#i mean did you see the video of him completely missing the ball

[foul-milk]

x

alonso put down the marker boy

[johnnysuhbmarine]

What's my Problem? That's Easy, You.

Pairing: Haechan x reader Description: There’s no one on this planet that you hate more than your roommate’s best friend, Haechan, and he hates you back just the same. Though, sharing a best friend meant you had to see him all the time. When giving into one impulse desire ends with the two of you making out, it quickly develops into a friends (or enemies) with benefits relationship that the two of you agree to keep quiet about. Surely nothing could go wrong, right?  Content warnings: swearing, insults, talk about sex, Haechan in skinny jeans, Haechan’s girlfriend (later ex) is really mean to him, lots of eye rolling and head shaking, sexual harassment from reader’s professor, death (not a main character but it affects Haechan), lots of making out…taking off shirts…etc, Haechan is hot and arrogant but kind of a loser when it comes to y/n (eventually), mention of a choking kink, corpse lyrics, they have sex but it’s closed-door/SFW, Haechan makes one really poor decision, angst with a happy ending. Please let me know if I’ve missed anything. Word count: 21,108 :) A/n: Happy Haechan day! This has been in the works for entirely too long, but I’m excited to finally release a longer fic rather than one shots. This was only written because I had to do something after seeing Haechan in the ISTJ dance practice video cause he’s never left my mind since. Shout out to @fullsunstrawberry for listening to me talk about this fic instead of me actually writing it. Hey bestie, *waves* it’s finally finished :) Please enjoy, or don’t…I can’t tell you what to do. As always, feedback would be GREATLY appreciated :)

You open the door to your apartment-style dorm room, and when you see a figure on the couch, you assume it’s your best friend and roommate, Jessica. The two of you met in a class last year and you were over the moon at the idea of rooming with her for the rest of university rather than the roommates you currently had at the time. However, instead of laying eyes on your best friend, it’s a guy you’ve never seen before, casually sprawled out on your couch. You jump in surprise and furrow your eyebrows as you address his presence. “Wha- who are you?!”

He moves his gaze from the TV up to where you were, still at the door. “Haechan…Jessica’s best friend? I’m sure she’s talked about me. Who are you?” He replies in a condescending tone, looking completely unenthused to be talking with you and, within seconds, you were beginning to feel much the same. You shake your head, annoyed.

“No, I’m the one who lives here so I’m asking the questions. What are you doing here? How did you get in?” You ask, though now just wondering how long it would be until he left. 

He looks at you as though you were stupid, like talking to you was a waste of his time. Regardless, he gives you somewhat of an answer. “Are you dense? I’m hanging out with Jessica today. She let me in before she went back to go get ready.”

You freeze, anger coursing through your veins at the audacity of this guy. “I’m not dense. God, I hate people like you.” You spit back. Haechan raises his brows tauntingly. 

“‘People like me’ as in?”

“Arrogant dickheads whose brain power is just used to keep track of how many beds they’ve been in.” You finish, rolling your eyes before moving to set down your backpack and grab what you actually came back to your dorm for - your purse. You miss the devilish smirk that Haechan bears on his face, but you don’t miss the cocky laugh that escapes his figure before he speaks up again as you cross the room.

“Strange, I don’t remember bringing up my sex life before this. It must be on your mind then, huh?” He replies seriously, getting you to pause again. You ball your hands into fists, taking a few steps so that you were back in each other’s line of sight before arguing with him some more. 

“This is exactly what I’m talking about. You think everyone is thinking about sex with you. I hate to break it to you, but you’re not that attractive.” You say, more than glad when your last statement came out firm and serious…you typically weren’t good at lying.

Haechan lets out another laugh, stretching his arms up and bringing his hands together at the back of his head. “Yeah?” He questions lazily. “You’re not that hot yourself, sunshine.”

The nickname has your blood boiling. “Never call me that again. Besides, it doesn’t even make sense. You say I’m not hot and then call me sunshine. You know the sun is 15 million degrees Celsius, right?” You remark, but instead of making Haechan feel stupid, you seemingly gave him more ammunition.

“Oh,” he says as though he just figured out the answer to life. “So, you’re a nerd. I get it.” He adds, a stupid grin on his face.

You furrow your brows. “What?”

“You don’t get out much do you? Just spend all your time memorizing pointless facts and praying someone along the way finally has to find that attractive since you know you won’t pull a guy with your looks?”

You freeze, in a deadlocked stare with Haechan, both of your gazes filled with resentment. It wasn’t a pointless fact - you were an astronomy and physics double major, but saying that wouldn’t provide him with anything but more reason to call you a nerd, and the last thing you felt like doing was addressing the part about your looks. Instead, you shake your head, then motion to the purse you were now carrying rather than your backpack. “I’m going out right now, thank you very much. God. Tell Jessica to let me know whenever you’re going to be over. I’ll make sure to never be home for it. I don’t know how she can tolerate someone like you.” You spit out, turning to open the front door again.

“Right back at you.” Haechan replies, not letting up on his glare until the door’s completely closed again, then turning lazily back to the TV just as Jessica walks out from the bathroom.

“Were you on the phone? Who were you just talking to like that?” She questions, eyebrows raised, more than curious at the identity of who riled up Haechan like that.

Haechan shakes his head. “No, I wasn’t on the phone. Your roommate came in…and then left again.” 

Jessica’s face drops from curiosity to disbelief. “You were arguing with y/n like that?!”

Haechan shrugs. “If that’s the name of your irritating roommate, then yeah.” Jessica rolls her eyes, doing the mental calculations of how long this semester was going to feel with her two best friends hating each other.

When you get back from bar and trivia night with your friends a few hours later, your living room couch is back to just being occupied by Jessica. You smile at her as you walk in and lock the door behind you, but her face when you turn back around is more grave than you think you’ve ever seen.

“We’re gonna have to talk about you and Hyuck.” She says seriously, causing your eyebrows to furrow.

“Who the hell is Hyuck?” You laugh, and Jess just rolls her eyes playfully, nodding her head to motion for you to sit down next to her on the couch.

She looks you in the eyes intently. “Haechan.” She says, and your playful demeanor drops in an instant. “His real name is Donghyuck- but that’s besides the point. Look, he’s been my best friend for more than half of my life. He’s had an extra key to wherever I’m living every year of college so far…”

“No.” You answer firmly, and Jessica sighs.

“Y/n, he’s not a bad guy-” She starts, but you shake your head.

“I don’t care if he’s bad, I care that he’s the most aggravating person I’ve ever met. I don’t want him to have a key to this place.”

Jessica raises her eyebrows. “Not even if it doubles as a safety mechanism having someone other than the two of us be able to get in here should we need help?”

Technically, that could come in handy, but you don’t care. “No.” You reply, trying your best to be dismissive of the topic, but it’s apparently really important to Jessica.

“Y/n…” She says softly, and you roll your eyes with a huff of breath.

“Fine, but he’s not allowed to just come over whenever he’s bored. You two need to have set plans for him to use his extra key.” 

“Deal!” She says as she lights up, and you try to imagine yourself in her position - you’d probably want to keep the tradition of giving your best friend an extra key, too…though your other best friend wouldn’t be as annoying as Haechan. Regardless, you liked seeing Jessica happy, and if this was what it took, then so be it.

A week later, you and Jessica found yourselves sitting on the couch watching Bones, a typical after-homework routine. It became disgustingly less typical when your attention was turned to the sound of a key unlocking the door to your dorm. You hide your groan but nothing stops your eye roll as soon as you see Haechan. His gaze passes right over you as he greets Jessica, apparently his goal today was just to pretend you didn’t exist. You couldn’t be too peeved - the last thing you wanted to do was talk to him. However, you could be mad because you don’t remember Jessica saying anything about having plans with him today, and you watch as your one guideline for him having an extra key slips down the drain. 

Jessica doesn’t think anything of it, of course she wouldn’t, he’s one of her best friends. “Hey Hyuck, we’re watching Bones if you want to join.” She says neutrally. Somewhere along the line, Haechan must have figured out you weren’t just a demon in one of his nightmares, because you had the pleasure of being the subject of his reply.

“Not if she’s still going to be here, too.” He says sternly, causing you to scoff.

“I was here first, you dick.”

At your side, Jessica sighs, seeming to know exactly where this was going as Haechan’s eyes light with fire. “Okay idiot, and I was her friend first.” He spits back, making you clench your jaw…and a fist. A multitude of insults could be thrown your way and you would’ve brushed it off, but ‘idiot?’ That gets under your skin every time. Though, because you were Jessica’s best friend, she knew that, and immediately jumped to calm you down. 

“Okay…” She says, gently grabbing you by the shoulders and settling you back down into the couch. “Y/n, you are not an idiot, I promise. And Hyuck…” she continues, moving her flat gaze over to him. “You’re not a dick - though you make it very hard to defend you sometimes.” As Jessica finished, her gaze flicked back and forth between you and Haechan. The two of you shot your gaze off towards completely different walls of the dorm, refusing to look at the other even in the slightest. Jessica waited five seconds for either of you to say anything, but when that didn’t happen, she spoke up again.

“You guys are insufferable.” She begins with a sigh. “You know it’s my birthday this weekend. I was looking forward to being able to spend it with my best friends…all of them.” Her words are soft and you know she’s serious. Your shoulders drop.

“Where are you going with this?” You ask, immediately shutting your eyes in preparation for the answer you knew you wouldn’t want to face.

“Is it even in the realm of possibility for the two of you to get along for just one night? One dinner?” Jessica asks hopefully. You and Haechan finally whip your heads around to face Jessica, a matching look of terror on both of your faces.

“No.”

“Absolutely not.” You respond at the same time.

Jessica rolls her eyes, and you hate it because it meant your responses actually put her in a sour mood…and all you ever wanted as her best friend was for her to be happy. The horrible news is that she knew this, and used it to her advantage against the both of you. “If I put you on opposite sides of the table, could you at least be civil? For me.” She adds, the cherry on top of her already disheartened tone.

You and Haechan take one small glance at each other, enough to reach the same conclusion before you both respond. “Fine.” A smirk reaches Jessica’s face and you shake your head, getting up from the couch to instead find solace in your bedroom, letting Haechan take your spot without another word.

In what you thought was too little time, it was already the evening of Jessica’s birthday dinner. The dress code was fancier than you were used to, but all you had time for was one sigh at yourself in the mirror before Jessica was rushing you out the door. The two of you getting in the car must have been the trigger for her to start going over the game plan again, because the first thing she said as she pulled out of the parking lot of your dorm was, “there’s going to be thirteen of us there tonight. You and Haechan won’t be anywhere near each other, but even so, please just try and not hate him an overwhelming amount tonight.” 

You drop your head to face your lap with a laugh. “Don’t worry. You know me, you know the last thing on my mind is ruining your birthday. I’ll be good.” 

Her light laugh and nod in response let you know she believed you, and as she pulled to a stop light she looked your way for a moment. “You look gorgeous, by the way.” 

You roll your eyes but it doesn’t stop the smile from spreading across your face. “Look who’s talking.” You say seriously. Your best friend was always gorgeous, but times like these it was hard to do anything but stare. Jessica shakes her head.

“Well, you know. ‘Dress to impress’ and all that.” She replies, and you whip your head towards her, your words coming out as though you were frightened.

“Who are you trying to impress? Please don’t tell me it’s Haechan. Oh my God. No. I can stand the two of you being friends but you cannot date him or I might die.” 

At this, Jessica rolls her eyes, taking time to laugh rather than save you from your worst nightmare. “Y/n, how many times have I talked to you about guys in a romantic sense? Has any of it ever been about Haechan? No.” She answers for you. “It’s always been about…” This time she drags off and leaves you to fill in the blanks yourself. You finally get over the horror that could have faced you and your mind clears, causing you to light up.

“Mark! Wait, Mark is coming?!” You ask excitedly, making her laugh some more.

“Yes, Mark is coming. We are really good friends, after all. I’m just thinking if he sees me all dressed up, he’ll finally realize he has to ask me on a date sooner than later or someone else will. I’m getting tired of waiting for his dorky ass.” She replies, and you raise your eyebrows - you know she would wait forever for Mark, not that she necessarily should, but she would.

The two of you arrive at the restaurant to find out you were the first ones there for the party and start on checking in for the reservation. Then, as you both turn around from the host stand, you’re greeted with Mark and Haechan walking in together. You’re sure Mark looked great, but you would be lying if you said you even took one look at him. Instead, all of your attention was on Haechan, his white button-up tightly hugging his body, the look complete with rolled-up sleeves. You did your best not to stare, but it wouldn’t have mattered anyways, he wasn’t paying any attention to you. Instead, he was now entirely engrossed in conversation with Mark and Jessica. You don’t even know if he knew you were here, and in that moment you realized tonight was going to prove a lot harder than you originally thought, because you hated Haechan an overwhelming amount. 

Thankfully, the rest of the party arrived soon after and you were all quickly seated, Jessica in the middle with you and Haechan at complete opposite ends as promised. Instead, you got to sit and talk with Winter and Jisung. Overall, you really couldn’t complain. Winter was one of the first friends you made on campus. On the other hand, you and Jisung had been partnered for a project one semester that saw the two of you sharing way too many 2:00 am coffees as you tried to squeeze the semester project into the span of two weeks - your friendship with Jisung feels more so like the result of trauma bonding, but you wouldn’t have traded it for the world. 

That being said, dinner went pretty smoothly. After eating your main course, you excused yourself to use the bathroom, but you didn’t even make it ten steps before you realized you were being trailed. As you step into the hallway where the doors to the restrooms were, you turn around to face Haechan. “Really? You couldn’t wait until I was back at the table?” You ask plainly. Haechan furrows his brows.

“I didn’t plan this. I didn’t even realize you had gotten up from the table. I wasn’t paying any attention to you.” He remarks, and you roll your eyes.

“Right, all you ever do is pretend I don’t exist. How could I forget?” You say sarcastically.

Haechan scoffs, shaking his head. “Well, all you do is hate me for existing, so I feel like it’s a pretty even balance. Besides, every time I acknowledge your existence, it ends up like this.” 

You pause for a moment, glaring at Haechan. Was it truly easier to pretend you didn’t exist rather than deal with the fact that you do. “I hate you.” You finally say. Haechan feigns surprise, moving a hand over his heart as if he’s just been shot. Though, his face neutralizes in an instant.

“I hate you, too. Can we get on with why we’re actually here now?” He asks, nodding his head towards the men’s room as he looks towards you with disinterest. You clench your jaw, not bothering to give him a verbal response as you walk into the ladies room, where you finally let yourself breathe again. 

The rest of the dinner party went by quickly, and suddenly it was just you and Jessica back in her car. “Well, that went really well!” She said, beaming. You could hardly match the enthusiasm, though.

“Yeah…”

She chanced a look over at you, eyebrows furrowed. “Did it not go really well?”

“It was fine.” You reply softly, shaking your head. You didn’t want to ruin the night now after appearing to have successfully made it through dinner.

“You two weren’t even around each other.” She says, her underlying tone letting you know how confused she was.

“We ran into each other by the bathrooms.” You say, shrugging in your seat.

Jessica grimaces. “Didn’t go well, I’m guessing.”

You let out a heavy, defeated sigh. “I don’t understand what his problem is.”

“He doesn’t have a problem.” Jessica replies with a light laugh, and you shoot your gaze over to her in question.

“Really? So, he’s just always a dick?” You ask, trying your best to keep your tone light while also letting her know that, if that’s normal Haechan, you were harshly judging her choice of friends.

Jessica smiles, a small laugh coming out that’s more so just an exhale. “No…but maybe the issue is just the fact that you hate him. Maybe if you were a little nicer to him, he would calm down, too.” She says, doing her best to be convincing, but you just shake your head.

“I don’t want to be nice to him. Not ever.” You say firmly, and surprising you, Jessica just shrugs lightly.

“Well, I tried.”

You frown, looking over at her in the driver’s seat. “Sorry…it was a really fun birthday party, though.” You say, hoping she knew that Haechan didn’t ruin your day and praying that in turn, you didn’t ruin hers.

There seemed to be no reason to worry, though, because at the mention of the actual dinner party, Jessica lit back up. “Oh, you don’t need to tell me. I had a blast, and you and Haechan took care of all your fighting off-screen. Doesn’t bother me any.” She replies with a laugh, getting you to lighten up, too. Creating cause for excitement in itself, conversation for the rest of the drive back had nothing to do with Haechan. Instead, you learned that Mark did, in fact, figure out that his window of opportunity was closing and now he and Jessica have an official date tomorrow. In other words, the two of you squealed the rest of the way home.

It was close to a week later when you next saw Haechan again. It took Mark and Jessica one date to realize that they wanted to make things official, so you ended up seeing Mark around much more often than Haechan for a little bit. Though on Friday, the familiar turn of the key in the door was heard while you and Jessica were watching Bones in the living room, and you knew your mortal enemy was making his comeback after six days. 

Jessica paused the TV and you immediately got up from the couch, bringing your empty bowl of ramen to the kitchen so you could start on cleaning it. Then, Haechan finally made his way through the front door. You don’t bother looking up to greet his presence, he never did for you anyways. However, in an instant, Jessica was off the couch and grabbed Haechan by the wrist, stopping him from sitting down. 

“You look like you’ve been crying.” She says as Haechan turns to look at her.

He shakes his head solemnly. “No, I’m fine. They just wanted me to try a new brand of contacts since my other ones got discontinued, but these irritate my eyes. I just haven’t had the chance to go back and switch brands again, and I’m not really in the mood to pay for more contacts and waste all the money I just spent on these.”

“Take them out.” She replies instantly, and Haechan lets out something of a forced laugh.

“Well that’s the thing, these are weekly contacts, and I don’t have a case or solution with me to store them…and I don’t want to buy all that just for me to possibly switch back to daily contacts again soon.”

Jessica lets his wrist drop, seemingly understanding. From the kitchen, you shake your head, not remembering when you became so invested in the first place. In an instant, you finish with your bowl and head to your room without a word. 

You lasted in your bedroom doing homework for about an hour, which, everything considered, you thought was pretty good, but then you couldn’t stand the constant noise anymore from the other side of your bedroom wall. You threw all of your things into your backpack, getting up and storming out of the room.

“Agh! I hate his guts! I’m going to the library.” You proclaim loudly as you step back out towards the living room. 

On the couch, Haechan looks over at Jessica. “She talks about me a lot, doesn’t she? I didn’t even do anything this time.” He says with a laugh, but you just glare at him.

“Grow up, not everything is about you.” You spit out before heading towards the door.

Jessica waits for you to be completely gone before she ever answers Haechan. “Ha, she’s actually talking about our neighbor on the right. Their bedrooms share a wall and he has an unrivaled sex drive. I think she was traumatized the first time she heard…it. Though now, it’s just extra noise and it irritates the hell out of her when she’s trying to study.” Haechan’s jaw drops in surprise, the corners of his mouth wavering as he tries not to laugh. Jessica shakes her head, a smile coming onto her face. “It’s a little bit funny.” She says, getting Haechan to finally break into a smile too before continuing their conversation from before you left. Though, with it being a Friday, it wasn’t too much longer before they themselves were out of the house, though their destination was the bar instead of the library.

The next few nights came and went, until suddenly it was Tuesday again, when Haechan and Jess typically grabbed dinner together. You were doing homework at the coffee table, figuring a change in scenery would help you focus - that and the fact that your neighbor on the right was having another fun night. Jessica was still getting ready in her room when Haechan walked in through the front door. From the couch, you move your gaze towards him, figuring out he’s been holding out on you when it comes to his clothes. Today, he showed up in a black t-shirt, totally normal and fine, though said shirt was tucked into blue skinny jeans, not totally normal nor fine. 

“You’re staring.” Haechan says, bringing you back to real life. You shake your head, finally meeting his disinterested eyes.

“You don’t need to wear skinny jeans ever again.” You say flatly, and Haechan just scoffs before letting a smirk cross his face.

“My girlfriend wouldn’t take kindly to you telling me what to do.” He replies, and the news of a girlfriend only shocks you for a second before you snap back.

“Girlfriend? Wow, maybe you’ll get less annoying now that you’ve found someone willing to suck your dick.” You say, your face lighting up, although your tone conveyed how little hope you actually had in that happening.

Haechan narrows his eyes at you, his smirk turning evil. “Oh, I have a long, distinguished list of willing volunteers. Have you found anyone willing to suck yours yet?”

“Very funny.” You reply monotonously. Haechan just rolls his eyes, about hitting his limit of words spoken to you for the day.

“Where’s Jess?” He asks, his typical disinterest when it comes to you now back in his tone. You shake your head before nodding it in the direction of her room, not wanting to bother with actually talking to him anymore, either.

The next week, a casual Thursday night that you and Jessica thought you had to yourselves was disrupted with a soft knock on the door, and Jessica moved from the couch to open it, promptly stepping back to let Haechan inside, and you hate the fact that his loophole to not using his front door key unless he actually had plans with Jessica was just to knock instead. He walks in normally, but Jessica grabs his forearm with raised eyebrows. “Why aren’t you wearing your glasses?” She asks, considering the conversation from a little over a week ago.

You watch from the couch as Haechan visibly gulps, dropping his head to try and cover up his saddened expression. “...she doesn’t like when I wear them.” He states, and immediately you and Jessica both know he’s talking about his girlfriend. Despite never meeting her, you hated her guts. Ever since she got with Haechan, all she’s done is be toxic. You know so, because Haechan ends up at your dorm basically every night seeking comfort from Jessica after his girlfriend spends their dates degrading him the entire time.

You immediately pop up from the couch and storm to your room, slamming the door behind you, though that was more so accidental. How Haechan’s girlfriend treated him was none of your business, and not worth you getting worked up over, but his constant need to decompress in Jessica’s presence meant you had to see him a lot more than you would have ever liked, and that’s where you started having problems. If his girlfriend was actually nice and cared about him, you probably would have never had to see him again because he’d be spending so much time with her…it was your luck that the opposite happened. 

Almost two weeks passed of seeing Haechan every single day, and you started just strictly staying in your room any time past 5:00 to try and avoid seeing him completely. Though, when the next Tuesday rolled around, you were the one to open the door in response to the firm knocks. You knew Haechan and Jess were going out to grab dinner tonight, it was a weekly thing, so you didn’t understand why he couldn’t just use his key. In an odd turn of events, the first thing Haechan says as he steps through the door frame is ‘thank you.’ You stand there in shock, and he takes it as a sign that he needed to elaborate. “Sorry, I didn’t come from my house so I don’t have my extra key to this place.” He explains, but now you’re hardly listening to his words. Instead, taking the proximity provided by neither of you leaving the doorway to study his face with a frown. 

“Are you wearing makeup?” You question with furrowed brows. Surprising you, Haechan ducked his head, and his voice was weaker than you’ve ever heard as he responded.

“She said I have too many flaws on my skin right now and it was embarrassing her.” Your eyes widen. His girlfriend. His girlfriend, the reason he’s stopped wearing glasses and apparently the reason he has foundation and concealer covering his face right now. Your jaw clenches involuntarily. This is where you draw the line.

“Fuck that.” You spit out, grabbing Haechan’s wrist and dragging him to the bathroom with you.

He glances towards your physical contact before looking back up at you with scrunched eyebrows. “Y/n, what are you doing?” He asks as you place tons of different items on the counter.

“Taking off your makeup.” You reply sternly, and his eyes go wide.

“No, you can’t. Please.” He begs, and your heart chips a little. Your hand freezes above the water tap, sighing deeply in place of turning on the sink.

“Did you want to put it on or did she make you?” You ask softly, and Haechan’s face drops once again.

“She made me...” He replies in defeat, and you immediately turn the water on, much to his dismay. “You can’t take it off! I’m seeing her again tonight for something at her sorority!” His plea falls on deaf ears as you let the water warm up and start rubbing cleanser onto his face. You finally finish with your typical skin care routine for him, taking a step away to hang the washcloth to dry and start on putting your products away.

“If you want to wear makeup, that’s fine. But don’t ever come over here in makeup she’s made you put on again, or I’ll give you a reason to need concealer.” You say offhandedly as you finish and walk out of the bathroom with Haechan in toe.

“Did you just threaten to punch me?” He asks, a scoff accompanying it.

“Of course I did. I despise you. You’re an annoying prick, but I don’t need you feeling bad about yourself for any reason other than that…especially for something like this.” 

Haechan stares at you bewildered, trying to figure out if your words just meant what he thinks they did. “Y/n-”

“Have fun getting dinner with Jessica.” You cut him off, not giving his curiosity the satisfaction of an explanation. “Don’t worry about your girlfriend after…she won’t even notice. I gotta go do homework. Jess should be ready in a minute or so.” Then you were behind your closed bedroom door, fists clenched at your sides as you let anger run through your body. It wasn’t long before you heard Jessica come out of her room and start up a conversation with Haechan, and that was when you finally let yourself relax a little. 

Haechan was the one to start intentionally avoiding you after that. You figure you probably crossed a line that enemies don’t, but you don’t regret it. You and Haechan weren’t friends anyways, so it’s not like him now avoiding you really changed anything - it just made your own efforts to avoid him even easier.

So, about a month passed of you and Haechan avoiding each other, and when that wasn’t an option, sending each other nasty glares and rude remarks. You tried not to start anything, seeing as his girlfriend was doing enough damage to his mental health in the first place, but you still couldn’t back down and let him win if he started anything. Nevertheless, it was your birthday today and you were determined to make it as great as it could be, starting with not having Haechan anywhere near your thoughts. Instead, you were more focused on the three classes you had today, almost all of your brain power going towards making up scenarios for how your conversation with your last professor would go. 

As always, Dr. Choi never let your class out early, and you’re thankful you didn’t have a class following this or you would never get the time to ask him questions after. From your seat in the middle of the lecture hall, you made your way down to where his desk was set up, completely going against traffic as the rest of the students rushed towards the exits. As your footsteps grew closer to him, he looked up from his desk, a smile flashing across his face. 

“Ah, y/n. You look…” He starts, and you freeze as you withstand his eyeing you up and down. You should’ve known better than to imagine a case where this conversation went any differently. Dr. Choi habitually let his gaze linger on you too long, even if you were in a big t-shirt and jeans, but now here you were dressed up for your birthday. “Are you here to ask for extra credit?” He continues, and you slightly cringe in disgust. You were too used to it to have a bigger reaction, and you knew that if you didn’t play it cool, he would be uncooperative anyways.

Instead, you just shake your head lightly as if nothing was out of the ordinary. “No, I was wondering if you could open up the exam again so I can see which questions I got wrong.” You reply seriously. You got a 96 on the exam in question, and you’re sure no one who gets a 96 on a quantum mechanics exam ever takes the time to care about those 4 lost points…but it almost bothered you more than if you failed. You weren’t unprepared - all that a 96 shows is that there’s something you genuinely did not know, and not being able to look at the answers after grades were posted wasn’t helping you figure out what that was.

Dr. Choi’s reply is fast, monotone…deliberate. “Depends on if you open up your legs.” 

“Dr.-” You start flatly, but he’s quick to cut you off as his eyes light with fire.

“Into roleplay, are you?” He asks with a smirk, and if you were any less used to his behavior, you would have thrown up. Instead, you roll your eyes.

“No, Dr. Choi. You have a doctorate, so I’m being respectful. Is there any use in getting you to let me see the exam again?” You ask, staring him dead in the eye. His face loses its passion as he turns stoic, though maybe you could sense his disappointment in your dismissal.

“I told you my requirements.” He says somberly, and you just nod your head.

“Great. Thank you for your time.” You reply. Your walk out of class is natural in manner, but immediately once you get outside, your shoulders fall as you drop your head into your hands. You stand like that for only a moment to regain your composure, and then start up on your walk to your dorm. You had to get over it quickly and act like nothing was wrong. You still haven’t told Jessica about this professor. He was one of the heads of the physics department, so you’ve had to deal with him all the way up to now, and you’d have to deal with him after this course. You didn’t want Jessica to get all angry if there wasn’t anything you could do about it. So instead, you place a light smile back on your face and let yourself relax, knowing the rest of your birthday consists solely of time with your best friend - no vile professors, and no Haechan.

Another week goes by without a hitch, and so on Friday, you had spent most of the evening on the couch watching Bones. You had no homework and Jessica was out on a date with Mark for the night, not planning to get back until after 11:00. So, you figured you would occupy the living room rather than be huddled inside your bedroom hiding from Haechan if he had no reason to come over anyways. Though, it was only a little after 6:00 when the door to your dorm began to open, and you instinctively roll your eyes, knowing the only person it could be. “Jessica isn’t here, and frankly I’m gonna have to talk to her about you having an extra key-” You start as he opens the door, but then you finally see the state he’s in and worry begins to overtake your annoyance. “Haechan?!” You question, his tear-stained face a completely new sight to you.

His gaze has yet to be picked up off the floor, as he stands in complete defeat, his body shaking with sobs. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know if she would be here or not, and I couldn’t take the time to text and ask.” 

You’re immediately up off the couch, though you’re still frozen in your spot a few feet away from him. “You’re scaring me. What’s wrong?” You ask, trying to make your voice sound calmer than you felt in an attempt to get at least some control of the situation.

Haechan shakes his head. “No, you’re right. I shouldn’t have barged in. I shouldn’t be here.” He states, turning around to walk right back out of the door. He’s stopped though, by your firm tone.

“Lee Donghyuck, what is wrong?” This time, your question comes out more as a demand, and it’s enough to make Haechan freeze in his spot, dropping his hand that was reaching for the door knob. 

“My dad got in a car accident. He didn’t even make it through the ambulance ride.” He says, his words cut up by his cries. Your world stops, and you just stare at him. You were already really bad at comforting people, and this was the last thing you were expecting to hear, not to mention the last person you expected to be confiding in you.

“Hyuck…” You begin, but all you can do is fumble for words you know won’t come. Haechan gives you the pleasure of cutting you off.

“I didn’t know where else to go.” He replies, now fully crying again as he brings his hands up to cover his face. His sobs only silence for a second as he registers your touch. He brings his hands down to actually get visual confirmation that you were hugging him. You were standing in your living room and hugging your worst enemy, but you couldn’t just do nothing anymore. Your face pressed into his chest, you mumble out the best response you can muster.

“Here is just fine. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, and I’m sorry Jessica isn’t home to be the one to comfort you. I’m sorry it’s me, instead. I know you probably have other friends but…I’m watching Bones if you want to join. We can watch, like, an entire season if you want, and I’ll order your favorite food. If you want. I just- don’t really want you alone right now, and I’m scared that if I kick you out, you won’t ever find your way back out of your bedroom.”

At your words, Haechan seems to settle a bit more into the hug, using one sleeve of his hoodie to dry up his tears before replying. “Bones sounds good. What season are you on?”

You pick your head back out of his chest, staring up at him with a weak smile, hoping it conveyed just how grateful you were that he accepted your offer. “Just started season four. Come on.” 

You let go from the hug and motion for Haechan to find a place on the couch while you headed for the kitchen. While Haechan had been over more than you would have ever liked, your constant avoidance of him meant you had no clue what he actually liked. Instead, you stared at the open pantry with a frown before deciding to just grab all of your favorite snacks to share in hopes that he, too, enjoyed at least one of them. 

You place them all down on the coffee table in front of the couch, but suddenly you feel too awkward to say anything. So, you just make hesitant eye contact with Haechan for a second or two before he breaks away to actually look at everything you brought over. Though, because you’re still staring, you manage to catch the faint “thank you” that left his lips as he reached for a bag of chips. Despite yourself, the corners of your mouth perk up in a soft smile as you finally move to sit down next to him on the couch…a few feet away, but next to him.

It would have been completely quiet had the show not been on. Apparently you and Haechan were still really bad at being even acquaintances. Though, with the introduction of a new character, you quickly found your in.

“God, she’s had like, two minutes of screen time and I already hate Agent Perotta.” You say with a slight laugh, trying not to let it show how nervous you were to talk to him. Instead of glaring at you or pretending your input was the last thing he needed, though, he nodded a bit, smiling.

“Thank God you said it, because I hate her, too, but as a man I feel like saying it out of the blue would be distasteful.” He replies, and before you could stop it, you let out a heavy exhale of laughter. Immediately, your hand reaches up to cover your face, but Haechan had already whipped his head towards you. “Did you just find me funny?” He questions, the smile on his face growing.

You quickly shake your head, though your face wears a matching smile. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. This conversation is about Agent Perotta.” You say, looking back at the TV.

Haechan flashes his eyebrows up for a moment before redirecting his attention back to the show as well. “Yeah, I hate that bitch.” He says flatly, getting you to nod.

“I think this is the first thing we’ve ever agreed on.” You say, letting the shock factor show in your voice.

Haechan shakes his head, smiling in disbelief. “Should’ve known it was going to be about hating someone. Pretty sure you hate everyone except Jessica. I mean, what are we at now?” He teases, beginning to count them off on his fingers. “Me, Agent Perotta, your neighbor on the right, your professor who makes sexual comments about you…”

Immediately you jump up from the couch, staring at him with the widest of eyes. “WHAT?! How do you know about that?”

You watch as Haechan just shakes his head quickly, as if his previous statement would erase like an etch-a-sketch. “Oh, sorry. He’s on my list of people I hate. Mixed them up.” He replies like it’s nothing, and you don’t know how he’s being so nonchalant about this.

“Hyuck, we don’t share that class, how do you know about that professor? I haven’t even told Jessica.” You ask again, the panic beginning to seep through your words some more. You didn’t know how he knew, you didn’t know if he was going to tell Jessica, you didn’t know if it would change the way he viewed you, you didn’t know why Haechan’s view of you mattered because it was already shit anyways…all of it made you anxious. 

Haechan hangs his head back, staring up at you from where he still sat lazily on the couch. “Please don’t worry about it. Forget I said anything.” He responds, his orders strict but his voice calm. You just shake your head once more.

“Hyuck-” You start, but this time he rolls his eyes, finally getting fed up with the conversation.

“I just wanna watch Bones! Can we make this day about me again? Hello, I’m sad and in need of a light-hearted distraction in the form of crime-solving.” He says, his volume already much louder than it just previously was. Typically, his whining would just make you want to punch him, but he was right, at least a little bit. He was the one with the bigger stressor, and while it wasn’t a competition in the first place, you did want this to be a comforting time for him, not one where you grilled him over his knowledge of your personal life.

“Agh, you’re so difficult!” You shout back, though placing yourself down on the couch again anyways.

Haechan flashes a quick smile in response. “Great! You hate me, we hate Agent Perotta, we’re back on track. Press play.” He says, moving his arms out towards the TV in a showy fashion that you hated. Though, with Agent Perotta back on screen, it did bring up another truth.

“...I hate you less than I hate her.” You say quietly, but with your focus back on Bones, you miss Haechan’s smartass smirk falling into something softer in response. Then, Bones is the only sound to fill the dorm again.

A few hours and entirely too much takeout later, the front door opens again as Jessica walks through. 

“Hey y/n, I’m home-” She starts, locking the door, but then she finally turns around to the living room and her jaw drops. “Hyuck?!”

“Hey!” You reply as though nothing were amiss. Jessica looks back and forth between you and Haechan more times than you could count, her eyebrows furrowed.

“You two are hanging out??” She questions, and Haechan just shrugs.

“I had a bad day. Needed some comfort.” He replies neutrally, but Jessica’s eyes just grow wider.

“So you decided to hang out with y/n? Who you typically can’t stand to be in a room with for more than 0.5 seconds.”

You shake your head with a small laugh. “Jessica, he came over to see if you were here.” You say, stating the obvious. It doesn’t help Jessica’s shock.

“But when he saw it was just you, he stayed?” She asks, and you’re pretty sure you saw the mania start to set in behind her eyes.

“We’ve been watching Bones.” Haechan says with a smile.

Jessica shakes her head in disbelief. “And neither of you find this strange?”

“We hate Agent Perotta.” You reply with a smirk, and suddenly a wave of clarity washes over Jessica.

“Ah, common ground. Makes more sense.” She says calmly as she starts making her way to the couch as well. “Well, mind if I join-” She starts, but then Haechan’s phone begins to ring and he’s up off the couch in an instant.

“My mom is calling. I have to go.” He says, and the sadness and worry that you had managed to kill over the past few hours reappears in his voice in no time.

“Hyuck?” Jessica questions, but he just shakes his head in dismissal.

“I have to go.” He restates, and then makes his way to the door. You watch from the couch as he starts to leave, probably to go drive to meet his mom - this late at night…driving. Panic erupts in your system.

“Haechan,” you cry out, scrambling off the couch. He whips his body back around to face you rather than the door. Without thinking, you wrap Haechan in a hug, speaking softly into his shoulder. “Be safe, okay?” 

Haechan lets out a small sigh, knowing exactly where your mind was at. Gently, he places his arms around you, as well. “I hate you less than I hate her, too.” He says softly in place of replying to your last statement. You freeze in his arms and he’s the first to let go, his phone beginning to ring again and reminding the both of you he had somewhere to be. He’s quickly out the front door, leaving you to just turn back around towards Jessica on the couch. 

“What was that?” She asks, completely confused again. You just shake your head.

“It’s really not for me to tell you. Haechan just…got really bad news today. But you’re his actual best friend, he’ll tell you as soon as he can, I’m sure. Then you can take over my role and do a much better job at comforting him or so help me God.” You reply, a small laugh accompanying the end of your sentence before you continue. “I’m gonna go get ready for bed, if you don’t mind. I hope your date with Mark went really well.” Jessica just nods from the couch, a little dumbfounded by your behavior if you had to guess, but you couldn’t bring yourself to explain any further. 

Within the following week, Haechan had told Jessica about his dad. However, he also told her another piece of news, which Jessica immediately relayed to you once she got back from hanging out with him. 

“Hey, just thought I would let you know that Haechan and his girlfriend broke up.” She says after entering your dorm. You look up at her from the kitchen table, eyes wide.

“What?!” You question with more emotion than you could have imagined, but with the situation with his dad, was this really when she had to break it off and hurt him further. Jessica doesn’t answer your question, probably because it was incredibly vague. Instead, she moves on to her actual point of telling you.

“So, he might be over even more often than before.” She says carefully, trying to gauge how pissed you were gonna be at that piece of news. You just shake your head.

“Did he say why they broke up?” You don’t know why you asked, you didn’t care, but Jessica didn’t seem to think any of it was out of the ordinary.

“No, but he’s pretty torn up about it, which sucks because we both know how horrible she was to him.” Right, regardless of what horrible timing this was because of his already sad state, his girlfriend, or ex, probably wasn’t helping anyways while they were together. You figure Haechan dodged a bullet with the relationship ending sooner rather than later. You nod in response, speaking through a sigh as the past memories and stories about his ex replayed in your mind.

“Yeah…”

Jessica seems to be doing the same, but she shakes out of it quicker than you. “I think I’m gonna take him out to the bars next weekend or something. I don’t have a lot of free time right now, but I figure he could use a night out.” She says neutrally, and you nod, letting her know you probably couldn’t come up with a better idea.

“Yeah.”

Then two weeks later, you were telling Jessica to be safe as she left for the bars with Haechan. She extended the invite, but you figured Haechan probably had enough of you trying to support and comfort him, so you just told her that you’d stay home and to call if they needed a ride back. At one in the morning, that call came, but it was from Haechan rather than Jessica, and as you pick up, you forget the entire reason they went out tonight, your mind running on autopilot once you see his name light up your phone screen.

“What do you want?” You ask, your disgust at his call hardly hidden in your voice. You immediately feel bad though when he responds and his tone is much gentler than the one you used for him.

“Hey, Jess was the one who apparently needed to unwind tonight, so I let her do all the drinking at the bar…too much, apparently. I was gonna drive her back to your place but she was concerned about ruining whatever image she thinks you have of her in your head, so instead of her getting sick at your place, I let her get sick at mine. She just got in the shower, but I gotta be honest, now that I’m home, I’m pretty exhausted. Do you think you could come grab her?” He asks, and for a moment, you smile softly. You could tell Jessica had been stressed the past few weeks, truly probably needing the night out more than Haechan, and it was comforting knowing that he didn’t drink so that he could look out for her at the bar and back home. 

You nod your head before realizing he couldn’t see it, and then you speak up, much softer than before. “Yeah, I’ll be there soon. Send me your address.” You say, then hanging up and grabbing your things to head his way.

Haechan opens the door in response to your knocking, the familiar bored expression back on his face. “You got here quicker than I thought you would…Jessica is still in the shower.” He states, as though your early presence was a huge inconvenience. You don’t pay attention to his tone, though. Your mind focuses on his clothes as you unintentionally scan his body up and down.

“Skinny jeans, huh?” You question with a straight face, meeting his eyes again as he smirks down at you.

“Well, I knew there was a high probability I’d see you tonight so I thought it would be fun to torment you-” You don’t know what came over you, but surely it wasn’t your fault. You told him not to wear skinny jeans ever again, and he did so just to spite you. Somehow, it all made him really hot, and you find yourself cutting off his words as you press your lips to his. You pull away quickly, shock covering both your faces as you simply stare at each other, eyes wide and breath heavy as you process what you just did. 

You swallow hard, trying to remedy your suddenly dry throat. Your courage to look him in the eyes diminishes within milliseconds, and you drop your face towards the floor, which seemed to irritate Haechan to no end because as soon as your gaze met the floor, he walked the one step back over to you, grabbing your jaw to the point where it almost hurt and forcing you to look his way again. Then he kissed you harshly, and you fell right in line. 

There was no romance in the kiss. Instead, something like lust had your tongues fighting for dominance with each other as your hands tried to memorize every part of Haechan’s body. The two of you moved with intensity, stumbling around the room because you couldn’t possibly stay still with the amount of passion embedded in this kiss. The first time you remember breaking away wasn’t so you could take a breath. You were fine never needing oxygen again. Instead you broke away to pull his shirt up over his head, discarding it to the side without much care. You immediately press your lips back onto his, but he’s quick to pull back this time, looking at you with a shake of his head as his eyes move back and forth between your two bodies.

“No fair!” He complains, causing you to roll your eyes before removing your own shirt to reveal your black lace bra because the universe was apparently on your side when you got dressed today. You watch his adam’s apple bob up and down as he takes you in, a heavy sigh escaping his lips. “No fair…” He whispers before rushing to close the distance between you two again, but this time, his lips don’t land on yours. Instead, they find your chest as his hands squeeze at your waist. You throw your head back in response, giving Haechan the ability to leave a trail of kisses from your chest up your neck, stopping in the middle to nip at somewhere near your collarbone before his continued exploration, and you thank God that Jessica has the shower running to cover up the moan it produced from you. He kisses up your neck and jaw before eventually finding his way to your lips again, and you waste no time getting your tongue back in his mouth. Before you know it, he’s picking you up, just to throw you right back down on the couch. Your eyes open in surprise, but then the sight of him on top of you has you unable to function. For some godforsaken reason, he’s able to read you completely, chuckling as he looks at your breathless expression. 

The sound of his laugh gets you to break out of it, and you rush to connect your lips with his again. Your hands trace up and down his bare back, your nails sending goosebumps to his entire body as they claw at certain spots. Your hands get caught in his belt loops, causing a smile to cover your face and impeding your ability to kiss him, but you couldn’t help finding humor in the fact that his skinny jeans caused all of this. You shake your head, pulling away from the kiss for a moment and making Haechan pout before he moves to suck on your neck again.

“God, you have such a slutty waist for no reason.” You spit out in feigned anger, hands resuming their roaming over his figure. Haechan pops up so his eyes could meet yours. A playful smirk on his face covering up the split second glance you got of him looking ready to devour you.

“You love my slutty waist.” He responds confidently, and while you would love to prove him wrong, you can’t bring yourself to. So, you open and close your mouth, fighting for words that would never come out, and for a moment, Haechan looks down at you with something resembling fondness written over his features, though you were positive you were making that up. He shakes his head softly with a smile before leaning back down to kiss you, and once his lips were on yours, his entire demeanor was coated with a certain roughness and desire again that had you weak.

The only thing that pulled the two of you out of your bubble was the sound of the shower turning off, and suddenly your background noise was gone, making everything feel more real. Haechan broke out of the kiss with wide eyes, rushing to get off from on top of you as he grabbed your shirts from the floor, throwing yours over to you as he fumbled to put his own shirt back on. 

“Don’t you dare tell anyone about this.” He says sternly, running a hand through his hair to get it back to somewhat normal. You rush to put your shirt back on, bounding off the couch before Jessica could walk out of the bathroom.

“I wasn’t planning on it.” You reply in kind, refusing to acknowledge the pit in your stomach that formed as Haechan gave an uninterested eyebrow flash and went to busy himself in the kitchen, preparing to act normal for whenever Jessica eventually walked out so you could take her home. 

It was only three days later when you saw Haechan again. More excited than usual for their Tuesday dinner, Jessica opened the door before Haechan could even use his key. “Hey!” She greets with a smile which he reflects right back. 

“Hey!” He replies, actually stepping into your living room. 

Jessica immediately starts talking about how she’s not even close to being ready yet but was swamped with homework and couldn’t wait for the forced study break that came with dinner, even though she had to go make herself look presentable first. Haechan nodded along, but you’re not sure he was listening at all, because even though Jessica was right in front of him, his gaze kept wandering over to you on the couch before he could noticeably snap his focus back to Jessica. You tried to stay natural, that way if Jessica actually followed his gaze over to you, she wouldn’t immediately suspect something. Though, when Jessica did finally go back to start getting ready for dinner, you jumped off the couch and dragged Haechan by the collar towards the corner of the room furthest away from hers. 

“You have to stop being so weird around me. Jessica is gonna know something happened.” You say sternly, though you kept your voice at a near whisper just in case you weren’t as far away from Jessica as you thought. Your eyebrows furrowed as you looked over Haechan. He had never been this uncool before. 

Haechan shakes his head, keeping his volume low though his words were more frantic than yours.  “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you.” You take a small step back in surprise, finally letting go of your grip on his shirt. That was probably the last thing you were expecting him to say, but you would be lying if you said it didn’t make your heart jump up in your throat. 

“So…” You start, begging for clarification on what that meant.

Haechan moves his head down so that he’s able to make better eye contact with you, so that you could see the seriousness in his gaze. “So can we maybe see each other when Jessica isn’t getting ready in the next room?” 

You swallow hard at the question. “That sounds like a lot of sneaking around.”

“It’s worth it for you.” He replies instantaneously, making you freeze again. He was saying a very right thing under what felt like the wrong context, and despite yourself, you try to remedy that.

“But- does it have to be all sneaky? I mean, couldn’t we just-” Though, that’s as far as he lets you get before he cuts you off, shaking his head with a small laugh.

“Y/n, be real. We don’t like each other. This isn’t something emotional, it’s physical. Yeah?” Right, this was your mortal enemy you were talking to. You guys didn’t like each other. An actual relationship would be the worst idea in the world, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that he looks like a dream in skinny jeans…and you’d take what you could get.

“Yeah- uh, yeah. Let’s do it.” You reply, and Haechan flashes you a killer smirk before breaking away and settling himself on the couch to wait for Jessica to get done. You don’t join him, already feeling dizzy from the conversation. Instead, you just find refuge in your bedroom until they leave, but that night didn’t end without a text from Haechan, already making plans.

You and Haechan quickly fell into routine. The first time you went over to his house under the guise of you going to study at the library, you hardly said two words to each other. Instead, Haechan opened his door to your presence and immediately pulled you inside by your arm, pushing you towards the general direction of the couch so he could get on top of you.

The next time you came over, he opened the door to see your bright smile. “Hey, Hyuck-!” You could hardly get your words out before he pulled you inside and pinned you against the now closed door. Through heavy pants in between harsh kisses, he speaks. 

“I love it when you call me that.”

You involuntarily smile a bit as you do your best to look at him with raised eyebrows. “Your name?” You ask sarcastically as he sucks on your neck.

He pops his head back up so he can look you in the eyes as he replied. “My name that the people who I care about call me.” You freeze, chills running through your entire body at his words, and in that moment, you knew you were fucked, because this was not just physical to you. Haechan was naturally flirty - a sweet talker. That wasn’t hard to deduce from his looks alone. He was hot and he knew it, which also meant he knew how to get whatever girl he wanted for the time being, but the idea of being a ‘time being’ girl of his began to make cracks in your heart. That night, you left with a spare key to his house and instructions of coming over whenever you wanted, for physical purposes, of course.  

As soon as Jessica said she was going back home for the weekend, you immediately texted Haechan to let him know, and not even five minutes after Jess closed the door to your place, you opened it back up again to Haechan’s presence. “Hey, y/n.” He says with a smile you can’t help but reflect back to him. 

“Hi, Hyuckie.” You reply bashfully. You watch as his eyes widen a bit, his smile now reaching the rest of his facial features. Without spending much time thinking about it, he leans in and gives you a quick peck on the lips before instantly retreating back and facing the floor. You laugh as you step back and actually allow him inside, figuring that kiss was probably too domestic for him to handle. 

Since the two of you hadn’t commenced this whole operation at your place before, Haechan waited for you to take the lead on deciding where he could have you. You watch his idle presence, laughing a bit, much to his confusion, before shaking your head. “Come here.” You say, nodding your head, and he’s quick to follow.

“Um, y/n?” He says as you turn into the room. “This is your bathroom.”

“I know.” You say, bending down to grab something in one of your cabinets. Haechan just stares at you bewildered, even more so when you pull out a lens case and contact solution. You smile at his expression. “Go on then. I know you still haven’t switched contacts and I know you brought your glasses with you.”

“What?” He asks with wide eyes. You shake your head fondly, placing a gentle hand on his cheek.

“Your contacts irritate your eyes. You look cute in glasses. Please take out your stupid contacts and put your glasses on.” You watch as he dismisses your words, shaking his head as his eyes glaze with fear rather than confusion. You bite on the inside of your cheek, beyond pissed that his ex turned him into this. “Hyuck, you’re the hottest person alive. I don’t care about whatever your ex-girlfriend said. I understand if you get self-conscious and want to wear your contacts out in public, but you don’t have to with me. All I want is for you to be comfortable, and I know you’re not in your contacts.” You watch as he nods his head slowly, and you leave the bathroom with a soft smile as he gets close to the mirror to start taking his contacts out. 

You sit on the couch as you wait for him to come out of the bathroom, scrolling idly on your phone. You pop your head up to meet him when you hear his footsteps cause the floor to creak. He looks small, his arms crossed, gaze aimed at the floor, and his glasses on. You smile warmly. “My pretty boy, come here.” You say, standing up with open arms, but Haechan freezes.

“What?”

You don’t know what he’s confused about until you trace back over your words, eyes going wide as you try and remedy the situation. “I- I didn’t mean to be so possessive, calling you mine and everything. I know you’re not…mine. I mean, this is purely physical. I wasn’t trying to be like- you know. It just slipped out. I’m sorry. Please come objectify me and make things normal again.”

“Y/n, you know you’re not just a body to me, right?” He asks softly, a skeptical eyebrow raised. You raise your head to look at him through narrow eyes. 

“I’m not?”

He rolls his eyes, shaking his head. “No, of course not. I didn’t mean to make you feel like that.”

“But then- but this is just physical…you don’t- I mean we don’t like each other so I don’t know how-” Your stumbling words are cut off with a kiss that you melt right into. Haechan pulls back finally with a tired expression on his face.

“You seriously talk too much. Yeah, we don’t like each other, but that doesn’t mean I act as if you’re just some body for me to use. You’re y/n, which means you’re my favorite person to hate. And you hate me back, which is great because you always look so hot when you’re pissed at me, it gets right under my skin in all the best ways. And I get the pleasure of knowing what you taste like? Do you know how big a flex that is? I mean, come on. You’re the hottest nerd around, and instead of the other nerds who probably have the biggest crush on you being the ones to kiss you like this, I’m the one who gets to know you use dragon fruit chapstick.” 

You’re able to let out a soft laugh. “You know it’s dragon fruit?” You ask in response, and Haechan raises his eyebrows, a smirk covering his lips.

“We kiss a lot.” He replies. You toss his words around visibly in your head.

“I don’t know. I don’t think we do it enough.” You say back, and Haechan just licks his lips. 

“You don’t know how badly I want to make you eat your words.” He says through his teeth, and you just throw a taunting grin his way.

“Then why don’t you?” You ask, and Haechan audibly laughs before grabbing you by the waist and crashing his lips onto yours.

You break after who knows how long when your stomach starts feeling like it’s caving in on itself. Haechan wastes no time in moving his lips from your own to your neck, guessing you probably just needed to break for air. You roll your eyes with a smile. “Hyuck.” You say monotonously, making him pop his head back up to your joyless demeanor.

“Did I do something wrong? I’m sorry. I just-”

“Hyuckie,” you laugh, and he seems to calm down a bit. “I haven’t had anything to eat yet today. I’m starving. I can’t physically kiss your pretty face anymore.”

Haechan shrugs. “Okay, let’s order a pizza.” 

You look at him, bewildered. “What- I thought- you’re not just gonna…I thought you were gonna go.”

“And why would I do that?” He questions, making you scrunch your brows down.

“Because then it would be like us hanging out while we eat. Not…this.”

Haechan laughs again. “I know. Let’s order a pizza. We’ve watched Bones on your couch before. You’re crazy if you think I’m gonna leave you so soon.” 

The shyest smile crosses your face as you reach for the phone to call the pizza place. You stare down at the number entered on the keypad - all you had to do was press the call button. Instead, you turn your gaze back over to Haechan, holding your phone out towards him. “Can you do it?” You ask shyly, and Haechan’s brows furrow.

“What?” He asks with ample confusion. You drop your head in response.

“I get really nervous when I need to order something over the phone.” You reply, your words hardly audible under your embarrassment. Haechan shakes his head, but the biggest smile comes across his face.

“You’re so fucking adorable. Give me the phone, you go get the TV ready.” He says, and you snap your gaze back up to him, a small grateful smile of your own painted across your lips as you move towards the TV. “Just a large pepperoni pizza, yeah?” Haechan continues, and you turn back to him with a nod.

“Yeah.”

You immediately turn Bones on the TV for the two of you to watch while you eat, and you’re pleasantly surprised to find a normal activity such as this didn’t feel awkward at all with him anymore. Haechan finished eating before you did, and he frowned at the space between the two of you on the couch for only a second before sliding over and wrapping an arm around your shoulder. You will your face not to blush at something as stupid as this, and you don’t even know if it worked. Regardless, there was still twenty minutes left on the episode when you finished eating, too. So, you made yourself more comfortable against his body.

Haechan started rubbing his thumb up and down your side where it had laid, incredibly too domestic for your liking. You try and shake it off pretty successfully, until his thumb moved ever so slightly to caress your covered breast. You sigh, turning to face him with a raised eyebrow. “You’re an idiot.” You say monotonously. 

He doesn’t look away from the TV, but he grins widely. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He replies. Though, his attempt to feign innocence is completely ruined when he straight up grabs your boob.

“Okay, that’s it.” You huff, switching from your position laying at his side to instead straddling him on top of your couch. Haechan looks at you as though he has no clue what you’re doing there, though his hands immediately latch onto your thighs, pulling you as close as possible to him. 

“You had enough to eat yet?” He asks with a smirk.

You give a minimal shake of your head. “I don’t know, you look pretty tasty.” You hardly get through your words before your ability to speak is taken from you. Haechan kissed you with a passion that couldn’t be rivaled, as his hands left your thighs to grab your waist, trying his best to pull you even closer to him. You knew you messed up when you started moving your lower body against his, making him break away from the kiss immediately. 

“Fuck, y/n!” He says loudly, but his grip on your waist only encourages you to speed up. As he tore his lips from yours, you moved to suck on his neck, another thing you shouldn’t have done. “No, no, no! That’s my job. Need your pretty neck.” He huffs, doing his best to remove your shirt. You let him, and then Haechan has a field day with your neck and chest as you still grind against him. Somewhere along the way, you managed to rip him from his shirt as well, your fingers lightly tracing his abs and making him go crazy. He eventually started dipping his fingers beneath the waistline of your pants. “Y/n, tell me to stop.” He breathes.

“Do I have to?” You reply in between kisses. 

“Yes, y/n. I- You don’t know how badly I need you.” 

“Show me, then.” 

Haechan pulls back from your lips, staring at you intently. “Y/n, I refuse to let this be something you regret.”

You laugh a little, shaking your head in dismissal. “I won’t. I promise.” 

Haechan looks at you as though he’s holding back his own laugh. “That sounded so certain. I would hate to be the guy that has you sure this won’t be as bad.” He replies, and you suddenly understand his interpretation of your words, causing you to duck your head, moving your attention to your hands that were currently fiddling with Haechan’s fingers.

“Oh, no. Hyuck, I’ve never…” Your words taper off, and Haechan looks at you with wide eyes.

“Oh my god, y/n. I can’t be your first. I mean, that’s a big deal, you know? You deserve-”

“Hyuck, there’s no one I trust more than you for this.” You say, cutting him off and getting him to render still. He licks his lips in contemplation, sighing heavily before he looks back up at you.

“You might end up bleeding - that’s okay. I don’t want you to worry about that or feel embarrassed at all because of it. I’ll clean you up after. If at any point you get uncomfortable, you tell me right away. I do not care what point that is, you tell me and it stops immediately, no questions asked. I will do my best to not hurt you, but you gotta tell me what feels good, okay? I’m gonna need you to be vocal and I mean it literally. I wanna make this about you, yeah? Tell me what you want and what feels good. And if you’re not 100% sure, I need you to be honest about it right now because-”

“Hyuckie.” You say gently, cutting him off. “I’m sure. You don’t have to worry.”

“Yes, I do!” He rebuttals. You just roll your eyes playfully, leaning in to give him a quick kiss before making eye contact again.

“It’s okay. Look, all you have to do is wrap your pretty fingers around my neck and we’ll be good to go.” You say plainly. Haechan looks at you in disbelief.

“A choking kink? You’re kidding me.” He says, adding on a dismissive chuckle. Though, you just raise your eyebrows at him expectantly, letting him know you were serious, and he turns slightly shy.

You watch as he sucks on his lips, eyes darting down from your own as he fights back a smile. “Like, is this good?” He asks, wrapping one of his hands around your neck lightly. His face contorts as you audibly laugh.

“Absolutely not. Come on, choke me like you hate me, Hyuck.” 

His eyes go wide as he pulls his hand from your neck. “You know, I don’t know if I want to take you to the bedroom anymore. You scare me.” He remarks playfully, but you send a pout his way and he instantly folds, picking you up from under your thighs and making his way to your bedroom. The two of you spend an ample amount of time just making out, exploring each other’s bodies. Then, with another check of assurance from Haechan and a rip of a condom packet with his teeth, he gave you a glimpse of heaven. 

Afterwards, Haechan got straight to work on his promise of helping you clean up. “Alright, beautiful, do you wanna shower?” He asks, but you don’t answer his question.

“Don’t call me that.” You say instead, watching as he furrows his brows. You sigh, dodging his eye contact. “Too domestic…” You add on, and you can hear him sigh.

“Okay, I’m sorry. I won’t call you that, but really, do you want to shower?” He asks again, and you nod. He immediately scoops you up, carrying you bridal style to the bathroom. 

“I can walk you know?” You say playfully before he sets you down on the bathroom floor.

“Yeah? Guess I need to go harder next time.” He replies with a smirk, but your playfulness falls into genuine happiness. 

“I’m glad there’s still a ‘next time’ after all this.” 

Haechan drops his shoulders, taking the opportunity provided by the fact that you were staring at the floor to look at you with a softness in his eyes. “There’s always a ‘next time’ with us.” He says, placing a gentle kiss on your forehead before moving to start up the shower for you. Standing frozen, by the time you realize you had to tell him that forehead kisses were also too domestic for you to handle, he was already out of the bathroom. 

When you walk back into your room wrapped in a towel, you’re shocked to see your bed stripped to just the mattress. You move your gaze to Haechan, a questioning look on your face. “Your sheets are in the washer right now. Do you have another set I can throw on your bed? If not, you can sleepover at mine. I’d just want to make sure we get your bedding in the dryer before we leave to go back to mine.” 

You’re quite honestly dumbfounded, and a smile takes over your face as you shake your head. “No, I don’t have another set. You didn’t have to do all this.” You say softly, but Haechan snaps his head back to you in an instant.

“Yes, I said I would. And this isn’t about me. How are you feeling?”

“Good.” You answer truthfully.

“Can I get you anything?” He continues, and you shake your head.

“No.” You reply. There was a beat of silence, and you lick your lips. “Actually…” You drag off, staring up at him to make sure he actually didn’t care about you making requests. “Could you just- can you just hold me for a second?” You ask weakly, and Haechan’s eyes widen.

“Yeah…yeah! Come here.” He says gently, and you take the few small steps right into his waiting arms. You don’t hug him back, your arms instead at your chest, holding up the towel that was still covering your body. Though, if Haechan minded, he didn’t let it show. His arms wrapped around you tightly, his embrace comforting. Then, without being able to really explain why, you began to cry in his arms. Haechan didn’t seem shocked. Instead, he just ran one hand gently up and down your back, though not letting up on his tight hold of you. 

“I’m sorry.” You say hoarsely. “I don’t know why I’m crying.” 

Haechan kisses the top of your head. “You don’t have to apologize. It’s okay. You’ve had an exhausting day. I’d rather you cry in my arms than alone.” 

You dig your head out of his chest, using one hand to wipe away the remaining tears on your face. “You can’t be this nice to me.” You say seriously, and Haechan sighs.

“Okay, no more being nice to each other…after tonight.” He says, and you find yourself nodding your head in response, getting him to relax again. “Do you still want me to hold you, or do you want to get dressed and head to mine?” He asks, truly not caring either way. 

You pull yourself out of his arms in response, facing the floor. “I’ll uh- get ready.”

The drive over to his place is quiet, with you staring out the window the entire time. Though, as soon as you walk through his front door, you find your words again. “I don’t regret it.” You say seriously. “And I won’t regret it when I wake up tomorrow. Or any time after that. I know I’m acting weird, but it’s not because of that. I promise.”

Haechan looks your way with a fond smile. “You aren’t acting weird, y/n. I put you through a lot today. I get it. Just come crawl into bed with me. I’ll hold you some more.” You don’t hesitate to give into his offer, though, you add it to the list of things that probably shouldn’t happen again if you don’t want to fall in love with Haechan. 

You ended up spending the entire next day with Haechan, under the reasoning that this would be the most time you guys would be able to spend together without Jessica getting suspicious. The two of you were walking back into your dorm Saturday night so that you could put your bed back together and hang out some more, figuring Haechan could just spend the night here and leave in the morning before Jessica gets back. That plan is instantly ruined when you open up the front door and see Jessica moving around in the kitchen. As quickly as you could, you shove Haechan back into the dorm hallway with one hand and slam the door behind you, praying he got the hint that Jessica was here and you didn’t just suddenly turn into a bitch. 

At the sound of the door slamming, Jessica shoots her gaze your way with a smile. “Hey, y/n!” 

You force your legs to start walking, moving towards the living room as if everything was normal. “Hey, Jess. I thought you weren’t supposed to be back until tomorrow afternoon.” You say, wondering why the hell she was already here. She waves an uninterested hand in the air.

“That was the plan, but I have so much homework and my parents had a brunch planned with some of their friends so there was really no reason for me to stay another night.” 

“Ah.” You reply, trying to just sneak away to your room without any more complications. You had nearly gotten away with it, but before you can step through the open door into your room, Jessica speaks up again, making you turn back to her.

“Oh, yeah. Where are your bed sheets?” She asks, curious, and you wince.

“Uh, they’re in the dryer. I washed them.” You say neutrally, but Jessica raises an eyebrow.

“You? Washed your sheets? You never wash your sheets.” She says with a laugh.

“Yeah well, you know. Just seemed like they needed washed.” You reply, trying your best to sound normal. 

“And uh- would that have anything to do with the hickies on your neck?” She asks, and you freeze on the spot, eyes wide as you make contact with her knowing expression, praying to God she didn’t know the all of it.

“Uh- yeah you know. I might’ve hooked up with someone while you were gone.” You say, fumbling through your words. You watch as Jessica lights up.

“Who?!” 

Your throat turns dry, and you start fiddling with the rings on your fingers as you find someone to pin this on. “Johnny! You know, the kid from Chicago who takes the least amount of credit hours a semester as possible so he can spend as many years at college parties as possible? Him.” You look back up to meet Jessica’s bewildered face.

“Wow.” She replies, seeming to be incredibly amazed by your ability to pull Johnny, and you can’t even begin to imagine what she would look like if you told her you actually pulled her best friend, instead. 

“Yeah, so- I’m just gonna go grab my sheets from the dryer and go to bed. I’ve had quite the weekend and we still have all of Sunday to get through.” As soon as you finish talking, you dart to where the washer and dryer were before rushing back to your bedroom and closing the door, immediately grabbing your phone to text Haechan.

Jessica is back early! I’m sorry for slamming the door in your face, but I didn’t know what else to do.

His response comes a few minutes later, finally letting you relax again. Don’t worry, I figured that was the case. I’m already back at my place…

Though you were glad he wasn’t still outside your dorm, because he definitely couldn’t come in now, your heart struggled with the idea of him already back at his house…without you. I wish we could’ve had our extra night together. I miss you, Hyuckie.

You watch as his text bubble appears and disappears. You bite on your bottom lip, opting to start putting your bed back together to keep your mind from running. After putting one corner of your fitted sheet back on, your phone dings and you instantly move to grab it and read his message. I thought we weren’t supposed to be nice to each other.

A small smile spreads across your face. He was making fun of you. You were the one who set those boundaries in the first place. You glance from your phone to your bed and immediately know how to respond. Don’t worry. I only wish you were here so you could help me make my bed like you said you would.

There’s my y/n. You read his text over and over again. Surely he just meant it in regard to your typical personality with him, the y/n he knew. Though, the more you looked at his text, the more you knew you didn’t want him to mean it in that way, you wanted him to call you his. That’s when you knew there was no way you could respond to that message. So, you continue the task of making your bed so you could go to sleep, trying to ignore how empty it felt without him. 

Two days later, you walked back in from class to see Jessica and Haechan hanging out in your living room. Your breath hitches at the sight of him, and you quickly turn around and act like you were still fiddling with the door so you could take a moment to fix a neutral expression on your face…and prepare yourself to scowl at him once you turn back around. 

“Hey, Jess. I’m home-” You start, moving to walk towards the living room. “-oh great. You’re here.” You continue with a roll of the eyes as your gaze lands on Haechan. 

His deadpan stare looks you up and down as his nose scrunches in disgust. “Yeah, cause I was told you weren’t.”

You flash your eyebrows at him, unamused. “Well, don’t worry. I won’t be bothering you.” You state as you start on your walk to your room. Haechan calls out after you.

“You already are, sweetheart.” He says condescendingly. 

“Yeah, fuck you.” You reply back, closing the door to your bedroom and giving yourself the ability to actually breathe again.

On the couch, Jessica rubs her forehead. “You know, I thought things were actually gonna get better between the two of you after you watched Bones that one day.” She says with a small, but defeated, laugh. Haechan clears his throat awkwardly. 

“Sorry to kill your spirits, but y/n and I are not meant to be friends.” He replies in kind before quickly getting the two of them back to their conversation topic from before you walked in. 

You were getting through some homework when there was a knock at your door. Assuming it was Jessica, you throw the door open, though shock courses through you when you see Haechan, instead. He leans in to give you a soft kiss before standing straight up again, as if that type of thing was normal between the two of you. “Jessica is in the bathroom.” He says softly, and you look at him with a raised eyebrow.

“That’s great, but I don’t think that gives us enough time to fuck.” You respond with a laugh, though Haechan’s brows furrow.

“What? I didn’t come here for that. I came to tell you I’m sorry for being mean to you when you came in.” 

Surprise runs over your face, but it soon drops into a gentle smile. “Don’t worry about it, Hyuck. We’re supposed to hate each other.”

He rolls his eyes. “I know, but it didn’t feel good this time.” He responds, riddled with defeat, and you can’t help yourself from getting up on your tiptoes to lightly kiss him again.

You pull back quickly, facing the ground. “Hyuckie-” That’s when the sound of the bathroom door opening fills the air, and you immediately jump to lean uninterestedly against your doorframe, arms crossed in front of your body as your face falls flat. “Homework! So, can you stop annoying me just because Jessica is gone for one second and you can’t annoy her?” 

As predicted, Jessica quickly finds her way over to the two of you, eventually coming to stand at Haechan’s side. “Can’t believe I come out of the bathroom to find you talking with y/n.” She says with genuine surprise. You make concerned eye contact with her.

“Talking? More like tormenting…” You say in response.

Jessica turns to look at Haechan, nudging him slightly. “Hyuck, I would be careful about pissing her off, now. She’s got some big men on her side that can come beat you up. I mean, she hooked up with Johnny Suh.” 

Your face becomes painted with shock. “Jessica!” You yell, causing her to put her hands up in defense.

“Look, it just came out.”

Haechan makes eye contact with you, a shit-eating grin on his face. “Hooked up with Johnny?! Really?” He responds, playing his part of not believing you pulled him exceptionally well.

You flash your eyebrows at him, doing your best to try and act all powerful now because you apparently hooked up with Johnny. “Yep! It was one hell of a first time.” You reply, and a soft smile is quick to adorn your face as you continue. “Not to mention he took…really good care of me after. You could learn something from him about how to treat women.” You add on, looking back up at him with a smirk. Almost all of Haechan’s body language could lead anyone to believe he hated you, didn’t give a damn about who you slept with, could hardly bother himself with this conversation at all, but his eyes were filled with fondness as he looked back at you. You inhale sharply, thankful when Haechan starts talking again to remind you of the environment you were in.

“Yeah? I’ll be sure to ask for lessons on how to tolerate you first.” He responds with a smirk of his own. Jessica finally gets fed up, rolling her eyes and grabbing Haechan by the arm to drag him away from you before you could argue any more. You almost instantly throw your homework back in your backpack, walking to the door to leave as you turn around to face them again. 

“I’m gonna head to the library since I obviously can’t get any work done here. I’ll be back later tonight.” You say with a smile aimed in Jessica’s direction. She threw a thumbs up your way along with a ‘be safe,’ and then you were out the door. 

You had just gotten to the library when your phone lit up with a text from Haechan.

I’ll pick you up from the library after Jess and I eat dinner.

You can’t help the laugh that escapes you, though really, you’re beyond glad he could see how much you wanted him tonight. I’d be pissed if you didn’t :) 

His response is instantaneous. Yeah, yeah. Go do your homework before I fuck you dumb <3 

Around an hour and a half later, you get a call from Haechan and you immediately stuff your laptop back into your bag before picking up the phone. “Hey, where are you sitting? I’ll come pick you up-” He starts, but you cut him off in an instant.

“Absolutely not. We cannot be seen in public together.” 

“Y/n, this isn’t some big scandal.” He replies lightly, but you shake your head, regardless of the fact that he couldn’t see it.

“You’re wrong. Everyone knows we hate each other and everyone knows Jessica is our mutual. If they see us together, it’s getting back to Jessica in an instant. Tell me where you’re parked and I’ll come to you.” A small laugh accompanies your words, even more so when Haechan pouts on the other end and you can imagine it vividly.

“Fine, but you’re never allowed to complain that chivalry is dead when you’re the one causing it.” You roll your eyes, stepping out of the library and immediately seeing his car anyways. You hang up on the phone and open his passenger door to slide into your seat. “Finish all your homework like a good girl?” He asks with a smirk and you send a glare his way.

“Shut up. I finished all but one assignment. I got a little distracted.” You drag off, and Haechan lights up.

“Oh my god, did you touch yourself in the library bathrooms?”

“No!” You reply adamantly before sinking back into the passenger seat a little. “But I would’ve if I had to wait any longer. Dinner took a long time, Hyuckie.” You add with a frown, and Haechan just shakes his head in the driver’s seat. 

“God, it is taking everything in me to not throw you in the backseat and have you right here right now.”

You roll your eyes, more than aware that you couldn’t have car sex in front of the library. Instead, you place a hand on his cheek and kiss him deeply. He didn’t complain, figuring making out with you in his front seat was enough to hold him over since he couldn’t fuck you in the back seat. You let an entire song play through the radio as you indulged in Haechan’s taste, finally pulling back with a heavy breath before you could forget your morals. “Um…Please drive now so we can go home and you can undress me. I need you.”

 Haechan tries to hide his smile as he shifts into drive and places his hands back on the wheel. “Yeah, yeah. Next stop…home.”

You stumble your way inside his front door, passionate kisses getting in the way of actually walking. The second you get inside, Haechan is sliding your shirt over your head. He keeps his kisses as consistent as possible until everything actually registers in his mind and he pulls back to look you up and down, absentmindedly licking his lips. “Y/n, goddamn.”

You look down at your chest just to laugh and fix your gaze back on him. “Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. I did some shopping.” You say offhandedly, as though your new lingerie set wasn’t killing Haechan. He finally brings himself to look back at your face, not bothering to hide how pissed he was.

“On the couch, now.” He orders, and you just roll your eyes playfully, grabbing him by the neck of his shirt to bring him along with you. In no time flat, he’s completely on top of you, kissing what seemed to be every inch of your body. Though, the second his lips land on your neck, you remember the new boundaries you had to set. 

“Hey, you can’t leave marks on my neck anymore.” 

“Oh, but Johnny can, huh?” He teases as he props himself up to make eye contact with you. 

You roll your eyes. “He was the first guy that came to mind.”

Haechan shakes his head. “I’ll make sure you can never think about another guy again.” He says with conviction, and for a moment, you forget how to breathe.

“God, you’re so hot.” You say through an exhale, and Haechan just laughs before moving to suck and nip at your neck again. “Hyuck, that didn’t mean you could still bruise me, baby.” 

He hums against your skin, finding a way to respond without putting too much space between your two bodies. “Can’t help it. You look so pretty, all marked up as mine.” He mumbles. You sigh, running a hand gently through his hair as he works on your chest instead. 

“Hyuckie, I’m not yours.” You say softly, trying to make sure the defeat you felt while admitting that didn’t show. Haechan freezes immediately, and when he finally finds his ability to move, it’s just to press a lingering kiss on your lips.

“Just for tonight. Be mine just for tonight.” He says, though it comes out more so as a question. You let out another small sigh, shaking your head before moving to connect your lips to his again. 

“Jessica knows I don’t do any homework past 10:00.” You tell him as you break apart. Haechan takes a moment to glance at his watch, reading the time before nodding his head softly. 

“I’ll get you back by then. Don’t worry.” From then until 9:45, Haechan spent all of his time making sure you were his that night.  

It was about two months into whatever it was that you and Haechan had gotten yourselves into. You were currently sitting in the living room. You knew Haechan was fully aware that Jessica wasn’t home, so now you were just waiting for him to burst through the front door at any moment. When he finally does, he walks to put his keys and wallet down on the counter before making his way over to where you were sitting and placing a soft kiss on your lips. “Hey,” he says smoothly, causing blush to cover your face. You still weren’t used to the days where he would be more gentle with you, not that you were complaining, but it was unfamiliar nonetheless. You smile back at him, about to respond when he finally moves his gaze to assess what you’ve been up to. “Are you playing Mariokart?” He asks, and you laugh from slight embarrassment. 

“Yeah. Had to kill time while waiting for you somehow.” You say as you hit the home button to exit out, but then you notice the smallest traces of sadness cross his face, causing you to smirk. “Did you want to play?” You ask, and Haechan shoots his gaze back over to you, looking more like a boy than ever. 

“Of course I want to play!” He replies, and suddenly your laughter isn’t from embarrassment anymore. You move to grab another remote for him so the two of you could play together. You spent the next two hours playing Mariokart with him, trying to perfect all the circuits so you could collect all the best trophies, and though today’s physical touch went no further than celebratory kisses, playful shoves, and your head on his shoulder, you wouldn’t have traded it for the world. Though, it brought about a fundamental truth - you were not having passionate sex with your enemy. No, you found that you liked being around Haechan. 

The two of you had finished a quick dinner before the realization hit that Jessica would be coming back home from her night class soon. With a shared glance, you and Haechan both knew he should probably head back to his place. You reluctantly walked him to your front door, hand reaching for the knob to open it when Haechan’s hand grabbed hold of your own. You look up at him, confused, but he just stared down at you with a grin before leaning in to kiss you. “We can do this more often, too.” He says softly as he pulls back. You raise your brows in question. 

“Kiss?” You reply, trying to figure out what he was referring to. 

Haechan laughs, shaking his head and making his hair fall messily around his eyes. “No- well, yes, I always want to kiss you, but I’m talking about just hanging out. You know, playing Mariokart and all that…if you want! We don’t have to, I can just come over and immediately undress you and I wouldn’t mind that either-”

“Hyuck,” you say with a laugh, cutting him off. “We’ll hang out more, don’t worry. Besides, we still have the 200 cc circuits to beat.” 

You watch as he smiles brightly back down at you before leaning back in, this time to kiss every inch of your face and turn you into a giggling mess. “I’ll see you soon.” He says smoothly, and then he’s finally out the door and leaving you blushing profusely because you think Haechan just admitted to enjoying being around you, too. 

A couple of Fridays later, Haechan lets himself into your dorm as casually as ever when he comes over to actually hang out with Jessica. At the sound of the door closing, Jessica walks out from her room to greet Haechan, who already had his attention occupied by the new addition to your kitchen table. “Flowers? I didn’t know you could keep things alive.” He jokes as he turns around to face Jessica. She just rolls her eyes with a laugh.

“They’re not mine. Y/n bought them, and for your information, I can actually keep flowers alive way better than she can, thank you very much.” She replies, and Haechan turns back to study the bouquet again, trying to memorize them before Jessica could catch onto his actions.

“Should’ve known y/n bought them - these aren’t the prettiest flowers by a long shot.” He says with a scoff. 

Jessica shakes her head. “You should be glad she isn’t home right now to hear you say that. The bluebells in there are her favorite flower in the world.” At this, Haechan shoots his gaze back towards Jessica.

“Really?” He asks, furrowing his eyebrows after the fact to try and cover up the genuine curiosity that painted his question. Jessica seems not to notice as she just nods her head, but that’s when you finally come in through the front door, and they both turn their attention towards you.

You didn’t know Haechan was going to be at your place right now, but you probably should’ve guessed with it being a Friday - if Mark and Jessica weren’t going on a solo date, their friend group typically hung out and bar hopped all together. Regardless of the fact that Jessica was there, you couldn’t bring yourself to put on a look of disgust once you saw Haechan. Instead, you were radiating off a sort of empty feeling - you weren’t really sad, just hollow, not concerned enough to fake-hate Haechan. You don’t say a single word in greeting as you just go to your room and start getting things ready for a shower. 

Haechan turns back to Jessica with raised eyebrows. “Where did she just come from?” He asks, wondering what the hell had you looking like that. 

“Ummmm, today’s Friday, right?” Jessica asks, then looking at the time. “She just got back from quantum mechanics.” She answers, and that seems to calm her worries - she would look dead every time she had to sit through quantum mechanics, too. On the other hand, Haechan’s hands balled into fists. He knew that class was with your dick of a professor, and he could only guess as to what disgusting things he threw your way this time that had you feeling so dirty you had to shower right away. 

Haechan wanted to barge into your room, wrap you in the biggest hug, and let you cry in the comfort of his arms, but he couldn’t - not with Jessica here. With every muscle in his body tensed up, he thought about the consequences of his actions should he go wrap you in a hug anyways, but that wouldn’t be fair to you. You were a part of whatever relationship the two of you had going on, and you both agreed that relationship stayed hidden. He couldn’t ruin that now without your consent.

Instead, he just looked back at Jessica flatly, flashing his eyebrows in recognition of the answer, and then quickly moved along. “Do you wanna head out to meet up with the guys?” He asks in return, and if there was any desperation in Haechan’s voice conveying how much he needed to get out of your dorm before he cracked, Jessica didn’t pick up on it. She nodded, grabbing her things, knocking on your door to let you know they were heading out, and then following Haechan out of the dorm.

Before you knew it, six months had passed since Haechan lost his dad, and you decided to surprise him with his favorite meal. It wasn’t like the two of you weren’t planning dinners/hangouts/hookups basically every day anyways, but you still wanted this one to be more lowkey, more intimate in an emotional, rather than physical, way, and a surprise dinner would do just that. You picked up his favorite takeout for the both of you before driving over to his place, pulling out your spare key to his house with excitement overtaking you as you walked in.

“Hey, Hyuckie. I’m here with din- Oh god.” Your face, along with the bag of food in your hands, instantly drops as you turn back from the closed door to his living area, only to notice him on top of another girl…his ex. Tears immediately sting at the back of your eyes, and you’re using everything in you to not let them fall down your face.

Haechan pops up as soon as you had started speaking, his eyes wide as he turns to look at you over his shoulder, and his body still straddled over his ex. “Y/n!” He yells out in shock.

His ex moves to prop herself up on her elbows, giving her a clear view of your frozen state at the door. Then, she rolls her eyes with a laugh. “Oh, I forgot she was the one getting my sloppy seconds.”

Your brows furrow. In any case, this could have been two friends grabbing dinner together. There was no way for her to so confidently say you were hooking up with her ex without him saying so. You face Haechan with betrayal covering your entire being. “So much for not kissing and telling, huh Haechan?” You spit out before walking back out of his place and slamming the door.

When you were finally outside, that’s when you gave yourself the chance to bawl your eyes out. You knew you wouldn’t be able to drive home safely without letting yourself cry beforehand. What sucked is that it gave Haechan time to fling the front door open. “Y/n-” He starts, grabbing your wrist to stop you from walking. You do your best to face away from him entirely, yanking your wrist out of his hand and cutting him off.

“Don’t touch me, Haechan!” You choke out, and he lets go immediately, regardless of the desperation on his face.

“Look I-”

You stop him again, his voice alone sending more tears down your face. You finally turn to him, slowing your words down so your voice doesn't crack, or at least, you tried to. “How long has it been going on?”

Haechan’s face and shoulders drop in unison. “This is the first time she’s been back over since the break up.” He replies softly.

You shake your head, none of it making sense and all of it hurting you. “Why…?” You had more of a question prepared, but that was all you could get out. You watch as Haechan sighs.

“I ran into her at a darty today. She approached me and started conversation. I tried not to involve myself in it, but she laughed and told me I was stupid for not wanting to talk to her because she said no one else will ever love me. And when I went to refute, I accidentally mentioned you. And she- she laughed again, telling me that I was dumb for thinking you would ever care for me, cause you hate me. And I couldn’t think of anything to say in response. And so then we ended up here.” The more he spoke, the more enraged you became. You shake your head in disgust.

“Fuck you!”

Haechan’s eyes widened. “What-”

You make sure to maintain eye contact with him as you begin to speak, though your words were broken up by your intense sobs. “You couldn’t think of anything to say against her point?! Who was the one washing off the makeup she made you put on? Who was the one telling you that the last thing you needed to do was cover up your stupid pretty face in the first place? Who was the one with a contact lens case in their bathroom so you could take them out and wear your glasses while you were over because you’re more comfortable in them? Who was the one you came to for comfort when you lost your dad-?”

“I went over to find Jessica!” He yells, cutting you off, but you don’t take any of it.

“But you stayed when you saw it was just me! Haechan-”

“Can you stop fucking calling me that?!” He pleads, tears now running slowly down his own cheeks. 

All you can do is shake your head again sadly. “I don’t understand how you could go through all of that with her and then go back to it. Do you know how idiotic I feel?! Sneaking around and lying to Jessica because I’m hooking up with her best friend, who everyone thinks I hate, by the way, behind her back. Being so euphoric from your touch that I want to tell the world but I can’t because you told me I couldn’t tell anyone, and I wasn’t gonna break that promise because I wanted to be able to keep seeing you- would do anything to keep seeing you. Thinking that maybe there was the smallest chance any of this was real to you, too. To be so upset over something I have no right to be upset about because you were never mine.”

“Y/n-” He says as gently as he could given both your states. You lose the courage to look him in the eye, instead dropping your gaze to the floor as you respond.

“I feel like an idiot, Haechan.” With that, you turn to get back in your car and go home, and Haechan doesn’t stop you. 

You continued to cry the entire drive back home, but you managed to stop the debilitating sobs, and instead soft, insistent tears just rolled down your face. You unlock the door to your house, your voice cracking as you announce your presence.

“I’m home.”

“Y/n-” Jessica starts excitedly, but then she sees your state and instantly panics. “-are you okay?! What happened?!” She continues, running up to where you stand defeated at the entryway.

“Is everything okay?” A male voice adds, and you sigh as your cries get more intense again.

“Mark is here. Of course Mark is here. Cause you guys are together and happy.” You say in a snarky response, and out of your peripheral, you see a frowning Mark take two steps back from the hug you and Jessica were encased in.

“Y/n, what is going on?” Jessica asks, more confused than ever because you’ve never been anything but happy for her and Mark. You shake your head rapidly in response.

“Nothing. You would hate me.”

Though your face was buried in her chest, you can sense her rolling her eyes. “I can assure you, I wouldn’t.” She states plainly, and though you knew she definitely would once she actually knew what was up, you took her words for what they were worth and your explanation tumbled out of your mouth.

“I’ve been hooking up with Haechan behind your back.”

Jessica immediately pulls away from the hug, making concerned eye contact with you instead. “WHAT?!”

Mark glances between the two of you, feeling incredibly like he was intruding, even more so because Haechan was his friend, too. “I’m uh- gonna go grab food!” He interjects before dashing out of the door behind you. With him gone, you continue with your explanation.

“For months, Jess. And we agreed not to tell anyone because it was just a friends with benefits thing, or enemies with benefits I guess. But it was more to me. It was real. I love him, Jessica.” The words just tumbled out of your mouth, but they were true, you knew so the second you said it. You loved Haechan.

Jessica looks at you with a frown. “So why the tears?” She asks gently, and you immediately drop your gaze to the floor, embarrassed, ashamed.

“I went over and unlocked his door with my spare key because we were gonna have dinner together.” You say slowly, your words finally coming out more even.

“Yeah?” Jessica probes when you had seemed to stop talking completely. You swallow hard, squeezing your eyes shut to avoid more tears from falling, but then you just spit it out.

“He was with his ex. On top of her. On the couch that knows my imprint.”

Jessica’s eyes widened impossibly. “Y/n-”

“Why the fuck would he do that, Jessica?” You practically shout, your rage finally mixing in with your sorrow.

Jessica just shakes her head, sucking on her bottom lip. “I don’t know.” She replies softly, and then she just holds you in silence until your tears finally stop and you move to lock yourself in your bedroom. 

Two days later, when there’s a knock on your door, you assume Jessica is there to try and get you to eat something again. You slump over to open your bedroom door, already preparing how to tell Jessica you still couldn’t imagine stomaching food yet, when instead, it’s Haechan’s worried gaze meeting yours. Your eyes widen, stinging with tears already, but you can’t bring yourself to close the door just yet - maybe it was the fact that he was in his glasses, goddamned skinny jeans, and a bouquet of flowers in his hand. “Y/n, it was the worst mistake of my life.” He says sincerely, and you drop your gaze to the floor.

“What? Getting together with me or her?” You ask with venom.

His response is instantaneous. “With her. Obviously!”

“You sure? You sure she doesn’t love you more than I do?” You spit back angrily, daring to look him in the eyes once again just to glare at him.

The sadness in his face neutralizes in an instant, and he stares back at you with wide eyes. “You- do you- do you love me?” He asks hesitantly in response, and the tears you’d been holding back fell freely now.

“I’m not fucking putting myself through this.” You respond defeatedly, and you immediately close the door in his face, running to bundle up in bed in a mess of tears. 

When you finally step out of your room again to grab a water bottle, you’re met with the bouquet Haechan had in his hands now laying on the counter. You walk up to it, reading the sticky note now attached. 

This was the only bouquet they had with bluebells…I know they’re your favorite. Coincidentally, one of their meanings is forgiveness (according to the flower shop guy, at least). There’s nothing I want more than your forgiveness. Y/n, I messed up so bad, I know, I’m sorry. I never should have done that. I don’t know why I did that, not when you’re everything I’ve ever wanted. I’m sorry I never made you mine when I really had the chance. I was terrified you didn’t feel for me the way I do for you, but now I know how stupid that was. You’re the only one to ever care for me the way you do, and if you decide that what I did was too terrible, just know you’ll forever be my standard…my beautiful, incomparable standard.

When Jessica walked in through the front door after grabbing lunch with Mark, she found you still standing there in the kitchen, looking down on the now tear-stained note as your body still shook with sobs. 

She walked over to the counter, silently sliding the note away from where it laid in front of you to read it herself. From your right, you hear her sigh and she’s quick to put down the note and wrap you in a hug instead. You stay crying in her arms for what you felt had to be too long, but she never said a word about it if it was. 

Your days quickly started to blur, all of them feeling the same as you would drag yourself to class and then back home, with no extra plans to ever keep you occupied or active. You were currently on the couch, sweats adorning your figure, Bones on the TV, and a pint of ice cream in your hands. You had given up on trying - no longer caring about nice outfits or makeup, hardly eating anything of actual substance. As long as you had enough energy to sit through class, you considered it a win. It was after dinner time when Jessica got back from one of her dates with Mark, closing the front door to turn around and see you as her face falls. 

“Hey…how are you?” She asks lightly, walking over to where you sat in the living room.

You don’t move your gaze away from the TV, or more so, the ice cream you were eating. “Fine. Why?” You reply monotonously, and Jessica looks at you defeatedly.

“Because sweetheart, it’s been two months and you’re still devouring pints of icecream at a time on our couch.”

“I don’t like life without him.” You spit out in reply, though your voice is weak, and the more you thought about how true the statement was, the closer you got to tears. 

Jessica reaches over to brush some of your hair back from where it covered your face, making sure the two of you could make eye contact. “I know. He feels the same way, you know?”

“You’re just saying that.” You snap back instantly, but Jessica shakes her head.

“No, I’m not. I wouldn’t do that to you. Every time I go over to his place, he looks almost exactly like you do. He keeps beating himself up, saying he should’ve stuck to his plan for your birthday, that everything would’ve worked out perfectly if he knew you at least tolerated him before he indulged in your physical attractiveness.”

This finally gets your attention, and your face fills with confusion, feeling something other than sadness for the first time in two months. “Wh- what do you mean his plan for my birthday?”

Jessica seems surprised at the question. “Oh, I thought he would’ve told you. He was gonna pick you up from class and walk you back here so he could wish you a happy birthday.” 

In an instant, all of the color drains from your face again. “Why didn’t he?”

“I don’t know. He never told me.” Jessica answers seriously, now cementing the idea you had in your mind of what happened, everything clicking into place.

You finally speak again after what felt like forever of silence, your brain going 100 miles an hour. “...Do you know where he is now?” You ask seriously, and Jessica doesn’t hide her shock at your change in behavior.

“No, but I can find out. You okay?” She asks, and you just shake your head.

“No. No, not at all.” You reply, and you’re already up off the couch, rushing to put the pint of ice cream away and change into nicer clothes as Jessica texts Haechan, who just so happened to be at home…because his daily routine practically reflected yours over the past two months.

You knock harshly on his door, pacing back and forth as you wait for him to answer, nerves coursing through your entire being. After what felt like a lifetime, the door cracks open, and all of your movements pause. At first, it’s hardly open enough to see him at all, and you gulp back your awkwardness. “What do you-” He starts quietly, but he quickly recognizes you from the tiny view he allowed himself, and suddenly the door is swung wide open. “Y/n?” 

You stare up at him, heart melting at the sight. He was in a big hoodie and wearing his glasses, making the corners of your mouth perk up in a smile. Though, the smile quickly drops as you take in the rest of his features. Jessica was right, he looked as bad as you. To be fair, he was still the most attractive man alive, but he had dark circles around his eyes, and he looked as though he hadn’t seen the sun in weeks. 

You lick your lips, which were now noticeably dry, building the courage to speak as you did so. “You were gonna pick me up from class on my birthday?”

His eyes go wide as he moves his gaze away from you for the first time since he opened the door. “I-”

“Hyuck.” You cut him off, staring up at him intently and getting him to crack with a huff of breath.

“Yeah…yeah I was. Jessica said it was your birthday. And we still weren’t friends then, but I would’ve felt bad not at least wishing you a happy birthday. So I texted Jessica to see where you were and decided I would just walk you back from class. And I-” He breaks off with a faint laugh as he recalls the memory. “I put on a pair of skinny jeans beforehand because I figured even if you hated me, you found me at least a little more tolerable in skinny jeans. Then I went to go pick you up. When you didn’t come out with the rest of your class, I went inside the lecture hall to see what was up or if I just missed you somehow. That’s when I saw you talking to your professor. That’s when I heard his comments. You weren’t even in anything close to scandalous anyways. You just dressed up for your birthday. You were pretty. That was it, so I figured it wasn’t a one-off thing. How you handled it made me think it wasn’t the first time for it to happen, either. You could barely see your wince. The same couldn’t be said for me, though. I was mad, fuming. I got out of there as soon as I could so that I’d be out of sight by the time you got out. If you saw me and started a conversation, I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from bringing it up. God, I was so angry, and I figured that wasn’t what you wanted on your birthday.” He faced the ground while he spoke, but you studied his figure the entire time, your eyes finding their home as they landed on Haechan again after all this time. You hardly let him finish his last word before you speak up.

“Tell me you want to kiss me.” You say, and Haechan finally whips his head back up to face you, eyes wide in surprise. “Tell me you want to kiss me and have it mean something outside of these walls.”

“What?!” He responds, visibly thrown off. You don’t have the patience for it.

“Hyuck!” You say, and Haechan seems to come back to the moment, nodding his head rapidly.

“I do! I want to kiss you. Always.” 

The biggest of smiles overtakes your face as you press up on your tiptoes to finally lock your lips with his again. One of his hands immediately flew to your waist, while the other placed itself lightly on the side of your face, holding you as though one harsh movement would cause this moment to break, this dream to end. When you pull back for air, Haechan wastes no time. “Y/n, please be my girlfriend. Please be mine. Please let me tell the entire world that you’re mine.” He says, his intonation practically making it a beg. 

You nod your head before digging it into his chest in a tight hug. “I’m yours.” 

[starryinkart]

Hey so a bit of a possible crack theory:

So in the show, we’ve gotten three solver colors already, Red, which stands for Doll, Purple which stands for Uzi/Nori, Yellow which stands for the solver/CYN. But here’s something ALOT of people seemed to miss. After you rewatch the Season 1 trailer, you realize:

There’s a blue solver, most likely a blue solver holder. Hidden right before the infamous yellow of the solver we’ve come to know in the show.

If you watch the trailer, you also notice something else. Right before this symbol quickly shows up, we have a dialogue from N, running away from Uzi from the scene at the end of episode 2 and then him sitting in front of V being sad. But if you listen to that dialogue:

He says “We can’t be around the workers anymore V, we’re too dangerous…”

He eventually begins to hang around them again, but to me this line with the imagery is super important. We know from the most recent episode 7/8 teaser that N is the actual leader of the squad, most likely the strongest and most likely protected by CYN with her admin right before she was completely lost by the solver.

Through out the show, we see him confused at his own power at points, like in episode 4 when he shoots the arrow through another and catches them on fire, cracking the arrow board, proceeding to say:

“Did I do that?” All confused.

N obviously doesn’t know how powerful he is at all, but what if and hear me out, it’s not ONLY because he’s a Disassembly Drone?

We know that CYN blocked the solver from having access to him, V and J to most likely protect them from the fate the solver has for drones who are infected. She didn’t want the same thing happening to N, her brother, who she loved and his friends which he cared about and most likely she cared about before she was taken over completely.

But now, Uzi has unblocked them from being protected from the CYNs admin, which was presumably protecting the squad from the affects of possibly getting the solver, (under the assumption CYN was bad in general) by becoming their administrator. If Uzi is their admin, and she gets taken over by the solver in general, that means that her admin code basically becomes useless to protecting N and the others from being infected too. And remember Tessa found them in the dump and repaired them as well, like CYN so they have a high chance of contracting the solver since they were also disposed of incorrectly.

So here comes the point of this picture that was released as a teaser yesterday:

It’s N, looking down, whether at something or just on the verge of having a breakdown and losing it we are uncertain, but from the posture, the balled fists, he does NOT look okay at all.

The first thing yours eyes are drawn to are the building split in half in front of him, the exoplanets in the sky and N. But, on a more closer look, you see two things:

1. The snow flakes on the bottom left have a ominous blue tint to them, which should only happen if blue light is reflecting off of them…

2. If you didn’t notice on the first look, N has the same blue light, coming from right in front of him. Perhaps maybe the same color as this blue solver symbol we have yet to see with some weird lines and curves jutting out from the sides…

At first, I thought Khan would be the blue solver holder at the beginning of the series, being a surprise twist for him to have activated in him he was so afraid of due to him possibly seeing it with his wife Nori. Honestly while that would’ve been cool, episode 5 debunked this possibility, since Khan was flung out of the room by Doll when she was attempting to get the cyber bug from Uzi. Solver owners can’t effect other solver holders as proven from the series, it can only use items around them to throw or hurt them.

We haven’t seen N be affect by the solver once in the present time or in the flashback of episode 5.

Now I do know the merch video came out today, but it was stated in the video that

1. “It was totally not canonical to the series what so ever” which I HIGHLY doubt. Most of the merch and videos we have seen have been canon and it seems as though the characters have been pulled aside between episodes to “film” these fourth wall breaks.

2. The fact that the title of the video “N’s Final Form” and the thumbnail are most likely not just a joke. Notice his acrylic stand teaser from V’s acrylic stand released recently:

When I first saw this, it looked SUPER weird. Me and my significant other said it looked like N and we thought the two things in the foreground of his body were his wings, meaning he was looking away from the viewer of the stand.

But then we looked closer and I started looking at my King Solver N design you can find in the murder drones link in my FAQ and we drew a more accurate picture of what we were seeing. N was not looking away from the viewer, all the characters are looking at us, and it would be weird to have N be different. So this is what we came up with:

W stands for his wings, T stands for where his tail is, L stands for his legs, F stands for his face and H stands for his hands.

His hands look a-little weird don’t they?

Remember this:

It was mentioned some where on Tumblr that this looks similar to the cocoon that Uzi broke out of in Episode 4 when she transformed into her solver form only N is being dragged in. This is obviously a biomechanical phenomenon of the solver. But why is he being dragged in?

To have his “final transformation” , a “final form” you may say?

The only thing is, after Uzis transformation, is when the solver really started to gain power over her, taking control of her as seen in Episode 4 and recently in Episode 6. As soon as she became biomechanical, the solver gained more control over her.

(Edit: sO this cocoon theory was wrong, but his emotions can still spill over and cause this!!! So its not fully wrong yet!)

Now think of the scene above and what happened to Uzi in Episode 4, but with N. N gets dragged into this cocoon, fighting but not able to escape, while Uzi is fighting inside her mind with the real solver, posing as CYN in the mansion as Uzi is trying not to lose her mind. While she’s stuck, N has his transformation, now not able to be protected by CYNs administration since Uzi is now the administrator of him and V, so he undergoes the transition, the solver not having much to fight against converting him to a biomechanical creature like Uzi. This gives it more power over N, and gives it a chance to take advantage of the situation to bury itself into N’s code, making his solver string: true. Now N has the same thing inside him that has possibly taken everything from him.

After this, he either gets possessed fully and goes on a rampage or the possession is slow, painful after he manages to escape the cocoon and get to the surface. Either by this point Uzi is still fighting in her head and N thinks she’s fully gone or dead OR she has successfully fought the solver and is looking for N. All his repressed emotions, everything that has happened, everything he’s lost…it’s all become too much. He snaps, lashing out on whatever is in front of him, this being the building we see in half in the teaser from yesterday. Before he can stop himself, he angrily swings toward the building, but instead of a sword, his gun or his claws coming out, there is this fleshy, gross growth that emerges, a blue solver symbol appearing in front of him and shooting towards the building, snapping it in half like a toothpick.

There is a moment of either him stopping in pure panic due to this OR his panic, sadness and fear turns into full on anger, him not able to repress anything anymore, taking a turn into a full on uncontrollable breakdown. The reason he had to repress his emotions for all this time, for fear of lashing out and hurting the ones he cares for. But now, as far as he knows, no one is left to care for. After all in the merch teaser today Uzi said really sarcastically:

“You’re meant to be better than us! Don’t become swallowed by the darkness/animal based merchandise (murders) like I have!”

And

“HIS EMOTIONS… CAN NOT BE CONTAINED!”

(which can be very much true)

This could end in either him being used by the solver as a host or Uzi coming back to help him and in turn as he said in the teaser:

“Okay I’m back! I’m better and it’s even deeper down now….haha! “ (basically his repressed emotions being repressed further for an even worst breakdown in a season 2)

That’s one turn it could take, but another could he that when he stops from pure panic due to what he’s become, similar to Uzi, and in the merch trailer today, and realizes he can use his newfound powers to save the ones he loves that are either left alive or find another way to fix what has happened.

(Someone mentioned on here that N’s solver powers could be similar to Time-travel to places he’s been to in the past, (like Dolls in teleportation to only places she has seen and Uzi doesn’t really have one yet, she’s not that far along in development of her solver) to go back and correct what mistakes he has made, fixing the timeline and THAT would be super cool if he does think he has lost everything or really has. If it ever find it on here again, I will tag it.)

Sorry this was SO LONG, but basically, N will have the blue solver due to the final two episodes and he will get a transformation like Uzis, having him grasp the thing that has basically ruined his life several times over being apart of him now, having to use it to save his loved ones. All the while not having a mental breakdown or angry blowup and losing control of his powers. So basically affecting the story and his choices greatly.

[askinkiskarma]

Hii idk if you take requests rn but if you do can you please write something where you are showing Neteyam music videos from earth on a tv in the lab and when your celebrity crush appeared you said « he so hot » forgetting that Neteyam was there and he fuck us bc he is jealous (like he didn’t know what your type in human were so he is possessive) 😩😩😩

IS IT TIME FOR JEALOUS NETEYAM PART 2? I THINK IT IS BESTIES!

this got away from me, the horny is taking me over once more (she says on a daily basis) also it's 12am and i'm too tired to proofread so if you see any mistakes, pretend to be shocked when they disappear tomorrow morning and don't judge me too harshly okkk?? xxx

i hope you enjoy besties x smooches

wc: 2k words

warnings: aged-up!neteyam, female human!reader, jealousy trope, smut (fingering, edging), strong language, cursing, kinda mean!neteyam, praise kink, small degradation kink, i guess that's all light day for me

na'vi compendium: tewng - loincloth, tiyawn - love

As a human living on Pandora, your life was never boring. Anything that the Na’vi would ever find mundane or ordinary, anything that humans on Earth might think is just another thing in a vast array of distractions always present in their day to day lives, to you, it was all new. Everything was just another opportunity to learn and grow, to experience life in a way that you weren’t quite made for, but that was full of lessons, surprises, full of excitement and adventure, full of… entertainment. 

That's all it was. A... lesson. It was important for you to understand where you came from, or more accurately, where your parents came from, and that included looking at videos of what they considered art. And boy, was it art, alright!

A video that you've now memorised by heart was playing in one of the recreation rooms, because seeing it on a small screen just wasn't quite enough. The beautiful music video featured incredible vistas of Earth like you've never quite seen it before, a choreography that highlighted just how fluid and dynamic humans could actually be when trying, a symphony of voices blending together beautifully, lyrics that melted your heart, and the most beautiful human men you have ever laid your eyes on, and you were almost upset that that what was what was missing from Pandora, and instead was all you got was old scientists who even at the best of times were not quite the same... sight.

It pained Neteyam to admit that when you asked him to come and hang around the labs, something he didn't like doing in the best of circumstances (but always did because of you), he definitely didn't expect this. He didn't quite understand the feelings plaguing him, feelings that never tried him before, as he watched your face, completely entranced and mesmerised, looking at the big screen where human men were singing and dancing in a way he found silly, but to his massive shock - you didn't. You and Neteyam shared an opinion on most things, have done since you were but children, growing up together in this world that scared you both, but that you braved together. So why was it now that this was changed this little fact that he was so fond of, that he held on for dear life, that he cherished with everything he had?

Is this what he was feeling? Sadness? No... it didn't quite feel like sadness. The twitching in his eye and the way his hands balled up in a tight fist is not what he associated with feeling down. Anger? Neteyam didn't get angry too often, but the times he did, it felt hot, like burning embers pushed down his throat. So not quite anger, either. It felt... bitter, like a poisoned fruit. His stomach tightened at the way you were almost drooling over these men that you didn't know, that were just like you, and nothing like Neteyam. Is this what you wanted? Is that who you craved? A human, someone whose hands fit in yours perfectly and whose body was made to hold your own without towering over you?

Neteyam felt the ugly feeling surge through his veins until it was like iced-water replaced all his blood, and he suddenly recognised the feeling from a distant memory of the past, one he shared with his dad.

"Jealousy, son, is like... a wave, that comes and goes, and can ripple over your feet or can drown you in sorrow, and anger and pain. It's watching someone get something you want, it's feeling a precious thing slip through your fingers, no matter how hard you try to hold on to it. It's cold and powerful, it's the ugliest of emotions, and it's inevitable. Just don't let it consume you."

"Hey! I was watching that!" You screamed in Neteyam's direction in an attempt to understand what just happened, why he took the remote away from you and turned off the projector, leaving you a confused and dazed mess. Your already struggling mind got even more scrambled, as your friend placed a large hand on your chest, pushing you to the ground and getting on top of you, hovering until your faces were so close, they were almost touching, until his breath was warm and musky and deepening the quiet, steady haze overtaking you. Your eyes widened taking him in, flared nose and deep frown marring his beautiful face, but nothing held a candle to his own eyes, yellow orbs of molten gold, so precious and unique to you, so, so beautiful and right now, almost swallowed by his black irises that were more dilated that you've ever seen them before.

"Neteyam... what are you doing?"

"Why am I here, huh? Why did you ask me to come, so I can watch you drool over human men? So I can see how much you want them?"

"What are you talk-"

His words confounded you, almost as much as his tone did. He sounded... jealous. He couldn't be. Right? You and Neteyam were just friends... just friends. Sure, you've shared a few drunken kissess and flirty comments throughout your life, and you've found yourself catching him looking at you in a way that indicated something... more, but he was Neteyam. Neteyam, the prince of the Omaticaya. Neteyam, the future Olo'eyktan. Neteyam, the most intelligent, caring, kind, compassionate, beautiful, sexy man you've ever seen... and a Na'vi. He had a line of women at his beck and call, so in time, you've come to terms with the fact he would never look at you, merely a measly human, and why should he? There was so much separating you, so much you'd never be able to overcome. And yet still, here he was, eyeing you like he hungered for you, like he ached for you, and your core throbbed at the view, a soft moan barely contained as you felt his twitching cock brush against your thigh.

"Is this what you want, what you crave, friend? All this fucking time, I thought there was a chance you might want me, the way I want you, the way I need you. And turns out I never stood a fucking chance, huh?"

"Neteyam, no, I -"

"What, what do you have to say for yourself?"

His hand was tracing your body softly, inching from your neck and collarbone, down your chest and waist, ghosting over your hips, until he found your shorts, clinging to your body in a way that drove him crazy, that let little to the imagination, that made him wants to explore every inch of you with his fingers, and his tongue.

"Is this for them?" when his hand slipped in between your thighs, feeling the wet patch that formed there in the short time he was on top of you, you pushed them instinctively together, trapping his fingers as they started to move, the moan unable to remain trapped inside of you anymore. The shake of your head was so aggressive it gave you whiplash, but you wanted him to know, needed him to know that it was him, only him, always him.

"No, Netey-, fuck! No, it's for you!"

The growl that escaped him made your heart still in your chest, the raw, powerful emotion something you have never seen in Neteyam, who was always a calming, tame presence in your life. It took him no time at all to remove the shorts that he's dreamt of seeing around your ankles for so long, a reality that he would cherish later, once his mind was no longer poisoned by the bitter hold of jealousy.

"You're lying. I saw the way you're watching them, I saw the look in your eyes. You just want a little human man your own size, huh?"

He takes a second, just a second to admire your body, that he's seen in all his filthiest, most beautiful dreams as it welcomed him, spread for him, bent for him, arched for him, but nothing, not even the absolute best of them, compared to the sight that would be forever tattooed in his brain from this point on. Your disheveled face, parted lips and blushing cheeks, messy hair as you were sprawled on the floor, looking at him with blown up pupils through your long lashes, your chest heaving up and down, nipples poking through your tank top... it all drove him fucking crazy. He wanted nothing more than to fuck you, long and hard, and show you that you deserved better than a human, that he can make you come in ways you haven't even imagined before.

"I'm not lying, Neteyam. I never thought you'd ever want me, so I moved on. But I need you, I want you, please. Only you. Only you, please."

His cock twitched and hardened even more at your words, more than he ever thought was fucking possible, and it hurt, the strain caused by his tightened tewng, the desire to fill you up more overwhelming by the second.

"Is that so, baby girl? You want me to fuck you?" his hand pushes your lace panties to the side, smirking at how drenched they were, and his breath hitches in his throat at the way your swollen folds glistened with slick, at the way your smell inundated his senses and pushed him to a primal state, in which nothing else in this world existed but you, and the desire to fill you up with him cum and watch as it dripped out of your small, perfect cunt.

"Yes! Yes, please!"

"Have you been good enough to deserve to be fucked, pretty girl? Is this what you think good girls do? Acting like a little slut, salivating over men that could never satisfy you?"

You whimper as his pushes two fingers in you, curling them so they drag against the spongy part in your core in a way that makes you squirm under him. The stretch is just enough to feel pressure building in you, not enough to reach the height in needed to be released, and you start grinding, fucking yourself on his fingers, hoping to get yourself there, hoping to reach the orgasm you needed more desperately with every passing second. Your actions anger him, as he pulls his fingers out swiftly and straddles you once more, a dangerous glimmer in his eyes that felt like no light could escape from.

"Answer me."

"I-I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

"That's right, baby girl. And why is that?"

"Because I'm yours. I'm all yours."

"Fuck, that's right, baby. You're mine. All fucking mine."

"Open your mouth for me." You do as you're told, and watch as he brings his fingers to your lips and pushes past them, until your mouth is coated in your slick, and you close your lips around them, swirling your tongue on and in between them, until you gather every last drop. He groans a wild, erotic groan, feeling the way your clean yourself off of him dutifully, and he lets his mind fantasise about the day you'll be chocking on his cock, your beautiful eyes drowned in tears as the girth becomes too much to handle, drops falling down your face as you try to take more of him, your tongue flat against him as he thrusts in and out of your mouth, as he comes down your throat. He slowly removes his fingers, even as you cling on, and they come out with a pop, and you smile at the sound, teeth finding your bottom lip as they sink into it, trying to suppress the smirk threatening to form on your lips.

"Such a filthy girl. Gonna make you feel so good, baby. Gonna show you why I'm the only one for you."

"You took my fingers so well, tiyawn. Now let's see how well you take my cock."

taglist: @fanboyluvr @theycallmesia @yagirlheree

[slipperyskell]

Man I’m gonna be completely honest: I don’t really care if Monty killed Bonnie or not at this point, but with the evidence we’re given in Ruin (not counting the lil story we get on the gator gondola ride because regardless of what the truth is, that was a [very cute] cover up story for whatever actually happened), there are some things seriously not lining up with Monty being the one to kill him.

First off: Bonnie’s last location was in Gator Golf. How the hell did he end up dying in Bonnie Bowl? Which is what happened, you can see where his head hit the wall + the broken bowling ball around Bonnie’s head, too. And it’s not like he could have been dragged from Gator Golf to Bonnie Bowl - afaik they’re pretty far apart from each other and the cameras would have caught it.

Secondly, and I think this is really important: Monty didn’t get his claws until AFTER Bonnie disappeared. Not to mention that Bonnie had claws to help him play the bass, too. It’s clearly stated that those claws are very good at wrecking shit, but there’s no way something without them could have ripped through Bonnie that easily. That being said, there are very clear claw marks on Bonnie’s chest, with three fingered claws. Personally I don’t think that’s green paint smudged around the injury since paint chipping doesn’t work like that from what I understand, but it might be plastic rub from the casings instead? Or even just dirt tbh - I haven’t played the game myself but looking at pictures/videos of it, it doesn’t really look like that same bright green that Monty or any of the bots are painted with.

Obviously the PeePaw Parts theory doesn’t hold up anymore since none of Bonnie’s Parts are missing, and imo it can be taken either way whether FazEnt actually found Bonnie. They mention him being decommissioned in one of the notes in base game, but that could be a matter of them never finding him and just assuming that’s what happened. It’s implied that ALL of the bots use AI to function, and it’s also implied that Bonnie’s disappearance happened a while before the events of SB, so while I think it’s a little bit of a stretch, it could be that the wet floor bots found him and stayed with him, but being in a hidden room, none of the human employees did.

Despite the Mimic’s prowess, I think it’s very unlikely that it had anything to do with Bonnie’s death as it was pretty clearly stated that it was trapped under the plex for a very long time, before the plex was even built. So unless it he hacked into another animatronic - which is very likely given that’s pretty much the entire plot of SB in the first place - don’t think it had anything to do with it directly (as in it put on Monty’s casings and killed Bonnie as a red herring situation)

Then you have the whole thing with Bonnie’s glowing eyes, which has only really been associated with bots being possessed (and that secret room in SB where you gotta take a picture of all the old cutouts of the gang). Was Bonnie possessed? Did the soul and the AI not merge well and cause him to go mad before taking himself out?

Then we have the whole thing with the MXES security system!!! All that rabbit imagery and the fact that the Glamrocks were a part of that system as well as being under the Mimic’s control, I can’t help but feel like there was some sort of mix-up.

I really don’t know what this all means or where I’m going with this.I think it’s possible that Monty was actually the one who killed him, but only because there really isn’t any evidence (or lack thereof) to say it could have been anyone else. That being said, theres a lot of things not adding up in that story (Bonnie’s last location being gator golf when he’s actually in bonnie bowl + Monty not having his claws installed until AFTER Bonnie’s disappearance being the big ones). If Monty was actually the one to hbe done it, I think it’s possible he may not have done it intentionally/maliciously - I think it’s possible that the mimic had assumed Bonnie was tied to MXES system and killed him through Monty or one of the other animatronics.

It’s really hard to say tbh!!! I’m just more interested in the “why” than the “who” at this point.

[vortex-detected]

After Class

𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜: 𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘥𝘰𝘭!𝘭𝘦𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘹 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳 (not specified) 𝙧𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙙: 𝘯𝘰 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩: 1.5K (my minho bias is showing-) 𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙧𝙚: enemies to lovers, slow burn (kinda??), suggestive (making out), comfort 𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨: cursing, reader has a meltdown (like always?? why do i always do this), minho is kinda out of character (in my opinion, but its cute), minho is kinda mean? but its made up for, reader hits minho, lmk if i missed anything!! 𝙨𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙮: You're one of the worst dancers in the class, according to Minho, and how much he pays you special attention because of how behind you are. Yet, why does he pick you as his partner for the pairing dance he assigned?

A/N: Hi. I thought of purple Lee Know when I wrote this, cause like.. why would I not?? Anyway, I hope you enjoy it! This was a lot longer than I wanted, but I can't help it, it's Minho. I also listened to skz-replay on repeat as I listened to it, so like, shout out to skz-replay and the motivation it gave me?? I'm rambling, let's get on with the fic!!

“You know you’re doing the move completely wrong, right? Your left foot goes behind your right, not the other way around. Dumbass.” Minho says, glaring at you. “Well, Dumbass, you only showed the move once. Unlike some people, who watch the video once and get it immediately, some of us have to watch it more than once,” you reply, rolling your eyes. He smirks, “So we agree you take longer to learn the dance? Alright, good to know.” “You bit-” “Let’s keep going! Yeah?” he cuts you off, turning around to start the music again.

You sigh, watching him do the move again, making sure you saw how to do it right. Lee Minho is one of the best dancers in your class. He bossed people around, making sure the dances were perfected by everyone. He’d film videos at home, so he can come to class and show them. He took over the teacher's job, as she didn't do anything. She watched him in awe. Everyone did. Except you. You couldn’t deny him of his charms when he dances, or his handsome features. What you could do, though, was his personality. He was a bitch most of the time. Harsh words towards you when you specifically struggled with a move, only to keep you after class to pay special attention to you because “you need it.” It made you feel little, and you hated him for that. It seemed he hated you, too. 

“Yah, [Y/N]. Are you even listening to me?” Minho asked, snapping his fingers in front of you. You shake your head, suddenly getting shy. Everyone’s eyes on you made you want to crumble in a little ball. “Y-Yeah. Sorry. A lot’s been going on recently. Can… I go outside for a bit?” you said, looking down and messing with your fingers. “Be quick. I have an important role for you,” he said, making your head snap up as you looked at him. You nod quickly as you stumble out of the dance practice room, still very overwhelmed. 

You go to the roof as you sit down on the wall. You look up towards the sky, looking at all the clouds. You scroll through your messages and go to the group chat with you and all the dance majors.

Lee Minho- 11:24 PMHere’s the new choreo. I expect you to at least know the first by tomorrow's class.[Video Attachement]

You open the video and you stand up, propping your phone somewhere you can see it. You watch it a couple of times, eventually getting the hang of it. You start it over and start dancing. You watch Minho in the video, which he thoughtfully mirrored, so you didn’t have to do it yourself (really the only thing he’s good for). You follow his movements and just like that it’s over. You sit down, grabbing your phone. “You’ve improved in the, what, eight minutes you’ve been gone?” a voice startled you. You whip your head around to find Minho standing in the doorway. “How long have you been there?” you ask. “Long enough to understand why you took so long outside. Care to come back downstairs so I can show you what I have planned?” he asked (more like stated). You sigh, standing up. “Sorry,” you say, walking passed him. He grabs your arm to turn you around. You look at him, startled. He isn’t one for touching, so this surprised you. “I… wasn’t lying when I said you improved. You did great,” he said, looking at you sincerely. You nod, ripping your arm from his hold, “Thanks. I work better when I’m alone.” He hums, putting his hands in his pockets. “I’ll keep that in mind. Now get downstairs before I push you down.” “Oh, ouch. And you’re back in your dance mode.” “I never left.”

You both reach the dance studio, only to find everyone in pairs. “What… is this?” you asked, looking at Minho. “Well, if you only returned to class five minutes ago, you’d know I put everyone in pairs. I paired everyone, and you-” he pauses to flick your forehead “are stuck with me.” he finished, smirking as he saw your face drop. “I’m- Minho I am your worst option, why did you pick me?” “To show your full potential. You’re better than you think, I saw it myself a couple of minutes ago. You just need the right environment.” he explained. “But-” “Alright guys, it’s almost three. Start wrapping up, and we’ll continue our pair dances tomorrow!” he cut you off, once again. You start walking towards your stuff, but then- “Oh, [Y/N]. Not you. We have to catch up to everyone else since you left for so long.” he smirked. You sigh and sit down, waiting for everyone to leave. 

Minho comes to sit by you asking you a few questions about what you wanted to do. “So, I was thinking of a hip-hop song? That seems like it would be your strong suit, as I saw up on the roof. What do you think?” he asked, not wanting to limit you to one genre. “I have my own question,” you ask, something burning at the back of your head. Everyone has already gone, so you can speak freely. “Ask away-” “What’s the real reason you chose me?” you ask, your insecurities slowly getting the best of you. “What? I already told you, dumbass-” “That. That right there. That’s why I’m so fucking confused, Minho.” you say, standing up suddenly. 

“You always told me how bad I was, telling me how much I needed to improve. Calling me a dumbass and slow for not getting it immediately. You always held me back after class just to scold me even more. Why choose me? I am the worst possible option for you. Your comments justify that, you know? I mean, Felix is a good dancer, I’m sure he’d understand if you wanted to switch with him-” “[Y/N.” “I won’t take it the wrong way because you deserve to dance with someone better than me-” “[Y/N].” “-Or Hyunjin! Hyunjin’s great. He seems to be close to you, too. So switch me out for him-” “[Y/N], please.” he pleaded, coming up to grab your hands. You stop pacing around and look at him. “Why? Why me?” you say, finally letting all your emotions out, the first tear falling. He sighs. 

“I want to get closer to you. I’ve always been mesmerized by you. You dance well, I hope you know that. You aren’t as bad as I make you out to be and I’m sorry I made you feel that way. You’re amazing, I-I was just teasing. I never actually thought about you that way. I sometimes get jealous of you because I think you dance so well, despite how long you’ve been in class. Yes, you do have things to improve on, but so do I. So do I. None of us are perfect and I- fuck- I’m sorry I made you feel that way. I’m truly sorry.” he rambles, pulling you into his chest. You sob into his shirt, clinging onto him. He rubs your back, making sure you feel safe. You pull away and stare at him. “I don’t know if I should be happy all of that was teasing or if I should be fucking furious at you,” you say, shaking your head. He chuckles, “If it’ll make you feel better, you can slap me.” You raise your hand, “Wait! I’m not finished!” he said, suddenly trying to avoid your hand. 

You drop your hand, raising your eyebrows. “You hit me lightly, and I get to do something in return.” “And that is?” you wonder. “You have to hit me first.” You raise your hand and lightly hit his shoulder. “Ow- That wasn't lightly!” he pouted, rubbing his shoulder. “I can go harder,” you said, slowly raising your hand back up. He grabs your wrist, bringing your hand back down, “Kinky, but I still have to do my thing.” he said. You look at him questioningly. “What are your plans, Lee Minho-” before you could finish, you felt something stopping you.

Minho attached his lips to yours and it felt electrifying. You paused for a second, tensing up. He pulled back. “Fuck. I fucked up, didn’t I? I-I thought- I’m sorry-” he said before you cut him off with your kiss. He reciprocated immediately, bringing you closer to him. You wrap your arms around his neck, fingers dancing in his purple locks. You pull away to breathe. “You didn’t fuck up. I was just caught off guard, Min,” you said, smiling. He smiles back, smashing his lips back into yours with more passion. You feel him lick your bottom lip, asking for permission. 

You back away. “Maybe we should catch up with the others, yeah? Show them what we’re capable of,” you say, patting his shoulder. He nods, “Y-Yeah. We should, then can I kiss you more afterward, yeah?” he said, trying to catch your lips again. You block him, “Slow down there, tiger. You haven’t even asked me out yet.” “Isn’t it obvious you’re already mine? You always have been since you joined the class,” he said, trying again. You look at him with a blank stare. He rolls his eyes. “Go out with me? Saturday? I'll take you to dinner, yeah?” he asked, faint pink on his cheeks. “I’d love to, Min,” you said, pulling him into another kiss.

[sunnychuuya]

Sally face >:3

the cameras thar Addison installed have eyes on them on Larry's side mr Addison sus frrr /hj

me after looking up a tutorial and still being lost

How do I activate the runes on floor three raghhh

I DID KT

thank God for light bulbs existing I'm so much less scared rn

guys I don't like this ://

Sodas gonna be okay right ://

also where's uhhh I think her name is maple she's gone that's sus

HEYYY UHH SWITCHED TO LARRYS SIDE WHY ARE CHUG AND SODA ALL FADED

WAIT THAT MEANS THEIR NOT POSSED RIGHT ??

SO THEYLL BE FINE

RIGHT GYYS

oh 304 is just fucking gone on Larry's side

the mirror in Todd's bathroom where the red eyes demon appeared in chapter two is shattered

why dids Todd's parents toilet have the void

Why doesn't it let me access the full rooms I can't go into the bedrooms

I dislike that all kf the suspicious ppls houses r not able to be accessed (charley, packerton)

WHAT THE FUCK IS THE GOOP ITS POSSESION GOOP I KNOW IT

Nvm I gor into packertons place

Theres nothing here tho ??

What the florp

I got it to work at the last second bruh i suck at the guitar bits

Mm circles

all the mirrors are shattered actually

did Mrs Gibson die 💀

I'm pretending to understand what's happening

FUCK THE GUITAR BITS R SO HARS

I'm definitely missing stuff :/

-GUYS NO FUCKING WAY WAS I RIGHT ABOUT ADDISONCBEING SUS ??

Addison: a young boy stands at the threshold of oblivion

Unkoen green voice: MEXMERIZED BY THE ETERNAL ABYSS

-Ph what the fyck this is creepy

-UHHHHH

SO MR ADDISON IS SUS

"SO how long have you been like this"

*slowly slides away*

what the fuck

Litterally nothing could've prepared me for this

This reminds me of fullmetal alchemist bro

Goop

ADDISON IS THE POSSESSY DUDE I thought it was The red eyed demon is the red eyed demon possibly an extension?

Im

Having trouble processing this I seriously thought Mr Addison was not actually gonna be sus.

NO WHAT THE HELL

I HATE THIS GAME

DUDE I CAN BARELY DO THE FUCKING PILLAR THINGIES

FUCK SHIT BALLS ASS

I paused the game and forgot I was doing this lmao

THIS IS SI HARD

t h e r e s m o r e

Bruh I'm gonna larry

I did IT

hey guys wtf

MURDER EVERYONE IN THE APARTMENRS ??

OKAY BUT NOT SODA AND CHUG RIGJT CUZ THEY DONT HAVE THE POSSESY GOOP

"I don't think I can do this. Please don't make me do this terrence" guys what if I just delete the game

Omori core (white room with knife)

This isn't girlypop guys

"Goal: kill"

what if I'm crying

I HAVE TO KILL TODDS PAEENRS

I HAVE TO KILL MY DAD AND LISA

NO

Why do I feel so fuckijg guilty it's a video game

SAL NO CHUG AND SODA ARE INNOCENT THEY ARWNT POSSESED

The lack of music

Like complete silence except for footsteps

Makes this so much more painful

Killing soda is what opened the floodgates of tearss

"Youknow, I may not say this enough, but I'm proud of you, sal. You've come a long eay and I know it hasn't all been easy." Fuck. This hurts.

If Larry hadn't kms lsal would've had to kill him..

"I look at you now and I'm excited about the man you arebecoming. K think youve for a bright future ahead of yoj. I reallt do"

Haha funny joke I'm sobbing hea about to fucking kill you and then (prolly) get excuted. I hate this game.

Ih fuck not Todd

ASH I FUCKING WISH YOU WERE IN THOSE APARTMENTS YOU ARE THE FUCKING WORST I HATE YOJ

ENON DIED

FUCKING HELL

ThIS IS BECAUSE THE CULT RIGHT

TBATS A FAKE

SHIT

SHIT SHIT SHIT

FUCK

The music fading out

Fuck

ASH IDC UR STILL FUCKIJG WRONG

Wair no but I know her idea won't work bc like ik sal dies

Do NIT play memories and dreams rn

ASH NO SHUT THE FUCK UP- AHUT THE FUCK UP RIGHT NOWBTHIS IS YOUR FAULT, YOU HAD THREE YEARS YOU WAITED TILL THE LAST FUCKING SECOND

hey guys what the fuck

What the genuine fuck

Like okay I knew he died from before I started the game but

This still kinda hurts ngl

Fuck

Why couldn't they just like

Be happy

STOP ISBTHAT WHY I KEEP SEEING FANARTS WITH CLOCKS THAT SAY 6 33/18 33 ON CLOCKS YALL ARW DEVIOUS

Acheivment: suffer

Re you fuckin kidding me I mean I am suffering but God damn

Wait yea that's a good point wtf happened to Larry's body

Ash jm going to allow you go try to redeem herself but it's gonna be hard

NKO U HAVE TO PLAY AS HER :(

Travis is the cult member on the inside yea?

-"Oh gizmo is still alive, thats good at least!" [He hadn't left your room since the execution. It's like he knows] guys what the fuck

maple..

Pookies j do not remember the shed code

travis is still alive at least..

YALL I JUST REALIZED THE LIL PUZZLR BOX THING FROM THE TREE HOUSE A LONG TIME AGO ?? NEVER EXPLAIJED

great fucking job ash now Larry's gone bc of you too (actuslly I don't blame her for this one bc Larry wanted it yk)

girly just casually has a c4

Went into the temple

2nite wasn't great updates since I was just talkin eith the below user lmao

@mypinterestgotbannedsoimherenow

[muzzlemouths]

Youtube has been recommending me "x song playing in empty/abandoned mall" videos pretty regularly and every time I watch one I cant help but think of your Dead Mall Dare boys 🥺

Oh the sheer number of those that I watch on a weekly basis... I am shaking your hand 🤝 They were (and continue to be) a pretty substantial influence for the au lol

One in particular - Billy Joel's 'Piano Man' - stands out. I actually wrote a short DMD: Golden Years drabble to this particular video! It never got posted (I think I just forgot about it), but you might as well have it now!

DMD: Golden Years // Sun & Moon centric // Wordcount: 1125

It’s a warm and pleasant summer day, just like any other, blithely mundane. There’s a sale on all household items that will go for another week still, an empty showing for the newest mixer model, and a line up for that year’s finest in fashion. The petunias stretch from their baskets in stunning full bloom.

There is no one around to see them.

The shelves are restocked, the tiling mopped and shined, and the counters dusted. No more than a handful of days after Superstar Shopping Center shut its doors for good and, against all odds, the mascots have already run out of things to do.

Sun sprawls woefully across a chamber loveseat, stomach to the cushions and an arm hung over the side, his other angled beneath his chin, thinking of everything and nothing in particular.

A short distance above, Moon’s back drapes across the same couch’s spine. He lazily tosses a ball from the arcade’s claw machine into the air, catches it, and casts it upward once more. Throw, catch. Throw, catch. Throw, catch. Throw–

“Hey, Moon?”

“Mh?”

“Do you…” A pause, his rays retracting where he lays his head against his shoulder, “do you think we’re being punished?”

Catch. Moon’s neck cranes to look at him better. “What makes you say that?”

“It’s just–” he sighs, turning onto his back now, “What if the manager never changes his mind? What if–” another pause, and he draws this one out with bated breath, “what if it’s not temporary, and the doors never open again? No more customers, no more sales, just an empty mall?” His frown deepens, “I don’t know what I’d do.”

The ball flies again, Moon’s gaze returned upward, “I didn’t know you hated spending time with me that much.”

“Moon, I’m serious!”

“So am I,” he says. The ball lands soundly in his palm. He tosses it again. “Besides, punishments happen when you do something wrong, and you’re physically incapable of that.”

“You know that’s not true–”

“You hate upsetting the customers. You cried when you had to break it to someone that a jacket went out of stock.”

“It was their dream jacket!” He defends, hoisting themselves up to their elbows, now, “That’s not the point, Moon. I really mean it.” He catches Moon by the corner of his eye and allows his rays to sink inward almost completely, “None of this would have happened if I hadn’t–”

“Hey,” Moon rapidly brings himself to straddle the couch, missing the ball completely, it drops to the side of the couch and bounces out of sight, “none of that. You did nothing wrong, okay?”

“But–”

“It was me who acted out, and if this is a punishment then it’s mine and mine alone, got it?”

Sun brings his knees to his chest, arms winding around them. “You were only defending me,” he whispers, “does that not make it my fault, even a little?”

“No,” Moon answers. His right leg swings over the spine of the couch to join the other, offering him a better position to reach for Sun, whose cheek he cradles in the palm of his hand, “It wasn’t - and isn’t your fault,” he promises, “not even a little.”

It’s obvious that he isn’t convinced, but Sun doesn’t argue. Instead, he brings his hand to brace over Moon’s and leans into the touch with the beginnings of a smile. “I hope you’re right,” he says, “I really do.”

“I’m always right,” Moon answers, and that, at last, gets a chuckle out of the other. “Now come on, quit moping. Why don’t we find something else to do besides lay around all day.”

“Alright,” Sun nods around a sniffle, “like what?”

Moon’s hand draws away and instead braces against the couch, then he drops down to the cushions on Sun’s other side. “Well, cleaning is out of the picture. How about we sort the tags?”

“No, we already did that yesterday,” Sun answers.

“We could rearrange the clothes? Put children’s attire in the men’s section.”

“I’d never!” He jabs Moon with an elbow, his smile returning in full, now.

Moon’s smile grows, too. “Well, what do you want to do?”

Sun places a finger at his lip, his tongue sticking out by the tip in hard thought, “Let’s see, we cooooooould…” but he comes up empty. Not yet broken of their customer service habits, they’ve quickly run out of ideas that don’t sound outright taboo.

He doesn’t need to think for long. The mall’s speakers cut to static for a brief moment before Billy Joel’s Piano Man begins to play, and instantly, Sun knows what he wants to do.

“Sing with me!” he beams with a grin.

“What?”

Already, Sun is up and moving, taking Moon’s hand in his and forcibly dragging him off of the couch and across the mall’s atrium. Just off-center is the mall’s grand runway stage - formerly used for shows and events - it now stands empty and prime for the taking.

He abandons Moon at the foot of the stage and climbs the stairs two at a time, taking hold of the microphone stand just in time to belt out the lyrics.

"Son can you play me a memory? I'm not really sure how it goes But it's sad and it's sweet and I knew it complete When I wore a younger man's clothes!“

Moon rests his arms against the edge of the stage and watches with a barely contained chuckle, eyes bright with something fond, and he waves Sun away when the other gestures for him. “You know I’m not much of a singer,” he says to Sun’s pout, and then turns, looking to the right of the stage, “what if I back you up instead?”

Back on stage, Sun watches him closely as the lyrics fly by. His smile broadens as Moon situates himself behind the grand piano there.

With a dramatic flourish, Moon throws himself into the song with just as much vigor. He strikes the keys with a natural flow and a passionate expression that brightens the room, a perfect backdrop to Sun’s voice.

“And the piano, it sounds like a carnival And the microphone smells like a beer And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar And say man what are you doin' here?“

Times are changing. The mall stands empty, only an echo left to greet their song, but they aren’t alone. Two cords, two hearts, yet they beat the same. Their melody carries through vacant halls warmed with the blood of stubborn hope.

And isn’t that enough?

“Sing us a song, you're the piano man Sing us a song tonight Well, we're all in the mood for a melody And you've got us feelin' alright”

[oh-surprise-its-me]

This is absolutely inspired by this post @aki-draws-things tagged me in

A bit of crack, but in all reality very realistic for the idiots.

When Ron came late to pick up Chris he didn’t think much of it. Tom is curled in the passenger seat asleep, Ron will wake him up to see Chris though.

Ron looks out the window to see most of the firefighters outside. Odd but not unusual. He watches and they start spinning around with balls.

Ron smiles to himself. There’s a joke in there somewhere that would make Tom sigh.

He watches as Chris and David complete what looks like an extremely complicated little dance.

They’re suddenly slammed with the rest of the exercise balls Ron can’t help the laugh he lets out. Tom jerks awake. “What the fuck are they doing.”

Ron can’t do anything besides shrug. “No clue but it’s kinda hot.”

Tom stares at him. He thinks maybe he’s loosing it or still dreaming. “I mean you’re not wrong Lucas would love this.” Ron squeezes his leg. “Take a video the recorder is in my bag.”

Ron watches as David spins Chris around. Oh they’re definitely tipsy. Makes sense since they’ve been off call for about three hours. Work ran over, the navy never cares about time schedules when it’s not theirs. David must’ve stayed with Chris. Lucas would’ve gotten them both and taken them home but he must’ve been told to stay and sleep.

Ron quickly reroutes his plan to drop David off.

“Come on let’s get our man.”

Ron smiles over at Tom. Tom who is slightly rumpled in the seat. Tom who’s looking more like Tommy tonight. His hair is flopped over his eyes. Ron can’t help but gently tug a strand before sliding out of the car.

They make their way across the street. No cars to hit them at this time. David gently spins Chris around to see them.

They get a gasp in response, oh their baby is more then tipsy. Tom opens his arms and catches Chris.

“Hello darlings I missed you oh my god I love y’all.” David let’s out a laugh. Tom grins down at Chris. “Hey honey.” Chris practically swoons. Ron laughs. He tosses an arm around David’s shoulders. “Hey man how much strawberry tequila did you two drink?”

David smiles, he waves at the guys sitting around watching them. “We split a bottle with Ryan and Joanna. It was Joanie’s birthday. She wanted everything strawberry.”

“Lord okay you two can drink all of that shit alone it’s nasty.” Chris pokes a finger into Tom’s chest. “Says you baby, that vodka you drink is vile.”

Tom presses a kiss onto Chris’s head “you like it when it’s on my tongue.” Chris smacks a hand over Tom’s mouth “hey! They don’t need to know that!”

David laughs again. He slides into the back seat next to the two of them. “Y’all I already know this shit. I know too much about y’all’s sex life.”

Ron snaps his fingers at David. “Don’t start. I know things about you and Lucas too.” David blushes. “Right never mind. Forget everything.” Chris laughs. “Yeah pretty boy shut it.” “Doll don’t start.”

Ron and Tom make eye contact in the mirror. Tom shakes his head with a smile.

—

Tom takes a shot of vodka when they get back to the house. Chris licks it out of his mouth.

Ron watches as he sips on a spiked cider.

Chris’s hands start going lower. Tom ends up grabbing the bottle. He takes a swig. When he sets the bottle down he looks more relaxed. Ron might not drink but he does enjoy the way his boyfriends get.

Ron watches as they start to slide clothing off each other. Ron can tell it’s not going to go anywhere, they’re too tired, too drunk.

He gently pulls them into the bedroom. They’re both down to just boxers. “Ah no leave those on.”

Chris whines. “But-” “Baby please?”

Ron kisses both of them. “No! We can have all the morning sex you two want but go to bed.”

Tom sighs. He pulls Chris closer. Ron ends up on the other side. Chris pulls Ron close enough that he’s basically laying on top of the two of them. He’s barely touching the bed. “Love y’all.”

Tom smiles. “Love you too. You too Ronnie.”

Ron laughs gently. “Love you both you babies.”

[maddieautobot273]

Silk & Cologne (11)

A Miguel O’Hara x OC Series - Link on AO3 (X)

Chapter 11 - Rehearsal - previous chapter (X) 

Pairing: Miguel O’Hara x Female OC

Words: 3.2K words 

Warnings: PG for slight rough-housing

Summary: Lisa starts her first real day on her dance team while Miguel tries to deny his feelings. 

//////

I was jogging down the streets of the city the following morning, heading over to the dance studio. I had slept in a few minutes later than I wanted to, so I quickly changed into my dance clothes at the apartment before leaving. I was still making good progress to make it there in time. Until I noticed the missed messages by Miguel on my Gizmo. 

6 Unread messages - 11:07pm 

“Crap!” I cursed harshly under my breath. 

I hid in an empty alley, making sure I was far enough from anyone hearing me before setting up a video call with Miguel. 

“Miguel, hey, I’m so sorry I didn’t see your messages last night,” I grimaced. 

“It’s fine, Lisa, you were asleep, I know,” Miguel reassured me as his face was looking at other monitors. 

“Phew, thanks, sorry again— Wait, how would you know?” I asked him, the gears turning in my head before it clicked. “Were you in my apartment last night?!” 

That caught Miguel’s attention as his face completely turned to face me through the screen. “I didn’t mean it like—“ he sighed tiredly, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Yes, I was there last night. I didn’t stay long,” 

“Were you worried about me?” I asked him with a curious gaze. “You didn’t watch me sleep did you?” 

“Briefly,” Lyla commented with a sly look on her face as she hovered near Miguel. “I wanted to wake you, but he wanted to let you sleep,”

Miguel shot Lyla a look that silently told her to shut up causing me to both gawk at the man at the idea of him watching me sleep, but also snicker at his reaction. Lyla sure loved to cause drama. 

“I was concerned why you weren’t answering my messages,” he clarified, shaking a finger at me. “There’s a difference,” 

I hummed at his answer, not quite buying it. “Admit it Miguel, you’re starting to break out of your shell and warm up to me. Even just a little,” 

He shook his head, rolling his eyes. “If anything, I find you tolerable, at best, Kendrick,” he jabbed before his lips formed a faint smirk. 

“Alright, if it puts us on good terms still, tolerable it is,” I grinned back at him.

“Oooh, what is this tension I’m sensing here?” Lyla wiggled her brows at Miguel, her heart shaped lens of her glasses glaring in the light. 

“Lyla, please!” Miguel scoffed at her. 

I laughed at their interaction before calming myself down, moving back to the topic at hand. “What did you want to talk to me about?” 

“I installed an upgrade to your Gizmo, courtesy of Lyla,” he explained, showing me a small hologram on the side of the screen. “It will send gentle, non-radioactive pulses through your body to help keep your powers in check while in your dimension,” 

“This will definitely come in handy,” I smiled in relief. “Thank you, Lyla,” 

“You’re welcome!” She chirped happily. 

I smirked over at Miguel, “You too, Miguel,” 

“It’s no trouble at all,” Miguel played it off, but I could see the small bashful blush that faintly stained his cheeks. “Don’t you need to be somewhere?” 

“Dance practice, right, thanks again, Miguel!” I waved at him again. 

“Hey, be careful—!” Miguel stressed before I ended the call. 

////////

Miguel’s P.O.V. 

Miguel sighed, chuckling tiredly to himself as the video call ended abruptly as he resumed his work on the other monitors. “That woman just can’t stay still,”

“But she has a point,” Lyla sang as she sat on Miguel’s shoulder, her face cupping her chin as she leaned against her knee. 

“About what?” Miguel humored her. Big mistake. 

“You are warming up to her,” Lyla grinned. 

“So what?” Miguel rolled his eyes. 

“This is a big deal, Miguel, I haven’t seen you light up this much since–” Lyla’s voice trailed off as she noticed one of the monitors Miguel was looking at. It was Gabriella. He had gifted her a new soccer ball that day. She was so happy too. 

“You’re gonna finish that sentence?” Miguel challenged her as he glanced her way before shaking his head. “I didn’t think so,” 

“Come on, Miguel, you know what I mean,” Lyla rolled her eyes as she hovered away from his shoulder, pausing the video feed as she blipped in front of him. “Lisa seems nice. Just talk to her,” 

Miguel stopped what he was doing as he looked down at Lyla. He sighed heavily, eyes closed. “You saw what happened when I interfered with one dimension. I’m not risking that again,”

“But–” Lyla was ready to continue until she stopped when Miguel gave her a stern glare. 

“I’m not talking about this, Lyla. End of discussion,” Miguel stated as he turned away from her. 

“I’ve seen the way you look at her, you know,” Lyla spoke up with a knowing smile. 

Miguel stopped, barely offering Lyla a side glance as he began to leave his lab. He hated that she was right. 

////////

Lisa’s P.O.V. 

I ran back out into the street and continued my jog to the dance studio. I couldn’t feel the web build up as strongly as before, meaning the upgrade to my Gizmo was working as intended. After running for a while, I found the dance studio, sighing in relief when I noticed the time on my watch and realized that I had made it.  

I packed my bag in the locker, grabbing a towel and my water bottle as I made my way into the main studio. A lot of the dancers had already arrived, talking amongst themselves, scattered in their own little groups and cliques. It looks like some of them had taken the time to hang out and get to know one another over the course of the week after orientation. 

Had I not been bitten by a radioactive spider from a different dimension and discovered that multiple spider superheroes were real, I probably would have done the same. An unplanned cannon event. I felt like I was the new kid in school all over again. 

“Hey, Lisa!” 

I snapped out of my funk, hearing someone call my name. I looked over to a group of dancers, two girls and two guys. One of the girls waved me over. She had dark skin with beautiful black curls wearing a matching lululemon sports bra and leggings. 

“You’re sitting with us today!”

I offered her a polite smile as I walked over towards the group. The other girl was light skinned with blonde hair in a bob cut wearing sweatpants with a sweater tied around her waist and a T-shirt that was slightly large for her size. The two guys appeared to be twins. Born of Asian descent, they wore matching outfits. Baggy pants and tank tops. 

“Thanks,” I sat with the group, squeezing in between the two girls. “I recognize some of you from orientation,” 

“I’m Kasey,” the dark skinned woman introduced herself before pointing out the others. “This is Hannah and the twins, Toya and Touga,” 

“Hiya,” the twins greeted me in unison before glaring at each other, each of them opening their mouths to speak but then quickly shutting them when the other was going to. “Stop copying me!” 

They continued to bicker amongst themselves as Hannah laughed softly before looking over at me. “Don’t mind them. They’ve been like this for years,”

“Oh,” my eyes lit up at the statement, surprised. “You’re all friends?” 

“I’ve known them since middle school. Always getting on each others nerves,” Hannah shook her head like she was mocking her younger siblings. “It’s honestly adorable sometimes,” 

“Adorable? I’m cute at best!” Toya pouted. 

“Not with that exfoliation cream you’re not,” Touga snarked. “You’re blinding me, bruh!” 

“Oh, I’ll show you blinding, smartass,” Toya growled as the pair tussled. 

“Boys, boys, you’re both pretty! Please do not fight in front of our new friend!” Hannah pleaded. 

“Coach will set them straight when they get here,” Kasey shook her head before looking over at me with a kind smile. 

“How do you know them?” I asked. 

“I’m the newbie to the bunch,” Kasey flashed me a peace sign, “We can be newbies together,” 

“Sounds good,” I smiled. “So what’s with the seating arrangements?” 

“You didn’t see? There was a group chart tapped to the door on the way in. It was there when the first dancers started piling in,” Kasey raised a curious brow at me as she pointed back at the door. 

“I was in a rush thinking I would be late so I didn’t see it,” I rubbed the back of my neck, my cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

“Aahhh, the goodie-two shoes type I see,” Kasey flashed me a grin before she broke out into laughter. “I’m just kidding, that was me during orientation. I moved here over a year ago and I still feel like I’m learning my way around the city,” 

I was going to ask Kasey why she moved before a whistle caught my ear as all eyes turned to our dance coach as they entered the room. 

“Alright, everyone, listen up!” Hands on her hips, she had a commanding presence as she smiled smugly at everyone. “Normally for first practice I’d have everyone introduce themselves but over the weekend I received a very interesting request from the mayor,” 

Her gaze looked out into the small sea of talented dancers before her, there was an almost intimidating glare in her eyes. 

“The mayor has selected our studio to join in on the entertainment festivities of the Marvel Day celebration that is coming up on Mother’s Day weekend next month,” Coach announced. 

Gasps and excited murmurs quickly filled the room as the dancers looked upon one another excitedly. I could feel some excitement tingling in my bones too. Not only would I get to show my mom around the city, but she’d get to see me perform too? 

“Now to make things a little more interesting, I placed you all into groups of who I’d believe would best play off one another,” Coach smiled as she walked over to the side, reaching behind the sound system as she pulled out a top hat. She shaked it, showing off small pieces of scrap paper inside. “Plus, inside this hat are all of the requested gigs and venues our studio has been asked to collaborate and perform with. Each team will pick a ‘captain’ and they will come up and draw a gig at random,”

The excitement intensified as I watched Toya and Touga fist bump and punch each other's shoulders, Hannah bubbling in anticipation. Kasey shot me a playful wink as I smiled. 

“Pick a captain and once everyone is ready, I’ll call you up to select your project,” Coach snickered. “Talk about a team building exercise,” 

Our team huddled up in a circle, glancing between one another. “How should we decide who gets to be captain?” I asked. 

“Um, rock, paper, scissors for it?” Hannah suggested. 

“I’m game!” Toya beamed. “Touga sucks at it, so it’s an easy win for me,” 

“I do not!” Touga gawked at his twin, smacking him in the back of the head. 

“Seems fair to me, let’s do that,” Kasey nodded. We all brought our fists up to the center of the circle, “Everyone ready?”

We nodded, setting the palms of our other hands below our weapon. 

“Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!” 

We repeated the action multiple times, somehow all of us predicting the same gesture. Until finally there was a victor. 

“Looks like it’s Lisa!” Hannah cheered. 

“Huh?” My eyes widened as I looked at the results and sure enough, she was right. I was the winner. “Are you sure you want it to be me?”

“We just you, girl, listen to your gut,” Kasey smiled as both Toya and Touga offered eager nodes of encouragement. 

“Well, if you think I’ll be a good leader, I’ll give it a shot,” I nodded firmly. 

“We’ll follow your lead captain, sir!” Touga proclaimed as he saluted me, coughing when Toya nudged his side. “Erm, ma’am!”

I giggled at their antics. It looked like I had a very welcoming and eager team on my side. When it looked like the other groups had selected their captains, Coach called us all to attention. “Alright, I’ll call your group up one by one and your captain’s will come up and pick out their paper. Oh, and I’ll be assigning your team a codename to better manage your comings and goings with your progress,” 

More murmurs bubbled across the room as each group waited for them to be called up.

“Group A, come up,” Coach pointed out the group as their team captain, a blonde male stood up and made his way over towards her. 

All eyes were on him as he reached into the hat and rummaged through the pile before pulling a piece out and opening it, revealing the contents inside. Coach snickered as she read the paper. 

“Alright, team Star-Spangled Banners, you will be back up dancers for the charity showings of Rogers: The Musical on Broadway,”

Excited cheers erupted as the team celebrated and everyone else applauded them. It looked like some of these gigs were really huge events. I was starting to really underestimate how big Marvel Day was going to be. It sounded like it was going to be a huge deal. 

Coach called up more team captains as they got their gigs and team names. S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents would be dancers on the Helicarrier float during the opening and closing ceremony parades, the Asgardians would be collaborating a routine with the New York Knicks cheer squad during their playoff game, the Fantastic Four would be hosting a performance for the Make A Wish kids at the science center, and the Mutants would be part of a street performance at Times Square. 

Finally, our team was up next. Coach called us up as Kasey playfully motioned for me to move. I stood up, walking over to Coach as I tried to shake off the knowing feeling that all eyes were on me. I looked into the hat, reaching over and and took out a piece of paper and showed it to her,”

“Okay then,” She grinned happily. “Team Web-Slingers, you will be the main stage dancers performing DJ METRO BOOMIN’s new song he wrote specifically for the event, at the Statue of Liberty,” 

A chorus of applause erupted from the other dancers as they congratulated our group. I could tell by the look on my fellow teammates' faces that we had hit the jackpot. After the last few groups for their names and gigs, the rest of the session was dedicated to warm ups and basic choreography practice and free styling, (so we could actually dance today) and allow the groups to start plotting. 

We were coming to the end of the day, the five of us in the locker room grabbing our personal belongings. 

“Hey, do you think they’d close down the area while they’re making the Cap shield for the statue?” Hannah spoke up. “I was thinking we could scout the place to see how big the stage would be?” 

“That’s a great idea, Hannah,” I beamed, smiling at her. “What time does it close?” 

“Oh, crap, if we wanna go, we should go like now,” Toya swore as he looked up the venue on his phone. “They’re closing in a few hours,” 

“Then let’s hurry and grab the next ferry there!” Kasey exclaimed as she slammed her locker door closed. “Come on!” 

There was this excitable energy about Kasey that I found addicting as she grabbed my wrist and pulled me along, the rest of the group following us. We ran out of the studio and jogged down the street. Touga whistled loudly, doing a perfect Brooklyn accent as he waved a taxi. “AY YO TAXI!”

We all climbed inside, the driver not caring that Toya laid across mine, Hannah, and his brother Touga’s lap as Kasey jumped in the front seat and directed him to our destination. Hannah brought out her phone and angled it to score a photo of us all.

“I’m totally using this as our wallpaper for our group chat,” she giggled and before I could even speak, I had received a Facebook messenger invite. How did she find me that fast?! 

I could tell this was going to be a lot of fun. 

/////// 

Earth-1997 - Oscorp 

It has been over a week since the Justice Department ordered the closure of Oscorp’s collider experiments after the explosive incident that left dozens of people injured. 

After the death of their long time business partner and father, Harry Osborn, the newest CEO of Oscorp was left with picking up the pieces of continuing his father’s hidden project under the legal radar. 

Spider-Man had caused his family enough pain and now he just found out there were more of them? Possible scores of them? It made his blood boil. More so in the chaos of it all, one of their test products in trying to recreate Spider-Man’s powers fell through into another dimension and infected someone, biting them. 

Harry huffed as he sat in his darkly lit office. His phone rang as he reached over and answered it, “Yes?” 

“Mr. Osborn, your contact is ready for your meeting,” his secretary spoke through the phone. 

“Thank you, Karen,” Harry hung up the phone before standing up from his chair, adjusting his tie. 

He walked over to the back of his office where a large family portrait hung on the wall. He reached up and pressed a hidden button on the emblem of his father’s tie and the painting pulled back, revealing a hidden doorway. He stepped inside, the secret door shutting behind him. 

At first there was darkness. Then a green holographic screen appeared before him. The person on the other end was pixelated and shrouded in darkness, hiding their identity. 

“Any updates?” Harry asked. 

“The target’s powers have begun to develop. I witnessed it during their training with the other Spider’s and a mock battle against their leader, Miguel O’Hara,” the spy spoke. 

“Hmm,” Harry hummed as he cupped his chin. “That’s quicker than I anticipated,” 

“Their unique power appears to be a hypnosis. She can control a webbed individual’s reaction with her singing voice,” they explained. 

“Singing?” Harry repeated, almost as if he didn’t hear them properly. 

“Yes, it appears the unique properties you applied in your experiments proved your hypothesis true. The radioactive serum you recreated with your dimensions Spider-Man’s blood appears to enhance the individual’s core strength and talents,” 

“What of your part in all of this?” Harry asked. 

“Miguel is starting to suspect there may be a mole in his Society, but I’m leading his investigators on a wild goose chase. By the time they realize it’s me pulling the strings, it will be too late,” the spy reassured them. 

“Good. I want that girl's power for our control. I don’t care what you need to do to make that happen, destroy her universe for all I care,” Harry ordered. 

“It will be done boss,” the spy purred. “Just be a little more patient with me,”

//////

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[shpadoinkle-day]

Annoying Trey Parker

If you don't know who Trey Parker is, might I suggest that that huge, dark object over your head is a rock you've been under for three years and you should come out from under it? I've been a fan of Trey Parker and Matt Stone since seeing Alferd Packer: The Musical about four years ago. I missed out on South Park at first, but when I finally did start watching it, I had no idea it was also by Trey and Matt. It did make a lot of sense when someone finally told me...anywho, how did I get ahold of Trey Parker to ask him these questions? Well, back when I first started the old website, I had a bunch of South Park stuff up, and one of the things was a series of questions I'd ask Matt and Trey...but not really. They were mostly stupid things that were just jokes. Well, somehow, Trey found the site and answered all the questions. This is why he got out of my standard Bad Taste and Simpsons questions. Yes, I feel stupid, but since I am so good at looking like an ass, anyway, what's a little help from one of the world's best satirists?

Me: In the song ''Blame Canada,'' Terrance and Phillip are referred to as cartoons, yet they interact with the people of South Park. Does this mean that the people are all cartoons and aware of that fact, or was ''cartoon'' just a better word in the song than ''movie?''

Trey: Shiela said they are actors, but Cartman said they were animated, but the movie IS a cartoon, dude.

M: In the South Park movie, was Big Gay Al cast in an anti-Canadian role as a testimony to the fact that ANYONE can succumb to biases, or was it just a cheap way to bring back a popular character?

T: It's just funny that they like him because it's a gay guy at a USO Show, gay and army usually don't mix.

M: Since it hurts to do Cartman's voice, do you find yourself sometimes conciously reducing his part or writing him out all together?

T: No, Cartman is the one who says the politically incorrect stuff that nobody else has the balls to say.

M: Does it bother you that people are always curious if you're gay even though it has absolutely NO baring whatsoever on your work and is a completely meaningless, stupid thing to wonder?

T: They do?

M: So...are you gay?

T: No, you seem like a big fan, ever heard of Lianne or Toddy?

(Lianne is the horse in Alferd Packer, but I don't know who Toddy is...)

M: How come the South Park home videos are still censored?

T: The people at Rhino are dicks sometimes.

M: Was the re-use of the stage name ''Juan Schwartz'' on the Mr. Hankey CD a signal to long time fans that there will be a Cannibal 2, or was it just a way to try and hide the fact that you two do all the voices?

T: We have long time fans?

M: Why the fuck was Orgazmo NC-17? Was it the dog humping scene? Was that scene fun to shoot? If you had to shoot that scene again, would you pick a different breed?

T: There is an unrated version out there somewhere too.

M: Was South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut always going to be an attack on the biased, idiotic MPAA, or did that just evovle because they really suck?

T: Both, just another group we hadn't offended enough yet

M: Tell me, if a group is an ''advisory'' board for parents, giving out ''suggestions,'' how is it that NO ONE under 17 was allowed into South Park without an adult, when surely a suggestion implies that parents should not allow their children to see it, not that the theatres should become some sort of police state just to keep underagers from YOUR film?

T: Ask the wangs who sell the tickets.

M: Whenever Hitler appears, he is always speaking gibberish. Is this a statement that people will follow along with anything if it's said well, or merely an indication of your lack of German skills?

T: That is all Matt's fault!!

M: How annoying is it when fans spot ''goofs'' that are actually jokes and make a big deal about how you fucked up? Like if someone said that Mr. Garrison's history lessons are very inaccurate or something.

T: Some people are complete retards.

M: DVDA should release an EP or something. You've already got at least 3 songs down.

T: In our spare time, right?

M: I hope you didn't try to answer that last one, as it wasn't a question.

T: I hate you now.

M: Nor was that.

T: I want to hit you.

M: If you two could be any type of fish, would you prefer Scooby Doo or erasable pens?

T: I want to bitchslap you and shoot frozen paintballs at you.

[deuterosapiens]

Just finished the new Planet of the Apes. In the event I've not said anything about these films before, the summary is this: I did not much care for the original 1968 (if I'm remembering my years correctly) film, or its sequels, though I've seen them all; I have no opinion on the Tim Burton one; I love the reboot series. Now you are caught up.

Going in, there was one unfortunate thing I needed this film to do. And I'll admit, this is an extraordinarily unfair thing. Wes Ball's Maze Runner Trilogy impressed me as much as the books did (that is, I've read them, and I've seen them, but really, there's nothing the films can do to straighten out these books when they are themselves just completely balls to the wall insane), so Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes had to be the film by which I'm required to judge his direction ability before he helms the biggest fantasy film I will ever anticipate the release of ever: The Legend of Zelda. I mean, I wanted to enjoy it as a follow-up to Rise/Dawn/War, but it couldn't just be a good Planet of the Apes movie- it has to be a good demo-reel for what it is that Wes is going to specifically being to the table when adapting to film my favorite video game franchise of all time.

No pressure!

I'll always be impressed by how damn good the ape effects are in these movies. Every one exceeds the high expectations of the previous one. Can you believe this was the same Visual Effects Studio for The Frighteners, of all things? The money, time and resources were used very well here, so the same legendary credit Weta is always due is due here. The incredibly low bar you set for VFX work to me is: is the film comfortable enough with itself to show me this creation in the daylight? Yes, yes it is!

I'm a sucker for what reddit users would call "abandoned porn": abandoned things, buildings, structures or whatnot that have been reclaimed by nature. Massive semi-collapsed buildings covered in planet growth, street lights hidden in foliage, wild animals roaming through desolate streets. Those sorts of things are peak setting to me. Worlds which have moved on and which have been allowed to flourish without further interference. This movie has so much of that and I just cannot get enough of it. The first half is just all sorts of beautiful structures and lavish green. The second uses an abandoned ship as a major set piece and it's quite pleasing to behold. A plus movie, your world is beautiful and alive!

I liked Noa well enough as a protagonist. He's not a leader, he doesn't want to be a leader and the movie doesn't force him to be the Second Coming of Caesar. This is honestly a pleasant relief. His arc could have ended with him taking over Proximus' Kingdom after his defeat, but honestly, all Noa wanted was to bring his clan back home, no lofty ambitions. It's the goal of his quest from the beginning, and while he does grow quite a bit, the scope of that quest never changes and this works well for him. He's not a fighter or a revolutionary or a leader or a messiah, he just wants to go back to the home he left.

There's a particular way most Apes in this movie speak. They're more verbose than in the previous movies, but you can tell complex speech isn't something they've had for a significant amount of time. Owen Teague is very good here, and I'm happy to see him as a noble figure. He's good at playing disgusting villainous sleezebags (IT, The Stand), so I'm glad he's given a chance to show a more human-side (ironically enough, in a non-human role).

I was very sad to see (the ambiguously gay) Raka leave. I liked him! I suspected he wouldn't last long, I was right, he will be missed. As a companion, his role is primarily to introduce Noa to Caesar's teachings. On doing so, he sets the foundation for Noa's mire complicated relationship with humans.

Which of course brings us to the thing I consider the film's biggest... I'm not quite sure "flaw" is the word I want to use, but. Okay, so I understand why the film has Mae in it. An intelligent human companion to reframe Noa's understanding of the world. I just really don't understand her actual role here. Yes, she's deceiving Noa into leading her to the weapons vault and whatnot. Yes, she does establish that not all humans have succumbed to the harmful consequences of the Simian Flu. I think having one scene, perhaps as a flashback, with her and her group would have given me a better understanding of who she is and what her actual goals are. Where Noa's goals are quite clear, Mae's feel like they exist primarily for the purpose of allowing the movie to introduce us to the Survivors at the end. I can't clearly wrap my thoughts around how I feel about her, but I think a better approach to this character would have been for her to be fully mute, but also obviously intelligent. If she signed all of her dialog instead of speaking, I think I might have found myself understanding how she actually exists in this world better. That's it I think: she feels out of place to me, and not in the way the movie wants her to, before it sets up the Reveal.

William H Macy is a talented actor.

Why is he here? His character contributes very little to anything, and he dies quickly. I understand he's a traitor teaching Proximus and that he represents a foil to Mae, showing her a possible path where she might live with the Apes. But he's here, he adds little, he dies quickly. We forget about him afterwards until Proximus makes a joke about him. He could easily have been a Ape teaching Proximus about human history from a flawed understanding passed down to him by previous Apes. If Raka hadn't died, these two could have discussed differing viewpoints on the nature of Humans and Apes, and this could have influenced Noa and Mae's thinking. Nope, he's just kind of there. He's about to sound the alarm and inform Proximus of Noa and Mae's plans, but even that doesn't actually have a chance to happen because Mae kills him.

That's right, technically, Mae has a higher kill count than Noa because she does directly kill Trevanant (I'm not going to bother remembering his, incredibly stupid, actual name), and technically Noa doesn't kill either Sylva or Proximus. Sylva drowns, Noa just doesn't help him (father avenged!); Proximus is thrown off a cliff after being attacked by eagles which Noa did summon to aid him, but I'm considering this an odd form of self-defense.

I'm going to suspect that the humans at the end are going to evolve into the bomb cult from Beneath the Planet of the Apes. That seems a fairly safe assumption. After all, I suppose in order to have that bomb cult exist, there must be intelligent humans around to become it.

To wrap this up, with the right script, I strongly believe Wes has the potential to really blow me away. He has the right experience with the right VFX team with the right pedigree necessary to bring that fantasy world to gorgeous life. I think the biggest hurdle He has as a director is in figuring out precisely where his supporting cast's motivations are. He's definitely come a long way from The Maze Runner and this one's still a very nice follow-up to the previous Apes films.

If he can get that one thing down, I suspect we'll ne in safe hands. Further research may be needed though.

[alarrytale]

I guess I’m selfishly excited to see what Louis will do next and maybe lean more into the indie/pop punk type of genre. FITF is a gradual shift to test the waters a bit and maybe even prepare his existing fanbase for more to come. I don’t think he’ll completely cut out songs that border pop though because I believe he said once that his favorite is Saturdays. Even how he performs that one, you can tell he loves it. I also agree fully with you that he and/or his team dropped the ball with WAOYF. That one is clearly a hit. I’m looking forward to also seeing how these festivals expose his music more. It’s a good alternative to the radio, since he’s struggled to have his music played. I think since people’s musical tastes shift all the time, him trying something new is not a bad thing. I’ve always been more of an indie/punk fan though so I’m a bit biased. With music being such a personal experience it’s hard to say what will or won’t do well these days. Sometimes artists just have to take a leap to see what happens. I didn’t connect with Harry’s last album for example but I did with his 1st 2, so I think my musical taste just shifted. I’ve sort of noticed both pop and indie have their own struggles. For pop you have the revolving door aspect. One day you could be on the top of the world as an artist and the next you could crash because the next new shiny act comes along or an artist can be so overexposed that the public literally gets sick of them. With the indie genre, breaking into that music is tough (especially as an ex-boybander) but once you’ve gone over that hurdle it can be longer lasting. I think Louis including smaller indie singers/bands as openers and in his own festival is a way to help him a bit with that. Just a little added note, I loved how Louis thanked the people watching his concerts thru livestreams. It was nice to be acknowledged that way since I haven’t been able to go to a concert this year.

Also, what happened with TZP? I was offline a bit so I must’ve missed some of the drama.

Hi, anon!

I'm excited for LT3 too, the problem is i don't trust him. I don't trust him to know which songs to make a single, which songs to include on the album and which direction to take his album in. He's dropped the ball too many times. I think i'm of the same opinion as you, that FITF was a stepping stone album from one genre (pop) to another genre (indie/punk rock). That's why i'm expecting LT3 to be even more indie/punk rock than FITF. As i've said plenty of times by know, i think that's a mistake business and career wise (even though that's the direction the label (and maybe himself) want to take to seperate him from competition).

I'm excited for new music, but not if that means less streams and album sales, the tour not selling, and catering his promo and changing his image to appeal to potential fans he'll never be able to convince. I already see the way this is all heading with the anarchy tattoo. He's a multimillionaire white man in his 30's, who's never been political in his life. It's so cringe and if he leans into that image even more he's going to be a laughing stock to the people he wants to make his fans.

For FITF he did "boyband promo" geared towards early 20's females (signings, pop up store, merch, puzzles and fan video for a single). That's not promo that will work on his new target audience. So what's he going to do for promo?

I haven't kept up with the TZP drama that much, i only registred that he liked a "neutral" post about the conflict, attended a show or something with his husband by a zioni*t and is friends with zioni*ts. He's shown himself to be both uneducated on the subject and to not know the consequences of his actions affects his own fandom (no one is taking this well). Not knowing your own fandom is a cardinal sin (and every celebrity should know that). So people are upset and calling him out (he's in China (that's problematic in itself) not seeming to know what's going on).

[grayrazor]

“The Hardest Part of Learning to Fly”

I was having a picnic with Dasha in a wooded meadow near the eastern edge of Elysium Planitia. Even from this great distance the mighty Olympus Mons seemed to tower over us. The birds were singing in spite of our presence, flitting from tree to tree and engaging in little squabbles over love and food. Dasha’s hair and my beard blew in my face when the wind picked up. Though she was a year my elder, her hair was still dark and contrasted with her skin, though mine had long ago begun to turn grey. “You see, lyubovnik,” she whispered to me, her arm around my shoulders, her other hand daintily resting in my calloused and scarred glove of a hand, “You should have retired from the Fleet years ago. You don’t regret being here one bit, do you?”

I chuckled and held her tighter, “True enough, lyubimyy. I don’t miss those steely-eyed missile-men and their rickety tin cans even in my most delusional fits of nostalgia.” I turned to look her in the eyes, even as the wind blustered again and loose leaves and blossoms separated from the trees to cascade past magnificently and her hair blew back from her face. “To me, you are worth more than all those dead rocks and balls of ice they call ‘planets.’”

A bright light flared in my peripheral vision, and we both were driven by reflexive curiosity to see what it could be. “Lyubovnik, look! A shooting star!” Dasha had an almost childlike capacity for wonder.

“No,” I whispered at first, then in a fit of sisyphal frustration I roared “No!” as the light grew and brightened and the trees and birds and our skin flashed away into ash.”

Dasha’s scream echoed and distorted into a kind of high pitched wail--and then I found myself hitting my head on the ceiling of my bunk’s alcove. I rolled over, looked at my reflection in the screen set into the wall. My beard hadn’t been grey for years, and it’s length and whiteness often led my crew to call me Old Saint Nick behind my back. The intercom was ringing, its pitch irritating my tired ears.

I punched the answer button, and Commander Elizabeth Hartford’s face appeared. I took a perverse joy in the fact that she looked as disheveled at this late hour as I did, “Sorry to wake you, Igor.”

I grumbled and rubbed the bridge of my nose, “It’s an XO’s job to irritate their CO. You’ll learn that when you’ve been in the service as long as I have. Report.”

Hartford had always been a master of stiff-upper-lip, but her eyes sometimes betrayed her when she was really worried, “The skiff’s back ahead of schedule. They haven’t made any radio contact, and from the looks of it through our scopes they’ve been shot up pretty bad.”

“If they haven’t completed their mission, you know what that means?” I had already gotten out of my berth and was throwing on my uniform coat.

“I got the same briefing you did, Tsiolkovsky. I know what’s at stake,” Hartford had disabled the video part of the call, presumably still getting dressed herself.

“Then get started on the preperations,” I transferred the call to my wrist and continued as I pulled myself out of my quarters and into the corridor by the handholds. “Actually, scratch that. Get Takumi started on the setup, you meet me in the hangar and we’ll debrief the marines.”

***

As I reached the doors to the airlock I was a bit irritated to see that not only had Hartford beaten me there, but she was in full uniform and as presentable as a cadet up for inspection. She’d always had a way of making the basic duty jumpsuit look as formal as a dress uniform, but the way she had gone from bedhead to spotless with such a seeming lack of effort always got under my skin somehow. The airlock cycled and the marine team’s NCO, Forrester drifted through the dilating circular opening, helmet held under arm and drops floating loose from his forehead when he moved. It was probably sweat, no way a marine sergeant could be shedding tears. Some smell came through the doorway with him. It was horrible, made my eyes water, and was all too familiar.

Before I could open my mouth he grunted and raised his hand, “We failed, Captain. I’m so sorry.” He moved out of the way to let two other marines pass him, dragging some scorched and blackened thing between them that looked like it once could have been human. They passed it to the medical team that had been waiting, for all the good they could do. In the recycled air the stench would linger for days.

“What happened out there?” Hartford seemed unmoved, almost unsympathetic. “This was supposed to be the easy part.”

Forrester breathed heavily a couple of times, then looked up and spoke with an air of forced professionalism, “We came in too shallow on our approach. Skipped off the atmosphere. We were still confident we could pull it off after that mistake. We had enough fuel to pull it off and try again. But then some kind of orbital defense satellite came over the horizon. They tagged us with a laser before we could boost out of their line-of-sight. Skiff’s heat shield and port wing are compromised, I don’t think she’ll ever fly in an atmosphere again. Part of the beam clipped one of the cockpit windows. Murphy got burned to a crisp. Melted our antenna too, that’s why I had to make it back to tell you what was happening.”

I stroked my beard, “Are you up to lead your team in the backup plan?”

Forrester grabbed his helmet out of the air and put it back on, “I’ve been through worse than this. Only thing that’s different this time is the stakes are higher.”

I grabbed his shoulder, less to comfort or motivate him than to tell from his muscles how tense he was, “Get your men prepared, you know what we have to do.”

***

“Captain Tsiolkovsky on deck!” Hartford closed and latched the hatch behind me as I took my seat in the control room. Naturally, nobody stood, since they were all lashed into their gee-couches, set into alcoves around the cylindrical wall at the perimeter of the room like bunks, but they at least looked up from their workstations for a second, which I thought was a nice gesture.

“As you were,” I barked more out of tradition than necessity, since they had all already gotten back to what they were doing. “For any of you who don’t have the clearance or connections to know already, here’s the way it is: Sergeant Forrester’s team is back, but without the package.” I tilted the visor of my cap down to cover my eyes, “That means that, in order to complete this mission, upon which the outcome of this war may depend, we are going to have to land the Charles de Gaulle on Titan.

Takumi gasped audibly, “Captain, with all due respect, we can’t land a fusion-driven ship on Titan! Even if everything goes perfectly we could be looking at war crimes charges!”

I could feel my brow twitching involuntarily. I guess my chief engineer didn’t know me as well as I thought, if he didn’t realise that I had already been agonizing over the mere hypothetical possibility that we might have to do this. Maybe he was just making a jackass of himself for the sake of the crew, I don’t know, “For the sake of everyone we are fighting for back home, I consider that an acceptable sacrifice. The strategic value of the information we were sent for is absolute; failure of this mission might not just mean losing the war, but our extermination.” Several of the junior officers looked doubtful, whispered to each other, so I unzipped my jacket pocket and pulled out the letter I had received three months earlier, “Just so you know that I am not indulging in hyperbole, here are my signed orders from the Commander-in-Chief herself. She explained to me in no uncertain terms just what the enemy has in store for us, and it isn’t good. Based on the kinds of particles our telescopes have been picking up, they may very well be experimenting with antimatter weapons, as unlikely as that seems. Most of you have the personal experience, as I have, that they will show no quarter and will not hesitate to use such power, if they possess it, to annihilate us. For that reason, all measures necessary to retrieve the information on their research and production facility locations are to be considered not only acceptable, but required.”

Takumi grabbed Hartford as she passed by him on the way to her station, “You’re with him on this? You’re absolutely sure there’s no other way?”

Hartford pulled his hand away from her and continued to her seat, “The skiff got fried by a laser-armed satellite when they tried to land. That, combined with the fact that we’ve seen no civilian traffic entering or leaving orbit, tells me that the enemy has been tightening their hold on Titan after the attempted rebellion back in August. They hung that Sword of Damocles over the Titanites’ heads, probably wiped out their space-capable craft from above, to remind them who runs this part of the Solar System. A whole moon’s worth of hostages. If we are to get our guy out of there this ship is their only option. He couldn’t just broadcast the data, they’d pick it up and know we’re on to them, move their antimatter factory so we’d never find it again before it was finished.”

From the junior officers’ expressions, I felt it was time for me to step back in to the discussion, “The fact that we are fighting for survival does not mean that we will let ourselves become like them. All measures necessary and possible will be taken to minimize collateral damage. We’ll begin our descent over the far side so that our course will take us over the least-densely populated part of the surface when we’re making our braking maneuver with the Orion Drive. Because our guy is in a colony dome, and will have to make his way by ground to get to our landing site we’ll be landing near the city, using chemical rockets for the final stage of our descent.” I removed my cap, looked everyone on the bridge in the eyes one-by-one, “Does everyone understand what we need to do?”

They all nodded silently, and I turned to Hartford. She shouted, “You have your orders, get on it!”

Each officer and crewman lay back on their gee-couches and turned their full attention to the workstations that were now above them. “All hands to acceleration stations! This is not a drill! I say again…”

I noticed that a yeoman had left a bag of energy drink near my station and decided I had enough lingering tiredness to give it a go, even if it was warm. I wanted to be as awake as possible for what was to come.

“Radiators retracted to battle standard!”

“Shuttle and pods secured, get those hangar doors closed!”

I put the bag’s straw in the corner of my mouth and gave it as long a drink as I could bear, trying to keep it away from my tongue. It was times like that, when the orders had been given and there was nothing to do, when I started to get contemplative. It was a long and honored tradition, using drinkable chemicals to deal with your human failings. Archaeologists tracked the trading ships of Ancient Hellas by following their trails of discarded wine jugs. Wooden ships and iron men ran on grog. Steam-driven ships of steel had crews driven by coffee. Then came airplane pilots and astronauts and their myriad variety of stimulants, legal and illegal.

One thing had stayed a constant throughout history: the drinks may come labeled in different brands and flavors, but the best you can get for your choice is a different shade of vile.

“Orion drive loaded, ready to fire.”

“All decks report acceleration stations. Your orders sir?”

I buckled myself in, then pulled my hearing protection over my ears and plugged in the cord for its internal speakers, “You have clearance for main drive turn,” I said into the headset microphone, then produced my key from my jacket pocket. I turned to visually confirm that Hartford had hers. “Turn on my mark.” I inserted my key, “Three, two, one, mark.”

Naturally, no human being had the timing to execute the kinds of precision maneuvers we would have to perform. All we were doing was giving the computer permission to run the orders the crew had programmed into it. When the time was right the dispenser at the ship’s back end would expel a thermonuclear explosive. It would explode in a sphere of perfect white light, imparting momentum to the ship’s pusher plate. While the thick metal shield was still glowing another bomb would be dispensed and the process would begin again. No better way to travel, as long as speed was all you cared about.

The force of the first pulse shocked me in spite of my efforts to increase my alertness with the energy drink. There was never really any getting used to the experience of being blasted through space by atomic bombs. One moment you’re weightless, the next an elephant is stepping on your chest. Stomping on you, over and over again, trying to squeeze the air out of your lungs and pop the eyeballs out of your head.

Shock absorbers between the plate and the hull kept the acceleration from crushing us squishy humans like insects, but anyone late to take precautions against the gee-forces would be having a very bad day, deaf at best, concussion, broken bones, or ruptured organs at worst. There were no reports of any injuries so far, so at least the crew weren’t that green. Heavy cruiser Charles de Gaulle blasted her way out from behind the nameless small moon she had been using to hide from detection and expended just enough of her supply of nukes to set an orbit that would freefall past Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. With the drive no longer firing we were weightless again.

It would be a matter of hours before we needed to decelerate, but I was fully on edge by that point, and wouldn’t have been able to catch any more sleep that night even if I tried. It wasn’t the jostling of the Orion Drive, nor even the energy drink. I had been thinking about how sure we were that Forrester’s team would pull off their part of the mission. How landing the ship was a purely hypothetical last resort, we’d never thought we might actually have to do it. If the easy part of the mission had been a complete wash, how would it go when the enemy fleet inevitably spotted us on our way back out?

***

It would be only minutes now before Charles de Gaulle had to slow down in order to avoid overshooting Titan’s sphere of influence. After days of weightlessness, I felt like I needed to prepare myself mentally and physically for living in gravity again, first from the drive, then the real all-natural gravity of a moon. The Universe, however, was having none of that.

“I’ve got a hot spot on the hull plating, looks like a laser strike!” Takumi shouted.

“The satellite?” I grumbled in frustration. “Why didn’t we pick it up sooner?”

Hartford crossed her arms, “They must have risen over the horizon while we were making a course correction.” She twisted her neck to bark at Takumi, “Threat analysis!”

“I don’t think they’ve got the wattage to burn through our hull anytime soon,” the engineer was frantically flicking through tabs on his display to compare reports from sensors and damage-control parties.”

I stroked my beard contemplatively, “Flight control, roll the ship slowly on her travel axis. I don’t want to give them the chance to build up enough heat on any one spot to do us any damage.” I looked right at Takumi, “You’re sure this is all they’ve got?”

He scrolled up and down the sensor log one more time, “If they had more juice I don’t see why they wouldn’t have used it by now.”

I turned back to my own display and gave the data a once over myself, just to be sure, “I’m guessing the enemy must not have thought we’d send anything tougher than Forrester’s skiff. Our hull might be able to conduct this much energy, but any lesser ship, on a chemical or ion drive, would have probably been vaporized before they even knew they were being shot at. Forrester was damn lucky they didn’t get a clean hit on him; this would be more than enough to keep the civilian traffic on Titan locked down.”

Hartford chuckled crudely, “On the other hand, if the Admiralty had sent a proper battleship instead of just a cruiser they probably would have gone right by that satellite without ever noticing that they were being shot at.” She cast her eyes about the room, “Anyone have eyes on it?”

“Got it sir! Traced the angle of the beam back to it’s source. Eight marks off the ecliptic. Target locked.” a junior officer in the spotter department shouted back with enthusiasm.

I made a note to keep an eye on her, if she lived long enough for me to learn her name, “Let’s do the Titanites a little favor while we’re here. Open door torpedo tube one and fire when ready.”

“Torpedo away!” the call came from the gunners, then moments later, “Target hit, detonation confirmed.

“Target status?” out of the corner of my eye I could see that Hartford was switching rapidly between the various external cameras and LIDAR scopes on her display.

“Kill confirmed,” the same spotter smacked the hand of another in her department in celebration.

“Nothing out there but an expanding sphere of debris,” the other spotter added. “If you listen close you might hear them tinkling off the hull.”

“Just in time too,” I checked my chronometer and saw Takumi was already in the midst of delegating various tasks.. “All hands to landing stations,” I ordered, which was repeated by subordinates and distributed to everyone relevant.”

“Closing all missile silo and torpedo tube doors.”

“...I don’t care what they need on C-Deck, get those containers secured!”

“Radiators fully retracted!”

“Firing drive!”

Because of the speed we were moving we would have to push the limits and run the drive faster for the deceleration. Now it felt like a whole herd of elephants were running me over, and were it not for the gee-suit I had on under my uniform I would definitely have blacked out. I focused on my breathing, the exercises that had been drilled into me in training all those years ago to help keep your blood where it should be. In one of the lulls between pulses that young spotter tapped into my headset’s channel, “It feels wrong being this close to an atmosphere. Are you sure we can pull this off, sir?”

I chuckled in what I hoped would be a reassuring, grandfatherly tone, “Ensign, Orion ships are the best at getting through atmosphere as much as they are the best at getting through space. Why, the first of our sister ships to be built was assembled on the surface of Venus because they hadn’t finished the space construction yard yet!” A jolt punched the air out of me and I grunted involuntarily, “You didn’t think they built these cruisers and battleships bullet-shaped just for the sake of the angled armor, did you?” Unfortunately, that dredged up a memory of a time in my life I would rather have left forgotten, an Air Force flight instructor who repeated ad nauseum, “There’s no part of flying a plane harder than landing her when you’re coming home.”

Another light lit up on my console, this time Takumi requesting a private channel, “Sir, write me up for insubordination if you must, but are you sure there was no other way? Can you say that with absolute certainty?”

I let through all of the considerations I had been blocking out. The things I had been ignoring, because I knew they would crush my soul more surely than the acceleration was trying to crush my body, “I know the harm the fallout might bring. You know that there’s never a hundred-percent certainty when it comes to military intelligence. But if there’s even a chance that what we’ve heard is accurate, then the harm that comes to the people of Titan will be incredibly inconsequential compared to the slaughter that awaits billions if we fail.”

The engineer sighed bitterly, “I know you have set everything up so that the damage will be minimized. Shoot, in case of an emergency like this the propulsion charges had always been built to minimize neutron radiation and electromagnetic pulses. Nothing’s perfect though, with every detonation there’s a chance that an EMP will make the lights flicker in a hospital and a surgeon will make a mistake at a critical moment, and somebody will never go home to their family. Maybe a fragment of a bomb’s casing will become radioactive dust and drift down to the surface, to be tracked in by someone going out of a colony dome to do maintenance and a whole city’s air supply might be contaminated. I trust that we didn’t have the time to find a better way, but what would you say to a parent whose kids are all dying of radiation sickness or cancer because of our haste?”

I exhaled in weariness, “If nothing else, I can assure you that while this may not have been the right thing, it was the necessary thing. If God judges that I am due hellfire for ensuring that no one else gets stomped under the boot of our enemy then that is a small sacrifice by proportion.” Takumi did not reply.

Eventually the teeth-removing vibrations of the fusion-pulse drive stopped, only to be replaced moments later by the more continuous shaking of thick gases rushing past the hull at hypersonic speed. Instead of the stacatto pounding of the nuclear explosions there was the continuous roar of Titan’s atmosphere being set alight. Though I couldn’t see it I knew that the pusher plate must be heated to the point of glowing by the friction. Methane, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide were compressed into plasma and burned even without oxygen by virtue of the sheer amount of kinetic energy they were being forced to absorb. Something was loose near the base of my couch and it rattled rhythmically. The ship’s structural members groaned as they were slightly deformed by physical stresses and by the change in temperature. The sound was almost like whalesong, or maybe the creaking of an ancient tree being felled by the wind. It seemed to go on forever, until a small, solipsism-inclined part of my consciousness wondered if there had ever a time when there was not the roaring and the shaking. Then it stopped. After the strain of the drive and the aerobraking the relatively minor jolt of the landing rockets was like a mother’s comforting embrace, and only more so the little bounce of the shock absorbers rebounding as the plate impacted upon solid ground.

“Report!” I bellowed.

“Crewman on C-Deck injured by failed couch harness. Broken bones, minor concussion.”

“Steam pipe burst on F-Deck. Five injured, two with third-degree burns.

“Fuse blown in environmental…”

“Hey, Captain.” Takumi held out an empty ration bag and dropped it, letting it drift slowly to the diamondplate steel of the deck. “That’s gravity. We’re alive.”

I was already unbuckling my restraints. “The mission’s not over yet Chief. That was just the hard part. It’s all uphill from here.”

“You mean downhill don’t you sir? Sir?”

Hartford was already out of her harness and had walked over to the intercom by the door, “Armory, get gear ready. We’re sending out a landing party.”

She was still standing by the hatch when I walked through. She elbowed me in the side as I went by, “Don’t be cute. You’re crap at it and Takumi’s on the edge of a nervous breakdown already.”

[formulaonedirection]

hi nadia, since ur the designated 'crush talk' host i got something for you so buckle up... i've liked this guy since probably last year, i've known him since 2020, as he's a friend of one of my best friends who i currently live with. very smart, intelligent, kind, and so gentle, plus one of his main interests is something that i literally study at university so we have quite a few things in common. since last year i've been noticing these little things, kind of like serendipity, or maybe that's just how i've been interpreting them🤣🤣 just coincidences, most notably we went to the same play at the local theatre but completely missed each other, and also we met on the tram once and since it was packed there was no railing for me to hold onto so he very gently held my elbow (very cute and interesting conversation took place also). he would also often put a heart reaction on my stories whenever i'd post a selfie (he actually did it earlier today as well), and always compliment me whenever i'd post videos of my guitar playing. he once even asked me to play something for him the next time we see each other. so i thought things were going in the right direction... but poor mental health and self confidence really stunt my bravery when it comes to things like this so it's been going rather slowly. he came over when my roommate was throwing a get together the other month but i didn't make it. i've been wanting to tell my best friend about this whole ordeal so that she could maybe put in a good word for her homie but alas i haven't done it. 2 days ago i had a cute but quite vague dream about being in a relationship that had me absolutely wrecked for the entire day so last night i talked to another friend and decided i was going to tell my best friend!! and start making some moves!! fast forward to this afternoon, he comes over randomly just to visit my bestie, i'm over the moon obviously. the 3 of us talk, and then out of nowhere he announces he got back with his ex. what in the absolute dick and balls do i do now

oh my goddddddddd when I got to the end i literally went NOOOOOOOOOOO. I was like. Close to hopeful when you were like I'm gonna make moves but then I remembered this is crush talk and we're all suffering. BLEUGHHHH. Awww man dude that sucks. From the sound of it I'm sure it wasn't all happening in your head cause like he was being all replying guy and liking selfies on instagram guy. I'm sorry but that means something OKAY you can't be A MAN out here liking SELFIES on STORY. Like it's different if you put it on main and the person likes your post but HEART ON AN IG STORY SELFIE??? Nah. If you felt some type of connection I don't think it's fair to assume it was one-sided that's just silly anxiety and insecurity talking. Anyway that sucksssss. Idk how close you are with your bestie roomie but I'd still consider telling her? Maybe in a more casual way like oh my god I totally had a crush on your friend and he got back together with his ex :facepalm: so it doesn't seem That Big Of A Deal that it becomes awkward? Or you could do a proper heart to heart of it. Either way I think if you come out the other side feeling some type of emotional release or growth it's still worth it.

As for Serendipity boy idk try to see if the getting back together with ex thing is serious or if it's just like a fuck it why not situation? Cause sometimes getting back with your ex is truly just an I'm bored, you're bored we know this works in some way so let's just do this again type thing. So I'd say try to get a feel of it before you really lose hope but also more importantly I'm focused on you cause brains are silly and self confidence is SOOOOOO hard like crippling hard. But if the situation changes or another serendipitous man comes along I hope the fact that I'm rooting for you to go for it will help <3 Sorry if this was slightly too woo-woo but I know how hard it is to get over that barrier of your mind telling you NO and just go and get something you want but you're braver than you think! You typed this all out to me and you told a friend about it and you were gonna tell bestie roomie!

[h4rring1on]

hurt/comfort with steve x insecure!reader who finds out that her friends talked bad about her behind her back and she completely breaks down before he finds her? love your writing <3

warnings: swearing, mean things are said about reader, tell me if i missed something!

pairing: steve harrington x reader

your friends weren’t always the best, steve told you many times that you shouldn’t hang out with them much. but you never listened

steve only said that because he knew, toxic could recognize toxic. his toxic days are over and he’s a much better person now, but he could still notice it and your friends were the definition of toxic

you never listened though, you were 18 and steve was 19. he wasn’t with you at school, so you had to find someone to hang out with, and even though they can be a little judgmental sometimes. you still found yourself hanging out with them

but this time, when you were walking towards them to say hi. you heard the mentioning of your name. they were all crowded around each other so they couldn’t see you

“she’s so annoying it’s actually really fucking weird”

“she’s really ugly too”

“she’s always so quiet it’s actually creeping me out”

“so pathetic”

more and more words were consuming your ears, you slowly walked away, trying to blink so your tears don’t slip, but to your luck, they did, and you just had to get out of there

how could they be so mean? weren’t they your friends? why—just why would they do this?

you ran off to some place away from school, not knowing someone watched the entire thing

“steve!” robin said through the phone

“oh my god for the last time robin i don’t wanna come see vickie—“

“it’s y/n” robin said

“what? what about her?” steve said, genuinely concerned now

“she—well, i was putting my stuff in my locker like my walkman and my book and—“

“get to the point, robin!”

“right! so—some of y/n’s friends…well they’re not really her friends anymore—anyway! they were saying some pretty shitty things about her and she just ran off, i can’t find her but she didn’t look okay—i think she needs you”

before you knew it, steve put a ‘closed’ sign on the front door of family video and got in his car, driving to your school

robin was waiting out front, and told him how she looked everywhere you weren’t there

but robin didn’t know you like steve did, steve knew where you’d be. he drove to the spot where you and him shared your first kiss, it was where you’d go whenever you felt upset

he could hear whimpering, and it broke his heart when he heard them coming from you. you were curled up in a ball, and sobbing right in front of his eyes

“oh my—baby” he ran to you, you were a bit startled for a second, but when you knew it was steve, you melted into his arms

“steve—they said…my friends—i thought they liked me” you cried out and steve could feel his heart ache, he had never seen you this upset, he wanted to give those girls hell, but you needed him right now and that was all he cared about

“it’s okay, peach. i’m here, they don’t matter to you anymore” he said as he rubbed your back in comfort

“stevie…” you sniffled, “they said i was—ugly, and pathetic and annoying—and—i just wanted them to like me” you cried harder into his chest

“nothing those girls said is correct, they’re just jealous, sweet girl. it’s okay, we don’t care about them anymore, i’ve got you, baby” he said, stroking your hair and placing a kiss on your forehead

“really?” you said as you looked into his eyes

“of course” he said and smiled at you, “you’re pretty, you’re smart, you’re such a sweet girl, nothing, nothing is better than you. you’re perfect just the way you are and if they don’t like that, then their loss because we don’t care. besides, they’re probably just jealous that you’re the most beautiful and perfect girl in school” he chuckled, and a little giggle slipped from your mouth

you were sat in his lap, and he was holding you tight, “thank you stevie…i love you” you said as you leaned your head on his shoulder

“anything for you, pretty girl. i love you so much more than you know” he said as he kept holding you

nothing ever mattered when you were with steve