotten so backed up to the point that the order number has become incredibly disorganized.

Why is there only the three of you working the rush? The world will never know…

You gently place down his drink order and tell him to enjoy his flavor of the day.

Mark laughs and just as you are about to walk away, he notices some familiar words written on your palm.

Why is his boss’ drink order written all over your hand? More importantly, why is his mental memo to strangle Jisung written all over it.

Without a second thought, he grabs your hand and pulls you down to the seat in front of him.

You eye him with confused eyes, “Uh…may I help you, Mark?”

Instead of answering, Mark flips over your hand, creating that surge of electricity once again.

           “Why did you write my weird ass mental note on your head? Actually, how in the world did you know what I’m thinking?” Mark fires question after question.

You can’t help but gawk at his questions. Last time you checked, you aren’t a mind reader, so there’s no plausible explanation as to why you have his “mental note” written on your hand.

The two of stare at your palm a few more seconds until you notice a familiar design underneath his forearm.

Without uttering a word, you grab his arm and hold it close to your face. The way it is drawn is the same way you create your flower design for your latte art.

           “I have a question for you, why do you have my flower design tattooed on your arm?” You question him this time.

Mark looks taken back, so this is your flower design? Oh…! That’s why it looks familiar to him. Every time he picks up his order, he always sees plenty of drinks with your latte art waiting to be picked up by their owner.

           “Okay…this is honestly freaky…” He mumbles to himself as he takes a moment to process everything.

You hum in response as you too take a second to process a moment.

           “So, I see you have found your soulmate, my soft princess.” The two of you hear Sowon say.

Both you and Mark become confused by her words.

           “I’m saying that you two experienced the rarer side of finding your soulmate. For you, whatever your soulmate thinks, it appears on your palm. At first, I thought you were having a mental breakdown but then I realize that you had names written down that I couldn’t match a face to, and I know almost everyone in your life,” She turns to Mark, “And for you Mark, you have what they call a significant symbol that means something to your soulmate. In this case, Y/N loves art and creates intricate designs on our customers latte.” She clarifies while Jungkook simply nods in agreement.

You open your mouth to speak but soon close it. You have no idea what to say next.

Mark, on the other hand, is feeling both terrified and over the moon that he has finally found his other half. Happy that he has found the person that is going to make him the luckiest man alive yet terrified that he feels he’s not worthy of having you.

Before speaking, he clears his throat and with a sincere smile, Mark asks,

           “What do you want to do?”

You are taken back by his question. Is he seriously handing the ball over to you? Never once in your life have you ever thought about your soulmate giving you the power to decide on the bond between you two.

This is truly sweet of him…

           “Well, I’m willing to explore this newly found bond between us. I mean, we are paired up for a reason,” You then take his hand, “Even more so since you have my birth date written underneath my flower design.” You confess, finding it quite hilarious that the Gods of Romance has given him another sign of his soulmate while you’re only given one.

Mark looks flabbergasted as he scrambles to check his arm. His eyes home in on the not-so-random combination of numbers on his arm. He softly repeats the digits of your birthday before lowering his arm.

           “Huh….well, I’ll be damned,” He smiles brightly, “If this isn’t a sign that we are meant to be together, then I don’t know what is.” He jokes, causing you to practically smile from ear-to-ear.

           “I’m ready for this crazy adventure.” You tell him sweetly.

Mark nods, agreeing with your statement.

           “I have a question for you though.” He asks, remembering that he wants to ask you about your last name.

You hum in response, waiting for him to continue.

           “Are you related to Y/D/N L/N?” He asks, rubbing the back of his neck.

           “Oh! Yeah! He’s my dad!” You happily announce, unknowingly instilling fear within Mark.

           “He’s your dad?!” He pretty much shrieks in terror; his eyes widening to the size of dinner plates

           “Don’t worry…I’ll put in a good word for you with him. After all, I gotta take care of my better half now.” You comfort him, gently rubbing the back of his hand with your thumb.

           “Nah…that’s my job.”

           “Whatever helps you sleep at night, Mark.”

A/N: And there you have it! My second soulmate!AU one shot! I am honestly quite amazed with how long this one one turned out! The only time I have ever written a long one shot was for a Jungkook smut I had decided to revamp last year!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this one shot! I will try and update my other stories whenever I have the chance. My weekends on October might be limited since my grandma is flying back to Irvine, CA next weekend, and I’m going to visit her with my mom. Also, I need to start buckling down on my studies, so I might put some stories on hold or just work on it slowly. Hope you guys understand and be patient! 

Don’t forget to leave a comment/like/reblog/a message in my inbox! I love hearing your thoughts! :)

- Kim

[rahabs]

Under a readmore because this is a very long personal post.

I really do think something (or someone) was looking out for me today, though.  Just... this week was so, so difficult.  Between law school starting and having to get this apartment cleaned and reorganized, I have been on my feet for pretty much 20-22 hours every single day since Tuesday (which is why I am now currently in so much pain that honestly I can barely move right now).  I’m so lucky my mum came up to help me because I would not have been able to do this alone, but I’m also really frustrated because just.

This was my sister’s mess, and her mess alone.  She’s the one who absolutely destroyed this place by being a complete and utter irresponsible pig.  Words cannot even describe how I felt walking into the place and seeing what she’d done to it; I honestly wanted to cry.  It was disgusting.  So the fact that she didn’t help to clean it at all just.  It’s so vexing.  My mum and I were up from 7 AM to 5 AM for three days doing this.  I didn’t go to any social events with my cohort this week because I came right home from classes to help mum.  I didn’t even do some of my readings because I wanted to help mum.  And it burns me more than anything because my mum was in a car accident last year that screwed up her neck that she still hasn’t fully recovered from and I have acute, chronic achilles tendinitis in both feet which means we ended every single day in absolute physical agony from hauling things around and cleaning and moving shit and trying to organise and reorganise my sister’s mess, and she did not help at all.

At all.

She made dinner for us one night and that was it.  She was barely home and when she was she stayed in her (formerly my, and she’s already destroying my furniture) room claiming she had homework, even though every time I saw her she was in bed watching Netflix or going to her boyfriend’s place or going out with her friends to party.  I’d literally come home from being at class from 9-5 to find my sister in bed watching tv while my mum was busting her ass cleaning my sister’s mess.  She literally did not even lift a finger to help.  She did nothing.  And even if she did have homework, fuck you, I did too, and not for nothing but law school is way harder than a fucking arts degree.  I know this because guess what!  I have multiple arts degrees and an M.Phil!  And I still helped!  I have temporarily crippled myself helping!  Not only that but multiple nights my sister was out partying but the one time while mum and I were fucking working on cleaning what was, again, completely her mess, she texted me asking me to drive her dancing hoops down to the club she was at and when I said no, sorry, we’re trying to clean and move furniture to that extent (again, to clean her mess, 100% her mess, not mine, I just moved in, no one else’s, hers, she’s been living alone), she had the gall to say “it’s only a few minutes away by car”.

I know mum was frustrated too.  She just told me to ignore her.  It was only the fact that she and I were working together that kept me from going completely insane.  And I mean, it was really nice just being able to work with and bond with mum a bit more, and we had some fun even.  At one point we were taking a trolley down and mum told me to hop on and she ran me through the parkade and down the hallways of our building on this trolley and we were laughing and hooting like we were ten years old and I did the same for her and we almost fell off several times but it was silly and fun and it makes me smile.  We also did get to go for dinner a couple times and I met my great uncle (who’s an elder and my kohkum’s brother) for the first time, which was amazing.  So, you know, the time I was able to spend with my mum and the bonding really did make it way more bearable.  Mum and I have gotten really close this past year and I’m really glad we have because I love her so much and admire her (she’s literally my hero and my role model) and I am literally going to law school solely so that one day I can make enough money to take care of her and dad (I am dead serious when I say I would happily let them live with me, wherever I end up; my goal in life is to be able to take care of them the way they did for me) and tackling this project together was nice, if frustrating for the fact that we were doing all this work to clean a mess made by someone too selfish to stick around and even help.

And my sister is selfish and flighty, and it was nice that like... the one time I did complain about it, I wasn’t shut down.  Honestly I think the fact that my sister did jack all to help frustrates me more because mum is injured and was working so hard and my sister knows mum’s injured and still didn’t help because she’s so fucking self-centred and flighty and just wildly, wildly inconsiderate.  She doesn’t do it to be malicious, she’s not a narcissist either, she just.  Sigh.  Mum could have really used her help.  My sister only has classes three days a week, and they’re only a few hours.  She could have helped, easily, but she didn’t, and because she didn’t mum and I had to do it all and ngl I am physically... really, really not okay as a result.  Carrying heavy weights sets off my achilles tendinitis and because I’ve been on my feet so much on top of that and barely getting any sleep my body is currently just shutting down.  I have ice on my legs, I’m KT-taped to hell and back, I just drank the equivalent of 2 paracetamols (mmm lemsip) to try and take the edge off the physical pain and my headache, I have a pulled muscle in my arm, my legs are like lead, and I know my mum is in similar if not worse states because of her neck injury.  I was giving her my prescription anti-inflam cream (for my achilles) so that she could use it for her neck.

But it’s why I think something was looking out for me today, because to go through that garbage all week... idk.  To have received a free pack of large gourmet cupcakes from a local cupcake shop all in an array of my favourite flavours, and a couple free cookies from a local food truck owner who then wished me a good workout/weekend, and then at the supermarket to find out that all the essentials I needed to buy were on sale, after managing to secure two of my five required textbooks, which were $200 a pop new, for only $30?

Something was looking out for me.  Something saw that we were working hard and took pity.  I thank whatever it was, and I hope that whoever or whatever is watching me is watching mum, too.  She deserves a break more than I.

[wurwurz]

I was tagged by @adaline-hiero, thank you sweetie.

1. Who was the last person you held hands with? My mother.

2. Are you outgoing or shy? I used to be very shy at school and university era, even as a young adult. I wouldn't say I'm outgoing now. But not shy anymore. Right in the middle.

3. Who are you looking forward to seeing? My mother and my brother because they are all the family I have left. My dog because he's my baby.

4. Are you easy to get along with? Yes

5. If you were drunk would the person you like take care of you? I've never ever been drunk in my life. No interest.

6. What kind of people are you attracted to? The ones who could not be attracted to me. The Hiddleston and Cumberbatch kind (funny, smart, artist, educated, gentleman, caring, giving, handsome but doesn't act like he God knows it, heartful, sensitive...)

7. Do you think you’ll be in a relationship two months from now? Nah.

8. Who from the opposite gender is on your mind? My dash shows me a lot of Brie Larson content these days (due to Marvel) and I envy her silhouette, mainly her boobs.

9. Does talking about sex make you uncomfortable? Online ? Nah. Face to face, depends.

10. Who was the last person you had a deep conversation with? My dog. "How not to pee in the kitchen when mom is in the bedroom".

11. What does the most recent text that you sent say? “Damned Quasimodo !” to my brother (Notre Dame de Paris burning).

12. What are your 5 favorite songs right now? I don't listen to the radio, so I barely listen to "new" songs.

13. Do you like it when people play with your hair? Kids, no. Lover, yes.

14. Do you believe in luck and miracles? As much as I believe in Nessy.

15. What good thing happened this summer? I went to the Provence.

16. Would you kiss the last person you kissed again? No.

17. Do you think there is life on other planets? That's not even a question. Just logic. Yes there is life on other planets and I hope it is nothing like humans.

18. Do you still talk to your first crush? No.

19. Do you like bubble baths? I prefer showers.

20. Do you like your neighbors? Two look like serial killers, one is 110 years old, one obviously doesn't know what a shower is for, two other kill my nose sensitivity everytime they open their door, one loves to play music until 4 in the morning. Noooope.

21. What are you bad habits? I try to do 10 things at once. Worse is that I do succeed.

22. Where would you like to travel? London.

23. Do you have trust issues? If I understand the question right, ooooh yes.

24. Favorite part of your daily routine? Going back home in the evening.

25. What part of your body are you most uncomfortable with? My thumbs because I've got brachydactyly.

26. What do you do when you wake up? I rub my eyes and I complain about me not sleeping enough.

27. Do you wish your skin was lighter or darker? My skin is as white as Olaf and I love it. It never gets tanned, it's fascinating. I turn red and then all white again.

28. Who are you most comfortable around? My mum.

29. Have any of your ex’s told you they regret breaking up? No.

30. Do you ever want to get married? Not really.

31. If your hair long enough for a pony tail? Yes.

32. Which celebrities would you have a threesome with? Tom and Benedict and meeeee.

33. Spell your name with your chin. I have no dea what that one means.

34. Do you play sports? What sports? Yes, shopping and I've very good at it.

35. Would you rather live without TV or music? Depends. Sometimes I listen to music for hours everyday and sometimes I don't listen to a single tune. Same for TV.

36. Have you ever liked someone and never told them? Yes.

37. What do you say during awkward silences? I laugh.

38. Describe your dream girl/guy? The answer will sound so teenish. The two actors I feel for.

39. What are your favorite stores to shop in? Decoration stores.

40. What do you want to do after high school? I am 43, honey.

41. Do you believe everyone deserves a second chance? Some yes, others neva eva.

42. If your being extremely quiet what does it mean? I've just woken up.

43. Do you smile at strangers? If they walk their dog, yes. Though I first smile at the dog.

44. Trip to outer space or bottom of the ocean? Asgard.

45. What makes you get out of bed in the morning? An invisible force stronger than me.

46. What are you paranoid about? Losing the 2 only members of my family.

47. Have you ever been high? No and not willing to be.

48. Have you ever been drunk? No, police officer.

49. Have you done anything recently that you hope nobody finds out about? I was made for acting bad. ^^

50. What was the colour of the last hoodie you wore? I don't wear hoodies.

51. Ever wished you were someone else? Yes. Currently wishing I was Bobby Hiddleston. But I wouldn't enjoy being that furry for long.

52. One thing you wish you could change about yourself? More confident.

53. Favourite makeup brand? Revolution Beauty for cheap brand. Make Up For Ever.

54. Favourite store? Make up ? Sephora

55. Favourite blog? Some I love equaly, so no name.

56. Favourite colour? Green.

57. Favourite food? Pizza.

58. Last thing you ate? Foret noire (Bonte Divina).

59. First thing you ate this morning? Nesquik + Princes Lu.

60. Ever won a competition? Yes, if work competition are included. My boss didn't know if he should keep me or the other girl (I knew he preferd the other girl because of her short skirts), so he gave us tests. I won. Hehehe.

61. Been suspended/expelled? No comprendo.

62. Been arrested? For what? No.

63. Ever been in love? Yes.

64. Tell us the story of your first kiss? No, I won't.

65. Are you hungry right now? A bit. But on a diet for one day so I'm not gonna ruin it already !

66. Do you like your tumblr friends more than your real friends? I hate them all !!! lol

67. Facebook or Twitter? Sick of Facebook. Too unpretty for my standards and too full of boring stuff. Twitter.

68. Twitter or Tumblr? Tumblr !

69. Are you watching tv right now? Yes.

70. Names of your bestfriends? Tic and Tac.

71. Craving something? What? Another one I don't get. What is to crave ?

72. What colour are your towels? Taupe (light brown).

72. How many pillows do you sleep with? One ergonomic.

73. Do you sleep with stuffed animals? No but I wished that my real living animal would like to sleep with me, but he doesn't. Chihuahuas...

74. How many stuffed animals do you think you have? Me, none. My dog has over 20.

75. Favourite animal? Except dogs, gorillas.

76. What colour is your underwear? White.

77. Chocolate or Vanilla? Chocolate.

78. Favourite ice cream flavour? Pistachio / Mint.

79. What colour shirt are you wearing? Depends.

80. What colour pants? Depends.

81. Favourite tv show? Sherlock.

82. Favourite movie? Bram Stoker's Dracula.

83. Mean Girls or Mean Girls 2? Since I don't know what it is, I guess... none !

84. Mean Girls or 21 Jump Street? I used to watch 21 Jump Street when I was a teenie with Depp that I already didn't like... Overrated actor.

85. Favourite character from Mean Girls? Stop asking.

86. Favourite character from Finding Nemo? The mean shark. Kidding. Dory.

87. First person you talked to today? My dog asking him if he had slept well. He never answered.

88. Last person you talked to today? My dog wishing him a good night. He never replied.

89. Name a person you hate? My grandmother. Wishing her the worst on earth (loooooong story).

90. Name a person you love? My mother + my own Myscroft.

91. Is there anyone you want to punch in the face right now? My grandmother now that you brought that back.

92. In a fight with someone? No.

93. How many sweatpants do you have? None. That's a fashion no for anybody.

94. How many sweaters/hoodies do you have? No hoodie. Sweaters a bunch.

95. Last movie you watched? Crappy movies on Netflix and I have no idea how they were called...

96. Favourite actress? Sigourney Weaver.

97. Favourite actor? Benedict Cumberbatch because he blew me away too many times. Tom Hiddleston is a great contender.

98. Do you tan a lot? Not at all. But I do get red.

99. Have any pets? One chihuahua, Cookie, 9 years old. Had another chihuahua named Bobby who passed away last year. He was 11.

100. How are you feeling? Ok? I'm at home watching Notre Dame burning. I'm sad.

101. Do you type fast? Kind of.

102. Do you regret anything from your past? Sadly yes.

103. Can you spell well? Yes.

104. Do you miss anyone from your past? My father. He passed away in 2015.

105. Ever been to a bonfire party? No idea what it is.

106. Ever broken someone’s heart? Happened.

107. Have you ever been on a horse? My friend told me it was a horse and confessed it was just a big poney afterwards.

108. What should you be doing? Giffing !

109. Is something irritating you right now? I'm biting a nail and I've just ruined it.

110. Have you ever liked someone so much it hurt? Yes.

111. Do you have trust issues? You've already asked that one, parrot.

112. Who was the last person you cried in front of? My mother.

113. What was your childhood nickname? "Nini la sauce".

114. Have you ever been out of your province/state? I went to Germany to meet an actor I don't care about now. I met online buddies, visited Germany. Was great.

115. Do you play the Wii? PLAYSTATION !!!

116. Are you listening to music right now? Nope.

117. Do you like chicken noodle soup? No.

118. Do you like Chinese food? No.

119. Favourite book? The vampire Lestat, Anne Rice.

120. Are you afraid of the dark? No. Love it.

121. Are you mean? Hehehe, yesssss.

122. Is cheating ever okay? No. Never.

123. Can you keep white shoes clean? No, not with a doggie.

124. Do you believe in love at first sight? Yes.

125. Do you believe in true love? Yes.

126. Are you currently bored? A bit, that thing is too long.

127. What makes you happy? When my bank doesn't call to complain about my empty account.

128. Would you change your name? Noooo. Marilyn is a beautiful name. Merci, maman.

129. What your zodiac sign? Aquarius.

130. Do you like subway? Never used subway.

131. Your bestfriend of the opposite sex likes you, what do you do? God that silly thing happened. That was embarrassing. He was just a friend, not someone I ever felt for. That has ruined our friendship, he was kind of married.

132. Who’s the last person you had a deep conversation with? Not kidding, you have already asked the same question, right ?

133. Favourite lyrics right now? “shoo-be-doo-be-doo" by Madonna. Yeah, that's deep.

134. Can you count to one million? Happy to know I have always had better things to do.

135. Dumbest lie you ever told? "I hadn't noticed that Cookie had vomited right there, mom, promise". For the record, she cleaned. *g*

136. Do you sleep with your doors open or closed? Closed door ! I live in the french Bronx !

137. How tall are you? 162 cm. Something like... 28 cm shorter than Tom Hiddleston.

138. Curly or Straight hair? Wavy.

139. Brunette or Blonde? Brunette with one or two white hair already.

140. Summer or Winter? Summer. I hate, like really really hate winter.

141. Night or Day? Night.

142. Favourite month? July.

143. Are you a vegetarian? I'm weirdian. I don't like meat, I don't like vegetables. I am a pain in the ass when you ask me to come diner.

144. Dark, milk or white chocolate? Milk chocolate.

145. Tea or Coffee? Coffee. Benedict can keep all the tea.

146. Was today a good day? Until my country lost one of its most iconic monument, yes.

147. Mars or Snickers? Mars.

148. What’s your favourite quote? “If it bleeds, we can kill it”. ^^

149. Do you believe in ghosts? No but Zach Bagans would make me say yes.

150. Do you tag anyone else to do this? I always fear I bore my mutuals with these, so nope.

[obsidianarchives]

The Dragon Leather Jacket

Blaise Zabini was glad to get out of the castle, but was annoyed it had to be alone. He hadn't cared much for Valentine's Day years before, despite the loads of chocolate frogs that ended up in his bag. Even this year, two second year Slytherin girls sent him cards that projected a magical ballet they thought he’d like and he'd cooly refrained from sinking into the floor at the embarrassment when he’d opened them in the Great Hall that morning.

But while Valentine's wasn't his thing, a certain Hufflepuff girl was. He'd tried asking her to spend the day with him — only to be rejected. The resulting discontent was a feeling only she could give him, as he’d learned when she rejected him for the Yule Ball last year. She'd said it was because he had some growing to do, and he knew he did, but that didn't make it smart any less. Something about Desiree Warbeck’s insistence that he could rise above the stereotype of his house was both annoying — and really attractive.

He hadn't even wanted to spend the day with her as a Valentine's date, that was just a convenient coincidence. Her birthday was coming up and he knew her sweet tooth probably couldn't resist a private basement reservation at Madam Puddifoot’s (he'd never be caught dead eating in the general seating area) or a trip to the balcony in Honeydukes where they sold their most expensive chocolates. But he'd asked her at the end of last BSU meeting and she'd said no. She claimed it was because her friends had something planned for her birthday, but he suspected she just wasn't ready. Which really meant he wasn't ready.

He was trying. People like Umbridge made it easier for him to see the flaws in his upbringing when she not only recruited people like Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle for her Inquisitorial Squad, but used that group to try to bust up his club just based on the color of their skin. Blaise didn't fight for much, but the BSU had come to mean more to him than he really knew how to express. Come for them and get on his shit list. But Des had caught Blaise smirking at a joke Malfoy had made about the Creevey brothers — Malfoy had done a decent mouse impression, okay? — and she’d refused him her weekly meeting cookies for two weeks.

So Blaise wandered Hogsmeade alone. He tried not to hang with Malfoy’s crowd much anymore, not least of which because Malfoy and Parkinson just started hooking up and he didn't feel like gagging while Crabbe and Goyle pigged out on the chocolate frogs they’d “stolen” from him that morning. (He let them have the chocolate. He’d considered giving them to Desiree, but knew it wouldn’t help his cause to give her chocolates given to him by other girls.) The rest of the BSU had either paired up or squared up and Blaise wasn't in the mood to be anyone's third or fifth wheel. It was times like these that he almost regretted not having more friends. However, a quick look around at the students laughing obnoxiously as they walked out of Zonko’s made him figure it was definitely for the best.

All he could think about was Desiree, wondering where she was, what she would do if he randomly showed up where she was, and how to figure out just how to...do that. It was cold outside, though, and he didn't want to just wander alone. It looked pathetic. So he shook off his stalker inclinations and looked at the shops on his left and his right. His choices were Zonko’s and Gladrags. He typically owl ordered his joke products on the occasion he found some whimsy, to avoid stepping in that madhouse, so he gladly chose Gladrags.

It was quiet inside. Being a shop on the high-end side, not too many Hogwarts students frequented it. Some of the Slytherin well to do and families like the Abbotts frequented, but he knew he'd never spot a Weasley in here.

Blaise didn't buy much for himself. His mother sent him whatever he needed and a few extravagances he usually didn't even ask for, but were the result of whatever dalliances she was working to profit from (and then eventually end). So as he looked around the shop, he found himself looking at the ladies wear, imagining each item on Desiree's curvy form. With her grandmother being a world famous songstress, she didn't want for much either, but he couldn't recall her in a Gladrags original. Her style was practical, with classic silhouettes, and neutral color palettes, but usually with a pop of color. He also knew she liked to wear cutesy dressing gowns (last year’s end of lessons BSU slumber party told him that) and that she liked to bake. Maybe an apron? He went over to the house-wears, but nothing called to him.

“Need any help?” The shopkeeper, a small mousy woman with wide eyes and a nervous manner approached. “Ah, Mr. Zabini. How are you? How is your mother liking that yeti’s fur stole she purchased?” Blaise bit his lip, not wanting to admit the stole disappeared with husband number five. “She's doing well.” He kept it curt, never interested in enduring meaningless small talk.

“Are you looking for anything in particular?”

“Uh, just a gift.”

“For? A special someone perhaps?” The shopkeeper wiggled her very thin eyebrows.

Blaise hated this. It's why he so often owl ordered. But he was stuck on a gift and Desiree would find it hilarious that he had endured what he joked was his boggart: small talk. “It's for a friend. A girl.”

The shop worker’s already large eyes lit up. “Oh, we have a special new makeup collection just in time for a late Valentine's gift!“ She grabbed Blaise by the arm and led him to a display near the front of the shop. “These foundations change their shimmer with the wearer’s mood,” she said, holding up a palette of pale foundation.

Blaise looked at the palette, and the surrounding equally pale mixtures and vials, and looked at the woman. He knew what he wanted to say, but imagined Des as an angel on his shoulder, telling him to be nice to the woman, he said, “That wouldn’t work. Her skin’s about my complexion.”

“Ah,” said the shopkeeper shortly, gingerly putting down the foundation and moving away from the display, looking around the room for where to drag Blaise next.

Blaise turned his head, his eyes falling on a section across the store. It was almost like someone had cast a Lumos charm on a jacket at the far end of the room. He headed straight for it, leaving the shopkeeper to keep up behind him. The jacket was black dragon leather, with a hint of gold shimmer. It was cropped short and had gold swirling embellishments on the collar. It was perfect.

“Oh, I'm not sure this would be of any interest to an acquaintance of a family of your caliber. It’s from a new designer we’ve been trying to work with. But they’re Muggle-born, so their style is a bit…eccentric.”

Blaise smirked. Yeah, it would be perfect for Desiree. “I’ll take it.”

“Sir, it’s going to be 100 galleons.”

“That’s fine,” he said, waving one hand dismissively while the other fingered the collar of the jacket. It was softer than it appeared and he could see the gold shimmer highlighting the yellow-toned brown of Desiree’s skin.

Blaise left Gladrags deciding he’d done enough lonely wandering for the day and started to head back towards the castle. But before he did, he felt the day couldn’t go without a bit of chocolate. He stepped into Honeydukes and got a chocolate frog to slip into the jacket pocket, a little surprise for later.

——

Desiree Warbeck regretted lying to Blaise. She’d said her friends wanted to do something for her birthday, but really they were just stalking the boys they had very distant crushes on. They were older recent Hogwarts grads who were working at nearby shops, so she was just flitting from store to store with them as they giggled over Grown Wizards. Desiree loved a good giggle over a boy, but the boy she wanted to giggle over sometimes ran with the wrong crowd and she couldn’t be with him if he maintained the same beliefs they did. So she’d shut him down when he’d asked her to hang out today and she wasn’t even having a good time without him. Rubbish.

She thought she’d seen him along the path as they all walked down to the village, but then she kept imagining she was seeing him everywhere she went with her friends. She knew he owl-ordered nearly everything, so there was no way he’d gone in Scrivenshaft's. He didn’t even like their quills. When she profoundly started to ache at his absence, she decided to call it a day and leave her twittering friends to their stalking, heading back to the castle to hole up in the kitchens with the house elves and begin her baking-to-get-her-mind-off-boys ritual.

Four hours later, she’d baked enough cookies to feed an army. I was really trying not to think about Blaise, wow, she thought, realizing with that thought that she’d already lost the game. In front of her were dozens of cookies she’d made without even using magic.

“Ms. Desi, what are you going to do with all these cookies?” asked Dobby, who was always the least fearful of the house elves and liked talking to Desiree and asking her questions. The rest just let her do whatever she wanted and kind of left her alone.

“I’m not sure Dobby. I can take a few to tomorrow’s BSU meeting, but the rest…I definitely can’t eat all those cookies,” she said with a laugh.

“Should we decorate them for the Valentimes Day and give them out?” Dobby could never get the name of the holiday quite right.

“That’s a great idea, Dobby!” With a snap of his thin fingers, dozens of Desiree’s cookies had pink and white frosting in the shape of hearts. Desiree liked experimenting with decorating spells herself, but house elf magic was second to none. She insisted Dobby eat one and he nibbled at one before slipping it into his little apron pocket. Desiree wondered if house elves had very different taste buds because he just didn’t seem to enjoy it and she knew her cookies were good. After thanking him, she grabbed her tin of BSU cookies, and headed out the door.

Just as she was climbing out the portrait hole, she bumped into someone and nearly dropped the cookie tin. “Oh!” she exclaimed. “Oh!” she said again when she realized it was the very boy she was trying to avoid thinking about all day. “Blaise, what…what are you doing down here?”

He looked startled at having run into her, and she noticed him move his hand, which held a package, behind his back. It took him a minute to speak and Desiree flashed back to when he’d asked her to the Yule Ball last year. He hadn’t even been this nervous asking her out for her birthday.

“I was looking for you,” he said finally. Then…nothing.

“So why do you look so shocked to see me?” She arched an eyebrow at him which, from the way he continued to stare at her, she realized didn’t help put him back on his guard.

“Sorry,” he said, scratching the back of his neck with his free hand. “I’ve been looking for you since before dinner and I just realized I hadn’t thought of what to say when I actually found you…”

He motioned for her to walk with him and they headed to a little nook under the staircase leading to the Great Hall. There was a ledge and he invited her to sit.

“I know it’s not your birthday yet, but I got you something in Hogsmeade today.”

“Oh Blaise, you didn’t have to get me anything.” She smiled softly, though, at knowing he’d been thinking about her all day too.

“I know, but I saw it and couldn’t walk away without getting it for you.”

He placed the package in her lap. She opened it, finding the black dragon leather jacket, the light gold glimmering softly at her. Her mouth dropped open.

“Blaise, I can’t accept this, it’s too much. Literally. This had to cost a fortune.” But she couldn’t help but stare at the jacket, finally putting her hands on the soft leather.

“You know that’s not an issue,” he said, sitting next to her, vanishing the wrapping with his wand to let her hold the jacket in her hands. “And look, it’s perfect for you. You once told me you wished your Hufflepuff came with a little more ‘badass,’ so…here you go.”

Desiree felt like her heart was growing four sizes in her chest, and it already took up way too much space. She clutched the jacket to her chest, squeezing it as she forced the incoming tears back into her eyes. She refused to cry in front of this boy! But not only had he been thinking about her today, he’d listened to something she’d said off-hand months ago, maybe even last year.

She looked at the boy to her right. The boy who was a Slytherin (which wasn’t a bad thing), dormed with members of the Inquisitorial Squad (which wasn’t his fault), and had some regressive views about Muggles and Muggle-borns (which she’d refused to tolerate). But she thought, from their BSU meetings and personal conversations, he was working on that last one. And here he was. His usual stony face more open than she ever saw it in public. The faint flush on his chiseled cheekbones a very brown distraction from the thought that had been niggling in her mind for a minute. Which was...

“Wait, did you…go to a store for this?”

Blaise laughed, a full blown cackle, which she’d definitely never seen him do before, and she couldn’t help herself. She kissed him on the cheek.

He stopped laughing, his breath caught in his throat. Desiree smirked and stood.

“Thank you, Blaise. I love it. I’ll have to save it for just the right occasion. Maybe you’ll even be there to see me wear it.”

She winked and walked away towards the Hufflepuff common room, with an extra sashay in her step. Her grandmother, the great Celestina Warbeck, had always told her to  “always leave ‘em wanting more.”

[shtbgs-blog]

So ya bitch is extra and just added three muses today to her list and now I have to introduce you to my two newest shitbags :/ both of which I have been loving on for a while and feel deserve some attention again :/

NIRVANA BAILEY looks an awful lot like MEAGHAN RATH. SHE is THIRTY-TWO and while they're OPTIMISTIC, they have a tendency to get pretty FORGETFUL. You’ve probably seen them around Kola listening to TROUBLE by HALSEY.

Nirvana ran away from home, that home being a place where an abusive ex husband lives. When she ran, she wound up moving into her friend’s family home and adopted their lifestyle and even gave herself a new name. One with their last name.

Ever since then she’s live in Kola, which was about five years ago after she got tired of the constant abuse and fighting. Since then she’s never told anyone about her past and she plans on keeping it that way ( besides her best friend / the family she moved in with... HELLA wanted connection )

Since living in Kola she has actually worked in the Bailey Bakery in the center of town. At first, nothing more than a baker. But over time she’s actually moved into a manager position because her friend moved on to bigger and better and her “adoptive” parents are getting a little too old to be working in the bakery.

She’s a good natured kid, honestly, she wants the best for everyone and doesn’t really speak much on her own past. Since living in Kola her life has only looked up, she doesn’t worry much about anything besides the bakery.

Since she’s still technically married, after just running away and not even leaving a letter to her friends or family she doesn’t really look for relationships. It’s a weird topic, and she kind of has a stigma about it.

ETHAN MCDONALD looks an awful lot like DYLAN O'BRIEN. HE is TWENTY-FIVE and while they're HELPFUL, they have a tendency to get pretty FLUSTERED. You’ve probably seen them around Kola listening to I FALL APART by POST MALONE.

oh BOY my FAVORITE MECHANIC LETS TALK ABOUT HIM.

Okay so he’s got an older brother ( will b requesting the connection ) who is a car salesman, after all the time they spent with their father talking about cars the boys both got deeply involved in the life and know everything about them. But like, Ethan is the one that took over the mechanic shop his father owned in town ( Mcdonalds Autorepairs... yes they have had people think they belonged to McDonalds which i enjoy a lot ) and his brother only works there sometimes it’s mainly ethan

He literally does so much, like so fucking much he does the most but that’s just because he’s socially awkward and doesn’t know how to socialize with other people. Like he’s a nice kid don’t get me wrong and he’s sweet but he just is like the kind of bitch that you can walk all over and he only really knows how to talk about cars / mechanics like that’s the only thing he can talk about and actually get excited over.

During his days off he spends his time searching craigslist for auto repair jobs and then takes day trips, normally not even asking for payment. But there is this one woman who he often goes to help and she always gives him a box of freshly baked cookies and it’s his favorite job. God bless old cars that are constantly breaking down.

Um Dating? He’s Never Heard Of Her. he doesn’t know how to do it honestly. Girls and high school weren’t really down for dating a guy whose hands were always dirty and shirts stained with grease ( minus one girl, who destroyed him wow. lets NOT talk ABOUT THAT )

but also lets talk about it he was in a relationship with zella for a while and he thought they were happy :/ until she decided to do drugs and get really messed up and ruin his life :/ but it’s cool :/ she just picked drugs over him it’s cool :/

but either way he’s weary of love now.

HE WILL 100% BE YOUR BRO THO OR YOUR MECHANIC AND JUST!

HE”s A GOOD TIME!

I SWEAR!

MY GOOD NATURED BOY!

oh also did i mention his canon is 100% dylan o’brien in american assassin?

that beard fam.

mechanic.

[ohnominamino]

Bath Bomb

Fulfilling a prompt from the @yyhfanfiction Tumblr account:

"Kurama learning how to make bath bombs from a bunch of diy videos on youtube so he can give a batch to his mom. Bonus: Kuwabara helps him and everything goes to shit."

Or,

Good friends with good intentions try to make good things for people they love. Read below or on AO3.

Kurama thought he knew the perfect gift for Mother’s Day. They’d just gotten the master bathroom in the house redone and Shiori was excited to have a tub big enough to stretch her legs out in; although, she had seemed almost guilty replacing their previous cube of a bath with the new one. “I used to wash you in there when you were a baby,” she’d said, “You were so cute. You loved bath time, you and your little rubber duckies.”

Of course, he had to pass himself off as a normal human child. That required playing with bath toys. While annoying at the time, he also remembered it somewhat fondly, but not enough to mourn the loss of the old tub.

New tub, new bath salts. Perfect plan.

Until his mother saw something on the internet (he and his brother would forever regret gifting her an iPad to get lost online with) and decided most of the major bath soap companies were producing poisonous products she didn’t want to soak in.

While he knew she wasn’t at risk of her cancer relapsing, he couldn’t exactly tell her about the dark magic mirror that had cured her indefinitely. He could only nod his head sympathetically at her worries and go back to the drawing board for a gift.

Using the aforementioned iPad, he stumbled upon a few bath bomb DIYs on his mother’s Pinterest account. All-natural, homemade, and safe. He looked at the ingredients and directions. Doable for sure. Shiori would be out watching a movie with Kazuya that evening, so he headed out to the store to get what he needed before then.

Three shops later, he was still having trouble collecting a couple of items. Mulling over them a bit, he thought which of his friends he might borrow them from, Yukina popping into his mind. She seemed the type who would have those kinds of things. He pulled his phone from his pocket, unlocking it to call Kuwabara-- Yukina was not interested in having a phone of her own.

Kuwabara picked up on the second ring, “Kurama! Whats up?”

“Hello Kuwabara,” he greeted back, “Would you mind putting Yukina on the phone?”

“Sure, one sec.”

He could hear Kuwabara loudly thumping down the stairs of his house even through the receiver, but soon Yukina’s sweet voice was on the other end, “Kurama?”

“Hello Yukina, I’m sorry to bother you, but I wondered if you had any essential oils I could borrow?”

“Oh, yes, I have many!” She responded, “What do you need them for?”

“I’m going to make my mother a bath bomb.”

“A bath bomb?” She sounded alarmed, “Has some demon possessed her?”

“No, no,” he quickly explained, “Not a real bomb. They just call it a bomb because when you put it in water, it fizzes a bit, but nothing actually explodes. There’s only bubbles and flower petals.”

“Oh,” she sighed in relief, “That sounds nice.”

“I hope it will be. I’ve never tried making one before.” He checked his watch, noticing it wouldn’t be long until his mother left the house. “Can I swing by now and pick a couple up?”

“Of course. We’ll see you soon.”

“Thank you!” He disconnected the call, barely having time to think which bus to take across town before his phone rang. He looked down at the screen, surprised to see Kuwabara’s name. He picked up, “Kuwabara?”

“Hey, I’ll bring the oils to you!”

“Oh, you don’t have to--”

“I want to make a bomb too!”

“Bath bomb.”

“Yeah, that. Yukina said it sounded nice and that she wants to try one, so I thought if you’re making them anyway, maybe I could help and bring one home for her.”

There was no reason to say no, plus the essential oils were Yukina’s. “All right. Can you come over in 30 minutes or so? I didn’t think to ask her, but if Yukina has any silicone baking trays you can bring those too.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, but ok. See you in 30!”

“See you.”

~ 45 minutes later ~

Pinterest had been too vague with directions, leading Kurama and Kuwabara into what seemed an endless loop of YouTube videos featuring ingredient combinations far more complicated than the fox had anticipated.  

“We should add glitter.” Kuwabara said, watching one bath bomb explode into a sparkling pink pool. “I think Yukina would like glitter.”

“We’re not adding glitter. It’s not good for your body or the environment.” Ok, maybe he’d also spent a little too much time reading things on the internet.

“Party pooper.”

“We’re using dried flower petals.”

“I guess Yukina will like those too…”

Kurama began mixing the dried ingredients in a bowl, Kuwabara in charge of playing the video once he was ready for the next step. Just as Kurama was about to tell him to continue, he heard meowing from the tablet. He looked over, finding Kuwabara had clicked onto a video of kittens in a bathtub.

“What are you doing?” He asked.

“Watching these sweet little angels take their first bath.” Kuwabara cooed.

“Go back to the bath bomb video.”

“Gimme two more minutes.”

“Kuwabara, we have a limited time frame to finish these.”

“One minute.”

Kurama washed his hands and dried them quickly, taking the ipad out of Kuwabara’s hands, “Go get the essential oils from your bag.”

Kuwabara sighed heavily as his friend clicked out of the cat video, but went to do as he was told. A moment later he dumped out several little colorful bottles onto the counter.

“Does Yukina have a favorite one?” Kurama asked, thinking it would be good to include that one in her bath bomb.

“Uhhh,” Kuwabara squinted down at the bottles, picking them up and reading the labels, “Maybe lavender?”

It did seem the lavender was well used. Kurama looked over the labels himself, opening a few to test their smell. He decided the rose-geranium essential oil would go nicely with the lavender and placed them beside the bowl.

“Now I’m in charge of the video. You make the bath bomb.” Kurama hit play.

Kuwabara, to his credit, did try to follow directions. It wasn’t his fault the cap on the rose-geranium oil was loose. It was 100% an accident that almost the entirety of the bottle’s contents ended up in the mixing bowl.

So much for a light fragrance.  

Kurama gave Kuwabara back the ipad to watch cats as he started on a second batch.

Take two went better than take one. Getting the mixture the right consistency was a challenge though. It was a fine line between too dry and too wet. Luckily Kuwabara was a “master at sand castle building” and figured out the right balance.

“Did you have any silicone molds, by the way?” Kurama asked once they were ready to shape the mixture.

“Oh yeah, we did.” Kuwabara fished into his backpack again, pulling out a pink silicone muffin tray. It wasn’t what Kurama had imagined, but with a shrug he assumed it would do. They did their best layering the flower petals and the mixture, patting everything down nicely before flipping the tray and checking how they came out.

They weren’t bad.

They certainly weren’t as lovely as the ones on the internet.

But they weren’t bad.

Little flat muffin shaped bath bombs, powdery white with dried rose petals poking out their sides.

The YouTube video continued on the counter, “Depending on size, bath bombs can take anywhere from twelve to twenty-four hours to dry.”

Both young men looked at the DIY lady, eyes wide. “How many hours?” Kuwabara asked.  

Kurama started looking for a cookie tray to move the bath bombs. He didn’t want to leave them in the kitchen and ruin the surprise. “When they dry, I’ll drop half of them off at your house.”

“I wanted to bring one home today.” Kuwabara whined.

“You can try, but it probably won’t go well. I’m sure it says that amount of time for a reason.”

Kuwabara stared at the bath bombs as Kurama delicately moved them from the counter to the cookie tray he’d found, clearly debating with himself what to do. Thankfully, YouTube autoplay started back on the kitten video and distracted him from making hasty decisions.  

Kurama brought the bath bombs up to his room, hid them behind a couple of stacked books, and returned to the kitchen. Kuwabara was happily humming along to the music overlaid in the next cat video.

The fox cleaned up their mess, leaving no sign of their experiment, and packed Yukina’s essential oils (caps on tight) with the silicone tray back into his friend’s bag. He was glad they’d managed to finish their project before his mother returned home, but they’d worked straight through dinner time.

“Want to go get food?” He asked, thinking they could swing by Yusuke’s ramen stand.

Kuwabara didn’t take his eyes away from the screen. “Gimme two more minutes.”