#have you ever wanted to make a decorative pillow just a little more delinquent

[implodingpotato]

HOMRA logo cross-stitch patterns for @kresurrectionfest! Full patterns and Color Guide: Colored Black & White

[ateezmakemeweep]

you’re the one that i want (part 1)

word count: 4k

angst, fluff

(series masterlist) 

tag list: @ateez-babygirl​ ; 

almost every summer of your life, you've spent at the beach. this one was gonna be no different. 

the scent of salt hits your nose through the open car window. 

you hear the familiar sounds of squawking seagulls, waves crashing onto the shore, and it immediately fills you with a sense gratitude and happiness.

starting from the age of 11, you were happiest at your aunt's beach house. you were as desperate to get away from your parents as they were to ship you off here for two months.

"you're going to your aunt's for the summer," your mom had complained the first day of break, every year like clockwork. "i just can't deal with you." 

you'd think with that statement that you were some sort of wild, delinquent child. 

a child who didn't do her work, caused trouble and talked back to her parents - but you, in every sense of the word, did nothing. 

you rarely spoke to anyone. you spent most of your time in your room or out in the backyard and always made sure to just stay out of the way.

it had been a lonely, sad existence but safer than the alternative.

the times you did talk back, even with just an innocent statement or concern, a smack in the mouth or a belt to your butt left you crying into your pillow for the night. 

it's something that always confused you in the earlier years, wondering why your parents hated you so much. why and how they found it so easy to hurt you, belittle you, borderline torment you, when you only wanted them to love you.

now, about to start your third year of high school in the fall, you had finally learned that maybe it wasn't completely you. 

because, sure, maybe you were a little annoying and difficult to be around but you also know that the way your dad can't control his temper and drinking is a problem. 

that the way your mom can barely do errands or housework without popping her special pills and taking a four hour nap is a problem.

and maybe, of course, you're a problem too - maybe it's just a little bit of everything - but your aunt, your lovely, beautiful, free-spirited aunt doesn't see it that way. 

she counts down the days until you come back to her house in paradise, texting you every day by the time june comes and telling her how excited she is for your summer together.

she always hosts what she and her friends call the three b’s of summer: barbecues, bonfires, and bingo nights; the majority are all older, divorced women but some of the best people you've ever met. 

you’d dare call them your best friends if that wasn’t completely pathetic of you.

they always talk with you, not at you. 

they include you in conversation and seem genuine in their efforts to get to know you. 

they laugh when you make a joke and are attentive if you ever look or feel down.

overall, it's a very different environment than the one you usually spend your time in. the one that, right now, you’re frankly far too eager to get out of.

your parents pull up to the familiar house a few minutes later, the cute balcony of the guest bedroom (your bedroom) decorated with lights, flowers and pastel purple furniture. 

your aunt is waiting in the front yard, a glass of lemonade in her hand as she eagerly waves at your car pulling up.

"what the hell is she so excited for," your dad grumbles lowly, eyes squinted evilly at his sister-in-law. "she's always been so god damn annoying."

you rip the door open so you don't snap at him and get a parting goodbye slap, grabbing your backpack and luggage from beside you before quickly running to greet your aunt.

"hi!" you squeal excitedly, throwing your arms around each other. 

her loud, contagious laugh booms as she says hello, squeezing you in a tight hug and telling you how much she missed you and your company.

"i'm so excited, we already have so much planned!"

"who's we?"

your question is quickly answered when three more older women come out from the house: an apron on one, a pool float around the other while the last ones holds a big tray of cookies. 

a large smile breaks out across your face as you wave, all of them ushering you over to try their freshly baked treat.

"you're not gonna stay?" you hear your aunt ask, your head craning back to see your parents haven't even gotten out of the car. "we're almost done making lunch."

you hesitantly make your way over to hear your dad grunt out some lousy excuse about traffic. 

the smile falls from your face when your parents look you over, telling you not to cause any problems and to stay out of your aunt's way during your visit.

"she could never be in the way," the woman next to you assures, throwing an arm around your shoulder warmly. your parents shoot her a doubtful look before waving goodbye and pulling out of the driveway.

there’s only a few beats of silence between you two before she speaks. 

"i know she's my sister but, god, do they fucking suck."

a chuckle leaves you as you nod your head, eyes wide and screaming 'you have no idea.' 

she has no idea, no one has any idea, how much they truly do suck. 

how they’ve abused you mentally, physically, and emotionally for the past few years, ever since their marriage became tumultuous and lives, a downward spiral.  

you tell yourself not to dwell on that now, though. now, you're finally in a safe, happy, positive environment and you're gonna make the most of it.

"i hate to interrupt!" you hear one of the woman say from behind you, "but i think the oven might be on fire."

"what!" your aunt squeals, ripping herself away from you and smacking her friend on top of the head. "i told you to watch it for five minutes!"

"you know i can't cook!"

you giggle watching the frantic women run in the house, hearing their shouts and squeals through the open window.

a breeze coming off the ocean brings goosebumps to your exposed arms, turning around to look out on the beach. you always loved how close the house was to it, your night view of the calm, dark water and desolate stretch of sand always proving to calm you. 

because, of course, even when you're away from them, away from the harsh words and that prison of a house, everything still haunts you. 

their words and slaps and repetitive stay out of the way that rings in your head like a mantra several times a day.

when you're around a new group of people or in a new setting. 

when you don't know if the person rolling their eyes or scoffing in public is because of your very presence. 

when every negative twinge on someone's face feels like it's because of you, even if you're just sitting there completely out of the way.

you take a deep breath of the salty, warm air, reminding yourself that you're here, not in anyone's way, and have a summer full of tranquility and happiness to look forward to. 

the sound of deep, boyish chuckles pull you from your thoughts, your neck craning back to see the neighbors in the yard over. 

four boys carrying surfboards are knocking into one another playfully, curses and laughter leaving them as they make their way out of the house.

the first thing you notice is two of them have brightly colored hair: a cherry red and bright blue that you could only wish you had the face to pull off.

next to them is a muscular blonde with no shirt and tanned skin, the boy currently pushing into the smaller one with cherry hair. 

lastly, you catch the sight of dirty blonde hair. 

it's shaved on the sides and slicked back, piercing eyes and quirked up lips glaring at the boy who now just accidentally knocked into him.

"cut the shit, jongho,” his deep voice grunted, shortly followed by the blue-haired boy's sweet voice calling to you.

“hi!”

you jump when his eyes catch yours, giving you a small, sweet smile and wave. the other boys notice and crane their necks, the four pairs of eyes on you immediately bringing a blush to your cheeks.

you look back at them shyly, admiring the blue hair close up before bowing your head politely and rushing into the house.

"who's that?" hongjoong asks yunho, all of them watching curiously as you clumsily take your backpack and luggage up the driveway.

"i think that's her niece," he says, all of them familiar with the kind, funny neighbor next door. "she comes every summer."

"really? how have we never seen her?" jongho asks, genuinely curious as to how they haven't noticed a non-local teenage girl down at the beach. 

yunho can only shrug, knocking his board into the boy and teasing that "she's too old for you anyway. she’s our age, i think.”

"i didn't mean it like that! and i'm only a year younger than you guys, idiot," he whines, walking down the driveway towards the beach as he tries to block out his friend's teasing.

meanwhile you're so flustered by getting caught, your luggage rolling side to side as your bag slides down your arm, that you can't feel the last pair of brown eyes still lingering over you. 

not until you hear the name "seonghwa!" being called out and immediately turn around, feeling your breath catch in your throat when you see the dirty blonde is watching you.

you can only bear to look at him for a few seconds, even from a distance overwhelmed by how attractive and intimidating his gaze seems. 

before you have the chance to look away, he turns around and follows his friends down to the beach.

after lunch and a loud, boisterous card game, you ask your aunt if you could go down to the beach for a little. 

once you get her okay (actually, her enthusiastic promise that you don't need her permission to do anything around here) you nod your head and walk outside in the warm sun.

you pop in your headphones and walk the few feet down to the beach, smiling to yourself when you feel the sand between your toes. 

the season hasn't quite started yet, mostly locals and families from the town the only occupants, but come july, the beach will be crowded with college kids and tourists.

your walk down the shore is a rather peaceful one, a red beach ball only hitting your feet once. you give it back to a sheepish looking boy who couldn't be much older than you. 

you always try to ignore people your age in big groups, like the girls tanning and laughing with one another while the guys play volleyball and throw french fries on unsuspecting people's backs.

even though you've gotten used to being alone, and have come to prefer it purely through conditioning, it doesn't stop you from wondering how it is to be a part of a group. 

to have friends you can talk to and rely on. have inside jokes and fond memories with, even if it’s just one person.

you think that’d be nice. 

you probably wouldn't know what to do, would probably even be bad at it and not know what to say half the time, but it'd be nice nonetheless to experience it.

just once, even if it was something fleeting but powerful. 

even if it was ripped away from you but you’d at least have memories of something that made you feel something other than empty. 

lost in thought and the loud blaring of your music, you fail to notice a herd of boys come barreling your way.

one moment you're watching your feet make indents in the sand and the next, you're knocked into and expecting the soft ground to break your fall.

it never happens.

instead, a strong arm wraps around your waist and catches you gently. you collide into a hard body with a quiet "oomph," your front pressed up flush against someone's naked chest. 

it takes you a second to open your eyes and meet the person's gaze, the blaring sun casting a light around-

him. 

the boy with dirty blonde hair you saw at your neighbors house.

if you thought he looked handsome then, from a good distance away and dry, you're quickly coming to find out he is ten times more attractive like this. 

tanned, wet skin. 

slicked back blonde hair glowing from the sun.

a few sparse salt water droplets resting on his long eyelashes and forehead.

you're looking at him for so long, captured by his appearance and the feel of his chest and the way his arm is still tightly wound around your body, that you don't say anything. 

not a thank you or an apology or any sort of acknowledgment that you know how to communicate.

he's seemingly unfazed by you, though, deeply muttering "you good?" under his breath.

it seems to be his words that pull you out of it, finally able to shake your head and jump away from him, like you'd landed on fire and are starting to burn.

"i- i'm so sorry," you stutter, looking anywhere but him as you stumble over your words.

"it's fine," he smirks, unaware of the fact his eyes are roaming your body as you stare at your footprints in the sand. "just maybe watch where you're going next time."

your eyes widen and you cave in on yourself, that stupid voice in the back of your head screaming at you "don't be in the way." 

you take a few steps back, swallowing nervously before you hesitantly meet his eyes.

of course, they're so pretty. 

sharp, intense and smoldering in a way that, you think, if you look at them for more than five seconds, he'll have you under some sort of spell.

"will do," you squeak out, giving him a small smile. "sorry, again."

he watches you speed walk down the beach away from him, your head trained down in front of you. his eyebrows pull together watching you before a loud, resounding smack meets his back.

"ow, you fuck," he growls, elbowing hongjoong in the ribs and feeling content when he hears the boy grunt out in pain.

"what was that?" the boy asks nosily, "scaring the new girl already?"

he can only think of the way you couldn't make eye contact for more than five-seconds, excessively apologizing and keeping your eyes trained on the floor even as you walked away alone.

you’re definitely gonna knock into someone again.

"nah," is all he says, his eyes watching you walk further and further down the beach. 

he doesn't think he scared you at all, he thinks you just might be the type of person who's scared of their own shadow.

that’s confirmed just a few hours later, him and the boys sitting in the near-by, popular diner at sunset.

he was drowning out the noises of his friends incessant bickering, watching as jongho insists it was yunho who knocked him off the board earlier today and not the pounding waves coupled in with his shitty surfing skills.

"really?" jongho asks, "then why were you behind me, huh?"

"um, because the wave knocked me too, dickface!"

seonghwa smirks at yunho's words, his head turning to look out the window when your familiar frame catches his eye. 

you're walking up to the diner, phone in hand, headphones in, and your eyes trained down on the floor in front of you, he wonders if you ever look up when you’re walking. 

as if you’ve caught something in your peripheral vision, you look behind you and jump, your phone falling out of your hand and clattering on to the concrete. 

he raises his eyebrow when you look around and down to see you did indeed almost shatter your phone because your own shadow had caught you off guard.

he scoffs in disbelief and maybe a little annoyance, the sound drowned out by jongho’s screaming. 

he looks away when he sees your mouth pull into a small smile, your shoulders moving as if you're giggling softly at yourself. 

the ringing of the door opening could be heard a few seconds later, almost everyone in the small diner turning to stare at you.

it's a small town and everyone knows everyone - except you. 

no one has really seen you around here before and, annoying habits and sketchy behavior or not, seonghwa thinks you have a face that people would probably remember.

it seems as if everyone in the diner is staring at you when you walk in, lips quirking up into a small smile as you look around in confusion; in all your years visiting, you’d never been here. 

you make your way to the counter with your tooth gnawing at your lip, relief flooding through you when the man behind the register says he'll be right with you.

"is that your neighbors niece?" hongjoong asks yunho, his neck craned back to look at you.

"i think so."

"hi, i'm picking up an order for..." they hear your soft, quiet voice tell the man. 

you smile when he says your order will be ready in five minutes, to just take a seat and relax as you wait. 

you stand off to the side, slightly rocking back and forth on your feet as you drop your head to count the number of tiles on the floor. it’s a habit you’d picked up on at school during lunch.

"she seems.... quiet," hongjoong remarks, almost like he wanted to say something else but chose to be more polite.

"she must be if she's been coming here every year and we haven't seen her," jongho says, "you think she's like socially awkward or something?"

yunho and hongjoong stare blankly at the boy, a snort leaving seonghwa's nose as he shakes his head.

"what?" the youngest asks, voice truly innocent and thrown off.

"you're kind of an idiot," yunho mumbles lowly before swishing his lips side to side. "should i like... introduce myself?"

"why would you do that?" seonghwa asks lowly; he could never really understand yunho's kind and friendly ways.

"because i'm her neighbor," he says, almost like he's starting to rationalize aloud, "i think i should at least know her name." 

seonghwa only shrugs at his response, hongjoong and jongho nodding their heads and agreeing purely out of nosiness.

as you're standing there waiting for burgers and fries, about to break 75 in your head, a towering presence with blue hair is suddenly in front of you. 

you look up and resist the urge to gulp, feeling incredibly intimated by the sheer size of this man; the second he opens his mouth, however, you relax.

"hi, i'm your aunt's neighbor! i saw you earlier and wanted to introduce myself," he tells you happily, a bright smile on his face. "my name's yunho."

"i... i recognize you. your hair," you say softly, something about his kind eyes and chipper attitude making you feel a tad more comfortable.

"ahh, you like it?" he asks, his hand coming up to ruffle it messily. "me and the guy over there lost a bet." 

you turn to see him nod his head toward the table with three other boys, assuming the guy he's talking about is the-

"cherry head, if you couldn't tell," yunho says, loud enough for jongho to laugh and hongjoong to scowl at him. you can only giggle quietly, telling him that you think it looks nice on both of them.

your gaze roams over the boys, a small smile on your face before you zero in on one.

you feel your eyes widen ever so slightly, immediately recognizing the handsome boy who saved you from falling on the beach before. who told you to watch where you're going next time and nearly scared the life out of your already anxiety-ridden heart.

with the way he's holding your eye contact now, it's not making you feel any better.

"so you're back for the summer then, yeah?"

the boy's words cause you to rip your gaze away, looking up at him to see his eyes are soft and clear. you can tell just by looking at him that he's sweet, probably someone who's genuinely good and wouldn't hurt a fly.

"uh, yeah," you say with a small smile. "but, how did you know that?"

"i've seen you before, last year i'm pretty sure," he says before cheekily smiling at you. "and your aunt talks about you a lot." 

a quiet giggle leaves your mouth, warmth spreading through your chest because you guess she actually likes your company as much as she says - that makes you feel happy.

"oh, that's, uh, nice to hear," you laugh out awkwardly. "i'm sorry though, i don't really remember you."

his eyebrows pull together at your strange apology, shaking his head immediately. 

"oh no no, don't worry about it. i've only seen you in passing," he says before explaining that it's a small town and usually pretty easy to point out who's new or visiting. "and besides, i didn't have this recognizable blue hair."

"thats true," you giggle quietly as you nod your head.

"yeah, so what's your-"

"miss! your order's ready!" you hear the man's voice boom from the counter, jumping slightly at his voice before walking over and thanking him for the food. 

you take two dollars out of your pocket and leave it in the tip charge before turning around to see the tall blue-haired boy watching you.

"i... should go so this doesn't get cold," you say, already half way out the door because you can't help but feel like someone's stare is boring into you. "but it was nice meeting you, yunho. maybe i'll... see you around?" you ask quietly, unsure of the words just as they fall from your mouth.

just because he introduced himself to you politely doesn't mean he wants to see you around, stupid.

he smiles brightly at you, saying that you definitely will and to enjoy the rest of your night. 

you thank him quietly, your eyes looking over at his friend's table one more time and swallowing when you see you were in fact being stared at. 

your lips quirk up slightly, barely a flicker of a smile at the boys before you rush out of the diner.

"so...” jongho asks the second yunho sits down. “what's the verdict? socially awkward?"

the taller boy flicks his forehead, his hand dramatically flying to the aching skin and yelping out in pain. 

"what was that for!" jongho whines.

"she's fine!" yunho says, squinting his eyes at him before looking at his other two friends. "quiet and shy for sure. but seems really sweet. almost... innocent? i don't know."

hongjoong hums at the information, nodding his head and smirking when he sees jongho still clutching his forehead in pain. 

"that's what you get for being a dick."

"how was i being a dick?!" jongho yelps, "it was just a question!"

hongjoong and jongho bicker back and forth about being politically correct, seonghwa and yunho looking at each other with matching pained expressions.

they'd think after years of being friends, they'd be used to the constant bickering and banter that goes on.

luckily, their food being put on the table is quick to shut the both of them up, the scent of burgers, fries and their fresh refills of milkshakes always successful in keeping the boys occupied.

"what was her name?" seonghwa finds himself asking. 

he doesn't know why he does but it's like he couldn't even stop the words from leaving him. yunho only shrugs his shoulders as he pops a hot french fry into his mouth. 

"i don't know, she left before she could tell me."

seonghwa only nods silently, taking a sip of his drink before feeling yunho's brown eyes on him. 

"what are you looking at?"

yunho immediately smirks at his friend's reaction, swearing there’s some defense in his voice.

"why do you ask?" he says, "you interested or something?" 

the boy can only roll his eyes, resisting the urge to pelt a french fry right in the boy's face. 

"not even close," he says, the three boys laughing into their plates of food.

because if there's one thing to know about seonghwa, it's that he would never find himself in something as tragic as a summer romance.

(part 2)

[hiro-gari]

Batarou Headcanon - a Stuffed Wolf and an Old Photobook by: Little1993lamb to: Lilia / @hiro-gari

Word count: 2298 Warning: Some kissing scenes and a mention of making out, but nothing explicit.

Hello again! I’m back with more small Batarou headcanon~ 😁✨

This time I decided to write little fluffy hc for both of them, because lately I feel down more often than usual and thinking maybe some comfort writing about these secretly softie boyfriends will help 😅💦

Hope you enjoyed my little headcanon! 😉💕

—————————–

One day when Badd was cleaning Garou’s stuff boxes in attic room that he brought after the former fugitive moved into Badd’s house, he found an old mini album contained Garou’s childhood photos along with a small fluffy stuffed white wolf doll.

It was a big old fashioned photoalbum book, already became dusty from being in the storage box for a long time.

Then Badd inspected the fluffy stuffed wolf, it was still in pretty good condition as it seems someone cared enough to keep the doll from any damage. Clearly a precious gift from an important person of Garou.

When he looked it closer, the stuffed wolf is kinda adorable, too. The white fur was very fluffy, if it washed properly probably would be fluffier than its current condition. This stuffed wolf even has tiny golden beady eyes and that “ :3 ” smile on its muzzle.

‘Just like the owner of the doll’, Badd chuckled lightly by the thought. He was amused about this fact. Maybe after the entire attic cleaning has finished, he would do some quick laundry to clean up the stuffed wolf before giving it back to his handsome boyfriend.

Putting the cute stuffed wolf doll aside, Badd opened the dusty photo album.

On inside, page by page, he found alot of tiny Garou pictures, from the time he was a little baby in his mom’s craddle, his toddler days with both of his parents, until the beginning of his elementary school years. The photos were put in right order so Badd could recognized the progress of Garou’s growing up stage in a couple of years.

He didn’t know that Garou used to be a sweet looking kid, very different from what he’s like in present time. Nothing like a naughty brat or delinquent boy like Badd has imagined before, nothing at all. By seeing these picture, he figured out that Garou was a normal child, with a little bit of timid nature. So different with what Garou was currently: the confident extra dramatic feral wolfboy.

And Badd noticed the photo collections amount were diminished after Garou entered elementary school, and had completely stopped once Garou graduated the elementary school. He wondered what happened to Garou during that time.

Still curious, Badd cleaned up the dusty photoalbum and then carried it with him so he could show the album to his boyfriend. Not forgetting to also bringing the stuffed wolf doll in, he put it on the laundy as he would clean it later. After that, Badd went on searching his missing boyfriend.

He found Garou lazily lounging on top of the couch with Tama in the living room, casually watching tv while drinking cola. Once Garou noticed Badd’s presence, his eyes twinkled and he grinned widely. He patted the seat beside him so the young hero would sit together with him.

Badd approached Garou, accepting his invitation to sit beside him. He was coming into welcoming arms of his boyfriend and then leaned his head on the wolfboy’s chest, enjoying the warmth of his embrace. Before Garou shifted his attention back to the tv show, he saw Badd still craddling a big old photoalbum that seemed very familiar to him. He asked Badd where did he find that thing.

Badd carefully answered that he just cleaned the attic along with Garou’s old stuff, then he accidentally stumbled into his childhood memento. He had seen the photoalbum contents and wanted to give it back to Garou, probably they can salvaged the old photos and placed them into their newer photobook along with Badd’s own childhood photos.

Garou seems agreed with Badd’s suggestion, he let him do what he wanted. But Badd still curious about one thing: it’s about Garou’s past. From what Badd knows, ever since Garou moved in, he hasn’t tell Badd about his past before the hero hunting days. Wanna asked about the matters, but he afraid Garou still not ready to be more open with him.

That’s why Badd wont ask Garou something he wasn’t comfortable enough to tell.

Garou was contemplating himself, should he tell about his horrible past to Badd or not? But Garou knows Badd wont judged him no matter what happen, hopefully Badd would also understand him. Besides, they’re already giving mutual trust for each other even before they started dating. It made Garou feels very grateful to be together with Badd.

Prepared to spill the truth behind his past, Garou took a deep breath then gazed tenderly at Badd’s face for a moment, before proceeding to tell his childhood experiences.

After Garou telling Badd all of what happened to him that made him changed, Badd said, “You should look at my childhood photos, I was more like a punk kid than I am now. Besides, we could have been bestfriends, maybe with that I could protected you from any mean kids and scared them away from you”, while holding Garou in a comforting hug. In which Garou reciprocated in by enveloping the smaller body into his arms, hiding his face on Badd’s neck.

Badd continued, “I’m so sorry that I wasn’t there for you back then, if I could turned back the time I would absolutely become your friend. So you wont be alone”, he tightened his hold onto Garou’s back. “But now you have me, we could make many happy or silly memories together as much as possible from this day on”.

Badd finished it with a gentle ruffle on Garou’s fluffy spiky hair, then kissed his cheek softly for a brief second while still holding Garou tightly.

Garou was a bit teary during listening to Badd’s heartwarming speech. He didn’t expect that one day he would be receiving those genuine reassurement words, something he desperately yearned back then years ago when he was a lonely bullied kid.

Garou wished that he could meet Badd much earlier in his life, and wished that their actual meeting between them wouldn’t be in a silly fight which was almost resulted in life-or-death situation. But of course both of them couldn’t rewind the time to make it happened.

Badd was right, the least they could do is to create many memories together and live their life the best, enjoyed it to the fullest. Maybe it wont be perfect, but as long as they’re happy then it’s alright.

Only the cheery voices from tv show and purring sounds of Tama were heard in the background. All was forgotten at the time Garou and Badd giving deep loving affections for eachother in a tight, warm embrace.

Drowned by the comfortable and relieved feeling of having someone who cares about the other dearly, everything else was just unimportant white noises for them both.

At some point Garou also shared some sweet and soft kisses for his beautiful kindhearted lover, to show how much he feels grateful to be with Badd right now, tomorrow, and for years later. For forever, as long as he still breathing.

And in return, Badd also giving the same amount of affectionate gestures for his beloved purehearted lover, by planted deep passionate kisses on his lips, whispered sweet nothings which also reassuring love vow into Garou’s ear.

This time Garou deserved to be pampered as Badd will gives permission for his boyfriend to do anything he likes, while Badd still showered him with love he has for Garou. Maybe tonight would be an interesting romantic night, considering Zenko was currently having sleepover in her bestfriend’s house so Badd could have private night with Garou.

But for now, Badd let Garou holds him in his arms, enjoying their sweet intimate moment. Purring softly in content on Garou’s chest mimicking what Tama usually does, Badd closed his sleepy eyes.

Taking a little nap together on lazy Sunday afternoon sounds not bad..

——————————

The next day after Badd coming home from Hero Association’s boring monthly meeting, Garou and him, with a generous help from Zenko, rearranging their childhood photos and placed them in a newer family photobook. They cleaned up the photo papers to make sure they wont get damaged by the dust or moths before putting them inside the new album.

Some of good pictures of Garou’s and Badd’s childhood years were being made into small collages and framed onto their bedroom’s wall. Made it seems believable, like they were actual childhood bestfriends who spent their life together since beginning. Decorated beautifully by Zenko, of course, because these two hopeless boys don’t have good aesthetic sense.

Badd promised Garou and Zenko that they will takes photos of any of their good events from now on, then collected them to save in their family photobooks. So they will have their happy moments documented throughout the time.

About the stuffed doll, Badd also digging up his own storage box and found his old handmade kitty plushy doll. It was his late mom’s handmade doll as Badd’s 5th birthday present. After he washed up the two stuffed animals, Badd placed them on top of their bed.

The adorable stuffed white wolf and the cute tuxedo kitten plushy doll, standing side-by-side together neatly on top of Garou’s and Badd’s pillows. They looked exactly just like their owners, and they’re also together now.

Badd felt so proud of his works, both for the framed photos on the wall (mostly he credited the design to his amazing lil sis!) and the decoration dolls on their bed. Garou was chuckling when he saw Badd like that, glad that his hero boyfriend had done all of it just to make Garou happy.

Garou went to hug Badd from behind, entrapped the smaller man inside loving embrace, in which Badd responded with approved humm as he leaned back into Garou’s warmth. Happy that Garou appreciated his effort.

Then Garou put his chin on Badd’s shoulder and snuggling him, while sneakily saying “Thank you, babe~” so softly into his ear. Complete with (un)necessary biting on Badd’s earlobe that made the young hero blushing brightly and elbowed the laughing wolfboy on his sternum.

The friendly bickering and light manhandling between them quickly turned into a brief steamy making out session on the bed. They were ready to escalate it further more, before repeated hard knocking from outside the bedroom door by Zenko stopped them in track, calling both of them to prepare the dinner meal.

With a teasing smile, Badd told Garou that they should continue it later after they all have dinner together. He gave a soft peck on his boyfriend’s lips, then he immediately got up to answer Zenko’s call. If Garou were really a wolf, he absolutely would joyfully wagging his fluffy tail at the moment while following Badd along towards the kitchen like a lovestrucked puppy.

Meal preparing and their family dinner went normal as usual, but Badd could feel a pair of bright golden eyes always gazing at him with much tenderness whenever Garou thought Badd didn’t noticed him doing that. He just replied it with a soft smile towards his lover.

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Later at night, when both of them were ready to sleep, Badd saw Garou reaching for the stuffed white wolf and craddled it on his chest. He closed his eyes while caressing the doll with gentleness, like it was a precious rare treasure. Badd thought for a moment, Garou looked like a small innocent child like that.

Badd understand what Garou just did, it was because the doll was the last thing he got from his late mother, a present that was given for kid Garou before her death. He clearly missed his mom but haven’t got a time to reminisce the memories of her, at least until now.

Same as him, Badd himself also not too much showing his emotional burden and weakness to people after the death of his parents. Even to Zenko, because he must be strong brother for her despite he was also hurting inside, but haven’t found someone who was willing to lend their shoulder for Badd to lean on, to seek comfort at, and to help him released his bottled up emotions.

But then Garou comes into his life, slowly giving his trust and warmed up to him. Eventually he was offering Badd a chance to opened up his hidden burden as a hero and as a person, despite Garou himself still keeping his hurtful memories.

That’s why Badd also wanted to return his favor by giving him lots of happiness that Garou. That eventhough he has awful past, he still deserved to received more joyful things in his life. And Badd was more than happy to do all of it, anything to make Garou smiling genuinely more often.

Felt the sleepiness has been catching on him, Badd also grabbing his own kitten plushy doll and hugging it dearly on his chest. It’s been so long not to sleep with the doll, especially after the tragic day because it would hurt him.

Now that Badd has already found his own happiness, he could thinking his memories of his mother calmly. Not the painful one anymore but the blissful one. He still missed his father and mother so bad, of course. But he hoped their parents already in peace together in heaven. Maybe they were watching him from above there now?

Bringing the cozy blanket with him, Badd shifted closer towards Garou so his lover would cuddle him. By the instinct, the sleepy Garou put his arm around Badd and pulling him more closer until Badd could rest his head near Garou’s chest. Purring contently, Badd snuggled against the hard pecs, feeling safe and comfort already.

Both of them have a good sleep and nice dream that night in eachother’s arms. The stuffed white wolf and tuxedo kitten plushy could be found between their sleeping figures..

—————————-

🐺 THE END 🐱

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Notes:

Honestly I feel this very cheesy but I couldn’t help it, forgive me for the OOC-ness I’m so sorry! 😅💦

Also Lilia, if you noticed, this headcanon was actually based on your Garou headcanon and our small convos about it here: •https://hiro-gari.tumblr.com/post/636445859688677376/what-if-garou-has-a-box-of-his-old-stuff-still •https://hiro-gari.tumblr.com/post/636531124727889920/what-if-after-garou-was-gone-from-bangs-dojo-and •https://hiro-gari.tumblr.com/post/636579523086958592/little-garou-with-a-stuffed-wolf-thats-so

Because I like the imagery, I tried to make a little writing from our shared headcanons. Hopefully you don’t mind it 😆💕

And I also combined those ideas with my older headcanon which I sent for @the-goddessfighter last year in here (please check out her amazing illustration for it, it’s lovely! 💖): https://the-goddessfighter.tumblr.com/post/629479209492987904/part-1-badd-was-cleaning-off-his-attic-when-he

So how was it, do you like this headcanon? 👀✨

Before I ended this note, I wanted to say sorry if my writing seems boring or uninovated, because I only rewrite/recycled the old hcs without being able to write newly fresh ones 😢😞 Or that I always writing Batarou waaaah I’m so sorry that I’ve been clogging your Garou simp blog with my submissions, I must apologize to your followers, too, forgive me– *bowing profusely* 😭🙏💦

Nowadays I’ve been slowly losing my confidence to write, because I don’t know if my works is good enough or not. Maybe I’m not good enough, but I’m very grateful for anyone who still willing to read these messy writings of mine. Thank you guys, your supports are encouraging me to keep going! I will try my best :“”)

Like usual, many thanks always being given for: @hiro-gari, @the-goddessfighter, @kaincuro, @guby1620, @garous-nipple, @jusqu-une-etudiante, and @lovelybutnot-ablankcanvas, and of course all of Batarou shippers in the fandom! Thank you, I love you all~ 😭💕💖

Hope you guys have many great days, thank you~ 😚😘❤💜💙💖💝🌸🌻💐

-Little1993lamb-

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~Lilia:

aaahhH OMG our little wolf convo ;~; I’m so honored it could help inspire this beautifully nostalgic and emotional headcanon the “if I could turned back the time I would absolutely become your friend” really hit me like a bus I’ve got real tears in my eyes

It makes me so happy to imagine them having each other now, a steady support to lean on in their chaotic lives, and finally putting all those bitter memories to rest ♡

[defellz]

Loving Enemies // Hwang Hyunjin

♤ word count - 7,9k

♤ genre - enemies to lovers AU, bad neighborhood AU

♤ warnings - bad language bby

To you moving hadn't ever been something you could have imagined. Your dad had an amazing, well-paying job that seemed to be stable throughout the years. But with the change of management in the company, many of the workers lost their job. Your dad was, sadly, one of them.

Your new home was two hours away from your familiar area, a different town, different people, a different school which you were not ready to change. Without any goodbyes to your friends, you were sat in the passenger seat next to your dad in the moving van, which he had rented with the money he still had left.

You weren't mad at him. Heck, you were thankful he was able to find a replacement for his job, but it didn't pay that well. Late hours as a grocery store manager didn't live up to his previous title. ''Lead manager of the economics branch'' now that sounds fancy and respectful, unlike the title he was currently given. Still, it was better than nothing, with all his experience it was strange how this was the best job he could find.

The summer went by slowly. Most of your days would be filled by talking on FaceTime with your friends back in Irieburgh. They weren't as understanding of your situation and that's when you realized they weren't the dream friends you had always dreamt of.

If anything, they were just similar to you at the time, slightly spoilt and self-centered. You knew they couldn't possibly understand what it's like to have such a huge change in the environment. Even with their rather selfish remarks from time to time, they still talked to you and texted you, so you wouldn't feel completely alone. You could only assume that this was what "pity" truly meant.

At night time you could hear the occasional gunshot somewhere on your street, the idea of someone dying next to your house terrified you. You had only ever seen movies about these types of neighborhoods, completely ignoring the fact that even fictional stories start from reality somewhere.

Throughout the summer you never really felt like you didn't fit in. Mostly because you weren't open about going out just because making friends was like a nightmare. Reality set in though when it was the first day of school and here you were, walking through the hallways as people just walked past. It was fascinating how much this school was different, your previous school was full of kids who didn't know what personal space or secrets were. Keeping out of drama was impossible, everyone was curious about everyone, but here, they were all focused on their problems. No one seemed to give two damns about the new ex-rich kid strolling down the corridors of the school.

" I see you're continuing the habit of being late, Mr. Hwang," the teacher panned as she looked the boy in the eyes.

" There isn't a bus from where I live," your Chem classmate rolled his eyes before scanning the room for an empty seat and that was when the quick moment of eye contact happened.

" You live five minutes away, genius," one of the girls from the class spoke as she facepalmed.

The boy made his way next to you, so you quickly pulled your items closer to you, leaving the other side of the table empty. To him, it probably looked like a rich kid hiding his belongings from the delinquent ones.

The teacher never took her eyes off him," So, you're going to disturb the new girl? Must say, I didn't expect you to sit next to someone, the table next to hers is empty."

The boy sat down in the chair and slouched his back," I'd still get partnered up with her for everything, so why not avoid the trouble?"

The teacher shut up and proceeded on with the class. Surprisingly, the boy next to you never spoke a word to you, but you did feel his burning gaze on the side of your face. Ignoring it was a struggle, but he didn't look like someone you wanted to associate with just from the way he looked, so after a while forgetting about his presence became like a reflex; easy.

And that's how class passed, in the end, you were so focused on taking your first chemistry notes that you didn't even notice that the boy had been trying to get your attention until he rudely stomped on your foot which had you angrily glaring at him.

" What's your problem?" You whispered.

" What's your name?"

" Y/N."

" I'm Hyunjin."

You nodded your head and proceeded to ignore Hyunjin once again, but when the bell rang you were quick to stuff everything into your back and head straight to the next class. Luckily, you only had one class with the boy.

And that was it. You never met him outside of school, just two days a week that you would spend a whole class sitting next to each other but that's how far the relationship went. You weren't friends, far from it actually as having conversations wasn't something the two of you were particularly interested in. You spent two months sitting next to him in the same class but as far as you were concerned; his name was Hyunjin and he wasn't a good person to be around.

You had managed to make two friends, it might not be a lot, but they were fun to be around. The two were rough around the edges, but your dad explained how everyone in this neighborhood was that way. People weren't used to a lot of kindness, so they didn't deliver much either, but even with their less enjoyable personality traits, they were still your best friends here.

Laura was a pretty brown-haired Polish girl whose family had moved here ten years ago. Her family wasn't lucky when it came to finding jobs, so her parents tried to do their best with the little they had. Her house was nicer than yours, but it was nowhere near as nice as your previous one. Though, unlike your house, the walls had a lot of the paint chipping off which Laura's parents expressed a deep distaste for.

Your other friend was a charming boy by the name Jeongin. He was Korean and a ray of absolute sunshine to be around, well, most of the time. He always managed to find the right time to let out some snarky comments, but if needed he wouldn't mind being your emotional comfort pillow. Unlike Laura, Jeongin was involved in a lot of the troubling activities around your neighborhood.

One time he had come to school with a poorly covered black eye, so you and Laura both combined the make up your had in an attempt to hide the purplish-green under his eye. It didn't work perfectly, but your two's work had revealed to be extremely helpful as you would continue the routine until his bruising had completely healed.

A month into your friendship, you found out Jeongin was actually from the same friend group as Hyunjin, which he always seemed to talk badly about, but under all the insults was hidden away a lot of love. Jeongin always reminded you and Laura that you should never befriend anyone else from his friend group outside of school as the way they spent their time together wouldn't be healthy for you or even him, but, as he would always say, he's in too deep at this point.

And that was how it went on. Both you and Laura staid away from Jeongin's friends and all seemed to be doing okay until one of them asked Laura toa dance your school was having the next weekend. Jeongin was angry at Jisung at first for making a move on his friend, but it was soon revealed that Jisung just wanted to get to know the two girls Jeongin had been attached to hip with.

When the dance came around you didn't exactly have a date, so both you and Jeongin decided to help each other out by going together. The dance was fun, you hung out with Laura and Jisung too, and the four of you had an amazing time.

When the main part of the night came to a close you were planning on going home until Jisung asked the two of you to join him and Jeongin to their hang out spot. Thankfully, neither of you had dressed up like dolls for the dance as that would've been too expensive, so instead you had gone in black pants and a shirt whilst Laura had red pants and a sparkly gold sequence top. Laura was definitely the better looking one from the two of you tonight.

Jeongin was quick to turn down Jisung's offer as for the whole time you guys were friends he had kept you away from this side of him. Neither you or Laura understood why he was so adamant on protecting the two of you, but the sudden appearance bruises that decorated his face time to time should've given it away.

Jeongin's tone of voice got more aggressive as Jisung continued to pursue both you and Laura into coming along. Blinded by the fun you had had together at the dance you decided to tag along. Jeongin was mad the whole way there, but he softened up once it got time to climb up the rusty ladder and onto the roof of one of the most dangerous apartment complex in your town.

Your friend noticed how stiff you became once you realized where exactly Jisung was leading the three of you. You were honestly amazed at how Laura seemed not to care at all, she looked to be completely comfortable by Jisung's side, laughing and chatting the whole way there, ignoring the guys with guns in their hands who were hanging out by the shops and cafés.

" You okay, Y/N?" Jeongin asked as his eyes gazed at you.

You shook your head," No, not really."

" If you want to go back I'll gladly take you, you know you don't have to just follow along, right?"

" This place doesn't seem too friendly to have you walk back alone though."

" I basically live here, trust me, it doesn't bother me."

You frowned at Jeongin's remark," This is where you guys legit hang out?"

" In this part of the town? Yeah, I'm not even going to make excuses because this place is worse than it looks."

" Why would you come here? I mean, you could get hurt just by walking on this damn sidewalk. I shit you not, I saw like four wasted hookers on the way here, so there's no say druggies don't hang around here, Jeongin."

" I'm fine with being here, but I see that you aren't. Come on, I'll take you back home."

" No."

" Why not?"

" I can't leave Laura alone. She'd probably want me here knowing her past of accidentally getting it on with cute guys like Jisung."

Jeongin nodded his head," Okay, but do you want help getting on the roof?"

You looked up the ladder and felt your feet become cold," This isn't safe, is it?"

" Nope."

You started climbing up the ladder before Jeongin, so no one could get you from the ground. Your fear was stupid, but you didn't want some high dude grabbing ahold of your ankle and pulling you down to his level.

The two of you got up and you were met with a rooftop apartment that had graffiti all along the walls, the windows were spray painted black and the only light that was up there was from the dim street lights back down. Laura and Jisung had already entered the apartment leaving you and Jeongin to be the last to enter. Upon opening the door you saw quite a few familiar faces. There was Seungmin from your Math class, Felix from English and Hyunjin from Chemistry. Hyunjin's stare was just as hot as always was, but the rest didn't seem to care.

You looked around the apartment before Jeongin led you to a free couch by one of the spray-painted windows. The apartment was just like you had expected. There was graffiti on the inside walls as well, a bunch of big plastic containers around the floor which some of the guys seemed to use as seating and a broken fridge which to your surprise was full of nonalcoholic beverages.

" Some of the guys aren't here, so I'm guessing they're somewhere on this block doing their own little thing," Jeongin explained as he allowed his body to drown into the material of the couch.

" There are more of you?" You asked.

" Yeah, Woojin, Chan, Minho, and Changbin aren't here, so you're going to spend time with the actually cool ones," Jeongin laughed.

Soon after Laura came back to your side and grabbed ahold of your arm while placing her head on your shoulder," This place is so cool, don't you think?"

" I'd say my place is better," you laughed.

" Jisung told me about all the shit they've done here and, honestly, it sounds like so much fun."

Jeongin raised one of his eyebrows and looked at his friend," Are you stupid or just pretending?"

You laughed," If you're asking that, doesn't it mean that you're the stupid one?"

The three of you continued to laugh and talk. Soon enough Jisung and Felix joined your conversation.

You were surprised about how funny and outgoing Felix was. During class, he would stick to himself and talk only if necessary, but here he was a completely different person. Jisung told you about the embarrassing fights Jeongin had been in and how badly he got beat up by a hooker who thought he wanted to kill her just because he had looked at her weirdly.

You were at the apartment for thirty minutes once Seungmin joined in too, leaving Hyunjin completely to himself. He didn't seem too happy about your presence here and the hot gaze of his eyes kept burning right at your forehead. He wasn't ashamed of his nonstop glaring that he didn't even look away once you quickly met his eyes, hoping he'd move his gaze somewhere else.

" Jeongin?" You whispered to your friend so that the others around you couldn't hear.

" Mm?"

" Why is Hyunjin looking at me like that?"

Jeongin's face seemed to twist for a second, he certainly knew something but wasn't about to spill," Let's just say he isn't happy with us bringing you two here."

" Why?" you asked but your question got ignored as right at that moment the door of the apartment opened and two guys walked in with another one supporting a guy on his way in. One of the four seemed to have been badly beaten up.

Jisung quickly got on his feet and went to help his friend carry the other one on the couch as everyone else got up, so he would have a place to sit.

" What happened?" the first time in the night Hyunjin spoke.

" We were talking with that Jaehyun guy once Jaebum and his sidekicks came. We got into an argument and one of the guys started fighting with Changbin," A dude with blonde hair explained.

The blonde finally noticed that there were two new faces in the apartment and was quick to realize they were Jeongin and Jisung's friends, so he smiled as he started to introduce all of them while taking off Changbin's jacket," I'm Chan, the beat-up one is Changbin, the friendly-looking one is Woojin and the last one's Minho."

You and Laura looked at each other and nodded, so Laura introduced you both," I'm Laura and the innocent one's Y/N."

Jeongin laughed," Yeah right, innocent."

You felt your hands slowly start to shake and the feeling of cold feet returned as you looked at the guys take care of Changbin

Hyunjin looked at you once again and noticed the slight discomfort on your face, for a moment his face softened, but went back to looking annoyed right after as he stormed past you to take out a first aid kit from a cabinet.

He had set down the kit on the little table by the couch when they heard loud knocking on the door.

" Who?" Laura asked Jisung.

" Probably Jaebum."

Chan went to look through the peephole and quickly called over the guys as apparently, it wasn't only Jaebum there. Seungmin staid by Changbin but it was clear that Chan needed him there too, so the others wouldn't be able to look into the apartment that easily, so you tapped Seungmin's shoulder.

" Wha-"

" I can take care of him, go do what y'all need to."

Seungmin left the cotton balls in your hands and rushed to Chan's side right as the door opened.

You tried to keep your hands steady, you poured a little bit of saline on the cotton ball.

Changbin softly chuckled," First time here?"

" I'd say first and last," you replied which got him to lightly laugh, but he winced right after," Hey, this might sting, but be patient."

You started to dab his cut eyebrow and afterward his cheek. You and Laura tried to ignore the aggressive yelling that was coming from right behind you.

" How big is the possibility that they'll beat us up?" Laura asked half-jokingly.

" Small, but it's still there," Changbin replied.

One of the guys pushed through Chan and started to chuckle once he saw you cleaning Changbin's scratches," Awe, you got a little nurse to help with your inability to fight back?"

" Don't pay attention," Changbin whispered, so you nodded your head a bit and continued to switch the cotton balls and clean his wounds.

" I suggest you leave those two out of this," Chan stated.

" Why? Are they your bitches or something?" The guy laughed.

Laura turned to look at the guy and crossed her arms in front of her chest. At moments like this, you wished she wasn't a girl with balls bigger than any dude's.

" Excuse me, what?"

" You talk?" The guy pretended to be shocked as some of his friends managed to enter the apartment alongside him.

Your friends were quick to walk back to you guys, so you wouldn't be vulnerable. Much to your surprise, Hyunjin took away the cotton balls away from you and placed them back into the kit, closing it and pulling you by your wrist right behind his back. While Jeongin moved to calm down Laura.

" You called me someone's bitch? Who the fuck do you think you are?"

Jeongin placed his hands on her shoulders and tried to quiet her down," This isn't the time for you to be overly sensitive, Laura."

" Ouch, that one seems way too stubborn for my liking."

" Jackson, I don't think you should continue picking on the girls, it's not very smart of you," Chan pointed out.

" Why? We hit a soft spot by picking at your girlfriends?" Jackson mocked.

One of the guys swiftly pushed past Felix and Hyunjin and grabbed your other wrist, pulling you to his side," This one seems more submissive than the other, don't you think?"

" Let her go, " Hyunjin growled.

Something that caught both sides of the argument off guard.

" Ooh, so this one's Hwang's bitch, quite amusing, if I must say. Never thought I'd see mister pretty boy here ever fight using his mouth and not his fists."

You felt the guy's grip on your wrist tighten which made you wince in pain," please, let go."

Your voice was quiet, but everyone heard. You were sure your wrist was going to be bruised afterward, if you even managed to walk out of here alive, that is.

" I'm serious dude, just let her go," Jeongin came to Hyunjin's side.

The guy raised his eyebrows in delight," This is a lot more fun than beating up that dwarf over there."

The room became tenser as time went on, but the fight was cut off once Jackson's phone rang.

" Yo, we gotta bounce."

" Why?" The guy holding your wrist asked.

" Youngjae called and said there's an issue by Larry's diner, we gotta go."

Your wrist was finally free from the guy's grasp and you quickly put your other hand over it.

Before all of the other guys had exited the apartment, the one who had hurt your wrist winked at Hyunjin teasingly," I'd keep your bitch safe if I were you. She seems like a lot of fun."

And with that, the door closed shut with a huge bang. Right as the door closed you felt your breathing return back to normal and some tears escaped your eyes as the adrenaline started to exit your body and the pain from your wrist shot through.

" I told you not to bring them over here, Jeongin!" Hyunjin angerly said.

" I didn't! Jisung asked them to come. Y/N didn't even want to, but she came because of Laura, why are you so pissed anyway?"

Hyunjin turned his glare to Jisung now," Didn't we talk about this?"

" How the fuck was I supposed to know Jaebum would bring his shit to here? We had fun with Laura and Y/N before those idiots showed up and everything was fine."

Chan sighed," Guys, calm down."

" What, Chan? Didn't we have a deal that we wouldn't bring school friends here let alone girls? Dude, look at Y/N she can't even function here, shouldn't you at least tell Jisung that what he did was wrong?"

" Yes, we did agree we wouldn't bring girls here, but they are their friends and it's not their fault we got into a fight with Jaebum while at Jaehyun's."

" Well, I don't know about you, but maybe it's time to take them home?" Hyunjin was angry and the curiosity was killing you. Why was he so angry anyway?

Jisung walked to Laura," I'll take Laura home, but someone's got to take Y/N home cause the two live on different blocks."

Before Jeongin could say anything Hyunjin spoke," Fine, then I'll take Y/N home. Let's go."

You looked at Jeongin but he only shrugged his shoulders and turned to help Changbin. Jisung and Laura left first. While you staid back at the apartment for about ten minutes while Hyunjin went to look for something, when he came back you were out the door, but even behind the closed door, you could hear a lot of laughs and whistles.

The two of you got off the roof and started walking to your house. The street was full of a bunch of men smoking. Even under the dim street lights, you could see the many tattoos decorating their arms, some of them even caught your eye as you had seen similar designs on TV when the news decided that it was time for the general public to learn how to recognize gangs.

You tried to use every method to calm your nerves you knew, but nothing helped. You were just so scared. You unconsciously started to scoot closer to Hyunjin which he quickly picked up on. He took his hand out of his jacket and grabbed yours.

" You better not show up here after tonight," Hyunjin said as the annoyance still bled through his tone.

" I plan on staying away, don't worry."

You were about twenty minutes into the walk when Hyunjin stopped.

" Something up?" You asked.

" Promise me you won't strudel back into that part of town."

" I already told you, I don't plan on coming-"

" Just promise me."

" Fine," you sighed," I promise."

Hyunjin let go of your hand as you were further away from the dangerous part of the area. You hated yourself for wanting to intertwine your hand with his again but you knew you shouldn't. Your heart raced when he tried to talk to you on the way to your house and you couldn't stand it. You don't even like him, are you seriously so desperate for attention that your heart had to race at just an attractive boy talking to you?

When you reached your house you saw your dad sitting on the porch, he was waiting for you so you turned to Hyunjin with wide eyes," Hey, I'm here so you can go back."

" Your dad?"

" Yeah, so can you go? Seriously, thank you for taking me home and I'm fine now, so bye."

You slightly pushed Hyunjin to start walking back so he nodded his head and left. You walked to your house and greeted your dad.

" Y/N, the dance ended four hours ago, it's three in the morning! Where in the world were you?"

" I was with Laura and Jeongin. I know I should've called you but we were having a good time, so I forgot."

You knew you were taking advantage of your trusting father. Back at your old place he never had to worry about you getting into trouble, so he got used to trusting you, but this night surely wasn't as you described. It was fun before Changbin came into the apartment beat up and the other guys suddenly showing up to start a fight. You remembered about your hurting wrist so you slightly hid it behind your back.

" Okay, head inside. I'll catch a smoke and be right in okay?"

" I'm gonna go straight to bed, goodnight."

You closed your front door and took in a deep breath. You promised yourself you wouldn't lie to your dad again.

The weekend was spent lazily rolling around in bed watching random TV shows and texting some of your old friends. Laura called you at one point too and gushed about how she finally found the perfect guy friend who could be there for her when she has a fight with her future boyfriend, hopefully, Jisung hadn't thought of the Polish girl as a love interest in his life because she had definitely placed him deep into the friend-zone and there was no getting out.

Though you tried to occupy yourself with several activities, your mind still rushed back to the moment Hyunjin held your hand or when he pulled you behind himself when Jaebum's crew stumbled into the rundown apartment.

And that's how two weeks passed. You'd be tying to fall asleep but right in front of your eyes, the scene of Hyunjin holding your hand would replay. During Chemistry class you weren't able to look even slightly to his side of the table without feeling the blush reach up to your cheeks. Unfortunately for you, Jeongin noticed your awkwardness around Hyunjin when your friend had been waiting by your Chem class to pick you up, only to witness the most uncomfortable goodbye to Hyunjin you could ever have.

Jisung invited both you and Laura back to the apartment a couple of times but you always came up with a reason why not to go. You couldn't just say," Hey, I promised Hyunjin, who is an absolute nobody to me, that I would never step a foot on that street ever again."

But here you were, walking alongside Laura on your way back there. You tried desperately to reject the invitation but Jisung and Laura weren't having any of that. Jeongin wasn't even mad at first because he had gotten so used to seeing Laura hanging out with his friends that you joining in only meant more fun. Of course, it would've been fun for you too if there hadn't been a hawk-eyed Hyunjin following your every step with his glare. He wasn't happy.

Though this time you heard multiple comments about his behavior and how it only got this bad when you were around. Usually, he'd be messing around with Changbin or annoying the living daylights out of everyone in the room, but you couldn't even imagine that he could act that way.

As the clock was about to hit 1 AM you remembered that you needed to call your dad, so he could go to bed without having to worry about his daughter getting home like the night of the dance. Of course, you did lie to your dad about your whereabouts. You told him you were at Laura's watching a movie and that you'd be home at 5 AM max. Once again, your dad completely trusted your every word as you held your phone to your ear, kicking around rocks on the roof of the graffiti decorated building.

You bid your dad goodbye and right as you pressed the end call button someone opened the door and walked outside.

" I'm pretty sure you shouldn't be here," Hyunjin muttered.

He surely had something against you," I know, but Laura wasn't having any of my excuses, so I had to tag along."

" You didn't have to do anything, you decided to come along."

" Whatever the reason was I'm here anyway and this time there isn't a Jaebum crew scaring the shit out of me or coming to pick a fight, so I don't see what the problem is."

False. You did see where the problem was. You promised you wouldn't come back here as you had expressed your dislike for this place yourself.

Jaebum wasn't the only thing dangerous on this block, heck, he wasn't even dangerous compared to the other people who chose this as their living or partying spot.

" Why are you being so bitchy? I didn't even do anything."

He's sort of right, but that's not the point," Why is it that every damn time I am around you're a completely different person? Do you hate me that much?"

Hyunjin sighed," I don't hate you."

" Then what is this about?"

" Listen, I just don't like you hanging around here, okay?"

You knew this conversation wasn't going in any useful direction, so you decided to drop it. You walked past Hyunjin and back into the apartment. The rest of the night you didn't feel his piercing gaze. He didn't even pay attention to you. He was swiping through his phone, ignoring the people around him. Later in the night Laura and Jeongin told you funny stories of the times Laura had hung out here alone. Hyunjin had even opened up to Laura's presence.

There was this one time when Laura was play-fighting with Jisung when Hyunjin suddenly joined in and placed himself as the announcer. Loudly describing every move the pair made.

No matter how many stories they told you of Hyunjin, you just couldn't imagine him being that way. To you, he was this rude, stuck up jerk who managed to shake your heart. Nobody knew that though, you kept it to yourself. You knew that everyone would laugh in your face if you even mentioned something like that.l, let alone having a crush on one of Jeongin's friends.

This was where you had to draw the harsh line. These boys weren't your friends. Your "friend" group consisted of Jeongin, Laura and Jisung. Nobody else. You couldn't become closer to the others, your dad wouldn't want that. He's already miserable knowing that he couldn't provide a better place for his daughter, having friends like these would just make his fears into a reality.

That's why that night, while the sounds of chattering flooded the room, you promised yourself to never step near this place, to not attach yourself with the people hanging here on the daily.

As the night became darker Chan and Woojin came back into the apartment with four six-packs of beer. Jeongin gravitated away from you to one of the packs. Chan had just placed his two on the table when Jeongin had already managed to rip one of the beer cans out of the plastic wrap.

" Dude, calm down, we got enough for everyone," Woojin laughed looking at his youngest friend.

Jeongin brought the can to his chest and hugged it," Knowing you, this is the only one I'm getting."

Chan took three cans and gave one to you, Laura and Jisung," This is beer is heavy, so if you don't want to get tipsy just drink slowly."

You accepted the can but didn't open it. You had a light alcohol tolerance that you discovered while you were attending your last school. You were at a party for your classmate and just one solo cup of punch later you were drunk out of your mind, inside one of the bedrooms with your friend's boyfriend who was also wasted. You were quick to realize that this making out was going to go further if you didn't stop right then and there, so you mustered up all the soberness you still had and dragged yourself out of the bedroom. Let's just say alcohol wasn't something you took lightly.

Laura reached for your can, snatched it and opened it for you, pushing it back in our hands," I knew you weren't going to open it if I didn't help you."

You took a sip and you knew Chan wasn't kidding when he said it was heavy. Usually, beer didn't burn the back of your throat but this one definitely did.

" He wasn't kidding," Jisung laughed and coughed, the burning too much for him to handle.

Hyunjin laughed," You're just too big of a pussy."

A slight laugh made its way past your lips which brought a warm feeling throughout Hyunjin's body.

Jeongin went back to his seat next to you and tossed his hand over your shoulder," Jisung's weak. He gets drunk quickly too."

You looked at Jisung," Me and you both, kiddo."

It wasn't like they were surprised by the fact you weren't exactly good at handling alcohol, but they were indeed shocked once you admitted it.

Hyunjin raised a brow at you," If you're a weak chick then don't drink too much. These guys aren't exactly PG-13 when a drunk girl is around."

Woojin hit the back of Hyunjin's head," You're one to talk."

" What?"

" I didn't think you'd forget about that Sana girl. She's older than him, but when they were both drunk, Hyunjin here, was radiating all sorts of daddy energy," Woojin proudly told the story of when he was the only sober one, playing dad wasn't unusual for him anyway.

" D-daddy energy?" You asked right before bursting out into loud laughter.

Woojin nodded, laughing along," He was holding the girl and legit went around screaming that Sana was his baby girl and no one could do anything about it."

Chan joined in on the conversation," Dude, Hyunjin was wild. I didn't think he'd ever use the word 'babygirl' but that was something."

Hyunjin rolled his eyes," That was like last year, shut up."

" Oh, you don't want your new baby girl to know about your past bitches?" Jeongin was wasted. Wait, wasn't that his third can in a matter of fifteen minutes?

Laura shot up from her sluggish pose and looked at Hyunjin wide-eyed," You got a girlfriend?"

" No!"

" He's so whipped for-"

Before Jeongin was able to continue anything Hyunjin had already managed to rush his way towards the youngest and placed his hand over his mouth," I'd think twice before I continue that sentence."

So this was the open Hyunjin everybody kept talking about? With a little bit of beer in his blood, he did seem to forget his hatred towards you, at least that's what you thought.

Jeongin agreed to not say anything and once Hyunjin had gone back to his seat he yelled out," Y/N do you wanna be Hyunjin's new girlfriend?"

Hyunjin looked at his friend absolutely mortified.

You laughed," Sorry, I don't date my friend's friends."

Hyunjin decided to ignore whatever else was coming out of Jeongin's mouth and continued to sip oh his beer.

Jeongin pouted and grabbed your hand," But imagine how cute you'd be. You guys could make such cute babies."

" Hold up, drunk boy," You chocked on your last sip of beer.

Everyone except Hyunjin was laughing. As the clock was about to land at 6 AM and most of your company was wasted or asleep, you decided it's probably time to head home. You didn't want to sleep on the same couch as Jisung, Laura, Woojin. And the floor didn't sound fun either. You slowly removed Woojin's head from your shoulder and got off the couch, making your way to the exit. You weren't excited about the fact you'll have to walk through the neighborhood by yourself, but you weren't always going to have someone to escort you.

You were trying your best to avoid any of the empty beer cans on the floor and the guys who had managed to fall asleep on the floor while you were scrolling through your phone. But much to your luck you accidentally tripped over Hyunjin's leg which woke him up. As far as you knew he was also wasted, but that wasn't the case. Just like you, he had only drunk one can of beer through the whole night and he wasn't exactly asleep either. He had been trying to sleep, but the floor wasn't doing his justice.

" Oh, shit. Sorry," You apologized right as you saw Hyunjin sit up.

" You going home?"

" Yeah."

" I'll walk you home, I'm not going to fall asleep any time soon anyway."

And that's how you ended up walking with Hyunjin once again through the neighborhood which you were so scared of. Unlike the other time, your hands weren't holding onto each other. They were freely hanging by your sides as you walked while the sounds of downtown engulfed you in a chilly breeze. The slight tremble you did because of the cold didn't go unnoticed by Hyunjin, so he reached for your hand and put it in the pocket of his hoody.

" I'd give you my hoody, but I don't have anything underneath."

" I didn't ask, but okay."

" Uh, Y/N?"

" Hm?"

" Y'know about the thing that Woojin told you-"

" Oh about that Sana? What about it?"

" I'm not like that."

You looked at him confused," Why are you explaining yourself to me?"

" Cause I don't want you to think that I'm the type of guy who would get drunk and forget about a girl cause I'm not like that. I'm really not."

" Why should I care? It's seriously fine like I don't see-"

" I like you."

" You- what?"

You quickly detached your hand from Hyunjin's and pulled it behind your back," What are you on about?"

" I like you. I don't want you around here because I know what kind of people hang out here. I don't want you to get hurt because of some stupid Jeongin or Jisung who forgot about the fact they can't bring people who aren't used to the shit here."

You looked at Hyunjin in complete shock," If you like me then why are you always such an asshole to me?"

" Because I didn't plan on making a move or anything. If anything, I wanted you to hate me, so you wouldn't ever think about me the way I do about you."

" Since when?"

" Since when, what?"

" Since when have you liked me that way?"

" First Chem class."

" Woah."

" Listen, I just wanted the girl I like to not think of me as some shit ass who gets drunk and sleeps around with some girls, they made it sound like I got it on with Sana when, in fact, I didn't even kiss her."

" I believe you, just take back the 'i like you, part."

Hyunjin looked at you, he was hurt, were you disgusted by his feelings?

" Why?"

" I promised myself I would never come back to here or the hangout ever again, but you're making this hard for me."

" My feelings shouldn't be the reason for you to even think about coming to hang out here again. If you like the guys then we can hang out somewhere else. Especially because I like you. I never want someone calling you 'Hwang's bitch' again, but if we hang out here it will happen more than once."

" Hyunjin, I can't bring myself to hate this place anymore if you're just going to confess all of a sudden!"

" No, you can. You don't feel the same way about me, you coming back here because of me would make me feel like I'm being pitied and I don't want that at all."

You bit your lip as you looked at your feet, avoiding Hyunjin's gaze at all times.

" Oh God, don't. Don't do that."

" Do what?" You finally looked up at him.

" Don't bite your lip. It's distracting."

" Wh-"

" Stop playing dumb. It makes me want to kiss you."

Your eyes widened," Yeah, no."

" Exactly, so stop. We should probably get you home, it's getting pretty early."

Hyunjin nonchalantly ignored the previous moment and continued to walk in the direction of your house.

" So you say that and act like you didn't right away?" You followed the boy from behind, your heart was beating fast no matter how you tried to act like Hyunjin's words did not affect you.

" What did you want me to do, force my face on yours?"

" If I remember correctly, someone smart once said YOLO-"

" Yeah, and then they got pregnant."

You chuckled," What if you didn't have to force your face on mine?"

" Wh-"

There weren't many times you were able to act overly confident but at this moment it seemed like God himself wanted you to do something that seemed impossible to you. Maybe it was the slight amount of alcohol that remained in your bloodstream or the overwhelming feelings which suddenly took over, whatever it was it made you lightly grab the strings of Hyunjin's hoodie, pulling him to your eye level and kissing him right then and there.

This wasn't what he imagined. Heck, he didn't even allow himself to imagine something so intimate. It didn't take long for his arms to wrap around your body, pulling you closer to him. Your heartbeats were completely in sync. Both were beating fast but they were also beating for each other.

You didn't intend on kissing him this way. Maybe a light peck? But oh was this not it.

Hyunjin's arms were so tight around your body as if he was afraid you'd disappear once he let go of you. Your hands moved away from the strings of his hoodie to his chest.

For a moment it felt as if all time had stopped. There was nobody else in this world besides you and Hyunjin.

You both slowly pulled away, you wanted to run away, scream, hide, but you knew Hyunjin wouldn't let you. His arms were still on you, no longer wrapped around your body, but his hands were holding onto your shoulders as if his life depended on it.

" You know you just brought this upon yourself, right?" Hyunjin's gaze was dark, there was a tint of love behind them, but you hadn't seen anything as serious as that look.

" Yes."

" You know I'm not letting you go away now, right?"

" You better not."

" Fuck, I should've done this sooner."

And your lips were once again pressed against each other. This kiss wasn't as soft and calming as the previous one, it was needy and desperate. His hands traveled to your lower back, yet you couldn't think about anything else besides the feeling of your lips against his.

...

" Yo, Y/N you coming to the hangout, today?" Laura rushed to your side as the both of you exited the school grounds.

" I don't really-"

" Oops, forgot, I'm not letting you not come."

And so were you again inside of the small run-down apartment, the only people missing were Hyunjin, Changbin, and Felix. Chan said that they were out running some errands but nothing too major.

The eight of you laughed and talked while waiting for the others to come. You were nervous the whole time, you had hung out with Hyunjin alone for a while now, but the others didn't know about it. The two of you hadn't hung out with the whole group as boyfriend and girlfriend yet and it made you scared.

You play-fighting with Jisung as you tried to get your phone back from him and Laura was there as your back up. The two of you were crawling around and on the couch trying to get him to move his ass, so you could get your phone.

The door opened and the others went to greet the three guys, but both you and Laura were too focused on getting your phone back.

" Jisung~ Give it back!" You lovingly called out, you knew how much Jisung hated to be talked to in that way.

Much to our annoyance, Jisung also knew how to push your buttons," Give me a kiss and I'll give it back!~"

Hyunjin crossed his arms as he looked at you and Jisung fighting, he knew that you two were only joking, but even then the jealously didn't fail to make an appearance.

" Sorry, she can't kiss you, it'd go against the rules."

" Rules of what?" Jisung asked a bit dumbfounded.

" Of being in a relationship," Hyunjin casually said as he continued to look at the both of you annoyed.

" Wha-"

" You're asking my girlfriend to kiss you, that's just wrong bro."

Laura looked at Hyunjin then at you with wide eyes," Since when?"

" Like two months ago?" Hyunjin nonchalantly answered.

You were still frozen as you were holding onto Jisung's arm. Jisung slowly pulled your phone out from his back pocket and gave it to you," I don't want your boyfriend to punch me."

You sat up straight and blankly stared back at Hyunjin.

" What? Surprised to see your boyfriend?"

You quickly got off the couch and ran to hug him as if the two of you hadn't met for years.

The moment was wholesome until Chan stopped awing and awkwardly coughed," Just keep your relationship PG-13."

[guide-to-dragons-blog]

1. Greet a Dragon with Respect

"Suuuummer, it's hooooooot!"

It was summer in Pine Valley, meaning that there was an annual early heatwave. It's ridiculously hot for June, which is normal but still stupid, considering how we lived next to a massive pine forest. According to Summer, pine trees grow better in wet, cold climates, except for this one obscure type that I've never bothered to remember the name of. I leave that sort of nerd thing to Summer.

"I know," she agreed, fanning herself with the book she's abandoned. That's how you know it's serious: Summer never puts down a book she likes except under extreme circumstances. Sometimes I wonder how I ended up friends with a bookworm like her. "I could ask my parents if we can go to the pool?"

"Hey, yeah! That's a great- Mmmm..." I squinted at her from under the arm shielding my eyes. Her glasses glinted in the sun. "There'll be a lot of people," I warned.

Summer frowned, crossing her legs uncomfortably. "I'll be fine. There won't be that many people." I've never exactly gotten her deal with people. She's funny and super smart, so she'd be really popular if she'd just open up. It might've also helped if I wasn't her best friend, but whatever. I digress.

"This ain't exactly Cali, dude. No one has a pool in their backyard." It gets too cold in the winter for that. "Everyone will be at the public one."

She scowled. "I hate it when you're right. I thought I was supposed to be the reasonable one here. You're supposed to be the daredevil who gets us in trouble."

"The heat's fried your brain," I teased, reaching out to poke her knee. The brunette seemed to frown harder. We got quiet again, trying to think of other ways to get out of the heat. I let my eyes drift over to the left, coming to stare at the forest looming in the distance. Hmm. Lots of tall, thick trees all bunched together in one place, which means lots of shade. Not to mention the breeze and-

I sat up quickly, startling her into dropping her book. "That's it! The lake!" I rushed into the house, grinning wildly. This had to be my best idea yet.

"The lake?" Summer echoed, running after me. Incredulously,sthe said, "You mean the lake in the middle of the off-limits woods?"

"Unless you know any other lakes around here," I chirped cheerfully, grabbing my bag and darting into the bathroom to grab a towel. I poked my head out to look at her. "Think your parents would mind if I stole one of your towels?"

"To go swimming in the off-limits lake? Yes, I think they would," she drawled, crossing her arms disapprovingly. "Really, Cascade, I know you have this whole 'daredevil' thing going on, but don't you think this is stretching it? I mean..." She shifted from mother hen to nervous wreck, glancing out the window worriedly. "Those fences are there for a reason, you know."

I stopped shoving the two towels into the bag to lean on the counter and gave her a flat stare. "What, you mean the dragons that live there?"

It was sort of a town joke/superstition. The founder, a guy named Christian Dike, came here when he was run out of his old town. He found a couple of nice people to help him make a new settlement here and thus, Pine Valley was born. However, according to some of his old journals, the nice people weren't the only ones who helped him make it. Dike claimed that somewhere in the woods was an entire lair of dragons who helped construct the place, so the woods were off-limits, apparently to give them their privacy or whatever. There were a few weirdos who believed it and either stayed away from it or went searching, but most people just stayed out because of all the wild animals likely running around.

Summer flushed and scowled at me. "You know that's not the reason! There's just too much wilderness. We could get hurt! Or worse, we could get caught!"

"...How is that worse than getting hurt?"

"Permanent records Cascade. You can't get into a good college with a criminal record!"

I sighed, walking over and grabbing her shoulders. "Summer. I know, like, seven people who have gone to that lake, and none of them have been caught. No police or anything ever goes in there, okay? Come on, it's just for an hour or something. Don't you wanna be cool?" I enticed, grinning again. I could see the struggle in her eyes. Any minute now she was gonna break.

With a long-suffering groan, her resolve disintegrated, shoulders slumping in defeat. "Alright, alright, you win! Let's go swim in the forbidden lake." She shot me a dirty look when I started dancing in celebration. "Dad was right about you. You're a terrible influence," she informed me.

I cackled, crooning, "But a fun one~ C'mon, let's go grab your suit!" She let me dance past her up the stairs, sighing loudly behind me. I looked at the pictures on the wall leading up, grinning at the little family. More than a few of them were dorky pictures of Summer and I growing up.

Summer's room was at the very end of the hall, cut off by a girlishly decorated door. Summer had been meaning to take off some of the stickers for years, but somehow it never happened (it was entirely my fault. I distracted her every time she talked about it until she just gave up). The room itself was much more mature, with bare pale blue walls save for bookshelves. She had a twin bed with a plain navy blue blanket, a white fluffy blanket, and two blue and white striped pillows. She had a nightstand at the left side with a small lamp. Her dresser was white and not very big, across the room from her door. She had a floor to ceiling bookshelf full of books, and one of the shelves was full of baubles and trinkets she adored. She also had a work desk she used to read and do any sort of work at, with a tall lamp to the right of it.

As I leafed through her drawers, I considered the old rumor. It would be pretty cool if dragons were real. When I was younger, I constantly pretended to be a dragon or to see dragons. My shelves were lined with tons of books ranging from rpg guides to stories about them. It drove my aunt and uncle crazy for a while, but at least I was easy to shop for. If there really were dragons in the forest, I wanted to meet them.

Of course, I'd come to the realization years ago that dragons and such didn't actually exist, so like all children I gave up on that dream and just thought back on them with fondness.

"I can look for my own suit, you know," Summer chimed, watching me from her bed.

"Yeah, I know, but I got up here first, so therefor I get to rifle through your drawers." I peeked at her over my shoulder, grinning evilly. "What'sa matter, Summer? Got something scandalous in here?" I teased.

Summer flushed at the taunt, scowling at me. She reached out and grabbed an empty Sprite bottle off the floor (oops, I probably left that the last time I was here) and chucked it at me as I cackled again. I turned back and grabbed the article of clothing I was looking for, tossing it at her. "There we go. Go change and we're all set!"

"Aren't you forgetting your suit, smart one?" Summer snarked, grabbing the suit as she stood up.

"Nah, I'll just go in this," I replied, gesturing to my tee-shirt and shorts. "House is too far away for walking to right now."

Summer sighed and headed for the bathroom, leaving me to myself. Humming idly, I headed downstairs, rummaging through the fridge for something to drink. They always had extra water bottles in the very bottom during summer so we could stay hydrated. It was very convenient for when we wanted to go places but it was hot out. Grabbing a pair of bottles, I hurried up the stairs, depositing them in the bag.

Summer emerged just then, an orange tee-shirt pulled on over her top and sandals on her feet. She raised an eyebrow at the bottles, clearly not having expected that I be the responsible one. I shrugged. "I had nothing else to do."

She chuckled softly, shaking her head at me. "Whatever you say, Cascade. Are we ready?"

"When you are!" I confirmed, shouldering the bag with a grin. We headed down the stairs together, a spring in my step and carefully hidden excitement in hers. As rule-oriented as Summer was, she was still my friend, and anyone crazy enough to stick with me for as long as she had needed a little bit of an adventurous streak.

It might have been my imagination, but I think it actually got hotter in the short while we had headed in. I was sweating about as soon as I stepped out. We might have started running to the trees if not for the fact that it was too hot to do more than trudge miserably down the road, wishing it was just a little bit cooler.

We couldn't reach the fence fast enough. The fence was at least eight feet high, which was definitely taller than me or Summer. It had been put up by Dike way back when to keep people out and it had stayed there, mostly because the people in town were too lazy to take it down. Nowadays it served as a deterrent to delinquents and lawbreakers, not that it did much to stop them. Maybe they should set up an electric fence instead.

"How are we gonna get over that?" Summer whispered, eyeing the metal warily.

I rolled my eyes playfully. "There's this thing that we can do called climbing, and it helps people get over things like this."

She glared at me for a moment, which I simply beamed at cheerfully, and then the look melted into the familiar pane of anxiety. "You know, maybe this is a bad idea. I mean, they have a fence and signs up for a reason, you know? Maybe there really is something big in there that we don't want to meet."

It was obvious that we weren't going to get anywhere like this, so I sighed and squared my shoulders. I took a few steps back, catching her relieved face, and planted my feet. Relief was replaced with confusion as I grabbed the straps of the bag with both hands, eyeing the top of the fence with a determined set to my jaw. Horrified realization hit her as I began to swing my arms, building up as much momentum as I could. Before she had a chance to say anything, I gave it one last swing and let it fly. The bag sailed up, up, up... and landed with a satisfying thunk on the other side of the fence.

I gave her a smug grin and swaggered back up to the fence, reaching up to grip the first few links. Summer made a sputtering noise as I hefted myself up, carefully scaling the cold obstruction. The metal dug uncomfortably into my palms and knees but I ignored it in favor of reaching the top of the wall. I was just trying to work my way over the fence when Summer finally found her wits again and yelled, "Please be careful Cascade! Falls from that height could really hurt you!"

"Summer my dear, I think you forget that I am the same person who once climbed up to your window after it rained. I'm not gonna fall," I yelled down at her, swinging my legs over so I was hanging from the top. I began to casually work my way down, smiling at her triumphantly. "See? What'd I tell you? You got nothing to worry about, I'm a natural-"

My foot slipped.

Summer screamed as I dropped the last four of five feet, landing hard on my back. I stared up at the overhanging branches, my head spinning and heart pounding. I expected to be significantly more winded and in more pain than what I was, and then I felt the squishy thing beneath me. Rolling over, I found that I'd landed on the bag, which was noticeably more compact than it had been.

"Are you okay?" Summer asked desperately, clinging hard to the fence and watching me with worry.

"Surprisingly, yes," I replied, grinning again as I reached out to pat the trusty bag. "Luckily I had this convenient bag to break my fall."

She let out a deep breath, face contorting into a mix of anger and relief. "You are so lucky that bag caught you Cascade. You could have broken something! I swear, when I get over there I'm going to throttle you! How dare you make me worry!"

"So you're coming over?" I asked impishly, grinning as she gave an irritated groan and began clumsily scaling the fence. My amusement waned a little as I watched her. It was fine when I did it, but Summer didn't have the experience that I did. It would be even easier for her to hurt herself. I couldn't stop myself from coaching her a little. "Keep your body closer to the fence. I know it's a little uncomfortable, but it'll help you hang on better."

"Cascade," she said in a mock-surprised voice, sounding out of breath already. "Are you... worried about... me? I'm a n-natural," she huffed, shaking as her hand slipped a bit. She was almost to the top.

"Ha ha, you're so funny, now stop talking and focus on where you're putting your hands. Your dad may be a doctor, but I'm not. If you crack your skull open you're toast," I threatened, subconsciously raising my hands as though to catch her.

"You know, you're.... You're not making this any easier," she huffed, pausing at the top to catch her breath. "You're actually kind of making this worse."

"I could just start making my way to the lake if that makes you feel better," I replied carelessly, reaching down to grab the bag and sling it back over my shoulder.

Her eyes grew wide, grip turning white-knuckled with terror. "You wouldn't dare," she hissed, leaning forward slightly.

I hid my evil grin and turned away, taking a few joking steps into the forest. Her dismayed squawk sent me giggling and I turned back, dropping the bag again. "I'm insulted. You look like you were actually expecting me to leave you here!" I teased, stepping back over and craning my head back to look up at her.

Summer looked like she was actually debating the benefits of throttling me once she found a way to get down. I just smiled at her sweetly and made a "come hither" motion, eager to get back on the way. The heat was sinking in once again and I wanted to get going. She sighed heavily and began descending, thankfully without any of the issues I had.

As soon as her feet touched ground she whirled around and punched my arm, which might have had more of an impact if not for the fact that it lacked any strength. I clutched my arm theatrically and wailed, "Ah, oh no! The pain, the pain! It hurts so much! I may never recover again!"

"I will hit you again, and this time it will hurt," Summer grumbled, snatching the bag and stomping into the forest ahead of me.

I laughed and hurried to catch up to her, taking the lead. I had only been to the lake once before this, but the way was clear. Other teens had left convenient little hints that you could find if you payed attention: a blue scarf tied around a tree, a carved arrow or a spray-painted picture, things like that. Summer frowned at a few of them, muttering about laws and the environment. I sighed good-naturedly, more amused with her mumbled tirade than anything else.

Walking in the forest brought a strange feeling of peace to me. Maybe it was just the massive difference in temperature now that we were in the shade, or the gentle breeze, but whatever it was, it felt really nice just to walk through here. I think Summer felt the same, because the longer we walked the quieter her complaints got. I glanced back to see that she was staring up at the trees serenely, looking right at home.

A particularly strong breeze stole my attention, bringing the scent of water our way. Grinning at Summer, I broke into a run, beckoning her to do the same. The trees stopped abruptly, fading from grass to sand. The lake stretched out into the distant set of mountains, glimmering in the summer heat.

I laughed and paused just long enough to slip off my shoes before I was charging into the water. Cold water splashed up around my legs, soaking me almost instantly. I ducked under the water, relishing in the feeling of water rushing around me. I resurfaced, turning around to see Summer standing on the bank still, watching me with a grin. "Well don't just stand there silly, come in! The water feels amazing!" I called, waving her in excitedly.

She set the bag down and pulled off the top, wading into the water hesitantly and shivering at the sudden temperature change. I rolled my eyes again-they were really getting a workout today it seemed-and swam closer, watching her with unimpressed eyes. She looked down at the water hesitantly. "This doesn't look very clean, Cascade. Is is alright to go swimming in it?"

"Of course it is. This is what we're supposed to swim in, Summer! Not those shallow pools of chlorinated water, but real, pure lake water! Filled with fish and crawdads and natural life!" I enthused, laughing as I splashed her playfully and she shied away.

"Sometimes I think you were a fish in your past life," Summer commented, finally wading in deeper than her waist. She sighed as the water flowed over her shoulders, giving me a shy grin. "You're right though, this does feel really nice."

I grinned, reaching out to pull her further into the lake. "See? Now aren't you glad that I talked you into this?"

"Yes, yes, I get it," she replied, giggling as she began to tread water. A devious look entered her eyes and she brought her hands up, slapping them into the water forcefully. I yelped, trying in vain to shield myself from her assault. She smiled evilly. "That's for the fence, Cade." "Oh, is that how it's gonna be? I hope you know what you're getting into!" I cackled, initiating the Great Splash War.

We played around for about fifteen minutes, laughing as we dunked one another. When we got tired, Summer moved back to shore to laze on her towel while I floated. I swam out into the darker parts of the lake and ducked under, swimming down as far as I could go and peering around me. The water was clearer down at the bottom, easily letting me see all the different kinds of fish and lake species. I trailed my hands through the fronds on the bottom and swam up for air.

I glanced around, noticing that I'd drifted out much farther than intended, and quickly began heading back to shore. Summer was reading yet again, lounging in the shade as she dried off. I chuckled and hurried back over, intending to rope her into a game of Marco Polo.

The day had other plans though. As soon as I had stumbled back onto land, unused to the sudden heaviness in my limbs, I heard someone yell in the direction we'd come from. I stiffened, eyes going wide as I heard them tromping through the undergrowth. The voice was older and gruff, so there was definitely no hope that it was another teenager coming to enjoy the lake on a hot summer day.

Summer looked up at me, panicked. They were awfully close now. "What should we do?" she whisper-yelled, staggering to her feet and gripping my sleeve anxiously.

"We make a run for it!" I replied, grabbing her wrist and pulling her into the trees again.

"W-wait a minute, Cascade, what about the towels?" Summer yelped, trying to tug her wrist out of my grip.

I stifled a groan. "We don't have time for that right now! We gotta get out of here! We'll get them later!"

"Th-those are my mom's favorite though!"

"Permanent record Summer."

That shut her up.

Sticks and stones dug into my exposed feet, branches ripping at my hair. I growled, making a note to ask Aunt Julie for a haircut later. The man had given chase it sounded like, possibly following the sound of our less-than-graceful retreat. He kept yelling things like "get back here!" and "you're in a lot of trouble youngsters!" and "wait until your parents here about this!"

I was tiring fast, and from the way Summer kept stumbling and lagging, I figured it was the same for her. We had to change tactics somehow. Instead of running, maybe we should try hiding. My eyes narrowed as I scanned the forest for a decent nook to lose him in. I had no idea anymore where I was, only that it was much farther into the forest than most people generally went.

The was a flash of grey in the corner of my vision. I whipped my head around, quickly glancing over it. It looked like it was some kind of stone cave, relatively low to the ground, but hiding there would provide a little bit of cover. Breathing hard, I changed course and made a beeline for the cave, Summer yelping in surprise behind me. I dragged her with me into the darkness.

Unfortunately, the ground was not flat. It slanted abruptly, making a semi-steep slope. My feet slipped on a rock and suddenly I was sliding down into an even darker part of the cave, Summer tumbling after me. We landed in a stunned tangle of limbs at the bottom of the incline, breathing frantic. I glanced up, listening to the sound of heavy boots crashing through the bushes. I sucked in a deep breath, feeling Summer cling to my arm desperately.

The footsteps stopped overhead. The man cursed and I heard a loud rustle, like he was rifling through a bag or his pockets. A glowing circle of light hit the wall across from us, dancing around the dirt. The man sighed heavily and the light disappeared again as I heard the man mutter, "I'm gettin' too old for things like this..." He set off into the forest again, leaves crunching as he went.

Summer and I sat in silence until we couldn't hear him any more, at which point I began laughing maniacally, not caring that the cackling echoed down the cave. Summer didn't seem to share my hysterics, clutching her heart and breathing heavily. She looked like her whole life was flashing before her eyes. When she recovered, she smacked my arm, only succeeding in making me laugh harder. "Cascade! This isn't funny! We were almost caught!" she hissed, glaring at me furiously. "Would you please stop laughing already?"

"I-I'm sorry," I choked out, not sorry at all. "I-I... I just- I can't believe that h-happened." Summer continued to stew in silence, arms crossed, while I got my breathing back under control, sighing deeply. I brushed a tear from my eye. "Whew, man, that was a rush!"

"I am never letting you talk me into anything ever again," Summer stated hotly, gesturing wildly with her arms. "Look at us! We're disgusting! And trespassing! If that man had put just a little more effort into his search, we would have been toast."

I glanced down at myself thoughtfully. I was coated in dirt and still dripping lake water, twigs and leaves clung to my clothes, and my hair was a helpless mess of tangles and weeds. I noticed for the first time that my feet hurt pretty badly and my legs were scraped up. "Hmm. Maybe next time we should pack an extra set of clothes."

"No Cascade, you will not pack an extra set of clothes, because there will not be a next time! There will never be a next time because it's illegal and dangerous and-" Her tirade stopped abruptly, eyes going wide as she peered into the cave. Her voice dropped several levels as she whispered, "Did you hear that?"

"I couldn't hear anything over the sound of you yelling at me," I replied drily, frowning at her. "Really, Summer, you need to lighten up. Worrying is bad fo-"

She clapped a hand over my mouth. "Shh! Listen!"

I gave her an exasperated glare but did as I was told, listening to the silence in the cave. It took a moment, but I was suddenly aware of a strange noise, like something was dragging along the walls. The weird noise was accompanied by an eerie rattling, like someone had taken a handful of bones and shaken them.

Summer whimpered. From deep within the darkness came a low rumble in reply, and suddenly the dragging noise got louder. I spotted a brief flicker of light far out in front of us, catching the outline of... something really big. The ground began to tremble slightly as whatever it was grew closer.

Heart humming in my ears, I turned to Summer and whispered, "We gotta get out of here. Hurry up the slope as fast as you can."

She nodded fearfully, struck mute with terror. Despite my instructions to move quickly, she stood up slowly and began trying to scramble up the mound behind us. It was a lot steeper than I first thought, apparently. I looked away from her progress to eye the thing coming closer. Another burst of light briefly revealed horns and an angular head, and now I could make out a pair of gleaming red eyes. They didn't need any light to shine, glowing with a violent inner fire. I turned back to Summer franticly. "Hurry it up Sum, that thing's almost here!"

"You try c-climbing this any faster," she stammered, scrambling with renewed vigor.

"Here, let's do this." I turned, twining my fingers together, making a little basket out of my hands. "Hurry up and climb," I ushered urgently, sparing another look at the creature-it couldn't be what I wanted to call it, that was impossible-and frowned. It was sure taking its sweet time eating us.

"A-are you sure? I don't want to hurt you," she worried.

"Summer, I'm a little bit more concerned with the giant animal coming to eat us than with you standing on my hands."

"F-fair enough." She lightly put her foot on my joined palms, grabbing my shoulders to stabilize herself.

The creature seemed to take that as its cue, letting out a low bellow as it released a steady stream of fire. Summer's scream overlapped mine as we cowered against the wall, feeling the searing heat flood the small area. It was even hotter than the summer sun outside. I could have sworn I felt some hairs singe.

Either it had awful aim or it wasn't trying to barbecue us, because when the actual fire stopped flying we were miraculously unharmed, if not very shaken. Instead, a previously-unseen torch was flickering steadily on either wall, illuminating the immediate area and the creature that had just given us a heart attack.

The creature was so tall that its long, pearly white horns scraped the ceiling. Its body was long and pitch back, with very obvious muscles and dangerously curved claws. It was littered with bones, which meant that my guess earlier had been right. Finishing it off was the malicious pair of blood-red eyes and a spine of white spikes that could easily be mistaken for more bones. It was the most metal thing I'd ever seen and I might have been a little in love, but this also proved one other thing.

It was undeniably a dragon.

Dragons were real.

"Summer," I whispered, staring up at it in awe. "Summer that's a freaking dragon."

Summer made a nonsensical whimpering noise, looking like she was going to either pass out or cry, or maybe both.

The dragon seemed almost smug as it leaned down, bringing its head within touching distance. I was very tempted to reach out and stroke its scaled nose, but somehow I got the impression that it would bite off my hand. Its lips pulled back, revealing a full maw of impossibly sharp teeth, each of them probably a little bigger than my forearm, and it growled threateningly.

My nose scrunched up as the hot air rushed over my face and I raised my arm to cover my nose. "Whoa, dude, your breath reeks. Have you ever heard of dental hygiene? Some mouthwash might do you some good."

In hindsight, insulting a giant beast of legend that was six or seven times my size was probably a really bad idea, but current me wasn't thinking of that. Current me was just thinking that the giant dragon really needed a good flossing, because I was pretty sure I could see bits of its last meal sticking out of its teeth.

The dragon didn't seem to take that so well, because it opened it massive mouth, roared in my face, and lunged toward me.