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#especially from a few specific friends that im seeing soon
cantsaythetword · 1 year
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I'm lee for my friends but not in a fun 'aaaah nooo help I lee' way more in a 'tword me so I know you definitely love me' way
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thinkinonsense · 26 days
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old!logan and his obsession with the cute diner girl *mdni
a/n: this is my first attempt at writing something smutty so if it sucks im sorry lmao also if any writers have any tips please share! :)
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logan has been around for long enough to know when a woman is attracted to him. there was a certain essence given off that was always a dead giveaway. usually it came from women close to the age he looked like and it tended to be brief moments of lust before all hope was lost. this was until he met you.
the pretty young girl working at the diner during her time off from college. everyday, he came in and ordered a black coffee. the coffee wasn't even that good but logan would spend two dollars every single day of his life if it came with the view of you bending over in that tiny uniform skirt.
logan would watch you for hours while he drank and skimmed the news paper alone in a booth. your hair was always up in either a ponytail or held together with a hair clip. he loved seeing your pretty handwriting as you scribbled on your notepad, taking orders. it was part of your job to be nice to everyone but you were especially nice to him. even your friends began to notice how you would linger by his table, constantly topping off his coffee mug and making small talk; sometimes giving him a slice of cherry pie on the house.
"don't you think he's kinda old for you?" one of your friends whispers to you behind the counter.
it's stung but you suppose she had a point. what would a man old enough to be your father want with a young wild girl like yourself?
"i-i guess so?" you stuttered, embarrassed at your previous attempt at flirting with him.
the rest of the night, you hoped he would leave before close so you could have some time alone with your feelings. summer was almost over and you would go back to the city soon. it was time to forget these silly fantasizes.
by ten, all the other waitresses went home except you, the older woman in the back who counted the drawer every night, and a few of the cooks. the only customer still there was logan. he flipped through one of the books he brought with him; still sipping away at that damn coffee.
"isn't it getting a little late for you, sweetheart?" he asked nonchalantly, not even looking up at you as you bent over to scrub the table next to his. the fifth table you've cleaned in the last hour and the second time you've cleaned that specific table. logan noticed but you didn't.
"need the hours." you mumble, frustrated by a stubborn stain. all logan could focus on was your scrunched nose and how your tight top pushed your boobs together just right for his viewing. "college is fucking expensive plus grants and scholarships only cover so much."
"hmm.." logan grunts. grants? scholarship? what a goody fucking two shoes, logan thought to himself. "if you bring me piece of pie, i think i can help you out."
you lean off the table and go get what's left in the glass container. it's probably a little hard so you definitely didn't plan on charging him for it. you sit the plate down in front of him and before you could turn around to walk away, logan reaches for your wrist softly.
"join me." he offers.
you knew you shouldn't but what was really the harm? at least your friends weren't here to make fun of you. the radio played quietly on an older station while you watched logan take a bite of the pie.
"why did your friends leave you here alone?" he asked, watching your face turn sour at the memory of them.
"don't wanna talk about it." your voice was small in the empty diner.
"why? think an old man like me can't relate to it?" logan chuckles. your thighs squeeze together without thinking. so much for not embarrassing yourself.
"no, no, not that." you shake your head and a strand of hair falls from your bun. "just sort of juvenile, you know?"
logan could tell that you were trying to come off more mature around him. you didn't want him to see you as some college kid.
"juvenile, how?" he eggs on, pushing down his glasses a bit.
god, those glasses got to you; and logan knew it.
"they don't understand how i feel about someone." you sigh.
"how do you feel about this person?" logan noticed you now avoiding his gaze, not liking it one bit. "eyes on me, princess."
the nickname caught you off guard like a dear in headlight; blinking and trembling up at logan. something logan enjoyed very much and could get used to.
"it's not important, just some stupid crush." you lie through your teeth. "they will forget about me in a month."
"why don't you think it'll work?" he cocks his head to the side a bit. "you're a pretty young thing, dollface. anyone of those college boys would be lucky to be wrapped around your little finger."
"i don't want college boys." you mumble, slightly annoyed by the memory of your friends.
logan felt himself getting hard at you admitting you had a taste for someone older. his eyes grew dark as he leaned in a little over the table.
"then what do you want?"
your moment to answer was interrupted by the older woman from the back, releasing you to go home for the evening. this was your chance to get up and leave before you admitted anything else that you would regret.
both of you stood up. logan threw down some cash while you went to collect your stuff behind the counter.
"i'll see you tomorrow, lo-"
"you didn't answer the question."
"i must go now if i want to catch the last train."
logan worried about you taking the train back to your apartment alone this late at night. usually you drive back but your car has been in the shop for almost three days now. he would watch you get to your car every night to make sure you were safe.
"i can drive you home." logan offers.
you shouldn't be this excited to be sitting in a strangers truck alone at night but here you were. the two of you sat in silence for a few minutes before logan brought up the conversation from the diner again. what did you even want?
"i want someone who understands me..." you begin rattling off the first things that come to mind when you notice logan's hand on your knee. you don't dare move.
"someone who is responsible..." with every word, his hand creeps higher and higher up your skirt. logan is more than pleased when he notices your legs spread on their own.
"someone who is m-mature..." logan's fingers inch towards the delicate skin of your inner thigh. there's no way this was happening, you thought as his index finger plays with the lace on the center of your pink underwear. he smirked at the wet spot front and center, waiting for him.
"treats me r-r-right." every word was a struggle to form as he stroked you softly. back and forth. back and forth.
logan nods along, not letting up down below. his index finger hooks onto your underwear, pulling it aside. you weren't even sure if you were breathing at this point; all this teasing was torture.
"p-p-please, logan..." you whine. "touch me."
his thumb rubs tiny circles on your button, adoring the way his name pours from your glossy lips. your hands fly to his wrists, needing more; nails digging into his skin in the most delicious way.
"where did this greediness come from?" logan groans, dipping his index finger inside of you. "what happened to that good girl from the diner?"
logan's finger barely fit in the tight space. your head fell back and a loud moan escaped you.
"oh, you weren't letting those college boys touch you at all, huh?" logan mocks, adding another finger and creating a steady pace.
"n-no!" you whine, lifting your hips a little.
"you were waiting for a real man to have his way with you, isn't that right, pretty girl?" he growls, pushing your hips back down.
you completely missed logan pulling off to the side of the road until now. his pace increases becoming rather rough now that he isn't driving. logan leaves deep purple bruises down your neck and across your chest, praising you to no end until you gush around his fingers, completely soaking his palm.
your heart pounded like you had just finished a marathon. logan allowed you to catch your breath as he carefully removed his fingers, bringing them up to his mouth to lick clean. he can feel your dazy eyes staring at him as he does so, making a real show of it.
"i've been wanting to do that for months now." he admits with a smirk.
"me too." you said, leaning forward and pulling him into a kiss; tasting yourself on his lips and tongue. logan wraps his hands around your hair, pulling you back a little when another moan falls from your lips.
"and we aren't even close to being done."
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iburnedmyselfalive · 8 months
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SEX THERAPIST.
nsfw! -- lowkey got the idea from some wattpad book i read a couple years ago LMAOAOA someone lmk what its called if yk what im talking about.
this was so rushed, but I wanna make more parts to this soooooo, should I ?? + not proofread sorry for any mistakes
Over the past few weeks, challenges have emerged in your relationship with your boyfriend, including a sexual issue. A friend suggested seeking the help of a relationship therapist, specifically a sex therapist.
Following this advice, both of you attended therapy sessions, which have been generally positive. The sessions have been conducted by Mr. Skywalker, and you couldn't help but notice his flawlessly attractive presence.
Today, Mr. Skywalker invited you to a session alone, as your boyfriend was away on a work trip and couldn't attend. Despite the familiarity of being in therapy sessions with your boyfriend, you found yourself unexpectedly nervous about being in Mr. Skywalker's office alone.
This uneasiness contrasted with the usual sessions where he sometimes appeared agitated when you had discussed certain relationship issues.
You subtly pushed open the door to his office, finding him absorbed in his laptop. His intense gaze lifted as he noticed your entrance, and he grunted, "Good to see you," shutting his laptop without breaking eye contact.
Taking a seat across from him, you couldn't help but feel a mix of intimidation and attraction as his penetrating eyes swept over you, especially when they almost hungrily traced the lines of your pretty skirt.
"Hey," you greeted, adjusting yourself and placing your purse aside.
"How are you today?" he inquired, the discussion soon shifting towards your boyfriend, and he cut right to the chase.
"Any differences?" he demanded, a hint of authority in his tone. "Or just the same?"
With a sigh, you reluctantly nodded, "Just the same."
"hm, I see, today, we're going to try something" he declared, taking a pause before continuing, "different from our usual sessions,"
"Alright?" he asked, his gaze holding yours in a way that sent shivers down your spine.
And with that, you nodded.
"Now, hun, you know better than that, use your words," he advised, raising his eyebrows with a subtle challenge, making you gulp at the underlying intensity.
Despite the unease, you nodded again, confirming, "Yes, it's alright."
He nodded in approval, a sly smile playing on his lips. "There we go, that's better," he cooed.
You struggled to maintain composure as he rose slowly from his seat.
Fuck, he looked too good.
It felt almost wrong to acknowledge, but he exuded a captivating mix of intimidation and raw appeal. Giving you a piercing look, he wordlessly gestured for you to stand.
You complied, standing mere inches from him, reveling in the sizzling height difference that fueled your desires.
"Relax, you're nervous," he spoke in a low, commanding tone, his massive, yet surprisingly gentle hand tracing along your shoulder.
"Remember the breathing activities Nadia taught you?" he questioned, referencing a previous therapist.
You nodded.
"I want you to do those for me right now," he demanded, and you obeyed.
Inhaling deeply and exhaling slowly, you followed the practiced routine. Anakin's intense presence lingered, making your transformation into a calmer state palpable to both him and yourself.
"Good," he cooed, a low rumble in his voice.
"Very good," he continued, his unwavering gaze fixed on yours.
"You mentioned that when he touches you, he tends to rush things and doesn't take his time, right?" Anakin inquired.
You nearly choked on your words, but you managed to nod. "Yes, he rushes it," you concurred, and he nodded, trailing his fingers down your shoulders.
"You don't like that," he stated, and you just shrugged.
"If you want my help, you're going to have to talk to me," he asserted, his tone firm.
"So, I'm going to ask you again. You don't like it, correct?" he demanded, and without hesitation, you responded, "yes, It's not even enjoyable for me now," you explained, having this weird feeling inside of you.
Your eyes threatened to lose focus as his commanding lips left a trail of kisses along your neck.
"He doesn't get you squirming like this, does he?" he demanded, his breath sending shivers down your spine.
"He doesn't even bother to kiss me," you breathlessly responded, almost whimpering when Anakin abruptly halted his assault on your neck. Gripping your face with his two hands, he sneered, "Well, it's his loss."
Before you could fully process his words, he forcefully pulled you into a fervent kiss, his tongue asserting dominance while his hands explored your body. In response, your hands navigated the contours of his physique. Standing on your toes, you seized his shirt, pulling him in for more.
"I'm going to teach you," he growled between kisses, his voice dripping with intimidation and promise.
"I'm going to show you what it truly means to feel good."
He was making his intentions unmistakably clear.
You offered no resistance, the unfamiliar sensations captivating you entirely. A low whimper escaped your lips as you looked up at him with pleading eyes, your voice adopting a desperate tone.
"Do whatever you want to me, please," you begged.
In response, a grin spread across his face, his gaze growing more intense. He effortlessly lifted you, carrying you to his desk and placing you on the edge without a care for the paperwork that might have fallen.
Unconcerned about the potential mess, he kissed you again, deliberately slow and enticing, leaving you craving more as his lips reluctantly pulled away. Descending to your neck, he gradually knelt on the ground, spreading your legs apart.
Inhaling your scent, he groaned as his fingers teased the material of your skirt.
"Cute," he murmured before his tongue traced over your damp panties.
"He's never made you this wet, has he? This all f'me?" he cooed, and with a whimper, you nodded. Your hands tangled in his hair as his tongue continued to trace circles over your panties.
"Raise your hips for me, baby," he murmured, standing up slightly. Complying, you lifted your hips, allowing him to smoothly pull down both your skirt and panties, discarding them carelessly on the floor.
Returning to his previous position on his knees, he watched you with an intensity that left you feeling exposed.
Shyly attempting to close your legs, he intervened without hesitation, forcefully parting them. Biting his lip at the revealing sight before him, his hands gripped your thighs, pulling you closer to the edge.
He planted a couple of kisses on your inner thighs before his tongue skillfully lapped over your drenched core. His eyes remained locked onto yours, never wavering for a second, intensifying the heat of the moment.
Your body quivered at his sudden actions, and soon enough, he began sucking at your clit, causing your head to arch back in pleasure.
"fuck ani, 's good" you cried out, legs shaking from how good it was, how good he was.
He never let anyone refer to him with the nickname, 'ani', but an exception was made for you.
"Louder," he demanded, and you complied, moaning and whimpering in response to his skilled ministrations.
Your breath caught as you almost moaned at the sight of his chin glistening with your arousal. His nose grazing your clit with each rhythmic motion elicited loud moans from you. His unyielding grip on your thighs persisted, and he skillfully positioned you to allow the subtlest rocking of your hips back and forth.
"oh my gosh" you cried out, your hand clutching the lamp on his desk for dear life as your legs trembled uncontrollably.
"mmm," he cooed, continuing to suck on your clit. "Such a good pussy this is," he murmured appreciatively.
"Want all your damn juices in my mouth. Come on, baby, cum," he grunted, and with those words, and his absolute torture going on with your cunt, you made a mess all over his face.
He persisted in his relentless actions even after you reached your peak, a smirk playing on his lips as he finally stood up. Grabbing your trembling hand, he guided it over to the bulge in his pants.
"Feelin' me, baby?" he sneered, and with a pout, you nodded.
"Where do you want this, here, hm?" he taunted, using his other hand to press down on your lower stomach.
Again, you nodded.
"Yes, please," you begged, and he chuckled, a menacing tone underscoring the sound.
Sealing his lips to yours, he tasted you through the kiss, reveling in the control he held. His hands roughly palmed your breasts through your shirt before pulling away for the slightest second to take off your top, following your bra.
"Off," you whined, eyeing his pants as you undid the buttons on his shirt. Soon, both of you had discarded clothes, each piece carelessly thrown around his office.
"Such a pretty pussy, been denied for so long, huh?" he jeered, removing his boxers.
You found yourself almost intimidated by his size, and as he brought it to your slit, he chuckled while deliberately teasing it against your folds.
"Lay down," he demanded, and you whined.
"But your desk, what if it—" you started expressing concern, but he cut you off.
"Do you think I give a damn about my desk, love? I don't give a single shit if it breaks. I'm going to fuck you," he spat out.
"I'm going to fuck you just the way you deserve it."
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mysticmellowlove · 1 year
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yan chat being delusional as well
note - a little adjacent part to the yan streamer, much shorter
warnings - yandere stream chat, mod reader, simps, gn reader
word count - 527
Getting back on and modding for Streamer wasn't as mortifying as you expected. It was like everything was the same as always. He logged on, set up his latest game and played away as you scanned the chat for any assholes.
However, you did have to admit that there was something different about the chat on this particular day. As soon as you took a closer look the reason was pretty clear.
Aside from streamer, who seemed to always gush over you playfully when he had a spare moment, there were a few select chatters that always seemed to fill in the gaps for him. By that you mean they spent almost all of their time redeeming rewards and talking directly to you.
Some days it was nice, especially when you were really feeling down, but today it was becoming more and more annoying. Almost every second message came from one of your 'adoring' fans. When you first started to mod for Streamer you'd notice the same three or four chatters talking to him the most. His loyal fans. The second that Streamer had started to get closer to you they started to get closer to you.
It also didn't help that they ran Streamer's discord group.
You could already see them in the chat saying hello to Streamer, after they found that he was busy trying to pass the level they switched their attention to you.
"Hello Sugar!"
"Sugarrrr you haven't answered my dm yet"
"hey im unbanned sugar step on me"
You pursed your lips, these three were the main perpetrators and once they got started they usually dragged the whole chat into their antics. True to nature the chat filled with greetings and emojis, including the ones that Streamer had customised for you.
"Oh yeah, guess what everyone. I found out a little secret about our favourite mod." Streamer trilled as he cheekily grinned into his webcam. You flinched, you knew he wouldn't leak your location but it was still nerve-racking. You were kinda friends with him but he owed you nothing. Instantly the chat burst into action as it whizzed by faster and faster.
After deleting some of the more... disgusting messages (seriously how do people know your sexual orientation from a simple username...) you noticed that the three usual perpetrators were being uncharacteristically quiet.
Streamer seemed to look towards another one of his screens and smiled before swapping back to looking at chat. A worried huff left your mouth but you continued to scan the sentences pouring into the chatbox.
"That's right everyone, I know what Sugar looks like." He winked and for a moment he wasn't someone you worked with but rather someone who looked boyishly attractive. You shook yourself out of it as the chat exploded in teasing remarks and bitter sentiments. You had no idea they felt that strongly about you.
"no fair"
"come on then share the deets"
"bet you're lying lol"
"i would literally pay millions to see sugar"
"lol, he's lying."
"You can believe what you want, it makes no difference to me. I'm fine keeping Sugar's identity to myself." He grinned at the camera, acting as if he was talking to you specifically.
Still, you couldn't get the feeling out of your mind that something was happening in the background. Where did the three main chatters go...
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sungbeam · 1 year
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OFF THE RECORD ▷ PART TWO (EP9-17)
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nonidol!ji changmin x fem!reader
everyone thinks ji changmin is cute and harmless, but you know that's not who he really is.
▷ genre, part warnings. e2l, childhood friends gone bad, (extra) slow burn, fluff, angst, crying lol, mentions of childhood trauma and parental manipulation, arguing, bittersweet galore, nct ten is there for the sole purpose of being nosy like the rest of us or for being a 2nd male lead who knows!, swearing, hurt/comfort, kissing!, ji changmin dancing (need i go on), symptoms of panic/anxiety, a lot of non-tbz moments sorry i meant it when i said extra slow burn, im literally writing abt people who dance like gods but im a plebian w two left feet i have no idea what im looking at except for hips—, pining haha...ha (more subtle until the end), he's in a bathrobe near the end sorry children
▷ PART TWO WC. 17.6k
love in unity series m.list / otr part one
a/n: if u haven't read part one GO AWAY GO READ PART ONE ??? WHAT'RE U DOING HERE
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EPISODE NINE: OFF THE AIR
IT was common knowledge that the week before finals week was referred to as the dreaded Dead Week. Campus was barren, coffee shops and libraries were packed, and almost everybody lived in some variation of sweats, hoodies, and eye bags. You were actually holed up in the research lab (yes, again) because your deadline to get this paper to your graduation advisor was literally looming over your shoulder, and though you were practically done, you were too paranoid of not catching some dumb typo before you turned it in.
Plus, the coffee in the lab break room was free and sponsored by your resident graduate student supervisor, and beloved older brother figure, Qian Kun. God rest his workaholic soul and empty pockets.
There weren't many people here this afternoon; most had retreated to their own homes or offices or wherever they dwelled during the Week of the Dead.
Then there was Ten.
"So do you guys just wither away here by yourselves?" Amongst the empty workbenches, his words seemed to unnecessarily resonate. From his perch in Kun's office, he spread his arms wide to gesture to all the empty space.
Kun pressed his fingers to the space between his eyes. "Yes, now let me wither in peace."
"No, I don't think I will."
You felt yourself smile. Ten had come in a few hours ago with lunch for both you and Kun. Supposedly, when he had heard that the two of you habitually ran on only coffee and dreams during Dead Week, he took it upon himself to swing by the nearest fast food restaurant and pick up a very belated lunch for you both. You’d chomped down on it with Kun in his office, but as soon as you were done, you retreated back to your desk.
The sky outside of the research laboratory was already beginning to bruise to a gray-blue-purple, the color of a dusty blueberry. Soon, you would have to surrender yourself to the night and head back home, but hopefully before that, you would decide that you were at least too tired to continue staring at these same seventeen pages for hours on end…
All three heads perked up at the sound of the laboratory building door opening and closing in the distance. None of you were exactly expecting anyone, especially when people usually indicated when they would come into work. You craned your neck from your workbench to see who had come in—
“I’ll only be a minute,” you heard and recognized your colleague Jacob Bae as he strode in from the outside corridor and into the main laboratory floor.
He met your eyes and smiled. “Hey, Yn.”
“Hey, what’s up?”
He let out a sigh as he jogged past your desk and headed toward a cupboard in the back corner. “I forgot that I left my—” His voice cut out as he ducked into the dark cupboard and withdrew a giant plastic tub. From the plastic innards filled with paper, he fished out a specific packet of paper shoved into a flimsy manila folder. “Forgot my thesis draft.”
You coughed out a laugh. “Dude.”
His grin was innocent and boyish, standard Jacob. “What? A guy’s gonna forget some things sometimes.”
“Is that what you tell your girlfriend?”
He sent you an unimpressed look. “Ha ha, Yn. Very funny. For your information, she’s more forgetful than me sometimes.” He stuck his tongue out at you as he passed by your workbench, and you, as the very mature person you were, stuck your tongue out back at him. It was only fair.
A cough sounded out from the entrance to the laboratory, and you turned your head to find Changmin, out of all people, standing awkwardly in the doorway. Peering out from behind the corner of the wall, however, was his friend Sunwoo from that other night. And yanking Sunwoo back behind the wall was Chanhee. Strange.
Someone (you suspected Chanhee) gave Changmin a firm shove into the laboratory, sending the latter stumbling in before he caught himself and regained his balance. He was swaddled in a dark colored puffer jacket and a red scarf, his red-tipped nose and cheeks bitten by the cold. For the first time, he looked smaller than he was, almost shy or nervous. You hadn’t encountered this Changmin in a long time.
He wasn’t one to look vulnerable out in the open like this.
As Jacob passed by Changmin, he clasped his shoulder in reassurance.
“Hi,” Changmin said slowly as he approached your workbench.
You were still a little dumbfounded that he was here again. “Uh, hi. What’re you doing here?” The argument the two of you had earlier in the week replayed in your mind, and you almost grimaced. You’d both said even more hurtful things, and you supposed you had just been so sensitive that your brain just automatically went into defense mode to protect yourself.
No, you hadn’t been there that night for him. You hadn’t expected to see anyone there at that time of night. That was the whole point of you going so late. You had been trying to get yourself to go into the practice room on your own, but the longer you had stood there, staring at the door, the more you realized you couldn’t do it. It still didn’t sit well with you, how affected you were by your mother’s past words.
Changmin kept his distance, but he came close enough that you could hear what he was trying to say without the others listening in too much. “I was wondering if we could talk.”
You blinked. “Talk? Like right now?” Your eyes darted to your computer screen and the practically finished paper displayed. It wasn’t like you wanted to keep working on it, but your heart beat startled at the sudden thought of having that very important conversation right now, when you weren’t ready.
He caught onto your movements though. “No, no—I mean,” he stammered, recovering with a quick swipe of his tongue over his lip, “just whenever. It doesn’t have to be now. I just figured it’d be best to get that… out in the air, you know?” I think it’s what we’ve been needing all this time. Something proper; no more yelling matches.
For a second, you thought you could see some of the old Changmin in this one. It wasn’t like he had changed, per se, it was more like he was finally showing that part of himself that you had been missing all along. You swallowed, nodding. “Okay. Yeah, I’ll, uhm, text you sometime tonight after I turn this paper in.”
He nodded back at you. “Yeah, cool.”
When you saw him begin to back away, a thought suddenly occurred to you. You called out to him to get him to stop, and you could have sworn that there was a gleam in his eyes then. “Changmin—about Sumin…” You inhaled deeply as you fought for the right words to express your next thoughts, “be gentle with her, okay?”
Even then there was a pang in your heart as you uttered those words. Sumin had texted you all about her interaction with Changmin a day or so ago regarding his “interview”, and she had been gushing about her crush on him. She had even asked you how much you knew about him and if you could give her a crash course in all things dance or even Changmin. Suffice to say, you felt trapped between a rock and hard place, but you didn’t want to let her down. (You’d always wanted to be a big sister; you didn’t want to push her away because of feelings that you were too petty to address.)
Changmin’s head tilted to the side as he made a confused face. “Huh?”
You sighed, “You seriously didn’t notice?”
“No, actually,” he quipped.
You pursed your lips; why weren’t you surprised? It wouldn’t be very cool of you to reveal Sumin’s crush on him if that wasn’t what she wanted. You would have to be subtle, but also not subtle, then. “Just—” you made a vague gesture with your hands, “—don’t be brash.”
“Brash?”
“Don’t be mean,” you amended.
“I still have no idea what you’re talking about.”
You thought even Ten rolled his eyes from where he was in Kun’s office. “You’re hopeless, really.”
Changmin’s face pinched, and he was moving back closer to your workbench. “I’ll have you know that we’re both hopeless.”
You deadpanned. “Now I’m pretty sure we’re not even in the same ballpark,” you muttered in exasperation. “Whatever. Your friends are waiting for you, Changmin.”
His lips pressed into a line. He glanced quickly over his shoulder where his friends were pretending to not be eavesdropping, then looked back at you. “Okay, yeah. Just don’t forget.”
“I won’t,” you promised.
EPISODE TEN: OFF THE MARKET
CHANGMIN glanced up at the entrance to the coffee shop, matching the sign in the window to the one he had searched up on his GPS app. It seemed to match from what he saw.
Today was the Friday of Dead Week, a handful of days after he dipped out of his interview with Sumin and confronted you at the laboratory. He had consulted Chanhee that day, regarding his mess of feelings about the situation with you, and Chanhee had practically forced him to go with him and Jacob to the laboratory. (Sunwoo just happened to tag along because he, apparently, felt left out.) Changmin wondered how Chanhee could have possibly known that you would be there, but Chanhee dismissed his worries by assuring him that after he asked you, he would feel a lot better and less like a hot pile of shit.
Chanhee was right, as per usual. Not that Changmin was going to admit that aloud to him ever.
But today was important because of two things in particular, and they both had to do with things that occurred several days ago. The first item on the agenda was going into this cafe to finish up that un-started interview with Sumin. After he had given her his number that day, she was swift to send a greeting text to him to set up a time and place to meet. Changmin actually had yet to visit this coffee shop in particular, but then again, he was a bit partial to the one Jacob introduced to the group last quarter.
Your words of advice, or caution, rang in his ears like the bell that twinkled above the door as he walked into the building. Be gentle with her. Don’t be brash. Don’t be mean. What did all of that even mean? He liked being interviewed, especially when it was about dance, so why would you think he would be anything but well-behaved? Part of him thought it was based off of the two of your interactions for the past three years, but he knew you had the good sense to know he didn’t treat just anyone like he treated you.
The thought remained fresh in his mind even as he scanned the room for a familiar face.
Sumin was seated in a secluded booth in the corner of the coffee shop. When she saw him, she waved him over excitedly, slipping her compact into her purse. Her laptop was left on the table in front of her, but unopened. Huh, maybe she just got here, too.
Changmin slid into the booth across from her. “Hi, sorry, were you waiting long?” He asked as he shouldered his jacket off and set his bag on top of it.
Sumin perked up a little bit. “Oh, no! Don’t worry. Did you have a good week?”
“Ah, as good as the week before finals can be, I suppose,” he chuckled, leaning back against the booth seat. His eyes darted to the unopened laptop still in the middle of the table and he cupped the back of his neck. “Did you wanna order anything to drink? Or have you ordered already?”
She shook her head, her hand reaching up to fidget with the end of one of her curled locks of hair. “Hm? No, I didn’t order yet! I was waiting for you so we could order something together—I mean, at the same time.”
“Cool, yeah,” he cleared his throat, signaling for one of the workers’ attention with a wave of his hand. “We can order and then get started.”
“Ah, ha, right.”
Once orders were taken, Sumin finally cracked open her laptop and got a couple things set up. Changmin patiently waited for her to get all settled, his eyes wandering about the shop and absentmindedly observing the workers behind the counter as they bustled about to prepare drinks and pastries.
Sumin coughed, “Okay, I figured that recording is a little unnecessary, so I’ll just be jotting some notes down on my laptop.”
Changmin bobbed his head. “Sounds good.”
She shifted in her seat, her posture straightening, as she figured out how exactly to start. “I hope you’ll be patient with me since I haven’t been doing this for a long time, but Yn gave me some pointers to start with,” she said sheepishly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
“No problem! I totally understand; take your time.” He cocked his head to the side unconsciously, “Yn didn’t offer to sit in for your interviews?”
“Oh! Uh, she did, but I insisted that I was feeling confident enough to do them on my own,” she laughed lightly. “Definitely a bit nerve-wracking, but I think the interviews with Juyeon and a few of the other dancers went well earlier in the week.”
“Hey, I mean, I admire your courage,” he said with what he hoped was an encouraging enough smile. “Just take your time with it, Sumin. We’ll make sure to get you all the info you need.” There. Was that what you meant by not being mean? Wasn’t this just being considerate, though?
His foot tapped against the ground absentmindedly as he thought about the next thing on his agenda after this interview: talking to you. It was weird, having to almost set an appointment to have this very needed talk, but as you had said, you texted him your availability and the two of you just happened to both have this evening free. He just needed to finish this interview… There was still plenty of time.
His words to Sumin seemed to make her shoulders relax a little bit, and she jumped right into her first question. Changmin would answer as thoughtfully as could, which wasn’t too difficult seeing as he was literally talking about one of the things he was most passionate about in this world. He could probably talk about dance and his love for dance for days on end. Sumin, in turn, would skillfully and naturally continue the conversation so it felt a lot less like an interview, and more like an interaction between friends about dance.
Perhaps he didn’t even realize when the questions became less about his experience about dance and more about him; when Sumin gradually stopped typing notes down on her laptop and instead leaned her chin onto her hands to watch him; or when she suddenly asked—
“Is that your ideal first date then?”
Record scratch.
The words on Changmin’s tongue died instantly, and his brain scrambled to process what she had just said. “Sorry?”
Sumin’s eyes widened, her cheeks flushing. “I—I mean, you were talking about going to see live dance shows with your former partner and I just…” She shook her head with an embarrassed laugh, “Sorry, was that too forward?”
Changmin blinked once, twice; dear god, he must have been running his mouth without even realizing. “I was talking about Yn?”
That ripped Sumin right out of embarrassment—well, it was closer to mortification. The color on her cheeks had turned pale. “Yn is your ex?”
Fuck— “No, no, no! She’s not. She’s definitely not—”
Sumin covered her face with both of her palms in distress, a sentiment that was definitely shared between both parties in the booth. “Oh my god, and I’ve been telling her all about my crush on you, too. I must have looked so stupid.”
His eyes flew open. “Huh?!”
“Please, I’ve been so obvious, Changmin!”
Not to me, he thought. Jesus, was he really so blind? Was this what you meant this whole time? Changmin waved his hands around in an X formation, trying to reign the conversation into some level of sanity. “Sumin, I can assure you, that you definitely weren’t obvious until you literally just said it,” he began. “And so we’re clear, Yn is not my ex-girlfriend. She was my ex-dance partner and friend, but not a significant other.” As much as it sucked to admit that—
Sumin slowly lowered her hands from her face with the light reflected in her eyes wobbling. “Oh… okay, I guess that makes sense then.”
Changmin let out a haggard sigh, holding his hand to his head. “Yeah, well… I guess I should say that I’m sorry, but I don’t really share the same feelings for you?” He shook his head to himself, trying to rephrase: “What I mean is that I’m not exactly looking for a relationship. I’m kind of messed up right now.” Understatement of the century.
She pursed her lips, but nodded. “I get that. Thanks for being so cool about it.”
“Least I can do,” he said, clasping his hands together over the table.
“So,” she drawled with a wince, “I take it this interview is over?”
He brushed a hand through his hair. “If you have everything you need and there are no hard feelings?”
She inclined her head in the affirmative, and that was that.
— ✶
Even on a Friday evening, if it was the week before an exam season, the library study rooms were always packed, one occupier after the other. Attempting to score one was the equivalent of launching a stakeout, complete with charging cables, two cups of coffee, and a will of steel (to wait hours for a room to open up). Someone must have been looking out for you though as you managed to snatch a study room as soon as you arrived on the second floor of one of the main student libraries on campus. When you and Changmin had exchanged an, albeit brief, bit of texts, you both agreed that meeting somewhere that could serve as common ground would be good for the both of you. It had to be semi-private, as well, since neither of you wanted to let anyone else in on your private, personal problems.
The library study rooms were your solution, and maybe this was the universe’s sign that this discussion needed to happen.
As soon as the door closed gently behind you, you set yourself up in one of the chairs around the small, rectangular table at the center of the room. Changmin said he would be a couple minutes late because the bus had been late to pick up his stop and Chanhee was borrowing his car, so you texted him to let him know which room you were in.
While you waited, you attempted to ease your mind by scrolling through social media and flipping through emails and returning to social media, and wait, did you ever get a reply back from that one TA? All the while, your knee would bounce up and down ceaselessly, your fingers shaking and cold and numb. You were perhaps seconds away from your throat closing in on itself again, but then the door opened.
Changmin murmured a “hey” to you as he closed the door behind him and lowered himself into the seat across from you.
The room was quiet. “Hey,” you said back, clearing your throat.
You watched as his nostrils flared slightly as he exhaled. “What did you mean by ‘when did I stop caring’?”
You were a little startled that he decided to start right away, but on the other hand, relieved that he did. You wouldn’t have known how to begin anyway. “When did you stop caring?” You parroted in case you hadn’t heard him right. If you weren’t mistaken, he was referring to what you had said that night in front of the practice rooms.
He gave a nod. “Yeah, I was thinking about what you said…” He scratched his jaw, continuing lowly, “...y’know, on the bus ride over here. And I just don’t understand where in the world you got the idea that I ever stopped caring about you.” He met your eyes then, and you could see the tightness in his jaw, but the gleam in his irises.
This wasn't about being right anymore; it was about making things right.
"You—" you grappled for words, finding yourself pinned down by Changmin's relentlessly piercing gaze, "—I just got so much radio silence from you."
"You were giving me the same excuses."
"Because it was the same, exact problem," you fired back. "And, okay, so they were excuses, but god, Changmin. I could just see how with each passing day, you looked at me differently because I was late or I told you I couldn't make it. Didn't I give you reasons why? Just that disappointment and cold shoulder…" It broke my damn heart.
Changmin's arms were crossed over his chest as he considered your words, his tongue poking the inside of his cheek. "I never," he began, "thought poorly of you, Yn." It sounded like he was struggling to piece together the right words, too, and he choked down a swallow. "I was going through a lot of shit around that time, and my patience was always paper thin by the time it was our usual practice time, y'know? It was never you specifically I was mad at."
He paused for a moment. His head hung, and he picked at a stray thread on his jacket cuff. "My parents said they wouldn't support me if I majored in dance."
Your heart stopped clean.
"They basically said I'd have to finance myself for all four years if I wanted to make dancing a career," he said with a flippant, helpless gesture. "I was given some scholarship money from the school, but it was nowhere near a full ride. So I was stressed the fuck out because I knew I needed to win those comps to get more money. They were cool with me dancing as, like, a hobby or a way to get into college, but as soon as I told them my intended major was dance?"
Well, shit.
Horror pooled in your gut, the kind that started up at your shoulders and spider-crawled down the length of your spine. "I'm so sorry, Changmin. That must have been so much pressure for you, oh my god."
This entire time, you'd been under the impression that his parents were fine and dandy with their son becoming a dancer. He'd always had a natural, prodigal talent for the art form. He was the absolute cream of the crop from your class, and you couldn't believe they could be anything but proud of having a son like him.
But you supposed you shouldn't have assumed. There was a cost to being a hypocrite.
Changmin nodded, but it wasn't very affirming. It was like he had heard it all before and had already accepted it all grimly and reluctantly. "Yeah, well… I won all those comps, but what did I lose in the process, y'know?"
He gestured to you. "I just thought I'd always have you to run back to, but you were going through your own stuff. I'm not trying to pin the blame on you—it's… just that… you were my best friend. My partner."
"It's funny you say that," you said then, drumming your fingers anxiously against your leg. "I thought I could rely on you, too. And I definitely drifted away from you, but it was because of my own reasons."
Changmin nodded, settling his hands on top of the table and leaning in slightly.
Still, every time you told someone, you could never get it right. But maybe you could get it right this time. "You know how my parents got divorced and I said that my mom had changed?"
His forehead creased then, and he nodded again.
"She started yelling a lot," you said. "Would always make me listen to her scream in my face about how dance was useless, how dance would never help me in the real world, how I was absolutely awful at it and that I should be focusing on something worth my time." You swallowed, continuing on, "And when I told you I couldn't make it or that I was late, it was because she started refusing to take me to practices and competitions and shows.
"And I mean—I tried really hard to keep going, Changmin, I really did." You raised your eyes to meet his and found him staring at you still, but this time you saw that glisten in his eyes again. The tension in his jaw had slackened, and had been replaced with that same dread you had while he was telling you what happened to him. "I thought that I could get past what my mom kept telling me, and that once I got to the practice room—I just needed to get to the practice room—it would all be worth it."
There was a stinging feeling in the back of your eyes, at your tear glands. Your vision was blurring and you blinked back the traitorous tears.
Changmin pursed his lips, his face contorting slightly as he too tried to contain the emotions welling up in him. "And then I shut you out."
"We shut each other out."
"Why—" he rasped, his hand coming up to cover part of his mouth, "—didn't you tell me? I would've—god, I would've—" He didn't know, actually, but all he knew was that he would've been better. Would he have though? Truly? Would you have?
"I didn't like talking about it," you confessed, sniffling. You were ashamed of yourself, both then and now. You raised your hand up to wipe the corner of your eyes. "I'm sorry."
"No, fuck, don't apologize." He stood, arms opening and palms turning upward like an offering, "C'mere."
Both of you, teary-eyed messes, stumbled out of your chairs to close the distance in each other's arms. It was the feeling of finally holding each other after three years that made the two of you break down completely. The study room's quiet was filled with sounds of messy, blubbering sobs—hands grappling at the other's jacket, faces shoved into the warmth of a neck or shoulder.
Two pieces of a puzzle having finally been reunited.
This was where you belonged.
"This was all I wanted," you bawled into his shoulder.
It seemed to make his body tremble harder. "I would've given it to you—god, I would've given you anything. I'm so goddamn sorry."
"Hey," you mused half-heartedly, "if I'm not allowed to apologize, then neither are you."
He gave a watery chuckle. "Okay, fine." His wet eyelashes fluttered as he closed his eyes and tightened his hold around you. "That must have been awful, Yn. How…? Just how."
You rested your cheek against his toned shoulder. "Somehow… I don't really know. I'm proud of you, though, you know? I'm really proud of you."
"Thank you. I'm proud of you, too." He sniffled, mouth pressing against your shoulder. "All this time, I thought you hated dance and hated me."
"Oh, god no," you sniffled, sucking in a breath. "I—I knew I couldn't be strong anymore; I didn't want to disappoint you." And when you could no longer attend those practices, you had believed it would be better to not be there to drag him down. You thought that without having to wait on you every time, he would have been all the better. You see now that perhaps you were wrong in your logic.
For a moment, the two of you stood there in the other's arms as words settled and feelings sunk in. The realization that this tension between the two of you was possibly over now was crazy.
"For the record," Changmin murmured, "you're a great dancer. No matter what your mom told you, you'll always be a great dancer."
You laughed a little, shaking your head. "Not anymore, I'm not."
"That's where you're wrong." He pulled away from you and you saw the tears staining his dimpled cheeks, but the smile he was giving you was something out of a dream. He gently, playfully punched your arm. "You're still my partner, after all."
EPISODE ELEVEN: OFF THE SHELF
EVER since Changmin, Chanhee, JC!Yn, and her roommate Kei decided to change the weekly grocery shopping session to Saturday mornings, Changmin had never been so grateful for such a change until now. It used to be on Sunday mornings during the fall quarter because JC!Yn volunteered at the local children’s club on Saturday mornings, but since the Sunny Side Up Club had begun closing its doors on the weekend until summer break, her Saturdays had suddenly freed up.
Kei, as usual, had waltzed off in search of her own shopping list items, leaving JC!Yn and Changmin with the shopping cart of groceries and Chanhee sitting in the middle of it, cross-legged and swaddled in a pink hoodie.
“That’s awful,” JC!Yn lamented as she slowly trailed after Changmin while pushing the cart. There was a frown etched into her face, as well as Chanhee’s, while and after Changmin had caught them up on the events of the previous day’s talk with you. “I mean, I know some parents are super strict about their kids studying, but…” She shook her head, “You’ve both been through a terrible amount of shit, man.”
Chanhee nodded his agreement, peering up at Changmin who was at the helm of the cart, staring at the label on a container of canned corn blankly. “Yeah, for sure. How’re you holding up, Changminnie?”
Changmin shrugged half-heartedly and rather mopey. “As well as I could be.”
“Well, are you guys good now?” JC!Yn asked. “Y’know, after clearing all the air?”
Changmin made a face at the canned corn, but handed it to Chanhee to place amongst the other things in the cart with him. “I mean, kind of? Not really?” He scratched the side of his head, and his two friends looked on at him, then exchanged worried glances. Usually Changmin was the one cracking jokes, but to see him in such a state… “It’s just a little awkward now because we’ve been on ice around each other for years. Going back to normal shouldn’t be easy, should it?”
Chanhee pursed his lips, his head tilting from side to side. “That’s true. When you guys were still in grudge era, you let all the angst between you do the talking.”
“Angst? I was not angsty, for your information.”
Both of his companions scoffed their disagreement. “Every single time her name was brought up around you, you gazed far off like some kind of angsty main hero,” Chanhee retorted. “Like Kevin at that one dinner when we were interrogating Eric.”
JC!Yn laughed. “That feels like so long ago.”
Changmin sent her a look, the corner of his lips tilting upward like the arch of his eyebrow. “That’s because you and Jacob act like you’ve been married for ten years.”
Her face heated at those words, but she held her chin up in pride. “I’m gonna pretend this is your jealousy talking.”
“Oh, please,” he quipped back and turned back to the shelves to hunt for any other familiar labels that would trigger his hunger. “If I wanted to be so grossly in love—”
“Then you’d go find Yn?”
“—Then I’d go find Y—HEY!” Changmin sputtered as his cheeks lit up like the can of roasted red bell peppers in his hand. Chanhee and JC!Yn exploded into equal fits of delighted cackles, the former extending his arm back so the latter could return his fistbump. Changmin scowled through his flustered haze. “Whatever; taking advantage of my vulnerable state is not cool, guys.”
Chanhee beamed up at his best friend with the kind of smile that no one could be mad at. It was impish, adorable even. “Aw, it’s only ‘cause we love you.”
“Gross,” Changmin muttered, wrinkling his nose dramatically, then nudging his glasses up his nose.
As she stopped the cart behind Changmin, JC!Yn rested her arm against the bar and let her chin sit atop her fist as she and Chanhee watched Changmin scour the shelves again. “Didn’t you say you had feelings for her back then, Changmin-ah? Would you say they were still present or not?”
He sucked in a breath at the question as he let the question marinate in his brain. After yesterday’s world-altering talk with you, neither of you were able to stay too long afterward to catch up. You’d both, unfortunately, been called to your own separate summons. But this morning, when Changin had woken up with the information having been properly processed in his brain and given him room to overthink as he did… Truthfully, he had no idea where the two of you stood with one another. It wasn’t going to be the same, not like childhood and not like the past three years.
He didn’t exactly know what to say to you now, only that there was still that emptiness in his chest. He hadn’t expected the feeling to go away, but he also hadn’t expected it to remain. What was he supposed to do? He was pretty sure you didn’t even like him like that back then, so there was no way your feelings would have changed in that sense over the past three years. Some said that distance made the heart grow fonder, and while Changmin wasn’t one for cliche lines, he did feel an ache for you. He wanted to make up for lost time. Even if you didn’t feel the same way he had back then, it didn’t mean that he still felt the same… right?
“I think we lost him,” came Chanhee’s very loud stage whisper.
Changmin shook out of his mind and leveled a glare at his two friends. “I’ll think about it.”
“Didn’t you just think about it?”
“Hey, if JC!Yn-ie can take an entire quarter to tell Jacob-ssi her feelings, then you can give me like, five minutes to think about mine!” He squawked, waving his arms around in the air like one of those car-wash balloon people that flopped around in the wind. Except this one was high on emotions and his round lenses were slipping down his nose, adding to his overall mad man-like look.
JC!Yn deadpanned, shaking her head as she began pushing the cart after Changmin. She muttered under her breath, “He’s just astounded that he has feelings for someone, JC!Yn. Let him be touchy today.”
Chanhee, who had heard her speak to herself loud and clear, twisted around to grin and pat her arm reassuringly. “He’s just malfunctioning because he might actually have a chance now.”
“I can hear you!”
Chanhee chuckled, and the sound was villainous.
The three of them, as per routine, met up with Kei at the checkout lanes. There was one occasion where one of the workers was so tired that they tried to scan Chanhee and make them pay for him, but other than that, most people just offered him a sweet from the jar on the counter. As groceries were bagged up, and Kei was caught up on the situation at hand in verbal bullet point format, she took only a moment to suggest: “Why don’t you invite her to the dance showcase?”
All eyes went to Changmin, even as JC!Yn pushed the cart out with the group.
Changmin chewed his bottom lip. “I would, but... I dunno. I don’t want to trigger anything for her.” He winced to himself, “It would be really cool to have her there, of course! But I literally saw her in the practice room a week ago and she looked like she was seconds away from having a full-on panic attack.” As much as inviting you to watch him perform for the first time in three years thrilled him (and nearly sent him into cardiac arrest), he had seen you that day—blanched, struggling to breathe. He couldn’t imagine just what thoughts were running through your head then, especially after hearing what you had told him yesterday.
He was so—god, he was so angry at your mother. He knew about the divorce and the negative effect it had on her, but for her to practically take all that energy out on you? It was something simply unforgivable. His heart hurt for you.
Chanhee dipped his head in a slight nod, mouth curved down into a frown again. "That's fair. But I mean, it wouldn't hurt to ask, would it?"
"I just don't want to come off as insensitive, especially after three years of the cold shoulder." Your words from yesterday had penetrated him deeply—he hoped to never make you feel abandoned ever again.
Kei peered around at Changmin from the other side of JC!Yn. "If it counts, I don't think she'll take it as being insensitive, Changmin."
"She might feel better about getting, y'know, a personal invitation from you," JC!Yn chimed in. "Even if she isn't comfortable with going, she'll know you're thinking of her."
Changmin pressed his knuckles to his lips, bouncing on the balls of his feet anxiously. It was amusing, and perhaps a little concerning, for his friends to see him like this. He flapped the ends of his sweater sleeves in the air like he was hyping himself up. "Okay. Okay, yeah, I'll invite her to see me perform."
He raised an arm into the air toward the sky. "The next time I see her, that's what I'll—"
"Oh, look, she's right there," said Chanhee, pointing in the distance from his cart throne.
Changmin squeaked, "She's what?!" He slid behind JC!Yn in a very poor attempt to hide himself from the oncoming party.
Said party consisted of you, Yeri, Mark, and Ten—again. Except, instead of the coffee shop across the shopping mall, it was the parking lot on his friends' turf. Mark and Yeri were the first to see Changmin's friend group, both of them making unsubtle glances at Changmin. They passed by with friendly greetings, excusing themselves as they argued over the possibility of the store having watermelon (the answer was no; sorry Mark).
You and Ten lagged behind slightly, seemingly deep in conversation. The latter listened intently, but he felt eyes on him and looked up. His eyes twinkled as he made eye contact with Changmin—Changmin couldn't tell whether or not he liked that feeling.
You realized that he was looking outward and onward, and so you followed his gaze. Your eyes widened a tad at the sight of Changmin's friend group manifesting out of nowhere. "Hi guys," you said with an awkward smile when you and Ten met them in the middle.
"Hi Yn-ie," Chanhee giggled, turning around to wag his eyebrows at Changmin.
Changmin threw back a very unimpressed scowl. He let a smile grace his face just as he looked back at you. "Hey Yn, Ten."
JC!Yn unsubtly began pushing the cart to uncover Changmin. "Hey, you two. Changmin was actually just talking about you, Yn!"
Traitor! Changmin's jaw dropped.
Ten grinned. "That's really funny, 'cause Yn was just talking about you, Changmin."
You glared daggers at your friend with the same level of betrayal in your eyes as Changmin expressed. At least you were both getting thrown under the bus.
Kei nudged him. "Don't you have something to say to her?"
"We'll get out of your hair!" Chanhee chirped, patting the side of the cart as JC!Yn resumed her pushing on the cart past you and Ten. "See you at the car, Changminnie!"
As Changmin's last line of defense walked away with JC!Yn and the shopping cart prince, Ten inclined his head to you. "Should I stick around for this?"
You sighed under your breath. "Probably not. I'll see you inside?"
"Whatever suits your fancy," he mused, shrugging. As he passed by Changmin, he winked, then whistled some random tune as he went on his merry way.
"So what's up?" You asked him then. It seemed to be a cozy morning for you as you fidgeted with the ends of your big, woolen sweater. There was something delicate about the way the corners of your lips curled up into a smile.
Changmin cupped the nape of his neck. "Oh, uh, I know we had that whole talk yesterday, and I was wondering if you'd wanna come see my performance at the winter showcase on Friday?" He added quickly, "No pressure, of course. If you're uncomfortable, then you don't have to worry."
Your lips pursed together in a slight pucker. "I'd actually love to go. I mean—" you swallowed, "—I haven't gone to one since freshman year, but I'd love to."
"You can leave whenever you start feeling uncomfortable," he assured you, but he was smiling widely now. "It'll be cool to, y'know, have you in the audience."
"That means a lot, Changmin," you said earnestly, your smile sweet. It was almost weird to not have you frowning or glaring at him. It felt… good. It felt really good. “I will try my best.”
He shoved his hands into his pockets as he rocked on his heels, teeth biting down on his bottom lip to suppress the eager grin threatening to come out. “That’s all I could ask for.”
EPISODE TWELVE: OFF THE CHARTS
YOU were late. You were extremely late, actually, and to be honest, if you had known the bus was going to break down in the middle of the stupid road, you would have gotten off and walked. But then again, you were practically buried in all of the bundles of flowers you wanted to bring for your friends performing tonight. There were four bundles in total that you bothered to pick out just about two hours ago, one for Minho, one for Jungwoo, one for Ten, and of course, you could not forget one for Changmin.
When Changmin had personally invited you to come see his performance tonight earlier in the week, you couldn’t deny that the feeling made your chest warm and fuzzy. Even as you trudged your way up the stairs to the front of the performing arts building, you were filled with adrenaline and antsy energy. You’d waited so long for this, hadn’t you?
The last time you had come to see the winter showcase was in freshman year, the year the Daily asked you to write a review piece on one of the performers debuting that year, and even that had been enough of dance for the years following. It would be nice to know, this time, that you were wanted in the audience. (Changmin would have wanted you in the audience all this time, but you didn’t know that.)
Because you were unquestionably late, the doors to the hall would be closed shut now.
That was why having a friend like Boo Seungkwan was paramount.
“Thank you,” you gasped as one of the doors to the performance hall burst open and allowed you into the warmth of the lobby. You could hear the bass of whatever song was on and the audience’s cheers from here.
Seungkwan swept half of the bouquets from your arms with a click of his tongue. “Yah, you’re insane for taking the bus all the time. Yeri even asked to pick you up!”
“I know, I know!” You cried, the two of you scurrying over to one of the doors in the hall. “I panicked at the last second to get flowers and then I had to go all the way to the shop on fifth! By the way, did you know they’re open until 11?”
Both of your voices quieted as you slipped into the darkened auditorium. The stage was the only part illuminated in blinding, searing hot spotlights. You had just walked in on a brief break between acts as performers switched on and off stage. Seungkwan led you to one of the rows of seats in the nosebleeds that was relatively in the middle.
All of your friends practically occupied the entire row, and they lit up in delight at the sight of you.
“Yo Yn!” Mark whispered as he leaned over Yeri. “You’re actually here!”
Yeri reached over to squeeze your hand as you took the open seat next to her, and Seungkwan took the last seat in the aisle. “I’m so happy you’re here, Yn-ie.”
Doyoung and Kun peered out from around Mark, and you recognized a couple others from the NCT frat and RVE sorority further down the row. “Hey guys,” you said quietly to them as you wrangled your purse into your lap and adjusted the flowers in your arms, “how much did I miss?”
“Not much at all," Doyoung replied. "It's just been a few of the first years."
"We've got a little while until the older batch," Kun said with a wave of the program in his hands.
You nodded your understanding and settled into your seat to get comfortable. The performances went on one after the other. There was a mix of all different genres, ranging from contemporary ballet to tap and popping. Because everyone in the final winter showcase were in some kind of dance course on campus, a lot of the acts displayed a ton of experience already, even as first-years.
The longer the night went on, the less you believed your antsiness was a result of a nervous tick, but rather the bottled up adrenaline building up from watching all the performances. At some point, you realized you weren't even analyzing the performances anymore, but rather, sitting in awe of each one.
When a brief intermission was announced, Yeri and one of her sorority sisters squeezed past to head to the restroom while a few others from the row headed out to stretch their limbs and find some other friends. You and Seungkwan lingered in your seats, discussing your favorite performances so far, as well as how your finals weeks had gone for each of you.
"I'm just so glad we have spring break now," he groaned, his head hanging with exhaustion. "I might have skipped tonight if that meant I could sleep early."
"You would have regretted it though," you pointed out to him.
He gestured with his hand. "Right, you are." He let out a sigh as he raised his head and met your smile with a tired one of his own. "Well, Yn, you did it. You're watching your first full winter showcase. How do you feel?"
Your gaze flickered back to the stage. The house lights had come on for intermission, leaving the stage drenched in darkness. You could have sworn you saw the heavy red curtains shudder as if someone had poked their head out to view the audience. You remembered when you and Changmin used to do that when you were kids.
You turned back to Seungkwan. "I feel surprisingly okay," you confessed. "I was a little nervous before, but I think that I'm doing good."
He nodded. "Good. I'm glad you're here."
"Thanks, Kwan." You exhaled. "I didn't fully realize how long this was gonna be," you mused.
Seungkwan raised a brow at you. "Well, didn't you only stay for like, Changmin's performance last time you were here?"
"Well, yeah—"
The house lights suddenly shuttered off, and people rushed back to their seats. Your friends who were coming back squeezed past you and Seungkwan, effectively cutting off your conversation from before. The last half of the night would be handed over to the students who were majoring in dance and had been a part of the program for over two years.
You were properly in awe of the next performances. They had decided to put Ten out first, dancing to a song called Baby Don't Stop. He had mentioned the song to you once, but you hadn't really thought much about it until now. It was a side of Ten you hadn't seen yet since you had never seen him dance properly, but… you were definitely going to need to gush about this to him afterward.
You were pretty sure the crowd didn't quiet down for five performers in a row, as crazy-talented dancers such as Minho and Jungwoo followed after.
Each performance was incomparable to the next, and soon, you were sucking in a breath to the sound of Changmin's name being announced.
You slapped your hands onto Seungkwan's and Yeri's on either side of you, both of whom squeezed and shook your hands back as the curtain rose.
The lighting began a deep, electric purple, painting Changmin to look like a dark silhouette on stage. You almost couldn't make out the details of his white and black suit-like uniform. It was dynamic and unique with the suit cut outs and gloves, and he paired it all with an eye look that made his eyes feel darker and smokier.
He was still at first—until a set of horns, like trumpets, blared from the speaker's and he began striding forward.
You heard Mark gasp from two seats over. "Holy shit, he's dancing to Action Figure."
You vaguely recognized the title, but if you were thinking of the right song, then the room was about to get a lot louder. Unconsciously, you squeezed Seungkwan and Yeri's hands as you leaned forward and lingered on the edge of your seat.
The performance was everything you expected and more. Changmin was, as you had expressed before, the absolute cream of the crop. Each movement was brought with sharp precision, like the blade of a knife. Even during the slower bridge portion, he somehow executed the legato-like movements with a crispness of 4K HDR quality.
Everyone in the room held their breath (or screamed it out) with each sultry gaze, each lick of his lips, each smirk—a great dancer, a great performer; he would forever be one of the greats. That, you were very certain of.
When the song came to an end and he raised his head to peer at the audience through his bangs, you and everyone else erupted into applause, whistles, yelling—all the works. Your heart palpitated so hard in your chest that you thought it was trying to mimic his own dance. You were practically shaking from all of the bottled energy, and…
"Wow," you breathed out as you leaned back in your seat as the stage was reset for the next act. Your knee began bouncing fervently, sending the flowers in your lap up and down as well.
Seungkwan murmured his agreement, "Whew. I can't tell if I'm attracted or intimidated."
You snorted, patting his hand with your palm. "Both?"
"Probably."
You laughed, your hand lifting up to absentmindedly press against the base of your throat and sternum.
You couldn't help but think about what Changmin had revealed to you that day. How could a pair of parents not be absolutely floored to have a son as talented as Ji Changmin? It was so unbelievable to you, but you couldn't imagine how it might have felt to suddenly have all that support be ripped out from beneath your feet like his support had been.
The performances following would finish off those of the solo category. Afterwards, a handful of groups performed, including repeats of a few performers. Minho and Jungwoo had performed a stage together (Finesse, if you weren't mistaken), while Changmin and Juyeon made a return to the stage with another sultry hit by the name of Light a Flame.
By the end of the night, you were eager to head backstage to see your friends who had just performed their hearts out.
Plus, the bouquets were wilting.
Once the house lights had thunked to life, and the crowd was beginning to lessen, the row you were seated in with your friends stood together. Some of them were going to head straight home, but a few others planned to stay back to congratulate the performers on a night well done.
"You guys ready to head back?" Mark asked while nodding toward the stage with his hands shoved into the pockets of his puffer vest.
The high you were on was gradually fading out, and you had to clear your throat. "Can I meet you guys back there? I think I'm gonna take a quick breather and then just go in through the backdoor."
They were more than okay with accommodating you, encouraging you to take as long as you needed. Mark and Yeri both took the remaining two bouquets from your arms as Seungkwan ushered you out the door to take that breather.
As you hit the cool, early-March air, you wrapped your coat tighter around yourself and inhaled deeply. All around you, people lingered and chatted with each other, gushing about their favorite performances and reenacting the most memorable parts. You smiled to yourself when you overheard a group of boys near you talking about Changmin's tasteful choice in music, as well as the cohesion of his entire performance, ranging from not only the music choice, but down to the costuming as well. (And the choreography, of course. Everything about his performance, as emphasized, was breathtaking.)
With a sigh, you began rounding the building toward the back entrance.
Now that you had the space to deconstruct your thoughts, you realized that although you felt an indescribable amount of pride for your friends, you couldn't help the pit forming in the bottom of your stomach. In a way, you envied the performers onstage. You wished you had held on a little longer; maybe then, you could have been one of the people on stage tonight like you had wanted when you were just a teen.
When you reached the back door, you managed to gather your strength and let yourself in.
Like that day you had taken Sumin backstage, it was all hustle and bustle, but ten times that. Pandemonium erupted as performers raced past you left and right trying to find their friends, fellow performers, and even the location of their hairspray. (They should have put their name on it, you thought cheekily, but even then, it might not have worked still, you supposed.)
You kept your arms crossed over your chest as you squeezed past people toward where you were hoping to find your friends. As you walked into the dressing room corridor, you nearly collided with a silky dress shirt.
"Yn! I can't believe I found you," Ten chuckled.
You laughed, wrapping your arms around him in an affectionate embrace. "Ten! I can't believe you found me either. It's a madhouse here." You scanned the faces and bodies buzzing about for any sign of your friends. "Have Mark, Yeri, or Seungkwan found you yet? They have the flowers I was gonna give you."
Ten's lips curled up into a smile as he pressed a hand to his chest. "Gasp, you got me flowers?"
"Yes, and please never say 'gasp' aloud ever again," you winced.
That only made his smile grow. "No promises. But what'd you think of the show tonight? I'm glad you stayed the whole time."
"It was incredible! You were incredible," you amended with your eyes likely the shape of stars. "Who gave you the absolute audacity to be so talented, sir! I swear I heard some girl faint a couple rows behind me," you joked.
His eyes narrowed into sly, little crescents. "Oh? And did you faint for mine, too? Or did you save that reaction for another special someone?"
You flushed, your eyes averting to anywhere but the nosy feline before you.
Ten threw his head back in a loud guffaw. "Okay, okay. I see how it is. He's been looking for you, by the way."
Your eyes went wide. "And you wait until now to tell me?"
"I wanted my dose of Yn affection, too," he shrugged, giggling like a schoolgirl. "Plus, the look on your face was well worth it."
"Sometimes I hate you."
"Some is not all," he pointed out.
"—you said she was over here? Yn!"
Yours and Ten's heads turned and you watched as Changmin's eyes found yours in the crowded room. He began pushing his way toward you, sweat still dampening the strands of hair and falling into the collar of the dark blazer he wore for Light a Flame.
Ten snickered under his breath. "Well, I'm gonna go find Mark to get my flowers. Text me later, 'kay? Okay!"
Before you could blink, Ten had disappeared into the masses. You swore that man was so slippery sometimes.
You glanced back in the direction that you saw Changmin coming from,but when you couldn't find him, you frowned. It really was awfully hard to find people in here…
"Boo!"
You swore your soul left your body for five seconds. You whirled around, glaring daggers at the impish squirrel man who somehow ended up behind you. "You're such a menace."
Changmin grinned so wide it looked like even his dimples were strained. "Sorry," he wheezed, not sounding sorry at all. "The opportunity presented itself on a gold-plated platter."
"You should feel very lucky that I wasn't holding lemonade this time."
"Okay, but why were you drinking that without a cap on the cup? Did they not give you a plastic lid or something?"
You felt the corner of your mouth lift. How was it so easy to recall these things? "It's just the universe telling you to end your pranks."
He shrugged helplessly. "I can't help that you are so easy to sneak up on."
"You're gonna say that when I somehow heard you asking if I was in here from across the room?"
"That's because I let you hear that; there's a difference," he said, leaning against the corridor wall next to you. He looked you up and down, tongue darting out for a moment. "Thanks for coming tonight."
You leaned your shoulder against the wall next to him. "I enjoyed myself," you said in reply. "You did really well tonight though, Changmin. It was a great performance."
He grinned, and his tongue had to poke the inside of his cheek. "Just great?"
You raised your eyebrows at him and decided to bypass that question for the moment. "Did my friends give you your flowers?"
Changmin showed his empty hands and you deadpanned.
"What?" He giggled. "I'm just stating the obvious."
"You're so infuriating sometimes."
He gently bumped your shoulder with his. "Nothing new."
Nothing new, indeed. It was strange, actually, falling into this kind of easygoing, light-hearted banter. You'd seen how easy it was that night in the lab, but this was nice, you had to admit. Banter and arguing were two different things, you learned, and the latter always took such a toll on those involved.
How did the two of you stay away for so long? Maybe you were both too prideful, too afraid to break the ice.
Changmin's expression sobered a little as he observed your expression. "What're you thinking about?"
You blinked, glancing over at him. "Nothing, just…" Your voice lowered to something like a whisper, "I missed this." I missed you.
And as you met his eyes again, you knew that he had heard you. He swallowed, roughly. "Me too."
EPISODE THIRTEEN: OFF THE CUFF
THE quad was in bloom with the coming of spring and spring break. It was tradition at your university to take pictures and to take a stroll through the freshly bloomed cherry blossom trees lining the rectangular lawn. Only in spring did the trees reveal their beautiful, baby pink flowers, so it was optimal to go frolic amongst them while they were full.
Changmin had been dragged out by Chanhee. Well, he liked to say that Chanhee forced him outside, but in reality, Changmin had put just as much effort into his appearance today as Chanhee did, just not as formal. And luckily, it wasn't just the two best friends who were out with them among the crowd of people, but also the entirety of their friend group—plus the significant others, too.
"I hate this more than Valentine's Day," Sunwoo grumbled as he blew a curl out of his eyes. He was referring to the couples all around them taking pictures and holding hands and kissing.
"You're telling me," Kevin sighed as he messed with the settings on his camera for the pictures he wanted to take of the scenery. "At least on Valentine's Day, people won't photobomb you."
Sangyeon had his phone out and was already taking photos of the blooming flowers around him and in the trees. He suddenly turned his phone around, set at point five zoom. "Hey guys, look here and smile!"
Everyone in the shot (all the singles: Chanhee, Changmin, Sunwoo, Kevin, Juyeon, and Hyunjae) slapped smiles onto their faces. As soon as Sangyeon put the phone down, their smiles dropped.
"Who was that for?" Juyeon asked as he slung an arm around Sangyeon's shoulder to peer at the eldest's phone screen. He made a groaning noise before peeling away. "Ahhhh, 'The Girlfriend'. I see."
Sangyeon cocked a brow at him. "Have you finally accepted that I have a girlfriend?"
"Nope."
Sangyeon's eyes looked up and away in exasperation, before he shook his head and returned to doing whatever he was doing.
Changmin surveyed the crowded quad with disinterest. He scanned all of the faces present around him; too many to count that was for sure. Jacob and JC!Yn had separated from them almost immediately; Eric and his girlfriend were off being cute or something; Younghoon and his partner hadn't even traveled here with most of them; but at least Haknyeon and his significant other stayed with them for the first five minutes to make conversation about the dance showcase a few nights ago.
He sighed. That was how long ago it had been since he last saw you. (My god, he sounded like some kind of lovesick teenager, waiting by the landline for his lover to ring him up—)
On the other side of the quad, you and your friends had just arrived to do the same exact thing Changmin's friends were. But as soon as you saw the crowd, you were five seconds from simply giving up.
"We'd get like, one flower, and that's it," Seungkwan argued to Yeri who was trudging forward despite the load of people around.
Yeri huffed. "Not if you don't try, Boo Seungkwan."
He made a noise of disgruntlement, his head lifting up and nostrils flaring. "Oh my god—"
"Yn, my wife, defend my honor!"
You snapped up straight, tuning back into the conversation. Mark and Jungwoo trailed somewhere behind the three of you and if you weren't careful, you'd lose them, too. "Huh? Oh, well, Seungkwan…" Your voice trailed off, and your eyes wandered to a specific gathering of trees further down the lawn from where you currently were.
It was unfair how he was framed like a K-Drama shot: the slow motion pink petals drifting around him, his lithe body gracefully leaning against the dark bark of the cherry blossom tree, the green sweater vest layered over a white shirt and pants. You gulped—he looked way too pretty to just be standing there—
"—hello? Earth to Yn?" A hand was waving in front of your face and someone was poking your shoulder.
You shook away from them, eyes wide like a child with your hand caught in the cookie jar. "Huh?"
Seungkwan and Yeri sent you curious looks. "You were staring at Changmin," said Yeri, arms crossing over her chest.
Seungkwan let out a dramatically wistful, little sigh as he scratched the side of his head. "You're so lucky that Ten's not here; we are so very merciful compared to him."
You rolled your eyes, even though they were right. "I wasn't staring! I just—I couldn't tell if it was really him or not."
"Because I'm just so breathtakingly beautiful?"
"Definitely n—what the fuck," you yelped, nearly leaping out of your skin again at the right of Changmin's dimpled smile as he seemingly appeared out of thin air right next to you.
Changmin erupted into howling laughter, folding over onto his knees as he slapped his leg once, twice—
"You're not even that funny," you grumbled, side-eyeing both him and your friends. (Guess you really did lose Mark and Jungwoo…)
Seungkwan and Yeri did not hide their own laughs very well, but they definitely weren't knee-slapping themselves.
"How'd you even cover so much ground that fast?" You queried, whirling back on Changmin.
He lifted a shoulder in a half-hearted shrug, his hands resting in the pockets of pants as he stood in a relaxed posture. His skin was unfairly pretty in this lighting, like his smile. "I harnessed my inner squirrel."
"You mean your inner furry?"
Seungkwan and Yeri chose this moment to slip away, calling out something like "we're just gonna go walk a tree" before bowing out. Changmin feigned an expression of offense, pressing a hand to his chest. "Rude! It's called athleticism."
You wrinkled your nose. "Like you know what athleticism is."
"I'll race you to the stairs over there right now—HEY, CHEATER! I DIDN'T SAY GO—" Despite his indignant squawk, Changmin's cheeks hurt from how hard he grinned as he raced after you toward the stairs at the other end of the lawn.
— ✶
"So… no Ten today?"
After a daring race, you and Changmin settled on top of the stairs overlooking the entire lawn. The sun hung at golden hour position and painted the landscape and people below in beautiful, buttery gold wash. You even swore you saw Chanhee chasing after Sunwoo with a handful of loose cherry blossom petals, no doubt to dump into the latter's hair.
You looked over to where Changmin was leaning back onto his palms next to you. "This again?"
He pursed his lips. "Well, I mean," he drawled, "you guys are pretty close. I just figured you'd do this kind of thing together."
"That's fair," you conceded. "Uh, he's actually on a trip with a couple of his frat brothers this week. Something like backpacking in Switzerland."
Changmin gave an indulgent nod of his head. "Wow. Switzerland."
"I know, right?"
He peered out into the distance, eyes squinting against the strength of the sun, but he looked like an art piece nonetheless. “You and Ten aren’t, like, together? Are you?”
You tilted your head to the side. Interesting question. “No, we’re friends. I think in the beginning it might have felt like something on that level, but we’ve both—I think we’re both on the same page where we stand with each other.” You didn’t know why you were telling him so much; he’d only asked you a question. But speaking of being together with someone… You coughed, “Sumin told me what happened during the interview a couple weeks ago.”
Changmin smiled sheepishly, reaching up to scratch the back of his head. “Oh, ha, she did? I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised.”
“You really didn’t know?”
“That she liked me? No,” he laughed with a shake of his head. He leaned forward onto his knees then, turning his head to the side to look at you with his fingers laced over his knees. “Who do you take me for, hm? I couldn’t just assume she had a crush on me.”
You feigned a look of disagreement, and he gasped, shoving your upper arm playfully. “I’m not that bad!” He exclaimed.
“You could be that bad,” you teased.
You watched as his expression cooled and the air around the two of you shifted. There was an earnestness in his eyes now, emphasized by the brilliance of the setting sun reflecting across his smooth lines of his face. “Have you ever thought about, you know, like trying to dance again?”
You weren’t sure what prompted this change in subject, but you gave it a thought. “I definitely have,” you said honestly, “I just can’t really step into a practice room without getting nervous.” You picked at a stray thread on your pants as you spoke and felt his gaze on you. “That night—the one when you saw me in front of the performing arts hall really late at night—I was trying to get myself to go in. To at least… try, y’know. Maybe prove to myself that I could work up the courage to go in, but I couldn’t.”
Changmin was quiet for a moment. His knees angled themselves toward you, and he leaned forward so his chest practically laid over his legs. “I said a lot of bad things to you in senior year,” he said lowly. “They were stupid—I was stupid. And—and if your anxiety with practice rooms comes from me, then—”
“Changmin,” you interrupted and captured his attention. You shifted to mimic his body positioning, so your eyes were level and you were both just as small as the other. “I said really shitty things to you, too.”
“I told you that you should quit,” he rasped. He had to turn his head so you wouldn’t see the silver pooling in his eyes. “I’m sorry, Yn; I didn’t mean it. I didn’t mean any of it.”
You heard his sniffle over all of the chatter from the lawn below and you moved closer to him until your legs and arms were pressed together. You wrapped an arm around him, only for him to raise himself up and practically drape himself over you, his arms looped around your upper body and his face tucked into the side of your neck. Your heart tripped over itself in surprise, but you let yourself lean into his body heat.
“I’m sorry, too. I know you didn’t mean any of it. I didn’t mean any of what I said either.” You breathed for a moment and sighed, simply allowing him to stay in your arms for however long he needed. “I think,” you started, “even after three years, I still blame myself for letting all of that get to me. Sometimes, I want to go back in time and slap some sense into myself; maybe tell myself that I shouldn’t have let what my mom said bury itself so deep inside me. I mean… where would I be now had I not listened to her?”
Changmin pulled away then, resting his forearms on his legs again, but he didn’t back away from you. “You were just a kid, Yn. You can’t blame yourself.”
You rested your cheek against your fist. “I know. It’s hard not to, though.”
“I know.” He took another look at you, and you felt his eyes really take you in for a moment. The corner of his lips lifted. “Are you happy?”
“With?”
“With how you turned out? Where you ended up?”
You held your breath. It was a good question, and as you turned to search yourself inwardly, you came to a couple of conclusions. “In a way, I am. It’s probably just bitterness and regret I feel when I wonder what could have been, but maybe things happen for a reason.”
He nodded, his hand reaching up to pick out a stray leaf that had fallen into your hair. “We can always make up for lost time now,” he said. “We never did get to finish that duet.”
EPISODE FOURTEEN: [GET] OFF THE GROUND
THE next day, you found yourself standing outside the back door to the performing arts building. Because it was spring break, a large helping of the student population had abandoned campus as soon as their finals were over, leaving the place barren except for the area with the cherry blossoms. You stood next to Changmin, the latter holding his bag by the strap over his shoulder. You had been staring at the door for more than a minute now, trying to slow the palpitations of your heart.
“We can leave whenever you want to,” he murmured to you, the back of his hand nudging yours. “Let’s just try.”
You got yourself to nod.
The hallways were uncharacteristically quiet compared to the previous couple of times you had been back here. Since there was no one else here, you and Changmin got to pick whichever practice room you wanted. The largest one was the winner, and the lights flickered on to wash the shadows away. You immediately moved to one side of the room to set your things down, and Changmin went to his corner by the speaker. He was already hooking up his phone to the aux cord, but kept one eagle-eye on you as you inhaled the sight of the empty room around you.
As usual, your throat began closing in on itself, and you coaxed yourself into taking deep breaths.
You started out on the floor in front of the mirror, your legs crossed over each other and Changmin’s phone in your hands. Changmin had shouldered off his white athletic jacket, and began stretching as you swiped through the selection of music on his phone. The two of you collectively agreed for you to start off just watching. Once you were comfortable in the practice room environment, and if you wanted to dance, you would join him whenever you were ready. If you were never ready, then you could continue to just watch him and cheer him on during the practice.
You watched him card a hand through his hair as he peered at himself in the mirror behind you. “I always thought this mirror made you vain,” you chuckled, your hand having settled into your lap instead of at the base of your throat.
He furrowed his brows at you. His hands rested on his hips, the muscle in his forearms emboldening from the action. “Rude. I think you were the one who made me vain.”
“The fuck? How so?” You challenged.
“You always said you admired my facial expressions and my pretty smile,” he grinned at your reaction, snickering to himself. “Did you pick a song yet?”
You watched him dance. For the first few songs that played on shuffle, he was simply warming up his body and freestyling to whatever he heard. You knew Changmin was no stranger to people watching him dance, but there was something still so intimate about watching him in this space. You could watch him create things like magic, as well as watch him fumble and laugh at his own misgivings. Except, instead of doing it all by himself, his eyes would find yours and smile.
Next quarter, Changmin was supposedly signed on to be a TA for one of the dance courses, so he asked for your opinion on a few of his ideas for choreographies he could teach.
After showing you his second idea, he gestured to you then looked back at himself in the mirror. “What do you think? I’m not sure if writing something for each nuance in the beat would be a bit too much or if it’s something that should be used as a challenge routine.”
You hummed in understanding. “Well, if it’s an intermediate dance course, then I think it could be worked up to. Are these people dance majors or… maybe minoring in dance?”
He nodded when you said the latter. “Supposedly, they aren’t necessarily dance majors. But yeah, I agree—it could probably be brought out later in the quarter instead.” He made a motion with his hand as he backpedaled a couple steps to give himself more room between you and him. “Could you rewind to the first verse again? I wanna see something.”
You obliged him and rewinded the song to his desired timestamp. He tried out another possible set of choreo, but ended up stopping halfway through the chorus.
Again and again, you rewinded the song for him to try something new, but each time, he was met with his own dissatisfaction.
You suddenly stood, setting his phone on the ground with the song having been rewinded just slightly before the intended timestamp. Your hands were shaky and your heart was probably beating at an unhealthy speed, but you needed to try out something.
Changmin’s eyes opened wide as you came to stand next to him, but he said nothing. Instead, he let you loosely show him what you had concocted in your head while watching him go through trial after trial.
Before you knew what was happening, the two of you were weaving your ideas together, taking pieces of his original choreography and amending it with yours. You had watched him from the beginning so many times that you didn’t need long to pick up on the rest. By the end, the two of you had danced the entirety of the song together, your chest rising and falling fast with the speed of your breath.
Changmin released an exclamatory yell, thrusting his fist to the ceiling, then clasping your hand with his. “Let’s go! I really like that, Yn,” he said with his face split by a shit-eating grin.
Your heart was bursting again, not with nerves, but something you hadn’t felt in a long, long time. You brushed the hair from your eyes, a satisfied beam set on your face. “I like it, too.”
There was a sheen akin to pride in his eyes. “I wanna show you something,” he said, walking over to his phone with a skip in his step. “Stay there! I wanna teach you this bit of choreo that’s been living in my head for a while now.”
And so, you followed Changmin’s instructions as he put on a groovy-type beat. The routine was simple enough—looks-wise. But if you knew anything about the things Changmin choreographed, the difficulty was all in the subtlety and technique. When you were younger, the appeal between you and Changmin as partners were that you were practically foils for each other. While Changmin ruled the arena of sharp, focused isolations and movements, your area of expertise laid in bigger, fuller movements like that of a brushstroke. When you had watched Juyeon and Changmin’s performance during the winter showcase, you supposed that was why they were able to complement each other well. It was essentially what you and Changmin were, in combination.
The longer you and Changmin danced, the more your chest filled with air and warmth and love and happiness. The guilt and fear from before had melted away to reveal this suppressed portion of you that had been hidden for a long time.
At some point, the two of you were just messing around, and ended up sprawled on the polished wood floor of the practice room clutching your stomachs while choking on laughter.
Changmin rolled onto his side, eyes still squinted in delight as he tried to get a grip of his breathing. “Is your back okay?” He managed to wheeze between gasps and howls.
You wiped a tear that crept out from your eye. “No! I just tried carrying a fifty-something-kg man on my back. Do you think I’m okay?”
“In my defense,” he said, peering down at you as he rose into a sitting position and leaned back onto his palms, “you claimed you were stronger than me and could be the base.”
“A warning would have been nice!” You exclaimed. You rolled onto your stomach, laying your chin over your arms. “No one in their right mind just jumpscares people like that.”
“Have you met me?”
“Fair enough.”
A remnant of that merriment remained on his lips as he felt around the floor around him for where his phone had fallen out of his pants pocket. He caught a glimpse of the time, sighing, then raking a hand through his hair. “It’s already one o’clock. Are you hungry? Wanna get lunch or something?”
“Sure, what do you feel like?” You asked, eyes following his movements as he clambered up to his feet and tucked his phone back into his pocket.
He pressed his lips together in thought, humming, “Dunno. Fast food maybe?”
You rolled into a sitting position, similar to the one he had been in just moments before. “Okay.”
“Come on; let’s get up then.” He offered a hand out to you, and you clasped his forearm tightly.
In one fell motion, Changmin swept you upright and to your feet—but he used a little too much pulling force, and you were stumbling into him, palms pressed flat against his chest, and his arms coming around your waist. You held your breath as the two of you fought to stabilize the other.
“Shit, sorry about that,” he muttered from above you with a low chuckle.
You opened your mouth to reply, but as you raised your head to meet his eyes and not just his Adam’s apple, you lost all your breath. There was barely a hairsbreadth distance between your face and his. Changmin came to the same determination as you had and his eyes went wide.
A curious thing happened. His pupils dilated, and his eyes darted down to your mouth and his tongue swiped over his own to dampen them.
Your breath as you exhaled was as unsteady as your heart rate.
You felt his hold on your tighten slightly; his Adam’s apple bobbed. And then he was leaning forward, his eyes fluttering closed—
He kissed you then.
His lips were soft over your own with the slightest bit of pressure, nose nudging the side of your cheek.
Your hands moved up the plane of his chest to grasp his toned shoulders; he shifted his left hand to cradle the back of your head.
Wait, what is happening—
You both pulled away, as if the same thought had echoed through both of your heads at the same time.
Panic leapt into the two of you and you jolted away when the distinct sound of Boss by some group called Neo Culture Technology blasted throughout the quiet practice room.
"Fuck," you swore. You glanced back at Changmin and saw the question, the uncertainty, the—you couldn't even tell. Your mind was everywhere and nowhere at once. You could still feel his mouth on yours. "That—that's Doyoung's ringtone. I have to take this."
"Okay," he whispered inaudibly, and you slipped out from his hold.
With your back to him, he rubbed his hands down his face and an indescribable emotion seized his chest. He rubbed a thumb over his lips…
"Doyoung, you need to calm down," you said as Doyoung's voice quite literally rambled at lightspeed into your ear.
You heard your friend take one deep breath, then repeat, "I think one of these final draft files are corrupted. I'm freaking the fuck out right now, and I know you're not out of town, so if you could please—for the sake of my sanity—come to the office and help me!" He was pleading, begging, and Kim Doyoung did not beg. He sounded like one hair-pull from dropping down to his knees.
In any other context, you would have wanted to record this for the history books. Any other context.
Your eyes darted over to Changmin who was still standing in the middle of the room, hands tucked into his pockets, and gaze pinned to you.
You couldn't just—leave? Could you? Not after that—
Then you caught Changmin nodding his head in the direction of the door, his head cocking to the side in silent question. Do you need to go? He mouthed.
You pursed your lips with a reluctant nod. Something's wrong with the paper.
Then go. We'll talk after.
Talk. Yup. You started grabbing your things and you squeezed your phone between your ear and shoulder. "—okay okay, Doyoung. Can you stop wasting your energy for me, and tell me exactly what the screen is telling you?"
You began making your way to the door, but halted in the doorway. You hesitated, turning back to look at Changmin. You really shouldn't leave—but you had to.
"Yn."
You grabbed your phone and pressed the speaker into your shoulder. "Yes?" It sounded breathless.
Desperation gleamed like silver in his eyes. One did not often see that emotion from Ji Changmin. "Don't shut me out."
EPISODE FIFTEEN: OFF THE BOOKS
THE first person that came to mind was Choi Chanhee. "What—"
"I kissed her!" Changmin blurted, hand slapping over his mouth.
"You what?!"
— ✶
You were breathless, brain muddled, a hot mess of a shitshow, when you got to the Daily. The rest of the Board members were on break, including your resident tech expert, so you had assured Doyoung that you were free if he needed anything. (If you weren't deeply regretting that now though.)
You had fast walked all the way from the performing arts center to the Daily's newsroom, effectively cutting travel time down from ten minutes to seven, even with your bag of items. Though, it definitely didn't help your headspace. You could hardly think about Changmin, the kiss, and a corrupted file all at the same time. Not to mention, you finally managed to wrangle Doyoung off the phone with you so he could go splash water on his face to calm the fuck down.
The newsroom was dark when you got there, but you saw the light from Doyoung's office shining down the corridor. He was seated behind his desk, his expression a lot more calm than he sounded from the phone, but his face and bangs were a bit damp, meaning he had actually gone to wash his face. Good.
He saw you trudging down the hall, your baby hairs flying everywhere, and your breath coming out in pants. He noticed the bag slung over your shoulder and had the nerve to ask, "Oh, were you on the way somewhere?"
You sent him a pained stare and collapsed into the chair on the opposite side of his desk.
"You look stressed."
"Changmin and I kissed."
Doyoung's eyes nearly fell out of his head and his body was half an inch from falling out of his chair. "HUH?"
Your head craned back against the back of the chair. "I know."
"Girl, why are you here then?"
"You said it was an emergency!" You cried, straightening. You didn't even acknowledge the fact that Doyoung had just called you "girl". "Now, let's work this file situation out."
Doyoung moved his laptop further away from you. "Oh, nuh-uh, Missy. You're gonna just send me your copy, and then you're gonna go on your merry way back to Mr. Dancer Man and kiss him again."
Your face scrunched up. "Hello?" What was in the sink water in this building…
"Did you talk about it? Are you two dating now?"
"Doyoung," you whined, scrubbing a hand over your face, "you literally called right after we kissed."
Doyoung made a noise of disappointment. "Damn, I'm never gonna live this down."
"Seungkwan's gonna call you a cockblocker for the rest of your life," you muttered in agreement.
He snorted. "You said it, not me." He sobered then, closing the lid of his laptop so he could lace his fingers over it and fix you with a serious expression. "So how do you feel? Tell me what happened."
You twisted and dropped your bag to the ground by your feet, moving your chair closer to the desk so you could drape your upper half on top of the cool surface. "We were dancing—"
"Really?"
"Mhm," you hummed against the table. "It was… it was really nice, Doie. I actually had fun. And then we just—I don't even know—we played around a little and he was helping me up off the ground, and suddenly we were kissing."
Doyoung's brows furrowed together. "Ah, I see. Did he kiss you or did you kiss him?"
"He kissed me, but I didn't stop him." You could recall the look in his eyes with a striking amount of clarity. "I… I don't really know what it all means, or what it means to me. I'm a little confused, if I'm honest."
He sighed. "And that's okay. I think this is something you definitely need to go back and talk to him about though, hm?"
"Yeah."
"But Yn," he continued, reaching over to rub the top of your head and get you to look up, "did you ever have feelings for the guy?"
You slowly raised yourself up from the table with a frown on your face. "When I was a kid, I didn't really see anyone else but him," you confessed, almost unconsciously. You hadn't known what the feeling you harbored for him was back then, but maybe you could seek to understand it now.
Doyoung made a vague gesture with his hand as he sat back in his chair. "Well, that's a start for sure. But you and he have been on rocky terrain for years now. You're not kids anymore and a lot of things have changed." He was right, in some sense. You and Changmin had spent three years convincing yourselves you didn't need each other. Perhaps it had been the opposite the entire time, but what did it all mean?
"I'm glad to have him in my life again," you said quietly. "I think I've always felt… different about Changmin than any other friend I've had before, y'know? It was just unconscious in a way."
"Would you want to act on that then? See where it goes?"
You let his questions resonate around your head for a minute. But the more you thought about it, the more certain you became of your answer.
— ✶
The back corridors of the performing arts hall were just as dark as it was when you had left. For a moment, you were afraid that Changmin had left. But as you neared the practice room from earlier, you could make out the sounds of voices drifting from the cracked open door of the room.
You strained your ears—who was that with Changmin?
You reached the door, quietly pressing yourself against the wall to peer in through the cracked doorway. There, sitting opposite Changmin on the practice room floor, was Chanhee.
"—think about it, Changmin," said Chanhee as he dropped his friend by the shoulders to keep him from sulking. "She kissed you back. Don't you think that means something?"
"She could've just been caught up in the moment," Changmin countered. "She could've—" He made a frustrated noise and threw his hands out in front of him, "Maybe I just don't want to be disappointed."
Chanhee frowned. "Disappointed… that she doesn't return your feelings? Changmin, can you be honest with me for a second?"
He gave a solemn nod.
"Those feelings you had for her when you were a kid—have they ever gone away?"
You had to back away from the door and press your palm against your mouth. But because of that, you weren't able to catch Changmin's answer. Your heart slammed against your ribcage, your hands shaking as your thoughts raced in your head. You had to open the door now. You'd already intruded when you eavesdropped on their conversation.
Sucking in a breath, you pushed the door open wider. No going back now.
Changmin and Chanhee were both frozen in place when you poked your head into the room. The former paled in the warm-toned practice room lights, and you saw him gulp.
"Yn!" Chanhee laughed nervously as he and his friend both scrambled to their feet. His car keys jangled noisily from where they hung on a clip from his belt loop. "Uhm, I think I should leave," he said, clearing his throat and brushing past you.
You grabbed your arm as you shuffled into the room and gently kicked the door closed behind you.
Changmin cupped the back of his neck. "How much did you hear?" He asked, not even bothering to hide the open glisten in his eyes, the pure vulnerability lying stark on his face. It felt like you were seventeen again, standing alone together in the practice room, not really sure what the other person would say or do or feel.
"What did Chanhee mean by you having feelings for me when we were kids?" You asked.
The silence was palpable. "You really didn't know?"
No, you shook your head, definitely not. "I—I mean, no. Not really. I guess I always thought… I don't know what I thought."
He braced both hands behind his head now, his eyes tilted back toward the ceiling. "Yn," he said before looking you in the eyes again, "every time I saw you, I saw someone who put the fucking stars in the sky. If you watch any of our videos from back then—" He pushed out a haggard breath from his mouth. "I could never not care for you, could never stop caring for you. It hurt a lot when we stopped being us because I thought I…"
His hands fell to his sides, helpless. "I thought I lost you. And then it felt like you hated me, so I tried to hate you, too. And then we worked shit out. And then…" Changmin brushed his bangs back and was unable to look you in the eyes for longer than a second with each glance. "I'm sorry I kissed you. I don't want to lose you again, Yn."
Your heart thundered in your ears so loud that you almost thought he could hear it, even from so far away. You got yourself to take a step forward, and then another.
Changmin waited as you walked closer to him, his lips pressed together.
You inhaled. "Changmin, I can't say for sure what I felt for you back then, and I definitely can't articulate my feelings for you as well as you just did—" His eyes clashed with yours, that energy colliding, "—but I'm not sorry you kissed me, or that I kissed you."
You thought you heard his breath hitch for a moment.
"I don't want to lose you again, either," you said and tentatively reached for his hands. Never in your years of knowing him had you known a moment where his fingers trembled like they did now. "And I—I really want to see where this goes. Would you want to see where this goes with me?"
His fingers curled around yours as he nodded. "Yes."
EPISODE SIXTEEN: OFF [MY] FACE
"WHAT about that one?"
"Don't touch that one."
"Will it burn my skin off?" Changmin asked in a sleepy daze as one hand rubbed his eye and the other reached for the gallon of liquid that sat behind a locked cabinet with a clearly marked DO NOT TOUCH. DANGER. plastered on the side.
"Yes," you said without looking up from your organic chemistry textbook.
Changmin's hand dropped immediately and he turned to send a look your way. "Well, that's not very safe."
His hoodie-covered head began bumbling back over to you through the maze of workbenches. It was the first week back to school from spring break, thus, the very first week of the spring quarter. You and Changmin were currently in your regular lab space that you unofficially dubbed your study area. Kun was in the break room probably half asleep over a bag of shrimp chips, and Ten… Ten was somewhere around here. Maybe he got lost down the hallway looking for the bathroom or something.
Changmin had come to hang out with you though, even though he was practically a walking baby giraffe as drowsiness possessed his whole being. But he insisted on staying until you went home.
"It's actually just distilled water," you said with a chuckle. "The lab professors just don't want people using it because for some reason, the convenience stores around here are always out, and they don't want to go hunting for more."
You felt him drape over your back with a fwump. "I love when you talk dirty to me," he said through a rather large yawn.
You grinned to yourself, shaking your head. "Okay, I think we need to get you home."
"Not before you take me to dinner first."
"Are you sure you're not drunk?"
You packed your things up quickly, especially when you saw Changmin nodding off while standing upright. It was already around nine o'clock by the time you said good night to Kun and located Ten (yeah, he'd gone looking for the bathroom and almost gotten locked in a supply closet instead).
Changmin tried to convince you he was okay to drive, but by the way he couldn't even figure out that his keys were hanging on his belt loop, it was safe to say that you were driving tonight. The drive over to Changmin and Chanhee's apartment was an easy one since they lived in the university district and the streets were quite barren at this point. You helped him up to the apartment, greeting Chanhee who was in a fluffy pink robe and matching headband.
"Hi Chanhee," you sighed as you pushed Changmin into the bathroom to shower.
Chanhee looked on in ill-concealed amusement. "He'll be much better after he showers," he reassured you from his perch on the couch. You saw the page-long math problems spread out on the coffee table and held in a gag.
"Dear god, I hope so."
Chanhee directed you to where Changmin's room was and you dumped both yours and his backpacks on the floor by his desk. You actually had yet to step foot in here until now, so while Changmin was doing his thing in the bathroom, you let your eyes roam all around the room. It was relatively clean (emphasis on relatively) with walls that were minimally decorated. There was a whole separate rack of shirts and jackets left outside the small wardrobe, and you recognized a couple of them.
You leaned over his desk to see what he had posted on the wall above it. There were a couple dozen printed photographs of him and his friends, as well as an award or two that were big in name and no doubt special to him. You felt yourself smile; you didn't have to be up here, but you liked seeing his smile in all of these pictures.
And then you saw it.
There was a printed copy of a review pinned amongst the pandemonium of memorabilia. The layout of the page was incredibly familiar, and with widened eyes, you realized that it was a review from the Daily's Opera Glasses.
In fact, as you squinted and skimmed, it was your review from freshman year. It was your (anonymous) review about his debut winter showcase performance.
Wow.
You barely registered Changmin shuffling into the room in slippers and a bathrobe of his own, his dark hair still dripping with water.
He passed you a glance while heading for his wardrobe. "Hey, do you wanna stay over?"
You definitely weren't prepared for that question. "Stay over?" You parroted dumbly. "Also, you have an Opera Glasses review printed out?" Your hand gestured to the sheet of paper pinned to the wall.
Changmin's head turned and he abandoned the wardrobe to walk over to you and his desk. You pressed yourself against the wall to the side to give him space to look. "Ah," he said with a boyish grin, "that was yours, wasn't it?"
"How the hell could you tell?"
He leaned in close to you, bracing an arm above your head. The smell of his shampoo was strong and you came to the realization that he was still in a bathrobe. His tongue darted out to wet his lips. "You don't think I could tell what your writing voice sounded like?" He asked, his voice suddenly lowered.
You inched forward, a dare. "Are you gonna get dressed, Changmin?"
His smile widened. "I could," he teased.
"Hey! Can you guys close the door or keep it down? Some of us are single and have math homework!"
Both you and Changmin laughed at Chanhee's outburst even though your face was definitely heated up.
Changmin took advantage of your unassuming state and pressed his mouth to yours, tasting your laughter on his tongue until you could only taste his in return. It was a dizzying sort of kiss, his arm still above you and his other curled around your waist.
When he pulled away, he bit his lip around a smirk. "I'll get changed now."
Criminal. Absolutely criminal.
He indeed got changed. And so did you. Apparently, he was being serious about you staying the night, and soon enough, you found yourself buried beneath his covers and swept in his very clingy arms. Not that you were complaining; he smelled nice.
You and Changmin laid facing each other in the darkness of his room. Round spectacles sat awkwardly on his nose bridge since the side of his face was pressed against the pillow, but he said he wouldn't take them off until he was just about to drift off.
"Yn-ie."
"Hm?"
He giggled, turning over and reaching over the side of his bed for something. You were about to question what he was doing until he quite literally shoved his wretched Chucky doll into your face.
"What the flying fuck—" You glared at the toy and its creepy stitched face. You had been startled by it, but you had grown used to it after having to deal with his obsession with the damn thing in the last two years of high school.
Changmin hugged the abomination to his chest as he snickered loudly.
"I thought you got rid of that thing."
"You clearly don't know me well enough."
You began to sit up and make a show of throwing off the covers. "I'm leaving—"
"Wait, wait, wait!" He blubbered, grabbing your upper arm and yanking you back down onto the bed next to him.
He leaned over you, his Chucky doll still tucked in the crook of his arm, as Changmin pouted. The glasses were practically sliding off his nose and his hair was sticking up in the back. What a duality. "I don't want you to leave."
"I'm not cuddling with Chucky, Changmin."
"But—"
"I will go ask Chanhee for an extra blanket."
Changmin's pout contorted into a scowl. "I'll murder him."
You wanted to laugh at the ridiculousness of this conversation. "I think you need to go to sleep."
He flopped back onto the bed next to you, reluctantly setting Chucky back down on the floor next to the bed where the wretched thing had been hiding this whole time. You suppressed a shiver.
Finally able to breathe easy, you settled back into Changmin's arms. He tucked you against his chest, his chin settled on top of your head. You felt him shift as he took his glasses off and reached behind him to set them on the nightstand.
You were just drifting off to sleep to the melody of his heart beat when: "Yn?"
"Hm?"
His lips pressed to the crown of your head. "I missed you."
You knew what he meant. You pressed a kiss to his chest and heard the shuddering breath that fell from his lips. "I missed you, too."
EPISODE SEVENTEEN (EPILOGUE): [ON OUR TERMS]
THE problem with the restaurant was that it reminded you of something like the word "home". The sign above the door was made with some common font that one could find on Microsoft Word and you were pretty sure they only took cash, too. There was a reason you had chosen this restaurant in particular, and it was because you thought that eating at a place with your comfort foods would, well, comfort you. But you had been staring at the front for a minute or two now, and you weren't sure it was working.
From beside you, you felt someone take your hand in his. "We don't have to go in," said Changmin, his expression blank and reserved as he looked at the eatery, but softened a considerable amount when he looked over at you.
Your mother was waiting for you in there, somewhere. You wanted to finally talk to her—maybe make some peace with yourself. You'd told Changmin about it, and he insisted on coming as moral support.
You squeezed his hand and he squeezed back. "I can't just not go, Changmin."
His touch was gentle as his thumb grazed over the back of your knuckles, just as gentle as his voice was, "You don't owe her anything, Yn. You deserve an apology from her and you deserve closure, but you don't owe her anything. Not after what she put you through."
You were quiet for a moment and your free hand brushed over the hollow of your throat where the tightening sensation was.
Changmin added, "I'll support whatever decision you come to."
You considered the restaurant again. It had always held a great amount of significance and comfort for you. Did you want to ruin that with a potentially sour conversation? For all you knew, this could end incredibly poorly.
But… there were some things that needed to be done.
You steeled your resolve. "Ready?"
Changmin, all dapper in his dress shirt and pants and styled hair, flashed you a dimpled smile. "Whenever you are."
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a/n: wow ... anyways lol thanks for getting through that madness, and hope u enjoyed!! pls do consider reblogging, commenting, or sending an ask to my inbox teehee i would really appreciate it ! now, onto hyunjae's ! >:)
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writers-wrongs · 4 months
Note
Could you do either BTAS Mad Hatter or Riddler as platonic yanderes? Perhaps with a nerdy non-binary reader?
im in a hattery mood tonight, so we'll start with him and maybe ill do riddler at a later date. also, didnt know what specifically you wanted when you said nerdy, so i went in terms of hobbies
platonic!yandere!btas!jervis tetch x nerdy!nonbinary!reader
-im gonna start this after hes already established as the mad hatter and has already moved on from alice (side note- its weird that he only had one episode where he was after her, right?)
-he doesnt know what came over him, he just saw the most interesting person walking by his hideout and simply had to follow them home! hes used to flights of fancy regarding random people, but most of his fixations fade after only a few days. the only people who have held his attention for longer have been alice and now you. he loved alice, and if you captivate him like she did, he must love you too, right...? but then, why does his interest in you feel so different?
-he cant exactly bump into you in public, hes a wanted criminal, but he has to meet you somehow. he feels like if he just spoke to you, he could make sense of his feelings. so he dons a disguise and follows you to the library. hes seen all the little pins and patches on your clothing, he knows what sort of books you like, so he stations himself in that aisle, hoping he'll be able to chat with you
-and lucky him, you reach for a book right next to him! he takes note of the title- its no alice in wonderland, but it seems interesting enough. he asks you if its any good, and that leads to a wonderful conversation about literature! oh, hes so delighted to be speaking to you, especially when you mention your schedule for library visits. he already knew, of course, but now he can freely pop up there without seeming like a stalker. you part ways for the day, but you cant help but notice how he watches you as you leave...
-you become good friends soon, meeting at the library and discussing what youve read lately. youve never spoken to someone who listens so intently when you ramble about your interests, and its refreshing when he apologizes after incorrectly assuming your pronouns. and hes so respectful, promising to never give you a reason to correct him again. its a bit strange how much he cares, seeing that youve only known each other for a month or so, but nobodys really tried to be your friend before, so maybe youre just overthinking it
-you call him a good friend to his face, and he... sort of freezes. with alice, it always stung when she called him a friend, but with you? it feels like everything finally makes sense. of course he wasnt romantically attracted to you, youre nothing like alice! his mind had never wandered to thoughts of kissing or marriage like it had when he was pining for her, it had always been thoughts of a nice tea party and the like! he loved you, yes, but just as friends! friends... what a wonderful, positively frabjous word!
-after his little epiphany, he seems much brighter and eager than he did when you first met. that just makes it all the scarier when youre late to your library hangout after an unfortunate mugging. despite assuring jervis that youre fine and the only thing you really cared about losing was one of your pins, you can hear him muttering under his breath about how he wont let this stand. the mood is off for the rest of the day, but theres nothing to be done about it
-you wake up the next morning to a knock at the door. its jervis, in full hatter attire, presenting your stolen pin to you. while you question how you didnt notice that your library friend was a notorious criminal, he locks the door behind him and makes himself comfortable. he sits you down and explains how he was drawn to you from the moment he saw you, and he simply had to know you better. he regrets having to lie about his identity, but it was necessary, dont you see? if he was recognized, he never wouldve gotten the chance to become such good friends with you! but of course, he cant let his dearest friend get hurt! he had always worried for your safety, but your mugging was the last straw. he simply cant allow you to go out into gotham anymore, its far too dangerous!
-before you can protest, he slips a card behind your ear and you black out. when you wake up, youre in his hideout, in a room specifically tailored to you. your favorite books are on the shelves, theres posters of your favorite movies and shows on the walls, the tv has a few consoles plugged into it, he even got records of all your favorite music! here, he explains, youll be kept safe and happy. your own personal wonderland
-if youre alright with this new arrangement, expect jervis to hover over everything you do. not because hes suspicious, he just wants to understand your interests. he'll get you unbirthday gifts every day (except your birthday, of course), and youll have tea parties at least once a week. oh, what a wonderful time youll have together!
-if you still want to leave... oh, dear. he doesnt take rejection well, he never has. its almost worse this time, because you considered him a friend before! whats changed? hes still the same man you met all those weeks ago, why wouldnt you want to be friends with him now? hes learned from alice, a card on your head isnt the solution to his problem, but boy is he tempted. he supposes youll just have to spend some time alone before youll see reason. despite all the entertainment in your room, you still need human interaction, so youll probably go a bit mad before you see him again. but at least you want to spend time with him now! he doesnt care about your sanity, just that youre with him. after all, we're all mad here
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lfghughes · 1 year
Text
Seal My Fate pt 4
a/n: idk guys i think im going to have to do the same thing i did with heaven cant help me now and give y'all two endings because i cant even pick between them
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“Jack, I just want to talk.” His ex was so focused on Jack and trying to talk to him that she didn’t even care that she had an audience, one specifically who was currently still in Jacks shirt. “There’s nothing to talk about.” His words came out in an icy tone and you had never really heard Jack talk in anything but his usual joking tone or soft one. “Ten minutes, please.” Somehow she managed to convince him. “My room, ten minutes and that’s it.” He led the way to his room and she quickly followed, shutting the door behind them.
“Well I’m going to my room to take a nap and to get away from whatever comes from that.” Trevor pointed towards Jacks room before heading into his. “Want some bacon?” Alex asked and it took you a minute to realize he was talking to you, holding out a plate for you. You nodded your head and ate some strips before going back to your place. This was clearly not the place for you to be today because it looked like the mood was going to shift drastically.
A majority of your day you thought back to the past twenty four hours and everything that had happened with Jack. Now you had no clue what would happen. It didn’t seem like he was interested in his ex at this point but you also had no clue what was said behind that door. Not that you had any sort of claim to him especially when just a few days ago you had also slept with his best friend. What kind of situation had you put yourself in?
The day passed and now the night was here. You didn’t really feel any better but you decided you needed to sit outside and get some fresh air to clear your head. Almost like he knew you were out there Trevor appeared from the darkness and onto your deck. “Looks like you kept yourself distracted while I was gone.” You could hear the hurt in his voice even though he was trying his best to not show it. “Trevor..” You wanted to explain yourself to him but there wasn’t much to explain.
“I just don’t get it. I love Jack, that’s obvious because he’s my best friend but you know him too. He’s just lonely and you were the first girl around, can’t you see that? You’re just another girl to him.” His words stung deep and you were trying your best to blink back the tears. As soon as he saw your reaction he realized how hurtful his words had been. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-“
“Is that all I am to you too then? Just the closest girl around that would give you attention?” Maybe you were the fool here after all. You wiped your tears as you looked up at him and you could see the apologetic look on his face. “That’s not what you are to me at all, you’re so much more than that.” He started as he stepped forward crouching down in front of you. His hands went up to your face, helping you wipe away some of those tears.
Suddenly another figure popped up on your deck and you immediately sat up and away from Trevors hands. “Woah, hey is everything okay?” Jack asked as he rushed to your side. “Why are you crying?” He asked and you just shook your head getting up from your seat. “It’s nothing. It’s just been a long day so I’m going to head in.” With those words you made your way inside, leaving Trevor and Jack both outside. “Is it because of my ex showing up?” Jack asked and Trevor shook his head. “It’s nothing.” Trevor told him before walking off before he admitted too much to his best friend.
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clementinegreye · 6 months
Text
clementinegreye's masterlist and navigation station:
REQUESTS: OPEN!
you can make requests or simply come chat to me; here
💌 hotd:
🪩 aemond targaryen
the end of love || 1.1k
aemond cheating on his wife is not cool - but it can be poetic when he’s filled with regret.
adoration and resentment (coming soon - currently on Ao3 and going through a re-write!)
lover you should've come over (modern!aemond x brothers best friend reader. coming soon!)
💌 criminal minds:
🍋 aaron hotchner
the sweetest sin of all || 3.4k
the sweetest sin of all (part 2) || 2.6k
who'd have thought aaron hotchner was a man so consumed by longing (lightly inspiredin the midst of investigating a serial killer who chooses victims based on the seven deadly sins, aaron hotchner finds himself entangled in more than just the case (inspired by hozier's new song 'too sweet'):
🌷spencer reid
safer dreams || 2.3k
it's not easy to keep someone safe in your nightmares, something Spencer knows all too well.
false god || 1.2k
it's never a good idea to reminisce about a relationship, especially one that ended with betrayal left you with a permanent scar
some stuff about me and my writing below the line:
about me: hi! my name’s soph, im 23 and an aquarius.
some quick fire facts about me; i’m a cat person, i have a chronic illness, get anxious a lot and my favourite show is criminal minds (in case you couldn’t tell), im trying to get back into reading this year, i have an abnormal amount of jellycats (yes the soft toys) and i love fruit (all fruit)! 🍋‍🟩🍓🍒🍊
i’ve been writing since i was 15 and i’ve been posting my work for a few years now, albeit under different blogs and i post some of my stories on Ao3, which i’ll link below.
writing/requests notes and guidelines:
i currently only write for criminal minds and hotd. i’m happy to write angst, fluff, hurt/comfort etc. just be specific in the ask what you’d like and i can try accommodate it!
i use she/her pronouns and therefore feel comfortable writing from that perspective (or gender neutral). i’m hesitant to write male!reader as i don’t want to inaccurately portray something i have no experience with.
as a guideline i definitely won’t write anything containing rape, hardcore incest or child abuse, non-consensual sex or anything including minors or those underage. i am also hesitant to write really abusive situations.
i’ve never written smut but, i guess i could give it a go. if you’re request it and i don’t write it, i’m probably not comfortable with it. 🌷☁️🐚
my requests are OPEN and right now and i’ll write for any criminal minds/hotd character (i’ll give anything a try once lol) if you want to request something or even just come have a chat and get to know me better my inbox is always open!
i always appreciate feedback and comments, likes and reblog also! but if you just fancy reading something go ahead, there’s no pressure on this blog to interact, it’s always appreciated but i know how i sometimes interact with things on tumblr so i understand. 🌟
my works are only posted here on this blog and on Ao3, if you see them somewhere else please let me know. 🩷
note: i do not support AI or using AI to write, i’ve been practicing writing for many years and i think it’s a shame to use it and it feels like it undervalues the hard work people put in to writing. while AI might be a useful tool for some things my writing does NOT include it and my writing is my own. (i do use grammarly to check my spelling because i can be a silly goose and miss things because i edit all my fics myself but that’s it).
you can also find my work here on Ao3:
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whiteoutzz · 4 days
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Please give me your insights/headcanons on whiteout I want to understand her more but I don't really have a lot of headcanons on her. I can't just get a grasp on her character and come up with anything that makes sense (I also don't want to accidentally be ableist when headcanons stuff for her especially since I got into writing and I don't want to write something accidentally ableist.)
Ummm i was not really sure how to approach this one, but ill try! I think its alright to not understand her as a character, as we don't even get to know her that well.
From the surface level things I guess: She is subdued at quiet and had atypical way of speaking and thinking. She likes art and has hard time relating or understanding other dragons, but we briefly see her in comfortable environment, showing that she does have specific confidence to her. And... yeah that is not everything, but alot of it is. Truth be told, we dont know much about Whiteouts internal life.
I think what makes her click to me, is understanding that the text purposefully makes her unknown. If its good or bad writing choice i dont know, but we do get few references to how Whiteout is much more aware of things going on. Depth implied but not explored, left to readers interpretation.
But ignoring what i think of this writing choice, it does serve its purpouse. There is a barrier between Whiteout and other dragons, even dragons she loves. She does not understand them, and might never be able to understand some things, but she is also probably aware of the upcoming doom. She is observant after all, atleast with specific things.
Note. Alot of the things say there this are speculation and im not fully sure if they were intended to be read that way. Because we dont know alot about her, so im just filling the gaps.
Okay so. she watches her brother slowly spiral away, and maybe she always knew that was going to happen. In general her life is pretty miserable, and i dont think she is exactly satisfied with that. With art she creates, while its her interest, its also a coping mechanism, imagining of a better future. Before Thoughtful she doesnt have any real friends beside her brother. (i know that before darkstalker assassination she hangs out within his friend group and plays boardgames but i think while they are on positive relations, i dont think she is fully friends with them. They are friendly but not friends you know?) Id imagine them (Whiteout and Darkstalker) being closer when younger, as they had only eachother, but as Darkstalker is "one going wild" she is left behind in his shadow.
She is used to feeling like not a real person (dragon). She is just an accessory to others, watcher of pseudo god dragons tearing the world apart. Everything is slipping away from her, and soon she looses her family and is left alone with Thoughtful.
Whiteout in general lacks autonomy, both in text and within the story itself. She does not make things happen, but things happen to her. She has no say in the game other dragons are playing.
And i do think she is frustrated by this, it slowly showing overtime.
Also one aspect that intrigues me, but chapter two, before Whiteout hatches. Obviously its biased since its baby Darkstalker pov, but the "Whiteout does not hear the moons" thing. Her either not caring enough or not being aware of the silver right. It shows contrast between her and her brother, with her not desiring power, or maybe feeling apathy towards her place in universe (okay this one might go little far as speculation goes but whatever). It makes you wonder how Whiteout would be if she was 3moons born animus, but that is left for aus to speculate on.
As for heacannons um. Alot of them are mostly minor projections for me, like her having chronic pain or ocd or a lazy eye or whatever. Also shes autistic, obviously, but with her coding its. Yeah she is not canonically autistic but she very much reads as so.
But she also canonically has synesthesia, which i dont have. So um.
Also im sorry but i would need specific examples of headcanons you have for her, but you are probably good, but also i dont know since i dont have any example of that. Umm.
Is this good enough of a response?
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umemiyan · 4 months
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ROBIN!!! im absolutely in LOVE with postmortem/postpartum, its such a good fic and its so refreshing honestly to see such a creative, interesting concept be explored especially with so much care and love. i said this in my tags but thats rly what fanfic is all about, EXPLORING!!! exploring canon, exploring characters, putting them in new situations and seeing what happens. i love love love it. and seeing gojo in such a brand new, vulnerable light, with both him and reader navigating life as a disabled-coded person following his death and resurrection, is so fascinating. and when he did the divine dogs hand motion to megumi i literally almost cried. if its ok with u, i had a couple questions!!!
what was reader before the incident? a teacher at jujutsu high? just a friend to satoru? im interested in what role they played prior to everything that happened. obviously megumi knew reader, but im curious what that relationship is!!
how with it is satoru? reader had to pick out his outfit and bathe and feed him, we’ve seen that much, but is he able to dress himself? how well does he move - walking and such? does reader always have to help feed him or was that just a one time occurrence to encourage him to eat?
SORRY if im bombarding you with too many questions, i just love this concept so much and im so fascinated with it 🤍🤍🤍
AH HELLO!!!!!!! omg i saw your wonderful tags earlier while i was working and i was just so giddy to read them!!!! thank you so much 💕 i really am enjoying exploring this story and am happy that others are as well 🥹 i felt like maybe the whole thing would just be something only i would be interested in LOL which would’ve been totally fine tbh but i’m thrilled to see it resonating with other people!!
no worries about asking questions at all! thank you for doing so! i realize some things have been rather vague thus far and probably have a few people wondering what the deal is lol
more details will be revealed somewhat soon in the story i suppose, but so far my intention has been for reader to be a sorcerer—not necessarily a teacher, but many sorcerers do of course tend to engage with the school and its students, so that’s where the familiarity comes from. it will also be implied that they and gojo were either classmates or otherwise very close in age during school (that’s a specific detail i haven’t exactly landed on yet lol)
as for satoru, i’ve honestly been playing it a little loose when it comes to his condition thus far, though i would like to perhaps refine some of these details in my mind. however, it’s purposefully meant to come across a bit wishy-washy since it’s truly something that everyone is learning as they go along. in my mind, the time since satoru’s revival/awakening has really not been long at all—maybe two weeks at the most. new things are being unearthed every day.
however!! he is very much inspired by brain injury patients as well as autistic individuals with higher support needs (somewhere in between levels 2 and 3). it’s a bit of a concoction of both (as well as tidbits of other things) based on my own observations and research rather than something that’s more clearly defined as being coded as one or the other, especially since what happened to him was… not normal LMAO so there are some supernatural aspects as well that sort of make it its own /thing/
his motor functions are pretty normal for the most part aside from perhaps the occasional coordination issue, though i almost imagine that his six eyes/powers are automatically trying to overcompensate for such things?? which would in turn cause extra fatigue at the end of the day. but tbh that’s something i’m going to put more thought into!!
one of his biggest issues is with executive function/initiating tasks and making decisions. the cognitive impairments are what require reader’s prompting and assistance a lot of the time. however, reader is also potentially overcompensating (or lacking) in some areas as well simply because they haven’t been able to accurately gauge all of satoru’s capabilities yet and are overall not used to caring for someone at this level.
so while he is actually physically able to perform most tasks, the cognitive function isn’t quite there, nor are the memories on how to engage in certain tasks (probably mostly those with more steps/complications) without prompting and reminders. it can take his brain a little bit longer to calculate and process several things.
i just have this image in my head of reader pulling underwear over their pants or something while trying to demonstrate to him how to get dressed without having to fully intervene LMFAO since they are trying to maintain some modesty/distance at the moment. which… probably won’t last for long tbh because it’s not quite practical at this stage.
but there is maybe a little room for neurological improvement on his end! however, it is not my goal for the story to see that he is “fixed” or anything of the sort, nor do i want it to diminish his person. it’s a balancing act!
sorry i just rambled a lot skdjsjsnshdudidie but once again, thank you so much for reading and asking!!! discussions like these really help me understand my thoughts a lot better and i really enjoy hearing yours as well! it certainly helps keep the inspiration flowing rather than all of these little things getting trapped up in my mind lol 💖
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Fankid Ask game for the little vampys🩶
💬: what was your child's first word? was it a nickname for you or your f/o or something entirely different?
🪁: does your child enjoy learning about their parents' hobbies, or do they prefer to find their own?
🍼: what's your child's comfort item and where did it come from? is it a hand-me-down?
🧁: what's your child's favorite thing in the world? what's their least favorite thing?
AAAAAAAA THANKS MJJJJJ :D 💜💜💜💜
WARNING SUPER LONG INFODUMPS BELOW IM SO SORRY I MAKE YOU SIT THROUGH THESE I LOVE YOU FOR IT-
YOU DONT HAVE TO READ THROUGH IT ALL 💀😭💀😭
💬: what was your child's first word? was it a nickname for you or your f/o or something entirely different?
-
David's daughter Anastasia had been super quiet and hadn't made much noise other than a few cooes and squeaks till she was around one or one and a half.
Her first word ever was 'Dav', and she'd crawl or walk around the cave, repeating it until David found her or aided her in what she wanted/needed. Another silly thing is he'd always correct her when she said it, too.
"Dav-id. With 'id' at the end-"
"Dav!"
"Don't interrupt me."
Of course, once she got bigger, it developed into Daddy or Dad. When learning Chrysta's name, it was just an easy 'Mama'.
-
Now Jennifer, Dwayne’s daughter, had a rough time learning the difference between mom and dad. Due to some issues during Jenny's birth, Chrysta was left in some pretty bad shape for a good few months, so Dwayne was around to help more than he was expected to.
So Jennifer had actually started calling Dwayne 'Ma' or 'Mama' when she was becoming vocal. Of course, it didn't bother Chrysta or Dwayne too much, but he'll admit it was kind of embarrassing when he was on the boardwalk and his baby girl had called at him happily 'Mommy!'
"Jenny, it's 'daddy' see? I'm 'daddy.'"
"OK, mama."
"No, Jen -"
-
Paul tried soooo hard to get Tiffany's first word to be 'Papa' or 'Daddy' the poor guy spoon fed her books about it, making sure to linger and explain the specific pages including daddy animals or point out the parental figure considered the dad.
But it seemed no matter how hard he tried. Her words were always 'Mami!' Which soon followed a 'fuck' under Paul's breath.
... He didn't learn his mistake until one night on the boardwalk Tiffany had run a little too fast and dropped the ice cream cone Paul had just bought for her... And she exclaimed very loudly:
"FUG!"
Paul didn't know whether to be laughing or dreading what he had to explain to Chrysta later that night.
"Now Tiff, those are very bad words- and their not nice to use, especially in front of Ma...
But you're aloud to say it one more time for Daddy and his friends."
-
Katherine learned how to say Mama first due to Marko referring to Chrysta with it 24/7. Marko knows its cause he says it every dawn before they go to sleep, but he likes to think it's just imprinted into her little brain due to him always giving Chrysta's tummy two taps of his fingers, and saying 'hey little mama' while she was pregnant with Kat.
Chrysta also thinks it's the most darling thing whenever Marko goes: "Goooood night mama." Soon to be followed by Kats: "Guuuuuu night mama!"
-
Christopers first word was actually one David wasn't happy to hear. At all.
David left him with Marko and Paul for five minutes. Five. And the moment he saw the mischevious smirks from his mates as his son was being handed back to him while gumming down on a cherry lollipop, he already knew they'd done something. And the second he opened his mouth to ask, he heard from his darling baby boy's mouth:
"Bith!"
Oh, sweet heavens above he was going to murder those two.
"Chrissy. I'm Daddy. I'm not your-"
"Bith! Bith, bith, bith-"
*sounds of muffled devastation and full unadulterated rage into his coat sleeve*
🪁: does your child enjoy learning about their parents' hobbies, or do they prefer to find their own?
-
All the girls+ Christopher (once he's old enough) collectively enjoy hunting or going on the boardwalk with their dads and mom. But they do each have their own things they like to do with each parent!
-
Anastasia likes learning to drive David's bike. Spending many late night hours riding around on the beach or through the fog of Hudsons Bluff with David. It's intense and thrilling, but she feels safe on the back or in the front of her dad's bike and has never at all felt like she'd get hurt or be in danger.
It's also nice when he sneaks off to go do it with her and only her - no siblings or mom and dads involved. Just a night between her and her dad for once.
She likes doing her makeup with, for, or getting it done by Chrysta. Since she isn't exactly risking mirror checks by walking into salons or makeup booths, it's nice to be able to keep herself well groomed and spend quality time with Chrysta.
She gets her hair done or nails made pretty, all while telling her mom about a cute boy she saw on the boardwalk she knows if she told David about he'd never get off her case. 🤭
-
Jennifer likes making jewelry with Dwayne. He always brings back teeth or cool bones he finds and teaches her how to tie or braid them into necklaces or anklets.
He also likes braiding her hair and putting beads in it- (This kids got his thick hair and Chrysta didn't go through 9 months of heartburn for it to not be taken care of.) teaching Jenny the same while being her personal model to test it on. Even if his hair ends up in knots, he praises her for her hard work. 🙏🥺
Jenny likes stories with Chrysta. She always tells the best ones while she's falling asleep or unable to sleep. In all honesty, she just seems to like Chrysta's voice. If she's being honest, her mama has a calm, lulling hum that makes her feel all cozy and safe.
-
Tiffany loves- and I mean LOVES dancing with her Daddy. Paul's always blasting music on his boom box and it's blasting twice as loud when it's just the two of them left in the cave.
Either their thrashing their heads together or jumping around the water fountain screaming along to the heavy metal, or he even plays a few of Tiffs favorites (a few Disney CD specials he stole once 🤫🤫)
But Tiff adores when Paul holds her on his hip and sway along to some slow dance songs, tiring her down after the few songs involving moshing and swinging. Even humming a little to them while doing some twirls just to get her to giggle. 🥺
Tiffany likes quality time with her mama! Maybe for the fact Chrysta can't say no the the perfect little puppy dog eyes she gives but does this girl no how to get spoiled rotten.
She likes being able to go around the boardwalk and walk through stores or booths looking at things, especially anything that sparkles. Chrysta has had to pat down her own child for jewelry snatches sneakily away from booths before.
Now. We all know Marko’s got to know at least a little handiwork when it comes to sewing or stitching. I mean, have you seen this man's jacket? He's bound to teach his offspring a little bit of his magic.
-
Katherine enjoys sitting on Marko’s lap as he either works on a new patch in his jacket or fixing up some of her own clothes. It's probably one of the only things she stays completely focused on and stays still,making sure to listen to everything he says.
He let's her take a go a few times- but that only lasts ten seconds before she's crying about poking her fingers or her hands are tangled in thread.
Kat likes dressing up with Chrysta. The two like looking through some old clothes or stolen goodies and putting on their own little fashion shows in the cave.
Since mirrors are a no-go, they like putting on the most flashy or hideous combination you could imagine and trying to make one another laugh.
-
Christopher likes learning to fly with David. David is probably the most safest option when it comes to difficult or riskier tasks to learn and he knows it.
Chris struggles getting the hand of it, and sometimes David can't fight the smugness when his son just likes to ride on his back or curl up underneath his buttoned up jacket while hovering around.
You know how mama bats hold their young in their wings when their upside down or something? That's how David holds Chris in his coat LMAO if anyone needed visuals.
Watching movies with Chrysta is one of the things Chris holds dear to his heart. Especially in his younger years when he's still not old enough to join hunting, his mom will happily stay behind and binge some cheesy cheap horror movie or soap opera with him.
I mean, they'll watch anything they can get their hands on, especially knowing they can easily get Max to give up a few VHS with the 'Grandpa' card.
🍼: what's your child's comfort item and where did it come from? is it a hand-me-down?
-
Anastasia's sentimental item is a pocket knife her dad used to have all the way back in 1900 when he was a pick-pocketer. It's not in the best shape, obviously, but it's a piece of him back before his immortality, and Annie is extremely intrigued about her father and his mates past.
-
Jennifer's comfort item has to be the skirt she seems to wear and never take off. It's sewn with multiple bits and pieces of beaded or detailed fabric her dad can find, and mom can sew. Chrysta could swear that sometimes Jenny purposefully makes tears or holes in the skirt just so Chrysta can add more to it.
-
Tiffany probably considers anything she owns as a comfort item - she's kind of a hoarder in the making with her collection of trinkets and jewelry Paul has spoiled her to death with. She does love the red lensed sunglasses passed down from Chrysta to her.
-
Katherine's jacket is probably the second thing she loves most in life. The light pink fuzzy thing couldn't be pried of her very body if one tried. Marko bought it for her after he saw the sparkly rhinestones on the front of it that spelled out 'Princess' in cursive. Ever since Marko told her that she's "Daddy's little princess," this kid has a COMPLEX.
-
Christopher's a little dude, but he's probably got David's coat promised to him when he's older. If you want to see David turn into a puddle of goo, just watch his son waddle over to him and crawl underneath his coat and snuggle with his dad. Or the times at the boardwalk where he'll play hide and seek with Dwayne and hide underneath it if David's standing around.
🧁: what's your child's favorite thing in the world? what's their least favorite thing?
-
As dangerous as it is, Anastasia loves the sunlight. The very thing that could kill her in a matter of painful seconds is the thing she's completely fascinated and intrigued by.
She can't help but feel a bit envious of humans who are able to feel the sun on their skin without agonizing pain to follow. Let a sunrise run up their fingertips without having to pull away. She fantasized about the summer days her mom would tell her about whenever she asked Chrysta what sunshine was like when she was human... Sometimes, she thinks she and her mother have a mutual agreement that they both wish to experience sunshine at least once in their immortality.
Now the thing she hates? David's overprotectiveness. If there's anything she can't stand it's when her dad demands or orders her around- sometimes it feels like she can't go seven feet in front of him without him demanding her to come back and never leave his side for the rest of the night.
-
Jennifer's favorite thing is her Daddy's hair. Like I've said and will stand my it RELIGIOUSLY is that Dwayne’s hair is probably the most cared for and well groomed than most of the boys. And Jennifer LOVES to play with it or snuggle with it.
This man is 100% willing to spend hours sitting perfectly still while his daughter covers his head with bows, clips, flower crowns, and the most ghastly knots considered braids. Maybe a few tears of pain are shed when she runs the cheap plastic come through his hair a little too hard, but he's enjoying the time nonetheless.
Jenny DESPISES social interaction with anyone that isn't her pack. She's the shyest thing anyone in the coven has ever seen. Whenever they're on the boardwalk Jenny is hiding behind Dwayne’s legs or her mom's side.
And when she's allowed to split off and go with her sisters, she's following behind Anastasia like a lost puppy, eyes trained to the floor.
-
Tiffany's favorite thing is the beach! Paul gives off some very low surfer dude vibes imo,(I mean there's a split shot in the movie where we see some surfboards) but I don't think he does anything extravagant or hardcore- I feel he'd just swim out a a ways with Tiffany on the edge of his board and moonbathe for a little bit, laying on his back with Tiff on top or hanging her legs over the ledge, both taking a little nap.
As much as Tiffany likes the sea and the beach, she hates baths. She's like a feral cat clawing and clinging onto her moms arm to avoid touching the soapy surface of the bath at Max's home.
-
Now Katherine's favorite thing? Marko. You know how I said the thing she loves second in her life was her jacket? Marko takes first place. (Sorry Chrysta LOL.)
Kat loves her papa and clings to his very being like a koala. She's always making sure she's the star of his attention whenever he's around. If no one can find Kat, just look on Marko’s back, leg, or arm. She's probably latched herself onto there.
And the thing Kat hates is when Marko has to leave. Whether it be hunting or simply just a boys' night out, she's pouting and asking when he's gonna be back. She thinks any second without her dad is gonna end up with him in danger or hurt. She makes some of the cutest excuses as to why she can't go to bed so she can hopefully stay up till Marko gets back. She's definetly attached to this vampires hip but he isn't complaining. 🤷‍♀️
-
Christophers' favorite thing has got to be the boardwalk! The little guys eyes just get all big and excited at all the sparkling, twinkling lights and colorful stands or rides. He even starts to babble or squeal happily whenever the word affiliated with his favorite place is mentioned.
Christopher hates Daddy's vampire face. Like- when David and all the guys get vamped out, Chris'll start crying. It's similar to those videos with babies' reactions when fathers shave their beards for the first time in their lives.
It's worse when David does it on purpose to get a good laugh too, and he isn't doing anything malicious or cruel to scare his son, he's just holding him and this kid will go into hysteric sobs while hiding in David's coat.
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henriiiii-1001old · 9 months
Text
coming back/moving blogs
hey, been a while, hasn't it? i hope you're all doing well! this is my official coming-back-to-tumblr post, but it's a little different than i had originally planned.
i've decided it would be in my best interests to move blogs after a bit of thinking. i feel like coming back here would just feel too awkward for both me and you guys, especially with my now deleted drama post. i just wanna move on from all this bullshit, especially since i've had do deal with a lot of other shit, including college.
it's still @/evrydaygets-darkr, just moved to a different account. i still like the name, so i'm keeping it for now. this account will still be up for archival purposes, but it will never be active again. i hope you understand. (EDIT: changed to @henriiiii-1001 bc of shit that happened w ak recently. see this for more info and this for my official statement on it)
as a general life update, i'm done with my first semester of college!! it's been kinda fun so far! i've made a couple friends here and there, and classes (except for math) were super cool!!! i loved most of my professors, and i am honestly excited for the upcoming semester! ive been artblocked to hell and back though, so i don't have much in terms of new art or writing, but i've been trying my best to get out of it. i also gained a new hyperfixation, which is project sekai: colorful stage (abbreviated as pjsk), so i'll probably be posting abt that quite a bit (btw my fav group is wxs and my fav character is tsukasa :3 ), specifically abt stats and achievements w like song completions, maybe some pulls too!
im also gonna put a few updates on aus and oc stories rq:
for my tmc aus: the big ones i'm working on are getting new masterposts and infodumps for the new blog. i would rb posts from this blog to the new one, but due to some personal stuff i don't feel very comfortable doing that. i havent been able to cook much lore-wise for any of them, but i'll probably get back into the swing of things once i start interacting w you guys again. - for specifically father's duty: i'll hopefully have chapter 3 done soon. it's actually been almost done for a while now, i just need to think of the ending. thank you to those who've stuck with me this far <3 (EDIT: all my tmc aus are discontinued. read above for more info)
for murder files: i'm gonna change up the pacing a bit because i feel like i was going a bit too fast with it. i wanna take my time with it and make it feel as real as possible. it might take me a bit to get fully set up bc im probably gonna have to plan a few steps ahead, which i've barely done. i just need time to plan everything out and draw some shit
i will try to post as often as i can to get back into using tumblr like a true tumblrina (even though i see theyve made some more disgusting changes so yay </3 ), though it'll probably take some getting used to.
i really missed you guys. i'll see you on the flipside.
-henry/thatcher
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farmerjames · 5 months
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hi its me again ^^; requesting for a romantic matchup (bachelors only pls. gender neutral with he/him prns as well)
im an introvert, usually very quiet and calm and rather hard to provoke at times. i'm easily irritated and lack patience with people who don't really think things through (though i grow warm over time as i grow tolerant in SOME cases). im very loyal and reliable as told by my friends and act similarly to a nagging aunt of sorts?? i'm rational and rather stubborn in the things i do but i relent depending on the severity of things. im also quite petty in certain cases.
i've been told it's easy to be around myself as a person, and people are really comfortable to be themselves in my presence. generally, i'm very blunt since i don't know how to phrase my words any better and some people (& even friends) at times, take the things that i say the wrong way without meaning to. it sometimes comes of as rude and insensitive. i tend to get along with most people as long as they deal with the same mutual respect back. im also terribly sassy at times and rather petty.
i'm rather sarcastic and tend to tease a lot out of the fun of it. it's really easy to get me flustered, especially with flirts because the first thing i'd do is laugh and try to get out of there as soon as possible 😭 i think use both my words and actions equally since i (usually) follow up with what i say. i have tendencies to be a people watcher and observe people going about their day.
i wouldn't really consider myself the most passionate or enthusiastic person either but i really enjoy listening to those who have one. really makes me happy to see people enjoy the things they do. in a sense, i like when people have the things that i lack (energy, passion etc) i just love seeing it A TON. at times, i also have trouble in wording the things that i want to say so it ends up falling flat at times. so i wouldnt say im the most persuasive person either. i tell corny jokes and i rarely give in compliments unless i think its worth it.
appearance wise, i'm about 5'4 and on the chubbier side of things. i have brown skin, really dark brown eyes and 4B black hair. i have small hands and lots of moles on my body but specifically i have 1 on each cheek. as for interests im really into anything that interests me since i get bored easily. most things that catch my attention are typology, videogames, music and gardening. im also learning to play the bass guitar as well. hope that you have a good night/day!
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!! SAM !!
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INTROVERSION AND STUBBORN
- Being an Introvert has attracted Sam to you, alongside your bold flare of stubborn traits. It’s drawn him in with an eagerness to know just what makes you tick. To be on of those few that you know you can go to for anything, and to be special to you.
- Your haste paths to irritation strikes something in him, living for those moments where he gets to see you snap. Scolding those that have caused you bitter taste in moments.
BLUNT AND SASS
- Your blunt tendencies have him infatuated, whether it’s directed towards himself or others, the way you don’t seem to realize the tone you may hold is something he’s come to understand and admire. You speak the truth, and you don’t bother tiptoeing facts even if you don’t mean to appear so harsh.
- Not to mention your sass, sarcastic comments and petty behaviours having him head over heels. Quite the friendly boy himself, he’s happy to see someone so.. contrasting to himself. You’re just so.. amazing, acting so bold and confident to the public, but Sam knows better.
FLIRT AND TIMID
- While you may deem yourself quite the joking flirt, the moment tables turn is one that has him coming back. You just grow so flustered and timid with any compliment spared from him, and it’s made it his goal.
- He loves the way you watch others, with such curiosity. It’s charming to see you so engaged with the lives of others, but Sam wouldn’t mind having your focus solely on himself from time to time..
CALM AND PASSIONATE
- Your intrigue in others is perfect for Sam. He’s always wanted an audience of his own, someone so dedicated in his own passion for music.
- Your calmness and, often times, silent behaviour don’t bother him at all. He’ll do the talking for the both of you, he just asks that you’re there to listen and sit with him, he doesn’t exactly have anyone else to do so.
MUSIC AND GAMES
- He’s not new to either, and he’s more than happy to help you learn to play guitar. Maybe you two could have a private little band.
- Your music tastes will definitely begin to blend as well, maybe they’re similar, or maybe they contrast, but it’s clear that there’s a mixture of taste that neither of you care to address, but both love.
- Besides, on the calmer days Sam wouldn’t mind laying back and playing some games with you. Nor does he mind watching, or having you watch him. As long as the two of you are together, he’s absolutely joyful.
APPEARANCE
- Sam obsesses over the height difference, he loves the opportunities to be big spoon. To just hold you all nice in his arms on those quiet days.
- I think that while he loves your hair, he wouldn’t understand the care behind it. But he’s happy to learn anything he needs to in order to help you!
- And your most prominent moles are most definitely his favourite place for casual kisses, one on each cheek, just perfect placement for his love.
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Hope this is up to your pleasing!! Have a good one!
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everythingsinred · 1 year
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I spent a whole day reading your Natsume analysis and am so excited to read Mikan's version. I wanted to ask about your thoughts on what Natsume was doing during the four years he was apart from Mikan. In Kageki, we learn that he took a lot of missions to get credit. But what do you think his mental state was like? Do you have any fic recs? I love making myself sad from Natsumikan angst.
hi! im so happy you read the natsume analysis! it makes me happy to hear people enjoyed it! i just recently made a table of contents for my essays and general ga postings so if you need help navigating the mikan essays, check out my pinned post <3
to answer your questions about what natsume was up to while mikan was gone, im pretty sure in kageki narumi mentioned that natsume had some negative behavior and attitude, but the extent of that is left vague. allegedly the missions he went on after she left were not alice-heavy or life-threatening but we know that one of those missions was to be toma's bodyguard and... bodyguarding tends to be dangerous? thats in the job description, pretty much literally. im not entirely sure how he was expected to bodyguard WITHOUT using his alice, but thats what they imply. did he take martial arts? did he carry a gun? who knows really. either way he should not have been permitted to continue doing any missions.
just in general, i think he was pretty depressed without mikan around. i mean natsume was in a HORRIBLE suicidal depression for two years before he met her and falling in love with her happened because she saw value in his life that he hadnt seen before. while she was there, he had developed a sense of purpose in his life and a will to live he hadnt had. it was bc of her that he started bonding with class b. now that shes gone, im sure hes very upset especially because its not certain he'll ever be allowed to see her again, granted he even lives that long.
but as much as i see him being depressed and a little miserable, he still has friends and a strong support system at the academy now. he has his best friend, plus the kids he allowed himself to befriend while mikan was around. theres pictures in the memorial book that depict middle-school aged natsume hanging out with The Boiz, and there's photographs in kageki that imply he wasnt completely isolating himself from his classmates during mikan's absence.
so with that in mind, i think he's depressed and sad about mikan being gone for sure, but he still has a will to live, a support system, and a sense of purpose (seeing mikan again) so that he isnt ENTIRELY devastated during those few years.
we can see when he reunites with her that he kinda expected her to remember him as soon as she saw him, and that gives us insight into how exactly he processed her stolen memories. (smth like, "she doesnt remember anything. so even if i did see her id probably have to make her fall in love w me again and im not even sure how i did it the first time! but she did love me right? i mean if she really loved me, she'd remember me eventually. i cant imagine forgetting her so im sure since she loved me that she'll remember as soon as she sees me!" and then he holds onto that thought so tightly that he ends up shocked that she doesnt remember). those thoughts probably kept him afloat too.
i really have mixed feelings about mikan leaving the academy in the first place though. i just dont think that plot point was executed very well so i never really got very into it.
as for fanfic recs, i cant think of many off the top of my head that have much to do with that time period of natsume on his own, but there is this one, (paths that lead home by MCaroba) which is about natsume going on a road trip with his friends!
as for angsty fics that are NOT related to that specific time period, here are some:
Ten Years to Date by November Romeo (the kids are assigned to write about their futures and natsume refuses. canon!verse one shot) (ps lots of her canon fics are in the same universe and theres a deal of angst involved there too, though her canon!verse fics take place in an alternate future of the kids in high school. i do recommend reading pretty much everything she's written for ga)
Tired by FearandLoathingXIX (hurt/comfort related to natsume's sickness. canon!verse one shot)
My Happy Ending by Little Miss Giggle (au where the kids go to a music school.... it starts off silly and fun but it gets pretty damn angsty. multichapter and one of the better known fics in the fandom)
Steal (my breath away) by Rock-n-Round (au one shot where alices exist but they're a bit weird and hard to explain. this one is EVISCERATING. and very beautiful)
Before You Hit the Ground by Ducky-san (au multi-chapter fic where mikan runs away from an abusive home and meets natsume who is in a gang against his will. i actually LOVE this fic so much... but it does contain some triggering material, like discussions of child abuse and implied sexual abuse.)
Right Before Your Eyes by pressuredtreasure (au... i don't think i can say much about this without spoiling it, but it's basically mikan missing natsume)
Oh Hello World also writes a lot of one shots, some of which are pretty angsty.
i'm really sad.... i was gonna link some other fics but i couldn't find them or remember their names and i'm scared they've been taken down. ah the pain of being in an old, less active fandom...
i also write fics too! ive only written aus so far (incidentally, not on purpose), but the angstiest is probably all things rancid and delicate, which is about mikan in a cult (it has a lot of dark elements to it)
im sorry if youre not much an au person, but i havent read much new ga ffn recently and not many good ones have survived the test of time it seems. it's all very sad. i miss reading fanfic all the time AND having lowered standards for gaffn specifically...
i hope i've answered your questions! if you have any other questions feel free to shoot me another ask! i love talking abt ga <3
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moonjxsung · 6 months
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tofu sends all her love to you too and soju boops you (she isn’t that bad, she’s just insane).
first group trip to san diego sounds so fun!! im glad you have that opportunity! and the matching tattoos!! my friends and i want to get one with this specific artist but she’s booked till like forever and getting our schedules to work is so hard (we want to get ✨cats✨). i love tattoos so much, i only have one😩 but i have the itch to get another one soon (probs after lolla though, another bday gift😂). when you get them, you must show them to me (if you’re comfortable ofc)🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻 and the pc holder! the fact that you were indecisive and got the best of both worlds!! we love that! i love keroppi, underrated king.
i’ve watched the sherlock performance like 7 times im not even kidding (plus all the reels & tik toks i’ve seen😭), im obsessed. my new cover roman empire (tired with “ill be your man” from kingdom). i just love shinee so much and sherlock is one of my fave songs/performances from them! so skz literally killed me with that. choi minho has my heart, every time i see the hard or s class tik toks i either die a lil or gain a lil life, idk yet. i love all of the members fr, i played russian roulette with it and chose minho (then i just loved his personality so much, he’s so sweet). taemin is my wrecker too! (and one of my bf’s ults, he’s obsessed with taemin). i’m suuuuper sacred for the future of shinee comeback too bc i really really really want to go see them someday, ik taemin signed as a member of shinee but not solo (like the BP members) so im hoping for at least one comeback & tour with the four of them🤞🏻.
(also, i read your answer like at 3 am like 80% asleep and i dreamt that you, a person that i’ve never seen in my life so you were just a faceless human layout, were going to tattoo me -it was actually such a cute cat design, do you tattoo by any chance?😂- and then we would go to a shinee concert 😭😂)
ily bb! i hope you have a great week!💕
-🐈‍⬛
(Soju I still love you 💔) Ughhhh I so feel you on waiting for a specific artist 😭 the artist who did my first ever tattoo was only an apprentice when I met her and shortly after my tattoo she randomly skyrocketed in popularity and bookings and now it’s IMPOSSIBLE to book w her I would give anything to get tatted by her again ☹️ plus the shop she works at is women-only so it just has such a comforting vibe to it but they’re booked out like an entire year 😀 rip. BUT my new artist is also really cool and she can usually fit me in within a few months so I’m not complaining!!!! I love female artists they’re always so talented and sweet also YESSSS I will absolutely post my tattoos on here when I get them !! 🫶💘
PLEEEEASE I HAVE WATCHED THE SKZ SHINEE PERFORMANCE SOOO MANY TIMESSSS especially Jisung’s high notes????:!:!:!:!:!:!/ I CANNOTTTTT also have you been seeing all the beautiful Choi Minho tik toks we are being blessed with. He’s so beautiful fr on his Roman Holiday I NEED HIMMMM 😦 Taemin being your boyfriend’s bias wrecker is SOOOO REAL he’s for everyone frfr. I truly think Taemin is otherworldly like his concepts and his talent and the way he thinks…… if I could be any kpop idol I would hands DOWN pick Advice era Taemin the fucking HAIR the suits the concepts the music and choreography…. He’s like everything I want to be 💔💔💔💔💔 when I die I hope I come back as Advice era Taemin
THAT IS SOOOO FUNNY OH MY GODDDD PLWKKWKEKDKSKS I would be SO bad at tattooing but I would love to try using a tattoo gun at least once so if anyone needs a really shitty tattoo, I’m ur girl 🫶 I hope you can get another tattoo soon!! If you get one after Lolla I would so love to see it (if you’re comfortable ofc!) MANIFESTING MORE TATTOOS ALWAYSSSS 👼 this also reminds me I want a shinee tattoo so bad I would love one for each member and then an Ot5 tattoo ughhh a Taemin tattoo would go so hard I wouldn’t even be able to choose one !!
ILY BBYYYY I’m virtually tattooing a little heart on you 🫶💓💖💗💞💕💘💝👼
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wannaremember · 1 year
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I saw @homosociallyyours and @jlf23tumble post theirs and felt like doing this since I can't sleep. I am not the best at picking answers to things but i will try.
Relationship status: Single. I don't know if i see myself ever being anything else. So in that way its complicated, my view of what I want, what I can have, whats possible and whats not. I try not to think about it though. I'm also kind of bitter about some things which sours my thoughts on relationships.
Favorite colors: is it okay to say every colour? Like i am so bad at picking a favourite thing :/ but if i had to pick right now, I'd say red. The answer could be different at any other given moment though 😅
Song stuck in my head: at the moment there is none. I dont think my brain has the space for it at the moment. I also can't think what the last song stuck in my head would have been but I do remember Happier than Ever being stuck in my head somewhat recently.
Last song I listened to: Bad friend by Rina Sawayama. I feel like anytime i do these things I'm always mentioning the same artists lol but really blame the spotify shuffle algorithm. Anyway i do love the song so I'm not mad about it.
3 favorite foods: once again picking a favourite is tough but for this its easier because I do have my ultimate favourite food in mind. Khausey, its like this noodle and yellow curry dish. Googling it probably won't be very useful and theres often different variants of it depending on what your cultural background is. So i usually think of the version I've grown up eating. I can never make it as good myself and its a lot of work to make the curry so I rarely make it myself. But god its the best. Second is halwa puri. Again something i can't explain but i love it. It always tastes best when you get it from the street. I think I'm going to start listing out all the street food i miss from back home as well as other foods i miss that i just cant get here, atleast not as good as they are back home so ill pick something different for the third option lol. Nutella, im not going to call it food per se and its not even that i think its particularly great but its a comfort thing for me where i just eat a few spoons of it on its own when I'm feeling low, or pmsing or anything, it takes very little excuse.
Last thing I googled: Moonlight, the movie, i saw a mention of it in a fic i was reading and googled it.
Dream trip: there's not really one place i would pick, like a world tour would be ideal and i could just go to all these different countries and explore different neighbourhoods, try out different food, do some activities, etc. If I had to be more specific, I'd go for Europe, though. I still get sad that I didn't get to travel much when I was there, and I can't really go back anytime soon.
Anything I want right now: more friends. People who i can talk to, who will get me and i wont have to worry about censoring myself or not being able to be myself completely. I feel like its a pretty big constant in my life though to want friends but never doing enough to make them. Idk but yeah also people in peron like that especially but even online closer friends that aren't just on messages and arent just fandom focused in conversation. I dont know whats tougher for me though interacting with people online or in person, they're both scary. Anyway i am trying but yeah friends was the very first thing i could think of to answer this.
I don't know who has done this already so i might tag someone who has already. I'll tag @bigxrig @uhoh-but-yeah-alright @suesheroll and anyone else who sees this and wants to do it!
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