#go caps go :) i feel so zen i feel so calm.....

[larsnicklas]

time to be #gr8 (x)

[erimeows]

Dye

Saeyoung Choi is sick of having red hair. 

It’s three in the morning as the redhead stands in front of the mirror in his bathroom, golden eyes tired and body covered in nothing but a black tank-top and matching boxer shorts. He’s exhausted and should really be in bed considering that he has to take Saeran to therapy at eight, but his dreams have rendered him unable to sleep yet again. He drums his fingers against the edge of the marble that lines the counter, his eyes on the two boxes of bleach and the box of toner that are sat there. 

There’s a shower cap over his hair, that of which is soaking in a copious amount of coconut oil. It’s been that way for a few hours, just as the tutorial he googled at 12AM told him. As he follows the instructions on the first bottle of bleach to develop it before pulling out his phone and logging into the RFA chatroom. 

707 has entered the chatroom.

707: hey guys!

707: guess what

Yoosung☆: What is it Seven?

707: I’M DYEING MY HAIR

Jumin Han: Right now?

Yoosung☆: What color??

707: It’s a surprise!

707: d:

707: You’ll have to catch the glory of it in person next time you see me! I’m still working on it as we speak : D

ZEN: You have such a beautiful natural red that people would kill for and you’re over here dyeing it…

Seven feels his stomach drop at that, a little offended. He’s been wanting to dye his hair for years to escape the striking resemblance he has to his mother. After the new member joined the RFA and everything went to shit, leading to the discovery of Mint Eye and the retrieval of Saeran, things have calmed down somewhat. Saeran is back from the psychiatric ward he was placed in for a few months and is now living along with Seven and Vanderwood in Seven’s large home. The new member has settled into a comfortable romantic relationship with Jaehee (who deserves to be happy after all her years of servitude under Jumin) and helped the former assistant with her new coffee shop. Everything is peaceful and Seven has gotten a lot of closure regarding the situation (minus what has happened with V and Rika, who have been impossible for him to track down), and things are settling.

Seven is ready to escape the past somehow now that things have changed. What better way to do that than to change his classic look?

ZEN: Seven, I sure hope this is just one of your pranks. If not… RIP beautiful red hair T_T

Jumin Han: Seven.

And now Jumin’s there. 

Honestly, Seven didn’t expect for the older man to be online so late, but seeing his name pop up on the chat log makes him smile. While the rest of the RFA may see them as nothing more than friends, their relationship crossed into romantic territory a while ago and their one year anniversary is in less than two weeks. They’ve agreed that for both of their safety, it’s best to keep their relationship under wraps until everything settles down and Jumin inherits C&R from Chairman Han, but that doesn’t bother Seven too much. He’s used to keeping secrets, anyhow.

707: YES DADDY!?!??

ZEN: I suddenly feel very nauseous.

Yoosung☆: Same… ew. 

Jumin Han: Can I call you?

Seven’s heart skips a beat at that. 

707: Yes, daddy (;

Jumin Han: Don’t call me that here. You’re going to disturb the other members.

707: Fine, fine. Master it is, then!

707: Talk to you in a minute then, master Jumin (;

707 has left the chatroom.

Jumin Han has left the chatroom.

Yoosung☆: So are we just going to ignore all of that?

ZEN: For the sake of my sanity and mental health?

ZEN: Yeah

ZEN: We are going to ignore all of it.

Yoosung☆: Ight then ima dip.

Yoosung☆ has left the chatroom.

ZEN has left the chatroom. 

Seconds later, Seven’s phone starts to ring. He answers the call, sets it on speaker, and places the device face-up on the bathroom counter. Then, he puts on the gloves that came with the bleach and starts on his hair. Part of him thinks it’ll turn out great. The other part of him suspects that it’ll be ugly or botched enough for him to have to wear a wig over it, especially considering that his glasses are abandoned in his bedroom and he can hardly see anything.

“Jumin, why are you calling this early?” Seven asks and smiles when he hears Jumin’s low, sleepy voice on the other line.

“Is it early or is it late for you, Saeyoung? It sounds as if you’ve been awake all night,” Jumin subtly calls Seven out like he always does.

“You’re not wrong, but why are you awake?”

“Ah… I woke up on my own. I could sense that you were awake, waiting for me.”

Seven chuckles.

“I don’t know if that’s romantic or creepy.”

“Interpret it as you please, but did you mean what you said in the chatroom?”

“What, about calling you master?” Seven snarks with a quirked brow and starts to paint his hair with the bleach solution.

“No, about dyeing your hair.”

“Oh, yeah, no, I was a hundred percent serious! I’m actually doing it right now!”

“What color?”

“White.”

“...In one night? Won’t that damage it severely?”

Admittedly, Jumin has a point. Hair-bleaching is something you should go get done at a salon, and it’s also something you should only do once every few months to avoid damage to your hair. Bleaching it back to back comes with the risk of frying it off. Seven knows that. He just doesn’t care all that much.

“I don’t care if it does. Worst comes to worst, my hair starts falling out or turning brittle so I have to shave my head and wear a wig for a couple of months. I think I’ll live.”

“Alright, then…” Jumin trails off. There’s an awkward few seconds of silence that makes Seven wonder if the older man hung up until he looks down at the screen to see that the call is still going. Finally, Jumin speaks again. “Are you doing okay?”

“Hm? What do you mean?”

“You usually only make sudden, drastic changes to your physical appearance when you’re struggling mentally.”

Seven’s stomach drops at that- mostly because it’s true. He’s done crazy shit to his hair, pierced his own body, and gotten a variety of tattoos when under immense stress. Most of the time, he doesn’t regret any of it, but sometimes… Well, sometimes it’s gone terribly; an infected piercing here, an ugly tattoo there, the occasional hat-over-his-head-for-a-few-months. Still, he tries to deny it, because denying his problems is something that Seven is accustomed to.

“C’mon, Jumin! That’s ridiculous! When have I ever done that?”

“Well… Do you recall illegally buying a tattoo gun to tattoo your own chest a few years back?”

Seven flinches and thinks of touching his chest before realizing that his gloved hands are drenched in hair bleach. Still, he remembers it like yesterday- a shitty hand-done cross with crooked lines that he had to have covered up a few years later. The new piece is nice, the ugly cross turned into a cross-marked gravestone with flowers all over it to cover the bad line-work. Though he wouldn’t say it out loud, he wishes he’d never had any of it done in the first place.

“Yes, yes, I remember! Are you not going to let me live that down?”

“Considering that you cried and squeezed my hand so hard that you nearly broke the bones in it when I took you to go get a cover up done for it last year because of how badly it hurt? No, I’m not.”

“Okay, that was one time when I was like fifteen, and have you ever gotten a tattoo before? Yeah, I didn’t think so! Those bitches hurt!”

Seven can’t help but be defensive about it. After all, his least favorite thing in their relationship is when Jumin tries to scold and parent him like he’s a child. It’s embarrassing, especially coming from someone who didn’t have to grow up nearly as fast as he did- from someone who was handed a kind father and an entire empire from the very start instead of the shit hand that Seven got. And it’s true that Jumin is a responsible adult, much more responsible than Seven, but still. Seven is a prideful man who hates feeling like he’s being talked down to. 

“Alright, fine. How about the instance a couple years ago where you got snake bite piercings done on your tongue and complained afterwards because you couldn’t eat solid food for a week?”

Seven’s frustration quickly builds. Jumin won’t just drop the issue, nor will Jumin allow him so much as a moment to defend himself.

“That was-”

“And when you were eighteen and got gauges in your ears that you tried to upgrade too fast to the point where you had a gauge blowout?”

“Jumin, that’s different!” Seven exclaims.

“You still hide your ears with your hair because of that. Your earlobes are deformed around the holes because of it and they won’t close back. It’s serious,” Jumin continues, going on and on. Seven’s eyes flicker to the mirror and land on his ears, which are- as Jumin said- incredibly scarred and misshapen around the perimeter of his gauges. “And I know you haven’t changed since then, either. Right after we brought Saeran back, you went and pierced your own belly button and it still hasn’t fully healed. Remember when you had to take antibiotics for the infection that gave you?”

“I thought you said it looked good!”

“It does look good now that it’s not red and oozing with puss from a localized bacterial infection. I never said I didn’t like any of the things I’ve mentioned, just that they’ve been rash decisions made under intense stress that you’ve complained about or suffered because of later. I don’t want you going and dyeing your hair only to hate it or risk burning your scalp with bleach, but since you’ve already started the process, I suppose I can’t stop you… Saeyoung, you really need to go to a professional next time.”

“Really? You’re going to judge me for this?”

“I’m not judging you, I’m concerned. There’s a difference.”

“Fine, Jumin… If you’re going to be like that-”

“Saeyoung,” Jumin cuts him off once more, but this time, his tone is much softer. The tension seeps from Seven’s body as the ravenette tries to calm him down. “I’m not judging you. What you’re doing is an unhealthy coping mechanism of yours and I’m trying to make you aware of it so you don’t go and do it again. I’ll stop talking about it if it’s upsetting you so much, but please bring it up to your therapist at your next appointment and get her input.”

“Yeah, okay,” Seven replies. He’s sure it sounds sarcastic, because in all honesty, he didn’t want to hear any of the rants that Jumin just went on about his bad coping mechanisms. Part of getting closer to the RFA and maintaining close personal relationships is accepting concern from others, though, even if it’s expressed in a way that he doesn’t always like. “...Thank you for worrying.”

“What’s got you so stressed out?”

“Who said I’m stressed out?”

“Well, you’re up past three in the morning dyeing your hair. You know you can tell me, Saeyoung.”

Seven sighs and finishes covering his hair in the bleach, careful to cover it so the color develops properly. Then, he answers Jumin’s question while disposing of his gloves and sitting on the bathroom counter. 

“It’s Saeran… He was doing pretty good for a few week stint there, going on walks with me and coming out for meals, but he’s been getting bad again over the last couple days and I’m scared he’s going into a depressive episode. Any time I go to check on him he ignores me or tells me to go away.”

“Can you not just go into his room?”

And of course Jumin would say that because he doesn’t understand being mentally ill- at least not in the way that Saeran is. Since the younger man has moved in with Seven, it’s been a relief, but it’s also been difficult. Between making sure Saeran eats, drinks, showers, and goes to therapy, Seven is starting to crumble. On top of that, following RFA’s party, he hasn’t been able to track down V or RIka- so God knows what they’re up to. 

“Not really? It’s a fine balance, you know! That’s his safe space, I don’t want to invade it unless it’s a life or death situation,” Seven explains. He remembers clearing out his old work room and setting it up for Saeran before he came home from the psychiatric ward. It looks completely different with a brand new bed, a desk, a television, bookshelves, and curtains that weren’t there before. Unfortunately, even though Seven offered to take Saeran to buy decorations and help him personalize it, Saeran hasn’t taken him up on the offer. So, the room has remained incredibly bland and bleak. “I told him that the room I gave him is his to decorate and live in as he pleases and that I won’t go in there without his permission. Plus, he’s an adult… He’s capable of making his own decisions! I can’t infantalize him just because he’s struggling with his mental health. I mean, I’m almost as bad as he is, I just… He’s been through more, and he hasn’t had the chance to really live as his own person- as an adult- like I have.”

“I don’t think it’s fair to either of you for you to compare traumas. Don’t think like that.”

Suddenly, the conversation is far too tense and far more personal than it should be. Seven is at a point where he doesn’t really need to do anything but wait for a half hour to wash the bleach out of his hair, but he figures he can use it as an excuse to hang up on his overly-concerned boyfriend.

“You’re right. Well, I’m going to get off here and finish my hair! I’m pretty sure by the time it develops and everything, I’ll have to take Saeran to his weekly therapy session, so I’ve gotta haul ass.”

“Alright, then. I look forward to seeing how it turns out,” Jumin responds. Seven can hear his smile through the phone. “I love you, Saeyoung.”

“I love you, too… Jumin. Go back to bed and get some rest if you can.”

“I’ll try. Talk to you soon, then.”

Then, Jumin hangs up, leaving Seven with no one but himself and this bleached hair that he’s sure to regret.

Somehow, with enough bleach, a shit ton of toner, and probably a pound of coconut oil, Seven manages to get his hair bright white without making it fall out. Unfortunately, it leaves him with so little time that he can’t even spare half an hour to get a nap in. When he approaches Saeran’s door around 7AM, he’s exhausted and a little loopy.

He knocks, his fist lightly tapping the wood three times. No response. After a couple minutes, he knocks again. Still no response. 

“Saeran, are you awake?” Seven asks, to which Saeran snaps at him.

“What do you want?”

“We need to go to your therapy appointment! C’mon, let’s go- we’re gonna be late if we don’t leave in the next ten minutes!”

“I already texted my therapist,” Seven’s stomach drops at those words. It makes sense that Saeran wants to skip after the decline he’s had over the past few days. It’s frustrating. All he wants is for Saeran to feel better and it just can’t happen fast enough. “I’m not going today.” 

“What? Saeran, we talked about this! You can’t just skip therapy because you don’t feel like going- hell, the times you don’t want to go are the times you need to the most! You have to be consistent if you want to feel better,” The words are met with silence. Seven lets out a groan. Sometimes, he wishes Saeran would argue or scream or hit rather than just close himself off entirely. Part of him wants nothing more than for Saeran to take out all of the pent up sorrow and rage he’s been bottling up on him. But it doesn’t work like that, and neither does Saeran. The only thing that will make things better is time and effort, and Seven knows that. He has to be patient. “Okay, fine. Did you at least schedule a virtual appointment for today.”

“No.”

Seven frowns and holds his head in his hands. His long, shaky fingers tangle in his hair. The wavy locks are totally fried.

“Okay, did you take your meds?”

“No, now fuck off!”

“Wow, um… Sure, I guess! I’m going out for a bit,” Seven says and clears his throat. He’s embarrassed, uncomfortable, and confused. He’s tried to do everything right, but he can’t make Saeran happy by himself and it’s killing him. “Vanderwood’s here if you need anything, or if you don’t feel comfortable asking him, you can just call me. I love you!”

Seven receives no response. Dejected, he decides he’ll at least try to get out of the house. Maybe seeing Zen will lift his spirits…

~

Zen is working on a new movie, so Seven goes to see the actor on set whenever it’s time for his lunch break. How he gets in without clearance, none of them need to know. He knocks on the door of Zen’s large dressing room and barges in before he gets an answer. Zen, who is sitting at the vanity doing his makeup, spins around in his chair after nearly jabbing his eye out with an eyeliner pencil to face Seven with a pointed look.

“Zen!” Seven greets excitedly and stands in the doorway.

“Wow, Seven! I didn’t recognize you for a second there, uh,” Zen looks a little guilty, but that doesn’t stop him from saying the following words as he points to Seven’s hair. “Please tell me that’s a wig.”

“No, it’s not! I dyed it, remember?” Seven reminds him, just hoping that he forgot the conversation from the chatroom last night. Though, he suspects that Zen remembers and just hates how it looks. “C’mon, don’t tell me it’s that bad!”

“It’s not bad, per say… Just doesn’t work with your skin tone. I liked the red a lot better.”

At that, Seven sighs and tries to change the subject. So Zen doesn’t like his hair. With such a sudden change, and with Zen being so particular about beauty, it makes sense. So what? Surely, someone else will like it. Despite the awkward feelings of hurt and rejection that swirl around in the pit of his stomach, Seven plasters on a smile and asks Zen about his upcoming role. 

That night is LOLOL night with Yoosung. Seven almost forgets that it’s happening until he’s reminded with an ‘omw’ text from Yoosung half an hour before it’s supposed to start. He panics and thinks of just canceling it, citing some fake illness or emergency, but then he remembers that Yoosung is one of the few people who can actually get Saeran out of his room. So, he sends back a simple text saying ‘okay’, sets up snacks and drinks at the coffee table, gets his PC set up in the living room, and shoots Saeran a text to let him know that Yoosung will be there.

Right around eight, Yoosung shows up. Seven answers the door and excitedly greets his good friend while leaning against the doorway.

“Hey, Yoosung, you ready for LOLOL night? I’ve got Honey Buddha chips and PHD Pepper set up at the coffee table and-!”

“Seven, what’d you do to your hair?” Yoosung asks with wide violet eyes as he reaches forward and touches one of the dry, bright white strands.

“I dyed it last night, remember? Pretty snazzy, huh? What do you think?”

“No offense, but it looks pretty weird on you! Can’t say I ever expected you to go white,” Yoosung mutters and walks past Seven and into the living room. Seven shuts and locks the door behind them, then goes with Yoosung to the living room couch. The two men sit together with Yoosung still talking about Seven’s new look as he digs his own laptop out of his school backpack. “You even did your brows! You really gotta give us a warning, man, I thought I was having an aneurysm or something when I saw you with white hair!”

“...Huh,” Seven disguises a frown with a fake smile, nothing new. He expected Zen to dislike his new hair, but Yoosung, too? It makes him anxious. If those two have already reacted so badly (i.e. clearly being taken aback and not liking it, but trying to feign that it’s not terrible even though they clearly think it is), what will Jaehee, Jumin, and Saeran say when they see it? “Well, that aside, have you made any progress on that game event yet?”

“Oh, yeah, that reminds me! I…”

Yoosung opens his laptop to show Seven his progress on the event, excitedly rambling with a grin that Seven can’t help but find endearing- a grin that Saeran would find endearing, too, if he would’ve responded to Seven’s text and surfaced from his room instead of leaving the former agent on read. 

Seven opens his laptop as well, and with that, LOLOL night starts- even without Saeran.

~~

Saeran never does surface from his room for LOLOL night, much to Seven’s surprise. He figures that the younger man’s depression must be pretty bad right now, but at the very least, there’s signs that he’s alive (the occasional shuffling noise, leaving Seven’s texts on read, etc.), so Seven is relieved.

Still, he’s worried, and he misses his little brother’s face. With Yoosung’s presence not working to draw Saeran out, and with Seven’s attempts at texting Saeran or visiting his room working to draw Saeran out, he decides he’ll do the next best thing; lure Saeran out with ice cream and coffee. Having not seen the former assistant in a while anyway, Seven goes to Jaehee’s coffee shop. 

When Seven opens the front door, a bell rings. Jaehee, whose hair has grown out to her shoulders, rushes to the counter. Though there are plenty of people seated in the cafe who are enjoying their drinks and sweet treats, no one is in line, so Seven approaches the register to talk to her.

“Jaehee, how are ya?” He asks, but he doesn’t get an answer- instead, he gets a comment (or a few) about his newly dyed hair.

“Oh my, Seven… You’ve dyed your hair,” Jaehee reaches out with her perfectly manicured, coffee-brown finger nails. The paint on them is glossy and covered in a light sheen of glitter clear coat. It’s clear that she wants to touch Seven’s hair, but she doesn’t, probably realizing just how impolite it is. Jaehee allows her hands to fall to her side as she continues. “I saw that you’d mentioned it in the chat room the other night, but I honestly thought it was just one of your pranks. Is that permanent dye, or…?”

“It is,” Seven nods. “I guess you’re the only one who hasn’t seen it yet, huh?”

“It’s quite… Different,” Jaehee says with a forced smile, to which Seven gasps and exclaims-

“Oh, come on, Jaehee, don’t tell me you hate it too!”

“No, no, I think you did a good job,” Jaehee frantically rushes to correct herself, even if it’s already too late. It’s obvious that she doesn’t like it, just like Zen and Yoosung. “It’ll just take some getting used to. It works for you, really.”

“...Thanks,” “Can I just get a large caramel frappe, a pint of the homemade vanilla bean ice cream, and a medium iced mocha with a breakfast sandwich to go?”

“Of course,” Jaehee nods, but doesn’t ring anything up. She turns to make the drinks, grab the breakfast sandwich from the warmer, and remove a pint of her homemade ice cream from the small freezer behind the counter. She slides everything forward to Seven with the drinks in a carrier, a smile on her face. “Here you go.”

“How much? You forgot to ring me up.”

Jaehee shakes her head.

“It’s on the house. Tell Saeran and Vanderwood that I said hello.”

“Will do,” Seven grins back and takes the items, ready to head home to his brother and former handler with the treats. “See ya later!”

Upon arriving home, Seven labels the medium iced mocha and the paper wrapper that covers the breakfast sandwich with Vanderwood’s name and a little note so he can put them in the fridge for the older man to have whenever he returns from whatever it is he’s out doing. Next, carries the pint of homemade vanilla bean ice cream and the large caramel frappe along with a spoon to Saeran’s bedroom door.

“Hey, little bro,” Seven knocks. “You holding up okay in there?”

“Don’t call me that… And I’m fine, leave me alone.”

“Saeran… I want you to be happy, but I can’t let you stay in that room forever. I’m starting to get worried about you,” Seven insists as if he isn’t already worried about Saeran when, honestly, he’s worried to death.

“I said to leave me alone!” Saeran yells back.

“Please, Saeran, it’s been days! When’s the last time you’ve eaten? Please, just talk to me… All I want to do is help…” Seven trails off, then sighs. A pit of sadness pools in the bottom of his stomach as tears fill his golden eyes. “Look, you don’t have to come all the way out, and you don’t have to let me in, but I brought you breakfast from Jaehee. I even got you your favorite coffee and something sweet so you’d eat. Just come open the door enough to grab it from me, you don’t have to do anything else. I promise.”

“And you’re not going to drag me out or try to force your way in?”

“Of course not,” Seven relents, as tempting as the idea is. “I want you to trust me.”

“Fine, give me a sec,” Seven hears some shuffling, which is followed by footsteps. The door opens and Saeran is on the other side, matching eyes bloodshot and tired, white and red hair matted, and skin pale. It looks like he’s lost a few pounds, but he’s alive, and he’s okay. Seven expects Saeran to snatch the ice cream and the coffee out of his hands, which does happen, but it’s not immediately followed by Saeran slamming the door shut. Instead, Saeran looks up at him as if he’s grown another head. “...You dyed your hair. Why? Why the fuck did you dye your hair?”

Saeran doesn’t look like he hates it, at least not immediately. He just appears curious. Seven smiles and starts to explain.

“I was getting sick of the red… Makes me look too much like Mom, y’know. It sucks hating what’s in the mirror just because of the past.”

“Okay, but why did you make it the same color as mine?” Saeran asks with narrowed eyes.

“It looked good on you- thought it’d look good on me, too,” Seven explains.

“It looks stupid. You should’ve gone pink or black or something… Would’ve suited you more.”

The words hurt more than they should. It’s just hair dye. Seven likes it, he’s liked it since he did it. But everyone else’s opinions matter to him more than they should, and his feelings are hurt, especially when Saeran slams the door shut in his face with not another word.

“...At this point, I’m not even surprised anymore,” Seven deadpans and turns to walk down the hallway and back to his own bedroom. “Oh well.”

“Seven,” Vanderwood greets lowly. He almost walks right past Seven, at least until he stops in his tracks and stares down at the younger man with a baffled expression. “What the hell is going on with your hair?”

“Don’t even ask, Vanderwood, I’m not in the mood.”

WIth that, Seven storms off to his bedroom, so frustrated with the reactions he’s gotten to his new hair that he decides he’ll just have to cut it all off.

~~~

That night, Jumin stays over. Seven supposes he didn’t think it through very well, but as soon as the older man fell asleep, he finds himself sneaking to the master bathroom. Leaving the door unlocked, he flicks on the lights, plugs in his electric razor, and grabs a pair of hair scissors from the drawer. He’ll have to cut off all the longer parts, then tackle what’s left with the razor. After that, he’ll wear a wig for a few weeks until it grows back red- the only color that looks good on him, apparently.

To his surprise, though, despite Jumin having an incredibly long work day, he wakes up and walks into the bathroom to lean back against the wall. Seven sees him, not because he turns around, but because the ravenette aligns perfectly with the mirror that Seven is currently using as visual aid while he holds the scissors up to the first strand he plans to cut off.

“Saeyoung,” Jumin starts, voice groggy. He’s dressed in his blue and white striped satin pajamas, fully finished with that silly pajama hat that Seven makes fun of every once in a blue moon. His dark eyes are full of sleep and his long arms are crossed over his narrow chest. “What exactly are you doing?”

“Cutting my hair.”

“Why? I thought you trimmed the ends when you dyed it last week.”

“I did.”

“Then why are you cutting it now?”

“Honestly, Jumin, I don’t want to talk about it,” Seven frowns. The thought of how everyone- Zen, Yoosung, Saeran, Vanderwood, and Jaehee- reacted to his new hairstyle, it bothers him. As used as he is to them teasing him for his weird personality and silly jokes, he doesn’t like it when his appearance is judged like this, even if they don’t mean to offend him. “Please just let me shave my hair off in peace.”

“...Saeyoung, put the scissors down for a moment and listen to me,” Jumin sighs, and Seven listens. He sets the hair scissors down on top of the bathroom counter and turns around to face his lover. “I don’t know what inner turmoil you’re going through, and I don’t know what you’re thinking right now. What I do know is you’re stressed, which is probably why you made such a big change in the first place… But I like it. I think you did an excellent job with your hair. Please, don’t cut it off just because everyone else is struggling to get used to it.”

“Jumin, everyone hates it! I’ve had multiple people tell me it looks weird or stupid since I did it, and I know they’re not wrong. At this point, I may as well just chop the shit off and start over.”

“That’s a terrible idea and you know it, because if you cut it off, tomorrow you’re going to be complaining that you’re bald,” Jumin points out, and it’s true. Even if he wears a wig for a while, he’ll hate the way he looks without it; he’s tried shaving his head a handful of times and it never looks proper because of his head shape. “It looks fine, you can’t blame everyone for struggling to adjust to it. After all, we’ve only ever seen you with bright red hair before this- minus the occasional wig. Give it a few more weeks. If you don’t like it after that, you can dye it back to what it was or dye it another color, or even shave your head if you so please. Just don’t go and make a rash decision about your appearance because things haven’t been going well lately.”

“...You’re right,” Seven admits and reaches out to unplug the electric razor. “But you should probably hide the scissors and the razor from me for at least a month. I may get tempted when you’re not here to stop me.”

“Fine. I can do that much after you fall asleep tonight.”

“Thanks.”

Seven moves to push past Jumin and go back to the bedroom to sleep with his sad, ugly white hair, only to get caught by the wrist. He looks over his shoulder and sees Jumin staring down at him with a small smile.

“Saeyoung, wait,” Jumin murmurs and leans down to press a kiss into his hair. Seven’s heart skips a beat at the gesture of affection. “I do mean what I said. You look beautiful. I love the white more than I thought I would when you told me about it over the phone.”

“Thanks, Jumin,”

“Hey, I have an idea,”

“And what would that be?”

“...Got any more of that bleach? Perhaps a makeover for me would distract the RFA from your new look.”

At that, Seven smiles and starts to dig through his bathroom cabinet for the last bottle of bleach.

[doorplays]

Door Reviews: Assemble With Care (2019)

Hello! I played this one game a while ago, but only got to reviewing it now. I decided I wanted a cozy game to try, and settled on this one. It looked like it had nice aesthetics, and it caught my eye. Now that I’ve played it, it is time for me to write a review! Let’s get to it.

What’s it about?

Maria, an antique restorer, arrives at the small town of Bellariva in search of work. She manages to find some jobs to fix various items. As time goes on though, it seems like she’s finding herself fixing people’s lives as well…

STYLE (Gameplay, Graphics, Music)

The game looks very neat. Polished, even. As if it belongs in a graphic design class or something? Font looks neat, art looks nice and well placed. I see that the game itself has a lot of chapters, and so I begin.

The game itself is a sort of puzzle game. Fiddle with the item until it is fixed. Unscrew bolts, open up caps, remove and replace the broken parts, etc. You get to fix a different item each chapter.

It reminds me of Unpacking (2021). It feels kinda therapeutic, fiddling with stuff and fixing them. The gameplay itself is very simple, but the vibes it gives off are rather calming.

I… honestly don’t really have much comments on the style. It’s neat. It’s clean. But by itself… it doesn’t really speak to me? I like fiddling with the objects though, but I do experience some moments of immersion breaking when I find that the object itself isn’t mechanically consistent, like when a screw hole doesn’t exist for the second layer of an object.

The art is nice, music calming, and overall vibes very chill!

SUBSTANCE (Story, Characters, Impact)

The story introduces us to Maria, the main character. She is a trusty fixer who can fix anything! We get a look into her life and as the game goes on, we see how she influences the community of Bellariva.

The way the story was told felt run-of-the-mill, and even felt like... a PowerPoint maybe? It kinda put me off when I realized it, but for the resources put into this, it felt okay enough.

I’m amazed with the full voice acting! Did not expect such scale of it, but I like it.

The story itself was somewhat touching. It’s a simple enough story, but it is nonetheless moving. I liked the journey and how the gameplay itself relates to the struggles the characters go through.

VERDICT

Ultimately I found this game nice for the time I spent on it, but I left it wanting more in like, a general way. The game told its story well enough for a game that started out as a mobile game. I can see how it’d play decently on mobile. But… I want better innovations in terms of storytelling. I want more complex stories. I feel like I ate fried chicken when I really crave is a steak. The chicken is still delicious and filling, but I’m still gonna chase the satisfaction that the ideal steak as shaped by my mind can provide.

I’m rambling at this point. Assemble with Care on its own is a nice game to play when you have a free afternoon. It’s zen enough in vibes, and it’s nice to fiddle with the objects. It’s not groundbreaking, but it’s a nice enough experience.

Door Rates Game: 3.5/5!

[destinyc1020]

How do you think the argument after the NYC pics started? Mayte Tom texted her while being angry lol

Idk Anon lol 😆

But I'm assuming it prob started off as text messages, if it even escalated to a phone call. 👀

Either way....Whether thru text or phone call, all I envision is a lot of shouting 🙈 Idk why lol....

I def don't think it was a "calm" conversation at all. 👀 I think Z is naturally zen, and I don't get the impression that she usually likes a lot of confrontation, but I think even she prob raised her voice or wrote in all caps lol on that occasion.... because I think Tom was HOT that day 😤, and I don't think he held back.

Smthg DEF went down, coz he started unfollowing ppl on her end, and she never paid him any attention on social media for months after that... even though he re-followed Darnell days later. 👀

So yeaaa..... smthg went down for sure. Cuz you don't act that way just because your ex unfollows your friends... esp not if you've already "moved on" and are dating someone new anyway. 😏 Why would you be upset? Unless..... 👀

And the way Z just seemed to slip into some type of depression during the beginning of the pandemic was also kind of weird to me. She was like off the grid for like over a month, and then her mom was posting all these stories about moms for mental health of their children and stuff..... 😔 I just feel like she was going thru a lot during that time from like Feb - July 2020 (ie. the NYC pap pics coming out and outing the rlshp with JE, the fallout with Tom, the covid-19 pandemic, being shut in during lockdown, not being able to use Euphoria as her therapy to distract her from her problems, JE leaving to go back to Australia, going through a quarter-life crisis and not knowing who she is without WORK, Tom dating Nadia - you know she had to know, the Jacdaya breakup, the death of George Floyd, the BLM marches, Trump and his craziness 🤪, etc). There was just SO MUCH going on!!! 😩😭 Ugh last year was depressing!

When she told Sam on the set of M&M that she "hasn't been doing too well....", I believe it! I could sense it too! So much stuff happened to her starting from 2019 onward. I think M&M really helped her to kind of let things out and slowly get out of her "funk". She seemed waaay happier after she won her Emmy imo. 😁 She seemed more back to normal from what I could see.

But Feb - July 2020 seemed particularly rough for her. I also remember her looking a bit "buzzed" right around that time back in Feb when she had gone from NYC with JE to then Australia again..... She just looked so weird around that time....and then there was that weird interview where she was looking out of it.

Maybe it's just my eyes lol but....

Chiiiiiiilllllle..... She was going through it! Who knows what he was giving her when they were together.... 🥴 👀

Anyway, whew! Thank goodness those days are OVER. Z looks much happier and more lucid these days lol. 😊

Like literally GLOWING! 😍

So happy for my girl. ❤👌🏾

[jamzandbamz]

Live recap: overall, I feel like very little was actually discussed. I felt somewhat disconnected, but I'm not trying to burst his bubble lol. 💌 I've organized it a lil differently bc there was a lot of repetition lol

(Note-- check the ****'d bit for my theory on why he's talking this way lol could be dead wrong tho)

-They're uploading the edited version on Monday morning (to yt I believe)

-The energy was unlike anything I've seen from him. The bottom line I'm getting is that he is basically high on romance. He repeated many, many, many times throughout the 2 hours that:

He is a new man, a *grown* man (so many times), he's "matured decades in past week," "a lot has changed in the past week," feels like he's outgrowing the boys (kinda laughed after), not doing house music intros, that he's "liberated," "more open minded," that "material items mean nothing," "there will be no more cursing on the show," no more dick pics, this is the "new me," that he's high on life, "I'm in control of my mind," not on drugs. Over and over. It was the entire theme. He was very uninterested in the questions. I could go on lol

-worth saying that he kept repeating "Anything that can be fixed with medication can be fixed with meditation" 🤣 even when he called his parents later, did it again

-sunglasses on the whole time

-All the comments in the chat were this: idk how to react to this version of Jeff, this is crazy, cult is gonna unionize and walk out, Jeff this is too calm, he's so zen he's not even letting us bully him, anyone else confused

-even kyle said "idk what going on anymore"

-and even Steven was like "I'm scared right now" 🤣🤣

-so he basically/clearly attributes these changes to the girl he's seeing. He said "I have a woman in my life now who's teaching me to lead a holistic lifestyle," they meditated together (he didnt like it initially), he only uses hydroflasks now

-he attempted two meditations LIVE y'all haha 😶‍🌫️☁️☁️

- "Ok I'll be honest, I knew the girl, that I met, already for years"

-when asked for info about his coachella fling, he said: "It wasn't a fling, it's still going on"

-not bf/gf "yet"

-****(me wondering: if it's the girl who is older than him (??), maybe that's why he brought up maturity/being mature/being grown up so much?)

-basically she is Mexican, reads books in the park, is athletic (he didn't sound overly convincing), hikes, has a sense of humor, doesn't watch YouTube, doesn't know what Patreon is/something like that

-said, "Maybe I'll come back with a whole diff attitude" next week, maybe this is a phase, he's regurgitating a lot of what he's hearing on a meditation app so it might be a new ballgame next week

-called his mom, told her about this girl bc he hadn't talked to her. Kept saying that he's going to have kids with her, multiple times! Like, delivering the baby in a "bathtub in his house."

-Something even about her being the "love of my life" but it was vague, hard to read the tone

-at one point said he wanted to be open about everything, then later said that he's thinking about not sharing any of this stuff, "live my life in private"

--------- everything else unrelated to girl:

-Tossing and turning at night, hallucinating?, hard to sleep w/o ambien, melatonin gives him nightmares

-Jorge Janko gave Steve advice to not overstep. Steven barely spoke tho 🥺

-said his "biggest flex in life is that my parents are proud of me" (pointed to awards to show they didn't matter)

-❗️Going to NY next week, doing pop up shops with the products in stores, with the crew, "signing autographs" 🤣🤣

-"Johnny depp" came on lol, with the hair part, mustache, jewelry...it was Ryan, i barely paid attention, comments were "SCAM FM" "cap fm" and "I cant"

-Initially thought poop on bed situation was hot (girls who are nuts), but basically not any more..

-when asked about his new motivation, "whats next" bc of this girl, he said: Writing! He wants to write a book, turn it into a show (not like mike's/jail) it'll be a self-help book. 💗💗🤧 Also still into youtube ufc/boxing/mma anything (starting to get jokey)

-Hung out w Vince the other night

-Thinks girls hit him up bc they want to fix him (mental problems)

More was said but these are the most, most relevant!! 💗💗💗

[metalbvcky]

*Shows up late to the Stucky/Marvel fandom Post-EG with Starbucks and dozens of fics that I’ve read in hand* So you guys like fanfiction?

Yeah so, because of quarantine I’ve been consuming a ton of fic. I’ve probably read over 1.5 million words in just a couple months. So why not share what I’ve been reading! Note that some of these are older (popular) fics so veteran Stucky peeps will probably know of them since I not too recently delved into the realm that is Stucky fanfic. :)  

Down below are over a dozen fics with different tropes, Canon/AU’s, and what not. Please do heed the tags on some of these. For the curious: My AO3 bookmarks. 

Also shoutout to @stuckylibrary, the mods over there are doing the lords work. 

Key:  ♥ = My fave, S = Smut, DS = Dom/Sub 

Heroes are Easy, People are Hard ♥ by Halbereth, Lorien - Words: 152,284 | CW Fix It, Slight Canon Divergence, Recovery, Slow Burn

Shuri and Wanda cleared Bucky's triggers shortly after Killmonger's attempted coup, and he and Steve went on the run. But it turns out there's more to "fixing Bucky's head" than "getting Hydra out of it." When a group of rogue scientists manage to neutralize the serum and make Steve very sick--pre-serum "this is bad" kind of sick--and they're cut off from contact with Wakanda, Bucky knows only one person with resources to help. He calls Tony and surrenders on the condition that Tony tries to help Steve.

From there, it's basically three variously messed-up guys’ trajectories from "This Is Fine", "Reasonably Speaking I Know It’s Fine", "I Will Be Fine With It" to actually being fine, guest-starring a far-better-adjusted teenage boy who climbs walls, a 1957 Ford Thunderbird, two women with a keen sense of the absurd, and Bruce, the Zen master of “it’s fine that it’s not fine.” Add in the fact that Bucky's been secretly in love with Steve since the thirties and things only get harder. Learning to be a person is the hardest thing Bucky Barnes will ever have to do--but he's got company along the way.

Reap The Whirlwind by Cristinuke - Words: 18,221 | Canon Universe, Post CW, Domestic 

Bucky finds a cat. Or rather, a cat finds him.

Your Favorite Ghost by augustbird - Words: 21,013 |  Canon Divergence, Post TWS

It's harder than Steve ever expected to bring Bucky home.

Despite the threatening sky and shuddering earth (they remained) ♥ by praximeter (Zimario) - Words: 71,532 | Canon Divergence TWS, Body Modifications 

“They really didn’t want the mask to come off.” Hill thumbed through the scans, and pulled out a film that she then handed over to Sam, face mostly expressionless but for the flat line of her pursed lips.

Sam accepted the film and held it up to the light, angling so both he and Steve could see it, squinting at the outline of the Winter Soldier’s skull, and the blips of unnatural white that showed up, God, in his brain, not to mention about half his teeth, plus the mask, with its thin protrusions—

“Those are pins,” Steve realized. He looked over at Hill. “The mask—it’s nailed to his face.”

Hill’s face was as unmoved as ever. “Like I said. They really didn’t want it coming off.”

This city bleeds its aching heart ♥ by Renne - Words: 34,537 | Canon Universe, Fake/Pretend Relationship 

The one where Steve and Bucky pose as a happily married couple while on a mission for SHIELD, to catch an international arms dealer hiding in a suburban neighbourhood.

The Best Way to Wake ♥ by LeeHan - Words: 42,293 | Post TFA, Canon Divergence TWS, Recovery 

James Buchanan Barnes lay in a glass pod in the middle of the table, frozen since he fell. Steve’s hands were on the glass before he realized he’d moved. “Wait, Captain!” “Get him out,” Steve whispered, his hands searching for a clasp, a keypad, something. “Captain, we need to keep him in stasis—“ “I said get him out!”

Infinite Coffee and Protection Detail ♥ series by owlet - Words: 264,438 | Canon Divergence (sort of) 

The mission resets abruptly, from objective: kill to objective: protect

Undersell, overcommit by silentwalrus - Words: 10,222 | Canon Universe 

Steve goes so hard for Bucky that he becomes a licensed, practicing massage therapist.

Sparked Up Like a Book of Matches by Sena - Words: 26,734 | Post-TWS, Canon Universe 

Steve lives in Stark Tower and doesn't have much to do when he's not going after Hydra strongholds. He attends charity events to make Pepper happy. He goes hiking with Sam. He hangs out with Clint in Bed-Stuy and watches Dog Cops. Sometimes Tony gives him super alcohol in a sippy cup. Sometimes he sees Bucky out of the corner of his eye and wonders if it's real or if he's starting to lose his mind.

Alternately, the one with terrible jokes, a foot chase through the Lower East Side, and a tiny little robot named Shitcan.

Sugar Sweet ♥ from the Red Velvet series by ColorCoated - Words: 173,400 | Modern/Sugar Daddy AU, Age Difference, Slow Burn

"What's your name?" It wasn't even a line. He was just pretty and Bucky wanted a name to go with that face. With that strong jawline. With those deep blue eyes. A little smirk, "Steve."

Awww, Steve. He looked like a Steve. Bucky pursed his lips in a way he hoped was attractive, "You should buy me a drink."

College Student Bucky finds himself immediately attracted to Steve. He knows that Steve's a bit older than him, and that Steve himself is put off by the age difference. . . But that doesn't stop Bucky from wanting to climb him like a tree.

Steve and Bucky Go Away for the Weekend (and cook a lot) ♥ by E_Greer -  Words: 30,126 | Canon Universe, Domestic 

In which Steve coaxes Bucky out of the Tower for a birthday weekend away and sweet, fluffy domesticity ensues. Phlintasha helps keep Bucky calm, Steve has Opinions about how you set the table, stories are told, greenhouses are toured, baths are had, books are read, tears are shed, stars are gazed upon, and everyone makes Bucky feel loved. Includes Friday night dinner, Saturday morning breakfast, Saturday lunch, Saturday dinner, and Sunday brunch.

Dona Nobis Pacem by thegraytigress - Words: 65,214 | Canon Universe, Recovery 

"This job... We try to save as many people as we can. Sometimes it doesn't mean everybody, but if we can't find a way to live with that... Next time maybe nobody gets saved."

An incident on the battlefield exposes how much Steve's falling apart under the crushing weight of leading the Avengers after Sokovia. Now Bucky's adopting a new mission: save Steve before he destroys himself completely, even if it means the end of Captain America.

Give 'Em Hope ♥ by L1av - Words: 130,022 | Modern/Hospital AU, UA/Age Difference 

Dr. Steve Rogers likes to think that if his patients have hope- their chances of survival will increase. Bucky Barnes has a 20% chance of survival and a desperate yearning to experience life. Against Steve's better judgment, he develops a relationship with his patient. It's illegal. It's wrong. But it's giving Bucky the hope to keep going, so Steve's going to keep giving it, because he wants Bucky to survive. He needs him to.

You belong (to me) by hermionesmydawg - Words: 29,759 | S, DS, Canon Compliant, Post CW

"Hold on." Bucky lifted a finger and backed out of the doorway, returning a moment later with his cell phone. He snapped a photo of Steve, typed a few words, and then returned to his apple. "What the hell were you doing at a sex club last night?"

"Not having sex, if that's what you're wondering." An alert sounded from Steve's nightstand - a new Snapchat message. He rolled his eyes and unlocked his phone. Sam was always sending stupid Snapchats and frankly, Steve couldn't figure that goddamn app out and cursed whoever created that piece of shit.

The chat wasn't from Sam this time, however. It was a picture of himself, not looking guilty at all, with the caption "when your buddy catches you looking at p*rn."

Circling Back from the It’s Not Linear series by chaya - Words: 59,642 (Series Total: 136,782) | Canon Divergence

Steve looks for Bucky, Bucky finds Steve, Steve tries desperately to put Bucky back together. Bucky tries desperately to let him.

Continuing Education by 743ish, romanticalgirl - Words: 14,443 | S, Canon Universe/College, Shrunkyclunks 

Steve is invited to be a guest lecturer on the WWII unit for Bucky's college course. Bucky's more than happy to glean any extra knowledge (in more than just history) from Steve, and Steve's happy to eductate him. But then Bucky has to decide if he can handle the fact that Steve throws himself into danger, and if the sex is worth it. Or if it's not just sex anymore.

Salt & Sugar by GoldBlooded, stfustucky - Words: 19,598 | Modern/Restaurant AU

Steve Rogers is a bigshot celebrity chef in New York City, and Bucky Barnes is a classically trained pastry chef in Moscow.

When billionaire and mutual friend Natasha Romanoff calls on them to collaborate for her Memorial Day Benefit Gala, they both brace themselves to spend the week working with some jerk they're bound to hate. Except... Steve makes a burger that could bring Bucky to tears, and Bucky makes tartlets so beautiful Steve's sure they qualify as art. Maybe, just maybe, together they could make this a night to remember.

@/sgtbarnes1917 and @/cptrogers1918 by BayleyWinchester - Words: 114,203 | Canon Universe, Social Media Fic 

Bucky Barnes broke Twitter with one photo

Proprietary Information ♥ from the Additional Information series by notlucy - Words: 85,141 (Series Total: 165,871) | Modern AU, Age difference, Slow Burn

Okay, so Bucky Barnes has a crush on Steve Rogers. The guy's gorgeous, talented and, oh yeah, the Chief Design Officer of the biggest tech company in the world. In other words: he's so far out of Bucky's league that he might as well be in a different stratosphere.

Deep in the Woods (Where My Heart Has Been Waiting) by SilverMyfanwy - Words: 15,353 | Pioneer-AU, Shrinkyclinks 

Steve Rogers gets lost in the woods in a snowstorm. Bucky Barnes takes him in. Pioneer-era AU ish with Shrinkyclinks, evil chickens and a cabin in the woods.

A Bucky Odyssey by inediblesushi, thorstbench - Words: 9,952 | Shrinkyclinks,  Cap!Bucky, Nurse!Steve  

Bucky Barnes, Captain America, has a plan to make Steve Rogers, SHIELD nurse, fall in love with him. Confiding in the Internet might not be the best idea, though. So when the bad pick up lines do not work and Steve looks determined to staying single, he decides to be more himself and less what he thinks he should be.

At first I wanted to wait to post this until I finished a few more fics from my ever growing read-later list but what the heck, now or never! I’ll probably end up making a part 2 reclist by the amount of fic I’m reading these days. 

Happy reading and stay safe out there fellow Stucky trash members!!

[mlmdarkfiction]

maybe this is too specific lol but could i have hc's for yandere yoosung & jumin being just a little too happy when their crush (who's a trans dude) asks them on tips for being more masculine or just for passing as a guy overall? like they're a little bit happy over the control that gives them & the opportunity to get closer to them? anyways hope you have a great day, love your blog

I JUST REALIZED THIS SAYS HCS AND I WROTE TWO WHOLE ASS FICS UHHH-

I hope this is okay...if you want headcanons let me know! I also didn’t make them very yandere aside from yoosung (but thats kinda canon) because my brain said full comfort. Apparently despite writing all the time I have NO reading comprehension. I cannot read. 

Anyway! I really loved this request actually! and I might try my hand at writing one for all of the RFA and attatch it to this one in separate chapters.  I may even attempt at writing a version with nonbinary specfic, and trans woman specfic reader if there’s interest because lets be real we need more trans reader content for EVERYONE

OBVIOUS CONTENT WARNING FOR DYSPHORIA MENTIONS Read on AO3:

Read Below:

Yoosung:

____: Hey Yoosung?

It’s only a text.

A simple text.

It’s not like you two haven’t texted privately without the gaze of the other RFA members, before.

But all those other instances...It was mostly him who initiated it.

You’re texting him!

You’re really texting him!

And he didn’t even text you first!

He couldn’t be more thrilled if he tried.

Unfortunately for his grades, Yoosung’s homework has been completely ignored, and in his rush to respond back he’s almost completely dropped his phone on his face.

Yoosung: YES Yoosung: Sorry! OMG I didn’t mean to use all caps!!!

He doesn’t have the excuse of caps lock, after all he’s using a phone, not a computer.

Thankfully for him, you find him and his eagerness cute.

It takes a while before he gets another text from you.

He spends the minutes waiting, and watching the three little bubbles on his phone that indicate you’re typing.

There’s no way for the blonde to know it yet, but it’s taking you so long to respond back because you’re

It wasn’t long into your time with the RFA that you told them you were trans. There was just something about the way they assumed you were a woman right away that had made you uncomfortable, so not only did you tell them you were a man, but you told them why exactly that had bothered you.

And to your surprise, everyone had taken it relatively well!

But it doesn’t mean you’re any less anxious. You doubt you’ll ever get over being anxious when it comes to these things.

Finally though you’re able to steel your resolve, and send the text.

____: Do you think there’s anything I could do to pass better?

It takes Yoosung an embarrassing time to realize what you mean. He’s still not the most informed about trans issues, despite trying to learn more so that he can (one day) be a better partner to you.

He wants to be someone you can rely on!

____: Passing.

More texts, because he took way too long to reply.

____: Or like…

____: I just want to look more masculine, you know? Like you

You think he looks masculine?

Yes!

Fuck yes!

But…

Here comes the problem.

Yoosung has never really thought about how he looks, not in the sense of masculinity.

In fact he only really thinks about how he looks when Zen or someone else brings it up.

He kind of just...wears the one hoodie, and aside from a couple of incidents when he was younger no one’s ever really mistaken him for a girl before.

So he just responds the best way he knows how, even if it’s kind of cheesy.

Yoosung: I don’t know how to help with that.

And...For good measure he sends his regular starry eyed emoji before continuing his text, unaware his pause caused you more anxiety.

Yoosung: You’re already more masculine than me!

It’s an honest answer.

If anyone else had said it you wouldn’t have believed them, you would have chalked it up to them just wanting to humor you, but coming from someone like Yoosung you were inclined to believe him.

Jumin:

You’re happy.

Happier now then you had been in a while.

Perhaps for the first time ever truly in your life.

It didn’t mean you still didn’t have troubles, or anxieties.

Like now.

Even as you’re holding onto Jumin’s arm you can’t help but feel a little...self conscious at his side.

It’s nothing he or his business partners have done, that’s just how it is sometimes, especially when dysphoria is involved.

There’s nothing to cause it.

Sometimes it’s just sudden.

Something about being in the room with a bunch of rich and powerful men, although as Jumin’s husband you too are technically a rich and powerful man, makes you feel bad about yourself.

You manage to find a moment in between the conversation to quietly interject,

“Excuse me, Gentlemen, I’m going to go to the restroom.”

There’s nothing off putting about the statement. The meeting had been going on for about an hour now, it was only natural someone at the meeting would need to excuse themselves.

No one thinks anything of it.

No one but Jumin.

And since you’re leaving you don’t notice you’re being watched. You don’t see the way Jumin’s dark eyes follow your form as you leave.

Having anxiety meant that running away to hide in bathrooms, or any other private space you could find, wasn’t exactly uncommon.

It’s nothing new.

You avoid the sight of the mirrors, your own reflection, like the plague as you make your way to a stall, quickly closing it and taking a deep breath.

A moment of peace, a moment to regain your thoughts. That’s all you needed.

Although you know it’s unlikely anyone in the meeting had bad thoughts about you, and even less likely they’d voice them around Jumin, it didn’t help the deep seeded paranoia. That somehow everyone knew you were trans, and that because of them knowing they viewed you as less than them.

And Jumin could only do so much to protect you. He hadn’t asked you to even come along on this trip, you’d been the one to offer, wanting to stop hiding in the shadows but…

People talk.

Tabloids talk.

The more you find yourself stuck alone in the stall trying to force yourself to calm down the more worked up you become.

When someone finally knocks on the stall you almost jump out of your skin entirely.

“Uh-” You clear your throat, and try to make your voice sound deeper in your anxiety. “Occupied?”

A familiar sigh sounds from behind the door, and instantly your shoulders droop with lessened anxiety.

“____?”

“...Yeah.”

As soon as you’ve opened the stall door you’re pulled tightly into a hug.

Jumin doesn’t necessarily understand exactly what you’re going through, you both know it. You’ve tried to explain dysphoria to him before, and although he understands the basics that’s all really...and to be fair it’s not as if a cis person ever could truly understand what gender dysphoria is like…

But that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to do everything in his power to make you feel better.

And at least, no matter how you saw yourself, you knew Jumin saw you as his husband.

[kewltie]

His office door slams open and a familiar voice comes through the doorway. "Boss! There is a horde of children, a horde of them," Nagai gasps, "outside looking for you. What did you do?!"

Katsuki doesn't even look up from his paperworks. "Do half of them look like they will eviscerate you if you get within ten feet of the group?"

A beat, and then, "Well, yes," Nagai admits sheepishly. "The oldest girl had stared me down like I'm the scum of the earth and I'd never felt so emasculated by a child before."

Katsuki slides out of his seat and stands up. "Yea, those are my brats alright."

"W-wait, what?" Nagai squeaks, face running through a gauntlet of horror. "Yours? You mean as in yours-yours like they're your kids? You reproduce? How does that even work—?"

When Katsuki gives him a searing glare, Nagai has the grace to look apologetic even as he doesn't retract his words. "Do I have to go over basic sex education with you?" he seethes as he walks up to Nagai.

"Uh, no, sir," Nagai says, shaking his head rapidly like a wet dog. "It's just, well," he scratches his cheek, "we never saw you with anyone before. Half of us either thought you were celibate and just obsessed with your work, while the rest thought you were, um," Nagai looks like a deer in headlights, "impotent," he finishes in a rush.

Katsuki swats him in the back of his head. "Stop fucking gossiping with the interns."

"Sorry, boss," Nagai says with a grimace. "We're just surprise that you didn’t just have one but several secret children running around and nobody even had a clue."

"I didn't contribute to their genetics," Katsuki grinds out, because he’s tired of going over this, "but those brats are mine in every sense of the word."

"Oh," Nagai says, brows furrowing. He opens his mouth as thought to say more but quickly closes it when Katsuki shoves pass him and heads out of the door. But it's not long before he starts it up again. "I guess that would explain why they don't look like you at all."

"What clued you in, genius?" Katsuki says dryly. "Is it their white hair or grey eyes?"

"Well, one of them, actually have green hair and eyes instead," Nagai points out, which earns him another swat. "Ouch."

Katsuki roll his eyes. "Shut up, you fucking baby. You're made of steel."

"Boss, your fist of fury can blow a hole through steel, so yea, I'm concern," Nagai defends as they make their way from the back of the agency to the more communal area because Katsuki prefer to keep them far apart as possible. Privacy is valuable commodity that he wouldn’t spare for anything less than absolutely. “I’m actually extremely concern when your hand land on any part of my body."

Katsuki snorts. Fuck HR and everyone who thinks fear can't be a good foundation to a build a work relationship on. His subordinates need a healthy dose of fear to get motivated to do their fucking jobs.

Or else they become useless like this—he curses inwardly.

As soon as they step into the main open area of the agency, there's a cluster of front office personals, interns, and off-duty heroes crowding over several small figures.

Their voice drown out all other noises in the area.

"Are you the Boss' children?" someone asks.

"Where did you come from?" another presses.

"Who is your dam?" A curious excited tilt to their voice.

"Awe, you're so cute!" A coo.

"This isn't a daycare," Katsuki snaps, raising his voice above the crowd. "Get the fuck back to work. I don't pay you all to stand around and do nothing." A series of whine escape but they quickly disperse back to their corner, but he can still their heavy gazes on him. Noisy fuckers.

"Um, I'll just go do something over there then," Nagai says, making a run for it before Katsuki can bite his head off also. Katsuki sighs, feeling a throb stirring in the back of his head. He turns his attention the real source of his headache—three menacing little shits.

They make quite a scene. Like pretty dressed up dolls, standing closely together with held hands as they present a united front against the world. Hikaru, protectively bookend by his older sisters, is wearing a baby blue hoodie with rabbit ears and white pants. It's fucking precious. If Hikaru is supposed to soften the world up for the slaughter then his sisters go right in for the kill. Yuko carries herself like a queen in her red laced dress, mary jane shoes, and a black beret on top of her head. Close by Akira doesn't settle for second best either. She has on a Ground Zero team jacket on with a GZ baseball cap on her head, a another GZ piece of merch on her feet adorned in his signature colors, and a plaid skirt around her hips. The brats are out in style.

It's an overkill, but fuck do they look good doing it.

Ironic, though, that Izuku can barely dress himself, but he always makes sure the brats look good enough to kill when they go out. No wonder they always catch attention no matter where and what they do. A sense of pride sweeps over him, because, yea, they're his brats too.

"Numbers," Katsuki greets them with a short wave.

"Kacchan," they say in unison. Yuko in her cold, detached tone. Akira chirps it excitedly. And Hikaru's voice is soft and sweet. They drop hand so Hikaru can wave shyly at him, because his sisters are too cool for that shit.

Hikaru quickly breaks rank and slams right into Katsuki's leg. "Hi," he murmurs, looking up at Katsuki with warmth eyes.

"Yo," he says back, bending down to lift Hikaru up and holds him over his hip. "What you monsters doing here?"

"Delivering Papa's bento to you!" Akira informs him.

A chorus of oohs and aahs echoes throughout the space. Katsuki snaps his neck toward the noise and glares at them to quite frankly shut the fuck up as Hikaru tucks his head against Katsuki's chest. Unlike his older siblings, Hikaru doesn't fair well under the spotlight.

"Papa requested that we bring your lunch to you," Yuko explains, words carefully enunciated and poised as though they can be pluck off of her tongue. Yuko always come off much older than she really is and maybe that's the burden of being the first born. All the responsibility and pressure, but none of the advantage. She got three younger siblings behind her and another on the way; she can't relax at all. There's an air of unapproachability around her that is indifference to the world but doting to her younger siblings and dam.

Katsuki and Yuko aren't close compare to the rest of the numbers, but a mutual respect is share between them. He's the one providing her family with a roof over their head and food on the table, and she holds her tattered family together with nothing but sheer determination.

She's good girl; Izuku had raised her right.

Yuko looks pointedly at a wrapped bento box that had been tucked to her side the whole time. "He made mentaiko for you since he’d said you like it."

"His first time too!" Akira adds with a grin.

Yuko scowls, bumping her sister shoulder. "Don't tell him that!"

Hikaru lifts his head up and leans closely to Katsuki's ear. "I’d tasted it earlier," he makes a face, "and it's not very good," he confesses, hush and guiltily like a prisoner on deathrow. “I didn’t like it at all.”

"Hikaru, you traitor!" Akira snaps as Yuko drops her face into her hand in exasperation. “Don’t go exposing Papa’s secret!”

"You shouldn't be yelling at him when you're just as bad," Yuko accuses.

Akira huffs. "I would never say anything mean about Papa!"

"It’s always you and your big mouth," Yuko seethes as thick black tendrils crawl to the surface of her skin like living tattoos. "This is where Hikaru had picked his bad habits from. "Inky shadows seeps from her feet and spread across the floor, pooling beneath her as several pointed pillars rise from it.

"You're so bossy, nee-chan!" Akira narrow her eyes, spread her stance, and raises her fists, lips curling in a sneer. "Maybe someone should teach you a lesson instead."

"Fucking hell," Katsuki grumbles, stepping forward to get between them. "Hey, hey, cut that shit out, you brats."

He slightly nudges Hikaru in the back to help him out and Hikaru, who is clearly the best child ever, begs urgently, "Yuko-neechan, Akira-neechan, please don't fight."

Yuko draws in a long breath before closing her eyes, finding that zen within her as the inky black tendril recedes back into her body. "I apologize for such an uncouth display," she says coolly, opening her eyes. It's a calm pool of grey once more. "That was rude of us."

Akira relaxes her tense muscle and drops her fighting stance. "Sorry," she says chagrin, but not completely appeased because despite being the only quirkless individual among her overpower siblings, Akira has enough gutso and blind bravery to fight anyone and everything. Sometimes even her own siblings. It's one of her worst and best qualities; she just doesn't know her own limit. "We'll be good now."

"Don't bullshit me, no. 3," Katsuki scolds. "You four exist just to drive me to an early grave."

Akira grins, rocking back on her heels. "But you loooooove us anyway."

"God, knows why," he says, pulling a disgust face at himself because fuck him does he love these little shits and all their complicated neurosis and hang-ups.

"And we all love you too," Hikaru adds, because he’s the best kid .

"Some of us do," Yuko corrects with an up turned nose, because praise from drawing blood from stone. “I may have accepted him, but doesn’t mean he is our father yet.”

Akira's head snaps to her sister as she opens her mouth to give another vicious barb, but just before that Katsuki quickly cuts in: "Okay, just tell me where are Deku and no. 2 first. I'm sure he didn't come alone and I already miss no. 2's death glare drilling a hole in my head."

Kouki’s zero tolerance for anyone’s bullshit, even his siblings, would be fucking awesome right now.

"Oh, Papa is outside waiting for us," Akira says as Yuko frowns beside her. "And Kouki-niichan is with him to make sure no alpha harassed him."

"What the fuck," Katsuki says, annoyed and beyond confused. "Why don't they just come in with you instead of sending just you brats?”

"Papa's shy," Hikaru whispers in his ears. "He doesn't want to bother you or cause you problem at your work place if he were here."

"You guys aren't mate or married so it would improper for him to visit you without causing sordid rumors," Yuko argues.

"And the fact that you three are here, isn’t either?" Katsuki demands dryly, gesturing to the three menace wrecking a havoc in his agency and the ears and eyes that had been training on them since their appearance here.

Yuko grimaces as Akira gives a sheepish smile.

"Mad, Kacchan?" Hikaru asks, mouth drawn tight as his voice quiets out.

"No," Katsuki answers, pinching Hikaru's cheek. "I'm actually fucking stoke." He turns to the other two and orders, "No. 3, go get Deku and no. 2 and tell them to get their ass in here."

Akira’s eyes light up and she grins. "Yes, sir." She salutes him and runs off.

"Here is what’s going to happen when Deku and no. 2 get here: we'll go to the lounge, grab a table, and you're all going to watch me eat your Papa's shitty food and hope I don't fucking get food poison, alright?" Katsuki tells the remaining two as Yuko makes a face and Hikaru giggles in his ear.

[thehopefuldandelion]

Not Him

Thank you @tindomrl​ for nagging my lazy butt to write this.

here for ao3. here for fanfiction.net

everlark.

I do not own any of these characters:)

***

“No, not him. Not fucking Peeta Mellark. He can’t be here.” I whisper to Annie while smoothing down my blazer and dress pants.

Peeta Mellark. The epitome to my existence. I am content, I have a steady boyfriend and a soon to be great job. He can’t be here to ruin it.

It all started on a balmy, summer day in 2nd grade. He pushed me off those darned yellow swings causing painful scrapes to appear on my knees and rough mulch to tangle in my hair. We grew up together in Panem, a small town in Oregon. I always liked him even though we never talked. And then that fucker pushed me off the swings. I know what you are thinking, “Katniss you were a little girl get over it”. There were other instances. In middle school, he won the award of having the most attendance which I was second to by 1 singular day. Darned flu. Or in Sophomore year when he spilled punch all over my dress at Homecoming on purpose. It gets even better, though. I was Valedictorian for our Senior Class and guess what he did when he found out. He stole my cap and gown. I’m not shitting you. He did and I will never forget it. This is why I hate Peeta Mellark. He’s a stickup, selfish prick and I, Katniss Everdeen, will never forgive him.

“Katniss, I’m sure he just works here,”she said reassuringly.“I doubt he’s here for the interview”.

“I hope so,” I mumbled under my breath.

My attention is focused on the man who had just come out of an office. No way. No fuckin’ way. How was I supposed to know that the very company I wanted a job at, was CEO’d by none other than Peeta Mellark. He looks around the room and locks eyes with me before saying,“Thank you all for coming today. As you are aware I am in need of a new secretary because my past employee is on maternity leave. Good luck!��

And with that Peeta Mellark walks back into his office, and calls the first interviewee in.

It seems that 2 hours pass until I am called in. I wipe my sweaty palms on my pants and take a deep breath. Why am I so nervous? What if he remembers me? Oh god. What if he brings it-

“Ms. Everdeen, I presume?”he asks cutting into my thoughts.

“Yes that is correct,”I respond while shaking his warm, calloused hand.

I briefly look up and lock eyes with him. Oh, those blue eyes and floppy curls. How did I ever hate this man. His past slender teenage figure has evened out, shown through the broad shoulders and muscular arms that make up his physique. He is hot. No not just hot, beautiful. Katniss, snap out of it. You have a boyfriend for God sakes. You loathe him.

“Wait...Katniss?”Peeta inquires with a glowing look on his face.

I pause, thinking of how to go about this. Do I pretend not to know him. This could cost me a job. Ah, what do I do?

“Peeta. It’s so good to see you again. How has life been treating you?”

“It’s been what, 7 years? Wow. Everything is going well for me. At least pertaining to the business. My love life is nonexistent and-well, I should probably stop before I get into it. “Peeta stared deeply into my eyes before glancing at his desk,”Anyway, why do you want to work at Mellark Enterprises?”

“My sister, Prim, is in medical school and I want to help her with student loan. Not only that but I need to pay my rent and pay bills and-”

“Ms. Everdeen, Katniss, calm down. It’s ok.” he says while reaching towards my hand and holding it.“Ignoring all the bills to be paid and debts to pay off, why do you really want to work here, Katniss?”

I look at our joined hands and quickly unclasp them, moving my hand to rest on top of my thigh. I can still feel the warmth from his large one. “Honestly, I didn’t even know this was your company. I just want a job and thought that being a secretary was a great way to start.”

Peeta peered at me with those baby blue eyes causing me to squirm in my seat. “Thank you, Katniss. I will go over your resume and get back to you if you get the position.”

As I embarked on the journey from the chair to the door, I heard Peeta say something the made my heart stop, “I look forward to seeing you soon, Ms. Everdeen.” He gave me a crooked grin causing butterflies to erupt in my stomach. Crap. What is he doing to me.

And with that I left the room.

***

Annie calls me later that afternoon and I recall all that had happened today.

“I can’t believe it was him. Why him? Of all the 7 billion people on this earth he could be my boss.”

“I mean, Katniss, you don’t have to take the job when you get it.”

“If I get it and I need this job, though. No one else is hiring.”I searched for days but not a single business needed another employee. I felt a spark of hope when I saw the neon pink flyer stating a secretary position at Mellark Enterprises was available, that is, until him.

“Well, I don’t know what to tell you Katniss. He can’t be that bad. When you get the job just take it. I don’t think you'll regret it,” Annie instructed me.

With a groan, I told Annie bye and hung up.

I hope I don’t regret this.

Behind me, I hear the sound of the door to the apartment opening. Thank goodness Gale was home.

“Hey Catnip,” Gale greets me with a peck while taking off his tie.

“Hey,” I respond unenthusiastically,”How was your day?”

“Great, actually. You know the new intern I was telling you about?”

“Yeah. Madge?”

“Yup. God, she's great, Katniss. I’m so glad I snatched her up before anyone else could get their claws in her.”

“That’s great, babe,” I say while peering at him skeptically. He has shown more and more interest in her since, well, 2 months ago. I trust Gale. Yeah we have our spats and our fiery personalities don’t exactly fit perfectly but I couldn't live without him. He’s my rock. He has been since we were 10 and met in the woods of all places. Both our dads liked to hunt so we always went along and one day we bumped into each other, literally.

I’ve noticed that Gale and I seem to be distancing ourselves form each other. Not purposefully, but we don’t have that connection we used to have. Ugh, just another thing to add to my overflowing plate. There was time when we would kiss passionately until we were exhausted and would go on dates almost every night but times have changed. Is it possible to fall out of love with someone because if it is, I am with Gale. Now, don’t take that the wrong way. I’m not breaking up with him. It’s relieving to have someone to talk to but I just don’t feel what I used to. Maybe I am going crazy.

“Hey, babe?” Gale called out to me from the living room bringing my thoughts back to reality.

“Yeah,”I responded hoping he wanted more from me than to bring him dinner.

“Can you get me some milk?”

“Fine,” I unwillingly grumbled back. When I brought it to him he had a dismissive attitude towards me and added on to what he previously said.

“I have a convention for work so I won’t be home over the weekend.”

“Ok, that’s great. I’ll just stay with Annie.” I didn’t want to be alone.

“Sounds good, Catnip.”

He would be the death of me.

***

A week or two goes by with no word from Peeta about the job. I might as well admit defeat. Yet again, Peeta frickin Mellark decides to ruin my life.

After grabbing my yoga mat and putting on leggings and a t-shirt, I go meet up with Annie for our twice a week zen class. The classic “Downward Dog” and “Balasana” always calm me down.

Afterwards, we hit a coffee shop where Annie’s fiancé, Finnick, waits.

“Hey, hon,” Annie tells him lovingly. “Aw, you got me my favorite. Thanks.” She then proceeds to give him a languid kiss causing me to turn away.

Sometimes I wish Gale and I were more like Annie and Finnick. Our kisses aren’t “languid” and he always get me coffee which I hate. I know, I know I could just break up with him but I don’t want to lose his company or friendship. Woe is me.

“So, Finnick, what have you been up to?” I asked him.

“Oh, you know, getting drunk, killing mobsters, giving my beautiful fiancé the best of everything,” Finnick replies, giving Annie doe eyes. “I forgot to tell you, I invited a friend to join us so I hope that's ok.”

“Thats fi-,”I stop myself.

Peeta Mellark, the very same Peeta Mellark who could be my boss, was walking towards the table.

In my trashy t-shirt and ratty leggings with sweaty hair sticking to my forehead I knew I looked awful.

*sniff sniff* And smelled awful.

Shit.

I glare at Finnick and scowl. I hope he feels the pain I’m experiencing.

“Katniss, hey!” Peeta made no comment towards my outfit or smell so that’s a good sign.

I cleared my throat before saying,”Hello, Peeta.”

My cheeks were burning up and I could tell they were a dark pink from embarrassment. He set a drink in front of me. If it’s coffee I swear to god I’ll-

“I didn’t know what you liked so I guessed. Is hot chocolate ok?” he commented shyly.

“Um, yeah it's perfect,”I told him. “So, you know Finnick?”

“We go way back. Freshman year of college we were roommates in those crusty, dilapidated dorms. He was the one who took, no dragged me to parties and set me up on dates. I don’t know where I’d be without him.”

“Hopefully dead,” I grumbled underneath my breath.

Peeta gave me a peculiar look before turning away. So what if he heard me. I doubt I got the job and I loathe him anyway.

Annie gives me a sympathetic glance before telling the table that she and Finnick have to leave for their “couples class”.

I hope she and Finnick die a fiery death. I can’t leave, that would be rude, but at the same time I can’t sit here for another hour small talking to Peeta fuckin’ Mellark. Suck it up, buttercup.

“Oh, Katniss, this is the perfect opportunity to tell you that you got the job!” Peeta declared to me while grinning. Why is he grinning? He’s probably conniving plans on how to torture me. Wouldn't be surprised. “That is, if you will accept.”

I had no other option but to say yes.

“Ok, that's awesome. I’ll take it.”

Those 6 words, I would soon learn, would change my life forever.

***

Waking up and realizing you have a steady job and will be able to pay rent should cause a person to leap for joy. I can’t. Not when the job is at Mellark Enterprises. God, today will be awful.

As soon as I arrive to the 8th floor, Peeta is there, welcoming me. He shows me around from the break room to his office, and finally my desk. Which I forgot to mention is about 10 feet from his. Crap.

I’m in deep shit.

“I’m looking forward to working with you, Katniss,” Peeta comments, his eyes soft and grin, again, crooked. His floppy blonde, curly hair is unruly and of course he rolled his button up sleeves up to his elbows causing his pale smooth skin and muscular arms to show. I felt something move south, not caused by my actual boyfriend, and I wanted to moan. Oh, to push him against his desk and him to take me right then and then. To feel his strong arms wrapped around me and his tongue twirling with mine. That’s hot. Wait, what? What is this man doing to me?

“M...Me too,” I stumble over my words still hypnotized by his beauty.

I notice that Peeta was staring off into the distance and has a slight smirk on his face. Hm, I wonder what he’s thinking about. He shakes himself out of it and slams his office door behind him.

I go about my first day at Mellark Enterprises as secretary to the one and only Peeta Mellark. Nothing strange or abnormal happens. I go home, as usual. Gale is passive aggressive, as usual. But my mind is swirling with sinful thoughts of Peeta. Why him? Why does my body react to him this way. My mind loathes him but my heart...I just don't know what to do. He’s the guy that taunted me for years and is now acting like we have been best friends for decades. My emotions can’t seem to stay in check when I’m around him. I’m so conflicted and unsure of what to do.

The next day, after a long night of dreams I should not be having, I quickly make my way to work.

“Mellark Enterprises, this is Katniss Everdeen speaking. How may I help you?”

“Yes, I am his secretary.”

“Yes I will leave him with your number ma’am.”

“Ok, bye.”

Ugh, ew. I do not need Peeta’s booty calls asking me about him. What he does is his business. Right? I wouldn't want to be one. No, no way.

His lips on mine, hands roaming.

Me moaning. Lips caressing every part of my neck.

Blonde curls falling on his face. Calloused hands unwinding my braid, kissing each strand.

Snap. Out. Of. It.

He’s your boss, my god, Katniss.

After the weird phone call this morning, I avoided Peeta as much as a secretary could do (not well) and quickly scurried home. I told Annie that I had a bad day and need some alone time which she understood.

I decided to make a detour before going home and bought a bottle of Pinot Grigio from the local supermarket because boy did I need it. I unlocked the door and opened it into my apartment. Walking to the kitchen, I set the white wine on the counter and ransacked the refrigerator looking for some carbs. The door to the bedroom was closed, that’s odd. I shrugged my shoulders and sat on the couch, eating pasta and drinking some cheap wine. My ideal night. after about an hour of this, I heard a voice...2 voices to be exact coming from the bedroom. I glanced at the front door-wait those aren't my shoes, or jacket. Opening the bedroom door slowly, with a pan because there could be a murderer in my apartment, I saw what I hadn’t expected to see at all.

“GALE! Who the fuck is that.”

“Katniss, I can explain.” he said hurriedly.

“Who is she?” the blond bimbo said.

“Madge, she’s nobody,” he told her trying to calm her down.

“Wait, Madge. As in your intern Madge?” I said, disgusted with Gale. “How dare you Gale. Damn you. Leave and NEVER come back.”

“Katniss, please, baby, I can explain.”

“I said LEAVE. You too, Madge,” I spit out.

He quickly gathered his clothes and scurried out the door, taking Madge with him. I just can’t believe he would do that. Why? I know things haven't been the best lately, but to cheat on me?

I could barely stand so I sank to the floor and bawled, trying to pick up the pieces of my broken life.

[sondepoch]

XXI: Saeyoung's Route (Saeyoung)

Where Futures Begin

Life used to be simple for you. Peaceful. But the Savior had other plans for you, and in moments, she ruined what you thought was your one shot at happiness. Blinded by anger, you escaped the Mint Eye, but that triggered a series of events that would bring you further into the world of brothers Saeran and Saeyoung. And further into the twisted world of your love for them.

Neutral Route: 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | ✔

Saeyoung’s Route: 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | ✔

Saeran’s Route: 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | ✔

MASTERLIST

The first year was the worst. But it was also the best.

After driving back from the Mint Eye, Saeyoung felt numb. He had come so close to being fully reunited with his brother. The two of them had smiled together and laughed and joked and things had finally been normal for the Choi twins—as normal as things could get, with the whirlwind of chaos the Mint Eye had brought to their lives.

Initially, Saeyoung had only thought of his own loss as he pressed harder on the gas pedal, with (Y/N) been silent, not saying a word. But after he'd calmed himself a bit more, he saw her shoulders trembling and realized, with a start, that she would perhaps miss the pale-haired boy as much as he did.

Saeyoung had been apart from his brother for four years, which was why it felt so much worse to have had a taste or reunion and then be forced into separation. But (Y/N) had been with Saeran for all that time, developing a strange manifestation of feelings for the boy.

While it was a second parting for the redhead, this would be the first time (Y/N) was separated from Saeran.

And neither of them knew when he would return.

Or if he'll return, a small voice whispered in Saeyoung's head, which he ignored.

That, perhaps, was why the first year back in Seoul initially seemed like it would be so horrible. Neither Saeyoung nor (Y/N) could forget about Saeran, both of them miserable and in grief over the fact that they had lost the boy once more.

But after a few months, when the grief wasn't as strong and wasn't as frequent, they began looking at each other. And it was around this time that they began truly seeing each other. It was at this point in time that their impassioned kisses now had traces of something else, something sweet and tender and beautiful.

They began falling in love.

From the second day they had been under the same roof, the two of them had kissed and hugged and relished in each other's presence.

But true love, Saeyoung learned, ran deeper than physical affection.

A shrill scream rang throughout the house, coming straight from the kitchen. Saeyoung sprinted there, jumping over furniture and couches to reach his target destination with the maximum efficiency. A dozen different thoughts raced through his mind, desperately trying to determine what could have made (Y/N) scream with such ferocity.

"I'm here!" He shouted, barging into the kitchen, only to see (Y/N) standing in front of an empty fridge.

"We're out of Ph.D. Pepper!" She exclaimed, gesturing wildly at the lack of the sugary soda in the fridge that was usually stocked.

Saeyoung gasped, taking the matter very seriously.

"Whatever shall we do, my princess?" He inquired, stroking a nonexistent beard as he considered the possible courses of action. "Fear not! Saeyoung, your defender of justice and knight in shining armor is here to save the day! TO THE SUPERMARKET!" He exclaimed dramatically.

(Y/N) sighed and strolled lazily to the living room, plopping herself down on the sofa. "We can't go to the supermarket, Saeyoung," she grumbled, flicking him. "It'll risk our identities being leaked."

The realization dawned upon Saeyoung, and he then understood why her reaction had been so...dramatic. He sat across from his lover, hating the frown that was now deeply etched across her face when a mischievous solution came to his mind.

"Indeed, Saeyoung Choi and (F/N) (L/N) cannot risk their identities being leaked...but I specialize as a secret agent." The redhead winked. "Give me ten minutes to raid your closet and the person you'll see will be completely different!"

(Y/N) coughed, not quite believing Saeyoung, but that only strengthened his resolve to utterly change his appearance.

Saeyoung winked, kissing her playfully on the cheek before disappearing into his room. It took him just shy of ten minutes to steal (Y/N)'s clothes and change into them, placing a wig over his head and doing a little twirl for the girl in front of him as he introduced himself as 'Ms. Ho-Syun Chua'.

Half-expecting (Y/N) to roll her eyes, the girl instead looked delighted. "Not bad, Saeyoung. But I can do better," (Y/N) smirked. She pecked Saeyoung lightly on the lips before disappearing into his own quarters. He waited with a smile on his face, eager to see what she'd be wearing when she returned, and nearly died when she returned with a sexy smirk, her hair covered in a cap and dressed so stylishly that Saeyoung had to question whether truly found that outfit in his closet.

Though her natural hair color was growing back in at its roots, it was mostly covered up by her cap and in her playful attire, she looked like a younger version of Zen.

Much sexier, though.

It was little things like that, the way she bounced back jokes at him and how she took it as a personal challenge to drink more Ph.D. Pepper than him, which made Saeyoung begin to fall for her.

And not just in a basic, teenage-romance way but in the most heartfelt way Saeyoung had ever known.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" He'd asked one night as they ate dinner together, debating whether Toph or Bumi would win in an all-out fight. He'd wanted to ask the "What are we' question at first, but had decided to cut straight to the brunt of it when the moment befell him. "I know our situation is weird, but you're so perfect and beautiful and—"

"Yes," (Y/N) had said, silencing him, not a moment of hesitation in her voice.

And then she'd kissed him harder than she'd ever kissed him before, all talk of dinner and TV shows forgotten.

After that, Saeyoung just fell harder and harder for her.

He had been forced to disconnect his bunker from the network out of necessary caution to hide any indication that people were living in the home. As such, the two had been forced to rely exclusively on pre-downloaded materials from Saeyoung's various computers, which seemed like a lot at first, but as six months grew into twelve, the amount of fresh content seemed to be less and less, until there was none left at all.

Despite the evident lack of things to do, though, Saeyoung rarely found himself bored. (Y/N) truly was all he needed.

And so, the first year was just that: love lost but found again, a year devoid of Saeran but instead filled with (Y/N). It was the absolute worst, with Saeyoung never having missed his brother as much as he did in that year, but simultaneously the best, because he had the girl of his dreams.

After that, life was a blur.

To Saeyoung, there was only (Y/N).

And to (Y/N), there was only Saeyoung.

After the second year together passed, Saeyoung couldn't hold back any longer.

"Are you happy?" Saeyoung asked one night.

The two of them were in bed, (Y/N) about to fall asleep after intense lovemaking, but the question weighed on Saeyoung's mind too heavily for him to wait until morning.

"Hm?" (Y/N) mumbled, awake but not fully alert.

"Are you," Saeyoung began, sitting up in bed. "Are you happy?"

Next to him, (Y/N) rubbed the drowsiness from her eyes and sat up next to him. "Of course, Saeyoung. Why wouldn't I be?"

The redhead bit his lip. "It's been...two years."

He didn't say what the 'it' was, but he didn't have to. She was all too aware of that fact, and they'd both been tracking how long Saeran, Vanderwood, and V had been gone. "This isn't what life is supposed to be like. You have your whole life ahead of you and...I don't want to keep you chained here like a prisoner. "

(Y/N) chuckled, bringing her hand to Saeyoung's cheek and kissing his jaw.

"In all the time I've been here with you, I've never once felt like a prisoner."

"I know. But..." Saeyoung trailed off. "I don't want this to be the rest of our lives. We don't know when they'll return, and when they do, we don't know what our lives will be like."

"What are you saying, Saeyoung?" (Y/N) asked earnestly.

"(Y/N), I've been thinking a lot about this and there's so much I don't know...except for one thing." Saeyoung turned his body and looked at (Y/N). In the darkness, he could barely see more than the scant outline of her body, but he didn't want to ruin the moment.

"I want to spend the rest of my life with you, (Y/N)." He said.

"I want to spend the rest of my life with you, too," She responded, giggling.

Saeyoung bit his lip, thankful for his decision to leave the lights off. His face was on fire, and (Y/N)'s innocent lack of awareness as to what he was trying to say wasn't helping.

He took her to hands and placed them inside his own, taking a deep breath, preparing himself for the worst. Hoping for the best.

"(Y/N), will you marry me?"

Saeyoung heard her breath catch, a soft gasp of what he hoped was happiness.

For a second, she didn't say anything, and Saeyoung felt his stomach sink. Then, her lips were on his, the girl's petite frame pushing him down onto the bed with her on top of him. "Saeyoung, yes," She murmured between kisses, bringing her hands to his face. "I want to marry you."

Saeyoung let out a sigh of relief and wrapped his arms around the girl's body, holding her close. As (Y/N) peppered kisses down his neck, whispering a soft "Yes" every time her lips left his skin, the boy couldn't keep himself from grinning. Everything after was a product of passion, and Saeyoung wasted no time in flipping (Y/N) over for a second round of what had left them so naked and intimate in the first place.

It wasn't until much later that the two of them actually discussed the details of the wedding.

Saeyoung wanted to get married in a spaceship, he had decided, but after calling KARI, the Korean Aerospace Development Association, he was bluntly informed that no, such a thing would not be possible.

One of their biggest arguments had actually been about the location of the wedding. Saeyoung had stated that he wanted to get married in a church, but (Y/N) blatantly refused, telling her fiance that churches reminded her of the house of worship within the Mint Eye, a cruel place she was often sent to for punishment.

As a sort of stubborn compromise, they agreed that they would decide when the time came, much later.

Of course, like all previous arguments, it was quickly forgotten over binging Honey Buddha Chips and watching cartoons together.

One thing that could never be forgotten, though, was Saeran.

Saeyoung loved (Y/N), he truly did. Unlike others, he had found her and chosen to love her, only growing further entranced by her spell as he got to know her.

But Saeran was his other half. His soul was incomplete without his brother, and the two were tied not just by blood but by the hell they had both endured together growing up.

More than once, Saeyoung mused over how, if he could just have the slightest intimation on where Saeran was, whether he was even alive or not, it would give him so much comfort.

I wish twins could communicate telepathically, the redhead thought as he lazed on the couch.

(Y/N) was in her room, probably taking a nap. Neither of them had anything to do, as usual, so Saeyoung began thinking that he might explore the culinary realm. Barely a week after returning to the bunker, he'd made more chocolate chip cookies for (Y/N) than either of them knew what to do with and had been repeating that pattern every now and then, but trying something new might be interesting.

He pulled himself from the couch. How about a Ph D. Pepper pie with a Honey Buddha Chip crust? Saeyoung nodded to himself. That sounded like a good idea.

He was about to enter the kitchen when he heard a high-pitched beeping play from some piece of equipment on the ceiling.

"Saeyoung?" (Y/N) asked, by his side in an instant. "What's that sound?" She asked while covering her ears.

"The carbon monoxide alarm," Saeyoung responded plainly.

"What?!" She grabbed his arm. "We have to get out of here!"

"A-ah, no, I mean..." Saeyoung gathered his thoughts.

Within the first month of moving back into the bunker with (Y/N), Saeyoung had disconnected any electronics he thought were at risk for giving up their presence. As a security measure, though, he had wired the intruder alarm to the carbon monoxide alarm, mechanically setting it up so that if someone was at the front gates, the alarm would go off.

"I rewired it to only go off when there's someone at the gates," Saeyoung finally said. He stood on a chair and silenced the alarm, gazing hesitantly down the hall.

"Someone at the gates?" (Y/N) asked. "That could be..."

Saeran.

The two of them didn't even look at each other, their minds to in sync with one another. The couple stumbled to the door, equally fearful of what they would find, all thoughts and brain processing systems a jumble.

Who would they find outside the gates? Would it be Saeran, returned at last? Or will it be V and Vanderwood, saying that he didn't make it? Saeyoung wondered, desperately praying that wouldn't be the case.

He paused in front of the door, hesitating with (Y/N) as the two of them mentally prepared themselves for how their lives might change. The redhead felt his fiancée wrap her hand in his, giving it a squeeze before twisting the doorknob and opening the door.

And there, in the distance, three figures could be spotted barely one-hundred feet away.

The first man, a brown-haired man in a black and purple suit, with a muscled arm shaking the barred gate.

The second was a tall gentleman dressed in all black and sunglasses, the only spot of color on his body being his bright blue hair.

And the third: an all-too-familiar man in a leather jacket, with hair so fiery red it's only rival was Saeyoung's own.

MASTERLIST

Neutral Route: 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | ✔

Saeyoung’s Route: 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | ✔

Saeran’s Route: 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | ✔

Word count: 2.4k

Notes: WOAH GUYS I complained in my last chapter that I wasn't getting enough sleep AND MY PRAYER WAS HEARD 0_0 All my classes are now online and most of my extracurricular activities are canceled, so I'm getting 10 hours every night! On the downside, the reason everything's cancelled is because of Corona ::/ I hope that all of you and your families are healthy and safe, and I'll see you in the next chapter :)

Comment & Like

Next Update: 03/19/20

I do not own the rights to Mystic Messenger or any of the characters within it.

[another-sonic-blog]

Stages: The Cake

Stages: Acquaintance Pt.1: The Cake (Chapter 2)

Pairing: Amy & Shadow (Friends or lovers you decided) 

Slow-burn/2K

First part: https://another-sonic-blog.tumblr.com/post/189990806500/new-years-dress-shadamy

.

"Please, just give me one more week! I'll pay!"

"I am sorry Ms. Rose but we have been patient enough. The government needs this facility."

Amy tried to keep calm, she didn't want to lash out of the government worker. She needed to stay calm if she wanted him to give her more time.

"Look, Zen, we have known each other for some time now." Amy touched his shoulder and smiled seductively. "Don't you think it will be better to talk about this with some coffee?"

Zen, a black cat, and government worker smiled at the pink one.

"Friday?"

"Saturday night?"

"Very well then, I'll see you." Zen then was quick to shout out to the rest of the employees who were already inside the Resistance. "Let's go, boys, we will come for this place later!"

With that, the workers stopped from dismantling the Resistance HQ.

Amy smiled and waved at each worker as they left.

"Well, who could have thought that Amy Rose could use her sex appeal to get the things she wants?"

Amy turned around to find Rouge waving at her. "I am so happy that you learned something from me."

"I had to put your teaching into practice," Amy added. "How are you doing? I haven't seen you since the ball."

"I came to see how you were doing after G.U.N paid you." Rouge took a look at the outside appearance of Resistance HQ. The painting was going away, the wood was decaying and it was just falling apart overall. "What did you do with the money, anyway? Everyone was happy with your cakes, I am sure G.U.N paid you extra even."

"I had to pay the members of the Resistance." Amy added, "And the rest is going to the monthly payment of the Resistance...I'll work more shifts at the restaurant this week to make up for the rest of the payment."

"Why would the government even want this place?" Rouge and Amy began to walk inside the Resistance. They greeted the few members that were there. "I mean no offense but...this place is trash."

"Yes, but one day, I'll have a lot of money and I'll make this place what it used to be before!" Amy said excitedly, she opened the door of the Main Room, where her desk was waiting for her.

"I just don't understand honey, you are a war warrior, you helped save the world and this is how they pay you?" Rouge was angry, she knew better than anyone that Amy went through to hell during that period that Eggman attacked with the Zombot virus. "All heroes worked here, Sonic, Tails, Team Dark, Whispered, Tangle, everyone  currently working at G.U.N."

"Don't remind me," Amy said as she typed on her computer.

"Honestly, with your experience, you could land a job at G.U.N. and easily-"

"G.U.N. charges people, people who may not have money so they can send their agents to help them." Amy rolled on her chair to look at the white bat, "I don't want that for this place."

Rouge sighed as she understood Amy's ideology. G.U.N was a private agency after all and their revenue mostly came from rich people who paid for the missions or anonymous, members who were interested that kept in existence G.U.N.

And so, what happened to the people who were in trouble and didn't have the money to pay?

"I am just saying, that I could buy you this place, it's honestly no bother. -"

"We have talked about this Rouge," Amy smiled. "Thank you, but this is something I want to do by myself."

Rouge went towards Amy and she placed her hand on her shoulder, "Same old Amy...Well, if you are going on a date to save this place, then let's make it the best out of it."

. "Plate for table number 3!"

"Going!"

"I am ready to pay!"

"Yes, ma'am!

"Plate for table number 7!"

"Going!"

"My food is cold! Could you heat it up?"

"Yes, sir!"

It was just like any other day at the restaurant, Amy was busy like always but still gave the best of her. She heard the door of the restaurant open, she was busy and after attending one client, she went ahead to attend the new guest.

"Hello, how may I help you-" Amy placed the restaurant's menu on the table. The person was wearing a long black coat with a black cap. Although he was trying his best to go unnoticed, Amy knew exactly well who it was.

"Shadow?" Amy whispered.

"Shh...how do you know it was me?" Shadow said as he looked around the place, making sure no one was paying attention to them.

"You reek of your cologne."

"What? I don't wear any." Shadow added, "Anyways, I am here on an important mission.

"And that is?"

"I need one slide, wait no, a whole dark chocolate cake. Like the one you made at the ball."

Amy giggles a bit, Shadow really took the 'keeping his cool' very seriously. "A whole cake? That's going to take a while."

"I can wait."

Amy nodded, she gave Shadow water while she attended the other tables. Shadow watched Amy work, it was a weird sight to see. He always saw her as a leader and one to not take orders from anyone.

"Must be hard to be an owner of a restaurant," Shadow whispered to himself but a sight distracted him.

"Could you hurry up? I've been waiting for ten minutes!" Said grey fox boy, who was sitting with a group of friends. A blue wolf and a red bird.

"Yes, sir!" Amy said as she headed over the table. "How can I help you?"

"We want three burgers, making it a combo for all of them. One chocolate milkshake and two vanilla. Hurry." Said the fox boy.

"Yes," Amy said as she finished writing the order on her notepad and began to walk away.

"Ops." The wolf boy said as he purposely threw off the water cup. "Hey, waitress! Clean this up, now!"

Amy tried to control herself, she perfectly knew what they were doing but she really needed this job.

"Yes." Amy took an old rag that was in her mantle and bent down to clean up the mess. When she was done, she bends back up but that exact moment, she felt her butt being smacked.

"Well, you do have a really nice ass to be a waitress!" The red bird boy said as he laughs, "I should come here more often."

Shadow expected Amy to take out her hammer and send those guys flying out the restaurant.

But she didn't.

"Thank you." Shadow heard her said and she walked away back into the kitchen.

.

Amy came back with some plates full of food for the groups of jerks. However, she found that they had felt the table. She noticed that some that they had paid their food however and left her a very nice tip of...

"500 rings?!" Amy almost screamed, there has to be some kind of mistake.

"Amy?" Amy turned her body around to find Shadow behind her. "G.U.N. called me, I need to go. Save me the cake for later."

"It's almost done, are you sure?"

"Yes, just send it over my apartment later," Shadow said and for some reason, he seemed to be in a hurry. Amy thought that it must be something really important for G.U.N.

"Alright, I will!" Amy smiled, her mood changing completely after that tip. "Wait, I don't know where you live."

"I send you my address over a text message."

"Alright!"

With that Shadow nodded and walked towards the exit. Amy went back to the kitchen to put the extra plates away but remembered something.

"Wait, you don't have my phone number!"

But Shadow was already gone.

.

It was 11:30 p.m and Amy was finally done with her shift. She puts on her pink coat and said goodbye to her boss before leaving the restaurant. She walked a few meters down until she passed a large dumpster.

But she stopped immediately after she heard someone moaning in pain on the inside of it. She opened it and checked on the inside.

And there she found them, two out of the three guys who were troubling her at the restaurant. The fox and wolf boy.

"What are you two doing here?"

"That guy...with the black coat..."The grey fox said in pain. "He just came to our table and said 'trash belongs in the trash."

"I don't even remember what happened." The blue boy said as she looked at his friend, who was trying to gain his consciousness back.

"Shadow?" Amy asked loudly, more at herself, more surprised than anything.

"Shadow as in Shadow the hedgehog?!"

Amy heard a voice come from above, she looked up and she found the red bird who harassed her being hanged from a light pole by his underwear.

"My dad is a private member of G.U.N!" The bird said angrily, "When I get down from here, he is so going to pay!"

Amy sighed, a bit embarrassed, "Let's try and make a deal."

.

Shadow had to admit that he was really looking forward to that cake. However, he decided to leave the restaurant as soon as he could as not to give Amy any more problems.

When Rouge told him that Amy worked at a restaurant, he imagined she would be the boss or manager due to her good leadership skills. But tonight he learned something new, that Amy was a hard worker and really could contain her feelings when the situation required her too.

She had his respect.

He was ready to go to sleep but he heard the door ring from outside his apartment.  

He sighed frustrated as he went back to his living room and angrily opened the door, "At this time? Who the hell do you think you are-" "Oh, Amy." Shadow instantly changed his tone of voice as he saw Amy standing in front of his door.

"Sorry, Shadow. I just thought to give you these extra cakes I made to you." Amy smiled as she showed Shadow the plastic bags she was holding, three dark chocolate cakes in each one.

"Extra cakes?" Shadow asked.

"Yes, I just made them."

"Alright, come in." Shadow opened the door for her and she entered, taking a look at Shadow's apartment.

"When Rouge texted me you lived in a small apartment, I thought she meant something different," Amy added, Shadow's apartment was very modern. Wooden floor, crystal stairs, bright lights, and beautiful black kitchen.

"Well, I'll be taking my leave now," Amy said as she placed the bag of cakes on Shadow's kitchen counter.

"Let me pay for the cakes, I'll bring my wallet," Shadow said and walked away from a few steps before Amy stopped him.

"No need! After you left, a lot of clients came and..." Amy looked around nervously, "Asked for dark chocolate cake but didn't eat them, so don't worry they are free!"

"Six clients asked for the same dark chocolate cake?"

"Yes."

"And out of those six, none eat the cake they paid for?"

"Do you want the cakes or not?" Amy asked annoyed, she placed a hand on her hip and Shadow rolled his eyes.

"Would you like some?"

"I would love to, but I can't stay too long. Tomorrow I need to go to work early so I can clock out earlier to go shopping. "Amy was just tired by just thinking about the long day that was ahead of her.

"Shopping?" Shadow wasn't expecting to ask that, he honestly didn't care about Amy nor what she does. The question came out of his mouth without thinking.

"Yes, with Rouge. She is insisting that I buy clothes for dates I don't even want to go." Without thinking, Amy sat down on one of the kitchen chairs.

"Dates?" Shadow said as he opened a small cabinet and pulled out two forks and handed one to Amy.

"Yes, I need to go on a date Saturday with a jerk to save the building of the Resistance," Amy said as she opened one of the boxes that contained the cake and placed it in front of both of them.

"To save...The Resistance?"

"Yes, I am trying to buy the building...but as you can see, I don't have much luck with money." Amy added, "The mortgage guy comes every month to charge me the payment...I was late this month and to give me a little bit more time to get money, I told him I would go on a date with him this Saturday."

"That's a nice strategy," Shadow said as he took a bit of the cake. Very delicious indeed. "Sounds like something Rouge would do...don't do it too often, it could bring you trouble."

"Indeed, and next Friday I also need to spend two whole hours with that bird boy! Thankfully, it's just a movie."

"Bird boy?"

Damn it, Amy was speaking too much.

"Oh look at the time!" Amy said as she looked at the kitchen's clock.  "I got to go now, don't worry stay here, I know my way out!"

"It's late, don't you want me to give you a ride? We could take my bike." Shadow asked as he opened the door for Amy.

"No need! I'll take the last bus!"

"Have it your way, then." Shadow didn't want to insist. Amy smiled at him and calmly left his apartment.

Shadow went back to his kitchen and began to eat his dark chocolate cake once again. He thought for a second and laugh,

"As if I'd let her ride my bike."

.

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.

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Next part: https://another-sonic-blog.tumblr.com/post/190053368955/stages-the-bike

A/N: I still don’t know if I should make this a series or just small one shot series in which I will be developing Amy and Shadow’s relationship. Oh well, I think that’s what a slow burn story is all about. I enjoyed writing this, so expect a new chapter really soon!

[mysticthot]

RFA x Jumins Sister!MC

idk why i have such a thirst for jumin as a big brother but here we are

also this is hella long my b 

Yoosung Kim

knows who you are thru magazines and what not, but he’s never met you in person

that is until the first rfa party that Rika holds

he sees you from across the room, standing next to Jumin looking like a model and he’s shook

wow shes even prettier in person, i didnt know she was gonna be here tonight i should go talk to her, wait no she’ll think i’m a loser- OH GOD SHES LOOKING SHE PROBABLY THINKS IM A CREEP DOES MY HAIR LOOK GOOD oh shes smiling at me

thoughts running wild he doesn't know what to do so he straight up turns around and walks away

it isn't until later in the night that he actually gets to talk to you

“Hi, I’m MC. Your Yoosung right? Part of the RFA?”

he’s shook when u said hi first

you have a good conversations and he’s surprised at how easy you are to talk to and how different you are from your brother

at the end of the night you catch him before he leaves and give him your number

definitely spends the rest of the night trying to think of something cool to txt you

definitely asks Zen for help

manages to start talking to you, and suddenly your messaging each other constantly

its Yoosung were talking about, his crush on you is immediately all he can think about

but he goes out of his way to not say anything in the chatrooms cause Jumin hasn't mentioned anything so he’s not sure if Jumin knows 

lowkey terrified of Jumin finding out and sending a hitman after him

he’s too shy to ask you on a date

literally everything about you screams out of his league

so imagine his surprise when you ask him to a movie

boi straight up falls out of his chair in the middle of class

ya’ll go see a movie and his soul nearly leaves his body when you lean in and give his a short peck on his lips afterwards

“I really like you Yoosung, I’ve never had a guy treat me so well.”

“I-I like you too MC.”

his soul does leave his body when Jumin enters the chatroom the next day saying nothing but his full name in all caps

poor boi is immediately apologizing and ranting about how much he likes you and how he promises to be good to you

After everything Jumin simply responds with, “I’ll hold you to that.”

Now with Jumins approval, he officially asks you to be his girlfriend which you happily say yes to

This boi loves you so much, and he is in awe everyday that you chose him

Likes to show you off, especially to his friends

Loves when you pick him up from school lookin all cute and pulling him into a tight hug

gets very jealous and protective knowing all these rich dudes are competing for your attention, but he as Jumins support and your love, so he’s happy

Zen

Vaguely aware that you exist

Has heard Jumin or Jaehee mention you a few times, but he doesn't think much of it, and he actively goes out of his way to not watch or read anything with the name ‘Han’ in it

He’s in the lobby of the C&R building waiting for Jaehee so they could go get coffee, when he sees a cute girl struggling by the closed elevator doors with arms full of papers and folders

ever the gentleman, he goes over and offers to hold some of it for you

“Excuse me miss, would you like some help with that?”

You look up at him and his breath is all but knocked out of him when he gets a full glance at your beauty

“Oh, wow thank you.”

You smile breathlessly up at him, both of you seem to be in the same trance

He snaps out of it to grab the papers from your arms, and introduces himself

Your both looking at each other with that same wide eyed look when the elevator doors open

There stands Jaehee in the middle of the love fest.

“Uh...Zen, I see you’ve met MC. Jumins sister.”

SHHOOOK

He’s so dramatic like he full on backs up hand over the heart gasping

You almost laugh at the look on his face

“Oh, so your that Zen? I’ve heard all about you.

Jaehee takes your papers from Zen and gets into the elevator with you mumbling about how she’ll be right back.

Zen almost dies when you wink and blow him a kiss as the doors close

Jaehee is interrogated by Zen through out their whole lunch

You were so cute and nice looking?? How were you related to the trust fund kid???

Gasps when he realizes that makes you a trust fund kid as well

Yet, he cant stop thinking about you and the moment you shared in the lobby

He’s such a romantic, he becomes convinced this is a Romeo and Juliet love at first sight thing

Hung around in the lobby for a bit one day hoping to meet you again, but he starting looking suspicious so he had to leave

Ends up pestering Jaehee for hours until she gives in and gives him your phone number

Very quick to send you a selfie asking if you remember him

You reply even faster

“Of course I remember you, how could I forget such a beautiful face? Oh and also Jaehee has kept me updated on how much u ask about me ;)”

He’s never been out charmed by someone before, but you have him so flustered

Quick to ask you on a date

Basically does turn into Romeo and Juliet ft. Jeahee as the Nurse (omg just realized how thats a pretty good fic idea i might right that lol)

She helps cover your tracks while your sneaking around with Zen

But Jumin is getting ever more suspicious and after many useless reports from him sending Jaehee to follow you, he sends one of his guards instead

This is all very inconvenient for him, he doesn’t like the thought of you not being able to tell him something, you’ve told each other everything always

not to mention zen has been getting on his nerves lately being strange and sappy in the chat rooms

He could never imagine the shock that filled his entire being when his guard told him he had seen you going into Zens house

Boi’s over there in an instant banging on the door

A shirtless zen opens the door, his hair messed up and a hickey growing redder by the second on his neck

Jumins pushing him up against a wall before he can even react

The slam startles you out of the bed in nothing but a sheet, only to freeze when you see the scene before you

guess you’ll die ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

It takes a long time to get them off each others necks

“Guys, why dont we all calm down and talk about this rationally?’

“MC, the only thing keeping me from knocking this trust fund kid out is the fact that he is your brother.”

“Zen not helping!”

Jumin all but drags you back to the car and you’re lectured the whole ride home

Then lectured some more in the pent house

Then some more before you announced you were going to bed

He was angrily pouring himself some wine when he heard your phone go off

It was Zen

He justifies his actions by saying you had betrayed his trust, and opens the message

“I’m sorry MC, I hope you’re ok. I know he wont approve, but I hope you can find away to stay with me. I will never find someone like you and even if he doesn’t understand or believe it, I love you. Call me when you can.”

Now he feels kinda bad

Then he remembers Zen’s hickey and he’s mad again

It takes him a while but he eventually allows for you and Zen to see each other freely

Feels betrayed by Jaehee

Jaehee (Speaking of betrayal lol)

She knows of you, but has never met you, as you are studying abroad

When Jumin first mentions the fact that he is going to pick you up from the airport, shes initially worried that she will have to deal with a second Jumin

And in her experience, the high class women aren’t the easiest to get along with

So imagine her surprise the next day when she is going to the penthouse to introduce herself and finds...what looks like a completely normal girl lounging in her pajamas

You smile kindly at her as Jumin, dressed in his normal suit, comes to stand beside you and she cant believe the differences

Shes pretty sure you’re showing more emotion on you face in this exact moment than Jumin has in his entire life rip lol

She introduces herself, and it shocked when you immediately pull her into a hug

“Its so nice to meet you, I’m MC.”

The way you say your name and the way your holding her hands in yours while you smile at her she just-

gay panic

Your spending the summer with Jumin, so she sees you around a lot and every time you are just as sweet to her

As time passes she begins to feel strange when she sees you

Heart racing, cheeks blushing, you know the drill

But its been so long since Jaehee has had a crush on someone, and she wasn't even sure if this was a crush

poor babe is confused af

Cause your so nice to her

And you make Jumin be nice to her

And you get her off work to hang out 

But she doesn’t know if your being friendly...

One day she is going over last minute talking points with Jumin as he prepares for a gala event when you come walking out

Your dress makes you look like an angel, your hair is flowing and framing your beautiful face and- oh, there was that smile again

She nearly chocked when she saw you

gay panic intensifies 

you make her feel the way zens videos do

Suddenly she’s not so confused anymore

She walked you and Jumin down to the car waiting outside and you turn to her before following your brother in

“You’re not coming with us are you?” you asked with a slight frown.

“No, it would be inappropriate for an assistant to attend such an event.” she sighed, smoothing out her work skirt, suddenly realizing how different you two really were.

You paused, looking like you might say something, but stopped yourself, telling her to have a good night before getting into the car

She watched you drive away, and wasn’t expecting to hear from you any more that night

Then her phones ringing and its you and she’s answering in a flash

You voice is shaky, asking her if she could pick you up if it wouldn't be too much trouble cause you didn't want to inconvenience her

She was in the car before you had finished the call

When she pulled around the back of the event, where you had asked to meet, she saw you standing in the dark, a look so sad it made her heart hurt

You climbed into the passenger seat, but the ride back to the penthouse was silent

It wasn't until she pulled up to the curb that you invited her upstairs

As soon as you passed the door way to the house, it was like your fake composure, one that she knew you had been raised to perfect, melted away

You sighed before dropping face first onto a couch cushion and screaming into it

Jaehee didn't know exactly what to do, so she gave your back a somewhat comforting pat until you sat up ready to tell her what was wrong

Turns out you had met a man at the gala

(her heart dropped when you said that)

But the man was an absolute dick

(So your sayin she has a chance?)

The man had been grabbing you and touching you all night, asking for dances and pressuring you to drink

The final straw was while he had dragged you into a dance, his hand lowed down before he full on groped your ass in front of everyone

You had slapped him

The gotten promptly lectured from your father

“He was acting like I was in the wrong for standing up for myself. Saying I was making a fool of the family reacting in such a way! Why aren’t the men held in such a standard that so I don’t have to act like that in the first place?!”

“I’m so sorry MC, that is truly disgusting that you had to go through that.” She pulled you into a hug, and side by side you sat on the couch, enjoying each others comfort

“Next time...I think I’d like to take you as my date...” You mumbled into her shoulder.

She froze

Didn’t know was to say

Were you friends? Were you something more???

Her questions were answered as you pulled back from the hug and placed a timid kiss on her lips

It was short, almost testing the waters for both of you

But when your eyes met, the kiss that followed was anything but timid or short

Jumin was not pleased with that he saw when he got home

His assistant and sister making out in his living room

what was his life coming to??

Not nearly as mad as you thought he would be however

He had heard what your father had said to you and rushed home to make sure you were ok

Claims he knew this whole time you weren't into guys, or at least not straight, but you think hes just trying to redeem himself from the fact that his assistant seduced his sister right under his nose

Jaehee and you go as a couple to the next gala and rock that shit

707/ Saeyoung

Obvi, this boi knows everything

As soon as he was introduced to Jumin, he did a background check, and thats how he was led to you

From then on, he is not subtle or quiet with his ‘celebrity’ crush

Basically acts towards you the way he does towards Elizabeth the 3rd

Uses you as a way to tease Jumin and get him all riled up

“omg Jumin, I saw MC’s photo in a magazine today and I swear I fell in love all over again.

“If you come near her, I will get a restraining order.”

Jumin is in no way amused

The rest of the RFA is tho

Like Yoosung, you meet Seven at the first party. 

He is quick to spot you, and Jumin is even quicker to separate you from him

You, however, have no idea why your brother is being even more over protective than usual, and take the first opportunity to sneak off to the bar

Seven sees you alone for the first time and quickly turns to Yoosung, asking him how he looks before running off to you

You’re shook when in the middle of taking a drink a random redhead all bed falls into the chair next to you

“HIMYNAMESSEVENITSAPLEASURETOMEETYOU!”

“...What?”

He takes a comically large breath, lets it out, then holds his hand out for you to shake

You laugh when he bows and kissed your knuckles before introducing himself slower this time

“Sorry, I just felt like I needed to rush, your brothers gonna kill me when he sees me talking to you.”

You laugh and roll your eyes and he thinks you have the best sounding laugh he has ever heard

Good thing his only talent is getting people to laugh at him

You proceed to spend the next five minutes laughing so hard your stomach hurts and your eyes water before a large group of not only your brother, but several body guards come to interrupt

“Oh no, my sweet MC, it seems our time has been cut short, I’ll never forget the moments we spent together, no matter how brief!” he calls to you while being escorted to the other side of the room by two large men

Jumin lectures you on the dangers of talking to strange men and you remind him that the whole point of this party was to talk to people you don’t know

He forbids you from talking to Seven 

“MC, he’s a sadist!”

“That just makes me want him more...”

Later that night you get a strange text, or dare I say, a mysterious message, saying your phone was being hacked

Your shook and don’t know what to do watching as the so called hacker typed before the second message popped up

Is your name wifi? Cause I really felt a connection~

Ok now your more shook

Then a third message pops up and its the cute guy from the party, and you laugh before responding

You spend the rest of the night picking up where you left off at the party

And Seven it once again, not quiet about his crush

Jumin wakes up the next morning to chatroom after chatroom all about you

Half of them are him talking mindlessly about your wedding, the other half is the rest of the members telling him to shut up

Jumin is t r i g g e r e d 

His first instinct is to take your phone, since you obviously cant make good choices for yourself

But then he remembers you are an adult, and he cant take away your phone

So he goes to plan B which is threaten Seven with a restraining order, once again

Halfway through typing out a long, angry message, you skip out into the kitchen, and suddenly his anger it focused on you

“MC WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT TALKING TO SEVEN HES NOT GOOD FOR YOU YOU NEED TO BLOCK HIM AND GET A RESTRAINING ORDER HES CRAZY WHAT ARE YOU THINKING”

“He’s so cute and sweet tho.” you pout

“Awe, thanks MC.”

Both of you look up to find Seven standing in the doorway with a bouquet of flowers

Seven is forcefully removed from the building

Jumin gives you the whole, “he’s a hacker he’s dangerous” speech, but you are stubborn

You tell him you are an adult who can make her own choices

He does the things parents do where they think they can guilt you into making the right choice

Thinks he’s won when he doesn't hear anything about you from Seven for a while

Imagine his shock when he logs into the chatroom to see a picture from the cctv of you and Seven kissing, clearly in the middle of a date along with a picture of a plastic cat ring on your ring finger 

“She said yes!”

“I am going to physically hurt you.”

On the more serious side, Seven would be a little harder because of his job, so everything you guys did would have to be in secret

He would get in his moods where he thought you deserved a boyfriend who could treat you better and be seen in public with you

Don’t even get him started on how dangerous he was

But you could use your connections to help him get his life on track, and eventually get him a job at C&R

Jumin isn't happy with it, but when he accepts that Seven actually cares for you and this isn’t just some joke, he will come to terms with it

V/ JIhyun

V has known you since you were born, as him and Jumin were already friends then

Infact, he has a picture somewhere of him as a child holding you the day you got home from the hospital

Growing up with V and Jumin, was almost like having two brother

Both very protective over you

Being kids, you went through the normal phases

“Boys have cooties dont touch me!” 

‘C-cooties...but MC...”

There were times when you would tease each other simply because that’s what kids do when they have crushes

His little cheeks would get all red when you and him would play games together

He liked to be the knight that saved you from the evil dragon (Jumin) and one time you very lightly pecked a kiss onto his cheek before running off and his face was red for the rest of the day

In fact you were each others first kiss

It was during a sleep over he was having with Jumin

Jumin had fallen asleep during a movie leaving you and V alone, sitting together in a blanket fort

You were playing truth or dare, but they were mostly truths to keep the game quiet and not wake anyone

“Truth or dare MC.”

“Truth.”

“...Have you ever kissed anyone?”

Your whole face went red, as did his, he had barely even worked up the courage to ask the question

“...No.” You whispered, “Have you?

“No.”

The game stopped for a moment, V was looking at while you did you best to look anywhere but at him

“Truth or dare MC?”

“...Truth.”

“Can I kiss you?”

The kiss was short and stiff and a little awkward, but it was something you both would remember for ever

And a secret you would keep from Jumin until way into your adult years

Jumin was annoyed by the whole thing

He loved his sister and all, but he didn't exactly like his best friend and sister always flirting

As you got older, the childhood crushes died down into fond memories and the occasional flirt or butterfly in the stomach

You dated a few people, he dated a few people

But there was always those times when it was just you and him alone where it seemed like something was so close to happening

But he graduated with Jumin before you did, and left to start his own life

That when he met Rika

You were happy for him truly, you were dating someone at the time as well and you wanted to see you friend be happy, he deserved it

But tragedy struck, and he was never really the same after that

You remembered her funeral, and the way he cried into your shoulder that night

You had to go through the pain of watching your dear friend loose himself, along with his eyesight

Supporting him in his time of need became your number one priority, but somewhere along the way, old feelings began to resurface

You pushed them down, deep down so you wouldn't make a fool of yourself or ruin your friendship

It took years until V would begin to see again what was right in front of him, he had been blinded by Rika for so long that he couldn’t see you

(im sorry those puns were just too good not to put in lol get it cause hes blind)

He felt guilty for his feelings, like he was betraying Rika, yet he couldn't stop himself from feeling like he did when he was a kid

Jumin, once again, was stuck between his best friend and his sister being love sick idiots, too stupid and scared to see the other one felt the same way

He’s so over it like just get married already

He decides to invite V over, fully determined to give him a talk and tell him to ask you out 

Then he will invite you over so you’ll be in the same place as V

Then, Jumin will politely excuse himself for a ‘phone call’ and give them some time alone

He begins his plan in the morning, making sure you would both be coming over for dinner, then he leaves for work

Unfortunately, a meeting he had at the end of the day ended up running super late, leaving you and V alone 

Plan was ruined he’s triggered

But, what he didn’t know, was that things were going along just fine between the two

You guys were sipping some wine and catching up and laughing and smiling like old times

V wanted to take a picture to capture the moment

You looked truly beautiful, framed by the night sky, cheeks flushed from the laughing and the alcohol, a smile on your face and a look in your eyes he hadn't seen, or at least hadn't recognized, since you were kids

He acted before he had the chance to stop himself, leaning forward and pressing a kiss that held in it the passion of years and years of love 

You melted into it, wrapping your arms around him and he felt like he couldn’t have brought you close enough 

He wanted all of you, everything he had missed out on in his lifetime of not making you his

Pulling apart, leaving you both breathless, forehead to forehead, he smiled down at you

“I’m sorry, I should have asked truth or dare first.”

jumins triggered lol

sorry if theres any mistakes im hella tired so i may have missed some in the proof read 

hope u liked it

[omg-baeyoung-baeran]

Marked with the Kiss of Death: Chapter One (A Mystic Messenger AU Fanfiction)

Archive on Our Own Link

YT Trailer

Genre: Crime, Action,Thriller, Romance, Comedy, Drama

Pairings: Saeran/MC 2, 707/MC 5; more to come

Summary:

Would you rather be famous but live with a criminal?

"I swear he finds me anywhere I go! I see his white hair in all---"

The feeling of freezing arms snaking around her waist gave her sudden reconsiderations of her life decisions.

"It's just how it is, Princess."

Or would you rather hide from a criminal and live as a beggar?

"Sorry, I don't have coins," he muttered as he ran his hand through his unruly red hair.

His boyish charm has sufficed her eyes, but not enough to please her stomach.

"Big bills are fine."

He never knew beggars can be so picky.

o-o-o-o

 Every waking minute, she wondered…  just what the hell is wrong with him?

  “Yes, princess—”

  “I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again—my bodyguard is broken.”

 o-o-o-o-o

 Ayu clipped two braided blonde locks in a half ponytail. Although she preferred a full braid, her chin-length hair forbade her to do so. She sometimes wished she had not cut her hair, but the barrage of compliments from her social media had tickled her narcissistic side.

 It took merely a week before she eventually grew bored with the limited variety of styles she could do.

 “Pink or nude? Red is good too, though?” Ayu shook her head. “No, that’s trying too hard.”

 Looking into the mirror, she pictured two versions of herself, one sporting a pink shade, the other with a nude shade. At first, it was a simple dilemma that boiled down to three choices—  would she go for a feminine, striking, or a subtle kind of beauty?  With the striking red out of the picture, her options narrowed down to a subtle nude or a feminine pink.

 Eventually, she set down the other two tubes, settling for feminine, “Pink it is.”

 Twisting the cap open, she looked at the mirror and swiped the applicator on her lips. She smacked her lips twice to even the colour out. Once she was done, she placed it back in the tube and twisted it close.

 For her most dreaded part—contact lenses. As the fanmeet fiasco happened fairly recently, she was yet to get used to poking her eyes.

  ‘I just got your messages~!’

 Ayu switched off the alarm notification and checked the time— 2:00 P.M.

  There was no time for contact lenses. 

 “Guess I’ll go nerdy.”

 o-o-o-o

  When she says her heart almost leaped out of her chest, of course, it was an   exaggeration...

  ...but there was no denying that he scared the living daylights out of her.

 “Do I know you?”

 There was no knock on the door; not even a text message—as she opened the door, she found herself face-to-face with astranger in a black suit, waiting in the front door.

 “Sorry I’m late,” he bowed. “I was told a princess needed a bodyguard?”

  ‘Princess? Bodyguard?’

 Frowning, Ayu eyed him up and down; he was of average height—with her stopping just below his ear—and had white hair with its tips a faded red. Despite the white hair, he did not seem old—he looked to be in his early 20s, in fact. Just like her.

  Was it too late to take out her pepper spray? He might attack her anytime.

 “Bodyguard?” she scrunched her brows.  No one informed her about a new bodyguard.  “How would I know if you’re telling the truth? Do you have any proof to validate your claims?”

 “Yes,” he fished through his pocket and pulled out a phone. He quickly tapped his fingers on the screen, then handed it to her. “You can call your dad.”

 Though suspicious, she took the phone from his hand.

 His contacts book had only one contact in it— Big Boss.

 Her lip curled into a sneer at the name, ‘Big Boss? Cringey.’

 She pressed the ‘Call’ button and held the phone against her ear. Two rings later, the other line picked up.

  “Ray? You called?”

  Sure enough, it was her father’s familiar deep voice. And he knew Ray… So Ray was not a random die-hard fan trying to get close to her.

 “Dad?”

  “Oh, princess, it’s you. I see Ray has arrived.”

 “What’s this about a bodyguard? What about Mister Park?”

  “Ah, about that… I replaced him. I figured Ray would handle the job better.”

  So he was still hung up about the fanmeet incident! Granted, it only happened three weeks ago but...

 “Dad! I swear he did nothing wrong! It happened so fast; no one could have foreseen it!”

  “Still, it was his job to act fast.”

 Ayu let all her stress out with a sigh. As his only daughter, her father cared for her too much that it bordered on overprotectiveness.

  Scratch that; it was not borderline—he certainly was overprotective.

 “Okay, Dad. I’ll call you later. I have to go.”

 After saying their goodbyes, Ayu tapped ‘End Call’ before handing it back to Ray.

 “So…,” she crossed her arms,  “you’re Ray?”

 He took the phone from her, then nodded with a polite close-mouthed smile that screamed forced. Being in the showbiz industry had exposed her to such smiles that she was no stranger to it.

  After all, she herself was an expert at that sort of smile.

 “Just Ray.”

 Uncrossing her arms, she nodded. “Well, at least you’re on time. I’m going to have lunch with my friend. Do you know where Chamwon Restaurant is?”

 “No, but I can use Noogle Maps.”

 “Alright,” she nodded and walked past him. “Let’s go, then.”

 o-o-o-o

 “Zen-oppa!” Ayu excitedly waved, bouncing on her heels.

 A handsome long-haired albino turned his head to her direction, “Ayu!” He waved back, motioning them to come over.

 “Hey,” she tapped Ray’s shoulder, then whispered, “Does my hair look good?” 

 “Of course, Princess,” Ray vigorously nodded. “You’d still look good even without it!”

  ‘Is complimenting me also part of his job description? Dad really did things overboard.’

 Though weirded out, she led him to their reserved spot, with Ray following exactly five steps away.

 Multiple eyes followed their move, but no one dared to get close. With the peaceful atmosphere and customers minding their own businesses, she could not help but feel that their lunch would go smoothly.

 “I’m sorry! Did you wait long?”

 Zen shook his head. “No! Come on, let’s order.”

 Pulling their chairs back, they were about to take their seats...

 Ayu paused, wearing a look of plain confusion on her face. Zen, too, had an identical expression on his face.

  Source of confusion: her new bodyguard.

 It must have been a strange sight: three adults, pausing mid-sit with their asses hovering over their chairs.

  His first day working for her and he was not doing a good first impression.

  ‘What does he want?’  Standing straight, Ayu held Ray’s arm and pulled him up. “Zen-oppa, will you excuse us for a moment?”

 “Um, sure,” Zen said, confused, but sat down anyway.

 “You can order now! We’ll be back reeeaal quick!” She faced Ray and released his arm, cocking her head to the side and motioning him to come with her.

 He nodded, following Ayu as she led him further from the table. With Zen out of earshot and taking a menu from a waitress,  Ayu placed a hand on Ray’s shoulder and pushed it down, making him bend to her height, and whispered, “Okay, I know Dad told you to be this overprotective, but I promise to give you a bonus payment later—just please! Sit somewhere else!”

 Ayu made sure her smile did not falter. Personal space in public places was a luxury celebrities like her could not afford. A headline of  "Idol caught mistreating her bodyguard?!"   would prove detrimental to her image… especially in Zen’s presence.

 Ray whispered back, “A bonus payment is hard to enjoy when I'm missing my head.”

  ‘You coward. Can you even call yourself a bodyguard?’

 “You don’t have to worry. Just enjoy your date—”

 “Shh! It’s not a date!” Blood rising to her face, she darted her head side-to-side, then sighed in relief.  So far, no one noticed.

 The showbiz industry was an unforgiving one—she was basically  “owned”  by her fans. Being in a relationship was seen as something of a betrayal to them. Even being seen with Zen was a surprising sight, and rumours about their “dating scandal” used to pop up.

 It had caused an uproar within the fandom so as a result, she always assured her fans that they were just friends.

  Unfortunately.

 The explanation seemed to satisfy them, as hanging out with Zen was not much of a shock anymore.

 “And don’t mind me. I promise you’ll forget I even exist! Trust me," he beamed at her with an innocent smile on his lips.

 "Does this face look like it trusts you?" she hissed back in a harsh whisper.

 Ray studied her face, and for a moment,  he thought he was looking at something utterly hideou—

   "Yes," he answered briefly.

 “Fine,” she sighed. “Let’s go back. Oppa must be hungry.”

 Heading back to the table, Ayu took slow strides to calm her nerves, gazing longer at Zen who was intently reading the menu, unaware of the attention she was giving him. Even from afar, Zen gave off an aura of unrivaled beauty and charm. Hell, even the way he flipped pages stirred in her tingles of teenage giddiness.

  How anyone could look perfect just by doing nothing was something Ayu once thought impossible. But the first time she laid eyes on him, she realized just how closed-off her world had been.

 She was not alone in thinking that; almost everyone in the room had their eyes fixated at Zen, and not just because he was a famous celebrity.

 The closer they got to their table, the more the surroundings blurred for her, and the more focused Zen’s beauty became. Ayu somewhat hated the paparazzi, for despite how perfect Zen looked in every angle, they lacked the skill to capture the breathtaking beauty he possessed. A disgrace to photographers around the world, was what they were to her.

 At least the paparazzi's incompetence worked in her favour, for she was one of the lucky few able to admire his beauty in the flesh

 “Sorry about that,” Ayu spoke as she reached their table.

 “It’s fine.” Zen handed her the other menu.

 “I haven’t introduced you guys to each other. By the way, this is my new bodyguard, Ray! He replaced Mr. Park just a while ago.”

 “It’s fine! So, are you ready to or… der?” Zen’s voice faltered at the end.

 Confused, Ayu followed his line of vision and frowned.  She was willing to give him a second chance since not everyone should be judged by their first impression but this…

 Ray, arms crossed over his chest, stayed rooted by Ayu’s right.

 “Oh,” Zen was the first to regain his senses, “don’t you want to join Dongwon? You might feel out of place.” he pointed to a nearby table where a tall, bald man sat, reading a menu.

 “It’s fine. Just enjoy your meal, Sir.”

 “But—”

 “Ah, don’t mind him,” Ayu dismissively waved her hand.  They were just wasting their time. Smiling through gritted teeth, she gave Ray’s arm a squeeze. “Ray here! He’s just really,” she squeezed it tighter, “reeeaaally… passionate about his job.”

 Ray pulled his arm out of her grasp, “Ahaha! You overestimate me, Princess!” He said, sporting a big smile on his face, intensifying in Ayu an urge to rip it off of his face.

 “Ooh, 'Princess' ?” Zen said with a playful quirk of his brow.

 “Ah! That’s what he used to call his bosses! It kinda just… stuck to him! Old habits die hard, you know?”

  ‘How dare Ray embarrass me in front of Zen?! What if he found it cringy?’

 “If you say so, Princess!” Zen teased. For some reason,  "Princess"  sounded far better coming from his lips. As usual, Zen will always be the exception. “Well then, at least take a seat,” he requested and gestured to the chair beside Ayu.

 Ray shook his head. “Oh no. I’ll stay here.”

 “You’ll,” Ayu choked out her next word, “what?”

 “You know, I need to act fast if something happens to you,” he said matter-of-factly.

 She did not know what potential her father saw in Ray; all she could see was Ray teetering on the fine line between caution and paranoia.

 “Ah, you don’t have to!” She forced a smile, shaking her head. Surely, not even he was dense enough to miss her straightforward message.

  ‘Seriously. You. Don’t. Have. To.’ 

 “Oh, what’s wrong?”

 Dongwon walked over to their table, then slightly bowed. He stood by Zen’s side, mirroring Ray’s position.

 “Oh, um, want to sit with us?” Zen offered, albeit confused.

 To Ayu’s dismay, Dongwon shook his head.  Things seemed to be going in a direction that strayed from her original vision.

 “Hmm, I see?” Zen said. “We’ll order takeout for you after, how does that sound?”

 The two bodyguards nodded, mumbling their thanks.

 “Okay! Now that that’s settled… Ayu, is there anything you want?”

 Humming to herself, Ayu flipped a page and shrugged, “I’m not sure. Whatever you think is good.”

 “Okay! I’ll just order the usual then.” Zen raised his arm, catching not only a nearby waitress’ attention but the other customers' as well.

 They must have wondered if their presence was an elaborate endorsement; after all, having two celebrities hanging out in basically any place—from five-star restaurants to junkyards—was bound to bring attention.

 The waitress that came over was a young woman, possibly around 18 to 19, with a name tag that says "Jihyo".

 “Yes?”

 For a second, Ayu was unable to suppress the frown from showing. Once she noticed, she quickly replaced it with a smile.

  ‘Who the hell does this girl think she is?’

 Being in the entertainment industry made it easy to discern that type of voice—one she heard a lot from girls;  it was the voice that made her want to slice her ears off.

 Ayu looked in disgust, as the waitress swayed her body side-to-side, bouncing on the balls of her feet and looking at Zen with an awestruck expression.

  ‘Please mess up our order.’

 “We’ll have Set C….” Zen showed her the menu, pointing at their order.

 The way the Jihyo girl’s face got closer to Zen’s triggered within her an urge to….

 Jihyo scribbled their order on her notepad, particularly slow for a two-word order.

  ‘Hurry up.’

 Once she was done, she bowed and left the table. Ayu’s murderous thoughts were finally put at ease.

 “So… about your role!”

 Zen’s face lit up. “I’m glad you asked!”

 “What’s your role?”

 “Okay, so it’s a murder mystery show. Basically, my character is a lawyer prodigy. Something happened in his past that made him into who he is, which I won’t say because it’s a spoiler. So anyway—”

 Not once did she chime in or cut his words off, only nodding every so often. The combination of Zen’s perfectly-sculpted features, enchanting red eyes, melodic voice, and passion for acting never failed to capture her in a trance.

 “I’m sure you’ll do a good job!” Ayu gushed. “Can’t wait to watch it!”

 Zen chuckled, “When I first heard the summary, I thought it might be something you’d like.”

 “You thought so?”

 “Here’s your order.”

 To her relief, a different waiter came with their order. After turning the grill on, he set down two trays of raw meat and plates of side dishes—kimchi, fish cakes, japchae, steamed eggs, and baby potatoes. 

 “Order’s complete. Enjoy your meal." The waiter dipped his head, and left.

 o-o-o-o

  ‘Discomfort by proxy’—did such a term exist? If so, that was the perfect way to describe what Ray currently felt, what with all those stares directed at the two celebrities.  How could anyone get used to this? It was hard enough to eat with just one person staring, but more than one? He might as well be a zoo animal, then.

 Glancing to his left, Ray spotted a group of high school-aged boys five tables away, two of them holding menus in front of their faces, trying to catch a peek of his oblivious boss. Today was a lucky day for those boys, as their idol crush was too busy making disgusting googly eyes at Zen to notice them.

 “You mentioned you wanted to try acting, right?” Zen asked.

 “Oh… yeah. I just wanted to try it out like once, but I’m not really actively looking,” Ayu shrugged.

 “Hmm, if you want, the director told me he has a friend who’ll be directing a film! And she’s looking for actresses who can star in her movie.”

 “Ooh! What’s it about?”

 “Not sure yet. I’ll ask him.”

 “Tell me, okay?!”

 With another glance to the left, Ray saw that those boys now had phones discreetly peeking out from their menus. 

 Ray rolled his eyes. Seriously, who were they fooling? 

 He shifted to the left, blocking Ayu from their view. Though faced away from them, he could hear them whining how perfect the photo would have been were it not for  “that photobombing tofu”.

 He suppressed a snort, ‘Tofu? That’s the best you can do?’

 As derogatory as it sounded, it did not bother him at all. After all, pale skin such as his own was sought after.

 “So Sienna—”

 The brief frown that rose from Ayu’s face did not go unnoticed to Ray’s eyes.

  Sienna Park, the visual, center and lead vocalist of the girl group his boss’ daughter was from—Dandelion; also considered the second-most popular member after Ayu.

 Zen, however, was unaware of the sour change of mood, for her face reverted back to its over-the-top cheerfulness in an instant.

  ‘Well, idols have to keep up a facade…’

 It jarred Ray as to how she could switch from sweet to murderous with ease.

  Click!

 Ayu’s head instinctively snapped up. “Oppa!” She squealed.

  ‘Oppa,’  Ray almost sniggered at that.  ‘Do girls actually think they look cute saying that?’

 “Hmm, what caption should I put?” Zen sang teasingly.

 “Delete that!” She threatened with wide eyes, only for her growing grin to render her threats futile, as though she enjoyed being teased by him.

  ‘Get a room…’

 “Why not? It looks cute! See?”

 Zen held his phone in front of her, which showed a candid shot of her, mouth slightly open, in the middle of talking and flipping over a piece of beef.

 “Cute?” A dust of pink slowly spread on her cheeks as she turned her head away.

 “Yeah. I rarely see you with your glasses on. It always looks so new to me.”

 “Oh… Maybe I should’ve worn my contact lenses instead,” she pouted, before adding a new set of strips to the grill.

 “Nah, that’s not what I meant. I think you look cute with your glasses.”

 Her hold on the tong loosened.

  Shing!

 “Ah!” She exclaimed, recoiling as the meat sizzled and spattered oil droplets on her.

 Zen took the tong from her, taking over. “Do you disagree that much?” He chuckled at her flustered face.

 “O-Oppa! You’re such a joker!” She sheepishly laughed. Without the tong to keep her occupied, she fanned her reddened face with both hands.

 Ray wanted to throw up all over their fishcakes.  It was hard to stand there with a straight face.

 Before he could actually throw up, Ray stopped listening in on their conversation. It’s not like there was anything interesting to take from it.

 As for her father, he could finally sleep at night without worrying about Zen stealing his only princess away.  From the looks of it, his paranoia was baseless, as it was all unrequited on Ayu's part.

 With a father like that, he pitied any guy unfortunate enough to catch Ayu’s fancy.

 “Ooh, I think this is done,” Zen said, switching the grill stove off. One by one, he took each slice and placed them on another plate.

 “Hmm!” Ayu gushed as she inhaled the barbecues’ mouth-watering aroma. “This looks so good!”

 “Eat up,” Zen said, handing her a pair of metal chopsticks.

 “Yes! Thank you for the food!”

 She waited until Zen took the first bite. “Is it good?”

 “Yep!”

 Using his own chopsticks, he pinched a chunk of rice, adding a small slice of pork along with it. With a palm below to catch any falling grain, Zen brought it closer to Ayu’s mouth. “Say ‘aah’!” 

  ‘What do you think you two are doing?’

 They were famous celebrities; would it kill them to be more careful? Surely, this would cause a dating scandal.

  And a scolding from Big Boss as well.

 Just in time, he could already see someone pulling out a phone from two tables away.

 Eyes closed, Ayu leaned forward and opened her mouth, “Aaaahh.”

  ‘You’re not helping matters at all, dummy.’

 Ray moved to her left side, just before she took a bite, hiding her from the photographer’s view before giving the camera a “little” smile— an apology for ruining what should have been a perfect shot.

 But his apology seemed unwanted, as they scowled both at their phone screens and him.

 “Is it good?”

 “Mm-hmm!” Ayu nodded, simpering, and seemingly disconnected from the real world.

 “I’m glad you liked it,” Zen nodded, before facing Ray. “Mister Ray, you really don’t want to sit?”

 “It’s fine,” he shook his head with a forced smile. “I’m not hungry anyway.”

 “Hmm, I see—”

  Bzzt! Bzzt!

 “Oh, just a moment,” Zen said, glancing at his vibrating phone, then at Ayu. “Sorry. Can I take this call? It’s a bit urgent.” 

 “Sure! Take your time!” She nodded.

 “I’ll be quick!” Zen held the phone near his ear, speaking in a hushed tone as he headed to the bathroom.

 With Zen away to take the call, the whole table was quiet. Ayu continued eating without him.

  This was bad. The absence of a tall and handsome guy like Zen to be intimidated by made it easier for average no-name guys to try their luck.

 Not even 10 seconds after Zen left, a young man, holding a journal and pen, was heading towards their table.

  How foolish. Ray may not be as tall or breathtakingly handsome as Zen, but it didn’t matter. Now that he was paid to be stuck by Ayu’s side, the chances of ever coming near her were close to nil.

  The date had numbed his mind so much, he might as well amuse himself.

 Taking advantage of Ayu’s absentmindedness, Ray sidled to her left, placing a hand behind her and resting it over the chair’s rail.

 Ray’s protective stance prompted the young boy to stop in his tracks, looking as though he was having second thoughts.

 He flashed the young man a cheeky smile that was in no way welcoming. 

 Put off by the hostility emanating from his smile, the boy’s conflicting thoughts were put to rest, and he finally backed out.

 With his intimidation a success, he straightened his posture.

 “Okay, done!”

  Her rat-tailed friend finally arrived.

  Zen announced, then pulled his chair back and sat. “Did you wait long?”

 “Nope, not at all!”

 “Soooo… how’s this charity thing of yours doing? Something… F.A? ” Ayu questioned with a slight tilt of her head.

 “RFA? It’s doing well! Hmm, we still don’t have a set date for the next party, though.”

 “Oh, I see,” she nodded.

 “I’ll send you and the girls an invitation once our party coordinator decides on the date.”

 A split-second pout crossed her face but was immediately replaced with a full grin.

 “Yay!” Ayu clapped. “What will the party theme be?”

 “Umm…”

 Their heads turned at the stranger’s sudden arrival.

 “O-oppa…”

  ‘Oppa? The princess wouldn’t like that.’ 

 The barely noticeable twitch in her eye was enough proof.

 A slightly chubby girl approached their table, accompanied by another girl who looked the same age as she did.

 “Go on,” said the other girl, giving her friend a light push towards Zen.

 “Yes?” Zen flashed her a polite smile.

 “U-um…”

 “She wants an autograph!” The friend said, sipping from her mug and positioning herself near Ayu.

 “I-I…!”

 “Oh, sure!” Zen said, easing her nerves. “No problem at all!”

 Etched on his boss’ face was an uncomfortably wide smile that failed to reach her eyes. 

 “R-really?!” The girl smiled, handing to him a DVD case of  Tei’s Tea Leaf, the film that skyrocketed his fame, making him a beloved household name.

 Smiling, Zen took it, “Mm-hmm!”  He stretched a palm out to his bodyguard, who then placed a black marker pen on it. Uncapping it, he asked, “What’s your name?”

 “Y-Yoori!” The girl blushed, leaning closer to Zen.

 Hidden underneath the table was Ayu’s tightly-clenched fist, nails digging in her palms sure to leave a crescent-shaped mark. 

 “Okay! Yoori, ” Zen mumbled as he wrote his message. “May you always be happy and healthy. Make sure to always eat your meals…”

 Face still close to Zen, she snuck a glance at her friend, mouthing something before giving a slight nod.

  Something seemed off. 

 Ray jolted his head to his left.  Something was definitely off. No one, not even Zen’s bodyguard, paid attention to the mug in the girl’s hand, hovering above Ayu’s head, and slowly tilting downwards.

 Quickly shifting to the side, he reached out to grab the girl’s wrist.

 “Ow! W-what the?!”

 “Ray?!” Ayu abruptly stood, widening her eyes at him. “What are you doing?! Let her go!”

 She reached a hand out to pull Ray away from the girl, but was too slow to stop…

 the tea…

 from spilling…

 on…

 Zen.

  Splash!

“Ah!” Zen stood, hair dripping wet and clothes stained with black tea, squeezing the liquid from the drenched part of his shirt.

 Ayu snapped her head towards Ray, “What did you just do?!”

  She had on her face an absolute look of disgust.

 “Oh, my gosh, I’m so sorry! He didn’t mean it!" She panicked. "What to do, what to do…?” Ayu grabbed a fistful of tissues and dabbed them on his damp shirt.

 “This has gotten… a bit out of hand,” Zen lightly chuckled, rubbing his nape. “Take out?”

  o-o-o-o

  “I forget this usually happens when you’re famous.” Zen joked once they reached their car.

 “Same.…”

 For the first time since meeting Zen, his humour was lost on her. She’s always laughed even at his unfunniest jokes, but now...  How could she laugh when the day she’s been looking forward to the most turned into such a wreck?

 “It’s weird. You know, I sometimes invite Sienna here—”

  ‘Sienna this, Sienna that.’  That cursed name always brought out a frown on her face.

 “—but this never really happened.” Zen scratched his head and chuckled. “You be careful, okay?” He held the door open for Ayu, handing her the take-out bag and waved. “Make sure Mr. Ray doesn’t skip a meal!”

 With zero enthusiasm, she nodded, forcing out a smile that failed to reach her eyes. “Sure!”

 The windows rolled up, and they sped off. Ray did not turn the radio on this time and simply drove in silence, occasionally glancing at her from the rear-view mirror.

  As for Ayu, she was too busy cooking up a plan on how to get away with murder.

 o-o-o-o

 Ayu slammed the door open, hitting the wall with much force, and stomped her way in. 

 Following exactly 5 steps behind was Ray, carrying a box package under his arm and staying silent all throughout.

 Coming to an abrupt halt, Ayu kicked her wedges off of her feet and flung them to opposite directions. 

“I hate her. I hate her. I hate that… UGH!”  She tightened the grip on her handbag’s strap, knuckles turning white and fingernails digging into her palms. The temper she kept contained the whole car ride was now bubbling beyond her control.

 Skipping the mandatory 5-second countdown, she snapped her head at Ray and snarled, “YOU!” 

Stomping her way towards him, Ayu jabbed a finger on his chest. “First day working and this is what you do?! Why did you have to mess this up? What right did you have to ruin everything? Everything was going well until you decided to literally spill the tea on Oppa!”

 Ray said nothing, simply watching her seethe with anger.

 “AND. THAT. SIENNA. He had barbecue with Sienna before… me? Huh?”

 Ayu grabbed fistfuls of her hair, yanking it at its roots. A glimpse of Sienna eating and laughing with Zen flashed in her mind—fleeting, but enough to fuel her rage.

 Taking deep breaths, she paced back and forth around the living room. With gritted teeth, she let out a soft scream, controlled and barely a scream at first, gradually rising to a crescendo.

  And thus came the apocalypse.

“AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!”

 She picked up a throw pillow from her couch and hurled it towards Ray, who barely avoided getting hit. “AAAAAAAHHHHH! I CAN'T EVEN!”

 Nothing was safe in her presence. Any object unfortunate enough to be within arm’s reach was practically Sienna and Ray in her eyes.

 She grabbed three more pillows, hurling them one by one in every direction. “AAAAAHHHHH! CURSE! EVERYTHING!”

 Even her Louis Vuitton handbag was not spared from the madness. She unzipped it with much force, almost detaching its zipper, and dumped all of its contents on the ground. 

She picked up her first victim—a pressed powder around ₩78,000—and threw it across the room, letting out a long, ear-piercing battle cry. Not even the slightest hint of regret crossed her mind as it collided against the wall, dropping to the floor with a loud crack. Her ₩78,000 pressed powder was now barely worth a cent.

 Her second victim—a flower vase she received from a fan two Christmases ago—met the same fate as the first. Who cares if it was a gift? Who cares if they were expensive? She. Wanted. Everything. Destroyed.

 Imagining the scattered ceramic shards as Sienna’s face was doing nothing to curb her bloodlust. Driven by the memory of their disastrous date, she picked them all up, not caring about the wound or even worse, the infection she could get.

  It’s fine as long as they die before she does.

 “AAAAAAAAHHH!”

 From the corner of her eye, Ray was darting his head side to side.. The chaos unfolding before him went beyond his control.

 It was not enough. Thrashing the whole living room was not bringing any satisfaction at all!  

  If laws did not exist, she would have killed those two already!

 Lastly, she caught sight of her phone, grabbing it and dialing the only person she knew would understand her.

 At the first ring, the other line picked up.

 “Yes—”

 “FIRE HIM! FIRE! HIM! I WANT ANOTHER BODYGUARD! IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE MR. PARK! ANYONE BUT THIS PIECE OF TRASH! THROW HIM AWAAAAAAAAAAY! AAAAAAHHH!” She screeched at the top of her lungs.

  “P-princess, calm down! What’s wrong?”

 “MY BODYGUARD IS BROKEN!”

  “What?”

 “RAY! HE… RAY! HE RUINED EVERYTHING! I’LL NEVER GET THIS CHANCE AGAIN AND HE–HE! UUUUUGGGGH!” She repeatedly stomped her feet.

  “Deep breaths, Princess, deep breaths. What did he do?”

 “RAY! HE SPILLED—"

 Then followed a string of curses befitting a sailor. If her words could be censored, it would merely be a continuous, uninterrupted beeping noise.

 “Give Ray the phone. I’ll speak to him.”

 “FIRE HIM, OKAY?”

 Ayu tapped the loudspeaker button, stomping towards Ray, who was standing still, carrying a box package under his arm.

 She shoved the phone on Ray’s free hand. “You’re screwed.”

 Ray held the speaker near his mouth. “Yes, boss?”

 She crossed her arms and loudly tapped her foot. If looks could kill, Ray would have been shish-kebab by now. To be more precise, he had already been impaled by her death glares immediately as they stepped out of the restaurant.

 “What just happened? I don’t understand what she’s saying. She said you spilled a girl on her tea? And someone’s shirt was drenched with this Zen? What? W-what does that mean?”

 “Ah. That.”

  “So you really did something?”

 “Yes, but not in the way she makes it out to be.”

 Ayu uncrossed her arms and stomped her foot. “JUST GET TO THE FREAKING POINT ALREADY!” 

 “I’m not done talking,” Ray coldly snapped.

 She gaped at him in a scandalized manner.  ‘How dare you?’

 “And she’s right… somewhat.”

 Irritated, she huffed a few stray hair strands away from her face,   ‘Somewhat my ass.’

 “I did spill the tea on Mr. Zen but I was only trying to stop the girl’s friend from spilling the tea on your daughter.”

 At Ray’s words, the frown on Ayu’s face slowly faded and was soon replaced by confusion.  The tea was meant for her?

 Stills of that unfortunate incident flashed in her mind—malicious intent hiding behind a useless piece of trash’s youthful smile, aiming a water gun at Ayu’s eyes, hellbent on blinding her with whatever unholy mixture she had concocted.

 If Ray had been with her back then… would he have prevented it? She watched the conversation between her father and her bodyguard, a somber look marring her face.

  “What? Why would they do that?”

 “Simply put, they dislike Ayu..”

  “This is unbelievable! How could anyone dislike my Ayu?”

 “Heh, I wonder how as well,” he sneered as he sent a sidelong glance her way.

 Ayu’s spirits sank lower. All this time, she was lashing out at someone who... did not deserve it?

 Having tea spilled on her was not nearly as dangerous as the time she nearly went blind. Unlike then, the one from the barbecue place was merely an expression of hate rather than a desire to harm, but still….

  “Tell me their names! I’ll make sure—”

 “Stop!” Ayu marched towards Ray, snatching the phone from his hand. “No need! Goodbye, Dad!”

  “Princess—!”

 She ended it before he could say another word. She knew it was rude, but she did not care anymore. He’d forgive her anyway.

 She looked around her, at the mess...

  'Mess' was an understatement; it was a trainwreck brought about by her rampage— the aftermath of a friendly date gone horribly wrong.

 With the anger ebbing away, only silence was left between the two.

 “Are you being honest with me right now?”

 “Yes.”

 “You know I could fire you anytime, right?”

 “Yes.”

 Blue eyes scrutinized his mint ones, intently searching for the slightest hint of a lie… at least something to justify her outburst...

 However, Ray held his ground, staring her down with the same intensity as her. He looked as though he was challenging her, disregarding the fact that he was still working under her…

  ...as if he thought they were equals.

 “Are we clear? Can I go now?”

 She was the first to break eye contact. “Do… Do what you want,” she said, casting her gaze on the ground.

 He bowed, carrying the box package under his arm, then left.

 o-o-o-o

  He had seen better content from Nat Geo Wild.

 Ray rolled his eyes and scoffed. Handling his boss’ daughter’s tantrums was not part of his job description; last time he checked, he was a bodyguard, not a babysitter.

 Her shrill voice was grating to the ears. He knew how much her father doted on her. Judging from his boss’ stories about her, he expected a spoiled princess wannabe…

  ...not the batshit crazy woman package that came with it.

 He was expecting at least a "thank you" from her, even when his effort deserved nothing short of a bow of gratitude. Were it not for him, those dirtbag fans of hers would have flooded in, asking for autographs and ruining her date. She should have been thankful that he was considerate enough to help her enjoy her date in peace.

                     | From: Big Boss

                    |You did a good job today. Keep it up. Be ready by midnight sharp tomorrow.

 Ray shot a glance at the box package under his bed.  Another one? He’d have to be extra careful around Ayu, then.

 “Tsk, tsk… useless brat….”

  ‘Condoms exist to prevent the birth of such abomination.’

 o-o-o-o

 As Ray stepped foot in the dining area, he was greeted by the smell of bacon and butter.

 Ayu, who was seated at the other end of the table, glanced up at him. Upon meeting his eyes, she hung her head down, playing with the ends of her hair instead.

 Across from her, at the spot he usually sat on, was an untouched plate of five greasy bacon strips and scrambled eggs. Beside it was a plate of pancakes stacked atop each other, drizzled with syrup and topped with slowly melting butter.

  Bzz!

 A fly flew past him, then landed atop a strip of bacon.

  Ayu waved it away, but it was a stubborn one, moving on to another strip instead. “TCH!” She shooed it again, and the fly eventually gave up and went away.

 “You should’ve eaten it sooner if you didn’t want flies getting to it.”

 “I don’t eat these stuff.”

 “Why is it here, then? Is Boss coming over?”

 “No.”

 “Ah. How about that pretty boy?”

 “I don’t invite men to my house. And Zen is too much of a gentleman for that.”

 “Ah. Your frie—”

 “AH!” Ayu slammed her hands on the table. Testing her patience first thing in the morning was not good for anyone’s health. “JUST EAT ALREADY FOR GOODNESS—!” She stopped herself before she could continue further. Closing her eyes and taking a sharp inhale, she composed herself. 

 “Eat it now if you don’t want it to go cold,” she said in a somber tone.

 This brought about a scowl to Ray’s face.  Was it that hard to say sorry?  She was in the wrong, yet she still held her pride.

  He figured her father had probably instilled in her mind how she never needed to apologize.

 “Tough luck, then, Princess.” Ray reached for an apple in the fruit bowl, then bit into it.

 She felt annoyed at how the seconds ticked at an unbearably slow pace, and his loud munches only worsened it.  Was it that hard to eat? If it was a matter of taste, there was nothing to worry about. She can cook if that’s what he was worried about.

 After what felt like an eternity, Ray swallowed. “I don’t eat those kinds of food too.”

 He stood up and headed straight to the door, leaving her sulking.

  ‘Go choke on your pride and bacon. See if I care.’

[thefinalcinderella]

Tsurune Book 2 Chapter 5 - Marebito (Part 2)

Glossary here

Full list of translations here

Translation Notes

1. The joya no kane, or New Year’s Eve bell, is a tradition in Japan where temples ring a bell 108 times on the New Year to get rid of evil desires and thoughts, and 108 is believed to be the number of these thoughts.

2. Kin-teki and sen-teki are targets that are used for entertainment on special occasions. And yeah a sen-teki is actually a folding fan.

3. Zenkyuuren, short for Zen Nippon Kyudo Renmei (All Japan Kyudo Federation) is the main organization that oversees and promotes kyudo activities in Japan, including organizating tournaments. University students have their own organization that is not affiliated with Zenkyuuren.

4. A shigetou-kyuu is a lacquered bow wrapped completely in rattan strips. Only high level archers may use one.

5. Anatta is a Buddhist term that refers to the doctrine that states humans do not have a permanent, underlying substance that could be called the soul.

6. Shikoku is one of the five main islands of Japan and the second smallest.

7. This is actually the second time the Shikoku Pilgrimage is mentioned in the series. The Shikoku Pilgrimage is a pilgrimage of 88 temples associated with the Buddhist monk Kuukai. There are also over 20 temples that are not associated with the pilgrimage.

8. Zouri sandals are traditional flat sandals made of rice straw that look like clogs.

9. Green foxtail is called nekojarashi in Japanese, which is also the name for the cat toy that resembled it.

Previous | Next

“I'm going first!”

“Do it, Minato!”

After Ryouhei shouted, Minato jumped into the river with his back facing the sun.

A powerful splash went up, and Minato came up from the water after a pause. Ryouhei and Seiya also dived in the same way from the rock that was jutting out over the river.

It was the afternoon of the second day of training camp. They had finished morning practice, and were immersed in playing in the river.

Just a short walk away from the inn, there was a river with a gentle current that was suitable for swimming. Hearing about the local children diving into it, Minato, Ryouhei and Seiya eagerly changed into their swimsuits. It was hot today as well, and there was a thin sheen of sweat covering their limbs. Since the river bottom was filled with rocks, they fully prepared themselves for it by wearing trekking sandals so their feet wouldn’t hurt.

The rock didn’t look very tall when seen from a distance, but when one stood on it, it had a height that made one hesitate to jump from it. However, the three dived without any hesitation, and were bathed in cheers from the local boys who had done it earlier.

There was no trace of it nowadays, but the three of them were actually mischievous kids when they were little. They also did things that gave scares to the people around them—getting lost in the mountains behind their homes on their “heroes’ adventures,” building a little house on top of a tree and called it their secret base, then falling through the floorboards when they tread through it, and other such things.

The cousin duo of Kaito and Nanao were enjoying a different kind of play. Nanao sat down in a swim ring and floated along with it. Kaito overtook him, swimming in front crawl. He was swimming in earnest, wearing goggles. The two reached a part of the river where it would be dangerous if they went any further and walked upstream against the current. Then, once more, Nanao rode on his swim ring and floated off, and Kaito swam down the river.

Hanazawa, Shiragiku, and Seo were preparing to enter the water on the riverside. Hanazawa tied twintails beneath her ears, and Shiragiku gathered her hair on top of her head. Their pale skin stood out.

“I was quite surprised this morning, by Onogi-kun’s scream.”

“Oh, that. It was probably Kisaragi-kun who scribbled on his cheeks with permanent marker, right? Thank goodness Takehaya-kun was able to erase it with a cooling spray for him.”

“It sure was a bold prank,” Seo replied as she was looking at their feet.

“Oh? You got a pedicure? That pink color is so cute. It really suits you, Shiragiku.”

“I am so happy that you noticed, Seo.”

Hanazawa took off her back-strapped shoes and stretched her foot in front of the other two.

“Ta-da, look at mine too!”

Hanazawa’s toenails were painted white, with three black circles drawn on each of them.

“Kasumi-mato!? Did you do them yourself, Yuuna? If you don't hide your feet, you'll get targeted, won't you?”

Seo and Shiragiku were hugely impressed. They had Hanazawa promise to help them do the same for their nails tonight before they went to bed.

The three placed their clothes on a rock by the riverside and then slid into the water.

“So cold! The boys just go into cold water like this a lot, huh?”

“I can just barely soak my feet.”

Seo went all the way to around the middle of the river and submerged herself all the way up to her head. After she rose from the water, she combed back her wet hair. Since she was a handsome girl, it was strangely picturesque.

“It’s cold at first, but once you’ll get used to it once you take a soak.”

“If Seo says so…”

Hanazawa and Shiragiku clasped hands and went into the water, submerging themselves up to their shoulders, and screaming, “Kyah, it is cold!” When they were about to get up, water was splashed onto their backs.

“Seo, stop that!”

“Fufu.”

The three had a water fight, running through the water and trying to escape each other. They had fun throwing a beach ball around and swimming breaststroke, but suddenly, laughter turned into screams.

Two boys, lying face down, were floating away from upstream.

At the girls’ screams, Kaito cut around to in front of two boys, striking their heads. Upon doing that, the two planted their feet on the river bottom and raised their heads.

“What’s up, Kaito-kun?”

“Ryouhei, Narumiya! You guys scared us. You looked like corpses floating away. Stop playing like that.”

Ryouhei scratched the back of his head.

“Oh, sorry. We were looking underwater. There’s fish there.”

“…You guys really are wild children. I wanna see your childhoods.”

Without noticing the sarcasm, Minato answered him seriously, “Should I recreate it for you? In the past, if there was a shallower area, we’d often pile up rocks to dam up the stream and make it like a pond.”

“Oh, do it, do it. If we put in the fish we caught, the water turned into a hot soup by the heat of the sun, and then the fish became boiled fish,” Ryouhei added to the topic, and Kaito’s eyes also became like those of a boiled fish.

After Seiya and Nanao joined, the eight left the water temporarily. They covered themselves in bath towels while repeating, “So cold, so cold.” They were in the water for too long, so their finger and toes became swollen and pale white.

Tommy-sensei and Masa-san handed out cups of hot coffee. They stuffed their faces with sandwiches and yakisoba bread, and warmed up their cold bodies around the fire pit.

Minato finished drinking his coffee and placed his cup on the ground.

“Masa-san, you dive too.”

“I’m an old geezer, so I’ll have to pass on that.”

Minato was about to say that he wasn’t an old geezer when he quickly realized something.

Even though Masa-san’s head wound had just been completely healed, wouldn’t it be dangerous if it reopened while doing something like diving…?

After he realized the insensitivity of his words and shut his mouth, Masa-san spoke.

“When you all finish eating, shall all the boys have a race? I’ve put a towel on that rock that looks like a frog downstream, and whoever grabs it first is the winner. The winner will have more meat added to their dinner.”

“Alright!” Kaito said, quickly standing up and beginning warmup exercises. He was so enthusiastic that he even put on a swimming cap. The others also put on goggles and entered the water.

Tommy-sensei raised his hand up high.

“Take your marks, get set, start!”

Kaito, Ryouhei, Seiya, Nanao, Minato, and Masa-san simultaneously kicked the water.

The distance was about twenty-five meters. Their arms rotated in huge circles from their shoulders and they paddled against the water, stretching their knees. Six flexible bodies glided through the water. Kaito, Minato, and Masa-san were neck-and-neck, and in the end it was Masa-san who arrived at the goal first. With a calm smile, he held the towel in his hand and went up to the riverside.

Nanao also got out of the water and protested.

“Masa-san, it’s not very adult-like to swim seriously, you know?”

“Everyone, you’ve misread the current. It’s faster at the edges.”

“Shit, one more round! And this time, let’s change the lineup,” Kaito said.

The six once again submerged themselves in the water. This time, it was Seiya who won. “One more round!” Kaito shouted. It didn’t seem like this competition would end until he won.

The laughter of the ten people continued into the evening.

On the third day of training camp, they decided to hold a competition.

Tommy sensei spoke, “Let us do a ‘hyakuhasshakai’. It is patterned after the ringing of a temple bell for one-hundred-and-eight times on New Year’s Eve (1), and it’s common to do it at the end of the year for kyudo. The way to do it is with teams of five in two shajos. First, you shoot two arrows in zasha, and then you shoot four arrows in rissha for twelve rounds for a total of fifty shots, and this is all done twice. However, the first-year students from Tsujimine High School will finish with fifty shots. Your advisor is right next to you, so I want you to shoot with peace of mind. This is an individual competition, not a team competition, so those who feel that can’t shoot anymore may drop out midway. Why the hundred shots are finished, the remaining eight shots are open to all, so look forward to it since the kin-teki (gold target) and sen-teki (fan target) will be prepared. (2) Item prizes will also be prepared.”

A kin-teki was a three sun (9.1 cm) target with gold painted, and a sen-teki, as its name suggested, was fan-shaped. Both were used for celebrations and events.

The girls from both schools made a merged team, and the total of thirty people were made into six groups and divided into the two shajos. Nikaidou and Minato’s team were in the second shajo.

The team that finished shooting their four shots would have the oomae and second archer watching the targets, the third archer would be recording the results on the blackboard, and the fourth archer would be writing the results down in the books. When one team finished, they would switch roles with the next team. Since it wouldn’t be fair to have only the same person retrieving the arrows, of the five people in a team, they would change the order by having everyone shift forward one spot for every round of shooting. For that reason, the record-keepers needed to pay close attention.

Nikaidou looked at the profile of his advisor.

It was unusual for him to watch over his students without leaving. He wondered what kind of magic the Kazemai advisor used on him. It might have been that he just couldn’t excuse himself from it because an elderly teacher gave him a talk.

The Tsujimine members also exchanged words with the Kazemai coach and members. It was motivating to shoot with archers from another school. It was a fresh surprise to compare the differences between shamen uchiokoshi and shoumen uchiokoshi, especially.

There was someone who felt the same way. Ryouhei spoke to Tommy-sensei.

“What kinds of shooting methods and schools are there?”

“Well, the main organizer of Inter-High is the All Japan High School Athletic Federation, and now what high schoolers are taught in club activities and the like is the same style as the ‘Zenkyuuren’. (3) The rules are slightly different if the competition is sponsored by a university or a company. Zenkyuuren is the abbreviation of the All Japan Kyudo Federation, which is also abbreviated as Nikyuuren. It is roughly categorized into three groups.

“Shoumen uchiokoshi in reishakei.

“Shoumen uchiokoshi in bushakei.

“Shamen uchiokoshi in bushakei.

“Kazemai and Kirisaki shoot in the first category, and the Kirisaki twins shoot in the second category. Tsujimine shoots in the third category. Since kyudo schools are different from Zenkyuuren in things like taihai, it is common for many people to belong to a school and Zenkyuuren. I myself belong to Zenkyouren and Ogasawara-ryuu hosha.”

"Whoa, that’s pretty complicated."

"Even for shoumen uchiokoshi, between reishakei and bushakei there are differences in the spot-the-difference levels, such as the way you hold your arrows and the movements of nocking an arrow, right? For shamen uchiokoshi as well, there are differences such as the one between the methods of not stopping midway during hikiwake and 'sanbun no ni.'"

"Ooh, that's really interesting. Thank you for the explanation."

"Ho ho, was I a little bit helpful to you?"

Fuwa, who heard the two’s conversation by chance, also murmured "Whoa" in his mind.

He remembered that the cheering for university matches was very lively, but conversely, the average kyudo match organized by the Zenkyuuren banned vocal cheering, and showing support was limited to applauding when there was a kaichuu. The way things were done changed with the place. It wasn’t an argument of which was better or worse, but a difference of tone. The variety was very interesting.

The competition continued after that, and when fifty shots were finished, they had a lunch break.

Ryouhei and Nanao were obsessed with Ootaguro’s huge bow and got him to let them hold it. Kaito and Seiya were checking whether or not the records were correct. Seiya was also inputting the records into a self-created smartphone app. Among the Kazemai boys, Ryouhei had the least number of hits with thirty-six, and Kaito and Minato had the strong results of forty-two hits.

Masa-san sat next to Minato, who was drinking barley tea.

"Minato, if your wrist hurts again, don’t overdo it."

"Got it. I really am okay. I’m doing great."

"It's true that you aren't bending your left wrist anymore. You're stretching it straight."

"When I was conscious of not bending my left thumb and pointed my thumb at the target at kai, I didn't bend my left wrist anymore. I think that maybe the line above my arm went straight by me stretching my thumb, and the line below my arm went straight by tensing my little finger."

"You've discovered it for yourself. You probably won't forget what you understood by yourself."

"Yeah, I'm kinda happy."

Minato smiled.

When the call came for the resumption of the competition, he put on his yugake again.

For the second half, the five Tsujimine first-year students and the five girls refrained from shooting, and it became a match with a total of twenty people. The ones who refrained took on the roles of checking the targets.

As expected, perhaps due to exhaustion, the ones who did well in the first half missed a lot. The number of hits had gone down considerably, but the starting members displayed their willpower and produced a hitting ratio of seventy to eighty percent. A dragonfly stopped on the tip of a leaf, as an arrow crossed over the pond, and the sounds of "All right!" came flying.

The results after the hundred shots were over were as followed.

Nikaidou had eighty-two hits, Fuwa seventy-nine, Ootaguro seventy-seven, Higuchi sixty-nine, and Aragaki seventy-four. A total of three-hundred-and-eighty-one hits.

Kaito had eighty hits, Ryouhei sixty-seven, Seiya seventy-seven, Nanao seventy-three, Minato eighty-two. A total of three-hundred-and-seventy-nine hits.

The top two were Minato and Nikaidou with eighty-two hits out of a hundred shots. There was a loud round of applause after the results were announced.

The last eight shots were with the kin-teki and sen-teki.

The targets were changed from a thirty-six-centimeter kasumi-mato to a nine-centimeter kin-teki. Since the sen-teki was just as small, they were hard to hit. In addition to the products, the people who hit them could also get a set consisting of the kin-teki they hit and a small decorative arrow. It was a shooting side-show rather than a competition, so there were lively conversations from the stands while they watched the game.

In the midst of it all, Nikaidou had a grim expression on his face. His usual hitting rate was over ninety percent, but he was lacking life and vividness on this day. Something was getting in his way and his right hand couldn’t move as sharply as usual. When he turned his face towards the azuchi, the kin-teki glittered like it was laughing at him.

Shit, I don’t wanna lose. He’s the only I absolutely do not want to lose to――.

Just when Nikaidou was thinking that, he noticed a defect in what he was holding.

There was a gap in a part of his bow’s yazuridou.

A yazuridou, as its name suggests, is a piece of rattan (tou) wrapped around the part of the bow that the arrow rubs against (sureru) that was just above the grip. Japanese bows were usually wrapped with rattan in three or five places. Bows that had more places wrapped were high-caliber objects, and required a suitable location and level of ability to use. For example, the shigetou-kyuu (4), which was wrapped entirely in rattan, could not be used without a license in the Ogasawara-ryuu school.

The "aim" of the Japanese bow based on the yazuridou, and it was said that the aim was a few notches above the rolled rattan, but as the width of the rattan was only a few millimeters, it was easy for it to result in a deviation. This deviation of a few millimeters was a deviation of about ten centimeters at the target, so there were methods such as making a mark on the bow to make it easier to aim, but that was prohibited.

The place where the gap was located was exactly where his "aim" was.

If that was matched up with the center of the target, the heights would line up exactly…

That’s right, this wasn’t intentional; this was a natural phenomenon. I should just pretend not to notice it. This isn’t like an official tournament where there are equipment checks, and no one looks at other people’s bows in a festive atmosphere.

It’ll be good if I hit. I will hit.

Nikaidou made a grinding sound with his yugake. He took four arrows in hand. It happened when he stepped forward with a heart that was beating with an unsettled rhythm.

"Your yazuridou has a gap in it. Shall I fix it for you?"

He could just barely withstand the feeling of his heart nearly leaping out of his mouth. His trademark amiable smile did not appear on his face.

Following Masa-san, who headed towards the shajo as though he was gliding, Nikaidou headed for the waiting room.

Even from inside the waiting room, he could see what was going on outside. It seemed like the competition still hadn’t started yet, since it was noisy with the sounds of everyone talking.

Masa-san got a bottle of wood glue and a small spatula, used for repairing, and skillfully filled up the gap.

"Wait a little bit longer. I'll be done soon since it's only a little bit dislocated."

"…Did you notice it, sir?"

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

"If it weren't for me being called out by you, then I would have intended on going out to the competition as I was. While the yazuridou had the aim marked on it."

"Today's competition is an interschool match, but well, if I had to say it, it's for fun. Why are you so obsessed over whether you win or not?"

"It's because once you lose, you'll get into a habit of losing. I will continue to win, during this summer…"

"During this summer? It's okay to not win after that?"

"I don't care about next year. I don't plan on continuing to do kyudo for a long time like everyone else. …It's stupid, getting all worked up and emotional over such a simple sport."

Nikaidou smiled. Even though it should have been his usual smile, for some reason his face was strained.

Masa-san then spoke, like he was addressing the bow in his hands.

"There's a story that goes like this. There was a warrior who got hayake and was told by his master to stop practicing archery. Resolving to cure himself by any means necessary, he placed a kimono that his daimyo gave to him in front of his aim, and challenged himself to commit seppuku if he let go of his arrow, but as expected, he shot through the kimono. Also, two university students were worried about hayake, and when they attempted to not let go of their arrows by facing each other and drawing their bows, both of them shot their arrows at the same time. Those are anecdotes that really cannot be imitated."

"Really… So what? What do you want to tell me? If it is that you get hayake when you're obsessed with hitting, or that I should sympathize with those who have it, or something like that, then I am afraid those stories have nothing to do with me."

"Since hayake is the condition of releasing your arrow against your own intention, what about its opposite? It is your body moving naturally without you thinking about anything, and all of your released arrows hitting the target——. What do you think the state of reaching that superhuman level, the opposite of hayake, is called?"

"I don't know, the state of selflessness (anatta)? (5) Pretty mystical, isn't it."

"It's called 'the zone.' Achieving the best level of physical activity in the ultimate state of concentration――. Don't you want to experience that sort of state just once?"

For a fleeting moment, the sounds were interrupted.

The sounds that should have been so noisy didn't reach his ears at all.

The buzz of cicadas sounded from a distance.

"When Mr. Eugen asked Awa-hanshi to 'please teach me Japanese archery,' Awa-hanshi replied with, 'Don't think about hitting the target.' If they only heard that, most people would be puzzled, wondering what he was saying, but that was only a conclusion, and the process of reaching that conclusion was omitted.

"Why don't you think about hitting the target.

"How do I avoid thinking about hitting the target.

"Awa-hanshi was speaking about those parts with a Buddhist mentality, so it might sound like something from the other side of the clouds, but it does in fact tell you how to enter the zone. Wouldn't you like to revive the secret techniques that Eugen Herrigel left behind in the modern age?"

"…You're telling me to do that?"

"A high school archer who's able to do kakehodoki is the rarest of the rare. Is it okay for that skill to end with only you? There are some who may admire your shooting. As well as those will evolve further."

"You are the coach for Kazemai High School, aren't you? Is it okay to give your enemy such important information? "

"Even if they know it, no one can do it right away. And, just as you cannot learn a lot by completely copying the answers in a workbook, the answers you derived from the questions that you yourself asked, worried over, and suffered over are more memorable. Rather than just listening to what other people say, there is nothing better than what you gain from experience."

Nikaidou took a breath. There was too much information and his thoughts couldn't catch up with it all.

Masa-san continued to speak.

"Some parts of you overlap with how I was just a little while ago. I can't win more, or hit――. Wanting to win, wanting to hit—those are primitive feelings that we have by nature without requiring training for them. It's fine to set winning as your goal, but if you make it your ultimate goal, then you would definitely suffocate. You need five, six, ten years to be able to boast a high-level hitting rate. So then, when your physical strength and ability decline, what should you do?"

"…You should quit. A person who hadn’t hit a hundred targets doesn’t have any persuasiveness, you know?"

"I have. Since I did it when I was practicing by myself, I can’t provide evidence, but I have continuously hit two-hundred-and-eleven targets."

"…Heh, congratulations."

"I thought that a brilliant future was waiting for me after hitting a hundred targets. That an unknown power would awaken within me, and I would reach a superhuman level. However, in actuality, nothing happened. I was satisfied for only a moment, and just a quiet time passed."

Masa-san narrowed his almond-shaped eyes and smiled.

He looked beyond the door, towards the shajo.

"Now, I am very satisfied. I have fun shooting my bow. And so, I wanted to pass it down. It would be inexcusable if I was the only one who used up what my ancestor left for me and it became lost. I want to hand over all the power I have now and see even more new ways of shooting."

"…Everyone at Kazemai must be truly excellent. Since they keep listening to your sermons."

The call for convening sounded. Masa-san handed the bow to Nikaidou and returned to the shajo.

Nikaidou gripped his bow tightly.

The kin-teki competition began.

The target was small, so there wasn't a lot of hits, but many arrows landed right next to it. Those were places that would have been considered hits if it were a normal target. Since this was different from a regular competition and there wasn't a ban on chatting, things like, "Ooh, what a shame" and "Whoa, so close" could be heard, along with laughter.

In the second round, Fuwa hit the target, and there was applause along with the sounds of "Alright!"

In the third round, a first-year beginner also landed a hit, and he couldn't stop grinning. It was something that came from being genuinely happy when one hit the target. Kaito and Seiya both hit the target in the fifth round, and the gold targets were replaced with new ones.

Fuwa said, "Nikaidou, go and snatch some items."

"Ha, don't boss me around. I'll be hitting next."

And just as he declared, he shot the target.

Thus, Nikaidou carried out all the steps of shooting in order and conquered the hyakuhasshakai. Minato missed all his shots since the kin-teki were brought on. Nikaidou hit half of the eight kin-teki shots and ended up with a total of eighty-six hits.

>

After the competition, Kaito went to the inn's lounge.

There was a bookshelf in the lounge, and besides books about kyudo, there were also books such as a field guide on wild grasses and flowers and a travel book with information on nearby places. Kaito, surprisingly, happened to be an avid reader. Beneath the bright red sky, he sat on the porch and was reading a book when Masa-san visited the room.

"Masa-san, there's some old kyudo magazines over here."

"Those are pretty valuable."

Masa-san sat down next to Kaito. Kaito looked at him.

"During the shakai, you were deep in talk with Nikaidou, but you weren't talking about arrows going missing or anything like that, right?"

"Oh, there wasn't really an issue. It's more like he got annoyed with my unwanted butting-in."

"…Also, Masa-san, to tell you the truth, on the day of the Yata Shrine festival, I heard something that has to do with your privacy. Sorry."

"Was it really something that would make you look so ashamed?"

"I heard from the parishioner's conversations that Ren-san and you aren't blood-related. I thought I was the only one there at the time, but the other club members might have also heard it."

"Oh, that? I wasn't really hiding it, so there's no problem."

"I see. That's good."

During the night festival, Narumiya had said that he had met Ren-san just now and then got really talkative, so Seiya got suspicious, wondering if something happened. Ren had the glamour and appeal of an adult man, or rather, a shadiness to him that gave off a wild allure, and he was no doubt an unreadable person, even for Kaito.

As he was thinking that, cats appeared from out of nowhere and snuggled up to him. One of them looked a lot like his own cat, Lucy.

"You guys again? Well, there's nothing to do about it."

"You're popular no matter where you go, eh, Kaito. You were even mobbed at Shikoku."(6)

"Oh, did that happen?"

Masa-san beckoned over a cat who was sizing him up from a short distance. He rubbed the chin of the cat that approached him quietly, and it closed its eyes in bliss. He held it up when he saw that its wariness was dispelled, and the cat curled up on his lap. Seeing the two of them, it could be thought that Masa-san also had the qualities of a cat-seducer.

Kaito and Masa-san met at a night festival at Yata Shrine. Some bothersome people picked a fight with Kaito, and it was Masa-san who saved him. This was when Kaito was a first-year middle schooler and Masa-san was a third-year university student. At the time, he hadn’t known Masa-san did kyudo. When he was on a family vacation in Shikoku, they stayed at the lodgings of a temple that wasn’t included on the Shikoku Pilgrimage. (7) The chief priest there was an archer, and he unexpectedly ran into Masa-san, who was in the middle of an archer’s training pilgrimage. He learned that Masa-san’s grandfather, who was his kyudo master, had passed away, and that he himself was also a master archer.

It had only been a few months since Kaito joined a kyudo club. He requested that he be allowed to watch them, but the two of them spent nearly all of the time having a question-and-answer session rather than shooting arrows, and furthermore, the contents of their conversations was almost incomprehensible. The priest was a stern person who also had a kindly face, and a dignified atmosphere drifted in the kyudojo.

A boy about two years old lived in the temple, and he had frequently curled up on Masa-san’s lap in the exact same way as the cat was doing now. And nowadays he wondered if it was Masa-san who had been the one to have a relieved and easy smile rather than the toddler.  

When they returned from their trips, they were emailing and going to meet each other. They even went to a Japanese rock concert together. For Kaito, who had two older sisters, Masa-san was the coolest big brother ever. It felt somehow refreshing whenever he talked to him. Masa-san was a real charmer—in a good sense—since back then, and had many friends. And yet sometimes, he would look up at the sky with a gaze that screamed, "I can't take this anymore."

He gave off such an unsettled air, like he was perplexed about how to deal with a concealed blade――.

He never talked to anyone about this, and didn’t plan to.

He had only seen Masa-san shoot at Shikoku, and because he was allowed the chance of practicing at a private dojo back at home, he wasn’t able to get him to tell him details like its location. That was why when he learned that Narumiya had Masa-san teach him in kyudo, he was furious. The time when Kirisaki High School's Fujiwara entered Kazemai was no match for it. Even though he never even taught me, why did he teach you, who ran away from kyudo?

"Kacchan, Masa-san, there you guys are!"

It was Nanao's voice. Ryouhei , Seiya, and Minato were also behind him.

"It's a bit early, but Tommy-sensei and Hanazawa-san and the others went for dinner. Aah, kitties! Masa-san isn’t hated by cats either, I see. Must be nice."

"They might see you as a rival. Wait here a little bit."

Masa-san placed the cat on his lap on the balcony, put on zouri sandals (8) and went out into the yard. When he returned, he was holding green foxtail, also known as the cat teaser. (9)

"I think this is just the thing?"

When Masa-san lured it with the cat teaser, the cat crouched, and then jumped at it immediately. While it batted at the tip, it approached the knees of Nanao, who was crouching. Around when the cat was stepping on Nanao’s hand, the cat teaser was raised, and the cat jumped onto Nanao’s knee. He immediately tried to hug it, but was hit with a barrage of cat punches.

"Ow ow ow!"

Next to Nanao, who was pressing his hand to his face, Seiya spoke.

"Masa-san, let's leave it to those two this time."

Ryouhei and Minato held cat teasers in both hands. The two were shaking the tips to attract the cats’ attentions, but they ignored them. Ryouhei tilted his head.

"Why's it not working?"

"Give that to me for a sec?"

The cats approached Masa-san when he had a cat teaser in his hand, so Ryouhei, Minato, and Nanao were strangely not good enough. Kaito held the cat that looked like Lucy and stood up. With a book in one hand, he went back to the bookshelf.

It's pretty irritating that Narumiya is so attached to Masa-san even though he showed up later, but well, there's nothing to do about it. It's probably just as Fujiwara said—Masa-san's shooting can shoot through the hearts of almost any archer. There are tons of skilled archers, but Masa-san's shots have a feeling of depth to them.

Masa-san, if you only pay attention to Narumiya, I’ll kick you hard.

Because you’re our big brother.

Kaito parted with the cat and said, "Masa-san, it’s almost time. Let’s go eat."

"Alright."        

Previous | Next

[operativesurprise]

Dreams I’ve had recently enough to find with a quick scroll on my fb wall

was dreaming about a cave last night. With lots of shallow pools of water along the floor. I feel like if I'd seen the layout from above it would have looked like paisleys. There was a creature there tending the pools. Sweeping detritus away, skimming the surfaces of the water. It took moss that was growing too thick in some places and put it into bare areas, and it was very gentle with the little frogs and salamanders living on the walls.

There was the sound of bats and the dripping and echo of water, and a low hum in the background, but the creature itself made no sound. You heard the bristles of it's broom, and the soft shift of stones it touched, but no footsteps, no breathing, no nothing but a soft chiming noise as it looked in each pool.

The waters all glowed, some white, some pale blue, others pulsed through light pink to deep magenta. The whole dream had this aura of calmness, of being content. It was like being in a giant zen garden but dial the peace up even more. I'm not really sure where -I- was in the dream. My POV was kinda hovering over the figure as it tended to the pools, but I'm fairly certain I wasn't the figure itself. I was like, 6 inches up and to the left.

_____

I've been trying to sketch an image I had in a dream last night and it's just not setting up right. It was like. Honestly it was like the first few seconds of the Adventure Time intro animation - that super fast 'drone camera' POV that swoops down through trees and stuff and focuses in on a character with their back to the camera and then they turn and look?

I was swooping through this orchard of blooming apple trees - and I took note bc for some reason I was surprised they weren't pear and peach trees like 'they were supposed to be'.

But as the camera/I got closer to this feminine figure standing under the branches and the flowers and these really almost black-green leaves in this rich green velvet textured dress (it's totally the dress that's on the original golden book cover of Ella Enchanted), with big free fall bouncy waves of BLOND hair, they turn and instead of it being that kinda anime "turn and wink/smile" and the camera goes to the next, she turned around and it was a dead eyed marionette.

My camera POV just slammed to a halt with the freeze frame of this... entity (which I 'knew' in my dream was The Druid) (Even though this wasn't really an MJ dream) looking up and over their shoulder at me, like they'd become aware of the camera and were looking straight at ME. The branches with the flowers and the leaves above it framed it really close and I couldn't see much other than the scribbly ovals of it's eyes. Then the colors all got desaturated except for the apple blossoms.

And then that dream was over.

___

Vivid dreams last night about being on house hunters. With Lithrick as the realtor.

Also had a very ominous dream about standing in a misty open field, feeling the sawgrass scrape my bare arms and shins, staring up into the grey sky while sharp winged birds with broken bodies 'flew' through the air. It looked like how a washcloth you are swirling in a tub of water looked. There was no sound for that one but I could feel the rain on my face as I looked up.

Then I was dreaming about being on the beach in Belize with the chitons and baby hermit crabs and the breeze and I was watching the sunrise.

___

I've been having zombie nightmares since Sunday. Sunday and Monday were taking place in the shopping mall (which is a relatively new venue for my dreams), Sunday being the Beginning of the outbreak (and star trek themed) and Monday mostly about life starting up in the 'colony' of this gigantic shopping mall.

But last night I dreamed about the collapse of the colony and then survival in the forest.

There was a man in a wheelchair who had arrived at the shopping mall with his mother - both of whom were injured but not infected. We let them in and the mother succumbed to her injuries shortly after.

This left the man in the wheelchair distraught and he would wheel around the open plaza in the center of the mall mumbling. It was not concerning - until other weird things began to happen.

Like how one of the dorm areas had mysteriously become locked, how some people were going missing (presumably they left to try and find their families), and how some older people were getting injuries in the night - explained away by "well, old people have delicate skin and maybe they bumped themselves".

But then the man in the wheelchair wheeled up to the mezzanine and shouted for attention. And then he collapsed, and clouds of mosquitos erupted from his wounds and began to attack people.

Flash forward to a weird mix of irl and larp characters living in the woods behind my house in an abandoned homestead - I had gone from dying by mosquito to being Sano and a group of us avoiding Velociraptors in the long grass as we made our way back to the relative safety of this bombed out building husk.

But then The Rattler Gang came - horribly tattooed and violent and they ransacked through the homestead and were almost into our barricaded room when not-quite-Malaki and sorta-Allison with an ancestor spirit wig on saved us.

The dream ended with us all in a cave explaining to a horrified Morgrym that "see what happens when you're late?"

It was so weird bc as the dreams progressed and became more MJ and less Real World but with Zombies the zombies became less of an issue (I mean, repel undead is a thing)

___

Last night I dreamed about Ridge Road being a swamp instead of a road. The fields on either side were the same, but the road itself was a Louisiana/Florida/Bayou/Swamp thing with hot, moist air, dragon flies, grasses, alligators, everything you could want (though the water was clear as day).

And I was walking along the broken up boards that served as this sorta river trail following the path of the road. Slats were missing in places and it was a distinctive walnut color, and it was rickety and I could smell the heat of it like being on a dock in the summer time.

And as I was walking along I knew I was heading toward Harris Hill farm but instead of the farm it was the Pirate Tavern bar that I dream about fairly often.

(as I'm thinking about it, it kinda has the air of a setting in a Curse of Monkey Island game crossed against Diablo II)

But before I can get into the tavern there was a crowd of tourists wading through the water nearby. Like, the most stereotypical hawaiian shirt white-sunscreen-on-nose and flyfishing capped tourists you could imagine. And they were lost looking for their fan boat but I didn't know where it was - but I also didn't want them to find the Pirate Tavern bc it's a secret and my co-owner Matt Sch would be mad if we had to relocate AGAIN bc non-pirates had found us.

And in my dream I am DISTINCTLY aware that LAST TIME there were also VAMPIRES there, but Skye Collins had bought out their half of that Pirate-Vampire Tavern to own it outright as JUST a Vampire Tavern so this time I went into business with Matt. Not Lithrick, Matt.

And I was -upset- in my dream until I 'remembered' that I hadn't skipped out on Skye and the Vampirate Tavern, I'd just opened another location with a different partner after reaching an amicable business deal. We still traded aligator blood grog for peat moss from the other location to serve a certain cocktail with at THIS one.

___

Had a dream last night that I was diving on a whale fall. But either I was minuscule or the whale was super gigantic bc the rib bones were these looming spires like I was watching a stroll under redwood trees through a low fisheye lense.

Thinking about it I can totally piece out the different dives that meshed to make this dream up.

The stalactites from the Blue Hole, The gelatinous muck on the bottom in the St. Lawrence The cold from the Brownstone Quarry

___

If we want to talk about a fever dream... last night I had a dream about being trapped on a volcanic island while the whole chain of volcanoes were erupting.

The evacuation was happening but I went back to the house for the animals and got stuck there. And other neighbors who couldn't get out in time were coming over with their pets and supplies.

I was watching the lightning and the ash fall outside when I saw three red colored golden retrievers but I could only get two of them to come inside and I spent the rest of the dream upset and trying to find the third one. I found other animals trying to hide from the ash and storm, but I woke up before finding that 3rd golden.

The lava flows were coming down the mountain too.

___

Dream time. So. A classical vampire and an actual bat demon are out on the town looking for something to do when they come across a nail parlor.

What a great idea, they think! We'll get manipedis and then do brunch over at IKEA.

But when they go into the nail parlor there is far too much religious imagery to be comfortable and the demon doesn't want to stay anymore so they go back outside all sad.

Vampire suggests they just kill and eat the occupants of the nail parlor and find something else to do with their day off.

Demon agrees to the plan but they have this 'thing' where when the two of them murder a bunch of people they leave a haiku written in the blood on the wall.

They begin to argue because they both have different accents and can't decide on the syllable count for a certain word.

___

So there's a string of tall, skinny houses in Litchfield after 'The Church' that usually feature in any nightmares I tend to have. Last night did not disappoint.

The lineup was this:

🏚🏠🏡🏠 An empty house, My house, the neighbor's house, and then for some reason my grandmother's house.

And we had gone next door to the neighbor's house for dinner, even though we knew it was dangerous to be outside of our house after dark. But as we gathered in their entryway the spotlights on the rest of the neighborhood started turning on and we knew we had stayed too late.

"They" were out there. You were safe in the daylight, you were safe at night as long as you didn't open your doors. BUT now it was night. And we had to get home.

So we slip out the door and we can hear the neighborhood using birdcalls to communicate the 'all clear'. As we are going down this overgrown embankment toward our house we see it.

One of them.

And then we hear someone sound the alarm, a series of owl hoots. It distracts the thing for a moment and we think we could slip away but it turns and starts trying to get into our house so we run to the empty one next door and JUST barely make it.

Dream me's mother and little sister make it into the screened in porch just ahead of me and I fall in and turn and only just get the door closed in time when It attacks.

It was a zombie. Or a ghoul. Or something. a woman with a bloody face and terrible teeth and honestly it looked like Reagan from the Exorcist and she launched herself against the screen door which I'm trying to keep closed.

I know she can't get in the door but then she makes this horrible noise and says,

"You won't be safe for long. We're getting stronger,"

And the door is almost coming off its hinges but I -know- as long as I keep the door closed at night we are safe and then she laughs and presses her face to the screen and says,

"I'll just get in tomorrow morning. Before you're awake. Because, really, what difference does the sun or stars make? I'll get in tomorrow,"

And then I woke up.

____

My dream last night was so complicated I can barely keep it straight.

I was some grizzled, older ex-con dude pulled out of my soft retirement as a school bus driver because a child genius was being used as the catalyst for the robot war apocalypse by his wealthy mother's greedy board of directors.

And somehow I had a time machine that I was gonna use to bring the kid back to the beginning of all the issues and he was gonna start sabotaging the dangerous inventions so he could just be a regular child genius instead of responsible for global-scale mass murder.

At one point I had thrown the kid's manifesto at him but he hadn't actually read it bc it was too big and there were no pictures but also bad language and he asked me what "twat" meant and the kid was horrified that they would use that kind of language. Like he was ambivalent about the murders but bad language was crossing a line.

And as part of my "wait. He's just a kid I can help him instead of kill him" epiphany for some reason I looked out the time machine window and saw my old motorcycle which was painted in blue tiedye pattern and that memory moved me enough to offer to help the kid.

So the kid grabbed his froggy backpack and offered to give me all of his science fair winnings (which was like. Hundreds of thousands of dollars and two telephoto camera lenses for some reason. And a green and purple feather boa) but I just took enough to buy a new motorcycle and told him to hide it from his past mother so they're not suspicious.

___

Okay subconscious, doing laundry with the elves of mirkwood is NOT becoming a reoccurring dream. Three times is enough. Stop now. ____

I was an undercover secret agent posing as the nanny to a royal family's children. The children had a pool party for the oldest's birthday, and I was in charge of the yacht rides in the aquarium tank. Halfway through the dream, Pirates attacked with large assault rifles, trolls, and fire elementals. I managed to save some of the children, but then Katina was healing the ones that had been injured when a Shadow quick deathbed them and I had to resort to Improv comedy to keep the remaining kids from screaming as their friends turned to ghosts around us. None of the adults would listen to me that the attack had been planned, they were convinced that it was random, and despite the fact that I had a way to turn back time and catch the one woman who had started the fight they refused to do anything but complain that dinner had been delayed.

[shrunkendalmatian]

Chapter 2 - An unexpected Test

Dylan and Dawkins work on an alternative solution for Dylan’s condition.. during testing things don’t really go as planned.

“Are you really sure about this Dawkins?" Dylan asked while sitting close to Dawkins' tablet where he examined extensive chemical notations of a strange and complex formula.

"Sure? Well, i'm not, but for what it's worth until I can get new components for the Size Ray i might as well try another approach to solve your situation." he answered while adding two drops of a chemical inside a vial with a viscous substance, the mixture reacted and slowly changed colors until it got a vibrant yellow glow.

Dylan winced while shielding his eyes with a paw, in his diminute stature the glowing bottle looked like a small sun, even Dawkins squinted his eyes a little bit. Upon closing the cap of the bottle the glow would quickly fade away as it couldn't react without oxygen. "What now?"

"What now?"

"Now we need to test it on a living organism, watch closely, take measures and make tests to determine if it'll work."

"I'm skeptical about it working..."

"And why is that Dylan?"

"Do you really expect me to believe in a growth potion made with shampoo for Dog's sake!?"

"It's not any shampoo, it's a expensive brand, scientifically tested and destined to increase the growth of fur. In essence I used the same chemical bases with complex organics elements associated with DNA sequences related with growth!"

"The more you talk about it the more stupid it sounds..."

"I don't expect small minds to understand the brilliance of my works."

"Ouch... Small jokes, really!?"

"Sorry brother..." Dawkins replies with a sigh while extending his paw to Dylan.

"No... I'm sorry too, you are doing your best here and i keep complaining. It's just..." Dylan approaches and climbs on Dawkins's paw.

"I know, it's dificult, we are both shaken by what happened. But I promise you, I'll fix this!" Dawkins says with a lot of determination in his tone while putting Dylan on top of his head.

"Thanks Dawkins, you are the best." Dylan replies by hugging Dawkins' ear.

"Haha, that tickles... I appreciate and reciprocate the sentiment Dylan. Let's go outside to test this." The young genius carries the closed canister in his mouth while heading towards the front door of their house, with Dylan resting on his head.

Eventually the two canines would arrive at the park. Dylan had been using his younger brother's ear as cover for most of the way in order to avoid curious looks from both Animals and humans. This included the stampede of puppies that ran past them, clearly indicating that someone had dared to use the work "Park" around the house too loudly.

Fortunately for Dylan, he managed to make out Dolly in the sea of spots, meaning the pups would be under some sort of supervision. However, this also meant that this could be his ultimate reveal regarding his new height. He had been able to stay concealed from the others while Dawkins had been working on this formula, playing sick and having the younger pup keep others out as well as possible while doing so. With a bit of luck, he might not have to reveal it after all if this worked.

As the two gazed around the park, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Dolly was hanging out with Roxy and Snowball, who was being constantly dragged away by the leash connectign her to her human. A hole in the ground spewing out dirt was telling that Diesel had given himself to his passion once again, Da Vinci was heading towards the bridge with a spraycan, ready to create more of her art at one of the few walls in the park.

"Alright, Dylan.. Rememeber: we first have to test the formula on a fitting biological organism... I'm certain you wouldn't want another first-paw approach, would you?"

"Absolutely not!" Dylan waved his open paw in front of him, signaling a stop. "I had enough first-paw approaches for quite a bit". How about a plant? Maybe a flower?

"Flowers are not exactly the best choice for a test subject, but it should work.. or at least point towards the desired effect." Dawkins was unsure, of course he hadn't been hoping to have a full scale test on another animal, maybe he hoped perhaps that Dylan would actually offer himself as a subject, but testing it on local flora should help as well.

"And no one is gonna be in trouble if the test doesn't work out the way it should, right? Come on! Let's find one!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Meow-wow-wow-wow-wow!" The meditative mantra could be heard as Deepak was sitting with the cat, Constantin. Even with the chaotic way other animals were playing around the part, the two of them seemed undisturbed. As the chant eventually faded, the young pup opened his eyes and looked at the feline.

"Isn't it a wonderful day?"

"As guru Meow once said, 'Internal harmony prevails over the external chaos.' so as long as we are harmonized with our inner cat, the outside world have little interference on ourselves." Constantin smiled to the young puppy and closed his eyes to start his mantra again, but the universe apparently had other plans for the duo... " Meow-wow-wow-wow-OUCH!" With no warning or whatsoever a frisbee came flying and hit the feline straight up on his nose.

"Constantin are you ok?" Deepak fussed about his friend, who was now laying on the grass from the impact, while two big bulldogs approached them, clearly looking for something.

"What sort of dimwitted fool would careless toss around such stupid objects?" Furious, the cat looked at the dogs in front of him, but ignoring their menacing size he continued: "Can't you mutts play your childish chasing games somewhere else?" He tosses the frisbee towards one of the bulldogs, but he catches it with his mouth, and with his powerfull jaws, breaks it in half.

"Brutus, i think we can start another chasing game to distract us..." The first bulldog begins.

"You are right Braxus. And we will give you a head start, of three seconds, to make things interesting cat!" The other continued after spiting the broken frisbee on the ground.

Constantin's ears bended towards his back as he realizes what they meant, he starts to run while Deepak finally understands the situation...

The small puppy was once again stressed out as he ran trying to get his fellow dogs to stop chasing his friend. "Please, can't we leave this barbaric bahaviour behind us?" He pleaded as the chase continued.

In the meantime Dylan and Dawkins had found a fitting test subject in the shape of a lonely dandelion. Dylan was still on his younger brother's head, peaking over his forehead as Dawkins opened the bottle. "I really hope this works.."

"It should.." Dawkins said half heartedly, both because he didn't want to point out the difference in physique between a dandelion flower and a dalmatian and how the results of one can't be 100% transferred to the other. And because he had to be very careful in administering the formula, trying to only use single drops to preserve it for more test subjects.

Unfortunately, as he was focused on that, Dawkins couldn't take notice of his surroundings. Even Dylan was only made aware of something wrong once he felt his nose closing up. As he looked around for the cause he saw that Constantin, being chased, and running towards the two. "Watch out!"

Dawkins was startled, and just moments later the feline jumped right over his head with an accompaning sneeze from his shrunken brother. Fortunately, Constantine managed to jump over the little dog effortlessly and despite the shock, Dawkins managed to not spill any of the serum.

However, where the cat succeeded, his pursuers had no success, and the two dogs knocked over the two dalmatians, just as their shock was settling again. Dawkins was knocked onto the ground, followed by a little thud as Dylan landed next to him. But where was the bottle?

The two frantically looked around to find it and time seemed to be slowed down as Dylan pointed upwards. "There!"

Dawkins followed his brother's paw and saw the bottle flying through the air, the lid barely closed. Realizing that Dylan wasn't gonna be able to try and catch it he quickly got on his paws and ran to catch it before it could hit the ground. As he ran he tried calculating the trajectory of it's arc in order to figure out where it would come down.

His gaze still focused on the formula, his calculations suggested that the point of impact was gonna be out of reach and as he looked towards where it would land, hoping it would land safely at least, he spotted...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Calm down, Deepak. Breathe!" The zen pup had returned to his meditative stance while still watching Constantin being chased and trying to prevent himself from freaking out about it. He was already stressed towards a tipping point.. which was easily reached when he felt a thud from something fairly solid hitting him on the top of his head, followed by a feeling of a thick liquid covering his body very soon afterwards.

It was a feeling he remembered.. during the horrible day of snowfall, not long ago, when his parents and his oldest siblings decided to have a competetion.. His eyes flung open and he looked around, his view confirming the feeling. He was covered in what looked like a yellow shampoo. He was quickly looking as if he was close to a complete freakout, he wanted to scream but the liquid did something strange. It started to glow.

Dawkins had stopped as he saw the bottle land on his brother, the lid knocked open and it's contents all over the Yin-Yang-puppy. "Uh oh.." he gulped as he saw the formula glowing.. a sign that the effect was imminent.

Deepak at this point had stopped his panic as the feeling of the serum perplexed him, the spreading warmth of the energy of the reaction. The liquid being absorbed into his skin and a different feeling he never felt before. A strange stretching feeling all over his body, accompanied by his view rising higher. Soon he would see his Brother who had stopped before him.. now he could look down at the other.. and most other dogs and things around the park.

As the realization of what was happening to him struck him, he did his best to remain calm. Which was very difficult given the situation. Dawkins looked up at his growing brother and slowly, but surely, walked backwards.. step by step.. he couldn't be sure how potent the serum was and how much he would grow, so being at a good distance away from Deepak felt like a good idea.

"W-what is happening?" Deepak asked as he grew even larger. His gaze once again fell on Dawkins.. "Brother, is this one of your inventions?"

"Well.. it's a long story" Dawkins' ears dropped as the now huge pup talked to him.. Deepak wasn't one to get angry about it... at least not physically but it was still better to keep him calm. "But... one could say so, yes"

"How long will this continue?" Deepak ased as his head pushed through the canopy of a nearby tree and eventually stopped when he was about as tall as it. "Oh, thank heavens it stopped! Please tell me you can turn me back!"

Before Dawkins could reply, Constantine zipped past him once again. The chase was still going on and from what it looked like both parties were so occupied with it that neither of them noticed the big change of scenery that had occured.

Deepak's worry about his friend returned and had turned into frustration. However.. where he didn't see any way to help the feline before, now there was a possibility. The new perspective given by his new size had a temptation to it.. where he had to endure being trampled.. or run over... hit with a shot of shampoo to fly across the house.. Well, let’s say: ‘Good luck try putting him into a spot like this now!’ He was able to be on the giving end for once!

No, this was not the way.. he wasn't like that! Even in a situation like this, he was not to let his anger get the best of him. He took a deep, calming breath and looked back down at the still going chase. Perhaps there was a way he could use the unfortunate scenario to help. With a move of his leg, he put his paw down right behind the cat, causing the 2 pursuing dogs to run into it, stopping them in their tracks, and the hunt, then and there.

"My apologies, but this is not how animals should treat each other" he spoke, relatively calm for his standards, giving the two canines a slight gentle smile.

However, as they realized what they just had bumped into, they looked up with a terrified expression and quickly ran away. Deepak's ears dropped low, as he saw the two dogs run.

Seeing the distress in his brother, Dawkins stepped closer again "It seems you have.. unfortunately become the test subject for my experiemtal growth formula." he put one paw at the enlarged pup's one. "However, you don't have to worry about staying like this.. the formula is designed to be temporary.. Given the way it was used and the time it takes for it's components to degrade.. it might take an hour or two to fully lose it's effect." He gave Deepak a nervous smile.. he wasn't sure how comforting it was to hear that there was no immediate fix.

"One or two hours?" Deepak asked. "What am I supposed to do for this long?" While the knowledge of the temporarity of the effects carried a bit of comfort with it, the given time would still mean that he'd have to spend almost the entire afternoon like this.

"Well.. given the fact that the formula worked on you, you could help me collect the data! Measuring how much it affected your body.. how long it lasts precisely.. if it carries any side effects.." Dawkins counted up the things he could figure out..

"And what do I have to do for this, brother?" Deepak asked. The incident didn't seem to have caused a panic.. yet. He couldn't help himself but imagine to what could happen if he was seen like that.. but what Dawkins said didn't sound to attention grabbing.. untill... "S-Side effects?"

"Uhm, yes.. the solution has not been tested yet.. at all. It might carry some unforseen side effects with it when interacting with an organism. But the chances for that should be fairly low!" Dawkins tried to sound as reassuring as possible.. even if the chance of side effects were low, there was still the possibility of something occuring. "Aside from your new height.. do you feel any different?"

For a moment Deepak considered.. should he tell his now little brother about the temptation he felt before halting the two other canines? No... he decided to not act out on it and other than that.. there was no pain or anything within him, outside from the different point of view. "I suppose not"

"Alright.. your growth has stopped about 1 minute and 37 seconds ago" The engineer pup pulled out a stopwatch and pressing it to run. "Yes, I've been counting.. we can't risk any data to be lost." He put the watch onto the ground as it kept on ticking. "Let's see... Height! We need to figure out how much you actually grew.. doing it the old fashioned way might be difficult due to the.. scale of things." Dawkins stopped with a gasp.. Dylan! He lost track of his tiny brother when the other two knocked them over.

"While I'll try to figure something out.. would you excuse me for a moment? Just.. try to stay calm!" Dawkins called up as he quickly turned around, seaching the grass for his meadow for his brother. "Dylan!" he periodcally called out softly, hoping it would reach his older brother but no one else.

Dylan had been knocked into a bush and just recently managed to find his way out as he heard his name being called by the familiar voice. His head poked out of the bush and he looked around "Daw-k-k-kins?" he started stuttering as he noticed Deepak sitting next to a tree.. it wouldn't be a big shock if he wasn't about as tall as the plant. "Wha-ha-hat happened?"

"Dylan!" Dawkins had noticed the tiny head of his brother appear out of the bush. "I'm glad I found you! I.. Well.. I have good and bad news... The good news is that the potion works in increasing size.. the bad news.. well.." He nodded over to Deepak, who was still clearly visible.. now some of the other pups had noticed him and started gathering around the giant who was starting to look distressed due to the attention.

But Deepak wasn't the only one who was worried by the attention. "Dawkins, please tell me you know how to turn him back!" Dylan said.. he being tiny could be handled.. but a pup being this big.. he would never fit into the house.. possibly not even in the garden!

"Yes, the formula's effects should only last temporarly as the additional components to the shampoo react and desintegrate over time, his body should be back to normal soon.

"Wait.. if it was temporary.. how was it going to help me get back to normal?!" Dylan asked, confused as well as angered.. why did Dawkins waste time on something that wouldn't actually fix his issue instead of just getting the Recombuvilator back running.

"It would have taken longer to first get the components stable to work indefinitely.. and would you have prefered to have two situations on paw rather than one in case the test went.. well.." Dawkins just nodded back into the direction of their enlarged brother. He'd thought Dylan would appreaciate some safety measures.

Dylan sighed.. "Alright.. you're right, Dawkins.. How long is this going to last?" They certainly wouldn't be able to hide Deepak from Mom and Dad like that.. let alone fit him into the house.

"The components should desintegrate enough to lose effects within an hour or two of exposure to air. In the meantime I'm planing to collect the test data. Maybe it's worth trying to make the formula last."

"Alright.. but I'll wait here.. Look! The pups have noticed him.. and I don't really want to be around the center of attentions you know?" Dylan said, his ears flopping down and he retreated a bit into the bush. "Just... just get me when you're done." Dawkins waited a moment after his brother's head disappeared in the green.. Given the fact that Dylan often showed a lot of ego.. this was quite the shocking situation.. being tiny must have been quite the horrifying experience for him..

The young pup just nodded and turned around, ready to finish the test by gathering the data. As Dawkins approached Deepak again he met Dolly’s alarmed eyes as she walked hurriedly towards him. “Why would you do that to Deepak Dawkins?!”

“Ah, w-well it was an accident Dolly, but don’t worry, it’s temporary.”

“Oh thank Dog…” She sighs in relief turning her attention to Deepak again.

Meanwhile Dawkins ponders a little about the best method to collect data in the current situation. There is an issue with all the pups around, who are all curious about their giant brother, and for a moment Dawkins gulps while talking to himself in a whisper: “What would Dylan do?”

Suddenly he realizes something, it feels like a heavy burden is put on his shoulders while a decision and an idea takes form inside of his head. Turning his attention to Dolly and mustering some determination he says: “Dolly, in Dylan’s absence we must manage this situation as Top Dogs. I need your help for that.”

“Huh?! Ok, but what are we going to do?”

“It’s quite simple in fact...” Dawkins then proceeds to explain his plan to her and after Dolly’s agreement they begin their work. Dawkins and Dolly call out the pups and organize them in a line, they explain what the young siblings need to do. The small pups are to be used as a reference for measurements of Deepak’s current state.

They climb over Deepak’s limbs and body to form “puppy-chains” while Dawkins takes notes using them as numbers to register the grownth rate of Deepak’s body. At first Deepak was really nervous and distressed, but Dawkins and Dolly did their best to reassure and keep him calm.

Ultimately Dawkins would finish collecting the data he required .. except for the precise time the effects would last. Deepak had actually managed to remain fairly calm and the other pups were really playful towards him, not scared at all of their giant brother, and actually wanting a ride on his head to have the view over London. Of course both Dizzy and Dee Dee were some of the most active and playfull pups in this situation.

Dawkins was busy working out the data, figuring out if he could perfect the formula. It could maybe be another alternative for Dylan to turn back to normal, in case the size ray wasn't gonna be fixed easily.  As he finished it up he saw Dolly approaching him.

"So.. you still haven't told me.. Why did you even work on something that can make stuff ginormous?  Dolly asked with a comparatively serious look on her face.

"Well.. you know as it is.. inspiration struck and I just wanted to see if I could do it!" Dawkins replied with a clearly lying grin.. the only time he managed to pull of a really convincing lie was when she had been helping to guide through the prank they had played on Dylan a while ago.

"Dawkins.." Dolly started, but then was interrupted by a loud shriek from behind her.. given the volume it must have been Deepak.. Both dogs faced their attention to the giant and noticed that he was starting to shrink.

While Dolly was still watching, Dawkins felt a few tiny pebbles hitting his head from the side. He turned to the source, and as it turned out, Dylan carefully made his way closer to his brother while the attention was focused on Deepak.. he still hid behind flowers, rocks and anything else that could cover him.

He knew his brother would crack under pressure, so he needed him to not say why he needed a growth formula in the first place! Especially around Dolly. She would never let Dylan hear the end of it if she knew. When Dawkins made eye contact, his tiny brother gesticulated to keep his muzzle shut. However, Dylan quickly hopped back behind cover when he saw Dolly's head turning back.

"Well... that was..." Dawkins looked back at his sister, but picked up the stopwatch "1 hour 35 minutes and 12 seconds! And it doesn't seem to carry along any side effe..." The pup stopped when he looked back at his shrinking brother. Deepak was indeed returning to his normal size, however, the hair growth shampoo he used as the basis didn't seem to desintegrate. While the puppy shrank, his fur seemed to remain just as long, even though it lost its girth on each hair.

Both Dolly and Dawkins just watched their brother turn into a gigantic fur-ball. Just his head peaked out, as the pup seemed to be stuck in a ball of his own fur, easiely still larger than a human. As the change concluded Constantin walked up to the now once again little pup in the yin-yang textured ball of black and white fur.

"I always believed it was a mere legend.. stories tell of a giant hairball! Youngling.. the stories might have told.. of you. You might be the giant hairball!"

The feline would soon regret exclaiming the last part, as single voices would pop around them, growing into a chorus of the word "Ball". Within mere moments both were washed away in a sea of spots, knocking around Deepak like a playball.. Fortunately for him, his fur was protected him from any harm.

"Hehe.. I think he's gonna be alright.." Dolly said.. the image of Deepak not stuck inside a giant ball but being a giant ball seemed to be entertaining. She would have been worried, but he wasn't even screaming. It almost seemed like he was enjoying himself.  "Aaanyway... Why don't you tell me what you needed that growth shampoo stuff for?"

Dawkins pondered, he knew Dylan was still watching, but he had to take charge already and for the good of every-pup involved he had to make a decision.. "Alright.. I will tell you.. just.. Just come into my workshop with me when we get home."

"Alright.. Altough I think it's getting time anyway.. " Dolly turned around to the others stil playing with their brother.. "I think it's time for DINNER!"

As expected, the trigger word did it's job and soon the wave of spots turned and was rushing towards the park exit. Dolly hopped onto her skateboard and raced off in order to keep up with them, knowing that Dawkins was fully capable of picking up his stuff and following as well.

Dylan had come out of hiding when she left. "Dawkins! What are you thinking?! You can't tell Dolly what's going on!"

"I'm sorry, Dylan.. but it's gonna be for the best." Dawkins said as he picked up his notes before grabbing his brother carefully and placing him on his head.. "Besides.. it's now too late to change it anyway, is it?" He said with a confident smirk.  

He had made his decission, and he was gonna hold on to it. After all, what was Dylan gonna do about it? And perhaps, since the others were so accepting about Deepak, maybe it would go just as smooth for Dylan.

Dylan sighed as he was placed on Dawkins' head and they made their way home. "I guess it is..." he just said while imagining all the humiliation he would have to endure at home once Dolly knew. But there was nothing he could do about it anymore, as his big little brother carried him off.