#i just drew this in thirty minutes because bee said i should. help me

[redactedcrowart]

mystomach hurts. alt version under the cut thumbsup emoji

[starshine583]

Crossing a Line

Part 17

(Ya’ll ready for the angst? Because I was not)

Part 1 / Part 16 / Part 18

Le Paon stumbled to a stop, his chest tight and his heart in his throat. He clutched the earrings in his palms, causing the ends to dig into his skin. 

I.. I did it. 

He took the earrings. After all the work Father’s put forward, Le Paon finally got a hold of Ladybug’s earrings.. Of Marinette’s earrings.

A sigh escaped him as he slumped against the Mansion walls. She sounded absolutely horrified when she realized what was going on. How was he going to apologize? Would she even listen to him after this?

Felix dropped his transformation and slipped inside the mansion, carefully searching for witnesses. He could return her earrings after the wish, right? Would that help? She wouldn’t be missing her kwami then..

Nathalie sat in her usual desk next to Father’s office, but she appeared engrossed in something on the computer, so he was able to slip by unnoticed. Felix quietly hopped up the stairs, a part of him wondering how Father would have handled this. How would Father proceed if he knew that his youngest son was fighting against him with a miraculous they needed? What would he have done to Marinette to get her miraculous afterwards? Would he have made the same choices?

Felix stopped in front of his bedroom door. Whether Father might have done something differently or not didn’t help him now. Felix had the earrings, and Adrien had the ring. It was down to this next conversation. 

Tentatively, he knocked on the door. 

No response.

Felix drew in a breath and opened the door anyway. The room was pitch black, and the faint sound of a fan fluttered around. Was he sleeping? Already? It was a little past midnight, but..

Felix closed the door, and ran a hand through his hair. What should he do now? He couldn’t just wake Adrien up to talk about this. “Hey, I know you just woke up, but let me tell you about our not-so-dead mother and the fact that your brother and Father are super villains. Also, can I have your ring that I know has been a miraculous this whole time even though you had no idea that I even knew what a miraculous was?”

Yeah.. he had a feeling that wouldn’t go well.

Felix turned on his heel to go back down the stairs. He would have to talk to Adrien about the wish in the morning. In the meantime, he could hide the earrings in the library. Even if Marinette didn’t know his identity, carrying her Miraculous around provided a flurry of plausible problems that Felix didn’t care to deal with.

Tomorrow. He promised himself, slipping the earrings into a pocket in one of the book shelves. He would talk to Adrien tomorrow, and they would finally have their mother back.

~~~~~~

 Two hours. It’d been two hours since Le Paon came and took her miraculous. 

Marinette sat at the bottom of the ladder that led to her balcony, eyes puffed from tears. She couldn’t understand what went wrong. They were supposed to talk and work things out. He was supposed to surrender so they could heal his mother together. How did she let this happen?

Marinette sniffed, trying to think of what Tikki would say in this moment. Maybe she would insist that it wasn’t her fault, or that she did everything she could, but neither of those would be true. This was her fault. She didn’t do everything. If Marinette were really a good Ladybug, she would have swiped Le Paon’s miraculous the first time he visited her balcony. Or even the second time. Or all the other times she let him swing by. 

But she hadn’t. She let him inside, let herself trust him, and he betrayed her.

How long had he known that she was Ladybug? Did he know from the beginning? Were the times they spent together all a lie? A mere ploy to get close enough to grab her miraculous? 

Was his confession a lie too?

Marinette choked out another sob. Stupid, stupid! She should have known not to trust him. After his first betrayal towards Ladybug, it should have been obvious that everything else was an act. It just felt so wonderful, having Felix by her side. The quiet smiles he would give to only her, the endless praises on her crafts. She didn’t want to imagine a world without him.

And yet, he was gone.

And so was Tikki.

And she was alone.

Marinette wiped away another tear that spilled down her cheek and looked up at the trapdoor. He’s had her earrings for two hours now. Hawkmoth could do a lot in a mere two hours.

Despite the crushing weight in her chest, Marinette forced herself to her feet. There was no more time for crying. There wasn’t time in the first place, actually. She needed to get her earrings back before Felix went too far. She needed to talk to Master Fu.

-

Sneaking out was the easy part. Maman and Papa had been asleep for four hours already. As long as she got back before four in the morning, they wouldn’t be a problem. It was finding Master Fu that was hard. 

Marinette vaguely remembered a few turns, but she normally relied on Tikki for guidance. The address escaped her too, and her phone’s gps didn’t have a hit for “Fu’s Massage Parlor”. So, she ended up wandering around Paris for a while, avoiding dark alleyways and hoping she was going in the right direction. It must have been her last bits of Ladybug Luck that let her arrive at Master Fu’s around thirty minutes after leaving the bakery. 

Marinette let out a relieved sigh when she saw the sign and quickly started knocking on the door. The first few knocks were met with silence, but she was desperate. She knocked a few more times, and after the eighth round of knocks, Master Fu finally opened the door.

“Master! I’m so sorry to come here this late, but It’s urgent!” She all but spat out. “My miraculous- I didn’t expect him to, but- It’s gone! Felix- he took it and just ran off!”

Master Fu, through his groggy state, managed to pick up the gist of her ramblings and promptly ushered her inside.

“Are you sure you weren’t followed?” He asked, glancing up and down the street.

“Positive.” Felix had no ‘use’ for her without her miraculous. She imagined he wouldn’t even bother to speak with her again after this.

Master Fu nodded and closed the door. “Good. I have something that can help you upstairs.”

Marinette was brought back up to Master Fu’s massaging room where they usually practiced her healing magic. Once inside, he crossed the room and picked up an old phonograph. 

“Before we begin, I’d like to apologize.” Master Fu said as he sat the phonograph down in front of her. “It’s my fault Felix got close enough to take your miraculous.”

Marinette shook her head. “No, Master, you can’t blame yourself. I’m the one that let him inside my home without thinking of the consequences.”

“You don’t understand.” Fu responded. “I had his miraculous, but I gave it back.”

Marinette’s eyes bulged out of her head.

“You- you what? When did you have it?” She asked, dumbfounded.

Master Fu sighed. “A few weeks ago, I saw Felix running alone after the giant, movie akuma.”

Marinette pursed her lips. She remembered that night. If the akuma hadn’t appeared she might have kissed Felix for the first time while they ate ice cream. If only she knew then how dangerous he truly was.

“I pretended to be a victim of a mugging, and he offered to help me home. He even came inside and had a cup of tea, sitting where you sit right now.”

Marinette frowned. “If you had his miraculous.. why give it back?”

Regret painted his features. “When I talked with him, he did not seem evil, only desperate. I gave him the miraculous in hopes that he would change his mind and use it to fight against Hawkmoth instead, but..”

He trailed off, and Marinette cast her gaze to the floor.

But I guess we were both wrong about him.

“Tikki is waiting for you.” Master Fu continued. A renewed determination filled his eyes as he opened the phonograph to reveal multiple platforms of jewelry. “Marinette Dupain-Cheng, I am entrusting you another miraculous to reclaim your first one. Choose wisely.”

Marinette gasped, watching the miniature shelves pop out of the box. “You mean.. These are all miraculous?”

“Yes, and each holds a specific power.” He explained, pointing out a few. “For example, the fox miraculous can create illusions, and the bee miraculous can paralyze others for a short amount of time.”

“Create illusions?” Marinette pondered aloud. That could help her immensely if she was going to sneak into the Agreste Mansion. An illusion might be able to cloak her movements to the security cameras.

Master Fu nodded and held it up for her. “The illusions will look completely lifelike until someone touches it or you detransform. Then the image you’ve created will fade away.”

No one should be touching the illusion if it’s outside. Marinette thought as she took the miraculous. It was too late for anyone to be up.

“I’ll be back soon.” She promised, slipping on the necklace. 

An orange orb appeared around the tail pendant, and its glow brightened until a small, orange, fox-like kwami appeared.

“Hi-ya!” The creature greeted. “My name’s Trixx, and I’ll be your kwami. If you wanna transform, you just need to say one thing: Trixx, let’s pounce!”

“Good luck, Ladybug.” Master Fu stated as Marinette transformed.

Marinette offered a smile. “You mean ‘Jiāng húlí’.” 

This time, she’d be the one visiting Felix as an alter ego. Let’s see if he’ll be as hospitable as she was.

-

Running across the rooftops was extremely different compared to her usual mode of transportation via yo-yo. Nevertheless, it felt nice to have a miraculous again. A few skyscrapers even gave her a glimpse of her new costume. Her raven hair had been swept up into a long ponytail that trailed down to the back of her knees. The tips of her bangs and ponytail were stark white, and a pair of pointed, orange ears that were also white-tipped sprang from the top of her bangs. Contrary to her red and black spotted Ladybug costume, the fox miraculous bathed her in colors of orange and white. She had a jacket around her waist that was lined with black and had a popped collar, of which the inside was also black. The rest of the jacket was orange, save for the two blotches of white in the middle that continued in a line past her jacket and stopped on the inside of her upper thighs. The fox miraculous acted as a clip for the black zipper in the middle of her jacket. She had a pair white gloves and boots as well, with black lining around each. (Of course, the lining for the gloves was really the lining of the jacket sleeves) A thick, orange belt was also wrapped around her waist, cutting a line between the splashes of white on her midsection and holding her flute tightly to her side.All in all, it didn’t look half bad.

All in all, it didn’t look half bad.

The Agreste Mansion, being much larger in size than Fu’s massage parlor, was mere child’s play to find, and with her renewed, miraculous strength, Marinette managed to get there in a matter of minutes. 

She crept up to the dark windows, hoping the lack of light meant no one was in the room to see her. If Felix found a new miraculous holder sneaking into his house, she doubted that he would think of it as a coincidence, and her only leverage at the moment was his ignorance towards her knowing his true identity. 

Her claws clicked against the glass as she pushed on the windows for an opening. An evil super villain couldn’t sneak out of his house constantly without a way-

A window near the center fell open at her touch. Marinette smiled. 

Easy now. She told herself, carefully stepping into the room. The sound of a fan insured that someone was sleeping. It was best not to wake them up.

By the time her feet were firmly on the floor, her eyes were adjusted to the light, and she was able to make out furniture. A couch.. A desk.. A rockwall?

Marinette sucked in a breath and immediately started scrambling for a hiding place. This was the boys’ room, meaning Felix was probably in here sleeping. Sleeping! She thought, at the very least, that he would lose a little sleep from betraying her. He really didn’t feel guilty at all, did he?

She shook her head. Focus. If he’s asleep, that means the miraculous is unguarded.

The pads on her feet kept her steps silent as she crossed the room. The earrings shouldn’t be far from Felix, in a pocket, or a drawer, or something. She checked his pockets first- or rather, his clothes. Pajamas didn’t tend to have pockets -by carefully patting him down. It wasn’t easy. He moved a few times, and she was certain he’d woken up when she checked under his pillow. It must have been a miracle that he remained asleep. 

With pockets checked, she went to the drawers. The second and third were filled with nothing but clothes. The first drawer, however..

Marinette gasped, a swirl of bittersweet delight overtaking her at the sight of Felix’s miraculous. What a wonderful opportunity she’d been provided.

“Turnabout’s fair play, Paon.” She whispered to herself as she took the miraculous. His panicked face when he noticed his absent miraculous in the morning was going to be a horrible thing to miss. 

Marinette tucked the peacock miraculous away in her belt and turned to keep looking for her miraculous, but a certain sound stopped her in her tracks. A door. Someone was coming into the boys’ room. A sliver of light entered the dark abyss, quickly growing as the door opened further. Marinette rushed to the side of the room to avoid it, scurrying up a winding staircase. She pressed herself against the shelves above and tried to control her rapid breathing. Was someone coming to check on them or did Gabriel see her on the security cameras? Would she be able to fight off Gorilla and possibly more if that were the case?

A creak emitted from the door as it opened fully, and a single woman walked into the bedroom, straight and tall. Aside from her clicking heels, she was quiet as a mouse as she crossed the room to the boys’ bed. Strangely, she opened the very drawer that Marinette had searched through a moment earlier. When she opened it, though, she paused, almost like she expected to see something else. Then- curiouser, still -the woman started digging through the drawer. 

How interesting.

It took a few seconds, but the woman finally muttered some curses to herself and left the room, looking quite displeased. Marinette might have considered following her under different circumstances. Unfortunately, her time stamp didn’t allow it. In walking into the room, the woman caused the illusion to fade. The cameras might catch her any moment. Marinette didn’t mind. She now had more leverage than the knowledge of Felix’s identity. If he was dumb enough to go to school tomorrow, she would lure him into a private area there. He might not care to look at her anymore, but Marinette was going to drag him by the ear anyway. 

Mark her words, Felix was going to wish he never betrayed the hero of Paris.

~~~~~~

Sunlight poured into the bedroom as Felix got ready. He fiddled with the buttons on his dark grey vest, too nervous to think properly. Adrien was currently in the bathroom freshening up. When he came out, Felix was going to have to find a way to tell him that their long-lost mother was actually in a coma under their house. (Seriously, couldn’t Father find a less unsettling place to hide her?)

Heaven only knows how his brother was going to react. Felix might have agreed to help, but Adrien has been playing hero during this whole fiasco. With all of those battles stored in his mind, the personal insults shot at each other and near-death experiences, he probably won’t be as easily.. persuaded. Not to mention, Felix was going to have to get Adrien down to the basement. Chances were, he wouldn’t be able to do that without Father seeing them. Ugh, so many obstacles!

The bathroom door opened, and Felix tensed. 

“Hey, Fe, did you move the toothpaste?” Adrien asked as he walked out.

Felix almost smiled. Such an innocent question for such a serious topic he was about to bring up. “No, but-”

“Oh, nevermind.” Adrien cut him off, spinning on his heel. “I just remembered that I saw it in the mirror cabinet.”

Felix stared as his brother closed the bathroom door again. He could already see how this was going to go. Heaving a sigh, he walked over to his bedside drawer to grab his miraculous. Maybe Duusu would have some advice. 

The drawer slid open, and a few of the contents inside rolled with it, but there was no miraculous. Felix furrowed his eyebrows and started digging through the drawer a bit. He could have sworn that he put it in there the night before. It’s where he always puts it when he takes it off. 

Maybe I set it somewhere else? He thought with a frown, starting to check under the bed and in the other drawers. He’d been a bit out of last night, but it couldn’t be far, since he’d definitely used it last night. 

“Felix? Did you lose something?”

Felix shot up at his brother’s voice, causing him to smack his head on the bottom of Adrien’s desk that he’d begun looking under. “Ah! Yes, I’m- everything’s fine. It’s nothing.”

It’s not like I need it anymore, anyway. Felix reminded himself as he rubbed the back of his head. I have the earrings, and soon I’ll have the ring too.

“Adrien,” Felix began, trying not to glance at his brother’s ring while he stood, “do you ever.. I don’t know.. Think about mom?”

Adrien hesitated, obviously not expecting the question. “Uh.. I mean.. Of course I do. All the time. Why?” 

“Do you ever wonder what would happen if we could bring her back?” 

Adrien furrowed his eyebrows. “Sometimes.. But that’s not possible, so I try not to think about it.”

Boy, are you in for a surprise. Felix refrained from saying. “What if you could? Would you do what it took to have her back?”

Adrien completely frowned now. “Felix-”

“Boys.”

The brothers turned to see Nathalie in the doorway. When did she come in?

“Gorilla is waiting for you downstairs.” She informed. “Please hurry.”

Felix and Adrien nodded, and Nathalie left the room as quickly as she’d come. He turned back to Adrien, hoping to continue the conversation, but his brother had already grabbed his bag and started for the door.

Before he fully rounded the corner, though, Adrien stopped. 

“Felix, about Mom.. I miss her as much as anybody, but I don’t think she would want us to grieve over her like this. Having Mom back would be great, but would she really want us to go ‘above and beyond’ just to bring her back?” 

Adrien left before Felix could reply, though he’s not sure he would have had a response, anyway. Mother wouldn’t want them to obsess over her. She would them to live their lives and be happy.. 

Too bad it’s too late to back out now. 

-

School that day came with a whole new level of anxiety. He couldn’t help glancing left and right as he walked up the steps. Marinette could be anywhere, and she had to be worried for her miraculous, though she might not show it. She didn’t know his identity, so he should be fine, but the guilt that would smother him upon seeing her wasn’t an experience he was excited to go through.

He pondered not attending school himself, in all honesty. Alas, he didn’t have a good excuse to stay home. So here he was, carrying his bag to his locker and getting ready to burn through classes as fast as possible.

“Felix.”

Goosebumps crawled across his skin at the sound of Marinette’s voice. Why was everyone sneaking up on him today?

He reluctantly turned to greet her and had to force a neutral expression when he saw her smile. That didn’t look like someone who was grieving the loss of a miraculous.

“I want to talk to you.” She said, the usual, perky tone noticeably lacking in her voice.

The hair on the back of Felix’s neck stood up. “Uh.. that’s very kind of you-” Very kind of her? How did that response make sense? “-but class is going to be starting soon, so I need to get going.”

He moved to pass her, but she grabbed his wrist, her grip iron-tight. “I wasn’t asking.”

She yanked him backwards, slamming him against the lockers. Felix gasped for air, his eyes blowing wide with shock. Was this really happening? Marinette has never been violent in her life! He glanced around the locker room for witnesses, only to find that they were completely alone. Something told him that wasn’t a coincidence.

Marinette pressed her forearm to his chest, pinning him to the lockers. “Where did you put them!”

Felix struggled in vain to pull her arm away. Had she always been this strong in civilian form? “Put what?!”

“My miraculous!” She hissed, pushing harder. “Where are they!”

Felix’s eyes snapped to hers. The miraculous? She was asking his civilian form about her miraculous? But that meant..

He stopped struggling. “..You know.”

Marinette’s eyes narrowed into a glare. “Yeah. And, apparently, so did you.”

Felix might have felt guilty towards the jab had his mind not been reeling. How long had she known that he was Le Paon? When did she find out? How did she find out? 

“Tell me you didn’t use the wish.” She spoke again, bringing Felix from his thoughts.

“Not yet. I still need the ring.” He answered honestly.

Her entire body seemed to loosen at the news. “Good. Where are my earrings?”

“They're hidden in the mansion.”

“Then you’re taking me there to get them.”

Felix shook his head. “I can’t.”

“You can, and you will.” She remarked, her voice dripping with venom. He didn’t know she was capable of sounding so threatening.

Still, Felix held his ground. “Marinette, you don’t understand-”

“No, you don’t understand!” Marinette shot back. “That wish is dangerous! It has consequences! If you use it to heal your mother, someone else is going to take her place!”

Take her place? “What do you mean?”

Marinette sighed. “The universe needs to be balanced. If you heal Emilie from an incurable coma, someone else will fall into an incurable coma as a result. Did you honestly think that I was fighting tooth and nail to keep my miraculous for the fun of it all?”

Felix furrowed his eyebrows. No, that.. That can’t be right. Father had never mentioned a consequence to using the wish. 

“..I had hoped that was the case.” Was all he ended up saying.

Marinette huffed. “You’re so infuriating! Call Gorilla or whoever drives you. You’re taking me to get my miraculous back, unless you want me to keep this..”

She pulled something out of her pocket, and though Felix swore he’d seen everything that morning already, his jaw dropped when he saw his miraculous in her hands. 

“How did-”

“That’s not important.” She cut him off sharply. “Call the car. Now.”

“W-Wait!” So many things were happening at once. “I can’t just take you to our house during school! Nathalie’s never going to let that fly.”

Marinette thought that over. “..I don’t trust you enough to wait till after school.”

The words sank into his heart like knives, but he couldn’t blame her. “That’s completely fair, but your plan will never work as is.”

“And what do you propose we do instead?” She inquired, raising a brow.

Felix swallowed. “We can go after school, and-” he emphasized the ‘and’ before she could interrupt “-to ease your mind, I will check in with you after every class period. Our class schedules are relatively the same. We can even have lunch together if that makes you feel better.”

Disgruntlement flickered across her features at the notion of eating together. Felix would be lying if he said that didn’t bother him.

“If I sense any sort of foul play-”

“You won’t.” He promised. “Heck, take my phone for good measure.”

Marinette’s expression leveled, and she held out her hand. “Deal.”

Despite still being pinned to the lockers, Felix managed to dig out his phone and hand it to her. 

Marinette, being satisfied, dropped him as she pocketed the phone. “See you after classes, Agreste.”

Felix watched her sweep out of the room, noting the fact that she kept an eye on him the whole time. She must truly see him as a monster now if she’s waiting for him to pounce like that. He rubbed his chest where her forearm had been, knowing it would probably leave some type of bruise later, and headed for his first class. 

Today was decidedly not going as planned.

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[godhanjisung]

At First Sight - Chan Scenario

Summary: Children are great, for sure, but only if they’re your kind thing. They weren’t yours so you ended up getting help from the master child himself – Chan. You just didn’t know he would have this effect on you.

Genre: Fluff

Rating: 13+ [SFW]

Words: 2552

It is universally acknowledged that anyone who takes on a babysitting job should have at least some experience in the art of babysitting, or at least kids; luckily for you however, it seemed that your mother’s friend had not caught the memo. As a result you now found yourself all alone in a small apartment with no one else around but two small children, who by the end of tonight were probably going to leave just as scarred as you were if things turned out half as good as you had imagined. You mentally patted yourself on the back, that’s right think positive, optimism was the only way out of this.

A small tug on your fingers brought you out from your thoughts and you stared down at the two young boys standing beside you. The child whom had tugged on your fingers was staring up at you with his large doe eyes, his brother beside him holding onto a large dolphin toy – dolphin holder was Tom and the other Tim. You placed a smile on your face kneeling down to Tim’s height, tilting your head to the side before speaking.

“Yes?”

You watched as the boy opened his mouth wide before closing it suddenly, “hungry.”

‘Of course’ you thought - food. You sighed before placing your hands on your knees and lifting yourself from the floor, turning around quickly before power walking towards the kitchen. Their kitchen was large and spacious and newly renovated, the white and grey hues blinding you as you entered.  You had decided on cooking pasta coming to the conclusion that simple was the way to go. But before you began searching for the appropriate ingredients you made a bee-line to the pantry opening the door and pulling out a packet of cookies. After all something had to keep the children preoccupied whilst you cooked.

Thirty minutes later and you found yourself backed into a wall. Tim was on his back, red in the face with his limbs going up and down in violent chaotic strikes. Likely half the neighbourhood could hear him screaming as if you were beating him with a stick. All you had said was, "No." Apparently denying him a second cookie was as devastating to him as someone stealing your home and all your possessions would be to you. You watched as he suddenly stopped and stared at you before flipping over and banging his head into the floor. That did it. In seconds you had the cookie in his now sweaty hand. He flipped to his bottom and stuck it in his mouth, staring at you with sullen eyes under a forehead that was sure to bruise. What would his mother say? What would your mother say? You sank to the couch and ready to call it a night but then you remembered, where was child number two.

Quick as a flash you began sprinting throughout the house only to find him in the recreational room playing. You slowly dropped to the floor sighing in relief. Babysitting was much harder than you thought it would be. At that moment Tim entered, cookie in hand, now sporting a large grin as he shook the cookie in front of his brother’s face, teasing him. ‘Please no’ you thought a grimace already set on your face but Tom ignored him completely engrossed with his teddy bear.

“Do you know,” you began “why teddy bears never get hungry?”

Both the children turned to look at you, Tim enthusiastically shaking his head, whilst the other, Tom, peered at you.

You stifled a smile as you recited the line that always got you cackling, ‘because they are always stuffed!’

Lifting your head to the ceiling and laughing at your own joke, you suddenly felt like you were going insane, were kids supposed to be this difficult? Then you wondered if you were asking yourself a stupid question. They were children how could they not be?

Exhaling you got up from the floor and quickly jogged back to the kitchen. You quickly took out some bowls and placed the pasta you had cooked inside each one, ready to call the kids over to eat. It was at that moment you heard the doorbell ring and you silently thanked whoever it was from saving you from another tiring moment. If watching kids was this hard you didn’t want to even imagine the battle it would be to feed them.

Opening the door you are immediately find yourself face to face with a young man sporting a very large grin. He had dirty blonde hair however his brown roots were visible and already beginning to overtake the rest of his hair. His brown eyes were the opposite almost invisible as they were scrunched into slits as he smiled at you, full blown with all his teeth. Something about his smile made your stomach churn, he had the kind of smile that made you feel happy to be alive and just that little bit more human.

“Hi! I’m Chan!”

You nodded your head slightly, despite how good looking he was, you didn’t know who he was or why he was here.

“Ah! Right sorry, I just came here to help you out. It got pretty loud so I called up their mother and asked if I could help…she said yes.”

You immediately narrowed your eyes, your mouth opening slightly. Who did he think he was? Sure you had not done the best job thus far, but it was your first night! Suddenly you felt annoyed at him what if you lost this job because of that one phone call of his? Just as you were about to go off at him he stuck his hand into his pocket and brought out a note. You looked at the note your eyebrow raised.

“Take it, it’s from the Tim-tams mother.”

You slowly grabbed the note from him opening it before scanning through the message. Yes this was definitely Tim and Tom’s mother’s handwriting and signature. It was also a note that clearly said that Chan would be around to help you out with anything as he lived right next door.

Chan then held out his hand for you to take. You complied, but instead of shaking hands like everyone else, he brought your hand to his lips and placed a gentle kiss upon it. You felt your face flush warm and the hairs on your neck stand. Something fluttered in your stomach. You didn't know what that feeling was. You thought it was a bizarre sensation, but it wasn't unpleasant. In that moment you knew that if you spoke, your words would fumble and you wouldn't be able to make your usual witty remarks. Right there and then, you were at a loss for everything; no words, no breath, no thoughts. The only thing that came out of your mouth at that moment was your name, and even then it came out shaky and quiet. For once in your life, your breath had taken away by a complete stranger - by the eyes of a complete stranger and most definitely his smile.

Chan, although much older than he looked, was like babysitting a third child. You watched as the children laughed and played with him, jumping up and down at his jokes and laughing at the endless amounts of faces that he pulled. They particularly enjoyed his duck impressions, although you did give him the benefit of the doubt for those, not even you could keep the small smile off your face.

He always squatted down onto the floor, folding him arms to his sides like wings, and started flapping them, his ducks noises anything but accurate. You watched him as he made the impression for the tenth time as you quickly finished off feeding Tim before sending off on his way to join Tom in watching and cackling at Chan. They were both giggling before they stopped, simultaneously jumping onto him and making him fall.

You smirked slightly picking up the bowls of pasta and heading to the kitchen. Despite being initially quite annoyed at his appearance you couldn’t deny how much easier it had become to look after the children once he had arrived.

Leaving the kitchen you entered the living room to find Chan, Tim and Tom playing with some model dinosaurs. You were busy looking at the kids and didn’t notice Chan’s stare, however when you finally met his eyes you watched as his lips lifted upward. You watched the way his one dimple crinkled, the way his perfectly aligned teeth emerged and you definitely noticed the warm glow of happiness that his smile. His smile was a ray of sunshine and you felt as though you were getting burned.

Since that day whenever you were babysitting Tim and Tom, Chan would always come over at random intervals to help you out, never at cooking though, you had quickly realised that wasn’t his forte. However playing and keeping them occupied? He was an angel at.

One day he would help you take them to the park. Those mild spring days were days where the kids were so happy to run outside without jackets. Running to the swings, their legs moving wildly in order to pump themselves higher and higher. Chan and you would push them from behind talking.

“You must really like kids.”

“Haha yes, you noticed?” Chan didn’t look at you when he replied but by then you could imagine the smile on his face.

“I did.”

Chan glanced at your for a second before looking away again, “Kids are so innocent being with them destresses me out. I find it strangely relaxing.”

You snorted at his response, “I wish I could say the same.”

“You’re not that bad, if kids like you enough to be near you there’s no way you can be that bad.”

You turned to him smiling, “Thanks?”

He chuckles, “Yeah don’t worry it was a compliment.”

The next day you were babysitting Chan insisted that you take the kids out again, he not being a large fan of the indoor lifestyle. You had been surprised when he pulled out chalk from his pocket as he bent down on the sidewalk and began drawing. Far away from computers or television he drew squares on the sidewalk and numbered them – you were all going to play hopscotch. Stones on the sidewalk were easy to come by as you all had begun to play excitement oozing off everyone in waves. The sun had already begun beating down on all four of you but none of you had noticed.

As days like this became more frequent you found yourself enjoying them more and more, not just because you had come to love Tim and Tom, although you couldn’t deny the connection that had formed between the three of you, but because of Chan. His character – bubbly and loud always allowed you to the find joy in actions you didn’t realise could make a human happy. The way he could turn something so boring into the most attention-grabbing thing – cleaning, cooking and even a simple two minute walk. You adored the conversations you had with him, as you always remembered each word he spoke locking them away into your heart and mind, never wanting to let them go.

Chan had become a drug, your drug.

It was a day similar to this when Chan smiled at you with ease again, that big wide grin on his face making him more beautiful than ever.

“Call me if you need anything, and I mean it. Day or Night, I’m never too busy for you.”

Your heart flutters at his words, ready to fly out of your chest and into his hands. However you already know it is too late for that for your heart is already in his hands. He could squeeze it and you would feel the pain immediately, he had complete control but for some reason that didn’t scare you. You didn’t feel like a puppet and Chan your puppet master, you dangling completely limp on some strings as he moved and played you to his will – no, it wasn’t like that at all.

Rather you were a bird you had willingly given up some of its freedom, its ability to fly and sore, to be with him. The smile on your face wavered a little as you continued to smile at him, you were in love, deeply in love and it was completely by choice.

Maybe it was his smile at first, the way his eyes smiled along with his mouth or maybe it was the way he had played with the children or the manner in which he had been so willing to help you? Whichever it had been you had been mesmerised, you had fallen in love.

“You listening?”

You blinked rapidly, laughing a little “Sorry just spaced out for a bit.”

Chan hums, “I see, I do that too sometimes it’s nice.”

You stifled a laugh as you nodded.

“Anyway I was asking you if you wanted me to walk you home today?”

You loud “Yes!” escaped you and as his smile got wider, your cheeks got redder.

It was raining outside and every person that surrounded the two of you was moving at maximum speed with their head hanging down. The sound of feet on wet paving stones is almost lost against the splashing of the traffic, only the click of high heels still clear. 

You don’t notice when it was that you arrive at your place. You had been too preoccupied conversing that you thought time had stopped for the two of you and deep down you wish it had. Chan is already turning to look at you to say goodbye and the only thought in your head is ‘no, no, no, please don’t let this end!’

That’s when warm lips pressed against yours. Your eyes widen and it takes approximately one point three seconds for you to realise Chan is kissing you and a further three point eight seconds for you to realise that you’re kissing him back. Your eyes have fluttered shut and in the darkness you can see light exploding. You forget that you’re in front of an apartment building with people around, you forget everything, your only focus Chan. The soft moan he makes, the way he tastes like cotton candy, the way his hand has moved to your waist and the way he pulls back.

Your eyes are still shut, you’re too afraid to open them. But all it takes is Chan’s laughter the image of his smile in your mind for you to open them.

For sure you still even know weren’t sure what it was that had made you fall in love with Chan. Was it his eyes? His ability to handle children? His smile? His sunshine personality? Who knows? All you knew for sure was that you had fallen in love with him.

Fallen in love at first sight.