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One More Reason for You to Stay
Juwonâs fingers twitched, still curled in the fabric of Dongsikâs shirt. He didnât have the energy to argue, to push Dongsik away like he normally would. The exhaustion was too deep, and the fever too high. Instead, he let his grip relax, though his hand remained resting against Dongsikâs arm, an unspoken acknowledgment of the comfort Dongsik was offering. âStay,â Juwon muttered, his voice barely audible. Dongsikâs eyes were gentle, a faint smile tugging at his lips as he nodded. âIâm not going anywhere, Juwon-ah.â Juwon is sick with a fever. Dongsik is there to take care of him.
Read it here!
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Now with a second chapter!
hear me out hear me outâŚ..dongsik as a kindergarten teacher and joowon as a newly single fatherâŚ..the gears are turning in my head
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officer!els<3
author's note - meow i love this woman.
content warnings - black!coded!reader ig????, fluff, els i love u ellie williams pls handcuff me to ur bed and police-brutalize me! , text msgs from reader that are very me-coded! , mostly just based off every grumpy but cool cop i've seen in media, lots of notes from me i'm going insane I NEED HER!!!!! , there's a white man in a pic i put... you have been warned, smut/suggestive shit at the end!
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- def wanted to be a cop when she was a kid and then was a total fucking juvenile as a teen. (duh!)
- always loved the police officers who barely ever gave troubled kids a hard time. (this is coming from a troubled kid. acab all the way except for u guys. well, still acab, but y'all r cool!) would refuse to talk to anyone except her favorites. i fully believe that's one of the reasons she would go into this workforce.
- when she got approved to start training to be a cop, u were home with her favorite strand of weed and she gave u a look like, "đ¤¨đ¤¨" , "can't be doing that no more baby, i'm gonna be a cop." , "...stfu and take the first hit before you piss me off..." , she's wearing a SHIT-eating grin before she takes it. (don't ask me how she passes her drug-tests!) (probably gets jesse to do it or someone idk maybe joel if she's lucky!) (def not joel...)
- ADDING ONTO THIS!^^ : every single time you smoke when she can't she'll look so sad or just side-eye tf out of you... "really?" , "what do you want me to do ellie..." u stopped smoking around her when she couldn't...
- this woman is so intimidating but once those cop dogs come on the scene she's so cute<3 . she's so smiley and happy they love her AND SHE LOVES THEM. she definitely sent u a picture of her with the group of the babies and was like, "can we adopt them all pls i love them ):" . you guys adopted a rescue pup shortly after...
- whenever you're doing ANYTHING EVER she flashes her badge at you and says something so loser of her , "don't make me handcuff you..." or makes finger guns with the sounds and GOD I LOVE THIS WOMAN.
- speaking of badges, she always has her badge on her. ALWAYS. it is EMBARRASSING!
- when she got her first arrest she was so happy:3 . i FEEL like she took a picture with the fucker and everything and she looked so proud of herself. "good job baby now pls get to the station before that mf breaks out of those handcuffs he looks like he's gonna murder u..."
- this is a headcannon of mine (and canon so why am i saying hc maybe it's just bcs it's more in-depth in my head.) but she loves kids and whenever she sees a younger person at the station, she makes sure that they're ok and have everything they need.
- with that being said, she HATES the teens who don't have a valid reason to be such delinquents. lovable delinquents are her soft-spot but those... THOSE ONESđ§.
- definitely is a kitten-saver-cop. hates getting the call but she responds every time.
- sends u this pic anytime u say something mildly threatening to her in text msgs:
suggestive/NSFW!
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- the day she got her uniform, you wanted to jump her bones. she came back home, poor girl was so tired and all you could think about is how good she looked in that shit.
- like i said... the badge is with her at all times... maybe this is too feral but i feel like she put IT in ur mouth and took a polaroid of it after u were done eating her out or SSAAAWWWWMMMMTHHHIIIIING. (pls let me wear ur badge baby i'm on my knees BEGGING YOU!)
- definitely joked about role-playing jailer/jailed and then it wasn't a joke anymore. y'all tried it once and couldn't stop laughing.
- has definitely used her handcuffs on u or vice versa. she gets so excited when u pull that shit out.
- ggggg...g-g-gu-....gggggggggguuuunnn ki-
- definitely has fucked u in the uniform. u two probs have had a quickie in the station bathroom on multiple occasions.
bonus round - police!els edit<3 :
#abby tlou#tlou2#abby anderson#abby anderson fic#ellie the last of us#ellie tlou#ellie williams#ellie x abby#ellie x fem reader#ellabs#ellie x reader#ellie williams smut#ellie williams series#ellie williams fanfic#ellie williams fluff#ellie williams fanart#dina tlou#tlou art#joel tlou#the last of us#tlou#joel miller#bella ramsey#laura bailey#ani's ellieđ#ani's writingđ
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â â â â SLASHER!RAFE x FINALGIRL!READER
WARNINGS .áâdubcon, unprotected p in v, knife play, choking, hair pulling, degradation, one use of the word daddy, blood, murder, gore
NOTES .á âeveryone ignore how i change my post layouts every five seconds, but i went kind of out of my comfort zone and decided to put my nasty little fantasies to paper with this one, so i hope yall freaks enjoy.
ââ â â â â â â â âąââ â ââ we all go a little mad sometimes ââ
The sounds of your heavy breathing seemed to echo off the walls of the empty wooden cabin. A loose floorboard underneath you dug painfully into your ribs, but you didn't dare move an inch, your eyes trained on the door and ears perked up as you kept yourself alert for any signs of life. Every creak of the old cabin and whistle of the wind outside had you biting back a gasp as hot, salty tears ran down your cheeks.
Your lip was trembling, heart beating so loud in your chest that you were afraid it would give away your position hidden away under one of the rickety beds. Flashes of the gruesome scene beyond the four wooden walls that were currently giving you some semblance of safety filled the darkness everytime your eyes fluttered shut.
Blood. Blood everywhere. With the amount of blood you'd seen and the eerie quiet that had settled over the camp, only the wind and the crickets to keep you company, you were almost positive that everyone else was dead.
You found yourself grateful that the campers had all gone home that morning, spared from the wrath of the axe-wielding maniac that had beheaded, dismembered, gutted, and disfigured all your coworkers. You could still see the face of your boss, the head counselor, in your mind, lifeless, sunken eyes staring past you and ghostly pale skin practically reflecting in the moonlight.
You didn't have time to ponder whether the unrecognizable corpse a few feet away belonged to the disembodied head before you because a pitched, sadistic whistling started up. You weren't sure what direction it had come from as it seemed to be everywhere and nowhere all at once. Running and hiding seemed to be the best course of action, so you took off, trying to focus on what was ahead of you and not the massacre that was all around you.
That was when you slipped into the cabin and scrambled under the bed, your heavy breathingâa mix of physical exertion and pure horrorâreverberating off the walls. A twig snapping outside had you clamping your hand over your mouth, a small squeak falling from your lips as you screwed your eyes shut in an attempt to will the murderer away from your location.
A few tense moments passed with your eyes shut tight and not another sound to be heard. Your ears strained to pick up anything besides the wind whipping through the trees and the ironically lively sounds of insects chirping but still, nothing.
You let out an internal sigh of relief, your eyes fluttering open and sweeping the floor in front of you for feet, thankfully finding none. "Boo," a voice suddenly whispered, making your eyes widen. A blood-curdling scream tore from your throat as a hand clamped down on your ankle, pulling you forcefully out from under the bed. You clawed at the floor and kicked at him, but your attempts to fight off the larger, stronger man were futile.
When he had pulled you all the way out of the hiding place that had lulled you into a false sense of security, you quickly turned over to face him, bracing yourself up on your hands as your chest heaved and eyes widened with fear.
You found yourself slightly taken aback as your gaze landed on the handsome, blood-spattered face before you. You'd more or less expected a middle-aged hillbilly with missing teeth and a crazed look in his eyes. Instead, you were face to face with a wicked smirk and cold blue eyes that glared down at you, glinting sinisterly in the dim, warm lighting. He had forgone his axe, the polished blade of a knife clutched in his hand, catching the light.
"Gotcha," he said lowly, his voice taking on a distinctly menacing and warning tone, as if daring you to try and run from him. His tall frame towered over you, even as he crouched down to be level with you, the sharp scent of the blood coating his white button up making your nose scrunch in disgust.
"Please," you begged weakly, crawling backward until your back hit the wooden bedframe of the bed you'd just sought refuge under. He seemed unfazed by your attempts to scurry away from him, simply leaning closer and bringing the knife up to brush a strand of hair away from your face in a gesture that was deceptively gentle.
"Shh, it's okay," he cooed, his voice dripping with false comfort and a twisted amusement. He lightly ran the knife down your cheek, making you stiffen, not wanting to move an inch and risk the blade dipping into your skin. "Are you scared?" He asked, stopping the cold steel of the knife underneath your chin and using it to tilt your head up a little bit, forcing you to look at him.
His icy blue eyes bored into yours as he waited for your answer. You couldn't form a sentence, simply staring up at him like a deer caught in headlights. Your mind was whirling with thoughts, most presently not wanting to die, but just beyond that, you registered the damp feeling between your legs that had you wondering if you had truly lost your mind. You were face to face with a man who had brutally murdered atleast a dozen people and was presently covered in their blood, and you were turned on?
"I asked you a fucking question," he said, drawing you from your thoughts. His chiseled jaw clenched as he pressed the knife ever so slightly into your skin, the tip of the blade nicking your neck and making a small whimper fall from your lips. He leaned closer, his breath fanning over your face. "Are you scared?" He repeated, his tone making it clear that he expected an answer when he asked you a question.
"Y-yes," you replied, your voice trembling as you felt a warm, sticky droplet of blood slip down your neck from the small cut he had made and into your shirt, right through the valley of your breasts.
"Good," he hummed, a twisted smile slowly spreading across his face. Your breath hitched as you felt the blade begin to move again, dipping lower and lower, following the trail of blood on your skin. "Bet you'd do whatever I told you to, yeah?"
You nodded, probably a little too quickly. Deep down, some sick part of you wanted this, wanted him to touch you and defile you in ways that would have your mother clutching her pearls. Fear was one motivator. Of course you wanted to get out of this alive and were willing to do whatever it took, but as much as you wanted to convince yourself it was, you knew it wasn't the only reason you would bend to the handsome stranger's will.
He grinned wickedly, grabbing your throat with his free hand and pulling you up into a standing position. The tip of the knife pressed firmly against your sternum, his fingers flexing around the column of your throatâhis grip unyielding but not quite painfulâas he stood there for a moment, just staring at you.
His calculating gaze swept over your face, taking in every little detail before slipping down. A glint of satisfaction flickered across his face as he saw the cut on your skin, following the blood trail down into your little tank top. He subconsciously licked his lips at the view, the thin material of your shirt and your little shorts not leaving much to the imagination. You shuddered under his intense stare, feeling suddenly very exposed as he shamelessly checked you out.
His eyes lingered on your chest, the rise and fall of your breasts clearly visible as it heaved with your quick, shallow breathsâwhether from fear or anticipation, you were still trying to decipher. His face twisted into a smug expression, clearly noting the effect he was having on you.
He slowly, tauntingly, dragged the blade up from your sternum to your collarbone before pulling it back down in the same tantalizing manner. His gaze seemed to pierce your soul, watching in amusement as you squirmed uncomfortably in his grasp.
Before you could register what was happening, a loud clatter abruptly echoed throughout the room, making you jump and gasp softly in a mix of surprise and fear. Your eyes widened a fraction as you felt his calloused fingers slip under your shirt, dancing along your bare skin.
Your gaze darted to the source of the noise, the knife laying discarded on the floor a few feet away. "Uh, uh, uh," he reprimanded, his grip on your throat tightening, his thumb applying just enough pressure to make you feel the threat of being cut off from air. "Don't look over there. Look at me."
Your eyes met his again, his pupils dilated, the pools of black giving him an even more menacing look as he glared at you with a hardened stare. "Don't try anything stupid," he warned lowly, his fingertips digging into the delicate flesh of your neck. "I don't want to have to kill you. I'd be a shame for such a pretty face to go to waste."
His hand left your throat, sliding to the back of your head and curling his long fingers into your hair. Yanking your head back and exposing the column of your neck further, he leaned in close, his lips brushing against your ear as he whispered, "You're going to be a good girl for me, aren't you?"
"Uh-Uh huh," you managed, unable to nod due to the harsh, painful grip he had on your hair. His hot breath fanning against your skin seemed to go right to your aching core, making you mentally curse yourself for whatever Freudian concept had you attracted to a man who was probably going to murder you before the night was over.
"Hm? What was that?" He taunted you, giving your hair another tug that had you letting out a small "ah" in pain. "Gonna have to speak up. Use your words."
"Yes," you whimpered, giving him the verbal affirmation he wanted to hear. His cruel and violent behavior really shouldn't have been turning you on as much as it was, but something about him was downright intoxicating, making you latch helplessly onto every word he said.
"Good," he grinned darkly, rewarding you by letting go of your hair before both of his large, strong hands settled on your waist. In one swift movement, he spun you around so your back was facing him. He kept his left hand on your hip, fingertips digging harshly into your skin as the other hand splayed along your stomach over your top.
You swallowed hard, looking forward out the window. It was so dark outside, the light from the room casting a glare on the glass that allowed you to see your reflection and by association, the man behind you. He leaned down, his breath hot against your neck as his tall frame dwarfed your smaller one.
His fingertips dipped into your shorts without warning, making you gasp softly as you felt the pads of his fingers run along your glistening folds. "Dirty fuckin' girl," he whispered into your ear, and you could hear the sick satisfaction in his voice. "You like me roughing you up, huh? You want me to hurt you."
He pulled his fingers back, leaving you feeling strangely disappointed. Your slick transfered from his fingers to your skin as he carefully pulled out, trailing his fingers alone your stomach before curling them into the waistband of your shorts and tugging down, letting them fall to the floor.
"Onto the bed," He breathed hotly against your skin before shoving you forward with enough force to send you stumbling toward the bed in front of you. You braced yourself on your hands and knees as you fell forward, unknowingly getting yourself exactly where he wanted you. He positioned himself behind you, gripping your hips tightly.
One of his hands slid up your spine, roughly gripping your hair again and pushing your face forcefully into the pillows below, making you yelp softly in surprise. "Don't you fuckin' move," he warned you, his voice dripping with dark promise of what would happen if you did as he pulled back.
You heard him fiddling with his belt before a loud clank resounded through the room, indicating it had found a home on the floor along with the forgotten knife. Your heart was beating rapidly in your chest as you waited in anticipationâa sick eagerness setting your body abuzz.
One hand came back to your waist, the other gripping the base of his throbbing length. He guided himself to your covered entrance, using his thick head to push the flimsy lace of your panties aside. You gasped into the pillows, your hips instinctively pushing back against him as he ran his tip along your wet folds, being deceptively gentle despite his true intentions.
With a brutal thrust, he sheathed himself inside you, his length stretching your walls in a manner that was both painful and sinfully delicious as he groaned in satisfaction. He paused for a moment, savoring the feel of being buried in your tight, wet heat before beginning to move, each thrust sending your body crashing against the bed.
The old, rickety wood screeched with each brutal thrust that he delivered into you. You were a mess of moans and whines, muffled by the pillows beneath you that smelled faintly of mothballs. He trailed a hand up your back once again, mirroring his previous actions of curled it into your hair to keep you pressed firmly into the mattress beneath you.
"You like that, huh?" He mocked you, finding a perverted pleasure in how eager you were for him to fuck you senseless. "What kind of sick whore lets a murderer fuck her, hm?" He hummed, tugging on the strands of your hair that were wrapped around his long fingers as he continued to deliver rough thrusts into your poor cunt, his hard length abusing your cervix as he chased his own high.
You cried out in a mix of pleasure and pain, his grip on your hip bruising as he forcefully pulled your body back to meet his thrusts. "That's it," he cooed derisively, not letting up the slightest bit. "Lay there and take it like a good girl." His hot and cold actâone minute praising you and the next demeaning youâhad your head spinning in a way that wasn't unwelcome.
Your body jolted as he unexpectedly slid his hand down, his calloused fingertips rubbing tight, quick circles on your swollen clit. Your hands fisted into the bedsheets, body tensing as the combination of sensations overwhelmed you.
"Fuck, look at you," he groaned as he watched you writhe beneath him, his fingers merciless on the sensitive bundle of nerves between your legs. "You gonna cum for me, baby?" He purred condescendingly
He increased the pressure, his touch unyielding as he felt your body growing taut beneath him, your breath hitching. "That's right, come for daddy," he taunted, his voice dripping with menace as he brought the hand in your hair down to grip your hip for leverage.
Your body seized up as the coil inside you finally snapped, pleasure crashing over you in intense waves. A strangled cry tore from your throat into the pillows, your cunt clenching rhythmically around him as he continued to pound into you, chasing his own high.
Feeling your walls tighten around him sent him over the edge, gripping your hips tightly as he pushed himself deep into you. He let out a low groan, his head falling pack in ecstacy as he painted your walls with his release.
Your body slumped against the bed as he slowly pulled out, your chest heaving from exertion. Your mind was in a daze, briefly forgetting that the man with you could kill you at any moment.
You hesitantly turned over, propping yourself on your elbows, watching him tuck himself back into his pants and retrieve his belt and knife from their place on the floor. You regarded him warily, watching every move cautiously to make sure that he wasn't going to approach you and slit your throat now that he had taken what he wanted.
He looked up, eyes meeting yours and glinting with a sinister light as he took in your sweaty appearance, your hair sticking wildly in all directions, a few strands clinging to your forehead. He lifted the knife, pointing it at youâa clear threat. "You tell the cops or anyone else that I was here, and I'll fuckin' find you, hear?"
Your eyes widened slightly as your brain tried to process the words he'd just said. When they finally did register in your mind, you nodded frantically, showing him that you understood. He was leaving you alive. You were going to make it home. He studied you for a moment longer, his brows furrowing ever so slightly like he was mulling over something in his mind.
Finally, he gave you a small nod, his face a mask of indifference as he left without another wordâlike he didn't just kill a shit ton of people and then fuck you senseless. You simply watched him leave in disbelief. You didn't really expect for him to actually let you live, but you were eternally grateful that he had.
You let out a long sigh of relief as soon as his footsteps faded into the night, letting your elbows give out from under you. Your back hit the mattress and you stared up at the ceiling, trying to put together a plausible story for why you were the last one standing after the brutal massacre and why you hadn't the faintest clue who could have done such a horrible thing.
this one goes out to my babygirl @starkeysprincess
#đ#đŚš × đ đ sol writes .á#dialogue is NOT my strong suit guys#i apologize if its cringe đ#also lmk if I missed any warnings#slasher!rafe#slasher!rafe x reader#slasher!rafe x finalgirl!reader#rafe cameron#rafe cameron x reader#rafe cameron fanfiction#rafe cameron fic#rafe cameron smut#outer banks#outer banks smut#outer banks fanfiction#obx#obx smut#obx fanfiction#obx rafe cameron#rafe obx#outer banks au#outerbanks#outerbanks rafe#rafe cameron au#rafe x reader#rafe x reader smut
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So if you're like me and devoured pretty much everything on the tag, then you've probably already read these but just in case here are some of my faves:
foregone conclusion by katierosefun (complete, one-shot) if it rises fast/it can't last by katierosefun (complete, one-shot) we wait and we wait ('til one of us caves) by theinvisibledisaster (wip, 11/? chapters) give me touch (cause i've been missing it) by wildthing (complete, one-shot) Daydreams and Nightmares by knups (complete, 2/2 chapters) only our love can suffice by princesskay (complete, 4/4 chapters) something that's waiting for me by katierosefun (complete, one-shot) lay your weary head to rest by pale_and_tragic (complete, one-shot)
begging for some hurt/comfort jwds fic recs. I probably read everything on ao3 at this point, but who knows maybe someone can surprise me with one that I didn't yet
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best friend gojo who's here to help you with your pms!
pairing : gojo satoru x reader
word count : 2.2k
tags : reader has pms, groping, titty sucking, grinding, clit rubbing, gojo is heavily implied to be the bisexual loser who gets no bitches that he is, nanami mention (who do you think I am after all), a lot of back and forth between him and reader. if not smutty, ik you will find this funny đ
obviously gojo satoru is more of an active person, he'd rather be outside than inside, but he'd lock himself in jail if that meant he could spend some time with you. that's why he's here, bursting in arms filled with sweet treats. you groan, sitting up, making grabby hands for the gummy bears and he snickers, squeezing your cheek.
"you're not funny, satoru," you mutter, adjusting yourself in bed again.
"but I do get it! once a month, you and I become extremely similar, united by a hunger for sweets!" he laughs, tossing another sweet in the air and catching it with his mouth.
"how the fuck hasn't shoko beat some sense into you to speak to women with more respect," you say, smacking him over the head with a pillow.
the time passes, too slowly for your liking. satoru, to his credit keeps himself busy, chattering on about something or the other. you're busy twisting around in bed for a better position to provide yourself some relief from the random cramps, and satoru cannot help it.
he cannot help himself from staring at you.
all this while, he had been yammering on about anything he could think of, trying to distract himself from you. but here you are, refusing to settle down in one place.
he didn't really know all of the biology of the entire cycle, but he knew enough to figure out that periods come a month away from the last. and if he didn't figure out himself, your bitching was enough for him to know that the time was here.
he had burst into your apartment all cheery to give you some good vibes (and give himself some good vibes), and had walked right into your room to see you looking drained and angry. like he could focus on that when you were just sitting there, looking delicious.Â
sure, you look good all the time. of course you dress up when you go clubbing, curves all fitted in a snug dress, hair and face done to the t. but now⌠god. the heat had made you forgo the usual hoodie or baggy shirt you'd pull on and you had instead worn an old tank top with a pair of booty shorts which you had announced you only put on because you heard him come in.
like damn who asked you to do that, but whatever makes you comfortable.
but.
your tits. your tits. your tits. your tits had swollen up, as they do every period, and they were trapped and straining against the tank top you had thrown on, which was obviously not built for the extra curve of them. and your nipples, fuck. they poked through the material, hard, prominent and enticing.
he sneaks another peak at them, and his eyes nearly fall out of his fucking head when he saw that in all the time he was lost in his thoughts, mindlessly blabbering, you're grabbing them.
round, juicy tits were in your hands, and you are squeezing them periodically, with your eyes closed, breathing slowly. he watches the cleavage peeking out of your neckline, the bulge of your boobs bouncing up and down as and when you squeezed them, and the little sighs that you keep giving. he gulps.
before he knows it, more like a horny panic response, he reaches forward and jabs your thigh.Â
âow, what the fuck?âÂ
your eyes fly open and you stare at satoru, who himself has no clue what the fuck just happened. and your hands. your hands are still grabbing your fucking tits.
âyou weren't listening to my story,â he manages, his tongue thick and useless in his mouth.
you look like you could slap him. he would accept that. he wishes he could slap himself.Â
âthe fucking story about how you charmed your way to the front of the line at the coffee shop (not starbucks, fuck starbucks) once again? that fucking story?â
he just has to soldier through this. âyeah, that story! it's impressive to make your way past the old coffee addicted coots before their 9 to 5. if you want to massage your tits that bad do it on your own time!â
oh no. now he's said it. heâs brought attention to the the melons- elephant in the room.
âyou are so useless,â you hiss. âyou useless, useless man.â you are rising onto your knees and making your way closer to him.Â
his eyes widen as he leans back. he chuckles nervously. âhey, i'm not entirely useless. i mean, i can take away your period, but just for -â
your hand shoots out and grabs his face. âif you pull that pathetic playboy shit on me right now i'm gonna slap you so hard you'll see stars,â you whisper.
satoru doesn't dare breathe, the space between you two is so small, lips almost touching, your breasts heaving.Â
âhow big?â
âwh- what?â he stutters.Â
men and women and almost everyone who has laid eyes on him have tried to smooth talk him, and here he is, stuttering for you.Â
âhow big are they?â
oh! your tits! your fucking tits!
âbig. bigger. bigger than usual. beautiful.â he muddles.
you huff, and seem to relax a bit. âgood,â you say, pulling back a little. ânow use them.â
with that, you turn away and plop down right in front of him, ass pushed against his crotch, and he can just hope that you donât feel how hard he is right now.Â
âwhat,â he says again, stupidly. yes, he always dreamed of this day. no, he didn't know what the fuck was going on.
âyour hands satoru. use your hands! you keep comparing hand sizes with me, so use your big fucking hands to massage me!â
his hands. his stupid hands. okay.
âjeez just say that, you tease. and here i thought that i could feel up a girl after so long,â he jokes, the only way he knows how to get out of this situation, his face still hot. he grabs your shoulders and squeezes haphazardly, âjuicy tits are rare to come by, after all i can only jump nanami so many times before he -âÂ
you grab his hands from your shoulders and pull them from the back around your body to your tits and squeeze.Â
âoh,â you moan. âoh god, that's good.â
you're too deep in the sauce to notice that satoru's brain's been fried. his fingers just follow your directions, fingertips digging into the plush flesh, while you moan away. you tip your head back, eyes closed. he stares at you, the relief youâre in and how you're openly just using him for your own gain so unabashedly. your head hits his shoulder, causing your eyes to open slightly, making direct eye contact with him. that snaps him out of the daze that he's in.
âyeah?â he mutters, his voice low, âyou like that?â
âuh huh,â you nod, eyes not leaving his.
âall right cutie,â he chuckles, âi'll give you what you want.â
he finally goes with the flow and starts massaging. his big hands circle around each breast, gathering them entirely, and squeezing. his thumbs grind down on the neglected sides of your tits in circles, pulling out an unexpected moan from you.
âoh, that was good!â
âyeah? tell me more,â he says, steadily pushing them in and out.
âthey were just- just so sore, toru. and yesterday i was out the entire day, and you know i had to wear a bra because i can't just not wear a bra! so they were so so restricted and tied up! so obviously i don't wear a bra when i'm at home -â
he knows. he's seen.Â
â- but i don't know, the soreness just somehow feels different and worse now? because they so heavy and swollen, and they're hanging down, nothing to hold âem up!â
âaww, poor baby. why didn't you tell me earlier, huh?â he asks, working his way around your breasts.
âi don't know⌠my head's been so fuzzy, and my cramps are pretty bad too.â
âwell that's okay cutie. i'll be there from now on, yeah?â he whispers into your ear. even beyond his own horniness, he really does want to help you. he didn't know he too could benefit from this though.
âyeah⌠thank - oh!â you shriek.
âwhat?â
âmy nipples, oh, they're just too sore, toru! you need to be gentle!â you huff.
ââm sorry baby, i'll be more careful, kay?â he mutters, looking down at your hard nipples, poking through the strained material of your tank top. since today has been full of miracles for him, he decides to push his luck. âcan i⌠can i see âem?â
see them? you had definitely been lost in the bliss of the situation to see the realness of it. to see that the line between friendship and the light flirting that had been going on between you and satoru off late had been getting blurrier by the moment. you are too horny and in need of pain (and horny) relief to be thinking clearly.Â
ânothing has to change, kay?ââ whispers satoru into your ear. âit's just you and me⌠and your tits between us, obviouslyâ he giggles, nipping your ear a bit.
you look at him. things would change, you decide, looking at the slightly dizzy look he has, his eyes lidded, lip between his teeth. he's easier to read than he thinks he is. knowingly, you nod.
âatta girl,â he whispers, positively buzzing with excitement. he pushes himself off from behind you, instead laying you down on the pillow he was leaning on and coming to the front. âatta fucking girl.â
he slides down your body, tossing away the blanket that was loosely thrown over your legs, showing your thighs and your shorts hiked up enough for them to just look like underwear. he wants to settle his face onto them so badly, but that's a task for another day. for now, he looks up.Â
you're looking down at him, your usually pissy face wide eyed, waiting for him to make his next move. he can't help but smirk at how cute you look, especially considering how much you gag or at least pretend to gag whenever he flirts with you.Â
âi'm gonna lift this up, okay?â he tells you, holding the hem of your tank top.
you nod.
he pulls the hem up, up and over your tits, exposing them. the air hits your nipples, causing them to pebble even more.Â
âfuck,â he whispers, his eyes wide and unblinking. âfuck baby, they're beautiful.â
âthey're all swollen and⌠stuff,â you mutter, not knowing what to say.
he reaches forward and grabs the two mounds, one in each hand.Â
âhi!â he says to the one in his right hand, jiggling it, âhi!â he says, now to the left one, jiggling that one too.
âsatoru, you're such a dor- oh!â
he's opened his mouth and latched onto your right nipple, his wet, warm mouth, enveloping the smaller, tender bud. years of sucking on lollipops, and other things, makes him really, really good at this. eyes closed, he sucks and sucks, tongue circling the nipple and lapping it up. the pointy, sensitive bud is soothed by his constant suckling, causing you to moan out loud. that finally gets him to open his eyes and gaze back at you, pausing his administration.Â
âi'm such a dork, huh?â
âshut up, god!â
âno god, just satoru gojo,â he says smarmily, nuzzling into your other boob, his hair tickling your neck, and under your chin.
you smack his head and he snickers. he goes back to suckling on your tits, plump lips leaving a trail of shiny gloss on your tits as he kisses them away. his hand continues to massage your other tit, and his other hand is, well⌠gripping your thigh.
âsatoru,â you gasp, but he pays no heed. you push him away from you slightly. âsatoru!â
that breaks him out of his daze, looking up at you. âdid i do something?â
âcould you um⌠could we grind?â you whisper.
âi can touch your pussy?â he ask hungrily, eyes gleaming.
âno!â you yelp, ânot directly at least, we aren't there yet. but could i⌠grind on you for a bit?â
âfuck yeah you can!â he almost shouts. he pulls his leg up, his knee pushing against your clit.
with how sensitive and horny you are, that little move makes you moan, sending shivers up your body. and this bratty demon descends upon you immediately. heâs back to suckling on your tit, while the other hand massages your other one, gently pulling your nipple now and then. the sensitivity added with the gentle tugging creates a delicious sort of slightly painful yet soothing delight. your back arches and he most definitely cannot be comfortable in his position to satisfy you in every place all at once but he doesn't even pause for a moment, not letting up on his knee grinding on your clit.Â
âsatoru, satoru, slow down,â you gasp, the sensitivity knowing no bounds.
âno,â he replies âi don't get to see you in your panties even! i'm taking whatever i caaan,â he says in a sing song way, going back to his sucking.
âfuck you!â you gasp, writhing at this point.
he makes a sound that you cannot decipher, and moves his hand from your thigh to your clit, pinching it, eyes flitting up to see your reaction.
âfuck! fuck!â you exclaim, âmore, toru, please!"
"yeah baby?" he asks, rubbing which circles around your clit, as if he would ever hesitate to give you anything, ever. he looks down at you, the state you're in. tank top pushed all the way up, uncovering your breasts, your soft tits jiggling up and down, as you grind down to meet his fingers. and as he looks down to his fingers, he sees the prominent lips of your pussy through your shorts as his fingers pressed unwavering against your little clit. one day. he is so close.
you are so close.
the heat in your body is building up, the pressure in your tummy rising. the band stretches tighter and tighter and satoru, that evil boy is only enjoying this. your period addled brain cannot ever string together an insult to throw his way, and instead you wantonly moan, motioning for him to come closer.
he leans in, an eyebrow quicker up.
"kiss," you whisper. "needta kiss you toru."
that takes him by surprise.Â
"of- course you can, pretty girl," he whispers back, "been dreaming of this day".
with that, your lips meet, and it's immediately sloppy and desperate. tongue and gloss and indignance from both sides have your eyes rolled to the back of your head soon enough, so much so that you don't even realize that you've let go of the pressure that was building up, the band snapping.
with a gasp, you orgasm, shaking against satoru, who doesn't even seem to be phased. he's taken lapping and nipping against your lips as you come down from the high. your shaky fingers come to grasp his toned arms.
"hmm, how's that for some pms relief, huh?" he mutters against you, laying himself on you gingerly, making sure he isn't squishing your tits accidentally. "good job, both of you," he says, looking at your tits.
"and good job to you too, cutie," he says, looking up to you. he looks content and smug. "still think I'm a dork after all that?"
you pull a face, too sleepy and too, well whipped to insult him. he looks so sexy and adorable at the same time. proud and happy and eager all at once, his hair sticking up. you reach out to ruffle his hair and pull his ear.Â
"you're not off of massaging duty though. I have a full night's sleep to catch up on after I clean myself up," you grunt, pushing yourself off of the bed to go to the bathroom.Â
satoru follows you, like a puppy.Â
you turn back to look at him. "are you gonna um⌠take care of yourself?"
"yeah, about that," he mutters, looking away, his hands hovering over the crotch of his sweatpants. "you don't have to worry about that- "
you yank his hands away from his crotch to reveal a dark stain down the front of it.
"you fucking dork!" you exclaim, laughing "you came just from that? I didn't even touch you!"
"yeah yeah, laugh all you want, after using me like that" he rolls his eyes, his cheeks pink.Â
"when did you even come?"
he remains quiet.
"satoru," you egg on gleefully, almost forgetting all the pain you are in.
"there was a lot of precum when you first made me grab your tits⌠and then I came when I⌠when I saw em bare for the first time," he trails off.
you smack his shoulder. "you pathetic boy!" you laugh, "is that why you wouldn't let up on me"
"fuck off, you're such a meanie, and after I just gave you the best time ever!" he shouts, closing his ears, dashing past you to the bathroom.Â
you follow him, and he's kicking off his sweatpants and pulling off his underwear. "don't look!" he shrieks, face red.Â
"I'm not looking" you laugh, turning away and beginning to change too. "I just wanna get cleaned up and go back to sleep."
he grunts. "can I -"
"can you what?"
you see the tips of his ears are pink as he throws one of the many pairs of shorts he left at your place before.Â
"can I suck on your right tit and jiggle your left one while you sleep and after that maybe put my head between your thi- "
"satoru!"
first smut fic yay!
comments, likes, reblogs and excited rambling tags are HIGHLY APPRECIATED! â¤
#gojo x reader#gojo#gojo satoru x reader#satoru gojo x reader#gojo fluff#gojo smut#gojo satoru fluff#gojo satoru smut#jjk x reader#jujutsu kaisen x reader#jjk fics#yves tells you a story âŠđŻâË.đâđââşââ§
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â promise ring â˘
no one would've guessed that the daughter of the townâs royal mage has a soft spot for the clumsiest fire elemental in the entire realm. but when the crown prince suddenly asks for your hand in marriage, you're forced to consider how you feel about a certain lee jung chan a lot more seriously.
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FEATURING; chan x reader (ft. joshua x reader)
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WORD COUNT; 21k words
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TAGS; fantasy, royalty, childhood friends, mutual pining, love triangle, LOTS of drama, jeonghan being a menace, slow burn, angst, smut
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NOTES; full disclosure that the plot to porn ratio is probably 80:20 so if you're simply looking for filth, i might not recommend this,,, but if you're down for 20k words of slow burn childhood friends to lovers topped with a juicy love triangle with our best boy chan, then this should be perfect for you <3
this is part of the secret garden, a svthub spring collab and the it's complicated series!
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SMUT TAGS; vanilla, lots of making out, unprotected sex, touch starved chan and reader, first time, body worship, dom/sub undertones, lots of loving n endearing language during the act bc they've pined for each other long Enough, corruption kink if you squint but chan doesn't rly act on it
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TAGLIST; @cheolhub - @pretty-trustme - @just-here-to-read-01 - @idkmelkro - @dejavernon - @venusrae - @jeonghancvunt - @jyiiscool - @jiniesclub - @junhui-recs - @bldelaine - @featmia - @fruitzcup - @hoeforhao - @candidupped - @emmmui - @billboard-singer - @caratochan - @novalpha - @dahliatopia - @0717luv
When you wake up, itâs to a strange feeling that something big is going to happen today.
You open your eyes to radiant sunlight filtering into the room through a crack in the curtains. The songbirds chirp happily by the windowsill as the rest of the town prepares to meet the day head-on. You lie in bed for a few minutes more, wondering whatâs causing your chest to stir with misplaced anticipation. None of the annual festivals are drawing near and youâre certain you havenât forgotten anyoneâs birthdays either.
The sensation carries over as you head to the Academy with your father. Being from the family who founded the school several decades ago, he makes it a point to uphold the legacy your ancestors have left behind. That includes being at the school grounds an hour before any of the formal magic classes are scheduled to start, apparently.
Some students arrive much earlier than both of you, practicing spells and incantations in the small quadrangle as a means of preparing for their assessments later in the day. You giggle to yourself when you spot one of the older magesâa water elemental named Seungminâfumble with his technique a little.Â
Whether intentionally or not, his friend, Changbin takes the brunt of itâhis robes rendered sopping wet from the water that Seungmin had (accidentally?) blasted him with. Though it doesnât take much to undo the damage since Changbin is easily one of the best fire elementals in the Academy. With one snap of his fingers, his clothes are instantly dry.Â
There are times (like this) when you envy the versatility of fire magic. But your father once told you that the gods grant each person with their respective elements for a reason. Instead of questioning their grace, you must show your gratitude by mastering what you've been blessed with instead.Â
Yours comes in the form of nurturing all the plants and flora you set your eyes on. Itâs for this reason that you still bother to come to the Academy even if youâve already completed its scholastic program over three years ago.Â
Despite your father constantly insisting for you to find a job that suits your talents in the royal capital, you prefer to impart your magical knowledge to the other students in your hometown instead.Â
In fact, you donât miss the wistful look in his eyes as you part ways for the dayâhim to the headmaster's office and you to the greenhouse at the edge of campus.
As you direct yourself to your destination, that feeling from earlier is yet to subside. Though much more muted now that youâre surrounded by fellow mages both students and faculty alike, it still remains. Quiet yet foreboding, as if telling you not to let your guard down just yet.
So lost in your own thoughts, you startle at the sound of someone calling your name in the distance.Â
âThank goodness youâre here!â One of the junior mages, Chaewon groans before bracing her hands on her knees to catch her breath. âHeâs done it again!âÂ
A worried smile stretches across your lips. Life in your hometown is but a cycle of doing the same things over and over everyday. You donât particularly mind the monotone of your routineâyouâre at peace with it, honestlyâbut if Lee Jung Chan keeps accidentally burning someoneâs precious plants, youâre going to have to make a few changes.
Chaewon leads you to the crime scene swiftly, explaining how your best friend set fire to the monsteras she personally grew from little seedlings with an irritated pout. While youâre completely sympathetic to Chaewon's plightâbeing her mentor and allâyou canât help the soft laugh that bubbles in your chest at the story.
âWhy are you laughing?â she whines. âYouâre not gonna let him get away with it just âcause youâve been friends since you were babies, right? I worked so hard to enchant those plants with exotic flowers!âÂ
The two of you arrive before you can issue an apology on Chanâs behalf. Not that your best friend wouldnât have already expressed his remorse directly to Chaewon the moment the monsteras caught his flames.Â
You can easily spot the repentance in his posture as Chan stands awkwardly outside the greenhouse. From the looks of it, heâs currently being lectured by a school instructor whoâs also named Chan, though most of the students and staff call him Chris for easier identification.Â
Youâre certain that Chris has it all under control. Though youâre not sure how, since heâs a non-elemental mage. You canât exactly see him putting out a fire with musical magic no matter how good he is, but youâre grateful for his intervention still.Â
âI know you only wanted to help out, but Chaewon isnât the headmasterâs daughter. Sheâs yet to learn how to properly foolproof her handiwork against clumsy fire elementals.â Chris sighs deeply, arms crossed with a serious look before his eyes catch yours from the distance. âSpeak of the devilâŚâ
One would expect Chan to be mortified at the sight of you. After all, he did just inadvertently fuck up Chaewonâs project for her elemental assessment this month. As her mentor, you have all the right to rain hell on earth in the name of your precious student, but the thing about you is that you can never get mad at Lee Jung Chanâno matter how badly he messes up sometimes.
âHi,â he squeaks with a small wave. âI swear I was just watering Chaewonâs plants âcause they were looking kind ofâŚdry. I do it for you all the time right? But then a cat snuck inside the greenhouse and knocked over a bunch of pots from the high shelves. It scared the living daylights out of me andââ
âChan, have you at least apologized to her?â you sigh, patting your studentâs head while she shoots Chan a hard glare from where sheâs hiding behind you.Â
âO-Of course!â he stammers, hands flying everywhere in an attempt to express his damage control better. âI even asked Chris where I can get seeds so I can replace them for her! You know I never leave any debts unpaid.â
Itâs difficult to keep your mask of professionalism in place when heâs being so unintentionally adorable. Right now, youâre one of the Academyâs respected alumni as well as an instructor that many students look up to. You wouldnât make the mistake of fawning over your best friend while he explains his not-so-innocence, but that doesnât mean it makes keeping up appearances any easier for you .
âI told him that BamBam sells everything under the sun at his shop in the next town over,â Chris informs you with a tight-lipped smile. âThough Chan might have to be careful when talking to that guy. Heâs a bitâŚâ
âEccentric?â you supply.
âExactly.â
âCan he do that now?â Chaewon huffs impatiently. âI was meaning to start another experiment after I made sure this one didnât fall through, but I guess Iâm back to square one.âÂ
You flash your student a placating stare, rubbing her back in soothing circles. âHey, your next assessment isnât until the end of the month, right? You donât have to rush. Besides, Iâve been thinking about teaching you how to brew your own instant growth potion.â
The enticing promise of a new technique visibly piques Chaewonâs interest. She gasps, taking your hands in hers before letting out a loud shriek. âReally?! Youâre really going to teach me that? You know there are no take-backs once you say it, right?â
âYes, I know.â You chuckle. âNow go head off to class. You have Chris here for first period, right?â
Your student groans. âYeah⌠I still donât know why I took musical theory as an elective.â
âYou talk like Iâm the worst instructor among the school faculty,â Chris huffs before walking back to the path leading to the main building. âCome on, Chaewon. Youâll be late.â
âHow can I be late if Iâm with you, though?â
âIf you donât stop being smart with me, Iâll tell BamBam to switch your monstera seeds with venus flytraps.âÂ
As the two of them bicker all the way to the entrance, youâre left alone with your troublemaking best friend. Chan still has his shoulders set as if the guilt from his earlier actions is still fresh in his heart. You sigh, gesturing for him to follow you into the greenhouse before stepping inside the enclosure.
Out of all the projects youâve dedicated to mastering your elemental magic, the Academyâs greenhouse is by far your most renowned feat. It started as a pipe dream during your first year of attendance and in your final year, you managed to convince the board of elder mages to build the greenhouse with the help of your father.
Of course, since heâs a royal mageâthe townâs representative in the courts of the royal capitalâyou wonât deny that he mightâve pulled a few strings here and there to make your dreams a reality.Â
(If you can recall correctly, you once heard Chaewonâs friend, Yunjin jokingly whisper something about nepotism during one of the on-field classes you held.)
But whatever the means, the greenhouse proved to be an effective medium for magic of varying affinities. Both elemental and non-elemental mages often stop by to test their ideas about innovative applications of their powers.Â
Some water mages have tested if plants can purify contaminated samples from the upstream river. A spatial mage once tried to clone a bonsai tree by multiplying their cells in an exact mirror image.Â
And your best friend often tests the limits of what he can and canât do around all the floraâgiven his magical constitution.
âSo Iâm guessing you already forgive me?â Chan asks with a sheepish smile on his face. âI promise Iâll just help out somewhere else when youâre not around. Baekhoâs been inviting me to the magical combat wing a lot these days, but I need to think about it first âcauseâŚyou know.â
You do know. And out of every single person who knows Lee Jung Chan, you like to think that you understand his predicament better than anyone else.
Both of you started studying at the Academy at the same time, but youâre the only one who got to graduate after senior year. This made Chan ineligible for any sort of teaching position, since official employment required being an alumnus of any recognized magic school in the realm. The most he can be offered is a spot as a teaching aide and none else.
Youâre well aware that because of that smudge on his track record, coupled with his clumsy tendencies, people often assume that Chan is a failure of a mage. A fire elemental who has no idea how to wield his own flames.
But what they donât know is that in terms of raw power alone, even your father agrees that Chan surpasses every single student thatâs ever had the pleasure to graduate from this school. The reason he canât control his own flames is because of how potent they are. How powerful and all-consuming they can be if kept unchecked.
Your father once offered to bring him to one of his friends in the southern citiesâsomeone who can help Chan tame his powers in ways he failed to guide him to. But your best friend declined, insisting that someone who canât control their own flames doesnât deserve the time and hospitality of anyone outside your hometown.
To this day, you still havenât forgotten the resignation in his voice as he said the words. Like heâs so certain that all he deserves is to be some aberration kept in the shadows. Youâve always hated it whenever he sells himself short, but itâs not as if you can do anything about it if heâs so complacent with where he is now.
âHey? Youâre spacing out on me all of a sudden.â
You blink, nonplussed by Chanâs voice despite the fact that youâve been standing with him inside the greenhouse for over five minutes. Heâs posed a respectable distance away from any of the potted plants and flowers in the vicinityâstanding so still, you almost find it funny.
âWhat made you drop by so early in the morning anyways?â you ask in an attempt at small talk. Your first class of the day doesnât start until an hour, so you can afford to squander some time. âDonât you usually get out of bed at noon?âÂ
âHey, I get out of bed at eleven!â He insists as if thatâs any better. âBut anyways, the reason I showed up so early is because someone made a wrong delivery to my house. Ma was so surprised to see a huge crate at our doorstep, but she was even more surprised to see it was addressed to you.â
âŚA delivery? For you?
âWhat do you mean?â you wonder, head craned with confusion. âWhat was inside? Did it say who it was from?â
Chan shakes his head before pointing at the far end of the greenhouse. There, you see the massive wooden crate he must be talking about. âA bunch of flowers in a plant box with no return address. Maybe itâs one of those scholars from the capital who want you to study them again? You did work on a research project about hydrangeas last month right?âÂ
Strange flower delivery aside, you gape at himâheart fluttering at his thoughtfulness. âYou remember that?âÂ
âOf course I do,â he says easily. âNow are you going to check out the crate so you can tell me what those flowers are or are we gonna stand in the middle of all these highly flammable plants all day?â
You donât even bother asking how Chan managed to transfer such a huge thing from his house to the greenhouse. He mustâve asked help from Mingyu, another instructorâs aide who does a lot of heavy lifting around the school. Or maybe he even roped Baekho into this whole thing.
Either way, as soon as you open the mystery package, itâs as Chan described it: a plant box brimming with an assortment of flowers arranged in a way only professionals can put together. All the vibrant blooms are expertly placed so that one wouldnât outshine the other and whoever sent this, theyâve certainly earned your approval.Â
âSo which is which?â Chan wonders as he peeps inside the crate again.
âWell,â you start, hands tracing each flower delicately. âThis one is called a primrose, the dark pink ones are chrysanthemums, while the dantier flowers are carnations.â
As you explain how different they are from the other, itâs hard to miss how Chan struggles to keep himself from reaching into the crate to touch them. You feel kind of bad, but you know heâs only holding himself back because he doesnât want to unintentionally start another fire.Â
âWhat do they mean? In the language of flowers?â he wonders. âYou always go on and on about how each one has its own special meaning. What about these guys?â
You ponder on it for a moment, actively recalling what youâve been taught. âHm. Primroses usually represent youth and optimism. Chrysanthemums are for friendship, and carnationsâŚâ
When its meaning flits to the forefront of your mind, your eyes widen as an abrupt realization hits you in the next moment. Your gaze drifts back to the flowers as Chan patiently waits for you to continue, and thatâs when you notice something strange inside.Â
Tucked in the middle of the assortment of lush flowers is a small envelope that wasnât there before. The flap is enclosed with a familiar wax seal: the royal familyâs crest.Â
Youâve seen your father open enough letters from them to recognize the sigil pressed into the bright red wax, but youâve never once received one for yourself.Â
âCarnations signify fascination. Love,â you continue, swallowing the lump in your throat. âBut Iâm sure whoever sent these doesnât know all that. They couldâve just picked these out because theyâre pretty to look at together.â
Chan looks unconvinced. âWhy donât you open the envelope? Iâm just guessing here, but maybe it was made to respond to your magic specifically? It would explain why it didnât appear when I first checked the flowers out.â
For all his foolishness, he might actually be on to something this time.
But instead of brimming curiosity, that bothersome sensation from earlier surfaces again. It cloys in your chest, stirring your heart with trepidation before sinking like a stone in the pit of your stomach.Â
Your hands go clammy as you inspect the envelope as if itâs hiding a beast so it could swallow you whole. The royal family hasnât given you any reason to even be remotely wary of them, but your reluctance refuses to waver.
In the end, you choose to brush it off, picking at the seal until it detaches from the envelope. When you take out whatâs inside, the familiar scent of rich red roses laces the fine parchment.Â
Itâs fairly easy to figure out who the sender is after that.
The greenhouse falls silent as you read through the letterâs contents. Youâre acutely aware of Chanâs equally engrossed stare, but with each passing second, you grow more and more cognizant of the fact that this is definitely the reason why you awoke so keyed up first thing in the morning.
âPrince Joshua, huh?â He whispers somewhat disbelievingly before turning to you with curious eyes. âI figured you were friends since your father brings you along to the royal balls so often. Didnât think he was this into you though.â
You didnât either. You can hardly call the prince whoâs second in line to the throne your friend, much more, a romantic prospect. Sure, Joshua is always hospitable whenever he catches you nursing a drink in the ballroom before asking for a dance, but you never wouldâve imagined he harbored those kinds of feelings for you.Â
Whatâs more is, though you came from a highly regarded lineage of mages, there isnât a drop of royal blood in your veins. But here he is, asking you to be his fiancĂŠe all while giving you the prettiest flowers youâve ever received.
âDo you think it could be a mistake?â you mumble, reading over the letter once more to make sure you arenât dreaming.
Chan rolls his eyes. âLook, thatâs clearly your name he mentioned at the top. And donât you think that someone as important as Prince Joshua will be more careful about sending out gestures of grandeur? He canât just give any beautiful girl flowers, you know.â
His words shouldnât faze you as much as they do. Itâs always been easy for Chan to compliment people when the chance arises and heâs called you beautiful dozens of times before. Sometimes teasingly, more often genuinely.Â
Itâs so strange. The most sought-after man in the kingdom just asked for your hand in marriage, but here you areâheart doing somersaults all because of your best friendâs easy admission.
Oh, heavens, you muse to yourself as Chan goes off on a tangent about how youâre mandated to get him front row seats to the wedding.Â
This is going to be difficult.
âThatâs good news!â
When you dragged Chan to your fatherâs office once all your classes for the day were finished, you expected him to at least mull over Joshuaâs abrupt proposal a little longer. Itâs not that he was strict about the men you let in your life, but he looks much too elated for someone whose daughter is on the brink of being married off to someone else.
Well. When that âsomeone elseâ is Prince Joshua, you think the proposal holds more weight than it otherwise would with any other commoner.
âBut I donât understand,â you tell him, chewing the inside of your cheek. âWhy does Prince Joshua want to marry me all of a sudden? He hasnât expressed any sort of romantic interest in me before, so whyâŚ?â
Your father chuckles from behind his desk, one finger guiding the drink from his glass with magic so he can spin it around in circles. Water elementals can be so strange at times.Â
âIf I told you the prince has felt the way he claims in his letter for a good few years now, would it help you consider the proposal better?â he asks before putting the stream of wine heâs playing with back to its proper place.Â
âWait a moment,â Chan pipes up from his seat. âAre you saying heâs been in love with her for a long time now?âÂ
âWell, Iâm not sure of the specifics, but the prince informed me of his affections a few months ago to seek my approval,â your father explains before leaning back into his seat to cast you a fond stare. âBut I told him that regardless of what I think about the whole ordeal, the final decision isnât up to me at all.âÂ
The weight of their stares suddenly falls on your form.
You swallow thickly, having known all this time that your father wouldnât possibly push you to go through with the proposal despite how happy it made him. Itâs not that you donât think Joshua is suitable to be your husband, butâŚ
âIsnât he taking things a bit too fast?â you ask dryly. âHe could at least court me firstââ
âMy sweet girl, you know the way things work at the castle are much different from how they are in this small town of ours,â your father sighs. âYouâve heard about the royal assimilation period, yes?â
You have. Itâs a sort of probationary period imposed on non-royals who wish to marry into the family. You know of a few acquaintances who had to spend a full year in the castles of other kingdoms without setting foot outside the premises during its entirety. At the time, you found the idea of isolation dreadful and that you canât ever see yourself being in their place.
Now here you are, at the brink of being tied down to a prince you barely even know.
Youâd be lying if you said you didnât spend a chunk of your day thinking about the pros and cons of marrying into the royal family. Becoming princess consort means youâll be given a voice in the political court of the castle. Though your father does just fine in representing your hometown as its royal mage, being part of the regency itself grants you more authority over the decisions being made for the kingdomâs sake.
The thought of being able to improve the quality of life in your hometown as well as bringing more adequate funds for the Academy makes the offer all sorts of tempting. This is the place that made you who you are today, and youâd want nothing more than to give back however you can.Â
Plus, the thought of being married to Prince Joshua isnât as daunting as it was when you found his letter hidden between the flowers heâd given. Since you had the whole work day to think about it, you managed to get over the initial dread and actually consider how having him as a partner would be.
His reputation as the kingdomâs most esteemed gentleman precedes him even in other places. It was once a popular opinion that Joshua would marry and settle down much sooner than his older brother, Jeonghan simply because of how adored he is among the people. Yet heâs already halfway through his twenties without any prospective partners.
Until now.
âI think you should accept his proposal.â
It shocks you that Chan is the one who tells you that. You stare at him with glaring disbelief while your father merely raises an eyebrow with mild interest before his lips break into a grin. âSee? Even Chan over here agrees. I know itâs a bit much to suddenly become the fiancĂŠe of someone so important, but youâll get to know each other better during the assimilation period anyways.â
Chan nods in agreement. âBesides, we can still visit you every now and again, right?â
The smile on your fatherâs face falls. âOh, about that⌠Prospective royals arenât allowed to entertain visitors that arenât immediate family until the assimilation period concludes. But you can send letters if you end up missing each other too much.â
Your father says the words in such a light-hearted manner, youâre sure he didnât say them in jest. He knows how close you and Chan have been since childhood; knows how important he is to you. If you accept Joshuaâs proposal and whisk yourself off to the castle, it would be the longest youâve gone without seeing your best friend in your entire life.
With Chan added to the equation, you realize that itâs not your level of familiarity with Joshua that makes you so reluctant to go through with it, nor is it the idea of being isolated from the outside for an entire year.Â
Itâs the fact that you wonât be able to meet Chan for its entirety.
âWell, itâs not like itâs something you have to decide on right away,â your father interjects when he senses that the atmosphere has dipped. âIâll keep in touch with the prince about the whole thing, but Iâm sure heâd like you to take your time anyways. This is a lifelong commitment weâre talking about after all.â
This is ridiculous. Well, not as ridiculous when you remember youâre now of marriageable age and the prince has been harboring feelings for you for longer than you thought.Â
StillâŚÂ
When you look at Chan, you half-expect him to at least comment on your fatherâs words, but he merely grins as if heâs completely on board with the idea.
Yet you canât help but notice how that smile doesnât quite reach his eyes.
You end up accepting Joshuaâs proposal a week later.
From what you could tell when he responded to your letter, the prince was ecstatic. He went into great detail about how he promises to make the entire assimilation process comfortable for you and that he canât wait to have you at the castle. What makes the entire exchange all the more endearing is the fact that heâs genuinely apologetic about the abruptness of his proposal and that he honestly didnât expect for you to agree.
You didnât either.
If Joshua was ecstatic, your father was over the moon. When you informed him that youâre exchanging correspondences with the prince about the entire arrangement, he was quick to put together a farewell party when the final date of your assimilation period has been set in stone.Â
In other words, the past month was extremely busy for you. It consisted of several back and forth trips to the royal capital so you and Joshua could get all the paperwork involved done together. Heâs just as sweet and accommodating as you rememberâmaking the whole process less intimidating than itâs supposed to be. The more time you spend with the prince and soon-to-be-fiance, the less nervous you are for whatâs to come.
The anxiety finally wears off by the time your farewell party comes around. Your father made sure to invite close friends and family as well as a few of his students and yours. Chaewon was in tears at the news that another mentor is going to be assigned for her because of the circumstances, but you promised to keep in touch when you come back.
Although once youâve had your final conversations with most of your guests, you start to feel how wary you are from interacting with so many people at once. Eyes scanning through the small venue your father rented for the occasion, you attempt to look for a single personâa pout tugging at your lips when you canât find him amidst the crowd.
No one knows Lee Jung Chan better than you do, so youâre right on the money when you venture out to the nearby riverâimmediately spotting him sitting alone by the banks.
You can only guess how many stones heâs already skipped across the stream, but Chan doesnât even flinch as you settle down beside him, pulling your legs to your chest so you can rest your chin on your knees.
âYou havenât come here in a while,â you murmur quietly. âSomething on your mind?â
âMmm.â His eyes are pulled straight forward as if still lost in thought. You sigh before opting to stew in the sound of the flowing riverâgazing at the slowly setting sun in the far horizon.
It hits you at that moment just how much youâll miss him. Quiet afternoons with your best friend have become few and far in between ever since you started teaching at the Academy. Now that youâre Joshuaâs fiancĂŠe, you donât even know if youâll ever get to watch sunsets with him like this again. The thought fills you with that same sinking feeling that you only learned to overlook recently and it must show on your face because Chan is quick to turn to you with a curious look on his face.
âYou nervous?â he asks.Â
You shake your head. âNot really.â
âThen why do you look soâŚâ
âSo?â
âI donât knowâŚthat.â
âYou have to be specific, Chan.â
He huffs, taking another stone from a pile he collected at his side before skipping it across the water. âWell, you look like the way you did before your first magical assessment. Remember when the headmaster called me to sleep over because you were practically shaking with anxiety? Even if youâre literally from the best sorcerer family in the city?â
âHey! Just because my father is good at everything doesnât mean I am too!â
âBut you donât have to be good at everything.â Chan smiles and youâre unprepared for how your heart lurches at how breathtaking he looks. âYou just have to be yourself.â
A pause hovers in the midst of the conversation and you can feel the heat starting to creep up your cheeks. If your best friend notices, he doesnât let you know.
âI remember that you aced that assessment. Scored highest in our entire year too,â he recalls with a hint of fondness. âI think youâll do just fine in that assimilation period. Wait, no. I know you will.â
Youâve always admired how easy it is for Chan to uplift others, despite the harsh words some people have used to put him down countless times. Itâs like he soaks up the negativity in his life and lets it all out in a more productive manner.Â
The steady flowing stream rings in your ears as the silence sets yet again, heart threatening to beat out of your ribcage as you drink in the sight of your best friend. Rays of muted sunlight filter through the trees onto his face and it makes the kind grin on his face glow even brighter.
Chan lets out a choked up sound when you immediately pull him in for a hug. Heâs speechless for a couple of secondsâwondering what on earth got into you. In the end, he lets out a defeated sigh and returns your embrace with twice as much affection.Â
âSounds to me like youâre perfectly okay with marrying off your best friend to some guy,â you murmur jokingly, breathing in his scent like itâs your last. Burnt sugar and just a hint of musk.Â
He laughs and the sound vibrates across your skin. âPrince Joshua is not some guy. And why wouldnât I be happy that youâll be married to such a great person? He can give you everything, you know? Even if I used to give all the dudes who got close to you back then a lot of shit, I know the prince will make you happy.â
HappyâŚ
Thatâs something you havenât really considered ever since you and Joshua started making the preparations for your assimilation. Heâs a good prince who values his people over his own interests and heâs also a gentleman that always considers your input in every step.Â
But not once did it ever occur to you that marrying him would equate to your own happiness.
The thought fills you with shameâespecially knowing how much Joshua has done for you for the past month. You tell yourself that maybe itâs because you still donât know him that well; that you just need a little more time before you can think of him as a person who can make you genuinely happy and not just someone who you have to marry for the sake of your town.
If there is someone who makes you feel that way without breaking a sweat, howeverâŚ
Chan shoots you a puzzled look when you break away, rising back to your feet all while tugging at his arm. Still, he lets you pull him upâa determined look settling across your features.
âFollow me.â
During weekends, the Academy only grants entry to both students and faculty until mid-noon. But luckily for you, youâve spent years sneaking into the greenhouse when you were still carefully cultivating all the plants you have on display.
Chan voices out his concern when you bring him inside, muttering something about trespassing on school territory but he tails you from behind anyway.Â
The plant box full of dazzling flowers he brought a month ago isnât here anymoreâhaving been planted safely in the garden of your house. In its place is a brand new shipment of flowers you ordered from BamBam about two weeks ago.
Chan hasnât seen them yet since heâs made it a point to avoid the greenhouse while Chaewon is in the middle of her experiments. But the curiosity in his eyes shines when you show them to him.
âThese are called forget-me-nots,â you say, a warm smile tugging at your lips. âThey arenât that rare, butâŚtheyâve always been my favorite. The first time I saw them was in a forest near the southern cities, where Father taught me the names of all kinds of trees and flowers.â
Chan nods with an expression that tells you he doesnât quite get it, but is happy for you nonetheless. You stifle a laugh and his face immediately reddens as he clears his throat. âUm, whyâd you ask BamBam for these though? They look kind ofâŚsimple compared to everything else you already have here.â
âItâs because theyâre so simple that they stood out to me, silly,â you chuckle. âThat forest was teeming with the most exotic plant life Iâve seen. Flowers of all shapes and colors, trees that grew up to the clouds⌠Even in such an abundant forest, simple flowers like these grew unassumingly by the sideâstill thriving despite being considered inferior.â
When you stare at Chan, you realize how much these flowers remind you of him. And itâs for that reason that youâre about to ask him a huge favor.
âCan you take care of them for me while Iâm gone?â you whisperâvoice carrying a hopeful tone. âI know itâs a tall request butââ
âAre you kidding? Nothingâs ever a tall request from you.â He huffs. âOf course Iâll do it.â
Your mouth hangs slightly agapeânot expecting Chan to agree to it so easily. It takes you a moment to pick up your train of thought, but when you do, you break into an even wider grin.Â
âReally? Notorious plant-killer Lee Jung Chan is agreeing to take care of a bunch of flowers for an entire year?â you tease.Â
âHey, youâre the one who asked, so why are you suddenly questioning my credibility?â The pout on his face just makes you want to tease him even more. âIâm probably going to end up burning a few of them by accident, but I wonât be seeing you for a long time. This is the least I can do while I wait for you to come back, right?â
You are going to miss him so much, it makes your heart hurt.
Unlike earlier, Chan immediately reciprocates the hug you pull him into. You bury your face in the crook of your neck, ingraining the scent of him in your mind so that youâll never forget your best friend even if you tried.
âIâll come back for them in the spring,â you whisper.Â
Chan hums, his thumb tracing idle shapes along your shoulder blades. âIs that a promise?â
It feels like forever before you break away from him, but when you do, the desolate feeling you got from the thought of being apart from him goes up in smoke. Chan raises an eyebrow when you reach into the plant box to pluck two forget-me-nots from the soilâenchanting the blooms with your magic so the stems could morph into rings.
One for you and one for Chan.
âItâs a promise.â
âMiss, youâve got a letter again.â
Youâre in the middle of reading up on a compilation of the kingdomâs annual state of affairs when your handmaiden, Sakura, finds you in the castle gardens. She gathers her skirts with one hand while the other carries an unassuming envelope. Itâs routine at this point.
âThank you, Kkura,â you murmur before flashing her a warm smile. âHas Prince Joshua returned yet?â
She shakes her head. âThe peace talks between the four kingdoms are taking much longer than anticipated. Although he and Prince Jeonghan should be back by tomorrow, if what the socialites are gossiping about in the main plaza are true.â
You stifle a soft laugh. âI bet Prince Jeonghanâs stirring up trouble in a foreign court as we speak.â
âYou can say that again,â Sakura agrees with a withering sigh. âOne of the reasons the king wonât easily let Prince Jeonghan take his place is because of his constant deviance. Iâd bet my salary that he was just waiting for Prince Joshua to take up a wife before handing him the crown instead.â
âKkura, the others might hear,â you scold, but thereâs a chuckle wedged between the words. âWell, if a miracle happens and they arrive home earlier than expected, you know where to find me.â
âYouâre very diligent about reading, arenât you, miss?â She comments, impressed. âI know a couple of princess consorts in the making, but youâre probably the only one who cares to read about the technicalities of running a kingdom. Most of them are only in it for the chance to marry into a royal family.âÂ
âThose waiting for me back home wouldnât be very proud if I only leeched off my engagement with Prince Joshua,â you say a-matter-of-factly.
âYou mean your father?â
Thereâs a pause in the conversationâone long enough for you to suddenly be cognizant of several things at once. The water running from a nearby fountain. Birds chirping before migrating into their nests for the night. In the silence, you let your eyes wander to the rings in your fingers.
A diamond engagement ring that probably costs more than what youâve earned in your entire life on your ring finger and a bright blue forget-me-not wrapped around your pinky.
Right. Sakura doesnât know aboutâŚÂ
âYes,â you tell her, but thereâs hesitation in your voice that you hope she wonât hear. âHeâs been very thorough about giving me advice on how to make the best decisions for a lot of people.â
âAs expected of a royal mage,â she sighs, âOh well, Iâll leave you be, miss. If your father is as thorough as you say he is, then I can only imagine what heâs written in that new letter.â
Well, sheâs not exactly wrong.
After exchanging farewells, Sakura bows her head with a practiced curtsyâsaying something about supper being ready in an hour or two before leaving you to your own devices. When you find yourself all alone once more, you rip open the envelope with a hint of excitement buzzing on your fingertips.Â
Itâs been about three months since youâve left your hometown and started your assimilation period. During those three months, you were constantly fed with a multitude of information that comes with being part of the regency. From etiquette classes to foreign relationsâyour teachers all expected you to take everything they told you to heart.Â
While the process sounds much too tedious, especially for someone whoâs quite literally stuck here for another nine months, Joshua always took it upon himself to make sure you wouldnât feel too bored with all the stringent formalities.Â
Heâs wonderful companyânever running out of stories to tell. From childhood embarrassments at the hands of his older brother to his own share of mischief thatâs always overshadowed by the gravity of Jeonghanâs, Joshua kept you constantly entertained.
Your fiancĂŠ even suggested that the two of you sneak out into the city sometime just so he could show you that pub near the outskirts that he enjoys frequenting while undercover as an ordinary citizen. Of course, the offer sounded tempting at first, but you rightfully declined out of respect for both the royal family and the tradition that has kept the kingdom going for so long.
However, Joshua isnât always here to keep you company. Being one of the most important figures in the kingdom, he and Jeonghan are regularly called in and out of the castle to attend to some business that their parents are too busy to sneak into their own schedules.Â
Itâs during your fiancĂŠâs bouts of absence that you look forward to your next form of entertainmentâall the letters sent from home.
Just as youâve told Sakura, your father accommodates all your questions about ruling over oneâs constituents as much as he canâtelling you to pay attention to the needs of the people above all else.
But aside from the detailed notes he leaves you with, thereâs always another letter wedged inside the envelopes he sends to the castle every fortnight.
Hey.
How are you? Has the prince been treating you well, still? Sorry I couldnât write to you last time. Trainingâs been hell and Jongkook hasnât let me breathe for the past week. When the headmaster told me that becoming that guyâs apprentice wasnât going to be easy, I didnât think he was that serious. Itâs a miracle I havenât gotten third degree burns from all this temperature training.
Things are a little a lot different in the southern cities compared to home. Everyone is as mean as they could be. Jongkook called it the survival of the fittest and I kind of get where heâs coming from. Still, it wouldnât hurt to see someone smiling every now and again, right? Itâs a good thing Iâm allowed to go home every week, or else my sanity wouldâve disappeared before we could even see each other again.
About your flowers: have I told you that Chaewonâs helping me maintain them whenever Iâm away? Weâve buried the hatchet and agreed to look after your forget-me-nots together! But she kind of emphasized that sheâs doing this for you and not because sheâs completely forgiven me for the monstera incident. But hey, progress is progress, right?
I checked them out personally when I got home today. They seemed more vibrant than usual. Almost like theyâre happy to know Iâm back. Seeing them made me think how Iâd probably feel when your assimilation period is over. Ah, but Iâm running out of parchment to write on. Sorry about that. There isnât much going on with me anyways.Â
Tell me about your classes when you write back, yeah? You also mentioned a pub that Prince Joshua wanted to sneak you into last time. Did you go through with it? Did you have fun? I canât wait to hear from you so the story better be exciting!
P.S. If the prince himself encourages you to sneak out of the castle, would you consider doing that so we can wander around the main plaza sometime?
P.P.S. That was a joke, by the way. Donât have the royal guard arrest me.Â
P.P.P.S. But if youâre up for it, I wouldnât say no.
Chan writes his letters the same way he talks in real life. You can almost hear his voice inside your head as you go through every word. Youâre glad that he still has enthusiasm to spare over receiving tutelage from someone as important as Kim Jongkook, but even you can tell that his training is no walk in the park.Â
There were tears in your eyes when he first broke the news. You thought heâd spend his entire life without getting the proper guidance he needs to hone his powers. But a month after your departure, Chan quickly kept you up to speed about his newfound mentor with a promise that heâll be the best fire elemental in your hometown by the time you got back.
But with how he bemoans the rigorous training in his letters, you ponder if he sometimes gets hit with the thought of quitting halfway. While his excruciating routines are a far cry from the yearâs worth of assimilation classes youâre required to attend, you like to think that you and Chan have a similar threshold for the things youâll willingly bear without complaints.Â
Though youâve already accustomed yourself with your life at the castle, itâs a no-brainer to say youâd choose to leave for home in a heartbeat if given the chance. But your conscience wonât let you entertain the idea for too long, especially knowing how much you owe it to your hometown to persevere until the end.
Thatâs why even if youâd want nothing more than to see your best friend, you decidedly draw a fine line between your responsibilities and your heartâs desires. You want so badly to meet Chan again even if that means sneaking past the royal guards, but youâve never really been one to bend and break the rules for selfish reasons like that.Â
Instead, you tuck your best friendâs letter away in the envelope beside your fatherâs. Nothing but the sound of the water spilling from the fountain rings in your ears.Â
As you stare at the pretty blue flower tied at the base of your pinky, you wonder for the hundredth time if youâve made the right decision at all.
Prince Joshua is easy to love.
By your sixth month in the castle, you can genuinely say that youâve at least developed a kind of attachment to the prince that borders on romantic. Heâs handsome, thoughtful, kind, and many other traits that would only quantify him as a perfect husband.Â
Jeonghan regularly catches your gaze lingering several seconds too long on your fiancĂŠ every suppertime and itâs no surprise that the eldest prince would tease you to the ends of the earth for it. Saying something along the lines of if youâre already making moony eyes at him now, what more when you finally tie the knot?
Itâs something that always flusters you no matter how many times Jeonghan brings it up. But itâs not because youâre embarrassed about what you feel for Joshua. It mostly stems from the fact that you donât know what to feel for him.
Despite having lived under the same roof for six months, youâre still unsure of where your heart stands when it comes to Joshua. Itâs a standstill of emotions that frustrates you to no end. You know nothing will be lost if you just surrender to your budding feelings, but itâs like thereâs something always holding you back.Â
When the king hosts an overdue gala in the castle, you finally realize what it is.
Itâs been more than half a year since they last held one within the premises out of respect for your ongoing assimilation. But now that youâve passed the six-month mark, the royal court deemed it appropriate to give you more exposure to social functions such as this.
Youâre understandably nervous for your first public appearance as Prince Joshuaâs fiancĂŠe. Sakura has told you about how ruthless the kingdom's nobles could be when it comes to unearthing other peopleâs business. But your handmaiden assured you thereâs nothing to worry about since youâve done flawlessly with your classes since day one.
So there you are in front of the ballroom, arm linked with Joshuaâs as the queen introduces you to every single noble in attendance. You wonder if the prince can tell just how nervous you are but you can at least hope that your smile can convince a hundred other strangers otherwise.
âHey,â he whispersâeyes still riveted towards the crowd.
âWhat?â
âYou donât have to be so uptight.â
You try your best not to make a face. âEasy for you to say, Mister Iâve-been-attending-galas-since-I-was-in-the-womb.â
Joshua chuckles softly. âBut youâve been attending these frequently, too. Thatâs how we met, remember?âÂ
âYeah, but Iâve never been the center of attention!â
âWellâŚâ He pauses before shifting his gaze towards the crowdâhis motherâs sweet voice echoing throughout the ballroom as she tells everyone how excited she is to welcome you to the family soon. âIf it helps, thereâs a certain someone in the crowd thatâs definitely rooting for you.â
Your confusion visibly shows on your face before you follow his line of sight. You knew your father would be in attendance as is required of all royal mages, but itâs not him that you spot in the crowd.
Itâs Chan.
Heâs a lot different than you rememberâlooking much too dapper to pass as the boy you knew as your best friend. Heâs donned in expensive-looking garbs, the maroon silk of his tunic hanging loosely off his frame. His hair is slicked back and styled in a way that would make anyone think he was from one of the noble houses. Even the manner heâs holding a glass of champagne looks way too sophisticated for someone you frequently teased for his lack of etiquette andâ
Thereâs a woman hanging off his arm. A woman you donât know, but looks just as breathtaking as any maiden inside this damn ballroom.
Who is she? Chan has never mentioned any new friends in his letters. Hell, he didnât even tell you he was going to be here tonight. Instead of feeling at peace with the fact your best friend is finally in front of you like Joshua assumed, all it does is stir a plethora of unpleasant feelings in the pit of your stomach.
âNow that weâve got the formalities out of the way,â the queen says with a smileâsnapping you out of your trance, âhow about we let our stars of the night lead the first dance? I know the lot of you have missed our parties. On behalf of the royal family and your future king and queen, we hope youâll enjoy this night of music and liquor. Have a good evening, everyone.â
Forcing yourself not to think about how the queen just referred to you and Joshua as the kingdomâs future king and queen, you let your fiancĂŠ lead you to the dancefloor. Joshua is careful as ever as he helps you down the polished marble stepsâthat handsome smile never leaving his face. You feel like your heart wouldâve fluttered as the two of you exchange the opening bows, but your heartbeat is all over the place knowing Chan is here watching everything unfold.
âYou remember what we practiced, right?â Joshua murmurs as the orchestra starts the song.Â
âU-Uh, yeah,â you stammerâhoping your hands arenât sweating through your silk gloves. âI wonât step on your toes anymore. Promise.â
âThatâs my girl.â
His smooth-talking is not doing you any favors, but you try to dance the same way you practiced with for weeks. The thing about Joshua is that he always makes things easier for youâbe it your engagement or some opening dance his parents requested for you to do. Heâs so unbelievably accommodating that your initial nervousness easily falls away as the music continues to fill the ballroom.
You only notice that the other guests have already paired up with their own partners on the dancefloor when Joshua twirls you around and hands you over to a noble gentleman you find vaguely familiar. He grins at you when he receives his next dance partner, mouthing âYou can do it,â before he spins her away.Â
This is the part that you barely rehearsed for. Joshua simply told you to have fun and the rest will come easily. His unhelpful advice threw you off a little, since you were so accustomed to doing things by the bookâto abiding by the rules that have been set.Â
Your current partnerâHyunjin, as he introduced himselfâseems to pick up on your nervousness.
âYouâre the kid of one of the royal mages, right?â he asks. âIâm the same. Youâve done this partner exchange thing before, havenât you? Iâve seen you around a few times in the past.âÂ
You laugh dryly. âYeah, but Iâm just really nervous today.â
Hyunjin laughs. âUnderstandable. Donât think about it too much and just let the music guide you through it.â
Well thatâs easier said than done. The noblemen in the kingdom must have some sort of dance class where theyâre taught to just take it easy because thatâs definitely something you can picture Joshua saying to you as well.Â
But as the orchestra continues to play song after song, you find your initial inhibitions ebbing away with each partner that passes. Hyunjin is rightâyou have done this before and youâre slowly remembering how fun it feels to dance with strangers in the middle of the castleâs ballroom.Â
As the last few songs start to play, thereâs no trace of nervousness left to be seen on your face. Youâre finally in your element.
Until you finally find yourself in the arms of the same person who amplified your anxiety in the first place.
âHey,â Chan greets with a soft smile as he fits one hand over your waist and entwines the other with yours. âI thought Iâd never be able to get to you.â
You spend a couple of seconds just gawking at him, but your body thankfully still moves to the rhythm. Chan has the gall to stifle a laugh at your reaction and you nearly step on his foot on purpose.
âWhat are you doing here?â you hiss as he twirls you around.Â
âWhoa. Donât get so worked up. The headmaster invited me, so my presence here is completely legal,â he responds, that stupid smile never leaving his face. âAnyway, you look beautiful tonight.âÂ
âThanks, but you couldâve at least told me youâll be here!â
âNow whereâs the fun in that?â
You want to snap at him and scold him for taking you by surprise like that. Part of you kind of wants to ask about his date for the night too, but past the frustration, youâre still glad to see him. Itâs been too long and you know you have lots of catching up to do in person. So instead of an endless barrage of questions, you simply bask in the feel of being in your best friendâs safe hands after going so long without him.
You lose yourself to the music. At that moment, itâs as if you and Chan are the only two people in the worldâcontained in your own little bubble. When your gaze lands on the hand clasped with yours, your heart soars at the fact that heâs still wearing the ring you gave to him all those months ago.
A forget-me-not at the base of his pinkyâmuch like your own.
âIâm not sure if I can steal you away for a quick chat after this soâŚâ He purses his lips together as if heâs unsure of what to say. âYouâre doing great. The queen seems enamored with you from what I could tell from her speech, so I hope you wonât put yourself down like you always do. Youâll be the best princess consort ever.
âAnd you seem really happy with Prince Joshua. Iâm glad.â
Before you could even issue a response, heâs already turning you over to your next partnerâmaking the words dissipate on your tongue before you can say them out loud.
Your next partner is none other than your future brother-in-law and youâre not sure if this is a good thing or not.
âHaving fun?â Jeonghan asks with mirth coloring his tone.Â
âAs much fun as someone whoâs wearing heels all night can have,â you sigh as you match his careful yet precise movements. âAm I really going to have to do this all the time once Prince Joshua and I are married?â
The older man hums. âMmm⌠You and Shua getting married? Not too sure about that, love.â
You furrow your brows at him. âWhat?âÂ
âAh, forgive me. I was just teasing,â Jeonghan muses with a sleazy look thatâs rubbing you the wrong way. âItâs just thatâŚI noticed you and that last partner of yours have matching rings, as well. Seems too good to be a coincidence on my end, but I could just be making the wrong assumptions.â
You donât know why, but your chest seizes with panicâimmediately explaining to Jeonghan that Chan is your best friend and nothing else. Itâs not that youâre ashamed of him, butâŚ
âRelax, little dove. I never insinuated otherwise,â Jeonghan chuckles. âBut if youâre going to settle down with my brother, I suggest you do it with an unwavering heart. Thatâs all.âÂ
You know you didnât do anything remotely wrong, but Jeonghan is making it seem like heâs just caught you red handed for a crime you arenât aware of committing. The same cheery smile lingers on his face for the entire dance, but there was an uncharacteristic seriousness in his words when he told you that last part.
A quiet voice inside your head tells you that you completely deserve the suspicion.Â
âGo find your fiancĂŠ for the final dance, love,â Jeonghan says with one last gentlemanly bow. âItâs only fair to properly conclude something you started together.âÂ
Something tells you that thereâs a double meaning behind his words, but even with how much time youâve spent with Jeonghan, you still canât easily parse what he means to say. Despite this, you do as youâre toldâweaving through the crowd of visitors in search of Joshua.
You find him near the orchestra, dancing with the same woman whose arm was linked in Chanâs earlier tonight. Thereâs an dazzled look on her face that youâve seen on the other ladies your fiancĂŠ has danced with and you chalk it up to the usual enchantment people are subjected to when theyâre in Joshuaâs company. He has that effect on people, it seems.
But she promptly snaps out of it when her eyes drift off to youâwhispering something for Joshua to hear before the prince spins around with a welcoming look. He grins like heâs oh-so happy to see you and even if you know you should feel just as elatedâŚ
All that swells in your chest is guilt.
âThey want us to what?âÂ
A few days after the royal gala, Joshua pays your bedchambers a visit early in the morning. Sakura had just finished helping you into your corset and dress when the prince came knocking and despite your initial surprise, you gladly welcomed him at the doorway.
âMother and Father want us to pay the local orphanage a visit,â Joshua reiterates the same words he just mentioned a minute ago, bemusement clear on his face. âTheyâve been dispatching royal mages to hold magic classes for the young mages there lately. Jeonghan is usually the one who oversees it, but he has something more urgent to take care of today.â
Your throat bobs at the news. âButâŚI havenât completed my assimilation yet.â
Joshua waves away your concerns. âAbout that. Since youâve done such a remarkable job with your training thus far, and since youâve apparently enamored dozens of guests the other day, I asked Father to reconsider the restrictions that come with the process.â
Enamored dozens ofâŚ? You shake your head, focusing on the matter at hand. âWhat do you mean?â
âI mean the assimilation period is still in effect, but weâve decided toâŚrectify a few of the rules that come with it,â Joshua explains with a cheeky smile. âOnce royal protĂŠgĂŠs like you have passed the half-year mark, youâll be allowed to go in and out of the castle as you please.â
Your jaw nearly drops to the floor. Is he being serious? Or is this a test?Â
âCome on, youâre making that face again.â
âWhat face?â
âLike what Iâm saying is too good to be true.â Your fiancĂŠ pouts. "Donât you want to go out? If I was stuck for six months in the castle without getting a taste of the outside, I honestly wouldâve gone insane. Abiding by the one year rule is simply inhumane and it shouldâve been amended a long time ago.â
âŚThere he is againâmaking things easier for you like he always does.
Youâve never once thought of the castle as a prison, but⌠You did miss the outside. You miss early morning strolls in parks, weaving through markets to buy produce from local vendors. Itâs been so long since youâve had actual freedom that you forgot that you were quietly longing for it at all.
And Joshua went out of his way to give you just that.
âOkay,â you tell himâcautiousness still evident in your tone, but much less pronounced.
âWhat time do we leave?â
You have a feeling that the gods are out to smite you today.Â
No, really. They are. Because what sort of sick game is at play right now? Just when you thought youâve found even more reasons to stick by Joshua until the end, they decide to throw a curveball at you in the form ofâŚ
âOh, hello,â Chan greets with a stunned look when he appears behind the double doors to the orphanageâwhite marks that suspiciously look like cake batter smeared across his face. âI didnât know that you were coming today. Prince Jeonghan saidââ
âYeah, Prince Jeonghan was busy so here we are,â you speak before Joshua could even explain, which you think is all kinds of rude, but your mouth starts running before your brain can even process the fact that your best friend is right in front of you. âPray tell, what are you doing here?â
âI could ask you the same, princess-consort-in-the-making. Whatâre you doing outside the castle?â Chan laughs as he opens the door wider with an apologetic bow given to Joshua. âForgive me, Your Highness. Weâre always just this familiar with each other.â
âSo Iâve been told,â Joshua chuckles before turning to you. âDidnât your father tell you? Chan is his newly appointed aide. Heâs dealing with something in your hometown right now, so he often sends him to tend to matters like this in his stead.â
No, your father did not tell you anything about this at all. Your incredulous expression shifts between your fiancĂŠ and best friend as if youâre waiting for the punchline of some joke shared between them.
It never comes.
âI-I see,â you say instead, clearing your throat before looking at Joshua again. âSo is there anything I need to do?âÂ
âMmm, you can go meet the children with Chan while I talk to the orphanage directress,â he suggests. âYouâll be alright with that, right Chan?â
Your best friend nods. âOf course, Your Highness.â
âNo need to be so formal with me. My fiancĂŠe's friends are mine as well,â the prince chuckles while he shakes his head. âI best be off to the directressâ office. Iâll come find the two of you after. Does that sound alright?â
âYes, of course,â Chan answers. âItâs a pleasure to have you.â
Joshua grins. âThe pleasureâs all mine.â
And thatâs how you found yourself in the orphanageâs communal kitchenârounding up children who might or might not hurt each other with their own play magic.
They were apparently in the middle of baking a cake for the directress when you and Joshua made your unannounced visit. From how smitten the kids are with Chan, you figure that he mustâve been spending a lot of time here lately.
Your best friend mentioned that he has a newâŚsideline going on, but you never imagined it to be this.
âChannie, whoâs this?â Iseulâas Chan introducedâasks while he eyes you with a doe-eyed look. âYour wife?â
âIseul,â reprimands one of the other kids. This oneâs Eri, if you recall correctly. âThatâs rudeâŚâ
The boy laughs nervously before fidgeting with his fingers. âO-Oh, sorry. I just thought so since sheâs wearing the same ring Channieâs wearing.â
As if on cue, you and Chan both glance at your ringsâtwo forget-me-nots stare back.Â
Your best friend is the first to address their curiosity. âNo, sheâs not my wife.â
Iseul cranes his head. âThen whyâre you two wearing matching rings? The directress told me that only people who are married can do that.â
âThatâs not necessarily true,â he chuckles before walking towards the brick oven in the middle of the kitchenâstriking the coals with a precise shot of flame magic. A quiet ember immediately smolders beneath. âWe wear rings as a symbol of a promise we made to each other. Isnât that right?â
Trying not to look too stunned with his precise technique, you clear your throat. âUm, yes. Chan is my best friend. We make promises all the time.â
You kind of fear that the explanation might not be enough for Iseul, but surprisingly, he just nods in understanding. âOhhh. Just like me and Eri then!â
At the mention of her name, Eriâs face goes red, but she doesnât make any moves to deny it.Â
âYup. Just like you and Eri,â Chan agrees with a laugh. âCome on. Letâs put the cake we worked so hard on in the oven. You want to give this as a gift to the directress, right?âÂ
Ten minutes later, the other kids joined the fray as they watched the cake rise inside the oven. You and Chan watch them carefully from a distance, making sure no one comes too close to burn themselves.Â
âSooo,â your best friend starts, leaning against the wooden counter. âDid the prince sneak you out or?â
You sigh, shaking your head. âNo. But he did negotiate with the king to overhaul the terms that come with the assimilation period. Once someone manages to last for six months, theyâre allowed to go outside.â
Chan whistles. âNow thatâs a guy whoâll do anything for his wife. Uh, future wife.â
If those words were uttered by someone else, you wouldâve felt flattered. Itâs an honor to have someone like Joshua as your fiancĂŠ. Heâs done more than enough for you over the past year and you canât even begin to comprehend how youâre supposed to pay him back for his kindness.
But when Chan says them, it fills your chest with a feeling you canât name.
âAnyway,â you begin, âwere you planning on telling me that youâre Fatherâs aide now or was I just going to find that out from Prince Joshua after all?âÂ
âHehe, sorry,â he says, sounding anything but apologetic. âIâŚkinda wanted to keep it a surprise until your assimilation period is over. But turns out, I could get to see you much sooner after all.â
You roll your eyes despite the smile that creeps up your face.Â
Itâs common practice for royal mages to appoint aides that theyâre training to be the next royal mage. You can only imagine how much Chan has improved over the last six months to have garnered your fatherâs approval like this. That manâs standards are crazy high.
But then again, youâve always known that Chan was always cut out to be an amazing mage.
As the childrenâs attention shifts to Eri, whoâs being egged on by Iseul to âdo that trick with the flowers againâ, you find yourself quietly observing them. With red cheeks, Eri relentsâsnapping her fingers once before a pretty sunflower materializes out of thin air.
That casual display even catches you off guard.Â
At your side, Chan stifles a laugh and you shoot him a dirty look. âYou and Eri have the same elemental affinity. She doesnât know her way around plants yet, but she can make flowers from sheer will alone.â
ThatâsâŚquite impressive, actually. You havenât met a promising mage with an affinity for plant life since Chaewon. And Eri is barely ten years old.Â
âI bet sheâll grow up to be a fine mage,â you comment fondly as you keep your eyes on the kids.Â
Just as you say the words, Iseul claps his hands enthusiasticallyâlone spurts of fire jumping from his fingers. The other kids all exclaim as they avoid the flames before telling Iseul to knock it off.
âUh, yeah. Iseul is a fire elemental,â Chan says dryly. âHeâs also kinda having trouble controlling his powers. But donât worry, thatâs why Iâm here.â
At that moment, you realize that a lot can change in the span of six months. Before you left your hometown, you never wouldâve imagined Chan being responsible for another childâs magical progress. You were so used to hearing him putting himself down that the confidence he now exudes surprises you. In a good way.Â
Whatever he went through in the southern cities, you think of extending your gratitude to his mentor, Jongkook. You can only imagine what he put your best friend through for him to have this much trust in himself and his powers now.
Chan heaves a laugh that he pulls from the bottom of his stomach when one of the kids douses Iseul with a magical spray of water. Itâs a sound youâve longed to hear for months and now that his laughter is singing in your ears, you canât help but stare at him a little too fondly.
Whatâs more is that he still has cake batter smeared across his cheek. You wonder if he genuinely isnât aware itâs there or heâs just keeping it on for laughs. Still, you unconsciously lean closerâraising your hand to brush your fingers across the cream. Your best friend visibly startles at the gesture but makes no moves to shy away from your touch.
With your faces inches away, you start to realize just how close youâve gotten. You can almost feel the hitch of his breath across your skin andâŚÂ
Has Chan always been this handsome?
But those few precious moments are immediately shattered like glass when Iseul gasps and points to the entrance of the kitchen. âLook! Itâs Prince Jeonghan!â
You and Chan break apart like youâve both been burned by Iseulâs flames. Confusion races through your brain because you were told that Jeonghan was busy today, so whyâŚ?
âCommon mistake, but Iâm not Prince Jeonghan. Iâm his brother,â Joshua clarifies as he steps into the kitchen with a bright smile. âItâs nice to meet all of you.â
One of the other kids gasps. âAre you a prince too?âÂ
âHe is.â
It surprises you that Chan is the one to speak upâhaving moved away from the counter and closer to the kids. You feel your heart twist when he leaves, but you shove down the emotion since Chan is beaming like he always is.
âHeâs Prince Joshua and heâs getting married soon,â he continues before gesturing to you. âTo her, actually.â
The children let out noises of awe, blinking up at you and Joshua with mouths agape like theyâve just witnessed someone do a neat trick with their magic. You can feel your face heat up at the sudden attention and you wouldâve been glad to know that Joshuaâfor all his confidence and witâisnât faring so well either.
If only you werenât so put down by the fact that your best friend just drew a fine line between the two of you. A line that he probably, definitely wonât cross.
âThatâs right. If all goes well, weâre having the wedding in six months,â Joshua agrees quietlyâhis initial shock morphing into fondness.Â
âWhoa! A royal wedding?â Iseul gasps. âAre we invited too?â
The atmosphere proceeds to blur into a buzz of questions that Joshua is happy to accommodate. For children who are probably no older than twelve years old, they seem very engrossed in the relationships interspersed between the royal family.
You wonder if Jeonghan had a hand in their particular interest in the matter, but you donât ponder on it too much because Chan eventually excuses himself from the kitchenâasking you to watch over the cake while he goes to check on the other kids playing in the backyard.
Your eyes stay riveted to the entrance even when your best friend is long gone.
Youâre not sure how youâve managed to last nine months away from home, but here you are.
As the end of your assimilation draws near, so does the royal wedding thatâs been the talk of the capital for weeks now. Ever since youâve been given freedom to go out of the castle as you please, youâve made several friends among the elite socialites.Â
Theyâre always dying to get their hands on an inside scoop about what you and Joshua have planned for the final quarter of the process, but you often turn these requests down before convincing one of the ladies to tell you about the diamond necklace her husband got her for their anniversary.Â
Itâs a scheme that Sakura told you in passing: if you want to get the nosy ones off your back, just trick them into talking about themselves instead.Â
Speaking of your handmaiden, sheâs been busy booking you several trips to the most renowned boutique in the capital. With only three months left until the wedding, youâre expected to look out for the perfect dress to wear on that special day.Â
Despite knowing that youâre more level-headed than most marriageable women your age, you have fantasized about what you would look like in a wedding gown. Although sixteen year-old you never wouldâve considered getting to sample the designs of well-known tailors across the kingdom, much more being fussed over by the royal family itself.
What you pictured was a simple wedding in your hometownâdonned with a dainty white dress that didnât boast much glamor and glitz. The only visitors would be your family, some close friends, along with your colleagues and students. A spring wedding always seemed perfect to you, and whenever you imagined yourself walking down the aisle, the person waiting for you at the altar isâ
âOh my goodness,â the seamstress behind all the stunning dresses you're trying on gasps when she lets herself inside the dressing roomâeyes glittering like rhinestones. âYou look absolutely stunning! I definitely like the fit of this more than the others, miss!â
You startle out of your careful reminiscing as your brain zones back in on your reflection in the mirror. This dress is as white as an angelâs wings and though she is completely right about it easily being the best youâve tried on so far, itâs a far cry from the one you dreamed about wearing as a teen.Â
Youâre not sure if thatâs a good thing or not.
âYou think so?â you murmur, pushing down those past preferences into the furthest vestiges of your mind. âIâm glad to hear it.â
Aside from wedding gowns, the queen often consults you about the venue of the wedding. Youâre actually quite surprised with how much agency theyâre allowing you over the necessary decisions, but she insisted that itâs only fair for her future daughter-in-law to have a say with how her own wedding is going to pan out.
âI was thinking of holding it in the castleâs courtyard for all the kingdom to see,â she tells you over afternoon tea, a kind smile settled on her face. âThatâs how all royal weddings usually take place, but I thought we could use some fresh input, you know?â
âFresh input?â you repeat. âIâm sorry, Your Highness, but I donât think I can followâŚâ
The queen shakes her head. âSilly girl, Iâm asking if you have another venue in mind! Your ideas about royal politics have always been refreshing to hear, so I figured that you must have an alternative sitting inside that pretty mind of yours.â
The moment the words leave her lips, you immediately picture the riverbanks back in your hometown. Itâs not a place that could accommodate hundreds upon thousands of guests like royal weddings should. But if you were to settle with a more intimate gathering, that would be your best bet.
Of course, you tell the queen none of this.
âI think holding it at the courtyard is a splendid idea already, Your Highness,â you tell her with a smile that you donât quite believe in. âAfter all, thereâs no place like home.â
Another thing to consider is the guestlist. Even if this is an event that the royal family encourages the entire kingdom to look forward to, only a select few are allowed inside the castle premises.Â
For some reason, Jeonghan is the one saddled with the job to curate who gets to witness you being hailed both as Joshuaâs wife and as princess-consort. Heâs hard at work when you find him in the castle library one day, buried in stacks upon stacks of invitations with a look on his face that screams why am I even here?
Curious, you slide into one of the empty seats at the table. âI didnât think theyâd hand you a job so tedious.â
âThey didnât,â Jeonghan frames the words with a sigh. âI volunteered âcause I know it would make Shua happy.â
âYou can make your little brother happy in other ways too,â you joke.
The older prince hums as he scribbles onto a fine sheet of parchment. âYouâd know a lot about making my brother happy, now would you?â
Jeonghan has a reputation for being a scheming, sharp-tongued prince. Youâre fully aware of this, but getting to live with him for almost a year made you see sides of him he doesnât usually show to the public.
Though not as openly as Joshua does, he cares for his family and the staff in his own, quiet way. You like to think that his subtle thoughtfulness even extended to you during these fateful months in the castle.Â
But after that fateful encounter in the ballroom during the six-month mark of your assimilation, something told you that you no longer had the privilege of being on the receiving end of his support.
âItâs kind of ironic, really,â Jeonghan muses before dipping his pen into the inkwell. âIâm willingly overseeing this blasted guestlist despite the fact that my brother is getting married to someone who doesnât even love him. But I suppose itâs an older brotherâs job to cater to the fantasy until he sees things for how they are on his own.â
âYour Highness, forgive me but itâs rather bold of you to assume that I donât harbor an ounce of love for my fiancĂŠ,â you tell him outright, lacing your fingers together tightly on your lap.Â
Right next to the lavish ring Joshua had given to you, a forget-me-not sits unassumingly by its side.Â
Jeonghan laughs. âReally? Thatâs quite amusing, since I think itâs even bolder for you to choose responsibility over the man your heart truly longs for.â
Silence rings in the room like white noise and you arenât able to school your expression into neutrality fast enough to escape Jeonghanâs observant eyes. The complacent set of his jaw clues you in on just how much he actually knows and you arenât certain about what to make of it.
âWhatever you think is going on with me andâŚthat person,â you start, the address tasting like acid on your tongue, âI guarantee you that itâs long gone. Heâs the one who made it clear several months before and I never once intended to go back on something I already started.â
Jeonghan rolls his eyes before pointing the tip of his quill at you. âYou know, things would be much easier if you were just a gold-digging commoner and none else.â
Your face twists with offense. âExcuse me?â
âYou heard me,â he retaliates as he leans back in his seat. âIf you were in this for money and power like every other woman out there, Shua wouldâve called off the engagement much sooner. But even I know that youâre too good for that.â
Your momentary vexation with Jeonghan blurs into confusion in a matter of seconds. Is he making a jab at you or complimenting you?
When he recognizes the puzzled look on your face, he heaves a long-winded sigh before putting down his pen altogether.
âLet me put it this way: youâre objectively the best princess-consort-in-training that Iâve had the pleasure to meet. You do everything youâre told flawlesslyâsticking by the book at all times if you can help it. Youâd even sacrifice your own happiness for the sake of others.Â
âWhile that sense of responsibility would make for a great leader in the futureâŚmy little brother doesnât deserve to be loved as half-heartedly as you love him.â
Your heart thumps inside your ribcage as if it was a prison it longs to break free from. Part of you knows you should refute every single thing that Jeonghan just said. Itâs what a future princess-consort should do.Â
But every time your mind flashes back to that old spring wedding fantasy you conjured up in your hometown, Chanâs lovely smile burns itself into the back of your eyelids.
Wordlessly, Jeonghan goes back to work and you stew in the silence of the library much longer than you have to. Itâs only when one of the servants calls both of your attention to have lunch in the dining hall that he speaks again.
âYou still have several weeks to make up your mind, little dove,â Jeonghan whispers slowly the moment you both enter the dining hall. It doesnât help your case when Joshua perks up in his seat at the sight of you walking inside with his older brother like he hasnât given you an ultimatum right then and there.Â
âMake sure each one counts.â
You donât really receive letters from Chan anymore.
Heâs stopped sending them together after you last met him in the orphanage. Your father explained that heâs been entrusted with several tasks both in and out of the Academy and that those take up most of his time.Â
You want to tell him that your best friend never once missed a letter even during those hellish days he spent in the southern cities, but in the end, you decide to keep your silence.
Thoughts about letters that wonât come are the last thing on your mind when winter falls upon the kingdom. The preparations are in full swing despite the fact that thereâs still a month left before the wedding itself and because you refuse to be a sitting duck that lets everyone do all the work, you decide to contribute every now and again.
But even if thereâs a sense of accomplishment in being able to help around, this season has always been your least favorite.Â
Youâre a mage who practices with plants and flowers alike, so itâs only natural for you to feel under the weather this time around. The fact that youâve scarcely gotten to practice your magic ever since you set foot in the capital does little in contributing to your peace of mind as well.
Your hometown is teeming with plant life that you could nurture with the simplest spells. Inside the stone walls and marble floors of the royal castle, thereâs barely anything that requires your constant care.Â
Itâs a given that royals tend to avoid relying on magic for all matters concerning the regency. You were taught that cleverness and wit are the two things that will keep you alive among the foreign courts of other kingdoms and that things like magic can be entrusted to the royal mages instead.
But all it takes is a withering winter to make you realize that you donât want your magicâthe very core of who you areâto dwindle into nothingness.
Itâs for that reason that you find yourself heading over to the castle gardens despite the fact that you promised Sakura that youâd start practicing for matrimonial dance with your usual instructor this afternoon. The sun has barely peeked beyond the clouds these days, but youâre convinced that youâll at least find comfort in the flowers that grew sparsely inside.
There, you find Joshua crouched next to a shrub of carnations.
Heâs dressed down todayâcomfortably enough to let you know that he doesnât have any plans for the meantime. Your fiancĂŠ is examining each bloom with such rapt attention, youâre convinced he didnât even notice your arrival.Â
Surely enough, as you take the first step to approach him, he rises back to his full heightâturning around with a vibrant carnation in his hand.
Everyone inside the castle uses their magic so infrequently that you sometimes forget that you and Joshua share the same elemental affinity. Maybe thatâs the reason it was so easy for you to get along with him for the past eleven months.Â
But you know better than most that thereâs more to it than just that.
âYouâve been very busy lately,â Joshua comments with an easygoing smile. âI barely see you these days.â
You sigh, tucking your cardigan closer to your form. âIf Iâm not helping with the wedding preparations, Iâm holed up in my bedchambers. IâŚdonât really like winters.â
âNeither do I,â he chuckles. âBut my duties wonât stop just because I loathe the cold. Iâm sure you understand that well.â
The quiet settles over the both of you like a blanket of snowâmaking you wonder how you used to deal with long winters in the past.Â
Then you remember a boy whoâs always brought warmth in your life without even trying. Nights spent sleeping in front of the fireplace, tucked in the warmth of his body no matter how harsh the blizzards could be. Collective yearning for the day the snow finally melts and spring returns with a flowery smile.Â
But thatâs the thingâitâs all in the past.
âCan IâŚask you something?â
The hesitation in Joshuaâs words makes you stare at him pensively.Â
He always sounds sure of himself. Attractively confident. Not in a way that others would find obnoxious, but the complete opposite. Thereâs a reason why Joshua is so loved in his own kingdom yet right now, youâre starting to see the cracks forming on his gentlemanly demeanor.Â
âWhat is it?â you murmur softly despite dread slowly sinking its claws into your skin.
Joshua tilts his head up to the overcast sky like heâs wondering if itâs going to snow today. He closes his eyes for a brief moment, inhaling deeply before meeting your eyes again.
âAre you certain you still want to go through with the wedding?â
ThisâŚoddly feels like the time you found Jeonghan in the library. The guilt youâve been harboring for the longest time festers at the implications of his question and you wonder if everything youâve worked so hard on for the past year will come crashing down today.
âOf course,â you tell him but youâre well aware Joshua knows a lie when he hears it.Â
âReally?â
âIs there something specific that you wish for me to say?â
He sighsâthe cold starting to materialize with each breath. âNo, nothing in particular.â
âItâs just that I believe it would be unfair of me to impose marriage when your heart already belongs to someone else.â
The water running from the fountain is all that plagues your ears yet Joshuaâs admission doesnât evoke the visceral reaction you had to Jeonghan telling you nearly the same thing. Hearing the words come from your fiancĂŠâs mouth doesnât instill you with guilt.
No⌠This is something much closer to acceptance.
âI once thought that your time in the castle would give enough leeway for us to get to know each other better,â he continues with a sad smile. âAnd it did. Iâm certain that weâre much closer now than we were a year ago. But⌠I was a fool to think I could ever get you to love me the same way you love him.â
Youâre immediately seized with the need to placate him somehow. After all, you were taught that itâs a wifeâs duty to ease her husbandâs troubles should he confide in her.
But youâre not Joshuaâs wife.Â
(And from how this conversation is going, you might never be.)
All of a sudden, something that Jeonghan said to you in the library resurfaces in your mind. At the time, you were too frustrated with him to actually process the words, but suddenly all of it makes sense.
I suppose itâs an older brotherâs job to cater to the fantasy until he sees things for how they are on his own.
âYouâve known all this time,â you tell him incredulously. âWhy⌠Why didnât you tell me?â
âBecause I didnât want you to think that you were obligated to love me for my sake. Thatâs something that should never be imposed,â he murmurs, twirling the flower in his hands almost wistfully. âI assumed thatâŚmaybe if I just gave you enough time, it would come to you naturally. But sometimes things just donât work out the way you thought and thatâs okay.â
If you werenât trembling in your shoes a minute ago, you certainly are now.
âJoshua,â you whisper. âWhat are you saying?â
The smile on his face never wavers even as he crosses the distance between you and pulls you into a sound embrace. It catches you off guard for a second because Joshua has never initiated this kind of contact during your entire stay.Â
But even with the warmth of his body pressed against yours, the fact that your mind immediately compares it to how it feels to have Chanâs heat permeating your skinâŚ
It only means that this engagement is as good as over.
âI wanted to say thank you,â Joshua whispers backâone hand smoothing across your hair as he holds you in place. âFor giving yourself the chance to love me. For being selfless enough to do everything youâve done so far. I used to admire your self-sacrificing tendencies, butâŚ
âNow Iâm sure itâs high time that you chose yourself for a change.â
You donât know when the tears started to fall, but you find comfort in the crook of Joshuaâs neck as you sob into his arms. He doesnât say a word as you let it outâall the years you spent looking after others, putting their wellbeing first before your own.
Youâve gotten so accustomed to taking responsibility for everyone around you that it never really occurred to you that things donât have to be that way.
Youâre allowed to choose yourself. Youâre allowed to be selfish.Â
âGo,â Joshua murmurs against the crown of your head. âGo back home. You deserve as much.â
You look up at him, sniffling. âB-But the weddingââ
âThere wonât be a wedding,â he reassures with the same sad smile that breaks your heart to see. âYou donât have to worry about a thing. Iâll explain the situation to everyone. Right nowâŚyou have to go because your father informed me that heâs leaving soon.â
As if you havenât already been given enough to deal with in a single day, you feel like an anvil has been dropped into the pit of your stomach.
âWhat do you mean?âÂ
âLee Jung Chan was assigned to travel to another reputable magic school on the other side of the continent to build an alliance with the Academy,â Joshua explains swiftly. âHe leaves tonight and wonât come back in a long, long while depending on how the initial negotiations turn out.â
An allianceâŚ?Â
Is that what heâs been so preoccupied with these days? So much that he canât even spare the time to write to you anymore?
Before the next bout of tears could spill from your eyes, Joshua calmingly tucks a loose tuft of your hair behind your ear. He looks at you with so much adoration and longing that you briefly entertain the possibility of you loving him unconditionally in another life.
You hope heâll be happier there.
âThereâs a carriage waiting for you at the gates of the capital,â Joshua says. âLeave now while you still have time.â
You want to say something. To apologize to him. To thank him. To tell him that he deserves the world and much, much more.Â
But all you do is slide off the diamond engagement ring from your finger, handing it to Joshua with an apologetic look before bolting to the castle entranceânot even sparing him a single word in goodbye.
Venues? Wedding gowns? Invitations? None of these mattered anymore.
Not when you're about to lose your best friendâthe love of your life.
Joshua tries not to think about how your hand looked now that it was devoid of his gift; how all that remained is a promise ring that he shouldâve taken as a sign to give up a long time ago.Â
Just as he hears the commotion stirring down the winding halls, Joshua looks up at the sky again. When he closes his eyes, he feels the first few snowflakes land on his faceâcold and solitary, much like himself.
Even so...
You broke his heart in the middle of winter, yet Joshua still looks forward to the flowery smile of spring.
The moment you arrived at your hometown, you werenât sure where to start looking. For one, the coachman who brought you here said that your father was out of town for undisclosed reasons. You couldnât exactly march up to the headmasterâs office in the Academy to interrogate him about Chanâs whereabouts.Â
Thatâs why you opted to start with your best friendâs house openly greeted by his mother with a shocked expression as she asks what on earth you were doing so far away from the royal capital.
âUh, itâs a long story,â you tell her sheepishly as you try not to shiver too much from the cold. âI promise Iâll keep you up to speed, but for now I really need to find Chan.â
She hesitates for a moment and you chalk it up to the fact that Chanâs mother must be thinking sheâs going to have a hand in something illegal if she helps you. After all, sheâs always had good instincts when either you or her son were up to no good.
But you tell yourself that this is probably the most good youâve done for yourself in a long, long time.Â
In the end, she directs you to the Academyâsaying something about Chan wanting to deal with a few things first before he leaves. With just half an hour until nightfall, several students can be seen walking out of the gates after a long day. Some just pass by you without a word, while others throw second glances over their shoulderâas if they couldnât believe that youâre back either.Â
You recognize those kids to be some of your former students, but you canât bring yourself to stop for a quick chatâsimply hoping theyâll forgive you for your haste.
But through the thundering of your heart, you hear a familiar voice call your name in the crowd.
âYouâre back!" Chaewon remarks with a delightful gasp before tackling you with a firm embrace. âWhy didnât you tell us you were visiting? Did you bring Prince Joshua withâ?â
âChaewon, whereâs Chan?â you interject almost desperately.
Your old student blinks up at you, rightfully confused. âUm, heâs going on a trip for a while. Yunjin told me just now that she saw the other royal mages that gathered here leave on their horses an hour ago. Why? Did you need something from him?â
The news makes you feel like your head has been submerged in murky watersâcloying your senses until you could no longer make sense of whatâs around you. Chaewon flashes you a disconcerted look, asking if everything is alright.Â
You want to tell her that youâre fine, but you canât find the words. Your mouth feels cottony and your eyes are starting to sting. Instead of answering, you turn on your heel, biting down the guilt that comes with dismissing one of your favorite students as you run towards the opposite direction.
Chaewon calls out for you several times, but you donât look back.
Maybe you should just head back to the castle and tell Joshua that this was all a mistakeâa lapse in judgment that can still be taken back. You should just see your assimilation through until the end. Youâve already made it so far, after all.
But you just know, deep in your gut, that Joshua wouldnât accept that so easily. He made it clear that he wants you to want him with no holds barred. Not because you feel responsible for his feelings. Not because the love of your life has already left. Thatâs just who he is as a person.
Not wanting to burst into tears for the second time today, you find yourself walking towards the greenhouseâcraving that familiar solace you always get whenever youâre inside. Your father told you he was going to keep an eye on it while you were gone and you figure that heâd been telling the truth when you find the enclosure just as youâve left it.Â
Several of your personal experiments seem like someone enchanted them with time suspension magicâlooking the exact way they did before you left almost a year ago. Among the other plants and flora are other pieces you donât recognize. You figure that these must be Chaewonâs work and you remind yourself to compliment her once you sort yourself out.Â
But when you donât spot a certain plant box you were looking for, a frown roots itself on your face.
Did Chan move your forget-me-nots somewhere else? The vibrant blue flowers shouldâve been easy to spot even amidst the lush blooms all around you, but thereâs nothing like that in the vicinity.Â
You take your search outside for reasons unknown. Perhaps itâs the restlessness of just staying in one place when you know the very symbol of your promise with your best friend is nowhere to be found. As you make your way out, you glance at the single flower sitting at the base of your pinkyâsadly wondering if Chan is even still wearing his.Â
But the moment you make it to the back of the greenhouse, youâre much too stunned with the sight that beholds you.
What once was a vacant patch of grasslands is now filled to the brim with forget-me-nots that glow vibrantly in comparison to the bleak gray winter. Despite the drop in temperature, the field of blue flowers stretches on until the borders of the Academy and you have to pinch yourself and make sure youâre not dreaming.Â
Then, as if this situation canât get any more unbelievable, you spot someone crouched in the middle of the field of forget-me-nots.
Your best friend.
Chan doesnât immediately notice youâseemingly lost in thought, just like the day you found him by the riverbanks a year ago. For someone thatâs leaving on an indefinite trip to the other side of the continent, he surely doesnât look dressed the part, having opted for his comfortable cotton tunic and trousers instead of the garbs royal mages and aides are required to don.
You donât think twice. You just run.
He lets out an undignified yelp when you tackle him into the groundâpalms heating up with a flare of his magic with the full intention of blasting away the intruder. But when he finds his best friend lying right on top of him amidst the forget-me-nots, heâs engulfed with a different kind of heat entirely.
âYou asshole,â you hiss with teary eyes, beating your fists weakly against his chest. âYouâre going away for a long time and you didnât even bother to tell me? Am I suddenly not your best friend anymore?â
Thereâs nothing more that Chan hates than seeing you cry, but he loathes it even more when heâs the cause of your tears. He doesnât even know if youâre actually here with him. You should be back at the royal castle, preparing for your wedding and not sobbing because of your best friend.
But the warmth of your body nestled on top of his own is much too real. Itâs the same sensation heâs craved since you left. The same feeling heâs always longed for, for as long as he can remember.Â
And heâs not such a glutton for punishment that heâll deprive himself of it any longer.
Chan cracks a barely there smile, the breath of his laughter materializing in front of him as he reaches up to tuck your hair behind your ear. Heâs not sure if your face flushes because of him or the cold, but he likes to think itâs the former.
âHey, Iâm not going anywhere,â he reassures, opting to save his many questions for later. âDunno how you found out about the trip, but I backed out of it last minute. Told the headmaster that Iâm not the best with negotiations and that I might unknowingly start a war in the process.â
He half-expects you to either laugh in his face despite the clearly distraught expression youâre wearing or fume at him for being so ridiculous. You probably made the trip from the capital to your hometown just to see him off and heâll understand your frustration at the fact that his participation was rendered null and void.
But you do neither of these things.
Instead, you curl your fingers into the fabric of his shirtâpulling him up and leaning forward at the same time.Â
Youâd be lying if you said you never thought about kissing Chan at least once in your life. But you can attest to the fact that you didnât imagine it to happen while youâre freshly broken up from a year-long engagementâsnowflakes starting to fall in the field of flowers you asked him to take care of.
Those he promised to take care of.
âI love you,â you whisper breathlessly, hands trembling from where they grip Chanâs clothes as you force your breathing to even out. âIâve always loved you and Iâm the biggest idiot in the world for not accepting that sooner.â
Chan gazes up at you in stunned silence, lips moving as if meaning to say something in return but the words evade him. But just when youâre about to emphasize your point again, Chan raises an arm to shield his eyes with the back of his hand.
âYouâre lying,â he chuckles almost helplessly. âYouâve got to be messing with me.â
A scowl stretches across your lips. How could that be his first reaction? You thought heâd be elated that you came back and professed your feelings.Â
But then you entertain the possibility thatâŚwhat if youâve read the entire situation wrong? What if Chan never had any feelings of the romantic kind for you at all?
What if you risked everything for nothing?
âLee Jung Chan,â you whisper threateningly. âI left the Crown Prince himself in a heartbeat when I found out you were going away. Made the entire trip from the capital to here just for the slim chance of seeing you before you left. I even kissed you outside in the middle of winter because I was so fucking glad that youâre here to stay. If that isnât genuine enough for you, then what else do you want me to do?âÂ
Your best friend lowers his hand and you try not to waver at the sight of his puffy red eyes. He sucks in a deep breath that almost whistles down his throat before taking one of your hands and lifting it closer to his face.
At the base of your pinky is the same ring heâs never once taken off since you gave it to him.
As night falls and the endless snow falls upon your hometown, two lone figures in a field full of flowers remain undisturbed in their lonesome.Â
For some, love is something you donât give half-heartedly. For others, it should never be imposed.
For you, itâs a whirlwind of emotions that you could never quite figure out how to deal with.
Yet when it comes to Lee Jung Chan, you realize that love has always been easy.
âChan,â you sigh into the cold air of his bedroom as your best friend peppers your neck with kisses much too heated than you expected. âS-Slow down a little.â
He breathes out a laugh that sounds much too airy for your liking. Chan detaches his lips from your skin as he flashes you a gummy smile. âSlow down? Iâve been waiting for you my whole life. I donât think I can slow down anymore, princess.â
You have to fight the urge to hit him with his choice of words. âAct any more cheeky and Iâm walking out of your house.â
âDuly noted.âÂ
Then his mouth is back on yours.Â
The trip back to Chanâs houseâa new, one bedroom apartment near the town square, not his motherâs houseâwas a bit tricky. For one, you had to walk around where virtually everyone knows you to be Prince Joshuaâs fiancĂŠe, answering questions about what youâre doing back home with the wedding coming up so close.Â
You keep your answers curt and shortânot wanting to ignite the scandal of a lifetime before Joshua can even prepare the ample damage control. That and each time someone mentions how happy they are for your engagement, you can feel Chanâs eyes boring into the back of your head.Â
So now youâre here, crowded beneath your best friend on his mattress as he kisses your breath away.Â
Youâve never done this before. The most daring thing youâve done with Joshua, who was literally your fiancĂŠ for almost a year, was that last hug you shared before you left the castle for good. So you suppose no one can blame you for feeling so lightheaded from the feel of Chanâs lips pressed against yours alone.
It doesnât help that, even through his desperation to leave no space between the two of you, thereâs still caution weighted beneath his desire. He could probably sense the hesitation in your movements as you reciprocate his vigorâkissing back almost awkwardly despite how good his kisses are making you feel.Â
âOpen your mouth a little for me,â he murmurs, one hand cradling your jaw as you let out a little whimper. âCome on, donât get shy on me now. I promise youâll like it.â
Not wanting to keep either of you waiting for much longer, you do as youâre toldâopening your mouth just a tad wider right after Chan kisses you again. He easily muffles the gasp you make with his lips when you feel his tongue lick into your mouth. The sensation makes gooseflesh prickle your arms and he coaxes out another embarrassing noise from youâone too salacious for others to hear freely.
âSee? Whatâd I tell you?â he whispers breathlessly against your lipsâa strong arm coiling around your waist as he pulls you against his body. âYou like it that much?â
You nod meekly. Chan laughs.
âI wanna try something. Hold on.â
Confused, you watch your best friend take a spot beside you on his bed, legs sprawled across the mattress as he tugs you closer to him. You resist his ministrations for a moment as you try to figure out what on earth heâs planning to do. But then it dawns on you.Â
He wants you to sit on his lap.
âToo much?â he asks with a hint of caution, to which you quickly respond with a shake of your head.Â
âJustâŚsurprising,â you admit as you settle your hips across his thighs.Â
You kind of want to ask where he even learned about all this, but part of you doesnât want to know the answer. Picturing Chan lying with someone else like this is enough to kill your mood, so you decide to push the thought far away until you could no longer remember it.
Despite howâŚstrange and new this is to you, itâs much more comfortable than having his weight press you down into the mattress. Not to mention, you can just brace your hands on Chanâs shoulders as he licks further into your mouthâfingers laced behind the small of your back as you continue whimpering into his kisses.
Gods above. Will you even get out of this alive?
âYou taste so sweet,â Chan murmurs before carding his fingers through your hair. âMuch better than I imagined.â
You find it in you to chuckle in spite of yourself. âYouâve been imagining this?â
âEnough times to grant me admission to an asylum,â your best friend replies with a sigh as he continues combing your tresses. âIâm crazy about you, if that isnât obvious enough. Wanted to kiss you so bad back in the orphanage when you leaned in way too close.â
You didnât know it at the time, but looking back at it now, you definitely felt the same. Now youâre not sure whether or not you should treat Joshuaâs untimely entrance in the kitchen that day as a miracle or a curse.Â
âI did too,â you profess with little hesitation, tracing the curve of his lips with your thumb before resting your forehead against his. âWeâre so stupid. If only we admitted our feelings earlier, we wouldnât be in such a huge mess.â
Chan hums. âYou meanâŚif I just spoke up when you got Prince Joshuaâs proposal, you wouldâve rejected it?â
âOf course I would,â you nearly exclaim. âIâve loved you since we were kids, Chan.â
âDitto. Guess we have lots of missed time to make up for.â
When he claims your lips again, itâs charged with want so potent you can almost taste it on your tongue. Chan presses your body even closer to his, if thatâs even possible and as he continues building up the fever pitch of your desire, you start to shift uncomfortably on his lapâslick beginning to pool between your thighs the deeper he kisses you.Â
The evidence of his own arousal pokes against your middle as wellâleaving Chan a groaning mess each time you unknowingly jerk your hips to chase after the barest hint of friction. You donât know where all this will lead nor do you know what comes after.
All that matters is that Chan is with you right here, right now.
Your clothes all come off one by one. Chan doesnât forget to drag his lips across every inch of newly exposed skinâa quiet, unrelenting profession of his feelings. He wants to engrave himself into every part of you; to leave his mark so that youâll remember him still even if he only gets to have you for the night.
But what Chan just doesnât get is that your heart has already been set on him since the start.
âTell me if itâs too much,â he whispers, trailing his calloused fingers along the sensitive curve of your waist when he lays you down on your back. âWe donât have to do anything you donât like.â
Itâs so Chan of him to be this concerned about your boundaries. But you donât know how else to say that you want nothing more than to take things all the way aside from tugging him back down for another breathtaking kiss.
âIs it going to hurt?â you ask, genuinely curious, just a tad bit afraid.
Your best friend purses his lips, the heat of his body offering you some much needed comfort as he plants another kiss on the corner of your mouth. âIt will for a while. But Iâll ease you into it and make you feel good. I promise.â
Chan says the words like you have anything but trust in him. You know he needs a verbal confirmation out of you, but youâre both too embarrassed and too aroused to give him the green light out loud. Instead, you nod your head twiceâleaning closer to his ear to whisper:
âOkay. Iâm ready.â
Your best friend sighs out something that suspiciously sounds like gods, I love you, before burying his face in your exposed chestâlips latching onto one of the pert nipples as he massages your other breast languidly. The wet sound of his mouth getting to work makes your face flush several shades of red and your sex to leak even more slick than it already has.Â
Thereâs just something so arousing about how careful Chan is with your body. He handles you like youâre the most precious thing in the world and throws your mind into an inexplicable haze.
But then again, maybe youâre just that in love with the guy.
You visibly tense underneath his touch when you feel him start to prod his fingers along your glistening seam. Youâre so sensitive that you twitch from the slightest contact and Chan sighs a laugh into your chest when he feels it.
âRelax,â he murmurs. âI canât make you feel good if youâre too high-strung.â
âEasy for you to say,â you huff. âYouâre not the one whoâs about to be fucked into oblivion.â
Chan startles from how easily the words fall from your lipsâmouth agape like a fish out of water. You wonder if you said something out of turn but when he kisses you for the millionth time today, you notice something else eclipsing his ready set gentleness.
Something more carnal.
âYou canât rile me up by talking so filthily like that,â he whispers hoarsely. âIâm trying to be a good lover by taking things slow. Promise you wonât catch me off guard like that again?â
You shake your head with a laugh. âChan, you know I donât make promises I canât keep. But I'll try~â
âFuck. Alright. I can work with that.â
When he eases a finger inside your awaiting heat, you find the sensation a little uncomfortable. Itâs like having something inside you that doesnât quite belong there. Chan analyzes your reactions in the silence as he continues prodding your entranceâlooking for any signs of discomfort like a hawk as he experimentally thrusts that single digit in and out of you.
âF-Feels weird,â you mumble. âIs it supposed to feel weird?â
âI guess youâd feel that way if it was your first time,â he chuckles and your eyes narrow at the implication behind his words. âBut Iâve got to loosen you up if I donât want to hurt you.â
So this wasnât his first after all. Though you want nothing more than to hear tales about former escapades, you decide to grill him about it later.Â
Youâre about to question how something like this can do that before Chan robs you of your capacity to think coherently, curling his slender finger inside you until he brushes a spot that has your muscles spasming underneath him. A wicked smile finds its way to his face as he slips in another finger so easilyâthe pads grazing that sensitive patch of flesh to coax out the same reaction from you.
âStill weird?â he laughs.Â
âGoodâŚâ you whimper, grinding your hips shamelessly into his hand. âFeels so good, Chan.âÂ
Your best friend sighs as he watches you slowly cross the threshold between awkward curiosity and the beginnings of an enjoyable time. Youâre wet and wantingâjust like how he hoped youâd be and the way your tight walls clench around his fingers barely tempers the raw anticipation that sizzles in his veins.Â
Gentle. He needs to be gentle.Â
He doesnât want to lose control when heâs waited oh-so long for this moment.
But god fucking damn are you making it so hard when youâre moaning so prettily for him.
âC-Chan,â you mewl and he feels you tighten even more around his digits. âIt feels weird again⌠Like somethingâs coming.â
He sucks in a sharp breath before pressing open-mouthed kisses along the column of your throat. The sensation makes you buck further into his hand and Chan can only do so much to keep himself from just fucking you into the bed.
âLet go,â he tells you before flicking his thumb across your puffy clit. âLet it all go, beautiful. Donât be scared. Iâm right here.â
The newfound stimulation blindsides you in a way you didnât expectâreducing you into a mumbling mess of arousal beneath your best friend as he continues tracing tight circles around the sensitive nub. Your first (of many) orgasms crashes over you like a tidal wave and you sigh out his name so needily, he can barely contain himself for much longer.Â
But he doesnât rush you no matter how pent up he isâhe wonât, he wonât, he wonât.Â
Besides, the sight of you so fucked out from taking his fingers aloneâlips parted, chest heaving, eyes pulling in and out of focusâis a reward in and of itself.Â
âYou still with me?â your best friend checks in with a concerned look, wiping the sweat that beads across your forehead with the back of his hand.Â
But the moment his skin makes contact with yours again, you absentmindedly grab his handâpressing a soft kiss on his knuckles.
âIâll always be with you.â
Gods above. He doesnât deserve you.
When heâs sure youâre ready, Chan positions himself right before your entranceâcarefully nudging your thighs apart as he fists the angry red erection heâs been sporting all night. The sight of his cock makes you blush, but you figure thereâs no point in acting coy now that youâve made it this far.
âYou know what to do when I do something you donât like, right?âÂ
You nodânot really hearing the words with how transfixed you are on other things. âY-Yes.â
Chan offers up a lazy smile. âThatâs my girl.â
You take all of him inch by unbearable inchâyour walls meeting the stretch that his girth offers with mild resistance. His fingers are childâs play compared to this and you force yourself to power through it despite how it burns.Â
Of course, Chan doesnât miss a beat despite how hard you try to conceal your discomfort.
âIâm hurting you, arenât I?â he asks with an apologetic smile, wiping the tears that are pooling in the corners of your eyes. âIâm sorry. Just a bit more and youâll get used to it.â
âYou promise?â
Your best friend brings an outstretched pinky close to your faceâthe same pinky with the ring that started all of this staring back at you. The moment you hook your own finger around his, your best friend murmurs:
âI promise.â
Chan is quite patient despite the fact that heâs balls-deep inside of youâkeeping the innate desire to just ram his length into you until youâre a sobbing, crying mess for him. The Academyâs best graduate, the kingdomâs sweetheart, his perfect best friend. All reduced to tears on his cock.
âChan,â you breathe in deeply, having finally accustomed yourself to how he stretches you out. âY-You can move now.â
Shit. You sound so shy, so innocent.
How could he not give you what you want?
The first outward drag of his hips pulls a pretty little whimper out of you and an even prettier moan when he thrusts back in. Chan sighs as he minds the pace heâs set, cradling your face with one hand as he steadies you with the other.
âI love you,â he murmurs, pressing a featherlight kiss on your nose. âMore than there are stars in the sky, more than how many flowers youâll ask me to look after while youâre gone.â
His sweet words are subverted with a harsh thrust that he does experimentally to see how youâd react to it. When Chan doesnât see any indication of pain or dislike, he repeats itâagain and again until he can feel you coating his length in the slick of your leaking arousal.Â
âFeels so fucking good around me,â he rasps, keeping himself from biting into your shoulder because he isnât sure of how you feel about those kinds of marks just yet. âPerfect⌠Youâre so, so perfect. Iâve never loved anyone else as much as I love you.â
It feels a bit worrisome, admitting all this in the heat of it all. Chan fears that you would find his words a tad disingenuous. For all he knows, youâre thinking that itâs your wonderful cunt making him say all these sweet nothings.Â
But youâre too far gone yourself to even think about the specifics.
âDeeper,â you beg, lacing your fingers around his neck as more tears start to cascade down your cheeks. âNeed to feel you deeper, Chan.â
Youâre going to be the death of himâthis heâs finally sure of.
The fat head of his cock batters your poor, abused pussy with the vigor of someone whoâs been waiting for you all his life. Chan babbles out a mantra of compliments and praise all strung together in a haze of pleasurable delirium as your nails start to rake across his back.Â
âWant you to be mine forever,â he sighs against your lipsâhis hot breath fanning against your face. âCan I have you? For the rest of my life?â
Even in the throes of passion, the answer comes to you so easily.
âIâm yours,â you cry out as he angles his cock just right and grazes the spot that makes you see stars. âIâm yours, Chan. Always yours. Forever yours.â
Your mind crumbles as your release crests out of nowhereâcoherence draining from every recess of your mind while Chan fucks you through your high. He snaps his hips unforgivingly as he chases his own orgasm. His fingers leave red imprints on your thighs with how firmly they dig into your supple flesh and they stay there even when he finally pinpoints his release.Â
The two of you collapse onto the mattress with shallow breaths, sweat-slicked skin sticking to each other with how close your bodies are. When your mind finally returns to the shores of reality, you dare to crack your eyes openâonly to see your best friend looking back at you with a tired smile.
This is the man who saw you cry over a stick fort that he accidentally stepped on when you were kids.Â
The one who thinks youâre still pretty even when your face is rife with tears and snot.
The one who skips stones with you in the river at sunset.Â
The one who keeps you warm by the fireplace during every winter.
The one who defended you from classmates who accused you of being a fraud that rode on her fatherâs coattails.Â
The one youâll gladly spend the rest of your life with.
You think you should find it strange how Joshua suddenly comes to mind now that youâre finally where you want to be. But if it werenât for him, you never wouldâve gotten that final push to be selfishâto choose yourself for once and not feel any ounce of remorse for doing so.
If it werenât for him, you never wouldâve felt what true happiness feels like.
âSoâŚâ your best friend starts as he pulls a blanket over your naked bodies. âFor tonightâs pillow talk, you get to decide the topic of interest.â
You snort. âOkay. What are my choices?â
âHm. The first is: what are we going to do now that weâre together-together when the entire kingdom still thinks youâre still Prince Joshuaâs fiancĂŠ? You still owe me a story about how the engagement fell through, by the way. Unless Iâm actually a homewreckerâŚ?â
Rolling your eyes, you playfully slap his chest. âWhatâs the second option?â
He grins at you cheekily. âWhat pet names can I use on you while weâre having sex becauseâŚI honestly held back the entire time âcause I didnât know what you were comfortable with.â
âI donât really mind anything,â you say. âJustâŚnothing too degrading?âÂ
âAlright.â Chan nods. âWhat do you say about lovebug?â
The suggestion is met with a scowl, making Chan giggle underneath the covers.
���Not a fan? How about my little dew drop? My chrysalis blooming into a beautiful butterfly? My hundred year-old tree that never ceases to amaze me with your beauty? My spectacle in an endless galaxy? Myââ
âLee Jung Chan, if you donât shut up right now, I might just march back to the capital right this moment after all.â
Chan responds to your threat with a needy whine as he cages you around his arms. Your best friend nuzzles his face in the crook of your neck with a sulky pout.
âNo! Youâre mine. I donât care if everyone else thinks otherwise.â He huffs and you entertain him with a laugh before Chan eventually disentangles himself from youâthe playful expression on his face morphing into something more sobering.
âI was serious about the first pillow talk suggestion, by the way,â he murmurs. âOnce the news breaks out, it isnât going to be easy for any of us.âÂ
âI know.â
Chan raises an eyebrow at your nonchalance. âHm? Youâre usually the type to psych yourself out way too much when problems like this arise. Who are you and what did you do to my worrywart of a best friend?â
Paying his teasing no mind, you lean in to press your lips to his. The moment Chanâs shoulders sink in surrender, you smile against his mouth.
âHonestly? I donât really care about what happens,â you admit, tracing the outline of his chest with your finger. âAs long as Iâm with you, I think weâll be alright.â
Chan is quiet for a whileâa loving look glazing over his eyes at the sight of you.
âYeah.âÂ
Your best friend presses another kiss to your temple, lacing your fingers together.
Two forget-me-nots finally find their way back to each other.Â
âWeâll be alright.â
⢠end notes: and that concludes the longest oneshot i've ever written for a seventeen member :') honestly considered breaking this into parts, but decided not to in the end bcs telling their story in one go felt like the best way to go about it! shoutouts to my good buddies and pals from svthub for the constant support and pep talk they offered while i was writing this monster of a fic. freya, my bridgerton sunbae, and zeta, my favorite wonwoorideul (real), thank you tons for your lovely input <3 your silly comments on the doc always made me smile. ofc i won't forget nana who gave me an...interesting list of pet names chan would unironically use on his s/o lol that said, thank you for reading! i hope you enjoy the other fics posted under the spring collab! all writers who contributed poured their hearts into each piece <3
this is part of the secret garden, a svthub spring collab and the it's complicated series!
#svthub#svthub.collab#seventeen smut#dino smut#lee chan smut#seventeen fanfic#svt smut#svt fanfic#lovelyhan#đ collabs#full length fic đ#đ i always need queue
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đ + "I think... I'm in love with (Name)" || "Congrats on being the last one to find out" prompt w eddie omgomgomgđ also congrats on 400 angel <33
thank you my loveee đđđ
here comes, hope you like it! (a little dialogue heavy, sorry for that!)
join the celebration!
every day for us, something new
"Gonna make some more popcorn, guys! Get the next one ready," you said, getting up from the couch where you were sitting between Eddie and Argyle.
"Get me another coke, please!" Robin, from the floor, asked.
"Oh, get me another beer, sweetums, will 'ya?" Eddie joined in.
"No one else ask me anything, I don't have hands for more!" you exclaimed before leaving for the kitchen.
Movie nights were routine at this point. After all the trauma and the babysitting and the saving the world, the least you all deserved were some fun nights chilling with your friends. Steve or Nancy would host, you'd all take turns choosing movies for the week, and you'd get together to watch and gossip and just be around each other in non-threatening ways. There was no bond like the one created between life-or-death situations.
Eddie's eyes followed you as you walked out of Steve's living room. Jonathan chuckled.
"What?" Eddie asked and Nancy and Robin groaned in unison.
"You are. So. Dense," Nancy complained.
"I don't think he's dense, I think he's just stupid," Robin completed. Eddie hated how she and Nancy came to sharing a single braincell lately.
"C'mon, let's take it easy on our brochacho. The matters of the heart aren't easy," Argyle said, words all considerate but his smirk was nothing but teasing, and Eddie wanted them all to just shut the fuck up.
There was a loud noise from the kitchen, and Eddie was up on his feet in an instant.
"Don't worry, I'm okay!" you called out before anyone could even say anything, to Eddie's relief, and he sat down again.
All of his friends were looking at him funny. What was this plot against him, honestly?
"What's going on?" he asked, waving his arms around in annoyance.
"Dude. Use a single neuron. You'll understand," Steve advised, letting out a dramatically exhausted sigh.
Eddie just stared back at them, one at a time, for several minutes. Trying to find the answers in one of his friends' eyes, or just hoping to be scary enough to make them tell him at once.
"I can't do this, he's the dumbest man alive," Jonathan said after a long while in silence.
What were you even doing in the kitchen for such a long time? Popcorn gets ready in like, five minutes.
"He's never been in love before, maybe he just doesn't recognize it," Steve pitched in, and he knew that information because Eddie had told him once.
What did it have to do with anything?
"What does being in love has anything to do with this? Who's in love here? No one's in lov-" he started, and then he stopped.
Thought about your smile, and that funny little laugh you saved only for his stupid jokes. The way you'd hug him tighter and longer than everyone else. The way you and Robin shared perfumes, a fragrance he didn't really like much, but on you he'd love - something about the way it'd interact with your natural skin smell, and it intoxicated him in the best of ways. He thought about how soft your skin was, and how he loved when you ran your fingers through his hair. He thought about how he thought about you first thing when he woke up, and he thought about you last thing before sleeping. How he thought about you even when asleep - how he'd dream of you, and him, your hands clasped together, your lips on his.
"Oh my god, I think I'm in love," he muttered.
"Congrats on being the last one to find out," Nancy answered. He just looked at her, freezing, hands trembling a little. "What are you thinking about so much, just go!" She nodded at the kitchen and, once again, Eddie was up on his feet in an instant.
He practically ran to the other room.
"Steve, your cabinets are a nightmare," you said, back turned to the door as you heard steps.
"Not Steve," he said, and you turned to face him. That smile, the one reserved just for him, on your lips.
"Eddie! Here to help me? Does anyone want something else?"
He just shook his head and walked closer to you. Took your hand on his, and your skin was just as soft as he thought about constantly.
"Is everything okay?" you asked.
He nodded, "Yeah, just came to a realization."
"Care to share with the class?" your words all teasing but your smile was nothing but sweet. He wanted to kiss you.
"I want to kiss you," he said out loud.
Your smile grew wider, "Well, do it, then."
And he did. And it was so much better than in his dreams. Yous lips were soft and tasted of whatever soda you were drinking, and your hands craddled his neck and you sure could feel his pulse going a million miles per second. But he didn't care, because you seemed eager for more, tongue poking at his lips and he let you in, and it was like fireworks exploding inside his head. He feelt fuzzy, and warm all over, and the happiest he's ever been. Because he's in love with you, he realized, and he was kissing you and you were kissing him back.
It felt like years before you separated, both panting a little.
"Oh, man, I like you so much," you mumbled, lips still almost pressed to his so he feelt every vibration in each of your words. It tingled him, head to toe, in and out.
"That's my realization," he responded, and you gave him another peck, and another one, and you were kissing him again when you heard steps behind you.
"C'mon, slow lovebirds, where's my damn popcorn? I wanna watch the sequel!" Robin showed up, picked up the popcorn bowl and her coke before leaving again.
You and Eddie laughed, and you gave him another peck, and another one, and you were kissing him again.
Neither of you got to watch much of the sequel.
#eddie munson#eddie munson x reader#eddie munson x you#eddie munson fluff#eddie munson fanfic#eddie munson ficlet#stranger things#stranger things fanfic#stranger things fic#stranger things ficlet#lui's strange celebration#lsc đ#lui writes
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âM A S T E R L I S Tâ
hey, i'm elle! i started posting on this blog on a whim after a looong writer's block. feel free to pop into my inbox for requests, fangirling, advice, or just a chatâiâm a certified rambler â¨
*most of my fics have an ambiguous reader/friend so everyone can read! face claims/moodboards will always be woc. if u donât like that..iâm not the writer for you đ¤ˇđ˝ââď¸
Trent Alexander-Arnold ⪠Reel Me In [part 1] 𼾠⪠Reel Me In || Partition Please [part 2] 𼾠⪠Between Two Worlds [anon req] đ¤ ⪠Wildflower [anon req] đ¤ ⪠FaceTime đ
TAA series ⪠Essence of Us đ 𼾠đ¤ Ch 1 | Ch 2 | Ch 3 | Ch 4 | Ch 5 | Ch 6 | Ch 7 | Ch 8 | Ch 9 | Ch 10 | Ch 11 | Ch 12 | Ch 13 | Ch 14 [wip]
Jude Bellingham ⪠Those Three Words đ ⪠Passenger Prince 𼾠⪠No Match For You đĽľ
Jules KoundÊ ⪠Turks and Caicos [wip]
đ¤ | angst đ | fluff 𼾠| smut
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# 03. Unexpected Partners
â â â â â â°ââşâËâ â â â taglist ... chapters ... masterlist
.....
If youâd had a time machine, you wouldnât use it for anything noble or selflessâno epic rescue of historical figures, no preventing major disasters. Nope. Youâd drag yourself back a month just to shake your wide-eyed, naĂŻve self by the shoulders and scream, "Donât do it. Find another department. Any other department. Join traffic control. Herd cats. Just donât end up here."
Because here was Bakugou personal circle of hell. The past few weeks felt like a marathon in which youâd been tripped at the starting line, dragged halfway, and then left to sprint uphill. In the rain. With weighted vests. There was no mercy in Bakugouâs world, only adrenaline and barked orders that carried enough force to knock the confidence right out of your chest.
You learned, fast and furiously, that he wasnât just tough. He was ruthless, exacting, and demanded perfection with all the warmth of a drill sergeant who hadnât had coffee. And coffeeâyouâd learned the hard wayâwas something that could make or break a morning. There was The Incident when you dared bring him a cup with too much sugar, only to receive a sharp glare and a grumbled, âWhat, you think Iâm ten?â The next thirty minutes were dedicated to sprint drills so intense your calves whimpered for days. All you wanted to do is figure out what the hell his favorite coffee is! Yes, you're still trying..
And yes, you're still failing.
Bakugouâs teaching methods were a combination of trial by fire and sheer terror. He wasnât interested in your excuses or half-assed answers. If you messed up, youâd knowâusually by the clipped way heâd shout, âRun it again,â or the eye twitch that signaled he was two seconds from ripping the folder out of your hands and doing it himself.
It wasnât just the shouting, though that was certainly a staple. It was the moments heâd watch you with that hawk-eyed stare, arms crossed and expression set like granite. There were no second chances when Bakugou was breathing down your neck; you either got it right or got ready to count pavement cracks while doing your punishment laps. You hadnât done so many wall sits since training, thighs quivering like jelly by the time he allowed you to stand.
And it wasnât just you. Anyone who dared step into his path found themselves swept up in the tornado of his expectations. It made surviving the day feel like a badge of honor, if surviving meant stumbling into your apartment with barely enough strength to fling your shoes off.
One time, youâd accidentally jumbled up a lead in a report, swapping suspect descriptions that Bakugou caught in record time. Heâd smacked the paper onto your desk with an incredulous look. âDâyou even read this before handinâ it in?â And just like that, your next hour was filled with circuits and resistance bands that made your arms feel like spaghetti. âCâmon, rookie, or should I start callinâ you noodle arms?â The jab stuck, and you groaned whenever he brought it up.
Bakugouâs wrath was tempered only by moments of begrudging silence, the rare instances where you met his eyes and thought you saw a flicker of something softer, only to blink and find it gone. Those moments would have been comforting if they werenât fleeting, crushed by his next tirade over a misplaced document or a missed clue.
But just as youâd started thinking maybe youâd bitten off more than you could chew, a case dropped that pulled everyone into high gear: a string of burglaries, each more calculated than the last. No dumb luck, no rookie mistakes would fly with this one. Bakugouâs tension was palpable, a crackle in the air whenever he entered the room. Heâd pace with his hands shoved into his pockets, muttering curses and theories under his breath like the case had insulted him personally.
Your nerves spiked with each passing day. Bakugou was more relentless than ever, orders flung out faster than you could grab your notebook. And if you so much as hesitated? Heâd turn, eyes gleaming like a predator scenting blood. âKeep up, or get out.â
By the time you wrapped up that weekâs legwork, you werenât sure whether to feel accomplished or absolutely wrecked. Bakugou had pushed every ounce of strength and patience from your body, leaving you hollowed out and aching. Yet, for some reason youâd yet to understand, you kept coming back, stepping into the precinct with a quiet determination that only grew as his glare followed you like a challenge.
Time machine, you reminded yourself, scribbling down notes that were half-legible from your shaking hand. Youâd go back, find yourself, and whisper conspiratorially, Choose desk duty. Itâll save your soul.
But you didnât have a time machine. You had Bakugou. And you were starting to suspect he might just make a detective out of you, whether you survived him or not.
.....
The burglaries had started smallâa string of break-ins that barely made the back page of the cityâs morning paper. But each successive hit grew bolder, more precise, like the thief was taunting the force. By the time it hit their radar, Chief Yagiâs usually calm expression had hardened to steel, and even the more seasoned detectives were exchanging wary glances.
For you, it meant one thing: Bakugou was operating at maximum intensity, his usual scowl deepened to something almost carved from stone. It was an energy you could feel in the air, like the static before a lightning strike. And with that, the pace of your life turned from grueling to almost impossible. Long days blurred into longer nights, the fluorescent lights above burning into your skull as you combed through reports with squinting eyes and a splitting headache. The precinct buzzed with anticipation and tension, everyone bracing for the storm.
You sat at your desk, meticulously cross-referencing suspect details when Bakugou stormed in, clipboard in one hand and the other pressed into his hip like it was the only thing keeping him from losing it entirely. He glanced around the room, eyes sharp as the edge of a blade, before they settled on you. The air shifted.
âRookie,â he barked, and you jumped, nearly dropping your pen. He didnât wait for you to recover before launching into his rapid-fire speech. âListen up, âcause Iâm only sayinâ this once. The patternâs changed. Our thiefâs not just hittinâ high-value targets anymoreâtheyâre goinâ after places with tech infrastructure. Means theyâre not just lookinâ for lootâtheyâre digginâ for data, and if we donât get ahead, weâre gonna be two steps behind with our heads up ourââ
He paused, jaw tightening like he was biting back an insult, and then leaned down, bringing himself to eye level. His eyes were an inferno, daring you to miss a word. âYou listening?â
You nodded so fast it was a wonder your neck didnât cramp, scribbling down notes as if your life depended on it. Maybe it didâat least, your peace of mind surely did. Bakugouâs tone wasnât just demanding; it was drilled into your skull, searing in its urgency.
âGood. Now, lookââ
âOh! Hey, Kacchan!!â
The voice sliced through the room like a record scratch, shattering Bakugouâs hyper-focused tension into a thousand jagged pieces. He physically recoiled, straightening up so fast youâd think heâd been stung. Your pen stilled mid-word, eyes flicking between him and the newcomer with an internal "?!?!?!?!" blaring in neon letters.
Kacchan?
There, standing at the threshold of the precinct like heâd wandered in by accident, was Detective Midoriya Izuku, all soft smiles and bright green eyes. He gave a little wave as if Bakugou wasnât seconds away from launching into orbit.
âKacchan, hi! Itâs been a while, hasnât it?â Midoriyaâs tone was impossibly cheerful, and the nickname fell from his lips like it was a greeting between best friends. But from the way Bakugouâs hands twitched, it may as well have been a bomb dropped into a room full of dynamite.
Bakugouâs response was instantaneous, voice sharp enough to cut glass. âWhat the hellâre you doinâ here, Deku?â
The silence that followed was suffocating, punctuated only by the distant hum of computers and a detective a few desks over clearing their throat awkwardly. Your heart thumped in your chest as if it was trying to escape the awkwardness, and you glanced at Midoriya, expecting him to shrink back. But he didnâtâhis smile wavered, sure, but he held his ground, eyes earnest.
âIâm here to help with the case,â Midoriya explained, and it took everything in you not to whip your head around. Help? With your case?
Bakugouâs reaction was as explosive as you expected. âHelp? Youââ
But before he could finish, a voice cut through the tension like a blade. âEnough, boys.â Chief Yagiâs voice was firm as he walked in, flanked by another man who exuded calm authorityâthe infamous Chief Aizawa Shouta. His tired eyes swept over the room, taking in the scene with a raised brow.
âChief Aizawa and his team are joining us for this operation. And that includes Detective Midoriya.â Chief Yagiâs tone left no room for argument.
Bakugouâs jaw set so tight you could hear the grind of teeth. And in that moment, you knew that whatever the past few weeks had been like? They were about to get a whole lot more complicated.
âŚ
You barely had time to absorb Midoriyaâs, let alone Cheif Aizawa's, sudden appearance before Chief Yagi called everyone into the briefing room. This wouldâve been a regular meeting for the higher-upsâthe kind youâd usually only hear about when Bakugou came out, slamming the door behind him, face redder than the emergency exit signs. But today, for reasons you couldnât fathom, you were summoned along. Because apparently, if Bakugou was involved, you were involved.
The briefing room was already filling up, the thick scent of coffee and paper lingering in the air as officers shuffled in, muttering greetings and speculations under their breath. Chief Yagi took his place at the head of the room, looking as solid and unyielding as ever, while Chief Aizawa leaned against the wall, hands in his pockets, observing the room with the detached but alert gaze of a cat watching a busy street. Midoriya slid into a chair near the front, shooting you a small, encouraging smile. Bakugou, in contrast, looked like heâd swallowed a wasp.
Then, in strode Officer Ashido Mina, bright as a firecracker, with Officer Sero Hanta close behind her, both exuding a casual confidence that somehow didnât feel out of place even in a room of high-stakes professionals. Mina shot a finger-gun wave at the room, winking in your direction before taking a seat across from Midoriya. Sero plopped down beside her, his grin almost lazy but eyes sharp, taking in everything at once.
Chief Yagiâs voice brought the room to order. âAlright, everyone, this joint task force is in place because the burglaries have escalated. Weâre dealing with a team of thieves targeting secure information in addition to high-value assets. The leads point to a complex operation, and thatâs where our collaboration comes in.â
He nodded to Chief Aizawa, who spoke in that low, measured tone that commanded instant respect. âWe need all hands on deck. Each of you will have a roleâwhether itâs field, intel, or processing. Officer Uraraka will be on the evidence team, coordinating with the data weâve collected so far.â
The mention of Urarakaâs name caught your attention, and sure enough, she was at the back, beaming when she spotted you. Her presence was a rare comfort in this sea of intense, stern faces. It had been years since youâd seen her, but it was like old times when she waved, mouthing an excited âHey!â
âDetective Bakugou, Officer L/N, youâll be working alongside Detective Midoriyaâs team,â Chief Yagi continued, and the very air in the room seemed to vibrate as Bakugouâs scowl deepened. He was in full protest mode, shooting daggers at Midoriya, who looked back with a determinedâif slightly nervousâsmile.
Once the briefing concluded, Chief Yagi dismissed everyone, and the room exploded in chatter as officers filed out. You managed to navigate through the crowd until you reached Uraraka, who practically bounced on her toes, pulling you into a quick hug.
âCan you believe it? Weâre working together!â she said, her voice bright with excitement. âIâve been doing the fingerprinting, data scansâall the good stuff. Remember when I used to geek out about this stuff in school?â
âOh, totally! You always aced those forensics projects,â you replied, grinning as the memories rushed back.
She nodded, laughing. âExactly! And now, look at us! I get to actually do it. And youâyouâre working with Bakugou Katsuki, of all people!â Her eyes widened with awe and maybe a little mischief, the kind that reminded you of her knack for getting you into trouble back in the day.
âWorking is a strong word,â you muttered, glancing over at Bakugou, who was still glaring holes into Midoriya, ignoring everyone else. âSurviving might be more accurate.â
Uraraka giggled but quickly straightened when she caught Bakugouâs expression aimed squarely at herâa glare so intense that it was a wonder she didnât spontaneously combust. She cleared her throat, gave you a small, sympathetic smile, and said, âWell, Iâd better get back to it. Iâll send over the scans when theyâre ready! And hey, catch up soon?â
You nodded, squeezing her hand in agreement. âDefinitely. Thanks, Ochaco.â
With a final grin, Uraraka turned back to her workstation, her demeanor shifting from friendly to focused in an instant. You watched her go, feeling a brief pang of jealousy at how seamlessly she slid into her work. But that was quickly overridden by the realization that Bakugou was striding your way, arms crossed and a storm brewing in his expression.
âDone with your little reunion?â he sneered, barely waiting for you to nod. âGood. 'Cause now itâs time for you to actually do somethinâ useful, rookie.â He nodded towards the open case file in his hand. âLetâs go.â
.....
The silence between you and Bakugou was taut, strung up like an overused wire threatening to snap. He stalked ahead, practically dragging the storm cloud that was his mood behind him. You werenât entirely sure why heâd decided that now was the time to go full boot camp on you, but here you were, heels clicking on the polished floor, trying not to look like youâd rather melt into it.
âListen up, rookie,â Bakugou started without turning around, his voice a low rumble laced with that familiar bite. He navigated the labyrinth of hallways like a predator circling its territory. Youâre gonna make yourself useful if it kills ya, got it?â
You swallowed thickly, feeling a combination of irritation and nerves twist in your chest. Youâd learned over the past few weeks that Bakugou had a penchant for the extreme. Everything was all or nothing with him, whether it was paperwork, interrogations, or the way he yelled about the printer jamming (which was only your fault that one time).
âGot it,â you managed, though it came out weaker than you intended. He spared you a glance, eyes narrowing as if daring you to prove him right about all the times heâd muttered under his breath about âextrasâ wasting his time.
As if on cue, the door to one of the briefing rooms swung open, and Detective Kirishima stepped out, his broad grin a sharp contrast to Bakugouâs perpetual scowl. âYo! Heard weâre working together on this one,â he said, his voice friendly and warm, instantly cutting through the tension.
Great. If there was ever a time to look capable, it was now. Not that Kirishima would ever point out your mistakes, but being around Bakugou had a way of amplifying your self-awareness until it was deafening.
âTry not to get in the way,â Bakugou snapped, jerking his thumb towards the entrance. You wondered if his eyes had always held that unrelenting glint or if heâd sharpened it specifically for you. Kirishima, bless him, only chuckled, patting you on the back as he passed by.
âDonât mind him. Heâs just on edge about the syndicate case,â Kirishima whispered, though you knew Bakugouâs sharp hearing likely picked it up. His glare confirmed it, but he didnât say anything, turning his attention to the map on the table instead. Red pins clustered like a rash, each marking a hit by the crime syndicate that had every department in the city scrambling.
The realization hit you hard. The stakes were higher than ever, and the idea of fumbling now made your stomach churn. The last thing you needed was to mess up in front of Bakugou and Kirishima, especially when the latterâs optimism made you want to do better and the formerâs disdain made you feel like you never could.
Bakugou laid out the plan, his voice cutting through the thick tension in the room. "..'nd if weâre lucky, tonightâs stakeoutâll give us what we need.â He turned to you, eyes narrowing to twin blades. âThat clear, rookie?â
âCrystal,â you muttered, earning a sharp nod.
As Kirishima checked the comms equipment, you shifted on your feet, the weight of what was coming pressing against your chest like a vice. The quiet hum of urgency filled the room as you prepared for the night ahead, a stakeout that promised no sleep, a test of patience, and a confined space with Bakugouâs intensity smoldering beside you.
Yeah. You're soo fucked.
#âĄâ ÍÍÍÍÍÍᴞʳáľáśâąâżáśáľ á´žáľËĄË˘áľ ~â
彥#â§ď˝Ľďž: * kimmie's notes#â§ď˝Ľďžwriting from kimmie â§ď˝Ľďž#đăťkimmieâs fic zone đ#bnha bakugou#mha bakugou#bakugou katsuki#bakugou x reader#bakugou x fem!reader#bakugo x female reader#katsuki bakugou#bakugou#bakugo katsuki#katsuki bakugo x reader#bakugo katuski#mha#bnha bakugo katsuki#bnha bakugo x reader#bnha bakugou katsuki#katsuki bakugo mha#bakugou x you#bakugou katuski x reader#bakugou x y/n#fem reader#bakugo x reader#bakugo x y/n#bakugo x you#katsuki x you#mha series#bnha series
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Hello đđť im new jwds supporter here 𼰠love your blog âşď¸
Can you recommend any bottom juwon fics pls đ i dont know why their so rare đ much love đ
Hi hi! Welcome to the fandom! 𼰠In no particular order from my bookmarks, a few fic that include exclusively bottom Juwon (if you don't mind switch fics, I also have a few of those I could recommend): the bitter and the sweet by princesskay In the light of day by Magnolia822 Reeled In by protos_metazu_ison Later's Better Than Never by Magnolia822 Resonant Frequency by RC_McLachlan My Safe Place by LipstickDaddy (Make sure as always to check the tags in case it's not your cup of tea). If anyone else wants to leave recs feel free!
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đ Fics for Gaza â Sponsor a WIP đ
Hello, everybody! I'm honestly not sure how this will go, if at all, but I want to participate in the fundraising efforts of @ficsforgaza. Lately, I've been focused solely on projects that bring me joy regardless of readership and so for this, I'll be opening up all of my WIPs, including those not listed on my official WIP page but previously mentioned on this blog. For this fundraiser, I'm committing to returning to those old projects that have been unceremoniously left in the dust.
I'm committing to this undertaking with the hopes that one of my projects will encourage donations if they weren't previously inclined or were on the fence.
Raised: $91.39 Written/Sponsored: 3.443/18,278
How it works:
$1 = 200 words!
Make a donation to a vetted fundraiser of your choice (links below) and send me a screenshot of your donation excluding identifying information + the WIP you'd like me to work on. For every $1 donated, I will write 200 words for your chosen WIP. Upon receiving proof of donation, I will begin working on the WIP.
Example message template:
Hey, Ix! I've donated [this amount] to [link to vetted fundraiser]. Would you be able to work on [WIP title]? Thank you! (Included screenshot of proof of donation)
Vetted fundraiser links:
Vetted fundraiser masterpost-masterpost
List of Palestinian Evacuation & Support Fundraisers
Masterlist of links, official & vetted
how you can help palestine
Eligible WIPs:
Because the list of WIPs included is so long, they'll be listed below the cut. Fandoms included: Daiya no Ace, Haikyuu!!, Attack on Titan, Fullmetal Alchemist, & My Hero Academia.
Daiya no Ace
The Catcher's Accomplice - Miyuki Kazuya Major Leagues, Interpreter, Forced Proximity (Belated Quarantine Fic), Falling in Love, Friends to Lovers, Slow Burn, Fluff
When Kazuya insisted he be posted for the MLB, he wasn't quite aware of all that entailed, only concerned with being able to continue playing. He didn't fully anticipate the sheer loneliness of moving to a different country, especially just before a pandemic. How lucky for him that you're there every step of the way.
word count: 4,591/20,000+
Promises We Made - Miyuki Kazuya Childhood Best Friends to Lovers, Slow Burn, Hurt/Comfort, Soulmates (if you squint), Expression of Grief, Anxiety, & Depression
He existed as a beacon for youâsomeone who had been there since before you can remember, someone who always found you when you got lost. All you wanted was to be able to stand on your own two feet beside him.
word count: 14,119/50,000+
His Name - Miyuki Kazuya Non-Linear Storytelling, Falling in Love, Break-up Fic, Angst, Hints of Pining & Regret
Kazuya never realized how much he loved the way his name sounded as it rolled of your tongue, a promise he didn't hear until it was too late.
word count: 1,593/6,000
not a stranger - Sawamura Eijun Younger Brother's Best Friend, Childhood Crush, Childhood Friends to Lovers
Fifteen years after he used to announce to the world, "I'm going to marry you one day!," he no longer looks like the Ei-chan you once knew.
word count: 3,548/12,000 FULLY SPONSORED!! written: 261/10,000
Play with Me - Kuramochi Youichi NPB, Bassist, One Night Stand to Lovers, Falling in Love, Shared History, Fluff, Suggestive
The story of you and Kuramochi Youichi goes further than the night he finds himself in the audience of your show, but it takes you a while before you acknowledge that.
word count: 339/7,500
Chink in My Armor - Kominato Ryousuke University!AU, FWB, Jealousy, Stubborn Ryou, Getting Together, Suggestive
For someone who "didn't have the time to focus on a relationship," Ryou spends an awful lot of time focusing on you.
word count: 273/5,500
Wanna Run with You - Yuuki Tetsuya University!AU, Friends to Lovers, Old Crush, Reunion, Falling in Love, Fluff
A favor for your new editor puts you in contact with your old friend and crush, someone you fervently wanted to avoid. Now that Tetsu has you in his life again, he isn't so ready to let you go this time.
word count: 6,513/9,500
Haikyuu!!
Mine to Keep - Iwaizumi Hajime Yakuza, Fight Club, Violence, Light Stalking & Obsession, Possessive Behavior, Smut
Iwaizumi's taken his time with you, preferring you willing and wanting, but there's only so much waiting he can do before he snaps.
*requires editing so the word count may vary.
word count: 11,717/15,000* sponsored word count: 1,000 written: 1,000/1,000
Always You - Iwaizumi Hajime Fallen Angel, Demon, Memory Loss, Reincarnation, Angst, Love Perseveres
You two were favored angels, models for how others should perform until you made the grave sin of loving more than your Creator. For your crime, you were doomed to loving one another time and again through never ending reincarnation, forever watching the other suffer and die.
word count: 2,378/6,000 sponsored word count: 1,278 written: 1,278/1,278
Coming Home - Iwaizumi Hajime Punisher!AU, Grief, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Friends to ??? to Lovers
After your mother died, you never expected to find comfort in the return of the friend you long since thought dead.
word count: 1,524/6,500
Late Nights - Iwaizumi Hajime University!AU, Pining, Getting Together
In the cover of night near the university baseball diamonds, Iwaizumi finds the courage to talk to you.
word count: 328/3,000 **FULLY SPONSORED! written: 904/3,000
Maker of Myths - Oikawa Tooru Trojan War!AU, Paris & Helen, Falling in Love, War, Infidelity, Grief, Angst
The first choice you ever made was which suitor would be your husband, the King. The second choice you made allowed for you to choose your lover, your partner. The third choice you made started a war.
word count: 4,860/13,000+
This Tree, This Bed - Kuroo Tetsurou Odyssey!AU, Odysseus & Penelope, Falling in Love, Separation, Reunion, Hurt/Comfort
Kuroo liked to fashion himself as one of the smartest men in the known world. While his cunning managed to win your hand and your heart, it was unable to save him from going into a war unrelated to him.
word count: 3,215/7,500
Anxious, Wide Awake - Kuroo Tetsurou Magic & Monsters!AU, Vampire, Sorceress, Witcher inspired, Violence, Blood, Established Relationship
The more they touch you, the more their stench sticks to you, the more violent their deaths will be when he comes for you. Because he is coming for you. You have more faith in that fact than you do that the sun will rise tomorrow morning. His promise can still be heard nearly a century later, still humming along the skin where he first whispered it. Heâs coming.
word count: 4,353/10,000
Please Look at Me - Hanamaki Takahiro & Matsukawa Issei Love Triangle, Not Polyamorous, Smut, Getting Together, Angst
âIs it okay if I have a taste?â Donât you kids do anything I wouldnât do. Takahiroâs seen Mattsun do a lot. Heâs seen Mattsun in so many compromising situations throughout the years, heâs given up on keeping count long ago. And this? This is definitely something Mattsun would do.
word count: 867/6,000
Rosebuds & Black Currant - Futakuchi Kenji Strangers to (eventual) Lovers, Falling in Love, Getting Together, Fluff
It takes you entirely too long to understand the messages Kenji's been trying to send through the arrangements he gives you if only because you don't believe he's familiar with the language of flowers.
word count: 188/3,500
Attack on Titan
Rapture for the Sinners - Erwin Smith, Levi Ackerman Canon Divergent, Violence, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Friends to Lovers, Grief, PTSD, Smut
Fiercely loyal to Erwin Smith, you find yourself to be one of his most trusted soldiers, ready to do what is necessary for either of you to get what you want. With no room for romantic relationships, you two easily find yourselves engaged in a sexual relationship. Why do you suddenly find your situation muddled when you're tasked with bringing three thugs from the Underground to the Survey Corps? What happens when you suddenly find yourself developing feelings for the one you were prepared to kill and who was prepared to kill you in turn?
word count: 103,168/170,000+ sponsored word count: 2,000 written: 0/2,000
For You, in the Future - Bertholdt Hoover, Levi Ackerman VOV Rewrite, Canon Divergent, Tech Advancements, Friends to Lovers, Lovers to Enemies, Political Intrigue, Grief, PTSD, Love Perseveres
An attempt at a rewrite of my first story. I've worked on it in secret over the winter and could be swayed to starting it once more.
word count: 7,601/150,000+
Fullmetal Alchemist
From the Ashes Flowers Bloom - Roy Mustang Canon Divergent, Violence, Religious Guilt, Subterfuge, Exes to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort
You've spent the last four years avoiding staying in one place for too long due to the belief in the superstitions of your mother's religion. After the murder of your adoptive brother, you begin to learn the truth of the larger conspiracy that's left a pile of bodies wherever you go. Deciding to confront the root of the problem head-on, you find yourself reforging old relationships, for better or for worse.
word count: 43,580/80,000+
My Hero Academia
Set You Free - Aizawa Shouta Pre-UA Teacher!AU, Hurt/Comfort, Falling in Love, Grief, Getting Together
An unfortunate quirk, bad timing, and grief-induced anger tied you to Aizawa years after the death of Shirakumo. He wanted to be a hero, and it takes him a bit too long to realize he may have ruined yours.
word count: 2,256/6,500
Hit Me Before I Knew It - Bakugo Katsuki Pro!AU, Fake Dating, Pining, Getting Together, Parental Grief
âIâm sorryâcan you repeat that?â âIâm not saying it again.â âNo, please. I didnât quite hear you the first time,â you push, trying to repress the uptick of your lips at Bakugoâs unexpected question. He looks at you and you can tell he knows itâs not quite the truth, but he obliges you. The peculiarity of it all has you struggling to process it just as much as heâs struggling to say it. With a heavy sigh, he tries again, voice lower than before. âI need you to pretend to be my girlfriend. Just a date or two to get my buddy off my back.â
word count: 531/6,500
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đđđđđđđđ đđđđ đđđđđđđđ
â đđđ đđđđđđđđđđ: đđŻđ đĽđŚđłđ˘
đ This page is an archive of fics collected through my đđđđđđđđ đđđđ đđđđđđđđ event. The archive will be divided in two sections; the first is the collection of fics that have been submitted and recommended by readers and writers through the event, and the second is my personal fave which I've gathered from both the fics mentioned to me through my ask box and the ones I read during my downtime. Links to the love letters and reviews will be added together with the story details listed below.
đ đŻđ˘đđĄđ˘đŻ'đ° đ đŹđŻđŤđ˘đŻ The list of stories below had been submitted to me by readers and writers throughout the event
â Throttle by @alphabetboyluvr read love letter here
â Once The Thrill Expires by @alphabetboyluvr read love letter here
â Vigilant(e) by @yoongihan read love letter here
â When The Lights Go Out by @livingformintyoongi read love letter here
â Friendcation by @kingofbodyrolls read love letter here
â Stellar Behaviour by @lo1k-diamonds read love letter here
đ đśđŹđŹđŤđŚđ'đ° đ đŹđŻđŤđ˘đŻ The listed stories below are my personal favourites, both the fics I was reading through the event and the ones I've been reading and enjoying as of late
â Midnight by @leahsfavefics read love letter here
â The Taste of Sin by @shadowkoo read love letter here
â Vignette: Duty by @cybrsan read love letter here
â The Athlete by @beomcoups read love letter here
â A Lover's Redemption by @writtenwhalien read love letter here
â Dandelion by @shina913 read love letter here
â The Wood by @sailoryooons read love letter here
â Minted by @kithtaehyung read love letter here
â Is That My Shirt? by @minisugakoobies read love letter here
â Mr. & Mrs. Yoon by @monamipencil read love letter here
â On The Ropes by @raplinesmoon read love letter here
đ Thank you so much to everyone who had joined this birthday event. It has been a lovely experience to be able to hear your voice and share the love for fanfics and music through this. I hope we can get to experience something like this soon in the future!
xoxo, đŻđđ
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SPEAK NOW | MULTI-MANHWA
note â for Jami once again. SURPRISE FIC!!!
characters â gallahan lombardi, claude de alger obelia, rezef hill, ijekiel alpheus
pronouns â she/her, this will be reader instead of Jami herself like the other two fics so hopefully it's enjoyable to everyone!
ââTHE WATER'S ROUGH, BUT THIS LOVE IS OURS.â
â G. LOMBARDI
Gallahan Lombardi had been the man she had wedded a year ago and until now he hadn't failed to make her feel loved. Always so positive Gallahan made sure she felt so good about everything she did. If Name felt bad, Gallahan was there to tell her otherwise. Now in all this negativity things got worse when she found herself in a heap of untruths planted by other nobles. Her mentally drained at it and she tried hiding it from her husband. "Name?" Gallahan's voice was gentle and sweet as her body was engulfed in a warm embrace. "Is something wrong?" He whispered kindly as his eyes gleam with concern for her. After all she hadn't been herself. She broke down in tears as she told him everything. "It's okay." he whispered, kissing her forehead. "You'll be okay." He smiles and then the day ended with her in his comforting arms.
ââTHIS WAS THE VERY FIRST PAGE, NOT WHERE THE STORYLINE ENDS.â
â C. DE ALGER OBELIA.
Claude de Alger Obelia was a cold hearted man. Especially after the death of his beloved Diana. But, this cold demeanor seemed to shrink when he met her. Name was just a maid that was captured from another nation. The people who had did the human trafficking behind her way here was arrested and she was brought to the Ruby Castle to be a maid there. But, days came by as a surprise to the young female as the emperor himself seemed to enjoy her company. He knew it was wrong, but who cares? He was emperor and no one was bossing him around thus they got close. But, one thing leads to another as Name falls for a man that wasn't him, which brings him in pain. At their wedding, he came forward. "I object to this !marriage." Words that brought the guests confusion and surprise. Even he didn't know where this was coming from, but he didn't want her to marry someone else. Name seems to brighten up as she walks towards him. An objection by the emperor made her feel something. "Why?" Her question was asked after they left the place of the wedding's display. "Because I love you, and I can't lose you now." His voice grew warm at least Name thought so as he leaned closer. His lips against hers.
â âDROP EVERYTHING NOW, MEET ME IN THE POURING RAIN.â
â I. ALPHEUS
Name was the princess' sister. When Athanasia made her choice to be with Lucas, Name was there for Ijekiel. And let's just say he had fallen for her slowly. Her smiles and things she did to comfort him of his heartbreak. "Good morning, Ijekiel." Name says with a smile as she greets him warmly. "Good morning, Your Highness." He kisses her gloved hand delicately. His eyes meet hers, a certain emotion in them that she couldn't quite get. "Do you need anything?" She asks kindly. She asks this because he never comes unless she invited him. "I just...needed to hear your voice." His face flushed as Name just laughs, a good way of laughing. Her eyes gleam with delight as she hugs him. "Okay."
â âI HAD TIME MY LIFE FIGHTING DRAGONS WITH YOU!â
â R. HILL
Rezef Hill didn't like anyone except his sister. This was extremely noticeable as he rejected every single match his father brought his way. But, he had a secret. He was in love with his sister's lady in waiting, Name. Every time he saw her, something unfamiliar comes to his feelings. It's as if she was driving him mad. He hid it very while in his cold expressions towards her, but it was hard even for him. With every move towards he felt less himself as he fought the feelings away. That was until Name got close to Raffaelo Kidrey, as how he sees it. He grew more determined to get her than ever as he practically made up excuses to see her face everyday. "Are you alright, Your Highness?" Name asks, confused as he called yet again for the second time today. His cheeks seemed tinted as he nods. "Okay then..."
tagging, @sxnful-sins / @sxnful-rage , @salvatvre , @orlic1a , @yevene , @roseadleyn
#â story of the stars ¡ fics đ#rezef hill#rezef hill x reader#claude de alger obelia#claude de alger obelia x reader#ijekiel alpheus#ijekiel x reader#gallahan lombardi x reader#gallahan lombardi
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stop iâm literally so in love with your acc, itâs gorgeous!!!! missed you sm. need to start writing or creating something again tbh but idk what.
anywaysss had this super cool drummer!rafe idea where theyâre all like mid-20s and were suspected of murder (maybe a roadie died or an ex bandmate??)
buttt there you are interning with the local police department (aka nancy drew nerd) and go poking around (woah somehow you end up in rafeâs arms what a coincidence). maybe he did it or maybeee he didnât, who knows. ur just a silly little inter.. right?? unless ofc this wasnât the first time you met and you both did it together?
anyways do what you wish with this, feel free to let it rot. ur a genius mastermind either way. ily mwahhh
(hereâs some drew pics mini moodboard bc why not)
Partners In Crime â Rafe Cameron.
pairing: drummer!rafe x policeintern!reader
summary: your internship at the kildare county sheriff's department proves extremely useful after ex-bandmate of local rock sensation, morphine animals, is found murdered.
warnings: smut! semi-public sex, unprotected p in v, murder, inaccuracies regarding police work
word count: 3.6k words !
a/n: this request is AMAZING omg!! your mind is literally so incredibly brilliant. i am so incredibly jealous. i just want to scoop it out and study it because your plots are always so genius it's insane. also, i got a little freaky with this request. i don't know where it came from, but i hope yall enjoy. side note, i know nothing about police stations or internships beyond what I've seen on tv, so this is most likely very far from anything that would happen in real life.
âś . ࣪ ×
ââYou cursed quietly, swatting a mosquito away from you as your fingers danced along the collection of files, skimming through the box of evidence labeled "Ryder, Elliot". It was July, and the summer was in full swing. the air was thick and heavy, causing a layer of sticky sweat to cling to every inch of your body. The cramped storage room seemed to be at least 10 degrees hotter than the rest of the police station, and it had the added bonus of recycled air that smelled of dust and mildew.
Your gaze flickered between the door and the police report in your hands, readying yourself to be caught any moment now. Technically, you weren't supposed to be looking at anything in this room. You were simply an intern, and as such, your jobs mostly consisted of clerical work like running the front desk, answering phones, and filling out the occasional police reportâtypically for some misdemeanor offense that they had granted you competent enough to navigate your way around.
On a normal day, you did not have clearance to be in this little room with all the important documents pertaining to cases ranging anywhere from vandalism to first-degree murder. However, on this particular day, you had been instructed to organize and clean the records room, ensuring that everything was dusted off and placed in alphabetical order.
You knew you weren't really supposed to take a peek into any of these boxes, but when you saw the name Elliot Ryder on one of the boxes, you simply couldn't help yourself. It was the biggest case your town had seen in the last decade.
"Local rock legend Morphine Animal's ex-band-mate found murdered" had been splashed across headlines for weeks, each news site ranging from local to national discussing the case and their theories, but surprisingly much of the case had remained a mystery.
Morphine Animals had been practically untouchable ever since they skyrocketed to fame. It was truly fascinating how quickly they went from small-town rockstar wannabes to household names. They became a national sensation practically overnight, and it all started when Elliot Ryder was fired as the band's drummer and replaced by Rafe Cameron.
You remembered it vividly. Elliot went around telling everybody who would listen how he was cheated out of fame. The other three band members had been his childhood best friends. The band was their passion project and they had vowed to do it all together, but then, one night, they just dropped him out of the blue, and Rafe Cameron took his spot.
People couldn't help but wonder if the band's colorful history had anything to do with the murder. The whole situation would've made more sense if Rafe was the one murdered. It would be open and shut. Elliot killed Rafe to get back at him for taking his spot and stealing the fame that was "rightfully" his, but revenge just doesn't quite sit right with the case being turned around.
Rockstar drummer that has it all kills small-town drunk nobody? It just doesn't fit.
You turn your attention back to the police report in hand. You didn't have much time left before someone inevitably needed a file or came to check on you, so you needed to focus, read it, and put everything back where you found it before that happened.
Case Number 0608
Responding Officer: Sheriff Susan Peterkin
On 06/28/2023 at approximately 2100 hours, I responded to a noise complaint at 2971 Shorecrest Drive.
I knocked on the front door, but there was no answer. I announced myself as the police and knocked once more, but again, received no answer. I looked into the window for signs of life, and saw Elliot Ryder laying prone on the living room floor with a pool of blood around him. I immediately radioed for assistance and kicked down the door. I checked his pulse and discovered that Ryder was deceased. While I waited for assistance, I secured the scene. At approximately 2110 hours, Deputy Victor Shoupe, Officer Danielle Lyonne, and Officer Franklin Hewitt arrived on scene. Officers Hewitt and Lyonne canvased the surrounding homes and took their statements to find out if anyone had seen or heard anything. Their individual statements are enclosed. Deputy Shoupe called for the coroner and cordoned off the area while I began assessing the crime scene in a spiral method. Pictures included document the blood patterns and shattered glass discovered at the scene. No murder weapon was discovered.
I instructed Deputy Shoupe to stay at the scene and await the coroner's arrival while I headed back to the station. At approximately 2330 hours, I left the scene.
Your eyebrows furrowed in concentration as you read over the report. You used the back of your hand to wipe the beads of sweat that had formed on your foreheadâcreated from a mix of the unbearable heat and your growing nervousness as the moments ticked byâstopping them from dripping down your skin.
Your gaze darted to the door once again before returning to the files, pulling out a series of pictures that documented the crime scene.
He was found on his stomach, the hair on the back of his head matted with blood. The cause of death was blunt force trauma, and it was very evident from the crime scene photos.
You turned your attention from the photos documenting his body to the ones showing the state his living room had been left in. There was broken glass from a shattered mirror near the front door coating the carpet, and the living room looked like it had been hit by a tornado. Furniture had been turned over, his belongings strewn about in a disorganized fashion. It seemed like whoever had been there was looking for something.
Something in one of the photos caught your eye. It was small, almost imperceptible, but the flash from the camera reflected off something imbeded into the cream colored carpet just beneath the table that Elliot's body was found beside.
Your brows furrowed as you brought the photo closer to your face, squinting to get a better look.
The sound of footsteps approaching made you jump. You quickly folded the picture and shoved it into your pocket before placing the photos and police report back into the box and hauling it onto the shelf.
"Hey, kid," Deputy Shoupe peeked his head inside, the sound of him chewing his gum seemingly reverberating off the walls. You turned, your face flushed, and your heart practically beating out of your chest. You had managed to get everything in order moments before he opened the door.
"Uh, yes, sir?" You cleared your throat, brushing away a strand of hair that had gotten stuck to your sticky forehead.
"Boss lady needs the Ryder files," he informed you, still smacking his gum. The sound filled your ears, somehow louder than the beating of your own heart.
You nodded, swallowing hard as you turned and grabbed the box, the piece of paper in your pocket feeling like it weighed a ton as you carried the heavy box over to him. "Can I ask why?" You worked up the courage to ask, handing him the files, your palms sweaty as you pulled back.
"Just got done interviewing Rafe Cameron," he told you, propping the box under his arm. Your eyes widened a fraction. Why was Sheriff Peterkin reinterviewing him? Was there new evidence to connect him to the murder? "So, she wants to take another look at the evidence."
"Oh," you simply said, the room seeming to grow hotter. "Whew, god, it's hot," you huffed, fanning yourself. "Are you hot?" You asked, clearly not doing well at playing it cool.
"You alright kid?" He asked, quirking an eyebrow curiously at your odd behavior.
"Yeah, I think I'm just gonna step outside and get some air," you nodded, suddenly feeling very suffocated in the stuffy atmosphere.
"Sure, whatever," he shrugged, clearly not all that interested in you or your actions as he turned on his heels to deliver the box to Peterkin.
You hurried down the long, grey corridor, pushing the backdoor open harshly when you arrived at it. Outside wasn't much cooler, but the small, shaded alleyway provided reprieve from the sun's unrelenting rays. You took a few deep breaths, feeling better now that you were breathing fresh, clean air.
"You look like shit," a voice piped up. Your head whipped to the side, eyes finding the source. Rafe Cameron was leaned up against the wall, a lit cigarette dangling from his lips. He was wearing a white tank top that clung to him like a second skin. the heat was just as unforgiving on him, his muscles glistening and his hair sticking out in all directions, a few strands clinging to his slick forehead.
"Excuse me," you scoffed, crossing your arms over your chest. Truthfully, you knew you probably did look like shit. You were sweating like a pig, your clothes clinging to you uncomfortably, and after hours of running your hands through it and being subject to intense humidity, your hair was undoubtedly frizzy and wild.
Rafe pushed off the wall, taking one last drag before flicking the cigarette onto the ground and crushing it under his boot. His blue eyes locked onto yours, amusement dancing in them as he approached you. "I'm just sayin'," he drawled, his voice a low rumble.
"Yeah, well, you don't look too hot yourself," you rolled your eyes. It was a lie, of course. Somehow, he even made sweating to death in the sweltering July heat look sexy. It was utterly infuriating.
He grinned, amused at your attempt to insult him, but he could see right through you. "You mad at me or somethin'?" His hand reached out and wrapped around your wrist, his grip sending shivers down your spine.
"You just said I looked like shit," you glared at him. The heat was making you irritable, and it didn't help that his stupid fucking earringâthat you'd told him twenty goddamn times to take outâhad showed up in a crime scene photo.
Rafe's thumb began to trace circles on the inside of your wrist, his touch sending electric jolts through your body. "C'mon, you know I was just teasing you, baby," he murmured, his voice soft and seductive. He knew how to play your body better than he knew how to play his drums.
You stubbornly pulled away from him, ignoring the way your body reacted to his touch. "You're lucky I got saddled with file room duty, asshole" you gritted out, pulling the picture from your back pocket and shoving it into his muscular chest.
Rafe wore a silver stud in his ear, a staple of his rockstar persona, and that little glimmer of reflected flash in that crime scene photo was that stud, which had fallen out during the murder.
Thankfully, it hadn't been logged into evidence and had been completely overlooked by the bumbling small town crime scene techs, so you only had to take the photo to keep that little piece of incriminating evidence from ever being discovered.
Rafe glanced down at the photo, his expression unchanging as he took it in. He looked back up at you, his eyes narrowing slightly. "You worried about me, babe?" He asked, his voice laced with mockery, but there was a harder edge to it that betrayed his unperturbed demeanor.
"No," you shot back, your brows furrowing in frustration. God, the heat was making you bitchy. "I'm worried about myself. I mean, I covered up your little fuck up perfectly. The last thing I need is for you and your lame ass jewlery to fuck me over."
Rafe's hand snaked out and wrapped around your throat, his grip tight but not painful. He backed you up against the brick wall, his eyes boring into yours. "You think I can't take care of my own shit?" He asked, his voice a low growl. His patience was clearly wearing thinner and thinner by the second. He was already agitated at being ripped away from band practice to do this little song and dance with the police. The last thing he needed was you bitching at him and challenging his capabilites.
"If you could take care of your own shit, you wouldn't have called me in the middle of the night panicking because you fucking killed someone," you retorted, not backing down. You weren't afraid of him in the slightest. You knew what he was capable of, but it didn't scare you. In fact, there was a twisted part of you that liked knowing about his violent side.
Rafe Cameron had been the one to kill Elliot Ryder in cold blood, and he'd called you up moments after because he knew your experience as a police intern would come in handy. You had rushed over and helped him stage the whole thing as a burglary gone wrong. Unfortunately, Rafe hadn't realized his little wardrobe malfunction until it was too late to go back and retrieve it.
His face darkened, his hand tightening around your throat. "I had it handled," he hissed. "Until you showed up and decided to play detective." His other hand reached down, gripping your hip possessively. "You're supposed to be on my side, not throwing my mistakes in my face."
"Then stop making dumb fucking mistakes," you spat, your jaw clenching in annoyance. You could feel your panties growing wetter by the second, which only fueled your frustration toward him. You hated how he could still make you want him even when he was being a complete asshole.
Rafe's face twisted with anger, but beneath it, you saw a flicker of something elseâdesire. He leaned in close, his breath hot against your lips. "You know, I should just shut you up for good," he muttered, his grip on your throat unyielding.
"Yeah?" You asked, your voice almost taunting. "You gonna kill me, Rafe?" You looked him in the eye, not backing down. "Who's gonna clean up your messes then, huh?"
His expression turned grim, and for a monent, you thought he might actually do it. But, then, without warning, he crushed his mouth to yours in a rough, bruising kiss. His hands tightened further on your hip, pressing against your body and pinning you in place.
He bit down hard on your lip, drawing blood. His tongue darted out, lapping up the blood and soothing the wound as his thumb rubbed over your pulse point, feeling the way your heartbeat quickened with desire. His mouth tasted of nicotine, stale beer, a slight hint of mint, and then the metallic taste of your blood on his tongue. If it were anyone else, you would've recoiled in disgust, but something about him was intoxicating.
He was so close you could feel his bulge pressing into you, and it only made you want him more. You didn't care that you were pressed against a wall in the back alley behind the police precinct, in fact, something about it, the potential thrill of getting caught, turned you on more.
Rafe's hands moved to grip your ass under your skirt, roughly palming the fatty flesh with his rough hands. He broke the kiss, his lips moving to your neck, where he bit down hard enough to leave a mark. "You drive me fucking crazy," he growled.
"Yeah, well you're fucking insufferable," you said breathlessly, tilting your head to the side and threading your fingers into his hair as he continued his assault on your neck.
He grunted in response, his hands squeezing your backside painfully before he pulled away to fumble with his belt, the buckle clanking loudly in the otherwise quiet alley.
As he fiddled with his belt, you took your opportunity to latch your lips onto his neck, the salty taste of his skin mixed with the thin layer of sweat coating him danced on your tongue as you sucked and nipped at the areas you knew would drive him wild.
Rafe's breathing hitched as you marked him, his body stiffening. He finally got his belt undone and his pants unbuttoned, shoving them down just enough to free his hard length.
He gripped your thighs, hoisting you up and pressing you hard against the wall as your legs wrapped around his waist. "Think you need to learn your place," he said darkly, pulling your panties to the side.
With one swift movement, he thrust deep inside you, filling you completely. He held you pinned against the wall, his hips rolling into yours in deep, punishing thrusts. "You're supposed to worship the ground I walk on," he muttered, his voice ragged.
You gasped, your fingers digging into his shoulders as he began to move, his powerful hips snapping back and forth as he pounded into you. His blue eyes, darkened with lust, locked onto yours, watching your face intently.
"Answer me," he demanded, his voice low and menacing. He slowed his pace, his hips rolling leisurely, his thick length stretching you wide. He knew his slow pace was like torture to you. "Tell me you worship me, baby."
"Fuck," you moaned, your face scrunching in a mix of pain and pleasure as the brick wall dug uncomfortably into your back. "I worship you, Rafe."
A smug grin spread across his face at your words, his pace quickening as he continued to slam into you, his hips rolling in that way that always hit that spot inside you, making you practically see stars. "Good girl," he praised, his lips finding yours again.
Your arms snaked around his neck, fingers curling into his hair and tugging slightly as his mouth swallowed your little whimpers and moans.
He released your mouth, his head tilting down to watch where you were joined. He let out a low groan, his body tensing as he watched himself disappear inside of you. "Look at you taking me so well," he gritted out, his pace quickening.
You gasped when you felt his thumb begin rubbing tight circles on your clit, drawing you closer and closer to the edge. "Such a dirty fuckin' girl," he growled. "Letting me fuck you in an alleyway, behind a police station no less." His lewd words only served to heighten your arousal.
His other hand reached up to wrap around your throat, applying just enough pressure to make you dizzy as he continued to pound into you. "I'm going to fill this pretty little cunt with my cum," he snarled, his voice echoing off the brick walls.
His words paired with his grip on your throat and the way he was pounding into you sent you over the edge, your eyes rolling back as you moaned his name.
His hand on your neck tightened possessively as you came apart for him, his own release following shortly after as he felt your walls squeeze down on him, milking his cock. He buried his face against your neck, his breathing hot and ragged against your skin. "That's my girl."
You panted, your head falling back against the brick as you caught your breath, your mind reeling as the weight of what you'd just done crashed over you. It was reckless and stupid to have let that happen, especially behind the police station you worked at. If anyone saw you, it could raise some serious red flags.
Rafe slowly lowered you back to the ground, pressing one last kiss to your swollen lips before tucking himself back into his underwear and pulling his jeans up, refastening his belt. He leaned against the wall beside you, lighting a cigarette as he looked you over with a lazy smirk. "Try not to look so guilty."
"Don't be an asshole," you shot him a sharp look, fixing your skirt and blouse. Now, you had to go back to work and act as if you didn't have a murderer's cum leaking out of you.
Rafe took a long drag of his cigarette, blowing the smoke out in a slow stream. He watched you intently, his eyes glinting with amusement as he observed you straighten your hair and adjust your collar, trying to regain some semblance of professionalism. "I'll pick you up after your shift. We've got a few more things to discuss."
"You can't pick me up here," you said, crossing your arms over your chest.
Rafe raised an eyebrow, pushing off from the wall and taking a few slow steps closer to you. "And why not?" he asked, his voice low and dangerous. He knew very well why not, but he wanted to hear you say it.
"Don't play dumb, Rafe," you rolled your eyes. He could be so very infuriating when he wanted to be.
"Say it," he insisted, his voice firm. He took another step closer, towering over you. "Tell me why I can't pick you up here." His hand reached up, his fingers brushing against your cheek in a deceptively gentle touch.
You huffed frustratedly, narrowing your eyes at his insistence. "Because you killed Elliot Ryder, and I'm your fucking accomplice," you relented.
Rafe's hand tightened, gripping your cheeks firmly, his touch bordering on painful as he leaned down, his lips brushing against your ear. "Shhh," he whispered, his voice dark and threatening. "You shouldn't go around saying things like that, baby."
You glared up at him, your annoyance evident in your gaze. Everything always had to be a game with him, and sometimes it utterly maddened you.
Rafe's lips curled into a smirk as he pulled back, his hand falling away from your face. "I'll pick you up around the corner," he said, as if the matter was settled. He took another drag of his cigarette before tossing it to the ground and heading down the alleyway to his car.
You watched him leave, your gaze burning holes into his back for a moment as he retreated before you shook your annoyance away, pulling the back door to the station open and heading back inside.
#đ#đŚš × đ đ sol writes .á#đŚš × đ đť sol &&. drew .á#my first attempt at actual smut#sorry if its ass#rafe cameron#rafe cameron x reader#drummer!rafe#rafe cameron au#rafe cameron x you#rafe cameron smut#outer banks#outerbanks#obx#rafe obx#rafe cameron fanfiction#rafe cameron fic#rafe x you#rafe x reader#rafe outer banks#outerbanks rafe#rafe cameron x female reader
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when hoshi first opened his eyes, the singular impulse hard-wired into his circuitry is to dance. a performer in every sense of the word, he simply finds another stage to set foot on in the planet of salax after the escape. people never overstay their welcome here, but he unexpectedly meets youâa mechanic born and raised in a place where no one deigns to linger for too long.
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FEATURING;Â soonyoung x reader
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 WORD COUNT; 9k words
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 TAGS; automaton!hoshi, mechanic!reader, a bunch of stray kids members make appearances bc HA!, mentions of sex work, mutual pining? angst, smut (MINORS DNI)
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 WARNINGS; implied dubious consent (with hoshi and a character that isn't the mc), mentions of terminal illnesses and surgeries
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 NOTES; fun fact! this collab was 9 months in the making and i am cramming this on the very last day of my extension :D very unprofessional of me, but here it is! p.s. little side note that the chan that's constantly mentioned in the fic is bang chan, not lee chan!
this is part of @idyllic-ghost's svt sci-fi collab!
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SMUT TAGS; robot sex, unprotected sex, first time together, they're just so desperate for each other yk
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PERMANENT TAGLIST; @cheolhub - @pretty-trustme - @just-here-to-read-01 - @idkmelkro - @dejavernon - @venusrae - @jyiiscool - @jiniesclub - @junhui-recs - @bldelaine - @featmia - @fruitzcup - @hoeforhao - @candidupped - @billboard-singer - @caratochan - @novalpha - @dahliatopia - @0717luv - @shiveringgaze - @toruro - @mixling-blog - @minnie-mouser22 - @homerunhansol - @mirtaspace - @ti--red - @zzucculent - @woozarts - @rubyreduji - @mozellerra - @lllucere - @cheolzip - @jjjzzzz - @lissiesykes - @dearjeonwonwoo - @meowmeowminnie - @colored-confetti - @partiallyinfluencial - @speaknowlwt - @flwrshwa - @lilylikesthat - @aurorahongg - @whippedforjihoon - @todorokiskitten - @immabecreepin - @98-0603 - @peachhiz - @dkswife
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SOONYOUNG TAGLIST; @ak6ko - @nikkell - @yoonzinoooo
100 years ago it was thought that the Earth, as we know it, would disintegrate. That the sun would implode and leave everything in darkness. Miraculously, it didnât. Due to some external force, human scientists still havenât agreed upon what it exactly was, none of the planets in our former solar system were ever destroyed.
The Earth, along with the other planets, were pushed away from each other, and ended up in different parts of the universe. Earth just happened to come to a solar system with alien life. At first, we were cautious, and people were prepared to fight.
However, the aliens were welcoming of our planet. Those of us who didnât die from âThe Great Journeyâ or from trying to fight the aliens, were welcomed into the new solar system.
Soon enough, we had integrated completely, and we received materials and assistance from our sister-planets in exchange for human labor. What humans knew of technology was very limited, but with the resources of the aliens we created artificial life forms. We named these robots Automatons, and they served as workers when humans couldnât.
Eventually, there was no need for human labor at all. To pay back for the help the aliens gave us, we used Automatons. With the extensive development of these robots, we eventually managed to create artificial sentient life. These Automatons were human-like in looks and had human consciousness, but they could not bleed and were stronger than we ever could be.
At the present time, there are even different levels of Automatons. Level 3 robots are the workers, level 2 robots are the caretakers, and level 1 robots are the celebritiesâ
âThatâs enough telly for one day, donâtcha think?â
A frown tugs at your lips when you hear the familiar voice of your next-door neighbor who also makes a living out of trading tech junk in exchange for money. Han Jisung is a bit of an oddballâeven by your planetâs standards, and everyone knows how strange the dwellers of Salax could be. If he was on Earth, he wouldâve been ostracized as a complete loon, but unfortunately the stack of television monitors right outside his shop is your only source of entertainment these days.Â
(Which might sound preposterous to some, since Salax is often dubbed as the planet of entertainment. Just not the kind youâre looking for.)
âWhy are you even watching a documentary thatâs nearly a decade old?â you huff, clutching a bag of tools you bought from the other side of town closer to your chest. âI thought you didnât give a shit about Automaton celebritiesâthat Chanâs dancer trinity could outperform any machine?âÂ
âNow, Giz, no need to be so stingy,â Jisung chuckles and your eye twitches at the condescending nickname. âYou know that's not why Iâm watching this old thing.â
As if on cue, the only working screen in the sea of television static before you flickers from a scene of breathtaking idol performances to a closeup on a familiar Automaton whoâs been burning up the stage since he first opened his eyes.
âHoshi looked so sparkly when he debuted,â Jisung comments as the documentary continues to play. âActually, they all did. Makes me wonder why those idols thought itâd be a good idea to break out of their facilities. Werenât they treated like royalty back on Earth? Whatâs he doing in a dump like this?â
âJisung,â you sigh. âWhyâd you ask me to come here again?âÂ
âOh. Right. I'll bring him into your lab, Giz.â
He calls you Giz because youâre known around these parts as someone who can fix any gadget and gizmo; every robot and Automaton thatâs dropped into your care. It just so happens that, with the nature of his business, Jisung is the one who typically directs potential customers your way.
Which is what heâs doing right now.Â
âDidnât he already come in here last week? And the week before that?â Your neighbor grumbles as he helps your mutual friend Minho heft a powered down Automaton on the table in your lab. âIt was Hyunjin who brought him the first time. Then Felix. Now you?â
âHeâs a bot, whatâd you expect?â Minho huffs. âThey break down every now and again.â
âYou break down every now and again too, but you donât visit the doctor every week, no?â Jisung quips. âIdol bots really have no business wanderinâ into the galaxyâs red light district when they canât handle the heat.â
âJisung, shut up,â you apprehend him sharply, all while getting to work on the Automaton lying on your work table. âI canât fix anything when youâre running your mouth too close to my ear.â
Your neighbor simply chuckles before patting Minho on the back. âOh, yeah. Youâve gotta be in your handywoman element and everything. Well, Minho and I are gonna pop open some cold ones from your fridgeââ
âNo.
ââfrom my fridge while you work on that dying star over there,â Jisung makes it a point to cast the same robot heâd just been watching a documentary of a pitiful glance. âSeriously though, wonât Chan-hyung just consider selling him to me? Bet this guyâs parts would make a great fortune in the black market.â
âAnd how are you going to explain that you managed to turn up Hoshi of 53V3NT33Nâs body parts without getting arrested?â Minho barks before yanking Jisung by the ear to the entrance of your lab. âSorry about him, Y/N. He must be a pain in the ass to have as a neighbor.â
"You're a pain in the ass for constantly getting me to fix this guy, too,â you mumble as you start to unbutton Hoshiâs shirt to access the panel concealing the circuitry panel underneath his chest. âIâm all for saving what can still be saved, but maybe Jisung is onto something. Why arenât you guys just chopping up his parts if he breaks down this often?âÂ
Jisung nods with a huff. âCanât be good for business even if he used to be a famous idol, thatâs for sure.â
The lab is silent apart from the whir of the machines mounted on your walls, and itâs this sullen atmosphere that makes Minhoâs reply have all the more weight to it.
âYou guys arenât dancers. You wouldnât be able to understand.â
The first time you met rogue idol Automaton Hoshi in his titanium-clad glory was during a rare night when Jisung coaxed you out of your lab to "have real fun for once". Your neighbor is easily one of the most overbearing people you know, so you simply tagged along for the sake of getting him to shut up more than anything else.
But when he droned on and on about this new recruit Minho managed to scour off the streets, you never expected that Jisung would be talking about a bot and not some fledgling dancer with little to his name.
Well, in retrospect, Hoshi is a dancerâa performer, even. Despite his group's intergalactic status as outlaws because of the simultaneous escape stunt they pulled several months ago, not a single soul in Salax wished to report his whereabouts to the concerned authorities.
Where the other bots from 53V3NT33N are, you haven't the slightest clue, but if your planet's natives have widely accepted Hoshi's presence even if he's been here for a month at most, who are you to dictate otherwise?
Passionate. That's the best word you can use to describe the way he dances. All the movements that his body makes are calculated, purposeful. Each roll of his hips, each snap of his limbs, every memorable expression that colors his faceâthe intensity of Hoshi's performance all bleeds into his passion for the art of dance.
In your many years of tending and tinkering with machines, this is probably the first time you wondered if a bot's creator infused part of his soul into the code. You know of a few Automatons that are being used as entertainers and even escorts for the lecherous visitors of Salax, yet none of them come as close to being human as Hoshi is in your book.
But on that same night, you managed to witness the polar end of the spectrum. The one where Hoshi's fiery passion crumbled into crippling anxiety. ďżź
Automaton malfunctions aren't an uncommon occurrence here. The reason why not many Level 1 bots ever set foot on Salax is because the planet's electromagnetic fields mess with their delicate circuitry and sometimes even tamper with their code.
These Automatons are celebritiesâmeaning their parts are made out of sleek material to allow ease of movement and rid them of the rigid and bulky framework of infernal bots. But because of the flimsy hardware coupled with the harsh environment, you're not surprised to see an Automaton as intricately crafted as Hoshi break down in the middle of a performance.
He's a mess. The practiced choreography was seemingly wiped out of his programming as he convulsed on-stage, sparks flitting from the seams of his joints. The barâs manager, Chan, was quick to bark out orders to bring Hoshi off the platform and just let the other dancers cover the rest of the routine.Â
You thought the immediate recall of an obviously defected Automaton would mean he was done for. But then again, Salax is a place with little resources to burn. As long as a bot can still do its job, the owner will have it fixed time and time again until its artificial nervous system shuts down for good.Â
Thatâs how Hoshi ended up in your lab the first time.Â
Thereâs a childlike curiosity in his gaze when he wakes up after you check if all his wires are in place and if his code remains uncorrupted. It almost feels like seeing a baby open its eyes for the first time, but you know better than to associate human traits with something thatâs anything but.Â
âHoranghae,â Hoshi says without any real context as he bares his fingers at you, while Hyunjin, the dancer who brought him here alongside Jisung, groans in contempt.
âThatâs the first thing he said when Chan-hyung booted him up too,â he sighs. âIs it like some starting screen sound effect or something? What does that even mean?â
As things stand, you donât know either. But seeing that Hoshi isnât glitching anymore makes a wave of relief wash over you in a rather unexpected way. While it isnât the first time youâve had to fix a humanoid robot, you donât work much on machines that grin at you so wide, their eyes disappear.
Then again, thereâs always room for firsts.
âWhyâd you choose to go here after you escaped?â
You chose to ask Hoshi the question thatâs been weighing on your mind despite having little to no reassurance of the ingenuity of his answer. Youâre aware that though Automatonsâespecially Level 1âsâare sentient, you have zero background on their psychological makeup, the thought process behind their decisions, everything but the baseline components of their hardware.Â
Hoshi hums for a moment, wincing when you accidentally nick one of the wires directly connected to the nerves on his thigh. âI dunno. I just wanted to dance.â
âHm. And you thought youâd be able to do that here?âÂ
He nods as if it was a practiced response. Maybe it is. âYeah. My old mechanic told me Salax is a place where all sorts of dancers flock together. I kinda wanted to go with Wonwoo when we all escaped, butâŚI wanted to dance even more.â
Whoever that mechanic was, they mustâve left out the part where your home planet is quite literally a den for oneâs deepest, darkest desires. Dancers at clubs are just merely scratching the tip of the iceberg. The depravity of Salaxâs denizens and visitors alike goes even further than that, but you suppose itâs not the right time to disillusion such an innocent bot so early in his new career.
After all, Chanâs club might be like any other salacious establishment out there, but from what you know about him through Minho and Jisung, he isnât the type to just throw a clueless Automaton into becoming a nightly escort. Youâll let Hoshi live out his dream to keep dancing on whatever stage he sets his eyes onâeven if that means heâll start frequenting your lab for regular maintenance checkups.
âWhereâs Jisung?âÂ
The question surprises you a little when Hoshi articulates it while youâre in the middle of tidying up your work table. Normally, heâd be out of the lab once you were done and whichever human dancer is chaperoning him for the day would pay for the services you rendered and theyâd be on their merry way back to the main district.Â
Itâs completely out of character for him to ask questions. You werenât even aware that he knew Jisungâs name, which makes you wonderâŚ
Does he know yours? Youâve never really introduced yourself to the machines you end up tinkering with on your work table.Â
Choosing not to dwell on it, you instead respond with, âJisung isâŚat the hospital. He goes there every weekend.â
âHospital,â Hoshi repeats the word as if it was something heâs only hearing about the first time. âMy mechanic had to go to the hospital because she was sick one time. I didnât see her for a while. Will Jisung be okay? Why is he in the hospital?â
You didnât think sentient robots would have such a complex sense of self that theyâre actually capable of empathy. It makes you stare at Hoshi, whoâs staring back at you with a look asking for confirmation, and the unreadable expression on your face melts into soft laughter.Â
Your reaction, however, confuses the Automaton a little. âWhatâs so funny?â
âNothing. Itâs just amusing for me that you care that much about someone whoâs constantly threatening to disassemble your parts and sell them in the intergalactic black market.â
âWell, if he needs them, I donât mind.â
âIf you let Jisung do that, you wouldnât be able to dance anymore,â you point out before locking your toolbox, casting him a pointed look. âWill you really be alright with that? Not being able to do the thing that brought you here in the first place?â
Hoshiâs face scrunches up for a momentâas if heâs taking his time to actually think about his answer. Another speck of amusement prickles your chest. He has such human mannerisms that if you didnât constantly see whatâs underneath the clothes the bar provides him with, you never wouldâve thought he was a bot.
âIt would suck, but⌠Automatons were made to serve the humans around us, werenât we?â he wonders out loud. âIf my purpose is to get chopped up for parts, then I donât really have any qualms with that.â
âYour purpose was to entertain millions of people across the galaxy as an idol group,â you deadpan. âBut here you are in Salax, light years away from the rest of your members. You can cut the moral bullshit, Hoshi. Weâre all selfish degenerates here anyway.â
For the first time, his expression twists into a frown. âIâm afraid I donât understandâŚ?â
âYou donât have to. Itâs not that much of a big deal.â You shake your head and at the same time, you hear the sound of someone rapping their knuckles on the door to your lab. âOh, Felix is already here. Good luck with tonightâs show.âÂ
âYou didnât answer me.â
You can almost hear the pout in Hoshiâs voice, prompting you to cast him a sidelong glance. âAnswer what?â
âWhy is Jisung in the hospital?â
You let out your umpteenth sigh of the evening, opening the door to your lab to reveal a dressed-to-kill Felix that smiles and waves at the two of you.
âHis older brother is sick and Jisung always goes to the hospital to take care of him on weekends,â you explain as simply as you could. âDoes that finally sate your curiosity?âÂ
It takes him a few moments to process the information heâd just been told, but Hoshi eventually breaks into that familiar, eye-crinkling grinâclearly satisfied with your answer.
âIt did. Thank you, Giz.â
Well, thatâs not quite your name, but you suppose itâll do.
For Hoshiâs next checkup, you immediately sense that somethingâs amiss.
Typically, the Automaton waltzes into your lab and hefts himself on your work table before you can even get a chance to say hello to both him and his assigned chaperone. Today, itâs Minho but unlike last weekâs visit, Jisung is here to lighten up the atmosphere in his usual Jisung fashion.Â
Though itâs not enough to conceal the obvious discombobulation your patient is currently experiencing.
âYou two,â you call out, referring to the only other humans inside the lab. âCan you step out for a while? Iâm gonna talk to Hoshi.â
Jisung, of course, is quick to initiate his rapid-fire questions. âWhat? Why would you need some alone time with a sexy bot, Giz? Youâre not becoming one of those deranged mechanics who gets off with their Automatons, right?âÂ
âQuit yapping and just let her do her job,â Minho scolds before dragging Jisung out of the lab by the wrist. But he doesnât leave before yelling over his shoulder. âJust call us when youâre done!â
When Minho pulls the door shut and the automatic locks come into place, you turn to Hoshi with an inquisitive look.
âWhat happened?âÂ
The question is met with a winceâas if you took out a cigarette and burned his silicone skin with the smoldering edge. Hoshi makes it a point to avoid your eyes, which only further confirms your theory that something is most definitely up.
âIâŚhad my first client the other day.â
Ah.
While you havenât personally dabbled in the services being offered by the red light district, youâve been friends with Minho long enough to pick up on the basics. With how much attention Hoshi has been garnering for himself, it was only a matter of time before Chan would let him entertain their clubâs regulars in a way that he was probably never taught as an idol.
After all, Level 1s are considered the purest of all the Automaton classes. Youâve always wondered what would happen if they were exposed to activities of the sexual kind, but from the uneasy look on Hoshiâs face, youâre afraid it might not have been a great first time.
âDo youâŚwant to talk about it?âÂ
It feels a little silly, playing therapist for a literal machine. But the longer you serve as Hoshiâs regular mechanic here on Salax, the more you realize that things would be less stressful if you treated him just like you would treat any other human being out there.
Heâs an Automatonâa robotâbut because of the groundbreaking discovery of their ability to become sentient several decades ago, youâre more than inclined to hear him out.
âThe other dancers helped me prepare. Chan told me time and time again that I didnât have to do it if I didnât want to butâŚâ He starts, voice coming out softer than youâre used toâmore reserved. âI wanted to. I wanted to be of use to them. I knew that lots of our customers wished for me to become their escort, so I just repaid Chanâs kindness by doing my job.â
Your lips tug into a grimace. âYou donât look very pleased with the outcome though.â
Hoshi purses his lips and that alone is already an answer.
You donât pester him any further than that. Instead, you quietly instruct him to take off his shirt and lie on the table like he always does. Hoshi complies surprisingly quicklyâfollowing your orders with clockwork precision. Heâs in position merely ten seconds after you gave the word.
When you perform your regular examination beneath his chest plate, nothing seems out of turn. Part of you wants to check the circuitry inside his head just to make sure heâs doing alright up there. Itâs been a while since Hoshi has been brought here because of a breakdown, so you havenât bothered inspecting the wires beneath his artificial skull. You wonder if he even wants toâ
âIt felt good,â your patient tells you all of a sudden, nearly making you drop the tools youâre using to poke around inside his chest cavity. âI didnât think it was possible for me to even feel that way, but I did.â
Composing yourself, you manage a small nod. âOkay. Did you enjoy it at least?â
âYeah.â
âWould you want to do it again?â
â...With her? Not really.â
Hoshi falls silent for the next few minutes once more, which affords you all the silence you need to concentrate on what youâre doing. After closing his chest panel and lubricating the screws on his external joints, he was more or less in the clear. But from the way his uncharacteristic silence still persists, you know that he still has a couple more things on his mind.
âI didnât like the way she said my name.âÂ
You glance at Hoshi with a quizzical look, implicitly asking him to elaborate, which he thankfully does in a heartbeat.
âWhen I was still with the rest of 53V3NT33N, the fans would call out my name and it always felt good. It felt euphoric, even,â he reminisces as he sits up on the table, dark eyes trained on the tiled floor. âBut with my clientâŚit was the first time I felt unnerved hearing it come from another personâs mouth. Itâs likeâlike she only saw me as a thing to enjoy. Not someone she loves, like our fans love me.âÂ
The honesty in his words makes your heart sink.Â
Turns out, ridding an Automaton of its figurative innocence isnât so different from that of a real person. The glittering curiosity thatâs always been present in Hoshiâs eyes is nowhere to be found and you feel a deep-seated anger pooling in the pit of your stomach at the knowledge.
âCan you give me a new one?â
Blinking the irritation out of your eyes, you stare at him, puzzled. âWhat do you mean?â
âA new name,â Hoshi says softly. âI never really liked the name Hoshi. Our management just thought it would make for good business to base my image around tigers. Whatâs more is that this city has already tainted it for me.âÂ
The bitter laugh that follows his words has your chest aching with an emotion you canât name. When was the last time you became this sad on a machineâs behalf, you wonderâŚ
âAre you sure?â you murmur. âIâm not your boss or anything. If thereâs anyone who has the right to give you a name, wouldnât it be Chan?â
Hoshi shakes his head. âNo. I want it to be you.â
Humans are already hard to figure out, but with each session you share with Hoshi, you learn that Automatons are even more so. He stares at you with such intense desperation in his eyes that you find it difficult to deny him. So, with a deep breath, you say the first name that pops into your head.
âHow about...Soonyoung,â you breathe. âYou are powerful because of your innocence and glory combined. Itâs obvious in how you havenât tapped out because of that less-than-stellar time with your first client.â
âSoonyoungâŚâ he whispers under his breath, as if testing how the syllables would taste in his mouth. When the corners of his lips twitch into a smile, you know youâve struck gold. âDid you just invent what the name means orâŚ?â
âThatâs for me to keep and for you to find out.â You shrug. âWell? Do you like your new name?âÂ
âItâs not just my name. Itâs yours, too.â
â...That doesnât really make a lot of sense.â
Soonyoung laughs. âYouâre the one who gave it to me. So it belongs to you, too.â
I belong to you too, you can almost hear him say, but erase the idea from your brain before you can get any more silly thoughts.Â
âWell, I think we should go. My sensors tell me that someone is very pissed off on the other side and Iâm guessing that Jisung mustâve said something that annoyed Minho again.â
âFor a robot, youâre pretty adept at picking up on human emotions,â you point out teasingly.
âOf course I am. I always want to appeal to the emotions of those around me, Y/N. Why do you think I dance my heart out every time Iâm in the club?â
Oh.Â
He does know your name after all.
That evening, you decided to tag along with the boys to the clubâgrabbing a table for Jisung and yourself as you watched tonightâs lineup of performers. Soonyoung, with his newfound confidence thanks to the name you bestowed upon him, looks just as breathtaking as he was in the prime of his idol years. You wouldnât have thought heâd just had an unsavory encounter with a client with how brightly he grins at the audience.
He reminds you a little of daylight breaking through the horizon minutes after dawnâalmost blinding in his brilliance, but too precious for you to miss out on.
âWhatâre you doing?âÂ
Soonyoung sounds a little annoyed when he glances over his shoulder. Your most loyal patient came in alone for the first time in months for his weekly maintenance check-up, but for some reason, his trusted mechanic is much more interested in something else.
Youâre still tinkering with a portable hologram projector that wandered into Jisungâs weekly junk stashâone that your neighbor gave to you as a little plaything thatâs been taking up most of your morning trying to figure out.Â
âGive me a second,â you grumble as you attempt to salvage the inner workings of the worn out thing with a soldering iron. âIâve only read about these things in books, and my old mentor said they usually contain the final messages of a ship captain whose spacecraft is about to get destroyed.âÂ
âThatâs weirdly specific of you, donât you think?â Soonyoung huffs. âCome on. Iâve got a client to meet in two hours and Hyunjinâs being really annoying with this new routine he came up with. I need to go back and practice as soon as Iâm done here.âÂ
You let out a quiet laugh before giving up on the hologram projector. âOh? Time sure flies, doesnât it? I couldâve sworn you hated taking up clients just yesterday.âÂ
He whines. âItâs been half a year since I started doing that!â
âLike I saidâtime flies!â
Your sessions have grown shorter and shorter with each passing week. Every time you fine-tune Soonyoungâs circuitry, you observe that heâs become less prone to internal malfunctions. You didnât think it was possible for a Level 1 Automaton to fully adapt to the frequency of the electromagnetic waves in Salax, but Soonyoung has surprised you time and time again.Â
Now, he can go on for weeks without powering down to regain his energy. Heâs as good as any dancerâboth human and robotâcan be, and you honestly consider telling him that he doesnât really have to come in for his weekly check-ups anymore.
Soonyoung, however, doesnât seem thrilled with the news.Â
âWhat do you mean I donât have to come here anymore?â He pouts.
âThereâs nothing left for me to check, big guy,â you sigh as you seal his chest panel back up. âYouâve been stable for months now. I donât even charge Chan for your check-ups anymore since everything is relatively normal.â
âBut if I donât get any check-ups, can I still come here?â
You make a face at him. âWhat for?â
âTo hang out! Minho and Jisung do it all the time. Although Jisung always barges into the club uninvited and we have to stop Minho from beating him upâŚâ
His invite perplexes you more than it flatters you because⌠Youâve never encountered any cases where an Automaton would willingly go out of its way to spend time with a human that doesnât hold any sort of authority over it.Â
Theyâre sentient, yes, but at the end of the day, those emotions that others trick themselves into believing that bots can feel are just a clever arrangement of ones and zeros. Itâs easy to lose oneself into oneâs own delusions when in need of a little company, but you know that you arenât that desperate for companionship.Â
Itâs always just been you and the bots and other machines you fix for a living. Well, maybe Minho and Jisung when theyâre not busy trying to piss each other off. You donât need to hang out with Soonyoung.Â
And yetâŚ
âFine,â you relent with little resistance, feigning nonchalance by fluttering back to the projector youâve been trying to salvage. âJust donât make too much of a racket or Iâll kick you out.â
Soonyoung beams at your agreement, tugging his shirt back on before shuffling towards you and embracing you from behind. The suddenness of the gesture obviously catches you by surprise. You nearly drop the portable holo projector, but Soonyoungâs reaction time is quite phenomenal.Â
âHey, donât drop it. Itâs already been through a lot.âÂ
Still unnerved by the feel of his beefy, synthetic arms wrapped around your frame, you glance at him warily. âYou talk like itâs some sentient creature.â
âIt is! Well, by some degree, I guess,â Soonyoung chuckles before flipping the thing over in his hand. âMachines are just like people too. If you listen close enough, you can hear what they want to tell you.â
âUh-huh,â you drawl before disentangling yourself from his embrace before you could implode from embarrassment. If he notices just how flustered you are, he doesnât show it. âWhatâs this thing trying to tell you then?â
âIts creator hid the switch inside the motherboard, but youâre damaging it with a soldering iron. You just need to look for it harder.â Soonyoung hands the gadget back to you with a warm smile. âWell, Iâve gotta go now. Hopefully, when I go hang out with you, that thing will already be fixed.âÂ
Soonyoung prances out of the lab with a skip to his step before you can even give your own input. When you hear the front door of your house click shut, you grab your toolbox with a withering sigh before trying a different approach to your current predicament.
To your chagrin, itâs just as Soonyoung saidâthe switch was hidden somewhere beneath the motherboard and you were able to witness a space cadetâs last five minutes of life.Â
He talked about how much he missed home, how he wished he just died on Earth instead of being launched into space after the implosion of the sun of the first solar system. Then, he left a message for a woman that used to be his childhood sweetheartâsaying that it was only a matter of time before they were reunited. Before you can glean any more information about the cadet, the feed was cut off and hologram flickered out.Â
The entire experience leaves you dumbfounded for about five minutes. A hologram from over a hundred years ago just wound up in Jisungâs junk stash. What are the odds?
âGiz? Are you in here?â
Speaking of Jisung, the devil himself weasels his way into your lab just when youâre done tidying up your little experiment for today. Youâre just about to tell him what you saw in the holo projector, but the look on his face makes you pause.
The cheerful, pain-in-the-ass neighbor of yours seems a littleâŚexhausted. There are dark circles beneath his eyes, and his cheeks look a bit thinner than you remember. Jisung is the kind of person that rarely lets the things that bother him show on his face, so youâre a little concerned to see him in such a state right now.
âJisung, whatâs wrong?âÂ
He doesnât even hesitate. âItâs Jieun⌠HeâsâHe needs a heart transplant. If he doesnât get a replacement in eight weeks, heâll die. I canât handle that, Y/N. I canât lose him. Heâs the only family Iâve got leftâŚâ
You panic internally somewhat when Jisung starts rambling in front of you, tears streaking his face as the man who you thought was always a step ahead of everybody starts to crumble before you. Youâre not expert in consoling people who direly need it, but youâre at least rational enough to lead him out of your stuffy lab and back to the comfort of your living room.
There, you give Jisung a glass of water and several minutes to catch his breath.
Once he calms down, he speaks.
âIâve already outsourced a compatible donor,â he murmurs. âIt should all be in the clear now, but the problem right now is money. The shitty healthcare system on this planet wonât greenlight any transplants unless everything is paid in full. I-I canât come up with the money they want from me in less than two months.â
Fuck. Heâs in a tight spot then. âOh, JisungâŚâ
âBut Iâve thought of a way that might work if you help me.â
You flash him a confused look. âWhat do you mean?â
Jisungâs throat bobs before letting out a shuddering breath. You only notice how bloodshot his eyes are when he leans closer to tell you about his so-called plan.
âSome intergalactic guards have been spotted around the main district lately. Word from the street is that theyâre still searching for the other members of that idol group that escaped Earth and that a generous reward would be given to everyone whoâll cooperate,â he whispers conspiratorially, and from those few sentences alone, youâre already dreading what heâs planning. âIf I lead them to Hoshi, I should be able to raise enough money for Jieunâs surgery. Enough that I can even split the reward between the two of us!â
âNo,â you tell him sharply. âYouâre not going to sell out SooâHoshi like that. He practically lives here already.â
âHeâs just a fucking bot, Giz,â Jisung snaps. âThe worst theyâll do if they catch him is give him time out for a few days until heâs back to being the idol that everyone knows and loves. If I donât get the money I need for my brotherâs transplant, heâs going to die.â
You hold Jisungâs intense stare despite not having a good enough comeback. Heâs right. Soonyoung isnât even supposed to be here at all. And if surrendering him to the cops meant Jisung would have the means to help his brother survive, the only logical thing to do is give him a hand.
But then you remember the way Soonyoungâs eyes disappear behind the widest of grins whenever heâs enjoying himself. How he trusted you enough to confide in his troubles during his first client booking, the way his eyes sparkled when you first called him Soonyoungâ
Itâs not just my name. Itâs yours, too.
âI canât help you, Jisung,â you murmur. âIf youâre going to go about the situation like this, I canât help you. Iâm sorry.â
Your neighbor and long-time friend nods once, twice before getting up from your couch. Guilt bites into your chest as Jisung leads himself to the front door, and you couldâve sworn your heart sank into your stomach when he closes it behind him.
In the ear-splitting silence, you wonder if thereâs any way to save someone without sacrificing anybody else.
While itâs true that youâve never taken up the type of entertainment that Salax is famous for, that doesnât mean youâre completely unaware of what goes on during those sorts of transactions.
Despite himself, Minho can be a bit of a chatterbox especially when heâs had one drink too many. There was a time when he told you about how he was booked for the night by a married couple and they edged him until he was in tears on the mattress. Then, he proceeded to share that he was quite literally incapacitated for days because the wife had exceptional skill with her strap-ons.Â
You donât really hear these kinds of stories from Soonyoung. The possible reasons are 1.) Automatons donât have a sense of gossip and see no benefit in sharing the gritty details of their sex lives, and 2.) He just doesnât see you as someone worth telling said gritty details about.
The second possibility gnaws at you more than it should. You donât really care about Soonyoungâs nightly escapades. Youâre just his mechanic. As long as he doesnât fuck himself up like he used to when he first started working at the club, youâll have no complaints.
But after a late-night grocery store run, you unknowingly run into Soonyoung and someone who you presume to be one of his clients. Theyâre right outside the building of Chanâs club, and Soonyoung is obviously romancing the woman who paid for his company that night by caging her against the wall, whispering something in her ear with a sordid smirk.
Youâve never seen him like this. Whenever heâs with you, Soonyoungâs all too-wide smiles and unprovoked hugs. The more he hangs out with you during his free time, the more difficult it is for you to picture him as that seductive dancer that has charmed everyone whoâs anyone on Salax.
Part of youâan irrational part of youâwants to hide him away from the rest of the world. But then you remember youâre just his mechanic and that it would be weird to be feeling this way about an Automaton, of all things.
You manage to brush off the scene you witnessed for a few weeks. Soonyoung still shows up at your house to watch a few movies or help you fix some other bots that come into the shop. Heâs excellent company because his robot-to-robot communication skills make your job easier than it used to be.
Until one night, he snuggles up to you on the couch a little too closelyâyour heart beating a little too fast at the close proximity.
âI donât get why she has to give up her tail for a man,â he murmurs from where his chin is propped on top of your shoulder, pulling you closer to him whether he knows it or not. âArenât there any other mermen that Ariel could just get with?â
âThatâs what makes the story interesting, Soonie,â you chuckle, trying not to melt in his embrace despite knowing that the heat of his body is all artificial. âSheâs sacrificing everything for love. Itâs all part of the human experience.â
Soonyoung scoffs at that. âBut Arielâs a mermaid.âÂ
âJust shut up and watch the movie.â
Ever the obedient bot, your current company does as heâs told until the credits start rolling and you have to get up to rid yourself of a crick in your neck. Youâve been in the same position for over two hours, having forgotten that Automatons donât need to move around to get comfortable in their seats. Oversight on your part, really.
But before you can even attempt to crawl out of Soonyoungâs secure embrace, he tugs you back downâforcing you to face him with a puzzled expression.
âIâm gonna get some water,â you tell him. âLet me go, clingy robot.â
He doesnât budge. Soonyoung simply pins you in place with his firm grip and the heat of his stare, and it takes you a few moments to realize that heâs looking at you the same way he looked at that woman outside of Chanâs club a few nights ago.
âYou saw me while I was working, didnât you?â he murmurs. âIâm sorry.â
You swallow thickly. âW-Why are you apologizing?â
âBecause I accidentally introduced myself with the name you gave me,â Soonyoung sighs, lower lip swelling into a pout. âI always go by Hoshi at work, but weâd just finished watching Pocahontas together before I timed in that night.â
âSoonyoung,â you address him warily, unsure of where you should place yourself in this situation. âWhat are you going on about? That name is yours.â
âAnd I told you that itâs yours as well, didnât I?â His laughter is a soft noise that tickles the back of your neck, making gooseflesh prickle the skin of your arms.Â
âIâm yours.â
His words make a steady buzz resound in your head, making you second guess if any of this is even real. Did you drink too many pints of beer and are currently hallucinating a Soonyoung that might feel the same way you do about him? Thatâs not right. Jisung already emptied your fridge of alcoholic beverages months ago and you havenât bought any new packs since.
But if youâre not intoxicated, why in the world is an Automaton speaking to you as if heâs confessing feelings he doesnât even have?
âYouâre just hung up on the movie, you bucket of bolts,â you grumble, trying to push him off of you to no avail. Fuck. This is all very much real then. âSoonyoung, Iâm not playing around.â
âNeither am I,â he whispers. When he leans closer, you donât feel his breath on your face, donât hear his heart thundering in his chest because he isnât human.Â
He isnât human, yet why doesnât that stop you from wanting him anyway?
âTell me to get up and leave if you want me to stop,â Soonyoung proposes with a dangerous look in his eyes. âTell me you donât want me and Iâll leave you alone for good.â
You want himâyou want him so fucking bad, it feels like a disease.
âWhyâre you only coming for me with this now?â you whisper. âWhat prompted it?â
The handsome Automaton laughs quietly, caressing your face so delicately, you wonder if he learned to practice it from the countless clients heâs entertained. âI think Iâve always been a little attached to you since I first woke up after breaking down. Youâre the one who cured my anxiety, Y/N. Itâs only natural for me to feel drawn to you.â
âYouâre avoiding the question.âÂ
âHeh. Fine. Maybe itâs because Ariel inspired me to be a little more like herâto sacrifice everything love.â
âŚLove?Â
Soonyoung loves you?Â
It doesnât make sense. He isnât supposed to love. Automatons are sentient, but they arenât capable of a full spectrum of emotions. The mere prospect of it goes against everything youâve been taught ever since you decided that you wanted to become a mechanic.
But from the way Soonyoung is looking at you alone, you remind yourself that every now and again, there are outliers to all the facts printed on every Automaton textbook youâve buried your nose in.Â
Rationality is your enemy at this point, and you toss all of it to the wind when you yank the front of Soonyoungâs shirtâmending your lips into a kiss that shouldnât feel as good as it does. His mouth is soft on top of yours, and he moves to the cadence youâve set so languidly, it almost feels fluid. You gasp into his mouth when Soonyoung curls an arm around your waist, pressing you as close to him as humanly possible.
âSoonyoung,â you whisper. âWant you.âÂ
He pulls away for a secondânot even looking a fraction of how disheveled you are from a single kiss. âAre you sure?âÂ
The concern in his tone sends a rush straight through your skull. What kind of algorithm allows for an Automaton to express that kind of emotion on its own accord? Are the other idols that escaped with him the same way? You find out that you donât really know the answers to these questions right nowânor do you want to know.
What you want is for him to be so deep inside you, youâll feel him for days.
You yank him down for another kiss all while you desperately rid yourself of your once-comfortable and now-stifling clothes. They come off one by one until theyâre but a heap on the floor and Soonyoung has the gall to chuckle at your impatience.
âIf you wanted me this much, you shouldâve just told me sooner,â he whispers, peppering your face with featherlight kisses. âI think Iâve had enough practice to be a good enough lover for you.â
âMention that so-called practice again and Iâll deactivate your nervous system,â you growl and Soonyoung responds by trailing his mouth across your neckâsuckling at the skin above your pulse with a conniving grin.Â
Just like any other humanoid Level 1, Soonyoung is soft in all places humans should be. His lips, his skinâeverything. While the physics that surrounded an Automatonâs male genitalia are out of your scope of expertise, itâs infinitesimally interesting to know that their cocks work the exact same way as a humanâs. Even if thereâs no blood coursing through his non-existent veins, Soonyoung still gets hard with just the right stimulus.Â
That stimulus being the swell of your breasts because he hasnât parted from them since he started suckling on the sensitive flesh five minutes ago.
âSoonie,â you whimper, grinding your sopping core against his thigh. âMore. Give me more.â
He laughsâa breathless little sound before his gaze flickers up to you so lovingly, it almost hurts. âI thought I was the impatient one between the two of us.â
âJust shut up and fuck me, please.âÂ
The raw desire in your plea makes the smile disappear from his face. When Soonyoung presses his forehead against yours, his gaze sears into your own so intensely, youâll still be able to see him with your eyes closed.
âI never thought Iâd ever get to hear you beg for me,â he admits, adjusting himself on the couch for your comfort. âI want to hear it again.â
Your Automaton lover doesnât give you any forewarning that heâll be pushing the head of his cock inside you. Youâre simply greeted by the welcome intrusion of him parting your slick wallsâlittle to no preparation needed because of how much youâre dripping onto the cushions. Soonyoung hisses between his teeth, a ravenous look that youâve never seen sitting on his face, which has you clamping down deliciously against his length.
âDo you feel it?â he murmurs, sinking inch by fucking inch into you. âDo you feel me inside you?â
You feel him everywhere. All of your senses are overloaded with him, him, him. Right now, he isnât Hoshi from 53V3NT33N or Hoshi, the rising star of the red light district.
Heâs Soonyoung. Your precious, irreplaceable Soonyoung.
âYes,â you moan out loud, fucking your hips back onto his to generate the friction you so direly needed. âDeeper, Soonyoung. Want you deeper.â
And he gives you just that.Â
Soonyoung pistons his hips with practiced ease, not a single pant to be heard from him as his cock plunges in and out of your wet heat. You pull him into your embrace like youâre afraid heâll disappear if you donât hold onto him tightly enough and your lover quickly picks up on the messageâwrapping his strong arms around you as he mercilessly pounds you into the sofa.
Every word you know eludes you as the mind-numbing pleasure frazzles your brain. You canât even articulate how good it feels to have him ram into you like he wants to leave his mark inside your body forever. Youâve never had sex this toe-curling, and itâs a little pitiful to make that discovery when the one whoâs fucking you to an inch of your life isnât even human.
But thatâs what makes it feel right in the midst of its wrongness.Â
When you come apart on his cock the first time, it makes you wonder if thatâs what it feels like to fall from grace. The creeping high leading up to your release as you free-fall into oblivion shouldâve been daunting, but all that sings in your veins is pure ecstasy as Soonyoung fucks you through your orgasm.Â
He leans down to capture your lips, devouring your mouth in a way that only means heâs staking his claim. Itâs a kiss that bruisesâa kiss that persists. And you barely hear yourself scream his name into his mouth when you finally come down from bliss.
Just when you thought you could finally let yourself breathe, Soonyoung gently turns you around on the couchâforcing your back into an arch as he props you up by the knees. Still disoriented from your last orgasm, you donât immediately process what heâs trying to do until you feel the hardness of his cock nudging against the ridge of your ass.
Thatâs when you remember that Automatons do not get tired.Â
Fuck.
âYou better be ready for me,â Soonyoung chuckles into your ear before pressing a soft kiss to your temple.Â
âIf you want me, youâre getting all of me.â
In the aftermath, you let yourself look at Soonyoung even with your eyes streaked with tears. Heâs smiling at you like youâre the most precious thing in all the galaxies combined and youâre too fucked out to not melt into his embrace when he engulfs you in the heat of his arms.
You love him, you think.Â
Loving a machine that shouldnât be capable of love is contradictory in every sense of the word. Heâs a complete softie whenever he hangs out with you, but would pass as a predator when heâs with his clients. Heâs a bot that loves to dance, but would give that up in a heartbeat if others needed him for another purpose.Â
Then again the lines have started to blur considerably since Soonyoung started fucking you into incoherence. Pain and pleasure, human and not human, love and lustâ
âI love you,â you murmur, only half conscious as Soonyoung carries you to your bed. âSoonyoung, I love youâŚâ
A soft laugh rumbles deep in his chest as he tucks you inâreplacing the warmth of his body with the comfort of your blanket. You frown at the sudden change, but heâs tired you out too much for you to hold up any sort of protest.Â
As he stands before the doorway, you manage to wrench your eyes open just a tadâenough to see the ray of sunshine standing before you with a loving look on his face. He even does that little pose with his fingers clenched like a tigerâs clawsâthe one he did when he opened his eyes after you managed to fix him the first time.
Horanghae⌠Thatâs what he called it, right?
Youâre too exhausted to notice the pained undertones that lurk beneath Soonyoungâs smile, but perhaps itâs something that you can deal with once morning comes.Â
If heâs still there at all.
âThat took you a while.â
Jisungâs voice is clipped when Soonyoung emerges from your house with an indifferent look on his face. Standing right behind him are a bunch of familiar facesânamely 53V3NT33Nâs main manager along with a handful of guards that used to keep them tightly locked up back in their main facility on Earth.
He never thought heâd have to see them again.
âIf Iâm leaving this place for good, Iâm not going to go without giving her something to remember me by,â Soonyoung grumbles, hands shoved into the pockets of his sweats as he rejoins his former colleagues. âIs it true? Youâll give Jisung enough money for his brotherâs transplant if I come back?â
His manager nods once. âPositive. The reward money will be doubled since you returned without resistance. But I cannot guarantee the degree of the punishment youâll be facing because of your escape.âÂ
Right. Of course thereâll be consequences for his own actions. But Soonyoung is just glad that he got to have you at least once in his robotic life before he has to turn himself back in.
âJisung,â Soonyoungâno, Hoshi calls out. âCan you promise to take care of her? If you donât, Iâll personally fly back here to kill you with my own two hands.â
âHoshi,â one of the guards grunts behind him, shoving his back with a warning glare. âNo violence. Even minor threats like that will make your sentence even heavier.â
He doesnât care. Not really.
âJust give the man his money and letâs go,â he grumbles, forcing himself to turn away from the direction of your house before his code malfunctions and he ends up bolting back inside.Â
His manager nods before one of the assistants presents Jisung with a suitcase full of enough wads of cash to fund his brotherâs surgery and more. Thereâs a look on your neighborâs face that Hoshi can only identify as regret, but thereâs really no use for that now.
Even if Jisung didnât need the money from turning over a rogue Automaton, Hoshi still wouldâve surrendered eventually. When word got around that his hunters had finally tracked him down to Salax, he already knew his days were numbered.Â
But despite knowing all that, it doesn't stop him from wishing he had more time.
When daylight comes and the sun lights up the darkness of your room, you squint at how bright it shines even through the curtains. Youâre sore all over and it only takes a single glance at your body to realize that maybe having multiple rounds of sex with a tireless Automaton wasnât one of the best choices youâve made in your life.Â
That, and youâre going to have to give Soonyoung a very long lecture about the physiological differences between his body and yours. And that leaving without waking you up is a major foul when it comes to sleeping with someone you care about.
Right after freshening up and soothing every bit of tender flesh, you go about your day like usualâdoing chores, checking if Jisung is home (heâs not), and holing yourself up in your lab to work on a few projects youâve been procrastinating long enough.Â
But just when youâre about to bust open your toolbox, you notice a familiar gadget sitting on top of your work table. The same work table that you couldâve sworn you made sure to clear out the previous evening.
Itâs another portable hologram projectorâone that looks exactly like the old artifact you managed to revive thanks to Soonyoungâs intervention. This one looks less shabby than the one Jisung gave you back then, and you realize that thereâs a note stuck to the bottom.
The switch is right beneath the motherboard. Donât forget! - S
Huh. That guy had the time to put together a hologram for you, but he couldnât be bothered to wake you up before he left? The nerve of some Automatons, reallyâŚ
None the wiser about your newfound loverâs actual whereabouts, you followed the instructions Soonyoung whispered into your ear several months ago before letting it play.
⢠end notes: yay you're at the end of it! thank you so much for reading <3 thank you so so much to bee for being big-brained enough to put this collab together. i've always wanted to 1.) write a sci-fi fic and 2.) write more for soonyoung so this opportunity was a good avenue for both <3 i'm just bummed bc i procrastinated this for too long and kind of ended up with a subpar fic, but !! i still kinda enjoyed building the world around soonyoung and yn and their friends :') in another life, i would've fleshed this out properly, but for now, i'll leave you all with this! do check out the other fics in the collab bc it will definitely expand on this massive universe that we all worked hard to put together <3
this is part of @idyllic-ghost's svt sci-fi collab!
#seventeen smut#svthub#soonyoung smut#hoshi smut#seventeen x reader#soonyoung x reader#hoshi x reader#lovelyhan#đ collabs#full length fic đ
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