#currently betting on it being either accidental (maybe they intended to block me but the buttons are close? i've done that)

[windrunner]

i'm actually horrified someone like that followed me so now i'm looking around like.... did i accidentally reblog something from an antis/emitic blog or something. was it random. what the fuuuuck

[softhaos]

NEIGHBOUR!AU DK

masterlist other members: s.coups | jeonghan | joshua | jun | hoshi | wonwoo | woozi | mingyu | the8 | seungkwan | vernon | dino

everyone in the apartment complex finds you and seokmin odd

not odd in a weird way

maybe some of them do but anyway

it’s no secret that you’ve got a crush on the guy next door

and it’s no mystery either that HE likes YOU too

now the oddest thing is that even though you both  k n o w  that the feelings are mutual,,,,,,,, nobody wants to make a move

like  h o w

are you both stupid

there is nothing to worry about nobody will get turned down

you’re both quite close with some other people in the apartment complex,,,, and of course your circle of friends hAD to overlap at some point

and they aren’t dense to your feelings so sometimes if they have enough of your behavior towards each other,,,,,, they’ll state the facts

for example lee jihoon

“wow you two are so dramatic just hug each other and get together you both look as if it’s an unrequited love you’re experiencing but newsflash it iSN’T”

and the other prime candidates to sorta hook you up are boo seungkwan and kwon soonyoung

besides encouraging words,,,,,, and sometimes remarks out of annoyance like

“i swear if this goes on they won’t get together before one of them dies”

“just ! ask ! y/n ! out ! seokmin ! or ! y/n ! ask ! seokmin ! out ! iT’S NOT THAT HARD FFS !!”

they’ll pull stunts like pushing you towards each other

the usual scene runs like this,,,,,,

seokmin is the one who catches you and keeps you from falling

,,,,,,, but then you both push each other away,,,,,,,

,,,,,,, and quietly escape into your own place,,,,,,,

if possible you try to open the door as fast as lightning to escape boosoon’s wrath

not that it’d help because one of them will spam your inbox aLL nIGhT lONg

but back to the point

long story short: you’re so awkward around each other and get tonguetied and just don’t know what to do???

you’re really better off without him near you and vice versa

but it’s highkey adorable and amusing to watch ???

sure there were times where seokmin initiated a convo but well,,,,,, it usually went like this

“hey y/n i,,,,,,,, uh,,,,,,,,,”

“hi seokmin,,,,,,?”

“,,,,,, uh,,,,, i got some cupcakes wanna have some? i accidentally bought too many i mean nOT THAT I EAT TOO MANY SWEETS but i overestimated myself”

at that point he probably asked himself what in the world he was saying

“yeah i mean i like cupcakes too and uh,,, wait a sec those are the cupcakes from the café two blocks away right? they are one of my favorites and,,,, uh,,,,,, thanks so much,,?”

yes it was basically a motherload of uhs 

in the end you just resorted to waving,,,,, if ever,,,,,,

and smiling shyly but that’s just it

now ofc you want things to change someday but you don’t expect it to happen so soon and in such an unfortunate situation

basically your heater broke down and it’s freezing in your apartment and even the number of blankets aren’t enough to keep you warm

and it’s in the middle of the night

obviously you don’t intend to stay at your place for the rest of the night

so let’s see who you can pester at 11 pm

your best bet would be soonyoung but the longer you think about it,,,,, the lazier you get to use the elevator and you aren’t so heartless to bother him,,,,,, he’s a nice guy after all

in the end you opt for seungkwan because that boy is probably up all night

so at 11 pm you get out of your place covered in a very very very thick blanket

and ofc it HAD to happen

before you get to pass it seokmin’s door swings open

and you’re greeted with a confused neighbour

“y/n?”

“hey seokmin! before you think i’m nuts my heater broke down so i’m crashing at seungkwan’s place!! at least,,,, i hope,,,,,,”

“uh seungkwan’s not in town until next week didn’t you know?”

w h a t 

well there goes your last hope

“oh”

cue extremely awkward silence in the middle of the night

“well,,,,, thanks for telling me,,,,,, i guess i’ll go back”

“wAiT you can stay at my place if you want,,,,, i mean only if you’re fine with that and,,,,,, uh,,,,,,,, i can make you some tea if you wanna you look like you need it”

if you weren’t so desperate for warmth you would’ve declined because you won’t survive being in the same space like seokmin yet alone in his own apartment!!!!

you can already see it coming it’s gonna be super awkward

and so,,,, you watch him make tea in silence

and every time he turns around to see how you’re doing,, who by the way is still huddled in the blanket,,, you tear your gaze off him and pretend to be interested in his furniture

when you get to the pictures,,, you suddenly speak up

“you have a dog??”

“you mean coco? no she isn’t mine but she’s really cute”

wow well done obviously it’s not his dog otherwise she’d be here too

but before you think you’ll fall into silence again seokmin continues

“i’d love to keep a dog but sadly, it’s prohibited to have a pet in this complex except for fish,,,“

“fish do basically nothing why would anyone want to have pet fish??! i don’t understand those people”

“exactly!!!”

from there on the conversation starts rolling and it’s nearly domestic when he puts the teacup in front of you and takes the seat right next to you while talking as if it doesn’t affect him

because you noticed he usually stutters and uhs a lot in your presence but it doesn’t seem to be the case this time

and you suddenly feel much more comfortable in your skin and let out a laugh once in a while

at some point you get super loud and lively

you just talk and talk and talk and it’s suddenly 3 am

and then it rings at the door

seokmin is busy taking care of something in the kitchen so you open the door

to reveal a passive aggressive jihoon who squints his eyes at first

because,,,, he’s seeing correctly right??

“wait i did get the right door right i’m fairly sure this is seokmin’s-”

of course seokmin’s timing HAD to be impeccable and he appears right behind you 

and jihoon connects the dots

he connects them wrongly tho but what did you expect tbh

“oh,,,, i see i see”

“nO yOu dON’T”

“congrats on getting together but would you shut up i’m trying to sleep and it’s pretty much impossible if you, who happen to live DIRECTLY BENEATH ME, cause a ruckus”

your gaze flickers from jihoon to seokmin and then back to jihoon

so,,,,,,, who’s gonna break it down to jihoon that you’re not official yet?

“jihoon,,,,, you got it all wrong” seokmin starts but gets interrupted

“be quiet for the rest of the night or i’ll call soonyoung you lovebirds”

at that point none of you argue back because the last thing anyone would want is calling soonyoung

he’s  s o  gonna blow this entire thing out of proportion

and with jihoon’s current mood it’s impossible to tell him the real story

so you just nod and close the door once he goes back to his own place

“so,,,, uh,,,,,, are we now a thing seokmin??”

“at this point i’m not really sure,,,,, jihoon’s gonna tell the others about this and they won’t believe us if we say nothing happened even though nothing happened”

well maybe it is time to finally do something about your relationship

“seokmin wanna go out?”

“but it’s like 3 in the morning don’t you think it’s a little to late,,,,, or is it considered early??”

“I DIDN’T MEAN RIGHT NOW”

why do you like this boy again

“y/n,,,, you mean like uh,,,, a date,,?”

“yeah that’s exactly what i’m implying,,, pls i swear if you turn me down i”

he stares at you with wide eyes at first as if he can’t believe it and then slowly a smile forms on his lips

“what about the cafe two blocks down where they sell your favorite cupcakes? today at noon?”

“that’s good,,,, but is it possible if we delay it because i’m so tired rn i think i’m gonna sleep all day until 4 pm”

“now that you mention it i’m exhausted too let’s push the date on the day after tomorrow”

just like you predicted you wake up way too late the next day and you aren’t the only one

and just like seokmin predicted jihoon told literally everyone in the complex about last night’s happenings judging by the ungodly number of messages you received and 34792687 voicemails from seungkwan probably screaming “FINALLY GUYS IT WAS ABOUT TIME”

[stormoftara]

All Bets Are Off

Ao3 Link

After Thog runs away from the city of Alaran, he finds himself in Grius, a much freer place. He has a rather large sum of money he needs to spend in a way that will hopefully eventually bring in even more money. He ends up buying a casino, and assembling a rag tag team of employees to run the place. It's not long however before his sorted past catches up with him.

Chapter 1: The Nine Shrines Casino

“Well shit.” Thog stomped out his cigarette on the ground. It was his last one, he'd have to buy more soon. And perhaps while he was at that, find a place to stay. The unfamiliar city sprawled out in front of him, making him feel uncomfortably like an insect trapped in a spider’s web. He'd escaped from one city and straight into another. What was the name of this place again? Grius, he believed.

Grius felt different from Alaran. Even if the two cities looked similar from just a glance, the feeling was different. This was not the capitalist city, fueled by the working class and overburdened by bureaucracy. It was more free place, a city that was perfect for starting over. That was exactly what he intended to do. Once he got himself another pack of smokes.

Thog started trudging down the street. Unlike Alaran, there were some trees lining the sidewalks, masking a bit of the city smell. They almost seemed to block out the noisy sounds of cars honking away. Almost.

Thog had no idea where he was going, but that didn't stop his slow march forward. There had to be a corner store somewhere nearby. Or anything. He gave a slight sigh as he looked up at all the buildings rising towards the sky around him. How would he ever find anything? As he was looking up his feet caught on something. Before he could blink, Thog collided with the ground, banging his knees against the hard concrete painfully.

“Watch out.” A disgruntled voice called out from behind Thog.

Thog stood up, dusting a bit of dirt from his pants. He looked behind him at the voice. It was a young man? No, she was a young woman and she was sitting on the sidewalk with some papers scrawled out in front of her, a pen pressed against her lips She had short fluffy white hair, almost glowing yellow eyes, and she was wearing a dirty green t-shirt and khakis. “Sorry.” Thog mumbled out in a rather insincere manner.

“Oh, yes, you sound so sorry.” The white haired one snarked.

“Yeah, well maybe if you didn't sit where people were walking, they wouldn't trip over you.”

“Well maybe if you actually opened your eyes and looked where you were going, then you wouldn't trip over other people. Or is that too hard for you?” She spoke with gusto, pointing at Thog with her pen.

A nearly imperceptible grin crossed Thog’s face for an instant. He liked this person, not just anyone could dish out the sarcasm like he did. “Seeing ain't hard for me, and it'd be pretty hard to miss you anyway. Guess I just had my mind in the clouds. Doesn't happen often, I assure you.” Thog looked down at what she was working on. It looked like a map of some kind. “Speaking of, do you know where a corner store, or gas station would be?”

“Why should I tell you? Are you going to pay me?” The young woman got an almost evil smirk on her face, her eyes piercing into Thog as she covered the map with her hands.

“Ugh, nevermind. I don't want to owe you anything anyway.” Thog grumbled, he began to turn to leave, when she spoke again.

“There is a store two blocks over. Guess you owe me now!” She smiled at him with that same malicious glint in her eyes.

“Yeah, sure.” Thog sighed. He was feeling a bit irritated from a lack of nicotine and just wanted to get to the store. He took one last look backwards as he walked, seeing the girl writing on the papers again. For the first time he looked more closely at the building she was sitting in front of. It looked a bit run down, but he could see that at one time it had probably been a high class establishment. A sign over the doors read, “Nine Shrines Casino and Hotel.”

It was long closed now. A relic in an otherwise lively city. Thog considered it briefly before sticking his hands in his pockets and turning back around, walking towards the store. He had a sudden, crazy thought of buying it and running it himself. He could almost picture it in his head, of him being the owner, of him finally living a clean ordinary life, of that strange girl working there with him…

Thog shook his head. What was that last thought he had just had? He almost laughed at himself. He didn't even know that girl’s name, and he'd probably never see her again. There was no reason to think about her anymore than that. Before he knew it, he was in front of the store he'd been directed towards.

The front of the store was covered in rather glittery posters, all with pictures of a young man with long blonde hair, wearing a magician's outfit. The words “Markus Velafi, Sorcelock Extraordinaire,” were scrawled across the posters. Thog shook his head and headed into the store.

After purchasing a few essentials, mostly booze and cigarettes, Thog made his way back out onto the street, at a bit of a loss as to where he should go next. He was just thinking about trying to find a hotel to stay at, when a voice called out behind him. “Sir! Sir you left your wallet!”

The store clerk ran out of the store, carrying what indeed seemed to be Thog’s wallet. Thog patted his pocket quickly, and realized it was missing. “Thanks,” Thog said to the young man in front of him. He appeared rather youthful, his brown hair tied back behind his head. He had cheerful brown eyes that sparkled at the tiny thanks Thog had given him. He was wearing the store’s uniform, with a name tag that seemed to gleefully declare his name, “Gregor.”

“Just doing my job sir.” The young man smiled before heading back into the store.

Thog thought back to Alaran for a moment, checking his wallet to ensure all the money was still there. It was of course. Grius seemed to be a much more honest city, or perhaps that clerk was much more honest than most. Either way, he was glad to have his wallet back. Thog was carrying a rather large sum of money on him, and it almost felt like a weight upon him. He'd have to spend it rather quickly. He didn't know if the people he'd escaped from were looking for him, or would try and trace the money back to him, but he didn't want to carry it around anymore. He wanted to spend it, preferably in a way that would eventually make him rich.

Without even really thinking about it, Thog found himself back in front of the abandoned casino. The girl from earlier was gone, much to Thog’s dismay. He had wanted to talk with her more, but now wasn't the time. Taped to one of the doors was a “For Sale” sign and a phone number.

Thog took out a cigarette, and lit up while he dialed the number. He let out a deep breath as the phone rang. An excitement seemed to course through his veins as he waited for someone to pick up. He was really about to do this incredibly stupid thing, and it was honestly almost fun. A voice finally answered, “Kyl’il Real Estate Services, how may I help you?”

“So, you got a casino for sale?”

…

The morning sun beamed through the shades of the hotel room Thog had stayed in the night before. It had been such a long time since he had slept in an actual bed, being on the run didn't afford him many chances to settle in anywhere. Now he did have a place, far enough away from Alaran for him to feel safe. It was a good feeling, being able to watch as the rays of the sun slowly made it across the room.

Thog picked up the keys he had acquired the day before. He was a shrewd business man, and he didn't like to brag, but he knew quite a bit about contracts. He was able to get a fair price for the old run down casino, leaving him with enough money to pay for repairs and paying any employees he had to hire. Another fleeting thought of the white haired girl ran through his head.

Before the sun had risen much more, Thog had packed up his meager belongings and headed out. Walking with more confidence now, he made his way back to the Nine Shrines. The walk seemed to take no time at all, and he was standing in front of the building he now owned.

Taking the keys out of his pocket, Thog put them in the front door. The door easily swung open. It was dark inside, the still rising sun barely illuminating the inside. Thog took out his phone to help light his way. Getting electricity turned on would have to be a top priority.

The first room was a rather large lobby. There was an elevator that probably lead to the hotel portion of the casino. Towards the back of the lobby he could already see the entrance to the Casino. It was a huge room, full of card tables, roulette wheels, and slot machines for days. Thog made a mental note to hire a mechanic for all those machines.

On the far left there was a bar, currently unstocked. Thog ran his hand over the wood. It felt worn, as if hundreds of people had touched it before him. There was a kitchen behind that, with a small restaurant. Near the rear there was an auditorium where entertainment would play. The Nine Shrines Casino really did have everything. That was good, but finding enough staff would be difficult, not to mention all the repairs he'd have to do prior to even opening. Thinking about all the work ahead of him, Thog decided to step back outside for a quick smoke.

Thog opened the front doors, temporarily blinded by the bright sun. He walked forward, and his foot came into contact with something.

“Ow!” It was the same disgruntled voice Thog had heard yesterday yelled.

Thog blocked the sun with one hand and looked down. “You again?” He said.

“You know I'm starting to think you have some sort of vendetta against me.” The girl rubbed her back where Thog had accidentally kicked her.

“A vendetta? No. I'm just wondering why you are sitting in front of my casino.” Thog sneered.

“What?” The girl suddenly leapt to her feet and looked Thog up and down. “You own this place?” Her eyes grew wide.

“Sure do.” Thog grinned as he spun the key to the building around his finger. “So what are you doing on my property?”

“I was just leaving.” The white haired girl bent over to pick up her belongings. Thog noticed that she was wearing the same clothes as yesterday. He wondered if she could be living on the streets?

“Wait.” Thog said. The girl turned around to look at him a bit impatiently. “I'm just opening up this place, and I need some employees. How about you come work for me?”

The girl looked taken aback, “You want to hire me? Oh gods, are you stupid? You don't even know my name. Is this your typical hiring practices? You just pick up whoever wanders in front of your building?”

Thog gave a slight chuckle and shrugged, “Well I owe you one right? Name's Thog.” He held out his hand for her to shake.

She hesitated for a moment, before reaching out her own hand. She shook his firmly, her hands soft against his rugged skin. “I'm Aesling. No, call me Ashe.”

“Alright Ashe, you got a last name?” After another moment, Thog let go of her hand. His hand felt strangely warm from the brief contact.

“Do you?” She asked back with a grin.

“Nope.” Thog said.

“Then neither do I.” Ashe bent over to finish picking up her belongings. “And just so we are clear, I don't owe you anything for this.”

“Right, right, like I said, I did owe you. Now let's get inside, we got a lot of work to do.” Thog held open the door to his casino, and tentatively, Ashe followed him in.