#he wasn’t the gym leader for long

[voidvinn]

Fortree Flying type Gym Leader Silver! I hc that he was the gym leader at some point before going off on wacky Moltres Adventures

[sugugasm]

BET | love and deepspace

⟡ tags : underground boxer! sylus + reader — sylus isn’t afraid of going all in when it comes to you.

ミ★ content warning : fem! reader uses she/her prns, mentions of blood & injuries, mentions of female anatomy as well as male anatomy, oral fem! receive, gentle to rough sex, pet names like bby, dove, kitten, honey, 5.0K WORD COUNT

you step into the dimly lit underground boxing gym, the air thick with the scent of sweat, cigarette smoke, and leather. it’s a seedy place, hidden in the heart of the city’s most notorious neighborhood, where the law doesn’t dare to tread. the crowd tonight is a mix of rough characters - bikers with gang patches on their jackets, local gangsters with glares and expensive watches, shady high-rollers in suits looking to place big bets on the illegal fights.

as you navigate through the throng of people, you spot him in the corner, preparing for his match. sylus - the man who happened to be your ex-boyfriend . . oh, and only the most feared bare-knuckled boxer in the underground circuit. he was a sight to behold, all rippling muscles and newfound tattoos, with messy silver hair that gleamed under the fluorescent lights. you watch as he methodically wraps his hands, his intense red eyes focused on the task.

your history with sylus is complicated, to say the least. you met him two years ago at a biker rally, drawn to his bad-boy charm and undeniable charisma. he swept you off your feet with his daredevil antics on his custom harley and his smooth talking ways. but sylus’s world was always filled with danger, violence, and illegal activities. as the leader of onychinus, the city’s most notorious motorcycle club, he ran an empire built on illicit evol weapons, protocore deals, and underground fighting.

at first, the thrill of it all was intoxicating - the adrenaline rush of riding on the back of his bike, the wild parties at the onychinus clubhouse, watching him dominate in the ring. but as time went on, you grew tired of the constant chaos and the fear that one day, sylus’s risky lifestyle would catch up to him. you wanted stability, a future - things that sylus scoffed at. ‘i live in the moment, babe,’ he would say with that infuriating smirk. ‘and right now, all i want is you.’

but it wasn’t enough. six months ago, after a particularly brutal fight that left sylus battered and bleeding, you reached your breaking point. you told him you couldn’t watch him destroy himself anymore, that you needed more than he could give you. sylus, stubborn and proud as ever, refused to change. ‘this is who i am,’ he growled. ‘so take it or leave it.’ so you left, walking away from the man you loved, determined to build a life free from the violence and uncertainty.

now, seeing him again after all this time, you feel a mix of emotions stirring within you. anger, hurt, frustration . . . but also a undeniable pull of attraction and longing. as if sensing your presence, sylus glances up, his red eyes locking with yours. a slow, confident smirk spreads across his handsome face as he saunters over to you, the crowd parting before him.

“well, well. look who it is,” he drawls, looking you up and down appreciatively. “didn’t expect to see you here tonight, [★]. come to watch me dominate the ring as usual?”

you scoff and cross your arms, determined not to let him see how much his presence affects you. “i’m not here for you, sylus. i’m just here to collect on some bets.”

he chuckles, a deep, rich sound that sends shivers down your spine. “sure you are, sweetheart. keep telling yourself that.”

sylus takes a step closer, invading your personal space. he smells like musk and sandalwood, a scent that brings back memories of stolen moments and passionate nights. “i miss you, you know,” he murmurs, his voice low and intimate. “everything’s been so boring without you around to keep me on my toes.”

you try to stay strong, but you can feel your resolve wavering. damn him and his charm. “i’m not here to rehash the past, sylus. what do you want?”

his eyes glint with a challenge. “make a bet with me - when i win the championship belt tonight, you give me another shot. a chance to prove that we’re meant to be together.”

you laugh in disbelief. “you can’t be serious. we’re done, sy. i’m not falling for your games again.”

“who says it’s a game?” he counters, his expression turning serious. “i know i messed up, [★]. i wasn’t ready before, but i am now. i want you back in my life. i need you.”

you hesitate, torn between your lingering feelings and your better judgment. sylus is a force of nature, wild and untamed. being with him is like dancing on the edge of a razor - thrilling but dangerous. can you really risk your heart again?

“and what do i get if you lose?” you ask, buying yourself time to think.

sylus flashes you a cocky grin. “you know i never lose, kitten. but if by some miracle i do . . i’ll leave you alone. for good. unless you decide you can’t resist me and come crawling back.”

you snort at his arrogance, even as a part of you wonders if he might be right. sylus has always had a hold on you, an undeniable magnetism that draws you in against your will, “fine,” you hear yourself saying, almost as if from a distance. “you’ve got a deal.”

his grin widens, triumphant. “get ready to come back to where you belong, [★] - with me.”

the crowd starts to get louder, chanting and cheering as the lights flicker and dim. it’s almost time for the main event - sylus’s championship fight. he starts to walk towards the ring, but pauses and turns back to face you.

“watch closely now, honey,” he says with a wink. “i’m about to show you what you’ve been missing.”

with that, he strides away, his movements graceful and predatory. you watch him go, your heart pounding in your chest.

what had you gotten yourself into?

as the crowd’s chanting reaches a fevered pitch, sylus steps into the ring, the picture of coiled power and raw aggression. his opponent, a hulking brute known as ‘the mauler’, glares at him from across the mat, pounding his meaty fists together in a show of intimidation. but sylus just smirks, unfazed. he’s taken down bigger, badder fighters than this guy.

the referee calls them to the center, going over the rules - not that there are many in the underground circuit. “no biting, no eye gouging, fight ends with a knockout or tapout. keep it clean . . ish. touch gloves and come out swinging!”

sylus bumps his taped fists against the mauler’s, staring him down with those intense red eyes. then they’re backing away, the air crackling with tension as the crowd falls silent in anticipation.

the bell sounds and the mauler charges forward with a roar, swinging wildly. but sylus is too quick, too skilled. he slips and weaves, dodging the heavy blows, letting his opponent overextend himself. sylus fires off a rapid jab - cross combo, snapping the mauler’s head back and drawing first blood from his nose.

the big man snarls and redoubles his efforts, trying to use his size to his advantage, to trap sylus against the ropes and pummel him. but sylus is like smoke, always just out of reach. he targets the mauler’s weak spots with surgical precision - a knife-hand to the solar plexus to crush his wind, a heel kick to the floating rib, an elbow smash to the jaw.

each blow lands with devastating impact, chipping away at the mauler’s formidable stamina and sending the crowd into a frenzy. they chant sylus’s name like a war cry, thrilling at the sight of the chiseled, tattooed demigod of the ring in his element.

you watch in breathless awe, pulse racing, body heating. damn him. he’s magnificent like this - a perfect fighting machine, all fluid grace and controlled violence. it’s enough to make you forget why you walked away, to let yourself imagine those powerful hands on your body once more . .

a pained grunt snaps you back to the moment as the mauler finally lands a solid hit, a haymaker to sylus’s ribs that sends him staggering. your heart leaps into your throat. but sylus just shakes it off with a feral grin, spitting blood and bouncing on his toes as he beckons for more.

they trade blows in a brutal, lightning-fast exchange, neither giving quarter. the mauler is flagging but still dangerous, pure grit keeping him on his feet. sylus bleeds from a cut over his eye but barely seems to feel it, an unholy light in his gaze as he scents victory.

he presses his advantage with a dizzying flurry of strikes, driving the mauler back . . back . . until he’s pinned against the turnbuckle. sylus hammers his torso without mercy - left hook to the liver, right uppercut to the chin, again, again. the mauler’s knees buckle and sylus steps back, letting him crumple to the canvas.

the crowd erupts as the ref counts it out. at “ten,” sylus throws his hands up in triumph, basking in the adulation. his eyes find yours across the room and the heat in them makes your breath stop. in three long strides he’s out of the ring and hauling you into his arms, crushing his mouth to yours in a searing kiss.

for a moment, you forget where you are. forget the mob of rowdy spectators whistling and catcalling. forget every reason you swore you'd never let him back into your heart. all you know is the demanding press of his lips, the steel - cable strength of his blood-slicked body, the intoxicating rush of his victory and your surrender . . .

“looks like i won our bet, babe,” he says smugly, smirking down at you. “hope you’re ready to pay up.”

you scowl, hating how easily he affected you. “one. drink. that was the deal.”

sylus touches his tongue to the seam of his split lip, gaze roving hungrily over you. “oh, i’m just getting started.”

he drags you through the throng of well-wishers and sycophants, his grip on your hand unbreakable. outside, the night air is cool against your overheated skin, charged with tension and the distant growl of engines.

sylus leads you to his pride and joy - that sleek demon of a harley crouched by the curb. the way he straddles the throbbing machine is blatantly sexual, all hard muscles and black leather. he jerks his head at the space behind him.

“c’mon - you know the drill, hop on.”

your hesitation lasts a mere heartbeat before you throw a leg over the bike and wrap your arms around his waist, molding yourself to his back. the rumble of the engine between your thighs and the furnace heat of his body shreds the last of your resistance.

your hesitation lasts a mere heartbeat before you throw a leg over the bike and wrap your arms around his waist, molding yourself to his back. the rumble of the engine between your thighs and the furnace heat of his body shreds the last of your resistance.

then, sylus kicks off and you’re flying, the city lights a neon blur as he opens the throttle. your pulse pounds in time with the roar of the pipes, excitement and desire a heady drug in your veins. by the time he screeches to a stop outside a dingy saloon on the outskirts of town, you’re dizzy with need.

inside, the bar is a den of sin and swagger, all scuffed leather and polished chrome and clinking bottles. eyes follow sylus with a mix of fear and reverence as he stalks to a booth in the back, one possessive hand at the small of your back.

he orders a whiskey, neat, and your favorite poison, not bothering to ask what you want. at your raised eyebrow, he shrugs.

“i remember.”

two words. but the weight of history and unspoken emotion behind them squeezes your heart. your fingers tremble slightly as you raise your glass in a mock toast.

“to your victory. and my reckless wager.”

sylus’ gaze is molten as he clinks his tumbler against yours, gaze holding you captive over the rim as he tosses back the smooth liquid. the slight burn of the alcohol is nothing compared to the smolder of his stare.

“what are we doing, sy?” you ask into the charged quiet, liquid courage loosening your tongue. “why now, after all this time?”

a muscle ticks in his jaw. he looks down, spinning his empty glass, broad shoulders rigid with tension.

“i fucked up.”

his voice is low, raw with a vulnerability you've never heard from him. your breath snags.

“i thought i needed the rush, the rep, the respect. and yeah, maybe i did, for a while. but none of it meant shit without you.” slowly, giving you every chance to pull away, he reaches for your hand — lacing his scarred, tape-wrapped fingers with yours, “i was a coward. i pushed you away because i was scared shitless of how bad i wanted you - needed you. needed your strength, your goodness. you made me want to be better. and it truly fucking terrified me.”

his grip tightens, almost painfully. anchoring you to him.

“losing you . . it broke me, [★]. made me realize that the only thing i’m actually afraid of is living without you.”

sylus swallows hard, his throat working. when he looks up at you, his eyes are blazing with fierce intent.

“i know i don’t deserve another shot. i know i need to earn back your trust. but i swear to whoever may hold my fate, if you give me a chance, i will spend every waking day proving that you’re my whole damn world.”

your heart is a wild bird in your chest, frantic and yearning. you search his face, finding only sincerity and aching tenderness beneath the bruises and blood.

“i never stopped loving you,” you confess, voice breaking. “no matter how hard i tried to hate you . . i couldn’t let you go.”

sylus makes a rough sound, halfway between a growl and a groan. then he’s kissing you, deep and urgent and saying everything he can't put into words. you fall into him, all hunger and desperation, the levee finally breaking on the flood of your need.

“take me home,” you gasp into his mouth, fingers curling in the sweat-damp silk of his hair.

“i thought you’d never ask, dove.”

the anticipation is a living thing as sylus speeds through the lamp-lit streets, the throaty growl of his harley between your thighs a heady reminder of the man commanding the machine. by the time he pulls into the cavernous garage beneath his loft, your body is humming, every nerve ending alight with need.

sylus is on you the moment you dismount, crowding you back against the rough brick wall, his large frame enveloping yours. his kiss is searing, possession and passion, strong hands gripping your hips as he grinds into you. you moan into his mouth, fingers scrabbling for purchase on his leather-clad shoulders, craving more.

“been dreaming about this,” he rasps against your lips, his voice like gravel and whiskey, igniting heat in your veins. “having you back in my arms, in my bed. fuck, [★], need you so bad it's like a sickness.”

“then take me,” you breathe, emboldened by the blatant hunger shining in those crimson eyes. “i’m here, sylus. i’m yours.”

something animalistic unfurls behind his gaze, a primal sort of satisfaction that has you clenching with want. in a burst of movement, he hoists you up, your legs instinctively wrapping around his lean hips as he strides purposefully to the industrial elevator that will carry you to his domain.

the short ride up is a haze of frantic kisses and roving hands, two years’ worth of pent-up longing seeking outlet. by the time sylus kicks open the door to his loft, you’re both panting, clothes askew and lips kiss-bruised. he carries you straight to the bedroom, a cavern of shadows and silver moonlight spilling across rumpled black silk sheets. when he lays you down in the center of that decadent expanse, the reverence in his touch steals your breath. his battle-scarred fingers shake slightly as they skim over your curves, learning you anew.

“so fucking beautiful,” he murmurs, crimson gaze tracking hungrily over your body like he's committing every detail to memory. “can’t believe i almost lost this . . lost you . .”

“never,” you whisper fiercely, reaching up to cup his angular jaw. “i’m here, sylus. right where i belong. and i’m not going anywhere.”

he turns his head to press a fervent kiss to your palm, the heat of his breath making you shiver as his lips graze your fingers — and ever so gently, he bites. then slowly, deliberately, he divests you of your clothes, unwrapping you like a gift. you echo his actions, baring him inch by glorious inch to your avid gaze.

sylus’s body is a work of art, all chiseled muscle and inked skin, a roadmap of violence and survival. you take your time tracing the ridges and hollows, the scars and scrolling tattoos, familiarizing yourself with this new landscape of him. he shudders beneath your questing touch, eyes fluttering shut, a low rumble building in his chest.

“[★],” he grits out, and fuck, how you’ve missed the way he says your name, guttural and raw, like a prayer and a plea. “please, baby . . need to taste you.”

“yes,” you hiss, already aching, empty. “please, sylus.”

granted, he descends on you like a man starved, that talented mouth charting a path of fire over your sensitized flesh. he maps every curve and valley with lips and teeth and tongue, each nip and suck and lap stoking the inferno building in your core.

when he finally settles between your trembling thighs, the first bold stroke of his tongue punches the air from your lungs, your spine arching involuntarily. he groans in appreciation, strong hands splaying your thighs wider, opening you fully to his voracious appetite.

“fuck, i missed this,” he rasps against your slick folds, the vibration of his words making you keen. “missed the way you taste, the sounds you make when i devour this sweet cunt. could feast on you for hours, little one . .”

you whimper breathlessly, one hand fisting in the sheets, the other tangling in his silver hair, holding him to you. sylus takes the encouragement for what it is, sealing his mouth over your aching flesh and suckling greedily. stars erupt in your eyes, pleasure rioting through your veins as he works you ruthlessly, adding clever fingers to his oral assault. he curls them just right, rubbing that secret spot that has you seeing god, all while his wicked tongue paints obscene promises on your clit.

“s-sy, fuck!” you wail, back bowing, thighs clamping around his ears as he drives you higher and higher. “oh god, yes, just like that! don’t stop, please, i’m gonna’ cum . . fuck, baby-”

he doubles his efforts, a man possessed, growling his own pleasure into your core. “that’s it, my love,” he urges gutturally between long, lewd licks. “go ahead and give it to me, wanna’ feel you drench my face, want you gushing on my tongue . .”

his filthy encouragement hurls you over the edge with a strangled scream, release slamming into you like a freight train. you shatter spectacularly, pulsing and clenching around his thrusting fingers, slick gushing into his eager mouth as he works you through the most intense orgasm of your life.

when you finally drift back down to earth, aftershocks still rippling through you, sylus is grinning up at you wolfishly from between your thighs, his beard glistening obscenely with your essence. “fucking incredible,” he rumbles, pressing a soft kiss to your still-twitching center. “could watch you fall apart on my tongue forever and never get tired of it.”

“get up here,” you demand breathlessly, tugging him to you. he comes willingly, settling his considerable bulk over you, caging you beneath miles of warm, hard muscle.

you claim his mouth in a filthy kiss, moaning at the taste of yourself on his lips and tongue. he responds with matching hunger, hips rocking into the cradle of your thighs, the thick ridge of his erection a brand against your sensitive flesh.

“please,” you whimper into his mouth, nipping at his bottom lip. “need you inside me, sylus. been too long, i want it . .”

“fuck,” he snarls, the words seeming to snap his restraint. “far too long, honey. be patient, you know i will.” slowly, giving you time to adjust, he notches himself at your entrance and pushes forward, gasping harshly at the tight, wet heat of you enveloping him. “goddamn,” he grits out through clenched teeth, forehead pressed to yours. “silly me. i almost forgot how fucking perfect you feel. like coming home.”

“yes,” you moan, reveling in the familiar stretch and burn of his thick length entering your body. “missed this so much . . missed you . . love you, sylus, so fucking much.”

“i love you too,” he rasps, pulling nearly all the way out before surging back in, starting a deep, rolling rhythm that has your toes curling. “i never stopped, never will. you’re only for me, [★]. only me.”

you lose yourselves to the timeless dance, bodies moving in perfect synchronicity, rediscovering every perfect angle and hidden sweet spot. sylus takes his time, building you back up with long, measured strokes, whispering words of worship into your skin, branding you with his love.

“so good,” he groans, hitching your leg higher on his hip, sinking impossibly deeper. “could stay buried in this tight little pussy forever. never wanna leave.”

“don’t.” you gasp, fingers clawing at his flexing back, desperate for more. “stay — harder, sylus, fuck me harder. wanna’ be able to feel it tomorrow.”

with a low, approving growl, sylus complies, snapping his hips faster, driving into your yielding body with the piston precision of the machine he rides. the wet, obscene slap of flesh fills the room, punctuated by your escalating moans and cries.

“i’m not gonna last,” he warns, rhythm faltering. “too good, too fucking good. tell me you’re close, baby . .”

“s-so close,” you pant, the coil in your belly wound to the breaking point. “just a little more - fuck, right there, sy . . o-oh my —”

sylus hammers into you, grunting with the effort, sweat sheening his skin. he wedges a hand between your straining bodies, finding your swollen clit and rubbing tight circles. “cum on my cock,” he demands, voice strained. “let me feel that pussy grip me, milk me . .” his words are your undoing, hurling you into oblivion with a keening wail. your inner muscles seize around him, rippling and fluttering, trying to pull him deeper as you drench his driving length in release.

“fuck, yes!” sylus roars, pistoning wildly, chasing his own end. “gonna’ - ah, shit, kitty, i’m cumming!” his climax overtakes him with a force that borders on violence, his cock jerking and pulsing as he spills himself deep in your still-spasming core, painting your inner walls with thick ropes of his seed. you mewl weakly in blissed-out overstimulation, aftershocks rolling through you as he fills you to the brim.

finally spent, sylus collapses onto you, taking care not to crush you with his bulk. you cuddle as sweat and other fluids cool on your skin, hearts gradually slowing in tandem. he’s still stuffed deep inside you and you clench involuntarily around his now-softening length, loving the way he groans, overused nerves sparking. “keep that up and we’ll be going again real soon,” he warns playfully, nuzzling into your neck.

you huff a laugh, carding your fingers through his damp hair. “yeah, yeah,” you tease. “we’ve got time now, sylus. all the time in the world. i’m not going anywhere.”

he raises his head to look at you, crimson eyes soft and full of wonder. “damn right you’re not,” he rumbles, pressing a tender kiss to your lips. “i’m never letting you out of my sight again. you’re stuck with me now, sweetheart.”

“eh, could be worse,” you quip, grinning up at him. “i think i can handle being stuck with you. it’s only forever, after all.”

“forever,” sylus echoes solemnly, like an oath. “i like the sound of that. you and me. binded as one.”

“ . . . and loving each other stupid every chance we get,” you finish impishly, wiggling your eyebrows.

he barks a laugh, the joyful, uninhibited sound making your heart soar. “oh, that is definitely part of the plan,” he assures you, a wicked gleam in his eye. “gotta’ make up for lost time, don’t we?”

“mmhm, that we do,” you agree readily, warmth suffusing you. “better get started on that. forever’s not getting any longer.”

“as my lady commands,” sylus murmurs, capturing your mouth again as he begins to stir inside you once more.

and as passion ignites anew, the promise of countless tomorrows enfolding you like a benediction, you know this is just the beginning of the ups and downs.

because this love, tempered by loss and longing, by time and truth . . it’s unbreakable. a bond that even the harshest trials will only serve to strengthen.

and with sylus by your side, his heart in your keeping as surely as yours rests in his scarred and steady hands . .

. . you know you can weather any storm.

forever, and then some.

★ SUGUGASM 2024 | please don’t copy, translate or share my work on other platforms without my consent. tagging @ramonathinks <3

[bring-forth-his-sac]

World of Trouble

Summary: Your Halloween costume leads to a punishment from the man himself...

Pairing: Saviors! Negan x f!reader

Tags: !NSFW! spanking, fingering, p in v penetration, (consensual) punishment sex, Negan being a cocky asshole, orgasm denial, praise kink, teasing, dirty talk, pet names, little bit of cum play ?

Word Count: 4.2k

A/N: ok this fic is choppy, janky and just all over the place. I wrote it in a day and a half so it was a complete rush cause I want to get it out for Halloween so yeah, pls be kind

You thought it was funny.

After all, don’t people need a joke in times like this? Isn’t everything bleak enough? That was your reasoning when the idea initially popped into your head for the perfect apocalyptic Halloween costume.

Despite Negan being a man who loves to tell a joke, no matter how risqué or inappropriate the timing, you weren’t sure how Negan would react if he's the butt of one. 

Ever since late August, you had been wavering on the idea. Some nights you were adamant that your choice in Halloween costume would end in you being bound to the fence alongside the dead. 

In the midst of your internal debate, while out on a run, you came across the ultimate sign that set aside your indecision. 

A leather jacket.

It wasn’t an exact replica of Negan’s and it hung loosely on your frame but it was the push you needed. You already had a white t-shirt in your limited closet and you’d pay the few points needed for some black jeans. 

A red scarf was harder to come across but most definitely a necessary piece. Ever since the leaves began to fall off the trees surrounding the Sanctuary, Negan’s red scarf has been making an appearance, tucked neatly in by the collar of his leather jacket.

You had to be inventive, scavenging an old sweater and cutting it up to create a makeshift scarf that at least remotely resembled the original.

And finally, the pièce de résistance. Your trusty companion. Your very own, bootleg Lucille. 

Thankfully barbed wire wasn’t the problem. In the Sanctuary, something like that can be found stored in at least half of the supply closets, hoarded away for the fence or in case the real Lucille needs a quick spruce up.

The real issue was a baseball bat. It wasn’t as if the Saviors were regularly raiding school gyms or stadiums, and so there was hardly any sports equipment for you to choose from.

It was a struggle and eventually, you ended up with a hockey stick that some Savior decided to put into the armoury.

It wasn’t Lucille but hell, it’d have to do.

Everything was ready. You even found some long expired brown eyeshadow and decided to dab some on the bottom of your face so it looks like you have a beard. And so your look was complete, possibly the very first costume to ever exist of your fearsome leader.

And how long did it last?

40 minutes. It didn’t even take a full hour of you strutting around before word got back to Negan. 

When you imagined the impending confrontation, you assumed it would be a lieutenant telling you off as Negan spewed insults over a walkie talkie.

It’s only now, when you hear the low grating noise of Lucille dragging along the ground, growing nearer and nearer, do you realise you won’t be getting off so easily. 

Slowly turning, you bring your hockey stick decorated in barbed wire up to your shoulder, mirroring a pose you’ve seen him do plenty of times.

“Well, ho-ly shit! I don’t know whether I should be smug or freaked the fuck out!” he declares, his gaze wandering down your outfit “you’ve really out done yourself this time, doll”.

You shrug, hoping that if you seem casual about this then he’ll let it slide. “It’s Halloween” you say bluntly, hoping that’s the only excuse you need. 

Some Saviors linger around you both, a mixture of excitement and anticipation radiating from them at your Negan costume and Negan's ambiguous reaction.

“And you thought the creepiest thing you could dress up as is me?” he narrows his eyes at you, subconsciously mimicking your own pose as he lifts Lucille up onto his shoulder. 

You open your mouth to respond but no words come out, a slight sense of dread setting in. A beat of tense silence hangs in the air, thick and charged, as if the whole Sanctuary is holding its breath. 

A deep chuckle cuts through the silence as Negan clasps a hand on your free shoulder. 

“Well, fuck me, I am honored!” he beams “you even smeared some shit on your face so ya look like you got a beard! Now that’s the kind of dedication I like to see from you sorry fucks!”.

He steps away from you, letting his hand drop off of your shoulder as he raises his voice, making sure the others hear.

Relief washes over you. You could feel the tension draining from your muscles at his approval. 

“I love it,” Negan says, his voice growing serious again “but Lucille? Now Lucille here isn’t a big fan of copy cats and that limp dick excuse of a Lucille you got hanging over your shoulder? That shit just makes her see red”.

Any warmth in Negan’s eyes fade. His brows knit together as his mouth becomes a hard line, replacing any sense of humor. “And she thinks this is worthy of a punishment” he adds.

Fuck. 

Negan doesn’t wait around for your reaction, turning on his heels as he barks for you to follow. You do so hesitantly, knowing there’s nowhere to run and that this is something you’ll unfortunately have to face head on.

This isn’t the first time you’ve done something daring while living in the Sanctuary. Although, this is the first time you’ve seen him genuinely annoyed. 

Usually Negan has always appreciated your boldness, especially when most of the Sanctuary’s residents are too scared to even look him in the eye. In the past, you’ve tried to poke and prod at Negan’s authority by complaining about sanitary products costing points or the lack of blankets available to the workers during Winter. 

Grimacing to yourself as you follow behind him, you wonder if you’ve finally taken it too far.

Marching up the flights of stairs to his private quarters, you try to ignore the confused looks of others as two Negan's pass them by. 

Despite knowing you’re in for a world of trouble, a small smirk tugs at your lips, glad to have brought some sense of silly excitement to the Sanctuary.

You try not to show your shock as he brings you to his bedroom, making sure the door is locked behind you. You only take a few steps into the room before you stop and simply loiter there, watching as Negan sets Lucille down by the doorway to the ensuite before going inside. 

“Y’know there are no actual rules about impersonating so I don’t think you have the grounds to punish me” you attempt to defend yourself, setting your fake Lucille against the wall.

“Talking back won’t help your case,” Negan calls out.

You scoff out a laugh as you get distracted by his room. A part of you can’t help but wonder why a man like Negan would want half the things that litter the area: trophies from other people’s past glory, a vase, a houseplant.

“Yeah well, it’s just some fun, it’s—“ suddenly Negan’s there, right next to you with his gloved hand too close for comfort.

He cups your face, squishing your cheeks together as his other hand brings a wet cloth to your face.

“And get that shit off your face,” he does the job for you “my beard ain’t that fuckin’ bad”.

You stay quiet, not wanting the embarrassment of trying to speak with your cheeks squished and a cloth rubbing at your face.

Once he’s satisfied your face is clean, he simply drops the cloth to the floor. Negan looks down at your attire “Well hot damn, good news is my style is incredibly sexy… but no matter how hot you look, thanks to me, you know I can’t let your shit slide anymore, sweetheart”.

You frown, a challenging look in your eyes.

“I’m serious, you’re pissing off too many Saviors with the shit you pull,” he yanks off his scarf, letting it land on the couch “and now, with this, you’ve forced my hand”. 

Next, Negan takes off his leather jacket, inadvertently showing off some tattoos as he delicately places it on the back of his armchair. 

“You know I gotta give you some kinda punishment… but that don’t mean it can’t be enjoyable for the both of us” he continues.

The smirk on his face says it all. 

And just like that, it all makes sense. Of course he would bring you up to his bedroom and not to the cells when this is what he has in mind.

You shrug, some of your spirit returning in the form of a playful smirk “What? You gonna spank me?”.

“You want me to?” He unbuckles his belt and slowly pulls it through the loops of his jeans, the material hissing as it moves. 

Negan has never been a man to bluff.

You try to act nonchalant but you can feel your cheeks heating up. “Maybe,” you play it coy “will you iron off half my face even if I say yes?”.

Now it’s Negan’s turn to shrug. “That depends, this a trick or a treat?” he asks.

Normally you’re not this bold. Maybe leather jackets give people unlimited confidence? That seems to be the only solution as you walk over to his couch and place both hands on the armrest. You bend forward just enough for Negan to see your intent.

You glance back over your shoulder, your eyelids at half mast as you throw him a sultry look. Negan keeps his eyes locked on to yours, his boots heavy on the floorboards as he walks up behind you.

The leather of his glove growls as he places his hand on the centre of your back and pushes you down further. 

There’s no point in ignoring how your pussy throbs as he makes sure your head is against the couch cushions and your ass is up in the air, the armrest providing the perfect support.

“That's what I thought“ Negan praises, his hand slowly making its way down to your ass. 

“And I thought I was getting punished, not a yoga class” you goad.

Negan doesn’t hesitate. He doesn’t even wait or let the anticipation of his response build. He goes straight for it, smacking your backside hard enough to leave a handprint. 

A gasp leaves your lips, the sensation more stingy than it is painful. You have little time to prepare yourself as Negan wraps his belt around his hand.

“Just relax, baby,” he instructs softly, his tone in complete contradiction to his actions “and be grateful I’m letting ya keep your jeans on… for now”. 

Despite your thin layer of clothes acting as a barrier, the belt bites into your flesh. The sound of the belt whistles through the air before meeting your ass with a sharp crack. He does it over and over again, alternating between cheeks. 

You hiss at the sudden heat, your body clenching as the pain morphs into a dark, intoxicating pleasure.

“Well, damn!” Negan exclaims approvingly, momentarily stopping “you’re taking this like a trooper, ain’t ya?”. 

He pauses and you wonder if he’s waiting for a response. You swallow, your throat dry from the amount of gasps you’ve let out in such a short span of time. 

But before you can answer, you feel it. Not the belt. Not his hand delivering another slap. This time, it’s him; proud and unabashed as he brings his clothed crotch right against your ass. 

Suddenly, the belt didn’t seem too hard.

“I think it’s about time I see my work of art” he declares, pressing his hips forward to make sure you feel his entrapped boner.

For a man so brutal, Negan’s touch is gentle as his fingers glide around the waistband of your jeans. He lets his touch linger there for a few moments, waiting for your sign of approval. 

You’re well aware of Negan’s ego and how he wants to know just how badly you need him. He yearns to see that raw desire. As much as you want to banter back at him again, your brain fogs with need and you push back against him, your sore ass rubbing against his bulge.

He responses with a grunt as his hands slowly leave your waistband, too distracted to continue. Negan has something else in mind as he gives a slight tug of your hair, gesturing for you to stand upright.

You don’t even have time to turn to face him, your ass still snug against the tent in his pants as he roughly pulls you in for a bruising kiss.

His hand fists your hair, holding you in place as he devours you. Desperately trying to keep up, your breaths come out in short, sharp pants between desperate kisses.

Negan keeps his hand in your hair, using it to manoeuvre you away from his couch and over to the bed. The only time he takes his hands off of you is when the back of your legs hit against the soft bedsheets. 

The second you’re able, you take off your leather jacket, watching Negan follow suit as he begins shedding his clothes.

Your jeans are the worst to take off, the rough denim scratching it’s way across your sensitive backside as you quickly discard it. Once you get to your bra and panties, you stop, wanting Negan to take off the rest.

Negan doesn’t have the same sense of modesty as you, not stopping until he’s completely bare. Sitting back on the bed, you bite your lower lip and shamelessly dart your eyes across his body. 

The dark curls that cover his chest, the tattoos that scatter across his body, the happy trail of body hair that lead you lower, to where he stands erect and proud.

You gulp.

Negan joins you, kneeling on the bed in front of your body as he studies you. With a hum, he shakes his head. “No, this won’t do,” he tuts.

As the words hit you, a wave of self-consciousness washes over you. Whatever excitement that was evident in your face slowly drops away and you do nothing but blink up at him, waiting for Negan to continue.

“Yeah, I’m gonna want to fuck you in the leather jacket,” he elaborates “now that would be hot as all hell and I ain’t letting that jacket go to waste on my bedroom floor”.

You rolls your eyes as you let out a breath. “You fucking asshole” you huff, well aware that Negan was being vague on purpose just to toy with you. 

He chuckles, unable to deny your accusation. “Careful baby, you start insulting me like that and you’ll be getting another spankin” he threatens playfully, though you know he’s being serious. 

Negan leans down, almost hovering over you as his hands gently touch your bra straps. 

“But first, you got more layers to shed” Negan lets each strap fall to your arms before his fingers deftly work the clasp of your bra, the metal giving way easily. 

Without looking where it lands, Negan lets your bra drop to the side. You feel utterly exposed to his hungry gaze, watching as he drinks in the sight of you. 

A groan leaves him as he reaches out, his calloused hands gently cupping the weight of your tits. His thumbs brush over your pert nipples, making your squirm at the contact. 

“You going to play with my titties all day?” You question, hoping to spur him into action.

“It’s a punishment, doll,” he reminds you, bending to the side to pick up your leather jacket “if I decide all I want to do is stare and watch you finger that sweet little pussy till it’s raw, then that’s what’ll happen”.

“And is that what you want?” You ask, trying to maintain any self control you have. Part of you would actually apologize for your costume if it means getting his dick closer to your pussy.

“Nah, I want you to sit back and really think about what you did,” giving the jacket a quick shake, he spreads it out over your shoulder “think you can do that for me, darlin?”.

Making sure the jacket is secure over your shoulders, you adjust it to make sure your tits are still in view. “I guess I could try” you reply in a flirtatious tone, scooting back against the pillows.

“On the bright side, even though this is a punishment, I’m still a fuckin’ gentleman,” he says with a proud grin. 

You're quick to notice how his hands inch up past your thighs and towards your panties. Hooking a finger underneath them, Negan gives a slight tug “So I’m gonna need to loosen you up before I fuck you senseless”.

Narrowing your eyes at him, you gently lift your hips. That cocky smile never leaves his face as Negan slowly drags your panties down your legs. In an instant, they’re gone from view and end up on the floor alongside the rest of your clothes.

Negan’s eyes lock onto your core, unable to help himself as he reaches out and parts your folds.

“Fuck, you’re that wet already?” he says it like a question despite the answer being on his fingertips. You bite your lip as his fingers brush against your wet, swollen flesh. 

With a groan, Negan plunges two fingers into your warmth, scissoring them apart to stretch you out. You moan out, your back arching as he sets a steady pace. 

“Y-yes,” you gasp out when the pad of his thumb finds your clit “keep doing that!”.

Negan curls his fingers upward, targeting your g-spot. The look on his face is like a kid at Christmas, completely elated to have his fingers deep in your pussy.

He adds a third finger, pumping them in and out of you, listening to your moans and gasps to gauge how close you are. Leaning down, Negan meets your arched body and nips at your breasts.

His mouth brushes against your skin as he tuts “C’mon now, don’t tell me you’re about to cum already!”.

You nod frantically, hands clutching at the bedsheets “Yeah, yeah I’m ready, I’m gonna—“.

Negan chuckles darkly and before you can reach your high, his fingers slow their pace.

“Oh, I don't know about that," he pulls his fingers out abruptly and gives your clit a light tap with them "you haven't earned that privilege yet, baby". 

Your mind is in a haze as he licks his fingers clean, tasting you. It takes a few moments for your brain to compute what he’s denying you. 

“I…” you begin but you trail off, your throbbing pussy begging for release “Negan, please, I— I get it, ok?”.

His smile softens slightly and if anything, it only makes you more wet. “I know you get it now,” he agrees, bringing a hand up to cup your cheek “maybe, sweetheart, just maybe… if you beg nice enough, I'll let you cum on my cock instead”.

You take his words as a challenge. Throwing out all sense of pride, you babble on “Please! Y-yeah I just, I need you inside of me, please Negan, I’ll be good”.

Every word goes straight to his dick. 

Negan takes a moment to truly savour the sight of you begging and writhing under him, knowing this is some top notch jerking material he can use at a later date. 

"Now that’s what I like to hear" he praises, positioning himself between your thighs. He grips your hips and thrusts into you in one smooth motion, filling you completely.  

Even though the sudden stretch and fullness makes you feel breathless, you practically shout out “Negan!". 

He pauses but only for a moment, allowing you to adjust to his size. “Shhhhhhh,” he coos, his tone bordering on patronising “best be quiet before you wake up the wives, I’d hate to make those gals jealous”.

With a low groan, Negan begins to move, pulling back almost to the point of withdrawal before slamming into you once more. The leather jacket beneath you squeaks, each thrust pushing you further up the bed.

You can feel every inch of him, the primal yearning to cum on his cock sounding more and more appealing. Negan’s chest heaves as he labors over you, his body glistening as he works up a fine sheen of sweat. 

He doesn’t know where to look. His eyes dart everywhere, trying to take in each part of your body. Negan watches your face, the desperation to cum etched into each expression. Of course he watches your tits too, seeing them jiggle with each thrust he gives you. 

But his favourite part to watch is how well you‘re taking him. To see how your pussy welcomes each inch, letting him go flush against you every single time.

Bringing his gaze back up to your eyes, he pistons into you. “You’re close, I can feel it” he says with a clenched jaw, trying to hold off. 

“Please!” is the first word out your mouth followed quickly by a gasp as Negan goes for your clit again. His thumb rubs firm circles around the sensitive nub, sending shockwaves of pleasure through you.

You inner walls clench desperately around his cock and before you know it, everything crashes around you as you finally cum.

It’s as if your whole world blurs together and all you can focus on is his cock deep inside of you. 

Your pussy spasms violently around him, your vision whiting out as you moan loudly. Negan wants nothing more than to feel your sweet pussy throb around him but he knows he can’t hold off any longer. 

He quickly pulls out and thrusts into his hand to finish. His cock glistens with your juices before Negan unloads a thick load right onto your tits. 

You both pant, taking a brief moment to come down from your respective highs.

“Look at those beautiful titties,” Negan breaks the silence, admiring his handiwork “just when I thought they couldn’t look any better”.

Gently bringing a hand up, you run your finger along one of the lines he’s painted. “If I knew this is what the punishment would be, I would’ve pissed you off a lot sooner” you say breathlessly.

Negan hums as he flops down beside you, his eyes glued to how your fingertips play with his load. 

“Maybe you should’ve,” he replies “or maybe this is a sign that we should have some fun like this more often”.

You bite back your smile “Maybe it’s both?”.

“But y’know I can’t really just be going around screwing anybody and everybody,” he continues, making you pause, unsure where this is going “it’s bad for the image, y’know?”.

Your expression doesn’t change.

Negan takes in your confused look, trying to put the pieces together for you. “I mean, I don’t think the wives would appreciate me screwing around… unless, of course, I was screwing around with another wife…”.

“Oh”.

That’s all you feel as though you can say. A part of you immediately tries to rationalise this, trying to convince yourself that you’ve got the wrong end of the stick here. 

“Goddamn, did I really fuck you that hard?” Negan laughs “I’m asking you to marry me, baby, you should be jumping for joy right now!”.

You sigh, bringing your non-sticky hand up to your face “Negan…”.

“Negan, yes?”.

“Negan, I’m covered in your jizz and you’re seriously asking me this?! Now?!?” You exclaim. 

He stops for a moment, taking in your words. “Huh, ok, good point,” Negan grunts as he gets up, giving you a great view of his ass “I’ll go get some towels and you think about it, yeah?”.

Before you have time to reply, he’s walking into his ensuite “And I want an answer when I come back!”. He disappears into the adjoined room, turning on the light.

You lay back, allowing the pillows to practically consume you. The thought passes through your mind if only for a split second.

It wouldn’t be that bad to be yet another wife, would it? All you’d have to do is look pretty and have good sex… and never socialise with anyone else… and only be seen as one of his wives and nothing more.

You close your eyes, hoping that would prolong the impending decision.

Letting out a long sigh, you curse “Fuck”.

[starlightguh]

Intertwined

Word Count: 4,655

Summary: Somehow Sylus and you have a strange bond from his Evol. Neither of you know the meaning of this or what exactly it is. After searching for some answers and ending up empty, you end up giving in to a strong temptation in the form of the tall and cocky Onychinus leader.

Tags: Smut, enemies to lovers, divergent from canon lore since we don’t have his backstory yet

AN: This is an 18+ fic, so MDNI! This is a multi chapter story that you can also read on my Ao3, I will try and post updates both on here and there, so please enjoy!

Being trapped in the Onychinus headquarters felt like a nightmare. It had only been a couple of weeks but I had been desperately missing familiar faces, sights, and sounds.

Since being trapped and forced to stay with Sylus as he tries to resonate with me, I’ve felt just like another bird trapped in his extravagantly large cage.

Recently, our Evols bounded us together in a way I never thought possible. When the red mist handcuffs appeared around both me and Sylus’ wrists the confusion and panic had settled deep in my bones and still hadn't gone away.

He even recommended cutting my hand off as a solution. Of course, he wasn’t serious, but the situation at hand caused him to briefly panic.

But no matter how dire the situation, that man gets on my nerves unlike anything else.

I currently lay in the large plush bed of my current living quarters in Sylus’s mansion of nightmares. The dark red silk sheets felt so smooth and luxurious against my skin, but my eyes were just focused on my hand. Nothing was there, but I stared at it as if to summon the answers to this mysterious situation into my palm.

Feeling a mix of frustration and boredom, I decide to go poke around Sylus’s lair and see if I can dig up any books or something that could lead me down a research path as to what’s happened between us.

Since the incident a few days ago, nothing has really changed, other than more heavy creases between Sylus’s brows. As of late he’s been more blasé about it and that’s just another thing about him on my long list of ‘things Sylus does to piss me off.’

I shiver as I step out of my room into the empty and echo-y dark hallway. Being barefoot and in a thin white nightgown, I was left vulnerable should a certain crime syndicate leader decide I was useless. But somewhere deep in my body I knew I was safe within this crow-obsessed man’s lair.

I wandered, a bit aimlessly, around to see if I could find the proper library. Truth be told, the only places I had explored were the kitchen, the armory, Sylus’ room, and the long hallway near my room. I had a vague idea of where Kieran and Luke’s room was, since they would sometimes tease me about visiting them for a ‘bedtime story,’ but I never had an interest to give in to their silly demands.

It felt like I was constantly poking my head in and out of rooms, most of them looked very untouched. For someone with a big mansion he surely never used it. Most occasions Sylus was out on ‘business ventures’ and on the other occasions he would be in his room, the dining area, the terrace, gym, and once and a while asleep in the lounge area’s couch. But beyond that he never seemed to use the space in his extravagant home. And he hasn’t yet dared come near the quarters I was currently living in. At least I have some privacy there.

It was strange. I felt captive, yet very free at the same time. He never restricts where I can go and explore my curiosity, in fact, he encourages me to snoop. How annoying, I sigh to myself.

As I reach a wing of the manner I’ve never been into before, I open a set of double doors to a very spacious and well stocked library. I smile to myself pleased with my venture as I flick on a light and scrunch my face as I take in all the dust and cobwebs littering the various large black shelves that wrap around the whole room.

There must’ve been thousands of books covering the shelves of the walls, the only other furniture to grace the room was a large black leather upholstered chaise lounge, and a small side table with a simple gold lamp. I hummed as I approached the first wall of books nearest to me.

My eyes start scanning the shelves for anything useful. I grab a couple of books that look like they have research and information on Evol and sit down in the lounge chair to start my research.

As my eyes scan texts for what only feels like a few minutes, a deep and sultry voice reaches my ears.

“Are you trying to have a competition to see who can stay up the longest? Are you sure you could compete with me?”

My head pokes up to see Sylus leaning in the entryway to the library. His long legs were dressed in black silky lounge pants and his chest was hardly covered in his matching silk robe. His pale white skin was tantalizing as the warm light from the library illuminated his fair features.

His red eyes looked at me with mirth in them, while his face was painted in an amused grin as he stared at my lounging form.

“I was just feeling a bit restless is all…” I rolled my eyes at his haughty demeanor.

He walks over to me in smooth strides and looks down at the reading material. Or he’s trying to stare down my nightgown, who knows with this man.

“Anything good? I’m afraid you’ll find my collection lacks the whimsical fairy tales I’m sure you enjoy…But I might have one or two children’s books you could find amusing,” he teases.

My face doesn’t move at his attempts to provoke me, I don’t have the energy to entertain his taunts. “I’m trying to see if I can find any information about this unique connection we have…So far nothing’s come up.”

He frowns a bit at this, his expression is hard to read. I can’t tell if he knows any more or less about this situation than I do. He did seem just as surprised and upset as I did when this occurred.

“I don’t know if there’s anything quite like us…As I said before, you and I are more alike than you know,” his silver hair shakes as he moves his head in a dismissive manner.

��But I’m nothing like you! You’re crazy! You live up in this empty castle where you sit around and plot the demise of people! Innocent or bad you selfishly propel yourself to the top of everything, and for what? A home you barely enjoy? An empty life full of nothing but death and destruction? Tell me Sylus, how are you and I alike?”

I slam my book shut and stand up. I don’t meet his insane height, so I glare upwards. My patience has run thin and I’m tired of being kept on a string with him. If he knows something I don’t, why doesn't he do something to cast me aside? Certainly the aether core can’t mean that much to him if he hasn’t cut it out of my chest yet.

He lets out a deep and guttural growl as he uses his Evol to wrap around my body and lift me up higher in the air.

“Sweetie, it’s almost embarrassing to see yourself in this much denial. Honestly kitten, you cannot be this naive… You're just painting me out to be the boogeyman because you’re little head can’t understand what’s really happening.” he tilts his head with a frown and continues, “You think you’re so self righteous with your little hunter title, but are you also not causing death and destruction for those around you on your little missions? That you’re also coming home to an empty bed?”

He then forces a smirk on his face as he finally spits out, “Or am I wrong to assume that? You certainly have enough men around you to keep your bed warm kitten.”

I try and lash out against his Evol and let out nothing but frustrated yells and grunts. “What the hell is wrong with you?! Put me down!”

He brings me down, but he uses his Evol to pull me closer to his face, we’re pretty much nose to nose as his red eyes look at my face with disappointment.

“Who is it…Is it that little space hunter who should be dead by now? Is it that ridiculous artist? Don’t tell me,” he pauses and puts his large hand on my face to cup my cheek, “You’re sleeping with your own doctor?” He lets out a deep chuckle at the thought and there’s something behind his eyes that sends a shiver down my spine.

I grit my teeth and reply, “And why should you give a shit about something like that?”

His hand slides down and grips a bit at my throat. Not hard enough to hurt me, but definitely enough to make my eyes go wide with shock. “Because once I find a high value prize, I don’t like to share.”

He swiftly takes his hand off my throat and puts me down, he goes to strut out of the library. I presume he’s storming off to go to his room to pout, but something in me stops him.

“None of them…” I call out and pause a moment before continuing, “I guess you’re not wrong in that element…We both have our empty castles to defend.”

He stops in his tracks, he glances to the side back at me, “I hope you keep it that way kitten, for their sakes.”

Without another word he stalks off like a gloomy shadow. What the fuck is his deal? Is all I can think to myself as I rub my neck.

After that sudden outburst between us I go back to my quarters with a headache. I lay in the lavish bed once again and my mind begins to wander. I do hope the others he mentioned aren’t worried for me…

Rafayel was the last person I talked to before entering the N109 zone. I hope he isn’t trying to do any more shady stuff at the nest. As for Xavier, he’s probably too busy running away from the bounty he has. And Zayne….I feel a bit of pang in my chest as I can clearly picture his worried hazel eyes. I silently hope he’s too busy with his research in Snowcrest to even think about my whereabouts.

But how dare Sylus insinuate I’d have late night proclivities with any of them. Besides Zayne, I hardly knew Rafayel or Xavier, and with all my curiosity of the information grandma left me, I have no time to think about being intimate with someone.

After a few minutes of dancing around the idea of intimacy with any of those prospective suitors, my thoughts seem to betray me as they recall the dance I shared with Sylus…Or the instance of laying on top of his nearly naked body searching for that crow broach….The way he felt hard beneath me-

I shake my head and slap my cheeks, nonono go away horny thoughts… I sigh to myself. Maybe I just need to get laid… It’s been what feels like eons since I’d been intimate with another person and with all this stress, frustration, and seductiveness of Sylus running around, I felt no better than a horny teenage boy.

Sleep was avoiding me and no matter how hard I tried to think of literally anything else, Sylus’ half naked body kept popping up in my head.

I’m getting a drink, I can’t handle this

With another frustrated groan I get up from the bed to leave this room and stalk my way to the dining area that has a gold metallic wine rack in the corner. I decided to just grab the bottle for myself. As I twisted it open and drank straight from the source I couldn’t help but growl with frustration as the bitter dark red liquid went straight down my throat.

After the warmth of the alcohol hits my stomach, I turn around to go and stomp back to my room when my face smacks into a soft and plump set of pectorals.

Great, just fucking perfect, I think to myself as he chuckles and placed his hand on my lower back.

“Sweetie,” I shiver as his deep velvet voice coos to me, “I’m sorry about our little spat earlier,” he forces my face away from his chest to make me look up at him. “But you know…I didn’t think you would turn to my liquor cabinet as a way to blow off steam.”

I glare up at his stupidly handsome and cocky face, “Well consider this bottle of wine your apology.”

He pauses for a moment as he leans in to study my face more. His right eye is glowing as it feels like he’s looking into my very soul. I shiver as I suddenly feel more exposed than ever.

For a moment I feel as if I did in our first encounter, dizzy, confused, and painfully, empty. The whispers of “Devour him,” and “So empty,” echo through my hazy brain.

Suddenly he leans back away from me and that feeling goes away. As I remain frozen, Sylus bursts out into laughter after a moment of pause and suddenly his hand on my lower back tightens its grip.

“Well, I must say this is not how I envisioned things to go…But after seeing what it is you desire most right now…I’m more than happy to ease your frustrations Sweetie.”

My face flushes, fucking damn his stupid ‘desire’ seeing eye! That’s not fair!

“Sylus be serious…” I look away from him.

“Oh I am,” he grabs the bottle from my hand and takes a swig himself, “And here I thought you were disgusted with me…Seems like my kitten is still ever in denial,” he leans in to whisper in my ear, his nose brushes against my skin just below my ear and my back straightens out in attention to his hot breath and fleeting touch. My skin lines itself with goose flesh as his face lightly brushes against my skin and wanders down my throat.

“Mmmm,” he purrs as his lips find a spot on my neck to lick and suck.

I let out a yelp of shock as my hands latch onto the silk of his robe. Sylus just pulls away with a chuckle.

“Hmmm,” he looks down at the bottle of wine in his hand, “Does my kitty need liquid courage to be honest with herself?” He tilts his head and I’m too stunned to retort.

He chuckles and takes a swig from the bottle and leans down to capture my lips and pour the liquid from his mouth to mine.

“Mmph!” I can’t help but yelp as I’m forced to quickly swallow a large mouthful of wine as his mouth now has full access to explore mine.

It’s hot. The room temperature, his body, my body, the atmosphere, it feels like he just lit a fire in me. It all but consumes me as I decide to close my eyes and let his tongue try and find all the things I cannot say on the tip of my own.

As some of the wine had spilt on the side of my lip, Sylus, like a man possessed, goes to lick it up. After our lips are separated is when I notice something tight around my wrist.

We both looked down and the red misty handcuffs seemed to have appeared again.

“Huh…Why is it here now?”

“Let’s save your questions for later Sweetie…” he clears his throat after speaking, “Do you want me to continue? I’m not going to stop unless you say no to me right now.”

His eyes were serious, but they also held something else. It was the first time I ever saw a desperate expression cross his face. This nonchalant crime lord since I met him has always laughed in the face of danger or a challenge. But in this current moment, it seemed like he would crumble if I refuted.

Fuck it.

“Go ahead Sylus,” I say a bit too breathlessly for my own ego, but in the next minute he picks me up fireman style and he’s quickly gliding us to the double doors of his bedroom.

Before my mind can catch up, my back is hitting the plush of a mattress and his lips are kissing down the exposed neckline of my nightgown.

He had set the bottle that was in his hand on the nearby nightstand and both his hands were gliding down the expanse of my body.

“You’re gonna be the death of me,” he moans out as he lowers the top of the gown to expose my bare breasts to the open air.

His mouth quickly latches on and my head bends back and my legs twist upwards as his large body is currently parting them. I place my hands on his shoulders as his suckles.

“S-Sylus…I-“

“You don’t need to talk… I know,” he pulls away from my chest to reply. He looks sincere and still a little desperate, it’s sending me into a tizzy, but honestly, I’m too turned on to really process everything at the moment.

Suddenly large and hot hands are raking up the hems of my nightgown to meet the sides of my underwear as they’re quickly pulled down.

“Kitten…” he sighs as his head lowers to be face to face with my bare center. He breathes a teasing puff of air at my now hot and aroused sex.

Without a second of hesitation his lips dive in to taste me and I let out a shocked moan as the hand that’s still being shackled by the mysterious Evol grips into his silver locks.

Both my legs wrap around the center of his back as he slowly but purposefully laps his tongue around areas I’ve never even felt before.

“F-Fuck! Sylus,” I cry out as he then decides to just drink the source of wetness from my hole and his tongue enters me.

He places his hands on my stomach and just hums in approval. To think this tongue that’s always lashing out teasing insults is fucking me right now, I moan at the thought that crossed my mind as I feel nothing but a pooling heat drip down into Sylus’s greedy mouth.

It’s hard to stay focused on anything at all as his mouth is lapping up my insides like it’s his final meal. Between that and the feeling of his large hands that reach the whole expanse of my stomach pushing down on me.

I can feel his nose brush against my clit as he works his mouth to devour me whole, and it feels like an invisible thread inside my body just snaps. Suddenly I’m screaming out his name and all he does is chuckle into me and move his other hand to softly grab my non-Evol locked one.

“Fuckfuckfuck,” I cry out as I fully come undone all over his face. Unable to care or think about how his face must be covered in my essence. I feel my body slack in relaxation from an intense release.

Suddenly, a burst of dark matter and energy explodes throughout the room, causing both of us to pause and snap out of our lustful haze.

I’m panting and his wet face comes up from under my dress to show me his bewildered and almost bloodlust expression. After a moment's pause he lets go of my hand and chuckles as he licks his luscious lips.

“Perhaps we should’ve just done this from the start…” he looks down at me with a smile and a look of genuine pride.

“What just…?” I’m still very breathless and dazed from my orgasm.

“That, my lovely kitten, was our resonating.”

Sylus looks so genuinely happy and proud that I can’t help but let out a “huh…”

His eyes darken, “Which means we should further test how much more we can do,” he whispers as he flings off his robe and goes to strip from his trousers.

I lift my wrist and still notice our strange Evol connection, “Well this is still here.”

“It might stay there for awhile Sweetie, we’re not done yet.”

His eyes never leave mine as he removes his boxers. My eyes widen at the sight of his length.

Holy… I think back to the glances I’ve stolen of the bulges of his tight leather pants and I had assumed that he was very well endowed, but seeing it full on display….I was rendered speechless.

“Like what you see?” He teases as his hands are pulling on my nightgown to fully remove it.

I can’t explain why, but suddenly I was relaxed as I was caged underneath him. We’re fully exposed to one another and I would’ve thought the idea of that would be horrific, but currently, it felt…Safe. A dance of a nostalgic feeling trickled within me, but I couldn’t place where those feelings stem from.

He must’ve noticed the shift in my demeanor, as he leaned down to capture my lips. The taste of wine and my sex mingled together as our lips met. It’s no surprise that Sylus’s lips lead me to his whim as his tongue would coax my mouth to his will.

To be expected from the man who always has control.

I let my hands wander down the muscles of his back as we kiss. I decide to rake my nails up and down his back in a light and feathery teasing manner.

Sylus shivers and pulls away, “Be careful kitten…”

He warns as he reaches down to grab my spread legs and places them from being wrapped around his back, to straddling his shoulders.

I hiss at the strength of my muscles as he lines himself up with my body. Sylus looks back at my face, his red eyes are surprisingly gentle as he whispers, “There’s no going back from this Sweetie…You’re finally mine again.”

Before I could really think on his words he slowly enters me and my eyes nearly roll into the back of my head at the feeling.

The voices from that hazy daze I had earlier seem to all simultaneously sigh in contentment along with me. Full, finally full.

Meanwhile Sylus is ontop of me hissing a string of curses, “You feel so good Kitten.”

His praise makes me whimper a bit, he keeps leaning down to kiss and nip at my collar bones as he keeps inching into me.

I feel like I’m drowning as he finally bottoms out and I can’t help but gasp and whine, “Moremoremore,” I cry as I feel teary eyed.

“Who knew you were so greedy?” He chuckles as he begins to thrust at a gradual pace.

“S-Sylus please,” I groan in frustration at his slow movements.

“Please what Sweetie?”

I dig my nails harder into his back as I pull myself up to his ear, “Fuck me like you mean it damnit.”

He snaps at that and suddenly he slams roughly into me and sets a more aggressive tempo to his rhythm.

Sylus leans back to grab at my hips with a throaty groan, “You’re a spoiled kitten,” he pauses as he keeps thrusting at his intense pace, “But I’ll give you anything you want…”

My hands can no longer reach his back or chest so the scrunch the silk sheets around me as I throw my head back and cry. I can feel the tip of his cock buried deep inside me as it pounds into a sensitive spot within me.

I feel like my soul is leaving my body as he takes his thumb to start rubbing my clit. “SylusSylus,” I cry out his name as my back is arching higher and higher, “I’m-I-“

“You can come kitten it’s okay,” he gasps out.

It was like my body could hear his words as I felt nothing but pleasure at my crescendo. I was putty in his hands as he slowed his pace to reach his own peak.

“Sylus,” I whisper, my own voice nearly unrecognizable to my own ears.

“Yes?” His voice choked out as he was clearly struggling to hold on.

“It’s okay….To come inside me…I want you to,” I pant out.

“F-Fuck,” his head drops to my chest again and with one harsh thrust I fill his hot seed spill inside me. I purr and humm at the feeling and I go to bring my hand to play in his hair, when I notice the dark embers flickering from my palm.

“Is this…?” I show him my palm.

“Mhmm…If a certain someone is more attracted to me now we can resonate,” his brow lifts in question as he peers his now tired eyes at me, “Unless you want me to do this every time we need to resonate?”

I tug at his hair to retaliate against his taunting tone, “Don’t start with me Sylus…Let me enjoy this…”

He gives me a soft smile and goes to move himself off me, “Alright…But don’t think you’re safe from me tomorrow kitten.”

I whimper a bit as he detached from me, his spend dripping out of me. He stands from the bed and puts on his robe to walk over to the bathroom as he grabs a fluffy white towel. “Here, let's just clean up and go to bed. I have all the time in the world tomorrow to figure out this Evol bond with you.”

I hum in agreement and finally exhaustion hits me as Sylus wipes between my legs. I blink slowly and don’t realize I’ve fallen asleep until the next morning when I’m trapped in the embrace of two strong arms wrapped around me.

I try to move to go to the bathroom but he grips me tighter and whispers, “Don’t go…” into my ear.

I shiver at his pleading voice and just reply back, “Sylus…I just need to use the restroom…let go…”

He tsks his lips and sets me free, I can’t help but giggle at the absurdity of the situation. First I wanted to beat the shit out of him and then the next instance we were fucking.

I look in the bathroom mirror and notice dark splotches in my collarbone and neck, I sigh in disappointment at his handiwork. How am I going to cover these…I bet Luke and Kieran will have a field day if they see these.

When I glance down at my palm again I notice a strange red mark on my hands now. I brush my fingers over it and it seems to light up a bit when I touch it.

“Kitten?”

“Hmm?” I leave the bathroom and return to the bedroom where Sylus was looking around confused. “What is it?”

He looks at me and shakes his head, “it just felt like you were calling out to me…”

I look down at my wrist and show it to him, “Do you know what this is?”

He grabs it with a look of concern. “I think we might be even more connected now…”

“Even more? What do you mean?”

He just shakes his head and stands up, “I’m not entirely sure…but I have some theories… You up for a joyride?” He raises a brow.

I pout at his dismissal of answering me properly, “After breakfast…”

He laughs and his eyes light up in amusement, “But of course Sweetie… I’ll make sure you’re fed first.”

Who knows where he wanted to take me…. But as we ate breakfast together I couldn’t help but reflect on something Sylus said last night… “You’re mine again…”

As I ate my food I felt like I had more questions than I would ever get answers for…But something deep in my gut tells me to trust Sylus for now. I’ll have to find a way to get answers behind his back since he never wants to tell me anything.

I just hope the answers I find don’t break my already confused heart.

[authorred]

Power Struggle | Sylus x gn!reader | Love and Deepspace | Part 1

➺ Preface: Having fallen into the hands of the leader of Onychinus himself, it's obvious he enjoys watching you squirm and try to run from him. He has the power to make you yield, to make you stay. But little does he know; you have the same power; you just don't use it nearly as often. How will he react when you grow tired of being his plaything?

➺ PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE I NEED THIS MAN CARNALLY, RELIGIOUSLY, BIOLOGICALLY, INNATELY, INHERENTLY, GENEOLOGICALLY, MENTALLY, PHYSICALLY, EMOTIONALLY, I NEED HIM TO DESTROY ME I NEED HIM TO RUIN MY LIFE, MY HOUSE, MY JOB, MY POSSESSIONS, MY PUS--

I'm so sorry Zayne I love you pookie pls forgive me but FUCK!

➺ Part 2 (coming soon)

Warning(s): None

Your eye twitches when you see the familiar red gleam of Mephisto’s eyes. No matter where you go in the N109 Zone, that crow is always following you. Why Sylus feels the need to keep an eye on you 24/7, you have no idea. It’s not like you’re doing anything. Perhaps it’s a security thing. To make him feel better. Either way, you’re hyperaware of the influence he has on the entire zone. Just his name alone is enough to spark conversations—good or bad.

You walk up to Mephisto and stare at him. “Are you going to follow me everywhere I go as long as it’s in the N109 Zone?” You ask.

Mephisto caws and tilts his head, his beak clacking together. Almost as if he’s saying ‘yes’. You give him a flat look before sighing. “Guess you can’t help it. You’re stuck with Sylus too, huh?”

~ When you enter Sylus’s base (or whatever it is, you never bothered to ask) Mephisto flies through the open door and past you. You assume he’s going to find his owner. You sigh and shut the door behind you, walking deeper into the foyer. It was typical of Sylus to be rather secluded—you don’t ever recall a time where he greeted you. Not that you expect it, per se.

With Sylus doing God knows what, and you not having to do anything, you decide to entertain yourself. Trotting off, you head to Sylus’ boxing ring. The last time you went there, your ‘lesson’ with Sylus happened, and though informative (you supposed) it wasn’t anything you didn’t know. Sometimes you graced him with the ability to feed his superiority complex. You walk over to a locker and open it, grabbing some red hand wraps. Having done this so many times before, you quickly wrap the cloth around and between your knuckles and fingers. When they're secure and you get everything else ready, you step into the ring and start lightly jogging in place to get your blood up. You hop over to the punching bag and wait a moment before beginning to lay out into it.

Your punches connect cleanly, the impacts crisp and strong. The punching bag swings from where it's hung from the ceiling via chain. You can feel the burn in your muscles begin to grow after several minutes of punching, and you take intermittent breaks to work out until failure. About twenty minutes into your workout, you pause your actions when you sense an intense, heavy gaze on you.

"Well?" You call out, sliding your gaze to him. "Are you impressed?" Your tone is slightly sardonic. It's not like Sylus to just give compliments with no backhanded comment to boot.

"You applied what I taught you," he replies in his usual baritone, melodious voice. "It seems you're not the little kitty I think of you as."

You roll your eyes and take a few steps away from the punching back, turning your body to face him. Sylus is leaning on the doorway of the gym, his arms crossed. He's wearing his usual black and red shirt with black pants, and his red-tipped dress shoes. As per, he looks like a posh asshole. "Are you interested in sparring this 'little kitty', or are you busy committing crimes?"

You can see something close to amusement flash across his face at the comment. "You're worn out," he replies. "You're soaked in sweat, and your breathing is heavy. It would be unfair to spar you in this condition."

"You scared?"

A beat of silence passes.

And then, Sylus lets out a sigh--and if you listen closely, it almost sounds amused. "It seems the more you're worn out, the cockier you become." He steps closer to the ring, hands reaching for some wraps. "Very well."

You watch as he wraps his hands and steps into the ring with you. "Try to go easy on me, sweetie," he says, gazing at you.

"Yeah, 'cause you'd definitely return the favor," you mutter to yourself, getting in a relaxed stance, shifting your weight back and forth between your feet. Sylus remains in a steady stand, weight distributed evenly between his feet.

Sylus' jab is quick, and you barely manage to dodge it. Ah, shit, I forgot how good at boxing he was. Goddammit. For the first several seconds, you remain on the defense to his swift and agile hooks and jabs.

"You will never win on the defense alone," his rough, baritone voice rings out. "I thought I taught you this. Seize your opportunities!"

He sends a nasty left hook, clipping your jaw a little. If you didn't snake out of the way, that would've surely sent you to the floor. "It seems you've gotten tired, Kitten," he says, and you're not sure if he says that as a consolation or a way of mocking you.

You let out a small huff. "Just shut up and keep going."

A soft scoff leaves his lips, "As you wish, Sweetie."

You two continue to box for a few minutes, with you on the defense and him on the offense most of the time. In between each jab and hook, he makes side comments--and you're still not sure if he's mocking you, or if he's attempting to spite you into completely dominating him. Either way, he's irking you.

After a particularly hard hook to your jaw, you stumble back onto your knees, holding yourself up with your hands. You let out a soft grunt and shake your head, attempting to pull yourself together from the small impact your brain just suffered from.

"I think you've had enough," Sylus says, relaxing from his stance. "It's clear your stamina is at its limit. I would rather you not suffer lasting effects due to your stubbornness." He walks up to you and offers a hand.

Seize your opportunities. With a low grunt, you take his hand and pull yourself up a smidge before quickly pulling his unassuming form forward. With deft movements and lower-body strength you have no right of possessing, you roll onto your back and pull him with you. You raise your legs, wrapping them around his neck in a triangle choke.

Sylus grunts and grips your thigh in an attempt to pry your legs from around him, but you squeeze tightly, keeping his arm hugged against your torso. It doesn't take long for his face to turn a concerning red, and he struggles to get onto his feet for a hint of respite. His body weight presses into you the longer you hold him there, his eyes growing distant and hazy. You don't wait out the time it would take for him to pass out. You quickly release him from your legs and push him back before hopping back up to your feet.

He stays on the ground for a few seconds, taking in the needed oxygen. His complexion slowly goes back to normal as his blood flow is restored. He's silent, and for a moment you believe he's going to retaliate, but instead, a low chuckle leaves his lips. "A submission hold," he says, more to himself than anything. "It seems this kitten has sharper claws than I thought."

You squint at him. No way he was just going to take it and let it slide without retaliation. Nah, this was Sylus. He'll get his get back. You slowly stand and back up, knowing his reach was longer than yours, and his legs are even longer. If he wanted to, he could easily sweep you off your feet with a single flurry of his leg.

Slowly, Sylus stands up, brushing dust off of his shoulders and arms. "Impressive. It seems your knowledge of combat extends further than I originally thought," he praises. For some reason, you feel wary whenever he compliments you--like he's planning something.

"Yeah," you reply slowly, "I'm a 'kitten' around you because I choose to be." You watch as he turns to look at you, his ruby red eyes set ablaze with. . . arousal?

"So, it seems," he replies lowly. "Things will be getting much more interesting, Sweetie."

[sexsylexi]

A confession in the gardens

Scott summers x Reader

The day had been long, and you could feel it in every muscle of your body. Teaching at the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters wasn’t for the faint of heart. Between managing a classroom full of mutant teenagers, guiding them through their abilities, and trying to maintain some semblance of order, you were exhausted. But it was the good kind of tired—the kind that came from knowing you’d done something meaningful.

The last bell of the day had rung, releasing the students from their lessons. Slowly, the sounds of the Institute shifted from the chaos of classes to the more subdued hum of free time. You found yourself lingering in the hallway, watching as the students dispersed in groups, some heading toward the common areas, others making their way to the gym or outside.

You took a deep breath, relishing the brief moment of peace. The scent of fresh-cut grass from the open windows mingled with the faint smell of chalk dust and old books, a comforting reminder of your day’s work. You were ready to head back to your room when you heard a familiar voice behind you.

“Hey, Y/N,” Scott Summers called out, his deep voice warm and clear. You turned to see him standing there, a small, boyish grin on his face. He was still wearing his instructor’s uniform, the dark blue fabric fitting snugly over his athletic frame. The ruby quartz glasses he always wore gleamed slightly under the hallway lights, masking the eyes beneath. “Got a minute?”

Your heart did a little flip in your chest. Scott Summers. The leader of the X-Men. The man with the burden of the world on his shoulders—and yet somehow, he had always managed to find a way to lighten your day, even if it was just with a quick smile or a thoughtful comment. You nodded, smiling back. “Of course. What’s up?”

Scott’s grin widened a little, and he took a step closer, lowering his voice as if sharing a secret. “I was thinking… it’s been a rough week. For both of us. What do you say we take a break? Go for a walk in the gardens?”

The idea sounded perfect. The gardens at the Xavier Institute were vast and beautiful, filled with lush greenery, colorful flowers, and winding paths that seemed to stretch on forever. They were a little sanctuary away from the hustle and bustle of mutant training and saving the world. You’d always loved spending time there, and the thought of being there with Scott made your heart race a little faster.

“That sounds… really nice,” you replied, trying to keep your voice steady, though you were sure Scott could hear the excitement. He had a knack for that—picking up on the things you tried to hide.

He smiled again, a bit softer this time, and nodded. “Great. Meet me out by the west gate in ten minutes?”

“Ten minutes,” you confirmed. Scott gave you a small, satisfied nod before turning and heading down the hall, his strides confident and purposeful.

You watched him disappear around the corner before letting out a breath you hadn’t realized you were holding. You quickly made your way to your room, freshening up just a little—changing out of your work clothes into something more comfortable, something that felt a bit more… date-worthy? You weren’t entirely sure if this was a date, but you couldn’t help the flicker of hope in your chest. Maybe it was just two colleagues relaxing after a long day, or maybe, just maybe, it was something more.

---

Ten minutes later, you found yourself at the west gate of the garden, the sun hanging low in the sky, casting everything in a golden hue. The air was cool but not cold, and a gentle breeze carried the scent of blooming flowers. You felt a flutter of nerves as you waited, but before you could worry too much, Scott appeared.

He looked different somehow. Relaxed. His usually stern expression was softer, his posture less rigid. He smiled when he saw you, and for a moment, it felt like the whole world fell away. He walked over, hands tucked casually into his pockets. “Ready?” he asked.

You nodded, feeling a smile spread across your face. “Ready.”

Scott led the way, opening the gate and letting you step through first. The garden was even more beautiful up close, the flowers in full bloom, the greenery vibrant and alive. You could hear the soft rustle of leaves in the wind, the distant chirping of birds settling down for the evening. It felt like stepping into another world, one far removed from the responsibilities and challenges of the day.

As you walked, Scott fell into step beside you, his arm occasionally brushing against yours. He seemed content to walk in silence for a moment, simply enjoying the peace of the garden. You, on the other hand, were acutely aware of every step, every breath, every tiny detail. The way the light caught his hair, the way his shoulders moved beneath his shirt, the faint scent of his cologne mixing with the fragrance of the flowers.

“I’ve always loved it here,” Scott said suddenly, breaking the comfortable silence. “The gardens. They’re one of the few places where I can actually relax, you know?”

You nodded, understanding completely. “I get it. It’s like… an oasis. Away from everything else.”

“Exactly,” he agreed, glancing over at you with that same boyish smile. “It’s easy to forget, sometimes, why we do what we do. But then I come here, and I see the students… I see you… and I remember.”

His words caught you off guard, and you felt a flush rise to your cheeks. “Me?” you asked, trying to keep your tone light. “What do you mean?”

Scott chuckled softly. “Yeah, you. You’re a reminder that this place, this school… it’s about more than just training and missions. It’s about people. Connections. Helping each other find our place in the world.”

You felt your heart swell at his words. There was something about the way Scott looked at you, even behind those ruby glasses, that made you feel seen in a way you hadn’t felt in a long time. “I think you do that more than you realize, Scott,” you said softly. “You’re always looking out for everyone. Sometimes… I wonder if you ever take time for yourself.”

Scott’s smile faltered a bit, and he looked down, as if considering your words. ���I guess… I don’t always. But that’s what I’m trying to do now,” he said, his voice quiet but earnest. “I’m trying to take a moment for myself. For us.”

The way he said "us" sent a shiver down your spine. You felt a warmth spread through you, a mix of nerves and excitement. “I’m glad,” you replied, your voice barely more than a whisper.

He led you down a path lined with tall, fragrant roses. The sun was dipping lower now, painting the sky in shades of pink and orange. It felt almost surreal, like a scene from a dream. Scott paused by a small bench under a weeping willow, its branches hanging low and swaying gently in the breeze. “Want to sit?” he asked, motioning to the bench.

You nodded and sat down, feeling the cool stone beneath you. Scott sat beside you, close enough that you could feel the heat from his body, but not so close that it felt uncomfortable. There was a quiet moment, just the two of you sitting there, watching as the sun began to set.

“I’ve been thinking a lot lately,” Scott began, his voice soft, almost hesitant. “About… what I want. What I need. It’s easy to get caught up in everything here, to focus on the missions and the responsibilities. But I’ve realized… I don’t want to lose sight of the things that make life worth living.”

You turned to look at him, your heart beating faster. “What do you mean?” you asked gently.

Scott took a deep breath, and for a moment, you could see the weight of all the decisions he’d made, all the burdens he’d carried. “I mean… I don’t want to miss out on the good things. The small moments. The people who matter.” He turned to face you fully, and you could feel the intensity of his gaze, even through his glasses. “People like you, Y/N.”

Your breath caught in your throat. “Scott, I…”

He reached out, his hand finding yours, his fingers warm and firm around yours. “I know we’ve both been through a lot. I know things aren’t always easy here. But I want you to know that… I care about you. A lot. More than I think I’ve let myself admit.”

You felt a rush of emotion, a mix of joy and relief and something else, something deeper. “I care about you too, Scott,” you replied, your voice barely more than a whisper.

Scott’s smile was soft, genuine, and you could see the tension in his shoulders ease just a little. “I’ve wanted to say something for a while now,” he continued. “But I wasn’t sure how… or if I should.."

Scott’s voice trailed off, and you could see the struggle in his expression—the weight of everything unsaid. It was as if he was standing on the edge of a cliff, unsure whether to take the leap.

You felt a surge of bravery and squeezed his hand gently, giving him the encouragement he seemed to need. “Scott, you can say anything to me. I’m here. I’m listening.”

He took another deep breath, and this time when he spoke, there was a quiet determination in his voice. “I wasn’t sure if I should say something… because I wasn’t sure how you felt. I didn’t want to make things complicated for you, or for us here at the school. But… I think about you all the time, Y/N. I think about your smile, your laugh, the way you handle the students with so much patience and understanding. You make this place feel like home. You make me feel like… I’m not alone in all of this.”

Your heart pounded in your chest, every word he spoke sending ripples of warmth through you. You’d always admired Scott—for his strength, his leadership, his dedication—but hearing him speak so openly, so vulnerably, was something else entirely. It made you feel closer to him than ever before, like you were seeing a side of him that few people ever got to see.

“Scott,” you began, your voice trembling slightly with emotion. “I’ve felt the same way. I didn’t know how to say it either, or if I even should… but I think about you all the time too. I look forward to seeing you every day, to those moments when it’s just the two of us. You make me feel… safe. You make me feel like I belong.”

Scott’s face softened, a look of pure relief washing over his features. “You do belong, Y/N,” he said quietly, his thumb gently tracing circles on the back of your hand. “You’ve always belonged. I’ve just been too afraid to say it.”

You felt a smile spreading across your face, and before you knew it, you were laughing—a soft, joyous sound that seemed to fill the air around you. Scott joined in, his laughter low and warm, and suddenly all the tension seemed to melt away.

“I guess we’re both a little afraid, huh?” you teased, and Scott nodded, a smile still playing on his lips.

“Yeah,” he admitted. “I guess we are. But maybe… we don’t have to be anymore.”

He shifted closer on the bench, his knee brushing against yours, and for a moment, the world seemed to hold its breath. The garden around you was quiet now, the sun almost completely set, casting a soft, golden glow over everything. The air was cool, but you felt nothing but warmth as Scott leaned in, his free hand coming up to gently cup your cheek.

Your breath caught in your throat, and you could feel your heart hammering in your chest. Scott was so close now, his face just inches from yours. You could see the soft line of his jaw, the curve of his lips, the way his breath mingled with yours in the cool evening air.

“Y/N…” he whispered, his voice filled with a mix of hope and hesitation. “Is this… okay?”

You smiled, leaning into his touch. “More than okay,” you whispered back.

And then, slowly, as if afraid to break the fragile moment between you, Scott closed the distance, his lips brushing against yours in a soft, tentative kiss. It was gentle at first, almost like he was testing the waters, but then you kissed him back, a little firmer, a little bolder, and he responded in kind.

The world seemed to fall away around you, the only thing that mattered was the feeling of his lips on yours, the way his hand felt against your cheek, the way his other hand tightened slightly around yours, holding you close. The kiss deepened, and you felt a surge of warmth, a rush of emotions you hadn’t even realized you’d been holding back.

When you finally pulled back, you were both a little breathless, a little dazed, but you couldn’t stop smiling. Scott rested his forehead against yours, his breath warm on your skin. “Wow,” he murmured, a small laugh escaping his lips. “That… was worth the wait.”

You laughed too, feeling light and happy in a way you hadn’t in a long time. “Yeah,” you agreed. “Definitely worth the wait.”

Scott’s smile widened, and he leaned back a little, still holding your hand. “So… what now?” he asked, a playful note in his voice.

You thought for a moment, feeling a flutter of excitement in your chest. “Well,” you began, “I think we start by taking things one step at a time. See where this goes. Enjoy the little moments… like this one.”

Scott nodded, a look of contentment on his face. “I like the sound of that,” he said. “One step at a time. No rush. Just… us.”

You felt a swell of happiness at his words. “Just us,” you repeated softly, savoring the way it felt to say it out loud.

The two of you sat there for a while longer, just talking, sharing stories, and laughing together. The sun had set completely now, and the first stars were beginning to appear in the sky. You felt a sense of peace settle over you, a feeling of rightness that you hadn’t felt in a long time.

After a while, Scott stood up, pulling you gently to your feet. “Come on,” he said with a grin. “Let’s keep walking. There’s a spot by the lake that has the best view of the stars.”

You smiled, feeling a thrill of excitement at the thought of spending more time with him. “Lead the way,” you replied.

Scott took your hand again, his fingers warm and strong around yours, and together you walked deeper into the garden, the path ahead of you lit by the soft glow of the moon. You didn’t know what the future held, but for the first time in a long time, you felt hopeful—excited, even—about the possibilities.

As you walked, Scott began to talk, telling you stories about his childhood, about the first time he’d come to the Xavier Institute, and about all the things he’d seen and done since then. You listened intently, hanging on every word, feeling closer to him with each passing moment. You shared your own stories, too, and he listened with that same quiet attentiveness, his thumb occasionally brushing against your hand in a gentle, reassuring gesture.

By the time you reached the lake, the sky was a canvas of stars, bright and glittering against the dark velvet of night. Scott led you to a small clearing by the water’s edge, where the grass was soft and the view was perfect.

“Wow,” you whispered, looking up at the sky. “It’s beautiful.”

Scott nodded, his gaze fixed on you rather than the stars. “Yeah,” he agreed softly. “Beautiful.”

You felt a blush rise to your cheeks and looked away, smiling. “You’re not even looking at the stars,” you teased.

“I know,” he replied, his voice low and sincere. “Because I’d rather look at you.”

Your heart swelled at his words, and you turned to face him, feeling a rush of affection and something deeper, something that felt a lot like love.

“Scott,” you began, your voice soft but steady, “I’m really glad we did this.”

He smiled, his expression filled with warmth. “Me too, Y/N. Me too.”

[gatorbites-imagines]

Hi I see your requests are open!

Could you do a Flash ( Barry Allen) x alien reader?

Where the Reader's true form looks like the Martians, but dark purples and cool greys?

Apart of the Reader's culture, is rough housing. So they like to spar and chase around Barry. Though, apart of their rough housing is pinning. So everytime they spar, Reader pins Barry to the ground or wall, making him extremely flustered.

-Crow

Barry Allen x Alien Male reader

Headcanons

We are back after kinktober, finally. Guess who handed in their last psychology assignment of the year, now it’s just my religion project and exams and I’ll be free until next semester.

For the martian appearance, I went with the more, what should I call it?? lizard? Plant? Looking? Appearance, you see in young justice.

Your species was from Mercury, meaning you were extremely hot blooded, which lead to your kind being, what should I say, competitive by nature. Martians and Mercurians descended from the same place, which is why your species were similar in some ways like appearance.

Unlike martians, you couldn’t shapeshift. Mercurians did have the ability of intangibility, power negation, and power amplification, along with the same type of telepathy and telekinesis you would find in martians.

Unlike the greens and other similar colours you would find on Mars, your people were cooler colours in contrast of the warm colours of your home planet. Every member of your species possessed different patterns in their skin as well, which wasn’t easily spotted by the naked eye.

It helped your people identify each other, and some of the spirit mediums claimed to be able to tell your future off these patterns, think like reading someone’s destiny in their palm.

The Mercurians had stayed away from earth as long as it had existed, but after larger and larger enemies showed up in your part of the galaxy, your people joined in on fighting them off.

You were the 6th child of the ruler of your planet at the time, your parent having been chosen as leader through democracy for many hundred years because of how just they were. But because of this, and your interest in interworld communication, you were the one sent to earth.

Here you met the justice league. The first person you got along with was of course J'onn J'onzz, and his niece M'gann M'orzz, as your people and culture were similar in some ways, and your people descended from the same origin.

Your inability to shapeshift made it hard for you to take part in human culture, even as you bonded with the other members of the league, like superman, the many green lanterns, M'ganns teammates, and so on and so forth.

It was on one of the days you were growing antsy for anything to happen that you fell into conversation with Barry, The Flash, as he was called. Talking to him calmed some of the fidgetiness in your body, there was just something about him and how fast he talked when he was passionate about a subject, that cooled your inner flames.

It also helped that he ran hot, as earth was much much colder than your home planet of Mercury. You also would never admit how it made your Mercurian vocal cords trill when he raved about your purple colour, and how it shifted in the sunlight.

J'onn teased you quite a lot as you started developing feelings for the speedster. You denied it vehemently, but even M'gann could tell and would tease you as well. All of this happened over your telepathy of course, so no one else on the team seemed to pick up on it, except for Batman, since he saw pretty much everything.

After some time, Barry seemed to pick up on your inability to stay still, or how you were always found in the gym beating up the equipment. It was J'onn who explained your people’s culture to him, and how roughhousing was the way your people bonded.

Because of this roughhousing not happening, you didn’t feel as close to the league as you would be able too. And Barry, who had started to develop feelings for you in return, found himself wondering if you might be interested in a sparring match.

When he finally summoned up the courage to ask, he didn’t even have time to doubt his act of asking, as you launched yourself at him like an overexcited cat, immediately wrestling him to the ground.

Barry hadn’t thought this fully through, as he found himself being pinned to the floor, the wall, the ceiling once or twice, throughout this sparring. He became so flustered that he almost forgot about his speed.

There was just something about how excited you seemed to be that someone finally wanted to roughhouse and spar with you, and the trills and chirps that rang from your chest and throat instinctually, only made him want to keep doing it.

This kept up for some time, both of you taking time out of your schedules to roughhouse at least once a week. And over time Barry was able to keep up, even though he still found himself blushing and sputtering when you pinned him just right.

J'onn ended up telling the rest of the team what was up, and roughhousing became part of the usual sparring when you were involved, for team bonding.

But what you and Barry had was something special, just between you two. And when you started adding your hidden stripes to his suits stitching, no one would be the wiser, except for maybe J'onn, who just seemed amused.

Your people didn’t kiss, you didn’t really have the lips, but you wanted to try it. Kissing Barry the first time after pinning him to the floor once again, had been a little awkward. Lips pressed against teeth, not much of the romantic liplocking you had seen in earth movies.

But Barry seemed just as passionate after realizing what was up, his arms immediately wrapping around you and kissing you back as passionately.

The roughhousing continued even as you started dating, and when the team found a way to let you alter your shape to a human one, you two would go on dates.

There were moments you felt self-conscious about your appearance, as many humans were more attractive, but Barry was always quick to wrestle you into his arms to tell you he loved you for who you were, and that he didn’t care about that stuff, and you were handsome to him.

Lets just say the first time Barry met your family it lead to a huge family wide roughhousing and wrestling, and he had to resort to using his speed more than once to not get mobbed by your family who wanted to bond with him and get to know him since you loved him so much.

[yeonzzzn]

🪐drops of jupiter: taehyun

pairing: taehyun x afab!reader word count: 2.9k

synopsis: after yours and taehyun’s breakup, your group goes on tour which is exactly what you needed. a year long world tour to distract you from the pains your heart felt. but once your group comes back from the tour and is preparing for your next comeback, txt is also preparing a comeback of their own that involves your group. you and taehyun have no choice but rekindle a friendship for the sake of your members, fans, and each other.

genre: ex-lovers to lovers, idol!taehyun, idol!reader.

warnings: swearing, alcohol mentions, taehyun is so down bad for reader, make-out session, let me know if I missed anything!

♫“Now that she’s back in the atmosphere with drops of Jupiter in her hair…”♫

Taehyun stood there in shock, a towel wrapped around her neck, sweat dripping down his face, and boxing gloves in one hand, his water bottle in another. 

You slowly thinned your lips in a line, not expecting to see him again so soon after getting back from tour. 

And the thing was, Taehyun wasn't either. He knew you got back to Seoul a few days ago(thanks to his amazing stalking skills aka stealing Soobin’s phone and Instagram account to look at yours), but he wasn’t expecting you to be standing inside the elevator when the doors opened after he just finished his gym workout. 

All Taehyun could do was look at you and take notice of how uncomfortable you looked. It took everything in him to not burst into tears and rush over to you. 

You also wanted nothing more than to go to him, but after everything that happened with the two of you…you knew you couldn’t. 

“Taehyun!!!” your group members cheered. 

It took Taehyun a second to register his name being called by your group mates, he didn’t even realize they were in the elevator with you. 

The oldest member, and the leader, pulled Taehyun into the elevator, and the doors closed. 

“Perfect timing!” She cheered, “Soobin called us all for a meeting!” 

“Did he?” Tae said barely above a whisper, “I had no idea…” 

Your leader realized she spoiled the secret meeting, you also had no idea what was going on until you were dragged inside the HYBE building. 

And by the looks of it, Soobin kept it a secret from Taehyun too. 

You noticed how…sad he looked. Part of you hoped he’d be happy to see you, but you also understood that he probably would have been happy if the circumstances were different. 

It’s been over a year since you’ve seen him. 

Taehyun and you secretly dated, not from your companies or bandmates, but from the world. 

You and your group just freshly debuted and your first album was a major hit. So you all went out to celebrate at a club that the group Tomorrow X Together just happened to be at as well. 

And that’s how you met Taehyun. The two of you hit it off so smoothly, even made out in the back of the club. Granted, you both were drunk and out of it, but when you woke up that next morning with a text from him with his name saved as “Tyun💚” saying how he wanted to take you out on a date and properly kiss you…you were so down bad. 

He was everything you could have ever wanted. He opened doors for you, and always waited outside your company building or dorm building until you texted him saying you made it to where you needed to be safely before he left. Always made sure you were warm, giving you his jacket or wrapping you closely in his arms. Always making sure you ate and drank water and if you didn’t he would be practically breaking down your dorm or company's door down to give you food. He took care of you. 

You fell hard for him and loved everything about him. From the way he has his little shy habits, to the way he said your name and how you looked at you. Loved the way he’d lay you down on his bed and make love to you like you were the greatest thing that was put on this earth. 

But as fast as everything came together, it just as quickly crashed and burned. 

Rumors between the two of you started circulating, articles being popped out by every famous news site every single day. And it tore at your relationship. 

You were ready to go public. Ready to step into that light with him. 

But Taehyun…wasn’t. 

It was the first major disagreement the two of you had. You’ve had fights, sure, but it was never like this. 

To say Taehyun was scared would be an understatement. It was already bad enough that he had to be careful and watch every movement or word he said. The public eye was ruthless and the last thing he wanted was your name to get dragged in the mud. You were Taehyun’s first real relationship, he’s dated around sure, but it was nothing compared to you. 

You and Tae couldn’t get to an agreement which ultimately ended your relationship. 

“Guess you really don’t actually care or love me enough to go public, because if you did this would be such an easy decision to make but apparently it’s not. Goodbye, Taehyun.” 

It was the last thing you said to him as you stormed out of his dorm room, leaving him sitting on his bed watching as you walked out of his life. 

Taehyun regretted not chasing after you every single day since then. Regretting not listening to you and giving it a chance. 

He was so in love with you, and he wished he could have said that instead of watching you leave. 

Not even a week later your company announced that your group was going on a world tour and was hitting the airport a month later. 

You felt like you needed this, to get out and away from Seoul and from him. It was the perfect way to get space and to help you move on. 

But here you were, back in Seoul and here he was standing in front of you, and your heart still beats for him all the same. 

To say Taehyun was pissed would be silly, he was more than pissed. You could practically see the smoke blowing from his ears as he stormed up to Soobin, fists clenched and jaw locked. 

“Want to tell me why this was kept as a secret!?!”

Soobin just stood there, an awkward smile on his face as he glanced between his bandmate and your group, “Surprise?” 

Oh, Taehyun will show him a surprise later. Of his fist meeting Soobin’s perfect nose. 

It didn’t take long for the rest of the TXT members to appear, everyone giving their greetings and hugs. 

“It’s nice seeing you again,” Yeonjun said, pulling you into a tight hug, “How was your tour?” 

You hugged him back, “It was great, seeing the world is always fun.” 

Yeonjun smiled at you. You could tell he was genuinely happy to see you again after so long. 

Besides, both your groups got close during your time dating Taehyun. 

Once both groups settled down, your leader and Soobin announced why we were all gathered here today. 

A collaboration. 

And also apparently everyone knew about this collaboration…except you and Taehyun. Because of course, why not? 

The song would be a love song(because of course, it would be). It would be so upbeat and happy. The choreography would be of two lovers dancing together in perfect harmony. The promotions would be through TikTok with the challenge, along with posting them on Instagram and Twitter. It honestly was a great idea and really beautiful, whoever came up with this idea was a genius. 

But the problem was you and Taehyun. 

After the breakup and going no contact, the effect on the media was…well negative. Went just about as good as you’d thought. Mostly after both you and Taehyun “admitted” to the media that there was no relationship at all. 

You were both awkward, not looking at each other or even interacting at all during the whole meeting. 

This is exactly why Soobin didn’t tell Taehyun and your leader didn’t tell you. 

Once you and your group left, Taehyun was both in his fierce anger, “Why didn’t you tell me Bin?!?” 

Soobin shuddered under the use of his nickname being thrown out of the younger mouth the way it did. 

“Because I knew you would either have A: not shown up, or B: busted down the doors and made it even more awkward between the two of you.” 

Point…taken. Tae knew that if he did know about this collaboration, he would have done everything possible to make himself look presentable for you. 

Man was so down bad for you still and it showed by his actions throughout the following week. 

Anytime you needed water? Tae was jumping up to grab you a bottle. Hungry? He was rushing to grab you a snack. 

You sneezed? He was grabbing the tissue box. 

You had to admit, it was cute and you adored it, but it still felt so awkward and everyone else was noticing it too. You two barely spoke to each other at all but he was at your every waking call. 

Before you knew it two weeks had flown by and the song was officially recorded and completed. Now all that was felt was finishing up the choreography, filming the music video, and making the TikToks, which was the real challenge. 

Mostly because your groups decided to put the two of you together as the “lovers” of the music video and dance challenges in a way and hopes of getting the two of you to rekindle and make up. 

The group practices were awkward and nerve-racking. 

You didn’t understand why both leaders decided it was a good idea, why any of this was a good idea. 

You both had comebacks soon, shouldn’t each group just be focusing on that?

You arrived at the HYBE building early for practice, wanting to get a head start and prepare yourself for the next two hours. 

Today would be the day they finally have you and Tae work together on the dance. Before today it was just the two of you mirroring the choreographers, but today was the real deal. 

Unfortunately for you, Taehyun had the same idea. 

You walked into the practice room, already seeing him in the middle of the room doing stretches. 

His heart nearly dropped seeing you, “Oh, hi YN…” 

“Hello..” you softly whispered back, making your way into the room. 

He didn’t know what to say. Everything was so awkward, and he had no idea how to fix it. 

“I’ll just…” he pointed to the door, slowly starting to walk out. 

“You don’t have to leave,” you quickly said, “We have to practice together today anyways, might as well stay.” 

Tae just nodded, trying to think of anything to start a conversation with you. But failing anyway. 

“We don’t have to do this,” you finally said, sitting down on the floor to start your own stretches, “Let’s just get through this until the promotions are over.” 

Without understanding why, your words were all it took for him to cut his shyness away. 

“Is that really what you want?” 

 The way he said it was enough to send chills down your spine, he wasn’t stumbling over his words, showed no sign of being awkward, and it was so clearly cutthroat. 

You just shrugged, “It’s probably what you want.” 

Taehyun scoffed, “There you go again acting like you know what I want.” 

And now you were pissed. 

“Excuse me?” You snapped, jumping to your feet. 

“I said what I said, YN,” He said with a roll of his eyes, “You’ve been acting like you know what I want ever since our relationship went toxic.” 

“Oh, please then Kang Taehyun, tell me what it is you want since I seem to be unknowing.” 

He folded his arms over his chest, “I want us to drop whatever this is, and rekindle our once friendship, we are stuck with each other whether we like it or not.” 

You knew he was right, and it would benefit both groups to just… makeup. 

So you nodded, “Fine, we can do that.” 

Taehyun relaxed, but not because you agreed to rekindle, but because of the way your eyes glossed over, “Hey hey, why are you crying?” 

He walked closer to you, his hands hovering, not knowing if touching you was acceptable. You took a few steps away from him. 

“YN, please talk to m—“

“How can I just rekindle everything with you when my heart isn’t over everything? Isn’t over you. It must have been so easy for you.” 

Taehyun tilted his head in confusion, “What?” 

You wiped your eyes with your palms, “I stalked your socials pretty much every single night while I was gone on tour,” you admitted. If the two of you were going to rekindle, might as well unload everything, “I saw how happy you were, saw all the interactions, and you got over me so easily. Makes sense since you didn’t want to go public about our relationship.” 

Taehyun was stunned, how could you possibly think he was over you? He’s the biggest simp for you, has that not been obvious with how he did everything possible for you since you’ve been here? Did you think it was just something he was doing out of pure habit?

“You’re not over me?” was all Tae was able to say, those words repeating over and over in his head. 

You rolled your eyes, “Is that all you heard out of all that? Seriously Taehyun? I can’t believe—“ 

And you were cut off. Taehyun had his arms wrapped around you, lips crashing to yours. His body going on autopilot and pressing you up against the mirrored wall. 

Part of you wanted to fight him, the other part wanted to bring him closer. You chose to bring him closer, snaking your fingers into his hair. 

“I am nowhere close to being over you,” he whispered between kisses, his hands flying to either side of your head, trapping you against him and the mirror. 

You pulled away from the kiss, leaning your head against the mirror, wanting to see the look on his face when you asked him to repeat himself. 

“I said I am nowhere close to being over you, YN,” he pressed his forehead against yours, “I stalked your socials with Soobin’s accounts. I watched every single fancam that came out of you. Saved every cute selfie you posted and counted down the days until you landed back in Seoul.” 

You took a deep breath and it came out more shaky than you wanted, “Why? You didn’t want to go public with me.” 

“Because I was scared,” he took a deep breath as well, “I was a coward, I was stupid. I was scared of how the media would treat you after it was out. I am in love with you, YN, and not a day goes by that I don’t regret the decision I made.”

You kept eye contact with him the entire time he spoke. You knew him inside and out. You could see just how badly this breakup was killing him now that he had broken down those walls. 

“I kept praying, hoping that while you were out there amongst all the space of this big ole world that you’d miss me so bad and by some act of fate to bring you back to me.” 

Your hands reached up, cupping his face, “I did miss you. More than I can even admit.” 

“I am so sorry, YN, and I cannot ever forgive myself for letting you go so easily.” 

His eyes teared up, his heart rate paced faster and he felt like if he didn’t push away from you right now he would completely break down. 

“Then don’t let me go now.” 

He searched your eyes, “What?” 

“Don’t let me go,” you pressed your lips back to his, “please don’t let me go.” 

It’s all he needed to hear to press his body completely against yours, kissing you so hard and passionately as if these kisses would make up for the year you were away from him. 

He parted your lips with his tongue, letting the muscle explore your mouth, a small moan escaping. 

“God,” he whispered between a kiss, “I’ve missed your sweet sounds,” 

You giggled against his lips, “You can’t just say things like that.” 

“I can’t help it,” he placed his forehead back against yours, “You make me crazy.” 

Before you could reach up for his lips again, the practice room door opened, forcing Taehyun away from you and you to quickly rush away from the mirror. 

Huening Kai was the first in the room, him stopping to raise a brow at you two, barely seeing how you both rushed away from each other, “Did we interrupt something?” 

Taehyun hummed, “Hmm? Oh, nah! We just got here early.”

Soobin wasn’t buying it, mostly not after seeing Taehyun’s handprints on the mirror, “I am guessing the two of you made up?” 

You and Tae glanced at each other, small smiles filling your faces. 

“More like made out,” Beomgyu said, clearly grossed out, “Can’t even hide the obvious boner he has and how fucked his hair looks.” 

Taehyun slowly turned and faced the mirror, seeing the state his body was in, “I am going to kill you Beomgyu,” 

With the two of you making up, and ultimately deciding to give your relationship a second chance, the rest of the recording of the music video and the TikToks for the promotions went by smoothly. 

Once the song was released and all the videos dropped, you and Taehyun were the talk of the town. 

The public’s reaction was better than Tae hoped, it eased his mind and he was finally ready to go public with you. Ready to show you off to the world. To let everyone know that he, Kang Taehyun, cuffed you. 

And that he was never going to let you go again.

a/n: I am so sorry that this probably sucks...it was very rushed and I lost inspiration for it since this sat in my drafts for so long. I hope you all still enjoy it.

[sleepyparalysisdmon]

Calico

Choi Y/N is pretty, smart, and funny and she knows it - mostly because she hears it all the time from the men (read: victims) she dates. She's about to get a taste of her own medicine.

Pssst... this now has a sequel called LMLY, if you're interested.

Pairing: Joshua x female reader; mentions of Mingyu x female reader, Woozi x female reader, Seokmin x female reader, Jeonghan x female reader Genres: (a little) fluff, (quite a bit of) angst, smut, college au

Word count: 31k

TW/CW: MDNI, contains smut with no protection mentioned (be safe please!!), mentions of alcohol, food, a whole lot of cyber bullying, mentions of some tough family dynamics such as divorce.

A/N: The way these characters are written in no way indicates reality as this is entirely a work of fiction. This was initially inspired by John Tucker Must Die, but took a left turn or two as it came together.

Recommended playlist: Calico by DPR Ian; Easy by Jaehyun; Lie to Girls by Sabrina Carpenter

Act One

Joshua carefully ties the black apron around his waist. He’s in a pair of black slacks, a black button down shirt, and a black tie - the required uniform that’s way nicer than some of the ones he’s had to wear before. It’s only his third week at one of the many upscale sushi places in town. Minghao, his new roommate, had recommended him for a job and the manager had blindly agreed without really looking at Joshua’s resume. The manager said they needed the help since school was going to be back in session soon and they expected an influx of foot traffic. That worked perfectly for Joshua because while the hourly wage left a little to be desired as a lot of waiting jobs did, the tips were good here and he didn’t mind eating sushi everyday on his break. 

This wasn’t Joshua’s first waiting job, so he didn’t need a manager to tell him what to do when he arrived for his shift. On his first day, he’d had exactly two hours of training before the shift leader said he didn’t need it. He found out which section he’d be waiting on tonight and when the hostess led a couple to one of his tables, he was right behind them. 

With a practiced smile, he greeted them. “Good evening. I’m Joshua, and I’ll be taking care of you tonight. Have you been here before?”

The woman smiles and looks to the man she’s with. He shakes his head, an easy grin on his face. Joshua tells them about the specials and points out some popular items on the menu, before taking their drink orders. 

The thing is, this woman has definitely been here - just not with the man she’s with tonight. In fact, she was here last week and the week before with another man. He glances at them curiously while he waits for the bartender to fix their drinks. The man is handsome and clearly spends a lot of time in the gym. And the woman is beautiful, model-like even. Maybe they’re just friends, he thinks. Pretty people like that tend to flock together. Then he sees them reach out to hold hands across the table. They look like the picture perfect couple. Just like she did with the guy last week too. 

Minghao approaches the bar in a matching uniform and apron, giving his table’s drink orders to the bartender. Then he follows Joshua’s eyes. Joshua’s surprised when he chuckles. 

“Do you know them?” 

Minghao shakes his head. “Not personally. I’d kind of prefer to keep it that way. They go to school with us.” 

Joshua hums. Classes haven’t started yet, so he wouldn’t have known that. He’s a transfer student and knows next to nothing about his potential classmates, or campus yet for that matter beyond the dorm and the student union. He’s hoping Minghao will give him a tour in the next few days so he doesn’t look like a total freshman with a printed map from the Admissions office. 

“They’re cute together. Have they been dating long?” Joshua doesn’t mean anything by the question because he’s just curious and making small talk. Minghao’s nice but they don’t know each other well yet. He’s surprised at how amused Minghao looks at the question.

“Uh, no. And it won’t last either.”

Joshua gives him a perplexed look. “How do you know that?”

“Choi Y/N doesn’t stay with anyone for long. She even likes to see a few at once sometimes from what I hear, not that the poor bastards ever know it until it’s too late. I doubt that even Kim Mingyu will keep her attention for longer than a few weeks.” 

Joshua shrugs, gathering the drinks that the bartender slides him. As long as they were paying the bill at the end of dinner, he didn’t care too much who she came to dinner with. He delivers their drinks with the same practiced smile and takes their orders. He checks on them a couple times while they eat and when the time comes, he swipes Kim Mingyu’s card for the bill and they leave. He buses the table quickly and moves on with his night. 

Whatever Choi Y/N did was really none of his business, though he felt kind of bad for Kim Mingyu. The guy looked like he was already in love. 

~

“Are you out to ruin my life?” 

Y/N raises an eyebrow at Seungcheol in amusement. “Yes, literally since we were evicted from the womb.”

Her twin brother drops his back pack into a chair and slams the tray of food on the table across from her, plopping down. “First of all, you have to stop saying that. You’re a biology major, you know there’s a more appropriate way to say that.” 

“I’m just calling it what Eomma does! She reminds us every August,” Y/N says innocently. Their mother had even given them a cake with ‘Happy Eviction Day’ written on it in icing a couple weeks ago. It was their 22nd birthday and they were away for most of the year for school. She wasn’t kicking them out now because she’d already done that in the ‘most important’ way 22 years ago. 

Seungcheol is not impressed. “Second of all,” he says forcefully, “I’m trying to run a basketball team here! I’ve told you that you cannot mess with my players.”

Y/N rolls her eyes. Kim Mingyu had not taken her turning down another date very well. He’d taken her out a handful of times and he checked a lot of boxes or she wouldn’t have gone out with him otherwise. He was handsome, had a nice body, was intelligent, and was very giving in bed. But she didn’t really feel a spark, so Y/N declined to see him again this week.

“Is going on a few dates ‘messing with your players’ now? You didn’t complain before.” 

“That’s because he was a freshman. I wasn’t giving him any playing time anyway,” Seungcheol seethed, but Y/N knew there was something exaggerated about it. Call it twin telepathy. “Kim Mingyu, on the other hand, is one of my starters and he’s been sucking ass all week. Air balls every time, no defense to speak of, tripping over his own feet. You’ve ruined yet another one.”

“Ruined is such a strong word,” Y/N said lightly, picking at her lunch. It was spaghetti day at the student union and it wasn’t her favorite, but she didn’t have time to run back to the sorority house for anything between classes and office hours for her TA position. 

“Ruined what?” Jeonghan says, sliding into the seat next to Y/N with his tray. 

“She’s out to ruin my team again!” Seungcheol cries, putting emphasis on ‘again’, but he should know he won’t get any sympathy here. 

Jeonghan laughs, pushing his tray to touch Y/N’s. He plops two pieces of garlic bread on her tray before stealing half of her spaghetti. Y/N doesn’t try to stop him because this is such an old habit that there would be no point. They’ve been splitting meals since they first started eating solid foods as babies. Seungcheol had never been much of a sharer, but Y/N didn’t mind it. Plus, she really wants the garlic bread and Jeonghan knows it. He can sweet talk the lunch lady better than she can to get an extra piece every now and then. “Mingyu didn’t take it well, huh?”

“He did not,” Y/N answers in a sing-song voice. 

“I’m surrounded by monsters.” Seungcheol is full on pouting now, but Y/N and Jeonghan have known him too long for it to have an effect. 

“Eat your food, Cheol,” Y/N insists. He probably only listens because he’s hungry, but Y/N would like to think it’s because she’s a few minutes older. 

“What are you guys doing on Friday?” Jeonghan asks them. “I was thinking about going to see that new horror movie.”

“I’m free, but does it have to be a horror movie? Can it be literally anything else?” Seungcheol asked, swatting Y/N’s hand away when she reached across the table to pinch his cheek. Among them, Y/N and Jeonghan were the horror fans, and Seungcheol hid behind his hands the whole time. He had for years. 

“Yes, it has to be a horror movie. You picked a stupid romcom last time,” Jeonghan teased. “It’s my turn. Are you free?” He turns to Y/N.

Between bites of garlic bread, Y/N shakes her head. “No, I have a date. I’ll have to catch it another day.”

Jeonghan shrugs. “Suit yourself. We’re still talking about it after we both see it though.” 

“Who’s the next victim?” Seungcheol chortles. Y/N isn’t surprised that he’s already over his pouting. 

“You and these strong words,” Y/N admonishes. “Dating me doesn’t make someone a victim. Would you say the same thing about the girls Jeonghan dates?”

“Yes,” Seungcheol deadpans. Y/N and Jeonghan both show no reaction to the insult. “Now who is it? Please tell me it’s no one else from the basketball team. I already have to rethink my starters.”

“Lee Seokmin,” Y/N gives a dreamy smile. 

“Let me guess, he’s the one this time,” Jeonghan teases.

“Just like everyone else before him,” Seungcheol tacks on with a chuckle. “Where’d you meet the poor guy?”

Y/N is unfazed by their teasing. “Creative writing class. He’s so sweet, and funny, and have you seen his arms?”

They haven’t, but this sort of comment doesn’t surprise them. Y/N was a little bit of a hopeless romantic. She believed in love at first sight and seemed to feel it frequently, but she also seemed to fall out of love just as fast. But that pattern didn’t seem to matter because just about any straight man on campus would wait their turn patiently, and even some women. Seungcheol and Jeonghan both knew it. All she had to do is bat her eyes and smile sweetly and people were falling at her feet. She just had that sort of affect on people without even realizing it.

“Be gentle,” Seungcheol reminds like he knows where this is going to go. 

“No, I feel really good about this one, Cheol,” Y/N insists animatedly. “What’s not to like?”

“Whatever you say, angel,” Jeonghan placates. “I hope it goes well.” 

It did go well. Really well, in fact. Seokmin was a total gentleman as much as he was a total goofball. It looked like the waiter wanted to kick them out with how disruptive they were being during dinner, so they cut dinner short and went for a walk around the park. He held her hand and offered her his jacket when she got cold. When they arrive at the front door of the sorority house, he presses a kiss to the back of her hand and doesn’t move until she’s inside and has locked the door. Perfect. Gentleman. 

Y/N collapses into bed that night with a dreamy sigh. When her phone vibrates with a text from Seokmin, she immediately agrees to go out with him again. 

~

Lee Seokmin is riding on a high. Things are good. Classes only started a couple weeks ago, but they seem like they’ll be a breeze. This gives him plenty of time to prepare for his upcoming audition in the fall play that the Theatre department is putting on. He thinks he might actually have a shot at the lead role this time. His friend, Junhui, thinks so too after running lines with him. 

And then there’s Y/N. Seokmin sighs dreamily. She’s pretty, funny, and smart - the full package. They share a creative writing class this semester and when they were paired up to peer review their first assignment, he’s not sure what possessed him, but he just shot his shot. Amazingly, she said yes. And their date had gone so well that he didn’t hesitate long to ask for another one. And she’d said yes to that too! 

He’s been unable to wipe the dopey smile off his face as he walks into the library and finds his group members already there. They were asked to pair up for a semester long project in their psychology course and it was simple to look around and find the two guys sitting closest to him in the back of the class. Neither of them seemed to care who they were partnered up with either, so they exchanged numbers and agreed to meet this afternoon. 

He knew of Kim Mingyu, the star basketball player. He didn’t know of Lee Jihoon until this class. He was apparently a music major and spent a lot of time in the Fine Arts building. Both guys greet him as he sits down. They’re friendly, but not overly so, which makes sense because they’d never had a conversation before last week. “You seem way too cheerful,” Jihoon comments lightly, though Seokmin’s not sure he really cares for a response. 

“Just in a good mood,” Seokmin chirps. 

Mingyu is not nice, not today anyway. He sighs grumpily, opening his laptop. “I have some things to do in a bit. Can we get started?” 

They have to propose an experiment or case study in a couple weeks, which they will turn in by the end of the semester. It could be on any Psychology topic, which offers an overwhelming amount of options as they flip through the textbook. After a few internet searches, they start offering suggestions. Jihoon proposes that they do something with music - maybe how someone’s music taste correlates with their personality. He says there are already so many personality tests out there that they can use and they’d just have to build a simple survey for music tastes. Mingyu recommends something to do with testing short term memory, like a brain game of some sort which they can just recruit their friends for. Something easy to set up, time, and pop into a graph. Seokmin is intrigued by the idea of peoples’ perceptions of beauty and how facial symmetry impacts it. It’s admittedly less thought through than the other ideas because he doesn’t have any idea how to carry out an experiment like that - but give him a break! He’s a theatre major! He wouldn’t be in this class at all if it wasn’t a requirement!

“Do you have a model with perfect facial symmetry that we can borrow for that experiment if we choose it?” Jihoon asks and Seokmin knows he’s not asking seriously. 

Still Seokmin says, “Yes!” Then, he hums. “Well, I don’t know if she’s ever modeled, but I think she’d fit the bill. It’s the girl I’ve been seeing.” 

Jihoon and Mingyu don’t look totally displeased with the idea. “Oh? Let me see,” Mingyu insists. Seokmin feels really proud to show off Y/N’s latest Instagram photo. That is, until Mingyu takes one look at Seokmin’s phone and spits, “Oh, fuck no!”

Jihoon grabs the phone and Seokmin is hoping for a better reaction. He doesn’t get it. Jihoon scoffs, rolling his eyes so hard his head rolls back. 

“What? You guys don’t think she’s pretty?!” Seokmin says loudly, almost forgetting he’s in a library. It’s such a crazy concept to him because she’s not the campus it girl for nothing. He’s known her name for two years now for a reason.

“Yeah, she’s pretty, but she’s a raging bitch,” Mingyu says heatedly. Seokmin is taken aback. Y/N seemed so sweet, Mingyu must have the wrong idea. 

Jihoon snorts. “Yeah, something like that.” 

Seokmin locks his phone, confused. “Have you guys met her or something?” 

“Who hasn’t?” Mingyu rolls his eyes. 

Jihoon shakes his head, looking at Seokmin with pity. “Man, take my word for it. That’s going nowhere fast.” 

“No? She seems so sweet.” Seokmin sounds like he’s trying to convince himself. 

“Mhm,” Jihoon hums. “Tell me, where did she want to go for your first date?” 

Seokmin frowns. “What does that have to do with anything?” 

“Let me guess,” Mingyu looked at Seokmin pointedly. “That sushi place on the north side of campus? Near the hospital?” 

Seokmin frowns deeper, voice turning small. “How did you know that?”

“That’s where she and I went a few weeks ago, before she dumped me. I got exactly three dates with her,” Mingyu snapped. Seokmin couldn’t tell if this anger was directed at her or maybe directed at him for being the next guy she dated. 

Jihoon laughs coldly. “Same, except it was over the summer.” 

Seokmin huffs defensively. “There’s nothing wrong with dating around. Besides, things are going well. We really clicked!” 

“How many dates have you had?” Mingyu asked. Seokmin meekly answers and Mingyu nods, lips pursed. “Then you have two more at the most. Enjoy it while it lasts.”

“Needless to say, we can do your idea, but we won’t be using her as a model,” Jihoon tacks on. 

Now, Seokmin isn’t one to be deterred. He really likes Y/N, so he agrees with Jihoon’s experiment idea if only to move on with the day. He's sure that Mingyu and Jihoon have it all wrong. They’re just bitter that it didn’t work out with someone as perfect as her. Seokmin had forgotten to ask, but he’s so sure they must have done something to run her off. 

The next night, he picks Y/N up from the sorority house and they have a great time going to see a musical at the community theatre. She seems tired by the time they get back to the sorority house, so he kisses her on the cheek and lets her go in. After all, she said she’d had cheer practice earlier that afternoon. He keeps that in mind for scheduling future dates. 

For their third date, Seokmin finds himself at the movie theater watching the latest horror movie. He is not a horror fan by a long shot, but he’s not brave enough to tell her that when she suggests it. She seems totally unfazed by every single gory scene and jump scare, while Seokmin is doing everything he can to keep it together. Not his best night. 

But she’s sweet and holds his hand throughout the movie. He shyly apologizes when they stop in front of the sorority house and says that horror is not his typical choice. She shrugs and kisses his cheek before going inside. 

A few days later, Seokmin sends Y/N a message asking if he can take her out again. He’s walking to the library to meet his psych group members when the fated text comes through. ‘Hi Seokmin! Thank you for the offer. You’re so sweet, but I don’t think I’m interested in pursuing anything further with you. I’m sorry and I hope you understand!’

Seokmin hates how smug Kim Mingyu looks when Seokmin slumps in his chair with none of the cheerfulness he had last time they met. “We were right, weren’t we?” 

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Seokmin mumbled. He thinks he might cry so he busies himself with his laptop. 

Jihoon pats his back a couple times. “That’s tough, man. I wish we hadn’t been right, but you know…”

“No, I don’t know. I have no clue what I did wrong,” Seokmin lamented, frustration bleeding into his voice. 

“That’s just what she does,” Mingyu shrugs. He’s not so angry now, maybe because misery loves company. Maybe because the guy after him also got dumped. 

Jihoon cursed. “Speak of the devil.” 

Mingyu and Seokmin follow Jihoon’s eyes and Seokmin really thinks he might cry. Y/N is standing with Jeong Jaehyun near the History section half way across the second floor balcony, but they aren’t really looking at the books. He’s leaning way too close to whisper in her ear and Y/N’s hand lands on his chest. Seokmin hopes it’s to push him away, but it’s not. She gives him the same sweet smile when he pulls away from her ear.

“Damn, she moves fast,” Jihoon mutters. “When did she break it off with you?” 

Seokmin’s head is in his hands. “She sent me a message on my way here.” He doesn’t have to look up because he hears the hiss of sympathy both of them let out. They’d at least had a few days to breathe before they found out she’d already moved on to someone else. 

“Come on,” Mingyu says, standing up to pack his bag. “We can do this over drinks, right? You look like you need one.”

Seokmin doesn’t have much to say, even when a glass of liquor is put in front of him, along with a plate of greasy bar food. Mingyu and Jihoon have plenty to say though. 

Jihoon met Y/N over the summer at a bar. His friends wanted to get him out of the house and he’d begrudgingly agreed. He met Y/N while he was getting himself a drink and he thought she was gorgeous, but he didn’t say anything to her initially besides a simple ‘excuse me’. While he was waiting for his drink though, she gave him a heart stopping smile and introduced herself. Now, Jihoon admits that he’s not the warmest person, but Y/N is and it was totally disarming.

However, after three dates, she said he was sweet, but she just wasn’t interested in pursuing anything further with him. 

Mingyu knew her through his captain from the basketball team - she’s his twin. He had always been enamored with her but he saw a revolving door of men around her all the time and was just waiting for the right moment. That opportunity presented itself at the twins’ birthday party in early August. He gave her a little gift and she gave him a heart stopping smile. They hooked up that night and then went on three subsequent dates. 

But just like Jihoon, she said he was sweet, but she just wasn’t interested in pursuing anything further with him. 

Seokmin could openly weep now with how obviously he’d been played because she’d used that exact phrase in her text. Mingyu and Jihoon seem genuinely sympathetic. “Don’t take it personally. We’re far from the first victims,” Jihoon insists. “If it makes you feel any better, Jaehyun is just next in line for the slaughter.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong, I’m sure of it,” Mingyu adds. “Maybe one day she’ll get a taste of her own medicine.” At this point, they’ve all abandoned the idea of working on their project, backpacks sitting on the grimy bar floor under the table. This little therapy session is more important to them it seems. 

“Wouldn’t that be nice? Someone to reel her in only to toss her out?” Jihoon chortled. It seems unlikely given everything he’s seen and heard now. She seems to do most of the reeling in and tossing out. 

Seokmin’s not sure that would make him feel better anyway. He finishes his dinner and drink, agreeing to meet them again in a couple days to actually do some work on their proposal. Seokmin goes to bed early that night.

~

“Jeong Jaehyun, huh?” Jeonghan raises an eyebrow at Y/N as they eat a late lunch. They’re sitting in the courtyard today to get some sun. Seungcheol is in class, so it’s just the two of them. 

Y/N gives him a big smile. “Yeah. He asked me out earlier this week. Isn’t he cute?”

“So cute,” Jeonghan snorts. She knows he doesn’t give a shit about how cute Jaehyun is. “What happened to Lee Seokmin? Or are you doubling up again?” He doesn’t mean it unkindly, just curiously. It would be hypocritical of him to give her a hard time about it anyway because he’s been known to do the same thing on occasion. 

Y/N’s smile dims a little. “He took me to a musical and he doesn’t like horror movies.”

“Ah,” Jeonghan laughs at her misfortune. “Did you tell him you hate musicals? And that liking horror movies is kind of a requirement?” 

Y/N sighs. “I was hoping the musical would be tolerable. He’s such a sweet guy and seemed excited about it. And he didn’t say anything about it when I suggested the horror movie, but then he nearly broke my hand. It wasn’t even that scary, was it?!” This last part is plea for understanding. 

Jeonghan agrees instantly, though he doesn’t really need to. They’d already talked about how bad it was for hours. “No, it was very lame and incredibly predictable. 3/10 at best.”

“Right?!” Y/N scoffs. “Anyway, I’m going out with Jaehyun on Friday. Don’t tell Seungcheol.”

“I’m sure I don’t have to… Jaehyun has been bragging constantly about it, and you know how locker room talk gets around, particularly with the basketball team,” Jeonghan explains. After a beat, he adds, “Maybe you should be careful with this one. Don’t put out right away at least. Make him work for it a little.”

Y/N hums. “Maybe. You know it’s never really about that though. Plus, you know I don’t care about the locker room talk.”

Jeonghan pats her hand comfortingly. “I know, angel.” He does know both of those things. He knows how she gets swept up in the romance of it all at first, or at least the idea of it, and if sex happens then it happens. And he also knows that she’s great at ignoring the locker room talk later because she’s already moved on by the time it gets back around to her. But the locker room talk bothers him and he regularly runs interference to keep it in check. He’s definitely not above making a few threats for his best friend. But as long as she’s happy, Jeonghan is too. 

~

Seokmin joins Mingyu and Jihoon in the courtyard in the early afternoon because none of them wanted to be in the dark and stuffy library. He sits between them at the round table and they immediately pin him with a look. “Do you want to move?” Jihoon asks, pointing across the courtyard. “We were debating on finding somewhere else to meet.”

Seokmin sees Y/N a few tables away but her back is turned to him. Seokmin has to get over this sooner rather than later and ruminating over her or whoever the guy sitting with her is won’t help much. He shares a class with her - one that he needs for his degree so he can’t drop it.

So he shrugs. “No, we can stay if you guys are okay with it. It’s nice out. New victim?” Seokmin asks, gesturing to the guy she’s with. The question comes out totally neutral because he’s feeling pretty numb about the whole thing.

Mingyu shakes his head. “No, that’s Yoon Jeonghan. She and Seungcheol have been friends with him since they were in diapers apparently. Jeonghan is basically the male version of Y/N from what I hear.” 

“A match made in hell,” Jihoon chuckles darkly. 

They all get out their laptops and textbooks to begin the proposal. Not a single one of them care much for this class, so it starts to feel like pulling teeth to get words on the shared document. For the thousandth time, Mingyu is reaching to his keyboard again, when dings and buzzes echo across the courtyard. Many people pick up their phones, including Mingyu. 

Except, while others start excitedly whispering, Mingyu sighs. “Forgot I turned that on,” he mumbles, opening something on his phone.

“You good?” Seokmin asks, glancing around the courtyard. He’s clearly missed something, and so has Jihoon, because both of their phones stay silent.

“The university gossip twitter. I had notifications on, which aren’t important anymore.” He’s pressing a few things and then he slides the phone to Seokmin and Jihoon. “That’s why.”

It’s a picture of Y/N and Jaehyun in the library, the exact sight the three of them had seen the other day, just from another angle. The caption said, ‘Choi Y/N and Jeong Jaehyun? How does the captain feel about this?’

Jihoon chuckles. “Tasteless. Not like she has any shame anyway,” he says, pointing a few tables over. Y/N and Jeonghan are giggling at something on his phone, probably the same thing they’re looking at. 

“Yeah, she’s a popular topic on there. The comments get kind of weird sometimes though. Look,” Mingyu says scrolling through them. “Everyone seems to love them together already. They always do. They liked you with her too, Seokmin.” 

Mingyu scrolls to a couple weeks ago. There’s no image, just a basic text post that says, ‘Choi Y/N spotted with Lee Seokmin. Didn’t know she was into theatre majors!!’ Under that post, so many people were gushing either about how cute they were together, or how jealous they were of Seokmin. There are even a few positive comments about Seokmin individually and he had no idea he had any admirers before reading this. Everything about it feels strange considering the way she dates around.

Seokmin huffed. “That’s a case study in conformity if I’ve ever seen it.”

He means it as a joke, but he catches Mingyu and Jihoon glancing at each other. “You… have a good point. Not that I care to get a good grade - no offense, but I just need to pass - but this basically writes itself,” Jihoon says slowly. 

“Conformity in social media. I don’t hate it,” Mingyu shrugs. “But it would have to be a case study. I don’t know how we’d manipulate what’s on here to make it an experiment.”

“No one knows who runs this account?” Seokmin asks curiously. He doesn’t really care what they write this paper about, or care to know who runs such an account, but it’s kind of intriguing when he sees the follower count. Half the student body must keep an eye on this single account and yet it’s still anonymous?

“Even if we did, what would our game plan be? I mean, we can’t hack it,” Jihoon laughs.

But Mingyu is suddenly chuckling darkly. “We can’t, but maybe someone else could.” Then he’s standing and Seokmin’s about to scold him for abandoning their assignment yet again. Mingyu waves at them to join, tossing his backpack over his shoulder. “Come on. This counts as work for the assignment, I promise.”

~

Wonwoo wakes up to a kick on his leg. He grumbles, blinking slowly and picking the book up off his face. He had been reading while laying in the grass in the quad, but the book was also a great cover to keep the sun out of his eyes for a little power nap. He blinks in the glare of the sunlight and then groans because he recognizes who kicked him, or at least the general shape. He’s seen Mingyu loom over him like this to wake him up too many times in their two years as roommates. 

“What do you want? I’m busy,” Wonwoo puts the book back over his face. 

Mingyu gets right to the point. “What would you need to know to be able to hack into a twitter account or find out who owns it?”

It’s not the weirdest question he’s ever gotten from Mingyu, so he stays under the book. “The username and free lunch for a week to start.”

“Done.” 

Odd. Usually there’s more of a fight for the terms of something like this. Wonwoo lifts the book, but there’s a phone shoved in his face. When he spots the username, he laughs. “Oh, yeah. Not sure how much luck you’re going to have with that one.”

“Why not? You can’t do it?” Mingyu asked curiously.

Wonwoo is back under the book. “I’ve never tried, but plenty of my classmates have. The power that account holds around here is legendary and a lot of people want their hands on it, but whoever runs it has incredible password hygiene and knows how to spot a phishing email. And the account uses a dead-end email address that connects back to no one in particular, so tracing it hasn’t worked for anyone so far either.” 

“So you can’t do it?” Mingyu presses. 

Wonwoo sighs, closing the book to stare up at his roommate. So much for his nap. “I didn’t say that. I’d still want free lunch for a week if I attempt it - keyword being ‘attempt’. Plus, you need to tell me why you need it. I believe in ethical hacking, remember.”

“It’s for a group project,” Mingyu says vaguely. Wonwoo now realizes it’s not just Mingyu standing around him. Two other guys are with him and they look pretty confused. 

Wonwoo sits up. “What the fuck kind of a project are you working on that you need access to an account like that?”

“Psychology.” Another vague answer. 

Wonwoo decides it’s not worth it to ask anymore questions. “I’ll see what I can do. But I have to do it at home. There are some things you shouldn’t do on university wifi, you know?”

“Great, thanks! Enjoy your nap. See you at home,” Mingyu waves, turning away. The two guys follow him, still looking terribly confused. Wonwoo isn’t going back to sleep now, so he picks up the book again and starts reading. A problem for another time.

~

“Him? Are you serious?” Seokmin asked.

“Not sure why, but I kind of expected some catty sorority girl,” Jihoon frowned.

Mingyu stared. “Wonwoo insisted he was sure.”

Late last night, Wonwoo had busted into Mingyu’s room, announcing that he’d done it. He said it wasn’t easy and it had taken a couple days, but he looked rather pleased with himself when he shoved his phone in Mingyu’s face. An Instagram account was pulled up on it. Wonwoo rambles something about IP addresses, cloud accounts, and traffic on the same network, which means very little to Mingyu who is used to mechanical and architectural engineering. When asked, Wonwoo says he’s 99.9% sure, with the remaining .1% implying that someone else could be using the same device on the same account and network. He unfortunately has no way of being totally certain that that’s not the case. Good enough for Mingyu.

“Sure enough to walk up and ask Boo Seungkwan for his twitter account?” Seokmin asks skeptically. The three of them are standing across the way from the Journalism and Communications building, watching Seungkwan scroll on his phone while he sits on a bench. 

“Is this really necessary? Do we need control of the account to do this? Like Seokmin said yesterday, the case study kind of writes itself,” Jihoon argues. 

Mingyu’s given this some thought. Or a lot, actually. “Hear me out,” he starts, because his two group members look so doubtful. “This could have a dual purpose. We could just write the case study… or we could try to gain some control over the account to start manipulating what gets posted and create an experiment. Plus… it might be a little bit of revenge.”

Seokmin nearly walks away. “Can’t we just do the music idea that Jihoon came up with? I’m not interested in revenge, I’d just like to forget those three dates and move on.”

“What kind of revenge?” Jihoon entertains, ignoring Seokmin’s argument. 

“I’m open to suggestions, but I was wondering what the response would be if the tone of the account changes. I mean, it’s never written as a bad thing if she moves on fast. I can’t imagine why it would when the account gets the kind of interaction it does. But I can’t help wondering what would happen if it was painted as a negative thing,” Mingyu explains.

Seokmin frowns. “You want to start a smear campaign?”

Mingyu looks at him with a mixture of confusion and anger. “What? You don’t think she deserves it?” 

Maybe she does, Seokmin thinks. Because here she comes, hand in hand with Jaehyun. Seokmin can’t believe that he can’t just avoid her on a campus this big. They’re chatting and smiling as they walk past the three of them. She even makes brief eye contact with Seokmin and has the gall to smile. Seokmin’s eyes are still following them when Jihoon sucks in a breath, hitting Seokmin in the chest to get his attention. 

Boo Seungkwan has his phone up now, taking a picture of them as they walk away, none the wiser. He taps a few times on his phone and then Mingyu’s phone dings. Mingyu looks pleased because Wonwoo was absolutely right, no 99.9% about it.

Seokmin huffs. “Fine. Let’s see what he says.” 

Mingyu takes the lead and Seungkwan looks at them curiously when they approach. “Boo Seungkwan?” Mingyu asks.

Seungkwan’s smile has a layer of something unsettling to it. “Kim Mingyu. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“We’d like to make a deal with you,” Mingyu says and Seungkwan looks intrigued. “We want access to your twitter account for a while. Name your price.”

“What twitter account?” Seungkwan says evenly. “I don’t even have one.”

“We just watched you take that picture and post it to the university gossip account,” Jihoon insists coolly. “I’d think you’d be more careful to not get caught since it’s anonymous.”

Seungkwan eyes the three of them carefully now. Finally, he says, “Say I knew what you were talking about, which I don’t; you’d have to make me a pretty incredible offer.”

“Name it,” Mingyu says simply. 

After a few more beats of silence, Seungkwan stands. “Follow me. This conversation  needs to be more private.” 

Inside the Journalism and Communications building, Seungkwan closes the door behind them in an empty study room. “How in the fuck did you know it was me? It wasn’t because of the picture I just posted. You guys had been watching me for nearly ten minutes already,” he snaps, totally losing the cool facade from outside.

“I know a guy,” Mingyu answers lamely. Seungkwan looked less than satisfied with the answer, so Mingyu continued. “He said your password was too good to guess anytime soon, but he was able to trace it back to you with quite a bit of certainty.”

“You tried to hack me?!” Seungkwan seethes. “Why on earth would you do that?” 

“It’s for a project. We’d like to use it to take Choi Y/N down a peg.”

Seungkwan reels back and laughs at Jihoon’s explanation, all the anger from a moment ago replaced by glee. “Oh, I see now. A few bitter exes wanting to get their lick back.” He plops down in one of the chairs, looking smug. “You know, you’re not the first to ask me that, but you are the first to successfully track me down in two years. Usually they just DM the twitter account, begging for a mean post about her.”

“As they should,” Mingyu insists. “You’ve seen what she does to men over and over.”

“And that’s really none of my business outside of this account,” Seungkwan answers diplomatically. “Y/N is a sweet girl that just happens to gets a lot of attention. She’s a favorite for my followers. No other subject does as good as she does on the account. Why would I want to ruin that?”

“Because she doesn’t just date around. She treats people like they’re disposable,” Seokmin finds himself snapping. He thinks it’s ironic when he defended her the same way Seungkwan is just a couple weeks ago, but that’s when he still thought he might be different. There was nothing wrong with dating around. But there might be something wrong if you make everyone you see feel special before cutting things off out of nowhere. 

“And I’m sure she’s sorry it didn’t work out,” Seungkwan said with such certainty that it made the three men look at him like he was crazy. “But I haven’t heard an offer yet. Or what this ‘project’ is for, for that matter,” Seungkwan folds his hands on the table expectantly. 

A lot of it is off the cuff because their proposal document is still very blank besides the headers, but they all explain, eventually sitting down at the table with him. Seungkwan is quiet for a long time. Seokmin thinks he might even look conflicted or that he’s getting ready to turn them down. But they’ve promised to give him plenty of content to post and that’s what finally makes him sigh.

“I’ll pull the plug on all of this as soon as I think it’s getting out of hand. And you guys will not have access to the account, but you can have a say in what gets posted.” His expression turns sly. “In exchange for the cooperation of your hacker.” 

Mingyu frowns. He’s not sure he can talk Wonwoo into anything more since he’s all out of IOUs. “Why would you need that? What do you have in mind?”

“I can explain if you make the introductions. I take it this person has some development experience?” Mingyu shrugs in response to Seungkwan’s question, not quite ready to reveal his roommate’s identity. “I have a little project of my own that he could help me with. And I think it could be of use in your project too.”

Mingyu, Jihoon, and Seokmin glance at each other. Finally, they all nod. “I’ll make it work,” Mingyu promises, desperately hoping it wasn’t empty.

~

Wonwoo folds in half with tears in his eyes. He’s sitting in the engineering building between classes having a snack when Mingyu approaches him with another request. The two guys from yesterday are with him again, but they look less confused now. Wonwoo has since learned that their names are Seokmin and Jihoon. Wonwoo’s not terribly surprised that Boo Seungkwan is with them today too. He assumes he didn’t track him down for nothing. 

Mingyu looks annoyed. “You owe me one,” he reminds and Wonwoo calls his bluff right away. 

“I don’t. Finding him,” Wonwoo points to Seungkwan while wiping his eyes, “was your favor. We’re even now. Besides, I’m swamped. I can’t possibly pick up another project on the side.”

“It doesn’t have to be pretty. Keep it simple. I just need to have access to an admin account,” Seungkwan smoothly says. 

“You know I’ve never built anything like that, right? Existing vendors keep a tight lid on how their algorithm works for a reason,” Wonwoo argues. 

“It doesn’t have to be complex. Plus, that’s why the admin account is necessary. I want to manipulate the matches on occasion,” Seungkwan insists. 

Wonwoo blankly looks between the four men because he can’t believe they’re so serious, finally landing on his roommate. “Tell me right now why you’re asking me to build a dating app. Is this for your ‘psych’ project too?” He asks jokingly, but loses all humor when Mingyu nods. 

“We should just tell him,” Jihoon insists to Mingyu. “Surely he doesn’t like her either.”

Mingyu frowns for a moment. Eventually, he asks, “How would you like to help us take down Choi Y/N?” 

Wonwoo did not want to. Don’t get him wrong, he didn’t care much for her, but he didn’t hate her and didn’t really care to give her anymore attention. “Sounds like some project… I’ll pass - on both your psych/revenge project and the dating app.”

Mingyu scoffs down at his roommate. “Please? What do you want for it?” 

“Money, at the very least. I’ll get very little satisfaction out of whatever you guys are planning, I’m sure,” Wonwoo says. He’s hoping they’ll drop it now. They’re all broke college students after all. Money is such a precious commodity.

So he’s amazed to see all of them shrug. “Name your price,” Seokmin says easily.

Wonwoo’s eyes are narrowed skeptically now. “Pay my part of the rent this month. I’m saving for a new PC.” He wants to laugh when they agree again. Those that aren’t his roommate don’t even ask how much it is. “Now, tell me what you guys were thinking.”

~ 

In the next two weeks, Seungkwan had changed his tone on the twitter account. It was subtle at first. A few words like, ‘Already?’ Or ‘She moves on fast,’ were peppered into a post occasionally. They wanted to see how well each post performed and what kind of comments they got based on the tone and word choices used. 

However, it became apparent that it didn’t matter that she was already done with Jaehyun and the guy after him, already spotted with another guy entirely. It didn’t seem like they were even getting the typical three dates. But the interaction stats stayed about the same, as did the comments. Encouraging, begging, and overwhelmingly supportive. The group is forced to rethink their approach while Wonwoo finishes the dating app. 

“Why does everyone fall for it?” Jihoon laments, scrolling through the account. 

“She’s charming,” Seungkwan replies easily. He’s not stressed about any of this because his account is doing well and his app is on the way. That means that anytime now he can start on his own plan to set up as many horrible matches as possible. He’s going to be writing a ‘bad date’ column in the student paper and while there are surely plenty of those out there already, a few more wouldn’t hurt. “You guys fell for it too.”

“Who wouldn’t?” Seokmin said solemnly. He had already drafted up the alternative proposal for their project in preparation for all of this to fail. It didn’t feel great to talk so much about Y/N either since it was still a sore subject for him.

“I don’t know. There has to be someone impervious to her charm,” Mingyu sighed, long giving up on scrolling. 

Seungkwan laughed and it made the three of them snap their heads to him. “Just pay someone for it. It seems that you guys aren’t above that and surely someone wouldn’t mind to make a buck.”

Seokmin looks doubtful. “You think we should find a plant?”

“Sure. When I have my admin account I can even make sure they match,” Seungkwan shrugs. None of them really have to ask if Y/N will even download the app when it’s available. They know she will because she’s on all of the other dating apps.

“Who would we even draft for that sort of thing? She doesn’t go back to people after the fact, so it would have to be someone that has never dated her. That might be a short list,” Mingyu insists. 

“I’d say find someone new to the university, like a freshman, but that’s not typically her style. But a transfer could work?” Seungkwan suggests. 

Wonwoo slides into the seat next to Mingyu, interrupting them. “Some of the logic you asked for has been a pain in the ass, but you’ll be able to try it out tomorrow with some test data,” he tells Seungkwan, who immediately looks pleased. 

“Wonwoo, would you know how to find a list of incoming male students? Not necessarily freshman,” Jihoon asks.

Wonwoo looks at him blankly. “This is getting very expensive for you guys. But yes,” Wonwoo admits, resigned. “My work study is in the university’s IT office. It’s all in a database.”

“Would you mind pulling us a list?” Mingyu asks, giving his most charming smile. 

Wonwoo rolls his eyes, flatly saying, “Go get me lunch. I’ll see what I can do.” As Mingyu hops up, Wonwoo sighs, getting out his laptop. He’s beginning to regret whatever he’s agreed to and doesn’t wish to know anymore about what they’re using all of this for. 

But ten minutes later, he still slides his computer to them and they crowd around. He’s given them a spreadsheet with the student name, declared major, and current credit hours achieved. They’re meticulous about going through the list of approximately twenty people. They eliminate most for various reasons after looking them up and come back to one in particular. 

“Joshua Hong.  He has enough credits to be a senior. Isn’t that weird to transfer so late?” Seokmin asks. They all agree, but Wonwoo doesn’t have access to anything prior to him being enrolled here at the moment so it remains a mystery as to why Joshua’s transferred so late.

“He’s a biology major though. That could work in our favor because Y/N is too,” Seungkwan adds. “Plus, he’s attractive enough to be her type.” He shows them Joshua’s Instagram account and they have to agree. He’s handsome. 

“Worth a try…” Mingyu murmurs, before turning to Wonwoo to grin again. “Do you have access to his class schedule? And Y/N’s for that matter?”

Wonwoo stares for a long moment before sighing. “Go get me an iced americano.” He watches Seokmin jump up this time and Wonwoo really is regretting what he’s gotten himself into. 

~

Joshua feels eyes on him. He’s in the courtyard near the Science building, working on an assignment between classes, but he keeps getting this tingle up his spine that he can’t explain. He’s glanced around the courtyard but doesn’t see anyone that looks particularly interested in him. 

Until there’s a tap on his shoulder, that is. There are few guys there and he has no idea where they came from or how they snuck up on him. Joshua tries to smile politely but he’s confused. It’s not like people had been unfriendly, but being new means most people don’t approach you first. Everyone already has their cliques and it’s unlikely Joshua will be invited into the fold of any of them. It’s a completely expected hazard of transferring as a senior. “Hi? Can I help you?” He asks. His eyes widen when the three of them sit down at the table with him without an invitation. 

“Joshua, right?” One guy says, but he doesn’t really wait for an answer. “I’m Kim Mingyu.” 

Ah. That rings a bell because Joshua was wondering where he’d seen him before. Joshua had waited on him at work once before. “Uh, yeah! Nice to meet you.”

Mingyu gives a charming smile. The guy is charismatic, Joshua will give him that. “This is Jihoon and Seokmin. We were wondering if you could help us with something.” 

Joshua is starting to feel a little suspicious, but he nods slowly, “Maybe. What is it?”

No one says anything right away and his suspicion is growing. Finally, Jihoon speaks up. Joshua thinks he also recognizes him from serving him at work too, now that he thinks about it. “Have you had the pleasure of meeting Choi Y/N yet?”

Joshua’s eyes narrow because Jihoon doesn’t say it like it’s really a pleasure. “Not personally, no… we have a couple classes together, but I’ve never spoken to her.” 

“What do you think about her so far?” Mingyu prompts.

Joshua must look totally confused but they seem to actually be waiting on an answer. So he shrugs nonchalantly. “She’s pretty and seems friendly enough, but she seems like a bit of a flirt.” That earns three scoffs and his eyes widen. “I’m totally lost, guys. Why are you asking me this?”

“Just trying to get a read on if you’ll be willing to help us,” Mingyu says casually. 

“I’d prefer you not beat around the bush and just ask for the favor,” Joshua insists. He doesn’t care for their riddles or quizzes. Plus, he really wanted to finish this assignment because he works tonight.

When Seokmin speaks, Joshua’s jaw drops. Then he laughs at how absurd the pitch is. He can’t help it. “You guys can’t be serious.”

“Very serious. She’s played all of us and she’ll keep playing people until someone does something about it,” Mingyu snaps and the intensity of it surprises Joshua. Mingyu must not have taken it well when she ended things, much like Minghao said she would. 

“And you want me to, as you say, ‘reel her in and dump her’.” It’s not a question because he’s just repeating what Seokmin said a few moments ago. “Also, why me? There are a ton of guys that would be all over the opportunity to spend some time with her. I’ve seen it myself.”

“You’re new and just her type. She doesn’t go back to someone once she dumps them, so it has to be someone totally new to the scene,” Jihoon insists. 

“Uh huh,” Joshua says, totally unconvinced. “So, what? I ask her out, take her on a few dates, and then tell her I’m not interested?” 

“Yes!” The three of them cry like they’re thrilled he gets it and Joshua’s eyes go wide again. 

“You didn’t even ask if I was single,” Joshua laughs humorlessly. He thinks they must be clinically insane. 

“Your Instagram screams ‘single’,” Mingyu deadpans. Joshua doesn’t really have an answer for that because he is, in fact, very single. But he is increasingly disturbed by the thought they’ve put into this, including stalking his social media to know that. “Look, what do you want for it? We’re open to making a deal.”

Joshua can’t believe they’re so serious. Their animosity towards Y/N is overpowering and totally toxic. “There’s nothing wrong with dating around. She must not feel like she’s found the right person yet.”

“Yeah, you kind of have to give it more than a few dates to be sure of that though. She barely gets to know anyone,” Jihoon presses. 

It makes Joshua laugh again. “Have you ever considered that the guys that chase after her are walking red flags and she can see that within just a few dates?” He recognizes he could be offending all three of them, but he finds he doesn’t care much. Yes, she’s a flirt and seems a little flighty, but what they’re talking about doing in response is so… malicious. 

“I can’t believe you’re taking her side,” Mingyu looks stunned. “You should see the way she’s done this since she got here. I wouldn’t be surprised if she did it before, too. She’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing and she deserves to be exposed for it.”

“And how are you going to expose her for that? If I do anything, which I haven’t agreed to, it would be a few dates before I cut it off. That’s it. I’m not out to publicly humiliate anyone. How badly do you want to tear this poor girl apart?” Joshua asks sympathetically and he can see it burns all three of them up inside. 

“Show him,” Seokmin demands. Mingyu opens his phone, sliding it to Joshua. 

He wants to laugh because it’s an account on twitter. This feels a little too ‘Gossip Girl’ for him. But the more he scrolls, he sees that Choi Y/N is the Serena Van Der Woodson and Blair Waldorf of the account rolled into one. The post dates are alarmingly close, even occasionally overlapping, between sightings of her with a different guy nearly every time. Posts about her go back to early last semester and he stops scrolling because he’s sure there’s more beyond it. 

Joshua pushes the phone back to Mingyu with a sigh. “Look, I’m not totally unsympathetic about this. Getting dumped sucks. But this can only go wrong. It might hurt her, yes, and we can argue about whether she deserves it. But this could easily blow up in everyone’s faces. The collateral damage isn’t worth this. Just stop worrying about her or giving her attention.”

The three are silent and Joshua is relieved to see he has to go. He tells them it was nice to meet them, which feels a little like a lie, and packs up his things. Minghao would certainly laugh about Joshua’s weird afternoon later. 

~

Not for the first time, Joshua thinks that the world works in mysterious ways. He’s in his Biostats class, still reeling from the conversation in the courtyard, when the instructor announces they’ll be doing an in-class assignment with a partner today. And what do you know? He’s been randomly assigned to Y/N. 

He has to admit she’s pretty charming when she slides into the seat next to him and smiles. “Joshua, is it? Are you new? I haven’t really seen you around before.” 

Joshua nods, giving a polite smile in return. “Yes. I just transferred.” He busies himself with pulling up the dataset they would be working with today. They get to work and he can totally understand why she has men lining up. He was already aware that she was pretty, but she was incredibly intelligent and quick witted as well. He keeps a polite smile on his face but tries not to feed into it. He might think that those three insane guys were a little too intense about their plot for revenge, but he doesn’t want to be roped in. 

However, they’re such an efficient team that they finish their assignment with nearly ten minutes left of class. He kind of expects Y/N to turn and talk to one of her friends or one of the many guys that are dramatically letting their partner down with all the staring they’re doing. Or at the very least, he kind of expects her to pick up her phone that’s been buzzing on the desk the whole time with notifications. 

Instead, she smiles at him. “So, are you pre med?” 

Another polite smile. “Yes. Are you?” 

She’s grinning now. “Yeah! I’m actually going to do an internship at the hospital next semester in the ER.”

Joshua is entertained by her enthusiasm and it could certainly be totally disarming. “I’m jealous. Not of the ER, to be clear. Just the internship.”

“You should apply!” Y/N encourages. “They have openings in a few departments. I can send you the link, if you’d like.”

He recognizes this for what it is immediately. He has his laptop open still and she could just pull it up for him in a new tab. Instead, she wants some way to contact him. 

But he knows how to ignore a message or block someone, so he slides her his unlocked phone. He could actually use the link anyway. She’s practiced at this sort of exchange, because she’s handing it back in moments. “I’ll send it to you later,” she promises. 

Joshua is relieved when the instructor dismisses class. He totally gets now why she has so much power. When she sends him the link with a short message later, he just responds with a ‘Thanks,” and a thumbs up, shutting down any further conversation. 

He’s met someone like her before and he won’t be falling for it again anytime soon. 

~

Jeonghan is holding Y/N’s head to his chest at their usual table in the library, and normally that would be nice of him to support one of his oldest friends and arguably his best friend, except for the fact that it’s totally patronizing. “My poor baby, I’m sorry you’re having a bad week.” 

Y/N scoffs in his chest but doesn’t push him away. There would be no point because then he’d start pinching her cheeks and cooing in her face. “You’re the worst. You don’t have an ounce of sympathy for me.”

“I do,” Jeonghan lies through his teeth, stroking her hair. “It’s just really funny and I wish I’d been there for all of it.” 

It seems that Y/N had pissed someone off. She wasn’t sure who, but in the last three weeks she’d been pranked on no less than five occasions. The firsts two were at the sorority house, so she hadn’t realized she was the primary target yet. Someone TP’d their house one night and just when the university’s custodial staff had cleaned it up and they thought they were safe, there was a smell creeping into the house. It was subtle at first, just small whiffs of it every now and then when you walk through the house. They clean the drains, wipe down the kitchen and bathrooms thoroughly, and take out the trash more frequently. But the smell begins to permeate every room. 

Pest control comes out and finds nothing, despite crawling through the attic and the unfinished basement which includes a crawl space. The tech thinks it’s coming from the vents but finds nothing there either. So the house mother calls an HVAC tech to come take a look. He crawls around in the vents as well and doesn’t find anything… before finally finding a dead fish in the AC unit outside, roasting in the heat of late summer. The girls have to keep the windows open with fans at full blast for days to get the smell out. Inconveniently, their security cameras didn’t catch anything for either event. 

A couple days later, Y/N meets Lee Chan in front of the Science building and they walk in together. She’s tutored a lot of people in her time here, but he’s her favorite after just a few weeks, hands down. They’re idly chatting as they walk upstairs and into the TA office, which is empty with the lights off. They get unpacked and Y/N’s butt barely touches the seat when an air horn goes off. She and Chan are totally scared shitless at such a sound at 8:30 in the morning, but sure enough, there’s an air horn under her rolling chair, set to go off as soon as she sits. Chan helps her remove it along with the duct tape from the leg of the chair and they laugh about such a juvenile prank despite their hearts racing. 

A couple days later, she comes in for her office hours after lunch. She’s greeting the girl she’ll be tutoring in physics today as she pumps some hand sanitizer into her palm. When she starts to rub her hands together, something doesn’t feel right. It’s sticky in a way that the alcohol content in hand sanitizer shouldn’t be and then it’s quickly drying in chunks. She’s horrified to realized that the container has been replaced with glue. Even though she washes her hands half a dozen times in the bathroom down the hall, she still can’t touch the poor girl’s paper or textbook without it sticking to her. Her sorority sisters tell her that night that nothing like that has happened to them and Y/N realizes she must be the main target. 

The most recent thing happened just this morning. Chan had met her again outside and when they flipped the light on in the office, there was a present sitting there. It’s wrapped nicely and it even has her name on it. She’s immediately suspicious and finds out quickly she had every right to be. Chan hands her a ruler from her desk drawer and she stands at arms length to flip the lid open - only to suddenly be covered in glitter. 

It occurs to her that Jeonghan might be dusting some of that glitter out of her hair instead of nicely stroking it to soothe her and she scoffs, finally pushing him away. She’d had time to stop by the house and change clothes, but not enough to shower. She sparkles a little every time she moves. “It’s not funny, Hannie. I don’t know what I did to deserve this!” 

“I don’t know. Maybe you pissed off the wrong person. Want me to look into it?” Jeonghan offers. She knows he’s serious about looking into it despite the hard time he’s just given her. He keeps glancing around them at the library every now and then and she’s getting a lot of looks. That’s because somehow all of these events have ended up on that stupid gossip twitter. She’s not sure how that’s happened, but people seem to be enjoying her suffering. Some of the comments have turned kind of mean and she’s getting tagged in each post dozens of times with laughing/crying emojis. Jeonghan had quietly taken her phone from her hands and closed out of the app when he found her scrolling through it earlier. 

“I think you need to find a new guy to take the heat off of all of this,” he says and she can’t tell if he’s joking or not. He’s never discouraged her dating, but he’s never openly encouraged it either. He usually says good luck like any good friend would when she announces she has a date and that’s it. 

She groans, swiping a hand down her arm to dust a couple specks of glitter off. “Yeah, that’s not going well either.”

Jeonghan gives her a perplexed look. “What do you mean? Just pick someone.” She doesn’t answer him so he raises an eyebrow. “Is there someone in particular?”

Y/N can’t help the pout that falls onto her lips. “There’s a guy in a couple of my classes but he doesn’t seem interested.” 

This intrigues Jeonghan because he’s never heard of such a thing before. “Have you asked him if he is? Maybe he’s just shy.”

“I don’t think so. He’s easy to talk to, but every time I drop hints he either misses them or ignores him, but I can’t tell which. Besides, I’m used to being asked rather than doing the asking. He’s cute and smart and totally disinterested,” Y/N says, totally deflating now. 

Jeonghan snorted. “Unlikely. Give it a little bit for him to warm up. Now, help me with this stupid math homework. I definitely didn’t listen yesterday in class.”

~

Joshua is paired up with Y/N again in class. She smiles when she sits down next to him but it’s not the normal thousand-watt smile that he and everyone else usually gets. He doesn’t ask and they start with their dataset. He’s having trouble with a formula when Y/N offers to help. He lets her pull the laptop to her and he watches her fingers fly over the keyboard. Her confidence at this is impressive, but that’s not what gets his attention. 

“Doing some art projects lately?” He muses lightly. She glances down at her hands and then huffs, wiping them on her skirt. 

“No, someone sent me a glitter bomb yesterday. I don’t think I’ll ever get all of it off. I’ll be sparkling for years to come,” she answers with much less enthusiasm than usual. 

Joshua can’t help but laugh outright because it sounds so absurd. “A glitter bomb? Why in the world would someone do that?”

Y/N glances at him and he can tell she’s clearly faking her amusement, kind of like she doesn’t just know how to let herself frown. “I don’t know, but it’s one of many pranks lately.” She slides the laptop back to him but he doesn’t take it back. 

There’s this nagging feeling in his chest and he’s not sure why, so he asks, “Does this happen to you often?” 

Y/N laughs humorlessly. “No. First someone TP’d the sorority house and put a dead fish in the AC unit. Then the air horn under the chair, and the glue in the hand sanitizer bottle, and then the glitter bomb yesterday. I’m not sure what I did, but someone’s having a lot of fun. It’s all ended up on that stupid gossip twitter account too.”

“A little overboard, huh?” He says sympathetically, and he might not be her biggest fan but he means it. Someone’s got a vendetta against her, that’s for sure. 

That nagging feeling doesn’t go away as he’s walking back to his dorm after class. On a whim, he opens twitter. Y/N didn’t lie, every single event she mentioned is on there, some with photos or videos in which she looks mortified. When he opens some of the comments, he thinks it’s no wonder she seems so miserable, even if these are technically harmless pranks. Some people are really enjoying this. He gathers that Y/N is usually pretty refined and put together, not a single hair out of place. She doesn’t look very refined walking out of an office covered in glitter or holding her hands out in front of her while they’re covered in glue. 

Joshua pockets his phone and looks around campus as he strolls. He spots some familiar figures in the courtyard and that nagging feeling is back. Enough for him to stop In the grass and watch them. They’re laughing really hard about something as they’re crowded around a computer. 

Joshua takes the long way to them, creeping up behind their backs. They’re watching the video of Y/N after the glitter bomb. 

“I should have known,” he says sternly. They wheel around to him fast and Jihoon slams his laptop shut. “Having a little prank war, are you? Actually, it doesn’t really count as a war if she can’t fight back.”

“She deserves it,” Mingyu says smugly, not bothering to deny it. “Didn't you see it?”

“Sure did, as well as the aftermath.” Joshua refuses to elaborate. “I think you’ve made your point a few times over. You have your experiment results.”

Seokmin shakes his head in confusion. “Why are you defending her? You’ve seen the twitter account.”

“Yeah, which is trash from what I can see,” Joshua insists. They look so put out by the statement that Joshua frowns. “Don’t tell me you’re behind that too.” Their silence is answer enough. Besides, they’re focused on something else now. Joshua turns to see what it is. 

Y/N is walking into the student union with yet another guy. This one looks at her just as adoringly as the others. Jihoon is cursing. “Oh, come on. A freshman?” 

“You know him?” Seokmin asks.

“He’s in the same department as me, just as a dance major. He’s a nice kid. She’s going to eat him alive,” Jihoon huffed. 

The other three are ranting about it, but Joshua watches the couple closely. Whatever defense he had for her is fading fast. He remembers being the innocent freshman three years ago. He remembers getting eaten alive over and over by one girl - a pretty upper class man who could smile and bat her eyes to get whatever she wanted. He remembers having to move across the world and transfer schools to keep it from consuming him. The poor kid looks in love and he knows the look because he wore it for nearly three years while he thought things were going to get better. 

He’s also remembering the way Y/N tried to worm her way into a conversation the first time they had to work together in class. The charm was undeniable and it kind of felt like twisting the knife now that he thought about it because she was really just like Lily in so many ways. 

Joshua grits his teeth, turning back to the three guys. “Tell me your plan again?”

They all look shocked. “I thought you weren’t interested in helping us,” Mingyu starts. 

“I’ll consider it, if your plan is any good, that is,” Joshua snaps, sitting down at the table, looking at them expectantly. 

Finally, Jihoon opens his laptop again, clicking a few things. Then he flips it to Joshua. “This isn’t the version that we’ve submitted for our psych experiment. This more of an… unofficial document.”

Joshua scrolls and they let him. About thirty seconds later, he flips it back to Jihoon. “Where do we start?”

Act Two

Joshua downloads the app as soon as it hits the gossip twitter, which he now follows. He thinks it’s pretty rudimentary, but they assured him it just needed to be functional and they could pretty it up as their developer had time if it was really that important. 

Later that afternoon, he meets Boo Seungkwan, and Joshua is convinced he might be evil. Seungkwan cackles loudly when he sees that Y/N has already set up an account too. Then there’s the low maniacal giggling that he does when he gets into his admin app. Seconds later, Joshua has a match. 

Between all this evil laughter, the other three are grilling him on his dating experience. He’s vague about his answers. First, it’s none of their business, really. Second, Joshua already has an inkling that Y/N is interested and is just waiting to be asked out. He plans to make her work for it a little before he gives her much. 

The first message comes through within minutes of Seungkwan making the match and it makes Joshua laugh. The others try to crowd around his phone, but he pushes them away. They don’t need to know his methods. 

And his first method is to let the message sit there marked as read for a while. Two days in fact. At their next biostats class, they thankfully just have a lecture, but he can feel someone looking at him from across the room every now and then. 

Finally, he responds with something casual. ‘Hey Y/N, sorry I missed this message.’ It’s a classic get-out-of-trouble card and he knows it worked when she replies immediately with, ‘No big deal!’ She then proceeds to try to start a conversation and he stays ‘busy’ for the next couple weeks, only replying to her sparingly. 

During the next in-class project, Y/N slides into the seat next to him and smiles, but it looks a tad insecure compared to how it normally looks. Joshua grins at her when he greets her and she lights up like a Christmas tree. He’s pleased because it’s taken very little work to have her in the palm of his hand. 

He waits another week to make another move and it’s probably not the move that she wanted. At approximately 11:30pm, he sends her a message on the app that says, ‘You up?’ He cringes when he sends it, but the thing is, she needs to feel like a last resort, or at least one of many options. When she replies, he’s suddenly busy and doesn’t answer her back. 

He does this two more times over the next couple weeks, messaging her first and then dodging her. On the fourth time, he finally takes her up on her offer. He feels like an asshole when he shows up at the sorority house in the middle of the night on Thursday because he’s kind of winging this part. He considers showing up but acting totally disinterested in being there. Maybe he’ll even scroll through Seungkwan’s dating app in front of her, where he has other matches. 

He’s so busy thinking about his next move that he really doesn’t expect to be pushed against her bedroom door after she sneaks him in. Y/N has her body pushed flush up against his, lips attacking his own in a desperate kiss. 

Joshua decides he hates her. Hates how she’s pouted at his disinterest and stared him down in every class they share because he’s not giving in to her. Hates how he’s seen her shut down every single guy for two weeks because it seems like she’s actually into him. Hates how crushed those guys look when she politely turns them down.  Hates how if he really does give in to her, he’ll have to work faster than her.

He particularly hates how he immediately responds to her touch, rock hard in his sweats. She’s attractive and he’s not blind. And there’s something that lights his veins on fire with how desperate she seems for his attention. She’s not used to having to wait for what she wants and he has half a mind to make her wait longer. Maybe he doesn’t even have to date her. Walking away from her now, or even after he sleeps with her, would get the message across too. 

But he hates her and hates how nice she feels against him and there’s something really passionate about his hate. So he swings her around and it’s her turn to be pushed against the door. Her mouth opens and she looks like she’s holding back a moan. Joshua’s body is totally pressed against hers now and he leans down to her ear. “You know how to be quiet, right? Don’t want to wake up your roommates, do we?” 

The words are taunting but they have an immediate affect on her. Her eyes get wide, lips pouting. She kind of looks like she might cry and he’s enjoying that far too much. “Yes, I’ll be quiet.” 

And she tried really hard. He thinks it’s actually pretty cute how obedient she is. He tells her to strip and she does. He tells her to get on her knees in front of him and she does. He tells her to stick out her tongue so he can push his cock inside her mouth and she does. Somewhere deep down, he realizes he’s being unfair because she seems to really be into him, but he can’t resist the opportunity to have her at his beck and call like this.

When he has her bent over her desk, she covers her mouth to muffle the sounds that are spilling out. When he has her on her back with her legs pushed to her chest, she covers her mouth then too. She really tries, but he has to cover her mouth himself to keep her quiet when he has her face down on the bed. She comes hard and he hates her for it because it feels too good around him.

Joshua is gettting dressed when she finally speaks up. “Do you want to go on a date with me?” 

He finds himself casually agreeing because he’s already decided he’s going to enjoy this a lot more than he thought. 

~

Minghao is sitting in their dorm room, watching his roommate with a raised eyebrow. Joshua is dressed nicely and he’s just meticulously fixed his hair and applied cologne. “Going somewhere?” Minghao asks lightly. 

“I have a date,” Joshua says and Minghao quirks an eyebrow. He doesn’t sound overjoyed about this date. 

“Oh? With who?” Minghao asks. He doesn’t actually care much. Joshua seems like a good guy but he wouldn’t say their particularly close since moving in together. 

“Choi Y/N.”

Minghao nearly spits out his tea all over his computer. “Come again?”

“I have a date with Choi Y/N,” Joshua says easily. 

“Mhm,” Minghao hums. “So I did hear you right. How did that happen?”

Joshua is so casual when he says, “We have a couple classes together. She asked me out after we hooked up.”

“Uh huh,” Minghao nods slowly. “Be careful with that. She’s kind of like playing with fire from what I hear.”

When Joshua smirks at him, Minghao is kind of taken aback. Joshua is usually pretty even-tempered from what he can tell and is very friendly. There’s something a little dark about his look right now. “I can handle it. Besides, I don’t expect it to last.”

“Okay,” Minghao drags out. Joshua slips on shoes and says bye. Something doesn’t feel right about this, but it’s really none of Minghao’s business. 

~

Joshua joins the troublemakers as he’s affectionately calling them for lunch the day after his date with Y/N. They want the full rundown, even though they were creeping in a booth across the restaurant watching them the whole time. They said they wanted to get a picture for the twitter account, but they didn’t have a good answer when Joshua said not everyone had to go for that. They’re just nosy. 

A few things became apparent about Y/N quickly. The first is that her mood swings wildly depending on the type of attention she’s getting. She likes to be liked. When Joshua responds to her too casually or even coldly, she deflates. When he warms up and gives her a shred of positive attention, she re-inflates, smiling widely. Joshua thinks this is a good thing. Mixed signals may keep her on the hook for longer now that he sees how she responds. 

The second is that she is a hopeless romantic. She likes to hold hands as they walk, swinging them cutely. She beams at him when he does quite literally anything gentlemanly, like walking on the outside of the sidewalk next to the street or holding a door open for her. Joshua thinks this is also a good thing. Those things come naturally to him anyway, so if she’s ever worried about how casual or cold he appears, these little things seem to negate how she feels about that. Again, the goal is to keep her on the hook until he’s ready to let her go. 

The third thing is that she seems to have no clue that her actions have consequences. She’s still clueless about who is pulling the pranks, which have continued and Joshua has even participated in a couple, and she laments that she feels like she’s a nice person and doesn’t deserve any of it. Joshua does everything to bite his tongue and not give away how frustrated he is by her lack of awareness. She is totally oblivious to the effect her short-lived romances have on people and it solidifies the need to give her a taste of her own medicine. 

Because, not that Joshua tells the troublemakers, but there were a few moments during their date that he had to remind himself of why he was here. Those moments were usually when she grinned at him or laughed. She’s a charismatic person and, whether she realizes it or not, she uses it as a weapon constantly. Joshua has to make an active effort to not let it suck him in.

He’s the one that asks her out for the second date while they’re talking after class and he feels smug when she immediately agrees with a big smile. This date is on Saturday and he’s super sweet the whole time. He even wonders if he’s overdone it, but he realizes she’s turned kind of shy. Cute. Also, totally unexpected but will work in his favor. When they stop at the front door of the sorority house, she asks if he wants to come in. He gets a ton of satisfaction out of saying that he’s sorry but he can’t. He watches her face fall, before she’s smiling that slightly insecure smile again, wishing him good night. 

On the third date, he’s back to being mostly disinterested and he has to bite back a smile as she works overtime over dinner to warm him up. He gives her bits and pieces and they work flawlessly. Again, he declines her request to come inside when he drops her off. He’s not interested in sleeping with her again, though he did enjoy how eager she was to please. 

He considers cutting it off right there on the door step of the sorority house. The troublemakers that have dated her gave him a script and asked him to use it when he does finally cut it off. He thinks better of it and wishes her a good night. On the way back to the dorm, he decides to continue with this as long as he feels it’s going well. It’s feeding a need for vengeance as much as it’s healing an open wound of his. He wishes he could pull something like this on Lily, but he also kind of hopes to never see her again. Y/N was the next best thing.

~

Wonwoo joins Mingyu and his group members for lunch and immediately regrets it. They’ve been gossiping like hens for weeks now and normally Wonwoo would love to stay out of it. He’s learned to tune it out for the most part, but he’s kind of alarmed at the excitement they all have when a strange guy shows up. They introduce him as Joshua. 

“So how’d it go? When are you breaking it off?” Mingyu whisper-yells. They’re in the quad and they don’t want their little plot to get out. 

Joshua gives an unsettling smile. “I don’t think I will yet.” 

“So you think she’s still on the hook?” Jihoon asks excitedly. 

“Almost certain of it,” Joshua responds. 

Wonwoo watches and listens for the duration of lunch, a sick feeling settling in his stomach. Joshua describes in great detail how the last date went and they’re all thrilled. Y/N is certainly not his favorite person, but he feels like this has gone so far beyond a little taste of revenge. He understands that some of them were upset by being dumped, but they seem to want to tear Y/N limb from limb. 

He’s lost in thought when he shows up for his work study. His supervisor tells him there’s someone that needs help troubleshooting an issue on their computer, so Wonwoo shrugs and goes to the repair room. He thinks god must hate him when it’s Y/N that’s sitting there. She gives him an apologetic smile that lacks all of her usual flair. 

“I’ve tried everything. Hopefully you can help me?”

Wonwoo sits across from her, taking her laptop. “What’s the issue?” 

“It won’t power on. My power cord is fine because I tried it on one of my roommates’ computers and the outlet I was using works for a lamp.” Wonwoo is surprised at her answer, or rather how thorough it is. He’s used to the basic ‘I don’t know, it’s just broken’. 

He’s starts by trying a standalone power cord at the work desk and booting it up in safe mode. She’s right though. The screen stays dark. “Might need a new battery,” he mumbles. She sighs. Technically, he’s done everything he’s required to do. It’s not a university laptop and there are limitations to what the department will do for personal devices. But he finds himself saying, “I think I have a couple spare ones we can try though. If that doesn’t work, they can give you a loaner out front until you can get a new one.” She smiles, looking a little relieved at the news, so he tacks on,  “No promises about the battery though.”

He gets the spare battery and begins opening the back of the laptop. He would usually not chatter while he works on something like this, but he remembers how his lunch went and his stomach is still churning. “Is this keeping you from working on a lot right now?”

Y/N huffs. “Yeah, it’s really bad timing actually. Isn’t it always, though? I have a research paper due tomorrow and I hope it’s still there if we can get this back on. I also have a ton of assignments to grade for the class I TA for.” 

Wonwoo hums in sympathy, but then he frowns once he gets the back panel off of the laptop. The battery is just… gone. So are the prongs that would activate the battery. They’ve been ripped out. There’s not much he can do about that.

Y/N must be able to tell that things aren’t looking good. “What is it?”

Wonwoo grimaces, looking up at her. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but a new battery won’t fix it. Your laptop has been sabotaged.” She looks like she might cry when she sees the jagged spot where the prongs used to be. The crying isn’t a new thing here when they can’t fix something. It usually happens at midterms and finals when everyone is in crunch time. Wonwoo has had to give the bad news that someone’s laptop is shot more than once and he totally gets the reaction. 

Except he’s feeling a lot of sympathy for her because now she is crying. Sobbing even. Uncomfortably, Wonwoo reaches over the work desk and pats her shoulder a couple times. “It’ll be okay. Like I said, loaners are available until you can replace this.” He isn’t sure she even heard him at first, but then she’s wiping her eyes, makeup smearing.  He silently hands her a tissue. 

“I’m sorry. It’s been a tough semester so far. This is probably another in a series of pranks. The thing is, I can’t afford to replace it right now. It was one thing when it was glue in hand sanitizer or a glitter bomb, but I don’t have the kind of money to get a new computer.”

Wonwoo feels like he might be consumed by guilt now. He’s sat by idly all semester so far while his roommate and others have tormented her. He thinks she’s right. A little glitter (or a lot of glitter based on the video on twitter) is one thing. The custodians can vacuum and Y/N can shower and wash her clothes. But this is property damage that can’t be fixed. 

Wonwoo decides a few things at once. The first thing is that he’ll bend the rules for Y/N. The loaner laptops suck and most can’t last a single class on battery alone. Plus, they sound like a plane taking off when they’re on. But the department stashes new devices for staff and employees that can be issued by the university if they need it. He’s usually the one to keep inventory and no one with miss it. 

He gets up and comes back and places the laptop and power cord in front of Y/N. “This one’s better than the loaners. Just get it back to me when you can before it’s missed too much.” 

Y/N is still tearful when she thanks him profusely. He pats her a couple more times on the shoulder when she leaves. He also offers to dispose of the trashed laptop, but at the end of his shift he shoves it into his backpack instead. 

When he gets home, he sits down at his PC, making just a few clicks. This is the second thing he’s decided to do. The texts start to flow in quickly but he ignores them. However, he can’t ignore Mingyu when he busts into his room. 

“Did you get our texts?! The app is down.”

“I know,” Wonwoo says, not taking his eyes off of the video game in front of him. 

“What’s wrong with it? How long until it will be back up?”

“Nothing’s wrong. I took it down and I won’t be putting it back up.”

He hears Mingyu stutter. “Why would you do that? We had a deal.” 

Slowly, Wonwoo pressed pause on his game and turned to face Mingyu. He’s lived with him for over two years now and thought he knew him pretty well, but he doesn’t really recognize him anymore. “I refuse to play a role in torturing that poor girl anymore. I know I can’t do much to stop whatever else you do outside of the app, but you won’t be able to use it as a tool anymore.”

Mingyu stammers. “But we had a deal! And since when is she a ‘poor girl’? She’s a monster.”

“She’s a poor girl when you guys prank her over and over again, up to destroying her laptop. I’m doing you a favor by not reporting that, by the way. And then whatever you guys are doing with Joshua. You might not like her, but I don’t think she’d ever be as cruel as you guys are being,” Wonwoo snaps. He’s up out of his chair, dragging the broken laptop out of his bag and slamming it down on his bed. The back is still off with the battery still very much missing. 

Mingyu scoffs like he doesn’t feel guilty at all and it disgusts Wonwoo. Mingyu doesn’t try to deny anything about the laptop, barely glancing at it. “Like she can’t afford another one. All she has to do is ask her daddy for a new one.”

“Really? Because when she was crying her eyes out in my repair room earlier, she said she couldn’t afford to replace it. You guys are tricking her with Joshua and pranking her relentlessly - fine, get your revenge. But now you’re destroying property and jeopardizing her academics and work study. Where’s the fucking line, Mingyu?”

“There is no line,” Mingyu snapped heatedly. “We don’t need your help anyway. We’ve got it handled on our own.” With that, Mingyu marched out, slamming Wonwoo’s door. 

Wonwoo stared off into space before a long time before finally closing out of his game. The third thing that he decided was that he would be trying to take down that damned twitter account again. 

~

Seungcheol is concerned. 

He's always concerned for his sister, don’t get him wrong. She’s got such a soft heart that he’s always been protective of her. There’s also a little twin telepathy, so he knows something is up. He’s seen the pranks on the twitter account, and at first she’d laughed it off. She’s got a good sense of humor and can take a joke. 

He’s confused when he finds her at the gym, sitting in the bleachers with a new laptop. Well, maybe not new, but it’s different. They’d bought matching ones together a couple years ago when there was a deal and this is not the same one he has in his own bag. “New computer?”

She’s frowning behind the screen. She should really be getting ready for cheer practice in the locker room, but she doesn’t look like she’s moving anytime soon. “It’s a loaner. Someone sabotaged mine.”

“What?” Seungcheol hisses. “What do you mean someone sabotaged your laptop? Do you know who?” He should also be in the locker room now preparing for basketball practice, but he’s rooted in his spot. 

“No,” Y/N said glumly. “Probably the same person that’s done the rest of the pranks, if I had to guess.” She sighs, looking over the screen at Seungcheol. “Cheol, am I a bad person? Is that why this keeps happening?”

Seungcheol is sitting next to her immediately, hugging her. He feels her pain and he hates it. She’s usually so joyful. “No, of course not. I don’t know why you’re being targeted, everyone loves you.”

“Maybe not,” she laughs humorlessly. “I thought it was playful at first, but now I have to figure out how to replace this laptop so I can return it.” She says this into Seungcheol’s shoulder. 

Seungcheol hesitates, but finally says, “Why don’t you ask Appa? He’d send you a new one?” 

Just as he expected, she scoffs though, pulling away from him and wiping under her eyes. It looks like her makeup is long gone and it’s totally unlike her to be without it. “You know I won’t do that. I don’t want his money or anything else from him.” It has a bite to it that only comes out for this topic. Seungcheol is usually the one that is quick to anger, but he can’t hold a candle to Y/N’s anger when it comes to their father. 

“I know. You don’t have to be friendly. He likes to throw money at the problem though, and it could help here,” he says gently. 

“I don’t want a single red cent,” she huffs. A girl steps out of the women’s locker room and waves Y/N over. They must be waiting for her. She stuffs her things into her bag. “I’ll see you later. Don’t be late for practice,” she says as she starts climbing down the bleachers. 

He already is but it doesn’t matter. They won’t start without him. Most players are already out on the court, though they’re just goofing off. Seungcheol lets it slide, going into the locker room to change. He’s the only one in the aisle. He’s pulling on a shirt when he hears someone in the next aisle over. It sounds like Kim Mingyu and he must have answered his phone and naturally Seungcheol can only hear one side of the conversation.

“Hello? I can’t talk long, I’m late for practice… No,” Mingyu sighs. “Wonwoo wouldn’t turn the app back on. He’s being a prick, defending her. But it doesn’t matter.” 

Seungcheol is about to close his locker when something makes his blood run cold. He hears Mingyu say, “Joshua’s still got her on the hook. That’ll do for now until he dumps her.”

Seungcheol leans against the locker, clenching his fist. He’s pretty sure Joshua is the name of the guy that Y/N has been seeing. He debates on whipping around the corner to interrogate Kim Mingyu immediately, but he thinks better of it as his teammate hangs up and leaves. Maybe he’s misinterpreted the one sided conversation. He has no context, but he’s left unsettled. He knows Mingyu took Y/N dumping him hard. A lot of men do. But he’d never thought anyone would seek vengeance for something like that. 

While he debates on what to do during practice, he takes great enjoyment in making Kim Mingyu run laps. He always kind of hated the guy anyway. If Seungcheol’s right, this is just another reason. 

-

Y/N is elated when Seungcheol and Jeonghan invite she and Joshua for a triple date. She’s been on multiple dates with Joshua now and really likes him. When she tells her brother and best friend that, they say they’d love to meet him. 

So they’re at the movie theater on Friday night. The theater is running a showing of Night of the Living Dead and Y/N is so thrilled when Joshua smiles at her and agrees to go with them. She’s even more thrilled that he seems to enjoy the movie. He holds her hand but it’s not because she’s scared, or even because he is. The two sorority sisters, Byeol and Sora, that Seungcheol and Jeonghan are with don’t fare so well, but her brother and best friend remind her all the time that that’s the entire point. They want the girls to cling to them. 

They’re walking out of the theater when Joshua tells her he was reminded why it’s one of his favorite movies. Y/N can feel the heart eyes she’s wearing. 

Things seem to be going so well that she’s not even fazed when Seungcheol and Jeonghan start interrogating Joshua at dinner afterwards. Joshua is so poised and has an answer for everything. He’s a transfer student and is set to graduate next semester. He moved for a change of scenery. He’s pre-med like Y/N but he’s interested in internal medicine. He sheepishly says that Y/N got him in for an internship in that department in the hospital next semester. 

Y/N thinks it went so well that she’s totally stunned when Seungcheol and Jeonghan encourage her to break up with Joshua the following Monday. They don’t have any specific reasons, just that they don’t think he’s right for her. 

She’s staring at them blankly. They have to sit inside the stuffy library because it’s nearly November and it’s getting too cold. “What do you mean he’s not right for me? He seems perfect.”

“Too perfect, perhaps,” Seungcheol frowns at her, but there’s something about his eyes that give him away. He doesn’t like Joshua. 

“Isn’t that how it’s supposed to be? I mean if you find the right person, shouldn’t it be easy?” Y/N insisted. 

“Oh, you sweet summer child,” Jeonghan sighed and he actually looked like he was in a bit of pain at her naivety. “Look, Y/N, you know I love you right?” Y/N nods, because he might be a menace, but he’s always had her back and isn’t shy about telling her that. “You can ultimately do what you want, but something doesn’t feel right about this. I mean, can you name a single flaw of his?”

Y/N laughed. “Is being flawless a problem? You say you are all the time.”

Jeonghan doesn’t laugh though. He looks a little exasperated actually. “Yes, it’s a problem! I have a ton of flaws, starting with being in denial about having any flaws!”

Y/N frowns and finds she can’t look at them across the table. “I really like him. He’s nice, and funny, and a gentleman. What he wants for his future aligns with mine. And not that it’s important, but he’s great in bed.” Her eyes shoot up when the two men sigh. 

“Angel, when did you sleep with him? I thought we agreed to slow it down some,” Jeonghan asked, trying not to scold her. He was right, they had agreed that she’d be more careful. Jaehyun had talked a lot of game about how he would be getting with her and Jeonghan had insisted she break it off. He had said it was one thing if sex came with the admiration that most men had for her. But occasionally, some of them just wanted to hit it while they could because they viewed her as easy. Jeonghan and Seungcheol had worried for years that she’d eventually get taken advantage of because of her sweet, trusting nature. 

After the event with Jaehyun, Jeonghan had strongly suggested that she avoid sleeping with anyone that she was dating for a while. It seems that hadn’t mattered when it came to Joshua. 

“A while back, before we started dating,” Y/N finally admits. She kind of feels like a child when they both gave her admonishing looks and she can’t help but pout. “But then he agreed to go out with me when I asked!”

Another admonishing look for both of them, but increasing in intensity. Seungcheol’s eyes scream disappointment. “Honey, since when do you do the asking?”

Y/N didn’t really have a good answer for that, except for ‘never’. But they already knew that. She wasn’t even sure what had possessed her to ask that night. She was so excited that he’d come over that the words had just spilled out. She feels positively dejected now admitting all of this. 

Jeonghan doesn’t let her look like that long though. He stands up. “Come on. Let’s go get some coffee. I’ll even pay.” She follows blindly when Seungcheol asks if Jeonghan is paying for him to. She also ignores the subsequent argument. She doesn’t even order for herself when they get to the cafe on campus. Not like she has to when both of them know her order by heart. Jeonghan and Seungcheol drop the topic for now, but the insecurity she keeps feeling when it comes to Joshua is back. Maybe they’re right. Maybe she should cut it off. 

~

Joshua met the troublemakers for dinner on his night off. He didn’t think anything of it when Jihoon had insisted they all meet to catch up. He’d actually come to enjoy their company and they’d even started talking about things unrelated to Y/N. He kind of expected that this would be a casual dinner but he was wrong. He had to ask Jihoon to repeat himself a couple times. 

“You think I should be love bombing?” 

Jihoon nods insistently. “Yes. I happened to overhear her in the library earlier. Her brother and Jeonghan were trying to talk her into dumping you. And you’re right, she’s still very much on the hook, but I’m not sure how long she will be. She seemed upset by the conversation.”

Joshua isn’t totally surprised by that. It was obvious that Seungcheol and Jeonghan didn’t care much for him. Y/N had seemed none the wiser at dinner on Friday and Joshua was kind of banking on it staying that way. The thing is, it was painfully obvious how naive she was. He had moments where he started to feel bad because it was just so easy. At the same time, he thought it was funny for her to have dated like she had but still have no idea she’s being played. 

“Well, what do you suggest?” Joshua asks the table. They don’t have much to offer, but then he remembers that they all only got three dates, while Joshua is on date seven. He shrugs when there are too many beats of silence. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll figure it out.”

He starts simply. He starts visiting her in her TA office between classes to see her for a bit and have a snack. He turns down an Oreo when she offers him one for the open container in her desk drawer. She takes one bite into it and spits it out almost immediately. He plays the role of good boyfriend and babies her, asking her what’s wrong. When she tells him it was filled with toothpaste he pretends to be appalled as if he didn’t buy the tube himself. Nevertheless, she folds when he says he can’t believe anyone is still targeting her with their pranks. 

He also kicks up the PDA a notch when they are together. She seems to be enjoying it, even seeking it out sometimes, albeit shyly. He has to remind himself that he hates her. 

That’s been happening a lot lately. Today is Sunday, and he’s in the kitchen of the sorority house baking with Y/N. She’s got a little powdered sugar on her cheek and he thinks she looks cute. He even wipes it off her cheek without really thinking about it. She smiles up at him with a whisk in her hand and he has to picture a snake instead, because that’s what she’s supposed to be. 

They’re sitting in her room now, eating their desserts while they talk. The troublemakers had insisted he start spending time alone with her in private. He didn’t think it was a bad idea, but he hates how cute she looks in her hot pink pajama pants. Something about how comfortable she’s getting around him is unsettling. 

One of her roommates knocks on the open bedroom door and gives her a package. Y/N doesn’t look surprised by it but she doesn’t look totally pleased either. Joshua watches as she slices the box open, revealing a new laptop. “Ooo, that’s nice,” he muses. “What happened to your other one?” He already knows the answer.

“It’s busted,” she says shortly. “I’ve been using a loaner for a few weeks.” 

“This must have set you back some,” Joshua comments lightly. He’d heard from Mingyu that her father would probably be replacing it. That suspicion is confirmed when she sighs. 

“Yeah, my pride maybe. I had to ask my dad for help on it.”

“Generous dad,” Joshua says, still trying to keep things light, but he’s sensed something dark about her mood as soon as the package arrived. It’s so uncommon that it takes him by surprise.

Y/N laughs humorlessly. “He’s good at throwing money at a problem, that’s for sure. Wish I didn’t have to take anything from him, but I wouldn’t have been able to afford it myself and I really need to return the loaner.” 

This gives Joshua pause. Mingyu had painted her as a spoiled rich girl and Joshua had blindly accepted it because she did give off that vibe. Finally, he carefully asks, “Are… you guys not close?”

Another humorless laugh. “No,” she scoffs. “Not since he busted fifteen years of marriage for his secretary that’s half his age.” Joshua frowns and she must have realized what she said, so she gives him an apologetic look. “Sorry, that was probably too much. It’s just a sore subject.”  

“Y/N… that sucks. I’m sorry.” Joshua means it. He’s been blessed with two supportive parents that love each other and are the example of a nearly perfect relationship. He finds himself asking, “Are you close to your mom?” He kind of hopes the answer is yes, even though he hates her.

This lightens Y/N right up even though she’s handling the laptop she didn’t want now. “Yeah, she’s kind of my hero. She’s done everything for Seungcheol and I since the divorce, even if it was hard on her. I wish I could visit her more, but I talk to her nearly every day.”

Joshua’s chest warms. It’s sweet to think about. Unlike all the other things that are sweet about her that he hates, he doesn’t hate this one. He finds himself genuinely smiling at her. “That’s good. I miss my parents a lot, but our timezones never really work out now so it’s just the occasional text.”

Y/N’s expression is sympathetic. “I’m sorry. It has to be hard being so far away from them.” She bites her lip. “Can I ask… why did you move if you’re so close to them?”

He doesn’t know why he even thinks about answering. It’s something he hasn’t really answered for anyone here, though they’ve asked. He should be too busy hating her and plotting against her. Joshua laughs a little, sitting on the bed next to the box. “It’s kind of stupid, actually.”

“Try me,” Y/N says kindly, moving the box and sitting next to him. Their knees touch and Joshua feels so dumb for being momentarily distracted by it. 

He feels lame when he answers. “I ended a long term relationship and there were too many memories back home. I didn’t intend to move across the world initially, but when I was accepted here I took it immediately.”

He hates her again, because she’s giving him a sweet sympathetic smile. He hates her because it seems genuine. “I’m sorry. It must have been some breakup to need to get away like that.”

“Yeah,” he laughs but it sounds a little empty. “To the tune of being cheated on for three years straight with multiple people.” He hates her again because she hisses, face still kind and sympathetic. 

“Damn. I’m sorry. I can’t imagine that.”

He bets she can’t right now, but she’ll live something like it soon. 

She’s oblivious to his internal struggles and continues. “I might not be the best at dating, but if I had something good for three years, I wouldn’t jeopardize it like that. I wish I had something that lasted.” Awkwardly, she glances up at him. She looks a little embarrassed. “I know we just started dating so I don’t want to make any assumptions about how you feel. I do like you though, Joshua.”

She’s so disarming that it’s making him a little weak. He’s been here before, but now he’s aware that he might as well be staring down the barrel of a gun again.

Lily had that affect too. She’d smile or act cute and it had him folding at the snap of a finger. He hadn’t realized all the red flags until it was far too late. 

The whole point of this experiment, if they could even call it that anymore, was to bring Y/N down and Joshua agreed because she’s just like Lily in that way. She bats her eye and smiles and gets whatever she wants. 

And yet, Joshua is weak for her just like he was for Lily. Maybe because he’s seeing things in Y/N that aren’t like Lily at all. Lily was materialistic, while Y/N has very little decor around her room, likes thrifting, and hates accepting gifts from her father. Lily thrived on the way people admired her but Joshua now recognized it was because they could be manipulated because of it. Y/N seems shockingly innocent in that regard. Oblivious maybe, but she’s not malicious. And whereas Lily would use tears and guilt tripping to get what she wanted, Y/N has just carefully admitted her feelings without putting pressure on him.

Joshua is staring at her while he thinks of all this and he doesn’t stop her when she leans in to kiss him. It’s very careful compared to the last time they kissed, way back before she’d asked him out. 

He really hates her because he folds just like he would with Lily. He holds Y/N’s face and returns the kiss without much thought. It’s Joshua who begins to escalate things this time, starting with a hand on her upper thigh. He feels the tension in his body getting tighter because he hates how his heart races and how good it feels when he tugs on her waist and she climbs into his lap, straddling him. 

He’s about to push her back on the bed when she gets up and locks her bedroom door. She told him earlier that it’s against the house rules to lock your bedroom door with a guy in here but it seems she’s willing to break them for him today. When she’s back in arms reach, he pulls her to him gently. This is so different than the first time they were together. It’s all soft touches and kisses. He’s soft when he asks if he can undress her unlike his commands the last time and when she says yes his movements are also slow and gentle. When he’s inside of her, her breath is gentle on his neck and lips as are the soft noises she makes as he slowly fucks into her. If you could call it that. It feels far too romantic to be fucking this time around. 

He finds he likes it more like this and yet he hates it. 

He’s got to get out now. This can’t go on. 

~ 

Joshua watches the troublemakers deflate when he tells them he’s going to break thing off. They were enjoying the chaos they were causing and don’t want the primary method for that to stop. Joshua knows they’re still enjoying the pranking - they have rolls and rolls of Christmas wrapping paper to prove it for their next idea and Joshua doesn’t ask because he doesn’t want to know. 

And he knows they’ve enjoyed this vindictive game that Joshua has been the pawn for. But he won’t budge on ending it ASAP. They seem to let that go until they find out he’s going to break things off quietly. 

“What was this whole thing for if it all ends quietly?” Mingyu looks so confused. 

Joshua is staying firm. He answers Mingyu through a bite of his stir fry. “Don’t you think we’ve done enough? I break it off quietly, she knows what it’s like, and we can all call it a day. Or a semester really.”

“But what about my twitter account?” Seungkwan laments. “Can I at least get some details to post about after you do it?” 

Joshua sighs. “Sure.”

Jihoon narrows his eyes. “Why are you so eager to stop everything? We haven’t even been feeding you ideas lately. That’s all been you.” Joshua doesn’t answer and he ignores Jihoon’s scoff. “Don’t tell me she got to you.” 

“No, she didn’t get to me,” Joshua said firmly. “But the job is done. She’s hooked. She’s admitted she likes me a lot and it shows because we been dating for nearly two months. Exactly how long were you guys planning to drag this out? Your assignment is pretty much done.” He knows because he’s seen it himself. They’ve gotten the results that they wanted, yet they keep saying they need ‘more data’. That data doesn’t seem to be for the assignment anymore. 

Seokmin sighs. “Look, I know she’s disarming. It’s okay if she did get to you. But you need to let us finish this how we intended. We agreed to an exposé after you break it off. Are you backing out of that?”

Joshua doesn’t answer right away. He had agreed to it. Hell, he’d been the one to suggest it. It felt like the cherry on top of this unofficial document that they had drafted. One final push to make Choi Y/N fall from grace. 

Yet he finds himself saying. “I don’t think we should do it. Let me break it off quietly, Seungkwan can post a little blurb about it, and then we call it a day.”

Mingyu’s looking at him hard now. “You slept with her again, didn’t you?”

Joshua scoffs, regretting that he mentioned the first time to them. “It doesn’t matter. If we take this much farther, this will blow up in everyone’s face.” 

“It does matter,” Jihoon insists. “We told you in the beginning that you can’t let her worm her way in.” 

“She didn’t ‘worm her way in’,” Joshua snaps. “You think I don’t know girls like Y/N? Why do you think I agreed to this?” All four of his companions look angry, but so is Joshua. He stands up with his tray. “Look, let me break up with her quietly this afternoon and then you guys can post whatever the fuck you want. But I’m done with this after today.” They don’t stop him when he walks away. After he drops off his tray, he takes out his phone and unfollows the gossip twitter account. He doesn’t care to see what they do with it next. 

~

 “Why are you so giddy? It’s irritating,” Jeonghan says from her bed. He’s come over to the sorority house under the guise of getting help with his math homework, but he has yet to crack open a book or even pull it out of his backpack for that matter. Instead, he’s totally wrinkled her covers and tossed some of her pillows on the floor in an effort to get comfortable. 

But Y/N is giddy. She’s still thinking about yesterday when Joshua was over. She’d hooked up with a fair number of people, but that had been different for her. He was so sweet and gentle and it had made her melt. 

“It’s nothing,” she says from her desk. She would normally not keep a secret from Jeonghan. She can only think of a few occasions that she’s done so as long as she’s known him. But she didn’t want his look of disappointment to ruin her high. 

But the thing about knowing someone as long as she and Jeonghan have known each other is that you can’t get away with much. Jeonghan looks sly when she turns around to face him. “Someone got fucked.” Jeonghan nearly cackles at the blush that overtakes Y/N’s face. “And fucked good at that.”

“Jeonghan! Do you have no manners?” She scolds, but she’s also biting back a giggle. 

“No,” Jeonghan says shamelessly. “Tell me, was he better than me?” 

“Jeonghan!” Y/N shouts, too shocked to laugh right away. They don’t often talk about losing their first kisses to each other at 14 and losing their virginities to each other at 16, mostly because it had never affected their friendship. But sometimes, Jeonghan likes to surprise her with a mention of it just to embarrass her. 

But it doesn’t embarrass her the way he seems to think it does. She’s not embarrassed to have slept with Jeonghan once upon a time. He was sweet and he knew her so well even back then. She couldn’t imagine it being with anyone else. That was why she was comfortable pitching the idea to him in the first place. 

Plus there was always this little, tiny, microscopic crush that she suppressed. It didn’t go anywhere even after they kissed or had sex, so she let it go. But the mention of it makes her feel warm only because it’s Jeonghan that says it. 

Jeonghan’s laughing loudly. “It’s okay, you can answer honestly.” 

Y/N huffs. “You know it’s not like that with us.”

Jeonghan’s laugh is lighter. “I know, angel.” He pauses for a moment and it seems like he decides to continue. “I’m happy it’s going well. I know we gave you a hard time about him, but if you’re happy we will be too.”

Y/N smiles warmly at him. That’s why he’s her best friend. “Thanks, Hannie. Now are you ever going to do your homework?” 

Jeonghan groans, crawling under the covers. 

~

Joshua is in his biostats class when it happens. Phones buzz across desks and the instructor looks annoyed but continues lecturing. Joshua is in the front of the class, so he can only hear reactions to the notification. People gasp and whispers break out. There’s even some laughter. The instructor tries to call things to order, but it’s no use. He calls the class to an end ten minutes early with a warning about phone usage during lectures. 

On his way out, Joshua sees Y/N frozen at her desk. She’s got her phone in her hand and she looks like she’s not breathing. She looks like she might even cry. 

Good. He doesn’t stay to watch the show. It’s satisfying enough to see the excitement bubbling around campus. It’s because the exposé has been posted. 

Despite saying they shouldn’t do it and that he wanted nothing to do with it if they did, he’d changed his mind as he left the sorority house yesterday afternoon. One of her housemates had let him in and pointed him upstairs, saying Y/N was home. He’s giving himself a pep talk all the way up the stairs and down the hall to her room. He should be kind but straight to the point. He even debates using the phrase that the troublemakers had fed him, because something about throwing it back in her face like that feels too mean now. 

Her bedroom door is cracked and he’s just about to knock when he hears a male voice inside. He’s not sure who it is so he waits for a beat. 

“Tell me, was he better than me?” 

Joshua’s frozen in place. He hears Y/N gasp and yell, “Jeonghan!” Then she’s giggling. 

Jeonghan must find it funny too. “It’s okay, you can answer honestly.” 

Y/N huffs. “You know it’s not like that with us.”

Jeonghan’s laughing again, but there’s something a little too intimate about it. “I know, angel.” 

Joshua quietly exited because he didn't need to hear anymore. He shouldn’t be surprised. He’d been warned over and over again. He also remembered how Mingyu had called Jeonghan the male version of Y/N. They really were a match made in hell, as Jihoon had said that day in the courtyard. 

Joshua had barely gotten around the corner from the sorority house before he pulled out his phone and sent a message. ‘Never mind. Do the exposé.’

They don’t need to be told twice and it’s not very kind. Joshua knows because he helped write it. Seungkwan was even hesitant to post it but it promises a major reaction. 

It seems he got over that hesitancy. Joshua feels smug as he walks back to his dorm. He might even follow the twitter account again just to see the downfall.

~

Think you know Choi Y/N? Campus it girl. Sorority girl. Cheerleader. Straight A student. Sure, I guess.

But do you know her dating history? 

Let’s start with this summer. She met Lee Jihoon at a bar and went on exactly three dates with him. 

On her birthday (at which point she hadn’t ended things with Jihoon yet), she slept with Kim Mingyu, then they went on exactly three dates. 

Then her next victim was Lee Seokmin. He also got exactly three dates… before she was spotted getting cozy with Jeong Jaehyun minutes after Seokmin received her message letting him down easy.

You’re starting to get the point, I’m sure. This is nothing new since she’s been doing this for years now. 

And now, Joshua Hong, transfer student. Except Y/N won’t know until she reads this that it was all a set up. If you’ve been wronged by Choi Y/N, then you know she deserves a taste of her own medicine and she’s got it now. 

Especially when she says she really likes Joshua Hong and dates him for two months (a record!) while sleeping with Yoon Jeonghan on the side. Anyone else have a Choi Y/N story they’d like to share?

Act Three

The drive is quiet, mostly because no one knows what to say. It’s never been this quiet for the three of them, not in 22 years. Not even when it was supposed to be. 

Seungcheol and Jeonghan aren’t talking. Two weeks ago, Seungcheol found Jeonghan on campus and just started swinging. Jeonghan ended up with a bloody nose before some of Seungcheol’s teammates nearby could drag Seungcheol off of him. Not as bad as it could have been, but it was a first. They’d never been in a fist fight before, not even as kids on the playground. They ended up in front of the Dean for it too. Thankfully, the Dean let it slide with a warning. 

Seungcheol is also not talking to Y/N, specifically because he hadn’t known she slept with Mingyu the night of their birthday party months ago. He’d thought he had a pretty close relationship with his twin sister, but he feels betrayed that he found some thing like that out on twitter of all places. 

Jeonghan and Y/N are talking, but barely. The tension is overwhelming. No matter how much they emphasize that they haven’t been sleeping together, no one seems to believe them. Without really discussing it, they decide some distance would be good. He’s insistent that he’s still her best friend for life and she’ll never be rid of him, though it doesn’t feel like it from the back seat of her and Seungcheol’s shared car. 

Y/N kind of feels like a ghost. She has for two weeks now. She barely took in anything to do with dead week or finals week. The normal stress of that time of the year doesn’t really register because she feels too numb. It’s kind of a blessing because if she can’t take much in, she doesn’t notice all the laughter and whispers that follow her around campus, at cheer practice, and in the sorority house. 

Just about the only person that gives her any sympathy is Wonwoo when she goes to return the loaner laptop before leaving for the break. He delicately asks how she’s doing and he seems like he really wants to know. His kindness doesn’t feel like something she deserves. She leaves before she cries in front of him again. 

Tonight is the dinner at her father’s house. Jeonghan is always invited and is still coming despite whatever is going on with the three of them. When they got in the car, the only thing they really said to each other is that they didn’t want to involve their parents in this mess. So they had to pretend like everything was fine, if only for one dinner. 

The mansion is cold when the three of them arrive. Their bags are still in the car because they aren’t staying here. Y/N is relieved by that small blessing. She can’t wait to be in her old bedroom in her mom’s small cozy apartment in a matter of hours. 

Nari greets them with a smile that is totally fake. She’s wearing a little black dress and heels under her apron. Y/N guesses she’s taken on the role of housewife since leaving her position as secretary at the company. It sounded like it didn’t look good for her to be married to the boss, preferential treatment and all. 

Nari sends them to the sitting room. It’s cold in there too and not a blanket in sight over the back of the couch or in a bin in the corner. Jeonghan silently takes off his wooly cardigan and hands it to her, ignoring Seungcheol’s glare. He’s been doing that anytime he sees the two of them interact. 

Nari comes out with a tray of drinks, handing them around. Y/N takes a single sip of the drink and puts it down. There’s no grenadine in hers while the boys’ drinks are a light pink because of it.  She knows it’s a calculated jab to not give her something everyone else gets but Y/N refuses to give Nari the satisfaction of a reaction. 

“Where’s Appa tonight?” Seungcheol asks politely. Everything is formal with Nari, just as it’s always been with their father too. 

Nari smiles and it’s so sickly sweet that Y/N has to look away. “He called and said he was running late at the office. Should be here anytime. Excuse me, I need to go check the roast. The chef is on vacation.” She says it snidely, like the chef doesn’t deserve a vacation, but the three of them say nothing. Once she’s out of the room, Jeonghan switches drinks with Y/N, taking the non-grenadine one. He, again, pointedly ignores Seungcheol’s glare.

Y/N is still cold at dinner where she picks at her food. Her father has barely glanced at her the whole time. He’s worried about how Seungcheol’s team is going to do this year and how Jeonghan’s applications to the internship at his company’s office near the university have gone. He promises to put in a good word for Jeonghan. 

Reluctantly, her father looks down his nose at Y/N. “And how was your semester?”

“It went well,” Y/N said, feeling a little bit like she was in a job interview. “I got straight As. The sorority and cheer team are doing well too.” She could talk about the fundraisers and volunteer events the sorority did, or how she learned a new stunt for a routine, but she knows by now he doesn’t really care. He’d always looked at her with such disinterest, even as a child.

Her father pretends to look pleased. “Good to hear. We need a Dr. Choi in the family. Can’t let those grades slip.” Y/N just nods in agreement. “By the way, did you get the replacement laptop I sent?” 

“I did. Thank you for sending it so quickly. I apologize that I didn’t send you a message when I got it, but I had a lot to catch up on, what with a broken laptop.” The words burn in her throat. She doesn’t want to thank him. She doesn’t want anything from him. She wants her mom. 

“Of course, but you should really be more careful, Y/N. Don’t be so reckless with your belongings,” he scolds. Y/N doesn’t miss how pleased Nari is with the lecture. Y/N remembers when Nari sent her to boarding school for part of semester in high school. Seungcheol hadn’t been sent away since he was supposed to be a starter on the basketball team. Their mother had to drive to the boarding school and pull her out after Y/N cried on the phone one too many times. Nari didn’t look happy when she showed up on the doorstep with her suitcase again.

“Yes sir,” Y/N answers meekly, if only to avoid anymore conversation. Seungcheol and Jeonghan both clench their jaws across the table. 

After an agonizing couple hours, Seungcheol makes the excuse that they should get going. They still have to drop Jeonghan off and get home to their mother’s apartment across town. 

In the car, neither boys say anything as Y/N cries in the backseat. This dinner was the straw that broke the camel's back. Jeonghan ignores Seungcheol’s looks in the rearview mirror because he refused to sit in the front seat, sliding into the back with her to hold her hand. 

~ 

The break flies by only because Y/N wishes it wouldn’t. She’d like to stay in her warm bed in her mom’s warm apartment for the rest of her life. She surprises herself by even considering not going back, but she knows she’d never hear the end of it. After all, she has one semester left. Then she can pick anywhere for medical school, given that she gets accepted. 

Her mother is clearly worried, and Y/N feels so guilty for it. Her mother has been a nurse for over 20 years. She works hard and she works long, weird hours. She always has in order to make it work for the twins. So Y/N tries to slap a smile on her face when she’s out of her room if only to keep her from worrying, particularly when she’s just come home from an overnight shift. 

But it seems it doesn’t matter because her mother still knocks on her door the night before they’re scheduled to drive back to school. Y/N is packing after doing some laundry and she slaps that fake smile on her face when her mother sits cross legged on her bed. “Are you sure you have to go? You could just move back in for good. Just don’t tell your brother,” her mother teases. 

This does bring a little bit of a genuine smile to Y/N’s face. “I would love to, but I’m so close to being done.” 

“I know, baby, and I’m so proud of you.” Her mother stopped and stared for a second. Finally, she sighs. “You know, I had a really bad semester at nursing school. Even had to switch schools because of it.”

Y/N isn’t sure how she knows that the semester was bad because she hadn’t said anything. But there’s no point in denying it. She’s been moping for weeks now. “Really? What happened?”

“Some mean girls,” her mother shrugs. “They’re everywhere, but they were more tolerable at the second school.”

Y/N continues folding clothes if only to keep busy. “What if I’m the mean girl?” 

“What do you mean, baby?” 

It had been weighing on Y/N’s mind. Something about the post a couple weeks before finals had made things painfully obvious to her. She hadn’t realized how it looked to others while she was chasing and looking for the right guy. She didn’t realize how many feelings she’d hurt on that chase. She eventually deleted her twitter account and locked down all of her other socials to avoid finding out how anyone else really felt about her. 

“I think I’ve hurt some feelings with my dating habits. I didn’t mean anything by it… but I did.” 

Her mother is quiet for a moment, before waving her over. There’s something so comforting about curling up into her mother’s side. “I’ll tell you what I think, okay?” Y/N nods into her shoulder. “You have so much love to give. You always have, you and Seungcheol both. And you really want to be with someone to share that. But maybe it’s okay if you keep it to yourself sometimes.” Her mother’s head plops down on top of Y/N’s. “You know, I was always afraid the divorce would affect you two. It’s why I stayed until I just couldn’t anymore. But now I see how you might be chasing after the validation you didn’t see in mine and your father’s relationship. And you don’t need it, okay? Take care of yourself first.”

Y/N is tearful and this is all too serious, so she has to crack a joke. “I think you’re spending too much time covering shifts in the psych ward. You sound like a shrink.”

Y/N’s mother laughs loudly. “Oh, I know. They’re keeping me on that rotation because I’m so good. Come on. Let’s finish packing this and then we’ll make some cookies for you to take with you tomorrow.”

~

Mingyu is pissed. He has been for days. Specifically, because a couple days before he was due to come back from break, the twitter account mysteriously disappears. So does any trace of it. No one has screenshots and the document they’d drafted of the exposé is gone too. All that’s left is anything they compiled for the final project. 

Seungkwan says he didn’t do anything with the twitter account and Mingyu believes him because his texts sound panicked. As Seungkwan is lamenting over the years he’s spent building up that account, Mingyu develops a theory. When he calls Wonwoo multiple times without receiving an answer, he considers it evidence. 

So when Mingyu arrives back at his apartment, he’s seething. Wonwoo looks totally unfazed where he lays on the couch with a book as Mingyu all but throws down his suitcase. “What the fuck did you do?”

“Whatever do you mean?” Wonwoo sounds bored. He doesn’t even look up from his book. 

“The twitter account, you asshole!”

“Oh, that? I hacked it and deleted it.” Wonwoo says this so casually that it almost makes Mingyu’s brain explode. 

“Why would you do that?! You know how hard we worked on that.” Mingyu thinks he might hit Wonwoo. “Months of work and now we have nothing to show for it. And years of work for Seungkwan.”

“That’s too bad,” Wonwoo says without an ounce of sympathy. 

Mingyu is fast approaching the bargaining phase. He plops down on the couch next to Wonwoo. “I thought you said you couldn’t do it anyway. What happened?”

Wonwoo gives him a blank look. “Oh, I’ve spent months on it, but I was finally able to do it over the break. It wasn’t easy, but it was very satisfying to click confirm on that little pop up.”

Mingyu stammers, at a total loss of words. Eventually, he’s pleading. “Why, Wonwoo? That was the basis of our whole project.” 

“And your project is done. I saw the document you guys turned in.” Wonwoo’s voice is turning icy. “What? It wasn’t enough for you to get a little revenge and an A+? Now you want to go back and relive it?”

“Why are you acting like this? You don’t even like her!” Mingyu cried. 

“I like her a hell of a lot more than I like any of you guys right now. I don’t even recognize you anymore, Mingyu.” It’s Wonwoo’s turn to be mad. He slams the book closed, throwing it down on the coffee table. “You tore her apart and then kept that account up to let everyone else keep tearing her apart. Do you feel better now? Does that help you get over the three dates you took her on? Are you seeing how you guys overreacted now?”

“She had it coming,” Mingyu argued but he was losing heat. Wonwoo rarely lectured him like this. 

“You destroyed her. I’ll be surprised if she even comes back,” Wonwoo snapped, standing up to pace. “I asked her if she was okay when she turned in the loaner laptop and she looked like she could cry on the spot. Whatever vengeance you got, I hope you enjoyed it because you don’t get anymore if it touches a computer or phone. I’ll hack every single device you guys have to make sure of it.”

Mingyu has deflated, totally stunned. “Why are you defending her? I don’t understand this at all.”

“I’m defending her because it seems like literally no one else is. I’m sure you know the damage that you’ve caused.” When Mingyu gives him a blank look, Wonwoo snaps again. “Let me refresh your memory. I heard she’s the laughing stock of the sorority and cheer team. She’s deleted her twitter account because there were hundreds of people tagging her in comments. And last I heard Seungcheol and Jeonghan fought.”

Mingyu had heard that. It makes news in the locker room when your captain gets into a fist fight and is sent to the Dean’s office. The coach wasn’t happy. “I can’t help that,” Mingyu insisted. “Besides, that was probably a long time coming. Joshua said Y/N had been sleeping with Jeonghan the whole time.”

“And that’s another thing! They’re both firmly denying that.”

Mingyu rolls his eyes because he can’t help it. “And you believe that? How do you know all of this anyway? Everyone’s been gone for break.”

“You know, I do believe it actually, especially since she didn’t bother denying anything else you guys wrote. And let’s just say some other accounts have been cleaned up as well.” Wonwoo picks up his book. “I’m leaving. I mean it though. You guys are done.”

Wonwoo’s disappointment is clear and leaves Mingyu feeling conflicted. But the thing is, the project’s over and the twitter account is gone. Mingyu decides it’s time to move on. 

~

Joshua can feel eyes on him, but this time he knows who it is. Minghao has been doing a lot of staring lately. Neither had anywhere to go during the break, but they saw very little of each other. It seems Minghao is upset with him, and Joshua hasn’t asked yet. 

But it’s starting to drive him crazy, because he really wants to enjoy his night off and watch some TV. When he glances at Minghao, his roommate is peering over his laptop. Joshua raises an eyebrow. “What?”

Minghao continues to stare, before finally saying, “Nothing.”

Joshua scoffs. “If you have something to say, just say it. You’ve been like this all break.”

Minghao purses his lips. “Nothing, really. I just thought you were nicer, is all.”

“Nicer? What do you mean?” Joshua prided himself on being polite, a gentleman even. 

“I mean the twitter account.” Joshua must looked surprised, because Minghao rolls his eyes. “Yes, even I have twitter. And even if I didn’t it would have been impossible to miss. I just don’t understand how you got involved in all that. Or why.”

“She deserved it,” Joshua mumbled. He didn’t really have another excuse anymore. He’d deleted the app to keep from looking at it because it was kind of like watching a car crash. 

“I beg to differ.”

Minghao’s statement makes Joshua’s jaw drop as he sits up. “What do you mean? You were the first one to tell me what she was like.”

“Yeah, I get it. Play the player and all. But you and whoever you were working with took it to the extreme,” Minghao said seriously. “I mean, there are some nasty things being written about her.” 

“So?” 

Minghao blinks a few times. “Fine, be that way. Leave me alone, though.” Joshua watched as Minghao slid headphones on and turned away. 

~

Y/N has never been what you would call a recluse. She liked to be around people, always had, but she finds she can’t when she returns to campus. She hides out in her room at the sorority house most of the time, even avoiding her housemates. Some are mean and others are pitying, but Y/N doesn’t care for either of those things, so she waits until everyone has left or is in bed before she comes out for things like food or laundry. 

She’s taken to spending a lot of time in bed. Not scrolling, not watching TV, not even reading.  She’s staring at that same spot on the wall when there’s a knock on her bedroom door. It opens and Seungcheol comes in. They haven’t really talked much outside of the necessities of traveling together so she sits up in bed, surprised. He doesn’t really acknowledge her as he puts the bags he’s carrying down onto her desk. She watches as he unpacks a couple orders of her favorite sushi. When he hands them to her with a pair of chopsticks, her eyes water a bit. 

She doesn’t dig in right away, waiting for him to get his stuff and sit next to her on the bed. He doesn’t crack open his food either. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled. 

Y/N shakes her head. “No, I’m sorry. I made such a mess without even realizing it.”

“Maybe a little,” Seungcheol chuckles. “But you’re still my sister and I’m sorry that I didn’t just come talk to you about it. And I’m sorry I haven’t really helped you out any lately. I know you’ve had a hard time with all this.”

Y/N sighs, putting her food to the side. She leans into Seungcheol. “Maybe I deserved it. All the pranks. The twitter account. I didn’t even realize how bad it all looked until I read it along with everyone else.”

She feels Seungcheol shake his head. “No. They don’t understand it.” She doesn’t have to ask what he’s referring to because she knows it’s about their father and the divorce. Seungcheol had once jokingly said the whole thing had given her a complex, but maybe it wasn’t much of a joke. “And anyway, that whole thing with Joshua reeked. I wish I’d pressed you more to end it with him because it’s totally unfair that it was a set up.”

Y/N frowns. She’d tried not to think much of Joshua lately because it would do no good. She hadn’t heard from him and she didn’t expect to, so she hadn’t reached out either. “I should have known it was too good to be true.” 

“Maybe, but it’ll work out with someone someday.” Seungcheol sounds like he means that. After a beat, he asks, “So you and Jeonghan? How long has that been going on?”

“It hasn’t been. We lost our virginity to each other when we were 16. That’s it.”

“That’s it?” Seungcheol sounds surprised. 

“Yeah, I promise. It rarely comes up anymore. I’m not even sure how that rumor got started recently,” Y/N sags into Seungcheol’s side. That was something that hadn’t gone back to normal yet. She was used to seeing Jeonghan all the time, maybe more than she saw her twin, but they didn’t really know how to be around each other lately. 

“Do you wish it would come up? The idea of you and him, I mean?” 

Y/N is surprised by the question, only because she remembers hearing about their fight. “Do you really want to know the answer to that question?” Seungcheol nods. Y/N bites her lip. “Sometimes. I wished it would have back then, but we were so lucky we didn’t ruin our friendship at 16. Not that it matters now, even if I did want it to come up.”

“He misses you too, don’t worry,” Seungcheol says easily. 

“Have you guys made up?” Y/N’s head pops up, relief in her eyes. 

“Yeah, I interrogated him this morning,” Seungcheol smiles and there’s a flash of something mischievous before it clears and he’s serious again. “I told him to come see you but he’s working up the courage. He wishes he could have shielded you from all of this.” Y/N frowns at Seungcheol’s explanation, but he doesn’t let her press him for anything. “And for the record, I’d be okay with it if you two did have something going on. I’d just like to know about it. Don’t keep secrets from me anymore.”

Seungcheol places her food back in her lap and with a tone of finality, he insists, “Eat. That place is expensive.”

Y/N does, feeling a little bit lighter. 

~ 

The next day, she decides that she’s not going to wait for Jeonghan to come see her. He’s been her best friend for over 20 years and this is getting fixed today. Seungcheol is out when she knocks on their apartment door. Jeonghan looks like he just woke up but his eyes widen when he sees her. “Surprise,” Y/N sings lamely, holding a bag from their favorite bakery. 

Nevertheless, Jeonghan smiles and lets her in. They sit together on the floor next to the coffee table. As kids, they didn’t care to sit at the table or even on the couch, and it was a habit they still had occasionally if only for nostalgia.

Jeonghan would normally inhale the cake that she’s just given him but he eats slowly today. Y/N picks at her own slice. “I’m sorry you got roped into all of this.” 

He looks at her for a long time and she’s beginning to worry that he’ll kick her out. But eventually he shakes his head. “You didn’t do anything wrong in my book, so there’s nothing to be sorry for.”

“Others would disagree with you,” Y/N says bitterly, putting her cake down on the coffee table and pulling her knees up to her chest. Laying her chin on her knees, she looks at him. She can’t imagine not fixing this with him, but it’s up to her to apologize and it’s up to him to decide if he still wants to be friends. “I don’t even know how that rumor started. It makes you look bad too, since you’ve been dating as well. So I’m still sorry.”

Jeonghan looks so stubborn now. She knows the look well. It’s the same one he gives when someone tells him to do something he doesn’t want to do, like doing chores or homework. “No. I don’t accept your apology because it’s not needed.”

Tears prick Y/N’s eyes. “Let me apologize,” she pleads. “You should be saying ‘I told you so’ anyway. You’ve been telling me for years to be more careful.”

“You’re misunderstanding, Y/N,” Jeonghan lets out in exasperation. “I never told you to be careful because of how it looked. I know your intentions were never bad. And I never imagined anyone would do anything so… cruel in response to it.” He looks back down to his cake, picking some of the frosting off with the fork. “I only told you to be careful because I didn’t like seeing you get let down over and over again. And I’m certain there’s no one who deserves you so it happens all the time.”

Y/N stares at him while he still picks the frosting off his cake. “Do you really feel that way? Not even you?” There’s a tinge of a joke, but she really wonders.

Jeonghan chuckles, some light returning to his eyes.  “Not even me, and I’m flawless.” This earns a laugh from Y/N but then things get quiet. “Of course, I feel that way. Whoever you do end up with one day will be really lucky.”

There are so many things Y/N wants to say, but finally, she lands on, “I feel the same about you. I’ve been telling you for years that you’re total husband material.” 

Jeonghan laughs again. “And who made me learn all that? You hold your best friend to high standards,” he teases. “Now, can we go back to normal? I missed you.”

Y/N grinned. “I missed you too, Hannie. But did you really think I was leaving here without things going back to normal? You’ll never be rid of me, I’ll haunt you for the rest of your life.” Jeonghan shoves her by the shoulder and she loses balance, laying flat on the floor. 

“Don’t make me kick you out. Now, eat your cake or I will.”

~

Joshua walks into the hospital with a minute to spare. It’s his first day at his internship and he’s really looking forward to it. He goes to the front desk and finds out where he’s supposed to be - to which the answer is the 3rd floor. This is one of the regular units, specifically not the ER or the ICU. As soon as he steps out of the elevator, he bites back a groan. 

Somehow, he’d forgotten that Y/N would be here. And even if she was, he kind of assumed they’d never have to run into each other because they’re interns in different departments. But sure enough, Y/N is standing there with the charge nurse that Joshua was told to find. 

Both women turn to him as he approaches. “Joshua, right?” The charge nurse, Eunji, asks and when Joshua nods, she smiles. “Good! And both of you are on time too. Joshua, have you met Y/N before?”

Joshua looks at Y/N, who doesn’t so much as glance at him now. Evenly, she says, “Yes, we’ve shared some classes.” Her tone has none of the usual sparkle to it, and he’s not sure if it���s because she’s trying to be professional or if it’s because he’s here standing next to her. 

“Great! Well, unfortunately, I don’t have anything exciting for you guys,” Eunji looks apologetic. “We need to do inventory today, and the tech that would normally do it during this shift is out.” Eunji hands both of them clipboards and pens, before leading them to a supply closet. The bare overhead light is not very bright and most of the corners are still dark. “Sorry it’s so dingy in here… Anyway, it’s pretty straightforward. For each line item, do a count and write it down. Split it however you’d like and if you have any questions I’ll be around.”

With that Eunji closes the door behind her, leaving Y/N and Joshua alone. They haven’t seen each other since that Sunday in her bedroom, outside of a couple classes they shared. Joshua feels awkward when Y/N turns to one of the shelves and starts without another word. He doesn’t know why but the silence kills him for the next hour. He has to recount rolls of gauze and boxes of bandaids a few times before he thinks he got it right. 

He’s in the middle of his third count of boxes of alcohol swabs when he hears a grunt behind him. When he turns, he sees Y/N on her tiptoes, trying to reach the top shelf. Without thinking, he comes up behind her, grabbing the bin that she needs and handing it to her. She barely glances up at him when she mumbles a quick, ‘thanks’, before turning to the table in the corner to count the contents of the bin. 

Joshua doesn’t know why he’s staring. Doesn’t know why he thinks she looks cute in hot pink scrubs and a ponytail. Doesn’t know why he likes how concentrated she looks. It burns him up inside that he wants to talk to her when he couldn’t wait to be rid of her last semester. 

Impulsively, Joshua says, “Are you okay?”

She doesn’t look up from the bin. “Yeah, why do you ask?”

“It’s just, we haven’t talked since…” He trails off when he sees the tension building in her shoulders. 

She looks up at him with confusion all over her face. “Joshua, I don’t mean to sound like a smart ass, but what would there be to talk about? That tweet was pretty clear about where we stood.”

“So? You have nothing to say?” Joshua’s blood starts to boil.

“What is there to say? No one wants to hear it anyway,” Y/N says with a bit of bitterness.

“A lot of people want to hear an apology,” Joshua seethed. “You’ve fucked with a lot of people.”

“Yeah. I know how to read twitter comments, Joshua,” Y/N snapped, throwing things back into the bin haphazardly to turn to him fully. “Are you happy? I don’t even know what I did to you. Other guys, fine. I’m not great to date, I get it now. The comments made it crystal clear. But I did absolutely nothing to you.”

“Absolutely nothing? What about sleeping with your best friend while you were seeing me?” 

Y/N throws her hands over her face in exasperation. “When we were 16! Not once since then. I’m so sick of explaining this.”

Joshua freezes. “What? But I heard you guys talking about it.” He watches realization wash over her face. 

“Oh my god,” she groans into her hands again. “You’re telling me you spread a rumor like that because you eavesdropped on a snippet of a conversation that you had no context for?” Joshua’s silence must be answer enough because she barrels on. “We did what stupid teenagers do and wanted to lose our virginities to someone we trusted. And if you had waited five fucking seconds, you would have heard him say that he was happy things were going well with us.” She laughs, but it’s not right because it sounds a little watery. “I really liked you, Joshua. I don’t know what I did to deserve all this. And I don’t give a fuck about the mean girls on the cheer team or in the sorority, or the gross guys on the basketball team, or anyone else on campus for that matter. But you almost wrecked the two relationships that I’ve had for my entire life.”

“You deserve it because I’ve met girls like you,” Joshua bit. “You just have to smile and you get handed whatever you want. You play with people like toys until you get bored.”

“Well, I didn’t get what I wanted, now did I?” Now she’s crying but she looks furious. “You saw to that, did you? All I wanted was for it to finally feel right with someone, and when it did it was all a trick.”

Joshua scoffs. “Like it’ll take you long to move on.”

Y/N’s chin wobbles in the dim lighting and there’s a pang in Joshua’s chest at the sight. “Oh no. I’ll be swearing off dating from now on. No one will have anymore reasons to fuel their stupid pranks or trap dates or twitter accounts.” Joshua freezes again and Y/N is on a roll now. “You didn’t think I would figure out who was behind all of that? It’s a little too convenient that you’ve been hanging out with just about everyone mentioned in that stupid tweet. Do you guys feel like you’ve gotten your revenge now? I considered dropping out over all of this. Would that have made you guys happy to never see me again?”

Joshua stumbles over his words. He didn’t expect her to piece everything together, and he really didn’t expect that she considered not coming back to finish her degree. She was a good student and seemed so invested in her future. But it doesn’t matter what he has to say because she’s shoving the clipboard into his chest hard as she passes by him. “You finish the rest. I can’t fucking reach it anyway.” 

The door slams behind her and he looks around the supply closet for help understanding what just happened. He feels guilty now in a way he hadn’t throughout this whole experiment. He’d felt that he had no choice but to transfer after the embarrassment that was the end of his relationship with Lily, and now he’d just made someone feel the same way. But she was brave enough to come back while he ran across the world with his tail between his legs.

When he finally snaps back to attention, it takes him way more than three counts to get each line item right. 

~

Two months have passed and things are looking up for Y/N. She, Seungcheol, and Jeonghan are glued to each other again just like it’s meant to be. What few classes she has to take are going well. And she’s getting used to the way things are with other people around campus. Once she got over the initial shock and subsequent depression at the whole situation, she decided not to acknowledge it anymore. She didn’t entertain the conversation with her sorority sisters or teammates when they asked if she was seeing someone. She was getting really good at shutting out anyone that asked her out, which seemed to be just as frequent as it was before. She used to enjoy the attention, but now she just saw a bunch of red flags. 

Her escape had become her internship. After the first day, Joshua was working in another unit so she didn’t have to see him. As promised when she was offered the internship, she would be shadowing in the ER. It was mostly triaging or assisting the non-critical cases, and she didn't even get to do the fun stuff. Mostly, she would call patients back and gather their history under the supervision of an RN. Then she might escort them to a room when one became available. The exciting days were when she could assist with treatments, but it was mostly handing the doctor or nurse things and holding the patient’s hand while she talked their ear off to distract them. 

Today was a triage shift and it was almost over when the nurse from the front desk gave her a new clip board and walked away. Y/N sees the name on the sheet and smacks her forehead with the clipboard hard. Then, resigned, she goes to the lobby. 

“Lee Seokmin.” 

He hobbles into the triage station with another guy holding him up on one side. She can tell he’s surprised to see her, but she doesn’t react to it. “Have a seat,” she said, pointing. She also drags over two more chairs so he can prop up his foot and his friend can sit down. “I’m Y/N and this is Yunseo.” Yunseo waved from the other side of the computer. “Yunseo is the RN for triage today, but since I’m an intern, she’s letting me take some of your medical history. Injured foot, huh?” She says neutrally. 

“Ankle I think… Y/N, this is my friend Junhui.”

Y/N gives Junhui a polite smile, but she can tell by his reaction to her name that he knows quite a bit about what’s been going on last semester. “What happened?” She asks Seokmin. 

“We were rehearsing and I tripped,” Seokmin sighs. 

“Can I take a look? I have to make sure it isn’t critical. If it is, I need to hand it off Yunseo right now.” Seokmin doesn’t hesitate to roll up the leg of his jeans. His ankle is swollen and starting to develop a nasty bruise. Y/N hums sympathetically, and Yunseo nods encouragingly to her to continue. This is how Y/N knows she’s right to assume it’s not critical. “I’m sorry, that’s rough.” She backs away from Seokmin. “Well, unfortunately there’s not much to do until a doctor can see you besides icing your ankle and taking information for your records.” When Seokmin nods, Y/N zips out of the room.

She wants to linger at the ice machine for a breather, but today’s charge nurse is in the break room taking lunch. So, Y/N works quickly to get the bag of ice and returns to Seokmin and Junhui. Once the ice is on Seokmin’s ankle, Y/N plops down in front of the computer. It’s both a blessing and a curse that these questionnaires are so long. On one hand, there’s not a lot of time for them to talk about anything else when she’s peppering him with questions one after another. On the other hand, it feels like it takes an eternity to get through it. She tries to focus on the fact that this is good experience with Yunseo over her shoulder pointing out certain things.

Y/N feels like she’s so close to freedom after she’s rolled Seokmin in a wheelchair to an exam room while Yunseo calls the next patient to get started. “Someone will be in to see you shortly, but call if you need anything,” she says professionally. Her hand is on the knob to pull it closed behind her when Seokmin speaks up. 

“Y/N? I’m sorry.” 

She pauses and she can’t help but frown at him. He does look sorry actually, guilt all over his face. Junhui must sense where this is going, so he asks where the vending machine is and excuses himself. Y/N is still standing in the doorway, arms crossed now. “Sorry for what?”

“For the experiment. The pranks. Joshua. The twitter account.”

Y/N blinks at him because she’s not sure what else to do. “Experiment?”

“It all started as a psych experiment - conformity on social media. But it got out of control… and that sounds really stupid when I say it out loud.” Seokmin rubs the back of his neck. 

“Yeah, it does,” Y/N murmured. She looks around the pristine exam room because she can’t really look at him. She’d just started to feel better from all of this, but now she’s learning of a whole other layer to it. Her misery lately is a result of a class assignment made of questionable ethics. She’d really like to forget about all of it. “I guess I owe you an apology too. I didn’t mean anything by cutting things off, and I’m sorry if I gave you the impression that I wanted more.”

“You didn’t,” Seokmin insists and she looks at him in confusion. “I thought maybe you led me on. I was upset at how things had gone with us. That’s the whole reason I agreed to any of this in the first place. But the longer I think about it, you were pretty honest about how you felt. You shouldn’t have to apologize because I got my hopes up.”

“You’re not the only one though. That twitter account kind of makes it seem like it’s a habit of mine.”

“Yeah… that got really out of control. I’m sorry you had to see any of it. But if it makes you feel any better, it was hacked and deleted.” 

Y/N found herself laughing. “Hacked? Who did that?”

Seokmin looks amused. “Let’s just say you have a very talented friend looking out for you. He shut down that dating app because of you too.” Y/N’s eyes widen. 

“Man, you guys were serious about this revenge.” 

She watches Seokmin relax because she’s laughing again and he finally laughs too. “Yeah, like I said. Out of control. I’ve been trying to convince them to apologize. I think Mingyu, Jihoon, and Seungkwan will come around… I’m not sure about Joshua.”

“Seungkwan? Boo Seungkwan?”

Seokmin nods. “He ran the twitter account.”

“Ah,” Y/N sighs. “Well, you might be right about Joshua. He’s interning here too, and that’s going about as well as you would expect.”

“Total avoidance, huh?” When Y/N raises an eyebrow, he shakes his head. “We haven’t seen or heard much from him either.”

Junhui’s hovering outside of the door with a pack of cookies and a loud crunch gives him away. It makes Y/N laugh. “You can come back in. I’m leaving for real this time.” 

A couple hours later, she waves to Seokmin and Junhui as she leaves. It’s kind of a relief to know that someone involved feels a little bad, but she thinks he’s probably wrong. She won’t be getting an apology from any of the others. 

~

“You want me to do what?” Wonwoo asks. He thinks he’s heard the request wrong and he’s confused. 

“Bring the twitter account back,” Seungkwan requests again. 

Wonwoo sighs and nods. “Ah, that’s what I thought you said. Two questions, are you stupid and do you know what the word ‘deleted’ means?”

Seungkwan is totally unfazed by the insult. “It’s for another project. You can’t restore it?”

Wonwoo can’t help but glance around the table. The whole crew is back together and he was kind of hoping that would never happen again. It had been a disaster last semester. He finally pins Mingyu with a look. “I told you that you guys would not get a technical method to do this again.” 

“It’s not what you think. We probably should have led with that,” Mingyu puts his hands up in defense. 

“Then what is it? I deleted it for a reason. Nothing on there should have seen the light of day, especially near the end,” Wonwoo says impatiently. He wants nothing more than to be rid of these little requests because he doesn’t trust any of them as far as he can throw them. 

“We need the reach to issue an apology,” Jihoon says simply. “We can’t do that with a brand new account.”

“An apology?” Wonwoo’s laugh gets caught in his throat because he never thought he’d hear something like this considering how evil they were last semester. “This should be good. Tell me more.”

“We’ve been talking,” Seokmin started. “We got carried away and we’d like to reel this back in if we can.”

“There’s not a lot of reeling back in you can do,” Wonwoo scoffs. “The damage is done. Now you guys get to feel guilty about it.”

“Yeah, that’s why we’d like to issue an apology,” Mingyu says. “So can you restore it or not?”

“No! The warning message says ‘permanently deleted’ for a reason.” Wonwoo lies through his teeth. He’s not going to tell him he didn’t hit delete. Instead, he’d changed the email attached to the account and hit ‘deactivate’. “Besides, an in-person apology will probably go much farther. If you’re apologizing to the person I think you’re apologizing to, she doesn’t even have a twitter account anymore to see it.” 

“I don’t think she’d want to see us,” Jihoon huffed. “Which is fair, I guess.”

Seokmin shrugs. “I don’t know, she wasn’t mean to me or anything when I was in the ER last week.”

Joshua has been silent the whole time. Wonwoo’s not sure why he’s even here because he might have been the cruelest of them all and hadn’t seemed to regret any of it. Wonwoo stares him down. “Are you part of this apology too?” He watches Joshua hesitate for a moment, then nod. 

Wonwoo purses his lips. “I can’t promise anything. They might really mean ‘permanently deleted’ when they say it.” He lies through his teeth again. He needs some time to think about it before he hands the account back to any of them. He glares at Seungkwan. “But I’ll be doing some major clean up if I can actually restore it.”

Seungkwan nods eagerly. “I would have done it anyway, but have at it. You’ll probably be faster at it anyway.”

“Great. But how do we make sure she sees it?” Mingyu asks. 

Something catches Joshua’s eye and suddenly he’s jumping out of his seat. 

~

If Joshua had to describe Seungcheol and Jeonghan in one word, he would say overprotective. He got that vibe at the dinner and movie triple date he met them at. He’s definitely getting that vibe now. In fact, he thinks they might leap over the table at any of them. Maybe Joshua first though with the dirty looks he’s getting.

Joshua has to talk fast to get them to agree to even sit down with the group at the table. Jeonghan even sets a timer for five minutes passive aggressively. 

They explain everything, starting from the psych experiment, to the dating app, the pranks,, the twitter account, and Joshua. Seungcheol and Jeonghan look totally unimpressed. Joshua gets that because it all sounds so fucking stupid now that they have to explain it.

“And you think an apology will fix this?” Seungcheol asks coldly. 

“We’d like to try,” Mingyu says weakly. He’s been feeling Seungcheol’s wrath for two months now. He doesn’t want to run anymore laps or do anymore pushups. 

“It better be a damn good one then. You know she almost didn’t come back to school?” Seungcheol snapped. 

“Yeah, we heard that,” Jihoon said, glancing at Joshua. “Look, we would approach her if we thought she would hear us out. But we’ve made a mess of this to everyone else that followed that stupid account and we need to correct this with them too.”

“I thought it got deleted?” Jeonghan asks, eyes narrowed. 

“That’s why he’s here,” Mingyu says, pointing to Wonwoo. Wonwoo waves him off with a simple ‘don’t talk to me’. “He’s going to try to recover the account. The problem is that we’d also like her to see it.”

Jeonghan scoffs, a bitter smile on his face. “Yeah, good luck getting her back on there.” 

“That’s what we’d like your help with actually,” Joshua started. 

Seungcheol and Jeonghan share a look. The timer goes off on Jeonghan’s phone, but they stay anyway. 

~

It’s Saturday morning and Y/N is busy hosting a sorority house meeting. The president and vice president have been away at a conference and won’t make it back in time to run the meeting themselves, and as the treasurer the duty falls to her. Her phone has been buzzing in her pocket the whole time and she keeps ignoring it. She’s thinking it’s Jeonghan blowing up her phone because he’s bored, something he likes to do when she’s inconveniently busy. She has no problem making him wait for a bit. 

But it’s becoming apparent that something exciting is happening what with the way all of her sorority sisters will not focus on anything she’s saying. It’s starting to get frustrating and when Y/N can’t take it anymore, she bangs the gavel as a call to order. “Okay, what’s going on? I’m trying to run a meeting here.”

A young sophomore named Ara hesitantly stood up, but she was smiling when she handed over her phone. “You might want to read this, Y/N.”

Y/N didn’t have to skim long before she mumbled, “Meeting adjourned. Have a good day, ladies.”

~

Did you miss us? Yes - us. 

I started this account a little over two years ago and have always enjoyed interacting with all of you. But if you’ve been a follower for a while, you may have noticed a shift in the tone of this account. You won’t find any evidence of that here now, but… if you know, you know.

That’s because this became a team project last semester. I’ll be honest. It was a revenge plot and as we look back on this plot of ours, we’re embarrassed. We all got carried away, some because of hurt feelings and some because of a desire to run a successful account with a thirst for drama.

So, here it goes. We built a dating app, the one that was posted on here a while back. It was used to make a match with someone that had the same kind of vendetta some of us had against Choi Y/N. 

While we waited for this app to be ready, we began pranking Y/N. At first, we thought it was harmless, but things escalated quickly. (Y/N, we still owe you a new laptop.)

When the dating app was ready, Joshua joined us with the goal of giving Y/N what we perceived to be a taste of her own medicine. We were cruel. Particularly near the end of the semester with our little exposé. 

We owe Choi Y/N an apology. A big one that we’ll probably never convince her that we mean honestly. For the pranks. For Joshua. For the way this account was used. For nearly ruining over 20 years of friendship between her and Yoon Jeonghan on a baseless rumor, and damaging the relationship between her and her twin brother, Choi Seungcheol. 

Y/N, if you’re reading this (and we hope you are), we’d like to start making this up to you. Reach out if you’re interested. 

Seungkwan, Mingyu, Jihoon, Seokmin, and Joshua

~Epilogue

Joshua sips his drink and looks across the table at Kim Mingyu and his date, Harin. The woman is nice but seems shy, or maybe even a bit nervous to meet any of Mingyu’s friends. Mingyu works with her at the architecture firm where they’re both junior partners on the same team. Mingyu’s told Joshua that he really likes her and Joshua can clearly see it. He’s got total heart eyes for her and everything she says or does. But the thing is, it’s their third date.

The number three is cursed in their friend group now. Three drinks is not the right number when they go out because something bad always happens - nothing tragic or anything, just a rough night of cleaning up vomit or carrying your friends home. That doesn’t happen with two or four drinks. 

If no more or no less than three of them can hang out, they don’t. Not in person, because they always seemed to find themselves in trouble - again, nothing tragic, just inconvenient things like Mingyu's car breaking down. And not even through things like FaceTime. One time, when Seokmin was traveling and wanted to chat, the power went out on the entire block leaving Jihoon and Wonwoo in the dark. Wonwoo laughed and said it must be the curse, until he realized he was being included in the curse now.

Joshua didn’t believe them at first when they kept saying they were cursed, but the kicker was how date number three was always the worst. It had become a big point of anxiety for all of them to get over that particular date if they wanted it to work out. This wasn’t just the core three that started that mess way back when. Seungkwan, Wonwoo, and Joshua had all had some bad luck too. 

So when Mingyu asked for some company on this third date that he really wanted to go well, Joshua had shrugged and said, “Find me a date.”

This has happened so many times that Joshua is not nervous for this mystery woman to show up. Besides, he’s too busy on his second drink. Clinicals have been kicking his ass and he’s stared at the ceiling every night this week wondering why he thought med school was a good idea. But he’s more than half way done, so after a little pep talk he decides to stick it out every time. 

“So where’s your date, Joshua?” Harin asks politely, trying to make conversation. 

Joshua shrugs with a laugh. “Ask Mingyu, he’s set this up.”

Mingyu is on his phone, texting someone. “She’s running late and has to come straight from work. She apologizes but we can order with out her.”

Joshua waves it off because he’s in no rush. “What did you say her name was again?”

Mingyu hadn’t said, actually, and he has a bit of a sly expression on his face when he glances up from his phone briefly. “You’ll meet her any minute. I think you’ll like her.”

“Do you set up your friends often?” Harin teases, but looks kind of confused when Mingyu and Joshua both laugh.

“Something like that. Oh, here she is!” Mingyu gestures to the restaurant entrance and Joshua turns. The woman is pretty, dressed nicely in slacks and a floral blouse. Joshua likes her already. 

He turns back to Mingyu instantaneously in amusement. “You have to stop doing this.” 

“Doing what?” Mingyu asks innocently. “Setting you up with a pretty friend of mine?”

“She’s going to yell at you again,” Joshua warns, still very amused. 

A purse slams into the seat next to Joshua. The woman scoffs, falling into it. “Kim Mingyu, I told you to stop trying to set us up.”

“Oh, come on! It would be perfect, Y/N!” Mingyu cries. 

Y/N looks irritated but Joshua can tell it’s mostly for show. They’re so close now that he knows when she’s just messing with Mingyu and the others like this. She responds this way every time they try to set Y/N and Joshua up. 

“Just say you hate me,” Joshua teases, wide grin on his face. 

Y/N’s having a hard time hiding her smile now. “I hate you, Joshua Hong.”

“Uh,” poor Harin starts, confused. “You two know each other then? I thought this was supposed to be a blind date or something.”

“Something indeed,” Y/N answers easily. “We’ve known each other for years. We’re in med school together and we’re also roommates.” Harin’s eyes flare and she gives a small confused, ‘oh’. Y/N waves it away, “It’s Mingyu being Mingyu. He likes to meddle in the love lives of others.”

Joshua laughs at the jab and how Mingyu rolls his eyes. It’s an old inside joke now, one that Harin doesn’t quite get, but they’ll leave it that way. 

During dinner, Mingyu and Harin ask about Y/N’s clinicals. They already know about Joshua’s because Y/N ran quite late today. Joshua’s not really listening because he already knows everything - the consequences of being best friends and roommates. They order anything except for three drinks and Harin is confused by their insistence. 

After their apology on that damned twitter account, it took almost two weeks before Y/N came around. The group was starting to think they were shit out of luck, but they had just decided to wipe their hands of it because they’d done everything they could do, just short of a face to face apology. They were sure she didn’t want to be approached and anything they could say would sound so lame anyway.

But the group had actually become pretty good friends over the course of their plotting, so they kept hanging out afterwards. They were all at lunch together one day when they hear a small cough behind them. Y/N looks nervous. “Do you mind if I join in?”

They really didn’t know what to expect when Wonwoo scooted over to share the bench with her. But it certainly wasn’t an, ‘I accept your apology.’

None of them really felt like they deserved it, but they started going out of their way to be friendly with Y/N. Inviting her to lunch with them, studying with her, walking with her to class. Seungkwan even let her hit the ‘delete’ button on the twitter account when Wonwoo handed it back over. 

And Joshua had made a lot of effort to go see her on the first floor of the hospital while they had their internship, even going as far as to take their breaks or walk back to campus together. And when they’d both gotten into the same med school and were looking for housing, they both kind of shrugged and picked a two bedroom apartment near the hospital. It had proved to be a good move if only because your roommate understood your weird schedules. Med school wasn’t for the weak and they’d found that out pretty quickly together.

So Y/N and Joshua had fallen into an easy routine. Go to class together, go to clinical rotations together when possible, and eat together almost every night. If they couldn’t eat together, one would make something and put it in the fridge for the other. They’d become each other’s biggest support system and every now and then he had to laugh at how they started because they meshed so well now. When they were doing each other’s laundry or bickering about ordering from the same sushi place again, he wondered why he wanted to hate her so much back then.

Because he certainly didn’t hate her. Probably never did. He actually loved her, usually in a platonic way. But every now and then there were reminders of what it was like back then. She was still pretty and funny and smart and charming after all and had the same effect she always did on men, including Joshua occasionally.

But she didn’t like dating. She flat out refused anyone that asked her out and only showed up to dinners like this because a friend like Mingyu asked her to. Joshua hadn’t seen her with anyone in nearly four years beyond these little blind dates. Some were with friends of friends, like Vernon and Soonyoung, Jihoon’s friends from college. But most of them were with Joshua when they could trick the two of them into showing up at the same place unknowingly. 

Their friends had gotten it in their head that Y/N and Joshua would be great together. And here’s the thing, Joshua didn’t hate the idea. But he knew Y/N did so he continually scolded them for how pushy they were. She always said she was too busy to date now, but he knew their little stunt years ago had left a mark. Y/N and Joshua had kind of hoped they’d forgotten about their little matchmaking venture because it had been a few months since a set up like this, but Joshua guesses they were wrong. 

Y/N and Joshua say goodbye to Mingyu and Harin and begin to walk home together. He’s pretty sure they look like a couple coming home from a first date. God only knows they get comments all the time about it, but they’ve stopped correcting people when they say something about it. Joshua still feels a bit of a rush when it happens anyway and it’s taken years for him to figure out why. 

Joshua thinks about what that would be like. In a lot of ways, nothing would change. She’s still warm to him, but sometimes he misses her touch. Sometimes when she’s had a hard day or is struggling with something, he’ll wrap his arms around her and he remembers being like this years ago, no matter how brief it was. He remembers them walking together just like this and her shyly reaching for his hand. Sometimes his fingers twitch with the desire to reach out.

But her hands stay wrapped around her stomach in the chill of the night so he doesn’t. He knows she wouldn’t want that. Which is just as well. He knows she’s a friend for life, one that he doesn’t really deserve. 

[boozenboze]

Tokyo Revengers x Male reader

Summary: Being an Ace and a division captain are two hefty things to juggle. So what happens when the other Toman captains find the leader of the 6th division at volleyball practice

Females She/Her and She/They DNI

“Good hustle L/n keep it up!” The coach yelled to the s/c skinned male who gave him a thumbs up. Practice didn’t end until late that night, and the Toman meeting that had been planned had begun without. He didn’t worry about it to much, but he knew he’d have to go through a light hearted interrogation from Mikey and Draken.

To be honest, they should’ve known that the male had practice. Why you may ask? Well thats because he had mentioned his after school activity plenty of times to them. If they hadn’t known then that would be on them for not listening.

(Pov switch)

Mikey was giving his speech to the gang, eyes wandering ever so often to see if his eyes would catch sight of the h/c haired male. Before the beginning of the meeting the blonde had been searching for him and to no avail, he didn’t spot him. The other captains tried calling or texting him but they would left with his voicemail. They continued to wait for him but had to start since there was no signs of him showing up.

The meeting ended not to long ago snd Takemichi was trying to call M/n again. As he did that, the other captains conversed with each other while also wondering where their 6th division captain was. This wasn’t the first time the male had missed a meeting but the other times he’d make sure Mikey knew so that confusion wouldn’t get caused.

“Hey-Hello! M/n where were, you the meeting is over.” Takemichi spoke as his mention of the h/c haired male caught the others attention. When they approached they watched as Takemichi’s brows furrowed in confusion.

“When did you start playing volleyball?” Takemichi asked as the others held their own looks of question.

“I-uh ok we’ll come over to see you. Ok bye.” Takemichi said before hanging up.

“When’d he start playing volleyball?” Mitsuya asked as he glanced at the others. Angry hummed in response before saying.

“That could explsin the other times he didn’t show up.”

“Yeah thats true...wait Takemichi you said thst we’d go and see him hm?” Draken questioned as Takemichi nodded.

“Alright lets go I wanna see N/n-chin play!” Mikey said with excitement as he made his way to his motorcycle. The others sighed at their commanders attitude and followed behind him, getting onto their own bikes.

(Pov switch)

“Nice serve M/n!” One of your teammates yelled on the sidelines as the ball made contact with the floor of the other teams side. It was the males ball again and he bounced the ball a few times before serving it again. Once again it was a perfect serve but the other team was able to pass it back to which your teammate Lain was passed it to your setter Ryu.

The captains had just arrived to the gym and heard the sound of shoes squeaking against the floor and a ball making contact with it. A loud boom and cheering could be heard as they walked in and they saw M/n's team cheering. They could tell because of their f/c jerseys and shorts. M/n was doing a little dance with Ryu who was laughing his ass off as they did.

"Can ya'll stop acting like you won an actual game." Your captain who was on the other team said as you turned to face him.

"Your just mad that ya'll lost~!" The h/c haired male whipped out his middle finger and started to shake his hips out of mockery. The captain rolled his eyes as his gaze averted to the Toman captains who were standing by the door.

"Are those gang members?" One of your other teammates said warily, as the Captain spoke up.

"Do ya'll need something?" His voice was loud which caused everyone to turn their attention to the entrance door. M/n's eyes widened at the sights of his gang. He was only expecting Takemichi to show up.....not everyone else.

"I-uh...what are ya'll doing here? Takemichi I thought you were the only one coming." M/n replies to the others that hadn't said anything yet.

"Um yeah I did...I forgot to mention they were tagging along, sorry." Takemichi said as his eyes wandered down to M/n's legs. He kept his gaze steady on his thighs. He looked away, reminding himself that he had a girlfriend as the other captains stared as well.

"Why didn't you tell us your thighs were so.....gyat!" Baji said as he did hand motions around M/n's legs. The male laughed in response, not thinking anything of his comment. He has worked hard to get his legs to the state they were in now so he appreciated the compliments.

"Can I....touch them..? Baji asked, voice getting a bit quieter but loud enough for Mikey to hear his question.

"Not if I don't touch them first!" Mikey said as he leaped over to the h/c haired male and began to feel up his leg. He squeezed his thigh with his hand and the male above whimpered slightly from the blondes grip. M/n's thighs had muscle definition and were a little jiggly.

"Ah...Mikey are you done yet?" M/n asked as Draken attempted to pull the commander off his leg. Mikeys grip got tighter and a moan was stifled from his lips causing both blondes to look at him. The male looked away from them, forgetting to mention how sensitive his thighs were. Mikey let go and laughed with a blush on his face. Draken and the others were the same way. Smiley was laughing while maintaining his iconic expression, as well as Angry who had turned away. Mitsuya was smiling as Sanzu massaged his temple.

"Yo M/n! Come get your shit!" Lain said as he approached the male with his gym bag. M/n took the bag from him and nodded as I thank you as the brunette left the gym.

"Well now we know one of our captains secret...Imma use that against him when we play Mario Kart." Smiley said as his smirk turned to something more devious. Angry side eyed his brother as he turned his gaze over to the h/c haired male who was making his way over to them.

"I'll be at your house in a bit, the game should be updated by then yea?" M/n said as he walked out, moving towards his bike.

"What were ya'll talking about?' Mucho asked as Smiley laughed in response. He walked away from the taller male as the twins exited the premises. The other captains watched them leave with looks of suspicion.

"They're planning something...lets follow them!" Mikey exclaimed as the others followed him out the gym.

"That was interesting"

"Mhm!"

[cheesus-doodles]

Star-Crossed by Choice: Chapter 3

Yandere Raihan & Leon with Champion Darling

Pokemon SwSh and SV Crossover

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<< Chapter 1 | 2

Masterlist

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apologies for the sudden hiatus yall ;-; i've been pulling midnight days almost every day for the past month for work on top of dealing with quite a severe writer block - things has been calming down somewhat so I look forward to ramping up my writing again! thank you for your patience :3

“You ungrateful little whore,” Raihan all but snarled out, the whites of his gritted teeth glinting in the dim street light as he stared you down.

Your body instantly reacted, attempting to stumble back and away despite having collapsed on the ground, your trembling gaze all but locked on Raihan’s icy teals, unable to turn away. If looks could kill, you wouldn’t be dead, no - the fate that awaited you was so much worse than the kind embrace of death. Your Cinderace let out an uncertain trill as it looked back at you, quickly followed by an annoyed one as it shifted to block your view of the gym leader. The astute Pokemon you had the honor to call your partner was more than well aware of the situation, though its efforts did little to stop the shivers that wrecked your body as you tried and failed to force yourself to get up and move.

Raihan was hardly deterred. “After all I’ve done for you, after all you’ve put me through-” The taller man took a step forward, his towering shadow falling over you, eyes almost seeming to glow in the dark and he stared you down. “This is how you repay my love?” 

It was as if your Cinderace barely existed between the two of you, those narrowed eyes piercing straight past the Pokemon and into your soul, a shot from a harpoon that hooked into your flesh and froze you in place. There was no right answer to his question, even if you could muster the words to reply, because there wasn’t supposed to be one; you were never right. Only wrong. 

The town of Cortando was predictably quiet at this time of the night, with residents and student visitors having long retreated into their beds to prepare for the coming day. You envied them - and you always had - having the freedom that the new dawn would bring to look forward to. And even though you treasured every day you could roam the rolling hills of Paldea, free from the shackled throne you were forced to sit upon in Galar, it wasn’t without needing to constantly look over your back for the monsters that lurked in the shadows.

And now, the freedom you had so carefully constructed for yourself was threatening to shatter before your eyes. 

You gulped, pleading eyes sliding to glance at Nemona, who was still staring blankly at the whole ongoing shitshow. What now? Could you simply give all this up? Go back to the safety of what you knew? You had to, your mind screamed at you. Concede now, surrender and return peacefully before it’s too late, and you could maybe still enjoy some semblance of the miniscule comfort you had before your abrupt escape.

But it was your heart and the sinking feeling in the base of your gut that told you the truth. That it was already too late for you: you had forced the Hammerlocke gym leader into giving up all pretense of playing the persona he was so loved for, and like an awakened dragon, the man you faced was now one usually reserved only for you and your transgressions against him. Allowing others to lay eyes on such a private side of him would hardly be kind to you if Raihan got his way.

“Hey! Eyes here while I’m talking to you,” the man snapped, and your gaze immediately jumped back to meet his, the hair on the back of your neck standing as you realized that you had been too obvious in allowing your attention to waver away from Raihan. If Cinderace hadn’t been between the two of you, you were sure around your neck was exactly where the other’s hands would be at this precise point in time. “Do I mean so little to you now, princess? Just trash to be cast aside, huh?”

What now? What else?

‎

Yet that was hardly the whole sum of your issues at the moment. Allowing your eyes to slide away from Raihan once more as the man continued to vent and rant to himself, and there in the dim yellow light waited another patient pair, Leon looking deceptively relaxed from where he was leaned against an unassuming lamppost lazily scanning his surroundings, just a stone’s throw behind the hoodie-touting gym leader. And as if he could feel your wide-eyed stare, the ex-Champion looked up, catching your eyes lingering on him. Smirking as he dropped whatever it was that he had been tossing from one hand to the other, the purple-haired man leisurely strolled over, clapping one hand over an unusually agitated Raihan’s shoulder. “Calm, Raihan,” Leon smirked, golden eyes having never left yours. “She’s still here.”

Raihan let out an annoyed tsk, shaking Leon off of him, though the gym leader did take a deep breath and calmed down. 

I’m still here, you repeated mentally. So close where they could almost grasp you, your eyes flickering between the two as their shadow only seemed to grow longer and longer, swallowing you up and dragging you further from the light, yet so far away. Your chances to get away were only getting slimmer with every passing minute. Having to shake Raihan off was one thing, with the blue-eyed man’s seemingly dragon-like senses and his ability to read you like an open book, but adding Leon into the equation was a whole different ball game.

But you had to try. Giving up and returning to that life that awaited you, it simply wasn’t an option, if not for you, then for your beloved Pokemon friends. You’ve already beaten them once, you tried to reassure yourself. All that time ago, when you had become Galar Champion, and then again and again every Championship. Slowly, painstakingly slowly, you shifted your hand, dipping into your pocket to pull out a small clicker, all the while wrecking your brains to come up with a plan. You just had to beat them again this time. Give up, those nagging voices at the back of your mind urged again.

Far from the rage that Raihan had worked himself into, Leon was still calm and collected, the tanned man with a mob of purple hair reaching out towards you, offering one ungloved hand as if an olive branch. “It’s time to come home, love,” he reassured. “It’s not too late. Everything’ll go back to normal, same way it always was, if you come home with us now. I promise.”

A lie. You know better to fall for those honeyed words - that hadn’t been a question but an order. You closed your eyes, letting out a shuddering breath. It was all too much for you.

Those amber eyes moved to lock onto your Cinderace. “And you. Return to your Pokeball.”

Your partner pokemon bristled, letting out a warning growl.

‎

Leon had always frightened you, more than Raihan ever did. The Dragon gym leader had always been very obvious, very deliberate with his actions, never bothering to hide his intentions, to the extent of making it public to his leagues of fans the moment you were in his grasp. But you hadn’t even noticed the once-undefeated Champion’s claws wrapping around you until he already had you trapped.

The glimpse of purple hair you kept catching from the corner of your eye had you momentarily thinking of Hop, your oldest and dearest friend that you had left behind in Galar. You wondered how he was doing, whether he still thought of you like you did of him. Whether he had already achieved his goal of researching rare pokemon. Whether he still looked up to his older brother after what Leon had done to him the day you toppled Goliath and became reigning Champion.

You thought about writing to him from time to time, especially during those lonely nights when you camped out in the far corner of some field, stoking a crackling fire under the twinkling stars with your Pokemon fast asleep around you. You remembered when Hop would join you to feast on curry when the two of you were kids, when neither had any worries beyond homework and whether the channels would have the latest episode of your favorite show. But you had always decided against it at the end of the day, worried about being tracked down should Leon get a hold of one - and you could only offer simple wishes up to whatever deity was listening that Hop was doing well. 

Fat load of good that did you.

Your hand moved fast, tapping away on the converted morse paddle key hidden to the side of your body: non-verbal instructions to your Cinderace. Not only was it a system that both you and your Pokemon were well accustomed with, having practiced it again and again throughout the course of the Galar Championships and beyond, but it also took advantage of Pokemon’s natural heightened senses and your two self-established “guardians” inability to understand. And you knew your partner heard you loud and clear, the bunny Pokemon’s ear twitching in acknowledgement despite keeping its back turned to you.

Though despite your best attempts, your unspoken communication didn’t go unnoticed. Leon’s face darkened, in step with Raihan snarling. “Not going to use your words?” “What did I say about clicking?”

Fortunately, right on cue, Cinderace took a quick swipe at them, forcing the two men back a few paces to avoid the tip of its feet before your partner retreated back to stand guard in front of you. 

The breeze had picked up once more, carrying with it the calls of Hoothoot and the rustle of grass from outside of town, the fields alive with nocturnal Pokemon. You shivered in the warm wind, your mind racing. One step down, countless more to go. Could you pull it off?

‎

‎

It was far too obvious that you weren’t giving up the fight just yet, Raihan mused, sharp eyes lasering in on you as you kept your gaze downturned and focused on the ground, his grin only seeming to lengthen with the shadows that danced in the night. Sure, you had always been on the timid, shy side, even to the point of being a selective mute, but he could tell this was one of those rare times where your instinct to struggle against the current bubbled to the surface. You had always been a crafty little thing when you needed to.

Yet the scales were still tipped in his favor.

“Fiery,” the Hammerlocke gym leader all but purred out, pulling your attention out from your thoughts. “You sure you wanna do that though?” He reached into his pocket, and you flinched on instinct. Good.

 Pulling out an all-too familiar Pokeball, the orb was clutched in one tanned hand held halfway out, just enough for the light to catch its top. 

You turned pale, staggering to your feet immediately, your eyes locked on that ball. No doubt you would easily recognise the Pokeball he now held as your own: the once-glossy red surface painstakingly decorated with cute little details that he imagined you carving with the tip of a knife in the light of a campfire once upon a time, far out in the Wild Area and away from prying eyes. “You know who this is, don’t you, lil champ?”

You couldn’t tear your eyes away, tears beginning to well in the corner of your already swollen eyes as you tried to shake your head, attempting to plead silently to spare you the pain. 

Ah that helpless, what a sight for sore eyes indeed. If only you could voice that plea.

And with a quick toss, it was clear to the hooded trainer that he had only confirmed your worst nightmares, Lapras bursting forth and manifesting before Cinderace with a cry. Back when he had let his guard down and allowed you to escape from his grasp back in Galar, you had managed to slip away with just six of your Pokemon - your prized Pokemon to say the least, given those six formed the core of your Championship team. But, Raihan smirked, casually sliding both hands into the pockets of his hoodie, it was no secret you cared deeply for all your Pokemon, and those you left behind were still in his and Leon’s possession. 

Even your Cinderace seemed uncertain of the evolving situation, breaking its fighting stance to glance between you and its former ally. 

Now, what were you going to do next?

‎

‎

Your world felt like it was on the brink of imploding, the very air just a wrong touch away from collapsing around you. That wretched thick black collar that hung from Lapras’ neck, one you were all too familiar with - you could barely bite back the whimper that you felt threatening to escape from your throat. Whatever you did, one wrong move and you would once again be the sole cause of the world of suffering Lapras would be put through.

You shaking met Lapras’ eyes, to which the Pokemon let out a mournful sigh, and Cinderace returned a sad trill. It wasn’t the first time both had found the other on opposing sides since you had your living arrangement forcibly updated at the end of the Galar Championship, but neither liked the outcome. Maybe Leon and Raihan were right. Maybe you should just give in and end the pain. 

“Just leave her alone already!” A sudden interruption that sliced through the silence of the night like a hot knife through butter, and Nemona came stomping over from behind him, an uncharacteristically furious expression painted across the usually cheery girl. “She doesn’t want to go with you!” With a distinct lack of fear in her eyes and a lack of care for who your two pursuers were on the world stage, your friend marched past them without a second glance, putting herself squarely on your side and in your corner.

The Champion-ranked trainer turned to you. “Don’t get me wrong, I most definitely want to have a battle with you once all this blows over,” she declared, pausing for a moment before continuing on. “And I want to know everything. But I’m on your side. Got it?”

You simply nodded.

There was little question that Raihan and Leon would be angry, and you didn’t need to look to know just how downright pissed they were. Instead opting to turn your gaze to Nemona then to the ground, it was as if your mind had connected the dots faster than you could have realized, and you had to take a second look at the uniform-clad girl. Right before it hit you like a charging Rhyhorn, the sudden realization instantly shaking your entire perspective and turning your world upside down. 

You were no longer in Galar. 

Yes, there was no doubt that Raihan and Leon were still Master Class trainers that have conquered the World Coronation Championships, and were most definitely famous even here in Paldea as the famous Dragon Gym Leader of Hammerlocke and the former Galar Champion. But missing were the leagues of women who would throw their weeks away to comb every inch of grass for signs of you on Raihan’s command. And gone were the nosy trainers who would be more than happy to turn over information on your location just for a word of praise from Leon, or the crowds of your self-declared fans who could recognize you turned inside out from a yard away.

They were as good as nobodies here, and so were you.

‎

And now all the wheels began to turn. The modified morse paddle key that served as your clicker went into overdrive as you tried to get your thoughts out to Cinderace as fast as your fingers could go.

You could get away. There was still a way out for you.

Raihan seemed to have caught on to the sudden hope that surged in your veins, the toothy grin on his face dropping as he narrowed his eyes. “Lapras, Hydro Pump,” he ordered.

Lapras resisted, letting out a defiant cry as it rebelled against his orders. Your countdown has started.

Two clicks, and your Cinderace leapt forward, foot extended to land a Double Kick.

You didn’t look to see if the attack landed, attempting to turn out all external sounds from your buzzing ears; the butterflies in your chest already made it hard enough to keep breathing. Instead, you cleared your throat, your mouth moving as you tried to force a word, a sound, anything from your vocal chords. “S-St-” You exhaled, shuddering, your efforts going unnoticed amidst the chaos of the moment.

The Dragon Gym Leader had withdrawn a small remote, a promise, not a threat. “Lapras, use Hydro Pump,” he ordered again.

It wasn’t enough. A full word. All you needed was a single full word. If not for yourself, then for the hell that your Pokemon had been through - there was no other choice. You had to do it.

Nemona’s eyebrows were furrowed as she watched the battle go down, the other three trainers paying little attention to you as you carefully tiptoed over to retrieve your backpack off the ground, the clock in your head ticking down slowly but surely. Tick tock, the nagging voices in your head whispered to you. Tick tock.

There was little time to decide what the right move was, whether you did the right thing; you simply rationalized that you should pick whoever you wouldn’t mind being stuck with again should you have to return to Galar. Raihan did treat you like royalty whenever he wasn't angry at some unspoken rule that you unknowingly broke, and would only increase should you pick him, with the downside being the numerous eyes and constant spotlight that followed the popular trainer around. While no doubt that Leon’s treatment of you would improve greatly if you picked him, the man had always been very demanding, holding you to an impossible standard.

Reaching into your backpack right for your Pokemon as Cinderace dodged the jet of water aimed at him, everything that happened next took but a blink of an eye.

‎

All you could muster the strength to mutter was a single word, yet it was enough. A broken whisper of a single syllabus, mumbled by a hoarse voice that didn’t seem to see much use. “Raihan-”

Both men instantly startled, amber and aqua eyes snapping straight to yours as their jaws dropped. But it was all the distraction you needed.

Click. Your Vileplume manifested, instantly using Stun Spore, with both Vileplume Cinderace being recalled to their respective balls before the yellow dust even touched the ground.

You grabbed Nemona’s arm, yanking her backwards with surprising strength as you clutched your backpack tight to your chest. Another shrill song as Gardevoir manifested, the Psychic pokemon lightly touching its green sleeve-like arms to you, using Teleport.

And in under a minute, your little group was gone, vanishing without a trace from Cortondo.

‎

‎

“She-she said my name,” Raihan mumbled again and again, sounding very much star-struck. “My name. M-”

“Shut the fuck up,” Leon snapped back, annoyed.

Being left sprawled on the ground waiting for the effects of the paralysis to fade didn’t help much with the former Galar Champion’s mood, even less so when you had been just an arm’s length away. One grab away from going back to how life had been with you. And now, Leon had to live with the fact that after years and years of patience, waiting eagerly for a chance to hear your elusive voice. Soft and gentle, like the trickle of a river, your voice had been everything he ever imagined and more - and it was his rival’s name that left your lips first. 

It must be her, the purple-haired man fumed, a soft glow of red as an equally paralyzed Lapras was recalled to its ball by a giddy, giggling Raihan. That stupid Champion-ranked girl with the green highlighted hair. All his time and effort, taming and training you into his love - and she had broken his perfect you the moment his back was turned. All his work for nothing, gone like sand art at high tide.

Letting out a groan as Leon finally felt control of his body return, he could only slam the back of his head into the dust once in frustration before standing. 

Raihan had won this fight, but Leon sure as hell was going to make sure he wins the war.

[championleonsslut]

First of all, HELLO, welcome to Tumblr! :3 (Just in case you are new!)

And now, here comes my idea: Leon with a shy but VERY powerful S/O. Full team, the best of the best, destroyer of champions.

I just like the contrast between a cute and shy girly and the most menacing team you can imagine.

- Fairy Anon 🧚🏻‍♀️

Ooh this is a good one anon! I would have responded sooner, but I didn’t see this request at first, sorry! I also have been on Tumblr awhile, I just used to be a lurker.

Leon W/ a shy, but VERY powerful s/o.

G/n reader

At first, it was hard for Leon to even get to know you. After all, he was the champion, you were just a trainer. But you caught his eye. With how downright adorable you were, and your Pokemon.

Leon saw you battle once, and was immediately intrigued. He already thought you were psychically attractive, but this just added to it. You were a great trainer too!

So naturally, he got “lost” in the Wild Area and followed you around for a bit. But when he tried to talk to you, you yelped, and took off in the other direction. He felt a little hurt, but pushed it aside.

So you were shy, huh? Alrighty then. Leon has to do this the non-Leon way.

He followed you around the Wild Area again, but this time, was much more strategic. When you had set down camp, that’s when he “pounced.”

He made sure not to startle you, and carefully introduced himself. Once you guys got to chatting, he just developed more and more of a crush on you. Not like it wasn’t mutual, you’ve had a celebrity crush on him for years! And now he’s TALKING to you???

You exchanged numbers, and met up again many more times. Eventually, he even got to meet your Pokemon team when he challenged you to a battle!

A Togekiss, Garchomp, Melmetal, Jolteon, Lucario, and Milotic. You kicked his ass. This was kept a secret for a very long time, as he had to keep up the façade of unbeatable champion.

He was… very surprised, and so were you. But nonetheless, you happily parted ways after a little more flirting from him. He asked you out a few days later, of course you said yes.

You both decided to keep it secret for a bit, as the media would get right up in your grill. And you are shy. You would not like that. Leon would also not like that.

He comes to see you whenever you battle, and drool from the sidelines. You have a bit of a streak going by this point, some people saying you may as well be the next champion with how good you are.

You have many secret dates with him before you both finally decide to tell people. Leon lets it slip in an interview, and everyone goes B A N A N A S.

Now, you are a target for the press. They catch you sometimes after matches, but normally Leon is there to shoo them away when they get too nosy, or when you look like you’re about to have a panic attack. But when Leon isn’t there, it’s not as good.

You usually just (very politely) tell them to fuck off, and bolt away. Leon is so so proud of you whenever this happens. You are rewarded with many kisses.

Sometimes you do interviews together, and Leon can’t help but gush about you while you sit there blushing like you’re going to explode.

You end up becoming one of the best trainers in Galar, actually! Maybe even good enough to be a gym leader, if you’d like.

Of course, you keep kicking your boyfriend’s ass along the way, and he keeps trying to scheme ways to beat you.

[bellafragolina]

hi i've never requested anything from anyone ever before so here goes lmao 😭 uhh i've had this stupid little idea for like a week now: motostoke gym trainer reader calls kabu dad on accident. like goes to ask him something and just says "hey dad?" then gets embarrassed and walks away. "nevermind i figured it out myself" no you didn't you liar

uhhh yeah that's it here's payment🍪 cooky

cooky……..

🍓🍓🍓

You were the youngest on the team, that much was obvious. It was hard not to dote, but you would pout and huff and grumble about being treated like a kid, even though you were one. But you were also a gym leader, just like them, able to hold your own even again the more experienced trainers.

Kabu had no doubts you’d grow up into something fierce, even with a primarily fire type team. But he also worried.

It wasn’t as obvious, but you lived for the gym. Sure, you huffed and puffed at the affection and doting, but you never walked away from it.

Kabu knew you craved it, deep down. Despite trying to grow up fast, be independent, be more than what you lacked, he knew you desperately wanted family again. And here you were finding it.

But you’d die before admitting it. A child’s pride was something to be admired, for its steady determination not to break. At the time same time, however, Kabu wished you’d relax, let them take care of you.

You deserved to be a kid, void of weight of the world, if just for a little while. Kabu would hold up the sky for you, if only you’d let him.

But you didn’t. You were his little Atlas, strong and steady, at least on the outside.

For all your pronounced independence, you were still young and inexperienced. The world was still confusing and complicated despite your self sustaining abilities, and when you came to the team, they jumped to help you understand the forms of a gym leader, the conduct to have towards fans and reporters alike, how to deal with sore losers versus disheartened ones.

How to lean on someone when everything becomes too much too fast.

"Hey, um. . ." Your voice drew Kabu from his thoughts. He blinked, watching you shuffle around at the door of his office. "Uh. . ."

Kabu felt his heart grow warm as you struggled to find your words. 'Yes, firefly?"

You huffed. "Dad, do you-"

Your throat seemed to close around your words when Kabu's eyes widened. Everything froze, from his heart to your fidgeting. Kabu wondered, did he hear you right? Did you really see him that way?

"Never mind." You squeaked out before he could even smile. Seemed that flub stole all the air from your lungs. "I figured it out. Bye."

"Hold on!" Kabu called, but you were booking it. Kabu had to run to catch you before you disappeared off into the gym, but he managed to snag your arm before you even made it out of the office area. "Hey, hey-"

Kabu's own voice failed him when he saw your face. Your eyes were glassy, cracking with tears that dripped down your ruddy cheeks. Your shoulders jumped with gasps for air, but you were trying so hard to keep it contained that you were suffocating yourself.

Kabu pulled you into his chest, arms tight. "C'mon, firefly, breathe. Just breathe." You struggled to inhale, choking on a sob. "Shh, shh, you're okay-"

"M'not." You whined.

"Why? Cause you called me your dad?" The weak joke did not land, judging by your increased sobbing, so Kabu was quick to continue. "Everyone has done it, not just you." You buried your face in the crook of your arm to hide it. "And I am honored you think of me like a father."

That gave you pause. "Huh. . ?"

"You've been alone for so long." Kabu carefully brushed back your hair. His thumbs, so calloused and warm, stroked your cheek to clear the sticky tears. "Won't you lean on me?"

You leaned into him more. You were weighed down into his arms, but Kabu easily held you.

He'd hold you until it all felt a little lighter.

🍓🍓🍓

hope you like it!!!

~Renee

[pinkroseblooms]

Options, Pt.2

Arajin/f!Reader/Marito

Summary: Marito and Arajin invite you to visit Siguma headquarters for a (not) date. wc: 1.9k A/N: warning for marito being a little shit and arajin being a simp. Enjoy!

“Welcome!” Marito extends his arms wide as if awaiting an embrace. “To Siguma headquarters!”

“How…colorful.” You glance at Arajin with wide eyes; he’s standing a little behind Marito, half heartedly imitating his pose. “Thank you for having me.”

You can’t tell what the building was originally meant to be at first. It’s not until you get a good look at the dilapidated stage on the opposite side of the room and the rusted, old basketball hoops on either end of the walls that you realize it’s a gymnasium. 

“Huh.” You glance at the jungle gym lodged into the hardwood floor. “Is that from a park?”

“A daycare center!” Marito says proudly, taking you by the wrist to pull you around, pointing at the panda bear spring rider. “I thought the boys would get more use out of them than those snot nosed brats.”

“Um, would you like something to drink?” Arajin interjects meekly, holding out two bottles, one of water, another of tea. “I wasn’t sure what you wanted, so I grabbed a few different things. We have a place with snacks too if you’re hungry.”

“Thanks.” You chirp gratefully taking the chilled bottle of jasmine tea. “This is so cool Arajin, like a secret clubhouse. I always wanted to have a clubhouse as a kid; remember the time we tried to make a fortress with those old cardboard boxes?”

“Don’t remind me.”

“Hey, what’re ya talking about?” Marito leans down to get in Arajin’s face. “I’ve never heard about this. Were you trying to become a gang leader or something?”

“No! It was just an average clubhouse.” Arajin explains. “It was until the rain came anyhow. It didn’t dawn on us that leaving out cardboard in a storm would basically destroy our secret fortress.”

“I don’t know if it was secret, seeing as how we made it in the backyard.” You add good naturedly. “But it was fun to make, wasn’t it?”

“Totally.” 

Arajin smiles as you fill Marito in the details of some of your adventures; he doesn’t even mind too much when you mention Matakara, bringing up the idea of the three of you getting together sometime to hang out. There might be a way to get out of it, but the truth is, if you really wanted it, Arajin would make up an itinerary; with you there as a buffer, it could be bearable. 

“There’s no reason to be awkward Arajin: Matakara’s still the best guy I know, I think it would be nice for us to catch up at the restaurant or something.” You propose gently. “Think it over, okay? For me?”

“ANYTHING!”

You blink. “Huh?”

“I mean, yeah, I’ll cook you anything you want; I’ll make you something really good, all your favorites!” Arajin says excitedly. “I’ll even make you roast duck.”

Marito watches silently as Arajin fusses and fawns; it’s actually pretty damn cute when he gets all riled up and eager to please. He invited you to join them fully expecting this reaction; after all, whatever he says, it’s painfully obvious Arajin’s been carrying around a torch for you for who knows how long. Again, Marito expected that: in fact he was counting in it. He wants you and Arajin to get closer again before they make any moves. Besides, the two of you look like adorable puppies in a pen, so innocently affectionate and tiptoeing around each other tentatively, always mindful of the line between friends and more. 

“Ara-teen, we need to talk.” Marito interrupts the conversation with a sunny grin, now pulling Arajin away to the entrance door. “Be right back kitten! You just make yourself comfy, don’t miss us too much!”

Once they’re outside, Marito’s easy going smile switches to a cold glare; he looms over Arajin but doesn’t say anything.

“Are you mad?” Arajin glances at the slightly open doorway, even though it’s unlikely you’d overhear them. “I didn’t mean to leave you out of the conversation. We sort of got caught up reminiscing I guess.” There’s another beat of tense silence before Arajin slowly reaches for Marito’s hand at his side. “I’m sorry.”

“Why is she so dead set on getting together with you and Matakara?” Marito’s scowl dissolves into a pout but he squeezes Arajin’s hand, albeit a bit too hard, making the other boy wince. “It sounds like she thinks pretty highly of that Minato Kai scum.”

“Oh yeah that.” Arajin sighs heavily. “I don’t know. She’s been in touch with him this whole time I was away.” A look of panic crosses his face. “Wait, you don’t think they’re…dating?!”

“You’re the one who should know. Your ol’ buddy could have been working on her the past five years.” Marito muses crossly. “I sure as hell don’t want to lose out to anyone from Minato. Arajin, what’s the vibe you get from her?”

“Vibe?”

“Has she talked to you about me?”

“Not really.” Arajin tries to wrack his brain for all the instances since the first meeting between you and Marito where you might have mentioned his boyfriend. “She asks how you are, but that’s it.”

“How so?”

“I spilled the beans; she knows you’re the head of Siguma. She was worried about me getting involved with turf wars, but I told her I don’t fight anymore-”

“A shame, really.” Marito purrs, the tips of his fingers caress Arajin’s knuckles. “You throw a hell of a punch.”

“Marito, come on, not here.” Arajin glances again at the doorway, but you’re not peeking out to see what the hold up is. “Actually, she seemed scared when I told her about you.”

“I see.”

“Not like she's afraid of you!” Arajin adds hastily. “I meant she got kinda panicky when I told her about you getting into fights and stuff; I told her you’re crazy strong, but she always asks if you’re doing okay. I think she’s worried about you getting hurt.”

“She is? Worried about little ol’ me?” Marito’s razor sharp grin betrays the mock sympathetic tone of his voice. “Ara-teen, hit me.”

“Sure-what?!”

“Come on, just one good punch!” Marito undoes the rest of the buttons on his shirt until the fabric is pooled around his waist. “Give it to me.”

When Marito and Arajin finally return, they find you lying in a hammock, swinging slightly and humming to yourself. In Marito’s hammock.

“That’s my spot.”

You open your eyes; Marito’s face hovers above yours. He’s looking down at you, blocking the dim lights overhead and you can’t quite make out his expression. Carefully, you sit up, a hand to your mouth.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t think…I didn’t realize.”

“Aw, no worries. It’s just…” Marito sighs, running a hand through his hair. “My stomach’s bothering me.”

“Please, lie down!” You practically leap down and rearrange the blankets over the wide net. “Arajin has stomach problems too, I bought something for indigestion-”

“Hey, don’t go around talking about that so loudly!” Arajin looks scandalized as you forage through your purse. “It doesn’t happen that often, you don’t need to carry around medicine.”

“Good idea.” Marito gives Arajin a sneaky grin over your shoulder. “Ain’t she a peach, Ara-teen? But actually, it’s not a stomach ache; ya see…”

Marito, looking almost shy, undoes his shirt to show you the newly forming bruise on his abs.

“Oh my gosh!” You stop going through your purse to examine the fairly minor injury; still you look as upset as if Marito has an open gash across his midsection. “What happened?”

“I got into a bit of an altercation this morning and it’s still a bit tender is all.” Marito lays back on the hammock with a thoughtful expression. “I have some ointment in the cabinet over there, but I don’t think I need it.”

“Jin-san, of course you should use it!” 

Arajin watches, incredulous and a bit impressed as you march over to the cabinet, rummaging around until you find a first aid kit and the small container of ointment. Marito grins over at him smugly. “Watch and learn.” he mouths silently before you turn around with the supplies and a determined expression on your face.

“I can do it for you if it’s too painful to move; I used to help patch up Arajin and Matakara all the time when we were kids.”

“It wasn’t that often. You say it like I was getting beat up left and right.” 

“Oh hush.”

Arajin mumbles a bit defensively but he looks transfixed as you dip your fingers into the small container and begin swiping the ointment over Marito’s bruise.

“Ah!”

“Sorry, did I press too hard?”

“You’re fine,” Marito hisses sharply as you slowly trace your fingers over his stomach. “The ointment was cold; I’m a bit sensitive there.”

“I’ll be gentle.” You still look a bit upset. “I’m sorry.”

“It was just a tickle.”

“No, cause you could be resting now.” You look up at Marito and Arajin with big, sad eyes. “Is it a bad time for me to be here? I can leave.”

Arajin grabs at his chest; he feels both horribly guilty and ready to keel over and die at how adorable you look. It doesn’t help that Marito is making faint, almost keening noises as you finish applying the ointment; he’s barely able to hold back a disappointed look when you retract your hand and put the cap back over the medicine. Arajin is half expecting his boyfriend to drag you into the hammock; he’s lost count of how many times Marito has done the same to him, effortlessly pulling him into his chest, locking his long legs around his own, effectively trapping Arajin on top of his body with a smile to charm the devil himself. 

“Kitten, c’mere? Could you take a look at something?”

You stand next to Arajin, bending your head a bit to glance over Marito’s body. “What else hurts?”

“This.” Marito grabs your hand, placing the palm over his chest. “It’s aching. I think it’ll break.”

“Wha-what?”

“Don’t go yet.” Marito’s beseeching gaze flickers to Arajin’s stunned face. “We were really looking forward to you coming over. Ya can’t go now.”

“Um,” You look back at Arajin. “If it’s really no trouble…”

“Yes!” Arajin nods enthusiastically. “We even picked out special snacks and everything! Please don’t feel like you have to go!”

“Well, alright then. Thank you for having me. Jin-san?”

“Marito is fine. A friend of Ara-teen’s is a friend of mine after all.”

“Marito,” You smile softly. “Please take care of yourself properly when you get hurt: I know you’re a big tough guy and all, but that doesn’t mean I won’t worry about you as much as Arajin.”

“Yeah…sure.” Marito nods, his tone considerably less playful. “Sorry to worry you.”

“Aw, what are friends for?” You grin and poke Arajin’s cheek. “That goes for you too.”

“Yeah, yeah.” 

Arajin’s eyes lock onto Marito’s; he recognizes the look in his eyes. He’s sure it’s not so different from the longing stare he has as you walk away to the old refrigerator Arajin had dumbly pointed out when you offered to grab them water. 

“Has she always been so…?” Marito exhales slowly. “Come on man, she has to know what she’s doing.”

“Nope. Believe me,” Arajin smiles wearily. “She doesn’t have a clue.”

“Either way, if she is actually going with your buddy, you won’t have to think about competition because he’ll be dead meat.” Marito uses his free hand to reach up and pinch Arajin’s flushed cheek. “I’m all comfy and don’t wanna move; get me a kabob.”

“Okay, okay.”

“And feed me.”

“...okay.”

“Yahoo!” Marito wriggles back and forth excitedly in the hammock, apparently forgetting he’s supposed to be in pain. “I got Ara-teen and a little kitten all to myself today.”

“Just put your shirt back on.” 

[kewpie-aisle]

𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕟𝕖𝕨 𝕨𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕤

pairing: Bokuto Koutarou x gn!reader

notes: suggestive language, mental stripping, general horniness, yoga poses, workout talk, minors do NOT interact pls

wc: 1.5 words

AN: I saw this artwork by @akiisks and every neuron in my brain said, Bo had to be the next installment in the series. Mm mm mm I love ONE owl themed gym bro. banners by @cafekitsune my hero you like what you see series other parts: Atsumu

The gym in the early morning hours was always quiet and peaceful. Majority of the MSBY players preferred evening or late night workouts, considering it a cool down for the day. The early morning hours introduced a peace and lull that was necessary for those that start the day with energy to expend. Calming overactive minds and bodies, both gifts held by the outside hitter of the team. 

Bokuto needed the cool down early in the morning, to ease down his energy levels to a “normal person”. That’s what Akaashi has always put in his head since they were younger, unsure what it means but the morning workout is now a routine for the man. As he got older it became an anchor to familiar times which helped him navigate unknown feelings and obstacles; riding through any crashing wave in peace. That peace has recently been shaken up.

Pulling out his headphones, he reaches for the gym door, coming to a halt when the sounds of the room touch his ears. There’s someone else in the gym already. He checks his watch to see it’s 4:30 am. Frustration is what he should feel, with a disturbance in his routine, but he could feel anticipation flush across his face and tickle the tips of his ears with heat. It’s not just someone in there, he had high expectations on who beat him to the gym. With a heavy pull, the door swings wide open and his eyes scan the floor, easily finding the source of the noise. Lo and behold, there you were. 

The new MSBY athletic trainer, who had joined a month ago. Clad in fitted black workout gear, long sleeves compression shirt and shorts covering each dip and curve of muscle and skin. Edge of the shorts seamlessly meeting the start of skin down your thighs and shins, glistening in sweat. Bokuto gulped down a lump in his throat, slammed by waves of uncertainty uprooting his anchored mind. 

With your headphones on, canceling out all noise in the room, you had missed Bokuto entering. You woke up that morning with more energy than usual. Chalking it up to new hire jitters, but that’s not what it was. Surrounded by players with large egos wasn’t new to you, it came with the territory of being an athletic trainer. Hell, even if you’d stayed in personal training, there’s no escaping the egos of gym bros. Everyone lifts more, knows more, trains better than you. With a smaller stature than most, you’d gone your whole life always being underestimated. Working out had always been a safe relief for pent up frustration and anger, letting you maintain a calm for the rest of the day. A godsent gift in your chosen profession. The MSBY Black Jackals’ team reputation was known far and wide in the industry. The most polite and friendliest team, hungry for growth. The “Eternal Rookies”, a moniker agreed upon by journalists and teammates alike in the volleyball world. It had been just the right move for you, but your professionalism had been shaken up from Day 1, when you met the rising star outside hitter, Bokuto Koutaro. 

Most guys that looked like that were always wolves in sheep’s clothing, regardless of team reputation. But Bokuto had surprised you in every area, clumsy yet straightforward and honest. Earnest in practice and a trusted leader during games. Strong and smart but humble and kind. And agonizingly good looking. Work days became an every day battle to not ogle the man every second he was in your sight. Coming to the gym in the morning was your refresher, a clean way to start the day to ensure you're energized throughout. But it seems Bokuto also frequented the morning time, so you had been adjusting to come earlier and earlier to try and avoid him. Waking up at 3 am from a particularly delicious dream, was enough reason to head straight to the gym to clear your head. Taking a quick break you glance up to the mirror to ensure proper stance, eyes widening seeing the very devil from your dream getting off the treadmill and preparing for his routine. Head down, completing incline chest rows, your entire backside on display for Bokuto. He had finished his cardio and started his lat exercises, fortunately unfortunately the machine was positioned to maintain the weights area in direct line of sight. He had wanted to power through his routine, crushing on the trainer was a childish distraction and completely unprofessional. Having childlike fun is one thing, but entering frustrated territory was completely unlike him. The heat that sat in his core, rising up, coating his entire torso in a voracious fire with desire he’d never felt before. He hated it. He’s always been in control of all his emotions and desires, but you shook every semblance of proper thought from his head. Failing miserably at keeping a focused mind, he dove into the siren’s song and watched you closely throughout his workout. Wiping down machines, adjusting weights, huffing through his sets, but eyes trained on your body throughout it all. He had watched you wrap up and make your way to the yoga mats for cool down stretches. 

With only a nod of acknowledgement, the two of you hadn’t exchanged any words in the past couple hours of working out. Maintaining distance in balanced routines for the day, a dance playing out in the gym. But the tension was palpable, suffocating in the already stuffy gym air. You watched a bead of sweat drip down his chin into the crevices of his pecs. Wondering if it had traveled down his abs and through the defined v-line you could glimpse every time he raised his arms. You licked your lips in hope for a taste, even if in your imagination. The craving for a taste increased, because you had felt his eyes on you the entire time. Watching every movement, eyeing you from top to bottom and back. You could feel the ghost of his hands running over your body. Leaving behind a tantalizing trail of heat everywhere, yet not placing a single finger on you. As you leaned down into downward dog, Bokuto had stopped to take a water break, eyes washing over your body in haste. A smirk playing on your lips as you feel yourself fall over the edge of your self control. “Bokuto-san, could you help me stretch out my back?” 

The last gulp of water catches in his throat, coughing as he averts his eyes. Finally breathing air back into his lungs he turns his attention to the voice calling for him. Headphones now out, he hears you repeat your question, as if it hadn’t been bouncing around the walls of his mind already. His throat somehow dry despite finishing off his entire bottle, he makes his way over. Watching as you adjust yourself into pigeon pose, left leg fully stretched out and right leg folded out and tucked in. Opening up your hips to stretch, you motioned him to push down on your back. Palms on your back he leaned down on you, folding you completely over, without any resistance. Your chest flush against the mat and arms spread out forward. With a slight push up off you, he stands up to watch over your form. Drinking in the ease of your stretch, mind running with other ways he could be folding you to take him in completely. A jolt running right to his core when he meets your eyes to see a flush on your face, still pressed against the mat as you watch him. 

“Ya like what you see Bokuto-san?” The words slipped out of your mouth before you could stop yourself. The heat of the room, the thrum of your heart in your ears, blood rushing to multiple places at once, has all your senses on high after your workout. Bokuto’s weight against you had set your entire back on fire, engulfing you completely and you ached to feel him over you again. “My form, it looks ok?” You tease as a flush comes across his face. With a lick of your lips, you roll over, legs spread open wide. “Can you help stretch out my front too...I can fold into another position if you’d like?”  The question crashed over Bokuto, anchor ripped out of the ground, untethered and washing away into the depths of the ocean. He closed the distance in a few short steps before pulling you up into him, lips against his in an instant. Tasting you finally, feeling you with his hands, swallowing you completely. His parched throat slowly soothed as he drank you in, the way he needed.

Relentless moans falling out of your lips, echoing in his mind. He looks down at you ruined, but you reach your hands out to wrap around him to bring him closer for more. He closes his eyes to fall right in, a new anchor rooted in your waves pulling him as close to you as possible.

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

hello could you write a one shot on Grusha where he falls in love with a shy challenger who is chilly and owns fire pokemons please

When you first challenged Grusha at the Glaseado Gym, he thought he could easily brush you off like snow on his shoulder.

You just didn't give him the best first impression.

For instance, he witnessed you shivering nonstop as you headed over to the gym test. Despite being all bundled-up and having a fire-type at your hip, you couldn’t stop chattering your teeth and stuttering while the the gym representative explained the test’s rules.

It wouldn’t surprise him if you caught a cold before you even completed the test. But by some miracle you passed with flying colors, although it didn’t seem like the smoothest trip down for you and your strange reptilian motorcycle Pokémon. 

Even though it looked pretty powerful, he figured you only brought it to show off. He didn’t know if it was a dragon-type or not, but if so...the battle certainly won’t work in your favor.

When you finally met the ice-type trainer, he discovered you were rather shy, looking flustered when he told you not to let the test completion “go to your head”. And you didn’t seem to have much confidence in yourself, speaking so quietly that he barely heard you over the howling wind and feeling nervous about battling him.

Regardless, you were determined to win...and so the match commenced.

Only then did he see the spark in your eyes as your strong fire-types melted the competition; they defeated most of his own Pokémon without a hitch. Even his Cetitan went down fairly easily, which opponents before you have struggled with.

And at the finale of it...he felt like the wind got knocked out of him when your Skeledirge’s Torch Song defeated his Altaria in a single hit. That attack surely would’ve incinerated the battlefield if not for the high winds and snowstorm that brewed during the final fight.

But the turbulent weather was no obstacle for you.

Grusha was absolutely floored by your performance, finding himself shaking your hand in congratulations and getting excited about how much fiery passion you’ve put into this battle-

Only to stop and regain his composure, tugging the scarf up his face more to hide his growing blush as he remembers you still needed the ice badge as proof of your victory. You were very much overjoyed to receive it and take a picture with him to commemorate this event.

Even after you departed for the next gym, he couldn’t stop thinking about you.

For some reason his chest felt..warm. And it lingered long after you left, too. He wasn’t sure what it was, but Ryme certainly knew and lightly teased him on the matter.

Though she backed off when his reaction got heated, saying you only impressed him with your battling skills and nothing more.

Yet...he still couldn’t get you out of his head.

........

Grusha thought that would be the first and last time he saw you.

Surely the freezing mountains would deter you from ever coming back up here. The small towns didn’t have much to offer, so he couldn’t think of a single reason that you’d willingly return.

But much to his surprise, you came back as one of Paldea’s newest champions, stunning the usually coolheaded gym leader as you walked through the doors.

It turns out you’re revisiting each gym on behalf of Geeta to survey the performances of its leaders: which basically meant you’re gonna rematch all of them.

That made him feel uneasy.

Of course, he knew the chairwoman of the Pokémon League wasn’t mean or cruel, but she had quite the high standards for gym leaders. And he couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if he failed to meet her expectations.

It honestly felt insulting that she’d send you, a challenger he could never hope to beat, instead of showing up here herself, but he couldn’t blame you for following orders.

His only fear was being dismissed over his failure. 

If he couldn’t be a professional snowboarder or gym leader..what else could he do with his life?

“It’s not like a pass or fail test, Grusha.” You try to reassure him, although in-battle you could see the distress in his eyes as he tried to change things up by including a Weavile on his team. 

Clearly he’s been training them a lot since you left, as they were able to take more hits from you. But your team remained full of even stronger fire-types, with the addition of a Ceruledge/Armarogue that was once a brave little Charcadet--now a mighty knight of flames that defeated Altaria.

You grinned excitedly as its ice tera jewel shattered, although it disappeared as Grusha recalled his ace. He stood there shocked..like a frozen status condition was inflicted on him.

Part of you suddenly worried that you made his gym fight look like a cakewalk, considering it was supposed to be one of the toughest in Paldea. You knew he had some kind of falling-out with his snowboarding career...but surely your victory won’t put him out of this job, too. Geeta wouldn’t do that to him.

After calling out Arcanine to keep you warm, you approached the shellshocked trainer, hands in your pockets. “H-Hey um..if you’re worried about what Geeta will say, I wouldn’t panic.” You smiled shyly, trying to remain upbeat. “I think you did great. I’ll tell her nothing but good things about our match.”

“You don’t have to sugarcoat anything.” He insisted. “I’d rather she knows the cold hard truth about my performance...but as frustrated as I was during the fight, I felt..inspired.”

“..r-really?” You blinked several times in surprise, feeling warmth spreading across your face.

“Yeah, I mean...I didn’t think I was cut out for this kind of job. But seeing you and your Pokémon working together has rekindled my passion. So..thank you, [y/n].” He smiled underneath his scarf. “I mean that.”

“Awh, don’t mention it.” Chuckling, you stepped forward to shake hands with him once more. “I’m glad I stopped here first.”

“Wait, you..didn’t revisit the other gyms yet?”

“Nope.”

Grusha’s blue eyes widened in surprise. “Huh...but I thought you hated coming up here. You looked miserable before. I figured my gym would be the last place you wanted to go.”

“I don’t hate it here. It’s cold, yeah, but..with my fire Pokémon I can handle it.” Smiling, you briefly looked to Arcanine, who nodded as it nuzzled your arm affectionately. “The journey is worth it..i-if it means I get to seeyouagain.”

Even you were surprised at the bold words coming from your mouth; but you then realized the crowd from before was still hanging around the battle grounds. And he was just staring at you now, not saying a word. 

So you coughed nervously let go of his hand, turning away. “F-Forget that. I uhh...gotta go. I’m on a very tight schedule so I’ll leave you be-”

“You know you don’t have to visit me only for battles, [y/n].”

Stopping short, you looked back at Grusha, feeling guilty when he frowned at you for attempting to ditch him. You felt even more embarrassed than ever before, but he did make a good point.

He’s more than a gym leader, and he clearly wanted to get to know you beyond Pokémon training.

“O-Oh I know..I just---hey!” You jumped as Arcanine nudged its head against your back, pushing you closer to him. It only stopped when you were just a few feet away from each other. You could see the amused smile on his face, your own turning bashful. “S-Sorry. I must’ve sounded like Larry back there, huh?”

“Yeah, a little. I understand, though..I wouldn’t want Geeta to nag at me either.” Grusha grimaced. “But whenever you’re finished assessing the other gyms, maybe we can meet up and grab a coffee..or hot coco...or whatever you want.” He suggested, a light blush growing on his face. “Or if you’re sick of the cold, we can go somewhere else.”

“Sure!” You agreed readily, rubbing your gloved hands together. “I’ll message you on my Rotom phone when I’m done. Until then...um..I should probably get going before she does nag at me.”

“Go on, Champion. I’ll be waiting.” He winked before he turned and left the battle grounds with his Cetoddle in-tow, heading back inside the gym building.

The whole way there, his heart was hammering nonstop. It was beating faster than ever before.

‘Shit, maybe Ryme was right.’

He was really in love now.