#i guess it's just another reminder that she's my boss. not my friend.

[theradicalace]

i just think it's so funny that when *i* lash out and start bitching *about* management to my coworkers because of a stressful day at work, i get pulled into the office to discuss my attitude, but when a manager lashes out and bitches *at me* because of a stressful work day, i get a halfassed "oh sorry, but-" and i'm expected to roll over and take it.

[selenitesdawn]

Temperance (1/3)

pairing: wanda maximoff x female!reader plot: Your best friend Kate convinced you to do charity work in Sokovia with some of your old classmates, including your former bully Vision and his girlfriend Wanda Maximoff, who you inconveniently took too much of a liking in. warnings: 18+ !! minors dni. wanda is with vision... also, suggestive content I guess word count: 1115

Patience is a virtue. Patience is the solution. These have been your only thoughts for days now. From a self-imposed affirmation to a recurring echo in your head, this reminder is all you had to get through the situation at hand. What else could you do? Keep trying to ignore your desire? The craving that has kept you awake for days and nights?

The thing is, you may be able to trick your brain for a while. Convince yourself that the way her nose wrinkles when she grins doesn't do anything to you. That the way her middle and ring finger draw the same patterns over and over again on the pages of her book whenever she is deep in thought, doesn't stir something inside of you. That the muffled moans coming from her and Vision's room at night don't bother you. Your brain has managed to lie to itself for a long time, but you can no longer ignore what Wanda is doing to you. So instead of denying your feelings, you decided that you have to sit through them. Until you can finally leave this place.

You weren't planning on pining after your old classmate's girlfriend, but here you were. Miles away from home, locked up with the constant reminder that you can never be with Wanda the way you want to. Originally, the three months in Sokovia were supposed to fulfill you. You just wanted to take care of the local street dogs with your best friend Kate. Do something good. That was it.

“Come on y/n, you've always had a heart for street animals,” your best friend said to you at the time. Back then she turned up at your door without a warning and told you about this great trip Vision had planned.

“Kate, I barely got anything done last semester. I can't waste another one. Besides, my boss never gives me that long of a vacation.”

You knew Kate wouldn't leave your apartment until you said yes. You could tell by the way her eyes were gleaming. How she slightly bend over the table you were sitting at, her gaze not leaving you for one second. Of course, the whole thing is much easier for Kate. Her mother is filthy rich. Kate can basically do whatever she wants. She could disappear for one year, travel the world with money she didn't earn and wouldn't have to worry about her life back home for one moment. You don't have that luxury.

“Think about it. First of all, you do something that fulfills you. Besides, I know you y/n. You haven't wanted to work in that rancid bakery for months. We'll find something new for you afterwards. Not to mention that volunteering to help street dogs for three months looks great on your CV. Plus: I heard Vision rented a mansion”

Vision. The name alone triggered something in you. Vision is not only the son of the famous billionaire Tony Stark, but also a giant asshole. Before Vision knew you were friends with Kate, he took every opportunity to trigger you in some way. Like standing in front of your locker with his group of followers for no reason, just so you couldn't get to it. The worst thing he ever did was probably when he stole your notebook and read out loud in class what you had written about your former classmate Natasha. Some cheesy and cringe poem you managed to suppress from your memories. From that day on, it wasn't just the whole school that knew you liked women. You also were never able to look Natasha in the eye again. But Vision somehow always managed to come out of it okay. His reputation was disgustingly squeaky clean.

“It's so weird imagining Vision doing something voluntarily that doesn't serve only himself. Are you sure he isn't just joking?,” you had asked back then.

“I think he has really changed since high school. Besides, his girlfriend is originally from Sokovia and I think it was her idea? I don't know for sure. But please, y/n, join me. I'd do anything to spend more than an hour a week with my best friend. And this is a once in a lifetime opportunity! Vision specifically asked if you want to join.”

You've never been able to deny Kate a wish. But also, it's never led you into such a miserable situation before. So this is where you were. In a villa far too grand for it to feel like a prison. Besides Vision, Wanda and Kate, there were two other old classmates; Steve and Bucky. Living together turned out to be easier than you thought, especially considering the fact that Vision was there. But your feelings for Wanda kept causing you problems. Whenever the redhead came near you, you started to stumble over your words. One long look alone could throw you completely off balance. But it was even worse when she smiled at you. When she listened to you and her head slightly tilted at the same time. Or when you were cooking and she suddenly appeared behind you, her hand softly placed around your waist and her head set down on your shoulder.

“What are you blessing us with this evening?,” she inquired with an almost teasing tone in her voice.

Before you were able to even articulate anything, she took her free hand, slid it along your arm and took the wooden spoon out of your hand.

“May I?,” her voice dangerously low, as she already moved the spoon towards her mouth, looking straight at you. You just gulped and managed a small nod as Wanda put the spoon in her mouth, her gaze never leaving you as she sucked it clean. Her green eyes were barely visible as her dilated pupils covered them almost completely. A soft moan escaped from her lips as she handed the spoon back to you.

“You're so good at this y/n,” Wanda groans, her hand which still holds onto your waist making its way to your lower back, smoothly slipping under your loose t-shirt. The cold rings on her fingers on your warm skin immediately sent shivers down your spine. Her pinky slightly slipped under the waistband of your sweatpants before she left you standing alone in the kitchen.

She must do this on purpose. There is no other way.

You thought to yourself. But what was the use? Either you are right and she does it on purpose or you are wrong and project your fantasies onto her. In both cases, it is best to simply stay away from Wanda. Because there is no way you don't end up completely fucked. Right?

: Part 2

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Code of Conduct 4

Warnings: this fic will include elements, some dark, such as cheating, noncon/dubcon, and other untagged triggers. Please take this into account before proceeding. It is up to curate your online consumption safely.

Summary: your boss has a difficult time keeping his personal life from bleeding into his work. 

Characters: Steve Rogers, this reader is known as Rosie.

Author’s Note: Please feel free to leave some feedback, reblog, and jump into my asks. I’m always happy to discuss with you and riff on idea. As always, you are cherished and adored! Stay safe, be kind, and treat yourself💜

💼Part of the Bad Bosses AU💼

“Are you sure you want to keep working?” You ask Mr. Rogers as you bring in the printed report he requested. 

“Yeah, can’t really go home...” he mutters as he takes the report with a brittle smile. 

“I guess, but you could... take some time for yourself. I can call your one o’clock,” you offer. 

“Rosie, you’re wonderful. But I need the distraction.” 

“Okay, I—can I get you anything? A tea? When I feel down, I have this lavender chamomile in my desk that helps me feel better.” 

He looks at you, his blue eyes sparkling. You really can’t handle him crying. His eyes are already pink and puffy from the tears he hid in his closed office. 

“You’re so sweet,” he sniffs. 

“Look that over and I’ll steep the tea,” you insist. 

You leave him before your ingrained sympathy can have you joining his pity party. You feel awful for him but lost too. You’re not sure how to handle all this. Relationships have always been a bit of a mystery to you. You have lot of friends but never found anyone to be more than. 

You take your time in the break room. You smell like vinaigrette. It’s another reminder of the chaotic morning. The kettle pops and you pour the water over the tea bag. You bob it up and down with the string and make your way back to Mr. Roger’s office. 

He thanks you as you set it down and warn him it’s hot. He runs his thumb up and down the edge of a page then looks up at you.  

“Anything else, sir?” 

“You... you said you feel down sometimes?” He asks. 

“Oh, well, yeah, but everyone does.” 

“But... about what? Why would you feel down?” He lowers the stapled papers onto the desk. 

“Just... things, sir. Nothing big. It’s just the way people are.” 

“You-- you have everything, Rosie. You’re so bright and bubbly. What could make you sad?” He pivots his chair towards you. “Who do I gotta give a talking to around here?” 

“No one, sir. Really. I guess I just need a pick-me-up from time to time.” 

He nods and looks down. You hover on the other side of his desk. You should get back to work but you don’t know if you should leave him. 

“I get lonely too.” He lifts his chin up. “Even when Peggy’s right next to me. I get it.” 

“Sir?” 

“You said you’re not married, right? I—I'm sorry if I assumed--” he cringes. “Wow, I’m so embarrassing.” 

“It’s... it’s fine. I have friends and we have lots of fun. My friend Missie, she’s really cool. She lies to tie-dye. We do that sometimes. And you,” you perk up, “you have Mr. Barnes, right? He told me that you twohave known each other forever.” 

“He told you that?” Rogers tilts his head. 

“Well, sure, he’s a bit chatty when he stops by.” 

“He is?” A brow arches curiously and ripples his forehead. “I shouldn’t be surprised. You’re so easy to talk to. Even with someone like him.” 

“Erm, I guess. I just try to see the positive. You know. Um, I don’t mean to presume because I can’t begin to know but I know Peggy loves you. And you have a good job and you can fix this, Mr. Rogers. You could try counselling or I don’t know. Like I said, I don’t know much,” you shrug. 

“We did counselling,” he picks up the mug and blows the steam away, inhaling the scent. “She stormed out of that too. We’ve tried a lot of things. A second honeymoon, a vow renewal, everything.” He looks down and his shoulders slump. He looks tiny even though he’s a big man. 

“I’m sorry, sir, I didn’t mean to overstep.” 

“You didn’t,” he inhales and pushes his shoulders straight. “You’re right, I can do something. I can put myself first. I think... I think I need to look into leaving.” 

You blink. You’re speechless. It feels like too much. Not his suggestion, just that he’s saying it to you. You’re fine getting him coffee and sorting his schedule but you haven’t been trained for this. 

“You should do what’s best for you, sir.” 

He nods and tastes the tea. “It’s good, Rose,” He sets the cup down. “Thanks. You’re... you’re too good to me.” 

“It’s just tea. I’ll let you enjoy it in peace and I gotta get back to it.” You smile. “Let me know if you need anything else.” 

“Will do,” he utters glumly. 

You slowly turn away and stride out. You feel a tugging in your stomach. Like guilt. You feel bad leaving him like that. Yet, you don’t know what else you can do for him. Missie would know. She always knows how to make things better. Maybe you could ask her but it’s a long story. 

Hm. 

You take out your phone and open up the conversation. You giggle at the kitten pictures she sent you last night. It takes several attempts to get it right; ‘hey, Miss, what would you do for someone going through a break-up? Tryna do something nice. Thx <3’ 

You’re sure she’ll come up with something, even without all the details. You tuck your phone away and turn back to your screen. As you do, an email pings into Mr. Rogers’ inbox.  

You click on it and open the attachment. The legal letterhead has your blood cold. Before you can react, you hear Mr. Rogers exclaim.

Oh no, he’s already seen it. Divorce papers. 

[eeunoia]

ENHYPEN Imagines

mafia boss special | lhs.

pairings: lee heeseung x reader

synopsis: first time meeting mafia boss, heeseung.

word count: 3k

warnings: curses, foul and offensive words.

note: here you go! replies and reblogs are well encouraged. please send me asks, i love reading it. ily and stay safe!

eeunoia 2024 © all rights reserved.

Heeseung heaved a heavy sigh after reading the recent text from his Mother. He clicked his phone shut then rests it over his lap, throwing his head back over the couch.

“What’s with the heavy sighs, hyung?” Jay asks, chuckling while holding the cue stick. He’s waiting for his turn.

Jake glances over his hyung before taking his shot. The clicking of the balls echoes and one easily shoots earning a subtle cheer from Sunoo. They’re currently playing pool and they’ve notice their eldest friend being in distress.

“Something wrong?” Jungwon steps closer, taking the vacant seat near Heeseung.

Heeseung opens his eyes staring blankly at the ceiling. “My Mom’s been bugging me about this date with the youngest daughter Choi clan.”

Sunghoon chuckles before accepting the cue stick from Jay. It’s his turn now.

“I guess Auntie’s really eager to find you a future wife, huh?” he teasingly stated before positioning himself in a much comfortable stance to take his shot.

“Its because Hyung doesn’t seem like interested on finding someone to date.” Sunoo smirks.

“My Mom doesn’t set me on dates.” Jay looked clueless as he said those words.

His friends eyed him like he just said the most hilarious thing.

“Maybe because she knew pretty well you already have enough, dude. You need to be stopped.” Jake even playfully swat him using the cue stick making them laugh.

“Hyung all you even think of is dating! Auntie is probably done with you.” Ni-ki interrupts as the mentioned boy frowned at their comments about him.

“Hey, its not my fault that girls likes me.” he even shrugs his shoulder before showing a smug smile.

The other boys groaned at him and even shower him with side comments. Heeseung smirks watching them bicker with each other. They may be from families of mafia, but Heeseung always love the way they act around one another. One reason why he loves hanging out with them, because he feels more like himself.

“Anyways, I think you should go hyung. I mean Auntie won’t stop until you obey her for once. You know they won’t force you if you said you don’t like her.” Sunoo says.

The boys agreed, nodding their heads to the eldest. He eyed him and ends up agreeing. Well, they are practically right. He knows his Mom and her capability of being passionate on things like this.

He informed her that he agrees on meeting her which brought her joy. She sets the date and told Heeseung to meet the girl this coming Saturday in one of the fancy restaurants around the city.

“Please be nice, son. Make sure to listen to her and also try to smile more, okay?” his Mom follows closely behind him as she guides him towards the car that will drive him towards the place.

She’s been doing this for a while. Reminding him to play nice and all. Giving advices on how to woo a girl. His Mom is a little worried how he may scare any potential girls around him. He’s always been a bit nonchalant and she knows some girls cannot handle that. It’s hard to harvest emotions from him. He’s pretty good on keeping his thoughts and emotions to himself.

“I will, Mom. Stop worrying, okay?” he gently assured her and dropped a quick kiss on her forehead. She smiles warmly and caress his cheeks gently, admiring him.

“I just really want you to get to know other people. I think its time for you to develop some feelings and experience love. It’s a good thing, you know?” she sounds even more eager this time that he pulls away and ready to ride his car.

He doesn’t want to hear his Mom’s rants about being in love and affectionate towards somebody. He just couldn’t imagine himself on that state. It feels like it doesn’t suit him or nobody is capable enough to make him feel those type of emotions.

As they arrive at the place, one of their men opens the door for him and he walks out confidently.

Heeseung doesn’t really have a goal for this date. He just wants to give his Mom a chance and so she can stop from bothering her about this. A few hours sitting and talking with a girl around his age won’t probably hurt, right?

The staff by the front desk doesn’t even need to ask who he is, but instead he saw how a few of them even hurry their way to assist him towards their table.

A slight irritation occupies him when he saw that it was vacant and obviously, his date is late. He’s not a very patient person and so this is not cool for him.

Instead of saying anything, he settles down and looked over the big glass window beside him. The busy street full of cars and big buildings greets him. As the night deepens, the more lights slowly appears making it look more scenery.

“Uhh,” his eyes slowly drifted towards the newly arrived and he saw this elegant girl in a pink dress. Her hair is perfectly curled and her cheekbones are highlighted in a pink tint color.

She saw how her eyes flickers amusement, lips pursing and hands starting to fix her hair and dress. He remained emotionless and just wait for what she’s about to say next.

“Hi H-Heeseung,” she greets using her sweet voice.

He stood up making their height difference evident. She cranes her neck slightly, following his eyes.

“Stella, right?” he asks that she only answered with a quick nod.

Heeseung almost snickered a chuckle while watching the pure admiration to her eyes. It was so obvious how she’s very much excited to see him. He sighs and gently pulled the chair in front of his so she can sit down. Her ears turned red, being totally affected by his gentleman gesture.

“You’re late.” he stated.

Her face flashes embarrasment, “I’m sorry! Its because of traffic.” she quickly reasons out.

He’s not being rude. Its just happen that Heeseung’s always been straightforward. He grew up being open about his opinions and thoughts and so he’s not afraid of making comments like this. Its often mistaken as being rude and aggressive, but he care less.

He just nods and kept his stares to her eyes. His face didn’t reflect any amusement or reaction for her. He admit that she’s beautiful. Model like body and her dress probably costs so much, but he’s used to these type of girls.

She gulped and quickly roamed her eyes, feeling shy because of how intense his gaze for her.

Right on time, someone walks near his table. Heeseung's pretty sure that its one of the waiters of the restaurant.

“Goodevening, Sir and Madam.”

Heeseung's eyes automatically trailed towards the girl and his brows twitched, furrowing at the sight of you. His fingers halts from tapping at the table, mouth slightly gapping.

He noticed how you’re smiling brightly towards Stella before you turned your attention at him. He pursed his lips and kept his stare.

He expects the normal reaction he usually gets from girls, but after flashing him a beautiful smile you bowed your head like how you do for Stella. He was caught off-guard.

“I’m y/n and I will assist you for tonight.” and again you smile again.

You looked so professional and not slightly brothered about him. He almost let out a laugh. Did he just got humbled? He couldn’t believe it at all.

“We like to order.” Stella clears her throat and even switches her eyes from you then to Heeseung whose eyes still fixed at you.

“Heeseung?” she tries to call him.

He kept his eyes glued at you for a few more seconds before he finally teared it away to look at Stella. She seems a bit disappointed, but he ignores and starts to scan the menu you just placed at the table.

He kept running his gaze to the menu, mind silently reading the foods but he well damn know his attention weren’t on any of them.

Because for the very first time, someone— a girl, a very beautiful one too, just caught the attention of the snobby young heir of the Lee Clan.

“I want to reserve that table.” he lazily points the last one he occupied the other day.

The receptionist looked thrilled to see him today as she slightly spaced out in astonishing handsome face of Lee Heeseung. His expression remained placid despite his eyes scanning the whole place from time to time, hoping to take a glimpse of the person he wants to see.

“F-For tonight, Sir?” she asks, couldn’t help but to stumble through her words.

He raised his other hand and gestures one of his men over. Her eyes drifted towards the tall suited man and watch as he placed a briefcase on the desk then opened it. He heard light gasps from the staffs from a distant after seeing it filled with cash.

“For as long as it covers.” Heeseung says in a monotone before sliding his hands inside his pocket.

“S-Sir?” she seems confused. This is the very first time this happened and so she’s taken aback.

“Then let me know if it over so I can reserve it again.” he added before walking towards the table.

Staffs hurries to assist him while he silently watch the view beneath him. The city lights once again slowly putting life into the busy streets.

His head whips over to the waiter who approaches.

“Menu, Sir?”

“I just want a lemonade.”

“O-Okay.” and he bows his head, about to exit himself only to be stopped by Heeseung.

“Is Miss y/n not around tonight?”

The waiter looked confused for a while before he finally answered him.

“Its almost her shift, Sir. I’m sure she will be arriving soon.”

He nods, he can feel the unfamiliar emotion taking over his system. He can feel his blood rushing, hands wanting to fidget.

‘Is he excited?’ he wonders and he wants to smirk.

“I want her to assist me tonight.” he sounded firm.

What do you expect from the youngest son of a well known mafia family? Of course he knows his power and control over the situations like this. He’s never been this happy over the influence his family holds.

Despite the surprise to the waiter's face, there's no disagreement can be seen over him. He flashes a big smile and nods his head then informa him that you will soon assist him once you’ve arrived.

On the other hand, you just stepped inside the building. Multiple curses repeated on loop inside your mind because you’re fifteen minutes late due to traffic.

“y/n!” you jolted a bit after hearing your Manager’s voice calling out your name. You just punched your biometrics over your system to log in to work.

“I’m sorry for being late! I swear its traffic and—” her grip over you comes with eagerness and delightness.

“Thank God you are here! Quick, change to your uniform!” she smiles widely and even pat your back as she guides you over to the lockers area.

Your eyes looked totally confused as to why she didn’t scold you for running late and look so happy seeing you. Your friend by the side gave you this suspicious half smile as she waves and accept a new order she’s about to serve to the customer.

“U-Uhm,” you can’t even compose a sentence when she instructs everyone to give you time to prepare yourself.

It was a complete odd behavior but you just ignored it and decided to change into your uniforms. Its actually a good thing that she didn’t got mad, that’s what matters.

After finally fixing yourself, you stepped outside and a few staffs along with your manager waits patiently outside. You looked confuse once again. Its a totally weird scenario.

“Go to table 15. You have to assist that customer all night. Make sure to give him everything he needs or want to eat. Be kind to him!” she continuously mumbled.

“W-Wait, just table 15?” because usually you are assigned with three tables.

You are thankful for having less tables to attend to, its just odd for you. Like something’s happening and you are completely not aware of it. It makes you slightly anxious.

“Yes! Go!” she pushed you gently giving you no time to react or ask anything else.

With head slightly tilted to the side you started heading towards the said table after grabbing a menu. While walking near, you noticed a familiar figure.

You can’t be wrong. That’s the same person from the other day. Who wouldn’t know him? His family is very influential. Magazines that features big and powerful clan always covers them. Specially him. Lee Heeseung, the youngest and future heir of their clan.

Even before you can approach, he cranes his neck to face you. It caught you off-guard, but you tried to keep your cool. You are trained to do that anyway. This restaurant often have famous people so you are asked to be professional and not gagged over them.

Now this. He’s totally on another level. This is not the celebrity popular type. He’s part of a mafia clan. Mafia. Very dangerous people. They are not just feared but also very well respected. Multiple rumors about them messing up people’s life after getting on their bad side circulates the whole town making it more nervewrecking for you.

You bowed with a small smile and placed the menu in front of him. His eyes didn’t even spare it a glance, instead he kept it darted at you.

‘God, he is breathtaking.’ you mutter silently inside your head. You've seen his face over magazines and pictures, but the other day you realized none of them did justice to him. He’s even more handsome in person.

“Sir? Would you like to order now?” you asked, trying not to stutter after being attacked by his godly visuals.

He tilts his head, “What took you so long?”

Your brows narrowed, “I’m sorry?”

“Your manager said that you’re running a little late that’s why you can’t assist me yet.”

“A-Ah,” you gulped and cleared your throat. “Yes, Sir. I got caught on traffic.”

He kept silent for a while. “Sit down.” he uses his chin to point the vacant seat in front of him.

“I can’t, Sir. I’m currently working.”

He raised one of his brows, amused at how quick you just declined him.

“You’re assigned to assist only me, right?”

You nodded.

“Then I want you to sit down.”

His tone sounded so stern and a bit demanding. It irritated you a little. You’ve encountered a lot of type of people. One of them are arrogant rich ones and you will be honest, you hate them the most.

“Its not part of our work duties to sit down with our customers, Sir. If you’re not yet ready to order, I will exit myself and you can call me once—”

“I want everything.” he interrupts abruptly that pisses you a bit more.

Even before you can stop yourself, your eyebrows raised a little and jaw clenching a little. You heaved a sigh and started writing his order down. You have no idea how he will finish all of it, but its his problem.

“All right, Sir. Some of the dishes will be served a few minutes since it will need time to be prepared.”

He didn’t react or even nods.

Rich spoiled kids.

You’re about to turn around when he spoke.

“I said sit down.”

“Sir, I already—”

“Just do it while I’m still being nice.” and his piercing gaze instantly sent chills over your spine.

After feeling your chest pumping so hard out of fear, you realized that you probably fucked up so bad because of how you just behaved. Panic occured you, starting to imagine the many ways he can end your life.

With slightly shakey legs, you sat down at the chair in front of him. You stayed silent and hands placed over your lap.

Heeseung almost went crazy on the spot. He liked it when you talked back to him from a while ago, but he thinks he likes you this way even more. Obedient and pretty.

“Let’s date, y/n. I like you.” he dropped like a bomb that almost made your mouth drop to the cold floor of the restaurant.

You thought the young mafia was just playing tricks on you. Like a toy he randomly finds and trying to kill his boredom, but he was true to his words.

He kept showing up to the restaurant. Sometimes he does his work there or just read some books. Most of the times he spent his night watching you work. At first it was super uncomfortable, but eventually you got used to it.

He was also making you assist him, but just ends up asking you to sit down and talk to him. You find it totally unfair so you told him that you need to work.

“You are working. And I am paying the restaurant quite well.” he brags.

One thing about him is that he’s very straightforward. He won’t hesitate to say what’s inside his mind that you completely find amazing.

You groaned, “Mr. Lee—”

“How many times do I have to say it? Just call me Heeseung.”

You want to deny it. Even how many times your friends told you that you got the handsome mafia wrapped around your fingers, you’re denial. But now, you’re starting to see it. And you’re worried. Not because he’s a very dangerous man, but because you’re starting to like it.

“Heeseung,”

His eyes flickers excitement after hearing you say his name. For the past months he’s been after you, this is the very first time you called him by his name.

He pursed his lips, trying to fight back the smile that’s about to spread across his face.

“I need to work. It will make me feel bad that I keep sitting around and my co-workers are working hard.”

His face became relaxed, “So its not because you hate me?”

Your brows narrowed. “I don’t hate you.”

Now, a smile made its way to his lips. He could not stop it anymore.

“Okay, fine. You can do your work while I wait for you.” he says in a calm tone.

You nodded, already used to the routine.

“Thank you.”

“Anything for you baby.” he casually said that made you blush so hard.

You glanced away and quickly starts doing your job. It became like that ever since. There are days that he can’t go there due to personal business, but its fine. At least thats what you want to convince yourself to feel.

You got used to his presence already that you just found yourself longing for him. Looking for him all the time.

“Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!” you panic and starts to assist the customer after spilling the drink over him. It slips off your hand because you are spacing out by thinking of Lee Heeseung too much.

“What the hell?” the anger through his eyes are evident. The people around whips their heads to watch what’s going on.

The man stood up and darted his angry eyes towards you. Some of the staff walks near to help, but it was too late. He's so mad.

“Why does this luxury restaurant hires stupid people? Do you know who I am?” he hissed at you and you’re really scared.

“I-I’m s—”

“Sorry?! Do you fucking know how much this suit cost? It probably worth than—” his hand that was about to touch you was abruptly stopped.

Your eyes widen and the place fell silent after the newly arrived person steps in front of you, covering you from that man’s wrath. His tall figure and wide back looked protective.

“Watch your fucking tone when you talk to my woman.” and there he is, Lee Heeseung. Officially claiming you for the very first time.

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[madhatterbri]

Where You Belong | K.M.

Summary: Kol doesn't like the two of being broken up. He reminds you where you belong.

You looked at your watch and sighed. Another date had no showed. You cursed under your breath. All the secret meet ups you had with him seemed like a waste now. This guy was one of the good ones. He was a lawyer with a love for animals and history. Importantly, his family was nowhere near New Orleans.

"Kol got another one?" Your friend asked while wiping the bar down. They were closing for the night. After another no show, you decided to hang out with her and walk her home.

"Yeah. I thought I had outsmarted him but he has spies all over," you whined while rubbing your temples in frustration. You turned to see a man staring at you from outside the closed bar. He looked away when your eyes locked on to his. "Perfect example but at least that one sticks out like a sore thumb. I can't imagine how many are participating in my tours,"

Your tour guide career is how you met Kol Mikaelson. At first, he was sweet and constantly flirted with you. He would take your tours once a day no matter the weather. At the end of one tour he asked you out. You said yes and the rest led you here.

"Have you tried talking to him?" Your friend asked over her shoulder while counting the money in the register.

Your eyes widened at her in disbelief. Talk to the man that wants to ensure you are a spinster once you are old. The same man that acts before thinking and loves to cause mayhem. You would have a better conversation with a wall.

"Talk to the man that will go hours covered in blood? The same man that has caused my dates to either leave town, never talk to me again, or go missing?" You asked while using your fingers to count. "Sure let me just walk over to his family's place and speak to him,"

"I think you should. You have to set up boundaries with him," she replied. Boundaries. That is something he knows nothing about. "You are allergic to cats so being a crazy old cat lady isn't in your future. Let's get out of here,"

The walk to your friend's place consisted if her hyping you up to talk to him. The guy from earlier followed you. At least you knew the two of you would be safe. Some of the tourists around here could be a little aggressive when drunk.

You started asking the guy questions about your current situation. You felt it would be rude to not include him. He must not have been much of a talker because he didn't answer.

"Have a good night. Talk to him. Maybe you two can come to some sort of agreement,"

"Yeah, sure, come on Bob. I'm not dating this one so please don't report her to Kol," you shouted at him.

Your friend snorted and walked inside her apartment complex.

Thoughts zoomed through your mind on how to deal with the jealous ex-boyfriend. During your time together he was always so possessive.

You should have known you would never date another person in New Orleans again. No. There was no way you were going to think like that. He had to let you go once and for all.

"Come on, Bob. We are going to your boss," you announced and made your way to the Mikaelson home.

"Kol Mikaelson!" You yelled while looking for him. You walked down hallways until you saw him at his favorite place. He sat at a desk in his room. An opened book and alcohol in his hand to busy himself on the Friday night.

"Darling, must you be so loud? Hope is sleeping," he groaned in annoyance. Another night of babysitting duties while the others go on another killing spree adventure. You walked to him and immediately saw the blood on his collar.

"Wonderful. Blood on your shirt. I guess this one gave you some hassle about wanting to date me," you wondered. "He had a family you know,"

"The bloody fool still has a family. He isn't dead," he countered while feeling insulted. The man had given Kol some trouble before a broken nose cleared up their misunderstanding. "Besides he couldn't even win a fight,"

"A mortal couldn't win a fight against a thousand year old vampire? The shame that man has brought on all mortals,"

"You belong here, my love. I am never going to stop. Even if I have to kill one hundred men,"

[cloudshuffle]

an arrow, a spark. yan!childe

index / next / beta reader @malewifeharem

When they assign you to a new division in the Fatui, you think nothing much of it. People were always being moved around in the organisation, people disappeared under mysterious circumstances, new recruits were popping up out of nowhere.

What was strange, however, was whose division you were assigned to. Fatui Harbinger Tartaglia, all the way in Liyue, no less - or Ajax, as you knew him better.

“I'll be sorry to see you go,” Signora says from behind you.

You jump, nearly dropping the stack of papers in your hands. She stands in the doorway, imposing as always, yet the air she gives off implies she's left off a “darling” at the end of her sentence.

Madame Signora's always been fond of you for reasons you've never known, though that often meant being stuck in dull, dull meetings and organising her paperwork for her.

You salute her, then laugh nervously. In the midst of your packing, your office looks like a hurricane hit it, stacks of books and papers scattered everywhere. Not the best look to put forward to your boss.

“So, Liyue.” She takes a step, placing her right inside the threshold of your office. Behind her, her new bodyguard slash secretary shifts his weight from foot to foot. “Quite a ways from home, yes?”

“It is.” The land of the Geo Archon, Morax, but most importantly his creation of mora. A warm place by far, considering Snezhnaya's standards, but its trade sector was coldly competitive.

“How do you feel about it?”

How did you feel? The question catches you by surprise, much like her appearance in your office. Never before had you been asked your personal opinion on anything before, least of all by a harbinger.

It’s just work.

“It’s a great opportunity to expand my horizons and learn about another culture, ma’am.”

She chuckles elegantly. “A textbook answer. Good. It’d be useful if you kept those same wits around Tartaglia.”

You blink, a cloud of dust distracting you briefly from what she’d just said. “...Tartaglia, ma’am?”

“Oh, yes.” Her red lips curve into a wry smile. “He requested for you specifically. He’s been pestering me, in fact, to let him have you.”

You remain silent, unsure of how to respond.

“But look at me, holding you up. I do hope you have fun while in Liyue - it can be quite the interesting place, after all.”

────────────

You don’t quite know what all the fuss about Tartaglia is about till lunch, when you venture into the mess hall with Nadia.

She doesn't even wait for the two of you to sit down before broaching the topic. “Did you know the eleventh is back is Snezhnaya?”

“He is?” You stab at your potatoes with your fork, eyeing her cheekily. “And I don't suppose you're in the market for a partner at the same time, are you?”

“Oh, not a harbinger.” She laughs. “That’s way too high profile for me.”

You eye the raised platform at the front of the hall where a long table’s been set. It’s more for show than anything else, seeing as how the harbingers have never once found themselves privy to dining with you common soldiers. There are twelve high-backed, intricately carved mahogany chairs, and one in the middle, larger than the rest, gilded with gold and complete with red velvet cushions. The Tsaritsa’s. Yet another reminder of who you all served.

Nadia's chatter washes over you like a soothing wave. You're grateful to have a friend when you go abroad, if only for distractions like this if nothing else.

She wants to marry and settle down already - a noble sentiment for a young Snezhnayan lady. You think any man would be lucky to have her.

For yourself, you're not so sure.

“Ooh!” She nudges you. “Don't look, but Vlad's over there. Isn't he cute?”

Against her wishes, you turn your head. He looks like any regular Snezhnayan man to you, blonde and with an angular face that could’ve been carved from the frozen earth itself. “Well, I guess. He looks kind.”

“And he's coming to Liyue too!” Nadia stage whispers.

“Exciting.” You raise an eyebrow.

You excuse yourself from your meal after a while, leaving the mess hall alone. Nadia's conversation was entertaining but exhausting, provided one could keep up with her endless stream of news and gossip from various sources.

But it's from this river of information that you sift out a tiny gold nugget: that Harbinger Tartaglia would be in the archery fields if he weren't busy preparing for his return to Liyue with his new crew.

Perhaps it's curiosity, or pure boredom that drives you outside into the cold.

The walk is familiar, ice crunching under your boots. It was admittedly difficult to walk on snow and ice - if you were anything but Snezhnayan, born and raised.

Your fingertips tingle with the phantom itch to hold a bow. It'd been a while…

You follow the path, rounding the building to a frozen field. A number of wooden targets and straw dummies are lined up, some in varying states of disrepair. A small hangover, an incline, really, provides minimal coverage against the wind like a very tiny rock against a great river.

As expected, there’s no one there. You feel a small sense of relief at having missed that chance encounter.

The new recruits train elsewhere. It’s a place only for those who want to exercise the muscles you rarely get to use, being cooped up in front of a desk all day.

You take up position at the edge of the field, summoning your bow and fixing three arrows to it.

They arc in a graceful, shining line, each landing perfectly in the middle of its respective target board.

You affix another arrow to the shelf, taking a deep breath. The world narrows to the point of your arrow and the fletching on the arrow you landed.

Dimly, you’re aware of the shuffling of feet behind you, quickly hushed. Probably just another of your fellow soldiers who wanted to get out of the noise of the mess hall. You pay them no mind.

You release the arrow, reload, release, reload. Three arrows land in rapid succession, splitting each of the previous arrows neatly down the shaft.

You exhale, and your senses return to you. The cold embraces you again, and you shake the tension out of your shoulders, putting your bow away. You can almost feel its sigh, already impatient for the next occasion it could perform.

Slow clapping. “An impressive show, soldier.”

You spin on your heel.

Tartaglia stands at the top of the incline, flanked by two bodyguards. As if he needed them within the walls of the Fatui stronghold, the youngest of all the harbingers, who single-handedly dug his fingers into the fabric of Liyue to get the Tsaritsa a foothold.

It’s been quite a while since you last saw him, you realise. He looks a little sharper, a little leaner, his gaze perhaps a little more complex, as if he were thinking of the future while simultaneously discerning all your secrets. The hydro vision on his belt winks at you in the cold light.

Standing on the incline, he looks like a conqueror, surveying his land. It's a good look for a harbinger to have.

“My lord.” You salute him smartly, tamping down your embarrassment at noticing them late. “My apologies for taking up your time.”

“Oh, no need for all that, padruga.” He comes down the slope, the bodyguards following a respectful distance behind. “It's always a delight to watch you in action.”

What had Madame Signora said? “He requested for you specifically”?

Ajax- no, Tartaglia, is a good head taller than you, maybe more. As he approaches, you have to incline your head to meet the unfamiliar gleam in his blue eyes. Whatever could he want from you?

“You've been well, I trust?” He summons his bow, and you take the cue to move a step backward, leaving him room to shoot.

“Well enough, may the Tsaritsa continue to watch over me.”

To your surprise, he snorts a laugh, loosing his arrow. It strikes deep into the wood, igniting a spark as it scrapes against yours. “A devotary? Some things certainly have changed around here.”

One of the bodyguards shifts his feet. You glance back at him, then at Tartaglia. “Is a harbinger not also subservient to her majesty?”

He chuckles. “Of course he is. I’m just… surprised.” Another arrow, another target. “You never struck me as the type to believe.”

You remain silent as the last arrow hits its mark. All just to the right of your own arrows, pressed so close they seem on the verge of falling off.

“Excellent marksmanship, my lord.” The impersonal compliment comes easily to your lips. You clasp your hands behind your back.

A gentle breeze begins to blow (the kind that might have killed a man in lesser clothing), unsettling his already unruly ginger hair. The bodyguards adjust their stances, as if roused by the cold wind.

“Certainly.” He grins, a self-assured smile, unhidden by a mask. You’re grateful for yours in that regard - no need to hide your emotions or expressions too well when all Fatui are shrouded in uniform secrecy. “Nothing but the best to serve her majesty.”

Somewhere deep within the halls, a bell begins to toll.

You snap to a salute. “Thank you for your time, my lord,” you say, as if he hadn’t been the one to seek you out for conversation first. “I must be taking my leave now.”

padruga: friend (female) according to google

— word count: 1598. thank you for reading!

[makeitmingi]

The Cat and Dog Game [Chapter 6]

Genre: Romance, Fluff, Comedy

Pairing: Yunho x Reader (y/n)

Characters: Chef!Reader, RestaurantOwner!Yunho, MaitreD!Hongjoong, Waiter!Yeosang, Waiter!San, Waiter!Mingi, SousChef!Seonghwa, SousChef!Wooyoung, PrepChef!Jongho

Summary: Yunho's dream was to open and run his own restaurant. But he doesn't know anything when it comes to cooking. Until you came along and accepted the job, bringing with you a small crew. How will the black cat tame the energetic golden retriever?

Word count: 3.2K

"Where's (y/n)? Did she have dinner?" San asked first.

"Oh, she's just taking a breather. Hwa hyung already kept a portion of food for her." Wooyoung waving him off, taking another bite of his own food.

"Is she okay?" Mingi asked.

"Yeah, don't worry about her." Jongho replied. Well, if your friends were saying not to worry, who was Yunho to worry? Why was he even worrying? It's the guilt he felt from his comment before dinner service. You just started working together and he didn't want to cause any bad blood on Day 1.

"Hey." You entered the kitchen, your hands tucked into the pockets of your jeans. Yunho's head perked up at your voice. Your nose and cheeks were slightly red.

"Yah, did you not wear a jacket out?" Seonghwa frowned, leaving his food and coming over to you.

"I'm fine, Hwa." You leaned away from him before he could touch your face.

"You're going to get sick. Come, have your dinner before we start prep." Seonghwa led you over to where the group was. You opened your mouth to say something but Seonghwa shot you a look.

"Thanks for the food." You mumbled and took a bite, although everyone could sense your reluctancy.

"So, how was the dinner service?" You asked.

"It was good. The customers love the food, the feedback was all good." Hongjoong smiled, giving all of you a thumbs up. Wooyoung and Jongho hi fived.

"They liked the roast chicken, infusing western and Korean flavours. The cioppino was liked as well, reminded them of a non-spicy haemul jjigae." Yeosang added. Seonghwa wrapped an arm around you, patting your back as you smiled at each other.

"And a lot of people ordered one dessert each, they like the Western and Korean option." San grinned.

"Finally, Mr Owner, any words of wisdom?" Mingi grinned, drawing all attention on the taller male who had been silent so far.

"Uh... Well, I guess thank you to everyone here. I would say the first day of this place was a huge success, more than I'd ever imagine." He smiled nervously.

"The people like the food, they like the options of Korean flavours and Western flavours, even in combination. Even for the desserts. I think we should continue like we did today." He finished.

"We will try to make dishes that incorporate more Korean flavours, of course." You nodded.

"You're not mad?" Yunho winced, realising he said that out loud when it was meant to be an internal question.

"Why would I be mad?" You blinked in genuine confusion.

"Because of what I said earlier about the food possibly being too fancy. I was afraid that it was offensive or something. I think you all cook amazing, your skills are definitely more than I could ever imagine having, and the food is 100! It's just that this is my first time doing this and I'm afraid and nervous." He blurted.

"Yunho. None of us took what you said personally or to heart. You're the owner and our boss, we follow your direction. I'm personally grateful you were honest with us." You raised an eyebrow.

"Really?"

"Told you." Mingi slapped Yunho's shoulder.

"There's nothing to be worried about. Trust us, we have faced worse insults and criticisms from others before." Jongho laughed.

"Told you." Yeosang mimicked Mingi and slapped Yunho's other shoulder, making Yunho shove his friends away for slapping him with a scowl on his face.

"Please be honest with us. We always look for improvements and ways to be better." Seonghwa smiled.

"We're tougher than you think." You chuckled. Yunho blushed, feeling a little immature now and he felt like he just embarrassed himself in front of you. You noticed how his ears had turned bright red as he looked away with a small pout.

"Alright! We need to start preparing so if you aren't going to help, please step aside." Wooyoung put his hands together with a big smile. Hongjoong and San helped do the remaining dishes.

"Wait, stop. Don't go." You stopped the others mid step. They all froze, turning to you.

"Think of what we can serve tomorrow. We haven't decided that." You said, looking at the 3 chefs, who nodded in agreement.

"But we don't know anything about cooking. I don't think we can offer anything remotely helpful." Mingi rubbed the back of his neck. You grabbed your notepad and marker.

"That's fine. Yunho believed he was bad at cooking but he made the berry tuile." You pointed out.

"She has a point. If Yunho can make something that nice, we probably can too." Yeosang shrugged, making Yunho glare at him and jab his side considering Yeosang was also a bad cook. Yunho would argue that Yeosang is actually a worse cook than he was since he actually burnt the bbq last time.

"Do you know how to make a quiche? I always love quiches." Hongjoong said from his spot at the sink.

"Good idea. We should do something savoury, maybe 2 savoury items?" Seonghwa looked at you. You nodded slowly and looked to Yunho for comments but he didn't say anything.

"Let's do a quiche and a galette. Kimchi, bacon and cheese quiche. Galette can be mixed vegetables with goats cheese top." You thought out loud.

"A galette is like a french pizza but it uses flaky pastry instead of pizza dough." Jongho explained.

"Ohhhhhh." The 5 nodded.

"That sounds good. I like the quiche idea with the kimchi. I'm still not sure what a galette is but I trust all of your tastes." Yunho said. You let out a small chuckle.

"The last baked good, open faced apple danishes? Then we paint apricot jam over." Wooyoung suggested. You wrote that down.

"Now, cakes." You tapped your marker against the metal suface.

"Actually, some customer today were saying they liked that seashell cake because it was good to have on the go with coffee. So maybe we should have a cupcake or muffin sort of item for them to have on the way to work." San said.

"Yes, I did hear people say that. Maybe blueberry muffins? They seem like a nice breakfast muffin." Yunho grinned, his eyes sparkling again at the though of fresh muffins.

"No, no. You need to have chocolate muffins." Mingi wagged his finger at his best friend in denial.

"No, Mingi ah. Blueberry muffins are better, especially with that crunchy, sugar crust on top." Yunho frowned, crossing his arms.

"Chocolate muffins are the best. Everyone loves chocolate muffins, even better with chocolate chips inside. Warm, chocolate muffins." Mingi argued.

"While you two debate on that... For the full cake, let's do a carrot cake." You asked.

"I was thinking matcha cake and we use the leftover strawberries from today." Seonghwa said. You nodded, writing the ideas down. There seemed to be some sort of voting that happened between the 5 because it seemed like chocolate muffins was the decided. Plus, Mingi was doing a happy dance.

"You do know you're the owner right?" You tilted your head, raising your eyebrows.

"I-I know that! But if the rest think that chocolate muffins will be more liked then maybe it is better to do that." Yunho said, concealing his sad tone.

"Okay then. Let's start prepping the pastry dough. We're doing it for quiches and galettes." You instructed.

"We're going to need a lot of butter and flour." Jongho snorted and went into the walk in.

"Let's split. Two people make dough for galettes and the other two will make for the quiches." You said, taking the equipment and putting them into the freezer temporarily.

"Why are you putting the mixer stuff into the freezer?" Yunho asked.

"We don't want the butter to melt so we're making everything as cold as possible. The more pieces of butter we have in the dough when we bake, the more steam and flakiness we get from the pastry." You explained to him. He nodded his head.

"You guys can head back and rest for the night. We'll lock up when we are done here." Seonghwa said to the 5.

"Yeah. We've all had a long day." Wooyoung agreed.

"That's okay, we want to watch." Mingi smiled. You all looked at each other and laughed. Jongho and Wooyoung weighed everything out before you and Seonghwa retrieved the cold mixer parts.

"Looks like we'll need to do it twice. This isn't going to fit into our Kitchen Aids." Jongho sighed.

"It's fine. It's just the initial mixing stage anyway, we'll do the final incorporation with our hands." You said.

"I'll get the cold water." You went out to the front, coming back with two containers of ice water. Once the butter, flour and salt/sugar were crumbled, you and Wooyoung slowly added the cold water into the mixer for the doughs to come together. Jongho helped you to manually bring the dough together.

"Let me." Seonghwa said to Wooyoung, who poured the crumbles onto the metal work surface. Seonghwa gathered it all with his hands, pressing it together.

"Here." You threw some flour and handed them the rolling pin.

"Woahhhhhhh." The 5 said in awe at the way you threw the flour onto the dough and work surface.

"It's like those professionals on television, the way they throw the flour and make it into a cloud. It spreads so evenly." Yeosang said.

"They are professionals!" San elbowed Yeosang. It was amusing, like demonstrating things to a group of kindergarteners. Jongho and Seonghwa rolled the dough out and did two book folds.

"Do you not knead the dough?" Hongjoong asked.

"Not for this dough. Kneading the dough activates the gluten in the flour and creates chewiness. You would want that for bread but not for pastry like this. You want to avoid creating any chewiness so we don't touch it." Seonghwa explained.

"This 'book fold' just creates more layers of butter. If we were doing croissants, we would do it a few more times, that's how you get the layers in a croissant." Jongho added.

"Woo and I will wrap it." You and Wooyoung went over to wrap the slabs of dough, writing on top of the plastic to indicate the use.

"That's it. We'll roll and blind bake them tomorrow morning." Wooyoung said.

"Thank you for teaching us." San smiled kindly.

You did the washing up with Jongho while Wooyoung and Seonghwa cleaned the work surface of butter and flour. The 5 other boys waited for all of you to be done.

"Let's go." Seonghwa grabbed your coat for you. Yunho watched as Seonghwa helped you put your coat on.

"Goodnight. See you all tomorrow." Mingi waved, along with the others. The 4 of you bowed and waved before heading to Wooyoung's car. Yunho and Mingi went to Yunho's car while San and Yeosang rode with Hongjoong. Mingi played the music, waiting for Yunho to start the engine.

"So, how do you really feel?" Mingi asked.

"What do you mean?" Yunho chuckled, confused by his best friend's sudden question.

"It's just the two of us, it's the first day of opening your own restaurant. You can be honest on how you really feel after today. It's okay to hate it." Mingi said.

"Hate it? I don't hate it. For from actually... I honestly thought it was going to be a disaster but it wasn't." Yunho blinked.

"I guess we fit well with the kitchen team then." Mingi said. Yunho hummed in agreement.

"They're professionals, they've worked in so many restaurants before. So I was worried that they would see how much of an amateur I am and quit but they didn't." Yunho confessed.

"Yunho ah, you need to have more faith in humanity. See? (y/n) said they weren't made when you were honest with them." Mingi teased.

Yunho rolled his eyes, knowing that Mingi was making fun of him. But it was Mingi's way of comforting Yunho. You were right, you were tougher than Yunho thought. Something bloomed in Yunho's chest, a whole new feeling of excitement.

"Well, I hope we have a long partnership with them." Yunho said with a soft smile. Mingi turned to his best friend's side profile, raising an eyebrow in suspicion.

"You're ever so positive." Mingi chuckled.

-

When Yunho walked into the cafe the next morning, he was smiling, coffee cups in hand for his kitchen crew to thank them for a successful first day. But his smile dropped slightly when he noticed only 3 people working in the kitchen.

"Where's (y/n)?" Yunho blinked, handing out the coffees.

"She told us she'll be coming in late today so we started first." Jongho shrugged, taking a sip of the coffee.

"I noticed (y/n) making a drink for you yesterday so I assumed that you are not a coffee drinker... Is a berry smoothie okay?" Yunho turned to Seonghwa.

"Yeah, that's fine. Thanks for noticing." Seonghwa blinked, stunned that Yunho took note of that.

"So... (y/n) is okay?" Yunho cleared his throat.

"She is. If not, Seonghwa hyung wouldn't be here now. He would be busy nursing her." Wooyoung teased. Seonghwa turned to glare at the younger male. He took a sip of the smoothie and continued working on what he was doing. Yunho just stared in confusion but nodded his head.

"Hey, sorry I'm late." Right on cue, you walked in. There was a container you were cradling in your hands. But no one could see what was inside, there was tin foil covering it.

"Morning." Yunho followed you in while you were putting your stuff in the small locker room.

"Hey." You replied.

"Are you alright?" Yunho asked, twidling his thumbs. After putting your bag in the small cubby, you turned around to face him, raising an eyebrow.

"Why wouldn't I be?" You asked back. Your questions back made Yunho flustered.

"N-No reason." He smiled shyly, rubbing the back of his neck. You hummed and grabbed your apron from the rack, tying it around your waist. You dug into your bag to take your knives out.

"Don't worry about me being late, I told the boys I'll stay back later to clean up after them, make up for however late I was." You spoke. Yunho wasn't worried about that, he knew that you would work schedules out with your team better than he could.

"Also, here." You shoved the container you were carrying into his hands and walked out, not wanting your team to wait any longer.

"Wait, what is-" Yunho stopped when he opened the container and saw fresh blueberry muffins inside. Touching one with his finger, he felt how they were still warm.

'Since blueberry muffins didn't win the vote.'

Was all your scribbled on the post it note that was stuck to the side of the container.

"Yunho ah. Why are you just standing there?" Mingi walked into the small space, appearing behind his best friends. He curiously peeked over Yunho's shoulder.

"Are those muffins?" Mingi asked and reached out for one but Yunho slapped Mingi's hand away, quickly closing the container.

"Ouch! What was that for?" Mingi hissed.

"Those are mine. Get your own." Yunho frowned, holding the container to his chest like it was a treasure chest filled with gold. Mingi looked at Yunho but held his hands up in defeat. Clearing his throat, Yunho went out to the front, where he was alone. He grabbed his coffee and tore open a muffin to eat.

The burst of gooey, slightly tart blueberry, coupled with the crunchy top and warmth of the muffin was the perfect accompaniment to the coffee he had.

"What's Yunho doing sitting there?" Hongjoon asked after seeing his friend sit at one of the booths.

"I can tell you what he's not doing, and that's sharing his muffins." Mingi scoffed. Hongjoong cast the taller a strange look.

"I'm going to kitchen to steal samples." Mingi said and entered the kitchen. San was already snacking on the off cuts of the carrot cake that you were cutting, wanting to edges to line up to frost.

"Hey, I want some too!" Mingi said.

"Here, have this." San held a small piece out to him. Yeosang stood by Jongho's side, watching Jongho fan out the apple slices on top of the pastry.

"That's so pretty." Yeosang complimented. Jongho nodded with a hum.

"I'm not cutting through, just scoring it so the sides around the apple slices will puff up but the middle won't." Jongho explained. Once he lined up all the apple danishes on the tray, he did a light egg wash on the exposed pastry and put the tray into the oven.

"What are you doing next?" He asked.

"I have to thin out this apricot jam to brush over the apples when it is done. It will give a nice shine and sweetness." Jongho explained.

"Who is making the quiche filling?" You asked the kitchen as you were whipping up the cream cheese frosting for the carrot cake. Wooyoung raised his hand.

"Let me just put the matcha cakes in the oven before starting on that." He said.

"Jongho, when you're done with the apricot glaze, you can start slicing the strawberries that will go in the cake." You instructed.

"Sure." Jongho nodded.

"I've started the chocolate muffins. We still need someone to put the galettes in the oven after the apple danishes come out. The vegetables have been prepped and sliced." Seonghwa said.

"I'll do it after frosting my cake." You replied. After having your 3 layers of carrot cake, you frosted them with the icing.

"What icing is this?" San asked.

"Cream cheese icing. The same as the one on the red velvet cake." You took a plastic spoon from the cup and scooped out some to let him have a taste. But before he put it in his mouth, he put some of the cake crumbs on top to have it together. He ate it and let out sounds of happiness.

"So good!" San said with a big smile. You chuckled and started the frost the cake. You were not the best at cake decorating so you just topped it swirls of the frosting, it looked pretty in a rustic way.

"Let's put this in the fridge." You brought the tray to the smaller fridge and put it in there.

"What am I working on next?... Oh, galettes." You said and grabbed the metal containers where Jongho had sliced the vegetables.

"Have the aubergines been sweated already?" You asked.

"Yes. Done and rinsed." Jongho replied. Sometimes, aubergines could be bitter so you usually sprinkle salt on them to draw out the moisture and rinse off the salt afterwards.

"So what's in here?" Yeosang came up next to you, looking at the sliced vegetables.

"Zucchini, yellow squash, bell peppers, onions and aubergines. So we'll bake this then crumble some feta cheese over." You said.

"That sounds good and I don't even like vegetables." Hongjoong chuckled from the doorway. Mingi and San seconded. It slightly amused you that these men were so open about their distaste for vegetables like children.

"We'll make you like vegetables for as long as we're here." Wooyoung joked.

"Yes, we're good at making vegetables tasty." You smiled.

~

Series masterlist

[ashthemadwriter-archived]

Two Peas In A Pod

—A blessing... or a calamity in disguise?

Fandom: Blue Lock

Pairing: Nagi X Fem!Reader

Genre: Crack, Humor, Horror

Format: Short fic

Warnings: Breast feeding, Jealousy, Probably ooc!Nagi

Word Count: 1.5K

A/n: Idk I just thought this would fit him lol. Might remind you of boss baby.

There are moments in life which can never be forgotten. Long awaited moments that leave a sweet velvety taste in your mouth and get engraved on your memory,

Moments like this.

Nagi is in hospital, standing next to the delivery room with his infant in his arms. He's wearing the most genuine smile he could ever wear, staring at his baby boy's angelic face. The baby has the tiniest hands ever that would get lost in his if he were to hold them, and the cutest chubby feet ever. He could just eat them right away.

"Wow Nagi, he looks just like you!" Reo says, smiling at the sight while snapping a picture. "You two are like two peas in the pod, except that his hair isn't long enough to be as messy as yours"

"I know. I did hope he'd take after y/n, but he's still cute"

Your husband looks so grown up like this with a baby in his hands. That's what makes Reo to snap another picture, this time in full frame of both Nagi and the baby. His smile is as soft as when he watched him saying his vow to you, and he can't help but to feel happy for his best friend.

"I'm gonna go get a cup of coffee and call Isagi and others. They've been waiting for the news"

"Ok"

Nagi's gaze doesn't leave the baby's face to follow Reo's footsteps walking away. He persistently stares at the baby's closed eyelids, wondering if they're hazel colored like his, or have the color of your eyes. Maybe it's a mixture of both, he thinks, if it's possible. He doesn't have to wait for long to find out though, because suddenly, the baby's eyelids start shuddering and in less than a second, they're wide open, displaying the warm chocolate brown color of his eye balls.

Every inch of his figure resembles his father. Even the look in his eyes is curious, just like Nagi's is right now.

"Welcome home, little thing. We're gonna have so much fun together, me and you"

…

"I don't think that's gonna happen"

Nagi doesn't know whether he should believe his ears, or his eyes. A talking baby? That's a miracle! Babies don't start talking until they're two years old, but this one in his arms was definitely the one talking a little while before, since his intense stare is piercing through Nagi's heart.

I must have very strong genes.

"What do you mean, that's not gonna happen?"

"Oh sorry, I guess I wasn't being clear on the matter" The baby speaks in a semi-grown up voice. "I meant that, you won't be having much fun from now on"

"How come?"

The baby's innocent expression is all gone. Now there's a straight yet devilish look on his face which Nagi doesn't find charming. "I thought you would already figure out that much, but I guess I was wrong. Heh...what a pain"

"Stop giving me that shit and tell me already"

"You don't care much for sharing; do you, my dear father?"

Oh.

Nagi doesn't like where this is going. He feels an unwelcoming sense of threat in his heart.

"So what? Are you saying you're gonna steal y/n from me?"

"No..."

The grin on the baby's face isn't casual. All of a sudden, Nagi doesn't find a single thing resembling him. The baby looks more like... Light Yagami from death note, the blond version.

"...I'm saying that I already have"

This can't be happening.

"Tough luck. You'll never be able to split us off. Y/n's love for me is boundless. I'm her one and only"

"You were her one and only" His gums are visible through his demonic smirk. "Now that I'm here, you won't get a quarter of the attention you used to receive. From now on, I'll be the one who sleeps in her arms at— well all the time. She'll always be near me, looking after me since I'm just a fragile little thing. The time she used to spend alone with you is gonna be limited to less than ten minutes, and your share of affection will also be mine. Even if you two do get the time to be alone with each other, she'll be too exhausted to even look at your face. She wouldn't miss it, since she gets to be with me all the time"

The world comes crashing down on the white haired man. Through his storming mind, he can see himself curled up under the strangely ice cold blanket while staring at you frustratingly, asking you to get in the bed with him already. But standing on the other side of the room, it feels like you're a thousand miles away, voice barely making its way to his hear yet so destructively striking him, saying you have to put the baby to sleep first. Even after doing that, you're so tired that you pass out on the bed before Nagi can even lay a finger on you.

"Not only that, I'm gonna take away all the other things you enjoy as well"

Another illusion appears before his eyes, only this time he's sitting on the couch, and you're standing in front of him, wearing a somewhat annoyed expression.

"I'm sorry Sei, but we can't afford to buy more video games anymore. We have to start saving up for Light's college"

No.... that can't be real. He can't give up on his video games for a serial killer's his child's future. That's absurd. You're not expecting him to do that, are you? You know how video games are important to him.

"Just you wait my stupid father, I will take everything you cherish in your life, and it starts from this very moment, with your most loved one"

His most... loved one?

Just as he's about to ask the little demon about his intention, the door to the room opens and a nurse comes out. "Alright! It's the baby's lunch time"

No. Not that.

"His lunch time? You mean, y/n's gonna feed her...?"

Nagi's voice is shivery, like he didn't know about how the babies drink milk. The nurse is a little taken aback by that, but still keeps her smile on.

"Yes sir, he needs to be fed right now, so if I may..." She reaches out to take the baby from his embrace, but fails when Nagi steps back.

"You... can't do that. I mean, this baby looks like he should drink formula milk instead of breast milk. It'll be better for him"

"The hell are you talking about, Nagi? Let the nurse take him to y/n" Reo suddenly appears next to him, giving him a questioning look.

"No— You don't understand— I—"

"What's up with you man? Here, ma'am; take the little thing to his mommy"

Nagi feels all the misery existing in the world raining on him as he watches the nurse take the infant to you. Reo looks away when you pull up your hospital gown to reveal the enchanting sight of your breast that are bigger than usual and are full of milk, all ready to be devoured in the baby devil's throat. This is it. The beginning of his torment, the sight of his most comforting treasure being possessed by another person, shattering his heart into a zillion pieces.

"No..."

The baby squeezes your right nipple with his hand, letting out a small whine.

"Stop it... No..."

You softly caress his cheek and baby talk him to enjoy his meal.

Why can't all of you people see his devilish smirk?

"No..."

The baby looks at him from the corner of his eyes. He's taking his most special thing, his stress balls, his warm pillows he snuggles his face into at nights, his soft squishies he plays with whenever he's bored, his delicious jello balls he sucks on to help him go to sleep...

"No... No... No..."

You hold your left boob and snuggle him closer to help him drink, and he helps himself out, by brutally taking it into his mouth.

It happens.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO"

Then Nagi wakes up from his sleep.

Through his blurry vision, he recognizes his room in the middle of the night, and of course, your kind hand on his shoulder.

"Sei? Are you ok sweetheart?"

Nagi keeps panting. He hurriedly looks around the room to see any sign of the baby, but thankfully, he finds nothing. He can't ignore the cute bump of your belly under your oversized T-shirt though.

"Y/n?"

"Yeah?"

"If the baby looks like me we'll give it away"

"Excuse me??!"

All rights reserved © 2023 AshTheMadWriter. Please do not copy, repost, translate, or modify my works on any platform.

Want to be added to my tag list?

[imperfect777]

Another one of my random late night post plus one of my friends asked me if someone knows your manifesting them because she doesn’t want them to know.

Short answer, NO. Your thoughts get sent to your sp’s as their own thoughts. For example, you’ve been scripting for a raise. Your boss will get the ransom thought “ hmm *blank* is a really good and hard worker. I should give them a raise for all of their hard work and dedication. “ Or you’ve been listening to a subliminal to get your parents to buy you a new phone. They could be on the couch watching TV and *PING*. “ I should get *blank* a new phone. Their old phone is really outdated. “ Or whatever the case may be. You could have failed a major test and now you want to revise it. So you start visualizing your teacher saying “ I graded the wrong paper. You actually passed the test and got ever answer right “. As your teacher is home fixing chicken noodle soup, They get the random thought to recheck the papers they graded and guess what ? There was a mix up with you and another students paper. You actually passed the test and didn’t miss a single question! You could be robotically affirming for a car and your parents get the random thought that you deserve a car and now they’re out buying you your dream car. You were listening to affirmation tapes about moving to your desired country, And now your parents have a random thought about moving to italy because it’s beautiful and the food is lovely and the cost of living is way cheaper there. ( Please remember these are just random examples. ) You decided that your sp is obsessed with you and they don’t want anyone but you. Now they’re thinking about life and realized they dislike anyone that isn’t you and no one is good enough for them but you because your literally perfect, your a dream come true of course they only want you and they’re obsessed with you and everything about you.

* I also want you guys to know that whatever method you use doesn’t matter. That’s why I used a different method for each example. A method is like a booster in my opinion. It helps you remind yourself that you already have your desire(s). Every method works for you if you assume it does. Methods are optional honestly, you could just simply decide that what you want is now yours and stand firm in that assumption. If you can’t just decide and you’d rather remind yourself of what you have that’s okay! Do what works for you. I personally do both honestly it depends on how I feel. Do what makes you feel fulfilled and what helps you live in the end. 💜

*If I misspelled anything or forgot to use the correct punctuation please ignore it it’s almost 3 AM.*

[bingbongsupremacy]

The Letter Pt. 2

Pairing: Ellie Williams x fem! reader

Warnings: She/Her pronouns used, Homophobia

Summary: Ellie and Y/N are in two very different social groups at school. One day when Y/N's crush is cruelly exposed in front of the whole school, Y/N is brutally shot down. Finally, four years later the two run into each other again.

(I changed it to four years so reader could go to college)

High School AU

Next part will probably be the last part. I'll probably upload it tmr.

Pt. 1 Pt. 2 Pt. 3

*Not Proof Read* TLOU Masterlist

*****

Ever since the assembly my life turned into hell. Ellie dropped me as a tutor and I was placed with some random guy who constantly reminded me of what happened. Kids snickered in the halls. Certain teachers would shoot me looks of disapproval. Kids I've never talked to stuffed church pamphlets into my locker or invited me to church.

It went on for the last few months of my senior year. Whenever any major event took place, Vivian was sure to point me out in the bleachers and remind everyone what happened.

It got to the point where I stopped going to assembly's

At least I had Dina and Jesse. They stood by me through it all. I don't know what would've happened without them.

Whenever I saw Ellie in the halls I dodged her. If I didn't, she'd clearly talk about me to her friends who'd snicker and agree.

That stupid fucking letter made my life hell.

-----Five Years Later-----

My car beeps as I lock it. I glance up at the familiar bright sign before quickly making my way into the supermarket.

Things have changed.

With one look around I can already tell they remodeled the place. I have no idea where any of the shit Dina sent me to get is.

I guess that's what I get for staying away so long. I honestly didn't plan on coming back but I miss Dina and Jesse. I fell horrible staying away all these years.

The store is mostly empty. I mean, who the fuck wants to be out at 11 o'clock at night.

I look around for one of the workers. There has to be someone here.

A small laugh catches my attention.

A long strip of smoke floats up into the air. As I walk closer to the register I start to notice a smell: weed.

" Um, hey. Can you help me? " I ask, peeking over the side of the register.

A head jumps up in surprise, bumping against the top of the checkout stand. " Fuck. " They mutter in surprise, rubbing their would with the hand not holding the joint.

" Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. "

The woman shakes her head, shoving her phone into her back pocket. She snuffs the joint out. " It's fine. " She reassures me, not looking up. " Just don't call my boss, yeah? Fuck, I can't get another write up. Fucking Kaylee with have my ass. " She mutters.

I smile at her disheveled appearance. She obviously wasn't planning on anyone coming in. " Chill, I'm not a rat. I don't care what you do. I just need some help finding some stuff. It's been a while since I've been here. " I hand her the list.

I glance over her hunched form. She nods. Her hair is messily pulled back into a half up bun. A light green vest covers some band tee.

I glance down at the the register.

My heart stops.

" Ellie? "

The womans' head snaps up in confusion. The confusion soon spreads to surprise. " Y-Y/N? Fuck, is that you? " Her poster straightens and her grip on my list becomes visibly tighter.

Ellie's face looks much more tired then in high school. She looks much more mature.

My emotions hit me like a brick wall. Every angry and sad feeling I went through senior year comes tumbling back. Every mocking sentence and rude word hits me like a ton of bricks. It feels like I'm going through it again.

At the same time seeing her activates the old crush I had. While my heart feels like it's being torn to shreds, my stomach does summer saults.

My jaw tightens and I reach for the paper. " I don't need your help. " I mutter. I'll be damned if I let her into my life again. Even if it's just for a few minutes. " I'll go to another store. "

Ellie steps back, holding my paper away. With a head shake, she responds. " What other store? It's fucking Jackson. We're the only store here. "

She's right. We both know it.

" Then...then I'll just get it myself. Give me my fucking list. " I hold out my hand.

" Can we please talk. " Ellie's brows are furrowed. " I- "

I roll my eyes. " I have no interest in talking to you, Williams. " I snap. " Fine, I'll fucking find everything without it. " I begin walking away.

" Fine! " Ellie's voice trails after me. " Look, you don't have to talk to me. "

Fuck, what the hell did I put on that list? Why the hell did I give it to her? Fuck fuck fuck.

I think I'm supposed to get mayo? Wait no. Why the fuck would I need Mayo?

" All you have to do is listen. Please, Y/N. I know I don't fucking deserve it after what I put you through-what I did, but please. Just give me a few minutes of your time. " Ellie begs.

I turn to the girl. She doesn't look like the confident girl I knew years ago. She looks...regretful?

I sigh. " Fine. You have three minutes. "

A small smile of relief flashes across Ellie's features. " Fuck, thank you. "

I nod stiffly, crossing my arms across my body.

" I was a fucking asshole in high school. " Ellie swallows. " I let my friends dictate the way I acted. All I wanted was to be popular. During Freshman year, I got bullied so I started playing a bunch of sports. I befriended a bunch of jocks and eventually a bunch of other assholes who hung around them. I became one of them. I was so fucking scared of losing my place in the group. " Ellie blushes slightly. She glances up at the ceiling, obviously not proud of what she's telling me.

" Anyways, I did a bunch of fucked up shit to stay with them. What I did to you was by far the fucking worst. " Her green eyes meet mine. " And I'm so fucking sorry. I really am. The day of the assembly Vivian came into the room and took your letter out of your sketch book. She didn't tell me what was in it. I knew it was fucked up whatever she was planning, but I didn't think it'd be that bad. I thought she'd just...I don't know...Show a not so great picture you drew off to the school-which is still a dick move-but I didn't know what she was planning. " Ellie nervously wrings her wrist.

" I'm so fucking sorry, Y/N. I was so cruel to you. So fucking mean. " Ellie looks up at me. " I knew what I was doing was wrong and I still did it. I could've said something to help but I-I didn't. I was a fucking coward and I'm so sorry. I think about it all the time. What if I was you? What if it had been me? What if I had been outed in front of the school? What if people treated me the way they had treated you? What if I treated me the way I treated you? I was so scared people would find out I'm gay. I wasn't ready for people to know. I guess...I guess I thought that if the attention was on you, I could continue sneaking around without people finding out. I can't hide forever though, Y/N. And these past few years I've realized just how bad you had it. I'm so sorry. I don't know if you can ever forgive me, but I understand if you can't. Honestly, if I were you, I fucking wouldn't. " Ellie's face is red from embarrassment and shame.

She was scared. She was scared of what people would think if they knew she was gay.

" I was scared, Ellie. I was so fucking scared. I didn't want anyone to know either. I never planned on giving you that note. It was a stupid crush. Even though I was scared, I never would've done that shit to you. I never would've talked shit about you in front of my friends or mocked you in public or at games. " I'm so torn. I don't know how I feel.

Ellie nods, closing her eyes. " Fuck, I'm sorry. "

" I don't hate you Ellie. "

" You don't? " Ellie's voice is surprised.

I shake my head. " No. I just don't know if I can trust you. You hurt me so much. "

Ellie thinks for a moment. " Maybe there's a way I can make it up to you. "

I cock my head to the side, slightly skeptical. " How? "

" How long are you in Jackson? " Ellie leans against a shelf.

" About a week, why? " I'm supposed to be hanging out with Dina and Jesse all week.

" Perfect. Give me five days. I promise, I'll fix what I fucked up. If I can't, you never have to talk to me or see me again. I swear to god I will never talk to you again if you want. Just give me a week. " Ellie's gaze is unmoving, much more confident then moments ago.

Should I trust her? What if she does something? Well she did just bare her fucking soul to me.

With a sigh I reply. " Fine. I'll give you a week. "

Tag list: Idk if I missed anyone. Sorry if I did. Lmk if I did or if u want to be tagged in the next part.

@octavias-next-meat-bite @ximtiredx

[zabala0z]

Okay so, I just finished MAG 100 (Wild guys holy shit) and I saw the next ep is like 50 minutes long??? (EDIT: okay I was wrong so ignore that) So I’m gonna post my 4 episode thoughts now since whatever MAG 101 is gonna be, it’s gonna make me have a lot of thoughts:

MAG 97: We All Ignore the Pit

Okay, so, there’s a lot here that I didn’t realize at first glance. Who the hell was that old man??? My first thought was Simon Fairchild because he said “nothing for you down there. You just go and enjoy your sky” but then he like spat mud and that’s something Simon had never done before, not even like a hint of dirt shit. He also was described as mean and Simon, from all the statements, was a pretty chill guy?? Like he was friendly, amiable, etc. so I don’t think this is Simon.

Who was the old woman and the blue eyed guy? I thought it was Gertrude since she would be alive around this time. Wait hold on I just thought of something. Like I’m writing and I just thought “man what other old woman is there??” Fucking Mary Keay. Could be. And the boy could’ve been Gerard or something. Or maybe I’m overthinking. I think I am. God.

ALSO NIKOLA??? WTF BRO. The fact she was like “yeah I stole this voice box” implied to me that she strangled the boss in Drawing a blank for it 😭😭 poor Jon, he keeps getting kicked around. Also creepy ass voice. Jesus.

I’m wondering how Gregor is her dad. Like I don’t think she met blood related, right? And how did she end up in the department store. Like duh it was the delivery service but what led there??

MAG 98: Lights out

Maxwell Rayner strikes again. Douchebag. Another darkness theme. Not much else to say but Melanie trying to poison Elias? Respect.

MAG 99: Dust to Dust

MICHAEL. MICHAEL WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE??

Guys you have no idea the scream I let out when Gertrude said his name. Like genuinely, this is like top 5 most crazy moments for me which is probably gonna get trumped in like 3 episodes but still holy shit. Like. I was fully hyperventilating.

Michael was Gertrude’s assistant. Like he was a human. I figured he was one but him being an ASSISTANT at the institute was not a thing that crossed my mind. How did The Spiral get him? Or did he go to The Spiral??

The Buried. Fun name. So I’m guessing it’s deal looking back is claustrophobia, dirt, earth, etc. gotta keep track of that. Now all the names entities we know of are up to 7! Funsies. Congratulations to Jon on getting kidnapped. We’re now adding to his trauma.

MAG 100: I Guess You Had To Be There

I’m dying of laughter what was this. Okay so every statement, while disjointed and not very said well, is important. The girl who saw a ghost on fire?? Well could be related to The Desolation. Y’know. Fire. The guy who lost his friend in the subway station, The Buried, I think. The guy who got lost in a maze and then just left because he was late? By the way, funniest thing ever like what the hell. Anyways that’s The Spiral and the guy with the spiders, I still have no idea. It’ll have a name soon.

ALSO PETER LUKAS. LUKAS. DUDE. The way how he says stuff, how cheerful he sounds, reminds me of Mike Crew? I don’t know if the Lukas family is also related to The Vast but the experiences sounds vaguely similiar enough.

Poor Brian. Bros now gonna be lost like forever 💀 okay so I think that’s everything. I see there’s a lot of parts coming up so anyone who wants to see me melt from lore won’t have to wait too long!

[lostbetweenvampiresandmusic]

Changes chapter 43

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After going back to the comicbook store, Sam found himself browsing the store daily. He talked with both Edgar and Alan, slowly but surely forming a friendship with them.

Sure, they were weird kids, but Sam had decided that after realising how weird his grandfather was, these kids weren't so bad. At least they wouldn't pretend to go to town, only to sit in the car in the garage and not go anywhere.

"So, you're back, hm?"

"Noticed anything weird about Santa Carla?" Alan gave him a pointed look, as if he wanted to convey a secret message or something.

Sam shrugged. "It's alright, I guess."

"Alright? City hall has been run by werewolves. And we're quite certain that the mayor is a-"

"It doesn't matter, Edgar!" Alan warned, noticing Sam staring outside.

"So you just think anything inexplicable is immediately supernatural?"

Both boys nodded, Edgar more enthusiastically than Alan.

"What if someone does a 180? Like, completely changes personality and all that?"

"Could be something," Edgar nodded, his voice gruffer as if he just reminded that that was his thing.

"Crap."

"What?" Alan looked at Sam.

"Somethings going on with my brother."

Both boys looked interested, and Sam began to tell them all that he'd noticed .

Lucy sat at the front porch, sipping a hot cup of tea. God knew she needed it. Earlier that afternoon, she had gotten a phone call from Max. The same Max who was her boss, and also the one whom she had been on a date with. He was also the man that she felt herself falling for, even though falling in love with your boss was never a good idea. That Max had called, and told her - asked, really, he was very polite - if they could have another date. He told her he had some things to tell her.

The second he had said that, a little ball of anxiety started to grow within her stomach. She had invited him over to her house, knowing that that would ease some of the stress - after all, this was her environment, and it was where she felt safest. Max had readily agreed and had then proceeded to ask if it was okay if he brought his daughter along. His foster daughter, who had been through something so bad that she lost her memory, who forgot her family and somehow had the exact same name as the lost daughter of her sister.

It was a coincidence, right? She couldn't get her hopes up. This was not going to happen.

It was a little after four when the phone in the comic book store began to ring. The whole afternoon, the boys had speculated about what could have happened with Michael. Sam hadn't really seen him in two days, but he knew that his brother started to act strange when he followed that girl. When he saw those bikers. They must have something to do with this, right?

Edgar had answered the phone, and after a short 'hm' he handed the horn to Sam.

"Hello?"

"Sam, it's Mom. Hey, listen, I've got a friend coming over for dinner tonight, and he's bringing his kid, and I'd like for you to be there."

"What friend?"

"Max, I told you about him, right? He owns the videostore."

"The guy that only works nights?"

"Yeah. So please make sure you'll be home by seven, alright?"

"Sure, mom."

Sam hung up, looking at his two new friends. "Michael started acting weird when mom got her new job. When mom got on that date. What if she's dating a vampire?"

It was quiet for a moment, panic on everyone's faces.

"Then we go to dinner with you and face the vampire ourselves."

"We'll unmask him!" Edgar grinned, "and rid the world of this evil!"

Sam nodded, quietly wondering whether dealing with a vampire meant one could still enjoy a homecooked meal. He hoped it did.

Sam hadn't known what to expect when his new friends had proposed getting ready for battle, but stealing holy water from the local church wasn't it. Awkwardly, the boys felt up their waterguns, interrupting a sermon going on inside. Sam was just glad that he had opted to stay out with the bikes - he would never live it down if it was him inside that church.

"So, what are we going to do with it?"

"Spike his drink. If he is a vampire, it should burn." Edgar replied, putting the three guns in his backpack.

Sam nodded. That made sense - somehow?

"We need garlic and onions, I think they can't stand those either."

"My mom has both at home," Sam offered, getting two appreciative nods. He smiled. Maybe it wasn't so hard to have quirky friends.

"Then all we need is stakes. And you need to practice," Alan turned to Sam.

"On what? And are we really bringing stakes to dinner?"

"Do you want to kill that vampire or not?"

Julie looked at her reflection in the mirror, pulling a bit on the dress she was wearing. It was a formal dark purple piece, and even though it was beautiful, it didn't feel too comfortable. With a hesitant sigh, she grabbed a black cardigan, leaving it unbuttoned. It was better, she supposed.

She wasn't normally this nervous, but since Max had told her that there was a chance that Lucy was her aunt. Since she realised that based on what Michael had told her, that Lucy was her aunt, she wanted to make a good impression. If only to show the woman that Max had been treating her well.

"Julie, we need to go."

"I'll be right there," she called back, turning the lights off. She frowned as she saw a silhouette outside her window. As she walked towards it, opening the glass, she could see David sitting there. She frowned.

"What are you doing here?"

"I've been told I fucked up."

Julie glared at him. "In more ways than one. Why are you here?"

"I want to apologise."

"You never apologise."

"The boy's forced me to make an exception."

She snorted, shaking her head. "So, you'll not even mean it then? I figured."

"Julie, come on now-"

"No. Max is taking me to meet someone, and I don't want my night to be ruined by you. So fuck off and have fun hanging out with Star." She snapped, not trying to hide her disdain towards the female half vampire. It was less than before, Julie realised, but she couldn't promise a complete lack of hostility towards the woman at any time soon. The others understood that Star and her heritage were a painful subject, but somehow David did not want to accept that.

"Julie!"

Max sounded impatient. Julie glared at David, not saying a word as she stomped out of her room and down the stairs, ready to go.

Next chapter >

[newx-menfan]

NYX #2 Review

Spoilers!

Sadly this is a week late- life has been getting hectic and my subscriptions on Kindle never seem to work lol (I had originally meant to write up commentary on the podcast episode before issue two dropped and still haven’t finished it 😔)… but let’s dive in!

The issue starts with Laura monologuing as she takes down some random thug.

You’ve probably ALREADY saw the sample pages of this issue (especially if you follow my tumblr lol) but the girl Laura is trying to save doesn’t want to leave with her, saying they’re “friends” and that if Laura needs help too, she just needs to go “local” (Foreshadowing….Laura’s bad taste in men possibly strikes AGAIN 😂🤣)

We see Laura hanging out at some dilapidated place in East Harlem…(what happened to Logan’s old apartment that she shared with Gabby? Did they sell it during the Krakoa era…because Logan PROBABLY had locked in rent from like the 70’s…that was a horrible decision Laura…like do you know HOW hard it is to find non-brokered housing in NY anymore??!) 

Laura is thinking about Kiden (and in goth clothes again!) as she tracks down some mysterious figure (sadly not a green telekinetic!) in Bushwick (also shout out to one of my favorite spots in NY!)…

At an underground club, we’re introduced to Local. Local is…interesting (people weren’t wrong about the Gambit comparisons lol). Laura convinces him to get her a call with Local’s boss, Mr. Smiley…but Kamala randomly pops up with Anole and Sophie in tow!

Laura gets pissed as Kamala tried to talk about the “mysterious telekinetic” (Laura doesn’t want to talk about her previous secret EX Kamala!) and calls them “Kamala’s little friends” (DON’T be MEAN to ANOLE, Laura!); telling Kamala to stay out of it and not blow her cover….

Laura has fun committing crimes with Local; obviously reminded of her time with Kiden. (If Laura had a crush on any girl…it was PROBABLY Kiden guys lol)

Local’s last challenge before she can meet “Mr. Smiley” is stealing whatever is in Orchis’s Essex building; Laura challenges him that for everything she breaks, he has to tell her some truth.

It’s a kind of sweet and interesting moment, where readers get to see how easy it would be for Laura to slide into the old ways of “X-Force” or “NYX”…

Yet Prodigy drops reality on Laura- that this isn’t who she is anymore. You can’t live in the past.

Laura meets Mr. Smiley…who is really….you guessed it! (I totally didn’t lol!)…Mojo!

Laura gets beaten…BADLY…and retreats.

(Also we get one of the LOVELIEST panels EVER!) 

The issue ends with Laura realizing that she can’t do it alone- contacting Kamala and Sophie.

 Review:

I for one…kind of wish we had gotten a Laura solo issue this time around; I think it was needed and could have been akin to “Zuko Alone”, Logan’s “Patch” era, or X-Men # 182, where Rogue breaks into Shield…it’s been a while since writers really explored Laura’s psyche…

In some ways the weird pop up of Kamala drags the story a bit- this should have just been written as happening weeks before issue #1, in my opinion.

While I liked the ending…it somehow felt too soon a realization for Laura…I kind of wish they had played with the “loner” bit, dragged it on a little bit longer…

Another tiny critique- I really can’t stand Laura swearing. So many writers try to make it work…but it just doesn’t work. It just doesn’t really suit her, in my opinion. (Stop trying to make “fetch” happen lol)

Still, I think this issue is really solid. Laura is really nicely written and it’s probably the closest we’ve come to Kyle levels in a while.

Laura realizing “you can’t go back”….is something that’s really great to play with. It’s something everyone struggles with, when the “good times” pass. Laura can’t move on from her past…yet she can’t go back to it either. She can’t be the person she was.

Local also definitely plays into Laura’s nostalgia of Liu era adventuring with Gambit as well as Kiden… it makes sense why she would gravitate to him.

I actually like the addition of Local and hope he ends up being a regular (much better than Catwoman’s recent terrible love interest!) 

The Prodigy ending was a sucker punch and REALLY wonderfully done! Using David, an old NYM connection as a source of guilt (and David ALWAYS was the voice of reason!) was really excellent; even if there wasn’t much interaction between the two in the original NXM. The only thing that COULD have made it better…was if it had been Dust, Mercury, or Elixir…but that’s a nit pick.

NXM was the turning point for Laura, so it makes sense that someone from THAT time would “wake her up” a bit….

Overall, I would say it’s definitely a solid issue…I think there’s minor things they could have changed, but it’s still a better “Laura” than we have seen in a while.

Theories:

Mojo is totally going to use Local to get to Laura…

Krakellion’s mission is deeper than making NYC the next Krakoa; they’re actively fighting against Mojo…

[revyn-moonfox]

Commenting on the the magnus archives episodes, part 3 (I think) - spoilers ahead

MAG 16 Arachnophobia: I was fully prepared for that episode to destroy me, I can't stand spiders, but now I feel like it could have been worse, at least it was only one spider at a time, my nightmares are filled with a bunch of spiders... which I guess he got at the end, but that wasn't described in great detail, so I was okay. Apropos the end: I was a bit confused because I read this episode was the most obviously paranormal one, and honestly, thinking the spiders from your youth are haunting you isn't so much paranormal, I thought episode 15 with her beeing found with candles she didn't pack was worse, but then I got to the end, and him beeing found incased in Web... uah. And come on John, you wanna try to reason that they came from one week of lying there?! Ugh

MAG 17, the Bone Turner's Tale: immediately after the first few sentences I was like: oh no, this is a Leitner one, isn't it? And sure enough it was... I don't even know what else to say to this except type out the Leitner Rant, but that is a lot of text, and this post will already be very long. At least John is a bit more inclined to believe the tale when there is Leitner involved.

MAG 18 The Man upstairs: I needed a bit more time for that episode because I have a very active imagination and got nauseous towards the end...

MAG 19 Confession | & MAG 20 Desecrated Host || : love the connection to the hilltop Road episode. Also, did somebody say religious trauma? Because these episodes screamed in answer. The beginning of 19 was... worrying to say the least - "We will get to the cannibalism of course" ehm, hold on, what? On another note, these episodes made me suspect that John's predecessor realy had a sorting system because that was at least the third episode in a row with the flesh entitie! While I honestly was just waiting for the first appearance of the Vast...

MAG 21 Freefall: finally, the Vast, I don't know what exactly sparked my obsession with it, but I like this entitie (as much as you can like a fear personified) since I first saw a art-tiktok about it weeks ago. Nothing much to say to this episode tho, except that John got sceptic again, he had such a good run of taking things seriously before.

Ending the Episode with the quote "By God Martin, what are these things?!" Was a choice...

MAG 22 Colony: Did I ever mention before that I love Martin? Well, I do, and now that he actually speaks for himself once, I feel even more justified in saying that.

Two options here "poor Martin, just wanted to show a picture to his (future) boyfriend" or "King wanted to stick it to his asshole Boss" I'm in the party of both. Both is good.

Also, after this episode the following post I found on Pinterest suddenly makes a lot more sense

I also asked myself how much the entities blurr together, because, while this was mainly corruption, there was also darkness because the lights didn't work in Martins flat, right?

I was so happy when John showed that he cared for Martin, in telling him to life in the institute for now :)

The creepy text messages at the end sparked a conversation between me and @regulus-needs-swimminglessons and I wanted to share one of his comments to that:

These text are so funny because there are basically 2 options

1 (the boring one) Jon and Martin don't text a lot so Jon doesn't actually know what Martin's texting style is like so Jane was able to impersonate him easily

2 (the better option) Jane was looking through the past texts giggling and kicking her feet while reading funny passages out loud for her worm friends so she could copy his texting style but she had to hold back to not end every message with "❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️🥰🥰😍😘😘😘😘😘😘❤️❤️❤️😘😘😘😘🪱🪱🪱🪱🪱😘😘🥰🥰❤️"

MAG 24 Schwarzwald: at first I was convinced that the headline was read by someone else than John, because it sounded weird to me. Then I got reminded that German words, like Schwarzwald, just get pronounced weirdly by englishspeakers, which is totally normal, so back to the story. An old letter to Jonah Magnus, did Elias read these 👀. The comment that there was no account of a Johann von Württemberg confused me, because Johann is/was a fairly common german name, especially in the higher up families. And there was in fact a Johann Friedrich von Württemberg who lived from 1582 to 1628, but that's not the one reported here, I would guess. He ruled as the 7th Duke at that time. Anyway, the Grave gave me slight Lukas-Family vibes, even tho I know that not the case, the involved entitie here is the Eye not the Lonely (even tho it kind of screams the lonely to me too, I mean, it's the Schwarzwald, and he described it as silent on lonely, but oh well)

Martin, scaring John by walking though the archive without pants. 🤣

Sir that is his living room and he can wear whatever he wants 😌 Martin can do whatever he wants, wherever he wants, just because he's awesome, and I love him.

MAG 24 Strange Music: I don't like dolls, I don't like clowns, and that's all I'm gonna say to that... But there is finally an appearance from sasha, which is awesome ^^ And again, something incredible: John is inclined to believe a Statement woob woob

MAG 25 Growing Dark: I mentioned religious trauma before, and I will mention it again, because this is exactly that. A bit frustrating to go back to "mh, we don't believe this because the author isn't even believing himself"

MAG 16 Distortion: Michael! My Dude! Be a dear and miracle me a towel, would you? Oh whops, wrong fandom, wrong quote... anyway, hello Michael, and hello Sasha. Its a bit sad to hear every archival assistant tell in their statement that they feared to come forward because John would judge them... But Sasha is hurt, and the "most level headed" so of course he believes her. Also, she's a little heroine, because she went to that place only to save John (and Martin, and the Archive, but oh well) first time that not beeing able/wanting to quit got mentioned, intrigued for the future.

MAG 27 A sturdy Lock: Everything involving the spiral always confuses me. I feel sorry for the old man, and am very interested what the statement from his Son is gonna be. But what do you meant the door had no knob or keyhole at the end?!

That's all for now, I'm currently listening to MAG 28 Skintight, but that will be in my next post I assume. So good bye, I hope you had fun with my incoherent rambling. (And again: please excuse my grammar, English is not my first language)

Okay byyyyeeee

[sgtcalhouns]

Tell Me How

I guess it's good to get it off my chest Guess I can't believe I haven't yet You know I got my own convictions And they're stronger than any addiction And no one's winning

Tell me how to feel about you now Tell me how to feel about you now Oh, let me know Do I suffocate or let go?

hello!! the next installment of the Fresh Start au has finally arrived. to remind you where we left off, Felix found out that Tamora never actually wanted to break up with him and was lying when she told him otherwise. he threw a fit, kicked a trash can, got drunk, threw another fit, accidentally revealed some emotions neither of them was prepared to deal with, and threw up. and that's what you missed on glee.

now, he's returned home and has to figure out how to deal with everything that just happened. some bro time will probably help. enjoy!

“The nerve of that woman!”

Gene’s familiar voice echoed across the lobby, and Ralph shook his head out of pity for whatever poor soul was the subject of his nagging. Standing behind the front desk of their apartment building, his expression dropped when he saw Felix coming toward him with Gene yapping at his heels. The sight reminded him of an angry chihuahua attempting to be intimidating, and he could tell that Felix was doing his best to tune it out.

“I thought we were finally free of her, but no, she has the nerve to show up and suggest that I’m the reason you’re upset,” he sputtered.

“Alright, Gene, I think that’s enough,” Felix murmured as they approached. Ralph could tell this had been going on for quite a while—his friend looked exhausted.

“Honestly, I don’t know what you ever saw in her,” Gene continued, completely ignoring Felix’s quiet plea. “She’s a bad influence, and she always has been! You should’ve never—“

“I said that’s enough,” Felix snapped.

Gene fell silent, stunned that Felix would ever dare to speak to him that way. The discomfort between them was immediately suffocating, and Ralph decided to step in before it became unbearable.

“Hey, Felix!” he said, doing his best to disregard the awkward energy in the room. “We got some parts delivered while you were gone, can you come take a look?”

The handyman nodded, the stiffness in his body beginning to relax as he walked away from Gene. Ralph ushered him into the office behind the front desk, paying their boss no mind as he skittered away with a hmph! They both sighed with relief once it was just the two of them.

“Thanks, Ralph,” Felix said as they sat at the small table in the room. “I don’t know how much longer I could’ve handled that.”

“That was rough,” he agreed. “What’s his deal?”

Thinking back on his trip, Felix realized just how much Ralph had missed. It felt as though he had lived an entire lifetime since the last time they had seen each other. He didn’t know how much Tamora had disclosed to Ralph about what had happened between them—there were still parts of it he couldn’t remember himself. Taking a deep breath, he finally formed an answer.

“When you called Tamora, I was at the bar with Gene,” Felix said. “He saw her when she came to check on me.”

Ralph winced. Gene had never thought highly of Tamora, and he had never been afraid to voice that opinion. Loudly. And while the handyman tried to give their boss the benefit of the doubt, Ralph had always been bothered by his callous disregard for Felix’s feelings on the matter.

Adding alcohol to the mix sounded like a sure fire way to turn a toxic dynamic into a downright explosive one. Ralph couldn’t think of a single good reason his friend would ever choose to spend his time drinking with Gene. But before he could question it, Felix explained himself.

“Tamora and I had an argument. I was confused and upset, I felt like my world had been turned upside down and I just wanted to be alone,” he said. “But Gene showed up at my door wantin’ to do something together and he didn’t give me much of a choice.”

“And if you’re stuck with Gene, you might as well drink,” Ralph suggested. Despite himself, Felix chuckled.

“I thought it would help,” he said with a self-deprecating laugh. “I don’t even remember drinking very much, but suddenly I was so drunk. I can’t remember the last time I was so far gone.”

Ralph joined his friend in his laughter, but he didn’t miss the sadness in his eyes.

“In that case, I’m glad you butt-dialed me.”

“Me, too,” he agreed. “Tamora… she really came to my rescue that night. I was fighting her every step of the way, but she made sure I got back to my room safe and sound.”

“Sounds like a rough night.”

“It certainly was,” Felix agreed. “I don’t remember much from the bar, but I imagine Tamora wasn’t too happy with Gene for letting me drink so much.”

“So that’s what’s got his panties in a twist,” Ralph said.

Felix nodded, and the pair fell into a companionable silence. Ralph took a moment to look his friend over; above the shadowy circles beneath his eyes was a faraway expression, like his mind was elsewhere. Although he had never been able to grow a full beard, there was a visible shadow of stubble across his jawline—it must have been several days since he last shaved. Ralph couldn’t help but worry about whether he had been taking care of himself.

“How are you holding up?” Ralph asked. “That all sounds a little…out of character.”

Unable to hold back, a bitter laugh escaped Felix’s throat.

“You don’t even know the half of it, brother.”

Scrubbing his hands over his face, he considered just how out of character his behavior had been. He had kicked a trash can in a fit of anger, had thrown more than one tantrum, had gone out with Gene and gotten so drunk he couldn’t walk without assistance… These decisions felt like they had been made and carried out by someone else, they were so far removed from the version of himself he knew.

“You probably remember that when Tamora ended our relationship, she told me it was what she wanted. This weekend, I found out that wasn’t the truth,” he explained with a sigh. “I was so upset, I—I just couldn’t think straight. I felt like I was going crazy. I can’t believe some of the things I did, the things I said…”

Ralph’s heart sank. He knew firsthand how hard the breakup had been on Felix; he had talked his friend out of begging Tamora for another chance on more than one occasion, reminding him that their separation was what she wanted. To find out that wasn’t true had to be devastating. No wonder he was so out of sorts.

Unsure what to say, he gave his friend what he hoped was a comforting pat on the back.

“I had made my peace with how things ended, but it turns out things didn’t end the way I thought they did,” he replied with an incredulous shake of his head. “Now I don’t know how to feel about any of it.”

“I’m sorry, Felix. That’s tough.”

“Thanks.”

It was quiet between them for a long moment. When Felix broke the silence with a snort, it startled his companion. Ralph eyed him questioningly as he broke into a fit of giggles. Maybe he really had gone crazy.

“I was so angry after talking to Tamora that I—“ Felix cut himself off with his own laughter. “I kicked a trash can out on the street.”

“What?”

Ralph couldn’t quite find the humor in it the way Felix had, but the corners of his mouth turned upward against his will as he shot his friend an incredulous look.

“I put everything I had into that kick, only to find—to find…”

Another fit of giggles forced him to trail off in the middle of speaking. Whatever he was trying to explain was so funny to him that he couldn’t even find the words to describe it without laughing. Finally, he managed to speak through his laughter.

“It was wrought iron. Knocked me right to—to the ground.”

His voice was distorted by the strain of his laughter, and the squeaky delivery in addition to the visual he had just supplied finally got a chortle out of Ralph. Before long, the pair was doubled over, tears rolling down their cheeks as they broke down in hysterics. It took several tries to calm themselves down; each time they tried, the mental image of Felix knocking himself to the ground replayed in one of their minds, and they would rile each other right back up.

With each minute that passed, the handyman felt a bit more weight lift from his shoulders. He had been so ashamed of his behavior, but now he was finally able to see how ridiculous it truly was. It was ugly and messy, but he had finally allowed himself to freely express things he had been holding inside for years. There was no need to place such a heavy burden on himself—this wasn’t the end of the world.

“Oh, I needed that,” he sighed, wiping his eyes on his shirt sleeve.

“Good,” Ralph replied through a final few chuckles. “Oh man, I can’t believe I missed that.”

Another detail that he hadn’t yet revealed occurred to Felix.

“Tamora can describe it for you. She saw the whole thing.”

“Oh my god.”

They both chuckled, though the erratic energy that had been fueling their mirth had waned somewhat. As the pair caught their breath, Ralph eyed his friend with concern.

“Hey,” he began, hesitant to voice his thoughts. “Are you okay? Seriously.”

Felix took a moment to consider his answer. For the first time in days, he truly felt like things might be alright.

“Yeah,” he answered quietly.

Ralph didn't look convinced.

“At first I was so miserable…it felt like I had ruined everything. And everything is still a mess, but..." he trailed off, a refreshing sense of calm about him. "But now I think everything just might be okay.”

“Good,” Ralph said. “You know you can always talk to me, right?”

“I know,” Felix replied with a soft smile. “Thanks, Ralph. This really helped.”

“I’m glad to hear it.”

His expression shifted to something conspiratorial as he spoke again. “Now we can plan how we’re getting revenge on Gene for getting you so drunk.”

“You’re on your own there, brother. I want no part in that.”

“No offense, buddy, but you’re not the first person I’d go to for help plotting revenge.”

“Then who…?”

Ralph stood from the table and pulled his cell phone from his pocket.

“After everything she witnessed this weekend, I’m sure Tamora's willing to help me think of something.”

[w3bgrl]

universal deviation

synopsis: changbin and juyeon officially deny their dating rumors; now it’s time to talk about it privately.

date: april 5th 2019

era: miroh

word count: 2.3k

featuring: kang juyeon, seo changbin, jyp, bang chan

warnings: n/a, just angst! maybe hinted misogyny at the end?

a/n: lied in that ask lol merry binchumas to those who celebrate! ps this occurs after their music bank performance! also ummm calling jyp ‘jinyoung’ is so weirddd (°_°)

“so…i’m sure you both know why i called you in today,”

changbin and juyeon sat anxiously before their boss in the jyp entertainment conference room with sweaty palms, tongues nearly bitten in half as he spoke.

“but, i wanted to get on top of this issue before it could get too out of hand. especially since you’re in the same group. firstly, however,”

they swore they could guess what was coming next.

“congratulations on your first win yesterday!”

juyeon and changbin let out a breath they had been holding since the moment they entered the room and smiled with the relief of some weight being lifted from their chests, thanking him humbly in unison.

“i have high hopes for the future of stray kids.” jinyoung eye-smiled in the same kindred way he always did to make others feel more comfortable in his authoritative presence. “i believe your time to really shine will come sooner than later, and i look forward to watching you all grow as artists.”

his smile fell now, replaced with that stone cold expression they had become quite familiar with during their trainee days. “but, all of that starts with maintaining your images for the fans. so, i’d like to get a direct quote that explains the situation and clarifies the status of your relationship with one another.”

“before we begin,” jinyoung slid the notepad beside him closer to where he could write “i’ll remind you that the company dating policy states that romantic relationships are strictly prohibited for the first 3 years after debut. in your case, this will be in 2021. i think as idols, the first three to five years after debut should be focused purely on promoting. so, with that said, is there anything in particular you would like to be cited?”

for the first time since sitting down the accused pair now looked at one another with knowing eyes. it was a good thing they read each other better than jyp because obviously they saw right through the others feigned innocence. juyeon was the first to turn back to their boss, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear before she spoke.

“um…i know to be more subtle showing affection to my members for the public eye, so i apologize for acting without thinking. i will be more careful with my actions moving forward.”

the older man nodded approvingly and began to transcribe her account on his notepad. at this same time, changbin nudged her foot with his own under the table, eyes meeting from the corners of their vision. his eyebrows just barely knitted together like he disapproved of what she said, and as jyp looked back up, juyeon shifted to cross her legs.

“so,” he sighed and clicked his pen a few times “i’m just gonna go right ahead and ask; are you two in a relationship?”

changbin was the one to speak this time. “no.” he said stolidly, his tone flat and almost disinterested. “we’re just friends.”

“close friends.” she added

there was a moment of scrutiny from the man across the table who stared at them with narrowed, unmoving eyes. to be completely fair, both of their answers did sound a little uncertain, like they weren’t on the same page about where they stood. yet, jinyoung simply nodded and jotted down their words.

“that is good to hear, teamwork is an important piece of the puzzle. i hope this incident won’t impact your friendship.”

it was a blessing their boss wasn’t paying them any mind when he said this. even the most oblivious person in the world could have noticed the thunderstorm that brewed between them, growling and snarling as lightning struck with his words. they shared another knowing glance.

the trip home was quiet.

changbin and juyeon walked side by side with an unfamiliar distance between them, sullen eyes wandering from the cold tile flooring every few seconds to get a glimpse of the other. neither dared to mention the dark clouds that hung over their heads and instead fell head first into the busy swirl of anxieties, only starting to get dizzy once they arrived at their front door. changbin prayed that someone - anyone - would be home to ease the aching tension between them but all hope was lost when he wiggled the handle to find it locked.

the younger boy sighed heavily as he fished in his pocket for the key and hurriedly unlocked the door, obviously frustrated and yet he still held it open for her.

once in the entryway they both turned away from one another to take their shoes off and throw their stuff down haphazardly by the door. from his spot on the ground to unlace his boots changbin could see juyeon face him for only a moment before she left to disappear around the corner of the living room, a heavy thud followed by a grumble echoing off the wooden floors. he finally worked the shoe off his heel and meekly followed after to find her slumped into the couch.

juyeon looked up at him through her dark lashes and, though her features were tainted with woe, she offered him a weak smile. changbin felt a kick to the chest and left a noticeable gap as he sat down beside her, his mannerisms and movements now much softer than just a few moments ago.

there was a good long pause where both of them searched for something to say. anything would have sufficed, honestly, because this melancholic silence was really starting to eat away at their shared sanity. or what little was left of it at this point.

“please say something.”

she’d never heard his voice so frail, so weak. like a child asking for reassurance that things were okay. and unfortunately, the older girl didn’t have anything reassuring to say. she opted for another approach instead.

“sorry for getting you caught up in all this.”

changbin habitually reached out to tuck the stray hairs behind her ear so he could see her face but decided against it halfway. he sat back. “it’s a two-way street, joong. you can’t take all the blame.”

“but i am to blame.” she hummed, her gaze everywhere but him “we wouldn’t be here if i just…didn’t do…what i did...”

“…ju.”

finally she looked back over at the delicate flower beside her who blinked away tears as he shifted in his seat. “i’m glad you did. if not i would’ve spent the rest of my life wondering what it would be like. whatever it—”

he stopped himself. he knew what it was. they both did. and it was a part of the past now, there was no point in weaseling around anymore. still, he couldn’t put the word to it.

“—it was nice. and for what it’s worth, i wouldn’t change anything. if given another chance i’d do it all again. i’d rather die at your hands than never have felt them at all.”

she couldn’t help but smile at his words. he was always so poetic.

“you’re really special, you know that? i don’t know if anyone’s ever told you. i don’t know if i ever told you. but i hope you know. there is no one else in the world that even comes close.”

while the older girl rarely allowed her painful emotions to be shown in front of anyone else, changbin was someone who wore his heart on his sleeve - feelings displayed before him for anyone to bear witness. so when he finally gave up on fighting the tears and let them fall in thick streams down his cheeks that met at the scar on his chin, juyeon had to look away.

“don’t do that.” her voice was shaky as she nudged him with her foot “i’m not going anywhere — neither are you. i’ll be right here for a long time.”

he finally broke his gaze from her figure to wipe his wet face. “i know - i just…i just wish things were different. i don’t want this chapter to be over yet.”

there was a beat before her response.

“i’ll keep the corner folded on your page.”

her words resonated a bittersweet song that played on his heartstrings and when he was finally able to convince himself to look back over at the close friend beside him, there was already that familiar doting smile on her lips. he could feel his eyes getting wet again as she reached out to wipe the overlooked tear on his cheek and, for the first time, her touch left a sting.

“i know your feelings are locked up tight and all but…” he winced “how are you so okay?”

juyeon took a deep breath, subconsciously self-soothing. “i have to be. at least on the outside.”

“you can’t keep that up forever”

“it won’t be forever. just for…” her comforting smile became muddled as the timeline began to unfold before her “…for a while.” she said. her mouth tasted bitter.

he wanted to refute her claims - to tell her that it was okay to show them (him) how she really felt, especially in the privacy of their own dorm. but as he took just a second longer to think about it, he realized she was right. they weren’t just automatically in the clear once the statement came out, and though he’d certainly have to make some adjustments, juyeon especially would be scrutinized far worse than he ever would. or any other member for that matter. it happened before for less. he just couldn’t stop wishing that things were different; the people and the standards and their boss and —

“hey,”

her soft hum pulled him from the spiral.

“one day we’ll look back and laugh about this. and things will be different, but it’ll be okay. it is okay.”

changbin caught her fingers to pull her hand away from his cheek, deciding instead to cherish how perfectly the puzzle pieces of their palms fit together just one more time. he watched his thumb trace over the tattoo on the back of her hand and spoke so softly it was almost like he didn’t want her to hear him.

“i’ll ache over you until then.”

juyeon gave his hand a squeeze, and in that soft voice he used to adore, she put the final nail in the coffin that sealed their fate. maybe it was cruel of her; finally putting a word to it now of all times. but to her it was more like a secret message to the universe. like folding the corner of a page to revisit it later.

“the love isn’t going anywhere, bin. it’ll always be here.”

without the context she kept hidden inside, her original theory was correct; it was cruel. and her choice of words hit him like a truck. though he’d never been stabbed before, changbin could imagine that it felt pretty similar to this. and just as the tears began to fall again, there was a commotion on the other side of the room.

the pained pair whipped their heads in horror to see what it was - who had just stumbled upon something they definitely shouldn’t have - only to find chan waddling out of his room, eyes bleary with sleep. his hair stuck up in all places and as his focus zeroed-in on the recently accused chan was quickly brought back to reality.

“hey — are you okay? the meeting?”

changbin still hadn’t gotten past that word yet; love. it rang in his ears like his morning alarms, jarring and above all else, frustrating. that just left juyeon to handle the damage control and thankfully she was quick to jump into action.

“meeting went fine, binnie just felt bad i got in trouble.” she feigned nonchalance and fluffed his hair while he wiped his tears “but it’s okay, nothing’s changing and there should be a statement soon.”

changbin sniffled and plastered on a weak smile with a thumbs up to help the cause. it seemed to work as chan nodded with a yawn.

“well, i’m glad it went well. sorry you got in trouble, biya.”

she stood with a shrug, finally leaving the younger boys’ side to lighten the tension she felt with a joke as she grabbed a drink from the fridge. “it’s fine. just can’t be friends with my friends on camera, that’s all.”

chan chuckled dryly, “you’re funny, but that actually makes me very sad.”

“want a hug?” she offered over her shoulder as she unscrewed the lid.

“of course!”

the leader (who seemed like both the oldest and the maknae at times) giggled and happily bounced over to her, arms wrapping around her waist to lift her off her feet in a tight bear hug. he made incomprehensible squeaky noises as she wheezed and set her back down with a pat on the head.

juyeon laughed breathlessly as a result of having all the oxygen squeezed from her lungs. “better?”

“for now.” chan beamed. the chirp! of a twitter notification made his phone vibrate in his pocket and upon checking it he looked back to changbin, tears gone but the emotion still prevalent. “the rest of the boys should be bringing food home soon and then we’re going to the studio. you guys coming?”

both parties hummed in response.

he nodded and began to backpedal toward the bathroom. “kay, then i’m gonna go take a quick shower before i have to fight for it.”

“don’t slip!” juyeon called after him

“we’ll see!”

chan entered the bathroom and made sure to lock it behind him before looking in the mirror to find the natural perplexed expression he had been biting back. did they think they were slick? juyeon and changbin may have been able to fly under the radar to their boss, but really, how could they ever deceive someone who knew them as well as chan did?