#drew seltzer

[camyfilms]

NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS 2020

Don't you ever just wish you were a dude?

[old-stoneface]

working out my angua design and i think i got to a place i like. plus a self indulgent buzzcut angua. ill draw her as a wolfhound sometime too, i like drawing dogs

[todayisafridaynight]

not to make people believe in me and my work ethic but im lowkey a liiiitttttleeee stoked to share the fics ive been cookin lately..

[starlightkun]

❥・word count: 17.2k ❥・warnings: cursing, suggestive but no smut (i think that tag is on all my sungchan fics at this point), also i do talk about biting him probably too much, there’s one scene where i have to refer to distance and i use miles im sorry it’s the filthy american in me (convert to km if you must but it’s really not that important) ❥・genre: meet-ugly (like a meet-cute but bad), strangers to lovers, fluff and more fluff good god, forced proximity trope (long car trip, friend group vacation in a cabin, etc.) ❥・author’s note: send help the sungchan brainrot is terminal

“I just don’t trust people that are that hot—Sorry.”

“Are you going to the cabin next week?” Karina asked you, refilling her drink as the two of you chatted in the kitchen of Donghyuck and Mark’s place. The former was throwing a “small get-together” tonight for his birthday, which was already shaping up to be more like the parties you’d attended in undergrad. He’d also invited a hopefully actually small number of your closer friends to spend two weeks in his family’s cabin starting the following Friday.

“Yeah, I’ll be there,” you nodded, opening the fridge to nose around in there for something to mix with your alcohol.

“Do you know who all he invited?”

“I think the usual, right?” You had secured some cranberry juice and seltzer, and brought them back out triumphantly. “Didn’t he text the details to everyone in a group chat? Check who’s in it.”

“Let me see…” She muttered, scrolling through her phone. “You, me, Hyuck, Mark, Ning, Jeno, Jaemin, Shotaro, Anton…”

“Unless it’s a mansion in the woods, it sounds like half of us will be sleeping on the floor,” you scoffed.

“There’s one person in here that I don’t have saved.” She frowned. “Do you?”

You looked at it on your own phone. “There’s two people I don’t have saved. One of them must be Anton, I just met him the other day when Taro brought him around to… whatever, I don’t even remember now.”

“I don’t have the 512 number.”

You saved the other unknown number as Anton. “I don’t have the 512 number either.”

Karina giggled. “Mysterious.”

“Probably another guy Hyuck and Mark met playing pickup.” You shrugged, following her back out to the living room. “I feel like that’s how they meet all their new friends these days.”

“Rina! Y/N!” Ningning suddenly appeared in front of the two of you, grabbing your other friend’s wrist. “Come dance with me!”

Karina looked over at you. “Y/N?”

“Just topped up.” You lifted your drink. “Maybe later. Have fun, guys.”

As they disappeared into the middle of the room, you drifted off to the side, finding a wall to lean against. You took slow sips of your drink, eyes passing over the crowd. You didn’t mind standing by yourself until either your friends were done dancing and found you again, or you spotted someone you’d rather talk to before then.

“Y/N!” Your voice was called from behind you, and you turned around to greet the birthday boy with a wide smile.

“Hyuck!” You went to hug him. “I feel like I haven’t seen you all night!”

“Because you’ve been hiding in the kitchen,” he teased. “I think this is the first time I’ve actually seen you out here.”

You rolled your eyes as you drew back from the hug. “Whatever, I’m here now. Are you having a good birthday?”

“Great!” He beamed. It was then that you noticed he had someone with him, a tall guy hovering awkwardly behind him. Donghyuck went to introduce him, “This is Sungchan, by the way. He also lives in the complex; Mark and I met him playing pickup.”

Of course.

“Sungchan, this is my friend Y/N,” Hyuck then gestured to you.

You nodded to him politely. “Nice to meet you.”

“You too,” he smiled back, a bright, heart-stopping smile. You held onto your drink a little tighter, with both hands.

“Hey! Renjun!” Donghyuck suddenly yelled out. “No killing people on the premises! Choke Jisung outside!”

He took off into the crowd, leaving you with his new friend.

“Anyway, it was nice to meet you, Jungchan, but I’ve got to find my friends.” You slipped away before he could say anything else.

Karina and Ningning were still dancing, and while you briefly debated joining them, you decided against it, heading back to your safe haven instead: the kitchen. It was blissfully empty when you got in there, and you started picking at the bowls of snacks mindlessly.

“That was incredible.” Someone snickered, startling you into dropping a chip onto the floor.

You picked it up, glowering at the newcomer as you went to go throw away the ruined chip into the garbage can. “What are you talking about, Anton?”

“His name is Sungchan, by the way.” He was still laughing, hopping up onto the counter by the bowls of snacks. “Not Jungchan. I happened to have been lucky enough to have overheard that.”

“Oops.” You said flatly, well aware that you didn’t sound very sorry.

“But I’m totally going to use that.”

“You know him from pickup basketball too, I presume?”

“Yup.” He tossed a cheeseball up and caught it in his mouth. “He’s not very good at shooting, but he’s tall, so he’s alright at guarding.”

“Good for him. Or not, I don’t know.”

“So let’s say, hypothetically, I was eavesdropping on the entire conversation—”

“Hypothetically.”

“Of course.” He grinned. “He said like two words to you, and they were barely even hello. Why did you run away like that?”

You sighed, topping off your drink again. After taking a sip, musing over how best to phrase it, you finally decided on, “I just don’t trust people that are that hot—Sorry.”

Anton cocked his head curiously at you. “Who hurt you?”

“Nobody, god.” You rolled your eyes. “You’re so fucking dramatic and for what?”

“Fun and profit, mostly.”

“You hurt Sungchan’s feelings,” Donghyuck declared, blotting out the sun above you.

You closed your book on your thumb to deal with this. You had been reclining on a chair at your apartment complex’s pool reading in peace when your friend appeared out of nowhere. Outside the pool fence you could see his roommate, and two more of your mutual friends, Jaemin and Jeno. Jeno had a basketball under his arm, which made sense, the courts were right next to the pool, they were probably already heading there when they saw you and decided to detour over here to… interrogate you? Harass you?

“Who? What? When?” You squinted up at Donghyuck in confusion.

“My friend. Last night.”

“The tall one? How? Because I didn’t want to talk about the weather or whatever with him?”

“Apologize,” he demanded, crossing his arms. “And get his name right this time. It’s Sungchan. Not Jungchan.”

You scoffed, sitting up straighter in your chair. “This is exactly what I was telling Anton last night, you know. I don’t trust people that are that hot because even if they don’t do anything to abuse their hotness directly, or on purpose, other people will just do things for them anyway.”

“He’s the nicest person I know. Hotness be damned. Apologize.”

“No.”

“Really? This is the moral hill that you’re willing to die on?”

“Yup.”

“You’re a true martyr, Y/N,” Hyuck said sarcastically. “The Second Coming herself.”

“The nicest person you know? Really?” You questioned doubtfully.

“Really. And you were mean to him,” Donghyuck confirmed.

“Including Shotaro?”

“Including Taro.”

“Mark?”

“Mark’s my best friend. Doesn’t mean he’s the nicest person I know,” he retorted.

“Jeno?”

“Literally saw him steal candy from a baby yesterday.”

You blinked. “Wait, seriously?”

“Jisung. Same thing.”

“I’m not apologizing to your friend,” you declared, opening your book again.

“This is the stupidest line you’ve drawn in the sand yet.”

“I’m not going out and bullying him! All I said was that I don’t trust hot people!”

“Flaw in your logic: You’re friends with me,” he pointed out smugly.

“Think on that one again, Hyuck,” you replied snidely, looking down at your book as if you were trying to get back to reading.

“Rude.” He looked back at the other three guys waiting for him, apparently getting an idea. “What about Jeno? He’s like, ridiculously good-looking.”

“I like him just fine. I just don’t trust him, or what people will do for him because he’s stupidly attractive,” you argued.

“It sounds exhausting to be you,” he huffed, turning on his heel and leaving the pool deck.

Later that afternoon, you pulled yourself up out of the pool, heading back towards your chair. Grabbing your towel, you wrapped it around yourself to start drying off before heading back to your apartment. You saw someone walking towards you out of the corner of your eye as you were digging through your bag for your phone.

“Hi.” It was Donghyuck’s tall friend from last night, in workout gear rather than swim trunks. Obviously not here to use the pool.

“Hi.” You wiped a drop of water off your phone screen that had fallen from your nose onto it.

“Do you have a second?”

“Sure.”

He scratched the back of his neck as he focused an apologetic smile on you. “Did I do something or say something? At Donghyuck’s place? Because I’m really—”

“No.”

“—sorry if I did—Wait what?” The smile dropped from his face.

“You didn’t do anything or say anything. You were perfectly nice,” you answered honestly.

“Then it really was what you told Anton?” He asked in disbelief.

Of course, Anton must have told him what you said.

“Look, Sungchan, I’m sorry, I just don’t trust really attractive guys right off the bat.”

“I haven’t done anything to earn your distrust other than—”

“—other than being hot, yeah.” You shrugged. “Even if you really are nice, intentionally or not, people treat you differently just by virtue of you being stupidly hot. Gets in your head, whether you think it has or not.”

“You don’t know me.”

“Not at all.”

“How are you any different then?”

“Different than who?”

“You say that people treat me differently because I’m, in your words, ‘stupidly hot.’” He put the phrase air quotes. “That’s exactly what you’re doing right now.”

“How am I treating you different by not immediately falling at your feet? I don’t do that for average looking guys either.”

“That’s not what I’m asking you to do.”

“Was I rude to you last night? Bitchy? Outright mean or nasty?” You ticked the adjectives off on your fingers. “No, the most you can accuse me of was being a bit curt. And getting your name wrong, that really was my bad.”

He was quiet for a moment, and you took the opportunity to slip your sandals back on and shoulder your tote bag.

“Look, you’re not entitled to my time, attention, or to me,” you told him firmly.

“I didn’t say I was,” he said immediately, his brow furrowing.

“You’ve taken it as a personal affront that I didn’t want to idly chitchat with you last night.”

“I’m just… confused,” Sungchan sighed.

“You’re nice to look at, I’m sure you’re not a complete dud to talk to, it’s probably not torture to make small talk with you at a party. So people do,” you tried to walk him through it. “But it’s not mean for someone to not want to talk to you.”

He was silent again, that same pensive, troubled look on his face, and you found yourself in better spirits than you had been last night.

“This was fun. I would say we should do it again, but I’m afraid I would make you cry and then Hyuck would be really mad at me.” You chuckled, grabbing your keys from your bag. “So, goodbye, Sungchan.”

You were relaxed on your couch that night with a tub of ice cream when a violent banging came at your front door. Pausing the movie you were watching, you rushed to answer it, thinking that it must be the police, or some other kind of emergency. Instead, it was Donghyuck and Mark. You looked at Donghyuck incredulously, the one who had been doing the knocking.

“What is your fucking problem?” He said in lieu of a greeting, throwing his hands up in the air in disbelief.

“What did I do now? Allegedly?” You matched his tone, watching as he started pacing your entryway.

“You know what you did.” Mark was calmer, reminding you of a disappointed parent as he looked at you, his hands on his hips.

“You broke him!” Donghyuck declared.

“Who—Oh, Sungchan?” You finally connected the dots.

“Who else’s soul have you ripped out of their chest and stomped on today?”

“He sought me out,” you defended yourself, crossing your arms.

“And you couldn’t have been a human being and talked to him?”

“We talked. From what you’re saying, it sounds like he didn’t like what I had to say.”

“He’s catatonic!”

“You’re being dramatic.”

“Only slightly. But he’s not well.”

You scoffed, “If one conversation with me is enough to make him spiral, sounds like he had some other stuff going on before I opened my mouth.”

“So you refuse to take responsibility? For any of this?” Donghyuck regarded you wide, crazed eyes, looking like he was at the end of his rope.

“You’re asking me to what? Fix him?” You snorted in disbelief. “I don’t Mommy grown men, sorry.”

“You are infuriating.” He pointed at you accusatorily. “The party I could’ve let slide—”

“No you couldn’t have, you found me literally the next day demanding that I apologize for not wanting to talk to him,” you spat back.

“Not for that! I’m not going to hold a gun to your head and force you to make small talk with him,” he groaned. “I meant the stuff you were telling Anton, in the kitchen. He heard you.”

“All I said was that I don’t trust people that are that hot. Nothing to have a goddamn mental breakdown over!”

“And he wouldn’t have, if you had just, I don’t know, apologized for the misunderstanding and moved on! But no, you have to take everything to this moral extreme! Honestly, I’m finding it hard to remember what’s even likeable about you in the first place right now,” Donghyuck ranted, running his hands through his hair.

“Hyuck, that was a bit far,” Mark finally spoke up again, stepping forward.

“You really want to die on this hill, Y/N?” Donghyuck just went around his roommate, looking you in the eye. “Then fine. Don’t bother coming on the trip.”

“Hyuck, man, come on—” Mark called after him, but Donghyuck had already stormed out of your apartment.

You watched the empty doorway after him, chest heaving as all the words you’d exchanged finally caught up to you. Looking to your friend that you had been left with, you asked quietly, “Do you think I'm in the wrong, Mark?”

He tilted his head back and forth regretfully. “I think… you’re being a bit abrasive.”

“You agree with Hyuck,” you deadpanned.

“Not entirely. I don’t think he should’ve been throwing Sungchan at you so hard. He should’ve known you weren’t going to take it well, which is probably why he did it in such a weird way.”

“What?”

“He was trying to set you up with Sungchan. But knowing how… you… are, he thought he had to do it with some uh, ‘finesse.’” Mark shrugged one shoulder. “Sungchan wasn’t all that hurt after the party, really. A bit bummed that you brushed him off, sure, but he would’ve bounced back. He’s hard to knock down, literally and metaphorically. Hyuck demanded that you go ‘apologize’ to him so that you’d talk to him again. Same thing with Sungchan talking to you at the pool today, Hyuck told him to.”

“Does Sungchan know that Hyuck’s been trying to set us up this whole time?”

“I’m pretty sure.”

“So to him, this has been Hyuck setting him up with, apparently, the biggest bitch he knows,” you winced. No wonder he was so confused earlier.

“I mean…” Mark trailed off sheepishly. “He should’ve told you.”

“And I should’ve been fucking normal,” you groaned, rubbing your face.

“An argument can be made for that, yes.”

“What apartment is Sungchan in?”

According to Mark, Sungchan went on a jog every morning at 8:00, and was usually back by 10:00, so you made sure to knock on his front door at 10:15, just in case.

Sungchan opened the door, wiping sweat from his face with a towel as he spoke, “Anton, I thought we agreed on eleven…”

He trailed off when he opened his eyes and saw who was actually on his doorstep.

“Hi, Sungchan,” you greeted him.

“Oh. Hi, Y/N.” He dropped his hand from his face. In the background, you could hear music playing, and smell food being cooked.

“Uhm, are you busy? I can leave, sorry—”

“No, no, it’s fine.” He stepped back, opening the door wider and gesturing you in. You stepped into his apartment with a polite, grateful nod. It looked like he had been in the middle of making breakfast, a blender out on his counter, various fruits on a cutting board, and ingredients sizzling in a pan. He went to pause the music on his phone, and stirred the food that was in the pan. He pointed to one of the stools that was at the bar attached to the kitchen counter. “Do you want to sit?”

“No, thanks,” you shook your head. Shouldn’t take that long. “I just wanted to apologize. I was abrasive, and shouldn’t have been using you to try to draw some moral line in the sand as part of an argument with my friend.”

Sungchan nodded. “Thanks. You did have a point, about the party. I wasn’t used to people not wanting to talk to me, it was a weird experience. But you’re right, I wasn’t entitled to your time.” He went back to the cutting board, chopping up a banana and depositing it into the blender. “Besides, I’m sure you have guys come up to you all the time and you just want to be left alone. No worries.”

You tilted your head curiously. “Why do you say that?”

“People treat you different when you’re stupidly hot, right?” He shrugged, scooping some blueberries into the blender next.

“I wasn’t talking about myself…”

Sungchan just grinned and shrugged again. “So I guess I’ll see you at Hyuck’s family cabin then?”

“No. I was uninvited,” you informed him quietly.

“What? Why?”

“Because of how… poorly I handled this.”

Sungchan’s eyes widened with horror. “What? That’s crazy. I didn’t ask him—”

“Don’t worry, I totally get why he did it. His choice was between the nicest guy he knows—” you pointed to Sungchan, “—and the biggest bitch he knows—” you then pointed to yourself, “—who is a compulsive vibe-harsher. I’d pick you too.”

“Don’t tell me he called you—”

“My words,” you assured him.

“I’ll talk to him. No way you should be uninvited over a misunderstanding like this.” He flashed you an easy-going smile. “I mean, we’ve already worked it out. No hard feelings, right?”

“Right,” you agreed, offering a small smile back. “But really, Sungchan, you don’t have to. He’ll think I just apologized to you to get invited back on the trip.”

“Did you?”

“No.”

“Then there we go,” he said as if it were already decided. “I’ll talk to him.”

[hyuck: you’re un-uninvited]

[hyuck: sungchan will pick you up at 2:00 on friday]

[you: why is he picking me up???]

[hyuck: you’re the only two who need to leave late on friday. the rest of us are heading up in the morning]

[you: i have my own car??]

[hyuck: you’ve got a shitty sedan with 200,000 miles on it that can barely make it over a speed bump. you’re not making it up a mountain]

[hyuck: consider this your exposure therapy]

Sure enough, Friday at 2:00 p.m., there was a knock at your front door, Sungchan on the other side.

“Hey,” you greeted him, stepping back to grab your small rolling suitcase. “You really didn’t have to come get me, I could’ve met you down at your car.”

“I don’t mind. You need any help with your bags?” He offered, watching you also shoulder a duffel bag as you tried to wedge your memory foam pillow under your other arm.

“Where’s your stuff?” You questioned, noticing his empty hands.

“I already packed it in the car.” He reached for your suitcase, and you willingly let him take it. He held another hand out, and you gave him your duffel bag as well. Without even asking, he picked up the tote that was at your feet, too, leaving you with just your pillow and phone. “You got everything?”

You looked around your apartment, thinking hard. “Mmm… I’m pretty sure.”

“Phone, wallet, keys, charger?”

“Check.”

“Pajamas, toothbrush, toothpaste, other toiletries?”

“Check.”

“Let’s do it,” he grinned, leading the way to the front door.

[sungchan: picked y/n up! gonna get some gas on our way out of town if anybody has last minute snack requests. eta 5:00 pm!]

[jeno: 👍]

As some of the others’ snack orders came pouring in, you got one text separately.

[hyuck: be. nice.]

After filling up and triple-checking to make sure you had bought everyone’s food, you and Sungchan were back in his car, a modest-size SUV. He plugged his phone in to charge, then handed it to you.

“Here, you navigate.” The directions to the cabin were already pulled up and started.

“Uh, I don’t think that’s a good idea.” You tried to give it back. “I yap and nap.”

“It’s like five turns total for three hours.” He refused to take it back, starting the car and peeling off. “You can be passenger princess all you want. I even know the first two to get onto the highway on my own. Just need the exit number, the road name, and the house number.”

“Oh god, okay…” You sank down into the passenger seat, clutching his phone with two hands.

“Are you really that nice?” You asked once you had been on the highway for a while. Sungchan and you had been taking turns on aux—right now he had something playing—and there was a comfortable lull in conversation, but you couldn’t help the question that had been nagging at the back of your mind the entire time.

“There is no way for me to answer that and not sound like a dick,” he pointed out. “Either I say no, despite knowing that our mutual friends have apparently hyped up how nice I am to you, in which case it just looks like I’m acting humble. Dick move. Or I say yes, which would make me look like I’m full of myself. Dick move again.”

You looked over at him, feeling the smirk tug at your lips. “You’re fun.”

“Thanks?”

“So if you don’t think you’re that nice, how would you describe yourself?”

“What is this? Speed dating?” He snorted.

“You want to talk about something else? Pick a better topic yourself,” you retorted. “We’re stuck in here for like two more hours.”

“That’s not what I meant,” he quickly went to smooth the conversation over, his tone turning pleasant again. “I just meant… I don’t know how accurate a self-assessment like that would be. Wouldn’t you be biased about yourself? Positive or negative?”

“That’s the fun of it. Even if a person doesn’t describe themselves accurately, understanding how they see themselves can help you understand them a lot better.”

“How would you describe yourself then?”

“I asked you first.” You pointed out. It felt like it had been a long time since you checked the navigation, so you clicked Sungchan’s phone back on to see how much longer you had to go until your exit.

“Fine.” He hummed as he thought. “I like to think I’m… dependable. And a good friend. And patient—”

“That was our exit,” you said abruptly, staring at the constantly refreshing rerouting screen in front of you.

“What?”

“Well, fifty miles ago was our exit…” You winced, watching ‘288’ pass you by. Yours had been 238, apparently. You should’ve known that.

“We missed our exit?” Sungchan clarified.

“Fifty miles back, yeah.”

“And you just decided to tell me?”

“I just noticed! I thought it was 288!” You tried to defend yourself. “I told you not to make me navigate!”

He held a hand out towards you. “Give me the phone.”

“It’s rerouting, I’ll pay attention—”

“Y/N, give me the fucking phone.” His tone was low, with no room for arguing.

You meekly set it in his hand, dropping both your hands in your lap after. He cursed under his breath as he jerked the wheel over, cutting across three lanes of traffic—no turn signal—to narrowly make the next exit. Car horns followed his maneuver, but he ignored them.

“I’m sorry…” You muttered, unable to take the suffocating silence anymore. It was either apologize or tuck and roll, which was honestly still an option at this point.

“Text everyone, let them know we’ll be late,” Sungchan demanded, knuckles red and white around the wheel.

“Okay.” You scrambled to pull out your own phone. “What time should I tell them?”

“Eight.”

You gaped. “Three hours?!”

“Yes, Y/N, we’re on the other side of the fucking mountain now!” He finally snapped and raised his voice, and your eyes went wide. “We can’t just drive through it to get there!”

You took a deep breath, holding his eye contact for a tense, strangling moment before you looked down at your phone to draft your text.

[you: hey guys! uhm, due to an unfortunate series of events, sungchan and i will be a bit late! new eta 8pm]

[anton: did y’all crash or smth wtf]

Again, a separate text from Donghyuck.

[hyuck: i said be nice not fuck him nasty in the backseat for three hours what is wrong with you]

[you: shut UP]

Back in your vacation group chat, you figured you owed everyone an explanation that alleviated Sungchan of any blame.

[you: completely my fault! i’m apparently the worst navigator ever and we missed our exit :/ ]

[rina: damn y/n maintaining the stereotype that women are bad drivers even when backseat driving]

[ningning: the patriarchy thanks u for ur service queen 🫡]

[jeno: i hate when you guys start joking like this, wtf are we supposed to say without looking like assholes]

[hyuck: pour one out for y/n, it must be so hard holding open the gender pay gap like the doors of a subway car all by herself too]

[mark: bro 😭😭😭]

[you: i wish all of you a very fall down the mountain and die <3]

And one more private text from Donghyuck.

[hyuck: okay that’s how i know you didn’t get dicked down]

[hyuck: damn, you really are bad at reading directions huh]

[you: IM BLOCKING YOU]

Sungchan cleared his throat, and you slowly lowered your phone to look over at him again. He smoothly took a curve on the backroad that you were now on, one lane in each direction, that cut between the mountains with trees jutting up on either side of you.

“I’m sorry, Y/N,” Sungchan breathed out, readjusting in his seat. “For yelling at you just now. That’s not… like me.”

“Because you’re so nice?” You couldn’t bite your tongue quick enough, still put off from the spat you’d just had.

“I… guess so,” he sighed. “I don’t know. I don’t know where that came from, honest. I’m really sorry.”

“I told you I shouldn’t navigate.”

“Yeah, I know that now.”

“I’m really, really sorry for missing the exit. I should’ve been paying attention better,” you shouldered the blame that was yours.

“238 and 288 look almost the same. Easy mistake.”

“That added three hours to our drive,” you sighed, leaning your seat back.

“It’s done, no use pointing fingers at each other anymore,” Sungchan shook his head, tapping his thumbs on the steering wheel. “Or yourself.”

“Do you even have enough gas for another three hours? We’re not going to get stuck out here, are we?”

“I’ll stop at the next station I see.”

“How far is the next station?” You mumbled, pulling up your phone to search it up on your own. “Fifty-two miles. How much gas do we have?”

“A hundred miles on the range. See? We’re fine.” Sungchan’s smile dropped off his face right after he said that. “Huh…”

“What?” You sat up as he reached over to put the hazards on and pulled the car off onto the shoulder. “What’s going on?”

“Low tire pressure light,” he frowned. “I checked my tires before I grabbed you from your place. Give me a sec.”

He left the car running as he hopped out, and you watched as he walked around the car, squatting down to inspect each of the tires. Finally, he walked up to your window. You rolled it down to talk to him.

“Back right tire has a nail in it. Slow leak,” he explained. “I’ve got to change it.”

“Aren’t you not supposed to drive spares in certain conditions?” You asked as he reached through the open window to unlock and open the door. “Like on a mountain road or whatever?”

With the door open, he rolled the window back up and reached past you to turn the car off, taking the key out of the ignition. “The road’s paved, it’s not like it’s gravel or anything. I’ll have to drive careful and drive slow on the spare, but it’s either that or we’re stranded out here.”

You eyed the sun that was already descending behind the mountains. “Right. Spare it is.”

“Need you to hold the flashlight if you don’t mind.” He opened the glove box in front of you, rooting around and grabbing a flashlight the length of your forearm.

You accepted it from him. “Got it.”

Sungchan took the tools out of the trunk, as well as the spare tire. He first lifted the car up with the jack, and you became acutely aware of how abandoned the road that you were on really was as not a single other car passed by the entire time. Sungchan stood back up once the car was up to peel off his flannel, tossing it into the trunk with the rest of the tools and the spare waiting to be used.

“Y/N.”

“Huh?” You looked down at where he had gotten back on the ground.

“I need to see the lug nuts, not my arms.”

“Sorry.” You shuffled behind him to be able to point the beam directly on the tire instead of where it had drifted to his mostly bare arms under his t-shirt.

“Much better. Thanks.”

You watched as his hands skillfully unscrewed the lug nuts from the tire with the wrench, holding the first two behind him. “Hold these for me?”

“Oh, sure.” You held your hand out for him to drop them into your palm.

Once you had all five in hand, Sungchan pulled the flat off the car and swapped it out for the spare. You tried not to listen to the darkened forest behind you.

“Lug nuts?” He held his hand up from where he was laying on the ground. You deposited a couple back into his hand for him to screw on at a time.

As he alternated between tightening the nuts and lowering the car down off the jack, you dutifully kept the flashlight pointed on the area he was working on. Finally, the car was back on the ground, and he took the jack out from under it. He rolled the old tire around until he could point out the head of a nail embedded in the tread.

“There’s the little fucker.” Sungchan clicked his tongue before he heaved the tire up into the back. He put away all the tools too, then wiped away beads of sweat that had gathered under his bangs with the hem of his shirt.

He grabbed his flannel, tossing it over his shoulder before he shut the hatch on the trunk. He then turned to you with a bright smile and held his hand up for a high-five. “Alright!”

You high-fived him back mindlessly, pointing the flashlight at your feet now. “I didn’t do anything…”

“What are you talking about? I would’ve been fumbling around in the dark without you.” He nodded his head towards the front of the car. “Come on, we’re going to be late as is. We need to find that gas station. Hopefully they’re open late.”

“Hopefully…”

[you: NEW new eta idfk]

[you: we got a flat and need to fill up again]

[you: we might die out here. if this is my last message, just know that i still wish you all a very fall down the mountain and die <3]

[rina: aw ily2 pookie <33]

[you: sungchan probably says hi or smth]

Hyuck texted you individually again.

[hyuck: oh i know that car smells RANK 🫵🫵🫵]

[you: bitch this tire is as flat as YOUR ASS]

[hyuck: so it’s caked up??? my point is made 😌]

[you: delusion]

“The stars are really pretty out here,” Sungchan’s voice took you away from your phone.

He wasn’t driving as fast as before on account of the spare, making your trip even longer. You looked out the windshield in front of you, at a small patch of sky that you could see peeking out in between the mountains and trees. It was hundreds, if not thousands of stars, infinitely more than you could ever hope to see on a perfectly clear night in the city.

“Wow.” You leaned your arms and head forward on the dash to see it better. “That’s crazy…”

“I bet we’ll see even more once we get to the cabin.”

“If we don’t die out here first,” you half-joked. “How much gas do we have?”

“Sixty miles. And the station should be another ten.”

“Online didn’t have any hours for it…” You muttered. “And this is kind of rural…”

“Which means the owner might live on the property, or they have someone work a night shift for weary travelers just like us.”

“Weary travelers?” You repeated with amusement. “You make it sound like we’re going on some long journey and are seeking lodging at an inn.”

“Some of that’s true.”

“Yeah, yeah. And I won’t knock the weary part either.” You laid back in your seat again, letting out a yawn.

“Take a nap,” Sungchan encouraged you. “We’ll still have a while to drive after refilling, especially since we’re driving slow with the spare.”

“I would, but if the station is open, I gotta pee…” You whispered. “And it’s only like ten miles.”

“Then take a nap after.”

Finally, there was a building in the distance, and miraculously, when Sungchan pulled up to the lone gas pump, the lights inside were even on.

“Sungchan?” You walked around to where he was filling up the car.

“Yeah?” He looked over at you from where he had been watching the numbers on the meter go up.

“Uhm, can you go in with me? Into the store?” You asked almost sheepishly. “I just—”

“Of course.” He agreed with no hesitation, nodding towards the building for you to lead the way. The gas continued pumping on its own as he walked away, and you grabbed his arm as you approached the front door. He didn’t say anything as he opened the door for the two of you.

The attendant behind the counter didn’t even look up from his phone at the two of you as you entered. There was exactly one bathroom at the very back of the small convenience store, and Sungchan walked you back through the cramped aisles of snacks. When you were done, he was waiting just outside the door where you’d left him.

“Good?” He asked quietly, offering you the same arm that you’d taken in the parking lot.

You took it gladly. “Good.”

Sungchan gave the store employee a nod of acknowledgement as the two of you left, and the man once again didn’t even look up at you. Back at the car, the gas had clicked off on its own, and Sungchan replaced the pump. He walked you to the passenger side, opening your door and ushering you in, closing it firmly behind you before getting in on his side and locking it behind him.

“Good?” He asked you again.

“Good,” you confirmed, and he started the car up.

Back on the road, the darkness all around you, steady rumble of the pavement under you, and music Sungchan had playing at a low volume was slowly lulling you back towards sleep again. You let out a rather obvious, violent yawn, not even having enough in you to slap your hand over your mouth all that quick.

“Go to sleep, Y/N,” Sungchan said again.

“But you’ve got to drive more,” you argued. “Who’s going to keep you awake?”

“I’ve got it, promise.” He then chuckled to himself. “You’ve yapped, now it’s time to nap.”

“Mm, alright.” You curled up in your reclined seat as best you could, letting your eyes flutter shut. “Wake me up if you need entertainment to stay awake. Love a good car sing-along…”

Your eyes and limbs still felt heavy and sluggish with sleep when you woke up later that night, and you pulled your blanket tighter to you as you tried to settle back in. You took a deep breath in through your nose, and then immediately remembered that you did not go to sleep with a blanket on you, and that this definitely was not yours that was on you right now. You felt at the material bunched in your hand again and recognized it as an article of clothing of some sort, not a blanket. Slowly opening one eye, you saw that it was a big hoodie, the arms wrapped around your shoulders so it didn’t fall off.

You shifted in your seat again, sitting up a little more as you looked at the hoodie that was draped over you a little closer.

“Hey, are you waking up?” Sungchan asked quietly from beside you.

You looked over at him, squinting. “Mm… mhm.”

“Good, we’re almost there. I’d say ten minutes,” he informed you.

“What… time is it?”

“A little after nine.”

“Ugh…” You dropped your head back against the seat. “Feels like two in the morning.”

“I know what you mean,” he chuckled. “I’m going to be ready to sleep as soon as we get there too.”

“Yeah, but you were like driving and changing tires and stuff. I was... whatever the opposite of a passenger princess is, the whole time. A passenger nuisance.”

“You held the flashlight. That was a very important job.”

“I’m going to pretend like that didn’t feel patronizing and say thanks.”

“We both had a long night, Y/N. Being tired is warranted, for everyone involved.”

“Thanks, Sungchan.”

“You’re welcome.”

“No, not just for that.” You were interrupted by another yawn as you went to put the back of your seat upright again. “For… driving me, and apologizing for snapping at me earlier, and changing the tire, and walking me to the bathroom, and for the hoodie. You’re…”

“Nice?” He seemed to be bracing himself for the word.

“A good guy.”

“Oh.”

You didn’t say anything else, readjusting his hoodie on you as he continued driving. Finally, he pulled off the road into a driveway, and a cabin came into view. All the lights were on, and he stopped behind a few other cars that you recognized: Mark’s, Jaemin’s, and Karina’s.

The two of you had just started taking your stuff out of the trunk when some of your friends met you outside.

“You survived!” Jaemin cheered.

“Barely,” you groaned, reaching for your pillow.

“What happened to your tire, dude?” Mark asked Sungchan.

“Got a nail in it somewhere,” he explained, taking his phone out to shine the flashlight on it. As they looked it over and talked about the car, the others grabbed both yours and Sungchan’s stuff to take into the cabin.

“So, before you guys got a flat, how exactly did you manage to read the map on your phone so wrong you added three hours to the drive?” Jeno questioned you, your duffel bag slung over his shoulder.

“Our exit was 238, I misread it, thought it was 288,” you explained with a sigh. “We ended up on the wrong side of the mountain and had to go back around.”

“Damn, it’s a good thing you were with Sungchan when you did that,” Anton laughed, dragging Sungchan’s suitcase in. “Anybody else probably would’ve lost their shit on you.”

“He did.”

Everyone who was within earshot turned to look at you.

“What?” Anton blinked.

“I mean, he didn’t like, go crazy or anything, but he was angry.”

“We’re talking about the same guy, right? Jung Sungchan, right over there?” Hyuck pointed to where Sungchan and Mark were still chatting by the cars further down the driveway. “He got like, actually mad at you?”

“Uh-huh,” you confirmed. “Raised his voice, yelled, whatever word you want to use. Cursed, too.”

“I’ve never even seen him get like, frustrated…” Shotaro whistled.

Hyuck looked between you and Sungchan in disbelief. “What the hell?”

“He apologized,” you added what felt like a pretty important detail.

“I’m sure he did,” Anton snorted, opening the front door. “I’m kind of surprised he’s not still like, begging for your forgiveness.”

“He apologized for getting upset, I apologized for missing the exit, we moved on.” You shrugged, stepping into the cabin. “And the sky didn’t fall.”

“Yet.” Hyuck scoffed. “Who knows, hell might freeze over before we wake up.”

“Speaking of, where exactly are we all sleeping?”

The next morning, you slipped out of the king size bed that you, Karina, and Ningning were all sharing and treaded down the darkened hallway as quietly as possible. The sun hadn’t risen yet, and you winced when a floorboard creaked underfoot as you passed behind the pull-out couch that Shotaro and Anton had crashed on.

There was already light pouring out of the kitchen when you got there, and a tall figure was standing in front of the stove, a tea kettle on one of the old coil burners. Sungchan was illuminated by the stove light, and turned around when he heard the shuffling of your socks across the tile. It looked like he had already showered and gotten dressed, his hair a little damp as it hung in his eyes, and he was in a fresh t-shirt, shorts, and pair of sneakers.

“You’re up early,” he commented, keeping his voice low to not disturb the others in the next room.

“You too,” you replied just as softly.

The kettle began whistling just then, and he immediately flipped open the spout to stop the noise, taking it off the stove. He opened a nearby cabinet to grab a mug.

“Tea?” He offered. “I’m not a big coffee guy…”

“Sure,” you accepted, and he took a second mug down. “What kind?”

Sungchan went to a different cabinet to get a box of tea sachets. “Green.”

He dropped a tea bag into each mug, then poured the boiling water over them. He handed you your mug before leaning against a spot by the sink.

“Thanks.” You wrapped your hands contentedly around the warm drink.

You lifted your bag up and down by the string, letting it steep as your eyes blinked open and closed, your mind still coming to in the early morning hours. Outside the cabin, you could hear birds singing as the forest woke up too, and you smiled to yourself at the thought.

“So, uh—” Sungchan cleared his throat awkwardly. “What’s the difference between a nice guy and a good guy?”

You opened your eyes, lifting your head to look up at him, slightly amused. You hoped this hadn’t kept him up last night. “A nice guy wouldn’t have yelled at me in the first place.”

“Oh.” He looked a bit ashamed, and also like he might try to apologize again.

“But that also would’ve made no opportunity for you to apologize,” you continued. “A nice guy is just nice. A good guy can admit when he’s wrong, because he actually is wrong sometimes. But he fixes it after.”

“Huh…” Sungchan took another sip of his tea. “Are you a philosophy student or something? Gender studies?”

“No.” You laughed. “Just a compulsive vibe-harsher, like I said.”

“I don’t know how being smart harshes the vibe.”

“I… find it hard to take things at face value. I always have to evaluate them through some lens. It’s tough for me to live in the moment, I guess. Doesn’t always make me the most fun at parties.”

“You can’t be that much of a bummer, they keep inviting you places.” He had finished his tea, and turned around to wash out the mug before setting it aside to dry. “I’ve got to go, I found a place that’ll look at my tire. I called and they’re open on Saturdays.”

“I’ll go with you,” you offered. “If you want some company…”

“It’s on the other side of the mountain,” he informed you. “It’ll be an all-day thing, you should hang out here with everyone. I think Hyuck said they were going to take the boat out.”

“But then you’ll be all alone and bored in the car all day.” You tilted your head. “If you just don’t want me to come, tell me. I’ll be okay.”

“No, Y/N, I’d appreciate the company, but are you sure you want to be stuck in the car with me all day again?”

“Just don’t make me navigate and we’ll be good.”

“Never again,” he smiled. “You’ll be there purely for entertainment.”

“Great, let me get changed.”

“Aw, I thought the jammies were cute,” Sungchan snickered, and for the first time that morning you processed what you were wearing.

A pair of Sanrio character-patterned sleep shorts that were originally from a pajama set (the matching button-up top had long disappeared), well-loved, and a big t-shirt that your dad had gotten from his work when you were high school, worn in with a couple holes in one of the sleeves and another low on the bottom hem—not in any scandalous areas, hence why you hadn’t retired it yet, but definitely not your finest attire.

“Shut up!” You hissed, putting your mug down on the counter to cross your arms over your chest. “I’m changing!”

[sungchan: going to get my tire fixed, y/n’s with me. car shop is on the other side of the mountain so we’ll be back late afternoon-ish]

[jeno: 👍]

“I wasn’t kidding, the pajamas were cute,” Sungchan chuckled as he pulled away from the cabin.

The backroads looked much more welcoming and pleasant in the daytime, all tall, green trees and beautiful mountain landscapes.

“Yeah, sure,” you snorted, taking over the aux first.

“Is my hoodie over there by the way?” He questioned, pointing to the passenger seat floor. “It wasn’t in my stuff yesterday, I thought it might’ve ended up on the floor or something.”

“Oh, sorry, I accidentally took it in with me,” you informed him, remembering when you had finally gotten settled into your room late last night and realized you’d brought the article of clothing in with you in the midst of the hecticness. “I’ll give it back to you when we get back to the cabin after this.”

“Don’t worry about it, just wondering where it went.” He waved you off nonchalantly, eyes focused on the road as he navigated a curve.

But you weren’t going to let him chalant around that so easily. “And what does that mean, Sungchan?”

“I like that hoodie and didn’t want to have lost it on a mountain in the middle of nowhere?”

“So, if I were to give it back to you and start borrowing, oh, I don’t know, Jeno’s hoodie…?”

“That’d be weird, because you have a perfectly good one,” he replied simply.

“Mhm…”

“And clearly, I’m trying to establish my dominance over the other males and stake my unofficial claim over you by having you wear my clothes,” he looked over at you, voice dripping with sarcasm.

You held his eye contact for a moment before you both burst out laughing. “What?!”

“Sorry, I tried my hand at harshing the vibe like you,” his eyes crinkled as he laughed. “Just sounded like a fucking weirdo, huh?”

“A bit, yeah.” You wheezed as you tried to catch your breath. “You also can’t sound that sarcastic when you do it. People have to believe that you believe what you’re saying.”

“I didn’t though. I mean, not completely. I think.”

“Either commit to the bit or don’t.”

He frowned thoughtfully. “But… wouldn’t that have made you feel weird? What I just said?”

“Oh yeah, I don’t buy into all that alpha male social hierarchy bullshit. It’s based off one study on a pack of wolves that’s been debunked multiple times.” You shook your head. “But the second part wasn’t an incorrect analysis of flirting and dating dynamics.”

“Damn, you’re good at that,” he chuckled fondly.

“I didn’t know that Donghyuck was setting us up, by the way,” you felt the need to clarify in that moment. “Not until… right before I apologized?”

“I kind of worked that out eventually,” he sighed. “He should’ve told you, by the way.”

“Yeah, then maybe I would’ve been fucking normal.”

“Probably not.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“I mean, it was unfair to you to have been in the dark like that.”

“That’s… generous. Here I thought it was unfair to you to have been subjected to me like that.”

“I was a bit confused as to why Donghyuck told me he had the perfect person for me and then every time I talked to you, you either ran away or seemed to hate me for no good reason,” he admitted.

“I truly wonder what his thought process was…” You mused. “He meets you playing pickup basketball, you turn out to be nicest guy he’s ever met, and his first thought is to introduce you to me? Weird.”

“Why is that weird?” Sungchan tilted his head. “I think you’re cool.”

“I mean, I’m not nice. Or, it’s definitely not one of my defining characteristics. Wouldn’t you want to set up your two nicest single friends with each other?”

“They might get bored of each other,” he muttered.

You looked at him curiously. “Do you think you’re boring, Sungchan?”

He shrugged. “Isn’t that what people say? ‘Oh he’s… a nice guy.’ When they can’t think of anything else about you because you’re boring.”

“I’ve had plenty of fun with you,” you assured him. “Including being stuck in a car with you for six hours and getting a flat tire.”

“I haven’t exactly been my usual self with you…” He confessed quietly.

“Oh?”

“I don’t get upset with people, or tease them like this, or say weird stuff to try to harsh the vibe on purpose.”

You couldn’t help but let out a peal of laughter. “Maybe you are usually pretty boring, then.”

“I think… because you’ve already seen me get mad, and we got past that, I feel like I can try out being things other than nice with you?” He seemed to have been picking his words very carefully. “Does that make sense?”

“Yeah, Sungchan, it makes sense,” you affirmed. “Are you seriously saying you don’t joke around with the others?”

“I joke around, but I’m not really like… sarcastic, I guess. I don’t want to say something and hurt someone’s feelings either because they didn’t get that it was a joke, or even if they did, because it went too far.”

“That’s fair, but… you have to trust people.”

“Coming from the woman who said she doesn’t trust hot people?” He questioned pointedly.

“Okay, fair,” you chuckled. “But hear me out.”

“Go for it.”

“If your friend said or did something that hurt your feelings, and you didn’t tell them that directly, would you expect them to know?”

He seemed to think about this for a moment, then shook his head. “No, they can’t read my mind. I would need to tell them so we can talk about it.”

“Then why do you have higher standards for yourself as a friend than you have for your friends?”

Sungchan’s mouth dropped open, then closed, then opened again, then closed once more as he frowned deeply, his brows knitting together.

You continued, “You have to trust your friends to tell you when they’re hurt by something you say or do. If you spend your whole life assuming what your friends’ feelings are instead actually letting them tell you, you’re just forcing your own expectations onto them without their input. And it’s also not fair to you to constantly be living your life trying to minimize all these perceived slights against people. Not to mention—sometimes someone’s feelings can get hurt and you didn’t really do anything wrong.”

He laughed nervously. “Not philosophy or gender studies grad student; I think I’m going to skip right over psychology and just go straight for all-knowing deity that can see straight into my soul?”

“Been thinking about updating my LinkedIn to Professional Yapper, but I think I like that better,” you grinned, handing his phone back over to him. “Your turn on the aux.”

“It’s fixable,” the tire shop owner confirmed. “Should take an hour or so. It’s just me and my son and we have a couple customers ahead of you. You and your girlfriend are welcome to wait here, or, you know, it’s lunchtime, there’s a restaurant that’s a five-minute walk down the road.”

He pointed in presumably the general direction of it.

“Right, uhm, here’s my number, in case we’re not here when it’s done.” Sungchan wrote his number down on a notepad on the front desk in the small tire shop.

The older man pulled the paper towards him, flashing the both of you a smile. “If you go to lunch, tell Mrs. Han I sent you.”

“Thank you.” He nodded to the man before you both stepped away from the counter, and the owner walked into the back where the cars were.

You looked up at Sungchan questioningly. “I could do lunch. Are you hungry?”

“Sure,” he agreed. “Beats sitting here for an hour. After sitting in the car for two days straight, I’d like to walk for a bit.”

There was of course no sidewalk, so the two of you had to walk on the shoulder of the road, the odd vehicle zipping by every so often and kicking up your hair. Sungchan kept himself between you and the road, meaning that you were on the grassier part of the shoulder, but you didn’t mind, taking the opportunity to look for wildflowers by your feet.

“Did we really look like a couple?” You asked, stopping to bend over and pick a yellow wildflower, then continued your walk.

“We were a man and woman alone in the middle of nowhere with car trouble,” Sungchan pointed out. “I don’t think the first assumption would be that we met a week ago.”

“Hm, fair.”

“He probably sees a lot of couples coming out here for romantic getaways breaking down or getting flats or whatever.”

“Sounds like the beginning of a horror movie…” You picked a stalk of small white flowers. “Or the first five minutes of a crime procedural.”

Sungchan grabbed a purple flower and held it out to you. “Truly a miracle that we survived.”

“Are you a mechanic or something?”

“Why? Because I know how to change a tire?”

You shrugged. “It’s a guess. You guessed that I was a philosophy student because I like to yap.”

“Not a mechanic.”

“You going to make me keep guessing?”

“I’ve guessed what you do three times now and you’ve yet to tell me.” He elbowed you. “I think you can handle a little more suspense about me.”

You swatted his arm away. “I don’t know if all-knowing deity should really count…”

“I was being so serious, hand on my heart.” He laid his hand over his chest dramatically.

“Well, I know it’s not pro basketball player,” you hummed teasingly. “Anton says you suck.”

“My three-pointer could use some work…”

“Pretty much our whole complex is grad students or young professionals... Are you in school?”

“You haven’t given me any hints.”

“You haven’t asked for any.”

He watched you step a little further from the road to get a pink flower from a patch before rejoining him. “I’ll answer if you answer.”

“A bargain?” You grinned, taking your gaze off the blue flowers that you had been eyeing up ahead of you and turning it up to Sungchan next to you. “I’ll take it. You first.”

“I’m a student. Your turn.”

“Both,” you answered. “I take night classes.”

“I have to guess two things for you?”

“What do we win if we guess right, anyway?” You asked.

“Y/N...” Sungchan stared you down at you avoiding his question.

“Fine, if you can guess one, I’ll tell you the other,” you acquiesced. “So what’s the prize?”

“Winning isn’t enough?” He questioned.

“You’re the one who turned it into a game.”

“Pretty sure you’re the one who did that, but okay,” he teased back. “I don’t know, what do you think it should it be? You suggested a prize.”

You hummed, stepping away from the road to reach for a bright blue flower, having to lean over to one side as the ground sloped down steeply in this area. A few pieces of gravel under your feet tumbled downhill, and Sungchan grabbed your forearm that was close to him to balance you as you picked the flower. Still hunched over, using your new stability with his hold on you to stretch your arm even further out towards a pretty orange one, you suggested, “Winner picks our first date when we get back home?”

“Date?” He echoed, his grip slipping on you for a moment.

You yelped as you nearly lost your balance, and Sungchan barely caught you from tumbling down the hillside, jerking you back towards him. You landed on your ass at his feet, huffing as you looked up at him.

“Sorry,” he said sheepishly, moving to offer you a hand up.

You took it, standing back up and brushing yourself off. Picking the orange wildflower first, you then threatened, “If you push me down this mountain for real, I’m taking you with me.”

“Yeah, that’s deserved,” he chuckled. “I was just, uhm, surprised.”

“Donghyuck tried to set us up—failed stupendously, which I mean, it’s Hyuck, what’s new?—but we’ve been flirting, I have your hoodie, unless something goes terribly wrong in the next two weeks, that would be the next step, right?” You pointed out. “I wasn’t planning on overanalyzing this but…”

Sungchan let out a round of giggles, his whole face scrunching up as he laughed. “Oh… you don’t know how relieved I am right now to hear you overanalyze that for me.”

“What…?”

“No offense, but it’s a bit hard to tell when you’re analyzing and when you’re flirting,” he admitted, still looking at you with a wide, fond grin. “I mean, this all literally started with you calling me stupidly hot and that somehow being a bad thing.”

You pursed your lips ruefully. “I can see how that might’ve been confusing…”

“No, it’s great,” he chuckled. “You’re great.”

Finally sitting in a booth in the small roadside restaurant, which only had a handful of other customers, the two of you had put in your orders with Mrs. Han and were sipping on your drinks as you went back to your guessing game from the walk.

“We have to guess before we get back to the cabin,” you determined, folding your hands in front of you. “Other people there know us. They might say something.”

Sungchan nodded from across the table. “Good point. Time limit, I like it.”

“Business major. MBA,” you started immediately.

“What? No,” he snorted incredulously.

“It’s basically Undeclared for people who don’t want to disappoint their parents, I had to guess it, sorry.”

“Literature, writing, MFA, something in there?”

“No, and that was like two guesses, so I get two this time.” You clicked your tongue. “Master’s in education, focus in coaching pedagogy.”

“That was one?”

“Yeah.”

“No.”

“Okay, my second: International Relations.”

“No.” He cracked his knuckles. “I’m switching gears, because you seem to know a lot of degrees off the top of your head. You work in the Registrar’s Office?”

“No.”

“Damn! Wait, no, you’re an academic advisor?”

“Nope.”

“Graduate advisor.”

“No, and that was three in a row, Sungchan,” you pointed out humorously.

“I know. Alright, your three?”

“Can I ask a question to narrow it down instead?”

He squinted suspiciously. “What kind of question?”

“To help me narrow the field down. I won’t ask you to tell me the field, they’ll still be yes or no questions.”

“Yes, only if I can ask you the same.”

“It’d only be fair,” you confirmed. “STEM?”

“No.”

“Oh thank God,” you let out a groan of relief.

He laughed. “What’s wrong with people in STEM fields?”

“Listen, love a woman in STEM,” you defended yourself. “Men in STEM… they’re… how do I put this nicely? Insufferable know-it-alls?”

“That’s putting it nicely?”

“Yup.” You took a sip of your drink. “Don’t tell me it’s Finance either…”

“No.”

“Okay, I have one more…” You tapped your finger to your chin. “Is it a Fine Art?”

“No.” Sungchan looked down at the small bunch of flowers that you had set aside on the table. “What are you going to do with those?”

You shrugged. “I don’t know. Look at them for a while. Take pretty pictures for my Instagram. Toss them eventually, I guess. They’re not gonna live forever.”

Selecting one of the little pink flowers, you reached across the table to tuck it behind Sungchan’s ear. “There.”

He touched the flower, a similar shade of pink dusting his cheeks. “Thanks.”

“Your turn to guess.”

“STEM?”

“Math is my worst enemy, numbers were invented to harm me personally,” you retorted. “No.”

“I should’ve known,” he teased.

Mrs. Han brought your food out then, and you both thanked her before she bustled off to take care of a family that had just walked in. There was a pause in your conversation as you started eating. The food was delicious, and as you took another sip to wash it down, you looked out the window next to your table.

“The view is just crazy here,” you gushed, taking in the mountainside dotted with more colorful patches of wildflowers. You patted your pocket for your phone, then frowned when you couldn’t find it. “Where’s my—”

Wordlessly, Sungchan picked it up from the tabletop and held it out to you. You smiled at him. “Oh, thanks! Didn’t even see it.”

After taking a few pictures, you set your phone back down and returned to your guessing game. “Law?”

He shook his head, still chewing, and wiped his face before speaking with a clear mouth. “Nope. Are your job and what you’re studying related at all?”

“Yes.”

“Huh. I don’t think that actually helped me at all.”

“Education?”

“Mm, yes to the field, but I will make you narrow it down further,” Sungchan acquiesced.

You beamed at having finally gotten closer. “So I was on the right track with my second guess!”

“Are you doing a Fine Art?”

“No. Master’s in Early Childhood Education?”

He let out a soft chuckle as he sat back in the booth, holding his hands up in surrender. “You win.”

“Yes!” You cheered quietly, pumping a fist victoriously at eye level. “I was going to start at Early Childhood and keep going up in age bracket until I got a yes.”

“So?” He prompted you. “What do you do?”

“Right now, I’m a primary school teacher and I tutor on the side for some extra cash.” You watched his eyes grow wide as you revealed this. “And I’m taking a mix of night classes and online classes to get my degree in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies.”

“And that’s a…?”

“Doctorate.”

“Wow…” He breathed out. “Donghyuck really didn’t tell me anything about you before dragging me over to you at his party but uh—”

“Maybe he figured he’s got one friend who is a teacher and one who wants to be a teacher, might as well?” You suggested with humor in your tone, reaching for your glass.

“Yeah, maybe,” he laughed, his eyes sparkling as he kept looking at you.

When you and Sungchan finally got back to the cabin, you found it entirely devoid of your other friends.

“No welcoming party this time?” You scoffed, gesturing to the empty living room. “Now I’m thinking we should just keep the free fudge Mrs. Han gave us all to ourselves.”

“Hyuck did say they were going to take the boat out,” Sungchan reminded you, placing the bag containing said free fudge onto the kitchen counter. “And there’s no way the two of us could eat all that by ourselves before they got back.”

You made a small ‘hmph’ sound, moving to the large sliding glass door in the living room that afforded a view of the lake. The sun glistened off the water, and from here you couldn’t even see the next closest neighbor.

“Do you want to go down to the dock?” Sungchan suggested, joining you by the door. “They took the boat, but that doesn’t mean we’re stuck inside.”

“So,” Sungchan followed you down the pathway from the back porch down to the dock. “Once you have your degree, do you still want to be a teacher?”

“Yeah, my kids are why I’m getting it in the first place,” you explained, carefully picking your way down the steep decline. “I want to be able to advocate on behalf of them better, and understand what’s going on when the people who aren’t teachers are making decisions that affect us.”

“What year do you teach?”

“I provide supplemental curricula for all ages. Reading and writing mostly.” You peeked back at him over your shoulder. “Do you have an age you want to teach?”

A giddy smile tugged at his lips. “Little ones. Preschool. They’re so… Everything’s new to them. It’s so much fun seeing the world like that.”

“Yeah, it is.” You could feel that you were smiling too, turning your eyes back down to watch your step.

Soon, you were down on the dock, laid out on your towel as you enjoyed a puddle of sunlight, listening to the sounds of Sungchan splashing around in the water in front of you.

“You’re going to get skin cancer like that.”

Propping yourself up on one elbow, you looked over your sunglasses at where Sungchan had climbed back up the ladder and was sitting on the edge of the dock, pushing his wet hair out of his face. Like you’d said before, stupidly attractive.

“You literally helped me apply my sunscreen,” you drawled pointedly, recalling when he’d so coyly offered to help you get your back. Pushing your sunglasses back into place, you laid down again. “If I do, it’s your fault.”

You could hear him stand up and walk towards you. “I’ve never understood laying in the sun like that. Don’t you get all sweaty?”

“Haven’t you heard? I’m cold-blooded,” you replied humorously.

“Well, do you think you can survive one swim, or will your blood turn sludge in your veins as soon as you touch water?”

You snickered, finally sitting up. “Fine, fine, I’ll get in.”

Sungchan watched you get to your feet, then offered his hand out. You eyed it suspiciously.

“I’m getting in,” you promised, pointing to the ladder.

He offered his hand more insistently. “It’s not that bad. Jump in with me.”

You sighed, grabbing his hand. “Fine.”

Stepping up the edge of the dock with him, he swung your clasped hands in time as he counted, “One, two—”

“Three!” You finished, pulling him forward with you.

He rushed to bring his other hand up to plug his nose as you careened the both of you off the dock and into the lake. The water surged up around you, cool but not cold, not too warm to be gross, just refreshing enough. You squeezed your eyes shut as you went under, and let go of Sungchan’s hand so you could paddle back up to the surface. Wiping the water from your eyes, you laughed as he immediately pointed an accusatory finger at you.

“Dragging your heels only to pull me off!” He was grinning too.

“I’m sorry, did I see you plugging your nose?” You teased back. “At your big age?”

“I’m not getting a brain-eating amoeba, thank you,” he retorted. “You were asleep, but there was this billboard we passed on our way here warning people about it.”

“But do you know how to blow nose bubbles, Sungchan?”

“Well, no.”

“Okay, mini-swim lesson,” you declared, waving him closer. “Come on, I used to teach water safety to little kids. If I can teach a two-year-old to stop snorting water, I believe in you.”

“You taught swim lessons?”

“Yeah, it was my first job, in high school.” You locked back into instructing. “You can blow your nose, right?”

He looked at you blankly. “Yes.”

“Hey, some people have body awareness issues, it’s always better to ask.” You held your hands up defensively. “So, same mechanics, air goes out into the water, keep your mouth closed, and don’t inhale through your nose right after while it’s still underwater.”

You did a small demonstration for him, only submerging from your chin to your nose, letting out a slow stream of bubbles. Bringing your face back up, you added, “And try not to exhale all at once.”

Sungchan mirrored your actions, lowering his face until his nose was underwater, slowly exhaling. He uncertainly lifted his head again after, eyes on you.

You smiled and clapped your hands. “Yay! There we go!”

“That was... weirdly easy.” He immediately did it again.

“Now you just have to think about doing it all the time, until you don’t have to think about doing it.” You rolled over onto your back, relaxing as you floated. “Then you’ll never have to worry about plugging your nose again.”

“If you used to be a swim instructor, why didn’t you want to swim?” Sungchan followed after you curiously as you drifted away.

“Because then I do stuff like give grown men lessons on how to blow nose bubbles.”

“That was helpful.”

“And—” You popped up to tread water again, facing Sungchan. “I kind of hate lakes. And oceans. Anything that I can’t see the bottom in, and where stuff lives. Like fish, or brain-eating amoebas. I like my pools.”

His face fell. “Oh, well we can get out—”

“I said kind of,” you cut him off. “I don’t mind, because you wanted to swim, and I’m having fun with you.”

“But—”

“Sungchan.” You held his gaze steadily, keeping your voice calm, inquisitive even. “Have you ever done something you don’t really care for, because your friends or family wanted to?”

“Well, yeah.”

“They’re worth it?”

“Of course.”

You tilted your head with a knowing smile. “So are you.”

His face flushed with what you knew wasn’t the heat of the sun. “Oh...”

The sound of a boat motor in the distance caught your attention. Coming around a bend in the trees was, in fact, a boat, and while you couldn’t make out any individual faces at this distance, the fact that it was headed right towards you, and several of the figures were jumping and waving at you, you could guess that it held all your friends.

“Well, there’s everyone,” you laughed, heading back towards the dock.

Some days later, you were contentedly relaxed in a hammock that had been suspended between two trees in the spacious backyard of the cabin, humming along to a song playing from Ningning’s phone as you half-listened to whatever juicy piece of gossip that the other two were divulging. A cool night breeze passed over your bare arms and legs, pricking up goosebumps in its wake, and you shivered.

“I’m going to grab a sweater or something,” you declared, getting down from the hammock. Picking up your empty drink can from the table nearby, you added, “Not to mention, I’m out of seltzer.”

“Can you see if we have any more chocolate-covered pretzels?” Karina requested.

“Sure.” You grabbed some of the other trash to take in with you.

You passed by the guys playing video games in the living room as you headed for the kitchen, tossing the garbage out first. After throwing on a hoodie from your room, you went back into the living room, fully intending on checking the kitchen for Karina’s snack. Instead, you were met by a desperate, raucous chorus of yells of your name.

“Hm?” You looked up at the guys questioningly, stopping in your tracks.

Mark waved you over fervently. “Come here! We need an even number.”

“What are you guys playing?” You took a hesitant step closer, eyes scrutinizing the game menu.

“Don’t worry about it, it’s a button masher, super easy,” Shotaro reassured you, grabbing your arm and pulling you into the living room. “Sungchan’s not even half-bad at it.”

“Yeah, you can uh, you can even be on Sungchan’s team,” Hyuck said, exchanging a mischievous grin with a couple of your other friends.

“Okay,” you shrugged, plopping down into the space that Sungchan had made for you between him and the arm of the couch. A controller was pushed into your hand. Karina’s pretzels could wait.

“This moves your character around, this one is to jump, this one is to attack, this one is to shield,” Sungchan quietly explained the controls to you as the others started assigning teams, hands hovering over yours on the controller. “There’s some other special moves, but those are the basics. Just uh, stay away from Hyuck.”

You nodded. “Got it.”

“Nice hoodie by the way,” he added, much softer.

“Thanks...” You murmured back, well aware that you were wearing his from the car.

“Alright!” Jaemin announced loudly. “Let’s do it!”

Now, you didn’t exactly consider yourself a gamer. In fact, you spent most of the time either running away from the other guys, or at one point, accidentally falling off the level and losing a life all on your own. You couldn’t even tell if you were even really helping Sungchan at all. But it was fun, and you were kind of maybe starting to get a hang of the controls by the end of the round. To your surprise, the two characters that popped up as winners, however, were yours and Sungchan’s.

“We won?” You questioned, looking at Sungchan in surprise.

“Looks like we did,” he confirmed, smiling down at the controller in his hand.

“Hell yeah!” You held a hand up for him to high five.

“Sungchan, what the hell?” Shotaro smacked his arm from his other side.

“Since when have you been good at video games?” Jaemin interjected from the other couch.

“Have you been sucking on purpose this whole time and just decided to reveal that you were good now?” Mark questioned accusatorily.

“Yeah, we were joking when we said he was only half-bad at this game, he’s actually ass at it,” Anton clarified to you, making you roll your eyes at their apparent plan to give you the worst player.

“Sorry Y/N, he’s on my team next,” Hyuck declared, bringing up the character selections and switching Sungchan’s team color to match his own.

“Hey, change that back,” Sungchan said, his voice level but firm.

Hyuck actually stopped in his tracks, looking back at Sungchan with wide eyes. He held his hands up in surrender.

Sungchan switched his team color back to match yours with no interference from the others. You lightly bumped your leg against his as the room chatter started back up. He bumped your leg back.

The next day, everyone went out on a hike. There was a slightly overgrown trail that went around the mountainside, taking lazy twists and turns through the trees. Said greenery provided you with plenty of shade, and concealed the lake below from you so well it almost felt like you had transported elsewhere. The trail was narrow, however, only fitting three people comfortably at its widest points, but usually only two, so your group was spread out thin along it.

Jaemin and Hyuck were up front, arguing about… something that you couldn’t parse out from your place all the way at the back. Turning to Sungchan beside you, you took your water bottle out of the side pocket of the backpack he was wearing. Somehow he had been burdened with most of the group’s supplies, and while you weren’t exactly doing any sort of survivalist stuff out here, you didn’t see why everyone couldn’t at least carry their own water bottles.

Taking a swig from your bottle, you kept it in your hand as you pointed at him accusingly, “You didn’t suddenly get good at that game out of nowhere last night, Sungchan.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Ah, I mean…”

“Were you sucking on purpose so nobody’s feelings got hurt?”

“I didn’t suck. I was just sort of… okay.” He tried to explain. “I don’t know if it was on purpose, I guess I just didn’t care if everyone knew that I was the best? I’m just not super competitive, really.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Hyuck speechless like that before either.” You laughed at the memory. “You don’t ever stand up for yourself with them like that, do you?”

“It’s not like they bully me or anything…”

“You just go with the flow?”

“Yeah, exactly,” he seemed to relax again at your words.

“I had fun playing on your team last night,” you said, taking another sip. “Win or lose. I’m glad you didn’t go with the flow that time.”

“Hey, hold still?” Sungchan requested, reaching a hand out towards your face.

You froze warily. “What is it? A bug?”

“No, no,” he reassured you, brushing your hair back from one side of your head, then the other. “Did you leave the cabin with only one earring in?”

“Shit, no!” Your hands flew up to clutch at your lobes, immediately feeling that one of them was empty. You looked down at the ground around your feet, despite the sinking feeling in your stomach that it was useless. There was nothing around you but dirt and grass. “Damn it!”

Sungchan made an effort to look under him as well, but came up empty-handed too. “I don’t see anything…”

“Well, damn,” you sighed, dropping your hands back down to your sides. “Could’ve been worse, I guess. Could’ve been my grandmother’s pearls or something instead of a pair of earrings I stole from my freshman roommate.”

“Seriously?” He laughed as you continued down the trail.

“It was an accident! Mostly…” You explained. “We borrowed each other’s stuff all the time, and when we moved out at the end of the year, the earrings ended up in my stuff. I told her I had them and she said I could keep them. Apparently they always made her ears itch anyway.”

“Sucks you lost one, though. I thought the little hearts were really cute.”

“Just like you thought my raggedy old t-shirt was cute?” You snorted.

“Exactly.”

“Why do you get shotgun, Y/N?” Anton complained from the backseat, his voice loud to be heard over the wind.

“Because it’s my car,” Sungchan retorted, his thumb tapping out a rhythm on the steering wheel. “And I said so.”

You couldn’t help but snicker at the image of poor Anton and his lanky limbs squished into the middle seat between Shotaro and Mark. “You could’ve stayed at the cabin, Anton.”

“I was bored.” He crossed his arms. “And I thought Sungchan would’ve at least been sympathetic to his fellow long-legged brethren.”

“But the baby always gets the middle seat.” You turned around to pinch his cheek.

“I am not—”

“Could’ve fooled me,” Sungchan sighed, looking out the window. “With the way you’re whining right now.”

Anton’s jaw dropped as the other three of you broke into howling laughter.

Soon enough, you arrived at your destination, a natural park with a huge cave system. The main attraction, however, was that one section of the tunnels was so dark that you couldn’t even see your own hand in front of your face.

A small family, and field trip for what looked like a summer camp had arrived just before you all, and were put in the same tour group as your friends. You watched from afar with amusement as the counselors put the children into buddy pairs before the tour guide officially began the tour.

“Hey, don’t you teach, Y/N?” Shotaro asked curiously as your own group took up the rear of the tour, nodding towards all the kids.

“Yeah, I do,” you answered, the air immediately becoming cooler as you stepped into the caves. “Primary school.”

“Jungchan over here wants to be a teacher too!” Anton informed you cheerily, slapping Sungchan on the shoulder, the sound cracking through the entire cave loudly.

Several heads turned around to look at the source of the noise, and you all looked around at the walls of the cave innocently until they turned forward again. The cave was getting darker and darker, the lights strung up by the park employees getting fewer and further between. Your eyes continued to adjust to the changing light, but your surroundings were becoming less made up of clear objects with definable features and more the vague outline of shapes.

“Oh, really?” You asked mildly, barely concealing the humor in your tone.

“Early childhood education,” he replied calmly, hand sneaking up to pinch your side.

It took everything in you not to squeal as you squirmed away from his hand, elbowing his arm. You could hear the light puffs of his silent laughter next to you. Right as you had lifted your own hand up to retaliate, the tour group came to a stop, everything was pitch black around you, and Sungchan’s hand caught yours, lacing your fingers together. There were no lights in here, and the children’s excited chatter rose as the counselors spoke back to them to confirm that they were still there as well. You held your free hand up in front of your face, and the only way you knew it was there was because you could feel that it was. The only thing your eyes saw was darkness.

“That’s freaky,” Shotaro commented from somewhere behind you.

“What the hell, man?” Mark was somewhere to your other side. “Dude, I can’t see my hand! Just like it said online!”

“Oh! There you are, Shotaro!” Anton breathed out a sigh of relief.

“Yeah, I didn’t disappear in the five seconds since we walked in here,” Shotaro grunted. “Did you have to practically climb on top of me to confirm that?”

You reached out tentatively towards Sungchan, your hand eventually bumping into his chest. “Ah, found you.”

“Found me,” he echoed quietly.

The tour guide started ushering everyone out of the sector, and as the light started entering your vision again, your fingers unwound from Sungchan’s. The counselor’s voices floated back to you as they took a headcount of all their kids, who were still dutifully holding onto their assigned buddies.

Soft footsteps at the top of the stairs caught your attention, and you looked up from your laptop at the tall figure hovering there awkwardly. You offered Sungchan a soft smile, waving him into the small attic loft space. There wasn’t much up here except the couch that you were on, a narrow table, and a dartboard. The ceiling was so low that Sungchan had to hunch just the slightest to avoid knocking his forehead into the wooden crossbeams.

“Hey.” You pushed yourself up into a proper sitting position on the couch, your computer moving from your stomach to your lap.

“Why aren’t you out with everyone else?” He sat down in the space that you had freed up. The others had all gathered outside around the firepit to roast marshmallows and drink, but you had other things to tend to.

You nodded to the device. “Ah, I had some grading to do.”

“I thought you were on summer break.”

“Tutoring.” You set the laptop aside on the coffee table, even as your eyes caught on the screen fondly. “One of my students, I mean, she doesn’t need it for her grades. But she just loves writing, so her mom pays for sessions like private workshops. I’m working on her newest story right now.”

“How is it?”

“She’s so creative!” You couldn’t help but laugh. “It amazes me every time. She hasn’t quite figured out resolutions yet, still rushes through them once she’s decided she’s done with the exciting part. But she’s gotten a lot better with dialogue. She used to not write it at all, just tell you what characters said, never putting anything in quotes, you know?”

“It’s typed?” He questioned, looking at the word document on your screen.

“Yeah, she has coordination issues, pencils kind of slow her down,” you explained. “She’s working on it in her occupational therapy. But that’s not what this is for. This is to let her be creative. If I forced her to use a pencil, she’d have to stop writing because her hands were done before her brain was done.”

“That... sounds frustrating for her.”

“There’s other options now. I mean, when’s the last time you actually used a pencil in your everyday life?”

He seemed to think about this for a moment. “...Good point.”

There was a pause as Sungchan just kept looking at you, the moment feeling much like when you were in the restaurant, his dark brown eyes sparkling even in the dim lighting you had now.

“Did you miss me, Sungchan?” You eyed him teasingly.

“Well, yeah,” he agreed as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “And I wanted to make sure you were alright.”

“What did you tell everyone else you were doing when you came looking for me?”

“I didn’t make an announcement or anything.”

“Yeah?” You sat up closer to him, then did a double-take as you noticed a hole in his earlobe. “Hey, I never noticed you had your ears pierced.”

“Only one.” He turned his head to show you the other, unadulterated lobe. “Probably why you didn’t notice, you’ve always been on my other side in the car.”

An idea immediately came to your mind, and you stood up from the couch. “Wait here.”

Traversing through the house, you came back up the stairs with your prize clutched triumphantly in the palm of your hand. You held your closed fist out towards him indicatively. “Here.”

He held his hand out, letting you drop the single red heart stud into it. His eyes widened as he turned it over with a fingertip. “You’re…”

“I washed it, don’t worry.”

Sungchan promptly put the stud in, securing it with the backing and looking up at you again with a delighted, amazed smile.

“Cute,” you commented, tracing the shell of his ear with a fingertip.

“And what does this mean, Y/N?” He asked slyly.

“What am I going to do with only one earring?” You replied with feigned innocence. “And, I was kind of hoping you’d need help putting it on, since there’s no mirrors in here...”

He leaned back against the couch. “And how exactly would you have helped me put it on?”

“Well, I can’t really see from here, so, I would’ve had to get closer—” You stepped forward, putting your hands on his shoulders as you lowered yourself onto his lap. You kept your focus on his face the whole time, watching for any hesitation, any uncertainty, any indication that you should stop. His eyes watched you with rapt attention, big and brown and awe-filled.

“Good?” You asked quietly, your voice barely above a hum.

He swallowed, his throat bobbing up and down, and your eyes followed the movement, before he answered, “Good.”

“Then I would’ve put the earring in—” You once again outlined the outer shell of his ear, continuing down the line of his jaw. “And probably said something about the adorable little freckle you have on the bridge of your nose that I kind of want to bite.”

You tapped said freckle, high up on his nose, nearly between his brows, and his face split into a grin as he laughed breathily.

“Bite?” He repeated, clearly amused at the idea.

“Mhm.” You nodded, looping your arms around his neck. “You’ve got a very biteable nose, I’m afraid.”

“Oh, the whole nose is biteable, not just the freckle,” he chuckled, settling his hands on your hips.

“Well, more than just the nose.”

“Y/N.”

“Mm?”

“Can I kiss you?”

You gasped in feigned shock. “Before our first date?”

“Do I need to ask your hand in marriage first?” He was so close that your noses almost touched now, his question mingling with your answer that came soon after.

“No,” you snickered, letting him seal his lips over yours in the next moment.

“You mauled him.”

Turning around from where you were eating a bowl of cereal, you raised an eyebrow at Hyuck. “Good morning to you too, Hyuck. And nice bedhead.”

He didn’t fix his hair that was sticking up in all directions, coming around to flop into the seat across the table from you. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

“I don’t know who or what you’re talking about?” You snorted. Pushing the box towards him, you offered, “Cereal?”

“Care to tell me why Sungchan is covered in hickies and bite marks?”

“Care to tell me how you know that?”

“He sleeps shirtless, don’t try to avoid.”

“Why do you think it was me?”

“He disappeared from the bonfire last night and didn’t return, you didn’t show up at all, he appears the next morning coincidentally looking like he’s been someone’s chew toy. You’re... you.”

You cocked your head at him curiously. “Weren’t you trying to set us up?”

“I was. I still am, kind of,” he sighed. “Like I said, Sungchan’s the nicest guy I know. Don’t... chew him up and spit him out, please.”

“I’m touched you think so highly of me, truly.”

“That didn’t come out right,” he groaned, rubbing his face with two hands. “I meant... Make sure you two are on the same page about what you’re doing and what you want.”

“We are, Hyuck,” you told him quietly.

Hyuck peeked at you over his hands, and based on the crinkles that formed around his eyes, you could perfectly imagine the mischievous grin that was hidden. “So it was you, then?”

Footsteps entered the kitchen then, followed by Sungchan’s voice, deeper with the early hours of the morning, “Oh, morning, Y/N, Hyuck.”

He stopped next to your seat at the end of the table, seeming uncertain of just how close to be to you. He was wearing a longsleeve, which didn’t help much with the few marks on his neck and under his jaw. The red heart stud was still in his ear, which made your chest squeeze and your whole body thrum with happiness.

“Morning, Sungchan,” you said brightly, gesturing to the cereal box. “Cereal? Hyuck didn’t want any.”

“Oh, sure.”

“Sit, I’ll get your bowl.” You stood up, gently pushing him towards the table as you walked by him towards the cabinets.

“Gross, could you not do that in front of me?” Donghyuck made an exaggerated gagging sound.

“Do what?” Sungchan squinted at him in confusion at the same time that you scoffed, “Nobody’s holding you here at gunpoint. Go back to sleep.”

“Maybe I will.” He made a grand display of pushing his chair back and standing up.

“You’ve never been a morning person.” You shook your head at him. “See you in a few hours.”

As he shuffled back out of the kitchen, you returned to your mission of fetching a bowl and the milk, bringing them back to the table for Sungchan. He’d taken the seat next to yours, and you happily plopped back down beside him.

“Thanks,” he murmured, beginning to fix a bowl of cereal for himself.

“Good one sleeping shirtless, by the way. Hyuck had absolutely no questions,” you teased, finger poking one of the hickies facing you.

Sungchan gave you a pointed stare, but made no move to knock your hand away. “Oh and who couldn’t keep her teeth to herself?”

“I told you: You’re biteable.”

He reached up to grab your hand and removed it from where you'd still been messing with the marks you’d left on his throat. Instead of just pushing it away, he brought your joined hands down to rest on his leg. After a beat, he looked up at you, uncertainty in his gaze, as if he were about to belatedly ask permission.

You laced your fingers together, scooting your chair closer to his before picking up your spoon with your free hand.

As the anchor was dropped into the water, there was an excited buzz about the boat, everyone getting ready to get in the water. Hyuck had stopped the boat by a rope swing that was set up in a tree on one of the steep edges of where the mountain met the lake. A few inflatables were tied to the boat so they wouldn’t drift away, and of course, a couple coolers with plenty of drinks were on deck.

“Y/N, can you help me with my sunscreen?” Ningning requested, holding the bottle out to you.

“Ning, I told you to apply it at the cabin,” you sighed, accepting the sunscreen nevertheless as she took her coverup off.

“It’s not my fault we’re currently sharing one bathroom with like five other people!” She pointed out. “I didn’t have time.”

Sudden wolf whistles and dramatic yells from the back of the boat made you snap your head over, anger flooding your body immediately. But you realized that none of them were aimed at you and Ningning. Instead, the guys seemed to all be taunting Sungchan, who had just taken his shirt off, revealing the full extent of the love bites scattered on his skin.

“Dude, did you get mauled by a bear or something?” Mark laughed.

“Or fall down the mountain?” Anton’s eyes were wide as he went to poke one on Sungchan’s shoulder.

Sungchan slapped his hand away. “Personal space?”

“Fall down the mountain after getting mauled by a bear?” Jaemin proposed helpfully, moving behind him as if inspecting a product that he was purchasing at a store. “We got claw marks, guys!”

They all let out teasing cheers, and you could see that Sungchan’s ears were bright red. You shook your head to yourself, going back to helping Ningning with her sunscreen.

She craned her neck to be able to look at you over her shoulder. “Nice one, Y/N.”

“Who, me?” You blinked at her innocently.

“You left that poor boy to deal with those menaces by himself.”

You’d finished up with her sunscreen, handing her the bottle. “One sec.”

Walking over to where the guys were still razzing Sungchan, who now looked prematurely sunburned, you held a hand up to shade your eyes, squinting as you looked off towards the rope swing.

“I bet Shotaro could make it there first,” you commented casually.

“What?!” They all looked over at you, dumbfounded.

“No way!” Anton argued. “I literally used to be a swimmer.”

“But if you’re talking endurance—” Jeno tried to vouch for himself.

“All your big muscles just make you sink, dude,” Hyuck snorted. “You’ve got no buoyancy.”

As they kept squabbling, you were still eyeing the rope swing. “Yeah, but, Taro’s like, halfway there already.”

Their heads whipped around to see that Shotaro had, in fact, been lazily paddling towards the swing all the while they were teasing Sungchan. The guys all rushed to toss off whatever shirts, shoes, hats, or sunglasses they didn’t want to get wet, practically shoving each other in their haste to get in the water and race towards the rope swing. The boat swayed a little with their movements, and you grabbed Sungchan’s arm for stability, the only one of them who hadn’t taken your bait.

Shotaro turned around when he heard all the splashes behind him, confusion turning to momentary panic as they all rushed at him.

“Hurry up! You’re going to lose your head start!” Sungchan yelled out to him.

“What?!” He began backstroking faster. “I didn’t know this was a race!”

Karina was already in one of the inflatables off the back of the boat, and Ningning gracefully dove off the back platform to join in her one of the other ones.

Looking back up at Sungchan, you couldn’t help but burst into laughter at how perfectly that had worked. He was laughing too, one of his hands dropping to your waist to pull you closer to him.

“Thanks for the save there,” he chuckled, thumb sneaking under the shirt you were wearing to rub circles into the bare skin above your swimsuit bottoms. “Did you put sunscreen on?”

“Back at the cabin,” you confirmed. “Hate to disappoint.”

“You could’ve lied and said no.”

“I am nothing if not an honest and pure soul,” you put a hand over your heart as your words were laced with sarcasm.

Sungchan snickered at this, his smile so bright you could forget about the sun, leaning in even closer to him.

“Sungchan.”

“Mhm?” He looked down at you, tilting his head inquisitively.

“Can I kiss you?”

“In front of everyone?” He gasped, still teasing.

“That’s a little bit the point.” You couldn’t take your eyes off him—so gorgeous it really was unfair. “And also, I really want to kiss you right now.”

“What a coincidence—I want to kiss you too.”

You grabbed the back of his neck, pulling his lips down to yours. He immediately responded in turn, his other hand that wasn’t on your hip going to cup your cheek. The sounds of various taunts, cheers, and whistles all faded out behind the roaring in your ears.

It was your last night in the cabin, and you were of course celebrating with one last bonfire. Your group of friends were spread out between the firepit, the hammock, and the other lounge furniture on the spacious deck. You and Sungchan were tucked onto a small loveseat by the table of food, idly chatting as you sipped your drink and he nibbled off the snack offerings in front of you.

The sliding glass door opened behind you, one of your friends walking out from inside the cabin. Glancing up, you saw that it was Mark, his eyes down on his phone screen as he shut the door behind him.

“Those little rolls from Mrs. Han’s restaurant were really good,” Sungchan sighed happily, hand on his stomach.

“There’s still one more,” you pointed out. “Take it.”

He looked uncertain for a moment, but you nudged him with your foot insistently.

“Everybody’s already had one. Go ahead.”

Sungchan had just reached forward towards the last roll as Mark walked by, eyes on his phone as he swiped it from the plate. The man next to you just sighed dejectedly, sitting back in his seat.

“Hey, Sungchan was going to eat that,” you called after Mark loudly. Not too rude, just making him aware as he clearly hadn’t been paying attention.

Mark turned around, looking at you two, then down at the roll in his hand in confusion. He offered it back out to Sungchan. “Oh, sorry man, I didn’t realize—”

Sungchan waved him off. “It’s okay, you can have—”

You stood up, walked over, and snatched it out of Mark’s hand. “Thanks, bye.”

Mark paused, as if he were thinking about saying something else, but opted not to, walking over to sit with Jeno and Hyuck by the fire.

You sat back down next to Sungchan and placed it in his hand. “Here.”

“Thanks, Y/N,” Sungchan was clearly fighting a smile as he looked down at his feet. He tore the roll in half, offering one half out to you.

You took it gratefully, tapping your half against his in a little cheers before you both simultaneously stuffed the whole thing into your mouths in one go. Looking at him with his puffed-out cheeks, knowing that yours definitely looked exactly the same made you burst out laughing, and your hand flew up to cover your mouth and keep any crumbs in. Sungchan was clearly struggling to not spit out his half-chewed food as he started laughing too, turning away from you and slapping his leg.

When you had finally chewed and swallowed the bread without choking, and composed yourself again, you turned back to Sungchan, still well aware of the faint, smitten smile on your lips. He was already facing you, watching you with a fond sparkle in his eyes. He reached out, brushing a couple crumbs from the side of your mouth with his thumb.

“Oh, thanks.” You habitually wiped the other side of your mouth just in case.

“I’m curious…” He said quietly, grabbing one of your hands to gently play with your fingers. “Have you picked out what we’re doing for our first date yet?”

“Maybe.”

“Maybe?”

“I don’t want to spoil anything.” You then added a teasing, “Plus, we have to get home first. Who knows, your car might get another flat on the way back and then we’ll get stranded out here and die.”

He burst into soft chuckles. “Since you won’t be navigating, I think we’ll make it back just fine.”

“I like those odds,” you beamed.

“Me too.” He pressed a kiss to your cheek, then murmured by your ear, “I like our odds a lot, I think.”

The next day found you in the passenger seat of Sungchan’s car, wearing his hoodie and humming along to whatever he was playing over the speakers. The car had a full tank of gas, four inflated tires, and the maps app was not in your hands.

“You know, I get it now,” Sungchan spoke into the peaceful quiet abruptly.

You lolled your head over to look at him questioningly. “Get what?”

“Why you were suspicious of me at first.”

“You finally realized how stupidly hot you are?” You snorted, reaching over to pinch his cheek.

“I’m thinking I should’ve been more suspicious of you, actually.” He pinched your cheek right back, and you smacked his hand away. He just laughed, grabbing your hand and entwining your fingers over the console.

“Why’s that?”

“We haven’t even been on our first date and I feel like I’ve gone head over heels right down the mountainside.”

You groaned and shook your head. “I was suspicious of you for the wrong reason. You’re not a player or anything, you’re actually too sweet for my own good.”

“Your own good?”

“Yeah, you keep saying shit like that and I’m going to do something crazy like say ‘I love you’ on our first date.”

He laughed, squeezing your hand. “Challenge accepted.”

⤷ masterlist

[gnomer4]

redrawe

Almost one year ago, artist Ian Mutchler posted a picture of a crate of Sunny D Vodka seltzer. In response, I drew a picture of his character, Ian Jr holding a can of it, along with a drawing of the character Infinite holding a can of Liquid Death Spring Water. I was unconfident in my artistic skills at the time, and I vowed to one day redraw it. That day is today. I present, for your viewing pleasure, Ianfinite drinking funny beverages part 2

(original below)

Character belongs to @theamazingian

Original post-https://www.tumblr.com/theamazingian/716606074565836800/the-grand-ol-usa-never-disappoints?source=share

Obligatory follow me if you like rtvs or bfdi and want to see drawings of that

[fearlessbythebeach]

I’m finally doing supercat fanfiction after shipping them hard and reading all of it I could find for 6 years lol :) here’s the first chapter of an idea I’ve had for awhile

Clingy” supercat

By me, dream person

Sometimes, Cat gets clingy. Towards Kara, not to anyone else.

Kara knows the telltale signs. She’ll talk to herself in the elevator, and shut herself up mid sentence when the doors open.

She’ll ask for a sweet coffee in the morning and sometimes eat her m&ms as soon as she gets in. She’ll sit on the same couch as her when they’re working.

Lately she’s started smoothing out her collars and absentmindedly resting her hands in Kara’s lap.

Cat likes leaning her head on her shoulder, and doesn’t seem to care if she does that. Kara will play with her hair, making Cat blush ever so slightly.

One day, Kara decides to tease her a little. She hands Cat a glass of red wine mixed with some seltzer and ice. She knows Cat wants it, and thinks yes, that’ll be good for her today.

“Thanks, Keira,” says Cat. “You know exactly what I want.”

“Of course,” she smiles cheerfully. “I have quite a knack for guessing how you’re feeling by now. I know you don’t want anyone to know, but I can read you like a book.”

“Oh Kara,” Cat says, enunciating the K. It’s so sweet to hear her name.

“I think you’re in one of your clingy moods,” says Kara with a mischievous grin.

“Wha-I don’t get-“

She sat back on the couch close to her. She put an arm around her and Cat melted into the touch. She drew circles on her back. Kara moves a stray hair out of Cat’s face and she squeaks. Kara chuckles quietly.

“Mmm, maybe I get a bit clingy sometimes, with you,” admits Cat. “But goddamn it-“ she takes a gulp her wine. “If you tell anyone, you’re fired.”

When Kara gets up again, she hears Cat mutter,

“Godfuckingdamnit.”

[restwellsoon]

hi rest! congrats on all your milestones!! could i please request a catnap with jason todd from words with friends? f!reader, #4, and sweet :)

Thanks for participating and for being patient, Anon!

Minors and ageless blogs DNI!

Pairing: Jason Todd x F!Reader

Prompt: Drew Barrymore | Ain't nowhere I would rather be right between your holidays

Warnings: Fluff, nonsexual nudity in a bathtub

You just got back from vacation two weeks ago, but your return to work already made you regret taking the flight back home. The stress of all the things that didn’t get done and the things that immediately needed your attention was exhausting. And despite what Jason might argue, you couldn’t spend a weekend at the spa or even a day to relax. Your credit cards wouldn’t let you.

Which is how you found yourself in the tub, sheet mask carefully placed on top of cleansed skin. The bathwater grew tepid, or maybe it was the spa water that Jason so lovingly brought you–a spiked seltzer with a crudely cut lemon slice jammed into the opening.

“Can’t get this kind of service at any spa in Metro Gotham,” he retorted earlier as he took a swig of his. “Don’t even need ta tip either, babe,” Jason winked. “If you liked the service, I’ll give you the tip and more.”

Laughing, you dumped a vial of liquid into the tub, watching it start to sud. Your only qualm was that you couldn’t use the rose bath salts that Donna got you from Paris.

“It’ll clog the tub,” Jason said, testing the water before hissing and adjusting the knob towards a cursive C.

“God forbid we spend money on a plumber,” you sassed. “We might not financially recover from that.”

“Probably not,” he shrugged, getting into the tub first. The bubbles rose about two inches. “Especially after that bad ass vacation we just took.” 

“You comin’ in?” He flicked a chunk of them at your leg.

Sliding into the space between his legs, you settled into his chest.

The truth was that you didn’t need lavish trips outside of the country. You didn’t need a spa day. You didn't even need anything to relax–you were just being whiny after two weeks of pure bliss. You didn’t need anything special to know that you were loved.

You felt it in every step you took in your home together. The protein powder that stood neatly next to your coffee. Your mess of shoes by the entryway that were mysteriously stacked and organized by the end of the week. Jason’s willingness to entertain the thought of an at-home spa day despite the fact that he could afford to buy you an annual pass.

Slurping a near empty can, you set it on the bathroom floor.

“What’re you gigglin’ about?”

“Nothin’.”

You tilted your head back to smile at Jason. His curls were a mess as you tried to push his hair away from his face. The sheet mask he insisted on wearing–because he needed to have ‘‘whatever the missus was having’–hardly covered his face.

“I love you.”

A Token of Sleep | event / Jason Todd's Masterlist / Rest's Main M.list

[pigeonsgrame2]

Guess who just drew A concept art of Future Donatello?

DAAAAMN. Holy fuck I need to show you the two versions of future Soda ok ok so

We have good future, though this was before I changed his glasses shape

And we have bad future Aris!

Also bonus: Since Seltzer is 22 I guess he kind of counts so here he is too

[bethanyactually]

Tagged by @rebeccagoesblogging! 💛

Last song: Childlike Imagination by Kerusu, which was on the pomodoro video my daughter and I had playing while we did school

Favorite color: sunflower yellow

Currently Watching/Reading:

just finished watching The Diplomat, at @pepperf's behest--it was very stressful to watch, but very good!

the US version of Ghosts, which is funny and charming!

@dimension20official's Fantasy High: Junior Year

neverending Elementary rewatch

still rewatching Nancy Drew in bits and pieces

reading Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne with Elliora for school, which I had not read since I was in high school, so that's been fun!

we just finished reading To Kill A Mockingbird, Ellie's first read and my umpteenth

we're about to start reading Terry Pratchett's Nation, which I'm excited about--I haven't read that one yet

for fun, I'm re-listening to the Rivers of London audiobooks, currently on False Value

sloooowly working my way through Angela Saini's Superior, which is a history of race science

still technically reading Murder Must Advertise, a Peter Wimsey mystery--I've just been distracted with moving and then school and a bunch of other things

Relationship status: happily married with kids and a cat

Sweet/savory/spicy: Yes, thanks!

Current obsessions: Still the CW's Nancy Drew. The caramelized cheddar from Trader Joe's. Polar Mango Blackberry Seltzer which apparently is a seasonal flavor.

Last thing you googled: 'forensic definition' because I was making my daughter's vocab worksheet for next week, and I didn't like the definition offered to me by the curriculum

Low-key, no-pressure tagging @pepperf since I mentioned her, @wereadtoliveathousandlives because it's really nice to be chatting with her again, and some folks from my recent activity: @beingstacey, @forfuckssakekidsdontlookforme, @amidalleia, @firstelevens, @brazenbells, @expectinggodot, @tremendoustenderness, @seriesmaniac, and anyone else who'd like to do this.

[prxckedradiolove]

OK BOIS STORYTIME.

so. me and my siblings had to go to camp. ON THE WEEK THE BTB FINALE WAS COMING OUT!! so we had to wait until moday to watch with our siblings and their friends. THIS moday. AEHHGBRGBRGUEBGIB ok ok so when we got to the house we starting making bigtop burger burgers [ with the sprinkles and everything!! ] and a lot of other items of the menu!! including evil fries, seltzer with rocks, etc. ADN THEN

THE MOMENT CAMe

FINALLY WATCHING THE FINALE

I TOTALLY

EXPLODED

Cesare's stuff was iconic. also more lore for him shfygrgerhbgh. when i was watching the first few moments it felt like a dream I WAS LIKE HOW IS THIS REAL

steve's utter deafeat when he slumped in his cell II I I 😥😥😔

BRUH THE VISUALS WERE SO AMAZING???????????

ok ok its time to talk about cats

bro cats is like one of my fav musicals

I CANT BELIEVE

SO LIKE STEVE GOT BANISHED BECAUSE HE HAS AXIENTY???

bro the way worthii portrayed anxiety 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

ALSO CATS GRAHH THE WAY HE DREW EVERYONE !!!

also steve with bigtop buregr pajamas

i

i

im pretty sure i am having some sort of panic attack rn idk

[goawaywithjae]

With her debut novel, “The Singer Sisters” (out Aug. 6, 2024 from Flatiron Books), Sarah Seltzer weaves together a multi-generational story of an alt rocker and her folk legend mother. Full of fractured relationships, deceit, love and mystery, the page turner reads like a confessional full of music that readers can almost hear.

“I had a couple of notes that I had jotted down years ago about this idea of a family of folk singers that was loosely based on Rufus Wainwright and his family,” the author said in a Zoom interview from her New York home. “But I actually drew inspiration for [the character] Judy from my grandmother, who is very literary and preternaturally intelligent.”

[lalekaplanbrody]

Ben & Lale - their home after midnight

@bennettjrbrody

She didn't have anyone to meet, no friend she could talk to-, not that she didn't want one. Lale thought of calling Matty, of showing up on Aly and Drew's front door and asking Aly to get taco bell with her. But Lale wasn't sure she could hold it back if she did any of those things. Her control was hanging by a sliver of a frayed string, so she walked. She drove, and when she couldn't drive anymore, she walked. In and out of stores, window shopping baby items, and fighting the urge to cry at the sick twist of fate that had brought Devon back into their lives.

Lale didn't cry- not then. She walked from store to bakery and from bakery to a taco truck where she had a coke and a few tacos. Once the afternoon turned to night and everything closed down, Lale sat inside the twenty-four hour bar and karaoke bar and drank seltzer water and lime, wishing she could have had a couple vodka tonics to take the edge off before she had to return home.

Eventually, midnight rolled around, and Lale had left her phone on do not disturb the whole evening, and rather than check for any missed calls or texts, she returned home. Entering as quietly as possible, Lale slipped out of her shoes by the front door stumbling through the dark into the living room and knocking a family photo off the wall in the process. The shattered glass at her feet and Lale cursed under her breath, unsure if she could walk through the mess without cutting her feet.

[theonetruebangtan]

Its been 1 year of Jack in the Box and I am not okay

Cannot believe its been a whole year since J-Hope released his official debut album Jack in the Box. I remember leading up to the release of the More mv I was telling my friend that I thought we were going to go through a Rocktan renaissance. And then Hobi gave us an album that just spoke grunge and old school hip hop. When I tell you those teaser images came out and I was like oh okay, this this is speaking to my angsty childhood. 

I sadly didn’t get to appreciate this album as much as I wanted to because on July 11th we had to put down my cat of 15 yrs. But I tried to be tuned in for streaming and votes, and I was more with it by Hobipalooza.

So today we revisit J-Hope, sorry Jay’s, debut album 😂

First order of business, I’m glad that the promotion and release cycle went the way Hobi wanted it to. But I will forever be wanting a cd cover with that KAWS artwork, its just so good! 

BTS Episode: Album Cover Shoot Sketch

Standout tracks from this album for me were:

More, = (Equal Sign), What If… and Safety Zone

The Singles

The first introduction we had to Jack in the Box was through the release of the More mv on July 1, 2022. And the concept was definitely expressed. Hobi talked a lot throughout the promos about wanting to remove himself from the box of J-Hope, and see if he could still make music that would draw in people (paraphrasing), and for me he definitely succeeded. 

BTS Episode: More MV Sketch

The Arson mv released on July 15, 2022, along with the album. It was a good title track to choose because it really speaks to the old - school hip hop with the kick snare beat. 

Both of the mvs for this album really invoked to me at least, mvs of the late 90s early 00s.  Lots of muted dark colour palettes, close shots and enclosed spaces. For More specifically he’s always surrounded by stuff and contained within 4 walls, illustrating the claustrophobia of being contained. In More he’s still trapped in the box looking for more; whereas in Arson Jack has escaped and has burnt it all. 

The choices for the two singles could not have been picked better. They bookend the album thematically and literally. Opening with More showcases the rock elements Hobi will be using, and ending with Arson calls back to his hip hop roots.

Just recently for festa we were treated to an Arson rock version, and oh boy does it slap. It’s less kick snare, more drum fills and guitar riffs. So if you’re not super into hip hop but love rock definitely check it out!

Bangtan Bomb: JITB Listening Party

lol does anyone remember when we started seeing all the celeb stories about this party? what a time 😂

Hobipalooza

“You can call me Jay”

J-Hope headlined Chicago’s Lollapalooza on Sunday, July 31, 2022. He made history as the first Korean artist to headline a major U.S. festival. He drew a crowd of 100k to his 70 minute set at Bud Light Seltzer stage. He was A M A Z I N G!

I tuned in on weverse to watch his set and from the moment he popped out of the box he owned that stage. I’ve rewatched it a couple times since and every time its just as good. Highly highly recommend.

BTS Episode: j-hope @ Lollapalooza

J - Hope in the Box

(Can be found on Disney+ for streaming or can be purchased on Weverse.)

I’ve always loved documentaries and behind the scenes looks at creation of art. Watching the inception of JITB and the triumphant conclusion with Lollaplooza, showcased how dedicated J - Hope is to his craft. The contrast between the quiet montage of Hobi staring at his computer in the studio to the boisterous prep meetings and rehearsals demonstrates how his art is not made in a vacuum. It may begin as introspection but it eventually has to be shared and he can not control the reception of others. I really loved the ending where there’s a final ITM of J - Hope in a park on a sunny day in Chicago, having finished his set the night before. He speaks on his thoughts about how JITB rollout went and how it felt to finally perform as a solo act. If you haven’t already seen it you should, BH has always been good at delivering behind the scenes content and the editing on this doc was some of their best. 

For the first official solo debut of a BTS I couldn’t have asked for anything better. J - Hope gave us an album that demonstrated a new side to him as an artist. For those who already loved his music, you received more amazing music. And for those who were new to him, you were introduced to a musician who loves to try new things and push the boundaries of his talent when he is already at the top.

Here’s to 1 year of Jack in the Box, and here’s to J - Hope! 

If you’re interested in behind the scenes production looks etc. I’ve also linked the relevant Bangtan Bombs/Episodes.

[jordanphillips-art]

I'm working on a full package design for these, but thought I'd go ahead and share the main designs! Heavily inspired by older printing processes and '60s children's illustration.

I'm going to show them as fruit leathers, but they'd also work really well for some other product categories I think... maybe a seltzer water or gummy candy.

The illustrations were made in Fresco, where I also drew the lettering before transferring to Illustrator to create vectors for each one. I'm planning on making a whole process write-up (/lite tutorial) later on, but if you have any questions about these in the meantime, ask away!

[sabinahahn]

Some things I saw and drew but didn't share. A friendly dog who wanted to say hello, a bride and a groom on the way to the wedding waiting for the train (she wore plastic slides and had her high heels in the bag), a lost cicada, a book (Sula by Toni Morison was absolutely amazing). Oh and also using dry ice to make dramatic seltzer.

[wendyeve24]

Up To Heaven and Down To Hell

Chapter 4: Slow Ride

(The only warnings for this chapter is smut and mentions of Nate Jacobs near the end of this chapter. I also included some authors notes at the very end. I hope you enjoy!)

Lexi and Fezco were looking forward to their honeymoon, though they certainly weren't looking forward to such a long flight. The flight from Kentucky to The Poconos was approximately 6 hours. It wasn't too bad, but Lexi wasn't too pleased... especially since she had never even been on a plane before.

"You alright, ma?" Fezco asked as he rubbed his wife's back as she utilized the barf bag the stewardess had given her.

"No... it's such a wonderful time for me to find out I get motion sickness in the air..." Lexi said shakily.

"I'm sorry Lex, is there anything I can do?"

"No. There's nothing you can do. It's official... I've found Hell and it turns out it's in the sky." Lexi said weakly before her stomach churned again as they hit turbulence.

"Aw baby. I guess we in Hell together then." Fez said, still trying his best to cheer her up.

"I don't know, have you been throwing your guts up for the past five hours? If not, you don't understand my pain." She whined before more bile spewed out of her mouth and into the bag.

"It's alright Lexi." He comforted as he patted her back.

"I think this is it. I'm gonna die on a plane from puking so much." Lexi said.

"You ain't gonna die, ma. We only got less than an hour left, after we get off the plane I'll get you whatever you need for your stomach and then we'll take a cab to Penn Hills, check in and then relax for the rest of the night."

"Really?"

"Yeah Lex. Of course. Have I ever lied to you?" Fezco asked.

"Yes."

"Huh? When?"

"Before our flight. You said that flights are fun and relaxing, but it's been the complete opposite for me."

"Well baby... everybody's different." Fez said with a shrug before chuckling.

"Ugh." Lexi groaned again before her head was once again in the barf bag a second later.

Less than an hour left? Ha! She felt like she was on the world's longest flight that just wouldn't end.

Eventually, they arrived that night to the snow covered Poconos. They got their luggage, Lexi took an Alka Seltzer at the airport, the couple hailed a cab and were soon headed to Penn Hills.

Lexi was feeling a bit better, though she was exhausted. She took a nap for a while in the cab before waking up and looking out of the window of the cab and admired the snowy scenery.

"It's really beautiful here." She said with a smile.

"Yeah it is. Glad I dressed warm, shit... or else my ass would be frozen with all this snow falling." Fez said, his black fur coat thickly wrapped around him.

"Yeah it is pretty cold here. I hope the room is nice and warm." Lexi said as she shivered a little bit in her yellow hip length trench coat.

"C'mere baby." Fez said as he wrapped his arms around her after seeing her shiver.

"Mmm Fez... you're so warm... like a... like a bear." She said before chuckling.

"I just want my wife to be warm. Tell you what, when we get to Boston after our honeymoon, imma buy you a fur coat, ma."

Lexi's eyes widened in shock. She had never had a fur before, only rich people wore them... but she was married to a rich man now, so she supposed it would be fine.

"A-Are you sure?" Lexi asked.

"Hell yeah. I want my baby to have some nice shit. You get whatever you want Lexi. Besides, winters in Boston get fucking cold... colder than how cold it is here. You lucky I ain't a New Yorker, cause their winters are even worse." Fez said.

"Oh, I didn't know that..."

"Yeah."

The Cab driver's radio started playing Born To Be Wild by Steppenwolf.

"So, Fez?"

"Yeah baby?"

"After I clean myself up a bit... I was wondering if you wanted to help warm me up?" She asked as she drew circles with her index finger onto his fur coat covered chest.

Fez grinned at her.

"Of course I do Lex, you gonna be begging me for some ice to cool you down afterwards, ma." He said before kissing her.

Lexi couldn't help but giggle into the kiss after she heard him speak.

Eventually the cab arrived at Penn Hills and after checking in at the front desk, Fezco and Lexi were walking with their suitcases to their cozy cabin suite.

"I wish it wasn't such a long way to walk, I'm freezing." Lexi said.

"I know ma, we're almost there." Fez replied.

Sure enough they were a few feet away from their cabin, and they quickly rushed over to it.

Fezco got out the key and unlocked the door, carrying the suitcases in and he also turned the lights on as Lexi stepped inside, closing the door behind her and locking it.

"Oh thank God! Look! There's a fireplace!" Lexi pointed out as she gazed at it.

"Yeah. Lemme get that going." Fezco grabbed a few matches from his pants pocket that he had mostly used to light his cigarettes, and he lit a match and threw it onto the logs that were already in the fireplace. He then stoked the burgeoning flames with a nearby fire poker before setting it down.

The room was already starting to warm up, just what Lexi had wanted. It felt really nice. It looked really nice too.

The couple explored the room a bit.

The closet was spacious, the bathroom was huge and even had a heart-shaped bathtub complete with a mirror above it and halfway surrounding it. The bed was circular and had pedestals that held up a mirror above it. The room's ambience was very romantic and it made Lexi grin.

"Oh Fez, this place is absolutely perfect." She said happily as she hugged him.

"I'm glad you like it baby. Now, what do you say we play some music, get undressed, take a relaxing bath and see where all that takes us?" He suggested.

"You're a mind reader Fezco O'Neill." Lexi said with a chuckle as she kissed his cheek.

Fez went over to the radio in the room and started turning the dial to get some music playing in the room while Lexi took her clothes off and went over to the tub that she was busy filling up with water and Avon Bubble Bath.

Fez took off his clothes as well and finally found a good radio station that was starting to play Ready For Love by Bad Company.

Fez helped Lexi into the bathtub and he himself got in as well. They held each other in their warm bubbly bathtub and Lexi sighed contentedly.

"I'm so happy." Lexi said as she gazed up at Fez.

"I'm glad, baby. There's so much more we're gonna do together on this trip." He replied as he started to scrub her back.

She sighed a contented sigh and after he was done cleaning her, she did the same for him.

"How about we get out now? We don't wanna get all pruned up." Lexi suggested as she looked at Fez.

"Of course, ma. Though you'd still be sexy even if you were all pruned up." Fez said.

Lexi giggled before Fez picked her up out of the tub suddenly, causing her laughter to increase as he chuckled.

They dried each other off and made their way to the circular bed, and laid down on it while talking to each other.

"That fight you got into at the luncheon..." Lexi started.

"I know Lex. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get so wild and embarrass you, ma. But that motherfucker said some real unsavory shit about you and I had to kick his ass."

"I understand Fez. Thank you for defending me. And for the record you didn't embarrass me. You managed to show me how you defend someone that you... that you..." Lexi trailed off.

"Care about? Yeah. It's alright ma, you can say it. Cause it's true. I care about you Lexi."

Lexi was almost speechless before she spoke up as if on impulse.

"I care about you too Fez."

Fez smiled before kissing his wife.

Lexi kissed him back, but within her head she couldn't stop thinking about how hot Fez looked as he beat the crap out of Nate and Aaron. She then got an idea.

"Oh!" She cried out suddenly as she sat up.

"What? What is it ma? Did I hurt you?" Fez asked frantically as he also sat up.

"No Fez. I'm fine. But... I think my bracelet fell off in the lobby. I just noticed."

"Oh, want me to go and get it for you?" He asked.

"Can you?"

"Yeah sure, anything for you Lex. Lemme put my clothes back on and I'll go look for it in the lobby, it ain't far."

"Thank you Fez."

"You're welcome, and when I get back... we gon' finish what we were about to start baby. Imma need you to warm me up after I get out of the cold." He said with a smirk after he got up and started putting his boxers on, his pants, his shirt and sweater back on before stepping into his shoes and putting his fur coat back on.

"Oh I certainly will... hurry back baby." Lexi replied as she leaned in for a kiss, that Fez lovingly laid on her lips.

"Stay right there sexy, don't move an inch while I'm gone." Fez said with a smile before he left the room.

Lexi went over to the window, peeking through the pink curtains and watching her husband walk to the lobby, the snow crunching under his shoes as he walked away from their cabin.

Lexi knew she didn't lose a bracelet, she hadn't worn any bracelets that day. As her husband disappeared out of sight, she knew she had to work fast.

She went over to her suitcase and pulled out the blue gift bag that Rue had given her at the luncheon. She took the contents out of it and looked at herself in the nearby mirror that surrounded the heart-shaped tub.

"Alright... now, how do I put this on?" She wondered aloud as she held up the bra that would show her nipples and the crotchless panties.

After a bit of trial and error, she figured it out. Her nipples on display, out of the bra's cups. She had gently played with her own nipples curiously, which only made them perkier. Her pussy and bare lower lips were on display in between to scant pieces of white lacy fabric. It looked as if her pussy was playing peekaboo, and upon looking at herself in the mirror it made her blush and giggle. She turned around and looked at herself a bit more, even her asshole was on display, and that made her blush even more.

Lexi admired herself in the mirror and grinned before she spanked her own ass teasingly and hiding the gift bag back in her suitcase.

"Great job Rue and Maddy." She muttered to herself with a grin.

Her mind wandered to Fez, she knew he'd be back at any minute... but... the image in her mind of him using all of his strength to beat up the Jacobs Brothers at the luncheon... it flooded her mind.

Lexi sat on the circular bed and laid down before she started to touch herself. She groped her tits before licking her fingers and rubbing her clit and inserting her fingers into her pussy. She felt her own wetness as she threw her head back and moaned.

She couldn't help but pick up the pace a bit before moaning again.

"Fezco! Yes!" She cried out, full on fucking herself with her fingers, before tapping her own clit with her wet fingers, making herself shiver with arousal.

"Fuck..." She said, her whole being was taken over by arousal, lust and need for her big strong husband.

She then decided that she wanted him to bring her to orgasm... not that playing with herself wasn't fun... but it wasn't the same.

Lexi sat up and sucked her own fingers before getting up and turning the radio off and getting out a vinyl record that she wanted to play.

She put it on and cranked up the volume before looking out of the window from behind the curtains... Fez was a few feet away from the cabin door.

Lexi smiled and closed the curtains back before kneeling on the bed sensually as Crazy On You by Heart blasted throughout the room.

Fez unlocked the door and came in. He saw his wife on the bed and he almost stopped in his tracks.

"Welcome back Fez." Lexi greeted with a smile.

"Oh, so you a fuckin' minx now, is that it? I had a feeling that bracelet thing was bullshit... and turns out I was right, but you just needed me to get the fuck out because you wanted to dress up for me... shit... you look fuckin' amazing Lexi O'Neill." Fez said as he closed the door and locked it.

He immediately started to strip off his clothes.

"You know who really looked fucking amazing... no, really fucking sexy... you did... when you were kicking ass at the luncheon. I was so turned on seeing that... that I... I did something naughty while you were out."

Fez was now naked as he approached the bed.

"Oh? And what'd you do baby?"

"I touched myself. I thought of you and how strong and sexy you are and I touched myself."

Fez was almost breathless.

"Ooh baby... you more naughty than I thought you were." He said as he started to stroke his cock as he got closer to her.

"Yeah, and Fez?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm in charge tonight. So... I want you on your back... open your mouth. I saw how strong your arms and hands are... but I wanna see how strong your tongue is." Lexi said in a low and sensual voice.

Fezco only felt his cock twitch and get harder as he gazed at his wife, the music definitely matching her current wanton behavior... and he loved it.

"Your wish is my command, baby." He said obediently with a smile as he laid down on the bed on his back, his mouth open as Lexi crawled up to his face and took a seat, moaning as she felt his tongue lapping at her wet folds.

"Oh honey!" Lexi cried out as she slid herself against his tongue.

Fez ate as if he were a man eating his last meal and as if he were a man on a mission.

Lexi brought herself on and off of her husband's tongue as she threw her head back, moaning loudly.

Fezco kept at it until Lexi started to shiver with arousal before she finally came, her toes curling as she met her release.

"Fez!"

He took a few more licks before sliding out from underneath her pussy.

"Oh baby, that was so fuckin' hot. You real fearless Lex."

"Thank you Fez." She said breathlessly before he kissed her.

"No need to thank me baby... now, let's see how many times you can orgasm like that in one night." He said with a smirk as he got on top of her.

Before the night was over, Lexi's sexy underwear had been thrown somewhere across the room, the mirrors surrounding and above the bed had fogged up and Fez was sure that his wife could definitely be pregnant at this point... if not now then definitely after he made his last few thrusts of the night.

"Fuck! I'm gonna cum!"

"Yes! Oh Fez yes! Fill me up!" Lexi begged as she felt her billionth orgasm of that night happen to her.

Fez groaned loudly as he thrust himself deeply into Lexi, feeling his seed shoot out from his cock once again that night.

Lexi had her fingers between her legs, rubbing her clit as he took his last few thrusts and she had her last orgasm of the night and came hard as soon as she felt the tip of his cock hit her cervix.

"Ah! Shit! Lexi! Fuck!" Fez cried out as he felt himself finally go limp inside of her after he came. He stayed inside of her however as he caught his breath.

"Oh my god! Fez..." Lexi trailed off breathlessly as she laid there, her legs still spread but her knees up to her shoulders.

Fez turned them both over onto their side facing one another because he didn't want to pull out.

"That was absolutely-"

"Fucking amazing." Fez finished her sentence, and she didn't even mind at that point.

"Yeah. Uh why are you not pulling out of me yet?" She asked as she gazed at him in the dark. Their only light source at that particular part of the night was the still raging fireplace.

"I just came inside of you so damn much if I pull out now our whole cabin is gonna be flooded with cum. Besides, you still want a baby... don't you?" He asked as he brushed a sweaty strand of hair from her forehead.

Lexi giggled before crinkling her nose in disgust at the image of the entire cabin being flooded with her husband's cum. Upon hearing his question, she smiled and nodded.

"Yes, I do still want a baby. And honestly... you came inside of me so much I'm sure at least one of those times has gotten me pregnant already." Lexi said as she gently and lovingly placed her palm onto Fez's cheek.

He smiled at her lovingly and planted a kiss on her palm.

"If not, we still have oh... seven more days to make sure I'll be going home with you to Boston carrying your baby in me, Fezco."

"And if not, well... I ain't ever made no babies in Boston before, but if I don't knock you up here in the Poconos... well shit... there's a first time for everything, ma."

"We'll see baby, we'll see..." Lexi said before drifting off to sleep, sweaty and naked but content in her husband's arms.

Fez followed her to sleep immediately afterwards, the warm feeling of her against him and him still being buried inside of her along with the calming crackle of the fireplace, put him to sleep.

The next few days of their honeymoon... they hardly left their cabin... it was just too cold outside for either of them. They would leave their cabin on the fifth day of their honeymoon to do a few activities that Penn Hills had to offer during the day, like indoor roller skating...

"Oh come on Fez! It's easy, it's like walking but on skates!"

"I swear to God, if I fall and bust my ass with these things on my feet..."

"It's okay! Come on baby!" Lexi encouraged Fez as he clumsily skated towards her.

"That's it! You're doing great!"

"Lexi, I think imma fall!" Fez said with a freaked out look.

"No you're not gonna fall, you're doing great."

"Nah, I feel fucking lopsided. This don't feel right. I'm gonna go roll my ass back to those benches."

"Oh come on Fez! At least try to rollerskate? For me?" Lexi begged with a smile.

"Fine... I can never say no to my girl." He replied as he skated towards her.

"See you've got it! Now just pick up speed." She instructed.

"Shit... okay." He started picking up a bit of speed with his rollerblades before he slipped and fell back on his own ass.

"Fuck!"

Lexi couldn't help but laugh a bit before skating over to him and trying to help him up.

"Shit! My ass hurts and you're laughing!? Oh Hell nah, c'mere Lex." He said jokingly, taking faux offense to her laughter before he pulled her down with him.

"No! Fez no! Oh we were both doing so well but you just had to take me down with you!" She said between hard laughs as she now sat in his lap.

Fez couldn't help himself but laugh too. The situation was hilarious because now they'd have to crawl their way back to the benches... and that's exactly what they did.

"I can't believe I had to crawl back to the benches with you, Fez!"

"Yeah well, believe it because you made me try skating out in the first place." He teased.

"Alright alright, I guess I deserved that." Lexi replied as they both finally reached the benches and sat down, taking their skates off.

You Make Loving Fun by Fleetwood Mac played over the speakers of the rollerskating venue, the music was echoing quite a bit but it still managed to set a romantic mood.

Lexi leaned against him, staring out at the somewhat busy rollerskating venue.

"I don't think I've ever been this happy." She admitted to him.

Fez smiled at her before kissing her forehead.

"I'm so fucking glad to make you happy, ma. Shit, after seeing how your sister treats you and how your mom ain't really payin' you no attention, you really deserve someone in your life to make you happy... and I'm glad that I'm that person Lexi."

Lexi grinned at him, her eyes had a sad look in them.

"I... I don't know how to thank you Fez... I've always been that person in the background letting life go on as everyone focuses on Cassie, even I focused on her a lot. She's... difficult. And I was just... so tired, but you... you're giving me life again, you're... revitalizing me. And I love that and... I wanna do the exact same for you, I wanna be your solace because Fezco I-"

"I love you too Lexi."

Lexi was speechless yet again.

He loves her, and she loves him... she was absolutely floating right now.

"Fez, oh my god. I love you so much." Lexi replied as she smiled tearfully as she sniffled.

"Aw, ma... why're you cryin' huh?"

"These are happy tears." Lexi answered with a chuckle as Fez pulled her in for a hug before kissing her.

They stayed like that for a while, before coming up for air.

"Hey... you wanna get some lunch?" He asked.

"Yeah. Let's go." She replied with a nod as they picked up their shoes from the roller rink clerk, put them back on and went over to the dining room of the resort where the smell of burgers, hot dogs, sandwiches, deli meats, fish, shrimp, cheeses, soups, fries, and fresh ice cream sundaes wafted into the air and into their nostrils.

"So, are you still worried about your sister?" Fez asked as he got a tray for himself and Lexi and started to get a burger and fries.

"Of course I am. She's just the type that you worry about because she's just so-"

"Fragile?"

"No... stupid." Lexi answered as she got a fruit cup, a sandwich, a shrimp cocktail and a bowl of minestrone soup.

Fez couldn't help himself but laugh.

"Woah Lex. You callin' your big sister stupid?"

"Yeah, I am. Because it's true. She's not the brightest bulb in the pack, Fez. Not only that but she's very dramatic, as you yourself saw."

"Yeah. Are you... glad you're away from all of that or...?"

"Of course I'm glad I'm away from all of that. I've had to put up with her forever, and as the years passed she just got... worse. Honestly if I hadn't married you, I'd have probably runaway from home."

"Well baby, you're my wife now. Ain't no running away from home for you." He said reassuringly with a smile before she grinned at him.

"I know, and if you're home I'm not running away." She replied as they both sat down and dug into their lunch happily.

They had a quickie in their heart-shaped bathtub a few hours after arriving back into their room, and Fez had a surprise for Lexi.

He told her to wear something fancy, and she put on her best dress, it was a black dress with slightly puffy sleeves.

Before she left the bathroom she could hear music. She left the bathroom and found the room to be dark but lit by candlelight and the fireplace, rose petals on the floor, a table for two near the window, a bottle of champagne in the small ice bucket, two champagne glasses, two seats across from each other and menus sitting on the table.

Lexi gasped. It was so beautiful and so romantic.

Fez stood up, wearing a fresh suit with a grin on his face as Stand By Me by Ben E. King played on the record player in their cabin.

"We got only two more days, so I thought why not surprise my baby with a romantic dinner." He said with a grin and a shrug.

"Oh Fez. It's beautiful, I love it. Oh I love you." She said as she approached him and hugged him before kissing him.

After the kiss was broken, he pulled her chair out for her and she sat down, he sat across from her. He reached over and held her hand, looking into her eyes.

"You know, if we weren't already married I'd have proposed to you already... probably with a fancy dinner like this." He said.

"That's so sweet, and I definitely would have said yes."

"And I'd have passed out if you said yes." He joked.

It took a few moments but the champagne cork finally popped and they drank a bit before ordering their food over the rotary phone in their cabin after looking at the menu.

"Wanna dance?" Lexi asked.

"Aw Lex, you know I'm not a good dancer."

"Baby, it's just us here. No one else... literally."

"Alright." Fez stood up and took Lexi's hand. She stood up and they both danced together, he held her in his arms and they simply let the romantic sound of Stand By Me overtake them as they swayed along to the sound of the orchestra in the song.

For Lexi, this was like a dream... a dream she didn't know she had needed to live out until now.

A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door. It was the resort waiter with their food.

"Good evening Mr. and Mrs. O'Neill. I'm Sam and I'll be your waiter for this evening. I have your dinner orders on this here tray. I have the lobster thermidor with a cobb salad... and I have the garlic butter lamb chops with glazed carrots. And for dessert, courtesy of Penn Hills, our bakers made this decadent German Black Forest cake for you." The waiter said as he entered the room.

"Oh wow that sounds delicious. Thank you." Fez said before handing him a generous tip.

"Yes, thank you." Lexi said with a smile as the plates of food were laid out onto the table.

Sam chuckled before grinning nervously.

"Oh no, thank you." He said as he looked at the two hundred dollar bills he had been given as he left the room, closing the door behind him.

"He must not get tipped well, huh?" Lexi said.

"Yeah probably cause he's a weird dude. I ain't ever seen a weird grin like that before."

Lexi giggled before digging into her lobster thermidor as Fez dug into his lamb chops.

After dinner and dessert, Lexi and Fez couldn't keep their hands off of each other and ended up making love that night on into the morning until sleep overcame them for a brief moment before the rotary phone in their room rang.

"I got it ma, go back to sleep." Fez said before he picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi, is this Mr. O'Neill?"

"Yeah, who's calling?"

"It's BB from the front desk here in Penn Hills, we're connecting a long distance call from Hawaii from a Ms. Maddy Perez. Would you like to take the call? It'll cost $3.00."

"Yeah I'll take the call."

"Perfect, I'm patching you over now."

The phone rang on the other line and Fez gently shook Lexi awake.

"Lex, wake up."

"Huh? What is it Fez? And please don't wake me up for sex, I'm exhausted." Lexi whined.

"No baby, Maddy is calling from Hawaii. It's a long distance call."

Upon hearing that, Lexi sat up in bed with a surprised look on her face.

"What?"

Then the line connected.

"Hello? Are you guys there? I fucking hate long distance calls, this shit is gonna cost me three bucks." Maddy complained.

"Maddy, hey! Yeah we're here, we can hear you." Fez replied.

"Great, is Lexi there?"

"Yeah she right here. You wanna talk to her?"

"Hey Maddy!" Lexi said.

"Hey! Uh I wanted to talk to both of you guys if that's okay."

"Yeah Mad, go ahead." Lexi replied.

"Great! So, you know how we're all here in Hawaii to convince Cassie to get the fuck away from Nate? Well... he convinced her to end their honeymoon early so they can go to Cincinnati so he can get her settled into his huge swanky fucking mansion." Maddy said angrily.

"What!? W-Wait! Are you telling us that you, Ethan and Kat are there in Hawaii but Cassie and Nate left their own honeymoon early?" Lexi asked.

"That's exactly what I'm fucking saying. I tried to get through to her the second day she was here and she straight up ignored me! I don't know what kind of weird shit he pulled on her but she's completely shut everyone out! I tried my damn hardest with her, so did Ethan and so did Kat! Hell, even Rue and Jules called all the way from Kentucky to try to get your sister away from him and she still wouldn't listen! Then come to find out, I didn't see them at all the next few days, so y'know I thought okay they must be fucking in their hotel room, but I go to the hotel front desk to ask about the Jacobs reservation just last night... and you won't fucking believe what the front desk lady told me!"

"What'd she tell you?" Fez asked.

"That Cassie and Nate left the second night they were here!"

"What the fuck!?" Lexi yelled.

"They fucking left that night you were trying to help Cassie!? Why the fuck would they only have a two day honeymoon? What kinda sense does that make?" Fez asked in a bewildered tone.

"Control. He's fucking controlling her. They fucked off back to Cincinnati and he's probably got her dressed up like his very own sex doll in his mansion."

Lexi shook her head and got out of bed. This was all too much.

"I swear to God imma beat his smarmy ass to a pulp." Fez said.

"Fez... no. That's not needed in a situation like this... it'll only make her want to be with him further... actually, it might have caused her to end her own honeymoon with him early." Maddy said.

"Shit... you're right. He's such a goddamn weirdo!"

"Right? Well listen, I gotta go before this place charges me an arm and a leg for being on the phone long distance. Kat, Ethan and I are flying back today, check out time is in... shit! A few minutes! I gotta go, but I hope you both have a great rest of your honeymoon, and I'll see you both soon!" Maddy exclaimed.

"Alright, see you soon! Lex is in the bathroom but she'll see you all soon too!"

"Sounds good! Bye!" Maddy said before hanging up.

Fez hung up the phone and got out of bed, knocking on the bathroom door.

"Baby? You good in there?"

He then heard a retching noise and a few minutes later the door opened after the toilet flushed.

"You okay?"

"Yeah... I'm fine. That was all just... too much. That and... I think I might have a touch of food poisoning."

"Aw baby, want me to get you some Pepto-Bismol? Some Tums? Some ginger-ale? You got the bubble guts?" He asked concerned.

"No, I'll be fine... I think... Fezco... I think in order to calm my nerves... we might need to-"

"Go home? Visit your sister maybe? See how she's doing?"

"Yeah. But... I wanna go to Boston first. And get settled in with you. I'm sure that'll take my mind off of things." Lexi suggested.

Fezco nodded, he understood.

"Alright. I'll call the front desk and tell them that we're checking out a day early. Imma definitely recommend this place to people though, but for the summer... cause winters here are cold as shit." He said as he started calling the front desk as Lexi popped an Alka Seltzer with water to settle her stomach.

"You doing okay baby?" Fez asked.

"I'll do better once we're on land and not airborne." Lexi said weakly.

"Yeah I know, next time we'll drive. I promise." Fez said as he rubbed his wife's arm.

"We'd better." Lexi replied to her husband before throwing up in the barf bag again.

The pilot then spoke up on the intercom.

"Hello, this is your pilot speaking. We are currently ten minutes away from Boston folks, and we hope everyone has had a great flight so far... and we hope that the woman tossing her cookies in seat 23A will feel better once we land. Anyways, thank you for flying Pan-Am!"

Lexi groaned into the bag, wanting to hide as Fez rubbed her back comfortingly. She couldn't wait to get to Boston...

(A/N: Also a few interesting things about this chapter: - Penn Hills Resort in the Poconos was a real honeymoon resort that unfortunately got abandoned in the 2010s and has been subjected to vandalism, a murderer squatting there and a huge fire that unfortunately burned quite a few of the buildings belonging to the once popular resort. You can view pictures of the abandoned Penn Hills resort online, along with the history of Penn Hills and it's sad demise into the annals of history and you can see their old 70s and 80s commercials on YouTube as well. I highly recommend googling Penn Hills and reading up on it's history.

- Pan-Am the airlines that Fez and Lexi use in this chapter was extremely popular in the 70s but unfortunately went on the decline by the time the 80s came around and ended up shutting down a bit later on. Go Google Pan-Am Airways, they’re pretty iconic in retro America so I also highly recommend googling Pan-Am Airways and their history since this may not be the last time we see Pan-Am Airways showing up in this fic.

- To all my younger readers (I myself am a young writer in my 20s), no one not even myself will remember a time where you had to pay per hour on a long distance call on a rotary phone or a payphone, but it was the norm back in the 70s. In some places I read that it would cost at least $2.00 an hour or it could even cost 75 cents per hour. I saw an article where someone in the 70s complained about the price to call long distance and said they also "Needed money for gas." (Which I totally don't blame them!) Another fun fact, there was a gas shortage in the 70s, so go figure!

- And last but not least, this chapter was difficult to write simply because of the fact that there's not a lot of stuff about the fun things that went on during the heyday of Penn Hills when it was still in operation. Instead nowadays, you'll find a bunch of pictures of a sad and empty vandalized resort that hasn't seen customers for nearly a decade or more.)