#but my sexuality is a whole conversation not just a quick answer

[passionfruitmango]

Who the fuck puts their own curiosity over someone's comfort?

Some rando in my reddit inbox apparently

[homunculus-argument]

"Maybe magic, maybe mundane" is one of my favourite tropes, especially when it's featured in something where magic could plausibly exist.

One book idea that I had that is currently only a pile of haphazard notes features a character only known as The Queen's Mute - or simply "the mute" for short - who is exactly what it says on the tin: the queen's personal jester, who does not speak. He is also ambiguously human. An eerie, elfin creature who seems to find it funny when people are puzzled by him.

Besides being completely silent, he has an uncanny skill in copying how people hold themselves and move. Gait, posture, the expressions they make, he could just be standing completely still doing nothing, and it's still obvious whether he's standing like the king or the head cook. If you've seen the subject once, you'll know who he's impersonating. He's quick to spot every opportunity to insult someone by doing so - like spotting a nobleman who isn't faithful to his wife and following after him across the room in the exact same gait that his mistress walks in. The king once remarks that he can't understand how the hell someone who can't speak can have so many rude things to say.

The protagonist was sent to spy on the queen, and the mute is almost always with her - making no sound, not even footsteps, but making himself seen, and seeing and hearing everything. One never hears him come or go, he is just suddenly there, sitting on the floor, waiting to see who's the first person to glance down and get startled out of their mind because people don't just pop out of nowhere like that. Being fond of climbing furniture as well, he might also be sitting on top of a shelf.

Though the protagonist first assumes that he is somewhere close to her own age - somewhere in his late teens - and the narration refers to him as "boy" more often than "man", the queen corrects her. He is just as grown now as he was when she first brought him with her, and though she doesn't know his exact age, she knows he is older than she is herself.

The king - despite of being the mute's favourite subject of vicious mockery - tolerates him for some reason. Despite of being aware that the relationship between the queen and the jester is romantic as well as sexual in nature. Their marriage is as loveless as political arranged marriages get, so he finds it preferable to let the queen keep her mute if his taunting antics and his unsettling way of just appearing into places at least keep other men away.

The queen occasionally mentions things that she wasn't supposed to know - and couldn't have known - just to let the protagonist know that she knows more about what's going on than what she lets on. When the protagonist fails to hide her shock and asks the queen how she knew, the queen explains that the mute told it to her. The protagonist assumes this to be a joke, her way of saying "none of your business", since obviously the mute doesn't talk.

But he does talk. Only to the queen, only when absolutely no other soul is there to hear it. And as a plot twist on the last third of the book, it turns out that besides knowing how to move like other people, the mute is a frighteningly good vocal mimic. He can copy the queen's voice perfectly, which they have often used for her advantage. Looking back to every scene where the queen was heard but not seen - behind a curtain or a dressing screen, talking through a door, or just overheard singing to herself in the garden - there is no telling whether the protagonist was actually talking with the queen, or if she had that whole conversation with the mute. This would explain at least one incident where the queen was supposed to be in one place but somehow shows up somewhere else.

The protagonist never figures out what the mute's whole deal is. She never finds a satisfying answer despite of the queen clearly telling her that he is just as much a human of flesh and blood as either of them. The queen often sounds like she's lying when she's telling the truth, as she is now. The mute is completely, entirely human, just somewhat autistic and trans.

[g1rld1ary]

you never disappointed me - part two

part one part two part three part four

➻ synopsis: luke castellan x aphrodite!reader ; percy and beckendorf's plan to set you up with luke is in motion, but you're extremely resistant to any advances (10 things I about you AU)

➻ word count: 3462

➻ warnings: swearing, ooc/kind of loser!luke, ooc silena, she/her pronouns used for reader, sexual innuendos

➻ thank u so much for all the love on part 1 I am such a happy gal!!!!! also, have my first day at uni tomorrow (so pls wish me luck) and sorry if updates slow down!

TAGLIST: @myxticmoon @wicca-void @leeknows-wife @thekittyxo-blog @number-onekidqueen @instabull

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It turned out that getting you to go out with Luke was harder than he’d originally anticipated. Eager for the whole ordeal to be over and for him to be 50 dollars richer, he’d hopped down from his spot on a fallen log and hurried to meet you by the volleyball courts when your match ended. You, unaware of Luke’s agenda, were fanning your face to combat some of the sweat that had accumulated, quickly tightening the messy ponytail you’d tied. Luke watched you in your own world, unbothered by anybody watching you, unlike the rest of your siblings. Sucking in a quick breath for confidence he approached you.

“Hey there, girly,” He smiled, “How’re you doing?” You looked up at him, inquisitive for a moment but ultimately unimpressed.

“Sweating like a pig actually, and yourself?” You were barely looking at him, skulling an impressive amount of your water bottle quickly. He stared at you, not expecting to be dismissed so easily. He recovered smoothly, not prepared to give up so soon.

“You really know how to get a guy’s attention, huh?”

“My mission in life,” You shot him a cloying smile, now giving him your full attention, unable to help being slightly interested by his boldness. “But obviously I’ve struck your fancy, so you see it worked. The world makes sense again.” You‘d figured out his motives now and had no interest, so began the walk back to your cabin. He followed, much to your dismay. Couldn’t men ever take the hint?

“So I’ll pick you up Friday then?”

“Oh right, Friday, uh huh.” You kept your eyes ahead, dodging a few younger kids as Luke trailed after you, annoyingly optimistic still.

“The night I take you places you’ve never been before,” He said, and you looked at him in disbelief. The ego on this kid!

“Right, like the makeout clearing in the forest? Do you even know my name, Castellan?” Luke could tell that you were mocking him, but he still had high hopes.

“I know a lot more than you think.” He smiled then, a lopsided thing that would have been somewhat charming if you’d actually bothered to look. Instead you were already walking away, calling out a “Doubtful. Very doubtful,” over your shoulder as you picked up into a run, presumably to go tell Clarisse about the bizarre experience you just had. Luke watched you go, dumbstruck in the middle of camp.

Percy and Beckendorf watched the exchange from the porch of the Hephaestus cabin, the latter putting his head in his hands dramatically.

“We’re screwed,” He groaned and Percy winced slightly.

“I’m sure it’ll all be fine, dude. Luke has faced a lot worse than a teenage girl.”

When you sat at dinner that night, desperately avoiding the eye contact Luke seemed desperate on initiating, you almost told Silena about your bizarre day. You’d opened your mouth to start the story when you realised that she’d only be encouraged by Luke’s antics, pressuring you into going out with him for her own benefit and quickly shut it. She’d noticed your odd behaviour and searched for meaning in your face. Panicking for something to replace the conversation, you zeroed in on the necklace sitting nicely on top of her camp one.

“Where’d you get the pearls?” You asked, already dreading the answer. Silena only confirmed your fears, claiming them as your grandmother’s with a coy smile.

“So what? You’ve just been hiding them the last three years?” You were always closest with your grandmother, and you were sure she wouldn’t leave her favourite pearls for Silena over you.

“Daddy found them in a drawer just before summer.” Silena shrugged as if you weren’t sitting across from her, cheeks a blotchy red in your upset. “Besides, they look good on me.” Your hands itched to hit her as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ears, knowing exactly how much she was pissing you off.

“Trust me, they don’t,” You spat, quietly glad when Silena stalked off in a huff, amongst the first to leave the meal. You didn’t know how much longer you could argue with her before starting to cry, which you really didn’t want to do in front of the whole camp. You thought you were safe for the rest of the meal when Drew began speaking instead.

“You could try being nice sometimes, you know, people wouldn’t know what to think.” You rolled your eyes aggressively.

“You forget, I don’t care what people think,” You replied, taking in a spoonful of food.

“Yes you do. Everyone does. You know, with a new look you could have some serious potential.” You ignored her last statement.

“No, I don’t,” You emphasised, “You don’t always have to be who they want you to be.” You knew that wouldn’t impact Drew in the slightest, but you hoped it might resonate with some of your younger siblings — encourage them to nurture their internal beauty rather than accept the vain stereotype Aphrodite children were forced into. You pushed yourself out of the bench you were sitting on, needing a break from your insufferable siblings. As you dumped your dishes where they needed to be you saw Luke beginning to follow you and turned to make dead eye contact. Knowing you’d only scream at him (or worse) you gave him a dangerous look, accompanied with an almost imperceptible shake of your head. Not enough for anyone else to know you’d even acknowledged him, but enough to tell Luke to back off. He was smarter than you thought, as he held up his hands in a show of surrender, redirecting his action to innocently collect up his own dishes.

You may not have had any interest in knowing the boy, but you did appreciate that he knew when to back off. Or so you thought.

You were proven not-so-free from Luke Castellan the very next morning. It was the Aphrodite cabin’s day to check all the storerooms, and you’d volunteered to do the one which held all the weapons and armour near the sword fighting arena. You knew none of your siblings would come near if they could help it, mostly against weapons and the violence that surrounded the area, so you’d get a whole morning alone. It was peaceful attending to the chore, and you were allowed to use some of your Aphrodite eye for beauty. Of course, stacks of swords and assorted weapons could only be made so pretty, but you enjoyed organising them into neat rows, making it look as nice as possible — not that you would admit that to Silena or you’d be in her vanity chair receiving an unwelcome makeover in seconds.

You were just admiring your own sword, which you’d taken the time to polish while you were taking care of the others, when you felt a presence behind you. You didn’t react, assuming it was just some camper coming for a weapon, until he spoke.

“Nice sword, vintage hilt?” You tensed as Luke’s voice infiltrated your peace.

“Are you following me?” You disregarded his statement, an unimpressed frown present on your lips.

“I was training in the arena and needed to polish my sword. I saw you come in a while ago and not leave, I came to say hi,” He explained, and you raised an eyebrow. You weren’t friends, why would he come for a chat?

“Hi.” You promptly turned back to your task, shoving the cloth into the intricate designs of the hilt.

“Not a big talker, huh?” He persisted.

“Depends on the topic. My sword doesn’t exactly whip me into a verbal frenzy.” That wasn’t strictly true — the sword was a gift from your mother, with gold twisting around a blood red ruby in the centre of the hilt. After you’d made it clear that you weren’t going to just sit around during your time at camp she gifted you the sword, her way of saying that if you were going to fight, you should at least look good doing it. You’d had several conversations with Clarisse gushing over the intricacy of it, and profusely thanked Aphrodite for the gift in your offerings. You didn’t quite care to share this with Luke, being a relative stranger.

“You’re not afraid of me, are you?” He asked, and you were somewhat taken aback by the earnest tone of his voice.

“Afraid of you? Why would I be afraid of you?” You couldn’t help the incredulous laugh that crept into your sentence.

“Most people are.” He gestured subtly towards his scar — gnarled and twisted against his otherwise tanned skin. You put a hand on your hip, resigned to conversation now.

“Well, I’m not.”

“Ok, maybe you’re not afraid of me, but I’m sure you’ve thought about me naked.” You were pretty sure Luke was going for smooth or charming, but you thought in this moment he was entirely lame. The wink didn’t help his case.

“Am I that transparent? I want you, I need you. Oh baby, oh baby.” You put on your best Drew impression, nasally and whiny, before handing him the cloth he needed to polish his own sword and turning to leave. There, quickly approaching the door, was Ethan. Seeing you he put on a disgusting smirk and blocked the doorway, effectively caging you into the storeroom.

“Gods, what is it, asshole day?” You asked, not caring that both boys could very clearly hear you. “Do you mind?” You gestured to his blocking the exit. He simply looked down at you, clearly doing his best to appear sexy (and failing miserably).

“Not at all.” His stupid smirk was going to kill you, and not in the good way. You scoffed, giving him a last chance to get the fuck out of your way. Then, sparing a fraction of a glance back to Luke pretending to mind his own business, you slammed the hilt of your sword into his foot, wishing it was the blade instead. You watched him crumble to the ground, holding his foot with both hands.

“You bitch!” He yelled, voice cracking pathetically in the middle. You forced your smile to stay contained.

“Oops,” You feigned innocence, one hands covering your mouth strategically. “You might need some ambrosia for that…” With that you side-stepped him, eager to leave the situation. If you’d have looked back, you would have seen the gleeful, disbelieving smile on Luke’s face, probably the biggest one he’d worn in a while. Although he didn’t get the date he’d entered for, he was beginning to think you were a little more interesting than you let on.

“Did you just cripple Ethan?” Silena shrieked as you entered your cabin to grab your things. “He’s a model, you can’t do that! Has it escaped your notice that you’re completely psychotic?” You pretended to think for a moment, then shrugged nonchalantly.

“Guess your long walks on the beach are gonna have to wait,” You sighed dramatically, leaving Silena to wallow in her pity alone. It wasn’t like it was really your fault — if Ethan had learned how to respond to words or learn the meaning of ‘move’ he wouldn’t have gotten himself into that situation in the first place.

Meanwhile, Ethan and Luke were having a similarly emotional conversation after Luke had — very reluctantly — helped Ethan over to the infirmary to get his foot checked out.

“When I shell out fifty, I expect results.” Luke sighed, could this boy get any whinier?

“Yeah, I’m on it,” He said through gritted teeth, resisting the urge to hurt him.

“Watching that bitch obliterate my foot doesn’t count as a date. If you don’t get any, I don’t get any, so let’s get some,” Ethan said, running a hand through his ridiculously styled hair. Luke couldn’t believe his nerve. First of all, obliterated? He would be left with a bruise for a few days, if anything. Secondly, this whole things was Ethan’s idea, Luke had never given any indication wanting to ‘get some’, especially not with someone so clearly resisting his advances. Just as Ethan left, giving the Apollo girl treating him a douchebag smile, Luke hardened his resolve.

“I just upped my price,” He said, loving the way Ethan’s eyes widened like a cartoon character. “A hundred bucks a date, in advance.”

“Forget it,” Ethan grumbled, moving to leave again.

“Forget her sister then.” The two boys stared at each other, one significantly more amused than the other. Luke knew he had the upper hand in the dynamic, something he revelled in. Then, after the intimidation tactic clearly wasn’t having any effect, Ethan reached for his wallet, Luke admiring the crisp fifty he was handed.

“You better hope you’re as smooth as you think you are, Castellan.” Luke just watched him go, confident tilt of his head conveying his outlook on the situation.

Luke had taken his usual spot overseeing combat training, but his usual thoughts were long gone. Instead, he was entirely preoccupied with you. He didn’t know how to get you to go out with him when you could barely entertain a conversation, and he twirled his cigarette between his fingers as he pondered.

Percy and Beckendorf saw his internal conflicts, slowly moving closer to him under the guise of a very chaotic fight between the two. Finally Luke gave them attention, knowing Percy’s skills would never have him running all over the place like that. He raised an eyebrow, a sign for them to get on with whatever they were angling at.

“We know what you’re trying to do, for Beauregard,” Percy said, and Luke appeared almost startled.

“And we want to help,” Added Beckendorf helpfully, shying away when Luke’s eyes bore into his.

“And why would you do that?”

“Beckendorf here has a major crush on Silena—”

“Gods, what is it with this girl? Does she sweat nectar?” Beckendorf opened his mouth to protest when Percy spoke over him, knowing it would be more beneficial to let Luke lead.

“Look, I think we can both tell that Charlie’s love is pure, well-intentioned, better than, say, Ethan White?” Luke sighed, catching on.

“I’m in this for the cash, that’s it. Who Ethan wants to bang is of no interest to me.”

“There will be no banging!” Beckendorf cried as Percy pushed him behind. He was no use in a delicate situation like this.

“Ok, Luke, it’s just that we’re the masterminds behind this whole thing. We set it up so Beckendorf can get the girl — Ethan’s just a pawn.” Luke paid closer attention suddenly, intrigued by the chess match he’d been pulled into.

“So you two are gonna help me win her over?”

“We’ll do research, find out what she likes. We can be your guys on the inside.”

“In a strictly non-mission type of way,” Beckendorf added helpfully, nervous of the legends he’d heard about Luke’s failed quest. Luke chose to simply ignore that comment, and Percy filled the silence before he could get angry about it.

“Let’s just start here: the Apollo cabin is throwing a party on Friday night, it’s the perfect opportunity.”

“I’ll think about it,” Was all Luke said, a clear signal the conversation was over. Percy and Beckendorf returned to fighting, slightly more regulated now they had gotten what they’d wanted, and Luke brought the cigarette back up to his lips, new thoughts clouding his mind.

Meanwhile, Ethan had found Silena where she was known to hang out by the rocks near the lake. He was hovering next to her, providing snatches of shade as he performed pose after pose, claiming he had a modelling job lined up when he left for the year.

“So which do you like better?” He asked, moving his hands fractionally to the left of his chin.

“The second,” Silena giggled, tucking a strand of dark hair behind her ear. “It’s more… pensive.”

“Damn,” Ethan kicked the sand softly. “I was going for thoughtful. So, you going to the Apollo party on Friday?”

“Maybe.” She produced her best coy smile, looking up at him from behind her lashes.

“Good, ‘cause you know I’ll only bother if you’re there.” Silena smiled, getting up from her spot on the rock.

“Bye.” Her voice was airy in the way she knew drove boys mad. She walked away leaving Ethan wanting more, her specialty. You scoffed, catching the end of the exchange. You and Silena made momentary eye contact, tension thick between the two of you.

As Beckendorf approached Silena, fishing for more information about you, Ethan had caught you in his sights and wasn’t going to let you go so easily.

“You sister is so cute,” His voice infiltrated your bubble in a way that made you want to hit him so desperately. “Doesn’t have your bite though, a feisty woman is so sexy.” You knew he was just trying to get a rise out of you, but it was so close to working.

“Come any closer and I’ll show you just how feisty I can get,” You snapped, braid almost whacking him in the face as you turned to face him. You could have sworn Ethan looked afraid for a second before he covered it with bravado.

“One day you’re gonna realise that all of this hostility is just your sexual repression. Don’t worry, babe, I’ll be waiting with open arms… And legs.” You almost threw up.

“Gods, can’t you just leave me alone, asshole?” You yelled, trying to push past him to get anywhere else.

“C’mon, don’t be a prude,” He whined, and you were really close to taking him to the ground — not in the way he wanted.

“You heard the girl,” A voice called from behind you, and instantly Ethan took a step back. “She wants you to leave her alone.” Luke appeared behind you, a respectful distance away whilst still making his intentions clear. Ethan shrunk back into himself, making a lame excuse as to why he had to leave, hurriedly fleeing the beach. Reluctantly, you turned to face Luke.

“I’m not going out with you just for that,” You said plainly, daring him to try again.

“You think that low of me?” He laughed, dark eyes sparkling with mirth. You forced yourself not to notice. “I don’t have to want something from you to know that Ethan White isn’t worth your time.” It was your turn to be embarrassed at that, feeling slightly narcissistic for assuming that was the purpose of the conversation (it was, but Luke sure as hell wasn’t going to ruin his chances because you were in a mood, justified or otherwise).

“Oh.” You stared at his shoes. “Well, thanks, I guess.” You moved to leave but Luke stopped you, hand not quite touching your arm, unwilling to have it bitten off.

“So you do have a heart!” He joked, signature grin on his face. You wondered why you were seeing so much of it lately when he’d been so dour since his quest.

“Ha! You wish.”

“Don’t try to hide it, Beauregard, you’re warming up to me.”

“I’d sooner fuck Mister D,” You replied, actually taking your leave.

Luke watched you go, chewing his lip between his teeth. There was more to you than you let on, he was sure of it. He wouldn’t say it was any fondness, but he was starting to have a curiosity attaching itself to this scheme, and he knew that going out with you would satisfy it. He should have known having any personal stakes involved — sentimental or otherwise — would get dangerous.

Your own thoughts had barely budged on Luke. He was still a pain in your side and you figured you knew what kind of guy he was — not the type you had any interest in. Still, you couldn’t deny that you were appreciative he’d saved you from Ethan (and the inevitable washing up duty you’d be punished with when you beat him up), so maybe he wasn’t quite as despicable as you’d initially judged him to be. Close, though.

part three

[thatsdemko]

room 305 - l.stroll

masterlist

requested: n

pairing: Lance stroll x fem!reader

warnings: build up + childhood friends trope + not intended for minors + long(omg I’m so sorry) + mentions of oral (f + m receiving)

a/n: I want to thank @oconso, @monzabee, and @holllandtrash for being the people who inspired me to keep writing this fic 😅your reactions were my motivation to keep going! so sorry for the two posts in two days, just felt the need to get this out there xx feedback is appreciated 🫶

《 the following content is not intended for minors. 》

how you got to this point in the conversation is beyond you.

you can feel the saliva thicken in your throat. sweat begins to break out across your forehead that you wipe with the back of your hand nervously. he seems so calm, so collected. like he didn’t just learn his best friend, of childhood, was a virgin.

it wasn’t a problem you had. you didn’t mind walking around sexually frustrated that not a single man was ready to take you to the next base, but the way lances skin quickly dropped pale, eyes nearly jumping out of their sockets, you knew it wasn’t okay.

“so like,” he pauses, you can see he’s trying to digest the news. you watch him swallow before continuing, “you’ve just never had sex before?”

he realized how stupid he sounds. just repeating your words back to you, and he watches red spread further across your cheeks. he cannot imagine how embarrassing this conversation had to be, but he can thank the wine for finally pushing you open to him.

you nod, reaching for the bottle of wine in the middle of the table, your hands are too shaky from the embarrassment. the bottle dips, about to hit the wood table, but Lance is quick enough to catch it and takes a knowing look at you, “you don’t have to be afraid. it’s me.”

he says it in a matter of fact tone, because it is him. the guy who wasn’t shy to be your first kiss, or the guy who wasn’t shy to risk his life and teach you how to drive. he would be more than honored to teach you what good sex is, and he knows by the look in your eyes, you’re thinking about it.

“if not tonight,” he pauses, watching you adjust in the uncomfortable hard wood chair, hoping and praying this conversation would be over, “some other time. I’m always down.”

—

it’d been a week since your confession, and the idea always stayed lurking in the back of your mind.

even when he introduces you to his team, when his back muscles flexed in the skin tight fireproof, you were thinking about him on top of you, how his skin would feel against yours.

you’re lost in your thoughts, thinking about how warm his body would be against yours, his cold palm against your throat, when he interrupts your thoughts.

“so you’re thinking about it too?” he shifts in front of you. you watch the smirk turn against his lips as his hand slips down your arm, finger tips ever so gently brushing your skin.

he watches your lips slightly gap, eyes becoming doe-like. “the offer still stands.” he says.

the way he’s acting is killing you. he’s so nonchalant, like it’s not a big deal to him, but your mind races with the boundaries you were crossing. this was no longer going to be an easy childhood friendship, it’d much more complicated for crying out loud. he’d see your most vulnerable places, and you cannot believe he’s acting with not a care in the world.

“I want it to be with the right person,” you say, your voice sounds shaky like you weren’t sure of yourself, but deep down you were. “It’s important to me you understand that.” you add.

he shifts from one hip to the other, giving you a tiny nod in understanding, “do you think I’m not the right person for you?” he asks. he picks up on your hesitation, air caught in your lungs because you weren’t expecting that response. you had a whole planned out response, and instead you’re looking for words to answer.

that same smirk toys his lips again as he slips into his teal green racing suit, “you know where to find me.” he sends you a wink, but doesn’t leave without a final word, “I’ve got a condom with your name on it, you just say when.”

—

your fingernail is gushing with blood. you’ve been chewing it nonstop since the race started.

the gnawing at your skin might’ve started with the race, it wasn’t an easy start and finish, with yellow flags, safety cards, and animals at risk; the race was anything but calm. now that the race was over, and you were watching Lance climb out of the car, the nervous tick now wasn’t because of the race anymore. it was because of the butterflies in your stomach and the throbbing from your pussy.

you’ve never felt this hungry for someone before. you watch his hair fall out of the helmet, the dark brown locks were flattened due to the balaclava, but the hairs find their way back to their natural shape as he shakes them off his sweaty forehead.

you feel like a little girl at school again. getting all excited when your crushed looked your way, or how nervous you got around him, it all felt too familiar. it was how you used to feel about Lance when you were in middle school. always looking at him when no one was watching, and being anxious when you were left alone with him. some feelings never do go away.

“I heard p9 is the newest p1.” you say when he’s finally made his way over to you. you watch him as he steps up to your body, arms wrapping around you. there was nothing that could of prepared you for this moment, there was no better feeling than Lance against your own body.

his arms are loose around you, his hand rests in the middle of your back, thumb lightly stroking your back. you inhale his sweaty scent, the mixture of his cologne lingers the odor, it’s oddly enough to send a pulse back down between your inner thighs.

“p1, huh?” he asks pulling away from your body, fingers running through his hair, he gently pulls on the strands before running his fingers down his face.

“that’s what they’re saying.” you reply, stumbling backwards, knees a bit too weak to stand you need something to grab onto. you never expected a man to ever do this to you. at least not Lance.

he licks his lips, “what does p1 get?”

“me.” you say.

every vessel in your body is sure of this. you might not of been hours ago, when he was playing his asshole cards, but now? you’re sure he’s the one. in fact, you’re sure he’s the only one.

you watch him swallow the lump in his throat. he’s never seen you be so bold. he watches your face to see if any signs of bluffing, but you’re not folding, you’re sure of this.

“meet me back at the hotel, room 305.”

—

you sit on the edge of his hotel bed, once again gnawing at the skin of your fingertips. you weren’t sure what to expect, should you dress up for the occasion? maybe sport a g-string? you couldn’t even focus on trying to eat dinner, there was too much on your mind.

“would you stop eating your skin?” he asks emerging from the bathroom with a towel around his waist. he’d been in the shower when you arrived. he heard the door click open, and listened to you carefully place it behind you to not make too much noise. of course, you failed by running into bathroom door that was wide open allowing the steam from the shower out the room.

“I’m sorry,” you mutter putting your hand underneath your thighs, “I’m just nervous.” you admit, as if it wasn’t obvious. he’s known you your whole life, that tick was a dead giveaway of your anxiety.

you watch him bend down to pick up one of his shirts out of his suitcase. you’re a little unsure why he’s getting dressed if in the next ten minutes you’ll be throwing the shirt off of him, and you can tell he’s reading your confusion just by the way he laughs.

“we are doing this my way, dinner first then sex. I gotta get to know you before I fuck you.”

you scoff. like he hasn’t spent over a decade or two learning the in’s and outs of you. you find it ridiculous, but he’s truly the only man that’s ever agreed to second base. he’s your only safe option to show you what a first time should be like.

“fine, should I change?” you gesture to the outfit you’re wearing. a midi white skirt, pair of sandals, and a black tank top.

he shakes his head, “no it’s fine, skirts are easy to take off anyway.”

you laugh, and decide to wait for him to change. of course, he changes with the bathroom door cracked open. it’s not enough for you to see anything, but you can hear the zip of jeans, the sound of his socks against the cold tile, all the things to let you know he was naked.

“ready?” he asks while grabbing his keys and wallet off the nightstand.

you stand up and watch him, you see the gold packaging that was hidden beneath the wallet, and you know exactly what it is. he wasn’t hiding it.

“where to?”

he gives you a knowing look like you shouldn’t of asked, and you know exactly what he’s about to say, “Lester’s deli.”

—

the sandwich in front of you is just as good as you remember it being. Lance sits across from you, halfway finished with his when he looks up at you, “so tell me, what do you like in a guy?” he asks.

you nearly drop the sandwich just to swallow before replying. it took all of the strength in you to not look down at his growing hard cock in his jeans.

it was evident the whole drive. his hand resting on your bare thigh, fingertips dangerously move up your skirt. he was such a tease, it was killing you how he was acting.

you shrug your shoulders, “I don’t know, just as long as he’s nice.” you reply to his question taking another bite out of your sandwich.

he nods taking a sip of his drink before asking another question, “I want the specifics. what did and didn’t work. do you like it when I touch you? do you hate hair pulling?”

the questions roll off his tongue, it’s hard to keep track. you can tell he’s been around the block, whereas you’ve barely been in the house let alone allowed to park your car in a man’s garage.

“Lance,” you say, finally stopping him from getting into orgys and sex toys, “I’ve never had sex. I don’t know what I like, but I know I like you.”

he finds himself blushing. he owes Chloe at least twenty bucks for predicting the expectable outcome: that you would fall for each other.

“well then what are we waiting for?” he asks, standing up from his chair. the few customers turn around hearing the legs of the chair scrape against the floor.

you watch him like you used to. with those silly little doe-eyes and follow his lead because even if you wanted to say no, you couldn’t. you dreamt of a moment like this at some point in your life, and you cannot believe it was Lance stroll who’d fuck you in his hotel room.

—

you lay against the mattress, his lips press against yours every so often while he takes off his shirt. you study the way his body looks as the black t-shirt comes off his back. you take your index finger and trace the outlines of his abs, the tattoo on his rib cage. there’s so much to see.

“I’ll help you.” he guides your hands to the zipper of his jeans. his hands steadies your shaking ones as you pull on the tiny metal that’s holding all of him together.

the jeans come off, they are in a ball on the floor along side his t-shirt he was once sporting. he’s hesitant to take off your tank top for you, his cold hands are on top of yours while you lift your shirt up over your head.

he licks his bottom lip before pressing them against yours for a brief second, “so beautiful.”

during the kiss he took the chance to unhook your bra, and when he pulls away, the material that was holding your breasts up is ripped off of you exposing your nipples to the cool air of the hotel room.

“lay back, for me.” he says, and you obey. it wasn’t much of a demand, rather than a statement for comfort. he takes the opportunity to spread your legs far apart, feet pressed into the mattress.

the white skirt you’re wearing rides up your thighs, he can see the lacy panties as clear as day, a smirk lifts his lips, “for me? you didn’t have to.” he jokes, but its sincere. he finds it charming you put in the effort to look presentable.

“whatever.” you grumble.

he smiles, hands running up your legs to your thighs. he stops at your hips that currently hold the floral lacy material in place. he’s careful to not tear the material as it trails down your legs before being tossed aside.

he gets off the bed for the gold wrapper on the nightstand. while he’s tugging off his boxers, the realization hits you. you’re about to have sex with the Lance stroll. the man who you once took showers with when you were babies, held you while your parents bickered and fought. this man was more than the perfect guy for the job to take your virginity.

“you just tell me when to stop, okay?”

his thumb grazes your cheek for a brief second before his hand slides down your throat. he’s gentle over your voice box, “I need to hear you, you’ll tell me to stop.”

his chain dangles off his of chest, the dim lights of the room reflect off it, nearly blinding you while he speaks. you feel that pulse once again as you nod, “I’ll tell you.” you try to vocalize your needs, but it’s caught in your throat making you sound raspy and hoarse.

he lets go. allowing that hand to caress your body while the other balances him in between you. his chain hovers over your eyelids, shoulder blades lining up with yours you can feel the heat radiating off of him. your breath is caught in your lungs by the sight of his beauty.

you feel his skin against yours before his tip inside of you. your hips grind together, chests nearly colliding with one another. your back arches into him, a gasp rolls off your tongue, nails digging deep into his skin. he hisses.

the strokes weren’t deep and long at first, rather quick and sporadic to get a feel. you’re tight, and he expected this, but he didn’t expect the challenge to open you up to feel so good.

his head tilts back a bit, a little grunt escaping his lips as he goes deeper into your core. you’re whining under him, absolutely soaking wet under him already.

he’s big, god he’s incredibly big. you’re not why he doesn’t walk around flaunting it, because you’re sure it’s the biggest dick you’ve ever seen and you weren’t even sure he’d fit in you.

you squirm when he goes long, the pain is met with pleasure shortly, a whimper escapes your lips, nails still digging into his back.

his strokes start to pick up again, you can feel the mattress beneath you two begin to shake, the headboard lightly tapping the wall behind you. you’re about a second away from coming when he hits the bundle of nerves that send a rush through your body. a whine slips off your tongue, and suddenly he’s slowing down— pulling out to be exact.

“yeah?” he asks. trying to catch his breath, he takes a long look into your angelic eyes, “let me taste you.” his voice is quiet. picking your legs up over his shoulders, his eyes dazzle with excitement at the thick moisture against your folds.

you shutter, when you feel his wet warm tongue against your skin, it’s a sensation that itches your brain, makes you dizzy, and gets your legs to twitch.

he takes his time wiping up your moisture in every fold before he re-enters your center— this time with his tongue. his name rolls off your lips, he stops for a brief moment before you guide him to continue. your fingers are tugging hard on the strands of his brown hair.

“you taste amazing.” he lifts up sitting on his knees wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, a question in his mind sparks his interest.

“you want to try something?” he asks. curiosity flows through you. what more could he have up his sleeve?

you nod, allowing him to take your hands and lift you off the bed. you’re struggling to stand on your two feet, he helps you onto your knees, eye to eye with his hard cock.

“open your mouth, relax your jaw.” he instructs. you follow his commands, doing as so before taking his cock into your hands, fingers carefully stroke the shaft before your mouth closes around his tip.

the rest of his words get caught in his throat when your tongue swipes his tip. your fingers are beginning to wrap tight around his hard cock. how the hell were you so good at this? he thought to himself.

you may not be experienced enough, but you know just what you’re doing. you’ve read enough smut in your life to know where your hand should be, how your tongue should flick him. you know this will get him to come.

“g-good girl.” he moans.

his head is thrown back in pleasure. he can’t get enough of the feeling of your hand move up and down him, tongue swiping every inch of his cock.

he’s got one hand in your hair, the other is gripping the edge of the nightstand for balance. his knees are weak, he can’t stand it. he gives into the pleasure that he’s holding onto and let’s go. he’s enjoyed every second, every gasp that exits his mouth is a reward to your ego.

your mouth is met with his cum, a soft whimper escapes his lips that ends with a sigh in a relief. you pull away from his body, and when you look up from his cock, your eyes being greeted to his cocky smirk.

“not bad for a first timer.” he says, a light chuckle escapes his lips as he collapses against the mattress. it was finally over.

his arms are extended upward, fingers motioning for you to join him. you get up off the floor, and climb into his arms.

“now what?” you ask, resting your head against his chest. you can hear his heart still rapidly pounding.

it was a question you didn’t want to ask. once this was over, now that you no longer were a virgin, you figured there was no challenge left for him.

“now? we cuddle. next time? I get to teach you how to ride.”

“sounds like a plan.”

[salva70re]

“I DON'T UNDERSTAND” Jang Wooyoung x reader.

Summary: Sunghoon is a cheater and Wooyoung takes revenge on him with the girl he cheated on her.

W: Mention of Sunghoon from Enhypen (sorry), infidelity,Wooyoung is confused about her sexuality, Suggestive, Reader is described as feminine and short while Wooyoung as a little masculine and tall just for the plot, slightly homophobia, not readproof.

You were at what you thought was the most boring party, your best friend Yujin invited you to the celebration of her group comeback, and even if you were happy for her you couldn't help but feel out of place.

The place was full of idols, dancers including some actors, which you in fact are not and your best friend have the best idea than to leave you alone, so you shifted uncomfortably in your place, fixing your outfit or taking short sips of the drink in your hand, trying to calm your nervousness.

Not only the fact that it was a place where you clearly didn't belong, but the famous Jang Wooyoung, would be there, with whom you interacted enough times to know that you had a huge crush on her.

Although you knew very well that she had a boyfriend and she was straight, everyone knew it, but that didn't stop you from feeling incredibly attracted to her and little did you know that was the reason why you weren't leaving that party yet.

You were so lost in your thoughts and trying to calm yourself that you didn't feel a presence next to you until you heard his masculine voice finding you with nothing but Wooyoung's boyfriend, Sunghoon.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" His voice was calm and friendly, but even so he managed to make you annoyed so you just looked at him in silence "well... I would surely remember a pretty girl like you"

You wanted to laugh in his face, what kind of pickup line was that? you didn't know how he could have conquered a woman like Wooyoung, especially if he used those flirting tactics.

"I'm a friend of Yujin" Was the only thing you answered, taking a long sip from your glass. "And no, we don't know each other."

"And I have no intention of doing so" you thought to yourself, feeling that his mere presence bothered you at incredible levels.

What you thought was going to end there ended up in a conversation (if you can call that a conversation) where he probably told you his whole life story and tried to shamelessly flirt with you that you avoided at all costs with the rudest comments you could think of.

Something you had to thank him for was that he had made you no longer nervous but incredibly bored, a question was on your mind from the moment he decided to open his mouth.

"You don't have a girlfriend?" The question came out sharp and quick from your mouth, almost without letting you process it, you saw how his face changed into a nervous one.

"No I don't" Sunghoon spoke hesitantly while his gaze scanned the place almost looking for someone "I mean yes I have, but we are about to break up, she and I don't match, she seems more like my best friend than my girlfriend have you see her?"

His words came out like poison, as if the mere thought of his girlfriend repulsed him, making your blood boil, how could someone talk like that about their partner? and especially if your partner is the Jang Wooyoung herself.

Without being able to stand it one more second, you excused to him while walking to the bathroom or looking for Yujin, whichever you found first.

Oh the small and naive you, It wasn't that complicated to find the bathroom because a hand in your arm dragged you to it, Wooyoung had listened to the last part of the conversation making her believe something that wasn't and she was about to confront you about it.

Because let's see, she knew that you were the best friend of one of her members, she had small talks with you every time you met at the company or Yujin's birthday and you obviously knew she had a boyfriend then why were you flirting with him now? (oh lord)

That'swhen you were able to react you were leaning against the sink and Wooyoung towering you with her brow visibly furrowed.

"You now? Since the day I met you, something about you feel off to me" Wooyoung spoke, trying to remain calm. "I wanted to believe it was because you were simply shyer and had no interest in idols but now I understand."

Now it was your time to frown, feeling confused by her words you tried to speak but your words stuck in your throat when she spoke again.

"I understand that technically we are not friends and that he can be attractive to you." Now you were the one who was beginning to understand. "and that he wants someone like you, I understand you are way too pretty, shorter than him and much more feminine than I will ever be."

"I wasn't..." Wooyoung put her hand on your mouth stopping you from continuing speaking as her face moved closer to yours.

"Shut up, I'm not done yet." Her voice was sharp and her closeness was making you probably more nervous than before. "Believe me i get that but what I don't understand It's why I'm not angry or jealous for him."

"What I don't understand." Wooyoung changed her expression for a softer one, removing her hand from your mouth, resting both on the sink behind you. "It's why i want you too, why I was jealous that he was flirting with you when I should be the one doing that"

And again you were confused again, you thought she would be yelling at you and blaming you for flirting with her ugly boyfriend but on the contrary she was saying that she wanted you.

Wooyoung was looking at you expectantly for an answer or something but your mind was blank so your only response was to grab her face and kiss her something that surprised her, her mind was running a marathon it was her first time kissing a girl in her short 20 years and she didn't know how to act.

And you, probably understanding what was happening, grabbed her hands guiding them on your waist and whispering on her lips to relax and let herself flow and that was exactly what she did her right hand went to your neck bringing your faces together even more making the kiss even deeper.

Words were no longer necessary, both being too busy with your mouths on each other in a mutual understanding of what was happening there, they both felt like they were going to get lost in each other especially when her hand wandered to your bare leg where your skirt began and your fingers closed in her hair.

Although your little bubble of desire and love burst when a loud knock on the bathroom door echoed off the walls, at this you hadn't realized when the door had been locked but what you did notice was that your red lipstick was now smeared on Wooyoung's face making you laugh.

"What's funny?" Wooyoung asked confused so you just moved your body giving her space to look at herself in the mirror making her end up laughing too. "Well I'm full of you now"

"Oh no, you still have a lot to try" You spoke before approaching to kiss her but again the knocking on the door sounded and this time even louder so you two have no choice but to leave the bathroom.

Wooyoung took the initiative to open the door even with her face full of your lipstick, coming face to face with Sunghoon, her now ex-boyfriend so she couldn't help but smile sarcastically and grab your hand dragging you away from him, leaving an angry Sunghoon, and you could have sworn you heard him curse you for being sick lesbians.

"Where are we going?" You asked curious, watching how you two crossed the street door heading towards a black car, her car.

"To my house" Sunghoon spoke calmly as she took out her car key, opening the passenger door for you. "You said I still had a lot to try."

N: I posted this story on another account with another artist but I decided to adapt it to Wooyoung and publish it hereI hope you like it (I'll edit the mistakes later)<3v

[pureblx0d]

“I DON'T UNDERSTAND” Bada Lee x Reader.

Summary: Howl is a cheater and Bada takes revenge on him with the girl he cheated on her.

W: Mention of Howl, infidelity, Bada is confused about her sexuality, Suggestive, Reader is described as feminine and short while Bada as masculine and tall just for the plot, slightly homophobia, not readproof

You were at what you thought was the most boring party, your best friend Minah invited you to the celebration of her Team, the famous Team Bebe. and even if you were happy for her you couldn't help but feel out of place.

The place was full of professional dancers and even some idols, which you in fact are not and your best friend have the best idea than to leave you alone, so you shifted uncomfortably in your place, fixing your outfit or taking short sips of the drink in your hand, trying to calm your nervousness.

Not only the fact that it was a place where you clearly didn't belong, but the famous Bada Lee, leader of Team Bebe and choreographer, would be there, with whom you interacted enough times to know that you had a huge crush on her.

Although you knew very well that she had a boyfriend and she was straight, everyone knew it, but that didn't stop you from feeling incredibly attracted to her or her dance style, and little did you know that was the reason why you weren't leaving that party yet.

You were so lost in your thoughts and trying to calm yourself that you didn't feel a presence next to you until you heard his masculine voice finding you with nothing but Bada's boyfriend, Howl.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" His voice was calm and friendly, but even so he managed to make you distrustful so you just looked at him in silence "well, I would surely remember a pretty girl like you"

You wanted to laugh in his face, what kind of pickup line was that?, you didn't know how he could have conquered a woman like Bada, especially if he used those flirting tactics.

"I'm a friend of Minah." Was the only thing you answered, taking a long sip from your glass. "And no, we don't know each other."

"And I have no intention of doing so" you thought to yourself, feeling that his mere presence bothered you at incredible levels.

What you thought was going to end there ended up in a conversation (if you can call that a conversation) where he probably told you his whole life story and tried to shamelessly flirt with you that you avoided at all costs with the rudest comments you could think of.

Something you had to thank him for was that he had made you no longer nervous but incredibly bored, a question was on your mind from the moment he decided to open his mouth.

"You don't have a girlfriend?" The question came out sharp and quick from your mouth, almost without letting you process it, you saw how his face changed into a nervous one.

"No I don't" Howl spoke hesitantly while his gaze scanned the place almost looking for someone "I mean yes I have, but we are about to break up, she and I don't match, she seems more like my brother than my girlfriend have you see her?"

His words came out like poison, as if the mere thought of his girlfriend repulsed him, making your blood boil, how could someone talk like that about their partner?and especially if your partner is the Bada Lee herself.

Without being able to stand it one more second, you excused to him while walking to the bathroom or looking for Minah, whichever you found first.

Oh the small and naive you, it was not difficult for you to find the bathroom because a hand in your arm dragged you to it, Bada had listened to the last part of the conversation making her believe something that wasn't and she was about to confront you about it.

Because let's see, she knew that you were the best friend of one of her members, she had small talks with you every time they met at the dance studio, and you obviously knew she had a boyfriend then why were you flirting with him now? (oh lord)

That's why to your surprise, when you were able to react you were leaning against the sink and Bada towering you with her brow visibly furrowed.

"You now? Since the day I met you, something about you feel off to me" Bada spoke, trying to remain calm. "I wanted to believe it was because you were simply shyer and had no interest in dancing, but now I understand."

Now it was your time to frown, feeling confused by her words you tried to speak but your words stuck in your throat when she spoke again.

"I understand that technically we are not friends and that he can be attractive to you." Now you were the one who was beginning to understand. "and that he wants someone like you, I understand you are way too pretty, shorter than him and much more feminine than I will ever be."

"I wasn't..." Bada put her hand on your mouth stopping you from continuing speaking as her face moved closer to yours.

"Shut up, I'm not done yet." Her voice was sharp and her closeness was making you probably more nervous than before. "Believe me i get that but what I don't understand It's why I'm not angry or jealous of him."

"What I don't understand." Bada changed her expression for a softer one, removing her hand from your mouth, resting both on the sink behind you. "It's why i want you too, why I was jealous that he was flirting with you when I should be the one doing that"

And again you were confused again, you thought she would be yelling at you and blaming you for flirting with her ugly boyfriend but on the contrary she was saying that she wanted you.

Bada was looking at you expectantly for an answer or something but your mind was blank so your only response was to grab her face and kiss her something that surprised her, her mind was running a marathon, it was her first time kissing a girl in her short 28 years and she didn't know how to act.

And you, probably understanding what was happening, grabbed her hands guiding them on your waist and whispering on her lips to relax and let herself flow and that was exactly what she did her right hand went to your neck bringing your faces together even more making the kiss even deeper.

Words were no longer necessary, they were both too busy with their mouths on each other in a mutual understanding of what was happening there, they both felt like they were going to get lost in each other especially when her hand wandered to your bare leg where your skirt began and your fingers closed in her hair.

Although their little bubble of desire and love burst when a loud knock on the bathroom door they were in began to echo in this you hadn't realized when the door had been locked but what you did notice was that your red lipstick was now smeared on Bada's face making you laugh.

"What's funny?" Bada asked confused so you just moved your body giving her space to look at herself in the mirror making her end up laughing too. "Well I'm full of you now"

"Oh no, you still have a lot to try" You spoke before approaching to kiss her but again the knocking on the door sounded and this time even louder so you two have no choice but to leave the bathroom.

Bada took the initiative to open the door even with her face full of your lipstick, coming face to face with Howl, her now ex-boyfriend so he couldn't help but smile sarcastically as he grabbed your hand and dragged you away from him, leaving an angry Howl, and you could have sworn you heard him curse them for being sick lesbians but that was just his ego being hurt.

"Where are we going?" You asked, curious, watching how you two crossed the street door heading towards a black car, her car.

"To my house" Bada spoke calmly as she took out her car key, opening the passenger door for you. "You said I still had a lot to try."

-Mich <3.

[raccoon-eyed-rebel]

Part 21

Masterlist

Series Masterlist

Part 20 🟣 Part 22

A reverse harem vampire AU ft. Mikey, Marshall, August and Sherlock

Series summary: Somehow, you've managed to live with your boyfriend and his roommates for months before finding out they're vampires, but the real shock first comes when they find out you have a special quality. A quality the guys would love to make use of...

Warnings: 18+, not technically smut but there's a BDSM training session involved, D/s dynamic, and a whole lot of feelings.

Word count: 3k

Bingo: Vulnerability (you can find the bingo masterlist here)

A/N: ALRIGHT. I owe one of you a 'congratulations' because you were right! I sincerely hope no one is disappointed (I, for one, love what happens in this chapter — or perhaps rather... what doesn't... Either way, this is how it's gonna be.) This is also my second @henrycavillbingo entry; Vulnerability!

@geralts-yenn @deandoesthingstome @summersong69 @ellethespaceunicorn @mis-lil-red @sillyrabbit81 @livisss @itsrubberbisquit @ktficworld @proud-aroace-beastie

You carefully snuck into the bathroom when you heard the water turn on. It was pointless, of course, because he’d already heard you, but still.

“Hello, darling,” he greeted you as soon as you set foot in the room, and you muttered some form of a hello back.

“I, eh…” You what? Were you going to come up with some lame excuse? Was that necessary? He’d just shower with vampire-speed if you told him you wanted to take a shower, too… Fuck it. “Can I join you?”

Sherlock looked at you and nodded. “Of course.”

Immediately, you stripped and stepped into the shower, where he pulled you into his arms. With your head on his shoulder and his strong arms around you, everything felt so incredibly alright that you almost forgot why you were there. And that was because despite the fact you were in the shower with him, naked as can be, and despite the passionate kiss he gave you, his hands remained on your waist, or your back, or you hip, but never somewhere else…

“Sherlock, why haven’t we had sex?” you blurted out before you could convince yourself that you didn’t need to have this conversation.

“Because I have no desire to have sex with you,” he replied plainly. His answer made your jaw drop. What did he mean, ‘he didn’t want to’?

“I knew it…” Insecurities took root in your brain — or rather, dug their roots deeper into the fibers of your existence. “You’re not attracted to me.”

“Oh dear,” Sherlock said, shaking his head and letting out an exasperated sigh, “if ever there was a time to dust off the word ‘balderdash’, now would be it.”

“And that means…” Not everyone was well-versed in nonsensical British expressions… You rolled your eyes.

“Hogwash, poppycock, complete and utter bollocks — pardon my French.” Sherlock smiled at your increasingly confused expression. “Nonsense,” he finally clarified, stroking a bit of your hair off your cheek. “I am romantically attracted to you,” he continued, “and I find you very beautiful. I crave physical intimacy with you… I’ll even admit your body is absolutely gorgeous and I completely understand why anyone would find themselves quite distracted by it.”

“But none of that makes you want to screw me?” you said sarcastically.

“Darling, it’s not just you,” he sighed apologetically. “I am not sexually attracted to anyone.”

Oh. Wait… “So, what? You’re ace?” you asked without giving it much thought.

Sherlock shrugged. “I suppose that might be an applicable term, yes,” he said plainly. “We could, though. You know… If you really wanted to.”

“But you prefer not to?”

“I’m afraid I’m horribly indifferent,” he admitted, a slight hint of embarrassment to his voice.

“Then it’s not happening, Sherlock,” you said, taking his face in your hands and lifting it so you could meet his gaze. A sudden realization struck you. “Are you comfortable with this?” You clarified the comment with a quick gesture at your naked bodies.

“Oh, absolutely, darling,” he chuckled. “I quite enjoy how soft you are.” His hands trailed lightly over your sides, and you sighed as you leaned into him.

“Can we continue this conversation in bed?” you asked, your heart bursting with joy when he agreed.

“You do enjoy kissing me, don’t you?” you asked a while later. “Because if you don’t…”

“Darling, I’m nine centuries old. Do you really think you could make me do something I didn’t want to do?” That made sense…

“I just hate to think I ever made you feel uncomfortable,” you whispered.

“Not in the slightest, my love,” he reassured you. “I’m sorry I made you wait for something that wasn’t going to happen. The others told me repeatedly to talk to you, but I… I was scared.”

You didn’t have to ask what he was scared of; the pain in his eyes said it all.

“Nine centuries of abuse, I’m guessing?”

He let out a sarcastic chuckle. “Especially from Charles,” he sneered. “The Duke of Suffolk really couldn’t keep his hands off women. Not his own and not others’. He’s learned some manners now, but he was horrible about it. I doubt he understands, even now, but he accepts me.” He raised his eyebrows at you, morphing his expression into a painful question. “Do you?”

“I, Sherlock,” you said slowly while snuggling closer to his chest, “love you. Dearly. With all my heart, and soul, and I’d say my body, too, but as we’ve established, that won’t be necessary.”

He laughed — this time, it was a genuine laugh — and pulled you close, dragging your leg over his hips.

“Don’t we need to worry about fluids accidentally getting places?” you asked carefully. There was a reason you were strictly opposed to this position with the others while naked.

“I have no desire to sire offspring,” Sherlock chuckled. “I have been sterile since the early 1940’s.”

“Wha— if you never… then why?”

“Just because I prefer not to, doesn’t mean I have never. And the thought of getting someone pregnant — even, or rather, especially accidentally — makes me break out in hives, darling,” he laughed. That made an awful lot of sense, actually. “Now that we’re on the subject; I couldn’t help but overhear August mention to Walter that you were considering…”

Was he talking birth control with you? He was talking birth control with you! It only took you a moment to decide whether or not you were comfortable with that; you were. You very much were.

“Are you okay with having this conversation with me? I can understand if you’d rather speak to your doctor,” he noted. It wasn’t an accusation, just a professional observation. As professional as ‘naked cuddling’ would allow for, anyway.

“Oh, no. It’s fine, really!” You had just never been in a relationship before where talking so openly about these topics was an option… “I just want something I don’t have to think about once it’s in, but… I was just scared of the pain. Mike suggested that August could come with me…”

“I suggested they… we… split the costs.”

Oh. Wow. You were on the verge of saying it wouldn’t be necessary, but the reality of it was that it would be a big help. Besides; they were getting the benefits of it as well. Why shouldn’t they chip in?

“That would be wonderful,” you said after taking a few deep breaths.

“Did she just agree to that? Just… like that?” August appeared in the room, and you pulled the covers up a little higher — fully expecting a remark on how you weren’t hiding anything he hadn’t seen before. It didn’t come.

“I told you she would likely take it better coming from me,” Sherlock said with a grin on his face. Oh, so they’d been scheming behind your back? That didn’t bother you nearly as much as you knew it should, and about 90% of the reason for that was… well, they were looking at you right now, with their gorgeous blue eyes.

August cleared his throat after staring at you for what should have been an uncomfortably long time; “So, you two finally talked it over, huh? Good. Dinner is ready in about twenty minutes.”

“Why did none of you just tell me?” you yelled at Mike, Walter and August after finding out they all knew about Sherlock’s asexuality.

“Not our story to tell, princess.” August shrugged.

“Besides, wouldn’t you have at least been a little mad that he hadn’t talked to you himself?” Mike added before shoveling way too much rice into his mouth.

“We would have forced the two of you to talk eventually,” Marshall continued, not bothering to remember what he’d no doubt once been taught about speaking with a full mouth. “And sooner rather than later, too. It got really annoying after a while.”

“I’m glad that wasn’t necessary,” Sherlock chuckled. “Subtlety is not a widely available resource in this household.”

“I got into the shower with you and ambushed you with ‘hey, why aren’t you boning me?’” What point you were trying to make, you weren’t entirely sure, either, but at least you made Mike laugh so hard he spit his water across the table.

“I never said you are any better,” Sherlock reminded you. “But I’d still rather avoid the three of them plotting a sensitive conversation.”

“It was quite a nice conversation,” you said with a gentle smile.

“I take it she’s staying with you tonight?” August asked kindly, nodding understandingly when Sherlock confirmed that he would very much appreciate that. “I would very much like to borrow her after dinner, in that case.” August had a habit of talking to you like you weren’t there, and for the strangest reason, that didn’t bother you at all — not even when Sherlock nodded in response.

“As long as I get her back in one piece and… at least relatively clean, please?” Two showers a day wasn’t always an excessive luxury when you regularly got dicked down by three different men.

“There’s a surprise on my bed for you, princess,” August muttered in your ear after dinner was done and he was standing at the sink, scraping food scraps into the garbage disposal. “I’ll join you when I finish up with the dishes. Go.” A gentle pat on your ass sent you on your way.

“He’s got good taste. I took a peek,” Walter broke in when you sifted through the contents of the first of several bags, scanning the French labels and gently letting your fingers trail the delicate fabrics — most of it was lace, and all of it was see-through.

“I don’t give a fuck about good taste,” you grumbled — as far as was possible in your thoughts, “this must have cost a fortune! I can’t accept this!”

“Can’t? Or won’t?” Oh, fuck him and his logic! “Do you think he’d bankrupt himself to make you look pretty?”

“That’s not the point! I—”

“Marshall, that’s enough.” August. Right behind you. You hadn’t even noticed that you’d sunk to your knees in front of the bed, and now August was standing right behind you.

He kneeled behind you and pulled you back against his chest. “Why is my pretty princess feeling so… uncomfortable and insecure?”

“This is too much, August, I—”

“Shh,” he whispered, raising a hand to your mouth to keep you from talking. “I could gag you. And I will, if necessary.” Curse him and the fact that there was no need for him to ask if you would be okay with that, because he could feel the exact way the suggestion turned your insides to mush and made your head spin.

“I decide when and how I spoil you, princess,” he said as he pulled you backwards into his lap, “not you.”

He kissed your neck just below your ear in such a way that it drew a long moan from you.

“Now, you’re going to try these on — I know they’ll fit, so I took off the tags. There’s no returning any of them, so just accept the gift already,” he said before trailing his tongue down your neck. You writhed in his lap, barely able to suppress a chuckle when you felt his erection beneath your ass.

“You like that, don’t you? Knowing I get hard for you?” He rolled his hips against your backside for a moment, before disappearing from underneath you and appearing again on the edge of his bed, leaving you kneeling before him.

“Now that’s a sight for sore eyes,” he said with an impossible smirk that made you want to claw it off his face.

He made you show him every set he’d bought you, each one more beautiful than the last, and you couldn’t help but admit to yourself — and indirectly to him, and Marshall and Mikey — that you’d missed this.

Mike wanted titties, and therefore eliminated everything that stood between him and his goal at his earliest convenience, and it was nice to have a man lust after you in something pretty for a change. Even if that ‘something pretty’ was a few scraps of needlessly expensive lace and some underwire. Something told you Marshall would be more appreciative of these as well. He’d already let you know he thought August had good taste… that meant he’d also like these, right?

“Last one,” August said with a dirty grin when he handed you a tiny black lace contraption that took you some time to even figure out before you could begin to put it on.

“You can’t be serious,” you muttered under your breath as you wrangled straps and cups and other elements into position. And after all that effort, you were still very decidedly mostly fucking naked.

“You don’t like it?” August pouted as he got up from his bed and walked over to where you were standing, staring at yourself in the mirror. He wrapped his arms around you from behind and rubbed his very obvious bulge against your ass. “It’s my personal favorite.”

“Putting this on is a nightmare, taking it off… you’ll just rip it.” It was a weak protest — you knew it, he knew it. Marshall knew it, even though maybe he wasn’t strictly supposed to. And August was about to point it out, too.

“I don’t have to take it off, princess.” No. He didn’t. The quarter cups left your nipples exposed — maybe even Mike would enjoy this particular number — and the damn thing was ehm… ouvert. Which was — as everyone knew — French for ‘oh, hello, my pussy is on full display in this thing’.

“Now,” he said in a tone that immediately turned your knees to jelly, “Mike told me that you don’t shy away from a good spanking, and I’m in no mood for an attitude — I rarely am, admittedly — so it’s your choice; mouth off tonight, or sit comfortably tomorrow.”

“Hm, I’ll need a moment to consider th—ow!” One sharp, stinging smack against your exposed behind down, undoubtedly countless more to go. Unless you…

“It truly looks very beautiful on you, princess.” And somehow, with those words, he shattered your defenses, your attitude, your will to oppose. “Now, be a good girl and put your arms behind your head for me, and spread your legs a bit.”

He gently guided you into the position he was talking about, then took a step back to look at you. No… admire you. Before correcting around seven things about your posture, of course.

“And drop your shoulders,” he instructed before he finally seemed happy with your stance. “Good girl.”

He circled you, slowly, and you responded by dropping your chin to your chest and staring at the floor while heat crept up your neck in a staggering tempo, paying for your mistake with a swift and hard smack on your ass — and then a second one to the other cheek.

“Head up, princess,” he snapped, appearing in front of you and standing so close he could rest his forehead against yours. “You stay in this position until I tell you otherwise, do you understand? Don’t nod, speak up.”

“Yes, sir.” It slipped out, promise! Nothing about you had had any kind of intention to call him that, you…

“It’s okay, princess. I like it. Are you comfortable with it?” His eyes were kind, his lips curved up slightly in a polite yet loving smile.

“Yes,” you muttered.

“Not a hard requirement, but I do like to hear you say it,” he added, softly stroking your cheek. “You can lower your arms, princess.”

You did as he told you, keeping your legs a little further than shoulder width apart.

“Why the, eh… position?” you asked carefully, afraid of what the answer could be.

“I enjoy looking at you,” he replied. “Consider it an inspection, of sorts, although I promise you I have no intent to degrade you — much.” A smile rugged at the corners of his mouth.

“What?” Your voice was little more than a whisper.

“Don’t try to tell me you’re not dying for someone to actually call you their… hm… what did I overhear back then?” Oh no… what had he overheard? “Perfect little cockslut?” Oh. Oh. August let out a harsh chuckle.

“I…” Yeah, you what? He was right, for fuck’s sake! “I suppose as long as you make it sound like a compliment, I’ll take it as one.”

He laughed, and gently pulled you into his side. “There’s one more thing I want to show you tonight, is that okay?”

You nodded and quietly followed along when he guided you towards the wall, which he had you face.

“Now, princess,” he said softly. “I want you to bend over. Hands or forearms on the wall, please. Feet a little further apart… good girl.”

The praise sent shivers down your spine, and you leaned eagerly into August’s touch as he ran a hand down your behind.

“This is the position that will be used for punishment,” he said with a hint of a smile to his voice. “Which is why I’m showing it to you now. I have a feeling we’ll need it quite a lot.”

“You’re really all chains and whips and safewords, aren’t you?” The question was out before you even realized you’d opened your mouth.

“We all have our own ways of dealing with centuries of sexual repression,” he answered. He was only half-joking.

“August…”

“It’s alright, princess,” he chuckled. “I simply enjoy inflicting pleasure. Come here…” He let himself fall on his bed, and you left your position by the wall to gladly snuggle into his side.

“August,” you whispered, this time so softly you hoped it wouldn’t leave this room. If there was anyone in the house with the knowledge and expertise…

“Yes, princess? It’s alright, at this volume he won’t hear you.”

“Is there any way to tie a vampire up without breaking furniture or…” You couldn’t look him in the eye while you said it, and you agitatedly shushed August’s uncontrolled laughter that followed your question.

“Is Mike in trouble?” he asked quietly. You noticed a mischievous twinkle in his eyes when you finally met his gaze.

“Is Mike ever not in trouble?”

[x-bluefire-heart-x]

Return of Sunshine

Okie dokie. Hey look it isn't several months before I am posting again. Go me! I am back with a part 2 to Mr Fancy Pants, @avengers-fixation requested some set in this imagine. So here it is. This is just after Sunshine returns from their undercover op. I hope you all enjoy.

I do recommend reading Mr Fancy Pants first to get a better feel for the reader and what happened, as it is alluded to in this piece.

Also side note, the gif will totally make sense. Hehe.

Warnings: Swearing, mention of violence. Implied sexual content.

Mr Fancy Pants

Master List

Prompt List

Rafael’s eyes kept glancing towards his phone where it sat next to the piles of paperwork he was slowly making his way through. And by slowly, he meant taking five minutes to read one paragraph, since his brain wasn’t taking in anything. The reason for his lack of distraction? Sunshine. God’s damn Sunshine. That FBI agent got under his skin, and now won’t leave. They had been messaging occasionally while Sunshine was undercover, it was only every few days, but Sunshine hadn’t responded to his last message which was sent five days ago. They had never taken that long to respond. Rafael was…worried. Worried that something had happened and it would be unlikely that Rafael would ever find out what.

Six months. It had only taken six months for Rafael to decide that he wanted Sunshine in his life. In what capacity he wasn’t sure yet. He hadn’t been able to meet up with Sunshine in person as it turns out they were correct and they had gotten the attention of their target and had quickly left.

“Shit,” he muttered picking up his phone and navigating to the conversation with Sunshine. He stared at the last message.

To Sunshine: When you get back, we should grab a drink.

And then there was nothing. Rafael half worried that he had scared you off but then he remembered the little note you had left him. Stating that the flirting was over the top but based in truth. So, he knew you were interested in him. Which meant something had happened. He was so close to talking to Liv about this, about whether she had a way to see if you were okay but that meant telling her that the two of you had been talking for the past six months. And for some reason he wasn’t quite ready to let others know. He wanted to keep this for himself, just for a little bit but…if it meant getting an answer on if you where safe maybe it would be worth it. He switched to Olivia’s contact, finger hovering over the call button.

“Hey there Mr Fancy Pants, long time no see,” Rafael felt his whole-body freeze, eyes widening at that voice as he looked over to the now open doorway of his office. He dropped his phone as he stood up from his chair so fast it hit the bookcase behind him.

“Sunshine?” he asked, voice full of disbelieve.

“Miss me?” your lips quirked up in a teasing grin as you walked into his office, closing the door behind you. The response you got from just showing up out of the blue with no warning was so definitely worth it. Even knowing he was probably going to chew you out. You hadn’t meant to ignore him for five days but your phone got destroyed and then there was paperwork and by the time you were free to go with orders for two months leave from your bosses you decided you just wanted see him.

“You…you’re okay?” well that was not what you expected him to say. You’re teasing grin softened as you walked around his desk to stand next to him, he looked so worried and so relieved that you were there.

“Yeah, I mean I’m a little banged up but I’m okay,” you smiled at him. His hands were twitching so you reached out to grab them, holding them in your own. “I’m sorry that I haven’t contacted you. My phone got destroyed, and then everything just went from 0 to 100 real quick and I only just got clearance for leave from my bosses and I just wanted to see you.”

“You wanted to see me?” Rafael questioned. His eyes seemed to be stuck on your intertwined hands, your struggled to keep your smile from growing back to the teasing grin, as it appeared Rafael was struggling to process everything. It occurred to you that your silence might have affected him in a way you hadn’t anticipated. Over the six months you had been messaging the lawyer you had grown to like him quite a lot but you hadn’t realised that maybe he had grown to like you as well.

“I did,” you nodded. “I wanted to tell you in person that I won’t be going undercover for a while, and that I would love to get a drink with you.”

Rafael’s eyes snapped up to yours at that, the shock of seeing you finally fading. He wanted to keep holding your hands, he never wanted to let you go. He squeezed your hands as his lips curled into his normal cocky smirk.

“Have I had that much of an effect on you, Sunshine?” Rafael asked raising an eyebrow. Early on in your messages back and forth he asked you if he could continue to call you Sunshine, that he kind of liked the name for you. You had agreed easily, for some reason it felt right to be called Sunshine by him.

“Don’t go getting a big head handsome,” you rolled your eyes, reluctantly pulling your hands away from his as you leant against his desk. “But yes, you have. And apparently, I had quite the effect on you as well. But well, that isn’t a surprise really. I am fabulous.”

“…So, the persona you took on for this case wasn’t really far from the truth?”

“Okay, rude, but no not really,” you shrugged casually looking at your nails. “The best kind of undercover alias is one that isn’t far from the truth, easier to remember. Of course, there have been times my personality is nothing like my actual one but well, sickos apparently like my sunny disposition.”

Rafael studied you closely, watching the way you spoke those words. You hated that fact yet the way you said it so casually showed how much you didn’t want others to know that. He wondered how often you spent being other people, and if you ever truly let others see the real you, not just pieces here and there but everything. And he found himself wishing he could be that person.

“A drink,” Rafael suggested picking his phone up before holding out his hand to you.

“What now?” you asked raising an eyebrow, your eyes flicking towards the clock on the wall. “It’s not even 5, and you looked a little busy.”

“My work can wait,” Rafael felt his face twitch at that comment, as his eyes dropping to the pile of paperwork on his desk that he hadn’t made any headway in.

“From that look I doubt it can,” you chuckled, taking his hand to press a kiss on his knuckles. Grinning when you saw his cheeks flush. “We’ll get drinks, but later, after your work for the day is done. I’ll come back at five on the dot to pick you up.”

You didn’t let him make any arguments, only squeezing his hand as you pushed away from the desk, pausing long enough to press a kiss to his cheek before leaving the office, throwing a quick wink over your shoulder as you left out the door. Rafael stood there frozen, his hand still in the air from where you let it go.

“Oh.”

--

“Come on, gorgeous,” you walked through his doors without even knocking. “It’s five and it’s time for that drink.”

You frowned briefly when the man in question was not at his desk. You tilted your head as you slowly scanned his office, pausing when you saw him sitting on the couch just inside the door. A pen paused halfway to his mouth and his wide eyes staring at you.

“Sunshine,” he said, eyes flicking to the clock. “Punctual.”

“Obviously,” you grinned. “An FBI agent is always on time.”

“I have several police detectives who might argue otherwise,” Rafael sassed throwing his pen on the table and standing up. Your eyes drifted down the line of his torso as he stretched his arms up.

“Hm-hm,” you hummed not bothering to feel offended by that. It didn’t matter that you were friends with Liv and Finn, there would always be animosity between Feds and local police. “Well, come on handsome, times awastin’.”

“In such a hurry, Sunshine?”

“Only for you Mr Fancy Pants,” you winked holding out your hand, wiggling your fingers at him and grinning. “And don’t even try to deny that you weren’t watching the clock for the past four hours.”

Rafael felt his insides warming, he couldn’t say anything because you were correct, he had absolutely been watching the clock. But that was not something he would be telling you. His eyed your wiggling hand, lips twitching up in amusement as he reached out for it. He couldn’t resist you and your ridiculous ways. This night stood be rather amusing.  

--

“Oh bullshit!” you giggled, the third whiskey making you warm. And that was the story you were sticking with. It nothing to do with how close you were sitting to Rafael body twisted to face him, one leg pulled up under you, or the fact that he had his arm resting on the back of the booth, his fingers occasionally brushing your shoulder.

“Ask Finn,” Rafael shrugged, cheeks warm as you leaned closer to him.

“Okay first off, Finn would totally back that bullshit story, so I would not be trusting him,” waving your finger in his face. “Secondly, there is no way the judge allowed the defendant to choke you with a belt.”

“Fine, ask Liv or Amanda,” Rafael took a sip of his scotch. “Or I do believe there is a video of it up on the internet somewhere.”

“You’re shitting me?” you pulled out your phone. “I have got to find this.”

“Good luck,”

“Sweetie, you seem to be forgetting that I am Special Agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigations,” waving away his comment you quickly typed on your phone. “Got it.”

Rafael almost choked on his drink at your statement. He had clearly underestimated your ability to find things on the internet. He couldn’t help but watch your face, before watching the video it had been lit up with a triumph look that he wanted to see all the time. He was fascinated as emotions played across your face, confusion, amusement, and concern? And oh, that was something new he hadn’t seen on your face yet. It looked like, rage?

“Dude,” your eyes slowly raised up to his the look in them pinning him in place, he wondered if this is how criminals felt when locked in a room with you. “You could have been seriously hurt. What were you thinking?”

“That I had to get that arsehole to show the court who he truly is,” Rafael shrugged, eyebrows furrowed as he studied you more. Was that rage directed at him? “Are you mad at me for something I did nearly three years?”

“No, yes…maybe, I don’t know,” you huffed dropping your phone back on the table and lent against the back of the booth, which resulted in you leaning against his arm. “You put yourself in danger, which is admirable and explains so much about you.”

Rafael had to admit he was a little confused, the others had shown concern for him but not anger at his actions. It was…an odd feeling. He kind of liked it. And.

“Being angry at me for it explains a lot about you,” he said, his fingers curling to play with the hair at the nape of your neck. Your skin prickled at the touch, as you lent into it.

“I suppose it does,” you breathed, voice raspy. “I should point out, that he is lucky I wasn’t there. I would have punched him in the throat.”

“Then it definitely is a good thing you weren’t there,” he chuckled. “That would have caused some issues and I would have been furious about it. But thank you.”

“Well, gotta defend my handsome little lawyer,” you grinned moving a little closer to Rafael so your bent knee touched his thigh, you wanted more contact with him. The hand playing with the hair on your nape settled there, his thumb stroking gently. That contact made it feel like electricity was running under your skin.

“Little?”

“That’s what you focused on?”

“You’ve been calling me handsome since you met me,”

“Well, sure but…oh never mind,” you giggled reaching for your whiskey to finish it off but quickly moved back to the same position hoping that Rafael would put his hand back. You almost sighed in happiness when he did, a slight squeeze accompanying it.

Rafael couldn’t help it, the way you responded to his touch made him happy. He wondered if you knew that your eyes just lit up or that you pushed back into his hand. His hand and thigh felt like they were burning but he was definitely not removing his hand or moving away from your knee. Especially if you kept looking at him like that like he was…oh. You sent Rafael a puzzled look when his eyes seemed to heat up before he quickly looked away, his cheeks flushing as he covered his mouth with his hand, eyes shifting to you and then away very quickly.

“Sunshine,” Rafael said voice soft with affection. “Would you like come back to mine for some coffee?”

“Coffee?” you said, face soft with a fond look as you leaned close to him. “Is that all?”

“What else would my Sunshine like to do?” he gently lifted your chin before stroking your bottom lip with his thumb.

“Hmm, maybe I wanna kiss my Fancy Pants lawyer,” you answered leaning closer, your lips stopping just before his so your next words caused your lips to brush together. “I’ve been waiting six months.”

“Well, can’t have you waiting any longer, that would be a crime.”

You finally allowed yourself to sigh happily when his lips pressed firmly against yours. His tongue teasingly swiping against your lips before withdrawing. He pulled away pressing his forehead against yours.

“My place,” he suggested eyes burning brightly. “Now.”

“Fuck yes.”

[tr0p1cal]

cats got your tongue smau

eleven - always get what I want🖍️

word count: 1.2k+

➤ finding a cat in the alley beside the Star was not how you expected to end the worst day of your life, but maybe it’s just what you need to bring a little light back in on a gloomy day.

general warnings: sexual themes and language, cussing, mentions and consumption of alcohol, mentions of cheating and toxic relationships, kys/kms jokes

series master

master | prev | next

Parties were never your favorite thing. The loud music, sweaty dance floors, couples making out everywhere, drunk people doing stupid things left and right. Not your thing. While you could find ways to enjoy yourself, the whole college party atmosphere just wasn’t something you found to be fun. You preferred to find a quiet corner or be outside with the fresh air.

When you agreed to go to the party, you knew your friends would eventually ditch you to enjoy the actual party life, but it happened a lot faster than usual this time around. You couldn’t be mad at them for it, but it did make you wonder why you even agreed in the first place.

The kitchen was one of you favorite places to hang out in during parties. It was usually on the quieter side and people didn’t stay long, usually only there to grab a new drink. While some small groups might linger for a quick conversation, it wasn’t typically a hot spot for people to stay.

You weren’t the most outgoing person, but you were known for your warm personality that everyone seemed to love. Everyone knew you, but not personally. Outside of Jeongin and Seungmin, you didn’t have any genuine friends until Minho bulldozed his way into your life. Yeah, someone from a class might stop by and strike up a conversation, but nothing more than meaningless small talk or gossip.

A sigh escaped passed your lips as you grabbed a can of beer from a cooler on the kitchen counter. “Can’t believe they dragged me here just to ditch me,” you said quietly to yourself.

“Oh yeah, I know how that goes,” an unfamiliar voice startled you as you realized their presence next to you. A tall guy with adorable little dimples shined you a soft smile.

“Your friends ditched you too, huh?” You asked, returning a smile back to him.

He nodded and chuckled, presumably at the thought of the mentioned friends. “Always do.” He leaned against the counter, crossing his arms over his chest. “They party too hard for my liking, but still insist on dragging me along. I’d honestly rather be back home watching tv, but then they wouldn’t have someone to make sure they don’t die and get home safely.”

You laughed at the last comment, understanding where he’s coming from. “Thankfully only one of my friends is a big partier, but the other one is the reason behind all the dumb decisions. He wants to see the world burn, I swear.”

He laughed too. “Seems like we both have our fair share of headaches when it comes to our friends then.”

“Seems like it,” you agreed as you sipped your drink. “I’m Rain, by the way.”

He smiled, showing off his dimples once again. You couldn’t help but want to poke them. “Very nice to meet you, Rain. I’m Soobin.”

“I don’t think I’ve seen you around campus, what’s your major?” You asked curiously.

Before he got the chance to answer, a group of people came in, one going straight for Soobin.

“Yo bro, long time no see. How has everyone been? Is Yeonjun around?” You recognized him and knew you had to get out of there. Wooyoung, one of Mingi’s close friends, quickly took over the conversation with Soobin, leading him out of the kitchen.

You didn’t even have a chance to think before an arm was tossed over your shoulders. The familiar sensation throwing you back to all the times you longed for such a show of affection from the man you now despised. The only thing you could think about was a way to escape, but as you tried to pull away, his grip only tightened.

“Aww, come on, don’t be like that. I’ve missed you, pretty.” The use of your old nickname made you feel gross. Mingi had always been good with his words and knew just what to say to drag you back to him, but you finally escaped his charms. You didn’t see him with rose colored glasses anymore.

“Don’t call me that,” you hissed. “I have no obligation to stay and talk to you. Let go.” You glared at him and all he did was laugh.

“You really think anyone else would want something as damaged and worthless as you?” He held your arm tightly and moved to make you look at him. “You think Minho really cares about you?” He asked with a raised brow.

You knew he was just trying to rile you up. You knew he didn’t have any real insight into your life anymore. You knew, but his words still somehow effected you. Did you even care if Minho cared about you? The thought of him not being around you made your stomach feel weird. The thought of him not wanting you around terrified you in a way you never felt before. What did that feeling mean?

“You really think he likes you?” Mingi kept nagging in your ear as a million thoughts raced through your head.

“Get the fuck off of me, Mingi,” you almost yelled, trying your best to escape his grasp.

“I don’t think so.” He clicked his tongue as he smoothed down your messy hair. “You see, I actually need you to help me out with something.”

“Why do you think I’d want to do anything to help you?” The rage you felt was slowly taking over.

“Don’t you remember who my parents are, pretty?” The mention of his parents made you freeze.

“Oh, so you’re threatening me now?” You looked at him with disgust. You knew all too well what his parents and their people were capable of.

“You know I always get what I want,” he said with a grin, gently tapping your cheek. “Let’s just say if you don’t help me out, I can’t guarantee your friends’ safety.” He pointed through a doorway leading out to the living room. Following the gesture, you see Jeongin surrounded by some of Mingi’s friends.

You knew Mingi was crazy, but never imagined he’d go to these lengths. He knew he had all the control over you as long as you thought he would hurt your loved ones. He knew all too well just how much your friends meant to you.

“What’s it going to be, pretty?” Grabbing your chin to force your attention back to him, he already knew your answer.

“Do whatever you want with me, but don’t you fucking dare lay a finger on any of them.” You glared at him with all the energy you had left.

“Unblock me and I’ll give you all the details.” He winked, finally releasing you from his hold.

He disappeared along with all of his friends. You were mad. Madder than you’d been even after finding him sleeping with your old roommate. He helped you escape that world, but now he’s dragging you back in like it was all just some sick joke. You needed to get away from that party before you lost the remaining strings of composure loosely holding you together.

a/n: sorry not sorry for what’s happening in the story, but I am sorry for the random break! It really wasn’t intentional, I was just struggling a bit mental health wise and couldn’t bring myself to work on it🤡 hopefully should be back to the regular schedule tho!

tag list🏷

@thisrandombitch @lakeeeee @hanniemylovelyquokka @minniepoo143 @puppy-minnie @jiisungllvr @samhomo @clumsy-writing-rdb @skzhoes @gaysontheprince @miniature-tragedy

[wanderingwomanwondering]

Maddie’s word choice when Buck told her about his date with Tommy in 705 was so gentle and supportive, as we’ve all discussed. But her words were also SO SLICK!!!

She was treading lightly because she of course knew that this was a sensitive time for Buck AND she also did some math in her head over the course of the conversation and realized that there’s a piece of the equation that Buck is missing. She couldn’t just give Buck the answer though. Some puzzles he’s gotta work out on his own.

So. Looking more closely at the actual dialogue…

Buck gives Maddie the rundown of the evening’s happenings. Maddie notices the date’s pronoun. Then:

Buck: Yeah, okay, I was on a date with a guy. Again, not-not really the point.

Maddie: Mmm, it could very much be the point.

Remember, Buck is upset with himself for lying to Eddie *and doesn’t understand why he did that* He thinks it’s about dating a man in general. I think Maddie suspects it’s actually about Buck’s unrealized/unexpressed feelings for Eddie. The lie Buck is reeling over probably isn’t about dating a man, but about dating the wrong man.

Back to the conversation. Buck explains his allyship, then:

Maddie: So-so now you’re more than an ally?

Buck: It was my first time, it was dinner and a movie, and I - I didn’t even make it to the movie.

Maddie is following Buck’s reasoning in the ally part of the conversation, but clearly not quite vibing with parts of it. She’s in support mode, basically honoring Buck’s process and his journey. But still trying to navigate her own in the moment reactions without freaking Buck out. Treading lightly.

After Buck’s last remark above, cue Maddie’s haunted facial expression in which she clearly reviews countless past events and conversations with Buck in light of his new discovery about himself:

Maddie: Wow.

Buck: What, ‘wow’?

Maddie: No, not ‘wow’. Like, ‘Wow. I didn’t think that’s where your interests would lie.”

From my perspective she clearly and firmly rejected the ‘wow, you’re queer, what the hell. Way to be a massive enigma little brother’ interpretation…because obviously she would reject that. But that second clarification ‘wow’ doesn’t mean what Buck thought it meant. I honestly do NOT think she was saying ‘I didn’t think/know that you might be into guys too’.

Maddie is basically Buck mom for all intents and purposes, and she knows him well. To be fair, most people close to Buck know him better than he knows himself in key ways so with Maddie’s canon comments about Buck’s sexuality over the years, there’s no way she didn’t have her hunches. Period. What I think Maddie actually meant was that she didn’t think Buck had eyes for any guy but Eddie at this point. After doing the new math in her head real quick, of course.

I think that tracks with what she said a little later and how she said it:

Maddie: Okay, I don’t think you’re a fraud, I just think that maybe you’re not sure of your own feelings yet. And if there’s something that you need to tell Eddie, you will. Just, in your own time.

Between that line and her facial expressions, Maddie was on a damn journey! Imho it took everything in her to not just say ‘Wait what?! Eddie is your person my guy let’s be so for real right now’. She was a mix of confused and exasperated in the home stretch of that conversation lol. Still she showed up, met Buck where he was at, and supported him.

Then to top off that whole ‘coming out’ and ‘feeling like a fraud’ scene, Maddie says to Buck “so tell me about the hot pilot” and the scene immediately transitions to Eddie in bed with Marisol. Yeah, Eddie is the hot pilot in question. Buck just hasn’t figured it out yet, and Maddie realizes **all of that** now!

[yallstar]

I'm seated and listening to your banjo/hiragi art, I wanna know your hcs and thoughts about this ship

oh man okay look listen i am going to TRY and keep this brief because i'm still living in the delusion that these two have not completely taken over my brain. so here are my very normal thoughts about this one-off interaction between a side character with far more compelling established relationships and [checks notes] the literal masochist who he proposes a monogamous bdsm relationship to mid-fight.

so ASIDE from how needlessly sexually-charged their entire fight was (which, make no mistake, is the majority of my obsession) i am just, so COMPELLED by the potential in this dynamic. like on the one hand you have hiragi, who i'd argue is the most mature and emotionally intelligent character in the series, regularly scolding others for their social faux pas or guiding them away from bad habits. which i think is a big part of why i love how he SNAPS in his fight against banjo.

because here's this guy who is the exact opposite of hiragi - not only pushing people past their comfortable limits but not even aware enough to realize he's doing it. and hiragi is ironically the one to finally push banjo past HIS limits. that bit where banjo realizes his body is actually registering pain as PAIN and not pleasure, and tries to pause their fight? and hiragi DOESN'T LET HIM?? is SO SO GOOD AND JUICY. like that's so NOT something hiragi usually does, and we actually see that a few pages later when banjo is literally begging him to stop.

(quick aside that i'm obsessed with banjo's mental transition from "this feels so good i could die~" to "this hurts so bad, i think i'm dying" 👌👌👌)

then we get that INSANE AND ICONIC exchange of hiragi telling banjo plainly that he needs to like, negotiate his weird kink shit ahead of time and take no for an answer and accept that not everyone is going to want to go as far as he wants - AND WITH THAT IN MIND, HE SHOULD GO TO HIRAGI FOR IT. LIKE. LIKE????? Y'ALL. DID NOT SEE THAT COMING.

is it because he's still pissed about what banjo did to kaji and he wants to work out that anger? maybe. is hiragi such an upstanding guy that he's willing to martyr his time to deal with banjo as like, a kind of community service?? possibly. did he need to claim explicit singular possession over banjo's main way of experiencing pleasure??? absolutely not, but here we are!!!

if we ever see banjo again in the story i want it to be him going to hiragi to take him up on that offer. like i know that'd be WILD but also given the whole manga's themes of "no one is unforgivable" and "there's a place for everyone" i would not be entirely surprised. like just the two of them beating the shit out of each other in a 7/11 parking lot on a regularly scheduled basis and maybe hiragi starting to feel a little conflicted bc his effort to reform the guy who messed up his best friend is maybe turning into a thing he looks forward to and oops maybe umemiya was onto something about fights being conversations and haha wow wouldn't it be CRAZY if he wasn't completely disgusted by banjo after all haha ha~~~

tl;dr this is the essence of a crack ship, just pure unadulterated "they would not do that" AND YET. IN A VERY LITERAL SENSE. THEY KINDA ALREADY DID? SO LIKE WHATEVER I GUESS. PARTY ON.

[mh073099]

“I’ll Find You” - Captain Rex x Reader Fic Part 3

TRIGGER WARNINGS - Sexual Harassment- a bit. Themes of Torture, Terrorism, Murder, our girl is a separatist spy okay she's not the good guy yet. Age Gap- 18/19 to a 24/25. Don't Worry not for long, I am a fan of age gaps.

Author Note- SOOOOOoooo It has been a really Long time since I posted anything for this and almost abandoned it but I reread it earlier and got some inspiration again, to anyone that cares reading this. Also, pay attention to the time stamps.. they will be important in the future.

Gif rights to creator

Part 3

Paris, France 05/21/2067 01:45

As we sat down in the café, I suddenly felt awkward. Here I was, sitting down with the first person in ages that really noticed me, regardless of if it was real or not. I felt naked. Laid bare under his gaze. 

“Relax, princess. I’m not going to bite.” He smiles at me. Never in my life has someone smiled at me this much. 

“Not even if I ask nicely?” I snark back, leaning forward onto the table with my hands. Rex just looks at me, smirk on his face, not taking the bate. 

“You know what’s scary?” I ask him. I’m unable to help myself.

“What?”

“Knowing that you could destroy everything I’ve ever known, and yet I think I’d let you.” What the fuck am I saying? And that thought must be showing on my face because he starts to speak again.

He regards me carefully. “Maybe that’s what you need,” comes out slow and soft.

“I don’t need saving.” I look him square in the eyes.

“I’m not taking about saving you. I’m taking about freeing you.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” I feel we are dancing around the obvious.

“Hmmm. Tell me something about yourself. Something honest, real.” He asks while sipping his hot chocolate. He looks so normal, so calm and at peace. While we sit here and dance around elephants in the room. 

“Oh, well I don’t know. Um… I speak 6 languages.” I offer up. Kinda at a loss to answer, for Am I really that much of a person? I do what I’m told. I am the makeup of ash and ember that has been molded by pain, over and over again. My whole life is a lie. A secret. Something I cannot share, for the so called greater good. Honest? Something Real? Am I even real? These thoughts aren’t ones I should be having. Conversations like this lead down a dark road.

“Wow, that is impressive.” He really does look impressed by that fact. “What Languages? Even though that’s not what I meant by my question, obviously. But I have to ask.”

“Maybe I am Deflecting.”

“You are most definitely deflecting.” Then he looks at me expectantly.

“Well, English obviously,” earns me the low chuckle that I am growing to adore. “As well as French, Spanish, Geonosian, Huttese, and Kittat.”

His head snaps up from where he was drinking his coffee. “Kittat? That’s a dead language, used by- “

“Yes, The Old Empire. My mother is a historian. Translated a few things for the republic. Taught me as she was teaching herself.” The lie falls easy and quick from my mouth. The dead language isn’t as dead as everyone thinks. It’s what the separatists use to pass information along. An Illegal language has its benefits.

Which of course he brings up. “Mhhmm. And Isn’t it an illegal language?” He cocks his head; his eyes harden the slightest bit.

"Technically yes but Historians like my mother have permits and clearances for such things. Teaching me? Now that wasn’t necessarily legal but what kind of government prohibits a whole language? Its just words.”

“Dangerous words” he counters carefully.

“As if words in any other language can’t be dangerous?” I lean back. “It was William Douglas said ‘The most important aspect of freedom of speech is freedom to learn. All education is a continuous dialogue- questions and answers that pursue every problem on the horizon.’ Without the freedom to criticize, question and challenge the dominant narrative, societies cannot make progress.” I finish with a huff.

Rex leans back, with a smile on is lips, and something bright gleaming in his eyes. “You’re very passionate about this.”

“There is only passion.”

Rex pauses, licks his lips and smiles. “Of course, you’re 100% right about freedom of speech. But progress is slow. We must learn from the past. Not repeat it.”

“And isn’t that what’s happening?”

“I don’t think so. I work for a great senator, Her efforts and even the quiet efforts of her husband have shown that they actually care for their people. And truly want to make the world a better place. The right way.”

“What’s your job title exactly?” I bait him.

“What’s yours?” 

I sigh. He had me there. “Hmm.” The right way. Is there really such a thing as right and wrong? Or did it come down to Just you and them? Two sides of the same coin? I look down at my hands, unable to look him in the eye anymore. “Still feel like you’re following me.”

“Maybe it’s not you I am following.” His response makes me freeze, and then surprisingly relax. That is a loaded response…but maybe. Just maybe.

He reaches his hand down across the table, pinky touching mine and interrupting my thoughts.

I loop my pinky with his. Looking down at our entwined fingers. His pinky finger is calloused but warm. I hope he couldn’t tell how sweaty my hand was while being hooked on my pinky.

“Where do you see yourself five years from now?” I asked, still staring at our pinkies.

His inhale makes me look up, and I can’t make the expression on his face. “You don’t ask easy questions.”

“You’re one to talk.” I fire back.

We both dissolve into giggles. I just feel giddy, and his smile in intoxicating. For the first time, I feel clean. Like I don’t have to hide. 

“In five years? A promotion, with better pay and better hours. My schedule now is nowhere near stable, but a set work schedule would be nice. And hopefully, a relationship. I’m a little young to think about starting a family, but I want that someday, and in 5 years, I hope to have that person by my side.” He answers, taking hold of my whole hand as he finishes.

“Hmm. That sounds nice.” I say absent mindedly, imaging what a family would even feel like.

“What about you?”

“What about me?”

“Where do you see yourself in five years?” He squeezes my hand in reassurance.

Dead. For a cause that I am not even sure I believe in.

“Honestly? I don’t know. Right now, my work keeps me busy, as well as in the moment. Success is seen in immediate results. Long term is not something I am looking at yet” I try to keep it vague.

“You haven’t thought about it?” He pushes.

But pushing starts to irritate me, and I snap back with, “I’m young, what’s there to worry about? Who cares for future.” I say in a huff. A dark look overtakes my face and I pull my hand away. Hands in my lap, looking at him in all his handsome goodness. Curse life for dangling him in my face. His eyes are filled with sympathy as if he could possibly understand what it was like to not know what happens tomorrow. To have your fate completely out of your own hands.

“Princess, you asked the question.” He pauses then leans a little more forward. He looks so open. “I don’t know what you’re caught up in. But I have friends. People that could help-“

“Woah let me stop you right there. I do not need saving. I am perfectly fine thank you very much. I don’t know what you think you know, But I can tell you, You are wrong. I have a well paying job that provides for me, I get to travel, I-“ I loose track of where I was going with this. How do you try and stand up for living a life you don’t want? “Rex,” I sigh. “I’m fine. You will just come to find that I tend to be pessimistic at times.” I offer up.

He just looks at me, taking in the sight of me. I wonder what he sees?

Then he reads my mind and goes, “When I look at you, I see a strong, beautiful ruthless young woman with her whole life ahead of her. But you have this look in your eye. You’re not happy. Not even close.”

“How do you know?” I shake my head.

“I recognize that look because I used to stare at it in the mirror every day. Until I found a way to stop living like that.” He offers. Rex cocks his head at me, looking concerned and sympathetic. I hate it. I can’t understand why he cares.

“Sounds easy.”

“Hardly.”

The silence seems comforting. I don’t feel as alone as I normally do.

“I’d gladly let you ruin me if you asked.” Left my mouth unbidden.

First, I see surprise flash across his face. Determination settles in its place.

He pulls out a card, and slides it across the table. I don’t look at it, just slip it in my pocket.

Rex goes to say something, But at that moment, the door to the 24-7 café we’re in opens.

When I connect with his eyes, all I feel is dread. The anger is rolling off him in waves. The card heavy in my pocket.

Rex must notice the color drain from my face because he turns slightly and catches sight of Maul.

“I’m so sorry.” I whisper to Rex, as Maul approaches with long strides. He arrives at our little table in just a few steps.

“Let’s go.” Is not question. “I’ve been requested to make sure you arrive home safe. Your mother was worried.” His deep voice oozes with thinly veiled venom and misplaced passiveness.

“Is everything all right?” I hear, Rex’s tone firm, calm and dangerous. I look over at him, and the look he is shooting at Maul rocks me off balance. He looks positively murderous. Never could I image his face set in stone like this.

“I wasn’t talking to you.” Maul sneers, slowly moving his gaze to Rex. The heat in their stare was almost Nuclear. As if at any moment, they would collide and explode on each other, leaving devastation in their wake.

"Everything is fine John,” I quickly say making sure not to give his real name out, hand reaching out to his and I go to stand up.

His gaze shifts to me and his eyes soften. “It was nice talking to you princess. Stay Safe out there.”

I softly smile and look to Maul. His eyes burn me, promising trouble that he will enjoy, and that I certainly will not. “Well? Let’s go then.” I bark out bitterly.

We turn and leave.

It took everything in me not to look back.

 Paris, France 05/21/2067 02:15

The whole drive was silent on the way back to the manor, but the smugness was rolling off Maul in waves. I didn’t know what lied ahead of me. But I did know one thing. Rex knew I was trouble. This could go one of two ways. I could give rex up, milk him for what he knows and dispose of him. The thought twisted painfully in my chest, and it became hard to breath. Or I could toss Rex a bone. Slowly bring down the cause. I’d be betraying everything I had known. But what was a cause that killed and stole for their own gains? An Ideal that the Republic is the oppressor while simultaneously oppressing not only those they deem an enemy to the cause, but to their very supporters as well. That idea made the weight on my heart ease a bit.

Oh God, what have I gotten myself into?

When we arrived at the manor, I was hesitant. The place held a blanket of doom that did little to keep the cold out. Maul stalked forwards while I meekly followed behind. I was scared. Maul was excited.

We entered the haunted manor and made our way to the main parlor. In the room stood the Count, my Mother, and Him. The Chancellor of the separatist movement. Everything about him was absolutely Sidious. My mother’s face was blank. Just an empty shell with her face. The Count looked bored. Maul looked like a dog, drooling for a bone.

“Hello, my darling girl.” His voice was like poison. It took everything in me not to flinch. “I have a job for you.”

Here. We. Go.

  Paris, France 05/21/2067 04:00

I lied there, in my own blood and vomit. Left alone to pick myself up.

The Humiliation of this night will forever be burned into my spine. All for what?

To test my strength, He said. To assure everyone but more importantly to assure myself, that I have the will to continue this path. To kill doubt that lingers within myself and within our circle about my abilities. After all, I was just a young girl. They needed proof of my loyalty. My undying loyalty. To remind myself that Peace is a lie. To become what I pretend to be, he said. To prove I am enough for this job, that I will see it through. No matter the pain, the costs.

“Tell me, do you have anything to say for yourself? To prove yourself worthy?” In all his Sidious might, he stood over me. Brand still glowing, the smell of burning flesh overtaken my senses. I looked over at my mother. She looked at me as if I was nothing. I didn’t recognize her anymore. 

Turn back to him, Looking him in the eye. “There is no peace, only passion.”

 His smile is wicked, and he continues.

  Paris, France 05/24/2067 13:47

I lay in bed, just staring at the wall. Ace by my side. I have to keep him from trying to lick my wounds.

I need to get up. I need a plan out of this. This…this isn’t me, right?

“Peace is a lie, there is only passion.”

I sit up, pushing myself through the pain.

“Through Passion, I gain Strength.”

Standing up was hard. My legs gave out, and I had to learn heavily on the bed until I could get my feet underneath me.

“Through Strength, I gain Power.”

I slowly make my way over the mirror.

“Through Power, I gain Victory”

The Woman looking back at me is unrecognizable.

“Through Victory, My chains are broken.”

A lie. All I see are chains.

“Through Victory, My chains are broken.” I repeat.

Tears cloud my vision, and I am filled with rage.

“Through Victory, My chains are broken.”  I whisper, before I slam My fist into the full-length mirror.

My knees hit the floor, digging into glass. I relish the pain.

“I am set Free.”

I reach for the Card.

Paris, France 05/24/2067 13:59

He picks up after the first ring. “Hello?” His voice deep, and rumbles through me. I take a deep breath.

“Did you know?” I ask, voice hoarse and sore, but full of force. No room for argument. 

“Princess, is that you?” I ignore the butterflies in my stomach at the nickname.

“Rex. Did you know when we first met? Back in D.C.?” I ask again. There’s no way he didn’t know now. Not with the way our late-night conversation went.

He sighs. “No. I didn’t know back then.” 

“You Promise?”

“I promise.”

“When did you find out?” My voice breaks.

His voice is soft when he replies, “I didn’t find out until after seeing you that afternoon at the cafe. I went back to the embassy after that and... well.”

I took a deep breath. He was honest with no hesitation. I don’t know how I knew that, but I did. I believed it deep in my bones. 

“You let me walk away.” My vision starts to get blurry.

“I knew you’d make the right choice in the end. I believe in you.”

“That doesn’t make any fucking sense,” I whisper.

“Princess, are you ok? The other night you-

I choke out a laugh. “Yeah. I’m fine. Tell you’re bosses I’ll help. That’s what their expecting right?” 

I let out a sniffle. God, I’m really doing this.

“Look, Let’s talk about th-”

“No. No talking. One condition. You’re the person I talk to. No one else.”

A sigh. “I wish you would stop interrupting me.” His voice holds 1000s emotions, and I can’t place any of them. 

“Get used to it. Good-bye Rex. I’ll keep in touch.”

I hung up the phone. 

[filthyjoetini]

Love is in the Air(BnB)

a/n: Here we are guys. The epilogue. The real end. It’s done. Thank you, my loves, again for reading, I honestly never anticipated that this little story of mine would get so big. And the feedback! Ugh! Love it (keep it coming eheh) As always, the biggest thank you goes to @barfightzanddiscolightz​ she’s honestly the MVP here. Without her, I wouldn’t be where I am right now. I love you very much.

warnings: mentions of sexual acts, a little bit of drama, panic attack, we are scared for someone’s life but only briefly...fluff!

wordcount: 2.9k

part 1 - Friday night - part 2 - Saturday - part 3 - Sunday - part 4 - Monday - part 5 - Tuesday - part 6 - Wednesday - part 7 - Thursday

Epilogue

As promised, you immediately let him know that you had landed when you disembarked the plane. You opted for a quick WhatsApp message since you didn’t want to call him while walking to the baggage claim area of the airport. Just as you were about to pocket your phone again, it started to ring. It was an incoming FaceTime call from Joe. You had debated to just let it ring, but you were sure this would have started a disastrous chain of events such as him calling the airport and demanding a search party be formed to come look for you. Sighing, you eventually answered the call and were greeted by his huge, infectious smile which you returned with a grin of your own and a slight blush on your cheeks. You stayed on the phone with him until you arrived at the door to your flat. Since you were too tired now and needed to lie down for a bit, you promised to call him again later to show him around your place. After a short protest from Joe, he begrudgingly let you end the call.

Over the past few months, Joe and you had been in contact daily either through WhatsApp or, as you quickly discovered, his favourite mode of digital communication — FaceTime.

At the end of each workday, like clockwork, you would let him know that you were free to talk. Whenever he had been available, he would immediately call you. Sometimes he had sent you a short message that he was in the middle of a meeting, an interview, or whatever else he had scheduled that day. You would talk for hours until one of you had fallen asleep. Usually, it had been you, and Joe would always stay on the call a bit longer to admire your sleeping face. Some evenings it would even get a little steamy and you would have non-conventional phone sex. At first you had found it to be very weird, doing it with your cameras on. The whole “What are you wearing?”- conversation had become redundant and seeing each other totally naked had left nothing to the imagination. After the second time, you had told Joe how uncomfortable you felt doing it through a video call and that you needed a better solution because “phone sex is about listening and imagining”. At first, Joe had laughed at you, but he had noticed rather quickly that you were serious about it. After some trial and error, you had both come up with a way that made you feel better about it and him still be able to see you. It had involved a blindfold on your end.

Sometimes, you had little dinner dates over the phone which consisted of you both cooking the same dish and then eating it together. On your first FaceTime-Dinner-Date, Wesley had walked in, called you both crazy, and completely took over the conversation by stealing Joe’s phone. Joe had tried to pry the phone out of his best mate’s fingers but to no avail. He had quickly given up and ate his dinner alone in the kitchen whilst Wesley chatted away, making you giggle throughout the whole conversation. Wes had even ended the call before handing the phone back to Joe, who instantly called you back again and apologised profusely. You had just kept on giggling and told him it was alright.

Other times, you had both continued watching Stranger Things together and managed to finish the whole series within three weeks of arriving back home. Sometime during the fourth season, you had changed Joe’s contact icon in your phone to a picture of Eddie, causing you to loudly giggle at the screen every time he had called you. After the third call, he had asked you what was going on, so you sent a screenshot of his contact information to him, earning you an eyeroll and groan. You still hadn’t changed it back to a normal picture of him to this day, and you didn’t plan on doing it for a long time. Eddie would stay.

As May had ended, the month of June heralded a lineup of conventions for Joe in the United States. He had almost missed his first appearance in Philadelphia because there had been an issue with his passport. He had been live-informing you through WhatsApp about what was happening and it honestly was the most nerve-wracking ordeal you passively had gone through. You were glad that he had still managed to attend even though it had only been for one out of the three days. That day, he had called you from the backstage area and showed you around, even introducing you to a couple of other guests along with one of his Stranger Things co-stars who had also been in attendance.

A week later he had attended the same convention except this time in Dallas, where he spent three wonderful but very hectic days. He hadn’t really had time to call you during the day but on his last night there, he facetimed you, sporting a happy but very exhausted face. Because of the time difference you had almost been ready to get your day started but you noticed that something had been bothering him. You had asked him if he was alright to which he just shrugged. Your elongated “Jooooooe…” had made him chuckle lightly and he eventually revealed to you that his time in the US would be cut short because he had to start filming Gladiator 2 very soon and therefore couldn’t go the convention in Denver. Joe had told you that he felt like the most horrible person on earth because he hated letting his fans down, but his main job was acting and filming was a priority. You had assured him, that his fans would understand, and he agreed, telling you he just wanted everyone to be happy.

As June had faded away, the beginning of the new month meant that Joe would be shipped off to Malta to commence filming Gladiator 2. You had mentally prepared yourself for his long workdays and sparse interactions. Your daily video calls had been reduced to quick WhatsApp voice messages or even just short text messages that read: “I hope you slept well.” – “I did, I hope you did too.” to “I miss you.” – “I miss you more.” to “Sleep well.” – “You too.”

Every now and then he had sent a picture of himself dressed in Roman Emperor attire or silly selfies with his co-stars. The latter had always brightened your days and you had decided to print them out and make a little scrapbook of his time on set. You couldn’t wait to gift it to him when you got to see him again, which you had hoped would happen sooner rather than later.

Filming had concluded in August and September already had its first foot in the door. You would have been lying if you said that those two months passed by in a flash. It had been the exact opposite. The days had seemed to never end and your work being a total pain in your arse hadn’t helped either. You had longed for the day Joe would finally call you and tell you that filming was over and that you could resume your daily FaceTime calls.

---

As the familiar ringtone pierced through the silence, you were over the moon. You instantly took the call, thrilled to see his very tired yet undeniably handsome face.

“Hey, darling.”

“Oh, finally. Hi, baby!”, you greeted him, almost over-enthusiastically. “I missed your face so much.”

He chuckled softly, scratching his jaw lightly.

“I missed yours too. Babe…listen, I’m about to board the plane. I’ll call you when I’ve landed. OK?”, he explained, and you nodded, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. He giggled softly at your expression and puckered his lips, making a kissy face at you. You returned his gesture before he ended the call.

Flights from Malta to London usually took around three and a half hours, but after you hadn’t heard from Joe in four hours, you were slowly but surely starting to freak out. You checked if the flight number he had texted you had landed — It had. You tried to message him on WhatsApp, but it only showed you one tick, which meant it didn’t go through. You tried to FaceTime him but the message that it was currently unavailable popped up on your screen. Lastly, you tried to call him on the phone, but it went straight to voicemail.

Dropping your phone onto the sofa, your breathing started to become shallow, and you felt tears pricking in the corners of your eyes. Something very bad happened to Joe, you were sure of it. He would never forget to call or even just text you. He knew how much you worried all the time. He knew how easily things like that triggered you.

Slowly, you sank down onto your sofa, preparing yourself for the panic attack that threatened its way through your body. Your mind became all foggy and your heart was racing so you had to lie down on your back because the lack of oxygen in your blood was causing spots in your vision. Swallowing hard, you tried to even out your breathing with the exercises your therapist had shown you. After about five minutes of slow, deep, and gentle breaths in through your nose and out of your mouth, your panic attack dwindled to silent tears steadily flowing down the sides of your face and onto the cushions of your sofa.

With trembling fingers, you picked up your abandoned phone to check if Joe had in some way gotten back to you. He hadn’t. Your shaky fingers scrolled through your contacts and found Wesley, quickly pressing the call button. He answered after the second ring.

“Hello, love. Long time no see...or hear...or...whatever.”, he greeted you in an overly chipper tone.

“Wes.”, you choked out, “Have you heard from Joe? He should be home by now. Please tell me you’ve seen him!”

“Whoa, what is going on?”, Wesley asked in a surprised tone. “Love, are you alright?”

“No! I’m not alright.”, you sobbed into your phone, getting it all wet with your salty tears. “Joe told me he would call me as soon as he has landed, and he hasn’t.”

“What? Joe’s flight has not landed yet. He’s still in the air. What are you talking about?”, Wesley responded, chuckling lightly.

“No, it has landed. I checked the flight number he gave me.”, you replied, slowly pushing yourself up in a sitting position, growing more irritated by the minute.

“Hold on. Let me check.”, Wesley said, and you heard him shuffling around. When he spoke again, he sounded a bit further away, indicating that he had set his phone on speaker mode. “Alright, I just checked again, and it says that the flight is still en route. That means, it’s still in the air.”

“I know what that means, Wesley.”, you replied in a rather snappy tone whilst wiping away the last of your tears with your free hand. Wesley couldn’t help but laugh at your sudden change of attitude.

“I think you got the wrong flight number there, love.”, he pointed out the obvious and you let out a deep sigh, allowing yourself to fall back onto the sofa.

“Yeah, I guess.”, you mumbled, running your hand down your face.

“Yeah. Also, we both know Joe would never not call you. He’d commit murder and other heinous crimes before deliberately hurting you like that.”

Wesley’s exaggeration elicited a low chuckle from you, and you let out another deep sigh. You were just about to ask him if he could give you the correct flight number when he suddenly spoke again.

“Listen, love. I gotta go. Don’t worry too much. He will call you. I miss you! Bye!”

“Wes! Wai–“

Before you could even form your sentence, Wesley had already ended the call. Groaning, you placed your phone back next to you on the sofa, inwardly scolding yourself for freaking out like this and making a fool of yourself. You just really hoped that Joe’s flight would land soon and that your most anticipated phone call of the day would finally be made to your phone.

You were moping around in your living room for a full five minutes when instead of your phone, your doorbell rang. Reluctantly, you pushed yourself up to your feet and slowly trudged over to your flat’s entrance door, cursing out whoever had decided to disturb you in your current state of distress.

Opening the door, you muttered your well-rehearsed phrase for whatever salesperson was standing in front of it.

“Hey. I’m sorry. I’m not interes–“, you stopped short when you saw who was standing there in front of you. “JOE?!”

“Hey, babe.”, he greeted you with a huge grin on his face. You stared at him in awe. He was standing there, dressed in a white t-shirt, blue jeans, and Adidas “Superstars” on his feet. His hair was in a dishevelled mess and his eyes appeared weary and tired. Behind him stood a huge suitcase and he was holding a small pot with pink peonies in his arm.

You blinked slowly before your face grew irritated. You took a step forward, lifted both of your arms and placed them on his lower arms before pushing hardly, making him lose his footing and stumble backwards a little.

“Whoa! What are you doing?”, Joe asked surprised, managing to regain his balance.

“I…”, you started, sputtering with anger. “How dare you not tell me! How dare you give me the wrong fucking flight number! Wesley knew, didn’t he?! How dare you not call me! I was worried sick, Joseph!”

Joe chuckled lightly and took a step toward you, bending down to put the potted flowers on the floor. When he stood straight again, he extended his arms and engulfed your anger-shaken form in his arms.

“Darling, if I had told you, it would’ve ruined my surprise…so… surprise!”, he explained softly, placing a tender kiss to your temple. When his lips left your skin, you leaned back a little to look up at him. That utter idiot was grinning down at you.

“You’re really here.”, you stated breathlessly, slowly wrapping your arms around his middle, and placing your head on his chest. He was here, in the flesh. You could hear his heart beating in your ear. He was here. Here in the stairwell of your residential building. Here on the doorstep of your flat. He. Was. Here. Letting out a deep breath, you hugged him closer to you.

“I am, yes. And I’m not leaving…for at least a month.”

His revelation made you slowly lean back and look up at him again. Your eyes found his dark caramel ones. His head dipped closer to yours and you slowly pushed yourself up on your toes to close the distance between the two of you. After three long months, your lips finally captured his in a tender kiss again. Both of you let out a sigh of relief and Joe deepened the kiss gradually.

Far too soon, you ran out of breath, releasing his now well kissed lips from yours.

“A month?”, you whispered against his mouth.

“At least, yes.”, he confirmed his previous statement, running his hand up and down your spine.

You nodded and suddenly, tears started to roll down your cheeks and drip off your chin onto Joe’s t-shirt.

“Noooo, baby, why are you crying?”

“I missed you so much.”, you replied, trying to suppress a hiccough. “These are happy tears.”, you clarified instantly, and Joe only nodded, placing another soft peck to your lips.

“I missed you too, so much.”, he hummed and pressed his lips from the corner of your mouth to your cheek in a series of sweet butterfly kisses.

“I’m still angry with you for not telling me that you were coming. You’re an idiot, do you know that? You’re lucky I love you.”

Joe abruptly stalled his actions. It was now his turn to lean back, his eyes searching your face in response to your seemingly casual love confession.

“You love me?”

“Duh!”

“Good, because I love you too.”, he confessed, chuckling softly before planting a big wet kiss to your lips. You rolled your eyes and giggled gently.

“Please come inside now.”, you invited him in, “I don’t want Gertrude to get a stroke from all the PDA we’re treating her to.”

You had been referring to your elderly neighbour who was well known for being the building’s resident spy and gossip spreader. Joe took a step back and bent down to retrieve the potted peonies before he made his way into your flat and spoke again.

“Can I meet Gertrude?”

“No, you can’t.”, you replied chuckling, following him inside, “Wait, babe, your suitcase!”

“Oh, right.”, he quickly turned around, grabbed its handle, and pulled it inside, “Why can’t I meet her?”

“Joe. No… if you go over there and introduce yourself, I’ll make you sleep on my sofa for the entire month.”, you threatened him idly, walking back to your flat’s entrance door just as Joe had entered your flat.

“Fine. I won’t.”, he promised you, bending down once more and placing down the potted plant in your hallway. When he stood up again, he grabbed the suitcase and walked by you - but of course, not without gently slapping your bum and giggling like a little child.

“...very thin ice, Joe.”, you chuckled as you closed the door behind you...

THE END END

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[lookismaddict]

Lookism: Rendezvous 🔞 (Ch. VIII) || Gun Park x Fem! Reader ♡

Author’s Note: I just wanna say, you guys are amazing. Like, I have no other words to describe how all of you are so supportive and I find that very sweet. Thank you! 💗 Also, I apologize in advance if some of the information here isn’t quite accurate in this chapter. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if they are correct since there are facts that are still debatable in the Lookism webtoon, but I just kept it just for the sake of the plot. Also, my explanations suck so I’m really sorry if they don’t make sense. I hope you guys find it to your liking somehow! 😭💝

NSFW Warning: Violence and strong language/cursing, and light sexual content (teasing ?) .

Story Summary: You traveled abroad to help support your mother who is sick, back home in Japan. However, once you reached Korea, everything went downhill until you met a stranger who offered you a deal that could benefit you. But who knew that this special encounter would turn your whole life around…

Gun stared into your persistent eyes, understanding that it was time for him to explain everything regarding what he does for a living and what are his plans for you. Knowing that this conversation might take a while, he took off his sunglasses with one of his hands then put it in his pocket while his other hand slipped into his other pocket to take out a cigarette, lighting it while feeling the gentle night breeze brush against his hair. A deep smoke was enough for him to ready himself for a long talk with you that might possibly last you the entire night, sacrificing his sleep in the process.

“Very well, then let’s begin. What do you want to know first?”

“I want to know… what do you even do for HNH Group. How do you even contribute to their business?”

“Well, as Crystal’s bodyguard-”

“Is being a bodyguard REALLY what you do? Or is there more to it?”

Gun felt cornered from your pressing question, realizing that he can’t seem to cover up his own misdoings from you. You were quick witted and attentive enough to suspect what was going on behind the scenes of his “corporate life”. He already got the impression that you had a feeling that there’s more to it, so this time, he won’t hold back on the answers and will just come out to you straight and honest. After this conversation, he just wished that you won’t look at him differently than how you usually did from before.

“Before I became Crystal’s bodyguard, I had a different job position. Goo and I were like business partners. We’d help run a business for the higher-ups. For the rich and powerful. Our jobs were to gather and create crews that would accumulate money for us in order to help support that business. It became the main source to making money for them. In a way, we were just following orders from Charles Choi, Crystal’s father.”

“Is that also how you got a lot of money?”

“Yes, that’s precisely it.”

“Oh, and I noticed that Kouji is still a minor and he’s working for HNH Group. Are there anymore underaged kids who are possibly… connected as well?”

“Well, yes, there are. The leaders of the four major crews are controlled by teenagers, and all of them were chosen according to how well they led and how powerful they are to control a certain area of Korea. It’s essential for them to become as strong as they should, since it’ll help maintain control to continue bringing money to the plate. It’s like a ‘check and balance’ system within each gang. But, it all was up to me and Goo to enforce them to do what they’re supposed to be doing.”

“Oh, I see. But what happens if a crew leader can’t do their job properly? I remembered you mentioned the crew leaders’ flaws as well when you explained to me about them, from that one time. But the one crew leader that I remembered vividly the most was Jake Kim, because of how you mentioned that he didn’t do what he was supposed to do, which is why he got locked up behind bars…”

“When a crew is weakened from the inside, it’ll only just bring us down. The main cause for that is due to their leader. They must be cut off in order for us to continue operations without being suspected by the police. That is why, I prefer doing things the legal way. In Jake’s case, he was running an illegal gambling business behind my back, when I specifically told him to earn money through the legal way. However, that moron didn’t listen, which then led to him being brought to juvie. We had no choice but to lay low thanks to him. When he returned to the outside world, he was already dead to me.”

“Ah, so that’s how he ended up in juvie. Um, I was wondering. How much money did you have to collect from each of these gangs?”

“About a hundred thousand dollars per month.” (127 million won)

You stared at him then blinked a couple of times, unable to process the huge number in your head.

A small laugh came out from you, as you asked him, “I’m sorry, can you repeat that one more time…?”

“I’ll say it slower this time.”

Gun leaned in closer to you then slowly whispered into your ear, making sure that he pronounces every syllable carefully to the last word. “A… hun-dred… thou-sand… dol-lars… per… month…”

Once he leaned back to straighten his posture, he snickered at your priceless expression from his words. He loved seeing your reactions every time he surprises you, which always gets a good kick out of him.

You remained frozen in place, speechless for only a minute from the big amount of money that Gun had to collect.

“A-a… h-h-hundred… th-th-thousand… d-dollars… p-per… m-m-m-month…?”

While stumbling on your words, Gun crossed his arms with a playful grin forming on his lips.

“Yes, that’s correct. Do you want me to convert that into Japanese yen for you?”

Your head slowly nodded as you cannot resist this profound information that he has yet to give you.

“In Japanese yen, that would be about thirteen million yen. Actually, that’s my individual collection. If you were to combine the amount of money that Goo and I get per year, that would be about five million dollars worth in profit.” (about 6.4 trillion won)

“Gun… WHAT THE FUCK?! THAT MUCH?! DUDE, DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH MONEY I COULD SPEND WITH THAT?! THAT CAN LAST ME AND MY MOM AN ENTIRE LIFETIME OF SUSHI, RAMEN, TEMPURA, KARAAGE… YOU NAME IT! I COULD EVEN PAY FOR WAGYU STEAK!!! Oh my god, that could even help pay fully for my mom’s hospital bills too… We’d even be eating so good!”

Gun chuckled at your adorable reactions, replying with, “What the hell, you immediately thought of food when you heard about how much I earned? (Y/N), you’re such a strange person. Are you a piglet in disguise? Usually, people would think of buying a huge house, such as this, or even luxury sports cars. It makes me think that you’re not even human.”

Gun’s words made you scoff to the side. “A piglet?! Why? What’s so wrong about dreaming a little? I’ve never had wagyu steak in my life, and I’ve always wanted to try it… Okay, but that’s besides the point! How the hell did you even manage to gather that much money from each crew?! Wouldn’t they have retaliated if you had to force them to gather money for you and Goo?”

Gun took his cigarette in between his fingers, releasing another blow of smoke from his mouth. He looked into your eyes wickedly saying, “Don’t underestimate me. Of course, I had to enforce my own power to gather all of them under my control.”

“Did Goo have to do that too?”

“Yeah, he still does it till this day, even as Charles Choi’s bodyguard. I used to accompany him frequently just to make things run smoother and quicker. You should’ve seen the look of terror on their faces whenever we’d pummel all of them to the ground.”

The thought of Gun and Goo beating up gang members left a nasty pit in your stomach. Picturing all of that gory bloodshed caused by only one or two people made you shiver, but thankfully, you’re on Gun’s side. His strength made you view him as a force to be reckoned with, in your eyes. Even at that night when you witnessed him beat up those thugs from that shady bar the first time when you two met, you never once doubt his strength.

“So, back to the whole ‘minors working’ system, why does Charles Choi only insist on using teens as a source for money making?”

“It’s because they have a shorter sentence.”

“What? How?”

“When minors get caught, they get a shorter sentence and their punishment isn’t too severe than those who are ‘of age’. That is why, when Jake was imprisoned, he got out quicker. That’s just how the law goes.”

“So you’re saying, that once they get out again, then there’s a possibility that they’ll be able to continue working for you as soon as possible?”

“Correct. We have no choice but to abide to the law. And at the same time, we use it to our advantage.”

“Huh… I don’t want to admit it, but that’s actually pretty smart. Yet, insane. But you know what I want to know? Who are the higher-ups? I assume that Charles Choi has some accomplices and people that he trusts within his own circle. And how do they fit in with this whole scheme?”

“Aren’t you a little nosy detective today? If that’s the case, then I’ll start with the important people. Charles Choi created a group called the ‘Ten Geniuses’. Each of them play an important role in maintaining this whole business scheme. You were just with the five of them today at HNH Group headquarters.”

I was with them? But the only people that I was with at that time were…

“Wait, don’t tell me… YOU’RE ONE OF THEM?!”

Gun gave a sly smirk, then stated, “Why are you so surprised? I’m the one who’s been training you after all.”

In a playful way, you decided to tease him as you asked him, “‘Genius’? Where? In being strict? Self-centered? Annoying?” You couldn’t help but laugh at the thought of Gun being called a “Genius”, which seemed kind of corny to you.

Gun’s judgmental poker face made you burst out in laughter even more, holding your stomach as you couldn’t control it. While he was watching your little laugh trip, the thought of Goo joining in on your joke made him irritated even more. And because of how his reaction was irreplaceably hilarious by standing there in silence until your laughs died down, you wiped a tear of joy from your eye while exhaling deeply.

“Are you done?”

“Yeah… Okay. In all honesty, it makes sense though. When you were training me, you did give helpful tips and proper fighting knowledge on how to position myself, how to attack effectively, and all of that. I’m guessing it’s due to your martial arts expertise. That’s actually pretty impressive, not gonna lie…”

“Yeah? Wouldn’t you agree that I’m also a genius in bed too?”

“W-what?”

The colorful expression of red tint on your face from Gun’s unexpected comment made himself snicker in pride, as a way of getting even with you for making fun of him for being called a “Genius”. To change the subject, you cleared your throat before uttering a, “Anyways… why are the rest called Geniuses?”

“Crystal is called the ‘Business Genius’ since Charles Choi uses her looks to his advantage to help settle with business partners. Kouji is called the ‘Hacker Genius’ because of how well he’s good in hacking. Goo is known as the ‘Weapon Genius’ because he can wield any weapon perfectly. Especially if that weapon is a sword.”

“Ohhh, that explains the sword he was carrying that other night… And what about DG? I’m surprised that an actual K-pop idol is also one of the Geniuses too.”

“DG? Well, he’s a special case. He is actually known as “The Genius” among us ten.”

“‘The Genius’? Wait, that actually sounds pretty cool! Why is he called that though?”

Gun suddenly felt annoyed at how impressed you were from hearing DG’s title right away as he decided to hold onto the information about him from you for now. “That, I won’t say.”

“What? Why not?! Didn’t I say that I want you to tell me EVERYTHING about HNH Group?!”

“Yeah, but it’ll take forever for me to tell you everything about him, so I’ll save that story for another day.”

“Hmph, whatever. Then, what about the other Geniuses? You said there are ten of you guys, so what about the other five?”

“The rest of the Geniuses don’t usually meet at the HNH Group building, so I rarely ever see them. However, there is a man who specializes in fighting and his name is Tom Lee. He’s known to be a part of Gapryong Kim’s gang back in the day, as he himself is a Zero Generation fighter.”

“Gapryong Kim? Didn’t you point out that he’s Jake’s dad?”

“That’s right. Tom Lee was also a mentor to me and Goo. He actually was the one who raised us to become the strong fighters that we are today.”

“Wow, he must be really strong if he was the one who trained you and Goo.”

“Yes, but now he runs his own bodyguard job agency called White Tiger Job Centre. Those who come from that organization are trained by him and are eventually hired by the richest millionaires.”

Hm… I’m guessing that explains Gun and Goo’s positions as bodyguards for Charles and Crystal.

“What about the other four?”

“Just like Tom Lee, there’s another Genius who’s from the Zero Generation as well. His name is Jinyoung Park. That man holds medical prowess, like an actual genius. However, there are rumors that he’s gone insane, like a mad scientist.”

Just hearing him say “mad” and “scientist” in one sentence made you question Charles Choi’s antics.

“Why did Charles Choi keep him as a Genius, if he’s not mentally stable?”

“Not sure. That’s just what I’ve been hearing around HNH Group.”

“Okay… please, continue on with the last three.”

“Alright. Another Genius that I haven’t mentioned yet is actually one of the four leaders of the major crews. I dare you to take a guess at which crew he’s from.”

“Ummmm… I don’t know, God Dog?”

“Never in a million years, no. Try again.”

“Uhhhh… geez Gun, I have no clue. Just tell me already! The suspense is killing me…”

“Fine. He’s the leader of Workers, and his name is Eugene. Among the Workers, they call him CEO or Chairman. His intelligence is uncanny, being able to control and manipulate people in every way, earning him the rightful title of being one of the Ten Geniuses.”

“Man, he sounds like a total douche.”

“It’s just how he operates. If he finds that method successful for himself, then it’s still a win-win on his part. Remember Sinu Han, the previous leader of Big Deal that I’ve mentioned to you before?”

“Yeah?”

“Eugene was the one responsible for buying off Sinu Han. That’s how he got stuck with the Workers for a long time until Jake decided to take him back.”

“What?! So that guy paid for Sinu Han? That’s just crazy! Why did he want Sinu so badly?”

“Actually, it wasn’t Eugene who forced him to do it. Sinu Han was the one who offered himself for a great amount of cash.“

“Really? But… why did Sinu Han want that huge amount of money, and what for?”

Gun remained quiet for a long minute which made you uneasy. It was like he was caught in a trance. Lost in thought, as if he was hesitant to even say a word to you. To break the silence, you questioned him in a concerned tone.

“Gun? Are you okay?”

“Yes, why wouldn’t I be?”

“It’s because you’ve been quiet for a minute there. Is there something wrong?”

“No.”

“Okay… can you tell me why then?”

Gun paused for a bit until he finally said, “It was because of me.”

At that moment, a cold breeze blew by, which resulted in a spine-chilling shiver. Now you were the one who couldn’t utter a single word.

“What…? But… why-”

“It was because I told Big Deal that they needed to give me a hundred million won (86,000 U.S. dollars) by the end of the month. They did manage to get the money for the first month thanks to Samuel Seo, but they somehow couldn’t keep it up. I offered Sinu Han a chance to get the money that would save his crew, by speaking with Eugene to negotiate a deal. In the end, he ended up getting about 1.2 billion won (860,000 U.S. dollars) by selling himself, which would give Big Deal about ten months worth of full payment for us. Eventually, Jake became Big Deal’s leader and because he’s Gapryong Kim’s son, I offered Jake an opportunity to work to become my successor at that time. He had to prove his worth to me somehow, by continuing to pay me a hundred million won per month. If he does manage to continue to pay me that much, then it’ll prove that he can be my successor.” A small snicker was uttered by him, as he continued with his explanation. “Jake really is a fool. He could’ve gotten the money to buy back Sinu Han for five billion won (4.3 million U.S. dollars), but no. If only he didn’t get involved in that illegal number racketing operation, then he would have become my successor.”

“That’s just… cruel…”

“It had to be done. It is needed to create the four major crews and get the money needed to fuel Charles Choi’s business. And besides, I needed to find a successor, since I’m getting older.”

“So it was because of you, that Sinu Han had to sell himself? You basically just FORCED them to become a part of the four major crews. Also, you’re really spouting a lot of bull here! From what I got, it really WAS you who led Jake to get himself behind bars! And you said that it wasn’t even your fault?”

“I was just following protocol.”

“But then you didn’t even think about how the members of Big Deal were struggling to keep themselves together? How they had to suffer because of YOUR OWN selfish plans?! That’s very hypocritical of you. Demanding a hundred million won for you, and then suggesting Sinu to sell himself for the sake of your own demands for money?! Jake had to endure hardships, just to earn your damn money! You told him to earn it the legal way, but that’s fucking impossible! How the hell were they supposed to earn that money the legal way in just one month?! No wonder the poor kid had to resort to illegal ways. And on top of that, he had to earn MORE just to get Sinu back as well?! Don’t you feel any remorse from what you’ve done?”

Gun’s hand reached over his own eyes, heaving a bothered sigh while thinking of what a pain it was to deal with your judgement towards his past actions. “Oh, so now you feel sorry for them? Ha, it’s almost laughable at how you could be so easily swayed by their story. So, listen closely… In this world, those who have money and hold power are the ones that rule above everyone else. Above ALL. This isn’t some fair game, where they can just do whatever they want just to make themselves happy. They don’t live in some kind of happy fantasy world either, where they can live in harmony all the time. This is reality. And at times like these, it’s just how reality goes. The strong will remain at the top, while the weak will remain at the bottom. It’s just that simple.”

The night breeze was all you heard in your ears that time. All you felt was the numbing feeling from the cold, enveloping you in the night. You couldn’t help but feel sorry for what the Big Deal members had to go through just because of this whole crazy situation. It was hard to believe that because of those in power, there are people who’ve fallen victim to such a cruel reality. All of this made you think of the possibilities of how these crews were formed and were forced into something that they didn’t choose to be a part of.

“B-but… how could you be so… heartless?”

A slight tear ran down the side of your eye, which made you sniffle while trying to wipe your eyes with the back of your sleeve. Gun couldn’t help but feel a strong sense of shame, just by seeing your broken expression like that. It pains him that, for the first time, he felt regret for ever telling you anything about himself. From the start, he was worried that you might think lowly of him for all of the things he had done in his past. And this definitely proves his own point.

While continuing to wipe your own eyes, you said in between soft whimpers, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to tear up in front of you like this. God, how embarrassing… why can’t I keep it together today…”

Gun suddenly dropped his cigarette on the ground before he took your arm away from your face, as his hands began to cup your cheeks. While staring deeply into your teary eyes, he gently wiped the tears away from your eyes with his thumbs, hoping to help relieve that pained look on your face.

“I’m sorry, that I made you cry. I don’t blame you if you think of me more, as a monster now. I just don’t want to see you like this because of me…”

Those soft words that came out of his own mouth made your heart thump wildly, which made you conflicted about how you view Gun.

Gun admitted that he had done terrible things back then and he’s surely feared by many. And despite all of that, how can he still be this kind towards me? Is this all just a façade? My feelings for this man are still strong, even though he can be cruel at times. Why do I still feel drawn to him? Like a piece of metal attracted to a magnet. Have I gone insane? What the hell is wrong with me? To fall for a man who had eyes only for money and power… Is it really worth it if I pursue confessing my feelings towards him?

“I-it’s okay. I know that whatever you did was all in the past. I don’t think of you as a monster.”

“Then, what do you think of me?”

“I think of you as…”

Currently, as your words got caught in the back of your throat, the eye contact that you two had on each other didn’t waver one bit as both of your faces started to pull closer to each other. The tension between you two, with yours and Gun’s lips hovering to close the distance between one another, was beginning to build up to something major.

Is this really happening right now? No… I can’t let myself be sucked in so eagerly. This isn’t how I want to confess to him. Not like this…

As both of your lips barely touched, you immediately felt the urge to push him away. When your hands reached over to feel his chest, you then shoved him away from you, which resulted in him to release you from his grasp. The two of you propelled backwards from your forced separation from him, leaving Gun to be taken aback from your unanticipated action.

Quickly, you yawned, pretending to be tired from all of the events that happened today. Casually, you said in a sluggish mood, “Sorry, I’m getting pretty tired. Is it okay if we continue this talk later? I think we should both get some sleep since we still have to get up early for training later.”

Gun cleared his throat before brushing off his suit, reluctantly nodding in agreement. “Right, I agree. We should both get some rest.”

The two of you began walking back into the house without saying a word. After Gun let you walk in first, he then followed, closing and locking the sliding doors behind him. While walking side by side, you eventually made it in front of the door to your room. You looked back at him saying, “I’m apologizing to you in advance if I don’t wake up in time. I usually put an alarm on my phone and since I can’t use it, I might not be able to wake up in time.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure to come by to your door later and I’ll try to wake you up.”

“Okay, thanks. I appreciate it!”

The two of you stared at each other for only a few seconds in awkward silence until you said, “Well… goodnight!” before quickly entering your room and shutting the door behind you. Gun was about to reply back with a “goodnight” as well, but didn’t get to since you already went inside your room. He let out a huff, walking towards his room to get the sleep that he rightfully needed from such an exhausting day.

. . .

Once the clock strikes six, a few loud knocks made themselves known from behind your door.

“(Y/N), wake up! It’s time to get up!”

From within your room, there was no response. Gun, who had his tinted Ray Bans sunglasses and was dressed already in his trainer outfit with his expensive dark grey Columbia sportswear, matching black striped jogger pants on the side, and white laced sneakers continued to bang on the door for you to wake up.

“I’m counting down from three! By the time I reach ‘one’, you better be awake or else I’m barging in there… THREE!”

No response.

“TWO!”

Still no response.

“ONE!”

Dead silence.

Gun didn’t know if you were still awake or if you actually died in your sleep. With a tight grip on the door knob, Gun muttered, “Fuck it.” before turning the knob and kicking the door wide open. He stormed towards you with a huge scowl on his face. His eyes stared down at your careless sleeping face, with a tad of drool dripping down the side of your mouth. He swiftly snatched his own sunglasses from his eyes, as his dark menacing eyes bored down onto you.

“Hey… WAKE UP!!!”

His hands went for your comfy blanket, as he ripped it off of your lifeless body. Your body reacted to his abruptness, as your face scrunched up during your sleep, making you groan and curl up into a fetal position on your bed. A vein started to pop on the side of Gun’s temple, as he grabbed onto your shoulder with one of his strong hands then started shaking you in a very violent manner.

“ARE YOU DEAF?! I SAID WAKE THE FUCK UP ALREADY!!!”

Unconsciously, your hand smacked the back of his hand, resulting in a bit of a red mark to form on his hand from how hard you hit him back while sleeping. Gun drew his hand back to look at his own hand, sneering from your unexpected attack.

“Even while sleeping, you can still hit nicely. Fine. I’ll give you that much of a compliment, since you somewhat earned it. I can’t believe I have to resort to this method…”

Gun turned on his heel then left the room for only a little while. Five minutes later, he returned to your room with a plastic refillable spray bottle as he stopped right in front of your bed, now aiming the spray bottle onto your face. His finger on the spray bottle’s fluid pump was steady and ready to be pulled back, like he was ready to pull the trigger on a gun. Mercilessly with excessive squirts, you woke up from the uncomfortable feeling of water being sprayed onto your face. Briskly, your eyes shot open as you jolted up from the bed. Once Gun saw that you were awake, he pulled back his spray bottle away from you, still looking down at you with such malice. You were still breathing heavy from the sudden wake up, as your eye suddenly realized from your peripheral vision that Gun was looming over you. Slowly, you turned your head towards him with your face still dripping in water. As you looked up at him, your blank expression remained stunned until you greeted him with a small smile and wave as if nothing happened, saying, “Good morning, Gun! How are you? Did you have breakfast yet?”

Gun’s grasp on the spray bottle tightened, glaring at you with eyes that could kill. “No, I didn’t. I was occupied by a sleeping kitten who needed a wake up call. I had to bring this with me just to do the job effectively.” He held out the spray bottle in his hand to show you the actual struggle of waking you up. “I might as well carry THIS whenever I have to wake you up again.”

Guilty, you whistled casually while averting your eyes from his. “S-sorry, I must’ve been a pain to wake up…”

“And you just realized that now? Go get ready and changed already. Then, meet me downstairs in ten minutes.”

Gun carried his spray bottle out the door with him, before slamming it behind him. Relieved from how he finally left the room, you collapsed back onto the bed while wiping your dry hands onto your wet face, trying to get rid of the water that Gun had sprayed.

Good job (Y/N), you really outdid yourself this time. I better find a new phone fast, or else I’ll have to experience that every morning! Ughhh…

Your hand reached over to a nearby pillow, pressing it onto your face while letting out a stress-relieving scream into it before you forced yourself up to go get ready for another long day ahead of you.

. . .

Once you were dressed in your usual sportswear with your black fitness cropped top, and light sportswear shorts, you met Gun downstairs at the usual spot where you sat at the dining table across from him. On the table, you grabbed an apple from a huge plate full of other various fruits as you started to munch into it. Gun was scrolling through his phone, reading through whatever was on his phone screen. While going through the text messages that he missed, he caught Goo’s message from last night:

“I’ll cover for you in any way I can while I’m still here. Don’t get it mixed up. This is for dropping me off that one night. 🤧 You better remember to pay me back, you pervert!! 🙄”

Gun’s teeth clenched as he breathed in through his nose with a strong inhale. Annoyed by Goo’s text, he left Goo on read, slamming his phone onto the surface of the table. Startled by Gun’s obvious irritation, your eyes looked at him with a hint of concern as you asked him, “Are you alright?”

Gun replied with a dry response claiming, “I’m fine.”

“Okay…” While cautiously observing him, you resumed your apple-eating until he said, “After training for today, we’ll eat first. And then, I have to go out and pick something up. While you’re waiting, get ready while I’m out. I’ll pick you up at around four.”

The words “pick you up” made you confused, which made you raise an eyebrow at him. “For…?”

“For grocery shopping.”

“But I thought I already did that yesterday? Why do we still have to go today?”

“It’s because SOMEONE wasn’t careful with the eggs yesterday. It got all over the rest of the stuff in the bag.”

“Oh…”

Crap. I forgot to check the bag if the eggs were okay! They must’ve been crushed from when I was chasing after that douchebag with the hoodie. URGH, why am I so DUMB?!

“I’m so sorry! I should’ve been more careful. The carton of eggs must’ve been cracked from when I was chasing after the guy who stole my phone…”

“It’s fine, you don’t need to explain any further. After we buy the eggs, we’re getting you a new phone.”

“What? But-”

“You can’t refuse. I’m buying it for you whether you like it or not. It’s essential that you carry a phone with you at all times. It’s basically common sense.”

“Ca-”

“And no, you cannot pay me back. I thought we already discussed this before? Just be grateful and accept whatever I give you.”

“Oh, no. I was just going to ask if I can go to a money transfer place right after so I can send money back home in Japan…”

Gun’s dead eyes seeped into your confused ones as he said in a dull tone, “Yes. You can.” He grabbed a banana from the platter of fruit in front of him, and started to peel it.

“Uh… Gun?”

“Hm?”

“Since we’re most likely going to just do another one of those ‘fights’ again for today, are there any other fighting styles that you’d like to teach me? Since, you’ve basically already taught me everything that I needed to know for Kyokushin Karate.”

“That’s a surprise. You’re finally eager to know more, huh?”

“I’m just curious because there are so many types of martial arts out there. I’m an amateur, compared to you so I’m still unfamiliar with everything. You’re literally… the ‘Training Genius’ after all. You’re strong and you’ve got what it takes to defeat a whole group of gangsters. It just amazes me how powerful you really are…”

Gun’s mouth curved to a narcissistic grin from hearing your praise. His ego had somewhat grew, just by hearing you compliment him over his great fighting prowess. He could just sit here, listening to you praise him for hours while admiring you from across the table. After finishing his banana, he got up from his seat to throw it away in the trash. While you were still sitting at the table, you didn’t notice how he walked up to you from behind. Your eyes widened when he suddenly reached around your body to raise your face up towards him by lifting your chin with his right hand. Both of your eyes met, as he looked down onto yours with an earnest look in his eyes while you looked up into his, upside down with pure shock.

“You too, will become a legend one day. It’ll take time for you to polish your own skills, but don’t worry. I’ll be the one to guide you every step of the way, my sweet little warrior…”

Gun’s left hand then trailed over the top of your head, as his fingers combed through your hair tenderly. He did this in such a slow and sensual fashion, that you felt your face burning and your heart pounding rapidly. Your eyes couldn’t help but still be glued to his, as he touched you ever so gently. When his fingers reached the tips of your long locks, he held onto them while still making eye contact with you, bringing them to touch his lips like he was pressing your tuft of silky strands for a kiss. Carefully, he let go of your hair as he took a few steps back away from your chair, leaving you to stare up at the ceiling in bafflement.

While making his way towards the backyard, he put his sunglasses on again then turned his head around to look at you as he instructed, “Next week, I’ll finally teach you Aikido so don’t slack off and prepare yourself. After you’re done eating there, make sure there’s no trash left behind then come out right away. We’ll begin shortly, so I’ll be waiting for you outside.”

As he left you sitting there in confusion, your mind still had a hard time trying to process what was going on.

What was that just now…?

. . .

The sky outside was already bright and sunny. On the grass, strong fists and swishes of fast kicks slicing through the air could be heard from outside of the backyard.

The mock fight between you and Gun had already commenced. Both of you have been going at it for quite a while now, as you kept at it with the usual speed and the fast takes of punches, kicks, and dodges. Gun was still amazed at how much you’ve improved in about a month’s time. However, he knew that since you’re barely learning, you still needed time to hone your actual skills.

A quick attack came prowling towards Gun as you jumped and spun around in the air to aim for the side of his head with a gruesome kick with your left leg, hoping to knock him out right away in one blow. However, as his eyes can’t see you from where he was facing, he still used his other senses to feel the swift air currents from your movements that were directed towards him. With a sharp turn around, he caught your foot with his calloused palm, grabbing onto the front of your foot then pulling you down onto the ground to restrict you from ever getting back up again. As your body hit the grass, you rolled in the ground away from Gun, until you pushed one of your hands to force yourself to get back up on your feet again.

Now, you were standing a few feet away in front of Gun with your fists parallel to your shoulders. Your feet were about a feet apart while your knees were bent a little. The eyes that you gave him were concentrated with focus, while you cautiously circled around him. As you continue to move around him, his gaze follows you with close intent, shifting his body with a few close steps in between.

So, I can’t attack him directly like I used to. I’ve figured that out from last time. The only thing I could think of is to trick him, but how…?

While pondering to yourself about what your next move should be, a wicked grin started to form on Gun’s face as he exclaimed, “Are you giving up already, (Y/N)?! I’m guessing my little student is running out of options!”

You rolled your eyes at his snarky taunts as you yelled back at him, “Keep dreaming, Gun! I’m only just warming up over here!”

“If you’re just going to continue warming up, then I’ll bite!!!”

Gun sprinted towards you with a crazy look in his eyes, feeling the rush of the moment from his own adrenaline high. While watching him closely, he shifted left and right while running towards you, but he didn’t do this consecutively. He’d switch his pattern to catch you off guard and when he does, he’d go in for the strike. Once he went for a side jab to the left side of your stomach using his right hand, your hands immediately went for a cross block with both of your arms. However, for a split second, you weren’t aware of his change in position as he caught you off guard when he spun his body around to your left side until he was behind you. He placed his left hand on your right shoulder, pressing it down for you to kneel before him while trying to catch you off guard from your blind spot. But with the weight of his hand pressing down onto you, you decided to go for a round house kick to his face as you swung your left leg around the opposite way of where his hand was positioned, expecting your left foot to meet the side of his face. As he jumped a step back, that’s when you decided to come in for the kill. Without thinking, you rolled onto your left side as if you were going for a summersault, as your hands met with the ground to support your whole entire body. From that point, you pushed your entire weight onto the ground as your body retracted from the ground, causing your right foot to be the first foot coming in for a side kick to his face. When your foot breezed towards his left cheek, his eyes widened for only a moment, until he managed to block your indirect kick with his left forearm. Gun was surprised and was surely unaware from that sudden move that he knew for sure, wasn’t the technique that he taught you in the first place.

“Capoeira? Where did you learn how to do that?” he questioned you, as he blocked your attack. When your side kick impacted his left forearm, it sent his feet skidding onto the ground a few feet away from you only for a few seconds, until he regained his straight posture. He stood before you, with his hard gaze penetrating yours, as you breathed heavily while trying to catch your own breath from that sudden move that you just pulled.

“What? What do you mean?”

“I’m asking you… WHERE did you learn that from?”

You bent over your knees, while trying to hold yourself up with both of your hands on your thighs. The fatigue was beginning to get to you, as you stood there panting for air, unable to say a word. Gun was starting to get irritated as he stormed towards you. Your head turned to the side to face him, but for some unusual reason, his facial expression seemed to be highly annoyed.

Gun was currently conflicted on how he’s supposed to react to seeing you pull that move on your own. He didn’t know if he should feel proud or mad, since he knew someone who specialized in Capoeira the most… DG. It’s been annoying him recently, as he had been witnessing DG being the one who’s been catching your eye recently. What’s so special about him? You barely met him, and he’s already the one who’s been in the back of your mind? Unless, you two already met…? But that doesn’t make sense. Why would you pretend that the two of you haven’t met before? What if you’ve been secretly getting lessons with DG all this time? The endless possibilities pissed Gun off.

When Gun finally stopped right in front of you, he grabbed onto your wrist before leading you towards the shade of the big tree that stood in the backyard. You were bewildered by his sudden pull, until he pushed you against the tree trunk.

“W-what are you-”

Gun’s forearms pressed against the tree trunk, trapping you in between his arms in the process. Your eyes shifted to his arms until you met with his eyes. His eyes were intense, making your legs feel wobbly from the intimidating look that he was giving you. However, you knew that his demeanor was serious, as this now became an interrogation session for you.

“Have you been taking me for a fool, (Y/N)?”

“What? What are you even talking about?!”

“Then where did you learn that move from?”

Baffled, you stated, “U-uh… I learned that… from the guy who helped get my phone back…”

Gun’s blood pressure started to rise, as he leaned in closer to you. His persistent gaze pierced into you, like a sharp knife trying to cut into your soul. You wanted to look away from how nervous you felt, but you couldn’t even dare to look away from him. Meanwhile, Gun felt pissed off even more, now discovering that the stranger who had helped you yesterday was indeed an experienced fighter. It wasn’t Gun who helped you out of that situation but THAT stranger. And that really pissed him off, knowing that he wasn’t there to help you out.

Gun leaned his face closer to yours, barely keeping an inch-distance away from you. In a low husky voice, he asked, “Who was it?”

Confused, you blinked a few times before asking, “Who was…?”

“Who was the guy who helped you in that alley?”

“Alley? How did you-”

“Answer me. NOW, (Y/N).”

Already, you felt how persistent Gun was as you took a deep breath before saying, “His name is Daniel.”

Gun’s eyes widened in surprise until he decided to ask a follow-up question. “What did he look like?”

“Um… he was, er… ‘good looking’ for sure… and he was wearing school uniform. There was a tag on his blazer that said, ‘Jaewon High’ on it…”

When he heard you describe the stranger’s appearance, Gun’s mouth turned to a dark smirk. “Oh, I know who that is. It’s-”

“Daniel Park, I know.”

Gun gave you a blank stare, as he asked, “Did he tell you his name?”

“Yeah he did. But he just told me his first name.”

“Then how did you know his full name? Unless… Ah, I know. You were even eavesdropping during that time when Goo and I were talking amongst ourselves. You really ARE a nosy person.”

You felt your face flushed, as the blood came rushing into your cheeks. “H-hey! I couldn’t help it, since you guys were so noisy in the front of the car. Also, there was no way that I couldn’t ignore your conversation. Your voices were the only source of ‘entertainment’ within that cramped little space.”

Gun sneered while replying with, “Yeah, yeah. Keep telling yourself that, you inquisitive woman.” as he then released his grasp from the tree behind you. Gun was somewhat relieved that the guy who helped you wasn’t DG. That explains how you were able to do Capoeira at that moment. Daniel Park really is a true fighting specimen. His knowledge in fighting was incredible, yet he refused to even become Gun’s successor in the first place. Because of his own softness, he couldn’t help but refuse Gun and that thought made him smirk. Eventually, he’ll come back to him when he wants to gain even more strength than before, Gun thought.

When Gun slowly released himself from you, a smug smile formed on his face as he walked into the house without saying a word to you, deep in thought regarding his own plan that he had yet to disclose to you. Confused, you chased after Gun without saying a single word.

During lunch time, you both were eating healthy chicken breast sandwiches, since Gun didn’t have time to prepare lunch for the two of you in advance. You didn’t mind, as you chomped away at your sandwich. Without hesitation, Gun said aloud, “So, what else do you want to know?”

When your head tilted up from your sandwich to meet with his eyes, you wiped your mouth with a napkin before replying with, “Tell me about your plan. Where do I fit into your plan?”

Gun set down his sandwich on his plate, grabbing onto a nearby napkin before saying, “Let’s start from the beginning first. You know how I wanted to destroy the four major crews, right?”

“Yeah…?”

“That’s because they all have grown weak. The business scheme isn’t working as well as I originally hoped for, so I needed them to be disposed of.”

“Wait. So basically, you want me to clean up your own mess for you?”

“Not really. However, you do play an important role in my plan.”

“How…?”

He clasped his hands together onto the table, while rearranging his legs to be crossed. When his eyes locked to yours, he asked, “Have you graduated high school?”

You nodded without hesitation. “Yeah, why?”

“I see. I had a feeling that we’re the same age. If that’s the case, then you aren’t qualified to become my successor. However, I’ll still turn you into one of my masterpieces.”

“Okay…? But how does that involve me in any way?”

Gun crossed his arms before continuing the conversation. “You will be the ‘Support’ to my successor. Since you’re already an adult, then you cannot take my place in the near future. I’ll look for someone who’s fit and qualified to become my successor, and once I find them, then they will succeed in the business that I’ve laid out for them. While trying to take down the four major crews, you will work together to get rid of them. Once you managed to eliminate them, then I’ll ensure that my successor will strive to the top. They will eventually force the eliminated crews to unite under their leadership and create a crew so powerful, that they’ll be able to gain control in every part of Korea. A strong and powerful leader such as that, will be able to create an empire so great that everybody will grow to fear them. They’ll become one of my greatest masterpieces of all time and together, we’ll be at the top with unlimited money and power…” While Gun explained his plan to you, a maniacal grin began to show on his face, making you shiver from the insane glint in his eyes.

Such ambition… gives me the chills. If I tried to back out now, then everything that we both worked for would be taken for granted. This isn’t the time to chicken out, (Y/N). You’re already too deep into this, so you might as well suck it up and just go with it. You even have to rely on him as well, since there’s no way you can go back to those struggling times again, working those jobs that could barely pay for mom’s hospital bills. I need to think of her as well…

Everything about this is crazy to begin with, but you can’t help but want to stick by Gun’s side too, even through all of this. Gun’s ambitious side made you attracted to him even more, as you now understand and accept how much of an important role you have in this scheme of his.

“Who do you have in mind as your successor?”

“Isn’t it obvious? It’s Daniel Park, of course.”

Astonished, you were surprised to think that Gun had his eyes on Daniel as his successor, which made you curious to know how strong Daniel really is. That technique that you witnessed in the alleyway yesterday was incredible. Not to mention, the way he ended that fight so quickly was a major knockout, that his opponent couldn’t even recover quickly from that.

Who really is Daniel Park, and how strong can this guy be?

“Why? Is he… that strong?”

Gun snickered, not even knowing where to begin to explain Daniel’s true fighting power. “Yes, he is. Whenever I see him fight, it makes me want to challenge him every time. To put him up to the test. His skills aren’t even considered to be a mere beginner’s. But, if he hadn’t refused to become my successor, then he would’ve become a monster.”

“Wait. He REFUSED your offer to become successor? But why are you so insistent that he’ll even want to become your successor in the first place?”

“It’s because he’s the best candidate that I’ve found so far. In all my years of training others, theirs couldn’t even top Daniel Park. Sure, I even considered Eli Jang to become my successor at one point. That’s because of his beastly instincts. But now, I’ve realized that beastly instincts weren’t enough to be the best. And when I observed Daniel, he’s got ALL of it. Cleverness, battle IQ, heavy impact… he could’ve been a true beast. A true MONSTER. Eventually, he’ll have the sudden urge to want to get stronger. I won’t even be surprised if he approaches me one day to finally take me up on my offer. It’ll always be open for him.”

A spine-chilling chuckle came out from Gun, as if he was reminiscing something wonderful when he was talking about Daniel Park. Gun’s caricature while he was talking about him, gave you goosebumps all over your body. The conversation so far made you question yourself whether or not you even dared to want to know more about Daniel Park. He seemed like a sweet boy when you met him, but… who knew he could be so terrifying? It was like that soft face of his was only just a mask to cover what he was truly capable of. What lies underneath Daniel Park was definitely no laughing matter to be messed with.

“You’ve been talking about him as if you’ve fought with him before.”

“I have, actually.”

“Huh?” The look on your face transitioned from incredulity to a hint of surprise.

“Yes, I even remember it vividly. There was this one time when I so happened to run into him. I didn’t expect him to be at that place, but I was just intrigued. That was when I offered him the opportunity to become my successor. However, he didn’t take it as willingly as I could have hoped for. We ended up bashing each other to the point of severe injury. He even broke my arm during that little fight of ours.”

All of a sudden your hands slammed onto the table in immense disbelief. “WHAT?! HE DID THAT?!”

“Yeah. At that time, I’ve never felt so alive. It was exhilarating, having the chance to fight him like that.”

“H-how… how did he manage to break your arm?”

Gun leaned back into his seat, while looking up at the ceiling. A small smile curved from the corner of his mouth, as if he was lost in a sweet daydream.

“Ultra Instinct.”

Blankly, you stared at him, confused to what that could be.

“What’s that?”

His eyes returned to look at you, as his demeanor changed to a more serious mood.

“Ultra Instinct is the state that I’m currently in right now. Do you see my eyes?”

He took off his sunglasses, revealing his inverted colored eyes. His black spheres, along with his white pupils centered in each eye, were now fixated at you with an intense gleam in his eyes. While staring at his eyes in a hypnotized state, you slowly nodded.

“I was wondering what happened to your eyes when I first saw them.”

“Well, this isn’t something that I so happened to have since birth. It actually manifested during an intense period of fighting of ultimate survival. Swinging left and right doesn’t just take up effort, but for most people, they think while doing it. Have you noticed that before you throw a punch, you think about doing it? Well in this state, however, you don’t think while fighting. It involves some biological and psychological factors. Usually, your body reacts with a fight or flight response when facing a stressful situation. Your brain cells sends messages to your body during thought processing, and the stimuli then causes your body to act upon whatever your mind tells you to do. You do this while your mind is still conscious. But with Ultra Instinct, it’s different. Both your dynamic visual acuity and your momentary thought process heighten, as your body just reacts with whatever it sees in front of you. Any target that your eyes focuses on, will unconsciously act upon it, and will attack without even giving a second thought. All morals will be thrown away, leaving you to attack without a reason. It isn’t even a technique that you can just willingly do. It’s mainly a psychological state that ensures survival.”

“Ah gee, thanks for the lecture Professor. But if that’s the case, then how can you still talk to me while you’re still in that state?”

“I learned how to control my personality and behaviors while I’m constantly in the Ultra Instinct state. Technically speaking, I’ve mastered how to maintain a clear and balanced mind while surrendering myself to just pure instinct. It takes a huge amount of martial arts experience of getting used to, which results in my body mostly taking control of the scene.”

“Wow, that’s amazing. If Daniel Park broke your arm during that time, then how did he manage to do it while he’s in that state? You’re already pretty strong, so I’m still surprised that he managed to damage a part of your body in a severe way.”

“While I was fighting him, I questioned why did he reveal such strength to me at that time. I thought that he was hiding it all this time. But the more that I think about it, that wasn’t really it. I believed that he wasn’t aware of the power that he had. Lucky for me, I got to test out how far he could go while in Ultra Instinct. Even when he was unconscious during our fight, he still managed to do a lot of damage. Although in addition to the Ultra Instinct state, he had a special talent within him.”

The face that you’re currently giving him was mixed with puzzlement and fascination, as you were still munching away on your sandwich.

“Daniel Park is actually like you.”

As you finished your sandwich, you gave a final wipe on your mouth, before asking in an intrigued tone, “He’s like me? How?”

“He has the Copy Ability, just like you do. It’s a special talent that some fighters have when they observe their opponents’ moves and in response, they would copy their opponents’ abilities and utilize it during their own fights.”

“Damn. So, Daniel and I are actually similar? That’s hard to believe. From all the things that I’ve heard so far, he sounds like he can beat up anybody. How can I even be on par with someone like that?”

“It takes a lot of time and experience to sharpen one’s techniques. That is why, I been having you do those fights during your training so that those moves that you’ve seen will be etched into your brain and you won’t forget it. It’s like people who have photographic memory. When they see something, then that memory will be stored into their head and they can retrieve that image from that memory anytime they want. The same goes for you. When I saw you fight with that one bastard in that alley that night, you claimed that you have never fought before, yet you managed to fight due to how you’ve seen those moves from someone else. By the way, I’m not making you fight everyday just to increase your strength and stamina. I’m doing it for your own sake so that you’ll remember the moves that I’ve taught you, for future fights when that time comes.”

“That explains a lot, thanks…”

“And another thing. Daniel’s Copy Ability is basically perfect. From what I’ve gathered, he can do Kyokushin Karate, Muay Thai, Taekwondo, Boxing, Wrestling, Capoeira, Aikido, Systema, and even Mixed Martial Arts.”

“Holy- … Forgive me Daniel, but you’re too O.P. I’d probably be an ant compared to him. I’m a tiny ant while he’s a big tarantula. There’s no way that I’ll even be as strong as him…”

“Obviously, you ARE an ant. But who knows? There are many possibilities that could happen in this world that we always never expect. Just continue to learn under my tutelage, and you’ll be able to go against anyone.” Gun scooted his chair back before getting up to throw his trash away and to put his plate in the dishwasher. On the other hand, you were still sitting in your seat, thinking about facing strong fighters who you’ve never even met before. The idea made your heart pound anxiously, while mumbling to yourself, “Ugh, how scary… oh wait, Gun!”

Gun turned his body around to face you entirely. He leaned against the kitchen counter behind him before asking a, “Yeah?”

“Umm… do you… like computers?”

“What?”

“It’s because… you mentioned hardware and software before… so I was just wondering if you have an interest in computers, or work with computers…”

“Oh. No, not really.”

“Then, what did you mean about having ‘bad software’ and ‘incompatible hardware’?”

“I was referring to their physical and mental capabilities. If they are weak in both motivation and physical strength, then they wouldn’t even last long in a fight. Also, I’m not a tech nerd like you.”

“Ah, I see. And… wait, how did you know that I’m knowledgeable when it comes to technology?”

Gun didn’t say anything until your eyes lit up, as an idea popped in your head, resulting in a teasing smirk on your face.

“Unless… you were eavesdropping on me and Kouji at that time. Gun, I didn’t know that you’re ALSO an eavesdropper. No wonder, us eavesdroppers better stick together. Who knows what would happen if some ‘valuable information’ might spill to other people.”

“Shut it.”

As you teased him, you giggled at the sight of that irritated look on his face, enjoying the feeling of constantly annoying him back whenever he always had something “smart” to say to you. All of a sudden, he silently made his way out the kitchen and the dining area, making you laugh from how salty he was about your comeback.

You called out to him in between laughs, as you got up to chase after him. “Wait, Gun! I was only joking!”

Ignoring you, he kept strolling towards the front door. Your feet tapped rapidly against the wooden floor behind him, quickening the pace of your feet after him. He casually grabbed his keys that was already set on the table by the stairs and as he was about to turn to walk out the door, you finally caught up to him. As you reached out your hand towards his back, you grabbed onto his left arm, making him halt in his tracks. Panting, you heaved from running after him, which made him turn around to look at you with a playful grin on his face. When you looked up to meet with his eyes while panting, he said in a satisfied tone, “That’s what you get for being annoying.” He reached his right hand over to your face to push the strands of messy hair off your eyes and tucked it behind your ear, making you blush. You didn’t realize that you were gradually releasing your grasp around his arm, as he finally opened the front door to leave. While closing the door behind him without turning back to look at your dazed, you stood there frozen in place, speechless.

That Smart-ass.

Three hours have passed and you were waiting for him downstairs in the lounge area watching TV, all dressed and ready to go. Since those marks that Gun left on your neck was starting to fade, you decided to wear a horizontally striped long-sleeved black and white shirt, light blue jeans, your usual sneakers, and of course, your favorite bag Old Reliable. It wasn’t much, but you thought it was fit for grocery shopping. This time, you decided to style your hair by twisting your long bundle of hair from behind while clipping it from behind your head with a simple thick hair clip, almost like a high ponytail. Right when you arrived downstairs, you were about to sit on the couch but then, you remembered the stains that were left from those intimate moments you had with Gun on that couch, so you decided to just sit at the bar instead.

Once you heard the front door beep, your head turned towards the opening door, as you watched Gun walk in with shopping bags that mostly had logos of designer brands advertised on the sides of them.

“You’re back, with… clothes?”

He shut the door behind him with his foot, since both of his hands were full. “All of these are for me. I decided to pick them up today, since I have other things to take care of and I don’t have time to pick them up in a later date. Also, next week on Saturday, HNH Group will hold an after-party celebrating its partnership with one of its major business partners. I’ll be attending the party in the late afternoon, so I’ll be gone for only a few hours.”

“Oh okay…”

“I’ll put these in my room and I’ll take a quick shower. Once I come back, we’re leaving.”

Nodding, you watched him walk up the stairs with his bundle of shopping bags.

“Something”? More like, some THINGS. Geez, how much did he even get? That’s way too many, even if it’s for a party. Does he always spend his money excessively like that? I just don’t understand why a lot of people are into designer clothing. They’re all so overrated.

When he came back from his room, you realized that he was now dressed in not sportswear, but a more casual wear. Gun had on a white loose polo shirt that had the bold words of “Louis Vuitton France” printed all over, with a few buttons opened loosely. His shirt even had a black layer underneath, which goes well with his black pants. While for his shoes, it was one of his polished black leather dress shoes which always went with his fancy and stylish outfits. Now, he decided to style his hair as it was slicked back with gel, looking more proper than before. Once he came downstairs, you turned off the TV then followed him out the door. However, this time, the two of you aren’t taking the usual tinted Rolls Royce car that he favored so much. As you took a step outside, you were greeted with a white Rolls Royce parked at the driveway. The luxury automobile looked newer than the other, as its headlights were noticeably more modern with bright highlights surrounding its inner headlights. The head of the new car was a bit wider and much more curved compared to the previous Rolls Royce car. Its silver grill at the front was much wider as well, compared to the black Rolls Royce. Right when he opened the door for you to take your seat, you were awestruck at how white and clean the car was. The leather seats were all white with no stray marks on them at all. The dashboard and center console of this luxurious new foreign vehicle was sleek black, with no dust spotted whatsoever. The stick shift was also replaced by a fancy turning knob that switches quicker to features like “P” and “D”. Right when you took your seat, you noticed how low the seats were in the car, as your legs were bent in a ninety degree angle. You slid into your leather seat, leaning your back onto it as it was bent back a bit. When Gun got into the car with you, he revved the engine up before driving out of the driveway and into the street. It hasn’t been five minutes yet and you already felt weird while sitting in the car. You felt uncomfortable due to the hard silence of the car, barely hearing the engine running and the car’s tires rumbling from outside. When you repositioned yourself in the low seat, all you heard inside the car was the sound of leather crunching and creaking, making you a bit annoyed from how you dislike the new car’s interior. With a passionate sense of hate on your face, you turned towards Gun and asked him, “Why is this car quieter than the other one?”

“This car is newer and was intentionally built this way, just to match the name of the car, which is the Rolls Royce Ghost. However, the engineers who built this car had to tweak some things, so it wouldn’t be too quiet.”

“Oh. What was the name of the other one?”

“That one is called the Rolls Royce Phantom.”

“Ah, I see a pattern here. Very supernatural. But if you were to give this car a name, wouldn’t you call it… Shiro Oni?” [白鬼？]

His eyes glanced at you in surprise from the name that he just heard, only to give a light chuckle at the irony he pictured in his head. “Yeah, sure…”

Confused by his amusement, you asked curiously, “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing.”

“Hmph. Well, I’ll call it Shiro Oni, since the color of this car is white and like you mentioned, it’s also called ‘Ghost’. It’s very fitting, since it’s so quiet in here that you could barely hear any noise from outside of this car and all you could hear is just the leather seats if you move.”

“And what about the black one?”

“Hmm… I’ll call it… Kuro Tengu!” [黒天狗!]

A long pause of silence was loud enough to read the strong disapproval coming from Gun.

“That’s a terrible name.”

“What?! What’s wrong with Kuro Tengu?!”

“You made it sound like an obnoxious goblin.”

“W-well… if that’s the case, then what about Kuro Oni?” [黒鬼？]

“That’s very unoriginal. You literally just copied the idea of the name that you just gave for this car.”

“UGH, WHATEVER! I’ll let you know when I think of something for the other car! Sheesh… so picky, for a car collector.”

By pouting in your seat all annoyed by Gun’s judgement, a small grimace lingered on his face, as he continued to drive through the crowded lanes of Seoul to your rightful destination.

Twenty minutes later, the two of you arrived in front of the supermarket where you bought the groceries from last time. When you got out of the car with Gun, you circled around the car to meet with him to walk side by side, before entering the market. While walking towards the doors, Gun slid his sunglasses on like he usually does whenever you’re outside with him. Of course, the place was crowded once you both stepped through the automatic doors. Gun stopped at the front of the store, as he turned to look down at you for only a brief moment, explaining what the plan was going to be while the two of you are there.

“I’ll go get the eggs, since it’ll be faster. If I send you off on your own, I already know that you’ll get distracted from anything around you and it’ll take way too long for you to even grab just a carton of eggs. Just wait around here for a bit while I go get them. And once I pay for them, we’re leaving.”

Gun didn’t hesitate to go off on his own, as you watched him leave while you flashed him an indignant look from behind. Around you, you noticed all of the women who were standing around in the makeup and beauty products area stopped to check out Gun as he walked past them. You heard some of them gasp and squeal at how tall and handsome he was. Not to mention, his attractive style, with his expensive and eye-catching clothing.

One young woman tapped her friend on the shoulder as she pointed at him, “Oh my god, look at him! He’s so attractive! Who is he?!”

Her friend gasped at the sight of Gun as she shrieked, “AHHHH! He looks like a celebrity! And did you see the clothes he was wearing?! He must be stinking rich!”

Just by hearing the women around you fawn over Gun like that made you cross your arms and roll your eyes. “Psh, please. If only you guys knew what an asshole he truly is, then you’d totally be turned off by him in a heartbeat.” You said to yourself while shaking your head, feeling sorry for the women who had fallen in love at first sight to an actual douchebag. While remembering where you were at, you remembered that a certain old man that you’ve recently befriended could be here today, so you went to where his little shop was located at. When you arrived at the front door of his shop, you called out, “Mr. Nam! Guess who’s here to see you?!” From behind the counter, you saw Mr. Nam putting a new batch of neat ties in the glass display. His head looked up and just the sight of you in front of him already brought great joy in his eyes. “Ms. Sasaki! You came back for more ties?”

Mr. Nam walked around the transparent counter to greet you at the front of his store. Happily, you gave a cheerful laugh. “No Mr. Nam. I came here to buy groceries.”

“What? Then how come you’re not getting them right now?”

“It’s because someone is doing it for me right now.”

Mr. Nam’s eyes squinted at you while a sly smile formed on his mouth. “Oh, I know who it might be. It must be your ‘friend’ right? The well-dressed young man.”

“Huh? How do you… know him?”

“Oh, I met him yesterday. Specifically, a few hours later after you came by my shop. He looked like he was searching for something when he was walking around, so I stopped him to see what he was trying to look for. And I was surprised that he was trying to look for someone, and that someone was actually you!”

Your ears couldn’t believe what Mr. Nam was saying, as you stood there in front of him, stunned. Yesterday when you couldn’t even contact Gun to try and find you, you thought that he must’ve went all around the area just to try and search for you.

He… he must’ve gone through so much just to try and look for me. That explains how he knew about the guy who stole my phone, and where it happened. I need to thank him and apologize to him properly, once I get a chance to do so. I must’ve been a huge bother for him, if he had to do all of that just for me. Man, I feel bad for even asking him last night to tell me everything about himself and HNH Group. He must’ve been tired from trying to look for me…

“Oh, Ms. Sasaki?”

“Yes?”

As you were snapped out of your thoughts, Mr. Nam asked, “Have you given him the gift yet?” Your eyes widened as you shook your head, realizing that you forgot to do it last night. The old man sighed, as he mumbled, “You kids, and your foolish hesitance. Just make sure that you give it to him. Alright, (Y/N)?”

However, now, you came up with the solution that you’ll give it to him when you have that serious talk with him. The anticipated conversation, where you planned to confess your feelings to him.

“It’s fine, Mr. Nam. I plan on giving it to him once I get the chance to tell him how I feel. I want it to be special, and at the same time, it’ll be a symbol that shows that I’m ready to accept what he has to say to me.”

“That’s very straightforward of you. Yes, yes, I approve! Ah, I feel bad for you Ms. Sasaki.”

“Why, Mr. Nam?”

“It’s because you’re the one who’s direct about it so far. Yet, that young man doesn’t seem to quite get it. He’s still not sure about how he feels from the inside, and he doesn’t seem to be the kind of person to be direct when it comes to things like this. You just have to be careful and accept what he has to say, since you never know what he’s thinking.”

Man, how does this old man manages to know about what’s been going on in my life? He must be some sort of psychic…

In a reassuring manner, you gave Mr. Nam an appreciative grin saying, “Don’t worry about me, Mr. Nam. I’m a strong gal! I can take whatever that guy says, any time and any day!” While the conversation shifted from love advice to daily matters, Gun was already done with purchasing the eggs, as he can be seen carrying a plastic grocery bag that’s full of the pack of eggs in it. As his eyes scanned the view of the market’s interior right in front of him, he then spotted you happily talking to someone and to his surprise, it was the old man that he had encountered from yesterday. Gun strolled towards you as he called out, “(Y/N)!”

When you turned around to greet him with a wave, you said, “Gun! You finally bought the eggs?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s good! Oh and, I heard that you and my friend have already met. Mr. Nam, I’d like you to meet Gun Park. Gun, meet Mr. Nam.” You gestured for Gun to greet Mr. Nam as Mr. Nam greeted Gun with a graceful bow.

“Hello young man, we meet again. And it is nice to meet you, Mr. Gun Park.”

Gun gave a small nod, saying, “Likewise.”

Without saying anything further, you said, “Mr. Nam, we’ll be taking our leave now. It was nice to see you again! I hope to see you again sometime soon.” Right when both you and Gun turned to walk away, Mr. Nam said, “Wait! I have something to give to your friend…” as he walked back into his store to grab onto a box full of, what seems to be, a box full of men’s clothing. With a puzzled look on both of your faces, you and Gun watched as he brought the box over to the two of you while he gently bent over to set the box down right in front of you. When he came back up to straighten his posture, he pressed both of his hands on his lower back then pushed on that spot, to crack his back in a pleased way. He released a satisfied sigh, before pointing at the box full of clothes before you.

“I’m giving away these clothes, since no one wants to buy them at all. You may choose anything from this box young man, and you can get as much as you’d like. I’ll gladly allow it, since I’m just trying to get rid of these clothes without having to throw them away. It would’ve been a shame if they were to burn in the landfill, so I might as well just give them.”

You smiled at Mr. Nam as you said, “Aw, that’s very sweet of you Mr. Nam. Right, Gun?” You looked up at Gun to see him staring blankly at the box of clothes until he reluctantly gave in knowing that it’ll take longer to get out of here if he refused, so he said, “Yeah.”

Mr. Nam nodded generously as he gestured for him to look through them. You went ahead and crouched over the box to see what he had to offer. Most of these clothes seem like clothes you’d find at the “Clearance” section in a clothing store, as the clothes were mostly colorful and out-of-this-world. As Gun watched you rummage through the pile of clothes, he’d watch you hold out a shirt or any other piece of clothing right in front of him, trying to visualize how well it actually goes with him. You’ve been doing this for about ten minutes, while Gun stood there as his patience was starting to get thinner every time a minute passed by. Until finally, you held out a white and black leopard printed long-sleeved shirt in front of his body. When you stood up, you held it out at an arm’s length away from yourself and more towards him, to see if this shirt really is the one. Surprisingly, you gave a chuffed nod, as you said, “Hmmm… not bad. This one definitely suits you the best. You’d look good in it if you actually wear it. I can actually picture you pulling off this look, right here.” Gun’s eyes looked skeptical at first, until he announced to the old man, “I’ll pay for it.”

Mr. Nam immediately shook his head while holding out his hands in front of him for Gun to stop what he’s doing. “No young man, you don’t have to pay me! I said it was free-”

“It’s fine.”

Gun persisted onward with the payment as he took out his wallet from his pocket and handed Mr. Nam a yellow fifty-thousand won bill. Both yours and Mr. Nam’s eyes widened at the huge amount of money that Gun was offering to him. Mr. Nam lightly pushed back Gun’s hand as he refused to take it from him. “Mr. Gun Park, I can’t take this! It’s too much!” Gun was still holding the money out for Mr. Nam, looking at him with stern eyes. Mr. Nam couldn’t manage to shake Gun’s stubbornness, so he had no choice but to take it from him. Hesitantly, Mr. Nam grabbed the bill from Gun’s hand then gave him a deep grateful bow. As Gun watched Mr. Nam intently, your mouth was just hanging open, while examining the exchange between them in awe. Gun laid out a hand towards you, gesturing for you to hand the shirt over to him. You obliged, as you gave it to him, letting him hold his new shirt. At that moment, it was time to say goodbye to Mr. Nam. When you said your goodbye to him while walking away with Gun, Mr. Nam waved back from behind you crying out, “Goodbye and thank you, Mr. Park and Ms. Sasaki! Please feel free to come again!”

After you and Gun exited the supermarket, you brightly beamed up at him and said, “Who knew you had such a nice side to you?” Gun grunted as he said, “‘Nice side’? What are you on about? I only did it because I was obligated to pay for something from a shop.” You squinted your eyes suspiciously at him, while a cheeky smile started to lay on your face. “Really…?” Gun clicked his tongue, now in an irritated mood, as he quietly put all of the stuff in the back of the trunk while you giggled to yourself in a pleased way. While following behind him, he stopped to turn around and face you, ready to inform you about the rest of today’s other plans.

“You said that you wanted to transfer money, right?”

“Yeah?”

“Okay. We might as well do this then. You’ll go to the money transfer place while I get your new phone. It’ll take a while to wait in line until it’s your turn to deposit your money for the transfer. The same goes for buying a phone. Not only will I be purchasing it, but I’ll also give you a phone plan for it and a new phone number. Both of those tasks will take a bit of time. So to save time, we should just do them on our own than just doing them individually while waiting for the other to finish.”

“That’s not a bad idea. But, I don’t have a working phone with me, remember? What if I get lost again like last time?”

“You shouldn’t get lost since the money transfer place is just right there.” From the supermarket’s left hand side, he pointed to a place that displayed “Western Union”, on the very front of the building.

“Dang, it’s been here all this time…”

“Yeah, you just weren’t looking carefully enough.”

“Whatever. Anyways, where are we going to meet up at after we’re both done?”

“We’ll both be meeting up here in front of the market again in a about three hours. I’ll pick you up once I come back from the phone store.”

“Okay, noted. I wish you the best of luck in finding me a, uh… good replacement.”

Gun started to walk to the driver’s side, but couldn’t resist another final comment as he articulated out loud, “You better not wander off again and get yourself lost!”

Infuriated by his unnecessary remark, you turned on your heel then speed-walked towards the money transfer place while crying out, “I won’t, Stupid!” Before getting in the car, Gun stood there watching you scurry inside the building, chuckling to himself at how goofy you looked rushing in there while unintentionally drawing attention to yourself from the bystanders who were walking by.

“Idiot.”

Gun finally went inside his white modern luxury car, then immediately started it, as he continued down the street on his own.

It has already been an hour, finally exiting out of the building with a relieved stretch as you stopped right in front of it.

Finally! Now that the money has been sent to Mom, I just have to kill some time out here for a bit. I’ll probably just do some window shopping, and- wait, is that a child?

From a few feet away, you found a small child walking on two feet, like an independent little lady. The child’s chestnut colored hair was pulled back into a high bun. She had on the cutest little yellow dress with white laces on them and from underneath, she had a poofy underside that was attached to her dress. She even had white frilly socks with yellow shoes that matched her dress. The cute baby was just having fun, walking down the sidewalk without a care in the world, letting her little legs take her wherever she may go. The sight of her made you smile at how cute she was giggling to herself with whatever imagination that she had in her mind.

Awww, now that’s just too cute to even look away from.

You were watching her from afar, until she decided to step off the sidewalk and cross the street, chasing after a butterfly that she just saw, that zoomed past her. In horror, you reacted by chasing after the small child to get her off of the street right away, afraid that something bad might happen to her.

“WAIT! DON’T GO THERE!!!”

Your feet dashed towards her into the street and from the corner of your left eye, you could make out the blurry image of a car from up ahead heading straight towards you and the child who crossing the street unawarely, going at a speed of about forty miles per hour. With such velocity, you quickly grabbed onto her and carried her in your arms, as you ran across the street to make it to the other side. The child was clueless about what was going on, but was still able to smile throughout that terrifying event of almost dying.

While still holding the baby in your arms, you were breathing very hard from the anxiety that you felt in those 0.5 seconds of your life flashing before your eyes. You could still feel your heart hammering through your chest from that. The adrenaline had already kicked in, making yourself listen to your own heartbeat through your ringing ears and your head starting to feel light from the limited amount of oxygen seeping into your blood cells. You had to catch your breath somewhere but this small child was still with you. Eventually, you found a bench to sit on to rest for a bit. When you sat down on the bench, you placed her small figure gently on the the seat, in which she is now sitting beside you. Her cute twinkling eyes looked up at you then smiled, babbling baby nonsense to you while reaching her arms out towards you, hoping for you to lift her up again.

“Oh, you want me to carry you?”

When your hands firmly reached for her sides, you placed her on your lap, watching her try to sit up from how she’s positioned. Her hands started to press against the center of your chest, lightly patting it with her cute tiny hands, while looking up at you in interest. The look of fascination coming from the child’s eyes made you chuckle in delight as you told her, “Kid, I’m not your mom. But, speaking about your mom… where is your mom? Or dad? They must be around here somewhere. We should go and look for them…”

After that little break you just took, you finally stood up while lifting the baby girl with you then started to stroll around the area, hoping to see a sign of people searching for their missing daughter. For about an hour, you repeatedly walked around the same block. Every time you made it back around to where the market was, you couldn’t help but feel sorry for the adorable toddler in your arms, that still had that joyful smile on her face. All of a sudden, you felt the child’s stomach grumble while you still had your arms wrapped around her tiny body. Her facial expression converted from a happy-go-lucky cheer to a needy tearful countenance, resulting in her to start whimpering in hunger.

“No, no, please don’t cry! Let’s go get you something to eat first, okay? How about some… jello! Oh, wait, crap. What if you choke on it? Uhhh… do you like… apple sauce? We’ll go buy some at the market real quick! I might as well get myself some snacks too. I’ll be staying here for a little while.”

With the little girl still in your arms, you took her for a small trip back to the supermarket that you went to with Gun. You got two small sipping packets of apple sauce and a bag of honey butter chips that you always wanted to try from those commercials you saw on TV. Once you gladly paid for the snacks, you left the supermarket and set her on a nearby bench. Right away, you opened one of the apple sauce packets and fed it to her gently, while guiding her hands onto the packet to feed herself. You sat beside the cutie, watching her sip on the packet eagerly as her puffy cheeks started to expand from taking in a lot of applesauce. You crossed your arms and rested your head on one of your hands, watching her slurp away at her sweet applesauce.

“Hehe, you’re so adorable. I’ve never babysit before, but I guess this is going pretty well for my first time. Your parents must feel very lucky having a cute little girl like you as their kid- WOAH, you finished that so fast! Do you want another one? We have one more…”

From your small plastic grocery bag, you took out another applesauce packet then handed it to her while exchanging it for the empty one to throw it away in a nearby trash bin. While gently patting her back to help her digest her food, you heard frantic calls coming from the distance.

“Yenna! Yenna, where are you?!”

What’s going on?

When your ears caught the sound of calls, your head was now focused on two teenagers frantically running around, asking bystanders questions.

A young teenaged girl with light brown hair, went up to a couple asking, “Hi, have you seen a small baby? She’s cute. She’s got this… yellow cute dress. And she has her hair tied up! Like… a small bun on her head!”

Huh? Why does that look like…

For a second, you peered at the child next to you who for some reason, matched the description that the young adolescent girl laid out for them. When the two people shook their heads, the teenager let out a frustrated groan. She turned her head around and called out to her friend, “Warren! Have you asked around yet?”

A male teenager appeared from behind the corner of a building, walking towards the young lady, nodding his head. “Yeah, I did. But they said that they haven’t (seen her anywhere).”

The girl looked at her friend with a grimace, replying to him with, “Man, where could she have gone? I only let go of her for a second while we’re shopping for the girls’ clothes. They said they needed new ones, so as their Big Mama, I’ll do it. And Warren, I already told you not to omit your words!”

Aw man, they must have been searching for this child for a while now. I need to return her back to the people she came here with. Also, “Big Mama?” Is she ACTUALLY A MOM?! Well, it does happen to young people sometimes, so I understand. But she’s so young!

At last, you carried the precious child in your arms along with your snack bag then approached the two teens.

“Um, excuse me. Is she the one you’re looking for?” You held out the babbling baby to the two of them. When their eyes locked onto her, their eyes lit up in excitement.

“Oh my- Yenna! We’ve been worried sick about you!” The brown haired teen scooped her up into her own arms, as the other young teenaged boy who’s apparently named Warren, joined in with her to carry the little girl.

While marveling at them being complete, you said in a touching tone, “You guys are such a cute family! I’m glad that I get to meet your wonderful daughter. She’s so cute!”

Instantaneously, the two of them looked at you as their faces started to blush in deep bright red. They both immediately shook their heads as the brown haired girl tried to explain, “Oh, no, we’re not a couple- I mean, family!” Warren nodded agreeing with the girl also joining into the conversation saying, “Yeah, we’re (just friends) that’s all!”

With a confused look at how they were both panicking while trying to explain at the same time, you couldn’t quite understand through their jumble of words being said simultaneously until you heard someone call them from behind.

“Sally! Warren! Where’s Yenna?!”

The three of you turned to look at a tall handsome blonde guy running towards you, wearing a familiar school uniform. His hairstyle somewhat reminded you of DG’s with a very trendy K-pop look, as his face was very good-looking as well, kind of similar to Daniel Park and DG. But, the thing that caught your attention the most was his “H” tattoo that was displayed on the side of his head. Now, you even noticed how the girl also had a similar tattoo, but near her collarbone. Even Warren had it placed on the side of his neck. It made you wonder if it symbolizes something that they share in common with. When the attractive stranger caught up to the three of you, his face showed a look of anxiety in his eyes until he caught the sight of the baby girl entangled in their arms. His worried demeanor shifted to a now calmer form, as his arms encircled the active toddler to hold her into his arms. “I came running to this place, after Sally sent me a text saying that she couldn’t find Yenna anywhere. Good thing my boss let me out from work because of an emergency. Since you guys already found her… how did you guys manage to do it?”

The young woman who’s classified as Sally, pointed at you in a gratified way saying, “It was all thanks to her.”

The blonde stranger focused his attention towards you as he gave you a huge grateful bow then smiled. “Thank you so much for finding her! I don’t know what I would do to myself if I ever lost my precious treasure. I’m so ashamed to have lost her, AGAIN. I couldn’t possibly call myself a proud father if I couldn’t even be there for her when she needed me…”

Ah, so this is her father. He’s pretty young like the other kids who are with him, but he seems like a good and caring parent to her.

You gave him an encouraging smile as you said in an admiring manner, “Don’t be too harsh on yourself. I can already tell that you care for her so much and you truly do love her. As someone who sees that, I think that’s very admirable of you. For someone who is still young, such as yourself, your maturity is very inspiring. I wish those who are experiencing the same kind of life experiences, could learn from you on how take responsibility… Oh, also, I bought her some food! I hope apple sauce is okay. She got hungry while I was trying to look for her rightful guardian, so I decided to get her something to eat.” During your explanation, you pointed at the apple sauce packet that was still in her tiny hand.

The young man looked down at Yenna who was shaking the packet in her hand then centered his attention back at you, now possessing a soft look in his eyes. Eventually, he said, “You’re a very kind person, thank you. I didn’t think that I’d hear such nice words right now, and I really appreciate it. And for Yenna here, say ‘thank you’ to the kind lady!”

Yenna turned her head at you, fluttering her long eyelashes at you before trying to come up with some “words” to say.

“M…”

“Is she going to speak this time?”

“Oh my god, I can’t wait to hear what she has to say!”

“She must be trying (to think of something).”

“M… Ma…”

As you and Yenna both stared deeply into each other’s eyes, you couldn’t help but melt in the inside at how adorable she is trying to form words on her own. Her little arms were reaching out towards you in a needy fashion, saying, “Ma… Ma…? Mama?”

Uhhh… huh?

All four of you fell silent as you stared at her curious gaze, still looking up at you. Right away, you snapped out of it as you began to shake your head feverishly, leaving you in a panic. “No, no, Yenna! I’m not your mom! Please, don’t mistake me for your mom!”

Concerned, your eyes shifted to the rest of them as they were all left speechless. Especially Yenna’s father, whose face had a scarlet tint on his cheeks. He had to apologize immediately as he said, “I-I’m sorry, I really don’t know what she’s been saying recently. It must’ve been those kids’ cartoons that I always show her…”

“A-ah, I see… Well, don’t worry about it! I’m sure she didn’t really think of it much when she said that. She’s still young, after all.” All of a sudden, your mind remembered Gun and his crankiness, afraid that you might miss him near the market at around this time. “Oh, I just remembered that I have somewhere to be right now! What was your name again?”

“Oh, of course. We’ll be leaving too. And my name is Eli, by the way. Eli Jang. Thanks again for finding Yenna. You really helped us a lot.”

“You’re welcome! I’m just glad that she’s finally with her true guardians. Bye bye, Yenna! Until we somehow meet again!”

The young child gave you a small, “Buh!” in which you took it as a “Bye!” in baby language. As you traded your thanks and goodbyes to Eli and the rest of his friends, you and Eli’s group parted ways. While you were returning back to the spot in front of the supermarket, you already spotted the “Shiro Oni” parked in front of the massive store. You sprinted all the way to your side of the car, giving it a light knock on the door for Gun to unlock the car door. From inside, Gun rolled down the tinted window from your side as he said in his usual smart-ass tone, “It’s been open.”

He never fails to give you the sudden urge to smack him, making you enter the car with a cold expression. After rolling up the window again, he started the car at once, leaving the supermarket and the entire street behind, as the sunset gradually starts to sink into the skyline of the Earth.

[End of Ch. VIII]

[fascinationstreetmp3]

Do you think ocelot is actually horny for torture is it more a Fandom Thing? Idr anything other the snarky kaz quote but that's standard for them.

i think that was kinda the vibe you were supposed to get from him right from his very first appearance, but because of the nature of his character it can be hard to tell when he's hamming it up and putting on a show; he's very rarely genuine.

in mgs1, he's described as a sadist by other characters. he tells snake he doesn't see what he's doing as 'torture', he sees it as sport, and describes his interrogations as 'shows'. it gives you the impression it's a skill he's spent years honing and perfecting, and he wouldn't do that if he didn't genuinely enjoy it.

in mgs3, you see where his appreciation for it all originated: after watching big boss survive brutal beatings and electrocution at the hands of volgin, he says:

"Watching this has made me realize something... it's really not that bad. It's the ultimate form of expression."

in mgsv, he relays to snake how he got his nickname of 'shalashaska', partly by being so efficient at breaking prisoners through torture. in the conversation that kaz quote comes from, ocelot tells him:

"It's not a matter of art. It's about quick, minimal strokes of psychological warfare. That's what gets the answers. And it's the best way to keep both questioner and subject safe. The risks only increase the more the interrogation drags on. At that point, it causes as much pain to the inflicter as the inflicted."

i actually made a post about this months ago (because i think about this often apparently). in my opinion he's being mostly genuine about this. volgin is another character who is described as being sadistic, and you see that he does get sexual gratification from causing and witnessing pain. however, volgin also doesn't care about how far he pushes his 'subjects', and usually kills them if he gets too into it and lets it go on for too long.

ocelot has a more deft touch i guess, and his interrogations have clear goals, rather than just opportunities for violence he can get off on. he sees them as shows or dances with two 'equal' participants, both revealing their real selves, both just as vulnerable as the other in a way.

obviously, he's enjoying himself the whole time (while the other person... probably isn't). he never denies that, either, only takes issue with the way other people describe it.

so yeah, if you want my scholarly opinion on it, even if it's not exactly 'horny' in the traditional sense he still gets a lot of pleasure from interrogation/torture that other people witnessing it pick up on. from his point of view, i think he sees interrogation as a way of letting both himself and his subject/victim express their true uninhibited selves and feelings, and that's what excites him, and makes him work to be so good at it.

[gogandmagog]

I saw you reblog some Walter posts which only affirms that we could be best friends! Walter is my favorite Blythe son by far. So now I’m curious, do you think Walter was gay?

We been knew! Of course we could be besties! Lol. And Walter is my most cherished Blythe son too, with Shirley quick on his heels, and Jem unfortunately left in the dust. (Which is not to say that I don't love him! I do!)   But I have no definitive answer for this, and I always wish I did. I tend to lean on “no,” when what I really want to say is “yeah, probably.” I waffle on Walter. The truth is that Maud was just as staunchly homophobic as her then-contemporary peers, and that she didn’t ever write a single gay character in her entire career. Mary Rubio has stated as much, when asked for her opinion about Anne’s sexuality (discourse about her relationship with Diana), backing up her own comments by essentially sharing that she personally “left a lot out” out of Maud’s journals (when quite a bit was actually already left in, suggesting that what was ‘cut’ was probably closer to hate speech), when editing them, particularly around the subject of Maud’s ‘disgust’ of a woman expressing interest in her (Rubio was so dedicated to her biography task that she went and interviewed the woman in question, who was 90 years old by then). And so, it’s abundantly clear that if Maud herself was asked, is Walter gay? The answer would be an emphatic no. And that would settle it. He is simply whatever she says he is. (Sexless overall was her intention, I believe.) And in the texts spanning three whole books (RV, RoI, tBaQ), there’s no solid evidence that Walter might be homosexual, like, you really do have to squint for any of it — I genuinely think there’s harder evidence to support Dean Priest was in love with Douglas Starr. AND YET... and yet. There’s a vibe to Walter that I can’t grasp, and even though I can’t grasp it, I also can’t let go of it. It’s indefinable... and I’m just out here waiting for the day that someone with an impeccable grasp of language can define it, so that I can repeat it. 😅

Thank you for asking, though! What are your thoughts? I’m always fully sat for this conversation.