#i am not putting money on this happening its just an interesting what if

[marimeeko]

Bkdk thoughts ahead, scroll on if it's not your thing <3

I saw one art in a tiktok about this, but now I'm fixated on the idea of Katsuki coming back to life as we all predict he will, but Izuku getting killed in the process of defeating AFO...

BUT also cheating death because of OFA and vestige shenanigans, telling him "he did well" and "its not your time", etc. And coming back to life finding himself held in the arms of an absolutely devastated Katsuki.

Would it be a little much to have BOTH of them cheat death in this battle? Maybe... but then again, it IS shonen anime where "get out of death free" cards are dime a dozen when it comes to the MC and/or magical properties of instory power systems.. i think OFA and Quirk nonsense could definitely have that potential here, even if death in MHA is often pretty consequential.

And if you think about it... BKDK has been mirroring each other and uno reversing this whole story. So like, is it too far off for each other to, in essence, die for the other one?

(And YES, bakugous inner monologuing about reaching Izuku, directed towards Izuku EVEN though he wasn't present, I kinda do count that as "dying for the other" because if that didn't read as an expression of devotion to Izuku, I don't know what would.)

And like... if he is killed or dies before he realizes Katsuki is back? What if we finally get Izukus *realization* and admission that Katsuki getting hurt has been the catalyst for EVERYTHING in his life and why that is? What if he admits that he lied about Black Whip and has been suppressing so many emotions about Katsuki since the first War and even prior. What if his inner monologuing looks as poignant about Katsuki as Katsukis did about him? And what if there's a moment of "Kacchan....The truth is, I...."

And Katsuki doesn't know this or hear it, perhaps, but when say OFA wakes him back up because it's purpose was fulfilled (and maybe the wills of all the vestiges combined to give their force to Izuku so he could continue living or some Quirk mumbo jumbo like that,)to Katsuki sobbing over him, thinking he was lost forever and there wasn't even anyone to take revenge out on anymore...they don't even say a word still but somehow their embrace is so tight and says everything anyway.(with expressions of feelings finally taking place in the aftermath and or epilogue of everything. )

Or, alternatively, maybe they DO say what they need to say, and maybe they DO kiss and then embrace. IDK, let's have high hopes, why the hell shouldn't we lmao.

Anyway just a dramatic little thought I have: what if they BOTH DIE.

[nomaishuttle]

uninstalled all the dating apps which ws like 8nof them . in the morning ill tell the guys i was talking to that i overestimared how ready i was and hopefully theyll understand andnjust drop it

[slutofpsh]

f1 racer | psh.

part one

pairings: park sunghoon x reader

synopsis: f1 racer park sunghoon is the ace of their team until he got into a terrible accident causing of his sudden hiatus. the incident injured his shoulder and affected his mental health. you are hired by his mother to help him get through this tough times as you are one of the best psychiatrist in town. he hated the idea of being vulnerable so instinctively, he hates you. he hates how you try to get into his head for him to open up and he hates his parents for meddling with his life like he’s a kid. but he couldn’t deny that you are exceptionally beautiful and he can’t help his cock from twitching just by imagining pushing you down on your office table, fucking you deep and hard until you can’t think straight anymore.

wc: 14k

warnings: mdni. smut with slight plot, lots of dirty talking, degrading, corruption kink, minors dni, p into v raw (please always use protection), dom sunghoon, slight rough sex, reader experiencing sexual harassment. IF YOU DON’T LIKE ANY OF THIS PLEASE FEEL FREE TO SCROLL AWAY.

note: i have no right and enough knowledge with medical terms so disregard my claims as it came from my imagination to fit my plot. i’m new with writing smuts so please don’t give rude comments. i am still learning. also please send me asks and reblog my work. it will help a lot. thank you so much!

slutofpsh 2024 © all right reserved.

“Famous ace racer of the team (f1 team) reportedly caught on an accident last night. Medics who said to arrive at the scene says that he was in a bad condition...” the voice of the news reporter serves as your background music as you’re busy putting coffee on your brewing machine.

It was yet another busy monday for you. One of your colleagues gave you a ring moments ago just to ask you for a favor to fill in for her. You’re suppose to go at the hospital after lunch, but that plan was thrown far out the window.

Being someone who needs to pay expensive rent and lots of bills, you accepted it in exchange of receiving her full payment for these sessions.

People around you always says how workaholic you are and that you should at least learn to loosen up, have fun, date and have sex. You’ll be lying if you say those thoughts didn’t popped inside your mind once in a while, but you knew you have bigger responsibilities at the moment.

Maybe you’ll do all that once you’re a little bit more stable in life. Right now, its not the case so you have to go work.

The drive to the hospital you’re currently working at was short. Multiple vans of tv media reporters blocked the parking lot, putting you off into a slightly foul mood. You groaned and tried your best to find a good spot without scratching any of the vehicles around.

“What in the world is happening...” you softly mumbled, clueless.

After finally making it inside alive, you saw your secretary arriving just on time. She smiles and wave at the sight of you and head towards the elevator together. The sight of the security pushing the reporters out caught your attention before the door of the lift shuts completely.

“Wah, media these days are scary. How can celebrities stand them?” your secretary commented, probably annoyed by all the chaos at the lobby.

“Yeah, they’re basically getting crazy down there.”

She nods, agreeing.

“I can’t blame them. One of the biggest personality in our country got into an accident last night so they’re probably trying to get a scoop of information as much as they can.” she continuously fills you in.

Your head nods slowly, not totally interested about the ‘one of the biggest personality’ being mentioned. This hospital is pretty much located at the center of the big city and famous people often comes here. It isn’t a big deal anymore for you.

Besides, you're more interested on how you will make more money rather than be nosy of who’s confined at your hospital. The last thing you would want is to get involve with a big personality.

The day went on smoothly, met up with the clients scheduled for today. You started packing up after your last session, it was around 4pm. This is why you like to be busy, because its more convenient for you. Days pass by quickly and you’re off to your home even before you know it.

Three knocks from the door to your office is what snapped you back to reality. Your white coat hangs slightly loose over one of your shoulder as you’re about to take it off. The possiblity of that person knocking to be your secretary is low, since she usually alert you through the intercom that she will come in before knocking.

After taking off your coat, your eyes are still darted at the direction of your office door.

“Come in.” you softly stated and you heard the sound of the knob moving.

“I heard from the lobby that you are here so I thought I should make a visit.” his professional tone, yet a little softer rings to your head.

Your eyes grow a little out of surprise then you bowed your head for greeting. His eyes scanned you shortly before it moves around your cozy office. He already made multiple compliments on how your office just feels so warm and comforting.

That’s exactly the vibe you wanted to give off when you personally chose the furnitures and design for this room. Since you’re a psychiatrist who focused on patients who experienced traumatic incidents in their life, you don’t want the location of your sessions to have the impression of a workplace. Patients usually go here to meet you for sessions and their peace of mind and comfort is what you prioritize the most.

“Oh, thank you...” you flash him an awkward smile, hands rests at both of your sides.

It isn’t a surprise that your director paid you a visit for today. He always does that in order to keep on check with his employees. You appreciate it, truly. It's just he’s a little too friendly towards you. Sometimes it makes you uncomfy and afraid that other doctors may misunderstood things.

“Anyway, you must had a long day.” he took steps closer and when you’re reachable, he stretches an arm over you. His hand rests at your shoulder and he clapped on it gently before sliding it down your arm to caress it.

It sent shivers through your spine and you didn’t like it one bit. Unfortunately, you have no choice but to live through it for now. As he’s very powerful and one bad word from him and you can kiss your job goodbye. That’s the last thing you want.

“I should leave you.” he says in a low voice while eyes roams around your face.

You hated every second of it, but you didn’t say anything. He smiles and you flashed him one as well. He raised his hand and lightly pinched your cheeks once before exiting himself from your office.

Finally out of your sight, you manage to sigh heavily. You've been holding your breath ever since he entered your office. It’s slightly making you feel bad, but you feel like he will take advantage of you sooner or later. The feeling of uneasiness are very evident whenever he’s around you.

It’s bad to judge people easily, but that’s mainly it is. You’ve spent years studying and understanding human’s way of thinking. Resulting for your instincts around them to be heavily accurate most of the time.

And your instinct are setting off negatively with your director. The only solution you can think of is to quit this job after you have enough money to build your own small clinic.

In order to have that, you have to work extra hard. For your dream and for your peace of mind.

You finished packing your things and left your floor. While inside the elevator, it stops at a certain floor. You unconsciously moved towards the side giving whoever it is a space for the lift. When the door opened, a beautiful woman wearing black sexy dress steps in.

She seems surprised to see that there’s somebody inside and so her teary eyes grew a bit big. Avoiding to make the atmosphere even more awkward, you bowed and flashed her a warm smile. She nods and glanced away.

Based on how she carry and dress herself, you can tell that her line of work may have something to do with her face. Model? That’s one of your guesses.

By the short eye contact with her teary eyes, you catch a glimpse of guilt and small regret filling them. And also greed that’s trying to push them all at the back of her mind.

You tried to shove these thoughts off of your mind as you’re practically done with work. Even if you cannot help trying to read people’s personality base on first impression, you have strict rules of avoiding it once shift is over.

You’re the first one to leave the lift as you get off at the lobby where you entered this morning. Ignoring her eyes watching you closely as you walk off without sparing her any glance.

It was a long day for you and the last thing you want is to get involve with some drama. Obviously, she’s going through something. But what’s new to that? Everyone in this world is going through things. We just really have to keep it altogether and wait until things gets better for us.

It's been months and you put your focus on making money. Working really hard, filling in for your colleagues and also attending your own session. It was a routine you got used to, world revolving between home and to the hospital.

“There she is,” you bowed politely as you enter the office of your head doctor for the psychiatric ward.

Three heads snapped at your direction as you approach closer and the two of them are completely unfamiliar for you. By the way they dress, you can already tell that they’re important people. The type of people who reeks of money and connections.

“Mr and Mrs. Park, this is Doctor (surname).” your director introduced you to them. Even if you’re a little confused, you gave them a polite bow before sitting down at the chair in front of them.

“She’s the most recommended psychiatrist in our hospital and I really think she’s the one who can help your son.” the director added that made you realized that the two people in front are potention source of income.

With a warm welcoming smile, you pay close attention to the two of them to give good impression. Mr. Park have a serious look on his face, just a small smile from earlier and that’s all. Just by the looks of it, he’s a very reserved man. He seem to know the power he holds and so you guess he isn’t someone very friendly. Doesn’t really try hard to please other people.

Mrs. Park is elegant. The perfect epitome of graceful partner of somebody who holds so much power. She is very pretty as well, her smiles gives you the impression that she’s very family oriented.

“Their son needs assistance as he got involve with an accident months ago.” your head doctor tried to fill you up and instantly, you are on your professional mode.

With a nod, you smoothly fished your pen placed at the small pocket of your white gown then grabbed a paper not far away from you.

“Hmm, may I ask you guys a few questions?”

Mr. and Mrs. Park’s a little caught off-guard at how straightforward you are so they glanced over the head doctor. She quickly flashed them assuring smile.

“Go ahead, I’m sure Doctor (surname) perfectly knows what to do.” she added and with her words, they seem to let their guards down slightly.

“Yes, Doctor.” Mrs. Park says.

You smiled, “Does the patient personally asked to seek for professional help?”

Its a key point to know for you to know what kind of approach you need to utilize for this particular patient.

“No. Actually, he refused to see doctors and deny his need of it, claiming he’s perfectly fine. But me and his Father really wants him to atleast try.” the look on her eyes flashes genuine care and concern for her son.

“That’s totally okay, Mrs. Park. Sometimes, people who underwent accidents tries to deny that something changed within them when in reality there is. May I ask any behavioral changes within the patient, if there any?” and you continued jotting down on your paper.

Mr. Park silently watched how well you’re dealing with them. You looked so young, maybe around the age of their son and yet this is how professionally you handle things. His tensed shoulder relaxed a bit, realizing that they did the right choice of coming here.

“Yes...” Mrs. Park pursed her lips, blinks a couple of times trying not to get emotional just by the thought of her son.

“He shuts people out, doesn’t communicate with anybody and he gets pissed or annoyed so easily.” she sighs, eyes getting teary. “I mean, he doesn’t really have the best patience even prior to the accident but he’s just oddly cranky.”

You nodded your head and just proceeds on writing them down. This isn’t the first time you encountered patients that have the same personality with their son. This is what happens when someone had an accident that affected their life. They can be undergoing through post traumatic depression which is pretty serious as it can be dangerous.

“Can I schedule his sessions?”

They looked relieved at your question, happy that you agreed to take their son. Mrs. Park nodded her head and you continued on discussing them through the process of the sessions, letting them the available slots they can arrange for their son.

Normally, you would take patients to meet patients two times a week but they demand for a three meetings per week. You are a little hesitant about it because that only means you have to put him on Fridays as well. It's your day off.

“Please, Doctor. We will pay extra for the friday sessions.” and there it is. They offered you what you couldn’t decline the most.

Oh how nice could it be to have so much money. After finally settling with the Parks, you managed to agree on the schedules and they thanked you. They told you that they really hope you can help their son. You haven’t met him yet and one rule with doctors is you couldn’t give them false hope, but you shouldn’t give them the impression of failing as well.

“I will do my best.” and you bowed.

You parted ways with them and you went straight to your shared room with your colleague, also a good friend of yours. The moment you stepped in, you can feel her piercing and curious eyes following you.

“So did you accept it?” your head cranes over to the side to glance at Hana. She’s still wearing her white coat while she rest her back at the swivel chair. As far as you remember, her shift is over already. Why she’s still here is a big mystery for you.

“Yes. It’s a good offer.” you gave her a short shoulder shrug.

She sighs and watch how you took off your white coat then hangs it on your chair. Obviously, you are clueless of the situation you just got yourself into. She hates how workaholic you are and how you’re one of the best psychiatrist in the hospital. Mainly why you’re at the top list of the recommended doctors.

Not that she envy you or anything. She genuinely cares for you and she’s worried of how you’re overworking yourself. Not to mention you’ll be having someone very important as your client.

“Do you know who’s going to be your patient?” her tone sounded challenging, arms crossing as she waits for your answer.

You nod your head, eye glancing at the folder laid beside your keyboard. It was handed by your secretary while you discuss something with the head doctor. She reminded you to do a good job as accepting the Park’s can either do good or bad for you.

“Yes. Mr. Park Sunghoon.” you said in a monotonous tone.

She rolls her eyes, “He’s not just Park Sunghoon, y/n.” she sighs and tilts her head. “He’s the ace driver of a famour F1 team. The young bachelor who got into a terrible accident three months ago.”

That clearly rings a bell. You can remember how some of the hospital staffs are going crazy for such individual. F1 racers are truly a big thing for your country, but you’re never interested towards it so don’t have any clue who they are.

You’ve always thought that those type of sport are just out of your league. If he manages to drive for the whole country with extremely expensive cars just indicates how wealthy their family is. Sounds like so much drama for you. Not totally your cup of tea, all you want is the good pay.

“Don’t worry, I can handle.” you assured her.

“I know you’re good with your job, y/n and I have no doubt with your skills.” she starts that slightly moved you. She rarely talks like this and to hear it right now means she’s really serious about it.

“He’s known for being very stubborn. If he’s already like that before the accident, imagine how he can be much worst after it. I heard he’s refusing to do rehab for his shoulder and to drive again for his team.”

You are dumbfounded for the new informations coming from your friend. When his parents seeked for your help, you already knew that it is serious. But not like this. He’s refusing to drive again?

“y/n?” your friend tries to snap you back to reality.

You let out a sigh and flashes another smile for her. “Did you forget? I’m good with stubborn people. I've been dealing with them ever since I graduated from the University.” you tried to joke on it.

She pouts her lips and heaved a sigh, thinking that maybe she really is just overthinking things. She nods.

“Well, you are right. And besides, he’s dead gorgeous.” then she sent you a wink. You scoffed and rolled your eyes.

“You’re unbelievable.”

But it seems like she was not kidding when she said that Park Sunghoon is very hard headed. You think little of it not until you came face to face with the handsome racer.

His visuals are ethereal. No words can perfectly describe how breathtaking he is up in person. Of course, after your friend had informed you that he is handsome, you made research. Trying to just familiarize yourself with your newly acquired client.

It wasn’t hard to find something about him through the internet as he’s very famous. Skin so white and flawless, hair pitch black along with his thick brows and long eyelashes that perfectly decorates around his beautiful eyes. His eyes are slightly cold and blank at the pictures of him you found at the intenet. Over all, he has a face that comes around once in a while. God-like visuals, that’s how they describe him.

The pictures didn’t give him justice though, as he’s even more gorgeous in personal. His red lips pretty much stands out due to his pale complexion.

There are varieties of patients you’ve worked with before. The group who's willingly seek for your help in order for them to get better. Then the patients who was forced to do these sessions for the satisfaction of a family member or a loved one. And then the ones who truly hates it and give you hard time, punishing you for merely wanting to help them professionally.

That’s where Park Sunghoon is aligned. He made sure you perfectly know that he’s against with this arrangement.

“Son, meet Doctor (surname). She’s the one we’re talking about with you. From now on, you will meet her at Mondays—”

“Make her leave.” he insolently cuts his own mother’s words while staring blankly straight at you.

He’s sat down at his sofa, one shoulder have a cast over it. He didn’t even budge from his position and just stares at you with his intimidating eyes. The gray sofa looked a little small while he dominates it. You’re pretty sure that it looked normal when it was his Mom whose sitting there moments ago, but when it was him it looked small due to his large frame.

“Sunghoon, don’t be rude. Doctor (surname) is here to help you.” his Mom looks like she feels sorry for how he’s acting, yet her tone remained soft.

“I don’t need any help.” he said sternly. His eyes are piercing right at you. They are indeed intimidating with his eyebrows furrowed hardly, but this isn’t the first time someone wanted you to leave.

“But Son,” Mrs. Park tries to console him but you interrupted her.

“It’s fine, Mrs. Park.” and you flash her with your warm smile.

“Can you give us a minute?” your eyes then roamed around the room. There’s his Mom and another person inside together with you. She’s the househelper who assist Mr. Park from time to time. A little older than his Mother. Base on your observation, he seems to trust her enough to be inside this room.

“Sure, doctor.” she says and gradually asked the other lady to leave with her.

Sunghoon’s eyes burns at you as you stood in front of him. He didn’t say anything else after they left the room, he just stares at you with dark eyes. He’s so upset and angry for how his parents are dealing with this situation right now. They’re being too much for meddling with their son’s life when he’s already 27.

“Hello, Mr. Park.” you greeted him once again. As expected, he showed no reaction at all.

“I’m Doctor (surname) and I am here to help you—”

“I don’t need your help so leave. I am not crazy.” he cuts you off.

You pursed your lips and nods your head before pulling up another smile. His behavior of declining anyone clearly shows how he doesn’t want to show his vulnerability.

“Of course you’re not. Everybody knows you are not crazy, Mr. Park.” his eyes still bores right at you.

“Your parents hired me so I can help to understand your emotions even more.”

The corner of his lips lifts up as he scoffed, “You think I don’t know my own emotions?”

You shook your head right away, “No. Nobody else knows you the best other than yourself. I’m just here to assist and help you go through emotions you cannot control or understand.”

Sunghoon’s tensed shoulder slightly relaxed at what he heard. He doesn’t know if all psychiatrist are like this, but you sure are good with your job. You know your way of words to people. Or was it just because of your pretty face? Was he distracted a bit too much? Did you noticed?

He draws in a strained sigh and glanced away, letting his guard down a bit. It made you feel happy and take it as a sign that he wanted you to help him. For that session, you tried hard not to overwhelm him too much so instead of asking questions, you orient him about the case he’s possibly going through.

But that didn’t really became easy. He made sure you’re struggling on dealing with him. There’s often change of moods as well, sometimes he’s calm to have you around and sometimes he’s not. He rudely interrupts you talking and constantly asking you to just quit your job and leave him alone.

But he cannot do anything about it. He cannot fire you, because he didn’t hire you on the first place.

It was his Mother who asked for your professional help, so if there’s someone who can tell you that you’re not qualified for the job already, it would be only her.

“Hello y/n!” Hana greets you happily as she enter the room. It was obvious that she’s having a great day, unlike you.

“Hi,” you shortly replied and sat down at your chair.

“Looks like you aren’t in a good mood.” she states the obvious. You gave her a short nod and shut your eyes.

“Why? Did something happen?” she sounded so concerned about you and even walked closer to sit at the table near you.

“Nothing. I have an appointment with Park Sunghoon tomorrow. It should’ve been my day off and now I have to meet with him. He’s still being stubborn.”

It’s been a month ever since you started your sessions with him and still, nothing. He’s been giving you cold shoulders everytime, refusing to even open himself over you. Multiple approach already tried for him and yet, nothing. It’s frustrating you already.

“I know exactly what you need to do.” the brightness from Hana’s eyes gave you slight hope, making you sit straight.

She rummage over her stacks of unopenef parcels and cheered lightly after successfully finding something. She smirks and slowly walks towards you.

“What’s that?” you asked curious and confused.

She smirks and grabbed a cutter to open it up. From a distance, you can tell its a piece of clothing. She squealed a little, delighted of satisfaction for the package received.

“You’re going to wear this tomorrow.” she announced and even placed the opened box at your lap.

You tilt your head, confused. “What? Why? Do I not look good with my work clothes?”

That’s not the case. Your typical work clothes looks fine. The type of style that plays safe not to show too much skin and also not too covered for your liking. It was so-so.

“No, honey. But this time, that’s what you’ll wear tomorrow and then we will buy more at Saturday.” she announced with words of finality.

You gave her a weird gaze before checking the box she just handed you. Your heart dropped at the sight of it.

“No way! There’s no way I will wear this, Hana!” you quickly disagree and teared your gaze off the outfit she just handed you.

“Yes way! It’s time to put that sexy body into a good use!” she exclaimed all excited and even giggled hilariously.

“But my butt cheeks will probably show just by leaning down slightly.” the look of horror flashes over your face. Just by the thought of being exposed to Mr. Park makes you blush intensely, your core undeniably getting wet.

You shoved that thought away, somewhat blaming Hana for putting them inside your mind. She’s being a bad influence towards you right now and your face is red as a tomato.

“Then he will enjoy the view!” she winks and left you with no choice but to wear it for tomorrow's session.

Thankfully, the moment you arrived at his place the next day you are wearing a coat on top of your scandalous (not really) outfit. Okay, maybe you are a little exaggerating for thinking it is scandalous. You’ve seen a lot of people wear this kinds of workclothes, its just you’re new to this. This isn’t your usual go to office clothes.

You tried your best to act confidently, trying to ignore the fact that his gaze was practically glued at you the moment you took off your coat once you two are left alone.

You’re nervous already and having him stare at you that way makes it even worst. Regardless, you tried to proceed on your task for today.

Park Sunghoon may act nonchalant about it, but his pants feels so painfully tight ever since you walked inside his home. An hour long duration felt days for him. Those short skirts and body hugging top that perfectly shows your delicious curves is driving him insane.

Despite the fact that he hates your presence and how his parents hired you to help him, he’ll be lying if he will say that he never thought of rutting his cock so deep inside your precious cunt. He bet it will feel so good. Numerous times he imagined pushing you hardly over your office table, taking you from behind while your soft moans make it to his ears. He imagined fucking you so hard and deep until you cannot think straight anymore.

You on the other hand are sweating like crazy while trying to compose yourself, unaware of the sinful thoughts the man in front of you are currently having. You keep on shifting on your seat, uncomfortable with how your skirt is so tight and short. Thighs are basically suowing and by just one wrong move, you’re pretty sure your underwear will be flashed towards him.

“Something wrong, Doc?” you jolted at his sudden question, breaking the defeaning silence. It was his first words for today.

His playful tone and look on his eyes are quite foreign for you, a little delighted by the new side you discovered from him.

“N-Nothing.” your words almost came out as a mumble that made him chuckle dangerously.

To see you with less clothing sure is torture for him, to see you blushing and squirming nonstop while your underwear almost flash him is clouding his mind with so many thoughts. All dark and dirty.

“You dressed differently today.” he said in a low tone, almost like a growl. The statement halts your hand from scribbling down your paper. You glanced at him and quickly looked away as he was already staring darkly.

You gulped in attempt to get rid of the lump between your throat. The corner of his lips lifts while one of his hands plays mindlessly at it.

“Y-Yeah.” it was obvious for you to deny it.

“What are you trying to do, Doc?” he asks like a trap and once again you are caught off guard.

“I d-don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He scoffed sexily and let out a heavy sigh, “Of course you don’t.” then his eyes roams from your feet up to your face and his heated gaze stays at your eyes.

“You fucking don’t know what you are doing.” he said under his breath that you clearly missed. Even before you manage to compose yourself from his stares, he already glanced away then his walls are once again up guarding himself.

The whole session continues with you uncomfortably wet down there and Sunghoon’s dick throbbing inside his pants.

A whole week passes by and all you did was to tempt him. You started wearing tight and short clothes. Whether on purpose or not, it is driving him crazy. The sexual tension between the two of you are so hot. Too hot that whenever you are left alone, it can almost burn you two.

He knew he had to something about it. He can’t get enough of you and his palm cannot satisfy him anymore. He had to get a taste of that pussy or else he will really lose his mind.

It was wednesday and like usual, he’s the one to that have to go to your office. Mondays and friday sessions are held at his place.

He arrived perfectly on time and your assistant guided him inside after your patient before him. It was a guy and the way his face are so red when he walks out is pissing the hell off of Sunghoon. He knew why he’s like that and he confirmed his guess when he saw you with his own eyes.

Wearing a short tight red skirt. You flashed him an angelic smile that seems illegal for how slutty you dress today.

“Mr. Park, you are right on time. Have a sit.” you pointed the sofa where he usually sits and he followed without a single word.

‘I’ll have a sit and you sit on my face right after. How about that?’ he wanted so bad to say that but he refrain himself.

Sunghoon’s eyes dangerously fiest on you while you make yourself comfortable at your chair. The only thing that seperates you between him was the small center table.

“Today, I want to have a conversation with you Mr. Park. Nothing too serious, any topic you like. I just want you to talk.” you stated and smiled at him.

He nods, surprising you a little. He’s never been this cooperative. It’s making you happy and at the same time worried on why he’s suddenly being obedient.

“Any topic, right?” he asks, confirming it from you. A small nod is what you respond to him.

He nods and stayed silent for a while. You thought it was giving him pressure so you assured him that its totally fine and he can take as much time he needs.

While he spaces out, your eyes couldn’t help but to absorb how he looks today.

Park Sunghoon is a walking temptation for you. It was against your rules to be attracted towards your patients, but you just couldn’t help yourself. He’s very handsome despite his rotten attitude. You kept having this sensual thoughts whenever he’s around. It felt so wrong and illegal. How you felt so weak and how you get wet just by looking at his toned arms and veiny hands.

“Do you know who I am? Is that why you accepted to be my psychiatrist?”

You pout your lips and shook your head side to side, cheeks blushing out of embarrasment because you have no idea of who he was until his parents asked you for help.

Instead of looking offended, Sunghoon looked more interested.

“So you don’t have any idea who I was before you accepted this job?” amusment lurks over his tone, finding it somehow amusing.

Not to sound so full of himself, but he’s pretty famous. Not only to his home country, but to the whole world. The bitterness slowly creeps over his chest by the thought of it. He shoves it off his mind because that’s not important as of the moment.

You nod your head sincerely while eyes darted straight at the handsome man sat across of you. His long legs are spread while one of his arm rests at the side of the couch, the other arm on a cast. It was the one that got injured and he needed it to be casted from time to time. He’s once again making the regular size couch look small because of his tall frame.

“You live under a rock or something?” his tone taunting.

You didn’t let it get to you then just flash him a small smile. “I was busy studying.”

He pursed his lips downwards while nodding his head slowly. His brow arches attractively before he smirks again.

“Oh, right. Miss Valedictorian have no time to fool around.” he said it with so much sarcasm and sighs right after. His gaze turned slightly dark while thinking about something. To what it is, you have no idea. He was hard to read after-all.

“Let me just ask you something, Dr.” he starts. Just by the way he’s looking at you, you can already tell he’s up to no good.

You gulped, trying to get a hold of your thoughts and keep a firm look on your face. The last thing you would want is too look weak in front of him. He’ll eat you alive if you let him overpower you.

“Go ahead, Mr. Park.” you tried to sound so casual. A doctor interviewing her patient. Not crossing any line, keeping a safe distant from him.

“Are you still a virgin?” his bold question completely caught you off-guard. Your breath hitches as blood rushes over your face, blushing hard.

“E-Excuse me?” the flustered look on your face made his grin wider.

Just seeing your innocent eyes opens wider after that question was priceless. He couldn’t get enough of you. Dark thoughts occupies his mind, how you will be so perfect for him. How fun would it be corrupting the fuck out of you.

“I forbid you from asking personal questions. This has nothing to do with your sessions.” and you cleared your throat then teared your eyes off of him.

He tilts his head, “Don’t you think you’re being unfair? You ask me personal questions too.”

Your lips hangs open, ready to answer him. Sunghoon’s brows arched as he waits for what you’re about to say.

“T-That’s different. You are my patient and you—”

“How am I suppose to trust you when I know nothing about you?” his words stunned you. Truly he makes a point. In order for your patient to be confident enough to share their thoughts to you, you need to earn their trust.

How are you suppose to gain his trust when he knows nothing about you? But why does it have to be your sex life? You can share anything else, not that one.

“Then ask something else.”

He shook his head with a teasing grin. “That’s what I want to know the most.”

You stared at him straight to his eyes, silently asking him if he’s being serious about it. He didn’t budge and just stared back, piercing through your soul. You let out a strained sigh as an act of surrender before resting your back at your chair.

“Y-Yes.” you gulped, trying to get rid of the lump between your throat. The amount of embarrasment you are having right now is incomparable to anything else. You’ve never been humiliated like this.

A spark lights upon his pretty eyes, his thick pretty brows raising in amusement. He chuckles and you quickly glanced away, couldn’t take it.

“I did expect you to say yes, but to actually know it is still surprising.” he stated.

You nibbled over your lower lip then dropped your eyes at the clipboard you are holding. The paper clipped to it was almost blank, nothing else was written as he’s not cooperating as usual. But in comparison from your previous meetings, he’s more talkative as of the moment.

“So tell me, why?” he asks in full curiosity. You glanced at him with a furrowed brows, confused as to what’s he’s talking about.

“Does no one wants you? Nobody tried to— ah no, that’s impossible right? I bet a lot had tried before but they just miserably failed.” the corner of his mouth lifts as he racked his eyes from your eyes down to your feet, licking and nibbling over his lips through the process. It was almost like he’s undressing you inside his mind.

The sight itself was enough to make you feel horny, the space between your thighs slowly getting wet. It was sinful and becoming unbearable for you. The temperature of the room surprisingly became hotter because of the man in front of you.

If you’re slowly losing your mind, Sunghoon had gone crazy in his own thoughts. After hearing it from you, he lost it. The thought of how pure and innocent you are just makes him dizzy and very horny. He can think of the most awful and darkest thoughts he wants to do to corrupt you. Make you his cum dump and a slave to of his cock. It makes him riled up.

Sunghoon curses inside his mind feeling his cock getting painfully hard.

Your eyes unconsciously darted over the wall clock and a part of you cheers that finally it was times up for his session.

“O-Our session is over, Mr. Park.” you forced yourself up, thighs rubbing each other and the heat coming out from your core makes it so bothering.

You didn’t wait for Sunghoon to speak and just stood up then walk towards your table, starting to rummage over nothing. Continuously touching and arranging things that doesn’t necessarily messy.

The couch made a sound when he stood up and you can feel your heart thumping so hard as you wait for him to talk.

Instead of hearing his voice, you heard him carefully walking near you. It halts your movement and your chest rises up and down. Your breath hitched as you feel his presence looming behind him, his tall figure approaching closer.

He stopped a step behind you. The sexual tension between the two of you is sky rocket, making you feel slightly suffocated. Sunghoon raises his free arm to reach over your waist.

The moment his big hand touched you, it was over for you. The wall you tried to barricade yourself in, crumbling down.

Sunghoon inched closer pressing his hot body at your back. Your scent made its way over his nose and he nibbled his lips at how good you smell.

“We shouldn’t really—” your words hangs as his action caught you off guard.

He dipped his head down, face dangerously burying your neck. His sinful hot lips places feathery kisses over it. Your hand clenched into fists, trying hard not to make any sound or let out a moan that can surely please him.

“Mr. Park,” you tried hard to face him, hand rests over his uninjured shoulder to push him away.

The difference between your physique clearly made it obvious how your strength would not even match his and so to see him not budging from his position isn’t really surprising.

He smirks, finding you adorable while blushing so hard. His effect on you visible and he’s loving it so much. He pressed himself again and this time it’s even more dangerous as you are face to face with each other.

You can now see his ethereal visuals, his thick dark brows, eyes surrounded by thick long lashes, nose pointy with a noticeable beauty mark on it and his pretty lips. He smirks, running his tongue once over them before nibbling over his lower lip showing you his fangs.

“Just like what you always tell me...” he murmured, lips inches away from yours.

Your heart almost burst out from your chest because of the intensity he's making you feel. The urge of giving in and kissing him plays inside your head dangerously clouding your senses.

“Cooperate.” his grip over your waist tightens as he leans even closer.

The last string of resistance prevents you from kissing him on his lips, leaning away when he inched closer. His eyes lifts from your lips, to your eyes. You can see how his eyes are clouded with nothing but lust.

“Think about it, Doctor. If we both cooperate in here, we’ll get what we wants the most. It’s a win win situation.” and he tugs you closer to him making you feel his erection from his pants. So hard and its making you dizzy how he rubs it

His head leans at the side, his lips grazing slightly to bite your earlobe teasingly. It makes you feel ticklish and lightheaded.

“You, getting inside of my mind and me getting inside of you.” he seductively whispered over your ears, hot breath fanning your neck that made the hairs stands up.

Your knees weakened and he hold your waist tighter to prevent you from collapsing down the cold floor.

The intercom to your office rings and it made you jolt. Sunghoon chuckles at how adorable you are for getting surprise by small sounds.

“Doctor, I would like to remind you that your session with Mr. Park is now over. The next client just arrived.” your assistant just announced.

A heavy and disappointed sigh slips off from Sunghoon’s mouth before he moves away from you. His hands ripped away from you and the sudden lose contact made you slightly feel empty, hand gripping the table hardly to keep balance.

He noticed it and he grinned widely. He sighs and felt slightly annoyed that the fun has to be interrupted.

“I should go. You seem to have a busy day.” he turns his heels and started heading towards the door, like as if he didn’t just pulled that stunt.

Just in time, your secretary opened the door and Sunghoon glanced at you for the last time, flashing you a very meaningful smile.

“I really enjoyed this session, Doctor. I’ll see you on friday.” and he sent a wink before finally leaving you a whole mess, the space between your thighs dripping wet wanting nothing but to feel more of him.

After what Park Sunghoon just pulled at your office, you gave it a lot of thought. He was too tempting, but something in you feels warry of the idea. He’s seriously like a wolf hunting on an innocent sheep. It was too much for you so you skipped two of your sessions. Friday and monday, sending Hana instead and making excuses that you’re outside the country for some seminar.

“Finally showing up, huh?” his dangerous tone errupts from the entrance of your office, making you jolt.

Your back was facing the direction of the door and so you have no idea how he looks right now. Gulping, you slowly turns to face him and you saw him shutting the door close. The sound of the lock clicking made your heart thump faster.

“I’m sorry, I was in a seminar. I did sent Dr. Kang in replacement for me.”

The look on his eyes tells you that there’s no slight chance that he’s buying it. And he’s pissed at you for actually thinking you can get away from him.

“P-Please have a sit.” you stutter because you have no idea of how to bring up what he just said the last time you two saw each other.

“Have you decided about what I told you?” a part of you felt relieved that he’s the one who brought it up, the other part is nervous because you have no idea what to tell him.

Your mind kept telling you no, but your core had another idea. Clearly, you want him. You want him so bad.

“A-Are you sure you will cooperate with the sessions if I give you what you want?” your tone sounded anxious and so soft.

Sunghoon’s eyes grew darker while he stares at you, legs spread so wide while he dominates your couch. He heaved a sigh, calming himself not to get so excited and scare you off with his dark plans of corrupting the shit out of you.

“Yes. I am a man of my words after-all.” he states and licked his lips.

You stared right at his eyes with your innocent looking eyes. A big grin spreads across his face the moment you nod your head, falling for his evil trap.

It felt really awkward after that and you’re just standing right there like as if waiting for what he’s going to say next.

“What s-should I do?” you asked timidly, fingers fidgetting carefully and nervously.

Sunghoon took time admiring how beautiful you look in front of him. Standing like a helpless prey, submitting to her predator. Her hungry and very horny predator.

He smiles and bit his lower lip, showing off his fangs like teeth towards you. It sends shivers on your spine, down to your core making it even more wet.

Sunghoon scoots over to the side of the couch, leaving enough space.

“Come sit here.” he ordered with his husky voice.

Your knees felt weak and your feet are stoned at your position, heart thumping so loudly inside your chest that it hurts a little.

“Don’t be scared. I don’t bite,” he scoffs. “at least not yet.” and he grinned at you.

With all your strength, you struts towards him and sat at the space beside him. To be this close to him is dangerous for you. You feel so hot, like going insane hot.

Sunghoon leans in towards your face and you instinctively moves back a little. His dark eyes moved from looking at your lips up to your eyes, silently warning you not to do that again. His hand raised and cupped your face to keep you in place. His hand so big and having it harshly holding you with so much dominance turned you on.

When his lips touches yours, you are lost. It started slow and gentle, then he started to kiss you hungrily like he’s been starved from your kisses. You shut your eyes and hand grip over his polo shirt for support as you can feel yourself losing into his touch.

Your head fuzzy at the taste of Sunghoon. A little bit of mint and sweetness. His kisses hot and messy as his tongue pushes your mouth open so he can taste your insides shamelessly.

He pulled away when you two are already out of breaths, biting your lower lip as he did so. His eyes half-lidded and clouded with nothing but lust. He looked so damn sexy.

“You taste so sweet.” he whispered near your lips, eyes darted straight at yours.

His gaze heated and so is his touch. You can feel his large hands roaming dangerously below you. His eyes serves as a distraction so it was too late before you even realize that he already pushed your skirt up, hands reaching over your clothed core. His hand expertly parting your legs for better access.

“Mr. Park—” your words cut when he placed a wet kiss on your lips.

“Call me Sunghoon.” you gulped and felt so flushed because of his fingers now playing with your core. The only thing that keeping him from touching it bare was your underwear. It was torture for you. A bit embarrased too as this is the first time someone had touched you this much.

“Already so fucking wet for me. That’s all for me, right?” he glanced back at your eyes, waiting for an answer.

Because of the overwhelming pleasure, all you did was nod your head, trapping your lower lip between your teeth.

“Words. I need words, baby.” he whispered, the sudden endearment adding to the sensation he’s making you feel at the moment.

“Y-Yes.”

“Yes what?” he asked, a bit impatient.

You whimpered when you felt him rubbing roughly at your wet core, “Yes I’m so w-wet for you.”

That sends a different kind of satisfaction towards Sunghoon. To hear you say those words just made his cock even harder. He never felt aroused just by hearing them dirty talk. This is the first time. You’re the only one who did it to him.

“I want to taste you. I bet you taste so fucking sweet.” he mumbled and you opened your eyes at what he just said, taken aback at what he’s planning to do.

“But—” he placed a kiss at your lips then kneeled beside the couch, just so he can be face to face to your heated core.

You closed your legs in attempt to hide yourself from him, but he firmly gripped your thighs pushing them back open. He shoot you blank stares.

“Hold your legs for me. Keep them wide open.” he ordered and your eyes unconsciously darted at his broad shoulders, taking notice at the cast over it.

“W-What about your shoulder?” you worriedly ask.

Sunghoon almost lose his mind at how soft and gentle your voice are. More importantly that you still have the time to think of his shoulder when you’re almost half naked in front of him.

“I’m fine.” he quickly dismissed it and placed his big hands at your thighs, supporting it so it won’t close.

Your legs are slowly moving closer, maybe out of embarrasment now that he can see your underwear fully and the wet spot in the middle of it.

One of his hand reaches over your underwear, but you stopped him.

“S-Sunghoon, I’m shy.” you admit, blood rushing towards your cheeks.

The corner of his lips lifts up at the sight of your innocent eyes watching him beneath you. The look of embarrasment and probably being neglected from orgasm painted frustration over your pretty face. He cannot explain it exactly, but it turns him on.

“It’s okay. You’re okay.” despite the look of lust over his eyes, his tone is surprisingly gentle.

“Can I take this off now?” he asks and while staring at his eyes, you had no choice but to nod your head.

He didn’t waste any second and removed your underwear, revealing your wet pussy. The sight itself was enough to leave him salivating. Sunghoon gulps and then dips his head giving one long lick to your core, juices wrapping his own tongue.

“God,” you mumble at the feeling of his hot tongue grazing your folds.

“Taste so fucking good.” he grunted and started lapping your pussy like a hungry animal. He kissed, he ate and even fuck your hole using his tongue, hardening it so you can feel him enough.

“Ngh,” you sound so dumb trying to contain your moan, afraid that your secretary from outside can hear you.

Sunghoon smirks and lifts his gaze to look at you enjoying the time of pussy being eaten. He never seen you like this before, he never thought you can even moan this erotic.

“Let me stretch you a bit, baby.” and he pulls away then spit at your hole.

“Open your eyes.” he says that made you slowly oblige. The first thing you saw was his sexy smirk, eyes so dark.

He raised his hand and while staring at your eyes, he slowly slid one of his long fingers inside you.

“Hmm, w-wait.” one of your hand lets go from your thighs so you can cover your mouth.

He chuckled, “Haha! Too much? It’s just one finger. How are you gonna take me if you’re already struggling with this?” he taunts and starts pumping it in and out, stretching you.

“You look so pretty like this, y/n. So damn pretty.” he mumbled and kissed your inner thighs while still fucking his finger knuckle deep in you.

“I think I can already add another one.” he says and you hitched your breath as you watch closely, anticipating the stretch and slight sting from it.

Sunghoon loves how obedient you are and how you just lets him do what he wants towards you. This is the first time you’ll ever experienced fingered other than your own fingers so he knew he needed to make it memorable. He added another finger and started pumping.

“Ugh, oh my gosh.” you moaned, gripping over wherever you can reach.

He kept repeating it until you can feel a knot forming your stomach, a hand clasp over his arm. “S-Sunghoon, I’m going to cum.”

His eyes sparkled, “Oh yeah? Give it to me.” he says like a challenge and continued pumping, dipping his head close to your core. He opens his mouth and placed his tongue near your hole, waiting for your sweet juice. The sight itself made you cum easily, moaning so hard and shaking a little.

“Good girl, cum so sweet.” he praised and suck your clit for any remnants of your orgasm.

You are catching your breath and he’s still pumping his fingers inside you, riding your high.

“How does that feel?”

“G-Good.”

“Then let’s do it again.”

Despite feeling drained out of energy, you looked at him with a bit of hesitation. “W-What?”

“Let me add another finger, pretty. Hold on.” and pushes your body to lay back down your previous position.

You whimpered at the amount of stretch his three fingers are giving you. This is the biggest you ever had.

“Pussy so tight. I bet we will have a hard time making my fat cock fit inside you.” his words’ making your head all fuzzy.

“Say it.” he said while staring at your eyes.

You looked at him confuse, clueless of what he’s talking about.

“W-What?”

“Say your pussy is so tight for me.”

Your cheeks flushed at how dirty those words are. You rarely cursed and never once did mutter this type of words, having him make you say this is making you feel so riled up.

“Say it, y/n. Or I’ll stop,” he shamelessly pulls his fingers out of your hole and instantly you felt empty, the other orgasm disappearing into thin air.

“S-Sunghoon,” you said a little frustrated.

“Say it.” his eyes so dark while it burn towards you.

“M-My pussy is so tight for y-you.”

Sunghoon slid his fingers right back after hearing you dirty talking. It back fired tho, as he can feel his dick throbbing painfuly inside his pants, head leaking with so much precum.

“Ah fuck, this won’t work.”

His eyes turned darker and he pulls his fingers off, making you look at him in confusion. He licked your juices on his digits before he stood back up. Your eyes grew big when you saw him unzipping his pants.

“W-What...” you are lost of words when you saw his erect cock, slapping his stomach after he took off his briefs. It is big and now you can definitely agree when he wonders how you will be able to fit him inside you.

Your face turned pale, a little scared of how painful would it be.

“S-Sunghoon, I don’t think I can—” he leans down and kissed you over your lips.

“Just the tip, baby. I promise.” he stroke his manhood and slowly near it to your entrance.

“Fuck,” he groaned when he managed to put his pulsating tip inside your hole. The stretch from a while ago did help, but only because its just his head. It stings a little, but the pleasure is unmeasurable.

“Oh God,” you mumble when he starts to pull in and out his tip.

“Keep steady for me.” and he started to keep his pace, pleasure overwhelming the two of you.

His eyes are fixed right at your pussy barely taking his tip inside. It was making him crazy.

“I’m close, Sunghoon!”

His brows narrowed and he bit his lower lip, stroking the length that doesn’t go inside you to catch your orgasm.

“Me too, fuck. Cum with me.” and after a few more thrust, you coat his head with your cum and afterwards he pulls out, spilling his outside your pussy.

You’re both a panting mess after and now that the lust is slowly withdrawing, your starting to feel shy again. He noticed it and smirks before leaning in for a kiss on your lips.

“You did so well for me.” he praised that made your cheeks flushed even more.

You pursed your lips into a pout and glanced away, eyes dropping at your exposed core.

“You got it on my skirt.” you rant cutely that made him chuckle.

“I’ll just buy you a new one.”

Friday came faster than you expected, or maybe you’re just really looking forward on seeing Park Sunghoon once again. You parked right at his mansion and knocked on his door.

Surprisingly, Sunghoon opened the door for you. Brows hardly furrowed.

“Hi,” you greeted with a smile and blushing cheeks.

He opens his door even wider for you, “You’re late.” he sounds like he’s sulking so you chuckle a little walking pass by him. Sunghoon managed to inhale your sweet scent and he’s already feeling aroused by it.

“I stopped by at a famous bakery since you mentioned yesterday that you love bread.” and you raised the plastic containing the bread you are talking about.

When you glance at him, he was already sat down at his couch. A ghost of smile spread across his face before he gestures you to come to him. You rest your things at the table and slowly walk near him.

He reached over your hand then guided you carefully to sit over his lap, arms wrapping around your waist.

“You look beautiful today.” he compliments that tugged your heart.

“Is that why you’re hard as rock right now?” you teased and rolled your eyes at him.

He smirks, “I can’t help it.” he mumbles then showers your shoulders and neck with feathery kisses.

You shut your eyes and your hold over his arm tightens. He kissed your neck and sucked at the skin so hard you’re sure it will bruise.

“Ride me.” he commands that made you open your eyes.

The look of lust over his eyes tells you that he isn’t kidding at all. After letting out a nervous sigh, you straddle over him your clothed core perfectly aligned at his erection. The sensation of having it rub as you position yourself on top of him is making you crazy.

Sunghoon’s big hands rests at your hips, eyeing you dangerously. Watching how your face contorts at pleasure as your privates rubs at one another. He can only curse inside his mind how the sight of you humping your wet core to him is so arousing.

“Sunghoon,” you moaned that snap him out of trance.

“Yeah?” and he leaned closer kissing your chin.

“Can I suck you?”

His eyes darken at your question. He was indeed planning to make you suck his cock, but he never thought you would be the one to ask yourself. Now he didn’t regret hearing it, you are turning him on even more.

“Well well, the innocent Doctor (surname) now hungry for my cock?” he teased that made you shy instantly, stopping how you rub yourself towards him.

He chuckles, “Say it first and then I'll let you suck my dick.”

You pursed your lips into a pout then was about to turn away, “Say it, come on.” and then he hold your wrists to keep you from leaving.

You glanced at his eyes and stared hardly. Letting him see how much he affect you. How wet he is making you at the moment.

“Can I suck your cock, please?” you ask so softly that it almost broke Sunghoon.

He smirks and leans to kiss you at your lips once, “Since you ask nicely, down on your knees.” he command and you got so excited after you heard that.

You stood up from sitting on his lap and watch how he remove the knot of his sweatpants. He was left with his boxers and he slides it down as well, revealing his already hard fat cock.

You gulped, astonished at the view in front of you. Eyes fixated at the dessert you’re about to taste. You slowly went down on your knees while still staring at his pulsating cock, the tip of it so red.

“H-How do I do it?” your hand hang awkwardly on the sides and it almost made Sunghoon laugh at how adorable you are.

He grabs your hand and placed it at his knees, making you tear your gaze from his dick and look at his lustful eyes. He smiles, fangs showing.

“Calm down, baby. Don’t get too excited. I feel like you will bite off my dick.” he joked that made you pout. He chuckled and leaned forward for a peck on your lips before resting his back at the couch once again.

“Okay, open your mouth and then rolled your tongue out. Flat them good for me.” he instructs that you quickly followed.

The shyness wearing off as the heat of horniness taking over. You don’t care anymore, all you want is to taste his cock inside your mouth.

“That’s it. Then hold my length, not too tight. It’s your friend, not your enemy.” he chuckles playfully and you just keep follow him.

“Now lick the tip. Lick or suck, just no teeth.” he reminds and you dived in, not wasting any second.

He tasted a bit salty, but good. You cannot explain what exactly it is but the type of taste you will look for from time to time. You hold his dick and looked at its tip, becore sucking it good making Sunghoon groan in pleasure.

“Fuck baby, you’re so thirsty for my cock.” and his hand rests on top of your head when you started bobbing it out of instinct.

“Just like that— damn, it feels so good.” he moaned, groaning while biting his lips deliciously.

“Look at me.” he demands that you oblige, making him go insane.

“Goddamn those eyes. I will cum if you keep looking at me like that.” he said in a husky voice that sent shivers in your spine.

You hummed sending vibrations on his dick that gave him ultimate pleasure.

“Keep going, pretty.” and with his guidance you continued bopping and sucking his delicious cock like a lollipop. It felt so satisfying hearing his moans and having him tightly gripping your hair out of pleasure.

“I’m gonna fucking cum,” he grunts so you kept your pace and he started fucking into your mouth, making you slightly gag on his fat dick.

He didn’t stop until he shoots his hot cum at the depth of your throat, making sure you swallow every drop of it. You did as he told, rolling your eyes as you continue sucking him dry. Sunghoon grunts at the sight of you.

“So good for me.” he mumbles and pulls you up to give you a kiss at your lips.

The day ended with you actually doing your session. This time, you can really tell he’s trying to be more cooperative. Answering questions from you about his childhood and all, trying to familiarize you more about him.

You left that day with a sweet kiss on his lips and small gropping. He’s just really naughty and you cannot get enough of him.

Your routines became making out, foreplays, makeouts then session with Sunghoon. Two weeks passed by so quickly and you two grew closer and intimately. Another weekend came and you spent it with Hana, trying to find good clothes and other girly things.

“How was it with Mr. Park Sunghoon?” she asks raising her brow teasingly.

Your cheeks blushed and eyes dropped at your food instantly. Just by then she realized that something is really happening between you and the f1 racer and so she squealed happily and didn’t stop bugging you to tell her everything.

“I always knew he have the hots for you.” and she winks, delighted that her friend is finally having the sex she deserves.

“What? No. Maybe he’s just bored and—”

“Oh come on! Sunghoon can have any girls he wants and yet he picked you. He isn’t the type to go fuck around girls as well, y/n. He may look like a player, but that dude is loyal.” she even whistles.

“How’d you know?”

She shrugs her shoulder, “He had only one ex-girlfriend and not once did I heard him getting involve with someone else.”

Your heart sank at what you heard. Lately, Sunghoon has been making you feel special. Despite him being mean sometimes, his gestures still tugs your heart. And to think that you learnt about this ex lover of his being the undefeated champion for his heart is hurting your heart.

“Don’t worry! They’re already over.” she assured you after noticing the look of horror on your face.

That didn’t wipe away your worry, since you could tell she has something to do why Sunghoon refuses to talk about his hard refusal of driving for his team again.

“Why did they broke up?” you couldn’t help yourself but to ask.

She pursed her lips trying to recall the article she saw the moment the news broke to the media. It was not that big of a scandal, but still they’re both a famous and public personality. There are a lot of people invested in their love journey.

“I’m not sure, but as far as I remember it was her who calls it off.” she says that made you even more insecure about it.

Hana seems to be ignorant about the fact that you’re starting to overthink things and just diverts the topic into something else. You tried hard to push back whatever that is that’s bothering you, but it was no use. Your heart feels heavy just by thinking of where you stand at Sunghoon’s life.

He didn’t mentioned anything about taking things seriously. You wanted to get into his mind, talk to him and help him get through this phase of his life. On the other hand, he wants to get in your pants and use you for pleasure. That’s it? You should not get worried and shrug it off, but you can’t. Because no matter how much you deny it, you are slowly catching feelings with him.

And to think that the possibility of him still having hang ups with his ex are breaking your heart.

Monday came faster than expected. The weekends spent mostly by you overthinking things. It was slightly exhausting, but again it was overpowered by the thought of seeing Sunghoon once again. Excitement feeling your chest as you parked right at the hospital to meet some of your morning clients.

Time passes by so slow as you keep glancing at your wall clock, begging for it to go faster. After your third client, your intercom rings.

“Doctor, you are asked to go to the conference room to attend a meeting.” your secretary announced.

Your brows furrowed as you glanced at your calendar beside your table, finding it odd that it wasn’t recorded to your schedule. Meaning its either its an unplanned meeting or you forgot to just include it.

You pressed the button to your intercom, “Alright. Thank you.”

The conference room are packed with some doctors and at the center of it was the director. His eyes lights up at the sight of you and you tried to flash a smile for him. He continued talking about some reminders and changes at the hospital protocols.

Your eyes unconsciously darts at the clock and saw that its almost your session with Sunghoon. Remembering that you forgot to inform him, you tried to check your phone from your pockets and realized you don’t have it with you.

You almost cheered silently when the director said his ending remarks for the meeting. Everyone stood up and claps for him. When you’re about to leave the conference room, he calls for you. It made you hesitant, but since you don’t want to make a scene you just walk near him.

“Your ward will be provided with new equipments.” he started and even looked over the folder holding the lists of things your department requested.

Your shoulder relaxed a bit, thinking that he’s not totally up for something weird. Its just that you represented the department as everyone else have something to do. Slowly, the people inside the room left one by one. Even before you realize it, you are alone with the director already.

“Can you check if there’s anything missing?” he asks seriously and even handed you the folder.

You nod and carefully checks the list. While deeply into it, you yelped when you’re suddenly pushed towards the table. His body pressing hardly behind you. Tears quickly pool your eyes in terror, head hurting as it hits the table.

“M-Mr. Cha w-what are you doing?!” you panicked and even try to push yourself back up.

He grunts and pushed you even harder, holding your position. You cried and shut your eyes, wishing that this is just a dream. A very bad dream. You felt his hot breath near the back of your ears and something hard pressed at your but. It felt disgusting, you felt disgusted with yourself.

“Shut the fuck up and just take this bitch.” he mumbles scarily and started grinding himself at you.

“N-No, please stop—” you cried even harder feeling him from outside your clothes and its so horrifying.

“Shh, don’t cry. I won’t put it inside. It’s too early for that...” he said lowly and even caress your face. You moved away from his touch and he just scoffed.

“You have no idea how many times I’ve taught of doing this to you.” he groans and you can feel him going faster, reaching his climax.

It was horrible, but you just stood still as you are helpess. Tears keep streaming down your eyes, unable to even say anything. You bit your lip, shutting your eyes tightly.

When he finished, he leans in and forcedly pressed a kiss at your lips. The moment he lets go of you, you bolted your way out of there. Thankfully, you didn’t stumble with some colleagues or else they would be wondering why you’re crying and dress all crumpled up.

You’re traumatized after what happened. You’ve been inside your vehicle parked underground the hospital. Tears doesn’t even stream from your eyes anymore, you just sat there feeling so numb and disgusted. You feel disgusted about yourself. Just every place he touched you.

Your head slowly cranes to the side when you heard your phone ringing. Sunghoon’s name flashing through it. Right, you’re late to your session with him. After a while, your screen turns black meaning you’ve missed the call already.

It lits up once again because he’s trying to call again. Your heart tugs and slowly reached for your phone.

“H-Hello?” you stuttered.

A big sigh is what’s greet you. “Finally!” he spats. “I’ve been trying to call you for an hour. I thought something bad happened to you.” he sounded a little irritated.

“I’m sorry, I was c-caught in a meeting.” the memory flashes back to your mind.

“It’s fine. I just got worried.” you missed what Sunghoon said as your mind slowly spaced out.

He noticed you being silent from the other line so he sighed, “Hey, I’m not mad. I was just really worried.” he repeated, thinking you thought he’s angry.

When he still didn’t receive any response, his brows furrowed hardly.

“Baby?” he calls softly, snapping you back to your senses.

“S-Sorry, yeah?” you sniffed.

“Are you okay? Did something happen?”

Your heart sank at what you heard. The amount of emotions mountaining inside you are unexplainable. You want to scream, cry and tell him everything but you are scared. Scared as hell on what will happen after.

“Yeah I’m f-fine.” only case is, you’re not.

“Are you coming here?”

“Yes.”

You really want to see him. Something in you tells you that Sunghoon can help. That seeing him can help you.

“Okay. Drive safely.”

You bid goodbye and drove towards his house with one thing inside your mind. What happened to you a while ago and what the director did you to you just means he will not stop just like that. If there’s anyone you want to give yourself in for the first time, it would be Park Sunghoon. You want to give yourself to him.

When you arrived his place, Sunghoon was the one of who opened the door for you. He can’t even say hi because you quickly wrap your arms over his nape, pulling him closer. You crashed your lips on his and start kissing him passionately.

Despite being surprised, Sunghoon caught on and kissed back. He doesn’t understand why you’re suddenly like this, but he cannot reject and stop you. No. Never. Not when you look so beautiful desperate for him. Desperate for his kisses and touch.

He pushed your body to the door and started kissing you hungrily, hands roaming your body like they have a body of their own.

“What’s gotten into you?” he asks, catching his breath.

Your lustful eyes stared right at his swollen lips. “I just missed you.”

Sunghoon’s eyes soften at what you said and leans back in for another heated kiss. Both of his large hands rests at your hips, gripping them tightly.

“H-Hoon,” you moaned when he starts to kiss and suck the skin on your neck.

He hummed on your skin, sending so much pleasure. Your hands plays over his hair, pulling it softly.

“Fuck me.”

Sunghoon was stoned at his position when he heard you mutter those words. He pulled away slightly, enough to look at your eyes.

“What did you say?”

You looked at him straight in the eyes.

“Please fuck me.”

Sunghoon went wild after hearing it. He licked his lips and placed a kiss on top of your hand. “You sure?”

You nod continuously, wanted so bad to forget what happened earlier at the conference room.

“All right, let me prep you—” you hold his arm.

“N-No,” you gulped. “I want to feel it. I want it to hurt.”

He furrowed his brows and looked at you in confusion. He’s not gonna lie, he’s all riled up with you saying these things but he cannot help but to think what happened to you. For the past month that he knew you and been doing stuff with you, he’s never seen you like this. He feels like something’s wrong.

“Is everything okay?” he asked all concerned.

You want to dodge that question as much as possible so you glanced away. His firm hold over you softens as he try to catch your eyes.

“Hey, you good? If you want to do this, I want you to be sure. I need to prep you so it will hurt less—”

“I said I don’t mind!” you burst and shoot him glares. Your emotions are getting the best out of you.

“You know what, nevermind! If you don’t want to do it then I’ll find someone else!” you yelled. Of course that was a lie, but you try to save yourself from too much embarrassment.

You’re about to walk away from him, but he grabbed you by the wrist. When you meet his eyes, shivers run through your spine because Sunghoon’s eyes are so dark.

“Why the fuck would you say that?” he looked so mad and your lips shake unable to even say anything.

“You want it to hurt? I’ll make it hurt.” and he threw you over his shoulders making you slightly yelp.

“H-Hoon,” he walked towards somewhere.

Realizing he entered a room, Sunghoon placed you on the middle of the big bed. You looked at him, nervous. He smoothly took off his shirt and you fold your legs. His toned body made you at awe.

He stretches and grabbed your leg pulling you closer to him. His hand find your skirt and he started taking it off. He dipped his head to smash his lips onto yours. Your eyes shut, getting drown by his sweet, sloppy kisses.

“You don’t say those words at me, y/n. Finding someone else to fuck you?” he said after he pull away and manages to take off your skirt. His eyes turned dark as he let out a scoff with no humor.

“Now, I’m going to fuck you so hard and you’re going to take it all like a good bitch.”

His words are enough to make you wet down there, but you know it wasn’t enough to make it less painful. With the length and thickness of his cock, it will surely hurt like hell.

“W-Wait—” you sound scared.

Sunghoon didn’t mind and just pushed your body down the bed, his big hand wrapping around your neck. His other hand started stripping off your underwear.

“Shut the fuck up.”

He moved away and started removing his sweatpants. His dick was hard already, slapping at his stomach after he took off his boxer shorts. The view itself was salivating for you. It made your fear disappear for a split second. Tho it all went back when he approached you and spread your legs wide for him.

His eyes are darkly focused down at your slightly wet core.

“H-Hoon,” he didn't say anything and spit on his palm before stroking his hard cock.

You’re about to say something but his dark eyes looked at you. The corner of his lips lifts a little as he position his tip at your entrance. Your heart thump in fear and excitement. Multiple times you two did foreplays and you’ve been imagining his cock entering you. Now, it’s really gonna happen.

“Do you trust me?” he asks in a low tone.

You nod your head.

“I will make it hurt so you wouldn’t forget who took you first.” he mumble so ruthless and then pressed his body closer.

Your lips pursed as his cock slowly enters you. It was hard, Sunghoon cannot even push inside as it was so tight for him. He clenched his jaw, couldn’t get enough of the feeling of your tight cunt squeezing his tip.

“Fucking tight,” he growled and thrust harder.

You yelped at the feeling of being painfully stretched by his dick. The pain was unexplainable, something you never felt before. Your hold over his arm tighten, eyes becoming teary. Sunghoon searches for your lips as he continues taking your virginity, cursing inside his mind how good this pussy is. How tight and perfect for him to ruin.

“S-So big,” you cry out.

“Just a little bit more, baby.” he whispered to your ears.

He’s not yet fully in but you already feel so full. It was unbelievable. Your eyes tightly shut, nails digging over his broad back.

“There we go,” he sighs when you finally managed to take all of him.

He pulled away slightly just to get a good look of his cock buried deep inside of you. Your pussy so red and full. It looked so tight with his dick filling you completely. He fits you perfectly that its no doubt that this pussy belongs to me.

“You’re mine now, y/n. Hear me?” he growled and leaned his body down as he start to move his hips, thrusting in and out.

“I’m claiming this pussy mine.” and he bit your shoulder, pistoning his hips harder and faster.

He didn’t even ask if you adjusted already. He was so lost by the pleasure you are giving him. He continued fucking you fast and hard that you’re starting to see stars. It was amazing. Painful, but amazing.

“Ngh,” you moaned when its started to feel a little better. He smirks and tries to catch a glance at your face.

“You’re taking me so well, baby. You’re such a good girl.” he mumbled and looked back at your privates hitting each other continuously.

“So pretty. So perfect for me.” he kept mumbling like a prayer.

You got lost on how long he’s been abusing your hole until he finally cum on your stomach. Sunghoon’s not the type who gets tired right away after a round, but this one’s different. The kind of pleasure and emotions he poured in this one is something he has never done before.

He crashed beside you and gently pulled you towards him, making your head rest over his chest. A peck on your forehead and then he rest his chin on your head.

“Thank you.” you mumbled, after finally gaining back some senses.

He scoffed and wrapped his arm around you. “Thank you for hurting you?”

You chuckled and nuzzled over his chest.

“Well, I did asked for it.”

“You did, baby.”

The two of you fell silent before your eyes caught a glimpse of some of his trophies.

“Did you want to be a racer ever since you were a kid?”

“Oh, my psychiatrist is back? Damn. I’m kind of enjoying my cuddles at the moment.” he said sarcastically.

“I just want to know.” you giggled.

He heaved a sigh, clearly thinking through it.

“I grew up loving cars. My uncle used to take me with him whenever he watch f1 racers. I thought it was cool and wanted to be like them.” he started and you just listened to him.

“And you did.” you uttered so proudly.

“My Mom was against it at first. Saying that its dangerous. But I just couldn’t stop myself from pursuing it. I just feel so alive doing it. The sound of the roaring engines, the thrill of the speed and the smell of the tires scratching over the race track. Its just... different.” he mumbles.

He didn’t say anything, but you felt his tension slightly disappearing. Your hand that was hugging him starts to caress his back, lowkey letting him know that you’re there beside him.

“I used to love racing.”

“You still love it.” you declared like you’re so sure of it.

He didn’t respond right away. Like something’s occupying his mind right now. The thought of his ex girlfriend made it to you and slowly, you pulled away from his hug.

You looked straight to his eyes and gulped.

“Does your ex girlfriend has something to do why you don’t want to race anymore?”

You can clearly saw how his eyes turned cold and the emotions in his face drained. He looked like how he was when you first met him.

Your heart cracks when he pulled away from you and leave the bed before starting to grab his clothes.

“I’ll get you a fresh towel so you can take a bath.” he suggested with cold voice.

“Sunghoon, I’m s—”

“Let’s skip today’s session. You can leave after you take a bath.” and he walked away to get the things you will be needing. Leaving you dumbfounded and heart’s aching.

You have no idea what just happened, but the f1 racer sure does know how to fucking hurt you both physically and emotionally.

tag-list:

@candewlsy @nyfwyeonjun @sunghoonizz @jaehyuniewifeu @imjakes-wifeofc1 @deobitifull @enhypens-hoe @yzzyhee @nyxtwixx @crimnalseung @vixensss @jjklvr9 @gonorrheaisme @lhspeachie @myboyfriendjungkook @capri-cuntz @brooklyninawhitemustang @woniebae @ma-riiii @tinie03 @seokseokjinkim @iheartjayke @hybeboyenthusisast @minniejenseo @shelovsme @sjakewrld @shawnyle (i can’t tag some of you, sorry)

[exeggcute]

the great reddit API meltdown of '23, or: this was always bound to happen

there's a lot of press about what's going on with reddit right now (app shutdowns, subreddit blackouts, the CEO continually putting his foot in his mouth), but I haven't seen as much stuff talking about how reddit got into this situation to begin with. so as a certified non-expert and Context Enjoyer I thought it might be helpful to lay things out as I understand them—a high-level view, surveying the whole landscape—in the wonderful world of startups, IPOs, and extremely angry users.

disclaimer that I am not a founder or VC (lmao), have yet to work at a company with a successful IPO, and am not a reddit employee or third-party reddit developer or even a subreddit moderator. I do work at a startup, know my way around an API or two, and have spent twelve regrettable years on reddit itself. which is to say that I make no promises of infallibility, but I hope you'll at least find all this interesting.

profit now or profit later

before you can really get into reddit as reddit, it helps to know a bit about startups (of which reddit is one). and before I launch into that, let me share my Three Types Of Websites framework, which is basically just a mental model about financial incentives that's helped me contextualize some of this stuff.

(1) website/software that does not exist to make money: relatively rare, for a variety of reasons, among them that it costs money to build and maintain a website in the first place. wikipedia is the evergreen example, although even wikipedia's been subject to criticism for how the wikimedia foundation pays out its employees and all that fun nonprofit stuff. what's important here is that even when making money is not the goal, money itself is still a factor, whether it's solicited via donations or it's just one guy paying out of pocket to host a hobby site. but websites in this category do, generally, offer free, no-strings-attached experiences to their users.

(I do want push back against the retrospective nostalgia of "everything on the internet used to be this way" because I don't think that was ever really true—look at AOL, the dotcom boom, the rise of banner ads. I distinctly remember that neopets had multiple corporate sponsors, including a cookie crisp-themed flash game. yahoo bought geocities for $3.6 billion; money's always been trading hands, obvious or not. it's indisputable that the internet is simply different now than it was ten or twenty years ago, and that monetization models themselves have largely changed as well (I have thoughts about this as it relates to web 1.0 vs web 2.0 and their associated costs/scale/etc.), but I think the only time people weren't trying to squeeze the internet for all the dimes it can offer was when the internet was first conceived as a tool for national defense.)

(2) website/software that exists to make money now: the type that requires the least explanation. mostly non-startup apps and services, including any random ecommerce storefront, mobile apps that cost three bucks to download, an MMO with a recurring subscription, or even a news website that runs banner ads and/or offers paid subscriptions. in most (but not all) cases, the "make money now" part is obvious, so these things don't feel free to us as users, even to the extent that they might have watered-down free versions or limited access free trials. no one's shocked when WoW offers another paid expansion packs because WoW's been around for two decades and has explicitly been trying to make money that whole time.

(3) website/software that exists to make money later: this is the fun one, and more common than you'd think. "make money later" is more or less the entire startup business model—I'll get into that in the next section—and is deployed with the expectation that you will make money at some point, but not always by means as obvious as "selling WoW expansions for forty bucks a pop."

companies in this category tend to have two closely entwined characteristics: they prioritize growth above all else, regardless of whether this growth is profitable in any way (now, or sometimes, ever), and they do this by offering users really cool and awesome shit at little to no cost (or, if not for free, then at least at a significant loss to the company).

so from a user perspective, these things either seem free or far cheaper than their competitors. but of course websites and software and apps and [blank]-as-a-service tools cost money to build and maintain, and that money has to come from somewhere, and the people supplying that money, generally, expect to get it back...

just not immediately.

startups, VCs, IPOs, and you

here's the extremely condensed "did NOT go to harvard business school" version of how a startup works:

(1) you have a cool idea.

(2) you convince some venture capitalists (also known as VCs) that your idea is cool. if they see the potential in what you're pitching, they'll give you money in exchange for partial ownership of your company—which means that if/when the company starts trading its stock publicly, these investors will own X numbers of shares that they can sell at any time. in other words, you get free money now (and you'll likely seek multiple "rounds" of investors over the years to sustain your company), but with the explicit expectations that these investors will get their payoff later, assuming you don't crash and burn before that happens.

during this phase, you want to do anything in your power to make your company appealing to investors so you can attract more of them and raise funds as needed. because you are definitely not bringing in the necessary revenue to offset operating costs by yourself.

it's also worth nothing that this is less about projecting the long-term profitability of your company than it's about its perceived profitability—i.e., VCs want to put their money behind a company that other people will also have confidence in, because that's what makes stock valuable, and VCs are in it for stock prices.

(3) there are two non-exclusive win conditions for your startup: you can get acquired, and you can have an IPO (also referred to as "going public"). these are often called "exit scenarios" and they benefit VCs and founders, as well as some employees. it's also possible for a company to get acquired, possibly even more than once, and then later go public.

acquisition: sell the whole damn thing to someone else. there are a million ways this can happen, some better than others, but in many cases this means anyone with ownership of the company (which includes both investors and employees who hold stock options) get their stock bought out by the acquiring company and end up with cash in hand. in varying amounts, of course. sometimes the founders walk away, sometimes the employees get laid off, but not always.

IPO: short for "initial public offering," this is when the company starts trading its stocks publicly, which means anyone who wants to can start buying that company's stock, which really means that VCs (and employees with stock options) can turn that hypothetical money into real money by selling their company stock to interested buyers.

drawing from that, companies don't go for an IPO until they think their stock will actually be worth something (or else what's the point?)—specifically, worth more than the amount of money that investors poured into it. The Powers That Be will speculate about a company's IPO potential way ahead of time, which is where you'll hear stuff about companies who have an estimated IPO evaluation of (to pull a completely random example) $10B. actually I lied, that was not a random example, that was reddit's valuation back in 2021 lol. but a valuation is basically just "how much will people be interested in our stock?"

as such, in the time leading up to an IPO, it's really really important to do everything you can to make your company seem like a good investment (which is how you get stock prices up), usually by making the company's numbers look good. but! if you plan on cashing out, the long-term effects of your decisions aren't top of mind here. remember, the industry lingo is "exit scenario."

if all of this seems like a good short-term strategy for companies and their VCs, but an unsustainable model for anyone who's buying those stocks during the IPO, that's because it often is.

also worth noting that it's possible for a company to be technically unprofitable as a business (meaning their costs outstrip their revenue) and still trade enormously well on the stock market; uber is the perennial example of this. to the people who make money solely off of buying and selling stock, it literally does not matter that the actual rideshare model isn't netting any income—people think the stock is valuable, so it's valuable.

this is also why, for example, elon musk is richer than god: if he were only the CEO of tesla, the money he'd make from selling mediocre cars would be (comparatively, lol) minimal. but he's also one of tesla's angel investors, which means he holds a shitload of tesla stock, and tesla's stock has performed well since their IPO a decade ago (despite recent dips)—even if tesla itself has never been a huge moneymaker, public faith in the company's eventual success has kept them trading at high levels. granted, this also means most of musk's wealth is hypothetical and not liquid; if TSLA dropped to nothing, so would the value of all the stock he holds (and his net work with it).

what's an API, anyway?

to move in an entirely different direction: we can't get into reddit's API debacle without understanding what an API itself is.

an API (short for "application programming interface," not that it really matters) is a series of code instructions that independent developers can use to plug their shit into someone else's shit. like a series of tin cans on strings between two kids' treehouses, but for sending and receiving data.

APIs work by yoinking data directly from a company's servers instead of displaying anything visually to users. so I could use reddit's API to build my own app that takes the day's top r/AITA post and transcribes it into pig latin: my app is a bunch of lines of code, and some of those lines of code fetch data from reddit (and then transcribe that data into pig latin), and then my app displays the content to anyone who wants to see it, not reddit itself. as far as reddit is concerned, no additional human beings laid eyeballs on that r/AITA post, and reddit never had a chance to serve ads alongside the pig-latinized content in my app. (put a pin in this part—it'll be relevant later.)

but at its core, an API is really a type of protocol, which encompasses a broad category of formats and business models and so on. some APIs are completely free to use, like how anyone can build a discord bot (but you still have to host it yourself). some companies offer free APIs to third-party developers can build their own plugins, and then the company and the third-party dev split the profit on those plugins. some APIs have a free tier for hobbyists and a paid tier for big professional projects (like every weather API ever, lol). some APIs are strictly paid services because the API itself is the company's core offering.

reddit's financial foundations

okay thanks for sticking with me. I promise we're almost ready to be almost ready to talk about the current backlash.

reddit has always been a startup's startup from day one: its founders created the site after attending a startup incubator (which is basically a summer camp run by VCs) with the successful goal of creating a financially successful site. backed by that delicious y combinator money, reddit got acquired by conde nast only a year or two after its creation, which netted its founders a couple million each. this was back in like, 2006 by the way. in the time since that acquisition, reddit's gone through a bunch of additional funding rounds, including from big-name investors like a16z, peter thiel (yes, that guy), sam altman (yes, also that guy), sequoia, fidelity, and tencent. crunchbase says that they've raised a total of $1.3B in investor backing.

in all this time, reddit has never been a public company, or, strictly speaking, profitable.

APIs and third-party apps

reddit has offered free API access for basically as long as it's had a public API—remember, as a "make money later" company, their primary goal is growth, which means attracting as many users as possible to the platform. so letting anyone build an app or widget is (or really, was) in line with that goal.

as such, third-party reddit apps have been around forever. by third-party apps, I mean apps that use the reddit API to display actual reddit content in an unofficial wrapper. iirc reddit didn't even have an official mobile app until semi-recently, so many of these third-party mobile apps in particular just sprung up to meet an unmet need, and they've kept a small but dedicated userbase ever since. some people also prefer the user experience of the unofficial apps, especially since they offer extra settings to customize what you're seeing and few to no ads (and any ads these apps do display are to the benefit of the third-party developers, not reddit itself.)

(let me add this preemptively: one solution I've seen proposed to the paid API backlash is that reddit should have third-party developers display reddit's ads in those third-party apps, but this isn't really possible or advisable due to boring adtech reasons I won't inflict on you here. source: just trust me bro)

in addition to mobile apps, there are also third-party tools that don’t replace the Official Reddit Viewing Experience but do offer auxiliary features like being able to mass-delete your post history, tools that make the site more accessible to people who use screen readers, and tools that help moderators of subreddits moderate more easily. not to mention a small army of reddit bots like u/AutoWikibot or u/RemindMebot (and then the bots that tally the number of people who reply to bot comments with “good bot” or “bad bot).

the number of people who use third-party apps is relatively small, but they arguably comprise some of reddit’s most dedicated users, which means that third-party apps are important to the people who keep reddit running and the people who supply reddit with high-quality content.

unpaid moderators and user-generated content

so reddit is sort of two things: reddit is a platform, but it’s also a community.

the platform is all the unsexy (or, if you like python, sexy) stuff under the hood that actually makes the damn thing work. this is what the company spends money building and maintaining and "owns." the community is all the stuff that happens on the platform: posts, people, petty squabbles. so the platform is where the content lives, but ultimately the content is the reason people use reddit—no one’s like “yeah, I spend time on here because the backend framework really impressed me."

and all of this content is supplied by users, which is not unique among social media platforms, but the content is also managed by users, which is. paid employees do not govern subreddits; unpaid volunteers do. and moderation is the only thing that keeps reddit even remotely tolerable—without someone to remove spam, ban annoying users, and (god willing) enforce rules against abuse and hate speech, a subreddit loses its appeal and therefore its users. not dissimilar to the situation we’re seeing play out at twitter, except at twitter it was the loss of paid moderators;  reddit is arguably in a more precarious position because they could lose this unpaid labor at any moment, and as an already-unprofitable company they absolutely cannot afford to implement paid labor as a substitute.

oh yeah? spell "IPO" backwards

so here we are, June 2023, and reddit is licking its lips in anticipation of a long-fabled IPO. which means it’s time to start fluffing themselves up for investors by cutting costs (yay, layoffs!) and seeking new avenues of profit, however small.

this brings us to the current controversy: reddit announced a new API pricing plan that more or less prevents anyone from using it for free.

from reddit's perspective, the ostensible benefits of charging for API access are twofold: first, there's direct profit to be made off of the developers who (may or may not) pay several thousand dollars a month to use it, and second, cutting off unsanctioned third-party mobile apps (possibly) funnels those apps' users back into the official reddit mobile app. and since users on third-party apps reap the benefit of reddit's site architecture (and hosting, and development, and all the other expenses the site itself incurs) without “earning” money for reddit by generating ad impressions, there’s a financial incentive at work here: even if only a small percentage of people use third-party apps, getting them to use the official app instead translates to increased ad revenue, however marginal.

(also worth mentioning that chatGPT and other LLMs were trained via tools that used reddit's API to scrape post and content data, and now that openAI is reaping the profits of that training without giving reddit any kickbacks, reddit probably wants to prevent repeats of this from happening in the future. if you want to train the next LLM, it's gonna cost you.)

of course, these changes only benefit reddit if they actually increase the company’s revenue and perceived value/growth—which is hard to do when your users (who are also the people who supply the content for other users to engage with, who are also the people who moderate your communities and make them fun to participate in) get really fucking pissed and threaten to walk.

pricing shenanigans

under the new API pricing plan, third-party developers are suddenly facing steep costs to maintain the apps and tools they’ve built.

most paid APIs are priced by volume: basically, the more data you send and receive, the more money it costs. so if your third-party app has a lot of users, you’ll have to make more API requests to fetch content for those users, and your app becomes more expensive to maintain. (this isn’t an issue if the tool you’re building also turns a profit, but most third-party reddit apps make little, if any, money.)

which is why, even though third-party apps capture a relatively small portion of reddit’s users, the developer of a popular third-party app called apollo recently learned that it would cost them about $20 million a year to keep the app running. and apollo actually offers some paid features (for extra in-app features independent of what reddit offers), but nowhere near enough to break even on those API costs.

so apollo, any many apps like it, were suddenly unable to keep their doors open under the new API pricing model and announced that they'd be forced to shut down.

backlash, blackout

plenty has been said already about the current subreddit blackouts—in like, official news outlets and everything—so this might be the least interesting section of my whole post lol. the short version is that enough redditors got pissed enough that they collectively decided to take subreddits “offline” in protest, either by making them read-only or making them completely inaccessible. their goal was to send a message, and that message was "if you piss us off and we bail, here's what reddit's gonna be like: a ghost town."

but, you may ask, if third-party apps only captured a small number of users in the first place, how was the backlash strong enough to result in a near-sitewide blackout? well, two reasons:

first and foremost, since moderators in particular are fond of third-party tools, and since moderators wield outsized power (as both the people who keep your site more or less civil, and as the people who can take a subreddit offline if they feel like it), it’s in your best interests to keep them happy. especially since they don’t get paid to do this job in the first place, won’t keep doing it if it gets too hard, and essentially have nothing to lose by stepping down.

then, to a lesser extent, the non-moderator users on third-party apps tend to be Power Users who’ve been on reddit since its inception, and as such likely supply a disproportionate amount of the high-quality content for other users to see (and for ads to be served alongside). if you drive away those users, you’re effectively kneecapping your overall site traffic (which is bad for Growth) and reducing the number/value of any ad impressions you can serve (which is bad for revenue).

also a secret third reason, which is that even people who use the official apps have no stake in a potential IPO, can smell the general unfairness of this whole situation, and would enjoy the schadenfreude of investors getting fucked over. not to mention that reddit’s current CEO has made a complete ass of himself and now everyone hates him and wants to see him suffer personally.

(granted, it seems like reddit may acquiesce slightly and grant free API access to a select set of moderation/accessibility tools, but at this point it comes across as an empty gesture.)

"later" is now "now"

TL;DR: this whole thing is a combination of many factors, specifically reddit being intensely user-driven and self-governed, but also a high-traffic site that costs a lot of money to run (why they willingly decided to start hosting video a few years back is beyond me...), while also being angled as a public stock market offering in the very near future. to some extent I understand why reddit’s CEO doubled down on the changes—he wants to look strong for investors—but he’s also made a fool of himself and cast a shadow of uncertainty onto reddit’s future, not to mention the PR nightmare surrounding all of this. and since arguably the most important thing in an IPO is how much faith people have in your company, I honestly think reddit would’ve fared better if they hadn’t gone nuclear with the API changes in the first place.

that said, I also think it’s a mistake to assume that reddit care (or needs to care) about its users in any meaningful way, or at least not as more than means to an end. if reddit shuts down in three years, but all of the people sitting on stock options right now cashed out at $120/share and escaped unscathed... that’s a success story! you got your money! VCs want to recoup their investment—they don’t care about longevity (at least not after they’re gone), user experience, or even sustained profit. those were never the forces driving them, because these were never the ultimate metrics of their success.

and to be clear: this isn’t unique to reddit. this is how pretty much all startups operate.

I talked about the difference between “make money now” companies and “make money later” companies, and what we’re experiencing is the painful transition from “later” to “now.” as users, this change is almost invisible until it’s already happened—it’s like a rug we didn’t even know existed gets pulled out from under us.

the pre-IPO honeymoon phase is awesome as a user, because companies have no expectation of profit, only growth. if you can rely on VC money to stay afloat, your only concern is building a user base, not squeezing a profit out of them. and to do that, you offer cool shit at a loss: everything’s chocolate and flowers and quarterly reports about the number of signups you’re getting!

...until you reach a critical mass of users, VCs want to cash in, and to prepare for that IPO leadership starts thinking of ways to make the website (appear) profitable and implements a bunch of shit that makes users go “wait, what?”

I also touched on this earlier, but I want to reiterate a bit here: I think the myth of the benign non-monetized internet of yore is exactly that—a myth. what has changed are the specific market factors behind these websites, and their scale, and the means by which they attempt to monetize their services and/or make their services look attractive to investors, and so from a user perspective things feel worse because the specific ways we’re getting squeezed have evolved. maybe they are even worse, at least in the ways that matter. but I’m also increasingly less surprised when this occurs, because making money is and has always been the goal for all of these ventures, regardless of how they try to do so.

[taffywabbit]

"why not just make your own website?"

with the announcement of cohost's death and amidst all the other tumultuous shit currently going on with social media as a concept (i am AMAZED twitter has survived this long given the circumstances), one suggestion that i've been hearing a lot is "we should just go back to the good old days of personal websites. let's all just make neocities pages!!"

(this is gonna be a long one sorry)

and like. idk! it's certainly something i've considered, i think it would be a fun thing to have, but it also feels like the equivalent of "capitalism sucks so let's all just run off into the woods and live in a cabin outside of society" to me. like it would be nice, it would be fun, but it doesn't ultimately solve the actual problems that are present with the modern internet, it just evades them. more importantly in my case and many others, it does not really help people who rely on the modern internet and the connections they're able to make there for their income. sure i can make a website and host my art and blog posts there, but who's going to see it? i can't build a consistent audience and make a living off of random passersby who peek at my website once, say "huh, neat!" and MAYBE add it to an RSS feed or whatever if they really like it. there's minimal potential for meeting and impressing new people outside my existing circles if i don't ALSO still have some manner of social media platform to promote the website on.

a lot of the "solutions" i see people proposing for the slow, painful decline of social media as a user experience keep coming back to old-fashioned, more isolated/insular systems. we miss forums, we miss personal webpages, we miss newsletters, etc etc. but like... those things were ideal in the "old web" because the old web was more about sharing hobbies and interests with whoever happened to pass by and check them out, and even just USING the internet was a niche hobby in and of itself for a lot of people. if you wanna be kinda cynical about it (and not unjustifiably so), web 2.0 is much more blatantly business-oriented, and its algorithms and carefully crafted UX's are primarily meant to funnel you towards viewing ads and spending money on products. looking at it that way, it sure does suck and Everything Was Better Before! but the modern web is ALSO more powerful than anything before it for just like. connecting people. spreading information and news. showing your art/music/writing/thoughts/etc to strangers who never knew you existed an hour ago. putting the tools to reach out to someone and tell them you think they're cool right there on the same website where their art is hosted, just a comment or a message away.

if you're able to avoid patterns of engagement-bait and obsessing over follower counts as a measure of self-worth (a big "if", i realize, but i view it like installing an adblocker - it's just kind of a basic prerequisite for modern internet safety and survival), a lot of these systems can genuinely be really positive and life-changing in ways that were simply not possible 20 years ago! almost all of my current closest friends are people I met through sharing our art on platforms like Twitter who were complete strangers at the time. all of the art clients that regularly pay my bills and support my work came from places like that too! the "social" part of "social media" is really what makes it ultimately worth keeping around in any form, and makes the pursuit of a Good social media platform still valuable.

there's a lot to love about the old web - its aesthetics, simplicity and freedom for personal expression - but every time someone says "just delete your socials and make a personal website" i am forced to confront the fact that i could never do what i currently do or be the person i am on the old web. if i was stuck hanging out in my own little space and only ever interacting with people who openly and loudly share my interests, i couldn't support myself with art full-time, i probably would never have met the kind and quiet strangers who are now my best friends and have made me who i am, and i'd just generally get a lot less insight into the vast range of experiences and perspectives that exist outside of my own. my life would be on a fundamentally different trajectory in countless ways without the advent of web 2.0.

and that's not to say "well twitter and facebook and tumblr all suck but you kinda still have to hand it to them" cuz you don't, obviously. they're corporations, and their job is to take the personalities and thoughts and art of the people who use their products and try to scrunch it all into something uninform and marketable that generates profit and pleases their shareholders. but like, you CAN still make a good thing out of them! these websites are tools just as much as geocities or myspace or IRC used to be. and the one thing these newer tools are pretty much all REALLY good at is discoverability. if you're just a hobbyist at the things you wanna share on the internet, then you likely don't have a lot of use for those tools, and perhaps you WOULD genuinely be happier just keeping a personal blog site or hanging out in private groupchats or sticking to specialized federated Mastodon instances or whatever. it just isn't feasible for me, and there are a LOT of people in my same situation. my entire industry of online freelance artists barely existed 20 years ago, and the web culture of that era is largely incompatible with my continued survival in the mid-2020s. i would LOVE to run off and live in the woods in concept, but all my survival skills are adapted for city living and i would just eat the wrong berry and die out there. i want- i NEED people to try and improve the spaces we're in, and support better forms of social media (like what cohost was trying and largely succeeding to do!) instead of just complaining that it all sucks, everything was better when we were kids, and digging ourselves little holes to hide in. much like all the other problems and frustrations and systemic issues of the world we live in, the modern web isn't going to go away if you just ignore it, so we may as well try to make it better for everyone.

anyways tl;dr i probably WILL make a neocities at some point. it could be fun, even if it doesn't help my career stability or whatever. but i do also need ALL THE SOCIAL PLATFORMS I USE FOR MY JOB TO STOP EXPLODING PRETTY PLEASE, and failing that, some actual half-decent alternatives that aren't going to fizzle out in a month would also be great thanks ✌

[zweiginator]

hear me out. you and patrick are best friends, but you both secretly want more. you decide to go out on a date with someone to try to get over him, but it gets the best of patrick and he bribes the dude not to show up or something and confessions and smut ENSUE hehehehe

like he grew up so rich that he’s a little detached from money and wealth and all that.. so when he knows you’re going out with the captain of the stanford lacrosse team (which he thinks is an incredibly stupid sport)—he meets up with the guy. feigns interest in his game and tells him its in his best interest not to show up to the date he has planned with you tonight.

he looks flabbergasted at how much cash patrick hands him. $2k like it’s a twenty dollar bill.

“why should i take this from you?” of course he’s planning to. he honestly just wants to get his dick wet, and $2k is a lot of beer and weed.

“you don’t have to.” patrick gets in his face, close enough to make the boy visibly uncomfortable. patrick is taller than him by a few inches. he grabs his collar. “i’m just saying it’s in your best, interest that’s all.”

he grabs the cash and quickly walks away, muttering about how much of a freak patrick is.

patrick laughs.

you call patrick an hour after the date was supposed to start. you had waited at the sushi restaurant for the full sixty minutes. texted him a couple times. he never responded; in fact he blocked you.

“pat,” you’re sniffling. not because you really like this guy, but because he left you abandoned like a dumb little puppy. played with your time and your feelings.

this is the part patrick feels shitty about.

“what’s wrong hon?”

“he stood me up—i don’t get why this keeps happening. am i that awful to be around? i did my makeup and everything-“

“shh. you’re not awful to be around these guys are fucking pricks. i’ll beat up every last one of them.”

in reality, he had told your past few love interests he would beat them to a pulp if they showed up on the date. confused, they each took their cash and agreed.

but you are obviously really upset by this. maybe one is forgivable, but four is excessive. four had tainted your self-confidence.

patrick comes to your house with flowers.

“you didn’t have to—oh pat.” you sniffle and hug him, standing on your tippy toes. you’re in the prettiest little sundress. god, patrick wouldn’t take any amount of money to leave you behind.

“sit down. i need to confess something to you. don’t be mad please.”

“did you get caught driving high again?”

patrick laughs. “no, no. i’m better than that now. i—how do i say this.”

“you’re making me nervous.” you cut the ends off the flowers, putting them in a vase. you notice it’s a dozen red roses, interesting choice.

“i—i’ve been telling your past few dates to, like, not show up.”

“what the fuck do you mean?” you slam the scissors down. “how?”

“i have been bribing them. and—threatening them. like, an insinuation there is a threat.”

“patrick what the fuck why?”

you’re livid. he had pretended for months to be confused, had come to your house late at night to comfort you—all because of something he orchestrated?

but you see that look he’s giving you. his green eyes huge with worry and sorrow. he rarely has that look.

patrick swallows. “i don’t want you to go on dates with them. i want you to be with someone who really appreciates you.”

“how am i supposed to know if they appreciate me or not when my dates are all fucking sabotaged?”

“well maybe i wanted to come over and comfort you and watch movies and eat ice cream. maybe those have been our dates for the last few months.”

you know patrick is bad at sharing his feelings but jesus christ.

you lift his chin up; his back is against the counter as you stand in front of him.

“maybe.” you whisper, lips close to his. “you can just ask me out in the normal way.”

patrick slips one of your straps down your shoulders, heart beating. he never thought this far ahead. “we’ve been on a few dates already. i feel like it only makes sense that we fuck.”

patrick fucks you against the counter, your legs spread as he stands between them, pushing his cock into your weeping cunt. god, you wish he would’ve just confessed this earlier. he rubs his cock against you and revels in how you moan for him, clenching around nothing. as he pounds into you, his hands roaming up your body to squeeze and play with your tits, he kisses your neck, whispers in your ear.

“doesn’t fucking matter if those guys showed up i would’ve beat their asses—“ he thrusts deeper. “would’ve slashed their fucking tires—“ he pulls out, listens to you whine for him. and then he fucks back into you. “would’ve sabotaged it anyway. paid them each $2k not to fucking touch you. would’ve drained my bank account for this fucking pussy.”

[otomehoneyybearr]

Ikemen Prince 4th Anniversary Eve

Gilbert & Azel: The Relationship Unbeknownst to Anyone

Somewhere on a certain day—

Gilbert: "---I've always wondered if the conqueror beast and the sacred beast were one in the same."

Gilbert: "Both being evils of the world that control people and manipulate them as they please."

Azel: "I agree with the evil part. You and I would be better off not existing."

Azel: "We are both nuisances to the world, after all."

Gilbert: "Should we die together then?"

Azel: "You mean kill each other."

Gilbert: "That’s right."

Azel: "Disgusting."

Gilbert: "Agreed."

Azel: "So?"

Gilbert: "Hehe, no need to rush. I've went through the trouble of preparing food and drinks, so why not enjoy it first?"

Azel: "I'm having alcohol, while you're having water?"

Gilbert: "Oh, so you noticed."

Azel: "I am a god, after all."

Gilbert: "More like a con-artist, right?"

Azel: "That's another way to put it."

Gilbert: "Haha, you're not denying it."

Azel: "The title isn't that important."

Gilbert: "Really? I thought you’d be particular about it."

Azel: "Not at all. At least with you, being god or con-artist doesn't matter."

Azel: "I'm just a 'nuisance’ in the end, aren't I?"

Gilbert: "So you realized that."

Azel: "Just how many times do you think I've confiscated the weapons you smuggled into my country?"

Azel: "Can't you stop that? It's increasing my overtime and it's annoying."

Gilbert: "It only takes time because you carefully disassemble the firearms and send them back each time."

Gilbert: "Is that your hobby or something?"

Azel: "Do you want to be called a carefree rich boy?"

Gilbert: "Oh, so it was actually a declaration of war."

Azel: "If you understand that much, then don't bother asking. Tanzanite is the land of the gods,”

Azel: "So you should’ve realized by now that your spies and schemes are powerless in my sacred domain."

Gilbert: "Hmm, that's troublesome."

Gilbert: "It seems I miscalculated how difficult 'cleaning up' Tanzanite would be."

Gilbert: "Or perhaps I should say I underestimated you."

Gilbert: "Tanzanite has the lowest return rate for spies among the major countries."

Gilbert: "Currently you’re the only one from your country that's noticed my plans—No, more like, you're the only one at all."

Gilbert: "I thought that I could gather some information from you by sharing a drink, but..."

Gilbert: "You're quite hard to read. Is this what a god is like?"

Azel: "Donations are always welcome."

Gilbert: "Unfortunately for you, I only believe in myself."

Azel: "I figured as much. Spending time on you could be considered a waste."

Azel: "...Though a free meal does have its value."

Gilbert: "Haha, if you get along with me, there might be even better things in store for you."

Azel: "Not happening."

Gilbert: "Oh, that was an immediate answer. Despite us being somewhat similar."

Azel: "That's just slander."

Azel: "I don't distrust human potential as much as you do."

Azel: "Humanity doesn't need gods or beasts."

Gilbert: "...Is that so?"

Azel: "Want to bet?"

Gilbert: "Sure, sounds interesting."

Gilbert: "Your schemes are like mirages, vague and hard to grasp, but..."

Gilbert: "I'll bet on the foolishness of humans."

Azel: "Then I'll bet the opposite."

Azel: "I'll bet on the potential of humans."

Azel: "They have the ability to cleanse themselves. They can recognize and atone for their mistakes."

Azel: "Make sure to prepare your money, Disaster boy."

Gilbert: "You too."

Some little notes I had:

*: There's a possibility of Azel being older than Gilbert, seeing as he would attach things like (ーくん)-kun or (ーちゃん)-chan to the nicknames he gave Gilbert…That or Azel's was just trying to antagonize him.

**: Alternative interpretation of the nickname carefree rich boy could be 'airheaded/thoughtless young master'

***: Alternative interpretation of the nickname (厄災くん or yakusai-kun)Disaster boy could be 'Mr. Calamity'

I wasn't sure which of these interpretations would fit Azel's dialogue more, so I wanted to leave these notes so that everyone can get a general sense of the word/nickname.

Master List

▼・ᴥ・▼

[seospicybin]

TOO HOT TO HANDLE.

PART II

Lee Know x reader. (s)

Too Hot To Handle Masterlist

Synopsis: You and Lee Know become contestants in a reality dating show, Too Hot To Handle. (11,1k words)

Author's note: Happy reading and feel free to vent in my inbox after :)

Content warning: This is entirely a work of fiction and not affiliated with real Too Hot To Handle show.

MINHO: I'm a dancer. I sometimes model too. I have some moves [shows off dances] but I don't need any to get it on with someone. My face does all the work [smirks] I was born with it. Why? Are you jealous? [Lopsided grins]

-

Minho feels like hurling his pillow across the room when he hears that melodic chime.

"Good morning, everyone!"

He forces himself to wake up and sits on the bed, covering half of his face with the duvet. He doesn't want to look see you and gets reminded that you chose to sleep with someone else but it's hard when you're right there in front of him.

-

MINHO: If I didn't like her, I wouldn't be this upset.

-

"No one broke the rules last night, right?" Bryan asks, worrying so much about the money that he forgets about the lady sitting next to him.

Zara slumps down the bed and picks on her nails, she surely won't be answering him because nothing happened between them.

"I heard you guys," Agnes turns her head in your direction.

"Heard what?" You ask with an innocent smile.

Agnes flashes you a sly smile, "something was going on last night," she wildly guesses.

You scoff and break into a dry laugh, turning to Jack to make him answer it for you.

He clears his throat before calmly answering, "Nah, nothing happens."

Jack moves like a snake. It's only yesterday that he sneakily kissed two girls in one night, not afraid of going against two guys at once. One thing he learned is that a calm face of Jack could be a lie.

He can't listen to what Lana is saying when he's focused on seeing you playing with Jack's hair. He takes it that you're trying to make him jealous.

Well, if that's a game you want to play with him, just know that you're playing a tricky one.

-

MINHO: It would be a lie to say that I wouldn't be upset if she did break another rule with Jack. Am I going to tell her that? No.

-

Minho spends the morning doing his upper body workout with Jai. There's no gym equipment that he usually uses for his routine but he'll manage with some dumbbells.

"Who would have thought, huh?"

Was Minho too busy controlling his breathing to hear him talking or Jai just asked him something without giving him the context?

He drops the dumbbell and glances his way, "What were you saying?"

Jai also stops doing squats while holding a dumbbell between his legs, "Who would have thought that Jack is going to be our competitor?" He says as he's catching his breath.

Minho feels repulsed even at the mention of his name. He's not interested in giving an opinion on Jack but he only realized now that he's working out with another guy who went through the same thing with him.

"He's so slick," Jai says, then carefully puts down his dumbbell back in its place.

"Fucking dude got game," he adds.

That's what pissed him off too. He didn't expect that guy would ever dare to touch his ego but he did, Minho just won't admit it.

Minho picks a heavier dumbbell from the rack, "How are things with Agnes?"

Jai wipes the sweat on his forehead with the back of his hand, "I appreciated it that she was being honest to me about her feelings afterward but I—"

He catches his breath to continue talking, "I need to play it safe for now."

Minho nods and sits on the concrete to cool down with the help of the cool morning air blowing from the sea. Jai is following suit and takes off his top as his body is wet with sweat.

"What about last night though?" Jai asks back, leaning back with his hands propped behind him.

"It was tense, mate. Everyone was on the edge," he lightly chuckles while looking out at the beach.

To be honest, he shouldn't be asking this to him because it's you who chooses to sleep with someone else so Minho nonchalantly shrugs.

Jai scratches his chin, "Have you tried having another conversation with her?"

Minho shakes his head, "I need time," he concisely explains.

"You're not sure about her or... you're not sure about your feelings for her?"

That is such a profound question that Minho is frazzled, he doesn't know how to answer that. It's too early to say he has feelings but he does feel something.

"I miss her," Minho innocently admits.

He shakes the front of his sleeveless top to let the air in, "but the way she acts... I'm not okay with that."

Jai briefly looks at him and nods, "That's fair."

-

MINHO: I need time and see things through [shrugs]

-

Drops of water are dripping down his body as Minho walks back to the house after having a quick dip at the beach to wash the sweat from working out.

He doesn't expect to see you sitting by the pool with Jack swimming not far away from you, chatting.

"....the blue?" You ask.

"The color matches the sky," Jack says.

Minho believes he's complimenting the bikini you're wearing today, one piece with sky blue color and thin straps crisscrossing on the back.

"You too. You look good today," you compliment back.

"Oh, thank you," Jack answers, flashing a quick look at Minho as he walks past behind you.

His dislike grows more intense with the way Jack is toying with his ego and he hates it even more because you choose to be on his side.

Minho wishes that everyone just leave him alone but that is impossible because he's not the boss in this house. He puts on anything he packed with him, a black shirt and blue jeans.

The night hasn't started but it's worse already. When he walks into the bedroom, he sees you again with Jack on the bed, just talking with Agnes, Jai, and Luca from their beds.

Minho is about to turn on his feet and walk out until the cone in the middle of the room lights up and dings.

"Hello, everyone!"

"Yes, Lana!" Agnes lazily replies to her, dropping her head on Jai's shoulder.

"Please assemble in the cabana!"

Minho wastes no time but be the first to head there, telling Zara and Bryan whom he met on the way. It's certainly that time of the day when Lana is going to announce rule breaks.

Everyone takes a seat at the long sofa and Minho sits at the farthest end, away from you.

"Jack, did you dare some girls to kiss you today?" Luca jokes.

Jack only grins in response and Minho wishes he didn't care but God, his blood is boiling.

-

MINHO: If they did break a rule, then... there's nothing I can do anymore to save it.

-

Here comes the melodic chimes and Alia gasps next to him.

"I have some news," Lana announces.

Bryan takes a deep breath, then says, "Let's hear it!"

"Last night, there was an incident of sexual contact," Lana shares.

His eyes dart in your direction because the first thing that crosses his mind is that you did break a rule with Jack.

"Oh... who is it?" Alia quietly asks.

Everyone starts to assume that it's you as well since Agnes pointed it out this morning.

"We didn't rule break," you assure everyone.

Jack doesn't say anything but points at Lana, "You guys won't trust me anyway so I'll just let Lana speak," he coyly says.

Minho didn't do anything therefore he shouldn't be this anxious. However, Lana has been quiet for a moment, probably giving everyone a chance to confess anything.

He sees you taking a long, deep breath when Lana calls your name then Jack.

A part of him wishes he can get this thing over with so he can move on but another part of him wishes that it's not true. The latter part is bigger than the other, to be honest.

"They did..."

Minho silently holds his breath, nervous for what's to come. Starting over with someone new is not a bad thing but

"... not break any rules last night," Lana finally continues.

It's like he can finally breathe properly again and he glances your way, seeing you giving everyone the I-told-you-so smile.

-

MINHO: They didn't lose any money so yeah... [smiles] that's good.

-

"However," Lana suddenly adds.

"There was another incident that violated the rules."

Minho is still caught up on the previous announcement that he's unaware that someone else has broken the rules instead, not you.

"These things always come out so better fess up," Alia says, craning her neck to look around and scan for any guilty faces.

Minho catches Jai is quietly grinning and the last time he grinned, thousands of dollars lost from the prize fund.

"You're grinning," Minho points out.

"Jai..." Bryan calls him like a father who catches his children doing something bad.

"No, I'm good," Jai says with a crisp laugh and he may have covered his lie well.

Meanwhile, Agnes is uneasily rubbing her neck and sheepishly smiling at her lap.

"Agnes, you have something to say?" Zara asks.

Agnes can only keep her face straight for a second before it crumbles down, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry," she repeatedly apologizes.

Jai quickly does damage control, "It happened not long ago. In the shower. We got a bit carried," he butchered the sentences.

"Just tell us what you did!" Bryan impatiently says.

"I gave him a handy," Agnes shyly answers.

Minho can hear Alia groan next to him and everyone else mutters so many things at once but shows the same sheer disgust.

"This rule break has resulted in $8,000 being deducted from the prize fund."

What they did is selfish but Minho understands that Jai got that urge, he even shared with him earlier that his balls hurt so much that he needs a release.

An intrusive thought pops in his head and Minho's urge is to speak his intrusive thoughts out.

He looks at Jai and asks, "Did you finish though?"

"We were showering together and I just sort of touched it, then I realized that we shouldn't do it," Agnes answers for him.

"We lost money and you still have blue balls," Luca lays out the facts for everyone.

-

MINHO: That's the most expensive hand job I've ever heard and he didn't even climax [sniggers]

-

"The prize fund now stands at $150,000," Lana updates.

Bryan's eyes almost popped out of their sockets when he heard it. He rubs his chin and inhales air through his nostrils.

"We spent $50,000 in three days," he says.

It's scarier when he says it with a blank expression, it's his big posture that adds suspense to his words. Minho is smart enough to know to never pick a fight with him.

"There has been a total of eight rule breaks. Jai and Agnes have been responsible for half of these breaches," Lana continues.

"Wow!" Zara exclaims on behalf of everyone.

"Jai and Agnes," Lana calls.

Their faces turn tense at the mention of their names.

"To show me you are committed to the process. I am putting you both to the ultimate test."

Agnes covers her eyes as if that would help her to escape reality, "Oh my God!" She mutters, so full of worries.

"In order to pass, you need to demonstrate self-control and show you can form a real connection without breaking my rules."

"Oh, no!" Jack groans as he reclines on the sofa.

"Therefore, you will spend the night alone in the private suite."

Opposite to Agnes's distressed expression, Jai just can't stop grinning, it seems like he's going to enjoy having a room just for themselves.

"There's no way!" Bryan is so quick to judge that they will fail the test.

-

MINHO: Well, I'm with Bryan on this one.

-

"If you refrain from breaking the rules, I'll put $20,000 back in the prize fund," Lana adds as a form of encouragement for them to not break any rules.

Everyone is cheering but Minho still doubts that they will make it through the night without touching each other. They broke rules with everyone in the room so what makes everyone think that they will not break any rules when it's just the two of them in the room together?

"One more reason to not spend money!" Luca says.

Bryan leans forward and looks at them, "Just don't do anything. That's it!" He warns them.

Minho looks around and it seems like he's not the only one thinking that they'll spend money tonight.

"Jai and Agnes, please make your way to the private suite!" Lana orders.

"We will not do anything," Jai promises to everyone before turning around to leave, not forgetting to flash his sly grin.

-

MINHO: No [shakes head] I don't trust that grin.

-

The night is still long but with Lana sending Jai and Agnes to the private suite and probably would cost everyone more money than giving them back, everyone is too restless to enjoy the rest of the night.

Minho is enjoying the quiet and the faint sounds of the waves crashing from afar when he feels someone else sitting down next to him on the small sofa.

He turns his head to the side to see you're smiling at him.

"Hi, how are you?" You ask, shifting your body to the side to face him.

Minho smiles back at you, "good," he replies.

You put your legs up and fold them together, "I get why you're upset and I'm sorry," you say with a sincere apology.

You grab his hand resting along the headrest of the sofa and put his hand in yours, "but now you know that I don't like Jack that way. He doesn't get me excited but you do."

You lean in close but keep a safe space between your face, "You turn me on, not Jack."

Minho can't help but feel flattered to hear it. People get flirty with him all the time but he likes how you're forthright and open.

"Yeah?"

"Duh!" You answer with a dramatic eye roll.

-

MINHO: I'm glad she understands why I was so upset and I don't see why we can't move on from this.

-

Minho snickers at you and you slyly smile at him, "You don't need more time, you need to get back on the bed with me," you tell him.

Last night was weird, to be honest, Minho knows that Alia has something for him but she's not exactly sharing the bed with him by choice.

You put your leg over his leg, rubbing your heeled feet against his thigh, "Come on, don't you miss cuddling with me?" You ask with your eyes sparkling and your eyebrows downturn, a combination that works well to make him can't say no to it.

Minho nods with a suppressed smile on his face.

Your smile grows wider, "Tonight?"

He verbally answers it this time, "Yes."

The next thing he knows, you throw yourself at him and kiss his neck. You pull away to look at him and mewl, "I want to kiss you so much."

And he wants the same thing.

You probably think he doesn't care but oftentimes, he can't help himself but look at you, especially with you dressed so impeccably in a skin-tight dress that enhances every curve of your body.

"Why not?" He asks you since you didn't hesitate to kiss him the first time you broke a rule.

You make eyes to the cone perched on top of the small table, silently watching everything in the corner.

"How about we put her into a box and send her to the open sea?" Minho suggests a wild idea, sending you bursts into laughter.

-

MINHO: She's so hot. I just want to kiss her.

-

It seems like you already told Jack about the bed situation. Minho would love to evict him out of the bed himself but alas, he's already tucked in with Alia.

He throws the extra cushions to the floor and puffs each pillow to make it comfortable to sleep on. He must admit that it feels good to claim his place back.

Minho is listening to everyone chatting about random things from their respective beds when the door swings open and he sees you coming. You squeal as you jump right onto the bed next to him.

It's so cute seeing you excited for a simple thing like this, he gets the impression that you do like him more than he thinks you are.

You spread his arm out to rest your head on it and snuggle to his side, "Isn't it nice, mmh?"

Without looking at you, he replies with a hum, "mmh."

The hand resting on his chest moves to his neck, and then you slip it into his hair, gently brushing it between your fingers.

"At first, I thought this is your real hair color," your warm breath tickles his ear as you speak.

"Orange suits you well," you compliment with a sweet kiss on the cheek, then place another kiss on a different spot.

Mischievous, he turns his head to the side and offers you his lips next. You giggle and turn his head away, but he keeps turning his head at you with puckering lips.

"No more spending!" Bryan reminds everyone the second the lights are turned off.

You face the other way, probably to stop yourself from being tempted to rule break.

Minho has another idea, frankly, he has a lot of ideas but they're all against the rules. First, he puts his hand on your waist and pulls you close until your body molds against him.

He puts his hand across your chest and slowly puts his hand around your neck, turning your head to the side so he can look at your face.

He teases you by rubbing his lips on your jaw and softly places a kiss on the skin behind your ear. He presses his mouth close to your neck and stays there, drinking in your heavenly scent.

You catch up fast on his intention and lowly laugh, "We can't break another rule," you tell him.

That only makes him drag his lips back on your jaw again, there's not much you can do when he can angle your head with his hand around your neck.

You stifle a breath as his lips are hovering dangerously close to your lips, you hurriedly move your head away.

"Technically speaking, I'm only one rule break away from Lana sending us to the private suite," you explain.

He smirks with his lips against the side of your face, "even better!"

-

MINHO: The things I want to do to her in the private suite [smirks] I think we'd leave the retreat with a huge debt.

-

Lana chimes the first thing in the morning.

"Good morning, everyone!" She greets.

Minho refuses to wake up and pulls the duvet to cover his face. The day has barely started but he feels tired already, he believes it's because his mental has been perpetually put in tests in this retreat.

"The breakfast menu today includes toast and freshly squeezed juice."

You delightfully hum in response, "Sounds yum!"

"Served with a side of celibacy. Enjoy!" Lana adds a snide remark at the end.

"She got a bit of lip on her today, eh?" Jack says.

Which reminds Minho to look to the side and see you. He can't lie but he likes waking up next to you again. You hold his face as you place a soft peck on his cheek before lifting yourself to sit with your back against the headboard of the bed.

Minho scoots to you and puts his head on your lap, letting you play with his tousled hair.

"Who else thinks that Jai and Agnes messed up?" Luca asks while roughly brushing his hair to the back with his fingers.

Minho looks around to see Maisie is the first to raise her hand next to Luca, then Zara and Bryan. He looks straight ahead and sees that Jack also votes the same but you, you're just sitting on the bed with a blank expression on and your hand brushing his hair.

"Ugh, sorry, no faith," Alia comments with a sneering smile.

-

MINHO: I just hope that when they come back, I don't see Jai grinning from ear to ear.

-

In contrast to having no faith in them, everyone is cheering once they see Jai and Agnes entering the bedroom.

"They seem to be happy," you mutter.

Minho agrees because when he looks at the most spending couple in the retreat so far, he notices the slightly wicked grin plastered on Jai's face.

-

MINHO: Oh no, I see the grin.

-

"Do we get the $20,000 back? Yes or no?" Bryan wastes no time to ask the most important question.

They both sit at the end of their bed and all the eyes are directed toward them.

Instead of answering, Agnes boasts about the private suite.

"Incredible! There were flowers, champagne, a massive bed, condoms, and stuff. We took a bath—"

Bryan slightly shakes his head and presses his lips together into a thin smile.

"We don't care," Luca cuts through their small talk and tries again, "We want to know if we get the $20,000 back!"

Minho watches as Jai and Agnes exchange a look between them, probably deciding which one of them should break the news. It's too early to worry about money but he can't help but get as nervous as everyone else.

Agnes stifles a breath and apologizes, "I'm so sorry, you guys."

Then a smile blooms on her face, "but we won the 20 grand back! Yay!"

Maisie and Zara start bouncing on their beds but Luca once again decides to be the one to slice through everyone's happiness.

"I won't believe a thing until Lana confirms it," Luca states.

Everyone is back in panic mode and waits until the cone lights up, signifying her appearance.

"Jai and Agnes," Lana begins.

"Last night, you were able to spend time away from the group to get to know each other on a deeper level."

Everyone gives them a round of applause thinking that that's just it.

"However," Lana continues.

-

MINHO: I started to hate that word. However [mimics Lana]

-

Minho closes his eyes to brace himself for the worst outcomes.

"You still broke the rules last night," Lana announces.

The atmosphere turns dark despite the sunny weather outside can be seen outside the windows.

"What did you do, Agnes, babe?" You ask, your voice goes higher at the end of the sentence.

She aggressively shakes her head, "I swear to God we didn't do anything!"

Jai nods, "Nah, we didn't even kiss," he defends Agnes's remarks.

Minho's eyes are swinging side to side to see who's lying.

-

MINHO: But Lana can't be lying, right?

-

"There were incidents of excessive grinding and self-touching," Lana pulls out the receipts right away.

Agnes lets herself collapse onto the bed and repeatedly chants, "Nah, nah, nah, nah..."

You stop playing with Minho's hair and turn to look at Agnes, "You didn't plan on riding anything so why did you rev up your engine?"

Minho can't tell if you're upset or amused hearing your question but it looks hot to him nonetheless.

"These breaches have resulted in a deduction of $10,000."

Instead of getting some money back, Jai and Agnes cost everyone more money. Everyone was right to not trust them.

Agnes hugs Jai from the back and whines, "So sorry, you guys."

The grin on Jai's face has been replaced with tensed jaws and a big sigh coming out of his parted mouth.

"We woke up happy and we didn't think that we would have lost more money, so truly sorry," Jai emphasizes every word to show how sincere he is with what he's saying.

Since everyone has expected this though, they can't say anything else but try to move on with the day.

-

MINHO: The day has only just begun but we already lost ten grand.

-

It's not getting any easier for Minho.

He finds it getting harder to resist and not when he sees you walking around, looking hot and slyly smiling at him. Sometimes the temptation comes when he least expected it, he steps into the bathroom and finds you bending down against the sink as you fix your make-up.

The black bikini you're wearing today doesn't help either, it's so tiny, covering just the important bits. It's so obvious that you notice him right away.

"You can see as much as you want but you can't touch, sir," you tell him while you move on to the other eye and carefully wipe the excess makeup with a Q-tip.

There's nothing that can stop him from ogling over you. If anything, he so badly wanted to feel those beautiful curves of your ass with his own hands.

He refrained though, but decides to use the towel he's holding and slaps your ass with it.

"Harder," you tell him.

Laughing, he slaps you harder with the towel.

"Harder, come on, don't be shy!" You dare him, also laughing along with him.

-

MINHO: It's getting hard, not only figuratively but like... literally.

-

Lana gathers everyone in the cabana when it's usually time to get ready for the night.

She's not wasting time on greeting everyone first, "To further aid your further growth, you must learn to resist your urges."

"I don't like this," you immediately remark even though Lana hasn't announced anything yet.

"So, I am putting some of you to the test."

You glance at Minho and pout, resting your head on his shoulder after.

"I have arranged two dates," Lana announces.

A few coo in wonder and also, feel a little suspicious that Lana suddenly sending people on dates.

-

MINHO: [Shrugs] There's always a catch.

-

"Both with new arrivals."

Minho grins because he's right, there's always a catch. He catches you notice him and scrunches your nose.

"The first new arrival is... Esme!"

He can't know the look of someone just from her name but it's exciting for everyone because there hasn't been a new face for a while now.

"I have allowed the new arrivals to select who they want to ask out on their date."

Minho can feel that you're getting tense next to him. It's easy to tell that you're afraid this new girl is going to choose him. Even Minho himself is not that confident, so what should you worry about?

"Esme has chosen... Jai."

Minho darts his eyes at Jai and there's the grin again, "Are you happy?"

His question puts Jai in a predicament but that's why Minho enjoys it.

Jai scratches the back of his head and coyly answers, "It is what it is."

Just as expected, Minho knows that Jai would be more than happy for the chance to get on a date with another girl. He's off to a bad start already with Agnes frowning next to him.

-

MINHO: They failed the ultimate test and now they're being tested again by the new girl. Lana, you're evil but I like you.

-

"And date number two will be with Noah," Lana continues.

The gasp you let out is unmissable, he can hear the slight excitement in it. He doesn't want to be affected by it but the thought that you may get picked to get on a date quite irritates him.

"He is also allowed to choose his partner for the date."

Minho chooses not to care whether you get picked or not. He's going to be cool about either way.

"He has chosen..."

You sit up straighter and lean forward as if that would help you hear better.

"Zara."

-

MINHO: Oh okay, that was thrilling.

-

"Jai and Zara, you may now leave for your dates."

Everyone is weakly cheering and you gently slap at Zara's butt as she walks past you.

"Be good," you mutter to her.

You let out a sigh as you rest your head on his shoulder, "Look at Bryan," you whisper.

Minho can see the panic on his face, gritting his teeth with his jaws clenched like that. He lowly chuckles, "It's going to be hard for him."

You shake your head, "No, it's going to be hard for Zara to not break the rules."

-

MINHO: Let the game begin!

-

"I didn't think you'd genuinely be this jealous," you say to Bryan who's sitting on the other sofa.

Minho has been watching him fidgeting in his seat and it's making him nervous too.

"I genuinely am," Bryan shortly replies.

"Now, it feels real, huh?" Minho says, pouring salt over his wound instead of trying to soothe it.

"I care about her," Bryan fussing like a toddler.

"Then you should have shown her that," you excuse yourself to get more drinks after.

Maybe you feel the need to tell him that because you're close to Zara and maybe she's telling you things about their relationship.

It's not his place to say anything about their relationship, but everyone can see the problem here, Bryan hasn't been treating his girl well, he puts her second after the money.

"But she's right though," Minho adds his opinion.

Bryan clicks his tongue and then scoffs, "I'm trying not to be selfish here," he defends himself.

He sips his drink before continuing to talk, "I know."

He gets quiet for a while and thinks of something to say to lighten up the mood, "I think my girl cuddles your girl more than you," he jokingly says.

Bryan is cackling in his seat, "Oh, I think my girl cuddles your girl more than you," he says back to him.

Minho feels a little offended by that.

-

MINHO: I'm not big on showing affection. It's just... I don't know, weird?

-

Jai and Zara are finally back from their dates and that's good because if they had taken another hour, Minho would have fallen asleep on the lounger.

Jai brings the new girl to introduce her around to the girls. He refills his drink to refresh him and walks out to join everyone.

Minho is the last to be introduced to the new girl, Esme, she's beautiful, with long dark hair and plush lips.

"What's your name?" She asks, holding his hand in hers.

"Minho," he replies.

"I'm Esme," she introduces, not letting his hand go yet.

She stares at him long enough that he feels the need to snap her out of it, "Nice to know you," he says.

"Yeah, very nice," she says with a flirty smile.

-

MINHO: Lana knows how to stir things up, huh?

-

Esme gets swept away by the other boys, they're all sexually frustrated and more than excited to get to know the new girl.

Minho can't say the same with the other one.

Noah is tall and blonde which are two things he doesn't have. He's not saying his jealous and not sure if that's your type as well. Even if he is, Minho doesn't feel intimidated at all.

From what he sees though, he doesn't need to worry your head is turned at this British guy. You're sitting next to Zara and chatting with drinks in your hands.

Minho takes a seat in the space next to you, taking your glass to have a sip.

"What do you think of the new girl, Minho?" Zara suddenly asks him.

He swallows his drink first before answering, "She's good-looking, has beautiful eyes, and yeah, beautiful."

Zara nods and asks again, "Is she your type?"

"She looks a lot like my ex-girlfriend actually," Minho adds.

Zara snorts with her mouth deep in the glass.

"Oh, yeah, I wish my ex looked like her too," you add with a fed-up tone and take your drink back from him.

-

MINHO: I don't see what's wrong. I was just being honest.

-

The new arrivals sleep together on the newly installed bed in the bedroom and no one changes their bed partner so that's a good thing.

Minho can't wait to end the day as well, feeling tired from doing nothing but worrying about money that is not his or not yet his.

You comfortably tucked under the cover, taking a sip of water before lying down next to him. Sighing once your head hits the pillow.

Minho doesn't get to talk to you much the entire night and he kind of wishes to play a little with you.

You turn over, laying on your stomach with your head facing the other way. The silk camisole you're wearing looks good on you, he can't stop himself from feeling the fabric and touching your exposed skin while at it.

You turn your head at him and mumble, "I'm tired."

"Stay up with me a little longer," he says, pulling at the strap of your camisole and snapping it against your skin.

You kiss his cheek and say, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," he says back but you already turn your head away from him.

Why does it feel like he's done something wrong and it's your way of telling him to figure this out himself?

-

MINHO: I think with the new arrivals there's this change of dynamic and everyone is not ready for that.

-

Minho chooses to cool down with a quick dip in the swimming pool after working out today.

He has no swimming skill to show off whatsoever, he takes a few dives and lifts himself out of the water.

"Hey," Esme says, looking up at him with a smile.

He points at his towel, "You're sitting on my towel," he points out.

"Oh?" She gets up to pull it out under her and hands it to him.

"I hope you don't mind I'm keeping it warm for you."

Minho smiles at her and unfolds the towel to dry his body then his hair next.

"You have a nice body," Esme compliments.

"Thanks. You too," Minho compliments back out of courtesy but she seems to take that as some sort of his way to flirt with her.

"Do I?"

Well, Minho can't take back a compliment without hurting her feelings so he nods.

"Oh, wow, thank you!" She giggles in response.

Minho is about to leave when she asks him, "I heard you're a dancer. Is that right?"

He feels bad to always have to look down at her so he sits down, "I am."

"I am a dancer too," she says with eyes widening.

"Yeah?" Minho half-heartedly asks.

"I do ballroom dances," she further shares.

Living in the retreat and being locked out from the rest of the world reminds Minho of the things he's interested in besides dating.

Talking about something that he's so passionate about helps him to relive that excitement that he's not aware of how long he sits there talking with Esme.

"So... are your options still open or are you settled with your current partner?" Esme asks.

Of course, the talk will eventually lead to this and Minho is lucky because the talk has to be paused as all the girls get called for the workshop.

-

MINHO: Esme is great. She's nice and beautiful. I can't complain.

-

Something strange is happening.

Minho never felt this thing before because you're always there when he looks around. And now, not seeing you for most of the day feels doesn't right to him. You can't possibly out of the villa, you're just in a different part of this big place so there's no need for him to be this dramatic.

Jai catches Minho scoffing at himself, "What's that?"

"Nothing," Minho replies, shaking his head.

He decides to open a conversation with him to not let things get awkward, "How are things with Agnes?"

Jai scratches his nose before speaking, "She was mad jealous when I went on the date."

He wipes his wet hair to the back, "I usually jump ship whenever a new girl appears but I feel like I'm stuck with her," he explains.

"Stuck in a bad way or...?" Minho asks for a detailed answer.

Jai laughs and wipes the beads of water on his chest with a towel, "Like I can't like someone else but her."

Minho never feels that way with someone or maybe he hasn't found that someone, he's not that confident he'll ever find one. The sound of Agnes squealing surprises him as she jumps right onto Jai's lap, not caring that he's all wet from swimming.

Minho looks in the direction of the side gate to see if you have come back too. You walk back in behind Zara and he's sure you catch him looking at you, but instead of coming his way, you make a turn to the bedroom.

The day feels long but short at the same time.

Minho gets so confused about picking what he should wear for tonight that he raids Luca's locker to see if he can borrow something. The dressing room is packed because Lana is throwing a party to welcome the new arrivals even though it's a day late for that.

The girls are doing make-up while the boys are goofing around while trying on each other's clothes. He sees you quietly styling your hair at the far end of the vanity table.

"Oh, you're so flexible," Luca exclaims at someone.

Minho turns around to see Esme is showing everyone her grand battement.

"You do ballet too?" He asks her.

"Yeah, jazz," Esme answers as she fixes her dress.

"You're a dancer?" Bryan asks.

Esme nods as she picks up her shoes from the floor and in his peripheral vision, he sees you heading to the bathroom with your make-up bag. He follows you there, seeing you leaning in close to the mirror like you always do.

You don't say anything even though you see him walking into the bathroom and seeing him sitting on the edge of the tub, watching you putting on your contacts. The silence that hangs in the air is deafening and he needs to break it.

"Hey," he softly greets you.

You don't say anything for a moment but wash your hands under the running water.

"You still want to talk to me?" You finally talk after drying your hand with a towel.

"Didn't I just talk to you?" He says.

You turn to face him, leaning against the sink and crossing your arms together in front of you.

"I don't know maybe you prefer to talk to Esme," you tell him.

Oh, so this is all about. Minho gets it now why you've been so quiet and it's because you think something is going on between him and Esme.

"I only talked to her a little bit," Minho explains

"She's only been here for like what? A day? And you're giving her all of your attention," you tell him.

Perplexed, Minho jerks his head back and mutters, "What?"

You hold the edge of the sink and fiercely stare into his eyes, "I'm struggling to get you to make the same effort for me so yeah, I'm angry," you tell him.

One thing he learned is that overdoing things is always a disaster and Minho thinks he gives you just the right amount of attention.

"If you want to explore or keep your options open, that's fine, go ahead," you shove everything back into your pouch.

"But I can't do this," you say for the last time, then leave him in the bathroom.

-

MINHO: I don't know why I need to explain the reason why I talked to her when I am free to talk to anyone.

-

Minho isn't the only one getting confronted by his partner, Bryan got it worse with Zara putting an ultimatum on him.

"She wants me to break rule, man," Bryan grumbles and it's a funny thing to see him doing.

"It doesn't necessarily have to be something against the rules," Luca says.

Minho nods in agreement and he's surprised that Zara didn't drop him sooner. Bryan is too busy keeping everyone's hands in their pants and forgetting to treat his girl.

Bryan is so dense, refusing to admit that he's wrong for doing it because, for him, he's only doing the right thing.

"Damn! What did they do in the workshop?" Bryan loudly sighs.

It doesn't feel like a party when everyone is having mixed feelings about the night.

Once the music is blasting though, they throw their weariness away and start dancing. He sees that even you can't stop yourself from moving your body to the fast-paced song.

Just like always, Lana chimes in and abruptly stops the party from going wild.

Everyone is dragging themselves to the cabana, walking in heavy steps and mentally prepared for what she has to say.

"Unfortunately, I must inform you that..."

"Come on! Fess up!" Maisie says with an exhausted tone.

"What I'm observing is far from positive."

Zara groans then links her arm with yours, making Minho glance across the table to see you leaning on Jack's shoulder.

Everyone's eyes are aimed at Jai and Agnes, the biggest spending couple.

"I swear to you, I'm celibate," Jai convinces and with no grin on his face.

"So far, you have lost $60.000. You are taking this process for granted. It is clear I need to streamline the group."

-

MINHO: Lana, what have you done now? [Glares at camera]

-

"Two of you must leave the retreat tonight," Lana informs.

Minho automatically thinks of the things he's done wrong in the retreat and the possibility that he's one of the two is big. He looks at you and you slump down on the sofa with Jack putting his arm around you.

He wishes that he could hold you because this probably would be the last time he's able to.

"The first one to leave the retreat is... Alia."

Alia breaks into tears, looking so disappointed but she seems to have expected this. Agnes who's sitting next to her, hugs her for comfort.

-

MINHO: I think Alia isn't investing herself enough into the process and Lana sees that.

-

"The second person leaving is... Jack."

Everyone sees this one coming and that includes Jack. Minho can breathe now that he's still here and not being sent home tonight.

Jack has been treating this retreat like a playground but maybe that's because he's young, he doesn't think much about the repercussions of the things he did.

"It is now time for both of you to leave the retreat."

You kiss Jack on the cheek and hug him, Zara having no problems hugging both of you with her long arms.

Minho gets up to properly send them away with a friendly hug and a goodbye.

"I hope this is a lesson for the rest of you to take this process more seriously," Lana concludes.

-

MINHO: I'm very relieved to still be here. Guess I have to try a little bit harder.

-

Everyone wakes up still in loss of Jack and Alia, not expecting that their absence would leave the space this empty.

On the other hand, it makes Minho did a lot of thinking last night as he slept on the bed alone. He wants to do things right from now on but it's not easy to build connections, especially after you choose to sleep alone on the vacant bed.

Minho just wanted to be left alone for the day but that's impossible.

In the afternoon, Lana calls everyone to the cabana. The first thing everyone sees is the little gift boxes on the table.

"Are we getting gifts from Lana?" Maisie asks.

"It's about time we get some good news," Luca comments as he plops down the sofa next to her.

Jai squints his eyes as he stares at the box in front of him, "I don't know. Seems like a trap to me," he jokingly says.

There goes Lana's melodic chimes and everyone is collectively taking a breath to mentally prepare themselves for whatever she is going to share.

"Hello, everyone. I have a gift for each of you."

Minho hopes that whatever it is inside that box, he hopes it's something that encourages him to do good in the retreat.

-

MINHO: Some money would be good, Lana.

-

"The gift will serve as a reward to those couples who show me that they're taking the right steps towards deeper connections," Lana continues.

Couples. Minho gives up already because there's no way he can get any reward now that he doesn't have a partner in the retreat.

"They will be given the chance to take those connections further."

Jai gets impatient at the slightest mention that he can do some physical contact as a reward, "Can we open it, Lana?"

But everyone takes the gift without waiting for her answer and Minho takes his, opening it to find a smart watch inside.

"Oh, it's not a vibrator," you meekly say with a disappointed look on your face.

Minho smiles at your cute pout and quickly takes his watch out of the box to put it around his wrist, helping Bryan after as he has such a big wrist.

"When I observe two people forming a genuine connection, they will be given a green light like this..."

The watches chime and turn green at the same time. Agnes is cheering the loudest out of everyone.

"Where the rules do not apply for a limited amount of time," Lana further explains.

For a limited amount of time but at this point, Minho takes whatever he can get.

"I would like to remind you that those who do not receive a green light are not displaying enough process."

-

MINHO: Green light means you can fuck. No green light means you're fucked.

-

Minho is pessimistic that he'll get a green light.

For that to happen, he has to have a partner first. Even after he has a partner, there's no guarantee that he'll have that connection with that person.

The complications do not stop there, for a connection to form, he has to open up and share personal things with someone. He's been doing casual dating where he doesn't need to do all of that.

Lana wouldn't put that much money into a prize if it's easy to win it. Giving praises to each other wouldn't grant you a green light which is what Jai and Agnes are doing right now.

"Lana is a computer, she must have installed the latest high-tech BS detector," Minho tells them, sending them into waves of laughter.

-

MINHO: I have one person that I think I shared a connection with but she's... uh, I think she hates me now.

-

Minho watches as the couple grows and falls apart around him.

For tonight, another ship goes down as Zara switches Bryan with the new arrival, Noah.

He knows that it's only about time that Zara takes such a great measure to teach Bryan a thing or two.

However, Minho doesn't expect that he'll be collateral damage in all this.

Since Zara is sleeping with the new guy, leaving Esme bedless, and has to choose a different partner tonight.

The first option is Bryan but of course, she's not going to insert herself in the drama. The safest choice would be to share a bed with you but she senses that you're not that welcoming of her.

There's no way she's going to sleep on the sofa so Minho scoots to his usual side of the bed and lets her have the other side.

There's a big chance that you're going to think that he's happy to share a bed with Esme and that makes him stay awake the whole night thinking that you'll hate him more after tonight.

-

MINHO: Esme is a good bed partner but I don't think she's the one I can form a connection with.

-

It's not cocky.

Minho knows that he's attractive and girls like him, they get flirty with him. In conclusion, he knows when a girl is into him.

Esme has been too obvious. The first thing he saw this morning was the eyes and the smile she gave him.

Minho is sitting with half of his body soaked in the pool water when Esme jumps in and joins him.

"Hey," she sweetly greets.

Minho smiles and greets her back.

"So, how did you feel sharing a bed with me?" Her hands are floating around, making ripples on the water.

"It was nice," he answers.

She chuckles in response, "It'd be much nicer with some cuddles."

She fixes the straps of her bikini and continues talking, "How are things? Where's your head at the moment?"

Minho is a firm believer that honesty is the best policy but oftentimes, being honest leads him to hurt people rather than do them good.

At the same time, Minho shouldn't keep leading her on with false hope. He should be honest but do it gently.

"I was already with someone before you came and I know we're not on good terms right now..." he pauses as he has to filter his thoughts first before speaking them out.

"You're pretty and nice, but I owe it to her to try and see where this is going," he explains more.

Esme nods and her smile falters a little. It's not a thing that she can accept in a second. She needs time to process this.

"Yeah..." she meekly answers.

Minho takes this as a cue to give her the space, "I'll see you later?"

"Yes," she answers.

-

MINHO: Esme and I... I just don't see any chemistry there between us.

-

Lana starts the night early by throwing a party at the beach.

There's a bonfire, coolers full of bottled beers, and glasses of exotic-looking cocktails.

It helps Minho to relax after a nerve-wracking moment of rejecting a girl. It's a big deal because if he's out there, he wouldn't drop a beautiful girl like Esme like that.

Also, Minho knows best that when something good happens, he becomes suspicious that Lana will interrupt with a shocking announcement.

The only shocking this is the arrival of two new guests on a boat.

The music stops playing as the first guest walks down the stairs and jumps onto the water. A girl with long black hair and voluptuous body, and bright eyes that catches attention.

"Hi, hi," she greets everyone.

Jai looks too excited even though he's pretty much settled with Agnes, offering his hand to help her walk, "What's your name?"

"I'm Sofia," she says.

Luca elbows Minho on the side and foolishly grins, "She's hot," he quietly mutters.

Sofia proceeds to introduce herself to everyone with a quick hug and when it gets to his turn, Minho shakes her hand instead.

"Minho," he keeps his introduction short.

-

MINHO: The new girl is attractive. Very beautiful eyes.

-

The girls are cheering as the other guest jumps down the boat.

The new guy is tall and has abs that look like they were sculpted by God himself. He flashes everyone his bright, white smile and steps into the party.

"Hey, I'm Kane," he introduces, not wasting time eyeing the girls.

Minho catches that his eyes stay a second longer on you than on everyone else. He drains his bottle of beer empty and quickly grabs another.

They get comfortable as the party continues and questions get thrown around at them as the sun sinks lower into the horizon.

"So, what's your type?" Maisie asks the new guy.

"I'm getting a lot of eyes right now," he says with a sheepish smile.

Minho turns to look and you are one of the girls giving him the eyes right now, tugging a straw between your teeth and waiting in anticipation for his answer.

"I like a girl with a nice body and a beautiful smile," he says, sneaking a few glances at you as he speaks.

You turn to whisper at Agnes and he can read your lips saying, "He's cute."

He scoffs because it takes you one cute guy and barely an hour to change your mind.

-

MINHO: No. I don't feel intimidated at all. [Nonchalantly shrugs]

-

The problem with starting the night early is that it's going to be a long one.

Minho changes his clothes, styling his hair quickly and he doesn't feel like talking to anyone but Bryan drags him to accompany him talking to the new girl.

He's not sure that Bryan is making a good choice right now.

"We're just going to talk to her, nothing else," Bryan says.

Minho sighs and sits down on the sofa on the terrace, "Yeah but you're giving the impression that you don't care about Zara anymore," he bluntly tells him.

The smile vanishes in a second and Bryan trudges away to talk to the new girl by himself.

That's good because Minho feels like he wants to spend the rest of the night alone. Luca decides to break his serenity by sitting on the other sofa.

"You're not talking to the new girl?" He asks.

Minho reclines on the sofa and shakes his head.

There's a sound of laughter coming from the bedroom and from the window he sees you talking to the new guy. He doesn't want to care but... he cares.

Luca seems to pick it up right away, "I know you're trying to play it cool and act like it doesn't bother you," he says.

"But you have everything you need and the chance to make things better," Luca pauses to sip his drink.

"It's all up to you."

Minho is feeling so called out and the one who's doing it is Luca. He seems to be more mature than his actual age but he respects him for saying things that not many people would dare to say to him.

"Do you think she likes him?" Minho asks as he leers to see you laugh.

"Why don't you ask her?" Luca simply asks him back.

Minho doesn't know why he waits around for you when he's been the one acting so selfishly, talking to another girl like it's not going to affect you.

He gets it now, the taste of his own medicine.

-

MINHO: Yeah, okay, I get it now.

-

It's so hard to get some alone time with you, it's even harder with two new guests in the house.

He quietly watches you as you wipe your make-up clean in the dressing room and you'll eventually go to the bathroom to wash your face.

Minho changes into his comfortable clothes and goes to the bathroom half-naked, knowing that you'll be there.

"Having a good night?" He casually asks as he's using the other sink next to you.

You stay quiet as you wash your toothbrush under the running water, "Sofia is hot. Why don't you have a good night with her?"

Minho finds your passive-aggressive endearing instead of annoying. He quietly smiles as he takes his toiletry bag from the drawer.

"Do you like the new guy?" He asks.

You take a hairbrush from your toiletry bag, "I do like him."

"Yeah, he's cute," Minho half-heartedly comments.

He puts a dollop of toothpaste on his toothbrush and then shrugs, "I'm happy for you."

You burst into laughter and strongly accuse him, "No, you're lying!"

Minho starts brushing his teeth and skips on denying your accusation. He sees that you're still chuckling from the reflection in the mirror.

You put your hairbrush down and get in front of him, putting your arms around his waist.

"You should stop running away from me," you tell him while looking into his eyes.

"I started to get tired of chasing you," you mumble and rest your head on his chest.

Minho misses this. He stops brushing his teeth and wipes his mouth with a towel, hugging you back with his arms around you.

You look up to see his face and putting your hand on his cheek, tenderly caress it before placing a gentle kiss.

"Goodnight!" You softly whisper, then you break away from his hug and leave him again.

Minho is getting the same bitter feeling as you did it for the second time to him. He doesn't want it to happen for the third time, never again.

-

MINHO: [Shakes head] No, it's not over yet.

-

Everything feels off.

Not just himself but everyone in the room seemed to be feeling the same when they woke up this morning. Minho shared the bed with Esme again last night and Bryan proceeded to make the worst choice by sleeping with the new girl.

Worst of all, you're sleeping with the new guy and he keeps glaring at him even though he knows it wouldn't scare him off.

After last night, Minho gets hit by the realization that he is missing you and there's a slim chance he can fix everything. The problem is he doesn't know where to begin, he's not poetic nor soft-spoken, he's a man of actions. Other than that, he is running out of time.

When he thought that was the only problem, Lana assembles everyone in the bedroom except for the new guests.

"Hello, everyone. I have gathered you as I have some news."

-

MINHO: Let it be good news, Lana.

-

"Sofia and Kane have been given the opportunity to form more meaningful connections by choosing one person each to accompany them on private dates."

This is what Minho forgot to add Lana to the equation. He doesn't want to even think about it but he knows for certain that the new guy will choose you for the private date.

"Sofia has chosen to go on a date with Bryan."

It's so rare to see Bryan smile so brightly and as much as she wants everyone to believe she has moved on, Zara is not pleased with it.

"Kane has chosen to go on a date with..."

Minho doesn't wait to hear your name because it's an obvious one. He keeps his calm and his face straight but Luca is checking on him from across the room.

He slightly shrugs and raises an eyebrow in response to his thumb up.

"Please, go and get ready for your dates."

Minho watches as you get up from the bed and walk with Bryan to the dressing room.

-

MINHO: I felt fine about her going on this date but since she's left, I'm dwelling on everything.

-

Minho succeeds at pretending not to care and putting on a tough face.

Except that he can't stop himself from putting on an annoyed face as Jai and Agnes are canoodling on the next bed.

Initially, he thought Jai and Agnes wouldn't last this long but he's relieved to know that he's wrong. He's happy to see them happy but God, he's getting sick of them being lovey-dovey so close to him.

He looks to the other bed and sees Maisie hugging Luca from behind while talking about something. Ugh, it's like the universe is trying to punish him.

"I didn't sign up for this," Minho mumbles to anyone who hears him.

"Are you nervous?" Maisie asks.

He passes on answering and sits on the bed just waiting for the dates to end.

Agnes injects herself by saying, "He is nervous!"

Jai turns on the bed to look at him and laughs, "Hang in there, man!"

-

MINHO: Not nervous. Just a little... uneasy.

-

Everyone has claimed their bed but the ones that went to the dates haven't come back yet.

Thankfully, Esme understood right away when Minho kindly asked her to share the bed with the new guy. Like it or not, Minho is going to take you back to his bed tonight, he'll drag you if he had to.

Bryan has returned to the bedroom with a grin plastered on his face, it's kind of disturbing that he steals Jai's antic.

Not long after, the new guy is back by himself.

Minho doesn't want to assume anything yet but he takes it as a good sign. He stays on his bed for some time before going to the dressing room.

Instead of you, he finds the new girl doing her skincare routine.

He flashes a smile as he walks across the room to go through the next door that leads to the bathroom. The sound of water running tells him that you must be in the shower.

This is just perfect, Minho gets the privacy he needs.

-

MINHO: It's about time. I have to bring her back to me tonight. No matter what.

-

Minho looks through the glass door and sees you inside with water raining down on your body. He can stand there all day watching you showering but he reminds himself that he has something to do here. Something important.

He opens the shower door just enough to show himself to you and you immediately turn on your feet at the sound of him knocking on the glass door.

The sight of your naked wet body is so distracting that he forgets to talk.

After licking his lips, he finally says, "Hey."

You step away from the shower and wipe the beads of water from your eyes, "yes?"

It's so sudden and out of the blue but Minho knows that it's better late than never. He resists looking anywhere but your face or else he'll forget to speak again.

"You're sleeping me tonight," he confidently remarks with that half smirk of his.

"Why should I?" You ask, tipping your head to the side.

He takes a step forward and leans against the doorway, holding his hand out at you. He can see that you're hesitating but eventually take his hand.

There's no need for words when Minho can show you how much he misses you and wants you back by his side.

He's pulling you close until you stand right in front of him, gliding his hand up to the nape of your neck to tilt your head a little to the side and slowly, he leans in for a kiss.

The kiss is better than he remembered. Maybe it's you or maybe it's the longing that amplified it, either way, it's a one hell of a kiss.

Considering that he's spending money for it, he puts his other hand on your waist to draw you closer and deepens the kiss to make it worth every penny.

You let out a low moan as his tongue invades your mouth and keep your mouth open for him if not returning his kisses with the same eagerness.

He ignores the fact that your wet body dampens the top he's wearing and reluctantly pulls away when he knows you're running out of breath.

Minho smiles as he looks at your face and puts the hair stuck to your forehead to the side, "I'll keep the bed warm for you," he says.

A smile blooms on your face and you nod, "Okay."

-

MINHO: I'm not good with words but I'm good at something else [raises eyebrow]

-

You're like a five-year-old to him.

Minho is not saying that you're immature, it's just that your moods are rapidly changing. One minute you're happy, the next minute, you're fussing about something, next thing he knows, you're angry at him.

It can be such a headache sometimes but he likes it because you don't hold back, you're honest about your feelings and you're adorable to him, he wants to tease at any chance he gets.

The happiness is clearly drawn on your face as you're walking to his bed in giddiness and this time, he's ready to offer his arm for you to rest your head on.

Minho shivers as your hand makes contact with his bare chest, he already got rid of his damp top and is too lazy to go to the dressing room to get a new top.

You put your hand across his chest as you settled yourself next to him, nuzzling your nose to his neck, "Did you shower?"

"No," he lies with a sly smile on.

You plant your nose onto his neck to take a sniff and lowly sigh, "I like it," you tell him.

Now that you're by his side, Minho doesn't care about anything else. He doesn't care about the eyes looking at him whether in jealousy or curiosity as to why you got back to his bed again.

Minho wants to focus on you and make you never leave his side again.

-

MINHO: Okay, now Lana, I need you to close your eyes cause you're not going to like what you see.

-

Oh, how he misses your body!

Even in the dark, Minho knows what his hands are exploring, miles and miles of silky soft skin, warm and sensitive under his touch. He's only using his fingertips, he wonders what's going to happen if he's using his mouth so he places a long peck on your neck with his hand slipped under the cropped top you're wearing to bed.

"We're not going to sleep tonight," he whispers.

He can hear your smile even without looking and you slightly turn your head to look at him, looking at him as if he wouldn't dare to break rules.

In his opinion, everyone has been doing it wrong. If Minho wanted to break the rules, he wouldn't do a kiss today and another kiss tomorrow. If he's going to break rules, he'd break every rule there is and make it worth every single cent of it.

You curve your hand around his neck and look at his gleaming eyes in the dark, "What do you have in mind?"

Minho puts his hand around your neck and places a trail of fluttering kisses down your jaw.

He takes his hand from under your head so he can hover above you, carefully, putting his whole body on top of you.

A soft moan escapes your mouth as you wrap your legs around his waist and you quickly muffle yourself by pressing your lips together into a thin line.

Just feeling your body against him is enough to arouse him. He turns your head to the side and presses his mouth on your ear.

"We're going to spend a lot of money tonight," he whispers with his hot breath tickling your ear.

-

MINHO: Well, unless you're into it, you're welcome to watch, Lana.

-

Support my blog by kindly reblog, comment or tip me on my ko-fi!

taglist: @svintsandghosts @abiaswreck @septicrebel @cursed-mars-bars @ppiri-bahng @drhsthl @tangylemonade @bluenights1899 @thisisnotstraight88 @elizalabs3 @avyskai @is2cb97 @simeonswhore @marvelous-llama @linovely @jisungsleftcheek @hanjisbeloved @luvsskzs @knowleeknow @army-stay-noel @djeniryuu @bigsobs4skz @toplinehyunjin @channies-luv @foxinnie8 @biribarabiribbaem @dalamjisung @moasworld @sherryblossom @fawnpeaks @lukeys-giggle @obeythemasters @primoppang @devilsmatches @skz-streamer @freckleboilix @idkluvutellme @laylasbunbunny @babebatter @channiesprincess @warren-thedarkangel

[mxtxfanatic]

The Most Un-Lan-Like Lan (Junior) vs. The Most Un-Lan-Like Lan (Married-In Senior)

Lan Jingyi is such an interesting character. He is very opinionated and often speaks his mind without considering how his words will come across. He is cowardly about the supernatural despite being a cultivator but brave against those in positions of power despite being a child, always willing to stand up for what he thinks is right. Lan Jingyi starts off the story with a low opinion of "Mo Xuanyu," usually acting rude, hostile, or dismissive:

When he turned his head, he saw the Lan juniors tailing him. “Children!” he shouted. Lan Jingyi said, “Who are you calling children? Don’t you know which clan we’re from? Just because you’ve washed your face, you get to act like our senior?”

—Chapt. 9: Pride IV, fanyiyi

Wei Wuxian went to the youngsters. “Am I seeing things right? Each of you is a disciple of a prominent clan. Haven’t your moms, dads, and uncles taught you that the dead can’t receive the paper money you’re burning? They’re dead, what do they need money for? They won’t be able to collect it. Plus, you’re burning the money right at someone’s door—“ Lan Jingyi waved his hand dismissively. “Move aside, move aside, you’re blocking the wind. The fire will burn out at this rate. Anyway, it’s not like you’ve ever died—how do you know whether the dead can collect the money?" ... Lan Jingyi knifed him in the heart again. “Even if you’ve been dead before and didn’t get any, it has to be because no one burned any for you.”

—Chapt. 42: Flora X, fanyiyi

It doesn't help that Wei Wuxian, playing into his "gay lunatic" persona, is intentionally trying to put everyone off:

Lan Jingyi said, “Why are you crying? You’re the one who said you like Hanguang Jun! Now he even brought you home. So what are you howling for?” Wei Wuxian’s eyebrows were wrinkled, his lips frowned, and his face was the perfect picture of misery.

—Chapt. 11: Elegance I, fanyiyi

Wei Wuxian took out the apple from the breakfast they had given him and offered it to the donkey. As expected, as soon as the animal bit in, it stopped braying, and began smacking its lips and crunching the fruit with its teeth instead. Wei Wuxian touched the back of its neck and thought about the jade passage tokens the juniors carried while pointing at the round, white rabbits covering the ground. “I’m really not allowed to cook them? So if I cooked them, I’d be chased off the mountain?” As though facing a major enemy, Lan Jingyi opened his arms and stepped in front of him immediately. “These are Hanguang Jun’s rabbits. We just help watch them once in a while. Don’t you dare cook them!”

...

“I can’t get up,” he said sincerely. “Uh, what’s happened to you now?” Lan Sizhui said. “What’s happened to me? Your clan’s Hanguang Jun ravished me!” Lan Jingyi piped up louder and fiercer. “If you keep spouting nonsense, we’re not going to let it go. Come out!”

—Chapt. 19: Sunshine I, fanyiyi

Yet despite all this, once Wei Wuxian sheds his "Mo Xuanyu" cover and begins to seriously lean into his mentorship role, Lan Jingyi becomes one of his most vocal followers amongst the juniors, seeing the man as both a steady pillar to rely on—on par with his idol, Hanguang-jun—and someone whose safety he is concerned with, so much so that he can even cast aside his fear of the supernatural to volunteer himself as bait in Wei Wuxian's stead:

Wei WuXian said to them, “When the second group of fierce corpses rushes in, I will lure them towards the Pool of Blood, and HanGuang-Jun will be in charge of slaying them. With this target here,” He patted himself, “They won’t bother you. Don’t be tempted by battle, just run.” For once, Lan SiZhui’s raised his voice, “No! We can’t do that. There’s no way!” Sect Leader OuYang had given up trying to hold his son still. OuYang ZiZhen, “Senior-Wei, we will slay the corpses too! I can slay a hundred more!” Meanwhile, Lan JingYi had already started to undress, “I’ll draw a flag on myself too!”

—Chapt. 81: Core Part 3, boat-full-of-lotus-pods

OuYang ZiZhen, “HanGuang-Jun, why did Senior-Wei collapse?” Lan WangJi, “Tired.” Lan JingYi was astonished, “I thought that Senior-Wei would never tire!”

—Chapt. 84: Core Part 6, boat-full-of-lotus-pods

Soon, he began again, “Speaking of it, why didn’t I see SiZhui and the squad this time back?” In the past, these juniors would’ve crowded around them and begun chirping all the way from the entrance of the mountain. Hearing him mention SiZhui and the juniors, Lan WangJi’s brows relaxed somewhat, “I can take you to see them.” After he led Wei WuXian to find Lan SiZhui, Lan JingYi, and the others, the juniors didn’t do anything apart from calling out in delight.

—Chapt. 114: Banquet Extra, exr

With such a fierce and impressionable personality, it's no wonder he's one of the few juniors whose name Wei Wuxian can remember 😂

[myfandomrealitea]

That post you made about Harry Potter and how to not financially support and fund the franchise and put more money in Joanne's pockets felt like a lie because I swear I got the impression that even that wasn't allowed when the whole thing started

To be clear; I stopped. Completely. I compartmentalized it all and just stopped interacting with anything Harry Potter online whatsoever. But I always wished it would be fine to still be able to do certain fandom things without supporting her, but people were saying that even using the tag or reading the fanfiction or making fanart was still supporting the ip and not letting it die completely as a topic on the internet was indirectly putting money in her pockets.

It wasn't until I came across a post from a queer woman from somewhere in the global south with heavy OCD and intrusive thoughts or something like that, commenting on how hostile of a thing it became for someone of her affliction; the way people were treating it like do or die. Pointing out that no matter how much trans people and allys cut off their support of her, she has other large means of income that we won't be able to touch, and there will still always be transphobic homophobic Harry Potter fans that will continue to support her actively, putting that money in her pockets. Another thing she mentioned was the treatment of Harry Potter and Joannes bigotry in contrast to the treatment of FNAF and the creators bigotry. And lastly something about the USAmericanized nature of it? I don't really remember that part but I think I understood it at the time I read it (maybe it was something about all the other countries the IP is popular in who are probably more conservative and unaware or caring of the issues with her who will still put money in her pockets, or maybe it was something about American fans fixating and posing the support of her as the ultimate battlefield of Trans Rights to other queer and trans individuals trying to be quiet fans who are facing Much Worse in their countries)

Anyways after that I briefly started reading ao3 fanfic again, just put a filter for anything before 2019 or so, and then my interest more gently fizzled out.

I can't remember what my point is anymore, maybe just to bring these arguments to your attention(also I am not arguing against the financial boycott or ending of support for this woman through her ip).

Harry Potter will never stop earning money. That's just the flat reality of it; I mean, look at the likes of Elvis and the original Sherlock Holmes books and every other 'dead' media that's still earning money. Short of making Harry Potter an illegal piece of media, yes, there will still always be a number of people giving her money.

The goal is to give her less money. To turn Harry Potter from a prominent, profitable cashcow into a defunct piece of media that only select groups are still clinging to. To make it so that JK Rowling has to choose between paying her bills and funding anti-trans movements.

When something stops bringing in a certain amount of profit, studios start looking elsewhere. When a cashcow starts drying up, they stop trying to milk it as hard. Which in turn means less productions for JK Rowling to collect her pocketmoney from.

What would you rather; JK Rowling getting $100,000 or JK Rowling only getting $10,000?

Something is better than nothing. Damage reduction is better than open exposure. If everyone just rolled over and gave up because "things will keep happening anyway" the world will literally be a rancid, fetid wasteland of bigotry and violence.

I'd much rather watch JK Rowling fizzle out into a bitter old wench sustained only by the dogged support of other stubborn bigots than watch people willingly disregard and condone bigotry because its "easier" and "she'll be a bigot anyway."

I'd much rather JK Rowling only have $10,000 to donate to shitty movements over $72,000. Shitty movements can do a lot less with a lot less money.

[petew21-blog]

Read the fine print

Rental agent:"Ok, sir. Do you understand everything that has been said and you raid the Terms and conditions?"

Tom:"Yeah. I did and yes." Tom signed the contract from rental company, thinking that no one ever ready Terms and conditions.

Rental agent:"Well, now that everything is settled. Let's take a photo of you so that we have everything complete"

Tom:"You put owner photos on the add with the vehicle"

Agent looking confused:"Well in cases like yours it's pretty standard so that the customers know who to look for. Ok, sit over there and smile for me"

"This was strange, but necessary." Tom thought to himself. He had recently some financial problems that forced him to do something extra to earn more money. While out with friends, he confessed his problems and they gave him a contact for this company. Saying that he can rent out a room in his house or his motorcycle.

Tom didn't really want anybody else in his house or even riding his prescious Ducati. But if he would ever sort this financial situation early, than this would be the easiest solution

Tom received the adress from the rental company where he was supposed to meet the first client renting his motorcycle

Tom waited at the spot. A very old man approached him:"Ahhhh, good day, sir. You must be Tom". Tom looked at him from top to bottom. This old man wanted to ride his motorcycle? What was the company thinking? What of he crashes somewhere? He won't be able to life the vehicle back up. Or himself. There was no way he would let this happen

"I'm sorry but this must be some kind of mistake" Tom said

The man:"Oh no, I am sure I found the right man. I have your photo from the company and photo of your motorcycle"

Tom:"Not to be rude, but are you sure you'll be able to drive it? You look... a bit fragile."

The man:"Oh, boy. Then why do you think I picked you?"

Tom;"Sir, I am not a taxi nor a tour guide to drive everyone in the city"

The man:"I wouldn't expect you to do that. But I am sure that I will be able to handle that with your strength and your ability to drive it"

Tom:"With my strength? What are you on about?"

The man:"Haha, boy. Now you sound like a senile old man. And I am 93. I have the right to sound like one"

Tom:"Yeah. Anyway. You can call the rental company and they will give you your money back. I am sure. I'll call them that they wanted to rent out the vehicle to someone... incapable and they will find you a different ride to enjoy"

The man:"Dear boy, I don't think you read your contract. Did you?"

Tom:"What makes you say that?"

The man:"You rented out your motorcycle and your body along with it"

Tom was in shock. Did the man really meant what he was saying or was it again just another bunch of crap? Tom decided he wasn't interested in finding out and decided to leave

But as soon as he turned around he felt a sharp pain on his back. Something was trying to get in. To everyone else on the street it must have been a normal second of time. But for Tom it felt like it took an hour just to move. Yet, he couldn't move anymore. He could still feel, hear and see. But he couldn't move an inch of his body. His body now moved on its own. Tom started panicking.

His body looked at his hands and arms. It patted his abs and then groped his bulge.

"What's happening?"

The man:"Oh you can't be mad at me, Tom. I haven't been this young in over half a century. I was really looking forward to it"

Tom:"What? How are you doing this?"

The man:"As I said. I bought the experience from the rental company. I get to have your body and your Ducati. Can you imagine my old body riding that thing?"

Tom"This is mental. This isn't happening"

The man:"I assure you it is. You should read the fine print, my boy."

The man now walking with Tom's body sat on the motorcycle and looked at himself in the mirror.

Now speaking directly to his reflection

"Look, Tom. I really don't want to cause you any trouble. I am too old to do much in my body, but now in yours I can do so much. And I heard from the company that you were really willing to rent so I suspect you have some financial problems. I can help with that"

Tom:"How?"

The man:"I can give you my body's money. All of it"

Tom:"Why would you do that?"

The man:"Because I want them to be put to good use. And I know you will use them right "

Tom:"what's the catch?"

The man:"Keep me in your body and let me have the driving seat from time to time. I want to be young like you again. I don't want to steal your life and I'm not ready to die yet. Therefore this is the best option for me:

Tom:"So that would mean you would be everywhere with me? Seeing and feeling everything as me?"

The man:"Yes. But we can swap who is in the back of your mind and who is driving. Haha. I'll be like your second inner voice"

Tom thought about it, bit couldn't make up his mind. It didn't sound that bad. He could use the money and also help an old man to enjoy a part of his life. And if that meant he would have to share a bit of his time and body, then that wasn't so bad.

Tom:"I'll have to think about it. I still don't know you. And also please put a hand to your ear so that people think I'm calling someone. They are looking weird at me talking to myself"

The man smiled and immediately put a hand to his ear:"Oh where are my manners. I am Nicholas Connor. I have had a fee wives but no children. I was a director of a big company, which gave me enough money to enjoy life. But I still want to keep on enjoying it"

Tom:"Nice to meet you Nicholas. Do you mind driving us to my... our appartement?"

Nicholas:"Right on, chap"

Tom's body started inspecting the Ducati. Nicholas put on his new helmet and stretched out his arms in the jacket

Nicholas:"Oh this feels nice"

His muscle memory knew what to do and how to drive. Tom was still impressed how the body possession went and how was Nicholas actually doing good as Tom

Nicholas arrived in front of Tom's appartement building

Nicholas:"You live quite far from the city centre, Tom. Must be hard always driving so far"

Tom:"I enjoy driving, but yeah. It's costly. But not as much as paying rent in the city centre"

Nicholas entered Tom's appartement. It was small and messy, but suitable to a man like Tom

Nicholas:"I'm not saying anything mean. But you know It could look better"

Tom:"Yeah I know. I was... busy"

Nicholas started undressing

Tom:"What are you doing?"

Nicholas took off every piece of clothing throwing it on the ground. "Tom, I am old. Being in this young body makes me want to inspect it. Enjoy the youth. I'm sure you understand"

Nicholas looked over his body in the mirror. Then started laughing

Tom felt insecure:"I know I'm not one of the biggest. By my dick is not a joke"

Nicholas:"Oh its not that, Tom. Your penis is amazing. I just haven't had an erection in years. I think you and I are gonna have a lot of fun"

Few months later. Tom's body was walking down the street

Tom's body speaking:"Yeah, but this time you're cooking. I cooked last night and you hated it. So now it's your turn. Yeah right. After all that you still want more?"

He went swiftly to the company building that previously belonged to Nicholas

"And what are we gonna do tonight? Oh yeah? That sounds great. But not if you rush things like always. Haha. I never finished so fast before"

A security guard noticed Tom's body entering the building and rapidly opened the door:"Good morning, sir"

Tom's body:"Good morning"

Tom's body to phone:"Look, you know I can't keep on saying more stuff like this. I know it makes us hard and you like it, but I'm at work now. Yes we will go on a ride this afternoon. I know how horny that makes us."

"Now? But I just arrived. Fine."

Storming out from the parking lot was Tom's body in a suit speeding on the street away from the building, smiling and laughing.

Tom's body:"We're hard already? Well the ride should be fun"

Tom and Nicholas were now one being. Constantly switching who was controlling the body, but treating the other one as an equal part of the body and as a best friend

The security guard smiled as he saw the new young owner of the building driving away, enjoying life.

A message request and an inbox request from @

Tom was going through some financial problems and his best friend advised him that maybe he could rent a room in his house, or even rent his Ducati, that would make him a lot of money. But Tom didn't check properly what the rental company did, and he didn't realize that he was not only renting his Ducati, but his body as well. That's why he was surprised when he went to the place where he had met the client and saw that the man was at least 90 years old, but it was too late to back out.

[beatrice-otter]

I really like John Scalzi's analysis of the whole wtfery of this. (I'm not a great fan of his books, I think he's really overrated as a novelist, but his political commentary and commentary on the SF/F world is interesting.)

I think he has a good point about how while the initial panic about his bad performance at the debate was genuine (and if he'd done better, he'd never have withdrawn), but also that once there was panic, he decided how to manage things to maximize Harris' chances at both getting the nomination and winning the election.

Consider that the announcement was made on the Sunday after the Republican National Convention, and after the Sunday morning political talk shows were put to bed, i.e., after the GOP political capital was spent slagging Biden, and when professional spinners would be caught flat-footed by the announcement. Biden’s news was quickly followed by his endorsement of Kamala Harris, which in turn was followed by a flood of endorsements for Harris across the Democratic political firmament, effectively slamming the door on any serious challenge to Harris at the upcoming Democratic National Convention. If you think something like that just happens spontaneously, well, one, bless your heart, and two, you’re wrong. This was a work, a rope-a-dope, and a strategy to energize the Democratic base and to toss what little momentum the GOP had coming out of their convention down a deep, dark hole. And it worked! Harris raised an huge amount of money for her campaign in its first day — $49 million at least, and I’ve heard up to $70 million — and the GOP messaging was in disarray, limited largely to Trump whining on Truth Social, Stephen Miller freaking out on Fox News, and Mike Johnson trying to suggest that the Democrats can’t do that, it isn’t fair. Which is just what the Democrats wanted out of this. ... The current iteration of the GOP has been mask-off racist and sexist for some time, and Donald Trump sets the tone for the party on this score. Be expecting the whole array of nonsense from them, from dog whistles to flat out racist and sexist shit, said out loud, and also all over the former Twitter by Trump’s pet fascists and/or Russian bots. I guarantee you it will be nothing Kamala Harris has not heard before, but you might see a couple of new ones. The GOP outsourced their policy making to The Heritage Foundation with its Project 2025, which is already deeply unpopular, probably because it’s terrible for anyone who is not already a billionaire cryptofascist with a cross fetish. The GOP can’t go after Harris on policy grounds, and Trump doesn’t do policy anyway. So expect endless variations of she’s an uppity black woman for the next several months. ... Also, Biden has manifestly changed the narrative around both himself and his presidency. I didn’t want him to stop running for re-election, but choosing to do so allows for a “country over self” positioning that’s a hugely effective contrast to Trump’s “I’m running to avoid prison and to get revenge” narrative. It also allows a fresh reframing of the Biden administration’s achievements and accomplishments, and positions Harris to say she will continue them. Biden can lean into the whole “Grandpa Joe” thing now, and have it seen as a positive rather than a negative. ... To put it another way, after eight years, we know what the hard cap is on Trump’s support. We don’t know what the cap is yet for Harris’ support. History does suggest that cap is higher than Trump’s.

[maxlarens]

all the daniel stuff has really put a damper on my weekend and it seems like VCARB don’t even know and even if they don’t drop him it’s s horrible and cruel.

i had a pit in my stomach earlier cause i was so stressed about it i had to stop going on social media :/

he’s been doing a good job! vcarb just don’t know what they’re doing

i’ll be so sad if true cause daniel is the reason i got into f1 in the first place and last time there was a chance he was back but idk if it can happen again

(sorry for ranting in your inbox i just saw you posted about it and i’ve been so stressed lol)

no ur absolutely fine, im more than happy to discuss this kind of stuff! i may start making more posts about drivers and f1 politics and things tbh.

but yeah anyway. anyone’s personal feelings about daniel and his performance and whether or not he deserves his seat etc etc aside, it’s just appalling how redbull are handling this. they have clearly not made a concrete decision yet (ie: pen to paper. i think people know), but have been stringing daniel along on the hope that he may not get replaced. i just think its disgusting with how truly terrible vcarb has been re: his tyre strategy. this race was a mess? i don’t understand why they would pit him first like that so early on. it makes genuinely no sense to me. and it puts him in this awful position wheres he’s got to fight through the midfield every time he races.

i don’t get it. and i think its absurd to judge him off his race position when they shaft him every time.

and just yeah. throwing him to media wolves when he has been fucking loyal to redbull. sure he left. but they treat him like dirt under their shoe. for what reason??? especially when he came back on the hope of getting into the redbull seat. and fine if thats not an option okay. why has he seemed to think that he’s been safe and/or had hope up until the end of this race? where literally everyone is acting like its foregone conclusion that he’s gone and he has to grapple with that in front of everyone. without support from vcarb or rb.

i can see vcarb not knowing. i think max knows. i think h*rner knows. why doesn’t daniel know? why wasn’t he given an appropriate send off?? why haven’t they announced the swap with a race or two to go so he can be prepared for it, have people celebrate his career.

i love logan. but that sudden swap makes sense to me. he was causing damages that a team like williams can’t absorb. daniel is not crashing. i understand its the pressure of the wdc. but to me it looks like the reason daniel is not getting into points is because vcarb screw up his tyre strategy. perez is costing them money, perez is costing them points. i don’t think theres a big conspiracy to keep him in his seat, but i AM confused as to why daniel is unfairly bearing the brunt of that? thats what it feels like to me.

i will be very interested to see what they announce/how they announce it for daniel. and i will also be interested to see how they handle liam and his tyre strategy if thats what happens. because yeah whats the value in this swap is what it comes down to imo.

overall these mid season swaps are not a pattern that i particularly enjoy seeing. its not out of character for redbull of course, but it just reeks of disrespect for their drivers. especially someone like daniel who loves that team, clearly deeply loves driving and has been in the sport for a significant amount of time. a mid season swap is not unacceptable to me, but the lack of care in handling it is.

[finsterwalds]

Got my hands on the script of Anatomy of a Fall, and I couldn't help but compare it with some scenes from the movie because that's how deep I am rn :'D Anyway, here are some of my finds and things I personally enjoyed. I'm sure there are more things to dig out but these are what I wanted to share with the world. The order of my finds will be chronological, for the most part, but keep in mind that sometimes, some scenes were edited to show up later, or earlier than originally intended. Spoilers for the whole movie obviously so you've been warned!

Takes place when Vincent first visits Sandra to discuss Samuel's death. In the movie, Sandra stops Vincent and cuts him harshly, saying "STOP, I did not kill him". Vincent then says a line that I think is pretty iconic in the movie, a sarcastic : "That's not the point. Really". His line is much harsher than on the script, where he's a bit softer. "You don't need to tell me that" implies that he has some deep, loyal faith in Sandra, while "That's not the point" cuts any further discussion. He really doesn't wanna know if she actually did it. Comes from a wish to remain blind still, but with less innocence and a lot of denial. Oh, Vincent.

In the movie, his last line is way better imo, he says "No one's gonna believe that. I don't believe that." I like the emphasis on his opinion rather than the fleeting and impersonal "it's really hard to believe". Truly hits way harder and puts Vincent back in the position of a lawyer.

The rest will be under the cut because I think it's gonna be a wall of text I apologize guys...... This movie does things to my brain.

There's a scene that was cut where Vincent phones Nour while still at Sandra's, which I would have enjoyed a lot but I'll admit it's a bit filler-y. Doesn't add a lot and kinda cuts the serious tone of Sandra's confession, imo, as they discuss the judge's antics in a pretty comical manner. I just love Nour so I'm based......

Another, REALLY long scene that was cut where a medium comes into Sandra's house to feel Samuel's ghost and foreshadows Daniel poisoning Snoop with aspirin. I had a good laugh at that one, honestly. It feels pretty out of place with the tone of the movie, and the personality of the characters even... I can't picture Sandra calling a medium. I'm glad they removed it because the foreshadowing was unnecessary too. It's still interesting that they had planned it however.

This takes place after Vincent finds out about the tape. Interestingly, his whole line was cut after "before he died". In the movie, he never comments on Sandra's affairs/sexuality. He never really asks much about her life at all. He truly is blinded by his wish to shield himself from her inner demons, in order to maintain his undying loyalty towards her. To see what he wants of her...

Another scene that was completely cut (a flashback, I believe?) where Sandra makes Daniel pose for a german photographer to make some money, which Monica dislikes, and then they argue. I think it really frames her as too unsympathetic, so I'm also glad it was cut.

Okay, so now, here comes The Big Change. The scene where Vincent and Sandra drink together after the first trial was heavily altered, because its tone in the movie is pretty tense when compared with the lightheartedness of the script. In the script, they laugh and reminisce together about the past and even kiss at the end of the scene. In the movie, none of was I screenshot happens : instead of playing along with the 'firing Vincent' suggestion, the scene ends with Sandra scolding Vincent for judging her in his head. Vincent backs off and the scene ends. Another instance of him not pressing emotional depth to shield himself.

There are other scenes I liked (many that touch upon Sandra's books) but I'll stop there. Hope you'll enjoy that... I might draw some of these so stay tuned... This movie has absorbed my soul but it feels good to be alive, thank you Justine Triet.

[zephyrstargame]

well here's something I can do!

this is a little spin on an idea i've been seeing around that i think is wonderful... I personally, am not in the best financial place to be donating, but i can use my platform as a game developer to help out and do something cool at the same time :3

In exchange for donating esims to gaza, I'm gonna populate the world of Zephyr Star with your characters as NPCs! currently: OPEN!!

Here's the deal-- scurry on over to gazaesims.com to figure out how to buy and donate an esim to the people who need em-- any plan works for me, as long as you're gettin something out there!

then slip into my DMs (or anywhere else you can contact me directly) and show me a screenshot of the email, preferably with timestamps for proof that it's from after this post was posted... or really, any proof that you did do the thing-- also show me:

a reference image for what character you want me put in the game

what this character should say as an NPC (just a few lines at most) (optional; if you'd like i can just write some general dialogue instead)

how you would like to be credited in the in-game credits (ie what name i should put)

below the cut are some submission guidelines and extra notes, please also read that if you're interested :>

here are some general submission guidelines:

nothing too lewd, please!

or racist

or otherwise offensive

fandom ocs MIGHT be fine if they're Legally Distinct enough from the source material, but try not to get me sued here

In general, this game's world has No Humans, but that's not a strict requirement-- just a general suggestion

and keep in mind that characters with super intricate details might have to be simplified in order to work as pixel art

otherwise, anything works! furries, robots, sentient objects, your cat, whatever

and here's some notes, so you know what to expect:

i'll take anywhere between a few hours to a few days to finish, depends on how i'm feeling... either way, i'll tag you in a new post when i'm done!

the character will be done in small pixel art, with maybe some additional effects if i feel it works for the design

i will adjust the sprite size depending on the character-- an average sized character is drawn on a 32x32 canvas but if it's like a giant or really tall or something, i'd make it bigger so that the scale is accurate

everyone also gets a zoomed in headshot for the dialogue portrait

no secret bosses, shopkeepers, or other special story purpose for now, sorry! these are just some guys that stand around and say 1 or 2 lines as you go about your adventure

im putting the characters in various places at random, but if you want your guy to be in a certain type of location in-game let me know

this game is STILL in relatively early development-- but i do promise that each and every submission will be in there by the end! it might take yeaaaars for the full game to finally be out, but i'll be posting screenshots as I put em in the game so you know im not slacking around :>

and alongside the screenshot, i'll also post the sprites on their own if you'd like to save them for yourself

legal stuff uhhhhh im not good at legal stuff-- by participating, you are giving me permission to use your submitted character in the final game-- credit will be given in-game where you would expect to see it (the credits) and i will not claim ownership of any of your guys

(cartoon mafia boss voice) if at any point you want your character scrubbed out of the game, or you want anything changed, let me know in my DMs or anywhere else you can contact me and *click* *sinister laugh* we'll make it happen

no money goes to me ever, im not even gonna be the middlesnake between you and the esims-- i just think its less of a hassle to work this way -w-

did i get everything? i think that's everything... if i forgot something important sorry i'm a scatterbrain failgirl who has never done anything like this before im trying my best okay

may the rift be filled with your cool little guys! but more importantly, let's keep gaza connected! free palestine! 🍉

[st4rqirl444]

can i request logan howlett x fem mutant reader? like when he still does cage fights?

specifucally readers mutation is like zoom/100 percent accuracy and she never misses a shot so she makes most of her money at bars tricking guys into betting on her w darts and they try to jumo her after she scams them and logan steps in? 😭😭 sry if its too much

ofc! and it’s not too much at all also thank you for requesting!! i hope you enjoy! 🤍

SAVIOR

logan howlett x fem mutant! reader

in which logan howlett saves a mysterious girl not realizing they’re more alike then he thinks.

warnings - fighting, cussing

a/n - i was going to add on to it like when logan first goes to the x mansion and she’s with both him and rogue but i decided not to. if you guys are interested in that lmk and i can do a part 2 where their relationship builds more. also i am obsessed with this gif 😫 and forgive me i haven’t written in a while so it might be bad 😣

it wasn’t strange for you to be at a bar late at night but it always made you receive strange stares. a woman all alone in a busy bar mostly filled with drunk men, anything could happen. yet, you could care less, i mean this is how you made your money, bar hopping almost every night just to scam oblivious men into giving you said money. the way you did it was easy too, being you were born a mutant with the power of telescopic vision. it helped you have perfect accuracy with everything no matter how challenging the task.

so here you were at a bar you never been before. walking in and immediately hearing groans of pain and loud commotions was never a good thing. curiosity got the best of you so instead of heading immediately to the back you went towards the noise, being met with a cage in the middle, and two men fighting inside.

it seemed to had started not only a second before and in a blink of an eye, it was over. looking more closely you saw the winner flick his head making his hair move slightly as well as the dog tag he wore on his neck.

you were mesmerized, you had never seen anything quite like it. the fact he could throw two punches and knock someone out completely cold was extraordinary.

maybe he was a mutant too. there was no other plausible explanation.

snapping out of your daze you headed to the back, to do what you came here for. at least six dart boards aligned the walls as well as several men surrounding them attempting to place bets.

“what’re we betting boys?” you spoke up causing every man to turn their heads in your direction and laugh as you rose your eyebrow.

“as if you would beat any of us.” one of them spoke as he chugged the rest of his beer. you shrugged in response, “wanna bet?”

he put the bottle down walking towards you before turning to his friend and then back to you throwing his hands up, “fuck it, easy money.”

“hey go easy on her robbie.” one of them said as he laughed and shook his head in response.

“so sweet cheeks, how much you wanna bet?” he asked as you seemed to think for a second.

“five hundred dollars.”

at that, everybody widened their eyes. to them it was almost like you wanted to lose the money so of course the guy immediately agreed.

men are so stupid you thought.

letting him go first he aimed and landed on green, close to bullseye but not quite hitting it, receiving cheers from everyone. as you walked up everyone eyed you close while you grabbed a dart and stood in front of the board acting clueless on how to aim. instead you zoomed in on your target with your eyes and threw the dart, hitting bullseye perfectly causing multiple oohs and what the hells to ring out.

when the game had ended you had won leaving the guy scowling and five hundred dollars short as another guy decided to take you on.

and by the end up the night you had beaten every single guy, leaving them all pissed and insecure while you had earned an easy two thousand dollars.

leaving the bar was always the hardest part, it had always worried you that one day one of the guys you had beaten was going to corner you. i mean you did have perfect aim but never practiced in case of emergencies.

as you walked out the door into the cold brisk air you took a turn but were met with robbie and his friend smiling unsettlingly at you.

“seems like you’re all alone out here yeah?” robbie spoke up as you shook your head going to turn around to head into an alley to conceal yourself when two other men showed up.

“give us back our money and we won’t do anything. we know you cheated.” one of them spoke as you shook your head.

“i didn’t i swear and it’s mine now assholes.” you spat out causing another guy to jump at you.

fuck me for not bringing a knife. you thought as you closed your eyes expecting to be thrown to the ground but instead heard the crunching of bones.

snapping your eyes open you were met with none other than the man who had fought so many earlier.

“hey, watch out!” you yelled at him as his eyes were on you making sure you were okay. he swiftly turned and punched the other man, causing him to fall to the ground.

that’s when none other than robbie and his friend appeared again, this time armed with a gun, pointing it directly at the man in front you.

before he could even think, logan extracted his claws as you gasped getting cut off by the firing of robbie’s gun, hitting him directly in the chest. and not even a second later, falling out.

what the fuck? you thought as you watched the man take down both of the men without a single scratch.

retracting his claws and turning towards you he finally spoke, “you okay, bub?”

you nodded still completely confused about the entire situation but intrigued. this man had to be a mutant too.

“good. here come with me, people will come out any second and it won’t be pretty.” he said as he walked towards a truck in the very back. having no other choice, you followed him.

“thank you.” you spoke as he nodded. “you’re a mutant?” you asked quite bluntly as you looked down towards his hands waiting for metal claws to appear again and he chuckled.

“i try not to make it known but during a situation like that it comes in handy.” he laughed. “but a better question is how did you piss off so many men?” he questioned opening his truck door to pull out a cigar lighting it while waiting for your answer.

you laughed feeling a bit more comfortable, “i beat them at darts, stupid fucks never learn.” you said shrugging causing him to raise his brow.

“not a single one of them beat you?” he questioned as you shook your head.

“let’s just say i was born different.” you said as a joke.

he tsked, “oh so you’re a mutant too?”

you nodded in response as he chuckled taking a drag from his cigar letting smoke billow from his mouth, “i guess we’re more alike than i thought. what can you do.”

“telescopic vision. i basically can get precise and accurate shots at everything. kinda boring compared to you but hey it helps me earn money.” you shrug as logan shakes his head chuckling again. “thank you again uh?” you pause waiting for his name.

“logan.” he states.

“y/n.” you smile, “i do have to go though, apparently hotels close at a certain time.”

he looks you up and down, “do you want a ride?”

you nod, “yeah. i’d like that.”

logan looks at you again before putting out his cigar and hopping in his truck, waiting for you to get in on the other side. pulling away from the bar you both ride in silence rethinking the night’s events.

logan never expected to have to be save a mysterious woman, let alone her being another mutant while you on the other hand hoped you would see your savior again.