#every once in a while I get a reminder I indeed have a type *pats the sad bearded man on the head*

[inafieldofdaisies]

The Count of Monte Cristo (2024) | Season 1, Episode 3 "The Treasure" | Sam Claflin as Edmond Dantès

“You're a funny man, Sinbad. Funny man.”

[mammonswhore]

Soo what if the MC was suicidal and depressed, so when the boys threaten then and stuff (like how lucifer was gonna kill them when protecting beel and luke) and they don't care or they ask them to do it no balls xD

I like this prompt bc they will be like fucking shocked if MC was not afraid of them. Anyways always remember to check on your mental health🖤♥

Brothers react to an MC who doesn't care about dying.

✒Lucifer

He was in complete shock. Every individual who he threatened was quick to apologize and surrender to his will but this human wasn't?

He dislikes that type of attitude but is also very curious about what happened to them to be this way.

When MC tried to climb up to the attic and he threatened them they just simply said "you know anything can kill me,right? You are not special for that one,Lucifer"

What the actual fuck is going on here?

He forced them to leave anyways but he was thinking about their response all night.

No one talked back to him besides Satan and Belphie and the first person out of his family talking back to him was human. A human! He was annoyed to say the least.

When the relationship between him and MC progressed he become more concerned about it.

He tried to get the truth out of them subtly and without acting suspicious or worried but when they finally said "Lucifer if you want to ask me something, do it. Don't try to get answers out of me that way,it won't work"

When they finally revealed that they were not worried about dead because it will get to them anyway,Lucifer was sad.

He was not only sad because he knew that MC was going to die but because they were not a little bit worried about it.

A sudden wave of sadness gets into Lucifer's chest and he proceeds to hug his lover and tells them that he will take them to therapy.

✒Mammon

He was very happy about MC not caring about dying at first since he couldn't care less and he never properly threatened them as well so they never got to talk back at him.

But once when they were escaping from two witches,MC got hurt and they didn't care at all. Like they literally didn't say shit about the wound on their leg and it took Mammon almost half an hour to realize that the blood he was smelling it was from their wound.

"MC WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING? ARE YOU DUMB? COME ONE,HUMAN! W-WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO? I'M GOING TO HELP YOU,FUCK!"

Very stressed out about it,starts yelling about how they need to be careful with their lives because they are weaker than the average and things like it.

"Mammon I don't care about death,I'm kinda craving for it at this point"

His face drops. A sudden feeling he couldn't recognize was placing on him. He was worried but it was not the type he was used to feel around them.

The single thought of MC dying send shivers down his back. He was borried and it was not because Lucifer would kill him but because he couldn't stand that thought.

"Don't go saying things like that,MC... I don't want you to die,human"

He hugs them kinda afraid they might order him to let them die right there.

He is going to look for help and tell Lucifer about it so they both can keep an eye on MC in case of anything.

✒Levi

His first thought when he heard MC saying they wanted to die was "honestly same."

When he was about to kill them on the TSL quizz thing they didn't even flinch. They were not about to run,hide or beg.

When Lucifer stepped in,Levi was fucking shocked but angry at the same time.

"Damn normie,who do they think they are?"

When both of them formed a pact he became more worried about their health,not because they were his master but also his only friend and he was not about to loose them for some stupid shit.

When they hurt doing some stupid shit with him Levi freaks out and has a mini meltdown but tries his best to control his emotions to help his Henry.

"Stupid normie... Can't you be more careful? Dumb,dumb,dumb human... Agh"

He is mad but he is more worried than he is mad so he is trying his best to ask them how are they so stupid without being rude.

He became more careful with his words since he thought that maybe a little push will send them over the edge and make them commit suicide.

Very sharp when others point out that he takes care of them,gets defensive easily and will lock both of them in his room for a while.

✒Satan

He can not properly understand what's going on with them. His first thought is that they are very much dumb.

Gets annoyed by that attitude easily but never looses a chance to asks them if they are really that dumb or if they want to get killed.

"Oh sorry Satan,did my attitude happen to bother you?"

Ugh. The mocking tone in their voice made him furrow his eyebrows and spit venomous words.

"Indeed it does but I can easily understand why are you so reckless,you are defenseless against me and you are still trying to argue with me. I must say you have some guts MC but I don't think it's late for a good reminder that I can kill you easily."

And then they smirked and stepped closer to him with a daring attitude.

"Do it,anything can kill me and I will die eventually so your meaningless threats don't scare me not even a bit."

He was waiting for them to run,to hide and scream for help. But Satan was not expecting that answer.

His demon form unleashed and he was ready to attack but something inside of his his head told him that he was not capable of killing them. And when he realized that he just patted their head and went to his room.

Later on when they made the pact and MC helped him when coming to terms with Lucifer,he was quite scared for their daring attitude.

Every time they went out even if it was with one of his brothers,Satan will check on them with messages or calls every time he could.

To be honest,MC doesn't need this type of checks on them but appreciates it since Satan knows better than anyone how hard it can be to control themselves.

He still gets very pissed off when MC makes snarky comments,dares him for anything or that type of things but he still won't attack them because he loves them way more.

✒Asmo

He is no the type to threaten someone unless they are threatening him first but he was very tired of MC's attitude through the day and he snapped.

"Can't you remember your place,MC? Every single person around can kill you and you still seem to be as sassy as ever."

He was about to apologize with them about his words since he was not the type to talk to them like that but he was surprised when they talked back (again).

"Asmo if you haven't notice I truly don't mind getting killed here,it would be more interesting that dying in the Human Realm to be honest and also everyone is going to die and no one is going to remember me so fuck it."

That was worst. His eyes were very lost trying to figure out where did those words came from? What was going on?

"MC don't day that,please" he whispered very nervous.

Asmo hugged them and calmed himself down. Even for a demon who has seen a lot of people die he was not ready to loose MC and he was also not ready to hear those words fall from their mouth.

"Asmo calm down,please."

"You were joking,right? You don't think that about your life,don't you?"

He might not seem like it but he was completely worried for their health and well being. Being MC the only person he ever considered as a friend and possible lover,he could not stand for what they were saying.

He became more careful with what he said to them and what the others were allowed to say,if someone tried to insult them or make them feel like less he will snap right away of that meant MC will get rid of those awful thoughts.

✒Beelzebub

He threatened them about eating his food but they were unfazed about him,it was the first time he threatened them after making the pact and honestly,his reaction was totally wrong and he knew this and he was ready to apologize but he was shut down by MC's words.

"Do it,I honestly don't care."

What? MC what the hell are you saying?

He calms down and says that they shouldn't say things like that around his brothers because they might explode and actually kill them. He was worried,yes but he was more worried about eating something because his stomach was growling like crazy.

"Why would you say something like that? If it wasn't because we demons can't kill our master you will be dead now,MC."

Beel was stuffing chips into his mouth while watching MC think about an answer, more worried than before.

"I didn't mean to scare you,Beel. But I will die anyways so it's just a matter of time and if someone dared to make it right now I wouldn't stop them."

He feels the chills going through his back, the feeling of loosing someone he loves again was a lot to process and the fact that MC was unfazed and really sure about their words made him feel full suddenly.

"I don't want to loose you,MC. I know that you are a human and all but can't you just take care of yourself a little? I don't want to loose you." *sad beel noises*

Reassuring him that they will try to find help, MC hugs Beel and promises to try to stop this type of comments.

He was still very very worried about them so he was always around keeping an eye and ear on them so no one killed them.

✒Belphie.

This was after the attic events,he was still very unsure about MC's presence on his life but he was hanging on there still getting used to them.

Until they were assigned to wake him up from a 10 hour nap to eat something.

"You dumb human,I will rip your head apart of you wake me up again."

"It's not like if you haven't tried already now wake up and eat something or Lucifer will be pissed."

He was very amused,they were not afraid of him anymore and decided to talk back to him. But he still was shocked to say the least.

The human who he killed once was now giving him orders without a pact or relationship that established that he had to obey them. They had some guts,that was for sure.

When their relationship progressed and he became closer to MC,he was not going to stand for that type of comments.

"MC you can't go around saying that you want to die! It hurts to see you this way, jeez!"

"I can't help it,Belphie. Sometimes my thoughts just slip through my lips without me even trying."

Now that was something he was not expecting to hear. What did they mean? They really wanted to die that bad?

"Listen here you little shit,I already lost you once and I'm not going to loose you again so stop making those stupid comments or I will tell Lucifer to pay you a good therapist... Fucking idiot."

Belphie was worried even if he seems like he was just annoyed by them,he was even mkre worried than what he will like to admit.

[peachyysugaa]

enhypen maknae line as e2l troupe requested by anon

– sunoo

how you became enemies: sunoo is so friendly i don't see how he can make any enemies ;;-;; maybe if you're also a bubbly person, it's an unspoken but real bubbly person competition? JFLGAKLJA basically you just send smiles to each other and everyone thinks you're good with each other, but they're actually lowkey menacing o.o'

"hi sunoo! ^^" is actually ugh you -_- and "hi y/n!! :D" is really try me biss :D

how you became lovers: the both of you eventually become tired of this weird competition you have going on and decided to finally talk to each other. after that, you two start over, become closer and even become best friends that slowly develop feelings for each other!

let's be honest, people were already shipping the two of you, so to see you two finALLY dating makes everyone so happy to see their it couple come to life.

you close your locker door to find someone behind it. this someone was none other than your notorious rival, kim sunoo, with that stupidly charming smile of his.

"hi y/n!" he says to you. usually, his words are laced with a hidden poison, but this time, you detected none of that. raising your eyebrow, it prompts him to go on. "can i talk to you for a moment?"

"sure!" you agree with the best smile you could muster. to outsiders, it may look cordial, maybe even just two friends talking to each other, but the two of you knew that it was far from friendly. nevertheless, you follow him into an empty classroom, where the two of you drop your smiles the moment the door closes. "what is it, kim sunoo?"

he lets out an exasperated sigh. "you know what this is about, y/n, don't give me that."

rolling your eyes, you cross your arms over your chest and shift your weight to one foot. "maybe i do, but i want to hear you say it."

"fine, fine," sunoo says with his hands raised. "i just want this stupid competition of ours to end."

"oh thank goodness you're tired of it too," you admit relieved. "i don't even know we started this anyway."

"whatever the reason, it's all over now," he replies, for once with a genuine smile on his face, for once directed towards you. if you said it didn't make you feel even one thing, you would be lying. you're hyperaware of every move he makes as he takes a few steps closer to you with an outstretched hand. "truce?"

"friends," you claim with your own grin and shake his hand. without knowing it at the time, this was the start of not just a brand new friendship, but also the start of blossoming feelings between the two of you.

rest of the maknae line under the cut! <3

line break insurance please ignore and enjoy!

– jungwon

how you became enemies: jungwon always managed to overshadow you in Everything, which prompted you to become angry/jealous of him. he, on the other hand, never meant to uptake you in a lot of things. he just knows what he wants and follows his own path and intuition, so he sees you as a friendly rival. not knowing that you hate his guts, jungwon treats you fairly even during the time the two of you went head-to-head for student council president, which he won, making you his vp.

he admires your hard work, but he doesn't know why you treat him somewhat coldly though he just brushes it off (much to your dismay)

how you became lovers: as pres and vp, you have time to get to know each other, but jungwon's kinda oblivious to your disdain for him and he just compliments you often because he admires your hard work! i think jungwon's the type to also remind you to take breaks because he sees how much you do and he doesn't want you overworking 🥺🥺 you notice how much he cares for you despite being president himself and your hate for him transforms into equal admiration!

he confesses to you first because you're a little slow on picking up that he likes you.

"y/n-ssi," the voice calls to you, prompting you to look up from your paperwork. upon lifting your head, you see that the person is indeed the student council president, yang jungwon, your longtime rival.

"yes, jungwon-ssi?" you reply, with a little sting to your tone. if he noticed it, he paid it no heed as always and simply walks forward to your desk, placing a carton of your favorite drink from the vending machine.

"don't overwork yourself, it's getting late," is his blunt answer before walking away. you just stare at the drink sitting on your desk as he's going out the door but peeks back in, appearing very catlike. "and y/n-ssi?"

"huh?" you say rather lost.

jungwon chuckles at your agape face. "you always stay longer than you should. if you end up working until dark, come by my office. i'll walk you home."

with that, he shuts the door softly while simultaneously opening a new door to your heart that was beating way too quickly for your own good.

– niki

how you became enemies: niki's got that class clown vibe down PAT. he plays way too many pranks on you, which sets you off. when you two are in the same room, everyone has to deal with your bickering. well, more like niki's verbal teasing and your nagging responses. needless to say, everyone knows your relationship with the prankster and knows by now to leave the room if the two of you are there together.

in truth, niki has a crush on you, but he didn't know how to express it. pulling pranks is his love language 😔💔

how you became lovers: just like one of the hyung line members, he takes it too far one time and actually makes you cry. he feels so bad that he panics and decides to fess up to you.

he asks his hyungs for advice before leaving a bunch of gifts and a letter for you to read because he's not sure if you want to see his face. either way, he's waiting for you at a park bench so that he can tell you his true feelings in person.

there's a quick rap of knocks on your front door before your mother tells you to go answer the door. getting up from your bed and wiping your tears away, you're still hurt from what riki had done to you at school this afternoon but get up anyway to see who was there.

peeking through the hole, you're confused when you see no one. instead, you open the door to a stuffed version of your favorite animal and your favorite snacks. when you pick up the items, you see that the envelope attached to the animal is real and has your name written on it. closing the door, you quickly open the letter and scan through the handwritten note to find out it's an apology note, from the one and only nishimura riki, the very source of your tears.

it was sincere and moved you enough to get changed and run to the park where he said he would be waiting for you. when you arrive, he indeed was sitting where he said would be, but he stands up slowly, mouth agape from your appearance.

"i..." you take a moment to catch your breath from running while he walks towards you to meet you partway. "accept your apology, riki."

"y-you do?" he blinks a few times as if to make sure it's not just a dream.

you just nod quickly and finally straighten your posture while finally taking in the right amount of oxygen. "yea, now tell me what you wanted to say. why couldn't you say it in your letter?"

"well, i..." he pauses, not thinking he would get this far. you wait as he tightly closes in his eyes to muster up his courage. "i've liked you all this time, y/n. i'm sorry i couldn't express that properly, but i'm willing to start over if you would let me."

hyung line version here!

[ratmonky]

Dividing a Plaything

Word Count: 9.2k

Warnings: dub-con, cheating, gaslighting, manipulation, dacryphilia, unhealthy relationships

AO3 Link

A gift to my two lovely friends, @bacterialheaven & @anti-interesting​  

With the holidays coming up, the train station was more crowded than it usually was. You didn’t mind hearing the loud and continuous chatter of the people around you, it made you feel less lonely and more included as you waited for the arrival of the train your boyfriend’s brother had taken.

Your boyfriend, Todo had invited his brother over to his place for a simple dinner where the two of you would be meeting for the first time. You couldn’t hide your excitement because Todo spoke highly of his brother, telling you how they spent years of their life and endured so many hardships together.

Todo had been having a rough time at work and seeing a familiar face could cheer him up. He didn’t have anyone other than you and his brother after all. He needed to be with people he treasured.

You had only recently moved in with him after a year of dating because his line of work prevented him from visiting you. Although you were fine with seeing him once in a while whenever he wasn’t busy, he wanted to spend every second of his life with you.

He had convinced you rather easily, telling you about how a woman your age shouldn’t live alone in the city. He told you how your life would be easier if the two of you lived together, shared a bed together, enjoyed meals together, bathed together, and of course, paid the bills together.

In the end, he was right, life was easier when you were together. You liked how much you could trust him and how protective he was when it came to you. When the two of you first met, it had been at a rescheduled Takada-chan concert when the previous one was canceled due to heavy rain. You had gone to the show after winning a ticket in a giveaway and halfway through the concert found yourself being harassed by some creep.

It was then, you heard a clap that was louder than any other clap at the concert and found yourself on the other side of the show. Dumbfounded, your eyes had scouted the entire room to see a muscular-built guy drag the creep who had been harassing you out.

You followed them out, thank this mysterious guy, and asked him if you could show your gratitude by buying him some Takada-chan merchandise.

The rest? History.

“Tokyo Train C arriving at Kyoto B.”

Quickly getting up from your seat, you headed towards the gate Todo’s brother would be arriving from.

You didn’t know what Yuuji looked like but Todo had told you that his brother knew exactly what you looked like from the pictures he would send him. Somehow, you could guess Yuuji’s appearance. Since he was Todo’s younger brother, he probably looked like a copy of him, perhaps shorter and had a smaller build and-

“Ah.” Some pink-haired guy stood in front of you. “You’re Todo’s girlfriend, right?”

There was a moment of silence as you stared up and down at him. “Yuuji Todo?”

He looked nothing like your Todo.

“Nuh-uh,” he chuckled. “It’s Yuuji Itadori.”

Again, silence.

“You’re not his brother?” you hesitantly asked.

“No,” he said, looking at you with the same confused expression that was plastered on your face. “Did he tell you I was his brother?”

“Yeah,” you sighed, shaking your head slightly with a blush. “I’m sorry about the-”

“Oh, don’t worry, he’s like a brother to me anyway. He introduces me as his brother to everyone.” Yuuji offered you a gorgeous smile before reaching his hand out to you. “Let’s take it from the beginning.”

You took his hand and mirrored his smile. “I’m (name), Aoi’s girlfriend.”

“Yuuji Itadori, Todo’s brother.” A chuckle.

The two of you shared a laugh and continued shaking hands but it didn’t feel awkward. His grip on your hand was gentle and soft, you didn’t even notice his thumb caressing your skin.

“I hope you’re hungry,” you said, finally retrieving your hand and turning around on your heels to lead the way.

“You can’t imagine, I’m so tired too.” Yuuji stretched his arms over his head as he matched your steps.

Only then you noticed the huge backpack he had with him. Todo had told you that Yuuji was only coming over for dinner and hopefully that was true. Nevertheless, you regretted not cleaning the place more thoroughly.

~~~

As soon as you opened the door to your apartment and stepped inside, Todo appeared out of nowhere to greet you. A quick kiss on your forehead and then walking past you, he grabbed Yuuji’s hand with a loud clap. The two of them hugged and were busy talking while you made your way to the kitchen to lift the aluminum foil you had put over the dishes to keep them warm.

“Aaah, Fushiguro got a girlfriend? That speechless guy too? I guess it’s only you left now.” Todo was practically yelling when he walked inside the living room. “I heard Mechamaru, no, Kokichi got a girl too.”

“Woah, I wonder how he managed to get a girlfriend.” Yuuji sounded astonished.

“Um, dinner-”

“Probably one of those sorcerer dating websites.” Todo sat on the couch and redirected his attention towards the television.

“Wait, there are websites for that?” Yuuji plopped down onto the couch next to Todo, ignoring you as well. “Is that how you met, (name)?”

“Aoi?” Your meek voice went unheard.

“No, we met at a Takada-chan concert.”

“Takada-chan has fangirls too?” Yuuji snorted, “I didn’t know.”

“(name) had won a ticket through a giveaway, she wasn’t exactly a fan but she joins me whenever I go to Takada-chan’s shows or meet and greets.” Todo smiled to himself, he was such a lucky guy to have an amenable girlfriend like you.

“Does she even like Takada-chan?”

“Not one bit,” Todo replied. “But she likes me.”

Indeed you liked him, he was your hero after all. He had saved you from a creep and as your first-ever boyfriend, Todo was perfect.

He bought you clothes he knew you would like because he had seen Takada-chan wearing them in his favorite photoshoots and he took you everywhere with him. At Takada-chan concerts he kept you close, close enough to be able to hump you while watching Takada-chan and hide it from anyone else’s view.

You were happy to be with him and give him the affection he needed. Although at times he could make you flustered with the way he groped you in public when other guys looked at you, you knew it was just because he loved you so much. He simply couldn’t keep his hands to himself and he was possessive. That was all.

“Aoi.” You tried calling out to him again to no avail. You knew they weren’t going to hear your voice so you walked around the counter and into the living room. Putting your hand on Todo’s shoulder you cut his sentence midway through.

“Yes?” he asked, turning to look at you with a warm smile that never failed to make you flustered.

“D-dinner.”

The two of them had forgotten all about dinner but with your reminder, they got up from the couch to follow you into the kitchen.

Dinner was more than the same, Todo and Yuuji chatted while you listened.

“So what grade sorcerer are you, (name)?” Yuuji asked, reaching for a glass of water.

Both you and Todo looked at each other and laughed. “I’m not a sorcerer,” you said. “I’m just a civilian.”

“She can see curses though,” Todo elaborated.

“I thought you told him about this since you said you talk about me with him all the time.” You were giggling as you took a napkin to pat on your mouth.

“We never had the chance.” Todo put down his cutlery and grabbed his plate before leaving the table to get seconds.

“Yeah.”

“Then what sorta stuff did you guys talk about me?” you asked, still a joyful smile plastered on your lips.

The other two, on the other hand, stopped smiling. They looked at each other and Todo was the one to give you an answer.

“Just about how much I love you.” He was back on his seat and pressed a kiss on your forehead.

You blushed faintly, “You’re lying~”

The mood between the two guys changed after that.

After dinner, while you were rolling up the sleeves of your shirt to do the dishes, Yuuji offered to help. You rinsed the dishes and he placed them in the dishwasher until only the large bowls were left. You were planning to wash them by hand since they wouldn’t fit in the dishwasher.

“How did you and Aoi become such good friends?” you asked while he closed the dishwasher.

“We bonded over our love for the same type of women.” Leaning back on the counter, Yuuji watched you wash the rest of the dishes by hand.

“So, Takada-chan?” you chuckled.

“I wouldn’t say her specifically.” He was about to say something else when Todo draped an arm over his shoulder.

“Yuuji and I have the same taste in women.” Todo grinned, his eyes went in between you and Yuuji a couple of times before he said something that made both of you blush. “That’s why he’s probably attracted to you.”

“Aoi!”

“Todo!”

Both of you yelled at Todo in unison and your boyfriend pouted, raising a brow slowly. “I was just saying!”

Rolling your eyes, you returned your attention to washing the rest of the dishes.

“Oh, Yuuji is staying over so I came here to ask about the clean sheets, where did you put them?” Todo asked the thing you knew he would. You kind of wished he had told you Yuuji would be staying over the night a couple of days ago, the whole apartment was dirty.

“They’re inside the vacuum sealer bags under the bed,” you replied and quickly added. “Uhh, take the green ones though! The white ones are too thick for this time of the year.”

“Yeah, I figured!” Todo left Yuuji’s side and walked past you with a quick pat on your back, thanking you for the dinner.

“I’m sorry for crashing here,” Yuuji said suddenly.

You shook your head softly, “It’s not my house, and don’t apologize please, it makes me happy to see Aoi happy. He doesn’t have many friends.”

“He doesn’t?”

“I’ve been to his class reunions and his classmates weren’t quite fond of him.” You frowned at the thought of the unpleasant memories of Todo’s classmates treating him like he wasn’t there.

Yuuji hummed in thought, “I’d say they’re hard to get along with, they don’t like me either. Todo and I didn’t get along at first either, you can’t make friends with him unless you actually try to make friends with him.”

At that moment, you understood why Todo called Yuuji his brother. Their bond was stronger than blood.

Finally done with the dishes, you patted your hands dry and turned to face Yuuji completely.

“What’s Aoi’s type of woman?” You were hesitant about asking this, perhaps the description was the complete opposite of you. “What kind of woman does he like?”

“Tall women with big ass,” Yuuji didn’t hesitate to answer.

“Oh,” you forced out a chuckle. “I don’t think I exactly fit the description.”

“Maybe,” he said but then offered you a gentle smile. “But having a type doesn’t mean he’d only be attracted to those kinda women. I mean, you’re pretty and I’m sure you’re more than his type. I’d call you his perfect match, not many people can tolerate him you know.”

You were about to thank him for trying to consult you but Todo appeared between the two of you after a loud clap.

“Brother,” Todo sighed. “Isn’t it obvious? She’s the one for me.”

Blushing at the way your boyfriend emphasized the words, you jokingly hit him on the chest. “You’re too much.”

“Shall we go to the living room?” Todo suggested as he grabbed beers from the fridge. “It’s way too cramped in here.”

Nodding, Yuuji followed after Todo and walked past you but not without pressing himself against you. It could have been an accident but the pause was too long, his hand as he walked past you caressed your waist and back as well.

No, you were overreacting. You didn’t want to upset Todo. You were definitely overthinking this.

In the living room, the two of them were talking when you sat beside Todo. You tried joining their conversation whenever you managed to follow the topic but most of the time you were sitting quietly, leaning against your boyfriend while sipping on a beer.

It wasn’t long until you got a little too bored and excused yourself to bed.

After you left, silence fell in the living room for half an hour or longer. At least it was long enough for them to be sure you weren’t awake.

“She’s prettier than the pictures,” Yuuji said, chugging the last bit of his beer. “She’s also cuter than you described her to be.”

“You should see her when she’s talking about stuff she likes, she gets all excited and it’s adorable.” Todo reached for the remote control and turned the volume up enough to suppress their voices.

“Hmm, I’ll keep that in mind.” Yuuji put his empty beer bottle on the table.

Todo grabbed both of their beer bottles and went to the kitchen to get more beer. “So, what do you think, brother?” he asked after plopping down on the couch next to him.

Yuuji took the beer he was holding out to him and nodded languidly as if trying to consider his words. “She’s… she’s really my type.”

Todo clinked his beer bottle with his best friend’s and chuckled softly, “I told you we had the same taste in women.”

~~~

In the morning, you woke up earlier than your boyfriend and spent a longer time than usual trying to escape from his strong embrace. Eventually, you slipped out of his arms. Although if it was any other day, you would enjoy cuddling with him until it was all toasty in bed, you had a guest in your home.

Changing your clothes, you opened the door of your room as quietly as you could to make your way to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. You tried peeking into the living room to see if Yuuji was still sleeping but the delicious smell of coffee gave you the answer.

You walked into the kitchen to find Yuuji cooking breakfast. He didn’t notice your presence continued rolling the omelet to make it thicker.

“G-good morning,” you said, wrapping your arms around yourself.

Yuuji whipped his head around and flashed you a gorgeous smile. “Good morning! Sorry, if I woke you up.”

“N-no.” You blushed faintly at the intensity of his stare. “I woke up myself.”

“Ah, I hope you don’t mind me using your kitchen. Todo said it was fine but-”

“I don’t mind it!” you said hurriedly, “I don’t wake up to prepared breakfast that often so I can’t complain.”

He returned his attention to the thick omelet and nodded. “Hopefully, my cooking will be to your liking then.”

“I’m sure it is!” You put your hands on the counter and jumped at the same time as you hoisted yourself up to sit on the counter. “Did you sleep well?”

“I did.”

There was a comfortable silence between the two of you after that. You quietly watched him cook, the way his biceps would tighten each time he shook the pan to fold the omelet and his focused eyes were hypnotizing.

He was glancing at you at times when he did something impressive, smiling. You found it a little weird but didn’t say anything regarding his behavior.

“Good morning!”

Todo entered the kitchen, yawning and with messy hair.

Both of you said it back.

He gave you a peck on the lips before grabbing a coffee mug. “What should we do tonight?”

You gave yourself a moment to think. Perhaps you could eat takeout today, it had been a while since you had a lazy night with Todo. Or perhaps drink wine and get in the tub together. You opened your mouth to give your answer but Yuuji spoke instead of you.

“I was thinking of eating beef and watching tonight’s football match.”

Todo smiled, humming happily as he took a sip from his coffee. “Sounds great.” Noticing your stare, he raised a brow. “You don’t want beef?”

You shook your head, not wanting to say anything while Yuuji was there but as expected of your considerate boyfriend, he leaned forward so you could whisper in his ear.

Hesitantly you spoke. “I thought Itadori was only staying the night.”

“Oh, no. Brother is staying over for the whole week. We’re gonna investigate a curse together.”

Your eyes widened, he hadn’t mentioned anything about this to you. However, you could never say anything against it.

~~~

“This one’s my favorite,” Todo said, showing a picture of you to Yuuji. “She’s wearing Takada-chan’s limited edition dress here.”

“Yeah, you sent this to me a long time ago.” In the picture, you were hiking the skirt of the dress up to reveal your bare thighs and pussy with a blushed face.

“Did I?” Todo stared at his phone and smiled at the picture dreamily. “I send so many pictures of her to you that I sometimes forget which ones I haven’t sent yet.”

“Well, I don’t mind receiving them twice.” Yuuji took out his phone to check his own photo gallery. He scrolled down to the album folders and opened the hidden file. He was greeted by a ton of pictures of you, mostly taken by yourself. Each one of them you were awkwardly posing to show off your naked body. In some pictures you had lingerie but those weren’t quite his favorite.

“Look.” Todo pointed at his own phone. On the screen, there was another picture of you. In the picture, you were on top of your boyfriend, it was possibly taken mid-sex. Your bare chest was illuminated by the flash of the camera and your eyes were closed as you were balancing yourself on your hands that were resting on Todo’s stomach, you looked lost in pleasure.

“I don’t have that one.” Yuuji immediately could tell he hadn’t gotten this specific picture.

“Ah, I’ll send it to you.”

~~~

“She likes it when you…”

~~~

“Oh, her weak point is…”

~~~

“You know,” Todo started, wrapping his arms around you once you changed out of your work clothes and into a Takada-chan merch shirt. “I think Yuuji likes you.”

The guy mentioned was running a last-minute errand downtown, the two of you were alone in your room.

You let out an awkward laugh and leaned back on his chest. “Well, I like him too since he’s your closest friend.”

“I didn’t mean it that way,” he whispered into your ear, lips brushing against the skin.

“W-what?” You turned your head away from his lips but he leaned down to kiss your neck, not letting you escape.

“I told you we have the same taste in women. He definitely is attracted to you, I can tell.” He pressed his lips on your pulse point, giving you enticing kisses.

You couldn’t hear his words, too focused on his lips instead.

Smiling into your skin, Todo slid his hands up your sides to cup your tits over your shirt. He gave them an encouraging squeeze and you immediately arched into his touch, pressing your ass onto him. “I think you’re attracted to him too, hmm?”

You didn’t answer.

“(name),” he uttered oh so softly before lolling his tongue out of his mouth to drag the wet muscle up from your neck to your jaw. He pressed his lips on the shell of your ear, his hot breath hitting on your skin. “You like Yuuji.”

“Yes.” You could feel him grow larger behind you, he was in the mood.

When you finally gave him the response he had been waiting for, Todo lifted you up to carry you towards the end of the bed.  

A moan escaped your lips when he pushed you face down onto the mattress and pulled your shorts down along with your panties.

“You’re so cute, you know that?” He pushed two fingers inside of you, with how wet you were, his thick digits easily went inside. Twirling them around, he smiled to himself as he pulled them back to thrust inside softly, dragging the pads on his fingers in a specific way to drive you crazy.

Clutching on the bedsheets, you lifted your ass up, begging for more. “Aoi…”

“What is it?” He could tease you all day.

Wiggling your hips, you groaned in frustration while he continued moving his fingers agonizingly slowly inside your wet pussy.

“Use your words.”

You flushed, “I want you.”

“You want what?” He added another finger to the mix, thrusting inside sluggishly despite how wildly your walls were pulsating around his digits. It took him a great among of self-restraint to not pounce on you right now, fucking you frenziedly to feel your insides throb like that around him.

“I want your…” Ah, so embarrassing. “I want your dick.”

Luckily, Todo was more than willing to provide.

He pulled down the front of his pants with one hand while continuing to move his fingers. When he finally pulled out his fingers and pressed the tip of his cock on your entrance you were mewling him to hurry up.

Snapping his hips forward, Todo gave you what you wanted. He was only halfway inside but you were already screaming into the mattress. You could never get used to his size. He was too big for you.

Todo proceeded to push his hips forward slowly until his entire length was inside your pussy. He stilled momentarily to let you get used to his size as usual before tentatively pulling his hips back to surge them forward in a sudden motion.

You moaned audibly, clutching the bedsheets tighter.

He pulled back and thrust in your pussy with a loud clap continuously, the pace didn’t falter once but it was the force of his thrusts that made your eyes tear up and punched the air out of your lungs.

Todo grabbed you by your hips to pull you towards his hips at the same time he was snapping them forward. Moaning at the sounds of your skins clapping on each other, he put his foot on the bed to put more strength behind his thrusts.

His balls were slapping against your skin harshly and he could go a lot deeper in this position. It wasn’t long until his cock throbbed because of your gummy walls clenching around him.

Pulling out of you, Todo flipped you over and held his cock over your face. “Open your mouth.”

Obediently you lifted yourself up from the bed using your elbows to take the tip of his cock inside your mouth.

Todo’s hand around his cock moved faster than your eyes could follow and when his cock started twitching he groaned softly. Soon after you felt him releasing his seed into your mouth.

You swallowed his cum and gently licked the tip to clean it.

“Can’t you try sucking it for once?” he asked sheepishly, eyes hazy with lust as he was looking down at you.

“It’s too big.” Was your reply. It was mostly, you weren’t confident enough to take his cock in your mouth but it wasn’t impossible.

“Won’t you try it?” He placed his hand on your cheek, thumb caressing the skin.

How could you say no to that…

You were about to get in a comfortable position when the doorbell chimed, making both of you jolt.

Yuuji was back.

“Brother,” he sighed, shaking his head disapprovingly, “Why did you have to arrive just as things were getting good?”

“We’ll do it once he leaves Kyoto,” you said, smiling. “I promise.”

Todo smiled down at you and leaned down to kiss you. “You better keep your promise.”

The moment he kissed you, the doorbell chimed once again but this time repeatedly. Giving you a small peck on your lips, Todo tucked himself back in his pants as he walked out of the bedroom to open the door for Yuuji.

You joined them only after you managed to catch your breath.

The dinner was uneventful, the boys cooked the beef and you made some garnish.

After dinner, you prepared some snacks for them to watch during the football match and although you were planning to go take a bath to leave them alone, Todo insisted that you stayed.

That was how you ended up on the couch, staring at the television with a blank expression. You didn’t understand much from the football match they were watching but it didn’t stop you from settling to Todo’s side with his arm over your shoulder.

Feeling his warmth was enough to lull you to sleep if it wasn’t for the narrator’s mundane voices or Yuuji’s excited voice explaining Todo about the opposite team’s players and some other stuff you couldn’t keep up. As your eyelids got heavier and it was impossible to keep them open anymore, you felt your boyfriend’s hand going inside the front of your shirt to cup your tit.

Your eyes immediately snapped open as you jolted awake, eyes wide and in panic.

Todo glanced down at you momentarily with a smirk before returning his attention to Yuuji who was still busy explaining to him about one of the goalkeepers. You gasped and wanted to tell him that his friend was going to see what he was doing but he shut you up once he gave your tit a generous squeeze.

Flushing, you covered your face with a hand, hoping that the guy next to your boyfriend wouldn’t see you like this.

“I’m gonna grab another beer,” Yuuji said, getting up from the couch. “You guys want anything-” His eyes landed on your blushing face and then to the large hand that was groping your tit under the shirt. His own cheeks flushed slightly as he averted his gaze.

“I don’t need anything,” Todo said, the smile in his voice was noticeable. “Do you want anything, (name)?”

You shook your head slowly, you were getting dizzy from embarrassment and also from excitement of being seen like this by Yuuji.

Yuuji nodded and went to the kitchen to grab a beer for himself. When he came back he continued his explanation about the opposite team to Todo, ignoring your mewls and gasps whenever your boyfriend rolled your nipple between his knuckles or pinched them.

Todo pulled his hand away only after the football match had ended, by that time you were a total mess.

“We should go to bed,” Todo said, lifting you up. “(name) doesn’t feel well.”

Yuuji didn’t comment on anything as Todo carried you back to your room, wishing his friend goodnight.

In the bedroom, Todo didn’t waste any seconds to strip you out of your clothes, the excitement of knowing that his friend could be jerking off in the living room was enough to make him cum in his pants but he held back.

“You’re the worst,” you whimpered but it broke into a moan when he took your sensitive nipple in his mouth. Wrapping your arms around his head, you pulled him towards yourself, wanting more. “I hate you.”

He bit your nipple, making you writhe in pain. “Do you mean that?” he asked as he pulled himself away from you.

“Nooo~” you whined. “I love you.”

“You must love Yuuji too,” he said, pushing his fingers inside your pussy. “You’ve gotten so wet. It was because he was watching, right?”

“I don’t know.” You wanted to deny it but he was telling the truth, he had to be. Todo knew you the best, better than you knew yourself. “M-maybe.”

The strings that were holding Todo back snapped one by one. "You were being so loud, you might as well have just gotten on your knees and begged for his attention. You should've moaned his name and begged him to fuck you like a whore on that couch."

“Don’t say that!”

“It’s the truth, isn’t it?” He pulled his pants down and flipped you over to your stomach to shove his entire length inside you impatiently. “Be more honest, will you?”

You shamelessly moaned out loud, arching your back.

“You want Yuuji to fuck you like this, don’t you?” He snapped his hips forward punching the air out of your lungs.

This time without any hesitation. “Yes!”

~~~

“Why don’t you fuck her already?” Sukuna scoffed. “She was sitting there like a bitch in heat, begging to be fucked.”

“Stop talking vulgarly about her like that,” Yuuji pulled his pants down, ignoring Sukuna and focusing on your loud moans instead.

“You should be a man and show her that you want her.” Sukuna wouldn’t shut up though.

Yuuji spat in his palm and wrapped his hand around his cock, “Be quiet, will you?”

“You want her to be yours right?”

It became silent for a moment. The only sounds were your moans mixed up with skin clapping on skin coming from the other room.

“If you don’t act dominant, you’ll never get to have a woman for yourself. Do you always wanna have someone else’s seconds?”

Satisfied the way he got to him, Sukuna disappeared from Yuuji’s cheek, leaving the latter all alone with his thoughts.

~~

Todo was coming home late today. Meaning that you were alone with Yuuji for the time being.

You were cooking dinner for the two of you while he was in the living room watching television

Since this morning, you had been unable to look him in the eye. Things that happened yesterday wouldn’t leave your mind for a mere moment, you were embarrassed and ashamed but Yuuji seemed indifferent.

Perhaps these sorts of stuff were normal between guy friends. You didn’t know. Todo was your first boyfriend ever and this was the first time you were meeting one of his closest friends.

It could be.

“Do you need help with anything?”

You jolted in surprise and glanced over your shoulder towards him. “Um, no but thank you!”

“Hmm, okay.” Yuuji leaned back on the counter, watching you intently instead of going back to the living room.

Although you returned your attention to the food you were cooking, you could sense his stare on your body. His stare was intense, whether it was your sixth sense or not, you could tell exactly where he might be looking at your body from the way your muscles stiffened.

You didn’t want to say anything, freaking out that it might upset Todo if you confronted Yuuji. What if you became that ‘crazy girlfriend’ for Todo and he broke up with you just because you were acting like a prude?

Ignore his staring. That was all you had to do. As long as you kept your distance, you would be fine.

Argh! Last night was too much, you were going insane. This was all Todo’s fault and-

“You’re wearing something that’s similar to Takada-chan’s outfit right?” he suddenly asked.

“Y-yeah.” Oh, as always you were being paranoid for nothing. He was just staring at your dress. “Todo likes it when I wear them because-”

“And he probably only fucks you from behind.”

You dropped the spoon you were holding but Yuuji continued.

“Bull’s eye, huh?” He had a blank expression on his face. “He’s probably imagining Takada-chan since from the back he can’t see your face. Only the flashy pink and red clothes. And I can bet he makes you do your hair like hers too, I guess it looks good from the back as well.”

Dead silence filled the kitchen, you didn’t dare to lean down to pick up the spoon or turn off the stoves.

“But I guess you know about all that,” Yuuji sighed, taking a step forward towards you. “You want him to love you no matter what. Even if it means he’ll fantasize about some idol.” He took another step, you mirrored his movements and took a step back. “You’re pathetically in love with him.”

“Stop,” you pleaded, covering your ears like a kid. “Stop it!”

Yuuji turned off the stoves and gently grabbed your wrists to pull them down. “It’s not a bad thing,” he said. “Loving someone to the point you devote your entire presence to them, it’s admirable.” His eyes had this gentle look in them and you could feel the empathy through them. He had been in this position before. He knew your pain. “You love him even though he uses you for his own fantasies but Todo loves you too. I know he does because I’ve fallen in love with you too.”

Fall for it.

Your eyes teared up, lower lip trembling. “I can’t… We can’t-”

Fall for the bait.

“Todo and I have the same taste in women. He wants us to get along.”

“This isn’t how two friends get along…”

Yuuji pulled you closer to himself looking deep into your eyes. “Todo told me it was okay. He said he wanted to share you with me. He wants someone to love you as much as you love him, so won’t you let me?”

You were trembling in front of him, your glossy eyes and pouting lips were too much for him.

“Itadori-”

“Yuuji,” he said, lifting his hand to caress your cheek hesitantly. “Call me Yuuji.”

“Y-Yuuji.” You tested out his name, smiling sheepishly when he pressed his forehead against yours.

“(name),” he whispered, impatient of all this waiting because he had been yearning to have you for himself for so long. So long. “Won’t you let me kiss you already? I won’t think about anyone else, I will kiss you .”

You couldn’t say anything, your hands went to clutch on his shirt and you nodded falteringly.

He leaned down, closing the distance between your faces until his lips met yours. There were butterflies in your stomach, your heart fluttered in joy, and for the first time ever, even though he had closed his eyes, you knew Yuuji wasn’t thinking of someone else while kissing you.

His lips moved against yours experimentally, testing the waters to see what you liked. He caressed your cheek using one hand and used his other hand to press on the small of your back to bring you closer to him.

You moaned into the kiss and parted your lips.

Just as Todo said you would.

Yuuji was hungrily kissing you, pushing his tongue into your mouth to twirl it around yours and savor your taste. He softly caressed your cheek with his thumb as he moaned encouragingly to get you to kiss him back with the same enthusiasm.

However, you were too timid, barely moving your lips or kissing him back. He slid his hand from the small of your back to under the skirt of your dress to grope the supple flesh of your ass hard enough to make you moan into the kiss again.

This time you opened your mouth fully, shyly letting your tongue move with his as your grip on his shirt tightened.

Smiling into the kiss, Yuuji lifted you up with the same hand that was groping your ass and you instinctively wrapped your arms around his neck as he carried you to the living room.

The way he was holding you so tightly even when he sat on the couch with you on his lap, it was all so tender. He was holding you like you meant the world to him, fragile yet passionate.

Yuuji was feeling this way about you. Only you. Nobody else.

Your heart fluttered but your chest clenched as you hungrily kissed him back. You tasted your tears in the kiss, how pathetic. All that just from him telling you he loved you? Pathetic. Pathetic. You were so pathetic. You wondered if he found how desperately you wanted to feel loved pathetic too.

He didn’t seem to overthink like you, his hands were on your hips, pressing you against his growing bulge and kissing you with the same eagerness you kissed Todo with.

Todo.

Something within your mind revived itself, you pulled back from the kiss while more tears spilled down to your cheeks. Your hands were on his chest as you pushed yourself away from him. “No, I can’t do this. I love Todo.”

Todo?

Wasn’t he Aoi to you?

“Todo said you loved me too.” One of his hands went under your skirt and he pressed his fingers against your clothed cunt. You had completely soaked your panties and were still trying to deny the fact that you didn’t want this.

Adorable.

You whimpered when he drew a tight circle over your clothed nub.  “Yuuji, please.”

“Please what?” he raised a brow, face inanimate. “Do you really want me to stop? It’s just the two of us in here, you can be honest with me.”

A blush colored your cheeks and you looked away from him instead of giving him an answer.

He took it as a yes.

Pulling your panties to the side, he let two of his digits slide inside your slick heat. Moaning at the sensation, you covered your mouth in shame, eyes finally returning to Yuuji.

He flashed you a stunning smile. “You’re gorgeous.”

You covered your face with a hand, embarrassed out of your mind as he curled his fingers inside of you, rubbing the pad of his fingers on a sensitive spot he knew about. Your hips bucked against his hand and you whined in surprise.

Only Todo could make you feel this good. Right?

What if you stopped loving Todo because Yuuji made you feel good like him?

An enormous wave of panic washed over you.

“I-I-I changed my mind.”

“Did you?” Yuuji abruptly used the strength of his entire arm to finger fuck you.

Your mouth opened in a silent scream, both hands pressing on Yuuji’s shoulders to balance yourself as he was messing you up. “Yuuji, no!”

It was too late, you could feel the incoming wave of pleasure, your pussy was sucking his fingers deeper inside and clenching around them greedily. You were begging for something bigger and thicker.

Yuuji continued thrusting his fingers inside your cunt and started rubbing his palm against your clit for extra friction for you.

You were getting closer, the overwhelming wave of pleasure was growing bigger, threatening to leave you trembling and whimpering once he was done with you.

Then the familiar sound of a door being unlocked echoed inside the apartment.

The feeling of shame and guilt returned but you didn’t get to push yourself away from Yuuji.

“Stop,” you begged in tears, whimpering. However, your whimper soon turned into a shameless moan when you felt a tongue take a skillful lick against your folds before taking your clit in its mouth.

You looked down at Yuuji and he looked right back at you.

Your eyes landed on the hand that was fucking you. There was something, lapping at your cunt. It was a tongue. You could feel it zealously licking you.

Yuuji didn’t look aware of anything, his fingers moved all the same but what made you break down and lose the strength of your legs was the mouth embedded on his palm.

You met eyes with Todo who had just walked into the living room as your entire body shook uncontrollably and the heavenly euphoric feeling took over your senses. It was impossible to tear your eyes away from him, the sense of guilt was forgotten, you were pretending it was Todo who made you cum, not Yuuji or that thing in his hand.

Yuuji pulled his hand back and you actually caught a glimpse of a grinning mouth slowly disappearing into his skin.

No this wasn’t the time. Todo had… he had seen you like this. He was going to misunderstand.

“Aoi,” you whispered, trying to regain your strength to stand up on your legs. “Aoi, this is-” You nearly fell off from the couch but Yuuji caught you. In tears, you pushed him away and stood up, walking over to your boyfriend. “Aoi, I’m sorry he… he was the one-”

"I knew you liked Yuuji, but I didn't think you'd be this needy for him…” Todo slapped a hand on his face and dragged it down slowly, hiding his grin but keeping a serious expression. “What kind of girl are you really? You came on his fingers as soon as I walked in. Do you like being watched, is that it? Do you like messing with guys who aren't your boyfriend?”

“No!” you sobbed, hands desperately reaching out to hold his hand. “I love you, I only love you. H-he tried to use my love for you against me… It wasn’t my fault, I swear… Aoi, please, it wasn’t me. He kissed me first.”

“It wasn’t you?” Todo raised a brow, pulling his hand away. “Are you going to accuse my brother like that when you told me you loved him? DIdn’t you say you wanted to be fucked by him? You know me and Yuuji have the same type yet you still teased him with the clothes you wear around the apartment, and you let yourself get fondled in front of him mewling like a helpless kitten. What was he supposed to think?”

“I-I only love you, I swear!” You gripped onto his shirt. “Aoi, please, please, please!”

“You know our walls are thin but you still moaned and screamed all night knowing Yuuji was in the room next door." Todo’s brows furrowed, he pointed a finger at your face. "Wasn’t this what you wanted? You said you loved Yuuji, you said you wanted to be fucked by Yuuji and now you're mad because what? He kissed you?”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Your face was stained with tears, crying helplessly, begging for forgiveness from your boyfriend.

“Don’t apologize to me,” Todo sighed. “You need to apologize to my best friend and find a way to make it up to him."

“It’s alright, Todo,” Yuuji said, appearing behind you. “She’s right, I went overboard. Maybe I should leave and stay at a hotel for the rest of the week. I don’t wanna be a burden or cause any problems between the two of you.”

If he left now, Todo was going to hate you. He was going to break up with you for accusing his best friend- weren’t you telling the truth- no! You were accusing him.

“No, please, Yuuji.” You turned your head towards him, begging him with teary eyes. “I’m so sorry. I’m sorry, please, it was all my fault. Please, I’m sorry.” Hysterically crying, you buried your face to Todo’s chest. “Please, please forgive me. Please!”

The two guys nodded at the same time and almost laughed at how your voice was breaking. Almost.

Todo put a hand on the back of your dress and pulled you away from him by gripping the fabric. “Well, I'm glad you could cry out somewhat of an apology but I told you to find a way to make it up to him."

"How am I supposed to-"

Todo abruptly leaned down, staring at you with an intimidatingly blank look on his face. “How would Takada-chan apologize?”

Your shoulders stiffened, your limbs turned to stone but you still were able to shake your head hesitantly.

“What?” Todo’s face had gotten closer. “You’re not sorry, Takada-chan? Is that what you’re trying to say?”

“Stop it,” you whimpered, fresh tears forming in your eyes. “I’m not Takada-chan.”

“Hey,” Yuuji said, putting a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “She said she’s sorry, I’m not hurt or anything. Don’t make her cry like that. I went overboard, I thought she liked me like you said so I should be the one to apologize.”

Todo’s features softened and he shook his head slightly as he turned to face his friend, “Ahh, I’m sorry too. It’s just that… I was sure you two would get along but she went and blew it up.”

“I’ll get along with him,” you promised, wiping your tears, smiling in despair. “Please, Aoi. I’ll even love Yuuji as much as I love you. Please. Just don’t… please don’t leave me.”

Todo let out an audible sigh, he looked distraught, shoulders shaking from what you thought was sadness but he was simply trying to hold back his laughter. “Prove it to me.”

You lifted your head, eyes wide. “Prove what? I’ll do anything you ask me to do-”

Cutting your sentence short, Todo reached out his hand to you and his other hand to his friend. Without hesitation, you put your hand in his and Yuuji did the same. Slowly, Todo brought his hands together and made the two of you hold hands. “Prove that you love Yuuji."

“I can’t let him have my body,” you said, voice breaking after getting an image of what he was implying. “My heart and body belong to you.”

“What about your mouth? My best friend likes the same things I like... and you can't make the same excuses with him that you do with me.”

Oh.

He perhaps knew the reason why you didn’t want to suck him off.

You were terrified of him looking at you, scared that he would dump you if he fucked you even once while looking at you. Although you wanted him to have eyes only for you, it wasn’t possible when his heart didn’t belong to you.

Maybe, only maybe… If both of you started being more honest with each other, you could be the person in his heart, sharing it with Yuuji rather than his favorite idol.

Todo placed a hand on your back and pushed you forward towards your bedroom. You knew what to do.

The walk to your room was awkward and silent. Yuuji’s hand was sweaty and calloused as you dragged him to the bedroom but your trembling hand fit perfectly in his hand. The two of you were a match made in heaven.

Todo followed you inside the bedroom, watched the two of you climb on the bed. You reached to the front of Yuuji’s sweats, pulling them down by hooking your fingers under the waistband.

You were so focused on your task that you hadn’t realized how badly you were shaking.

“(name),” Yuuji said softly, putting his hand over yours. “Do you remember what I said to you?”

You stared up at him for an answer.

“Todo wants someone to love you as much as you love him. Will you let me do that?” Despite your previous hysterical crying, you managed to blush at his words, the pressure on your shoulders disappeared and you got lost within his kind smile that was directed at you.

Nodding, you got on all fours while Yuuji leaned back on the mattress as you hooked a finger underneath the waistband of his boxers to peel them off to release his aching cock. Once his cock bounced free, you were distantly aware of the mattress dipping behind you.

It was Todo. After settling behind you, he hiked your skirt up and pulled your panties down.

“Focus on me,” a voice said, his warm hand lovingly caressed your cheek.

You looked at Yuuji through your clumped lashes, he was pumping his cock sluggishly while looking at you intently. All of his attention was on you, he wasn’t looking through you like Todo. He was looking at you. Only you.

In response, you leaned further down to take the tip of his cock in your mouth. He retrieved his hand from his cock and you wrapped your own hand around the base, moving it along the length with a nice firm pressure.

Bobbing your head, you took more than half of his cock in your mouth, hollowing your cheeks as you moved up and closer towards the pink tip.

“That feels good,” Yuuji groaned softly, he put a hand on the top of your head, petting it to praise you. “You’re amazing at this.”

His kind tone encouraged you to bob your head and you tried taking him deeper inside your mouth.

“Ahh, you’re so into this…” Yuuji grew harder inside of your mouth and pulled you towards him by your head, his hips bucking up in a desperate attempt to hit the back of your throat.

Behind you, Todo was dragging the tip of his cock between your folds, he was oddly quiet, possibly still upset but you still arched your back for him. You needed to prove to him how good you could make him feel. Only you could make him feel this good. Nobody else. He needed to know that.

Todo pushed the tip of his cock inside and surged his hips forward until his entire length was inside you with a low groan. You moaned around Yuuji’s cock, the vibrations coming from your throat were enough to make him grab a chunk of your hair to steady himself.

Suddenly Yuuji forced you down onto his cock until your nose was touching his pinkish pubes. With Yuuji being deep down in your throat and Todo’s cock completely stretching you out, you had thought you were being stuffed to your limit. It was all too much. You gagged and planted your hands on Yuuji’s thighs to push yourself away from his cock.

You didn’t get the chance though.

Clap.

Your jaw relaxed and your pussy clenched around nothing for barely a second but then abruptly you felt your jaw forcefully open wider around the cock in your mouth. Tearing up, you gagged roughly. The girth was thicker than before and you barely managed to blink when a large hand landed on top of your head to card his fingers through your hair.

“No teeth,” Todo warned.

Eyes widening, you stared up at your boyfriend through your lashes in panic as a pair of hands gripped your hips tightly.

“Ahh, you’re so tight,” Yuuji groaned, tentatively pulling his hips back to snap them forward.

They had switched places.

You were confused but it didn’t take you long to put the pieces together to realize it was Todo’s whatever sorcery was the cause of this.

Glaring up at Todo, you attempted to move your hips away from Yuuji but they both had you trapped between them.

Without a warning, your boyfriend started bucking his hips up into your mouth. As upset as you were, there was no way you were going to let this one slip. There was no possible way.-

“You look cuter than Takada-chan like this,” Todo whispered with a gentle smile on his lips. He was telling the truth, having your luscious lips wrapped around his cock with your tear-stained face and furrowed brows that were looking at him with anger… it was purely erotic. “Can you keep your promise for me?”

Your heart fluttered with joy, anger past forgotten, you bobbed your head. Todo hissed through his teeth, letting you move however you pleased.

Yuuji on the other hand was losing more of his composure every passing second. His hands that were gripping your sides were shaking as he decided to move again. Your walls were clamping on his cock, threatening to milk him dry each time he pulled out and thrust inside your pulsating cunt.

As he was trying to find a rhythm he liked, his instincts took over. Yuuji snapped his hips forward, balls slapping against your skin with a loud clap. His pace was irregular yet merciless. Incredibly vigorous, each thrust deep and penetrating. He let out a growl as your tight walls clenched around him after your boyfriend’s cock grazed the back of your throat.

Yuuji’s nails dug into your skin and he started fucking you almost frantically. With each snap of his hips, you took more of Todo’s cock down your throat. Tears streamed down your cheeks but pleasuring your boyfriend was more important. The pain was nothing compared to keeping your promise to Todo.

“Good girl,” he praised, wiping your tears with his thumbs, “My girl.”

Your pussy clenched at his words, making Yuuji lose himself completely at the sensation. He slammed into your cunt with amazing vigor, forcing you to take the entire length of Todo’s cock in your mouth as the tip of his cock pressed against your cervix at the same time your nose brushed against Todo’s pubes.

Both of the guys moaned while your eyes rolled back to the back of your head. You were getting completely lost in the sweet ecstasy of Yuuji’s cock ravishing your pussy and Todo’s cock was stretching your throat simultaneously.

They were both about to cum.

You felt Yuuji’s cock twitch inside of you as Todo held his hands up and waited before slowly clapping them together.

Clap!

Your jaw relaxed once again but then your walls stretched to the point of your legs giving up under you. Yuuji took Todo’s place in your mouth and came down your throat with an audible grumble. He pulled out rather quickly, letting you take a breath to swallow his cum down.

Todo slouched forward to mount you completely and grunted into your ear as he picked up from where his best friend left. He reached one of his hands under you to toy with your clit, drawing tight circles around the nub. He snapped his hips forward, nosing some of your hair out of the way to grunt into your ear. “You’re enjoying this more than I thought. I think I know why... I think you like being shared, don’t you?"

“Yes, yes, yes!” You nodded rapidly, screaming out his name.

“You love Yuuji and you love me.”

“Yes!”

“You like being shared.”

“I… I-I do!” You weren’t sure if you were saying all of these to satisfy him or you actually wanted them but it didn’t matter. You were ready to do anything and everything to keep Todo happy.

He couldn’t hold back any longer, his cock throbbed, thick spurts of his cum filled your womb and overflowed into your pussy.

Breathless, you desperately held onto Yuuji’s thighs as Todo continued fucking his cum deep inside of you. “Why’d you switch?” Yuuji asked almost like a kid that was about to throw a tantrum.

“I can’t let you cum inside her, she’s still my girl at the end of the day.” Todo’s voice was mischievous, the grin in his voice was also present.

“I was gonna pull out,” he protested.

“I’ll let you do it next time if she’s up to it.” Todo pulled out and retrieved his hands from your hips. As soon as the only thing holding you up disappeared, your body went limp like a ragdoll on the mattress. “What do you say, (name)?”

His cum oozed out from your gaping hole and onto the sheets. You opened your mouth to stutter a single word Todo wanted to hear, “O-okay.”

[iam93percentstardust]

Hello. I am very interested with WinterIron. Enemies to Lovers, abo with omega Tony, accidental bonding, mutual pining, a lot and a loooootttttt of kissing and touching (with "I do it because of bond" excuses).

Please feel free to cross anything you feel uncomfortable with.

Hi there! I wasn't able to get everything in there, but hopefully there's enough? I loved this prompt so much, it was a fun verse to write in 💙

CW for omegas having few rights in this verse and for creepy Aldrich Killian

As always, everything I write can also be found on ao3

~

mate bond: [meyt bond] noun

1. A mental and physical connection that ties two people together following a mating bite

2. A pair bond between spouses

~

[An excerpt from The Other Half of My Soul: An Exploration into Unconventional Bonding Methods by Anderson-Lopez et al, 1972]

“While rare, it is important to note the existence of mate bonds in individuals who have not exchanged bites. These instances have notably occurred during times of high stress for one or both individuals, and are sparked by an inciting incident of some kind, usually a traumatic event. While these types of mate bonds, dubbed soulmate bonds by the media, frequently occur between individuals who are highly compatible, it is not necessary. Curiously, however, it does seem necessary that the individuals are scent matched for a soulmate bond, even though compatible second genders are not a requirement.”

~

Bucky maintained that it was an accident.

Tony had been meant for Steve, after all. That was the arrangement Howard Stark had decided on with Fury. Bucky had only come along as moral support for the first meeting between Steve and Tony. He wasn’t even supposed to meet Tony first, but the crowded ballroom had been too much for him, so he’d ducked out into the hallway, only to come across two alphas menacing an omega. He supposed that some of Steve’s fiery nature must have rubbed off on him, as he normally would have never taken on two alphas by himself, not when he was down an arm. But he’d taken one look at that omega, pretty brown eyes wide with distress, and leapt into action. It hadn’t been until both alphas had been sent off running with their tails between their legs that he’d realized the omega he’d rescued was Tony Stark, Steve’s arranged mate.

Unfortunately (fortunately? No, definitely unfortunately), the arranged match would never come to fruition as Bucky and Tony had looked at each other and immediately bonded without a shared word or bite between them.

Howard was furious, Fury less so—Bucky was still a SHIELD agent, even if he wasn’t the great Captain America, so the planned union between SHIELD and SI would still happen—but both Bucky and Tony insisted that it hadn’t been done on purpose. And, as neither had a mating bite but could still feel the other at the back of their mind, it was hard to disprove the existence of what had once been called a soulmate bond, though was now called the rather unglamorous name of Mate Bond Subtype C, which Bucky thought sounded like an illness.

The media thought it was the most romantic thing they’d ever heard. Steve, who was slowly courting another alpha from SHIELD, thought it was a relief. Bucky, who didn’t want an omega while he was still recovering from the surgery on his arm, thought it was a nightmare at first.

He didn’t know what Tony thought.

They might have shared a bond between them, but Tony had quickly figured out how to shield his feelings. It had taken Bucky a little bit more practice but he too had worked out how to keep his thoughts and feelings private, which was good, because he doubted Tony would like to know what he was thinking.

They’d been bonded for three months and, while Bucky had moved into Tony’s penthouse apartment, they didn’t share a room, let alone a bed. He still took long missions that took him away for weeks at a time. Tony spent more time at SI’s research labs than he did at home. Bucky hadn’t shared Tony’s heat, nor had Tony shared Bucky’s rut, though neither of them had invited anyone else into their beds. And other than their planned public outings where they had to touch to put on the façade of a happily bonded couple, they didn’t hold hands or kiss or lean into each other, giggling.

The problem was—Bucky wanted all of that. He wanted to sleep curled around Tony. He wanted the two of them to be home long enough to share more than one dinner together at a time. He desperately wanted to share cycles, but even more badly than that, he wanted to touch Tony as often as the omega could stand it. Because the problem was also this—sometime in the course of three months, he’d fallen in love.

~

Tony slid his hand into Bucky’s as they stood in the elevator. “It’s just a quick walk around the ballroom, say hi to a couple investors, and then we can leave,” he said reassuringly, giving Bucky a quick smile. “I know how much you hate these shindigs.”

This was true, Bucky did hate them, but he knew that Tony hated them just as much, though he hid it much better than Bucky did. “Don’t worry,” he replied, squeezing Tony’s hand quickly. “I’ll stick to you like glue.”

“Well, maybe not like glue. Like Velcro, maybe. Howard’s got a couple investors that I know he wants me to meet and that I know you’ll hate so you’re more than welcome to go off and find people more to your liking then. I heard Steve’s coming.”

Bucky had to fight to hide a frown. He knew Tony didn’t mean any harm by the comment, but he hated how Tony thought he wouldn’t want to be by his side even when meeting people he didn’t like. So what if he didn’t like them? He’d still prefer to be giving Tony silent support instead of wandering off and leaving him alone for that long.

Before he can respond, the elevator came to a smooth stop, the doors opening on a soft ding to reveal the glittering ballroom Maria Stark had chosen to host the Annual Stark Foundation’s Shareholders’ Ball, meant to honor those who had given so generously to charity over the last year. The room was decorated in delicate ice-like structures, calling to mind the snow blanketing the city outside, though it wasn’t nearly as cold inside. Golden chandeliers reflected off the dark windows, giving the impression of a never-ending stretch of light. It was all so very glitzy and glamorous. Bucky hated it. It was an obscene display of wealth, meant solely to remind everyone that the Starks were richer than anyone else in the room.

“One hour, Bucky Bear,” Tony murmured like he could hear Bucky’s thoughts. “And then we can go get burgers.”

He dropped Bucky’s hand in favor of sliding his own into the crook of Bucky’s elbow, gently steering him towards the first group of investors. Like every other rich person he’d met since bonding with Tony, they were simultaneously smug of their own “generosity” (mere pennies compared to their bank accounts) and jealous, both of Tony’s wealth and Bucky’s luck in landing a Stark (not his words). The smugness was blatant, the jealousy only slightly hidden in the way their eyes lingered as Bucky took the opportunity to brush his lips across Tony’s cheek, quietly telling him he was going to go get them drinks.

“I’ll be back before you even have time to miss me,” he promised, understanding the minute tightness at the corners of Tony’s eyes.

Tony smiled and nodded, attention already turning back to the investors—or, more likely, to his latest project, however much it might have looked like he was paying attention to Hugh Worthington IV. Bucky slipped through the crowd to the bar. Fortunately, it wasn’t crowded yet and he was able to order a whiskey for himself and a scotch for Tony, who always refused to drink the fruity drinks he actually preferred at these parties, almost immediately. As he waited, he turned back to the crowd, idly scanning it. Steve wasn’t there yet, if it was indeed true that Fury had managed to stuff him into a suit and send him off to schmooze. His eyes sought out Tony, who was laughing as he excused himself from the group Bucky had left him with, moving on to another small throng of people.

He smiled despite himself. Tony was lovely like this, despite his discomfort. Bucky got to see him laugh so rarely at home that he cherished every moment he got to see it while they were out in public.

“Sir, your drinks,” the bartender prompted. He thanked them absently and left a tip on the bar before making his way back across the ballroom to Tony’s side.

Tony wasn’t laughing now. In fact, if his pursed lips were anything to go off of, he was pretty furious, and Bucky wondered what had upset him between him leaving the bar and him returning to Tony’s side.

“Doll,” he said, letting Tony know he was there. Tony turned and took his drink, thanking him with a quick kiss that Bucky desperately wanted to turn into a longer, sweeter one.

“Honey, Senator Stern here was just telling me about an omega’s rights bill he filibustered so it wouldn’t pass,” Tony said, irritation bleeding into his tone.

“Now isn’t that interesting,” Bucky drawled, irritated himself. The bill in question was a law that he knew Tony had backed, as it would have put a stop to the arranged bondings the wealthy were so fond of. They’d both known it would be a longshot to pass, but they’d remained hopeful. “That’s the one that Stevie supported isn’t it?”

“It is,” Tony agreed. “My alpha here—” He patted Bucky’s chest. “—is close friends with Captain Rogers. They grew up together, you know. Steve spends nearly every Saturday evening with us. I’m sure he’ll be delighted to hear about this bill failing to pass. Isn’t he supposed to be putting in an appearance at the Senate hearing next week? It would be such a shame if he couldn’t make it.”

Tony’s statement was only partially true. Bucky mostly saw Steve at SHIELD, as Steve, despite being always welcome at their apartment, didn’t want to be reminded of how close he’d come to an arranged bonding of his own. But Steve, who had been an omega before receiving the serum, had always been an outspoken supporter of omega’s rights, and now that he was an alpha, and Captain America to boot, he used every bit of that privilege to push as much pro-omega legislature through Congress as he could. He was a thorn in conservative senators’ sides, like Stern, and it was a minor miracle that they’d gotten him to appear in front of Congress to talk positively about a Republican bill supporting an expansion of benefits for veterans, when he normally disagreed with anything Republican just on principle. Steve’s support would go a long way toward getting that bill passed.

Tony’s veiled threat was effective. Stern, one of the authors of the bill, blanched, making Bucky smile. He loved watching Tony do his thing. There was really nothing better than Tony putting bullies like Stern back in their place.

“I’ll see what I can do,” Stern stammered out before hurrying away.

As soon as he was gone, Tony drooped, leaning back against Bucky. It was nice, being able to lend his support to his omega, but Tony was standing up straight again after only a moment, the façade falling back over him.

“I really hate that guy,” Tony said softly. He looked up at Bucky. “Sorry about using your friendship with Steve like that. I was just so angry. Saw red for a second there.”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Bucky said. Impulsively, he reached out to clasp Tony’s shoulder, running his thumb soothingly over the soft skin just above his shirt collar. “You guys got a bad lot in life. You do what you gotta do to make it right.”

Tony hummed. “I really wanted that bill to pass. It wasn’t right, what Howard and Fury wanted me to do. I don’t want anyone else to have to go through that.”

“Sorry,” Bucky offered up. It was a lame apology, but he didn’t know what else he could say to make it better. He knew very well that if he and Tony hadn’t bonded that night, Steve would be Tony’s alpha.

To his surprise, Tony smiled and nudged his shoulder, teasing, “I don’t know, you’re not so bad.”

Bucky sputtered, nearly choking on his whiskey.

“Oh, look, Steve’s just arrived,” Tony said airily, like he hadn’t noticed the effect his words were having on Bucky. “Let’s go say hi.”

Talking to Steve at these events was always awkward. Tony and Steve were both aware that neither of them wanted anything to do with each other as mates, which made having to see each other a study in unspoken tension. He didn’t think it was that either of them had a problem with the other, and he suspected that they could even manage to be friends eventually, but it was that knowledge that they’d nearly been forced to mate that made things so tense between them. Still, he appreciated that Tony was willing to put up with it so that Bucky could see his best friend. It was the sort of small kindness that Tony unthinkingly did that had made Bucky fall in love with him so easily.

Tonight was no different. Tony and Steve exchanged no more than a few awkward words before Tony excused himself to go meet with Emma Frost. He didn’t bother kissing Bucky this time, as Steve was one of the few people they didn’t have to pretend with and it didn’t seem like anyone was watching them at the moment. It would have been different if they’d met up a few months ago. There’d been more than a few people who’d somehow got it into their heads that Steve and Tony’s proposed bond was a love match instead of arranged, and they’d all watched eagerly to see how Steve, Tony, and Bucky interacted in those days following Bucky and Tony’s bonding, clearly wondering if Steve was going to pick a fight. They’d been sorely disappointed, of course; Steve and Bucky didn’t fight over anything, let alone an omega that Steve hadn’t wanted.

“So Fury roped you into the dog and pony show, huh,” Bucky asked, eyeing the stiff collar of Steve’s shirt. He’d be willing to bet that it was brand new. Steve was much more at home in a pair of khakis and a flannel shirt than he was in a tuxedo.

“Senator Brandt actually,” Steve said, wrinkling his nose in distaste. “He thinks it’s good for me to make appearances and drum up support for SHIELD.”

“Sucks.” There was a niggling worry growing at the back of his mind, unrelated to Steve’s complaints about the brass, but Bucky didn’t know what it was. He glanced around the room, but was unable to spot anything amiss. He tried to put it out of his mind by asking, “How’s working with the Commandos?” He couldn’t entirely keep the bitterness out of his voice. Bucky had been moved out of the Commandos unit a few weeks before meeting Tony, and it wasn’t that he didn’t like being on Strike Team Delta, but he was still irritated that he hadn’t had a choice in the matter.

“Not the same without you,” Steve said, grimacing at him like he knew what was going through Bucky’s mind.

They continued talking about SHIELD as they slowly circulated the room and all the while, that worry was growing stronger, slowly morphing into fear, but it wasn’t until he happened to catch a glimpse of Tony standing in the corner and looking tense and unhappy that he realized they weren’t his feelings. They were Tony’s. Tony was worried and scared and had brought down his shields so that Bucky could feel his emotions and Bucky was standing on the other side of the room like an idiot.

“Excuse me,” he said brusquely, cutting Steve off. “Tony’s in trouble.”

He headed straight for Tony, pushing through the crowd without sparing a thought to anyone he might be offending as he shoved them aside. For once, it was Steve who was trailing after him, offering apologies to everyone who looked offended.

There was a look of naked relief in Tony’s eyes as Bucky marched up behind the alpha Tony was talking to. It was a look he’d never seen on Tony’s face before, at least not directed at him, and he wasn’t sure if he liked that his omega was happy to have him there or disliked that Tony had to be relieved at all.

“Something wrong, doll?” he asked, hand clamping down on the alpha’s shoulder.

“Bucky,” Tony breathed. He sagged back against the wall. “This is Aldrich Killian. He’d like to propose—” Tony’s mouth twisted unhappily. “He’d like to propose an omega trade. I told him I wasn’t interested, but he insisted on talking to you.”

Anger flared in Bucky’s chest, hot and furious. Omega trades weren’t common anymore, used mostly in backroom deals to secure a transaction. You treat my omega right and I’ll treat your omega right, and maybe we can have a deal. He knew the rich, traditional alphas Tony had grown up with still occasionally used them, but he hated them. He’d always hated them. The very concept treated omegas like property, like hostages, and the thought of seeing Tony—his Tony—under someone else had his vision shading red.

“Is that so?” he hissed.

Killian, the idiot, didn’t seem to notice Bucky’s growing anger. “Maya’s a great—” he began to say.

Bucky cut him off with a hand around his throat, slamming him into the wall.

“Bucky—” Steve started, a warning in his voice.

“Tell them it’s SHIELD business,” he snapped. “Isn’t that the usual excuse?”

What Steve did to placate the crowd growing around them, he didn’t know; he was too intent on Killian to care. “Let me get this straight,” he growled. “You asked Tony for a trade and when he told you no, because I know him, he wouldn’t ever want that and he wouldn’t be quiet about it, you cornered him and insisted you’d only listen to a no from me.” It wasn’t a question. Tony’s thoughts and emotions were flooding him with what Killian had tried to do to him. He growled again at the image of Killian’s hand on Tony’s arm, removed after only a moment. This—this—alpha had tried to put his hands on Tony, had ignored his clear no, and was still babbling on about whatever business deal he wanted out of Bucky—or, more likely, Tony, though as an omega, Tony wouldn’t be able to make that decision.

“It’s a yes or no question, Killian,” he finally snapped, losing his temper. “Did you or did you not ignore Tony’s answer—"

“He’s an omega,” Killian tried.

“He’s a person. He’s a person who was clearly uncomfortable with you and you should never have ignored that. The only reason you’re still standing and not laid out on the floor is because he cares about making a scene, but guess what, I don’t.” His hand tightened on Killian’s throat, making the man wheeze. “Do—”

“Bucky,” Tony said quietly, cutting through his anger.

Without removing his hand from Killian, he looked at Tony. Tony still looked a little shaken, but there was something else in his eyes, something that Bucky didn’t know how to describe.

“Let him go,” Tony continued. “You made your point.”

“He—”

“Yeah, he did,” Tony said, knowing what he was going to say. Bucky wondered if his own shields were down, letting Tony read his thoughts and feelings. “And you were here to stop it, so it’s okay. Let him go, we can go get burgers.”

He didn’t want to. He wanted to make sure Killian never laid hands on someone unwilling ever again, but then Steve was there, carefully pulling Bucky away as he muttered to him about seeing what Fury could do about Killian. And that wasn’t exactly what Bucky wanted, but it was better than nothing, and taking care of Tony was his priority anyway. So since Tony wanted burgers, he would go get burgers.

He spun on his heels, intent on heading to the elevators, only to freezes as soon as he saw Tony. They were supposed to be faking it, which meant that he should do something—wrap an arm around Tony’s waist or kiss his forehead or—or something. But Tony had just had to deal with an unwelcome touch. He shouldn’t have to deal with another one so soon afterwards.

Tony surprised him though by stepping forward and sliding his hand into Bucky’s, interlacing their fingers. “Come on, alpha. Let’s go home,” he said, leading Bucky through the crowd watching them. Bucky ignored them in favor of drinking in the sight of Tony whole and healthy, if not happy.

They were quiet in the elevator ride back down to the parking garage, quiet as they climbed into the back of the car, quiet as Happy pulled out onto the road. Then Tony slid across the backseat to tuck up against Bucky’s side. He rested his head on Bucky’s shoulder, and, after a moment, Bucky rested his cheek against Tony’s curls.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“You didn’t,” Tony said. Bucky could feel the truth in his words through their bond, and he realized that Tony hadn’t put his mental shields back up. “I wouldn’t have asked for your help if I hadn’t been expecting something like that.”

“Shouldn’t have taken it so far though. I know you’re not—we’re not—” He grimaced as he fumbled over the words. He’d been able to admit for three months that he and Tony weren’t in a relationship, why was it so hard now?

Tony hesitated before carefully saying, “We could be.”

“We—what?”

“Bucky Bear,” Tony said warmly, sitting up so he could look him in the eyes. “You have to know—people don’t just do what you did tonight or the night we met, for that matter. Not for me. I—I don’t know, the way we bonded, it threw me off. I wasn’t expecting it and I reacted badly. But—then the way you reacted to Killian got me thinking—maybe we could try?”

“Try?” Bucky whispered.

“Try us?” Tony asked, leaning back in slowly, giving Bucky enough time to move away if he wanted to.

He didn’t want to. “Yeah,” he breathed. “We could try. I—I’d like that.”

Tony smiled at him, bright and lovely, and closed the distance between them.

[youn9racha]

Don’t Test Me

Requested by: @crzy-devil

Pairing: Jinyoungxmasc!reader (with a vag tho)

Words: 3.1 k

Warning: dom!reader, sub!jinyoung, consent being explicitly discussed, implied masturbation, mentions of pornography, implied dacryphilia, weapon play (fake gun), pegging, mentions of butt plugs, jinyoung in a short skirt, dirty talk, overstimulation

Extra Notes: wheewww finally my first got7 request ʅ（◞‿◟）ʃ don’t get me wrong, i‘ve been enjoying writing skz chan and changbin smut but i’ve been meaning to write some got7 but i wouldn’t think anyone would read it :( but yay finally i got something. i pray i don’t fuck this up, and i hope this is okay everything you want 😔

photo edit is not mine

——————————————————————————

This is no way representative of the way Got7 act. They’re nothing but references of character, and in no shape or form is this how they act. And I am in no way romanticizing or glamorizing any toxic behavior exhibited, they’re just stories that is meant to be read. Readers discretion is advised.

—————————————————————————

You and Jinyoung have an interesting relationship to say the least. Jinyoung is always thought to be that dominant guy who’s always protective of the people whom he cares about, especially towards his partner. While that is true that he is protective and caring, however no one knows who the real Jinyoung Park except you, or at least who he is in your bedroom.

It was no secret that you two are very open about your sexual needs to each other, and it may come to the surprise to anyone to know that a man like Jinyoung is more submissive than anyone would think. But you however didn’t think so.

Prior to meeting him, you may follow what everyone says about Jinyoung, but five months into your relationship with your boyfriend, you were shocked, yet pleased, to see him one day in adorning nothing but a skirt, a butt plug, and a leash, innocently yet seductively telling you to touch him. And ever since then, you’ve been the one Jinyoung looked up to and waiting for to ruin him.

Every sexual encounter with him were exciting and fun, but there was one incident that took the title of the most amazing sexual roleplay you both have took in and neither of you had any sense of regret. Even if you guys would have broken up—knocking on wood—, it’ll probably not top anything but that moment.

~~

”(y/n!)” Jinyoung exclaimed in a sing song-y way as he walked into the apartment door with something hidden behind his back. He spotted you laying onto the couch, legs lazily splayed open as you looked up to the ceiling with half eyes open. It was clear that you were tired and wanted to rest, but Jinyoung didn’t care, “I’ve got something to show you..”

You looked up at him with a furrowed eyebrows, “what is it Jiny—ah!”

You felt wide awake when you saw Jinyoung unexpectedly pulled a gun straight into your face and pretended to shoot by making certain movements and sounds.

“Jinyoung, what the fuck?!” You exclaimed with your eyes popping out your socket with fear, leaning far away from him, only for him to get closer to you. Jinyoung saw the fear in your eyes, which made him laugh at my state. “I’m being for real, put the gun down!” Your heart was rightfully pounding, fearing not only for your life but at Jinyoung’s sickening laugh.

”Oh, relax, big baby, its a fake gun,” Jinyoung said with an eye roll.

You looked at the man on top of you with a baffled expression, he flipped the gun around and shoved it to you, “see, carry it.”

You looked at the gun, then at the man, then back at the silver object with a gulp. You took the gun out of his hand, and to your relief it was indeed fake, with it being very lightweight and looking at it up close. Props to whoever made this gun look really realistic, at least at a distance.

Jinyoung laughed at your relieved expression, “did you really think I’d bring an actual gun?”

You shrugged at him, “I wouldn’t be surprised to be honest,” you jokingly replied to which Jinyoung opens his mouth agape. Now it was your turn to laugh, “I’m joking, baby,” you patted his cheeks and he pouted in response, “you’re fucked up, (y/n).” He says that as he laid on top of you.

There was a moment of silence until you began questioning why he had the toy gun. Jinyoung fidgeted with his fingers, sort of hesitating with the words he wants to say. “Baby?” Your calling for him sounded more dragging rather than a questioning call, as your hold on him got tighter. “I kinda wanted you to use it on me,” He blurted, not baring to look at you, while you looked at him with a confused expression.

He didn’t see you but he can sense your confusion, “I want you to use it on your dumb whore..” and thats where your eyes widened. You knew exactly what he wanted.

You would lie if you said you didn’t have the thought of the idea, but that does not mean that you’re feeling one hundred percent sure about all of this. You both are experimental people, and enjoy trying new things at least one, and pain on both ends goes right up your and Jinyoung’s alley. But you wouldn’t go as far as bringing weapon into this, albeit fake, but still.

You thought of how weak he would look over you though, how he tries so hard to fight back but it fails miserably and pathetically. You easily find yourself slowly warming up but then caught yourself as you uncertainty was still in habiting your consciousness.

Your ears met with his gentle voice with him saying, “baby, if you don’t want to do this, I understand,“ Jinyoung held onto your arm in comfort.

“It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s just what if I’m gonna hurt you with the gun?” You held Jinyoung, which endearingly smiled at you. He admires how no matter how hard you go on him, he still can see how you’re very loving and caring towards him. The last thing you wanted to do is to harm your baby Jinyoung.

”baby, you won’t hurt me, you’ve held the gun. It’s fake and it won’t do anything,” Jinyoung rubbed your arms, reassuringly, “besides, we have a safe word, and if you did anything uncomfortable, I’ll just say the word.” You looked back at his eyes. His eyes were entrancing to you, its a contrasting blend of assertiveness, plead and child-like. You have no idea how can one have the capability to withhold such power like this, but knowing Jinyoung, you can see how it works.

You smiled back at him with a gentle caress in the cheek, “I’ll think about it.”

~~

You’ve given yourself sometime to think about it. Jinyoung made it absolutely clear that he won’t do anything that would make you uncomfortable. For a typical submissive person, he still values your comfort, but that is regardless whether he is submissive or dominant, verbal and emotional consent holds a great value in your relationship.

You’ve scrolled through the internet and went on certain adult website to see what got Jinyoung that excited about all this. You did see the hype, but you were still unsure about it, so you just wanted to give sometime where the ice of uncertainty is melted.

While browsing, you saw a distinctive video. The thumbnail caught your eye, as it had a pretty boy in a pink skirt laid on the bed with his leg spread and what looks to be someone pegging him. The video was of the type you’ve looked it up but it was different because it seems to be more of a point of view type of video.

Your mouse hovered over the thumbnail, almost clicking it. You turned to check if Jinyoung was still in the house. It’s not that he cared about you watching porn, he knows that no amount of videos will match up with you taking him on the spot. But you didn’t want him to see you researching, as you wanted to surprise him in case you enjoyed it.

You’ve not seen his presence and you decided to text him, to make sure if everything’s clear and that he’s not close to your proximity whatsoever.

(y/n): hey babe !!

(y/n): where are you ??

Jinyoung immediately saw your message. The bubble and dots of his began showing up until his message was sent.

Baby boy <3: heyy !!

Baby boy <3: oh i’m hanging out with Jaebeom rn i’m also gonna spend the night at his place if thats not a problem with you :)

Baby boy <3: y ??? u need anything ??

you sighed with relief to not only see him respond back, but also that he won’t come back later. Never would you have thought to say this, considering that you’re overtly obsessed with the man.

(y/n): no !! i was just checking up on u !!

(y/n): its fine by me :)) have fun and tell jaebeom i said hi

Baby boy <3: will do ^_^ see you tomorrow baby

Baby boy <3: i’ll miss you <3333

(y/n): i miss you too darling xx

Once the coast was clear, you’ve turned off your phone, turned back to your computer screen and turned on the video.

The video startes off with the boy, who eerily reminded you so much of your boyfriend with his mannerisms and body type, calling out to the presumed viewer. He only wore a skirt, a choker, and what looks to be a jeweled butt plug. To say that the scenery wasn’t a turn on would an absolute lie. You almost moaned at the scenery as you‘ve suddenly started to see, instead of the actor‘s face, Jinyoung.

His pleading eyes were captivating you as you felt yourself getting wet at the way the man is looking at you. Suddenly a pink gun was put into the face of the boy and hearing him yelp in fear did something to you. You felt your organ began twitching at the way the boy looked up to the gun. Seeing how the gun was shoved into his mouth as he began making lewd movements and noises while getting his pretty dick stroked, it did all wonders for you.

You felt your hands going down your pants as you carried on watching the video. This may have awakened something in you, and you can’t wait to showcase to Jinyoung when he gets back.

~~

You sat back in your couch waiting for Jinyoung. It was the next day, and you didn't have much to plan, but you decided to keep the fake gun near you for the sake of your role. It was almost nighttime and the clock kept ticking as you anticpated your boyfriend's arrival.

Jinyoung didn't know about the whole ordeal, he probably thought that you were gonna be out running errands, hanging out with your friends, or even just sleep. But what he won't expect is you sitting on the couch, lust blown in your whole system and hiding the gun he brought in. He never would have thought to see you with it, up until this moment.

While you wait for him to show up, you scrolled through your phone, mindlessly liking any posts that comes in your way. You didn't care on whatever is on your screen, all you wanted was Jinyoung bending over, ready for you. You smirked at the dirty thought, until you heard keys clashing against each other then one inserted into the locked door. In comes the prettiest boy you have ever laid your eyes on, he came in with a bag in his shoulder and adorned a baggy pink sweatshirt and skinny jeans. He smiled when he saw you on the couch, waiting for him.

Normally you would feel soft and warm over his appearance, however the sinister thoughts inhabiting you was clouding every other thought. Jinyoung extended his arm up to stretch after putting down his bag, as he came in and sat down next to you, eventually attacking with kisses as a greeting. Typically, you would laugh at his typically private yet adorable affections, but you could only look at him with semi blank stare.

He noticed the stare in your face, his face shifted into a worried frown, “whats wrong? you’ve been acting weird since yesterday.” You looked at Jinyoung with your hands in his face. You couldn’t help but smile at the clueless boy in front of you, “Jinyoung, have I ever mentioned you’re gorgeous?”

Jinyoung’s confusion starts to get even bigger as his eyebrows furrowed. Not knowing what to say, he just went along with, “yeah?” It was clear evident confusion and you weren’t dumb. You knew he‘d be confused, thats the point, you want him to be clueless and confused about the whole ordeal.

“What if I told you that you’re all I think about?” You whispered, as you began caressing his face. His face was still grimacing in confusion, however he would lie if he said that the thought of you thinking about him nonstop makes him feel good and excited. “I love you so much…”

“(y/n), cut the bullshit, whats goin—” Jinyoung has had enough with your suspicious act and decided to confront you, up until he felt something on his jaw, which he ended up cutting his words with a gasp. It felt something cold against his pulse, his eyes were dragged to the source only to see something he wasn’t expected to see, yet is pleased. It was the toy gun he handed to you. His mouth was open agape, and you said, “I thought much through about it, and I decided why not,” you had a loving and evil smirk on your face, and he simply just smiled back at you, “and besides,” you leaned closer to his ear.

”The thought of you begging for mercy does things to me, you do not understand your powers you have on me, Park Jinyoung,” Jinyoung shuddered at you whispering out his full name at him. He could already feel himself getting hard at your words, and the thought of the gun digging into his skin makes the process faster. You knew that he was getting aroused without you looking down at his crouch, so you opted to use your other hand and held his member, to which he let out a closed mouth moan.

“You know what to do..” you said after pulling your face out of his ear and staring straight into his face. He looked like a puppy with his eyes innocently sparkling at you. You slapped his thigh to get up to do what he’s doing, which you took him out of his trance, nodded at you and got up.

“I’ll give you five minutes,” you said loud enough where he can still hear as he walks, more like wobbling, into your shared bedroom, while you smirked at his adorable weak state. You looked at the gun and you knew were gonna have fun with your boy toy.

~~ Five minutes have passed, and you decided to walk into the bedroom where Jinyoung is at at a painfully slow pace. You felt like a lion going after a deer, ready to devour it on the spot, with Jinyoung being the deer in this situation. You dragged the gun against the wall as you got closer to your bedroom. You can already sense Jinyoung getting weaker and weaker without even looking at him. You hear heavy breathing coming from out of your bedroom, and you felt your lust is started to mix fury with it as you knew exactly what he was doing.

However you kept your composure and still have the smirk drawn into your face. You reached the door, and you opened the door to see a sight that both angered and aroused you. Jinyoung was dressed in a pink short skirt and a crop top along side with thigh highs, his whole cock was out as he was stroking himself as he was looking at himself in the mirror. Still in his lust world, he didn’t notice your presence up until you spoke.

“Who told you you can touch yourself?” You questioned with a crossed arm and a lean into the door sill. Jinyoung gasped his eyes wide open, his hand stopped stroking as he was looking at you with pleading eyes, “I-I’m sorry,” he gulped as you got closer to him, looking at him with a scowl. Despite him being slightly taller by a few centimeters, he still looks and feels smaller than you, especially at this moment.

“I couldn’t help it, I j-j—“ You cut his pathetic talk by putting the gun into his cheek. His mouth was wide shut as he fearfully looked at the gun then back at you. You glided the gun across the face as his breath hitches, you stopped the gun at his mouth. “Open your mouth,” you growled at him, which he didn’t respond at first as he was too aroused to function. You shoved the weapon not too harsh that it could hurt him, but not too light, to wake him up to, which he just moaned.

”I didn’t even touch you, and yet you’re already fucked up,” you commented as you tugged his bottom lip with the gun making him whimper. You tapped his face and commanded again, “open.”

This time he complied and he stuck his tongue out, you lightly inserted the weapon into his mouth as he wrapped his mouth around it.

To say that the scenery was pornographic was an understatement. A man in his short skirt down on his knees sucking on a weapon as his superior is tugging on his hair, it was hot to look at, you and Jinyoung would agree. It was typical that Jinyoung is going dumb just for you, he’s willing to drop everything just to satisfy your needs. He loves you too much. And to see you enjoying his idea makes him feel really good.

~~~ ”Thats what you fucking get for being a dumb slut,” You thrusted your strap on onto your pretty boy’s hole as he grips into the sheets underneath him. His legs placed on your shoulder while your hips were moving in and out of him.

“I-I-I’m s-sorry! I’m not gonna do it again!” Jinyoung was a mess under you, he’s practically crying as he feels his hole getting stretched with pleasure. Tears rolling down his face as he feels his orgasm get closer. You can see that based on his face twist that he was getting closer so you stopped thrusting for the nth time, which caused him to whine and sob louder.

“Bad sluts like you don’t deserve to cum,” You leaned over, his leg still on your shoulder and squished his cheeks. His nose was tinted pink due to blissed out cry and the amount of times you’d edge him, and the fact you still resisted giving him what he want made him blush even more. You both love it, especially Jinyoung, who may love this more than you do. He loves getting edged and getting all this punishment. He was a walking masochist, and because he is what he is, you ended up loving it and use it for your advantage.

Despite his “apologies,” he always misbehaves just so he can get punished by his superior. He is a brat in disguise, and you love it. You love giving him the punishment that he ever so deserves, as much as you love degrading him and you absolutely love seeing him being at your mercy.

He simply looked up at you with teary eyes and says softly, “I’m a bad slut, but I’m your bad slut,” to which you smirked back at his claim.

Your Bad Slut. That’s exactly what he is.

[jjaeong]

Rest Easy My Love, I’ll Always Be Your Favorite Girl.

Series: KPOP Girl Group: 이달의 소녀 (LOONA).

Pairing: Jung Jinsol & Orbit Female Reader.

Summary: Jung Jinsol had always loved her group’s fans, every single one of their supporters that she had met were all lovable—no matter if she was their favorite member or not. But among the several new faces she’d seen in their online meet & greets, a particular girl who Jinsol had always used to frequently see in their fan sign events had made the list for the meetup. In which Y/L/N Y/N was just like any other Orbit, living her life when she earns a scolding from her bias for not meeting up as much as they used to, along with Y/N receiving an unexpected gift with her signed copy of their album.

“Is that you Guppy? Ah, I can’t believe you’re trying to hide—I can see you clearly from way over here!”

You covered your face in embarrassment as the girl’s voice boomed through the speakers of the venue, with your body leaned to the side in attempt to conceal yourself further—though you could distinctly hear several fans beside you snickering and trying to call for the member’s attention. At this point, you could only wonder about what you’ve done in your past life to deserve such an oddly close relationship with your idol—along with the fact that she had never seemed to have changed with how she treated you since your second fan sign event.

But the idol didn’t seem too concerned about her interaction with you as she sat back down on her chair, placing her mic on the table with a grin set on her lips while fixing the blanket on her lap. You could only breathe in a relieved sigh when you sat back up to watch your favorite member fiddle with her mic, how she looked completely as if she belonged in the spot light—a soft smile on her lips as she scanned the crowd carefully and gave a few poses for the cameras that were directed at her along the way. The sight had always seemed to have strike a meaningful flashback to all of the other fan sign events you’ve met her in, but one particular fond memory would hit harder than the others—and it happens whenever you’d lock eyes with Jinsoul from your chair as you waited for your turn.

It was the first fan signing event you’ve attended after deciding that you had finally wanted to meet her in person.

A huge part of you wished that you had been there from the start, but you’ve only started to become their fan around Odd Eye Circle’s Mix & Match promotions—it wasn’t that late but still, you could’ve been there for her very first fan signing event. But the regretful thoughts were quick to wash away once you’ve entered the room, finding the girl sitting there in between Kim Lip and Choerry as she donned a vest in your favorite color—looking exactly the same in real life as in her music videos. And if that wasn’t enough to knock the breath right out of your lungs—she was even more ethereal once you were sat in front of her, a cheesy grin set on her lips as she leaned on the desk to scan your face thoughtfully.

“Hello! I’ve never seen you before.”

“You’re my favorite girl.” 

And just like that, as much as the memory was special moment—it was also one of the most awkward encounters you had ever had in your life, with you blurting the words out as if you’ve only meant to say it in your head for it to only come right out of your mouth. You could still feel the blood rushing to your cheeks as Jinsoul sat in front of you, blinking while Choerry and Kim Lip turned to look at the two of you with the biggest smirks plastered across their lips.

“I see.. Alright then, who exactly am I writing for?” Jinsol popped her pen cap open, looking back down on your album with a smile still playing on her lips before she noticed that you weren’t replying—making her look up at your flushed features expectantly as you debated what you’d want her to write. Through your blushing state, you told her to just write the initials of your name which made her raise a brow but then deciding to just do it anyway before drawing an emoticon with it’s tongue sticking out—finishing the signature with a bunch of hearts around your initials before she looked up to find you just staring down thoughtfully at the album in her hands.

You didn’t even catch your idol’s endearing gaze set on your shy features even as you moved onto your time with Kim Lip, who seemed to be easier for you to talk to just like Choerry—but the girl kept teasing you which made you sit through your entire meeting all flustered and charmed at how beautiful she was inside and out. The first fan signing event went along with Jinsol’s gaze from your peripheral vision whenever you refused to look her straight in the eyes, and even as they left—she turned around to give you a shy wave which sent your heart summersaulting inside of you.

And with the second fan meeting, it was indeed the last confirmation you needed before choosing the girl as your favorite artist out of anyone out there.

“No, I’ve thought of a name for you—not that I think that it’s better than your initials but..” even before she could tell you what exact it was that she named you, Jinsoul quickly scribbled her chosen name for you under your initials that were written by Heejin. A satisfied grin set on her lips as she leaned back to stare at her art which made you lean over to find the word “구피” written on the cover with a small fish drawing at the end, making you tilt your head in confusion before looking back up at the beaming idol in puzzlement. The moment you’ve left the venue and sat in front of your computer, you quickly typed the name in the search bar to find it’s meaning—only to find that it was a fish, most commonly known to be the “Rainbow Fish”.

And also, one of the very few fish that you can have in the same aquarium as a betta fish.

Actually, it was the most optimal fish to be in the same space as a betta.

That night, you leaned back on your chair as you stared at the signed album in a completely dazed state—thinking about how Jinsoul didn’t just pick a simple nickname for you.

But your favorite girl gave you a pet name.

And now there you sat in LOONA’s nth fan meeting, still feeling the same exact nervousness from your first event as you watched the chair in front of Heejin slowly become unoccupied—the fan moving to meet Hyunjin as you were motioned over by their manager to occupy the recently vacated seat.

“Y/N! You’ve dyed your hair, it really suits you—ah, it’s your favorite color. Of course it’ll fit you.” Heejin didn’t even have to ask your name as she scribbled it down on the cover, making it a bit smaller—knowing that Jinsol would always somehow write her name for you at the end. 

“Don’t you ever get tired of Jinsoul-unnie? Have you ever thought of going to our fan signs for another member—like me, maybe?” Hyunjin teased which made you squirm in your seat in no time and Heejin laughing loudly next to her, hitting her best friend with both hands while Hyunjin leaned over the table to stare at you in anticipation.

“Ah! I knew it was you! Your hair looks so pretty—I bet Jinsoul would love it too! But what about that post of yours, the one where you were trying to convince people to stream Hyunjin’s ‘Around You’ MV—how’d that go?” Haseul’s eyes twinkled as she remembered what you told her in the last event—after she asked you what you’ve been doing since the meeting before, to which you just scratched the back of your neck at before replying that you suppose only time will tell. 

Yeojin stood from her spot to compare heights with you—which she always had done every fan sign after she had the idea that you grew taller every fan meeting—and with Vivi reminding you to bring extra layers on the next venue because she heard that the place had a history of a malfunctioning air conditioning system. You’ve barely finished speaking to Vivi when you heard a mic being tapped from the speakers, Jinsol’s low voice checking if her mic was on before she leaned over to peek over to you while you nodded along to Vivi’s gentle words.

“Y/N! Hurry up!” 

Kim Lip cackled next to the older member as you side-eyed the impatient blonde who was now impatiently fiddling with her mic, turning to look at the fan that previously sat in front of her—seated in front of Choerry while the younger OEC member giggled at the pouting blonde. Jinsol had just finished speaking to the next fan that was right before you when she started to whine like a child that wanted your attention as you sat in front of Kim Lip, leaned over as the member reached over to pat your head once you told her you’ve finished the work you’ve mentioned before that you were stressing over.

“You’ve worked hard, our Y/N~”

“Our!? Hey! She's here for me!” Jinsol taunted Kim Lip who just smiled at you as if the needy member didn’t exist, to which you could only smile apologetically to the OEC Leader at before standing up from your seat to look at a smug looking Jinsoul who was now leaned back on her chair—arms crossed and a brow raised as she attempted to look intimidating after all the whining she had done previously.

“You dyed your hair without asking me first? And here I thought I was special.” you grinned at the girl before playing along, glancing down at the colored strands of your hair before humming and looking up in thought.

“Oh? It was spontaneous, I didn’t think you’d be this much against it. I could always dye it back if it bothers you that much..” Jinsol snorted before leaning on the desk to pop her pen cap open, all while keeping direct eye contact with you as she smirked.

“No, I just asked why you didn’t tell me before you had it done—I didn’t say that I didn’t like it.” you dryly laughed at her statement which made her break from the character she had seemed to be playing, making you reach over to push the album over to her so she could get her signature done—you were only interacting with borrowed time, after all. But Jinsol, as always didn’t let it get to her—but instead, she grabbed ahold of your wrist before you had pulled it back from the table. Quickly drawing a silhouette Guppy fish on the back of your hand and positioning her hand to start signing your album until a manager behind her tells her to let go of you—which she did but not before looking up to frown at the person and mumbling things under her breathe as you laughed.

“Oh, I went to the Ocean Park with a friend the other day and I got you something.” you rummaged through your bag that had kept different kinds of gifts for each member, remembering well enough to not go over the top after Jinsoul had teased that you’ve practically attended their fan signs more than they have—that it was enough to see you continuing to be a loyal fan since your first event—but you couldn’t help but not pick the gift up, considering that it wasn’t everyday that you’d visit an Ocean Park right?

And it was also as if a higher power had willed it, out of all the sea creatures in the gift shop—there was only one stock left of what you’ve picked up as a gift for the girl.

Jinsoul’s look of disapproval at your mention of a gift turned into a soft gaze at the sight of the little plush rainbow Guppy fish dangling in your hands as you beamed at her, the idol’s heart warmed at the thought of you being outside and just taking a moment to remember her in the midst of your everyday life. She then reached over to take it from your grasp just before you pulled another plush keychain—a more familiar type of fish in Jinsoul’s eyes, making the girl look at you expectantly as you eyed the two keychains.

“I didn’t know if you’d want the Guppy, or the Betta so I just got both of them. They’re yours—”

“Keep that one,” Jinsoul quickly snatched the Guppy keychain from your hands, a shy smile on her lips as she continued to look down at the accessory in hand—completely disregarding your stunned features as you held up the Betta keychain between you two, “I like my Guppy.”

“Ah.. Great, good to hear.” you dragged, watching Jinsoul lean back to look around for a manager before she sneaked the item in her coat pocket and met your eyes again, an appreciative look set on her features.

“You’ll be here again next time, right?” the blonde had always asked the question, at this point you wondered why she continued to ask after your meeting even though you’ve never missed a single one since your second one—but as you’ve continued to tell her that you will, every single time, you’ve realized that it was just the idol’s way of telling you that no matter what happened, no matter how big they’d get or where life leads you.

She’ll always be there, as your favorite member—until the next time you’d meet.

“Of course, Jinsoul. I promise to work hard again this week if you do the same.”

“I promise.”

And so the fan meeting had ended, the girls had directed warm smiles and waves at the crowd—making a point to find you in your seat and mouth a quick goodbye just before Jinsoul smiled at you, disappearing into the exit as the staff started directing how everyone would leave the venue. 

What you didn’t expect however, was that fan meeting being the final face-to-face meet & greet you’re going to experience with the girls, the anguish that had you sulking for weeks after failing to attend the last event they had due to a sudden change of schedules in your classes—your professor announced that you’ll be having a test at the time of the meet & greet—and your part time work in a local coffee shop had also needed your assistance that day. It was practically the busiest day you’ve ever had since your routine of going to LOONA’s events, the day being something that you wish had never come to but what would you have done? The coffee shop was your only way of saving up money for the seats—and you were so close to finishing your degree in Humanities, it was just one day right? What could possibly go wrong?

A sudden influx with the case of a particular disease that had caused a pandemic to happen.

That’s what happened.

It was all downhill from there, you were balancing your university life in the cyberspace from your bed room condominium—all while feeling the burden of the sales dropping at the coffee shop you were working in which might put you in the list of workers they’d lay off. The situation that had unfolded before you had your mental state plummeting in no time, it was as if you were sitting on the edge of the cliff as you’ve lived through yet another day of getting up from your bed—turning on your computer, attending classes, leaving for work.. It was all robotic, and you absolutely despised it.

A few months had passed with you just trying to adjust to the circumstances, without thinking about anything else—at your own pace, as they’d like to call it—you started communicating with your friends again, life seemed to have became a bit brighter than how it was just before the pandemic had happened.

It wasn’t the best, but you could at least bear it better than the first few months.

You were writing down notes one night and your hand had managed to knock over a mug that you’ve filled with your pens, the contents spilling on your carpet to which had you quickly reaching over to collect the pens—but not before your eyes connected with a familiar keychain dangling from the zipper of your guitar bag. Looking up to your shelf and finding the several LOONA albums that had been displayed on it—the Orbit light stick, the photocard file folder, the Jinsoul album sat in full view next to the 12:00 album you still bought even if you never listened to it or tuned in with them at all.

You were in so much pain yet you still managed to buy the merchandise for when you were ready to come back.

But the Betta keychain was enough for you to go to their website and give the online meet & greet a shot.

“Woah! Look who it is—ah Jinsoul-unnie is going to be so surprised.. How have you been Y/N? Where have you been!?” Heejin lowered her voice when she  spoke your name, you sighed before telling her things didn’t go as well as you’d hope but it all paid off as you were finally back on track.

“..Really, it sucks that this had to happen but—what can we do right? As long as we’re here, we still have a chance of making up for the time we’ve spent alone instead of making great memories with everyone..” Olivia Hye gave you a reassuring smile as you nodded to her words in understanding.

“Give me your address—I’ll sneak you a slice of Heejin’s Cheesecake when she makes some again. It’s really tasty! I really couldn’t stop myself..” you laughed at Hyunjin’s sulking expression on the screen.

“Cookie Run! Cookie Run!” Gowon started chanting as you looked at her in confusion, making the girl burst out into a fit of giggles before she passed the phone to Haseul who practically shrieked at sight of you on the screen. You’ve passed through the surprised members until finally being handed onto your favorite member who was just the second to the last member you were going to interact with—to which Jinsoul didn’t seem to have seen your face the first time as she was plugging her earphone through the headphone jack until she had finished, eyes widening before breaking into a full smile but then quickly masking it with a scowl.

“Hey! You think you’re so brave to come here after I haven’t seen you in months!? What do you think you’re doing, huh Y/N!?” Jinsoul shouted through her receiver, making you pull one of your earplugs out as you winced before giving the girl a sheepish smile.

“Sorry, I know. I know it’s been a while—it’s just..” you trailed off, trying to think of a way to properly explain the situation you were in without trying to make it sound as if you’re guilt-tripping the girl for shouting at you. The now dark-haired girl didn’t take a second before she shook her head, waving it in front of her dismissively as if hinting that she was just teasing.

“I know, this pandemic is the worst.”

“Yeah but I still think I could’ve at least tried to listen to your new album—”

“Y/N, you can listen to that anytime. The girls and I will always be here once you feel like you’re comfortable again. It wouldn’t make you any less of a fan if you take time for yourself, you know?” you frowned at the idol’s words as she gave you a dorky smile and pulled the camera in a close angle to her face, making you crack a smile and the girl giggle.

“But I heard that Heejin’s arms are the hot topic in our Voice performances these days, something about when they make the tree pose while Yves is dancing I think.”

“Oh? I wonder what that’s about.”

“And Hyunjin wearing her Apple watch to our stage—”

“No, she didn’t..” you gasped as Jinsoul laughed before the idol sighed, staring at you on the screen—almost as if longingly—until her eyes lit up and she pointed a finger to her hair.

“I also got my hair dyed!”

“I wouldn’t have guessed!”

“Y/N!” Jinsoul pouted as you laughed, resting your chin on the palm of you hand as you hummed—actually letting the black shade sink in.

“Not bad..” you dryly complimented the idol, teasing her further which made her groan.

“I’m your favorite!”

“You are, and I was kidding—of course you look pretty, you always have.” you could hear Kim Lip telling Jinsoul that it was her turn which made the girl panic, looking down at your photo album and writing down quickly.

“I missed you, just come back when you feel like yourself again—alright Y/N?” Jinsoul practically started rapping, slamming her pen on the desk as she finished signing over her picture and pulling the camera closer to show you the usual Guppy she’d drawn over your name—and now next to hers this time—before directing the camera back to her pointed look.

“Don’t stress over it! Work hard but always make sure to check up on yourself—take care of yourself,” Kim Lip seemed to have grabbed ahold of her arm as the phone shook in her hold, a smile breaking on Jinsoul’s lips as she resisted the members hold and struggled to keep the phone in her hand, “I love you! I’ll always be your favorite girl! See you later, my Guppy!” 

As she passed the device to Kim Lip, you and the member just burst into a fit of laughter practically half of the time you were supposed to be talking—but you couldn’t help it as Jinsoul kept leaning over to tell you that she loved you throughout the final member’s meeting. Once the meet & greet had ended, you felt the heavy weight that had set on you before the meeting vanish—the thought of the possibility that the older girl wouldn’t have treated you just as she had always did scared you so much that you started sobbing silently to yourself in your empty room, clutching the Betta keychain in hand while hugging your knees against your chest.

After the meeting, you scrambled to grab one of the few versions of the 12:00 album and before you know it—you started bawling your eyes out once Universe started playing through your speakers.

“Make it happen to you, make it happen to you.”

The days ahead seemed brighter after the online event, with you walking home a few weeks after—the album playing on repeat but you’ve also shuffled it some time to their entire discography—when you were called by the receptionist in the lobby for a package, which you could only hope was from the meet & greet a few weeks ago. So you hurried to get into your room to unpack the box and open it to find out that it was indeed the photo album from the online event—on top of another box with a striking shade of blue. The idea of it being from your idol made your hands shake as you reached over to retrieve it, finding it odd how it seemed to be light in weight but also had a hefty amount to it. 

Pulling off it’s lid, you were greeted by a see-through box of what seemed to be small LEGO bricks with a manual underneath it, a tiny crocheted red bear, all on top of a brown wool plaid scarf and a baby blue sweater. You looked around the box to find anything else attached to it—and soon enough you found yourself reaching under the box to grab a blue envelope from under the container, opening it and unfolding the paper for your insides to flutter just as it used to before the fall of your mental state.

“Dear Y/N (My Guppy),

I’m sneaking these extra things in hopes that the staff won’t notice, but I thought you’d like them because while I was going through the same months as you were—these were the things that had brought me a sense of comfort, it took my mind off things and I thought that maybe it’ll work for you too!

Because Y/N had always seemed to have me on her mind in days when we don’t see each other—just as she had always been in mine! You can count on that!

Anyway, the LEGO set turns into an orange tabby cat (like in Hyunjin’s music video ㅋㅋ), the crocheted bear was made by me (you should also try crocheting, it takes some time to get used to it though), and the baby blue sweater is just one of mine. Haseul seemed to have caught up to my plan and told me to give you the wool scarf that matched her shirt? I don’t really know, she must want to match something with you too after she asked me about your keychain on my bag once.

But Y/N! You’ve been taking care of yourself lately, right? Just like I told you to? I just hope this simple gesture would brighten your day, because I am still your favorite girl right? 

Ah, Y/N, I don’t know what else to say. I always want to tell you so many things but our time had always been so short, and now that I have the opportunity to write it down..

I missed you.

And I love you.

I’ll keep being the Jinsoul that Y/N looks up to dearly because I know that one day, we’ll see each other again and we can continue with our jokes and ask about how our weeks had been (maybe I should start asking our manager if I can just give you a reserved ticket every time). So you take really good care of yourself until then, alright? I’ll be waiting, Y/N, until we finally meet again.

No matter how long it’ll take, okay?

Rest easy, my love.

I’ll always be your favorite girl.

From,

Jung Jinsol (Your Betta)."

An extra GIF because I love how Jinsoul loves us and I live for Kim Lip's embarrassed reactions every time anything remotely awkward happens in front of her lmao. And yes you've read through this correctly—it's a one shot~

I've basically done so many things for the past few days, I think it's what people call overstimulating? But as that was happening, those allega—tors, yes the alligators with 10 and 2. I hate how we got those after we literally were celebrating over the Haseul pic and Orbit ring message.

(I also had another writer's block moment with The Heiress but don't worry, I can see their characters again after listening to my inspo music for that series—which got me side tracked when it got to a brighter tone song and made me write this Jinsoul one shot for practice again.)

And I thought of a cute Choerry plot~

Music really gets you in a mood.

But the color correction post is coming up after this—I just want you guys to have a feel of how I envision the scenes, it might be just a bit of light tweaking and etcetera but it really does make a difference in triggering my writing mood.

Oh and if you're wondering if I'll ever make a girlfriend type oneshot/series—even I am as well, I like the idea that you could think that in the end you'll end up together or if you've been together from the start.. The underlying meanings fascinate me so much I do not have words for it.

I'm easing into this again, alright I'm going to go now but I'll be back with more stuff.

..If I don't get pulled into finishing my Little Nightmares DLC before starting on the second one.

Also, yes that was me plugging Hyunjin's MV because I love her and I love her underrated solo.

Laters,

JJ.

>ovc: loonatheworld (171212)

https://youtu.be/eUeFUBy40ow

[sugar-petals]

Baekhyun Doms You: Ending Up Laughing

↳⎡NOTE.⎦thought this’d be an interesting concept & a different side to smut: what if you try things out and it’s both not your thing? w/ a humorous twist and subby bf moments sprinkled in 😄

♡  words. 4k

+ tags ⚠️ pwp hc, bondage, throatfucking, graphic, cum play, unsafe/clumsy practice: do not recreate, degradation, biting, masochist bbh, domme!reader switches unsuccessfully, whips, hair-pulling

imagine that. a wide-eyed baekhyun pacing and tiptoeing in front of your toy shelf, trying to pick a riding crop he fancies. it takes five minutes and several ‘uhh, ohh’ confused puppy noises until he’s able to decide which one he’s taking. 

...literally even if he knows exactly which one does what. you’ve used all of them on him. 

meanwhile, you take three seconds flat to pull out one that fits your mood and proceed to edge the living shit out of him. yes, without literal further ado. teasing his dick and marking his thighs and doing all kinds of delicious things. 

he’s still going back and forth in his head without having even started out. cutely tapping and swaying from one foot to the other. 

it’s like he’s back to school. priceless.

what’s even more hilarious: baekhyun practices random mean facial expressions while trying to decide. he doesn’t seem to be sure what character he’s going for. it feels like he’s rehearsing for a concert or photoshoot, even. absolutely fascinating to watch. 

i mean he’s absolutely photogenic no doubt about that but

you’re sitting on the bed waiting naked like okay is this gonna be william shakespeare deluxe or what is kyoong channelling over there

“um... i think i got it! this one, okay? i’m ready!”

finally he walks over, strutting with his nose in the air and his eyes glaring, muscles tense, a mysterious bad boy charm about him, whip ready to sting, lips tight and punitive...

....and hits his pinky toe on the bed

oh the pain

great master baekhyun flops headfirst into the sheets processing the existential cruelty of bedpost pinewood and needs head pats to recover

lots of head pats

at least twenty of them

so many head pats

more time passes until kyoong is back in character i guess

you probably could have listened to exo’s whole discography in the meantime

and knitted a rug for taemin’s new flat

anyway

baekhyun tries to act very confidently finally getting into it 

adopting a sharp ‘hmph’ kind of tone 

endlessly teasing your back and thighs with the riding crop

so far so good sir pinky toe

but he just goes on and on

you could actually crochet a pair of socks for chen’s daughter now that you think about it

it’s you who has to tell him to get to the point and it’s clear he’s more nervous than he pretends to show

to be fair he’s not the only one

you try to get yourself mentally ready but you find yourself giving him actual orders and even correcting his stance five times cuz he’s so wobbly on the mattress like a pupper indeed

baekhyun mumbles to himself and has a hard time fully implementing the advice on posture but tries to aim well regardless. it seems to work at first

but tragically

he ends up with a miss, hitting his own thigh rather than your ass and moans out loud

now you’re the one confused because you were waiting for the whip to come down

but nope it went elsewhere did it

you wonder how he managed to do all that furious fencing in the obsession mv with an aim like that

looks like he’s so submissive, he straight up whips himself

taking matters into his own hands is he. subs these days.

baekhyun keeps on being wobbly on the bed and looks like he ran a marathon already

may i remind you that this guy does 3-hour long concerts and can practice throughout an entire night

... you both agree to immediately scratch that completely after his next flailing strike sends the riding crop flying into his unsuspecting, non-consenting plushie collection

animal cruelty

moving on

you figure that a change of location might be a good idea

baekhyun sits you down on a chair and bashfully stores away the yeeted whip

he vows to never use a riding crop again already and his teddy bears are thankful for it

now the whole plushie village and whole china knows how you don’t do it

next up is rope

what could possibly go wrong

he practiced wrist bondage on his own ankles for five days straight, you really prepared a lot of things to test out together today 

and he’s seen you tie him up over and over and over

but whatever it is that he manages to install on your arms 

looks like a piece of very experimental modern art that just sold for half a million at sotheby’s

what’s supposed to be a column tie is nothing but a mere... ball

chaotic like baekhyun’s personality. not surprising at all

wait that rhymed

anyhow

even alexander the great couldn’t have cut this gordian knot of a tangly masterpiece

ironically: while baekhyun’s roughly grabbing your chin for an intense kiss... the rope casually falls apart harder than the soviet union in 1991 my loves, you ain’t ready

baekhyun takes ages to notice while he’s teasing and kissing you and ends up sweating bullets when he realizes that the sublime art fell to pieces.

sorry comrade 

the fantasy knots and artistic freedom increases even more when it comes to putting a collar and leash on you

and his guy is supposed to be a dog owner? mongryong, instruct your man

baekhyun is a flustered mess trying to fasten it on you even if he tries very hard to be concentrated

maybe it’s because you’re watching him with literal hawk eyes checking every move (...hoping he learned something from you oh my). you’re not really melting into your role either, huh. the only thing melting is your pussy because baekhyun is acting so embarrassed which is the actual turn-on

if that doesn’t give you away

the leash comes off in two minutes time after baekhyun miraculously ties his own hands together with it

how the fuck did that happen

how do you even manage to do that

eager are we

after whipping his own thigh, self-domination 2.0 i guess

so whipping and bondage are off the programme 

this has been the most chaotic and hazardous attempt at topping in the history of sm entertainment

and they’re literally called s and m

...humiliation is next

when you planned your session you both figured hey he’s tested and tried by exo’s lively debate culture and he might be able to pull that off

and there are no props involved so he’ll have an easy time right

life is an illusion

you find out he can’t pronounce degrading names clearly because he keeps on stuttering them. which in return makes baekhyun crack up. 

carrying on the joke, you correct him every time. 

“i want you to repeat after me: stupid, slutty, bitch.”

it ends up as you doing what you always do 

teaching and training him while baekhyun either shyly or brattily obliges. you don’t even notice how you’re doing it but from the outside, it’s blatantly obvious.

because your brain is still feeling in domme mode, you also find yourself saying the usual things to him without thinking, even when he grabs you and gives orders. “now bend over! i’m gonna fuck your brains out.” — “okay, cutie!” 

which causes baekhyun’s mean face to collapse and he snap out of his command tone immediately, snorting because it’s the last thing he expected

he tries to carry on by punishing you with an actual mouth gag and a harness he can hold onto while fucking you from behind, i mean your pussy is already wet why not

guess what’s gonna ensue

wearing a harness feels kind of strange and new so you wiggle back and forth and all over the place. like what is this, what’s happening. baekhyun’s dick is going into all kinds of directions my friends, the amusement park carousel surely inspired this fucking style right here. 

and wearing a gag — there’s a way different person who needs to have this in his chatty mouth. 

kai and kyungsoo’s dream would come true and yet you’re the one gagged 

something ain’t right

if you’re honest. you’re feeling so weird being on the other end of punishment tonight and not being able to give him any directions. your dom brain is worrying he’s all left to his own devices trying to drive that confused dick home left and right and above and below and diagonal and crosswise. 

the fuck

your poor guts my god

what’s worse: his stamina is gonna sneak up behind him and tap on his shoulder like... bro that’s enough pounding for a whole month please spare these balls from deflating please do not break this device

to which your pussy agrees in unison

how are you gonna love your bub day in day out if you’re that sore

there’s nothing more frustrating than being sore and horny with byun baekhyun at your disposal

or a knocked out boyfriend trying to generate at least a sprinkle of semen after getting completely emptied in one go

probably sleeping for three days straight

alright so the harness and gag come off fast oh dear baekhyun clears those away in a heartbeat

that’s another point off the list 

the more you know

carousel cringe dicking down type of dominance... bizarre, disorderly, totally erratic, not on the agenda, worst rated on bing 

comrade baekhyun keeps on apologizing for making things so messy even if he tries and tries

you’re both so puzzled because you’re used to something so different and need a water chugging pause

baekhyun hasn’t sweated this hard since doing the MAMA choreography

and your pussy has never had to provide this much lubrication at once

where on earth is both of your usual stamina what happened

if a type of sex exhausts you fast and even baekhyun’s balls are suddenly moody you just know you’re wired in the opposite way

safe to say you’re better at giving and baekhyun is better at taking

leave the multidirectional powerfucking to kai or something

and being orderly to xiumin

another rug could have been knitted my friends 

moving on dot org

so, you both figure to take it easier and try to go with something he usually does in passing. you know, turning a typical baekhyun habit into something you can try out casually in bed so he can tease you.

that one should work out right?

proceed: teeth action. you seated, him positioning himself above you. after your approval baekhyun pulls your hair back to expose your neck — so he can deliciously bite into it (or so was the plan). 

reality: his hand gets tangled up completely. 

while he’s busy nibbling and giggling about like a lil’ bunny chomping at a carrot that turns out to be extremely ticklish herself. 

in fact, you start squeaking out a wonky high pitch, startling baekhyun’s fine musical ear to the bone by the obvious atonality. did she just try to outsing my vocal range with a creaking whistle note? 

mariah carey would cancel you on twitter over this one

that’s how you turn a vicious, possessive bite into an eternal meme

every time either of you go for a neck kiss, you end up imitating each other. baekhyun has immortalized himself as a nervous chomping bunny and you as the vocalist anti-christ

lord have mercy

you miss your old sex life already and it’s only been two hours

cause you see... if baekhyun gives you the chance to bite him? he needs a set of long sleeves, scarves, and an extra soft pillow to sit down on for the next two days

like, no mercy bitch

you get right down to business and ravage him and do it properly until he cums in his pants

sure, the way he uses his tongue now is definitely kinda hot mind you

baekhyun is always good with his singing equipment that doesn’t suddenly change aye

and you keep your eyes closed

but with time you notice that he starts drooling and whimpering. baekhyun’s wet mouth is out there betraying him, huh.

same with your body. your reactions give you away, body language just won’t lie. you have a damn hard time staying still. you wanna do something, you wanna touch and guide baekhyun all over.

and vice versa baekhyun keeps on glitching and doing the same thing he really became a living tumblr gif now

this whole session is just so confusing and laced with all these moments of awkwardness it’s really telling you something about yourself and mister pinky toe’s ideal dynamic

baekhyun can’t even get himself to even lightly slap you properly. and when he does, his delicate hands are just so cute. it’s as if legolas came along, scented in jasmine, elegant and fabulous like it’s a l’oreal commercial

he immediately looks concerned after he manages to do it cleanly and you admit it wasn’t really that exciting a feeling yourself. it felt more like, “um ouch, and?”

needless to say, you’re weirded out if anything, baekhyun smacking and dragging you around as a cold-as-ice dom is just a strange thing to do for both of you 

like even exo’s wolf era fashion was more coherent than this carrot fuckery

and those were some of the most intense turtlenecks ever 

is there really nothing dominant baekhyun can pull off. come on he’s the genius idol 

actually 

there’s something that does work out for once

because no rule without exceptions indeed

because hey, you can learn something anyway, it’s the whole point of you going through a list of things to try as a couple

baekhyun is good at doing the more hardcore, faster kind of fingering. who would have thought, totally surprising, revolutionary i know. but that’s where you’re both agreeing hey, there’s some untapped potential you can use for the steamier evenings you have going. 

cuz wow, he can get you off with flying colors. 

...only to succumb to a malfunctioning bobohu wrist 

even baekhyun’s boner for your legs in latex isn’t that stiff

it’s another pause until his hand loosens up again

this poor man just can’t win

and if you’re asking oi hard domming isn’t the only thing you can do

baekhyun trying to summon his inner soft dom: surprise, same old tale. here we go again.

your boyfriend thinks he generally looks way too puppy-like to be your big ole buff daddy taking care of you. oversized sweater, fluffy hair and all. 

you say to him well, it’s not that doms can’t wear casual things. but it’s true that you have to feel your role and find yourself believable. regardless of your looks, in fact. 

unless your partner really enjoys you dressing up as some kind of dominant hyper-archetype? looking the part is relatively unimportant if you’re absolutely made for dominance you say

pretty eye-opening moment for him

in your roleplay, he caresses and kisses you to the point, he can approach and lead you to do this or that position, don’t be mistaken. and he’s good at making presents, he’s indulging you perfectly well and actually likes doing it. but... it still ends up being more vanilla than not a few hours in. the d/s is out the door almost automatically the longer you do it.

at the end, it leaves you with a feeling of “but err, what now? give the maid outfit to charity?” 

baekhyun rubs his neck in search for something else to do, both of you staring at each other with expressions blanker than kyungsoo when a prancing chanyeol is acting up.

how did the quote go again. if you scramble for inspiration, let it be?

it’s exactly that situation when baekhyun soft doms. he can hold you tight and do his thing for a while, but the chemistry of your roles is dwindling into a question mark.

in fact. there’s an uneasy silence as if great mother suho was sitting right beside you critiquing baekhyun’s sugar daddy skills

baekhyun is rich like a motherfucker and can’t even call you ‘my innocent lil’ baby girl’ without looking like he just learned a first grade tonguetwister by heart

you did play your parts with less cracking up, but you clearly tell him that there’s still something strangely clueless and “ah, awkward” (baekhyun’s verdict in response, verbatim) in between the two of you. 

when you take care of baekhyun and tuck him in, you hardly run out of ideas. it just goes on and on. even when you played through an entire scene, you both come up with things to extend the scenario because it’s so much fun. you make him a hot chocolate, massage his feet, brush his hair, do some extra light bondage with a silk ribbon around his ankles to make him feel pretty, feed him pizza, have him cuddle up in your lap, pinch his ass, and do some rimming if he’s feeling a bit hornier. 

the spoiling is nice at the start, but there’s something missing. you want to lead his hands and really treat him, and do it all the time, and baekhyun really finds himself craving it as well. 

baekhyun soft domming quickly turns into — well just normal loving makeouts and gestures. you kiss and touch, there’s nothing hierarchical about it, nothing mega juicy or exciting.

you just don’t get into the groove, you know. there’s nothing particular happening if you try to get into those roles. it doesn’t titillate both of you for an extended period of time, it doesn’t make you curious for more. it’s like... shrug. what about it. 

when you usually dominate, you know something hits home when you think about it all day. baekhyun screaming and crying with his legs twitching pops up whenever you close your freaking eyes goddamn.

you make a note to observe whether you’re going about your daily business thinking about how you could be his innocent good girl. following his every whim, making big eyes at him or something. 

result: more shaky, ruined baekhyun moaning his soul out in the highest of notes and leaking cum everywhere from getting choked and his face sat on. 

daddy baekhyun has simply not crossed your mind. in fact, poor guy no chance to fit in there from the get-go. his particularly whorish, extra subby counterpart is all over your brain cells with his tongue out. and you’re very tempted to grab it between your thumb and index and spit in his mouth for some very good measure. maybe cum in it as well.

um. so there’s that. the more you know.

baekhyun figures as much himself and you try the other side of the equation. oh, oh. here comes hard dom baekhyun.

who gets you on your knees and starts a wild deepthroat session while calling you names. that’s all well and good... nope. your gag reflex decides to yeet some weird coughing facial expressions and reflex cock bites at poor baekhyun who doesn’t know what’s happening. to finish him off completely, you sneeze while having a hiccup and his dick slips out. 

... you both safeword at the same time.

that cleanup has scarred you both for life. what the everloving fuck. no more impulse throatfucking in this pure christian household, then. 

you’ll stick to lazy, twirling, indulgent blowjobs and the usual ruined orgasms for him — the actually planned ones, jesus christ.

like seriously. you invented a whole new language with those confused gargling noises and that wasn’t french, it was advanced level klingon. baekhyun repeats asking if you’re okay and you’re still stuck realizing oh hell, that was not pretty. off the bucket list, you like sucking him off but this style just doesn’t come natural to you. 

the popsicles you could train yourself with are usually gone from the freezer within a day after getting the groceries. baekhyun is wholeheartedly addicted to them. 

he loves cheating on his diet since you told him his fully cheeks are your emotional support squish and kiss pillows, so.

baekhyun rightfully insists he’s better at eating pussy the wild way in the first place — and that you have no business choking on his dick like you’re on hot ones eating the world’s spiciest whatever is trending now.

or actually... baekhyun’s dick can’t be compared to a chili pepper if we’re doing a choking analogy alright. that just doesn’t fit his promotion concept. cinnamon stick is more like it.

ever saw one of these terrible cinnamon spoon videos where reckless people try to defeat god by— anyway, you’ve seen them. that’s how you looked like trying to get your mouth fucked. i think god would actually be defeated by how far away from divine elegance that was and you’re so sorry for subjecting baekhyun to this artless display. 

cinnamon is still best used in small doses. say, for garnishing a creamy cake or pie y’know. 

anyway. you dished up the most butchered attempt at sexy gagging in history and so, baekhyun will preach for days how he’s the one chosen by fate to push down seven big fat inches of your strap still half asleep without even blinking. 

... and that his world-class operatic breath control would probably enable him to bury his face in your pussy on mount everest. baekhyun knows that every domme would sell her soul to get a sub as skilled with breathing as him.

...and that he has the official copyright for giving quality slobbery oral with quality smudged tears. as he will demonstrate to you almost daily from then on. king of messy head and going stupid with the tongue acrobatics. ugh, the noises are amazing, too. give him a grammy for his oral sounds.

gotta leave the heavy-duty work to the experts innit.

at dinner, he also poutingly brags how he can make his spit run out of his nose while he’s sucking himself through your entire dildo collection. and blow spit bubbles. and snort his own semen off his thighs and let it drop off his tongue if he’s in a particularly slutty mood. or a creampie. jeez, baekhyun, the wolf of wallstreet is strong in him. you literally have to stop him from showing off because “hey boy, i already know! i’ve seen it last week bro it was good!”

needless to say he’s talking in essays all day because he wants things go back to normal and he doesn’t have to ask twice.

for real, your candy man with the cinnamon stick has been suffering from the love bites and has to retire his cock for two days from the bruising. 

mind you. the pain he can deal with. that ain’t the problem. by all means, man. he’s a fucking masochist. 

it’s actually more like... submissive you has deactivated his boner and he can’t help it. it’s not you that makes him limp, it’s more like, the klingon choking and the ton of mishaps that just don’t sit right. 

baekhyun feels bad about not doing well enough to make both of you have a good time as well which is lowkey heartbreaking. you have to cheer him up with ‘now repeat after me: stupid, slutty bitch’ jokes to make him chuckle at least a bit.

cuz you gotta understand, baekhyun is very ambitious to develop his talents in all areas of life. if there’s a skill he gets stuck with and he can’t work with his potential, that’s so unusual to him.

and you say man, imagine if you were some kind of uber-talented dom. that’d still not make me sneeze any less.

if you dominate him, it feels easy to do. nothing can really ruin the mood, not even when the lube runs out (baekhyun drools enough to make anything slippery okay). 

except maybe when xiumin rings on landline because he left his favorite fluffy sweater in the subway and needs to vent about it. my god that’s such a tear-jerking story i’m close to sobbing. this shit could kill literally any boner.

or when your hand cramps up after shoving your fingers down his throat and in his ass for like half an hour which should be ranked first as the saddest anime betrayal of all time but it’s justifiable and you had a lot of fun beforehand.

in other words. only the things outside of your control tend to mess with your femdom business. in and of itself, nothing can kill your vibe except a dying battery obviously. 

whereas you trying submission oddly spoils the atmosphere from the inside out and provides a free cringe compilation. like without even doing much, it happens automatically. 

baekhyun relishes in dramatically recounting how you both looked like true clowns attempting a rendition of overexpensive, extra tangly contemporary art bondage. hell, not even employed clowns, completely retired ones, struggling to regain their tightrope tricks from summer 1912 when harry houdini was still hot shit in town. 

you say oh god, that wasn’t even worth a retired clown’s skillset, clowns work damn hard man. you’d be hardpressed to find any circus artist capable of cracking a whip onto themselves baekhyun-style and moaning out loud because it was this good. seriously. that was one for the books.

if baekhyun tried to set foot in some willy-nilly maledom porn, he’d be capable of firing himself on the first day. 

at the end, you just have a good laugh, man. you agree — hey, this ain’t it, but it’s good to know at least. tried and tested, been there, done that. self-whipping and carrot-nibbling and blowjob hiccups.

if you’re both so hopeless and living up to the challenge managed to upset poor mariah carey instead of giving you a hot and steamy time, you very well know where you belong. that’s a good feeling. assuring and a confidence boost for your skills. it makes up for all the clumsiness actually. 

exactly because the try-out part was an entire disaster, domming baekhyun will be even more fun, you can’t see it becoming anywhere near boring. it never really was, but now you know where your strong suits are even more so. and — what to avoid, anyway. 

no more unsafe practice and teddy whipping under this roof my friend

and something to incorporate more often which is baekhyun unleashing his very creative, pianoesque fingering skills on you.

you have lots of anecdotes to rile each other up as well. or, at least, tease another a bit. your high note was too legendary not to be remembered.

baekhyun will use all of these things against you in a positive way if you get what i mean. he’ll say how you being so strangely vocal made him realize just how commanding and compelling your sexy time voice is when you tell him how to kneel, how to kiss, how to revere.

and you teasing him how clumsy a dom he is makes baekhyun more self-assured in his subbing abilities. he knows for a fact you’ve not once roasted him about how well he can use his pretty mouth. cuz it’s the real deal. sloppy, skilled, and eager to please. he’s damn right about that.

hitting his toes has ruined baekhyun’s whole career as a dom and he was mad at first but he did realize that beside the clumsiness, subbing just suits him well as a principle

your experience gives you even more anticipation for all the sex you will have in the future. 

you already knew what you both liked. you know it even more now, it’s underlined, it’s a big relieved yes. no more cringey “daddy, daddy, choke me please!” worship. time to make his day and sit on baekhyun’s perfect face to fuck the shit out of it. 

or you know, actually land a whip on his juicy boyfriend thighs and listen to those heavenly loud reactions in a dead-on pitch (he usually moans in C minor).

long story short and cinnamon sticks aside. it’s even more fun now. you just love your cute subby boy just as he is. he doesn’t have to try to be anything else or step up his game. he’s so ideal just doing what he does like a real angel.

more subby stuff: m.list + ao3

↳⎡FINAL NOTE⎦i love writing crack lmao i hope you were rolling on the floor like i did 😂 write me your favorite part in the comments so we can laugh again and buy me a ko-fi if you wanna 👍

© 2017-2021 submissive-bangtan. all rights reserved. no reposts allowed.

[silence-burns]

Please Hate Me //part 47

Fandom: Marvel

Summary: Based on: “Imagine having a love/hate relationship with Loki.” by @thefandomimagine​ Who would have thought that babysitting a god could be so much fun?

Genre: slow-burn, enemies to lovers, banter

There are few things better suited to following a great summoning ritual than stalking a kindergartener and, quite literally, taking the candy out of his chubby little hand.

"Hey, that's mine!" the brat, Timmy, screamed, but had to watch Loki unwrap the popsicle and munch on it.

"Oh, Timmy," you sighed. "I thought a tough kid like you would handle this better."

"Who the hell even are you weirdos?" Timmy considered ending his question with a kick to the shins of one of you, but decided otherwise under the unnerving gaze of the strange man in a green suit. There was something off about him, that much was certain, but little Timmy couldn't wrap his mind around how otherworldly he actually felt.

He looked around, but none of his friends were around yet, and neither were any adults. 

You smiled your beautiful, wicked smile. "Don't fret, Timmy. We've heard all about your deeds, and boy, did we actually love them."

Timmy frowned. His chubby cheeks puffed up just in case it was time to scream. You didn't look like parents of whatever kid he might've recently offended. The pocket money he was getting ;ately from his schoolmates was nothing to worry about. A few bucks here and there weren't a reason for such a direct approach. Okay, those glitter pens he took from that girl last week might cause some bigger stirrup, but she certainly had a different set of parents last time he saw her.

"The hell are you talking about?" the boy settled on a safe approach.

Loki chuckled and leaned down to look him in the eyes. The features of his face started to blur. Timmy frowned, but blinking didn't clear it up. The harder he looked, the more they melted, and molded, and reformed-

"We know what you've been doing, child," the creature's horns grew and curled, just as more and more sets of eyes popped open. "We have our eyes on you."

The shadows deepened, and the world turned colder and eerily quiet. It was the absolute stillness of something deeply unnatural moving right past you.

But Timmy, despite what his teachers might say, was a smart kid. Being a bully and a petty little thief for years without facing actual repercussions of his actions could not be achieved if one didn't know when was the time to run. Timmy knew that time had come and didn't wait for things to unravel any further. His short legs took him surprisingly far in just a few seconds. Loki and you could only watch him go.

"Do you think it'll be enough?" you asked, taking the lollipop from Loki. It was the strawberry flavor. "I certainly wouldn't want to fail our first commission."

"I guess we'll see," Loki shrugged off the spell. "But I'm pretty sure we gave him something to think about. I can send one of the shadows after him to make sure he doesn't pick on our 'client' at school tomorrow. It'll be awhile before they disperse after summoning, so we can make use of them."

"Will they still lead us to the stolen pin though?"

"Without any problem."

And that closed the case. It was a little satisfying, Loki had to admit. 

He was still unsure about the pin, though. There was something off about the type of magic he sensed in the box. Faint as it was, the tang of death and rot was still unmistakable and didn't fit in the mental image of SHIELD's safehouse it was supposed to be stored in. It made the chase after the truth more thrilling.

Loki fixed his suit. It was not the type of fashion he usually preferred, but the way you looked at him in it made it worth it. There was nothing as confidence-boosting as being aware that you’re the eye candy for anyone lucky enough to pass.

"Shall we?" Loki offered you his elbow as the shadows gathered and formed a rough doorway. Beyond it, only darkness swelled. 

Stepping through it was a fight against condensed mist, but at least it had none of the flesh-shredding quality of Bifrost. 

The shadows Loki had called followed the invisible trail of magic the pin left behind after it was stolen. There was little chance of them being wrong or simply misled, Loki had assured you earlier. As beings stuck in a state of half-existence, there was not in the physical realm so often that it could affect their judgement and cover the tracks. Still, even Loki had a moment of doubt when he took in the place the two of you had been led to.

"I think we should've used that chicken," you said, looking around what was unmistakably a forest. A thick, dark, and very old forest. Definitely the type of forest unwelcome to unannounced travelers. 

It did not mean you were scared. You were just aware of a certain, thick atmosphere hanging low in the cold, winter air. Somehow, it was darker than it should've been at that hour. The trees loomed over you, their branches twisted and hanging low enough to strangle. 

Loki kept on patting your arm while your terror grew, and despite ignoring him for a while, you finally decided to turn.

A thick wall of a hedge, painted in a rotting green and sprinkled with half-melted snow, stood tall and guarded whatever was behind it. The branches were woven too tightly together to take even a peek between them.

"Is that a house? In the middle of a forest?" You asked, but no answer came. There was no road leading to the house. The trees encircled the hedge, but didn't interrupt its space, as if that particular spot had been chopped out of the forest. As if the usual rules of logic and nature didn't apply there.

"Strange," Loki muttered to himself as he walked closer. The hedge ran far in both directions, and from the point you approached it, no gateway could be seen. High above your heads, thin swirls of smoke rose into the air. 

"We should walk around and see how to get in." You gestured to the left.

Loki looked up. The hedge loomed a few heads above him. Even if Loki jumped, he wouldn't see above it. He jumped anyway.

And was swallowed by the hedge.

You knew there was something wrong with that forest, and the strange house especially, even before the branches shot out and wrapped around Loki. He only managed a yelp of surprise before he was pulled in towards the impenetrable depth of the bushes. As much as it was reassuring to know that your senses and intuition were as sharp as ever, the time to brag would come later. Using the ace up your sleeve, or rather sword in your pocket, you made quick work of all the choppable branches. 

Loki dropped to the ground. 

"You could've cut off my hand!" He looked in horror at the cleanly cut piece of his sleeve. It had been a close call indeed.

"Couldn't you regrow it?"

Loki stopped shaking off the twigs for a moment. "I'd prefer not to find out, honestly."

The hedge, despite your trimming, was as impenetrable as before. The only thing that changed was the distance you kept away from it. After not a long discussion, you decided to look for a way in.

The little gate looked suspiciously ordinary. The metal rusted in a few spots, mercilessly beaten by years of rain and humidity. The path beyond it winded between neat rows of herbs and vegetables and occasionally flowers you couldn't name. The scent of fresh soil hung in the air as you walked through them. The house itself was neither big or new, but was most definitely haunted. There was no doubt about it. It was obvious in the way the windows watched you approach. In the way the smoke curled lazily through a draft you couldn't feel. In the doorknob in a shape of a hissing bat.

"Do we… knock?" you whispered. For reasons you couldn't explain, you had a feeling the house was listening to every word.

"That's usually how it goes," Loki's reply was equally quiet. He made no move to knock, though.

A hollow hooting was the only warning before a dark shape swooped by your heads and landed over the door. The owl was big, even once it settled and closed the wings. The feathers, in various shades of grey and muddy brown, hid it almost perfectly against the wooden planks of the house.

It was a nice owl, one might think without looking closely. Because under further scrutiny, one would notice the deep gash only partially hidden by the puffed up feathers, and the bones peeking out underneath them. 

You stared at the dead owl and it stared back.

It hooted.

"I know, I said I'm coming!" the voice from inside the house shouted. The footsteps neared. Loki and you braced against whatever you'd have to face.

The door creaked open. 

Many thoughts had passed through your mind, but one thing you didn't expect to see was a spotty-faced, alarmingly skinny young man in jeans and a cloud of smoke surrounding him. You got a facefull of an aroma that reminded you of college dorms. You wondered if Loki thought he’d met the wrong end of a skunk. 

"Listen," he said, gesticulating wildly. "I know that y'all always want shit, but my grandma is still on her vacation, and I'm currently busy. She'll surely contact you once she's done, but nothing has changed since last time, and I still don't know when she'll be back."

The owl descended majestically and sat on his still raised hand. The man blinked in mild confusion. 

"I fed you already, don't give me that look, Barbara."

Loki looked at you. You looked at Loki. The owl turned her head backward and noticed both.

"I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure this is the first time we're meeting," Loki forced himself to say after your not-so-subtle nudge to his ribs. "Could we bother you for just a moment?"

"I'm busy, I've got a shift tomorrow and—"

Loki barged in anyway, not interested much in whatever the man had to say. 

The little house turned out to be more of a cottage. Even though some work had been done to restore it and make use of modern inventions, the very core of the cottage stayed the same as it possibly had been for decades, if not longer. 

The herbs hanging from the ceiling to dry filled the air with a pleasant, if a little heavy smell that clung to skin and clothes alike. The huge chimney was full of wooden planks and blasting enough heat from the other end of the large working space to make you regret wearing winter clothing. Whatever was boiling in the huge iron pot hanging over the blazing fire was unlikely to be edible judging by the consistency and color. Or at least you hoped it was not supposed to be edible.

The owl flew in and perched on a chair. 

"Listen, I'd really appreciate it if you could leave me alone," the man groaned, following you. 

He took another drag and exhaled a cloud of smoke, eyes red-rimmed. The owl hissed and moved over the chimney, where she sat with as close to an angry expression as a half-dead owl was capable of. 

To your left, a rather familiar and highly surprising uniform laid along with medical equipment. 

"We'll leave as soon as we get the answers we need," you promised. "And our first question is - who the hell are you, exactly?"

The man blinked. "Are you joking? I thought you were clients."

"What would you sell if we were?"

"I mean," he gestured around. "It's my grandma who deals with potions, but I suppose I could give you a medical check up if you need one? And don't worry if you're dying, that's even better, I've got that covered too. Just make sure to come to me before the decay starts, and I'll put you back on your feet in no time."

"Wait, I'm confused," Loki frowned. "Are you a doctor or a necromancer?"

"My dude, I have no idea where you've been the past few decades, but if you think med staff is capable of making a living from just one job, you honestly should get a reality check. Look around - I literally still live with my grandma and don't even get me started on how much debt I still have to pay off with those stupid side jobs."

"You mean, resurrecting pets?" You looked at the owl. Barbara was not blinking.

"Listen, I'm at the point of my life where I don't ask questions. I just need the money. I want to move out. Have you any idea what it is like to live with your 260 year old grandma who has a better social life than you?"

The silence was a little awkward. 

"Precisely."

Loki wanted to take a deep, steadying breath, but whatever the young man had been smoking didn't sit well with Loki's lungs.

"I must ask though, are you raising the dead because you're such a terrible doctor, or is—"

"Paperwork."

Loki blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Have you any idea how much paperwork follows every death? I'd rather bite off my hand than do any more extra unpaid time than I absolutely have to." The man sat at the table and produced a stash of pot from somewhere. With slow, precise movements he started to roll another blunt. You bent your knees to see under the table, but couldn't find any hidden drawers.

Loki nodded at the man’s comment, although he was nowhere near possessing that kind of knowledge. Deaths that he usually participated in involved little to no paperwork.

"Was this involved in one of your recent side-jobs?" Loki put the little wooden box on the table.

The man shook it before opening. Only after sniffing it did the look on his face change to recognition. "Yeah, I think it was. I was paid to get a pin from it. I don't know what happened to it afterward, though. The client just paid and disappeared."

"How did you get it?"

"Mice."

"What?" Loki asked. You looked around, just in case. 

"No one cares about mice, especially in huge warehouses. That makes them perfect for the job, especially if they're controlled properly."

The dead owl hooted in agreement. Loki had an idea how the mice had been initially caught.

"That complicates our case," he whispered to you.

"Who paid you?" you asked, hoping that the answer wouldn't be...

"I don't know," the young man shrugged. "Some guy in a trenchcoat and lots of shiny money. My favorite kind of a client."

The man suddenly had a few golden coins out and in his hand. You hadn’t even seen his hands go under the table that time. The coins were heavy and most definitely not fake, although you didn't recognize any of the symbols they bore.

Loki did. 

"Do you think that agent of yours will cover any extraterrestrial expenses?" he asked, watching the reflexes shine on the golden surface.

"Where are we going?"

"To the biggest black-market-turned-casino-turned-complete-mess of a planet in the universe."

"How lovely," you said.

Barbara agreed, hooting happily as she hopped off the chimney and landed on Loki's shoulder. 

"Take her." The young necromancer yawned sleepily. "She hates me anyway. Just remember not to give her any pickles. She's got terrible gas."

[yeochikin]

little sunflower. | s. mingi

a/n: thank you so much to anon for requesting this, and for your patience! i honestly loved writing this so much aaaa but wbk that colly is a sucker for barista aus dffdnjf anyways, hope you enjoyed reading this! ✨💖

word count: 9k

main focus: mingi x fem. reader

warning(s): there could be inaccuracies in this regarding the floristry field and being a barista, with that, i do apologise ;; other than that, i don’t think there are anymore! also, do excuse any grammar mistakes as this has not been proofread!

pulling back the curtains that allowed the rays of the morning sun to seep through the dim bedroom, your eyes squinted over so slightly at the sudden brightness hitting your vision, causing you to blink rapidly to adjust to the bright light. once you were finally used to the brightness, your gaze was met with a clear blue sky, as if the morning hours were bidding you a good morning. the sight alone was enough to make your lips pull themselves into a contented smile. with how it was raining a few days ago for the past week, you were glad to see the sun shining ever so brightly as if it was a huge spotlight hanging in the sky’s canvas hanging above the small town you are currently living in for the past couple of years.

of course, you knew that there were a few people whom you had known loved the rainy days. deep inside, you would be loving it too with how relaxing the sounds of the rain gently pelting against your rooftop along with the cool air making you crave for something hot to drink from your favourite sunflower patterned mug before letting the sleep succumb you due to the sounds of rain acting as a soft lullaby, mother nature’s lullaby was what you had called it. however, with your current work? 

you could only wish that rainy days would happen during the weekends. 

being the town’s florist, rainy days meant there was a lot of cleaning up to do the very next day, with how some the soils of your flowers and hedges outside of your shop needed tending to do, some of them would even manage to get all over the ground outside of your shop. if you needed customers, a welcoming appearance would be crucial for said shop without it looking like some type of abandoned building instead.  not only that, you had to make sure that some of the flowers were not ruined.

so now here you are, standing in front of your vanity. your fingers gently clipped some of your hair back with a couple of hair clips in the shape of your favourite flower, the sunflower if anyone couldn’t tell by now, then gave yourself one last look at your appearance for the day. once satisfied, you grabbed your work bag which consisted of your essentials that were necessary for your workplace, quickly making your way out of the house, locking the door behind you. 

the town you are currently residing in is a safe place with how friendly faces would be seen everywhere you go but you can never be too sure. placing your work bag into the little basket that was attached to your bicycle, you finally got on and made your way to your little flower shop.

but of course, not before stopping by aurora cafe.

as soon as you stepped into the cafe, your senses were instantly hit with the aroma of freshly brewed coffee along with baked goods that lingered in the air, no doubt just having them fresh out of the oven after the cafe has been opened for – you checked the time on your phone – about half an hour or so. it was always a routine of yours, really, coming almost an hour after the cafe had opened before making your way to the flower shop. though it did not necessarily need a lot of energy throughout most days, you wanted to have that extra boost from the cafe’s goods or else you would easily fall asleep while tending your flowers. 

but of course, other than grabbing your usual morning coffee with a side of a pastry of your choice for the day, there was simply another reason why you always stopped by the cafe.

“hello to you too, little sunflower.” a deep voice belonging to a certain tall owner greeted you as soon as you stepped up towards the counter, a sheepish smile playing over your lips at the name. despite how deep the timbres in his tone was, it held a certain amount of warmth that you were oh-so-familiar with. 

standing at the cash register, stood song mingi, the barista of aurora cafe who smiled down at you through his large circular framed glasses, his eyes turning upwards that reminded you of tiny crescent moons as he did so. his hair was slicked back ever so stunningly that never fails to make you stop in your place every time to absentmindedly admire and hold yourself back from how much you wanted to run your fingers through the strands of his hair but the idea was enough to catch yourself, internally mentally scolding yourself for making it seem like you were some sort of freak for staring at him silently.

mingi, just like you, was one of the recent residents of the town that had recently moved in as well, though he had already been living here just a year before you moved into town. you still remembered how he offered to help you out in moving some of your things into your house. 

“do you need some help?”

a deep voice reached into your ears, causing you to cease your soft huffs from the numerous amount of times going back and forth from the moving truck to the inside of your house by carrying your boxes. there, you spotted a tall boy who seemed to be around your age, standing in front of you with his hands shoved inside the pockets of his loosely knitted cardigan that somehow managed to look ever so stylish on him with the way his glasses hung over the bridge of his pointed nose. had he didn’t push them back with his index finger, they would surely fall off. 

regaining your senses, your eyes blinked widely for a few times over the male who was still waiting for your response patiently, before giving him a sheepish smile after glancing over the bigger boxes in the truck that would have clearly taken most of your time of the day trying to move them around by yourself. 

“if it is not troubling you in any sort of way possible, i would love some extra hands helping me out.” you said, shifting the box in your arms as you could finally feel the weight slowly growing heavier the longer you stood there, feeling the ache in your arms starting to appear. 

as if sensing your discomfort, the other simply brushed off your comment with a gentle ‘it’s no problem at all.’ before taking the box in your hands away from your hands, shooting you a bright grin that could somehow rival the sun hanging above your heads in the early afternoon sky. looking over the small house the two of you were standing in front of, the male glanced down at you.

“this house right?” he asked, making sure it was not the wrong house that he would suddenly barge into without knowing to whom it belonged to. his smile only widened as soon as you nodded your head at his question as you made your way to grab another box.

and with that, the two of you started to make work of putting the boxes where they belonged in the house. from there, the two of you decided to get to know each other a little more. 

from what you gathered, mingi, the tall boy’s name, is indeed around your age. you found out that he had just moved into town a year before you did, saying that he was working as a barista with a friend who owned a cafe along with his girlfriend in town, saying that the friend had took over his grandfather’s cafe after the man had retired was what you had heard by what mingi had explained. from the way the taller male had happily explained how he just loved to experiment with different recipes being taught by his friend’s girlfriend, you had made a mental note to stop by the cafe soon. 

skies above would know what a good cup of caffeinated goodness could do to you. that is, if you weren’t still busy organising your things in the house. you could only hope that nothing too overwhelming would be waiting for you tomorrow, though maybe you should not have jinxed that.

as soon as you told mingi that you moved here due to the fact that you are soon opening up your flower shop in town, his eyes glinted in excitement. but who were you kidding? everything seemed to fill his curiosity as if he was a child wondering what the world has to offer around him.

the passing seconds of moving the boxes and rearranging some of the easier and smaller furniture in the house turned to minutes, and minutes turned to hours. before you know it, it was already nearing the late afternoon with how the sun was almost sinking deep into the sea of pink mixed in with the colours of dark blue. a low gasp was released from your lips at the realisation of how much time had passed, turning to the male next to you while sprouting up multiple apologetic phrases. 

the boy, on the other side, could only emit a light chortle from your actions and gently gave your shoulder a gentle pat with a tilt of his head as soon as your eyes met his own. 

“if you’re that sorry, stop by the cafe tomorrow. that is, if you’re not busy!” the taller said. and before you could even protest, his phone suddenly went off, one finger being held up as if to tell you to wait for one moment. quickly fishing out his phone from his pocket, mingi answered the phone. 

“what’s up, wooyoung?” there was a brief pause in his sentence as he listened to the other end. despite speaking through the phone, your ears could hear the faint words of ‘help’ and ‘coffee beans’ from the other end. 

patiently, you waited until mingi was done with the brief phone call, the boy flashed you a sheepish smile as soon as he shoved the phone back into the pocket of his denims. 

“that was wooyoung, he needed some help at the cafe, saying he wanted someone to taste test the new coffee beans he just ordered so i guess that’s my cue to go.” he explained before the glint of mischief swirling in the pools of his dark brown irises came back once again.

“and about tomorrow, come by if you can, little sunflower!” with a hand ruffling your hair, mingi winked down at you, then he is already on his way, leaving you stunned in place. 

who knew that after the first meeting could lead you into coming to the cafe almost without a fail every morning before going to work. you weren’t going to lie, something about the taste of the coffee and pastries had some type of.. magical taste to it? if that would make sense. though, maybe it’s just you having a sweet tooth. not only were the food and beverages absolutely delicious, you also got to know the main people who handled the cafe as you remembered the time you decided to visit the place as soon as you were done setting up the flower shop for the day back then.

the owner of the cafe, jung wooyoung was what you had learned his name as soon as you came into the cafe on the second day of finally becoming a resident of the town. at first you were intimidated by how intense his gaze was as he worked on some of the customers’ orders along with the fox tattoo on his arm. but as soon as he lifted his head from the espresso machine and saw you reading through the menu, a huge grin spread over his lips, immediately welcoming you inside his cafe. 

the two of you had a short conversation after you ordered a medium sized vanilla latte, wooyoung asking the expected questions from where you lived before coming here, to what made you decide to escape the city life and come to live in a small town just in the outskirts of the city. as soon as wooyoung told you to wait for your order, a girl came out of the kitchen with a tray of freshly baked cinnamon buns, a cat resting on her shoulder blades with its tail swishing back and forth lightly. 

with the softened expression on wooyoung’s face after seeing the girl gave him a gentle grin, you knew that she is the girlfriend mingi had mentioned before. like wooyoung, she, too, has a tattoo but for her, it was around her wrist which looked like a bracelet of roses. 

the girl noticed you and greeted you with a bright smile forming over her lips. the two of you introduced yourselves and with what you had gathered, she is in charge of baking the treats in the cafe wooyoung owned. even if she did not mention her position before, anyone could probably tell that she is the baker of the place with how she seemed to spend most of her time in the kitchen.

and lastly, there was the other barista, song mingi. now, you should have really thanked him for convincing you to come into this cafe in the first place from how happy he sounded as he told you about his workplace. upon seeing you at the counter, his eyes widened ever so slightly, claiming that he didn’t expect you to actually come to the cafe.

“gotta show you that i’m truly apologetic from yesterday, you know?” you laughed upon seeing how his jaw was slightly dropped at the sight of you standing near the waiting area wooyoung had told you as he worked on your drink.

mingi could only release a light laugh to hide his flustered gaze, a hand coming up to rub against his nape. “i just didn’t expect that you would come, i mean, i understand how busy you could be when you just moved i-” 

“mingi, breathe.” wooyoung called out as he handed you your coffee, you mumbling a low ‘thanks’ in return before taking a small sip of the drink, careful not to burn your tongue. 

instantly, your tastebuds were washed with the subtle bitter yet sweet taste of the caffeinated goodness. somehow, the drink felt really smooth on your tongue. the hot drink once you had swallowed it down was enough to make you feel warmth surging itself throughout your veins. 

“this is really good!” you exclaimed, eyeing the hot drink in your hands before you heard wooyoung release a proud laugh, making his way to mingi’s side with his hand gently patting the taller shoulder. 

“believe it or not, mingi was the one who taught me how to make the drink. at first, i wasn’t really good at it, surprisingly. so i hesitated to put it on the menu, but this guy right here,” he nudged mingi’s side with his elbow. 

“was the one who showed me how to do it. perfect for when you just wanna wind down after a long day.” he said, mingi sinking down his teeth against the plush muscle of his lower lip to contain the bashful grin from forming.

turning to look at mingi, your lips curled themselves into a gentle beam, a brow quirking up, “might be a frequent customer with how good this is, i hope you don’t mind.”

the other could only simper at your words, giving you a subtle wink as wooyoung left the both of you to work on the other orders he received, “not at all, little sunflower.”

“the usual again, little sunflower?” you heard mingi’s voice reaching into your ears, him leaning on his elbows on the countertop with a lazy grin gracing itself over his lips.

feigning annoyance at the nickname, you merely rolled your eyes at him, effectively causing the male to release a low chuckle upon hearing the soft ‘you seem to forget my name.’

“i know your name is y/n, genius. but you know i like calling you little sunflower better, you remind me of one.” mingi winked, causing you to feel a familiar warmth reaching the apples of your cheeks before giving the tall barista a bashful beam. 

suddenly, a loud voice came from behind. before you had the time to see who it was (not that you didn’t recognise the source immediately), wooyoung came out from the kitchen to greet you in his usual cheery manner. your irises caught sight of how some of the flour had managed to get onto his cheeks, effectively making you release a low giggle at the sight as you sent him a small wave of your hand. his girlfriend wasn’t in town at the moment, she had mentioned that she was going to visit her parents for a little while. 

from the couple of years you have lived in the quaint town, the four of you managed to create a tight bond with each other but you would have to admit that the closest bond you have would be with the taller barista. it was truly a wonder why anyone would be intimidated by him at first. but by his height, it could be possible. yet if they truly get to know him, the way you would describe mingi would simply be… warm and safe. 

despite only knowing each other for the said number of years, mingi had always been there for you (still is), even when you tried to shut everything and everyone from the outside world whenever you had one of those days where you feel like life has been an absolute pain in the neck. from the planned hangouts in the town’s diner every time the both of you finished with work for the day, to unannounced visits in each other’s houses for a lazy platonic cuddle session on your off days. 

speaking of off days, today was totally not one of them, recalling why you stopped by here in the first place. you were too intent on listening to wooyoung as he animatedly boasted about how he managed to bake new recipes that were taught by his girlfriend and how you should try them that you forgot to mention that you needed your usual latte and a treat of the day. that was, until a brown paper bag along with a cup, which had a familiar distinct vanilla scent wafting through the little holes on the cup’s cover, entered your line of vision. 

“can’t forget about these, little one.” mingi’s voice reached within your ears. you don’t know why but somehow, it made your blood rush to your cheeks, immediately causing you to look everywhere in the cafe, other than the tall male’s soft gaze on you due to being flustered, your hands taking the two items as he handed them to you with a quiet ‘thanks’ leaving your lips. 

you knew that mingi always had different nicknames for you but lately, more frequently than not, you had noticed that he kept calling you little sunflower. not only that, you had caught him staring at you a few times whenever you decided to relax in the cafe as you waited mingi to finish his shift knowing that the cafe closes a little later than your own workplace. thinking that he would look away after being caught, you were the one caught off guard instead every time the said boy would send you a cheeky wink before laughing lightly at the sight of your confused (and red cheeks) face, going back to getting a customer’s order as they walked in. however, you only disregarded the feelings away with a simple thought in mind. 

sure, he had called you that in the past but it was never with such a tone that was enough to make your insides feel all warm, stomach fluttering as if you had swallowed a bunch of butterflies.

song mingi is only being nice to you, like he is to everyone else. and with how close the two of you are, there was bound to be some sort of teasings in every friendship that had formed a tight bond. 

of course, anyone would feel the way you were feeling. who wouldn’t be when he just held the brightest of smiles on his face along with the gentle deep timbres of his would be heard, asking about a customer’s day as they waited for wooyoung to make their drinks so they wouldn’t feel as awkward lingering around the waiting area. needless to say, he’s just a friendly giant. 

“as much as i like you being here, i think you should go and open up your shop, i know that you needed some cleaning and tending to do after the rain yesterday.” wooyoung’s voice suddenly cut your train of thoughts, a cheshire grin curling over his plump lips before walking back into the kitchen, not before sending you a small wave.

mentally slapping your forehead as soon as your eyes landed on the wall clock hanging idly on the cafe’s wall ─ you had noticed it was a wooden clock carved in what seems to look like a cat and a fox cuddling up next to each other with the time being displayed in between the two forms ─ before shifting your gaze at mingi who merely chuckled down at you as soon as he caught sight of the slightly alarmed look in your eyes.

“i’ll see you later, okay?” mingi said, reaching a large hand out to gently caress the top of your head, a habit of his you had quite gotten used to in the years of knowing him.

your tense shoulders relaxed ever so slightly at the action before giving him a faint nod of your head as you gripped the drink, and the paper bag in your hands, scurrying out of the cafe, shouting a quick ‘bye wooyoung!’ while doing so.

and with that, you made your way to the flower shop on your bicycle, the corners of your lips quirking up as the wind brushed against the strands of your hair. 

unbeknownst to you, a certain tall barista watched your retreating figure grow smaller and smaller through the large windows of the cafe before heaving out a low sigh. 

“you still haven’t told her?” wooyoung asked, wiping his hands on his apron as he walked out of the kitchen. the one in question could only shake his head, cheeks puffed slightly from the way his lips formed a small pout as if he was disappointed in himself.

the shorter boy shook his head and gave mingi’s shoulder a light tap.

“what are you scared of? i’m sure she feels the same way.” the raven haired boy piped up, mingi scrunching his nose in response.

“she sees me as a friend, woo. so, i guess i might not have the chance. what if she rejects me? am i in the friend zone?” mingi whined, head tilting back as he emitted a deep groan out of frustration from the conclusion he had uttered.

deadpanning up at the taller boy, wooyoung gently slapped the back of mingi’s head, the other yelping at the sudden action while the shorter one simply rolled his eyes, an amused smile playing over his brims as he made his way to the kitchen upon smelling the sweet scent of the pastries being baked in the oven. 

“i swear, both of them are so dense.” he mumbled to himself.

❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀

“and that’s the last of them.” 

you huffed as you finished applying fertiliser around the base of your newly sprouted sunflowers, a hand resting on your hips while the other one lifted up to dab away the thin sheet of sweat that had formed itself over your face from the long hours of tending to your flower shop. 

as expected, the rainy days had already made you instantly got you to start working as soon as you arrived with wilted flowers and weeds being removed, the hedges that lined against the windows of your shop being trimmed from the ever growing branches, making sure to check the flower pots in case of hidden pests are present, and so on. despite how difficult it could be working in the flower shop, you are still content in choosing the florist’s life. 

standing outside of your little shop, you stretched out your gloved hands up in the air to release the little tense knots that had formed in your lower back from a long while of just leaning down to trim the hedges earlier, sighing in relief upon feeling the ache subside before walking back inside your shop as soon as you were done with your little self-given tasks outside. 

it was another slow day in the flower shop today, but you didn’t mind. you thought that you could spend some of your spare time to focus on making the bouquets someone in town had booked for an occasion. they didn’t have to say what it was for, but with the amount of roses they had chosen for the bouquet, you knew it was for someone special. 

that’s what you liked about being a florist, you get to see the hidden messages in the bouquets being ordered by the people in town, from a gift to someone special that had caught their heart’s attention to a bouquet full of remembrance of one’s family member. of course, you could understand why some would choose the wrong types of flowers for an occasion, so you are happy to help them any time they had trouble in picking them out. you could only imagine the happiness that would etch itself into their beloved’s faces upon receiving the gift.

your nimble fingers made quick work of tying the little ribbons around the bottom of the bouquet, then leaned back slightly to give one last look of the bouquet in front of you, checking if there were any misplacements of flowers, or if the paper wrapped around the flowers did not quite compliment the colours, even checking if the wrapping was a little loose in fear that it could fall out of one’s grasp if not handled carefully. much to your delight, the bouquet of tulips managed to look as pretty as they were on their own bed of tulips that it made you mentally give yourself a pat on the back.

of course, that was not the last bouquet you needed to do. though it was a slow day, you had received a few calls on your phone, requesting you to do a certain themed bouquet in each request. you were thankful enough that the dates they needed the flowers were varied and not back to back, or else it would have made you stay inside your shop for a few days without going home. 

deciding to take a small break from the endless time spent on decorating the bouquet, you leaned back against your seat and checked your phone, in case you missed any requests from your customers or simply notifications from your friends. to your surprise, you see a text message from mingi. opening the text, a picture of the boy, showing his signature heart pose with a caption asking if you were doing alright in the shop displayed on the screen of your phone. giggling to yourself, you switched to the camera application before posing with the bouquet you had made near your face. 

[ you ] i’m alright, how do you think i can manage my shop, hm? and also, look at this bouquet i made!

grinning to yourself, you pressed send. not even a minute later, you had received a response from the tall boy. 

[ mingki !! ] i like the sunflower.

you read the text over and over again, even to the point of staring at the sunflower and pink heart emojis being included in his reply, your eyebrows furrowing in confusion. you glanced over at the bouquet, and shook your head, fingers flying over the keyboard to type up a reply.

[ you ] dummy, these are tulips??? 

[ mingki !! ] little sunflower… 

[ you ] huh?

[ you ] oh wait.

[ you ] nvm.

[ mingki !! ] took you long enough, heh. also, i gotta go before wooyoung yells at me. see you later!

you swear you could feel your cheeks burning as your eyes went over his previous reply over and over again, subconsciously smiling to yourself as he familiar fluttering feeling was felt in your stomach. however, a sudden thought had intruded your mind once again.

he only sees you as his close friend, nothing more. 

with a groan, you buried your face on top of your arms that rested on the surface of your worktable, cheek pressed against your arm as your eyes stared out the clear sky being displayed outside of your window as you were slowly losing yourself in your thoughts. 

you are going to admit it. for the past few weeks now, you have started to see mingi in a different way. ever since the day the two of you had your platonic cuddle sessions while watching a random documentary about penguins at his place one time, the close proximity was enough to give you a brief opportunity to admire the taller boy, of course, in a discreet manner by glancing up at him from your lashes as you were pressed against his chest. 

everything about him was just so breathtaking. from his eyes that held so much life to them, twinkling in happiness every time they landed on you, to how pointed his nose was and how much you wanted to just.. ‘boop’ it with the tip of your finger. his cheekbones were prominent and high that made it was easy for anyone to see the faintest of blushes dusting over the apples of his cheeks whenever he received compliments or praises, or maybe it could be when you were the one who showered him with so many praises without even realising it.

and lastly, his lips. those lips that would always greet you with their usual bright smile that you couldn’t help but to find so contagious that you would find yourself smiling with him. you had to admit that you were a bit envious of how luscious his lips looked, and how pretty was the dip of his cupid’s bow. 

it was from there that you realised that it was no ordinary admiration towards the tall barista. you weren’t dumb, you clearly knew why you felt these certain feelings towards the male. you knew that no matter how many times you brushed away those thoughts, it would always come back at you with a bigger bite. 

you knew that you have indeed developed feelings towards song mingi. 

“damn it, y/n! he does not see you in the same way.” you groaned, burying your face deeper against your folded arms on your worktable. 

every day ever since then, you kept telling yourself that it was merely a crush and it would go away as soon as it appeared. but with the time almost stretching into two months by now, a small voice deep inside you whispered that it will not go away any time soon. however, you being you, you would be in a constant stage of denial at the fact, stubbornly shoving any ideas involving the boy away. 

sure, mingi is a really nice guy, and not to mention, a very good looking barista as well. sometimes you would even notice a group of schoolgirls would giggle in a flirty manner whenever he served their drinks, mingi smiling politely at their way with a bow of his head to greet them before going back to his work. there was no doubt everyone in town liked the cheerful and friendly neighbourhood barista. it would be selfish of you to think that you would be the only one he treated with such warmth swirling in his irises.

but.. is it bad if you wanted to be a little selfish?

❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀

seconds turned to minutes, and minutes turned to hours. the day has stretched into the late hours of the afternoon, the clear blue sky was now slowly being replaced by a river of pink and crimson, the white clouds blending in with the swirl of late the afternoon colours while the rays of sun danced over any surface it landed on as if saying goodbye for the last time of the day. 

standing in front of your flower shop, mingi peeked in through the windows with confusion laced in his features. the cafe closed a little earlier than usual today due to the fact wooyoung had something else, so mingi had texted you prior to coming to your place after not receiving a reply from you after a little while. concerned that something might have happened, he decided to see you. hence, why he was at your workplace.

“y/n?” mingi called out, looking around the area for you, yet only silence greeted him back which caused him to grow a tad more concerned at your whereabouts.

it was when he walked in your little workstation for bouquets that made him release a little sigh out of relief. it had seemed you had fallen asleep on your worktable with the way your head was resting on your folded arms. quietly walking over to your hunched figure with the intention of waking you up, mingi noticed the bouquet a few inches away from you, the same bouquet you had shown him earlier through text. 

just as his gaze shifted to you, you shifted ever so slightly in your sleep with a tiny groan leaving your pouty lips. mingi’s eyes watched as you slowly lifted your head up before fixing your position on your chair, the grimace in your face no doubt already feeling the dull ache in your muscles, before a hand reached up to rub the sleep away from your eyes. 

“had a good nap?” mingi chuckled, hip resting against the edge of the worktable. 

the sudden deep voice reaching your eyes made your head snap up at the source, eyes blinking up at him a few times, thinking whether the inner conflict you had earlier somehow reached your dreams. but with the aching in your shoulders and back, this was very much reality. with a sheepish smile, you simply gave the tall male a shrug of your shoulders.

“could be better if it weren’t for the soreness afterwards.” you said, causing mingi to let out an amused chortle, you chuckling along with him due to the contagious laugh.

“i was wondering why you weren’t replying to my texts, got me worried, little sunflower.” he said, head tilting at your phone sitting idly on the table.

with furrowed brows, you grabbed your phone to check. and true to his word, mingi indeed had texted you earlier. immediately, a string of apologies left your lips as your hands rubbed against your palms, eyes shutting tight as if not wanting to see some type of disappointed expression forming on his visage. clearly, it was never your intention of ignoring him or the like. much to your surprise (and relief), your ears picked up the sounds of his deep laugh rumbling out of his chest after your reaction before making his way around the table to reach you.

feeling a slight weight on your head, you peeked an eye open but nearly fell out of your seat with how close his face was with your own, his hand resting itself on top of your head to give it a fond caress, meeting your gaze by kneeling a little next to you. his expression softens at the sight of you pulling your lower lip between your teeth, still thinking if he was mad at you. 

“hey, don’t worry about it. i understand you had a lot to do earlier. besides, i wanted to see you anyway now that i got out early.” his voice was gentle as he reassured you, the hand on your head gently stroking your hair. 

that gentle look in his eyes.. that damn look. 

it was enough to send your mind spiraling once more, the feelings you had been shoving deep down inside you managed to spring out so easily as it was a switch that only he could do. you could feel blood rushing to your cheeks as your hands dropped themselves in your lap, fingers playing with the hem of your shirt afterwards. 

“i still feel a little bad, though.” you mumbled, mentally scolding yourself for the slightest crack in your voice as you finally had gathered the courage to speak.

shaking his head then getting back up on his feet, mingi held out his hand for you to take, his fingers wiggling playfully as if teasingly telling you to hurry up. with a quirk of your brow, you looked up at the male in question.

“come on, little sunflower, i wanted to show you something.” he simply said.

“how do i know you are not planning to murder me, mingki?” was your response, playfully squinting your eyes up at him, to which caused him to scoff in disbelief. 

“no matter how annoying you could be-”

“excuse me?”

“i can’t do that, you’re too precious to me, little sunflower.” mingi said, sending you a cheeky wink in return upon seeing the glare you sent towards his way at his previous statement, laughing to himself as his fingers ruffled your hair.

“come on!”

“okay, okay, just let me close up my shop!”

❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀

you let mingi lead the way as you had no idea where he was planning to take you, sitting on the little seat of your bicycle as mingi was the one who maneuvered it, your face slightly warm as he told you to make sure to hold onto him tightly, your arms encircled around his waist. 

with the familiar trailway with trees and the meeting branches to create a natural arch above your heads, you may have an idea of where the two of you were headed. while he carefully avoided the big rocks on the trail, not wanting the both of you to fall off of the bicycle, the two of you talked about your day, you giggling at the way mingi had complained how wooyoung kept scolding him for making the slightest mess on their workstation. knowing wooyoung, he’s a bit of a perfectionist whenever it comes to the cleanliness of his working space so you felt a little bad for mingi who had to sit through wooyoung’s scoldings throughout the day.

after a few more minutes of walking, mingi finally announced that the two of you have arrived, your eyes lighting up in excitement upon the sight in front of you. you were right, he had indeed brought you to a favourite place of yours in town.

“you’ve been whining how you missed going to the lake lately ever since the rain had started.” mingi chuckled once the two of you had gotten off of the bicycle, resting it against a large tree. 

“i swear, it gets prettier and prettier with every visit..” you breathed, making your way to the little pier above the water with mingi quietly trailing behind you, his hands shoved deep inside his pockets.

everything around you felt so magical. you could hear the birds singing their songs around the two of you as the both of you stood on the pier together, the ripples of water rolling towards the lakeside along with the calming breeze of the late afternoon wind, shutting your eyes momentarily upon feeling the cool air brushing against your face with the faintest of smiles gracing itself over your brims. 

on the other hand, mingi leaned against the railing behind you as his gaze was focusing on your figure, his lips forming a small ‘o’ at the way you looked so in peace. with the sun’s rays hitting against your face, the wind gently caressing the strands of your hair, and the scenery in front of you acting as a background, there was one thing that appeared almost instantly in mingi’s mind.

you looked so effortlessly ethereal. 

the corners of his lips twitched up at the last word, knowing for a fact that if he ever said it to you, you would instantly hide your face against the palms of your hands, claiming that he was exaggerating and how you had your flaws to look… ethereal. but that was the thing, all of your flaws, from your little insecurities to the features that you are very proud of to have whether it was a freckle or a little mole on your face, everything about you is absolutely endearing to the boy’s eyes.

and he wants you to see that. 

remembering the true intention of bringing you here, mingi swallowed thickly as his hand fidgeted with the little velvet box in his cardigan’s pocket before taking it out to discreetly check the item inside. mingi could feel his heartbeat increase its pace with the way his eyes had caught sight of the silver simple necklace, the sunflower pendant laying ever so prettily in the middle of the box. he had finally gave in to wooyoung’s advice, or rather, naggings ever since mingi had told him his little secret involving the town’s florist. 

true, from what he told you was about wooyoung scolding him throughout the day, but half of it was telling mingi to finally stop beating around the bush, knowing how the two of you clearly see each other in the same way yet too afraid to even speak up about it. hence, sticking to giving you flirty winks whenever you looked at his way or even affectionately using the name he gave you often, loving the way your cheeks turn pink due to being flustered every time he called you ‘little sunflower’.

but today, he is finally going to do it. no more dropping hints. 

before coming to your shop earlier, mingi had stopped by the town’s little gift shop as if something deep inside him steered his mind to do so. at first, he only wanted to look around the little place but as soon as his eyes landed on a particular item, he knew he had to get it.

taking a deep breath, mingi closed the lid of the box and hid it back inside his pocket. lifting his head up, he noticed that you were still admiring the way the sunlight has touched the waters, creating some type of naturally made shimmer on the waters. 

“little sunflower?” he called out, your head immediately turning to give him your full attention with a low hum of response.

taking a couple of strides to stand in front of you, his free hand reached up to carefully move the stray strands of hair that had managed to cover your eyes, smiling faintly as soon as his eyes were met with yours, wonder and some type of hidden affection filled in your irises, before resting his hand against your cheek. mingi ran the pad of his thumb along your cheekbone as the two of you stood in silence, the only sounds that were made were from the jovial chirpings from the birds along with the rippling water from below. 

“i’m not gonna drop any more hints, we both know about our feelings towards each other.” he started, your breath hitching in your throat, feeling nervous as to what he was going to say.

“we both know that we are too scared to even take that huge step, fearing that everything around us would change no matter what outcome it’ll be.” mingi continued, trailing his hand down to rest it just below your chin as if silently asking you to keep your eyes on him, his thumb now ghosting over your lower lip which sent shivers down your spine.

“but today, i’m finally going to take that step.” he whispered.

you swear that you could feel the whole world slowing down its pace, the only ones mattered were you and mingi. from the sounds of the water rippling underneath, you could only make out the sound of your own heart beating against your chest that you swear the taller one could hear it as well. 

mingi, on the other hand, could feel his hands shaking from the nerves racking his body, making him to pause momentarily in his ministrations before eyelids fluttering shut as an attempt to calm himself, collecting the words he wanted to say as soon as he felt like he was ready to say them. now meeting your eyes with his, he finally said it.

“even though i know my feelings towards you, and yours towards me. you aren’t quite subtle with the staring, you know?” he teased, grinning upon seeing you sending him a playful glare as if denying his claim but the slight flush in your cheeks were enough to tell him otherwise.

“all i’m saying is that i absolutely adore you, i can’t stop thinking about you, little sunflower.” mingi continued, voice growing soft.

your hand reached up to rest itself on top of mingi’s cheek after finally gaining the courage to do so, smiling softly to yourself as you watched how easily the boy leaned against your touch. 

“i feel the same way. every day, i could feel my feelings for you growing stronger and stronger.” you mumbled softly, but mingi had caught them word by word.

another wave of silence hung over the both of you once again, eyes full of unspoken love towards one another. slowly, you could feel how the both of you felt as if some type of invisible force was pulling your faces closer, and closer, until the tips of your noses are barely touching. your eyes glanced down at his full lips as you could feel an unfamiliar tingling sensation on your own, then shifting your gaze back up to meet with mingi’s.

from the look in mingi’s eyes, you knew exactly what he wanted to do next but looking as if he was holding himself back. 

“alright?” he heaved out, you nodding your head.

“alright.”

and with that, the both of you finally closed the distance. his lips felt soft against your own, and very faintly, you could somehow taste the distinct flavour of coffee on his lips which caused you to grow addicted. 

you felt his arms snaking around your waist and tightened around it, then playfully lifting you up, causing you to release a muffled noise out of surprise while your own hands quickly held onto him for support. the both of you only parted from the kiss to let your laughter mingle with each other as mingi spun you around in his arms briefly, and placed you back down on the wooden floor of the pier, the two of you staring at each other’s faces, both wearing the same fond smile on your lips.

that was, until a look of realisation washed itself over mingi’s features as his hand quickly fished itself in his pocket to grab at the little velvet box in his hands. “i have a little gift for you.” he said in a sing-song voice, telling you to close your eyes afterwards.

staring at his face for a few seconds, you obeyed. eyelids fluttering shut, you patiently waited for whatever surprise he has up in his sleeve. 

“and now, open them!” you heard his excited voice called out.

your hands flew to cover the loud gasp escaping them at the sight of the sunflower necklace laying inside the box, eyes meeting up with mingi’s nervous ones. 

“mingi, you didn’t have t-” 

“i know but i wanted to.” he cut you off almost immediately, his expression softening up as he watched the way your eyes kept glancing down at the necklace, then up to his face, then back at the necklace.

“it’s so beautiful..” you breathed out. 

you heard mingi softly asking if he could put it on you, to which you gladly agreed to by turning around so your back was facing him. with your help by moving your hair away, mingi swiftly put the necklace on you, clasping the two ends together, leaning down so he could press his lips against your shoulder blade with his arms encircling themselves around your waist. 

“my little sunflower.” he whispered into your ear, the both of you smiling as you watch the sunset together.

❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀

“a sunflower has come to brighten my day it seems.” the deep timbres of the barista reached into your ear as soon as you stepped foot into the cafe, making you release a tiny scoff, feigning disgust at the cheesy line.

“are you really going to say that every time she enters the cafe, mingi?” wooyoung called out with a shake of his head, scrunching his nose in distaste. 

“let the love birds be, love.” you heard a feminine voice say, grinning as wooyoung’s girlfriend, who winked at you in return, walked out of the kitchen with a tray of freshly baked cinnamon rolls in her mitten cladded hands. 

it had been a few months since mingi and you started dating. if you were being honest, it felt as if nothing much has changed between the two of you but at the same time, something did changed, if that makes sense? the flirty winks turned to discreet kisses on your head every time mingi would pass by your table while no one paid attention to the two of you, and the staring between you two changed to affectionate words being mouthed to the other whenever you would catch each other staring. 

the platonic cuddle session in your house would turn to not so platonic as mingi and you would exchange kisses as you sat on his lap which then turned into a brief slow makeout session with the television acting as background noise for the two of you, whispering affirmations to one another into the night sky hanging over your heads. 

“but babe.” wooyoung whined, following his girlfriend from behind like some type of excited puppy.

mingi could only roll his eyes in a playful manner and made his way around the counter to pull you into his arms, pressing little kisses all over your face. the cafe won’t be open in twenty minutes or so. hence, why mingi has been openly showering you with his affection, not that you were complaining. 

giggling softly at the ticklish feeling of his lips all over your face, your own hands reached out to cup his cheeks, finally being able to press your own lips against his in a brief kiss. 

“got my usual, now i’m ready for another day to lift sacks of fertilisers and potting some plants.” you teased, pressing the side of your face against mingi’s chest as he pulled you close against him. 

“uh-huh, last time you said that, you got grumpy because you didn’t get to have your morning coffee.” mingi deadpanned, poking your side with your index finger to which made you lightly move his hand away.

“i promise i won’t get grumpy again!” you grumbled, lower lip jutting out. 

mingi could only pinch your cheeks, slowly letting you go, although reluctantly, to make his way to his workstation to work on your latte anyway despite you not wanting him to. 

“you don’t have to.” you mumbled, leaning against the counter while watching your lover make your cafe. 

“i want to, little sunflower.” he shrugged, sending you a playful wink.

you are going to admit it, the name he gave you seemed to never grow old no matter how many times mingi had called you that. something about it sounded so special to you no matter how cheesy it could sound to someone else. or maybe you are just whipped over the tall barista, which of course, you will not deny that as well. 

of course, that goes the same with mingi. 

every time you enter the cafe, you would see him smiling ever so happily. you also noticed how he could be rather bouncy in his place whenever he was excited as soon as you mentioned that you would sleep over at his place. some would have thought that you were the one stealing his hoodies when in reality, he was the one who made you wear them. something about you wearing mingi’s clothes was enough to make his chest swell with so much adoration and love that he would just scoop you up in his arms, and kiss all over your face.

“one vanilla latte, made with love for my little sunflower.” you heard mingi say, handing you the cup, which you thankfully took no matter how much you denied of it earlier.

“this cafe will be filled with the scent of cheese with how much the two of you are flirting.” 

a certain raven haired barista called out, coming out of the kitchen with his girlfriend trailing behind, her hand holding the back of his shirt while doing so. you merely stuck your tongue out at wooyoung before checking the time, realising that you were running a little late to open your flower shop. 

“i gotta go and open up my shop. a customer of mine would be needing their bouquet today.” you announced as you grabbed your things, mingi leaning over the counter with lips puckering up. 

“you forgot something.” he mumbled. 

shaking your head, your hands reached out to cup his cheeks and pressed a couple of quick kisses on his lips, before making your way out of the cafe, bidding your goodbyes to wooyoung and his girlfriend.

“right in front of my coffee.” the raven mumbled, his girlfriend laughing at him.

“you don’t see mingi saying that when you’re being all whiny for hugs.��� she retorted, mingi grinning at the words.

he failed to pick up the next response from the raven haired barista, opting to lean against the counter as he watched your figure getting on your bicycle before heading off to your shop. mingi could feel a fluttering feeling in his chest as the smile on his lips seemed to never disappear from his lips. 

truly, mingi was infatuated with his little sunflower, and nothing could ever change that.

[sarahzstories]

*A/N this is an interview with Gwen and Harry Styles from my Instagram story that you can read here! This is done as if the interviewer is sitting in their living room asking them questions for a magazine! I hope you enjoy this little glimpse into the Styles marriage!*

Q: Harry what was your first impression of Gwen?

Harry: I thought she was dead at first.

Gwen: That’s so lovely honeybuns. Why don’t you elaborate on that?

Harry: Right well, I was walking down the beach after a few cocktails at this bar I went to a lot in Jamaica and uh...well there was this body just laying in the sand and uhm...I’m not going to lie I did contemplate kicking her when I first approached her.

Gwen: That’s a good first thought process to kick a body you assume is dead.

Harry: Don’t be mean lovey. I’m being honest.

Gwen: Please go on...

Harry: But I didn’t have to kick her or anything because as soon as I kneeled down to like touch her she opened her eyes and gave me this huge smile as if she’d known I was there the whole time and in that very moment I remember going “oh wow”

Gwen: He did in fact say that out loud.

Harry: She was honestly mesmerizing and it had nothing to do with the drinks I’d had before seeing her.

Gwen: I’m sure the booze had nothing to do with it. *pats Harry’s leg*

Harry: So my first impression was “is she dead?” And “wow” does that answer the question?

Gwen: I hope you’re comfortable? This is going to be a while...was that just the first question?

Harry: *rolls eyes*

Q: Did you instantly hit it off?

Gwen: I’d say yes, because after we met on the beach we spent the rest of my time in Jamaica together.

Harry: Yes we hit it off right away. We just sort of had a spark and I just didn’t want to spend time without her if I didn’t have to, honestly I’d never met anyone like her before.

Gwen: He’s still like that.

Harry: It’s true. i don’t like to be away from her if I don’t have to be.

Q: Who made the relationship official and when?

Harry: I did and it was the day my album came out and honestly it wasn’t planned it just sort of happened.

Gwen: He was on FaceTime with me while I finally got to listen to his album and he just kind of blurted out that he loved me.

Harry: Yup. I said “I love you” and she smiled and said it back so naturally I followed that up with “so, can I call you my girlfriend now or is that lame?”

Gwen: And to that of course I told him “sure” ya know super casual.

Harry: That’s us right? The picture of a casual couple.

Gwen: Gucci isn’t casual honeybuns.

Harry: It can be if done properly.

Q: Where do the nicknames honeybuns and love comes from?

Gwen: I mean look at him! He is sweet and makes me feel all warm and fuzzy like a honeybun.

Harry: She’s just always been my lovey? I don’t remember a time where I didn’t call her that.

Gwen: He only calls me other names when he’s upset with me.

Harry: True...but that’s very rare

Q: Gwen did you honestly not know who Harry was when you met him? And was that weird for you Harry?

Gwen: I had heard of him yes, I mean I didn’t live under a rock and I’m from California so the name Harry Styles I’d heard before. But I honestly didn’t know what he looked like before meeting him. I wasn’t a huge One Direction fan and he hadn’t had any solo stuff out yet so I didn’t really see his face anywhere.

Harry: You didn’t like One Direction?

Gwen: Do not start with me. I didn’t say I didn’t like One Direction, I just said I wasn’t a huge fan. There’s a difference. That type of music just wasn’t my thing. But I listen to it now with Vivienne.

Harry: But really it was sort of not weird but refreshing? The fact that this human whom I’ve completely become enamored with has no clue who I am other than what she sees and knows because of things I’ve told her, it was very exciting because it just assured me that she really liked me for the real me and not Harry Styles from One Direction.

Gwen: When I found out that he was this massive superstar it didn’t change anything about him in my eyes. We met in a situation where no one treated him any different than everyone else so it wasn’t until I got back home and told my friends who I had met and what had happened that it all sort of came crashing down that “wow he is like a really big deal huh?”

Harry: I remember being so scared about what was going to happened when she left Jamaica since I still had loads to do with the album and such and I just didn’t want what we had built together to get ruined by like the reality of the real world if that makes sense? I didn’t want her finding out about “Harry Styles” to ruin it all because I really liked her.

Gwen: It makes sense honeybuns. We met in the weirdest of circumstances so that’s a very rational fear to have. But look at us! We’ve come so far!

Harry: So far indeed.

Q: Who is more romantic?

Harry: Gwen.

Gwen: See I was going to say you!

Harry: Me? No way. You leave me those cute little notes in random places that have those little poems on them.

Gwen: Yeah but you send me flowers randomly and will text me in the middle of the day reminding me of random things you love about me.

Harry: So it’s safe to say we are both equally romantic? I will say this though, Gwen knows how to plan a romantic date that would put even the greatest romance movies to shame.

Gwen: I do love a good romantic date.

Q: What’s Harry like in the mornings?

Gwen: Annoyingly cheery.

Harry: Ah love a good morning.

Gwen: Really he is a dream in the morning because me and mornings don’t mix well so he’s quite lovely to have around in the morning. He makes my coffee and sometimes if I’m really in a mood he will put my slippers on my feet for me.

Harry: That happens about four days out of the week lovey...

Gwen: Like I said me and mornings don’t mix well so he’s good to have around.

Harry: *smiles*

Q: Do you think you two have a healthy relationship?

Harry: Uh I mean yes? But I’m not afraid to say I’m a very codependent type human and Gwen is who I have clung to over the past few years but that’s just me being honest.

Gwen: I think we have a healthy relationship. Every couple is different and Harry and I just prefer to be around each other anytime that we can. But that’s what happens when you meet your soulmate.

Harry: I agree lovey. Gwen is literally my human. So if you’ve met your human than you get it? It’s almost painful to be without them. But I don’t think that’s unhealthy? We can go places without each other we just don’t enjoy it as much.

Gwen: I let him go to the grocery store without me. I loathe that place.

Harry: True. She hates it so yes I go there alone once a week and it’s fine.

Q: What’s something a lot of people get wrong about your relationship?

Gwen: That it’s all perfect all the time, like people really think we don’t ever argue and I’m like what? We broke up for like five months at one point. We aren’t perfect.

Harry: Yes people seem to think the two of us are just such a perfect match that we aren’t allowed to disagree or fight. We have disagreements but we are adults so we handle it and move on.

Gwen: He thinks that glitter belongs on everything and I disagree. There is a time and a place for it.

Harry: That time and place is always and on everything. So you see? We are just going to move on now because she knows that’s a hill I am willing to die on.

Gwen: He will defend glitter until his dying breath.

Q: Why did you two break up? Who initiated getting back together?

Harry: I was selfish and assumed Gwen was going to always be okay with having her dreams be on the back burner until I got my career where I wanted it. So naturally she just got tired of it and left, I completely deserved it.

Gwen: I didn’t just leave though. It wasn’t quite that dramatic, we had a long conversation and decided it would be best if I moved out and at that point he had just started all his Gucci campaign stuff so he left for Italy while I moved back into my old place.

Harry: Also I initiated the getting back together process because Gwen knew that I just needed my time to really process what I wanted and that when I was ready I’d find her again.

Gwen: It was all very mutually respectful, I knew what he needed and he also knew that I needed to go and do some things for myself so it wasn’t this big sad emotional thing because I think we both knew we’d end up together it was just a matter of when.

Harry: Oh yeah I knew you’d be mine again I just needed to get my shit together first.

Gwen: Honeybuns! Language...

Harry: Oh right! Sorry...

Q: Was Vivienne planned?

Harry: Yes. Everyone assumes she wasn’t and I think that’s solely because when we announced Gwen was pregnant we weren’t engaged or anything.

Gwen: Harry and I have known we are it for each other since the very beginning so wanting to start a family was a very natural next step for us even though we didn’t have the labels of husband and wife yet.

Harry: Exactly, we’d been together for a while and I kept telling her how our house could use some more heartbeats and not ones that belong to cats.

Gwen: He made it pretty clear he wanted a baby and one night I told him “a baby would be nice” and boom two months later I found out about Vivienne.

Harry: I don’t like to waste time.

Q: How did you two find out about Vivienne?

Gwen: I was tired a lot and that’s very much not my thing.

Harry: She may hate mornings but she isn’t one to lay in bed all day. So we kinda knew something was off.

Gwen: So I went to the doctor and got some blood work done and they came back with a smile on their face and I just knew. I was like “I’m pregnant.” And I cried because I mean I’m carrying a little human! It was very emotional for me.

Harry: So naturally she had to call me to come get her because she wasn’t in any condition to drive and when I got there she was a mess and I could tell by how she was smiling probably the biggest smile I’d ever seen on her face that it was good news and I just started getting all watery eyed myself because being a dad is just... something I’ve wanted for a while.

Gwen: I didn’t get to tell him in some elaborate way, I’m not very big on that type of thing so that whole situation of him having to come get me is very us.

Harry: Yes very us indeed, crying in the middle of a lobby over Vivienne.

Q: What was Harry’s proposal like?

Gwen: Very casual because I was very pregnant and we were laying on the couch and he went to go get my heating pad and I had Lancelot on my hip and Merlin was laying on my feet and when he came back into the living room he laughed and I was “are you laughing at me? Why are you laughing at me?”

Harry: It almost went very bad very quickly because she doesn’t like to be laughed at if she didn’t intentionally do something funny. It hurts her feelings.

Gwen: But anyway he comes in without my heating pad but he has this little box in his hands and then he got down on one knee and leaned over the couch and grabbed my hand and at this point I’m crying and Lancey and Merlin are looking at him like “why are you hurting my mom? I will kill you” because they got very protective of me while I was pregnant.

Harry: I mean it makes sense. You’re their queen...

Gwen: True. But then Harry placed the ring on my middle finger because that’s the only one it would fit at the moment and goes “Please allow me the pleasure of being yours for all eternity? I promise I’ll never stop loving you.” So I said yes and we both cried as usual and it was very sweet.

Harry: Best decision I’ve ever made was asking Gwen to allow me to love her forever.

Q: What was the wedding like?

Harry: It was perfect. It was exactly what we wanted and very small and intimate. Gwen looked like an absolute vision.

Gwen: It was very romantic and not on a beach as everyone assumed it would be. It was very low key and it was just a dream. I loved every moment of it.

Harry: *stares at Gwen with a grin on his face*

Gwen: He’s thinking about it...

Q: How many kids do you want? What do you want next?

Harry: Six

Gwen: He’s been saying six for like a few weeks now but we for sure see ourselves with at least four.

Harry: Why not add two more and make it six? Six is a solid number.

Gwen: I’ll have six if one set is of twins.

Harry: That’s fare lovey, I’d love a set of twins.

Gwen: But as far as what we want next we don’t care. Gender is a social construct that we don’t really abide by.

Harry: We just want healthy children.

Q: Harry have you written any songs about Gwen?

Gwen: Oh yes good question. He doesn’t answer when I ask this and I only truly know of one song.

Harry: Yes I have.

Gwen: What songs?

Harry: That wasn’t the question lovey.

Gwen: *rolls eyes*

Q: How have things changed since you’ve gotten more personal on social media Harry?

Harry: I think people can see a side of me that normally they wouldn’t. I’m still very private with things but Gwen shares a bit more than me and I love that the fans or just anyone who’s interested in our lives can get a little glimpse of what’s really going on. It���s been nice.

Gwen: We are still very private and don’t show certain things, like we didn’t post a picture of Vivienne until we were already safe at home and all that. I love Harry’s fans to death and they for the most part love us as well but I also know not everyone is on our social media out of love for us so I think we have a nice balance of showing the real us while keeping somethings to ourselves.

Harry: I agree. We keep a good balance and it’s been great.

Q: Who is worst at answering texts?

Gwen: Me

Harry: She is the worst.

Gwen: He will text me and I’ll just call him and he’s like “lovey there is a reason I texted instead of calling you..” and he’ll be in a meeting and I’ll feel horrible.

Harry: Happens all the time. She doesn’t like to text.

Q: How do you make your marriage work while Harry’s gone a lot for work?

Harry: We communicate very well. We have routines we do every day while I’m away and it helps tremendously. Also I don’t go away without my girls a lot so we don’t have to do this often.

Gwen: Yes communication is key! We FaceTime about four times a day when he’s gone. But he’s right a lot of the time we go with him. Like if he is filming something or shooting something Vivienne and I will go with but not go to the set until he tells me he’s almost wrapped up for the day then we go over and get to see him do his thing for a bit witch is always fun.

Harry: I just do better when I know my girls are close by. I know that makes me sound so odd but really I’ve said it so many times but I don’t enjoy myself when I don’t have Gwen around and Vivienne well she just lights up my world.

Gwen: Like nobody else?

Harry: Was that a One Direction lyric quote lovey? You do listen!

Gwen: I told you I listen with Vivienne so she can hear her dad in his younger years.

Q: Is there anything you’d like to say to the fans?

Gwen: Thank you for loving my honeybuns and I so much. We adore you all so much and are truly grateful for the opportunities we are given because of how much you love us.

Harry: Yes, thank you so much. I have nothing but an endless amount of love for each and every one of you. Thank you. 

[supermanshield]

Naps are overrated, anyway

~~~

There is a picture in the watchtower cafeteria of Superman and Batman, asleep on the Javelin. 

This is the story of how it came to be, and why Batman let it be.

~~~

Words: 4,092

Relationship: Clark/Bruce

A/N: I had the idea for this story a year ago. For the longest time, the summary you see right now was all I had typed out. Only now, after reading a bunch of JLA vol. 1 did I finally find the right characters, the right feeling and overall vibe, and wrote this in the past three days. 

It doesn’t completely comply with continuity, because while I imagine this set somewhere in the 1997-2006 JLA run, Bruce mentions 6 kids (he would have only had 2 at the time + a dead Jason), although they don’t make an appearance. And I'm actually not sure if the Javelin is a thing in that run, maybe that's just a DCAU thing. Just go with it.

Also, Bruce is a bit of a boomer in this. idk, I had fun writing him. 

Read on AO3

______________________________________________

Batman doesn’t nap.

.

However, that is not to say that Bruce doesn't. He's nearing 45 years of age, not a grey hair on his head, but if he were to grow a beard now, or a moustache like his father, it would show a mix of salt and pepper, so he shaves it off, vigorously and every day. Moustache and beard, those are the first things to turn grey. Then the eyebrows. When that happens, Bruce will lose. He will give in to his age and keep his beard. Not yet. If Clark ever walks in on him during his morning ritual (probably soon), he will look at him with that forgiving smile. He will say what he thinks of it, because that's what he does. (Keep it, I like it, Bruce hopes secretively, but there is a sadness present in Clark's eyes that he will never completely understand, and that's exactly why he shaves).

Clark has seen it already though, he's sure. His 5 o'clock shadow must look like a foggy forest to Clark’s microscopic vision, and even worse in the morning, right before his shave. Clark hasn't mentioned it. A conversation for another day.

If his children ever found out about this particular insecurity, all 6 of them would laugh.

 Bruce never really napped, or took time out of the day to simply rest, but now, Clark is there. To pull him onto the couch in the study when he's on his way to his desk. To keep him in bed after sex and before patrol. To fly through his window at WE at 50 floors up and pat next to himself on the couch in Bruce's office, door locked, and red cape hung up in the corner.

"It's time," he says. Every time. "You need one."

Bruce will raise his eyebrows. "Already, hmm?" he asks, almost every time.

He's made the mistake of sending him away before. (He won't do that again). Clark is the most stubborn man Bruce knows. He will say the same thing about Bruce, but that's beside the point. And It's not as if Clark distracts him from a case or work; he knows exactly when he has some time and is unable to make excuses.

Bruce is used to taking 20-minute power naps in uncomfortable positions on his desk chair, at the kitchen table behind the newspaper, with his feet up in the batmobile.

Clark sets the alarm for one hour. He pulls Bruce into a horizontal position against that broad chest, either spooning him or facing him, encasing him in his large arms (there are still 76 ways out of his hold, but Bruce can't think of a single one worth a try). They sleep.

Apparently Clark needs naps too, even though he doesn’t need sleep. Bruce has been meaning to ask him about that, wonders if it's a mental thing, a kind of meditation. Therapy.

His naps are dreamless. Afterwards, his return to consciousness is quick, he reorients on the surroundings, on Clark. Kissing him is a good strategy for grounding, Bruce has found. And just like that, they get on with their day again, because there is no time for dwelling, for another moment together. Nevertheless, Bruce is happy with what he does get. It’s more of Clark - and more time with him - than he deserves already.

 So, Bruce naps.

 ---

 After a long mission off-world, the league is on their way home towards the watchtower in the javelin. Diana is flying, with J’onn at her side in the co-pilot chair. The rest of them are hauled up in the back of the vehicle, they’re tired, exhausted, just trying to get some rest. Even Wally sits still. Only Batman is pacing up and down, his mind already on Gotham, on home, the cases that were open, the ones that he was *this* close to cracking. Batman doesn’t nap.

His mind is wandering, going at a speed that would make even Clark dizzy, but the puzzle pieces don’t make sense. Yet. His heavy boots are silent on the metal floor of the javelin, his cape a mere whisper of wind behind him as he turns to pace the other way again.

“You’re driving me crazy,” Hawkgirl’s voice cuts through the relative silence of flying through space (beeping, machinery, turbines, the jet - there’s a lot). She holds up one of her large wings, cutting Batman off from his path. “Sit down.”

He does. Next to Superman. A big mistake, although he doesn’t realize it until much later. No need to upset his teammates. He can meditate instead, stay awake. The noise of the jet doesn’t make it easy, but it can be done. Clark smiles calmly at him.

He sits straight, eyes open, breathing focused, and the turmoil in his brains slows down. Soon, they’ll reach Earth’s solar system and he’ll have access to the batcomputer. Not soon enough. Next to him, Superman is a steady support of a brick wall, but his shoulder feels warm and soft against Bruce’s, even through the suit. Underneath the cape and hidden from view, Clark’s thumb rubs circles into his side, lower back. He knows exactly what he’s doing. A Pavlovian effect has Bruce relaxing his shoulders, if only slightly. None of his teachers ever taught him how to deal with a superman when trying to meditate. His superman. His annoyingly super man.

His last thought is of Clark, and that it must be irritating to have a bat ear poking into his cheek. But then again, rarely anything physical ever annoys the Man of Steel. Then, finally, he dozes off, the roar of the jet diminished to a distant snoring.

 ---

 Bruce is proud of the watchtower. His watchtower. It stands erect on the bright side of the moon, pointing towards earth. Always looking out. Within such an enormous structure however, some simple rules are needed. There is a long list next to the fridge in the break room, and one in the meeting room. No running unless there is an emergency. Masks on outside of one’s own room. Food is to stay in the cafeteria (he’s found everyone and Clark with various wrappers and chips bags in the monitor room, so he gave up on that – it’s crossed out). Training gear stays in the gym. The coffee machine has to be cleaned once every 2 days - the stuff isn’t that good, not what Bruce is used to, but it has helped him through several meetings and dull monitor duties in the past.

. 

A couple days after returning from their outer space mission on the javelin, Bruce returns to the watchtower. There are several new members to have a meeting about. He has made up his mind on all of them already, the meeting is merely a formality.

Connor Hawke runs past – one of the new proposed members, codename Green Arrow after his father – and Supergirl flies over his head. “No running.” He stops them both with one move of his arm and a line on a batarang.

Kara turns towards him and slips out of his trap easily. “I wasn’t even running, B,” she says while she floats down. Connor has crossed his arms and looks out the window, Batman’s line still taut around his upper arms.

“There are rules. If you want to be in the Justice League, behave like it.” He reminds her of the proper use of code names too, for good measure, and unties Connor.

With a sigh, both young heroes are off, making their way towards the break room. Bruce follows them and finds Wally and Kyle already inside, but as soon as they see Batman turn the corner they scurry out through the door on the other side.  

It’s the first clue that something is amiss. The newer heroes standing around the fridge and chuckling, the second. Bruce lays eyes on the offending appliance and feels his body tense. If smoke could come out of his ears, it would.

“Flash!”

 ---

 The standard size piece of paper lies on one of the metal surfaces in the computer area of the cave. Bruce tries to ignore it while he works, but the primary colours of Superman’s suit in the image are a thorn in his peripheral vision. With a swift move and a smack, he turns it around, and gets back to his files. He has sent his notes for the meeting to the watchtower, reported that he’s too busy to attend.

He works on some of his own active cases, gathering data and looking at evidence. Most of it is paperwork, boring but necessary. He slowly makes his way through every file, meticulously and efficiently. Everything gets reported and written down in case a pattern reveals itself later. The puzzling can be done when he’s more focused. Meanwhile, the cases that are solved and closed get a little custom-made bat-stamp on the front of their manila folder before they get filed away. Alfred brings down coffee, the good kind. Time passes quickly and he’s still busy when Clark flies in.

“Hey,” he walks up to Bruce and bends down for a quick kiss. “I thought you’d be at the meeting today. Diana said you were busy.”

Bruce points to the piece of paper in explanation, Clark turns to grab it. “Wally happened. And I’m always busy.”

“I see. He seemed almost unnaturally giddy today. Oh hey, look.” Clark holds up the picture of Batman and Superman, asleep on the javelin. In it, Clark’s face is peaceful, his mouth open, despite one of the ears on the cowl that is indeed poking his cheek. “We look cute.”

“Batman doesn’t do cute, Clark.”

Clark sighs. But you do, his eyes seem to say. No, I don’t, Bruce replies with his. “Where’d you get this, anyway?”

“Wally put it up on the fridge in the watchtower cafeteria. You didn’t notice him taking it last week?”

“Clearly,” Clark points to the Clark in the picture. “I fell asleep.”

“And here I thought you always listened to your surroundings.”

“We were in space. Not exactly much I can hear out there.”

Bruce gets up from his chair. Having a Superman has once again proven useless. Only Clark can do something so silly and time-wasting as sleeping, on purpose. Naps are overrated, anyway. They’ve had this discussion many times, Bruce knows the outcome. *Always* be on high alert, he will say. Clark will push back, it’s not that simple, he will say. Everyone needs sleep, his eyes pleading, apologetically somehow. They do.  But it has taken Bruce obtaining Clark’s powers in a freak magic accident and chasing after the sun and every criminal on the planet for 72 hours straight to realise that. Now he knows the desperation, the feeling that it will never end, the knowledge that in the end, not everyone can be saved, even if you try.

Everyone needs sleep, even Superman.

Clark watches him milling through these thoughts, it must be written on his face, and holds out his hand when Bruce’s features finally relax. He’ll just have a stern talking-to with Wally and Kyle next time he’s on the watchtower.

 .

 If only it were so simple. The next time he’s on the watchtower, the picture is back on the fridge. And in the main hallway. And in the transporter room, the trophy room, and the ground level bathroom. Bruce groans, suppresses the urge to face-palm. He takes the things down one by one, systematically going through the entire watchtower. Then, he has that talk with Wally. And with Kyle. Best to keep them separated. They snicker that it wasn’t them *this* time, and don’t seem scared of him at all.  

He’s either gone too soft in his old (not old, mature) age, or he should have designed the watchtower with a lot more corners for menacing shadows.

Wally and Kyle are both telling the truth, Bruce finds out in the next couple of days when more pictures return while Kyle is off in space and Wally is busy on earth. This time, it’s not just the one of them sleeping on the Javelin. A bunch of pictures have been put up in the break room. There’s one of Clark, asleep on monitor duty with his feet on the console (Bruce makes a mental note to talk to him about that). There, right there, that’s the reason why there always have to be two leaguers watching the screens. J’onn looking desperately at a small pile of Oreo crumbles on the floor of the meeting room. Diana vigorously devouring a tub of chocolate ice cream. And Batman, pointing at the camera, the other hand on his hip.

He has no idea who took it, but it has to be one of the speedsters. All he knows is that this has to stop. No matter if one finds this kind of thing funny, there are rules, privacy issues, secret identities and all that.

The security footage that Bruce watches back in the cave that night reveal some of the newer, younger members of the league sneaking around the watchtower with a roll of tape. They don’t know where all the cameras are, clearly. They don’t know the rules, clearly. Wally and Kyle have to have set them up to do this, clearly.

Clark watches with him over his shoulder. He chuckled when Bruce showed him the evidence earlier, but now his face is serious. He mouths an Oh. “This is getting out of hand. I’ll organize a meeting tomorrow.”

---

 The next day, in the biggest meeting hall on the watchtower, over 30 faces stare at them from across the large round table. Diana and J’onn are seated on their side, for good measure. They’re victims in this too. It’s intimidating to be called to the watchtower by Superman and Batman for a meeting on professional conduct, and even more intimidating to sit across four of the original members, especially for the new ones in the crowd. Good, Bruce thinks. He stands up, and so does Clark.

“Welcome, everyone,” Clark starts, the warm and commanding baritone all Superman. “We’re glad you could all make it on such short notice…” While Clark talks, Bruce regards the crowd of heroes standing nervously, or sitting on the few available chairs. Firestorm’s flame burns smaller than normal, the new Green Arrow has his bow clamped between both hands, and even Plastic Man seems to genuinely pay attention to Superman. Wally has his chin in his hands on the table, pretending to be interested, and Kyle only seems to pay attention to a scratch on the table’s surface. “…today is not an emergency, but it is important nonetheless…” Get to the point, Clark. “It seems that whilst we acquire more and more members for the JL, some of you think this is some sort of club and not an international organization to protect the earth,” he drones on. Arthur sighs, and for once, Bruce agrees with him.  

“I will not tolerate this any longer,” Bruce cuts Superman off brusquely, in his most serious bat-voice. “Take all pictures down. And if I see another one…”

Wally huffs, interrupting him. “No fun allowed on this godforsaken rock.”

Before Bruce can retort, Clark puts a hand on his tense shoulder. “What Batman is trying to say, is we can’t do this. Even if it seems harmless. Because if we get careless about the little things, we get sloppy, and if we get sloppy, the wrong information might fall into the wrong hands.”

“You’re just as paranoid as he is,” Plastic man points at Batman. “It’s a couple of harmless images.”

“And what did I just say?”

“You’re saying no fun allowed,” Kyle supplies this time. Once again, Bruce takes tremendous effort to suppress a face-palm, and crosses his arms instead. He grunts. Really, they have 37 children here. Not just the 6 back home – a rookie number. 37, except maybe not Diana. Maybe. “Man, we bust our butts for you guys. I’m behind at work, barely get any sleep or free time and you’re getting on our case for something as dumb as this!” Kyle throws his arms up in anger. Behind him, Connor tries to shush him.

“This is work just as much as your civilian job. And more important on top of that. If you want to slack off, you can do that back home. Not here.”

“Grumpy much, bats? Someone missed their morning coffee today…” Wally mumbles.

They continue staring at each other, but it’s Superman who breaks first, uncrosses his arms and sighs. “You can have a couch in the break room… and a tv.” he looks at Bruce. At his expense, of course. “That’s it. No more images of JL members. Leave your personal lives at home.”

“Fine,” Wally sits up. “We’ll take them down.”

 ---

 A couple days later, Bruce is back on the watchtower. No weird pictures greet him this time. Much cleaner. He steadily makes his way to the break room to grab a coffee before the current meeting, but only because he didn’t have time to wait for Alfred’s Italian brew anymore. Clark is with him, already more cheerful because of Bruce’s relatively better mood.

The cafeteria is still empty, the little kitchen still clean. Save for the fridge. There, prominently in the middle of the door, the original picture of Batman and Superman on the Javelin stares him squarely in the face. It’s held up by a pair of small Wonder Woman magnets this time. Clark says something behind him, but Bruce isn’t paying attention. As he gets closer, he can tell it’s different. The paper is thicker, a nicer quality. The image is not a print, but hand-drawn in a mix of coloured chalk and high-quality pencil. The lighting, especially, is magnificent. Kyle Rayner. A new addition is the caption in curly handwriting underneath the image:

 Even the world’s finest heroes need to sleep

 Now, Bruce face-palms. Hard. Clark mutters a fuck, but regains control quickly. “I’ve got to hand it to them; they have nerve.” Bruce ignores him as he opens the fridge to grab the milk for Clark’s coffee. “It’s a good quality to have.”

“Or a bad one.”

Clark shrugs. His face breaks out into a grin. “And, I have them on my side now.”

Oh, no. Bruce whips his head up from the coffee machine to look at Clark. “Batman doesn’t nap.”

Clark inclines his head, raises an eyebrow. But *you* do. It’s so goddamn frustrating when he’s right.

“Hn. You already have Alfred on your side, that’s enough. And I’ve been good about it.”

“According to your standards, sure. Don’t you think it’s time for one later today? After the meeting?”

“Not here,” Bruce whispers.

“Back home.”

Home. It’s a good thing the security cameras don’t record sound. “Okay,” he mumbles. “I’ve got some time before patrol.”

Clark’s grin turns victorious, and Bruce burns his tongue on the coffee while he tries to hide a smile himself. He’ll decide what to do about Kyle’s art project later. Right now, they have a meeting to attend to.

 ---

 The next morning, Bruce wakes up to Clark kissing his jaw, his mouth. He tastes like Alfred’s coffee. Too early, as always. Not early enough, as always, because Clark is already getting up for work. He considers pulling him back into bed and just straight up explaining to Perry that Clark is late again because he’s fucking the owner, but then he remembers yesterday’s incident. He’ll have to do something about it, obviously, but he’s not looking forward to acknowledging the whole thing yet again, maybe even admitting that the younger members are right, if only a little bit. Stupid watchtower clubhouse. His foul mood must be showing on his face, because all he gets is a “Let it go, Bruce” before Clark disappears into the bathroom. He comes back out in record time, fastening his tie. “Just, let it go. Let them have a little bit of fun. They’re young.”

But not doing anything about it is not an option. Not for Batman, and not for Bruce. “If I don’t retort, they’ll keep going. This won’t die out.” He sits up in bed. At the foot end, Clark is putting on his shoes. 

“It will. You can’t fight fire with fire, sweetheart.” He walks over to Bruce and kisses his cheek. That’s it.

“That’s it. I’m going to fight fire with fire.” Get down to their level. He has kids, knows what teenagers and twenty-something year olds think like.

“No,” Clark groans. It turns into a sigh. “I’m going to be late.”

Bruce gets up. “Then go. Have a good day at work, honey.” 

Clark clenches his jaw, and swings his messenger bag over his shoulder, giving up. “I’ll meet you for lunch,” he says, already halfway out the window.

Bruce closes it behind him, and then quickly makes his way down to the cave. He lets Alfred know he’ll have breakfast on the watchtower, dons the batsuit, makes a quick stop at his desk in the cave, and beams up to the watchtower. 9 am. He’s still on time.

---  

 At lunch time, the cafeteria is buzzing with excitement, more and more heroes gathering around the fridge as they point and whisper Really? And Do you even think it was him? And Wally, this must be another prank of yours. Bruce hears shushing and He’s right there while he drinks his coffee on the other side of the room. Finally, Clark walks in and takes a second to behold the spectacle, his brow furrowed, listening in. He clearly gives up on going to the fridge to get food, and instead makes a beeline to where Batman is sitting at one of the tables. “What’s going on? Did you remove it?” he asks as he sits down across from Bruce.

“I did not.”

Wally sticks his head out of the crowd and looks at the two of them. “Hey Bats! Does this mean we can keep it?”

Calmly, Bruce sips his coffee, pointedly ignoring the younglings and the little victory he supplied for them. But of course, and without skipping a beat, Clark notices his smug mood. He leans closer across the metal table. “What, did you put your bat-stamp of approval on it?”

“As a matter of fact, I did.”

Clark looks back over at the fridge with his spectacular vision to see what Bruce has done earlier, before anyone else was in the vicinity; his bat-symbol stamped onto the lower right corner of the caption. Later, he’ll add a rule to his original list next to the fridge. Only approved art and trophies allowed on the watchtower.

“I also hacked their phones and made sure there are no digital copies anymore,” he explains. “That should teach them to think twice next time.”

“You’re unbelievable, you know that?”

Bruce shrugs. After all, he’s heard it all before. Only this time, Clark is unable to suppress a smile, he puts a hand over his, and adds “I love you.” Even that is nothing new, he knows it already, but it hasn’t happened on the watchtower yet. He allows a smile to form on his face while Clark holds his gloved hand. The rest of the league is too busy with the commotion around the fridge, anyway.  

A few days later, he finds a copy of the drawing in the cave, this one with a small Superman stamp in the lower-right corner. It may just be exactly what he needs to see after a long night of patrol. Alfred seems happy about it too, and not just about the two people in it. He now simply points to the text with a stern face instead of obnoxiously and repeatedly clearing his throat whenever Bruce comes back from patrol battered and bruised or refuses to go up to the house and his bed.

There is another one in the fortress, although Clark doesn’t spend much time there. Bruce figures he can use the reminder whenever he does go there, so far away from humanity, to work on a case. And in Blüdhaven, Dick has one on his bedside table. The last time he visited Titans tower he noticed one in the hallway. Both of those not Bruce’s doing. He lets it slide, right of his cape and cowl and cool exterior. He just hopes everyone can keep it within their inner circles and that Batman and Superman won’t get turned into one of those ‘memes’.  

[xonepeacelovex]

maybe, maybe

“So why you didn’t confessed to her?” Your left hand is under your chin, supporting your head while looking at the flustered man. Now that got his attention away from your childhood friend and his best friend, F/N. It is too obvious that you know right away from the first meeting or date. F/N is having fun matchmaking the two of you, her single bestfriends. 

“I-” he stammered. It is rude to look at other people while he is in a date. And yes, you are also rude for asking him this and for being nosy but you are curious as to why Hyunjin is contented at looking F/N from afar. 

F/N is dancing on the dance floor with his boyfriend. The music is so loud, the club is filled with a smell of smoke from a cigarette though no one in your table is smoking and the drunk people dancing and shouting made you sigh. It reminded you that your bed is indeed the best place to be in this weekend. Yet you crave vodka instead of your usual coffee tonight. 

Maybe it’s the way you are looking at him, your eyes are telling him it’s okay to be honest with you that made him say the next words, “She never saw me that way,” he answered you, depleted. 

Maybe it’s the disappointment in his voice that got you an idea, “Are you sure she never saw you that way?”, you asked him. Drinking from your glass, looking at F/N, that girl is so oblivious, making you sigh for the second time tonight.

“Did she said anything about me?”, he asked with anticipation in his voice. You nodded, now looking at him, “She said you are handsome like a prince, super talented, kind-hearted and-” you paused. Hyunjin is blushing with every compliment coming out from your mouth, being not able to look at you instead he is looking down, fidgeting with his fingers. You are sure his heart is fluttering and that made you chuckle. “- and single.” You saw the way his shoulders slump. Realizing that F/N said those things to make you come to this date. 

“I came for the vodka,” you raise your glass, reading what’s on his mind. Drinking again, nodding at the taste of the vodka, free alcohol, that made you abandon Netflix and your warm bed. “Don’t worry,” you said patting his back for two reasons; consoling him and reassuring him you don’t have an intention on dating him either. 

It’s your fist time meeting Hyunjin and it’s painful to look at him look at F/N. Hyunjin is not bad. He’s truly all the things F/N said. 

“Perhaps do you want to date me?” you caught him off guard for the second time tonight. Are you always this straightforward, he thought. “Not that you are my type but-” he said carefully, afraid that he’ll hurt your feelings. “Opppss”, putting your finger in front of his lips, stopping him from continuing. You once again raise your glass and he confusedly raise his glass with you. You smirk, “For the people who are not an option,” you said cheering, and clinking your glass to his. He doesn’t drink yet he bottoms up whatever alcohol it is in his glass. Maybe it is your words that made him drink tonight. You also bottoms up your glass.

Seeing him wince at his drink made you smile. He’s really the kind of guy, pure and innocent, the good guy.

“Though you should date me,” you said with confidence. He is looking at you like you lost your mind and that kinda offended you because you think you have the perfect plan. “To see if she really never saw you that way,” you suggested. He bit his lower lip, thinking hard about your proposal.

“So?” you looked at him patiently. From your peripheral vision, you saw F/N is already walking towards your table without his boyfriend. Not again, you thought. “Do you want to date me?” you focus on Hyunjin again.

F/N is really oblivious not to see Hyunjin’s affection for her and she is bad at relationships. She always manages to fall for the wrong guys. This time you’ll make sure he gets the good guy. 

He holds both of your hands, “You’ll help me right?” looking at you hopefully.

“Of course,” smiling at him. 

Copyright © 2020 xonepeacelovex All rights reserved.

[primergon]

our love has gone cold ,you're intertwining your soul with somebody else , optimus / fem!reader

Summary : “ I don’t think I can change the way I feel about you Prime,” You whispered in defeat, shrugging your shoulders. You look around, avoiding his gaze. You used to hate how you can never tell what he was thinking, but tonight, the expressiveness of his eyes – no, optics, nearly scared you.

The tall grass swayed with the wind, hypnotic under the half-moon looming above.

“ But we can’t always have what we want, can we?”

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Category: F/M

Fandoms: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime

Relationships: Optimus Prime/You, Optimus Prime / Reader, Optimus Prime & You

OPTIMUS was a giver.

He was kind, considerate, selfless. You can’t remember the last time he accepted anything for himself. His generosity had scared you at one point, because you can’t wrap your head around the fact that he would easily lay down his life for others, that he wouldn’t hesitate to hurt himself to protect you, that he would sacrifice everything for the sake of one person.

A Prime never puts himself first.

He was always the one to give, never to receive.

You watched him from afar, slowly approaching. Raf was the first one to spot you, and the child zipped past Miko and Jack, with a speed that would’ve given him a perfect grade in P.E, before hugging you. Soon enough, Jack and Miko followed – announcing your presence to the Base.

Once you peeled yourself away from the crowd of Autobots eager to greet you, you exchanged a few words with June, catching up on things. You and Ratchet even shared a few words, proving that it has indeed been a while since you visited.

In the end, your eyes landed on him, and you both shared a smile.

You spend the whole day with the kids, going on patrol and having lunch.

“ You’ve been traveling a lot, huh?” Miko clapped, leaning against your shoulder to look at your scrapbook. In under four months, you’ve managed to explore most of the cities in your country, earning yourself more than a handful of stories to keep the children entertained.

The afternoon peeled itself away, and before you know it, it was nightfall. You debated on whether you should ask Fowler for a ride or to ask Wheeljack to drop you off – but Optimus beat you to it, and here you are now, sitting with your legs tucked under your chin ( and shoes off, per request) against his driver’s seat.

The small crack by the window reminding just how cold the nights in Jasper could get.

“ Are you cold?” He asked, interrupting the silence.

“ Don’t worry about it.” You patted the steering wheel, “ I’m fine.”

Your fingers lingered against the surface, and you can feel the soft vibrations underneath, coaxing you to keep your hand there. Yet, you pulled away.  There was a certain kind of tension in the air, an intruder to your usual routine. The silence suggested that you’ve only met him today, even if you’ve had known him for months.

As much as you wanted to talk with him, your mouth just doesn’t work the way it used to around him.

What happened? You thought. What happened between us?

Usually, the cab would be filled with chatter, paired with your obnoxious laughter – “ Admit it Prime, you find my laughing annoying.” He would always deny it, and you hated how genuine he sounded when he claimed that your laughter reminded him of home.

It was only natural for the silence to suffocate the both of you, it was only waiting until one of caved.

“ Are you doing well?”

You can’t help but scoff at that. “ That’s very ambiguous. Physically? I’m fine. Mentally? That’s debatable. Emotionally? Let’s not even go there.”

You let out a weak laugh, but it sounded strained, forced – and Optimus must’ve sensed this, because his driving began to slow.

“ How’s – how’s Team Prime holding up? Any news on the Decepticons?”

He hesitated, nearly tumbling on his own words – and that never ceases to amaze you. Optimus was always the one for powerful speeches and moving words, to see him so unsure was unusual. You used to find it amusing, using it to poke fun at him. Now, it only made you sad – for what specific reason, you still don’t know.

As the dirt road behind you disappear under his wheels, Optimus told you what had happened the past few months. In your absence, you seemed to have missed a lot, and the Leader was more than willing to keep you up to date. Yet, that still wasn’t enough to chase away the silence – which would fight for every opportunity to leak through the seams of your conversations.

Once he ran out of things to say, you were back to listening to the asphalt road crunching under his tires.

You felt awful for not saying something - anything, but you just can’t.

There was a weight anchoring your heart, an uncomfortable weight that prevented you from saying his name on your tongue. It was like a foreign language you can’t pronounce, and so you opted to stay quiet – even if you both had to suffer for it.

“ Do you have a place to stay tonight?”

Your eyes slightly widen, giving away your surprise. “ You remembered that I sold my house ?”

While it was true that you had told him about putting your house up for sale, you didn’t expect him to actually remember it. You couldn’t even vividly recall the exact moment you’ve told him, hinting that it must’ve been something you’ve peppered into your mindless babbling weeks – no, months, ago.

And he still remembers it.

“ I remember.”

You ignore the heaviness in your heart.

“ I’m…I’m staying with my boyfriend.”

His driving stopped.

It wasn’t spontaneous – no, only Wheeljack and Smokescreen stops out of the blue. You had actually gotten a bloody nose once because of Wheeljack’s driving. You’ve never seen Optimus so concerned.

When you’re with the Prime, he was careful to slow down before hitting the breaks. Yet, you could still feel the sudden tension in his frame, the metal sizing up beneath you.

There was a moment, and you were forced to listen to the crickets outside – their chirping noisier than the sound of your breathing.

“ I see.”

He didn’t move, and you wanted to call him out for it – but you yourself were stuck, glued against the seat.

“ Optimus…” You finally croaked out.

He started the engine, only to have you open the car door, stepping out immediately.

You walked out of the road, hiking up a hill. You didn’t have to turn around to know that he was following you, his footsteps sending tremors all over the ground. Throughout the walk, you let your mind wander.

Memories began to flood your vision – you could still feel his lips against yours, ghosting against the column of your neck. His hands were warm, circling your waist, pushing back your hair. If you close your eyes, you’ll be able to hear his whispers in the dark, tracing down your skin. You’ve memorized the sound of his laughter by now, his rare and genuine moments of joy. Even when he was with you – his laughter was rare, but that didn’t stop you from etching it to the back of your mind.

You were starting to regret it, because these days it was the only sound you can hear whenever you’re alone.

There was a small stream beside you, the water trickling down a clump of rocks. The grass brushed your ankles, the dew soaking the socks peeking out of your shoes. Here, the isolation was enough to hide his towering frame from prying eyes.

You both stared at each other, waiting.

“ I’m glad to hear that…you are happy.”

For some reason, you hated how indifferent he sounded, how calm and collected he seemed. You wrapped your arms around yourself. At his words, you let out a chuckle.

Happy.

Were you happy?

You’ve only met your boyfriend a month ago. It was sudden, it was spontaneous, it was so unlike you – yet you didn’t have the heart to admit that it was more convenient than wanted. When things ended between you and Optimus, it was as if you’ve been pushed out of a boat and into the water. Out of fear, out of desperation – you’ve been trying to grab onto things to keep yourself afloat.

As cruel as it sounds, your boyfriend just so happens to be there. In the end, you’ve committed an act of selfishness, all because Optimus was too selfless to let you stay.

“ How do you know I’m happy?”

He raised his eyebrows at this.

The leaves rustled above you, shaking its branches against the breeze. “ I guess, I can be happy with him. He treats me well. He brings me flowers, he drives me home, he kisses me.”

At this Optimus tore his gaze away, staring at the flowers peeking out of the bushes.

“ I can be happy with him.” You ducked your head. “ But not as happy as I was with you.”

There was a stinging behind your eyes, trying to force out your tears – but you didn’t want to cry. Not now, not in front of him. Not when you know he could no longer bring himself to wipe them away, so you settled for tipping your head back, furiously blinking away the itch.

Your fingers wiped the corners, and you cleared your throat.

“ I can’t ask this from you.”

He sounded so defeated, so helpless, and you hated that. He was Optimus Prime, Leader of the Autobots. The symbol of hope, resistance, courage – so why did he sound so terrified standing before you?

You hated it.

“ Who made it your decision? It was mine too.” You argued, stepping forward. “ Yet, you didn’t even give me a chance to choose.”

Primes. You were a fool to think that you can offer him anything greater in magnitude than his primacy, than his duty, than his responsibility. When it comes to Optimus, you should have known that you could never be anything other than a liability.

A Prime is a martyr – a savior who needs to be willing to throw himself into the fire when asked. The fact that he was starting to second guess his choices when you came along was enough to scare him into ending things with you.

It was as if the thought of being selfish, even for a little bit, terrified him.

“ I don’t think I can change the way I feel about you Prime,” You whispered in defeat, shrugging your shoulders. You look around, avoiding his gaze. You used to hate how you can never tell what he was thinking, but tonight, the expressiveness of his eyes – no, optics, nearly scared you.

The tall grass swayed with the wind, hypnotic under the half-moon looming above.

“ But we can’t always have what we want, can we?”

When your eyes met, his expression was enough to make you cry. Even when you were back inside his cab, you couldn’t shake off the wounded look. For a fragment of a second, his face had shifted into one of sadness, longing, grief, regret.

Yet, he’s made his choice.

It was time for you to make yours.

When you reached home, your boyfriend was by the porch waiting for you. You had climbed out, thankful that the shadows paired by the distance concealed the empty driver’s seat. He looped his arms around your waist, twirling you around.

Your boyfriend leaned down to kiss you, and you complied, catching his lips. You spent some time by the walkway, with him embracing you. With your boyfriend’s back against the red and blue rig, you were able to watch Optimus parked under the trees – your eyes catching the way his side-view mirror reflected the tender moment.

You could almost imagine his expression, and that was enough for you to pull your boyfriend into another kiss, leaving you to listen to the sound of him driving away into the night.

That night, a part of you wished he had intervened. You wished that he had given in into his desires, into his want, into his selfishness – yet he didn’t, and you spent the entire night trying to shrug off your disappointment. You turn your body towards the window, watching as the curtains flutter against the breeze.

You could no longer feel the weight of the body next to you, and here, tonight – you feel more alone than you’ve ever been.

Optimus was a giver, you tell yourself.

He was kind, considerate, selfless. You can’t remember the last time he accepted anything for himself. Now, under the silver glow of the moon and the stillness of the night, you can remember why you were afraid of his generosity in the first place.

Optimus was a giver.

Then why does it feel like he had just taken something away from you?

A/N : I listened to The 1975′s Somebody else while writing this :,)

Will you look at the time, its sad O'clock. I love this song so much and it gave me the inspiration to write this one shot. I'm so sorry that I keep putting my characters in the same scenery, I'll try to be more diverse in my choice of...environment ? Tundra ? Setting. Yes, I'll try to explore different settings. I hope you guys like this, because I have major feels for OP and let's face it, the guy is always dying !!!

No one : Absolutely no one : Optimus : Due to personal reasons, I will be passing away

Like ??? Why ?? You did this, for what ??

Major martyr complex. This is something I had fun exploring, hope you're all well !

( If you want to submit a request, we can discuss it through my Instagram : @/primergonn ! If you don't have instagram, then feel free to leave it here, it'll show up in my inbox <3 )

[beeblebrox-be-damned]

Hotel Happenings, Part 1

Alpha’s!Stucky x Human?Reader

TW: Nothing in this bit, kiddo’s. Still rating this as 18+ since later parts will be smutty.

AN: So I was going to wait until I had this finished, but then I got excited and,,,,,,, yeah here we are.

  The wind whisked over the small motel nestled just on the edge of town. Small spits of rain stuttered out of patchy clouds, indecisive as to wear it should end its journey. Another journey was ending that night, and a new one would begin shortly after…

……………………

The package on the doorstep was small, placed just out of the light spring rain in the shelter of the curved trellis, covered in perfumed wisteria, that arched over the door. A small whine came from the mass, a thin cry that hardly permeated the howling wind. The cry grew louder after a moment, turning from a whine to a wail. It was enough to alert the house’s aging occupant.

“Abbey, look what we have here…” The woman spoke softly, a small bundle of rags nestled against her bosom as she pushed the door closed against the wind. She sat down in the old rocking chair- nearly knocking over the knitting she had been slaving over- turning on the pull-chain lamp beside on the table. A soft glow illuminated her wizened face, as well as the soft, new face swaddled within the bundle. The cries subsided as the old woman gently rocked, soothing the babe.

“Someone has left us a present, Abbey,” she cooed. A sleek tabby cat placed its front paws on her knees, stretching up to smell the wiggling mass of rags. A gentle purr emanated from its chest as it clamored up beside the woman, watching the small, squirming babe. “A little present on our doorstep… what do you think, Abbey?”

The cat, after several moments of perceived deliberation, gave a small mew. It may have had something to do with the tiny hand that emerged from the cloth and batted the feline’s nose, but the elderly woman saw it as an answer. “Yes, Abbey, I agree. It is rude to return a gift.” She stroked one hand over the sparse hair of the newborn’s head. 

She gingerly pushed back the wrappings, exposing the tiny, shivering lass. “Such a small little one…” she cooed as she rubbed warmth back into the infant’s hands and feet. “Too small for an Other, so I’d say you’re a teeny tiny human, hmm?” The baby responded with a weak cry. “Ah,” she said with a gentle smile, “lets see if we have any milk in the icebox..”

  ..…………A couple handfuls of years later………….

“Thank you for staying! Come again soon,” the woman called as she waved to the businessman strolling out the door. He waved briefly, not the type to make a comment. Always on the go, always on the move. It made her sad to know there were people out there who couldn’t stop to enjoy the small things like a warm bed and home-cooked food. It satisfied her, though, knowing she could provide that for at least one or two nights.

A newlywed couple emerged from the hall, their suitcase rattling behind them. Both wore broad smiles as they trailed over the worn carpet towards the small front desk, settling their baggage as they paid for the stay. The woman behind it met their cheerful grins eagerly. She loved to see happiness, especially so early in the morning.

“Here’s the key, miss,” the shorter man said, placing the key with its jaunty frilled keychain on the desk. “Lovely room, thank you so much. The view of the town was incredible. Who knew such a little place would have such fantastic scenery! Almost pains us to leave.”

“No problem, hun,” the woman exclaimed as she hung the key back up on the wall behind her, ready for whoever would occupy the room next after housekeeping cleaned it up. “I’m so glad you enjoyed your stay. It’s always a treat to have newlyweds here. As you can imagine, not many people decide to spend part of their honeymoon in such a small, out-of-the-way town. Where’d you say your going next?”

The taller man answer, hand resting on his husband’s, caressing his knuckles gently. “Grand Rapids is the plan, but, well, who knows? Maybe we’ll find another charming little place to stay in along the way.” He glanced at his husband, smiling. It warmed the woman’s heart to see two people so enamored with each other. 

“Best of wishes to you both, then!” she replied with a smile. The couple gathered their bags once more, checking them over. They departed with another round of gratuitous words.

“Y’know,” the shorter man said as they walked out the door, the woman barely overhearing, “It’s so nice to find a place that’s so inviting. So homey.” His husband nodded in agreement as they slipped into their car and drove away, onto their next adventure with each other.

The woman smiled as she turned back to her work. It made her day to hear comments like that. It was really why she kept the place going. If anything, it’d be easier to sell and find a small house and get a job at the local grocer’s or something like that, but this place was special. It felt like home to her, too, because it was her home. She supposed it always would be.

“Kiddo?” an aging voice creaked, interrupting her train of thought. The woman jumped up and walked quickly to the office, pushing open the door. It creaked, reminding her that it needed oiling later, just as the front doors did. And every other door in the ancient building. Oh, it was a labor to keep up with the place, but it was a labor of love.

“Yeah, Mama Ro? What’d you need?” She slid in the door gap, nudging a stack of boxed papers gently aside with her hip. The elderly woman seated in the rocker beside the window turned her face up towards her, smiling. Her eyes were milky and sightless now, but the woman swore they could still see right through her. Mama Ro was a sharp lady, even in her advanced age.

“Nothin’, sugar. Just a glass a water, if ya’ don’t mind.” Her voice was scratchy, as most voices become when they’ve been in use for nearly 97 years. It carried a tone of mischief that would startle anyone not familiar to her. Most would be surprised to find such spirit contained in such a worn vessel. Worn, but beautiful and wise. “Wanted ta’ ask if that cute pair ‘a kids enjoyed their stay. They seemed s’ sweet.”

The woman smiled and grabbed a paper cup, filling it from the water dispenser just outside the room. She returned and handed it to Ro, making sure the elder’s arthritic hands had a good grasp before pulling away. “They said the room was lovely. Mentioned the view too, just like you thought they’d enjoy. I swear, Mama Ro, I don’t know how you do it. It’s like you can read their minds!” 

The elder woman chuckled. The wrinkles around her eyes were accentuated, years of smiling etched into her soft, dark skin. A smile bloomed on her face, nearly a mischievous grin. Scratch that, the woman thought, it was mischievous. Indeed, it was mischievous as always.

“Baby, it’s called 96 an’ a half years of experience. You don’t stick around as long as I hav’ without pickin up a few people-readin skills.” She laughed again, water sloshing out of the cup in her hand. “You’ll get there someday, I know it.” She nodded with a certainty that defied the rules of probability themself. Ro was a sharp lady.

The woman smiled, kissing Ro’s cheek. The old woman patted the younger woman’s hand as she pulled away. “Better go check the desk, young’un,” she instructed with a poke to the woman’s side.

The woman raised her eyebrows. “Oh? I didn’t hear anything…” It amazed her how acute Ro’s senses were sometimes. “I’ll check on you in a little while, alright Mama,” she said as she neared the door, looking back at the elderly lady. Both their expressions were nothing short of affectionate. She waved her gnarled hand.

“Shoo, baby, before the customers leave.” Her voice was jovial as ever. The woman smiled and ducked out the door with a quick yes ma’am. She made sure it was partially open, so she could hear if Ro called, before turning back to the lobby. She was shocked to see a large group of people crowded into the relatively small room, talking amongst themselves and examining the front desk curiously.

Hurriedly she returned to the desk, rushing to put things in order without further regard towards the nature of the guests. “Sorry about the wait,” she said quickly a she searched for the sign-in book. She finally found it, placing it open on the desk. She looked up to address the crowd again. “If you all could ple-”

Her voice died in her throat as she blinked rapidly. Now that was definitely something you would expect in a small town. She swallowed, shaking her head to clear her thoughts. “U-uh, sorry. Just, please, um, sign in here.” She fumbled for a pen, placing it on the book. “I-if you’d group your names to show who’s rooming with who, I m-ean IF any of you are rooming together- We have plenty of sp-pace if not-”

The man at the front of the group chuckled. “Alright, Miss, will do.” He grabbed the pen and book, turning to his companions and allowing the woman a moment to process what exactly was happening. Her heart raced as her mind raced at equal speed.

The Avengers. In her lobby.

Definitely not something you’d expect in a small town.

        …………………………

Tony Stark handed the woman the sign-in book. Tony Freaking Stark. She swore she was going to pass out. Who knows, maybe one of them would give her mouth-to-mouth. She almost passed out at the thought. She sat the book down and gathered up the room keys, sighing in relief when one remained, meaning she wouldn’t have to rush to clean the last room in a frantic mess in front of the motherfucking Avengers.

“Right this way,” she said, leading into the hallway that wrapped through the building. “Luckily, there aren’t any other boarders at the moment, so you’ll have the place to yourselves.” Each person filtered into the rooms with a smile and a thank you, all seeming eager for a rest. From the look of it, she’d guess they had been on some sort of long mission. “Dinner is at 7, just across the hall from the front if anyone would like to eat then. If not, there’s a couple small restaurants in town that are very nice.”

She took a deep breath as the last door shut, relieved to be out from under the scrutiny of the famous (or infamous, to some) group of people. It was an honor to have them want to stay there of all places, but it increased her workload by a lot. Heck, she didn’t even know how long they’d be staying. She forced herself to breath as she headed back towards the front. Might as well get a start on dinner now, she thought as she returned to the desk to make sure everything was in order, heaven forbid she be caught late in front of-

The bell above the door rang, causing her to nearly jump out of her skin. Two more men walked in, and the woman thought she’d absolutely die. It was THE Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes. She swallowed thickly. She had thought the group had looked a bit small, and no wonder. It had been missing the two beefiest (Earth) people in the Avengers, the super-soldiers.

“We lagged a bit behind the others,” Steve said as he strode to the desk, “got a little caught up in the scenery.” He leaned down to sign in, flashing the woman a s mile that God would envy. She thought her heart was going to jump out of her chest as she tried to process what had happened in the past ten minutes. “Buck and I will room together, if that’s alright.”

“O-of course,” she stammered, nodding. She stepped back and grabbed the last key, frowning slightly as she realized she’d have to clean up the last room quickly as possible. “Oh, um. I-I’ll need to clean this room,” she said apologetically, ducking her head. “The couple using it left just before y-you all arrived. I’m so sorry about this, really I-”

Steve chuckled, patting her shoulder casually with a -massive- hand. “Don’t worry about it. We can always spend a little time in town while you clean. Or we could help, if that’s alright? I don’t want you to feel rushed.” His face was almost sheepish, his expression making her heart leap in her chest. With a wince she realized she had been staring. He seemed to realize he hadn’t taken his hand of her shoulder at the same time and pulled away, cheeks flushed an almost unnoticeable shade of pink.

Face blazing, she shook her head. “No, no, no don’t worry about that, it’s no trouble at all-” She paused, noticing the bags Bucky was carrying. “O-oh! Can I help you with those, they look heavy,” the super-soldier detail momentarily escaping the woman’s mind as she stammered.

Bucky smiled, something that was rare in and of itself. He never smiled in the news footage they showed. Her heart skipped a beat. It was every bit as beautiful as Steve’s, and oh lord if it wouldn’t be the death of her. “It’s alright, ma’am,” he chuckled. “Could we stop by the room to drop off our things before we head out?”

She nodded, twisting the key between her fingers as she turned towards the hall. “Of course. Right this way.” The two followed closely down the hallway. Steve examined the doors as they passed by, taking note of all of the features.

“This place looks pretty old, huh?” he asked casually as they reached the last room, “But well-kept too.” She opened the door and let them into their room, nodding. She hung the key on a hook by the door.

“Yes. Built in the late 1800’s. It’s been in Ro, the owner’s, family since then.” She headed into the room behind him, already busying herself with tidying the small space. She began to pull the sheets off the bed as Steve and Bucky placed their bags in the wardrobe.

“You aren’t the owner?” Bucky asked casually as he shut the door, watching her with a surprised look.

“Huh? Oh, no,” she chuckled. “I don’t own this place. Maybe someday, but for now I just work for the owner. Have since I was little.” She bunched up the sheets and placed them in the hallway to take to the wash later. Retrieving fresh ones from the room’s linen closet, she continued to work.

“So your family works for the owner’s family?” Steve inquired, walking over to help lift the corner of the mattress so she could tuck the lower sheet beneath properly. She made a mental note to look into bulk ordering some fitted sheets as she thanked him softly.

“No, I guess you could say I am family, sort-of. Ro raised me after I kinda just… showed up on her doorstep one day,” she explained as she turned back the sheets, spreading the quilt and fluffing the pillows just so. They had to be perfect, it was very important they were perfect. For what reason, she didn’t really know. “Ro is a saint, really.”

“Showed up?” Bucky said, confused. He didn’t want to pry but curiosity understandably got the best of him. Steve shot him a look. he grinned sheepishly back. The woman walked to the bathroom, kneeling down to retrieve cleaning supplies from beneath the sink.

“Yes, though not really of my own volition. Dropped of here as a newborn.” She wondered briefly if they’d find that odd, then wondered why she had even mentioned it. She usually kept that part of her life quiet. Small towns tend to be rumor pools, and she didn’t want the hotel to suffer just because some odd circumstances spawned weird gossip.

Steve raised his eyebrows. “Oh, well, that’s a shame. I mean, not a shame, you seem happy here, I uh-” He stumbled over his words, Bucky choking back a laugh behind him. Even after all these years, Steve still didn’t know how to talk to women.

Bucky patted Steve on the back, grabbing the hem of his shirt and tugging him towards the door. “Don’t worry miss, I’ll get him out of your hair,” he chuckled, playfully shoving Steve out into the hall. She peeked out of the bathroom, cleaning rag in one hand.

“Alright, I should be done within an hour. Again, I’m really sorry about the wait.” Her apologetic ways were endearing. Something about her made Bucky’s chest feel oddly warm. From the look on Steve’s face, he felt it too.

“Don’t worry about that, ma’am,” he said as he stepped out of the room. “By the way,” he found himself blurting on a whim, “what’s your designation. I know that’s a bit of an odd thing to ask, but it’s hard to tell, a little. Maybe it’s just the cleaning supplies or something.”

She paused her work, confused. “I-I don’t have one,” she called back, brow furrowed. “I’m a human. Maybe you’re smell, er, scenting previous tenants?”

Bucky and Steve exchanged a confused glance. “Alright, sorry to bother. We’ll get going then, and thank you for the room,” Steve rushed awkwardly, shutting the door before things could get more embarrassing. Something was off here.

They walked back down the hall silently, thinking. Steve opened the front door for Bucky, musing. 

“You don’t really believe that, do you?” the brunette said, looking at Steve as they walked down the wooded trail that led to the town. “I don’t mean to imply she’s lying, but there’s no way that girl is human. I saw the way you reacted to her, and I sure as hell know how I reacted.”

Steve frowned, thinking. He nodded slowly. “Reacted… you mean you felt that too? Do you think she’s an Omega? Or at least a Beta?”

Bucky shrugged. “One of those. Definitely not an Alpha. Her scent is so faint though.” He went quiet for another few moments before speaking once more. “And I know for a fact that Natasha and Bruce are the only other Designates that have been in there in a long time, hell, even in the whole town. We were smelling her, not someone else. It had to be her.”

[jungcity]

𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞, 𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥. | iii

word count: 7k

“my soul 

chose yours 

and a soul 

doesn't just 

forget that”

— b.m.

“This is absurd!”

There was only one thing you wanted to do tonight; curl in your bed and watch korea dramas until your eyes sore from the radiation. But as you roll the wires of the hair-straightener free, all you could do was sniff the tears that was threatening to spill from your eyes.

Yuqi laughed loudly behind you, helping you unroll the knotted wires of the straightener. “Are you seriously gonna cry right now?” She cackled from seeing your frown that could almost reach your chin.

“I don’t know what’s got to my mind. I am seriously the stupidest person to ever exist in the world!” You screamed.

Yuqi’s laughed went louder while patting your back. “No one told you to grab your boss and introduced him as your boyfriend in front of your ex-boyfriend, sis,” Yuqi said, giving emphasis to the word ‘boyfriend’ before continuing, “… so yes, deal with the consequences.”

While praying for the ground to swallow you whole before you hear the honk of Jaehyun’s car in front of your house, you reminisced the insanity of yesterday.

It was a great sunny day. The weather wasn’t too hot, nor it was too cold. Wildflowers are blooming in the grass, with the wind carrying their petals into the air. You smiled, picking one and continuing your walk towards the bus stop with a flower in your hand.

It had been a month since Yuqi was discharged from the hospital. Her recovery had been incredibly fast. Unfortunately, she needed to drop her entry to the archery team— but the coach told her she could always try-out whenever she regained her full-strength. However, the topic is still on debate inside your home, since you didn’t want to see your sister looking as pale as a ghost on a hospital bed again.

Of course, you did not have any choice— again— but to stay in Jung’s Fiscals. Out of compassion or you-don’t-know-what, Jaehyun did not give you too much headache when it came to filing a loan. You were able to pay for all the hospital bills and other expenses such as medicines because of that.

You realized that this life won’t give you any chances to choose the way you wanted to live it. It had felt as if life itself decides for what was going to happen to you. You shook your head and ran from the negative thoughts. The day is bright and the sun is smiling softly at you, you have no reason to be pessimistic. Especially now that Yuqi is all well and far from danger.

There was only one thing that was persistently nagging on your system. Looking at the view outside while the wheels of the bus rolls down the highway, you think about your dreams. Nothing mysterious has happened after you dreamt about the lake— where you heard Jaehyun’s voice calling for someone named Aurora. You have no inkling about who she might be, or what she is to Jaehyun’s life. But there is a high chance that she is nothing but a part of your imagination. At first, you wanted to ask Jaehyun about the name, but his face welcomed no conversations for things other than business. And it felt absurd to ask him about your dream. He obviously has no responsibility to indulge himself to the visions that you see every time you drift asleep. Besides, you couldn’t risk him calling you delusional nor weird.

However, it’s been a month since you last had a peculiar dream. After the lake, all you dreamt about were shallow visions which you easily forgot the next day. It made everything more sinister, for you still remember every detail of the dream you had about Jaehyun. Before you lose your mind from too much thinking, the bus halted in front of Jung’s Fiscals. You gathered your things and departed the vehicle.

Surprisingly, the inside of the lounge gave off a warm atmosphere, so unusual from its grim and quiet surroundings the whole two months you have been working there. You supposed it was your mood that was taking in the bright sides; of the smiles and greetings you were too occupied to notice because you have always struggled every day to please your boss.

Soojin was on her usual place in the front desk, giving you a wave before continuing on her work.

Jung Jaehyun arrived thirty-minutes after you. As usual, he didn’t spare you a glance when you greeted him. It was not like you were expecting him to. Slowly, in the past eight weeks of working for him, you have already got a hold of his frowning, shouting, and disappointed looks. It almost felt like he doesn’t get into your nerves anymore. But sometimes, he still does. Especially right now.

“Where the fuck did you get this coffee?” He scanned the mug in his hand. You narrowed your brows at him. Surely, there wasn’t anything wrong about its taste. You have tasted the coffee for five times, resulting to five spoons waiting for you in the sink. The same taste still lingering in your mouth.

“Sir?”

“Nevermind. Book me a flight to London, send flowers to Johnny Seo— the dick’s giving me too much shit for not going to his gallery’s opening yesterday,” he said the last sentence to himself, clearly frustrated of his friend bumming him out. You quickly typed the important words into your mobile phone, careful not to misspell nor mistyped anything.

Johnny Seo owned a gallery fifteen-minutes away from Jung’s Fiscals. You knew about it when Mr. Seo visited Jaehyun to force him to go. He is a man of a great posture; tall height with lean muscles. Based from your first impression, he is the friendly-type of guy. He even invited you himself when you brought them drinks.

“And—” he paused. You looked at him, anticipating for his next command. Two minutes, of him looking at nowhere and two minutes of you waiting for his mouth to say something. He was completely speechless in his seat, his mouth a thin line and his eyes emotionless.

“Sir?” You decided to break the silence. Albeit not looking at you, his mouth said the order.

“And… make sure the painting from France will be delivered straight in my house tomorrow.”

You jotted the details of the parcel, and mentally reminded yourself to contact the delivery company for Jaehyun’s orders. When you returned to your table, you transferred the notes into the tab that was provided for you. You were halfway into the notes when you received a text from Soojin.

Yuta’s visiting TODAY! Make sure to look your best, bih! 😉

You emitted a silent gasp. Yuta’s arrival wasn’t on your to-do-list for today, and you have no plans to meet him. Soojin hadn’t given you any hint about his arrival, obviously planning to surprise you with the presence of your ex-boyfriend. And she succeeded. Darn it.

You frustratedly typed in the address of Jaehyun’s house into the mail that you created. Shutting your eyes and taking a deep breath, you think about all the possibilities of what could happen later. Soojin’s surely going to give you hell if you stand her up. And you won’t give Yuta the satisfaction of thinking that you still haven’t moved on from your feelings for him. You weren’t trying to be ‘bitter’, you just have no tolerance for cheaters. But for the sake of the friendship that is entwining the three of you, you will go.

Lunch time approached in a dashing speed. For the first time in your whole life, you dreaded the time of eating. There was a pit resting in your stomach by thinking about Yuta. Sure, there is a small part of you that wonders about his whereabouts now, but that curiosity isn’t enough to relive the friendship you once had.

The elevator door tinged, and a smiling Soojin came out. You grunted— there was no running from it now.

“What’s that face, Y/N?” she cooed before sitting on the chair in front of your table. You rolled your eyes at her, showing that you have no time for her teasing.

“C’mon! It’s been years, babe. Don’t tell me you still haven’t moved on?” Soojin raised her perfect brows at you. You threw a crumpled paper her way, earning a loud laugh from her. But it quickly receded as she realized that she was in the same floor as Jung Jaehyun.

“Of course I have moved on! But this meet up, it doesn’t sit well with me. And I don’t understand why are you so eager to see him, not like you didn’t slap him across the cheek when I told you he’s cheating on me,” you reminded her. She, indeed, slapped Yuta before that you feared his teeth would fall off from his gums.

“Like I said, it’s been years. Aren’t you excited to see our old friend?”

No. Yes. Maybe.

“Whatever, Soo. Where is he now?”

At your question, Soojin’s phone buzzed on the table. She mouthed ‘Yuta’ before sliding the green button. “Oh! Nakamoto! Yes, yes. Oooooh! I see that you’re a rich man now! Okay, I’m with Y/N now.” You winced at your name being said to Yuta. “Yes! Okay, okay. Got it!” Then she finished the call with a playful grin plastered on her face.

“He’s already here. And he’s gonna treat us to the nearest restaurant, c’mon!” Soojin dragged you to the elevator, chanting stories after stories as you both walked into the lounge and into the restaurant five-minutes away from Jung’s Fiscals.

Your heart was hammering against your chest as Soojin led you inside. As you passed the door, Soojin sharply turned on you— suddenly fixing your hair like you’re her doll.

“Alright! Let him regret letting you go.” She grinned. You were about to tell her that it’s you who practically let go of Yuta because of his cheating ass when a tall man stood in front of you.

“Yuta Nakamoto!” Soojin squealed, boxing him into a tight hug.

Yuta laughed in her shoulders but his eyes were directly looking at you. You tried to be polite and stretched your lips into a thin smile.

He looks more matured now. He does not look like the playful Yuta with studs almost covering the skin of his ear anymore, but a man who knows what he wants in life. His hair— tied in a neat man bun— is still the white that you remember. Maybe he continued to dye it that way, you will never know. When they pulled away from each other, Yuta spread his arms at you. You reluctantly spread yours and gave him a hug too.

The three of you settled in a four-seater table in the corner of the restaurant near the entrance. Yuta tried to sit beside you but Soojin pulled him beside her and into the seats in front, leaving you sitting alone opposite from them.

“Oh, I need to go to the bathroom,” Soojin said. You widened your eyes at her and she repeated the same expression while gathering her purse. You mouthed the words I’ll kill you before she disappeared from your sight.

You tried your best to ignore Yuta’s furtive glances by skimming the menu. But it was clear by the atmosphere that his tongue was going to say something soon. And he did.

“You looked good, Y/N.” He smiled at you. You chuckled at him, trying your best to sound natural. Once, those smiles were enough to let the butterflies in your stomach stir.

“Yeah, you too.”

He licked his lips, placing the menu on the table and suddenly grabbing your hands. You were too shocked to withdraw, so you let him hold it while looking straight at your eyes.

“Y/N, I know… I know I fucked up. I’m not gonna deny that. But I just wanna say sorry, for the pain that I’d caused you. And I…” He breathed before continuing, “… I came back for you. I… fuck— I still love you.”

You blinked at him, mouth going dry because of his apologies and revelations. Yuta’s eyes were glimmering with something that you could only identify as hope. But his statement didn’t even reach your heart.

It’s not even ten-minutes of you reuniting together. Heck, your butt doesn’t even feel warm in your seat yet. But here he was, ruining everything. However, even after his fucked up declaration, you still tried to gather yourself and remain composed in front of him.

“Don’t fool around Yu—”

He interrupted you by tightening his hold of your hand. “Just give me a chance. I’m a change man now, Y/N.”

Where on earth is Soojin?

“Yuta that is not the problem—”

“Please, Y/N?”

You sighed. This is what you have been telling Soojin all along the way, but she didn’t listen.

“Yuta, I don’t know about that.” You tried to meet his gaze, just so he could see that you were on your edge.

“Why? Soojin told me you’re single. Do you have anyone in your life right now?” He pleaded. You are so going to kill Soojin. You inhaled deep breaths, shutting your eyes. When you opened them, someone caught your attention.

He entered the restaurant like it was his own; with his expensive suit shouting the authority in his every step. His hands on both of his pockets— his eyes coldly scanning the crowd. A faint scowl deepened on his lips as his line of sight slid on to you, sitting and staring at him.

I’m not doing it. You told your brain, but your body seemed to disagree. For you sauntered up to Jung Jaehyun and linked your arms with his. His eyebrows creased, but you smiled widely at him, forcing him to walk to your table.

Stop, Y/N. You still have the chance to save your job and put an end to this nonsense. If your brain could scream, it probably would. But your lips seemed to have a life on its own when it said, “Yuta, this is my boyfriend Jung Jaehyun.” You turned your head from Yuta to your boss. “This is Yuta, my old friend.”

Your smile could reach your ears now, silently praying that your boss would go along this madness. Jaehyun smiled back at you— but you were sane enough to sense the danger between those pearlescent white teeth.

“Let’s sit.” You offered. He was now sitting face to face with Yuta. If your ex-boyfriend was devastated by your announcement, he showed no sign of it for he stretched his arms towards Jaehyun.

“Yuta Nakamoto,” he introduced himself, smiling. Jaehyun stared at his hand for almost a minute. Sweats started to form in your forehead but you let out a sigh when he finally took Yuta’s hand and shook it lightly.

“Jung Jaehyun,” he said. His face had an amused expression as he stared at Yuta, who is now scanning the menu.

“Damn it! I think my stomach’s—” Soojin stopped dead on her tracks, her eyes widening at the sight of her boss sitting beside you. You smiled at her, far too wide to be called natural. But she only widened her eyes.

“Oh, you’re back,” Yuta chimed. He stood up to let Soojin sit on her chair.

“We have Y/N’s boyfriend joining us,” Yuta declared. Soojin almost lost her balance.

“B-boyfriend?” She frantically exchange glances between you and Jaehyun. You swear you were going to collapse soon. But Soojin’s surprised reaction slowly receded to that of an understanding one.

“Oh yes! Ha-ha! Jung Jaehyun, right?! Long time no see!” Soojin even reached for Jaehyun’s shoulder and tapped it lightly. What the fuck? You almost wanted to scream at her, grabbing her hands away from Jaehyun. He looked at his shoulder, to the spot where Soojin touched him and you swear both of you would be dead meat later.

Your orders came— stopping Jaehyun from his quest to burn Soojin with his eyes— and the four of you shared a deafening silence with only the clanking utensils providing the sound.

“So, what do you do these days Jung Jaehyun?” Yuta decided to ask.

You glanced at Soojin, who choke on her food. She looked at you with after-this-we-are-fucking-dead eyes.

Jaehyun was silent for a moment, and you thought he was never going to answer when he wiped his mouth with a dabbing manner and said, “CEO of the building five-minutes away from here.” Then he added, “You?”

Well, that was unexpected.

“That’s cool. I am an actor and a musician in Japan,” Yuta said before biting his food.

You swear you almost heard Jaehyun scoffed, which made your head turn to him so sudden you thought your neck would snap.

“Actor, huh? Suits you.”

They refused to look at each other as they talk. You felt the tension rising up by Jaehyun’s last statement, for Yuta stopped on his chewing. Soojin kicked your shin below the table. She, too, felt the atmosphere as it thickens.

You cleared your throat before Yuta could retaliate. “The salad is good! Try it guys!”

Soojin seconded your motion. The two men snapped their heads to each of your direction.

“Try it, Jae.” The nickname tasted bitter in your mouth. You have witnessed as the same bitterness transferred to your boss’ expression.

“Thanks, chérie.”

There. That pet name again. You tried so hard not to let them notice the tremble of your hand as you leaned a little closer to Jaehyun to put salad on his own plate.

“Are you free this night?” Yuta suddenly voiced, glancing in each of you surrounding him. “Let’s go clubbing tonight. The drink’s on me.” He winked at Soojin, who excitedly shifted on her seat.

You gave Jaehyun a sideway glance, but you couldn’t make up his expression for he was drinking a glass of water. You nudged Soojin below the table. She only widened her eyes at you.

If there was one thing the both of you haven’t done together in a while, it is clubbing. You were absolutely sure that she was not going to bail on Yuta in this adventure.

“That sounds exciting!” Soojin cheered, clapping her hands together.

Yuta looked at you. “How about you, Y/N?”

“I don’t think—”

“We’re going,” Jaehyun declared.

And that is why you are wearing something out of your comfort zone tonight, with your sister straightening your hair.

“Tell me what happened after lunch,” Yuqi teased. You rolled your eyes but told her the story nevertheless.

Soojin couldn’t stop bowing in front of Jaehyun when the three of you returned to the building you thought she was going to cry. Jaehyun only waved her off without saying anything. Then she dashed to the front desk, throwing an apologetic look your way.

The ride inside the elevator was harrowing. Jaehyun’s arms were crossed against his chest, with you fidgeting beside him.

“I’m sorry,” you quietly voiced.

Avoiding both your reflections on the silvery façade of the elevator, you decided to look down at your shoes instead. He didn’t say anything, but you seriously need to make sure that he was not going to fire you.

“You don’t need to go tonight. I know you’re a busy person. And I’m really, really sorry for dragging you into this—”

“You talk too much.” He shifted to face you. Suddenly, you felt the atmosphere warming up inside the elevator.

A finger touched your chin. Then you felt your face as it slowly lifted to meet Jaehyun. You could swim into the depths of his eyes but you were afraid to drown. How could someone be as beautiful as him? You couldn’t believe someone’s face could be as flawless as his; with his perfect brows, to his nose, and to his lips. His skin bore no scar— only perfection.

“See you later,” he breathed. Only then you realized that your faces were utterly so close your lips could almost touch.

“You can stop drooling now,” he said, walking away from you. Your hand flew in your mouth, checking if you were indeed drooling. Shutting your eyes of frustration as you didn’t feel any liquid beside your lips.

But of course, you hide that information from Yuqi.

“Wow! You looked pretty!” She cheered while looking at your reflection in the mirror. Your frown never ceased. It only deepened when you heard the loud honk of a car outside.

“Oh! The CEO is here!” Yuqi singsonged, tickling your sides. You slapped her hands away before walking outside to meet Jaehyun.

Your breath caught in your throat as you see him leaning on his car wearing a casual outfit; white shirt paired with black pants. To be honest, you’d thought he was going to the club with his usual suit and black shoes. He looked much younger in his clothes now, fresher even. The tight atmosphere surrounding him seems to vanish.

You pinched your skin, diving back into reality.

“Yuqi, please take care. Call me if you need anything!” you told your sister, a silent warning exuding from your mouth. She nodded like a puppy while hugging the door frame, trying to get a glimpse of Jaehyun amidst the thick bushes of plants covering the gates.

“I’ll go now.” You shook your head. Yuqi waved you off with a flying kiss.

Jaehyun took a last sip of his blunt before tossing it into the nearest trashcan and walking around his car, not even bothering to open the door for you. You rolled your eyes and pulled the car door open for yourself.

Cigarettes After Sex is blasting through the speakers as you slump into the bullet seat. You have never imagined Jaehyun listening to music, but you guess you really can’t judge a book by its cover. And you enjoy a good music once you heard one, so the ride to the bar weren’t as horrible as you’d expected it would be.

No words were spoken the whole ride, not even when you entered the establishment. Booming electro-pop sounds filled the whole place, making your heart jump together with the speakers. You adjusted your eyes against the LED lights, trying to search the crowd for Soojin and Yuta. Jaehyun is on his way to the counter, leaving you to search alone.

A girl waved at you from the mezzanine floor of the bar. You squinted your eyes to see her face. It was Soojin. You waved back and motioned your hands to where Jaehyun was sitting, taking a shot of tequila.

“Sir—uhm— Jae, found them.”

You bit your tongue of the informality that rolled from it. That is one of the things you were not sure of tonight— formalities. And you have no idea how Jaehyun would have reacted to you calling him by his name, maybe he would really terminate you after this night. He threw you a sideway glance, one brow rising with a shot glass kissing his mouth. You quickly turned your back on him and started walking to where Soojin was.

Oh, what dread greeted you once you have reached their location. Both Yuta and Soojin were sitting on the red sofa— and because they preferred the furthermost seats, all that was left was a one-seater plush sofa. You felt Jaehyun’s presence behind you. He, himself, halted on his tracks as he noticed the only remaining seat. Both of your friends scanned the surroundings, with Soojin ploddingly covering her mouth— slowly realizing the predicament you were into.

Despite the nervousness already coating your body, you tried your best to stay calm. But Jaehyun doesn’t seem to share the same calming technique as you, for he walked to the one-seater, sat on it, looked at you, then tapped his lap.

“Here, babe.”

Babe? What on earth? You widened your eyes at him, hoping that he could see the warning against the pulsing lights around you. His lips turned into a coy smile, showing you that he was enjoying himself right now. Of course, Jaehyun would take every chance to settle your hash. You should have known better.

“There’s no more seat left but here on my lap,” he added.

You saw in your peripheral how Soojin choked on her own saliva. You swear you’d kill Jaehyun once this is all over. You really would, and probably he would do the same to you. Tightening your hands on your purse, you whispered a silent prayer  to the saints who might be watching and listening to you now, then trudged the distance between you and Jaehyun with a heavy heart.

“You can sit here, Y/N. I’ll fetch my own,” Yuta interrupted before you could sit on Jaehyun’s lap. He was smiling while tapping his seat between Jaehyun and Soojin. You glanced at Jaehyun. He had that impish look on him as he stared at Yuta; like he was a toy he wanted to play.

“Y/N, what are you still doing standing there?” Soojin waved her hands, encouraging you to snap out of your reverie and finally sit beside her.

You sat uncomfortably in the plush sofa, glancing at Jaehyun every now and then. There was boredom in his eyes as he looked at the surroundings— of dancing bodies and couples making out in the corner.

“Is he okay?” Soojin whispered. You looked at her and shrugged. Since you have never seen Jaehyun inside a bar before, you really couldn’t tell whether he was fascinated or stultified by the happenings around him. Either way, you ignored him and started drinking when Yuta came back, with a waiter carrying a seat for him.

Soojin leaned onto you again. “Let’s have some fun and leave the boys to have their manly talk.”

You answered her with a stupefied look. But she already got her arms linked to yours, pulling you up from your seat.

“It’s time for us to have some girls’ night, so I hope you both won’t mind!” Soojin flashed the two men her white and perfect teeth.

Yuta glanced at Jaehyun, and then back to Soojin. “Enjoy yourselves while the night is still young.” He smiled.

Soojin suddenly slapped his arms. “You sound like an old man!”

Then she pulled you down the stairs and into the throng of dancing bodies. Soojin screamed before diving into the crowd, pulling you with her. The both of you started to dance, leaving both Yuta and Jaehyun behind.

—

Jaehyun stared at the crowd, his eyes fixated on you. He regretted going to this awful place the moment he stepped in and heard the blasting music, but maybe his night wouldn’t be a waste if he kept on watching you losing your shit into the music.

He took another shot of the liquor, wincing for it didn’t even make his throat tighten. The boy in front of him making everything worth wincing for.

Yuta took a swig from his own bottle, gulping down almost half of its content before looking at you again. The way that he tried to worship you with only his eyes made something inside Jaehyun ticked. Nothing would happen if he won’t break the ice. Taking another shot from his glass, he decided to worsen the tensed atmosphere coaxing their surroundings.

“You’re not human.”

Yuta gave him a sideway glance. “Yeah?”

“Yeah? I can smell your fae shit from a mile so you better cut the bullshit and reveal yourself to me now.”

Yuta seemed taken aback by his words. And that was when Jaehyun knew he already caught the bird. “Are you on drugs? Listen man, I don’t know what’re you talking about,” Yuta said, looking for you in the crowd.

Jaehyun leaned closer— eyes as cold as a dead corpse as he pinned down Yuta with a stare. “You do know what I’m talking about. And I know what you are. But you, you don’t know what I am.”

Jaehyun does not miss anything. Not even the slightest twitch of Yuta’s jaw by his last sentence. He doesn’t know how this fae in front of him hides his pointed ears and he does not give a fuck. But he couldn’t let Yuta sit there and not know that he was in the presence of The Fallen, and that someone more powerful than him could sense behind his glamour.

Yuta have him a calculating look then, the fae senses of him piercing through Jaehyun’s soul. Yet he couldn’t seem to figure out what creature Jaehyun truly is. He was devoid of anything human and monstrous— not a vampire nor a lycanthrope, certainly not a warlock— that much was for sure. In the depths of Yuta’s sleuthing, he found something immaculate, hateful, and eternal. And those feelings only belonged to someone who is older than the world itself— of a creature once descended into heaven, standing beside the Almighty Himself.

“Lucifer?” Yuta whispered incredulously.

Jaehyun continued staring at Yuta until the latter shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “I see that you’re not as dumb as I’ve expected.”

The fae accepted Jaehyun’s taunting— not that he could do anything other than that in the presence of Lucifer. He should have sensed it earlier, when they ate together. But he was so enraptured by meeting you again he did not had any time to sense that something was amiss.

Giggling, both you and Soojin made your way back to Jaehyun and Yuta. Soojin was the first one to sit back on her place beside the latter. While you slowed your steps, drinking in the intense atmosphere between the two men. What happened?

Soojin was laughing merrily as she told Yuta stories about your little adventure in the dance floor. You giggled with her but before you could take another step, Soojin’s feet suddenly blocked the way, making you trip on your toes. A loud gasp escaped your lips before you closed your eyes and waited for the drop to happen. But a pair of strong hands caught your arms— balancing you. Your nose bumped against hard muscles. When you looked up, you saw Jaehyun gazing down at you.

The world suddenly stopped along with your body. You stared at his eyes, heart beating loudly against your chest. His face, mere inches away from you that you could feel his breath fanning your cheeks. Just like in your dreams— when he guided you towards the center of the hall to dance with him.

To hell with the rules, to hell with the barriers separating you and Jaehyun— for the first time in your whole life, you have never wanted to kiss someone as you do right now. It wouldn’t hurt to let those lips touch yours, right? You closed your eyes, slowly tipping your toes to reach those invitingly red lips when a pair of strong arms grabbed you away from Jaehyun.

It happened so fast. You slammed into someone’s chest yet again. You opened your eyes to see Yuta looking at Jaehyun with enough fire to burn the whole building, arms wrapped protectively around your shoulders.

“What the hell, Yuta?!” you screamed and tried to wiggle yourself free. But he only tightened his hands on your shoulders, causing you to wince. Soojin was stoned in her seat, with her fingers wrapped around the glass of vodka. The people around you started to watch the scene unfolding before their eyes with excitement which annoyed you.

“Enough of this game, Y/N.” His tone was serious, and his eyes never left Jaehyun.

Jaehyun worked his jaw. “Let her go.”

Yuta tensed but he didn’t stir. Which you think amused Jaehyun even more.

“I don’t take orders from you,” Yuta spat.

Jaehyun raised his brow, a smirk playing on his lips. His eyes bearing a darkness you have never seen before. A darkness that could summon lightning and storm or break the ground open. It sent chills down your spine. He does not look human at all.

He walked languidly towards Yuta, and only when they stood face to face did Jaehyun let himself talk.

“You dare defy me?”

Every words was slow— like he was tasting the dominance dripping from his mouth. Yuta’s grip on you slackened. Before you knew it, his fist already collided against Jaehyun’s jaw. You gasped along with the people watching on the sidelines. Bouncers ran to where you were located and tried to get a hold of the two men. Jaehyun jerked away from their hold before wiping the blood off the side of his lips.

Soojin was quick to wrapped her arms around you, but Jaehyun grabbed your arms again. The both of you walked towards the exit with you barely catching up on his long strides. He pushed the button on his keys, and his car made a sound.

Jaehyun opened the door for the bullet seat. “Get in,” he commanded.

“No.”

By your answer, he stood there, staring at you. The intensity in his eyes made your heart skip a beat, but you stood your ground. What the hell happened inside the bar? To him and Yuta? And where would he bring you? You have enough questions in your mind not to go with him now.

“Get. In.” He insisted, every word laced with authority.

“Make m—”

“Trust me, chérie. You wouldn’t want to finish that sentence,” he interrupted.

You shut your mouth, blinking. Jaehyun raised his brow, motioning you to get in his car. Sighing, you lazily sat on the bullet seat. Complete silence enveloped you as there was no music playing to carry the uneasiness away. You glanced at Jaehyun every now and then, and every time you do, he was checking on the split on his lips.

Albeit not knowing the true reasons of Yuta’s rage, guilt still rests in the pit of your stomach. You have also known Yuta as a troublemaker when you were still in college. Trouble has its way to cling onto him, and you always find him brawling with another student in the fields of the school every now and then. It is a surprised that he graduated on time despite his records. And now that you think of it, you guess old habits really die hard.

Jaehyun stopped in front of your small apartment. Both of you never said anything as you opened the door and made your way out of his car. But you held on to the door, not letting it close behind you.

You bit your lips, turning to face him, “Let me at least tend to your wound.”

“There’s no need.” Jaehyun tightened his grip on the steering wheel.

“Please.”

You were surprised to see him open the door beside him and depart his car. Maybe you have never expected him to oblige that easily. He followed you inside the apartment and into the living room. At first, he was reluctant to sit on the sofa.

“You can sit, Sir. We clean the house every day.” You rolled your eyes. Rich people are annoying.

Quickly, you knocked onto Yuqi’s door. When she didn’t answer, you gathered the first aid kit at the drawers located in the kitchen, then poured some water to the glass and served it to him.

You sat beside your boss, then you started pouring alcohol to the cotton balls and started dabbing it on his split lips.

His eyes bore into your face, making you uncomfortable. The redolence of tequila mixed with mint wafted your nose as he spoke, “You should be careful around that boy.”

“You can’t give me orders outside work, Sir.” You exerted a bit force in dabbing the cotton ball, but he didn’t even wince.

“I absolutely could, chérie.”

You snapped, “Stop calling me ‘chérie’.”

“Why? Because it makes you nervous?” He held your wrist, pinning you with his gaze. He was right. It does makes you nervous, but you would never let him see that.

“Ha! Of course not!” You scoffed.

You tried to free yourself from his grasp, but he only tightened his grip. It feels like déjà vu. But unlike the other time, there was no buzzing of phones and dreadful news to stop what was bound to happen.

Before you could even blink, Jaehyun’s lips crashed into yours. Shocking waves of electricity traveled your body. Tickles ran down your head to your toes. His lips moved, and you melted with the feeling that you moved your lips too. It felt like a spark, a slight push to drive Jaehyun mad— for he deepened the kiss, hunger and intensity mixing with it. The cotton ball fell into the ground, along with all your senses. Every ravenous kiss you answered with the same fierceness. You bit each other’s lips, tongues colliding inside your mouths—

Jaehyun immediately pulled away, with a curse escaping his mouth. You blinked at him. The kiss you shared leaving a blackhole into your system.

“Fuck.” He stood up, pacing back and forth. Then he picked up his keys and walked away.

The wheels of his car screeched against the asphalt road. You let him go, because what else could you possibly do?

—

The sound of heels colliding with the floor filled the whole of Jaehyun’s penthouse. He never needed to turn to see who had arrived.

“My prince.” The woman said mockingly.

Jaehyun scoffed, “Chaelin.”

The woman poured liquor to the spare glass lying on the table, then she joined Jaehyun in watching the cars and streetlights below the silence of the city.

“The newborns has been taken care of,” she started.

“Good.”

“Good? You didn’t even bother to visit, knowing that Taeyong is out of the country doing God-knows-what.”

Jaehyun chuckled and gave Chaelin a glance. “What did he say?”

The woman lifted her middle finger. “This.”

He ignored the vulgar gesture and walked straight to where the liquor was located, turning his back again to the woman. “Taeyong isn’t a vampire Primus for nothing. And those newborns are the result of their wanting to spread out their dying legacy,” Jaehyun stated.

“And they are doing an absolute great job on it,” Chaelin added.

Taeyong has been recruiting humans to join his clan of vampires for hundreds of years now. His newborns are usually those who became too tired to be normal. And no, he does not force and bend their necks to sip their blood. Taeyong has a peculiar sense of doing everything in order, so he made a document to be signed by the humans who wanted to be vampire before they go through the process. It’s not a secret that newborn vampires are the wildest breed of netherworlders, so Taeyong made bars that would keep them until it’s safe enough to let them roam around.

His vampires does not harm humans. No one would dare. For he vowed to chop their heads off himself if they dare lay a hand on a person. So they mostly feed from animals. But a dent was made by his newborns when Taeyong flew out of the country to attend whatever bullshit that needed his presence. His newborns almost killed a man, sending Chaelin to fix the mess until their Primus arrived to kill them.

That was the same argument Chaelin and Jaehyun talked about two months ago, the one he suspected you heard.

“By the way, did you give the ointment to the girl?” Chaelin asked, crossing her legs into the futon.

“Doyoung gave me too much shit when I asked him for that. He even forced me to pay five aurum for it. Five. Aurum.” Chaelin emphasized.

Aurum is the money netherworlders used as their currency— the Latin term for gold. And netherworlders refers to vampires, warlocks, lycanthropes and such.

The aurum has the same color as gold and it’s similar to coins, with a circle embossed on it. One aurum is enough to buy (not rent) a small apartment if used in the human world. It’s not a surprised Chaelin has gone a little bonkers to the payment Doyoung insisted her to pay.

Doyoung is a warlock, residing in the forest. He actually owned a mansion in the middle of the forest, and that is where he often does magic. And Chaelin deserved an applause for traveling there alone.

“You went alone?” Jaehyun asked.

Chaelin checked her long nails. “Of course not. I brought Jeno with me. I know it would please Doyoung to see his favorite pup.”

“But Jeno won’t be pleased if he heard you calling him pup. He could be the next alpha.”

“Jeno isn’t as easily insulted as you, Jaehyun. And you can’t talk about that while Johnny is still alive and leading the pack.” The woman rolled her eyes.

“Whatever, Lilith.”

“It’s Chaelin now.”

“Why? Does it hurt to remember how the Almighty banished you from Eden and literally replaced you with a girl named Eve?”

“Watch it, Lucifer.” Chaelin’s warning earned a chuckle from Jaehyun. “As far as I know, we were both banished.” There was enough venom in her tone that made Jaehyun halt, suddenly remembering the glory he once had.

“And you must know that I don’t bow to the wants of a patriarch,” she added.

“It’s what the Almighty wished you to do, promising to forgive and make a place in heaven for you if you oblige.”

That was true. The Almighty will forgive Chaelin and lift her punishment once she agreed to be loyal and faithful to Adam. But she refused, over and over again. She was lucky, Jaehyun thought, for the Almighty still wanted her in heaven. Unlike him, who He banished beyond redemption.

Chaelin stood up and made her way to the door. She veered the door open before saying, “I don’t want to redeem myself. He could punish me all over again. But I, I won’t falter. For my pride is higher than the heaven, itself.”

Jaehyun shook his head. But he completely understands the woman. He sat on one of the stools in the kitchen counter, breathing in the silence once again.

“Chaelin,” he called out. The woman turned on her heels to hear what he was about to say.

“There’s a fae bastard roaming around. Make sure he’s taken care of.”

He doesn’t need to turn sideways to see the silent nod the woman made. Then the door clicked close.

Chaelin and him— two creatures molded from the same clay. She was casted out of Eden, and him out of heaven. But unlike when Jaehyun was exiled from heaven— all bloodied and bruised— Chaelin had a triumphant smile in her when she walked out of the paradise and into freedom. Chaelin wasn’t even as powerful as Jaehyun, but she was way more happier.

Into the dead of the night, with only the moonlight slipping into the floor-to-ceiling glass of Jaehyun’s penthouse, he thought about you. About the kiss you shared.

It was foolish of him to let the wanting overcome his senses. But the curve and plumpness of your lips made it hard to hang on to his principles. And before he knew what he was doing, he’s already cupping your cheeks, kissing you with a hunger he didn’t know lay quiet inside him. Yes, he’s kissed and bedded women after all those years of loneliness because of Aurora’s death, but he never once felt something as he did when your lips collided with his. He kissed and kissed you, and for the first time, Aurora’s face flashed in his mind. It should bother him, but no matter what he tells himself, kissing you didn’t feel like cheating. Despite all of it, he still wanted to get rid of your taste in his mouth. So he grabbed his phone inside his pocket and dialed a number.

“Get that pretty ass on here, Mina.”

—