#exo demon!AU

[xerceii]

God’s Eye - PART 1 & 2

Pairing: Chanyeol/OC

Genre: Fantasy, Action, romance

TW/Warnings: 18+ included some gore, a scene with vomit, violence, murder, smut in future chapters, multiple sexual conversations, religious talk relating to God and the devil

Plot: Ahn Jung is a 25 year old office worker who underwent eye transplant surgery, she never thought that the donor would be a demon.

Note:

Testing to see if I want to start posting fics on tumblr again or continue linking to other sites 🤔 so here’s part 1 and 2 combined to test the waters

Click here for master post

___________

The faint beeping of the machine was the only sound she could hear for a while. It kept a slow rhythmic pace that mimicked her heart rate. It was insufferable. The endless sound reminded her that she was alive yet couldn't do anything but wait. Leaving her to her own thoughts... or so she thought-

Ahn could see images behind closed lids. They were fast and few but she saw them. Flashes of fire, of an old city she didn't recognize and even faces. Faces so beautiful she wondered exactly where this place was?

But... she could see.

Finally she was told to sit up. Ahn sat up and felt the bandages around her eyes loosen and unwrap. The doctor told her specific instructions which she didn't hear... No, she was too busy being nervous. Her heart pounded and her hands started clamming. What if her body rejected the donor? What if something had gone wrong and she can see even less than before? Or what if she looked funny now? They had told her the eye color would change. She didn't want that. She was Ahn, the girl with the pretty brown eyes that let everyone know it was okay to approach her.

That let everyone know she wouldn't judge them. She'd want to be their friend. Soft brown eyes like the color of Christmas pine trees, or fallen autumn leaves. That's the way her mom had described them. She always loved that description. It made her feel as if just by looking into her eyes.... You could smell cinnamon and taste eggnog.

You couldn't now.

The sound of cameras clicking brought her out of her depressing trance. The bandages were off, glasses immediately placed on her eyes.

"I wanted to see them!" Her mother whined.

"You can later on." The doctor explained. "After a while she'll be able to wear clear glasses, but she'll need an eye shield for now."

"Did they actually change?"

"Yes." The doctor sounded almost embarrassed to admit it as if he had any way of stopping that process. Obviously he didn't. "They're a clear blue now."

Her parents gasped and she gripped the bedsheets.

Oh well.

It wouldn't look good on her but at least she's going to have better vision now.

Ahn looked around the room. The glasses dimmed the lighting and it was still a bit blurry but she could tell there was a difference. A huge one actually. Things were their actual distance, the outline of everything could be seen and faces- everyone's faces were distinct, though the blurriness would take it away every so often. It had worked though. It made her hopeful. It brought her back to normal. Ahn jumped up and everyone panicked fearing she might fall over.

"I'm fine." Her hand raised to stop anyone from grabbing her. "Better than fine actually, It worked!"

"You'll be a bit sore for the next few days. You should take it easy."

She nodded and stretched. Ahn didn't know how long she had been under the knife but her body definitely did. It was cramped and stiff in all the worst areas. She needed to move her legs, start walking or running or whatever. Letting out a groan, she smiled at everyone who was looking at her. Which was everyone in the room. "I'll be fine, I just want to get out of here. I'm good to leave right?"

"Technically yes." The doctor frowned. "As long as you follow the instructions."

She nodded not really knowing any of them. "I will! I'll get a paper for them though, right?"

He nodded and she didn't need to hear anymore. Ahn walked out of the hospital room in her gown, happy to just get out of there. She hated standing still, she hated doing nothing. It was weird but she wanted to dance. Her socks slid against the hospital's smooth white floor. It wasn't exactly dancing but it was the most she could do without being labeled crazy.

Ahn took the stairs, even skipping some of the last ones and jumping off. This was going to be great, she could finally see better which meant Requiem might take her back... hopefully. If she talked to Baekhyun, he might let her.

Leaving through the exit doors, Ahn walked up to the receptionist desk. "Ahn Jung."

"Just Ahn?" The woman at the front desk looked at her weirdly. Ahn nodded, not wanting to explain that her parents became lazy trying to name her and settled on a last name for a first name. It was a never-ending fight between them. While the computer clicked away looking for her information, Ahn suddenly felt light headed. Maybe she had pushed herself too far.

Her eyes hurt too.

"Ma'am are you okay?"

What?

"Ahn!" She heard her mother somewhere very far away.

Nope. She was right beside her on the ground. When did she even fall?

Shit. Shit. Shit. Everyone was rushing towards her. Her eyes closed and they felt a little better. A flash of the city from before lit behind her eyes. This time she saw walls that once were probably cream in color, the intricate roof work and paint all destroyed. The sky above was red and loomed over her like some kind of warning. It was terrifying but she kept looking at the image. Her body was picked up.

"She'll have to stay a couple more hours just in case." Her doctor explained.

No...

She couldn't keep doing nothing. Ahn couldn't keep laying down. It was torture. "I'll be fine-" she groaned. "I can't keep laying down! How long was it anyways? A day? Two days!?"

"Dramatic as always Ahn." Her mother shook her head. "The surgery was only an hour."

Oh.

She felt her face flush at the embarrassment at that and let herself be carried back towards her room. Her head tilted back and she opened her eyes slowly. There was a crowd watching her, but one in particular stood out. A tall man with pink hair and a ridiculous fuzzy pink coat. That wasn't what stood out though, it was his expression, he was glaring at her. He looked like he was close to throwing the chair next to him at her. His brows were furrowed and his eyes wide.

Damn what did I do? She thought, closing her eyes. Maybe it wasn't towards her. She heard the ding of the elevator and the doors closing. Her feet twitched wanting to walk again.

Go to sleep...

it'll make time go by faster.

So she did. From the mix of pain and embarrassment, Ahn was able to fall asleep during the elevator ride.

                                 ______

When she awoke it was nighttime. Ahn didn't know until she took off the stupid eye covers and replaced them with her tinted glasses. She had been strapped down so she would be forced to sleep upright. They hadn't done it hard enough to make it impossible to move, just so her sleeping form wouldn't shift around.

Tugging on one end undid the straps on her arms, they quickly fell to the side. Putting on the glasses, she looked around.

The hospital room was dark and her parents were gone. They probably decided she was fine enough to spend the night alone. The only light that creeped in was from the moon itself, and all the machines hooked up to her. It was a plain old hospital room, yet why did it look creepier at night? The wooden closet used for storage was opened by an inch and it felt like she was being watched. There was no light outside in the hallway either. Her belongings had been thrown on the visitors chairs so she could dress.

Ahn sat up, untying her feet and hopping down. The floor was cold despite it being summer. The AC cranked up too high. She ran a hand through her tangled hair and walked towards her clothes. It's the same ones she had arrived in today. A pair of jeans and an old T-shirt she didn't mind if it got lost or dirty. It was a T-shirt that had been with her since middle school, also her favorite black sandals. Her hands reached towards her back to take off the hospital gown but stopped.

The closet... it really felt like she was being watched.

Her eyes shifted towards the bed. Maybe she could call a nurse in. Press the button and not be alone anymore. The glasses shifted down to her nose and she had to push them up. No. There's probably no one in there. That'd be two times she'd embarrass herself. The closet door creaked beside her.

Only darkness showed inside. It didn't help that these stupid glasses darkened everything even more. She wanted to take them off, but she shouldn't. Ahn sighed and walked towards the wardrobe. Her hands pressed lightly against the open door.

What if there was someone inside?

Biting her bottom lip, she opened it. If there was someone inside, well her legs were probably faster than theirs. She was good at running and dodging and anything that included movement and physical activity. All those years of sports and dancing would pay off.

The door swung open, hitting the wall in the process. Inside it-

Was nothing.

Just an empty wardrobe with a couple of hangers and towels in case she wanted to shower. Someone must have left them for her and accidentally forgot to close it completely. Ahn gasped in relief, bringing her hand to her chest. Thank god. It would have sucked to have to run from someone at this time of night.

She was suddenly thirsty.

As if fear itself dehydrated her.

Walking towards her bag, she pulled out two dollars and left her room. The hallways were completely dark but at the end of them the vending machines were on. If she turned another corner after them there would be the emergency stairs and the elevators. Civilization. Maybe she could go downstairs and hang out at the cafeteria. No, it was probably closed.... The lobby then, she could people watch and maybe find a nurse or someone to talk to.

Ahn stepped in front of the vending machine looking at her choices. Chips, sodas, water bottles, candy....

Candy. She grinned and put in the first dollar, quickly getting the one that had the most chocolate. Then, got herself a drink. A coke. She needed sweets and junk right now, especially after that scare.

Her items fell and she bent down to grab them from the tray with a loose door. That's when she noticed a pair of pale feet beside her. Ahn looked up to see a boy looking down at her. He was blonde, blue eyed, around her height so not exactly tall for a man. He was pretty though.

"Sorry I didn't mean to stand so close!" He backed up a couple steps away. "I was just curious to see what'd you'd get."

Ahn smiled, taking out her things. "It's fine, I get curious about things like that too." She straightened up showing him her coke and chocolate bar. He nodded, seeming happy that she wasn't rude to him. Ahn moved out of the way so he could get something himself.

He got the same exact things.

"It's better to eat junk food with another person." He grinned. His hair was long enough to reach his shoulders and he was skinny. She could see the bones of his shoulder blades even through his hospital gown. His eyes had dark circles under them and his nose was pretty.

"Cool look you're sporting by the way." He unwrapped his candy and started eating.

"Huh? Oh." Ahn laughed, touching her glasses. "Eye transplant surgery. I got out today but decided to push it and ended up earning myself a couple more hours in this shit hole."

"Transplant?!" He gaped. "Did it hurt?"

Ahn shook her head. "Not really, but they hurt afterwards. They're sore and feel a bit dry."

He nodded. "You have to put in the eye drops. They'll help the recovery."

She sighed and decided to sit down. Her back pressed against the wall while the boy took the spot beside her. The vending machine flickered indicating it was old, and probably only a year away from giving out. Her feet were a lot bigger than his.... Not in length but... the weight of them. Hers looked pretty healthy, while his were as bony as his shoulders.

They looked frail, weak.

"If I'm rude feel free to smack me-" Ahn started. "But why are you here?"

"Me?" The boy asked, drinking from his coke. He leaned his head back as if trying to decide how to tell her. "To put it simply-" His skeletal hand touched his chest. "Heart failure."

"I- that must have been difficult." Ahn frowned. She couldn't imagine herself not being able to move around. To be limited to just the walls of this hospital. Her hands gripped the can of coke. It crackled under the pressure. She had it good. There was no room for complaining. She wanted to kick herself for her antics earlier.

"You know-" The boy laughed quietly. "You're the first person who hadn't told me they're sorry."

"Was that bad?!" She panicked. He shook his head immediately, stopping her from actually doing it.

"No! No. It was nice. It's all I ever heard so... it's a nice change in pace. Yes it is difficult, but an apology won't do anything." He finished his drink and continued snack time by finishing his chocolate. Ahn frowned, not happy with his situation. He seemed like a good guy. People don't deserve this.

"Did you know them?" He asked.

"Know who?"

"Your donor."

She shook her head. "No. It was anonymous. They didn't want their information to be given out." Ahn grabbed the boys empty can and wrapper, standing up, she went to throw them away in the trash can near the vending machine.

"Thanks."

"It's nothing." She waved it away and sat back down. The flickering started again and Ahn decided to finally drink her coke. Pulling the tab, she smiled hearing the click. A fresh coke, they always tasted so good. The fizzy drink touched her tongue and fell down her throat, calming the nerves she still had from the closet incident.

The boy looked at her. Blue eyes seeming to become more lifeless. They were clouded over as if he were in a weird daze. "Do you believe in heaven?"

Ahn stopped drinking. "Maybe?"

"I do." He muttered his voice was now soft and thoughtful. "Heaven and hell. Good and bad."

She looked at him and he held his heart again, blonde locks falling over his eyes. "I want to go to heaven. I don't have much time left but... I want to do everything possible so that I can get into heaven."

"I'm sure you will." She muttered with a mouthful of chocolate. "You seem like a good guy."

"How old are you?" He asked her.

"Twenty five."

"I'm seventeen."

Ouch. He was young. Ahn finished her own food and went to throw them away. When she turned back, the boy was standing. He looked like he was about to fall over. His palm was placed against the wall.

"Do you need help going back to your room?" She hurried towards him.

He shook his head, breaths coming out shallow. "I want to show you my favorite place here. Do you want to come?"

"Sure, but do you think you can make it?"

He nodded. "If you help me I can. It's been a while since I've made a friend. I don't want to go to bed yet."

Ahn smiled at the friend comment, also happy to be using some sort of strength again. She wrapped her arms around the boys and carried half his weight. Which wasn't much. He held on tightly as he told her the directions to go in. First into the elevator and to the top floor, then turn to the right hall, the left led to the rooftop but the right- she didn't know. She had never been here.

There were a couple more rooms up here, mainly the more expensive ones that VIP patients would want. There was also an abandoned desk, some closets for equipment-

"There-" The boy pointed. His breathing had become worse. Ahn made sure to carry more of him now. He definitely wouldn't have been able to make it this far without her. He pointed towards the far end, the last room left. Room 999. They walked up to it and she turned the knob.

It was an old hospital room just like any other. Except the windows were huge here. Most of the walls were windows. The moonlight bathed the entire place in its glow. The floor was cement which was probably one of the reasons it had been abandoned. There was also a bathtub in the middle, it was outdated. Probably from fifty years ago. The hoses and handles had been ripped off but she could see they used to be gold. Whatever hadn't broken off indicated that.

On the ground lay arrangements of different hospital robes and equipment. She almost tripped over a stethoscope.

"Careful-" He told her. "There's abandoned needles here."

Then why would we go here?! She thought, regretting everything. These stupid glasses. They didn't help anything. Ahn took him towards the windows at the farthest end of the room, he gasped, falling to his knees. He pointed north and her eyes widened. From the rooftop you could only see the city. From here, you could see the mountains, the line of trees and the clouds that barely touched them. The moon seemed closer here too. It was beautiful.

Ahn pressed her face towards the glass, taking it all in. So so so beautiful. Why didn't she realize how close the forest was from this hospital? She needed to take a hike down there. Maybe even a run. It would be good if Requiem wanted to shoot some dance videos here too. Maybe this boy can meet them, have some friends before he... she stopped the thought.

"I never did ask you your name." Ahn turned to look down at him. He sat cross legged staring at the entrance of the door. "Gabriel." He whispered.

Biblical. That would explain his need to go to heaven. He was religious. Or raised in a religious household. Ahn nodded. "It's a cool name."

He wasn't paying attention to her anymore. She followed his gaze towards the door.

Her heart dropped.

The blood in her veins ran cold.

Two men in black robes were chaining up the door. Another was putting something in the bathtub. A cross. He was putting a silver cross in the bathtub.

Ahn stood up, putting herself in front of Gabriel. "What the hell are you doing?" Her voice came out more nervous than expected. They ignored her finishing up the door. Ahn looked around, there was no other way to escape. Even breaking the window wouldn't work. It was a long fall and they would die. They were trapping them, and no one traps another person for a good reason. This was bad. Very bad. Every hair of hers stood as if her body was trying to warn her of what she already knew.

"Answer me!" She shrieked at them. They didn't. There was a pipe bar next to her, she was going to defend herself with it but- Ahn took off the glasses, throwing them aside. She needed to see better. It was cloudy but it was better than her original eyesight. She could see everything on the ground, and see in actual color instead of the brownish hue the glasses gave her.

It was risky for her eyes but... they needed to get out of here. Ahn could face the consequences later. "Gabriel-" She whispered. "Can you run?"

Gabriel looked up at her. "No."

Shit.

"Here's what I'll do, I'll try to knock as many as I can down with that pipe over there. I'm strong so it should be easy. You go and unchain the door. If you get it open, run. Go find help. I'll be behind."

Gabriel frowned at her. "You'd protect me?"

Would she? The answer was yes but she was scared to. She had never been put in a situation like this before. Ahn was agile. Good on her feet. She'd give it her all. Taking a deep breath, she readied herself. "On three-" She told him quietly.

The men in black robes all turned to her as if they heard. That's fine. That's fine. Even better. They turned their attention on her and when she got the weapon they'd panic and try to take it from her. They would ignore Gabriel unchaining the door and they could get out of this.

"One."

"Two."

"She's going to grab the pipe! Stop her!" Gabriel shouted.

Ahn turned to look at him in shock. She didn't have time to be heartbroken by the betrayal. She dived towards it while they all had a two second start to get it from her. Ahn was closer, she grabbed the pipe and swung violently, managing to hit one of them. He fell back.

Keep going!

Ahn swung and spun herself in a circle so it was harder to grab her, all while walking towards the door.

No use. They were smart. One managed to grab it from her and it almost knocked her down. He threw the pipe away and it clattered, crashing into a box full of old syringes. Ahn took off running. They chased after her and she bent down to grab a couple needles. She threw them their way and they dodged.

The needles almost hit Gabriel instead and he covered his face with his arms. He looked angry now. Not like the sweet boy she had been talking to for the past forty minutes. Ahn was crying out of fear. It burned her eyes to do so. In fact, her vision was getting worse now. There was little time left before they gave out.

Ahn threw more needles and anything that was dangerous enough to be hit with. Finally she passed the bathtub, it had been filled with red liquid. Crosses floated at the top. It sent a ripple of fear through her so strong that her feet faltered. She had to grip the edge of the bathtub to keep from falling.

Pulling herself up, Ahn kept going until she made it towards the door. Her hands fumbled on the chains trying to find where it started and where it ended. It was no use. A labyrinth of metal that couldn't be undone unless you had an axe.

Or a key.

There was probably a key on one of them. Five figures ran towards her. The sixth was still on the floor crying from the pain she had caused.

Quickly scanning all five people, Ahn saw what she needed. All of them had crosses around their necks except one. He had a key. Pushing herself off the door for more momentum, Ahn turned around and ran back towards Gabriel. They all seemed confused by the action. Good. Gabriel stared wide eyed as she picked up a needle, and slid towards him. The cement burned and scarred her knees, scraping off skin in the process. It didn't matter. It was the fastest way.

Ahn wrapped an arm around Gabriel's thin figure, pressing the tip of the needles on his neck. "Stop or I'll kill him!"

She wouldn't. She couldn't. She hoped they couldn't tell her bluff. The five figures stopped in front of them gasping for air. Her knees ached, but worst of all... her eyes. Her eyes burned. It was over. They were clouding over. They were too dry. Ahn had done everything she wasn't supposed to do.

To her dismay, Gabriel nodded, his head bowing low. "It's okay. I'm going to die anyway. Get her."

Ahn dropped the needle while they all started closing in again. She couldn't escape. Her eyes weren't capable of crying anymore. They all grabbed her and she let out an ear deafening scream. A dozen of them actually. Ahn thrashed in their arms, begging for them to let go of her. They didn't.

They were going to kill her. Or kidnap her? Or something bad.

"Please!" She begged. "Someone help me!"

No one came. Why was no one coming!? Her legs kept kicking trying to free herself from their hold but it was no use. They took her towards the bathtub and dropped her roughly inside. She was met with thick red water and crosses that dug into her spine as her body hit the bottom of the tub.

The sixth robed person came over, helping them hold her down. She couldn't breathe. Her body begged for more oxygen. Ahn gasped for air as they held her head. Water kept coming inside. No, not water. The taste was too thick. Too metallic. Oh god.

No.

No. No. No.

It was blood. She was in blood. She shrieked again, the sound gurgling with the blood entering her. "Stay still!" One of them yelled at her. Gabriel came up behind them and Ahn glared at him. As much as she could. Her eyes couldn't see much anymore. It was burning too. The blood burned the surface of her skin. Her body soon became too overheated and she didn't see any scarring but it felt like there would be if she stayed any longer.

"Start now!" One of them yelled.

"Help!" Ahn cried, getting a small towel shoved in her mouth in the process.

A man stood up and took out what seemed to be a Bible. "We are here to exorcise a poor victim of possession. May the heavens help us!"

Victim? Possession? Heaven?

Ahn screamed but it was only muffled by the towel. She panted instead, wishing she could've seen her friends one last time. Wishing she could've danced one last time. She wished for a lot of things actually. She should've been nicer to her parents. Should've invited them to her new apartment more.

"Help!" Ahn screamed but it didn't sound like anything.

"Stop screaming! All the ones on this floor are in on it." Gabriel spoke quietly. "It's to help you. Your donor... he was possessed before he died. The demon stayed in the eyes you have now. Stay still and we can help you."

"Fuck off!" Ahn cursed at him.

"The members of the church had been keeping close tabs on them. When they disappeared we noticed it's because they had been picked for your surgery. You were the only one who received one today."

"I don't care! I don't care! I don't care!" Ahn kept repeating, hating the way the blood burned. The man in front of her kept saying words of heaven and hell, god and angels. She couldn't hear through her own screaming. There had to be at least one person in this damn hospital who decided to check on the top floor. Just one good Samaritan.

"May the power of Christ compel you!" He shouted. There it was. That famous line that had been overused in horror movies. Ahn kept crying. "May the demon that rests on your shoulders show itself and repent for its sins!"

And then there was fire.

PART 2 - All a dream… Maybe?

Pure lines of blazing hot fire spread across the room. Like slithering snakes they circled around everyone. No, not snakes. It was a tornado of fire. It was unbearably hot and despite being in a tub full of blood, Ahn was already sweating. Outside the ring she could see that the flames weren't touching anything else.

Only focusing on them.

She kept screaming, but it wasn't only her who was screaming now. The robed men were yelling. Their clothes were on fire. They all let go of her trying to put it out. One shoved her out of the bathtub so he could get in and put out the inferno that currently devoured his body. Ahn met the ground roughly, her body ached but she was able to take out the towel from her mouth.

Gabriel fell on his ass beside her, he started sobbing and backing away as if he'd just seen a ghost. Ahn turned around to see there was a new person there with them.

A man.

"Ahh. You're the ones who invited me yet you're treating me like this?" He crossed his arms. "That's not very nice is it?"

All her attackers had been able to put out the fire on them. Now they wailed and shielded themselves from him as if he was going to kill them all. Wait, she had seen him before. Ahn took in his features again. Pink hair, tall, except instead of the ridiculous coat he was wearing a striped turtleneck and a leather jacket this time.

"I should teach you all a lesson. What is this your fourth time trying to exorcise me?"

The man met her eyes and smiled, a small dimple showing on his cheek. "But time is of the essence. We need to go."

Ahn couldn't speak. Her throat burned from all yelling she had already done. The man ran up to her and picked her up easily, as if she weighed close to nothing. "Oh guess you'll be needing these too-" He held onto her with one hand while picking up her glasses with the other.

And then-

He jumped out the window, breaking it in the process with his shoulders. Ahn screamed a hoarse dry sound coming out of her. She wrapped her arms around his neck tightly. Glass shards fell around them as they fell. There's no way they were going to survive the fall. Her stomach flipped at the drop and her mind stopped working.

He laughed a low deep chuckle before she felt a large shove and a brand new unsettling feeling. It wasn't falling. They weren't falling anymore. Her hair was being plastered down. They were going... sideways? Ahn kept holding onto him, but decided to open her eyes a little. The world was nothing but a blur, but she could make out trees. They were going towards the forest.

How?

"Can I tell you something?" The guy asked.

She couldn't answer. Her voice was gone. Death. Death was all she could think about.

"Ahh...To be honest-" He continued. "I don't know how to land with someone in my arms."

As if on cue, Ahn felt them land roughly on the ground. The grip on her body tightened and he took the worst of it, using himself as a landing pad. Her head slammed against his chest and then was thrown off of him. Ahn didn't have time to call for help, crashing into the forest floor, her body rolled a couple times before she was able to stop. Pine needles and sticks poked her bare arms and her knees... she didn't even want to think of the state of them.

The man groaned beside her and her body went into a fit of violent coughs that only resulted in her throwing up soon after. Her vomit was red and brown from the chocolate earlier and the blood.

It was hot out here. Summer was always so hot even in the forest. Ahn wiped her mouth and tried standing up but the guy was faster. He shoved her back on the ground, rolling her so she was on her back. "Aish you seriously need to take care of my eyes better." He frowned, taking out eye drops from his pocket.

Ahn was too tired to fight it. He opened her eyes, letting a couple drops fall in. It hurt. A lot. Ahn tried shoving him away but he was stronger. "Unless you want to go back to the hospital, I suggest letting me help you."

The hospital. With that cult. No thank you. She calmed down, and the man wiped her eyes softly with the back of his sleeve. Finally he put on her glasses and groaned, falling beside her. "Stay like that for a while. It's better to be on your back during recovery."

The sky above them was dark and cloudy. You couldn't see the moon from down here. It was covered. "Who are you?" Ahn asked, wincing at her grandma voice. It sounded aged and raspy.

"Chanyeol?" He said it in the form of a question.

"Are you not sure or are you asking me if I'm Chanyeol?"

He sat up. "Interesting."

"What is?"

He sighed, clapping his hands once. "Do you know how to get home from here?"

"No!" Ahn tried sitting up but he narrowed his eyes warning her not to move. She continued laying down. "I don't but I can Uber."

"Uber what the hell is that?"

He didn't know?

"I can pay someone to drive me." She explained. "Through an app but-" A defeated sigh escaped her. "My phone was in my room."

"What's a phone?" His brows furrowed, looking impatient.

Was he pranking her? Ahn stood up, ignoring his warnings. "You know? To call someone? To text them?"

He blinked. "Oh a telephone."

"Yes. I need my telephone." The word sounded weird. No one used it anymore. Ahn coughed again and Chanyeol looked around.

"They were close to exorcising me this time." He ran a hand through his hair. "Ah, to put the blood of a lamb with holy water was a smart move."

At least it hadn't been a human then. Ahn decided she could live with it for now. She looked at her dirty arms, underneath the blood and mountain dirt she could see they were red. "Why did it burn me?"

"Because you're now part demon sadly. I cant believe they were given to someone so insignificant." He snorted and walked up to her. His eyes were blue and one was clear enough to almost be white. There was a shift in the wind and he grabbed her shoulders. "Close your eyes."

"What?"

"You idiot, do it now!" He spoke through gritted teeth.

Ahn decided to listen in a mix of fear and trust in him. She closed her eyes and they immediately felt better. The wind picked up and her hair blew in her face. She wanted to move it out but the man stopped her. "Whatever you do, don't open your eyes."

There were voices. Whispers around them. They were large in numbers and some were closer than others. They ranged from low and high tones. It was suddenly cold too. Ahn shivered and the grip on her shoulders tightened. It was scary. This was too scary. She wanted to run. Ahn wanted to open her eyes and run. Just like before with the men, something felt off. Like there was a presence here that wanted to hurt her. She gasped, the sound coming off shaky and scared.

The voices stopped.

Everything seemed to stop. Even the wind. As if waiting for her next move. "Your Uber is going to have to wait-" He laughed under his breath. "Seems like everyone decided to be nosy tonight."

Chanyeol picked her up again and she decided to let him. He had already saved her once. Her arms clung to his shoulders. "Hold on." He whispered. She felt him shift and they were in the air again. Ahn bit her lip and he kept moving. She didn't know where, or what but it seemed to be fast. As fast as a car. "You can open your eyes but don't look back! They're chasing us."

Ahn shook her head, refusing to see anything. She didn't want to find out what was chasing them or where exactly they were going at such a speed. Instead she thought,

Okay... he's a demon.

I have demon eyes?

Maybe this is a dream. Maybe that cult actually got to me and I'm dreaming. Or maybe it's an incredibly creative dream and I'm still in the hospital bed. There was never a Gabriel, and I never ate chocolate.

Maybe....

"All these houses look the same!" He muttered frustrated. Ahn opened her eyes. They were falling towards her street.

Didn't he not know how to land?

He didn't.

Chanyeol landed on the ground and lost his grip on her. He cursed and she fell off. Ahn rolled on the cement this time and almost crashed into a pole. The demon, on the other hand, was perfectly fine. He dusted off his hands watching her struggle to get up. "A sorry would have been nice!"

He raised an eyebrow. "Why should I apologize?"

Whatever. It was a dream. Ahn figured this was all a dream now, there was no way in hell her body could take this much damage in one day. She stood up, knees wobbling and walked towards her apartment. Chanyeol stared after her. "Tomorrow, I'll check in tomorrow. For now, put a ring of salt in your bedroom."

"Yeah, yeah." She muttered, too tired to fight with her dream.

He was suddenly in front of her and she crashed into his chest. He was very very tall.

"I mean it. At least do that."

She nodded. Guess it wouldn't hurt.

                              ————————

Chanyeol walked through the red gates being greeted by a bar full of idiot demons just like himself.

They all cheered at his entrance and some even sneered. He rolled his eyes and fell on a stool. This was going to be harder than he thought. The human was pretty healthy in a physical sense but she seemed to be a little too stupid. Instead of being scared of him, she had decided that he was a dream.

Though it helped running away.

He slammed his fist on the table and a demon named Kiol yelled at him. "Watch it! I just had those installed."

"I'm surprised this place is still running."

Kiol smiled at him. "It's been a while since you've been in the mortal world hasn't it? A lot has changed. Welcome back Chanyeol. It seems like everyone missed you."

He looked back at the guests. It was all demons but in their human form. They ranged in ages depending on when they were made into demons. One was as young as six. All of them were aware of his presence. All of them had been waiting for his return.

"They gave my eyes to some idiot human girl." He frowned. "She decided it was all a dream."

Kiol frowned, his human form was nothing short of intimidating. A bald headed six foot five man with tattoos covering every inch of his body. Chanyeol never understood why he went with that image when he could've been someone handsome... like himself. He grinned at his own compliment. Kiol said it was to scare any non demon customers away. Which was funny considering he was a high class demon. His power should be enough for that.

"How many are after her?" He asked.

"Too many. We almost got attacked in the forest but I was faster and stronger." Chanyeol sighed.

"Are you taking your eyes back?" Kai asked behind him. Chanyeol turned to look at him and they both grinned. Kai and Kiol two brothers who looked nothing alike yet had been demons for as long as he had been. They had met when there had been no such things as cars, or the internet or... Uber was it? Kai had burnt red eyelids that were a result of Chanyeol's curse that turned them into demons.

"I am." Chanyeol stood up. "Even if it kills her. I just have two problems.-"

"What is it?"

"She ruined them in a short amount of time. I have to wait for them to heal properly." He touched his eyelids. They were there in a spiritual sense. Not in a physical sense. Chanyeol could use his demon abilities to make himself look like a normal human. Like how he used to look thousands of years ago. "Also I can't rip them out of her because of that stupid law."

"Ahh..." Kai started thinking. "Humans over demons one?"

Chanyeol nodded. In the world of spirits there is a hierarchy. Demons in the lowest rank. Humans are weak and oblivious to the fact that they have so much control over them. They do though. It's the way God intended it. They have the power to get rid of them, to exorcise them, to make sure they never see light again. That also includes not being able to take his eyes back. That girl now owns them, they're part of her physical body and the only way for her to willingly give them up. "I'm going to do the contract with her."

"The king is back." Kai smiled.

He was.

_____________

1480 - Joseon dynasty:

Through the sounds of a leather whip, the sky above was a purple tint. It seemed to stretch into the horizon across the curved and sharpened grey rooftops. It touched the gold and green paint of the palace in such an artistic way that no painting done by any artist in the entire kingdom could replicate.

"Four more."

Chanyeol stared, lifeless, as the man in front of him was beaten. He didn't care. He had dared to back talk to him. Now he suffered the consequences. His father gave the commands. All he could do was watch and have fun with it.

Behind him, he heard a gasp. It was his mother. She had always been too weak for these situations, too kind. Chanyeol stood up, his red robes fluttering against the ground. From inside the castle lanterns had been lit up in the most beautiful of colors. Colors to represent an upcoming wedding.

His own.

The king stood, earning himself a good ten servants to come to his aid. They all tried helping him walk, some going as far as wanting to be used as a stepstool. Chanyeol rolled his eyes and stared back at the villager. He grew crops for the kingdom last he heard, he was hard working yet brash. He didn't care about the royal family or manners. All the good looking men were like that, including Chanyeol himself. Except Chanyeol was allowed to act like that. Through the scars and lashings he could make out the sharp features of his face, his long black hair fell towards the ground.

"He's going to get married soon! A crown prince should not be shown as being violent!" His mother fought for him.

"He is to be a king. A king shows no mercy. A king is strong." His father explained.

"Showing mercy is strength." She countered.

Chanyeol walked over to the beaten man and cocked his head to the side and smiled a crooked smile. "Do you agree? Mercy is strength?"

The man whimpered. Shielding himself from him. Not so tough now was he...Chanyeol took out a small golden blade, gifted to him by his friend Kiol. "I will show you mercy then-" He smiled, diving the blade into the side of his neck. A couple of women screamed behind him. Blood splattered on his face and he looked back. His mother had fainted, his dad looked proud but... his soon to be wife looked horrified. Chanyeol dropped the knife and raised his hands. "It was either that or torture."

Sooyun cried, though the tears didn't fall. They gathered in her eyes as she nodded and bowed to him. "I am grateful to be wed to someone as merciful as you."

She was lying for her own sake. Chanyeol nodded and dismissed her. His dad patted him on the back. "You are going to be a great king."

He wasn't so sure about that.

[sarangbear]

THE MATERIAL

[bluehoodiewoozi]

Lies and Butterflies

Joshua Hong x Fem!Reader

Genre: fake dating au; mostly fluff.

Word Count: 19.2k

Warnings: injuries & blood (injury is not explicitly described). joking death threats made between friends. mentions of drinking and alcoholic beverages. lying to parental figures. reader is written as single and desperate and moderately unwise (she’s actually me).

[Series: Serenity Street 17] Your roommate begged you to pretend to date him while his mom is in town for the month. The little crush you’ve had on him will either become your best friend or worst obstacle on this quest.

note: the fact that this fic came out as longer than my master's degree thesis will never not amaze me.

Your friends thought you were a naive fool for moving into Serenity Street 17, apartment 3A. Not because the neighbourhood or building was bad (if anything, they often commented about how cosy it was), but because you signed the rental agreement knowing full well you’d be sharing an apartment with a man you didn’t know. 

In your defence, you’d been hesitant to do so. However, after several reassuring comments from the building manager about how your roommate would be a perfectly sweet young gentleman (but mostly the influence of the looming end of your old rental agreement with a remaining budget from hell), you had done the insane thing and signed the agreement.

Fortunately, Joshua Hong, your new roommate, seemed like a true angel at first sight – both visually and metaphorically. Upon your arrival, he’d spent the entire weekend helping you move the heavy boxes and unbox everything (all the while you were trying your hardest to not feel weak at the sight of his gorgeous face and straining biceps). He assured you repeatedly that he’d do the dishes and cook for himself. He sent you off to work every morning with a sweet smile, a wave and a thermos full of hot coffee to start your day. 

You’d quickly learn why the neighbourhood aunties called him “Serenity Street’s gentleman”. And at first you thought he truly deserved the title.

That is until you had lived with him for a month and realised he was the dictionary definition of unpredictable. Sure, he wasn’t completely insane and most of the time he was truly the perfect roommate (as well as eye candy), but the moments when he did unleash his inner demons? Even now, many months later, you were still trying to decide if that side of him amused or scared you.

It was to the point where you and Chan, your neighbour from across the hall, had started keeping a shared list of Joshua’s wildest moments (a tradition which several of your other friends in the building soon joined). 

For one, there was the time when he decided to perform EXO’s ‘Love Shot’ with a truly unhinged choreography at the building’s monthly drunk karaoke night. The kicker? He didn’t start drinking until after the cover (probably to bury the shame he felt). 

Or the time when he mistakenly watered a fake plant for weeks and then, upon realising his mistake, proceeded to gaslight himself and everyone you knew that it had at one point been a real plant and someone must have snuck into the apartment to replace it with an identical fake one (you didn’t have the heart to tell him that he was fooling no one (but Minghao had been more than happy to share the news with him for you )).

There was also, of course, the time when he had a life-sized cardboard cut-out of himself made to decorate the living room and you couldn’t have reminded him enough of how terrifying of a sight it had been at 4 am on your way to the bathroom. To his credit, he moved the cut-out behind Jeonghan’s apartment door a week later to terrify him instead. Jeonghan has since sworn he’d get back at your roommate for it one day (and you dearly hoped he would).

Needless to say, your roommate had you living on the edge of your seat at all times. So it didn’t surprise you much when he knocked on your bedroom door at 11 pm before walking in and throwing himself head-first onto your bed.

Used to his shenanigans but well-aware of his need for attention, you just sighed and lowered the book you had spent all day looking forward to. “What’s up?”

His response was unintelligible, muffled against the sage green sheets. 

You waited a moment for him to lift his head. Nothing happened. For a moment you wondered if he’d fallen asleep. So you nudged him with your foot. “Shua?”

With a groan, he leaned upwards, resting on his elbows as he stared ahead and told you, “Do you think I’m too single?”

Amused and confused by the question, you blinked rapidly. “Is that even a thing? I think all single people are equally single, no?”

“I haven’t dated anyone in five years,” he told you.

“And?”

“I haven’t gone on a date in three.”

“So?”

“My mom thinks that’s too long.”

You took mild offence to that as you had been left out on the dry shores of Singleness for well over a decade – if your three-day middle-school playground marriage even counted towards this statistic, that is. If Joshua had been single for too long by his mom’s standards, then you surely must have seemed like a completely hopeless case. 

You shook the thought off and tried to seem like a supportive friend (even though your mind and soul were already lost in faraway lands, riding horses with dreamy fictional men that oddly looked like Joshua). “Why does that matter?”

“Because,” he started as if you should know this already, “she wants me to go on a blind date with her friend’s daughter. She wants to discuss it tomorrow over lunch.”

Was it too soon to tell him you sometimes daydreamed of your mom appearing at the door with a handsome young man and demanding you to go on a date with him? Maybe. Was that too desperate? Probably.

“You’re an adult man, Shua,” you told him with a scoff. “Just say no.”

“I can’t say that to my mom!”

“Why not? Because she’d be disappointed and sad?” you guessed, eyeing him with annoyance. 

He widened his eyes and all you saw in his brown irises was pure terror mixed with just a hint of frustration. “She’d lecture me!”

“Oh no,” you didn’t even try to feign any kind of an emotion before lifting your book back to your eye level, eager to get back to your reading where men didn’t trouble you with their mommy issues. “Your mom’s nice. You’ll live.”

“You could try to be more empathetic, you know,” he remarked before resting his cheek on the mattress and sighing. “What are you reading anyway? Another one of your historical romances?”

“And what if it is?” you asked.

“My mom would tell you to get off your ass and get an actual boyfriend.”

“Good thing she’s not my mom then. Men are disappointing and I only like the ones written by women.”

Joshua’s eyes narrowed. “Are you calling me a disappointment right now?”

There were many words you could use to describe Joshua, but a disappointment? – not one of them. Really, the only disappointing thing about the man in front of you was that he thought your valiant flirting attempts over the past six months had been a funny joke. Even if you thought he could be incredibly frustrating, you were not immune to his charms, and everyone but him seemed to know.

Still, if there was anything you liked more than being the sole object of Joshua’s attention, it was getting on his nerves as much as he did yours.

“Absolutely,” you told him with a straight face but your facade fell fast at his offended grimace. You couldn’t help but laugh. “Of course you’re not a disappointment. I actually like you.”

Would he pick up the hint (and was it even a hint if you were practically confessing your feelings?) … ?

“I hate you,” he mumbled and buried his face back in the sheets.

… No. The answer was no.

Aside from his wild shenanigans, another thing that frustrated you about your roommate to no end was the fact that he. never. read. his. messages. And yet, when he messaged you, he expected an answer ASAP. 

And if you didn’t reply within 2 minutes … ?

Your phone vibrated and rang, his contact photo bright and colourful on your phone screen. You could barely keep back from cursing under your breath before offering your co-workers an apologetic smile and rushing out to the breakroom to answer the call. 

You took a deep calming breath before putting on your best customer service-able smile and speaking into the microphone, “What’s up?”

“Where are you?” came the short reply. Was it just you or did he sound winded? 

As if he could see you through the radio waves, you theatrically glanced around the building before deadpanning, “At work. Like every Tuesday at 1 pm.”

 “Right,” he breathed out after a pause and suddenly you were worried. 

The Joshua you knew never hesitated to match your sarcastic remarks with ones of his own. There was rarely any bite to his words but you appreciated that he at least tried to match your energy (or maybe you had unknowingly matched his and you were fated to meet). But this? This hadn’t been a sarcastic remark.

“Are you okay?” you spoke, tone softening. “Did something happen?”

“You know how I had that lunch thing with mom today?” he asked after a sigh. 

You nodded before realising he couldn’t actually see you. “Yeah?”

“She brought up her friend’s daughter again and I panicked and–” He cut himself off with a laugh but it sounded anything but joyful. No, it sounded frustrated and disbelieving and like he was about five seconds from a mental breakdown. You found yourself holding your breath as you waited for his laughter to stop. When it did, he sighed again. “Can you come home early?”

The answer was obviously no. You couldn’t just leave your job to cater to your roommate's frenzies. You had made it a point to never ask for any unnecessary time off at all, eager to prove yourself at the office. You had only worked here for five months. Besides, you had goals and a dream and–

“Please?” he added. He sounded so soft, so fragile, so worried.

You squeezed your eyes shut and lied to yourself that your boss wouldn’t hate you if you just told him you had a horrible, perhaps borderline ER-worthy migraine and needed to go home ASAP. Or was that too risky? Would he ask for a doctor’s note? What’s the other option?

“If my boss emails you and asks if our apartment was flooded today, you tell him yes and that you almost drowned,” you finally told him, unable to believe you were about to blatantly lie to your boss, before swiping across your screen to end the call. 

“You’re home,” he breathed out when you stepped through the door half an hour later. 

You found him sitting on the living room sofa. He was still wearing his best white shirt and if it weren’t for the mess of hair on his head, he would’ve looked like he had just gotten ready to go out.

You shrugged off your jacket. “I would really like an explanation.”

“Yeah,” he sighed and rubbed his face. “Where do I start? Um… Well, my mom’s coming to stay with us for a month.”

Your jaw dropped. “A month?! Why? Did something happen to her house?”

“No,” he seemed almost pained to tell you so. With a gentle grip on your hand, he led you to sit next to him on the sofa. “You know how she was trying to set me up with her friend’s daughter?”

You nodded, raising a brow. “What about it? Was it, like, an ex or something?”

“Well, no, but,” he took a deep breath and turned to stare at the wall, eyes wide as if he was expecting something to crash as he spoke, “I might have panicked and said something bad.”

“Such as?” you urged, leaning closer.

Getting red in the face, he really looked like the words he needed had wedged themselves in his throat and were rebelling, refusing to come out. He opened and closed his mouth, trying to make even a single sound, but you still heard nothing. 

Your patience was running thinner by the second. “Joshua, I lied to my boss because of you. Spit it out or, I swear to god, I will make that lie a reality and drown you in the bathtub.”

The threat seemed to motivate him plenty. He let out a soft whine before blurting, “I told her I can’t go on a date with Mary because we’re dating.”

This man never failed to surprise, scare and worry you. And this time you were scared for the both of you. “You told her what?! We?! As in you and me?!”

“I’m sorry,” he immediately dropped to his knees in front of you, looking up at you with desperate and terrified sparkling doe eyes. “I wasn’t thinking! I didn’t want to make her feel bad and I panicked and I lied and I swear I’ll make it up to you! Whatever you want! Anything. I am so, so sorry.”

You didn’t even have the words to say. Frozen in your seat, you stared at him, trying your hardest to get your brain to reset so you could discover you simply had fallen asleep at your desk and this was all a dream. Was it a dream or was it a nightmare? You’d decide later.

When you hadn’t responded for nearly a minute, Joshua gently nudged your hand. “Hey, are you okay? I’m sorry, okay?”

But when you still remained silent without even as much as moving your eyes, he quickly added, “I’ll just fess up, yeah? I’ll tell her I panicked and lied and I’ll go on that date. Just please don’t be mad at me, okay?”

You held your hand up to stop him. “It’s fine. I just… I need a moment.”

“Yeah…” He breathed in relief before nodding and agreeing, “Yeah. Anything you want. I’ll…I can…  Do you want water? Tea? I could make cocoa.”

“Just water’s fine,” you told him almost robotically as you stared into space, rubbing your temples as if that would somehow make it easier to process the absolutely bizarre situation you had found yourself in because, no, unfortunately (or fortunately?) this was not a dream. This was your reality.

As he scurried over to the kitchen, you tried to wrap your mind around … well, everything. 

It felt like a cruel joke. All these months of pining after your handsome roommate, making him heart-shaped toast and pancakes, fixing his shirt collar as he prepared to leave for work, practically flat-out confessing to him – and here he was, practically throwing himself at you. 

But none of it was real. He wasn’t actually into you. It was just a panicked reaction. He’d just thought of the first age-appropriate woman that came to his mind – it was only you because you were roommates and spent so much time together. There were no feelings involved on his end. 

But on yours? You willed your heart to stop fluttering and pounding and threatening to beat out of your chest at the mere idea of dating Joshua Hong. 

“Here,” he spoke softly as he placed a cold glass of water into your hand and took his seat next to you. He watched for a while as you took a miniscule sip and continued staring into nothingness, lost in your thoughts. He hesitated to speak. “I really am sorry. I just wasn’t thinking straight. I was scared and–”

“I seemed like a safer option than Mary?” you finished for him, giving him a knowing look. “C’mon, is she really that bad?”

No, you’re just that much better is what you wished he’d say. Then you’d have at least something to hold onto.

Joshua offered a half-hearted smile. “Mom said Mary is really into haunted buildings and ghost hunting, so…”

Did that make you much better than her? Very debatable. But you were willing to take just about anything reminiscent of a win.

“Sounds dreadful,” you replied, matching his smile. “So what happens now?”

“Well,” he seemed hesitant all over again, as if no progress had been made at all. He quickly forced himself out of that headspace and met your eyes, “I could call my mom and tell her I lied��”

You sensed an ‘or’. Raising an eyebrow, you silently asked him to finish the thought.

He took a stuttering breath before grimacing. “Or we go on with the lie and pretend to date for a while.”

Option B is what your heart shouted. Please pick option B, even if it’s all a lie.

“A while being…?” you forced yourself to nitpick instead of immediately jumping into his arms and agreeing. 

He kissed his teeth. “A month-ish.”

“A month?!”

“Mom didn’t fully, entirely, really believe me,” Joshua supplied with an apologetic look, “so I bluffed a little and she said she’d come stay with us for a while to see it for herself and… I sort of agreed to let her stay a month.”

A month of (fake) dating Joshua Hong, your hot roommate, the very subject of your daydreams? You weren’t sure whether you wanted to scream in joy or cry in despair.

“Okay,” you breathed out and gulped. “We can– We can do a month… right?”

“Right.” He didn’t seem any more sure of than you.

“How long ‘til she comes here?”

“Two days.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

[DAY 1, FRIDAY]

Having read and watched a fair share of romantic comedies, you were adamant that there was no need for a ‘fake dating contract’. You and Joshua were roommates and good friends; surely just a verbal agreement of boundaries would suffice. You’d just tell him your boundaries and he’d tell you yours. 

In an ideal world, that is.

But in the real world, there was a knock on the door before you could even begin to whisper about the idea of boundaries.

While sharing a startled look with you, Joshua crept towards the door and peeked through peephole. 

“It’s her,” he breathed out and offered you one last grimace before opening the door. His voice went from tormented to overjoyed so fast you felt it give you a whiplash, “Mom! Hi! Let me help with your suitcase.”

Showtime (except this was not a theatre, and you didn’t have even the semblance of a script to play out, and you sucked at improv). Putting on your best smile, you stood up just as they entered the living room. 

“There she is!” his mother called out and rushed over to give you a warm hug. “Look at you! As good-looking as always!”

Your cheeks felt a little warm at that. “You look great too!”

“Oh, I know,” she joked and gave your shoulder a friendly pat. Then her friendly expression morphed into something more sinister. “So, dating, huh?”

If your cheeks had felt warm before, they were positively burning now. You tried to find your voice again, even offered a look to Joshua who could only respond with an equally nervous wide-eyed look. Finally, you cleared your throat and answered, “Yeah. We’re still kind of getting used to it ourselves.”

“I always knew you two would end up together,” she gushed, smiling ear to ear and winking at you between sentences. “Took you a while though. I was already starting to worry about my Joshua.”

“Yeah,” you heard him mumble, “me too.”

“Will you join us for dinner?” you asked her, trying to steer the topic away from the inevitable chit-chat about your almost-non-existent relationship.

She hummed in thought – a habit Joshua must have picked up from her, you realised – and nodded as she looked around the living room. “Of course. Let me just get settled in and put on more comfortable clothes. Where can I unpack?”

Your “boyfriend” and you shared a wide-eyed look. This is why you never did improv! 

“You can have my room,” Joshua finally spoke all the while still having that very same panicked expression. “I’ll get it set up real quick.”

His mother paused, confused (and was that a glint of suspicion in her eyes?). “You don’t sleep together?”

You could’ve fried an egg on your cheeks with how hot they felt. “Oh, we–”

“Like she said,” Joshua interrupted, forcing a smile that almost looked convincing, “we’re still kind of settling into this whole relationship thing. We’re taking it slow.”

“I’m glad to give you a push in the right direction,” she told him with a chuckle. “You can’t leave someone like (Y/n) just waiting. She’ll get bored of you, and then what?”

He laughed shortly. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“Like always.”

He nodded before tugging on the crook of your elbow to drag you with him. “Sweetie, why don’t you come help me set up mom’s room?”

You thanked the heavens he had enough mental capacity to not leave you alone with his mom. “Of course!”

“Help yourself to anything you want in the kitchen, yeah?” Joshua told his mom as he reached to pick up her suitcase with his free hand, his left one still holding onto you like you were his lifeline. “Coffee, tea, a snack – anything.”

She replied with a smile and continued her (no doubt thorough) tour of your apartment. 

Once you were in his room, he closed the door so that it was just a bit ajar as to not seem suspicious and turned to you with a look of terror. His whispers were so loud and harsh that you wondered if there was any point in pretending otherwise as he asked, “What do we do?”

“We clean your room and make your mom feel at home,” you suggested, not entirely sure what he was getting at.

Joshua gave you a look that said he was holding back the urge to call you dumb. “I meant us. She’s taking my bed. Where will I sleep? I can’t sleep on the sofa – she’ll figure out we’re lying.”

Oh. Yeah, that was an unwelcome problem. Mostly because the only viable solution you could think of involved Joshua sleeping in your room and you not getting any sleep because he’d be so close to you. What if you fell asleep and talked in your sleep, confessing your everlasting love? Worse!: what if you had a dirty dream about him – one involving his gorgeous biceps and soft lips and– dear god, you’d never be able to look him in the eyes again. Hell, you probably wouldn’t be able to be in the same room as him. 

Joshua stared at you in silence, expecting a solution. Before you could offer one though, he shut it down with a “I’m not sneaking out to sleep on Chan’s pull-out couch either.”

Damn it. 

“Then there’s only one solution,” you whispered back, unable to believe your own words. “We’ll have to share my room.”

“There’s no room for another mattress there.”

It’s not like either of you even knew where to find a spare mattress. But you didn’t tell him that. And the look in his eyes said you didn’t have to because he knew it just the same and that left only one solution.

“We can share my bed, but if you touch my teddy bear, I’ll make sure you go missing under mysterious circumstances,” you told him and left the room to get some clean sheets for the bed (and calm your heart).

The rest of a day went by in a daze of terrible half-believable lies that just kept elaborating at their own accord because of course she couldn’t be satisfied with just a simple answer. No, she had to ask questions to clarify, as if she was a detective trying to figure out a suspect’s background.

And so you bluffed and lied and shared panicked looks with Joshua. Your collaborations added up to a decent backstory – at least that’s what you thought because at least your lies were not completely out of the realm of reality.

Who confessed first? You both did, in a moment of drunken chaos at Seungcheol’s housewarming party (you failed to mention there was no alcohol provided at said party). 

Where was your first date? A picnic at the park not too far from your home just a few short months ago (and she didn’t need to know it was an outing with all of your neighbours – something not Joshua but Jihoon had organised to help the people in the building become closer).

What was your first kiss like? You had kissed him under the streetlights when he walked you home from work because you’d be damned if you let a man make the first move (in Joshua’s opinion, this was the most obvious lie of all but he chose not to argue because the other option was to look his mother in the eyes and tell her he’d made the first move to kiss somebody on the mouth).

The little lies added up and by the end of the day, you weren’t entirely sure where one started or another ended. Hell, you were pretty certain you wouldn’t remember most of them the next day. 

But that wasn’t the hard part – not the real hard part anyway. No, the real problem was the evernearing night. Between the improv performance of your life and the general feeling of butterflies, you hadn’t had any time to come to terms with the fact that you’d have to share a bed with your handsome, hot, absolutely amazing roommate under the guise of being his girlfriend.

And now the reality was looming.

His mother was the first to head to bed, leaving you and Joshua to stare at each other in a relieved silence across the dining table as she went about her bedtime routine. Neither you or Joshua dared to move to head to sleep next. Neither of you wanted to make the first move. 

Sensing you were faced with a similar dilemma, he finally suggested, “We could watch a movie.”

“We’ll have to go to bed eventually,” you told him with a sigh. “We can’t spend the whole night watching TV.”

His silence told you he thought otherwise. 

And you were in no mood to make the first move or argue about pillow barriers and teddy bears. So, begrudgingly, you dragged yourself over to the sofa and turned on the TV. 

He joined you soon after, two cans of soda in hand. He handed one – already opened – to you as you flipped through the movie selection.

“You know, sugar really isn’t good for you before bed,” you remarked offhandedly. “Makes it hard to fall asleep.”

He just scoffed and opened his can with a pop and a fizzle. “Good thing we’re watching a movie and not sleeping then.”

“Rom-com or action?”

“Action,” he answered a little too fast before sipping his drink as if to distract himself. 

“We could watch Transformers,” you half-joked. “It’s got a good runtime.”

“Might as well,” he sighed and made himself comfortable as you clicked on the title. 

As you pulled a cushion into your lap for optimal comfort, Joshua remained sitting far from you. It was funny, really – it seemed that he was sitting further from you as your “boyfriend” than he ever had as just your roommate. 

You wanted to blame the movie for how silent the living room had become. Only Optimus Prime’s voice sounded in the apartment, and even that was quiet to not disturb your guest’s sleep. But the reality was that something had shifted between you. You were officially stuck in an arrangement that both benefited and ruined you, and the reality was sinking in fast.

Now there was no chance to take back the lies and the faking. The only option was to keep going and keep up with your elaborate plan to trick the sweetest woman you knew, all because your roommate didn’t want to date some girl called Mary and you had agreed to be his cover because you were infatuated with him. 

How does one process this situation? Where do you go from here? Can you do this for a month without thinking too hard about it? And what happens when the month is up?

“Hey,” Joshua’s soft voice startled you from your tortured thoughts. You turned to find him watching you with a somewhat wistful smile. “You did great today, you know?”

“Whatever do you mean?” You chuckled but it sounded pained even to your own ears. “I was just being a good girlfriend.”

He snorted a laugh. “You can stop acting. I’m pretty sure she’s asleep by now. It’s okay. ”

“How do you know if she’s asleep?” you whispered, eyeing his – no, her – bedroom door. “Would suck to get caught lying on the very first night.”

Joshua’s smile looked a little more real now, almost reaching his eyes as he still watched you like you were a beloved family puppy who had learnt a new trick. “She snores pretty loud.”

Tense in your seat, still eyeing the door, you listened and waited. Before long, you discovered he was right. There it was, a soft snore accompanying Bumblebee’s action scene. Closing your eyes, you breathed out in relief and relaxed into the plush fabric of the sofa. 

“Do you think she bought it?” you wondered.

“If she didn’t, we’ll just have to work harder tomorrow,” he replied before reaching over to brush your hair off your face. 

You willed the butterflies to just go to sleep already and let you be. They remained relentless and you could only pray Joshua wouldn’t notice how flustered his touch made you feel.

“We just have to do this for another 29 days,” you said to distract yourself. “It’ll be fine.”

Did he have to keep stroking your cheek so gently? How much hair did you even have stuck on your face? Maybe you were hallucinating and he wasn’t touching you at all – that seemed almost plausible. 

“We’ll be fine,” he whispered and he sounded to be closer now. His warm breath brushed against your temple. Maybe you weren’t entirely out of your mind yet. “It’s just a month.”

“Just a month.” 

You weren’t yet sure whether you wished it would last less or more.

[DAY 2, SATURDAY]

Three things had greeted you when you woke up: the smell of fresh coffee, the brightest sun you had ever had the displeasure of waking under, and someone’s arm around your waist. You almost hadn’t cared whose arm it was because it was holding you to a warm body, safe from the evils of the morning chill.

Begrudgingly, you had eventually opened your eyes and glanced around. You had fallen asleep on the sofa instead of your bed – a work-around for last night’s problem if you’d ever seen one, even if it was horrible for your back. And the arm belonged to none other than your roommate who looked like an angel as he slept, resting his head on your shoulder… 

“And how is any of that my problem?” Chan yawned over his cup of coffee as he watched you pace around his kitchen ten minutes later. He didn’t really have any plans anyway but it’s not like he enjoyed having neighbours march into his apartment to rant about their love lives (even if it was great material for the building’s gossip group chat which he would no doubt update as soon as you’d leave).

You offered him a glare. “You’re supposed to be a supportive friend.”

“You must have me mixed up with someone,” he deadpanned and took a sip of his hot drink. “What’s so bad about waking up next to him anyway? It’s not like you’ve never shared a bed before.”

Your face felt like it was burning at his words. “How do you even know that?”

Unimpressed, he raised a brow. “You did the same thing the last time it happened – ran in screaming and crying and giggling like a schoolkid.” He paused, narrowing his eyes a little as if a thought was occurring before adding, “You actually do this a lot. It’s a little concerning.”

“Whatever,” you groaned and slumped in the bar stool across the counter from him. “What do I do?”

“Seize the day and appreciate the fact that you’re dating your crush?”

“Fake dating,” you corrected him with a mild glare. And you had only revealed so much to him because he was your best friend and confidant (and because you had made him swear on his life that he wouldn’t tell anyone else).

Chan scoffed a laugh. “He might be faking but there’s no way you are. You suck at improv. Just embrace it and go with the flow.”

You stared at him. Were all your friends this unhelpful or was this just a trait unique to Lee Chan? 

“Why do I even come to you for advice?” you thought out loud. “It’s not like you can even get a date yourself.”

He sputtered and coughed up the sip of coffee he had unfortunately taken just seconds before. His ears turned red. “At least I’m trying.”

“So am I!” you whined. “Come on, give me something to work with. I’m in the middle of a crisis.”

“All of which is self-inflicted.”

“I hate you.”

“Maybe, but you love Joshua,” he teased, winked, and narrowly dodged the apple you threw at his head. He laughed heartily before taking another sip of his coffee. “I’m serious though. You might as well take advantage of your arrangement. Just forget about the fake part and just think of yourself as his girlfriend. I’m sure he won’t complain about your authenticity.”

“I don’t think that’s how it works.”

“Well, then take advantage some other way,” he suggested, appearing a little frustrated (which was fair; you had, in fact, interrupted his much needed me-time and breakfast for one). “What are you getting out of this arrangement anyways? He gets his mom off his back, and you? Is getting to live out your late-night fantasies the only perk?”

You stared at him. For a moment, he feared you were getting ready to hurl another fruit at his head. But then, instead of reaching for an apple, you slumped in your seat and let out a curious noise. “Huh.”

“Huh?” he mimicked, still tense in case it was a fake-out and you were going to throw something at him regardless.

“You’re right,” you said and he worried even more. 

He glanced towards the nearest door from the corner of his eye, wondering if it was close enough for a safe escape. You never said Chan was right – that just wasn’t a thing. It never happened. He had a bigger chance of getting struck by lightning than to hear you say those two words. Chan was fearing for his life.

“I’m right?” he echoed hesitantly.

“I’m getting nothing out of this arrangement,” you said with a scoff of disbelief. “That little scammer! I’m out here improv-ing my ass off to please his mother and all I get in return is daydream material? Screw that!”

Across from you, Chan still wasn’t sure if this was a healthy development or if he should call Jeonghan for back-up. Regardless, he decided it was safer to just play along. He let out an empathetic cheer and agreed, “Screw it! Yeah! He’s too nice to say no anyways.”

“I’m gonna make him pay!” you decided and marched out of his apartment.

The moment you were out of his sight, Chan breathed out a sigh of relief. 

But you? You froze in the hallway. You just had to cross the hall and demand your due payment. But what would you even ask for? 

As your mind raced for ideas – a new laptop? a new wardrobe? –, the door of your apartment opened. As if you were cursed, Joshua’s head peeked out. 

“Oh,” he spoke and his voice was so soft and welcoming that you almost convinced yourself you couldn’t take advantage of him any more than you already were, “there you are! We were starting to worry.”

“Worry?” you parroted dumbly.

“Yeah,” he laughed and reached out a hand as if to invite you in – as if your name wasn’t on the lease right next to his –, “we were about to have breakfast. Mom made french toast.”

“Oh.” You silently wondered what had happened to the woman you had been two minutes ago in Chan’s apartment. The spine you had grown seemed to have disappeared as soon as Joshua flashed you a smile. You were capital S Screwed.

Deep in your thoughts, you hadn’t noticed Joshua staring at you, confused and puzzled, his hand still outstretched for you to take. He cleared his throat to call your attention and forced his smile to brighten as he wriggled his fingers as if to entice you. You sighed quietly before faking a smile and taking his hand, finally letting him pull you to the kitchen.

“There you are,” his mother called out the moment she saw you. She was already at the table, sipping her tea and eyeing the fresh toast. “We were just beginning to wonder where you had gone.”

“Yeah,” Joshua agreed before frowning at you as he pulled a chair out for you to sit, “where did you go?”

What would be a convincing lie? A half-truth – at least that’s what Joshua himself had once told you in a drunken giggle fit.

You took a deep breath and lied through your teeth, “I remembered I promised to help Chan with something.”

“Chan?” She looked at you and there was an odd glint of something in her eyes. Amusement? Judgement? Suspicion. That’s what it was – it was clear cut suspicion and you had to shake it off before she caught onto your plan.

“Our neighbour from across the hall,” Joshua said quickly. Too quickly. You thought he must have recognised that glint in her eyes as well. “He and (Y/n) get along great.”

She hummed thoughtfully, giving you one last glance before declaring, “Well, let’s eat before it all gets cold, kids.”

[DAY 3, SUNDAY]

You had managed to avoid this twice already. This being the act of sharing a bed with the very man who had been the main character of your beautiful love-struck dreams for the past 7 months. 

The first time had been a lucky break – falling asleep on the sofa with a Transformers movie playing in the background. It had been believable enough.

The second time – last night –, had been less of a lucky break and more of a Joshua scheme. Whether it was because he couldn’t fathom the idea of sharing even a room with you (hurtful, but valid) or because he was afraid you’d be uncomfortable (absolutely valid), he had gone to hang out with his friend Jeonghan and the newest inhabitant of the building Choi Seungcheol and didn’t return until noon. And even now he was still hungover from their late-night activities.

But this time? It seemed that three was not a magic number after all. 

Dressed in your least revealing pyjamas, you stood next to Joshua, collectively staring at the twin bed in the corner of your room. 

The silence was deafening and suffocating you. And the butterflies in your stomach seemed to have doubled since this arrangement started. 

“Do you think it’s too late to call Jihoon and ask for a spare mattress?” you wondered out loud without really meaning to. 

You wanted to slap a hand over your own mouth – all these months of pining but when the opportunity is served to you on a silver platter, you’re a coward. What was it that Mina had called this? 

Self-sabotage? Sounds about right.

Joshua glanced at the time on his phone before sighing and looking at the bed again. “It’s already past midnight. And you have work at 8.”

“Oh.” 

“Whatever,” he sighed, blinking his eyes closed and rubbing the bridge of his nose. “I’ll take the window side. You take the wall side.”

Any love-blind or anxious thoughts jumped right out your third floor windows. Why did you even have a crush on this man who cared so little for your sleep? Making you sleep against the wall? When his shoulders were almost as wide as your whole bed? 

To quote the wise words of Lee Jihoon: Joshua? A gentleman, my ass!

You scoffed. “No way! Last time I let you do that, you almost squashed me.”

Frowning, he shushed you and pointed at the door. “My mom’s next door.”

You rolled your eyes and continued in a whisper – because unlike him, you were considerate of your friends’ feelings and needs –, “I’m not sleeping against the wall.”

“Fine,” he agreed with a soft scoff of disbelief, his eyes widening, “I’ll sleep against the wall.”

“And what? Push me off my own bed?”

He stared at you like you had grown a third head. But really he couldn’t argue – he knew he couldn’t because you had a perfectly valid point. And besides, he had lived with you long enough to know there was no winning against you. 

“Then what do you suggest?” he asked, defeated.

No ideas were popping up. You stayed quiet. 

After a few minutes of silence, you relented and suggested, “... Rock paper scissors?”

“You didn’t like either idea,” he reminded you.

“Just pick a side to defend. Whatever. I’m voting I get the window side.”

“But you didn’t want–”

“I want the window side,” you insisted half-heartedly but you both knew you were lying. There was no winning for you – not with a bed this size.

“Why did I choose you?” he thought out loud as he lifted his hand in the starting position. 

You almost scoffed at his words because it’s not like he actually had any other choices anyway. You were the only one crazy enough to agree to his scheme. Joshua had exactly two partners in crime and you doubted Jeonghan would have agreed to pretend to be Joshua’s boyfriend for a month. So, really, you were his one and only option.

“Rock, paper, scissors, shoot,” you softly counted in unison.

Your rock was swiftly beaten by his paper. You weren’t sure why that annoyed you – you were on the losing end of the bet either way.

Joshua stepped back and grandly gestured towards the bed with a sarcastic smile, “My love.”

“I hate you,” you told him with a groan and got in the bed before pulling yourself to the side against the wall. You already knew this would be a miserable night. 

Your roommate chuckled and followed suit, settling on his own side. Immediately, you regretted getting in the bed with him. Joshua took up more than half of the bed, easily and even when he was trying to be considerate, rolling to his side to take up less space, he was too close for comfort. 

Perhaps, you wondered, he wouldn’t bat an eye if you got out right now and pulled an all-nighter on a report you desperately needed to work on before the morning (the report being your Netflix catalogue; Bridgerton was calling your name).

But before you could even open your mouth to lie, Joshua pulled the blanket up to your neck, tucking you in with a gentle smile. “We can switch tomorrow, if you want. Just get some sleep now. You have an early day.”

As he closed your eyes and subconsciously leaned closer to you, you wondered if it would be so hard to take advantage of the situation after all and pretend it’s real. Would it really hurt to just forget about the ‘fake’ part of your fake dating plan and just… lean a little closer and rest your head on his pillow instead of your own? 

His hand was so close to yours, fingers just inches from touching. 

What would happen if you just reached out and wrapped your hand around his? What would happen if you pressed a single affectionate kiss to his knuckles? 

Would he smile in his sleep? 

Or would he be appalled?

You shook the thoughts out of your head and squeezed your eyes shut. This was going to be a long night.

[DAY 4, MONDAY]

In your months of living with Joshua, you had shared more than a few breakfasts. Hungover, sick, or even after a foul fight over who’s turn it had been to take out the trash – none of those breakfasts had been nearly as unpalatable as this one.

You could hardly look at him from across the table. Mortified. Ashamed. Certain he wouldn’t even want to look at you. You avoided his eyes and he avoided yours as his mother fussed about and piled waffles upon waffles onto your plates. 

It might have been rude to not listen to your guest’s morning rambles about the weather and the news channel, but you were still too caught-up in your embarrassment to pay her any kind of attention. 

You knew you shouldn’t have fallen asleep. You should’ve ignored the fluffy sheep and refused the offers of the Sandman. You really should have because you hadn’t and now you were forced to live the knowledge that Joshua had to gently shake you awake from his spot underneath you. 

From UNDERNEATH you. Meaning you had fallen asleep on top of your very handsome roommate. 

And now you couldn’t even look him in the eyes again. 

“Are you kids alright?” his mother wondered all of a sudden and a jolt of fear went through you. 

On instinct and instinct alone, your head snapped to share a look with your “boyfriend”. Remembering the morning incident, you immediately looked away again and feigned nonchalance even as your cheeks and ears burned (out of the corner of your eye, you saw him do the same – there went the small chance that he had thought nothing of it).

“Yeah, why?” Joshua replied after clearing his throat.

“You’re usually not this quiet,” she said and you found her looking at you with concern. “Did something happen? Did you two fight?”

“What? No!” you protested without really meaning to. In your head, you reminded yourself that it was just a reflex and the desperate need to fulfil your part of the deal. “We’re completely fine.”

“Are you?” she still worried, hands on her hips as she took turns looking at the two of you. “Be honest: is me being here a problem? You seem so awkward, like even being in the same room is a chore. Did you fight because I came to stay here?”

“No, no,” you and Joshua protested in unison. 

You shared another look, forgetting your embarrassment now that your plan was in jeopardy.

“Are you sure?” she asked. “Because I really didn’t want to cause you problems. If I’ve done something to upset either of you–”

“Mom,” Joshua assured her with a gentle smile that didn’t look entirely genuine, “(Y/n) and I are fine. We’re just…”

“Stressed from work,” you supplied when he trailed off in thought. “You know how it is.”

She didn’t fully seem to buy it, still eyeing the both of you with a mix of suspicion and worry. “You’d tell me if something was wrong, right?” She scoffed as if she had realised the gravity of her words and pinched the bridge of her nose. “What am I even saying? You wouldn’t lie to me.”

As if your morning couldn’t get any worse.

“We should go get ready for work, honey,” Joshua suddenly excused himself and you, pulling you up by the crook of your elbow. “Wouldn’t want you to be late to work with all those big projects you have.”

You wondered what big projects he was talking about. Your higher-ups barely even allowed you to proofread the company documents and fix typos. But the look in his eyes said he needed you to play along.

“Right, right,” you sighed and went with him, offering his mother one last sweet smile before the bedroom door shut behind you and Joshua practically trapped you against it. 

“She’s onto us,” he told you quietly, all the while still avoiding your eyes. “She’s onto us and she’s probably already setting up a blind date with that Maria-girl.”

“Wasn’t it Mary?” you wondered.

Joshua replied with a half-hearted glare and a sigh. “We need to fix this.”

“But how?” You crossed your arms over your chest, mostly to convince yourself that there was enough space between your and his body to not have the butterflies go absolutely wild. “We just, what, kiss and make up?”

His eyes lit up and you feared for your life. “You’re a genius!”

“Shua, I was being sarcastic.”

He didn’t even seem to hear your protests. “If we kiss, she has no reason to suspect we’re not together. And she’ll be off our backs. It’s perfect.”

The things you would’ve done to kiss Joshua Hong and his beautiful, plump lips… 

Joshua must have mistaken your eager expression for one of dismay or maybe fear because his eyes widened. He lifted his hands in a way that just screamed ‘I was just kidding, please don’t hit me’ before quickly adding, “Not that I want to kiss you – I’m sure you’re a great kisser. We don’t have to kiss though. Because–”

“Because we’re friends,” you finished for him with a smile that you hoped wouldn’t betray your disappointment, “and it would make things awkward, right?”

“Right,” he breathed out and visibly relaxing – slumping even – in front of you. “I’m sorry I even suggested that. It’s dumb. You’re my friend – you shouldn’t have to kiss me if you don’t want to just because of a stupid scheme to please my mom.”

If you don’t want to. If you don’t want to. You almost scoffed in his face – he had no idea what he was saying.

You wondered what was the formal and correct way to inform your roommate that you had the biggest, fattest, most ridiculous crush on him and would sell your left kidney for one kiss – if only he wanted to kiss you back.

“Well, we have to convince her somehow, right?” you pointed out as you prepared to start doing your hair. “I doubt a hug will make her less suspicious.”

Joshua chuckled. “You noticed it too?”

“She was acting like she expected us to slip up and confess at any moment,” you reminded him with a quirk of your brow, eyeing him through the mirror. “What did she say? ‘You wouldn’t lie to me’? Oddly specific, no?”

“We’re so screwed if we don’t figure something out,” he sighed and ran a hand through his hair (it took you great strength to resist the urge to reach over and give his fluffy utter mess of dark hair a pat as well).

You schooled your expression, willing the beginnings of a blush to go away, as you suggested, “We could still do something kiss-related, you know. Just this once, to get her off our backs.”

“I’m not kissing you,” he argued instantly, ears reddening.

Why was he so god-damn difficult? Why did he have to go on an anxious mental tangent about the wrongs of kissing one’s roommate? Why couldn’t he just kiss you already?! It was his idea anyway!

You almost rolled your eyes as you came up with an alternative, “I could kiss you on the cheek when I leave. Not as good as a kiss but–”

“That could work.”

“Okay, great, we’ve figured it out,” you told him with a chuckle and gently pushed him towards the door. “Now, get out. You haven’t dated me long enough to earn the privilege of seeing me naked yet.”

He snorted a laugh at that – you were half sure it was because he had, in fact, at one point seen you naked, under very different and less than ideal circumstances involving one too many shots of Bacardi – before leaving you to your thoughts and doubts and the knowledge that your roommate did not want to kiss you at all.

[DAY 7, THURSDAY]

While there was an extensive list of reasons why Joshua Hong was the most infuriating man you had ever met (and you meant this very affectionately, which your friends found hilarious), there was an equally extensive list of reasons why Joshua was the ideal man.

His looks were definitely on the list – his doe-like brown eyes, his little bird’s nest of morning hair, his bright smiles to name some of the points.

But it wasn’t all that superficial. You loved his sense of humour. You liked his unlimited patience and kindness. 

Most of all, you loved his cooking.

On most evenings, you got home from work and found your roommate beginning to prepare dinner. He’d offer you a wide smile and ask if his plan of tomato rigatoni suited your tastes. And then he’d just let you rant about your day as he cooked, a drink in your hand.

This tradition had been briefly broken by Joshua’s mother taking over kitchen duties. She felt it was only fair as she was staying in your apartment for free for such a prolonged time. But as much as you loved her food (which almost rivalled Joshua’s), you just missed your daily gossip sessions. 

So, when you got home from work and found your roommate, friend, and fake boyfriend extraordinaire sorting through ingredients on the kitchen counter, you almost cried of joy. You had so many tales to share and you were eager to listen to his stories as well (your last gossip session had ended on a cliffhanger on his part). 

“You’re cooking?” you asked him, leaning over to look at the ingredients, before even remembering that was not how you were meant to greet someone. 

Joshua jumped at voice before resting a hand on his chest and taking a deep breath. “Oh my god…”

“Did I scare you?” you laughed at him and offered an apologetic expression when he turned to glare at you. “So, what are you cooking?”

“I was going to just make some vegetable soup,” he informed you with a tired chuckle. “Mom’s feeling a little under the weather so…”

You couldn’t help but melt at the implications. The grand scheme of fake dating aside, Joshua was a great son to his mother. Yet another reason to add to your ever-growing list. 

And perhaps it was the melting of your heart that affected your brain activity because the next thing you knew you were doing the unthinkable.

“Can I help somehow?” you asked him. 

Even Joshua was startled by your question. And you soon realised why.

In disbelief, you scoffed. “C’mon, I’ve helped you before.”

“Have you?” His head tilted to the side in a manner resembling a curious cat but his eyes narrowed with suspicion. “You never offer to help cook. Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever even seen you use a pan.”

“Shush,” you told him and gave him a gentle slap on the bicep. “What do you need me to do?”

Looking at the various vegetables on the counter, he puffed his cheeks out in thought. Then he shrugged. “You could help with the potatoes.”

“What do I do with them?”

He sighed theatrically. “This is why I never let you help.”

“Hey!”

“Just peel and cut them into pieces, okay?” he finally instructed with a laugh that suggested he did not have a lot of faith in your ability to do so. “Not too small though.”

“I know how to cut potatoes, Shua,” you told him as you got out a knife and cutting board. “I’m a big girl.”

When he offered you another suspicious and perhaps worried glance, you decided it was time to prove a point. He didn’t think you could peel and cut a potato into perfect pieces for a soup? You were going to prove him wrong and you were going to make him eat his words.

It started out great. The first potato was a breeze, peeled and cut in record time. The second and third potato were a joy to turn into smaller chunks and chuck into the bowl Joshua had provided for you. While working on the fourth potato, you started sharing gossip from work and it didn’t affect your task at all. 

For a moment you were certain Joshua would regret doubting you. You were sure there was no way you were going to mess this up and make him question your cooking abilities ever again. 

That is until you reached the last potato. It was two chops in when you let out a whimper, dropped the knife and cradled your hand to your chest.

Joshua’s head snapped up immediately.  Eyes widening in concern, he rushed to your side. “Are you bleeding?”

“Yeah,” you sighed and reached for a towel to dry the blood. “It’s no big deal though, so don’t worry. I’ll g0 find some band-aids and–”

“Don’t get any blood on the potatoes,” he warned with a serious frown and your jaw dropped.

You smacked him with your good hand when his scowl turned into a mischievous smile.

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding!” he laughed and left the room. He returned just moments later with the first-aid kit. “Come here, silly. Let’s get that fixed up.”

When he reached for your injured hand, you snorted out a laugh. “You know, I can put the band-aid on by myself.”

“Who knows,” he teased all the while focusing on your wound, “maybe you’d mess that up as well.”

“Now you’re just being mean,” you told him but made no move to escape from your handsome nurse.

Leaning ridiculously close to you, he gently applied the band-aid. When you let out a soft hiss at the pain (mostly just to mess with him), he pouted and pressed a soft kiss to the spot. “That better?”

It was just your luck that his mother decided to come for a glass of water at that exact moment. She let out a soft gasp of delight before feigning nonchalance when your heads snapped to look at her. 

Clearing his throat, Joshua immediately leaned away, straightened up, and offered her a taut smile. 

“Don’t mind me, lovebirds,” she spoke in a theatrical whisper and rushed over to the cupboard to get a glass. “I’m not even here.”

You fought a grimace and turned back to your cutting board. The potato wasn’t going to cut itself and the pot of broth was already calling its name. 

“You’re making soup?” she wondered and lifted a glass of water to her lips, barely even bothering to hide a smile. “It smells delicious.”

Joshua chuckled. “It will be, once (Y/n) finishes the potatoes and we add them in.”

Her jaw dropped and she lowered her glass of water. 

“Joshua!” 

Her voice could only be described as the dictionary definition of the tone of a mother scolding her children for getting into trouble. It sent a shiver of fear down your spine until you realised it wasn’t you she was yelling at.

Your roommate offered you a panicked look before turning to look at his mother, offering her a tight-lipped, fearful smile. “Yes?”

“You’re not actually going to make your girlfriend cook when she’s injured like this, right?!” she demanded to know, her brows furrowed into a furious frown. “She’s bleeding!”

“She’s fine,” Joshua started to argue but his voice trailed lower and lower with every syllable until it faded into silence and his gaze dropped to the floor in shame. 

She glared at him and reached to drag you away from the counter by the sleeve of your blouse. “Come on, sweetheart. You can come watch a movie with me while Joshua thinks about what he’s done.”

As you made your escape from the heat of the kitchen, you glanced over your shoulder to find Joshua looking at you with a dramatic grimace. You replied with a bright smile of victory and a playful wave before joining his mother in watching Mamma Mia.

[DAY 12, TUESDAY]

As far as ways to throw your roommate’s mom off your trail go, cheek kisses were good enough for the first couple of days. You quite grew to like them and, judging by the pinks of his ears and cheeks, so did Joshua. Every morning, you’d leave for work with a kiss to his cheek, a sweet smile and prep to your steps.

Then, of course, his mother made an off-hand comment about how it seems that Joshua never kisses you and he, of course, took that as a challenge. So, he began sending you off with forehead kisses and warm hugs. You like those even more, honestly. 

But you both knew you were delaying the inevitable. Eventually, the cheek and forehead kisses would not be enough proof of your relationship. Paired with no late-evening love-drunk giggles and movie night cuddles, the morning kisses were barely enough to convince anyone and eventually you’d have to up your game.

You had simply hoped you’d have more time to come to terms with the fact before it happened.

“Mom’s starting to get suspicious again,” Joshua simply stated in a hushed tone as he helped you put on your coat. 

Your heart dropped at the mention. When you turned to look at him, he was looking at everything but your eyes. “Is she asking questions again?”

“She told me to stop eating so much garlic bread because it would make my breath stink,” he said while staring at the fake plant sat on the shoe rack. “That feels like a hint.”

“Well, you don’t want to kiss me, so,” you pointed out with a shrug and shook your scarf to unravel it. “Just tell her it’s my breath that’s bad.”

“No way. Everybody knows your breath smells like roses and vanilla,” he joked and you choked on a laugh. He took your scarf from you and untangled a knot in the middle. 

With nothing to do but stare at him, you came up with a mutually beneficial idea. “We could just fake it.”

“How do you fake a kiss?” he wondered, eyes narrowing and brows furrowing.

You shrugged. “I don’t know. Isn’t that what they do in movies? We just have to get the angle right.”

“How does that work?” 

It turns out it’s hard to answer any questions when your crush is standing in your personal space – so close that you could smell his shampoo and conditioner. Your brain stalled, blanked and desperately tried to restart all necessary systems while you stared at him. 

“Like this?” you heard his voice say but it sounded distant over the sound of your heart pumping.

Not seeming to notice your daze, Joshua placed the scarf around your neck gently. Carefully, he tugged on the two ends of it, pulling you closer inch by inch until you were so close that you had to fight yourself to not actually kiss him. He leaned closer and closer still, his nose brushing against yours, his hands still wrapped in the scarf to keep you from escaping. If you focused really hard, you could almost feel his lips brushing against yours ever so slightly.

The sound of the coffee maker starting and a mug being placed on the counter awakened you again, harshly forcing you back into consciousness. You let out a soft gasp without really meaning to. 

“That– That was–” Joshua stammered, stepping away from you like he’d been burned and running a hand through his hair. 

You cleared your throat. “That could work… I guess…”

“Right.” 

“Yeah.”

“Have— Have a good day…”

“Yeah.”

You couldn’t find another word to say until you reached your office. There, you slumped into your almost-comfy chair and stared at the ceiling. 

“Fuck.”

[DAY 16, SATURDAY]

Brunch is meant to be fun. It’s meant to bring joy. It’s breakfast without the hassle of waking up at 8 am – what’s not to love?

Well, you weren’t sure you liked brunch that much anymore.

Traumatised (a bit of a hyperbole) and furious (the scientifically correct term), you walked into your room and shut the door behind you before turning to glare at Joshua.

While you had gone out to eat with his mother – at her insistence and with a promise of free food –, your roommate stayed home with the excuse of a headache and snuggled into your blankets like it was his rightful place.

“You.”

His eyes blinked open. “Me?”

“Why do you never read your damn messages?” you burst out but tried to keep your voice low to not catch his mother’s attention. “I sent you, like, fifty.”

“You did?” He seemed genuinely surprised. Which meant that he hadn’t even looked at his phone once in the hours you were gone. Why did he even have a phone in the first place?

Your hands clenched into fists. “What if I died?!”

“My mom asking you to brunch isn’t really a deadly occasion.”

“I barely survived! She asked me about grandkids!”

“Oh.”

Your glare was unrelenting. You hoped it would somehow telepathically convey how much you wished to strangle him if only it weren’t illegal and you weren’t desperately in love with him.

“Well, what did you tell her?” he then wondered and you almost actually jumped to tackle and murder him.

“What do you think I told her, Joshua?” You scoffed. “I just said we hadn’t thought about it because this is still new and you know what she did? Do you want to know what she did?”

He raised a brow. “I guess so?”

“She started giving me the whole ‘you don’t have forever’ and ‘I’d like grandkids before I turn 70’ spiel,” you informed him and groaned. “It went on forever.”

“You’re a good actor,” he assured you with a small smile that almost seemed amused, “I’m sure you got your way out of it.”

“You’re sleeping on the floor tonight,” you told him with a roll of your eyes.

He gasped. “Because my mom asked about grandkids?!”

“Because you don’t read my texts.”

Joshua paused. “Yeah, that’s fair, actually.”

[DAY 20, WEDNESDAY]

Enough was enough. You could put up with many things – your roommate’s pranks, Chan’s endless fantasies about how he’s secretly the most sensible inhabitant of the building, Joshua’s mother staying for a month with little to no notice – but you even your charitability had its limits.

When you’d woken up this morning, your back positively aching and your joints sore from being stuck between Joshua’s wall-like form and the actual wall, the first thought you had was something Chan said:

“What are you getting out of this arrangement anyways? He gets his mom off his back, and you? Is getting to live out your late-night fantasies the only perk?”

And that was when you decided that you had finally reached your limit. With a shove that was far from affectionate or fond, you awakened Joshua and declared before he could even rub the sleep out of his eyes that he’d better keep his evening schedule and a sizable number on his bank account free for you.

What followed had been a shopping trip that dismayed him and exhilarated you. You had, after all, wanted a proper big bed for a while now. Finally, a chance to sprawl out and live out your starfish dreams without the worry of falling to the cold hard ground at 2 am. And more importantly, no more being pushed against the wall like an undignified cushion every other night.

But the thing you enjoyed most of all was Joshua’s hair getting progressively more messy and unkempt as he tried to decipher the IKEA instructions all on his own while you curled up in your desk chair and watched him with a cup of hot cocoa in hand.

“I thought you’d be better at this,” you noted passively upon hearing his frustrated sigh and seeing him unscrew what you assumed was meant to be one of the legs of the new bed. “Maybe I should’ve asked for Jeonghan’s help instead.”

The glare he sent your way was scathing but his tone remained as delightful as always when he assured you, “I’ve got this, don’t worry.”

You made a show of glancing at the time on your laptop – a rerun of Friends playing in the background in an effort to entertain your poor IKEA slave of the night – and announced, “I’m just saying. It’s almost midnight and you’ve only managed to add one leg to the frame.”

He groaned. “It’s not my fault this thing is so complicated. Why couldn’t you pick out a different frame? Something more easy to assemble, for one.”

“I wanted this one,” you teased.

“The oak one you looked at at first would’ve been better. And cheaper.”

“If you want me to keep playing along in your little improv show, you’d better be happy I only asked for a 700,000-won bed in return,” you pointed out and took a sip of your cocoa. 

You sighed happily at the warmth the drink provided. Oh the joys of girlhood. You thought you could get used to this: free furniture, free assembly, and a handsome man to do your bidding.

Joshua’s lips and eyes squeezed into a sarcastic smile as he slowly turned to face you. “Don’t forget the mattress, darling.”

You shrugged. “I didn’t see you protesting at the check-out.”

His smile dropped into yet another glare. “That’s called being in shock. My bank account is dying because of you.”

Without another word, he sharply turned back to his task of assembling the frame.

“This benefits you too, sweetheart,” you replied with a roll of your eyes. “I sleep better, you sleep better, everybody benefits.”

“For ten days,” he muttered and practically slammed two pieces of wood together now that he was sure they were meant to go together. “And then you have a new comfy bed and I just have poverty.”

You snorted. “I’m willing to split custody if you’re nice to me.”

It didn’t take a genius to know he was rolling his eyes. “Yeah right.”

“Besides,” you adjusted your position so you could nudge his back with your foot in an affectionate manner, “you barge in here to gossip every other night anyways. You’re benefiting plenty.”

“Remind me to never ask you to be my fake girlfriend ever again,” he pleaded.

You knew (or perhaps wished) he only half-meant it. But even so there was a pang in your chest. A feeling of sadness as the reality once again sank in. It was easy to forget that this was just an act and he had only bought you this bed because he felt guilty and not because he loved you. The feeling would nag you late into the night.

[DAY 22,  FRIDAY]

You had learnt early on that karaoke has the magical ability to heal wounds and erase bad memories, even if just for one night. Tonight you hoped it would once again prove true.

The building’s monthly karaoke parties were organised by Vernon and Jihoon in an effort to bring the community closer together. On every third Friday of the month, the lobby of the building would be lit with stage and string lights, decorated with colourful banners and dollar store party supplies, and a small stage would be built in the corner. As was tradition, everyone brought some snacks and drinks to the snack table and enjoyed the evening, getting progressively more drunk between karaoke and socialising. 

You thought it was the perfect solution to your problems. With the help of loud music, your nosy friends and alcohol, you would for sure soon forget your heartache and worries. 

There was, however, one problem you had forgotten: Joshua’s protective nature.

You had successfully managed to avoid him for the better part of the evening, sneaking between people, hiding behind Mingyu’s wide frame under the guise of playing hide and seek with your roommate (something Mingyu was very happy to help with; you suspected he just liked to feel useful), and running at every mention of Joshua. 

Seamlessly, the karaoke soon worked its miracle. You found you had missed the liberty that came with hanging out with your friends and not worrying how everything appears to Joshua’s mother. For this one night, you were not Joshua’s fake girlfriend, not someone’s pretend-daughter-in-law, and not an actress struggling at improv – you were once again just (Y/n), a simple woman in love with her best friend, eyeing him from across the room and giggling with your friends about it.

By the time you remembered you were hiding from him, you were far from sober and your thoughts were getting a little jumbled as you made conversation with Minghao, laughing between every other word because saying things was hard and your tongue felt heavy in your mouth. Minghao didn’t say a word and only smiled at you fondly, like one would at a kitten trying to chase after shoelaces, as he listened to you. 

His attention was caught by something behind you and you saw him give someone a gentle nod and a bright smile. Then, before you could even process the situation or ask any questions, he placed a hand on your shoulder and turned you around, bringing you face to face with him. 

You weren’t sure what it was about the dollar store lighting in the lobby, but you had always thought it made Joshua look even more delectable. It was hard not to stare at the shadow his lashes cast on his cheeks or the definition of his muscles visible through the thin fabric of his button-up shirt.

“Hi!” You greeted him with a wave and an intoxicated giggle, momentarily forgetting about the freshly opened can of beer in your hand and letting it slosh in your hands. “Oh! Sorry, my bad!”

A situation you would’ve once thought to be mortifying only made you laugh harder tonight as you searched for tissues and began to dry your hand. You didn’t notice when Joshua had taken the drink from you but you also wouldn’t notice he never gave it back.

He watched you with a smile. “Having fun?”

“Oh my god, I’m having so much fun,” you rambled, eyes shining as you looked at him, already forgetting your quest to dry the floor. “Did you see when Seungcheol and I did ‘Alcohol-Free’ together? It was so much fun–”

It was hard to finish your thought when he looked at you with those pretty eyes, and smile, and– 

He adjusted the sleeves of your dress for you and you almost melted. All thoughts gone. Words? Never heard of those.

You were silent for so long that he chuckled. “You awake?”

“I– Yeah, totally,” you replied, blinking your eyes to force yourself to focus again. “How about you? Are you having fun?”

He shrugged. “I usually have more fun when you’re with me.”

“Oh.”

“You didn’t even sing ‘Breaking Free’ with me tonight,” he complained playfully but you thought you saw a hint of actual sadness in his eyes. “I’m glad you’re making friends with Seungcheol though.”

You hummed and nodded. “He’s very nice. Very handsome too.”

His eyes widened and you couldn’t quite figure out why. 

Not that you even wanted to figure it out. You were, in all honesty, more preoccupied with memorising how pretty he looked with his doe eyes. The purples and yellows and pinks of the lights reflected back from the browns of his eyes and you thought it was the prettiest sight you had ever witnessed. No sunset, sunrise or wild landscape could compete with this view. 

And you wanted to tell him that; but words were so hard when your blood was buzzing with alcohol and adrenaline. So you thought you should show him somehow. 

Your eyes closed briefly. You leaned forward just a bit. Then your lips pressed against his. For just a moment. You couldn’t help but smile as you leaned back and opened your eyes again.

If you had thought his eyes were pretty before, they were positively the most gorgeous sight now as he stared back at you in wonder and confusion. There were not enough words in the dictionary. You thought they ought to fix that problem and add a few just to be safe. 

“The girl who wins your heart will be so lucky,” you told him softly and pressed another gentle kiss to the corner of his mouth. “I wish I was her.”

“(Y/n), I–” he started and you felt the alcohol leave your blood in an instant, the warm buzzing replaced with a cold rush. 

Before he could say anything in response, you ran out of the party. 

[DAY 23, SATURDAY]

Seokmin had always heavily advertised the building’s monthly karaoke parties as “life-altering”. He wrote that in large letters with a bright red marker on every karaoke party notice he saw and he said the exact phrase to every person he talked to in the week leading up to the event. Which was especially funny because 1) he wasn’t on the advertising team, 2) there was no advertising team to begin with, and 3) he never even volunteered to help organise the events. You had concluded that he was just very incredibly enthusiastic about karaoke (and with a voice like his how could one not be?).

But you now feared he was right after all.

Upon realising your mistake, you had, for a moment, contemplated going home and hiding in your room before you realised it would be the first place he’d look for you.

So, instead, you sent a silent apology your best friend’s way and took the spare key from under the doormat before letting yourself into Chan's apartment. 

Even as the morning arrived, you didn’t dare face Joshua. Not after what had happened. Not after you had kissed him and told him you wished he’d fall in love with you and kissed him again. You could never go home again. 

Chan looked away from his laptop screen just to give you a look with one of his brows raised. “You literally live with him.”

“That’s the whole point. I can’t go home,” you told him, lying face-down against his thigh. 

Turns out it’s surprisingly easy to make physical contact with men when you’re not attracted to them. You silently wondered if that could be the solution to your obvious touch-starvation problem – why else would you drunkenly kiss your roommate?

He rolled his eyes. “Then what’s your plan, drama queen?”

You didn’t answer, mulling it over in your head. There really weren’t a lot of options. 

Maybe it was a sign – finally you could fulfil your life-long dream of adopting a new identity and moving to Iceland to become an anonymous sheep herder. It sure sounded more tempting than facing Joshua Hong again.

Before you could open your mouth to suggest a viable idea, Chan beat you to it with a click of his tongue. “You’re too poor to move to Iceland. And no, you can’t move into my place either.”

There went your plan A as well as plan B.

“Fuck you,” you told him and rolled over to face the ceiling. “Then what do I do?”

“What you always do, I guess,” he sighed and turned back to his online shopping addiction. “You complain a bit, throw an apple at my head, and then pretend nothing ever happened between you and Joshua.”

You blinked. “Do I always do that?” 

“Without fail.”

You hadn’t realised there was a pattern. Perhaps this whole thing was worse than you had thought. Perhaps taking a new identity and running really was your only option. And who knows, you thought, maybe you’d find a nice man in Iceland and fall in love with a not-Joshua instead. Then you’d at least be free of one problem, even if at the expense of a new set of issues.

“Instead of catastrophizing, you should use this opportunity,” Chan broke the silence, eyes still on the screen.

You suddenly understood why throwing an apple at his head was part of the pattern. Fortunately for him, the apples were just out of your reach and you were too comfy and hungover to go get even one. “To fake my death and go into hiding? Absolutely.”

“What? No!” He frowned at you as if you had suggested 2+2 was 5. “What is wrong with you? You need to face this whole thing head-on instead of making escape plans!”

“I’d honestly rather go missing under mysterious circumstances.”

“Or,” he started and flicked your forehead with his fingers, making you curse at him as he rolled his eyes, “you could accept the fact that you confessed to your crush and see what he thinks of that.”

“He looked horrified last night.”

“You were drunk and kissed him without permission,” he reminded you helpfully. You failed to see how that information would soften the blow. If anything, it was making you feel like a predator – and not even a very clever one. You grimaced. “Give the poor guy a minute to process before jumping to conclusions. He was just surprised. If you stuck around instead of pulling a Cinderella, maybe you would’ve found out it wasn’t that big of a deal. Who knows, maybe he even likes you back.”

“Pull a Cinder–” You sputtered and glared at him. “Why do I ever come to you for advice?”

He offered a smug smile. “Because deep down you know I’m right.”

You were certain he wasn’t. You couldn’t imagine any scenario outside of your daydreams where the situation could’ve been resolved with a smile and a confession from Joshua Hong. You could, however, imagine a thousand scenarios of him running away or being so disgusted by your behaviour that he’d call off the fake dating scheme once and for all.

Seeing your hopeless expression, Chan sighed. “Instead of making doom’s day plans, try to look at the bright side of things.”

“What bright side?” you asked, closing your eyes and wishing the month would end already. “I embarrassed myself in front of my crush. What’s the bright side, Mr Positivity?”

His silence spoke louder than any words ever could have.

[DAY 24, SUNDAY]

After two nights at Chan’s apartment, you finally decided it was time to face your nightmare. If Joshua hadn’t unilaterally called off the scheme yet, his mother must have for sure been worried about the state of things. You thought you owed him at least these last 7 days of fulfilling this nonsensical plan. 

So, after two cups of coffee and a pep talk from Lee Chan, you braced yourself and walked into your own apartment for the first time all weekend. 

It was silent. Of course it was, you thought and facepalmed: it was only 8 am on a Sunday. Just because your sins and demons had kept you from sleeping in didn’t mean Joshua and his mother would be awake at this damned hour.

You were just about to come to terms with the fact when a soft pitter-patter of feet interrupted the silence. The steps came closer and you took a deep breath to calm yourself, praying it wouldn’t be who you thought it was.

But you knew it was a useless hope. You had lived with Joshua long enough to recognise his footsteps and the rhythm of his snores in your sleep. 

He let out a sigh that seemed almost relieved once he reached the living room. 

“Where were you?” you expected him to ask and put on his best impression of an overprotective dad. 

“How dare you come back here?” you half thought he’d say and glare at you as he’d shove a bag full of your clothes into your arms and kick you out.

But he just watched you in silence for a moment as if to make sure you were real and not a figment of his overactive imagination. And only once you had been pushed to the point of awkwardness where you couldn’t help but put on a tight-lipped smile and a shrug did he finally open his mouth to ask, “Did you eat yet?”

You had almost forgotten what he sounded like and it was a pleasant feeling to listen to him again. The soft murmur and slight sleepy growl to his voice sounded like home and it made the butterflies in your stomach come back to life with a roar of fluttering wings, free of shame and fear.

Your smile almost felt genuine when you replied, “I was going to make pancakes…” 

… To make up for what I did went unsaid, but you suspected he knew they were there nonetheless. 

He yawned in a way that didn’t seem entirely real, as if he was putting on an act to ease the awkwardness. After glancing at the clock he spoke again, “I kind of want to go eat breakfast outside today.”

“Oh.” 

You felt a little dejected at the thought but you understood. If someone had done to you what you had to him – someone you thought was your friend suddenly kissed you and confessed to you, even drunkenly –, you probably would have needed more time as well. If he didn’t want to eat breakfast at home with you, it was his right. You were sure his mother was better company than you anyways.

That didn’t mean it didn’t hurt you though. You turned your head to fight back the tears that threatened to make a comeback. You didn’t think you had any right to cry but that didn’t mean you didn’t want to. 

But before you could spiral further, Joshua chuckled, “Don’t worry. I’ll pay. You can get as many waffles as you want.”

Your head snapped to face him again, eyes blinking rapidly. You pointed at yourself. “You want me to–”

“Get dressed, silly. I’m too poor to pay for both you and mom, you know.” He could hardly keep from smiling. “Besides, we need to talk, just you and I.”

And talk you did. Or at least you would have if you weren’t so distracted by waffles and a sense of impending doom. You could hardly sit still in your chair, feeling uncomfortable sitting across from him. 

Any moment now, you thought, he’s going to say you were an awful person. Any moment now, he’s going to say it was all a big mistake and he should’ve just asked Jeonghan to fake date him instead. 

But maybe Chan was right and you were a fair bit overdramatic. 

“So about the other night,” Joshua finally started with a heavy sigh and put down his coffee cup. He avoided your eyes (not that you would’ve noticed because you were too busy avoiding his anyway) as he searched for words to say. 

“I’m sorry about that,” you blurted out, abandoning your waffles. 

He paused. “Sorry?”

“I’m sorry for… you know…” You couldn’t even say the words because it was so dumb and ridiculous and shouldn’t have ever happened anyway. How does one apologise for kissing someone? You forced yourself to look him in the eyes. “I shouldn’t have done it. I was just drunk and dumb and silly– You know how I get.”

He nodded. “Right. You were just… drunk.”

“Yep.”

“And you just kissed me because…”

“I was excited to see you,” you half-lied and avoided his eyes again. “I just hadn’t seen you all night and there you were and I guess I got a little…” Carried away? Lovestruck? “It doesn’t change anything, I swear. I was drunk.”

Silence. He was silent for so long that you were half-convinced he’d gone and left you to your own devices. Paying for the breakfast would’ve been the least of your worries.

When you looked up to see if he was still there, you saw him looking down at his food. He seemed… sad? Disappointed? Upset with you for making such silly excuses maybe? You shuddered to think what that odd dim look on his face meant.

The butterflies that had woken up just an hour ago went back to rest, ashamed of their work. You could just hope he wouldn’t hate you forever or kick you out of the apartment. 

Finally, after what felt like forever and then some years, Joshua forced on a smile that was a little too bright to be real. “Don’t worry about it. I’m just glad you’re back. Where did you even go after the karaoke?”

“I–” You were both overjoyed and taken aback by his question. He cared. He cared and he didn’t want you gone from his life. “I kind of broke into Chan’s apartment and stayed there.”

Brows furrowing and the corner of his mouth turning downwards, he scoffed. “Instead of just coming home? I was worried sick!”

“I’m sorry!” you squeaked and somehow it was the most sincere apology you had uttered today. “I was just so embarrassed and I didn’t think you’d want to see me, so–”

“I always want to see you,” he argued with a disbelieving laugh. “You’re my best friend, (Y/n). I could never be so mad at you that I’d never want to see you. You had me so worried! I thought you’d gone to sleep in a dumpster somewhere.”

There he was – the Joshua you had fallen so hopelessly in love with. Your silly, protective, way too sweet and dramatic Joshua. And you didn’t feel ashamed to be in front of him. 

A smile forced its way onto your lips at the thought.

“What are you smiling at? This is serious!” He could hardly fight a grin himself, already bordering on giggling at your argument. “I was worried about you. And mom kept asking about you and I almost told her you’d moved to Iceland like you always dreamed–”

“Okay, okay,” you interrupted him with a laugh. “I’m sorry, again. You can stop being a worry-wart now.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” He rolled his eyes theatrically. “Next time I’ll just leave you to freeze in the dumpster.”

“I didn’t sleep in a dumpster!”

“Chan’s place is not much better.”

[DAY 26, TUESDAY]

You had hoped that your Sunday breakfast apologies would be the last your actions would haunt you aside from the regular night-time program of nightmares. You had apologised, you had made up, and you were friends with Joshua again as if nothing had happened at all.

Had there been a small, minimal, miniscule glimmer of hope in your heart that Chan’s words would be true and Joshua would tell you he liked you back? Sure. 

Had it been crushed to the point of no revival? Absolutely. 

“Oh, hey, (Y/n),” Vernon greeted you when you entered the building’s lobby after a long day of work. 

You glanced around and noted that, as per usual, the clean-up of the karaoke party was taking five days longer than the setting up. It was only natural, you supposed, as Jihoon was too busy to bother with this and Vernon – as per Junhui and Seungkwan’s accounts – was not the biggest fan of cleaning. Today, four days after the party, he was taking down the last string lights.

“I see some things never change,” you told him with a good-natured chuckle. 

Though it took him a moment to understand what you were implying, Vernon rolled his eyes once the realisation hit. “You’re welcome to come and help.”

You had walked right into that one and so you sighed. “Alright, what do you need?”

He laughed. “I was just joking. I’ve got this. I planned this entire thing anyway.”

“Wouldn’t you rather spend some time with your girlfriend?” you wondered. You could barely wrap your mind around how people with dating lives didn’t just spend all their free time cuddling and being in love.

“Ella’s fine,” he told you with a shrug. “She’s got Rocket and Mango to keep her company.” He paused for a moment before adding, “I think she’s probably sick of me, anyway.”

“Why?”

“... I ate the last ice cream.”

You snorted a laugh. “Might as well send in the divorce paperwork already.”

“Right?” he joked before raising his brows. “How about you?”

“What about me?”

“Why aren’t you at home, making googly eyes at Josh?”

You froze. Did he know about your crush? Vernon – the master of not noticing the things around him – had noticed your crush? How obvious had you been?

 “Why would I do that?” you asked after clearing your throat.

He scoffed. “Oh, come on, we all saw you at the party.”

It appeared the magical karaoke regrets would never stop haunting you. You cursed under your breath. 

Barely noting your silence, Vernon turned back to the lights but asked, “So, are you finally together? Did he finally confess?”

“Confess?”

You cringed as you felt like a broken record forced to perform, but your brain was too far in overdrive to maintain its normal operations.

“I mean, he’s been in love with you since like… forever, really,” he told you oh-so-casually, as if he was discussing the Monday paper or the weather. “I thought the dumbass would never confess. If he hadn’t, I’m sure Jeonghan and Seungkwan would’ve set up a ploy to get you to date.”

And just like that you found yourself on Chan’s sofa once again. He had only greeted you with a deep, heartfelt sigh and a nod that said he had expected this. 

As he fell next to you on the sofa, he took a sip of beer and said, “Do your thing, drama queen.”

You stayed silent, still pondering your existence and the ups and downs of your (non?)existent love life. 

Mouth agape in surprise at your lack of complaints, Chan waved a hand in front of your face. “Earth to (Y/n)? What happened? You know, it’s good to let your feelings out. I might complain about it sometimes but–”

“Vernon said Joshua has a crush on me,” you finally blurted out, staring ahead, still deep in disbelief. “It can’t be, right? He’s probably being silly. But what if he isn’t? What if he’s right? What if Joshua has a crush on me? What if he had a crush on me and then I kissed him and now he thinks I’m gross?”

It did feel good to let your feelings and thoughts out. And now they just sounded even sillier. Why? Well, because it was ridiculous – Joshua would never have a crush on you.

Chan blinked. “Vernon said that?”

“Do you think he’s right?”

He kissed his teeth. “And if I say yes?”

“Then why didn’t he say anything?” 

“Why didn’t you?”

“Because he can’t possibly like me!”

He rolled his eyes and leaned back. “There you go.”

“Why hasn’t he confessed? He could’ve told me to not apologise. He could’ve kissed me back. He could’ve–”

“Maybe he’s a coward and he’s waiting for you to confess first,” Chan guessed. “You know, kind of like how you’re doing right now.”

“You are entirely unhelpful,” you told him with a mild glare that one could almost mistake for fond. “I can’t just confess to him. Not after what happened.”

“Says who?”

“Can you stop asking questions and help me,” you whined before practically slamming your head against his shoulder in a search for comfort. “This is a serious crisis. Do you think he could actually like me?”

Chan hesitated. “You didn’t hear it from me, but…”

“But?”

“I’m pretty sure I overheard Jeonghan, Seungcheol and Joshua talking about you. And I’m pretty sure Joshua said he could never live with himself if you rejected him.”

“He did?”

“You didn’t hear it from me,” he reminded you and patted your arm in a brotherly manner. “So I say you go and confess and live happily ever after.”

You groaned. “Or miserably.”

“If that’s what you want,” he joked. “But you should still give it a try.”

“But not today though.”

“Definitely not today. You look like a mess,” he blurted. “He’d have to be pretty far gone to accept your confession, Ms Frankenstein.”

He squeezed his eyes shut and tensed as if he expected you to hit him – with an apple, you guessed – and you just scoffed out something akin to a laugh.

“I’d kick you if you weren’t such a good friend,” you told him instead and gently patted his cheek. “Thank you for putting up with me.”

[DAY 27, WEDNESDAY]

The alarm still had a few minutes before it would go off. 

You stared at Joshua as he slept soundly beside you. It was tempting to smooth down his hair and press a soft kiss to his forehead. But you had other things to do before you could do that. 

You took a deep breath and opened your lips to just whisper the words – as practice for the real confession you would definitely, 100%, certainly make in a few days – but no sound came out. 

You sighed and slumped back into your pillow. Confessing is harder than it looks in movies and books, even when he’s asleep and can’t hear you.

Joshua’s phone began ringing, notifying both him and you of the beginning of a new day. He stirred beside you. You pretended you’d been asleep this entire time.

[DAY 28, THURSDAY]

It was cold. So, so cold. Of course fate would have it that the first snowstorm of the year would hit without warning on the one day the last bus home was over an hour late. And of course it had to be on the one day when your boss asked (or, rather, begged) you to work overtime. 

But maybe fate wasn’t entirely cruel and useless, you thought as Seungcheol’s car stopped in front of the bus stop and he invited you inside with a worried smile and a wave.

“What are you doing out so late?” he wondered as he cranked the seat warmers up to the maximum. “Didn’t you watch the forecast?”

Oh. So they had issued a warning after all. 

“I’ve been a little distracted, I guess,” you told him with a sheepish laugh before thanking him for giving you a lift and wondering, “What about you? It’s not exactly driving weather.”

“Every weather is driving weather,” he joked and offered you a bright smile that for the shortest moment had you wishing you had fallen for him and not your stupidly endearing roommate. “I’m sure Joshua’s worried.”

You hadn’t even thought to check your phone until now. Frankly, judging by its recent battery life, you’d be shocked if it had any charge left at all.

“He’ll live.”

“Are you– I thought–” He hummed in thought, brows furrowing. “Are you not together?”

How you wished you were.

“No,” you sighed. “But I was going to confess tonight until, you know, my boss decided we needed those reports two days ago.”

Seungcheol nearly swerved his car in surprise. He was quick to fix his error – it went fairly smoothly with how empty the streets were this late at night. “I’m sorry. I really thought you were together. He’s been talking about you so much. I thought–”

“Apparently you’re not the only one.” You laughed. “I don’t know how he’ll feel if I do confess though. Maybe he’ll kick me out.”

“He won’t. No way,” he said and it almost sounded like a promise. “But if he does, tell me and I’ll kick his ass.”

“So you think I should confess?” 

“Do it. I think you’ll like the outcome.”

“How do you know?”

He shrugged. “Let’s just say I have some experience with love.”

[DAY 29, FRIDAY]

Back home, Joshua felt like he was going to go out of his mind. The clock on the wall was mocking him, moving forward even as his worry deepened. 

It was already almost midnight. You were usually home by 7. And yet there was no sign of you.

Sighing, he fell back onto the sofa and checked his phone again. He wasn’t sure how many times he had done that already. Fifteen? Fifty? Five hundred, perhaps? 

Still no calls back. Still no sign that you had read his messages. When he tapped on your contact to call you, it went to voicemail and he almost went insane.

“I’m sure she’s safe. She’ll be home soon,” his mother comforted him with a gentle pat on the shoulder. But her words were hard to believe when she was staying up later than usual with him, her third cup of peppermint tea sat on the coffee table in front of them.

The clock ticked midnight and Joshua jumped to his feet. “I’m going out to find her.”

“You’re going out? In this weather?” She didn’t need to use harsh words for him to know that she was scolding him. 

But he didn’t care. He couldn’t care when you weren’t home. 

So he ignored her warnings and pulled on his coat, his boots, and grabbed his car keys. 

“I’ll be back soon,” he called over his shoulder as he left the apartment. He heard her call something out to him but he couldn’t be bothered to listen when he was half-certain you were buried in a pile of snow somewhere. 

He was halfway down the stairs, somewhere between the first and second floor when he heard your voice. He could’ve sworn life returned to his veins at the sound. He sighed in relief and picked up the pace, hurrying to see you.

But then he heard another voice. Seungcheol. 

“If you like it, keep it,” the man from 5A spoke, his voice rich and low in a way Joshua just knew would have any woman weak at the knees. And how was he supposed to compete with that?

He heard you laugh – giggle, really. “That’s so sweet, Cheol.”

Cheol? Joshua almost scoffed in disbelief. It had taken him two months to get to the nickname stage with you and this man comes and reaches it in less than a month? 

He wasn’t sure what this feeling in his chest was. Anger? Bitterness? No, he was just lying to himself. He knew exactly what this feeling was: jealousy. And he’d be damned if he let this continue.

Dusting off his black wool coat, he picked up the pace again and rushed downstairs to meet you. 

The acting lessons his mother had signed him up for when he was a kid paid off now as he feigned surprise at the sight of you. Eyes widening, lips falling apart, and a gasp of air to really sell it. He ran to you from the bottom of the staircase.

“Sweetheart!” he called out as he practically tackled you in a hug. He didn’t even have to pretend as he held you close, one arm around your back and one pushing against the back of your head to keep you as close as humanly possible. “Where were you? I was so worried. Are you okay?”

You had squeaked in surprise and he almost laughed. He let you go (all the while making sure to keep one hand on your back) and asked again, “Are you okay, baby?”

You seemed to be speechless, staring at him with wide eyes full of confusion. 

Seungcheol cleared his throat and Joshua almost glared at him just to prove a point. “I should leave you with your…”

“Boyfriend,” Joshua quickly supplied with a smile he hoped came across as both friendly and venomous. You let out another squeak of surprise. 

“Right.” Seungcheol raised a single brow before sharing a funny look with you. “I’ll see you some other time then, (Y/n). And don’t let your boss make you work overtime again.”

With that, he climbed up the stairs, leaving just Joshua and you.

“You worked overtime?” Joshua wondered, visibly relaxing once Seungcheol was out of range. “How long?”

“Just until 10,” you replied but it sounded almost robotic. 

“It’s midnight,” he reminded you and took your hand to check if your hands were cold. He sighed in both relief that they were warm and disappointment that he didn’t have an excuse to play with your hands now. 

You scratched your head. “The bus was late. I don’t know if it even came.”

“So, then you called Seungcheol?” 

The implication hurt him. He thought he was your first call no matter what happened. He had been all these months, after all. Even if he sucked at reading messages, he never failed to answer the phone on the first ring. 

“I think my phone died. Cheol just happened to drive past,” you told him and, for once, he felt better. 

He sighed in relief and closed his eyes, taking the situation in. It felt like he could finally breathe and think again now that you were back home. 

“Joshua,” your voice interrupted his thoughts and he hummed, “are you okay?”

He opened his eyes and looked at you. The urge to pull you back into his arms was overwhelming. “You had me so worried.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you. I should’ve called but–”

“I can’t keep doing this.” He hadn’t meant to say it out loud. He really hadn’t. But that hadn’t stopped him at all. 

You seemed startled at his words, not in a good way. In a way that made him wonder if you ever expected anything but the worst when he spoke to you. He had to put a stop to it. 

But before he could, you scoffed. “What’s that supposed to mean? You’re acting like I do this often.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Also, what just happened with Cheol?” He wasn’t sure what had set you off, but he felt himself matching your energy, getting agitated. “Since when are you introducing yourself as my boyfriend to our neighbours? If you wanted to do that, you should have warned me.”

“I lied,” he blurted out before you could continue. “I’ve been lying to you a lot.” 

You froze. “You… You lied? What do you mean?”

He took a deep breath. “When I lied to my mom, when I told her we were dating – it wasn’t random. I said I was dating you because… I guess I just wanted it to be real. I wasn’t nervous because I lied to her. I was nervous because I thought you’d be disgusted and upset and hate me. But I’ve liked you since the day you moved in and I’ve been in love with you since the time you borrowed my sweater in August because the moths ate all of yours.”

“You like me?” you asked dumbly and he actually laughed.

Joshua nodded. “I’m in love with you in a way I didn’t think I could ever be with anyone.”

“And… you’re choosing to confess now?” You glanced around at the empty lobby, only a single sconce lamp lighting the way into the building. “Here? Like this? Why?”

“Seungcheol–”

Your jaw dropped. “Because you’re jealous?!”

Joshua scratched the back of his neck and avoided your eyes. He didn’t have a single excuse. He was an impulsive man. He rarely thought of the consequences or even of what he was doing in that moment. Especially when it came to you. He looked down at his feet.

“I mean,” you continued with a chuckle, “I guess I’m no better. I kissed you at the karaoke just because I thought you were pretty.”

“I should’ve kissed you back,” he told you earnestly. 

You blinked. And then you blinked again. Then he saw a mischievous glint in your eye. “You should. Right now.”

You couldn’t have been serious. He didn’t think you were. There was no way.

“You can’t just confess to me like this and then not kiss me,” you told him and you didn’t sound mad at him. “You owe me that much after that scene with Seungcheol and confessing to me in the building lobby, Mr Gentleman.”

Who was he to argue? 

Taking another long gulp of air, he leaned closer. Slowly, centimetre by centimetre, unsure if you were serious or not. 

It was his turn to squeak in surprise when you grabbed him by the collar of his shirt coat and pulled him closer to kiss his lips. 

“So,” he wondered, voice soft and dazed, when you pulled away, “you like me back?”

“You can ask Chan for proof, if you want,” you simply told him before kissing him again. 

He didn’t care to ask for an explanation. Not when he was finally getting everything he wanted.

 [DAY 30, SUNDAY]

Turns out fake dating becomes a lot easier when you just actually date. Who could’ve guessed?

The agony of sharing your bed and being pushed against the wall no matter the size of your mattress was replaced with the domestic joy of being able to cuddle your boyfriend. By the second night of dating Joshua, you had found your favourite position was letting him lie half on top of you, his head resting against your chest at the perfect angle to play with his hair. 

The awkward breakfasts full of lies… Well, they still had a few emergency lies here and there, but for the most part it was stealing bites off his plate and nudging each other while giggling as his mother watched you with a mildly amused look on her face.

And the kisses. You couldn’t get enough of the kisses and neither could the butterflies in your stomach, still fluttering the same as they had during your first kiss even now as he kissed you for the fiftieth time (yes, you had kept count). 

It was only a shame that the real dating started so late into the scheme. After only two days of domestic bliss, it was time for his mother to pack her bags and go home.

Dressed in a warm coat and wrapped in a large scarf, she offered her son a warm hug, whispering endearments and gentle scoldings into his ear as you waited in the lobby. You suspected her taxi driver had fallen asleep by now.  

She then gave you a hug as well. A short and sweet one with a warning to treat her son well. And then she added, “Oh, before I forget, I left something on the kitchen table for you. Read it later, okay?”

You nodded and sent her off with a smile.

Joshua joined your side, resting a hand on your back (a new habit of his that you didn’t quite mind). He wore a smile.

“What did she tell you?” you asked him. “When you were hugging.”

“Told me to stop leaving the toilet seat up,” he told you and you suspected it was only half the truth. “What about you?”

“She said she left something on the kitchen table for us to read.”

He paused. “A book?”

“You think? What if it’s a poem?”

“Maybe a letter?”

“It’s possible.” 

You shared a look. His mother’s taxi barely managed to leave your sight before you and your boyfriend (you could never get enough of calling him that) were dashing up the stairs to solve the mystery.

True enough, there was a white envelope on the table.

“Maybe it’s pocket money,” you guessed as you picked the envelope up. “For hosting her or something.”

“If it is, you should give it to me,” he told you and you weren’t entirely sure he was joking. “There’s a hole in my bank account because of you.”

“You’re never letting that go, are you?” you sighed and opened the envelope. You were pleasantly surprised to find out you had been right – a handful of cash had been stashed into the envelope, probably enough to cover your rent for the month.

Barely bothering to hide his smirk, Joshua extended a palm. You gave him a look. Stared at him. Then sighed and placed the cash in his hand. He smiled bright and put it away in his pocket.

But the cash wasn’t all. There was a folded piece of paper. A letter.

You opened it, half-expecting a scolding or a motherly warning. But this letter – as short as it was sweet – exceeded all expectations.

Sweethearts

I hope you know I’m not unwise. I know all about your little scheme – neither of you are very good actors. Joshua, you should know better than to lie to your mother. 

But it was entertaining and I am glad to have given you some incentive to finally take the proper steps and start dating. You make a cute couple when you’re not acting. 

Can’t wait to see you two again soon

Your jaw dropped. 

“What does it say?” Joshua wondered, leaning over your shoulder to read. He let out a scoff soon afterwards. “She can be so mean.”

“She knew this whole time?” you cried out.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I should’ve known. It was too easy.”

“I mean, I thought she was suspicious of us, but this?”

“Do we really suck at acting this much?”

“Whatever,” you sighed and put the letter down. “I’m going to sleep. I can’t handle an existential crisis right now.”

“Right, let’s go sleep,” Joshua agreed, leading you away from the kitchen with a gentle tug on your arm. 

It was only when you were stood in front of the two bedroom doors, nearly identical and stood side by side, that you paused and a realisation hit. 

Was it appropriate to share a bed anymore? Surely Joshua would want to go back to his own room now that it was free again? 

You almost groaned out loud: you had thought the doubts and useless problems would cease after the confession. Everything was good and great and wonderful, so why were the stupid worries back?

Having probably reached the same conclusion, Joshua seemed just as stumped. He stared at his bedroom door for a while and you were certain he’d go to sleep in his own bed for the night, ending your most favourite part of newfound domestic bliss.

“I paid for the bed,” he suddenly said with a laugh and gently pushed you towards your room, following closely after. “You’re not getting rid of me now, sweetheart.”

“So you’re just inviting yourself into my room now?” you joked, nudging his side before letting yourself fall onto the bed. 

He laid down next to you, resting his head on his arm after rolling to his side to face you. He grinned. “It’s our room now.”

You loved the sound of that and you were certain he could see it on your face.

“So what will we do with your room?”

Joshua pondered for a moment. “We could turn it into a guest room. something tells me mom’s going to want to visit again soon.”

You paled at the mention of her. “I don’t think I can ever look her in the eyes again.”

“Me neither,” he sighed and leaned over to hide his face in the crook of your neck. “Let’s not think about it any more.”

“You’re the one that brought her up!” You laughed.

“Let’s just go to sleep,” he said. “I love you.”

The butterflies went crazy. You couldn’t and wouldn’t fight the smile that appeared on your face. “I love you too.”

[mint-yooxgi]

Kinktober 2024 Request Rules

Considering the way the poll is going, and my own excitement and wants, I'm preemptively posting this to give you all ample time to send me some kinktober prompts! Yay! Feel free to send as many as you'd like, but I'd kindly ask you all to be reasonable and follow the rules as listed below. If anyone remembers previous kinktober request rules, they'll be practically the same as before.

I will be accepting prompts until September 17.

Please request one (1) member per ask from the following groups:

SHINee (Excluding Jjong, of course)

EXO (Excluding Jongdae)

ATEEZ

Stray Kids

VIXX

NCT (Excluding Wish and Taeil, for obvious reasons)

TXT

Seventeen

Note: You may request multiple of the same member, but I will probably limit the amount of prompts I do for any one idol to 3.

Please only use a maximum of two (2) kinks per prompt. Kinks that I will accept are listed below.

Daddy/Mommy Kink

Sir/Mistress

Bondage

Asphyxiation

Body Worship

Praise

Possession

Oral Fixation

Face Sitting

Thigh Riding

Sensory Depravation

Blood

Biting/Marking

Overstimulation

Edging/Orgasm Denial

Voyerism/Exhibitionism

King/Queen

Breeding/Creampie

Consensual Predator/Prey

Consensual Somnophilia

Size Kink & Reverse Size Kink

JOI

Cockwarming

Knife Play

Masturbation/Mutual Masturbation

Please feel free to choose from a variety of AUs found below. You may combine multiple AUs together, but I ask for them to be kept reasonable and for people to limit themselves to two (2) AUs per request. Yandere may be combined with any and all AUs, and is the only exception to this rule. If there is an AU not listed below, but you'd like to see, feel free to message me, or shoot me an ask about it and I'll respond as soon as I can!

List of AUs:

Any form of monster you can think of up to and including: Tentacle, Siren, Vampire, Wolf, etc! The more monstrous the better!

Yandere

Royal

Hybrids

Angel/Fallen Angel

Demon

Trickster

Gods/Demigods

I'd love to keep this Kinktober as monstrous as possible, but please feel free to send in prompts for whatever you'd like! Please also remember that there's no guarantee I will do specific prompts that I get, and I reserve the right to pick and choose to write the ones I receive that I have the most inspiration for, and/or are the most intriguing to me. I also reserve the right to make them as long or as short as possible. I'm doing this for fun, so I hope this can be something we all can enjoy to help me get back into the swing of things.

Until then, happy requesting!

[aphroditelovesu]

⤷✿.｡Since you voted yes to commissions, so here we are. I was a little unsure about the price, so I researched and tried to make it as fair as possible. I hope you agree with this! ❤️

Also, this is completely optional! If you don't want to, you don't have to request a commission! All the other requests works the same way!! ⤷���.+ n a v i g a t i o n.

⤷♡.+ Status: OPEN.

What I would write

I write for any gender, both character and Reader/OC, be it female, male, neutral transsexual. Any.

Yandere!Character x Reader, Yandere!Reader x Yandere!Character, Yandere!OC x Reader and Yandere!OC X OC.

Dark!Au, Gore, Disorders, Smut/NSFW, explicit language, soft!yandere, alternative AU, Horror, Age gap (depends on how much).

Romantic, platonic and general Yanderes, as well as more specific themes; example: yandere x depressive!reader.

Stockholm syndrome.

Pregnancy, childbirth and death in childbirth.

Non-Con, Dub-Con, BDSM.

Fluff; non-yandere.

Monsterfucking, specific kinks.

Angst.

What I DON'T write

Any kind of NSFW content with children, anything with children will just be platonic.

I don't write NSFW with characters that have a childish appearance or personality, just platonic.

I don't usually write ships because I consider it something personal, but I can do it if someone wants to.

Age play, scap.

Minor x Adult (only platonic).

Prices (in $ and R$)

Headcanons

2,00 $/R$ 2,00 for 500 words;

6,00 $/R$ 6,00 for 1000 words;

12,00 $/R$ 12,00 for 2000 words;

NSFW content adds an additional charge of $3,00/R$3,00.

Imagines, Scenarios, Reactions, Oneshots, Prompts

3,00 $/R$ 4,00 for 500 words;

10,00 $/R$ 13,00 for 1000 words;

18,00 $/R$ 18,00 for 2000 words;

20,00 $/R$ 20,00 for 3000 words.

NSFW content adds an additional charge of $5,00/R$6,00.

My list of current fandoms, but I can always add more:

Anime

Attack on Titan, Amensia, Death Note, Demon Slayer, Diabolik Lovers, Fruits Basket, Haikyuu!!, Hakuoki, Hunter x Hunter, Jujutsu Kaisen, Kamigami no Asobi, Naruto, Mirai Nikki, One Piece, Blood of Zeus.

Books

Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, A Song of Ice and Fire, Pegasus and The Flame of Olympus (series), IT., A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR), The Bridgertons, Twilight, The Lord of the Rings, The Cruel Prince: The Folk of the Air, The Bridgertons, Twilight.

Games

Genshin Impact, Detroit Become Human, Mystic Messenger, Time Princess Dress Up (TP: characters), Yandere Simulator, My Candy Love (Amour Sucré), Arkyos Angel, A Plague Tale.

K-Pop

BTS, BLACKPINK, GOT7, EXO, BIGBANG, TWICE, AESPA, Stray Kids, ITZY, Hyuna and Dawn, Red Velvet, NCT, Monsta X, Taemin, Dreamcatcher, LE SSERAFIM, (G)I-DLE.

Series/TV Show

Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon, The Originals, The Vampire Diaries, Teen Wolf, Supernatural, Outer Banks, Friends, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Euphoria, Reign, Bridgerton, The Flash, Supergirl, Outlander, American Horror Story, Wednesday, Riverdale, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, The Sandman, Lucifer, Winx Club, Ragnarok, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Invisible City (Cidade Invisível), Shadow and Bone, Adventure Time, The Witcher, Rebelde MX (RBD), Heartstopper, Hannibal, Criminal Minds, The Last Kingdom.

Movies

Disney Universe, Marvel Universe, DC Universe, Maze Runner, Halloween, Friday the 13th, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Transformers, How to Train Your Dragon, Miraculous, Ever After High, Monster High, Barbie Universe, Christmas Movies, Maze Runner, Avatar, Twilight, Star Wars.

K-Dramas

My Demon, Bussiness Proposal, Doom At Your Service, Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha, Crash Landing on You, My Name, Mr Queen, King the Land.

Mythology

Greek, Egyptian, Norse Mythology and Brazilian Folklore.

Historical Characters

Alexander the Great, Cleopatra, Caesar Augustus, Julius Caesar and etc...

Additional Information

I accept payment via PayPal and Pic Pay only (PayPal = Ko-Fi)

Payment must be made before I start and I will always send you updates if you ask me.

I write in English and Portuguese.

I have a deadline of 5 to 10 days to complete your commission, however, if something unforeseen happens and it ends up being delayed, I will inform you.

If I write more than what was asked, obviously there will be no additions.

If you are interested, DM me with details and feel free to ask me anything.

[phantom-dc]

Hey, i have a poll for the Demon AU!

Its about Technus. His whole gig is technology, but that is quite scarce in medieval times. So, are we giving him something different? I think its neccesary, and personally i think he could have a bug theme!

He already has a spider form, he can still make on the web puns, and we dont have a bug themed villain yet. Plus, this gives another character a new look.

Valerie's second armor could look like an exo-skeleton, with wings and the like. Her first armor from Vlad would be more knight-like, but this one would be bug themed. What do you think? Let me know!

[shadowkoo]

mini requests

open | CLOSED

Hi! I'm opening my requests for the first time in nearly three years! I'm hoping by doing this sort of drabble game / mini fic requests that I can ease my way back into writing after my long hiatus. If you are interested in sending in a request, please continue reading for all the details. Thank you!

Rules + Requirements :

Follow me (if you are not already)

Reblog this post (boosts are appreciated)

Must be 18+ (minors please dni)

To Request:

Choose a group & member (1 only please)

Pick a genre (max of 3)

Select a prompt (max of 2)

Visit my askbox and use a similar format like this: "Can I request Taehyung (BTS) fluff, smut, and coworkers au with prompt #4"

*please make sure that you include the group in parenthesis after stating which member you're requesting

Groups + Members:

BTS - Seokjin, Yoongi, Hoseok, Namjoon, Jimin, Taehyung, Jungkook

EXO - Kai, Baekhyun, Sehun, Chanyeol, Chen, Suho, Kyungsoo, Xiumin, Lay

NCT - Taeyong, Taeil, Johnny, Yuta, Jaehyun, Doyoung, Ten, Winwin, Kun, Jungwoo, Mark, Xiaojun, Hendery, Renjun, Jeno, Haechan, Jaemin, Yangyang, Jisung

SVT - Vernon, Mingyu, Jeonghan, Wonwoo, Minghao, Woozi, Joshua, Hoshi, Junhui, Seokmin, Seungcheol

GOT7 - Jinyoung, Jackson, Bam, Yugyeom, Mark, Jaebeom, Youngjae

ATEEZ - Hongjoong, Seonghwa, Yunho, Yeosang, San, Mingi, Wooyoung, Jongho

MONSTA X - Shownu, Minhyuk, Kihyun, Hyungwon, Jooheon, Changkyun

STRAY KIDS - Bang Chan, Minho, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Felix, Seungmin, Jeongin

Genres + AUs:

Fluff

Smut

Angst

Enemies to lovers

Friends to lovers

Friends with benefits

Roommates

College

Coworkers

Meet Cute

Meet Ugly

Athlete (you may specify in your request)

Exes

Idol

*idol au means that they will be depicted as their real identities (as actual kpop idols & famous celebrities)

Prompts:

"Don't look at me like that. You know what that does to me."

"I wish I never met you."

"It's your lucky day."

"I'm sorry, who are you?"

"I can't stop thinking about you."

"Open your mouth."

"Why do you even care?"

"You're more important than you think."

"What do you need me to do?"

"Please leave."

"That's my final answer."

"Did you see that?" "See what?"

"What do you want from me?"

"God, you look so fucking good."

"You're unbelievable."

"Isn't that your mom?"

"I swear I've seen your face somewhere before."

"You're such a tease."

"Don't you dare lie to me."

"Who are the flowers for?"

"Don't forget that we're in public, baby."

"Are you scared? You should be."

"Please say something. Anything."

"Do you forgive me?"

"You forgot."

"You're crazy and I like it."

"Where are you taking me?"

"I think I'm in love with you."

"I need you. Now."

"What did you say?"

"Did you miss me?"

"I dare you."

"I bought you something."

"Is it supposed to taste like that?"

"Ew. Why does it look like that?"

"Baby are you close?" "No but the Uber is."

"How many doughnuts can I stack on it?"

"This is why no one likes you."

"Put your dick away, this is a Lowe's."

"Stop yelling at me!" "You’re panicking, you’ll crash the car." "It’s not everyday a demon crawls out of your trunk!"

"Who the fuck did I marry?"

This is the fifth letter you will write to them, and it will not be the last.

Six days after they left, the ticking behind the wall began.

A mob boss with a black eye and a jagged scar over his wrist sits alone in a dingy motel room. The kitten stares at him affectionately, oblivious to the danger they both are in. Oblivious to the mess it caused.

It happened concurrently, and so quickly. The moon started getting closer and brighter in the sky, and you started hearing them in the radio static.

With a palpable fury, the demon turns to you, ignoring the rubble of your kitchen, and sneers. "How did you summon me? You've pulled me out of chains centuries old." Frantically, you skim through your cookbook. "I don't know! I was trying to make soup!"

They held out a hand, an echo of the melody playing from their fingertips. "The world seems to dance to your tune," they spoke, their voice a captivating blend of amusement and intrigue. The silence that followed was heavy with unspoken questions.

Sometimes you question how everything could have turned out if that day had gone differently.

Chills creep down your spine as you peek through the cracked doorway. You're not supposed to be witnessing this. They'll kill you if they find out.

Free Space - send in your own prompt! Please keep it relatively short!

Disclaimers:

Not every request may be fulfilled, it is up to my discretion.

Word count may vary between requests (300 to 3k, etc.).

Unless requested otherwise, all fics will be written as female reader insert.

Please refer to the top of the original post to know whether requests are open or closed (reblogs may show something different).

Things I will NOT write: suicide, self-harm, animal abuse, underage sex, pedophilia, incest, vore, rape, non-consensual, or dubious sex.

[neptuniadoesstuff]

The Hyyders Squad!

Welp, I'm finally done with this. Yeh I literally made more of my frend Al's OCs into ASGD characters BCS I CAN!

Also them by themselves bcs frik u:

SOOOOOOO...... From left to right we HAVE! (I did update some of their names since the last time I introduced them fully.):

Gerald Lyconoth ((Dad of originally 1 but now is a dad of 2 after the 300 year permafrost. Is a very nervous nerd guy but does have some unspoken problems (based on his original self's Canon lore). Also the supposed leader of the Hyyders Squad. Mayhaps is 42? No one knows, his id just says hes 40+. A Earth Human.))

Joslyne Roregiz Shepard ((Angy lady who's was also a retired military officer but now lives with a old lady who she calls a boomer. Does not care whatsoever if she's hurting you, she's only a "bite first questions last" type of person. Basically the fighter of the squad but really thinks she the leader due to thinking Gerald is not actually capable to be a leader even though the squad is a... research team... Is 35. Also a Earth human but a bit unhinged.))

Triss Fallison ((Guy with low self esteem & may have a identity crisis every now & then (poor guy). Is oddly innocent & kinda doesn't know what is going on but he hold some pretty dark secrets only his adopted family knows. Is around 24 but his past still sometimes gets to him. Is one of newer members of the group & he is mainly the harvester & collector (although may have been threatened by Joslyne many times that she WILL use him as a meat shield so he is kinda scared of her). Jelly Boi but was raised by a Serpenskolk couple who is now trying to fit into human society.))

Dyan'nah Laemeria Kon'sai ((Old lady who for some reason has a major immunity to poisons & the effects of eating tainted food. Is a no bs person who is also tired of Joslyne's (her current roommate) rampant bs & wishes that lady who's like in her 30s stop acting like a child BECAUSE SHE KNOWS SHE WAS A MILITARY OFFICER! Is teh pharmacist/nurse of the group & often test the herbs that Triss brings in. May look like in her late 40s but is actually a lot older than that but due to mechanical science she looks pretty young by her standards. The last person of a now extinct race of exo-humans but she was born in a lab owned by Stellowbark.))

Yes this is in fact them. Now these guys do have a major role in ASGD bcs this main role happens to take place 300 years later (aka the time ASGD's storyline takes place) & yeh they are uh... on a icey planet bcs the kid of Gerald ACCIDENTALLY let out a frikin demonic being named Mesmer & now the planet they were researching about is now a icey horrorland.

Btw if you wanna see their squad logo uh.... its in the link under here:

So yeh, I hope you enjoy looking at this. ANYWAYS IMMA GO PUT THESE ON TH NOW & SEND THEM TO MY FREND AL-

Characters aren't mine, while designed by me, their colors ARE DIRECTLY BASED ON the Characters they're AUs of. (As they still belong to Al who is my frend)

Art: Mine.

Program: Ibispaint x

Bubs' TOS: Plz don't repost/steal, trace, or recolor my art WITHOUT MY PERMISSION! If you do, I'll take yur femur and pelvis.. SO, DON'T THINK ABOUT IT! (The PNS on my blog's pinned post clearly means "Please No Steal" plz follow that rule.) If you do post my art on anything like yur blog or somewhere else (With my permission) PLEASE CREDIT ME!

[shardminds]

20 Questions for Writers

thank u for the tags @tunaababee & @melting-houses-of-gold! sorry it took me literally forever to reply

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

31 (28 under shardmind, 2 under praxisss, 1 under a super secret third option)

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

122,425

3. What fandoms do you write for?

just acotar at the mo, but i have previously published fics for supernatural, once upon a time, exo, and got7.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

tiny fists

little infinities

stop fronting

i would stop the world for you

truth and consequence

5. Do you respond to comments?

yes!!!! i try my best!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

play your melody on my heartstrings

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

it's yours, it's mine

8. Do you get hate on fics?

no. let's keep it that way.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

yes! and it depends how we want to split up the 'what kind'. so far we've got m/m & f/m with a f/f/f in the works and a potential m/m/f. there's been a few abo's, at least one with a demon, some with magic, a few heartfelt last night on earths, one frantic post-war, one foretold in a dream, one in a car, one on the phone — yeah.

10. Do you write crossovers?

no but i have written a bunch of au's set in the universe of a different ip so like... kinda?

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

no.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

no.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

yes! truth & consequence and it's always been you with @artistic-writer. love you, salem!

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

i will not answer this question because i can't choose :(

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

vampire dean fic. your novel length plot... i wish i knew how to write you.

16. What are your writing strengths?

i like to think i can keep things concise while also keeping the flow of the words, you know? like varying my sentence length to have the best impact. i want to make it sound like music when you read it.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

NOT WRITING!!!!!!! FOR MONTHS!!!!!!

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

i think it's neat!

19. First fandom you wrote for?

chronicles of narnia. stop-- why are you laughing?

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

spn - tiny fists ouat - fortune favours the brave acotar - full moon, white honey

if anyone sees this and wants to have a go, consider this your tag!!!

[galoresficrecs]

[EXO] Jongin

LAST UPDATED ON: Dec 2nd, 2022

newly added ✦ || personal faves ✪ || ongoing ✑

ratings:

not rated || general || teen and up || mature || explicit🔞

❧ NOT HERE SHIPS ☙

jongin x baekhyun x sehun

❧ jongin x junmyeon ☙

✪ camera (shy) by curledupkitten [28,4k words] college!au, porn star!au || explicit🔞

❧ jongin x kyungsoo ☙

✪ All Gays Go to Heaven by at1stsoo [11,3k words] college!au, post-graduation, clubbing || explicit🔞

✪ Anything You Can Do by indigomini [13,6k words | 7 ch] office!au, rivals to lovers || explicit🔞

✪ Café Eau Laid by indigomini [8,1k words | 2 ch] a/b/o!au, café!au, college!au || explicit🔞

✪ Darling, It's Better Down Where It's Wetter (Take It From Me) by indigomini [19,6k words | 2 ch] mythology!au, merfolk!au || explicit🔞

✪ Demonic Domesticity and Other Signs of the Apocalypse by TRASHCAKE [12,7k words] apocalypse!au, supernatural || explicit🔞

✪ It Takes More Than Ten Tickles by at1stsoo [3,6k words] aliens!au, sci-fi || teen and up

✪ Pay Me Some Mind by indigomini [33,2k words | 15 ch] college!au || explicit🔞

❧ jongin x sehun ☙

✑ ✪ Get Cocky by MitchMatchedSocks [187,8k words | 38/? ch] college!au, fraternity!au, friends with benefits, sexual experimentation || explicit🔞

✪ Is That A Python in Your Pants or Are You Just Happy to See Me? by MitchMatchedSocks [39,1k words | 13 ch] hybrid!au, college!au || explicit🔞

✪ Mind If I Slither In? by MitchMatchedSocks [19,4k words] aliens!au, sci-fi, baseball!au || explicit🔞

❧ jongin x reader☙

99 and Marlowe by kpopfanfictrash [4,1k words] f!reader, soulmates!au, age gap || teen and up

[part of Exordia Academy] Anomaly by kpopfanfictrash [10,3k words] f!reader, 1980s!au, academy!au, powers!au || explicit🔞

[part of Welcome to the Exodus Mall] Freestyle by yehet-me-up [22,1k words] f!reader, 1990s!au, mall!au, set in seattle, co-workers to lovers || mature

[anyamaris]

Another Us pt.4

Summary- Seonghwa!au x f!reader have a stormy past. Despite thinking you've weathered the worst, clouds brew on the horizon.

Don't laugh at me, I was feeling poetic.

Word Count-2700+

Warning- Long winded and rambling. Mentions of blood and injury, alcohol consumption, vulgar language. I think that's about it.

Pretty sure it's just random angst at this point. Going Crazy- Exo is a pretty apt way to explain the relationship between reader and Seonghwa at this point. I hope you enjoy reading as much as I've been enjoying the writing. ❤

Part 5

What did I do in a past life to have to deal with all this bad karma? you think to yourself, taking in the mess in front of you as you open your bedroom door. San and Wooyoung were curled up in your bed as per usual, but they were sleeping so peacefully right now. Ah, such blissful silence, you think as you tip toe out into the living area, hoping it will last for a little while.

The large open space in front of you is littered with clothing, a few dirty glasses and random snack bags on the large glass coffee table. Grateful that you picked up before settling down for the antics last night, you set your mind to cleaning up what you can before the chaos begins.

You hear soft snoring and upon stepping forward, you see Yunho passed out facedown on a pillow between the two overstuffed couches. Probably drooling on it, you think, letting out a soft snort. His sleeping form makes you smile, as he's cuddling one of your cat plushies. You recall some kind of dare where he had to act out some silly performance and the WooSan team had decided to be the prop masters for the antics last night. A puppy and a kitty cuddling, how adorable, you think.

Peeking over the top of the couch nearest you, you grimace as you take in Seonghwa's form curled up on his side, looking peaceful. His dark hair lying softly over his face, his delicate fingers curled up near his cheek. The urge to brush back his hair from his face like you used to startles you. Your head hurts as your thoughts whirl. Just the sight of him makes you so confused.

You've been at war internally lately, with him showing up so unexpectedly and having to fight those old demons within you. You've always known that you may have to face him again one day, but thinking about it and actually having to deal with it were two VERY different things.

You'd been through the gauntlet early on when things fell apart. You'd both been kids, basically, but even years later, there was still that feeling of old scars tugging. I thought being the bigger guy and making a truce last night would settle me internally, you sigh. Was I already drunk?

If only emotions were so easily controlled by words backed by some momentary willpower. Actually standing by them was the true test.

One I may fail, you scoff, sneering down at the beautiful, horrible man slumbering peacefully. Fighting the urge pet his hair or punch him in the side of his head while he was sleeping, you move past him into the open kitchen area. Wow, I'm awful, you think, simultaneously smiling at the thought of smacking him.

Mingi and Yeosang must have been in the other rooms. Oh yeah, Yunho offered Yeosang his room, while Seonghwa was supposed to have taken San's. They must have stayed up longer after you'd crawled to your room at some point.

The night had devolved eventually to stupid questions and even more stupid dares. "Dares!? wait-" you mutter and gasp, turning on your heel. You rush into your room as quietly as you can manage, memories of the night prior and a certain incident reemerging in your recovering brain.

Throwing yourself across your bed, you grasp the phone you'd tossed on the covers before sleeping and unlock it in a panic.

"Hi! I think you're really hot and I think you should take me on a date." the text reads and you cry out, not caring about waking the two monsters that had started even more chaos in your life. Groaning you toss your phone at the nearest body, hearing San mumble as it plops against him. ".........heyyyyyyy....what....?" He peeks an eye at you. "YOU TWO!" You yell and jump on them, eliciting a squeal and lots of yelling and laughing, tickling and pinching and waking the little shits up to punish them.

So much for a quiet morning.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The night before~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You're going on a date!" the words catch your breath as you read the lit up screen in front of you. "Hi! I think you're really hot and I think you should take me on a date." it read and below that, a response. "Hehet, okay! Let's go on a date." You glance up and meet Yeosang's eyes, who smiles at you like the gorgeous prince he is. Oh my god, those idiots, you think as you feel your stomach drop.

Wait, he's smiling at me? He said yes? Your eyes go big as your sluggish brain catches up with the moment. You can feel heat creeping up on your cheeks as you SWEAR he winks at you. He winked at me? Am I dreaming? He must be really drunk if he said yes, especially knowing it didn't actually come from you.

You finally feel all the eyes on you as you look away from Yeosang shyly. Yunho and Mingi are leaning forward, and the sound snaps back into place in your head. "Y/N! C'mon, stop teasing, who are you going on a date with?!" Mingi yells, kicking his legs. Woo and San are laughing hysterically and congratulating each other, while giving you thumbs up.

Bastards, you think, before feeling Seonghwa lean closer to you to read your phone before you can stop him. His scent becomes even more intoxicating and you can feel his breath on your cheek as he leans far too close to get a look. He's swaying slightly, squinting with one eye closed to read before you can come to your senses and turn off the screen. His head snaps up and you're face to face with him, far far too close. Pushing him back and standing up abruptly, you clear your throat.

"Who wants another drink? Hey let's do some shots!" you yell much too loudly. Mingi starts yelling along with Yunho, protesting, before Yeosang answers them. His voice is quiet but everyone catches it.

"With me. I'm taking Y/n on a date." He says, smiling gently.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Finally emerging again after taking the frustration out on your eternal bedmates, you sigh as you realize you've woken the two bodies in the living room up. Yunho is groaning and rubbing his eyes, mumbling a greeting when he notices you. You glance over at the other form that is sitting up. Seonghwa is checking his phone and hasn't noticed your presence yet.

Sighing, you return to the picking up and try not to think too hard about the previous night's outcome. You really couldn't be too hard on the two little demons. Wooyoung was always far too perceptive when it came to you. You had both been close since beginning to work together and hang out.

He particularly loved gossip and upending things around him for a good laugh, but he didn't do anything maliciously. He truly paid attention to the people he cared for and that extended to wanting them to be happy. You'd just not been careful enough with your comments and glances at the pretty face that had recently become a part of your little group. Honestly, you hadn't even considered looking at Yeosang beyond admiring him. He was beautiful, that was undeniable. His almost angelic features and his sharp gaze definitely would have anyone trying to remember how to breathe.

But you live with 3 gorgeous men as well as working with another. It wasn't a stretch to say that you were literally always surrounded by the epitome of male beauty in it's many forms. And it was totally fine to have a crush without thinking about actually going on a date or having an intimate relationship with a crush.

Much to Wooyoung and San's dismay, any interest you'd shown in men for last 2 years in the form of a 'crush' had been cut off at the knees before they could meddle. You knew they wanted you to be happy, but all four of the men close to you knew what you'd gone through with your ex. As protective as they could be, you'd always been concerned that when you finally were ready, they would chase off any prospective interest of yours once you actually formed an attachment. But you could understand them wanting you to try again.

So now here you were, so confused about how to interpret last night on so many levels.

Firstly, Yeosang knew you didn't send the text. So maybe he was just trying to make it so you didn't lose your dare. Yeah...actually that makes sense. You think, shaking your head as you start doing the dishes. You can hear everyone moving around behind you and you smile. Yeah....that's the answer, it's just a silly game, why am I acting like a 14 year old girl who's never dated before?

"Before you even ask, yes I'll make food, coffee is on and should be done soon. No complaining!!" you say without even looking.

Secondly, even if he was being serious about his answer, he was drunk. Hell, you all were. Between the bottles of wine, some weird concoction the chaos twins had made and the inevitable dare shots you'd all been subjected to, everyone was not in their right mind.

You stare off, holding a glass and becoming distracted by your thoughts. Thirdly, even though he was gorgeous and sure, you probably had a crush on him, sure.....every time you thought about him, your brain did this funny little slip.

Just like your eyes had kept slipping last night...from Yeosang's smiling form, to the man sitting next to you through the night. It had started out fine, you'd tamped down on the confusion, the more you drank the easier it had seemed to relax.

All evening you'd catch yourself glancing over at him, his eyes meeting yours every so often. His hand brushing yours occasionally. If someone needed a drink or you both moved at the same time.

His familiar intoxicating scent.

Your hand tightens around the glass unconsciously as you remember, frowning. "Are the coffee mugs-?" you hear the deep voice behind you start to say, so close behind you, and the glass in your hand shatters as you jump and clench it tighter, cutting into your palm.

Your scream and sudden movement cuts the words off before he exclaims, "Oh my god, Y/n, are you ok?!" Seonghwa grabs you and turns you, pulling you close and using his shirt to cover the bleeding wound before you can even register what happened beyond the initial pain and shock.

"Ow." You say in a flat tone, startled with the panic on Seonghwa's face. You'd think he was the one who got hurt. He was frowning and looking down at your hand, then your face.

Oh, oops, blood. you think as you see the liquid staining his white shirt.

You realize that your hand is under his shirt, getting it all over him...more aware of the warm skin of his stomach against your hand than the pain of the wound. You look back up and your eyes meet. His wide, dark eyes are filled with concern and distress and your heart thuds loudly, speeding up, but you feel like everything else has stopped.

Your head swims and your chest flutters along with your eyelids as you study his face, nothing making sense as you drown in the warm deep color of his eyes, his beautiful soft skin. The warmth of his skin under your hand far too overwhelming. You feel an arm snake around your waist and then your vision blurs briefly, finally noticing that his lips are moving.

Am I still drunk? you think as his eyes finally pull away from yours to look at something else. Why is my head spinning? Why doesn't my hand hurt?

Then it's like something pops and the sound around you returns and it feels like time has started once more. You hand throbs and you suck in a breath. Was I even breathing?

"Y/n! Hey, look at me!" You glance towards the person in front of you and register the face. You finally come back to your senses completely and take in the chaos around you. You're sitting on the couch, your hand clenched in Seonghwa's shirt as he kneels off to your right. The pain is starting to burn now. "Yunho? Huh? How did I get over here?" He is holding your uninjured hand and cupping your face with the other. He smiles at your questions but his eyes are still full of worry. "Shh, don't worry about that, I just want to make sure you are alright. You're such a klutz, Y/n." He says and sighs. You can hear voices behind you and you glance around.

Mingi is heading over with the first aid kit. Wooyoung is hovering, dancing around and pacing. You hear San yelling something from the kitchen and Woo rushes off. You look back to your right as your hand is extracted and it throbs and stings. "Agghhh", you say and wince.

"Shh it's ok," Yunho calms you again as Mingi kneels to your left and takes your hand, using tweezers to remove some of the glass. "Oh shit, sorry, the carpet-" you start and Yunho chuckles and shakes his head, patting yours. You look back towards your right. Seonghwa looks like he's going to pass out and you suddenly feel really bad.

"Are you ok?" he whispers and you nod at him. "Yeah, sorry, I wasn't paying attention. Oh no! Your shirt, I'm so sorry." You frown down, looking at his nice white shirt that looks like a crime scene now. He shakes his head at you and sighs heavily.

"She gets like this after drinking, normally we have to force her to eat or drink something in the morning after drinking too much." Mingi says and a coffee mug is pushed into your hand. San is frowning down at you now and all of a sudden you feel super crowded and overwhelmed. "Why are you frowning at me?" You glare back at him. "Drink your OJ, Y/n. You know we don't like seeing you hurt. I can frown!!"

"Sorry I worried you guys, I'm fine, it's just some glass. You're like a bunch of overprotective mother hens." You sigh and glance back at Seonghwa. He's got his clean hand covering his face.

Looking around you say, "Ok please stop crowding me. Thank you for doing that, Mingi." You say and he smiles without even looking up, cleaning the wound and starting to wrap it. "Sure, anything for our girl, right?" His dimple flashes and you can't help but smile back and relax a little. San and Woo head back towards the kitchen and Yunho pats your head once more before standing up to go join them.

You've noticed Yeosang has come out and is sitting across from you, a mild look of worry on his face as you look at him. "You ok?" he mouths at you and you smile and nod, feeling mildly embarrassed that this happened in front of him. "I have mild anemia and sometimes drinking can make it worse the next morning. I should have just been more careful, pure idiocy on my end. I wasn't paying attention." "And you're the clumsiest person I know" Mingi mutters and you hiss at him playfully.

"Anemia? Is that bad? Do you need to go to the hospital?" Seonghwa rattles off, bringing your attention back to him. You laugh and shake your head. "Seriously, it's fine. I just need to take an iron pill, drink some coffee and get over this hangover." You say, setting down the juice and rubbing your head. "I'm sorry I caused all this drama so early in the day. I still need to cook! Shit!" You say, starting to get up without thinking and Mingi tugs you back down, tsking. "Stop. Ill send the guys out to get something to eat, so sit your ass back down and stop trying to do everything at once. You're giving me vertigo." He says in a soothing tone.

"I'll go get something." Seonghwa goes to stand and then stops, looking down at his shirt. "Umm." He says. "I'm so sorry," you say again, wincing. "Stop. It's fine, uhh-"

"I'm going, come on, Ill get you a shirt to change into and you can come along for the ride." Yunho says, coming out with his keys in hand and motioning Seonghwa to follow him into the other room to change.

Seonghwa glances at you once more and you give him a reassuring smile and wave you free hand at him to go. He hesitates then follows the taller man.

"There, all done, princess." Mingi says, cleaning up the first aid kit. "Hey that's you, not me- Elsa." You say and he winks at you as he stands up. "You can borrow it today, princess."

Great, all this commotion and your head is even more of a mess. Drunk interactions were so much easier to brush off. Sober things (like whatever that was) made everything so much worse in your head, you think, watching the two men leave to go get food. Your head snaps back and your eyes widen when you hear Yeosang say,

"If you're feeling better, Y/n, would you like to talk about where you'd like to go on our date?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

"Why don't you ever listen to me, San?" You frown at the man sniffling in your lap. Petting his hair back, you start to plot all the ways you could help him feel better.

"But I wanted to impress them this time!" He wails and you try your best to not giggle at how adorable he is. Poor boy was in pain. You'd just come from the hospital and his ankle was wrapped and propped up. "You can't overdo things. I know you work really hard but you need to take care of your body. How can you dance at all if you hurt yourself? What if it is something serious next time? Have you thought about that??"

You're met with a pout as he turns his head to look up at you. "I know, Y/n. I just want to do my best and work hard." "Well we worry about you when you hurt yourself, Sannie. You know we don't like seeing you hurt."

You glance towards the door as it opens and Wooyoung comes barreling in. "Noooooooo San!!!!" He cries and throws himself at both of you. Giggling, San's sniffles start to dry up as he's being fawned over and cuddled. Mingi and Yunho are coming in behind Wooyoung with bags of groceries and both are shaking their heads, everyone starting up their own special ways of berating San while trying to cheer him up at the same time.

You smile and just pet San's hair again as you think,

"My little family."

"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

@veronicasawyerschainsaw @shinestarhwaa

[entamewitchlulu]

new ask game

i made a list of all the major projects i have made significant notes/writing/materials about. send me a title and i'll tell you what it's about/something interesting about it

transcript of the list under the cut

Original Stuff

Unicorn Anthology Our Chosen Curses High Witchery The Girl at the Edge of the World Chaotic Symmetry Emblems and Heralds Dreamkeeper Not Where We're Going The Library of Uncountable Mysteries White Fire, Copper Earth Wisp Unicorn Field Guide The Youth

Fanfiction

d i s p e r s i o n Record of the Yokai's Bride Yu-Gi-Oh! RED: Duel Spectrum Something Eternal The Seven Mysteries of [ ] High School Year of the OTP A Mermaid's Heart Arc of Magic City Gods Destiny Factor Dragon x Slayer Dragonriders AU Duskshipping Faerie AU Lancer Yoko AU Arc V Magical Girls AU Arc V Pokemon AU Puppets and Pendulums Retainers Seasons of Raydiance Swaying Mists The Taste of Spring Vampire AU Ocean Kings Sweet Melodies The Final Reaper's Game of Nanami Chiaki whatever souls are made of Katarina Swap Every Thorn has a Rose The World in the Space Between Us the blue moon is beautiful tonight City's Heart Shards of Red Merlin Rewrite Byleth Backstory Maiami Queens Arc V Manga Rewrite Arc V Infinite Essence of Hope King's Soul Forgotten Bonds Universal Constant Invisible Girls My Heart, a Star Not a Place But a Feeling On the Path to Eternity Katacule Next Gen The Other Side of the Coin The True Meaning of Power The Revolution Where Only I Am Missing Earth Heart Tokyo Mew Mew A Votre Gout Tokyo Mew Mew Next Gen Khonsu's Box Yu-Gi-Oh! N Overlap When Aker Walks Again Yu-Gi-Oh! EXO Yu-Gi-Oh! ROM Flower's Blooming Our Stars

Games

Pokemon Glitter and Gleam Liminal Library Lost Mines of Phandelver Lunaria Magical Girl TTRPG Paladins of the Heart Untitled RPGMaker Horror Game Westwend RPG What Lies Within (the RPG) Yu-Gi-Oh! TTRPG Sibruil Homebrew Setting Accidental Harem Protagonist Such Sweet Sorrows

Nuzlockes (for comics or stories??)

Alpha Sapphire LeafGreen Pearl / Platinum Ruby Silver X

Comics

Muse N'Things

Fanfiction I'm Not Sure I'm Still Jazzed About Writing

Pendulumshipping Bandit/Prince AU Crystal Sonatas Demon of the Apocalypse Pendulumshipping Fae/Bard AU The Rose Witch Tatsuya's Ribbon When Wishes Wither The Revolution Where Only I Am Missing Heart in the Cards Jigsaw of the Heart

[finniigan]

Pls help me pick what to work on between comms - i have a million and one wips and im terrible at decisions T.T (but i need to have smth to destress with cos if i just work on commissions nonstop ill explode)

[somethingridiculous]

Human Sins - Featuring Belphegor, Leviathan, Asmodeus, Mammon, Beelzebub, and Satan. You can see my concepts of their natural demon forms (Plus Asmodeus and Lucifer) here

Keep in mind that these are just HEADCANONS. Nothing here is canon to either show.

I actually wasn't originally planning to post this cause it's stuff for a silly crossover AU of mine. Buuut, it's also the literal only thing that survived my hard drive crashing because SAI2 has a recovery feature that just happens to save in my other drive. I feel like at this point, it deserves to be shared cause.

Lucifer isn't included because he wasn't originally apart of my AU so I never made a sketch for him. Rather, I stuck to my sin concepts + Asmodeus.

Just to explain a few things I did ->

Why does Satan have a scar on his face? An HC of mine says far in Satan's past, he made some mistakes that resulted in a nasty scar. It's not visible in his natural form due to his exo skull reforming (save for some hairline fractures that you can't see unless you're in his face. Good luck getting that close, though) (Edit: <- I actually drew this, but lost it thanks to my hard drive. Cool stuff). However, it will appear clearly in any other form he takes.

Speaking of Satan, cowboy getup? Another HC of mine is that Satan owns a ranch. It felt fitting considering how the Wrath ring is portrayed. He owns a fairly large ranch that I like to call "Rising Sun Ranch" or "Ranch of the Rising Sun". His work out app is a "side hustle" of his because he likes working out and thinks everyone should work out in some capacity.

Bee is a curly haired redhead. I couldn't imagine her in any other way.

Mammon looks like a cross between a clown and a business man. Because why not

I wanted to give Ozzie a bit more natural looking hair for his human look, but nothing seemed to fit better than the blue, so blue it is.

Another HC of mine is Leviathan is the owner of a rather largely known theater that I like to call "Sun Pierce Theater". He's fond of a lot of the costumes and decided to wear one of the boots that appears in a play he's hosted, regardless of whether it fits his outfit or not (In his natural form, he typically doesn't wear shoes because they're not very good for swimming nor are they comfortable)

Belphegor is really into hoodies.

[marshmallow-phd]

Part One

Masterlist

Pairing: Kris x Reader

Summary: Kris never had a problem with what he was. He’d bargain and make deals with mortals in exchange for their souls. It was just the job. But when an assignment puts you in his path, he’s suddenly questioning his existence. As the consequences of his choices catch up with him, how much in harms way will you be?

Part Two

Masterlist

Pairing: Minseok x Reader

Summary: Unknown to the mortals, the world was plunging into chaos. But Minseok couldn’t care less. He was still able to take assignments, able to continue in collecting souls of the gullible. As long as he could do his job, he didn’t care what the angels or his boss were up to. Out stalking his next target, he met you, someone who could see him even when he chose to be invisible. At first, he shrugged you off, not interest in the mystery. But after another chance encounter, Minseok was intrigued. As your abnormality could have a part to play in the war against the angels, he was reluctantly keeping you close. With you as warm as he was cold, he tried to stay the terrifying demon while being haunted by Kris’ last words…

Part Three

Coming Soon...

[wongxiexie]

What meets the eye

Pairing: Byun Baekhyun x Reader Genre: Angst, Demon!AU, X-EXO!AU Word Count: 2.342 words Warnings: Implied death, Mild cursing, A little violence Note: Thank you so much @exo-stentialism for letting me use your gif! 🌸🌸 This is the reader-insert version of this fic. 

“Incoming!”

Sehun bellows somewhere far below, warning you and the others of an enormous blazing orb that is fast approaching the destroyed building you’re currently perched on. Exhausted as you are with your muscles aching and lungs burning, you channel what remaining power you have to forge a force field around you and the others within your vicinity.

Pouring all your concentration as you extend your palms forward, you pray to whoever god is listening for you to at least be able to slow the orb down. Begrudgingly, you acknowledge that you’re too weak to fully deflect the attack and just hope that the few seconds you stall will be enough for Jongin to transport everybody to some place safe.

The intensity of the blaze gets stronger and you feel yourself being pushed backwards. Reducing the size of the force field, you focus it on the orb in an effort to direct it to the left and at the last second you let go before jumping towards the opposite direction.

To say that your landing was rough would be an understatement.

Involuntarily, a few drops escape your eyes as you hold your breath before you pull out shards of glass that cut through your suit and embedded themselves on your skin.

“Fuck,” you exhale quietly as you throw the last piece away.

“Are– okay, [Y/N]–,” the grounded earpiece buzzes to life and you stand up before fixing it.

“Has anybody seen [Y/N]?” another voice chimes in, Junmyeon, clearer this time and you let yourself breathe before answering. “I’m okay, but who fired off that one?”

“It was Chanyeøl,” the original, Chanyeol, growls out. “It seems they’re here, and worse, my fire doesn’t seem to affect him at all.”

“What?!”

“I thought it was just Suhø and Sehůn?”

Disbelieving gasps filter through the device and they fire question after question about whether Chanyeol is absolute that the others are here too. You would have also jumped in to ask if it isn’t for the pounding in your ears.

Everything seems to fall out of focus and you find that your concentration is wavering, almost to the point where you feel like you can lose consciousness any second now. 

He’s here?

Slightly shaking, you lower yourself to the ground on one knee and press both palms flat on the concrete. You remove your earpiece and let your eyes slide shut as you empty your mind of all thoughts except for one.

A few beats pass with you not being able to sense what you’re looking for and you almost allow yourself a sigh of relief – almost. That is, until you feel a familiar aura.

Instantly, you remove your hands from the ground as if burned and before you can dissolve the field you have created around you, his face flashes in your mind.

Baëkhyun.

He is here.

“[Y/N]…” he drawls out and you dissipate the force field you made before he can say anything else.

It takes everything in you to not run to him. His voice, his face – they are all his, but you know it’s not him.

Standing to your full height, you put the earpiece back in place and panic instantaneously grips you when you hear Jongdae’s frantic shouts. “Where’s Yixing? Minseok and Kyungsoo are hurt!”

A blinding flash of light erupts up above and only then do you notice the stark red and white bolts clashing in the skies. ‘Jongdae needs help!’ You break into a sprint to aid him but as soon as you round the corner, an invisible barrier breaks your momentum.

The wind gets knocked out of your lungs as you’re thrown to the ground. Before you can get up, someone suddenly bends over you and grips your neck in a chokehold.

Struggling to break free, you scratch at the hand that’s trying to suffocate you but a harsh laugh echoes above you and you look up to meet the blank eyes of none other than the most ruthless of the clones, Kāi.

Fear grips tighter at you, tighter than his hold upon the twisted intentions present in his eyes, and you become more frantic to escape from him. “Let me go!”

In your desperation, you claw on the ground as you try to form what force field you can still make, hoping that someone would be able to sense the distress signals you’re giving off.

Sick amusement dances in the clone’s eyes and he moves his face closer to yours, about to scare you further but he gets cut off by a scoff.

“Stop playing around,” Sehůn’s bored voice sounds out. “Just kill her already.”

Kāi is about to do just that, but fortunately for you, Jongin abruptly appears and sends a kick towards his clone’s side. However, Kāi must have sensed his original’s presence because he was able to block the attack with his arms.

Nonetheless, the clone was sent a distance from you because of the impact. Sehun’s voice cuts through to you as he keeps his own clone occupied and he shouts, “get out of here, [Y/N]! Find Yixing so he can restore your power!”

Without hesitation, you nod at them and take off the other way, trusting that they’ll be able to hold their own against their evil incarnates.

You run, trying to find your healer. As much as you don’t want to burden Yixing, you know you’re no help to the other soldiers if you don’t regain your energy.

Yixing stands a little ways away, trying to fend off the enemy with Kyungsoo’s help, and you run faster to reach them. Sprinting towards your comrades, you push yourself to go quicker but your surroundings suddenly throb once and you’re forced to your knees from the whiplash.

As if on instinct, you look off to the side, compelled by some unknown force, and all thoughts flee your mind upon seeing him.

Your lips curl back in hatred and disgust upon seeing the demon that stands a distance from you, his eyes closed and his posture relaxed as if he doesn’t have a care in the world. And for that, you hate him even more because you know he really doesn’t give a fuck about whatever except for his own twisted selfish desires.

None of the clones do, especially him.

Your trembling hand subconsciously moves to clutch the metal vial attached to your necklace and your knuckles turn white from gripping it so tightly.

The anger makes you move and before you even realize it, you’re already running towards him. Eyes dead set on your target, you let the pain and hatred propel you forward, not caring about your beaten body as you accept the lone thought occupying your whole mind.

‘End him.’

As you near him, you swipe the silver dagger resting on your belt. You’re so near, so near, and you grip the knife tighter. His eyes are still closed but at the last moment, you see the unmistakable upward tilt of his lips, it was minute but it was there, and only now do you realize what a reckless decision it is you have made.

Too late to back out now.

You leap forward with the help of your force field and land directly in front of  Baëkhyun. In a flash, you raise your hand, poised to attack him, but the moment you slash your hand down to stab his heart…

One second you’re trying to kill the clone that took your love away from you and the next you’re– in a field of flowers?

Confusion swims through your mind and you try to go back to what you were doing before… what were you doing before?

You whip around to look for someone, anyone. Deep inside, your gut tells you that you should panic, but you’re not in the slightest bit alarmed. Looking down, you see you’re wearing the dress Baekhyun bought for you.

‘Ah, silly me, we’re on a date,’ you smile as you remember where you are, laughing slightly at the absurdity of you forgetting what’s happening.

A smile settles on your lips as you approach the tree where your lover is taking cover, his hair peaking as he tries to see whether you’ve figured out where he is hidden.

“I wonder where my wonderfully foolish boyfriend is hiding, hmm?”

At this, Baekhyun’s poorly concealed giggles reach your ears and you join in on his laughter. 

“You’re no fun, [Y/N]! You should’ve at least pretended to look for me!” he says in between peals of chuckles. “Can’t help it, Baek. You didn’t even try.”

He opens his arms wide, gesturing for you to run into his embrace and you do just that. You snake your arms around his middle, reveling in the smell that seems so naturally his, and you press your face in the crook of his neck.

You hear Baekhyun chuckle above you and something about it puts an unsettling feeling in your stomach. Raising your head in slight confusion, you look at his face but you find nothing unusual. His face is the same, his smile, his features, nothing seems out of place, even his eyes– wait.

Your own orbs widen upon staring into his eyes and soon enough, the sweet smile that was once on Baekhyun’s face is replaced by a cruel smirk that you recognize all too well.

Bit by bit, your surroundings return to before and you find yourself smack dab in the middle of the battle, with your body trapped in Baëkhyun’s bruising hold.

“So easy to fool,” he whispers in amusement. “Too bad you noticed early, I didn’t know playing goody would be so fun.”

Anger boils within you and you bare your teeth at him as you struggle. “How dare you use him for your sick games!”

Baëkhyun doesn’t appear fazed, in fact, he looks mildly amused. He chuckles darkly and moves his face closer to yours. “Still heartbroken about the fly’s death?” he asks mockingly as he raises a brow. 

“I told you I would do anything to make you mine.”

The cold leer on his lips brings you back to reality, making you bring your boot up to stomp on his foot. It’s not much, but it’s enough for Baëkhyun to let up a bit on his hold on you, granting you just enough space to rear your hand back and stab his chest with the dagger.

Baëkhyun staggers backwards and before he gets the chance to retaliate, you pounce on him and pin him to the ground. You pull the vial from your necklace and you hastily open it to reveal Baekhyun’s blood.

The clone’s eyes widen, knowing full well what his original’s blood means, and without hesitation, you pour it on his chest, right where you stabbed him directly on the heart.

Upon contact of the blood, his body convulses wildly, almost as if his bones are breaking one by one and once again, it breaks your heart to see him hurt.

‘It’s not him,’  you remind yourself, but him having the same face, the same everything doesn’t make it easy for you.

Traitorous tears cascade down your cheeks and it takes a huge toll on you just to prevent your sobs from escaping.

After all, you’ve just witnessed your love die a second time, regardless if it was a sinister clone.

As Baëkhyun’s movements stop altogether, his body relaxes and the fight similarly drains from your body. “It’s done, it’s over…” you whisper as you caress his face. “Both of your souls can rest now.”

Bringing your hands to hold his cheeks tenderly, you close your eyes shut and allow yourself one last moment of selfishness. 

You let your lips gently touch his and the moment you break contact, your sobs wrack your tired body. “I’m sorry I couldn’t do anything to save the both of you,” you rest your forehead on his as you let the tears fall.

“Oh baby, that’s no problem for me.”

Your eyes snap wide open and you come face to face with a very much alive Baëkhyun. Sparing a glance to his chest, you see him devoid of any wounds.

One moment you’re lying down and in the blink of an eye, you find yourself standing an arm’s length from Baëkhyun.

Grim realization dawns on you and you gulp down the disbelief, anger, disappointment. Everything.

The smile on the clone’s face worsens the already frantic beating of your heart and the foreboding sensation inside you makes you slowly move your head to the side.

You feel it before you see it: your surroundings turning from mid-afternoon to a dark waste of nothing. Almost as if a sheet is being lifted to reveal nothing but darkness and ruins, the sky boasting nothing but bolts of blood-tainted light.

“How beautiful it is, no? To be able to control light…”

Shaky exhales leave your mouth and it gets harder and harder for you to get some air into your lungs as the inevitable tears pool in your eyes.

“…to be able to manipulate what meets the eye…”

Baëkhyun approaches you and you don’t even fight, feeling yourself frozen on the spot and unable to move. He turns you around slowly, tauntingly, and you lay eyes on a worse situation you didn’t know was possible.

There on the ground lay eight men in various states of bloodied and beaten, eight people you’ve come to love as brothers, eight people who comforted you when you lost your love. There lay your brothers all still alive but barely holding on to the fraying threads of their existence, and standing behind them are their clones who bear the same faces but not a shred of the same heart.

The unmistakable feeling of dread and helplessness, of desperation, washes over you and this time, you fail to stop it from consuming you.

“Did you really think you could win?” Baëkhyun whispers in your ear. “I thought I told you already…” he murmurs as he snakes a hand around your neck.

“…I would do anything to make you mine.”